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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10401-0.txt b/10401-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c5e825 --- /dev/null +++ b/10401-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3301 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10401 *** + +[Illustration: _Daniel Drayton_] + + + + +PERSONAL MEMOIR Of DANIEL DRAYTON, + +For Four Years And Four Months + +A PRISONER (FOR CHARITY'S SAKE) IN WASHINGTON JAIL + +Including A Narrative Of The + +VOYAGE AND CAPTURE OF THE SCHOONER PEARL. + + We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men + are created equal; that they are endowed by their + Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among + these are life, _liberty_, and the pursuit of happiness. + +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. + + +1855. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1853, by + +DANIEL DRAYTON, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +Considering the large share of the public attention which the case of +the schooner Pearl attracted at the time of its occurrence, perhaps the +following narrative of its origin, and of its consequences to himself, +by the principal actor in it, may not be without interest. It is proper +to state that a large share of the profits of the sale are secured to +Captain Drayton, the state of whose health incapacitates him from any +laborious employment. + + + + +MEMOIR. + + +I was born in the year 1802, in Cumberland County, Downs Township, in +the State of New Jersey, on the shores of Nantuxet Creek, not far from +Delaware Bay, into which that creek flows. My father was a farmer,--not +a very profitable occupation in that barren part of the country. My +mother was a widow at the time of her marriage with my father, having +three children by a former husband. By my father she had six more, of +whom I was the youngest but one. She was a woman of strong mind and +marked character, a zealous member of the Methodist church; and, +although I had the misfortune to lose her at an early age, her +instructions--though the effect was not apparent at the moment--made a +deep impression on my youthful mind, and no doubt had a very sensible +influence over my future life. + +Just previous to, or during the war with Great Britain, my father +removed still nearer to the shore of the bay, and the sight of the +vessels passing up and down inspired me with a desire to follow the life +of a waterman; but it was some years before I was able to gratify this +wish. I well remember the alarm created in our neighborhood by the +incursions of the British vessels up the bay during the war, and that, +at these times, the women of the neighborhood used to collect at our +house, as if looking up to my mother for counsel and guidance. + +I was only twelve years old when this good mother died; but, so strong +was the impression which she left upon my memory, that, amid the +struggles and dangers and cares of my subsequent life, I have seldom +closed my eyes to sleep without some thought or image of her. + +As my father soon after married another widow, with four small children, +it became necessary to make room in the house for their accommodation; +and, with a younger brother of mine, I was bound out an apprentice in a +cotton and woollen factory at a place called Cedarville. Manufactures +were just then beginning to be introduced into the country, and great +hopes were entertained of them as a profitable business. My +employer,--or bos, as we called him,--had formerly been a schoolmaster, +and he did not wholly neglect our instructions in other things besides +cotton-spinning. Of this I stood greatly in need; for there were no +public schools in the neighborhood in which I was born, and my parents +had too many children to feed and clothe to be able to pay much for +schooling. We were required on Sundays, by our employer, to learn two +lessons, one in the forenoon, the other in the afternoon; after reciting +which we were left at liberty to roam at our pleasure. Winter evenings +we worked in the factory till nine o'clock, after which, and before +going to bed, we were required to recite over one of our lessons These +advantages of education were not great, but even these I soon lost. +Within five months from the time I was bound to him, my employer died. +The factories were then sold out to three partners. The one who carried +on the cotton-spinning took me; but he soon gave up the business, and +went back to farming, which had been his original occupation. I remained +with him for a year and a half, or thereabouts, when my father bound me +out apprentice to a shoe-maker. + +My new bos was, in some respects, a remarkable man, but not a very good +sort of one for a boy to be bound apprentice to. He paid very little +attention to his business, which he seemed to think unworthy of his +genius. He was a kind-hearted man, fond of company and frolics, in which +he indulged himself freely, and much given to speeches and harangues, in +which he had a good deal of fluency. In religion he professed to be a +Universalist, holding to doctrines and opinions very different from +those which my mother had instilled into me. He ridiculed those +opinions, and argued against them, but without converting me to his way +of thinking; though, as far as practice went, I was ready enough to +imitate his example. My Sundays were spent principally in taverns, +playing at dominos, which then was, and still is, a favorite game in +that part of the country; and, as the unsuccessful party was expected to +treat, I at times ran up a bill at the bar as high as four or six +dollars,--no small indebtedness for a young apprentice with no more +means than I had. + +As I grew older this method of living grew less and less satisfactory +to me; and as I saw that no good of any kind, not even a knowledge of +the trade he had undertaken to teach me, was to be got of my present +bos, I bought my time of him, and went to work with another man to pay +for it. Before I had succeeded in doing that, and while I was not yet +nineteen, I took upon myself the still further responsibility of +marriage. This was a step into which I was led rather by the impulse of +youthful passion than by any thoughtful foresight. Yet it had at least +this advantage, that it obliged me to set diligently to work to provide +for the increasing family which I soon found growing up around me. + +I had never liked the shoe-making business, to which my father had bound +me an apprentice. I had always desired to follow the water. The vessels +which I had seen sailing up and down the Delaware Bay still haunted my +fancy; and I engaged myself as cook on board a sloop, employed in +carrying wood from Maurice river to Philadelphia. Promotion in this line +is sufficiently rapid; for in four months, after commencing as cook, I +rose to be captain. This wood business, in which I remained for two +years, is carried on by vessels of from thirty to sixty tons, known as +_bay-craft_. They are built so as to draw but little water, which is +their chief distinction from the _coasters_, which are fit for the open +sea. They will carry from twenty-five to fifty cords of wood, on which a +profit is expected of a dollar and upwards. They have usually about +three hands, the captain, or skipper, included. The men used to be +hired, when I entered the business, for eight or ten dollars the month, +but they now get nearly or quite twice as much. The captain usually +sails the vessel on shares (unless he is himself owner in whole, or in +part), victualling the vessel and hiring the men, and paying over to the +owner forty dollars out of every hundred. During the winter, from +December to March, the navigation is impeded by ice, and the bay-craft +seldom run. The men commonly spend this long vacation in visiting, +husking-frolics, rabbiting, and too often in taverns, to the exhaustion +of their purses, the impoverishment of their families, and the sacrifice +of their sobriety. Yet the watermen, if many of them are not able always +to resist the temptations held out to them, are in general an honest and +simple-hearted set, though with little education, and sometimes rather +rough in their manners. The extent of my education when I took to the +water--and in this respect I was not, perhaps, much inferior to the +generality of my brother watermen--was to read with no great fluency, +and to sign my name; nor did I ever learn much more than this till my +residence in Washington jail, to be related hereafter. + +Having followed the wood business for two years, I aspired to something +a little higher, and obtained the command of a sloop engaged in the +coasting business, from Philadelphia southward and eastward. At this +time a sloop of sixty tons was considered a very respectable coaster. +The business is now mostly carried on by vessels of a larger class; +some of them, especially the regular lines of packets, being very +handsome and expensive. The terms on which these coasters were sailed +were very similar to those already stated in the case of the bay-craft. +The captain victualled the vessel, and paid the hands, and received for +his share half the net profits, after deducting the extra expenses of +loading and unloading. It was in this coasting business that the best +years of my life were spent, during which time I visited most of the +ports and rivers between Savannah southward, and St. John, in the +British province of New Brunswick, eastward;--those two places forming +the extreme limits of my voyagings. As Philadelphia was the port from +and to which I sailed, I presently found it convenient to remove my +family thither, and there they continued to live till after my release +from the Washington prison. + +I was so successful in my new business, that, besides supporting my +family, I was able to become half owner of the sloop Superior, at an +expense of over a thousand dollars, most of which I paid down. But this +proved a very unfortunate investment. On her second trip after I had +bought into her, returning from Baltimore to Philadelphia by the way of +the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, while off the mouth of the +Susquehannah, she struck, as I suppose, a sunken tree, brought down by a +heavy freshet in that river. The water flowed fast into the cabin. It +was in vain that I attempted to run her ashore. She sunk in five +minutes. The men saved themselves in the boat, which was on deck, and +which floated as she went down. I stood by the rudder till the last, and +stepped off it into the boat, loath enough to leave my vessel, on which +there was no insurance. + +By this unfortunate accident I lost everything except the clothes I had +on, and was obliged to commence anew. I accordingly obtained the command +of the new sloop Sarah Henry, of seventy tons burden, and continued to +sail her for several years, on shares. While in her I made a voyage to +Savannah; and while under sail from that city for Charleston, I was +taken with the yellow fever. I lay for a week quite unconscious of +anything that was going on about me and came as near dying as a man +could do and escape. The religious instructions of my mother had from +time to time recurred to my mind, and had occasioned me some anxiety. I +was now greatly alarmed at the idea of dying in my sins, from which I +seemed to have escaped so narrowly. My mind was possessed with this +fear; and, to relieve myself from it, I determined, if it were a +possible thing, to get religion at any rate. The idea of religion in +which I had been educated was that of a sudden, miraculous change, in +which a man felt himself relieved from the burden of his sins, united to +God, and made a new creature. For this experience I diligently sought, +and tried every way to get it. I set up family prayers in my house, went +to meetings, and conversed with experienced members of the church; but, +for nine months or more, all to no purpose. At length I got into an +awful state, beginning to think that I had been so desperate a sinner +that there was no forgiveness for me. While I was in this miserable +condition, I heard of a camp-meeting about to be held on Cape May, and I +immediately resolved to attend it, and to leave no stone unturned to +accomplish the object which I had so much at heart. I went accordingly, +and yielded myself entirely up to the dictation of those who had the +control of the meeting. I did in everything as I was told; went into the +altar, prayed, and let them pray over me. This went on for several days +without any result. One evening, as I approached the altar, and was +looking into it, I met a captain of my acquaintance, and asked him what +he thought of these proceedings; and, as he seemed to approve them, I +invited him to go into the altar with me. We both went in accordingly, +and knelt down. Pretty soon my friend got up and walked away, saying he +had got religion. I did not find it so easily. I remained at the altar, +praying, till after the meeting broke up, and even till one o'clock,--a +few acquaintances and others remaining with me, and praying round me, +and over me, and for me;--till, at last, thinking that I had done +everything I could, I told them pray no more, as evidently there was no +forgiveness for me. So I withdrew to a distance, and sat down upon an +old tree, lamenting my hard case very seriously. I was sure I had +committed the unpardonable sin. A friend, who sat down beside me, and of +whom I inquired what he supposed the unpardonable sin was, endeavored +comfort me by suggesting that, whatever it might be, it would take more +sense and learning than ever I had to commit it. But I would not enter +into his merriment. All the next day, which was Sunday, I passed in a +most miserable state. I went into the woods alone. I did not think +myself worthy or fit to associate with those who had religion, while I +was anxious to avoid the company of those who made light of it. +Sometimes I would sit down, sometimes I would stand up, sometimes I +would walk about. Frequently I prayed, but found no comfort in it. + +About sun-set I met a friend, who said to me, "Well, our camp-meeting is +about ended." What a misery those few words struck to my heart! "About +ended!" I said to myself; "about ended, and I not converted!" A little +later, as I was passing along the camp-ground, I saw a woman before me +kneeling and praying. An acquaintance of mine, who was approaching her +in an opposite direction, called out to me, "Daniel, help me pray for +this woman!" I had made up my mind to make one more effort, and I knelt +down and commenced praying; but quite as much for myself as for her. +Others gathered about us and joined in, and the interest and excitement +became so great, that, after a vain effort to call us off, the regular +services of the evening were dispensed with, and the ground was left to +us. Things went on in this way till about nine o'clock, when, as +suddenly as if I had been struck a heavy blow, I felt a remarkable +change come over me. All my fears and terrors seemed to be +instantaneously removed, and my whole soul to be filled with joy and +peace. This was the sort of change which I had been taught to look for +as the consequence of getting that religion for which I had been +struggling so hard. I instantly rose up, and told those about me that I +was a converted man; and from that moment I was able to sing and shout +and pray with the best of them. In the midst of my exultation who should +come up but my old master in the shoe-making trade, of whom I have +already given some account. He had heard that I was on the camp-ground +in pursuit of religion, and had come to find me out. "Daniel," he said, +addressing me by my Christian name, "what are you doing here? Don't make +a fool of yourself." To which I answered, that I had got to be just such +a fool as I had long wanted to be; and I took him by the arm, and +endeavored to prevail upon him to kneel down and allow us to pray over +him, assuring him that I knew his convictions to be much better than his +conduct; that he must get religion, and now was the time. But he drew +back, and escaped from me, with promises to do better, which, however, +he did not keep. + +As for myself, considering, and, as I thought, feeling that I was a +converted man, I now enjoyed for some time an extraordinary +satisfaction, a sort of offset to the months of agony and misery which I +had previously endured. But, though regarding myself as now truly +converted, I delayed some time before uniting myself with any particular +church. I did not know which to join. This division into so many +hostile sects seemed to me unaccountable. I thought that all good +Christians should love each other, and be as one family. Yet it seemed +necessary to unite myself with some body of Christians; and, as I had +been educated a Methodist, I concluded to join them. + +I have given the account of my religious experience exactly as it seemed +to me at the time, and as I now remember it. It corresponded with the +common course of religious experiences in the Methodist church, except +that with me the struggle was harder than commonly happens. I did not +doubt at the time that it was truly a supernatural change, as much the +work of the Spirit as the sudden conversions recorded in the Acts of the +Apostles. Others can form their own opinion about it. I will only add +that subsequent experience has led me to the belief that the reality of +a man's religion is more to be judged of by what he does than by how he +feels or what he says. + +The change which had taken place in me, however it is to be regarded, +was not without a decided influence on my whole future life. I no longer +considered myself as living for myself alone. I regarded myself as bound +to do unto others as I would that they should do unto me; and it was in +attempting to act up to this principle that I became involved in the +difficulties to be hereafter related. + +Meanwhile I resumed my voyages in the Sarah Henry, in which I continued +to sail, on shares, for several years, with tolerable success. +Afterwards I followed the same business in the schooner Protection, in +which I suffered another shipwreck. We sailed from Philadelphia to +Washington, in the District of Columbia, laden with coal, proceeding +down the Delaware, and by the open sea; but, when off the entrance of +the Chesapeake, we encountered a heavy gale, which split the sails, +swept the decks, and drove us off our course as far south as Ocracoke +Inlet, on the coast of North Carolina. I took a pilot, intending to go +in to repair damages; but, owing to the strength of the current, which +defeated his calculations, the pilot ran us on the bar. As soon as the +schooner's bow touched the ground, she swung round broadside to the sea, +which immediately began to break over her in a fearful manner. She +filled immediately,--everything on deck was swept away; and, as our only +chance of safety, we took to the main-rigging. This was about seven +o'clock in the evening. Towards morning, by reason of the continual +thumping, the mainmast began to work through the vessel, and to settle +in the sand, so that it became necessary for us to make our way to the +fore-rigging; which we did, not without danger, as one of the men was +twice washed off. + +About a quarter of a mile inside was a small, low island, on which lay +five boats, each manned by five men, who had come down to our +assistance; but the surf was so high that they did not venture to +approach us; so we remained clinging with difficulty to the rigging till +about half-past one, when the schooner went to pieces. The mast to which +we were clinging fell, and we were precipitated into the raging surf, +which swept us onward towards the island already mentioned. The men +there, anticipating what had happened, had prepared for its occurrence; +and the best swimmers, with ropes tied round their waists, the other end +of which was held by those on shore, plunged in to our assistance. One +of our unfortunate company was drowned,--the rest of us came safely to +the shore; but we lost everything except the clothes we stood in. The +fragments saved from the wreck were sold at auction for two hundred +dollars. The people of that neighborhood treated us with great kindness, +and we presently took the packet for Elizabeth city, whence I proceeded +to Norfolk, Baltimore, and so home. + +I had made up my mind to go to sea no more; but, after remaining on +shore for three weeks, and not finding anything else to do, as it was +necessary for me to have the means of supporting my increasing family, I +took the command of another vessel, belonging to the same owners, the +sloop Joseph B. While in this vessel, my voyages were to the eastward. I +was engaged in the flour-trade, in conjunction with the owners of the +vessel. We bought flour and grain on a sixty days' credit, which I +carried to the Kennebec, Portsmouth, Boston, New Bedford, and other +eastern ports, calculating upon the returns of the voyage to take up our +notes. I was so successful in this business as finally to become the +owner of the Joseph B., which vessel I exchanged away at Portsmouth for +the Sophronia, a top-sail schooner of one hundred and sixty tons, worth +about fourteen hundred dollars. In this vessel I made two trips to +Boston,--one with coal, and the other with timber. Having unloaded my +timber, I took in a hundred tons of plaster, purchased on my own +account, intending to dispose of it in the Susquehanna. But on the +passage I encountered a heavy storm, which blew the masts out of the +vessel, and drove her ashore on the south side of Long Island. We saved +our lives; but I lost everything except one hundred and sixty dollars, +for which I sold what was left of the vessel and cargo. + +Having returned to my family, with but little disposition to try my +fortune again in the coasting-trade, one day, being in the horse-market, +I purchased a horse and wagon; and, taking in my wife and some of the +younger children, I went to pay a visit to the neighborhood in which I +was born. Here I traded for half of a bay-craft, of about sixty tons +burden, in which I engaged in the oyster-trade, and other small +bay-traffic. Having met at Baltimore the owner of the other half, I +bought him out also. The whole craft stood me in about seven hundred +dollars. I then purchased three hundred bushels of potatoes, with which +I sailed for Fredericksburg, in Virginia; but this proved a losing trip, +the potatoes not selling for what they cost me. At Fredericksburg I took +in flour on freight for Norfolk; but my ill-luck still pursued me. In +unloading the vessel, the cargo forward being first taken out, she +settled by the stern and sprang a leak, damaging fifteen barrels of +flour, which were thrown upon my hands. I then sailed for the eastern +shore of Virginia, and at a place called Cherrystone traded off my +damaged flour for a cargo of pears, with which I sailed for New York. I +proceeded safely as far as Barnegat, when I encountered a north-east +storm, which drove me back into the Delaware, obliging me to seek refuge +in the same Maurice river from which I had commenced my sea-faring life +in the wood business. But by this time the pears were spoiled, and I was +obliged to throw them overboard. At Cherrystone I had met the owner of a +pilot-boat, who had seemed disposed to trade with me for my vessel; and +I now returned to that place, and completed the trade; after which I +loaded the pilot-boat with oysters and terrapins, and sailed for +Philadelphia. This boat was an excellent sailer, but too sharp, and not +of burden enough for my business; and I soon exchanged her for half a +little sloop, in which I carried a load of water-melons to Baltimore. + +By this time I was pretty well sick of the water; and, having hired out +the sloop, I set up a shop, at Philadelphia, for the purchase and sale +of junk, old iron, &c. &c. But, after continuing in this business for +about two years,--my health being bad, and the doctor having advised me +to try the water again,--I bought half of another sloop, and engaged in +trading up and down Chesapeake Bay. Returning home, towards the close of +the season, with the proceeds of the summer's business, I encountered, +in the upper part of Chesapeake Bay, a terrible snow-storm which proved +fatal to many vessels then in the bay. In attempting to make a harbor, +the vessel struck the ground, and knocked off her rudder; and, in order +to get her off, we were obliged to throw over the deck-load. We drifted +about all day, it still blowing and snowing, and at night let go both +anchors. So we lay for a night and a day; but, having neither boat, +rudder nor provisions, I was finally obliged to slip the anchors and run +ashore. I sold my half of her, as she lay, for ninety dollars, which was +all that remained to me of my investment and my summer's work. + +Not having the means to purchase a boat, my health also continuing quite +infirm, the next summer I hired one, and continued the same trade up and +down the bay which I had followed the previous summer. + +My trading up and down the bay, in the way which I have described, of +course brought me a good deal into contact with the slave population. No +sooner, indeed, does a vessel, known to be from the north, anchor in any +of these waters--and the slaves are pretty adroit in ascertaining from +what state a vessel comes--than she is boarded, if she remains any +length of time, and especially over night, by more or less of them, in +hopes of obtaining a passage in her to a land of freedom. During my +earlier voyagings, several years before, in Chesapeake Bay, I had turned +a deaf ear to all these requests. At that time, according to an idea +still common enough, I had regarded the negroes as only fit to be +slaves, and had not been inclined to pay much attention to the pitiful +tales which they told me of ill-treatment by their masters and +mistresses. But my views upon this subject had undergone a gradual +change. I knew it was asserted in the Declaration of Independence that +all men are born free and equal, and I had read in the Bible that God +had made of one flesh all the nations of the earth. I had found out, by +intercourse with the negroes, that they had the same desires, wishes and +hopes, as myself. I knew very well that I should not like to be a slave +even to the best of masters, and still less to such sort of masters as +the greater part of the slaves seemed to have. The idea of having first +one child and then another taken from me, as fast as they grew large +enough, and handed over to the slave-traders, to be carried I knew not +where, and sold, if they were girls, I knew not for what purposes, would +have been horrible enough; and, from instances which came to my notice, +I perceived that it was not less horrible and distressing to the parties +concerned in the case of black people than of white ones. I had never +read any abolition books, nor heard any abolition lectures. I had +frequented only Methodist meetings, and nothing was heard there about +slavery. But, for the life of me, I could not perceive why the golden +rule of doing to others as you would wish them to do to you did not +apply to this case. Had I been a slave myself,--and it is not a great +while since the Algerines used to make slaves of our sailors, white as +well as black,--I should have thought it very right and proper in +anybody who would have ventured to assist me in escaping out of bondage; +and the more dangerous it might have been to render such assistance, +the more meritorious I should have thought the act to be. Why had not +these black people, so anxious to escape from their masters, as good a +light to their liberty as I had to mine? + +I know it is sometimes said, by those who defend slavery or apologize +for it, that the slaves at the south are very happy and contented, if +left to themselves, and that this idea of running away is only put into +their heads by mischievous white people from the north. This will do +very well for those who know nothing of the matter personally, and who +are anxious to listen to any excuse. But there is not a waterman who +ever sailed in Chesapeake Bay who will not tell you that, so far from +the slaves needing any prompting to run away, the difficulty is, when +they ask you to assist them, to make them take no for an answer. I have +known instances where men have lain in the woods for a year or two, +waiting for an opportunity to escape on board some vessel. On one of my +voyages up the Potomac, an application was made to me on behalf of such +a runaway; and I was so much moved by his story, that, had it been +practicable for me at that time, I should certainly have helped him off. +One or two attempts I did make to assist the flight of some of those who +sought my assistance; but none with success, till the summer of 1847, +which is the period to which I have brought down my narrative. + +I was employed during that summer, as I have mentioned already in +trading up and down the Chesapeake, in a hired boat, a small black boy +being my only assistant. Among other trips, I went to Washington with a +cargo of oysters. While I was lying there, at the same wharf, as it +happened, from which the Pearl afterwards took her departure, a colored +man came on board, and, observing that I seemed to be from the north, he +said he supposed we were pretty much all abolitionists there. I don't +know where he got this piece of information, but I think it likely from +some southern member of Congress. As I did not check him, but rather +encouraged him to go on, he finally told me that he wanted to get +passage to the north for a woman and five children. The husband of the +woman, and father of the children, was a free colored man; and the +woman, under an agreement with her master, had already more than paid +for her liberty; but, when she had asked him for a settlement, he had +only answered by threatening to sell her. He begged me to see the woman, +which I did; and finally I made an arrangement to take them away. Their +bedding, and other things, were sent down on board the vessel in open +day, and at night the woman came on board with her five children and a +niece. We were ten days in reaching Frenchtown, where the husband was in +waiting for them. He took them under his charge, and I saw them no more; +but, since my release from imprisonment in Washington, I have heard that +the whole family are comfortably established in a free country, and +doing well. + +Having accomplished this exploit,--and was it not something of an +exploit to bestow the invaluable gift of liberty upon seven of one's +fellow-creatures--the season being now far advanced, I gave up the boat +to the owner, and returned to my family at Philadelphia. In the course +of the following month of February, I received a note from a person whom +I had never known or heard of before, desiring me to call at a certain +place named in it. I did so, when it appeared that I had been heard of +through the colored family which I had brought off from Washington. A +letter from that city was read to me, relating the case of a family or +two who expected daily and hourly to be sold, and desiring assistance to +get them away. It was proposed to me to undertake this enterprise; but I +declined it at this time, as I had no vessel, and because the season was +too early for navigation through the canal. I saw the same person again +about a fortnight later, and finally arranged to go on to Washington, to +see what could be done. There I agreed to return again so soon as I +could find a vessel fit for the enterprise. I spoke with several persons +of my acquaintance, who had vessels under their control; but they +declined, on account of the danger. They did not appear to have any +other objection, and seemed to wish me success. Passing along the +street, I met Captain Sayres, and knowing that he was sailing a small +bay-craft, called the Pearl, and learning from him that business was +dull with him, I proposed the enterprise to him, offering him one +hundred dollars for the charter of his vessel to Washington and back to +Frenchtown where, according to the arrangement with the friends of the +passengers, they were to be met and carried to Philadelphia. This was +considerably more than the vessel could earn in any ordinary trip of the +like duration, and Sayres closed with the offer. He fully understood the +nature of the enterprise. By our bargain, I was to have, as supercargo, +the control of the vessel so far as related to her freight, and was to +bring away from Washington such passengers as I chose to receive on +board; but the control of the vessel in other respects remained with +him. Captain Sayres engaged in this enterprise merely as a matter of +business. I, too, was to be paid for my time and trouble,--an offer +which the low state of my pecuniary affairs, and the necessity of +supporting my family, did not allow me to decline. But this was not, by +any means, my sole or principal motive. I undertook it out of sympathy +for the enslaved, and from my desire to do something to further the +cause of universal liberty. Such being the different ground upon which +Sayres and myself stood, I did not think it necessary or expedient to +communicate to him the names of the persons with whom the expedition had +originated; and, at my suggestion, those persons abstained from any +direct communication with him, either at Philadelphia or Washington. +Sayres had, as cook and sailor, on board the Pearl, a young man named +Chester English. He was married, and had a child or two, but was himself +as inexperienced as a child, having never been more than thirty miles +from the place where he was born. I remonstrated with Sayres against +taking this young man with us. But English, pleased with the idea of +seeing Washington, desired to go; and Sayres, who had engaged him for +the season, did not like to part with him. He went with us, but was kept +in total ignorance of the real object of the voyage. He had the idea +that we were going to Washington for a load of ship-timber. + +We proceeded down the Delaware, and by the canal into the Chesapeake, +making for the mouth of the Potomac. As we ascended that river we +stopped at a place called Machudock, where I purchased, by way of cargo +and cover to the voyage, twenty cords of wood; and with that freight on +board we proceeded to Washington, where we arrived on the evening of +Thursday, the 13th of April, 1848. + +As it happened, we found that city in a great state of excitement on the +subject of emancipation, liberty and the rights of man. A grand +torch-light procession was on foot, in honor of the new French +revolution, the expulsion of Louis-Philippe, and the establishment of a +republic in France. Bonfires were blazing in the public squares, and a +great out-door meeting was being held in front of the _Union_ newspaper +office, at which very enthusiastic and exciting speeches were delivered, +principally by southern democratic members of Congress, which body was +at that time in session. A full account of these proceedings, with +reports of the speeches, was given in the _Union_ of the next day. +According to this report, Mr. Foote, the senator from Mississippi, +extolled the French revolution as holding out "to the whole family of +man a bright promise of the universal establishment of civil and +religious liberty." He declared, in the same speech, "that the age of +tyrants and of slavery was rapidly drawing to a close, and that the +happy period to be signalized by the _universal emancipation_ of man +from the fetters of civic oppression, and the recognition in all +countries of the great principles of popular sovereignty, equality and +brotherhood, was at this moment visibly commencing." Mr. Stanton, of +Tennessee, and others, spoke in a strain equally fervid and +philanthropic. I am obliged to refer to the _Union_ newspaper for an +account of these speeches, as I did not hear them myself. I came to +Washington, not to preach, nor to hear preached, emancipation, equality +and brotherhood, but to put them into practice. Sayres and English went +up to see the procession and hear the speeches. I had other things to +attend to. + +The news of my arrival soon spread among those who had been expecting +it, though I neither saw nor had any direct communication with any of +those who were to be my passengers. I had some difficulty in disposing +of my wood, which was not a very first-rate article, but finally sold +it, taking in payment the purchaser's note on sixty days, which I +changed off for half cash and half provisions. As the trader to whom I +passed the note had no hard bread, Sayres and myself went in the steamer +to Alexandria to purchase a barrel,--a circumstance of which it was +afterwards attempted to take advantage against us. + +It was arranged that the passengers should come on board after dark on +Saturday evening, and that we should sail about midnight. I had +understood that the expedition, had principally originated in the desire +to help off a certain family, consisting of a woman, nine children and +two grand-children, who were believed to be legally entitled to their +liberty. Their case had been in litigation for some time; but, although +they had a very good case,--the lawyer whom they employed (Mr. Bradley, +one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the district) +testified, in the course of one of my trials, that he believed them to +be legally free,--yet, as their money was nearly exhausted, and as there +seemed to be no end to the law's delay and the pertinacity of the woman +who claimed them, it was deemed best by their friends that they should +get away if they could, lest she might seize them unawares, and sell +them to some trader. In speaking of this case, the person with whom I +communicated at Washington informed me that there were also quite a +number of others who wished to avail themselves of this opportunity of +escaping, and that the number of passengers was likely to be larger than +had at first been calculated upon. To which I replied, that I did not +stand about the number; that all who were on board before eleven o'clock +I should take,--the others would have to remain behind. + +Saturday evening, at supper, I let English a little into the secret of +what I intended. I told him that the sort of ship-timber we were going +to take would prove very easy to load and unload; that a number of +colored people wished to take passage with us down the bay, and that, as +Sayres and myself would be away the greater part of the evening, all he +had to do was, as fast as they came on board, to lift up the hatch and +let them pass into the hold, shutting the hatch down upon them. The +vessel, which we had moved down the river since unloading the wood, lay +at a rather lonely place, called White-house Wharf, from a +whitish-colored building which stood upon it. The high bank of the +river, under which a road passed, afforded a cover to the wharf, and +there were only a few scattered buildings in the vicinity. Towards the +town there stretched a wide extent of open fields. Anxious, as might +naturally be expected, as to the result, I kept in the vicinity to watch +the progress of events. There was another small vessel that lay across +the head of the same wharf, but her crew were all black; and, going on +board her just at dusk, I informed the skipper of my business, +intimating to him, at the same time, that it would be a dangerous thing +for him to betray me. He assured me that I need have no fears of +him--that the other men would soon leave the vessel, not to return again +till Monday, and that, for himself, he should go below and to sleep, so +as neither to hear nor to see anything. + +Shortly after dark the expected passengers began to arrive, coming +stealthily across the fields, and gliding silently on board the vessel. +I observed a man near a neighboring brick-kiln, who seemed to be +watching them. I went towards him, and found him to be black. He told +me that he understood what was going on, but that I need have no +apprehension of him. Two white men, who walked along the road past the +vessel, and who presently returned back the same way, occasioned me some +alarm; but they seemed to have no suspicions of what was on foot, as I +saw no more of them. I went on board the vessel several times in the +course of the evening, and learned from English that the hold was fast +filling up. I had promised him, in consideration of the unusual nature +of the business we were engaged in, ten dollars as a gratuity, in +addition to his wages. + +Something past ten o'clock, I went on board, and directed English to +cast off the fastenings and to get ready to make sail. Pretty soon +Sayres came on board. It was a dead calm, and we were obliged to get the +boat out to get the vessel's head round. After dropping down a half a +mile or so, we encountered the tide making up the river; and, as there +was still no wind, we were obliged to anchor. Here we lay in a dead calm +till about daylight. The wind then began to breeze up lightly from the +northward, when we got up the anchor and made sail. As the sun rose, we +passed Alexandria. I then went into the hold for the first time, and +there found my passengers pretty thickly stowed. I distributed bread +among them, and knocked down the bulkhead between the hold and the +cabin, in order that they might get into the cabin to cook. They +consisted of men and women, in pretty equal proportions, with a number +of boys and girls, and two small children. The wind kept increasing and +hauling to the westward. Off Fort Washington we had to make two +stretches, but the rest of the way we run before the wind. + +Shortly after dinner, we passed the steamer from Baltimore for +Washington, bound up. I thought the passengers on board took particular +notice of us; but the number of vessels met with in a passage up the +Potomac at that season is so few, as to make one, at least for the idle +passengers of a steamboat, an object of some curiosity. Just before +sunset, we passed a schooner loaded with plaster, bound up. As we +approached the mouth of the Potomac, the wind hauled to the north, and +blew with such stiffness as would make it impossible for us to go up the +bay, according to our original plan. Under these circumstances, +apprehending a pursuit from Washington, I urged Sayres to go to sea, +with the intention of reaching the Delaware by the outside passage. But +he objected that the vessel was not fit to go outside (which was true +enough), and that the bargain was to go to Frenchtown. Having reached +Point Lookout, at the mouth of the river, and not being able to persuade +Sayres to go to sea, and the wind being dead in our teeth, and too +strong to allow any attempt to ascend the bay, we came to anchor in +Cornfield harbor, just under Point Lookout, a shelter usually sought by +bay-craft encountering contrary winds when in that neighborhood. + +We were all sleepy with being up all the night before, and, soon after +dropping anchor, we all turned in. I knew nothing more till, waking +suddenly, I heard the noise of a steamer blowing off steam alongside of +us. I knew at once that we were taken. The black men came to the cabin, +and asked if they should fight. I told them no; we had no arms, nor was +there the least possibility of a successful resistance. The loud shouts +and trampling of many feet overhead proved that our assailants were +numerous. One of them lifted the hatch a little, and cried out, +"Niggers, by G--d!" an exclamation to which the others responded with +three cheers, and by banging the buts of their muskets against the deck. +A lantern was called for, to read the name of the vessel; and it being +ascertained to be the Pearl, a number of men came to the cabin-door, and +called for Captain Drayton. I was in no great hurry to stir; but at +length rose from my berth, saying that I considered myself their +prisoner, and that I expected to be treated as such. While I was +dressing, rather too slowly for the impatience of those outside, a +sentinel, who had been stationed at the cabin-door, followed every +motion of mine with his gun, which he kept pointed at me, in great +apprehension, apparently, lest I should suddenly seize some dangerous +weapon and make at him. As I came out of the cabin-door, two of them +seized me, took me on board the steamer and tied me; and they did the +same with Sayres and English, who were brought on board, one after the +other. The black people were left on board the Pearl, which the steamer +took in tow, and then proceeded up the river. + +To explain this sudden change in our situation, it is necessary to go +back to Washington. Great was the consternation in several families of +that city, on Sunday morning, to find no breakfast, and, what was worse, +their servants missing. Nor was this disaster confined to Washington +only. Georgetown came in for a considerable share of it, and even +Alexandria, on the opposite side of the river, had not entirely escaped. +The persons who had taken passage on board the Pearl had been held in +bondage by no less than forty-one different persons. Great was the +wonder at the sudden and simultaneous disappearance of so many "prime +hands," roughly estimated, though probably with considerable +exaggeration, as worth in the market not less than a hundred thousand +dollars,--and all at "one fell swoop" too, as the District Attorney +afterwards, in arguing the case against me, pathetically expressed it! +There were a great many guesses and conjectures as to where these people +had gone, and how they had gone; but it is very doubtful whether the +losers would have got upon the right track, had it not been for the +treachery of a colored hackman, who had been employed to carry down to +the vessel two passengers who had been in hiding for some weeks +previous, and who could not safely walk down, lest they might be met and +recognized. Emulating the example of that large, and, in their own +opinion at least, highly moral, religious and respectable class of white +people, known as "dough-faces," this hackman thought it a fine +opportunity to feather his nest by playing cat's-paw to the +slave-holders. Seeing how much the information was in demand, and +anticipating, no doubt, a large reward, he turned informer, and +described the Pearl as the conveyance which the fugitives had taken; +and, it being ascertained that the Pearl had actually sailed between +Saturday night and Sunday morning, preparations were soon made to pursue +her. A Mr. Dodge, of Georgetown, a wealthy old gentleman, originally +from New England, missed three or four slaves from his family, and a +small steamboat, of which he was the proprietor, was readily obtained. +Thirty-five men, including a son or two of old Dodge, and several of +those whose slaves were missing, volunteered to man her; and they set +out about Sunday noon, armed to the teeth with guns, pistols, +bowie-knives, &c., and well provided with brandy and other liquors. They +heard of us on the passage down, from the Baltimore steamer and the +vessel loaded with plaster. They reached the mouth of the river, and, +not having found the Pearl, were about to return, as the steamer could +not proceed into the bay without forfeiting her insurance. As a last +chance, they looked into Cornfield harbor, where they found us, as I +have related. This was about two o'clock in the morning. The Pearl had +come to anchor about nine o'clock the previous evening. It is a hundred +and forty miles from Washington to Cornfield harbor. + +The steamer, with the Pearl in tow, crossed over from Point Lookout to +Piney Point, on the south shore of the Potomac, and here the Pearl was +left at anchor, a part of the steamer's company remaining to guard her, +while the steamer, having myself and the other white prisoners on board, +proceeded up Coan river for a supply of wood, having obtained which, she +again, about noon of Monday, took the Pearl in tow and started for +Washington. + +The bearing, manner and aspect of the thirty-five armed persons by whom +we had been thus seized and bound, without the slightest shadow of +lawful authority, was sufficient to inspire a good deal of alarm. We had +been lying quietly at anchor in a harbor of Maryland; and, although the +owners of the slaves might have had a legal right to pursue and take +them back, what warrant or authority had they for seizing us and our +vessel? They could have brought none from the District of Columbia, +whose officers had no jurisdiction or authority in Cornfield harbor; nor +did they pretend to have any from the State of Maryland. Some of them +showed a good deal of excitement, and evinced a disposition to proceed +to lynch us at once. A man named Houver, who claimed as his property two +of the boys passengers on board the Pearl, put me some questions in a +very insolent tone; to which I replied, that I considered myself a +prisoner, and did not wish to answer any questions; whereupon one of the +bystanders, flourishing a dirk in my face, exclaimed, "If I was in his +place, I'd put this through you!" At Piney Point, one of the company +proposed to hang me up to the yard-arm, and make me confess; but the +more influential of those on board were not ready for any such +violence, though all were exceedingly anxious to get out of me the +history of the expedition, and who my employers were. That I had +employers, and persons of note too, was taken for granted on all hands; +nor did I think it worth my while to contradict it, though I declined +steadily to give any information on that point. Sayres and English very +readily told all that they knew. English, especially, was in a great +state of alarm, and cried most bitterly. I pitied him much, besides +feeling some compunctions at getting him thus into difficulty; and, upon +the representations which I made, that he came to Washington in perfect +ignorance of the object of the expedition, he was finally untied. As +Sayres was obliged to admit that he came to Washington to take away +colored passengers, he was not regarded with so much favor. But it was +evidently me whom they looked upon as the chief culprit, alone +possessing a knowledge of the history and origin of the expedition, +which they were so anxious to unravel. They accordingly went to work +very artfully to worm this secret out of me. I was placed in charge of +one Orme, a police-officer of Georgetown, whose manner towards me was +such as to inspire me with a certain confidence in him; who, as it +afterwards appeared from his testimony on the trial, carefully took +minutes--but, as it proved, very confused and incorrect ones--of all +that I said, hoping thus to secure something that might turn out to my +disadvantage. Another person, with whom I had a good deal of +conversation, and who was afterwards produced as a witness against me, +was William H. Craig, in my opinion a much more conscientious person +than Orme, who seemed to think that it was part of his duty, as a +police-officer, to testify to something, at all hazards, to help on a +conviction. But this is a subject to which I shall have occasion to +return presently. + +In one particular, at least, the testimony of both these witnesses was +correct enough. They both testified to my expressing pretty serious +apprehensions of what the result to myself was likely to be. What the +particular provisions were, in the District of Columbia, as to helping +slaves to escape, I did not know; but I had heard that, in some of the +slave-states, they were very severe; in fact, I was assured by Craig +that I had committed the highest crime, next to murder, known in their +laws. Under these circumstances, I made up my mind that the least +penalty I should be apt to escape with was confinement in the +penitentiary for life; and it is quite probable that I endeavored to +console myself, as these witnesses testified, with the idea that, after +all, it might, in a religious point of view, be all for the best, as I +should thus be removed from temptation, and have ample time for +reflection and repentance. But my apprehensions were by no means limited +to what I might suffer under the forms of law. From the temper exhibited +by some of my captors, and from the vindictive fury with which the idea +of enabling the enslaved to regain their liberty was, I knew, generally +regarded at the south, I apprehended more sudden and summary +proceedings; and what happened afterwards at Washington proved that +these apprehensions were not wholly unfounded. The idea of being torn in +pieces by a furious mob was exceedingly disagreeable. Many men, who +might not fear death, might yet not choose to meet it in that shape. I +called to mind the apology of the Methodist minister, who, just after a +declaration of his that he was not afraid to die, ran away from a +furious bull that attacked him,--"that, though not fearing death, he did +not like to be torn in pieces by a mad bull." I related this anecdote to +Craig, and, as he testified on the trial, expressed my preference to be +taken on the deck of the steamer and shot at once, rather than to be +given up to a Washington mob to be baited and murdered. I talked pretty +freely with Orme and Craig about myself, the circumstances under which I +had undertaken this enterprise, my motives to it, my family, my past +misfortunes, and the fate that probably awaited me; but they failed to +extract from me, what they seemed chiefly to desire, any information +which would implicate others. Orme told me, as he afterwards testified, +that what the people in the District wanted was the principals; and +that, if I would give information that would lead to them, the owners of +the slaves would let me go, or sign a petition for my pardon. Craig also +made various inquiries tending to the same point. Though I was firmly +resolved not to yield in this particular, yet I was desirous to do all I +could to soften the feeling against me; and it was doubtless this +desire which led me to make the statements sworn to by Orme and Craig, +that I had no connection with the persons called abolitionists,--which +was true enough; that I had formerly refused large offers made me by +slaves to carry them away; and that, in the present instance, I was +employed by others, and was to be paid for my services. + +On arriving off Fort Washington, the steamer anchored for the night, as +the captors preferred to make their triumphant entry into the city by +daylight. Sayres and myself were watched during the night by a regular +guard of two men, armed with muskets, who were relieved from time to +time. Before getting under weigh again,--which they did about seven +o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 18,--Sayres and myself were tied +together arm-and-arm, and the black people also, two-and-two, with the +other arm bound behind their backs. As we passed Alexandria, we were all +ordered on deck, and exhibited to the mob collected on the wharves to +get a sight of us, who signified their satisfaction by three cheers. +When we landed at the steamboat-wharf in Washington, which is a mile and +more from Pennsylvania Avenue, and in a remote part of the city, but few +people had yet assembled. We were marched up in a long procession, +Sayres and myself being placed at the head of it, guarded by a man on +each side; English following next, and then the negroes. As we went +along, the mob began to increase; and, as we passed Gannon's slave-pen, +that slave-trader, armed with a knife, rushed out, and, with horrid +imprecations, made a pass at me, which was very near finding its way +through my body. Instead of being arrested, as he ought to have been, +this slave-dealer was politely informed that I was in the hands of the +law, to which he replied, "D--n the law!--I have three negroes, and I +will give them all for one thrust at this d--d scoundrel!" and he +followed along, waiting his opportunity to repeat the blow. The crowd, +by this time, was greatly increased. We met an immense mob of several +thousand persons coming down Four-and-a-half street, with the avowed +intention of carrying us up before the capitol, and making an exhibition +of us there. The noise and confusion was very great. It seemed as if the +time for the lynching had come. When almost up to Pennsylvania Avenue, a +rush was made upon us,--"Lynch them! lynch them! the d--n villains!" and +other such cries, resounded on all sides. Those who had us in charge +were greatly alarmed; and, seeing no other way to keep us from the hands +of the mob, they procured a hack, and put Sayres and myself into it. The +hack drove to the jail, the mob continuing to follow, repeating their +shouts and threats. Several thousand people surrounded the jail, filling +up the enclosure about it. + +Our captors had become satisfied, from the statements made by Sayres and +myself, and from his own statements and conduct, that the participation +of English in the affair was not of a sort that required any punishment; +and when the mob made the rush upon us, the persons having him in charge +had let him go, with the intention that he should escape. After a while +he had found his way back to the steamboat wharf; but the steamer was +gone. Alone in a strange place, and not knowing what to do, he told his +story to somebody whom he met, who put him in a hack and sent him up to +the jail. It was a pity he lacked the enterprise to take care of himself +when set at liberty, as it cost him four months' imprisonment and his +friends some money. I ought to have mentioned before that, on arriving +within the waters of the District, Sayres and myself had been examined +before a justice of the peace, who was one of the captors; and who had +acted as their leader. He had made out a commitment against us, but none +against English; so that the persons who had him in charge were right +enough in letting him go. + +Sayres and myself were at first put into the same cell, but, towards +night, we were separated. A person named Goddard, connected with the +police, came to examine us. He went to Sayres first. He then came to me, +when I told him that, as I supposed he had got the whole story out of +Sayres, and as it was not best that two stories should be told, I would +say nothing. Goddard then took from me my money. One of the keepers +threw me in two thin blankets, and I was left to sleep as I could. The +accommodations were not of the most luxurious kind. The cell had a stone +floor, which, with the help of a blanket, was to serve also for a bed. +There was neither chair, table, stool, nor any individual piece of +furniture of any kind, except a night-bucket and a water-can. I was +refused my overcoat and valise, and had nothing but my water-can to make +a pillow of. With such a pillow, and the bare stone floor for my bed, +looked upon by all whom I saw with apparent abhorrence and terror,--as +much so, to all appearance, as if I had been a murderer, or taken in +some other desperate crime,--remembering the execrations which the mob +had belched forth against me, and uncertain whether a person would be +found to express the least sympathy for me (which might not, in the +existing state of the public feeling, be safe), it may be imagined that +my slumbers were not very sound. + +Meanwhile the rage of the mob had taken, for the moment, another +direction. I had heard it said, while we were coming up in the +steamboat, that the abolition press must be stopped; and the mob +accordingly, as the night came on, gathered about the office of the +_National Era_, with threats to destroy it. Some little mischief was +done; but the property-holders in the city, well aware how dependent +Washington is upon the liberality of Congress, were unwilling that +anything should occur to place the District in bad odor at the north. +Some of them, also, it is but justice to believe, could not entirely +give in to the slave-holding doctrine and practice of suppressing free +discussion by force; and, by their efforts, seconded by a drenching +storm of rain, that came on between nine and ten o'clock, the mob were +persuaded to disperse for the present. The jail was guarded that night +by a strong body of police, serious apprehensions being entertained, +lest the mob, instigated by the violence of many southern members of +Congress, should break in and lynch us. Great apprehension, also, seemed +to be felt at the jail, lest we might be rescued; and we were subject, +during the night, to frequent examinations, to see that all was safe. +Great was the terror, as well as the rage, which the abolitionists +appeared to inspire. They seemed to be thought capable, if not very +narrowly watched, of taking us off through the roof, or the stone floor, +or out of the iron-barred doors; and, from the half-frightened looks +which the keepers gave me from time to time, I could plainly enough read +their thoughts,--that a fellow who had ventured on such an enterprise as +that of the Pearl was desperate and daring enough to attempt anything. +For a poor prisoner like me, so much in the power of his captors, and +without the slightest means, hopes, or even thoughts of escape, it was +some little satisfaction to observe the awe and terror which he +inspired. + +Of the prison fare I shall have more to say, by and by. It is sufficient +to state here that it was about on a par with the sleeping +accommodations, and hardly of a sort to give a man in my situation the +necessary physical vigor. However, I thought little of this at that +moment, as I was too sick and excited to feel much disposition to eat. + +The Washington prison is a large three-story stone building, the front +part of the lower story of which is occupied by the guard-room, or +jail-office, and by the kitchen and sleeping apartments for the keepers. +The back part, shut off from the front by strong grated doors, has a +winding stone stair-case, ascending in the middle, on each side of +which, on each of the three stories, are passage-ways, also shut off +from the stair-case, by grated iron doors. The back wall of the jail +forms one side of these passages, which are lighted by grated windows. +On the other side are the cells, also with grated iron doors, and +receiving their light and air entirely from the passages. The passages +themselves have no ventilation except through the doors and windows, +which answer that purpose very imperfectly. The front second story, over +the guard-room, contains the cells for the female prisoners. The front +third story is the debtors' apartment. + +The usage of the jail always has been--except in cases of +insubordination or attempted escape, when locking up in the cells by +day, as well as by night, has been resorted to as a punishment--to allow +the prisoners, during the day-time, the use of the passages, for the +benefit of light, air and exercise. Indeed, it is hard to conceive a +more cruel punishment than to keep a man locked up all the time in one +of these half-lighted, unventilated cells. On the morning of the second +day of our confinement, we too were let out into the passage. But we +were soon put back again, and not only into separate cells, but into +separate passages, so as to be entirely cut off from any communication +with each other. It was a long time before we were able to regain the +privilege of the passage. But, for the present, I shall pass over the +internal economy and administration of the prison, and my treatment in +it, intending, further on, to give a general sketch of that subject. + +About nine or ten o'clock, Mr. Giddings, the member of Congress from +Ohio, came to see us. There was some disposition, I understood, not to +allow him to enter the jail; but Mr. Giddings is a man not easily +repulsed, and there is nobody of whom the good people at Washington, +especially the office-holders, who make up so large a part of the +population, stand so much in awe as a member of Congress; especially a +member of Mr. Giddings' well-known fearless determination. He was +allowed to come in, bringing another person with him, but was followed +into the jail by a crowd of ruffians, who compelled the turnkey to admit +them into the passage, and who vented their rage in execration and +threats. Mr. Giddings said that he had understood we were here in jail +without counsel or friends, and that he had come to let us know that we +should not want for either; and he introduced the person he had brought +with him as one who was willing to act temporarily as our counsel. Not +long after, Mr. David A. Hall, a lawyer of the District, came to offer +his services to us in the same way. Key, the United States Attorney for +the District, and who, as such, had charge of the proceedings against +us, was there at the same time. He advised Mr. Hall to leave the jail +and go home immediately, as the people outside were furious, and he ran +the risk of his life. To which Mr. Hall replied that things had come to +a pretty pass, if a man's counsel was not to have the privilege of +talking with him. "Poor devils!" said the District Attorney, as he went +out, "I pity them,--they are to be made scape-goats for others!" Yet the +rancor, and virulence, and fierce pertinacity with which this Key +afterwards pursued me, did not look much like pity. No doubt he was a +good deal irritated at his ill success in getting any information out of +me. + +The seventy-six passengers found on board the Pearl had been committed +to the jail as runaways, and Mr. Giddings, on going up to the House, by +way of warning, I suppose, to the slave-holders, that they were not to +be allowed to have everything their own way, moved an inquiry into the +circumstances under which seventy-six persons were held prisoners in the +District jail, merely for attempting to vindicate their inalienable +rights. Mr. Hale also, in the Senate, in consequence of the threats held +out to destroy the _Era_ office, and to put a stop to the publication of +that paper, moved a resolution of inquiry into the necessity of +additional laws for the protection of property in the District. The fury +which these movements excited in the minds of the slave-holders found +expression in the editorial columns of the Washington _Union_, in an +article which I have inserted below, as forming a curious contrast to +the exultations of that print, only a week before, and to which I have +had occasion already to refer, over the spread of the principles of +liberty and universal emancipation. The violent attack upon Mr. +Giddings, because he had visited us three poor prisoners in jail, and +offered us the assistance of counsel,--as if the vilest criminals were +not entitled to have counsel to defend them,--is well worthy of notice. +The following is the article referred to. + + THE ABOLITION INCENDIARIES. + + + Those two abolition incendiaries (Giddings and Hale) + threw firebrands yesterday into the two houses of + Congress. The western abolitionist moved a resolution of + inquiry into the transactions now passing in Washington, + which brought on a fierce and fiery debate on the part + of the southern members, in the course of which Mr. + Giddings _was compelled to confess_, on the + cross-questioning of Messrs. Venable and Haskell, _that + he had visited the three piratical kidnappers now + confined in jail, and offered them counsel_. The reply + of Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, was scorching to an intense + degree. + + The abolitionist John P. Hale threw a firebrand + resolution into the Senate, calling for additional laws + to compel this city to prevent riots. This also gave + rise to a long and excited debate. + + No question was taken, in either house, before they + adjourned. But, in the progress of the discussion in + both houses, some doctrines were uttered which are + calculated to startle the friends of the Union. Giddings + justified the kidnappers, and contended that, though the + act was legally forbidden, it was not morally wrong! Mr. + Toombs brought home the practical consequences of this + doctrine to the member from Ohio in a most impressive + manner. + + Hale, of the Senate, whilst he was willing to protect + the abolitionist, expressed himself willing to relax the + laws and weaken the protection which is given to the + slave property in this district! Mr. Davis, of + Massachusetts, held the strange doctrine, that while he + would not disturb the rights of the slave-holders, he + would not cease to discuss those rights! As if Congress + ought to discuss, or to protect a right to discuss, a + domestic institution of the Southern States, with which + they had no right to interfere! Why discuss, when they + cannot act? Why first lay down an abstract principle, + which they intend to violate in practice? + + Such fanatics as Giddings and Hale are doing more + mischief than they will be able to atone for. Their + incessant and impertinent intermeddling with the most + delicate question in our social relations is creating + the most indignant feelings in the community. The fiery + discussions they are exciting are calculated to provoke + the very riots which they deprecate. Let these madmen + forbear, if they value the tranquillity of our country, + and the stability of our Union. We conjure them to + forbear their maddened, parricidal hand. + +An article like this in the _Union_ was well calculated, and probably +was intended, to encourage and stimulate the rioters, and accordingly +they assembled that same evening in greater force than before +threatening the destruction of the _Era_ office. The publication office +of the _Era_ was not far from the Patent Office; and the dwelling-house +of Dr. Bailey, the editor, was at no great distance. The mob, taking +upon themselves the character of a meeting of citizens, appointed a +committee to wait upon Dr. Bailey, to require him to remove his press +out of the District of Columbia. Of course, as I was locked up in the +jail, trying to rest my aching head and weary limbs, with a stone floor +for a bed and a water-can for my pillow, I can have no personal +knowledge of what transpired on this occasion. But a correspondent of +the New York _Tribune_, who probably was an eye-witness, gives the +following account of the interview between the committee and Dr. Bailey: + + Clearing his throat, the leader of the committee + stretched forth his hand, and thus addressed Dr. Bailey: + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--Sir, we have been appointed as a + committee to wait upon you, by the meeting of the + citizens of Washington which has assembled this evening + to take into consideration the circumstances connected + with the late outrage upon _our_ property, and to convey + to you the result of the deliberations of that meeting. + You are aware of the excitement which now prevails. It + has assumed a most threatening aspect. This community is + satisfied that the existence of your press among us is + endangering the public peace, and they are convinced + that the public interests demand its removal. We have + therefore waited upon you for the purpose of inquiring + whether you are prepared to remove your press by ten + o'clock to-morrow morning; and we beseech you, as you + value the peace of this District, to accede to our + request. [Loud shouting heard at the Patent Office.] + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen: I do not believe you are + actuated by any unkind feelings towards me personally; + but you must be aware that you are demanding of me the + surrender of a great constitutional right,--a right + which I have used, but not abused,--in the preservation + of which you are as deeply interested as I am. How can + you ask me to abandon it, and thus become a party to my + own degradation? + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We subscribe to all that you say. But + you see the popular excitement. The consequences of your + refusal are inevitable. Now, if you can avert these + consequences by submitting to what the people request, + although unreasonable, is it not your duty, as a good + citizen, to submit? It is on account of the community we + come here, obeying the popular feeling which you hear + expressed in the distance, and which cannot be calmed, + and, but for the course we have adopted, would at this + moment be manifested in the destruction of your office. + But they have consented to wait till they hear our + report. We trust, then, that, as a good citizen, you + will respond favorably to the wish of the people. + + _Another of the Committee_.--As one of the oldest + citizens, I do assure you that it is in all kindness we + make this request. We come here to tell you that we + cannot arrest violence in any other way than by your + allowing us to say that you yield to the request of the + people. In kindness we tell you that if this thing + commences here we know not where it may end. I am for + mild measures myself. The prisoners were in my hands, + but I would not allow my men to inflict any punishment + on them. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen, I appreciate your kindness; + but I ask, is there a man among you who, standing as I + now stand, the representative of a free press, would + accede to this demand, and abandon his rights as an + American citizen? + + _One of the Committee_.--We know it is a great sacrifice + that we ask of you; but we ask it to appease popular + excitement. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me say to you that I am a peace-man. + I have taken no measures to defend my office, my house + or myself. I appeal to the good sense and intelligence + of the community, and stand upon my rights as an + American citizen, looking to the law alone for + protection. + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We have now discharged our duty. It has + come to this,--the people say it must be done, unless + you agree to go to-morrow. We now ask a categorical + answer,--Will you remove your press? + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I answer: I make no resistance, and I + cannot assent to your demand. The press is there--it is + undefended--you can do as you think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--All rests with you. We tell you + what will follow your refusal, and, if you persist, all + the responsibility must fall upon your shoulders. It is + in your power to arrest the arm that is raised to give + the blow. If you refuse to do so by a single expression, + though it might cost you much, on you be all the + consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--You demand the sacrifice of a great + right. You-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--I know it is + a hardship; but look at the consequences of your + refusal. We do not come here to express our individual + opinions. I would myself leave the District to-morrow, + if in your place. We now ask of you, Shall this be done? + We beg you will consider this matter in the light in + which we view it. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I am one man against many. But I cannot + sacrifice any right that I possess. Those who have sent + you here may do as they think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--The whole community is against + you. They say here is an evil that threatens them, and + they ask you to remove that evil. You say "No!" and of + course on your head be all the consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me remind you that we have been + recently engaged in public rejoicings. For what have we + rejoiced? Because the people in another land have + arisen and triumphed over the despot, who had + done--what? He did not demolish presses, but he + imprisoned editors. In other words, he enslaved the + press. Will you then present to America and the world-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--If we could + stop this movement, of the people, we would do it. But + you make us unable to do so. We cannot tell how far it + will go. After your press is pulled down, we do not know + where they will go next. It is your duty, in such a + case, to sacrifice your constitutional rights. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I presume, when they shall have + accomplished their object-- + + _Mr. Radcliff (interrupting)._--We advise you to be out + of the way! The people think that your press endangers + their property and their lives; and they have appointed + us to tell you so, and ask you to remove it to-morrow. + If you say that you will do so, they will retire + satisfied. If you refuse, they say they will tear it + down. Here is Mr. Boyle, a gentleman of property, and + one of our oldest residents. You see that we are united. + If you hold out and occupy your position, the men, women + and children of the District will universally rise up + against you. + + _Dr. Bailey (addressing himself to his father, a + venerable man of more than eighty years of age, who + approached the doorway and commenced remonstrating with + the committee)_.--You do not understand the matter, + father; these gentlemen are a committee appointed by a + meeting assembled in front of the Patent Office. You + need not address remonstrances to them. Gentlemen, you + appreciate my position. I cannot surrender my rights. + Were I to die for it, I cannot surrender my rights! Tell + those who sent you hither that my press and my house are + undefended--they must do as they see proper. I maintain + my rights, and make no resistance! + + The committee then retired, and Dr. Bailey reëntered his + dwelling. Meanwhile, the shouts of the mob, as they + received the reports of the committee, were reëchoed + along the streets. A fierce yell greeted the + reäppearance of Radcliff in front of the Patent Office. + He announced the result of the interview with the editor + of the _Era_. Shouts, imprecations, blasphemy, burst + from the crowd. "Down with the _Era_!" "Now for it!" + "Gut the office!" were the exclamations heard on all + sides, and the mob rushed tumultuously to + Seventh-street. + +But a body of the city police had been stationed to guard the building, +and the mob finally contented themselves with passing a resolution to +pull it down the next day at ten o'clock, if the press was not meanwhile +removed. + +That same afternoon, we three prisoners had been taken before three +justices, who held a court within the jail for our examination. Mr. Hall +appeared as our counsel. The examination was continued till the next +day, when we were, all three of us, recommitted to jail, on a charge of +stealing slaves, our bail being fixed at a thousand dollars for each +slave, or seventy-six thousand dollars for each of us. + +Meanwhile, both houses of Congress became the scenes of very warm +debates, growing out of circumstances connected with our case. In the +Senate, Mr. Hale, agreeably to the notice he had given, asked leave to +introduce a bill for the protection of property in the District of +Columbia against the violence of mobs. This bill, as was stated in the +debate, was copied, almost word for word, from a law in force in the +State of Maryland (and many other states have--and all ought to have--a +similar law), making the cities and towns liable for any property which +might be destroyed in them by mob violence. In the House the subject +came up on a question of privilege, raised by Mr. Palfrey, of +Massachusetts, who offered a resolution for the appointment of a select +committee to inquire into the currently-reported facts that a lawless +mob had assembled during the two previous nights, setting at defiance +the constituted authorities of the United States, and menacing members +of Congress and other persons. In both those bodies the debate was very +warm, as any one interested in it will find, by reading it in the +columns of the _Congressional Globe_. + +It was upon this occasion, during the debate in the Senate, that Mr. +Foote, then a senator from Mississippi, and now governor of that state, +whose speech on the French revolution has been already quoted, +threatened to join in lynching Mr. Hale, if he ever set foot in +Mississippi, whither he invited him to come for that purpose. This part +of the debate was so peculiar and so characteristic, showing so well the +spirit with which the District of Columbia was then blazing against me, +that I cannot help giving the following extract from Mr. Foote's speech, +as contained in the official report: + + "All must see that the course of the senator from New + Hampshire is calculated to embroil the confederacy--to + put in peril our free institutions--to jeopardize that + Union which our forefathers established, and which every + pure patriot throughout the country desires shall be + perpetuated. Can any man be a patriot who pursues such a + course? Is he an enlightened friend of freedom, or even + a judicious friend of those with whom he affects to + sympathize, who adopts such a course? Who does not know + that such men are, practically, the worst enemies of the + slaves? I do not beseech the gentleman to stop; but, if + he perseveres, he will awaken indignation everywhere, + and it cannot be that enlightened men, who + conscientiously belong to the faction at the north of + which he is understood to be the head, can sanction or + approve everything that he may do, under the influence + of excitement, in this body. I will close by saying + that, if he really wishes glory, and to be regarded as + the great liberator of the blacks,--if he wishes to be + particularly distinguished in this cause of + emancipation, as it is called,--let him, instead of + remaining here in the Senate of the United States, or + instead of secreting himself in some dark corner of New + Hampshire, where he may possibly escape the just + indignation of good men throughout this republic,--let + him visit the good State of Mississippi, in which I have + the honor to reside, and no doubt he will be received + with such shouts of joy as have rarely marked the + reception of any individual in this day and generation. + I invite him there, and will tell him, beforehand, in + all honesty, that he could not go ten miles into the + interior before he would grace one of the tallest trees + in the forest, with a rope around his neck, with the + approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen; and + that, if necessary, I should myself assist in the + operation!" + +Mr. Hale's reply was equally characteristic: + + "The honorable Senator invites me to visit the State of + Mississippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one + of those who would act the assassin, and put an end to + my career. He would aid in bringing me to public + execution,--no, death by a mob! Well, in return for his + hospitable invitation, I can only express the desire + that he would penetrate into some of the dark corners of + New Hampshire; and, if he do, I am much mistaken if he + would not find that the people in that benighted region + would be very happy to listen to his arguments, and + engage in an intellectual conflict with him, in which + the truth might be elicited. I think, however, that the + announcement which the honorable Senator has made on + this floor of the fate which awaits so humble an + individual as myself in the State of Mississippi must + convince every one of the propriety of the high eulogium + which he pronounced upon her, the other day, when he + spoke of the high position which she occupied among the + states of this confederacy.--But enough of this personal + matter."[A] + + [Footnote A: The following paragraph, which has + recently been going the rounds of the newspapers, + will serve to show the sort of manners which + prevail in the state so fitly represented by Mr. + Foote, and how these southern ruffians experience + in their own families the natural effect of the + blood-thirsty sentiments which they so freely avow: + + + "THE DEATH OF MR. CARNEAL.--The Vicksburg + _Sentinel_, of the 13th ult., gives the following + account of the shooting of Mr. Thomas Carneal, + son-in-law of Governor Foote: + + "We have abstained thus long from giving any notice + of the sad affair which resulted in the death of + Mr. Thomas Carneal, the son-in-law of the governor + of our state, that we might get the particulars. It + seems that the steamer E.C. Watkins, with Mr. + Carneal as a passenger, landed at or near the + plantation of Judge James, in Washington county. + Mr. Carneal had heard that the judge was an + extremely brutal man to his slaves, and was + likewise excited with liquor; and, upon the judge + inviting him and others to take a drink with him, + Carneal replied that he would not drink with a man + who abused his negroes; this the judge resented as + an insult, and high words ensued. + + "The company took their drink, however, all but Mr. + Carneal, who went out upon the bow of the boat, and + took a seat, where he was sought by Judge James, + who desired satisfaction for the insult. Carneal + refused to make any, and asked the old gentleman if + any of his sons would resent the insult if he was + to slap him in the mouth; to which the judge + replied that he would do it himself, if his sons + would not; whereupon Mr. Carneal struck him in the + month with the back of his hand. The judge resented + it by striking him across the head with a cane, + which stunned Mr. Carneal very much, causing the + blood to run freely from the wound. As soon as + Carneal recovered from the wound, he drew a + bowie-knife, and attacked the judge with it, + inflicting several wounds upon his person, some of + which were thought to be mortal. + + "Some gentlemen, in endeavoring to separate the + combatants, were wounded by Carneal. When Judge + James arrived at his house, bleeding, and in a + dying state, as was thought, his son seized a + double-barrelled gun, loaded it heavily with large + shot, galloped to where the boat was, hitched his + horse, and deliberately raised his gun to shoot + Carneal, who was sitting upon a cotton-bale. Mr. + James was warned not to fire, as Carneal was + unarmed, and he might kill some innocent person. He + took his gun from his shoulder, raised it again, + and fired both barrels in succession, killing + Carneal instantly. + + "It is a sad affair, and Carneal leaves, besides + numerous friends, a most interesting and + accomplished widow, to bewail his tragical end."] + +Such was the savage character of the debate, that even Mr. Calhoun, who +was not generally discourteous, finding himself rather hard pressed by +some of Mr. Hale's arguments, excused himself from an answer, on the +ground that Mr. Hale was a maniac! The slave-holders set upon Mr. Hale +with all their force; but, though they succeeded in voting down his +bill, it was generally agreed, and anybody may see by the report, that +he had altogether the best of the argument. Mr. Palfrey's resolution was +also lost; but the boldness with which Giddings and others avowed their +opinions, and the freedom of speech which they used on the subject of +slavery, afforded abundant proof that the gagging system which had +prevailed so long in Congress had come at last to an end. + +These movements, though the propositions of Messrs. Hale and Palfrey +were voted down, were not without their effect. The Common Council of +Washington appointed an acting mayor, in place of the regular mayor, who +was sick. President Polk sent an intimation to the clerks of the +departments, some of whom had been active in the mobs, that they had +better mind their own business and stay at home. Something was said +about marines from the Navy-Yard; and from that time the riotous spirit +began to subside. + +Meanwhile, the unfortunate people who had attempted to escape in the +Pearl had to pay the penalty of their love of freedom. A large number of +them, as they were taken out of jail by the persons who claimed to be +their owners, were handed over to the slave-traders. The following +account of the departure of a portion of these victims for the southern +market was given in a letter which appeared at the time in several +northern newspapers: + + "_Washington, April_ 22, 1848. + + "Last evening, as I was passing the railroad dépôt, I + saw a large number of colored people gathered round one + of the cars, and, from manifestations of grief among + some of them, I was induced to draw near and ascertain + the cause of it. I found in the car towards which they + were so eagerly gazing about fifty colored people, some + of whom were nearly as white as myself. A majority of + them were of the number who attempted to gain their + liberty last week. About half of them were females, a + few of whom had but a slight tinge of African blood in + their veins, and were finely formed and beautiful. The + men were ironed together, and the whole group looked sad + and dejected. At each end of the car stood two + ruffianly-looking personages, with large canes in their + hands, and, if their countenances were an index of their + hearts, they were the very impersonation of hardened + villany itself. + + "In the middle of the car stood the notorious + slave-dealer of Baltimore, Slatter, who, I learn, is a + member of the Methodist church, 'in good and regular + standing.' He had purchased the men and women around + him, and was taking his departure for Georgia. While + observing this old, gray-headed villain,--this dealer in + the bodies and souls of men,--the chaplain of the Senate + entered the car,--a Methodist brother,--and took his + brother Slatter by the hand, chatted with him for some + time, and seemed to view the heart-rending scene before + him with as little concern as we should look upon + cattle. I know not whether he came with a view to + sanctify the act, and pronounce a parting blessing; but + this I do know, that he justifies slavery, and denounces + anti-slavery efforts as bitterly as do the most hardened + slave-dealers. + + "A Presbyterian minister, who owned one of the + fugitives, was the first to strike a bargain with + Slatter, and make merchandise of God's image; and many + of these poor victims, thus manacled and destined for + the southern market, are regular members of the African + Methodist church of this city. I did not hear whether + they were permitted to get letters of dismission from + the church, and of 'recommendation to any church where + God, in his providence, might cast their lot.' Probably + a certificate from Slatter to the effect that they are + Christians will answer every purpose. No doubt he will + demand a good price for slaves of this character. + Perhaps brother Slicer furnished him with testimonials + of their religious character, to help their sale in + Georgia. I understand that he was accustomed to preach + to them here, and especially to urge upon them obedience + to their masters. + + "Some of the colored people outside, as well as in the + car, were weeping most bitterly. I learned that many + families were separated. Wives were there to take leave + of their husbands, and husbands of their wives, children + of their parents, brothers and sisters shaking hands + perhaps for the last time, friends parting with friends, + and the tenderest ties of humanity sundered at the + single bid of the inhuman slave-broker before them. A + husband, in the meridian of life, begged to see the + partner of his bosom. He protested that she was + free--that she had free papers, and was torn from him, + and shut up in the jail. He clambered up to one of the + windows of the car to see his wife, and, as she was + reaching forward her hand to him, the black-hearted + villain, Slatter, ordered him down. He did not obey. The + husband and wife, with tears streaming down their + cheeks, besought him to let them converse for a moment. + But no! a monster more hideous, hardened and savage, + than the blackest spirit of the pit, knocked him down + from the car, and ordered him away. The bystanders could + hardly restrain themselves from laying violent hands + upon the brutes. This is but a faint description of that + scene, which took place within a few rods of the + capitol, under _enactments_ recognized by Congress. O! + what a revolting scene to a feeling heart, and what a + retribution awaits the actors! Will not these wailings + of anguish reach the ears of the Most High? 'Vengeance + is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.'" + +Of those sent off at this time, several, through the generosity of +charitable persons at the north, were subsequently redeemed, among whom +were the Edmundson girls, of whom an account is given in the "Key to +Uncle Tom's Cabin." + +From one of the women, who was not sold, but retained at Washington, I +received a mark of kindness and remembrance for which I felt very +grateful. She obtained admission to the jail, the Sunday after our +committal, to see some of her late fellow-passengers still confined +there; and, as she passed the passage in which I was confined, she +called to me and handed a Bible through the gratings. I am happy to be +able to add that she has since, upon a second trial, succeeded in +effecting her escape, and that she is now a free woman. + +The great excitement which our attempt at emancipation had produced at +Washington, and the rage and fury exhibited against us, had the effect +to draw attention to our case, and to secure us sympathy and assistance +on the part of persons wholly unknown to us. A public meeting was held +in Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on the 25th of April, at which a committee +was appointed, consisting of Samuel May, Samuel G. Howe, Samuel E. +Sewell, Richard Hildreth, Robert Morris, Jr., Francis Jackson, Elizur +Wright, Joseph Southwick, Walter Channing, J.W. Browne, Henry I. +Bowditch, William F. Channing, Joshua P. Blanchard and Charles List, +authorized to employ counsel and to collect money for the purpose of +securing to us a fair trial, of which, without some interference from +abroad, the existing state of public feeling in the District of Columbia +seemed to afford little prospect. A correspondence was opened by this +committee with the Hon. Horace Mann, then a representative in Congress +from the State of Massachusetts, with ex-Governor Seward, of New York, +with Salmon P. Chase, Esq., of Ohio, and with Gen. Fessenden, of Maine, +all of whom volunteered their gratuitous services, should they be +needed. A moderate subscription was promptly obtained, the larger part +of it, as I am informed, through the liberality of Gerrit Smith, now a +representative in Congress from New York, whose large pecuniary +contributions to all philanthropic objects, as well as his zealous +efforts in the same direction both with the tongue and the pen, have +made him so conspicuous. He has, indeed, a unique way of spending his +large fortune, without precedent, at least in this country, and not +likely to find many imitators. + +The committee, being thus put in funds, deputed Mr. Hildreth, one of the +members of it, to proceed to Washington to make the necessary +arrangements. He arrived there toward the end of the month of May, by +which time the public excitement against us, or at least the exterior +signs of it, had a good deal subsided. But we were still treated with +much rigor, being kept locked up in our cells, denied the use of the +passage, and not allowed to see anybody, except when once in a while +Mr. Giddings or Mr. Hall found an access to us; but even then we were +not allowed to hold any conversation, except in the presence of the +jailer. + +It may well be imagined that the news of my capture and imprisonment, +and of the danger in which I seemed to be, had thrown my family into +great distress. I also had suffered exceedingly on their account, +several of the children being yet too young to shift for themselves. But +I was presently relieved, by the information which I received before +long, that during my imprisonment my family would be provided for. + +Warm remonstrances had been made to the judge of the criminal court by +Mr. Hall against the attempt to exclude us from communication with our +friends,--a liberty freely granted to all other prisoners. The judge +declined to interfere; but Mr. Mann, having agreed to act as our +counsel, was thenceforth freely admitted to interviews with us, without +the presence of any keeper. Books and newspapers were furnished me by +friends out of doors. I presently obtained a mattress, and the liberty +of providing myself with better food than the jail allows. I continued +to suffer a good deal of annoyance from the capricious insolence and +tyranny of the marshal, Robert Wallace; but I intend to go more at +length into the details of my prison experience after having first +disposed of the legal proceedings against us. + +The feeling against me was no doubt greatly increased by the failure of +the efforts repeatedly made to induce me to give up the names of those +who had coöperated with me, and to turn states-evidence against them. +There was a certain Mr. Taylor, from Boston, I believe, then in +Washington, the inventor of a submarine armor for diving purposes. I had +formerly been well acquainted with him, and, at a time when no friend of +mine was allowed access to me, he made me repeated visits at the jail, +at the request, as he said, of the District Attorney, to induce me to +make a full disclosure, in which case it was intimated I should be let +off very easy. + +As Mr. Taylor did not prevail with me, one of the jailers afterwards +assured me that he was authorized to promise me a thousand dollars in +case I would become a witness against those concerned with me. As I +turned a deaf ear to all these propositions, the resolution seemed to be +taken to make me and Sayres, and even English, suffer in a way to be a +warning to all similar offenders. + +The laws under which we were to be tried were those of the State of +Maryland as they stood previous to the year 1800. These laws had been +temporarily continued in force over that part of the District ceded by +Maryland (the whole of the present District) at the time that the +jurisdiction of the United Spates commenced; and questions of more +general interest, and the embarrassment growing out of the existence of +slavery, having defeated all attempts at a revised code, these same old +laws of Maryland still remain in force, though modified, in some +respects, by acts of Congress. In an act of Maryland, passed in the +year 1796, and in force in the District, there was a section which +seemed to have been intended for precisely such cases as ours. It +provided "That any person or persons who shall hereafter be convicted of +giving a pass to any slave, or person held to service, or shall be found +to assist, by advice, donation or loan, or otherwise, the transporting +of any slave or any person held to service, from this state, or by any +other unlawful means depriving a master or owner of the service of his +slave or person held to service, for every such offence the party +aggrieved shall recover damages in an action on the case, against such +offender or offenders, and such offender or offenders shall also be +liable, upon indictment, and conviction upon verdict, confession or +otherwise, in this state, in any county court where such offence shall +happen, to be fined a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, at the +discretion of the court, one-half to the use of the master or owner of +such slave, the other half to the county school, if there be any; if +there be no such school, to the use of the county." + +Accordingly, the grand jury, under the instructions of the District +Attorney, found seventy-four indictments against each of us prisoners, +based on this act, one for each of the slaves found on board the vessel, +two excepted, who were runaways from Virginia, and the names of their +masters not known. As it would have been possible to have fined us +about, fifteen thousand dollars apiece upon these indictments, besides +costs, and as, by the laws of the District, there is no method of +discharging prisoners from jail who are unable to pay a fine, except by +an executive pardon, one would have thought that this might have +satisfied. But the idea that we should escape with a fine, though we +might be kept in prison for life from inability to pay it, was very +unsatisfactory. It was desired to make us out guilty of a penitentiary +offence at the least; and for that purpose recourse was had to an old, +forgotten act of Maryland, passed in the year 1737, the fourth section +of which provided "That any person or persons who, after the said tenth +day of September [1737], shall steal any ship, sloop, or other vessel +whatsoever, out of any place within the body of any county within this +province, of seventeen feet or upwards by the keel, and shall carry the +same ten miles or upwards from the place whence it shall be stolen, _or +who shall steal any negro or other slave_, or who shall counsel, hire, +aid, abet, or command any person or persons to commit the said offences, +or who shall be accessories to the said offences, and shall be thereof +legally convicted as aforesaid, or outlawed, or who shall obstinately or +of malice stand mute, or peremptorily challenge above twenty, shall +suffer death as a felon, or felons, and be excluded the benefit of the +clergy." + +They would have been delighted, no doubt, to hang us under this act; but +that they could not do, as Congress, by an act passed in 1831, having +changed the punishment of death, inflicted by the old Maryland statutes +(except in certain cases specially provided for), into confinement in +the penitentiary for not less than twenty years. + +To make sure of us at all events, not less than forty-one separate +indictments (that being the number of the pretended owners) were found +against each of us for stealing slaves. + +Our counsel afterwards made some complaint of this great number of +indictments, when two against each of us, including all the separate +charges in different counts, would have answered as well. It was even +suggested that the fact that a fee of ten dollars was chargeable upon +each indictment toward the five-thousand-dollar salary of the District +Attorney might have something to do with this large number. But the +District Attorney denied very strenuously being influenced by any such +motive, maintaining, in the face of authorities produced against him, +that this great number was necessary. He thought it safest, I suppose, +instead of a single jury on each charge against each of us, to have the +chance of a much greater number, and the advantage, besides, of repeated +opportunities of correcting such blunders, mistakes and neglects, as the +prisoner's counsel might point out. + +On the 6th of July, I was arraigned in the criminal court, Judge +Crawford presiding, on one of the larceny indictments, to which I +pleaded not guilty; whereupon my counsel, Messrs. Hall and Mann, moved +the court for a continuance till the next term, alleging the prevailing +public excitement, and the want of time to prepare the defence and to +procure additional counsel. But the judge could only be persuaded, and +that with difficulty, to delay the trial for eighteen days. + +When this unexpected information was communicated to the committee at +Boston, a correspondence was opened by telegraph with Messrs. Seward, +Chase and Fessenden. But Governor Seward had a legal engagement at +Baltimore on the very day appointed for the commencement of the trial, +and the other two gentlemen had indispensable engagements in the courts +of Ohio and Maine. Under these circumstances, as Mr. Hall was not +willing to take the responsibility of acting as counsel in the case, and +as it seemed necessary to have some one familiar with the local +practice, the Boston committee retained the services of J.M. Carlisle, +Esq., of the Washington bar, and Mr. Hildreth again proceeded to +Washington to give his assistance. Just as the trial was about to +commence, Mr. Carlisle being taken sick, the judge was, with great +difficulty, prevailed upon to grant a further delay of three days. This +delay was very warmly opposed, not only by the District Attorney, but by +the same Mr. Radcliff whom we have seen figuring as chairman of the +mob-committee to wait on Dr. Bailey, and who had been retained, at an +expense of two hundred dollars, by the friends of English, as counsel +for him, they thinking it safest not to have his defence mixed up in any +way with that of myself and Sayres. Before the three days were out, +Governor Seward, having finished his business in Baltimore, hastened to +Washington; but, as the rules of the court did not allow more than two +counsel to speak on one side, the other counsel being also fully +prepared, it was judged best to proceed as had been arranged. + +The trials accordingly commenced on Thursday, the 27th of July, upon an +indictment against me for stealing two slaves, the property of one +Andrew Houver. + +The District Attorney, in opening his case, which he did in a very +dogmatic, overbearing and violent manner, declared that this was no +common affair. The rights of property were violated by every larceny, +but this case was peculiar and enormous. Other kinds of property were +protected by their want of intelligence; but the intelligence of this +kind of property greatly diminished the security of its possession. The +jury therefore were to give such a construction to the laws and the +facts as to subject violators of it to the most serious consequences. + +The facts which seemed to be relied upon by the District Attorney as +establishing the alleged larceny were--that I had come to Washington, +and staid from Monday to Saturday, without any ostensible business, when +I had sailed away with seventy-six slaves on board, concealed under the +hatches, and the hatches battened down; and that when pursued and +overtaken the slaves were found on board with provisions enough for a +month. + +It is true that Houver swore that the hatches were battened down when +the Pearl was overtaken by the steamer; but in this he was contradicted +by every other government witness. This Houver was, according to some +of the other witnesses, in a considerable state of excitement, and at +the time of the capture he addressed some violent language to me, as +already related. He had sold his two boys, after their recapture, to the +slave-traders; but had been obliged to buy them back again, at a loss of +one hundred dollars, by the remonstrances of his wife, who did not like +to part with them, as they had been raised in the family. Perhaps this +circumstance made him the more inveterate against me. + +As to the schooner being provisioned for a month, the bill of the +provisions on board, purchased in Washington, was produced on the trial, +and they were found to amount to three bushels of meal, two hundred and +six pounds of pork, and fifteen gallons of molasses, which, with a +barrel of bread, purchased in Alexandria, would make rather a short +month's supply for seventy-nine persons! + +It was also proved, by the government witnesses, that the Pearl was a +mere bay-craft, not fit to go to sea; which did not agree very well with +the idea held out by the District Attorney, that I intended to run these +negroes off to the West Indies, and to sell them there. But, to make up +for these deficiencies, Williams, who acted as the leader of the steamer +expedition, swore that I had said, while on board, that if I had got off +with the negroes I should have made an independent fortune; but on the +next trial he could not say whether it was I who told him so, or whether +somebody else told him that I had said so. Orme and Craig, with whom I +principally conversed, and who went into long details, recollected +nothing of the sort; and it is very certain that, as there was no +foundation for it, and no motive for such a statement on my part, I +never made it. Williams, perhaps, had heard somebody guess that, if I +had got off, I had slaves enough to make me independent; and that guess +of somebody else he perhaps remembered, or seemed to remember, as +something said by me, or reported to have been said by me; and such +often, in cases producing great public excitement, is the sort of +evidence upon which men's lives or liberty is sworn away. The idea, +however, of an intention to run the negroes off for sale, seemed +principally to rest on the testimony of a certain Captain Baker, who had +navigated the steamer by which we were captured at the mouth of the +Potomac, and who saw, as he was crossing over to Coan river for wood, a +long, black, suspicious-looking brig, with her sails loose, lying at +anchor under Point Lookout, about three miles from our vessel. This was +proved, by other witnesses, to be a very common place of anchorage; in +fact, that it was common for vessels waiting for the wind, or otherwise, +to anchor anywhere along the shores of the bay. But Captain Baker +thought otherwise; and he and the District Attorney wished the jury to +infer that this brig seen by him under Point Lookout was a piratical +craft, lying ready to receive the negroes on board, and to carry them +off to Cuba! + +Besides Houver, Williams, Orme, Craig and Baker, another witness was +called to testify as to the sale of the wood, and my having been in +Washington the previous summer. Many questions as to evidence arose, and +the examination of these witnesses consumed about two days and a half. + +In opening the defence, Mr. Mann commenced with some remarks on the +peculiarity of his position, growing out of the unexpected urgency with +which the case had been pushed to a trial, and the public excitement +which had been produced by it. He also alluded to the hardship of +finding against me such a multiplicity of indictments,--for what +individual, however innocent, could stand up against such an accumulated +series of prosecutions, backed by all the force of the nation? Some +observations on the costs thus unnecessarily accumulated, and, in +particular, on the District Attorney's ten-dollar fees, produced a great +excitement, and loud denials on the part of that officer. + +Mr. Mann then proceeded to remark that, in all criminal trials which he +had ever before attended or heard of, the prosecuting officer had stated +and produced to the jury, in his opening, the law alleged to be +violated. As the District Attorney had done nothing of that sort, he +must endeavor to do it for him. Mr. Mann then proceeded to call the +attention of the jury to the two laws already quoted, upon which the two +sets of indictments were founded. Of both these acts charged against +me--the stealing of Houver's slaves, and the helping them to escape +from their master--I could not be guilty. The real question in this +case was, Which had I done? + +To make the act stealing, there must have been--so Mr. Mann +maintained--a taking _lucri causa_, as the lawyers say; that is, a +design on my part to appropriate these slaves to my own use, as my own +property. If the object was merely to help them to escape to a free +state, then the case plainly came under the other statute. + +In going on to show how likely it was that the persons on board the +Pearl might have desired and sought to escape, independently of any +solicitations or suggestions on my part, Mr. Mann alluded to the meeting +in honor of the French revolution, already mentioned, held the very +night of the arrival of the Pearl at Washington. As he was proceeding to +read certain extracts from the speech of Senator Foote on that occasion, +already quoted, and well calculated, as he suggested, to put ideas of +freedom and emancipation into the heads of the slaves, he was suddenly +interrupted by the judge, when the following curious dialogue occurred: + + "_Judge Crawford_.--A certain latitude is to be allowed + to counsel in this case; but I cannot permit any + harangue against slavery to be delivered here. + + "_Carlisle (rising suddenly and stepping forward_).--I + am sure your honor must be laboring under some strange + misapprehension. Born and bred and expecting to live and + die in a slave-holding community, and entertaining no + ideas different from those, which commonly prevail here, + I have watched the course of my associate's argument + with the closest attention. The point he is making, I + am sure, is most pertinent to the case,--a point it + would be cowardice in the prisoner's counsel not to + make; and I must beg your honor to deliberate well + before you undertake to stop the mouths of counsel, and + to take care that you have full constitutional warrant + for doing so. + + "_Judge Crawford_.--I can't permit an harangue against + slavery." + +Mr. Mann proceeded to explain the point at which he was aiming. He had +read these extracts from Mr. Foote's speech, delivered to a +miscellaneous collection of blacks and whites, bond and free, assembled +before the _Union_ office, as showing to what exciting influences the +slaves of the District were exposed, independently of any particular +pains taken by anybody to make them discontented; and, with the same +object in view, he proposed to read some further extracts from other +speeches delivered on the same occasion. + + "_District Attorney_.--If this matter is put in as + evidence, it must first be proved that such speeches + were delivered. + + "_Mann_.--If the authenticity of the speeches is denied, + I will call the Honorable Mr. Foote to prove it. + + "_District Attorney_.--What newspaper is that from which + the counsel reads? + + "_Mann_ (_holding it up_).--The Washington _Union_, of + April 19th." + +And, without further objection, he proceeded to read some further +extracts. + +He concluded by urging upon the jury that this case was to be viewed +merely as an attempt of certain slaves to escape from their masters, and +on my part an attempt to assist them in so doing; and therefore a case +under the statute of 1796, punishable with fine; and not a larceny, as +charged against me in this indictment. + +Several witnesses were called who had known me in Philadelphia, to +testify as to my good character. The District Attorney was very anxious +to get out of these witnesses whether they had never heard me spoken of +as a man likely to run away with slaves? And it did come out from one of +them that, from the tenor of my conversation, it used sometimes to be +talked over, that one day or other it "would heave up" that I had helped +off some negro to a free state. But these conversations, the witness +added, were generally in a jesting tone; and another witness stated that +the charge of running off slaves was a common joke among the watermen. + +According to the practice in the Maryland criminal courts,--and the same +practice prevails in the District of Columbia,--the judge does not +address the jury at all. After the evidence is all in, the counsel, +before arguing the case, may call upon the judge to give to the jury +instructions as to the law. These instructions, which are offered in +writing, and argued by the counsel, the judge can give or refuse, as he +sees fit, or can alter them to suit himself; but any such refusal or +alteration furnishes ground for a bill of exceptions, on which the case, +if a verdict is given against the prisoner, may be carried by writ of +error before the Circuit Court of the District, for their revisal. + +My counsel asked of the judge no less than fourteen instructions on +different points of law, ten of which the judge refused to give, and +modified to suit himself. Several of these related to the true +definition of theft, or what it was that makes a taking larceny. + +It was contended by my counsel, and they asked the judge to instruct the +jury, that, to convict me of larceny, it must be proved that the taking +the slaves on board the Pearl was with the intent to convert them to my +own use, and to derive a gain from such conversion; and that, if they +believed that the slaves were received on board with the design to help +them to escape to a free state, then the offence was not larceny, but a +violation of the statute of 1796. + +This instruction, variously put, was six times over asked of the judge, +and as often refused. He was no less anxious than the District Attorney +to convict me of larceny, and send me to the penitentiary. But, having a +vast deal more sense than the District Attorney, he saw that the idea +that I had carried off these negroes to sell them again for my own +profit was not tenable. It was plain enough that my intention was to +help them to escape. The judge therefore, who did not lack ingenuity, +went to work to twist the law so as, if possible, to bring my case +within it. Even he did not venture to say that merely to assist slaves +to escape was stealing. Stealing, he admitted, must be a taking, _lucri +causa_, for the sake of gain; but--so he told the jury in one of his +instructions--"this desire of gain need not be to convert the article +taken to his--the taker's--own use, nor to obtain for the thief the +value in money of the thing stolen. If the act was prompted by a desire +to obtain for himself, or another even, other than the owner, a money +gain, or any other inducing advantage, a dishonest gain, then the act +was a larceny." And, in another instruction, he told the jury, "that if +they believed, from the evidence, that the prisoner, before receiving +the slaves on board, imbued their minds with discontent, persuaded them +to go with him, and, by corrupt influences and inducements, caused them +to come to his ship, and then took and carried them down the river, then +the act was a larceny." + +Upon these instructions of the judge, to which bills of exceptions were +filed by my counsel, the case, which had been already near a week on +trial, was argued to the jury. The District Attorney had the opening and +the close, and both my counsel had the privilege of speaking. For the +following sketch of the argument, as well as of the legal points already +noted, I am indebted to the notes of Mr. Hildreth, taken at the time: + + "_District Attorney_.--I shall endeavor to be very brief + in the opening, reserving myself till I know the grounds + of defence. It is the duty of the jury to give their + verdict according to the law and evidence; and, so far + as I knew public opinion, there neither exists now, nor + has existed at any other time, the slightest desire on + the part of a single individual that the prisoner should + have otherwise than a fair trial. I think, therefore, + the solemn warnings by the prisoner's counsel to the + jury were wholly uncalled for. There was, no doubt, an + excitement out of doors,--a natural excitement,--at such + an amount of property snatched up at one fell swoop; but + was that to justify the suggestion to a jury of twelve + honest men that they were not to act the part of a mob? + The learned counsel who opened the case for the prisoner + has alluded to the disadvantage of his position from the + fact that he was a stranger. I acknowledge that + disadvantage, and I have attempted to remedy it, and so + has the court, by extending towards him every possible + courtesy. + + "The prisoner's counsel seems to think I press this + matter too hard. But am I to sit coolly by and see the + hard-earned property of the inhabitants of this District + carried off, and when the felon is brought into court + not do my best to secure his conviction? [The District + Attorney here went into a long and labored defence of + the course he had taken in preferring against the + prisoner forty-one indictments for larceny, and + seventy-four others, on the same state of facts, for + transportation. He denied that the forty-one larcenies + of the property of different individuals could be + included in one indictment, and declared that if the + prisoner's counsel would show the slightest authority + for it he would give up the case. After going on in this + strain for an hour or more, attacking the opposite + counsel and defending himself, in what Carlisle + pronounced 'the most extraordinary opening argument he + had ever heard in his life,' the District Attorney came + down at last to the facts of the case."] + + "In what position is the prisoner placed by the + evidence? How is he introduced to the jury by his + Philadelphia friends? These witnesses were examined as + to his character, and the substance of their testimony + is, that he is a man who would steal a negro if he got a + chance. He passed for honest otherwise. But he says + himself he would steal a negro to liberate him, and the + court says it makes no difference whether he steals to + liberate or steals to sell. Being caught in the act, he + acknowledges his guilt, and says he was a deserter from + his God,--a backslider,--a church-member one year--the + next, in the Potomac with a schooner, stealing + seventy-four negroes! Why say he took them for gain, if + he did not steal them? Why say he knew he should end his + days in a penitentiary? Why say if he got off with the + negroes he should have realized an independent fortune? + Did he not know they were slaves? He chartered the + vessel to carry off negroes; and, if they were free + negroes, or he supposed them to be, how was he to + realize an independent fortune? He was afraid of the + excitement at Washington. Why so, if the negroes were + not slaves? There was the fact of their being under the + hatches, concealed in the hold of the vessel,--did not + that prove he meant to steal them? Add to that the other + fact of his leaving at night. He comes here with a + miserable load of wood; gives it away; sells it for a + note; did not care about the wood, wanted only to get it + out; had a longing for a cargo of negroes. The wood was + a blind; besides he lied about it;--would he have ever + come back to collect his note? But the prisoner's + counsel says the slaves might have heard Mr. Foote's + torch-light oration, and so have been persuaded to go. A + likely story! They all started off, I suppose, ran + straight down to the vessel and got into the hold! + Seventy-four negroes all together! But was not the + vessel chartered in Philadelphia to carry off negroes? + This shows the excessive weakness of the defence. And + how did the slaves behave after they were captured? If + they had been running away, would they not have been + downcast and disheartened? Would not they have said, Now + we are taken? On the other hand, according to the + testimony of Major Williams, on their way back they were + laughing, shouting and eating molasses in large + quantities. Nero fiddled when Rome was burning, but did + not eat molasses. What a transition, from liberty to + molasses! + + "Then it is proved that the bulkhead between the cabin + and the hold was knocked down, and that the slaves went + to Drayton and asked if they should fight. Did not that + show his authority over them,--that the slaves were + under his control, and that he was the master-spirit? It + speaks volumes. [Here followed a long eulogy on the + gallantry and humanity of the thirty-five captors. One + man did threaten a little, but he was drunk.] + + "The substance of the law, as laid down by the judge, is + this: If Drayton came here to carry off these people, + and, by machinations, prevailed on them to go with him, + and knew they were slaves, it makes no difference + whether he took them to liberate, or took them to sell. + If he was to be paid for carrying them away, that was + gain enough. Suppose a man were to take it into his head + that the northern factories were very bad things for the + health of the factory-girls, and were to go with a + schooner for the purpose of liberating those poor devils + by stealing the spindles, would not he be served as this + prisoner is served here? Would they not exhaust the + law-books to find the severest punishment? There may be + those carried so far by a miserable mistaken + philanthropy as even to steal slaves for the sake of + setting them at liberty. But this prisoner says he did + it for gain. We might look upon him with some respect + if, in a manly style, he insisted on his right to + liberate them. But he avowedly steals for gain. He lies + about it, besides. Even a jury of abolitionists would + have no sympathy for such a man. Try him anyhow, by the + word of God--by the rules of common honesty--he would be + convicted, anyhow. He is presented to the world at large + as a rogue and a common thief and liar. There can be no + other conception of him. He did it for dishonest gain. + + "The prisoner must be convicted. He cannot escape. There + can be no manner of doubt as to his guilt. I am at a + loss, without appearing absurd in my own eyes, to + conceive what kind of a defence can be made. + + "I have not the least sort of feeling against the wretch + himself,--I desire a conviction from principle. I have + heard doctrines asserted on this trial that strike + directly at the rights and liberty of southern citizens. + I have heard counsel seeking to establish principles + that strike directly at the security of southern + property. I feel no desire that this man, as a man, + should be convicted; but I do desire that all persons + inclined to infringe on our rights of property should + know that there is a law hero to punish them, and I am + happy that the law has been so clearly laid down by the + court. Let it be known from Maine to Texas, to earth's + widest limits, that we have officers and juries to + execute that law, no matter by whom it may be violated! + + "_Mann_--for the prisoner--regretted to occupy any more + of the jury's time with this very protracted trial. I + mentioned, some days since, that the prisoner was + liable, under the indictments against him, to eight + hundred years imprisonment,--a term hardly to be served + out by Methuselah himself; but, apart from any + punishment, if his hundred and twenty-five trials are + to proceed at this rate, the chance is he will die + without ever reaching their termination. The District + Attorney has dwelt at great length on what passed the + other day, and more than once he has pointedly referred + to me, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken. I have + endeavored to conduct this trial according to the + principles of law, and to that standard I mean to come + up. My client, though a prisoner at this bar, has + rights, legal, social, human; and upon those rights I + mean to insist. This is the first time in my life that I + ever heard a prisoner on trial, and before conviction, + denounced as a liar, a thief, a felon, a wretch, a + rogue. It is unjust to apply these terms to any man on + trial. The law presumes him to be innocent. The feelings + of the prisoner ought not to be thus outraged. He is + unfortunate; he may be guilty; that is the very point + you are to try. + + "This prisoner is charged with stealing two slaves, the + property of Andrew Houver. Did he, or not? That point + you are to try by the law and the evidence. Because you + may esteem this a peculiarly valuable kind of property, + you are not to measure out in this case a peculiar kind + of justice. You have heard the evidence; the law for the + purposes of this trial you are to take from the judge. + But you are not to be led away with the idea that you + must convict this prisoner at any rate. It is a + well-established principle that it is better for an + indefinite number of guilty men to escape than for one + innocent man to be convicted and punished; and for the + best of reasons,--for to have the very machinery + established for the protection of right turned into an + instrument for the infliction of wrong, strikes a more + fatal blow at civil society than any number of + unpunished private injuries. + + "Nor is there any danger that the prisoner will escape + due punishment for any crimes he may have committed. + Besides this and forty other larceny indictments hanging + over his head, there are seventy-four transportation + indictments against him. Now, he cannot be guilty of + both; and which of these offences, if either, does the + evidence against him prove? + + "Who is this man? Look at him! You see he has passed the + meridian of life. You have heard about him from his + neighbors. They pronounce him a fair, upright, moral + man. No suspicion hitherto was ever breathed against his + honesty. He was a professor of religion, and, so far as + we know, had walked in all the ordinances and commands + of the law blameless. Now, in all cases of doubt, a fair + and exemplary character, especially in an elderly man, + is a great capital to begin with. This prisoner may have + been mistaken in his views as to matters of human right; + but, as to violating what he believed to be duty, there + is not the slightest evidence that such was his + character, but abundance to the contrary. He is found + under circumstances that make him amenable to the law; + let him be tried,--I do not gainsay that; but let him + have the common sentiments of humanity extended toward + him, even if he be guilty. + + "The point urged against him with such earnestness--I + may say vehemence--is, not that he took the slaves + merely, but that he took them with design to steal. His + confessions are dwelt upon, stated and overstated, as + you will recollect. But consider under what + circumstances these alleged confessions were made. There + are circumstances which make such statements very + fallacious. Consider his excitement--his state of + health; for it is in evidence that he had been out of + health, suffering with some disorder which required his + head to be shaved. Consider the armed men that + surrounded him, and the imminent peril in which he + believed his life to be. It is great injustice to brand + him with the foul epithet of liar for any little + discrepancies, if such there were, in statements made + under such circumstances. Other matters have been forced + in, of a most extraordinary character, to prejudice his + case in your eyes. It has been suggested--the idea has + been thrown out, again and again--that, under pretence + of helping them to freedom, he meant to sell these + negroes. This suggestion, which outruns all reason and + discretion, is founded on the simple fact of a brig seen + lying at anchor in a place of common anchorage, + suggesting no suspicious appearance, but as to which you + are asked to infer that these seventy-six slaves were to + be transported into her, and carried to Cuba or + elsewhere for sale. What a monstrous imagination! What a + gross libel on that brig, her officers, her crew, her + owners, all of whom are thus charged as kidnappers and + pirates; and all this baseless dream got up for the + purpose of influencing your minds against the prisoner! + It marks, indeed, with many other things, the style in + which this prosecution is conducted. + + "Take the law as laid down by the court, and it is + necessary for the government to prove, if this + indictment is to be sustained, that the prisoner + corrupted the minds of Houver's slaves, and induced and + persuaded them to go on board his vessel. They were + found on board the prisoner's vessel, no doubt; but as + to how they came there we have not a particle of + evidence. Here is a gap, a fatal gap, in the + government's case. By what second-sight are you to look + into this void space and time, and to say that Drayton + enticed them to go on board? [The counsel here read from + 1 _Starkie on Evidence,_ 510, &c., to the effect that + the prosecution are bound by the evidence to exclude + every hypothesis inconsistent with the prisoner's + guilt.] Now, is it the only possible means of accounting + for the presence of Houver's slaves on board to suppose + that this prisoner enticed them? Might not somebody else + have done it? Might they not have gone without being + enticed at all? We wished to call the slaves themselves + as witnesses, but the law shuts up their mouths. Can + you, without any evidence, say that Drayton enticed + them, and that by no other means could they come + onboard? Presumptive evidence, as laid down in the + book--an acknowledged and unquestioned authority--from + which I have read, ought to be equally strong with the + evidence of one unimpeached witness swearing positively + to the fact. Are you as sure that Drayton enticed those + slaves as if that fact had been positively sworn to by + one witness, testifying that he stood by and saw and + heard it? If you are not, then, under the law as laid + down by the court, you can not find him guilty. + + "_Thursday, Aug_. 13. + + "_Carlisle_, for the prisoner.--The sun under which we + draw our breath, the soil we tottle over, in childhood, + the air we breathe, the objects that earliest attract + our attention, the whole system of things with which our + youth is surrounded, impress firmly upon us ideas and + sentiments which cling to us to our latest breath, and + modify all our views. I trust I am man enough always to + remember this, when I hear opinions expressed and views + maintained by men educated under a system different from + that prevailing here, no matter how contrary those views + and opinions may be to my own. + + "It may surprise those of you who know me,--the moral + atmosphere in which I have grown up, and the opinions + which I entertain,--but never have I felt so deep and + hearty an interest in the defence of any case as in + this. This prisoner I never saw till I came from a sick + bed into this court, when I met him for the first time. + I had participated strongly in the feeling which in + connection with him had been excited in this community. + As you well know, I have and could have no sympathy with + the motives by which he may be presumed to have been + actuated. Why, then, this sudden feeling in his behalf? + Not, I assure you, from mercenary motives. His acquittal + or his condemnation will make no difference in the + compensation I receive for my services. The overpowering + interest I feel in this case originates in the fact that + it places at stake the reputation of this District, and, + in some respects, of the country itself, of which this + city is the political capital. The counsel for the + government has dwelt with emphasis on the great amount + and value of property placed at hazard by this prisoner. + There is something, however, far more valuable than + property--a fair, honorable, impartial administration of + justice; and of the chivalrous race of the south it may + be expected that they will do justice, though the + heavens fall! God forbid that the world should point to + this trial as a proof that we are so besotted by passion + and interest that we cannot discern the most obvious + distinctions and that on a slave question with a jury of + slave-holders there is no possible chance of justice! + Many, I assure you, will be ready to fasten this charge + upon us. It is my hope, my ardent desire, it is your + sworn duty, that no step be taken against this prisoner + without full warrant of law and evidence. The duty of + defence I discharge with pleasure. I could have desired + that this prisoner might have been defended entirely by + counsel resident in this District. It would have been my + pride to have shown to the world that of our own mere + motion we would do justice in any case, no matter how + delicate, no matter how sore the point the prisoner had + touched. + + "My learned friend, the District Attorney, has alluded + to the courtesy which he and the court have extended to + my associate in this cause. I hope he does not plume + himself upon that. A gentleman of my associate's + learning, ability, unexceptionable deportment, and high + character among his own people, must and will be treated + with courtesy wherever he goes. But, at the same time + that he boasts of his courtesy, the District Attorney + takes occasion to charge my associate with gross + ignorance of the law. He says the forty-one charges + could not have been included in one indictment, and + offers to give up the case if we will produce a single + authority to that effect. It were easy to produce the + authority [see 1 _Chitty_, C.L. Indictment], but, + unfortunately, the District Attorney has made a promise + which he can't fulfil. The District Attorney is mistaken + in this matter; at the same time, let me admit that in + the management of this case he has displayed an ability + beyond his years. This is the first prosecution ever + brought, so far as we can discover, on this + slave-stealing statute, either in this District or in + Maryland. This statute, of the existence of which few + lawyers were aware,--I am sure I was not,--has been + waked up, after a slumber of more than a century, and + brought to bear upon my client. It is your duty to go + into the examination of this novel case temperately and + carefully; to take care that no man and no court, upon + review of the case, shall be able to say that your + verdict is not warranted by the evidence. If the case is + made out against the prisoner, convict him; but if not, + as you value the reputation of the District and your own + souls, beware how you give a verdict against him! + + "You are not a lynch-law court. It is no part of your + business to inquire whether the prisoner has done + wrong, and if so to punish him for it. It is your sole + business to inquire if he be guilty of this, special + charge set forth against him in this indictment, of + stealing Andrew Houver's two slaves. The law you are not + expected to judge of; to enlighten you on that matter, + we have prayed instructions from the court, and those + instructions, for the purpose of this trial, are to be + taken as the law. The question for you is, Does the + evidence in this case bring the prisoner within the law + as laid down by the court? To bring him within that law, + you are not to go upon imagination, but upon facts + proved by witnesses; and, it seems to me, you have a + very plain duty before you. This is not a thing done in + a corner. Take care that you render such a verdict that + you will not be ashamed to have it set forth in letters + of light, visible to all the world. + + "There are two offences established by the statutes of + Maryland, between which, in this case, it becomes your + duty to distinguish. Everything depends on these + statutes, because without these statutes neither act is + a crime. At common law, there are no such offences as + stealing slaves, or transporting slaves. Now, which of + these two acts is proved against this prisoner? In some + respects they are alike. The carrying the slaves away, + the depriving the master of their services, is common to + both. But, to constitute the stealing of slaves, + according to the law as laid down by the court, there + must be something more yet. There must be a corruption + of the minds of the slaves, and a seducing them to leave + their masters' service. And does not this open a plain + path for this prisoner out of the danger of this + prosecution? Where is the least evidence that the + prisoner seduced these slaves, and induced them to leave + their masters? Has the District Attorney, with all his + zeal, pointed out a single particle of evidence of that + sort? Has he done anything to take this case out of the + transportation statute, and to convert it into a case of + stealing? He has, to be sure, indulged in some very + harsh epithets applied to this prisoner,--epithets very + similar to those which Lord Coke indulged in on the + trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, and which drew out on the + part of that prisoner a memorable retort. My client is + not a Raleigh; but neither, I must be permitted to say, + is the District Attorney a Lord Coke. I should be sorry + to have it go abroad that we cannot try a man for an + offence of this sort without calling him a liar, a + rogue, a wretch. [The District Attorney here + interrupted, with a good deal of warmth. He insisted + that he did not address the prisoner, but the jury, and + that it was his right to call the attention of the jury + to the evidence proving the prisoner to be a liar, rogue + and wretch.] + + _Carlisle_--I do not dispute the learned gentleman's + right. It is a matter of taste; but with you, gentlemen + of the jury, these harsh epithets are not to make the + difference of a hair. You are to look at the evidence; + and where is the evidence that the prisoner seduced and + enticed these slaves? + + "It may happen to any man to have a runaway slave in his + premises, and even in his employment. It happened to me + to have in my employ a runaway,--one of the best + servants, by the way, I ever had. He told me he was + free, and I employed him as such. If I had happened to + have taken him to Baltimore, there would have been a + complete similitude to the case at bar, and, according + to the District Attorney's logic, I might have been + indicted for stealing. Because I had him with me, I am + to be presumed to have enticed him from his master! As + to the particular circumstances under which he came into + my employment, I might have been wholly unable to show + them. Is it not possible to suppose a great number of + circumstances under which these slaves of Houver left + their master's service and came on board the Pearl, + without any agency on the part of this prisoner? Now, + the government might positively disprove and exclude + forty such suppositions; but, so long as one remained + which was not excluded, you cannot find a verdict of + conviction. The government is to prove that the prisoner + enticed and seduced these negroes, and you have no right + to presume he did so unless every other possible + explanation of the case is positively excluded by the + testimony. Is it so extravagant a supposition that Mr. + Foote's speech, and the other torch-light speeches + heretofore alluded to, heard by these slaves, or + communicated to them, might have so wrought upon their + minds as to induce them to leave their masters? I don't + say that they had any right to suppose that these + declamations about universal emancipation had any + reference to them. I am a southern man, and I hold to + the southern doctrine. I admit that there is no + inconsistency between perfect civil liberty and holding + people of another race in domestic servitude. But then + it is natural that these people should overlook this + distinction, however obvious and important. Nor do they + lack wit to apply these speeches to their own case or + interest in such matters. I myself have a slave as quick + to see distinctions as I am, and who would have made a + better lawyer if he had had the same advantages. It came + out the other day, in a trial in this court, that the + colored people have debating-societies among themselves. + It was an assault and battery case; one of the + disputants, in the heat of the argument, struck the + other; but then they have precedents for that in the + House of Representatives. Is it an impossible, or + improbable, or a disproved supposition, that a number of + slaves, having agreed together to desert their masters, + or having concerted such a plan with somebody here, + Drayton was employed to come and take them away, and + that he received them on board without ever having seen + one of them? If his confessions are to be taken at all, + they are to be taken together; and do they not tend to + prove such a state of facts? Drayton says he was hired + to come here,--that he was to be paid for taking them + away. Does that look as if he seduced them? [The counsel + here commented at length on Drayton's statements, for + the purpose of showing that they tended to prove nothing + more than a transportation for hire; and he threw no + little ridicule on the 'phantom ship' which the District + Attorney had conjured up in his opening of the case, but + which, in his late speech, he had wholly overlooked.] + + "But, even should you find that Drayton seduced these + slaves to leave their masters, to make out a case of + larceny you must be satisfied that he took them into his + possession. Now, what is possession of a slave? Not + merely being in company with him. If I ride in a hack, I + am not in possession of the driver. Possession of a + slave is dominion and control; and where is the + slightest evidence that this prisoner claimed any + dominion or control over these slaves? The whole + question in this case is, Were these slaves stolen, or + were they running away with the prisoner's assistance? + The mere fact of their being in the prisoner's company + throws no light whatever on this matter. + + "The great point, however, in this case is this,--By the + judge's instructions, enticement must be proved. Shall + the record of this trial go forth to the world showing + that you have found a fact of which there was no + evidence? + + "I believe in my conscience there is a gap in this + evidence not to be filled up except by passion and + prejudice. If that is so, I hope there is no one so + ungenerous, so little of a true southerner, as to blame + me for my zeal in this case, or not to rejoice in a + verdict of acquittal. It is bad enough that strangers + should have got up a mob in this District in relation to + this matter. It would, however, be a million times worse + if juries cannot be found here cool and dispassionate + enough to render impartial verdicts. + + "_District Attorney_.--I hope, gentlemen of the jury, + you will rise above all out-of-door influence. Make + yourselves abolitionists, if you can; but look at the + facts of the case. And, looking at those facts, is it + necessary for me to open my lips in reply? In a case + like this, sustained by such direct testimony, such + overwhelming proof, I defy any man,--however crazy on + the subject of slavery, unless he be blinded by some + film of interest,--to hesitate a moment as to his + conclusions. [The District Attorney here proceeded at + great length, and with a great air of offended dignity, + to complain of having been schooled and advised by the + prisoner's counsel, and to justify the use of the foul + epithets he had bestowed on the prisoner.] This is not a + place for parlor talk. I had chosen the English words + that conveyed my meaning most distinctly. It was all + very well for the prisoner's counsel to smooth things + over; but was I, instead of calling him a liar, to say, + he told a fib? When I call him a thief and a felon, do I + go beyond the charge of the grand jury in the + indictment? If this is stepping over the limits of + propriety, in all similar cases I shall do the same. I + do not intend to blackguard the prisoner,--I do not + delight in using these epithets. My heart is not locked + up; I am no Jack Ketch, prosecuting criminals for ten + dollars a head. I sympathize with the wretches brought + here; but when I choose to call them by their proper + names I am not to be accused of bandying epithets. [The + District Attorney then proceeded also at great length, + and in a high key, to justify his hundred and + twenty-five indictments against the prisoner, and to + clear himself from the imputation of mercenary motives, + on the ground that the business of the year, + independently of these indictments, would furnish the + utmost amount to which he was entitled. He next referred + to the matter of the brig testified to by Captain Baker, + which had been made the occasion of much ridicule by the + prisoner's counsel. Part of the evidence which he had + relied on in connection with the brig had been ruled + out; and the law, as laid down by the court, according + to which taking to liberate was the same as taking to + steal, had made it unnecessary for him, so he said, to + dwell on this part of the case. Yet he now proceeded to + argue at great length, from the testimony in the case, + that there must have been a connection between the brig + and the schooner; that, as the schooner was confessedly + unseaworthy, and could not have gone out of the bay, it + must have been the intention to put the slaves on board + the brig, and to carry them off to Cuba or elsewhere and + sell them. The testimony to this effect he pronounced + conclusive.] + + "The United States (said the District Attorney) have + laid before you the clearest possible case. I have just + gone through a pretty long term of this court; I see + several familiar faces on the jury, and I rely on your + intelligence. In fact, the only point of the defence is, + that the United States have offered no proof that + Drayton seduced and enticed these slaves to come on + board the Pearl; and that the prisoner's counsel are + pleased to call a gap, a chasm, which they say you can't + fill up. It is the same gap which occurs in every + larceny case. Where can the government produce positive + testimony to the taking? That is done secretly, in the + dark, and is to be presumed from circumstances. A man is + found going off with a bag of chickens,--your chickens. + Are you going to presume that the chickens run into his + bag of their own accord, and without his agency? A man + is found riding your horse. Are you to presume that the + horse came to him of its own accord? and yet horses love + liberty,--they love to kick up their heels and run. Yet + this would be just as sensible as to suppose that these + slaves came on board Drayton's vessel without his direct + agency. He came here from Philadelphia for them; they + are found on board his vessel; Drayton says he would + steal a negro if he could; is not that enough? Then he + was here some months before with an oyster-boat, + pretending to sell oysters. He pretended that he came + for his health. Likely story, indeed! I should like to + see the doctor who would recommend a patient to come + here in the fall of the year, when the fever and ague is + so thick in the marshes that you can cut it with a + knife. Cruising about, eating and selling oysters, at + that time of the year, for his health! Nonsense! He was + here, at that very time, hatching and contriving that + these very negroes should go on board the Pearl. But the + prisoner's counsel say he might have been employed by + others simply to carry them away! Who could have + employed him but abolitionists; and did he not say he + had no sympathy with abolitionists. So much for that + hypothesis. Then, he in fact pleads guilty,--he says he + expects to die in the penitentiary. Don't you think he + ought to? If there is any chasm here, the prisoner must + shed light upon it. If he had employers, who were they? + The prisoner's counsel have said that he is not bound to + tell; and that the witnesses, if summoned here, would + not be compelled to criminate themselves. But shall this + prisoner be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong? + + "As to the metaphysics of the prisoner's counsel about + possession, that is easily disposed of. Were not these + slaves found in Drayton's possession, and didn't he + admit that he took them? + + "As to the cautions given you about prejudice and + passion, I do not think they are necessary. I have seen + no sort of excitement here since the first detection of + this affair that would prevent the prisoner having a + fair trial. Is there any crowd or excitement here? The + community will be satisfied with the verdict. There is + no question the party is guilty. I never had anything to + do with a case sustained by stronger evidence. I don't + ask you to give an illegal or perjured verdict. Take the + law and the evidence, and decide upon it. + + + "N.B.--The argument being now concluded, and the jury + about to go out, some question arose whether the jury + should have the written instructions of the court with + them; and some inquiry being made as to the practice, + one of the jurors observed that in a case in which he + had formerly acted as juror the jury had the + instructions with them, and he proceeded to tell a funny + story about a bottle of rum, told by one of the jurors + on that occasion, which story caused him to remember the + fact. It may be observed, by the way, that the + proceedings of the United States Criminal Court for the + District of Columbia are not distinguished for any + remarkable decorum or dignity. The jury, in this case, + were in constant intercourse, during any little + intervals in the trial, with the spectators outside the + bar." + +The case was given to the jury about three o'clock, P.M., and the court, +after waiting half an hour, adjourned. + +When the court met, at ten o'clock the next morning, the jury were still +out, having remained together all night without being able to agree. +Meanwhile the District Attorney proceeded to try me on another +indictment, for stealing three slaves the property of one William H. +Upperman. As this trial was proceeding, about half-past two the jury in +the first case came in, and rendered a verdict of GUILTY. They presented +rather a haggard appearance, having been locked up for twenty-four +hours, and some of them being perhaps a little troubled in their +consciences. The jury, it was understood, had been divided, from the +beginning, four for acquittal and eight for conviction. These four were +all Irishmen, and perhaps they did not consider it consistent with their +personal safety and business interests to persist in disappointing the +slave-holding public of that verdict which the District Attorney had so +imperiously demanded. The agreement, it was understood, had taken place +only a few moments before they came in, and had been reached entirely on +the strength of Williams' testimony to my having said, that had I got +off I should have made an independent fortune. Now, it was a curious +coincidence, that at the very moment that this agreement was thus taking +place, Williams, again on the stand as a witness on the second trial, +wished to take back what he had then sworn to on the first trial, +stating that he could not tell whether he had heard me say this, or +whether he had heard of my having said it from somebody else. + +After the rendition of the verdict of the other jury, the second case +was again resumed. The evidence varied in only a few particulars from +that which had been given in the first case. There was, in addition, +the testimony of Upperman, the pretended owner of the woman and her +daughters, one of fifteen, the other nine years old, whom I was charged +in this indictment with stealing. This man swore with no less alacrity, +and with no less falsehood, than Houver had done before him. He stated +that about half-past ten, of that same night that the Pearl left +Washington, while he was fastening up his house, he saw a man standing +on the side-walk opposite his door, and observed him for some time. Not +long after, having gone to bed, he heard a noise of somebody coming down +stairs; and, calling out, he was answered by his slave-woman, who was +just then going off, though he had no suspicion of it at the time. That +man standing on the side-walk he pretended to recognize as me. He was +perfectly certain of it, beyond all doubt and question. The object of +this testimony was, to lead to a conclusion of enticement or persuasion +on my part, and so to bring the case within one of the judge's +instructions already stated. On a subsequent trial, Upperman was still +more certain, if possible, that I was the man. But he was entirely +mistaken in saying so. His house was on Pennsylvania Avenue, more than a +mile from where the Pearl lay, and I was not within a mile of it that +night. I dare say Upperman was sincere enough. He was one of your +positive sort of men; but his case, like that of Houver, shows that men +in a passion will sometimes fall into blunders. I have reason to believe +that after the trials were over Upperman became satisfied of his error. + +The first trial had consumed a week; the second one lasted four days. +The judge laid down the same law as before, and similar exceptions were +taken by my counsel. The jury again remained out all night, being long +divided,--nine for conviction to three for acquittal; but on the morning +of August 9th they came in with a verdict of GUILTY. + +Satisfied for the present with these two verdicts against me, the +District Attorney now proposed to pass over the rest of my cases, and to +proceed to try Sayres. My counsel objected that, having been forced to +proceed against my remonstrances, I was here ready for trial, and they +insisted that all my cases should be now disposed of. They did not +prevail, however; and the District Attorney proceeded to try Sayres on +an indictment for stealing the same two slaves of Houver. + +In addition to the former witnesses against me, English was now put upon +the stand, the District Attorney having first entered _nolle prosequi_ +upon the hundred and fifteen indictments against him. But he could state +nothing except the circumstances of his connection with the affair, and +the coming on board of the passengers on Saturday night, as I have +already related them. On the other hand, the "phantom brig" story, of +which the District Attorney had made so great a handle in the two cases +against me, was now ruled out, on the ground that the brig could not be +brought into the case till some connection had first been shown between +her and the Pearl. The trial lasted three days. The District Attorney +pressed for a conviction with no less violence than he had done in my +case, assuring the jury that if they did not convict there was an end of +the security of slave property. But Sayres had several advantages over +me. My two juries had been citizens of Washington, several of them +belonging to a class of loafers who frequent the courts for the sake of +the fees to be got as jurymen. Some complaints having been made of this, +the officers had been sent to Georgetown and the country districts, and +the present jury was drawn from those quarters. Then, again, I was +regarded as the main culprit,--the only one in the secret of the +transaction; and, as I was already convicted, the feeling against Sayres +was much lessened. In fact, the jury in his case, after an absence of +half an hour, returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The District Attorney, greatly surprised and vexed, proceeded to try +Sayres on another indictment. This trial lasted three days and a half; +but, in spite of the efforts of the District Attorney, who was more +positive, longer and louder, than ever, the jury, in ten minutes, +returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The trials had now continued through nearly four weeks of very hot +weather, and both sides were pretty well worn out. Vexed at the two last +verdicts, the District Attorney threatened to give up Sayres on a +requisition from Virginia, which was said to have been lodged for us, +some of the alleged slaves belonging there, and we having been there +shortly before. + +Finally, it was agreed that verdicts should be taken against Sayres in +the seventy-four transportation cases, he to have the advantage of +carrying the points of law before the Circuit Court, and the remaining +larceny indictments against him to be discontinued. + +Thus ended the first legal campaign. English was discharged altogether, +without trial. Sayres had got rid of the charge of larceny. I had been +found guilty on two indictments for stealing, upon which Judge Crawford +sentenced me to twenty years imprisonment in the penitentiary; while +Sayres, on seventy-four indictments for assisting the escape of slaves, +was sentenced to a fine on each indictment of one hundred and fifty +dollars and costs, amounting altogether to seven thousand four hundred +dollars. But from these judgments an appeal had been taken to the +Circuit Court, and meanwhile Sayres and I remained in prison as before. + +The hearing before the Circuit Court came on the 26th of November. That +court consisted of Chief-Justice Cranch, an able and upright judge, but +very old and infirm; and Judges Morrell and Dunlap, the latter of whom +claimed to be the owner of two of the negroes found on board the Pearl. + +My cases were argued for me by Messrs. Hildreth, Carlisle and Mann. The +District Attorney, who was much better fitted to bawl to a jury than to +argue before a court, had retained, at the expense of the United States, +the assistance of Mr. Bradley, one of the ablest lawyers of the +District. The argument consumed not less than three days. Many points +were discussed; but that on which the cases turned was the definition of +larceny. It resulted in the allowance of several of my bills of +exceptions, the overturn of the law of Judge Crawford on the subject of +larceny, and the establishment by the Circuit Court of the doctrine on +that subject contended for by my counsel; but from this opinion Judge +Dunlap dissented. The case of Sayres, for want of time, was postponed +till the next term. + +A new trial having been ordered in my two cases, everybody supposed that +the charge of larceny would now be abandoned, as the Circuit Court had +taken away the only basis on which it could possibly rest. But the zeal +of the District Attorney was not yet satisfied; and, no longer trusting +to his own unassisted efforts, he obtained (at the expense of the United +States) the assistance of Richard Cox, Esq., an old and very +unscrupulous practitioner, with whose aid he tried the cases over again +in the Criminal Court. The two trials lasted about fourteen days. I was +again defended by Messrs. Mann and Carlisle, and now with better +success, as the juries, under the instructions which Judge Crawford +found himself obliged to give, and notwithstanding the desperate efforts +against me, acquitted me in both cases, almost without leaving their +seats. + +Finally, the District Attorney agreed to abandon the remaining larceny +cases, if we would consent to verdicts in the transportation cases on +the same terms with those in the case of Sayres. This was done; when +Judge Crawford had the satisfaction of sentencing me to fines and costs +amounting together to ten thousand and sixty dollars, and to remain in +prison until that amount was paid. + +There was still a further hearing before the Circuit Court on the bills +of exceptions to these transportation indictments. My counsel thought +they had some good legal objections; but the hearing unfortunately came +on when Judge Cranch was absent from the bench, and the other two judges +overruled them. By a strange construction of the laws, no criminal case, +except by accident, can be carried before the Supreme Court of the +United States; otherwise, the cases against us would have been taken +there, including the question of the legality of slavery in the District +of Columbia. + +Thus, after a severe and expensive struggle, I was saved from the +penitentiary; but Sayres and myself remained in the Washington jail, +loaded with enormous fines, which, from our total inability to pay them, +would keep us there for life, unless the President could be induced to +pardon us; and it was even questioned, as I shall show presently, +whether he had any such power. + +The jail of the District of Columbia is under the charge of the Marshal +of the District. That office, when I was first committed to prison, was +filled by a Mr. Hunter; but he was sick at the time, and died soon +after, when Robert Wallace was appointed. This Wallace was a Virginian, +from the neighbor hood of Alexandria, son of a Doctor Wallace from whom +he had inherited a large property, including many slaves. He had removed +to Tennessee, and had set up cotton-planting there; but, failing in that +business, had returned back with the small remnants of his property, and +Polk provided for him by making him marshal. It was not long before I +found that he had a great spite against me. It was in vain that I +solicited from him the use of the passage. The light which came into my +cell was very faint, and I could only read by sitting on the floor with +my back against the grating of the cell door. But, so far from aiding me +to read,--and it was the only method I had of passing my time,--Wallace +made repeated and vexatious attempts to keep me from receiving +newspapers. I should very soon have died on the prison allowance. The +marshal is allowed by the United States thirty-three cents per day for +feeding the prisoners. For this money they receive two meals; breakfast, +consisting of one herring, corn-bread and a dish of molasses and water, +very slightly flavored with coffee; and for dinner, corn-bread again, +with half a pound of the meanest sort of salted beef, and a soup made of +corn-meal stirred into the pot-liquor. This is the bill of fare day +after day, all the year round; and, as at the utmost such food cannot +cost more than eight or nine cents a day for each prisoner, and as the +average number is fifty, the marshal must make a handsome profit. The +diet has been fixed, I suppose, after the model of the slave allowances. +But Congress, after providing the means of feeding the prisoners in a +decent manner, ought not to allow them to be starved for the benefit of +the marshal. Such was the diet to which I was confined in the first days +of my imprisonment. But I soon contrived to make a friend of Jake, the +old black cook of the prison, who, I could see as he came in to pour out +my coffee, evinced a certain sympathy and respect for me. Through his +agency I was able to purchase some more eatable food; and indeed the +surgeon of the jail allowed me flour, under the name of medicine, it +being impossible, as he said, for me to live on the prison diet. +Wallace, soon after he came into office, finding a small sum in my +possession, of about forty dollars, took it from me. He expressed a fear +that I might corrupt old Jake, or somebody else,--especially as he found +that I gave Jake my old newspapers,--and so escape from the prison. But +he left the money in the hands of the jailer, and allowed me to draw it +out, a dollar at a time. He presently turned out old Jake, and put in a +slave-woman of his own as cook; but she was better disposed towards me +than her master, and I found no difficulty in purchasing with my own +money, and getting her to prepare such food as I wanted. I was able, +too, after some six or eight weeks' sleeping on the stone floor of my +cell, to obtain some improvement in that particular; and not for myself +only, but for all the other prisoners also. The jailer was requested by +several persons who came to see us to procure mattresses for us at their +expense; and, finally, Wallace, as if out of pure shame, procured a +quantity of husk mattresses for the use of the prisoners generally. +Still, we had no cots, and were obliged to spread our mattresses on the +floor. + +The allowance of clothing made to the prisoners who were confined +without any means of supporting themselves corresponded pretty well with +the jail allowance of provisions. They received shirts, one at a time, +made of the very meanest kind of cotton cloth, and of the very smallest +dimensions; trousers of about equal quality, and shoes. It was said that +the United States paid also for jackets and caps. How that was I do not +know; but the prisoners never received any. + +The custody of the jail was intrusted to a head jailer, assisted by four +guards, or turnkeys, one of whom acted also as book-keeper. Of the +personal treatment toward me of those in office, at the time I was first +committed, I have no complaint to make. The rigor of my confinement was +indeed great; but I am happy to say that it was not aggravated by any +disposition on the part of these men to triumph over me, or to trample +upon me. As they grew more acquainted with me, they showed their sense +that I was not an ordinary criminal, and treated me with many marks of +consideration, and even of regard, and in one of them I found a true +friend. + +Shortly after Wallace came into office, he made several changes. He was +full of caprices, and easily took offence from very small causes; and of +this the keepers, as well as the prisoners, had abundant experience. The +head jailer did his best to please, behaving in the most humble and +submissive manner; but all to no purpose. He was discharged, as were +also the others, one after another,--Wallace undertaking to act as head +jailer himself. Of Wallace's vexatious conduct towards me; of his +refusal to allow me to receive newspapers,--prohibiting the under jailer +to lend me even the Baltimore _Sun_; of his accusation against me of +bribing old Jake, whom he forbade the turnkeys to allow to come near me; +of his keeping me shut up in my cell; and generally of a bitter spirit +of angry malice against me,--I had abundant reason to complain during +the weary fifteen months or more that I remained under his power. But +his subordinates, though obliged to obey his orders and to comply with +his humors, were far from being influenced by his feelings. Even his +favorite among the turnkeys, a person who pretty faithfully copied his +conduct towards the other prisoners, always behaved very kindly towards +me, and even used to make a confidant of me, by coming to my cell to +talk over his troubles. + +But the person whose kind offices and friendly sympathy did far more +than those of any other to relieve the tediousness of my confinement, +and to keep my heart from sinking, was Mr. Wood. There is no chaplain at +the Washington jail, nor has Congress, so far as I am aware, made any +provision of any kind for the spiritual wants or the moral and religious +instruction of the inmates of it. This great deficiency Mr. Wood, a man +of a great heart, though of very limited pecuniary means, being then a +clerk in the Telegraph office, had taken it upon himself to supply, so +far as he could; and for that purpose he was in the habit of visiting +the prison on Sundays, conversing with the prisoners, and furnishing +tracts and books to such as were able and disposed to read. He came to +my cell, or to the grating of the passage in which I was confined, on +the very first Sunday of my imprisonment, and he readily promised, at my +request, to furnish me with a Bible; though in that act of kindness he +was anticipated by the colored woman of whom I have already made +mention, who appeared at my cell, with a Bible for me, just after Mr. +Wood had left it. + +The kindness of Mr. Wood's heart, and the sincerity of his sympathy, was +so apparent as to secure him the affectionate respect of all the +prisoners. To me he proved a very considerate and useful friend. Not +only was I greatly indebted to his assistance in making known my +necessities and those of my family to those disposed to relieve them, +but his cheerful and Christian conversation served to brighten many a +dark hour, and to dispel many gloomy feelings. Were all professing +Christians like my friend Mr. Wood, we should not hear so many +denunciations as we now do of the church, and complaints of her +short-comings. + +There was another person, also, whose kind attentions to me I ought not +to overlook. This was Mrs. Susannah Ford, a very respectable colored +woman, who sold refreshments in the lobby of the court-house, and who, +in the progress of the trial, had evinced a good deal of interest in +the case. As she often had boarders in the jail, who, like me, could not +live on the jail fare, and whom she supplied, she was frequently there, +and she seldom came without bringing with her some substantial token of +her regard. + +Sayres and myself had looked forward to the change of administration, +which resulted from the election of General Taylor, with considerable +hopes of advantage from it--but, for a considerable time, this advantage +was limited to a change in the marshal in whose custody we were. The +turning out of Wallace gave great satisfaction to everybody in the jail, +or connected with it, except the turnkeys, who held office by his +appointment, and who expected that his dismissal would be followed by +their own. The very day before the appointment of his successor came +out, I had been remonstrating with him against the cruelty of refusing +me the use of the passage; and I had even ventured to hint that I hoped +he would do nothing which he would be ashamed to see spoken of in the +public prints; to which he replied, "G--d d--n the public prints!--in +that cell you will stay!" But in this he proved not much of a prophet. +The next day, as soon as the news of his dismissal reached the jail, the +turnkeys at once unlocked my cell-door and admitted me into the passage, +observing that the new marshal, when he came to take possession, should +at least find me there. + +This new marshal was Mr. Robert Wallach, a native of the District, very +similar in name to his predecessor, but very different in nature; and +from the time that he entered into office the extreme rigor hitherto +exercised to me was a good deal abated. One thing, however, I had to +regret in the change, which was the turning out of all the old guards, +with whom I was already well acquainted, and the appointment of a new +set. One of these thus turned out--the person to whom I have already +referred to as the chief favorite of the late marshal--made a desperate +effort to retain his office. But, although he solicited and obtained +certificates to the effect that he was, and always had been, a good +Whig, he had to walk out with the others. + +The new jailer appointed by Wallach, and three of the new guards, or +turnkeys, were very gentlemanly persons, and neither I nor the other +prisoners had any reason to complain of the change. Of the fourth +turnkey I cannot say as much. He was violent, overbearing and +tyrannical, and he was frequently guilty of conduct towards the +prisoners which made him very unfit to serve under such a marshal, and +ought to have caused his speedy removal. But, unfortunately, the marshal +was under some political obligations to him, which made the turning him +out not so easy a matter. This person seemed to have inherited all the +feelings of hatred and dislike which the late marshal had entertained +towards me, and he did his best to annoy me in a variety of ways, +though, of course, his power was limited by his subordinate position. + +But, although I gained considerably by the new-order of things, I soon +found that it had also some annoying consequences. Under the old +marshal, either to make the imprisonment more disagreeable to me, or +from fear lest I should corrupt the other prisoners, I had been kept in +a sort of solitary confinement, no other prisoners being placed in the +same passage. This system was now altered; and, although my privacy was +always so far respected that I was allowed a cell by myself, I often +found myself with fellow-prisoners in the same passage from whose +society it was impossible for me to derive either edification or +pleasure. I suffered a good deal from this cause; but at length +succeeded in obtaining a remedy, or, at least, a partial one. I was +allowed, during the day-time, the range of the debtors' apartments, a +suite of spacious, airy and comfortable rooms, in which there were +seldom more than one or two tenants. I pleaded hard to be removed to +these apartments altogether,--to be allowed to sleep there, as well as +to pass the days there. As it was merely for the non-payment of a sum of +money that I was held, I thought I had a right to be treated as a +debtor. But those apartments were so insecure, that the keepers did not +care to trust me there during the night. + +By this change of quarters my condition was a good deal improved. I not +only had ample conveniences for reading, but I improved the opportunity +to learn to write, having only been able to sign my name when T was +committed to the prison. + +But a jail, after all, is a jail; and I longed and sighed to obtain my +liberty, and to enjoy again the society of my wife and children. Had it +been wished to impress my mind in the strongest manner with the horrors +of slavery, no better method could have been devised than this +imprisonment in the Washington jail. I felt personally what it was to be +restrained of my liberty; and, as many of the prisoners were runaway +slaves, or slaves committed at the request of their masters, I saw a +good deal of what slaves are exposed to. Of this I shall here give but a +single instance. Wallace, the marshal, as I have already mentioned, had +two female slaves, the last remnants of the large slave-property which +he had inherited from his father. One of these was a young and very +comely mulatto girl, whom Wallace had made his housekeeper, and whom he +sought to make also his concubine. But, as the girl already had a child +by a young white man, to whom she was attached, she steadily repelled +all his advances. Not succeeding by persuasion, this scion of the +aristocracy of the Old Dominion--this Virginian gentleman, and marshal +of the United States for the District of Columbia--shut the girl up in +the jail of the District, in hopes of thus breaking her to his will; +and, as she proved obstinate, he finally sold her. He then turned his +eyes on the other woman,--his property,--Jemima, our cook, already the +mother of three children. But she set him at open defiance. As she +wished to be sold, he had lost the greatest means of controlling her; +and as she openly threatened, before all the keepers, to tear every rag +of clothing off his body if he dared lay his hand upon her, he did not +venture, to brave her fury. + +In most of the states, if not in all of them, certainly in all the free +states, there is no such thing as keeping a man in prison for life +merely for the non-payment of a fine which he has no means to pay. The +same spirit of humanity which has abolished the imprisonment of poor +debtors at the caprice of their creditors has provided means for +discharging, after a short imprisonment, persons held in prison for +fines which they have no means of paying. Indeed, what can be more +unequal or unjust than to hold a poor man a prisoner for life for an +offence which a rich man is allowed to expiate by a small part of his +superfluous wealth? But this is one, among many other barbarisms, which +the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia, by preventing any +systematic revision of the laws, has entailed upon the capital of our +model democracy. There was, as I have stated, no means by which Sayres +and myself could be discharged from prison except by paying our fines +(which was totally out of the question), or by obtaining a presidential +pardon, which, for a long time, seemed equally hopeless. There was, +indeed, a peculiarity about our case, such as might afford a plausible +excuse for not extending to us any relief. Under the law of 1796, the +sums imposed upon us as fines were to go one half to the owners of the +slaves, and the other half to the District; and it was alleged, that +although the President might remit the latter half, he could not the +other. + +That same Mr. Radcliff whom I have already had occasion to mention +volunteered his services--for a consideration--to get over this +difficulty. In consequence of a handsome fee which he received, he +undertook to obtain the consent of the owners of the slaves to our +discharge. But, having pocketed the money, he made, so far as I could +find, very little progress in the business, not having secured above +five or six signers. In answer to my repeated applications, he at length +proposed that my wife and youngest daughter should come on to +"Washington to do the business which he had undertaken, and for which he +had secured a handsome payment in advance. They came on accordingly, +and, by personal application, succeeded in obtaining, in all, the +signatures of twenty-one out of forty-one, the whole number. The +reception which they met with from different parties was very different, +showing that there is among slave-holders as much variety of character +as among other people. Some signed with alacrity, saying that, as no +slaves had been lost, I had been kept in jail too long already. Others +required much urging. Others positively refused. Some even added +insults. Young Francis Dodge, of Georgetown, would not sign, though my +life had depended upon it. One wanted me hung, and another tarred and +feathered. One pious church-member, lying on his death-bed, as he +supposed, was persuaded to sign; but he afterwards drew back, and +nothing could prevail on him to put his name to the paper. Die or live, +he wholly refused. But the most curious case occurred at Alexandria, to +which place my wife went to obtain the signature of a pious old lady, +who had been the claimant of a youngster found among the passengers of +the Pearl, and who had been sold, in consequence, for the southern +market. The old lady, it appeared, was still the owner of the boy's +mother, who acted as one of her domestics, and, if she was willing, the +old lady professed her readiness to sign. The black woman was +accordingly called in, and the nature of my wife's application stated to +her. But, with much positiveness and indignation, she refused to give +her consent, declaring that my wife could as well do without her husband +as she could do without her boy. So imbruted and stupefied by slavery +was this old woman, that she seemed to think the selling her boy away +from her a perfectly humane, Christian and proper act, while all her +indignation was turned against me, who had merely afforded the boy an +opportunity of securing his freedom! I dare say they had persuaded the +old woman that I had enticed the boy to run away; whereas, as I have +already stated, I had never seen him, nor any other of the passengers, +till I found them on board. + +As only twenty-one signers could be obtained, the matter stood very much +as it did before the attempt was made. So long as President Fillmore +remained a candidate for reëlection there was little ground to expect +from him a favorable consideration of my case. I therefore felt +sincerely thankful to the Whig convention when they passed by Mr. +Fillmore, and gave the nomination to General Scott. Mr. Fillmore being +thus placed in a position which enabled him to listen to the dictates of +reason, justice and humanity, my hopes, and those of my friends, were +greatly raised. Mr. Sumner, the Free Democratic senator from +Massachusetts, had visited me in prison shortly after his arrival at +Washington, and had evinced from the beginning a sincere and active +sympathy for me. Some complaints were made against him in some +anti-slavery papers, because he did not present to the senate some +petitions in my behalf, which had been forwarded to his care. But Mr. +Sumner was of opinion, and I entirely agreed with him, that if the +object was to obtain my discharge from prison, that object was to be +accomplished, not by agitating the matter in the senate, but by private +appeals to the equity and the conscience of the President; nor did he +think, nor I either, that my interests ought to be sacrificed for the +opportunity to make an anti-slavery speech. There is reason in +everything; and I thought, and he thought too, that I had been made +enough of a martyr of already. + +The case having been brought to the notice of the President, he, being +no longer a candidate for reëlection, could not fail to recognize the +claim of Sayres and myself to a discharge. We had already been kept in +jail upwards of four years, for an offence which the laws had intended +to punish by a trifling pecuniary fine Nor was this all. The earlier +part of our confinement had been exceedingly rigorous, and it had only +been by the untiring efforts of our friends, and at a great expense to +them, that we had been saved from falling victims to the conspiracy, +between the District Attorney and Judge Crawford, to send us to the +penitentiary. Although my able and indefatigable counsel, Mr. Mann, +whose arduous labors and efforts in my behalf I shall never forget, and +still less his friendly counsels and kind personal attentions, had +received nothing, except, I believe, the partial reimbursement of his +travelling expenses, and although there was much other service +gratuitously rendered in our cases, yet it had been necessary to pay +pretty roundly for the services of Mr. Carlisle; and, altogether, the +expenditures which had been incurred to shield us from the effects of +the conspiracy above mentioned far exceeded any amount of fine which +might have been reasonably imposed under the indictments upon which we +had been found guilty. Was not the enormous sum which Judge Crawford +sentenced us to pay a gross violation of the provision in the +constitution of the United States against excessive fines? Any fine +utterly beyond a man's ability to pay, and which operates to keep him a +prisoner for life, must be excessive, or else that word has no meaning. + +But, though our case was a strong one, there still remained a serious +obstacle in the way, in the idea that, because half the fines was to go +to the owners of the slaves, the President could not remit that half. +Here was a point upon which Mr. Sumner was able to assist us much more +effectually than by making speeches in the senate. It was a point, too, +involved in a good deal of difficulty; for there were some English cases +which denied the power of pardon under such circumstances. Mr. Sumner +found, however, by a laborious examination of the American cases, that a +different view had been taken in this country; and he drew up and +submitted to the President an elaborate legal opinion, in which the +right of the executive to pardon us was very clearly made out. + +This opinion the President referred to the Attorney General. A +considerable time elapsed before he found leisure to examine it; but at +last it obtained his sanction, also. Information at length reached +us--the matter having been pending for two months or more--that the +President had signed our pardon. It had yet, however, to pass through +the office of the Secretary for the Interior, and meanwhile we were not +by any means free from anxiety. The reader will perhaps recollect that +among the other things which the District Attorney had held over our +heads had been the threat to surrender us up to the authorities of +Virginia, on a requisition which it was alleged they had made for us. +The story of this requisition had been repeated from time to time, and a +circumstance now occurred which, in seeming to threaten us with +something of the sort, served to revive all our apprehensions. Mr. +Stuart, the Secretary of the Interior, through whose office the pardon +was to pass, sent word to the marshal that such a pardon had been +signed, and, at the same time, requested him, if it came that day into +his hands, not to act upon it till the next. As this Stuart was a +Virginian, out apprehensions were naturally excited of some movement +from that quarter. The pardon arrived about five o'clock that afternoon; +and immediately upon receiving it the marshal told us that he had no +longer any hold upon us,--that we were free men, and at liberty to go +where we chose. As we were preparing to leave the jail, I observed that +a gentleman, a friend of the marshal, whom I had often seen there, and +who had always treated me with great courtesy, hardly returned my +good-day, and looked at me as black as a thunder-cloud. Afterwards, upon +inquiring of the jailer what the reason could be, I learned that this +gentleman, who was a good deal of a politician, was greatly alarmed and +disturbed lest the act of the President in having pardoned us should +result in the defeat of the Whig party--and, though willing enough that +we should be released, he did not like to have it done at the expense of +his party, and his own hopes of obtaining some good office. The Whigs +were defeated, sure enough; but whether because we were pardoned--though +the idea is sufficiently nattering to my vanity--is more than I shall +venture to decide. The black prisoners in the jail, having nothing to +hope or fear from the rise or fall of parties, yielded freely to their +friendly feelings, and greeted our departure with three cheers. We left +the jail as privately as possible, and proceeded in a carriage to the +house of a gentleman of the District, where we were entertained at +supper. Our imprisonment had lasted four years and four months, lacking +seven days. We did not feel safe, however, with that Virginia +requisition hanging over our heads, so long as we remained in the +District, or anywhere on slave-holding ground; and, by the liberality of +our friends, a hack was procured for us, to carry us, that same night, +to Baltimore, there, the next morning, to take the cars for +Philadelphia. The night proved one of the darkest and stormiest which it +had ever been my fate to encounter,--and I have seen some bad weather in +my time. The rain fell in torrents, and the road was only now and then +visible by the flashes of the lightning. But our trusty driver +persevered, and, in spite of all obstacles, brought us to Baltimore by +the early dawn. Sayres proceeded by the direct route to Philadelphia. +Having still some apprehensions of pursuit and a requisition, I took the +route by Harrisburg. Great was the satisfaction which I felt as the cars +crossed the line from Maryland into Pennsylvania. It was like escaping +out of Algiers into a free and Christian country. + +I shall leave it to the reader to imagine the meeting between myself and +my family. They had received notice of my coming, and were all waiting +to receive me. If a man wishes to realize the agony which our American +slave-trade inflicts in the separation of families, let him personally +feel that separation, as I did; let him pass four years in the +Washington jail. + +When committed to the prison, I was by no means well. I had been a good +deal out of health, as appeared from the evidence on the trial, for two +or three years before. Close confinement, or, indeed, confinement of any +sort, does not agree with persons of my temperament; and I came out of +the prison a good deal older, and much more of an invalid, than when I +entered it. + +The reader, perhaps, will inquire what good was gained by all these +sufferings of myself and my family--what satisfaction I can have, as it +did not succeed, in looking back to an enterprise attended with so much +risk, and which involved me in so long and tedious an imprisonment? + +The satisfaction that I have is this: What I did, and what I attempted +to do, was my protest,--a protest which resounded from one end of the +Union to the other, and which, I hope, by the dissemination of this, my +narrative, to renew and repeat it,--it was my protest against the +infamous and atrocious doctrine that there can be any such thing as +property in man! We can only do according to our power, and the +capacity, gifts and talents, that we have. Others, more fortunate than +I, may record their protest against this wicked doctrine more safely and +comfortably for themselves than I did. They may embody it in burning +words and eloquent speeches; they may write it out in books; they may +preach it in sermons. I could not do that. I have as many thoughts as +another, but, for want of education, I lack the power to express them in +speech or writing. I have not been able to put even this short +narrative on paper without obtaining the assistance of a friend. I could +not talk, I could not write; but I could act. The humblest, the most +uneducated man can do that. I did act; and, by my actions, I protested +that I did not believe that there was, or could be, any such thing as a +right of property in human beings. + +Nobody in this country will admit, for a moment, that there can be any +such thing as property in a white man. The institution of slavery could +not last for a day, if the slaves were all white. But I do not see that +because their complexions are different they are any the less men on +that account. The doctrine I hold to, and which I desired to preach in a +practical way, is the doctrine of Jefferson and Madison, that there +cannot be property in man,--no, not even in black men. And the rage +exerted against me on the part of the slave-holders grew entirely out of +my preaching that doctrine. Actions, as everybody knows, speak louder +than words. By virtue of my actions proclaiming my opinion on that +subject, I became at once, powerless as I otherwise was, elevated, in +the minds of the slave-holders, to the same high level with Mr. Giddings +and Mr. Hale, who they could not help believing must have been my secret +confederates. + +If I had believed, as the slave-holders do, that men can be owned; if I +had really attempted, as they falsely and meanly charged me with doing, +to steal; had I actually sought to appropriate men as property to my own +use; had that been all, does anybody imagine that I should ever have +been pursued with such persevering enmity and personal virulence? Do +they get up a debate in Congress, and a riot in the city of Washington, +every time a theft is committed or attempted in the District? It was +purely because I was not a thief; because, in helping men, women and +children, claimed as chattels, to escape, I bore my testimony against +robbing human beings of their liberty; this was the very thing that +excited the slave-holders against me, just as a strong anti-slavery +speech excites them against Mr. Hale, or Mr. Giddings, or Mr. Mann, or +Mr. Stunner. Those gentlemen have words at command; they can speak, and +can do good service by doing so. As for me, it was impossible that I +should ever be able to make myself heard in Congress, or by the nation +at large, except in the way of action. The opportunity occurring, I did +not hesitate to improve it; nor have I ever yet seen occasion to regret +having done so. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton +by Daniel Drayton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10401 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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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: Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton + For Four Years And Four Months A Prisoner (For Charity's Sake) In Washington Jail + +Author: Daniel Drayton + +Release Date: December 8, 2003 [EBook #10401] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONAL MEMOIR OF DANIEL DRAYTON *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Morgan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +[Illustration: _Daniel Drayton_] + + + + +PERSONAL MEMOIR Of DANIEL DRAYTON, + +For Four Years And Four Months + +A PRISONER (FOR CHARITY'S SAKE) IN WASHINGTON JAIL + +Including A Narrative Of The + +VOYAGE AND CAPTURE OF THE SCHOONER PEARL. + + We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men + are created equal; that they are endowed by their + Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among + these are life, _liberty_, and the pursuit of happiness. + +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. + + +1855. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1853, by + +DANIEL DRAYTON, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +Considering the large share of the public attention which the case of +the schooner Pearl attracted at the time of its occurrence, perhaps the +following narrative of its origin, and of its consequences to himself, +by the principal actor in it, may not be without interest. It is proper +to state that a large share of the profits of the sale are secured to +Captain Drayton, the state of whose health incapacitates him from any +laborious employment. + + + + +MEMOIR. + + +I was born in the year 1802, in Cumberland County, Downs Township, in +the State of New Jersey, on the shores of Nantuxet Creek, not far from +Delaware Bay, into which that creek flows. My father was a farmer,--not +a very profitable occupation in that barren part of the country. My +mother was a widow at the time of her marriage with my father, having +three children by a former husband. By my father she had six more, of +whom I was the youngest but one. She was a woman of strong mind and +marked character, a zealous member of the Methodist church; and, +although I had the misfortune to lose her at an early age, her +instructions--though the effect was not apparent at the moment--made a +deep impression on my youthful mind, and no doubt had a very sensible +influence over my future life. + +Just previous to, or during the war with Great Britain, my father +removed still nearer to the shore of the bay, and the sight of the +vessels passing up and down inspired me with a desire to follow the life +of a waterman; but it was some years before I was able to gratify this +wish. I well remember the alarm created in our neighborhood by the +incursions of the British vessels up the bay during the war, and that, +at these times, the women of the neighborhood used to collect at our +house, as if looking up to my mother for counsel and guidance. + +I was only twelve years old when this good mother died; but, so strong +was the impression which she left upon my memory, that, amid the +struggles and dangers and cares of my subsequent life, I have seldom +closed my eyes to sleep without some thought or image of her. + +As my father soon after married another widow, with four small children, +it became necessary to make room in the house for their accommodation; +and, with a younger brother of mine, I was bound out an apprentice in a +cotton and woollen factory at a place called Cedarville. Manufactures +were just then beginning to be introduced into the country, and great +hopes were entertained of them as a profitable business. My +employer,--or bos, as we called him,--had formerly been a schoolmaster, +and he did not wholly neglect our instructions in other things besides +cotton-spinning. Of this I stood greatly in need; for there were no +public schools in the neighborhood in which I was born, and my parents +had too many children to feed and clothe to be able to pay much for +schooling. We were required on Sundays, by our employer, to learn two +lessons, one in the forenoon, the other in the afternoon; after reciting +which we were left at liberty to roam at our pleasure. Winter evenings +we worked in the factory till nine o'clock, after which, and before +going to bed, we were required to recite over one of our lessons These +advantages of education were not great, but even these I soon lost. +Within five months from the time I was bound to him, my employer died. +The factories were then sold out to three partners. The one who carried +on the cotton-spinning took me; but he soon gave up the business, and +went back to farming, which had been his original occupation. I remained +with him for a year and a half, or thereabouts, when my father bound me +out apprentice to a shoe-maker. + +My new bos was, in some respects, a remarkable man, but not a very good +sort of one for a boy to be bound apprentice to. He paid very little +attention to his business, which he seemed to think unworthy of his +genius. He was a kind-hearted man, fond of company and frolics, in which +he indulged himself freely, and much given to speeches and harangues, in +which he had a good deal of fluency. In religion he professed to be a +Universalist, holding to doctrines and opinions very different from +those which my mother had instilled into me. He ridiculed those +opinions, and argued against them, but without converting me to his way +of thinking; though, as far as practice went, I was ready enough to +imitate his example. My Sundays were spent principally in taverns, +playing at dominos, which then was, and still is, a favorite game in +that part of the country; and, as the unsuccessful party was expected to +treat, I at times ran up a bill at the bar as high as four or six +dollars,--no small indebtedness for a young apprentice with no more +means than I had. + +As I grew older this method of living grew less and less satisfactory +to me; and as I saw that no good of any kind, not even a knowledge of +the trade he had undertaken to teach me, was to be got of my present +bos, I bought my time of him, and went to work with another man to pay +for it. Before I had succeeded in doing that, and while I was not yet +nineteen, I took upon myself the still further responsibility of +marriage. This was a step into which I was led rather by the impulse of +youthful passion than by any thoughtful foresight. Yet it had at least +this advantage, that it obliged me to set diligently to work to provide +for the increasing family which I soon found growing up around me. + +I had never liked the shoe-making business, to which my father had bound +me an apprentice. I had always desired to follow the water. The vessels +which I had seen sailing up and down the Delaware Bay still haunted my +fancy; and I engaged myself as cook on board a sloop, employed in +carrying wood from Maurice river to Philadelphia. Promotion in this line +is sufficiently rapid; for in four months, after commencing as cook, I +rose to be captain. This wood business, in which I remained for two +years, is carried on by vessels of from thirty to sixty tons, known as +_bay-craft_. They are built so as to draw but little water, which is +their chief distinction from the _coasters_, which are fit for the open +sea. They will carry from twenty-five to fifty cords of wood, on which a +profit is expected of a dollar and upwards. They have usually about +three hands, the captain, or skipper, included. The men used to be +hired, when I entered the business, for eight or ten dollars the month, +but they now get nearly or quite twice as much. The captain usually +sails the vessel on shares (unless he is himself owner in whole, or in +part), victualling the vessel and hiring the men, and paying over to the +owner forty dollars out of every hundred. During the winter, from +December to March, the navigation is impeded by ice, and the bay-craft +seldom run. The men commonly spend this long vacation in visiting, +husking-frolics, rabbiting, and too often in taverns, to the exhaustion +of their purses, the impoverishment of their families, and the sacrifice +of their sobriety. Yet the watermen, if many of them are not able always +to resist the temptations held out to them, are in general an honest and +simple-hearted set, though with little education, and sometimes rather +rough in their manners. The extent of my education when I took to the +water--and in this respect I was not, perhaps, much inferior to the +generality of my brother watermen--was to read with no great fluency, +and to sign my name; nor did I ever learn much more than this till my +residence in Washington jail, to be related hereafter. + +Having followed the wood business for two years, I aspired to something +a little higher, and obtained the command of a sloop engaged in the +coasting business, from Philadelphia southward and eastward. At this +time a sloop of sixty tons was considered a very respectable coaster. +The business is now mostly carried on by vessels of a larger class; +some of them, especially the regular lines of packets, being very +handsome and expensive. The terms on which these coasters were sailed +were very similar to those already stated in the case of the bay-craft. +The captain victualled the vessel, and paid the hands, and received for +his share half the net profits, after deducting the extra expenses of +loading and unloading. It was in this coasting business that the best +years of my life were spent, during which time I visited most of the +ports and rivers between Savannah southward, and St. John, in the +British province of New Brunswick, eastward;--those two places forming +the extreme limits of my voyagings. As Philadelphia was the port from +and to which I sailed, I presently found it convenient to remove my +family thither, and there they continued to live till after my release +from the Washington prison. + +I was so successful in my new business, that, besides supporting my +family, I was able to become half owner of the sloop Superior, at an +expense of over a thousand dollars, most of which I paid down. But this +proved a very unfortunate investment. On her second trip after I had +bought into her, returning from Baltimore to Philadelphia by the way of +the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, while off the mouth of the +Susquehannah, she struck, as I suppose, a sunken tree, brought down by a +heavy freshet in that river. The water flowed fast into the cabin. It +was in vain that I attempted to run her ashore. She sunk in five +minutes. The men saved themselves in the boat, which was on deck, and +which floated as she went down. I stood by the rudder till the last, and +stepped off it into the boat, loath enough to leave my vessel, on which +there was no insurance. + +By this unfortunate accident I lost everything except the clothes I had +on, and was obliged to commence anew. I accordingly obtained the command +of the new sloop Sarah Henry, of seventy tons burden, and continued to +sail her for several years, on shares. While in her I made a voyage to +Savannah; and while under sail from that city for Charleston, I was +taken with the yellow fever. I lay for a week quite unconscious of +anything that was going on about me and came as near dying as a man +could do and escape. The religious instructions of my mother had from +time to time recurred to my mind, and had occasioned me some anxiety. I +was now greatly alarmed at the idea of dying in my sins, from which I +seemed to have escaped so narrowly. My mind was possessed with this +fear; and, to relieve myself from it, I determined, if it were a +possible thing, to get religion at any rate. The idea of religion in +which I had been educated was that of a sudden, miraculous change, in +which a man felt himself relieved from the burden of his sins, united to +God, and made a new creature. For this experience I diligently sought, +and tried every way to get it. I set up family prayers in my house, went +to meetings, and conversed with experienced members of the church; but, +for nine months or more, all to no purpose. At length I got into an +awful state, beginning to think that I had been so desperate a sinner +that there was no forgiveness for me. While I was in this miserable +condition, I heard of a camp-meeting about to be held on Cape May, and I +immediately resolved to attend it, and to leave no stone unturned to +accomplish the object which I had so much at heart. I went accordingly, +and yielded myself entirely up to the dictation of those who had the +control of the meeting. I did in everything as I was told; went into the +altar, prayed, and let them pray over me. This went on for several days +without any result. One evening, as I approached the altar, and was +looking into it, I met a captain of my acquaintance, and asked him what +he thought of these proceedings; and, as he seemed to approve them, I +invited him to go into the altar with me. We both went in accordingly, +and knelt down. Pretty soon my friend got up and walked away, saying he +had got religion. I did not find it so easily. I remained at the altar, +praying, till after the meeting broke up, and even till one o'clock,--a +few acquaintances and others remaining with me, and praying round me, +and over me, and for me;--till, at last, thinking that I had done +everything I could, I told them pray no more, as evidently there was no +forgiveness for me. So I withdrew to a distance, and sat down upon an +old tree, lamenting my hard case very seriously. I was sure I had +committed the unpardonable sin. A friend, who sat down beside me, and of +whom I inquired what he supposed the unpardonable sin was, endeavored +comfort me by suggesting that, whatever it might be, it would take more +sense and learning than ever I had to commit it. But I would not enter +into his merriment. All the next day, which was Sunday, I passed in a +most miserable state. I went into the woods alone. I did not think +myself worthy or fit to associate with those who had religion, while I +was anxious to avoid the company of those who made light of it. +Sometimes I would sit down, sometimes I would stand up, sometimes I +would walk about. Frequently I prayed, but found no comfort in it. + +About sun-set I met a friend, who said to me, "Well, our camp-meeting is +about ended." What a misery those few words struck to my heart! "About +ended!" I said to myself; "about ended, and I not converted!" A little +later, as I was passing along the camp-ground, I saw a woman before me +kneeling and praying. An acquaintance of mine, who was approaching her +in an opposite direction, called out to me, "Daniel, help me pray for +this woman!" I had made up my mind to make one more effort, and I knelt +down and commenced praying; but quite as much for myself as for her. +Others gathered about us and joined in, and the interest and excitement +became so great, that, after a vain effort to call us off, the regular +services of the evening were dispensed with, and the ground was left to +us. Things went on in this way till about nine o'clock, when, as +suddenly as if I had been struck a heavy blow, I felt a remarkable +change come over me. All my fears and terrors seemed to be +instantaneously removed, and my whole soul to be filled with joy and +peace. This was the sort of change which I had been taught to look for +as the consequence of getting that religion for which I had been +struggling so hard. I instantly rose up, and told those about me that I +was a converted man; and from that moment I was able to sing and shout +and pray with the best of them. In the midst of my exultation who should +come up but my old master in the shoe-making trade, of whom I have +already given some account. He had heard that I was on the camp-ground +in pursuit of religion, and had come to find me out. "Daniel," he said, +addressing me by my Christian name, "what are you doing here? Don't make +a fool of yourself." To which I answered, that I had got to be just such +a fool as I had long wanted to be; and I took him by the arm, and +endeavored to prevail upon him to kneel down and allow us to pray over +him, assuring him that I knew his convictions to be much better than his +conduct; that he must get religion, and now was the time. But he drew +back, and escaped from me, with promises to do better, which, however, +he did not keep. + +As for myself, considering, and, as I thought, feeling that I was a +converted man, I now enjoyed for some time an extraordinary +satisfaction, a sort of offset to the months of agony and misery which I +had previously endured. But, though regarding myself as now truly +converted, I delayed some time before uniting myself with any particular +church. I did not know which to join. This division into so many +hostile sects seemed to me unaccountable. I thought that all good +Christians should love each other, and be as one family. Yet it seemed +necessary to unite myself with some body of Christians; and, as I had +been educated a Methodist, I concluded to join them. + +I have given the account of my religious experience exactly as it seemed +to me at the time, and as I now remember it. It corresponded with the +common course of religious experiences in the Methodist church, except +that with me the struggle was harder than commonly happens. I did not +doubt at the time that it was truly a supernatural change, as much the +work of the Spirit as the sudden conversions recorded in the Acts of the +Apostles. Others can form their own opinion about it. I will only add +that subsequent experience has led me to the belief that the reality of +a man's religion is more to be judged of by what he does than by how he +feels or what he says. + +The change which had taken place in me, however it is to be regarded, +was not without a decided influence on my whole future life. I no longer +considered myself as living for myself alone. I regarded myself as bound +to do unto others as I would that they should do unto me; and it was in +attempting to act up to this principle that I became involved in the +difficulties to be hereafter related. + +Meanwhile I resumed my voyages in the Sarah Henry, in which I continued +to sail, on shares, for several years, with tolerable success. +Afterwards I followed the same business in the schooner Protection, in +which I suffered another shipwreck. We sailed from Philadelphia to +Washington, in the District of Columbia, laden with coal, proceeding +down the Delaware, and by the open sea; but, when off the entrance of +the Chesapeake, we encountered a heavy gale, which split the sails, +swept the decks, and drove us off our course as far south as Ocracoke +Inlet, on the coast of North Carolina. I took a pilot, intending to go +in to repair damages; but, owing to the strength of the current, which +defeated his calculations, the pilot ran us on the bar. As soon as the +schooner's bow touched the ground, she swung round broadside to the sea, +which immediately began to break over her in a fearful manner. She +filled immediately,--everything on deck was swept away; and, as our only +chance of safety, we took to the main-rigging. This was about seven +o'clock in the evening. Towards morning, by reason of the continual +thumping, the mainmast began to work through the vessel, and to settle +in the sand, so that it became necessary for us to make our way to the +fore-rigging; which we did, not without danger, as one of the men was +twice washed off. + +About a quarter of a mile inside was a small, low island, on which lay +five boats, each manned by five men, who had come down to our +assistance; but the surf was so high that they did not venture to +approach us; so we remained clinging with difficulty to the rigging till +about half-past one, when the schooner went to pieces. The mast to which +we were clinging fell, and we were precipitated into the raging surf, +which swept us onward towards the island already mentioned. The men +there, anticipating what had happened, had prepared for its occurrence; +and the best swimmers, with ropes tied round their waists, the other end +of which was held by those on shore, plunged in to our assistance. One +of our unfortunate company was drowned,--the rest of us came safely to +the shore; but we lost everything except the clothes we stood in. The +fragments saved from the wreck were sold at auction for two hundred +dollars. The people of that neighborhood treated us with great kindness, +and we presently took the packet for Elizabeth city, whence I proceeded +to Norfolk, Baltimore, and so home. + +I had made up my mind to go to sea no more; but, after remaining on +shore for three weeks, and not finding anything else to do, as it was +necessary for me to have the means of supporting my increasing family, I +took the command of another vessel, belonging to the same owners, the +sloop Joseph B. While in this vessel, my voyages were to the eastward. I +was engaged in the flour-trade, in conjunction with the owners of the +vessel. We bought flour and grain on a sixty days' credit, which I +carried to the Kennebec, Portsmouth, Boston, New Bedford, and other +eastern ports, calculating upon the returns of the voyage to take up our +notes. I was so successful in this business as finally to become the +owner of the Joseph B., which vessel I exchanged away at Portsmouth for +the Sophronia, a top-sail schooner of one hundred and sixty tons, worth +about fourteen hundred dollars. In this vessel I made two trips to +Boston,--one with coal, and the other with timber. Having unloaded my +timber, I took in a hundred tons of plaster, purchased on my own +account, intending to dispose of it in the Susquehanna. But on the +passage I encountered a heavy storm, which blew the masts out of the +vessel, and drove her ashore on the south side of Long Island. We saved +our lives; but I lost everything except one hundred and sixty dollars, +for which I sold what was left of the vessel and cargo. + +Having returned to my family, with but little disposition to try my +fortune again in the coasting-trade, one day, being in the horse-market, +I purchased a horse and wagon; and, taking in my wife and some of the +younger children, I went to pay a visit to the neighborhood in which I +was born. Here I traded for half of a bay-craft, of about sixty tons +burden, in which I engaged in the oyster-trade, and other small +bay-traffic. Having met at Baltimore the owner of the other half, I +bought him out also. The whole craft stood me in about seven hundred +dollars. I then purchased three hundred bushels of potatoes, with which +I sailed for Fredericksburg, in Virginia; but this proved a losing trip, +the potatoes not selling for what they cost me. At Fredericksburg I took +in flour on freight for Norfolk; but my ill-luck still pursued me. In +unloading the vessel, the cargo forward being first taken out, she +settled by the stern and sprang a leak, damaging fifteen barrels of +flour, which were thrown upon my hands. I then sailed for the eastern +shore of Virginia, and at a place called Cherrystone traded off my +damaged flour for a cargo of pears, with which I sailed for New York. I +proceeded safely as far as Barnegat, when I encountered a north-east +storm, which drove me back into the Delaware, obliging me to seek refuge +in the same Maurice river from which I had commenced my sea-faring life +in the wood business. But by this time the pears were spoiled, and I was +obliged to throw them overboard. At Cherrystone I had met the owner of a +pilot-boat, who had seemed disposed to trade with me for my vessel; and +I now returned to that place, and completed the trade; after which I +loaded the pilot-boat with oysters and terrapins, and sailed for +Philadelphia. This boat was an excellent sailer, but too sharp, and not +of burden enough for my business; and I soon exchanged her for half a +little sloop, in which I carried a load of water-melons to Baltimore. + +By this time I was pretty well sick of the water; and, having hired out +the sloop, I set up a shop, at Philadelphia, for the purchase and sale +of junk, old iron, &c. &c. But, after continuing in this business for +about two years,--my health being bad, and the doctor having advised me +to try the water again,--I bought half of another sloop, and engaged in +trading up and down Chesapeake Bay. Returning home, towards the close of +the season, with the proceeds of the summer's business, I encountered, +in the upper part of Chesapeake Bay, a terrible snow-storm which proved +fatal to many vessels then in the bay. In attempting to make a harbor, +the vessel struck the ground, and knocked off her rudder; and, in order +to get her off, we were obliged to throw over the deck-load. We drifted +about all day, it still blowing and snowing, and at night let go both +anchors. So we lay for a night and a day; but, having neither boat, +rudder nor provisions, I was finally obliged to slip the anchors and run +ashore. I sold my half of her, as she lay, for ninety dollars, which was +all that remained to me of my investment and my summer's work. + +Not having the means to purchase a boat, my health also continuing quite +infirm, the next summer I hired one, and continued the same trade up and +down the bay which I had followed the previous summer. + +My trading up and down the bay, in the way which I have described, of +course brought me a good deal into contact with the slave population. No +sooner, indeed, does a vessel, known to be from the north, anchor in any +of these waters--and the slaves are pretty adroit in ascertaining from +what state a vessel comes--than she is boarded, if she remains any +length of time, and especially over night, by more or less of them, in +hopes of obtaining a passage in her to a land of freedom. During my +earlier voyagings, several years before, in Chesapeake Bay, I had turned +a deaf ear to all these requests. At that time, according to an idea +still common enough, I had regarded the negroes as only fit to be +slaves, and had not been inclined to pay much attention to the pitiful +tales which they told me of ill-treatment by their masters and +mistresses. But my views upon this subject had undergone a gradual +change. I knew it was asserted in the Declaration of Independence that +all men are born free and equal, and I had read in the Bible that God +had made of one flesh all the nations of the earth. I had found out, by +intercourse with the negroes, that they had the same desires, wishes and +hopes, as myself. I knew very well that I should not like to be a slave +even to the best of masters, and still less to such sort of masters as +the greater part of the slaves seemed to have. The idea of having first +one child and then another taken from me, as fast as they grew large +enough, and handed over to the slave-traders, to be carried I knew not +where, and sold, if they were girls, I knew not for what purposes, would +have been horrible enough; and, from instances which came to my notice, +I perceived that it was not less horrible and distressing to the parties +concerned in the case of black people than of white ones. I had never +read any abolition books, nor heard any abolition lectures. I had +frequented only Methodist meetings, and nothing was heard there about +slavery. But, for the life of me, I could not perceive why the golden +rule of doing to others as you would wish them to do to you did not +apply to this case. Had I been a slave myself,--and it is not a great +while since the Algerines used to make slaves of our sailors, white as +well as black,--I should have thought it very right and proper in +anybody who would have ventured to assist me in escaping out of bondage; +and the more dangerous it might have been to render such assistance, +the more meritorious I should have thought the act to be. Why had not +these black people, so anxious to escape from their masters, as good a +light to their liberty as I had to mine? + +I know it is sometimes said, by those who defend slavery or apologize +for it, that the slaves at the south are very happy and contented, if +left to themselves, and that this idea of running away is only put into +their heads by mischievous white people from the north. This will do +very well for those who know nothing of the matter personally, and who +are anxious to listen to any excuse. But there is not a waterman who +ever sailed in Chesapeake Bay who will not tell you that, so far from +the slaves needing any prompting to run away, the difficulty is, when +they ask you to assist them, to make them take no for an answer. I have +known instances where men have lain in the woods for a year or two, +waiting for an opportunity to escape on board some vessel. On one of my +voyages up the Potomac, an application was made to me on behalf of such +a runaway; and I was so much moved by his story, that, had it been +practicable for me at that time, I should certainly have helped him off. +One or two attempts I did make to assist the flight of some of those who +sought my assistance; but none with success, till the summer of 1847, +which is the period to which I have brought down my narrative. + +I was employed during that summer, as I have mentioned already in +trading up and down the Chesapeake, in a hired boat, a small black boy +being my only assistant. Among other trips, I went to Washington with a +cargo of oysters. While I was lying there, at the same wharf, as it +happened, from which the Pearl afterwards took her departure, a colored +man came on board, and, observing that I seemed to be from the north, he +said he supposed we were pretty much all abolitionists there. I don't +know where he got this piece of information, but I think it likely from +some southern member of Congress. As I did not check him, but rather +encouraged him to go on, he finally told me that he wanted to get +passage to the north for a woman and five children. The husband of the +woman, and father of the children, was a free colored man; and the +woman, under an agreement with her master, had already more than paid +for her liberty; but, when she had asked him for a settlement, he had +only answered by threatening to sell her. He begged me to see the woman, +which I did; and finally I made an arrangement to take them away. Their +bedding, and other things, were sent down on board the vessel in open +day, and at night the woman came on board with her five children and a +niece. We were ten days in reaching Frenchtown, where the husband was in +waiting for them. He took them under his charge, and I saw them no more; +but, since my release from imprisonment in Washington, I have heard that +the whole family are comfortably established in a free country, and +doing well. + +Having accomplished this exploit,--and was it not something of an +exploit to bestow the invaluable gift of liberty upon seven of one's +fellow-creatures--the season being now far advanced, I gave up the boat +to the owner, and returned to my family at Philadelphia. In the course +of the following month of February, I received a note from a person whom +I had never known or heard of before, desiring me to call at a certain +place named in it. I did so, when it appeared that I had been heard of +through the colored family which I had brought off from Washington. A +letter from that city was read to me, relating the case of a family or +two who expected daily and hourly to be sold, and desiring assistance to +get them away. It was proposed to me to undertake this enterprise; but I +declined it at this time, as I had no vessel, and because the season was +too early for navigation through the canal. I saw the same person again +about a fortnight later, and finally arranged to go on to Washington, to +see what could be done. There I agreed to return again so soon as I +could find a vessel fit for the enterprise. I spoke with several persons +of my acquaintance, who had vessels under their control; but they +declined, on account of the danger. They did not appear to have any +other objection, and seemed to wish me success. Passing along the +street, I met Captain Sayres, and knowing that he was sailing a small +bay-craft, called the Pearl, and learning from him that business was +dull with him, I proposed the enterprise to him, offering him one +hundred dollars for the charter of his vessel to Washington and back to +Frenchtown where, according to the arrangement with the friends of the +passengers, they were to be met and carried to Philadelphia. This was +considerably more than the vessel could earn in any ordinary trip of the +like duration, and Sayres closed with the offer. He fully understood the +nature of the enterprise. By our bargain, I was to have, as supercargo, +the control of the vessel so far as related to her freight, and was to +bring away from Washington such passengers as I chose to receive on +board; but the control of the vessel in other respects remained with +him. Captain Sayres engaged in this enterprise merely as a matter of +business. I, too, was to be paid for my time and trouble,--an offer +which the low state of my pecuniary affairs, and the necessity of +supporting my family, did not allow me to decline. But this was not, by +any means, my sole or principal motive. I undertook it out of sympathy +for the enslaved, and from my desire to do something to further the +cause of universal liberty. Such being the different ground upon which +Sayres and myself stood, I did not think it necessary or expedient to +communicate to him the names of the persons with whom the expedition had +originated; and, at my suggestion, those persons abstained from any +direct communication with him, either at Philadelphia or Washington. +Sayres had, as cook and sailor, on board the Pearl, a young man named +Chester English. He was married, and had a child or two, but was himself +as inexperienced as a child, having never been more than thirty miles +from the place where he was born. I remonstrated with Sayres against +taking this young man with us. But English, pleased with the idea of +seeing Washington, desired to go; and Sayres, who had engaged him for +the season, did not like to part with him. He went with us, but was kept +in total ignorance of the real object of the voyage. He had the idea +that we were going to Washington for a load of ship-timber. + +We proceeded down the Delaware, and by the canal into the Chesapeake, +making for the mouth of the Potomac. As we ascended that river we +stopped at a place called Machudock, where I purchased, by way of cargo +and cover to the voyage, twenty cords of wood; and with that freight on +board we proceeded to Washington, where we arrived on the evening of +Thursday, the 13th of April, 1848. + +As it happened, we found that city in a great state of excitement on the +subject of emancipation, liberty and the rights of man. A grand +torch-light procession was on foot, in honor of the new French +revolution, the expulsion of Louis-Philippe, and the establishment of a +republic in France. Bonfires were blazing in the public squares, and a +great out-door meeting was being held in front of the _Union_ newspaper +office, at which very enthusiastic and exciting speeches were delivered, +principally by southern democratic members of Congress, which body was +at that time in session. A full account of these proceedings, with +reports of the speeches, was given in the _Union_ of the next day. +According to this report, Mr. Foote, the senator from Mississippi, +extolled the French revolution as holding out "to the whole family of +man a bright promise of the universal establishment of civil and +religious liberty." He declared, in the same speech, "that the age of +tyrants and of slavery was rapidly drawing to a close, and that the +happy period to be signalized by the _universal emancipation_ of man +from the fetters of civic oppression, and the recognition in all +countries of the great principles of popular sovereignty, equality and +brotherhood, was at this moment visibly commencing." Mr. Stanton, of +Tennessee, and others, spoke in a strain equally fervid and +philanthropic. I am obliged to refer to the _Union_ newspaper for an +account of these speeches, as I did not hear them myself. I came to +Washington, not to preach, nor to hear preached, emancipation, equality +and brotherhood, but to put them into practice. Sayres and English went +up to see the procession and hear the speeches. I had other things to +attend to. + +The news of my arrival soon spread among those who had been expecting +it, though I neither saw nor had any direct communication with any of +those who were to be my passengers. I had some difficulty in disposing +of my wood, which was not a very first-rate article, but finally sold +it, taking in payment the purchaser's note on sixty days, which I +changed off for half cash and half provisions. As the trader to whom I +passed the note had no hard bread, Sayres and myself went in the steamer +to Alexandria to purchase a barrel,--a circumstance of which it was +afterwards attempted to take advantage against us. + +It was arranged that the passengers should come on board after dark on +Saturday evening, and that we should sail about midnight. I had +understood that the expedition, had principally originated in the desire +to help off a certain family, consisting of a woman, nine children and +two grand-children, who were believed to be legally entitled to their +liberty. Their case had been in litigation for some time; but, although +they had a very good case,--the lawyer whom they employed (Mr. Bradley, +one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the district) +testified, in the course of one of my trials, that he believed them to +be legally free,--yet, as their money was nearly exhausted, and as there +seemed to be no end to the law's delay and the pertinacity of the woman +who claimed them, it was deemed best by their friends that they should +get away if they could, lest she might seize them unawares, and sell +them to some trader. In speaking of this case, the person with whom I +communicated at Washington informed me that there were also quite a +number of others who wished to avail themselves of this opportunity of +escaping, and that the number of passengers was likely to be larger than +had at first been calculated upon. To which I replied, that I did not +stand about the number; that all who were on board before eleven o'clock +I should take,--the others would have to remain behind. + +Saturday evening, at supper, I let English a little into the secret of +what I intended. I told him that the sort of ship-timber we were going +to take would prove very easy to load and unload; that a number of +colored people wished to take passage with us down the bay, and that, as +Sayres and myself would be away the greater part of the evening, all he +had to do was, as fast as they came on board, to lift up the hatch and +let them pass into the hold, shutting the hatch down upon them. The +vessel, which we had moved down the river since unloading the wood, lay +at a rather lonely place, called White-house Wharf, from a +whitish-colored building which stood upon it. The high bank of the +river, under which a road passed, afforded a cover to the wharf, and +there were only a few scattered buildings in the vicinity. Towards the +town there stretched a wide extent of open fields. Anxious, as might +naturally be expected, as to the result, I kept in the vicinity to watch +the progress of events. There was another small vessel that lay across +the head of the same wharf, but her crew were all black; and, going on +board her just at dusk, I informed the skipper of my business, +intimating to him, at the same time, that it would be a dangerous thing +for him to betray me. He assured me that I need have no fears of +him--that the other men would soon leave the vessel, not to return again +till Monday, and that, for himself, he should go below and to sleep, so +as neither to hear nor to see anything. + +Shortly after dark the expected passengers began to arrive, coming +stealthily across the fields, and gliding silently on board the vessel. +I observed a man near a neighboring brick-kiln, who seemed to be +watching them. I went towards him, and found him to be black. He told +me that he understood what was going on, but that I need have no +apprehension of him. Two white men, who walked along the road past the +vessel, and who presently returned back the same way, occasioned me some +alarm; but they seemed to have no suspicions of what was on foot, as I +saw no more of them. I went on board the vessel several times in the +course of the evening, and learned from English that the hold was fast +filling up. I had promised him, in consideration of the unusual nature +of the business we were engaged in, ten dollars as a gratuity, in +addition to his wages. + +Something past ten o'clock, I went on board, and directed English to +cast off the fastenings and to get ready to make sail. Pretty soon +Sayres came on board. It was a dead calm, and we were obliged to get the +boat out to get the vessel's head round. After dropping down a half a +mile or so, we encountered the tide making up the river; and, as there +was still no wind, we were obliged to anchor. Here we lay in a dead calm +till about daylight. The wind then began to breeze up lightly from the +northward, when we got up the anchor and made sail. As the sun rose, we +passed Alexandria. I then went into the hold for the first time, and +there found my passengers pretty thickly stowed. I distributed bread +among them, and knocked down the bulkhead between the hold and the +cabin, in order that they might get into the cabin to cook. They +consisted of men and women, in pretty equal proportions, with a number +of boys and girls, and two small children. The wind kept increasing and +hauling to the westward. Off Fort Washington we had to make two +stretches, but the rest of the way we run before the wind. + +Shortly after dinner, we passed the steamer from Baltimore for +Washington, bound up. I thought the passengers on board took particular +notice of us; but the number of vessels met with in a passage up the +Potomac at that season is so few, as to make one, at least for the idle +passengers of a steamboat, an object of some curiosity. Just before +sunset, we passed a schooner loaded with plaster, bound up. As we +approached the mouth of the Potomac, the wind hauled to the north, and +blew with such stiffness as would make it impossible for us to go up the +bay, according to our original plan. Under these circumstances, +apprehending a pursuit from Washington, I urged Sayres to go to sea, +with the intention of reaching the Delaware by the outside passage. But +he objected that the vessel was not fit to go outside (which was true +enough), and that the bargain was to go to Frenchtown. Having reached +Point Lookout, at the mouth of the river, and not being able to persuade +Sayres to go to sea, and the wind being dead in our teeth, and too +strong to allow any attempt to ascend the bay, we came to anchor in +Cornfield harbor, just under Point Lookout, a shelter usually sought by +bay-craft encountering contrary winds when in that neighborhood. + +We were all sleepy with being up all the night before, and, soon after +dropping anchor, we all turned in. I knew nothing more till, waking +suddenly, I heard the noise of a steamer blowing off steam alongside of +us. I knew at once that we were taken. The black men came to the cabin, +and asked if they should fight. I told them no; we had no arms, nor was +there the least possibility of a successful resistance. The loud shouts +and trampling of many feet overhead proved that our assailants were +numerous. One of them lifted the hatch a little, and cried out, +"Niggers, by G--d!" an exclamation to which the others responded with +three cheers, and by banging the buts of their muskets against the deck. +A lantern was called for, to read the name of the vessel; and it being +ascertained to be the Pearl, a number of men came to the cabin-door, and +called for Captain Drayton. I was in no great hurry to stir; but at +length rose from my berth, saying that I considered myself their +prisoner, and that I expected to be treated as such. While I was +dressing, rather too slowly for the impatience of those outside, a +sentinel, who had been stationed at the cabin-door, followed every +motion of mine with his gun, which he kept pointed at me, in great +apprehension, apparently, lest I should suddenly seize some dangerous +weapon and make at him. As I came out of the cabin-door, two of them +seized me, took me on board the steamer and tied me; and they did the +same with Sayres and English, who were brought on board, one after the +other. The black people were left on board the Pearl, which the steamer +took in tow, and then proceeded up the river. + +To explain this sudden change in our situation, it is necessary to go +back to Washington. Great was the consternation in several families of +that city, on Sunday morning, to find no breakfast, and, what was worse, +their servants missing. Nor was this disaster confined to Washington +only. Georgetown came in for a considerable share of it, and even +Alexandria, on the opposite side of the river, had not entirely escaped. +The persons who had taken passage on board the Pearl had been held in +bondage by no less than forty-one different persons. Great was the +wonder at the sudden and simultaneous disappearance of so many "prime +hands," roughly estimated, though probably with considerable +exaggeration, as worth in the market not less than a hundred thousand +dollars,--and all at "one fell swoop" too, as the District Attorney +afterwards, in arguing the case against me, pathetically expressed it! +There were a great many guesses and conjectures as to where these people +had gone, and how they had gone; but it is very doubtful whether the +losers would have got upon the right track, had it not been for the +treachery of a colored hackman, who had been employed to carry down to +the vessel two passengers who had been in hiding for some weeks +previous, and who could not safely walk down, lest they might be met and +recognized. Emulating the example of that large, and, in their own +opinion at least, highly moral, religious and respectable class of white +people, known as "dough-faces," this hackman thought it a fine +opportunity to feather his nest by playing cat's-paw to the +slave-holders. Seeing how much the information was in demand, and +anticipating, no doubt, a large reward, he turned informer, and +described the Pearl as the conveyance which the fugitives had taken; +and, it being ascertained that the Pearl had actually sailed between +Saturday night and Sunday morning, preparations were soon made to pursue +her. A Mr. Dodge, of Georgetown, a wealthy old gentleman, originally +from New England, missed three or four slaves from his family, and a +small steamboat, of which he was the proprietor, was readily obtained. +Thirty-five men, including a son or two of old Dodge, and several of +those whose slaves were missing, volunteered to man her; and they set +out about Sunday noon, armed to the teeth with guns, pistols, +bowie-knives, &c., and well provided with brandy and other liquors. They +heard of us on the passage down, from the Baltimore steamer and the +vessel loaded with plaster. They reached the mouth of the river, and, +not having found the Pearl, were about to return, as the steamer could +not proceed into the bay without forfeiting her insurance. As a last +chance, they looked into Cornfield harbor, where they found us, as I +have related. This was about two o'clock in the morning. The Pearl had +come to anchor about nine o'clock the previous evening. It is a hundred +and forty miles from Washington to Cornfield harbor. + +The steamer, with the Pearl in tow, crossed over from Point Lookout to +Piney Point, on the south shore of the Potomac, and here the Pearl was +left at anchor, a part of the steamer's company remaining to guard her, +while the steamer, having myself and the other white prisoners on board, +proceeded up Coan river for a supply of wood, having obtained which, she +again, about noon of Monday, took the Pearl in tow and started for +Washington. + +The bearing, manner and aspect of the thirty-five armed persons by whom +we had been thus seized and bound, without the slightest shadow of +lawful authority, was sufficient to inspire a good deal of alarm. We had +been lying quietly at anchor in a harbor of Maryland; and, although the +owners of the slaves might have had a legal right to pursue and take +them back, what warrant or authority had they for seizing us and our +vessel? They could have brought none from the District of Columbia, +whose officers had no jurisdiction or authority in Cornfield harbor; nor +did they pretend to have any from the State of Maryland. Some of them +showed a good deal of excitement, and evinced a disposition to proceed +to lynch us at once. A man named Houver, who claimed as his property two +of the boys passengers on board the Pearl, put me some questions in a +very insolent tone; to which I replied, that I considered myself a +prisoner, and did not wish to answer any questions; whereupon one of the +bystanders, flourishing a dirk in my face, exclaimed, "If I was in his +place, I'd put this through you!" At Piney Point, one of the company +proposed to hang me up to the yard-arm, and make me confess; but the +more influential of those on board were not ready for any such +violence, though all were exceedingly anxious to get out of me the +history of the expedition, and who my employers were. That I had +employers, and persons of note too, was taken for granted on all hands; +nor did I think it worth my while to contradict it, though I declined +steadily to give any information on that point. Sayres and English very +readily told all that they knew. English, especially, was in a great +state of alarm, and cried most bitterly. I pitied him much, besides +feeling some compunctions at getting him thus into difficulty; and, upon +the representations which I made, that he came to Washington in perfect +ignorance of the object of the expedition, he was finally untied. As +Sayres was obliged to admit that he came to Washington to take away +colored passengers, he was not regarded with so much favor. But it was +evidently me whom they looked upon as the chief culprit, alone +possessing a knowledge of the history and origin of the expedition, +which they were so anxious to unravel. They accordingly went to work +very artfully to worm this secret out of me. I was placed in charge of +one Orme, a police-officer of Georgetown, whose manner towards me was +such as to inspire me with a certain confidence in him; who, as it +afterwards appeared from his testimony on the trial, carefully took +minutes--but, as it proved, very confused and incorrect ones--of all +that I said, hoping thus to secure something that might turn out to my +disadvantage. Another person, with whom I had a good deal of +conversation, and who was afterwards produced as a witness against me, +was William H. Craig, in my opinion a much more conscientious person +than Orme, who seemed to think that it was part of his duty, as a +police-officer, to testify to something, at all hazards, to help on a +conviction. But this is a subject to which I shall have occasion to +return presently. + +In one particular, at least, the testimony of both these witnesses was +correct enough. They both testified to my expressing pretty serious +apprehensions of what the result to myself was likely to be. What the +particular provisions were, in the District of Columbia, as to helping +slaves to escape, I did not know; but I had heard that, in some of the +slave-states, they were very severe; in fact, I was assured by Craig +that I had committed the highest crime, next to murder, known in their +laws. Under these circumstances, I made up my mind that the least +penalty I should be apt to escape with was confinement in the +penitentiary for life; and it is quite probable that I endeavored to +console myself, as these witnesses testified, with the idea that, after +all, it might, in a religious point of view, be all for the best, as I +should thus be removed from temptation, and have ample time for +reflection and repentance. But my apprehensions were by no means limited +to what I might suffer under the forms of law. From the temper exhibited +by some of my captors, and from the vindictive fury with which the idea +of enabling the enslaved to regain their liberty was, I knew, generally +regarded at the south, I apprehended more sudden and summary +proceedings; and what happened afterwards at Washington proved that +these apprehensions were not wholly unfounded. The idea of being torn in +pieces by a furious mob was exceedingly disagreeable. Many men, who +might not fear death, might yet not choose to meet it in that shape. I +called to mind the apology of the Methodist minister, who, just after a +declaration of his that he was not afraid to die, ran away from a +furious bull that attacked him,--"that, though not fearing death, he did +not like to be torn in pieces by a mad bull." I related this anecdote to +Craig, and, as he testified on the trial, expressed my preference to be +taken on the deck of the steamer and shot at once, rather than to be +given up to a Washington mob to be baited and murdered. I talked pretty +freely with Orme and Craig about myself, the circumstances under which I +had undertaken this enterprise, my motives to it, my family, my past +misfortunes, and the fate that probably awaited me; but they failed to +extract from me, what they seemed chiefly to desire, any information +which would implicate others. Orme told me, as he afterwards testified, +that what the people in the District wanted was the principals; and +that, if I would give information that would lead to them, the owners of +the slaves would let me go, or sign a petition for my pardon. Craig also +made various inquiries tending to the same point. Though I was firmly +resolved not to yield in this particular, yet I was desirous to do all I +could to soften the feeling against me; and it was doubtless this +desire which led me to make the statements sworn to by Orme and Craig, +that I had no connection with the persons called abolitionists,--which +was true enough; that I had formerly refused large offers made me by +slaves to carry them away; and that, in the present instance, I was +employed by others, and was to be paid for my services. + +On arriving off Fort Washington, the steamer anchored for the night, as +the captors preferred to make their triumphant entry into the city by +daylight. Sayres and myself were watched during the night by a regular +guard of two men, armed with muskets, who were relieved from time to +time. Before getting under weigh again,--which they did about seven +o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 18,--Sayres and myself were tied +together arm-and-arm, and the black people also, two-and-two, with the +other arm bound behind their backs. As we passed Alexandria, we were all +ordered on deck, and exhibited to the mob collected on the wharves to +get a sight of us, who signified their satisfaction by three cheers. +When we landed at the steamboat-wharf in Washington, which is a mile and +more from Pennsylvania Avenue, and in a remote part of the city, but few +people had yet assembled. We were marched up in a long procession, +Sayres and myself being placed at the head of it, guarded by a man on +each side; English following next, and then the negroes. As we went +along, the mob began to increase; and, as we passed Gannon's slave-pen, +that slave-trader, armed with a knife, rushed out, and, with horrid +imprecations, made a pass at me, which was very near finding its way +through my body. Instead of being arrested, as he ought to have been, +this slave-dealer was politely informed that I was in the hands of the +law, to which he replied, "D--n the law!--I have three negroes, and I +will give them all for one thrust at this d--d scoundrel!" and he +followed along, waiting his opportunity to repeat the blow. The crowd, +by this time, was greatly increased. We met an immense mob of several +thousand persons coming down Four-and-a-half street, with the avowed +intention of carrying us up before the capitol, and making an exhibition +of us there. The noise and confusion was very great. It seemed as if the +time for the lynching had come. When almost up to Pennsylvania Avenue, a +rush was made upon us,--"Lynch them! lynch them! the d--n villains!" and +other such cries, resounded on all sides. Those who had us in charge +were greatly alarmed; and, seeing no other way to keep us from the hands +of the mob, they procured a hack, and put Sayres and myself into it. The +hack drove to the jail, the mob continuing to follow, repeating their +shouts and threats. Several thousand people surrounded the jail, filling +up the enclosure about it. + +Our captors had become satisfied, from the statements made by Sayres and +myself, and from his own statements and conduct, that the participation +of English in the affair was not of a sort that required any punishment; +and when the mob made the rush upon us, the persons having him in charge +had let him go, with the intention that he should escape. After a while +he had found his way back to the steamboat wharf; but the steamer was +gone. Alone in a strange place, and not knowing what to do, he told his +story to somebody whom he met, who put him in a hack and sent him up to +the jail. It was a pity he lacked the enterprise to take care of himself +when set at liberty, as it cost him four months' imprisonment and his +friends some money. I ought to have mentioned before that, on arriving +within the waters of the District, Sayres and myself had been examined +before a justice of the peace, who was one of the captors; and who had +acted as their leader. He had made out a commitment against us, but none +against English; so that the persons who had him in charge were right +enough in letting him go. + +Sayres and myself were at first put into the same cell, but, towards +night, we were separated. A person named Goddard, connected with the +police, came to examine us. He went to Sayres first. He then came to me, +when I told him that, as I supposed he had got the whole story out of +Sayres, and as it was not best that two stories should be told, I would +say nothing. Goddard then took from me my money. One of the keepers +threw me in two thin blankets, and I was left to sleep as I could. The +accommodations were not of the most luxurious kind. The cell had a stone +floor, which, with the help of a blanket, was to serve also for a bed. +There was neither chair, table, stool, nor any individual piece of +furniture of any kind, except a night-bucket and a water-can. I was +refused my overcoat and valise, and had nothing but my water-can to make +a pillow of. With such a pillow, and the bare stone floor for my bed, +looked upon by all whom I saw with apparent abhorrence and terror,--as +much so, to all appearance, as if I had been a murderer, or taken in +some other desperate crime,--remembering the execrations which the mob +had belched forth against me, and uncertain whether a person would be +found to express the least sympathy for me (which might not, in the +existing state of the public feeling, be safe), it may be imagined that +my slumbers were not very sound. + +Meanwhile the rage of the mob had taken, for the moment, another +direction. I had heard it said, while we were coming up in the +steamboat, that the abolition press must be stopped; and the mob +accordingly, as the night came on, gathered about the office of the +_National Era_, with threats to destroy it. Some little mischief was +done; but the property-holders in the city, well aware how dependent +Washington is upon the liberality of Congress, were unwilling that +anything should occur to place the District in bad odor at the north. +Some of them, also, it is but justice to believe, could not entirely +give in to the slave-holding doctrine and practice of suppressing free +discussion by force; and, by their efforts, seconded by a drenching +storm of rain, that came on between nine and ten o'clock, the mob were +persuaded to disperse for the present. The jail was guarded that night +by a strong body of police, serious apprehensions being entertained, +lest the mob, instigated by the violence of many southern members of +Congress, should break in and lynch us. Great apprehension, also, seemed +to be felt at the jail, lest we might be rescued; and we were subject, +during the night, to frequent examinations, to see that all was safe. +Great was the terror, as well as the rage, which the abolitionists +appeared to inspire. They seemed to be thought capable, if not very +narrowly watched, of taking us off through the roof, or the stone floor, +or out of the iron-barred doors; and, from the half-frightened looks +which the keepers gave me from time to time, I could plainly enough read +their thoughts,--that a fellow who had ventured on such an enterprise as +that of the Pearl was desperate and daring enough to attempt anything. +For a poor prisoner like me, so much in the power of his captors, and +without the slightest means, hopes, or even thoughts of escape, it was +some little satisfaction to observe the awe and terror which he +inspired. + +Of the prison fare I shall have more to say, by and by. It is sufficient +to state here that it was about on a par with the sleeping +accommodations, and hardly of a sort to give a man in my situation the +necessary physical vigor. However, I thought little of this at that +moment, as I was too sick and excited to feel much disposition to eat. + +The Washington prison is a large three-story stone building, the front +part of the lower story of which is occupied by the guard-room, or +jail-office, and by the kitchen and sleeping apartments for the keepers. +The back part, shut off from the front by strong grated doors, has a +winding stone stair-case, ascending in the middle, on each side of +which, on each of the three stories, are passage-ways, also shut off +from the stair-case, by grated iron doors. The back wall of the jail +forms one side of these passages, which are lighted by grated windows. +On the other side are the cells, also with grated iron doors, and +receiving their light and air entirely from the passages. The passages +themselves have no ventilation except through the doors and windows, +which answer that purpose very imperfectly. The front second story, over +the guard-room, contains the cells for the female prisoners. The front +third story is the debtors' apartment. + +The usage of the jail always has been--except in cases of +insubordination or attempted escape, when locking up in the cells by +day, as well as by night, has been resorted to as a punishment--to allow +the prisoners, during the day-time, the use of the passages, for the +benefit of light, air and exercise. Indeed, it is hard to conceive a +more cruel punishment than to keep a man locked up all the time in one +of these half-lighted, unventilated cells. On the morning of the second +day of our confinement, we too were let out into the passage. But we +were soon put back again, and not only into separate cells, but into +separate passages, so as to be entirely cut off from any communication +with each other. It was a long time before we were able to regain the +privilege of the passage. But, for the present, I shall pass over the +internal economy and administration of the prison, and my treatment in +it, intending, further on, to give a general sketch of that subject. + +About nine or ten o'clock, Mr. Giddings, the member of Congress from +Ohio, came to see us. There was some disposition, I understood, not to +allow him to enter the jail; but Mr. Giddings is a man not easily +repulsed, and there is nobody of whom the good people at Washington, +especially the office-holders, who make up so large a part of the +population, stand so much in awe as a member of Congress; especially a +member of Mr. Giddings' well-known fearless determination. He was +allowed to come in, bringing another person with him, but was followed +into the jail by a crowd of ruffians, who compelled the turnkey to admit +them into the passage, and who vented their rage in execration and +threats. Mr. Giddings said that he had understood we were here in jail +without counsel or friends, and that he had come to let us know that we +should not want for either; and he introduced the person he had brought +with him as one who was willing to act temporarily as our counsel. Not +long after, Mr. David A. Hall, a lawyer of the District, came to offer +his services to us in the same way. Key, the United States Attorney for +the District, and who, as such, had charge of the proceedings against +us, was there at the same time. He advised Mr. Hall to leave the jail +and go home immediately, as the people outside were furious, and he ran +the risk of his life. To which Mr. Hall replied that things had come to +a pretty pass, if a man's counsel was not to have the privilege of +talking with him. "Poor devils!" said the District Attorney, as he went +out, "I pity them,--they are to be made scape-goats for others!" Yet the +rancor, and virulence, and fierce pertinacity with which this Key +afterwards pursued me, did not look much like pity. No doubt he was a +good deal irritated at his ill success in getting any information out of +me. + +The seventy-six passengers found on board the Pearl had been committed +to the jail as runaways, and Mr. Giddings, on going up to the House, by +way of warning, I suppose, to the slave-holders, that they were not to +be allowed to have everything their own way, moved an inquiry into the +circumstances under which seventy-six persons were held prisoners in the +District jail, merely for attempting to vindicate their inalienable +rights. Mr. Hale also, in the Senate, in consequence of the threats held +out to destroy the _Era_ office, and to put a stop to the publication of +that paper, moved a resolution of inquiry into the necessity of +additional laws for the protection of property in the District. The fury +which these movements excited in the minds of the slave-holders found +expression in the editorial columns of the Washington _Union_, in an +article which I have inserted below, as forming a curious contrast to +the exultations of that print, only a week before, and to which I have +had occasion already to refer, over the spread of the principles of +liberty and universal emancipation. The violent attack upon Mr. +Giddings, because he had visited us three poor prisoners in jail, and +offered us the assistance of counsel,--as if the vilest criminals were +not entitled to have counsel to defend them,--is well worthy of notice. +The following is the article referred to. + + THE ABOLITION INCENDIARIES. + + + Those two abolition incendiaries (Giddings and Hale) + threw firebrands yesterday into the two houses of + Congress. The western abolitionist moved a resolution of + inquiry into the transactions now passing in Washington, + which brought on a fierce and fiery debate on the part + of the southern members, in the course of which Mr. + Giddings _was compelled to confess_, on the + cross-questioning of Messrs. Venable and Haskell, _that + he had visited the three piratical kidnappers now + confined in jail, and offered them counsel_. The reply + of Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, was scorching to an intense + degree. + + The abolitionist John P. Hale threw a firebrand + resolution into the Senate, calling for additional laws + to compel this city to prevent riots. This also gave + rise to a long and excited debate. + + No question was taken, in either house, before they + adjourned. But, in the progress of the discussion in + both houses, some doctrines were uttered which are + calculated to startle the friends of the Union. Giddings + justified the kidnappers, and contended that, though the + act was legally forbidden, it was not morally wrong! Mr. + Toombs brought home the practical consequences of this + doctrine to the member from Ohio in a most impressive + manner. + + Hale, of the Senate, whilst he was willing to protect + the abolitionist, expressed himself willing to relax the + laws and weaken the protection which is given to the + slave property in this district! Mr. Davis, of + Massachusetts, held the strange doctrine, that while he + would not disturb the rights of the slave-holders, he + would not cease to discuss those rights! As if Congress + ought to discuss, or to protect a right to discuss, a + domestic institution of the Southern States, with which + they had no right to interfere! Why discuss, when they + cannot act? Why first lay down an abstract principle, + which they intend to violate in practice? + + Such fanatics as Giddings and Hale are doing more + mischief than they will be able to atone for. Their + incessant and impertinent intermeddling with the most + delicate question in our social relations is creating + the most indignant feelings in the community. The fiery + discussions they are exciting are calculated to provoke + the very riots which they deprecate. Let these madmen + forbear, if they value the tranquillity of our country, + and the stability of our Union. We conjure them to + forbear their maddened, parricidal hand. + +An article like this in the _Union_ was well calculated, and probably +was intended, to encourage and stimulate the rioters, and accordingly +they assembled that same evening in greater force than before +threatening the destruction of the _Era_ office. The publication office +of the _Era_ was not far from the Patent Office; and the dwelling-house +of Dr. Bailey, the editor, was at no great distance. The mob, taking +upon themselves the character of a meeting of citizens, appointed a +committee to wait upon Dr. Bailey, to require him to remove his press +out of the District of Columbia. Of course, as I was locked up in the +jail, trying to rest my aching head and weary limbs, with a stone floor +for a bed and a water-can for my pillow, I can have no personal +knowledge of what transpired on this occasion. But a correspondent of +the New York _Tribune_, who probably was an eye-witness, gives the +following account of the interview between the committee and Dr. Bailey: + + Clearing his throat, the leader of the committee + stretched forth his hand, and thus addressed Dr. Bailey: + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--Sir, we have been appointed as a + committee to wait upon you, by the meeting of the + citizens of Washington which has assembled this evening + to take into consideration the circumstances connected + with the late outrage upon _our_ property, and to convey + to you the result of the deliberations of that meeting. + You are aware of the excitement which now prevails. It + has assumed a most threatening aspect. This community is + satisfied that the existence of your press among us is + endangering the public peace, and they are convinced + that the public interests demand its removal. We have + therefore waited upon you for the purpose of inquiring + whether you are prepared to remove your press by ten + o'clock to-morrow morning; and we beseech you, as you + value the peace of this District, to accede to our + request. [Loud shouting heard at the Patent Office.] + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen: I do not believe you are + actuated by any unkind feelings towards me personally; + but you must be aware that you are demanding of me the + surrender of a great constitutional right,--a right + which I have used, but not abused,--in the preservation + of which you are as deeply interested as I am. How can + you ask me to abandon it, and thus become a party to my + own degradation? + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We subscribe to all that you say. But + you see the popular excitement. The consequences of your + refusal are inevitable. Now, if you can avert these + consequences by submitting to what the people request, + although unreasonable, is it not your duty, as a good + citizen, to submit? It is on account of the community we + come here, obeying the popular feeling which you hear + expressed in the distance, and which cannot be calmed, + and, but for the course we have adopted, would at this + moment be manifested in the destruction of your office. + But they have consented to wait till they hear our + report. We trust, then, that, as a good citizen, you + will respond favorably to the wish of the people. + + _Another of the Committee_.--As one of the oldest + citizens, I do assure you that it is in all kindness we + make this request. We come here to tell you that we + cannot arrest violence in any other way than by your + allowing us to say that you yield to the request of the + people. In kindness we tell you that if this thing + commences here we know not where it may end. I am for + mild measures myself. The prisoners were in my hands, + but I would not allow my men to inflict any punishment + on them. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen, I appreciate your kindness; + but I ask, is there a man among you who, standing as I + now stand, the representative of a free press, would + accede to this demand, and abandon his rights as an + American citizen? + + _One of the Committee_.--We know it is a great sacrifice + that we ask of you; but we ask it to appease popular + excitement. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me say to you that I am a peace-man. + I have taken no measures to defend my office, my house + or myself. I appeal to the good sense and intelligence + of the community, and stand upon my rights as an + American citizen, looking to the law alone for + protection. + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We have now discharged our duty. It has + come to this,--the people say it must be done, unless + you agree to go to-morrow. We now ask a categorical + answer,--Will you remove your press? + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I answer: I make no resistance, and I + cannot assent to your demand. The press is there--it is + undefended--you can do as you think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--All rests with you. We tell you + what will follow your refusal, and, if you persist, all + the responsibility must fall upon your shoulders. It is + in your power to arrest the arm that is raised to give + the blow. If you refuse to do so by a single expression, + though it might cost you much, on you be all the + consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--You demand the sacrifice of a great + right. You-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--I know it is + a hardship; but look at the consequences of your + refusal. We do not come here to express our individual + opinions. I would myself leave the District to-morrow, + if in your place. We now ask of you, Shall this be done? + We beg you will consider this matter in the light in + which we view it. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I am one man against many. But I cannot + sacrifice any right that I possess. Those who have sent + you here may do as they think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--The whole community is against + you. They say here is an evil that threatens them, and + they ask you to remove that evil. You say "No!" and of + course on your head be all the consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me remind you that we have been + recently engaged in public rejoicings. For what have we + rejoiced? Because the people in another land have + arisen and triumphed over the despot, who had + done--what? He did not demolish presses, but he + imprisoned editors. In other words, he enslaved the + press. Will you then present to America and the world-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--If we could + stop this movement, of the people, we would do it. But + you make us unable to do so. We cannot tell how far it + will go. After your press is pulled down, we do not know + where they will go next. It is your duty, in such a + case, to sacrifice your constitutional rights. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I presume, when they shall have + accomplished their object-- + + _Mr. Radcliff (interrupting)._--We advise you to be out + of the way! The people think that your press endangers + their property and their lives; and they have appointed + us to tell you so, and ask you to remove it to-morrow. + If you say that you will do so, they will retire + satisfied. If you refuse, they say they will tear it + down. Here is Mr. Boyle, a gentleman of property, and + one of our oldest residents. You see that we are united. + If you hold out and occupy your position, the men, women + and children of the District will universally rise up + against you. + + _Dr. Bailey (addressing himself to his father, a + venerable man of more than eighty years of age, who + approached the doorway and commenced remonstrating with + the committee)_.--You do not understand the matter, + father; these gentlemen are a committee appointed by a + meeting assembled in front of the Patent Office. You + need not address remonstrances to them. Gentlemen, you + appreciate my position. I cannot surrender my rights. + Were I to die for it, I cannot surrender my rights! Tell + those who sent you hither that my press and my house are + undefended--they must do as they see proper. I maintain + my rights, and make no resistance! + + The committee then retired, and Dr. Bailey reëntered his + dwelling. Meanwhile, the shouts of the mob, as they + received the reports of the committee, were reëchoed + along the streets. A fierce yell greeted the + reäppearance of Radcliff in front of the Patent Office. + He announced the result of the interview with the editor + of the _Era_. Shouts, imprecations, blasphemy, burst + from the crowd. "Down with the _Era_!" "Now for it!" + "Gut the office!" were the exclamations heard on all + sides, and the mob rushed tumultuously to + Seventh-street. + +But a body of the city police had been stationed to guard the building, +and the mob finally contented themselves with passing a resolution to +pull it down the next day at ten o'clock, if the press was not meanwhile +removed. + +That same afternoon, we three prisoners had been taken before three +justices, who held a court within the jail for our examination. Mr. Hall +appeared as our counsel. The examination was continued till the next +day, when we were, all three of us, recommitted to jail, on a charge of +stealing slaves, our bail being fixed at a thousand dollars for each +slave, or seventy-six thousand dollars for each of us. + +Meanwhile, both houses of Congress became the scenes of very warm +debates, growing out of circumstances connected with our case. In the +Senate, Mr. Hale, agreeably to the notice he had given, asked leave to +introduce a bill for the protection of property in the District of +Columbia against the violence of mobs. This bill, as was stated in the +debate, was copied, almost word for word, from a law in force in the +State of Maryland (and many other states have--and all ought to have--a +similar law), making the cities and towns liable for any property which +might be destroyed in them by mob violence. In the House the subject +came up on a question of privilege, raised by Mr. Palfrey, of +Massachusetts, who offered a resolution for the appointment of a select +committee to inquire into the currently-reported facts that a lawless +mob had assembled during the two previous nights, setting at defiance +the constituted authorities of the United States, and menacing members +of Congress and other persons. In both those bodies the debate was very +warm, as any one interested in it will find, by reading it in the +columns of the _Congressional Globe_. + +It was upon this occasion, during the debate in the Senate, that Mr. +Foote, then a senator from Mississippi, and now governor of that state, +whose speech on the French revolution has been already quoted, +threatened to join in lynching Mr. Hale, if he ever set foot in +Mississippi, whither he invited him to come for that purpose. This part +of the debate was so peculiar and so characteristic, showing so well the +spirit with which the District of Columbia was then blazing against me, +that I cannot help giving the following extract from Mr. Foote's speech, +as contained in the official report: + + "All must see that the course of the senator from New + Hampshire is calculated to embroil the confederacy--to + put in peril our free institutions--to jeopardize that + Union which our forefathers established, and which every + pure patriot throughout the country desires shall be + perpetuated. Can any man be a patriot who pursues such a + course? Is he an enlightened friend of freedom, or even + a judicious friend of those with whom he affects to + sympathize, who adopts such a course? Who does not know + that such men are, practically, the worst enemies of the + slaves? I do not beseech the gentleman to stop; but, if + he perseveres, he will awaken indignation everywhere, + and it cannot be that enlightened men, who + conscientiously belong to the faction at the north of + which he is understood to be the head, can sanction or + approve everything that he may do, under the influence + of excitement, in this body. I will close by saying + that, if he really wishes glory, and to be regarded as + the great liberator of the blacks,--if he wishes to be + particularly distinguished in this cause of + emancipation, as it is called,--let him, instead of + remaining here in the Senate of the United States, or + instead of secreting himself in some dark corner of New + Hampshire, where he may possibly escape the just + indignation of good men throughout this republic,--let + him visit the good State of Mississippi, in which I have + the honor to reside, and no doubt he will be received + with such shouts of joy as have rarely marked the + reception of any individual in this day and generation. + I invite him there, and will tell him, beforehand, in + all honesty, that he could not go ten miles into the + interior before he would grace one of the tallest trees + in the forest, with a rope around his neck, with the + approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen; and + that, if necessary, I should myself assist in the + operation!" + +Mr. Hale's reply was equally characteristic: + + "The honorable Senator invites me to visit the State of + Mississippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one + of those who would act the assassin, and put an end to + my career. He would aid in bringing me to public + execution,--no, death by a mob! Well, in return for his + hospitable invitation, I can only express the desire + that he would penetrate into some of the dark corners of + New Hampshire; and, if he do, I am much mistaken if he + would not find that the people in that benighted region + would be very happy to listen to his arguments, and + engage in an intellectual conflict with him, in which + the truth might be elicited. I think, however, that the + announcement which the honorable Senator has made on + this floor of the fate which awaits so humble an + individual as myself in the State of Mississippi must + convince every one of the propriety of the high eulogium + which he pronounced upon her, the other day, when he + spoke of the high position which she occupied among the + states of this confederacy.--But enough of this personal + matter."[A] + + [Footnote A: The following paragraph, which has + recently been going the rounds of the newspapers, + will serve to show the sort of manners which + prevail in the state so fitly represented by Mr. + Foote, and how these southern ruffians experience + in their own families the natural effect of the + blood-thirsty sentiments which they so freely avow: + + + "THE DEATH OF MR. CARNEAL.--The Vicksburg + _Sentinel_, of the 13th ult., gives the following + account of the shooting of Mr. Thomas Carneal, + son-in-law of Governor Foote: + + "We have abstained thus long from giving any notice + of the sad affair which resulted in the death of + Mr. Thomas Carneal, the son-in-law of the governor + of our state, that we might get the particulars. It + seems that the steamer E.C. Watkins, with Mr. + Carneal as a passenger, landed at or near the + plantation of Judge James, in Washington county. + Mr. Carneal had heard that the judge was an + extremely brutal man to his slaves, and was + likewise excited with liquor; and, upon the judge + inviting him and others to take a drink with him, + Carneal replied that he would not drink with a man + who abused his negroes; this the judge resented as + an insult, and high words ensued. + + "The company took their drink, however, all but Mr. + Carneal, who went out upon the bow of the boat, and + took a seat, where he was sought by Judge James, + who desired satisfaction for the insult. Carneal + refused to make any, and asked the old gentleman if + any of his sons would resent the insult if he was + to slap him in the mouth; to which the judge + replied that he would do it himself, if his sons + would not; whereupon Mr. Carneal struck him in the + month with the back of his hand. The judge resented + it by striking him across the head with a cane, + which stunned Mr. Carneal very much, causing the + blood to run freely from the wound. As soon as + Carneal recovered from the wound, he drew a + bowie-knife, and attacked the judge with it, + inflicting several wounds upon his person, some of + which were thought to be mortal. + + "Some gentlemen, in endeavoring to separate the + combatants, were wounded by Carneal. When Judge + James arrived at his house, bleeding, and in a + dying state, as was thought, his son seized a + double-barrelled gun, loaded it heavily with large + shot, galloped to where the boat was, hitched his + horse, and deliberately raised his gun to shoot + Carneal, who was sitting upon a cotton-bale. Mr. + James was warned not to fire, as Carneal was + unarmed, and he might kill some innocent person. He + took his gun from his shoulder, raised it again, + and fired both barrels in succession, killing + Carneal instantly. + + "It is a sad affair, and Carneal leaves, besides + numerous friends, a most interesting and + accomplished widow, to bewail his tragical end."] + +Such was the savage character of the debate, that even Mr. Calhoun, who +was not generally discourteous, finding himself rather hard pressed by +some of Mr. Hale's arguments, excused himself from an answer, on the +ground that Mr. Hale was a maniac! The slave-holders set upon Mr. Hale +with all their force; but, though they succeeded in voting down his +bill, it was generally agreed, and anybody may see by the report, that +he had altogether the best of the argument. Mr. Palfrey's resolution was +also lost; but the boldness with which Giddings and others avowed their +opinions, and the freedom of speech which they used on the subject of +slavery, afforded abundant proof that the gagging system which had +prevailed so long in Congress had come at last to an end. + +These movements, though the propositions of Messrs. Hale and Palfrey +were voted down, were not without their effect. The Common Council of +Washington appointed an acting mayor, in place of the regular mayor, who +was sick. President Polk sent an intimation to the clerks of the +departments, some of whom had been active in the mobs, that they had +better mind their own business and stay at home. Something was said +about marines from the Navy-Yard; and from that time the riotous spirit +began to subside. + +Meanwhile, the unfortunate people who had attempted to escape in the +Pearl had to pay the penalty of their love of freedom. A large number of +them, as they were taken out of jail by the persons who claimed to be +their owners, were handed over to the slave-traders. The following +account of the departure of a portion of these victims for the southern +market was given in a letter which appeared at the time in several +northern newspapers: + + "_Washington, April_ 22, 1848. + + "Last evening, as I was passing the railroad dépôt, I + saw a large number of colored people gathered round one + of the cars, and, from manifestations of grief among + some of them, I was induced to draw near and ascertain + the cause of it. I found in the car towards which they + were so eagerly gazing about fifty colored people, some + of whom were nearly as white as myself. A majority of + them were of the number who attempted to gain their + liberty last week. About half of them were females, a + few of whom had but a slight tinge of African blood in + their veins, and were finely formed and beautiful. The + men were ironed together, and the whole group looked sad + and dejected. At each end of the car stood two + ruffianly-looking personages, with large canes in their + hands, and, if their countenances were an index of their + hearts, they were the very impersonation of hardened + villany itself. + + "In the middle of the car stood the notorious + slave-dealer of Baltimore, Slatter, who, I learn, is a + member of the Methodist church, 'in good and regular + standing.' He had purchased the men and women around + him, and was taking his departure for Georgia. While + observing this old, gray-headed villain,--this dealer in + the bodies and souls of men,--the chaplain of the Senate + entered the car,--a Methodist brother,--and took his + brother Slatter by the hand, chatted with him for some + time, and seemed to view the heart-rending scene before + him with as little concern as we should look upon + cattle. I know not whether he came with a view to + sanctify the act, and pronounce a parting blessing; but + this I do know, that he justifies slavery, and denounces + anti-slavery efforts as bitterly as do the most hardened + slave-dealers. + + "A Presbyterian minister, who owned one of the + fugitives, was the first to strike a bargain with + Slatter, and make merchandise of God's image; and many + of these poor victims, thus manacled and destined for + the southern market, are regular members of the African + Methodist church of this city. I did not hear whether + they were permitted to get letters of dismission from + the church, and of 'recommendation to any church where + God, in his providence, might cast their lot.' Probably + a certificate from Slatter to the effect that they are + Christians will answer every purpose. No doubt he will + demand a good price for slaves of this character. + Perhaps brother Slicer furnished him with testimonials + of their religious character, to help their sale in + Georgia. I understand that he was accustomed to preach + to them here, and especially to urge upon them obedience + to their masters. + + "Some of the colored people outside, as well as in the + car, were weeping most bitterly. I learned that many + families were separated. Wives were there to take leave + of their husbands, and husbands of their wives, children + of their parents, brothers and sisters shaking hands + perhaps for the last time, friends parting with friends, + and the tenderest ties of humanity sundered at the + single bid of the inhuman slave-broker before them. A + husband, in the meridian of life, begged to see the + partner of his bosom. He protested that she was + free--that she had free papers, and was torn from him, + and shut up in the jail. He clambered up to one of the + windows of the car to see his wife, and, as she was + reaching forward her hand to him, the black-hearted + villain, Slatter, ordered him down. He did not obey. The + husband and wife, with tears streaming down their + cheeks, besought him to let them converse for a moment. + But no! a monster more hideous, hardened and savage, + than the blackest spirit of the pit, knocked him down + from the car, and ordered him away. The bystanders could + hardly restrain themselves from laying violent hands + upon the brutes. This is but a faint description of that + scene, which took place within a few rods of the + capitol, under _enactments_ recognized by Congress. O! + what a revolting scene to a feeling heart, and what a + retribution awaits the actors! Will not these wailings + of anguish reach the ears of the Most High? 'Vengeance + is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.'" + +Of those sent off at this time, several, through the generosity of +charitable persons at the north, were subsequently redeemed, among whom +were the Edmundson girls, of whom an account is given in the "Key to +Uncle Tom's Cabin." + +From one of the women, who was not sold, but retained at Washington, I +received a mark of kindness and remembrance for which I felt very +grateful. She obtained admission to the jail, the Sunday after our +committal, to see some of her late fellow-passengers still confined +there; and, as she passed the passage in which I was confined, she +called to me and handed a Bible through the gratings. I am happy to be +able to add that she has since, upon a second trial, succeeded in +effecting her escape, and that she is now a free woman. + +The great excitement which our attempt at emancipation had produced at +Washington, and the rage and fury exhibited against us, had the effect +to draw attention to our case, and to secure us sympathy and assistance +on the part of persons wholly unknown to us. A public meeting was held +in Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on the 25th of April, at which a committee +was appointed, consisting of Samuel May, Samuel G. Howe, Samuel E. +Sewell, Richard Hildreth, Robert Morris, Jr., Francis Jackson, Elizur +Wright, Joseph Southwick, Walter Channing, J.W. Browne, Henry I. +Bowditch, William F. Channing, Joshua P. Blanchard and Charles List, +authorized to employ counsel and to collect money for the purpose of +securing to us a fair trial, of which, without some interference from +abroad, the existing state of public feeling in the District of Columbia +seemed to afford little prospect. A correspondence was opened by this +committee with the Hon. Horace Mann, then a representative in Congress +from the State of Massachusetts, with ex-Governor Seward, of New York, +with Salmon P. Chase, Esq., of Ohio, and with Gen. Fessenden, of Maine, +all of whom volunteered their gratuitous services, should they be +needed. A moderate subscription was promptly obtained, the larger part +of it, as I am informed, through the liberality of Gerrit Smith, now a +representative in Congress from New York, whose large pecuniary +contributions to all philanthropic objects, as well as his zealous +efforts in the same direction both with the tongue and the pen, have +made him so conspicuous. He has, indeed, a unique way of spending his +large fortune, without precedent, at least in this country, and not +likely to find many imitators. + +The committee, being thus put in funds, deputed Mr. Hildreth, one of the +members of it, to proceed to Washington to make the necessary +arrangements. He arrived there toward the end of the month of May, by +which time the public excitement against us, or at least the exterior +signs of it, had a good deal subsided. But we were still treated with +much rigor, being kept locked up in our cells, denied the use of the +passage, and not allowed to see anybody, except when once in a while +Mr. Giddings or Mr. Hall found an access to us; but even then we were +not allowed to hold any conversation, except in the presence of the +jailer. + +It may well be imagined that the news of my capture and imprisonment, +and of the danger in which I seemed to be, had thrown my family into +great distress. I also had suffered exceedingly on their account, +several of the children being yet too young to shift for themselves. But +I was presently relieved, by the information which I received before +long, that during my imprisonment my family would be provided for. + +Warm remonstrances had been made to the judge of the criminal court by +Mr. Hall against the attempt to exclude us from communication with our +friends,--a liberty freely granted to all other prisoners. The judge +declined to interfere; but Mr. Mann, having agreed to act as our +counsel, was thenceforth freely admitted to interviews with us, without +the presence of any keeper. Books and newspapers were furnished me by +friends out of doors. I presently obtained a mattress, and the liberty +of providing myself with better food than the jail allows. I continued +to suffer a good deal of annoyance from the capricious insolence and +tyranny of the marshal, Robert Wallace; but I intend to go more at +length into the details of my prison experience after having first +disposed of the legal proceedings against us. + +The feeling against me was no doubt greatly increased by the failure of +the efforts repeatedly made to induce me to give up the names of those +who had coöperated with me, and to turn states-evidence against them. +There was a certain Mr. Taylor, from Boston, I believe, then in +Washington, the inventor of a submarine armor for diving purposes. I had +formerly been well acquainted with him, and, at a time when no friend of +mine was allowed access to me, he made me repeated visits at the jail, +at the request, as he said, of the District Attorney, to induce me to +make a full disclosure, in which case it was intimated I should be let +off very easy. + +As Mr. Taylor did not prevail with me, one of the jailers afterwards +assured me that he was authorized to promise me a thousand dollars in +case I would become a witness against those concerned with me. As I +turned a deaf ear to all these propositions, the resolution seemed to be +taken to make me and Sayres, and even English, suffer in a way to be a +warning to all similar offenders. + +The laws under which we were to be tried were those of the State of +Maryland as they stood previous to the year 1800. These laws had been +temporarily continued in force over that part of the District ceded by +Maryland (the whole of the present District) at the time that the +jurisdiction of the United Spates commenced; and questions of more +general interest, and the embarrassment growing out of the existence of +slavery, having defeated all attempts at a revised code, these same old +laws of Maryland still remain in force, though modified, in some +respects, by acts of Congress. In an act of Maryland, passed in the +year 1796, and in force in the District, there was a section which +seemed to have been intended for precisely such cases as ours. It +provided "That any person or persons who shall hereafter be convicted of +giving a pass to any slave, or person held to service, or shall be found +to assist, by advice, donation or loan, or otherwise, the transporting +of any slave or any person held to service, from this state, or by any +other unlawful means depriving a master or owner of the service of his +slave or person held to service, for every such offence the party +aggrieved shall recover damages in an action on the case, against such +offender or offenders, and such offender or offenders shall also be +liable, upon indictment, and conviction upon verdict, confession or +otherwise, in this state, in any county court where such offence shall +happen, to be fined a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, at the +discretion of the court, one-half to the use of the master or owner of +such slave, the other half to the county school, if there be any; if +there be no such school, to the use of the county." + +Accordingly, the grand jury, under the instructions of the District +Attorney, found seventy-four indictments against each of us prisoners, +based on this act, one for each of the slaves found on board the vessel, +two excepted, who were runaways from Virginia, and the names of their +masters not known. As it would have been possible to have fined us +about, fifteen thousand dollars apiece upon these indictments, besides +costs, and as, by the laws of the District, there is no method of +discharging prisoners from jail who are unable to pay a fine, except by +an executive pardon, one would have thought that this might have +satisfied. But the idea that we should escape with a fine, though we +might be kept in prison for life from inability to pay it, was very +unsatisfactory. It was desired to make us out guilty of a penitentiary +offence at the least; and for that purpose recourse was had to an old, +forgotten act of Maryland, passed in the year 1737, the fourth section +of which provided "That any person or persons who, after the said tenth +day of September [1737], shall steal any ship, sloop, or other vessel +whatsoever, out of any place within the body of any county within this +province, of seventeen feet or upwards by the keel, and shall carry the +same ten miles or upwards from the place whence it shall be stolen, _or +who shall steal any negro or other slave_, or who shall counsel, hire, +aid, abet, or command any person or persons to commit the said offences, +or who shall be accessories to the said offences, and shall be thereof +legally convicted as aforesaid, or outlawed, or who shall obstinately or +of malice stand mute, or peremptorily challenge above twenty, shall +suffer death as a felon, or felons, and be excluded the benefit of the +clergy." + +They would have been delighted, no doubt, to hang us under this act; but +that they could not do, as Congress, by an act passed in 1831, having +changed the punishment of death, inflicted by the old Maryland statutes +(except in certain cases specially provided for), into confinement in +the penitentiary for not less than twenty years. + +To make sure of us at all events, not less than forty-one separate +indictments (that being the number of the pretended owners) were found +against each of us for stealing slaves. + +Our counsel afterwards made some complaint of this great number of +indictments, when two against each of us, including all the separate +charges in different counts, would have answered as well. It was even +suggested that the fact that a fee of ten dollars was chargeable upon +each indictment toward the five-thousand-dollar salary of the District +Attorney might have something to do with this large number. But the +District Attorney denied very strenuously being influenced by any such +motive, maintaining, in the face of authorities produced against him, +that this great number was necessary. He thought it safest, I suppose, +instead of a single jury on each charge against each of us, to have the +chance of a much greater number, and the advantage, besides, of repeated +opportunities of correcting such blunders, mistakes and neglects, as the +prisoner's counsel might point out. + +On the 6th of July, I was arraigned in the criminal court, Judge +Crawford presiding, on one of the larceny indictments, to which I +pleaded not guilty; whereupon my counsel, Messrs. Hall and Mann, moved +the court for a continuance till the next term, alleging the prevailing +public excitement, and the want of time to prepare the defence and to +procure additional counsel. But the judge could only be persuaded, and +that with difficulty, to delay the trial for eighteen days. + +When this unexpected information was communicated to the committee at +Boston, a correspondence was opened by telegraph with Messrs. Seward, +Chase and Fessenden. But Governor Seward had a legal engagement at +Baltimore on the very day appointed for the commencement of the trial, +and the other two gentlemen had indispensable engagements in the courts +of Ohio and Maine. Under these circumstances, as Mr. Hall was not +willing to take the responsibility of acting as counsel in the case, and +as it seemed necessary to have some one familiar with the local +practice, the Boston committee retained the services of J.M. Carlisle, +Esq., of the Washington bar, and Mr. Hildreth again proceeded to +Washington to give his assistance. Just as the trial was about to +commence, Mr. Carlisle being taken sick, the judge was, with great +difficulty, prevailed upon to grant a further delay of three days. This +delay was very warmly opposed, not only by the District Attorney, but by +the same Mr. Radcliff whom we have seen figuring as chairman of the +mob-committee to wait on Dr. Bailey, and who had been retained, at an +expense of two hundred dollars, by the friends of English, as counsel +for him, they thinking it safest not to have his defence mixed up in any +way with that of myself and Sayres. Before the three days were out, +Governor Seward, having finished his business in Baltimore, hastened to +Washington; but, as the rules of the court did not allow more than two +counsel to speak on one side, the other counsel being also fully +prepared, it was judged best to proceed as had been arranged. + +The trials accordingly commenced on Thursday, the 27th of July, upon an +indictment against me for stealing two slaves, the property of one +Andrew Houver. + +The District Attorney, in opening his case, which he did in a very +dogmatic, overbearing and violent manner, declared that this was no +common affair. The rights of property were violated by every larceny, +but this case was peculiar and enormous. Other kinds of property were +protected by their want of intelligence; but the intelligence of this +kind of property greatly diminished the security of its possession. The +jury therefore were to give such a construction to the laws and the +facts as to subject violators of it to the most serious consequences. + +The facts which seemed to be relied upon by the District Attorney as +establishing the alleged larceny were--that I had come to Washington, +and staid from Monday to Saturday, without any ostensible business, when +I had sailed away with seventy-six slaves on board, concealed under the +hatches, and the hatches battened down; and that when pursued and +overtaken the slaves were found on board with provisions enough for a +month. + +It is true that Houver swore that the hatches were battened down when +the Pearl was overtaken by the steamer; but in this he was contradicted +by every other government witness. This Houver was, according to some +of the other witnesses, in a considerable state of excitement, and at +the time of the capture he addressed some violent language to me, as +already related. He had sold his two boys, after their recapture, to the +slave-traders; but had been obliged to buy them back again, at a loss of +one hundred dollars, by the remonstrances of his wife, who did not like +to part with them, as they had been raised in the family. Perhaps this +circumstance made him the more inveterate against me. + +As to the schooner being provisioned for a month, the bill of the +provisions on board, purchased in Washington, was produced on the trial, +and they were found to amount to three bushels of meal, two hundred and +six pounds of pork, and fifteen gallons of molasses, which, with a +barrel of bread, purchased in Alexandria, would make rather a short +month's supply for seventy-nine persons! + +It was also proved, by the government witnesses, that the Pearl was a +mere bay-craft, not fit to go to sea; which did not agree very well with +the idea held out by the District Attorney, that I intended to run these +negroes off to the West Indies, and to sell them there. But, to make up +for these deficiencies, Williams, who acted as the leader of the steamer +expedition, swore that I had said, while on board, that if I had got off +with the negroes I should have made an independent fortune; but on the +next trial he could not say whether it was I who told him so, or whether +somebody else told him that I had said so. Orme and Craig, with whom I +principally conversed, and who went into long details, recollected +nothing of the sort; and it is very certain that, as there was no +foundation for it, and no motive for such a statement on my part, I +never made it. Williams, perhaps, had heard somebody guess that, if I +had got off, I had slaves enough to make me independent; and that guess +of somebody else he perhaps remembered, or seemed to remember, as +something said by me, or reported to have been said by me; and such +often, in cases producing great public excitement, is the sort of +evidence upon which men's lives or liberty is sworn away. The idea, +however, of an intention to run the negroes off for sale, seemed +principally to rest on the testimony of a certain Captain Baker, who had +navigated the steamer by which we were captured at the mouth of the +Potomac, and who saw, as he was crossing over to Coan river for wood, a +long, black, suspicious-looking brig, with her sails loose, lying at +anchor under Point Lookout, about three miles from our vessel. This was +proved, by other witnesses, to be a very common place of anchorage; in +fact, that it was common for vessels waiting for the wind, or otherwise, +to anchor anywhere along the shores of the bay. But Captain Baker +thought otherwise; and he and the District Attorney wished the jury to +infer that this brig seen by him under Point Lookout was a piratical +craft, lying ready to receive the negroes on board, and to carry them +off to Cuba! + +Besides Houver, Williams, Orme, Craig and Baker, another witness was +called to testify as to the sale of the wood, and my having been in +Washington the previous summer. Many questions as to evidence arose, and +the examination of these witnesses consumed about two days and a half. + +In opening the defence, Mr. Mann commenced with some remarks on the +peculiarity of his position, growing out of the unexpected urgency with +which the case had been pushed to a trial, and the public excitement +which had been produced by it. He also alluded to the hardship of +finding against me such a multiplicity of indictments,--for what +individual, however innocent, could stand up against such an accumulated +series of prosecutions, backed by all the force of the nation? Some +observations on the costs thus unnecessarily accumulated, and, in +particular, on the District Attorney's ten-dollar fees, produced a great +excitement, and loud denials on the part of that officer. + +Mr. Mann then proceeded to remark that, in all criminal trials which he +had ever before attended or heard of, the prosecuting officer had stated +and produced to the jury, in his opening, the law alleged to be +violated. As the District Attorney had done nothing of that sort, he +must endeavor to do it for him. Mr. Mann then proceeded to call the +attention of the jury to the two laws already quoted, upon which the two +sets of indictments were founded. Of both these acts charged against +me--the stealing of Houver's slaves, and the helping them to escape +from their master--I could not be guilty. The real question in this +case was, Which had I done? + +To make the act stealing, there must have been--so Mr. Mann +maintained--a taking _lucri causa_, as the lawyers say; that is, a +design on my part to appropriate these slaves to my own use, as my own +property. If the object was merely to help them to escape to a free +state, then the case plainly came under the other statute. + +In going on to show how likely it was that the persons on board the +Pearl might have desired and sought to escape, independently of any +solicitations or suggestions on my part, Mr. Mann alluded to the meeting +in honor of the French revolution, already mentioned, held the very +night of the arrival of the Pearl at Washington. As he was proceeding to +read certain extracts from the speech of Senator Foote on that occasion, +already quoted, and well calculated, as he suggested, to put ideas of +freedom and emancipation into the heads of the slaves, he was suddenly +interrupted by the judge, when the following curious dialogue occurred: + + "_Judge Crawford_.--A certain latitude is to be allowed + to counsel in this case; but I cannot permit any + harangue against slavery to be delivered here. + + "_Carlisle (rising suddenly and stepping forward_).--I + am sure your honor must be laboring under some strange + misapprehension. Born and bred and expecting to live and + die in a slave-holding community, and entertaining no + ideas different from those, which commonly prevail here, + I have watched the course of my associate's argument + with the closest attention. The point he is making, I + am sure, is most pertinent to the case,--a point it + would be cowardice in the prisoner's counsel not to + make; and I must beg your honor to deliberate well + before you undertake to stop the mouths of counsel, and + to take care that you have full constitutional warrant + for doing so. + + "_Judge Crawford_.--I can't permit an harangue against + slavery." + +Mr. Mann proceeded to explain the point at which he was aiming. He had +read these extracts from Mr. Foote's speech, delivered to a +miscellaneous collection of blacks and whites, bond and free, assembled +before the _Union_ office, as showing to what exciting influences the +slaves of the District were exposed, independently of any particular +pains taken by anybody to make them discontented; and, with the same +object in view, he proposed to read some further extracts from other +speeches delivered on the same occasion. + + "_District Attorney_.--If this matter is put in as + evidence, it must first be proved that such speeches + were delivered. + + "_Mann_.--If the authenticity of the speeches is denied, + I will call the Honorable Mr. Foote to prove it. + + "_District Attorney_.--What newspaper is that from which + the counsel reads? + + "_Mann_ (_holding it up_).--The Washington _Union_, of + April 19th." + +And, without further objection, he proceeded to read some further +extracts. + +He concluded by urging upon the jury that this case was to be viewed +merely as an attempt of certain slaves to escape from their masters, and +on my part an attempt to assist them in so doing; and therefore a case +under the statute of 1796, punishable with fine; and not a larceny, as +charged against me in this indictment. + +Several witnesses were called who had known me in Philadelphia, to +testify as to my good character. The District Attorney was very anxious +to get out of these witnesses whether they had never heard me spoken of +as a man likely to run away with slaves? And it did come out from one of +them that, from the tenor of my conversation, it used sometimes to be +talked over, that one day or other it "would heave up" that I had helped +off some negro to a free state. But these conversations, the witness +added, were generally in a jesting tone; and another witness stated that +the charge of running off slaves was a common joke among the watermen. + +According to the practice in the Maryland criminal courts,--and the same +practice prevails in the District of Columbia,--the judge does not +address the jury at all. After the evidence is all in, the counsel, +before arguing the case, may call upon the judge to give to the jury +instructions as to the law. These instructions, which are offered in +writing, and argued by the counsel, the judge can give or refuse, as he +sees fit, or can alter them to suit himself; but any such refusal or +alteration furnishes ground for a bill of exceptions, on which the case, +if a verdict is given against the prisoner, may be carried by writ of +error before the Circuit Court of the District, for their revisal. + +My counsel asked of the judge no less than fourteen instructions on +different points of law, ten of which the judge refused to give, and +modified to suit himself. Several of these related to the true +definition of theft, or what it was that makes a taking larceny. + +It was contended by my counsel, and they asked the judge to instruct the +jury, that, to convict me of larceny, it must be proved that the taking +the slaves on board the Pearl was with the intent to convert them to my +own use, and to derive a gain from such conversion; and that, if they +believed that the slaves were received on board with the design to help +them to escape to a free state, then the offence was not larceny, but a +violation of the statute of 1796. + +This instruction, variously put, was six times over asked of the judge, +and as often refused. He was no less anxious than the District Attorney +to convict me of larceny, and send me to the penitentiary. But, having a +vast deal more sense than the District Attorney, he saw that the idea +that I had carried off these negroes to sell them again for my own +profit was not tenable. It was plain enough that my intention was to +help them to escape. The judge therefore, who did not lack ingenuity, +went to work to twist the law so as, if possible, to bring my case +within it. Even he did not venture to say that merely to assist slaves +to escape was stealing. Stealing, he admitted, must be a taking, _lucri +causa_, for the sake of gain; but--so he told the jury in one of his +instructions--"this desire of gain need not be to convert the article +taken to his--the taker's--own use, nor to obtain for the thief the +value in money of the thing stolen. If the act was prompted by a desire +to obtain for himself, or another even, other than the owner, a money +gain, or any other inducing advantage, a dishonest gain, then the act +was a larceny." And, in another instruction, he told the jury, "that if +they believed, from the evidence, that the prisoner, before receiving +the slaves on board, imbued their minds with discontent, persuaded them +to go with him, and, by corrupt influences and inducements, caused them +to come to his ship, and then took and carried them down the river, then +the act was a larceny." + +Upon these instructions of the judge, to which bills of exceptions were +filed by my counsel, the case, which had been already near a week on +trial, was argued to the jury. The District Attorney had the opening and +the close, and both my counsel had the privilege of speaking. For the +following sketch of the argument, as well as of the legal points already +noted, I am indebted to the notes of Mr. Hildreth, taken at the time: + + "_District Attorney_.--I shall endeavor to be very brief + in the opening, reserving myself till I know the grounds + of defence. It is the duty of the jury to give their + verdict according to the law and evidence; and, so far + as I knew public opinion, there neither exists now, nor + has existed at any other time, the slightest desire on + the part of a single individual that the prisoner should + have otherwise than a fair trial. I think, therefore, + the solemn warnings by the prisoner's counsel to the + jury were wholly uncalled for. There was, no doubt, an + excitement out of doors,--a natural excitement,--at such + an amount of property snatched up at one fell swoop; but + was that to justify the suggestion to a jury of twelve + honest men that they were not to act the part of a mob? + The learned counsel who opened the case for the prisoner + has alluded to the disadvantage of his position from the + fact that he was a stranger. I acknowledge that + disadvantage, and I have attempted to remedy it, and so + has the court, by extending towards him every possible + courtesy. + + "The prisoner's counsel seems to think I press this + matter too hard. But am I to sit coolly by and see the + hard-earned property of the inhabitants of this District + carried off, and when the felon is brought into court + not do my best to secure his conviction? [The District + Attorney here went into a long and labored defence of + the course he had taken in preferring against the + prisoner forty-one indictments for larceny, and + seventy-four others, on the same state of facts, for + transportation. He denied that the forty-one larcenies + of the property of different individuals could be + included in one indictment, and declared that if the + prisoner's counsel would show the slightest authority + for it he would give up the case. After going on in this + strain for an hour or more, attacking the opposite + counsel and defending himself, in what Carlisle + pronounced 'the most extraordinary opening argument he + had ever heard in his life,' the District Attorney came + down at last to the facts of the case."] + + "In what position is the prisoner placed by the + evidence? How is he introduced to the jury by his + Philadelphia friends? These witnesses were examined as + to his character, and the substance of their testimony + is, that he is a man who would steal a negro if he got a + chance. He passed for honest otherwise. But he says + himself he would steal a negro to liberate him, and the + court says it makes no difference whether he steals to + liberate or steals to sell. Being caught in the act, he + acknowledges his guilt, and says he was a deserter from + his God,--a backslider,--a church-member one year--the + next, in the Potomac with a schooner, stealing + seventy-four negroes! Why say he took them for gain, if + he did not steal them? Why say he knew he should end his + days in a penitentiary? Why say if he got off with the + negroes he should have realized an independent fortune? + Did he not know they were slaves? He chartered the + vessel to carry off negroes; and, if they were free + negroes, or he supposed them to be, how was he to + realize an independent fortune? He was afraid of the + excitement at Washington. Why so, if the negroes were + not slaves? There was the fact of their being under the + hatches, concealed in the hold of the vessel,--did not + that prove he meant to steal them? Add to that the other + fact of his leaving at night. He comes here with a + miserable load of wood; gives it away; sells it for a + note; did not care about the wood, wanted only to get it + out; had a longing for a cargo of negroes. The wood was + a blind; besides he lied about it;--would he have ever + come back to collect his note? But the prisoner's + counsel says the slaves might have heard Mr. Foote's + torch-light oration, and so have been persuaded to go. A + likely story! They all started off, I suppose, ran + straight down to the vessel and got into the hold! + Seventy-four negroes all together! But was not the + vessel chartered in Philadelphia to carry off negroes? + This shows the excessive weakness of the defence. And + how did the slaves behave after they were captured? If + they had been running away, would they not have been + downcast and disheartened? Would not they have said, Now + we are taken? On the other hand, according to the + testimony of Major Williams, on their way back they were + laughing, shouting and eating molasses in large + quantities. Nero fiddled when Rome was burning, but did + not eat molasses. What a transition, from liberty to + molasses! + + "Then it is proved that the bulkhead between the cabin + and the hold was knocked down, and that the slaves went + to Drayton and asked if they should fight. Did not that + show his authority over them,--that the slaves were + under his control, and that he was the master-spirit? It + speaks volumes. [Here followed a long eulogy on the + gallantry and humanity of the thirty-five captors. One + man did threaten a little, but he was drunk.] + + "The substance of the law, as laid down by the judge, is + this: If Drayton came here to carry off these people, + and, by machinations, prevailed on them to go with him, + and knew they were slaves, it makes no difference + whether he took them to liberate, or took them to sell. + If he was to be paid for carrying them away, that was + gain enough. Suppose a man were to take it into his head + that the northern factories were very bad things for the + health of the factory-girls, and were to go with a + schooner for the purpose of liberating those poor devils + by stealing the spindles, would not he be served as this + prisoner is served here? Would they not exhaust the + law-books to find the severest punishment? There may be + those carried so far by a miserable mistaken + philanthropy as even to steal slaves for the sake of + setting them at liberty. But this prisoner says he did + it for gain. We might look upon him with some respect + if, in a manly style, he insisted on his right to + liberate them. But he avowedly steals for gain. He lies + about it, besides. Even a jury of abolitionists would + have no sympathy for such a man. Try him anyhow, by the + word of God--by the rules of common honesty--he would be + convicted, anyhow. He is presented to the world at large + as a rogue and a common thief and liar. There can be no + other conception of him. He did it for dishonest gain. + + "The prisoner must be convicted. He cannot escape. There + can be no manner of doubt as to his guilt. I am at a + loss, without appearing absurd in my own eyes, to + conceive what kind of a defence can be made. + + "I have not the least sort of feeling against the wretch + himself,--I desire a conviction from principle. I have + heard doctrines asserted on this trial that strike + directly at the rights and liberty of southern citizens. + I have heard counsel seeking to establish principles + that strike directly at the security of southern + property. I feel no desire that this man, as a man, + should be convicted; but I do desire that all persons + inclined to infringe on our rights of property should + know that there is a law hero to punish them, and I am + happy that the law has been so clearly laid down by the + court. Let it be known from Maine to Texas, to earth's + widest limits, that we have officers and juries to + execute that law, no matter by whom it may be violated! + + "_Mann_--for the prisoner--regretted to occupy any more + of the jury's time with this very protracted trial. I + mentioned, some days since, that the prisoner was + liable, under the indictments against him, to eight + hundred years imprisonment,--a term hardly to be served + out by Methuselah himself; but, apart from any + punishment, if his hundred and twenty-five trials are + to proceed at this rate, the chance is he will die + without ever reaching their termination. The District + Attorney has dwelt at great length on what passed the + other day, and more than once he has pointedly referred + to me, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken. I have + endeavored to conduct this trial according to the + principles of law, and to that standard I mean to come + up. My client, though a prisoner at this bar, has + rights, legal, social, human; and upon those rights I + mean to insist. This is the first time in my life that I + ever heard a prisoner on trial, and before conviction, + denounced as a liar, a thief, a felon, a wretch, a + rogue. It is unjust to apply these terms to any man on + trial. The law presumes him to be innocent. The feelings + of the prisoner ought not to be thus outraged. He is + unfortunate; he may be guilty; that is the very point + you are to try. + + "This prisoner is charged with stealing two slaves, the + property of Andrew Houver. Did he, or not? That point + you are to try by the law and the evidence. Because you + may esteem this a peculiarly valuable kind of property, + you are not to measure out in this case a peculiar kind + of justice. You have heard the evidence; the law for the + purposes of this trial you are to take from the judge. + But you are not to be led away with the idea that you + must convict this prisoner at any rate. It is a + well-established principle that it is better for an + indefinite number of guilty men to escape than for one + innocent man to be convicted and punished; and for the + best of reasons,--for to have the very machinery + established for the protection of right turned into an + instrument for the infliction of wrong, strikes a more + fatal blow at civil society than any number of + unpunished private injuries. + + "Nor is there any danger that the prisoner will escape + due punishment for any crimes he may have committed. + Besides this and forty other larceny indictments hanging + over his head, there are seventy-four transportation + indictments against him. Now, he cannot be guilty of + both; and which of these offences, if either, does the + evidence against him prove? + + "Who is this man? Look at him! You see he has passed the + meridian of life. You have heard about him from his + neighbors. They pronounce him a fair, upright, moral + man. No suspicion hitherto was ever breathed against his + honesty. He was a professor of religion, and, so far as + we know, had walked in all the ordinances and commands + of the law blameless. Now, in all cases of doubt, a fair + and exemplary character, especially in an elderly man, + is a great capital to begin with. This prisoner may have + been mistaken in his views as to matters of human right; + but, as to violating what he believed to be duty, there + is not the slightest evidence that such was his + character, but abundance to the contrary. He is found + under circumstances that make him amenable to the law; + let him be tried,--I do not gainsay that; but let him + have the common sentiments of humanity extended toward + him, even if he be guilty. + + "The point urged against him with such earnestness--I + may say vehemence--is, not that he took the slaves + merely, but that he took them with design to steal. His + confessions are dwelt upon, stated and overstated, as + you will recollect. But consider under what + circumstances these alleged confessions were made. There + are circumstances which make such statements very + fallacious. Consider his excitement--his state of + health; for it is in evidence that he had been out of + health, suffering with some disorder which required his + head to be shaved. Consider the armed men that + surrounded him, and the imminent peril in which he + believed his life to be. It is great injustice to brand + him with the foul epithet of liar for any little + discrepancies, if such there were, in statements made + under such circumstances. Other matters have been forced + in, of a most extraordinary character, to prejudice his + case in your eyes. It has been suggested--the idea has + been thrown out, again and again--that, under pretence + of helping them to freedom, he meant to sell these + negroes. This suggestion, which outruns all reason and + discretion, is founded on the simple fact of a brig seen + lying at anchor in a place of common anchorage, + suggesting no suspicious appearance, but as to which you + are asked to infer that these seventy-six slaves were to + be transported into her, and carried to Cuba or + elsewhere for sale. What a monstrous imagination! What a + gross libel on that brig, her officers, her crew, her + owners, all of whom are thus charged as kidnappers and + pirates; and all this baseless dream got up for the + purpose of influencing your minds against the prisoner! + It marks, indeed, with many other things, the style in + which this prosecution is conducted. + + "Take the law as laid down by the court, and it is + necessary for the government to prove, if this + indictment is to be sustained, that the prisoner + corrupted the minds of Houver's slaves, and induced and + persuaded them to go on board his vessel. They were + found on board the prisoner's vessel, no doubt; but as + to how they came there we have not a particle of + evidence. Here is a gap, a fatal gap, in the + government's case. By what second-sight are you to look + into this void space and time, and to say that Drayton + enticed them to go on board? [The counsel here read from + 1 _Starkie on Evidence,_ 510, &c., to the effect that + the prosecution are bound by the evidence to exclude + every hypothesis inconsistent with the prisoner's + guilt.] Now, is it the only possible means of accounting + for the presence of Houver's slaves on board to suppose + that this prisoner enticed them? Might not somebody else + have done it? Might they not have gone without being + enticed at all? We wished to call the slaves themselves + as witnesses, but the law shuts up their mouths. Can + you, without any evidence, say that Drayton enticed + them, and that by no other means could they come + onboard? Presumptive evidence, as laid down in the + book--an acknowledged and unquestioned authority--from + which I have read, ought to be equally strong with the + evidence of one unimpeached witness swearing positively + to the fact. Are you as sure that Drayton enticed those + slaves as if that fact had been positively sworn to by + one witness, testifying that he stood by and saw and + heard it? If you are not, then, under the law as laid + down by the court, you can not find him guilty. + + "_Thursday, Aug_. 13. + + "_Carlisle_, for the prisoner.--The sun under which we + draw our breath, the soil we tottle over, in childhood, + the air we breathe, the objects that earliest attract + our attention, the whole system of things with which our + youth is surrounded, impress firmly upon us ideas and + sentiments which cling to us to our latest breath, and + modify all our views. I trust I am man enough always to + remember this, when I hear opinions expressed and views + maintained by men educated under a system different from + that prevailing here, no matter how contrary those views + and opinions may be to my own. + + "It may surprise those of you who know me,--the moral + atmosphere in which I have grown up, and the opinions + which I entertain,--but never have I felt so deep and + hearty an interest in the defence of any case as in + this. This prisoner I never saw till I came from a sick + bed into this court, when I met him for the first time. + I had participated strongly in the feeling which in + connection with him had been excited in this community. + As you well know, I have and could have no sympathy with + the motives by which he may be presumed to have been + actuated. Why, then, this sudden feeling in his behalf? + Not, I assure you, from mercenary motives. His acquittal + or his condemnation will make no difference in the + compensation I receive for my services. The overpowering + interest I feel in this case originates in the fact that + it places at stake the reputation of this District, and, + in some respects, of the country itself, of which this + city is the political capital. The counsel for the + government has dwelt with emphasis on the great amount + and value of property placed at hazard by this prisoner. + There is something, however, far more valuable than + property--a fair, honorable, impartial administration of + justice; and of the chivalrous race of the south it may + be expected that they will do justice, though the + heavens fall! God forbid that the world should point to + this trial as a proof that we are so besotted by passion + and interest that we cannot discern the most obvious + distinctions and that on a slave question with a jury of + slave-holders there is no possible chance of justice! + Many, I assure you, will be ready to fasten this charge + upon us. It is my hope, my ardent desire, it is your + sworn duty, that no step be taken against this prisoner + without full warrant of law and evidence. The duty of + defence I discharge with pleasure. I could have desired + that this prisoner might have been defended entirely by + counsel resident in this District. It would have been my + pride to have shown to the world that of our own mere + motion we would do justice in any case, no matter how + delicate, no matter how sore the point the prisoner had + touched. + + "My learned friend, the District Attorney, has alluded + to the courtesy which he and the court have extended to + my associate in this cause. I hope he does not plume + himself upon that. A gentleman of my associate's + learning, ability, unexceptionable deportment, and high + character among his own people, must and will be treated + with courtesy wherever he goes. But, at the same time + that he boasts of his courtesy, the District Attorney + takes occasion to charge my associate with gross + ignorance of the law. He says the forty-one charges + could not have been included in one indictment, and + offers to give up the case if we will produce a single + authority to that effect. It were easy to produce the + authority [see 1 _Chitty_, C.L. Indictment], but, + unfortunately, the District Attorney has made a promise + which he can't fulfil. The District Attorney is mistaken + in this matter; at the same time, let me admit that in + the management of this case he has displayed an ability + beyond his years. This is the first prosecution ever + brought, so far as we can discover, on this + slave-stealing statute, either in this District or in + Maryland. This statute, of the existence of which few + lawyers were aware,--I am sure I was not,--has been + waked up, after a slumber of more than a century, and + brought to bear upon my client. It is your duty to go + into the examination of this novel case temperately and + carefully; to take care that no man and no court, upon + review of the case, shall be able to say that your + verdict is not warranted by the evidence. If the case is + made out against the prisoner, convict him; but if not, + as you value the reputation of the District and your own + souls, beware how you give a verdict against him! + + "You are not a lynch-law court. It is no part of your + business to inquire whether the prisoner has done + wrong, and if so to punish him for it. It is your sole + business to inquire if he be guilty of this, special + charge set forth against him in this indictment, of + stealing Andrew Houver's two slaves. The law you are not + expected to judge of; to enlighten you on that matter, + we have prayed instructions from the court, and those + instructions, for the purpose of this trial, are to be + taken as the law. The question for you is, Does the + evidence in this case bring the prisoner within the law + as laid down by the court? To bring him within that law, + you are not to go upon imagination, but upon facts + proved by witnesses; and, it seems to me, you have a + very plain duty before you. This is not a thing done in + a corner. Take care that you render such a verdict that + you will not be ashamed to have it set forth in letters + of light, visible to all the world. + + "There are two offences established by the statutes of + Maryland, between which, in this case, it becomes your + duty to distinguish. Everything depends on these + statutes, because without these statutes neither act is + a crime. At common law, there are no such offences as + stealing slaves, or transporting slaves. Now, which of + these two acts is proved against this prisoner? In some + respects they are alike. The carrying the slaves away, + the depriving the master of their services, is common to + both. But, to constitute the stealing of slaves, + according to the law as laid down by the court, there + must be something more yet. There must be a corruption + of the minds of the slaves, and a seducing them to leave + their masters' service. And does not this open a plain + path for this prisoner out of the danger of this + prosecution? Where is the least evidence that the + prisoner seduced these slaves, and induced them to leave + their masters? Has the District Attorney, with all his + zeal, pointed out a single particle of evidence of that + sort? Has he done anything to take this case out of the + transportation statute, and to convert it into a case of + stealing? He has, to be sure, indulged in some very + harsh epithets applied to this prisoner,--epithets very + similar to those which Lord Coke indulged in on the + trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, and which drew out on the + part of that prisoner a memorable retort. My client is + not a Raleigh; but neither, I must be permitted to say, + is the District Attorney a Lord Coke. I should be sorry + to have it go abroad that we cannot try a man for an + offence of this sort without calling him a liar, a + rogue, a wretch. [The District Attorney here + interrupted, with a good deal of warmth. He insisted + that he did not address the prisoner, but the jury, and + that it was his right to call the attention of the jury + to the evidence proving the prisoner to be a liar, rogue + and wretch.] + + _Carlisle_--I do not dispute the learned gentleman's + right. It is a matter of taste; but with you, gentlemen + of the jury, these harsh epithets are not to make the + difference of a hair. You are to look at the evidence; + and where is the evidence that the prisoner seduced and + enticed these slaves? + + "It may happen to any man to have a runaway slave in his + premises, and even in his employment. It happened to me + to have in my employ a runaway,--one of the best + servants, by the way, I ever had. He told me he was + free, and I employed him as such. If I had happened to + have taken him to Baltimore, there would have been a + complete similitude to the case at bar, and, according + to the District Attorney's logic, I might have been + indicted for stealing. Because I had him with me, I am + to be presumed to have enticed him from his master! As + to the particular circumstances under which he came into + my employment, I might have been wholly unable to show + them. Is it not possible to suppose a great number of + circumstances under which these slaves of Houver left + their master's service and came on board the Pearl, + without any agency on the part of this prisoner? Now, + the government might positively disprove and exclude + forty such suppositions; but, so long as one remained + which was not excluded, you cannot find a verdict of + conviction. The government is to prove that the prisoner + enticed and seduced these negroes, and you have no right + to presume he did so unless every other possible + explanation of the case is positively excluded by the + testimony. Is it so extravagant a supposition that Mr. + Foote's speech, and the other torch-light speeches + heretofore alluded to, heard by these slaves, or + communicated to them, might have so wrought upon their + minds as to induce them to leave their masters? I don't + say that they had any right to suppose that these + declamations about universal emancipation had any + reference to them. I am a southern man, and I hold to + the southern doctrine. I admit that there is no + inconsistency between perfect civil liberty and holding + people of another race in domestic servitude. But then + it is natural that these people should overlook this + distinction, however obvious and important. Nor do they + lack wit to apply these speeches to their own case or + interest in such matters. I myself have a slave as quick + to see distinctions as I am, and who would have made a + better lawyer if he had had the same advantages. It came + out the other day, in a trial in this court, that the + colored people have debating-societies among themselves. + It was an assault and battery case; one of the + disputants, in the heat of the argument, struck the + other; but then they have precedents for that in the + House of Representatives. Is it an impossible, or + improbable, or a disproved supposition, that a number of + slaves, having agreed together to desert their masters, + or having concerted such a plan with somebody here, + Drayton was employed to come and take them away, and + that he received them on board without ever having seen + one of them? If his confessions are to be taken at all, + they are to be taken together; and do they not tend to + prove such a state of facts? Drayton says he was hired + to come here,--that he was to be paid for taking them + away. Does that look as if he seduced them? [The counsel + here commented at length on Drayton's statements, for + the purpose of showing that they tended to prove nothing + more than a transportation for hire; and he threw no + little ridicule on the 'phantom ship' which the District + Attorney had conjured up in his opening of the case, but + which, in his late speech, he had wholly overlooked.] + + "But, even should you find that Drayton seduced these + slaves to leave their masters, to make out a case of + larceny you must be satisfied that he took them into his + possession. Now, what is possession of a slave? Not + merely being in company with him. If I ride in a hack, I + am not in possession of the driver. Possession of a + slave is dominion and control; and where is the + slightest evidence that this prisoner claimed any + dominion or control over these slaves? The whole + question in this case is, Were these slaves stolen, or + were they running away with the prisoner's assistance? + The mere fact of their being in the prisoner's company + throws no light whatever on this matter. + + "The great point, however, in this case is this,--By the + judge's instructions, enticement must be proved. Shall + the record of this trial go forth to the world showing + that you have found a fact of which there was no + evidence? + + "I believe in my conscience there is a gap in this + evidence not to be filled up except by passion and + prejudice. If that is so, I hope there is no one so + ungenerous, so little of a true southerner, as to blame + me for my zeal in this case, or not to rejoice in a + verdict of acquittal. It is bad enough that strangers + should have got up a mob in this District in relation to + this matter. It would, however, be a million times worse + if juries cannot be found here cool and dispassionate + enough to render impartial verdicts. + + "_District Attorney_.--I hope, gentlemen of the jury, + you will rise above all out-of-door influence. Make + yourselves abolitionists, if you can; but look at the + facts of the case. And, looking at those facts, is it + necessary for me to open my lips in reply? In a case + like this, sustained by such direct testimony, such + overwhelming proof, I defy any man,--however crazy on + the subject of slavery, unless he be blinded by some + film of interest,--to hesitate a moment as to his + conclusions. [The District Attorney here proceeded at + great length, and with a great air of offended dignity, + to complain of having been schooled and advised by the + prisoner's counsel, and to justify the use of the foul + epithets he had bestowed on the prisoner.] This is not a + place for parlor talk. I had chosen the English words + that conveyed my meaning most distinctly. It was all + very well for the prisoner's counsel to smooth things + over; but was I, instead of calling him a liar, to say, + he told a fib? When I call him a thief and a felon, do I + go beyond the charge of the grand jury in the + indictment? If this is stepping over the limits of + propriety, in all similar cases I shall do the same. I + do not intend to blackguard the prisoner,--I do not + delight in using these epithets. My heart is not locked + up; I am no Jack Ketch, prosecuting criminals for ten + dollars a head. I sympathize with the wretches brought + here; but when I choose to call them by their proper + names I am not to be accused of bandying epithets. [The + District Attorney then proceeded also at great length, + and in a high key, to justify his hundred and + twenty-five indictments against the prisoner, and to + clear himself from the imputation of mercenary motives, + on the ground that the business of the year, + independently of these indictments, would furnish the + utmost amount to which he was entitled. He next referred + to the matter of the brig testified to by Captain Baker, + which had been made the occasion of much ridicule by the + prisoner's counsel. Part of the evidence which he had + relied on in connection with the brig had been ruled + out; and the law, as laid down by the court, according + to which taking to liberate was the same as taking to + steal, had made it unnecessary for him, so he said, to + dwell on this part of the case. Yet he now proceeded to + argue at great length, from the testimony in the case, + that there must have been a connection between the brig + and the schooner; that, as the schooner was confessedly + unseaworthy, and could not have gone out of the bay, it + must have been the intention to put the slaves on board + the brig, and to carry them off to Cuba or elsewhere and + sell them. The testimony to this effect he pronounced + conclusive.] + + "The United States (said the District Attorney) have + laid before you the clearest possible case. I have just + gone through a pretty long term of this court; I see + several familiar faces on the jury, and I rely on your + intelligence. In fact, the only point of the defence is, + that the United States have offered no proof that + Drayton seduced and enticed these slaves to come on + board the Pearl; and that the prisoner's counsel are + pleased to call a gap, a chasm, which they say you can't + fill up. It is the same gap which occurs in every + larceny case. Where can the government produce positive + testimony to the taking? That is done secretly, in the + dark, and is to be presumed from circumstances. A man is + found going off with a bag of chickens,--your chickens. + Are you going to presume that the chickens run into his + bag of their own accord, and without his agency? A man + is found riding your horse. Are you to presume that the + horse came to him of its own accord? and yet horses love + liberty,--they love to kick up their heels and run. Yet + this would be just as sensible as to suppose that these + slaves came on board Drayton's vessel without his direct + agency. He came here from Philadelphia for them; they + are found on board his vessel; Drayton says he would + steal a negro if he could; is not that enough? Then he + was here some months before with an oyster-boat, + pretending to sell oysters. He pretended that he came + for his health. Likely story, indeed! I should like to + see the doctor who would recommend a patient to come + here in the fall of the year, when the fever and ague is + so thick in the marshes that you can cut it with a + knife. Cruising about, eating and selling oysters, at + that time of the year, for his health! Nonsense! He was + here, at that very time, hatching and contriving that + these very negroes should go on board the Pearl. But the + prisoner's counsel say he might have been employed by + others simply to carry them away! Who could have + employed him but abolitionists; and did he not say he + had no sympathy with abolitionists. So much for that + hypothesis. Then, he in fact pleads guilty,--he says he + expects to die in the penitentiary. Don't you think he + ought to? If there is any chasm here, the prisoner must + shed light upon it. If he had employers, who were they? + The prisoner's counsel have said that he is not bound to + tell; and that the witnesses, if summoned here, would + not be compelled to criminate themselves. But shall this + prisoner be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong? + + "As to the metaphysics of the prisoner's counsel about + possession, that is easily disposed of. Were not these + slaves found in Drayton's possession, and didn't he + admit that he took them? + + "As to the cautions given you about prejudice and + passion, I do not think they are necessary. I have seen + no sort of excitement here since the first detection of + this affair that would prevent the prisoner having a + fair trial. Is there any crowd or excitement here? The + community will be satisfied with the verdict. There is + no question the party is guilty. I never had anything to + do with a case sustained by stronger evidence. I don't + ask you to give an illegal or perjured verdict. Take the + law and the evidence, and decide upon it. + + + "N.B.--The argument being now concluded, and the jury + about to go out, some question arose whether the jury + should have the written instructions of the court with + them; and some inquiry being made as to the practice, + one of the jurors observed that in a case in which he + had formerly acted as juror the jury had the + instructions with them, and he proceeded to tell a funny + story about a bottle of rum, told by one of the jurors + on that occasion, which story caused him to remember the + fact. It may be observed, by the way, that the + proceedings of the United States Criminal Court for the + District of Columbia are not distinguished for any + remarkable decorum or dignity. The jury, in this case, + were in constant intercourse, during any little + intervals in the trial, with the spectators outside the + bar." + +The case was given to the jury about three o'clock, P.M., and the court, +after waiting half an hour, adjourned. + +When the court met, at ten o'clock the next morning, the jury were still +out, having remained together all night without being able to agree. +Meanwhile the District Attorney proceeded to try me on another +indictment, for stealing three slaves the property of one William H. +Upperman. As this trial was proceeding, about half-past two the jury in +the first case came in, and rendered a verdict of GUILTY. They presented +rather a haggard appearance, having been locked up for twenty-four +hours, and some of them being perhaps a little troubled in their +consciences. The jury, it was understood, had been divided, from the +beginning, four for acquittal and eight for conviction. These four were +all Irishmen, and perhaps they did not consider it consistent with their +personal safety and business interests to persist in disappointing the +slave-holding public of that verdict which the District Attorney had so +imperiously demanded. The agreement, it was understood, had taken place +only a few moments before they came in, and had been reached entirely on +the strength of Williams' testimony to my having said, that had I got +off I should have made an independent fortune. Now, it was a curious +coincidence, that at the very moment that this agreement was thus taking +place, Williams, again on the stand as a witness on the second trial, +wished to take back what he had then sworn to on the first trial, +stating that he could not tell whether he had heard me say this, or +whether he had heard of my having said it from somebody else. + +After the rendition of the verdict of the other jury, the second case +was again resumed. The evidence varied in only a few particulars from +that which had been given in the first case. There was, in addition, +the testimony of Upperman, the pretended owner of the woman and her +daughters, one of fifteen, the other nine years old, whom I was charged +in this indictment with stealing. This man swore with no less alacrity, +and with no less falsehood, than Houver had done before him. He stated +that about half-past ten, of that same night that the Pearl left +Washington, while he was fastening up his house, he saw a man standing +on the side-walk opposite his door, and observed him for some time. Not +long after, having gone to bed, he heard a noise of somebody coming down +stairs; and, calling out, he was answered by his slave-woman, who was +just then going off, though he had no suspicion of it at the time. That +man standing on the side-walk he pretended to recognize as me. He was +perfectly certain of it, beyond all doubt and question. The object of +this testimony was, to lead to a conclusion of enticement or persuasion +on my part, and so to bring the case within one of the judge's +instructions already stated. On a subsequent trial, Upperman was still +more certain, if possible, that I was the man. But he was entirely +mistaken in saying so. His house was on Pennsylvania Avenue, more than a +mile from where the Pearl lay, and I was not within a mile of it that +night. I dare say Upperman was sincere enough. He was one of your +positive sort of men; but his case, like that of Houver, shows that men +in a passion will sometimes fall into blunders. I have reason to believe +that after the trials were over Upperman became satisfied of his error. + +The first trial had consumed a week; the second one lasted four days. +The judge laid down the same law as before, and similar exceptions were +taken by my counsel. The jury again remained out all night, being long +divided,--nine for conviction to three for acquittal; but on the morning +of August 9th they came in with a verdict of GUILTY. + +Satisfied for the present with these two verdicts against me, the +District Attorney now proposed to pass over the rest of my cases, and to +proceed to try Sayres. My counsel objected that, having been forced to +proceed against my remonstrances, I was here ready for trial, and they +insisted that all my cases should be now disposed of. They did not +prevail, however; and the District Attorney proceeded to try Sayres on +an indictment for stealing the same two slaves of Houver. + +In addition to the former witnesses against me, English was now put upon +the stand, the District Attorney having first entered _nolle prosequi_ +upon the hundred and fifteen indictments against him. But he could state +nothing except the circumstances of his connection with the affair, and +the coming on board of the passengers on Saturday night, as I have +already related them. On the other hand, the "phantom brig" story, of +which the District Attorney had made so great a handle in the two cases +against me, was now ruled out, on the ground that the brig could not be +brought into the case till some connection had first been shown between +her and the Pearl. The trial lasted three days. The District Attorney +pressed for a conviction with no less violence than he had done in my +case, assuring the jury that if they did not convict there was an end of +the security of slave property. But Sayres had several advantages over +me. My two juries had been citizens of Washington, several of them +belonging to a class of loafers who frequent the courts for the sake of +the fees to be got as jurymen. Some complaints having been made of this, +the officers had been sent to Georgetown and the country districts, and +the present jury was drawn from those quarters. Then, again, I was +regarded as the main culprit,--the only one in the secret of the +transaction; and, as I was already convicted, the feeling against Sayres +was much lessened. In fact, the jury in his case, after an absence of +half an hour, returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The District Attorney, greatly surprised and vexed, proceeded to try +Sayres on another indictment. This trial lasted three days and a half; +but, in spite of the efforts of the District Attorney, who was more +positive, longer and louder, than ever, the jury, in ten minutes, +returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The trials had now continued through nearly four weeks of very hot +weather, and both sides were pretty well worn out. Vexed at the two last +verdicts, the District Attorney threatened to give up Sayres on a +requisition from Virginia, which was said to have been lodged for us, +some of the alleged slaves belonging there, and we having been there +shortly before. + +Finally, it was agreed that verdicts should be taken against Sayres in +the seventy-four transportation cases, he to have the advantage of +carrying the points of law before the Circuit Court, and the remaining +larceny indictments against him to be discontinued. + +Thus ended the first legal campaign. English was discharged altogether, +without trial. Sayres had got rid of the charge of larceny. I had been +found guilty on two indictments for stealing, upon which Judge Crawford +sentenced me to twenty years imprisonment in the penitentiary; while +Sayres, on seventy-four indictments for assisting the escape of slaves, +was sentenced to a fine on each indictment of one hundred and fifty +dollars and costs, amounting altogether to seven thousand four hundred +dollars. But from these judgments an appeal had been taken to the +Circuit Court, and meanwhile Sayres and I remained in prison as before. + +The hearing before the Circuit Court came on the 26th of November. That +court consisted of Chief-Justice Cranch, an able and upright judge, but +very old and infirm; and Judges Morrell and Dunlap, the latter of whom +claimed to be the owner of two of the negroes found on board the Pearl. + +My cases were argued for me by Messrs. Hildreth, Carlisle and Mann. The +District Attorney, who was much better fitted to bawl to a jury than to +argue before a court, had retained, at the expense of the United States, +the assistance of Mr. Bradley, one of the ablest lawyers of the +District. The argument consumed not less than three days. Many points +were discussed; but that on which the cases turned was the definition of +larceny. It resulted in the allowance of several of my bills of +exceptions, the overturn of the law of Judge Crawford on the subject of +larceny, and the establishment by the Circuit Court of the doctrine on +that subject contended for by my counsel; but from this opinion Judge +Dunlap dissented. The case of Sayres, for want of time, was postponed +till the next term. + +A new trial having been ordered in my two cases, everybody supposed that +the charge of larceny would now be abandoned, as the Circuit Court had +taken away the only basis on which it could possibly rest. But the zeal +of the District Attorney was not yet satisfied; and, no longer trusting +to his own unassisted efforts, he obtained (at the expense of the United +States) the assistance of Richard Cox, Esq., an old and very +unscrupulous practitioner, with whose aid he tried the cases over again +in the Criminal Court. The two trials lasted about fourteen days. I was +again defended by Messrs. Mann and Carlisle, and now with better +success, as the juries, under the instructions which Judge Crawford +found himself obliged to give, and notwithstanding the desperate efforts +against me, acquitted me in both cases, almost without leaving their +seats. + +Finally, the District Attorney agreed to abandon the remaining larceny +cases, if we would consent to verdicts in the transportation cases on +the same terms with those in the case of Sayres. This was done; when +Judge Crawford had the satisfaction of sentencing me to fines and costs +amounting together to ten thousand and sixty dollars, and to remain in +prison until that amount was paid. + +There was still a further hearing before the Circuit Court on the bills +of exceptions to these transportation indictments. My counsel thought +they had some good legal objections; but the hearing unfortunately came +on when Judge Cranch was absent from the bench, and the other two judges +overruled them. By a strange construction of the laws, no criminal case, +except by accident, can be carried before the Supreme Court of the +United States; otherwise, the cases against us would have been taken +there, including the question of the legality of slavery in the District +of Columbia. + +Thus, after a severe and expensive struggle, I was saved from the +penitentiary; but Sayres and myself remained in the Washington jail, +loaded with enormous fines, which, from our total inability to pay them, +would keep us there for life, unless the President could be induced to +pardon us; and it was even questioned, as I shall show presently, +whether he had any such power. + +The jail of the District of Columbia is under the charge of the Marshal +of the District. That office, when I was first committed to prison, was +filled by a Mr. Hunter; but he was sick at the time, and died soon +after, when Robert Wallace was appointed. This Wallace was a Virginian, +from the neighbor hood of Alexandria, son of a Doctor Wallace from whom +he had inherited a large property, including many slaves. He had removed +to Tennessee, and had set up cotton-planting there; but, failing in that +business, had returned back with the small remnants of his property, and +Polk provided for him by making him marshal. It was not long before I +found that he had a great spite against me. It was in vain that I +solicited from him the use of the passage. The light which came into my +cell was very faint, and I could only read by sitting on the floor with +my back against the grating of the cell door. But, so far from aiding me +to read,--and it was the only method I had of passing my time,--Wallace +made repeated and vexatious attempts to keep me from receiving +newspapers. I should very soon have died on the prison allowance. The +marshal is allowed by the United States thirty-three cents per day for +feeding the prisoners. For this money they receive two meals; breakfast, +consisting of one herring, corn-bread and a dish of molasses and water, +very slightly flavored with coffee; and for dinner, corn-bread again, +with half a pound of the meanest sort of salted beef, and a soup made of +corn-meal stirred into the pot-liquor. This is the bill of fare day +after day, all the year round; and, as at the utmost such food cannot +cost more than eight or nine cents a day for each prisoner, and as the +average number is fifty, the marshal must make a handsome profit. The +diet has been fixed, I suppose, after the model of the slave allowances. +But Congress, after providing the means of feeding the prisoners in a +decent manner, ought not to allow them to be starved for the benefit of +the marshal. Such was the diet to which I was confined in the first days +of my imprisonment. But I soon contrived to make a friend of Jake, the +old black cook of the prison, who, I could see as he came in to pour out +my coffee, evinced a certain sympathy and respect for me. Through his +agency I was able to purchase some more eatable food; and indeed the +surgeon of the jail allowed me flour, under the name of medicine, it +being impossible, as he said, for me to live on the prison diet. +Wallace, soon after he came into office, finding a small sum in my +possession, of about forty dollars, took it from me. He expressed a fear +that I might corrupt old Jake, or somebody else,--especially as he found +that I gave Jake my old newspapers,--and so escape from the prison. But +he left the money in the hands of the jailer, and allowed me to draw it +out, a dollar at a time. He presently turned out old Jake, and put in a +slave-woman of his own as cook; but she was better disposed towards me +than her master, and I found no difficulty in purchasing with my own +money, and getting her to prepare such food as I wanted. I was able, +too, after some six or eight weeks' sleeping on the stone floor of my +cell, to obtain some improvement in that particular; and not for myself +only, but for all the other prisoners also. The jailer was requested by +several persons who came to see us to procure mattresses for us at their +expense; and, finally, Wallace, as if out of pure shame, procured a +quantity of husk mattresses for the use of the prisoners generally. +Still, we had no cots, and were obliged to spread our mattresses on the +floor. + +The allowance of clothing made to the prisoners who were confined +without any means of supporting themselves corresponded pretty well with +the jail allowance of provisions. They received shirts, one at a time, +made of the very meanest kind of cotton cloth, and of the very smallest +dimensions; trousers of about equal quality, and shoes. It was said that +the United States paid also for jackets and caps. How that was I do not +know; but the prisoners never received any. + +The custody of the jail was intrusted to a head jailer, assisted by four +guards, or turnkeys, one of whom acted also as book-keeper. Of the +personal treatment toward me of those in office, at the time I was first +committed, I have no complaint to make. The rigor of my confinement was +indeed great; but I am happy to say that it was not aggravated by any +disposition on the part of these men to triumph over me, or to trample +upon me. As they grew more acquainted with me, they showed their sense +that I was not an ordinary criminal, and treated me with many marks of +consideration, and even of regard, and in one of them I found a true +friend. + +Shortly after Wallace came into office, he made several changes. He was +full of caprices, and easily took offence from very small causes; and of +this the keepers, as well as the prisoners, had abundant experience. The +head jailer did his best to please, behaving in the most humble and +submissive manner; but all to no purpose. He was discharged, as were +also the others, one after another,--Wallace undertaking to act as head +jailer himself. Of Wallace's vexatious conduct towards me; of his +refusal to allow me to receive newspapers,--prohibiting the under jailer +to lend me even the Baltimore _Sun_; of his accusation against me of +bribing old Jake, whom he forbade the turnkeys to allow to come near me; +of his keeping me shut up in my cell; and generally of a bitter spirit +of angry malice against me,--I had abundant reason to complain during +the weary fifteen months or more that I remained under his power. But +his subordinates, though obliged to obey his orders and to comply with +his humors, were far from being influenced by his feelings. Even his +favorite among the turnkeys, a person who pretty faithfully copied his +conduct towards the other prisoners, always behaved very kindly towards +me, and even used to make a confidant of me, by coming to my cell to +talk over his troubles. + +But the person whose kind offices and friendly sympathy did far more +than those of any other to relieve the tediousness of my confinement, +and to keep my heart from sinking, was Mr. Wood. There is no chaplain at +the Washington jail, nor has Congress, so far as I am aware, made any +provision of any kind for the spiritual wants or the moral and religious +instruction of the inmates of it. This great deficiency Mr. Wood, a man +of a great heart, though of very limited pecuniary means, being then a +clerk in the Telegraph office, had taken it upon himself to supply, so +far as he could; and for that purpose he was in the habit of visiting +the prison on Sundays, conversing with the prisoners, and furnishing +tracts and books to such as were able and disposed to read. He came to +my cell, or to the grating of the passage in which I was confined, on +the very first Sunday of my imprisonment, and he readily promised, at my +request, to furnish me with a Bible; though in that act of kindness he +was anticipated by the colored woman of whom I have already made +mention, who appeared at my cell, with a Bible for me, just after Mr. +Wood had left it. + +The kindness of Mr. Wood's heart, and the sincerity of his sympathy, was +so apparent as to secure him the affectionate respect of all the +prisoners. To me he proved a very considerate and useful friend. Not +only was I greatly indebted to his assistance in making known my +necessities and those of my family to those disposed to relieve them, +but his cheerful and Christian conversation served to brighten many a +dark hour, and to dispel many gloomy feelings. Were all professing +Christians like my friend Mr. Wood, we should not hear so many +denunciations as we now do of the church, and complaints of her +short-comings. + +There was another person, also, whose kind attentions to me I ought not +to overlook. This was Mrs. Susannah Ford, a very respectable colored +woman, who sold refreshments in the lobby of the court-house, and who, +in the progress of the trial, had evinced a good deal of interest in +the case. As she often had boarders in the jail, who, like me, could not +live on the jail fare, and whom she supplied, she was frequently there, +and she seldom came without bringing with her some substantial token of +her regard. + +Sayres and myself had looked forward to the change of administration, +which resulted from the election of General Taylor, with considerable +hopes of advantage from it--but, for a considerable time, this advantage +was limited to a change in the marshal in whose custody we were. The +turning out of Wallace gave great satisfaction to everybody in the jail, +or connected with it, except the turnkeys, who held office by his +appointment, and who expected that his dismissal would be followed by +their own. The very day before the appointment of his successor came +out, I had been remonstrating with him against the cruelty of refusing +me the use of the passage; and I had even ventured to hint that I hoped +he would do nothing which he would be ashamed to see spoken of in the +public prints; to which he replied, "G--d d--n the public prints!--in +that cell you will stay!" But in this he proved not much of a prophet. +The next day, as soon as the news of his dismissal reached the jail, the +turnkeys at once unlocked my cell-door and admitted me into the passage, +observing that the new marshal, when he came to take possession, should +at least find me there. + +This new marshal was Mr. Robert Wallach, a native of the District, very +similar in name to his predecessor, but very different in nature; and +from the time that he entered into office the extreme rigor hitherto +exercised to me was a good deal abated. One thing, however, I had to +regret in the change, which was the turning out of all the old guards, +with whom I was already well acquainted, and the appointment of a new +set. One of these thus turned out--the person to whom I have already +referred to as the chief favorite of the late marshal--made a desperate +effort to retain his office. But, although he solicited and obtained +certificates to the effect that he was, and always had been, a good +Whig, he had to walk out with the others. + +The new jailer appointed by Wallach, and three of the new guards, or +turnkeys, were very gentlemanly persons, and neither I nor the other +prisoners had any reason to complain of the change. Of the fourth +turnkey I cannot say as much. He was violent, overbearing and +tyrannical, and he was frequently guilty of conduct towards the +prisoners which made him very unfit to serve under such a marshal, and +ought to have caused his speedy removal. But, unfortunately, the marshal +was under some political obligations to him, which made the turning him +out not so easy a matter. This person seemed to have inherited all the +feelings of hatred and dislike which the late marshal had entertained +towards me, and he did his best to annoy me in a variety of ways, +though, of course, his power was limited by his subordinate position. + +But, although I gained considerably by the new-order of things, I soon +found that it had also some annoying consequences. Under the old +marshal, either to make the imprisonment more disagreeable to me, or +from fear lest I should corrupt the other prisoners, I had been kept in +a sort of solitary confinement, no other prisoners being placed in the +same passage. This system was now altered; and, although my privacy was +always so far respected that I was allowed a cell by myself, I often +found myself with fellow-prisoners in the same passage from whose +society it was impossible for me to derive either edification or +pleasure. I suffered a good deal from this cause; but at length +succeeded in obtaining a remedy, or, at least, a partial one. I was +allowed, during the day-time, the range of the debtors' apartments, a +suite of spacious, airy and comfortable rooms, in which there were +seldom more than one or two tenants. I pleaded hard to be removed to +these apartments altogether,--to be allowed to sleep there, as well as +to pass the days there. As it was merely for the non-payment of a sum of +money that I was held, I thought I had a right to be treated as a +debtor. But those apartments were so insecure, that the keepers did not +care to trust me there during the night. + +By this change of quarters my condition was a good deal improved. I not +only had ample conveniences for reading, but I improved the opportunity +to learn to write, having only been able to sign my name when T was +committed to the prison. + +But a jail, after all, is a jail; and I longed and sighed to obtain my +liberty, and to enjoy again the society of my wife and children. Had it +been wished to impress my mind in the strongest manner with the horrors +of slavery, no better method could have been devised than this +imprisonment in the Washington jail. I felt personally what it was to be +restrained of my liberty; and, as many of the prisoners were runaway +slaves, or slaves committed at the request of their masters, I saw a +good deal of what slaves are exposed to. Of this I shall here give but a +single instance. Wallace, the marshal, as I have already mentioned, had +two female slaves, the last remnants of the large slave-property which +he had inherited from his father. One of these was a young and very +comely mulatto girl, whom Wallace had made his housekeeper, and whom he +sought to make also his concubine. But, as the girl already had a child +by a young white man, to whom she was attached, she steadily repelled +all his advances. Not succeeding by persuasion, this scion of the +aristocracy of the Old Dominion--this Virginian gentleman, and marshal +of the United States for the District of Columbia--shut the girl up in +the jail of the District, in hopes of thus breaking her to his will; +and, as she proved obstinate, he finally sold her. He then turned his +eyes on the other woman,--his property,--Jemima, our cook, already the +mother of three children. But she set him at open defiance. As she +wished to be sold, he had lost the greatest means of controlling her; +and as she openly threatened, before all the keepers, to tear every rag +of clothing off his body if he dared lay his hand upon her, he did not +venture, to brave her fury. + +In most of the states, if not in all of them, certainly in all the free +states, there is no such thing as keeping a man in prison for life +merely for the non-payment of a fine which he has no means to pay. The +same spirit of humanity which has abolished the imprisonment of poor +debtors at the caprice of their creditors has provided means for +discharging, after a short imprisonment, persons held in prison for +fines which they have no means of paying. Indeed, what can be more +unequal or unjust than to hold a poor man a prisoner for life for an +offence which a rich man is allowed to expiate by a small part of his +superfluous wealth? But this is one, among many other barbarisms, which +the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia, by preventing any +systematic revision of the laws, has entailed upon the capital of our +model democracy. There was, as I have stated, no means by which Sayres +and myself could be discharged from prison except by paying our fines +(which was totally out of the question), or by obtaining a presidential +pardon, which, for a long time, seemed equally hopeless. There was, +indeed, a peculiarity about our case, such as might afford a plausible +excuse for not extending to us any relief. Under the law of 1796, the +sums imposed upon us as fines were to go one half to the owners of the +slaves, and the other half to the District; and it was alleged, that +although the President might remit the latter half, he could not the +other. + +That same Mr. Radcliff whom I have already had occasion to mention +volunteered his services--for a consideration--to get over this +difficulty. In consequence of a handsome fee which he received, he +undertook to obtain the consent of the owners of the slaves to our +discharge. But, having pocketed the money, he made, so far as I could +find, very little progress in the business, not having secured above +five or six signers. In answer to my repeated applications, he at length +proposed that my wife and youngest daughter should come on to +"Washington to do the business which he had undertaken, and for which he +had secured a handsome payment in advance. They came on accordingly, +and, by personal application, succeeded in obtaining, in all, the +signatures of twenty-one out of forty-one, the whole number. The +reception which they met with from different parties was very different, +showing that there is among slave-holders as much variety of character +as among other people. Some signed with alacrity, saying that, as no +slaves had been lost, I had been kept in jail too long already. Others +required much urging. Others positively refused. Some even added +insults. Young Francis Dodge, of Georgetown, would not sign, though my +life had depended upon it. One wanted me hung, and another tarred and +feathered. One pious church-member, lying on his death-bed, as he +supposed, was persuaded to sign; but he afterwards drew back, and +nothing could prevail on him to put his name to the paper. Die or live, +he wholly refused. But the most curious case occurred at Alexandria, to +which place my wife went to obtain the signature of a pious old lady, +who had been the claimant of a youngster found among the passengers of +the Pearl, and who had been sold, in consequence, for the southern +market. The old lady, it appeared, was still the owner of the boy's +mother, who acted as one of her domestics, and, if she was willing, the +old lady professed her readiness to sign. The black woman was +accordingly called in, and the nature of my wife's application stated to +her. But, with much positiveness and indignation, she refused to give +her consent, declaring that my wife could as well do without her husband +as she could do without her boy. So imbruted and stupefied by slavery +was this old woman, that she seemed to think the selling her boy away +from her a perfectly humane, Christian and proper act, while all her +indignation was turned against me, who had merely afforded the boy an +opportunity of securing his freedom! I dare say they had persuaded the +old woman that I had enticed the boy to run away; whereas, as I have +already stated, I had never seen him, nor any other of the passengers, +till I found them on board. + +As only twenty-one signers could be obtained, the matter stood very much +as it did before the attempt was made. So long as President Fillmore +remained a candidate for reëlection there was little ground to expect +from him a favorable consideration of my case. I therefore felt +sincerely thankful to the Whig convention when they passed by Mr. +Fillmore, and gave the nomination to General Scott. Mr. Fillmore being +thus placed in a position which enabled him to listen to the dictates of +reason, justice and humanity, my hopes, and those of my friends, were +greatly raised. Mr. Sumner, the Free Democratic senator from +Massachusetts, had visited me in prison shortly after his arrival at +Washington, and had evinced from the beginning a sincere and active +sympathy for me. Some complaints were made against him in some +anti-slavery papers, because he did not present to the senate some +petitions in my behalf, which had been forwarded to his care. But Mr. +Sumner was of opinion, and I entirely agreed with him, that if the +object was to obtain my discharge from prison, that object was to be +accomplished, not by agitating the matter in the senate, but by private +appeals to the equity and the conscience of the President; nor did he +think, nor I either, that my interests ought to be sacrificed for the +opportunity to make an anti-slavery speech. There is reason in +everything; and I thought, and he thought too, that I had been made +enough of a martyr of already. + +The case having been brought to the notice of the President, he, being +no longer a candidate for reëlection, could not fail to recognize the +claim of Sayres and myself to a discharge. We had already been kept in +jail upwards of four years, for an offence which the laws had intended +to punish by a trifling pecuniary fine Nor was this all. The earlier +part of our confinement had been exceedingly rigorous, and it had only +been by the untiring efforts of our friends, and at a great expense to +them, that we had been saved from falling victims to the conspiracy, +between the District Attorney and Judge Crawford, to send us to the +penitentiary. Although my able and indefatigable counsel, Mr. Mann, +whose arduous labors and efforts in my behalf I shall never forget, and +still less his friendly counsels and kind personal attentions, had +received nothing, except, I believe, the partial reimbursement of his +travelling expenses, and although there was much other service +gratuitously rendered in our cases, yet it had been necessary to pay +pretty roundly for the services of Mr. Carlisle; and, altogether, the +expenditures which had been incurred to shield us from the effects of +the conspiracy above mentioned far exceeded any amount of fine which +might have been reasonably imposed under the indictments upon which we +had been found guilty. Was not the enormous sum which Judge Crawford +sentenced us to pay a gross violation of the provision in the +constitution of the United States against excessive fines? Any fine +utterly beyond a man's ability to pay, and which operates to keep him a +prisoner for life, must be excessive, or else that word has no meaning. + +But, though our case was a strong one, there still remained a serious +obstacle in the way, in the idea that, because half the fines was to go +to the owners of the slaves, the President could not remit that half. +Here was a point upon which Mr. Sumner was able to assist us much more +effectually than by making speeches in the senate. It was a point, too, +involved in a good deal of difficulty; for there were some English cases +which denied the power of pardon under such circumstances. Mr. Sumner +found, however, by a laborious examination of the American cases, that a +different view had been taken in this country; and he drew up and +submitted to the President an elaborate legal opinion, in which the +right of the executive to pardon us was very clearly made out. + +This opinion the President referred to the Attorney General. A +considerable time elapsed before he found leisure to examine it; but at +last it obtained his sanction, also. Information at length reached +us--the matter having been pending for two months or more--that the +President had signed our pardon. It had yet, however, to pass through +the office of the Secretary for the Interior, and meanwhile we were not +by any means free from anxiety. The reader will perhaps recollect that +among the other things which the District Attorney had held over our +heads had been the threat to surrender us up to the authorities of +Virginia, on a requisition which it was alleged they had made for us. +The story of this requisition had been repeated from time to time, and a +circumstance now occurred which, in seeming to threaten us with +something of the sort, served to revive all our apprehensions. Mr. +Stuart, the Secretary of the Interior, through whose office the pardon +was to pass, sent word to the marshal that such a pardon had been +signed, and, at the same time, requested him, if it came that day into +his hands, not to act upon it till the next. As this Stuart was a +Virginian, out apprehensions were naturally excited of some movement +from that quarter. The pardon arrived about five o'clock that afternoon; +and immediately upon receiving it the marshal told us that he had no +longer any hold upon us,--that we were free men, and at liberty to go +where we chose. As we were preparing to leave the jail, I observed that +a gentleman, a friend of the marshal, whom I had often seen there, and +who had always treated me with great courtesy, hardly returned my +good-day, and looked at me as black as a thunder-cloud. Afterwards, upon +inquiring of the jailer what the reason could be, I learned that this +gentleman, who was a good deal of a politician, was greatly alarmed and +disturbed lest the act of the President in having pardoned us should +result in the defeat of the Whig party--and, though willing enough that +we should be released, he did not like to have it done at the expense of +his party, and his own hopes of obtaining some good office. The Whigs +were defeated, sure enough; but whether because we were pardoned--though +the idea is sufficiently nattering to my vanity--is more than I shall +venture to decide. The black prisoners in the jail, having nothing to +hope or fear from the rise or fall of parties, yielded freely to their +friendly feelings, and greeted our departure with three cheers. We left +the jail as privately as possible, and proceeded in a carriage to the +house of a gentleman of the District, where we were entertained at +supper. Our imprisonment had lasted four years and four months, lacking +seven days. We did not feel safe, however, with that Virginia +requisition hanging over our heads, so long as we remained in the +District, or anywhere on slave-holding ground; and, by the liberality of +our friends, a hack was procured for us, to carry us, that same night, +to Baltimore, there, the next morning, to take the cars for +Philadelphia. The night proved one of the darkest and stormiest which it +had ever been my fate to encounter,--and I have seen some bad weather in +my time. The rain fell in torrents, and the road was only now and then +visible by the flashes of the lightning. But our trusty driver +persevered, and, in spite of all obstacles, brought us to Baltimore by +the early dawn. Sayres proceeded by the direct route to Philadelphia. +Having still some apprehensions of pursuit and a requisition, I took the +route by Harrisburg. Great was the satisfaction which I felt as the cars +crossed the line from Maryland into Pennsylvania. It was like escaping +out of Algiers into a free and Christian country. + +I shall leave it to the reader to imagine the meeting between myself and +my family. They had received notice of my coming, and were all waiting +to receive me. If a man wishes to realize the agony which our American +slave-trade inflicts in the separation of families, let him personally +feel that separation, as I did; let him pass four years in the +Washington jail. + +When committed to the prison, I was by no means well. I had been a good +deal out of health, as appeared from the evidence on the trial, for two +or three years before. Close confinement, or, indeed, confinement of any +sort, does not agree with persons of my temperament; and I came out of +the prison a good deal older, and much more of an invalid, than when I +entered it. + +The reader, perhaps, will inquire what good was gained by all these +sufferings of myself and my family--what satisfaction I can have, as it +did not succeed, in looking back to an enterprise attended with so much +risk, and which involved me in so long and tedious an imprisonment? + +The satisfaction that I have is this: What I did, and what I attempted +to do, was my protest,--a protest which resounded from one end of the +Union to the other, and which, I hope, by the dissemination of this, my +narrative, to renew and repeat it,--it was my protest against the +infamous and atrocious doctrine that there can be any such thing as +property in man! We can only do according to our power, and the +capacity, gifts and talents, that we have. Others, more fortunate than +I, may record their protest against this wicked doctrine more safely and +comfortably for themselves than I did. They may embody it in burning +words and eloquent speeches; they may write it out in books; they may +preach it in sermons. I could not do that. I have as many thoughts as +another, but, for want of education, I lack the power to express them in +speech or writing. I have not been able to put even this short +narrative on paper without obtaining the assistance of a friend. I could +not talk, I could not write; but I could act. The humblest, the most +uneducated man can do that. I did act; and, by my actions, I protested +that I did not believe that there was, or could be, any such thing as a +right of property in human beings. + +Nobody in this country will admit, for a moment, that there can be any +such thing as property in a white man. The institution of slavery could +not last for a day, if the slaves were all white. But I do not see that +because their complexions are different they are any the less men on +that account. The doctrine I hold to, and which I desired to preach in a +practical way, is the doctrine of Jefferson and Madison, that there +cannot be property in man,--no, not even in black men. And the rage +exerted against me on the part of the slave-holders grew entirely out of +my preaching that doctrine. Actions, as everybody knows, speak louder +than words. By virtue of my actions proclaiming my opinion on that +subject, I became at once, powerless as I otherwise was, elevated, in +the minds of the slave-holders, to the same high level with Mr. Giddings +and Mr. Hale, who they could not help believing must have been my secret +confederates. + +If I had believed, as the slave-holders do, that men can be owned; if I +had really attempted, as they falsely and meanly charged me with doing, +to steal; had I actually sought to appropriate men as property to my own +use; had that been all, does anybody imagine that I should ever have +been pursued with such persevering enmity and personal virulence? Do +they get up a debate in Congress, and a riot in the city of Washington, +every time a theft is committed or attempted in the District? It was +purely because I was not a thief; because, in helping men, women and +children, claimed as chattels, to escape, I bore my testimony against +robbing human beings of their liberty; this was the very thing that +excited the slave-holders against me, just as a strong anti-slavery +speech excites them against Mr. Hale, or Mr. Giddings, or Mr. Mann, or +Mr. Stunner. Those gentlemen have words at command; they can speak, and +can do good service by doing so. As for me, it was impossible that I +should ever be able to make myself heard in Congress, or by the nation +at large, except in the way of action. The opportunity occurring, I did +not hesitate to improve it; nor have I ever yet seen occasion to regret +having done so. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton +by Daniel Drayton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONAL MEMOIR OF DANIEL DRAYTON *** + +***** This file should be named 10401-8.txt or 10401-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/0/10401/ + +Produced by Dave Morgan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +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. 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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 + + diff --git a/old/10401-8.zip b/old/10401-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1213fdb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10401-8.zip diff --git a/old/10401.txt b/old/10401.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e898fe5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10401.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3720 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton, by Daniel Drayton + +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: Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton + For Four Years And Four Months A Prisoner (For Charity's Sake) In Washington Jail + +Author: Daniel Drayton + +Release Date: December 8, 2003 [EBook #10401] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONAL MEMOIR OF DANIEL DRAYTON *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Morgan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +[Illustration: _Daniel Drayton_] + + + + +PERSONAL MEMOIR Of DANIEL DRAYTON, + +For Four Years And Four Months + +A PRISONER (FOR CHARITY'S SAKE) IN WASHINGTON JAIL + +Including A Narrative Of The + +VOYAGE AND CAPTURE OF THE SCHOONER PEARL. + + We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men + are created equal; that they are endowed by their + Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among + these are life, _liberty_, and the pursuit of happiness. + +DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. + + +1855. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1853, by + +DANIEL DRAYTON, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +Considering the large share of the public attention which the case of +the schooner Pearl attracted at the time of its occurrence, perhaps the +following narrative of its origin, and of its consequences to himself, +by the principal actor in it, may not be without interest. It is proper +to state that a large share of the profits of the sale are secured to +Captain Drayton, the state of whose health incapacitates him from any +laborious employment. + + + + +MEMOIR. + + +I was born in the year 1802, in Cumberland County, Downs Township, in +the State of New Jersey, on the shores of Nantuxet Creek, not far from +Delaware Bay, into which that creek flows. My father was a farmer,--not +a very profitable occupation in that barren part of the country. My +mother was a widow at the time of her marriage with my father, having +three children by a former husband. By my father she had six more, of +whom I was the youngest but one. She was a woman of strong mind and +marked character, a zealous member of the Methodist church; and, +although I had the misfortune to lose her at an early age, her +instructions--though the effect was not apparent at the moment--made a +deep impression on my youthful mind, and no doubt had a very sensible +influence over my future life. + +Just previous to, or during the war with Great Britain, my father +removed still nearer to the shore of the bay, and the sight of the +vessels passing up and down inspired me with a desire to follow the life +of a waterman; but it was some years before I was able to gratify this +wish. I well remember the alarm created in our neighborhood by the +incursions of the British vessels up the bay during the war, and that, +at these times, the women of the neighborhood used to collect at our +house, as if looking up to my mother for counsel and guidance. + +I was only twelve years old when this good mother died; but, so strong +was the impression which she left upon my memory, that, amid the +struggles and dangers and cares of my subsequent life, I have seldom +closed my eyes to sleep without some thought or image of her. + +As my father soon after married another widow, with four small children, +it became necessary to make room in the house for their accommodation; +and, with a younger brother of mine, I was bound out an apprentice in a +cotton and woollen factory at a place called Cedarville. Manufactures +were just then beginning to be introduced into the country, and great +hopes were entertained of them as a profitable business. My +employer,--or bos, as we called him,--had formerly been a schoolmaster, +and he did not wholly neglect our instructions in other things besides +cotton-spinning. Of this I stood greatly in need; for there were no +public schools in the neighborhood in which I was born, and my parents +had too many children to feed and clothe to be able to pay much for +schooling. We were required on Sundays, by our employer, to learn two +lessons, one in the forenoon, the other in the afternoon; after reciting +which we were left at liberty to roam at our pleasure. Winter evenings +we worked in the factory till nine o'clock, after which, and before +going to bed, we were required to recite over one of our lessons These +advantages of education were not great, but even these I soon lost. +Within five months from the time I was bound to him, my employer died. +The factories were then sold out to three partners. The one who carried +on the cotton-spinning took me; but he soon gave up the business, and +went back to farming, which had been his original occupation. I remained +with him for a year and a half, or thereabouts, when my father bound me +out apprentice to a shoe-maker. + +My new bos was, in some respects, a remarkable man, but not a very good +sort of one for a boy to be bound apprentice to. He paid very little +attention to his business, which he seemed to think unworthy of his +genius. He was a kind-hearted man, fond of company and frolics, in which +he indulged himself freely, and much given to speeches and harangues, in +which he had a good deal of fluency. In religion he professed to be a +Universalist, holding to doctrines and opinions very different from +those which my mother had instilled into me. He ridiculed those +opinions, and argued against them, but without converting me to his way +of thinking; though, as far as practice went, I was ready enough to +imitate his example. My Sundays were spent principally in taverns, +playing at dominos, which then was, and still is, a favorite game in +that part of the country; and, as the unsuccessful party was expected to +treat, I at times ran up a bill at the bar as high as four or six +dollars,--no small indebtedness for a young apprentice with no more +means than I had. + +As I grew older this method of living grew less and less satisfactory +to me; and as I saw that no good of any kind, not even a knowledge of +the trade he had undertaken to teach me, was to be got of my present +bos, I bought my time of him, and went to work with another man to pay +for it. Before I had succeeded in doing that, and while I was not yet +nineteen, I took upon myself the still further responsibility of +marriage. This was a step into which I was led rather by the impulse of +youthful passion than by any thoughtful foresight. Yet it had at least +this advantage, that it obliged me to set diligently to work to provide +for the increasing family which I soon found growing up around me. + +I had never liked the shoe-making business, to which my father had bound +me an apprentice. I had always desired to follow the water. The vessels +which I had seen sailing up and down the Delaware Bay still haunted my +fancy; and I engaged myself as cook on board a sloop, employed in +carrying wood from Maurice river to Philadelphia. Promotion in this line +is sufficiently rapid; for in four months, after commencing as cook, I +rose to be captain. This wood business, in which I remained for two +years, is carried on by vessels of from thirty to sixty tons, known as +_bay-craft_. They are built so as to draw but little water, which is +their chief distinction from the _coasters_, which are fit for the open +sea. They will carry from twenty-five to fifty cords of wood, on which a +profit is expected of a dollar and upwards. They have usually about +three hands, the captain, or skipper, included. The men used to be +hired, when I entered the business, for eight or ten dollars the month, +but they now get nearly or quite twice as much. The captain usually +sails the vessel on shares (unless he is himself owner in whole, or in +part), victualling the vessel and hiring the men, and paying over to the +owner forty dollars out of every hundred. During the winter, from +December to March, the navigation is impeded by ice, and the bay-craft +seldom run. The men commonly spend this long vacation in visiting, +husking-frolics, rabbiting, and too often in taverns, to the exhaustion +of their purses, the impoverishment of their families, and the sacrifice +of their sobriety. Yet the watermen, if many of them are not able always +to resist the temptations held out to them, are in general an honest and +simple-hearted set, though with little education, and sometimes rather +rough in their manners. The extent of my education when I took to the +water--and in this respect I was not, perhaps, much inferior to the +generality of my brother watermen--was to read with no great fluency, +and to sign my name; nor did I ever learn much more than this till my +residence in Washington jail, to be related hereafter. + +Having followed the wood business for two years, I aspired to something +a little higher, and obtained the command of a sloop engaged in the +coasting business, from Philadelphia southward and eastward. At this +time a sloop of sixty tons was considered a very respectable coaster. +The business is now mostly carried on by vessels of a larger class; +some of them, especially the regular lines of packets, being very +handsome and expensive. The terms on which these coasters were sailed +were very similar to those already stated in the case of the bay-craft. +The captain victualled the vessel, and paid the hands, and received for +his share half the net profits, after deducting the extra expenses of +loading and unloading. It was in this coasting business that the best +years of my life were spent, during which time I visited most of the +ports and rivers between Savannah southward, and St. John, in the +British province of New Brunswick, eastward;--those two places forming +the extreme limits of my voyagings. As Philadelphia was the port from +and to which I sailed, I presently found it convenient to remove my +family thither, and there they continued to live till after my release +from the Washington prison. + +I was so successful in my new business, that, besides supporting my +family, I was able to become half owner of the sloop Superior, at an +expense of over a thousand dollars, most of which I paid down. But this +proved a very unfortunate investment. On her second trip after I had +bought into her, returning from Baltimore to Philadelphia by the way of +the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, while off the mouth of the +Susquehannah, she struck, as I suppose, a sunken tree, brought down by a +heavy freshet in that river. The water flowed fast into the cabin. It +was in vain that I attempted to run her ashore. She sunk in five +minutes. The men saved themselves in the boat, which was on deck, and +which floated as she went down. I stood by the rudder till the last, and +stepped off it into the boat, loath enough to leave my vessel, on which +there was no insurance. + +By this unfortunate accident I lost everything except the clothes I had +on, and was obliged to commence anew. I accordingly obtained the command +of the new sloop Sarah Henry, of seventy tons burden, and continued to +sail her for several years, on shares. While in her I made a voyage to +Savannah; and while under sail from that city for Charleston, I was +taken with the yellow fever. I lay for a week quite unconscious of +anything that was going on about me and came as near dying as a man +could do and escape. The religious instructions of my mother had from +time to time recurred to my mind, and had occasioned me some anxiety. I +was now greatly alarmed at the idea of dying in my sins, from which I +seemed to have escaped so narrowly. My mind was possessed with this +fear; and, to relieve myself from it, I determined, if it were a +possible thing, to get religion at any rate. The idea of religion in +which I had been educated was that of a sudden, miraculous change, in +which a man felt himself relieved from the burden of his sins, united to +God, and made a new creature. For this experience I diligently sought, +and tried every way to get it. I set up family prayers in my house, went +to meetings, and conversed with experienced members of the church; but, +for nine months or more, all to no purpose. At length I got into an +awful state, beginning to think that I had been so desperate a sinner +that there was no forgiveness for me. While I was in this miserable +condition, I heard of a camp-meeting about to be held on Cape May, and I +immediately resolved to attend it, and to leave no stone unturned to +accomplish the object which I had so much at heart. I went accordingly, +and yielded myself entirely up to the dictation of those who had the +control of the meeting. I did in everything as I was told; went into the +altar, prayed, and let them pray over me. This went on for several days +without any result. One evening, as I approached the altar, and was +looking into it, I met a captain of my acquaintance, and asked him what +he thought of these proceedings; and, as he seemed to approve them, I +invited him to go into the altar with me. We both went in accordingly, +and knelt down. Pretty soon my friend got up and walked away, saying he +had got religion. I did not find it so easily. I remained at the altar, +praying, till after the meeting broke up, and even till one o'clock,--a +few acquaintances and others remaining with me, and praying round me, +and over me, and for me;--till, at last, thinking that I had done +everything I could, I told them pray no more, as evidently there was no +forgiveness for me. So I withdrew to a distance, and sat down upon an +old tree, lamenting my hard case very seriously. I was sure I had +committed the unpardonable sin. A friend, who sat down beside me, and of +whom I inquired what he supposed the unpardonable sin was, endeavored +comfort me by suggesting that, whatever it might be, it would take more +sense and learning than ever I had to commit it. But I would not enter +into his merriment. All the next day, which was Sunday, I passed in a +most miserable state. I went into the woods alone. I did not think +myself worthy or fit to associate with those who had religion, while I +was anxious to avoid the company of those who made light of it. +Sometimes I would sit down, sometimes I would stand up, sometimes I +would walk about. Frequently I prayed, but found no comfort in it. + +About sun-set I met a friend, who said to me, "Well, our camp-meeting is +about ended." What a misery those few words struck to my heart! "About +ended!" I said to myself; "about ended, and I not converted!" A little +later, as I was passing along the camp-ground, I saw a woman before me +kneeling and praying. An acquaintance of mine, who was approaching her +in an opposite direction, called out to me, "Daniel, help me pray for +this woman!" I had made up my mind to make one more effort, and I knelt +down and commenced praying; but quite as much for myself as for her. +Others gathered about us and joined in, and the interest and excitement +became so great, that, after a vain effort to call us off, the regular +services of the evening were dispensed with, and the ground was left to +us. Things went on in this way till about nine o'clock, when, as +suddenly as if I had been struck a heavy blow, I felt a remarkable +change come over me. All my fears and terrors seemed to be +instantaneously removed, and my whole soul to be filled with joy and +peace. This was the sort of change which I had been taught to look for +as the consequence of getting that religion for which I had been +struggling so hard. I instantly rose up, and told those about me that I +was a converted man; and from that moment I was able to sing and shout +and pray with the best of them. In the midst of my exultation who should +come up but my old master in the shoe-making trade, of whom I have +already given some account. He had heard that I was on the camp-ground +in pursuit of religion, and had come to find me out. "Daniel," he said, +addressing me by my Christian name, "what are you doing here? Don't make +a fool of yourself." To which I answered, that I had got to be just such +a fool as I had long wanted to be; and I took him by the arm, and +endeavored to prevail upon him to kneel down and allow us to pray over +him, assuring him that I knew his convictions to be much better than his +conduct; that he must get religion, and now was the time. But he drew +back, and escaped from me, with promises to do better, which, however, +he did not keep. + +As for myself, considering, and, as I thought, feeling that I was a +converted man, I now enjoyed for some time an extraordinary +satisfaction, a sort of offset to the months of agony and misery which I +had previously endured. But, though regarding myself as now truly +converted, I delayed some time before uniting myself with any particular +church. I did not know which to join. This division into so many +hostile sects seemed to me unaccountable. I thought that all good +Christians should love each other, and be as one family. Yet it seemed +necessary to unite myself with some body of Christians; and, as I had +been educated a Methodist, I concluded to join them. + +I have given the account of my religious experience exactly as it seemed +to me at the time, and as I now remember it. It corresponded with the +common course of religious experiences in the Methodist church, except +that with me the struggle was harder than commonly happens. I did not +doubt at the time that it was truly a supernatural change, as much the +work of the Spirit as the sudden conversions recorded in the Acts of the +Apostles. Others can form their own opinion about it. I will only add +that subsequent experience has led me to the belief that the reality of +a man's religion is more to be judged of by what he does than by how he +feels or what he says. + +The change which had taken place in me, however it is to be regarded, +was not without a decided influence on my whole future life. I no longer +considered myself as living for myself alone. I regarded myself as bound +to do unto others as I would that they should do unto me; and it was in +attempting to act up to this principle that I became involved in the +difficulties to be hereafter related. + +Meanwhile I resumed my voyages in the Sarah Henry, in which I continued +to sail, on shares, for several years, with tolerable success. +Afterwards I followed the same business in the schooner Protection, in +which I suffered another shipwreck. We sailed from Philadelphia to +Washington, in the District of Columbia, laden with coal, proceeding +down the Delaware, and by the open sea; but, when off the entrance of +the Chesapeake, we encountered a heavy gale, which split the sails, +swept the decks, and drove us off our course as far south as Ocracoke +Inlet, on the coast of North Carolina. I took a pilot, intending to go +in to repair damages; but, owing to the strength of the current, which +defeated his calculations, the pilot ran us on the bar. As soon as the +schooner's bow touched the ground, she swung round broadside to the sea, +which immediately began to break over her in a fearful manner. She +filled immediately,--everything on deck was swept away; and, as our only +chance of safety, we took to the main-rigging. This was about seven +o'clock in the evening. Towards morning, by reason of the continual +thumping, the mainmast began to work through the vessel, and to settle +in the sand, so that it became necessary for us to make our way to the +fore-rigging; which we did, not without danger, as one of the men was +twice washed off. + +About a quarter of a mile inside was a small, low island, on which lay +five boats, each manned by five men, who had come down to our +assistance; but the surf was so high that they did not venture to +approach us; so we remained clinging with difficulty to the rigging till +about half-past one, when the schooner went to pieces. The mast to which +we were clinging fell, and we were precipitated into the raging surf, +which swept us onward towards the island already mentioned. The men +there, anticipating what had happened, had prepared for its occurrence; +and the best swimmers, with ropes tied round their waists, the other end +of which was held by those on shore, plunged in to our assistance. One +of our unfortunate company was drowned,--the rest of us came safely to +the shore; but we lost everything except the clothes we stood in. The +fragments saved from the wreck were sold at auction for two hundred +dollars. The people of that neighborhood treated us with great kindness, +and we presently took the packet for Elizabeth city, whence I proceeded +to Norfolk, Baltimore, and so home. + +I had made up my mind to go to sea no more; but, after remaining on +shore for three weeks, and not finding anything else to do, as it was +necessary for me to have the means of supporting my increasing family, I +took the command of another vessel, belonging to the same owners, the +sloop Joseph B. While in this vessel, my voyages were to the eastward. I +was engaged in the flour-trade, in conjunction with the owners of the +vessel. We bought flour and grain on a sixty days' credit, which I +carried to the Kennebec, Portsmouth, Boston, New Bedford, and other +eastern ports, calculating upon the returns of the voyage to take up our +notes. I was so successful in this business as finally to become the +owner of the Joseph B., which vessel I exchanged away at Portsmouth for +the Sophronia, a top-sail schooner of one hundred and sixty tons, worth +about fourteen hundred dollars. In this vessel I made two trips to +Boston,--one with coal, and the other with timber. Having unloaded my +timber, I took in a hundred tons of plaster, purchased on my own +account, intending to dispose of it in the Susquehanna. But on the +passage I encountered a heavy storm, which blew the masts out of the +vessel, and drove her ashore on the south side of Long Island. We saved +our lives; but I lost everything except one hundred and sixty dollars, +for which I sold what was left of the vessel and cargo. + +Having returned to my family, with but little disposition to try my +fortune again in the coasting-trade, one day, being in the horse-market, +I purchased a horse and wagon; and, taking in my wife and some of the +younger children, I went to pay a visit to the neighborhood in which I +was born. Here I traded for half of a bay-craft, of about sixty tons +burden, in which I engaged in the oyster-trade, and other small +bay-traffic. Having met at Baltimore the owner of the other half, I +bought him out also. The whole craft stood me in about seven hundred +dollars. I then purchased three hundred bushels of potatoes, with which +I sailed for Fredericksburg, in Virginia; but this proved a losing trip, +the potatoes not selling for what they cost me. At Fredericksburg I took +in flour on freight for Norfolk; but my ill-luck still pursued me. In +unloading the vessel, the cargo forward being first taken out, she +settled by the stern and sprang a leak, damaging fifteen barrels of +flour, which were thrown upon my hands. I then sailed for the eastern +shore of Virginia, and at a place called Cherrystone traded off my +damaged flour for a cargo of pears, with which I sailed for New York. I +proceeded safely as far as Barnegat, when I encountered a north-east +storm, which drove me back into the Delaware, obliging me to seek refuge +in the same Maurice river from which I had commenced my sea-faring life +in the wood business. But by this time the pears were spoiled, and I was +obliged to throw them overboard. At Cherrystone I had met the owner of a +pilot-boat, who had seemed disposed to trade with me for my vessel; and +I now returned to that place, and completed the trade; after which I +loaded the pilot-boat with oysters and terrapins, and sailed for +Philadelphia. This boat was an excellent sailer, but too sharp, and not +of burden enough for my business; and I soon exchanged her for half a +little sloop, in which I carried a load of water-melons to Baltimore. + +By this time I was pretty well sick of the water; and, having hired out +the sloop, I set up a shop, at Philadelphia, for the purchase and sale +of junk, old iron, &c. &c. But, after continuing in this business for +about two years,--my health being bad, and the doctor having advised me +to try the water again,--I bought half of another sloop, and engaged in +trading up and down Chesapeake Bay. Returning home, towards the close of +the season, with the proceeds of the summer's business, I encountered, +in the upper part of Chesapeake Bay, a terrible snow-storm which proved +fatal to many vessels then in the bay. In attempting to make a harbor, +the vessel struck the ground, and knocked off her rudder; and, in order +to get her off, we were obliged to throw over the deck-load. We drifted +about all day, it still blowing and snowing, and at night let go both +anchors. So we lay for a night and a day; but, having neither boat, +rudder nor provisions, I was finally obliged to slip the anchors and run +ashore. I sold my half of her, as she lay, for ninety dollars, which was +all that remained to me of my investment and my summer's work. + +Not having the means to purchase a boat, my health also continuing quite +infirm, the next summer I hired one, and continued the same trade up and +down the bay which I had followed the previous summer. + +My trading up and down the bay, in the way which I have described, of +course brought me a good deal into contact with the slave population. No +sooner, indeed, does a vessel, known to be from the north, anchor in any +of these waters--and the slaves are pretty adroit in ascertaining from +what state a vessel comes--than she is boarded, if she remains any +length of time, and especially over night, by more or less of them, in +hopes of obtaining a passage in her to a land of freedom. During my +earlier voyagings, several years before, in Chesapeake Bay, I had turned +a deaf ear to all these requests. At that time, according to an idea +still common enough, I had regarded the negroes as only fit to be +slaves, and had not been inclined to pay much attention to the pitiful +tales which they told me of ill-treatment by their masters and +mistresses. But my views upon this subject had undergone a gradual +change. I knew it was asserted in the Declaration of Independence that +all men are born free and equal, and I had read in the Bible that God +had made of one flesh all the nations of the earth. I had found out, by +intercourse with the negroes, that they had the same desires, wishes and +hopes, as myself. I knew very well that I should not like to be a slave +even to the best of masters, and still less to such sort of masters as +the greater part of the slaves seemed to have. The idea of having first +one child and then another taken from me, as fast as they grew large +enough, and handed over to the slave-traders, to be carried I knew not +where, and sold, if they were girls, I knew not for what purposes, would +have been horrible enough; and, from instances which came to my notice, +I perceived that it was not less horrible and distressing to the parties +concerned in the case of black people than of white ones. I had never +read any abolition books, nor heard any abolition lectures. I had +frequented only Methodist meetings, and nothing was heard there about +slavery. But, for the life of me, I could not perceive why the golden +rule of doing to others as you would wish them to do to you did not +apply to this case. Had I been a slave myself,--and it is not a great +while since the Algerines used to make slaves of our sailors, white as +well as black,--I should have thought it very right and proper in +anybody who would have ventured to assist me in escaping out of bondage; +and the more dangerous it might have been to render such assistance, +the more meritorious I should have thought the act to be. Why had not +these black people, so anxious to escape from their masters, as good a +light to their liberty as I had to mine? + +I know it is sometimes said, by those who defend slavery or apologize +for it, that the slaves at the south are very happy and contented, if +left to themselves, and that this idea of running away is only put into +their heads by mischievous white people from the north. This will do +very well for those who know nothing of the matter personally, and who +are anxious to listen to any excuse. But there is not a waterman who +ever sailed in Chesapeake Bay who will not tell you that, so far from +the slaves needing any prompting to run away, the difficulty is, when +they ask you to assist them, to make them take no for an answer. I have +known instances where men have lain in the woods for a year or two, +waiting for an opportunity to escape on board some vessel. On one of my +voyages up the Potomac, an application was made to me on behalf of such +a runaway; and I was so much moved by his story, that, had it been +practicable for me at that time, I should certainly have helped him off. +One or two attempts I did make to assist the flight of some of those who +sought my assistance; but none with success, till the summer of 1847, +which is the period to which I have brought down my narrative. + +I was employed during that summer, as I have mentioned already in +trading up and down the Chesapeake, in a hired boat, a small black boy +being my only assistant. Among other trips, I went to Washington with a +cargo of oysters. While I was lying there, at the same wharf, as it +happened, from which the Pearl afterwards took her departure, a colored +man came on board, and, observing that I seemed to be from the north, he +said he supposed we were pretty much all abolitionists there. I don't +know where he got this piece of information, but I think it likely from +some southern member of Congress. As I did not check him, but rather +encouraged him to go on, he finally told me that he wanted to get +passage to the north for a woman and five children. The husband of the +woman, and father of the children, was a free colored man; and the +woman, under an agreement with her master, had already more than paid +for her liberty; but, when she had asked him for a settlement, he had +only answered by threatening to sell her. He begged me to see the woman, +which I did; and finally I made an arrangement to take them away. Their +bedding, and other things, were sent down on board the vessel in open +day, and at night the woman came on board with her five children and a +niece. We were ten days in reaching Frenchtown, where the husband was in +waiting for them. He took them under his charge, and I saw them no more; +but, since my release from imprisonment in Washington, I have heard that +the whole family are comfortably established in a free country, and +doing well. + +Having accomplished this exploit,--and was it not something of an +exploit to bestow the invaluable gift of liberty upon seven of one's +fellow-creatures--the season being now far advanced, I gave up the boat +to the owner, and returned to my family at Philadelphia. In the course +of the following month of February, I received a note from a person whom +I had never known or heard of before, desiring me to call at a certain +place named in it. I did so, when it appeared that I had been heard of +through the colored family which I had brought off from Washington. A +letter from that city was read to me, relating the case of a family or +two who expected daily and hourly to be sold, and desiring assistance to +get them away. It was proposed to me to undertake this enterprise; but I +declined it at this time, as I had no vessel, and because the season was +too early for navigation through the canal. I saw the same person again +about a fortnight later, and finally arranged to go on to Washington, to +see what could be done. There I agreed to return again so soon as I +could find a vessel fit for the enterprise. I spoke with several persons +of my acquaintance, who had vessels under their control; but they +declined, on account of the danger. They did not appear to have any +other objection, and seemed to wish me success. Passing along the +street, I met Captain Sayres, and knowing that he was sailing a small +bay-craft, called the Pearl, and learning from him that business was +dull with him, I proposed the enterprise to him, offering him one +hundred dollars for the charter of his vessel to Washington and back to +Frenchtown where, according to the arrangement with the friends of the +passengers, they were to be met and carried to Philadelphia. This was +considerably more than the vessel could earn in any ordinary trip of the +like duration, and Sayres closed with the offer. He fully understood the +nature of the enterprise. By our bargain, I was to have, as supercargo, +the control of the vessel so far as related to her freight, and was to +bring away from Washington such passengers as I chose to receive on +board; but the control of the vessel in other respects remained with +him. Captain Sayres engaged in this enterprise merely as a matter of +business. I, too, was to be paid for my time and trouble,--an offer +which the low state of my pecuniary affairs, and the necessity of +supporting my family, did not allow me to decline. But this was not, by +any means, my sole or principal motive. I undertook it out of sympathy +for the enslaved, and from my desire to do something to further the +cause of universal liberty. Such being the different ground upon which +Sayres and myself stood, I did not think it necessary or expedient to +communicate to him the names of the persons with whom the expedition had +originated; and, at my suggestion, those persons abstained from any +direct communication with him, either at Philadelphia or Washington. +Sayres had, as cook and sailor, on board the Pearl, a young man named +Chester English. He was married, and had a child or two, but was himself +as inexperienced as a child, having never been more than thirty miles +from the place where he was born. I remonstrated with Sayres against +taking this young man with us. But English, pleased with the idea of +seeing Washington, desired to go; and Sayres, who had engaged him for +the season, did not like to part with him. He went with us, but was kept +in total ignorance of the real object of the voyage. He had the idea +that we were going to Washington for a load of ship-timber. + +We proceeded down the Delaware, and by the canal into the Chesapeake, +making for the mouth of the Potomac. As we ascended that river we +stopped at a place called Machudock, where I purchased, by way of cargo +and cover to the voyage, twenty cords of wood; and with that freight on +board we proceeded to Washington, where we arrived on the evening of +Thursday, the 13th of April, 1848. + +As it happened, we found that city in a great state of excitement on the +subject of emancipation, liberty and the rights of man. A grand +torch-light procession was on foot, in honor of the new French +revolution, the expulsion of Louis-Philippe, and the establishment of a +republic in France. Bonfires were blazing in the public squares, and a +great out-door meeting was being held in front of the _Union_ newspaper +office, at which very enthusiastic and exciting speeches were delivered, +principally by southern democratic members of Congress, which body was +at that time in session. A full account of these proceedings, with +reports of the speeches, was given in the _Union_ of the next day. +According to this report, Mr. Foote, the senator from Mississippi, +extolled the French revolution as holding out "to the whole family of +man a bright promise of the universal establishment of civil and +religious liberty." He declared, in the same speech, "that the age of +tyrants and of slavery was rapidly drawing to a close, and that the +happy period to be signalized by the _universal emancipation_ of man +from the fetters of civic oppression, and the recognition in all +countries of the great principles of popular sovereignty, equality and +brotherhood, was at this moment visibly commencing." Mr. Stanton, of +Tennessee, and others, spoke in a strain equally fervid and +philanthropic. I am obliged to refer to the _Union_ newspaper for an +account of these speeches, as I did not hear them myself. I came to +Washington, not to preach, nor to hear preached, emancipation, equality +and brotherhood, but to put them into practice. Sayres and English went +up to see the procession and hear the speeches. I had other things to +attend to. + +The news of my arrival soon spread among those who had been expecting +it, though I neither saw nor had any direct communication with any of +those who were to be my passengers. I had some difficulty in disposing +of my wood, which was not a very first-rate article, but finally sold +it, taking in payment the purchaser's note on sixty days, which I +changed off for half cash and half provisions. As the trader to whom I +passed the note had no hard bread, Sayres and myself went in the steamer +to Alexandria to purchase a barrel,--a circumstance of which it was +afterwards attempted to take advantage against us. + +It was arranged that the passengers should come on board after dark on +Saturday evening, and that we should sail about midnight. I had +understood that the expedition, had principally originated in the desire +to help off a certain family, consisting of a woman, nine children and +two grand-children, who were believed to be legally entitled to their +liberty. Their case had been in litigation for some time; but, although +they had a very good case,--the lawyer whom they employed (Mr. Bradley, +one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the district) +testified, in the course of one of my trials, that he believed them to +be legally free,--yet, as their money was nearly exhausted, and as there +seemed to be no end to the law's delay and the pertinacity of the woman +who claimed them, it was deemed best by their friends that they should +get away if they could, lest she might seize them unawares, and sell +them to some trader. In speaking of this case, the person with whom I +communicated at Washington informed me that there were also quite a +number of others who wished to avail themselves of this opportunity of +escaping, and that the number of passengers was likely to be larger than +had at first been calculated upon. To which I replied, that I did not +stand about the number; that all who were on board before eleven o'clock +I should take,--the others would have to remain behind. + +Saturday evening, at supper, I let English a little into the secret of +what I intended. I told him that the sort of ship-timber we were going +to take would prove very easy to load and unload; that a number of +colored people wished to take passage with us down the bay, and that, as +Sayres and myself would be away the greater part of the evening, all he +had to do was, as fast as they came on board, to lift up the hatch and +let them pass into the hold, shutting the hatch down upon them. The +vessel, which we had moved down the river since unloading the wood, lay +at a rather lonely place, called White-house Wharf, from a +whitish-colored building which stood upon it. The high bank of the +river, under which a road passed, afforded a cover to the wharf, and +there were only a few scattered buildings in the vicinity. Towards the +town there stretched a wide extent of open fields. Anxious, as might +naturally be expected, as to the result, I kept in the vicinity to watch +the progress of events. There was another small vessel that lay across +the head of the same wharf, but her crew were all black; and, going on +board her just at dusk, I informed the skipper of my business, +intimating to him, at the same time, that it would be a dangerous thing +for him to betray me. He assured me that I need have no fears of +him--that the other men would soon leave the vessel, not to return again +till Monday, and that, for himself, he should go below and to sleep, so +as neither to hear nor to see anything. + +Shortly after dark the expected passengers began to arrive, coming +stealthily across the fields, and gliding silently on board the vessel. +I observed a man near a neighboring brick-kiln, who seemed to be +watching them. I went towards him, and found him to be black. He told +me that he understood what was going on, but that I need have no +apprehension of him. Two white men, who walked along the road past the +vessel, and who presently returned back the same way, occasioned me some +alarm; but they seemed to have no suspicions of what was on foot, as I +saw no more of them. I went on board the vessel several times in the +course of the evening, and learned from English that the hold was fast +filling up. I had promised him, in consideration of the unusual nature +of the business we were engaged in, ten dollars as a gratuity, in +addition to his wages. + +Something past ten o'clock, I went on board, and directed English to +cast off the fastenings and to get ready to make sail. Pretty soon +Sayres came on board. It was a dead calm, and we were obliged to get the +boat out to get the vessel's head round. After dropping down a half a +mile or so, we encountered the tide making up the river; and, as there +was still no wind, we were obliged to anchor. Here we lay in a dead calm +till about daylight. The wind then began to breeze up lightly from the +northward, when we got up the anchor and made sail. As the sun rose, we +passed Alexandria. I then went into the hold for the first time, and +there found my passengers pretty thickly stowed. I distributed bread +among them, and knocked down the bulkhead between the hold and the +cabin, in order that they might get into the cabin to cook. They +consisted of men and women, in pretty equal proportions, with a number +of boys and girls, and two small children. The wind kept increasing and +hauling to the westward. Off Fort Washington we had to make two +stretches, but the rest of the way we run before the wind. + +Shortly after dinner, we passed the steamer from Baltimore for +Washington, bound up. I thought the passengers on board took particular +notice of us; but the number of vessels met with in a passage up the +Potomac at that season is so few, as to make one, at least for the idle +passengers of a steamboat, an object of some curiosity. Just before +sunset, we passed a schooner loaded with plaster, bound up. As we +approached the mouth of the Potomac, the wind hauled to the north, and +blew with such stiffness as would make it impossible for us to go up the +bay, according to our original plan. Under these circumstances, +apprehending a pursuit from Washington, I urged Sayres to go to sea, +with the intention of reaching the Delaware by the outside passage. But +he objected that the vessel was not fit to go outside (which was true +enough), and that the bargain was to go to Frenchtown. Having reached +Point Lookout, at the mouth of the river, and not being able to persuade +Sayres to go to sea, and the wind being dead in our teeth, and too +strong to allow any attempt to ascend the bay, we came to anchor in +Cornfield harbor, just under Point Lookout, a shelter usually sought by +bay-craft encountering contrary winds when in that neighborhood. + +We were all sleepy with being up all the night before, and, soon after +dropping anchor, we all turned in. I knew nothing more till, waking +suddenly, I heard the noise of a steamer blowing off steam alongside of +us. I knew at once that we were taken. The black men came to the cabin, +and asked if they should fight. I told them no; we had no arms, nor was +there the least possibility of a successful resistance. The loud shouts +and trampling of many feet overhead proved that our assailants were +numerous. One of them lifted the hatch a little, and cried out, +"Niggers, by G--d!" an exclamation to which the others responded with +three cheers, and by banging the buts of their muskets against the deck. +A lantern was called for, to read the name of the vessel; and it being +ascertained to be the Pearl, a number of men came to the cabin-door, and +called for Captain Drayton. I was in no great hurry to stir; but at +length rose from my berth, saying that I considered myself their +prisoner, and that I expected to be treated as such. While I was +dressing, rather too slowly for the impatience of those outside, a +sentinel, who had been stationed at the cabin-door, followed every +motion of mine with his gun, which he kept pointed at me, in great +apprehension, apparently, lest I should suddenly seize some dangerous +weapon and make at him. As I came out of the cabin-door, two of them +seized me, took me on board the steamer and tied me; and they did the +same with Sayres and English, who were brought on board, one after the +other. The black people were left on board the Pearl, which the steamer +took in tow, and then proceeded up the river. + +To explain this sudden change in our situation, it is necessary to go +back to Washington. Great was the consternation in several families of +that city, on Sunday morning, to find no breakfast, and, what was worse, +their servants missing. Nor was this disaster confined to Washington +only. Georgetown came in for a considerable share of it, and even +Alexandria, on the opposite side of the river, had not entirely escaped. +The persons who had taken passage on board the Pearl had been held in +bondage by no less than forty-one different persons. Great was the +wonder at the sudden and simultaneous disappearance of so many "prime +hands," roughly estimated, though probably with considerable +exaggeration, as worth in the market not less than a hundred thousand +dollars,--and all at "one fell swoop" too, as the District Attorney +afterwards, in arguing the case against me, pathetically expressed it! +There were a great many guesses and conjectures as to where these people +had gone, and how they had gone; but it is very doubtful whether the +losers would have got upon the right track, had it not been for the +treachery of a colored hackman, who had been employed to carry down to +the vessel two passengers who had been in hiding for some weeks +previous, and who could not safely walk down, lest they might be met and +recognized. Emulating the example of that large, and, in their own +opinion at least, highly moral, religious and respectable class of white +people, known as "dough-faces," this hackman thought it a fine +opportunity to feather his nest by playing cat's-paw to the +slave-holders. Seeing how much the information was in demand, and +anticipating, no doubt, a large reward, he turned informer, and +described the Pearl as the conveyance which the fugitives had taken; +and, it being ascertained that the Pearl had actually sailed between +Saturday night and Sunday morning, preparations were soon made to pursue +her. A Mr. Dodge, of Georgetown, a wealthy old gentleman, originally +from New England, missed three or four slaves from his family, and a +small steamboat, of which he was the proprietor, was readily obtained. +Thirty-five men, including a son or two of old Dodge, and several of +those whose slaves were missing, volunteered to man her; and they set +out about Sunday noon, armed to the teeth with guns, pistols, +bowie-knives, &c., and well provided with brandy and other liquors. They +heard of us on the passage down, from the Baltimore steamer and the +vessel loaded with plaster. They reached the mouth of the river, and, +not having found the Pearl, were about to return, as the steamer could +not proceed into the bay without forfeiting her insurance. As a last +chance, they looked into Cornfield harbor, where they found us, as I +have related. This was about two o'clock in the morning. The Pearl had +come to anchor about nine o'clock the previous evening. It is a hundred +and forty miles from Washington to Cornfield harbor. + +The steamer, with the Pearl in tow, crossed over from Point Lookout to +Piney Point, on the south shore of the Potomac, and here the Pearl was +left at anchor, a part of the steamer's company remaining to guard her, +while the steamer, having myself and the other white prisoners on board, +proceeded up Coan river for a supply of wood, having obtained which, she +again, about noon of Monday, took the Pearl in tow and started for +Washington. + +The bearing, manner and aspect of the thirty-five armed persons by whom +we had been thus seized and bound, without the slightest shadow of +lawful authority, was sufficient to inspire a good deal of alarm. We had +been lying quietly at anchor in a harbor of Maryland; and, although the +owners of the slaves might have had a legal right to pursue and take +them back, what warrant or authority had they for seizing us and our +vessel? They could have brought none from the District of Columbia, +whose officers had no jurisdiction or authority in Cornfield harbor; nor +did they pretend to have any from the State of Maryland. Some of them +showed a good deal of excitement, and evinced a disposition to proceed +to lynch us at once. A man named Houver, who claimed as his property two +of the boys passengers on board the Pearl, put me some questions in a +very insolent tone; to which I replied, that I considered myself a +prisoner, and did not wish to answer any questions; whereupon one of the +bystanders, flourishing a dirk in my face, exclaimed, "If I was in his +place, I'd put this through you!" At Piney Point, one of the company +proposed to hang me up to the yard-arm, and make me confess; but the +more influential of those on board were not ready for any such +violence, though all were exceedingly anxious to get out of me the +history of the expedition, and who my employers were. That I had +employers, and persons of note too, was taken for granted on all hands; +nor did I think it worth my while to contradict it, though I declined +steadily to give any information on that point. Sayres and English very +readily told all that they knew. English, especially, was in a great +state of alarm, and cried most bitterly. I pitied him much, besides +feeling some compunctions at getting him thus into difficulty; and, upon +the representations which I made, that he came to Washington in perfect +ignorance of the object of the expedition, he was finally untied. As +Sayres was obliged to admit that he came to Washington to take away +colored passengers, he was not regarded with so much favor. But it was +evidently me whom they looked upon as the chief culprit, alone +possessing a knowledge of the history and origin of the expedition, +which they were so anxious to unravel. They accordingly went to work +very artfully to worm this secret out of me. I was placed in charge of +one Orme, a police-officer of Georgetown, whose manner towards me was +such as to inspire me with a certain confidence in him; who, as it +afterwards appeared from his testimony on the trial, carefully took +minutes--but, as it proved, very confused and incorrect ones--of all +that I said, hoping thus to secure something that might turn out to my +disadvantage. Another person, with whom I had a good deal of +conversation, and who was afterwards produced as a witness against me, +was William H. Craig, in my opinion a much more conscientious person +than Orme, who seemed to think that it was part of his duty, as a +police-officer, to testify to something, at all hazards, to help on a +conviction. But this is a subject to which I shall have occasion to +return presently. + +In one particular, at least, the testimony of both these witnesses was +correct enough. They both testified to my expressing pretty serious +apprehensions of what the result to myself was likely to be. What the +particular provisions were, in the District of Columbia, as to helping +slaves to escape, I did not know; but I had heard that, in some of the +slave-states, they were very severe; in fact, I was assured by Craig +that I had committed the highest crime, next to murder, known in their +laws. Under these circumstances, I made up my mind that the least +penalty I should be apt to escape with was confinement in the +penitentiary for life; and it is quite probable that I endeavored to +console myself, as these witnesses testified, with the idea that, after +all, it might, in a religious point of view, be all for the best, as I +should thus be removed from temptation, and have ample time for +reflection and repentance. But my apprehensions were by no means limited +to what I might suffer under the forms of law. From the temper exhibited +by some of my captors, and from the vindictive fury with which the idea +of enabling the enslaved to regain their liberty was, I knew, generally +regarded at the south, I apprehended more sudden and summary +proceedings; and what happened afterwards at Washington proved that +these apprehensions were not wholly unfounded. The idea of being torn in +pieces by a furious mob was exceedingly disagreeable. Many men, who +might not fear death, might yet not choose to meet it in that shape. I +called to mind the apology of the Methodist minister, who, just after a +declaration of his that he was not afraid to die, ran away from a +furious bull that attacked him,--"that, though not fearing death, he did +not like to be torn in pieces by a mad bull." I related this anecdote to +Craig, and, as he testified on the trial, expressed my preference to be +taken on the deck of the steamer and shot at once, rather than to be +given up to a Washington mob to be baited and murdered. I talked pretty +freely with Orme and Craig about myself, the circumstances under which I +had undertaken this enterprise, my motives to it, my family, my past +misfortunes, and the fate that probably awaited me; but they failed to +extract from me, what they seemed chiefly to desire, any information +which would implicate others. Orme told me, as he afterwards testified, +that what the people in the District wanted was the principals; and +that, if I would give information that would lead to them, the owners of +the slaves would let me go, or sign a petition for my pardon. Craig also +made various inquiries tending to the same point. Though I was firmly +resolved not to yield in this particular, yet I was desirous to do all I +could to soften the feeling against me; and it was doubtless this +desire which led me to make the statements sworn to by Orme and Craig, +that I had no connection with the persons called abolitionists,--which +was true enough; that I had formerly refused large offers made me by +slaves to carry them away; and that, in the present instance, I was +employed by others, and was to be paid for my services. + +On arriving off Fort Washington, the steamer anchored for the night, as +the captors preferred to make their triumphant entry into the city by +daylight. Sayres and myself were watched during the night by a regular +guard of two men, armed with muskets, who were relieved from time to +time. Before getting under weigh again,--which they did about seven +o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 18,--Sayres and myself were tied +together arm-and-arm, and the black people also, two-and-two, with the +other arm bound behind their backs. As we passed Alexandria, we were all +ordered on deck, and exhibited to the mob collected on the wharves to +get a sight of us, who signified their satisfaction by three cheers. +When we landed at the steamboat-wharf in Washington, which is a mile and +more from Pennsylvania Avenue, and in a remote part of the city, but few +people had yet assembled. We were marched up in a long procession, +Sayres and myself being placed at the head of it, guarded by a man on +each side; English following next, and then the negroes. As we went +along, the mob began to increase; and, as we passed Gannon's slave-pen, +that slave-trader, armed with a knife, rushed out, and, with horrid +imprecations, made a pass at me, which was very near finding its way +through my body. Instead of being arrested, as he ought to have been, +this slave-dealer was politely informed that I was in the hands of the +law, to which he replied, "D--n the law!--I have three negroes, and I +will give them all for one thrust at this d--d scoundrel!" and he +followed along, waiting his opportunity to repeat the blow. The crowd, +by this time, was greatly increased. We met an immense mob of several +thousand persons coming down Four-and-a-half street, with the avowed +intention of carrying us up before the capitol, and making an exhibition +of us there. The noise and confusion was very great. It seemed as if the +time for the lynching had come. When almost up to Pennsylvania Avenue, a +rush was made upon us,--"Lynch them! lynch them! the d--n villains!" and +other such cries, resounded on all sides. Those who had us in charge +were greatly alarmed; and, seeing no other way to keep us from the hands +of the mob, they procured a hack, and put Sayres and myself into it. The +hack drove to the jail, the mob continuing to follow, repeating their +shouts and threats. Several thousand people surrounded the jail, filling +up the enclosure about it. + +Our captors had become satisfied, from the statements made by Sayres and +myself, and from his own statements and conduct, that the participation +of English in the affair was not of a sort that required any punishment; +and when the mob made the rush upon us, the persons having him in charge +had let him go, with the intention that he should escape. After a while +he had found his way back to the steamboat wharf; but the steamer was +gone. Alone in a strange place, and not knowing what to do, he told his +story to somebody whom he met, who put him in a hack and sent him up to +the jail. It was a pity he lacked the enterprise to take care of himself +when set at liberty, as it cost him four months' imprisonment and his +friends some money. I ought to have mentioned before that, on arriving +within the waters of the District, Sayres and myself had been examined +before a justice of the peace, who was one of the captors; and who had +acted as their leader. He had made out a commitment against us, but none +against English; so that the persons who had him in charge were right +enough in letting him go. + +Sayres and myself were at first put into the same cell, but, towards +night, we were separated. A person named Goddard, connected with the +police, came to examine us. He went to Sayres first. He then came to me, +when I told him that, as I supposed he had got the whole story out of +Sayres, and as it was not best that two stories should be told, I would +say nothing. Goddard then took from me my money. One of the keepers +threw me in two thin blankets, and I was left to sleep as I could. The +accommodations were not of the most luxurious kind. The cell had a stone +floor, which, with the help of a blanket, was to serve also for a bed. +There was neither chair, table, stool, nor any individual piece of +furniture of any kind, except a night-bucket and a water-can. I was +refused my overcoat and valise, and had nothing but my water-can to make +a pillow of. With such a pillow, and the bare stone floor for my bed, +looked upon by all whom I saw with apparent abhorrence and terror,--as +much so, to all appearance, as if I had been a murderer, or taken in +some other desperate crime,--remembering the execrations which the mob +had belched forth against me, and uncertain whether a person would be +found to express the least sympathy for me (which might not, in the +existing state of the public feeling, be safe), it may be imagined that +my slumbers were not very sound. + +Meanwhile the rage of the mob had taken, for the moment, another +direction. I had heard it said, while we were coming up in the +steamboat, that the abolition press must be stopped; and the mob +accordingly, as the night came on, gathered about the office of the +_National Era_, with threats to destroy it. Some little mischief was +done; but the property-holders in the city, well aware how dependent +Washington is upon the liberality of Congress, were unwilling that +anything should occur to place the District in bad odor at the north. +Some of them, also, it is but justice to believe, could not entirely +give in to the slave-holding doctrine and practice of suppressing free +discussion by force; and, by their efforts, seconded by a drenching +storm of rain, that came on between nine and ten o'clock, the mob were +persuaded to disperse for the present. The jail was guarded that night +by a strong body of police, serious apprehensions being entertained, +lest the mob, instigated by the violence of many southern members of +Congress, should break in and lynch us. Great apprehension, also, seemed +to be felt at the jail, lest we might be rescued; and we were subject, +during the night, to frequent examinations, to see that all was safe. +Great was the terror, as well as the rage, which the abolitionists +appeared to inspire. They seemed to be thought capable, if not very +narrowly watched, of taking us off through the roof, or the stone floor, +or out of the iron-barred doors; and, from the half-frightened looks +which the keepers gave me from time to time, I could plainly enough read +their thoughts,--that a fellow who had ventured on such an enterprise as +that of the Pearl was desperate and daring enough to attempt anything. +For a poor prisoner like me, so much in the power of his captors, and +without the slightest means, hopes, or even thoughts of escape, it was +some little satisfaction to observe the awe and terror which he +inspired. + +Of the prison fare I shall have more to say, by and by. It is sufficient +to state here that it was about on a par with the sleeping +accommodations, and hardly of a sort to give a man in my situation the +necessary physical vigor. However, I thought little of this at that +moment, as I was too sick and excited to feel much disposition to eat. + +The Washington prison is a large three-story stone building, the front +part of the lower story of which is occupied by the guard-room, or +jail-office, and by the kitchen and sleeping apartments for the keepers. +The back part, shut off from the front by strong grated doors, has a +winding stone stair-case, ascending in the middle, on each side of +which, on each of the three stories, are passage-ways, also shut off +from the stair-case, by grated iron doors. The back wall of the jail +forms one side of these passages, which are lighted by grated windows. +On the other side are the cells, also with grated iron doors, and +receiving their light and air entirely from the passages. The passages +themselves have no ventilation except through the doors and windows, +which answer that purpose very imperfectly. The front second story, over +the guard-room, contains the cells for the female prisoners. The front +third story is the debtors' apartment. + +The usage of the jail always has been--except in cases of +insubordination or attempted escape, when locking up in the cells by +day, as well as by night, has been resorted to as a punishment--to allow +the prisoners, during the day-time, the use of the passages, for the +benefit of light, air and exercise. Indeed, it is hard to conceive a +more cruel punishment than to keep a man locked up all the time in one +of these half-lighted, unventilated cells. On the morning of the second +day of our confinement, we too were let out into the passage. But we +were soon put back again, and not only into separate cells, but into +separate passages, so as to be entirely cut off from any communication +with each other. It was a long time before we were able to regain the +privilege of the passage. But, for the present, I shall pass over the +internal economy and administration of the prison, and my treatment in +it, intending, further on, to give a general sketch of that subject. + +About nine or ten o'clock, Mr. Giddings, the member of Congress from +Ohio, came to see us. There was some disposition, I understood, not to +allow him to enter the jail; but Mr. Giddings is a man not easily +repulsed, and there is nobody of whom the good people at Washington, +especially the office-holders, who make up so large a part of the +population, stand so much in awe as a member of Congress; especially a +member of Mr. Giddings' well-known fearless determination. He was +allowed to come in, bringing another person with him, but was followed +into the jail by a crowd of ruffians, who compelled the turnkey to admit +them into the passage, and who vented their rage in execration and +threats. Mr. Giddings said that he had understood we were here in jail +without counsel or friends, and that he had come to let us know that we +should not want for either; and he introduced the person he had brought +with him as one who was willing to act temporarily as our counsel. Not +long after, Mr. David A. Hall, a lawyer of the District, came to offer +his services to us in the same way. Key, the United States Attorney for +the District, and who, as such, had charge of the proceedings against +us, was there at the same time. He advised Mr. Hall to leave the jail +and go home immediately, as the people outside were furious, and he ran +the risk of his life. To which Mr. Hall replied that things had come to +a pretty pass, if a man's counsel was not to have the privilege of +talking with him. "Poor devils!" said the District Attorney, as he went +out, "I pity them,--they are to be made scape-goats for others!" Yet the +rancor, and virulence, and fierce pertinacity with which this Key +afterwards pursued me, did not look much like pity. No doubt he was a +good deal irritated at his ill success in getting any information out of +me. + +The seventy-six passengers found on board the Pearl had been committed +to the jail as runaways, and Mr. Giddings, on going up to the House, by +way of warning, I suppose, to the slave-holders, that they were not to +be allowed to have everything their own way, moved an inquiry into the +circumstances under which seventy-six persons were held prisoners in the +District jail, merely for attempting to vindicate their inalienable +rights. Mr. Hale also, in the Senate, in consequence of the threats held +out to destroy the _Era_ office, and to put a stop to the publication of +that paper, moved a resolution of inquiry into the necessity of +additional laws for the protection of property in the District. The fury +which these movements excited in the minds of the slave-holders found +expression in the editorial columns of the Washington _Union_, in an +article which I have inserted below, as forming a curious contrast to +the exultations of that print, only a week before, and to which I have +had occasion already to refer, over the spread of the principles of +liberty and universal emancipation. The violent attack upon Mr. +Giddings, because he had visited us three poor prisoners in jail, and +offered us the assistance of counsel,--as if the vilest criminals were +not entitled to have counsel to defend them,--is well worthy of notice. +The following is the article referred to. + + THE ABOLITION INCENDIARIES. + + + Those two abolition incendiaries (Giddings and Hale) + threw firebrands yesterday into the two houses of + Congress. The western abolitionist moved a resolution of + inquiry into the transactions now passing in Washington, + which brought on a fierce and fiery debate on the part + of the southern members, in the course of which Mr. + Giddings _was compelled to confess_, on the + cross-questioning of Messrs. Venable and Haskell, _that + he had visited the three piratical kidnappers now + confined in jail, and offered them counsel_. The reply + of Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, was scorching to an intense + degree. + + The abolitionist John P. Hale threw a firebrand + resolution into the Senate, calling for additional laws + to compel this city to prevent riots. This also gave + rise to a long and excited debate. + + No question was taken, in either house, before they + adjourned. But, in the progress of the discussion in + both houses, some doctrines were uttered which are + calculated to startle the friends of the Union. Giddings + justified the kidnappers, and contended that, though the + act was legally forbidden, it was not morally wrong! Mr. + Toombs brought home the practical consequences of this + doctrine to the member from Ohio in a most impressive + manner. + + Hale, of the Senate, whilst he was willing to protect + the abolitionist, expressed himself willing to relax the + laws and weaken the protection which is given to the + slave property in this district! Mr. Davis, of + Massachusetts, held the strange doctrine, that while he + would not disturb the rights of the slave-holders, he + would not cease to discuss those rights! As if Congress + ought to discuss, or to protect a right to discuss, a + domestic institution of the Southern States, with which + they had no right to interfere! Why discuss, when they + cannot act? Why first lay down an abstract principle, + which they intend to violate in practice? + + Such fanatics as Giddings and Hale are doing more + mischief than they will be able to atone for. Their + incessant and impertinent intermeddling with the most + delicate question in our social relations is creating + the most indignant feelings in the community. The fiery + discussions they are exciting are calculated to provoke + the very riots which they deprecate. Let these madmen + forbear, if they value the tranquillity of our country, + and the stability of our Union. We conjure them to + forbear their maddened, parricidal hand. + +An article like this in the _Union_ was well calculated, and probably +was intended, to encourage and stimulate the rioters, and accordingly +they assembled that same evening in greater force than before +threatening the destruction of the _Era_ office. The publication office +of the _Era_ was not far from the Patent Office; and the dwelling-house +of Dr. Bailey, the editor, was at no great distance. The mob, taking +upon themselves the character of a meeting of citizens, appointed a +committee to wait upon Dr. Bailey, to require him to remove his press +out of the District of Columbia. Of course, as I was locked up in the +jail, trying to rest my aching head and weary limbs, with a stone floor +for a bed and a water-can for my pillow, I can have no personal +knowledge of what transpired on this occasion. But a correspondent of +the New York _Tribune_, who probably was an eye-witness, gives the +following account of the interview between the committee and Dr. Bailey: + + Clearing his throat, the leader of the committee + stretched forth his hand, and thus addressed Dr. Bailey: + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--Sir, we have been appointed as a + committee to wait upon you, by the meeting of the + citizens of Washington which has assembled this evening + to take into consideration the circumstances connected + with the late outrage upon _our_ property, and to convey + to you the result of the deliberations of that meeting. + You are aware of the excitement which now prevails. It + has assumed a most threatening aspect. This community is + satisfied that the existence of your press among us is + endangering the public peace, and they are convinced + that the public interests demand its removal. We have + therefore waited upon you for the purpose of inquiring + whether you are prepared to remove your press by ten + o'clock to-morrow morning; and we beseech you, as you + value the peace of this District, to accede to our + request. [Loud shouting heard at the Patent Office.] + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen: I do not believe you are + actuated by any unkind feelings towards me personally; + but you must be aware that you are demanding of me the + surrender of a great constitutional right,--a right + which I have used, but not abused,--in the preservation + of which you are as deeply interested as I am. How can + you ask me to abandon it, and thus become a party to my + own degradation? + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We subscribe to all that you say. But + you see the popular excitement. The consequences of your + refusal are inevitable. Now, if you can avert these + consequences by submitting to what the people request, + although unreasonable, is it not your duty, as a good + citizen, to submit? It is on account of the community we + come here, obeying the popular feeling which you hear + expressed in the distance, and which cannot be calmed, + and, but for the course we have adopted, would at this + moment be manifested in the destruction of your office. + But they have consented to wait till they hear our + report. We trust, then, that, as a good citizen, you + will respond favorably to the wish of the people. + + _Another of the Committee_.--As one of the oldest + citizens, I do assure you that it is in all kindness we + make this request. We come here to tell you that we + cannot arrest violence in any other way than by your + allowing us to say that you yield to the request of the + people. In kindness we tell you that if this thing + commences here we know not where it may end. I am for + mild measures myself. The prisoners were in my hands, + but I would not allow my men to inflict any punishment + on them. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Gentlemen, I appreciate your kindness; + but I ask, is there a man among you who, standing as I + now stand, the representative of a free press, would + accede to this demand, and abandon his rights as an + American citizen? + + _One of the Committee_.--We know it is a great sacrifice + that we ask of you; but we ask it to appease popular + excitement. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me say to you that I am a peace-man. + I have taken no measures to defend my office, my house + or myself. I appeal to the good sense and intelligence + of the community, and stand upon my rights as an + American citizen, looking to the law alone for + protection. + + _Mr. Radcliff_.--We have now discharged our duty. It has + come to this,--the people say it must be done, unless + you agree to go to-morrow. We now ask a categorical + answer,--Will you remove your press? + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I answer: I make no resistance, and I + cannot assent to your demand. The press is there--it is + undefended--you can do as you think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--All rests with you. We tell you + what will follow your refusal, and, if you persist, all + the responsibility must fall upon your shoulders. It is + in your power to arrest the arm that is raised to give + the blow. If you refuse to do so by a single expression, + though it might cost you much, on you be all the + consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--You demand the sacrifice of a great + right. You-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--I know it is + a hardship; but look at the consequences of your + refusal. We do not come here to express our individual + opinions. I would myself leave the District to-morrow, + if in your place. We now ask of you, Shall this be done? + We beg you will consider this matter in the light in + which we view it. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I am one man against many. But I cannot + sacrifice any right that I possess. Those who have sent + you here may do as they think proper. + + _One of the Committee_.--The whole community is against + you. They say here is an evil that threatens them, and + they ask you to remove that evil. You say "No!" and of + course on your head be all the consequences. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--Let me remind you that we have been + recently engaged in public rejoicings. For what have we + rejoiced? Because the people in another land have + arisen and triumphed over the despot, who had + done--what? He did not demolish presses, but he + imprisoned editors. In other words, he enslaved the + press. Will you then present to America and the world-- + + _One of the Committee (interrupting him_).--If we could + stop this movement, of the people, we would do it. But + you make us unable to do so. We cannot tell how far it + will go. After your press is pulled down, we do not know + where they will go next. It is your duty, in such a + case, to sacrifice your constitutional rights. + + _Dr. Bailey_.--I presume, when they shall have + accomplished their object-- + + _Mr. Radcliff (interrupting)._--We advise you to be out + of the way! The people think that your press endangers + their property and their lives; and they have appointed + us to tell you so, and ask you to remove it to-morrow. + If you say that you will do so, they will retire + satisfied. If you refuse, they say they will tear it + down. Here is Mr. Boyle, a gentleman of property, and + one of our oldest residents. You see that we are united. + If you hold out and occupy your position, the men, women + and children of the District will universally rise up + against you. + + _Dr. Bailey (addressing himself to his father, a + venerable man of more than eighty years of age, who + approached the doorway and commenced remonstrating with + the committee)_.--You do not understand the matter, + father; these gentlemen are a committee appointed by a + meeting assembled in front of the Patent Office. You + need not address remonstrances to them. Gentlemen, you + appreciate my position. I cannot surrender my rights. + Were I to die for it, I cannot surrender my rights! Tell + those who sent you hither that my press and my house are + undefended--they must do as they see proper. I maintain + my rights, and make no resistance! + + The committee then retired, and Dr. Bailey reentered his + dwelling. Meanwhile, the shouts of the mob, as they + received the reports of the committee, were reechoed + along the streets. A fierce yell greeted the + reaeppearance of Radcliff in front of the Patent Office. + He announced the result of the interview with the editor + of the _Era_. Shouts, imprecations, blasphemy, burst + from the crowd. "Down with the _Era_!" "Now for it!" + "Gut the office!" were the exclamations heard on all + sides, and the mob rushed tumultuously to + Seventh-street. + +But a body of the city police had been stationed to guard the building, +and the mob finally contented themselves with passing a resolution to +pull it down the next day at ten o'clock, if the press was not meanwhile +removed. + +That same afternoon, we three prisoners had been taken before three +justices, who held a court within the jail for our examination. Mr. Hall +appeared as our counsel. The examination was continued till the next +day, when we were, all three of us, recommitted to jail, on a charge of +stealing slaves, our bail being fixed at a thousand dollars for each +slave, or seventy-six thousand dollars for each of us. + +Meanwhile, both houses of Congress became the scenes of very warm +debates, growing out of circumstances connected with our case. In the +Senate, Mr. Hale, agreeably to the notice he had given, asked leave to +introduce a bill for the protection of property in the District of +Columbia against the violence of mobs. This bill, as was stated in the +debate, was copied, almost word for word, from a law in force in the +State of Maryland (and many other states have--and all ought to have--a +similar law), making the cities and towns liable for any property which +might be destroyed in them by mob violence. In the House the subject +came up on a question of privilege, raised by Mr. Palfrey, of +Massachusetts, who offered a resolution for the appointment of a select +committee to inquire into the currently-reported facts that a lawless +mob had assembled during the two previous nights, setting at defiance +the constituted authorities of the United States, and menacing members +of Congress and other persons. In both those bodies the debate was very +warm, as any one interested in it will find, by reading it in the +columns of the _Congressional Globe_. + +It was upon this occasion, during the debate in the Senate, that Mr. +Foote, then a senator from Mississippi, and now governor of that state, +whose speech on the French revolution has been already quoted, +threatened to join in lynching Mr. Hale, if he ever set foot in +Mississippi, whither he invited him to come for that purpose. This part +of the debate was so peculiar and so characteristic, showing so well the +spirit with which the District of Columbia was then blazing against me, +that I cannot help giving the following extract from Mr. Foote's speech, +as contained in the official report: + + "All must see that the course of the senator from New + Hampshire is calculated to embroil the confederacy--to + put in peril our free institutions--to jeopardize that + Union which our forefathers established, and which every + pure patriot throughout the country desires shall be + perpetuated. Can any man be a patriot who pursues such a + course? Is he an enlightened friend of freedom, or even + a judicious friend of those with whom he affects to + sympathize, who adopts such a course? Who does not know + that such men are, practically, the worst enemies of the + slaves? I do not beseech the gentleman to stop; but, if + he perseveres, he will awaken indignation everywhere, + and it cannot be that enlightened men, who + conscientiously belong to the faction at the north of + which he is understood to be the head, can sanction or + approve everything that he may do, under the influence + of excitement, in this body. I will close by saying + that, if he really wishes glory, and to be regarded as + the great liberator of the blacks,--if he wishes to be + particularly distinguished in this cause of + emancipation, as it is called,--let him, instead of + remaining here in the Senate of the United States, or + instead of secreting himself in some dark corner of New + Hampshire, where he may possibly escape the just + indignation of good men throughout this republic,--let + him visit the good State of Mississippi, in which I have + the honor to reside, and no doubt he will be received + with such shouts of joy as have rarely marked the + reception of any individual in this day and generation. + I invite him there, and will tell him, beforehand, in + all honesty, that he could not go ten miles into the + interior before he would grace one of the tallest trees + in the forest, with a rope around his neck, with the + approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen; and + that, if necessary, I should myself assist in the + operation!" + +Mr. Hale's reply was equally characteristic: + + "The honorable Senator invites me to visit the State of + Mississippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one + of those who would act the assassin, and put an end to + my career. He would aid in bringing me to public + execution,--no, death by a mob! Well, in return for his + hospitable invitation, I can only express the desire + that he would penetrate into some of the dark corners of + New Hampshire; and, if he do, I am much mistaken if he + would not find that the people in that benighted region + would be very happy to listen to his arguments, and + engage in an intellectual conflict with him, in which + the truth might be elicited. I think, however, that the + announcement which the honorable Senator has made on + this floor of the fate which awaits so humble an + individual as myself in the State of Mississippi must + convince every one of the propriety of the high eulogium + which he pronounced upon her, the other day, when he + spoke of the high position which she occupied among the + states of this confederacy.--But enough of this personal + matter."[A] + + [Footnote A: The following paragraph, which has + recently been going the rounds of the newspapers, + will serve to show the sort of manners which + prevail in the state so fitly represented by Mr. + Foote, and how these southern ruffians experience + in their own families the natural effect of the + blood-thirsty sentiments which they so freely avow: + + + "THE DEATH OF MR. CARNEAL.--The Vicksburg + _Sentinel_, of the 13th ult., gives the following + account of the shooting of Mr. Thomas Carneal, + son-in-law of Governor Foote: + + "We have abstained thus long from giving any notice + of the sad affair which resulted in the death of + Mr. Thomas Carneal, the son-in-law of the governor + of our state, that we might get the particulars. It + seems that the steamer E.C. Watkins, with Mr. + Carneal as a passenger, landed at or near the + plantation of Judge James, in Washington county. + Mr. Carneal had heard that the judge was an + extremely brutal man to his slaves, and was + likewise excited with liquor; and, upon the judge + inviting him and others to take a drink with him, + Carneal replied that he would not drink with a man + who abused his negroes; this the judge resented as + an insult, and high words ensued. + + "The company took their drink, however, all but Mr. + Carneal, who went out upon the bow of the boat, and + took a seat, where he was sought by Judge James, + who desired satisfaction for the insult. Carneal + refused to make any, and asked the old gentleman if + any of his sons would resent the insult if he was + to slap him in the mouth; to which the judge + replied that he would do it himself, if his sons + would not; whereupon Mr. Carneal struck him in the + month with the back of his hand. The judge resented + it by striking him across the head with a cane, + which stunned Mr. Carneal very much, causing the + blood to run freely from the wound. As soon as + Carneal recovered from the wound, he drew a + bowie-knife, and attacked the judge with it, + inflicting several wounds upon his person, some of + which were thought to be mortal. + + "Some gentlemen, in endeavoring to separate the + combatants, were wounded by Carneal. When Judge + James arrived at his house, bleeding, and in a + dying state, as was thought, his son seized a + double-barrelled gun, loaded it heavily with large + shot, galloped to where the boat was, hitched his + horse, and deliberately raised his gun to shoot + Carneal, who was sitting upon a cotton-bale. Mr. + James was warned not to fire, as Carneal was + unarmed, and he might kill some innocent person. He + took his gun from his shoulder, raised it again, + and fired both barrels in succession, killing + Carneal instantly. + + "It is a sad affair, and Carneal leaves, besides + numerous friends, a most interesting and + accomplished widow, to bewail his tragical end."] + +Such was the savage character of the debate, that even Mr. Calhoun, who +was not generally discourteous, finding himself rather hard pressed by +some of Mr. Hale's arguments, excused himself from an answer, on the +ground that Mr. Hale was a maniac! The slave-holders set upon Mr. Hale +with all their force; but, though they succeeded in voting down his +bill, it was generally agreed, and anybody may see by the report, that +he had altogether the best of the argument. Mr. Palfrey's resolution was +also lost; but the boldness with which Giddings and others avowed their +opinions, and the freedom of speech which they used on the subject of +slavery, afforded abundant proof that the gagging system which had +prevailed so long in Congress had come at last to an end. + +These movements, though the propositions of Messrs. Hale and Palfrey +were voted down, were not without their effect. The Common Council of +Washington appointed an acting mayor, in place of the regular mayor, who +was sick. President Polk sent an intimation to the clerks of the +departments, some of whom had been active in the mobs, that they had +better mind their own business and stay at home. Something was said +about marines from the Navy-Yard; and from that time the riotous spirit +began to subside. + +Meanwhile, the unfortunate people who had attempted to escape in the +Pearl had to pay the penalty of their love of freedom. A large number of +them, as they were taken out of jail by the persons who claimed to be +their owners, were handed over to the slave-traders. The following +account of the departure of a portion of these victims for the southern +market was given in a letter which appeared at the time in several +northern newspapers: + + "_Washington, April_ 22, 1848. + + "Last evening, as I was passing the railroad depot, I + saw a large number of colored people gathered round one + of the cars, and, from manifestations of grief among + some of them, I was induced to draw near and ascertain + the cause of it. I found in the car towards which they + were so eagerly gazing about fifty colored people, some + of whom were nearly as white as myself. A majority of + them were of the number who attempted to gain their + liberty last week. About half of them were females, a + few of whom had but a slight tinge of African blood in + their veins, and were finely formed and beautiful. The + men were ironed together, and the whole group looked sad + and dejected. At each end of the car stood two + ruffianly-looking personages, with large canes in their + hands, and, if their countenances were an index of their + hearts, they were the very impersonation of hardened + villany itself. + + "In the middle of the car stood the notorious + slave-dealer of Baltimore, Slatter, who, I learn, is a + member of the Methodist church, 'in good and regular + standing.' He had purchased the men and women around + him, and was taking his departure for Georgia. While + observing this old, gray-headed villain,--this dealer in + the bodies and souls of men,--the chaplain of the Senate + entered the car,--a Methodist brother,--and took his + brother Slatter by the hand, chatted with him for some + time, and seemed to view the heart-rending scene before + him with as little concern as we should look upon + cattle. I know not whether he came with a view to + sanctify the act, and pronounce a parting blessing; but + this I do know, that he justifies slavery, and denounces + anti-slavery efforts as bitterly as do the most hardened + slave-dealers. + + "A Presbyterian minister, who owned one of the + fugitives, was the first to strike a bargain with + Slatter, and make merchandise of God's image; and many + of these poor victims, thus manacled and destined for + the southern market, are regular members of the African + Methodist church of this city. I did not hear whether + they were permitted to get letters of dismission from + the church, and of 'recommendation to any church where + God, in his providence, might cast their lot.' Probably + a certificate from Slatter to the effect that they are + Christians will answer every purpose. No doubt he will + demand a good price for slaves of this character. + Perhaps brother Slicer furnished him with testimonials + of their religious character, to help their sale in + Georgia. I understand that he was accustomed to preach + to them here, and especially to urge upon them obedience + to their masters. + + "Some of the colored people outside, as well as in the + car, were weeping most bitterly. I learned that many + families were separated. Wives were there to take leave + of their husbands, and husbands of their wives, children + of their parents, brothers and sisters shaking hands + perhaps for the last time, friends parting with friends, + and the tenderest ties of humanity sundered at the + single bid of the inhuman slave-broker before them. A + husband, in the meridian of life, begged to see the + partner of his bosom. He protested that she was + free--that she had free papers, and was torn from him, + and shut up in the jail. He clambered up to one of the + windows of the car to see his wife, and, as she was + reaching forward her hand to him, the black-hearted + villain, Slatter, ordered him down. He did not obey. The + husband and wife, with tears streaming down their + cheeks, besought him to let them converse for a moment. + But no! a monster more hideous, hardened and savage, + than the blackest spirit of the pit, knocked him down + from the car, and ordered him away. The bystanders could + hardly restrain themselves from laying violent hands + upon the brutes. This is but a faint description of that + scene, which took place within a few rods of the + capitol, under _enactments_ recognized by Congress. O! + what a revolting scene to a feeling heart, and what a + retribution awaits the actors! Will not these wailings + of anguish reach the ears of the Most High? 'Vengeance + is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.'" + +Of those sent off at this time, several, through the generosity of +charitable persons at the north, were subsequently redeemed, among whom +were the Edmundson girls, of whom an account is given in the "Key to +Uncle Tom's Cabin." + +From one of the women, who was not sold, but retained at Washington, I +received a mark of kindness and remembrance for which I felt very +grateful. She obtained admission to the jail, the Sunday after our +committal, to see some of her late fellow-passengers still confined +there; and, as she passed the passage in which I was confined, she +called to me and handed a Bible through the gratings. I am happy to be +able to add that she has since, upon a second trial, succeeded in +effecting her escape, and that she is now a free woman. + +The great excitement which our attempt at emancipation had produced at +Washington, and the rage and fury exhibited against us, had the effect +to draw attention to our case, and to secure us sympathy and assistance +on the part of persons wholly unknown to us. A public meeting was held +in Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on the 25th of April, at which a committee +was appointed, consisting of Samuel May, Samuel G. Howe, Samuel E. +Sewell, Richard Hildreth, Robert Morris, Jr., Francis Jackson, Elizur +Wright, Joseph Southwick, Walter Channing, J.W. Browne, Henry I. +Bowditch, William F. Channing, Joshua P. Blanchard and Charles List, +authorized to employ counsel and to collect money for the purpose of +securing to us a fair trial, of which, without some interference from +abroad, the existing state of public feeling in the District of Columbia +seemed to afford little prospect. A correspondence was opened by this +committee with the Hon. Horace Mann, then a representative in Congress +from the State of Massachusetts, with ex-Governor Seward, of New York, +with Salmon P. Chase, Esq., of Ohio, and with Gen. Fessenden, of Maine, +all of whom volunteered their gratuitous services, should they be +needed. A moderate subscription was promptly obtained, the larger part +of it, as I am informed, through the liberality of Gerrit Smith, now a +representative in Congress from New York, whose large pecuniary +contributions to all philanthropic objects, as well as his zealous +efforts in the same direction both with the tongue and the pen, have +made him so conspicuous. He has, indeed, a unique way of spending his +large fortune, without precedent, at least in this country, and not +likely to find many imitators. + +The committee, being thus put in funds, deputed Mr. Hildreth, one of the +members of it, to proceed to Washington to make the necessary +arrangements. He arrived there toward the end of the month of May, by +which time the public excitement against us, or at least the exterior +signs of it, had a good deal subsided. But we were still treated with +much rigor, being kept locked up in our cells, denied the use of the +passage, and not allowed to see anybody, except when once in a while +Mr. Giddings or Mr. Hall found an access to us; but even then we were +not allowed to hold any conversation, except in the presence of the +jailer. + +It may well be imagined that the news of my capture and imprisonment, +and of the danger in which I seemed to be, had thrown my family into +great distress. I also had suffered exceedingly on their account, +several of the children being yet too young to shift for themselves. But +I was presently relieved, by the information which I received before +long, that during my imprisonment my family would be provided for. + +Warm remonstrances had been made to the judge of the criminal court by +Mr. Hall against the attempt to exclude us from communication with our +friends,--a liberty freely granted to all other prisoners. The judge +declined to interfere; but Mr. Mann, having agreed to act as our +counsel, was thenceforth freely admitted to interviews with us, without +the presence of any keeper. Books and newspapers were furnished me by +friends out of doors. I presently obtained a mattress, and the liberty +of providing myself with better food than the jail allows. I continued +to suffer a good deal of annoyance from the capricious insolence and +tyranny of the marshal, Robert Wallace; but I intend to go more at +length into the details of my prison experience after having first +disposed of the legal proceedings against us. + +The feeling against me was no doubt greatly increased by the failure of +the efforts repeatedly made to induce me to give up the names of those +who had cooeperated with me, and to turn states-evidence against them. +There was a certain Mr. Taylor, from Boston, I believe, then in +Washington, the inventor of a submarine armor for diving purposes. I had +formerly been well acquainted with him, and, at a time when no friend of +mine was allowed access to me, he made me repeated visits at the jail, +at the request, as he said, of the District Attorney, to induce me to +make a full disclosure, in which case it was intimated I should be let +off very easy. + +As Mr. Taylor did not prevail with me, one of the jailers afterwards +assured me that he was authorized to promise me a thousand dollars in +case I would become a witness against those concerned with me. As I +turned a deaf ear to all these propositions, the resolution seemed to be +taken to make me and Sayres, and even English, suffer in a way to be a +warning to all similar offenders. + +The laws under which we were to be tried were those of the State of +Maryland as they stood previous to the year 1800. These laws had been +temporarily continued in force over that part of the District ceded by +Maryland (the whole of the present District) at the time that the +jurisdiction of the United Spates commenced; and questions of more +general interest, and the embarrassment growing out of the existence of +slavery, having defeated all attempts at a revised code, these same old +laws of Maryland still remain in force, though modified, in some +respects, by acts of Congress. In an act of Maryland, passed in the +year 1796, and in force in the District, there was a section which +seemed to have been intended for precisely such cases as ours. It +provided "That any person or persons who shall hereafter be convicted of +giving a pass to any slave, or person held to service, or shall be found +to assist, by advice, donation or loan, or otherwise, the transporting +of any slave or any person held to service, from this state, or by any +other unlawful means depriving a master or owner of the service of his +slave or person held to service, for every such offence the party +aggrieved shall recover damages in an action on the case, against such +offender or offenders, and such offender or offenders shall also be +liable, upon indictment, and conviction upon verdict, confession or +otherwise, in this state, in any county court where such offence shall +happen, to be fined a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, at the +discretion of the court, one-half to the use of the master or owner of +such slave, the other half to the county school, if there be any; if +there be no such school, to the use of the county." + +Accordingly, the grand jury, under the instructions of the District +Attorney, found seventy-four indictments against each of us prisoners, +based on this act, one for each of the slaves found on board the vessel, +two excepted, who were runaways from Virginia, and the names of their +masters not known. As it would have been possible to have fined us +about, fifteen thousand dollars apiece upon these indictments, besides +costs, and as, by the laws of the District, there is no method of +discharging prisoners from jail who are unable to pay a fine, except by +an executive pardon, one would have thought that this might have +satisfied. But the idea that we should escape with a fine, though we +might be kept in prison for life from inability to pay it, was very +unsatisfactory. It was desired to make us out guilty of a penitentiary +offence at the least; and for that purpose recourse was had to an old, +forgotten act of Maryland, passed in the year 1737, the fourth section +of which provided "That any person or persons who, after the said tenth +day of September [1737], shall steal any ship, sloop, or other vessel +whatsoever, out of any place within the body of any county within this +province, of seventeen feet or upwards by the keel, and shall carry the +same ten miles or upwards from the place whence it shall be stolen, _or +who shall steal any negro or other slave_, or who shall counsel, hire, +aid, abet, or command any person or persons to commit the said offences, +or who shall be accessories to the said offences, and shall be thereof +legally convicted as aforesaid, or outlawed, or who shall obstinately or +of malice stand mute, or peremptorily challenge above twenty, shall +suffer death as a felon, or felons, and be excluded the benefit of the +clergy." + +They would have been delighted, no doubt, to hang us under this act; but +that they could not do, as Congress, by an act passed in 1831, having +changed the punishment of death, inflicted by the old Maryland statutes +(except in certain cases specially provided for), into confinement in +the penitentiary for not less than twenty years. + +To make sure of us at all events, not less than forty-one separate +indictments (that being the number of the pretended owners) were found +against each of us for stealing slaves. + +Our counsel afterwards made some complaint of this great number of +indictments, when two against each of us, including all the separate +charges in different counts, would have answered as well. It was even +suggested that the fact that a fee of ten dollars was chargeable upon +each indictment toward the five-thousand-dollar salary of the District +Attorney might have something to do with this large number. But the +District Attorney denied very strenuously being influenced by any such +motive, maintaining, in the face of authorities produced against him, +that this great number was necessary. He thought it safest, I suppose, +instead of a single jury on each charge against each of us, to have the +chance of a much greater number, and the advantage, besides, of repeated +opportunities of correcting such blunders, mistakes and neglects, as the +prisoner's counsel might point out. + +On the 6th of July, I was arraigned in the criminal court, Judge +Crawford presiding, on one of the larceny indictments, to which I +pleaded not guilty; whereupon my counsel, Messrs. Hall and Mann, moved +the court for a continuance till the next term, alleging the prevailing +public excitement, and the want of time to prepare the defence and to +procure additional counsel. But the judge could only be persuaded, and +that with difficulty, to delay the trial for eighteen days. + +When this unexpected information was communicated to the committee at +Boston, a correspondence was opened by telegraph with Messrs. Seward, +Chase and Fessenden. But Governor Seward had a legal engagement at +Baltimore on the very day appointed for the commencement of the trial, +and the other two gentlemen had indispensable engagements in the courts +of Ohio and Maine. Under these circumstances, as Mr. Hall was not +willing to take the responsibility of acting as counsel in the case, and +as it seemed necessary to have some one familiar with the local +practice, the Boston committee retained the services of J.M. Carlisle, +Esq., of the Washington bar, and Mr. Hildreth again proceeded to +Washington to give his assistance. Just as the trial was about to +commence, Mr. Carlisle being taken sick, the judge was, with great +difficulty, prevailed upon to grant a further delay of three days. This +delay was very warmly opposed, not only by the District Attorney, but by +the same Mr. Radcliff whom we have seen figuring as chairman of the +mob-committee to wait on Dr. Bailey, and who had been retained, at an +expense of two hundred dollars, by the friends of English, as counsel +for him, they thinking it safest not to have his defence mixed up in any +way with that of myself and Sayres. Before the three days were out, +Governor Seward, having finished his business in Baltimore, hastened to +Washington; but, as the rules of the court did not allow more than two +counsel to speak on one side, the other counsel being also fully +prepared, it was judged best to proceed as had been arranged. + +The trials accordingly commenced on Thursday, the 27th of July, upon an +indictment against me for stealing two slaves, the property of one +Andrew Houver. + +The District Attorney, in opening his case, which he did in a very +dogmatic, overbearing and violent manner, declared that this was no +common affair. The rights of property were violated by every larceny, +but this case was peculiar and enormous. Other kinds of property were +protected by their want of intelligence; but the intelligence of this +kind of property greatly diminished the security of its possession. The +jury therefore were to give such a construction to the laws and the +facts as to subject violators of it to the most serious consequences. + +The facts which seemed to be relied upon by the District Attorney as +establishing the alleged larceny were--that I had come to Washington, +and staid from Monday to Saturday, without any ostensible business, when +I had sailed away with seventy-six slaves on board, concealed under the +hatches, and the hatches battened down; and that when pursued and +overtaken the slaves were found on board with provisions enough for a +month. + +It is true that Houver swore that the hatches were battened down when +the Pearl was overtaken by the steamer; but in this he was contradicted +by every other government witness. This Houver was, according to some +of the other witnesses, in a considerable state of excitement, and at +the time of the capture he addressed some violent language to me, as +already related. He had sold his two boys, after their recapture, to the +slave-traders; but had been obliged to buy them back again, at a loss of +one hundred dollars, by the remonstrances of his wife, who did not like +to part with them, as they had been raised in the family. Perhaps this +circumstance made him the more inveterate against me. + +As to the schooner being provisioned for a month, the bill of the +provisions on board, purchased in Washington, was produced on the trial, +and they were found to amount to three bushels of meal, two hundred and +six pounds of pork, and fifteen gallons of molasses, which, with a +barrel of bread, purchased in Alexandria, would make rather a short +month's supply for seventy-nine persons! + +It was also proved, by the government witnesses, that the Pearl was a +mere bay-craft, not fit to go to sea; which did not agree very well with +the idea held out by the District Attorney, that I intended to run these +negroes off to the West Indies, and to sell them there. But, to make up +for these deficiencies, Williams, who acted as the leader of the steamer +expedition, swore that I had said, while on board, that if I had got off +with the negroes I should have made an independent fortune; but on the +next trial he could not say whether it was I who told him so, or whether +somebody else told him that I had said so. Orme and Craig, with whom I +principally conversed, and who went into long details, recollected +nothing of the sort; and it is very certain that, as there was no +foundation for it, and no motive for such a statement on my part, I +never made it. Williams, perhaps, had heard somebody guess that, if I +had got off, I had slaves enough to make me independent; and that guess +of somebody else he perhaps remembered, or seemed to remember, as +something said by me, or reported to have been said by me; and such +often, in cases producing great public excitement, is the sort of +evidence upon which men's lives or liberty is sworn away. The idea, +however, of an intention to run the negroes off for sale, seemed +principally to rest on the testimony of a certain Captain Baker, who had +navigated the steamer by which we were captured at the mouth of the +Potomac, and who saw, as he was crossing over to Coan river for wood, a +long, black, suspicious-looking brig, with her sails loose, lying at +anchor under Point Lookout, about three miles from our vessel. This was +proved, by other witnesses, to be a very common place of anchorage; in +fact, that it was common for vessels waiting for the wind, or otherwise, +to anchor anywhere along the shores of the bay. But Captain Baker +thought otherwise; and he and the District Attorney wished the jury to +infer that this brig seen by him under Point Lookout was a piratical +craft, lying ready to receive the negroes on board, and to carry them +off to Cuba! + +Besides Houver, Williams, Orme, Craig and Baker, another witness was +called to testify as to the sale of the wood, and my having been in +Washington the previous summer. Many questions as to evidence arose, and +the examination of these witnesses consumed about two days and a half. + +In opening the defence, Mr. Mann commenced with some remarks on the +peculiarity of his position, growing out of the unexpected urgency with +which the case had been pushed to a trial, and the public excitement +which had been produced by it. He also alluded to the hardship of +finding against me such a multiplicity of indictments,--for what +individual, however innocent, could stand up against such an accumulated +series of prosecutions, backed by all the force of the nation? Some +observations on the costs thus unnecessarily accumulated, and, in +particular, on the District Attorney's ten-dollar fees, produced a great +excitement, and loud denials on the part of that officer. + +Mr. Mann then proceeded to remark that, in all criminal trials which he +had ever before attended or heard of, the prosecuting officer had stated +and produced to the jury, in his opening, the law alleged to be +violated. As the District Attorney had done nothing of that sort, he +must endeavor to do it for him. Mr. Mann then proceeded to call the +attention of the jury to the two laws already quoted, upon which the two +sets of indictments were founded. Of both these acts charged against +me--the stealing of Houver's slaves, and the helping them to escape +from their master--I could not be guilty. The real question in this +case was, Which had I done? + +To make the act stealing, there must have been--so Mr. Mann +maintained--a taking _lucri causa_, as the lawyers say; that is, a +design on my part to appropriate these slaves to my own use, as my own +property. If the object was merely to help them to escape to a free +state, then the case plainly came under the other statute. + +In going on to show how likely it was that the persons on board the +Pearl might have desired and sought to escape, independently of any +solicitations or suggestions on my part, Mr. Mann alluded to the meeting +in honor of the French revolution, already mentioned, held the very +night of the arrival of the Pearl at Washington. As he was proceeding to +read certain extracts from the speech of Senator Foote on that occasion, +already quoted, and well calculated, as he suggested, to put ideas of +freedom and emancipation into the heads of the slaves, he was suddenly +interrupted by the judge, when the following curious dialogue occurred: + + "_Judge Crawford_.--A certain latitude is to be allowed + to counsel in this case; but I cannot permit any + harangue against slavery to be delivered here. + + "_Carlisle (rising suddenly and stepping forward_).--I + am sure your honor must be laboring under some strange + misapprehension. Born and bred and expecting to live and + die in a slave-holding community, and entertaining no + ideas different from those, which commonly prevail here, + I have watched the course of my associate's argument + with the closest attention. The point he is making, I + am sure, is most pertinent to the case,--a point it + would be cowardice in the prisoner's counsel not to + make; and I must beg your honor to deliberate well + before you undertake to stop the mouths of counsel, and + to take care that you have full constitutional warrant + for doing so. + + "_Judge Crawford_.--I can't permit an harangue against + slavery." + +Mr. Mann proceeded to explain the point at which he was aiming. He had +read these extracts from Mr. Foote's speech, delivered to a +miscellaneous collection of blacks and whites, bond and free, assembled +before the _Union_ office, as showing to what exciting influences the +slaves of the District were exposed, independently of any particular +pains taken by anybody to make them discontented; and, with the same +object in view, he proposed to read some further extracts from other +speeches delivered on the same occasion. + + "_District Attorney_.--If this matter is put in as + evidence, it must first be proved that such speeches + were delivered. + + "_Mann_.--If the authenticity of the speeches is denied, + I will call the Honorable Mr. Foote to prove it. + + "_District Attorney_.--What newspaper is that from which + the counsel reads? + + "_Mann_ (_holding it up_).--The Washington _Union_, of + April 19th." + +And, without further objection, he proceeded to read some further +extracts. + +He concluded by urging upon the jury that this case was to be viewed +merely as an attempt of certain slaves to escape from their masters, and +on my part an attempt to assist them in so doing; and therefore a case +under the statute of 1796, punishable with fine; and not a larceny, as +charged against me in this indictment. + +Several witnesses were called who had known me in Philadelphia, to +testify as to my good character. The District Attorney was very anxious +to get out of these witnesses whether they had never heard me spoken of +as a man likely to run away with slaves? And it did come out from one of +them that, from the tenor of my conversation, it used sometimes to be +talked over, that one day or other it "would heave up" that I had helped +off some negro to a free state. But these conversations, the witness +added, were generally in a jesting tone; and another witness stated that +the charge of running off slaves was a common joke among the watermen. + +According to the practice in the Maryland criminal courts,--and the same +practice prevails in the District of Columbia,--the judge does not +address the jury at all. After the evidence is all in, the counsel, +before arguing the case, may call upon the judge to give to the jury +instructions as to the law. These instructions, which are offered in +writing, and argued by the counsel, the judge can give or refuse, as he +sees fit, or can alter them to suit himself; but any such refusal or +alteration furnishes ground for a bill of exceptions, on which the case, +if a verdict is given against the prisoner, may be carried by writ of +error before the Circuit Court of the District, for their revisal. + +My counsel asked of the judge no less than fourteen instructions on +different points of law, ten of which the judge refused to give, and +modified to suit himself. Several of these related to the true +definition of theft, or what it was that makes a taking larceny. + +It was contended by my counsel, and they asked the judge to instruct the +jury, that, to convict me of larceny, it must be proved that the taking +the slaves on board the Pearl was with the intent to convert them to my +own use, and to derive a gain from such conversion; and that, if they +believed that the slaves were received on board with the design to help +them to escape to a free state, then the offence was not larceny, but a +violation of the statute of 1796. + +This instruction, variously put, was six times over asked of the judge, +and as often refused. He was no less anxious than the District Attorney +to convict me of larceny, and send me to the penitentiary. But, having a +vast deal more sense than the District Attorney, he saw that the idea +that I had carried off these negroes to sell them again for my own +profit was not tenable. It was plain enough that my intention was to +help them to escape. The judge therefore, who did not lack ingenuity, +went to work to twist the law so as, if possible, to bring my case +within it. Even he did not venture to say that merely to assist slaves +to escape was stealing. Stealing, he admitted, must be a taking, _lucri +causa_, for the sake of gain; but--so he told the jury in one of his +instructions--"this desire of gain need not be to convert the article +taken to his--the taker's--own use, nor to obtain for the thief the +value in money of the thing stolen. If the act was prompted by a desire +to obtain for himself, or another even, other than the owner, a money +gain, or any other inducing advantage, a dishonest gain, then the act +was a larceny." And, in another instruction, he told the jury, "that if +they believed, from the evidence, that the prisoner, before receiving +the slaves on board, imbued their minds with discontent, persuaded them +to go with him, and, by corrupt influences and inducements, caused them +to come to his ship, and then took and carried them down the river, then +the act was a larceny." + +Upon these instructions of the judge, to which bills of exceptions were +filed by my counsel, the case, which had been already near a week on +trial, was argued to the jury. The District Attorney had the opening and +the close, and both my counsel had the privilege of speaking. For the +following sketch of the argument, as well as of the legal points already +noted, I am indebted to the notes of Mr. Hildreth, taken at the time: + + "_District Attorney_.--I shall endeavor to be very brief + in the opening, reserving myself till I know the grounds + of defence. It is the duty of the jury to give their + verdict according to the law and evidence; and, so far + as I knew public opinion, there neither exists now, nor + has existed at any other time, the slightest desire on + the part of a single individual that the prisoner should + have otherwise than a fair trial. I think, therefore, + the solemn warnings by the prisoner's counsel to the + jury were wholly uncalled for. There was, no doubt, an + excitement out of doors,--a natural excitement,--at such + an amount of property snatched up at one fell swoop; but + was that to justify the suggestion to a jury of twelve + honest men that they were not to act the part of a mob? + The learned counsel who opened the case for the prisoner + has alluded to the disadvantage of his position from the + fact that he was a stranger. I acknowledge that + disadvantage, and I have attempted to remedy it, and so + has the court, by extending towards him every possible + courtesy. + + "The prisoner's counsel seems to think I press this + matter too hard. But am I to sit coolly by and see the + hard-earned property of the inhabitants of this District + carried off, and when the felon is brought into court + not do my best to secure his conviction? [The District + Attorney here went into a long and labored defence of + the course he had taken in preferring against the + prisoner forty-one indictments for larceny, and + seventy-four others, on the same state of facts, for + transportation. He denied that the forty-one larcenies + of the property of different individuals could be + included in one indictment, and declared that if the + prisoner's counsel would show the slightest authority + for it he would give up the case. After going on in this + strain for an hour or more, attacking the opposite + counsel and defending himself, in what Carlisle + pronounced 'the most extraordinary opening argument he + had ever heard in his life,' the District Attorney came + down at last to the facts of the case."] + + "In what position is the prisoner placed by the + evidence? How is he introduced to the jury by his + Philadelphia friends? These witnesses were examined as + to his character, and the substance of their testimony + is, that he is a man who would steal a negro if he got a + chance. He passed for honest otherwise. But he says + himself he would steal a negro to liberate him, and the + court says it makes no difference whether he steals to + liberate or steals to sell. Being caught in the act, he + acknowledges his guilt, and says he was a deserter from + his God,--a backslider,--a church-member one year--the + next, in the Potomac with a schooner, stealing + seventy-four negroes! Why say he took them for gain, if + he did not steal them? Why say he knew he should end his + days in a penitentiary? Why say if he got off with the + negroes he should have realized an independent fortune? + Did he not know they were slaves? He chartered the + vessel to carry off negroes; and, if they were free + negroes, or he supposed them to be, how was he to + realize an independent fortune? He was afraid of the + excitement at Washington. Why so, if the negroes were + not slaves? There was the fact of their being under the + hatches, concealed in the hold of the vessel,--did not + that prove he meant to steal them? Add to that the other + fact of his leaving at night. He comes here with a + miserable load of wood; gives it away; sells it for a + note; did not care about the wood, wanted only to get it + out; had a longing for a cargo of negroes. The wood was + a blind; besides he lied about it;--would he have ever + come back to collect his note? But the prisoner's + counsel says the slaves might have heard Mr. Foote's + torch-light oration, and so have been persuaded to go. A + likely story! They all started off, I suppose, ran + straight down to the vessel and got into the hold! + Seventy-four negroes all together! But was not the + vessel chartered in Philadelphia to carry off negroes? + This shows the excessive weakness of the defence. And + how did the slaves behave after they were captured? If + they had been running away, would they not have been + downcast and disheartened? Would not they have said, Now + we are taken? On the other hand, according to the + testimony of Major Williams, on their way back they were + laughing, shouting and eating molasses in large + quantities. Nero fiddled when Rome was burning, but did + not eat molasses. What a transition, from liberty to + molasses! + + "Then it is proved that the bulkhead between the cabin + and the hold was knocked down, and that the slaves went + to Drayton and asked if they should fight. Did not that + show his authority over them,--that the slaves were + under his control, and that he was the master-spirit? It + speaks volumes. [Here followed a long eulogy on the + gallantry and humanity of the thirty-five captors. One + man did threaten a little, but he was drunk.] + + "The substance of the law, as laid down by the judge, is + this: If Drayton came here to carry off these people, + and, by machinations, prevailed on them to go with him, + and knew they were slaves, it makes no difference + whether he took them to liberate, or took them to sell. + If he was to be paid for carrying them away, that was + gain enough. Suppose a man were to take it into his head + that the northern factories were very bad things for the + health of the factory-girls, and were to go with a + schooner for the purpose of liberating those poor devils + by stealing the spindles, would not he be served as this + prisoner is served here? Would they not exhaust the + law-books to find the severest punishment? There may be + those carried so far by a miserable mistaken + philanthropy as even to steal slaves for the sake of + setting them at liberty. But this prisoner says he did + it for gain. We might look upon him with some respect + if, in a manly style, he insisted on his right to + liberate them. But he avowedly steals for gain. He lies + about it, besides. Even a jury of abolitionists would + have no sympathy for such a man. Try him anyhow, by the + word of God--by the rules of common honesty--he would be + convicted, anyhow. He is presented to the world at large + as a rogue and a common thief and liar. There can be no + other conception of him. He did it for dishonest gain. + + "The prisoner must be convicted. He cannot escape. There + can be no manner of doubt as to his guilt. I am at a + loss, without appearing absurd in my own eyes, to + conceive what kind of a defence can be made. + + "I have not the least sort of feeling against the wretch + himself,--I desire a conviction from principle. I have + heard doctrines asserted on this trial that strike + directly at the rights and liberty of southern citizens. + I have heard counsel seeking to establish principles + that strike directly at the security of southern + property. I feel no desire that this man, as a man, + should be convicted; but I do desire that all persons + inclined to infringe on our rights of property should + know that there is a law hero to punish them, and I am + happy that the law has been so clearly laid down by the + court. Let it be known from Maine to Texas, to earth's + widest limits, that we have officers and juries to + execute that law, no matter by whom it may be violated! + + "_Mann_--for the prisoner--regretted to occupy any more + of the jury's time with this very protracted trial. I + mentioned, some days since, that the prisoner was + liable, under the indictments against him, to eight + hundred years imprisonment,--a term hardly to be served + out by Methuselah himself; but, apart from any + punishment, if his hundred and twenty-five trials are + to proceed at this rate, the chance is he will die + without ever reaching their termination. The District + Attorney has dwelt at great length on what passed the + other day, and more than once he has pointedly referred + to me, in a tone and manner not to be mistaken. I have + endeavored to conduct this trial according to the + principles of law, and to that standard I mean to come + up. My client, though a prisoner at this bar, has + rights, legal, social, human; and upon those rights I + mean to insist. This is the first time in my life that I + ever heard a prisoner on trial, and before conviction, + denounced as a liar, a thief, a felon, a wretch, a + rogue. It is unjust to apply these terms to any man on + trial. The law presumes him to be innocent. The feelings + of the prisoner ought not to be thus outraged. He is + unfortunate; he may be guilty; that is the very point + you are to try. + + "This prisoner is charged with stealing two slaves, the + property of Andrew Houver. Did he, or not? That point + you are to try by the law and the evidence. Because you + may esteem this a peculiarly valuable kind of property, + you are not to measure out in this case a peculiar kind + of justice. You have heard the evidence; the law for the + purposes of this trial you are to take from the judge. + But you are not to be led away with the idea that you + must convict this prisoner at any rate. It is a + well-established principle that it is better for an + indefinite number of guilty men to escape than for one + innocent man to be convicted and punished; and for the + best of reasons,--for to have the very machinery + established for the protection of right turned into an + instrument for the infliction of wrong, strikes a more + fatal blow at civil society than any number of + unpunished private injuries. + + "Nor is there any danger that the prisoner will escape + due punishment for any crimes he may have committed. + Besides this and forty other larceny indictments hanging + over his head, there are seventy-four transportation + indictments against him. Now, he cannot be guilty of + both; and which of these offences, if either, does the + evidence against him prove? + + "Who is this man? Look at him! You see he has passed the + meridian of life. You have heard about him from his + neighbors. They pronounce him a fair, upright, moral + man. No suspicion hitherto was ever breathed against his + honesty. He was a professor of religion, and, so far as + we know, had walked in all the ordinances and commands + of the law blameless. Now, in all cases of doubt, a fair + and exemplary character, especially in an elderly man, + is a great capital to begin with. This prisoner may have + been mistaken in his views as to matters of human right; + but, as to violating what he believed to be duty, there + is not the slightest evidence that such was his + character, but abundance to the contrary. He is found + under circumstances that make him amenable to the law; + let him be tried,--I do not gainsay that; but let him + have the common sentiments of humanity extended toward + him, even if he be guilty. + + "The point urged against him with such earnestness--I + may say vehemence--is, not that he took the slaves + merely, but that he took them with design to steal. His + confessions are dwelt upon, stated and overstated, as + you will recollect. But consider under what + circumstances these alleged confessions were made. There + are circumstances which make such statements very + fallacious. Consider his excitement--his state of + health; for it is in evidence that he had been out of + health, suffering with some disorder which required his + head to be shaved. Consider the armed men that + surrounded him, and the imminent peril in which he + believed his life to be. It is great injustice to brand + him with the foul epithet of liar for any little + discrepancies, if such there were, in statements made + under such circumstances. Other matters have been forced + in, of a most extraordinary character, to prejudice his + case in your eyes. It has been suggested--the idea has + been thrown out, again and again--that, under pretence + of helping them to freedom, he meant to sell these + negroes. This suggestion, which outruns all reason and + discretion, is founded on the simple fact of a brig seen + lying at anchor in a place of common anchorage, + suggesting no suspicious appearance, but as to which you + are asked to infer that these seventy-six slaves were to + be transported into her, and carried to Cuba or + elsewhere for sale. What a monstrous imagination! What a + gross libel on that brig, her officers, her crew, her + owners, all of whom are thus charged as kidnappers and + pirates; and all this baseless dream got up for the + purpose of influencing your minds against the prisoner! + It marks, indeed, with many other things, the style in + which this prosecution is conducted. + + "Take the law as laid down by the court, and it is + necessary for the government to prove, if this + indictment is to be sustained, that the prisoner + corrupted the minds of Houver's slaves, and induced and + persuaded them to go on board his vessel. They were + found on board the prisoner's vessel, no doubt; but as + to how they came there we have not a particle of + evidence. Here is a gap, a fatal gap, in the + government's case. By what second-sight are you to look + into this void space and time, and to say that Drayton + enticed them to go on board? [The counsel here read from + 1 _Starkie on Evidence,_ 510, &c., to the effect that + the prosecution are bound by the evidence to exclude + every hypothesis inconsistent with the prisoner's + guilt.] Now, is it the only possible means of accounting + for the presence of Houver's slaves on board to suppose + that this prisoner enticed them? Might not somebody else + have done it? Might they not have gone without being + enticed at all? We wished to call the slaves themselves + as witnesses, but the law shuts up their mouths. Can + you, without any evidence, say that Drayton enticed + them, and that by no other means could they come + onboard? Presumptive evidence, as laid down in the + book--an acknowledged and unquestioned authority--from + which I have read, ought to be equally strong with the + evidence of one unimpeached witness swearing positively + to the fact. Are you as sure that Drayton enticed those + slaves as if that fact had been positively sworn to by + one witness, testifying that he stood by and saw and + heard it? If you are not, then, under the law as laid + down by the court, you can not find him guilty. + + "_Thursday, Aug_. 13. + + "_Carlisle_, for the prisoner.--The sun under which we + draw our breath, the soil we tottle over, in childhood, + the air we breathe, the objects that earliest attract + our attention, the whole system of things with which our + youth is surrounded, impress firmly upon us ideas and + sentiments which cling to us to our latest breath, and + modify all our views. I trust I am man enough always to + remember this, when I hear opinions expressed and views + maintained by men educated under a system different from + that prevailing here, no matter how contrary those views + and opinions may be to my own. + + "It may surprise those of you who know me,--the moral + atmosphere in which I have grown up, and the opinions + which I entertain,--but never have I felt so deep and + hearty an interest in the defence of any case as in + this. This prisoner I never saw till I came from a sick + bed into this court, when I met him for the first time. + I had participated strongly in the feeling which in + connection with him had been excited in this community. + As you well know, I have and could have no sympathy with + the motives by which he may be presumed to have been + actuated. Why, then, this sudden feeling in his behalf? + Not, I assure you, from mercenary motives. His acquittal + or his condemnation will make no difference in the + compensation I receive for my services. The overpowering + interest I feel in this case originates in the fact that + it places at stake the reputation of this District, and, + in some respects, of the country itself, of which this + city is the political capital. The counsel for the + government has dwelt with emphasis on the great amount + and value of property placed at hazard by this prisoner. + There is something, however, far more valuable than + property--a fair, honorable, impartial administration of + justice; and of the chivalrous race of the south it may + be expected that they will do justice, though the + heavens fall! God forbid that the world should point to + this trial as a proof that we are so besotted by passion + and interest that we cannot discern the most obvious + distinctions and that on a slave question with a jury of + slave-holders there is no possible chance of justice! + Many, I assure you, will be ready to fasten this charge + upon us. It is my hope, my ardent desire, it is your + sworn duty, that no step be taken against this prisoner + without full warrant of law and evidence. The duty of + defence I discharge with pleasure. I could have desired + that this prisoner might have been defended entirely by + counsel resident in this District. It would have been my + pride to have shown to the world that of our own mere + motion we would do justice in any case, no matter how + delicate, no matter how sore the point the prisoner had + touched. + + "My learned friend, the District Attorney, has alluded + to the courtesy which he and the court have extended to + my associate in this cause. I hope he does not plume + himself upon that. A gentleman of my associate's + learning, ability, unexceptionable deportment, and high + character among his own people, must and will be treated + with courtesy wherever he goes. But, at the same time + that he boasts of his courtesy, the District Attorney + takes occasion to charge my associate with gross + ignorance of the law. He says the forty-one charges + could not have been included in one indictment, and + offers to give up the case if we will produce a single + authority to that effect. It were easy to produce the + authority [see 1 _Chitty_, C.L. Indictment], but, + unfortunately, the District Attorney has made a promise + which he can't fulfil. The District Attorney is mistaken + in this matter; at the same time, let me admit that in + the management of this case he has displayed an ability + beyond his years. This is the first prosecution ever + brought, so far as we can discover, on this + slave-stealing statute, either in this District or in + Maryland. This statute, of the existence of which few + lawyers were aware,--I am sure I was not,--has been + waked up, after a slumber of more than a century, and + brought to bear upon my client. It is your duty to go + into the examination of this novel case temperately and + carefully; to take care that no man and no court, upon + review of the case, shall be able to say that your + verdict is not warranted by the evidence. If the case is + made out against the prisoner, convict him; but if not, + as you value the reputation of the District and your own + souls, beware how you give a verdict against him! + + "You are not a lynch-law court. It is no part of your + business to inquire whether the prisoner has done + wrong, and if so to punish him for it. It is your sole + business to inquire if he be guilty of this, special + charge set forth against him in this indictment, of + stealing Andrew Houver's two slaves. The law you are not + expected to judge of; to enlighten you on that matter, + we have prayed instructions from the court, and those + instructions, for the purpose of this trial, are to be + taken as the law. The question for you is, Does the + evidence in this case bring the prisoner within the law + as laid down by the court? To bring him within that law, + you are not to go upon imagination, but upon facts + proved by witnesses; and, it seems to me, you have a + very plain duty before you. This is not a thing done in + a corner. Take care that you render such a verdict that + you will not be ashamed to have it set forth in letters + of light, visible to all the world. + + "There are two offences established by the statutes of + Maryland, between which, in this case, it becomes your + duty to distinguish. Everything depends on these + statutes, because without these statutes neither act is + a crime. At common law, there are no such offences as + stealing slaves, or transporting slaves. Now, which of + these two acts is proved against this prisoner? In some + respects they are alike. The carrying the slaves away, + the depriving the master of their services, is common to + both. But, to constitute the stealing of slaves, + according to the law as laid down by the court, there + must be something more yet. There must be a corruption + of the minds of the slaves, and a seducing them to leave + their masters' service. And does not this open a plain + path for this prisoner out of the danger of this + prosecution? Where is the least evidence that the + prisoner seduced these slaves, and induced them to leave + their masters? Has the District Attorney, with all his + zeal, pointed out a single particle of evidence of that + sort? Has he done anything to take this case out of the + transportation statute, and to convert it into a case of + stealing? He has, to be sure, indulged in some very + harsh epithets applied to this prisoner,--epithets very + similar to those which Lord Coke indulged in on the + trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, and which drew out on the + part of that prisoner a memorable retort. My client is + not a Raleigh; but neither, I must be permitted to say, + is the District Attorney a Lord Coke. I should be sorry + to have it go abroad that we cannot try a man for an + offence of this sort without calling him a liar, a + rogue, a wretch. [The District Attorney here + interrupted, with a good deal of warmth. He insisted + that he did not address the prisoner, but the jury, and + that it was his right to call the attention of the jury + to the evidence proving the prisoner to be a liar, rogue + and wretch.] + + _Carlisle_--I do not dispute the learned gentleman's + right. It is a matter of taste; but with you, gentlemen + of the jury, these harsh epithets are not to make the + difference of a hair. You are to look at the evidence; + and where is the evidence that the prisoner seduced and + enticed these slaves? + + "It may happen to any man to have a runaway slave in his + premises, and even in his employment. It happened to me + to have in my employ a runaway,--one of the best + servants, by the way, I ever had. He told me he was + free, and I employed him as such. If I had happened to + have taken him to Baltimore, there would have been a + complete similitude to the case at bar, and, according + to the District Attorney's logic, I might have been + indicted for stealing. Because I had him with me, I am + to be presumed to have enticed him from his master! As + to the particular circumstances under which he came into + my employment, I might have been wholly unable to show + them. Is it not possible to suppose a great number of + circumstances under which these slaves of Houver left + their master's service and came on board the Pearl, + without any agency on the part of this prisoner? Now, + the government might positively disprove and exclude + forty such suppositions; but, so long as one remained + which was not excluded, you cannot find a verdict of + conviction. The government is to prove that the prisoner + enticed and seduced these negroes, and you have no right + to presume he did so unless every other possible + explanation of the case is positively excluded by the + testimony. Is it so extravagant a supposition that Mr. + Foote's speech, and the other torch-light speeches + heretofore alluded to, heard by these slaves, or + communicated to them, might have so wrought upon their + minds as to induce them to leave their masters? I don't + say that they had any right to suppose that these + declamations about universal emancipation had any + reference to them. I am a southern man, and I hold to + the southern doctrine. I admit that there is no + inconsistency between perfect civil liberty and holding + people of another race in domestic servitude. But then + it is natural that these people should overlook this + distinction, however obvious and important. Nor do they + lack wit to apply these speeches to their own case or + interest in such matters. I myself have a slave as quick + to see distinctions as I am, and who would have made a + better lawyer if he had had the same advantages. It came + out the other day, in a trial in this court, that the + colored people have debating-societies among themselves. + It was an assault and battery case; one of the + disputants, in the heat of the argument, struck the + other; but then they have precedents for that in the + House of Representatives. Is it an impossible, or + improbable, or a disproved supposition, that a number of + slaves, having agreed together to desert their masters, + or having concerted such a plan with somebody here, + Drayton was employed to come and take them away, and + that he received them on board without ever having seen + one of them? If his confessions are to be taken at all, + they are to be taken together; and do they not tend to + prove such a state of facts? Drayton says he was hired + to come here,--that he was to be paid for taking them + away. Does that look as if he seduced them? [The counsel + here commented at length on Drayton's statements, for + the purpose of showing that they tended to prove nothing + more than a transportation for hire; and he threw no + little ridicule on the 'phantom ship' which the District + Attorney had conjured up in his opening of the case, but + which, in his late speech, he had wholly overlooked.] + + "But, even should you find that Drayton seduced these + slaves to leave their masters, to make out a case of + larceny you must be satisfied that he took them into his + possession. Now, what is possession of a slave? Not + merely being in company with him. If I ride in a hack, I + am not in possession of the driver. Possession of a + slave is dominion and control; and where is the + slightest evidence that this prisoner claimed any + dominion or control over these slaves? The whole + question in this case is, Were these slaves stolen, or + were they running away with the prisoner's assistance? + The mere fact of their being in the prisoner's company + throws no light whatever on this matter. + + "The great point, however, in this case is this,--By the + judge's instructions, enticement must be proved. Shall + the record of this trial go forth to the world showing + that you have found a fact of which there was no + evidence? + + "I believe in my conscience there is a gap in this + evidence not to be filled up except by passion and + prejudice. If that is so, I hope there is no one so + ungenerous, so little of a true southerner, as to blame + me for my zeal in this case, or not to rejoice in a + verdict of acquittal. It is bad enough that strangers + should have got up a mob in this District in relation to + this matter. It would, however, be a million times worse + if juries cannot be found here cool and dispassionate + enough to render impartial verdicts. + + "_District Attorney_.--I hope, gentlemen of the jury, + you will rise above all out-of-door influence. Make + yourselves abolitionists, if you can; but look at the + facts of the case. And, looking at those facts, is it + necessary for me to open my lips in reply? In a case + like this, sustained by such direct testimony, such + overwhelming proof, I defy any man,--however crazy on + the subject of slavery, unless he be blinded by some + film of interest,--to hesitate a moment as to his + conclusions. [The District Attorney here proceeded at + great length, and with a great air of offended dignity, + to complain of having been schooled and advised by the + prisoner's counsel, and to justify the use of the foul + epithets he had bestowed on the prisoner.] This is not a + place for parlor talk. I had chosen the English words + that conveyed my meaning most distinctly. It was all + very well for the prisoner's counsel to smooth things + over; but was I, instead of calling him a liar, to say, + he told a fib? When I call him a thief and a felon, do I + go beyond the charge of the grand jury in the + indictment? If this is stepping over the limits of + propriety, in all similar cases I shall do the same. I + do not intend to blackguard the prisoner,--I do not + delight in using these epithets. My heart is not locked + up; I am no Jack Ketch, prosecuting criminals for ten + dollars a head. I sympathize with the wretches brought + here; but when I choose to call them by their proper + names I am not to be accused of bandying epithets. [The + District Attorney then proceeded also at great length, + and in a high key, to justify his hundred and + twenty-five indictments against the prisoner, and to + clear himself from the imputation of mercenary motives, + on the ground that the business of the year, + independently of these indictments, would furnish the + utmost amount to which he was entitled. He next referred + to the matter of the brig testified to by Captain Baker, + which had been made the occasion of much ridicule by the + prisoner's counsel. Part of the evidence which he had + relied on in connection with the brig had been ruled + out; and the law, as laid down by the court, according + to which taking to liberate was the same as taking to + steal, had made it unnecessary for him, so he said, to + dwell on this part of the case. Yet he now proceeded to + argue at great length, from the testimony in the case, + that there must have been a connection between the brig + and the schooner; that, as the schooner was confessedly + unseaworthy, and could not have gone out of the bay, it + must have been the intention to put the slaves on board + the brig, and to carry them off to Cuba or elsewhere and + sell them. The testimony to this effect he pronounced + conclusive.] + + "The United States (said the District Attorney) have + laid before you the clearest possible case. I have just + gone through a pretty long term of this court; I see + several familiar faces on the jury, and I rely on your + intelligence. In fact, the only point of the defence is, + that the United States have offered no proof that + Drayton seduced and enticed these slaves to come on + board the Pearl; and that the prisoner's counsel are + pleased to call a gap, a chasm, which they say you can't + fill up. It is the same gap which occurs in every + larceny case. Where can the government produce positive + testimony to the taking? That is done secretly, in the + dark, and is to be presumed from circumstances. A man is + found going off with a bag of chickens,--your chickens. + Are you going to presume that the chickens run into his + bag of their own accord, and without his agency? A man + is found riding your horse. Are you to presume that the + horse came to him of its own accord? and yet horses love + liberty,--they love to kick up their heels and run. Yet + this would be just as sensible as to suppose that these + slaves came on board Drayton's vessel without his direct + agency. He came here from Philadelphia for them; they + are found on board his vessel; Drayton says he would + steal a negro if he could; is not that enough? Then he + was here some months before with an oyster-boat, + pretending to sell oysters. He pretended that he came + for his health. Likely story, indeed! I should like to + see the doctor who would recommend a patient to come + here in the fall of the year, when the fever and ague is + so thick in the marshes that you can cut it with a + knife. Cruising about, eating and selling oysters, at + that time of the year, for his health! Nonsense! He was + here, at that very time, hatching and contriving that + these very negroes should go on board the Pearl. But the + prisoner's counsel say he might have been employed by + others simply to carry them away! Who could have + employed him but abolitionists; and did he not say he + had no sympathy with abolitionists. So much for that + hypothesis. Then, he in fact pleads guilty,--he says he + expects to die in the penitentiary. Don't you think he + ought to? If there is any chasm here, the prisoner must + shed light upon it. If he had employers, who were they? + The prisoner's counsel have said that he is not bound to + tell; and that the witnesses, if summoned here, would + not be compelled to criminate themselves. But shall this + prisoner be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong? + + "As to the metaphysics of the prisoner's counsel about + possession, that is easily disposed of. Were not these + slaves found in Drayton's possession, and didn't he + admit that he took them? + + "As to the cautions given you about prejudice and + passion, I do not think they are necessary. I have seen + no sort of excitement here since the first detection of + this affair that would prevent the prisoner having a + fair trial. Is there any crowd or excitement here? The + community will be satisfied with the verdict. There is + no question the party is guilty. I never had anything to + do with a case sustained by stronger evidence. I don't + ask you to give an illegal or perjured verdict. Take the + law and the evidence, and decide upon it. + + + "N.B.--The argument being now concluded, and the jury + about to go out, some question arose whether the jury + should have the written instructions of the court with + them; and some inquiry being made as to the practice, + one of the jurors observed that in a case in which he + had formerly acted as juror the jury had the + instructions with them, and he proceeded to tell a funny + story about a bottle of rum, told by one of the jurors + on that occasion, which story caused him to remember the + fact. It may be observed, by the way, that the + proceedings of the United States Criminal Court for the + District of Columbia are not distinguished for any + remarkable decorum or dignity. The jury, in this case, + were in constant intercourse, during any little + intervals in the trial, with the spectators outside the + bar." + +The case was given to the jury about three o'clock, P.M., and the court, +after waiting half an hour, adjourned. + +When the court met, at ten o'clock the next morning, the jury were still +out, having remained together all night without being able to agree. +Meanwhile the District Attorney proceeded to try me on another +indictment, for stealing three slaves the property of one William H. +Upperman. As this trial was proceeding, about half-past two the jury in +the first case came in, and rendered a verdict of GUILTY. They presented +rather a haggard appearance, having been locked up for twenty-four +hours, and some of them being perhaps a little troubled in their +consciences. The jury, it was understood, had been divided, from the +beginning, four for acquittal and eight for conviction. These four were +all Irishmen, and perhaps they did not consider it consistent with their +personal safety and business interests to persist in disappointing the +slave-holding public of that verdict which the District Attorney had so +imperiously demanded. The agreement, it was understood, had taken place +only a few moments before they came in, and had been reached entirely on +the strength of Williams' testimony to my having said, that had I got +off I should have made an independent fortune. Now, it was a curious +coincidence, that at the very moment that this agreement was thus taking +place, Williams, again on the stand as a witness on the second trial, +wished to take back what he had then sworn to on the first trial, +stating that he could not tell whether he had heard me say this, or +whether he had heard of my having said it from somebody else. + +After the rendition of the verdict of the other jury, the second case +was again resumed. The evidence varied in only a few particulars from +that which had been given in the first case. There was, in addition, +the testimony of Upperman, the pretended owner of the woman and her +daughters, one of fifteen, the other nine years old, whom I was charged +in this indictment with stealing. This man swore with no less alacrity, +and with no less falsehood, than Houver had done before him. He stated +that about half-past ten, of that same night that the Pearl left +Washington, while he was fastening up his house, he saw a man standing +on the side-walk opposite his door, and observed him for some time. Not +long after, having gone to bed, he heard a noise of somebody coming down +stairs; and, calling out, he was answered by his slave-woman, who was +just then going off, though he had no suspicion of it at the time. That +man standing on the side-walk he pretended to recognize as me. He was +perfectly certain of it, beyond all doubt and question. The object of +this testimony was, to lead to a conclusion of enticement or persuasion +on my part, and so to bring the case within one of the judge's +instructions already stated. On a subsequent trial, Upperman was still +more certain, if possible, that I was the man. But he was entirely +mistaken in saying so. His house was on Pennsylvania Avenue, more than a +mile from where the Pearl lay, and I was not within a mile of it that +night. I dare say Upperman was sincere enough. He was one of your +positive sort of men; but his case, like that of Houver, shows that men +in a passion will sometimes fall into blunders. I have reason to believe +that after the trials were over Upperman became satisfied of his error. + +The first trial had consumed a week; the second one lasted four days. +The judge laid down the same law as before, and similar exceptions were +taken by my counsel. The jury again remained out all night, being long +divided,--nine for conviction to three for acquittal; but on the morning +of August 9th they came in with a verdict of GUILTY. + +Satisfied for the present with these two verdicts against me, the +District Attorney now proposed to pass over the rest of my cases, and to +proceed to try Sayres. My counsel objected that, having been forced to +proceed against my remonstrances, I was here ready for trial, and they +insisted that all my cases should be now disposed of. They did not +prevail, however; and the District Attorney proceeded to try Sayres on +an indictment for stealing the same two slaves of Houver. + +In addition to the former witnesses against me, English was now put upon +the stand, the District Attorney having first entered _nolle prosequi_ +upon the hundred and fifteen indictments against him. But he could state +nothing except the circumstances of his connection with the affair, and +the coming on board of the passengers on Saturday night, as I have +already related them. On the other hand, the "phantom brig" story, of +which the District Attorney had made so great a handle in the two cases +against me, was now ruled out, on the ground that the brig could not be +brought into the case till some connection had first been shown between +her and the Pearl. The trial lasted three days. The District Attorney +pressed for a conviction with no less violence than he had done in my +case, assuring the jury that if they did not convict there was an end of +the security of slave property. But Sayres had several advantages over +me. My two juries had been citizens of Washington, several of them +belonging to a class of loafers who frequent the courts for the sake of +the fees to be got as jurymen. Some complaints having been made of this, +the officers had been sent to Georgetown and the country districts, and +the present jury was drawn from those quarters. Then, again, I was +regarded as the main culprit,--the only one in the secret of the +transaction; and, as I was already convicted, the feeling against Sayres +was much lessened. In fact, the jury in his case, after an absence of +half an hour, returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The District Attorney, greatly surprised and vexed, proceeded to try +Sayres on another indictment. This trial lasted three days and a half; +but, in spite of the efforts of the District Attorney, who was more +positive, longer and louder, than ever, the jury, in ten minutes, +returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY. + +The trials had now continued through nearly four weeks of very hot +weather, and both sides were pretty well worn out. Vexed at the two last +verdicts, the District Attorney threatened to give up Sayres on a +requisition from Virginia, which was said to have been lodged for us, +some of the alleged slaves belonging there, and we having been there +shortly before. + +Finally, it was agreed that verdicts should be taken against Sayres in +the seventy-four transportation cases, he to have the advantage of +carrying the points of law before the Circuit Court, and the remaining +larceny indictments against him to be discontinued. + +Thus ended the first legal campaign. English was discharged altogether, +without trial. Sayres had got rid of the charge of larceny. I had been +found guilty on two indictments for stealing, upon which Judge Crawford +sentenced me to twenty years imprisonment in the penitentiary; while +Sayres, on seventy-four indictments for assisting the escape of slaves, +was sentenced to a fine on each indictment of one hundred and fifty +dollars and costs, amounting altogether to seven thousand four hundred +dollars. But from these judgments an appeal had been taken to the +Circuit Court, and meanwhile Sayres and I remained in prison as before. + +The hearing before the Circuit Court came on the 26th of November. That +court consisted of Chief-Justice Cranch, an able and upright judge, but +very old and infirm; and Judges Morrell and Dunlap, the latter of whom +claimed to be the owner of two of the negroes found on board the Pearl. + +My cases were argued for me by Messrs. Hildreth, Carlisle and Mann. The +District Attorney, who was much better fitted to bawl to a jury than to +argue before a court, had retained, at the expense of the United States, +the assistance of Mr. Bradley, one of the ablest lawyers of the +District. The argument consumed not less than three days. Many points +were discussed; but that on which the cases turned was the definition of +larceny. It resulted in the allowance of several of my bills of +exceptions, the overturn of the law of Judge Crawford on the subject of +larceny, and the establishment by the Circuit Court of the doctrine on +that subject contended for by my counsel; but from this opinion Judge +Dunlap dissented. The case of Sayres, for want of time, was postponed +till the next term. + +A new trial having been ordered in my two cases, everybody supposed that +the charge of larceny would now be abandoned, as the Circuit Court had +taken away the only basis on which it could possibly rest. But the zeal +of the District Attorney was not yet satisfied; and, no longer trusting +to his own unassisted efforts, he obtained (at the expense of the United +States) the assistance of Richard Cox, Esq., an old and very +unscrupulous practitioner, with whose aid he tried the cases over again +in the Criminal Court. The two trials lasted about fourteen days. I was +again defended by Messrs. Mann and Carlisle, and now with better +success, as the juries, under the instructions which Judge Crawford +found himself obliged to give, and notwithstanding the desperate efforts +against me, acquitted me in both cases, almost without leaving their +seats. + +Finally, the District Attorney agreed to abandon the remaining larceny +cases, if we would consent to verdicts in the transportation cases on +the same terms with those in the case of Sayres. This was done; when +Judge Crawford had the satisfaction of sentencing me to fines and costs +amounting together to ten thousand and sixty dollars, and to remain in +prison until that amount was paid. + +There was still a further hearing before the Circuit Court on the bills +of exceptions to these transportation indictments. My counsel thought +they had some good legal objections; but the hearing unfortunately came +on when Judge Cranch was absent from the bench, and the other two judges +overruled them. By a strange construction of the laws, no criminal case, +except by accident, can be carried before the Supreme Court of the +United States; otherwise, the cases against us would have been taken +there, including the question of the legality of slavery in the District +of Columbia. + +Thus, after a severe and expensive struggle, I was saved from the +penitentiary; but Sayres and myself remained in the Washington jail, +loaded with enormous fines, which, from our total inability to pay them, +would keep us there for life, unless the President could be induced to +pardon us; and it was even questioned, as I shall show presently, +whether he had any such power. + +The jail of the District of Columbia is under the charge of the Marshal +of the District. That office, when I was first committed to prison, was +filled by a Mr. Hunter; but he was sick at the time, and died soon +after, when Robert Wallace was appointed. This Wallace was a Virginian, +from the neighbor hood of Alexandria, son of a Doctor Wallace from whom +he had inherited a large property, including many slaves. He had removed +to Tennessee, and had set up cotton-planting there; but, failing in that +business, had returned back with the small remnants of his property, and +Polk provided for him by making him marshal. It was not long before I +found that he had a great spite against me. It was in vain that I +solicited from him the use of the passage. The light which came into my +cell was very faint, and I could only read by sitting on the floor with +my back against the grating of the cell door. But, so far from aiding me +to read,--and it was the only method I had of passing my time,--Wallace +made repeated and vexatious attempts to keep me from receiving +newspapers. I should very soon have died on the prison allowance. The +marshal is allowed by the United States thirty-three cents per day for +feeding the prisoners. For this money they receive two meals; breakfast, +consisting of one herring, corn-bread and a dish of molasses and water, +very slightly flavored with coffee; and for dinner, corn-bread again, +with half a pound of the meanest sort of salted beef, and a soup made of +corn-meal stirred into the pot-liquor. This is the bill of fare day +after day, all the year round; and, as at the utmost such food cannot +cost more than eight or nine cents a day for each prisoner, and as the +average number is fifty, the marshal must make a handsome profit. The +diet has been fixed, I suppose, after the model of the slave allowances. +But Congress, after providing the means of feeding the prisoners in a +decent manner, ought not to allow them to be starved for the benefit of +the marshal. Such was the diet to which I was confined in the first days +of my imprisonment. But I soon contrived to make a friend of Jake, the +old black cook of the prison, who, I could see as he came in to pour out +my coffee, evinced a certain sympathy and respect for me. Through his +agency I was able to purchase some more eatable food; and indeed the +surgeon of the jail allowed me flour, under the name of medicine, it +being impossible, as he said, for me to live on the prison diet. +Wallace, soon after he came into office, finding a small sum in my +possession, of about forty dollars, took it from me. He expressed a fear +that I might corrupt old Jake, or somebody else,--especially as he found +that I gave Jake my old newspapers,--and so escape from the prison. But +he left the money in the hands of the jailer, and allowed me to draw it +out, a dollar at a time. He presently turned out old Jake, and put in a +slave-woman of his own as cook; but she was better disposed towards me +than her master, and I found no difficulty in purchasing with my own +money, and getting her to prepare such food as I wanted. I was able, +too, after some six or eight weeks' sleeping on the stone floor of my +cell, to obtain some improvement in that particular; and not for myself +only, but for all the other prisoners also. The jailer was requested by +several persons who came to see us to procure mattresses for us at their +expense; and, finally, Wallace, as if out of pure shame, procured a +quantity of husk mattresses for the use of the prisoners generally. +Still, we had no cots, and were obliged to spread our mattresses on the +floor. + +The allowance of clothing made to the prisoners who were confined +without any means of supporting themselves corresponded pretty well with +the jail allowance of provisions. They received shirts, one at a time, +made of the very meanest kind of cotton cloth, and of the very smallest +dimensions; trousers of about equal quality, and shoes. It was said that +the United States paid also for jackets and caps. How that was I do not +know; but the prisoners never received any. + +The custody of the jail was intrusted to a head jailer, assisted by four +guards, or turnkeys, one of whom acted also as book-keeper. Of the +personal treatment toward me of those in office, at the time I was first +committed, I have no complaint to make. The rigor of my confinement was +indeed great; but I am happy to say that it was not aggravated by any +disposition on the part of these men to triumph over me, or to trample +upon me. As they grew more acquainted with me, they showed their sense +that I was not an ordinary criminal, and treated me with many marks of +consideration, and even of regard, and in one of them I found a true +friend. + +Shortly after Wallace came into office, he made several changes. He was +full of caprices, and easily took offence from very small causes; and of +this the keepers, as well as the prisoners, had abundant experience. The +head jailer did his best to please, behaving in the most humble and +submissive manner; but all to no purpose. He was discharged, as were +also the others, one after another,--Wallace undertaking to act as head +jailer himself. Of Wallace's vexatious conduct towards me; of his +refusal to allow me to receive newspapers,--prohibiting the under jailer +to lend me even the Baltimore _Sun_; of his accusation against me of +bribing old Jake, whom he forbade the turnkeys to allow to come near me; +of his keeping me shut up in my cell; and generally of a bitter spirit +of angry malice against me,--I had abundant reason to complain during +the weary fifteen months or more that I remained under his power. But +his subordinates, though obliged to obey his orders and to comply with +his humors, were far from being influenced by his feelings. Even his +favorite among the turnkeys, a person who pretty faithfully copied his +conduct towards the other prisoners, always behaved very kindly towards +me, and even used to make a confidant of me, by coming to my cell to +talk over his troubles. + +But the person whose kind offices and friendly sympathy did far more +than those of any other to relieve the tediousness of my confinement, +and to keep my heart from sinking, was Mr. Wood. There is no chaplain at +the Washington jail, nor has Congress, so far as I am aware, made any +provision of any kind for the spiritual wants or the moral and religious +instruction of the inmates of it. This great deficiency Mr. Wood, a man +of a great heart, though of very limited pecuniary means, being then a +clerk in the Telegraph office, had taken it upon himself to supply, so +far as he could; and for that purpose he was in the habit of visiting +the prison on Sundays, conversing with the prisoners, and furnishing +tracts and books to such as were able and disposed to read. He came to +my cell, or to the grating of the passage in which I was confined, on +the very first Sunday of my imprisonment, and he readily promised, at my +request, to furnish me with a Bible; though in that act of kindness he +was anticipated by the colored woman of whom I have already made +mention, who appeared at my cell, with a Bible for me, just after Mr. +Wood had left it. + +The kindness of Mr. Wood's heart, and the sincerity of his sympathy, was +so apparent as to secure him the affectionate respect of all the +prisoners. To me he proved a very considerate and useful friend. Not +only was I greatly indebted to his assistance in making known my +necessities and those of my family to those disposed to relieve them, +but his cheerful and Christian conversation served to brighten many a +dark hour, and to dispel many gloomy feelings. Were all professing +Christians like my friend Mr. Wood, we should not hear so many +denunciations as we now do of the church, and complaints of her +short-comings. + +There was another person, also, whose kind attentions to me I ought not +to overlook. This was Mrs. Susannah Ford, a very respectable colored +woman, who sold refreshments in the lobby of the court-house, and who, +in the progress of the trial, had evinced a good deal of interest in +the case. As she often had boarders in the jail, who, like me, could not +live on the jail fare, and whom she supplied, she was frequently there, +and she seldom came without bringing with her some substantial token of +her regard. + +Sayres and myself had looked forward to the change of administration, +which resulted from the election of General Taylor, with considerable +hopes of advantage from it--but, for a considerable time, this advantage +was limited to a change in the marshal in whose custody we were. The +turning out of Wallace gave great satisfaction to everybody in the jail, +or connected with it, except the turnkeys, who held office by his +appointment, and who expected that his dismissal would be followed by +their own. The very day before the appointment of his successor came +out, I had been remonstrating with him against the cruelty of refusing +me the use of the passage; and I had even ventured to hint that I hoped +he would do nothing which he would be ashamed to see spoken of in the +public prints; to which he replied, "G--d d--n the public prints!--in +that cell you will stay!" But in this he proved not much of a prophet. +The next day, as soon as the news of his dismissal reached the jail, the +turnkeys at once unlocked my cell-door and admitted me into the passage, +observing that the new marshal, when he came to take possession, should +at least find me there. + +This new marshal was Mr. Robert Wallach, a native of the District, very +similar in name to his predecessor, but very different in nature; and +from the time that he entered into office the extreme rigor hitherto +exercised to me was a good deal abated. One thing, however, I had to +regret in the change, which was the turning out of all the old guards, +with whom I was already well acquainted, and the appointment of a new +set. One of these thus turned out--the person to whom I have already +referred to as the chief favorite of the late marshal--made a desperate +effort to retain his office. But, although he solicited and obtained +certificates to the effect that he was, and always had been, a good +Whig, he had to walk out with the others. + +The new jailer appointed by Wallach, and three of the new guards, or +turnkeys, were very gentlemanly persons, and neither I nor the other +prisoners had any reason to complain of the change. Of the fourth +turnkey I cannot say as much. He was violent, overbearing and +tyrannical, and he was frequently guilty of conduct towards the +prisoners which made him very unfit to serve under such a marshal, and +ought to have caused his speedy removal. But, unfortunately, the marshal +was under some political obligations to him, which made the turning him +out not so easy a matter. This person seemed to have inherited all the +feelings of hatred and dislike which the late marshal had entertained +towards me, and he did his best to annoy me in a variety of ways, +though, of course, his power was limited by his subordinate position. + +But, although I gained considerably by the new-order of things, I soon +found that it had also some annoying consequences. Under the old +marshal, either to make the imprisonment more disagreeable to me, or +from fear lest I should corrupt the other prisoners, I had been kept in +a sort of solitary confinement, no other prisoners being placed in the +same passage. This system was now altered; and, although my privacy was +always so far respected that I was allowed a cell by myself, I often +found myself with fellow-prisoners in the same passage from whose +society it was impossible for me to derive either edification or +pleasure. I suffered a good deal from this cause; but at length +succeeded in obtaining a remedy, or, at least, a partial one. I was +allowed, during the day-time, the range of the debtors' apartments, a +suite of spacious, airy and comfortable rooms, in which there were +seldom more than one or two tenants. I pleaded hard to be removed to +these apartments altogether,--to be allowed to sleep there, as well as +to pass the days there. As it was merely for the non-payment of a sum of +money that I was held, I thought I had a right to be treated as a +debtor. But those apartments were so insecure, that the keepers did not +care to trust me there during the night. + +By this change of quarters my condition was a good deal improved. I not +only had ample conveniences for reading, but I improved the opportunity +to learn to write, having only been able to sign my name when T was +committed to the prison. + +But a jail, after all, is a jail; and I longed and sighed to obtain my +liberty, and to enjoy again the society of my wife and children. Had it +been wished to impress my mind in the strongest manner with the horrors +of slavery, no better method could have been devised than this +imprisonment in the Washington jail. I felt personally what it was to be +restrained of my liberty; and, as many of the prisoners were runaway +slaves, or slaves committed at the request of their masters, I saw a +good deal of what slaves are exposed to. Of this I shall here give but a +single instance. Wallace, the marshal, as I have already mentioned, had +two female slaves, the last remnants of the large slave-property which +he had inherited from his father. One of these was a young and very +comely mulatto girl, whom Wallace had made his housekeeper, and whom he +sought to make also his concubine. But, as the girl already had a child +by a young white man, to whom she was attached, she steadily repelled +all his advances. Not succeeding by persuasion, this scion of the +aristocracy of the Old Dominion--this Virginian gentleman, and marshal +of the United States for the District of Columbia--shut the girl up in +the jail of the District, in hopes of thus breaking her to his will; +and, as she proved obstinate, he finally sold her. He then turned his +eyes on the other woman,--his property,--Jemima, our cook, already the +mother of three children. But she set him at open defiance. As she +wished to be sold, he had lost the greatest means of controlling her; +and as she openly threatened, before all the keepers, to tear every rag +of clothing off his body if he dared lay his hand upon her, he did not +venture, to brave her fury. + +In most of the states, if not in all of them, certainly in all the free +states, there is no such thing as keeping a man in prison for life +merely for the non-payment of a fine which he has no means to pay. The +same spirit of humanity which has abolished the imprisonment of poor +debtors at the caprice of their creditors has provided means for +discharging, after a short imprisonment, persons held in prison for +fines which they have no means of paying. Indeed, what can be more +unequal or unjust than to hold a poor man a prisoner for life for an +offence which a rich man is allowed to expiate by a small part of his +superfluous wealth? But this is one, among many other barbarisms, which +the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia, by preventing any +systematic revision of the laws, has entailed upon the capital of our +model democracy. There was, as I have stated, no means by which Sayres +and myself could be discharged from prison except by paying our fines +(which was totally out of the question), or by obtaining a presidential +pardon, which, for a long time, seemed equally hopeless. There was, +indeed, a peculiarity about our case, such as might afford a plausible +excuse for not extending to us any relief. Under the law of 1796, the +sums imposed upon us as fines were to go one half to the owners of the +slaves, and the other half to the District; and it was alleged, that +although the President might remit the latter half, he could not the +other. + +That same Mr. Radcliff whom I have already had occasion to mention +volunteered his services--for a consideration--to get over this +difficulty. In consequence of a handsome fee which he received, he +undertook to obtain the consent of the owners of the slaves to our +discharge. But, having pocketed the money, he made, so far as I could +find, very little progress in the business, not having secured above +five or six signers. In answer to my repeated applications, he at length +proposed that my wife and youngest daughter should come on to +"Washington to do the business which he had undertaken, and for which he +had secured a handsome payment in advance. They came on accordingly, +and, by personal application, succeeded in obtaining, in all, the +signatures of twenty-one out of forty-one, the whole number. The +reception which they met with from different parties was very different, +showing that there is among slave-holders as much variety of character +as among other people. Some signed with alacrity, saying that, as no +slaves had been lost, I had been kept in jail too long already. Others +required much urging. Others positively refused. Some even added +insults. Young Francis Dodge, of Georgetown, would not sign, though my +life had depended upon it. One wanted me hung, and another tarred and +feathered. One pious church-member, lying on his death-bed, as he +supposed, was persuaded to sign; but he afterwards drew back, and +nothing could prevail on him to put his name to the paper. Die or live, +he wholly refused. But the most curious case occurred at Alexandria, to +which place my wife went to obtain the signature of a pious old lady, +who had been the claimant of a youngster found among the passengers of +the Pearl, and who had been sold, in consequence, for the southern +market. The old lady, it appeared, was still the owner of the boy's +mother, who acted as one of her domestics, and, if she was willing, the +old lady professed her readiness to sign. The black woman was +accordingly called in, and the nature of my wife's application stated to +her. But, with much positiveness and indignation, she refused to give +her consent, declaring that my wife could as well do without her husband +as she could do without her boy. So imbruted and stupefied by slavery +was this old woman, that she seemed to think the selling her boy away +from her a perfectly humane, Christian and proper act, while all her +indignation was turned against me, who had merely afforded the boy an +opportunity of securing his freedom! I dare say they had persuaded the +old woman that I had enticed the boy to run away; whereas, as I have +already stated, I had never seen him, nor any other of the passengers, +till I found them on board. + +As only twenty-one signers could be obtained, the matter stood very much +as it did before the attempt was made. So long as President Fillmore +remained a candidate for reelection there was little ground to expect +from him a favorable consideration of my case. I therefore felt +sincerely thankful to the Whig convention when they passed by Mr. +Fillmore, and gave the nomination to General Scott. Mr. Fillmore being +thus placed in a position which enabled him to listen to the dictates of +reason, justice and humanity, my hopes, and those of my friends, were +greatly raised. Mr. Sumner, the Free Democratic senator from +Massachusetts, had visited me in prison shortly after his arrival at +Washington, and had evinced from the beginning a sincere and active +sympathy for me. Some complaints were made against him in some +anti-slavery papers, because he did not present to the senate some +petitions in my behalf, which had been forwarded to his care. But Mr. +Sumner was of opinion, and I entirely agreed with him, that if the +object was to obtain my discharge from prison, that object was to be +accomplished, not by agitating the matter in the senate, but by private +appeals to the equity and the conscience of the President; nor did he +think, nor I either, that my interests ought to be sacrificed for the +opportunity to make an anti-slavery speech. There is reason in +everything; and I thought, and he thought too, that I had been made +enough of a martyr of already. + +The case having been brought to the notice of the President, he, being +no longer a candidate for reelection, could not fail to recognize the +claim of Sayres and myself to a discharge. We had already been kept in +jail upwards of four years, for an offence which the laws had intended +to punish by a trifling pecuniary fine Nor was this all. The earlier +part of our confinement had been exceedingly rigorous, and it had only +been by the untiring efforts of our friends, and at a great expense to +them, that we had been saved from falling victims to the conspiracy, +between the District Attorney and Judge Crawford, to send us to the +penitentiary. Although my able and indefatigable counsel, Mr. Mann, +whose arduous labors and efforts in my behalf I shall never forget, and +still less his friendly counsels and kind personal attentions, had +received nothing, except, I believe, the partial reimbursement of his +travelling expenses, and although there was much other service +gratuitously rendered in our cases, yet it had been necessary to pay +pretty roundly for the services of Mr. Carlisle; and, altogether, the +expenditures which had been incurred to shield us from the effects of +the conspiracy above mentioned far exceeded any amount of fine which +might have been reasonably imposed under the indictments upon which we +had been found guilty. Was not the enormous sum which Judge Crawford +sentenced us to pay a gross violation of the provision in the +constitution of the United States against excessive fines? Any fine +utterly beyond a man's ability to pay, and which operates to keep him a +prisoner for life, must be excessive, or else that word has no meaning. + +But, though our case was a strong one, there still remained a serious +obstacle in the way, in the idea that, because half the fines was to go +to the owners of the slaves, the President could not remit that half. +Here was a point upon which Mr. Sumner was able to assist us much more +effectually than by making speeches in the senate. It was a point, too, +involved in a good deal of difficulty; for there were some English cases +which denied the power of pardon under such circumstances. Mr. Sumner +found, however, by a laborious examination of the American cases, that a +different view had been taken in this country; and he drew up and +submitted to the President an elaborate legal opinion, in which the +right of the executive to pardon us was very clearly made out. + +This opinion the President referred to the Attorney General. A +considerable time elapsed before he found leisure to examine it; but at +last it obtained his sanction, also. Information at length reached +us--the matter having been pending for two months or more--that the +President had signed our pardon. It had yet, however, to pass through +the office of the Secretary for the Interior, and meanwhile we were not +by any means free from anxiety. The reader will perhaps recollect that +among the other things which the District Attorney had held over our +heads had been the threat to surrender us up to the authorities of +Virginia, on a requisition which it was alleged they had made for us. +The story of this requisition had been repeated from time to time, and a +circumstance now occurred which, in seeming to threaten us with +something of the sort, served to revive all our apprehensions. Mr. +Stuart, the Secretary of the Interior, through whose office the pardon +was to pass, sent word to the marshal that such a pardon had been +signed, and, at the same time, requested him, if it came that day into +his hands, not to act upon it till the next. As this Stuart was a +Virginian, out apprehensions were naturally excited of some movement +from that quarter. The pardon arrived about five o'clock that afternoon; +and immediately upon receiving it the marshal told us that he had no +longer any hold upon us,--that we were free men, and at liberty to go +where we chose. As we were preparing to leave the jail, I observed that +a gentleman, a friend of the marshal, whom I had often seen there, and +who had always treated me with great courtesy, hardly returned my +good-day, and looked at me as black as a thunder-cloud. Afterwards, upon +inquiring of the jailer what the reason could be, I learned that this +gentleman, who was a good deal of a politician, was greatly alarmed and +disturbed lest the act of the President in having pardoned us should +result in the defeat of the Whig party--and, though willing enough that +we should be released, he did not like to have it done at the expense of +his party, and his own hopes of obtaining some good office. The Whigs +were defeated, sure enough; but whether because we were pardoned--though +the idea is sufficiently nattering to my vanity--is more than I shall +venture to decide. The black prisoners in the jail, having nothing to +hope or fear from the rise or fall of parties, yielded freely to their +friendly feelings, and greeted our departure with three cheers. We left +the jail as privately as possible, and proceeded in a carriage to the +house of a gentleman of the District, where we were entertained at +supper. Our imprisonment had lasted four years and four months, lacking +seven days. We did not feel safe, however, with that Virginia +requisition hanging over our heads, so long as we remained in the +District, or anywhere on slave-holding ground; and, by the liberality of +our friends, a hack was procured for us, to carry us, that same night, +to Baltimore, there, the next morning, to take the cars for +Philadelphia. The night proved one of the darkest and stormiest which it +had ever been my fate to encounter,--and I have seen some bad weather in +my time. The rain fell in torrents, and the road was only now and then +visible by the flashes of the lightning. But our trusty driver +persevered, and, in spite of all obstacles, brought us to Baltimore by +the early dawn. Sayres proceeded by the direct route to Philadelphia. +Having still some apprehensions of pursuit and a requisition, I took the +route by Harrisburg. Great was the satisfaction which I felt as the cars +crossed the line from Maryland into Pennsylvania. It was like escaping +out of Algiers into a free and Christian country. + +I shall leave it to the reader to imagine the meeting between myself and +my family. They had received notice of my coming, and were all waiting +to receive me. If a man wishes to realize the agony which our American +slave-trade inflicts in the separation of families, let him personally +feel that separation, as I did; let him pass four years in the +Washington jail. + +When committed to the prison, I was by no means well. I had been a good +deal out of health, as appeared from the evidence on the trial, for two +or three years before. Close confinement, or, indeed, confinement of any +sort, does not agree with persons of my temperament; and I came out of +the prison a good deal older, and much more of an invalid, than when I +entered it. + +The reader, perhaps, will inquire what good was gained by all these +sufferings of myself and my family--what satisfaction I can have, as it +did not succeed, in looking back to an enterprise attended with so much +risk, and which involved me in so long and tedious an imprisonment? + +The satisfaction that I have is this: What I did, and what I attempted +to do, was my protest,--a protest which resounded from one end of the +Union to the other, and which, I hope, by the dissemination of this, my +narrative, to renew and repeat it,--it was my protest against the +infamous and atrocious doctrine that there can be any such thing as +property in man! We can only do according to our power, and the +capacity, gifts and talents, that we have. Others, more fortunate than +I, may record their protest against this wicked doctrine more safely and +comfortably for themselves than I did. They may embody it in burning +words and eloquent speeches; they may write it out in books; they may +preach it in sermons. I could not do that. I have as many thoughts as +another, but, for want of education, I lack the power to express them in +speech or writing. I have not been able to put even this short +narrative on paper without obtaining the assistance of a friend. I could +not talk, I could not write; but I could act. The humblest, the most +uneducated man can do that. I did act; and, by my actions, I protested +that I did not believe that there was, or could be, any such thing as a +right of property in human beings. + +Nobody in this country will admit, for a moment, that there can be any +such thing as property in a white man. The institution of slavery could +not last for a day, if the slaves were all white. But I do not see that +because their complexions are different they are any the less men on +that account. The doctrine I hold to, and which I desired to preach in a +practical way, is the doctrine of Jefferson and Madison, that there +cannot be property in man,--no, not even in black men. And the rage +exerted against me on the part of the slave-holders grew entirely out of +my preaching that doctrine. Actions, as everybody knows, speak louder +than words. By virtue of my actions proclaiming my opinion on that +subject, I became at once, powerless as I otherwise was, elevated, in +the minds of the slave-holders, to the same high level with Mr. Giddings +and Mr. Hale, who they could not help believing must have been my secret +confederates. + +If I had believed, as the slave-holders do, that men can be owned; if I +had really attempted, as they falsely and meanly charged me with doing, +to steal; had I actually sought to appropriate men as property to my own +use; had that been all, does anybody imagine that I should ever have +been pursued with such persevering enmity and personal virulence? Do +they get up a debate in Congress, and a riot in the city of Washington, +every time a theft is committed or attempted in the District? It was +purely because I was not a thief; because, in helping men, women and +children, claimed as chattels, to escape, I bore my testimony against +robbing human beings of their liberty; this was the very thing that +excited the slave-holders against me, just as a strong anti-slavery +speech excites them against Mr. Hale, or Mr. Giddings, or Mr. Mann, or +Mr. Stunner. Those gentlemen have words at command; they can speak, and +can do good service by doing so. As for me, it was impossible that I +should ever be able to make myself heard in Congress, or by the nation +at large, except in the way of action. The opportunity occurring, I did +not hesitate to improve it; nor have I ever yet seen occasion to regret +having done so. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton +by Daniel Drayton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSONAL MEMOIR OF DANIEL DRAYTON *** + +***** This file should be named 10401.txt or 10401.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/0/10401/ + +Produced by Dave Morgan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +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. 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