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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/10898-0.txt b/10898-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71b3c5e --- /dev/null +++ b/10898-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8449 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10898 *** + +AMERICAN SCENES, + +AND + +CHRISTIAN SLAVERY: + + +A RECENT TOUR OF FOUR THOUSAND MILES IN THE UNITED STATES. + + + + +BY EBENEZER DAVIES, + +LATE MINISTER OF MISSION CHAPEL, NEW AMSTERDAM, BERBICE. + + +MDCCCXLIX. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +During his recent sojourn in the United States, the Author did not +conceive the intention of writing a book on the subject. All he +contemplated was the publication of a few letters in a London Journal +on which he had been accustomed to rely for intelligence from Europe +when residing in Berbice. So much he was disposed to attempt for +several reasons. + +Having entered the States by their most Southern port--that of New +Orleans, and finding himself at once in the midst of Slavery, he had +opportunities of observing that system not often enjoyed by a British +"Abolitionist." As the Pastor, also, of a large congregation, of whom a +great number were but a few years ago held in cruel bondage, he would +naturally look upon the treatment of the same race in America with +keener eyes and feelings more acute than if he had not stood in that +relation. + +Identified, too, with those persons who represent the principles of the +old Puritans and Nonconformists in England, he would survey the growth +and spread of those principles in their new soil and climate with a +more than common interest. New England, especially, on whose sods the +foot-prints of the Pilgrims had been impressed, and on whose rocks +their early altars had been reared, would be to him hallowed ground. + +Travelling, leisurely, as he did, at his own expense, northward from +New Orleans to Boston, and westward as far as Utica,--making a tour of +more than four thousand miles, sometimes known and sometimes unknown, +just as inclination prompted,--representing no public body, bound to no +party, a "Deputation sent by himself,"--he was completely free and +independent in thought and action, and enjoyed advantages for +observation which do not often meet. + +It was natural that he should wish to tell his friends in Great +Britain, and in the West Indies, what he had seen and heard. To +denounce what is evil and to commend what is good is at all times +gratifying; in doing which, he sought to describe the men and the +manners of America just as they appeared to him. + +Several letters, containing the narrative of a few days spent in New +Orleans, appeared in the _Patriot_. Their favourable reception by the +readers of that journal led to the preparation of the present volume, +in which the letters referred to, having undergone a careful revision, +re-appear, followed by nearly thirty others descriptive of the Author's +tour. + +Our Transatlantic friends are morbidly sensitive as to the strictures +of strangers. They hate the whole tribe of Travellers and Tourists, +Roamers and Ramblers, Peepers and Proclaimers, and affect to ridicule +the idea of men who merely pass through the country, presuming to give +opinions on things which it is alleged so cursory a view cannot qualify +them fully to understand. Our cousins have, doubtless, had occasional +provocations from the detested race in question; but their feeling on +this point amounts to a national weakness. It is always worth knowing +how we appear to the eyes of others, and what impression the first +sight of us is apt to produce; and this knowledge none can communicate +but the stranger, the tourist, the passer-by. What faults and failings +soever we may have in England, and their "name is legion," by all means +let them be unsparingly exposed by every foreign tourist that treads +upon our soil. Let us be satirized, ridiculed, laughed at, caricatured, +anything, so that we may be shamed out of all that is absurd and +vicious in our habits and customs. In the present instance our Western +kinsmen are described by one, if they will believe his own testimony, +of the most candid and truthful of travellers,--one who has viewed them +and all their institutions, except _one_, with the most friendly eye, +and who deeply regrets that so much of what is lovely and of good +report should be marred and blotted by so much of what is disgraceful +to a great and enlightened people. + +As to the performance in a literary point of view, the Author will say +nothing. The public will form their own judgment. If they like it, they +will read; if not, the most seductive preface would not tempt them. + +E. DAVIES. + +LONDON, _January_ 1, 1849. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St Charles's--Description +of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for Sale--Texts for Southern +Divines--Perilous Picture + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration--A +Negro Pew--The Sermon + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child + + +LETTER VIII. + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men + + +LETTER IX. + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion" + + +LETTER X. + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners + + +LETTER XI. + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi +--Steam-boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the +"Crescent City"--Slave Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar +Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A +Reverend Slave-holder + + +LETTER XII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave of +President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C.B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane Seminary +--Departure from Cincinnati + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance-Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage--A +Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and Dr. +Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr. Plummer's Pro-slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ----'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church + + +LETTER XXVIII + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L----'s--Afternoon Service at +Mr. C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr. ----'s + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven.--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor +Yale--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity-- +Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. Bushnell +and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground--The New +Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure from +Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth Bliss--The +Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chan is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +What the Author thinks of the Americans (continued)--Slavery +--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor +and his Blood-hounds + + + + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High-Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae. + + +The ill health of my wife, occasioned by long residence amid the sultry +swamps of Guiana, compelled me a few months ago to accompany her on a +visit to the United States of America. Having taken our passage in a +ship to New Orleans, we found ourselves in fifteen days on the +far-famed Mississippi,--the "father of waters." On gazing around, our +first feeling was one of awe, to find ourselves actually ascending that +majestic stream, that great artery of the greatest valley in the world, +leading into the very heart of a continent. The weather was very cold; +the trees on the river's bank were leafless; and the aspect of nature +on every hand told it was winter. What a change! But a fortnight before +we were panting under an almost vertical sun. We found the Mississippi +much narrower than we had anticipated. In some places it is only about +half a mile wide; while below New Orleans it never, I should say, +exceeds a mile in width. This is remarkable, since not less than +fifty-seven large navigable rivers contribute to swell its waters. It +is, however, very deep, and, even at the distance of 500 miles above +New Orleans, is navigated by vessels of 300 tons; nay, at 1,364 miles +from its mouth, it attains an average depth of fifteen feet. In its +course, it waters 2,500 miles of country. Among the rivers that pour +themselves into this immense stream are--the Missouri, which has first +traversed a space of 2,000 miles; the Arkansas, 1,300 miles; the Red +River, 1,000 miles; and the Ohio, 700 miles. + +Unfortunately, at the entrance of this noble river, there is a bar +called the Balize, so shallow as hitherto to have seriously interfered +with the navigation of large and deeply-laden vessels. Even for the +cotton trade, a particular construction of ship has been found needful, +with a flatter bottom than usual, in order to pass easily over this +bar, any effort to remove which the rapidity of the stream would render +fruitless. This circumstance, with the want of harbour at the mouth of +the Mississippi, has hitherto operated greatly against the trade with +New Orleans, which is 110 miles up the river. Recently, however, a +magnificent harbour has been discovered between Cat Island and Isle +Apitre, within Lake Borgne, and only ten miles from the coast of the +mainland. This new harbour, easily accessible from the sea, at all +times contains a depth of water varying from thirty to fifty feet, and +is so protected on all sides that vessels may ride with the greatest +safety in the worst weather. From this harbour to Bayou on the mainland +the distance is only twelve miles, and from Bayou to New Orleans +forty-six miles,--making altogether only fifty-eight miles from Cat +Island Harbour to New Orleans; whereas, by the difficult and dangerous +route of the Mississippi, the distance is 110 miles. The importance and +value of such a harbour it is difficult to over-estimate. Its +beneficial effect on the future destiny of the great valley will be +prodigious. + +I have said the "great valley," and well it deserves the appellation. +It contains as many square miles, with more tillable ground than the +whole continent of Europe. It measures about 1,341,649 square miles, +and is therefore six times larger than France. And this valley is as +rich as it is extensive. It is the "fat" valley. Never did human eye +behold a finer soil, or more luxuriant productions. The treasures +beneath the surface are as precious as those above. The lead and copper +mines are among the best in the world. Iron and coal also abound. +Building materials, of beauty and strength, adapted to form cottages +for the poor or palaces for the rich, are not wanting. Nature has here +furnished in lavish profusion everything necessary for converting the +wilderness into smiling fields, studded with populous cities. + +But we are not yet within the great valley. We are only at its +entrance, sailing up the "father of waters," against the stream, at the +rate of four or five miles an hour. It is usual for sailing-vessels to +be towed by steam-tugs to their destination; but, having a fair breeze, +and no tug at hand, we were indebted to our sails alone. The motion was +exceedingly pleasant, after the tossings we had had in the Gulf of +Mexico. The vessel glided smoothly along, and new objects presented +themselves continually on either hand. + +My enjoyment of the scenery, however, was soon marred by an attack of +fever and ague, which sent me below. While I was down, several +steam-tugs towing vessels down the river met us. Their unearthly groans +filled me with terror. Their noise was not that of puff--puff +--puff--puff, like all the other steamers that I had ever +heard, but something composed of a groan, a grunt, and a +growl--deep-drawn, as from the very caverns of Vulcan, and that at +awfully-solemn intervals,--grunt--grunt--grunt--grunt! This +peculiarity, I was told, arose from their "high-pressure" engines. The +sound, thus explained, brought to my recollection all the dreadful +stories of boiler explosions with which the very name of the +Mississippi had become associated in my mind. But (thought I) they have +surely learned wisdom from experience, and are become more skilful or +more cautious than they used to be! + +While I was engaged with these reflections, our captain came down, and +handed me a couple of New Orleans papers, which he had just received +from the pilot. Here was a treat; and, feeling a little better, I began +with eagerness to open one of them out. It was the _New Orleans Bee_ of +January 23; and, _horresco referens_, the first thing that caught my +eye was the following paragraph:-- + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--LOSS OF LIFE.--Captain Haviland, of the +steam-ship 'Galveston,' from Galveston, reports that the tow-boat +'Phoenix,' Captain Crowell, burst her boilers when near the head of the +South-west Pass [which we had but just passed], killing and wounding +about twenty-five in number, seven of whom belonged to the boat, the +_balance_ to a barque she had alongside; carrying away the foremast of +the barque close to her deck, and her mainmast above her cross-trees, +together with all her fore-rigging, bulwarks, and injuring her hull +considerably. The ship 'Manchester,' which she had also alongside, was +seriously injured, having her bulwarks carried away, her longboat +destroyed," &c. + +Such was the paragraph, with not a syllable of note or comment on cause +or consequences. It was evidently an every-day occurrence. What +recklessness was here indicated! and how comforting to a sick and +nervous man, now near the very spot of the occurrence, and in a vessel +about to be placed in the same pleasant relation to one of those +grunting monsters as the unfortunate "barque" had but three days before +occupied, with the trifling "balance" of eighteen of her crew "killed +and wounded!" + +The fever having left me, I ventured on deck. At this moment one of +these infernal machines came in sight, towing down three large ships. +Instead of having them behind, as on the Thames and Mersey, she (like +the "Phoenix") had one on either side, closely lashed to herself, and +the other only behind. This terrific monster seemed to be carrying them +away arm-in-arm, like two prisoners, to destruction. At all events, it +was a position of familiarity and friendship with the "Sprite of Steam" +of which I did not at all like the idea; and yet we ourselves were +by-and-by to be placed in its perilous embrace! + +The dreaded monster gone by, I resumed the perusal of my New Orleans +papers. Now (thought I) I am in a slave country! I wonder whether these +papers will give any indication of the fact. In a little while my eye, +surveying the _Bee_ of January 21, caught sight of an advertisement +signed "N. St. Martin, Sheriff, Parish of St. Charles," and containing +a list of 112 human beings offered for sale! The miserable catalogue +was full of instruction. In drawing it up the humane sheriff became +quite facetious, telling the public that "Frank, 35 years old, American +negro, [was] _good for everything_;" while "Stephen, 46 years old, +[was] _fit for nothing at all_;" that "Salinette, 60 years old, +hospital-nurse, [was] _a good subject, subject to rheumatisms_;" and +that "Peter, American negro-man, 38 years old, [was] _a good cook, +having had two fits of madness_." I will back this against the Dublin +_Hue and Cry_. + + + + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam-Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel. + + +The evening closed upon us, sailing pleasantly up the Mississippi. +Having a beautiful moonlight night, we kept on our way. About seven +o'clock we overtook a small fishing-boat laden with oysters. In +consideration of our allowing them--not the oysters, but the +boatmen--to fasten a rope to our vessel, to help them on, they gave us +a generous and refreshing supply. But such oysters! In neither size nor +shape did they resemble those of the Old World. As to size, they were +gigantic,--as to shape, not unlike the human foot. They abound not far +from the mouth of the river, and many men obtain a livelihood by +carrying them up to the New Orleans market. The mode of cooking adopted +in this instance was that of putting them on the fire till the shells +opened. To our taste, they were not in flavour to be compared to the +London oysters; but we did not venture to tell our American captain so. +We had yet, however, to taste the deliciously-cooked oysters of the +northern cities. + +About 10 p.m., the breeze having in a great measure died away, our +captain thought it imprudent to attempt to "go a-head" further that +night, and the anchor was cast. We were now fifty miles above the +entrance of the river. + +Early next day the anchor was raised, the sails were unfurled, and we +again moved along. About 8 a.m., through the narrowness of the river, +the rapidity of the stream, and other causes, our "smart" captain, who +had chuckled vastly on passing all other ships in the river,--and +especially British ships,--ran his own vessel right ashore! There we +were in a complete "fix," till one of the grunting monsters (coming up +with two vessels--one on each arm, as usual,--and letting them go for a +few minutes,) came to our rescue. Forbidding as was his aspect, we were +very glad to feel a little of his giant power. Of this one I had, of +course, a better view than I had had of any other of the species. It +had, like the rest, two chimneys in front, like perpendicular tusks, +with a ladder between them. The ladder was for the purpose of +ascent,--the ascent for the purpose of elevation,--and the elevation +for the purpose of "look out." The top of the ladder, in short, +rendered the same service as the top of a ship's mast at sea. This +"tug" had also, a little further aft, a funnel-like sort of chimney, +for the emission of steam. The whole structure was--like a forge below, +and a palace above. In the lower story were the boiler, engine, fuel, +&c., all exposed to view; while, the upper contained splendid +apartments for the captain, the engineer, and other officers. The +engineer of that vessel, I understood, had a salary of 250 dollars (50 +guineas) per month! + +Released from our stranded position, we found ourselves in a few +minutes lashed to the monster's side, and completely in his power. Here +we were, in the same dread position in which the day before we felt +horrified to see others! From some of the officers, our captain +obtained another newspaper. It was the _New Orleans Daily Picayune_ for +January 26. Getting hold of it, I found whole columns of slave-sale +advertisements. A few specimens will illustrate better than any +description the state of things in this "land of liberty!" + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--The subscribers No. 56, Esplanade-street, have just +received a lot of valuable Slaves from Virginia and Maryland, +consisting of Mechanics, Farm Hands, and House Servants, and have made +_arrangements not to be surpassed_ in this market for a _regular +supply_ from the above markets, as also Alabama. We hazard nothing in +saying, if our former friends, and others wishing to purchase good +servants or hands, will give us a call, they shall not be disappointed. + +"N.B. All Negroes sold by the undersigned are fully guaranteed. + +"SLATTER & LOCKETT, + +"56, Esplanade-street." + +"n11--6m." + +"FOR SALE.--A likely Mulatto Negress, aged twenty-two years,--she is a +first-rate cook, and a good washer and ironer, besides being a +tolerable good seamstress. + +"ANDERSON & BURNET, + +"38, Camp-street." + +"J26." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--I have just received, and offer for sale, a very +likely lot of Virginia Negroes. Those wishing to purchase will do well +to give me a call at my office, No. 157, Gravier-street, between +Carondelet and Baronne streets. I will be _constantly receiving_ +Negroes from Virginia and North Carolina during the winter. + +"C. M. RUTHERFORD." + +"n13--6m." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--No. 165, Gravier-street.--The subscriber has always +on hand a number of Slaves, consisting of House Servants, Field Hands, +and Mechanics, which will be sold low for cash or negotiable paper. +Persons desirous of purchasing will find it to their interest to call +and examine. The subscriber will also receive and sell on consignment +any Negro that may be intrusted to his care. + +"He would also respectfully notify persons engaged in the Slave Trade, +that he is prepared to board them and their Slaves on the most +reasonable terms. + +"WM. H. MERRITT." + +"o1--6m." + +"References--J.A. Barelli, C.J. Mansoni." + +"ONE HUNDRED NEGROES.--For Sale at No. 13, Moreau-street.--All of which +have just been received from Maryland and Virginia. My old friends, and +others wishing to purchase Slaves, will find it to their interest to +call on me before purchasing elsewhere. Also will receive _large +shipments during the season_ from the above States. + +"R. R. BEASLEY, + +"13, Moreau-street." + +"d31--3m." + +Runaway slaves seem to be constantly advertised, with (as in the case +of ship advertisements) a small woodcut figure representing them in the +very act of making their escape. Indeed, almost everything advertised +is accompanied by its picture,--ships, houses, bonnets, boots, leeches, +oysters, and so forth. Even a strayed horse or a strayed cow is +advertised with a picture representing the animal in the very act of +going astray. On the same principle, and in like manner, human chattels +assuming their natural right to go where they please, are advertised +with a woodcut representing them as bending forward in the act of +running, and carrying with them a small bundle containing their scanty +wardrobe,--a pitiable figure! And yet this is done, not to awaken +sympathy, but to excite vigilance, as in the following instances, which +I have picked out of the _Picayune_:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--The aforesaid sum will be given to any +person who will bring back to the undersigned the negro-girl Eugenia, +and her mulatto child aged two years. Said slave has been purloined or +enticed away by her former owner, Madame Widow Decaux, who secretly +went out of this State on the 12th December, 1846. Said Widow Decaux is +well known in New Orleans as a notorious swindler, having been +prosecuted for having pawned logs of wood to a merchant of this city +instead of dry goods. She has a scar on her forehead, and several +others on her neck, and is accompanied by her aged mother, and her boy +aged ten years. + +"J. B. DUPEIRE." + +"j7--15t*." + +"Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th November last, a negro man +named Sandy, about twenty-five years of age, five feet five inches +high, very dark complexion, speaks both French and English, _shows the +mark of the whip very much_. A liberal reward will be paid for his +apprehension, either by confining in any gaol, so that I can secure +him, or his delivery to me at Plaquemine, La. + +"W. H. CARR." + +"J20--3tW." + +And yet the editor of this very paper, in his leading article, +reviewing the past, (that day being the tenth anniversary of its own +existence,) coolly says, "In entering upon our eleventh anniversary, +how different the spectacle! Industry in every quarter of the land +receives its meet reward; Commerce is remunerated by wholesome gains; +_Comfort blesses the toil of the labourer_(!) and Hope encourages the +enterprise of all the industrial classes of our citizens." + +As the day advanced, my fever returned; and I was obliged to go below. +A furious tempest arose, so that even our "monster" could scarcely get +along. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and the rain fell in +torrents. It was a terrific day! As night approached, our captain told +us the vessel could not then be got any further,--it was about two +miles from the city; and if we particularly wished to go ashore, we +must get ready directly, and go with him in the steam-tug. Anxious for +a good night's rest, on shore we resolved to go. I had to turn out in +that state of profuse perspiration which always succeeds the fever, and +my wife hurriedly selected a few necessary things. Poor thing! she was +almost overwhelmed with the trying circumstances in which she was +placed,--thousands of miles from home--about to enter a place in which +she knew not a single soul--her husband ill, and herself an invalid! +But there was no help for it. Amidst torrents of rain, we made the +fearful transition from the ship to the tug, while both vessels were in +violent agitation. It was done. And now we were in the "monster's" own +bosom, expecting every moment his bowels to burst, and send us into +eternity. The noise of the engine, the grunting of the steam, the +raging of the wind, the pelting of the rain, and the roaring of the +thunder, made it almost impossible to hear anything besides; but I +managed to shout in my wife's ear the natural, though not very +consolatory question, "Were we ever in so fearful a position before?" +"Never!" (and we had had some experience of storms by both land and +sea) was her awe-stricken reply. + +We detached ourselves from the sailing-vessel; but, with all the power +of steam, we could scarcely get along. At last the "monster's" +bellowing was hushed,--the tremor ceased,--we were there! But how to +get ashore was still a difficulty. It was about 100 yards off. Planks, +however, were eventually placed so as to enable us to descend from our +lofty "tug" into a ship at anchor, from that into another, from that +again into a third, and from that at length on _terra firma_. + +The hour was between 7 and 8 p.m.; and we were taken to a +ship-chandler's store, while our kind captain went to get a chaise for +us. The store was closed; but the owner and three other gentlemen were +there, seated before a comfortable coal fire, apparently enjoying +themselves after the business of the day. They received us very +courteously, and gave us chairs by the fireside. The storm of that day +they told us had done much harm to the shipping, and was severer than +any other they had experienced during the last seven years. While the +conversation was going on, _plash_ made one, _plash_ made another, +_plash_ made a third, by spurting a certain brownish secretion on the +floor! I had often heard of this as an American habit, but always +thought our cousins in this matter (as in many others) were +caricatured. Here, however, was the actual fact, and that in the +presence of a lady! Yet these were apparently very respectable men. + +Having waited about a quarter of an hour, anxiously listening for the +rumbling of the expected wheels, I heard in the distance a strange kind +of noise, resembling that of a fire-shovel, a pair of tongs, a poker, +and an iron hoop tied loosely together with a string, and drawn over +the pavement! "What in the world is that?" said I. "It is the chaise," +was the answer. The vehicle was quickly at the door. In we were +bundled, and orders given to drive us to the "St. Charles's." We +scarcely knew what this "St. Charles's" was; but, as all with whom we +had conversed seemed to take it for granted that we should go thither, +and as any one _saint_ was to us as good as any other, we echoed, "To +the St. Charles's." And now began such a course of jolting as we had +never before experienced. It seemed as if all the gutters and +splash-holes in the universe had been collected together, and we had to +drive over the whole. This continued about half an hour, by which we +learned that we were at first much further from the "St. Charles's" +than we supposed. The machine at last stopped, and we alighted, +thankful to have escaped a complete stoppage of our breath. + +We were there. A waiter (he was not to be mistaken,--he bore a family +resemblance to all the waiters of the world) was instantly at the +coach-door, to help us _out_ and to help us _in_. He conducted us into +a lobby, up a flight of stairs, and through a long passage, to a large +saloon, where about 150 ladies and gentlemen were assembled,--some +sitting, some standing, some talking, some laughing, and some playing +with their fingers. But, no! we shrunk back. Thither we would not be +led, all wet and dirty as we were. We begged to be shown into a private +room. The waiter stared, and said he had none to take us to, except I +would first go to the "office." But what was to become of my +fellow-traveller in the meantime? No woman belonging to the +establishment made her appearance, and there my wife was obliged to +stand alone in the passage, whilst I followed the waiter through aisles +and passages, and turnings and twistings, and ups and downs, to a large +saloon, where about 200 gentlemen were smoking cigars! What a sight! +and what a smell! Who can realize the vast idea of 200 mouths, in one +room, pouring forth the fumes of tobacco? I was directed to the +high-priest of the establishment in the "office," or (as I should say) +at the "bar." Without verbally replying to my application, he handed me +a book in which to record my name. Having obeyed the hint, I again +asked my taciturn host if myself and wife could be accommodated. He +then, with manifest reluctance, took the cigar out of his mouth, and +said he had only one room to spare, and that was at the top of the +house. It was "Hobson's choice," and I accepted it. And now for a +journey! Talk of ascending the Monument on Fish-street Hill! what is +that compared to ascending the St. Charles's, at New Orleans? No. 181 +was reached at last. The next task was to find my wife, which after +another long and circuitous journey was accomplished. In process of +time fire was made, and "tea for two" brought up. Let me, therefore, +close my letter and enjoy it. + + + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St. +Charles's--Description of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for +Sale--Texts for Southern Divines--Perilous Picture. + + +From No. 181 of the "St. Charles's," we descended, after a good night's +rest, to see some of the lions of the place. Here we are (thought I) in +New Orleans--the metropolis of a great slave country,--a town in which +exist many depĂ´ts for the disposal of human beings,--the very city +where, a few months ago, poor Pauline was sacrificed as the victim of +lust and cruelty! Unhappy girl! What a tragedy! On the 1st of August +last, I told the horrid tale to my emancipated people in Berbice. Here +it is, as extracted from the _Essex_ (United States) _Transcript_. Read +it, if you please; and then you will have a notion of the feelings with +which I contemplated a city rendered infamous by such a transaction. + +"Many of our readers have probably seen a paragraph stating that a +young slave girl was recently hanged at New Orleans for the crime of +striking and abusing her mistress. The religious press of the north has +not, so far as we are aware, made any comments upon this execution. It +is too busy pulling the mote out of the eye of the heathen, to notice +the beam in our nominal Christianity at home. Yet this case, viewed in +all its aspects, is an atrocity which has (God be thanked) no parallel +in heathen lands. It is a hideous offshoot of American Republicanism +and American Christianity! It seems that Pauline--a young and beautiful +girl--attracted the admiration of her master, and being (to use the +words of the law) his "chattel personal to all intents and purposes +whatsoever," became the victim of his lust. So wretched is the +condition of the slave woman, that even the brutal and licentious +regard of her master is looked upon as the highest exaltation of which +her lot is susceptible. The slave girl in this instance evidently so +regarded it; and as a natural consequence, in her new condition, +triumphed over and insulted her mistress,--in other words, repaid in +some degree the scorn and abuse with which her mistress had made her +painfully familiar. The laws of the Christian State of Mississippi +inflict the punishment of death upon the slave who lifts his or her +hand against a white person. Pauline was accused of beating her +mistress,--tried, found guilty, and condemned to die! But it was +discovered on the trial that she was in a condition to become a mother, +and her execution was delayed until the birth of the child. She was +conveyed to the prison cell. There, for many weary months, uncheered by +the voice of kindness, alone, hopeless, desolate, she waited for the +advent of the new and quickening life within her, which was to be the +signal of her own miserable death. And the bells there called to mass +and prayer-meeting, and Methodists sang, and Baptists immersed, and +Presbyterians sprinkled, and young mothers smiled through tears upon +their new-born children,--and maidens and matrons of that great city +sat in their cool verandahs, and talked of love, and household joys, +and domestic happiness; while, all that dreary time, the poor slave +girl lay on the scanty straw of her dungeon, waiting--with what agony +the great and pitying God of the white and black only knows--for the +birth of the child of her adulterous master. Horrible! Was ever what +George Sand justly terms 'the great martyrdom of maternity'--that +fearful trial which love alone converts into joy unspeakable--endured +under such conditions? What was her substitute for the kind voices and +gentle soothings of affection? The harsh grating of her prison +lock,--the mockings and taunts of unfeeling and brutal keepers! What, +with the poor Pauline, took the place of the hopes and joyful +anticipations which support and solace the white mother, and make her +couch of torture happy with sweet dreams? The prospect of seeing the +child of her sorrow, of feeling its lips upon her bosom, of hearing its +feeble cry--alone, unvisited of its unnatural father; and then in a few +days--just when the mother's affections are strongest, and the first +smile of her infant compensates for the pangs of the past--the scaffold +and the hangman! Think of the last terrible scene,--the tearing of the +infant from her arms, the death-march to the gallows, the rope around +her delicate neck, and her long and dreadful struggles, (for, +attenuated and worn by physical suffering and mental sorrow, her slight +frame had not sufficient weight left to produce the dislocation of her +neck on the falling of the drop,) swinging there alive for nearly half +an hour--a spectacle for fiends in the shape of humanity! Mothers of +New England! such are the fruits of slavery. Oh! in the name of the +blessed God, teach your children to hate it, and to pity its victims. +Petty politicians and empty-headed Congress debators are vastly +concerned, lest the 'honour of the country' should be compromised in +the matter of the Oregon Boundary. Fools! One such horrible atrocity as +this murder of poor Pauline 'compromises' us too deeply to warrant any +further display of their patriotism. It would compromise Paradise +itself! An intelligent and philanthropic European gentleman, who was in +New Orleans at the time of the execution, in a letter to a friend in +this vicinity, after detailing the circumstances of the revolting +affair, exclaims, 'God of goodness! God of justice! There must be a +future state to redress the wrongs of this. I am almost tempted to +say--there must be a future state, or no God!'" + +On Saturday, the 30th, we set off to seek private lodgings. Led by a +board having on it in large letters the words "Private Boarding," we +"inquired within," found what we wanted, and engaged for eight dollars +per week each. We then went to pay our bill at the "St. Charles's," and +to bring away our carpet-bag. We had been there two nights, had had one +dinner, two teas, and two breakfasts. These meals, as we did not like +to join the hundreds at the "ordinary," were served to us (in a very +_ordinary_ way however) in our bedroom. In fact, the waiting was +miserably done. And yet for this we had the pleasure of paying eleven +dollars,--say _ÂŁ2. 6s._! We gladly bade adieu to the "St. Charles's." +It suited neither our taste nor our pocket. Nevertheless, it is a +magnificent concern. The edifice was finished in 1838 by a company, and +cost 600,000 dollars. The gentlemen's dining-room is 129 feet by 50, +and is 22 feet high; having four ranges of tables, capable of +accommodating 500 persons. The ladies' dining-room is 52 feet by 36. +The house contains 350 rooms, furnishing accommodation for between 600 +and 700 guests; and it was quite full when we were there. The front is +adorned with a projecting portico, supported by six fine Corinthian +columns, resting upon a rustic basement. The edifice is crowned with a +large dome, forty-six feet in diameter, having a beautiful Corinthian +turret on the top. This dome is the most conspicuous object in the +city. Viewed from a distance, it seems to stand in the same relation to +New Orleans as St. Paul's to London. The furniture of this immense +establishment cost 150,000 dollars. A steam-engine, producing a very +disagreeable tremor, is constantly at work in the culinary department. + +While on our way to get the remainder of our baggage from the ship, we +came upon a street in which a long row, or rather several rows, of +black and coloured people were exposed in the open air (and under a +smiling sun) for sale! There must have been from 70 to 100, all young +people, varying from 15 to 30 years of age. All (both men and women) +were well dressed, to set them off to the best advantage, as is always +the case at these sales. Several of the coloured girls--evidently the +daughters of white men--had their sewing-work with them, as evidence of +their skill in that department. The whole were arranged under a kind of +verandah, having a foot-bench (about six inches high) to stand upon, +and their backs resting against the wall. None were in any way tied or +chained; but two white men ("soul-drivers," I suppose) were sauntering +about in front of them, each with a cigar in his mouth, a whip under +his arm, and his hands in his pockets, looking out for purchasers. In +its external aspect, the exhibition was not altogether unlike what I +have sometimes seen in England, when some wandering Italian has ranged +against a wall his bronzed figures of distinguished men,--Shakspeare, +Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, &c. It was between twelve and one in the +day; but there was no crowd, not even a single boy or girl looking +on,--so common and every-day was the character of the scene. As we +moved along in front of this sable row, one of the white attendants +(though my wife had hold of my arm) said to me, with all the +_nonchalance_ of a Smithfield cattle-drover, "Looking out for a few +niggers this morning?" Never did I feel my manhood so insulted. My +indignation burned for expression. But I endeavoured to affect +indifference, and answered in a don't-care sort of tone, "No, I am not +particularly in want of any to-da--." I could scarcely finish the +sentence. Emotion choked my utterance. I passed on, gazing at the troop +of degraded human beings, till my eyes became so filled with tears that +I was compelled to turn my face another way. Though I anticipated such +scenes, and had tried to prepare my mind for them, yet (now that they +were actually before me) I was completely overcome, and was obliged to +seek a place to sit down while I composed my feelings. With what +sentiments my companion beheld the scene, I will leave you to +conjecture! + +It was Saturday morning; and with my professional habits, I naturally +thought of the many divines in that very city, who were at that moment +shut up in their studies, preparing their discourses for the morrow. I +wished I had them all before me. I could have given every one of them a +text to preach upon. I would have said, "Gentlemen, see there! and +blush for your fellow-citizens. See there! and never again talk of +American liberty. See there! and lift up your voices like so many +trumpets against this enormity. See there! and in the face of +persecution, poverty, imprisonment, and (if needs be) even death +itself, bear your faithful testimony, and cease not until this foul +stain be wiped away from your national escutcheon. Dr. S----, to-morrow +morning let this be your text,--'Where is Abel, thy brother?' Dr. +II----, let your discourse be founded on Exod. xxi. 16: 'And he that +stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he +shall surely be put to death.' You, the Rev. Mr. C----, let your gay +and wealthy congregation be edified with a solemn and impressive sermon +on Is. lviii. 6: 'Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the +bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the +oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?' And you, the Rev. Mr. +H----, let your hearers have a full and faithful exposition of that law +which is 'fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy +neighbour as thyself.'" + +In the afternoon of the same day, as I walked along one of the +principal streets, I saw a flag issue from a fine large public building +to invite "ladies and gentlemen" to see "the magnificent picture of the +departure of the Israelites from Egypt,"--the canvas containing 2,000 +square feet, and 2,000,000 of figures! How significant! It would have +been still more so, if the number of "figures" had been 3,000,000 +instead of 2,000,000. What an "abolition" picture! It must have been +worse than "Jacob and his Sons," which was expunged from a catalogue of +the American Sunday-School Union, because, in reprehending the sale of +Joseph to the merchants, it reflected upon the _internal_ slave-trade! +Surely such exhibitions will affect the safety of the "peculiar +institution!" + + + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration +--A Negro Pew--The Sermon. + + +Think of a Sabbath in New Orleans! Curious to know how people did +really pray and preach, with slavery and slave-trading in their vilest +forms around them, I set off in search of the "First Presbyterian +Church." It is a beautiful building; seldom, if ever, had I seen a +place of worship the exterior of which I liked so much. Being a quarter +of an hour too soon, I had opportunity for some preliminary researches. +Wishing to see whether there was a "Negro Pew," I went into the +gallery, and took a seat on the left side of the organ. The "church" I +found as beautiful inside as out. Instead of a pulpit, there was a kind +of platform lined with crimson, which looked very nice. Most of the +pews below, and some above, were lined with the same material. A +splendid chandelier, having many circles of glass brilliants, was +suspended from the ceiling. Altogether, the "church" was a very neat +and graceful structure,--capable, as I learned, of accommodating about +1,500 people. But the floor--the floor! What a drawback! It was stained +all over with tobacco juice! Faugh! Those Southern men are the most +filthy people in that respect I ever met with. They are a great +"spitting" community. To make it still more revolting to luckless +travellers, this nasty habit is generally attended with noises in the +throat resembling the united growling of a dozen mastiffs. + +While the congregation was assembling, a greyheaded, +aristocratic-looking old negro came up into the gallery, walked along +"as one having authority," and placed himself in a front pew on the +right-hand side of the pulpit. Two black women shortly followed, taking +their seats in the same region. Others succeeded, till ultimately there +were from forty to fifty of the sable race in that part of the gallery. +Not one white was to be seen among the blacks, nor one black among the +whites. There, then, was the "Negro Pew!" It was the first time even my +West India eyes ever beheld a distinction of colour maintained in the +house of God! + +At eleven o'clock precisely, a man of tall but stooping figure and dark +complexion, about forty years of age, muffled up in a cloak, took his +stand at the bottom of the pulpit or platform stairs. It was Dr. S----. +He appeared to beckon to some one in the congregation. A tall, lank old +gentleman, with a black cravat, and shirt-collar turned over it _Ă +l'AmĂ©ricain_, stepped forward, and, ascending the steps before the +Doctor, occupied one of the two chairs with which the rostrum was +furnished, the Doctor taking the other. I supposed him to be one of the +elders, going to give out the hymns, or to assist in the devotional +exercises. At this moment the organ--a fine-toned instrument--struck +up, and the choir sang some piece--known, I presume, only to +themselves, for no others joined in it. This prelude I have since found +is universal in America. In all places of worship provided with an +organ, a "voluntary" on that instrument is the first exercise. In the +present instance the choir had no sooner ceased than the Doctor stood +up, having his cloak still resting upon his shoulders, and stretched +forth his right hand. At this signal all the people stood up, and he +offered a short prayer. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" thought I, during +this address to the Father of the spirits of all flesh. He then read +the 23rd and 24th Psalms. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" was still +ringing in my ears. The 33rd Psalm was then sung. "Where is Abel, thy +brother?" was still heard (by me at least) louder than the swelling +tones of the organ. The singing done, of which the choir still had an +entire monopoly, the Doctor read the 14th chapter of Mark; and as he +read the awful story of our Lord's betrayal, I could not help thinking +that the only difference between some of the Southern slave-dealers and +Judas was, that had they been in his place, they would have made a +"smarter" bargain. The reading, though free from affectation, was not +by any means in the best style. The chapter finished, the tall elder +(as I took him to be) prayed,--the congregation standing. The prayer +was short and appropriate, and the language tolerably correct; but the +tone and pronunciation were queer. I supposed them to indicate some +provincialism with which I was not acquainted. Along with that peculiar +nasal sound for which nearly all Americans are distinguished, there was +in the voice a mixture of coaxing and familiarity which was a little +offensive; still, as a "layman's" exercise, it was very good. He prayed +for "every grace and Christian virtue." Amen, ejaculated I,--then your +slaves will soon be free. He prayed for "our nation and rulers." He +prayed that "the great blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty which +we enjoy may be handed down to future generations." "Looking out for a +few niggers this morning?" thought I. He also prayed for "the army and +navy, and our fellow-citizens now on the field of battle," in allusion +to the Mexican War.--The prayer ended, Dr. S---- gave out another hymn. +During the whole of the service, I may here remark, there was a good +deal of going in and out, talking, whispering, spitting, guttural +turbulence, &c. At first there were about a dozen white boys in my +neighbourhood, who seemed as if they belonged to the Sabbath-school; +but, having no teacher to look after them, and enjoying the full swing +of liberty, they had before sermon all disappeared. + +After the singing, Dr. S---- made several announcements,--amongst +others, that the monthly concert to pray for the success of Foreign +Missions would be held there to-morrow evening, when several speakers +would address the meeting. By all means (said I to myself), and I'll +try to be present. He also told his people that the Rev. ----. ------, +(from some place in Kentucky,--the particulars I did not catch,) was +in the city, as a deputation from the ladies, to solicit subscriptions +for the erection of a new church that was greatly needed. + +The tall man in the black neckcloth then rose, and, to my surprise and +disappointment, read a text. It was I Cor. iii. 21: "For all things are +yours." I imagine _he_ was the deputation from the Kentuckian ladies. + +After a few introductory remarks explanatory of the context, he +proposed to inquire what are the things which "enter into" +("constitute," we should say) the inheritance of God's people. Slaves +(said I to myself) are a part of the inheritance of "God's people," +both here and in Kentucky: I wonder if he will notice that. + +The first thing, I observe (said he), that enters into the inheritance +of God's people, is the living ministry--"Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas." +To illustrate the value of this blessing, he referred to the imaginary +Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Universal Panacea. If +such things really existed, what a high value would men set upon them! +But here was something of incomparably higher worth. In order to form +an estimate of its value, he led his hearers to imagine the entire loss +of the living ministry. Secondly, the "world" belongs to God's people. +It is sustained for their sake, and therefore sinners are indebted to +God's people for the preservation of their lives. To prove this he +referred to the words of our Lord, "Ye are the salt of the earth." In +speaking of the preserving nature of salt, he supposed the sea to be +without salt. + +How pestilential then! But as it is, how salubrious the air that has +swept over it! He also referred to another case. There was once (said +he) a ship in a tremendous storm; the crew and passengers--about 270 in +number--were at their wits' end; nothing appeared before them but a +watery grave. On board of that ship was a poor prisoner, bound in +chains. He was deemed to be of the filth of the world, and the +off-scouring of all things. To that poor prisoner the angel of the Lord +came, and told him what must be done to save the life of every one on +board. The angel's directions were obeyed, and all were preserved. +Thus, for the sake of one of God's people, were 270 lives spared. He +offered another illustration. Three men came to converse with Abraham, +on the plains of Mamre. They told him that God was about to destroy +five cities. Abraham began to intercede for them. The preacher +recapitulated the wondrous story of this intercession and its success, +as further proving that ungodly men owe the preservation of their lives +to the presence and prayers of the people of God. The parable of the +tares was also cited, as illustrating the same position. "Let both grow +together until the harvest." Imagine (said he) all the people of God +removed from the face of the earth--no heart to love Him--no tongue to +praise Him,--there would be no reason why the earth should be continued +in existence another moment. In the light of this subject, see how +great a privilege it is to have pious relatives. "Life" also was, in +the third place, a part of the inheritance of the child of God, because +during it he makes a provision for eternity. He dwelt on the richness +of the treasure which God's people are laying up. Suppose (said he) any +of you were making money at the rate of fifty dollars an hour,--(I dare +say you do so sometimes, reflected I, when you get a good price for +your "niggers,")--how rich you would soon be! and how anxious that not +a single hour should be lost! But the child of God is laying up +treasure at a faster rate than this. Every time he works for God, he is +laying it up. The Christian's treasure is also of the right kind, and +laid up in the right place. If any of you were going to emigrate to +another country, you would be anxious to know what sort of money was +current in that country, and to get yours changed into it. The +Christian's treasure is the current coin of eternity. It is also in the +right place. Where would you like to have your treasure? Why, at home. +The Christian's treasure is at home--in his Father's house. Life is his +also, because during it he fights the battles of the Lord. Here the +preacher made an approving reference to the war against the Mexicans; +and I strongly suspect that this view of the Christian's inheritance +was dragged in for the very purpose. We fight (said he) under the eye +of the General. We fight with a certainty of victory. Death too was, in +the fourth place, a portion of the Christian's inheritance. To the +people of God curses are made blessings, and to those who are not his +people blessings are made curses. So sickness, persecution, and death +are made blessings to the saints. Death to the Christian is like an +honourable discharge to the soldier after the toil and the danger of +the field of strife. But that illustration (said he) is too feeble: I +will give you another. Imagine, on a bleak and dreary mountain, the +humble dwelling of two old people. They are bending under the weight of +years. Amidst destitution and want, they are tottering on the verge of +the grave. A messenger comes, and tells them of a relative who has +died, and left them a large inheritance,--one by which every want will +be supplied, and every desire realized,--one that will, the moment they +touch it with the soles of their feet, make them young again: he +points, moreover, to the very chariot that is to convey them thither. +Would this be bad news to those old people? Now, such is death to the +child of God. The cord is cut, and the spirit takes its flight to the +abodes of the blest. Or take another illustration. A stage-coach was +once upset. Many of the passengers were in great danger. One man +snatched a little babe from among the wheels, and laid it down in a +place of safety on the roadside. Twenty years after the same man was +travelling in a stage, on the same road, and telling those around him +about the accident which had taken place a long time before. A young +lady, sitting opposite, was listening to the narrative with eager +interest, and at last she burst out with rapture, "Is it possible that +I have at last found my deliverer? I was that little babe you rescued!" +Something like this will be the disclosures that death will make. +Having thus illustrated the inheritance of the people of God, let me +ask you (said he) who are not his people--what will all these things be +to you, if you die without Christ? The living ministry? The world? +Life? Death? Having spoken briefly, with power and pathos, on each of +these particulars, he very coolly and deliberately turned to Rev. xxii. +17, and read, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that +heareth say, Come," &c., &c., and closed abruptly, with neither an Amen +nor an invocation of any kind. + +Such was the first sermon I heard in the United States. It was +thoroughly evangelical and good; but I listened to it with mingled +feelings. It was painful to think that such a ministry could co-exist +with slavery. The creed it is evident may be evangelical, while there +is a woful neglect of the duties of practical piety. + + + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer. + + +After sermon Dr. S. gave out a hymn, and told the congregation that the +collection for the support of the "beneficiaries" of that church would +be "taken up" that morning; adding that, in consequence of this +collection not having been made at the usual time (in May last), some +of the young men who were preparing for the ministry, and dependent on +that congregation for food and clothing, were now in great want. He +also suggested that, if any present were unprepared with money, they +might put in a slip of paper, with their name, address, and the amount +of their contribution, and some one would call upon them. + +The collection was "taken up" during the singing, At the last verse the +congregation stood up. The benediction was pronounced, with +outstretched arm, by the Doctor; and the moment he uttered the "Amen!" +all rushed out of the place as fast as they could. This rushing is a +characteristic of the Americans. It is seen in their approach to the +dining-table, as well as in a hundred other instances. I suppose it is +what they call being "smart," and "going a-head." + +In the evening I went again to the same "church." The introductory part +was shorter and more simple than in the morning. The Doctor's prayer +(seven or eight minutes long) was admirable. I wished some dry, prosy +petitioners in England could have heard it. It was devout, +comprehensive, and to the point. All classes of men--but one--were +remembered in it. The slaves were not mentioned,--their freedom was not +prayed for! + +The Doctor gave us to understand that he was about to deliver the fifth +of a series of lectures to young men in great cities. The text was, +"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" the +subject, "The importance of the Sabbath to young men in great cities." + +The text (he observed) involved the principle, that man was not made to +observe certain ceremonies and obey certain precepts, but that the +observance of rites and laws was enjoined for man's own sake. This +principle applied to the institution of the Sabbath. The body, the +intellect, the affections--all required the rest which the Sabbath +affords. The experiment had been abundantly tried; and it had been +invariably found that more could be done, in every department of +labour, with the regular observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest +than without it. The farmer, the student, the legislator, had all tried +it. Man could no more do without the Sabbath than he could do without +sleep. Writers on slavery, however they differed on other points, were +all agreed on this,--that the withholding of the Sabbath from the +slaves in the West Indies, together with the other cruelties inflicted +upon them, had materially shortened their lives! (How telescopic, by +the way, are our views with regard to evils at a distance! West India +slavery never wore the hideous features which slavery presents in the +Southern States of America. Slavery even in Cuba, with all its horrors, +is far milder than in the United States.) France once presented a +fearful example of what a nation would be without a Sabbath. The +testimonies of Drs. Spurzheim and Rush were cited in confirmation; also +that of a respectable merchant in New York, well known to the preacher, +who, after the observation and experience of twenty-five years in that +city, declared that of those who kept their counting-houses open on the +Sabbath not one had escaped insolvency. A poor boy was apprenticed to +an apothecary in a large city. To increase his wages and encourage his +efforts, his master gave him a recipe and materials for making blacking +on his own account. The blacking was made, and placed in pots in the +shop window; but day after day passed, and no purchaser appeared. One +Sunday morning, while the shop was open for medicine, before the hour +of public service, a person came in, and asked for a pot of blacking. +The boy was in the very act of stretching out his hand to reach it, +when he reflected it was the Lord's-day. Falteringly, he told the +customer it was the Sabbath, and he could not do it. After this the boy +went to church. The Tempter there teased him about his folly in losing +a customer for his blacking: the boy held in reply that he had done +right, and, were the case to occur again, he would do just the same. On +Monday morning, as soon as he had taken down the shutters, a person +came in, and bought every pot of blacking there was; and the boy found +that, after deducting the cost of materials, he had cleared one dollar. +With more faith and fortitude than some of you possess (said the +preacher), he went and took that dollar--the first he had ever +earned--to the Bible Society. That poor boy is still living, and is now +a wealthy man. + +The preacher said he knew a man, in his own native State of Tennessee, +who on his arrival in America had nothing but a pocket Bible; but he +made two resolutions,--1st. That he would honour the Sabbath; 2nd. That +he would remember his mother. The first dollar he got he sent to her, +and declared that he would never forget the Sabbath and his mother. He +also was now a wealthy man. + +The punishment of Sabbath-breaking was sure, though not immediate. Like +the punishment of intemperance or impurity, it would come. Here the +celebrated testimony of Sir Matthew Hale was adduced. Dr. Johnson's +rules respecting the Sabbath were read, with the observation that no +doubt he owed much of his celebrity to their observance. Wilberforce +had declared that, at one period of his life, parliamentary duties were +so heavy that he would certainly have sunk under them, had it not been +for the rest the Sabbath afforded. But the Sabbath was not merely a day +of rest,--it was a day for improvement. Where there was no Sabbath, all +was bad. The inhabitants of Scotland and New England were distinguished +for industry and mental vigour; and they were equally distinguished for +observance of the Sabbath. The universal observance of the same day was +of great importance. It guarded against neglect. It told upon the +ungodly, as was shown by an eloquent induction of circumstances,--the +shops closed--the sound of the church-going bell--the throngs of decent +worshippers going to and fro, &c. + +Young men in great cities (it was observed) were in great danger, +chiefly from example. They met with those who were older in sin than +themselves--who prided themselves on knowing where the best oysters +were sold, the cheapest horses to be hired, or the cheapest boats to be +engaged for the Sunday's excursion. Young men were ready to think, "If +I don't do this, I may do something worse." The fallacy and danger of +this mode of reasoning were exposed. It might be employed to excuse any +sin. Public places of amusement were highways to destruction. Ah! how +those old people in that little cottage--surrounded with a stone +wall--on the hill side--far away--would weep, if they knew their son +was treading on the verge of these burning craters! Familiarity with +Sabbath-breaking destroyed the sense of guilt. The young medical +student when he first visited the dissecting-room, and the soldier when +he first stood on the field of battle, were sensible of misgivings, +against which repetition only made them proof,--each gradually losing +his first sensations. + +The desecration of the Sabbath was a greater evil to society than any +tyrant could inflict. How would any infringement of civil rights be +resisted! Here was an infringement with consequences infinitely more +injurious; and yet the press were dumb dogs, and the pulpit itself was +not guiltless! + +This masterly discourse was read, but read in such a manner as to lose +none of its effect. It occupied upwards of an hour. My irresistible +impression as I listened was, _There is a man of God!_ Truly a light +shining in a dark place; for, as I returned to my lodgings, I found the +coffee-houses, oyster-saloons, and theatres all open, just as on any +other day, only more thronged with customers. How much such discourses +are needed in this place, I leave you to judge from the following +extract from the _New Orleans Guide_:-- + +"The greatest market-day is Sunday. At break of day the gathering +commences,--youth and age--beauty and not so beautiful--all colours, +nations, and tongues are co-mingled in one heterogeneous mass of +delightful confusion. The traveller who leaves the city without +visiting one of the popular markets on Sunday morning has suffered a +rare treat to escape him." + +On the evening of the next day, being the first Monday in the month, I +went to the "Concert" for prayer, which had been announced the day +before. It was held in a vestry or a school-room under the church. +About sixty or seventy persons were in attendance. When I got there, +they were singing the last verse of + + "O'er the gloomy Mils of darkness," &c. + +A gentleman then gave an address. His object was to show that extensive +fields were open in various parts of the world for the introduction of +the Gospel. There was nothing clerical in his appearance, and he +boggled a great deal; but, as he said "We, the ministers of the +Gospel," I inferred that he was the pastor of some other Presbyterian +church in the city. Behind the desk, where sat Dr. S----, was hung up a +missionary map of the world, drawn on canvas, and illuminated from +behind. It was an excellent device. All missionary prayer-meetings +should be furnished with one. Those parts where the Gospel is already +preached were light, the realms of Heathenism dark, the lands of Popery +red, and so forth. + +After the address, the pastor called upon "Brother Franklin" to "lead +in prayer." The phrase was new to me, but I liked it,--it was +appropriate. The prayer was scriptural and good, as was that also of +another brother. The second prayed that the war, in which they were +then as a nation engaged, might be overruled for good, and "be the +means of introducing the Gospel and free institutions to a neighbouring +republic." Free institutions, indeed! (I said to myself): if you +conquer, I fear it will be the means of introducing slavery where now +it is not! After this prayer the pastor, having delivered a very short +address, gave out a hymn, and said that while they were singing Brother +such-a-one would "take up the collection,"--a phrase which seems to +indicate a greater degree of preparation on the part of the people than +our "make a collection." The Americans suppose it to be already made, +and nothing remains but to take it up. The good brother came round with +an old hat to receive contributions for the cause of missions. The +pastor then closed with a short prayer and the benediction. Upon the +whole, there were indications of a considerable degree of +warm-heartedness in reference to the missionary cause, and especially +of tender sympathy and affection towards missionaries themselves. As +one of the tribe, I found it rather difficult to preserve my _incog_. +There were present about half-a-dozen black people, some on the right +and some on the left of the pastor--"the place of honour!" + + + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction. + + +On that dreadful day, the 28th of January, on which we arrived in New +Orleans, Jack Jones, a Welshman, was drowned in the Mississippi, in a +generous effort to save another man from a watery grave. In that effort +he succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. On the 2nd of February +there was an advertisement in the papers, in which his friends offered +a reward for the recovery of the body. Where was the corporation, or +some one of the municipalities? for the papers make a continual +reference to first, second, and third municipalities. Was there no +public body, either civil or humane, to come forward on such an +occasion? Had "Jack Jones" gone to the war, and butchered a score or +two of harmless Mexicans, he would have been loaded with honours; but +he _saved_ a human being, close to the metropolis of the South, and his +body was left to perish like that of a dog--for aught the citizens +cared. I felt proud of my countryman. All honour to "Jack Jones!" May +none of Cambria's sons perish in a cause less noble! + +On the evening of the 4th of February I attended a public meeting for +the relief of the Irish. It was held in the New Commercial Exchange, +and was the first public meeting I had had an opportunity of attending +in America. The Commercial Exchange is a fine large building, supported +by pillars, and containing an area on the ground floor that would +accommodate about 1,500 people. It is but ill-adapted for a public +meeting, having no seats or benches. I found about 800 gentlemen +present, but no ladies. Nor was that to be wondered at; for out of the +800, about 799 were spitting, 600 smoking cigars, 100 chewing tobacco, +and perhaps 200 both chewing and smoking at the same time, for many of +those people chew one end of the cigar while burning the other. There +was a large platform, and a great number of gentlemen were upon it. +Governor Johnson was the president, assisted by lots of +vice-presidents. When I entered, a tall old gentleman, with rather high +cheek bones, and a voice somewhat tremulous and nasal, was speaking. He +descanted, in a second or third rate style, on the horrors of famine in +Ireland,--its horrors especially as seen in the family. Coming to a +period, he said, "It is under these circumstances that I want you to +put your hands into your pockets, and pull out something, and throw it +into the lap of starving Ireland!" This caused the most tremendous +cheering I ever heard,--"bravo--bravo--bravo,--whoo--hoo--whoo!" The +last sound was to me altogether new. Not having learned phonography, I +can give you no adequate notion of it; but it was a combination of the +owl's screech and the pig's scream. The favoured orator continued his +speech a little longer, and at the close there was a storm of applause +ten times more terrific than the former. And who was the speaker? It +was none other, as I subsequently ascertained, than the celebrated +Henry Clay! In departing from the tone of eulogy in which it is +fashionable to speak of him, I may be charged with a want of taste and +discrimination. That I cannot help. My simple object in these letters +is to tell how Transatlantic men and manners appeared to my eye or ear. +Before I went to America my respect for Henry Clay was very great. I am +sorry to say it is not so now. I have closely examined his conduct in +reference to "the peculiar institution," and find it to have been +that--not of a high-minded statesman and true philanthropist--but of a +trimming, time-serving partisan. He has been a main pillar of slavery; +and as the idol of the Whig party, a great stumbling-block in the way +of those who sought the overthrow of that system. The man of whom I +have thus freely, yet conscientiously expressed myself, is nevertheless +thus spoken of in the _New Englander_, a quarterly review of high +character now open before me:--"We intend to speak in the praise of +Henry Clay. His place among the great men of our country is permanently +fixed. He stands forth prominent above the politicians of the hour, in +the midst of the chosen few who are perpetual guardians of the interest +and of the honour [slavery?] of the nation. The foundations of his fame +are laid deep and imperishable, and the superstructure is already +erected. It only remains that the mild light of the evening of life be +shed around it." + +The cheering at the close of Mr. Clay's speech merged into an awful +tempest of barking. I could compare it to nothing else,--500 men +barking with all their might! I thought it was all up with the +meeting--that all was lost in incurable confusion; and yet the +gentlemen on the platform looked down upon the raging tempest below +with calmness and composure, as a thing of course. Amidst the noise I +saw a middle-aged gentleman, rising on the platform, deliberately take +off his top-coat, and all was hushed--except at the outskirts of the +assembly, where a great trade in talking and tobacco was constantly +carried on. This gentleman's name was S.S. Prentiss, Esq.; and the +barking, it was now evident, consisted of calling out Prentiss! +--Prentiss!--Prentiss! with all their might, on the top of the +voice, and with an accent, sharp and rising, on the first syllable. + +This gentleman gave us to understand that he was a lawyer--that he had +often appeared before his fellow-citizens on former occasions (those +occasions he briefly enumerated); but that the present was the most +painful of all. He expatiated largely, and with great vehemence of tone +and action, on the miseries of famine as experienced in +Ireland,--talked much of their own glorious and free country--("Looking +out for a few niggers this morning?" occurred to me),--and made some +severe reflections--not, I admit, altogether undeserved--on the +Government of England. This man was fluent, though turgid. He seemed +resolved to _act_ the orator throughout, and certainly to me appeared +in point of talent far--far a-head of Henry Clay. Bravos and hoohoos in +abundance greeted Mr. Prentiss. He spoke long; but the noise of the +suburbs prevented my hearing so perfectly as I wished. + +The cheering at the close of this speech merged into barking as before. +In this instance it was Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! that they called for. The +president (standing) showed them a sheet of paper, containing probably +a list of subscriptions, and smiled coaxingly to intimate that he +wished that to be read. But it would not do. Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! was +still the cry; and the democracy, as before, carried the day. + +By this time the atmosphere of the room had become so poisoned with +smoking that I could endure it no longer. I had not only the general +atmosphere to bear, but special puffs, right in my face, accompanying +the questions and remarks which, in that free meeting, of free +citizens, in a free country, were freely put to me by the free-and-easy +gentlemen around. The meeting resulted in the raising of 15,000 dollars +for the relief of the Irish. The sum was handed by the American +Minister in London to Lord John Russell; and a note from his Lordship, +acknowledging the gift, has gone the round of the papers on both sides +of the Atlantic. The subject of relief to Ireland was subsequently, in +many ways and places, brought under my notice; and while I have been +delighted in many instances with the display of pure and noble +generosity, it was too evident that much of what was done was done in a +spirit of self-glorification over a humbled and afflicted rival. It was +a fine opportunity to feed the national vanity, and to deal hard blows +to England. Not that I was sorry to see those blows, or to feel them. +They drew no blood, and were a hundred times more efficacious than if +they had. I felt that there was much in the conduct of England towards +her unhappy sister-isle for which she deserved the severest +castigation. But I must protest against the form of putting the case, +which was very common throughout the United States: "You are shocked at +our slavery; and yet you have horrors of ten times greater magnitude, +in the Irish famine at your own doors." In this way the Irish famine, +was a God-sent sort of a salvo for the slave-holder's conscience, so +soothing and grateful to his tortured feelings that he was but too +happy to pay for it by a contribution for the relief of Ireland. + +In consequence of the following advertisement in the _Picayune_, I +screwed up my feelings, and resolved for once at least in my life to +see a slave-auction. I was the more disposed to attend this, as it was +distinctly stated that they would be sold in families. I should not +therefore have to behold the wife torn away from the husband, the +husband from the wife, the parent from the child, or the child from the +parent, as is so commonly done. + +"COTTON-FIELD HANDS.--By Beard, Calhoun, and Co., auctioneers.--Will be +sold at auction, on Friday, the 5th inst., at 12 o'clock, at Bank's +Arcade, thirty-seven Field Slaves; comprising eighteen from one +plantation, and fourteen from another. All acclimated Negroes. To be +sold in Families. Full particulars at sale." + +"F. 4." + +Setting off a few minutes before 12, after about half-a-dozen +inquiries, and as many "guessing" answers, I found "Bank's Arcade." It +was very near the Presbyterian church, in which I had heard such +excellent sermons on the preceding Sabbath. It was a large open +building: one side occupied as a bar for the retail of strong drinks, +and the other fitted up for auctioneering purposes,--there being +conveniences for three or four of the trade to exercise their vocation +at the same time. One end was used for the sale of books and other +publications, chiefly novels; and the other for the exhibition of fancy +goods. + +As I got in at one end, I heard a voice--with that peculiar, twirling, +rapid, nasal twang, which marks the Transatlantic auctioneer--say, "400 +dollars for this fine young woman--only 400 dollars--420, only +420--430--440, only 440 dollars offered for this fine young woman." By +this time I had got in front of the performer, and had a full view of +the whole affair. And sure enough she was a "fine young woman," about +twenty-three years of age, neatly dressed, not quite----But the scene +shall form the subject of my next letter. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House-Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child. + + +Yes, she _was_ a "fine young woman," about 23 years of age, neatly +dressed, not black, but slightly coloured. The auctioneer was a +sleek-looking fellow, with a face that indicated frequent and familiar +intercourse with the brandy-bottle. He stood upon a platform, about +four feet high. Behind him was a table, at which a clerk sat to record +the sales. High above was a semi-circular board, on which were written +in large letters "Beard, Calhoun, and Co." In front, standing upon a +chair, exposed to the gaze of a crowd of men, stood the "fine young +woman." She had an air of dignity even in that degrading position. +Around were twenty or thirty more of the sable race, waiting their +turn. + +"440 dollars only offered," continued the coarse and heartless +auctioneer; "450, thank you; 460, 460 dollars only offered for this +excellent young woman--470 only, 470--480, 480 dollars only +offered--490--500 dollars offered--going for 500 dollars--once, going +for 500 dollars--503 dollars--going for 503 dollars--going--once +--twice--gone for 503 dollars. She is yours, sir," pointing +to the highest bidder. She stepped down, and disappeared in the custody +of her new proprietor. + +A man and his wife, both black, were now put up. They were made to +ascend the platform. "Now, how much for this man and his wife? Who +makes an offer? What say you for the pair? 550 dollars offered--560 +dollars only; 560 dollars," &c., &c., till some one bidding 600 +dollars--he added, "Really, gentlemen, it is throwing the people +away--going for 600 dollars; going--once--twice--gone for 600 dollars. +They are yours, sir." + +Jim, a blacksmith, about 30 years of age, was the next. He stood on the +chair in front. "Now, who bids for Jim? He is an excellent blacksmith; +can work on a plantation, and make his own tools; in fact, can turn his +hand to anything. The title is good,"--(Is it, indeed? breathed +I,)--"and he is guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies +provided against by law. Who bids for him? 600 dollars bid for him +--625 dollars--650 dollars," and so on to 780. "'Pon my soul, +gentlemen, this is throwing the man away; he is well worth 1,200 +dollars of anybody's money; 790 dollars only offered for him--going for +790 dollars;--going--once--twice--gone for 790 dollars." + +The next "lot" was a family, consisting of the husband, a man slightly +coloured, about 30 years of age, the wife about 25, quite black, and +reminding me forcibly of an excellent woman in my own congregation, a +little girl about 4 years of age, and a child in the arms. They were +told to mount the platform. As they obeyed, I was attracted by a little +incident, which had well nigh caused my feelings to betray me. Never +shall I forget it. Parents of England, let me tell it you, and enlist +your sympathies on behalf of oppressed and outraged humanity. It was +that of a father helping up, by the hand, _his own little girl to be +exposed for sale_. "Now, who bids for this family? Title +good--guaranteed free from the vices and maladies provided against by +law. The man is an excellent shoemaker--can turn his hand to +anything,--and his wife is a very good house-servant. Who bids for the +lot? 500 dollars bid for them--600 dollars--only 600 dollars--700 +dollars offered for them." But the price ultimately mounted up to 1,125 +dollars.--"Going for 1,125 dollars--once--twice--gone for 1,125 +dollars." + +The next was a black boy, 16 years of age. He mounted the chair, not +the platform. "Now, gentlemen, here is an excellent ploughboy. Who bids +for him? Thank you,--400 dollars bid for him--425," and so on to 550 +dollars. "Why, look at him; he is a powerful-limbed boy; he will make a +very large strong man." He was knocked down at 625 dollars. + +"The next I have to put up, gentlemen, is a young piece of city +goods--the girl Cornelia. She is 18 years of age, a good washer and +ironer, but not a very good cook. She is well known in the city, and +has always belonged to some of the best families." By this time +Cornelia was standing upon the chair. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for +this girl? She is sold for no fault, but simply for want of money. Who +bids for this excellent washer and ironer?" At this moment one of the +"gentlemen," standing in front of her, deliberately took his +walking-stick, and, with the point of it, lifted up her clothes as high +as the knee. I afterwards saw this same man walking arm-in-arm with his +white wife in the street. "500 dollars offered for her--530 dollars." +She went for 580. + +Here let me state, once for all, that I took notes on the spot. Those +around me no doubt thought I was deeply interested in the state of the +slave-market, and wishful to convey the most accurate information to my +slave-breeding and soul-driving correspondents at a distance. Had my +real object and character been discovered, I gravely doubt whether I +should have left that "great" and "free" city alive! + +The next "lot" were Jim, his wife, and two children, one about three, +and the other about two years of age,--all on the platform. They were +said to be excellent cotton-field hands, title good, and so forth; but, +somehow, there were no bidders. + +A boy about ten years of age, a fine intelligent-looking little fellow, +was now made to mount the chair. "Now, who bids for Tom? an excellent +house-boy, a 'smart' young lad; can wait well at table--title +good--guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies provided against +by law. Who bids for him?" The bidding began, at 350 dollars, and ended +at 425. + +"I have now to put up the boy Edmund, thirty-two years of age, an +excellent cotton-field hand. Who bids for the boy Edmund?" At this +moment a gentleman, who, like most of those present, appeared to be a +sort of speculator in slaves, stepped forward, and examined with his +hands the boy's legs, especially about the ankles, just as I have seen +horse-dealers do with those animals at fairs. There were, however, no +bidders; and Edmund was put down again. + +The next that mounted the chair was a shrewd-looking negro, about +thirty-five years of age. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for Tom? He is an +excellent painter and glazier, and a good cook besides; title good; +sold for no fault, except that his owner had hired him at 25 dollars a +month, and Tom would not work. An excellent painter and glazier, and a +good cook besides. His only fault is that he has a great idea of his +own reserved rights, to the neglect of those of his master." This was +said with a waggish kind of a leer, as if he thought he had said a very +smart thing in a very smart way. 300 dollars were first offered for +him; but poor Tom went for 350. "Now, sir," said the man-seller to Tom, +with a malicious look, "you'll go into the country." He was bought by +one of the speculators, who no doubt would sell him again for double +the amount. Tom, as he descended from the chair, gave a look which +seemed to say, "I care not whither I go; but my own reserved rights +shall not be forgotten!" + +A girl of seventeen years of age, somewhat coloured, was the next put +up. She was "an excellent washer and getter-up of linen." She was also +"a tolerably good cook." But there were no bidders; and the auctioneer +said, "Really, gentlemen, I have a great deal of business to do in my +office: I cannot lose any more time here, as you are not disposed to +bid." And so ended the exhibition. + +I was now at leisure to observe that a strange noise which I had heard +for some time proceeded from another auctioneer, engaged in the same +line of business at the other end of the room. As I approached, I saw +him with a young coloured man of about twenty-two years of age, +standing on his left hand on the platform. What a sight! Two men +standing together, and the one offering the other for sale to the +highest bidder! In the young man's appearance there was something very +good and interesting. He reminded me forcibly of an excellent young man +of the same colour in my own congregation. 430 dollars were offered for +him; but, as he was a good carriage driver, and worth a great deal +more, only he had not had time to dress himself for the sale, being +industrious, sober, and _no runaway_ (said with significant emphasis), +the bidding ran up to 660 dollars. Here one of the bidders on the +auctioneer's right hand asked him something aside; to which he +answered, loudly and emphatically, "_Fully guaranteed in every +respect_;" and then said to the young man, "Turn this way, and let the +gentleman see you," He was sold for 665 dollars. + +The next was a very modest-looking young mulatto girl, of small +features and slender frame, with a little child (apparently not more +than a year old) in her arms, evidently the daughter of a white man. +"Now, who bids for Margaret and her child?" Margaret! my own dear +mother's name. "Margaret and her child!" What should I have been this +day, if _that_ Margaret "and her child" Ebenezer had been so treated? +Who can think of his own mother, and not drop a tear of sympathy for +this mother--so young, so interesting, and yet so degraded? "Now, +gentlemen, who bids for Margaret and her child? She is between sixteen +and seventeen years of age, and is six months gone in pregnancy of her +second child: I mention the last circumstance, because you would not +think it to look at her,--it is right, however, that you should know. +She cooks well, sews well, washes well, and irons well. Only 545 +dollars! Really, gentlemen, it's throwing the girl away; she is well +worth 800 dollars of any man's money. She'll no doubt be the mother of +a great many children; and that is a consideration to a purchaser who +wants to raise a fine young stock. Only 545 dollars offered for her!" +No higher offer being made, she was sent down,--it was no sale. Let us +breathe again. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men. + +Finding that another slave-auction was to be held at noon next day in +the St. Louis Exchange, I resolved to attend. The day was dull and +dirty. "Please, sir," said I to the first man I met, "to tell me where +St. Louis Exchange is?" "Don't know, sir." I walked on a little +further, and tried again. "Please to direct me to St. Louis Exchange?" +"Can't; but it's somewhere in that direction," pointing with his +finger. "Is this the way to St. Louis Exchange?" I asked a third. "I +guess it is," was the curt and characteristic reply. "How far is it?" +"Three blocks further on; then turn to your right; go a little way +down, and you will find it on your left." I went as directed, and came +to an immense building--a kind of hotel. There were nearly a dozen +entrances, all leading into one vast saloon, where I found about 200 +gentlemen,--some drinking, some eating, some smoking, some reading, +some talking, and all spitting. One end of the saloon was fitted up as +a refreshment place, similar to those on railway stations in England. +But I could see nothing like preparations for a sale. + +On looking around I perceived a large door in two halves, with spring +hinges, leading as it were further into the building. I pushed one half +open, and found myself in a spacious circular hall,--its roof, ending +in a dome, supported by a suitable number of massive columns. The floor +was tastefully paved with black and white marble, and all the light +came from the dome. Some 100 gentlemen were sauntering about, and now +and then turning to several groupes of black people to ask them +questions. This place was evidently fitted up for auctioneering +purposes, and seemed peculiarly adapted for man-selling. At equal +distances were a dozen elevated desks for the chief actors, each with a +small platform in front for the exhibition of the articles of sale. + +It was a quarter to twelve, by the clock that faced the entrance door, +when I got in. Anxious to know what kind of questions were put to the +slaves, I pushed myself into the knots of intending purchasers, just as +if I had been one of them. The inquiries, I found, related to place of +birth, subsequent removals, competency for work, and so forth. The +answers presented a fearful view of the extent to which the internal +slave-trade is carried on. Most of the slaves said they had been +"raised" in Virginia and Kentucky. To avoid the suspicion of being a +spy, I resolved to put a few questions too. I found myself at the +establishment where those named in the advertisement which had drawn me +thither were to be disposed of. A pile of handbills--each containing an +exact copy of the advertisement, and a French translation--was lying on +the platform. Taking one up, I observed the name of "Squires, a +carpenter." Assuming all the confidence I could muster, I said, "Which +is Squires?" "I'm here, sir." "You are a carpenter, are you not?" "Yes, +sir," (with a very polite bow). "And what can you do?" "I can trim a +house, sir, from top to bottom." "Can you make a panelled door?" "Yes, +Sir." "Sash windows?" "Yes, sir." "A staircase?" "Yes, sir." I gave a +wise and dignified nod, and passed on to another groupe. In my +progress, I found by one of the platforms a middle-aged black woman, +and a mulatto girl of perhaps eighteen crouching by her side. "Are you +related to each other?" I said. "No, sir." "Have you lived long in the +city?" I said to the younger. "About two years, sir; but I was 'raised' +in South Carolina." "And why does your owner sell you?" "Because I +cannot cut--she wants a cutter--I can only sew." I then returned to the +groupe at platform No. 1. + +The clock was striking twelve; and, before it had finished, the vast +dome reverberated with the noise of half-a-dozen man-sellers bawling at +once, disposing of God's images to the highest bidders. It was a +terrible din. But, at our platform, business proceeded rather +leisurely. Two gentlemen ascended the desk: the one of a light +complexion, about fifty-five years of age, rather fat, whiskers and +beard smoothly shaven off; the other, a Frenchified-looking young man, +about twenty-five years of age, of dark complexion, with green +spectacles to hide some deformity of the eye, no whiskers, but a large +quantity of beard on the lower chin. The elderly man, whom I took to be +the notary public mentioned in the advertisement, read the terms of +sale; then the dark auctioneer, stroking his bearded chin, proceeded to +business. + +"Now, gentlemen, let me sell you Jacob. He is twenty-six years of +age--a first-rate carpenter and wheelwright--_Jacob âgĂ© d'environ 26 +ans, charpentier et charron de la première ordre_--guaranteed free from +the vices and maladies provided against by law--_garanti exempt des +vices et des maladies prĂ©vus par la loi_. How much for Jacob? _Combien +pour Jacob?_" He was run up from 1,000 dollars, and was going for +1,175, when the fat old gentleman offered 1,200, at which he was +knocked down. "Now, gentlemen," said the fat man, with deliberation and +emphasis, "the 1,200 dollars was my bid, and therefore Jacob is not +sold. He is well worth 1,800 dollars." + +At this performance, be it observed, the chief actor uttered everything +first in English, and then in French, in the same breath, thereby +giving the proceedings a most strange and comical sound. + +Abraham, although on the advertisement, was not present. + +Sancho, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next in order. +He was described as "an excellent carpenter--_excellent +charpentier_--can do anything but fine work--fully guaranteed free from +the maladies and vices provided against by law;" and, as nobody would +bid higher, he also was bought in by the fat man at 1,025 dollars. + +George, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next to mount +the platform. George kept his eyes fixed upon the dome, as if he felt +above looking down on the grovelling creatures beneath him. He was a +stout-built, thick-set man, who evidently felt to the very core the +degradation to which he was exposed. "Now, gentlemen, let me sell you +George--a first-rate bricklayer--_excellent poseur de briques_--bears +an excellent character--only he absconded once from his master for a +few days. How much do you offer for him?" The bidding began at 500 +dollars; but George, like his predecessors, was bought in at 980 by the +fat man, who protested him to be well worth 1,500. + +Squires--whom I questioned about doors, sash-windows, and +staircases--was next put up. He was said to be twenty-eight years of +age; but I think he was nearer forty. On his forehead was a deep scar, +occasioned by some severe cut. He appeared to be a very good-tempered +man, and by his smiling looks seemed to say, "Buy me, and I'll serve +you well." "What will you offer for Squires, gentlemen?--an excellent +carpenter--can trim a house--all but the very fine work--bears an +excellent character--is fully guaranteed," &c. &c. "Who bids for +Squires?" Poor fellow! he was sold for 900 dollars. + +Sancho was put up again, the fat man observing that he had made a +mistake in offering a reserve bid for him--that he would be sold +without reserve. He was put up at 600 dollars. The biddings gradually +ascended to 900, and there stood, till, after a considerable +expenditure of the Frenchman's breath and talent, Sancho was knocked +down at 900 dollars, though when first put up 1,025 had been offered +for him. + +John, a black man, twenty-five years of age, "an excellent French and +American cook--_excellent cuisinier Français et AmĂ©ricain_," was put up +at 600 dollars, and, after the usual quantity of the Frenchman's +eloquence, (accompanied, as in all other cases, by the constant rubbing +of his tuft of chin-beard with the left hand, while in the right he +flourished a fine massive gold pencil-case and a sheet of paper,) +fetched 775 dollars, at which price he was knocked down to one Robert +Murphy. + +Silas also, a black boy, fifteen years of age, a house-servant, with a +large scar on the right cheek, was sold for 670 dollars to Robert +Murphy; who likewise became the purchaser of Scipio, a black man about +twenty-four years of age, "an excellent cook, fully warranted in every +respect," for 705 dollars. + +"Now, gentlemen," resumed the green-spectacled auctioneer, still +stroking his cherished tuft of long black beard,--"now, gentlemen, let +me sell you Samson! He is twenty-six years of age--an excellent +house-servant--guaranteed free," &c. &c. "What do you offer for +Samson?" Poor Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines at 710 +dollars. + +Sam, the next on the list, was not present. Ben was therefore put up. +He was a fine buckish young fellow, about twenty-one. His complexion +was lighter than that of a mulatto, and his hair was not at all +crisped, but straight, and of a jet black. He was dressed in a good +cloth surtout coat, and looked altogether far more respectable and +intelligent than most of the bidders. He was evidently a high-minded +young man, who felt deeply the insulting position he was made to +occupy. Oh! that I could have whispered in his ear a few words of +sympathy and comfort. He stood on the platform firm and erect, his eyes +apparently fixed on the clock opposite. "Now, gentlemen, what do you +offer for Ben?" said the Frenchified salesman; "a first-rate +tailor--only twenty-one years of age." 700 dollars proved to be the +estimated value of this "excellent tailor." + +Charles (not in the catalogue) was now offered. He was a black man, of +great muscular power, said to be twenty-eight years of age. He had, it +was admitted, absconded once from his master! At this intelligence the +countenances of the bidders fell. He had evidently gone down at least +20 per cent. in value. Though offered at 300 dollars, however, he rose +to 640, at which price he was sold. + +The "ladies" were yet to be exhibited. "Elizabeth" (my own dear +sister's name) was the first. But I reserve this part of the scene for +another letter. + + + + +LETTER IX. + + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath-School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion." + + +You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. "Elizabeth" +was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very +genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the +daughter of a white man, and said to be "a good seamstress and +house-servant--_excellente couturière et domestique de maison_." 600 +dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about +170_l._) Elizabeth--so young and so interesting--was sold! + +"Susan," too, was a mulatto--the daughter of a white man. She was +short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, "a plain +seamstress and house-servant." She appeared exceedingly modest, and +kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as +usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring +forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was +500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150_l._), at which she was +"knocked down." But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar +drawling nasal tones, said, "The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore +Susan is not sold." Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy. + +"Betsy," another "plain seamstress and house-servant," about sixteen +years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent +eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The +offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition, +which had lasted an hour. + +The next day being the Sabbath, I took it into my head to find out the +Baptist Church. They are all "churches" in America. It was not far from +the Presbyterian place of worship. In passing the latter, I saw (as on +the previous Sabbath) about forty or fifty boys in the square in front +playing at cricket. A number of grave-looking gentlemen were standing +under the portico of the church, looking on with apparent +complacency,--not one attempting either to check these juvenile +Sabbath-breakers, or to allure them to occupations more suitable to the +day. + +The Baptist Church is a small place, about 60 feet by 30, without +galleries, except a little one for the singers. When we arrived, a +small Sabbath-school was being conducted in the body of the chapel. +About fifty children were present, of whom not one was coloured. One of +the teachers kindly led us to a pew. It was the third or fourth from +the door. The school, which occupied the part next to the pulpit, was +about to be dismissed. The superintendent got into the "table-pew" to +address the scholars. It was the first time I had had an opportunity of +hearing an address to children in America. In the land of the Todds, +the Abbotts, and the Gallaudets, I expected something very lively and +interesting. But grievous was my disappointment. The address was dull +and lifeless. There was in it neither light nor heat. When the +superintendent had done, an elderly gentleman, shrewd and busy-looking, +having in his hand a black walking-stick and on his neck a black stock, +with shirt-collar turned over it like a white binding (the national +fashion of the Americans), came up, and told the school that the +proprietor of the splendid picture, "The Departure of the Israelites +from Egypt," had requested him to deliver a lecture upon it; that he +had engaged to do so on Monday a-week; and that the scholars and +teachers of that school would be admitted free. I should like (said I +to myself) to hear you: a lecture on the emancipation of those poor +slaves cannot fail to be interesting in the slave-holding city of New +Orleans. The school was now dismissed, and the scholars left to enjoy +their full swing of lawless liberty. + +The elderly gentleman descended from his elevation, and walked about +the "church," backwards and forwards, whispering a few words to one, +and then to another, in a very bustling manner. As I looked down the +aisle, I saw on one side of it, near the pulpit end, a leg projecting +about eighteen inches, in a pendent position, at an angle of about +forty-five degrees. This leg attracted my notice by its strange and +solitary appearance. It seemed as if it had got astray from its owner. +In America gentlemen's legs do get sometimes most strangely astray,--on +the chair arms, on the tables, on the chimney-pieces, and into all +sorts of out-of-the-way places. While other people generally try how +high they can carry their heads, the ambition of the Americans is to +try how high they can carry their heels! Observing the leg in question +a little more attentively, I found that behind it (in the adjoining +pew), and in close and intimate connection with it, was a man dressed +in black. The bustling old gentleman came by, tapped him on the +shoulder, and beckoned him forward, along with himself, to the rostrum. +Here they were met by a tall man of grave appearance, about thirty +years of age, with a pale face and bald forehead, wearing a white +cravat, with corners about ten inches long, stretching out on either +side towards the shoulders. He was made to take the central position at +the desk; while the man with the leg took the right, and the elderly +gentleman the left. + +The elderly gentleman (who, from his I'm-at-home kind of air, was +evidently the pastor) offered up a short prayer, and then gave out a +hymn, which some few friends in the gallery (standing up) sang; all the +rest of the congregation sitting down, and very few joining at all in +the psalmody. This exercise over, the central gentleman arose, and, +having first read a few verses of Scripture, offered up a very suitable +prayer about eight or ten minutes long. The man on the right then gave +out another hymn, which was sung as before. + +The central gentleman now, in a very low don't- +care-whether-you-hear-or-not tone of voice, gave out a text. It was +John iii. 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." +I will give you a sketch of his sermon. He observed that of all +subjects on which men might be addressed, religious subjects were the +most important; and that of all religious subjects, that to which the +text referred was the most momentous. Having noticed the context, he +proposed to inquire, first, into the necessity of being born again. +This change (he observed) was necessary, in order to enjoy heaven. It +was a common observation, that "society seeks its level." The Indian, +for example, could not be happy amidst the refinements of civilization. +The gambler and the swearer could not be happy in the society of the +pious and devout. If so in this world, amidst imperfect holiness, how +much more so in the pure society of the celestial state! + +During these remarks, I was much annoyed by the cracking of nuts not +very far off. I looked around, and actually found it was a mother +cracking them for her two boys, one of whom might be seven and the +other five years of age,--one by her side, and the other in the next +pew behind. To the latter she deliberately handed over the kernels in a +pocket-handkerchief; and yet, to look at her, you would have thought +her a woman of sense and piety! + +The preacher noticed, in the second place, the nature of this change. +It was spiritual, not physical,--a "revolution" (!) of the mind, +rather than a mere change of opinion or of outward deportment. The +third observation related to the evidence of the change. Its existence +might be ascertained by our own experience, and by the Word of God. The +former was not to be trusted without a reference to the latter. This +change destroyed the love of the world. It led man to abandon his +favourite sins, and to live and labour to do good. It also created in +him new desires and enjoyments. These topics were variously and +suitably illustrated, and the whole was a very good sermon on the +subject. + +At the close the man on the right offered an appropriate prayer. The +pastor then made several announcements; among them, that a meeting to +pray for the success of Sabbath-schools would be held on the morrow +evening. In connection with that announcement, he said: "I am a very +plain man, and my God is a very plain God. He is so in all his dealings +with men. He always acts on the plain common-sense principle, that, if +a favour is worth bestowing, it is worth asking for." He also intimated +that there would be a Church-meeting immediately after the service, +preparatory to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon, +inviting at the same time any members of other Baptist Churches who +might be present to participate with them in that privilege. This form +of invitation led me to understand that they were "close +communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only +with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The +influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that +side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy +pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed +slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a +sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe, +however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large +congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of +Christian fellowship with slave-holders. + + + + +LETTER X. + + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners. + + +The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British +Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the +whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and +I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They +were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very +clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico, +looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She +evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced +myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the +ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind +and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea. +We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our +negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed; +and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as +you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to +be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how +extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery! +"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have +nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and +try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example +of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not +aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow. He simply told +masters and slaves their duty, without at all interfering with the +relation subsisting between them. Besides, the opposite of this course +would render us and our churches unpopular, and thereby destroy our +usefulness." He also seemed very sore at the idea of the Christianity +of slave-holders being at all called in question. "People," said he, or +words to the same effect, "may spare themselves the trouble to pass +resolutions of non-fellowship with us; we wish for no fellowship with +those who are so uncharitable as to question our piety." I began now to +understand why the Abolitionists call the American churches "the +bulwark of slavery." + +Subsequently, on the same day, I had conversation with a young man, +whom I had that afternoon seen sitting down at the Lord's Table in the +Baptist Church. He told me that there were in New Orleans two Baptist +Churches of coloured people, presided over by faithful and devoted +pastors of their own colour. "And does your pastor," I inquired, +"recognise them, and have fellowship with them?" "Oh! yes, he has often +preached to them. He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the +conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy +your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say +they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be +tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and +in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand +them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn." +This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence +in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly +right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his +rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the +soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire +population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is +the most damning! + +"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your +churches, they have to sit by themselves?" + +_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise." + +_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so. With us, in British +Guiana, blacks and whites mingle together indiscriminately in the +worship of our common Father." + +_Young Man._ (with amazement).--"There must be a a great change here +before it comes to that. It must appear very strange." + +_Myself._--"Very much like heaven where they shall come together from +the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, &c. Why, +we have black deacons, who, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, +carry the bread and wine, and give them even to white people." + +_Young Man._ (with more astonishment than ever, and in a tone of +offended dignity).--"I don't think I could stand that--I don't! A great +change must take place in my feelings before I could. I don't like to +mingle Ham and Japhet together for my part--I don't!" + +_Myself._--"Why, they were mingled together in the ark." + +_Young Man._--"Yes; but old Noah quarrelled with Ham soon after he came +out, and cursed him." + +_Myself._--"Granted; but you and your pastor profess to be anxious for +the slaves' conversion to God, and thereby to roll away the curse." +Here the dialogue ended. + +In the evening I was desirous of hearing Dr. Hawkes, an Episcopalian +minister, of whose talents and popularity I had heard much in New +Orleans; but, finding that he did not preach in the evening, I went +again to hear Dr. Scott at the Presbyterian Church. Having stood a +considerable time at the door inside, and receiving no encouragement to +advance, I ventured, along with my wife, to enter the pew next to the +door. This proved a most unfortunate position. There was not light +enough to take any notes; while the incessant opening and shutting of +the door, with its rusty hinges, made it extremely difficult to hear. +The discourse, however, which was again addressed to young men in great +cities, was characterized by all the power and piety which +distinguished the one of the previous Sabbath. I retired deeply +impressed with the value of such a ministry in such a place. Dr. Scott +was one of the American delegates to the Conference for the formation +of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. He is a Southern man, born and +bred amidst the wilds of Tennessee, whose early educational advantages +were very small. He is, in a great measure, a self-made man. Brought up +in the midst of slavery, he is (I rejoice to hear) a cordial hater of +the system. As a minister, he is "thoroughly furnished--a workman that +needeth not to be ashamed." His knowledge of the world, as well as of +the Word of God and of the human heart, is extensive, and is turned to +the best account in his ministrations. In leaving New Orleans I felt no +regret, but that I had not called upon this good man. + +On Monday morning, the 8th of February, I had a peep at the House of +Representatives of the State of Louisiana, then in session at New +Orleans. The room, a dark and dingy-looking place, was fitted up with +desks and seats in the form of the letter D. A desk and a spittoon were +allowed to each honourable member,--the latter article being deemed as +necessary as the former. Whether smoking was suffered during the hours +of business or not I cannot tell, but the room smelt horribly of stale +tobacco. Between fifty and sixty members were present, and never +certainly, either in the Old World or in the New, did I see an +assemblage of worse-looking men. They seemed fitted for any deeds of +robbery, blood, and death. Several distinguished duellists were pointed +out to me; among them Colonel Crane, an old man, who had repeatedly +fought with Mr. Bowie, the inventor of the "Bowie knife," and had +killed several men in personal combat! The motion before the house just +at that time was for the release from prison of a Mr. Simms, who a few +days before had violently assaulted one of the members in the lobby. He +was released accordingly. Who will not pity the 200,000 slaves of this +State, who are at the "tender mercies" of these sanguinary men? Nor let +it be said, as it often is, that New Orleans and Louisiana are not a +fair specimen of things even in the South,--that they are more French +than American, &c. This is not the case. Nothing in New Orleans struck +me more forcibly than its thoroughly American character. American +usages, American influence, American laws, and American religion are +there predominant. Things were much better for the black and coloured +people when it was not so. The French treated their slaves incomparably +kinder than the Americans do. They often married coloured women, and +invariably treated their own coloured offspring, whether legitimate or +illegitimate, with tenderness and regard. They had them suitably +educated and adequately provided for; so that, at the present moment, a +large portion of the city of New Orleans is the freehold property of +coloured persons. Not so act the Americans. They indulge in the +grossest licentiousness with coloured women, but would shudder at the +idea of marrying one of them; and, instead of giving any property to +their coloured offspring, they do not scruple to sell them as slaves! +Had I gone to the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city, which is +attended chiefly by the French and their descendants, I should have +found no negro pew, but persons of all colours intermingled together in +religious observances. The Southerners seem to have no heart--no +feeling, except that of love to the almighty dollar. + +The population of New Orleans is about 90,000. On this mass of people +are brought to bear the labours of at least thirteen ministers of the +Methodist Episcopal Church, seven Presbyterians, four Episcopalians, +and three Baptists,--all professedly evangelical;--besides a +considerable number of Roman Catholics, and other non-evangelical +teachers. But Satan has there a large array of synagogues. + +I omitted, at the proper time, to describe the scene we witnessed at +our "private" lodgings the first day we sat down to dinner. Though it +was called a "private" boarding-house, and we had taken the apartments +as such, we found ourselves surrounded by about thirty boarders! These +were all respectable men, or rather men whom, from their position in +society, you would expect to be respectable. Doctors, lieutenants in +the army, captains, merchants, editors, clerks of the senate, and so +forth, were among them. My wife was the only lady besides the mistress +of the house. + +We were all waiting in an ante-room for the summons to dinner. It came. +The door of the dining-room was thrown open; and before you could have +said "Jack Robinson," the whole had rushed through, were seated at +table, and sending forth a forest of forks in the direction of the +various dishes! I had often heard of this wolfish habit, but thought +our cousins were caricatured. Here, however, was the reality. Had I not +been an eye-witness, I could not have believed it. Not a single seat +had been kept vacant for the only lady who had to be accommodated, and +we were both left to console ourselves in the ante-room! The landlady, +however, having "an eye to business," arranged for our accommodation at +the table. There had been on the table a turkey, a piece of beef, some +fish, and pastry,--all ready carved. Most of these things had instantly +disappeared,--the knives and forks had borne them away in triumph. +There was no waiting to be served: every one stuck his fork in what he +liked best, or what was most within his reach. It was a regular +scramble. The principle seemed to be to _begin_ to eat as soon as +possible, no matter what! Some began with nothing but potatoes, some +with a bit of bread, some with a piece of beef, some with a limb of the +turkey. Some, I noticed, beginning with fowl, then taking roast beef, +then boiled mutton, then fish, and then some pastry,--all on the same +plate, and--faugh!--portions of most of them there at the same time! No +change of plate,--that would have been extravagant, and would have +savoured of aristocracy. Freedom, it seemed, allowed every one to help +himself; and that with his own knife and fork, which he had before used +for all sorts of purposes. Such luxuries as salt-spoons and +mustard-spoons are very rare south of the Ohio. My wife asked the lady +of the house for a small slice of the ham she had before her, when the +latter very politely begged Mrs. Davies to lend her her knife to cut it +with! This was good society in New Orleans. Things improved as we +advanced towards the North; but in most places, though the Americans +provide bountifully, the cooking is not good, and they make a strange +jumble of things at table. They have the appearance of a people +suddenly raised in the world, and able to afford themselves nice +things, but very ignorant and awkward in the use of them. With so much +hurry to begin, the time occupied in eating by our company was very +short. We Britishers had scarcely begun, when one and another got up +from table, finishing his dinner as he walked away. They cannot bear to +sit at table a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. While we +remained seated, they passed before us on their way out,--one eating, +one picking his teeth, one scraping his throat, one spitting on the +floor. Of course, we seldom made a hearty meal under such +circumstances. + + + + +LETTER XI. + + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi--Steam +boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the "Crescent City"--Slave +Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The +Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A Reverend Slave-holder. + + +Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February, +we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a +charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be +imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our +"smart" landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty +wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie +knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for +sale on every side,--a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand. + +Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good +authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of +slaves from the "slave-breeding" States, having on board a considerable +number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a +volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico. +The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700 +dollars, or 150_l._ sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this +_great_ and _free_ country had, however, consigned these helpless young +women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier +home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the +country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the +excellent author of "Lectures to Children," thus writes,--"This land is +free. The mind is here free,--and the child is to be born--if indeed he +ever will be born--whose powers and faculties may not be called out and +cultivated. There is no bondage to forms or precedents; but the whole +mass may be seasoned, leavened, and moved, and is at liberty to do what +is great and good in the way that is most convenient." + +Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the +"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in +Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of +1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we +should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were, +however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the +occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished +table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there +was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars +really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it +was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper +than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food, +lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace +above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The +dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel +182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of +cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2 +inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a +fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but +often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance +vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged +chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors, +had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by +marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen +into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid +explosion. + +The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down +the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in +the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of +a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place +is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy. +Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly +studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest +class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as +_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink. + +In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more +highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere +else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more +complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam, +thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_, +and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three +months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now +ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five +years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them. +The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had +separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend +the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical +juxtaposition. + +On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off +that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till +morning. + +February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers +of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels +were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be +afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of +this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." +This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in +England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value +and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something +worse? + +At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The +"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we +had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An +area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats, +keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down +from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats, +rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal +streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and +sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of +masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as +they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing +splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it! + +Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of +this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the +following paragraph! + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the +tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th +instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William +Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly +killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly +scalded." + +These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh +boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was +very small. + +The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same +paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout +the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first! + +"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years +old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and +English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a +strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is +for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for +sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For +particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street. + +"F 9--t." + + +"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good +Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior +Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on +trial at their respective trades. + +"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO., + +"8, Bank's Arcade." + +"F 3--10t." + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20 +years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable +seamstress. Apply to + +"McMAHON & PEARSALL, + +"29, Natchez-street." + +"F4--6t." + +"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday +morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40 +_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting +_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams, +Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street. + +"WILLIAM ARNOLD." + +"F7--3t." + + +"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on +the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16 +years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when +she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and +stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away +by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the +city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to +receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the +apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or +free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a +conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New +Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing. + +"RICHARD KING." + +"F 7--2t." + +"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the +Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built; +has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her +person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish. + +"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO, + +"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets." + +"F2--6t." + +Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at +the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we +passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the +capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation, +to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks +there are built, I am told, in a very fine style. + +February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer +was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate +to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of +the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar +and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going +ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings +as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in +observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior; +but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and +too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the +purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of +them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received +very sensible and even _polite_ answers. + +By this time we had received an impression of the character of our +fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy +beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be +very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No +lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting +on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the +water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as +Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not +help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this +was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers, +who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers," +and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin +passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers +below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much +resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with +me, I had the _entrĂ©e_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of +quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of +these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from +Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat, +came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought +there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home +again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all +the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her +husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and +was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The +third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans +for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her +brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New +England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she +thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American +society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like +aristocracy, except towards the coloured people! + +I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New +England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South +on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother +minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever +the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his +reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of +large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him. + +These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running +away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion +assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically +complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship! + + + + +LETTER XII. + + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch-Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi. + + +On the 10th of February we passed a great many sugar estates on both +sides of the river, which would be agreeable objects but for the curse +of slavery. For who can look with pleasure upon the foul abodes of +lust, oppression, and cruelty? At the outer gate, in front of one of +these "patriarchal" establishments, was a small octagonal building +about 6 or 8 feet in mean diameter. The basement was of brick, pierced +by small air holes, barred with iron, at the height of about 8 feet +from the ground; and the upper part was of wood, terminating in a +pigeon-house. Making a short stay there to take in fire-wood, we +inquired into the use of the building; but all the answer we could get +was, that it was a "pigeon-house." The Baptist minister from Maine +asked a negro, who was helping to bring wood on board; and from him he +learned the real truth,--that it was a place of punishment and torture +for the oppressed slave. We have since ascertained that such buildings +are very common, and generally pass under the euphemistic name of +"pigeon-houses." + +On the 11th of February--a fine frosty day--we came to Red River, +branching on our left in the direction of Texas, with which country it +forms an important means of communication. This river, even where it +pours its waters into the Mississippi, is not more than from 300 to 500 +feet wide, and yet is navigable by steamers for about 1,200 miles. My +Baptist friend had recently been on a visit to Elder Wright, a planter +and a slave-holder on that river. This Wright was a New-England man, +had graduated at Yale College, and boasted that he was "a Northern man +with Southern feelings." He was called Elder Wright because he was a +preacher,--the Baptists here calling all preachers "elders." Now, this +Elder Wright told my friend that a few years ago there was great fear +in his district of the slaves rising up against their masters. To this +they were supposed to be instigated by the presence and influence of +some strangers. Under this apprehension, a secret committee was formed +to seize and try every suspected stranger, and, if he could not clear +himself to their satisfaction, to "hang him up quietly." Of this secret +and murderous committee Elder Wright--an _alumnus_ of Yale College, a +professor of religion, and a preacher of the gospel--was chosen +chairman; and the statement I have just made came in the way described +from his own lips! It is notorious that in the South they think nothing +of taking away a man's life, if he be even suspected of sympathy with +the slave; and a country so thinly inhabited affords abundant +opportunities of doing it as "quietly" as can be desired. America is +indeed a land of "liberty!" + +At night we came to Natchez, a town beautifully situated on the top of +a hill, about 300 feet above the level of the river, and for this +reason called "Natchez-on-the-Hill." Its population is about 5,000; and +it is the largest town in the State of Mississippi. Its distance from +New Orleans is 300 miles. Darkness had set in when we approached it; +yet the numerous lights on shore, rising row above row to a great +elevation, gave it a lively and interesting appearance. But, alas! +Natchez also is a great slave market; and I can never think of it +without remembering the sufferings of poor Mary Brown. Let me narrate +her painful story. It may waken in some breast a feeling of sympathy +for the American slave. + +Mary Brown, a coloured girl, was the daughter of _free_ parents in +Washington city--the capital of the freest nation under heaven! She +lived with her parents till the death of her mother. One day, when she +was near the Potomac Bridge, the sheriff overtook her, and told her +that she must go with him. She inquired what for? He made no reply, but +told her to come along, and took her immediately to a slave-auction. +Mary told him she was free; but he contradicted her, and the sale +proceeded. The auctioneer soon sold her for 350 dollars to a +Mississippi trader. She was first taken to jail; and after a few hours +was handcuffed, chained to a _man-slave_, and started in a drove of +about forty for New Orleans. Her handcuffs made her wrists swell so +much that at night they were obliged to take them off, and put fetters +round her ankles. In the morning the handcuffs were again put on. Thus +they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, whipped up all day, and +beaten at night if they had not performed the prescribed distance. She +frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up to her waist. The +month was October, and the air cold and frosty. After she had travelled +thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles had become so swollen +that she felt as if she could go no further. They had no beds, usually +sleeping in barns, sometimes out on the naked ground; and such were her +misery and pain that she could only lie and cry all night. Still she +was driven on for another week; and every time the trader caught her +crying he beat her, uttering fearful curses. If he caught her praying, +he said, he would "give her _hell_." Mary was a member of the Methodist +Church in Washington. There were several pious people in the company; +and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to +pray, he had a fiddle brought, and made them dance in their chains, +whipping them till they complied. Mary at length became so weak that +she really could travel on foot no further. Her feeble frame was +exhausted, and sank beneath accumulated sufferings. She was seized with +a burning fever; and the diabolical trader--not moved with pity, but +only fearing he should lose her--placed her for the remainder of the +way in a waggon. Arriving at Natchez, they were all offered for sale. +Mary, being still sick, begged she might be sold to a kind master. +Sometimes she made this request in the hearing of purchasers, but was +always insulted for it, and afterwards punished by her cruel master for +her presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by the hands so that +she could barely touch the floor with her toes. He kept her thus +suspended a whole day, whipping her at intervals. In any other country +this inhuman beast would have been tried for the greatest crime, short +of murder, that man can commit against woman, and transported for life. +Poor Mary Brown was at length sold, at 450 dollars, as a house-servant +to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, who compelled her to cohabit with him, +and had children by her,--most probably filling up the measure of his +iniquity by selling his own flesh. Wrongs like these must have inspired +our poet when he exclaimed,-- + +"To think that man--them just and gentle God--Should stand before +Thee with a tyrant's rod O'er creatures like himself, with souls from +Thee, Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty! Away! away! I 'd rather +hold my neck In doubtful tenure from a sultan's beck, In climes where +Liberty has scarce been named, Nor any right but that of ruling +claimed, Than thus to live where bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag +in mockery over slaves!" + +As we advanced, we continually met with flat boats, laden with produce, +and floating sluggishly down. In the vernacular phrase, these boats are +called "Kentucky flats," or "broad-horns." They are curiously +constructed. At a distance, they appear like large chests or trunks +afloat. They are from 50 to 100 feet long, and generally about 15 or 20 +feet wide. The timbers of the bottom are massive beams. The sides are +boarded up square to the height of 6 feet above the water; the roof +being slightly curved, like a trunk lid, to throw off rain. They are +adapted to carry from 200 to 400 barrels. Great numbers of cattle, +hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. Coals, too, are thus +brought down from the upper parts of the valley. Some of these barges +have apartments fitted up for the accommodation of a family, with a +stove, beds, tables, &c. You may sometimes see in them ladies, +servants, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and poultry,--all floating on the +same bottom. It was precisely in this fashion that the Pennsylvanian +farmer and his wife had reached New Orleans. Indeed, most of our +fellow-passengers had come as captains or crews of flat boats. Of +course, no attempt is made to get these unwieldy boats back against the +current. It would be impracticable. The flat boat makes but one trip +during its individual existence. Arrived at New Orleans, it is sold for +"lumber," and taken to pieces. In short, by this arrangement timber and +produce are brought to market at the same time, the "stuff" of which +the float is composed being but little injured. One cannot look at +these temporary structures without being impressed with the vast +importance of those water-powers which the Americans, with a wonderful +tact, bring to bear in the way of saw-mills on the exhaustless +resources of the forest. The very first thing looked for in settling a +new district is water-power. + +These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not +reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never +without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands. +Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and +dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they +often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers +in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they +run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew +and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and +produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and +dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a +flat boat, do not appear to the passer-by. As you cut along by the +power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or +care. One of the hands scrapes a violin, while the others dance. +Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or +proffers of love to the girls on shore, or saucy messages pass between +them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet, +knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of +them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr. +Watts:-- + +"Your streams were floating me along + Down to the gulf of black despair; +And, whilst I listened to your song, + Your streams had e'en conveyed me there." + +These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently, +at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards +evening a large number of them assembled. They have come from regions +thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will +probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a +surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as +invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard. +The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine +scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a +hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat +to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in +miniature. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience. + + +We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black +River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary +"bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_ +to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution, +for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable +citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of +this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the +real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the +"_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife! + +The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely +narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles. + +Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from +"racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats +on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are +trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the +river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from +30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity +of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12 +feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water +that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they +are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the +stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and +thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed, +immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large +hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and +all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often +so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and +over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a +case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has +cleared off. + +May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and +circumstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call +to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by +all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the +snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance. + +On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber, +waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or +not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you +belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt +and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is +free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New +Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars. +He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every +slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man +should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling +in order to "own himself!" Land of liberty, forsooth! + +In the evening we reached Vicksburg. This place, like nearly all other +places in this region, is deeply stained with deeds of violence and +blood. A few years ago, a set of thieves and gamblers were here put to +death by Lynch law. "Gentlemen of property and standing laughed the law +(the constitutional law) to scorn, rushed to the gamblers' house, put +ropes round their necks, dragged them through the streets, hanged them +in the public square, and thus saved the sum they had not yet paid. +Thousands witnessed this wholesale murder; yet of the scores of legal +officers present, not a soul raised a finger to prevent it: the whole +city consented to it, and thus aided and abetted it. How many hundreds +of them helped to commit the murders with their own hands does not +appear; but not one of them has been indicted for it, and no one made +the least effort to bring them to trial. Thus, up to the present hour, +the blood of those murdered men rests on that whole city; and it will +continue to be a CITY OF MURDERERS so long as its citizens agree +together to shield those felons from punishment." + +Darkness had covered the city of blood when we arrived, and therefore +we could not see it. One of the passengers, in stepping on a plank to +go ashore, fell into the water. It was a frightful sight to see the +dark figure of a fellow-man splattering and holloing in so perilous a +position. Seldom can a person be saved who falls into the Mississippi, +so rapid is the current; and, moreover, the banks are so steep that, +though he be a good swimmer, he cannot get up. The knowledge of these +facts generally destroys in the person who falls in all hope and +self-command. Fortunately, however, in the present instance a rope was +instantly thrown out, and the individual was saved. He assured us, +afterwards, that some one had designedly pushed him from the plank into +the water. + +On the 13th of February we breasted a small settlement on our left, +called Providence, in Louisiana. We observed on the river's bank what a +man at my elbow (a professor of religion, who had discovered a great +propensity to talk about his religious experience before gamblers) +coolly designated "a drove of horses, mules, and niggers." Observe the +order of his enumeration! Of the "niggers" there were about 100, small +and great, young and old, and of both sexes. The whole "drove" were +waiting to be shipped for the New Orleans market, and were jealously +guarded by several large dogs. From individual instances like this, one +may form a clearer notion of the internal slave-trade of America. +Thousands every year are thus brought down the Mississippi to supply +the Natchez and New Orleans markets. "Those who are transported down +the Mississippi," says a manual of American slavery, "are stowed away +on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young, usually +chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the passengers and +navigators, and often by bribes or threats, or by the lash, made +subject to abominations not to be named." On the same deck, you may see +horses and human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to +supply the same market. The _dumb_ beasts, being less manageable, are +allowed the first place; while the _human_ are forced into spare +corners and vacant places. My informant saw one trader who was taking +down to New Orleans 100 horses, some sheep, and between fifty and sixty +slaves. The sheep and the slaves occupied the same deck. Many +interesting and intelligent women were of the number. I could relate +facts concerning the brutal treatment of these defenceless females, +while on the downward passage, which would kindle the hot indignation +of every mother, and daughter, and sister in Old England. The slaves +are carried down in companies, varying in number from 20 to 500. Men of +considerable capital are engaged in the traffic. Go into the principal +towns on the Mississippi, and you will find these negro traders in the +bar-rooms boasting of their adroitness in driving human flesh, and +describing the process by which they succeed in "_taming down_ the +spirit of a _refractory_ negro." Here, then, were human beings, +children of our common Father, bone of our bone, and flesh of our +flesh, classed with the brutes that perish,--nay, degraded below them, +and placed under the surveillance of dogs. The horrors of such a system +it is impossible to exaggerate. + +The majority of our fellow-passengers did nothing but gamble, eat, +drink, smoke, and spit, from morning till night. In the afternoon a +dispute arose between two of them about ten dollars, which the one +maintained he had won from the other. One of the two quickly drew out +his Bowie knife, and would certainly have stabbed the other but for the +intervention of the boat's officers. When the whites have so little +hesitation in shedding each other's blood, we cannot be surprised at +the indifference with which negro life is put an end to. "A rencontre +took place last week," says the _New Orleans Delta_, "between the +overseer of Mr. A. Collins (a planter in our vicinity) and one of the +negroes. It seems the overseer wished to chastise the negro for some +offence, and the negro resisted and struck the overseer with a spade. +The overseer grappled with him, and called some of the negroes to his +assistance; but, perceiving that the negroes were not willing to assist +him, he drew his knife, and stabbed the negro to the heart. A coroner's +inquest has been held, and a verdict given in accordance with the +circumstances, declaring the overseer justifiable." + +The 14th of February was Sunday. My Baptist friend, when engaging his +passage, had given the captain a hint that, when the Sabbath came, he +should like to have divine service on board. Nothing, however, was now +said about it. Not, I think, that the officers of the boat would have +disliked it; but, considering the general character of their +passengers, they perhaps thought it would have been only "casting +pearls before swine." One passenger indeed, who _said_ he was a +Congregationalist, expressed to my friend a wish to have worship; but +he was playing at cards every day, and was in other respects no great +credit to Congregationalism. The Baptist assured me that his countrymen +too generally, when they travel, leave their religion behind! + +The Baptist related to me an awful story respecting a captain with whom +he had sailed from New England to Guadaloupe, and thence to New +Orleans. This man belonged to my friend's congregation, and professed +to have been "converted" under his ministry. His pastor had frequent +occasion to reprove him for his disregard of the Sabbath at sea. In New +Orleans he engaged to take a cargo of Government stores to Tampico, for +the supply of the army. He had to sign a bond to take in the cargo, and +sail before a certain day, or forfeit the sum of 500 dollars. The +Sabbath came. The pastor was at that time absent, on his visit to +"Elder Wright" before mentioned, on the Red River. An agent of the +"Bethel Union," who was going round to invite seamen to the "Bethel" +worship, invited the said captain and his men. He excused himself and +his crew on the plea that they had no time--were under contract--had +signed a bond--and might forfeit 500 dollars, &c. "What!" said the +agent, "not afford time to attend the worship of God" on his own day! +"No, I really cannot--very sorry--what I have never done before--should +like to go"--was the faltering reply. "Well," replied the agent with +great solemnity, "God will soon call you to account for this." "I know +He will," rejoined the captain with a downcast eye. The interview +ended. The agent proceeded on his pious mission, and the captain to +take in his cargo. The next morning, as he was looking over the side of +the vessel to see how deep she was in the water, he fell overboard. His +body was never found. His watch, which had been left in the cabin, and +a few other personal articles, the pastor was now taking with him to +the afflicted widow and family. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M. de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser. + + +At 4 o'clock P.M. of February the 14th, we reached the mouth of the +Arkansas. This is a noble river, navigable for 2,000 miles! Not twenty +years ago, the remnants of the four great Indian nations of the +southern part of what is now the United States, amounting to about +75,000 souls, were urged to remove to the banks of this river, with an +assurance of an undisturbed and permanent home. These four nations were +the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. They were +established upon a territory, which they occupied before the settlement +of any Europeans in their vicinity, and which had been confirmed to +them by solemn treaties again and again. The Anglo-Americans of the +States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were however annoyed at +their proximity, because it was unfavourable to the "peculiar +institution" of America. Slaves occasionally made their escape to these +children of the forest, and found sympathy and succour. This would not +do. The Indians must be removed. But how was it to be accomplished? +Annoy them; harass them; wrong them in every possible way, so that they +may be sickened with the place. Georgia, accordingly, first attempted +to establish a division line for the purpose of limiting the boundaries +of the Cherokees. Then, in 1829, the State of Alabama divided the Creek +territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to the +power of white magistrates. And, in 1830, the State of Mississippi +assimilated the Chocktaws and Chickasaws to the white population, and +declared that any one who should take the title of Chief should be +punished with a fine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. Under +these accumulated annoyances, the Cherokees, on the 18th of December, +1829, addressed to Congress the following powerful and touching +appeal:-- + +"By the will of our Father in heaven, the Governor of the whole world, +the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and +renowned. When the ancestors of the people of the United States first +came to the shores of America, they found the red man strong, though he +was ignorant and savage; yet he received them kindly, and gave them dry +land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in +token of friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the +Indian, the latter willingly gave. At that time the Indian was the +lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the scene has changed. +The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbours +increased in numbers, his power became less and less; and now, of the +many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few +are to be seen,--a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The +northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly +extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who +are remnants, share the same fate?" + +"Oh, no!" was the response. "Beyond the great river Mississippi," said +the President to them in 1829, "where a part of your nation has gone, +your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you; and he +advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble +you: they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you +and your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in +peace and plenty. _It will be yours for ever_." + +With this assurance, many left the land of their birth and the homes of +their childhood, travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the Mississippi, +and settled on the banks of the Arkansas. M. de Tocqueville was +"assured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians had +already gone to the shores of the Arkansas, and fresh detachments were +constantly following them." Many, however, were unwilling to be thus +expatriated. "The Indians readily discover," says M. de Tocqueville, +"that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary +expedient. Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to +dwell in peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge +themselves to the observance of the obligation; but the territory which +they at present occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn +oaths of Anglo-American faith. The American Government does not, +indeed, rob them of their land, but it allows perpetual incursions to +be made upon them. In a few years the same white population which now +flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas: +they will then be exposed to the same evils, without the same remedies; +and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only +refuge is the grave." + +The views of this keen French philosopher were prophetic. In vain did I +strain my eyes, as we passed along, to discover any trace of these +Indians. Not one representative of those noble aborigines was to be +seen. In 1836 Arkansas was constituted a State, and admitted into the +Union; and, if you look at a recent map of the United States, you will +see the "location" of these Indians marked, not in the State of +Arkansas at all, but far--far beyond, towards the setting sun, in what +is called the "Western Territory," where, indeed, the river Arkansas +has its source. Nor will ten years pass away before they will be again +disturbed, and pushed further back. + +At the mouth of the Arkansas is a village called Napoleon, of which I +received, on authority not to be disputed, the following horrible +account. A few years ago it was the head quarters of lawless and bloody +men. They fabricated base coin, gambled, robbed, murdered. To such a +pitch of wickedness had they arrived, and such a terror were they to +the whole country, that a party of men from Memphis (a city on the +eastern side of the Mississippi, 180 miles up) took the law into their +own hands, armed themselves with deadly weapons, came down, scoured the +country around, caught about fifty of the ringleaders, and put them to +death. Some they shot,--some they hanged,--and some they threw, tied +hand and foot, into the river. Of this dreadful tragedy no judicial +notice was ever taken! + +February 15.--I had an attack of intermittent fever, and consequently +saw nothing of the scenery around. At night the fog was so dense that +the officers deemed it prudent to "lie to." + +February 16.--At 9 A.M. we were abreast of the city of Memphis, on the +Tennessee side of the river. Higher up there is Cairo. These +slave-holders, who retain their fellow-men in worse than Egyptian +bondage, seem to have a great partiality for Egyptian names. Memphis is +pleasantly situated on high "bluffs," and is a great point for the +shipping of cotton. It does not, however, thrive by _honest_ industry. +I obtained a copy of the _Daily Inquirer_ of that day, where--among +advertisements of pianos, music, bonnets, shawls, &c., for the +ladies--I found the following:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th +of October last, two Negro Fellows of the following description.--To +wit,--Evan, 25 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high, complexion +black, thick bristly beard, low soft voice, and apt to look down when +spoken to; has a large scar on the calf of one of his legs, caused by +the bite of a dog when he was 8 or 10 years old; some of his jaw-teeth +missing or decayed. Ellis, 22 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches +high; complexion dark mulatto, tinged with Indian blood; beard thin and +light. From information derived from a brother of these boys, who was +caught in Washington County, Miss., it appears they intended to apply +for employment as wood-choppers in the upper part of this State, until +they could raise money enough to dress fine, then set off for the State +of Illinois. It is highly probable they will resort to fictitious +names, for the purpose of baffling pursuit. + +"The above reward will be paid to any person confining them in any +jail, so that I can get them again; or fifty dollars for either of +them. + +"DUNCAN M'ALPIN." + +"SLAVE MARKET.--The subscribers have now, and will continue to keep on +hand throughout the season, a large supply of choice Negroes, suited to +every capacity, which they offer at the lowest market rates. They have +agents abroad engaged in purchasing for them, which enables them to bid +defiance to competition. + +"DepĂ´t on Adams-street, between Main and Second Streets. + +"BOLTON & DICKINS." + +"JAILOR'S NOTICE.--Was committed to the jail of Shelby County, on 25th +January, a Negro Boy named Silas. He says he belongs to William Wise, +of Fayette, County Tenne. He is about 30 years old, black complexion, +about 5 feet 11 inches high; weighs about 165 lbs. The owner of said +Negro is requested to come and prove property, and pay charges, or he +will be dealt with according to law. + +"E. W. HARREL, + +"_Jailor_." + +"Feb. 13.--3tW." + +In connection with Memphis, M. de Tocqueville narrates the following +touching incident, relative to the expatriation of the Indians, to +which I have already referred. "At the end of the year 1831, while I +was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a place named by Europeans +Memphis, there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws. These _savages_ [so +his American translator renders it] had left their country, and were +endeavouring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they +hoped to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American +Government. It was the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually +severe: the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the river was +drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them; +and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children +newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither +tents nor waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them +embark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle +fade from my remembrance! No cry, no sob was heard among the assembled +crowd: all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they +knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark +that was to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank. +As soon as these animals perceived that their masters were finally +leaving the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all +together into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the +boat." So much for Memphis and its associations! + +February 18th, at 5 A.M., we entered the Ohio River, and at 1 P.M. the +mouth of the Tennessee; coming shortly afterwards to Smithland, at the +mouth of the Cumberland River, which runs parallel with the Tennessee, +and communicates directly with Nashville, the capital of that State. +This city also has its association of ideas. I cannot think of it +without at the same time thinking of Amos Dresser. He was a student at +Lane Seminary (Dr. Beecher's), and subsequently a missionary to +Jamaica. In the vacation of 1835 he undertook to sell Bibles in the +State of Tennessee, with a view to raise the means of continuing his +studies for the ministry. Under suspicion of being an Abolitionist, he +was arrested by the "Vigilance Committee" (a Lynch-law institution), +while attending a religious meeting in the neighbourhood of Nashville. +After an afternoon and evening's inquisition, he was condemned to +receive twenty lashes with the cow-hide on his naked body. Between 11 +and 12 on Saturday night the sentence was executed upon him, in the +presence of most of the committee, and of an infuriated and blaspheming +mob. The Vigilance Committee consisted of sixty persons. Of these, +twenty-seven were members of churches: one was a religious teacher, and +others were _elders_ of the Presbyterian Church,--one of whom had a few +days before offered Mr. Dresser the bread and wine at the Lord's +Supper. But let Amos Dresser himself describe the scene and the +circumstances. + +"I knelt down," says he, "to receive the punishment, which was +inflicted by Mr. Braughton, the city officer, with a HEAVY COW-SKIN. +When the infliction ceased, an involuntary thanksgiving to God, for the +fortitude with which I had been enabled to endure it, arose in my soul, +to which I began aloud to give utterance. The death-like silence that +prevailed for a moment was suddenly broken with loud exclamations, +--'G--d d--n him! Stop his praying!' I was raised to my +feet by Mr. Braughton, and conducted by him to my lodgings, where it +was thought safe for me to remain but a few moments. + +"Among my triers was a great portion of the respectability of +Nashville; nearly half of the whole number professors of Christianity, +the reputed stay of the Church, supporters of the cause of benevolence +in the form of tract and missionary societies and Sabbath-schools; +several members and _most_ of the elders of the Presbyterian Church, +from whose hands but a few days before I had received the emblems of +the broken body and shed blood of our blessed Saviour!" + +In relating this shameful circumstance, the editor of the _Georgia +Chronicle_, a professor of religion, said that Dresser "should have +been hung up as high as Haman, to rot upon the gibbet until the wind +whistled through his bones. The cry of the whole South should be death, +_instant death_, to the Abolitionist, wherever he is caught." What a +great and free country! + + + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave +of President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service. + + +The Ohio, the "beautiful river," is a magnificent stream formed by the +confluence at Pittsburg of the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers, and is +1,008 miles long, constituting the boundary of six States: Ohio, +Indiana, and Illinois on the north,--all free States; and Virginia, +Kentucky, and Tennessee on the south,--all slave States. A trip on this +river, therefore, affords a fine opportunity for observing the contrast +between slavery and freedom. + +The Ohio is the great artery through which the inland commerce of the +Eastern States flows into the valley of the Mississippi. In ascending +this river, we had first on our left the State of Illinois. This +territory, which contains an area of 60,000 square miles, was settled +by the French in 1720, and was admitted into the Union in 1818. Its +population in 1810 was 12,300; in 1840, 476,180. It is now, probably, +not far short of 1,000,000! + +On the 19th of February, about noon, we arrived at Evansville, on the +Indiana side of the river. This was the prettiest place we had yet +seen; and its charms were enhanced by the assurance that it was free +from the taint of slavery. The rise of this little town has been rapid. +Its population is about 3,000. Three "churches," with their neat and +graceful spires, rising above the other buildings, were conspicuous in +the distance. + +At 5 P.M. we passed Owensborough, on the Kentucky side of the river. +This, too, is a neat little town, with a proportionate number of places +of worship. Indeed, on every hand, places of worship appear to rise +simultaneously with the young settlement. The free and efficient +working of the voluntary principle is the glory of America. In +reference to "church" accommodation, it everywhere appears to decided +advantage compared to the most favoured parts of England. On this +subject Dr. Baird's book on Religion in America is very truthful. + +The fever left me on entering the Ohio, and returned no more,--a clear +proof that this river is healthier than the Mississippi. The latter has +much fog and malaria, which tell quickly upon a constitution like mine, +already predisposed by residence among the swamps of Guiana to fever +and ague. + +As I have already intimated, we had now Indiana, a free State, on our +left. This State is rapidly advancing in wealth and population. It was +settled by the French in 1730, and became an independent State in 1816. +It has an area of 36,840 square miles, being by two-fifths less than +its neighbour Illinois. Its population at the beginning of this century +was only 5,640; in 1840 it was 685,860. It is now above a million! In +1840 it produced upwards of four millions of bushels of wheat, and +twenty-eight millions of corn! + +February 20.--The scenery was diversified. Hills covered with trees +rose on either side. In the summer, when all is fresh and green, there +must be here scenes of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed. At present +the country had a cold and winterly aspect. It rained, too, the whole +day. At 3 P.M. we approached New Albany, on the Indiana side. It is a +flourishing place, with from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. Just above +this town are some falls in the Ohio, that can seldom be ascended by +steamers, which therefore pass through a side canal, with locks, formed +(through the superior influence of the slave-power) on the Kentucky or +slave bank of the river. We had to pass through three locks, which have +been very foolishly made too small to receive steamers of the largest +class in the navigation of the Ohio. Ours fortunately, not being of +that class, could "go a-head." + +At 5 P.M. we got to Louisville, a city of about 30,000 or 40,000 +inhabitants, on the Kentucky side. This city is a great depot for +slaves, whence they are shipped for the New Orleans market. By this +means it has acquired a detestable notoriety. + +"A trader was about to start from Louisville, Kentucky," says the +_Anti-Slavery Record_, "with one hundred slaves for New Orleans. Among +them were two women, with infants at the breast. Knowing that these +infants would depreciate the value of the mothers, the trader sold them +for _one dollar each_. Another mother was separated from her sick child +about four or five years old. Her anguish was so great that she +sickened and died before reaching her destination." + +Take another instance, on the same authority:-- + +"Not very long ago, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a female slave was +sold to a Southern slaver under most afflicting circumstances. She had +at her breast an infant boy three months old. The slaver did not want +the child on any terms. The master sold the mother, and retained the +child. She was hurried away immediately to the depot at Louisville, to +be sent down the river to the Southern market. The last news my +informant had of her was that she was lying _sick_, in the most +miserable condition, her breast having risen, inflamed, and _burst_!" + +Let another case, testified by the Rev. C.S. Renshaw, add to the fame +of this _infamous_ city. + +"Hughes and Neil traded in slaves down the river: they had bought up a +part of their stock in the upper counties of Kentucky, and brought them +down to Louisville, where the remainder of their drove was in jail +waiting their arrival. Just before the steam-boat put off for the lower +country, two negro women were offered for sale, each of them having a +child at the breast. The traders bought them, took their babes from +their arms, and offered them to the highest bidder; and they were sold +for one dollar a piece, whilst the stricken parents were driven on +board the boats, and in an hour were on their way to the New Orleans +market. You are aware that a young babe diminishes the value of a field +hand in the lower country, while it enhances her value in the breeding +States." + +February 21.--Another dreary Sabbath on board. The principal objects of +interest pointed out to us on that day were the residence and the tomb +of the late President Harrison. The latter is a plain brick erection, +in the midst of a field on the top of a hill, about half a mile in the +rear of the former. The recollection of that man, so highly elevated, +and so quickly cut down, could hardly fail to suggest a train of not +unprofitable reflections. He was, I suppose, a moral and well-meaning +man, distinguished for qualities not often to be found in high places; +but I was sorry to be obliged to infer that much of what I had heard +respecting the _religiousness_ of his character wanted confirmation. + +At half-past 4 P.M. we arrived at the long-wished-for Cincinnati--the +"Queen of the West." Our voyage from New Orleans had thus occupied +twelve days, during which time we had been boarded and lodged, as well +as conveyed over a space of 1,550 miles, for 12 dollars each, or one +dollar per diem! It was the cheapest, and (apart from the +companionships) the most pleasant mode of travelling we had ever +experienced. As the boat stayed but a couple of hours at Cincinnati, we +had to land without delay. Being a stranger in a strange land, I +inquired for the Congregational minister, and was told that his name +was Boynton. In perambulating the streets in search of his house, I was +pleased to see but one shop open. It was a tailor's, and, as I +afterwards learned, belonged to a Jew, who closed it on Saturdays, the +law of the State compelling all to close their shops one day in the +week. In every street, we were struck with the glorious liberty enjoyed +by the pigs. On all hands, the swinish multitude were seen luxuriating +in unrestricted freedom. Mr. Boynton, who received us kindly, did not +know of any place where we could be accommodated with private board and +lodging, but promised to make inquiry that evening. He was a man of +about forty years of age, wearing on the Sabbath, and even in the +pulpit (as most American ministers do), a black neckerchief, and +shirt-collar turned down over it. That night we had to go to an hotel, +and were recommended to the Denison House, which we found pretty cheap +and comfortable. But the American hotels are not, in point of comfort, +to be compared for a moment to those of Old England. My wife was too +tired to go out in the evening; and unwilling for my own part to close +the Sabbath without going to some place of public worship, I thought I +would try to find the sanctuary of "my brethren--my kinsmen according +to the flesh"--the Welsh. Following the directions I had received, I +arrived at the top of a certain street, when I heard the sound of +sacred song; but I could not tell whether it was Welsh or not, nor +exactly whence it came. As I stood listening, an overgrown boy came by, +of whom I inquired, "Where does that singing come from?"--"I _guess_ it +comes from a church down below there." "Is it a Welsh Church?"--"I +can't tell, but I _guess_ it is." "Well, then," I rejoined, "I _guess_ +I will go and see." I turned, and the youth "guessed" he would follow +me. I got to the door. The singing had not ceased. It _was_ Welsh--the +language in which I had first heard "_Am Geidwad i'r Colledig!_"[1] How +interesting in the "Far West" to hear sounds so sweet and so familiar +to my childhood! None but those who have experienced can tell the charm +of such an incident. The minister was in the pulpit. His dress and hair +were very plain, and his complexion was extremely dark. He was +evidently a Welshman: there was no mistake about it: his gravity, +plainness, attitude--all told the fact. I ventured forward, and walked +along to the stove, which to me was an object of agreeable attraction. +Around the stove were two or three chairs. A big aristocratic-looking +Welshman, a sort of a "Blaenor," who occupied one of these chairs, +invited me to take another that was vacant. The eyes of all in the +synagogue were upon me. My "guessing" informant had followed me even +there, though he evidently understood not a word of Welsh. The building +was about 40 feet by 35, without galleries, and was about two-thirds +full. The pulpit was fitted up in the platform style--the "genuine" +American mode. The text was, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great a salvation?" The sermon was good and faithful. The audience--the +men on one side of the chapel, and the women on the other--did not +excite much interest. The men, especially, were among the worst hearers +I had ever seen. I felt ashamed of my countrymen. The spitting was +incessant, and attended with certain unmentionable circumstances which +render it most disgusting and offensive. What a contrast to my own +clean and comely congregation of black and coloured people in New +Amsterdam! In about twenty minutes after the preacher had begun his +sermon, one-half of the men had their heads down, resting on both arms +folded on the tops of the pews before them. Whether they were asleep or +not, the attitude was that of deep sleep. This behaviour was grossly +rude,--to say nothing of the apathetic state of mind which it +indicated. I wondered how the preacher could get on at all, with such +hearers before him. I am sorry to say that the Welsh too frequently +manifest a great want of decorum and devotion in their religious +assemblies. This is telling, and will tell, against dissent in the +Principality. + +[Footnote 1: Literally, "Of a Saviour for the lost."] + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting. + + +The Welsh service being ended, my big friend on the next chair asked +me, in the same language, if I was a _llafarwr_ (preacher). I answered +him in the usual Welsh phrase, "_Byddaf yn dweyd ychydig weithiau_," +which means that I did a little in that way. On learning this, he +desired my "_cyhoeddiad_" (publication--another Welsh phrase) to preach +there some night during the coming week; and he wished it to be +announced there and then, to which I would not consent. He introduced +me to Mr. Jones, the minister. After most of the congregation were +gone, a groupe, including my big friend and Mr. Jones, collected around +me, and most earnestly pressed for my "publication." I told them I had +never been a Welsh preacher, that it was nearly five-and-twenty years +since I had left the Principality, and that, moreover, _I could not_ +preach at all to men who put down their heads in the sluggish and +sleepy manner in which most of their men had done that night. "Oh! but +they won't do so when you, a stranger, preach," was the reply. "Then," +I said, "there must be a great want of true devotion among them, if +that would make all the difference." However, being much pressed, I +promised at last to give them, before I left the city, a little +missionary information in Welsh. + +The name of my big friend was Bebb, a near relative, as I subsequently +learned, of His Excellency W. Bebb, the present Governor of the State +of Ohio. The history of this Governor deserves a passing notice. He is +the nephew of the late Rev. John Roberts, of Llanbrynmair, a man of +great worth and usefulness, whose praise is in all the Congregational +Churches of North Wales. Mr. Roberts, when a young man, joined the +Church at Llanbrynmair, began to preach under its sanction, became its +pastor, sustained that office for thirty-six years, and is succeeded by +his two excellent sons, Samuel and John, as co-pastors! Towards the +close of last century, Mr. Roberts's sister, married to a Mr. Bebb, +emigrated to America; as did also his brother George, who still +survives, and of whom Dr. Matheson gives an interesting account in the +seventh letter of the second volume of "Reed and Matheson's Narrative," +calling him "_Judge_ Roberts, the _Pastor_ of the Congregational +Church!" at Ebensburg, in Pennsylvania. + +Mrs. Bebb was soon left a widow, with two sons, William and Evan. But +"the Judge of the widow" and "the Father of the fatherless" did not +forsake her. She is a woman of a strong mind and great piety, and a +thorough hater of slavery and oppression in all their forms. Her own +principles she endeavoured to instil into the minds of her sons, +sparing no efforts to fit them for acting a useful and honourable part +in society. William was brought up to the law, and Evan to commerce. +And now, in the evening of her days, the pious old Welsh-woman has the +gratification of seeing Evan an enterprising and successful merchant in +New York, while William enjoys the highest honour that his +fellow-citizens of Ohio can confer upon him! He is the Governor of a +territory of nearly 40,000 square miles, and a population of 2,000,000. +Mr. Jones, the minister, is intimately acquainted with Mrs. Bebb, who +carefully instructed her distinguished son in the good old language of +Wales, so that, at the time of his recent canvass for office, he was +able to address the Cambrian portion of his constituency in their +mother tongue. + +On entering into office, he declared his determined opposition to the +"black laws" of Ohio. Those "black laws" are black indeed. They are the +foul blot of this otherwise honoured State. One of them is intended to +prevent the coloured citizens of other States from removing to Ohio. It +was enacted in 1807, and is to this effect,--that within twenty days +after the entrance of an emigrant into the State, he is to find two +freehold sureties in the sum of 500 dollars for his _good behaviour_, +and likewise for his _maintenance_, should he, at any future period, be +unable to maintain himself. The Legislature well knew that it would be +utterly impossible, generally speaking, for a _black_ or _coloured_ +stranger to find such securities. In 1800 there were only 337 free +blacks in the territory; but in 1830, notwithstanding the "black laws," +there were 9,500. A large portion of them entered in entire ignorance +of this iniquitous law, and some perhaps in bold defiance of it. But it +has by no means remained a dead letter. In 1829 a very general effort +was made to enforce it,--about 1,000 free blacks being driven from the +State, to take refuge in the more free and Christian country of Canada. +Sir J. Colebrook, the Governor of Upper Canada, said to the coloured +deputation that waited upon him, "Tell the _Republicans_ on your side +of the line that we Royalists do not know men by their colour. Should +you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest +of His Majesty's subjects." A noble sentiment! and one calculated to +make a "_Britisher_" proud of his country, particularly since the +abolition of slavery in our other colonies. At the time these people +were thus driven away, the State of Ohio contained but 23 inhabitants +to one square mile! + +In 1838 official notice was given to the inhabitants of the town of +Fairfield, in Ohio, that all "black or mulatto persons" residing there +were to comply with the requirements of the law of 1807 within twenty +days, or it would be enforced against them. The proclamation addresses +the _white_ inhabitants in the following remarkable terms: "Whites, +look out! If any person or persons _employing_ any black or mulatto +person, contrary to the 3rd section of this law, you may look out for +the breakers!" + +At the very time I was in Ohio an attempt was made, in Mercer County, +to eject by force a number of inoffensive black people. Originally +slaves in Virginia, they had been liberated by the will of their late +master, and located on a suitable quantity of land which he had secured +for them. But the magnanimous and liberty-boasting Americans would not +allow them to enjoy their little settlement unmolested; and it was +extremely doubtful whether the Governor would be able to protect them +from outrage. + +In 1839 a number of coloured inhabitants of Ohio addressed a respectful +petition to the Legislature, praying for the removal of certain legal +disabilities under which they were labouring. The answer was a denial, +not merely of the _prayer_ of the petition, but of the very _right_ of +petition! "Resolved, that the blacks and mulattoes who may be residents +within this State have no constitutional right to present their +petitions to the General Assembly for any purpose whatsoever; and that +any reception of such petitions on the part of the General Assembly is +a mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed by any expressed or +implied power of the Constitution!" + +But the _blackest_ of these black laws is the following: "That no black +or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn, +or give evidence in any court of record or elsewhere in this State, in +any cause depending, or matter of controversy, when either party to the +same is a _white_ person; or in any prosecution of the State against +any _white_ person!" + +Under such a law a white man may with perfect impunity defraud or abuse +a negro to any extent, provided that he is careful to avoid the +presence of any of his own caste at the execution of his contract, or +the commission of his crime! + +To these "black laws" Governor Bebb has avowed an uncompromising +hostility; but the first session of the State Legislature after his +election had just closed, and the black laws were still in force. Mr. +Bebb was not sufficiently supported in his just and humane intentions +to enable him to carry those intentions out. I was assured, however, by +those who knew him well, that he was only "biding his time," being as +determined as ever to wipe away from the statute-book every remnant of +these foul enactments. If he succeed, the poor old Welsh-woman, in her +obscurity and widowhood, will have rendered an important service to the +cause of humanity and justice. Let mothers think of this, and be +encouraged! + +The day after our arrival in Cincinnati, being the 22nd of February, we +obtained, by the aid of Dr. Weed (one of Mr. Boynton's deacons), a +suitable private lodging. Dr. Weed in early life studied for the +medical profession, and graduated in physic. Afterwards he spent some +years as a missionary among the Indians. Now he is a bookseller, +publisher, and stationer in Cincinnati, affording an illustration of +that versatility for which the Americans are distinguished. "Men are to +be met with," says M. de Tocqueville, (and the present writer has +himself seen many instances,) "who have successively been barristers, +farmers, merchants, ministers of the Gospel, and physicians. If the +American be less perfect in each craft than the European, at least +there is scarcely any trade with which he is utterly unacquainted." I +have heard of a man in New York, who, having tried the ministry and +completely failed, wisely judged that that was not the way in which he +could best serve God, and turned to commerce. He is now a substantial +merchant, and supports five other men to preach the Gospel; each of +whom, he is wont to say, does it much better than he could ever have +done. + +The lodging which Dr. Weed kindly found us was at the house of the +Misses M'Pherson, five Quaker sisters, living together. It was clean +and respectable,--the cheapest and most comfortable lodging we had +hitherto met with. The table was bountifully supplied with excellent +and well-cooked provisions; for which the charge was only 4 dollars +each per week, and half-a-dollar for fuel, making altogether only 9 +dollars for us both. Of the kindness and hospitality of these ladies we +shall always retain a grateful remembrance. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Beecher, +Dr. Stowe, Professor Allen, and several other Presbyterian ministers of +the New School. They were assembled for fraternal intercourse in the +vestry of one of the "churches." I was struck with the sallowness of +their complexions, and the want of polish in their manners. Dr. Beecher +invited me to go up some day to see Lane Seminary, about two miles off. +To this invitation I readily acceded. I was greatly interested in this +veteran, of whose fame I had so often heard. + +February 23rd.--In the evening, I went to a meeting of the Democratic +party in the town-hall, thinking it would afford me a good opportunity +for observing American manners. The place was full; and when I arrived, +a gentleman was addressing the meeting with great vehemence of tone and +gesture. His speech consisted of innumerable changes rung on the +sentiment--"There must be a vigorous prosecution of the war against +Mexico." But I must reserve any further account of this meeting for my +next letter. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education. + + +In resuming my notice of the Democratic meeting, let me observe that +the Democratic party in America is not very reputable. It is the war +party, the pro-slavery party, the mob party, and, at present, the +dominant party,--the party, in fine, of President Polk. It had just +been aroused to the highest pitch of indignation, by a telling speech +delivered in Congress against the Mexican War by Thomas Corwin, Esq., +one of the Ohio senators. This meeting, then, was intended as a +demonstration in favour of Polk and his policy; but it turned out a +miserable failure. + +When the blustering speaker who "had the floor" when I entered sat +down, the "president" (for they do not say the chairman) rose, amidst a +tremendous storm of favourite names, uttered simultaneously by all +present at the top of their voices, and, as soon as he could be heard, +said it had been moved and seconded that So-and-so, Esq., be requested +to address the meeting: those who were in favour of that motion were to +say "Ay,"--those against it, "No." One great "Ay" was then uttered by +the mass, and a few "Noes" were heard. The "_Ayes"_ had it. But an +unforeseen difficulty occurred. So-and-so, Esq., either was not there, +or would not speak. Amidst deafening noise again, the president rose, +and said it had been moved and seconded that John Brough, Esq., be +requested to address the meeting. "Ay"--"No;" but the "Ayes" had it. +"Now, John Brough," said a droll-looking Irishman, apparently a +hod-carrier, who was at my elbow,-- + + "Now, John Brough, + Out with the stuff." + +Here was Paddy on the western side of the Allegany Mountains, with his +native accent and native wit as fresh and unimpaired as if he had but +just left his green isle, and landed on one of the quays at Liverpool. +But John Brough again declined the honour conferred upon him! Then it +was moved and seconded and "ayed" that So-and-so, Esq., be requested to +address the meeting, but _he_ also was not forthcoming! _Nil +desperandum_. It was moved and seconded and "ayed" that--Callaghan, +Esq., be requested to address the meeting. After some hesitation, and a +reference to his own "proverbial modesty," he proceeded to foam, and +stamp, and thump, and bluster for "the vigorous prosecution of the +war," till the American eagle should "stretch his wings over the halls +of the Montezumas." At this stage of the proceedings, the spitting and +smoke had become so offensive that I was compelled to retire; and I did +so with no very high notions of the intelligence and respectability of +the American democrats. + +The next day being fine and frosty, and the roads hard, I set off in +the morning to pay my intended visit to Lane Seminary. I found it a +long two miles, all up hill. The seminary itself, the building in which +the students are accommodated, is a large plain brick edifice, four +stories high, besides the basement-story, and has very much the +appearance of a small Lancashire factory. It is 100 feet long by about +40 feet wide, and contains 84 rooms for students. The situation is +pleasant, and at a nice distance from the roadside. A large bell was +being tolled awkwardly when I arrived. It was 11 o'clock A.M. I found +the front door thrown wide open, with every indication of its being +entered by all comers without the least ceremony--not even that of +wiping the shoes. There was neither door-bell nor knocker, scraper nor +mat; and the floor of the lobby seemed but slightly acquainted with the +broom,--to say nothing of the scrubbing-brush. It looked like the floor +of a corn or provision warehouse. I had no alternative but to venture +in. Immediately after, there entered a young man with a fowling-piece, +whom before I had seen at a little distance watching the movements of a +flock of wild pigeons. I took him for a sportsman; but he was a young +divine! I asked him if Dr. Beecher was about. He replied that he +guessed not, but he would be at the lecture-room in a few minutes, for +the bell that had just tolled was a summons to that room. "Does the +Doctor, then," said I, "deliver a lecture this morning?"--"No, it is +_declamation_ this morning." "Is it such an exercise," I continued, "as +a stranger may attend?"--"Oh, yes!" he replied; "it is _public_ +declamation." He then directed me to the lecture-room. It was across +the yard, and under the chapel belonging to the institution. This +chapel is a very neat building, after the model of a Grecian temple, +having the roof in front carried out and supported by six +well-proportioned columns in the form of a portico. In a part of the +basement-story was the lecture-room in question. The students were +mustering. By-and-by Dr. Stowe entered. He invited me to take a chair +by his side, on a kind of platform. Professor Allen then came in, and +after him Dr. Beecher. The exercise began with a short prayer by Mr. +Allen. He then called upon a Mr. Armstrong, one of the students, to +ascend the platform. The young man obeyed; and, somewhat abruptly and +vehemently, rehearsed from memory a Poem on War. Suiting the action to +the words, he began-- + + "_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!" + +It quite startled me! Soon afterwards I heard,-- + + "And Montezuma's halls shall _ring_." + +What! (reasoned I) is this the sequel to the Democratic meeting of last +night? Has Mars, who presided at the town-hall, a seat in the +lecture-room of this Theological Seminary? As the young man proceeded, +however, I perceived that his poem was, in fact, a denunciation of the +horrors of war,--not, as I had supposed, the composition of another +person committed to memory, and now rehearsed as an exercise in +elocution, but entirely his own. It was altogether a creditable +performance. The Professors at the close made their criticisms upon it, +which were all highly favourable. Dr. Beecher said, "My only criticism +is, _Print it, print it_." The venerable Doctor, with the natural +partiality of a tutor, afterwards observed to me he had never heard +anything against war that took so strong a hold of his feelings as that +poem. Dr. Stowe also told me that Mr. Armstrong was considered a young +man of fine talents and great devotion; and that some of the students +had facetiously said, "Brother Armstrong was so pious that even the +dogs would not bark at him!" + +Mr. Armstrong was not at all disposed to take his tutor's advice. But +he favoured me with a copy of his poem, on condition that I would not +cause it to be printed in America,--in England I might. It contains +some turgid expressions, some halting and prosaic lines, and might be +improved by a severe revision; but, besides its interest as a +Transatlantic college-exercise, I feel it possesses sufficient merit to +relieve the tediousness of my own prose. + +"'_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!'-- + Is heard throughout the land, +While flashing columns, thick and strong, + Sweep by with swelling band. +'Our country, right or wrong,' they shout, + 'Shall still our motto he: +With _this_ we are prepared to rout + Our foes from sea to sea. +Our own right arms to us shall bring + The victory and the spoils; +And Montezuma's halls shall ring, + When there we end our toils.' +ON, then, ye brave' like tigers rage, + That you may win your crown, +Mowing both infancy and age + In ruthless carnage down. +Where flows the tide of life and light, + Amid the city's hum, +There let the cry, at dead of night, + Be heard, 'They come, they come!' +Mid scenes of sweet domestic bliss, + Pour shells of livid fire, +While red-hot balls among them hiss, + To make the work entire +And when the scream of agony + Is heard above the din, +_Then_ ply your guns with energy, + And throw your columns in +Thro' street and lane, thro' house and church, + The sword and faggot hear, +And every inmost recess search, + To fill with shrieks the air +Where waving fields and smiling homes + Now deck the sunny plain, +And laughter-loving childhood roams + Unmoved by care or pain; +Let famine gaunt and grim despair + Behind you stalk along, +And pestilence taint all the air + With victims from the strong +Let dogs from mangled beauty's cheeks + The flesh and sinews tear, +And craunch the bones around for weeks, + And gnaw the skulls till bare +Let vultures gather round the heaps + Made up of man and beast, +And, while the widowed mother weeps, + Indulge their horrid feast, +Till, startled by wild piteous groans, + On dreary wings they rise, +To come again, mid dying moans, + And tear out glazing eyes +_Tho'_ widows' tears, and orphans' cries, + When starving round the spot +Where much-loved forms once met their eyes + Which now are left to rot, +With trumpet-tongue, for vengeance call + Upon each guilty head +That drowns, mid revelry and brawls, + Remembrance of the dead. +_Tho'_ faint from fighting--wounded--wan, + To camp you'll turn your feet, +And no sweet, smiling, happy home, + Your saddened hearts will greet: +No hands of love--no eyes of light-- + Will make your wants their care, +Or soothe you thro' the dreary night, + Or smooth your clotted hair. +But crushed by sickness, famine, thirst, + You'll strive in vain to sleep, +Mid corpses mangled, blackened, burst, + And blood and mire deep; +While horrid groans, and fiendish yells, + And every loathsome stench, +Will kindle images of hell + You'll strive in vain to quench. +Yet _on_--press on, in all your might, + With banners to the field, +And mingle in the glorious fight, + With Satan for your shield: +For marble columns, if you die, + _May_ on them bear your name; +While papers, tho' they sometimes lie, + Will praise you, or will blame. +Yet woe! to those who build a house, + Or kingdom, not by right,-- +Who in their feebleness propose + Against the Lord to fight. +For when the Archangel's trumpet sounds, + And all the dead shall hear, +And haste from earth's remotest bounds + In judgment to appear,-- +When every work, and word, and _thought_, + Well known or hid from sight, +Before the Universe is brought + To blaze in lines of light,-- +When by the test of _perfect_ law + Your '_glorious_' course is tried, +On what resources will you draw?-- + In what will you confide? +For know that eyes of awful light + Burn on you from above, +Where nought but kindness meets the sight, + And all the air is love. +When all unused to such employ + As charms the angelic hands, +How can you hope to share their joy + Who dwell in heavenly lands?" + +Such was the poem of Frederick Alexander Armstrong. After its +rehearsal, a young gentleman _read_ a prose Essay on Education. It was +clever, and indicated a mind of a high order, but was too playful; and +the performance was severely criticised. Here ended the "public +declamation." + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students. + + +The "public declamation" ended, Dr. Beecher asked me to accompany him +to his house. It was about an eighth of a mile from the institution, +over a very bad road, or rather over no road at all. He conducted me +into a snug little sitting-room, having no grate; but a wood fire on +the floor under the chimney. It looked primitive and homely. This style +of fire is not uncommon in America. The logs of wood lie across two +horizontal bars of iron, by which they are raised four or six inches +from the floor. The Doctor's first care was to replenish the fire with +a few sturdy pieces of wood. All through the States, I have observed +that the task of feeding the fire generally devolves on the head of the +family. In this little room I was introduced to Mrs. Beecher. She is, I +believe, the third lady on whom the Doctor has conferred his name. In +one corner of this apartment was a gun, and on the sofa a heap of shot. +Thousands of wild pigeons were flying about. The visit of these birds +made the Doctor very uneasy. He was ever and anon snatching up his gun, +and going out to have a pop at them. Though upwards of seventy years of +age, he is an excellent marksman. It was to me a little odd to see a +venerable D.D., a Professor of Theology, handling a fowling-piece! The +Americans, have by circumstances been trained to great skill in the use +of fire-arms. The gun, however, proved a fatal instrument in the hands +of one of the Doctor's sons, a young man of great promise, who was +killed by the accidental explosion of one. Nevertheless, Dr. Beecher +has five sons, all (like himself) in the ministry! He has a maiden +daughter, who has distinguished herself by her literary attainments and +active benevolence. The excellent and accomplished wife of Dr. Stowe +was also a Miss Beecher. + +At 1 o'clock P.M. we dined. The Professors never dine, or take any +other meal, with the assembled students. This is a disadvantage. But in +America eating, under any circumstances, is not so sociable a matter as +in England. + +After dinner, I took my leave of Dr. Beecher, and went to see the +library of the institution. This is over the chapel, but so arranged as +not at all to detract from the just proportions of the building. +Indeed, no one would suspect that there was a story above. This library +was collected with great care and judgment by Dr. Stowe, in England and +on the continent of Europe, and contains 10,000 volumes! The +library-room is capable of receiving 30,000 volumes. But even now it is +the largest library on this side the Allegany Mountains. It comprises +not only the standard works in all the departments of a theological +course, but also a very rich variety of authors in general literature +and science. The books are arranged in alcoves according to their +character,--Theology--Biblical Literature--Classics--History--Philosophy; +and so forth. + +There is a "Society of Inquiry" in connection with the seminary, which +has a distinct library of 326 volumes. "The Reading Room and Athenaeum" +is furnished with 21 newspapers, and several of the best literary and +theological periodicals. + +From the library, my guide (one of the students) led me down into the +lecture-room, where Professor Stowe was engaged with a Hebrew class. +They were reading in the Song of Solomon. The exhibition did not strike +me as much superior to what we used to have at Rotherham College ten or +twelve years ago. In point of domestic _comfort_, the latter is +incomparably before Lane Seminary, and in literary advantages not far +behind. Professor Stowe kindly drove me back to Cincinnati in his +buggy, or waggon, or phaeton. + +Lane Seminary is an institution devoted entirely to theological +education, in connection with the New-School Presbyterians. The +building, including chapel and library, cost about 50,000 dollars, or +10,000_l._, and must have been very cheap at that. In 1828-30, Ebenezer +Lane, Esq., and his brother Andrew Lane, Esq., made a donation of 4,000 +dollars for the purpose of establishing the seminary, whereupon it was +incorporated under the name of "Lane Seminary," and trustees were +appointed. To these trustees the Rev. Mr. Kemper and his sons made +over, for the benefit of the institution, 60 acres of land, including +the site on which the buildings stand. In 1832 Arthur Tappan, Esq., of +New York, subscribed 20,000 dollars for the Professorship of Theology. +In the same year 15,000 dollars were raised for the Professorship of +Ecclesiastical History; the largest contributor to which was Ambrose +White, Esq., of Philadelphia: and an equal sum was contributed for the +Professorship of Biblical Literature,--Stephen Van Rennselaer, Esq., of +Albany, being the chief contributor. In 1835, a fund of 20,000 dollars +was raised for the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric, of which a large +portion was given by John Tappan, Esq., of Boston. A literary +department was organized in 1829, which was discontinued in 1834; at +which period the institution, in its full operation as a Theological +Seminary, may be said to have commenced. Since then it has sent forth +about 250 ministers! + +Candidates for admission must produce satisfactory testimonials, that +they are members, in good standing, of some Christian Church; that they +possess competent talents; and that they have regularly graduated at +some college or university, or have pursued a course of study +equivalent to the common college course. + +The course of study occupies three years; and every student is expected +to enter with the intention of completing the full course. So far as +practicable, the different branches are pursued simultaneously. Thus +the department of Biblical Literature, during the first year, occupies +three days in the week; during the second, two; and during the third, +one: Church History, one day in the week: Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, one day in the week during the first year, two the second, +and three the third. The object of this arrangement is to afford a +pleasant variety in study, and to keep up a proper interest in all the +departments through the whole course. "Hitherto," it is stated, "the +plan has been pursued with results highly satisfactory to the Faculty." +Theological students may be glad to learn the following particulars of +the whole course. + +I. BIBLICAL LITERATURE.--This department embraces--1. Biblical +Geography and Antiquities. 2. Principles of Biblical Interpretation. 3. +General Introduction to the Old and New Testaments, and Particular +Introduction to the Pentateuch, Gospels, and Acts. 4. Interpretation of +the Gospels in Harmony and of the Acts. 5. Interpretation of the +Historical Writings of Moses. 6. Particular Introduction to the several +Books of the Old and New Testaments. 7. Hebrew Poetry, including +Figurative and Symbolical Language of Scripture. 8. Interpretation of +Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. 9. Epistles to Romans, Corinthians, +Timothy, and I Peter. 10. Nature and Fulfilment of Prophecy, +particularly in reference to the Messiah. 11. Interpretation of Isaiah, +Zechariah, and Nahum. 12. The Revelation, in connection with Daniel. + +II. CHURCH HISTORY AND POLITY.--In this department a regular course of +lectures is given on the History of Doctrines to all the classes, and +on Church Polity to the senior classes. + +III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.--In this department are included--1. Cause +and Effect. 2. Mental Philosophy. 3. Atheism, its History and +Hypothesis, Arguments, Objections, and Folly. 4. The Being, Character, +and Attributes of God. 5. Reason, Light of Nature, Necessity of +Revelation. 6. The Truth and Inspiration of the Bible. 7. Doctrine of +Revelation. + +IV. SACRED RHETORIC AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY. _First Year_.--Lectures on +Rhetoric and Elocution. Exercises in Reading and Elocution. _Second +Year_.--Written Discussions, with Public Criticism in the class. _Third +Year_.--Exercises in criticising Skeletons continued. Public and +Private Criticism of Sermons. Lectures on Preaching and on Pastoral +Duties. + +The annual term of study begins on the second Wednesday in September, +and closes on the second Wednesday in June, which is the Anniversary. +The term closes with a public examination. + +Dr. Andrew Reed, who visited Lane Seminary in 1834, refers to it as a +_model_ manual-labour institution. With the advancement of society +around, it has lost in a great measure that peculiarity. There is now +but little done in that way, though it is still recorded in italics +among its regulations, that "every student is expected to labour three +hours a day at some agricultural or mechanical business." "While the +leading aim of this regulation," it is added, "is to promote health and +vigour of both body and mind, compensation is received according to the +value of the labour." + +No charge is made for tuition. Rooms are fully furnished and rented at +5 dollars a year from each student. The incidental expenses, including +fuel and light for public rooms, ringing the bell, and sweeping, are 5 +dollars more. The room-rent and incidental bill are paid in advance. +For the aid of indigent students funds are collected annually, by means +of which board is furnished to such gratuitously. To those who receive +no assistance from the funds, the price of board is about 90 cents a +week. The cost of fuel and lights for each student, in his own room, +will average from 8 to 12 dollars a year. Thus the entire expense to a +young man for a whole term of nine months is only from 50 to 60 +dollars, or from 10 to 12 guineas of our money. + +"The results of these thirteen years of labour," say the trustees in a +document recently issued, "considering the difficulties attending the +establishment of such an institution in a new country, amid a +population as yet unassimilated in feelings and habits, and whose +schools, academies, and colleges are of comparatively recent origin, +are indeed highly encouraging. The friends of the institution, and of +religion and learning generally, thankful for what has already been +accomplished, will feel encouraged to do whatever may be necessary for +the highest efficiency of the seminary; and will give their prayers +that the labours of the 300 young men, who have enjoyed or now enjoy +its advantages," (there being about 50 then in the house,) "may be +abundantly blessed by the Head of the Church." + +Lane Seminary is a valuable and catholic institution. At their +entrance, the students have to subscribe to no confession of faith; +and, when they have completed their curriculum, they are at perfect +liberty to exercise their ministry among whatever denomination they +please. Congregational as well as Presbyterial Churches obtain pastors +from this "school of the prophets." + +The "Faculty" at present consists of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D.D., +President, and Professor of Theology; the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, D.D., +Professor of Biblical Literature, and Lecturer on Church History; and +the Rev. D. Howe Allen, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, and Lecturer on Church Polity. + +Nothing struck me more than the feeling of equality that seemed to +subsist between students and professors. The latter, in speaking to or +of any of the former, would generally say "Brother" So-and-so. The +students also, in their bearing towards the professors, seemed each to +say, "I am as good a man as you are." This is the genius of America. +You meet it everywhere. There man is man (except his skin be black), +and he expects to be treated as such. Respect to superiors is not among +the maxims of our Transatlantic brethren. The organ of veneration is, +perhaps, imperfectly developed. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister. + + +On the previous Friday, Professor Allen called to request me to preach +in his stead at the Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, the +28th of February, as he had to go some twenty miles into the country to +"assist at a revival." I agreed to do so. Sunday morning was +excessively cold, with a heavy fall of snow. On arriving at the +"church," I found there was no vestry. Indeed, a vestry, as a private +room for the minister, is seldom found in America. The places are +exceedingly neat and comfortable, but they want _that_ convenience. I +had therefore to go with my hat and top-coat, covered with snow, right +into the pulpit. This church outside is a noble-looking building, with +massive pillars in front, and a bell-tower containing a town-clock; but +the interior seemed comparatively small. It had a gallery at one end, +which held only the singers and the organ. The seats below were not +more than one-third full. Dr. Beecher ministered in this place for +about ten years. It was now without a pastor, but was temporarily +supplied by Professor Allen. The congregation was far more decorous and +attentive than those in New Orleans. After the introductory service, +and while the hymn before sermon was being sung, a man came trudging +down the aisle, bearing an immense scuttle full of coals to supply the +stoves. How easy it would have been before service to place a box of +fuel in the vicinity of each stove, and thereby avoid this unseemly +bustle! But in the singing of the hymn, I found something to surprise +and offend me even more than the coal-scuttle. The hymn was-- + + "O'er the gloomy hills of darkness," &c. + +I had selected it myself; but when I got to the second verse, where I +had expected to find + + "Let the Indian, let the negro, + Let the rude barbarian see," &c., + +lo! "the Indian." and "the negro" had vanished, and + + "Let the dark benighted pagan" + +was substituted. A wretched alteration,--as feeble and tautological in +effect as it is suspicious in design. The altered reading, I learned, +prevails universally in America, except in the _original_ version used +by the Welsh congregations. Slave-holders, and the abettors of that +horrid system which makes it a crime to teach a negro to read the Word +of God, felt perhaps that they could not devoutly and consistently sing + + "Let the Indian, let the negro," &c. + +This church, I heard, was more polluted with a pro-slavery feeling than +any other in Cincinnati of the same denomination,--a circumstance +which, I believe, had something to do with Dr. Beecher's resignation of +the pastorate. + +At the close of the sermon, having pronounced the benediction, I +engaged, according to our English custom, in a short act of private +devotion. When I raised my head and opened my eyes, the very last man +of the congregation was actually making his exit through the doorway; +and it was quite as much as I could manage to put on my top-coat and +gloves and reach the door before the sexton closed it. This rushing +habit in the House of God strikes a stranger as rude and irreverent. +You meet with no indications of private devotion, either preceding or +following public worship. A man marches into his pew, or his pulpit, +sits down, wipes his nose, and stares at all about him; and at the +close, the moment the "Amen" is uttered, he is off with as much speed +as if the house were on fire. In this instance, the service had not +exceeded an hour and a half; and yet they hurried out as if they +thought the beef was all burnt, and the pudding all spoiled. Of course, +there were no thanks to the stranger for his services,--to say nothing +of the _quiddam honorarium_, which to a man travelling for health, at +his own expense, with an invalid wife, might have been supposed not +unacceptable. + +When, however, I got to the portico outside, a gentleman, with his +wife, was waiting to see me before they stepped into their carriage. +Here was some token of politeness and hospitality,--an invitation to +dinner, no doubt.--"Thank you, sir, I am very much obliged to you; but +I left my wife very ill at our lodgings this morning, and therefore I +cannot have the pleasure to dine with you to-day," was the civil excuse +I was preparing. Never was expectation more beside the mark. My "guess" +was altogether wrong. "What are you going to do with yourself this +afternoon?" was the gentleman's blunt salutation. "What have _you_ to +propose, sir?" was my reply. "I am the superintendent," he said, "of a +German Sunday-school in the upper part of the city, and I should like +you to come and address the children this afternoon." I promised to go, +and he to send to my "lodgings" for me. We both kept our appointment. +The number of scholars was about 100. This effort to bring the Germans +under a right religious influence is very laudable; for there are about +10,000 of that people in Cincinnati. One quarter of the city is +entirely German. You see nothing else on the sign-boards; you hear +nothing else in the streets. Of these Germans the greater part are +Roman Catholics. + +After visiting the school, I found myself in time to attend one of the +chapels of the coloured people at 3 P.M. A medical student, whom I had +met in the morning, and again at the German school, accompanied me. He +was a New Englander, and a thorough anti-slavery man. When we got to +the chapel--a Baptist one--they were at prayer. Walking in softly, we +entered a pew right in the midst of them. The minister--a mulatto of +about thirty years of age, with a fine intelligent eye--was very simple +in dress, and unostentatious in manner. His language, too, was +appropriate and correct. He was evidently a man of good common sense. +His text was Psalm li. l2, l3. He referred very properly to the +occasion on which the Psalm was composed, and drew from the text a +large mass of sound practical instruction. The chapel (capable of +containing about 150 people) was only half-full. Before the sermon, I +had observed a very old negro, in a large shabby camlet cloak and a +black cap, ascending the pulpit-stairs. I supposed that, being dull of +hearing, he had taken that position that he might better listen to the +service. However, when the sermon was over, this patriarchal-looking +black man rose to pray; and he prayed "like a bishop," with astonishing +correctness and fluency! He was formerly a slave in Kentucky, and was +at this time about eighty years of age. They call him "Father Watkins." +At the close I introduced myself to him and to the minister. They both +expressed regret that they had not had me up in the pulpit, to tell +them something, as "Father Watkins" said, about their "brothers and +sisters on the other side of the water." The minister gave me his card, +and invited me and my wife to take tea with him on Tuesday afternoon. +This was the first invitation I received within the city of Cincinnati +to take a meal anywhere; and it was the more interesting to me as +coming from a coloured man. + +In the evening I went, according to appointment, to the Welsh Chapel. +There I met a Mr. Bushnel, an American missionary from the Gaboon +River, on the western coast of Africa. He first spoke in English, and I +afterwards a little in Welsh; gladly embracing the opportunity to +exhort my countrymen in that "Far West" to feel kindly and tenderly +towards the coloured race among them; asking them how they would +themselves feel if, as Welshmen, they were branded and despised +wherever they went! I was grieved to see the excess to which they +carried the filthy habit of spitting. The coloured people in _their_ +chapel were incomparably cleaner in that respect. + +In the morning a notice had been put into my hand at the Presbyterian +Church for announcement, to the effect that Mr. Bushnel and myself +would address the "monthly concert at the church in Sixth-street" on +the morrow evening. Of this arrangement not a syllable had been said to +me beforehand. This was American liberty, and I quietly submitted to +it. The attendance was not large; and we two missionaries had it all to +ourselves. No other ministers were present,--not even the minister of +the church in which we were assembled. The people, however, seemed +heartily interested in the subject of missions. At the close, a lady +from Manchester, who had seen me there in 1845 at the missionary +meeting, came forward full of affection to shake hands. She was a +member of Mr. Griffin's church in that city, and had removed to America +a few months before, with her husband (who is a member of the "Society +of Friends") and children. I was glad to find that they were likely to +be comfortable in their adopted country. + +Next morning I went with Dr. Reuben D. Mussey, a New Englander, to see +the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Mussey is the Professor of Surgery and +Dean of the Faculty, and is highly esteemed for his professional skill +and general character. He and his son, who was my guide on the Sunday, +very kindly showed and explained to me everything of interest in the +institution. The cabinet belonging to the anatomical department is +supplied with all the materials necessary for acquiring a minute and +perfect knowledge of the human frame. These consist of detached bones, +of wired natural skeletons, and of dried preparations to exhibit the +muscles, bloodvessels, nerves, &c. The cabinet of comparative anatomy +is supposed to be more extensively supplied than any other in the +United States. Besides perfect skeletons of American and foreign birds +and other animals, there is an immense number of detached _crania_, +from the elephant and hippopotamus down to the minuter orders. The +cabinet in the surgical department has been formed at great expense, +chiefly by Dr. Mussey himself, during the labour of more than forty +years. It contains a large number of rare specimens,--600 specimens of +diseased bones alone. Other departments are equally well furnished. The +Faculty is composed of six Professorships,--Surgery, Anatomy and +Physiology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Obstetrics and +Diseases of Women and Children, and the Theory and Practice of +Medicine. The fees of tuition are only 15 dollars, or 3 guineas, to +each professor, making an aggregate of 90 dollars. There were 190 +students. It will probably be admitted that this institution, formed in +a new country, has arrived at an astonishing degree of vigour and +maturity. It is only one of many instances in which the Americans are +before us in the facilities afforded for professional education. + +In the afternoon my wife and myself went to take tea with the coloured +minister. His dwelling, though small and humble, was neat and clean. +With his intelligence and general information we were quite delighted. +He spoke with feeling of the gross insults to which the coloured +people, even in this free State, are exposed. When they travel by +railway, though they pay the same fare as other people, they are +generally put in the luggage-van! He had himself, when on board of +steam-boats, often been sent to the "pantry" to eat his food. Nor will +the white people employ them but in the most menial offices; so that it +is nearly impossible for them to rise to affluence and horse-and-gig +respectability. The consequence is that they are deeply and justly +disaffected towards the American people and the American laws. They +clearly understand that England is their friend. For one month all the +free coloured people wore crape as mourning for Thomas Clarkson. + + + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C. B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality. + + +A lady, belonging to the Presbyterian Church at which I preached, +kindly sent her carriage to take us about to see the city. We visited +the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, one of the principal "lions." It was +begun in 1841, and, though used for public worship, is not yet +finished. The building is a parallelogram of 200 feet long by 80 feet +wide, and is 58 feet from the floor to the ceiling. The roof is partly +supported by the side walls, and partly by two rows of freestone +columns--nine in each row--at a distance of about 11 feet from the wall +inside. These columns are of the Corinthian Order, and are 35 feet +high, and 3 feet 6 inches in diameter. There is no gallery, except at +one end, for the organ, which cost 5,400 dollars, or about 1,100_l._ +sterling. The floor of the building is furnished with a centre aisle of +6 feet wide, and two other aisles, each 11 feet wide, along the side +walls, for processional purposes. The remainder of the area is formed +into 140 pews, 10 feet deep. Each pew will accommodate with comfort +only six persons; so that this immense edifice affords sitting room for +no more than 840 people! It is a magnificent structure, displaying in +all its proportions a remarkable degree of elegance and taste. The +tower, when finished, will present an elevation of 200 feet, with a +portico of twelve Corinthian columns, six in front and three on either +side, on the model of the Tower of the Wind at Athens. The entire +building will be Grecian in all its parts. One-fourth of the population +of Cincinnati are Roman Catholics. They have lately discontinued the +use of public government-schools for their children, and have +established some of their own, I am not so much alarmed at the progress +of Popery in America as I was before I visited that country. Its +proselytes are exceedingly few. Its supporters consist chiefly of the +thousands of Europeans, already Roman Catholic, who flock to the New +World. The real _progress_ of Popery is greater in Britain than in +America. + +In the evening I preached for Mr. Boynton in the "Sixth-street Church," +Mr. Boynton and his Church, heretofore Presbyterians, have recently +become Congregationalists. This has given great umbrage to the +Presbyterians. Congregationalism is rapidly gaining ground in the +Western World, and seems destined there, as in England since Cromwell's +time, to swallow up Presbyterianism. I make no invidious comparison +between the two systems: I merely look at facts. And it does appear to +me that Congregationalism--so simple, so free, so unsectarian, and so +catholic--is nevertheless a powerful absorbent. It _has_ absorbed all +that was orthodox in the old Presbyterian Churches of England; and it +_is_ absorbing the Calvinistic Methodists and the churches named after +the Countess of Huntingdon. It has all along exerted a powerful +influence on the Presbyterianism of America. The Congregational element +diffused among those churches occasioned the division of the +Presbyterian Church into Old School and New School. + +Mr. Boynton is what a friend of mine called "intensely American." He +has lately published, under the title of "Our Country the Herald of a +New Era," a lecture delivered before the "Young Men's Mercantile +Library Association." To show the magnificent ideas the Americans +entertain of themselves and their country, I will transcribe a few +passages. + +"This nation is an enigma, whose import no man as yet may fully know. +She is a germ of boundless things. The unfolded bud excites the hope of +one-half the human race, while it stirs the remainder with both anger +and alarm. Who shall now paint the beauty and attraction of the +expanded flower? Our Eagle is scarcely fledged; but one wing stretches +over Massachusetts Bay, and the other touches the mouth of the +Columbia. Who shall say, then, what lands shall be overshadowed by the +full-grown pinion? Who shall point to any spot of the northern +continent, and say, with certainty, Here the starry banner shall never +be hailed as the symbol of dominion? [The annexation of Canada!] * * * +It cannot be disguised that the idea is gathering strength among us, +that the territorial mission of this nation is to obtain and hold at +least all that lies north of Panama. * * * Whether the millions that +are to dwell on the great Pacific slope of our continent are to +acknowledge our banner, or rally to standards of their own; whether +Mexico is to become ours by sudden conquest or gradual absorption; +whether the British provinces, when they pass from beneath the sceptre +of England, shall be incorporated with us, or retain an independent +dominion;--are perhaps questions which a not distant future may decide. +However they may be settled, the great fact will remain essentially the +same, that the two continents of this Western Hemisphere shall yet bear +up a stupendous social, political, and religious structure, wrought by +the American mind, moulded and coloured by the hues of American +thought, and animated and united by an American soul. It seems equally +certain that, whatever the divisions of territory may be, these United +States are the living centre, from which already flows the resistless +stream which will ultimately absorb in its own channel, and bear on its +own current, the whole thought of the two Americas. * * * If, then, I +have not over-rated the moral and intellectual vigour of the people of +this nation, and of the policy lately avowed to be acted upon--that the +further occupation of American soil by the Governments of Europe is not +to be suffered,--then the inference is a direct one, that the stronger +elements will control and absorb the lesser, so that the same causes +which melted the red races away will send the influence of the United +States not only over the territory north of Panama, but across the +Isthmus, and southward to Magellan." + +The "New Era" of which America is the "Herald" is, he tells us, to be +marked by three grand characteristics,-- + +"First. A new theory and practice in government and in social life, +such as the world has never seen, of which we only perceive the germ as +yet." Already have you indeed presented before the world your "peculiar +institution" of slavery in a light new and striking. Already have you a +"theory and practice" in the government of slaves such as the world +never beheld! + +"Second. A literature which shall not only be the proper outgrowth of +the American mind, but which shall form a distinctive school, as +clearly so as the literature of Greece!" Under this head he says, "Very +much would I prefer that our literature should appear even in the guise +of the awkward, speculating, guessing, but still original, +strong-minded _American_ Yankee, than to see it mincing in the costume +of a London dandy. I would rather see it, if need be, showing the wild +rough strength, the naturalness and fervour of the extreme West, +equally prepared to liquor with a stranger or to fight with him, than +to see it clad in the gay but filthy garments of the saloons of Paris. +Nay more, much as every right mind abhors and detests such things, I +would sooner behold our literature holding in one hand the murderous +Bowie knife, and in the other the pistol of the duellist, than to see +her laden with the foul secrets of a London hell, or the gaming-houses +of Paris. * * * If we must meet with vice in our literature, let it be +the growth of our own soil; for I think our own rascality has yet the +healthier aspect." + +"Third. A new era in the fine arts, from which future ages shall derive +their models and their inspirations, as we do from Greece and Italy. * +* * So far as scenery is concerned in the moulding of character, we may +safely expect that a country where vastness and beauty are so +wonderfully blended will stamp upon the national soul its own magestic +and glorious image. It must be so. The mind will expand itself to the +measure of things about it. Deep in the wide American soul there shall +be Lake Superiors, inland oceans of thought; and the streams of her +eloquence shall be like the sweep of the Mississippi in his strength. +The rugged strength of the New England hills, the luxuriance of the +sunny South, the measureless expanse of the prairie, the broad flow of +our rivers, the dashing of our cataracts, the huge battlements of the +everlasting mountains,--these are _American_. On the face of the globe +there is nothing like to them. When therefore these various influences +have been thoroughly wrought into the national soul, there will be such +a correspondence between man and the works of God about him, that our +music, our poetry, our eloquence, our all, shall be our own, individual +and peculiar, like the Amazon and the Andes, the Mississippi and +Niagara, alone in their strength and glory." + +Now, mark you! amidst all these splendid visions of the future, there +is no vision of liberty for 3,000,000 of slaves. That idea was too +small to find a place among conceptions so vast. The lecture contains +not a syllable of reference to them. On the contrary, the empty boast +of freedom is heard in the following words of solemn mockery: "_The +soul of man_ here no longer sits _bound_ and blind amid the despotic +forms of the past; it walks abroad _without a shackle_, and with an +uncovered eye." It follows then that there is an essential difference +between "the soul of man" and the soul of "nigger," or rather that +"niggers" have no soul at all. How _can_ men of sense, and especially +ministers of the Gospel, sit down to pen such fustian? These extracts +show how intensely national the Americans are, and consequently how +futile the apology for the existence of slavery so often presented, +that one State can no more interfere with the affairs of another State +than the people of England can with France and the other countries of +the European continent. The Americans are to all intents and purposes +_one_ people. In short, the identity of feeling among the _States_ of +the Union is more complete than among the _counties_ of Great Britain. + +On the morning of the 4th of March, Dr. Stowe called to invite me to +address the students at Lane Seminary, on the following Sabbath +evening, on the subject of missions and the working of freedom in the +West Indies. I readily promised to comply, glad of an opportunity to +address so many of the future pastors of the American Churches, who +will occupy the field when emancipation is sure to be the great +question of the day. In fact, it is so already. + + + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane +Seminary--Departure from Cincinnati. + + +In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B---- to see an Orphan Asylum, +in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I +took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and +anti-colour-hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is +capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at +that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one +apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and +conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place. + +_Myself._--"Now, Mrs. B, this place is very beautiful: I admire it +exceedingly. Would you refuse a little _coloured_ orphan admission into +this asylum?" + +_The Lady._ (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look +of horror and indignation),--"Indeed, we would!" + +_Myself._--"Oh, shocking! shocking!" + +_The Lady._--"Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children; +they are not neglected." + +_Myself._--"Ay, but why should they not be together?--why should there +be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?" + +_The Lady._ (in a tone of triumph).--"Why has God made such a +distinction between them?" + +_Myself._--"And why has he made such a distinction between me and Tom +Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6 +inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from +society on account of his stature as his colour." + +At this moment my wife, seeing I was waxing warm, pulled me by the +coat-tail, and I said no more. The lady, however, went on to say that +she was opposed to slavery--was a colonizationist, and heartily wished +all the coloured people were back again in their own country. "In their +own country, indeed!" I was going to say,--"why, this is their country +as much as it is yours;" but I remembered my wife's admonition, and +held my peace. These were the sentiments of a lady first and foremost +in the charitable movements of the day, and regarded by those around +her as a pattern of piety and benevolence. She was shocked at the +notion of the poor coloured orphan mingling with fellow-orphans of a +fairer hue. + +In the evening we went to take tea at the house of an English Quaker. +About half-a-dozen friends had been invited to meet us. These were +kindred spirits, anti-slavery out-and-out, and we spent the evening +very pleasantly. One of the company, in speaking of the American +prejudice against colour, mentioned a remarkable circumstance. Some +time ago, at an hotel in one of the Eastern States, a highly +respectable coloured gentleman, well known to the host and to his +guests, was about to sit down at the dinner table. A military +officer--a conceited puppy--asked the landlord if that "nigger" was +going to sit down? The landlord replied in the affirmative. "Then," +said the fop, "_I_ cannot sit down with a nigger." The rest of the +company, understanding what was going forward, rose as one man from +their seats, ordered another table to be spread, and presented a +respectful invitation to the coloured gentleman to take a seat with +them. The military dandy was left at the first table, "alone in his +glory." When thus humbled, and when he also understood who the coloured +man was, he went up to him to apologize in the best way he could, and +to beg that the offence might be forgotten. The coloured gentleman's +reply was beautiful and touching,--"Favours I write on marble, insults +on sand." + +On the morning of the 5th of March, the sun shining pleasantly, we were +tempted to cross over to Covington, on the Kentucky or slave side of +the river. Ferry-steamers ran every five or ten minutes, and the fare +was only 5 cents. At this place the Baptists have a large and important +college. Why did they erect it on the slave rather than on the free +side of the Ohio? This institution I was anxious to see; but I found it +too far off, and the roads too bad. Feeling weary and faint, we called +at a house of refreshment, where we had a genuine specimen of American +inquisitiveness. + +In five minutes the daughter of the house had asked us where we came +from--what sort of a place it was--how long we had been in the United +States--how long it took us to come--how far we were going--how long we +should stay--and if we did not like that part of America so well that +we would come and settle in it altogether! and in five minutes more our +answers to all these important questions had been duly reported to the +rest of the family in an adjoining room. This inquisitiveness prevails +more in the slave than in the free States, and originates, I believe, +in the fidgetty anxiety they feel about their slaves. The stranger must +be well catechised, lest he should prove to be an Abolitionist come to +give the slaves a sly lesson in geography. + +In the afternoon I went to see the school of the coloured children in +Cincinnati. This was established about four years ago by a Mr. Gilmore, +a white gentleman, who is also a minister of the Gospel. He is a man of +some property, and all connected with this school has been done at his +own risk and responsibility. On my venturing to inquire what sacrifice +of property he had made in the undertaking, he seemed hurt at the +question, and replied, "No sacrifice whatever, sir." "But what, may I +ask, have these operations cost beyond what you have received in the +way of school-fees?" I continued. "About 7,000 dollars," (1,500_l._) +said he. Including two or three branches, there are about 300 coloured +children thus educated. Mr. Gilmore was at first much opposed and +ridiculed; but that state of feeling was beginning to wear away. +Several of the children were so fair that, accustomed as I am to shades +of colour, I could not distinguish them from the Anglo-Saxon race; and +yet Mr. Gilmore told me even they would not have been admitted to the +other public schools! How discerning the Americans are! How proud of +their skin-deep aristocracy! And the author of "Cincinnati in 1841," in +speaking of those very schools from which these fair children were +excluded, says, "These schools are founded not merely on the principle +that all men are free and equal, but that all men's children are so +likewise; and that, as it is our duty to love our neighbour as +ourselves, it is our duty to provide the same benefits and blessings to +his children as to our own. These establishments result from the +recognition of the fact also, that we have all a common +interest--moral, political, and pecuniary--in the education of the +whole community." Those gloriously exclusive schools I had no wish to +visit. But I felt a peculiar pleasure in visiting this humbler yet +well-conducted institution, for the benefit of those who are despised +and degraded on account of their colour. As I entered, a music-master +was teaching them, with the aid of a piano, to sing some select pieces +for an approaching examination, both the instrument and the master +having been provided by the generous Gilmore. Even the music-master, +notwithstanding his first-rate ability, suffers considerable loss of +patronage on account of his services in this branded school. Among the +pieces sung, and sung exceedingly well, was the following touching +appeal, headed "The Fugitive Slave to the Christian"--Air, +"Cracovienne." + +"The fetters galled my weary soul,-- + A soul that seemed but thrown away: +I spurned the tyrant's base control, + Resolved at last the man to play: + The hounds are haying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I felt the stripes,--the lash I saw, + Red dripping with a father's gore; +And, worst of all their lawless law, + The insults that my mother bore! + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"Where human law o'errules Divine, + Beneath the sheriff's hammer fell +My wife and babes,--I call them mine,-- + And where they suffer who can tell? + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I seek a home where man is man, + If such there be upon this earth,-- +To draw my kindred, if I can, + Around its free though humble hearth. + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back?" + +March 7.--This being the Sabbath, we went in the morning to worship at +Mr. Boynton's church. The day was very wet, and the congregation small. +His text was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every +creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that +believeth not shall be damned." The sermon, though read, and composed +too much in the essay style, indicated considerable powers of mind and +fidelity of ministerial character. Although from incessant rain the day +was very dark, the Venetian blinds were down over all the windows! The +Americans, I have since observed, are particularly fond of the "dim +religious light." Among the announcements from the pulpit were several +funerals, which it is there customary thus to advertise. + +In the afternoon I heard Dr. Beecher. Here, again, I found the blinds +down. The Doctor's text was, "Let me first go and bury my father," &c. +Without at all noticing the context,--an omission which I +regretted,--he proceeded at once to state the doctrine of the text to +be, that nothing can excuse the putting off of religion--that it is +every man's duty to follow Christ immediately. This subject, +notwithstanding the heaviness of the day, the infirmities of more than +threescore years and ten (74), and the frequent necessity of adjusting +his spectacles to consult his notes, he handled with much vigour and +zeal. Some of his pronunciations were rather antiquated; but they were +the elegant New England pronunciations of his youthful days. The sermon +was marked by that close and faithful dealing with the conscience in +which so many American ministers excel. + +Professor Allen called to take me up to Lane Seminary, where I was to +address the students in the evening. The service was public, and held +in the chapel of the institution; but the evening being wet, the +congregation was small. I had, however, before me the future pastors of +about fifty churches, and two of the professors. I was domiciled at Mr. +Allen's. Both he and his intelligent wife are sound on the subject of +slavery. They are also quite above the contemptible prejudice against +colour. But I was sorry to hear Mrs. Allen say, that, in her domestic +arrangements, she had often had a great deal of trouble with her +_European_ servants, who would refuse to take their meals with black +ones, though the latter were in every respect superior to the former! I +have heard similar remarks in other parts of America. Mr. Allen's +system of domestic training appeared excellent. His children, of whom +he has as many as the patriarch Jacob, were among the loveliest I had +ever seen. + +At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 8th of March I left Lane Seminary, +with a heavy heart at the thought that in all probability I should +never see it again. There was a sharp frost. Dr. Stowe accompanied me +to the omnibus. "All right!"--"_Pax vobiscum!_"--the vehicle moved on, +and directly the Doctor was at a distance of a hundred yards waving a +farewell. It was the last look. + +At 11 A.M. myself, wife, baggage,--all were setting off from the "Queen +City" for Pittsburgh, a distance of 496 miles, in the Clipper No. 2, a +fine boat, and in good hands. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills. + + +Before proceeding with our trip to Pittsburg, I will bring together all +the material points of information I have gathered relative to +Cincinnati. + +1. _Its History and Progress_.--The first year of the present century +found here but 750 inhabitants. In 1810 there were 2,540; in 1820, +9,602; in 1830, 24,381; in 1840, 46,382. At present the population is +estimated at 80,000. The coloured population forms one twenty-fifth, or +4 per cent., of the whole. The native Europeans form one-fifth of the +white population. + +2. _Its Trade and Commerce_.--The principal trade is in pork. Hence +the nickname of _Porkapolis_. The yearly value of pork packed and +exported is about five millions of dollars, or one million of guineas! +As a proof of the amazing activity which characterizes all the details +of cutting, curing, packing, &c., I have been credibly informed that +two men, in one of the pork-houses, cut up in less than thirteen hours +850 hogs, averaging 300 lbs. each,--two others placing them on the +block for the purpose. All these hogs were weighed singly on scales in +the course of eleven hours. Another hand trimmed the hams, 1,700 +pieces, in "Cincinnati style," as fast as they were separated from the +carcases. The hogs were thus cut up and disposed of at the rate of more +than one per minute! And this, I was told, was not much beyond the +ordinary day's work at the pork-houses. + +Steam-boat building is another important branch of trade in this place. + + DOLLARS. +In 1840 there were built here 33 boats of 15,341 tons, + costing 592,600 + 1844 " " 37 " 7,838 " 542,500 + 1845 " " 27 " 6,609 " 506,500 + +3. _Its Periodical Press_.--There are sixteen daily papers! Of these, +thirteen issue also a weekly number. Besides these, there are seventeen +weekly papers unconnected with daily issues. But Cincinnati is liberal +in her patronage of eastern publications. During the year 1845 one +house, that of Robinson and Jones, the principal periodical depot in +the city, and through which the great body of the people are supplied +with this sort of literature, sold of + +Magazines and Periodicals 29,822 numbers. +Newspapers 25,390[1] " +Serial Publications 30,826 " +Works of Fiction 48,961 " ! + +[Footnote 1: Besides an immense quantity sent direct per mail!] + +It is estimated that the people of the United States, at the present +time, support 1,200 newspapers. There being no stamp-duty, no duty on +paper, and none on advertisements, the yearly cost of a daily paper, +such as the _New York Tribune_ for instance, is only 5 dollars, or one +guinea. The price of a single copy of such papers is only 2 cents, or +one penny; and many papers are only one cent, or a half-penny per copy. + +4. _Its Church Accommodation_.--By the close of the year 1845 the +voluntary principle, without any governmental or municipal aid +whatever, had provided the following places of worship:-- + +Presbyterian 12 New Jerusalem 1 +Methodist Episcopal 12 Universalist 1 +Roman Catholic 7 Second Advent 1 +Baptist 5 Mormons 1 +Lutheran 5 Friends 1 +Protestant Episcopal 4 Congregational 1 +"Christian Disciples" 4 Restorationists 1 +Methodist Protestants 3 United Brethren 1 +Jewish 2 "Christians" 1 +Welsh 2 +German Reformed 2 Total 67 + +This number of places of worship, at an average of 600 persons to each, +would afford accommodation for nearly two-thirds of what the entire +population was at that time; and surely two-thirds of any community is +quite as large a proportion as can, under the most favourable +circumstances, be expected to attend places of worship at any given +time. Behold, then, the strength and efficiency of the voluntary +principle! This young city, with all its wants, is far better furnished +with places of worship than the generality of commercial and +manufacturing towns in England. + +Dr. Reed visited Cincinnati in 1834. He gives the population at that +time at 30,000, and the places of worship as follows. I insert them +that you may see at a glance what the voluntary principle did in the +eleven years that followed. + +Presbyterian 6 Campbellite Baptists 1 +Methodist 4 Jews 1 +Baptist 2 -- +Episcopalian 2 Total in 1834 21 +German Lutheran 2 Do. in 1845 67 +Unitarian 1 -- +Roman Catholic 1 Increase 46 +Swedes 1 + +5. _Its Future Prospects_.--The author of "Cincinnati in 1841" says, "I +venture the prediction that within 100 years from this time Cincinnati +will be the greatest city in America, and by the year of our Lord 2,000 +the greatest city in the world." Our cousin here uses the superlative +degree when the comparative would be more appropriate. Deduct 80 or 90 +per cent, from this calculation, and you still leave before this city a +bright prospect of future greatness. + +We must, however, bid adieu to this "Queen of the West," and pursue our +course against the Ohio's current towards Pittsburg. We steam along +between freedom and slavery. The contrast is striking. On this subject +the remarks of the keen and philosophic M. de Tocqueville are so +accurate, and so much to the point, that I cannot do better than +transcribe and endorse them. + +"A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies, +when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact +that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves +increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity, more rapidly +than those which contained the greatest number of negroes. In the +former, however, the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil +themselves, or by hired labourers; in the latter, they were furnished +with hands for which they paid no wages: yet, although labour and +expense were on the one side, and ease with economy on the other, the +former were in possession of the most advantageous system. * * * The +more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so +cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master. + +"But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization +reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had +distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of +the most magnificent valleys which have ever been made the abode of +man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil +affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On either bank the air +is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of those banks forms the +extreme frontier of a vast State: that which follows the numerous +windings of the Ohio on the left is Kentucky [in ascending the river it +was on our _right_]; that on the right [our left] bearing the name of +the river. These two States differ only in one respect,--Kentucky has +admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has not. * * * + +"Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to +time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert +fields; the primeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be +asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and +life. + +"From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which +proclaims the presence of industry; the fields are covered with +abundant harvests; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste +and activity of the labourer; and man appears to be in the enjoyment of +that wealth and contentment which are the reward of labour." + +The Kentucky and the Ohio States are nearly equal as to their area in +square miles. Kentucky was founded in 1775, and Ohio in 1788. In 1840 +the population of Kentucky was 779,828, while that of Ohio was +1,519,467--nearly double that of the former. By this time it is far +more than double. + +"Upon the left bank of the Ohio," continues De Tocqueville, "labour is +confounded with the idea of slavery; upon the right bank it is +identified with that of prosperity and improvement: on the one side it +is degraded, on the other it is honoured. On the former territory no +white labourers can be found, for they would be afraid of assimilating +themselves to the negroes; on the latter no one is idle, for the white +population extends its activity and its intelligence to every kind of +improvement. Thus the men whose task it is to cultivate the rich soil +of Kentucky are ignorant and lukewarm; while those who are active and +enlightened either do nothing or pass over into the State of Ohio, +where they may work without dishonour." + +March the 9th was a dull day; but the scenery was of surpassing beauty. +At night a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with +rain, compelled us to "lie to." A charming morning succeeded. During +the forenoon, we passed a small town on the Virginia side called +Elizabeth Town. An Indian mound was pointed out to me, which in size +and shape resembled "Tomen y Bala" in North Wales. These artificial +mounds are very numerous in the valleys of the Ohio and the +Mississippi. The ancient relics they are sometimes found to contain +afford abundant proofs that these fertile regions were once peopled by +a race of men in a far higher state of civilization than the Indians +when first discovered by the white man. The innocent and imaginative +speculations of a Christian minister in the State of Ohio on these +ancient remains laid the foundation of the curious book of "Mormon." + +Nature being now arrayed in her winter dress, we could form but a faint +conception of her summer loveliness when clothed in her gayest green. +Hills were seen rising up, sometimes almost perpendicularly from the +stream, and sometimes skirted with fertile fields extending to the +river's edge. Here a house on the brow of a hill, and there another at +its base. Here the humble log hut, and there the elegant mansion, and +sometimes both in unequal juxtaposition. The hills are in parts +scolloped in continuous succession, presenting a beautiful display of +unity and diversity combined; but often they appear in isolated and +distinct grandeur, like a row of semi-globes; while, in other +instances, they rise one above another like apples in a fruit-vase. +Sometimes the rivulets are seen like silver cords falling +perpendicularly into the river; at other times, you discern them only +by their musical murmurs as they roll on through deep ravines formed by +their own action. These hills, for more than 100 miles before you come +to Pittsburg, are literally heaps of coal. In height they vary from 100 +to 500 feet, and nothing more is required than to clear off the soil, +and then dig away the treasure. + +What struck me most was the immense number of children everywhere +gazing upon us from the river's banks. At settlements of not more than +half-a-dozen houses, I counted a groupe of more than twenty children. + + + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance--Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America. + + +Arriving at Pittsburg in the middle of the night of the 10th of March, +we remained on board till morning. As we had been accustomed on this +"Clipper No. 2" to breakfast at half-past 7, I thought they surely +would not send us empty away. But no! we had to turn out at that early +hour of a morning piercingly cold, and get a breakfast where we could, +or remain without. This was "clipping" us rather too closely, after we +had paid seven dollars each for our passage and provisions. + +Pittsburg is in the State of Pennsylvania. Its progress has been rapid, +and its prospects are bright. Seventy years ago the ground on which it +stands was a wilderness, the abode of wild beasts and the hunting +ground of Indians. Its manufactures are chiefly those of glass, iron, +and cotton. It is the Birmingham of America. Indeed one part of it, +across the river, is called "Birmingham," and bids fair to rival its +old namesake. Its advantages and resources are unparalleled. It +occupies in reference to the United States, north and south, east and +west, a perfectly central position. It is surrounded with, solid +mountains of coal, which--dug out, as I have intimated, with the +greatest ease--is conveyed with equal ease down inclined planes to the +very furnace mouths of the foundries and factories! This great workshop +communicates directly, by means of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Red +River, &c., with immense countries, extending to Texas, to Mexico, and +to the Gulph. Its population, already 70,000, is (I believe) +incomparably more intelligent, more temperate, more religious, and more +steady than that of any manufacturing town in England. In fact, England +has not much chance of competing successfully with America, unless her +artizans copy more extensively the example of the American people in +the entire abandonment of intoxicating liquors. In travelling leisurely +from New Orleans to Boston (the whole length of the United States), and +sitting down at all sorts of tables, on land and on water, private and +public, I have never once seen even wine brought to the table. Nothing +but water was universally used! + +At Pittsburg I bought three good-sized newspapers for 5 cents, or +twopence-halfpenny. One of them, _The Daily Morning Post_, was a large +sheet, measuring 3 feet by 2, and well filled on both sides with close +letter-press, for 2 cents, or one penny. The absence of duty on paper +and of newspaper stamps is no doubt one great cause of the advanced +intelligence of the mass of the American people. What an absurd policy +is that of the British Government, first to impose taxes upon +_knowledge_, and then to use the money in promoting _education_! + +At Pittsburg the Ohio ends, or rather begins, by the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers. We ascended the latter to +Brownsville, about 56 miles. Having booked ourselves at an office, we +had to get into a smaller steamer on the other side of the bridge which +spans the river. The entire charge to Philadelphia was 12 dollars each. +We went by the "Consul," at half-past 8 A.M. of the 11th of March. The +water was very high, as had been the case in the Ohio all the way from +Cincinnati. We had not proceeded far when I found the passengers +a-stir, as if they had got to their journey's end. What was the matter? +Why, we had come to falls, which it was very doubtful whether the +steamer could get over. The passengers were soon landed, and the +steamer, with the crew, left to attempt the ascent. There were locks at +hand by which, under ordinary circumstances, boats evaded the +difficulty; but the flood was now so great that they could not be used. +Our steamer, therefore, stirred up her fires, raised her steam, brought +all her powers to bear, faced the difficulty, dashed into it, cut +along, and set at defiance the fury of the flood. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--"No!"--"She's at a stand,"--the next moment she +was gliding back with the torrent: she had failed! But _nil +desperandum_. "Try--try--try again!" An immense volume of smoke issued +from her chimney, and soon she seemed again to be fully inflated with +her vapoury aliment. I expected every moment an explosion, and, while +rejoicing in our own safety on _terra firma_, felt tremblingly anxious +for the lives of those on board. Having had sufficient time to "recover +strength," she made for the foaming surge once more. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--she paused--but it was only for the twinkling of +an eye,--the next moment she was over, and the bank's of the +Monongahela resounded with the joyful shouts of the gazing passengers. +We now breathed more freely, and were soon on board again; but we had +not advanced very far before we had to get out once more, in +consequence of other falls, which were stemmed with the same +inconvenience, the same anxiety, and the same success as in the +preceding instance. + +But ere long an obstacle more formidable than the falls presented +itself--a bridge across the river. This bridge the boats were +accustomed to pass under, but the water was now so high that it could +not be done; and we had to wait till another boat belonging to the same +company, above the bridge, came down from Brownsville, and enabled us +to effect an exchange of passengers; for neither of the boats could get +under the bridge. The down boat soon made its appearance; and a scene +of confusion ensued which I know not how to describe. Imagine two sets +of passengers, about 150 persons in each set, exchanging boats! Three +hundred travellers jostling against each other, with "plunder" +amounting to some thousands of packages, to be removed a distance of +300 or 400 yards, at the risk and responsibility of the owners, without +any care or concern on the part of the officers of the boats! Trunks +seemed to run on wheels, carpet-bags to have wings, and portmanteaus to +jump about like grasshoppers. If you had put down one article while +looking for the rest, in an instant it would be gone. In this amusing +scuffle were involved several members of Congress, returning in the +"down" boat from their legislative duties. The celebrated Judge M'Lean +was among them. But the safety of some box or parcel was just then--to +most of us--of more importance than all the great men in the world. The +baggage storm being over, and the great division and trans-shipment +effected, we moved forward in peace. By-and-by, however, each one was +called upon to show his baggage, that it might be set apart for the +particular coach to which it would have to be consigned. This was a +most troublesome affair. At half-past 6 in the evening we arrived at +Brownsville, having been ten hours in getting over the 56 miles from +Pittsburg. + +And now for the stage-coaches; for, _nolens volens_, "a-head" we must +go that very night. About seven or eight coaches were filled by those +of our fellow-passengers who, like ourselves, were going to cross the +mountains. Some of the vehicles set off immediately; but three waited +to let their passengers get tea or supper, meals which in America are +identical. About 8 P.M. we started on our cold and dreary journey of 73 +miles across the Alleghany Mountains. A stage-coach in America is a +very different thing from the beautiful machine that used to pass by +that name in England. + +It has no outside accommodation, except for one person on the box along +with the driver. The inside, in addition to the fore seat and the hind +seat, has also a middle seat across the vehicle. Each of these three +seats holds three persons, making nine in all. In our stage we had ten +persons; but the ten, in a pecuniary point of view, were only eight and +a half. The night was fearfully dark, and the roads were altogether +unworthy of the name. Yet there is an immense traffic on this route, +which is the highway from East to West. The Americans, with all their +"smartness," have not the knack of making either good roads or good +streets. About 11 P.M. we arrived at Uniontown, 12 miles from +Brownsville. There the horses were to be changed, an operation which +took about an hour to accomplish. Three coaches were there together. +The passengers rushed out of the inn, where we had been warming +ourselves, and jumped into the coaches. Crack went the whips, off went +the horses, and round went the wheels. But, alas! while we could hear +the rattling of the other coaches, our own moved not at all! "Driver, +why don't you be off?" No answer. "Driver, push on." No reply. "Go +a-head, driver,--don't keep us here all night." No notice taken. We +began to thump and stamp. No response. At last I put my head out +through the window. There _was_ no driver; and, worse still, there were +no horses! How was this? There was no "team," we were told, for our +coach! I jumped out, and began to make diligent inquiry: one told me +one thing, and another another. At length I learned that there was a +"team" in the stable, but there was no driver disposed to go. The one +who should have taken us was cursing and swearing in bed, and would not +get up. This was provoking enough. "Where is the agent of the +stage-coach company?"--"He lives about 47 miles off." "Where is the +landlord of this house?"--"He is in bed." There we were helpless and +deserted on the highroad, between 12 and 1 o'clock, in an extremely +cold night, without any redress or any opportunity of appeal! It was +nobody's business to care for us. I groped my way, however, to some +outbuilding, where about half-a-dozen drivers were snoring in their +beds, and, with the promise of making it "worth his while," succeeded +in inducing one of them to get up and take us to the next place for +changing horses. But before we could get off it was 2 o'clock in the +morning. We reached the next station, a distance of 10 miles, at 5 +P.M., and paid our driver two dollars. In America drivers are not +accustomed to receive gratuities from passengers, but ours was a +peculiar case. After a most wearisome day of travel, being tossed about +in the coach like balls, expecting every moment to be upset, and +feeling bruised all over, we reached Cumberland at 9 P.M., having been +25 hours in getting over 73 miles, at the amazing rate of 3 miles an +hour! In Cumberland we had to stay all night. + +At 8 A.M. the next day we set off by railway, or (as the Americans +would say) "by the cars," to Baltimore. In committing my trunk to the +luggage-van, I was struck with the simplicity and suitableness of the +check system there adopted. A piece of tin, with a certain number upon +it, was fastened by a strap to each article of baggage, and a duplicate +piece given to the passenger. I also remarked the size, shape, and +fittings-up of the cars. They are from 30 to 50 feet long, having an +aisle right through the middle from end to end, and on each side of +that aisle rows of seats, each of sufficient length to accommodate two +persons. The arrangement reminded me of a little country meeting-house, +the congregation amounting to from 50 to 100 persons. Each carriage +contained a stove,--at that season a most important article of +furniture. The seats, which were very nicely cushioned, had their hacks +so arranged as that the passengers could easily turn them as they +pleased, and sit with either their faces or their backs "towards the +horses" as they might feel disposed. This part of the arrangement is +indispensable, as these long carriages can never be turned. The hind +part in coming is the fore part in going, and _vice versa_. The +distinctions of first, second, and third class carriages are unknown. +That would be too aristocratic. But the "niggers" must go into the +luggage-van. These republican carriages are very neatly fitted up, +being mostly of mahogany with crimson velvet linings; but you often +feel annoyed that such dirty people should get in. + + + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage +--A Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and +Dr. Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr Plummer's Pro slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church. + + +The railway from Cumberland to Baltimore is 178 miles long, and (like +most lines in the States) is single. This fact is important, for our +cousins, in boasting of the hundreds or thousands of miles of railway +they have constructed, forget to tell us that they are nearly all +single. Here and there they have a double set of rails, like our +sidings, to enable trains to pass each other. + +The ground was covered with snow, otherwise the scenery would have been +magnificent. For a long time the Potomac was our companion. More than +once we had to cross the stream on wooden bridges; so that we had it +sometimes on our right and sometimes on our left, ourselves being +alternately in Virginia and in Maryland. When within 14 miles of +Baltimore, and already benighted, we were told we could not proceed, on +account of some accident to a luggage-tram that was coming up. The +engine, or (as the Americans invariably say) the "locomotive," had got +off the rail, and torn up the ground in a frightful manner; but no one +was hurt. We were detained for 7 hours; and instead of getting into +Baltimore at 8 P.M., making an average of about 15 miles an hour, which +was the utmost we had been led to expect, we did not get there till 3 +A.M., bringing our average rate per hour down to about 9-1/2 miles. The +tediousness of the delay was considerably relieved by a man sitting +beside me avowing himself a thorough Abolitionist, and a hearty friend +of the coloured race. He spoke out his sentiments openly and +fearlessly, and was quite a match for any one that dared to assail him. +His name was Daniel Carmichael, of Brooklyn. He is a great railway and +canal contractor, and has generally in his employ from 500 to 800 +people. He is also a very zealous "teetotaler." We had also a _Mrs. +Malaprop_, from Baltimore, with us, who told us, among other marvellous +things, that in that city they took the _senses_ (census) of the people +every month. She was very anxious to let all around her know that her +husband was a medical man: she therefore wondered what "the Doctor" was +then doing, what "the Doctor" thought of the non-arrival of the train, +whether "the Doctor" would be waiting for her at the station, and +whether "the Doctor" would bring his own carriage, or hire one, to meet +her, &c. + +March 14.--The day on which we arrived at Baltimore was the Sabbath. In +a public room in the National Hotel, at which we were stopping, was +hung up a nicely-framed announcement of the order of services in one of +the Presbyterian Churches. We wished, however, to find a Congregational +place of worship, and set off with that view. It was a beautiful day, +and Baltimore seemed to send forth its inhabitants by streets-full to +the various churches. In the _Old_ World I never saw anything like it, +nor elsewhere in the _New_, except perhaps at Boston. All secular +engagements seemed to be entirely suspended, and the whole city seemed +to enjoy a Sabbath! As we walked along, I asked a young man if he could +direct me to a Congregational church. He stared at me for a moment, and +then said, "Do you mean a church with pews in it?" I asked another, +"Can you tell me where I shall find a Congregational church in this +city?"--"What congregation do you mean, sir?" was the reply. They +evidently knew nothing at all about Congregationalism. The fact was, as +I afterwards understood, we had not yet come into its latitude; for in +America Presbyterianism and Congregationalism have hitherto been +matters of latitude and longitude rather than of earnest conviction and +firm adherence. We now inquired for a _Presbyterian_ church, and were +told that there was one not far from where we then stood, in which Mr. +Plummer--a very popular minister just come into the city--preached. +Following the directions given, we came to a certain church, in front +of which two or three grave men stood talking to each other. In answer +to the question, "What church is this?" one of these grave men said, +with a good broad Scotch accent, "It's a Presbyterian church." The +accent gave a double confirmation to the answer. "Is it Mr. Plummer's +church?" I continued. With the same accent, and in a tone of gentle +rebuke, I was told, "Yes, it is _Doctor_ Plummer's." We entered. The +congregation were assembling. We were left either to stand in the aisle +or to take a seat as we pleased. We preferred the latter. The building +was new, but built in the old Gothic style. The pews, the pulpit, the +front of the gallery, the organ, and the framework of the roof, which +was all exposed, were of oak, which had been made to resemble in colour +wood that has stood the test of 400 or 500 years. The windows also were +darkened. The whole affair was tremendously heavy, enough to mesmerize +any one. The congregation was large, respectable, and decorous. After a +few glances around, to see if there was a negro pew anywhere, I +observed several coloured faces peeping from a recess in the gallery, +on the left side of the organ,--there was the "Negro Pew," In due time +_Doctor_ Plummer ascended the pulpit. He was a fine tall man, +grey-haired, well dressed, with commanding aspect and a powerful voice. +I ceased to wonder at the emphasis with which the Scotchman called him +_Doctor_ Plummer. He was quite the _ideal_ of a _Doctor_. His text was +John iii. 18: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that +believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the +name of the only begotten Son of God." His subject was, that "man is +justly accountable to God for his belief." This truth he handled in a +masterly manner, tossing about as with a giant's arm Lord Brougham and +the Universalists. Notwithstanding my want of rest on the previous +night, the absurd heaviness of the building, and the fact that the +sermon--which occupied a full hour--was all read, I listened with +almost breathless attention, and was sorry when he had done. + +And who was this Dr. Plummer? It was Dr. Plummer late of Richmond, in +Virginia. "Richmond," says Dr. Reed, "is still the great mart of +slavery; and the interests of morality and religion suffer from this +cause. Several persons of the greatest wealth, and therefore of the +greatest consideration in the town, are known slave-dealers; and their +influence, in addition to the actual traffic, is of course +unfavourable. The sale of slaves is as common, and produces as little +sensation, as that of cattle. It occurs in the main street, and before +the door of the party who is commissioned to make the sale." And what +was the conduct of this Doctor of Divinity in reference to this state +of things? He sanctioned it! He pleaded for it! He lived upon it! He +was once actually supported, either wholly or in part, by slave labour! +The church of which he was the pastor was endowed with a number of +slaves. These slaves were hired out, and the proceeds were given in the +way of stipend to the _Doctor_! Nor is this all. A few years ago the +slave-holders of the South were greatly alarmed by the vigorous efforts +of the Abolitionists of the North. It was about the time that the +Charleston Post-office was plundered by a mob of several thousand +people, and all the anti-slavery publications there found were made a +bonfire of in the street; and where "the clergy of all denominations +attended in a body, lending their sanction to the proceedings, and +adding by their presence to the impressive character of the scene." On +that occasion the clergy of the city of Richmond were not less prompt +than their brethren of Charleston in responding to the "public +sentiment."' They resolved _unanimously_,-- + +"That we earnestly deprecate the unwarrantable and highly improper +interference of the people of any other State with the domestic +relations of master and slave. + +"That the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles, in not +interfering with the question of slavery, but uniformly recognising the +relations of master and servant, and giving full and affectionate +instruction to both, is worthy the imitation of all ministers of the +Gospel. + +"That we will not patronise nor receive any pamphlet or newspaper of +the Anti-slavery Societies, and that we will discountenance the +circulation of all such papers in the community. + +"That the suspicions which have prevailed to a considerable extent +against ministers of the Gospel and professors of religion in the State +of Virginia, as identified with Abolitionists, are _wholly unmerited_; +believing as we do, from extensive acquaintance with our churches and +brethren, that they are unanimous in opposing the pernicious schemes of +Abolitionists." + +After this, are men to be branded as "infidels," because they say the +American churches are the "bulwarks of slavery?" + +But what has all this to do with our fine-looking and dignified +"_Doctor_?" I will tell you. When these resolutions were passed, he was +from home; but on his return, he lost no time in communicating to the +"Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence" his entire concurrence +with what had been done,--and here are extracts from his letter:-- + +"I have carefully watched this matter from its earliest existence; and +everything I have seen or heard of its character, both from its patrons +and its enemies, has confirmed me beyond repentance in the belief, +that, let the character of the Abolitionists be what it may in the +sight of the Judge of all the earth, this is the most meddlesome, +impudent, reckless, fierce, and wicked excitement I ever saw. + +"If Abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but right that +they should receive the _first warming at the fire_. + +"Let it be proclaimed throughout the nation, that every movement made +by the fanatics (so far as it has any effect in the South) does but +rivet every fetter of the bondman, and diminish the probability of +anything being successfully undertaken for making him either fit for +freedom or likely to obtain it. We have the authority of Montesquieu, +Burke, and Coleridge, three eminent masters of the science of human +nature, that, of all men, slave-holders are the most jealous of their +liberties. One of Pennsylvania's most gifted sons has lately pronounced +the South the _cradle of liberty_. + +"Lastly. Abolitionists are like infidels, wholly unaddicted to +martyrdom for opinion's sake. Let them understand that _they will be +caught_ [lynched] if they come among us, and they will take good heed +to keep out of our way. There is not one man among them who has any +more idea of shedding his blood in the cause, than he has of making war +on the Grand Turk." + +So much for my splendid D.D., on whose lips I hung with such intense +interest. I did not know all this at the time, or I should have felt +very differently. As he had but recently left Richmond when I saw him, +it is not at all unlikely that those fine clothes he had on were the +fruit of the slave's unrequited toil. He has always, I believe, stood +high among his brethren, and one or two excellent tracts of his are +published by the American Tract Society. + +All denominations are here alike guilty in reference to their coloured +brethren. In this very city the General Conference of the Methodist +Episcopal Church for 1840 passed the following resolution:-- + +"That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher to permit +coloured persons to give testimony against white persons in any State +where they are denied that privilege by law." + +Against this iniquitous resolution the official members of two of the +coloured Methodist Episcopal Churches in Baltimore immediately +remonstrated and petitioned. The following powerful and pathetic +passages are from their address:-- + +"The adoption of such a resolution by our highest ecclesiastical +judicatory,--a judicatory composed of the most experienced and the +wisest brethren in the Church, the choice selection of twenty-eight +Annual Conferences,--has inflicted, we fear, an irreparable injury upon +eighty thousand souls for whom Christ died,--souls who, by this act of +your body, have been stripped of the dignity of Christians, degraded in +the scale of humanity, and treated as criminals, for no other reason +than the colour of their skin! Your resolution has, in our humble +opinion, _virtually_ declared that a mere physical peculiarity, the +handiwork of our all-wise and benevolent Creator, is _primâ facie_ +evidence of incompetency to tell the truth, or is an unerring +indication of unworthiness to bear testimony against a fellow-being +whose skin is denominated white. * * * + +"Brethren, out of the abundance of the heart we have spoken. _Our +grievance is before you_! If you have any regard for the salvation of +the eighty thousand immortal souls committed to your care,--if you +would not _thrust_ beyond the pale of the Church _twenty-five thousand +souls in this city_, who have felt determined never to leave the Church +that has nourished and brought them up,--if you regard us as children +of one Common Father, and can upon reflection sympathize with us as +members of the body of Christ,--if you would not incur the fearful, the +tremendous responsibility of offending not only one, but many thousands +of his 'little ones,'--we conjure you to wipe from your journal the +odious resolution which is ruining our people." + +This address was presented to one of the Secretaries, a delegate of the +Baltimore Conference, and subsequently given by him to the Bishops. How +many of the members of Conference saw it, is unknown. One thing is +certain, _it was never read to the Conference_. + + + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will. + + +In the afternoon of my first Sabbath at Baltimore I found, after much +inquiry, a congregation of coloured people, who were some sort of +Methodists. My wife and I were the only white people in the place. We +were treated with great politeness, and put, not in a pew apart by +ourselves, but in one of the best places they could find, in the very +midst of the congregation. A serious-looking coloured man opened the +service, with great propriety of manner and expression. He was the +regular pastor. A black man, a stranger as I understood, preached. His +text (he said) was, "Behold, I come quickly;" and they would find it in +the Book of Revelation. But chapter and verse were not given, nor had +he the Bible open in Revelation at all. I suspected that he could not +read; and that suspicion was confirmed by the amount of nonsense which +he soon uttered. At first his words were "few and far between," uttered +in a tone of voice scarcely audible. Soon, however, he worked both +himself and his audience into a tremendous phrenzy. The burden of his +song was--how John had lived to a very great age, in spite of all +attempts to put him to death; how his enemies had at last decided to +try the plan of throwing him into a "kittle of biling ile;" how God had +said to him, "Never mind, John,--if they throw thee into that kittle, +I'll go there with thee,--they shall bile me too;" how John was +therefore taken up alive; and how his persecutors, baffled in all their +efforts to despatch him, ultimately determined to throw their victim +upon a desolate island, and leave him there to live or perish as he +might. During the delivery of all this nonsense, the laughing, the +shouting, the groaning, and the jumping were positively terrific. It +was Methodism gone mad. How disgraceful, that American Christians, so +called, with all their schools and colleges, and with all their efforts +to send the Gospel to Africa, should leave these people at their very +doors thus to feed upon "husks" and "ashes!" Between 500 and 600 people +were listening to this ignorant man, giving as the pure and positive +word of God what was of very doubtful authority, intermingled with the +crudities of his own brain. I wished to stay through the service, and +perhaps at the close express my fraternal feelings; but I was so +shocked and grieved at this ranting exhibition that I felt it +unwarrantable to remain. + +Leaving these unfortunate people, we peeped into two cathedral +churches,--that of the Church of England, or (as it is here called) the +Protestant Episcopal Church, and that of the Church of Rome. Both +buildings are very splendid. We had been in the former some time before +we felt quite sure that we were not in a Popish place of worship, so +papistical were its aspect and arrangements. It was evident that +Puseyism, or Popery in some form, had there its throne and its sceptre. +The avowedly Popish cathedral was crowded with worshippers; and, to the +shame of Protestantism be it spoken, black and coloured people were +_there_ seen intermingled with the whites in the performance of their +religious ceremonies! The State of Maryland, of which Baltimore is the +capital, having been first settled by a colony of Roman Catholics, +might be expected to be a stronghold of Popery. Yet, it is not so. The +adherents of that system are but a small minority of the population. + +Baltimore is, however, a stronghold of slavery. Here Garrison's +indignation against the system was first kindled--here Frederick +Douglas tasted some of its bitter draughts--and here Torrey died its +victim. The following are specimens of the manner in which the trade in +human flesh is carried on in this city:-- + +"NEGROES WANTED.--I have removed from my former residence. West +Pratt-street, to my new establishment on Camden-street, immediately in +the rear of the Railroad DepĂ´t, where I am permanently located. Persons +bringing Negroes by the cars will find it very convenient, as it is +only a few yards from where the passengers get out. Those having +Negroes for sale will find it to their advantage to call and see me, as +I am at all times paying the highest prices in cash. + +"J. S. DONOVAN, Balt. Md." + +"o28--6m*." + +"CASH FOR FIVE HUNDRED NEGROES.--At the old establishment of Slatter's, +No. 244, Pratt-street, Baltimore, between Sharp and Howard Streets, +where the highest prices are paid, which is well known. We have large +accommodations for Negroes, and always buying. Being regular shippers +to New Orleans, persons should bring their property where no +commissions are paid, as the owners lose it. All communications +attended to promptly by addressing + +"H. F. SLATTER." + +"j5--6m*." + +Before and since my arrival in the United States, I had thought much of +seeing Washington, and, if possible, Congress in session. But such was +the severity of the weather that we could not cross the Alleghanies +before that assembly had risen and dispersed. At Baltimore I was within +two hours' journey of the capital. Should I go and see it? No; for what +can _there_ be found to gratify the friend of freedom and of man? The +Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, are +all associated with Washington. The capital itself is but a great +slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and +auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice, +wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front +the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are +endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among +these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the +influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting +Washington. + +At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia. +While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at +the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable +coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of +course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them, +though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to +whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat. +But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and +dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference +between the railway economy of England and that of America. In the +former, as you know, the railway is haughty, exclusive, and +aristocratic. It scorns all fellowship with common roads, and dashes +on, either under or over the houses, with arbitrary indifference. In +America, it generally condescends to pass along the public streets to +the very centre of the city, the engine being taken off or put to in +the suburbs, and its place _intra muros_, if I may so say, supplied by +horses. In leaving Baltimore, the engine was attached _before_ we got +quite out of the city; and we were going for some time along the common +road, meeting in one place a horse and cart, in another a man on +horseback, in another a pair of oxen fastened to each other, and so on. +Dangerous enough, apparently! yet railway accidents are much less +frequent in America than in England. It is, besides, an immense saving +of capital. + +In our progress, we had to cross several arms of the Chesapeak Bay. +These arms were from one to two miles wide, and the railway is carried +over them upon posts driven into the ground. It seemed like crossing +the sea in a railway carriage. At Havre de Grace we had to cross the +Susquehannah River. This word Susquehannah is Indian, and means +literally, I am told, "the rolling thunder." In crossing it, however, +we heard no thunder, except that of the luggage-van over our heads, on +the top of the steamer. Here we changed carriages. We soon got sight of +the Delaware, which kept us company nearly all the way to Philadelphia. +Delaware, the smallest of all the States except Rhode Island, we +entirely crossed. A few days before, Delaware had well nigh done +herself great honour. Her House of Representatives carried, by a +majority, a vote for the abolition of slavery within her boundaries; +but the measure was lost in her Senate by a majority of one or two. The +State legislature will not meet again for two years. All parties are +confident that the measure will then be triumphantly carried through. +In America, however, the abolition of slavery in any State does not +always mean freedom to the slaves. Too often it is a mere +transportation of them to the Southern States. Had Delaware passed a +law that all slaves should he free at the expiration of five years, or +that all children born after a certain period should he free, the +owners of slaves would have had an obvious interest in disposing of +their human property to the Southern traders _before_ that period +arrived. Mothers, too, would have been hastened Southward to give birth +to their offspring; so that the "peculiar institution" might lose none +of its prey. Measures for the abolition of slavery in any part of +America do not arise from sympathy with the negro, and from a wish to +improve his condition and promote his happiness, but from aversion to +his presence, or perhaps from a conviction that the system of slavery +is expensive and impolitic. Those who feel kindly towards their +coloured brother, and act towards him under the impulse of pure and +lofty philanthropy, are, I am sorry to say, very few indeed. + +These views may appear severe and uncharitable towards the American +people, but they are confirmed by M. de Tocqueville. "When a Northern +State declared that the son of the slave should be born free," observes +that impartial writer, "the slave lost a large portion of his market +value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and +the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South. +Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the +Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. The want +of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves +decreases. But, in proportion as labour is performed by free hands, +slave labour becomes less productive; and the slave is then a useless +or an onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those +Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. _Thus +the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free: it merely +transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the +South_." M. de Tocqueville adds, in a note, "The States in which +slavery is abolished usually do what they can to render their territory +disagreeable to the negroes as a place of residence; and as a kind of +emulation exists between the different States in this respect, the +unhappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset +them." This is perfectly true. + +Crossing the Schuilkyl, we arrived about 3 o'clock P. M. in +Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love," having performed the +journey of 97 miles in six hours, a rate of only 16 miles an hour! + +In Philadelphia were many men and things that I wished to see. First +and foremost, in my professional curiosity, was Albert Barnes; but +being anxious to push on to New York that night, I had but an hour and +a half to stay. Of a sight of the famous author of the "Notes," I was +therefore compelled to deny myself. My regret was diminished, when I +learned from an English minister of high standing, who, under the +influence of the best feelings, and with an excellent introduction, had +called upon the Commentator, that he received him with a degree of +indifference bordering on rudeness. + +In Philadelphia there is no Congregational Church. A few years ago John +Todd, the well-known author of "The Student's Guide," attempted to +raise one. He was but little countenanced, however, by Albert Barnes +and the Presbyterians, and failed. + +In passing through this city, I had a distant glimpse of a most +remarkable institution. M. Girard, an old bachelor, a native of France, +who had accumulated immense wealth, died a few years ago, leaving by +will the enormous sum of two millions of dollars, or upwards of four +hundred thousand pounds sterling, to erect and endow a college for the +accommodation and education of three hundred orphan boys. The ground on +which it was to be built, consisting of no less than 45 acres, he +ordered to be enclosed with a high solid wall, capped with marble, and +lined upon the top with long iron spikes. He also inserted in his will +the following extraordinary clause: "I enjoin and require that no +ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever, shall ever +hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college; nor +shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a +visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purpose of said +college." An attempt was made before the Supreme Court of the United +States to set aside this will, and Daniel Webster, the great New +England barrister, delivered a powerful "plea" against it; but the +attempt was overruled. For some years the building has been slowly +proceeding, and is not yet ready for occupation. Had I had time, I +could not, being a minister, have entered the premises. To me, and to +all like me, "_Procul, procul, este, profani_" is chiselled on every +stone!--a singular monument of the priest-hating propensities of the +old French Revolutionists. + + + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging-houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church. + + +At half-past 4 in the afternoon of March 15 we left Philadelphia by +railway for New York, which we reached at 10 P.M., an average again of +about 16 miles an hour. In this journey I met with a very communicative +Yankee, who, though not a religious man, was proud to trace his +genealogy to the "Pilgrim Fathers," and, through them, to the Normans. +Intercourse, he said, had been maintained for the last two centuries +between the English and American branches of the family. He also took +care to inform me that the head of the English branch was a baronet. +This was but one of many instances in which I found among our +Transatlantic friends a deep idolatry of rank and titles. In talking of +their own political institutions, he declared their last two Presidents +to have been--the one a fool, and the other a knave,--Polk the fool, +and Tyler the knave. He entertained an insane and cruel prejudice +against those whose skin was not exactly of the same colour with his +own, and "thanked God" that he had no African blood in his veins. + +We passed through Trenton, celebrated as the scene of a bloody conflict +between the British and the American forces. The Americans, I am sorry +to say, dwell too fondly on the remembrance of those deadly struggles. +They cherish the spirit of war. The influence of Elihu Burritt and his +"bond of brotherhood" is indeed greatly needed on both sides of the +Atlantic. + +We also passed what once was the residence of ex-royalty--the princely +mansion which Joseph Bonaparte erected for himself after he lost the +throne of Spain. It is surrounded with about 900 acres of land, his own +private property; and was still in the family, though about to be sold. +What a home has America proved both to fallen greatness and to +struggling poverty! Princes and peasants alike find shelter here. + +This journey conducted us through New Brunswick, Elizabeth Town, +Newark,--places associated with the name of David Brainerd, and often +(a hundred years ago) the scenes of his toils and travels. But where +are the descendants of those Indians on whose behalf he felt such +intense solicitude? Alas! not a vestige of them is to be seen. + +Having thus crossed New Jersey State, we came to New Jersey city, where +we crossed a ferry to New York. After rather more than the usual amount +of anxiety about baggage, &c., we reached the Planter's Hotel a little +after 10 at night. + +Next morning I sallied forth to gaze, for the first time, at the +wonders of New York. The state of the streets impressed me +unfavourably. The pigs were in the enjoyment of the same unstinted +liberty as at Cincinnati. Merchants and storekeepers spread their goods +over the entire breadth of the causeway, and some even to the very +middle of the street. Slops of all sorts, and from all parts of the +houses, were emptied into the street before the front doors! The ashes +were disposed of in a very peculiar manner. Each house had, on the edge +of the parapet opposite, an old flour-barrel, or something of the sort, +into which were thrown ashes, sweepings, fish-bones, dead rats, and all +kinds of refuse. A dead rat very frequently garnished the top of the +barrel. This was the order of things, not in small by-streets only, but +also in the very best streets, and before the very best houses. The +pavement too, even in Broadway, was in a very wretched state. + +I made for No. 150, Nassau-street, where the Tract Society, the Home +Missionary Society, and the Foreign Missionary Society have their +rooms. To some parties in that house I had introductions. The brethren +connected with those societies treated me with great kindness and +cordiality, and made me feel as though I had been in our own missionary +rooms in Blomfield-street. By their aid I obtained private lodgings, in +a good situation and in good society. + +The landlady was a Quaker, with half-a-dozen grown-up daughters. Our +fellow-lodgers consisted of the Rev. A.E. Lawrence, Assistant-Secretary +of the American Home Missionary Society (who had a few months before +become the landlady's son-in-law); the Rev. Mr. Martyn, and his wife, a +woman of fine talents, and editor of "The Ladies' Wreath;" the Rev. Mr. +Brace, an editor in the employ of the Tract Society; Mr. Daniel Breed, +M.D., a Quaker, and principal of a private academy for young gentlemen +(also the landlady's son-in-law); Mr. Oliver Johnson, a sub-editor of +the _Daily Tribune_, and a well-known Abolitionist; and Mr. Lockwood, a +retired grocer,--who, having gained a small independence, was thus +enjoying it with his youthful wife and child in lodgings. + +Into society better adapted to my taste and purposes I could not have +gone. This mode of life is very extensively adopted in America, +--married couples, with families, living in this manner for +years, without the least loss of respectability. They seldom have +sitting-rooms distinct from their bed-rooms, which are made to answer +both purposes; and as to meals, all meet to eat the same things, at the +same table, and at the same time. The custom is economical; but it has +an injurious effect upon character, especially in the case of the +women. The young wife, not being called upon to exercise herself in +domestic economy, is apt to become idle, slovenly, and--in a certain +sense--worthless. The softening associations and influences, and even +the endearments, of "home," are lost. There is no _domesticity_. + +In the evening of the 17th I went to the Broadway Tabernacle, to hear a +lecture on Astronomy from Professor Mitchell of Cincinnati, no ordinary +man. Although the admission fee was half-a-dollar, upwards of a +thousand persons were present. Without either diagrams or notes, the +accomplished lecturer kept his audience in breathless attention for +upwards of an hour. He seemed to be a devout, unassuming man, and threw +a flood of light on every subject he touched. His theme was the recent +discovery of the Leverrier planet; and perhaps you will not be +displeased if I give you a summary of his lucid observations. In +observing how the fluctuations of the planet Herschel had ultimately +led to this discovery, he said: + +"For a long time no mind dared to touch the problem. At length a young +astronomer rises, unknown to fame, but with a mind capable of grasping +all the difficulties involved in any of these questions. I refer of +course to LEVERRIER. He began by taking up the movements of Mercury. He +was dissatisfied with the old computations and the old tables; and he +ventured to begin anew, and to compute an entirely new set of tables. +With these new tables, he predicted the _precise instant_ when the +planet Mercury, on the 18th of May, 1845, would touch the sun, and +sweep across it. The time rolls round when the planet is to be seen, +and his prediction verified or confuted. The day arrives, but, alas! +for the computer, the clouds let down their dark curtains, and veil the +sun from his sight. Our own Observatory had just been finished; and if +the audience will permit, I will state briefly my own observations upon +the planet. I had ten long years been toiling. I had commenced what +appeared to be a hopeless enterprise. But finally I saw the building +finished. I saw this mighty telescope erected,--I had adjusted it with +my own hands,--I had computed the precise time when the planet would +come in contact with the sun's disk, and the precise point where the +contact would take place; but when it is remembered that only about the +thousandth part of the sun's disk enters upon the field of the +telescope, the importance of directing the instrument to the right +point will be realized. Five minutes before the computed time of the +contact, I took my place at the instrument. The beautiful machinery +that carries the telescope with the sun was set in motion, and the +instrument directed to that part of the sun's disk at which it was +anticipated the contact would take place. And there I sat, with +feelings which no one in this audience can realize. It was my first +effort. All had been done by myself. After remaining there for what +seemed to be long hours, I inquired of my assistant how much longer I +would have to wait. I was answered _four minutes_. I kept my place for +what seemed an age, and again inquired as before. He told me that but +one minute had rolled by. It seemed as if time had folded his wings, so +slowly did the moments crawl on. I watched on till I was told that but +one minute remained; and, within sixteen seconds of the time, I had the +almost bewildering gratification of seeing the planet break the +contact, and slowly move on till it buried itself round and deep and +sharp in the sun. + +"I refer to this fact for two reasons,--first, to verify Leverrier; +and, second, to impress upon your minds the desirableness of locating +our observatories in different parts of the earth. No European +astronomer could have made this observation, because in their +longitudes the sun would have set previous to the contact of the planet +with its disk. I had the gratification of furnishing these observations +to Leverrier himself, who reported upon them to the Academy of +Sciences. The triumph of Leverrier was complete. It was after this that +Arago, seeing the characteristics of his mind, said to him, 'Take up +the movements of the planet Herschel,--watch them, analyze them, and +tell us what it is that causes them.' Leverrier throws aside all other +employments, and gives his mind to the investigation of this subject. +He begins entirely back. He takes up the movements of the planets +Jupiter and Saturn, and investigates them anew: he leaves nothing +untouched. Finally, after having in the most absolute manner computed +all the influence they exercise upon the planet Herschel, he says, 'I +now know positively all existing causes that disturb the planet; but +there is an outstanding power that disturbs it not yet accounted for, +and now let me rise to a knowledge of that outstanding cause.' He did +what no other man ever had attempted. He cleared up all +difficulties;--he made all daylight before his gaze. And now, how shall +I give to you an account of the train of reasoning by which he reached +out into unknown space, and evoked from its bosom a mighty world? If +you will give me the time, I will attempt to give you an idea of his +mighty workings in the field of science. + +"In the first place, let it be remembered that the planets circulate +through the heavens in nearly the same plane. If I were to locate the +sun in the centre of the floor, in locating the planets around it, I +should place them upon the floor in the same plane. The first thing +that occurred to Leverrier, in looking for the planet, was this,--he +need not look out of the plane of the ecliptic. Here, then, was one +quarter in which the unknown body was to be found. The next thing was +this,--where is it located, and what is its distance from the sun? The +law of Bode gave to him the approximate distance. He found the distance +of Saturn was about double that of Jupiter, and the distance of +Herschel twice that of Saturn; and the probability was that the new +planet would be twice the distance of Herschel,--and as Herschel's +distance is 1,800,000 miles, the new planet's would be 3,600,000. +Having approximated its distance, what is its periodic time?--for if he +can once get its periodic time, he can trace it out without difficulty. +According to the third of Kepler's laws, as the square of the period of +Herschel is to the square of the period of the unknown planet, so is +the cube of the distance of Herschel to the cube of the distance of the +unknown planet. There is only one term unknown. The periodic time of +Herschel we will call 1, and its distance 1, and by resolving the +equation, we find the periodic time of the new planet to be a fraction +less than three times that of Herschel, or about 220 years. Now, if it +be required to perform 360 degrees in 220 years, it will perform about +a degree and a half in one year. Only one thing more remains to be +accomplished. If it is possible to get the position of the unknown body +at _any time_, we can trace it up to where it should be in 1847. + +"First, then, let us suppose the sun, Herschel, and the new planet in +certain fixed positions, which we will represent as follows,-- + +[Illustration: + A B C + + Sun. Herschel. Unknown, or + Leverrier Planet. +] + +"It will be observed that a line drawn out from the sun to the right +will pass through Herschel, and if continued will intersect the new +planet. It is very apparent that, when these three orbs occupy the +position assigned them above, the influence of the unknown planet upon +Herschel will be exercised in the highest degree, and consequently that +Herschel will be drawn farther from the sun at that juncture than at +any other; and if we know where _Herschel_ is, when this effect is +produced, by prolonging the line through Herschel outward, it must pass +through the new planet. The delicate observations upon Herschel gave +this result, and showed when it was that it was swayed farthest from +the sun. By taking the place occupied by the planet at that time, and +increasing it onward one degree and a half per annum, we can point out +the place it must occupy at any given period. In September last we find +Leverrier communicating these results to his friends in Berlin. They +are provided with charts, on which every observed star is mapped down; +and if any new object presents itself in the heavens, it is immediately +subjected to a rigid scrutiny. On the very night on which Leverrier's +letter had been received, we find the telescope directed to the +designated point in the heavens. A stranger appears, but has only the +aspect of a fixed star. Long did the eye watch that night, but no +motion was found. When twenty-four hours rolled round, and it was once +more possible to fix the instrument upon this strange body, it had +moved in the precise degree and direction computed. The new planet was +found. The news spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the +world,--all Europe was electrified, and soon the intelligence crossed +the waters. Our telescope was directed to this object. All had hitherto +failed,--no eye had ever seen it round and planet-like from its disk. +The evening finally came round for the examination. Time moved on its +leaden wings; but twilight faded away at length, and I took my seat, +with my assistant, at the instrument. I directed the telescope to that +point of the heavens. I found four stars in the field of view. The +first was brought to the field of view of the instrument, and +pronounced to be a fixed star; and so with the second. The third was +brought forward; and before it had reached the centre of the field, I +heard the exclamation, 'There it is!' and there it was, as bright and +beautiful as Jupiter himself. Here was a result not attained by any +other instrument in the world. When we know that a body is a planet, +then, and not till then, do we find the disk. The great rival of our +instrument had seen it, but did not recognise it. + +"Before five minutes had elapsed, the micrometical wires pronounced its +diameter to be 40,000 miles. Here were results such as no previous one +had attained, I mention it, because I think it is right that our own +country, which has but just commenced its career in this science, +should know what is her due; and I trust the day is not far distant +when we shall become as distinguished for our proficiency, for our +learning, for our researches, and for our efforts in behalf of +Astronomy, as we have hitherto been for our profound neglect of +everything belonging to this sublime science." + +So much had been recently said in England about the "Negro Pew" in Dr. +Patton's Church that I naturally felt curious to see it for myself, +resolving (if possible) to sit in it. On Sabbath morning the 21st of +March I set off with my wife on this errand, taking for our guide as to +the precise position of the "locality" Mr. Page's "Letter of +Apology,"--in which it was stated that in that church they treated the +coloured people well; that they were elevated above the rest of the +congregation, and nearer heaven; and, finally, that they occupied a +position of honour, being on the right hand of the minister, as Jesus +Christ was on the right hand of God! We found two coloured people--an +old man and an old woman--seated in the front pew close to the +minister's right hand; and at once concluded that the section of pews +at the end wall must be the favoured spot, the terrestrio-celestial +elevation commonly called the "Negro Pew." We advanced, and installed +our white faces in the pew immediately behind the sable couple. The old +lady seemed really alarmed, and, with amusing earnestness, motioned us +to take a seat elsewhere. Remonstrance was all in vain,--we were +determined to sit among the happy favourites. At this time but few +persons were present. By-and-by the children of the Sunday-school were +marched into the neighbouring pews on the other side of the aisle, and +one of the lady teachers made eager signs for us to come away from our +strange position. I nodded an intimation that we were all right, and +perfectly comfortable. After the lapse of a few moments, another polite +and compassionate lady actually rose and came to the pew-door to +remonstrate with us. + +In a serious yet coaxing tone, she said, "Won't you take a seat here on +this side of the aisle?" + +"No, thank you, madam," I replied; "we are quite comfortable." + +"But," she continued, in a voice of deep commiseration, "this is the +place allotted to the coloured people." + +"Thank you," I rejoined; "we have made no mistake." + +"Well, just as you please, sir!" (as though she had said _De gustibus +non disputandum_) and with that she retreated. + +The eyes of all in the synagogue were upon us. The little people +whispered, and the big people stared, and all the people marvelled. + +The morning was dark and wet, and yet (as usual) the Venetian blinds +were all down. The gallery was occupied by three classes of persons: +the black people--about a dozen in number--on the "right hand," the +singing people in front, and the Sunday-school children everywhere +else. The regular congregation, amounting perhaps to 300, were all +downstairs. + +Dr. Patton ascended the pulpit-stairs with his cloak on, placed a +manuscript "fresh from the mint" under the cushion, sat down, took out +his pocket-handkerchief, applied it vigorously, and then gazed +leisurely around. + +The pulpit service commenced with a short prayer; then followed singing +by the choir, all else sitting silent. The tenth chapter of Romans was +read; then came the long prayer, in which the Doctor prayed for the +abolition of slavery, and for the spread of the Gospel. The text, which +succeeded, was Rom. x. 3, 4. Having noticed the context, the preacher +proposed-- + +I. To explain the text. (Here he examined very critically the meaning +of the Greek word [Greek: dikai-osunous], quoting Moses Stuart and +others.) + +II. To designate those who go about to establish their own +righteousness. + +III. To remonstrate against such conduct, as being unnecessary, +criminal, and dangerous. + +The discourse was sound and good, but every word read. The disorderly +conduct of the children in the gallery proved a great annoyance; and +for all the solicitude of the ladies to get us away from the vicinity +of coloured skins, not one of them had the politeness to offer us +either Bible or hymn-book. + +This visit of ours to the "Negro Pew" was immediately laid hold of by +the Abolitionists, and made to go the whole round of their papers as a +"testimony against caste." This provoked into action the prolix pen of +the celebrated Mr. Page, who wasted on the subject an immense quantity +of ink and paper. "Page" after page did he pen; continued to do so, to +my certain knowledge, for about three months after; and, for aught I +know to the contrary, he may be _paging_ away to this very day. This +commotion answered my purpose exceedingly well,--my object being to +bear testimony against the impiousness of such a distinction and +separation in the house of God. It is, however, but justice to Dr. +Patton to observe that the case is not singular, the peculiar celebrity +of his "Negro Pew" arising entirely from the imbecile and somewhat +profane apology volunteered by Mr. Page. In point of fact, Dr. Patton +and his people, as I ascertained in conversation with him on the +subject, are rather in advance of their neighbours in kind feeling +towards the coloured people. + + + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ------'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. + + +In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev. ------, in the +---- Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than +150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very +fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to +showing me some of the "lions" of the city. The first place we visited +was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for +young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we +were introduced was John Abbott, the author of "The Mother at Home." He +is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the +senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25 +years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott, +the author of "The Young Christian," "The Corner Stone," "The Way for +a Child," &c., &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob +Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sitting-room. +I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years +of age, but looks younger. He wrote both "The Young Christian" and "The +Corner Stone" when he was only 25. John is two years younger than +Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and +Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four. All are +ministers, though not pastors,--all highly intellectual men, and +connected more or less with this seminary, which is one of the best +conducted I have ever seen. The pupils are not boarders, but they pay +from 10_l._ to 15_l._ a year for their tuition alone. I subsequently +made another visit to this institution in company with my wife, upon +whom Mr. Jacob Abbott had very politely called. + +Mr. ------ intended to introduce me to Dr. Spring, but he was not at +home. He then took me to the Union Theological Seminary. In that +institution about 120 young men are preparing for the Christian +ministry. The library contains _twenty thousand_ volumes on theology +alone--musty and prosy tomes! What a punishment it would be to be +compelled to wade through the whole! We saw neither professors nor +students. My principal recollection of the place is that of feeling +intensely hungry, and smelling at the same time the roast beef on +which, in some of the lower regions of the buildings, the young divines +were regaling themselves. In vain I wished to join them in that +exercise. + +When we came out, my guide proposed to take me to see Dr. Robinson. +Much as I wanted to see the author of the "Greek Lexicon," and the +Traveller in Palestine, there were other claims that then more urgently +pressed themselves. I had breakfasted at 7, and it was now near 1. I +gave my friend a hint to that effect. But he overruled it by saying, +"It is close by, and won't take us many minutes." We went, but the +Doctor was not in. We were now opposite Dr. Skinner's Church, and my +friend insisted on my going to see it. It will hold about 1,000 people. +All the pews are cushioned and lined, and the place has a decided air +of aristocracy about it. The school-room, the lecture-room, the vestry, +&c., were very complete and convenient. "How strange," I observed to my +friend, "that you should so far exceed us in the comfort of your places +of worship, and at the same time be so far behind us in domestic +comforts." "_That_" said he, "was the principle of the Puritans,--the +house of God first, their own after." I ventured to ask him what +salaries ministers in New York generally received. He told me from +1,000 to 4,000 dollars, or from 200_l._ to 800_l._ "My own," he added, +"is 2,000 dollars." We were now not far from the New York University. +"You must go and see that," said he. I went, but saw nothing particular +except the library, empty lecture-rooms, and chapel,--no professors. My +friendly guide pointed to a portrait of Lord Lyndhurst, told me with +evident pride that he was a Yankee, and marvelled at my ignorance of +the fact. + +From time to time I had given him hints that I was afraid of being too +late for dinner at my lodgings; and when the sight-seeing was at last +ended, he very coolly and complacently said, "Now, if you really think +you are too late for dinner at your place, I shall be under the +_necessity_ of asking you to go and take a plate with me." Those were +the _ipsissima verba_. I could scarcely keep my gravity; but I replied, +"Thank you, sir; I want to go to the centre of the city, and I can +easily get a dinner at any eating-house." He both nodded and expressed +an entire concurrence, and seemed to think it an _admirable_ +arrangement. In parting, he pressed me to preach for him on the +following Thursday, but I declined. The next day I was told, on +unquestionable authority, that two or three years ago one of the elders +of this gentleman's church, meeting a man from South America whom he +took to be a mixture of Spaniard and Indian, requested his company to +church. The stranger assented, and sat with him in his pew. He liked +the service, became interested, and went again and again. At last it +was whispered that he was a "Nigger,"--_i.e._ had a slight mixture of +African blood in him. The next week a meeting of the Session was held, +at which it was unanimously resolved that the intruder's entrance into +the body of the church must be prohibited. Two men were stationed at +the door for that purpose. The stranger came. He was stopped, and told +that he could not be allowed to enter the body of the church, there +being a place up in the gallery for coloured people. The man +remonstrated, and said he had been invited to take a seat in Mr. +So-and-so's pew. "Yes," they replied, "we are aware of that; but public +feeling is against it, and it cannot be allowed." The stranger turned +round, burst into tears, and walked home. + +Mr. Johnson, of the _Tribune_, told me that two or three years ago he +and thirty or forty more were returning from an Anti-slavery Convention +held at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. They had left by railway for +Philadelphia at 3 o'clock in the morning. At a town called Lancaster +they stopped to breakfast. In the company were two coloured gentlemen, +one of whom was a minister. They all sat down together. Soon the +waiters began to whisper, "A nigger at table!" "There is two!" The +landlord quickly appeared, seized one of the coloured gentlemen by the +shoulder, and asked him how he dared to sit down at table in his house. +The company remonstrated, and assured him that those whose presence +appeared to be so offensive were very respectable men, friends of +theirs, whom they had invited to sit down. It was all in vain. The +landlord would hear nothing; "the niggers must go." "Very well," said +the rest of the company; "then we shall all go." Away they went, and +left the refined landlord to console himself for the loss of a large +party to breakfast. They had to travel all the way to Philadelphia +before they could break their fast. + +The same gentleman told me that he believed if a white man of any +standing in society in New York were now to marry a coloured lady, +however intelligent and accomplished, his life would be in danger,--he +would be lynched for having committed such an outrage upon "public +opinion." And yet the boast is ever ringing in our ears, "This is a +free country--every one does as he pleases here!" + +On the 24th of March I called upon Dr. Spring. He is an Old School +Presbyterian, and a supporter of the Colonization Society. In the +course of conversation reference was made to State Churches. + +_Myself._--"You see, Doctor, State Churches are the curse of the +British Empire, just as slavery is the curse of your country." + +_The Doctor._--"Ah! so it is; and yet we can do nothing to remove them. +Here is our slavery,--we can't touch it; and you cannot touch your +Established Church. Do you think you will ever get rid of it?" + +_Myself._--"Oh! Yes; I hope so." + +_The Doctor._--"But it will be a _very_ long time before it comes to +pass." + +_Myself._--"Perhaps not so very long. We are rapidly hastening towards +some great change. The old principle of an Establishment is now being +abandoned by all parties; and we shall soon come either to the pay-all +or to the pay-none principle. I am much afraid it will be the former." + +_The Doctor._--"But were it to come to that, and the State would pay +you as well as all the rest, you would have no further ground of +complaint." + +_Myself._--"Oh! but we should: we dread that above all other evils. It +will be a dark day for evangelical religion in England, if ever that +principle be adopted." + +_The Doctor._--"Why? What harm can it do you to receive the money of +the State, provided it does not infringe upon your liberties?" + +_Myself._--"In the first place, it would be a departure from the law of +Jesus Christ, and every departure from his law is sure to be productive +of evil." + +_The Doctor._--"Very true. That's a sound principle--that every +departure from his law will be productive of evil; but then, it remains +to be proved that it _is_ a departure from his law. However, I am glad +to see you stick so firmly to your principles." + +He then went on to ask if I would preach for him next Sabbath. Now, +whether he was only trying me on those points, or whether he had not +studied the subject, or whether he was anxious to keep me off from the +subject of slavery, I cannot tell. But I came away with my knowledge of +Dr. Spring less than it was when I entered. He seemed like a cold, +stiff, formal State parson. + +In the evening I attended a missionary meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. +It was the anniversary of the New York and Brooklyn Auxiliary to the +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and embraced about thirty +churches. I expected great things. When I entered they were singing. +The place was little more than half-full,--say 500 persons. Three +gentlemen were sitting in the pulpit. These were Dr. Adams, Dr. Cox, +and Mr. Storrers. I looked around for the negro pew. There it was on +the left of the organ, and five sable friends in it. The first speaker +was Dr. Adams, who delivered a well-prepared oration of half an hour +long. The Rev. Mr. Storrers, a young man, the pastor of the "Church of +the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn, was the next speaker. His preparation and +delivery were of the same character as those of Dr. Adams. But he +possesses great mental power. He occupied exactly half an hour. Both +speakers complained bitterly of diminished confidence and +contributions. I forget the exact amount announced as the contribution +of this auxiliary; but it was small. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, was the +third speaker. He told us that the last meeting he had attended in +England, a few months before, was the missionary meeting in Birmingham. +It was held in the town-hall, a magnificent building, and well filled. +He pronounced an eloquent eulogy on John Angell James. He described the +missionary breakfast in Birmingham; but, in mentioning such a thing as +a "missionary breakfast," he felt it necessary to make some apology. He +assured them it was not attended with the evils they might be apt to +imagine would be inseparably connected with it. The fact is that +missionary breakfasts are altogether unknown in America. Dr. Cox stated +that he had often been asked in England how they managed missionary +meetings in America, that the people of England held them in high +estimation, that in England they depended chiefly for the support of +the missionary cause upon legacies, stock, &c., while they in America +were content to say, "Give us day by day our daily bread." He also +mentioned Dr. Chalmers's eulogy upon them. While in England, he (Dr. +Cox) and another had waited upon Sir Stratford Canning, to commend +their mission at Constantinople to his kind notice, and Sir Stratford +had spoken in very high terms of the American people. Thus, even at the +missionary meeting, incense must be offered to national vanity. + + + + +LETTER XXVIII. + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L's--Afternoon Service at Mr. +C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr.----'s. + + +The next day my wife and I paid our promised visit to the institution +of the Abbotts at Mount Vernon. In its government there are neither +rewards nor punishments; but each pupil, at the close of the day, has +to present a brief report of her own conduct. Her good deeds and her +bad deeds must be alike proclaimed--proclaimed by herself,--and that in +the presence of her fellow-pupils who were witnesses of the conduct to +which she refers. This compels her to be faithful. If she tries to +conceal what was faulty, she is surrounded by those who will detect +that concealment: if she ostentatiously parades her own excellences, +she knows she will sink in the estimation of her friends. The +encouragement of self-respect, and of a regard for that which is good +for its _own_ sake, are the great principles of government in this +establishment. + +Mr. Abbott's plan of teaching a language is, not at first to weary the +pupils with the dry rules of grammar, but to store their memories with +words. He read a word or a short sentence in French, for instance, and +asked the pupils to translate it into English. Then, with closed books, +he would give them the English in like manner to be turned into French. +I have since adopted the plan with Latin pupils with pleasure and +success. + +Mr. Abbott allows a recess of five minutes at the close of every +half-hour. The hours of attendance are from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.; but a +rest of half an hour is allowed in the midst of that period. We +happened to be there when the said half-hour arrived. All the Abbotts, +the pupils, and ourselves went out to the playground, which was +furnished with seats, and swings, and skipping-ropes, and +swinging-boats, and all sorts of machines for exercise and amusement. +In these gymnastic performances the Abbotts themselves joined the +pupils, with a beautiful combination of freedom and propriety. A +happier assemblage I never saw. We retired highly delighted with all we +had witnessed. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Robinson, +whose Greek Lexicon I had often thumbed with advantage. He appeared to +be from 45 to 50 years of age. His manners were exceedingly simple and +unostentatious,--the constant characteristics of true greatness. I +looked upon him with high respect and veneration. He is a man of whom +America may well be proud. He pressed me to go and address the students +at Union College, of which he is one of the Professors; but an +opportunity of doing so did not occur. + +In the evening I was waited upon by two gentlemen who announced +themselves as the "President and Secretary" of a Welsh Temperance +Society, and wished me to attend and address one of their meetings at a +given time. This I could not do. In conversation with them about +slavery, and the oppression of the coloured people, I was surprised and +grieved to find how soon the Welsh people imbibed the feelings and aped +the conduct of the Americans in those matters. On their pressing me to +attend a meeting of their society on some _future_ occasion, I told +them I was one of the most downright Abolitionists that ever lived, +and, if I came, would terrify them all with such an abolition speech as +they had never heard. This, of course, was cold water upon their love, +and our interview soon terminated. + +The weather for the next two days was so unfavourable that we could not +go out at all. Among the information I then derived from books were the +following precious morsels from the Introduction to the Natural History +of New York: "The Governor was directed by Queen Anne to take especial +care that the Almighty should be devoutly and duly served according to +the rites of the Church of England," and was at the _same time_ desired +by the Queen "to take especial care that the colony should have a +constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate +rates." Just what our own West India planters _now_ want! Oh! how they +would hail the return of the palmy days of Queen Anne! + +On Sabbath the 28th of March I was invited to preach in the morning in +the church of Dr. L----, a Congregational place of worship, capable of +accommodating about 500 persons. The attendance was not more than 200. +There I was delighted to find no negro pew. A few coloured children +were intermingled with the white ones in the gallery. The Doctor, to +whom I had not been introduced, was already in the pulpit when I +arrived. The ceremony of introduction to each other had to be duly +performed in the rostrum. He is a fine, tall, clean, and +venerable-looking old gentleman. He began the service, and, before +sermon, announced that they would then "take up" the usual collection. +That place of worship is what they call a "Free Church,"--_i.e._ there +is no pew-letting; as a substitute for which, they "take up" a weekly +collection. The Doctor also made the following announcement: "A +Missionary of the London Missionary Society, from Guiana, one of the +South American possessions of Britain,--his name is Mr. Davies,--will +now preach; and in the evening Professor Kellog from----, a _long_ +friend of mine, will preach." At the close I was introduced to the +Doctor's _long_ friend, Professor Kellog; and sure enough he was a +"long" one! There was present also Professor Whipple, of the Oberlin +Institute, to whom I had before been introduced. + +In the afternoon I preached for a Mr. C----, in a Presbyterian Church. +The place was beautiful, commodious, and nearly full. The pastor +introduced the service. In his manner of doing so, I was very much +struck with--what I had before often observed in our Transatlantic +brethren--a great apparent want of reverence and fervour. The singing +was very good--in the choir. In my address, I urged them to give their +legislators, and their brethren in the South, no rest till the guilt +and disgrace of slavery were removed from their national character and +institutions. I also besought them, as men of intelligence and piety, +to frown upon the ridiculous and contemptible prejudice against colour +wherever it might appear. To all which they listened with apparent +kindness and interest. + +We took tea by invitation with Dr. L----, for whom I had preached in +the morning. There we met with his nice wife, nice deacon, nice little +daughters, and nice nieces,--but a most intolerable nephew. This man +professed to be greatly opposed to slavery, and yet was full of +contempt for "niggers." He talked and _laughed_ over divisions in +certain churches, and told the company how he used occasionally to go +on Sunday nights to hear a celebrated minister, just "for the sake of +hearing him _talk_--ha--ha--ha!" And yet this was a professor of +religion! + +On the subject of slavery the following conversation took place:-- + +_Nephew._--"If I were in a Slave State, I would not hold slaves." + +_Aunt._--"Ah! but you would." + +_Nephew._--"No! that I would not." + +_Aunt._--"You could not live there without." + +_Dr. L._----(gravely).--"Well, I _guess_ we had better pray, 'Lead us +not into temptation.'" + +_Aunt._ (devoutly)--"I _guess_ we had." + +By-and-by one of the young ladies said to my wife, "I guess we had +better go and fix our things, and get ready for church." This was the +signal for the breaking up of our social enjoyment, which would have +been one of unmingled pleasure, had it not been for this noisy, +conceited, talkative nephew. + +In the evening I had to preach again for Mr.----, the place where the +coloured gentleman was refused admission to the body of the church. The +building was very fine, and the congregation very large. Professor +Fowler, of Amherst College, who happened to be present, read the +Scriptures and prayed. My subject was "the woes and wants of the +African race." I touched upon American slavery, and gave details of the +horrors of the slave traffic as at present carried on. I also bore +testimony against the cruel prejudice which so extensively exists +against the African colour. All were attentive, except one man, who +rose and walked out; and I fancied him saying to himself, "I am not +going to sit here to listen to this abolition nonsense any longer." And +so ended my Sabbath in New York. + + + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs. Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright. + + +During my stay at this time in New York, there died in that city the +Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright, a Presbyterian minister of colour. His +attainments and talents were very respectable; and for fifteen years he +had been the successful pastor of a church of coloured people in the +city. + +Before you accompany me to his funeral, listen to his voice. Though +"dead, he yet speaketh." He had felt this cruel prejudice against the +colour of his skin as iron entering his soul. Here is his touching +testimony on the subject, delivered in a speech at Boston eleven years +before his death:-- + +"No man can really understand this prejudice, unless he feels it +crushing him to the dust, because it is a matter of feeling. It has +bolts, scourges, and bars, wherever the coloured man goes. It has bolts +in all the schools and colleges. The coloured parent, with the same +soul as a white parent, sends his child to the seats of learning; and +he finds the door bolted, and he sits down to weep beside his boy. +Prejudice stands at the door, and bars him out. Does the child of the +coloured man show a talent for mechanics, the heart of the parent beats +with hope. He sees the children of the white man engaged in employment; +and he trusts that there is a door open to his boy, to get an honest +living, and become a useful member of society. But, when he comes to +the workshop with his child, he finds a bolt there. But, even suppose +that he can get this first bolt removed, he finds other bars. He can't +work. Let him be ever so skilled in mechanics, up starts prejudice, and +says, 'I won't work in the shop if you do.' Here he is scourged by +prejudice, and has to go back, and sink down to some of the employments +which white men leave for the most degraded. He hears of the death of a +child from home, and he goes in a stage or a steam-boat. His money is +received, but he is scourged there by prejudice. If he is sick, he can +have no bed, he is driven on deck: money will not buy for him the +comforts it gets for all who have not his complexion. He turns to some +friend among the white men. Perhaps that white man had sat at his table +at home, but he does not resist prejudice here. He says, 'Submit. 'Tis +an ordinance of God,--you must be humble.' Sir, I have felt this. As a +minister, I have been called to pass often up and down the North River +in steam-boats. Many a night I have walked the deck, and not been +allowed to lie down in a bed. Prejudice would even turn money to dross +when it was offered for these comforts by a coloured man. Thus +prejudice scourges us from the table; it scourges us from the cabin, +from the stage-coach, from the bed. Wherever we go, it has for us +bolts, bars, and rods." + +And now let us attend the speaker's funeral. Professor Whipple will be +our guide. As we proceed, crowds of coloured people are hastening in +the same direction from all quarters. We are at the house. But so great +is the throng that it is impossible to get in. Here, however, comes Dr. +Cox. "Make room for Dr. Cox!"--"Make room for Dr. Cox!" is now heard on +every hand. A path is opened for the great man, and we little men slip +in at his skirt. On reaching the room where the remains of the good man +lie, we find Dr. Patton and the Rev. Mr. Hatfield. They and Dr. Cox are +there in a semi-official capacity, as representing the Presbytery with +which Mr. Wright was connected. Louis Tappan, the long-tried and +faithful friend of the coloured race, is there also. I am asked to be a +pall-bearer: without at all reflecting on the duties and inconveniences +of the office, I good-naturedly consent. A _white_ cotton scarf is +instantly thrown over my shoulder. There is the coffin; and there is a +lifelike portrait of Mr. Wright hung up against the wall, and looking +as it were down upon that coffin. But you can see the face of Mr. +Wright himself. The coffin-lid is screwed down; but there is a square +of glass, like a little window, just over the face, as is generally the +case in America, and you can have a view of the whole countenance. + +A black man reads a hymn, and, in connection with it, begins an address +in a very oracular style, and with very solemn pauses. A hint is given +him not to proceed. They sing. Mr. Hatfield delivers an appropriate +address. A coloured minister prays, sometimes using the first person +singular, and sometimes the first person plural; also talking about the +"meanderings of life," and a great deal of other nonsense. + +We move down stairs. The immense procession starts. Drs. Cox and +Patton, Mr. Hatfield, and about half-a-dozen more white ministers, are +in it. As we pass on from street to street, and from crossing to +crossing, all sorts of people seem to regard the procession with the +utmost respect. The cabmen, 'busmen, and cartmen behave exceedingly +well. But did you overhear what those three or four low dirty men said +as we approached? I am ashamed to tell, because those men are not +Americans, but _Irishmen_,--"Here comes the dead nigger!" The boys, now +and then, are also overheard counting how many _white_ men there are in +the procession. + +We are now at the church. After much delay and difficulty we enter. The +place, which is not large, is crammed. There must be about 600 people +in. Dr. Cox urges them to make room for more, and says there are not +more than one-tenth in of those who wish to enter. If so, there must be +a concourse of 6,000 people, and not more than twenty whites among them +all! + +A coloured man gives out a hymn. Dr. Cox reads the Scriptures, and +makes a few remarks. Dr. Patton delivers an oration. In that oration, +while speaking of Mr. Wright's anti-slavery feelings as being very +strong, he adds, with very questionable taste, "But at the same time +our brother had no sympathy with those who indulged in _denunciation, +wrath, and blackguardism_. He would never touch the missiles which +_none but scoundrels use_." What a selection of words in a funeral +oration! In speaking of Mr. Wright's labours in connection with that +church for fifteen years, he says, "Our brother had difficulties which +other men have not. Two or three years ago he had to trudge about the +city, under the _full muzzle_ of a July or August sun, to beg money in +order to extricate this place from pecuniary difficulties. On one +occasion, after walking all the way to the upper part of the city to +call upon a gentleman from whom he hoped to receive a donation, he +found that he had just left his residence for his office in the city. +Our brother, though greatly exhausted, was compelled to walk the same +distance down again; for--to the shame, the everlasting shame of our +city be it spoken--our brother, on account of his colour, could not +avail himself of one of the public conveyances. The next week disease +laid hold of him, and he never recovered." + +What a strong and unexpected testimony against that cruel prejudice! +According to this testimony, Theodore Sedgwick Wright fell a _victim_ +to it. But who would have thought that Dr. Patton, who thus denounced +the cabmen and 'busmen of New York, had at the very time the "Negro +Pew" in his own church! + +While on this subject, let me tell you another fact respecting poor Mr. +Wright. The life of his first wife was sacrificed to this heartless and +unmanly feeling. He was travelling with her by steam-boat between New +York and Boston. They had to be out all night, and a bitter cold +winter's night it was. Being coloured people, their only accommodation +was the "hurricane-deck." Mrs. Wright was delicate. Her husband offered +to pay any money, if they would only let her be in the kitchen or the +pantry. No,--she was a "nigger," and could not be admitted. Mr. Wright +wrapped her in his own cloak, and placed her against the chimney to try +to obtain for her a little warmth. But she took a severe cold, and soon +died. _His_ colour, it would seem, hastened his own exit to rejoin her +in that world where such absurd and inhuman distinctions are unknown. + +Dr. Patton's oration is now ended. But--did you ever hear such a thing +at a funeral?--that minister in the table pew is actually giving out-- + + "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!" + +and they sing it to a funeral tune! + +We start for the place of burial. But it is a long way off, and I had +better spare you the journey. The great men fell off one after another; +but my pall-bearing office compelled me to remain to the last. It was 4 +o'clock P.M. before the solemnities were closed. + + + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior. + + +Now for an excursion to New Haven. We leave by the steamer "Traveller," +Captain Stone, at 61/2 A.M. Wrap yourself up well; it is piercing cold, +being the 30th of March. This boat is altogether different from the +boats on the Mississippi. It seems to belong to quite another species. +It is, however, admirably adapted for its purpose,--that of running +along a stormy coast. In the gentlemen's cabin are three tiers of +berths, one above another like so many book-shelves. The engine works +outside, like a top-sawyer. We shall pass "Hell Gate" directly; but +don't be alarmed. You would not have known it, had I not told you. The +Hog's Back, the Frying Pan, and other places of Knickerbocker +celebrity, are in this neighbourhood. + +Let us go to the ladies' saloon. Well! I declare! There is a coloured +woman, and allowed to remain unmolested! Things improve as we approach +New England, and are much better even there than they were a few years +ago. + +But here comes the captain muffled up. He brings with him a poor +sickly-looking woman, begs the ladies' pardon, and bids her sit down by +the stove and warm herself. He then tells the passengers her painful +story. The night before, in New York, this woman came on board, from +one of the Philadelphia boats, bringing with her a bed and a child. On +being spoken to by the captain, she informed him that she was on her +way from St. Louis to her home in Massachusetts,--that she had been +fifteen days upon the journey, and had two children with her. On being +asked where the other was, she replied, "There it is," pointing to the +bed, where, clad in its usual dress, the little sufferer, released from +the trials of life, lay extended in death. It had caught cold, and died +in her arms in New York. She was friendless and penniless, and wanted a +passage to New Haven. The captain had obtained a coroner's inquest over +the body, purchased for it a little coffin, had it decently laid out, +and gratified her maternal feelings by allowing her to bring it with +her, that it might be buried in her village-home in Massachusetts. All +this he had done without money and without price, had also given her a +free passage to New Haven, and was about to forward her home by railway +at his own expense! Captain _Stone_--"what's in a name?"--at the close +of this statement had to take out his pocket-handkerchief, and wipe +away a few manly tears from his weather-beaten cheeks, as he added, "I +have met in my life with many cases of distress, but with none that +came so much to my heart as this." His object, in introducing the woman +and her case, was to make an appeal to the passengers on her behalf. He +did so; and the result was a subscription amounting to about five +pounds sterling, which was handed over to her. Captain Stone's was a +deed worthy of a golden inscription! + +It is half-past 11 A.M., and we are now at the landing-place in the +harbour of New Haven, having accomplished the distance from New York, +about 80 miles, in five hours! We have a long wharf of 3,943 feet to +travel; and then we set foot for the first time on the soil of New +England. We have been invited to make our abode here with the Rev. +Leicester Sawyer, who makes his abode at Deacon Wilcoxon's, corner of +Sherman-avenue and Park-street. Thither, therefore, let us go. Mr. +Sawyer, whom we had before met in New York, is the author of several +books, comprising two on Mental and Moral Philosophy, and was also +lately the President of the Central College of Ohio. Deacon Wilcoxon +and his wife are plain, homely, kind Christian people. They make you +feel at home as soon as you have crossed their threshold. + +Soon after our arrival the Rev. Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton, the +pastors of the "first" and "second" Congregational Churches in this +city, honour us with a call. This is brotherly, and more than we could +have expected. Dr. Bacon regrets that he is going from home, and cannot +have us to spend a few days at his house. Mr. Dutton, however, presses +us to accept of his hospitality. We promise to do so in a day or two. +Dr. Bacon is one of the great men of New England. He is a living +encyclopaedia,--a walking library. He keeps fully up with the +literature and sciences of the day. I have not met a man, either in the +Old World or in the New, that so thoroughly understood the state of the +British West Indies at the present time as he does. He might have spent +years in that part of the world, and devoted himself to its exclusive +study. His position at home is high, and his influence great. The +estimation in which he is held in New England may be judged of by the +fact, that when, in August 1846, Dr. Theodore Dwight Woolsey had to be +installed as President of Yale College, Dr. Bacon, living within a +stone's throw of that institution, was the man chosen to preach the +inauguration sermon. + +In the middle of the afternoon, my friend Mr. Sawyer presses me to +preach in his place of worship--the Howe-street Church--this evening. I +consent. By-and-by I observe him very busy with some slips of paper; +and I ask him what he is doing? "I am sending," he says, "notices to +the evening papers, to make it known that you are going to preach this +evening!" What a people the Americans are for newspapers! New Haven has +only a population of about 18,000; and yet it has six daily papers--all +having a weekly issue besides, two monthly periodicals, and two +quarterly ones! The daily papers are, I believe, none of them more than +5 dollars (a guinea) a year, or 2 cents (one penny) per number. No +paper duty, and no stamp. At the service in the evening several +ministers and students were present. + +The next day snow to the depth of six inches cover the ground. Let +_us_, however, turn out in the afternoon. We will go and see the +central square,--or the Green, as it is commonly called. This is a +large open space like a park, surrounded on all sides with rows of +stately elms, and is considered one of the most beautiful spots in the +United States. And now we are in a position to take a full view. Three +churches, arranged side by side on this open space, at a few rods from +each other, stand before us. The central one has the most imposing +aspect. It is a large Grecian building; having a portico, supported by +four massive columns, from which rises a lofty bell-tower, ending in a +spire. The combination of the belfry or spire with the Grecian style is +a violation of propriety; but _I like it_. This is the "first" +Congregational Church--that in which Dr. Bacon ministers. That +church--not the building--is coeval with the colony, and can trace back +its history for more than 200 years. It was formerly a State Church. +Congregationalism was for ages the "standing order," or the established +religion, in Connecticut! All the people were taxed for its support; +and no man could have any share in the administration of the civil +government, or give his vote in any election, unless he was a member of +one of the churches. It was not till forty years after the separation +of Church and State in Virginia, where the establishment was Episcopal, +that the example was followed in Connecticut. Happily, however, in 1816 +all parties that differed from it--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, +Universalists, &c., combined together, gained a majority in the +legislature, and severed the connection between Congregationalism and +the State! There are old men now living who then anxiously and piously +"trembled for the Ark of the Lord." They have, however, lived to see +that the dissolution of the union between Church and State in +Connecticut, as in Virginia, was to the favoured sect as "life from the +dead." The Congregationalist of the one, and the Episcopalian of the +other, would alike deprecate being placed in the same position again. +But this is a digression. + +We are still looking at these churches. The church on our right, which +is about the same size and of the same architectural character as the +other, though not quite so showy, is the "second" Congregational +Church, commonly called the North Church--that in which Mr. Button now +ministers. This church originated in the "great awakening" in 1740, was +formed in 1742, and has a history of more than a century in duration. +It arose from dissatisfaction with the ministry of a Mr. Noyes, a +contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, but one who had no sympathy in +Edwards's views and spirit. This man was, indeed, greatly opposed to +the "awakening," and refused George Whitfield admission to his pulpit. +The originators of this second church, therefore, separated from the +original parent, availed themselves of the Act of Toleration, and +became Congregational Dissenters from a Congregational Establishment! +They had of course no State support, nor were they "free from taxation +by the society from which they dissented." "The foundations of this +church, my brethren," said its present gifted pastor, in a sermon +preached at the centenary of its formation, "are love of evangelical +doctrine, of ecclesiastical liberty, of revivals of religion. Such ever +be its superstructure." + +Here, for a quarter of a century, lived and laboured Jonathan Edwards +the younger. Perhaps you have never before heard of him; neither had I +till I came to New Haven. If you won't think it too long to be detained +here standing in front of the church, I will tell you a few facts +respecting him. He was the second son and ninth child of the celebrated +Jonathan Edwards of Northampton. His mother, too, was an extraordinary +woman. You will smile at the impression she made on the mind of good +old George Whitfield. He had spent two days at Mr. Edwards's house in +Northampton; and he says, "I felt wonderful satisfaction in being at +the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath a daughter of +Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. She is a +woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and +solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her +husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some +months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of +Abraham to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to +marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my +circumstances." + +In quoting this, an American writer adds, "He had not yet learned, if +he ever did, that God is not pleased to make such 'sweet couples' out +of persons who have no choice of their own." + +Mr. Edwards, junior, or rather Dr. Edwards, was (like his father) a +great scholar and a profound divine. He was frequently invited to +assist at the examinations in Yale College. On those occasions he used +frequently to display his strictness and accuracy by calling out, +"_Haud rectĂ©_" (not right). This procured him the _sobriquet_ of "Old +Haud RectĂ©," by which he was afterwards known among the students. Some +time after his resignation of the pastorate of this church he became +the President of Union College. His works have recently been published +in two large octavo volumes. There is a striking parallel between the +father and the son. They were alike in the character of their minds and +in their intellectual developments. The name, education, and early +employments of the two were alike. Both were pious in their youth; both +were distinguished scholars; both were tutors for equal periods in the +colleges where they were respectively educated; both were settled in +the ministry as successors to their maternal grandfathers; both were +dismissed, and again settled in retired places, where they had leisure +to prepare and publish their works; both were removed from those +stations to become presidents of colleges; both died shortly after +their respective inaugurations, the one in the 56th and the other in +the 57th year of their age; and each of them preached on the first +Sabbath of the year of his death from the same text--"This year thou +shalt die!" + +But we must not dwell too long on these historical incidents. I have +told you something about the Centre Church and the North Church. That +Gothic building on our left is an episcopal church. That white building +immediately in the rear of the Centre Church is the State House, +completed in 1831. It is constructed of stone and marble, and forms a +prominent ornament of the city. It presents one of the best copies of a +Grecian temple I have seen in the States. In the rear of the North +Church, quite at the remote corner of the Green, stands a plain +barn-like Methodist chapel. And, behind the whole, peeping through the +elm-trees, you see the long range of buildings which constitutes Yale +College. Take it all in all, a view more interesting than that from the +spot on which we now stand I have never beheld. + + + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor Yale +--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides. + + +Before I take you to "Yale," let me show you the spot on the Green on +which, in 1745, Whitfield, being refused admission to the +Congregational church, preached in the open air, under a tree, to an +immense congregation,--so great at that time was the dislike to a +fervid evangelical ministry. But more than a century has rolled away; +and how changed is the scene! + +But, observe you that feeble, tottering old gentleman coming along the +avenue? It is the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., late Chief Justice of the +Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is a member, and, I believe, a deacon +of one of the Congregational churches in this city. Twelve or thirteen +years ago that very man, sitting on the judicial bench, condemned Miss +Randall to be punished for--teaching a coloured child to read! + +Now for Yale. The Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, the minister of the North +Church, will accompany us. This institution was founded in the year +1700. It derived its name from the Hon. Elihu Yale, a gentleman, I am +proud to say, descended from an ancient and respectable family in +Wales. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came over with the first settlers +of New Haven. His son Elihu went to England at ten years of age, and to +the East Indies at thirty. In the latter country he resided about +twenty years, was made Governor of Madras, acquired a large fortune, +returned to England, was chosen Governor of the East India Company, and +died at Wrexham in Denbighshire in 1721. On several occasions he made +munificent donations to the new institution during the years of its +infancy and weakness, on account of which the trustees by a solemn act +named it "Yale College." + +The college buildings--which, like Rome, were not all erected in a +day--consist of four plain spacious edifices, built of brick, each four +stories high, and presenting a front, including passage-ways, of about +600 feet. That neat white house on your right, as you stand before +these buildings, is the President's dwelling--the very house in which +resided Dr. Timothy Dwight. But you are not looking at it. Ah! I see +your attention is attracted by that student sitting on the sill of the +open window of his study, having in his hand a book, and in his mouth a +pipe of clay; by which, with the aid of fire, he is reducing a certain +tropical weed into its original chemical elements. Perhaps you think +that rather undignified; and so it is. I wish you had not seen it; but +worse is done at Oxford and Cambridge. + +Behind this range of buildings is another, a more modern and more +imposing pile. This extends in front 151 feet, is built of red +sandstone, is in the Gothic style, and contains the libraries of the +institution. The central building, called the College Hall, containing +the College Library properly so called, measures in front 51 feet, and +in depth from front to rear 95 feet, having at each corner a tower of +the extreme height of 91 feet. The interior is one room, whose +measurement is 83 feet by 41, resembling in form a Gothic chapel, with +its nave and aisles. The nave is 51 feet high, and its breadth 17 feet. +Between its clustered pillars on either side are alcoves, each 10 feet +by 12, fitted up with shelves for books. The number of volumes it now +contains is about 20,000. The extreme wings and the connecting wings on +either side are very elegant, and fitted up for various libraries +connected with the institution, such as the Students' Library, the +Reading Room, the Calliopean Library, and the Livonian Library. The +Students' Library contains 9,000 volumes. This beautiful range of +buildings probably contains not fewer than 40,000 volumes; and ere long +the number will be doubled! Little did the ten ministers who, in 1700, +met together to establish this seminary, each laying down his donation +of books with these words, "I give these books for the founding of a +college in this colony," and who found that their joint-contribution +amounted to only _forty volumes_,--little did they think what that +small beginning would come to! + +You are looking out for literary curiosities. Here is one--Elliot's +Indian Bible! You have heard of Elliot, "the Apostle of the North +American Indians." Here is a translation of the entire sacred volume +into one of the languages of those people. The New Testament was +published in 1661, and the Old Testament in 1663. The book before us is +a copy of the second edition of the New Testament in 1680, and of the +Old Testament in 1685. But where are those Indians, or their +descendants? They are extinct; and there is not now a man on the whole +continent of America that speaks their language! + +Time will not permit me to describe the Picture Gallery, the Anatomical +Museum, the Cabinet of the Materia Medica, the Museum of Natural +History, and many other objects of interest. You must, however, take a +peep at the Mineral Cabinet, or Geological Museum. It has been +collected and arranged, with great industry and taste, by Professor +Silliman. Look at this meteoric iron-stone. It fell a few years ago in +Texas, and weighs 1,635 lbs.! + +Our guide, Mr. Dutton, insists upon our calling at the college-room of +Dr. Goodrich, one of the Theological Professors. We do so; and find him +engaged in revising Webster's Large Dictionary, about a dozen volumes, +for a new edition. But what a polite man! Talk of American rudeness! A +reception more kind and courteous than this you have never received +from any man. + +Yale College is a noble institution. Oh that we had a few like it in +England! The Faculty consists of 25 Professors--men who would be an +honour to any country, 7 "Tutors," and 6 "Instructors." At the time of +our visit there are 584 students thus classified:-- + +Theological Students 53 +Law " 62 +Medical " 52 +Resident Graduates 5 + +Undergraduates,-- + Seniors 121 + Juniors 90 + Sophomores (wise fools) 112 + Freshmen 99 + ----- + 422 + ----- + Total 584 + +Candidates for admission to the Freshmen Class are examined in Cicero's +Select Orations, the whole of Virgil and Sallust, and the first three +books of Xenophon's Anabasis, together with various "Readers," +"Exercises," and Grammars. + +The whole course of instruction occupies four years, each year being +divided into three terms or sessions. + +With regard to expense, the annual charges made by the Treasurer are-- + + DOLLS. CENTS. +For instruction 33 00 +For rent of chamber in college (average) 12 00 +For ordinary repairs and contingencies 2 40 +For general damages, sweeping, &c. 3 60 +For expenses of recitation-rooms 3 00 + ----------- + 54 00 = ÂŁ11. 5_s._ + +Board is obtained at prices varying from a dollar and a quarter to 3 +dollars a week. To a majority of the students, the cost of board is +less than 2 dollars a week, or, reckoning the dollar at 4_s._ 2_d._, +less than 8_s._ 4_d._ Fuel is procured by the College Corporation, and +sold to the students at cost-price. The students provide for themselves +bed and bedding, furniture for their rooms, candles, books, stationery, +and washing. In the several classes and literary societies +subscriptions to a small amount are required. If books and furniture +are sold when the student completes his course, the expense incurred by +their use will not be great. The following is an approximate estimate +of the _necessary_ expenses, without including apparel, pocket-money, +travelling, and board during vacations:-- + + DOLLARS. + +Treasurer's account as above 54 ... 54 +Board for forty weeks from 60 to 90 +Fuel and lights " 6 " 15 +Use of books recited, and stationery " 5 " 15 +Use of furniture, bed and bedding " 5 " 15 +Washing...... " 5 " 15 +Contributions in the classes ... " 5 " 6 + ---------- + 140 to 210 + +or from 29_l._ to 43_l._ No students are permitted to take lodgings in +town, except when the rooms in college are all occupied. + +In addition to the regular college course of four years, those who +study for the ministry go through a theological course, which occupies +three years more. No charges are made for tuition or lectures. For the +accommodation of students of this order a building has been erected, in +which the rooms are free of charge. The law department, in like manner, +occupies two years, and the medical two or three. + +Let us now go and see the graves of the Regicides. They are at the rear +of the Centre Church. Soon after the restoration of Charles II., many +of the judges who had condemned to death his father were apprehended; +of whom thirty were condemned, and ten executed as traitors. Three, +however, made their escape to New England,--Generals Goffe and Whalley, +and Colonel Dixwell. A cave is shown in the neighbourhood, still called +the "Judges' Cave," in which a great part of their time was spent in +concealment. Many were their hair-breadth 'scapes from their +pursuers--the Royalist party. The colonists, however, gave them all the +sympathy and protection that they deserved. On one occasion, knowing +that the pursuers were coming to New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Davenport +preached on the text, "Hide the outcasts; betray not him that +wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to +them from the face of the spoiler." This, doubtless, had its effect, +putting the whole town on their guard, and uniting the people in +caution and concealment. + +Do you see that rudely-shaped, dark blue stone, about 2 feet in width, +the same in height, and 8 inches thick? Do you see the inscription upon +it--E W in coarsely-carved letters, and the figures 1658 over them? +That is, doubtless, the headstone of Whalley's grave. The footstone is +similar, having the same letters; but above them you see figures that +may be read either sixteen hundred and fifty-eight, or sixteen hundred +and seventy-eight--16578. The latter was the date of the General's +death; and the figures, perhaps, were thus tampered with to baffle the +Royalists. + +The other stone, about a foot broad and ten inches high, bearing the +letters M. G. and the number 80, is supposed to indicate the +resting-place of Goffe. He died about the year 1680. The M, with a +deep-drawn stroke under its limbs, may be taken for an inverted W; and +thus, with the G, stand for William Goffe, in harmony with the designed +concealment that pervades the whole. Colonel John Dixwell lived here, +for seventeen years or more, under the assumed name of James Davids, +and died here after an exile of twenty-nine years from his native +country. He, as well as the other two judges, lived and died in the +firm expectation of another revolution in England. That revolution had +actually taken place in the November before his death; but, as those +were the days of slow and tedious voyages, the news did not arrive till +about a month after his death. A little before his decease he revealed +to the people his real name and character, which had long been known to +the Rev. Mr. Pierpont the minister, but requested that no monument +should be erected at his grave, "lest his enemies might dishonour his +ashes," but only a plain stone inscribed with his initials J. D., Esq., +his age, and time of death. And here it is--that piece of red stone, +about 2 feet in height and breadth, and 5 inches thick, inscribed-- + +"I. D. ESQR + +DECEASED MARCH ye + +18th IN ye 82d YEAR OF + +HIS AGE 1688^9." + +President Stiles, in his "History of the Judges," says, "So late as the +last French war, 1760, some British officers passing through New Haven, +and hearing of Dixwell's grave, visited it, and declared, with +rancorous and malicious vengeance, that if the British ministry knew +it, they would even then cause their bodies to be dug up and vilified. +Often have we heard the crown officers aspersing and vilifying them; +and some so late as 1775 visited and treated the graves with marks of +indignity too indecent to be detailed." + +By those who can make a due allowance for difference of time and +circumstances, the graves of these exiles will be visited with +sentiments of veneration. It would have been grand to spare the +presumptuous monarch; but we cannot feel surprised that he was +sacrificed to the indignation of an outraged people. In these days, +happily, kings and nations have learned that to take away the life of +tyrannical rulers, or of resisting subjects, is but to sow the seeds of +future troubles, and not to lay the foundation of permanent peace. + + + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak. + + +Good Friday was observed by the people of New England as an annual +fast-day, to humble themselves on account of their national sins. It +seemed, somewhat to our inconvenience, to be literally and very rigidly +observed in the circle in which we moved. On that day all ministers are +at liberty to preach upon politics. Accordingly, my friend Mr. Sawyer +took for his text Isaiah lviii. 6: "Is not this the fast that I have +chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, +and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" He +touched upon the war with Mexico, but dwelt chiefly on the subject of +slavery in America. His remarks were, however, too much mingled with +party politics to make the church uncomfortable. + +In the afternoon I heard Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. His text was +Neh. ii. 3, and his subject _Patriotism_. The existing war occupied +much of his attention, and was strongly and unsparingly denounced. The +maxim--too frequently heard at that time in the United States--"Our +country, right or wrong," he shattered to atoms. Defensive war, +however, he justified. He dwelt powerfully on the responsibility +connected with the exercise of the elective franchise, and urged the +duty of voting, at all times, not blindly and for party purposes, but +intelligently, honestly, and piously. Exceptions might perhaps be taken +by some to his views on defensive war; otherwise the discourse was +excellent and seasonable. At the close of the service, we went, in +accordance with previous arrangements, to be his guests for a few days. + +In the evening I attended a Congregational church of coloured people. +The place was exceedingly neat and clean. The minister, the Rev. Mr. +Beman (himself a coloured man), gave out the well-known hymn-- + +"Come we that love the Lord, + And let our joys be known," &c., + +which was sung beautifully. He then offered up a very judicious, +sensible, and pious prayer. The meeting was one of a series of revival +meetings. A large number professed to have been converted; but, such +were the care and caution exercised, none of them had been admitted +into the fellowship of the church. Mr. Beman was so prudent, +unassuming, and devout, that I could not resist the inclination to go +up, introduce myself, and give a short address. Most cordial was my +reception, and great my enjoyment. At the close, one and another were +introduced to me as having made their escape from Southern slavery, +under circumstances painfully affecting; and they would not let me go +without a promise that I would preach to them on the following Sabbath +morning. + +I did so, and enjoyed the service very much. As in the evening there +was to be a service in the North Church, in which all the other +churches were to unite, for the purpose of hearing from me a statement +with regard to the history and operations of the London Missionary +Society, together with some special reference to British Guiana, I said +to Mr. Beman, "Brother Beman, won't you and your people go to the North +Church to-night?" He hesitatingly said, "No,--he thought not." "Why +not?" said I,--"you know my statements will in a great measure refer to +those who are your brethren--your kindred according to the flesh." +"Yes," he replied,--"we should be glad to come; but the fact is they +would pack us--myself and all--into some negro pew, and we should feel +it keenly." + +In the afternoon I preached for Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. Dr. +Bacon had that day exchanged pulpits with Dr. Hawes of Hartford. My +service closing a little sooner than his, I reached the Centre Church +in time to hear the latter part of his sermon. Dr. Hawes is a fine, +tall man, of about 55 years of age. In personal appearance, and in +tones of voice, he struck me as greatly resembling some of the sons of +Caledonia. His sermon, which was read, seemed to be very good; but the +delivery, even in the application, was slow and heavy. Both churches +were even more beautiful inside than out, and were filled with very +large congregations. + +Shortly after, Mr. Dutton took me to attend the afternoon worship at +the College Chapel, where a church is formed, and public services are +conducted every Sabbath. It was here that Dr. Dwight delivered his +well-known Lectures. There are prayers morning and afternoon every day, +which the students are expected to attend. Such was the present +engagement. One of the professors read a chapter; gave out a hymn, +which was magnificently sung; and then offered an extempore prayer. +There were between 300 and 400 students present. + +In the evening Dr. Hawes accompanied me into the pulpit, and took the +introductory part of the service. Most of the professors and students +were present. It was a fine, though formidable, opportunity to plead +the cause of the despised and oppressed sons of Afric before an +audience of so much learning and intelligence. What a contrast! In 1742 +the students were forbidden to attend the meetings of this church; and +it was partly for once disobeying this prohibition, in order to hear +the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, that David Brainerd was expelled from the +college. + +Nor were the sentiments I uttered new in this place. Nearly 60 years +have rolled away since Jonathan Edwards the younger preached here a +sermon, afterwards published by _request_, on the injustice and +impolicy of the slave-trade and slavery,--a sermon which in these days +would be called by many not merely abolitionism but incendiarism. + +On Monday morning we were taken to see the cemetery, outside of the +city. Formerly the Green was used as a burying-ground; but in the +latter part of last century this field of ten acres was levelled and +inclosed for the purpose; and in 1821 the monuments, with the exception +of the humble stones of the three judges, were removed hither. The +broken tablets and half-legible inscriptions, which constituted the +memorials of the fathers and founders of this colony, were peculiarly +interesting. On the 18th of April, 1638, those men kept their first +Sabbath here. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, and Mr. +Davenport, their pastor, preached to them from Matt. iv. 1: "Then was +Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the +devil." His subject was the temptations of the wilderness; and he +recorded the remark, that he had enjoyed "a good day." The following +year they met in a large barn, and in a very solemn manner proceeded to +lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity. Mr. Davenport +introduced the business with a sermon on "Wisdom hath builded her +house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The most ancient record of +this event is a curiosity in the history of civil government. It thus +begins:--"The 4th day of the 6th moneth, called June, all the free +planters assembled together in a general meetinge, to consult about +settling civil government according to God, and about the nomination of +persons that may be found by consent of all fittest in all respects for +the foundation work of a church, which was to be gathered in Quinipiack +[the Indian name of the place]. After sollemne invocation of the name +of God in prayer," &c., they resolved--Alas! for that resolve! it +admitted a wrong principle, and was productive, for more than 150 +years, of the most withering and blighting effect upon that religion +which they aimed to foster--they resolved among other things, "That +church members only shall be free burgesses; and that they only shall +chuse magistrates and officers among themselves, to have the power of +transacting all publique civil affairs of this plantation," &c. + +But why record their errors while standing over their tombs? _De +mortuis nil nisi bonum_. Take them for all in all, they were men whom +we delight to honour. Here are some of their memorials, dated so far +back as 1657. Here too is the resting-place of Dr. Dwight. + +As we return from this necropolis, the Rev. Mr. Sawyer points out to us +the house of Professor Gibbs. "Gibbs--Gibbs," said I; "what! Gibbs's +Gesenius?" "Yes," said he. "I should like to see him," I replied, "for +I used at college his editions of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon." "Let us +then call by all means," said Mr. Sawyer. We did so; and a thin, spare, +sallow, sickly, withered, little old gentleman made his appearance. +This was the Professor. He seemed as if all the juice and sap of his +constitution had been pressed out to nourish the Hebrew roots. I +expressed my pleasure in seeing him, and acknowledged the advantages I +had derived from his labours. The conversation soon touched upon the +Established Church of England, of which he seemed to have a great +horror. "You ought to put down," said he, "that Establishment. You +might very easily do it." "We should be very happy, sir, to know how," +I replied. "I will tell you. Make thorough Hebrew scholars of your +ministers. Let them be with regard to Biblical learning quite on a par +with those of the Establishment, and it will soon fall." I answered, +that upon the whole I thought they were in that respect quite in +advance of those of the Establishment. But I was amused at the good +Professor's simplicity. He little understood the mighty bulwarks by +which that institution is defended. A little more of the article in +which _he_ dealt would be just the thing to accomplish wonders! It was +his nostrum. + +To-day the annual election of the State of Connecticut is held. All the +officers of state are to be chosen, and New Haven is one of the +principal polling-places. But how quiet the town! The only thing that +indicates an election is the presence of a larger number of people than +usual; and the only display you can see is that little bit of a flag, +about 18 inches square, stuck on the top of a cab, having on the word +"Democracy!" Let us go into the State House, and see how it is done. +Men leave their stores or their studies,--enter by one door, drop their +vote into a box, and quietly return to their avocations. The students +at Yale who are 21 years of age do the same, and go back to their +exercises. The whole affair is managed with as much propriety as the +election of deacons in the church at New Amsterdam. _This_ is the +working of universal suffrage in New England. Oh that all America, and +all the world, were in this respect like the land of the Pilgrim +Fathers! + +And now we must bid adieu to New Haven. Many are the warm hearts and +clear heads it contains. The population is about 18,000. There are in +it-- + +5 Congregational Churches, and 1 Coloured ditto. +2 Episcopal ditto . . 1 " +2 Methodist Episcopal ditto 1 " +2 Baptist ditto. +1 Primitive Methodist ditto. 1 Bethel ditto. +1 Catholic ditto. -- +____ + +13 + 4 = 17 total of places of worship. + + DOLLARS. + +The Salary of the Governor of Connecticut is 1,100 + " Lieutenant " . . 300 + " Rev. Dr. Bacon . . . 1,500 + " Rev. Mr. Dutton . . . 1,500 + +In the middle of the day, we leave by railway for Hartford, 36 miles +off. Dr. Hawes is our fellow-traveller. Coloured people are here +allowed to travel in the same carriages with others. It was not so, +even on this line, three or four years ago, when the Rev. Mr. +Pennington was setting off from Hartford for England. He told me +himself that he was obliged on that occasion to travel in the +luggage-van. On our arrival, we are met by Charles Hosmer, Esq., (a +cousin of Elihu Burritt,) an old and valued correspondent of mine, and +of my predecessor Mr. Wray. To both of us he had occasionally sent +presents of excellent American publications. We must be his guests +during the few days we remain at Hartford. Dr. Hawes and Chief Justice +Williams, came in a homely way to spend the evening with us. The Chief +Justice is a deacon of the Doctor's church, and a teacher in the +Sabbath-school. + +The next day we were taken to see the Deaf and Dumb Institution. This +asylum was founded by the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet, who, becoming deeply +interested in this class of afflicted humanity, visited England and the +Continent with a view to obtain information as to the best mode of +communicating instruction to them. I may also observe that he himself +married a deaf and dumb lady, by whom he has a large family of +children, now grown up, none of whom however inherit the maternal +affliction. His son also has married a lady who, like his mother, is +deaf and dumb. We were highly delighted with the success of the +undertaking as seen in the comfort, cheerfulness, and proficiency of +the pupils. In coming out, we met at the door a respectable +well-dressed man and a woman, both of them deaf and dumb, who had +formerly been pupils here, had formed an attachment to each other, +married, settled comfortably in life, and were now coming to pay a +visit to their former home. + +On our return we saw the celebrated Charter Oak. The early settlers of +this place had obtained from the second Charles, and that in the very +year in which 2,000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England, +a most favourable charter--far more so than the Colonial Office in the +present day would grant. Charles, however, repented having granted it, +and in 1687 sent over Sir Edmund Andross, under some pretence or other, +to demand it back. It was night, and the Legislative Assembly were +convened on the subject, when suddenly the lights were extinguished, +and the charter was missing. For a long time it was not known, except +to the initiated, what had become of it. When, however, the danger was +past, the Charter was forthcoming. It had been concealed in the hollow +of this old oak, which still survives. I was gratified in seeing the +document carefully preserved in the office of the Secretary of State. +It is dated 1662, and "in the fourteenth year of our reign," though in +reality Charles had then reigned but two years. + + + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity +--Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. +Bushnell and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground +--The New Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure +from Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth +Bliss--The Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill. + + +Having seen the Charter Oak, let us proceed in company with the Rev. +Mr. Gallaudet to the "Retreat for the Insane," of which he is chaplain. +The place is delightfully situated, and severity of treatment carefully +avoided. As we pass from room to room, we are very gravely and formally +introduced, as strangers in the country, to the inmates. Here we are +introduced to a tall muscular old lady, who has her cap fantastically +trimmed with bits of ribbon of various gaudy colours. With an air of +assumed politeness and dignity, she asks me if I have been to +Washington. On receiving a reply in the negative, she expresses great +regret, and inquires if I have seen "Dan Webster," and, without waiting +for an answer, hurries on, "Fine fellow Dan,--some solid timbers about +Dan,--indeed, the Yankees altogether are not to be sniffed at." I +nodded the most entire assent to all she said. + +We enter another room, and are introduced to a curious groupe. One +woman has tied her mouth up with a handkerchief, to prevent her talking +too much. She tells us that at first she had tied it over her ears, to +prevent her hearing another woman's voice, who is constantly talking to +herself, and making her head ache; but that she found her own tongue +then going faster than anybody else's. She had therefore adopted the +_wise_ plan of tying her own mouth. She is eloquent in the praises of +the institution, and calls it "A blessed Retreat--a blessed Retreat." + +We move on, and are introduced to a fine-looking woman--the wife of a +respectable merchant in New York. She looks wild, and shakes her head +violently. She pours upon us a flood of questions, most of which relate +to her own husband, such as--When did we see him last?--How was +he?--What message did he send to her? &c. Turning to my wife, she said, +"You had better have staid at home, and never come to this country. +This country _was_ once a great country: it is so no longer, and all +through that man,"--pointing to Mr. Gallaudet. "Oh that man! what a +villain he is! People out of doors don't know him; and," looking at +myself, "you can't do this country better service than to make known +everywhere the real character of that man. Here he keeps me a prisoner +in this place for nothing at all; but I hope the State will take up the +matter, and punish him well for it." I promised to make known Mr. +Gallaudet's character, and bade her adieu. + +We are next introduced to a student of theology, who asks very sensible +and pious questions in reference to the missionary cause and the +progress of the Gospel in British Guiana. This man is perfectly sane +except on one point. He thinks there is a conspiracy to poison him, and +that slow poison is administered to him continually in his food. Mr. +Gallaudet, even by dining at the same table and eating out of the same +dish, has failed to convince him to the contrary. + +Now we are taken to the chapel in which Mr. Gallaudet officiates among +them. On the desk is an elegantly-bound Bible, which has been presented +by a former patient, who had experienced in his restoration the value +of this "Retreat." The hymn-book is a collection made on purpose for +the insane, everything gloomy and terrific being excluded. Mr. +Gallaudet, a most intelligent and accomplished man, describes many +remarkable developments of human nature which have come under his +observation, comprising strange combinations of piety and profanity in +the same persons. A patient, who was really a very religious man, in +enumerating the many advantages they there enjoyed said, "We have a +good house to live in; good rooms to occupy; good food to eat; a good +doctor to attend us; a good chaplain to give us religious instruction; +and" (waxing warm) "what the devil do we want more?" + +In the afternoon we meet with Dr. Hawes, at the house of Chief Justice +Williams to tea. + +In the evening there is a united service in the "Fourth Church"--that +of which Dr. Patton's son is minister,--to hear from me an address on +the subject of missions. After which Dr. Bushnell puts to me publicly +some very close and intelligent questions with regard to the working of +freedom in our West India Colonies. He is evidently anxious to elicit +from me that kind of information which would enable them to contradict +the statements of the pro-slavery party. Young Patton is also an +anti-slavery man, and will not tolerate the distinction of colour in +his own church. + +The next day Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Patton call and accompany us to the +Historical Room. There we see carefully kept an old chest that had come +over in the "May Flower," and also the three-legged pot in which the +"Pilgrims" had first boiled their food after landing on Plymouth Rock. +These and many other memorials of the "Fathers" we are happy to find +are very piously preserved. Then we go to a Gallery of Pictures. The +admission fee is 25 cents, or one shilling; but from us, being +strangers, they will accept of nothing! In the collection there was +much to admire; but I could not help regretting that the canvas was +made to preserve the memory of so many conflicts between England and +her Transatlantic sons. + +We dined at Dr. Bushnell's house. The Doctor is a very unassuming man, +and a very original but somewhat eccentric thinker. He had lately +published a sermon on Roads, a sermon on the Moral Uses of the Sea, a +sermon on Stormy Sabbaths, and a sermon on Unconscious Influence,--all +treated in a very striking manner. He had recently visited England and +the continent of Europe, and had also contributed an article to the +_New Englander_, a quarterly review, on the Evangelical Alliance. The +views of a keen thinker from another land on that and kindred topics +deserve to be pondered. "The Church of God in England," says the +Doctor, "can never be settled upon any proper basis, whether of truth +or of practical harmony, until the Established Church, as such, is +separated from the State." His estimate of "a large class of English +Christians" is not very flattering. "They are good men, but not +thinking men. Their piety gurgles in a warm flood through their heart, +but it has not yet mounted to their head. * * * In the ordinary, _i.e._ +in their preaching and piety, they show a style of goodishness fitly +represented by Henry's Commentary; in the extraordinary, they rise into +sublimity by inflation and the swell of the occasion." Towards slavery +and slaveholders he manifests a tenderness of feeling at which we are +surprised and pained. The proposed exclusion of slaveholders from the +Alliance he characterizes as "absurd and fanatical," speaking of the +subject as having been "so unhandsomely forced upon" the American +brethren in London. Again, "There is too much good sense among the +Christians of this country (America) to think of constituting an +Alliance on the basis which denies Christian character to all +slaveholders. At a future time, when slavery has been discussed long +enough, we shall do so. We cannot do it now,--least of all can we do it +at the dictation of brethren beyond the sea, who do not understand the +question," &c. + +And yet in the same article the Doctor proposes that the Christians of +England and America should unite their efforts for the promotion of +religious liberty in Italy, and says, "If we lift our testimony against +all church dungeons and tortures, and against all suppression of +argument by penalties, as cruel, absurd, anti-christian, and impious, +there is no prince or priesthood in Italy or anywhere else that can +long venture to perpetrate such enormities." Will they yield, Doctor, +to the "dictation of brethren beyond the sea?" But this subject of +American slavery is always represented by our Transatlantic friends as +a thing so _profound_ that none but themselves can understand it; and +yet it is evident that they understand it least of all. Hear the +Doctor:-- + +"We do not propose, however, in this movement for religious liberty, to +invite the efforts of our English brethren here against slavery. We +have too little confidence in their knowledge of our condition, and the +correctness of their opinions generally on the subject of American +slavery. They must consent to let us manage the question in our own +way," &c. How strikingly is it here seen that this slavery is the weak +point and the wicked point in the American character! We liked Dr. +Bushnell's company, his hospitality, his wife, his children, his +domestic discipline, his church, his other writings,--everything better +than the article in question, though even it contained much that we +admired. + +The next day we went to see the "First Congregational Church" in this +place--that in which Dr. Hawes ministers, together with the old +burying-ground attached to it. This was the original church formed by +the first settlers, who in 1636 came from Braintree in Essex, bringing +their pastor the Rev. Thos. Hooker along with them. Of him it is said, +that he appeared in the pulpit with such dignity and independence as if +"while engaged in his Master's work he could put a king in his pocket." +Here is his tomb, dated 1647. Two eventful centuries have rolled away, +during which this church has had only nine pastors; all of whom, except +the last, Dr. Hawes, who still survives, died in their charge, and were +interred in this place. Interments here are no longer continued; but an +old bachelor, of independent means, a descendant of the Pilgrims, +spends nearly the whole of his time "among the tombs" of the fathers +and prophets, and, _con amore_, keeps the ground and the graves in the +most beautiful order. + +Our host Mr. Hosmer took us to see the new burying-ground outside of +the city. Here the Catholics and the coloured people had each a parcel +of ground allotted for themselves,--the former because they _would_ +not, and the latter because they _should_ not, mingle their dust with +that of other people! + +On our way back I said to my friend, "How was it that neither Mr. +Pennington nor any of his people (coloured congregation) were at the +meeting last night? I should have thought they would have come to hear +about their own brethren in Guiana." "Why," he replied, "the fact was I +did not send a notice to them on Sunday: I knew that in the 'Fourth' +Church they would have been scattered all over the place; it would have +been so unpleasant, and talked of for months." Here then was a man of a +large heart, a friend of missions and of all that is good, one who +seemed as if he could embrace the whole world in his sympathies, under +the dominion of a prejudice you would have expected him to scorn! + +At Hartford lives Mrs. Sigourney, the graceful American poetess. She is +a pious member of one of the Congregational Churches. Mr. Hosmer kindly +took us to call upon her; and we were greatly pleased with our brief +visit. + +At 2 P.M. we left with regret this delightful little city, and shall +always cherish a grateful remembrance of the Christian kindness and +hospitality with which we were treated. In all the States we met with +nothing to be compared, in all that was pleasing, to the two cities of +Connecticut--New Haven and Hartford. + +In passing, on our way to Boston, through Worcester in Massachusetts, I +cast a hurried glance at every place that looked like a smithy, +wondering whether it was there that Elihu Burritt had wielded his +forge-hammer and scattered his "sparks from the anvil." + +We reached Boston at 9 P.M., and stopped at the United States Hotel. +The next day I called to deliver notes of introduction to several of +the Boston divines. Among them was one to the Rev. Seth Bliss, at the +Tract Depository. Having glanced at the note, he very hurriedly said to +me, "Ah, how do you do?--very glad to see you!--where are you stopping +at?"--"At the United States Hotel, sir." "Oh," he replied all in a +breath, "you had better come to my house,--it'll be cheaper for +you,--they'll charge you 2 dollars a day at the United States Hotel,--I +only charge a dollar and a half,--I have a room at liberty now. +Besides, if you want to get acquainted with ministers, you can't do +better than come to my house. In fact, the wags call my house the +'Saints' Rest,'--because, I suppose, they see I sell the book here." +The conjuncture of "Bliss" and "Saints' Rest!" Who could refuse? We +went. But I will not tell how far the accommodation tended to realize +our conceptions of those beatitudes. + +On the morrow we went to see Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty." A +notice was up at the door to say the key was to be found at such a +store in the neighbourhood. I asked for the key; had it without a +single question being put; went, opened the door myself, and staid as +long as we pleased. There was no hanger-on, to try to squeeze a fee out +of us, as would have been the case in a country I know. + +I then went and called without any introduction upon William Lloyd +Garrison, from whom I received the most kind attentions. He accompanied +me to the celebrated Bunker's Hill, a scene of dreadful encounter +between those who ought never to have been foes. A column of 200 feet +high now stands upon the spot. It is unfortunate that the Americans +have so many mementos, both natural and artificial, of their struggles +with us. They tend to perpetuate an undesirable feeling. + + + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood. + + +On Sabbath morning the 11th of April I preached for the Rev. Mr. +Blagden, in the Old South Church. This is a large old-fashioned square +building, having two galleries, one above the other, on three of its +sides. It is rich in historical recollections. Here Whitfield preached. +Here patriotic meetings were held even before Faneuil Hall was built; +and here the British troops were quartered at the time of the +Revolutionary War. Here, too, the lamp of truth was kept feebly burning +when all around had sunk into darkness and heresy. At the commencement +of this century, the ministry in all the other Congregational Churches +in Boston had become Unitarian. In the Old South, however, there were a +few people, eight in number, who formed a "Society for Religious +Improvement." They could not at first _pray_ together; they only read +the Scriptures and conversed on religious subjects. But they grew in +wisdom, fervour, and zeal, and were eventually the means, not only of +reviving religion in the Old South, but also of giving an impulse in +Boston which is felt to this day. Church after church on orthodox +principles has been instituted, till there are in Boston more than a +dozen large and vigorous churches of the Congregational order; and the +Old South, the honoured "mother of churches," has had her "youth +renewed like the eagles." + +But how came Congregationalism to be so deteriorated? It was owing to +its having been made the State religion. All were at first taxed for +its exclusive support. This was felt to be unjust and oppressive, and +it brought the favoured system into bad repute. Then a modification of +the law was adopted, and the citizens had their choice of systems, but +were taxed for the support of some system or other. This provision, +likewise, began ere long to be felt as unjust towards those who did not +wish to maintain _any_ system, or at least not by taxation. This law, +moreover, gave a virtual support to Unitarianism. "This," says the Rev. +Mr. Button of New Haven, "has been more fully illustrated in +Massachusetts than in Connecticut. The repeal of the law for the +compulsory support of religion in that commonwealth has proved a severe +blow to Unitarianism." + +After the morning service at the Old South, we turned in to see +Park-street Church, another Congregational place of worship, which for +the following reason I was curious to enter. A few years ago a coloured +gentleman of respectability instructed a friend to purchase for him a +pew in that church. That no objection to the sale might arise from any +neglect of decorations, the new proprietor had it beautifully lined and +cushioned. It was made to look as handsome as any other pew in the +church; and, when it was finished, the gentleman and his family one +Sabbath morning took possession. This gave rise to great anxiety and +alarm. Niggers in the body of the church! What was to be done? In the +course of the following week a meeting was held, and a deputation +appointed to wait upon the gentleman, and to tell him that it was +against "public feeling" for him to occupy the pew in question. The +gentleman remonstrated, and pointed out the injustice, after he had +purchased the pew, and incurred the expense of fitting it up, of not +being allowed to enjoy it. To this the deputation replied that they +were sorry for any inconvenience or loss he might sustain, but public +feeling _must_ be respected, and the pew _must_ be given up. Against +this decision there was no appeal; and the gentleman was obliged to let +the pew be resold for such a price as the white aristocracy thought fit +to give. On the principle that "prevention is better than cure," they +have, I am told, in Boston introduced into every new trust-deed a +clause that will effectually guard against the recurrence of such a +calamity. But so "smartly" has it been done that, were you to examine +those deeds, you would look in vain for a single syllable having the +remotest apparent bearing on either black or coloured people, and you +would be ready to suspect that the whole was a mere invention of the +Abolitionists. Indeed, Mrs. "Bliss," at the "Saints' Rest," assured me +in the most positive manner that such was the case, and that the whole +of the story I have related had not the shadow of a foundation in +truth. But she might as well have attempted to deny the existence of +Bunker's Hill or Boston Bay. This was only a specimen of the manner in +which the colour-hating party attempt to throw dust in the eyes of +strangers, and deny the existence of the most palpable facts. But how +runs the conservative clause which led to this digression? It is +expressed in words to this effect,--That no sale of any pew is valid if +two-thirds or three-fourths (I forget which) of the congregation should +object to the purchaser! This was quite enough. Those against whom it +was directed need not be even mentioned. It was well known that with +this clause no coloured man could ever own a pew. Public feeling would +piously take hold of this key, and turn it against him. + +In the afternoon I heard the Rev. E.N. Kirk. The church was new and +beautiful, the congregation large, and the sermon good. + +In the evening I preached in Welsh to about 70 people, in a small +"upper room." It was my first attempt for many years to deliver a +_sermon_ in that language. Nor should I have made it, but for the +peculiarity of the case. The parties were representatives of four +different denominations in Wales, had formed themselves into a kind of +Evangelical Alliance, and had no stated minister, but gladly availed +themselves of the occasional services of any minister of evangelical +views who might be passing through! Poor and few as they were, they +insisted upon my receiving towards travelling expenses four dollars and +a half. This was not done at the Old South, though the pastor told me +they were "burdened with wealth;" nor was it done in any other instance +in the _American_ churches. + +The next day the Rev. Mr. Blagden accompanied us to see the +Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Here we were introduced to Laura +Bridgman, who since she was about two years of age has been deaf, dumb, +and blind. Her senses of taste and smell are also impaired. She is 18 +years of age, and has been in the institution ten years. Every avenue +of communication with the soul was closed--but one. The sense of touch +remained; and by means of that they have contrived to reach the mind, +to inform it, to instruct it, to refine and elevate it. We found her +exactly corresponding to the beautiful description given of her by Dr. +Howe, who is at the head of the institution. That description has so +often been published in England that I will not transcribe it. Her +figure is genteel, slender, and well-proportioned. She appears to be +lively, sensitive, and benevolent. The place where the bright blue eyes +once sparkled that are now quenched in darkness is covered with a piece +of green ribbon. Conversation with her is carried on by means of the +"speaker's" rapid fingering on her right hand. It was in this manner +that we were introduced. She shook hands with us very affectionately, +--taking hold of both hands of Mrs. Davies, and feeling all +about her head, her dress, and her arms. In doing so she felt the +wedding-ring, and wanted to know by means of her interpreter--her +governess--why the English ladies wore a ring on that finger. (The +American ladies do not observe the custom.) On my wife telling her it +was to show they were married, she seemed very much amused and +astonished. Here it was very interesting to observe the progress of a +thought from ourselves to the governess, and from her to that "little, +white, whispering, loving, listening" hand that received and +communicated all ideas, until the brightened countenance and the lovely +smile showed it had reached the soul. She felt a deep sympathy for +Ireland, and wished to know what the English were doing for the +starving inhabitants. We told her; and soon after we saw by the public +papers that, subsequently to our visit, she had done some needle-work, +which was sold, and the proceeds appropriated at her request to +purchase a barrel of flour for that unhappy land. "How," exclaims Elihu +Burritt, "she plied at morning, noon, and night, those fingers! +wonderful fingers! It seemed that the very finger of God had touched +them with miraculous susceptibilities of fellowship with the spirit +world and that around her. She put them upon the face of His written +word, and felt them thrilled to her heart with the pulsation of His +great thoughts of love to man. And then she _felt_ for other's woe. +Poor child! God bless her richly! She reached out her short arms to +feel after some more unhappy than she in the condition of this life; +some whose fingers' ends had not read such sweet paragraphs of heaven's +mercy as hers had done; some who had not seen, heard, and felt what her +dumb, silent, deaf fingers had brought into her heart of joy, hope, and +love. Think of that, ye young eyes and ears that daily feast upon the +beauty and melody of this outer world! Within the atmosphere of her +quick sensibilities, she felt the presence of those whose cup was full +of affliction. She put her fingers, with their throbbing sympathies, +upon the lean bloodless faces of the famishing children in Ireland, and +her sightless eyes filled with the tears that the blind may shed for +griefs they cannot see. And then she plied the needle and those +fingers, and quickened their industry by placing them anon upon the +slow sickly pulse of want that wasted her kind at noonday across the +ocean. Days, and nights too--for day and night were alike to her +wakeful sympathies--and weeks she wrought on with her needle. And then +the embroidery of those fingers was sold to the merchants. Would it had +been sold to England's Queen, to be worn by the young princesses on +days of state! It was sold; and its purchase price was _a barrel of +flour_, instead of a country's harvest, which it was well worth. And +that barrel of flour was stowed away without other private mark than +that the recording Angel put upon it, among the thousands that +freighted the _Jamestown_ on her recent mission of brotherly love to +Ireland. _Laura Bridgman and her barrel of flour_ should teach the +world a lesson worth the woes of one year's famine." Laura favoured us +with her autograph on a slip of paper, which we shall always carefully +preserve as a memorial of a visit to one of the greatest wonders of the +age. + +In another room we were introduced to Oliver Caswell. He is about the +same age as Laura, and similarly afflicted, but has been in the +institution only six years. His teacher told him, in the same +finger-language which was used with Laura, that we came from British +Guiana, and desired him to find out the place on the large globe before +him. This globe was made for the use of the blind, having upon it the +countries and their names in relievo. Oliver turned it round, and felt +with his fingers until they soon rested on the required spot, when he +seemed greatly delighted. His attainments are not so remarkable as +those of Laura, for he has not been so long under tuition; but his +progress is highly encouraging. + +At 4 P.M. we left Boston by railway for Albany,--fare 5 dollars each. +We rested, however, at Springfield for the night, and that in the most +comfortable hotel we had met with in the States. The next day we moved +on to Pittsfield, where we arrived at half-past 11. Finding that we +might get off from that train, and go by another in three or four +hours' time, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of calling upon +the Rev. Dr. Todd, the author of "Lectures to Children," "The Student's +Guide," &c. Instead of the prim, neat, little man we had always +imagined him to be, we found him tall, coarse, slovenly, and unshaven; +a man of 46 years of age; hair of an iron-grey, rough and uncombed; +features large; cheek-bones prominent; and the straps of his trowsers +unbuttoned, and flapping about his slippers. But, under this +unpromising exterior, we discerned a soul of great intelligence, +frankness, and brotherly kindness. Mrs. Todd has been a woman of great +beauty, and, though she has brought up a large family of children, is +still fresh and comely. Their eldest daughter is 19 years of age; and +John, to whom the "Lectures to Children" were dedicated, is now 14 +years of age. The Doctor's insane mother, for whose sake he was first +led to employ his pen, has been dead for some years. His desire to +visit England is very strong. He had been appointed by the churches of +Massachusetts to visit those of England last year in the character of a +delegate; but the means of meeting the expenses of such a delegation +were not provided, and consequently the visit was not paid. It is +worthy of observation that the Doctor's books have been sold in England +far more extensively than in America; but from the English editions he +receives no profit, and even from the American ones very little. As it +may be the first time that English readers hear of John Todd as +_Doctor_ Todd, and as there is an impression that our American friends +bestow their literary honours too freely and indiscriminately,--which, +indeed, is true in reference to some scores of institutions,--nothing +being easier than to obtain a D.D.,--I would just observe that this +applies not to the New England Colleges. They are very chary of such +honours, and only confer that of D.D. on ministers of long standing and +high attainments. In the case of Mr. Todd it was most deservedly +bestowed. + +Pittsfield is but a small town, of about 5,000 inhabitants. The +Governor of Massachusetts resided there, and was a deacon of a Baptist +Church. Dr. Todd presides over a Congregational Church. To the +principles of Congregationalism he is devoutly attached. While others +regard Presbyterianism and Congregationalism as matters of mere +geographical boundary, Todd could never be prevailed upon, even by the +most advantageous offers, to do the same. He said he had nailed his +flag to the mast, and would never abandon it. "I regard +Congregationalism," said he to me, "as a sort of a working-jacket: with +it on I can work with anybody, in any place, and in any way." With this +great and good man we exceedingly enjoyed a homely dinner and a few +hours' converse. In coming out, I observed before the door, +half-covered with snow, a beautiful model of the Temple of Theseus. +This was the work of the Doctor's own hands. + +At 3-1/2 P.M. we left for Albany. At the station, before crossing the +Hudson, we observed in large letters the ominous words "Beware of +pickpockets!" On reaching the city we went to the "Delevan House," so +called after Mr. Delevan, who has done so much for the advancement of +temperance in America. The house is his property, but he does not +conduct it. He lives there as a lodger; and I was permitted to spend +the evening in conversation with him. The house is the largest +temperance hotel in the world. It will accommodate about 400 guests. +Those who keep it are religious people, and have a public +family-worship every evening, usually conducted by the master of the +house; but if a minister of any denomination be present, he is asked to +officiate. A bell is rung, and all who feel disposed to unite in the +worship assemble in a large room. On this occasion it was my privilege +to conduct the service; and in such a place, and under such +circumstances, it was to me an exercise of peculiar interest. A hymn +too was sung, and well sung,--the tune being led by the master of the +house, aided by his family. + +The next morning, at half-past 7, we set off by railway to Utica, a +distance of 94 miles, which we did not accomplish in less than 6-1/2 +hours, making an average of less than 15 miles an hour, and for which +we paid 2-1/2 dollars, or 10s. 6d. This journey led us through the +valley of the Mohawk, and that river was for the most part our constant +companion. The railway and the river seemed to be wedded to each +other,--the former conforming to all the whims and windings, and +turnings and twistings of the latter. + +Utica is a small city, of about 14,000 inhabitants. Its progress has +been but slow. The houses are painted white, and appear neat and +comfortable. I was struck with the immense number of them that were +erected with their gable end to the street, and with a small portico +supported by two fluted columns. A large portion of the inhabitants are +Welsh, who have here four or five places of worship. The Rev. James +Griffiths, a man of great piety and worth, is the minister of the Welsh +Independents. At his house we were most kindly entertained during our +stay. On the Sabbath I preached for him twice in Welsh. The following +week we were taken to Remsen, eighteen miles off, to see the Rev. Mr. +Everett, whose farewell sermon on leaving Wales I had heard when quite +a boy,--and the Rev. Morris Roberts, to whom I had bidden adieu in +Liverpool sixteen years before. It was delightful to meet these +honoured brethren in their adopted home, after the lapse of so many +years. Remsen is quite a Welsh settlement; and these men both preside +over Welsh churches there. Mr. Everett is the editor of a Welsh Monthly +Magazine. In that periodical, as well as in his ministrations, he has +been unflinching in his denunciations of slavery. This has exposed him +to cruel persecutions. There are about 70,000 Welsh people in the +United States who worship in their own language. At Remsen I had to +deliver two addresses on the results of emancipation in the West +Indies. On our return to Utica, the friend who drove us happened +incidentally to mention that in that country they make the dogs churn! +"The dogs churn!" I said, "Yes," said he; "and I dare say they have a +churning-machine so worked at this house: let us call and see." It was +a farm-house. At the door about half-a-dozen chubby little children, +with fine rosy cheeks, were assembled to see the strangers. I began to +speak in English to the eldest, a boy about 10 years of age; but the +lad stared! He understood not a word I said. + +Though born and so far brought up there, he knew nothing but Welsh! We +were gratified with an inspection of the machine for churning. It was +worked very much on the same principle as a treadmill, and exceedingly +disliked by the poor dog. Goats are sometimes made to perform the same +service. In several instances, we saw horses in like manner made to saw +wood, and admired the ingenuity of our cousins in turning to account +every particle of power they possess. "What is the difference," said +Dr. Beecher once to a ship-captain, "between an English sailor and a +Yankee one?" The answer was, "An English sailor can do a thing very +well in _one_ way, but the Yankee can do it in half-a-dozen ways." + + + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chair is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance. + + +On the 22nd we left Utica at 11 A.M., and reached Albany at 5 P.M. At +Schenectady Mr. Delevan got into the same carriage with us; and we had +his company to Albany. He had caused to be put into the hand of every +passenger by that train a tract on the claims of the Sabbath, a large +number of which he had printed at his own expense. He spends an immense +fortune in doing good, chiefly by means of the press. + +In the evening I strolled out to see a little of Albany, the capital of +the State of New York. I gazed with interest on Dr. Sprague's Church, +and wandered until I came to a large building brilliantly lighted. It +was the State House or Capitol. The legislature was then in session. I +marched on, and got in without the least hinderance. There was no crowd +and no stir about the doors. A simple rail divided the part allotted to +the spectators from that which was used by the members. About a hundred +of the latter were present. The Senate, whose hall was in another part +of the same building, had been adjourned till next day. This was the +House of Representatives; and they seemed to be in the midst of a very +angry discussion. Their cheeks swelled with rage, or with--quids of +tobacco. A spittoon, constantly used, was placed by the side of each +member. They were rebelling against the speaker; and, of all mortals, I +never saw one in a more unenviable position than he. All that his +little hammer, his tongue, and his hands could do was of no avail. The +storm raged. The words "honourable member," "unparliamentary," "order," +"chair," and "_in_-quiry," were bandied about in all directions. One of +the "honourable members," rushing out past me, said with a loud voice, +"I'll go and get a segar," &c. At last the speaker--poor fellow!--in +tones of humiliation and despair said, "The _chair_ is but a _man_; +and, if we err, we are ready to acknowledge our error." + +The next day we left by the steam-boat "Roger Williams," and sailed +down the majestic Hudson to New York, a distance of 145 miles; fare one +dollar each. This river has so often been described by travellers that +I need not repeat the attempt. + +The following day was Saturday. In the afternoon I met Dr. Spring at +the Tract House. After the usual salutation, he said, "Shall we hear +your voice at our place to-morrow afternoon?"--"I have no objection, +sir,--what time does your service commence?" "At 4 o'clock."--"Very +well." "Where shall I find you?"--"Where will you be?" "I shall be in +the pulpit five minutes before the time."--"Oh! _very_ well, _very_ +well." + +In the morning I went to hear the Doctor. His introductory prayer was +long. In it he prayed for Mexico--that it might have a "free and +religious government," and that the present war might result in the +overthrow there of the "man of sin;" but no reference to American +slavery. The Doctor, bear in mind, is an Old School Presbyterian, and a +supporter of the Colonization Society. His text was John v. 23: "That +all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father," &c. His +divisions were-- + +I. What honours are ascribed to the Father. + +1. Appropriate names and titles. Jehovah, &c. + +2. Ascription of most glorious attributes. Eternal--Immutable +--Omnipotent, &c. + +3. Great and glorious works. Creation--Preservation--Redemption +--Atonement--Regeneration--Justification--Raising the dead--Judging the +world--Destroying it--Glory of the righteous--Punishment of the wicked. +(All these were supported by appropriate quotations of Scripture.) + +4. Duties enjoined in reference to Him. Confidence--Worship, &c. + +II. That the same honours are ascribed to the Son. (He went over each +of the above particulars, showing from Scripture their application to +the Son.) + +III. That, therefore, the Son is properly and truly God. + +1. We cannot believe the Scriptures would ascribe the same honours to +Him as to the Father, if He were not equal to the Father. + +2. If He be not truly God, the Scriptures tempt to idolatry. + +3. If He be not truly God, the accounts which the Scriptures give of +Him are self-contradictory. + +4. If He be not truly God, there is no evidence from Scripture that +there is a God at all. + +This was a massive and compact argument for the Divinity of Christ. It +occupied upwards of an hour in the delivery, and was read. + +In the afternoon I took care to be in the pulpit five minutes before +the time. The Doctor shortly after came, and took his seat behind me. +This to me is always an annoyance,--I would almost as soon have a man +with me in bed as in the pulpit;--and in this instance it was +peculiarly so, as towards the close, although I had not exceeded forty +minutes, I felt quite persuaded that the Doctor was pulling at my +coat-tail, which led me rather abruptly to conclude. In this, however, +I was mistaken; and the Doctor assured me it was what he had never done +in his life, except in one instance,--and that was when the preacher, +having occupied two hours with his sermon, was entering upon a third. + +In the evening of the 27th of April I heard, at the Tabernacle, New +York, the celebrated Gough deliver a lecture on Temperance. It was to +commence at 8 o'clock; but we had to be there an hour before the time, +in order to get a comfortable place. That hour was a dreary one. The +scraping of throats and the spitting were horrible. It seemed as if +some hundreds of guttural organs were uttering the awfully guttural +sentence, _"Hwch goch dorchog a chwech o berchill cochion."_ + +At last Gough made his appearance on the platform. He is a slender +young man of three or four and twenty. He told us he had spoken every +night except three for the last thirty nights, and was then very weary, +but thought "what a privilege it is to live and labour in the present +day." He related his own past experience of _delirium tremens_,--how an +iron rod in his hand became a snake,--how a many-bladed knife pierced +his flesh,--how a great face on the wall grinned at and threatened him; +"and yet," he added, "I _knew_ it was a delusion!" + +A temperance man, pointing to Gough, had once observed to another, +"What a miserable-looking fellow that is!" "But," replied the other, +"you would not say so, if you saw how he keeps everybody in a roar of +laughter at the public-house till 1 or 2 in the morning." "But I _was_ +miserable," said Gough; "I _knew_ that the parties who courted and +flattered me really _despised_ me." He told us some humorous +tales,--how he used to mortify some of them by claiming acquaintance +with them in the street, and in the presence of their respectable +friends. He returned scorn for scorn. "Gough," said a man once to him, +"you ought to be ashamed of yourself to be always drinking in this +manner." "Do I drink at your expense?"--"No." "Do I owe you +anything?"--"No." "Do I ever ask you to treat me?"--"No." "Then mind +your own business," &c. He introduced this to show that that mode of +dealing with the drunkard was not likely to answer the purpose. + +"Six years ago," said he, "a man on the borders of Connecticut, sat +night after night on a stool in a low tavern to scrape an old fiddle. +Had you seen him, with his old hat drawn over his eyebrows, his swollen +lips, and his silly grin, you would have thought him adapted for +nothing else. But he signed the pledge, and in two years became a +United States senator, and thrilled the House with his eloquence." + +In one place, after Gough had delivered a lecture, some ladies gathered +around him, and one of them said, "I wish you would ask Joe to 'sign +the pledge,"--referring to a wretched-looking young man that was +sauntering near the door. Gough went up to him, spoke _kindly_ to him, +and got him to sign: the ladies were delighted, and heartily shook +hands with Joe. A year after Gough met Joe quite a dandy, walking +arm-in-arm with a fine young lady. "Well, Joe, did you stick to the +pledge?" said Gough to him. "Yes," said Joe with an exulting smile, +"and the lady has stuck to me." + +For more than an hour Gough kept the vast audience enchained by his +varied and charming talk. + +On the 29th I went over the Tract House in New York, and was delighted +to see there six steam-presses,--four of which were then at work, +pouring forth in rapid succession sheet after sheet impressed with that +kind of literature which in my judgment is admirably adapted to meet +the wants of this growing country. They were then printing on an +average 27,000 publications, including nearly 2,400 of each kind, _per +diem!_ and employing sixty women in folding and stitching. During the +last year they printed 713,000 volumes, and 8,299,000 smaller +publications, making a total of 217,499,000 pages, or 58,154,661 pages +more than in any previous year! Of the _volumes_ issued, I may mention +14,000 sets of four volumes of D'AubignĂ©'s History of the Reformation, +17,000 of Bunyan's Pilgrim, 10,000 of Baxter's Saints' Rest, 9,000 of +Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 7,000 of Pike's Persuasives, 13,000 of +Alleine's Alarm, and 41,000 of Baxter's Call! The two Secretaries, +whose business it is to superintend the publishing department and +matters relating to the raising of funds, the Rev. Wm. A. Hallock and +the Rev. O. Eastman, are enterprising and plodding men. They told me +they were brought up together in the same neighbourhood, and had both +worked at the plough till they were 20 years of age! + +The 1st of May is the great moving day in New York. Throughout the city +one house seems to empty itself into another. Were it to the next door, +it might be done with no great inconvenience; but it is not so. Try to +walk along the causeway, and you are continually blocked up with +tables, chairs, and chests of drawers. Get into an omnibus, and you are +beset with fenders, pokers, pans, Dutch ovens, baskets, brushes, &c. +Hire a cart, and they charge you double fare. + +One day at the water-side, happening to see the steamer for Staten +Island about to move off, we stepped on board, and in less than half an +hour found ourselves there. The distance is 6 miles, and the island is +18 miles long, 7 miles wide, and 300 feet high. Here are a large +hospital for mariners and the quarantine burying-ground. It is also +studded with several genteel residences. In 1657 the Indians sold it to +the Dutch for 10 shirts, 30 pairs of stockings, 10 guns, 30 bars of +lead, 30 lbs. of powder, 12 coats, 2 pieces of duffil, 30 kettles, 30 +hatchets, 20 hoes, and one case of knives and awls. + +Several emigrant vessels were then in the bay. On our return, we saw +with painful interest many of them setting their foot for the first +time on the shore of the New World. They were then arriving in New +York, chiefly from the United Kingdom, at the rate of one thousand a +day. The sight affected me even to tears. It was like a vision of the +British Empire crumbling to pieces, and the materials taken to build a +new and hostile dominion. + +I should draw too largely upon your patience, were I to describe many +objects of interest and many scenes of beauty I witnessed in New York +and the neighbourhood. The Common Schools; the Croton Waterworks, +capable of yielding an adequate supply for a million-and-a-half of +people; Hoboken, with its sibyl's cave and elysian fields; the spot on +which General Hamilton fell in a duel; the Battery and Castle Garden--a +covered amphitheatre capable of accommodating 10,000 people; the Park, +and the City Hall with its white marble front; Trinity Church; and its +wealthy Corporation; Long Island, or Brooklyn, with its delightful +cemetery, &c., &c. Suffice it to say that New York has a population of +about 400,000; and that it has for that population, without an +Established Church, 215 places of worship. Brooklyn has also a +population of 60,000, and 30 places of worship. + + + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans. + + +The American May Meetings held in New York do not last a month as in +England,--a week suffices. That week is the second in the month. On the +Sabbath preceding, sermons on behalf of many of the societies are +preached in various churches. On the morning of the Sabbath in question +we went to the Tabernacle, not knowing whom we should hear. To our +surprise and pleasure, my friend Dr. Baird was the preacher. His text +was, "Let thy kingdom come;" and the object for which he had to plead +was the Foreign Evangelical Society, of which he was the Secretary. His +sermon was exceedingly simple, and the delivery quite in an off-hand +conversational style. There was no reading. + +In the evening we heard Dr. Bushnell preach, on behalf of the American +Home-Missionary Society, at the "Church of the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn. +This is a fine costly building, named in honour of the Pilgrim Fathers, +and having a fragment of the Plymouth Rock imbedded in the wall. The +sermon was a very ingenious one on Judges xvii. 13: "Then said Micah, +Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my +priest." The preacher observed that Micah lived in the time of the +Judges--what might be called the "emigrant age" of Israel,--that he was +introduced on the stage of history as a thief,--that he afterwards +became in his own way a saint, and must have a priest. First, he +consecrates his own son; but his son not being a Levite, it was +difficult for so pious a man to be satisfied. Fortunately a young +Levite--a strolling mendicant probably--comes that way; and he promptly +engages the youth to remain and act the _padre_ for him, saying, "Dwell +with me, and be a _father_ unto me." Having thus got up a religion, the +thief is content, and his mental troubles are quieted. Becoming a +Romanist before Rome is founded, he says, "Now know I that the Lord +will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Religion to him +consisted in a fine silver apparatus of gods, and a priest in regular +succession. In this story of Micah it was seen that _emigration, or a +new settlement of the social state, involves a tendency to social +decline_. "Our first danger," said the preacher, "is barbarism +--Romanism next." + +The tendency to barbarism was illustrated by historic references. The +emigration headed by Abraham soon developed a mass of barbarism,--Lot +giving rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites; meanwhile, Abraham +throwing off upon the world in his son Ishmael another stock of +barbarians--the Arabs,--a name which according to some signifies +_Westerners_. One generation later, and another ferocious race springs +from the family of Isaac--the descendants of Esau, or the Edomites. +Then coming down to the time of the Judges we find that violence +prevailed, that the roads were destroyed, and that the arts had +perished: there was not even a smith left in the land; and they were +obliged to go down to the Philistines to get an axe or a mattock +sharpened. Then the preacher came to the great American question +itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been +an upward tendency. It was not so. It had been downward until the +"great revival" about the year 1740. The dangers to which society in +the South and "Far West" is now exposed were powerfully described. The +remedies were then pointed out. + +"First of all, we must not despair." "And what next? We must get rid, +if possible, of slavery." "'We must have peace.'". Also "Railways and +telegraphs." "Education, too, we must favour and promote." "Above all, +provide a talented and educated body of Christian teachers, and keep +them pressing into the wilderness as far as emigration itself can go." +The conclusion of this great sermon was so remarkable that I cannot but +give it in the Doctor's own words. + +"And now, Jehovah God, thou who, by long ages of watch and discipline, +didst make of thy servant Abraham a people, be thou the God also of +this great nation. Remember still its holy beginnings, and for the +fathers' sakes still cherish and sanctify it. Fill it with thy Light +and thy Potent Influence, till the glory of thy Son breaks out on the +Western sea as now upon the Eastern, and these uttermost parts, given +to Christ for his possession, become the bounds of a new Christian +empire, whose name the believing and the good of all people shall hail +as a name of hope and blessing." + +On the Tuesday I attended two Anti-slavery Meetings in the Tabernacle. +The one in the morning was that of Mr. Garrison's party. The chief +speakers were Messrs. Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick +Douglass. This party think that the constitution of the United States +is so thoroughly pro-slavery that nothing can be done without breaking +it up. Another party, at the head of which is Lewis Tappan, think that +there are elements in the constitution which may be made to tell +powerfully against slavery, and ultimately to effect its overthrow. +Both parties mean well; but they unhappily cherish towards each other +great bitterness of feeling. Mr. Tappan's party held their meeting in +the afternoon. Among the speakers was the Rev. Mr. Patton from +Hartford, son of Dr. Patton, who made a very effective speeches. The +Rev. Samuel Ward also, a black man of great muscular power, and amazing +command of language and of himself, astonished and delighted me. I +could not but exclaim, "There speaks a black Demosthenes!" This man, +strange to say, is the pastor of a Congregational church of white +people in the State of New York. As a public speaker he seemed superior +to Frederick Douglass. It was pleasing at those anti-slavery meetings +to see how completely intermingled were the whites and the coloured. + +I had been invited in the evening to speak at the public meeting of the +Foreign Evangelical Society, and to take tea at Dr. Baird's house. +While I was there, Dr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of the American +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Mr. Merwin, called to +invite me to address the public meeting of that society on the Friday. +I promised to do so, if I should not previously have left for the West +Indies. The public meeting of Dr. Baird's society was held in the Dutch +Reformed Church, Dr. Hutton's, a magnificent Gothic building. Dr. De +Witt took the chair. The attendance was large and respectable. Dr. +Baird, as Secretary, having recently returned from Europe, where he had +conversed on the subject of his mission with fourteen crowned heads, +read a most interesting report. The writer had then to address the +meeting. After him three other gentlemen spoke. There was no +collection! Strange to say, that, with all their revivals, our friends +in America seem to be morbidly afraid of doing anything under the +influence of excitement. Hence the addresses on occasions like this are +generally stiff and studied, half-an-hour orations. This feeling +prevents their turning the voluntary principle, in the support of their +religious societies, to so good an account as they otherwise might. At +the close of this meeting, there seemed to be a fine state of feeling +for making a collection; and yet no collection was made. This society +is one of great value and importance. It is designed to tell in the +promotion of evangelical truth on the Catholic countries of Europe and +South America. In those countries, it employs a hundred colporteurs in +the sale and distribution of religious publications. + +The next morning I addressed a breakfast meeting of about 400 people, +in a room connected with the Tabernacle. This was a new thing in the +New World. It was, moreover, an anti-slavery breakfast, under the +presidency of Lewis Tappan. It was charming to see the whites and the +coloured so intermingled at this social repast, and that in the very +heart of the great metropolis of America. + +At 10 the same morning a meeting of the American Tract Society was held +at the Tabernacle. I had been engaged to speak on that occasion, but +was obliged to go and see about the vessel that was to take us away. + +In the evening I was pressed, at half an hour's notice, to speak at the +meeting of the American Home-Missionary Society. The Rev. H.W. Beecher +of Indianapolis, one of the sons of Dr. Beecher, made a powerful speech +on the claims of the West and South-west. In my own address I +complimented the Directors on the ground they had recently taken in +reference to slavery, and proceeded to say that there was an important +sense in which that society should be an anti-slavery society. This +elicited the cheers of the few, which were immediately drowned in the +hisses of the many. The interruption was but momentary, and I +proceeded. The next morning one of the Secretaries endeavoured to +persuade me that the hisses were not at myself, but at those who +interrupted me with their cheers. I told him his explanation was +ingenious and kind; nevertheless I thought I might justly claim the +honour of having been hissed for uttering an anti-slavery sentiment at +the Tabernacle in New York! + +This society has an herculean task to perform; and, in consideration of +it, our American friends might well be excused for some years, were it +possible, from all foreign operations. + + "Westward the star of empire moves." + +Ohio welcomed its first permanent settlers in 1788, and now it is +occupied by nearly 2,000,000 of people. Michigan obtained its first +immigrants but fourteen or fifteen years ago, and now has a population +of 300,000. Indiana, admitted into the Union in 1816, has since then +received a population of more than half a million, and now numbers +nearly a million of inhabitants. Illinois became a State in 1818. From +that date its population trebled every ten years till the last census +of 1840, and since then has risen from 476,000 to about 900,000. +Missouri, which in 1810 had only 20,800 people, has now 600,000, having +increased 50 per cent. in six years. Iowa was scarcely heard of a dozen +years ago. It is now a State, and about 150,000 people call its land +their home. Wisconsin was organized but twelve years ago, and has now a +population of not less than 200,000. One portion of its territory, 33 +miles by 30, which ten years before was an unbroken wilderness, +numbered even in 1846 87,000 inhabitants; and the emigration to the +"Far West" is now greater than ever. A giant is therefore growing up +there, who will soon be able and disposed to rule the destinies of the +United States. The Church of Rome is straining every nerve to have that +giant in her own keeping, and already shouts the song of triumph. Says +one of her sanguine sons, "The Church is now firmly established in this +country, and persecution will but cause it to thrive. Our countrymen +may grieve that it is so; but it is useless for them to kick against +the decrees of the Almighty God. They have an open field and fair play +for Protestantism. Here she has had free scope, has reigned without a +rival, and proved what she could do, and that her best is evil; for the +very good she boasts is not hers. A new day is dawning on this chosen +land, and the Church is about to assume her rightful position and +influence. Ours shall yet become consecrated ground. _Our hills and +valleys shall yet echo to the convent-bell._ The cross shall be planted +throughout the length and breadth of our land; and our happy sons and +daughters shall drive away fear, shall drive away evil from our borders +with the echoes of their matin and vesper hymns. No matter who writes, +who declaims, who intrigues, who is alarmed, or what leagues are +formed, THIS IS TO BE A CATHOLIC COUNTRY; and from Maine to Georgia, +from the broad Atlantic to broader Pacific, the 'clean sacrifice' is to +be offered daily for quick and dead." The triumph may be premature; but +it conveys a timely warning. + +The next day the Anniversary of the Bible Society was held. The Hon. +Theodore Frelinghuysen presided. At that meeting I had been requested, +to speak, but could not. Indeed, we were detained all day on board a +vessel by which we expected every hour to sail for Jamaica; though, +after all, we had to wait until the following day. On that day, the +14th of May, just at the time the Board of Missions were holding their +public meeting, we sailed, and bade adieu to New York and all the +delightful engagements of that memorable week. + +But, say you, Tell us in a few words what you think of America upon the +whole? I will try to do so. There is a class of things I greatly +admire; and there is a class of things I greatly detest. Among the +former I may mention-- + +1. Religious equality--the absence of a State church. + +2. The workings of the voluntary principle in the abundant supply of +places of worship, and in the support of religious institutions. + +3. General education. With regard to their common schools, and also to +their colleges, they are far in advance of us in England. The existence +of universal suffrage has the effect of stimulating educational efforts +to a degree which would not otherwise be attained. The more respectable +and intelligent of the citizens are made to feel that, with universal +suffrage, their dearest institutions are all perilled unless the mass +be educated. + +As education is the great question of the day, I must not omit to make +a few remarks on the Primary Schools of the United States. There is no +_national_ system of education in America. Congress does not interfere +in the matter, except in the "Territories" before they become "States." +The States of the Union are so many distinct Republics, and, in the +matter of education, as in all their internal affairs, are left +entirely to take their own measures. With regard to education, no two +States act precisely alike. If we glance at the States of +Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, we shall, however, discover the +three great types of what in this respect generally prevails throughout +the States. + +MASSACHUSETTS.--Scarcely had the "Pilgrims" been half-a-dozen years in +their wilderness home before they began to make what they deemed a +suitable provision for the instruction of their children. They adopted +the same principle in reference to education and religion--that of +taxation. A general tax was not imposed; but the people in the various +townships were empowered to tax themselves to a certain amount, and to +manage the whole affair by means of their own "select men." But, +although this law has continued for 200 years, the people have always +done far more than it required. In Boston, for instance, the law +demands only 3,000 dollars a year, but not less than 60,000 dollars is +raised and applied! So that here we have a noble proof, not so much of +the effect of government interference, as of the efficiency of the +voluntary principle in providing education for the young. The people of +Massachusetts, and indeed of all the New England States, are doubtless +the best educated in the world. Not one in a thousand of those born +here grows up unable to read and write. + +The calumniated "Pilgrims" were thus early attentive to the importance +of education; and their system had been in full operation for between +thirty and forty years, when, in 1670, Sir William Berkley, Governor of +Virginia, the stronghold of the Anglican Church, thus devoutly +addressed the "Lords of Plantations in England:"--"I thank God _there +are no free schools nor printing_, and I hope we shall not have them +these hundred years; for learning has brought _disobedience and heresy +and sects_ into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels +against the best government. God keep us from both!" + +The system of Massachusetts may be regarded as a type of what prevails +in the six New England States, except Connecticut, where there is a +State fund of upwards of 2,000,000 dollars, yielding an annual dividend +of about 120,000 dollars for school purposes. + +NEW YORK.--In this State a large fund for schools has been created by +the sale of public land. The proceeds of this fund are annually +distributed in such a way as to secure the raising by local efforts of +at least three times the amount for the same object. This fund is thus +used as a gentle stimulant to local exertions. The system described +will convey a notion of what exists in the _middle_ States. + +Ohio.--In this and the Western States every township is divided into so +many sections of a mile square; and one of these sections, out of a +given number, is devoted to the maintenance of schools. As a township +increases in population, the reserved section advances in value. These +schools are not subject to any central control, but are under the +management of a committee chosen by the township. + +Still education is not so general in all the States as might be wished. +Miss Beecher, the daughter of Dr. Beecher, having devoted to the +subject much time and talent, tells us that there are in the United +States "a million adults who cannot read and write, and more than two +millions of children utterly illiterate and entirely without schools!" +Of the children in this condition, 130,000 are in Ohio, and 100,000 in +Kentucky. + +In the working of this system of education, the absence of a State +Church affords advantages not enjoyed in England. Of late, however, an +objection to the use of the Bible in these schools has been raised by +the Roman Catholics, and the question in some States has been fiercely +agitated. In the city of St. Louis the Bible has been excluded. In +Cincinnati the Catholics, failing to exclude it, have established +schools of their own. + +This agitation is one of great interest. It leads thoughtful and devout +men to ask, whether, when the State, assuming to be the instructor of +its subjects, establishes schools, and puts Protestant Bibles, or any +other, or none into them _by law_, they have not thenceforth +Protestantism, Popery, or Infidelity so far _by law established_; and +whether it is not better that the State should restrict itself to its +proper function as the minister of justice, leaving secular +instruction, like religious, to the spontaneous resources of the +people. + +To this, I think, it will come at last. The Common School economy is a +remnant of the old Church-and-State system, which has not been entirely +swept away. But for this impression I should feel some uneasiness, lest +it should prove the germ of a new order of things leading back to +State-Churchism. It appeared to me quite natural to say, "Here is a +State provision for schools,--why not have a similar provision for +churches? It works well for the one,--why not for the other? Is it not +as important that our churches should rely, not alone on the capricious +and scanty efforts of the voluntary principle, but also on the more +respectable and permanent support of the State, as it is that our +Common Schools should adopt this course?" To me it seemed that the +arguments which recommended the one supported the other; but when I +have mentioned to intelligent men the possibility, not to say +probability, of the one step leading to the other, they have invariably +been surprised at my apprehensions, and have assured me that nothing +was more unlikely to take place. + +But, to show the jealousy with which on _other_ grounds the system +begins to be viewed, I will close by a short quotation from a writer in +the _New Englander_, a respectable _Quarterly_, to which I have before +referred. "It will, doubtless, be thought strange to say that the +systems of public common-school education now existing, and sought to +be established throughout our country, may yet, while Christians sleep, +become one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, antagonism in the +land to all evangelical instruction and piety. But how long before they +will be so,--when they shall have become the mere creatures of the +State, and, under the plea of no sectarianism, mere naturalism shall be +the substance of all the religious, and the basis of all the secular +teaching which they shall give? And let it not be forgotten that strong +currents of influence, in all parts of the country, acting in no chance +concert, are doing their utmost to bring about just this result." + +4. I admire their _temperance_. + +I confess that I felt humbled and ashamed for my own country, when, so +soon as I trod on British ground, or British _planks_, the old absurd +drinking usages again saluted my eye. In all the States I met with +nothing more truly ludicrous than some of these. For instance, when +A.B.'s mouth happens to be well replenished with, "flesh, fish, or +fowl," potatoes, pudding, or pastry, at one table, C.D., from another +table far away across the room, at the top of his voice, calls out, +"Mr. A.B., allow me the pleasure to take a glass of wine with you." +A.B. makes a very polite bow, fills his glass in a great hurry, holds +it up with his right hand, C.D. doing the same thing with his; and +then A.B. and C.D., making another polite bow to each other, +simultaneously swallow their glasses of wine! Were we not _accustomed_ +to the sight, it would appear as laughable as anything travellers tell +us of the manners and customs of the least enlightened nations. Surely, +if this childish practice is still a rule in polite society, it is one +"more honoured in the breach than the observance." In no city on the +Eastern side of the Alleghany Mountains did I meet a single drunken +American in the street. The few whom I did detect in that plight were +manifestly recent importations from Great Britain and Ireland! + + +5. I also greatly admire their _secular enterprise_. They afford a +fine illustration of the idea conveyed in their own indigenous phrase, +"Go a-head." + + + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +Slavery--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor and +his Blood-hounds--Conclusion. + + +But there is a class of things among them which men of well-regulated +minds and habits cannot but detest. These, as they have come under my +notice, I have pointed out. The chief of all is _slavery_. This stared +me in the face the moment I entered the States; and it presses itself +on my notice now that I have retired from the American shore. It is the +beginning and the ending of all that is vile and vicious in this +confederation of Republics. In England, you have been often told by +American visiters that the Northern States of the Union are not at all +identified with slavery, and are, in fact, no more responsible for its +existence in the South than we are for the existence of a like system +in the colonies of some of our European Allies. Than this +representation nothing can be further from the truth. There is really +no analogy whatever between the two cases. Each State, it is true, has +its own distinct and independent legislature; but all the States are +united in one federation, which has a thoroughly pro-slavery +government. The constitution is pledged to maintain the execrable +system, and the Northern States are pledged to maintain the +hypocritical constitution. + +That no preponderance of influence might be given to any one State over +the rest, by making it the seat of the central government, a district +of 10 miles square was partitioned out, partly from Virginia and partly +from Maryland, for that purpose. This district, called the District of +Columbia, has no government and no representation of its own, but is +under the absolute control and regulation of the United Government or +Congress, "exclusive jurisdiction over it in all cases whatsoever" +having been given by the constitution. In this absolute government of +the "ten miles square," embracing the site of Washington the capital, +the Northern States, by their representatives in Congress, have their +full share. Now, not merely does slavery exist in that District, but it +exists there under statutes so barbarous and cruel that the +neighbouring slave States have actually abolished the like within the +bounds of their separate jurisdiction, leaving to the _free_ States the +unenviable responsibility of enforcing laws too horrible for +kidnappers. Take a specimen,--"A slave convicted of any petit treason, +or murder, or wilful burning of a dwelling-house, to have the right +hand cut off, to be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from +the body, the body divided into four quarters, and the head and +quarters set up in the most public places of the county where such act +was committed." Take another,--"A _free negro_ may be arrested, and put +in jail for 3 months, on _suspicion_ of being a runaway; and if he is +not able to _prove_ his freedom in 12 months, _he is to be sold as a +slave_ TO PAY HIS JAIL FEES!" Are there not hundreds of free men, both +black and white, who could not _prove_ their freedom under such +circumstances? Yet, for this _crime_, they are reduced to perpetual +bondage _by authority of Congress_. And all this the North upholds! + +Washington, the capital, thus governed, is but the great mart of the +national man-trade. From the adjoining port of Alexandria, 7 miles off, +the victims are shipped for the South. Listen to the _Gazette_ of that +place,--"Here you may behold fathers and brothers leaving behind them +the dearest objects of affection, and moving slowly along in the mute +agony of despair,--there the young mother sobbing over the infant, +whose innocent smiles seem but to increase her misery. From some you +will hear the burst of bitter lamentation; while from others the loud +hysteric laugh breaks forth, denoting still deeper agony." + +But you will be told that it is not in the power of Northern members to +alter this state of things. Why not? In the House of Representatives +the free States have a majority of about 50, and in the Senate they +have for some years been equal. But have they tried? Have they +protested? Have they voted? Have they divided the House? They _have_ +voted. How? _Eighty-two Northern men_, a few years ago, voted that +Congress ought not to interfere _in any way_ with slavery in the +District of Columbia! + +Look at some of the provisions of the Federal Government. See what +"SOLEMN GUARANTEES" it gives to the accursed system of slavery, in +whatever State it may be found! + +Art. I., sect. 2, says, "Representatives and direct taxes shall be +apportioned among the several States which may be included within this +Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined +by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to +serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, +_three-fifths of all other persons_"--that is to say, _slaves_, for +once called "persons!" Here is a positive premium on slave-holding. +This constitutes an aristocracy of the most monstrous character, and +introduces into the social fabric an element as absurd as it is +perilous. Talk of the aristocracy of England, and the undue influence +of landed proprietors! You have nothing half so unjust and vicious as +this. Suppose the Southern States have two millions and a half of +slaves: for that amount of property they have one million and a half of +additional votes; while in the free States there is no property +representation whatever. Or look at the question in another aspect. Two +citizens have each a capital of 5,000_l._ to invest. The one invests in +shipping or commerce in New York, and at the time of the election, +counts _one_; the other invests in slaves in South Carolina, obtaining +for the sum mentioned a whole gang of 100 human beings of both sexes +and of all ages, and at the time of the election he counts +_sixty-one_,--swamping with his 100 slaves the votes of sixty-one +respectable merchants in a free State! This it is which has constituted +an aristocracy of about 200,000 slaveholders in the South, the ruling +power in the United States. It has made the preservation and extension +of slavery the vital and moving principle of the national policy. So +that ever since 1830 slavery, slave-holding, slave-breeding, and +slave-trading have enjoyed the special and fostering care of the +Federal Government. As to the _quid pro quo_--the taxation that was to +be connected with the representation of "three-fifths of all other +persons," that has been almost entirely evaded. "There has not been," +says a New England Reviewer, "if we mistake not, but in one instance, +and then in a very light degree, an assessment of direct taxation." + +Art. I., sect. 8, says, "Congress shall have power"--among other +things--"to suppress _insurrections_." And Art. IV., sect. 4, says, +"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a +republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against +invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive +(when the legislature cannot be convened), against _domestic +violence_." + +These clauses pledge the whole force of the United States' army, and +navy too, if needs be, to the maintenance of slavery in any or in all +the States and Districts in which it may exist. But for this, the +system could not stand a single day. Let the North say to the South, +"We will not interfere with your 'peculiar institution,' but we will +not defend it; if you cannot keep your slaves in subjection, you must +expect no aid from us." Let them only say this, and _do_ nothing, and +the whole fabric of slavery would instantly crumble and fall. The +edifice is rotten, and is propped up only by the buttresses of the +North. The South retains the slave, because the free States furnish the +sentinels. + +Again, Art. IV., sect. 2, says, "No person held to service or labour in +one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in +consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such +service or labour; but shall be _delivered up_ on claim of the party to +whom such service or labour may be due." + +This clause pledges the North, not only to refuse an asylum to the +fugitive slave, but also to deliver him up to his unrighteous and cruel +task-master,--a deed which the law of God expressly condemns, and which +the best impulses of our nature repudiate with loathing and contempt. +The article before us constitutes all the free States of the Union a +slave-hunting ground for the Southern aristocracy. Talk of the game +laws of England! Here is a game law infinitely more unjust and +oppressive. A free country this! A noble government! Hail Columbia! + +See how this slave-holding aristocracy have always managed to oppress +the North, and to secure to themselves the lion's share of the good +things of government. + +THE PRESIDENCY.--Out of the 16 presidential elections since the origin +of the Confederation, 13 have been in favour of slave-holders, and only +3 in favour of Northern men. By holding the Presidency, slavery rules +the cabinet, the diplomacy, the army, and the navy of the Union. The +power that controls the Presidency controls the nation. No Northern +President has ever been re-elected. + +THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.--The individual who holds this office is +_ex-officio_ President of the Senate, and, as such, has a casting vote +in all questions before that body. During the last 20 years, with one +exception, this functionary has always been a slave-holder. + +THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.--This is second only in importance to +the Presidency. It is the duty of this officer to direct correspondence +with foreign courts, instruct the foreign ministers, negotiate +treaties, &c. Of the 16 who have hitherto filled that office, 10 have +been from the slave States, and 6 from the free. + +THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.--This officer has the +appointment of all committees, and exerts an immense influence on the +legislation of the country. During 31 of the 34 years from 1811 to 1845 +the Speakers were all slave-holders. + +The slave power, having thus the whole machinery of government under +its control, can at any time bring all the resources of the nation to +bear upon the preservation and extension of the "peculiar institution." +While Florida, for instance, belonged to Spain, it furnished an asylum +for runaway slaves from the neighbouring States. It must therefore be +purchased by the Union, and five millions of dollars were paid for it. +Still the native Indians, those children of the forest, afforded a +shelter to fugitives from slavery. They must therefore be either +exterminated or exiled. A war was waged against them. They were driven +from the homes of their fathers, and the negroes among them hunted and +shot like wild beasts. At the urgent recommendation of Zachary +Taylor--the person who in March next will doubtless mount the +presidential chair--blood-hounds were purchased as AUXILIARIES to the +army, at a cost of five thousand dollars; and blood-hounds and +soldiers and officers marched together under the "star-spangled banner" +in pursuit of the panting fugitives from Southern oppression. In this +expedition they captured 460 negroes, each one at the cost of the lives +of two white men, and at a further expense of at least eighty thousand +dollars per head. The whole outlay of the war was _forty millions of +dollars_, most of which was drawn from the pockets of Northern people. + +The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War--all for the perpetuation +and extension of slavery--are fresh in your remembrance. + +And here I quit the land of "The Bond and the Free." + + "Nineveh, Babylon, and ancient Rome + Speak to the present times, and times to come: + They cry aloud in every careless ear, + 'Stop, while you may; suspend your mad career; + Oh! learn from our example and our fate,-- + Learn wisdom and repentance ere too late.'" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery +by Ebenezer Davies + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10898 *** 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. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cded611 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10898 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10898) diff --git a/old/10898-8.txt b/old/10898-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6d6d35 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10898-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8869 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery +by Ebenezer Davies + +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: American Scenes, and Christian Slavery + A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States + +Author: Ebenezer Davies + +Release Date: February 1, 2004 [EBook #10898] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SLAVERY *** + + + + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +AMERICAN SCENES, + +AND + +CHRISTIAN SLAVERY: + + +A RECENT TOUR OF FOUR THOUSAND MILES IN THE UNITED STATES. + + + + +BY EBENEZER DAVIES, + +LATE MINISTER OF MISSION CHAPEL, NEW AMSTERDAM, BERBICE. + + +MDCCCXLIX. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +During his recent sojourn in the United States, the Author did not +conceive the intention of writing a book on the subject. All he +contemplated was the publication of a few letters in a London Journal +on which he had been accustomed to rely for intelligence from Europe +when residing in Berbice. So much he was disposed to attempt for +several reasons. + +Having entered the States by their most Southern port--that of New +Orleans, and finding himself at once in the midst of Slavery, he had +opportunities of observing that system not often enjoyed by a British +"Abolitionist." As the Pastor, also, of a large congregation, of whom a +great number were but a few years ago held in cruel bondage, he would +naturally look upon the treatment of the same race in America with +keener eyes and feelings more acute than if he had not stood in that +relation. + +Identified, too, with those persons who represent the principles of the +old Puritans and Nonconformists in England, he would survey the growth +and spread of those principles in their new soil and climate with a +more than common interest. New England, especially, on whose sods the +foot-prints of the Pilgrims had been impressed, and on whose rocks +their early altars had been reared, would be to him hallowed ground. + +Travelling, leisurely, as he did, at his own expense, northward from +New Orleans to Boston, and westward as far as Utica,--making a tour of +more than four thousand miles, sometimes known and sometimes unknown, +just as inclination prompted,--representing no public body, bound to no +party, a "Deputation sent by himself,"--he was completely free and +independent in thought and action, and enjoyed advantages for +observation which do not often meet. + +It was natural that he should wish to tell his friends in Great +Britain, and in the West Indies, what he had seen and heard. To +denounce what is evil and to commend what is good is at all times +gratifying; in doing which, he sought to describe the men and the +manners of America just as they appeared to him. + +Several letters, containing the narrative of a few days spent in New +Orleans, appeared in the _Patriot_. Their favourable reception by the +readers of that journal led to the preparation of the present volume, +in which the letters referred to, having undergone a careful revision, +re-appear, followed by nearly thirty others descriptive of the Author's +tour. + +Our Transatlantic friends are morbidly sensitive as to the strictures +of strangers. They hate the whole tribe of Travellers and Tourists, +Roamers and Ramblers, Peepers and Proclaimers, and affect to ridicule +the idea of men who merely pass through the country, presuming to give +opinions on things which it is alleged so cursory a view cannot qualify +them fully to understand. Our cousins have, doubtless, had occasional +provocations from the detested race in question; but their feeling on +this point amounts to a national weakness. It is always worth knowing +how we appear to the eyes of others, and what impression the first +sight of us is apt to produce; and this knowledge none can communicate +but the stranger, the tourist, the passer-by. What faults and failings +soever we may have in England, and their "name is legion," by all means +let them be unsparingly exposed by every foreign tourist that treads +upon our soil. Let us be satirized, ridiculed, laughed at, caricatured, +anything, so that we may be shamed out of all that is absurd and +vicious in our habits and customs. In the present instance our Western +kinsmen are described by one, if they will believe his own testimony, +of the most candid and truthful of travellers,--one who has viewed them +and all their institutions, except _one_, with the most friendly eye, +and who deeply regrets that so much of what is lovely and of good +report should be marred and blotted by so much of what is disgraceful +to a great and enlightened people. + +As to the performance in a literary point of view, the Author will say +nothing. The public will form their own judgment. If they like it, they +will read; if not, the most seductive preface would not tempt them. + +E. DAVIES. + +LONDON, _January_ 1, 1849. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St Charles's--Description +of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for Sale--Texts for Southern +Divines--Perilous Picture + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration--A +Negro Pew--The Sermon + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child + + +LETTER VIII. + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men + + +LETTER IX. + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion" + + +LETTER X. + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners + + +LETTER XI. + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi +--Steam-boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the +"Crescent City"--Slave Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar +Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A +Reverend Slave-holder + + +LETTER XII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave of +President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C.B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane Seminary +--Departure from Cincinnati + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance-Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage--A +Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and Dr. +Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr. Plummer's Pro-slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ----'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church + + +LETTER XXVIII + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L----'s--Afternoon Service at +Mr. C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr. ----'s + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven.--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor +Yale--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity-- +Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. Bushnell +and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground--The New +Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure from +Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth Bliss--The +Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chan is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +What the Author thinks of the Americans (continued)--Slavery +--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor +and his Blood-hounds + + + + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High-Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae. + + +The ill health of my wife, occasioned by long residence amid the sultry +swamps of Guiana, compelled me a few months ago to accompany her on a +visit to the United States of America. Having taken our passage in a +ship to New Orleans, we found ourselves in fifteen days on the +far-famed Mississippi,--the "father of waters." On gazing around, our +first feeling was one of awe, to find ourselves actually ascending that +majestic stream, that great artery of the greatest valley in the world, +leading into the very heart of a continent. The weather was very cold; +the trees on the river's bank were leafless; and the aspect of nature +on every hand told it was winter. What a change! But a fortnight before +we were panting under an almost vertical sun. We found the Mississippi +much narrower than we had anticipated. In some places it is only about +half a mile wide; while below New Orleans it never, I should say, +exceeds a mile in width. This is remarkable, since not less than +fifty-seven large navigable rivers contribute to swell its waters. It +is, however, very deep, and, even at the distance of 500 miles above +New Orleans, is navigated by vessels of 300 tons; nay, at 1,364 miles +from its mouth, it attains an average depth of fifteen feet. In its +course, it waters 2,500 miles of country. Among the rivers that pour +themselves into this immense stream are--the Missouri, which has first +traversed a space of 2,000 miles; the Arkansas, 1,300 miles; the Red +River, 1,000 miles; and the Ohio, 700 miles. + +Unfortunately, at the entrance of this noble river, there is a bar +called the Balize, so shallow as hitherto to have seriously interfered +with the navigation of large and deeply-laden vessels. Even for the +cotton trade, a particular construction of ship has been found needful, +with a flatter bottom than usual, in order to pass easily over this +bar, any effort to remove which the rapidity of the stream would render +fruitless. This circumstance, with the want of harbour at the mouth of +the Mississippi, has hitherto operated greatly against the trade with +New Orleans, which is 110 miles up the river. Recently, however, a +magnificent harbour has been discovered between Cat Island and Isle +Apitre, within Lake Borgne, and only ten miles from the coast of the +mainland. This new harbour, easily accessible from the sea, at all +times contains a depth of water varying from thirty to fifty feet, and +is so protected on all sides that vessels may ride with the greatest +safety in the worst weather. From this harbour to Bayou on the mainland +the distance is only twelve miles, and from Bayou to New Orleans +forty-six miles,--making altogether only fifty-eight miles from Cat +Island Harbour to New Orleans; whereas, by the difficult and dangerous +route of the Mississippi, the distance is 110 miles. The importance and +value of such a harbour it is difficult to over-estimate. Its +beneficial effect on the future destiny of the great valley will be +prodigious. + +I have said the "great valley," and well it deserves the appellation. +It contains as many square miles, with more tillable ground than the +whole continent of Europe. It measures about 1,341,649 square miles, +and is therefore six times larger than France. And this valley is as +rich as it is extensive. It is the "fat" valley. Never did human eye +behold a finer soil, or more luxuriant productions. The treasures +beneath the surface are as precious as those above. The lead and copper +mines are among the best in the world. Iron and coal also abound. +Building materials, of beauty and strength, adapted to form cottages +for the poor or palaces for the rich, are not wanting. Nature has here +furnished in lavish profusion everything necessary for converting the +wilderness into smiling fields, studded with populous cities. + +But we are not yet within the great valley. We are only at its +entrance, sailing up the "father of waters," against the stream, at the +rate of four or five miles an hour. It is usual for sailing-vessels to +be towed by steam-tugs to their destination; but, having a fair breeze, +and no tug at hand, we were indebted to our sails alone. The motion was +exceedingly pleasant, after the tossings we had had in the Gulf of +Mexico. The vessel glided smoothly along, and new objects presented +themselves continually on either hand. + +My enjoyment of the scenery, however, was soon marred by an attack of +fever and ague, which sent me below. While I was down, several +steam-tugs towing vessels down the river met us. Their unearthly groans +filled me with terror. Their noise was not that of puff--puff +--puff--puff, like all the other steamers that I had ever +heard, but something composed of a groan, a grunt, and a +growl--deep-drawn, as from the very caverns of Vulcan, and that at +awfully-solemn intervals,--grunt--grunt--grunt--grunt! This +peculiarity, I was told, arose from their "high-pressure" engines. The +sound, thus explained, brought to my recollection all the dreadful +stories of boiler explosions with which the very name of the +Mississippi had become associated in my mind. But (thought I) they have +surely learned wisdom from experience, and are become more skilful or +more cautious than they used to be! + +While I was engaged with these reflections, our captain came down, and +handed me a couple of New Orleans papers, which he had just received +from the pilot. Here was a treat; and, feeling a little better, I began +with eagerness to open one of them out. It was the _New Orleans Bee_ of +January 23; and, _horresco referens_, the first thing that caught my +eye was the following paragraph:-- + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--LOSS OF LIFE.--Captain Haviland, of the +steam-ship 'Galveston,' from Galveston, reports that the tow-boat +'Phoenix,' Captain Crowell, burst her boilers when near the head of the +South-west Pass [which we had but just passed], killing and wounding +about twenty-five in number, seven of whom belonged to the boat, the +_balance_ to a barque she had alongside; carrying away the foremast of +the barque close to her deck, and her mainmast above her cross-trees, +together with all her fore-rigging, bulwarks, and injuring her hull +considerably. The ship 'Manchester,' which she had also alongside, was +seriously injured, having her bulwarks carried away, her longboat +destroyed," &c. + +Such was the paragraph, with not a syllable of note or comment on cause +or consequences. It was evidently an every-day occurrence. What +recklessness was here indicated! and how comforting to a sick and +nervous man, now near the very spot of the occurrence, and in a vessel +about to be placed in the same pleasant relation to one of those +grunting monsters as the unfortunate "barque" had but three days before +occupied, with the trifling "balance" of eighteen of her crew "killed +and wounded!" + +The fever having left me, I ventured on deck. At this moment one of +these infernal machines came in sight, towing down three large ships. +Instead of having them behind, as on the Thames and Mersey, she (like +the "Phoenix") had one on either side, closely lashed to herself, and +the other only behind. This terrific monster seemed to be carrying them +away arm-in-arm, like two prisoners, to destruction. At all events, it +was a position of familiarity and friendship with the "Sprite of Steam" +of which I did not at all like the idea; and yet we ourselves were +by-and-by to be placed in its perilous embrace! + +The dreaded monster gone by, I resumed the perusal of my New Orleans +papers. Now (thought I) I am in a slave country! I wonder whether these +papers will give any indication of the fact. In a little while my eye, +surveying the _Bee_ of January 21, caught sight of an advertisement +signed "N. St. Martin, Sheriff, Parish of St. Charles," and containing +a list of 112 human beings offered for sale! The miserable catalogue +was full of instruction. In drawing it up the humane sheriff became +quite facetious, telling the public that "Frank, 35 years old, American +negro, [was] _good for everything_;" while "Stephen, 46 years old, +[was] _fit for nothing at all_;" that "Salinette, 60 years old, +hospital-nurse, [was] _a good subject, subject to rheumatisms_;" and +that "Peter, American negro-man, 38 years old, [was] _a good cook, +having had two fits of madness_." I will back this against the Dublin +_Hue and Cry_. + + + + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam-Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel. + + +The evening closed upon us, sailing pleasantly up the Mississippi. +Having a beautiful moonlight night, we kept on our way. About seven +o'clock we overtook a small fishing-boat laden with oysters. In +consideration of our allowing them--not the oysters, but the +boatmen--to fasten a rope to our vessel, to help them on, they gave us +a generous and refreshing supply. But such oysters! In neither size nor +shape did they resemble those of the Old World. As to size, they were +gigantic,--as to shape, not unlike the human foot. They abound not far +from the mouth of the river, and many men obtain a livelihood by +carrying them up to the New Orleans market. The mode of cooking adopted +in this instance was that of putting them on the fire till the shells +opened. To our taste, they were not in flavour to be compared to the +London oysters; but we did not venture to tell our American captain so. +We had yet, however, to taste the deliciously-cooked oysters of the +northern cities. + +About 10 p.m., the breeze having in a great measure died away, our +captain thought it imprudent to attempt to "go a-head" further that +night, and the anchor was cast. We were now fifty miles above the +entrance of the river. + +Early next day the anchor was raised, the sails were unfurled, and we +again moved along. About 8 a.m., through the narrowness of the river, +the rapidity of the stream, and other causes, our "smart" captain, who +had chuckled vastly on passing all other ships in the river,--and +especially British ships,--ran his own vessel right ashore! There we +were in a complete "fix," till one of the grunting monsters (coming up +with two vessels--one on each arm, as usual,--and letting them go for a +few minutes,) came to our rescue. Forbidding as was his aspect, we were +very glad to feel a little of his giant power. Of this one I had, of +course, a better view than I had had of any other of the species. It +had, like the rest, two chimneys in front, like perpendicular tusks, +with a ladder between them. The ladder was for the purpose of +ascent,--the ascent for the purpose of elevation,--and the elevation +for the purpose of "look out." The top of the ladder, in short, +rendered the same service as the top of a ship's mast at sea. This +"tug" had also, a little further aft, a funnel-like sort of chimney, +for the emission of steam. The whole structure was--like a forge below, +and a palace above. In the lower story were the boiler, engine, fuel, +&c., all exposed to view; while, the upper contained splendid +apartments for the captain, the engineer, and other officers. The +engineer of that vessel, I understood, had a salary of 250 dollars (50 +guineas) per month! + +Released from our stranded position, we found ourselves in a few +minutes lashed to the monster's side, and completely in his power. Here +we were, in the same dread position in which the day before we felt +horrified to see others! From some of the officers, our captain +obtained another newspaper. It was the _New Orleans Daily Picayune_ for +January 26. Getting hold of it, I found whole columns of slave-sale +advertisements. A few specimens will illustrate better than any +description the state of things in this "land of liberty!" + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--The subscribers No. 56, Esplanade-street, have just +received a lot of valuable Slaves from Virginia and Maryland, +consisting of Mechanics, Farm Hands, and House Servants, and have made +_arrangements not to be surpassed_ in this market for a _regular +supply_ from the above markets, as also Alabama. We hazard nothing in +saying, if our former friends, and others wishing to purchase good +servants or hands, will give us a call, they shall not be disappointed. + +"N.B. All Negroes sold by the undersigned are fully guaranteed. + +"SLATTER & LOCKETT, + +"56, Esplanade-street." + +"n11--6m." + +"FOR SALE.--A likely Mulatto Negress, aged twenty-two years,--she is a +first-rate cook, and a good washer and ironer, besides being a +tolerable good seamstress. + +"ANDERSON & BURNET, + +"38, Camp-street." + +"J26." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--I have just received, and offer for sale, a very +likely lot of Virginia Negroes. Those wishing to purchase will do well +to give me a call at my office, No. 157, Gravier-street, between +Carondelet and Baronne streets. I will be _constantly receiving_ +Negroes from Virginia and North Carolina during the winter. + +"C. M. RUTHERFORD." + +"n13--6m." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--No. 165, Gravier-street.--The subscriber has always +on hand a number of Slaves, consisting of House Servants, Field Hands, +and Mechanics, which will be sold low for cash or negotiable paper. +Persons desirous of purchasing will find it to their interest to call +and examine. The subscriber will also receive and sell on consignment +any Negro that may be intrusted to his care. + +"He would also respectfully notify persons engaged in the Slave Trade, +that he is prepared to board them and their Slaves on the most +reasonable terms. + +"WM. H. MERRITT." + +"o1--6m." + +"References--J.A. Barelli, C.J. Mansoni." + +"ONE HUNDRED NEGROES.--For Sale at No. 13, Moreau-street.--All of which +have just been received from Maryland and Virginia. My old friends, and +others wishing to purchase Slaves, will find it to their interest to +call on me before purchasing elsewhere. Also will receive _large +shipments during the season_ from the above States. + +"R. R. BEASLEY, + +"13, Moreau-street." + +"d31--3m." + +Runaway slaves seem to be constantly advertised, with (as in the case +of ship advertisements) a small woodcut figure representing them in the +very act of making their escape. Indeed, almost everything advertised +is accompanied by its picture,--ships, houses, bonnets, boots, leeches, +oysters, and so forth. Even a strayed horse or a strayed cow is +advertised with a picture representing the animal in the very act of +going astray. On the same principle, and in like manner, human chattels +assuming their natural right to go where they please, are advertised +with a woodcut representing them as bending forward in the act of +running, and carrying with them a small bundle containing their scanty +wardrobe,--a pitiable figure! And yet this is done, not to awaken +sympathy, but to excite vigilance, as in the following instances, which +I have picked out of the _Picayune_:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--The aforesaid sum will be given to any +person who will bring back to the undersigned the negro-girl Eugenia, +and her mulatto child aged two years. Said slave has been purloined or +enticed away by her former owner, Madame Widow Decaux, who secretly +went out of this State on the 12th December, 1846. Said Widow Decaux is +well known in New Orleans as a notorious swindler, having been +prosecuted for having pawned logs of wood to a merchant of this city +instead of dry goods. She has a scar on her forehead, and several +others on her neck, and is accompanied by her aged mother, and her boy +aged ten years. + +"J. B. DUPEIRE." + +"j7--15t*." + +"Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th November last, a negro man +named Sandy, about twenty-five years of age, five feet five inches +high, very dark complexion, speaks both French and English, _shows the +mark of the whip very much_. A liberal reward will be paid for his +apprehension, either by confining in any gaol, so that I can secure +him, or his delivery to me at Plaquemine, La. + +"W. H. CARR." + +"J20--3tW." + +And yet the editor of this very paper, in his leading article, +reviewing the past, (that day being the tenth anniversary of its own +existence,) coolly says, "In entering upon our eleventh anniversary, +how different the spectacle! Industry in every quarter of the land +receives its meet reward; Commerce is remunerated by wholesome gains; +_Comfort blesses the toil of the labourer_(!) and Hope encourages the +enterprise of all the industrial classes of our citizens." + +As the day advanced, my fever returned; and I was obliged to go below. +A furious tempest arose, so that even our "monster" could scarcely get +along. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and the rain fell in +torrents. It was a terrific day! As night approached, our captain told +us the vessel could not then be got any further,--it was about two +miles from the city; and if we particularly wished to go ashore, we +must get ready directly, and go with him in the steam-tug. Anxious for +a good night's rest, on shore we resolved to go. I had to turn out in +that state of profuse perspiration which always succeeds the fever, and +my wife hurriedly selected a few necessary things. Poor thing! she was +almost overwhelmed with the trying circumstances in which she was +placed,--thousands of miles from home--about to enter a place in which +she knew not a single soul--her husband ill, and herself an invalid! +But there was no help for it. Amidst torrents of rain, we made the +fearful transition from the ship to the tug, while both vessels were in +violent agitation. It was done. And now we were in the "monster's" own +bosom, expecting every moment his bowels to burst, and send us into +eternity. The noise of the engine, the grunting of the steam, the +raging of the wind, the pelting of the rain, and the roaring of the +thunder, made it almost impossible to hear anything besides; but I +managed to shout in my wife's ear the natural, though not very +consolatory question, "Were we ever in so fearful a position before?" +"Never!" (and we had had some experience of storms by both land and +sea) was her awe-stricken reply. + +We detached ourselves from the sailing-vessel; but, with all the power +of steam, we could scarcely get along. At last the "monster's" +bellowing was hushed,--the tremor ceased,--we were there! But how to +get ashore was still a difficulty. It was about 100 yards off. Planks, +however, were eventually placed so as to enable us to descend from our +lofty "tug" into a ship at anchor, from that into another, from that +again into a third, and from that at length on _terra firma_. + +The hour was between 7 and 8 p.m.; and we were taken to a +ship-chandler's store, while our kind captain went to get a chaise for +us. The store was closed; but the owner and three other gentlemen were +there, seated before a comfortable coal fire, apparently enjoying +themselves after the business of the day. They received us very +courteously, and gave us chairs by the fireside. The storm of that day +they told us had done much harm to the shipping, and was severer than +any other they had experienced during the last seven years. While the +conversation was going on, _plash_ made one, _plash_ made another, +_plash_ made a third, by spurting a certain brownish secretion on the +floor! I had often heard of this as an American habit, but always +thought our cousins in this matter (as in many others) were +caricatured. Here, however, was the actual fact, and that in the +presence of a lady! Yet these were apparently very respectable men. + +Having waited about a quarter of an hour, anxiously listening for the +rumbling of the expected wheels, I heard in the distance a strange kind +of noise, resembling that of a fire-shovel, a pair of tongs, a poker, +and an iron hoop tied loosely together with a string, and drawn over +the pavement! "What in the world is that?" said I. "It is the chaise," +was the answer. The vehicle was quickly at the door. In we were +bundled, and orders given to drive us to the "St. Charles's." We +scarcely knew what this "St. Charles's" was; but, as all with whom we +had conversed seemed to take it for granted that we should go thither, +and as any one _saint_ was to us as good as any other, we echoed, "To +the St. Charles's." And now began such a course of jolting as we had +never before experienced. It seemed as if all the gutters and +splash-holes in the universe had been collected together, and we had to +drive over the whole. This continued about half an hour, by which we +learned that we were at first much further from the "St. Charles's" +than we supposed. The machine at last stopped, and we alighted, +thankful to have escaped a complete stoppage of our breath. + +We were there. A waiter (he was not to be mistaken,--he bore a family +resemblance to all the waiters of the world) was instantly at the +coach-door, to help us _out_ and to help us _in_. He conducted us into +a lobby, up a flight of stairs, and through a long passage, to a large +saloon, where about 150 ladies and gentlemen were assembled,--some +sitting, some standing, some talking, some laughing, and some playing +with their fingers. But, no! we shrunk back. Thither we would not be +led, all wet and dirty as we were. We begged to be shown into a private +room. The waiter stared, and said he had none to take us to, except I +would first go to the "office." But what was to become of my +fellow-traveller in the meantime? No woman belonging to the +establishment made her appearance, and there my wife was obliged to +stand alone in the passage, whilst I followed the waiter through aisles +and passages, and turnings and twistings, and ups and downs, to a large +saloon, where about 200 gentlemen were smoking cigars! What a sight! +and what a smell! Who can realize the vast idea of 200 mouths, in one +room, pouring forth the fumes of tobacco? I was directed to the +high-priest of the establishment in the "office," or (as I should say) +at the "bar." Without verbally replying to my application, he handed me +a book in which to record my name. Having obeyed the hint, I again +asked my taciturn host if myself and wife could be accommodated. He +then, with manifest reluctance, took the cigar out of his mouth, and +said he had only one room to spare, and that was at the top of the +house. It was "Hobson's choice," and I accepted it. And now for a +journey! Talk of ascending the Monument on Fish-street Hill! what is +that compared to ascending the St. Charles's, at New Orleans? No. 181 +was reached at last. The next task was to find my wife, which after +another long and circuitous journey was accomplished. In process of +time fire was made, and "tea for two" brought up. Let me, therefore, +close my letter and enjoy it. + + + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St. +Charles's--Description of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for +Sale--Texts for Southern Divines--Perilous Picture. + + +From No. 181 of the "St. Charles's," we descended, after a good night's +rest, to see some of the lions of the place. Here we are (thought I) in +New Orleans--the metropolis of a great slave country,--a town in which +exist many depôts for the disposal of human beings,--the very city +where, a few months ago, poor Pauline was sacrificed as the victim of +lust and cruelty! Unhappy girl! What a tragedy! On the 1st of August +last, I told the horrid tale to my emancipated people in Berbice. Here +it is, as extracted from the _Essex_ (United States) _Transcript_. Read +it, if you please; and then you will have a notion of the feelings with +which I contemplated a city rendered infamous by such a transaction. + +"Many of our readers have probably seen a paragraph stating that a +young slave girl was recently hanged at New Orleans for the crime of +striking and abusing her mistress. The religious press of the north has +not, so far as we are aware, made any comments upon this execution. It +is too busy pulling the mote out of the eye of the heathen, to notice +the beam in our nominal Christianity at home. Yet this case, viewed in +all its aspects, is an atrocity which has (God be thanked) no parallel +in heathen lands. It is a hideous offshoot of American Republicanism +and American Christianity! It seems that Pauline--a young and beautiful +girl--attracted the admiration of her master, and being (to use the +words of the law) his "chattel personal to all intents and purposes +whatsoever," became the victim of his lust. So wretched is the +condition of the slave woman, that even the brutal and licentious +regard of her master is looked upon as the highest exaltation of which +her lot is susceptible. The slave girl in this instance evidently so +regarded it; and as a natural consequence, in her new condition, +triumphed over and insulted her mistress,--in other words, repaid in +some degree the scorn and abuse with which her mistress had made her +painfully familiar. The laws of the Christian State of Mississippi +inflict the punishment of death upon the slave who lifts his or her +hand against a white person. Pauline was accused of beating her +mistress,--tried, found guilty, and condemned to die! But it was +discovered on the trial that she was in a condition to become a mother, +and her execution was delayed until the birth of the child. She was +conveyed to the prison cell. There, for many weary months, uncheered by +the voice of kindness, alone, hopeless, desolate, she waited for the +advent of the new and quickening life within her, which was to be the +signal of her own miserable death. And the bells there called to mass +and prayer-meeting, and Methodists sang, and Baptists immersed, and +Presbyterians sprinkled, and young mothers smiled through tears upon +their new-born children,--and maidens and matrons of that great city +sat in their cool verandahs, and talked of love, and household joys, +and domestic happiness; while, all that dreary time, the poor slave +girl lay on the scanty straw of her dungeon, waiting--with what agony +the great and pitying God of the white and black only knows--for the +birth of the child of her adulterous master. Horrible! Was ever what +George Sand justly terms 'the great martyrdom of maternity'--that +fearful trial which love alone converts into joy unspeakable--endured +under such conditions? What was her substitute for the kind voices and +gentle soothings of affection? The harsh grating of her prison +lock,--the mockings and taunts of unfeeling and brutal keepers! What, +with the poor Pauline, took the place of the hopes and joyful +anticipations which support and solace the white mother, and make her +couch of torture happy with sweet dreams? The prospect of seeing the +child of her sorrow, of feeling its lips upon her bosom, of hearing its +feeble cry--alone, unvisited of its unnatural father; and then in a few +days--just when the mother's affections are strongest, and the first +smile of her infant compensates for the pangs of the past--the scaffold +and the hangman! Think of the last terrible scene,--the tearing of the +infant from her arms, the death-march to the gallows, the rope around +her delicate neck, and her long and dreadful struggles, (for, +attenuated and worn by physical suffering and mental sorrow, her slight +frame had not sufficient weight left to produce the dislocation of her +neck on the falling of the drop,) swinging there alive for nearly half +an hour--a spectacle for fiends in the shape of humanity! Mothers of +New England! such are the fruits of slavery. Oh! in the name of the +blessed God, teach your children to hate it, and to pity its victims. +Petty politicians and empty-headed Congress debators are vastly +concerned, lest the 'honour of the country' should be compromised in +the matter of the Oregon Boundary. Fools! One such horrible atrocity as +this murder of poor Pauline 'compromises' us too deeply to warrant any +further display of their patriotism. It would compromise Paradise +itself! An intelligent and philanthropic European gentleman, who was in +New Orleans at the time of the execution, in a letter to a friend in +this vicinity, after detailing the circumstances of the revolting +affair, exclaims, 'God of goodness! God of justice! There must be a +future state to redress the wrongs of this. I am almost tempted to +say--there must be a future state, or no God!'" + +On Saturday, the 30th, we set off to seek private lodgings. Led by a +board having on it in large letters the words "Private Boarding," we +"inquired within," found what we wanted, and engaged for eight dollars +per week each. We then went to pay our bill at the "St. Charles's," and +to bring away our carpet-bag. We had been there two nights, had had one +dinner, two teas, and two breakfasts. These meals, as we did not like +to join the hundreds at the "ordinary," were served to us (in a very +_ordinary_ way however) in our bedroom. In fact, the waiting was +miserably done. And yet for this we had the pleasure of paying eleven +dollars,--say _Ł2. 6s._! We gladly bade adieu to the "St. Charles's." +It suited neither our taste nor our pocket. Nevertheless, it is a +magnificent concern. The edifice was finished in 1838 by a company, and +cost 600,000 dollars. The gentlemen's dining-room is 129 feet by 50, +and is 22 feet high; having four ranges of tables, capable of +accommodating 500 persons. The ladies' dining-room is 52 feet by 36. +The house contains 350 rooms, furnishing accommodation for between 600 +and 700 guests; and it was quite full when we were there. The front is +adorned with a projecting portico, supported by six fine Corinthian +columns, resting upon a rustic basement. The edifice is crowned with a +large dome, forty-six feet in diameter, having a beautiful Corinthian +turret on the top. This dome is the most conspicuous object in the +city. Viewed from a distance, it seems to stand in the same relation to +New Orleans as St. Paul's to London. The furniture of this immense +establishment cost 150,000 dollars. A steam-engine, producing a very +disagreeable tremor, is constantly at work in the culinary department. + +While on our way to get the remainder of our baggage from the ship, we +came upon a street in which a long row, or rather several rows, of +black and coloured people were exposed in the open air (and under a +smiling sun) for sale! There must have been from 70 to 100, all young +people, varying from 15 to 30 years of age. All (both men and women) +were well dressed, to set them off to the best advantage, as is always +the case at these sales. Several of the coloured girls--evidently the +daughters of white men--had their sewing-work with them, as evidence of +their skill in that department. The whole were arranged under a kind of +verandah, having a foot-bench (about six inches high) to stand upon, +and their backs resting against the wall. None were in any way tied or +chained; but two white men ("soul-drivers," I suppose) were sauntering +about in front of them, each with a cigar in his mouth, a whip under +his arm, and his hands in his pockets, looking out for purchasers. In +its external aspect, the exhibition was not altogether unlike what I +have sometimes seen in England, when some wandering Italian has ranged +against a wall his bronzed figures of distinguished men,--Shakspeare, +Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, &c. It was between twelve and one in the +day; but there was no crowd, not even a single boy or girl looking +on,--so common and every-day was the character of the scene. As we +moved along in front of this sable row, one of the white attendants +(though my wife had hold of my arm) said to me, with all the +_nonchalance_ of a Smithfield cattle-drover, "Looking out for a few +niggers this morning?" Never did I feel my manhood so insulted. My +indignation burned for expression. But I endeavoured to affect +indifference, and answered in a don't-care sort of tone, "No, I am not +particularly in want of any to-da--." I could scarcely finish the +sentence. Emotion choked my utterance. I passed on, gazing at the troop +of degraded human beings, till my eyes became so filled with tears that +I was compelled to turn my face another way. Though I anticipated such +scenes, and had tried to prepare my mind for them, yet (now that they +were actually before me) I was completely overcome, and was obliged to +seek a place to sit down while I composed my feelings. With what +sentiments my companion beheld the scene, I will leave you to +conjecture! + +It was Saturday morning; and with my professional habits, I naturally +thought of the many divines in that very city, who were at that moment +shut up in their studies, preparing their discourses for the morrow. I +wished I had them all before me. I could have given every one of them a +text to preach upon. I would have said, "Gentlemen, see there! and +blush for your fellow-citizens. See there! and never again talk of +American liberty. See there! and lift up your voices like so many +trumpets against this enormity. See there! and in the face of +persecution, poverty, imprisonment, and (if needs be) even death +itself, bear your faithful testimony, and cease not until this foul +stain be wiped away from your national escutcheon. Dr. S----, to-morrow +morning let this be your text,--'Where is Abel, thy brother?' Dr. +II----, let your discourse be founded on Exod. xxi. 16: 'And he that +stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he +shall surely be put to death.' You, the Rev. Mr. C----, let your gay +and wealthy congregation be edified with a solemn and impressive sermon +on Is. lviii. 6: 'Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the +bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the +oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?' And you, the Rev. Mr. +H----, let your hearers have a full and faithful exposition of that law +which is 'fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy +neighbour as thyself.'" + +In the afternoon of the same day, as I walked along one of the +principal streets, I saw a flag issue from a fine large public building +to invite "ladies and gentlemen" to see "the magnificent picture of the +departure of the Israelites from Egypt,"--the canvas containing 2,000 +square feet, and 2,000,000 of figures! How significant! It would have +been still more so, if the number of "figures" had been 3,000,000 +instead of 2,000,000. What an "abolition" picture! It must have been +worse than "Jacob and his Sons," which was expunged from a catalogue of +the American Sunday-School Union, because, in reprehending the sale of +Joseph to the merchants, it reflected upon the _internal_ slave-trade! +Surely such exhibitions will affect the safety of the "peculiar +institution!" + + + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration +--A Negro Pew--The Sermon. + + +Think of a Sabbath in New Orleans! Curious to know how people did +really pray and preach, with slavery and slave-trading in their vilest +forms around them, I set off in search of the "First Presbyterian +Church." It is a beautiful building; seldom, if ever, had I seen a +place of worship the exterior of which I liked so much. Being a quarter +of an hour too soon, I had opportunity for some preliminary researches. +Wishing to see whether there was a "Negro Pew," I went into the +gallery, and took a seat on the left side of the organ. The "church" I +found as beautiful inside as out. Instead of a pulpit, there was a kind +of platform lined with crimson, which looked very nice. Most of the +pews below, and some above, were lined with the same material. A +splendid chandelier, having many circles of glass brilliants, was +suspended from the ceiling. Altogether, the "church" was a very neat +and graceful structure,--capable, as I learned, of accommodating about +1,500 people. But the floor--the floor! What a drawback! It was stained +all over with tobacco juice! Faugh! Those Southern men are the most +filthy people in that respect I ever met with. They are a great +"spitting" community. To make it still more revolting to luckless +travellers, this nasty habit is generally attended with noises in the +throat resembling the united growling of a dozen mastiffs. + +While the congregation was assembling, a greyheaded, +aristocratic-looking old negro came up into the gallery, walked along +"as one having authority," and placed himself in a front pew on the +right-hand side of the pulpit. Two black women shortly followed, taking +their seats in the same region. Others succeeded, till ultimately there +were from forty to fifty of the sable race in that part of the gallery. +Not one white was to be seen among the blacks, nor one black among the +whites. There, then, was the "Negro Pew!" It was the first time even my +West India eyes ever beheld a distinction of colour maintained in the +house of God! + +At eleven o'clock precisely, a man of tall but stooping figure and dark +complexion, about forty years of age, muffled up in a cloak, took his +stand at the bottom of the pulpit or platform stairs. It was Dr. S----. +He appeared to beckon to some one in the congregation. A tall, lank old +gentleman, with a black cravat, and shirt-collar turned over it _ŕ +l'Américain_, stepped forward, and, ascending the steps before the +Doctor, occupied one of the two chairs with which the rostrum was +furnished, the Doctor taking the other. I supposed him to be one of the +elders, going to give out the hymns, or to assist in the devotional +exercises. At this moment the organ--a fine-toned instrument--struck +up, and the choir sang some piece--known, I presume, only to +themselves, for no others joined in it. This prelude I have since found +is universal in America. In all places of worship provided with an +organ, a "voluntary" on that instrument is the first exercise. In the +present instance the choir had no sooner ceased than the Doctor stood +up, having his cloak still resting upon his shoulders, and stretched +forth his right hand. At this signal all the people stood up, and he +offered a short prayer. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" thought I, during +this address to the Father of the spirits of all flesh. He then read +the 23rd and 24th Psalms. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" was still +ringing in my ears. The 33rd Psalm was then sung. "Where is Abel, thy +brother?" was still heard (by me at least) louder than the swelling +tones of the organ. The singing done, of which the choir still had an +entire monopoly, the Doctor read the 14th chapter of Mark; and as he +read the awful story of our Lord's betrayal, I could not help thinking +that the only difference between some of the Southern slave-dealers and +Judas was, that had they been in his place, they would have made a +"smarter" bargain. The reading, though free from affectation, was not +by any means in the best style. The chapter finished, the tall elder +(as I took him to be) prayed,--the congregation standing. The prayer +was short and appropriate, and the language tolerably correct; but the +tone and pronunciation were queer. I supposed them to indicate some +provincialism with which I was not acquainted. Along with that peculiar +nasal sound for which nearly all Americans are distinguished, there was +in the voice a mixture of coaxing and familiarity which was a little +offensive; still, as a "layman's" exercise, it was very good. He prayed +for "every grace and Christian virtue." Amen, ejaculated I,--then your +slaves will soon be free. He prayed for "our nation and rulers." He +prayed that "the great blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty which +we enjoy may be handed down to future generations." "Looking out for a +few niggers this morning?" thought I. He also prayed for "the army and +navy, and our fellow-citizens now on the field of battle," in allusion +to the Mexican War.--The prayer ended, Dr. S---- gave out another hymn. +During the whole of the service, I may here remark, there was a good +deal of going in and out, talking, whispering, spitting, guttural +turbulence, &c. At first there were about a dozen white boys in my +neighbourhood, who seemed as if they belonged to the Sabbath-school; +but, having no teacher to look after them, and enjoying the full swing +of liberty, they had before sermon all disappeared. + +After the singing, Dr. S---- made several announcements,--amongst +others, that the monthly concert to pray for the success of Foreign +Missions would be held there to-morrow evening, when several speakers +would address the meeting. By all means (said I to myself), and I'll +try to be present. He also told his people that the Rev. ----. ------, +(from some place in Kentucky,--the particulars I did not catch,) was +in the city, as a deputation from the ladies, to solicit subscriptions +for the erection of a new church that was greatly needed. + +The tall man in the black neckcloth then rose, and, to my surprise and +disappointment, read a text. It was I Cor. iii. 21: "For all things are +yours." I imagine _he_ was the deputation from the Kentuckian ladies. + +After a few introductory remarks explanatory of the context, he +proposed to inquire what are the things which "enter into" +("constitute," we should say) the inheritance of God's people. Slaves +(said I to myself) are a part of the inheritance of "God's people," +both here and in Kentucky: I wonder if he will notice that. + +The first thing, I observe (said he), that enters into the inheritance +of God's people, is the living ministry--"Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas." +To illustrate the value of this blessing, he referred to the imaginary +Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Universal Panacea. If +such things really existed, what a high value would men set upon them! +But here was something of incomparably higher worth. In order to form +an estimate of its value, he led his hearers to imagine the entire loss +of the living ministry. Secondly, the "world" belongs to God's people. +It is sustained for their sake, and therefore sinners are indebted to +God's people for the preservation of their lives. To prove this he +referred to the words of our Lord, "Ye are the salt of the earth." In +speaking of the preserving nature of salt, he supposed the sea to be +without salt. + +How pestilential then! But as it is, how salubrious the air that has +swept over it! He also referred to another case. There was once (said +he) a ship in a tremendous storm; the crew and passengers--about 270 in +number--were at their wits' end; nothing appeared before them but a +watery grave. On board of that ship was a poor prisoner, bound in +chains. He was deemed to be of the filth of the world, and the +off-scouring of all things. To that poor prisoner the angel of the Lord +came, and told him what must be done to save the life of every one on +board. The angel's directions were obeyed, and all were preserved. +Thus, for the sake of one of God's people, were 270 lives spared. He +offered another illustration. Three men came to converse with Abraham, +on the plains of Mamre. They told him that God was about to destroy +five cities. Abraham began to intercede for them. The preacher +recapitulated the wondrous story of this intercession and its success, +as further proving that ungodly men owe the preservation of their lives +to the presence and prayers of the people of God. The parable of the +tares was also cited, as illustrating the same position. "Let both grow +together until the harvest." Imagine (said he) all the people of God +removed from the face of the earth--no heart to love Him--no tongue to +praise Him,--there would be no reason why the earth should be continued +in existence another moment. In the light of this subject, see how +great a privilege it is to have pious relatives. "Life" also was, in +the third place, a part of the inheritance of the child of God, because +during it he makes a provision for eternity. He dwelt on the richness +of the treasure which God's people are laying up. Suppose (said he) any +of you were making money at the rate of fifty dollars an hour,--(I dare +say you do so sometimes, reflected I, when you get a good price for +your "niggers,")--how rich you would soon be! and how anxious that not +a single hour should be lost! But the child of God is laying up +treasure at a faster rate than this. Every time he works for God, he is +laying it up. The Christian's treasure is also of the right kind, and +laid up in the right place. If any of you were going to emigrate to +another country, you would be anxious to know what sort of money was +current in that country, and to get yours changed into it. The +Christian's treasure is the current coin of eternity. It is also in the +right place. Where would you like to have your treasure? Why, at home. +The Christian's treasure is at home--in his Father's house. Life is his +also, because during it he fights the battles of the Lord. Here the +preacher made an approving reference to the war against the Mexicans; +and I strongly suspect that this view of the Christian's inheritance +was dragged in for the very purpose. We fight (said he) under the eye +of the General. We fight with a certainty of victory. Death too was, in +the fourth place, a portion of the Christian's inheritance. To the +people of God curses are made blessings, and to those who are not his +people blessings are made curses. So sickness, persecution, and death +are made blessings to the saints. Death to the Christian is like an +honourable discharge to the soldier after the toil and the danger of +the field of strife. But that illustration (said he) is too feeble: I +will give you another. Imagine, on a bleak and dreary mountain, the +humble dwelling of two old people. They are bending under the weight of +years. Amidst destitution and want, they are tottering on the verge of +the grave. A messenger comes, and tells them of a relative who has +died, and left them a large inheritance,--one by which every want will +be supplied, and every desire realized,--one that will, the moment they +touch it with the soles of their feet, make them young again: he +points, moreover, to the very chariot that is to convey them thither. +Would this be bad news to those old people? Now, such is death to the +child of God. The cord is cut, and the spirit takes its flight to the +abodes of the blest. Or take another illustration. A stage-coach was +once upset. Many of the passengers were in great danger. One man +snatched a little babe from among the wheels, and laid it down in a +place of safety on the roadside. Twenty years after the same man was +travelling in a stage, on the same road, and telling those around him +about the accident which had taken place a long time before. A young +lady, sitting opposite, was listening to the narrative with eager +interest, and at last she burst out with rapture, "Is it possible that +I have at last found my deliverer? I was that little babe you rescued!" +Something like this will be the disclosures that death will make. +Having thus illustrated the inheritance of the people of God, let me +ask you (said he) who are not his people--what will all these things be +to you, if you die without Christ? The living ministry? The world? +Life? Death? Having spoken briefly, with power and pathos, on each of +these particulars, he very coolly and deliberately turned to Rev. xxii. +17, and read, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that +heareth say, Come," &c., &c., and closed abruptly, with neither an Amen +nor an invocation of any kind. + +Such was the first sermon I heard in the United States. It was +thoroughly evangelical and good; but I listened to it with mingled +feelings. It was painful to think that such a ministry could co-exist +with slavery. The creed it is evident may be evangelical, while there +is a woful neglect of the duties of practical piety. + + + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer. + + +After sermon Dr. S. gave out a hymn, and told the congregation that the +collection for the support of the "beneficiaries" of that church would +be "taken up" that morning; adding that, in consequence of this +collection not having been made at the usual time (in May last), some +of the young men who were preparing for the ministry, and dependent on +that congregation for food and clothing, were now in great want. He +also suggested that, if any present were unprepared with money, they +might put in a slip of paper, with their name, address, and the amount +of their contribution, and some one would call upon them. + +The collection was "taken up" during the singing, At the last verse the +congregation stood up. The benediction was pronounced, with +outstretched arm, by the Doctor; and the moment he uttered the "Amen!" +all rushed out of the place as fast as they could. This rushing is a +characteristic of the Americans. It is seen in their approach to the +dining-table, as well as in a hundred other instances. I suppose it is +what they call being "smart," and "going a-head." + +In the evening I went again to the same "church." The introductory part +was shorter and more simple than in the morning. The Doctor's prayer +(seven or eight minutes long) was admirable. I wished some dry, prosy +petitioners in England could have heard it. It was devout, +comprehensive, and to the point. All classes of men--but one--were +remembered in it. The slaves were not mentioned,--their freedom was not +prayed for! + +The Doctor gave us to understand that he was about to deliver the fifth +of a series of lectures to young men in great cities. The text was, +"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" the +subject, "The importance of the Sabbath to young men in great cities." + +The text (he observed) involved the principle, that man was not made to +observe certain ceremonies and obey certain precepts, but that the +observance of rites and laws was enjoined for man's own sake. This +principle applied to the institution of the Sabbath. The body, the +intellect, the affections--all required the rest which the Sabbath +affords. The experiment had been abundantly tried; and it had been +invariably found that more could be done, in every department of +labour, with the regular observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest +than without it. The farmer, the student, the legislator, had all tried +it. Man could no more do without the Sabbath than he could do without +sleep. Writers on slavery, however they differed on other points, were +all agreed on this,--that the withholding of the Sabbath from the +slaves in the West Indies, together with the other cruelties inflicted +upon them, had materially shortened their lives! (How telescopic, by +the way, are our views with regard to evils at a distance! West India +slavery never wore the hideous features which slavery presents in the +Southern States of America. Slavery even in Cuba, with all its horrors, +is far milder than in the United States.) France once presented a +fearful example of what a nation would be without a Sabbath. The +testimonies of Drs. Spurzheim and Rush were cited in confirmation; also +that of a respectable merchant in New York, well known to the preacher, +who, after the observation and experience of twenty-five years in that +city, declared that of those who kept their counting-houses open on the +Sabbath not one had escaped insolvency. A poor boy was apprenticed to +an apothecary in a large city. To increase his wages and encourage his +efforts, his master gave him a recipe and materials for making blacking +on his own account. The blacking was made, and placed in pots in the +shop window; but day after day passed, and no purchaser appeared. One +Sunday morning, while the shop was open for medicine, before the hour +of public service, a person came in, and asked for a pot of blacking. +The boy was in the very act of stretching out his hand to reach it, +when he reflected it was the Lord's-day. Falteringly, he told the +customer it was the Sabbath, and he could not do it. After this the boy +went to church. The Tempter there teased him about his folly in losing +a customer for his blacking: the boy held in reply that he had done +right, and, were the case to occur again, he would do just the same. On +Monday morning, as soon as he had taken down the shutters, a person +came in, and bought every pot of blacking there was; and the boy found +that, after deducting the cost of materials, he had cleared one dollar. +With more faith and fortitude than some of you possess (said the +preacher), he went and took that dollar--the first he had ever +earned--to the Bible Society. That poor boy is still living, and is now +a wealthy man. + +The preacher said he knew a man, in his own native State of Tennessee, +who on his arrival in America had nothing but a pocket Bible; but he +made two resolutions,--1st. That he would honour the Sabbath; 2nd. That +he would remember his mother. The first dollar he got he sent to her, +and declared that he would never forget the Sabbath and his mother. He +also was now a wealthy man. + +The punishment of Sabbath-breaking was sure, though not immediate. Like +the punishment of intemperance or impurity, it would come. Here the +celebrated testimony of Sir Matthew Hale was adduced. Dr. Johnson's +rules respecting the Sabbath were read, with the observation that no +doubt he owed much of his celebrity to their observance. Wilberforce +had declared that, at one period of his life, parliamentary duties were +so heavy that he would certainly have sunk under them, had it not been +for the rest the Sabbath afforded. But the Sabbath was not merely a day +of rest,--it was a day for improvement. Where there was no Sabbath, all +was bad. The inhabitants of Scotland and New England were distinguished +for industry and mental vigour; and they were equally distinguished for +observance of the Sabbath. The universal observance of the same day was +of great importance. It guarded against neglect. It told upon the +ungodly, as was shown by an eloquent induction of circumstances,--the +shops closed--the sound of the church-going bell--the throngs of decent +worshippers going to and fro, &c. + +Young men in great cities (it was observed) were in great danger, +chiefly from example. They met with those who were older in sin than +themselves--who prided themselves on knowing where the best oysters +were sold, the cheapest horses to be hired, or the cheapest boats to be +engaged for the Sunday's excursion. Young men were ready to think, "If +I don't do this, I may do something worse." The fallacy and danger of +this mode of reasoning were exposed. It might be employed to excuse any +sin. Public places of amusement were highways to destruction. Ah! how +those old people in that little cottage--surrounded with a stone +wall--on the hill side--far away--would weep, if they knew their son +was treading on the verge of these burning craters! Familiarity with +Sabbath-breaking destroyed the sense of guilt. The young medical +student when he first visited the dissecting-room, and the soldier when +he first stood on the field of battle, were sensible of misgivings, +against which repetition only made them proof,--each gradually losing +his first sensations. + +The desecration of the Sabbath was a greater evil to society than any +tyrant could inflict. How would any infringement of civil rights be +resisted! Here was an infringement with consequences infinitely more +injurious; and yet the press were dumb dogs, and the pulpit itself was +not guiltless! + +This masterly discourse was read, but read in such a manner as to lose +none of its effect. It occupied upwards of an hour. My irresistible +impression as I listened was, _There is a man of God!_ Truly a light +shining in a dark place; for, as I returned to my lodgings, I found the +coffee-houses, oyster-saloons, and theatres all open, just as on any +other day, only more thronged with customers. How much such discourses +are needed in this place, I leave you to judge from the following +extract from the _New Orleans Guide_:-- + +"The greatest market-day is Sunday. At break of day the gathering +commences,--youth and age--beauty and not so beautiful--all colours, +nations, and tongues are co-mingled in one heterogeneous mass of +delightful confusion. The traveller who leaves the city without +visiting one of the popular markets on Sunday morning has suffered a +rare treat to escape him." + +On the evening of the next day, being the first Monday in the month, I +went to the "Concert" for prayer, which had been announced the day +before. It was held in a vestry or a school-room under the church. +About sixty or seventy persons were in attendance. When I got there, +they were singing the last verse of + + "O'er the gloomy Mils of darkness," &c. + +A gentleman then gave an address. His object was to show that extensive +fields were open in various parts of the world for the introduction of +the Gospel. There was nothing clerical in his appearance, and he +boggled a great deal; but, as he said "We, the ministers of the +Gospel," I inferred that he was the pastor of some other Presbyterian +church in the city. Behind the desk, where sat Dr. S----, was hung up a +missionary map of the world, drawn on canvas, and illuminated from +behind. It was an excellent device. All missionary prayer-meetings +should be furnished with one. Those parts where the Gospel is already +preached were light, the realms of Heathenism dark, the lands of Popery +red, and so forth. + +After the address, the pastor called upon "Brother Franklin" to "lead +in prayer." The phrase was new to me, but I liked it,--it was +appropriate. The prayer was scriptural and good, as was that also of +another brother. The second prayed that the war, in which they were +then as a nation engaged, might be overruled for good, and "be the +means of introducing the Gospel and free institutions to a neighbouring +republic." Free institutions, indeed! (I said to myself): if you +conquer, I fear it will be the means of introducing slavery where now +it is not! After this prayer the pastor, having delivered a very short +address, gave out a hymn, and said that while they were singing Brother +such-a-one would "take up the collection,"--a phrase which seems to +indicate a greater degree of preparation on the part of the people than +our "make a collection." The Americans suppose it to be already made, +and nothing remains but to take it up. The good brother came round with +an old hat to receive contributions for the cause of missions. The +pastor then closed with a short prayer and the benediction. Upon the +whole, there were indications of a considerable degree of +warm-heartedness in reference to the missionary cause, and especially +of tender sympathy and affection towards missionaries themselves. As +one of the tribe, I found it rather difficult to preserve my _incog_. +There were present about half-a-dozen black people, some on the right +and some on the left of the pastor--"the place of honour!" + + + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction. + + +On that dreadful day, the 28th of January, on which we arrived in New +Orleans, Jack Jones, a Welshman, was drowned in the Mississippi, in a +generous effort to save another man from a watery grave. In that effort +he succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. On the 2nd of February +there was an advertisement in the papers, in which his friends offered +a reward for the recovery of the body. Where was the corporation, or +some one of the municipalities? for the papers make a continual +reference to first, second, and third municipalities. Was there no +public body, either civil or humane, to come forward on such an +occasion? Had "Jack Jones" gone to the war, and butchered a score or +two of harmless Mexicans, he would have been loaded with honours; but +he _saved_ a human being, close to the metropolis of the South, and his +body was left to perish like that of a dog--for aught the citizens +cared. I felt proud of my countryman. All honour to "Jack Jones!" May +none of Cambria's sons perish in a cause less noble! + +On the evening of the 4th of February I attended a public meeting for +the relief of the Irish. It was held in the New Commercial Exchange, +and was the first public meeting I had had an opportunity of attending +in America. The Commercial Exchange is a fine large building, supported +by pillars, and containing an area on the ground floor that would +accommodate about 1,500 people. It is but ill-adapted for a public +meeting, having no seats or benches. I found about 800 gentlemen +present, but no ladies. Nor was that to be wondered at; for out of the +800, about 799 were spitting, 600 smoking cigars, 100 chewing tobacco, +and perhaps 200 both chewing and smoking at the same time, for many of +those people chew one end of the cigar while burning the other. There +was a large platform, and a great number of gentlemen were upon it. +Governor Johnson was the president, assisted by lots of +vice-presidents. When I entered, a tall old gentleman, with rather high +cheek bones, and a voice somewhat tremulous and nasal, was speaking. He +descanted, in a second or third rate style, on the horrors of famine in +Ireland,--its horrors especially as seen in the family. Coming to a +period, he said, "It is under these circumstances that I want you to +put your hands into your pockets, and pull out something, and throw it +into the lap of starving Ireland!" This caused the most tremendous +cheering I ever heard,--"bravo--bravo--bravo,--whoo--hoo--whoo!" The +last sound was to me altogether new. Not having learned phonography, I +can give you no adequate notion of it; but it was a combination of the +owl's screech and the pig's scream. The favoured orator continued his +speech a little longer, and at the close there was a storm of applause +ten times more terrific than the former. And who was the speaker? It +was none other, as I subsequently ascertained, than the celebrated +Henry Clay! In departing from the tone of eulogy in which it is +fashionable to speak of him, I may be charged with a want of taste and +discrimination. That I cannot help. My simple object in these letters +is to tell how Transatlantic men and manners appeared to my eye or ear. +Before I went to America my respect for Henry Clay was very great. I am +sorry to say it is not so now. I have closely examined his conduct in +reference to "the peculiar institution," and find it to have been +that--not of a high-minded statesman and true philanthropist--but of a +trimming, time-serving partisan. He has been a main pillar of slavery; +and as the idol of the Whig party, a great stumbling-block in the way +of those who sought the overthrow of that system. The man of whom I +have thus freely, yet conscientiously expressed myself, is nevertheless +thus spoken of in the _New Englander_, a quarterly review of high +character now open before me:--"We intend to speak in the praise of +Henry Clay. His place among the great men of our country is permanently +fixed. He stands forth prominent above the politicians of the hour, in +the midst of the chosen few who are perpetual guardians of the interest +and of the honour [slavery?] of the nation. The foundations of his fame +are laid deep and imperishable, and the superstructure is already +erected. It only remains that the mild light of the evening of life be +shed around it." + +The cheering at the close of Mr. Clay's speech merged into an awful +tempest of barking. I could compare it to nothing else,--500 men +barking with all their might! I thought it was all up with the +meeting--that all was lost in incurable confusion; and yet the +gentlemen on the platform looked down upon the raging tempest below +with calmness and composure, as a thing of course. Amidst the noise I +saw a middle-aged gentleman, rising on the platform, deliberately take +off his top-coat, and all was hushed--except at the outskirts of the +assembly, where a great trade in talking and tobacco was constantly +carried on. This gentleman's name was S.S. Prentiss, Esq.; and the +barking, it was now evident, consisted of calling out Prentiss! +--Prentiss!--Prentiss! with all their might, on the top of the +voice, and with an accent, sharp and rising, on the first syllable. + +This gentleman gave us to understand that he was a lawyer--that he had +often appeared before his fellow-citizens on former occasions (those +occasions he briefly enumerated); but that the present was the most +painful of all. He expatiated largely, and with great vehemence of tone +and action, on the miseries of famine as experienced in +Ireland,--talked much of their own glorious and free country--("Looking +out for a few niggers this morning?" occurred to me),--and made some +severe reflections--not, I admit, altogether undeserved--on the +Government of England. This man was fluent, though turgid. He seemed +resolved to _act_ the orator throughout, and certainly to me appeared +in point of talent far--far a-head of Henry Clay. Bravos and hoohoos in +abundance greeted Mr. Prentiss. He spoke long; but the noise of the +suburbs prevented my hearing so perfectly as I wished. + +The cheering at the close of this speech merged into barking as before. +In this instance it was Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! that they called for. The +president (standing) showed them a sheet of paper, containing probably +a list of subscriptions, and smiled coaxingly to intimate that he +wished that to be read. But it would not do. Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! was +still the cry; and the democracy, as before, carried the day. + +By this time the atmosphere of the room had become so poisoned with +smoking that I could endure it no longer. I had not only the general +atmosphere to bear, but special puffs, right in my face, accompanying +the questions and remarks which, in that free meeting, of free +citizens, in a free country, were freely put to me by the free-and-easy +gentlemen around. The meeting resulted in the raising of 15,000 dollars +for the relief of the Irish. The sum was handed by the American +Minister in London to Lord John Russell; and a note from his Lordship, +acknowledging the gift, has gone the round of the papers on both sides +of the Atlantic. The subject of relief to Ireland was subsequently, in +many ways and places, brought under my notice; and while I have been +delighted in many instances with the display of pure and noble +generosity, it was too evident that much of what was done was done in a +spirit of self-glorification over a humbled and afflicted rival. It was +a fine opportunity to feed the national vanity, and to deal hard blows +to England. Not that I was sorry to see those blows, or to feel them. +They drew no blood, and were a hundred times more efficacious than if +they had. I felt that there was much in the conduct of England towards +her unhappy sister-isle for which she deserved the severest +castigation. But I must protest against the form of putting the case, +which was very common throughout the United States: "You are shocked at +our slavery; and yet you have horrors of ten times greater magnitude, +in the Irish famine at your own doors." In this way the Irish famine, +was a God-sent sort of a salvo for the slave-holder's conscience, so +soothing and grateful to his tortured feelings that he was but too +happy to pay for it by a contribution for the relief of Ireland. + +In consequence of the following advertisement in the _Picayune_, I +screwed up my feelings, and resolved for once at least in my life to +see a slave-auction. I was the more disposed to attend this, as it was +distinctly stated that they would be sold in families. I should not +therefore have to behold the wife torn away from the husband, the +husband from the wife, the parent from the child, or the child from the +parent, as is so commonly done. + +"COTTON-FIELD HANDS.--By Beard, Calhoun, and Co., auctioneers.--Will be +sold at auction, on Friday, the 5th inst., at 12 o'clock, at Bank's +Arcade, thirty-seven Field Slaves; comprising eighteen from one +plantation, and fourteen from another. All acclimated Negroes. To be +sold in Families. Full particulars at sale." + +"F. 4." + +Setting off a few minutes before 12, after about half-a-dozen +inquiries, and as many "guessing" answers, I found "Bank's Arcade." It +was very near the Presbyterian church, in which I had heard such +excellent sermons on the preceding Sabbath. It was a large open +building: one side occupied as a bar for the retail of strong drinks, +and the other fitted up for auctioneering purposes,--there being +conveniences for three or four of the trade to exercise their vocation +at the same time. One end was used for the sale of books and other +publications, chiefly novels; and the other for the exhibition of fancy +goods. + +As I got in at one end, I heard a voice--with that peculiar, twirling, +rapid, nasal twang, which marks the Transatlantic auctioneer--say, "400 +dollars for this fine young woman--only 400 dollars--420, only +420--430--440, only 440 dollars offered for this fine young woman." By +this time I had got in front of the performer, and had a full view of +the whole affair. And sure enough she was a "fine young woman," about +twenty-three years of age, neatly dressed, not quite----But the scene +shall form the subject of my next letter. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House-Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child. + + +Yes, she _was_ a "fine young woman," about 23 years of age, neatly +dressed, not black, but slightly coloured. The auctioneer was a +sleek-looking fellow, with a face that indicated frequent and familiar +intercourse with the brandy-bottle. He stood upon a platform, about +four feet high. Behind him was a table, at which a clerk sat to record +the sales. High above was a semi-circular board, on which were written +in large letters "Beard, Calhoun, and Co." In front, standing upon a +chair, exposed to the gaze of a crowd of men, stood the "fine young +woman." She had an air of dignity even in that degrading position. +Around were twenty or thirty more of the sable race, waiting their +turn. + +"440 dollars only offered," continued the coarse and heartless +auctioneer; "450, thank you; 460, 460 dollars only offered for this +excellent young woman--470 only, 470--480, 480 dollars only +offered--490--500 dollars offered--going for 500 dollars--once, going +for 500 dollars--503 dollars--going for 503 dollars--going--once +--twice--gone for 503 dollars. She is yours, sir," pointing +to the highest bidder. She stepped down, and disappeared in the custody +of her new proprietor. + +A man and his wife, both black, were now put up. They were made to +ascend the platform. "Now, how much for this man and his wife? Who +makes an offer? What say you for the pair? 550 dollars offered--560 +dollars only; 560 dollars," &c., &c., till some one bidding 600 +dollars--he added, "Really, gentlemen, it is throwing the people +away--going for 600 dollars; going--once--twice--gone for 600 dollars. +They are yours, sir." + +Jim, a blacksmith, about 30 years of age, was the next. He stood on the +chair in front. "Now, who bids for Jim? He is an excellent blacksmith; +can work on a plantation, and make his own tools; in fact, can turn his +hand to anything. The title is good,"--(Is it, indeed? breathed +I,)--"and he is guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies +provided against by law. Who bids for him? 600 dollars bid for him +--625 dollars--650 dollars," and so on to 780. "'Pon my soul, +gentlemen, this is throwing the man away; he is well worth 1,200 +dollars of anybody's money; 790 dollars only offered for him--going for +790 dollars;--going--once--twice--gone for 790 dollars." + +The next "lot" was a family, consisting of the husband, a man slightly +coloured, about 30 years of age, the wife about 25, quite black, and +reminding me forcibly of an excellent woman in my own congregation, a +little girl about 4 years of age, and a child in the arms. They were +told to mount the platform. As they obeyed, I was attracted by a little +incident, which had well nigh caused my feelings to betray me. Never +shall I forget it. Parents of England, let me tell it you, and enlist +your sympathies on behalf of oppressed and outraged humanity. It was +that of a father helping up, by the hand, _his own little girl to be +exposed for sale_. "Now, who bids for this family? Title +good--guaranteed free from the vices and maladies provided against by +law. The man is an excellent shoemaker--can turn his hand to +anything,--and his wife is a very good house-servant. Who bids for the +lot? 500 dollars bid for them--600 dollars--only 600 dollars--700 +dollars offered for them." But the price ultimately mounted up to 1,125 +dollars.--"Going for 1,125 dollars--once--twice--gone for 1,125 +dollars." + +The next was a black boy, 16 years of age. He mounted the chair, not +the platform. "Now, gentlemen, here is an excellent ploughboy. Who bids +for him? Thank you,--400 dollars bid for him--425," and so on to 550 +dollars. "Why, look at him; he is a powerful-limbed boy; he will make a +very large strong man." He was knocked down at 625 dollars. + +"The next I have to put up, gentlemen, is a young piece of city +goods--the girl Cornelia. She is 18 years of age, a good washer and +ironer, but not a very good cook. She is well known in the city, and +has always belonged to some of the best families." By this time +Cornelia was standing upon the chair. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for +this girl? She is sold for no fault, but simply for want of money. Who +bids for this excellent washer and ironer?" At this moment one of the +"gentlemen," standing in front of her, deliberately took his +walking-stick, and, with the point of it, lifted up her clothes as high +as the knee. I afterwards saw this same man walking arm-in-arm with his +white wife in the street. "500 dollars offered for her--530 dollars." +She went for 580. + +Here let me state, once for all, that I took notes on the spot. Those +around me no doubt thought I was deeply interested in the state of the +slave-market, and wishful to convey the most accurate information to my +slave-breeding and soul-driving correspondents at a distance. Had my +real object and character been discovered, I gravely doubt whether I +should have left that "great" and "free" city alive! + +The next "lot" were Jim, his wife, and two children, one about three, +and the other about two years of age,--all on the platform. They were +said to be excellent cotton-field hands, title good, and so forth; but, +somehow, there were no bidders. + +A boy about ten years of age, a fine intelligent-looking little fellow, +was now made to mount the chair. "Now, who bids for Tom? an excellent +house-boy, a 'smart' young lad; can wait well at table--title +good--guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies provided against +by law. Who bids for him?" The bidding began, at 350 dollars, and ended +at 425. + +"I have now to put up the boy Edmund, thirty-two years of age, an +excellent cotton-field hand. Who bids for the boy Edmund?" At this +moment a gentleman, who, like most of those present, appeared to be a +sort of speculator in slaves, stepped forward, and examined with his +hands the boy's legs, especially about the ankles, just as I have seen +horse-dealers do with those animals at fairs. There were, however, no +bidders; and Edmund was put down again. + +The next that mounted the chair was a shrewd-looking negro, about +thirty-five years of age. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for Tom? He is an +excellent painter and glazier, and a good cook besides; title good; +sold for no fault, except that his owner had hired him at 25 dollars a +month, and Tom would not work. An excellent painter and glazier, and a +good cook besides. His only fault is that he has a great idea of his +own reserved rights, to the neglect of those of his master." This was +said with a waggish kind of a leer, as if he thought he had said a very +smart thing in a very smart way. 300 dollars were first offered for +him; but poor Tom went for 350. "Now, sir," said the man-seller to Tom, +with a malicious look, "you'll go into the country." He was bought by +one of the speculators, who no doubt would sell him again for double +the amount. Tom, as he descended from the chair, gave a look which +seemed to say, "I care not whither I go; but my own reserved rights +shall not be forgotten!" + +A girl of seventeen years of age, somewhat coloured, was the next put +up. She was "an excellent washer and getter-up of linen." She was also +"a tolerably good cook." But there were no bidders; and the auctioneer +said, "Really, gentlemen, I have a great deal of business to do in my +office: I cannot lose any more time here, as you are not disposed to +bid." And so ended the exhibition. + +I was now at leisure to observe that a strange noise which I had heard +for some time proceeded from another auctioneer, engaged in the same +line of business at the other end of the room. As I approached, I saw +him with a young coloured man of about twenty-two years of age, +standing on his left hand on the platform. What a sight! Two men +standing together, and the one offering the other for sale to the +highest bidder! In the young man's appearance there was something very +good and interesting. He reminded me forcibly of an excellent young man +of the same colour in my own congregation. 430 dollars were offered for +him; but, as he was a good carriage driver, and worth a great deal +more, only he had not had time to dress himself for the sale, being +industrious, sober, and _no runaway_ (said with significant emphasis), +the bidding ran up to 660 dollars. Here one of the bidders on the +auctioneer's right hand asked him something aside; to which he +answered, loudly and emphatically, "_Fully guaranteed in every +respect_;" and then said to the young man, "Turn this way, and let the +gentleman see you," He was sold for 665 dollars. + +The next was a very modest-looking young mulatto girl, of small +features and slender frame, with a little child (apparently not more +than a year old) in her arms, evidently the daughter of a white man. +"Now, who bids for Margaret and her child?" Margaret! my own dear +mother's name. "Margaret and her child!" What should I have been this +day, if _that_ Margaret "and her child" Ebenezer had been so treated? +Who can think of his own mother, and not drop a tear of sympathy for +this mother--so young, so interesting, and yet so degraded? "Now, +gentlemen, who bids for Margaret and her child? She is between sixteen +and seventeen years of age, and is six months gone in pregnancy of her +second child: I mention the last circumstance, because you would not +think it to look at her,--it is right, however, that you should know. +She cooks well, sews well, washes well, and irons well. Only 545 +dollars! Really, gentlemen, it's throwing the girl away; she is well +worth 800 dollars of any man's money. She'll no doubt be the mother of +a great many children; and that is a consideration to a purchaser who +wants to raise a fine young stock. Only 545 dollars offered for her!" +No higher offer being made, she was sent down,--it was no sale. Let us +breathe again. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men. + +Finding that another slave-auction was to be held at noon next day in +the St. Louis Exchange, I resolved to attend. The day was dull and +dirty. "Please, sir," said I to the first man I met, "to tell me where +St. Louis Exchange is?" "Don't know, sir." I walked on a little +further, and tried again. "Please to direct me to St. Louis Exchange?" +"Can't; but it's somewhere in that direction," pointing with his +finger. "Is this the way to St. Louis Exchange?" I asked a third. "I +guess it is," was the curt and characteristic reply. "How far is it?" +"Three blocks further on; then turn to your right; go a little way +down, and you will find it on your left." I went as directed, and came +to an immense building--a kind of hotel. There were nearly a dozen +entrances, all leading into one vast saloon, where I found about 200 +gentlemen,--some drinking, some eating, some smoking, some reading, +some talking, and all spitting. One end of the saloon was fitted up as +a refreshment place, similar to those on railway stations in England. +But I could see nothing like preparations for a sale. + +On looking around I perceived a large door in two halves, with spring +hinges, leading as it were further into the building. I pushed one half +open, and found myself in a spacious circular hall,--its roof, ending +in a dome, supported by a suitable number of massive columns. The floor +was tastefully paved with black and white marble, and all the light +came from the dome. Some 100 gentlemen were sauntering about, and now +and then turning to several groupes of black people to ask them +questions. This place was evidently fitted up for auctioneering +purposes, and seemed peculiarly adapted for man-selling. At equal +distances were a dozen elevated desks for the chief actors, each with a +small platform in front for the exhibition of the articles of sale. + +It was a quarter to twelve, by the clock that faced the entrance door, +when I got in. Anxious to know what kind of questions were put to the +slaves, I pushed myself into the knots of intending purchasers, just as +if I had been one of them. The inquiries, I found, related to place of +birth, subsequent removals, competency for work, and so forth. The +answers presented a fearful view of the extent to which the internal +slave-trade is carried on. Most of the slaves said they had been +"raised" in Virginia and Kentucky. To avoid the suspicion of being a +spy, I resolved to put a few questions too. I found myself at the +establishment where those named in the advertisement which had drawn me +thither were to be disposed of. A pile of handbills--each containing an +exact copy of the advertisement, and a French translation--was lying on +the platform. Taking one up, I observed the name of "Squires, a +carpenter." Assuming all the confidence I could muster, I said, "Which +is Squires?" "I'm here, sir." "You are a carpenter, are you not?" "Yes, +sir," (with a very polite bow). "And what can you do?" "I can trim a +house, sir, from top to bottom." "Can you make a panelled door?" "Yes, +Sir." "Sash windows?" "Yes, sir." "A staircase?" "Yes, sir." I gave a +wise and dignified nod, and passed on to another groupe. In my +progress, I found by one of the platforms a middle-aged black woman, +and a mulatto girl of perhaps eighteen crouching by her side. "Are you +related to each other?" I said. "No, sir." "Have you lived long in the +city?" I said to the younger. "About two years, sir; but I was 'raised' +in South Carolina." "And why does your owner sell you?" "Because I +cannot cut--she wants a cutter--I can only sew." I then returned to the +groupe at platform No. 1. + +The clock was striking twelve; and, before it had finished, the vast +dome reverberated with the noise of half-a-dozen man-sellers bawling at +once, disposing of God's images to the highest bidders. It was a +terrible din. But, at our platform, business proceeded rather +leisurely. Two gentlemen ascended the desk: the one of a light +complexion, about fifty-five years of age, rather fat, whiskers and +beard smoothly shaven off; the other, a Frenchified-looking young man, +about twenty-five years of age, of dark complexion, with green +spectacles to hide some deformity of the eye, no whiskers, but a large +quantity of beard on the lower chin. The elderly man, whom I took to be +the notary public mentioned in the advertisement, read the terms of +sale; then the dark auctioneer, stroking his bearded chin, proceeded to +business. + +"Now, gentlemen, let me sell you Jacob. He is twenty-six years of +age--a first-rate carpenter and wheelwright--_Jacob âgé d'environ 26 +ans, charpentier et charron de la premičre ordre_--guaranteed free from +the vices and maladies provided against by law--_garanti exempt des +vices et des maladies prévus par la loi_. How much for Jacob? _Combien +pour Jacob?_" He was run up from 1,000 dollars, and was going for +1,175, when the fat old gentleman offered 1,200, at which he was +knocked down. "Now, gentlemen," said the fat man, with deliberation and +emphasis, "the 1,200 dollars was my bid, and therefore Jacob is not +sold. He is well worth 1,800 dollars." + +At this performance, be it observed, the chief actor uttered everything +first in English, and then in French, in the same breath, thereby +giving the proceedings a most strange and comical sound. + +Abraham, although on the advertisement, was not present. + +Sancho, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next in order. +He was described as "an excellent carpenter--_excellent +charpentier_--can do anything but fine work--fully guaranteed free from +the maladies and vices provided against by law;" and, as nobody would +bid higher, he also was bought in by the fat man at 1,025 dollars. + +George, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next to mount +the platform. George kept his eyes fixed upon the dome, as if he felt +above looking down on the grovelling creatures beneath him. He was a +stout-built, thick-set man, who evidently felt to the very core the +degradation to which he was exposed. "Now, gentlemen, let me sell you +George--a first-rate bricklayer--_excellent poseur de briques_--bears +an excellent character--only he absconded once from his master for a +few days. How much do you offer for him?" The bidding began at 500 +dollars; but George, like his predecessors, was bought in at 980 by the +fat man, who protested him to be well worth 1,500. + +Squires--whom I questioned about doors, sash-windows, and +staircases--was next put up. He was said to be twenty-eight years of +age; but I think he was nearer forty. On his forehead was a deep scar, +occasioned by some severe cut. He appeared to be a very good-tempered +man, and by his smiling looks seemed to say, "Buy me, and I'll serve +you well." "What will you offer for Squires, gentlemen?--an excellent +carpenter--can trim a house--all but the very fine work--bears an +excellent character--is fully guaranteed," &c. &c. "Who bids for +Squires?" Poor fellow! he was sold for 900 dollars. + +Sancho was put up again, the fat man observing that he had made a +mistake in offering a reserve bid for him--that he would be sold +without reserve. He was put up at 600 dollars. The biddings gradually +ascended to 900, and there stood, till, after a considerable +expenditure of the Frenchman's breath and talent, Sancho was knocked +down at 900 dollars, though when first put up 1,025 had been offered +for him. + +John, a black man, twenty-five years of age, "an excellent French and +American cook--_excellent cuisinier Français et Américain_," was put up +at 600 dollars, and, after the usual quantity of the Frenchman's +eloquence, (accompanied, as in all other cases, by the constant rubbing +of his tuft of chin-beard with the left hand, while in the right he +flourished a fine massive gold pencil-case and a sheet of paper,) +fetched 775 dollars, at which price he was knocked down to one Robert +Murphy. + +Silas also, a black boy, fifteen years of age, a house-servant, with a +large scar on the right cheek, was sold for 670 dollars to Robert +Murphy; who likewise became the purchaser of Scipio, a black man about +twenty-four years of age, "an excellent cook, fully warranted in every +respect," for 705 dollars. + +"Now, gentlemen," resumed the green-spectacled auctioneer, still +stroking his cherished tuft of long black beard,--"now, gentlemen, let +me sell you Samson! He is twenty-six years of age--an excellent +house-servant--guaranteed free," &c. &c. "What do you offer for +Samson?" Poor Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines at 710 +dollars. + +Sam, the next on the list, was not present. Ben was therefore put up. +He was a fine buckish young fellow, about twenty-one. His complexion +was lighter than that of a mulatto, and his hair was not at all +crisped, but straight, and of a jet black. He was dressed in a good +cloth surtout coat, and looked altogether far more respectable and +intelligent than most of the bidders. He was evidently a high-minded +young man, who felt deeply the insulting position he was made to +occupy. Oh! that I could have whispered in his ear a few words of +sympathy and comfort. He stood on the platform firm and erect, his eyes +apparently fixed on the clock opposite. "Now, gentlemen, what do you +offer for Ben?" said the Frenchified salesman; "a first-rate +tailor--only twenty-one years of age." 700 dollars proved to be the +estimated value of this "excellent tailor." + +Charles (not in the catalogue) was now offered. He was a black man, of +great muscular power, said to be twenty-eight years of age. He had, it +was admitted, absconded once from his master! At this intelligence the +countenances of the bidders fell. He had evidently gone down at least +20 per cent. in value. Though offered at 300 dollars, however, he rose +to 640, at which price he was sold. + +The "ladies" were yet to be exhibited. "Elizabeth" (my own dear +sister's name) was the first. But I reserve this part of the scene for +another letter. + + + + +LETTER IX. + + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath-School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion." + + +You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. "Elizabeth" +was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very +genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the +daughter of a white man, and said to be "a good seamstress and +house-servant--_excellente couturičre et domestique de maison_." 600 +dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about +170_l._) Elizabeth--so young and so interesting--was sold! + +"Susan," too, was a mulatto--the daughter of a white man. She was +short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, "a plain +seamstress and house-servant." She appeared exceedingly modest, and +kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as +usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring +forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was +500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150_l._), at which she was +"knocked down." But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar +drawling nasal tones, said, "The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore +Susan is not sold." Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy. + +"Betsy," another "plain seamstress and house-servant," about sixteen +years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent +eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The +offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition, +which had lasted an hour. + +The next day being the Sabbath, I took it into my head to find out the +Baptist Church. They are all "churches" in America. It was not far from +the Presbyterian place of worship. In passing the latter, I saw (as on +the previous Sabbath) about forty or fifty boys in the square in front +playing at cricket. A number of grave-looking gentlemen were standing +under the portico of the church, looking on with apparent +complacency,--not one attempting either to check these juvenile +Sabbath-breakers, or to allure them to occupations more suitable to the +day. + +The Baptist Church is a small place, about 60 feet by 30, without +galleries, except a little one for the singers. When we arrived, a +small Sabbath-school was being conducted in the body of the chapel. +About fifty children were present, of whom not one was coloured. One of +the teachers kindly led us to a pew. It was the third or fourth from +the door. The school, which occupied the part next to the pulpit, was +about to be dismissed. The superintendent got into the "table-pew" to +address the scholars. It was the first time I had had an opportunity of +hearing an address to children in America. In the land of the Todds, +the Abbotts, and the Gallaudets, I expected something very lively and +interesting. But grievous was my disappointment. The address was dull +and lifeless. There was in it neither light nor heat. When the +superintendent had done, an elderly gentleman, shrewd and busy-looking, +having in his hand a black walking-stick and on his neck a black stock, +with shirt-collar turned over it like a white binding (the national +fashion of the Americans), came up, and told the school that the +proprietor of the splendid picture, "The Departure of the Israelites +from Egypt," had requested him to deliver a lecture upon it; that he +had engaged to do so on Monday a-week; and that the scholars and +teachers of that school would be admitted free. I should like (said I +to myself) to hear you: a lecture on the emancipation of those poor +slaves cannot fail to be interesting in the slave-holding city of New +Orleans. The school was now dismissed, and the scholars left to enjoy +their full swing of lawless liberty. + +The elderly gentleman descended from his elevation, and walked about +the "church," backwards and forwards, whispering a few words to one, +and then to another, in a very bustling manner. As I looked down the +aisle, I saw on one side of it, near the pulpit end, a leg projecting +about eighteen inches, in a pendent position, at an angle of about +forty-five degrees. This leg attracted my notice by its strange and +solitary appearance. It seemed as if it had got astray from its owner. +In America gentlemen's legs do get sometimes most strangely astray,--on +the chair arms, on the tables, on the chimney-pieces, and into all +sorts of out-of-the-way places. While other people generally try how +high they can carry their heads, the ambition of the Americans is to +try how high they can carry their heels! Observing the leg in question +a little more attentively, I found that behind it (in the adjoining +pew), and in close and intimate connection with it, was a man dressed +in black. The bustling old gentleman came by, tapped him on the +shoulder, and beckoned him forward, along with himself, to the rostrum. +Here they were met by a tall man of grave appearance, about thirty +years of age, with a pale face and bald forehead, wearing a white +cravat, with corners about ten inches long, stretching out on either +side towards the shoulders. He was made to take the central position at +the desk; while the man with the leg took the right, and the elderly +gentleman the left. + +The elderly gentleman (who, from his I'm-at-home kind of air, was +evidently the pastor) offered up a short prayer, and then gave out a +hymn, which some few friends in the gallery (standing up) sang; all the +rest of the congregation sitting down, and very few joining at all in +the psalmody. This exercise over, the central gentleman arose, and, +having first read a few verses of Scripture, offered up a very suitable +prayer about eight or ten minutes long. The man on the right then gave +out another hymn, which was sung as before. + +The central gentleman now, in a very low don't- +care-whether-you-hear-or-not tone of voice, gave out a text. It was +John iii. 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." +I will give you a sketch of his sermon. He observed that of all +subjects on which men might be addressed, religious subjects were the +most important; and that of all religious subjects, that to which the +text referred was the most momentous. Having noticed the context, he +proposed to inquire, first, into the necessity of being born again. +This change (he observed) was necessary, in order to enjoy heaven. It +was a common observation, that "society seeks its level." The Indian, +for example, could not be happy amidst the refinements of civilization. +The gambler and the swearer could not be happy in the society of the +pious and devout. If so in this world, amidst imperfect holiness, how +much more so in the pure society of the celestial state! + +During these remarks, I was much annoyed by the cracking of nuts not +very far off. I looked around, and actually found it was a mother +cracking them for her two boys, one of whom might be seven and the +other five years of age,--one by her side, and the other in the next +pew behind. To the latter she deliberately handed over the kernels in a +pocket-handkerchief; and yet, to look at her, you would have thought +her a woman of sense and piety! + +The preacher noticed, in the second place, the nature of this change. +It was spiritual, not physical,--a "revolution" (!) of the mind, +rather than a mere change of opinion or of outward deportment. The +third observation related to the evidence of the change. Its existence +might be ascertained by our own experience, and by the Word of God. The +former was not to be trusted without a reference to the latter. This +change destroyed the love of the world. It led man to abandon his +favourite sins, and to live and labour to do good. It also created in +him new desires and enjoyments. These topics were variously and +suitably illustrated, and the whole was a very good sermon on the +subject. + +At the close the man on the right offered an appropriate prayer. The +pastor then made several announcements; among them, that a meeting to +pray for the success of Sabbath-schools would be held on the morrow +evening. In connection with that announcement, he said: "I am a very +plain man, and my God is a very plain God. He is so in all his dealings +with men. He always acts on the plain common-sense principle, that, if +a favour is worth bestowing, it is worth asking for." He also intimated +that there would be a Church-meeting immediately after the service, +preparatory to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon, +inviting at the same time any members of other Baptist Churches who +might be present to participate with them in that privilege. This form +of invitation led me to understand that they were "close +communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only +with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The +influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that +side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy +pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed +slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a +sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe, +however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large +congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of +Christian fellowship with slave-holders. + + + + +LETTER X. + + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners. + + +The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British +Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the +whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and +I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They +were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very +clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico, +looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She +evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced +myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the +ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind +and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea. +We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our +negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed; +and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as +you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to +be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how +extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery! +"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have +nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and +try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example +of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not +aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow. He simply told +masters and slaves their duty, without at all interfering with the +relation subsisting between them. Besides, the opposite of this course +would render us and our churches unpopular, and thereby destroy our +usefulness." He also seemed very sore at the idea of the Christianity +of slave-holders being at all called in question. "People," said he, or +words to the same effect, "may spare themselves the trouble to pass +resolutions of non-fellowship with us; we wish for no fellowship with +those who are so uncharitable as to question our piety." I began now to +understand why the Abolitionists call the American churches "the +bulwark of slavery." + +Subsequently, on the same day, I had conversation with a young man, +whom I had that afternoon seen sitting down at the Lord's Table in the +Baptist Church. He told me that there were in New Orleans two Baptist +Churches of coloured people, presided over by faithful and devoted +pastors of their own colour. "And does your pastor," I inquired, +"recognise them, and have fellowship with them?" "Oh! yes, he has often +preached to them. He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the +conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy +your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say +they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be +tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and +in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand +them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn." +This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence +in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly +right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his +rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the +soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire +population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is +the most damning! + +"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your +churches, they have to sit by themselves?" + +_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise." + +_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so. With us, in British +Guiana, blacks and whites mingle together indiscriminately in the +worship of our common Father." + +_Young Man._ (with amazement).--"There must be a a great change here +before it comes to that. It must appear very strange." + +_Myself._--"Very much like heaven where they shall come together from +the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, &c. Why, +we have black deacons, who, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, +carry the bread and wine, and give them even to white people." + +_Young Man._ (with more astonishment than ever, and in a tone of +offended dignity).--"I don't think I could stand that--I don't! A great +change must take place in my feelings before I could. I don't like to +mingle Ham and Japhet together for my part--I don't!" + +_Myself._--"Why, they were mingled together in the ark." + +_Young Man._--"Yes; but old Noah quarrelled with Ham soon after he came +out, and cursed him." + +_Myself._--"Granted; but you and your pastor profess to be anxious for +the slaves' conversion to God, and thereby to roll away the curse." +Here the dialogue ended. + +In the evening I was desirous of hearing Dr. Hawkes, an Episcopalian +minister, of whose talents and popularity I had heard much in New +Orleans; but, finding that he did not preach in the evening, I went +again to hear Dr. Scott at the Presbyterian Church. Having stood a +considerable time at the door inside, and receiving no encouragement to +advance, I ventured, along with my wife, to enter the pew next to the +door. This proved a most unfortunate position. There was not light +enough to take any notes; while the incessant opening and shutting of +the door, with its rusty hinges, made it extremely difficult to hear. +The discourse, however, which was again addressed to young men in great +cities, was characterized by all the power and piety which +distinguished the one of the previous Sabbath. I retired deeply +impressed with the value of such a ministry in such a place. Dr. Scott +was one of the American delegates to the Conference for the formation +of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. He is a Southern man, born and +bred amidst the wilds of Tennessee, whose early educational advantages +were very small. He is, in a great measure, a self-made man. Brought up +in the midst of slavery, he is (I rejoice to hear) a cordial hater of +the system. As a minister, he is "thoroughly furnished--a workman that +needeth not to be ashamed." His knowledge of the world, as well as of +the Word of God and of the human heart, is extensive, and is turned to +the best account in his ministrations. In leaving New Orleans I felt no +regret, but that I had not called upon this good man. + +On Monday morning, the 8th of February, I had a peep at the House of +Representatives of the State of Louisiana, then in session at New +Orleans. The room, a dark and dingy-looking place, was fitted up with +desks and seats in the form of the letter D. A desk and a spittoon were +allowed to each honourable member,--the latter article being deemed as +necessary as the former. Whether smoking was suffered during the hours +of business or not I cannot tell, but the room smelt horribly of stale +tobacco. Between fifty and sixty members were present, and never +certainly, either in the Old World or in the New, did I see an +assemblage of worse-looking men. They seemed fitted for any deeds of +robbery, blood, and death. Several distinguished duellists were pointed +out to me; among them Colonel Crane, an old man, who had repeatedly +fought with Mr. Bowie, the inventor of the "Bowie knife," and had +killed several men in personal combat! The motion before the house just +at that time was for the release from prison of a Mr. Simms, who a few +days before had violently assaulted one of the members in the lobby. He +was released accordingly. Who will not pity the 200,000 slaves of this +State, who are at the "tender mercies" of these sanguinary men? Nor let +it be said, as it often is, that New Orleans and Louisiana are not a +fair specimen of things even in the South,--that they are more French +than American, &c. This is not the case. Nothing in New Orleans struck +me more forcibly than its thoroughly American character. American +usages, American influence, American laws, and American religion are +there predominant. Things were much better for the black and coloured +people when it was not so. The French treated their slaves incomparably +kinder than the Americans do. They often married coloured women, and +invariably treated their own coloured offspring, whether legitimate or +illegitimate, with tenderness and regard. They had them suitably +educated and adequately provided for; so that, at the present moment, a +large portion of the city of New Orleans is the freehold property of +coloured persons. Not so act the Americans. They indulge in the +grossest licentiousness with coloured women, but would shudder at the +idea of marrying one of them; and, instead of giving any property to +their coloured offspring, they do not scruple to sell them as slaves! +Had I gone to the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city, which is +attended chiefly by the French and their descendants, I should have +found no negro pew, but persons of all colours intermingled together in +religious observances. The Southerners seem to have no heart--no +feeling, except that of love to the almighty dollar. + +The population of New Orleans is about 90,000. On this mass of people +are brought to bear the labours of at least thirteen ministers of the +Methodist Episcopal Church, seven Presbyterians, four Episcopalians, +and three Baptists,--all professedly evangelical;--besides a +considerable number of Roman Catholics, and other non-evangelical +teachers. But Satan has there a large array of synagogues. + +I omitted, at the proper time, to describe the scene we witnessed at +our "private" lodgings the first day we sat down to dinner. Though it +was called a "private" boarding-house, and we had taken the apartments +as such, we found ourselves surrounded by about thirty boarders! These +were all respectable men, or rather men whom, from their position in +society, you would expect to be respectable. Doctors, lieutenants in +the army, captains, merchants, editors, clerks of the senate, and so +forth, were among them. My wife was the only lady besides the mistress +of the house. + +We were all waiting in an ante-room for the summons to dinner. It came. +The door of the dining-room was thrown open; and before you could have +said "Jack Robinson," the whole had rushed through, were seated at +table, and sending forth a forest of forks in the direction of the +various dishes! I had often heard of this wolfish habit, but thought +our cousins were caricatured. Here, however, was the reality. Had I not +been an eye-witness, I could not have believed it. Not a single seat +had been kept vacant for the only lady who had to be accommodated, and +we were both left to console ourselves in the ante-room! The landlady, +however, having "an eye to business," arranged for our accommodation at +the table. There had been on the table a turkey, a piece of beef, some +fish, and pastry,--all ready carved. Most of these things had instantly +disappeared,--the knives and forks had borne them away in triumph. +There was no waiting to be served: every one stuck his fork in what he +liked best, or what was most within his reach. It was a regular +scramble. The principle seemed to be to _begin_ to eat as soon as +possible, no matter what! Some began with nothing but potatoes, some +with a bit of bread, some with a piece of beef, some with a limb of the +turkey. Some, I noticed, beginning with fowl, then taking roast beef, +then boiled mutton, then fish, and then some pastry,--all on the same +plate, and--faugh!--portions of most of them there at the same time! No +change of plate,--that would have been extravagant, and would have +savoured of aristocracy. Freedom, it seemed, allowed every one to help +himself; and that with his own knife and fork, which he had before used +for all sorts of purposes. Such luxuries as salt-spoons and +mustard-spoons are very rare south of the Ohio. My wife asked the lady +of the house for a small slice of the ham she had before her, when the +latter very politely begged Mrs. Davies to lend her her knife to cut it +with! This was good society in New Orleans. Things improved as we +advanced towards the North; but in most places, though the Americans +provide bountifully, the cooking is not good, and they make a strange +jumble of things at table. They have the appearance of a people +suddenly raised in the world, and able to afford themselves nice +things, but very ignorant and awkward in the use of them. With so much +hurry to begin, the time occupied in eating by our company was very +short. We Britishers had scarcely begun, when one and another got up +from table, finishing his dinner as he walked away. They cannot bear to +sit at table a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. While we +remained seated, they passed before us on their way out,--one eating, +one picking his teeth, one scraping his throat, one spitting on the +floor. Of course, we seldom made a hearty meal under such +circumstances. + + + + +LETTER XI. + + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi--Steam +boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the "Crescent City"--Slave +Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The +Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A Reverend Slave-holder. + + +Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February, +we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a +charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be +imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our +"smart" landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty +wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie +knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for +sale on every side,--a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand. + +Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good +authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of +slaves from the "slave-breeding" States, having on board a considerable +number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a +volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico. +The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700 +dollars, or 150_l._ sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this +_great_ and _free_ country had, however, consigned these helpless young +women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier +home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the +country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the +excellent author of "Lectures to Children," thus writes,--"This land is +free. The mind is here free,--and the child is to be born--if indeed he +ever will be born--whose powers and faculties may not be called out and +cultivated. There is no bondage to forms or precedents; but the whole +mass may be seasoned, leavened, and moved, and is at liberty to do what +is great and good in the way that is most convenient." + +Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the +"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in +Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of +1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we +should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were, +however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the +occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished +table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there +was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars +really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it +was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper +than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food, +lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace +above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The +dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel +182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of +cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2 +inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a +fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but +often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance +vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged +chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors, +had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by +marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen +into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid +explosion. + +The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down +the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in +the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of +a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place +is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy. +Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly +studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest +class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as +_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink. + +In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more +highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere +else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more +complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam, +thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_, +and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three +months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now +ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five +years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them. +The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had +separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend +the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical +juxtaposition. + +On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off +that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till +morning. + +February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers +of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels +were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be +afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of +this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." +This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in +England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value +and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something +worse? + +At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The +"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we +had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An +area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats, +keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down +from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats, +rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal +streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and +sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of +masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as +they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing +splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it! + +Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of +this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the +following paragraph! + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the +tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th +instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William +Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly +killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly +scalded." + +These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh +boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was +very small. + +The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same +paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout +the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first! + +"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years +old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and +English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a +strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is +for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for +sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For +particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street. + +"F 9--t." + + +"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good +Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior +Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on +trial at their respective trades. + +"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO., + +"8, Bank's Arcade." + +"F 3--10t." + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20 +years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable +seamstress. Apply to + +"McMAHON & PEARSALL, + +"29, Natchez-street." + +"F4--6t." + +"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday +morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40 +_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting +_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams, +Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street. + +"WILLIAM ARNOLD." + +"F7--3t." + + +"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on +the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16 +years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when +she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and +stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away +by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the +city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to +receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the +apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or +free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a +conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New +Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing. + +"RICHARD KING." + +"F 7--2t." + +"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the +Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built; +has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her +person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish. + +"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO, + +"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets." + +"F2--6t." + +Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at +the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we +passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the +capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation, +to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks +there are built, I am told, in a very fine style. + +February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer +was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate +to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of +the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar +and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going +ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings +as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in +observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior; +but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and +too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the +purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of +them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received +very sensible and even _polite_ answers. + +By this time we had received an impression of the character of our +fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy +beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be +very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No +lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting +on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the +water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as +Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not +help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this +was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers, +who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers," +and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin +passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers +below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much +resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with +me, I had the _entrée_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of +quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of +these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from +Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat, +came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought +there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home +again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all +the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her +husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and +was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The +third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans +for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her +brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New +England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she +thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American +society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like +aristocracy, except towards the coloured people! + +I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New +England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South +on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother +minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever +the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his +reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of +large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him. + +These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running +away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion +assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically +complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship! + + + + +LETTER XII. + + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch-Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi. + + +On the 10th of February we passed a great many sugar estates on both +sides of the river, which would be agreeable objects but for the curse +of slavery. For who can look with pleasure upon the foul abodes of +lust, oppression, and cruelty? At the outer gate, in front of one of +these "patriarchal" establishments, was a small octagonal building +about 6 or 8 feet in mean diameter. The basement was of brick, pierced +by small air holes, barred with iron, at the height of about 8 feet +from the ground; and the upper part was of wood, terminating in a +pigeon-house. Making a short stay there to take in fire-wood, we +inquired into the use of the building; but all the answer we could get +was, that it was a "pigeon-house." The Baptist minister from Maine +asked a negro, who was helping to bring wood on board; and from him he +learned the real truth,--that it was a place of punishment and torture +for the oppressed slave. We have since ascertained that such buildings +are very common, and generally pass under the euphemistic name of +"pigeon-houses." + +On the 11th of February--a fine frosty day--we came to Red River, +branching on our left in the direction of Texas, with which country it +forms an important means of communication. This river, even where it +pours its waters into the Mississippi, is not more than from 300 to 500 +feet wide, and yet is navigable by steamers for about 1,200 miles. My +Baptist friend had recently been on a visit to Elder Wright, a planter +and a slave-holder on that river. This Wright was a New-England man, +had graduated at Yale College, and boasted that he was "a Northern man +with Southern feelings." He was called Elder Wright because he was a +preacher,--the Baptists here calling all preachers "elders." Now, this +Elder Wright told my friend that a few years ago there was great fear +in his district of the slaves rising up against their masters. To this +they were supposed to be instigated by the presence and influence of +some strangers. Under this apprehension, a secret committee was formed +to seize and try every suspected stranger, and, if he could not clear +himself to their satisfaction, to "hang him up quietly." Of this secret +and murderous committee Elder Wright--an _alumnus_ of Yale College, a +professor of religion, and a preacher of the gospel--was chosen +chairman; and the statement I have just made came in the way described +from his own lips! It is notorious that in the South they think nothing +of taking away a man's life, if he be even suspected of sympathy with +the slave; and a country so thinly inhabited affords abundant +opportunities of doing it as "quietly" as can be desired. America is +indeed a land of "liberty!" + +At night we came to Natchez, a town beautifully situated on the top of +a hill, about 300 feet above the level of the river, and for this +reason called "Natchez-on-the-Hill." Its population is about 5,000; and +it is the largest town in the State of Mississippi. Its distance from +New Orleans is 300 miles. Darkness had set in when we approached it; +yet the numerous lights on shore, rising row above row to a great +elevation, gave it a lively and interesting appearance. But, alas! +Natchez also is a great slave market; and I can never think of it +without remembering the sufferings of poor Mary Brown. Let me narrate +her painful story. It may waken in some breast a feeling of sympathy +for the American slave. + +Mary Brown, a coloured girl, was the daughter of _free_ parents in +Washington city--the capital of the freest nation under heaven! She +lived with her parents till the death of her mother. One day, when she +was near the Potomac Bridge, the sheriff overtook her, and told her +that she must go with him. She inquired what for? He made no reply, but +told her to come along, and took her immediately to a slave-auction. +Mary told him she was free; but he contradicted her, and the sale +proceeded. The auctioneer soon sold her for 350 dollars to a +Mississippi trader. She was first taken to jail; and after a few hours +was handcuffed, chained to a _man-slave_, and started in a drove of +about forty for New Orleans. Her handcuffs made her wrists swell so +much that at night they were obliged to take them off, and put fetters +round her ankles. In the morning the handcuffs were again put on. Thus +they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, whipped up all day, and +beaten at night if they had not performed the prescribed distance. She +frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up to her waist. The +month was October, and the air cold and frosty. After she had travelled +thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles had become so swollen +that she felt as if she could go no further. They had no beds, usually +sleeping in barns, sometimes out on the naked ground; and such were her +misery and pain that she could only lie and cry all night. Still she +was driven on for another week; and every time the trader caught her +crying he beat her, uttering fearful curses. If he caught her praying, +he said, he would "give her _hell_." Mary was a member of the Methodist +Church in Washington. There were several pious people in the company; +and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to +pray, he had a fiddle brought, and made them dance in their chains, +whipping them till they complied. Mary at length became so weak that +she really could travel on foot no further. Her feeble frame was +exhausted, and sank beneath accumulated sufferings. She was seized with +a burning fever; and the diabolical trader--not moved with pity, but +only fearing he should lose her--placed her for the remainder of the +way in a waggon. Arriving at Natchez, they were all offered for sale. +Mary, being still sick, begged she might be sold to a kind master. +Sometimes she made this request in the hearing of purchasers, but was +always insulted for it, and afterwards punished by her cruel master for +her presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by the hands so that +she could barely touch the floor with her toes. He kept her thus +suspended a whole day, whipping her at intervals. In any other country +this inhuman beast would have been tried for the greatest crime, short +of murder, that man can commit against woman, and transported for life. +Poor Mary Brown was at length sold, at 450 dollars, as a house-servant +to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, who compelled her to cohabit with him, +and had children by her,--most probably filling up the measure of his +iniquity by selling his own flesh. Wrongs like these must have inspired +our poet when he exclaimed,-- + +"To think that man--them just and gentle God--Should stand before +Thee with a tyrant's rod O'er creatures like himself, with souls from +Thee, Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty! Away! away! I 'd rather +hold my neck In doubtful tenure from a sultan's beck, In climes where +Liberty has scarce been named, Nor any right but that of ruling +claimed, Than thus to live where bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag +in mockery over slaves!" + +As we advanced, we continually met with flat boats, laden with produce, +and floating sluggishly down. In the vernacular phrase, these boats are +called "Kentucky flats," or "broad-horns." They are curiously +constructed. At a distance, they appear like large chests or trunks +afloat. They are from 50 to 100 feet long, and generally about 15 or 20 +feet wide. The timbers of the bottom are massive beams. The sides are +boarded up square to the height of 6 feet above the water; the roof +being slightly curved, like a trunk lid, to throw off rain. They are +adapted to carry from 200 to 400 barrels. Great numbers of cattle, +hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. Coals, too, are thus +brought down from the upper parts of the valley. Some of these barges +have apartments fitted up for the accommodation of a family, with a +stove, beds, tables, &c. You may sometimes see in them ladies, +servants, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and poultry,--all floating on the +same bottom. It was precisely in this fashion that the Pennsylvanian +farmer and his wife had reached New Orleans. Indeed, most of our +fellow-passengers had come as captains or crews of flat boats. Of +course, no attempt is made to get these unwieldy boats back against the +current. It would be impracticable. The flat boat makes but one trip +during its individual existence. Arrived at New Orleans, it is sold for +"lumber," and taken to pieces. In short, by this arrangement timber and +produce are brought to market at the same time, the "stuff" of which +the float is composed being but little injured. One cannot look at +these temporary structures without being impressed with the vast +importance of those water-powers which the Americans, with a wonderful +tact, bring to bear in the way of saw-mills on the exhaustless +resources of the forest. The very first thing looked for in settling a +new district is water-power. + +These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not +reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never +without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands. +Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and +dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they +often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers +in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they +run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew +and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and +produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and +dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a +flat boat, do not appear to the passer-by. As you cut along by the +power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or +care. One of the hands scrapes a violin, while the others dance. +Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or +proffers of love to the girls on shore, or saucy messages pass between +them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet, +knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of +them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr. +Watts:-- + +"Your streams were floating me along + Down to the gulf of black despair; +And, whilst I listened to your song, + Your streams had e'en conveyed me there." + +These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently, +at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards +evening a large number of them assembled. They have come from regions +thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will +probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a +surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as +invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard. +The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine +scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a +hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat +to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in +miniature. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience. + + +We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black +River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary +"bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_ +to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution, +for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable +citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of +this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the +real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the +"_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife! + +The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely +narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles. + +Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from +"racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats +on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are +trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the +river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from +30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity +of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12 +feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water +that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they +are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the +stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and +thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed, +immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large +hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and +all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often +so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and +over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a +case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has +cleared off. + +May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and +circumstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call +to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by +all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the +snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance. + +On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber, +waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or +not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you +belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt +and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is +free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New +Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars. +He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every +slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man +should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling +in order to "own himself!" Land of liberty, forsooth! + +In the evening we reached Vicksburg. This place, like nearly all other +places in this region, is deeply stained with deeds of violence and +blood. A few years ago, a set of thieves and gamblers were here put to +death by Lynch law. "Gentlemen of property and standing laughed the law +(the constitutional law) to scorn, rushed to the gamblers' house, put +ropes round their necks, dragged them through the streets, hanged them +in the public square, and thus saved the sum they had not yet paid. +Thousands witnessed this wholesale murder; yet of the scores of legal +officers present, not a soul raised a finger to prevent it: the whole +city consented to it, and thus aided and abetted it. How many hundreds +of them helped to commit the murders with their own hands does not +appear; but not one of them has been indicted for it, and no one made +the least effort to bring them to trial. Thus, up to the present hour, +the blood of those murdered men rests on that whole city; and it will +continue to be a CITY OF MURDERERS so long as its citizens agree +together to shield those felons from punishment." + +Darkness had covered the city of blood when we arrived, and therefore +we could not see it. One of the passengers, in stepping on a plank to +go ashore, fell into the water. It was a frightful sight to see the +dark figure of a fellow-man splattering and holloing in so perilous a +position. Seldom can a person be saved who falls into the Mississippi, +so rapid is the current; and, moreover, the banks are so steep that, +though he be a good swimmer, he cannot get up. The knowledge of these +facts generally destroys in the person who falls in all hope and +self-command. Fortunately, however, in the present instance a rope was +instantly thrown out, and the individual was saved. He assured us, +afterwards, that some one had designedly pushed him from the plank into +the water. + +On the 13th of February we breasted a small settlement on our left, +called Providence, in Louisiana. We observed on the river's bank what a +man at my elbow (a professor of religion, who had discovered a great +propensity to talk about his religious experience before gamblers) +coolly designated "a drove of horses, mules, and niggers." Observe the +order of his enumeration! Of the "niggers" there were about 100, small +and great, young and old, and of both sexes. The whole "drove" were +waiting to be shipped for the New Orleans market, and were jealously +guarded by several large dogs. From individual instances like this, one +may form a clearer notion of the internal slave-trade of America. +Thousands every year are thus brought down the Mississippi to supply +the Natchez and New Orleans markets. "Those who are transported down +the Mississippi," says a manual of American slavery, "are stowed away +on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young, usually +chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the passengers and +navigators, and often by bribes or threats, or by the lash, made +subject to abominations not to be named." On the same deck, you may see +horses and human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to +supply the same market. The _dumb_ beasts, being less manageable, are +allowed the first place; while the _human_ are forced into spare +corners and vacant places. My informant saw one trader who was taking +down to New Orleans 100 horses, some sheep, and between fifty and sixty +slaves. The sheep and the slaves occupied the same deck. Many +interesting and intelligent women were of the number. I could relate +facts concerning the brutal treatment of these defenceless females, +while on the downward passage, which would kindle the hot indignation +of every mother, and daughter, and sister in Old England. The slaves +are carried down in companies, varying in number from 20 to 500. Men of +considerable capital are engaged in the traffic. Go into the principal +towns on the Mississippi, and you will find these negro traders in the +bar-rooms boasting of their adroitness in driving human flesh, and +describing the process by which they succeed in "_taming down_ the +spirit of a _refractory_ negro." Here, then, were human beings, +children of our common Father, bone of our bone, and flesh of our +flesh, classed with the brutes that perish,--nay, degraded below them, +and placed under the surveillance of dogs. The horrors of such a system +it is impossible to exaggerate. + +The majority of our fellow-passengers did nothing but gamble, eat, +drink, smoke, and spit, from morning till night. In the afternoon a +dispute arose between two of them about ten dollars, which the one +maintained he had won from the other. One of the two quickly drew out +his Bowie knife, and would certainly have stabbed the other but for the +intervention of the boat's officers. When the whites have so little +hesitation in shedding each other's blood, we cannot be surprised at +the indifference with which negro life is put an end to. "A rencontre +took place last week," says the _New Orleans Delta_, "between the +overseer of Mr. A. Collins (a planter in our vicinity) and one of the +negroes. It seems the overseer wished to chastise the negro for some +offence, and the negro resisted and struck the overseer with a spade. +The overseer grappled with him, and called some of the negroes to his +assistance; but, perceiving that the negroes were not willing to assist +him, he drew his knife, and stabbed the negro to the heart. A coroner's +inquest has been held, and a verdict given in accordance with the +circumstances, declaring the overseer justifiable." + +The 14th of February was Sunday. My Baptist friend, when engaging his +passage, had given the captain a hint that, when the Sabbath came, he +should like to have divine service on board. Nothing, however, was now +said about it. Not, I think, that the officers of the boat would have +disliked it; but, considering the general character of their +passengers, they perhaps thought it would have been only "casting +pearls before swine." One passenger indeed, who _said_ he was a +Congregationalist, expressed to my friend a wish to have worship; but +he was playing at cards every day, and was in other respects no great +credit to Congregationalism. The Baptist assured me that his countrymen +too generally, when they travel, leave their religion behind! + +The Baptist related to me an awful story respecting a captain with whom +he had sailed from New England to Guadaloupe, and thence to New +Orleans. This man belonged to my friend's congregation, and professed +to have been "converted" under his ministry. His pastor had frequent +occasion to reprove him for his disregard of the Sabbath at sea. In New +Orleans he engaged to take a cargo of Government stores to Tampico, for +the supply of the army. He had to sign a bond to take in the cargo, and +sail before a certain day, or forfeit the sum of 500 dollars. The +Sabbath came. The pastor was at that time absent, on his visit to +"Elder Wright" before mentioned, on the Red River. An agent of the +"Bethel Union," who was going round to invite seamen to the "Bethel" +worship, invited the said captain and his men. He excused himself and +his crew on the plea that they had no time--were under contract--had +signed a bond--and might forfeit 500 dollars, &c. "What!" said the +agent, "not afford time to attend the worship of God" on his own day! +"No, I really cannot--very sorry--what I have never done before--should +like to go"--was the faltering reply. "Well," replied the agent with +great solemnity, "God will soon call you to account for this." "I know +He will," rejoined the captain with a downcast eye. The interview +ended. The agent proceeded on his pious mission, and the captain to +take in his cargo. The next morning, as he was looking over the side of +the vessel to see how deep she was in the water, he fell overboard. His +body was never found. His watch, which had been left in the cabin, and +a few other personal articles, the pastor was now taking with him to +the afflicted widow and family. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M. de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser. + + +At 4 o'clock P.M. of February the 14th, we reached the mouth of the +Arkansas. This is a noble river, navigable for 2,000 miles! Not twenty +years ago, the remnants of the four great Indian nations of the +southern part of what is now the United States, amounting to about +75,000 souls, were urged to remove to the banks of this river, with an +assurance of an undisturbed and permanent home. These four nations were +the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. They were +established upon a territory, which they occupied before the settlement +of any Europeans in their vicinity, and which had been confirmed to +them by solemn treaties again and again. The Anglo-Americans of the +States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were however annoyed at +their proximity, because it was unfavourable to the "peculiar +institution" of America. Slaves occasionally made their escape to these +children of the forest, and found sympathy and succour. This would not +do. The Indians must be removed. But how was it to be accomplished? +Annoy them; harass them; wrong them in every possible way, so that they +may be sickened with the place. Georgia, accordingly, first attempted +to establish a division line for the purpose of limiting the boundaries +of the Cherokees. Then, in 1829, the State of Alabama divided the Creek +territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to the +power of white magistrates. And, in 1830, the State of Mississippi +assimilated the Chocktaws and Chickasaws to the white population, and +declared that any one who should take the title of Chief should be +punished with a fine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. Under +these accumulated annoyances, the Cherokees, on the 18th of December, +1829, addressed to Congress the following powerful and touching +appeal:-- + +"By the will of our Father in heaven, the Governor of the whole world, +the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and +renowned. When the ancestors of the people of the United States first +came to the shores of America, they found the red man strong, though he +was ignorant and savage; yet he received them kindly, and gave them dry +land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in +token of friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the +Indian, the latter willingly gave. At that time the Indian was the +lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the scene has changed. +The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbours +increased in numbers, his power became less and less; and now, of the +many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few +are to be seen,--a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The +northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly +extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who +are remnants, share the same fate?" + +"Oh, no!" was the response. "Beyond the great river Mississippi," said +the President to them in 1829, "where a part of your nation has gone, +your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you; and he +advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble +you: they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you +and your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in +peace and plenty. _It will be yours for ever_." + +With this assurance, many left the land of their birth and the homes of +their childhood, travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the Mississippi, +and settled on the banks of the Arkansas. M. de Tocqueville was +"assured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians had +already gone to the shores of the Arkansas, and fresh detachments were +constantly following them." Many, however, were unwilling to be thus +expatriated. "The Indians readily discover," says M. de Tocqueville, +"that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary +expedient. Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to +dwell in peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge +themselves to the observance of the obligation; but the territory which +they at present occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn +oaths of Anglo-American faith. The American Government does not, +indeed, rob them of their land, but it allows perpetual incursions to +be made upon them. In a few years the same white population which now +flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas: +they will then be exposed to the same evils, without the same remedies; +and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only +refuge is the grave." + +The views of this keen French philosopher were prophetic. In vain did I +strain my eyes, as we passed along, to discover any trace of these +Indians. Not one representative of those noble aborigines was to be +seen. In 1836 Arkansas was constituted a State, and admitted into the +Union; and, if you look at a recent map of the United States, you will +see the "location" of these Indians marked, not in the State of +Arkansas at all, but far--far beyond, towards the setting sun, in what +is called the "Western Territory," where, indeed, the river Arkansas +has its source. Nor will ten years pass away before they will be again +disturbed, and pushed further back. + +At the mouth of the Arkansas is a village called Napoleon, of which I +received, on authority not to be disputed, the following horrible +account. A few years ago it was the head quarters of lawless and bloody +men. They fabricated base coin, gambled, robbed, murdered. To such a +pitch of wickedness had they arrived, and such a terror were they to +the whole country, that a party of men from Memphis (a city on the +eastern side of the Mississippi, 180 miles up) took the law into their +own hands, armed themselves with deadly weapons, came down, scoured the +country around, caught about fifty of the ringleaders, and put them to +death. Some they shot,--some they hanged,--and some they threw, tied +hand and foot, into the river. Of this dreadful tragedy no judicial +notice was ever taken! + +February 15.--I had an attack of intermittent fever, and consequently +saw nothing of the scenery around. At night the fog was so dense that +the officers deemed it prudent to "lie to." + +February 16.--At 9 A.M. we were abreast of the city of Memphis, on the +Tennessee side of the river. Higher up there is Cairo. These +slave-holders, who retain their fellow-men in worse than Egyptian +bondage, seem to have a great partiality for Egyptian names. Memphis is +pleasantly situated on high "bluffs," and is a great point for the +shipping of cotton. It does not, however, thrive by _honest_ industry. +I obtained a copy of the _Daily Inquirer_ of that day, where--among +advertisements of pianos, music, bonnets, shawls, &c., for the +ladies--I found the following:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th +of October last, two Negro Fellows of the following description.--To +wit,--Evan, 25 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high, complexion +black, thick bristly beard, low soft voice, and apt to look down when +spoken to; has a large scar on the calf of one of his legs, caused by +the bite of a dog when he was 8 or 10 years old; some of his jaw-teeth +missing or decayed. Ellis, 22 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches +high; complexion dark mulatto, tinged with Indian blood; beard thin and +light. From information derived from a brother of these boys, who was +caught in Washington County, Miss., it appears they intended to apply +for employment as wood-choppers in the upper part of this State, until +they could raise money enough to dress fine, then set off for the State +of Illinois. It is highly probable they will resort to fictitious +names, for the purpose of baffling pursuit. + +"The above reward will be paid to any person confining them in any +jail, so that I can get them again; or fifty dollars for either of +them. + +"DUNCAN M'ALPIN." + +"SLAVE MARKET.--The subscribers have now, and will continue to keep on +hand throughout the season, a large supply of choice Negroes, suited to +every capacity, which they offer at the lowest market rates. They have +agents abroad engaged in purchasing for them, which enables them to bid +defiance to competition. + +"Depôt on Adams-street, between Main and Second Streets. + +"BOLTON & DICKINS." + +"JAILOR'S NOTICE.--Was committed to the jail of Shelby County, on 25th +January, a Negro Boy named Silas. He says he belongs to William Wise, +of Fayette, County Tenne. He is about 30 years old, black complexion, +about 5 feet 11 inches high; weighs about 165 lbs. The owner of said +Negro is requested to come and prove property, and pay charges, or he +will be dealt with according to law. + +"E. W. HARREL, + +"_Jailor_." + +"Feb. 13.--3tW." + +In connection with Memphis, M. de Tocqueville narrates the following +touching incident, relative to the expatriation of the Indians, to +which I have already referred. "At the end of the year 1831, while I +was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a place named by Europeans +Memphis, there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws. These _savages_ [so +his American translator renders it] had left their country, and were +endeavouring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they +hoped to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American +Government. It was the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually +severe: the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the river was +drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them; +and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children +newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither +tents nor waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them +embark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle +fade from my remembrance! No cry, no sob was heard among the assembled +crowd: all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they +knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark +that was to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank. +As soon as these animals perceived that their masters were finally +leaving the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all +together into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the +boat." So much for Memphis and its associations! + +February 18th, at 5 A.M., we entered the Ohio River, and at 1 P.M. the +mouth of the Tennessee; coming shortly afterwards to Smithland, at the +mouth of the Cumberland River, which runs parallel with the Tennessee, +and communicates directly with Nashville, the capital of that State. +This city also has its association of ideas. I cannot think of it +without at the same time thinking of Amos Dresser. He was a student at +Lane Seminary (Dr. Beecher's), and subsequently a missionary to +Jamaica. In the vacation of 1835 he undertook to sell Bibles in the +State of Tennessee, with a view to raise the means of continuing his +studies for the ministry. Under suspicion of being an Abolitionist, he +was arrested by the "Vigilance Committee" (a Lynch-law institution), +while attending a religious meeting in the neighbourhood of Nashville. +After an afternoon and evening's inquisition, he was condemned to +receive twenty lashes with the cow-hide on his naked body. Between 11 +and 12 on Saturday night the sentence was executed upon him, in the +presence of most of the committee, and of an infuriated and blaspheming +mob. The Vigilance Committee consisted of sixty persons. Of these, +twenty-seven were members of churches: one was a religious teacher, and +others were _elders_ of the Presbyterian Church,--one of whom had a few +days before offered Mr. Dresser the bread and wine at the Lord's +Supper. But let Amos Dresser himself describe the scene and the +circumstances. + +"I knelt down," says he, "to receive the punishment, which was +inflicted by Mr. Braughton, the city officer, with a HEAVY COW-SKIN. +When the infliction ceased, an involuntary thanksgiving to God, for the +fortitude with which I had been enabled to endure it, arose in my soul, +to which I began aloud to give utterance. The death-like silence that +prevailed for a moment was suddenly broken with loud exclamations, +--'G--d d--n him! Stop his praying!' I was raised to my +feet by Mr. Braughton, and conducted by him to my lodgings, where it +was thought safe for me to remain but a few moments. + +"Among my triers was a great portion of the respectability of +Nashville; nearly half of the whole number professors of Christianity, +the reputed stay of the Church, supporters of the cause of benevolence +in the form of tract and missionary societies and Sabbath-schools; +several members and _most_ of the elders of the Presbyterian Church, +from whose hands but a few days before I had received the emblems of +the broken body and shed blood of our blessed Saviour!" + +In relating this shameful circumstance, the editor of the _Georgia +Chronicle_, a professor of religion, said that Dresser "should have +been hung up as high as Haman, to rot upon the gibbet until the wind +whistled through his bones. The cry of the whole South should be death, +_instant death_, to the Abolitionist, wherever he is caught." What a +great and free country! + + + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave +of President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service. + + +The Ohio, the "beautiful river," is a magnificent stream formed by the +confluence at Pittsburg of the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers, and is +1,008 miles long, constituting the boundary of six States: Ohio, +Indiana, and Illinois on the north,--all free States; and Virginia, +Kentucky, and Tennessee on the south,--all slave States. A trip on this +river, therefore, affords a fine opportunity for observing the contrast +between slavery and freedom. + +The Ohio is the great artery through which the inland commerce of the +Eastern States flows into the valley of the Mississippi. In ascending +this river, we had first on our left the State of Illinois. This +territory, which contains an area of 60,000 square miles, was settled +by the French in 1720, and was admitted into the Union in 1818. Its +population in 1810 was 12,300; in 1840, 476,180. It is now, probably, +not far short of 1,000,000! + +On the 19th of February, about noon, we arrived at Evansville, on the +Indiana side of the river. This was the prettiest place we had yet +seen; and its charms were enhanced by the assurance that it was free +from the taint of slavery. The rise of this little town has been rapid. +Its population is about 3,000. Three "churches," with their neat and +graceful spires, rising above the other buildings, were conspicuous in +the distance. + +At 5 P.M. we passed Owensborough, on the Kentucky side of the river. +This, too, is a neat little town, with a proportionate number of places +of worship. Indeed, on every hand, places of worship appear to rise +simultaneously with the young settlement. The free and efficient +working of the voluntary principle is the glory of America. In +reference to "church" accommodation, it everywhere appears to decided +advantage compared to the most favoured parts of England. On this +subject Dr. Baird's book on Religion in America is very truthful. + +The fever left me on entering the Ohio, and returned no more,--a clear +proof that this river is healthier than the Mississippi. The latter has +much fog and malaria, which tell quickly upon a constitution like mine, +already predisposed by residence among the swamps of Guiana to fever +and ague. + +As I have already intimated, we had now Indiana, a free State, on our +left. This State is rapidly advancing in wealth and population. It was +settled by the French in 1730, and became an independent State in 1816. +It has an area of 36,840 square miles, being by two-fifths less than +its neighbour Illinois. Its population at the beginning of this century +was only 5,640; in 1840 it was 685,860. It is now above a million! In +1840 it produced upwards of four millions of bushels of wheat, and +twenty-eight millions of corn! + +February 20.--The scenery was diversified. Hills covered with trees +rose on either side. In the summer, when all is fresh and green, there +must be here scenes of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed. At present +the country had a cold and winterly aspect. It rained, too, the whole +day. At 3 P.M. we approached New Albany, on the Indiana side. It is a +flourishing place, with from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. Just above +this town are some falls in the Ohio, that can seldom be ascended by +steamers, which therefore pass through a side canal, with locks, formed +(through the superior influence of the slave-power) on the Kentucky or +slave bank of the river. We had to pass through three locks, which have +been very foolishly made too small to receive steamers of the largest +class in the navigation of the Ohio. Ours fortunately, not being of +that class, could "go a-head." + +At 5 P.M. we got to Louisville, a city of about 30,000 or 40,000 +inhabitants, on the Kentucky side. This city is a great depot for +slaves, whence they are shipped for the New Orleans market. By this +means it has acquired a detestable notoriety. + +"A trader was about to start from Louisville, Kentucky," says the +_Anti-Slavery Record_, "with one hundred slaves for New Orleans. Among +them were two women, with infants at the breast. Knowing that these +infants would depreciate the value of the mothers, the trader sold them +for _one dollar each_. Another mother was separated from her sick child +about four or five years old. Her anguish was so great that she +sickened and died before reaching her destination." + +Take another instance, on the same authority:-- + +"Not very long ago, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a female slave was +sold to a Southern slaver under most afflicting circumstances. She had +at her breast an infant boy three months old. The slaver did not want +the child on any terms. The master sold the mother, and retained the +child. She was hurried away immediately to the depot at Louisville, to +be sent down the river to the Southern market. The last news my +informant had of her was that she was lying _sick_, in the most +miserable condition, her breast having risen, inflamed, and _burst_!" + +Let another case, testified by the Rev. C.S. Renshaw, add to the fame +of this _infamous_ city. + +"Hughes and Neil traded in slaves down the river: they had bought up a +part of their stock in the upper counties of Kentucky, and brought them +down to Louisville, where the remainder of their drove was in jail +waiting their arrival. Just before the steam-boat put off for the lower +country, two negro women were offered for sale, each of them having a +child at the breast. The traders bought them, took their babes from +their arms, and offered them to the highest bidder; and they were sold +for one dollar a piece, whilst the stricken parents were driven on +board the boats, and in an hour were on their way to the New Orleans +market. You are aware that a young babe diminishes the value of a field +hand in the lower country, while it enhances her value in the breeding +States." + +February 21.--Another dreary Sabbath on board. The principal objects of +interest pointed out to us on that day were the residence and the tomb +of the late President Harrison. The latter is a plain brick erection, +in the midst of a field on the top of a hill, about half a mile in the +rear of the former. The recollection of that man, so highly elevated, +and so quickly cut down, could hardly fail to suggest a train of not +unprofitable reflections. He was, I suppose, a moral and well-meaning +man, distinguished for qualities not often to be found in high places; +but I was sorry to be obliged to infer that much of what I had heard +respecting the _religiousness_ of his character wanted confirmation. + +At half-past 4 P.M. we arrived at the long-wished-for Cincinnati--the +"Queen of the West." Our voyage from New Orleans had thus occupied +twelve days, during which time we had been boarded and lodged, as well +as conveyed over a space of 1,550 miles, for 12 dollars each, or one +dollar per diem! It was the cheapest, and (apart from the +companionships) the most pleasant mode of travelling we had ever +experienced. As the boat stayed but a couple of hours at Cincinnati, we +had to land without delay. Being a stranger in a strange land, I +inquired for the Congregational minister, and was told that his name +was Boynton. In perambulating the streets in search of his house, I was +pleased to see but one shop open. It was a tailor's, and, as I +afterwards learned, belonged to a Jew, who closed it on Saturdays, the +law of the State compelling all to close their shops one day in the +week. In every street, we were struck with the glorious liberty enjoyed +by the pigs. On all hands, the swinish multitude were seen luxuriating +in unrestricted freedom. Mr. Boynton, who received us kindly, did not +know of any place where we could be accommodated with private board and +lodging, but promised to make inquiry that evening. He was a man of +about forty years of age, wearing on the Sabbath, and even in the +pulpit (as most American ministers do), a black neckerchief, and +shirt-collar turned down over it. That night we had to go to an hotel, +and were recommended to the Denison House, which we found pretty cheap +and comfortable. But the American hotels are not, in point of comfort, +to be compared for a moment to those of Old England. My wife was too +tired to go out in the evening; and unwilling for my own part to close +the Sabbath without going to some place of public worship, I thought I +would try to find the sanctuary of "my brethren--my kinsmen according +to the flesh"--the Welsh. Following the directions I had received, I +arrived at the top of a certain street, when I heard the sound of +sacred song; but I could not tell whether it was Welsh or not, nor +exactly whence it came. As I stood listening, an overgrown boy came by, +of whom I inquired, "Where does that singing come from?"--"I _guess_ it +comes from a church down below there." "Is it a Welsh Church?"--"I +can't tell, but I _guess_ it is." "Well, then," I rejoined, "I _guess_ +I will go and see." I turned, and the youth "guessed" he would follow +me. I got to the door. The singing had not ceased. It _was_ Welsh--the +language in which I had first heard "_Am Geidwad i'r Colledig!_"[1] How +interesting in the "Far West" to hear sounds so sweet and so familiar +to my childhood! None but those who have experienced can tell the charm +of such an incident. The minister was in the pulpit. His dress and hair +were very plain, and his complexion was extremely dark. He was +evidently a Welshman: there was no mistake about it: his gravity, +plainness, attitude--all told the fact. I ventured forward, and walked +along to the stove, which to me was an object of agreeable attraction. +Around the stove were two or three chairs. A big aristocratic-looking +Welshman, a sort of a "Blaenor," who occupied one of these chairs, +invited me to take another that was vacant. The eyes of all in the +synagogue were upon me. My "guessing" informant had followed me even +there, though he evidently understood not a word of Welsh. The building +was about 40 feet by 35, without galleries, and was about two-thirds +full. The pulpit was fitted up in the platform style--the "genuine" +American mode. The text was, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great a salvation?" The sermon was good and faithful. The audience--the +men on one side of the chapel, and the women on the other--did not +excite much interest. The men, especially, were among the worst hearers +I had ever seen. I felt ashamed of my countrymen. The spitting was +incessant, and attended with certain unmentionable circumstances which +render it most disgusting and offensive. What a contrast to my own +clean and comely congregation of black and coloured people in New +Amsterdam! In about twenty minutes after the preacher had begun his +sermon, one-half of the men had their heads down, resting on both arms +folded on the tops of the pews before them. Whether they were asleep or +not, the attitude was that of deep sleep. This behaviour was grossly +rude,--to say nothing of the apathetic state of mind which it +indicated. I wondered how the preacher could get on at all, with such +hearers before him. I am sorry to say that the Welsh too frequently +manifest a great want of decorum and devotion in their religious +assemblies. This is telling, and will tell, against dissent in the +Principality. + +[Footnote 1: Literally, "Of a Saviour for the lost."] + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting. + + +The Welsh service being ended, my big friend on the next chair asked +me, in the same language, if I was a _llafarwr_ (preacher). I answered +him in the usual Welsh phrase, "_Byddaf yn dweyd ychydig weithiau_," +which means that I did a little in that way. On learning this, he +desired my "_cyhoeddiad_" (publication--another Welsh phrase) to preach +there some night during the coming week; and he wished it to be +announced there and then, to which I would not consent. He introduced +me to Mr. Jones, the minister. After most of the congregation were +gone, a groupe, including my big friend and Mr. Jones, collected around +me, and most earnestly pressed for my "publication." I told them I had +never been a Welsh preacher, that it was nearly five-and-twenty years +since I had left the Principality, and that, moreover, _I could not_ +preach at all to men who put down their heads in the sluggish and +sleepy manner in which most of their men had done that night. "Oh! but +they won't do so when you, a stranger, preach," was the reply. "Then," +I said, "there must be a great want of true devotion among them, if +that would make all the difference." However, being much pressed, I +promised at last to give them, before I left the city, a little +missionary information in Welsh. + +The name of my big friend was Bebb, a near relative, as I subsequently +learned, of His Excellency W. Bebb, the present Governor of the State +of Ohio. The history of this Governor deserves a passing notice. He is +the nephew of the late Rev. John Roberts, of Llanbrynmair, a man of +great worth and usefulness, whose praise is in all the Congregational +Churches of North Wales. Mr. Roberts, when a young man, joined the +Church at Llanbrynmair, began to preach under its sanction, became its +pastor, sustained that office for thirty-six years, and is succeeded by +his two excellent sons, Samuel and John, as co-pastors! Towards the +close of last century, Mr. Roberts's sister, married to a Mr. Bebb, +emigrated to America; as did also his brother George, who still +survives, and of whom Dr. Matheson gives an interesting account in the +seventh letter of the second volume of "Reed and Matheson's Narrative," +calling him "_Judge_ Roberts, the _Pastor_ of the Congregational +Church!" at Ebensburg, in Pennsylvania. + +Mrs. Bebb was soon left a widow, with two sons, William and Evan. But +"the Judge of the widow" and "the Father of the fatherless" did not +forsake her. She is a woman of a strong mind and great piety, and a +thorough hater of slavery and oppression in all their forms. Her own +principles she endeavoured to instil into the minds of her sons, +sparing no efforts to fit them for acting a useful and honourable part +in society. William was brought up to the law, and Evan to commerce. +And now, in the evening of her days, the pious old Welsh-woman has the +gratification of seeing Evan an enterprising and successful merchant in +New York, while William enjoys the highest honour that his +fellow-citizens of Ohio can confer upon him! He is the Governor of a +territory of nearly 40,000 square miles, and a population of 2,000,000. +Mr. Jones, the minister, is intimately acquainted with Mrs. Bebb, who +carefully instructed her distinguished son in the good old language of +Wales, so that, at the time of his recent canvass for office, he was +able to address the Cambrian portion of his constituency in their +mother tongue. + +On entering into office, he declared his determined opposition to the +"black laws" of Ohio. Those "black laws" are black indeed. They are the +foul blot of this otherwise honoured State. One of them is intended to +prevent the coloured citizens of other States from removing to Ohio. It +was enacted in 1807, and is to this effect,--that within twenty days +after the entrance of an emigrant into the State, he is to find two +freehold sureties in the sum of 500 dollars for his _good behaviour_, +and likewise for his _maintenance_, should he, at any future period, be +unable to maintain himself. The Legislature well knew that it would be +utterly impossible, generally speaking, for a _black_ or _coloured_ +stranger to find such securities. In 1800 there were only 337 free +blacks in the territory; but in 1830, notwithstanding the "black laws," +there were 9,500. A large portion of them entered in entire ignorance +of this iniquitous law, and some perhaps in bold defiance of it. But it +has by no means remained a dead letter. In 1829 a very general effort +was made to enforce it,--about 1,000 free blacks being driven from the +State, to take refuge in the more free and Christian country of Canada. +Sir J. Colebrook, the Governor of Upper Canada, said to the coloured +deputation that waited upon him, "Tell the _Republicans_ on your side +of the line that we Royalists do not know men by their colour. Should +you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest +of His Majesty's subjects." A noble sentiment! and one calculated to +make a "_Britisher_" proud of his country, particularly since the +abolition of slavery in our other colonies. At the time these people +were thus driven away, the State of Ohio contained but 23 inhabitants +to one square mile! + +In 1838 official notice was given to the inhabitants of the town of +Fairfield, in Ohio, that all "black or mulatto persons" residing there +were to comply with the requirements of the law of 1807 within twenty +days, or it would be enforced against them. The proclamation addresses +the _white_ inhabitants in the following remarkable terms: "Whites, +look out! If any person or persons _employing_ any black or mulatto +person, contrary to the 3rd section of this law, you may look out for +the breakers!" + +At the very time I was in Ohio an attempt was made, in Mercer County, +to eject by force a number of inoffensive black people. Originally +slaves in Virginia, they had been liberated by the will of their late +master, and located on a suitable quantity of land which he had secured +for them. But the magnanimous and liberty-boasting Americans would not +allow them to enjoy their little settlement unmolested; and it was +extremely doubtful whether the Governor would be able to protect them +from outrage. + +In 1839 a number of coloured inhabitants of Ohio addressed a respectful +petition to the Legislature, praying for the removal of certain legal +disabilities under which they were labouring. The answer was a denial, +not merely of the _prayer_ of the petition, but of the very _right_ of +petition! "Resolved, that the blacks and mulattoes who may be residents +within this State have no constitutional right to present their +petitions to the General Assembly for any purpose whatsoever; and that +any reception of such petitions on the part of the General Assembly is +a mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed by any expressed or +implied power of the Constitution!" + +But the _blackest_ of these black laws is the following: "That no black +or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn, +or give evidence in any court of record or elsewhere in this State, in +any cause depending, or matter of controversy, when either party to the +same is a _white_ person; or in any prosecution of the State against +any _white_ person!" + +Under such a law a white man may with perfect impunity defraud or abuse +a negro to any extent, provided that he is careful to avoid the +presence of any of his own caste at the execution of his contract, or +the commission of his crime! + +To these "black laws" Governor Bebb has avowed an uncompromising +hostility; but the first session of the State Legislature after his +election had just closed, and the black laws were still in force. Mr. +Bebb was not sufficiently supported in his just and humane intentions +to enable him to carry those intentions out. I was assured, however, by +those who knew him well, that he was only "biding his time," being as +determined as ever to wipe away from the statute-book every remnant of +these foul enactments. If he succeed, the poor old Welsh-woman, in her +obscurity and widowhood, will have rendered an important service to the +cause of humanity and justice. Let mothers think of this, and be +encouraged! + +The day after our arrival in Cincinnati, being the 22nd of February, we +obtained, by the aid of Dr. Weed (one of Mr. Boynton's deacons), a +suitable private lodging. Dr. Weed in early life studied for the +medical profession, and graduated in physic. Afterwards he spent some +years as a missionary among the Indians. Now he is a bookseller, +publisher, and stationer in Cincinnati, affording an illustration of +that versatility for which the Americans are distinguished. "Men are to +be met with," says M. de Tocqueville, (and the present writer has +himself seen many instances,) "who have successively been barristers, +farmers, merchants, ministers of the Gospel, and physicians. If the +American be less perfect in each craft than the European, at least +there is scarcely any trade with which he is utterly unacquainted." I +have heard of a man in New York, who, having tried the ministry and +completely failed, wisely judged that that was not the way in which he +could best serve God, and turned to commerce. He is now a substantial +merchant, and supports five other men to preach the Gospel; each of +whom, he is wont to say, does it much better than he could ever have +done. + +The lodging which Dr. Weed kindly found us was at the house of the +Misses M'Pherson, five Quaker sisters, living together. It was clean +and respectable,--the cheapest and most comfortable lodging we had +hitherto met with. The table was bountifully supplied with excellent +and well-cooked provisions; for which the charge was only 4 dollars +each per week, and half-a-dollar for fuel, making altogether only 9 +dollars for us both. Of the kindness and hospitality of these ladies we +shall always retain a grateful remembrance. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Beecher, +Dr. Stowe, Professor Allen, and several other Presbyterian ministers of +the New School. They were assembled for fraternal intercourse in the +vestry of one of the "churches." I was struck with the sallowness of +their complexions, and the want of polish in their manners. Dr. Beecher +invited me to go up some day to see Lane Seminary, about two miles off. +To this invitation I readily acceded. I was greatly interested in this +veteran, of whose fame I had so often heard. + +February 23rd.--In the evening, I went to a meeting of the Democratic +party in the town-hall, thinking it would afford me a good opportunity +for observing American manners. The place was full; and when I arrived, +a gentleman was addressing the meeting with great vehemence of tone and +gesture. His speech consisted of innumerable changes rung on the +sentiment--"There must be a vigorous prosecution of the war against +Mexico." But I must reserve any further account of this meeting for my +next letter. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education. + + +In resuming my notice of the Democratic meeting, let me observe that +the Democratic party in America is not very reputable. It is the war +party, the pro-slavery party, the mob party, and, at present, the +dominant party,--the party, in fine, of President Polk. It had just +been aroused to the highest pitch of indignation, by a telling speech +delivered in Congress against the Mexican War by Thomas Corwin, Esq., +one of the Ohio senators. This meeting, then, was intended as a +demonstration in favour of Polk and his policy; but it turned out a +miserable failure. + +When the blustering speaker who "had the floor" when I entered sat +down, the "president" (for they do not say the chairman) rose, amidst a +tremendous storm of favourite names, uttered simultaneously by all +present at the top of their voices, and, as soon as he could be heard, +said it had been moved and seconded that So-and-so, Esq., be requested +to address the meeting: those who were in favour of that motion were to +say "Ay,"--those against it, "No." One great "Ay" was then uttered by +the mass, and a few "Noes" were heard. The "_Ayes"_ had it. But an +unforeseen difficulty occurred. So-and-so, Esq., either was not there, +or would not speak. Amidst deafening noise again, the president rose, +and said it had been moved and seconded that John Brough, Esq., be +requested to address the meeting. "Ay"--"No;" but the "Ayes" had it. +"Now, John Brough," said a droll-looking Irishman, apparently a +hod-carrier, who was at my elbow,-- + + "Now, John Brough, + Out with the stuff." + +Here was Paddy on the western side of the Allegany Mountains, with his +native accent and native wit as fresh and unimpaired as if he had but +just left his green isle, and landed on one of the quays at Liverpool. +But John Brough again declined the honour conferred upon him! Then it +was moved and seconded and "ayed" that So-and-so, Esq., be requested to +address the meeting, but _he_ also was not forthcoming! _Nil +desperandum_. It was moved and seconded and "ayed" that--Callaghan, +Esq., be requested to address the meeting. After some hesitation, and a +reference to his own "proverbial modesty," he proceeded to foam, and +stamp, and thump, and bluster for "the vigorous prosecution of the +war," till the American eagle should "stretch his wings over the halls +of the Montezumas." At this stage of the proceedings, the spitting and +smoke had become so offensive that I was compelled to retire; and I did +so with no very high notions of the intelligence and respectability of +the American democrats. + +The next day being fine and frosty, and the roads hard, I set off in +the morning to pay my intended visit to Lane Seminary. I found it a +long two miles, all up hill. The seminary itself, the building in which +the students are accommodated, is a large plain brick edifice, four +stories high, besides the basement-story, and has very much the +appearance of a small Lancashire factory. It is 100 feet long by about +40 feet wide, and contains 84 rooms for students. The situation is +pleasant, and at a nice distance from the roadside. A large bell was +being tolled awkwardly when I arrived. It was 11 o'clock A.M. I found +the front door thrown wide open, with every indication of its being +entered by all comers without the least ceremony--not even that of +wiping the shoes. There was neither door-bell nor knocker, scraper nor +mat; and the floor of the lobby seemed but slightly acquainted with the +broom,--to say nothing of the scrubbing-brush. It looked like the floor +of a corn or provision warehouse. I had no alternative but to venture +in. Immediately after, there entered a young man with a fowling-piece, +whom before I had seen at a little distance watching the movements of a +flock of wild pigeons. I took him for a sportsman; but he was a young +divine! I asked him if Dr. Beecher was about. He replied that he +guessed not, but he would be at the lecture-room in a few minutes, for +the bell that had just tolled was a summons to that room. "Does the +Doctor, then," said I, "deliver a lecture this morning?"--"No, it is +_declamation_ this morning." "Is it such an exercise," I continued, "as +a stranger may attend?"--"Oh, yes!" he replied; "it is _public_ +declamation." He then directed me to the lecture-room. It was across +the yard, and under the chapel belonging to the institution. This +chapel is a very neat building, after the model of a Grecian temple, +having the roof in front carried out and supported by six +well-proportioned columns in the form of a portico. In a part of the +basement-story was the lecture-room in question. The students were +mustering. By-and-by Dr. Stowe entered. He invited me to take a chair +by his side, on a kind of platform. Professor Allen then came in, and +after him Dr. Beecher. The exercise began with a short prayer by Mr. +Allen. He then called upon a Mr. Armstrong, one of the students, to +ascend the platform. The young man obeyed; and, somewhat abruptly and +vehemently, rehearsed from memory a Poem on War. Suiting the action to +the words, he began-- + + "_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!" + +It quite startled me! Soon afterwards I heard,-- + + "And Montezuma's halls shall _ring_." + +What! (reasoned I) is this the sequel to the Democratic meeting of last +night? Has Mars, who presided at the town-hall, a seat in the +lecture-room of this Theological Seminary? As the young man proceeded, +however, I perceived that his poem was, in fact, a denunciation of the +horrors of war,--not, as I had supposed, the composition of another +person committed to memory, and now rehearsed as an exercise in +elocution, but entirely his own. It was altogether a creditable +performance. The Professors at the close made their criticisms upon it, +which were all highly favourable. Dr. Beecher said, "My only criticism +is, _Print it, print it_." The venerable Doctor, with the natural +partiality of a tutor, afterwards observed to me he had never heard +anything against war that took so strong a hold of his feelings as that +poem. Dr. Stowe also told me that Mr. Armstrong was considered a young +man of fine talents and great devotion; and that some of the students +had facetiously said, "Brother Armstrong was so pious that even the +dogs would not bark at him!" + +Mr. Armstrong was not at all disposed to take his tutor's advice. But +he favoured me with a copy of his poem, on condition that I would not +cause it to be printed in America,--in England I might. It contains +some turgid expressions, some halting and prosaic lines, and might be +improved by a severe revision; but, besides its interest as a +Transatlantic college-exercise, I feel it possesses sufficient merit to +relieve the tediousness of my own prose. + +"'_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!'-- + Is heard throughout the land, +While flashing columns, thick and strong, + Sweep by with swelling band. +'Our country, right or wrong,' they shout, + 'Shall still our motto he: +With _this_ we are prepared to rout + Our foes from sea to sea. +Our own right arms to us shall bring + The victory and the spoils; +And Montezuma's halls shall ring, + When there we end our toils.' +ON, then, ye brave' like tigers rage, + That you may win your crown, +Mowing both infancy and age + In ruthless carnage down. +Where flows the tide of life and light, + Amid the city's hum, +There let the cry, at dead of night, + Be heard, 'They come, they come!' +Mid scenes of sweet domestic bliss, + Pour shells of livid fire, +While red-hot balls among them hiss, + To make the work entire +And when the scream of agony + Is heard above the din, +_Then_ ply your guns with energy, + And throw your columns in +Thro' street and lane, thro' house and church, + The sword and faggot hear, +And every inmost recess search, + To fill with shrieks the air +Where waving fields and smiling homes + Now deck the sunny plain, +And laughter-loving childhood roams + Unmoved by care or pain; +Let famine gaunt and grim despair + Behind you stalk along, +And pestilence taint all the air + With victims from the strong +Let dogs from mangled beauty's cheeks + The flesh and sinews tear, +And craunch the bones around for weeks, + And gnaw the skulls till bare +Let vultures gather round the heaps + Made up of man and beast, +And, while the widowed mother weeps, + Indulge their horrid feast, +Till, startled by wild piteous groans, + On dreary wings they rise, +To come again, mid dying moans, + And tear out glazing eyes +_Tho'_ widows' tears, and orphans' cries, + When starving round the spot +Where much-loved forms once met their eyes + Which now are left to rot, +With trumpet-tongue, for vengeance call + Upon each guilty head +That drowns, mid revelry and brawls, + Remembrance of the dead. +_Tho'_ faint from fighting--wounded--wan, + To camp you'll turn your feet, +And no sweet, smiling, happy home, + Your saddened hearts will greet: +No hands of love--no eyes of light-- + Will make your wants their care, +Or soothe you thro' the dreary night, + Or smooth your clotted hair. +But crushed by sickness, famine, thirst, + You'll strive in vain to sleep, +Mid corpses mangled, blackened, burst, + And blood and mire deep; +While horrid groans, and fiendish yells, + And every loathsome stench, +Will kindle images of hell + You'll strive in vain to quench. +Yet _on_--press on, in all your might, + With banners to the field, +And mingle in the glorious fight, + With Satan for your shield: +For marble columns, if you die, + _May_ on them bear your name; +While papers, tho' they sometimes lie, + Will praise you, or will blame. +Yet woe! to those who build a house, + Or kingdom, not by right,-- +Who in their feebleness propose + Against the Lord to fight. +For when the Archangel's trumpet sounds, + And all the dead shall hear, +And haste from earth's remotest bounds + In judgment to appear,-- +When every work, and word, and _thought_, + Well known or hid from sight, +Before the Universe is brought + To blaze in lines of light,-- +When by the test of _perfect_ law + Your '_glorious_' course is tried, +On what resources will you draw?-- + In what will you confide? +For know that eyes of awful light + Burn on you from above, +Where nought but kindness meets the sight, + And all the air is love. +When all unused to such employ + As charms the angelic hands, +How can you hope to share their joy + Who dwell in heavenly lands?" + +Such was the poem of Frederick Alexander Armstrong. After its +rehearsal, a young gentleman _read_ a prose Essay on Education. It was +clever, and indicated a mind of a high order, but was too playful; and +the performance was severely criticised. Here ended the "public +declamation." + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students. + + +The "public declamation" ended, Dr. Beecher asked me to accompany him +to his house. It was about an eighth of a mile from the institution, +over a very bad road, or rather over no road at all. He conducted me +into a snug little sitting-room, having no grate; but a wood fire on +the floor under the chimney. It looked primitive and homely. This style +of fire is not uncommon in America. The logs of wood lie across two +horizontal bars of iron, by which they are raised four or six inches +from the floor. The Doctor's first care was to replenish the fire with +a few sturdy pieces of wood. All through the States, I have observed +that the task of feeding the fire generally devolves on the head of the +family. In this little room I was introduced to Mrs. Beecher. She is, I +believe, the third lady on whom the Doctor has conferred his name. In +one corner of this apartment was a gun, and on the sofa a heap of shot. +Thousands of wild pigeons were flying about. The visit of these birds +made the Doctor very uneasy. He was ever and anon snatching up his gun, +and going out to have a pop at them. Though upwards of seventy years of +age, he is an excellent marksman. It was to me a little odd to see a +venerable D.D., a Professor of Theology, handling a fowling-piece! The +Americans, have by circumstances been trained to great skill in the use +of fire-arms. The gun, however, proved a fatal instrument in the hands +of one of the Doctor's sons, a young man of great promise, who was +killed by the accidental explosion of one. Nevertheless, Dr. Beecher +has five sons, all (like himself) in the ministry! He has a maiden +daughter, who has distinguished herself by her literary attainments and +active benevolence. The excellent and accomplished wife of Dr. Stowe +was also a Miss Beecher. + +At 1 o'clock P.M. we dined. The Professors never dine, or take any +other meal, with the assembled students. This is a disadvantage. But in +America eating, under any circumstances, is not so sociable a matter as +in England. + +After dinner, I took my leave of Dr. Beecher, and went to see the +library of the institution. This is over the chapel, but so arranged as +not at all to detract from the just proportions of the building. +Indeed, no one would suspect that there was a story above. This library +was collected with great care and judgment by Dr. Stowe, in England and +on the continent of Europe, and contains 10,000 volumes! The +library-room is capable of receiving 30,000 volumes. But even now it is +the largest library on this side the Allegany Mountains. It comprises +not only the standard works in all the departments of a theological +course, but also a very rich variety of authors in general literature +and science. The books are arranged in alcoves according to their +character,--Theology--Biblical Literature--Classics--History--Philosophy; +and so forth. + +There is a "Society of Inquiry" in connection with the seminary, which +has a distinct library of 326 volumes. "The Reading Room and Athenaeum" +is furnished with 21 newspapers, and several of the best literary and +theological periodicals. + +From the library, my guide (one of the students) led me down into the +lecture-room, where Professor Stowe was engaged with a Hebrew class. +They were reading in the Song of Solomon. The exhibition did not strike +me as much superior to what we used to have at Rotherham College ten or +twelve years ago. In point of domestic _comfort_, the latter is +incomparably before Lane Seminary, and in literary advantages not far +behind. Professor Stowe kindly drove me back to Cincinnati in his +buggy, or waggon, or phaeton. + +Lane Seminary is an institution devoted entirely to theological +education, in connection with the New-School Presbyterians. The +building, including chapel and library, cost about 50,000 dollars, or +10,000_l._, and must have been very cheap at that. In 1828-30, Ebenezer +Lane, Esq., and his brother Andrew Lane, Esq., made a donation of 4,000 +dollars for the purpose of establishing the seminary, whereupon it was +incorporated under the name of "Lane Seminary," and trustees were +appointed. To these trustees the Rev. Mr. Kemper and his sons made +over, for the benefit of the institution, 60 acres of land, including +the site on which the buildings stand. In 1832 Arthur Tappan, Esq., of +New York, subscribed 20,000 dollars for the Professorship of Theology. +In the same year 15,000 dollars were raised for the Professorship of +Ecclesiastical History; the largest contributor to which was Ambrose +White, Esq., of Philadelphia: and an equal sum was contributed for the +Professorship of Biblical Literature,--Stephen Van Rennselaer, Esq., of +Albany, being the chief contributor. In 1835, a fund of 20,000 dollars +was raised for the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric, of which a large +portion was given by John Tappan, Esq., of Boston. A literary +department was organized in 1829, which was discontinued in 1834; at +which period the institution, in its full operation as a Theological +Seminary, may be said to have commenced. Since then it has sent forth +about 250 ministers! + +Candidates for admission must produce satisfactory testimonials, that +they are members, in good standing, of some Christian Church; that they +possess competent talents; and that they have regularly graduated at +some college or university, or have pursued a course of study +equivalent to the common college course. + +The course of study occupies three years; and every student is expected +to enter with the intention of completing the full course. So far as +practicable, the different branches are pursued simultaneously. Thus +the department of Biblical Literature, during the first year, occupies +three days in the week; during the second, two; and during the third, +one: Church History, one day in the week: Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, one day in the week during the first year, two the second, +and three the third. The object of this arrangement is to afford a +pleasant variety in study, and to keep up a proper interest in all the +departments through the whole course. "Hitherto," it is stated, "the +plan has been pursued with results highly satisfactory to the Faculty." +Theological students may be glad to learn the following particulars of +the whole course. + +I. BIBLICAL LITERATURE.--This department embraces--1. Biblical +Geography and Antiquities. 2. Principles of Biblical Interpretation. 3. +General Introduction to the Old and New Testaments, and Particular +Introduction to the Pentateuch, Gospels, and Acts. 4. Interpretation of +the Gospels in Harmony and of the Acts. 5. Interpretation of the +Historical Writings of Moses. 6. Particular Introduction to the several +Books of the Old and New Testaments. 7. Hebrew Poetry, including +Figurative and Symbolical Language of Scripture. 8. Interpretation of +Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. 9. Epistles to Romans, Corinthians, +Timothy, and I Peter. 10. Nature and Fulfilment of Prophecy, +particularly in reference to the Messiah. 11. Interpretation of Isaiah, +Zechariah, and Nahum. 12. The Revelation, in connection with Daniel. + +II. CHURCH HISTORY AND POLITY.--In this department a regular course of +lectures is given on the History of Doctrines to all the classes, and +on Church Polity to the senior classes. + +III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.--In this department are included--1. Cause +and Effect. 2. Mental Philosophy. 3. Atheism, its History and +Hypothesis, Arguments, Objections, and Folly. 4. The Being, Character, +and Attributes of God. 5. Reason, Light of Nature, Necessity of +Revelation. 6. The Truth and Inspiration of the Bible. 7. Doctrine of +Revelation. + +IV. SACRED RHETORIC AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY. _First Year_.--Lectures on +Rhetoric and Elocution. Exercises in Reading and Elocution. _Second +Year_.--Written Discussions, with Public Criticism in the class. _Third +Year_.--Exercises in criticising Skeletons continued. Public and +Private Criticism of Sermons. Lectures on Preaching and on Pastoral +Duties. + +The annual term of study begins on the second Wednesday in September, +and closes on the second Wednesday in June, which is the Anniversary. +The term closes with a public examination. + +Dr. Andrew Reed, who visited Lane Seminary in 1834, refers to it as a +_model_ manual-labour institution. With the advancement of society +around, it has lost in a great measure that peculiarity. There is now +but little done in that way, though it is still recorded in italics +among its regulations, that "every student is expected to labour three +hours a day at some agricultural or mechanical business." "While the +leading aim of this regulation," it is added, "is to promote health and +vigour of both body and mind, compensation is received according to the +value of the labour." + +No charge is made for tuition. Rooms are fully furnished and rented at +5 dollars a year from each student. The incidental expenses, including +fuel and light for public rooms, ringing the bell, and sweeping, are 5 +dollars more. The room-rent and incidental bill are paid in advance. +For the aid of indigent students funds are collected annually, by means +of which board is furnished to such gratuitously. To those who receive +no assistance from the funds, the price of board is about 90 cents a +week. The cost of fuel and lights for each student, in his own room, +will average from 8 to 12 dollars a year. Thus the entire expense to a +young man for a whole term of nine months is only from 50 to 60 +dollars, or from 10 to 12 guineas of our money. + +"The results of these thirteen years of labour," say the trustees in a +document recently issued, "considering the difficulties attending the +establishment of such an institution in a new country, amid a +population as yet unassimilated in feelings and habits, and whose +schools, academies, and colleges are of comparatively recent origin, +are indeed highly encouraging. The friends of the institution, and of +religion and learning generally, thankful for what has already been +accomplished, will feel encouraged to do whatever may be necessary for +the highest efficiency of the seminary; and will give their prayers +that the labours of the 300 young men, who have enjoyed or now enjoy +its advantages," (there being about 50 then in the house,) "may be +abundantly blessed by the Head of the Church." + +Lane Seminary is a valuable and catholic institution. At their +entrance, the students have to subscribe to no confession of faith; +and, when they have completed their curriculum, they are at perfect +liberty to exercise their ministry among whatever denomination they +please. Congregational as well as Presbyterial Churches obtain pastors +from this "school of the prophets." + +The "Faculty" at present consists of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D.D., +President, and Professor of Theology; the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, D.D., +Professor of Biblical Literature, and Lecturer on Church History; and +the Rev. D. Howe Allen, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, and Lecturer on Church Polity. + +Nothing struck me more than the feeling of equality that seemed to +subsist between students and professors. The latter, in speaking to or +of any of the former, would generally say "Brother" So-and-so. The +students also, in their bearing towards the professors, seemed each to +say, "I am as good a man as you are." This is the genius of America. +You meet it everywhere. There man is man (except his skin be black), +and he expects to be treated as such. Respect to superiors is not among +the maxims of our Transatlantic brethren. The organ of veneration is, +perhaps, imperfectly developed. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister. + + +On the previous Friday, Professor Allen called to request me to preach +in his stead at the Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, the +28th of February, as he had to go some twenty miles into the country to +"assist at a revival." I agreed to do so. Sunday morning was +excessively cold, with a heavy fall of snow. On arriving at the +"church," I found there was no vestry. Indeed, a vestry, as a private +room for the minister, is seldom found in America. The places are +exceedingly neat and comfortable, but they want _that_ convenience. I +had therefore to go with my hat and top-coat, covered with snow, right +into the pulpit. This church outside is a noble-looking building, with +massive pillars in front, and a bell-tower containing a town-clock; but +the interior seemed comparatively small. It had a gallery at one end, +which held only the singers and the organ. The seats below were not +more than one-third full. Dr. Beecher ministered in this place for +about ten years. It was now without a pastor, but was temporarily +supplied by Professor Allen. The congregation was far more decorous and +attentive than those in New Orleans. After the introductory service, +and while the hymn before sermon was being sung, a man came trudging +down the aisle, bearing an immense scuttle full of coals to supply the +stoves. How easy it would have been before service to place a box of +fuel in the vicinity of each stove, and thereby avoid this unseemly +bustle! But in the singing of the hymn, I found something to surprise +and offend me even more than the coal-scuttle. The hymn was-- + + "O'er the gloomy hills of darkness," &c. + +I had selected it myself; but when I got to the second verse, where I +had expected to find + + "Let the Indian, let the negro, + Let the rude barbarian see," &c., + +lo! "the Indian." and "the negro" had vanished, and + + "Let the dark benighted pagan" + +was substituted. A wretched alteration,--as feeble and tautological in +effect as it is suspicious in design. The altered reading, I learned, +prevails universally in America, except in the _original_ version used +by the Welsh congregations. Slave-holders, and the abettors of that +horrid system which makes it a crime to teach a negro to read the Word +of God, felt perhaps that they could not devoutly and consistently sing + + "Let the Indian, let the negro," &c. + +This church, I heard, was more polluted with a pro-slavery feeling than +any other in Cincinnati of the same denomination,--a circumstance +which, I believe, had something to do with Dr. Beecher's resignation of +the pastorate. + +At the close of the sermon, having pronounced the benediction, I +engaged, according to our English custom, in a short act of private +devotion. When I raised my head and opened my eyes, the very last man +of the congregation was actually making his exit through the doorway; +and it was quite as much as I could manage to put on my top-coat and +gloves and reach the door before the sexton closed it. This rushing +habit in the House of God strikes a stranger as rude and irreverent. +You meet with no indications of private devotion, either preceding or +following public worship. A man marches into his pew, or his pulpit, +sits down, wipes his nose, and stares at all about him; and at the +close, the moment the "Amen" is uttered, he is off with as much speed +as if the house were on fire. In this instance, the service had not +exceeded an hour and a half; and yet they hurried out as if they +thought the beef was all burnt, and the pudding all spoiled. Of course, +there were no thanks to the stranger for his services,--to say nothing +of the _quiddam honorarium_, which to a man travelling for health, at +his own expense, with an invalid wife, might have been supposed not +unacceptable. + +When, however, I got to the portico outside, a gentleman, with his +wife, was waiting to see me before they stepped into their carriage. +Here was some token of politeness and hospitality,--an invitation to +dinner, no doubt.--"Thank you, sir, I am very much obliged to you; but +I left my wife very ill at our lodgings this morning, and therefore I +cannot have the pleasure to dine with you to-day," was the civil excuse +I was preparing. Never was expectation more beside the mark. My "guess" +was altogether wrong. "What are you going to do with yourself this +afternoon?" was the gentleman's blunt salutation. "What have _you_ to +propose, sir?" was my reply. "I am the superintendent," he said, "of a +German Sunday-school in the upper part of the city, and I should like +you to come and address the children this afternoon." I promised to go, +and he to send to my "lodgings" for me. We both kept our appointment. +The number of scholars was about 100. This effort to bring the Germans +under a right religious influence is very laudable; for there are about +10,000 of that people in Cincinnati. One quarter of the city is +entirely German. You see nothing else on the sign-boards; you hear +nothing else in the streets. Of these Germans the greater part are +Roman Catholics. + +After visiting the school, I found myself in time to attend one of the +chapels of the coloured people at 3 P.M. A medical student, whom I had +met in the morning, and again at the German school, accompanied me. He +was a New Englander, and a thorough anti-slavery man. When we got to +the chapel--a Baptist one--they were at prayer. Walking in softly, we +entered a pew right in the midst of them. The minister--a mulatto of +about thirty years of age, with a fine intelligent eye--was very simple +in dress, and unostentatious in manner. His language, too, was +appropriate and correct. He was evidently a man of good common sense. +His text was Psalm li. l2, l3. He referred very properly to the +occasion on which the Psalm was composed, and drew from the text a +large mass of sound practical instruction. The chapel (capable of +containing about 150 people) was only half-full. Before the sermon, I +had observed a very old negro, in a large shabby camlet cloak and a +black cap, ascending the pulpit-stairs. I supposed that, being dull of +hearing, he had taken that position that he might better listen to the +service. However, when the sermon was over, this patriarchal-looking +black man rose to pray; and he prayed "like a bishop," with astonishing +correctness and fluency! He was formerly a slave in Kentucky, and was +at this time about eighty years of age. They call him "Father Watkins." +At the close I introduced myself to him and to the minister. They both +expressed regret that they had not had me up in the pulpit, to tell +them something, as "Father Watkins" said, about their "brothers and +sisters on the other side of the water." The minister gave me his card, +and invited me and my wife to take tea with him on Tuesday afternoon. +This was the first invitation I received within the city of Cincinnati +to take a meal anywhere; and it was the more interesting to me as +coming from a coloured man. + +In the evening I went, according to appointment, to the Welsh Chapel. +There I met a Mr. Bushnel, an American missionary from the Gaboon +River, on the western coast of Africa. He first spoke in English, and I +afterwards a little in Welsh; gladly embracing the opportunity to +exhort my countrymen in that "Far West" to feel kindly and tenderly +towards the coloured race among them; asking them how they would +themselves feel if, as Welshmen, they were branded and despised +wherever they went! I was grieved to see the excess to which they +carried the filthy habit of spitting. The coloured people in _their_ +chapel were incomparably cleaner in that respect. + +In the morning a notice had been put into my hand at the Presbyterian +Church for announcement, to the effect that Mr. Bushnel and myself +would address the "monthly concert at the church in Sixth-street" on +the morrow evening. Of this arrangement not a syllable had been said to +me beforehand. This was American liberty, and I quietly submitted to +it. The attendance was not large; and we two missionaries had it all to +ourselves. No other ministers were present,--not even the minister of +the church in which we were assembled. The people, however, seemed +heartily interested in the subject of missions. At the close, a lady +from Manchester, who had seen me there in 1845 at the missionary +meeting, came forward full of affection to shake hands. She was a +member of Mr. Griffin's church in that city, and had removed to America +a few months before, with her husband (who is a member of the "Society +of Friends") and children. I was glad to find that they were likely to +be comfortable in their adopted country. + +Next morning I went with Dr. Reuben D. Mussey, a New Englander, to see +the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Mussey is the Professor of Surgery and +Dean of the Faculty, and is highly esteemed for his professional skill +and general character. He and his son, who was my guide on the Sunday, +very kindly showed and explained to me everything of interest in the +institution. The cabinet belonging to the anatomical department is +supplied with all the materials necessary for acquiring a minute and +perfect knowledge of the human frame. These consist of detached bones, +of wired natural skeletons, and of dried preparations to exhibit the +muscles, bloodvessels, nerves, &c. The cabinet of comparative anatomy +is supposed to be more extensively supplied than any other in the +United States. Besides perfect skeletons of American and foreign birds +and other animals, there is an immense number of detached _crania_, +from the elephant and hippopotamus down to the minuter orders. The +cabinet in the surgical department has been formed at great expense, +chiefly by Dr. Mussey himself, during the labour of more than forty +years. It contains a large number of rare specimens,--600 specimens of +diseased bones alone. Other departments are equally well furnished. The +Faculty is composed of six Professorships,--Surgery, Anatomy and +Physiology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Obstetrics and +Diseases of Women and Children, and the Theory and Practice of +Medicine. The fees of tuition are only 15 dollars, or 3 guineas, to +each professor, making an aggregate of 90 dollars. There were 190 +students. It will probably be admitted that this institution, formed in +a new country, has arrived at an astonishing degree of vigour and +maturity. It is only one of many instances in which the Americans are +before us in the facilities afforded for professional education. + +In the afternoon my wife and myself went to take tea with the coloured +minister. His dwelling, though small and humble, was neat and clean. +With his intelligence and general information we were quite delighted. +He spoke with feeling of the gross insults to which the coloured +people, even in this free State, are exposed. When they travel by +railway, though they pay the same fare as other people, they are +generally put in the luggage-van! He had himself, when on board of +steam-boats, often been sent to the "pantry" to eat his food. Nor will +the white people employ them but in the most menial offices; so that it +is nearly impossible for them to rise to affluence and horse-and-gig +respectability. The consequence is that they are deeply and justly +disaffected towards the American people and the American laws. They +clearly understand that England is their friend. For one month all the +free coloured people wore crape as mourning for Thomas Clarkson. + + + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C. B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality. + + +A lady, belonging to the Presbyterian Church at which I preached, +kindly sent her carriage to take us about to see the city. We visited +the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, one of the principal "lions." It was +begun in 1841, and, though used for public worship, is not yet +finished. The building is a parallelogram of 200 feet long by 80 feet +wide, and is 58 feet from the floor to the ceiling. The roof is partly +supported by the side walls, and partly by two rows of freestone +columns--nine in each row--at a distance of about 11 feet from the wall +inside. These columns are of the Corinthian Order, and are 35 feet +high, and 3 feet 6 inches in diameter. There is no gallery, except at +one end, for the organ, which cost 5,400 dollars, or about 1,100_l._ +sterling. The floor of the building is furnished with a centre aisle of +6 feet wide, and two other aisles, each 11 feet wide, along the side +walls, for processional purposes. The remainder of the area is formed +into 140 pews, 10 feet deep. Each pew will accommodate with comfort +only six persons; so that this immense edifice affords sitting room for +no more than 840 people! It is a magnificent structure, displaying in +all its proportions a remarkable degree of elegance and taste. The +tower, when finished, will present an elevation of 200 feet, with a +portico of twelve Corinthian columns, six in front and three on either +side, on the model of the Tower of the Wind at Athens. The entire +building will be Grecian in all its parts. One-fourth of the population +of Cincinnati are Roman Catholics. They have lately discontinued the +use of public government-schools for their children, and have +established some of their own, I am not so much alarmed at the progress +of Popery in America as I was before I visited that country. Its +proselytes are exceedingly few. Its supporters consist chiefly of the +thousands of Europeans, already Roman Catholic, who flock to the New +World. The real _progress_ of Popery is greater in Britain than in +America. + +In the evening I preached for Mr. Boynton in the "Sixth-street Church," +Mr. Boynton and his Church, heretofore Presbyterians, have recently +become Congregationalists. This has given great umbrage to the +Presbyterians. Congregationalism is rapidly gaining ground in the +Western World, and seems destined there, as in England since Cromwell's +time, to swallow up Presbyterianism. I make no invidious comparison +between the two systems: I merely look at facts. And it does appear to +me that Congregationalism--so simple, so free, so unsectarian, and so +catholic--is nevertheless a powerful absorbent. It _has_ absorbed all +that was orthodox in the old Presbyterian Churches of England; and it +_is_ absorbing the Calvinistic Methodists and the churches named after +the Countess of Huntingdon. It has all along exerted a powerful +influence on the Presbyterianism of America. The Congregational element +diffused among those churches occasioned the division of the +Presbyterian Church into Old School and New School. + +Mr. Boynton is what a friend of mine called "intensely American." He +has lately published, under the title of "Our Country the Herald of a +New Era," a lecture delivered before the "Young Men's Mercantile +Library Association." To show the magnificent ideas the Americans +entertain of themselves and their country, I will transcribe a few +passages. + +"This nation is an enigma, whose import no man as yet may fully know. +She is a germ of boundless things. The unfolded bud excites the hope of +one-half the human race, while it stirs the remainder with both anger +and alarm. Who shall now paint the beauty and attraction of the +expanded flower? Our Eagle is scarcely fledged; but one wing stretches +over Massachusetts Bay, and the other touches the mouth of the +Columbia. Who shall say, then, what lands shall be overshadowed by the +full-grown pinion? Who shall point to any spot of the northern +continent, and say, with certainty, Here the starry banner shall never +be hailed as the symbol of dominion? [The annexation of Canada!] * * * +It cannot be disguised that the idea is gathering strength among us, +that the territorial mission of this nation is to obtain and hold at +least all that lies north of Panama. * * * Whether the millions that +are to dwell on the great Pacific slope of our continent are to +acknowledge our banner, or rally to standards of their own; whether +Mexico is to become ours by sudden conquest or gradual absorption; +whether the British provinces, when they pass from beneath the sceptre +of England, shall be incorporated with us, or retain an independent +dominion;--are perhaps questions which a not distant future may decide. +However they may be settled, the great fact will remain essentially the +same, that the two continents of this Western Hemisphere shall yet bear +up a stupendous social, political, and religious structure, wrought by +the American mind, moulded and coloured by the hues of American +thought, and animated and united by an American soul. It seems equally +certain that, whatever the divisions of territory may be, these United +States are the living centre, from which already flows the resistless +stream which will ultimately absorb in its own channel, and bear on its +own current, the whole thought of the two Americas. * * * If, then, I +have not over-rated the moral and intellectual vigour of the people of +this nation, and of the policy lately avowed to be acted upon--that the +further occupation of American soil by the Governments of Europe is not +to be suffered,--then the inference is a direct one, that the stronger +elements will control and absorb the lesser, so that the same causes +which melted the red races away will send the influence of the United +States not only over the territory north of Panama, but across the +Isthmus, and southward to Magellan." + +The "New Era" of which America is the "Herald" is, he tells us, to be +marked by three grand characteristics,-- + +"First. A new theory and practice in government and in social life, +such as the world has never seen, of which we only perceive the germ as +yet." Already have you indeed presented before the world your "peculiar +institution" of slavery in a light new and striking. Already have you a +"theory and practice" in the government of slaves such as the world +never beheld! + +"Second. A literature which shall not only be the proper outgrowth of +the American mind, but which shall form a distinctive school, as +clearly so as the literature of Greece!" Under this head he says, "Very +much would I prefer that our literature should appear even in the guise +of the awkward, speculating, guessing, but still original, +strong-minded _American_ Yankee, than to see it mincing in the costume +of a London dandy. I would rather see it, if need be, showing the wild +rough strength, the naturalness and fervour of the extreme West, +equally prepared to liquor with a stranger or to fight with him, than +to see it clad in the gay but filthy garments of the saloons of Paris. +Nay more, much as every right mind abhors and detests such things, I +would sooner behold our literature holding in one hand the murderous +Bowie knife, and in the other the pistol of the duellist, than to see +her laden with the foul secrets of a London hell, or the gaming-houses +of Paris. * * * If we must meet with vice in our literature, let it be +the growth of our own soil; for I think our own rascality has yet the +healthier aspect." + +"Third. A new era in the fine arts, from which future ages shall derive +their models and their inspirations, as we do from Greece and Italy. * +* * So far as scenery is concerned in the moulding of character, we may +safely expect that a country where vastness and beauty are so +wonderfully blended will stamp upon the national soul its own magestic +and glorious image. It must be so. The mind will expand itself to the +measure of things about it. Deep in the wide American soul there shall +be Lake Superiors, inland oceans of thought; and the streams of her +eloquence shall be like the sweep of the Mississippi in his strength. +The rugged strength of the New England hills, the luxuriance of the +sunny South, the measureless expanse of the prairie, the broad flow of +our rivers, the dashing of our cataracts, the huge battlements of the +everlasting mountains,--these are _American_. On the face of the globe +there is nothing like to them. When therefore these various influences +have been thoroughly wrought into the national soul, there will be such +a correspondence between man and the works of God about him, that our +music, our poetry, our eloquence, our all, shall be our own, individual +and peculiar, like the Amazon and the Andes, the Mississippi and +Niagara, alone in their strength and glory." + +Now, mark you! amidst all these splendid visions of the future, there +is no vision of liberty for 3,000,000 of slaves. That idea was too +small to find a place among conceptions so vast. The lecture contains +not a syllable of reference to them. On the contrary, the empty boast +of freedom is heard in the following words of solemn mockery: "_The +soul of man_ here no longer sits _bound_ and blind amid the despotic +forms of the past; it walks abroad _without a shackle_, and with an +uncovered eye." It follows then that there is an essential difference +between "the soul of man" and the soul of "nigger," or rather that +"niggers" have no soul at all. How _can_ men of sense, and especially +ministers of the Gospel, sit down to pen such fustian? These extracts +show how intensely national the Americans are, and consequently how +futile the apology for the existence of slavery so often presented, +that one State can no more interfere with the affairs of another State +than the people of England can with France and the other countries of +the European continent. The Americans are to all intents and purposes +_one_ people. In short, the identity of feeling among the _States_ of +the Union is more complete than among the _counties_ of Great Britain. + +On the morning of the 4th of March, Dr. Stowe called to invite me to +address the students at Lane Seminary, on the following Sabbath +evening, on the subject of missions and the working of freedom in the +West Indies. I readily promised to comply, glad of an opportunity to +address so many of the future pastors of the American Churches, who +will occupy the field when emancipation is sure to be the great +question of the day. In fact, it is so already. + + + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane +Seminary--Departure from Cincinnati. + + +In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B---- to see an Orphan Asylum, +in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I +took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and +anti-colour-hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is +capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at +that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one +apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and +conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place. + +_Myself._--"Now, Mrs. B, this place is very beautiful: I admire it +exceedingly. Would you refuse a little _coloured_ orphan admission into +this asylum?" + +_The Lady._ (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look +of horror and indignation),--"Indeed, we would!" + +_Myself._--"Oh, shocking! shocking!" + +_The Lady._--"Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children; +they are not neglected." + +_Myself._--"Ay, but why should they not be together?--why should there +be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?" + +_The Lady._ (in a tone of triumph).--"Why has God made such a +distinction between them?" + +_Myself._--"And why has he made such a distinction between me and Tom +Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6 +inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from +society on account of his stature as his colour." + +At this moment my wife, seeing I was waxing warm, pulled me by the +coat-tail, and I said no more. The lady, however, went on to say that +she was opposed to slavery--was a colonizationist, and heartily wished +all the coloured people were back again in their own country. "In their +own country, indeed!" I was going to say,--"why, this is their country +as much as it is yours;" but I remembered my wife's admonition, and +held my peace. These were the sentiments of a lady first and foremost +in the charitable movements of the day, and regarded by those around +her as a pattern of piety and benevolence. She was shocked at the +notion of the poor coloured orphan mingling with fellow-orphans of a +fairer hue. + +In the evening we went to take tea at the house of an English Quaker. +About half-a-dozen friends had been invited to meet us. These were +kindred spirits, anti-slavery out-and-out, and we spent the evening +very pleasantly. One of the company, in speaking of the American +prejudice against colour, mentioned a remarkable circumstance. Some +time ago, at an hotel in one of the Eastern States, a highly +respectable coloured gentleman, well known to the host and to his +guests, was about to sit down at the dinner table. A military +officer--a conceited puppy--asked the landlord if that "nigger" was +going to sit down? The landlord replied in the affirmative. "Then," +said the fop, "_I_ cannot sit down with a nigger." The rest of the +company, understanding what was going forward, rose as one man from +their seats, ordered another table to be spread, and presented a +respectful invitation to the coloured gentleman to take a seat with +them. The military dandy was left at the first table, "alone in his +glory." When thus humbled, and when he also understood who the coloured +man was, he went up to him to apologize in the best way he could, and +to beg that the offence might be forgotten. The coloured gentleman's +reply was beautiful and touching,--"Favours I write on marble, insults +on sand." + +On the morning of the 5th of March, the sun shining pleasantly, we were +tempted to cross over to Covington, on the Kentucky or slave side of +the river. Ferry-steamers ran every five or ten minutes, and the fare +was only 5 cents. At this place the Baptists have a large and important +college. Why did they erect it on the slave rather than on the free +side of the Ohio? This institution I was anxious to see; but I found it +too far off, and the roads too bad. Feeling weary and faint, we called +at a house of refreshment, where we had a genuine specimen of American +inquisitiveness. + +In five minutes the daughter of the house had asked us where we came +from--what sort of a place it was--how long we had been in the United +States--how long it took us to come--how far we were going--how long we +should stay--and if we did not like that part of America so well that +we would come and settle in it altogether! and in five minutes more our +answers to all these important questions had been duly reported to the +rest of the family in an adjoining room. This inquisitiveness prevails +more in the slave than in the free States, and originates, I believe, +in the fidgetty anxiety they feel about their slaves. The stranger must +be well catechised, lest he should prove to be an Abolitionist come to +give the slaves a sly lesson in geography. + +In the afternoon I went to see the school of the coloured children in +Cincinnati. This was established about four years ago by a Mr. Gilmore, +a white gentleman, who is also a minister of the Gospel. He is a man of +some property, and all connected with this school has been done at his +own risk and responsibility. On my venturing to inquire what sacrifice +of property he had made in the undertaking, he seemed hurt at the +question, and replied, "No sacrifice whatever, sir." "But what, may I +ask, have these operations cost beyond what you have received in the +way of school-fees?" I continued. "About 7,000 dollars," (1,500_l._) +said he. Including two or three branches, there are about 300 coloured +children thus educated. Mr. Gilmore was at first much opposed and +ridiculed; but that state of feeling was beginning to wear away. +Several of the children were so fair that, accustomed as I am to shades +of colour, I could not distinguish them from the Anglo-Saxon race; and +yet Mr. Gilmore told me even they would not have been admitted to the +other public schools! How discerning the Americans are! How proud of +their skin-deep aristocracy! And the author of "Cincinnati in 1841," in +speaking of those very schools from which these fair children were +excluded, says, "These schools are founded not merely on the principle +that all men are free and equal, but that all men's children are so +likewise; and that, as it is our duty to love our neighbour as +ourselves, it is our duty to provide the same benefits and blessings to +his children as to our own. These establishments result from the +recognition of the fact also, that we have all a common +interest--moral, political, and pecuniary--in the education of the +whole community." Those gloriously exclusive schools I had no wish to +visit. But I felt a peculiar pleasure in visiting this humbler yet +well-conducted institution, for the benefit of those who are despised +and degraded on account of their colour. As I entered, a music-master +was teaching them, with the aid of a piano, to sing some select pieces +for an approaching examination, both the instrument and the master +having been provided by the generous Gilmore. Even the music-master, +notwithstanding his first-rate ability, suffers considerable loss of +patronage on account of his services in this branded school. Among the +pieces sung, and sung exceedingly well, was the following touching +appeal, headed "The Fugitive Slave to the Christian"--Air, +"Cracovienne." + +"The fetters galled my weary soul,-- + A soul that seemed but thrown away: +I spurned the tyrant's base control, + Resolved at last the man to play: + The hounds are haying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I felt the stripes,--the lash I saw, + Red dripping with a father's gore; +And, worst of all their lawless law, + The insults that my mother bore! + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"Where human law o'errules Divine, + Beneath the sheriff's hammer fell +My wife and babes,--I call them mine,-- + And where they suffer who can tell? + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I seek a home where man is man, + If such there be upon this earth,-- +To draw my kindred, if I can, + Around its free though humble hearth. + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back?" + +March 7.--This being the Sabbath, we went in the morning to worship at +Mr. Boynton's church. The day was very wet, and the congregation small. +His text was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every +creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that +believeth not shall be damned." The sermon, though read, and composed +too much in the essay style, indicated considerable powers of mind and +fidelity of ministerial character. Although from incessant rain the day +was very dark, the Venetian blinds were down over all the windows! The +Americans, I have since observed, are particularly fond of the "dim +religious light." Among the announcements from the pulpit were several +funerals, which it is there customary thus to advertise. + +In the afternoon I heard Dr. Beecher. Here, again, I found the blinds +down. The Doctor's text was, "Let me first go and bury my father," &c. +Without at all noticing the context,--an omission which I +regretted,--he proceeded at once to state the doctrine of the text to +be, that nothing can excuse the putting off of religion--that it is +every man's duty to follow Christ immediately. This subject, +notwithstanding the heaviness of the day, the infirmities of more than +threescore years and ten (74), and the frequent necessity of adjusting +his spectacles to consult his notes, he handled with much vigour and +zeal. Some of his pronunciations were rather antiquated; but they were +the elegant New England pronunciations of his youthful days. The sermon +was marked by that close and faithful dealing with the conscience in +which so many American ministers excel. + +Professor Allen called to take me up to Lane Seminary, where I was to +address the students in the evening. The service was public, and held +in the chapel of the institution; but the evening being wet, the +congregation was small. I had, however, before me the future pastors of +about fifty churches, and two of the professors. I was domiciled at Mr. +Allen's. Both he and his intelligent wife are sound on the subject of +slavery. They are also quite above the contemptible prejudice against +colour. But I was sorry to hear Mrs. Allen say, that, in her domestic +arrangements, she had often had a great deal of trouble with her +_European_ servants, who would refuse to take their meals with black +ones, though the latter were in every respect superior to the former! I +have heard similar remarks in other parts of America. Mr. Allen's +system of domestic training appeared excellent. His children, of whom +he has as many as the patriarch Jacob, were among the loveliest I had +ever seen. + +At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 8th of March I left Lane Seminary, +with a heavy heart at the thought that in all probability I should +never see it again. There was a sharp frost. Dr. Stowe accompanied me +to the omnibus. "All right!"--"_Pax vobiscum!_"--the vehicle moved on, +and directly the Doctor was at a distance of a hundred yards waving a +farewell. It was the last look. + +At 11 A.M. myself, wife, baggage,--all were setting off from the "Queen +City" for Pittsburgh, a distance of 496 miles, in the Clipper No. 2, a +fine boat, and in good hands. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills. + + +Before proceeding with our trip to Pittsburg, I will bring together all +the material points of information I have gathered relative to +Cincinnati. + +1. _Its History and Progress_.--The first year of the present century +found here but 750 inhabitants. In 1810 there were 2,540; in 1820, +9,602; in 1830, 24,381; in 1840, 46,382. At present the population is +estimated at 80,000. The coloured population forms one twenty-fifth, or +4 per cent., of the whole. The native Europeans form one-fifth of the +white population. + +2. _Its Trade and Commerce_.--The principal trade is in pork. Hence +the nickname of _Porkapolis_. The yearly value of pork packed and +exported is about five millions of dollars, or one million of guineas! +As a proof of the amazing activity which characterizes all the details +of cutting, curing, packing, &c., I have been credibly informed that +two men, in one of the pork-houses, cut up in less than thirteen hours +850 hogs, averaging 300 lbs. each,--two others placing them on the +block for the purpose. All these hogs were weighed singly on scales in +the course of eleven hours. Another hand trimmed the hams, 1,700 +pieces, in "Cincinnati style," as fast as they were separated from the +carcases. The hogs were thus cut up and disposed of at the rate of more +than one per minute! And this, I was told, was not much beyond the +ordinary day's work at the pork-houses. + +Steam-boat building is another important branch of trade in this place. + + DOLLARS. +In 1840 there were built here 33 boats of 15,341 tons, + costing 592,600 + 1844 " " 37 " 7,838 " 542,500 + 1845 " " 27 " 6,609 " 506,500 + +3. _Its Periodical Press_.--There are sixteen daily papers! Of these, +thirteen issue also a weekly number. Besides these, there are seventeen +weekly papers unconnected with daily issues. But Cincinnati is liberal +in her patronage of eastern publications. During the year 1845 one +house, that of Robinson and Jones, the principal periodical depot in +the city, and through which the great body of the people are supplied +with this sort of literature, sold of + +Magazines and Periodicals 29,822 numbers. +Newspapers 25,390[1] " +Serial Publications 30,826 " +Works of Fiction 48,961 " ! + +[Footnote 1: Besides an immense quantity sent direct per mail!] + +It is estimated that the people of the United States, at the present +time, support 1,200 newspapers. There being no stamp-duty, no duty on +paper, and none on advertisements, the yearly cost of a daily paper, +such as the _New York Tribune_ for instance, is only 5 dollars, or one +guinea. The price of a single copy of such papers is only 2 cents, or +one penny; and many papers are only one cent, or a half-penny per copy. + +4. _Its Church Accommodation_.--By the close of the year 1845 the +voluntary principle, without any governmental or municipal aid +whatever, had provided the following places of worship:-- + +Presbyterian 12 New Jerusalem 1 +Methodist Episcopal 12 Universalist 1 +Roman Catholic 7 Second Advent 1 +Baptist 5 Mormons 1 +Lutheran 5 Friends 1 +Protestant Episcopal 4 Congregational 1 +"Christian Disciples" 4 Restorationists 1 +Methodist Protestants 3 United Brethren 1 +Jewish 2 "Christians" 1 +Welsh 2 +German Reformed 2 Total 67 + +This number of places of worship, at an average of 600 persons to each, +would afford accommodation for nearly two-thirds of what the entire +population was at that time; and surely two-thirds of any community is +quite as large a proportion as can, under the most favourable +circumstances, be expected to attend places of worship at any given +time. Behold, then, the strength and efficiency of the voluntary +principle! This young city, with all its wants, is far better furnished +with places of worship than the generality of commercial and +manufacturing towns in England. + +Dr. Reed visited Cincinnati in 1834. He gives the population at that +time at 30,000, and the places of worship as follows. I insert them +that you may see at a glance what the voluntary principle did in the +eleven years that followed. + +Presbyterian 6 Campbellite Baptists 1 +Methodist 4 Jews 1 +Baptist 2 -- +Episcopalian 2 Total in 1834 21 +German Lutheran 2 Do. in 1845 67 +Unitarian 1 -- +Roman Catholic 1 Increase 46 +Swedes 1 + +5. _Its Future Prospects_.--The author of "Cincinnati in 1841" says, "I +venture the prediction that within 100 years from this time Cincinnati +will be the greatest city in America, and by the year of our Lord 2,000 +the greatest city in the world." Our cousin here uses the superlative +degree when the comparative would be more appropriate. Deduct 80 or 90 +per cent, from this calculation, and you still leave before this city a +bright prospect of future greatness. + +We must, however, bid adieu to this "Queen of the West," and pursue our +course against the Ohio's current towards Pittsburg. We steam along +between freedom and slavery. The contrast is striking. On this subject +the remarks of the keen and philosophic M. de Tocqueville are so +accurate, and so much to the point, that I cannot do better than +transcribe and endorse them. + +"A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies, +when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact +that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves +increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity, more rapidly +than those which contained the greatest number of negroes. In the +former, however, the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil +themselves, or by hired labourers; in the latter, they were furnished +with hands for which they paid no wages: yet, although labour and +expense were on the one side, and ease with economy on the other, the +former were in possession of the most advantageous system. * * * The +more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so +cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master. + +"But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization +reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had +distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of +the most magnificent valleys which have ever been made the abode of +man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil +affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On either bank the air +is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of those banks forms the +extreme frontier of a vast State: that which follows the numerous +windings of the Ohio on the left is Kentucky [in ascending the river it +was on our _right_]; that on the right [our left] bearing the name of +the river. These two States differ only in one respect,--Kentucky has +admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has not. * * * + +"Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to +time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert +fields; the primeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be +asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and +life. + +"From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which +proclaims the presence of industry; the fields are covered with +abundant harvests; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste +and activity of the labourer; and man appears to be in the enjoyment of +that wealth and contentment which are the reward of labour." + +The Kentucky and the Ohio States are nearly equal as to their area in +square miles. Kentucky was founded in 1775, and Ohio in 1788. In 1840 +the population of Kentucky was 779,828, while that of Ohio was +1,519,467--nearly double that of the former. By this time it is far +more than double. + +"Upon the left bank of the Ohio," continues De Tocqueville, "labour is +confounded with the idea of slavery; upon the right bank it is +identified with that of prosperity and improvement: on the one side it +is degraded, on the other it is honoured. On the former territory no +white labourers can be found, for they would be afraid of assimilating +themselves to the negroes; on the latter no one is idle, for the white +population extends its activity and its intelligence to every kind of +improvement. Thus the men whose task it is to cultivate the rich soil +of Kentucky are ignorant and lukewarm; while those who are active and +enlightened either do nothing or pass over into the State of Ohio, +where they may work without dishonour." + +March the 9th was a dull day; but the scenery was of surpassing beauty. +At night a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with +rain, compelled us to "lie to." A charming morning succeeded. During +the forenoon, we passed a small town on the Virginia side called +Elizabeth Town. An Indian mound was pointed out to me, which in size +and shape resembled "Tomen y Bala" in North Wales. These artificial +mounds are very numerous in the valleys of the Ohio and the +Mississippi. The ancient relics they are sometimes found to contain +afford abundant proofs that these fertile regions were once peopled by +a race of men in a far higher state of civilization than the Indians +when first discovered by the white man. The innocent and imaginative +speculations of a Christian minister in the State of Ohio on these +ancient remains laid the foundation of the curious book of "Mormon." + +Nature being now arrayed in her winter dress, we could form but a faint +conception of her summer loveliness when clothed in her gayest green. +Hills were seen rising up, sometimes almost perpendicularly from the +stream, and sometimes skirted with fertile fields extending to the +river's edge. Here a house on the brow of a hill, and there another at +its base. Here the humble log hut, and there the elegant mansion, and +sometimes both in unequal juxtaposition. The hills are in parts +scolloped in continuous succession, presenting a beautiful display of +unity and diversity combined; but often they appear in isolated and +distinct grandeur, like a row of semi-globes; while, in other +instances, they rise one above another like apples in a fruit-vase. +Sometimes the rivulets are seen like silver cords falling +perpendicularly into the river; at other times, you discern them only +by their musical murmurs as they roll on through deep ravines formed by +their own action. These hills, for more than 100 miles before you come +to Pittsburg, are literally heaps of coal. In height they vary from 100 +to 500 feet, and nothing more is required than to clear off the soil, +and then dig away the treasure. + +What struck me most was the immense number of children everywhere +gazing upon us from the river's banks. At settlements of not more than +half-a-dozen houses, I counted a groupe of more than twenty children. + + + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance--Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America. + + +Arriving at Pittsburg in the middle of the night of the 10th of March, +we remained on board till morning. As we had been accustomed on this +"Clipper No. 2" to breakfast at half-past 7, I thought they surely +would not send us empty away. But no! we had to turn out at that early +hour of a morning piercingly cold, and get a breakfast where we could, +or remain without. This was "clipping" us rather too closely, after we +had paid seven dollars each for our passage and provisions. + +Pittsburg is in the State of Pennsylvania. Its progress has been rapid, +and its prospects are bright. Seventy years ago the ground on which it +stands was a wilderness, the abode of wild beasts and the hunting +ground of Indians. Its manufactures are chiefly those of glass, iron, +and cotton. It is the Birmingham of America. Indeed one part of it, +across the river, is called "Birmingham," and bids fair to rival its +old namesake. Its advantages and resources are unparalleled. It +occupies in reference to the United States, north and south, east and +west, a perfectly central position. It is surrounded with, solid +mountains of coal, which--dug out, as I have intimated, with the +greatest ease--is conveyed with equal ease down inclined planes to the +very furnace mouths of the foundries and factories! This great workshop +communicates directly, by means of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Red +River, &c., with immense countries, extending to Texas, to Mexico, and +to the Gulph. Its population, already 70,000, is (I believe) +incomparably more intelligent, more temperate, more religious, and more +steady than that of any manufacturing town in England. In fact, England +has not much chance of competing successfully with America, unless her +artizans copy more extensively the example of the American people in +the entire abandonment of intoxicating liquors. In travelling leisurely +from New Orleans to Boston (the whole length of the United States), and +sitting down at all sorts of tables, on land and on water, private and +public, I have never once seen even wine brought to the table. Nothing +but water was universally used! + +At Pittsburg I bought three good-sized newspapers for 5 cents, or +twopence-halfpenny. One of them, _The Daily Morning Post_, was a large +sheet, measuring 3 feet by 2, and well filled on both sides with close +letter-press, for 2 cents, or one penny. The absence of duty on paper +and of newspaper stamps is no doubt one great cause of the advanced +intelligence of the mass of the American people. What an absurd policy +is that of the British Government, first to impose taxes upon +_knowledge_, and then to use the money in promoting _education_! + +At Pittsburg the Ohio ends, or rather begins, by the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers. We ascended the latter to +Brownsville, about 56 miles. Having booked ourselves at an office, we +had to get into a smaller steamer on the other side of the bridge which +spans the river. The entire charge to Philadelphia was 12 dollars each. +We went by the "Consul," at half-past 8 A.M. of the 11th of March. The +water was very high, as had been the case in the Ohio all the way from +Cincinnati. We had not proceeded far when I found the passengers +a-stir, as if they had got to their journey's end. What was the matter? +Why, we had come to falls, which it was very doubtful whether the +steamer could get over. The passengers were soon landed, and the +steamer, with the crew, left to attempt the ascent. There were locks at +hand by which, under ordinary circumstances, boats evaded the +difficulty; but the flood was now so great that they could not be used. +Our steamer, therefore, stirred up her fires, raised her steam, brought +all her powers to bear, faced the difficulty, dashed into it, cut +along, and set at defiance the fury of the flood. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--"No!"--"She's at a stand,"--the next moment she +was gliding back with the torrent: she had failed! But _nil +desperandum_. "Try--try--try again!" An immense volume of smoke issued +from her chimney, and soon she seemed again to be fully inflated with +her vapoury aliment. I expected every moment an explosion, and, while +rejoicing in our own safety on _terra firma_, felt tremblingly anxious +for the lives of those on board. Having had sufficient time to "recover +strength," she made for the foaming surge once more. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--she paused--but it was only for the twinkling of +an eye,--the next moment she was over, and the bank's of the +Monongahela resounded with the joyful shouts of the gazing passengers. +We now breathed more freely, and were soon on board again; but we had +not advanced very far before we had to get out once more, in +consequence of other falls, which were stemmed with the same +inconvenience, the same anxiety, and the same success as in the +preceding instance. + +But ere long an obstacle more formidable than the falls presented +itself--a bridge across the river. This bridge the boats were +accustomed to pass under, but the water was now so high that it could +not be done; and we had to wait till another boat belonging to the same +company, above the bridge, came down from Brownsville, and enabled us +to effect an exchange of passengers; for neither of the boats could get +under the bridge. The down boat soon made its appearance; and a scene +of confusion ensued which I know not how to describe. Imagine two sets +of passengers, about 150 persons in each set, exchanging boats! Three +hundred travellers jostling against each other, with "plunder" +amounting to some thousands of packages, to be removed a distance of +300 or 400 yards, at the risk and responsibility of the owners, without +any care or concern on the part of the officers of the boats! Trunks +seemed to run on wheels, carpet-bags to have wings, and portmanteaus to +jump about like grasshoppers. If you had put down one article while +looking for the rest, in an instant it would be gone. In this amusing +scuffle were involved several members of Congress, returning in the +"down" boat from their legislative duties. The celebrated Judge M'Lean +was among them. But the safety of some box or parcel was just then--to +most of us--of more importance than all the great men in the world. The +baggage storm being over, and the great division and trans-shipment +effected, we moved forward in peace. By-and-by, however, each one was +called upon to show his baggage, that it might be set apart for the +particular coach to which it would have to be consigned. This was a +most troublesome affair. At half-past 6 in the evening we arrived at +Brownsville, having been ten hours in getting over the 56 miles from +Pittsburg. + +And now for the stage-coaches; for, _nolens volens_, "a-head" we must +go that very night. About seven or eight coaches were filled by those +of our fellow-passengers who, like ourselves, were going to cross the +mountains. Some of the vehicles set off immediately; but three waited +to let their passengers get tea or supper, meals which in America are +identical. About 8 P.M. we started on our cold and dreary journey of 73 +miles across the Alleghany Mountains. A stage-coach in America is a +very different thing from the beautiful machine that used to pass by +that name in England. + +It has no outside accommodation, except for one person on the box along +with the driver. The inside, in addition to the fore seat and the hind +seat, has also a middle seat across the vehicle. Each of these three +seats holds three persons, making nine in all. In our stage we had ten +persons; but the ten, in a pecuniary point of view, were only eight and +a half. The night was fearfully dark, and the roads were altogether +unworthy of the name. Yet there is an immense traffic on this route, +which is the highway from East to West. The Americans, with all their +"smartness," have not the knack of making either good roads or good +streets. About 11 P.M. we arrived at Uniontown, 12 miles from +Brownsville. There the horses were to be changed, an operation which +took about an hour to accomplish. Three coaches were there together. +The passengers rushed out of the inn, where we had been warming +ourselves, and jumped into the coaches. Crack went the whips, off went +the horses, and round went the wheels. But, alas! while we could hear +the rattling of the other coaches, our own moved not at all! "Driver, +why don't you be off?" No answer. "Driver, push on." No reply. "Go +a-head, driver,--don't keep us here all night." No notice taken. We +began to thump and stamp. No response. At last I put my head out +through the window. There _was_ no driver; and, worse still, there were +no horses! How was this? There was no "team," we were told, for our +coach! I jumped out, and began to make diligent inquiry: one told me +one thing, and another another. At length I learned that there was a +"team" in the stable, but there was no driver disposed to go. The one +who should have taken us was cursing and swearing in bed, and would not +get up. This was provoking enough. "Where is the agent of the +stage-coach company?"--"He lives about 47 miles off." "Where is the +landlord of this house?"--"He is in bed." There we were helpless and +deserted on the highroad, between 12 and 1 o'clock, in an extremely +cold night, without any redress or any opportunity of appeal! It was +nobody's business to care for us. I groped my way, however, to some +outbuilding, where about half-a-dozen drivers were snoring in their +beds, and, with the promise of making it "worth his while," succeeded +in inducing one of them to get up and take us to the next place for +changing horses. But before we could get off it was 2 o'clock in the +morning. We reached the next station, a distance of 10 miles, at 5 +P.M., and paid our driver two dollars. In America drivers are not +accustomed to receive gratuities from passengers, but ours was a +peculiar case. After a most wearisome day of travel, being tossed about +in the coach like balls, expecting every moment to be upset, and +feeling bruised all over, we reached Cumberland at 9 P.M., having been +25 hours in getting over 73 miles, at the amazing rate of 3 miles an +hour! In Cumberland we had to stay all night. + +At 8 A.M. the next day we set off by railway, or (as the Americans +would say) "by the cars," to Baltimore. In committing my trunk to the +luggage-van, I was struck with the simplicity and suitableness of the +check system there adopted. A piece of tin, with a certain number upon +it, was fastened by a strap to each article of baggage, and a duplicate +piece given to the passenger. I also remarked the size, shape, and +fittings-up of the cars. They are from 30 to 50 feet long, having an +aisle right through the middle from end to end, and on each side of +that aisle rows of seats, each of sufficient length to accommodate two +persons. The arrangement reminded me of a little country meeting-house, +the congregation amounting to from 50 to 100 persons. Each carriage +contained a stove,--at that season a most important article of +furniture. The seats, which were very nicely cushioned, had their hacks +so arranged as that the passengers could easily turn them as they +pleased, and sit with either their faces or their backs "towards the +horses" as they might feel disposed. This part of the arrangement is +indispensable, as these long carriages can never be turned. The hind +part in coming is the fore part in going, and _vice versa_. The +distinctions of first, second, and third class carriages are unknown. +That would be too aristocratic. But the "niggers" must go into the +luggage-van. These republican carriages are very neatly fitted up, +being mostly of mahogany with crimson velvet linings; but you often +feel annoyed that such dirty people should get in. + + + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage +--A Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and +Dr. Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr Plummer's Pro slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church. + + +The railway from Cumberland to Baltimore is 178 miles long, and (like +most lines in the States) is single. This fact is important, for our +cousins, in boasting of the hundreds or thousands of miles of railway +they have constructed, forget to tell us that they are nearly all +single. Here and there they have a double set of rails, like our +sidings, to enable trains to pass each other. + +The ground was covered with snow, otherwise the scenery would have been +magnificent. For a long time the Potomac was our companion. More than +once we had to cross the stream on wooden bridges; so that we had it +sometimes on our right and sometimes on our left, ourselves being +alternately in Virginia and in Maryland. When within 14 miles of +Baltimore, and already benighted, we were told we could not proceed, on +account of some accident to a luggage-tram that was coming up. The +engine, or (as the Americans invariably say) the "locomotive," had got +off the rail, and torn up the ground in a frightful manner; but no one +was hurt. We were detained for 7 hours; and instead of getting into +Baltimore at 8 P.M., making an average of about 15 miles an hour, which +was the utmost we had been led to expect, we did not get there till 3 +A.M., bringing our average rate per hour down to about 9-1/2 miles. The +tediousness of the delay was considerably relieved by a man sitting +beside me avowing himself a thorough Abolitionist, and a hearty friend +of the coloured race. He spoke out his sentiments openly and +fearlessly, and was quite a match for any one that dared to assail him. +His name was Daniel Carmichael, of Brooklyn. He is a great railway and +canal contractor, and has generally in his employ from 500 to 800 +people. He is also a very zealous "teetotaler." We had also a _Mrs. +Malaprop_, from Baltimore, with us, who told us, among other marvellous +things, that in that city they took the _senses_ (census) of the people +every month. She was very anxious to let all around her know that her +husband was a medical man: she therefore wondered what "the Doctor" was +then doing, what "the Doctor" thought of the non-arrival of the train, +whether "the Doctor" would be waiting for her at the station, and +whether "the Doctor" would bring his own carriage, or hire one, to meet +her, &c. + +March 14.--The day on which we arrived at Baltimore was the Sabbath. In +a public room in the National Hotel, at which we were stopping, was +hung up a nicely-framed announcement of the order of services in one of +the Presbyterian Churches. We wished, however, to find a Congregational +place of worship, and set off with that view. It was a beautiful day, +and Baltimore seemed to send forth its inhabitants by streets-full to +the various churches. In the _Old_ World I never saw anything like it, +nor elsewhere in the _New_, except perhaps at Boston. All secular +engagements seemed to be entirely suspended, and the whole city seemed +to enjoy a Sabbath! As we walked along, I asked a young man if he could +direct me to a Congregational church. He stared at me for a moment, and +then said, "Do you mean a church with pews in it?" I asked another, +"Can you tell me where I shall find a Congregational church in this +city?"--"What congregation do you mean, sir?" was the reply. They +evidently knew nothing at all about Congregationalism. The fact was, as +I afterwards understood, we had not yet come into its latitude; for in +America Presbyterianism and Congregationalism have hitherto been +matters of latitude and longitude rather than of earnest conviction and +firm adherence. We now inquired for a _Presbyterian_ church, and were +told that there was one not far from where we then stood, in which Mr. +Plummer--a very popular minister just come into the city--preached. +Following the directions given, we came to a certain church, in front +of which two or three grave men stood talking to each other. In answer +to the question, "What church is this?" one of these grave men said, +with a good broad Scotch accent, "It's a Presbyterian church." The +accent gave a double confirmation to the answer. "Is it Mr. Plummer's +church?" I continued. With the same accent, and in a tone of gentle +rebuke, I was told, "Yes, it is _Doctor_ Plummer's." We entered. The +congregation were assembling. We were left either to stand in the aisle +or to take a seat as we pleased. We preferred the latter. The building +was new, but built in the old Gothic style. The pews, the pulpit, the +front of the gallery, the organ, and the framework of the roof, which +was all exposed, were of oak, which had been made to resemble in colour +wood that has stood the test of 400 or 500 years. The windows also were +darkened. The whole affair was tremendously heavy, enough to mesmerize +any one. The congregation was large, respectable, and decorous. After a +few glances around, to see if there was a negro pew anywhere, I +observed several coloured faces peeping from a recess in the gallery, +on the left side of the organ,--there was the "Negro Pew," In due time +_Doctor_ Plummer ascended the pulpit. He was a fine tall man, +grey-haired, well dressed, with commanding aspect and a powerful voice. +I ceased to wonder at the emphasis with which the Scotchman called him +_Doctor_ Plummer. He was quite the _ideal_ of a _Doctor_. His text was +John iii. 18: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that +believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the +name of the only begotten Son of God." His subject was, that "man is +justly accountable to God for his belief." This truth he handled in a +masterly manner, tossing about as with a giant's arm Lord Brougham and +the Universalists. Notwithstanding my want of rest on the previous +night, the absurd heaviness of the building, and the fact that the +sermon--which occupied a full hour--was all read, I listened with +almost breathless attention, and was sorry when he had done. + +And who was this Dr. Plummer? It was Dr. Plummer late of Richmond, in +Virginia. "Richmond," says Dr. Reed, "is still the great mart of +slavery; and the interests of morality and religion suffer from this +cause. Several persons of the greatest wealth, and therefore of the +greatest consideration in the town, are known slave-dealers; and their +influence, in addition to the actual traffic, is of course +unfavourable. The sale of slaves is as common, and produces as little +sensation, as that of cattle. It occurs in the main street, and before +the door of the party who is commissioned to make the sale." And what +was the conduct of this Doctor of Divinity in reference to this state +of things? He sanctioned it! He pleaded for it! He lived upon it! He +was once actually supported, either wholly or in part, by slave labour! +The church of which he was the pastor was endowed with a number of +slaves. These slaves were hired out, and the proceeds were given in the +way of stipend to the _Doctor_! Nor is this all. A few years ago the +slave-holders of the South were greatly alarmed by the vigorous efforts +of the Abolitionists of the North. It was about the time that the +Charleston Post-office was plundered by a mob of several thousand +people, and all the anti-slavery publications there found were made a +bonfire of in the street; and where "the clergy of all denominations +attended in a body, lending their sanction to the proceedings, and +adding by their presence to the impressive character of the scene." On +that occasion the clergy of the city of Richmond were not less prompt +than their brethren of Charleston in responding to the "public +sentiment."' They resolved _unanimously_,-- + +"That we earnestly deprecate the unwarrantable and highly improper +interference of the people of any other State with the domestic +relations of master and slave. + +"That the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles, in not +interfering with the question of slavery, but uniformly recognising the +relations of master and servant, and giving full and affectionate +instruction to both, is worthy the imitation of all ministers of the +Gospel. + +"That we will not patronise nor receive any pamphlet or newspaper of +the Anti-slavery Societies, and that we will discountenance the +circulation of all such papers in the community. + +"That the suspicions which have prevailed to a considerable extent +against ministers of the Gospel and professors of religion in the State +of Virginia, as identified with Abolitionists, are _wholly unmerited_; +believing as we do, from extensive acquaintance with our churches and +brethren, that they are unanimous in opposing the pernicious schemes of +Abolitionists." + +After this, are men to be branded as "infidels," because they say the +American churches are the "bulwarks of slavery?" + +But what has all this to do with our fine-looking and dignified +"_Doctor_?" I will tell you. When these resolutions were passed, he was +from home; but on his return, he lost no time in communicating to the +"Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence" his entire concurrence +with what had been done,--and here are extracts from his letter:-- + +"I have carefully watched this matter from its earliest existence; and +everything I have seen or heard of its character, both from its patrons +and its enemies, has confirmed me beyond repentance in the belief, +that, let the character of the Abolitionists be what it may in the +sight of the Judge of all the earth, this is the most meddlesome, +impudent, reckless, fierce, and wicked excitement I ever saw. + +"If Abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but right that +they should receive the _first warming at the fire_. + +"Let it be proclaimed throughout the nation, that every movement made +by the fanatics (so far as it has any effect in the South) does but +rivet every fetter of the bondman, and diminish the probability of +anything being successfully undertaken for making him either fit for +freedom or likely to obtain it. We have the authority of Montesquieu, +Burke, and Coleridge, three eminent masters of the science of human +nature, that, of all men, slave-holders are the most jealous of their +liberties. One of Pennsylvania's most gifted sons has lately pronounced +the South the _cradle of liberty_. + +"Lastly. Abolitionists are like infidels, wholly unaddicted to +martyrdom for opinion's sake. Let them understand that _they will be +caught_ [lynched] if they come among us, and they will take good heed +to keep out of our way. There is not one man among them who has any +more idea of shedding his blood in the cause, than he has of making war +on the Grand Turk." + +So much for my splendid D.D., on whose lips I hung with such intense +interest. I did not know all this at the time, or I should have felt +very differently. As he had but recently left Richmond when I saw him, +it is not at all unlikely that those fine clothes he had on were the +fruit of the slave's unrequited toil. He has always, I believe, stood +high among his brethren, and one or two excellent tracts of his are +published by the American Tract Society. + +All denominations are here alike guilty in reference to their coloured +brethren. In this very city the General Conference of the Methodist +Episcopal Church for 1840 passed the following resolution:-- + +"That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher to permit +coloured persons to give testimony against white persons in any State +where they are denied that privilege by law." + +Against this iniquitous resolution the official members of two of the +coloured Methodist Episcopal Churches in Baltimore immediately +remonstrated and petitioned. The following powerful and pathetic +passages are from their address:-- + +"The adoption of such a resolution by our highest ecclesiastical +judicatory,--a judicatory composed of the most experienced and the +wisest brethren in the Church, the choice selection of twenty-eight +Annual Conferences,--has inflicted, we fear, an irreparable injury upon +eighty thousand souls for whom Christ died,--souls who, by this act of +your body, have been stripped of the dignity of Christians, degraded in +the scale of humanity, and treated as criminals, for no other reason +than the colour of their skin! Your resolution has, in our humble +opinion, _virtually_ declared that a mere physical peculiarity, the +handiwork of our all-wise and benevolent Creator, is _primâ facie_ +evidence of incompetency to tell the truth, or is an unerring +indication of unworthiness to bear testimony against a fellow-being +whose skin is denominated white. * * * + +"Brethren, out of the abundance of the heart we have spoken. _Our +grievance is before you_! If you have any regard for the salvation of +the eighty thousand immortal souls committed to your care,--if you +would not _thrust_ beyond the pale of the Church _twenty-five thousand +souls in this city_, who have felt determined never to leave the Church +that has nourished and brought them up,--if you regard us as children +of one Common Father, and can upon reflection sympathize with us as +members of the body of Christ,--if you would not incur the fearful, the +tremendous responsibility of offending not only one, but many thousands +of his 'little ones,'--we conjure you to wipe from your journal the +odious resolution which is ruining our people." + +This address was presented to one of the Secretaries, a delegate of the +Baltimore Conference, and subsequently given by him to the Bishops. How +many of the members of Conference saw it, is unknown. One thing is +certain, _it was never read to the Conference_. + + + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will. + + +In the afternoon of my first Sabbath at Baltimore I found, after much +inquiry, a congregation of coloured people, who were some sort of +Methodists. My wife and I were the only white people in the place. We +were treated with great politeness, and put, not in a pew apart by +ourselves, but in one of the best places they could find, in the very +midst of the congregation. A serious-looking coloured man opened the +service, with great propriety of manner and expression. He was the +regular pastor. A black man, a stranger as I understood, preached. His +text (he said) was, "Behold, I come quickly;" and they would find it in +the Book of Revelation. But chapter and verse were not given, nor had +he the Bible open in Revelation at all. I suspected that he could not +read; and that suspicion was confirmed by the amount of nonsense which +he soon uttered. At first his words were "few and far between," uttered +in a tone of voice scarcely audible. Soon, however, he worked both +himself and his audience into a tremendous phrenzy. The burden of his +song was--how John had lived to a very great age, in spite of all +attempts to put him to death; how his enemies had at last decided to +try the plan of throwing him into a "kittle of biling ile;" how God had +said to him, "Never mind, John,--if they throw thee into that kittle, +I'll go there with thee,--they shall bile me too;" how John was +therefore taken up alive; and how his persecutors, baffled in all their +efforts to despatch him, ultimately determined to throw their victim +upon a desolate island, and leave him there to live or perish as he +might. During the delivery of all this nonsense, the laughing, the +shouting, the groaning, and the jumping were positively terrific. It +was Methodism gone mad. How disgraceful, that American Christians, so +called, with all their schools and colleges, and with all their efforts +to send the Gospel to Africa, should leave these people at their very +doors thus to feed upon "husks" and "ashes!" Between 500 and 600 people +were listening to this ignorant man, giving as the pure and positive +word of God what was of very doubtful authority, intermingled with the +crudities of his own brain. I wished to stay through the service, and +perhaps at the close express my fraternal feelings; but I was so +shocked and grieved at this ranting exhibition that I felt it +unwarrantable to remain. + +Leaving these unfortunate people, we peeped into two cathedral +churches,--that of the Church of England, or (as it is here called) the +Protestant Episcopal Church, and that of the Church of Rome. Both +buildings are very splendid. We had been in the former some time before +we felt quite sure that we were not in a Popish place of worship, so +papistical were its aspect and arrangements. It was evident that +Puseyism, or Popery in some form, had there its throne and its sceptre. +The avowedly Popish cathedral was crowded with worshippers; and, to the +shame of Protestantism be it spoken, black and coloured people were +_there_ seen intermingled with the whites in the performance of their +religious ceremonies! The State of Maryland, of which Baltimore is the +capital, having been first settled by a colony of Roman Catholics, +might be expected to be a stronghold of Popery. Yet, it is not so. The +adherents of that system are but a small minority of the population. + +Baltimore is, however, a stronghold of slavery. Here Garrison's +indignation against the system was first kindled--here Frederick +Douglas tasted some of its bitter draughts--and here Torrey died its +victim. The following are specimens of the manner in which the trade in +human flesh is carried on in this city:-- + +"NEGROES WANTED.--I have removed from my former residence. West +Pratt-street, to my new establishment on Camden-street, immediately in +the rear of the Railroad Depôt, where I am permanently located. Persons +bringing Negroes by the cars will find it very convenient, as it is +only a few yards from where the passengers get out. Those having +Negroes for sale will find it to their advantage to call and see me, as +I am at all times paying the highest prices in cash. + +"J. S. DONOVAN, Balt. Md." + +"o28--6m*." + +"CASH FOR FIVE HUNDRED NEGROES.--At the old establishment of Slatter's, +No. 244, Pratt-street, Baltimore, between Sharp and Howard Streets, +where the highest prices are paid, which is well known. We have large +accommodations for Negroes, and always buying. Being regular shippers +to New Orleans, persons should bring their property where no +commissions are paid, as the owners lose it. All communications +attended to promptly by addressing + +"H. F. SLATTER." + +"j5--6m*." + +Before and since my arrival in the United States, I had thought much of +seeing Washington, and, if possible, Congress in session. But such was +the severity of the weather that we could not cross the Alleghanies +before that assembly had risen and dispersed. At Baltimore I was within +two hours' journey of the capital. Should I go and see it? No; for what +can _there_ be found to gratify the friend of freedom and of man? The +Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, are +all associated with Washington. The capital itself is but a great +slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and +auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice, +wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front +the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are +endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among +these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the +influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting +Washington. + +At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia. +While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at +the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable +coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of +course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them, +though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to +whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat. +But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and +dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference +between the railway economy of England and that of America. In the +former, as you know, the railway is haughty, exclusive, and +aristocratic. It scorns all fellowship with common roads, and dashes +on, either under or over the houses, with arbitrary indifference. In +America, it generally condescends to pass along the public streets to +the very centre of the city, the engine being taken off or put to in +the suburbs, and its place _intra muros_, if I may so say, supplied by +horses. In leaving Baltimore, the engine was attached _before_ we got +quite out of the city; and we were going for some time along the common +road, meeting in one place a horse and cart, in another a man on +horseback, in another a pair of oxen fastened to each other, and so on. +Dangerous enough, apparently! yet railway accidents are much less +frequent in America than in England. It is, besides, an immense saving +of capital. + +In our progress, we had to cross several arms of the Chesapeak Bay. +These arms were from one to two miles wide, and the railway is carried +over them upon posts driven into the ground. It seemed like crossing +the sea in a railway carriage. At Havre de Grace we had to cross the +Susquehannah River. This word Susquehannah is Indian, and means +literally, I am told, "the rolling thunder." In crossing it, however, +we heard no thunder, except that of the luggage-van over our heads, on +the top of the steamer. Here we changed carriages. We soon got sight of +the Delaware, which kept us company nearly all the way to Philadelphia. +Delaware, the smallest of all the States except Rhode Island, we +entirely crossed. A few days before, Delaware had well nigh done +herself great honour. Her House of Representatives carried, by a +majority, a vote for the abolition of slavery within her boundaries; +but the measure was lost in her Senate by a majority of one or two. The +State legislature will not meet again for two years. All parties are +confident that the measure will then be triumphantly carried through. +In America, however, the abolition of slavery in any State does not +always mean freedom to the slaves. Too often it is a mere +transportation of them to the Southern States. Had Delaware passed a +law that all slaves should he free at the expiration of five years, or +that all children born after a certain period should he free, the +owners of slaves would have had an obvious interest in disposing of +their human property to the Southern traders _before_ that period +arrived. Mothers, too, would have been hastened Southward to give birth +to their offspring; so that the "peculiar institution" might lose none +of its prey. Measures for the abolition of slavery in any part of +America do not arise from sympathy with the negro, and from a wish to +improve his condition and promote his happiness, but from aversion to +his presence, or perhaps from a conviction that the system of slavery +is expensive and impolitic. Those who feel kindly towards their +coloured brother, and act towards him under the impulse of pure and +lofty philanthropy, are, I am sorry to say, very few indeed. + +These views may appear severe and uncharitable towards the American +people, but they are confirmed by M. de Tocqueville. "When a Northern +State declared that the son of the slave should be born free," observes +that impartial writer, "the slave lost a large portion of his market +value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and +the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South. +Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the +Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. The want +of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves +decreases. But, in proportion as labour is performed by free hands, +slave labour becomes less productive; and the slave is then a useless +or an onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those +Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. _Thus +the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free: it merely +transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the +South_." M. de Tocqueville adds, in a note, "The States in which +slavery is abolished usually do what they can to render their territory +disagreeable to the negroes as a place of residence; and as a kind of +emulation exists between the different States in this respect, the +unhappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset +them." This is perfectly true. + +Crossing the Schuilkyl, we arrived about 3 o'clock P. M. in +Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love," having performed the +journey of 97 miles in six hours, a rate of only 16 miles an hour! + +In Philadelphia were many men and things that I wished to see. First +and foremost, in my professional curiosity, was Albert Barnes; but +being anxious to push on to New York that night, I had but an hour and +a half to stay. Of a sight of the famous author of the "Notes," I was +therefore compelled to deny myself. My regret was diminished, when I +learned from an English minister of high standing, who, under the +influence of the best feelings, and with an excellent introduction, had +called upon the Commentator, that he received him with a degree of +indifference bordering on rudeness. + +In Philadelphia there is no Congregational Church. A few years ago John +Todd, the well-known author of "The Student's Guide," attempted to +raise one. He was but little countenanced, however, by Albert Barnes +and the Presbyterians, and failed. + +In passing through this city, I had a distant glimpse of a most +remarkable institution. M. Girard, an old bachelor, a native of France, +who had accumulated immense wealth, died a few years ago, leaving by +will the enormous sum of two millions of dollars, or upwards of four +hundred thousand pounds sterling, to erect and endow a college for the +accommodation and education of three hundred orphan boys. The ground on +which it was to be built, consisting of no less than 45 acres, he +ordered to be enclosed with a high solid wall, capped with marble, and +lined upon the top with long iron spikes. He also inserted in his will +the following extraordinary clause: "I enjoin and require that no +ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever, shall ever +hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college; nor +shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a +visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purpose of said +college." An attempt was made before the Supreme Court of the United +States to set aside this will, and Daniel Webster, the great New +England barrister, delivered a powerful "plea" against it; but the +attempt was overruled. For some years the building has been slowly +proceeding, and is not yet ready for occupation. Had I had time, I +could not, being a minister, have entered the premises. To me, and to +all like me, "_Procul, procul, este, profani_" is chiselled on every +stone!--a singular monument of the priest-hating propensities of the +old French Revolutionists. + + + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging-houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church. + + +At half-past 4 in the afternoon of March 15 we left Philadelphia by +railway for New York, which we reached at 10 P.M., an average again of +about 16 miles an hour. In this journey I met with a very communicative +Yankee, who, though not a religious man, was proud to trace his +genealogy to the "Pilgrim Fathers," and, through them, to the Normans. +Intercourse, he said, had been maintained for the last two centuries +between the English and American branches of the family. He also took +care to inform me that the head of the English branch was a baronet. +This was but one of many instances in which I found among our +Transatlantic friends a deep idolatry of rank and titles. In talking of +their own political institutions, he declared their last two Presidents +to have been--the one a fool, and the other a knave,--Polk the fool, +and Tyler the knave. He entertained an insane and cruel prejudice +against those whose skin was not exactly of the same colour with his +own, and "thanked God" that he had no African blood in his veins. + +We passed through Trenton, celebrated as the scene of a bloody conflict +between the British and the American forces. The Americans, I am sorry +to say, dwell too fondly on the remembrance of those deadly struggles. +They cherish the spirit of war. The influence of Elihu Burritt and his +"bond of brotherhood" is indeed greatly needed on both sides of the +Atlantic. + +We also passed what once was the residence of ex-royalty--the princely +mansion which Joseph Bonaparte erected for himself after he lost the +throne of Spain. It is surrounded with about 900 acres of land, his own +private property; and was still in the family, though about to be sold. +What a home has America proved both to fallen greatness and to +struggling poverty! Princes and peasants alike find shelter here. + +This journey conducted us through New Brunswick, Elizabeth Town, +Newark,--places associated with the name of David Brainerd, and often +(a hundred years ago) the scenes of his toils and travels. But where +are the descendants of those Indians on whose behalf he felt such +intense solicitude? Alas! not a vestige of them is to be seen. + +Having thus crossed New Jersey State, we came to New Jersey city, where +we crossed a ferry to New York. After rather more than the usual amount +of anxiety about baggage, &c., we reached the Planter's Hotel a little +after 10 at night. + +Next morning I sallied forth to gaze, for the first time, at the +wonders of New York. The state of the streets impressed me +unfavourably. The pigs were in the enjoyment of the same unstinted +liberty as at Cincinnati. Merchants and storekeepers spread their goods +over the entire breadth of the causeway, and some even to the very +middle of the street. Slops of all sorts, and from all parts of the +houses, were emptied into the street before the front doors! The ashes +were disposed of in a very peculiar manner. Each house had, on the edge +of the parapet opposite, an old flour-barrel, or something of the sort, +into which were thrown ashes, sweepings, fish-bones, dead rats, and all +kinds of refuse. A dead rat very frequently garnished the top of the +barrel. This was the order of things, not in small by-streets only, but +also in the very best streets, and before the very best houses. The +pavement too, even in Broadway, was in a very wretched state. + +I made for No. 150, Nassau-street, where the Tract Society, the Home +Missionary Society, and the Foreign Missionary Society have their +rooms. To some parties in that house I had introductions. The brethren +connected with those societies treated me with great kindness and +cordiality, and made me feel as though I had been in our own missionary +rooms in Blomfield-street. By their aid I obtained private lodgings, in +a good situation and in good society. + +The landlady was a Quaker, with half-a-dozen grown-up daughters. Our +fellow-lodgers consisted of the Rev. A.E. Lawrence, Assistant-Secretary +of the American Home Missionary Society (who had a few months before +become the landlady's son-in-law); the Rev. Mr. Martyn, and his wife, a +woman of fine talents, and editor of "The Ladies' Wreath;" the Rev. Mr. +Brace, an editor in the employ of the Tract Society; Mr. Daniel Breed, +M.D., a Quaker, and principal of a private academy for young gentlemen +(also the landlady's son-in-law); Mr. Oliver Johnson, a sub-editor of +the _Daily Tribune_, and a well-known Abolitionist; and Mr. Lockwood, a +retired grocer,--who, having gained a small independence, was thus +enjoying it with his youthful wife and child in lodgings. + +Into society better adapted to my taste and purposes I could not have +gone. This mode of life is very extensively adopted in America, +--married couples, with families, living in this manner for +years, without the least loss of respectability. They seldom have +sitting-rooms distinct from their bed-rooms, which are made to answer +both purposes; and as to meals, all meet to eat the same things, at the +same table, and at the same time. The custom is economical; but it has +an injurious effect upon character, especially in the case of the +women. The young wife, not being called upon to exercise herself in +domestic economy, is apt to become idle, slovenly, and--in a certain +sense--worthless. The softening associations and influences, and even +the endearments, of "home," are lost. There is no _domesticity_. + +In the evening of the 17th I went to the Broadway Tabernacle, to hear a +lecture on Astronomy from Professor Mitchell of Cincinnati, no ordinary +man. Although the admission fee was half-a-dollar, upwards of a +thousand persons were present. Without either diagrams or notes, the +accomplished lecturer kept his audience in breathless attention for +upwards of an hour. He seemed to be a devout, unassuming man, and threw +a flood of light on every subject he touched. His theme was the recent +discovery of the Leverrier planet; and perhaps you will not be +displeased if I give you a summary of his lucid observations. In +observing how the fluctuations of the planet Herschel had ultimately +led to this discovery, he said: + +"For a long time no mind dared to touch the problem. At length a young +astronomer rises, unknown to fame, but with a mind capable of grasping +all the difficulties involved in any of these questions. I refer of +course to LEVERRIER. He began by taking up the movements of Mercury. He +was dissatisfied with the old computations and the old tables; and he +ventured to begin anew, and to compute an entirely new set of tables. +With these new tables, he predicted the _precise instant_ when the +planet Mercury, on the 18th of May, 1845, would touch the sun, and +sweep across it. The time rolls round when the planet is to be seen, +and his prediction verified or confuted. The day arrives, but, alas! +for the computer, the clouds let down their dark curtains, and veil the +sun from his sight. Our own Observatory had just been finished; and if +the audience will permit, I will state briefly my own observations upon +the planet. I had ten long years been toiling. I had commenced what +appeared to be a hopeless enterprise. But finally I saw the building +finished. I saw this mighty telescope erected,--I had adjusted it with +my own hands,--I had computed the precise time when the planet would +come in contact with the sun's disk, and the precise point where the +contact would take place; but when it is remembered that only about the +thousandth part of the sun's disk enters upon the field of the +telescope, the importance of directing the instrument to the right +point will be realized. Five minutes before the computed time of the +contact, I took my place at the instrument. The beautiful machinery +that carries the telescope with the sun was set in motion, and the +instrument directed to that part of the sun's disk at which it was +anticipated the contact would take place. And there I sat, with +feelings which no one in this audience can realize. It was my first +effort. All had been done by myself. After remaining there for what +seemed to be long hours, I inquired of my assistant how much longer I +would have to wait. I was answered _four minutes_. I kept my place for +what seemed an age, and again inquired as before. He told me that but +one minute had rolled by. It seemed as if time had folded his wings, so +slowly did the moments crawl on. I watched on till I was told that but +one minute remained; and, within sixteen seconds of the time, I had the +almost bewildering gratification of seeing the planet break the +contact, and slowly move on till it buried itself round and deep and +sharp in the sun. + +"I refer to this fact for two reasons,--first, to verify Leverrier; +and, second, to impress upon your minds the desirableness of locating +our observatories in different parts of the earth. No European +astronomer could have made this observation, because in their +longitudes the sun would have set previous to the contact of the planet +with its disk. I had the gratification of furnishing these observations +to Leverrier himself, who reported upon them to the Academy of +Sciences. The triumph of Leverrier was complete. It was after this that +Arago, seeing the characteristics of his mind, said to him, 'Take up +the movements of the planet Herschel,--watch them, analyze them, and +tell us what it is that causes them.' Leverrier throws aside all other +employments, and gives his mind to the investigation of this subject. +He begins entirely back. He takes up the movements of the planets +Jupiter and Saturn, and investigates them anew: he leaves nothing +untouched. Finally, after having in the most absolute manner computed +all the influence they exercise upon the planet Herschel, he says, 'I +now know positively all existing causes that disturb the planet; but +there is an outstanding power that disturbs it not yet accounted for, +and now let me rise to a knowledge of that outstanding cause.' He did +what no other man ever had attempted. He cleared up all +difficulties;--he made all daylight before his gaze. And now, how shall +I give to you an account of the train of reasoning by which he reached +out into unknown space, and evoked from its bosom a mighty world? If +you will give me the time, I will attempt to give you an idea of his +mighty workings in the field of science. + +"In the first place, let it be remembered that the planets circulate +through the heavens in nearly the same plane. If I were to locate the +sun in the centre of the floor, in locating the planets around it, I +should place them upon the floor in the same plane. The first thing +that occurred to Leverrier, in looking for the planet, was this,--he +need not look out of the plane of the ecliptic. Here, then, was one +quarter in which the unknown body was to be found. The next thing was +this,--where is it located, and what is its distance from the sun? The +law of Bode gave to him the approximate distance. He found the distance +of Saturn was about double that of Jupiter, and the distance of +Herschel twice that of Saturn; and the probability was that the new +planet would be twice the distance of Herschel,--and as Herschel's +distance is 1,800,000 miles, the new planet's would be 3,600,000. +Having approximated its distance, what is its periodic time?--for if he +can once get its periodic time, he can trace it out without difficulty. +According to the third of Kepler's laws, as the square of the period of +Herschel is to the square of the period of the unknown planet, so is +the cube of the distance of Herschel to the cube of the distance of the +unknown planet. There is only one term unknown. The periodic time of +Herschel we will call 1, and its distance 1, and by resolving the +equation, we find the periodic time of the new planet to be a fraction +less than three times that of Herschel, or about 220 years. Now, if it +be required to perform 360 degrees in 220 years, it will perform about +a degree and a half in one year. Only one thing more remains to be +accomplished. If it is possible to get the position of the unknown body +at _any time_, we can trace it up to where it should be in 1847. + +"First, then, let us suppose the sun, Herschel, and the new planet in +certain fixed positions, which we will represent as follows,-- + +[Illustration: + A B C + + Sun. Herschel. Unknown, or + Leverrier Planet. +] + +"It will be observed that a line drawn out from the sun to the right +will pass through Herschel, and if continued will intersect the new +planet. It is very apparent that, when these three orbs occupy the +position assigned them above, the influence of the unknown planet upon +Herschel will be exercised in the highest degree, and consequently that +Herschel will be drawn farther from the sun at that juncture than at +any other; and if we know where _Herschel_ is, when this effect is +produced, by prolonging the line through Herschel outward, it must pass +through the new planet. The delicate observations upon Herschel gave +this result, and showed when it was that it was swayed farthest from +the sun. By taking the place occupied by the planet at that time, and +increasing it onward one degree and a half per annum, we can point out +the place it must occupy at any given period. In September last we find +Leverrier communicating these results to his friends in Berlin. They +are provided with charts, on which every observed star is mapped down; +and if any new object presents itself in the heavens, it is immediately +subjected to a rigid scrutiny. On the very night on which Leverrier's +letter had been received, we find the telescope directed to the +designated point in the heavens. A stranger appears, but has only the +aspect of a fixed star. Long did the eye watch that night, but no +motion was found. When twenty-four hours rolled round, and it was once +more possible to fix the instrument upon this strange body, it had +moved in the precise degree and direction computed. The new planet was +found. The news spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the +world,--all Europe was electrified, and soon the intelligence crossed +the waters. Our telescope was directed to this object. All had hitherto +failed,--no eye had ever seen it round and planet-like from its disk. +The evening finally came round for the examination. Time moved on its +leaden wings; but twilight faded away at length, and I took my seat, +with my assistant, at the instrument. I directed the telescope to that +point of the heavens. I found four stars in the field of view. The +first was brought to the field of view of the instrument, and +pronounced to be a fixed star; and so with the second. The third was +brought forward; and before it had reached the centre of the field, I +heard the exclamation, 'There it is!' and there it was, as bright and +beautiful as Jupiter himself. Here was a result not attained by any +other instrument in the world. When we know that a body is a planet, +then, and not till then, do we find the disk. The great rival of our +instrument had seen it, but did not recognise it. + +"Before five minutes had elapsed, the micrometical wires pronounced its +diameter to be 40,000 miles. Here were results such as no previous one +had attained, I mention it, because I think it is right that our own +country, which has but just commenced its career in this science, +should know what is her due; and I trust the day is not far distant +when we shall become as distinguished for our proficiency, for our +learning, for our researches, and for our efforts in behalf of +Astronomy, as we have hitherto been for our profound neglect of +everything belonging to this sublime science." + +So much had been recently said in England about the "Negro Pew" in Dr. +Patton's Church that I naturally felt curious to see it for myself, +resolving (if possible) to sit in it. On Sabbath morning the 21st of +March I set off with my wife on this errand, taking for our guide as to +the precise position of the "locality" Mr. Page's "Letter of +Apology,"--in which it was stated that in that church they treated the +coloured people well; that they were elevated above the rest of the +congregation, and nearer heaven; and, finally, that they occupied a +position of honour, being on the right hand of the minister, as Jesus +Christ was on the right hand of God! We found two coloured people--an +old man and an old woman--seated in the front pew close to the +minister's right hand; and at once concluded that the section of pews +at the end wall must be the favoured spot, the terrestrio-celestial +elevation commonly called the "Negro Pew." We advanced, and installed +our white faces in the pew immediately behind the sable couple. The old +lady seemed really alarmed, and, with amusing earnestness, motioned us +to take a seat elsewhere. Remonstrance was all in vain,--we were +determined to sit among the happy favourites. At this time but few +persons were present. By-and-by the children of the Sunday-school were +marched into the neighbouring pews on the other side of the aisle, and +one of the lady teachers made eager signs for us to come away from our +strange position. I nodded an intimation that we were all right, and +perfectly comfortable. After the lapse of a few moments, another polite +and compassionate lady actually rose and came to the pew-door to +remonstrate with us. + +In a serious yet coaxing tone, she said, "Won't you take a seat here on +this side of the aisle?" + +"No, thank you, madam," I replied; "we are quite comfortable." + +"But," she continued, in a voice of deep commiseration, "this is the +place allotted to the coloured people." + +"Thank you," I rejoined; "we have made no mistake." + +"Well, just as you please, sir!" (as though she had said _De gustibus +non disputandum_) and with that she retreated. + +The eyes of all in the synagogue were upon us. The little people +whispered, and the big people stared, and all the people marvelled. + +The morning was dark and wet, and yet (as usual) the Venetian blinds +were all down. The gallery was occupied by three classes of persons: +the black people--about a dozen in number--on the "right hand," the +singing people in front, and the Sunday-school children everywhere +else. The regular congregation, amounting perhaps to 300, were all +downstairs. + +Dr. Patton ascended the pulpit-stairs with his cloak on, placed a +manuscript "fresh from the mint" under the cushion, sat down, took out +his pocket-handkerchief, applied it vigorously, and then gazed +leisurely around. + +The pulpit service commenced with a short prayer; then followed singing +by the choir, all else sitting silent. The tenth chapter of Romans was +read; then came the long prayer, in which the Doctor prayed for the +abolition of slavery, and for the spread of the Gospel. The text, which +succeeded, was Rom. x. 3, 4. Having noticed the context, the preacher +proposed-- + +I. To explain the text. (Here he examined very critically the meaning +of the Greek word [Greek: dikai-osunous], quoting Moses Stuart and +others.) + +II. To designate those who go about to establish their own +righteousness. + +III. To remonstrate against such conduct, as being unnecessary, +criminal, and dangerous. + +The discourse was sound and good, but every word read. The disorderly +conduct of the children in the gallery proved a great annoyance; and +for all the solicitude of the ladies to get us away from the vicinity +of coloured skins, not one of them had the politeness to offer us +either Bible or hymn-book. + +This visit of ours to the "Negro Pew" was immediately laid hold of by +the Abolitionists, and made to go the whole round of their papers as a +"testimony against caste." This provoked into action the prolix pen of +the celebrated Mr. Page, who wasted on the subject an immense quantity +of ink and paper. "Page" after page did he pen; continued to do so, to +my certain knowledge, for about three months after; and, for aught I +know to the contrary, he may be _paging_ away to this very day. This +commotion answered my purpose exceedingly well,--my object being to +bear testimony against the impiousness of such a distinction and +separation in the house of God. It is, however, but justice to Dr. +Patton to observe that the case is not singular, the peculiar celebrity +of his "Negro Pew" arising entirely from the imbecile and somewhat +profane apology volunteered by Mr. Page. In point of fact, Dr. Patton +and his people, as I ascertained in conversation with him on the +subject, are rather in advance of their neighbours in kind feeling +towards the coloured people. + + + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ------'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. + + +In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev. ------, in the +---- Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than +150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very +fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to +showing me some of the "lions" of the city. The first place we visited +was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for +young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we +were introduced was John Abbott, the author of "The Mother at Home." He +is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the +senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25 +years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott, +the author of "The Young Christian," "The Corner Stone," "The Way for +a Child," &c., &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob +Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sitting-room. +I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years +of age, but looks younger. He wrote both "The Young Christian" and "The +Corner Stone" when he was only 25. John is two years younger than +Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and +Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four. All are +ministers, though not pastors,--all highly intellectual men, and +connected more or less with this seminary, which is one of the best +conducted I have ever seen. The pupils are not boarders, but they pay +from 10_l._ to 15_l._ a year for their tuition alone. I subsequently +made another visit to this institution in company with my wife, upon +whom Mr. Jacob Abbott had very politely called. + +Mr. ------ intended to introduce me to Dr. Spring, but he was not at +home. He then took me to the Union Theological Seminary. In that +institution about 120 young men are preparing for the Christian +ministry. The library contains _twenty thousand_ volumes on theology +alone--musty and prosy tomes! What a punishment it would be to be +compelled to wade through the whole! We saw neither professors nor +students. My principal recollection of the place is that of feeling +intensely hungry, and smelling at the same time the roast beef on +which, in some of the lower regions of the buildings, the young divines +were regaling themselves. In vain I wished to join them in that +exercise. + +When we came out, my guide proposed to take me to see Dr. Robinson. +Much as I wanted to see the author of the "Greek Lexicon," and the +Traveller in Palestine, there were other claims that then more urgently +pressed themselves. I had breakfasted at 7, and it was now near 1. I +gave my friend a hint to that effect. But he overruled it by saying, +"It is close by, and won't take us many minutes." We went, but the +Doctor was not in. We were now opposite Dr. Skinner's Church, and my +friend insisted on my going to see it. It will hold about 1,000 people. +All the pews are cushioned and lined, and the place has a decided air +of aristocracy about it. The school-room, the lecture-room, the vestry, +&c., were very complete and convenient. "How strange," I observed to my +friend, "that you should so far exceed us in the comfort of your places +of worship, and at the same time be so far behind us in domestic +comforts." "_That_" said he, "was the principle of the Puritans,--the +house of God first, their own after." I ventured to ask him what +salaries ministers in New York generally received. He told me from +1,000 to 4,000 dollars, or from 200_l._ to 800_l._ "My own," he added, +"is 2,000 dollars." We were now not far from the New York University. +"You must go and see that," said he. I went, but saw nothing particular +except the library, empty lecture-rooms, and chapel,--no professors. My +friendly guide pointed to a portrait of Lord Lyndhurst, told me with +evident pride that he was a Yankee, and marvelled at my ignorance of +the fact. + +From time to time I had given him hints that I was afraid of being too +late for dinner at my lodgings; and when the sight-seeing was at last +ended, he very coolly and complacently said, "Now, if you really think +you are too late for dinner at your place, I shall be under the +_necessity_ of asking you to go and take a plate with me." Those were +the _ipsissima verba_. I could scarcely keep my gravity; but I replied, +"Thank you, sir; I want to go to the centre of the city, and I can +easily get a dinner at any eating-house." He both nodded and expressed +an entire concurrence, and seemed to think it an _admirable_ +arrangement. In parting, he pressed me to preach for him on the +following Thursday, but I declined. The next day I was told, on +unquestionable authority, that two or three years ago one of the elders +of this gentleman's church, meeting a man from South America whom he +took to be a mixture of Spaniard and Indian, requested his company to +church. The stranger assented, and sat with him in his pew. He liked +the service, became interested, and went again and again. At last it +was whispered that he was a "Nigger,"--_i.e._ had a slight mixture of +African blood in him. The next week a meeting of the Session was held, +at which it was unanimously resolved that the intruder's entrance into +the body of the church must be prohibited. Two men were stationed at +the door for that purpose. The stranger came. He was stopped, and told +that he could not be allowed to enter the body of the church, there +being a place up in the gallery for coloured people. The man +remonstrated, and said he had been invited to take a seat in Mr. +So-and-so's pew. "Yes," they replied, "we are aware of that; but public +feeling is against it, and it cannot be allowed." The stranger turned +round, burst into tears, and walked home. + +Mr. Johnson, of the _Tribune_, told me that two or three years ago he +and thirty or forty more were returning from an Anti-slavery Convention +held at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. They had left by railway for +Philadelphia at 3 o'clock in the morning. At a town called Lancaster +they stopped to breakfast. In the company were two coloured gentlemen, +one of whom was a minister. They all sat down together. Soon the +waiters began to whisper, "A nigger at table!" "There is two!" The +landlord quickly appeared, seized one of the coloured gentlemen by the +shoulder, and asked him how he dared to sit down at table in his house. +The company remonstrated, and assured him that those whose presence +appeared to be so offensive were very respectable men, friends of +theirs, whom they had invited to sit down. It was all in vain. The +landlord would hear nothing; "the niggers must go." "Very well," said +the rest of the company; "then we shall all go." Away they went, and +left the refined landlord to console himself for the loss of a large +party to breakfast. They had to travel all the way to Philadelphia +before they could break their fast. + +The same gentleman told me that he believed if a white man of any +standing in society in New York were now to marry a coloured lady, +however intelligent and accomplished, his life would be in danger,--he +would be lynched for having committed such an outrage upon "public +opinion." And yet the boast is ever ringing in our ears, "This is a +free country--every one does as he pleases here!" + +On the 24th of March I called upon Dr. Spring. He is an Old School +Presbyterian, and a supporter of the Colonization Society. In the +course of conversation reference was made to State Churches. + +_Myself._--"You see, Doctor, State Churches are the curse of the +British Empire, just as slavery is the curse of your country." + +_The Doctor._--"Ah! so it is; and yet we can do nothing to remove them. +Here is our slavery,--we can't touch it; and you cannot touch your +Established Church. Do you think you will ever get rid of it?" + +_Myself._--"Oh! Yes; I hope so." + +_The Doctor._--"But it will be a _very_ long time before it comes to +pass." + +_Myself._--"Perhaps not so very long. We are rapidly hastening towards +some great change. The old principle of an Establishment is now being +abandoned by all parties; and we shall soon come either to the pay-all +or to the pay-none principle. I am much afraid it will be the former." + +_The Doctor._--"But were it to come to that, and the State would pay +you as well as all the rest, you would have no further ground of +complaint." + +_Myself._--"Oh! but we should: we dread that above all other evils. It +will be a dark day for evangelical religion in England, if ever that +principle be adopted." + +_The Doctor._--"Why? What harm can it do you to receive the money of +the State, provided it does not infringe upon your liberties?" + +_Myself._--"In the first place, it would be a departure from the law of +Jesus Christ, and every departure from his law is sure to be productive +of evil." + +_The Doctor._--"Very true. That's a sound principle--that every +departure from his law will be productive of evil; but then, it remains +to be proved that it _is_ a departure from his law. However, I am glad +to see you stick so firmly to your principles." + +He then went on to ask if I would preach for him next Sabbath. Now, +whether he was only trying me on those points, or whether he had not +studied the subject, or whether he was anxious to keep me off from the +subject of slavery, I cannot tell. But I came away with my knowledge of +Dr. Spring less than it was when I entered. He seemed like a cold, +stiff, formal State parson. + +In the evening I attended a missionary meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. +It was the anniversary of the New York and Brooklyn Auxiliary to the +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and embraced about thirty +churches. I expected great things. When I entered they were singing. +The place was little more than half-full,--say 500 persons. Three +gentlemen were sitting in the pulpit. These were Dr. Adams, Dr. Cox, +and Mr. Storrers. I looked around for the negro pew. There it was on +the left of the organ, and five sable friends in it. The first speaker +was Dr. Adams, who delivered a well-prepared oration of half an hour +long. The Rev. Mr. Storrers, a young man, the pastor of the "Church of +the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn, was the next speaker. His preparation and +delivery were of the same character as those of Dr. Adams. But he +possesses great mental power. He occupied exactly half an hour. Both +speakers complained bitterly of diminished confidence and +contributions. I forget the exact amount announced as the contribution +of this auxiliary; but it was small. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, was the +third speaker. He told us that the last meeting he had attended in +England, a few months before, was the missionary meeting in Birmingham. +It was held in the town-hall, a magnificent building, and well filled. +He pronounced an eloquent eulogy on John Angell James. He described the +missionary breakfast in Birmingham; but, in mentioning such a thing as +a "missionary breakfast," he felt it necessary to make some apology. He +assured them it was not attended with the evils they might be apt to +imagine would be inseparably connected with it. The fact is that +missionary breakfasts are altogether unknown in America. Dr. Cox stated +that he had often been asked in England how they managed missionary +meetings in America, that the people of England held them in high +estimation, that in England they depended chiefly for the support of +the missionary cause upon legacies, stock, &c., while they in America +were content to say, "Give us day by day our daily bread." He also +mentioned Dr. Chalmers's eulogy upon them. While in England, he (Dr. +Cox) and another had waited upon Sir Stratford Canning, to commend +their mission at Constantinople to his kind notice, and Sir Stratford +had spoken in very high terms of the American people. Thus, even at the +missionary meeting, incense must be offered to national vanity. + + + + +LETTER XXVIII. + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L's--Afternoon Service at Mr. +C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr.----'s. + + +The next day my wife and I paid our promised visit to the institution +of the Abbotts at Mount Vernon. In its government there are neither +rewards nor punishments; but each pupil, at the close of the day, has +to present a brief report of her own conduct. Her good deeds and her +bad deeds must be alike proclaimed--proclaimed by herself,--and that in +the presence of her fellow-pupils who were witnesses of the conduct to +which she refers. This compels her to be faithful. If she tries to +conceal what was faulty, she is surrounded by those who will detect +that concealment: if she ostentatiously parades her own excellences, +she knows she will sink in the estimation of her friends. The +encouragement of self-respect, and of a regard for that which is good +for its _own_ sake, are the great principles of government in this +establishment. + +Mr. Abbott's plan of teaching a language is, not at first to weary the +pupils with the dry rules of grammar, but to store their memories with +words. He read a word or a short sentence in French, for instance, and +asked the pupils to translate it into English. Then, with closed books, +he would give them the English in like manner to be turned into French. +I have since adopted the plan with Latin pupils with pleasure and +success. + +Mr. Abbott allows a recess of five minutes at the close of every +half-hour. The hours of attendance are from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.; but a +rest of half an hour is allowed in the midst of that period. We +happened to be there when the said half-hour arrived. All the Abbotts, +the pupils, and ourselves went out to the playground, which was +furnished with seats, and swings, and skipping-ropes, and +swinging-boats, and all sorts of machines for exercise and amusement. +In these gymnastic performances the Abbotts themselves joined the +pupils, with a beautiful combination of freedom and propriety. A +happier assemblage I never saw. We retired highly delighted with all we +had witnessed. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Robinson, +whose Greek Lexicon I had often thumbed with advantage. He appeared to +be from 45 to 50 years of age. His manners were exceedingly simple and +unostentatious,--the constant characteristics of true greatness. I +looked upon him with high respect and veneration. He is a man of whom +America may well be proud. He pressed me to go and address the students +at Union College, of which he is one of the Professors; but an +opportunity of doing so did not occur. + +In the evening I was waited upon by two gentlemen who announced +themselves as the "President and Secretary" of a Welsh Temperance +Society, and wished me to attend and address one of their meetings at a +given time. This I could not do. In conversation with them about +slavery, and the oppression of the coloured people, I was surprised and +grieved to find how soon the Welsh people imbibed the feelings and aped +the conduct of the Americans in those matters. On their pressing me to +attend a meeting of their society on some _future_ occasion, I told +them I was one of the most downright Abolitionists that ever lived, +and, if I came, would terrify them all with such an abolition speech as +they had never heard. This, of course, was cold water upon their love, +and our interview soon terminated. + +The weather for the next two days was so unfavourable that we could not +go out at all. Among the information I then derived from books were the +following precious morsels from the Introduction to the Natural History +of New York: "The Governor was directed by Queen Anne to take especial +care that the Almighty should be devoutly and duly served according to +the rites of the Church of England," and was at the _same time_ desired +by the Queen "to take especial care that the colony should have a +constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate +rates." Just what our own West India planters _now_ want! Oh! how they +would hail the return of the palmy days of Queen Anne! + +On Sabbath the 28th of March I was invited to preach in the morning in +the church of Dr. L----, a Congregational place of worship, capable of +accommodating about 500 persons. The attendance was not more than 200. +There I was delighted to find no negro pew. A few coloured children +were intermingled with the white ones in the gallery. The Doctor, to +whom I had not been introduced, was already in the pulpit when I +arrived. The ceremony of introduction to each other had to be duly +performed in the rostrum. He is a fine, tall, clean, and +venerable-looking old gentleman. He began the service, and, before +sermon, announced that they would then "take up" the usual collection. +That place of worship is what they call a "Free Church,"--_i.e._ there +is no pew-letting; as a substitute for which, they "take up" a weekly +collection. The Doctor also made the following announcement: "A +Missionary of the London Missionary Society, from Guiana, one of the +South American possessions of Britain,--his name is Mr. Davies,--will +now preach; and in the evening Professor Kellog from----, a _long_ +friend of mine, will preach." At the close I was introduced to the +Doctor's _long_ friend, Professor Kellog; and sure enough he was a +"long" one! There was present also Professor Whipple, of the Oberlin +Institute, to whom I had before been introduced. + +In the afternoon I preached for a Mr. C----, in a Presbyterian Church. +The place was beautiful, commodious, and nearly full. The pastor +introduced the service. In his manner of doing so, I was very much +struck with--what I had before often observed in our Transatlantic +brethren--a great apparent want of reverence and fervour. The singing +was very good--in the choir. In my address, I urged them to give their +legislators, and their brethren in the South, no rest till the guilt +and disgrace of slavery were removed from their national character and +institutions. I also besought them, as men of intelligence and piety, +to frown upon the ridiculous and contemptible prejudice against colour +wherever it might appear. To all which they listened with apparent +kindness and interest. + +We took tea by invitation with Dr. L----, for whom I had preached in +the morning. There we met with his nice wife, nice deacon, nice little +daughters, and nice nieces,--but a most intolerable nephew. This man +professed to be greatly opposed to slavery, and yet was full of +contempt for "niggers." He talked and _laughed_ over divisions in +certain churches, and told the company how he used occasionally to go +on Sunday nights to hear a celebrated minister, just "for the sake of +hearing him _talk_--ha--ha--ha!" And yet this was a professor of +religion! + +On the subject of slavery the following conversation took place:-- + +_Nephew._--"If I were in a Slave State, I would not hold slaves." + +_Aunt._--"Ah! but you would." + +_Nephew._--"No! that I would not." + +_Aunt._--"You could not live there without." + +_Dr. L._----(gravely).--"Well, I _guess_ we had better pray, 'Lead us +not into temptation.'" + +_Aunt._ (devoutly)--"I _guess_ we had." + +By-and-by one of the young ladies said to my wife, "I guess we had +better go and fix our things, and get ready for church." This was the +signal for the breaking up of our social enjoyment, which would have +been one of unmingled pleasure, had it not been for this noisy, +conceited, talkative nephew. + +In the evening I had to preach again for Mr.----, the place where the +coloured gentleman was refused admission to the body of the church. The +building was very fine, and the congregation very large. Professor +Fowler, of Amherst College, who happened to be present, read the +Scriptures and prayed. My subject was "the woes and wants of the +African race." I touched upon American slavery, and gave details of the +horrors of the slave traffic as at present carried on. I also bore +testimony against the cruel prejudice which so extensively exists +against the African colour. All were attentive, except one man, who +rose and walked out; and I fancied him saying to himself, "I am not +going to sit here to listen to this abolition nonsense any longer." And +so ended my Sabbath in New York. + + + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs. Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright. + + +During my stay at this time in New York, there died in that city the +Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright, a Presbyterian minister of colour. His +attainments and talents were very respectable; and for fifteen years he +had been the successful pastor of a church of coloured people in the +city. + +Before you accompany me to his funeral, listen to his voice. Though +"dead, he yet speaketh." He had felt this cruel prejudice against the +colour of his skin as iron entering his soul. Here is his touching +testimony on the subject, delivered in a speech at Boston eleven years +before his death:-- + +"No man can really understand this prejudice, unless he feels it +crushing him to the dust, because it is a matter of feeling. It has +bolts, scourges, and bars, wherever the coloured man goes. It has bolts +in all the schools and colleges. The coloured parent, with the same +soul as a white parent, sends his child to the seats of learning; and +he finds the door bolted, and he sits down to weep beside his boy. +Prejudice stands at the door, and bars him out. Does the child of the +coloured man show a talent for mechanics, the heart of the parent beats +with hope. He sees the children of the white man engaged in employment; +and he trusts that there is a door open to his boy, to get an honest +living, and become a useful member of society. But, when he comes to +the workshop with his child, he finds a bolt there. But, even suppose +that he can get this first bolt removed, he finds other bars. He can't +work. Let him be ever so skilled in mechanics, up starts prejudice, and +says, 'I won't work in the shop if you do.' Here he is scourged by +prejudice, and has to go back, and sink down to some of the employments +which white men leave for the most degraded. He hears of the death of a +child from home, and he goes in a stage or a steam-boat. His money is +received, but he is scourged there by prejudice. If he is sick, he can +have no bed, he is driven on deck: money will not buy for him the +comforts it gets for all who have not his complexion. He turns to some +friend among the white men. Perhaps that white man had sat at his table +at home, but he does not resist prejudice here. He says, 'Submit. 'Tis +an ordinance of God,--you must be humble.' Sir, I have felt this. As a +minister, I have been called to pass often up and down the North River +in steam-boats. Many a night I have walked the deck, and not been +allowed to lie down in a bed. Prejudice would even turn money to dross +when it was offered for these comforts by a coloured man. Thus +prejudice scourges us from the table; it scourges us from the cabin, +from the stage-coach, from the bed. Wherever we go, it has for us +bolts, bars, and rods." + +And now let us attend the speaker's funeral. Professor Whipple will be +our guide. As we proceed, crowds of coloured people are hastening in +the same direction from all quarters. We are at the house. But so great +is the throng that it is impossible to get in. Here, however, comes Dr. +Cox. "Make room for Dr. Cox!"--"Make room for Dr. Cox!" is now heard on +every hand. A path is opened for the great man, and we little men slip +in at his skirt. On reaching the room where the remains of the good man +lie, we find Dr. Patton and the Rev. Mr. Hatfield. They and Dr. Cox are +there in a semi-official capacity, as representing the Presbytery with +which Mr. Wright was connected. Louis Tappan, the long-tried and +faithful friend of the coloured race, is there also. I am asked to be a +pall-bearer: without at all reflecting on the duties and inconveniences +of the office, I good-naturedly consent. A _white_ cotton scarf is +instantly thrown over my shoulder. There is the coffin; and there is a +lifelike portrait of Mr. Wright hung up against the wall, and looking +as it were down upon that coffin. But you can see the face of Mr. +Wright himself. The coffin-lid is screwed down; but there is a square +of glass, like a little window, just over the face, as is generally the +case in America, and you can have a view of the whole countenance. + +A black man reads a hymn, and, in connection with it, begins an address +in a very oracular style, and with very solemn pauses. A hint is given +him not to proceed. They sing. Mr. Hatfield delivers an appropriate +address. A coloured minister prays, sometimes using the first person +singular, and sometimes the first person plural; also talking about the +"meanderings of life," and a great deal of other nonsense. + +We move down stairs. The immense procession starts. Drs. Cox and +Patton, Mr. Hatfield, and about half-a-dozen more white ministers, are +in it. As we pass on from street to street, and from crossing to +crossing, all sorts of people seem to regard the procession with the +utmost respect. The cabmen, 'busmen, and cartmen behave exceedingly +well. But did you overhear what those three or four low dirty men said +as we approached? I am ashamed to tell, because those men are not +Americans, but _Irishmen_,--"Here comes the dead nigger!" The boys, now +and then, are also overheard counting how many _white_ men there are in +the procession. + +We are now at the church. After much delay and difficulty we enter. The +place, which is not large, is crammed. There must be about 600 people +in. Dr. Cox urges them to make room for more, and says there are not +more than one-tenth in of those who wish to enter. If so, there must be +a concourse of 6,000 people, and not more than twenty whites among them +all! + +A coloured man gives out a hymn. Dr. Cox reads the Scriptures, and +makes a few remarks. Dr. Patton delivers an oration. In that oration, +while speaking of Mr. Wright's anti-slavery feelings as being very +strong, he adds, with very questionable taste, "But at the same time +our brother had no sympathy with those who indulged in _denunciation, +wrath, and blackguardism_. He would never touch the missiles which +_none but scoundrels use_." What a selection of words in a funeral +oration! In speaking of Mr. Wright's labours in connection with that +church for fifteen years, he says, "Our brother had difficulties which +other men have not. Two or three years ago he had to trudge about the +city, under the _full muzzle_ of a July or August sun, to beg money in +order to extricate this place from pecuniary difficulties. On one +occasion, after walking all the way to the upper part of the city to +call upon a gentleman from whom he hoped to receive a donation, he +found that he had just left his residence for his office in the city. +Our brother, though greatly exhausted, was compelled to walk the same +distance down again; for--to the shame, the everlasting shame of our +city be it spoken--our brother, on account of his colour, could not +avail himself of one of the public conveyances. The next week disease +laid hold of him, and he never recovered." + +What a strong and unexpected testimony against that cruel prejudice! +According to this testimony, Theodore Sedgwick Wright fell a _victim_ +to it. But who would have thought that Dr. Patton, who thus denounced +the cabmen and 'busmen of New York, had at the very time the "Negro +Pew" in his own church! + +While on this subject, let me tell you another fact respecting poor Mr. +Wright. The life of his first wife was sacrificed to this heartless and +unmanly feeling. He was travelling with her by steam-boat between New +York and Boston. They had to be out all night, and a bitter cold +winter's night it was. Being coloured people, their only accommodation +was the "hurricane-deck." Mrs. Wright was delicate. Her husband offered +to pay any money, if they would only let her be in the kitchen or the +pantry. No,--she was a "nigger," and could not be admitted. Mr. Wright +wrapped her in his own cloak, and placed her against the chimney to try +to obtain for her a little warmth. But she took a severe cold, and soon +died. _His_ colour, it would seem, hastened his own exit to rejoin her +in that world where such absurd and inhuman distinctions are unknown. + +Dr. Patton's oration is now ended. But--did you ever hear such a thing +at a funeral?--that minister in the table pew is actually giving out-- + + "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!" + +and they sing it to a funeral tune! + +We start for the place of burial. But it is a long way off, and I had +better spare you the journey. The great men fell off one after another; +but my pall-bearing office compelled me to remain to the last. It was 4 +o'clock P.M. before the solemnities were closed. + + + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior. + + +Now for an excursion to New Haven. We leave by the steamer "Traveller," +Captain Stone, at 61/2 A.M. Wrap yourself up well; it is piercing cold, +being the 30th of March. This boat is altogether different from the +boats on the Mississippi. It seems to belong to quite another species. +It is, however, admirably adapted for its purpose,--that of running +along a stormy coast. In the gentlemen's cabin are three tiers of +berths, one above another like so many book-shelves. The engine works +outside, like a top-sawyer. We shall pass "Hell Gate" directly; but +don't be alarmed. You would not have known it, had I not told you. The +Hog's Back, the Frying Pan, and other places of Knickerbocker +celebrity, are in this neighbourhood. + +Let us go to the ladies' saloon. Well! I declare! There is a coloured +woman, and allowed to remain unmolested! Things improve as we approach +New England, and are much better even there than they were a few years +ago. + +But here comes the captain muffled up. He brings with him a poor +sickly-looking woman, begs the ladies' pardon, and bids her sit down by +the stove and warm herself. He then tells the passengers her painful +story. The night before, in New York, this woman came on board, from +one of the Philadelphia boats, bringing with her a bed and a child. On +being spoken to by the captain, she informed him that she was on her +way from St. Louis to her home in Massachusetts,--that she had been +fifteen days upon the journey, and had two children with her. On being +asked where the other was, she replied, "There it is," pointing to the +bed, where, clad in its usual dress, the little sufferer, released from +the trials of life, lay extended in death. It had caught cold, and died +in her arms in New York. She was friendless and penniless, and wanted a +passage to New Haven. The captain had obtained a coroner's inquest over +the body, purchased for it a little coffin, had it decently laid out, +and gratified her maternal feelings by allowing her to bring it with +her, that it might be buried in her village-home in Massachusetts. All +this he had done without money and without price, had also given her a +free passage to New Haven, and was about to forward her home by railway +at his own expense! Captain _Stone_--"what's in a name?"--at the close +of this statement had to take out his pocket-handkerchief, and wipe +away a few manly tears from his weather-beaten cheeks, as he added, "I +have met in my life with many cases of distress, but with none that +came so much to my heart as this." His object, in introducing the woman +and her case, was to make an appeal to the passengers on her behalf. He +did so; and the result was a subscription amounting to about five +pounds sterling, which was handed over to her. Captain Stone's was a +deed worthy of a golden inscription! + +It is half-past 11 A.M., and we are now at the landing-place in the +harbour of New Haven, having accomplished the distance from New York, +about 80 miles, in five hours! We have a long wharf of 3,943 feet to +travel; and then we set foot for the first time on the soil of New +England. We have been invited to make our abode here with the Rev. +Leicester Sawyer, who makes his abode at Deacon Wilcoxon's, corner of +Sherman-avenue and Park-street. Thither, therefore, let us go. Mr. +Sawyer, whom we had before met in New York, is the author of several +books, comprising two on Mental and Moral Philosophy, and was also +lately the President of the Central College of Ohio. Deacon Wilcoxon +and his wife are plain, homely, kind Christian people. They make you +feel at home as soon as you have crossed their threshold. + +Soon after our arrival the Rev. Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton, the +pastors of the "first" and "second" Congregational Churches in this +city, honour us with a call. This is brotherly, and more than we could +have expected. Dr. Bacon regrets that he is going from home, and cannot +have us to spend a few days at his house. Mr. Dutton, however, presses +us to accept of his hospitality. We promise to do so in a day or two. +Dr. Bacon is one of the great men of New England. He is a living +encyclopaedia,--a walking library. He keeps fully up with the +literature and sciences of the day. I have not met a man, either in the +Old World or in the New, that so thoroughly understood the state of the +British West Indies at the present time as he does. He might have spent +years in that part of the world, and devoted himself to its exclusive +study. His position at home is high, and his influence great. The +estimation in which he is held in New England may be judged of by the +fact, that when, in August 1846, Dr. Theodore Dwight Woolsey had to be +installed as President of Yale College, Dr. Bacon, living within a +stone's throw of that institution, was the man chosen to preach the +inauguration sermon. + +In the middle of the afternoon, my friend Mr. Sawyer presses me to +preach in his place of worship--the Howe-street Church--this evening. I +consent. By-and-by I observe him very busy with some slips of paper; +and I ask him what he is doing? "I am sending," he says, "notices to +the evening papers, to make it known that you are going to preach this +evening!" What a people the Americans are for newspapers! New Haven has +only a population of about 18,000; and yet it has six daily papers--all +having a weekly issue besides, two monthly periodicals, and two +quarterly ones! The daily papers are, I believe, none of them more than +5 dollars (a guinea) a year, or 2 cents (one penny) per number. No +paper duty, and no stamp. At the service in the evening several +ministers and students were present. + +The next day snow to the depth of six inches cover the ground. Let +_us_, however, turn out in the afternoon. We will go and see the +central square,--or the Green, as it is commonly called. This is a +large open space like a park, surrounded on all sides with rows of +stately elms, and is considered one of the most beautiful spots in the +United States. And now we are in a position to take a full view. Three +churches, arranged side by side on this open space, at a few rods from +each other, stand before us. The central one has the most imposing +aspect. It is a large Grecian building; having a portico, supported by +four massive columns, from which rises a lofty bell-tower, ending in a +spire. The combination of the belfry or spire with the Grecian style is +a violation of propriety; but _I like it_. This is the "first" +Congregational Church--that in which Dr. Bacon ministers. That +church--not the building--is coeval with the colony, and can trace back +its history for more than 200 years. It was formerly a State Church. +Congregationalism was for ages the "standing order," or the established +religion, in Connecticut! All the people were taxed for its support; +and no man could have any share in the administration of the civil +government, or give his vote in any election, unless he was a member of +one of the churches. It was not till forty years after the separation +of Church and State in Virginia, where the establishment was Episcopal, +that the example was followed in Connecticut. Happily, however, in 1816 +all parties that differed from it--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, +Universalists, &c., combined together, gained a majority in the +legislature, and severed the connection between Congregationalism and +the State! There are old men now living who then anxiously and piously +"trembled for the Ark of the Lord." They have, however, lived to see +that the dissolution of the union between Church and State in +Connecticut, as in Virginia, was to the favoured sect as "life from the +dead." The Congregationalist of the one, and the Episcopalian of the +other, would alike deprecate being placed in the same position again. +But this is a digression. + +We are still looking at these churches. The church on our right, which +is about the same size and of the same architectural character as the +other, though not quite so showy, is the "second" Congregational +Church, commonly called the North Church--that in which Mr. Button now +ministers. This church originated in the "great awakening" in 1740, was +formed in 1742, and has a history of more than a century in duration. +It arose from dissatisfaction with the ministry of a Mr. Noyes, a +contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, but one who had no sympathy in +Edwards's views and spirit. This man was, indeed, greatly opposed to +the "awakening," and refused George Whitfield admission to his pulpit. +The originators of this second church, therefore, separated from the +original parent, availed themselves of the Act of Toleration, and +became Congregational Dissenters from a Congregational Establishment! +They had of course no State support, nor were they "free from taxation +by the society from which they dissented." "The foundations of this +church, my brethren," said its present gifted pastor, in a sermon +preached at the centenary of its formation, "are love of evangelical +doctrine, of ecclesiastical liberty, of revivals of religion. Such ever +be its superstructure." + +Here, for a quarter of a century, lived and laboured Jonathan Edwards +the younger. Perhaps you have never before heard of him; neither had I +till I came to New Haven. If you won't think it too long to be detained +here standing in front of the church, I will tell you a few facts +respecting him. He was the second son and ninth child of the celebrated +Jonathan Edwards of Northampton. His mother, too, was an extraordinary +woman. You will smile at the impression she made on the mind of good +old George Whitfield. He had spent two days at Mr. Edwards's house in +Northampton; and he says, "I felt wonderful satisfaction in being at +the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath a daughter of +Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. She is a +woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and +solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her +husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some +months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of +Abraham to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to +marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my +circumstances." + +In quoting this, an American writer adds, "He had not yet learned, if +he ever did, that God is not pleased to make such 'sweet couples' out +of persons who have no choice of their own." + +Mr. Edwards, junior, or rather Dr. Edwards, was (like his father) a +great scholar and a profound divine. He was frequently invited to +assist at the examinations in Yale College. On those occasions he used +frequently to display his strictness and accuracy by calling out, +"_Haud recté_" (not right). This procured him the _sobriquet_ of "Old +Haud Recté," by which he was afterwards known among the students. Some +time after his resignation of the pastorate of this church he became +the President of Union College. His works have recently been published +in two large octavo volumes. There is a striking parallel between the +father and the son. They were alike in the character of their minds and +in their intellectual developments. The name, education, and early +employments of the two were alike. Both were pious in their youth; both +were distinguished scholars; both were tutors for equal periods in the +colleges where they were respectively educated; both were settled in +the ministry as successors to their maternal grandfathers; both were +dismissed, and again settled in retired places, where they had leisure +to prepare and publish their works; both were removed from those +stations to become presidents of colleges; both died shortly after +their respective inaugurations, the one in the 56th and the other in +the 57th year of their age; and each of them preached on the first +Sabbath of the year of his death from the same text--"This year thou +shalt die!" + +But we must not dwell too long on these historical incidents. I have +told you something about the Centre Church and the North Church. That +Gothic building on our left is an episcopal church. That white building +immediately in the rear of the Centre Church is the State House, +completed in 1831. It is constructed of stone and marble, and forms a +prominent ornament of the city. It presents one of the best copies of a +Grecian temple I have seen in the States. In the rear of the North +Church, quite at the remote corner of the Green, stands a plain +barn-like Methodist chapel. And, behind the whole, peeping through the +elm-trees, you see the long range of buildings which constitutes Yale +College. Take it all in all, a view more interesting than that from the +spot on which we now stand I have never beheld. + + + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor Yale +--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides. + + +Before I take you to "Yale," let me show you the spot on the Green on +which, in 1745, Whitfield, being refused admission to the +Congregational church, preached in the open air, under a tree, to an +immense congregation,--so great at that time was the dislike to a +fervid evangelical ministry. But more than a century has rolled away; +and how changed is the scene! + +But, observe you that feeble, tottering old gentleman coming along the +avenue? It is the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., late Chief Justice of the +Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is a member, and, I believe, a deacon +of one of the Congregational churches in this city. Twelve or thirteen +years ago that very man, sitting on the judicial bench, condemned Miss +Randall to be punished for--teaching a coloured child to read! + +Now for Yale. The Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, the minister of the North +Church, will accompany us. This institution was founded in the year +1700. It derived its name from the Hon. Elihu Yale, a gentleman, I am +proud to say, descended from an ancient and respectable family in +Wales. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came over with the first settlers +of New Haven. His son Elihu went to England at ten years of age, and to +the East Indies at thirty. In the latter country he resided about +twenty years, was made Governor of Madras, acquired a large fortune, +returned to England, was chosen Governor of the East India Company, and +died at Wrexham in Denbighshire in 1721. On several occasions he made +munificent donations to the new institution during the years of its +infancy and weakness, on account of which the trustees by a solemn act +named it "Yale College." + +The college buildings--which, like Rome, were not all erected in a +day--consist of four plain spacious edifices, built of brick, each four +stories high, and presenting a front, including passage-ways, of about +600 feet. That neat white house on your right, as you stand before +these buildings, is the President's dwelling--the very house in which +resided Dr. Timothy Dwight. But you are not looking at it. Ah! I see +your attention is attracted by that student sitting on the sill of the +open window of his study, having in his hand a book, and in his mouth a +pipe of clay; by which, with the aid of fire, he is reducing a certain +tropical weed into its original chemical elements. Perhaps you think +that rather undignified; and so it is. I wish you had not seen it; but +worse is done at Oxford and Cambridge. + +Behind this range of buildings is another, a more modern and more +imposing pile. This extends in front 151 feet, is built of red +sandstone, is in the Gothic style, and contains the libraries of the +institution. The central building, called the College Hall, containing +the College Library properly so called, measures in front 51 feet, and +in depth from front to rear 95 feet, having at each corner a tower of +the extreme height of 91 feet. The interior is one room, whose +measurement is 83 feet by 41, resembling in form a Gothic chapel, with +its nave and aisles. The nave is 51 feet high, and its breadth 17 feet. +Between its clustered pillars on either side are alcoves, each 10 feet +by 12, fitted up with shelves for books. The number of volumes it now +contains is about 20,000. The extreme wings and the connecting wings on +either side are very elegant, and fitted up for various libraries +connected with the institution, such as the Students' Library, the +Reading Room, the Calliopean Library, and the Livonian Library. The +Students' Library contains 9,000 volumes. This beautiful range of +buildings probably contains not fewer than 40,000 volumes; and ere long +the number will be doubled! Little did the ten ministers who, in 1700, +met together to establish this seminary, each laying down his donation +of books with these words, "I give these books for the founding of a +college in this colony," and who found that their joint-contribution +amounted to only _forty volumes_,--little did they think what that +small beginning would come to! + +You are looking out for literary curiosities. Here is one--Elliot's +Indian Bible! You have heard of Elliot, "the Apostle of the North +American Indians." Here is a translation of the entire sacred volume +into one of the languages of those people. The New Testament was +published in 1661, and the Old Testament in 1663. The book before us is +a copy of the second edition of the New Testament in 1680, and of the +Old Testament in 1685. But where are those Indians, or their +descendants? They are extinct; and there is not now a man on the whole +continent of America that speaks their language! + +Time will not permit me to describe the Picture Gallery, the Anatomical +Museum, the Cabinet of the Materia Medica, the Museum of Natural +History, and many other objects of interest. You must, however, take a +peep at the Mineral Cabinet, or Geological Museum. It has been +collected and arranged, with great industry and taste, by Professor +Silliman. Look at this meteoric iron-stone. It fell a few years ago in +Texas, and weighs 1,635 lbs.! + +Our guide, Mr. Dutton, insists upon our calling at the college-room of +Dr. Goodrich, one of the Theological Professors. We do so; and find him +engaged in revising Webster's Large Dictionary, about a dozen volumes, +for a new edition. But what a polite man! Talk of American rudeness! A +reception more kind and courteous than this you have never received +from any man. + +Yale College is a noble institution. Oh that we had a few like it in +England! The Faculty consists of 25 Professors--men who would be an +honour to any country, 7 "Tutors," and 6 "Instructors." At the time of +our visit there are 584 students thus classified:-- + +Theological Students 53 +Law " 62 +Medical " 52 +Resident Graduates 5 + +Undergraduates,-- + Seniors 121 + Juniors 90 + Sophomores (wise fools) 112 + Freshmen 99 + ----- + 422 + ----- + Total 584 + +Candidates for admission to the Freshmen Class are examined in Cicero's +Select Orations, the whole of Virgil and Sallust, and the first three +books of Xenophon's Anabasis, together with various "Readers," +"Exercises," and Grammars. + +The whole course of instruction occupies four years, each year being +divided into three terms or sessions. + +With regard to expense, the annual charges made by the Treasurer are-- + + DOLLS. CENTS. +For instruction 33 00 +For rent of chamber in college (average) 12 00 +For ordinary repairs and contingencies 2 40 +For general damages, sweeping, &c. 3 60 +For expenses of recitation-rooms 3 00 + ----------- + 54 00 = Ł11. 5_s._ + +Board is obtained at prices varying from a dollar and a quarter to 3 +dollars a week. To a majority of the students, the cost of board is +less than 2 dollars a week, or, reckoning the dollar at 4_s._ 2_d._, +less than 8_s._ 4_d._ Fuel is procured by the College Corporation, and +sold to the students at cost-price. The students provide for themselves +bed and bedding, furniture for their rooms, candles, books, stationery, +and washing. In the several classes and literary societies +subscriptions to a small amount are required. If books and furniture +are sold when the student completes his course, the expense incurred by +their use will not be great. The following is an approximate estimate +of the _necessary_ expenses, without including apparel, pocket-money, +travelling, and board during vacations:-- + + DOLLARS. + +Treasurer's account as above 54 ... 54 +Board for forty weeks from 60 to 90 +Fuel and lights " 6 " 15 +Use of books recited, and stationery " 5 " 15 +Use of furniture, bed and bedding " 5 " 15 +Washing...... " 5 " 15 +Contributions in the classes ... " 5 " 6 + ---------- + 140 to 210 + +or from 29_l._ to 43_l._ No students are permitted to take lodgings in +town, except when the rooms in college are all occupied. + +In addition to the regular college course of four years, those who +study for the ministry go through a theological course, which occupies +three years more. No charges are made for tuition or lectures. For the +accommodation of students of this order a building has been erected, in +which the rooms are free of charge. The law department, in like manner, +occupies two years, and the medical two or three. + +Let us now go and see the graves of the Regicides. They are at the rear +of the Centre Church. Soon after the restoration of Charles II., many +of the judges who had condemned to death his father were apprehended; +of whom thirty were condemned, and ten executed as traitors. Three, +however, made their escape to New England,--Generals Goffe and Whalley, +and Colonel Dixwell. A cave is shown in the neighbourhood, still called +the "Judges' Cave," in which a great part of their time was spent in +concealment. Many were their hair-breadth 'scapes from their +pursuers--the Royalist party. The colonists, however, gave them all the +sympathy and protection that they deserved. On one occasion, knowing +that the pursuers were coming to New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Davenport +preached on the text, "Hide the outcasts; betray not him that +wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to +them from the face of the spoiler." This, doubtless, had its effect, +putting the whole town on their guard, and uniting the people in +caution and concealment. + +Do you see that rudely-shaped, dark blue stone, about 2 feet in width, +the same in height, and 8 inches thick? Do you see the inscription upon +it--E W in coarsely-carved letters, and the figures 1658 over them? +That is, doubtless, the headstone of Whalley's grave. The footstone is +similar, having the same letters; but above them you see figures that +may be read either sixteen hundred and fifty-eight, or sixteen hundred +and seventy-eight--16578. The latter was the date of the General's +death; and the figures, perhaps, were thus tampered with to baffle the +Royalists. + +The other stone, about a foot broad and ten inches high, bearing the +letters M. G. and the number 80, is supposed to indicate the +resting-place of Goffe. He died about the year 1680. The M, with a +deep-drawn stroke under its limbs, may be taken for an inverted W; and +thus, with the G, stand for William Goffe, in harmony with the designed +concealment that pervades the whole. Colonel John Dixwell lived here, +for seventeen years or more, under the assumed name of James Davids, +and died here after an exile of twenty-nine years from his native +country. He, as well as the other two judges, lived and died in the +firm expectation of another revolution in England. That revolution had +actually taken place in the November before his death; but, as those +were the days of slow and tedious voyages, the news did not arrive till +about a month after his death. A little before his decease he revealed +to the people his real name and character, which had long been known to +the Rev. Mr. Pierpont the minister, but requested that no monument +should be erected at his grave, "lest his enemies might dishonour his +ashes," but only a plain stone inscribed with his initials J. D., Esq., +his age, and time of death. And here it is--that piece of red stone, +about 2 feet in height and breadth, and 5 inches thick, inscribed-- + +"I. D. ESQR + +DECEASED MARCH ye + +18th IN ye 82d YEAR OF + +HIS AGE 1688^9." + +President Stiles, in his "History of the Judges," says, "So late as the +last French war, 1760, some British officers passing through New Haven, +and hearing of Dixwell's grave, visited it, and declared, with +rancorous and malicious vengeance, that if the British ministry knew +it, they would even then cause their bodies to be dug up and vilified. +Often have we heard the crown officers aspersing and vilifying them; +and some so late as 1775 visited and treated the graves with marks of +indignity too indecent to be detailed." + +By those who can make a due allowance for difference of time and +circumstances, the graves of these exiles will be visited with +sentiments of veneration. It would have been grand to spare the +presumptuous monarch; but we cannot feel surprised that he was +sacrificed to the indignation of an outraged people. In these days, +happily, kings and nations have learned that to take away the life of +tyrannical rulers, or of resisting subjects, is but to sow the seeds of +future troubles, and not to lay the foundation of permanent peace. + + + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak. + + +Good Friday was observed by the people of New England as an annual +fast-day, to humble themselves on account of their national sins. It +seemed, somewhat to our inconvenience, to be literally and very rigidly +observed in the circle in which we moved. On that day all ministers are +at liberty to preach upon politics. Accordingly, my friend Mr. Sawyer +took for his text Isaiah lviii. 6: "Is not this the fast that I have +chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, +and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" He +touched upon the war with Mexico, but dwelt chiefly on the subject of +slavery in America. His remarks were, however, too much mingled with +party politics to make the church uncomfortable. + +In the afternoon I heard Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. His text was +Neh. ii. 3, and his subject _Patriotism_. The existing war occupied +much of his attention, and was strongly and unsparingly denounced. The +maxim--too frequently heard at that time in the United States--"Our +country, right or wrong," he shattered to atoms. Defensive war, +however, he justified. He dwelt powerfully on the responsibility +connected with the exercise of the elective franchise, and urged the +duty of voting, at all times, not blindly and for party purposes, but +intelligently, honestly, and piously. Exceptions might perhaps be taken +by some to his views on defensive war; otherwise the discourse was +excellent and seasonable. At the close of the service, we went, in +accordance with previous arrangements, to be his guests for a few days. + +In the evening I attended a Congregational church of coloured people. +The place was exceedingly neat and clean. The minister, the Rev. Mr. +Beman (himself a coloured man), gave out the well-known hymn-- + +"Come we that love the Lord, + And let our joys be known," &c., + +which was sung beautifully. He then offered up a very judicious, +sensible, and pious prayer. The meeting was one of a series of revival +meetings. A large number professed to have been converted; but, such +were the care and caution exercised, none of them had been admitted +into the fellowship of the church. Mr. Beman was so prudent, +unassuming, and devout, that I could not resist the inclination to go +up, introduce myself, and give a short address. Most cordial was my +reception, and great my enjoyment. At the close, one and another were +introduced to me as having made their escape from Southern slavery, +under circumstances painfully affecting; and they would not let me go +without a promise that I would preach to them on the following Sabbath +morning. + +I did so, and enjoyed the service very much. As in the evening there +was to be a service in the North Church, in which all the other +churches were to unite, for the purpose of hearing from me a statement +with regard to the history and operations of the London Missionary +Society, together with some special reference to British Guiana, I said +to Mr. Beman, "Brother Beman, won't you and your people go to the North +Church to-night?" He hesitatingly said, "No,--he thought not." "Why +not?" said I,--"you know my statements will in a great measure refer to +those who are your brethren--your kindred according to the flesh." +"Yes," he replied,--"we should be glad to come; but the fact is they +would pack us--myself and all--into some negro pew, and we should feel +it keenly." + +In the afternoon I preached for Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. Dr. +Bacon had that day exchanged pulpits with Dr. Hawes of Hartford. My +service closing a little sooner than his, I reached the Centre Church +in time to hear the latter part of his sermon. Dr. Hawes is a fine, +tall man, of about 55 years of age. In personal appearance, and in +tones of voice, he struck me as greatly resembling some of the sons of +Caledonia. His sermon, which was read, seemed to be very good; but the +delivery, even in the application, was slow and heavy. Both churches +were even more beautiful inside than out, and were filled with very +large congregations. + +Shortly after, Mr. Dutton took me to attend the afternoon worship at +the College Chapel, where a church is formed, and public services are +conducted every Sabbath. It was here that Dr. Dwight delivered his +well-known Lectures. There are prayers morning and afternoon every day, +which the students are expected to attend. Such was the present +engagement. One of the professors read a chapter; gave out a hymn, +which was magnificently sung; and then offered an extempore prayer. +There were between 300 and 400 students present. + +In the evening Dr. Hawes accompanied me into the pulpit, and took the +introductory part of the service. Most of the professors and students +were present. It was a fine, though formidable, opportunity to plead +the cause of the despised and oppressed sons of Afric before an +audience of so much learning and intelligence. What a contrast! In 1742 +the students were forbidden to attend the meetings of this church; and +it was partly for once disobeying this prohibition, in order to hear +the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, that David Brainerd was expelled from the +college. + +Nor were the sentiments I uttered new in this place. Nearly 60 years +have rolled away since Jonathan Edwards the younger preached here a +sermon, afterwards published by _request_, on the injustice and +impolicy of the slave-trade and slavery,--a sermon which in these days +would be called by many not merely abolitionism but incendiarism. + +On Monday morning we were taken to see the cemetery, outside of the +city. Formerly the Green was used as a burying-ground; but in the +latter part of last century this field of ten acres was levelled and +inclosed for the purpose; and in 1821 the monuments, with the exception +of the humble stones of the three judges, were removed hither. The +broken tablets and half-legible inscriptions, which constituted the +memorials of the fathers and founders of this colony, were peculiarly +interesting. On the 18th of April, 1638, those men kept their first +Sabbath here. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, and Mr. +Davenport, their pastor, preached to them from Matt. iv. 1: "Then was +Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the +devil." His subject was the temptations of the wilderness; and he +recorded the remark, that he had enjoyed "a good day." The following +year they met in a large barn, and in a very solemn manner proceeded to +lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity. Mr. Davenport +introduced the business with a sermon on "Wisdom hath builded her +house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The most ancient record of +this event is a curiosity in the history of civil government. It thus +begins:--"The 4th day of the 6th moneth, called June, all the free +planters assembled together in a general meetinge, to consult about +settling civil government according to God, and about the nomination of +persons that may be found by consent of all fittest in all respects for +the foundation work of a church, which was to be gathered in Quinipiack +[the Indian name of the place]. After sollemne invocation of the name +of God in prayer," &c., they resolved--Alas! for that resolve! it +admitted a wrong principle, and was productive, for more than 150 +years, of the most withering and blighting effect upon that religion +which they aimed to foster--they resolved among other things, "That +church members only shall be free burgesses; and that they only shall +chuse magistrates and officers among themselves, to have the power of +transacting all publique civil affairs of this plantation," &c. + +But why record their errors while standing over their tombs? _De +mortuis nil nisi bonum_. Take them for all in all, they were men whom +we delight to honour. Here are some of their memorials, dated so far +back as 1657. Here too is the resting-place of Dr. Dwight. + +As we return from this necropolis, the Rev. Mr. Sawyer points out to us +the house of Professor Gibbs. "Gibbs--Gibbs," said I; "what! Gibbs's +Gesenius?" "Yes," said he. "I should like to see him," I replied, "for +I used at college his editions of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon." "Let us +then call by all means," said Mr. Sawyer. We did so; and a thin, spare, +sallow, sickly, withered, little old gentleman made his appearance. +This was the Professor. He seemed as if all the juice and sap of his +constitution had been pressed out to nourish the Hebrew roots. I +expressed my pleasure in seeing him, and acknowledged the advantages I +had derived from his labours. The conversation soon touched upon the +Established Church of England, of which he seemed to have a great +horror. "You ought to put down," said he, "that Establishment. You +might very easily do it." "We should be very happy, sir, to know how," +I replied. "I will tell you. Make thorough Hebrew scholars of your +ministers. Let them be with regard to Biblical learning quite on a par +with those of the Establishment, and it will soon fall." I answered, +that upon the whole I thought they were in that respect quite in +advance of those of the Establishment. But I was amused at the good +Professor's simplicity. He little understood the mighty bulwarks by +which that institution is defended. A little more of the article in +which _he_ dealt would be just the thing to accomplish wonders! It was +his nostrum. + +To-day the annual election of the State of Connecticut is held. All the +officers of state are to be chosen, and New Haven is one of the +principal polling-places. But how quiet the town! The only thing that +indicates an election is the presence of a larger number of people than +usual; and the only display you can see is that little bit of a flag, +about 18 inches square, stuck on the top of a cab, having on the word +"Democracy!" Let us go into the State House, and see how it is done. +Men leave their stores or their studies,--enter by one door, drop their +vote into a box, and quietly return to their avocations. The students +at Yale who are 21 years of age do the same, and go back to their +exercises. The whole affair is managed with as much propriety as the +election of deacons in the church at New Amsterdam. _This_ is the +working of universal suffrage in New England. Oh that all America, and +all the world, were in this respect like the land of the Pilgrim +Fathers! + +And now we must bid adieu to New Haven. Many are the warm hearts and +clear heads it contains. The population is about 18,000. There are in +it-- + +5 Congregational Churches, and 1 Coloured ditto. +2 Episcopal ditto . . 1 " +2 Methodist Episcopal ditto 1 " +2 Baptist ditto. +1 Primitive Methodist ditto. 1 Bethel ditto. +1 Catholic ditto. -- +____ + +13 + 4 = 17 total of places of worship. + + DOLLARS. + +The Salary of the Governor of Connecticut is 1,100 + " Lieutenant " . . 300 + " Rev. Dr. Bacon . . . 1,500 + " Rev. Mr. Dutton . . . 1,500 + +In the middle of the day, we leave by railway for Hartford, 36 miles +off. Dr. Hawes is our fellow-traveller. Coloured people are here +allowed to travel in the same carriages with others. It was not so, +even on this line, three or four years ago, when the Rev. Mr. +Pennington was setting off from Hartford for England. He told me +himself that he was obliged on that occasion to travel in the +luggage-van. On our arrival, we are met by Charles Hosmer, Esq., (a +cousin of Elihu Burritt,) an old and valued correspondent of mine, and +of my predecessor Mr. Wray. To both of us he had occasionally sent +presents of excellent American publications. We must be his guests +during the few days we remain at Hartford. Dr. Hawes and Chief Justice +Williams, came in a homely way to spend the evening with us. The Chief +Justice is a deacon of the Doctor's church, and a teacher in the +Sabbath-school. + +The next day we were taken to see the Deaf and Dumb Institution. This +asylum was founded by the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet, who, becoming deeply +interested in this class of afflicted humanity, visited England and the +Continent with a view to obtain information as to the best mode of +communicating instruction to them. I may also observe that he himself +married a deaf and dumb lady, by whom he has a large family of +children, now grown up, none of whom however inherit the maternal +affliction. His son also has married a lady who, like his mother, is +deaf and dumb. We were highly delighted with the success of the +undertaking as seen in the comfort, cheerfulness, and proficiency of +the pupils. In coming out, we met at the door a respectable +well-dressed man and a woman, both of them deaf and dumb, who had +formerly been pupils here, had formed an attachment to each other, +married, settled comfortably in life, and were now coming to pay a +visit to their former home. + +On our return we saw the celebrated Charter Oak. The early settlers of +this place had obtained from the second Charles, and that in the very +year in which 2,000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England, +a most favourable charter--far more so than the Colonial Office in the +present day would grant. Charles, however, repented having granted it, +and in 1687 sent over Sir Edmund Andross, under some pretence or other, +to demand it back. It was night, and the Legislative Assembly were +convened on the subject, when suddenly the lights were extinguished, +and the charter was missing. For a long time it was not known, except +to the initiated, what had become of it. When, however, the danger was +past, the Charter was forthcoming. It had been concealed in the hollow +of this old oak, which still survives. I was gratified in seeing the +document carefully preserved in the office of the Secretary of State. +It is dated 1662, and "in the fourteenth year of our reign," though in +reality Charles had then reigned but two years. + + + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity +--Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. +Bushnell and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground +--The New Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure +from Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth +Bliss--The Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill. + + +Having seen the Charter Oak, let us proceed in company with the Rev. +Mr. Gallaudet to the "Retreat for the Insane," of which he is chaplain. +The place is delightfully situated, and severity of treatment carefully +avoided. As we pass from room to room, we are very gravely and formally +introduced, as strangers in the country, to the inmates. Here we are +introduced to a tall muscular old lady, who has her cap fantastically +trimmed with bits of ribbon of various gaudy colours. With an air of +assumed politeness and dignity, she asks me if I have been to +Washington. On receiving a reply in the negative, she expresses great +regret, and inquires if I have seen "Dan Webster," and, without waiting +for an answer, hurries on, "Fine fellow Dan,--some solid timbers about +Dan,--indeed, the Yankees altogether are not to be sniffed at." I +nodded the most entire assent to all she said. + +We enter another room, and are introduced to a curious groupe. One +woman has tied her mouth up with a handkerchief, to prevent her talking +too much. She tells us that at first she had tied it over her ears, to +prevent her hearing another woman's voice, who is constantly talking to +herself, and making her head ache; but that she found her own tongue +then going faster than anybody else's. She had therefore adopted the +_wise_ plan of tying her own mouth. She is eloquent in the praises of +the institution, and calls it "A blessed Retreat--a blessed Retreat." + +We move on, and are introduced to a fine-looking woman--the wife of a +respectable merchant in New York. She looks wild, and shakes her head +violently. She pours upon us a flood of questions, most of which relate +to her own husband, such as--When did we see him last?--How was +he?--What message did he send to her? &c. Turning to my wife, she said, +"You had better have staid at home, and never come to this country. +This country _was_ once a great country: it is so no longer, and all +through that man,"--pointing to Mr. Gallaudet. "Oh that man! what a +villain he is! People out of doors don't know him; and," looking at +myself, "you can't do this country better service than to make known +everywhere the real character of that man. Here he keeps me a prisoner +in this place for nothing at all; but I hope the State will take up the +matter, and punish him well for it." I promised to make known Mr. +Gallaudet's character, and bade her adieu. + +We are next introduced to a student of theology, who asks very sensible +and pious questions in reference to the missionary cause and the +progress of the Gospel in British Guiana. This man is perfectly sane +except on one point. He thinks there is a conspiracy to poison him, and +that slow poison is administered to him continually in his food. Mr. +Gallaudet, even by dining at the same table and eating out of the same +dish, has failed to convince him to the contrary. + +Now we are taken to the chapel in which Mr. Gallaudet officiates among +them. On the desk is an elegantly-bound Bible, which has been presented +by a former patient, who had experienced in his restoration the value +of this "Retreat." The hymn-book is a collection made on purpose for +the insane, everything gloomy and terrific being excluded. Mr. +Gallaudet, a most intelligent and accomplished man, describes many +remarkable developments of human nature which have come under his +observation, comprising strange combinations of piety and profanity in +the same persons. A patient, who was really a very religious man, in +enumerating the many advantages they there enjoyed said, "We have a +good house to live in; good rooms to occupy; good food to eat; a good +doctor to attend us; a good chaplain to give us religious instruction; +and" (waxing warm) "what the devil do we want more?" + +In the afternoon we meet with Dr. Hawes, at the house of Chief Justice +Williams to tea. + +In the evening there is a united service in the "Fourth Church"--that +of which Dr. Patton's son is minister,--to hear from me an address on +the subject of missions. After which Dr. Bushnell puts to me publicly +some very close and intelligent questions with regard to the working of +freedom in our West India Colonies. He is evidently anxious to elicit +from me that kind of information which would enable them to contradict +the statements of the pro-slavery party. Young Patton is also an +anti-slavery man, and will not tolerate the distinction of colour in +his own church. + +The next day Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Patton call and accompany us to the +Historical Room. There we see carefully kept an old chest that had come +over in the "May Flower," and also the three-legged pot in which the +"Pilgrims" had first boiled their food after landing on Plymouth Rock. +These and many other memorials of the "Fathers" we are happy to find +are very piously preserved. Then we go to a Gallery of Pictures. The +admission fee is 25 cents, or one shilling; but from us, being +strangers, they will accept of nothing! In the collection there was +much to admire; but I could not help regretting that the canvas was +made to preserve the memory of so many conflicts between England and +her Transatlantic sons. + +We dined at Dr. Bushnell's house. The Doctor is a very unassuming man, +and a very original but somewhat eccentric thinker. He had lately +published a sermon on Roads, a sermon on the Moral Uses of the Sea, a +sermon on Stormy Sabbaths, and a sermon on Unconscious Influence,--all +treated in a very striking manner. He had recently visited England and +the continent of Europe, and had also contributed an article to the +_New Englander_, a quarterly review, on the Evangelical Alliance. The +views of a keen thinker from another land on that and kindred topics +deserve to be pondered. "The Church of God in England," says the +Doctor, "can never be settled upon any proper basis, whether of truth +or of practical harmony, until the Established Church, as such, is +separated from the State." His estimate of "a large class of English +Christians" is not very flattering. "They are good men, but not +thinking men. Their piety gurgles in a warm flood through their heart, +but it has not yet mounted to their head. * * * In the ordinary, _i.e._ +in their preaching and piety, they show a style of goodishness fitly +represented by Henry's Commentary; in the extraordinary, they rise into +sublimity by inflation and the swell of the occasion." Towards slavery +and slaveholders he manifests a tenderness of feeling at which we are +surprised and pained. The proposed exclusion of slaveholders from the +Alliance he characterizes as "absurd and fanatical," speaking of the +subject as having been "so unhandsomely forced upon" the American +brethren in London. Again, "There is too much good sense among the +Christians of this country (America) to think of constituting an +Alliance on the basis which denies Christian character to all +slaveholders. At a future time, when slavery has been discussed long +enough, we shall do so. We cannot do it now,--least of all can we do it +at the dictation of brethren beyond the sea, who do not understand the +question," &c. + +And yet in the same article the Doctor proposes that the Christians of +England and America should unite their efforts for the promotion of +religious liberty in Italy, and says, "If we lift our testimony against +all church dungeons and tortures, and against all suppression of +argument by penalties, as cruel, absurd, anti-christian, and impious, +there is no prince or priesthood in Italy or anywhere else that can +long venture to perpetrate such enormities." Will they yield, Doctor, +to the "dictation of brethren beyond the sea?" But this subject of +American slavery is always represented by our Transatlantic friends as +a thing so _profound_ that none but themselves can understand it; and +yet it is evident that they understand it least of all. Hear the +Doctor:-- + +"We do not propose, however, in this movement for religious liberty, to +invite the efforts of our English brethren here against slavery. We +have too little confidence in their knowledge of our condition, and the +correctness of their opinions generally on the subject of American +slavery. They must consent to let us manage the question in our own +way," &c. How strikingly is it here seen that this slavery is the weak +point and the wicked point in the American character! We liked Dr. +Bushnell's company, his hospitality, his wife, his children, his +domestic discipline, his church, his other writings,--everything better +than the article in question, though even it contained much that we +admired. + +The next day we went to see the "First Congregational Church" in this +place--that in which Dr. Hawes ministers, together with the old +burying-ground attached to it. This was the original church formed by +the first settlers, who in 1636 came from Braintree in Essex, bringing +their pastor the Rev. Thos. Hooker along with them. Of him it is said, +that he appeared in the pulpit with such dignity and independence as if +"while engaged in his Master's work he could put a king in his pocket." +Here is his tomb, dated 1647. Two eventful centuries have rolled away, +during which this church has had only nine pastors; all of whom, except +the last, Dr. Hawes, who still survives, died in their charge, and were +interred in this place. Interments here are no longer continued; but an +old bachelor, of independent means, a descendant of the Pilgrims, +spends nearly the whole of his time "among the tombs" of the fathers +and prophets, and, _con amore_, keeps the ground and the graves in the +most beautiful order. + +Our host Mr. Hosmer took us to see the new burying-ground outside of +the city. Here the Catholics and the coloured people had each a parcel +of ground allotted for themselves,--the former because they _would_ +not, and the latter because they _should_ not, mingle their dust with +that of other people! + +On our way back I said to my friend, "How was it that neither Mr. +Pennington nor any of his people (coloured congregation) were at the +meeting last night? I should have thought they would have come to hear +about their own brethren in Guiana." "Why," he replied, "the fact was I +did not send a notice to them on Sunday: I knew that in the 'Fourth' +Church they would have been scattered all over the place; it would have +been so unpleasant, and talked of for months." Here then was a man of a +large heart, a friend of missions and of all that is good, one who +seemed as if he could embrace the whole world in his sympathies, under +the dominion of a prejudice you would have expected him to scorn! + +At Hartford lives Mrs. Sigourney, the graceful American poetess. She is +a pious member of one of the Congregational Churches. Mr. Hosmer kindly +took us to call upon her; and we were greatly pleased with our brief +visit. + +At 2 P.M. we left with regret this delightful little city, and shall +always cherish a grateful remembrance of the Christian kindness and +hospitality with which we were treated. In all the States we met with +nothing to be compared, in all that was pleasing, to the two cities of +Connecticut--New Haven and Hartford. + +In passing, on our way to Boston, through Worcester in Massachusetts, I +cast a hurried glance at every place that looked like a smithy, +wondering whether it was there that Elihu Burritt had wielded his +forge-hammer and scattered his "sparks from the anvil." + +We reached Boston at 9 P.M., and stopped at the United States Hotel. +The next day I called to deliver notes of introduction to several of +the Boston divines. Among them was one to the Rev. Seth Bliss, at the +Tract Depository. Having glanced at the note, he very hurriedly said to +me, "Ah, how do you do?--very glad to see you!--where are you stopping +at?"--"At the United States Hotel, sir." "Oh," he replied all in a +breath, "you had better come to my house,--it'll be cheaper for +you,--they'll charge you 2 dollars a day at the United States Hotel,--I +only charge a dollar and a half,--I have a room at liberty now. +Besides, if you want to get acquainted with ministers, you can't do +better than come to my house. In fact, the wags call my house the +'Saints' Rest,'--because, I suppose, they see I sell the book here." +The conjuncture of "Bliss" and "Saints' Rest!" Who could refuse? We +went. But I will not tell how far the accommodation tended to realize +our conceptions of those beatitudes. + +On the morrow we went to see Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty." A +notice was up at the door to say the key was to be found at such a +store in the neighbourhood. I asked for the key; had it without a +single question being put; went, opened the door myself, and staid as +long as we pleased. There was no hanger-on, to try to squeeze a fee out +of us, as would have been the case in a country I know. + +I then went and called without any introduction upon William Lloyd +Garrison, from whom I received the most kind attentions. He accompanied +me to the celebrated Bunker's Hill, a scene of dreadful encounter +between those who ought never to have been foes. A column of 200 feet +high now stands upon the spot. It is unfortunate that the Americans +have so many mementos, both natural and artificial, of their struggles +with us. They tend to perpetuate an undesirable feeling. + + + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood. + + +On Sabbath morning the 11th of April I preached for the Rev. Mr. +Blagden, in the Old South Church. This is a large old-fashioned square +building, having two galleries, one above the other, on three of its +sides. It is rich in historical recollections. Here Whitfield preached. +Here patriotic meetings were held even before Faneuil Hall was built; +and here the British troops were quartered at the time of the +Revolutionary War. Here, too, the lamp of truth was kept feebly burning +when all around had sunk into darkness and heresy. At the commencement +of this century, the ministry in all the other Congregational Churches +in Boston had become Unitarian. In the Old South, however, there were a +few people, eight in number, who formed a "Society for Religious +Improvement." They could not at first _pray_ together; they only read +the Scriptures and conversed on religious subjects. But they grew in +wisdom, fervour, and zeal, and were eventually the means, not only of +reviving religion in the Old South, but also of giving an impulse in +Boston which is felt to this day. Church after church on orthodox +principles has been instituted, till there are in Boston more than a +dozen large and vigorous churches of the Congregational order; and the +Old South, the honoured "mother of churches," has had her "youth +renewed like the eagles." + +But how came Congregationalism to be so deteriorated? It was owing to +its having been made the State religion. All were at first taxed for +its exclusive support. This was felt to be unjust and oppressive, and +it brought the favoured system into bad repute. Then a modification of +the law was adopted, and the citizens had their choice of systems, but +were taxed for the support of some system or other. This provision, +likewise, began ere long to be felt as unjust towards those who did not +wish to maintain _any_ system, or at least not by taxation. This law, +moreover, gave a virtual support to Unitarianism. "This," says the Rev. +Mr. Button of New Haven, "has been more fully illustrated in +Massachusetts than in Connecticut. The repeal of the law for the +compulsory support of religion in that commonwealth has proved a severe +blow to Unitarianism." + +After the morning service at the Old South, we turned in to see +Park-street Church, another Congregational place of worship, which for +the following reason I was curious to enter. A few years ago a coloured +gentleman of respectability instructed a friend to purchase for him a +pew in that church. That no objection to the sale might arise from any +neglect of decorations, the new proprietor had it beautifully lined and +cushioned. It was made to look as handsome as any other pew in the +church; and, when it was finished, the gentleman and his family one +Sabbath morning took possession. This gave rise to great anxiety and +alarm. Niggers in the body of the church! What was to be done? In the +course of the following week a meeting was held, and a deputation +appointed to wait upon the gentleman, and to tell him that it was +against "public feeling" for him to occupy the pew in question. The +gentleman remonstrated, and pointed out the injustice, after he had +purchased the pew, and incurred the expense of fitting it up, of not +being allowed to enjoy it. To this the deputation replied that they +were sorry for any inconvenience or loss he might sustain, but public +feeling _must_ be respected, and the pew _must_ be given up. Against +this decision there was no appeal; and the gentleman was obliged to let +the pew be resold for such a price as the white aristocracy thought fit +to give. On the principle that "prevention is better than cure," they +have, I am told, in Boston introduced into every new trust-deed a +clause that will effectually guard against the recurrence of such a +calamity. But so "smartly" has it been done that, were you to examine +those deeds, you would look in vain for a single syllable having the +remotest apparent bearing on either black or coloured people, and you +would be ready to suspect that the whole was a mere invention of the +Abolitionists. Indeed, Mrs. "Bliss," at the "Saints' Rest," assured me +in the most positive manner that such was the case, and that the whole +of the story I have related had not the shadow of a foundation in +truth. But she might as well have attempted to deny the existence of +Bunker's Hill or Boston Bay. This was only a specimen of the manner in +which the colour-hating party attempt to throw dust in the eyes of +strangers, and deny the existence of the most palpable facts. But how +runs the conservative clause which led to this digression? It is +expressed in words to this effect,--That no sale of any pew is valid if +two-thirds or three-fourths (I forget which) of the congregation should +object to the purchaser! This was quite enough. Those against whom it +was directed need not be even mentioned. It was well known that with +this clause no coloured man could ever own a pew. Public feeling would +piously take hold of this key, and turn it against him. + +In the afternoon I heard the Rev. E.N. Kirk. The church was new and +beautiful, the congregation large, and the sermon good. + +In the evening I preached in Welsh to about 70 people, in a small +"upper room." It was my first attempt for many years to deliver a +_sermon_ in that language. Nor should I have made it, but for the +peculiarity of the case. The parties were representatives of four +different denominations in Wales, had formed themselves into a kind of +Evangelical Alliance, and had no stated minister, but gladly availed +themselves of the occasional services of any minister of evangelical +views who might be passing through! Poor and few as they were, they +insisted upon my receiving towards travelling expenses four dollars and +a half. This was not done at the Old South, though the pastor told me +they were "burdened with wealth;" nor was it done in any other instance +in the _American_ churches. + +The next day the Rev. Mr. Blagden accompanied us to see the +Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Here we were introduced to Laura +Bridgman, who since she was about two years of age has been deaf, dumb, +and blind. Her senses of taste and smell are also impaired. She is 18 +years of age, and has been in the institution ten years. Every avenue +of communication with the soul was closed--but one. The sense of touch +remained; and by means of that they have contrived to reach the mind, +to inform it, to instruct it, to refine and elevate it. We found her +exactly corresponding to the beautiful description given of her by Dr. +Howe, who is at the head of the institution. That description has so +often been published in England that I will not transcribe it. Her +figure is genteel, slender, and well-proportioned. She appears to be +lively, sensitive, and benevolent. The place where the bright blue eyes +once sparkled that are now quenched in darkness is covered with a piece +of green ribbon. Conversation with her is carried on by means of the +"speaker's" rapid fingering on her right hand. It was in this manner +that we were introduced. She shook hands with us very affectionately, +--taking hold of both hands of Mrs. Davies, and feeling all +about her head, her dress, and her arms. In doing so she felt the +wedding-ring, and wanted to know by means of her interpreter--her +governess--why the English ladies wore a ring on that finger. (The +American ladies do not observe the custom.) On my wife telling her it +was to show they were married, she seemed very much amused and +astonished. Here it was very interesting to observe the progress of a +thought from ourselves to the governess, and from her to that "little, +white, whispering, loving, listening" hand that received and +communicated all ideas, until the brightened countenance and the lovely +smile showed it had reached the soul. She felt a deep sympathy for +Ireland, and wished to know what the English were doing for the +starving inhabitants. We told her; and soon after we saw by the public +papers that, subsequently to our visit, she had done some needle-work, +which was sold, and the proceeds appropriated at her request to +purchase a barrel of flour for that unhappy land. "How," exclaims Elihu +Burritt, "she plied at morning, noon, and night, those fingers! +wonderful fingers! It seemed that the very finger of God had touched +them with miraculous susceptibilities of fellowship with the spirit +world and that around her. She put them upon the face of His written +word, and felt them thrilled to her heart with the pulsation of His +great thoughts of love to man. And then she _felt_ for other's woe. +Poor child! God bless her richly! She reached out her short arms to +feel after some more unhappy than she in the condition of this life; +some whose fingers' ends had not read such sweet paragraphs of heaven's +mercy as hers had done; some who had not seen, heard, and felt what her +dumb, silent, deaf fingers had brought into her heart of joy, hope, and +love. Think of that, ye young eyes and ears that daily feast upon the +beauty and melody of this outer world! Within the atmosphere of her +quick sensibilities, she felt the presence of those whose cup was full +of affliction. She put her fingers, with their throbbing sympathies, +upon the lean bloodless faces of the famishing children in Ireland, and +her sightless eyes filled with the tears that the blind may shed for +griefs they cannot see. And then she plied the needle and those +fingers, and quickened their industry by placing them anon upon the +slow sickly pulse of want that wasted her kind at noonday across the +ocean. Days, and nights too--for day and night were alike to her +wakeful sympathies--and weeks she wrought on with her needle. And then +the embroidery of those fingers was sold to the merchants. Would it had +been sold to England's Queen, to be worn by the young princesses on +days of state! It was sold; and its purchase price was _a barrel of +flour_, instead of a country's harvest, which it was well worth. And +that barrel of flour was stowed away without other private mark than +that the recording Angel put upon it, among the thousands that +freighted the _Jamestown_ on her recent mission of brotherly love to +Ireland. _Laura Bridgman and her barrel of flour_ should teach the +world a lesson worth the woes of one year's famine." Laura favoured us +with her autograph on a slip of paper, which we shall always carefully +preserve as a memorial of a visit to one of the greatest wonders of the +age. + +In another room we were introduced to Oliver Caswell. He is about the +same age as Laura, and similarly afflicted, but has been in the +institution only six years. His teacher told him, in the same +finger-language which was used with Laura, that we came from British +Guiana, and desired him to find out the place on the large globe before +him. This globe was made for the use of the blind, having upon it the +countries and their names in relievo. Oliver turned it round, and felt +with his fingers until they soon rested on the required spot, when he +seemed greatly delighted. His attainments are not so remarkable as +those of Laura, for he has not been so long under tuition; but his +progress is highly encouraging. + +At 4 P.M. we left Boston by railway for Albany,--fare 5 dollars each. +We rested, however, at Springfield for the night, and that in the most +comfortable hotel we had met with in the States. The next day we moved +on to Pittsfield, where we arrived at half-past 11. Finding that we +might get off from that train, and go by another in three or four +hours' time, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of calling upon +the Rev. Dr. Todd, the author of "Lectures to Children," "The Student's +Guide," &c. Instead of the prim, neat, little man we had always +imagined him to be, we found him tall, coarse, slovenly, and unshaven; +a man of 46 years of age; hair of an iron-grey, rough and uncombed; +features large; cheek-bones prominent; and the straps of his trowsers +unbuttoned, and flapping about his slippers. But, under this +unpromising exterior, we discerned a soul of great intelligence, +frankness, and brotherly kindness. Mrs. Todd has been a woman of great +beauty, and, though she has brought up a large family of children, is +still fresh and comely. Their eldest daughter is 19 years of age; and +John, to whom the "Lectures to Children" were dedicated, is now 14 +years of age. The Doctor's insane mother, for whose sake he was first +led to employ his pen, has been dead for some years. His desire to +visit England is very strong. He had been appointed by the churches of +Massachusetts to visit those of England last year in the character of a +delegate; but the means of meeting the expenses of such a delegation +were not provided, and consequently the visit was not paid. It is +worthy of observation that the Doctor's books have been sold in England +far more extensively than in America; but from the English editions he +receives no profit, and even from the American ones very little. As it +may be the first time that English readers hear of John Todd as +_Doctor_ Todd, and as there is an impression that our American friends +bestow their literary honours too freely and indiscriminately,--which, +indeed, is true in reference to some scores of institutions,--nothing +being easier than to obtain a D.D.,--I would just observe that this +applies not to the New England Colleges. They are very chary of such +honours, and only confer that of D.D. on ministers of long standing and +high attainments. In the case of Mr. Todd it was most deservedly +bestowed. + +Pittsfield is but a small town, of about 5,000 inhabitants. The +Governor of Massachusetts resided there, and was a deacon of a Baptist +Church. Dr. Todd presides over a Congregational Church. To the +principles of Congregationalism he is devoutly attached. While others +regard Presbyterianism and Congregationalism as matters of mere +geographical boundary, Todd could never be prevailed upon, even by the +most advantageous offers, to do the same. He said he had nailed his +flag to the mast, and would never abandon it. "I regard +Congregationalism," said he to me, "as a sort of a working-jacket: with +it on I can work with anybody, in any place, and in any way." With this +great and good man we exceedingly enjoyed a homely dinner and a few +hours' converse. In coming out, I observed before the door, +half-covered with snow, a beautiful model of the Temple of Theseus. +This was the work of the Doctor's own hands. + +At 3-1/2 P.M. we left for Albany. At the station, before crossing the +Hudson, we observed in large letters the ominous words "Beware of +pickpockets!" On reaching the city we went to the "Delevan House," so +called after Mr. Delevan, who has done so much for the advancement of +temperance in America. The house is his property, but he does not +conduct it. He lives there as a lodger; and I was permitted to spend +the evening in conversation with him. The house is the largest +temperance hotel in the world. It will accommodate about 400 guests. +Those who keep it are religious people, and have a public +family-worship every evening, usually conducted by the master of the +house; but if a minister of any denomination be present, he is asked to +officiate. A bell is rung, and all who feel disposed to unite in the +worship assemble in a large room. On this occasion it was my privilege +to conduct the service; and in such a place, and under such +circumstances, it was to me an exercise of peculiar interest. A hymn +too was sung, and well sung,--the tune being led by the master of the +house, aided by his family. + +The next morning, at half-past 7, we set off by railway to Utica, a +distance of 94 miles, which we did not accomplish in less than 6-1/2 +hours, making an average of less than 15 miles an hour, and for which +we paid 2-1/2 dollars, or 10s. 6d. This journey led us through the +valley of the Mohawk, and that river was for the most part our constant +companion. The railway and the river seemed to be wedded to each +other,--the former conforming to all the whims and windings, and +turnings and twistings of the latter. + +Utica is a small city, of about 14,000 inhabitants. Its progress has +been but slow. The houses are painted white, and appear neat and +comfortable. I was struck with the immense number of them that were +erected with their gable end to the street, and with a small portico +supported by two fluted columns. A large portion of the inhabitants are +Welsh, who have here four or five places of worship. The Rev. James +Griffiths, a man of great piety and worth, is the minister of the Welsh +Independents. At his house we were most kindly entertained during our +stay. On the Sabbath I preached for him twice in Welsh. The following +week we were taken to Remsen, eighteen miles off, to see the Rev. Mr. +Everett, whose farewell sermon on leaving Wales I had heard when quite +a boy,--and the Rev. Morris Roberts, to whom I had bidden adieu in +Liverpool sixteen years before. It was delightful to meet these +honoured brethren in their adopted home, after the lapse of so many +years. Remsen is quite a Welsh settlement; and these men both preside +over Welsh churches there. Mr. Everett is the editor of a Welsh Monthly +Magazine. In that periodical, as well as in his ministrations, he has +been unflinching in his denunciations of slavery. This has exposed him +to cruel persecutions. There are about 70,000 Welsh people in the +United States who worship in their own language. At Remsen I had to +deliver two addresses on the results of emancipation in the West +Indies. On our return to Utica, the friend who drove us happened +incidentally to mention that in that country they make the dogs churn! +"The dogs churn!" I said, "Yes," said he; "and I dare say they have a +churning-machine so worked at this house: let us call and see." It was +a farm-house. At the door about half-a-dozen chubby little children, +with fine rosy cheeks, were assembled to see the strangers. I began to +speak in English to the eldest, a boy about 10 years of age; but the +lad stared! He understood not a word I said. + +Though born and so far brought up there, he knew nothing but Welsh! We +were gratified with an inspection of the machine for churning. It was +worked very much on the same principle as a treadmill, and exceedingly +disliked by the poor dog. Goats are sometimes made to perform the same +service. In several instances, we saw horses in like manner made to saw +wood, and admired the ingenuity of our cousins in turning to account +every particle of power they possess. "What is the difference," said +Dr. Beecher once to a ship-captain, "between an English sailor and a +Yankee one?" The answer was, "An English sailor can do a thing very +well in _one_ way, but the Yankee can do it in half-a-dozen ways." + + + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chair is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance. + + +On the 22nd we left Utica at 11 A.M., and reached Albany at 5 P.M. At +Schenectady Mr. Delevan got into the same carriage with us; and we had +his company to Albany. He had caused to be put into the hand of every +passenger by that train a tract on the claims of the Sabbath, a large +number of which he had printed at his own expense. He spends an immense +fortune in doing good, chiefly by means of the press. + +In the evening I strolled out to see a little of Albany, the capital of +the State of New York. I gazed with interest on Dr. Sprague's Church, +and wandered until I came to a large building brilliantly lighted. It +was the State House or Capitol. The legislature was then in session. I +marched on, and got in without the least hinderance. There was no crowd +and no stir about the doors. A simple rail divided the part allotted to +the spectators from that which was used by the members. About a hundred +of the latter were present. The Senate, whose hall was in another part +of the same building, had been adjourned till next day. This was the +House of Representatives; and they seemed to be in the midst of a very +angry discussion. Their cheeks swelled with rage, or with--quids of +tobacco. A spittoon, constantly used, was placed by the side of each +member. They were rebelling against the speaker; and, of all mortals, I +never saw one in a more unenviable position than he. All that his +little hammer, his tongue, and his hands could do was of no avail. The +storm raged. The words "honourable member," "unparliamentary," "order," +"chair," and "_in_-quiry," were bandied about in all directions. One of +the "honourable members," rushing out past me, said with a loud voice, +"I'll go and get a segar," &c. At last the speaker--poor fellow!--in +tones of humiliation and despair said, "The _chair_ is but a _man_; +and, if we err, we are ready to acknowledge our error." + +The next day we left by the steam-boat "Roger Williams," and sailed +down the majestic Hudson to New York, a distance of 145 miles; fare one +dollar each. This river has so often been described by travellers that +I need not repeat the attempt. + +The following day was Saturday. In the afternoon I met Dr. Spring at +the Tract House. After the usual salutation, he said, "Shall we hear +your voice at our place to-morrow afternoon?"--"I have no objection, +sir,--what time does your service commence?" "At 4 o'clock."--"Very +well." "Where shall I find you?"--"Where will you be?" "I shall be in +the pulpit five minutes before the time."--"Oh! _very_ well, _very_ +well." + +In the morning I went to hear the Doctor. His introductory prayer was +long. In it he prayed for Mexico--that it might have a "free and +religious government," and that the present war might result in the +overthrow there of the "man of sin;" but no reference to American +slavery. The Doctor, bear in mind, is an Old School Presbyterian, and a +supporter of the Colonization Society. His text was John v. 23: "That +all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father," &c. His +divisions were-- + +I. What honours are ascribed to the Father. + +1. Appropriate names and titles. Jehovah, &c. + +2. Ascription of most glorious attributes. Eternal--Immutable +--Omnipotent, &c. + +3. Great and glorious works. Creation--Preservation--Redemption +--Atonement--Regeneration--Justification--Raising the dead--Judging the +world--Destroying it--Glory of the righteous--Punishment of the wicked. +(All these were supported by appropriate quotations of Scripture.) + +4. Duties enjoined in reference to Him. Confidence--Worship, &c. + +II. That the same honours are ascribed to the Son. (He went over each +of the above particulars, showing from Scripture their application to +the Son.) + +III. That, therefore, the Son is properly and truly God. + +1. We cannot believe the Scriptures would ascribe the same honours to +Him as to the Father, if He were not equal to the Father. + +2. If He be not truly God, the Scriptures tempt to idolatry. + +3. If He be not truly God, the accounts which the Scriptures give of +Him are self-contradictory. + +4. If He be not truly God, there is no evidence from Scripture that +there is a God at all. + +This was a massive and compact argument for the Divinity of Christ. It +occupied upwards of an hour in the delivery, and was read. + +In the afternoon I took care to be in the pulpit five minutes before +the time. The Doctor shortly after came, and took his seat behind me. +This to me is always an annoyance,--I would almost as soon have a man +with me in bed as in the pulpit;--and in this instance it was +peculiarly so, as towards the close, although I had not exceeded forty +minutes, I felt quite persuaded that the Doctor was pulling at my +coat-tail, which led me rather abruptly to conclude. In this, however, +I was mistaken; and the Doctor assured me it was what he had never done +in his life, except in one instance,--and that was when the preacher, +having occupied two hours with his sermon, was entering upon a third. + +In the evening of the 27th of April I heard, at the Tabernacle, New +York, the celebrated Gough deliver a lecture on Temperance. It was to +commence at 8 o'clock; but we had to be there an hour before the time, +in order to get a comfortable place. That hour was a dreary one. The +scraping of throats and the spitting were horrible. It seemed as if +some hundreds of guttural organs were uttering the awfully guttural +sentence, _"Hwch goch dorchog a chwech o berchill cochion."_ + +At last Gough made his appearance on the platform. He is a slender +young man of three or four and twenty. He told us he had spoken every +night except three for the last thirty nights, and was then very weary, +but thought "what a privilege it is to live and labour in the present +day." He related his own past experience of _delirium tremens_,--how an +iron rod in his hand became a snake,--how a many-bladed knife pierced +his flesh,--how a great face on the wall grinned at and threatened him; +"and yet," he added, "I _knew_ it was a delusion!" + +A temperance man, pointing to Gough, had once observed to another, +"What a miserable-looking fellow that is!" "But," replied the other, +"you would not say so, if you saw how he keeps everybody in a roar of +laughter at the public-house till 1 or 2 in the morning." "But I _was_ +miserable," said Gough; "I _knew_ that the parties who courted and +flattered me really _despised_ me." He told us some humorous +tales,--how he used to mortify some of them by claiming acquaintance +with them in the street, and in the presence of their respectable +friends. He returned scorn for scorn. "Gough," said a man once to him, +"you ought to be ashamed of yourself to be always drinking in this +manner." "Do I drink at your expense?"--"No." "Do I owe you +anything?"--"No." "Do I ever ask you to treat me?"--"No." "Then mind +your own business," &c. He introduced this to show that that mode of +dealing with the drunkard was not likely to answer the purpose. + +"Six years ago," said he, "a man on the borders of Connecticut, sat +night after night on a stool in a low tavern to scrape an old fiddle. +Had you seen him, with his old hat drawn over his eyebrows, his swollen +lips, and his silly grin, you would have thought him adapted for +nothing else. But he signed the pledge, and in two years became a +United States senator, and thrilled the House with his eloquence." + +In one place, after Gough had delivered a lecture, some ladies gathered +around him, and one of them said, "I wish you would ask Joe to 'sign +the pledge,"--referring to a wretched-looking young man that was +sauntering near the door. Gough went up to him, spoke _kindly_ to him, +and got him to sign: the ladies were delighted, and heartily shook +hands with Joe. A year after Gough met Joe quite a dandy, walking +arm-in-arm with a fine young lady. "Well, Joe, did you stick to the +pledge?" said Gough to him. "Yes," said Joe with an exulting smile, +"and the lady has stuck to me." + +For more than an hour Gough kept the vast audience enchained by his +varied and charming talk. + +On the 29th I went over the Tract House in New York, and was delighted +to see there six steam-presses,--four of which were then at work, +pouring forth in rapid succession sheet after sheet impressed with that +kind of literature which in my judgment is admirably adapted to meet +the wants of this growing country. They were then printing on an +average 27,000 publications, including nearly 2,400 of each kind, _per +diem!_ and employing sixty women in folding and stitching. During the +last year they printed 713,000 volumes, and 8,299,000 smaller +publications, making a total of 217,499,000 pages, or 58,154,661 pages +more than in any previous year! Of the _volumes_ issued, I may mention +14,000 sets of four volumes of D'Aubigné's History of the Reformation, +17,000 of Bunyan's Pilgrim, 10,000 of Baxter's Saints' Rest, 9,000 of +Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 7,000 of Pike's Persuasives, 13,000 of +Alleine's Alarm, and 41,000 of Baxter's Call! The two Secretaries, +whose business it is to superintend the publishing department and +matters relating to the raising of funds, the Rev. Wm. A. Hallock and +the Rev. O. Eastman, are enterprising and plodding men. They told me +they were brought up together in the same neighbourhood, and had both +worked at the plough till they were 20 years of age! + +The 1st of May is the great moving day in New York. Throughout the city +one house seems to empty itself into another. Were it to the next door, +it might be done with no great inconvenience; but it is not so. Try to +walk along the causeway, and you are continually blocked up with +tables, chairs, and chests of drawers. Get into an omnibus, and you are +beset with fenders, pokers, pans, Dutch ovens, baskets, brushes, &c. +Hire a cart, and they charge you double fare. + +One day at the water-side, happening to see the steamer for Staten +Island about to move off, we stepped on board, and in less than half an +hour found ourselves there. The distance is 6 miles, and the island is +18 miles long, 7 miles wide, and 300 feet high. Here are a large +hospital for mariners and the quarantine burying-ground. It is also +studded with several genteel residences. In 1657 the Indians sold it to +the Dutch for 10 shirts, 30 pairs of stockings, 10 guns, 30 bars of +lead, 30 lbs. of powder, 12 coats, 2 pieces of duffil, 30 kettles, 30 +hatchets, 20 hoes, and one case of knives and awls. + +Several emigrant vessels were then in the bay. On our return, we saw +with painful interest many of them setting their foot for the first +time on the shore of the New World. They were then arriving in New +York, chiefly from the United Kingdom, at the rate of one thousand a +day. The sight affected me even to tears. It was like a vision of the +British Empire crumbling to pieces, and the materials taken to build a +new and hostile dominion. + +I should draw too largely upon your patience, were I to describe many +objects of interest and many scenes of beauty I witnessed in New York +and the neighbourhood. The Common Schools; the Croton Waterworks, +capable of yielding an adequate supply for a million-and-a-half of +people; Hoboken, with its sibyl's cave and elysian fields; the spot on +which General Hamilton fell in a duel; the Battery and Castle Garden--a +covered amphitheatre capable of accommodating 10,000 people; the Park, +and the City Hall with its white marble front; Trinity Church; and its +wealthy Corporation; Long Island, or Brooklyn, with its delightful +cemetery, &c., &c. Suffice it to say that New York has a population of +about 400,000; and that it has for that population, without an +Established Church, 215 places of worship. Brooklyn has also a +population of 60,000, and 30 places of worship. + + + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans. + + +The American May Meetings held in New York do not last a month as in +England,--a week suffices. That week is the second in the month. On the +Sabbath preceding, sermons on behalf of many of the societies are +preached in various churches. On the morning of the Sabbath in question +we went to the Tabernacle, not knowing whom we should hear. To our +surprise and pleasure, my friend Dr. Baird was the preacher. His text +was, "Let thy kingdom come;" and the object for which he had to plead +was the Foreign Evangelical Society, of which he was the Secretary. His +sermon was exceedingly simple, and the delivery quite in an off-hand +conversational style. There was no reading. + +In the evening we heard Dr. Bushnell preach, on behalf of the American +Home-Missionary Society, at the "Church of the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn. +This is a fine costly building, named in honour of the Pilgrim Fathers, +and having a fragment of the Plymouth Rock imbedded in the wall. The +sermon was a very ingenious one on Judges xvii. 13: "Then said Micah, +Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my +priest." The preacher observed that Micah lived in the time of the +Judges--what might be called the "emigrant age" of Israel,--that he was +introduced on the stage of history as a thief,--that he afterwards +became in his own way a saint, and must have a priest. First, he +consecrates his own son; but his son not being a Levite, it was +difficult for so pious a man to be satisfied. Fortunately a young +Levite--a strolling mendicant probably--comes that way; and he promptly +engages the youth to remain and act the _padre_ for him, saying, "Dwell +with me, and be a _father_ unto me." Having thus got up a religion, the +thief is content, and his mental troubles are quieted. Becoming a +Romanist before Rome is founded, he says, "Now know I that the Lord +will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Religion to him +consisted in a fine silver apparatus of gods, and a priest in regular +succession. In this story of Micah it was seen that _emigration, or a +new settlement of the social state, involves a tendency to social +decline_. "Our first danger," said the preacher, "is barbarism +--Romanism next." + +The tendency to barbarism was illustrated by historic references. The +emigration headed by Abraham soon developed a mass of barbarism,--Lot +giving rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites; meanwhile, Abraham +throwing off upon the world in his son Ishmael another stock of +barbarians--the Arabs,--a name which according to some signifies +_Westerners_. One generation later, and another ferocious race springs +from the family of Isaac--the descendants of Esau, or the Edomites. +Then coming down to the time of the Judges we find that violence +prevailed, that the roads were destroyed, and that the arts had +perished: there was not even a smith left in the land; and they were +obliged to go down to the Philistines to get an axe or a mattock +sharpened. Then the preacher came to the great American question +itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been +an upward tendency. It was not so. It had been downward until the +"great revival" about the year 1740. The dangers to which society in +the South and "Far West" is now exposed were powerfully described. The +remedies were then pointed out. + +"First of all, we must not despair." "And what next? We must get rid, +if possible, of slavery." "'We must have peace.'". Also "Railways and +telegraphs." "Education, too, we must favour and promote." "Above all, +provide a talented and educated body of Christian teachers, and keep +them pressing into the wilderness as far as emigration itself can go." +The conclusion of this great sermon was so remarkable that I cannot but +give it in the Doctor's own words. + +"And now, Jehovah God, thou who, by long ages of watch and discipline, +didst make of thy servant Abraham a people, be thou the God also of +this great nation. Remember still its holy beginnings, and for the +fathers' sakes still cherish and sanctify it. Fill it with thy Light +and thy Potent Influence, till the glory of thy Son breaks out on the +Western sea as now upon the Eastern, and these uttermost parts, given +to Christ for his possession, become the bounds of a new Christian +empire, whose name the believing and the good of all people shall hail +as a name of hope and blessing." + +On the Tuesday I attended two Anti-slavery Meetings in the Tabernacle. +The one in the morning was that of Mr. Garrison's party. The chief +speakers were Messrs. Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick +Douglass. This party think that the constitution of the United States +is so thoroughly pro-slavery that nothing can be done without breaking +it up. Another party, at the head of which is Lewis Tappan, think that +there are elements in the constitution which may be made to tell +powerfully against slavery, and ultimately to effect its overthrow. +Both parties mean well; but they unhappily cherish towards each other +great bitterness of feeling. Mr. Tappan's party held their meeting in +the afternoon. Among the speakers was the Rev. Mr. Patton from +Hartford, son of Dr. Patton, who made a very effective speeches. The +Rev. Samuel Ward also, a black man of great muscular power, and amazing +command of language and of himself, astonished and delighted me. I +could not but exclaim, "There speaks a black Demosthenes!" This man, +strange to say, is the pastor of a Congregational church of white +people in the State of New York. As a public speaker he seemed superior +to Frederick Douglass. It was pleasing at those anti-slavery meetings +to see how completely intermingled were the whites and the coloured. + +I had been invited in the evening to speak at the public meeting of the +Foreign Evangelical Society, and to take tea at Dr. Baird's house. +While I was there, Dr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of the American +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Mr. Merwin, called to +invite me to address the public meeting of that society on the Friday. +I promised to do so, if I should not previously have left for the West +Indies. The public meeting of Dr. Baird's society was held in the Dutch +Reformed Church, Dr. Hutton's, a magnificent Gothic building. Dr. De +Witt took the chair. The attendance was large and respectable. Dr. +Baird, as Secretary, having recently returned from Europe, where he had +conversed on the subject of his mission with fourteen crowned heads, +read a most interesting report. The writer had then to address the +meeting. After him three other gentlemen spoke. There was no +collection! Strange to say, that, with all their revivals, our friends +in America seem to be morbidly afraid of doing anything under the +influence of excitement. Hence the addresses on occasions like this are +generally stiff and studied, half-an-hour orations. This feeling +prevents their turning the voluntary principle, in the support of their +religious societies, to so good an account as they otherwise might. At +the close of this meeting, there seemed to be a fine state of feeling +for making a collection; and yet no collection was made. This society +is one of great value and importance. It is designed to tell in the +promotion of evangelical truth on the Catholic countries of Europe and +South America. In those countries, it employs a hundred colporteurs in +the sale and distribution of religious publications. + +The next morning I addressed a breakfast meeting of about 400 people, +in a room connected with the Tabernacle. This was a new thing in the +New World. It was, moreover, an anti-slavery breakfast, under the +presidency of Lewis Tappan. It was charming to see the whites and the +coloured so intermingled at this social repast, and that in the very +heart of the great metropolis of America. + +At 10 the same morning a meeting of the American Tract Society was held +at the Tabernacle. I had been engaged to speak on that occasion, but +was obliged to go and see about the vessel that was to take us away. + +In the evening I was pressed, at half an hour's notice, to speak at the +meeting of the American Home-Missionary Society. The Rev. H.W. Beecher +of Indianapolis, one of the sons of Dr. Beecher, made a powerful speech +on the claims of the West and South-west. In my own address I +complimented the Directors on the ground they had recently taken in +reference to slavery, and proceeded to say that there was an important +sense in which that society should be an anti-slavery society. This +elicited the cheers of the few, which were immediately drowned in the +hisses of the many. The interruption was but momentary, and I +proceeded. The next morning one of the Secretaries endeavoured to +persuade me that the hisses were not at myself, but at those who +interrupted me with their cheers. I told him his explanation was +ingenious and kind; nevertheless I thought I might justly claim the +honour of having been hissed for uttering an anti-slavery sentiment at +the Tabernacle in New York! + +This society has an herculean task to perform; and, in consideration of +it, our American friends might well be excused for some years, were it +possible, from all foreign operations. + + "Westward the star of empire moves." + +Ohio welcomed its first permanent settlers in 1788, and now it is +occupied by nearly 2,000,000 of people. Michigan obtained its first +immigrants but fourteen or fifteen years ago, and now has a population +of 300,000. Indiana, admitted into the Union in 1816, has since then +received a population of more than half a million, and now numbers +nearly a million of inhabitants. Illinois became a State in 1818. From +that date its population trebled every ten years till the last census +of 1840, and since then has risen from 476,000 to about 900,000. +Missouri, which in 1810 had only 20,800 people, has now 600,000, having +increased 50 per cent. in six years. Iowa was scarcely heard of a dozen +years ago. It is now a State, and about 150,000 people call its land +their home. Wisconsin was organized but twelve years ago, and has now a +population of not less than 200,000. One portion of its territory, 33 +miles by 30, which ten years before was an unbroken wilderness, +numbered even in 1846 87,000 inhabitants; and the emigration to the +"Far West" is now greater than ever. A giant is therefore growing up +there, who will soon be able and disposed to rule the destinies of the +United States. The Church of Rome is straining every nerve to have that +giant in her own keeping, and already shouts the song of triumph. Says +one of her sanguine sons, "The Church is now firmly established in this +country, and persecution will but cause it to thrive. Our countrymen +may grieve that it is so; but it is useless for them to kick against +the decrees of the Almighty God. They have an open field and fair play +for Protestantism. Here she has had free scope, has reigned without a +rival, and proved what she could do, and that her best is evil; for the +very good she boasts is not hers. A new day is dawning on this chosen +land, and the Church is about to assume her rightful position and +influence. Ours shall yet become consecrated ground. _Our hills and +valleys shall yet echo to the convent-bell._ The cross shall be planted +throughout the length and breadth of our land; and our happy sons and +daughters shall drive away fear, shall drive away evil from our borders +with the echoes of their matin and vesper hymns. No matter who writes, +who declaims, who intrigues, who is alarmed, or what leagues are +formed, THIS IS TO BE A CATHOLIC COUNTRY; and from Maine to Georgia, +from the broad Atlantic to broader Pacific, the 'clean sacrifice' is to +be offered daily for quick and dead." The triumph may be premature; but +it conveys a timely warning. + +The next day the Anniversary of the Bible Society was held. The Hon. +Theodore Frelinghuysen presided. At that meeting I had been requested, +to speak, but could not. Indeed, we were detained all day on board a +vessel by which we expected every hour to sail for Jamaica; though, +after all, we had to wait until the following day. On that day, the +14th of May, just at the time the Board of Missions were holding their +public meeting, we sailed, and bade adieu to New York and all the +delightful engagements of that memorable week. + +But, say you, Tell us in a few words what you think of America upon the +whole? I will try to do so. There is a class of things I greatly +admire; and there is a class of things I greatly detest. Among the +former I may mention-- + +1. Religious equality--the absence of a State church. + +2. The workings of the voluntary principle in the abundant supply of +places of worship, and in the support of religious institutions. + +3. General education. With regard to their common schools, and also to +their colleges, they are far in advance of us in England. The existence +of universal suffrage has the effect of stimulating educational efforts +to a degree which would not otherwise be attained. The more respectable +and intelligent of the citizens are made to feel that, with universal +suffrage, their dearest institutions are all perilled unless the mass +be educated. + +As education is the great question of the day, I must not omit to make +a few remarks on the Primary Schools of the United States. There is no +_national_ system of education in America. Congress does not interfere +in the matter, except in the "Territories" before they become "States." +The States of the Union are so many distinct Republics, and, in the +matter of education, as in all their internal affairs, are left +entirely to take their own measures. With regard to education, no two +States act precisely alike. If we glance at the States of +Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, we shall, however, discover the +three great types of what in this respect generally prevails throughout +the States. + +MASSACHUSETTS.--Scarcely had the "Pilgrims" been half-a-dozen years in +their wilderness home before they began to make what they deemed a +suitable provision for the instruction of their children. They adopted +the same principle in reference to education and religion--that of +taxation. A general tax was not imposed; but the people in the various +townships were empowered to tax themselves to a certain amount, and to +manage the whole affair by means of their own "select men." But, +although this law has continued for 200 years, the people have always +done far more than it required. In Boston, for instance, the law +demands only 3,000 dollars a year, but not less than 60,000 dollars is +raised and applied! So that here we have a noble proof, not so much of +the effect of government interference, as of the efficiency of the +voluntary principle in providing education for the young. The people of +Massachusetts, and indeed of all the New England States, are doubtless +the best educated in the world. Not one in a thousand of those born +here grows up unable to read and write. + +The calumniated "Pilgrims" were thus early attentive to the importance +of education; and their system had been in full operation for between +thirty and forty years, when, in 1670, Sir William Berkley, Governor of +Virginia, the stronghold of the Anglican Church, thus devoutly +addressed the "Lords of Plantations in England:"--"I thank God _there +are no free schools nor printing_, and I hope we shall not have them +these hundred years; for learning has brought _disobedience and heresy +and sects_ into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels +against the best government. God keep us from both!" + +The system of Massachusetts may be regarded as a type of what prevails +in the six New England States, except Connecticut, where there is a +State fund of upwards of 2,000,000 dollars, yielding an annual dividend +of about 120,000 dollars for school purposes. + +NEW YORK.--In this State a large fund for schools has been created by +the sale of public land. The proceeds of this fund are annually +distributed in such a way as to secure the raising by local efforts of +at least three times the amount for the same object. This fund is thus +used as a gentle stimulant to local exertions. The system described +will convey a notion of what exists in the _middle_ States. + +Ohio.--In this and the Western States every township is divided into so +many sections of a mile square; and one of these sections, out of a +given number, is devoted to the maintenance of schools. As a township +increases in population, the reserved section advances in value. These +schools are not subject to any central control, but are under the +management of a committee chosen by the township. + +Still education is not so general in all the States as might be wished. +Miss Beecher, the daughter of Dr. Beecher, having devoted to the +subject much time and talent, tells us that there are in the United +States "a million adults who cannot read and write, and more than two +millions of children utterly illiterate and entirely without schools!" +Of the children in this condition, 130,000 are in Ohio, and 100,000 in +Kentucky. + +In the working of this system of education, the absence of a State +Church affords advantages not enjoyed in England. Of late, however, an +objection to the use of the Bible in these schools has been raised by +the Roman Catholics, and the question in some States has been fiercely +agitated. In the city of St. Louis the Bible has been excluded. In +Cincinnati the Catholics, failing to exclude it, have established +schools of their own. + +This agitation is one of great interest. It leads thoughtful and devout +men to ask, whether, when the State, assuming to be the instructor of +its subjects, establishes schools, and puts Protestant Bibles, or any +other, or none into them _by law_, they have not thenceforth +Protestantism, Popery, or Infidelity so far _by law established_; and +whether it is not better that the State should restrict itself to its +proper function as the minister of justice, leaving secular +instruction, like religious, to the spontaneous resources of the +people. + +To this, I think, it will come at last. The Common School economy is a +remnant of the old Church-and-State system, which has not been entirely +swept away. But for this impression I should feel some uneasiness, lest +it should prove the germ of a new order of things leading back to +State-Churchism. It appeared to me quite natural to say, "Here is a +State provision for schools,--why not have a similar provision for +churches? It works well for the one,--why not for the other? Is it not +as important that our churches should rely, not alone on the capricious +and scanty efforts of the voluntary principle, but also on the more +respectable and permanent support of the State, as it is that our +Common Schools should adopt this course?" To me it seemed that the +arguments which recommended the one supported the other; but when I +have mentioned to intelligent men the possibility, not to say +probability, of the one step leading to the other, they have invariably +been surprised at my apprehensions, and have assured me that nothing +was more unlikely to take place. + +But, to show the jealousy with which on _other_ grounds the system +begins to be viewed, I will close by a short quotation from a writer in +the _New Englander_, a respectable _Quarterly_, to which I have before +referred. "It will, doubtless, be thought strange to say that the +systems of public common-school education now existing, and sought to +be established throughout our country, may yet, while Christians sleep, +become one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, antagonism in the +land to all evangelical instruction and piety. But how long before they +will be so,--when they shall have become the mere creatures of the +State, and, under the plea of no sectarianism, mere naturalism shall be +the substance of all the religious, and the basis of all the secular +teaching which they shall give? And let it not be forgotten that strong +currents of influence, in all parts of the country, acting in no chance +concert, are doing their utmost to bring about just this result." + +4. I admire their _temperance_. + +I confess that I felt humbled and ashamed for my own country, when, so +soon as I trod on British ground, or British _planks_, the old absurd +drinking usages again saluted my eye. In all the States I met with +nothing more truly ludicrous than some of these. For instance, when +A.B.'s mouth happens to be well replenished with, "flesh, fish, or +fowl," potatoes, pudding, or pastry, at one table, C.D., from another +table far away across the room, at the top of his voice, calls out, +"Mr. A.B., allow me the pleasure to take a glass of wine with you." +A.B. makes a very polite bow, fills his glass in a great hurry, holds +it up with his right hand, C.D. doing the same thing with his; and +then A.B. and C.D., making another polite bow to each other, +simultaneously swallow their glasses of wine! Were we not _accustomed_ +to the sight, it would appear as laughable as anything travellers tell +us of the manners and customs of the least enlightened nations. Surely, +if this childish practice is still a rule in polite society, it is one +"more honoured in the breach than the observance." In no city on the +Eastern side of the Alleghany Mountains did I meet a single drunken +American in the street. The few whom I did detect in that plight were +manifestly recent importations from Great Britain and Ireland! + + +5. I also greatly admire their _secular enterprise_. They afford a +fine illustration of the idea conveyed in their own indigenous phrase, +"Go a-head." + + + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +Slavery--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor and +his Blood-hounds--Conclusion. + + +But there is a class of things among them which men of well-regulated +minds and habits cannot but detest. These, as they have come under my +notice, I have pointed out. The chief of all is _slavery_. This stared +me in the face the moment I entered the States; and it presses itself +on my notice now that I have retired from the American shore. It is the +beginning and the ending of all that is vile and vicious in this +confederation of Republics. In England, you have been often told by +American visiters that the Northern States of the Union are not at all +identified with slavery, and are, in fact, no more responsible for its +existence in the South than we are for the existence of a like system +in the colonies of some of our European Allies. Than this +representation nothing can be further from the truth. There is really +no analogy whatever between the two cases. Each State, it is true, has +its own distinct and independent legislature; but all the States are +united in one federation, which has a thoroughly pro-slavery +government. The constitution is pledged to maintain the execrable +system, and the Northern States are pledged to maintain the +hypocritical constitution. + +That no preponderance of influence might be given to any one State over +the rest, by making it the seat of the central government, a district +of 10 miles square was partitioned out, partly from Virginia and partly +from Maryland, for that purpose. This district, called the District of +Columbia, has no government and no representation of its own, but is +under the absolute control and regulation of the United Government or +Congress, "exclusive jurisdiction over it in all cases whatsoever" +having been given by the constitution. In this absolute government of +the "ten miles square," embracing the site of Washington the capital, +the Northern States, by their representatives in Congress, have their +full share. Now, not merely does slavery exist in that District, but it +exists there under statutes so barbarous and cruel that the +neighbouring slave States have actually abolished the like within the +bounds of their separate jurisdiction, leaving to the _free_ States the +unenviable responsibility of enforcing laws too horrible for +kidnappers. Take a specimen,--"A slave convicted of any petit treason, +or murder, or wilful burning of a dwelling-house, to have the right +hand cut off, to be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from +the body, the body divided into four quarters, and the head and +quarters set up in the most public places of the county where such act +was committed." Take another,--"A _free negro_ may be arrested, and put +in jail for 3 months, on _suspicion_ of being a runaway; and if he is +not able to _prove_ his freedom in 12 months, _he is to be sold as a +slave_ TO PAY HIS JAIL FEES!" Are there not hundreds of free men, both +black and white, who could not _prove_ their freedom under such +circumstances? Yet, for this _crime_, they are reduced to perpetual +bondage _by authority of Congress_. And all this the North upholds! + +Washington, the capital, thus governed, is but the great mart of the +national man-trade. From the adjoining port of Alexandria, 7 miles off, +the victims are shipped for the South. Listen to the _Gazette_ of that +place,--"Here you may behold fathers and brothers leaving behind them +the dearest objects of affection, and moving slowly along in the mute +agony of despair,--there the young mother sobbing over the infant, +whose innocent smiles seem but to increase her misery. From some you +will hear the burst of bitter lamentation; while from others the loud +hysteric laugh breaks forth, denoting still deeper agony." + +But you will be told that it is not in the power of Northern members to +alter this state of things. Why not? In the House of Representatives +the free States have a majority of about 50, and in the Senate they +have for some years been equal. But have they tried? Have they +protested? Have they voted? Have they divided the House? They _have_ +voted. How? _Eighty-two Northern men_, a few years ago, voted that +Congress ought not to interfere _in any way_ with slavery in the +District of Columbia! + +Look at some of the provisions of the Federal Government. See what +"SOLEMN GUARANTEES" it gives to the accursed system of slavery, in +whatever State it may be found! + +Art. I., sect. 2, says, "Representatives and direct taxes shall be +apportioned among the several States which may be included within this +Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined +by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to +serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, +_three-fifths of all other persons_"--that is to say, _slaves_, for +once called "persons!" Here is a positive premium on slave-holding. +This constitutes an aristocracy of the most monstrous character, and +introduces into the social fabric an element as absurd as it is +perilous. Talk of the aristocracy of England, and the undue influence +of landed proprietors! You have nothing half so unjust and vicious as +this. Suppose the Southern States have two millions and a half of +slaves: for that amount of property they have one million and a half of +additional votes; while in the free States there is no property +representation whatever. Or look at the question in another aspect. Two +citizens have each a capital of 5,000_l._ to invest. The one invests in +shipping or commerce in New York, and at the time of the election, +counts _one_; the other invests in slaves in South Carolina, obtaining +for the sum mentioned a whole gang of 100 human beings of both sexes +and of all ages, and at the time of the election he counts +_sixty-one_,--swamping with his 100 slaves the votes of sixty-one +respectable merchants in a free State! This it is which has constituted +an aristocracy of about 200,000 slaveholders in the South, the ruling +power in the United States. It has made the preservation and extension +of slavery the vital and moving principle of the national policy. So +that ever since 1830 slavery, slave-holding, slave-breeding, and +slave-trading have enjoyed the special and fostering care of the +Federal Government. As to the _quid pro quo_--the taxation that was to +be connected with the representation of "three-fifths of all other +persons," that has been almost entirely evaded. "There has not been," +says a New England Reviewer, "if we mistake not, but in one instance, +and then in a very light degree, an assessment of direct taxation." + +Art. I., sect. 8, says, "Congress shall have power"--among other +things--"to suppress _insurrections_." And Art. IV., sect. 4, says, +"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a +republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against +invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive +(when the legislature cannot be convened), against _domestic +violence_." + +These clauses pledge the whole force of the United States' army, and +navy too, if needs be, to the maintenance of slavery in any or in all +the States and Districts in which it may exist. But for this, the +system could not stand a single day. Let the North say to the South, +"We will not interfere with your 'peculiar institution,' but we will +not defend it; if you cannot keep your slaves in subjection, you must +expect no aid from us." Let them only say this, and _do_ nothing, and +the whole fabric of slavery would instantly crumble and fall. The +edifice is rotten, and is propped up only by the buttresses of the +North. The South retains the slave, because the free States furnish the +sentinels. + +Again, Art. IV., sect. 2, says, "No person held to service or labour in +one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in +consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such +service or labour; but shall be _delivered up_ on claim of the party to +whom such service or labour may be due." + +This clause pledges the North, not only to refuse an asylum to the +fugitive slave, but also to deliver him up to his unrighteous and cruel +task-master,--a deed which the law of God expressly condemns, and which +the best impulses of our nature repudiate with loathing and contempt. +The article before us constitutes all the free States of the Union a +slave-hunting ground for the Southern aristocracy. Talk of the game +laws of England! Here is a game law infinitely more unjust and +oppressive. A free country this! A noble government! Hail Columbia! + +See how this slave-holding aristocracy have always managed to oppress +the North, and to secure to themselves the lion's share of the good +things of government. + +THE PRESIDENCY.--Out of the 16 presidential elections since the origin +of the Confederation, 13 have been in favour of slave-holders, and only +3 in favour of Northern men. By holding the Presidency, slavery rules +the cabinet, the diplomacy, the army, and the navy of the Union. The +power that controls the Presidency controls the nation. No Northern +President has ever been re-elected. + +THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.--The individual who holds this office is +_ex-officio_ President of the Senate, and, as such, has a casting vote +in all questions before that body. During the last 20 years, with one +exception, this functionary has always been a slave-holder. + +THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.--This is second only in importance to +the Presidency. It is the duty of this officer to direct correspondence +with foreign courts, instruct the foreign ministers, negotiate +treaties, &c. Of the 16 who have hitherto filled that office, 10 have +been from the slave States, and 6 from the free. + +THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.--This officer has the +appointment of all committees, and exerts an immense influence on the +legislation of the country. During 31 of the 34 years from 1811 to 1845 +the Speakers were all slave-holders. + +The slave power, having thus the whole machinery of government under +its control, can at any time bring all the resources of the nation to +bear upon the preservation and extension of the "peculiar institution." +While Florida, for instance, belonged to Spain, it furnished an asylum +for runaway slaves from the neighbouring States. It must therefore be +purchased by the Union, and five millions of dollars were paid for it. +Still the native Indians, those children of the forest, afforded a +shelter to fugitives from slavery. They must therefore be either +exterminated or exiled. A war was waged against them. They were driven +from the homes of their fathers, and the negroes among them hunted and +shot like wild beasts. At the urgent recommendation of Zachary +Taylor--the person who in March next will doubtless mount the +presidential chair--blood-hounds were purchased as AUXILIARIES to the +army, at a cost of five thousand dollars; and blood-hounds and +soldiers and officers marched together under the "star-spangled banner" +in pursuit of the panting fugitives from Southern oppression. In this +expedition they captured 460 negroes, each one at the cost of the lives +of two white men, and at a further expense of at least eighty thousand +dollars per head. The whole outlay of the war was _forty millions of +dollars_, most of which was drawn from the pockets of Northern people. + +The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War--all for the perpetuation +and extension of slavery--are fresh in your remembrance. + +And here I quit the land of "The Bond and the Free." + + "Nineveh, Babylon, and ancient Rome + Speak to the present times, and times to come: + They cry aloud in every careless ear, + 'Stop, while you may; suspend your mad career; + Oh! learn from our example and our fate,-- + Learn wisdom and repentance ere too late.'" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery +by Ebenezer Davies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SLAVERY *** + +***** This file should be named 10898-8.txt or 10898-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/9/10898/ + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/10898-8.zip b/old/10898-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3bccb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10898-8.zip diff --git a/old/10898.txt b/old/10898.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2ee1a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10898.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8869 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery +by Ebenezer Davies + +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: American Scenes, and Christian Slavery + A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States + +Author: Ebenezer Davies + +Release Date: February 1, 2004 [EBook #10898] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SLAVERY *** + + + + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +AMERICAN SCENES, + +AND + +CHRISTIAN SLAVERY: + + +A RECENT TOUR OF FOUR THOUSAND MILES IN THE UNITED STATES. + + + + +BY EBENEZER DAVIES, + +LATE MINISTER OF MISSION CHAPEL, NEW AMSTERDAM, BERBICE. + + +MDCCCXLIX. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +During his recent sojourn in the United States, the Author did not +conceive the intention of writing a book on the subject. All he +contemplated was the publication of a few letters in a London Journal +on which he had been accustomed to rely for intelligence from Europe +when residing in Berbice. So much he was disposed to attempt for +several reasons. + +Having entered the States by their most Southern port--that of New +Orleans, and finding himself at once in the midst of Slavery, he had +opportunities of observing that system not often enjoyed by a British +"Abolitionist." As the Pastor, also, of a large congregation, of whom a +great number were but a few years ago held in cruel bondage, he would +naturally look upon the treatment of the same race in America with +keener eyes and feelings more acute than if he had not stood in that +relation. + +Identified, too, with those persons who represent the principles of the +old Puritans and Nonconformists in England, he would survey the growth +and spread of those principles in their new soil and climate with a +more than common interest. New England, especially, on whose sods the +foot-prints of the Pilgrims had been impressed, and on whose rocks +their early altars had been reared, would be to him hallowed ground. + +Travelling, leisurely, as he did, at his own expense, northward from +New Orleans to Boston, and westward as far as Utica,--making a tour of +more than four thousand miles, sometimes known and sometimes unknown, +just as inclination prompted,--representing no public body, bound to no +party, a "Deputation sent by himself,"--he was completely free and +independent in thought and action, and enjoyed advantages for +observation which do not often meet. + +It was natural that he should wish to tell his friends in Great +Britain, and in the West Indies, what he had seen and heard. To +denounce what is evil and to commend what is good is at all times +gratifying; in doing which, he sought to describe the men and the +manners of America just as they appeared to him. + +Several letters, containing the narrative of a few days spent in New +Orleans, appeared in the _Patriot_. Their favourable reception by the +readers of that journal led to the preparation of the present volume, +in which the letters referred to, having undergone a careful revision, +re-appear, followed by nearly thirty others descriptive of the Author's +tour. + +Our Transatlantic friends are morbidly sensitive as to the strictures +of strangers. They hate the whole tribe of Travellers and Tourists, +Roamers and Ramblers, Peepers and Proclaimers, and affect to ridicule +the idea of men who merely pass through the country, presuming to give +opinions on things which it is alleged so cursory a view cannot qualify +them fully to understand. Our cousins have, doubtless, had occasional +provocations from the detested race in question; but their feeling on +this point amounts to a national weakness. It is always worth knowing +how we appear to the eyes of others, and what impression the first +sight of us is apt to produce; and this knowledge none can communicate +but the stranger, the tourist, the passer-by. What faults and failings +soever we may have in England, and their "name is legion," by all means +let them be unsparingly exposed by every foreign tourist that treads +upon our soil. Let us be satirized, ridiculed, laughed at, caricatured, +anything, so that we may be shamed out of all that is absurd and +vicious in our habits and customs. In the present instance our Western +kinsmen are described by one, if they will believe his own testimony, +of the most candid and truthful of travellers,--one who has viewed them +and all their institutions, except _one_, with the most friendly eye, +and who deeply regrets that so much of what is lovely and of good +report should be marred and blotted by so much of what is disgraceful +to a great and enlightened people. + +As to the performance in a literary point of view, the Author will say +nothing. The public will form their own judgment. If they like it, they +will read; if not, the most seductive preface would not tempt them. + +E. DAVIES. + +LONDON, _January_ 1, 1849. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St Charles's--Description +of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for Sale--Texts for Southern +Divines--Perilous Picture + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration--A +Negro Pew--The Sermon + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child + + +LETTER VIII. + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men + + +LETTER IX. + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion" + + +LETTER X. + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners + + +LETTER XI. + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi +--Steam-boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the +"Crescent City"--Slave Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar +Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A +Reverend Slave-holder + + +LETTER XII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave of +President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C.B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane Seminary +--Departure from Cincinnati + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance-Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage--A +Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and Dr. +Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr. Plummer's Pro-slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ----'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church + + +LETTER XXVIII + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L----'s--Afternoon Service at +Mr. C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr. ----'s + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven.--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor +Yale--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity-- +Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. Bushnell +and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground--The New +Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure from +Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth Bliss--The +Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chan is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +What the Author thinks of the Americans (continued)--Slavery +--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor +and his Blood-hounds + + + + +LETTER I. + +Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the +Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The +New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High-Pressure Steam-Tug +Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae. + + +The ill health of my wife, occasioned by long residence amid the sultry +swamps of Guiana, compelled me a few months ago to accompany her on a +visit to the United States of America. Having taken our passage in a +ship to New Orleans, we found ourselves in fifteen days on the +far-famed Mississippi,--the "father of waters." On gazing around, our +first feeling was one of awe, to find ourselves actually ascending that +majestic stream, that great artery of the greatest valley in the world, +leading into the very heart of a continent. The weather was very cold; +the trees on the river's bank were leafless; and the aspect of nature +on every hand told it was winter. What a change! But a fortnight before +we were panting under an almost vertical sun. We found the Mississippi +much narrower than we had anticipated. In some places it is only about +half a mile wide; while below New Orleans it never, I should say, +exceeds a mile in width. This is remarkable, since not less than +fifty-seven large navigable rivers contribute to swell its waters. It +is, however, very deep, and, even at the distance of 500 miles above +New Orleans, is navigated by vessels of 300 tons; nay, at 1,364 miles +from its mouth, it attains an average depth of fifteen feet. In its +course, it waters 2,500 miles of country. Among the rivers that pour +themselves into this immense stream are--the Missouri, which has first +traversed a space of 2,000 miles; the Arkansas, 1,300 miles; the Red +River, 1,000 miles; and the Ohio, 700 miles. + +Unfortunately, at the entrance of this noble river, there is a bar +called the Balize, so shallow as hitherto to have seriously interfered +with the navigation of large and deeply-laden vessels. Even for the +cotton trade, a particular construction of ship has been found needful, +with a flatter bottom than usual, in order to pass easily over this +bar, any effort to remove which the rapidity of the stream would render +fruitless. This circumstance, with the want of harbour at the mouth of +the Mississippi, has hitherto operated greatly against the trade with +New Orleans, which is 110 miles up the river. Recently, however, a +magnificent harbour has been discovered between Cat Island and Isle +Apitre, within Lake Borgne, and only ten miles from the coast of the +mainland. This new harbour, easily accessible from the sea, at all +times contains a depth of water varying from thirty to fifty feet, and +is so protected on all sides that vessels may ride with the greatest +safety in the worst weather. From this harbour to Bayou on the mainland +the distance is only twelve miles, and from Bayou to New Orleans +forty-six miles,--making altogether only fifty-eight miles from Cat +Island Harbour to New Orleans; whereas, by the difficult and dangerous +route of the Mississippi, the distance is 110 miles. The importance and +value of such a harbour it is difficult to over-estimate. Its +beneficial effect on the future destiny of the great valley will be +prodigious. + +I have said the "great valley," and well it deserves the appellation. +It contains as many square miles, with more tillable ground than the +whole continent of Europe. It measures about 1,341,649 square miles, +and is therefore six times larger than France. And this valley is as +rich as it is extensive. It is the "fat" valley. Never did human eye +behold a finer soil, or more luxuriant productions. The treasures +beneath the surface are as precious as those above. The lead and copper +mines are among the best in the world. Iron and coal also abound. +Building materials, of beauty and strength, adapted to form cottages +for the poor or palaces for the rich, are not wanting. Nature has here +furnished in lavish profusion everything necessary for converting the +wilderness into smiling fields, studded with populous cities. + +But we are not yet within the great valley. We are only at its +entrance, sailing up the "father of waters," against the stream, at the +rate of four or five miles an hour. It is usual for sailing-vessels to +be towed by steam-tugs to their destination; but, having a fair breeze, +and no tug at hand, we were indebted to our sails alone. The motion was +exceedingly pleasant, after the tossings we had had in the Gulf of +Mexico. The vessel glided smoothly along, and new objects presented +themselves continually on either hand. + +My enjoyment of the scenery, however, was soon marred by an attack of +fever and ague, which sent me below. While I was down, several +steam-tugs towing vessels down the river met us. Their unearthly groans +filled me with terror. Their noise was not that of puff--puff +--puff--puff, like all the other steamers that I had ever +heard, but something composed of a groan, a grunt, and a +growl--deep-drawn, as from the very caverns of Vulcan, and that at +awfully-solemn intervals,--grunt--grunt--grunt--grunt! This +peculiarity, I was told, arose from their "high-pressure" engines. The +sound, thus explained, brought to my recollection all the dreadful +stories of boiler explosions with which the very name of the +Mississippi had become associated in my mind. But (thought I) they have +surely learned wisdom from experience, and are become more skilful or +more cautious than they used to be! + +While I was engaged with these reflections, our captain came down, and +handed me a couple of New Orleans papers, which he had just received +from the pilot. Here was a treat; and, feeling a little better, I began +with eagerness to open one of them out. It was the _New Orleans Bee_ of +January 23; and, _horresco referens_, the first thing that caught my +eye was the following paragraph:-- + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--LOSS OF LIFE.--Captain Haviland, of the +steam-ship 'Galveston,' from Galveston, reports that the tow-boat +'Phoenix,' Captain Crowell, burst her boilers when near the head of the +South-west Pass [which we had but just passed], killing and wounding +about twenty-five in number, seven of whom belonged to the boat, the +_balance_ to a barque she had alongside; carrying away the foremast of +the barque close to her deck, and her mainmast above her cross-trees, +together with all her fore-rigging, bulwarks, and injuring her hull +considerably. The ship 'Manchester,' which she had also alongside, was +seriously injured, having her bulwarks carried away, her longboat +destroyed," &c. + +Such was the paragraph, with not a syllable of note or comment on cause +or consequences. It was evidently an every-day occurrence. What +recklessness was here indicated! and how comforting to a sick and +nervous man, now near the very spot of the occurrence, and in a vessel +about to be placed in the same pleasant relation to one of those +grunting monsters as the unfortunate "barque" had but three days before +occupied, with the trifling "balance" of eighteen of her crew "killed +and wounded!" + +The fever having left me, I ventured on deck. At this moment one of +these infernal machines came in sight, towing down three large ships. +Instead of having them behind, as on the Thames and Mersey, she (like +the "Phoenix") had one on either side, closely lashed to herself, and +the other only behind. This terrific monster seemed to be carrying them +away arm-in-arm, like two prisoners, to destruction. At all events, it +was a position of familiarity and friendship with the "Sprite of Steam" +of which I did not at all like the idea; and yet we ourselves were +by-and-by to be placed in its perilous embrace! + +The dreaded monster gone by, I resumed the perusal of my New Orleans +papers. Now (thought I) I am in a slave country! I wonder whether these +papers will give any indication of the fact. In a little while my eye, +surveying the _Bee_ of January 21, caught sight of an advertisement +signed "N. St. Martin, Sheriff, Parish of St. Charles," and containing +a list of 112 human beings offered for sale! The miserable catalogue +was full of instruction. In drawing it up the humane sheriff became +quite facetious, telling the public that "Frank, 35 years old, American +negro, [was] _good for everything_;" while "Stephen, 46 years old, +[was] _fit for nothing at all_;" that "Salinette, 60 years old, +hospital-nurse, [was] _a good subject, subject to rheumatisms_;" and +that "Peter, American negro-man, 38 years old, [was] _a good cook, +having had two fits of madness_." I will back this against the Dublin +_Hue and Cry_. + + + + + +LETTER II. + +American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship +ashore--Taken off by a Steam-Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway +Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at +New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A +Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel. + + +The evening closed upon us, sailing pleasantly up the Mississippi. +Having a beautiful moonlight night, we kept on our way. About seven +o'clock we overtook a small fishing-boat laden with oysters. In +consideration of our allowing them--not the oysters, but the +boatmen--to fasten a rope to our vessel, to help them on, they gave us +a generous and refreshing supply. But such oysters! In neither size nor +shape did they resemble those of the Old World. As to size, they were +gigantic,--as to shape, not unlike the human foot. They abound not far +from the mouth of the river, and many men obtain a livelihood by +carrying them up to the New Orleans market. The mode of cooking adopted +in this instance was that of putting them on the fire till the shells +opened. To our taste, they were not in flavour to be compared to the +London oysters; but we did not venture to tell our American captain so. +We had yet, however, to taste the deliciously-cooked oysters of the +northern cities. + +About 10 p.m., the breeze having in a great measure died away, our +captain thought it imprudent to attempt to "go a-head" further that +night, and the anchor was cast. We were now fifty miles above the +entrance of the river. + +Early next day the anchor was raised, the sails were unfurled, and we +again moved along. About 8 a.m., through the narrowness of the river, +the rapidity of the stream, and other causes, our "smart" captain, who +had chuckled vastly on passing all other ships in the river,--and +especially British ships,--ran his own vessel right ashore! There we +were in a complete "fix," till one of the grunting monsters (coming up +with two vessels--one on each arm, as usual,--and letting them go for a +few minutes,) came to our rescue. Forbidding as was his aspect, we were +very glad to feel a little of his giant power. Of this one I had, of +course, a better view than I had had of any other of the species. It +had, like the rest, two chimneys in front, like perpendicular tusks, +with a ladder between them. The ladder was for the purpose of +ascent,--the ascent for the purpose of elevation,--and the elevation +for the purpose of "look out." The top of the ladder, in short, +rendered the same service as the top of a ship's mast at sea. This +"tug" had also, a little further aft, a funnel-like sort of chimney, +for the emission of steam. The whole structure was--like a forge below, +and a palace above. In the lower story were the boiler, engine, fuel, +&c., all exposed to view; while, the upper contained splendid +apartments for the captain, the engineer, and other officers. The +engineer of that vessel, I understood, had a salary of 250 dollars (50 +guineas) per month! + +Released from our stranded position, we found ourselves in a few +minutes lashed to the monster's side, and completely in his power. Here +we were, in the same dread position in which the day before we felt +horrified to see others! From some of the officers, our captain +obtained another newspaper. It was the _New Orleans Daily Picayune_ for +January 26. Getting hold of it, I found whole columns of slave-sale +advertisements. A few specimens will illustrate better than any +description the state of things in this "land of liberty!" + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--The subscribers No. 56, Esplanade-street, have just +received a lot of valuable Slaves from Virginia and Maryland, +consisting of Mechanics, Farm Hands, and House Servants, and have made +_arrangements not to be surpassed_ in this market for a _regular +supply_ from the above markets, as also Alabama. We hazard nothing in +saying, if our former friends, and others wishing to purchase good +servants or hands, will give us a call, they shall not be disappointed. + +"N.B. All Negroes sold by the undersigned are fully guaranteed. + +"SLATTER & LOCKETT, + +"56, Esplanade-street." + +"n11--6m." + +"FOR SALE.--A likely Mulatto Negress, aged twenty-two years,--she is a +first-rate cook, and a good washer and ironer, besides being a +tolerable good seamstress. + +"ANDERSON & BURNET, + +"38, Camp-street." + +"J26." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--I have just received, and offer for sale, a very +likely lot of Virginia Negroes. Those wishing to purchase will do well +to give me a call at my office, No. 157, Gravier-street, between +Carondelet and Baronne streets. I will be _constantly receiving_ +Negroes from Virginia and North Carolina during the winter. + +"C. M. RUTHERFORD." + +"n13--6m." + +"SLAVES FOR SALE.--No. 165, Gravier-street.--The subscriber has always +on hand a number of Slaves, consisting of House Servants, Field Hands, +and Mechanics, which will be sold low for cash or negotiable paper. +Persons desirous of purchasing will find it to their interest to call +and examine. The subscriber will also receive and sell on consignment +any Negro that may be intrusted to his care. + +"He would also respectfully notify persons engaged in the Slave Trade, +that he is prepared to board them and their Slaves on the most +reasonable terms. + +"WM. H. MERRITT." + +"o1--6m." + +"References--J.A. Barelli, C.J. Mansoni." + +"ONE HUNDRED NEGROES.--For Sale at No. 13, Moreau-street.--All of which +have just been received from Maryland and Virginia. My old friends, and +others wishing to purchase Slaves, will find it to their interest to +call on me before purchasing elsewhere. Also will receive _large +shipments during the season_ from the above States. + +"R. R. BEASLEY, + +"13, Moreau-street." + +"d31--3m." + +Runaway slaves seem to be constantly advertised, with (as in the case +of ship advertisements) a small woodcut figure representing them in the +very act of making their escape. Indeed, almost everything advertised +is accompanied by its picture,--ships, houses, bonnets, boots, leeches, +oysters, and so forth. Even a strayed horse or a strayed cow is +advertised with a picture representing the animal in the very act of +going astray. On the same principle, and in like manner, human chattels +assuming their natural right to go where they please, are advertised +with a woodcut representing them as bending forward in the act of +running, and carrying with them a small bundle containing their scanty +wardrobe,--a pitiable figure! And yet this is done, not to awaken +sympathy, but to excite vigilance, as in the following instances, which +I have picked out of the _Picayune_:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--The aforesaid sum will be given to any +person who will bring back to the undersigned the negro-girl Eugenia, +and her mulatto child aged two years. Said slave has been purloined or +enticed away by her former owner, Madame Widow Decaux, who secretly +went out of this State on the 12th December, 1846. Said Widow Decaux is +well known in New Orleans as a notorious swindler, having been +prosecuted for having pawned logs of wood to a merchant of this city +instead of dry goods. She has a scar on her forehead, and several +others on her neck, and is accompanied by her aged mother, and her boy +aged ten years. + +"J. B. DUPEIRE." + +"j7--15t*." + +"Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th November last, a negro man +named Sandy, about twenty-five years of age, five feet five inches +high, very dark complexion, speaks both French and English, _shows the +mark of the whip very much_. A liberal reward will be paid for his +apprehension, either by confining in any gaol, so that I can secure +him, or his delivery to me at Plaquemine, La. + +"W. H. CARR." + +"J20--3tW." + +And yet the editor of this very paper, in his leading article, +reviewing the past, (that day being the tenth anniversary of its own +existence,) coolly says, "In entering upon our eleventh anniversary, +how different the spectacle! Industry in every quarter of the land +receives its meet reward; Commerce is remunerated by wholesome gains; +_Comfort blesses the toil of the labourer_(!) and Hope encourages the +enterprise of all the industrial classes of our citizens." + +As the day advanced, my fever returned; and I was obliged to go below. +A furious tempest arose, so that even our "monster" could scarcely get +along. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and the rain fell in +torrents. It was a terrific day! As night approached, our captain told +us the vessel could not then be got any further,--it was about two +miles from the city; and if we particularly wished to go ashore, we +must get ready directly, and go with him in the steam-tug. Anxious for +a good night's rest, on shore we resolved to go. I had to turn out in +that state of profuse perspiration which always succeeds the fever, and +my wife hurriedly selected a few necessary things. Poor thing! she was +almost overwhelmed with the trying circumstances in which she was +placed,--thousands of miles from home--about to enter a place in which +she knew not a single soul--her husband ill, and herself an invalid! +But there was no help for it. Amidst torrents of rain, we made the +fearful transition from the ship to the tug, while both vessels were in +violent agitation. It was done. And now we were in the "monster's" own +bosom, expecting every moment his bowels to burst, and send us into +eternity. The noise of the engine, the grunting of the steam, the +raging of the wind, the pelting of the rain, and the roaring of the +thunder, made it almost impossible to hear anything besides; but I +managed to shout in my wife's ear the natural, though not very +consolatory question, "Were we ever in so fearful a position before?" +"Never!" (and we had had some experience of storms by both land and +sea) was her awe-stricken reply. + +We detached ourselves from the sailing-vessel; but, with all the power +of steam, we could scarcely get along. At last the "monster's" +bellowing was hushed,--the tremor ceased,--we were there! But how to +get ashore was still a difficulty. It was about 100 yards off. Planks, +however, were eventually placed so as to enable us to descend from our +lofty "tug" into a ship at anchor, from that into another, from that +again into a third, and from that at length on _terra firma_. + +The hour was between 7 and 8 p.m.; and we were taken to a +ship-chandler's store, while our kind captain went to get a chaise for +us. The store was closed; but the owner and three other gentlemen were +there, seated before a comfortable coal fire, apparently enjoying +themselves after the business of the day. They received us very +courteously, and gave us chairs by the fireside. The storm of that day +they told us had done much harm to the shipping, and was severer than +any other they had experienced during the last seven years. While the +conversation was going on, _plash_ made one, _plash_ made another, +_plash_ made a third, by spurting a certain brownish secretion on the +floor! I had often heard of this as an American habit, but always +thought our cousins in this matter (as in many others) were +caricatured. Here, however, was the actual fact, and that in the +presence of a lady! Yet these were apparently very respectable men. + +Having waited about a quarter of an hour, anxiously listening for the +rumbling of the expected wheels, I heard in the distance a strange kind +of noise, resembling that of a fire-shovel, a pair of tongs, a poker, +and an iron hoop tied loosely together with a string, and drawn over +the pavement! "What in the world is that?" said I. "It is the chaise," +was the answer. The vehicle was quickly at the door. In we were +bundled, and orders given to drive us to the "St. Charles's." We +scarcely knew what this "St. Charles's" was; but, as all with whom we +had conversed seemed to take it for granted that we should go thither, +and as any one _saint_ was to us as good as any other, we echoed, "To +the St. Charles's." And now began such a course of jolting as we had +never before experienced. It seemed as if all the gutters and +splash-holes in the universe had been collected together, and we had to +drive over the whole. This continued about half an hour, by which we +learned that we were at first much further from the "St. Charles's" +than we supposed. The machine at last stopped, and we alighted, +thankful to have escaped a complete stoppage of our breath. + +We were there. A waiter (he was not to be mistaken,--he bore a family +resemblance to all the waiters of the world) was instantly at the +coach-door, to help us _out_ and to help us _in_. He conducted us into +a lobby, up a flight of stairs, and through a long passage, to a large +saloon, where about 150 ladies and gentlemen were assembled,--some +sitting, some standing, some talking, some laughing, and some playing +with their fingers. But, no! we shrunk back. Thither we would not be +led, all wet and dirty as we were. We begged to be shown into a private +room. The waiter stared, and said he had none to take us to, except I +would first go to the "office." But what was to become of my +fellow-traveller in the meantime? No woman belonging to the +establishment made her appearance, and there my wife was obliged to +stand alone in the passage, whilst I followed the waiter through aisles +and passages, and turnings and twistings, and ups and downs, to a large +saloon, where about 200 gentlemen were smoking cigars! What a sight! +and what a smell! Who can realize the vast idea of 200 mouths, in one +room, pouring forth the fumes of tobacco? I was directed to the +high-priest of the establishment in the "office," or (as I should say) +at the "bar." Without verbally replying to my application, he handed me +a book in which to record my name. Having obeyed the hint, I again +asked my taciturn host if myself and wife could be accommodated. He +then, with manifest reluctance, took the cigar out of his mouth, and +said he had only one room to spare, and that was at the top of the +house. It was "Hobson's choice," and I accepted it. And now for a +journey! Talk of ascending the Monument on Fish-street Hill! what is +that compared to ascending the St. Charles's, at New Orleans? No. 181 +was reached at last. The next task was to find my wife, which after +another long and circuitous journey was accomplished. In process of +time fire was made, and "tea for two" brought up. Let me, therefore, +close my letter and enjoy it. + + + + +LETTER III. + +New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St. +Charles's--Description of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for +Sale--Texts for Southern Divines--Perilous Picture. + + +From No. 181 of the "St. Charles's," we descended, after a good night's +rest, to see some of the lions of the place. Here we are (thought I) in +New Orleans--the metropolis of a great slave country,--a town in which +exist many depots for the disposal of human beings,--the very city +where, a few months ago, poor Pauline was sacrificed as the victim of +lust and cruelty! Unhappy girl! What a tragedy! On the 1st of August +last, I told the horrid tale to my emancipated people in Berbice. Here +it is, as extracted from the _Essex_ (United States) _Transcript_. Read +it, if you please; and then you will have a notion of the feelings with +which I contemplated a city rendered infamous by such a transaction. + +"Many of our readers have probably seen a paragraph stating that a +young slave girl was recently hanged at New Orleans for the crime of +striking and abusing her mistress. The religious press of the north has +not, so far as we are aware, made any comments upon this execution. It +is too busy pulling the mote out of the eye of the heathen, to notice +the beam in our nominal Christianity at home. Yet this case, viewed in +all its aspects, is an atrocity which has (God be thanked) no parallel +in heathen lands. It is a hideous offshoot of American Republicanism +and American Christianity! It seems that Pauline--a young and beautiful +girl--attracted the admiration of her master, and being (to use the +words of the law) his "chattel personal to all intents and purposes +whatsoever," became the victim of his lust. So wretched is the +condition of the slave woman, that even the brutal and licentious +regard of her master is looked upon as the highest exaltation of which +her lot is susceptible. The slave girl in this instance evidently so +regarded it; and as a natural consequence, in her new condition, +triumphed over and insulted her mistress,--in other words, repaid in +some degree the scorn and abuse with which her mistress had made her +painfully familiar. The laws of the Christian State of Mississippi +inflict the punishment of death upon the slave who lifts his or her +hand against a white person. Pauline was accused of beating her +mistress,--tried, found guilty, and condemned to die! But it was +discovered on the trial that she was in a condition to become a mother, +and her execution was delayed until the birth of the child. She was +conveyed to the prison cell. There, for many weary months, uncheered by +the voice of kindness, alone, hopeless, desolate, she waited for the +advent of the new and quickening life within her, which was to be the +signal of her own miserable death. And the bells there called to mass +and prayer-meeting, and Methodists sang, and Baptists immersed, and +Presbyterians sprinkled, and young mothers smiled through tears upon +their new-born children,--and maidens and matrons of that great city +sat in their cool verandahs, and talked of love, and household joys, +and domestic happiness; while, all that dreary time, the poor slave +girl lay on the scanty straw of her dungeon, waiting--with what agony +the great and pitying God of the white and black only knows--for the +birth of the child of her adulterous master. Horrible! Was ever what +George Sand justly terms 'the great martyrdom of maternity'--that +fearful trial which love alone converts into joy unspeakable--endured +under such conditions? What was her substitute for the kind voices and +gentle soothings of affection? The harsh grating of her prison +lock,--the mockings and taunts of unfeeling and brutal keepers! What, +with the poor Pauline, took the place of the hopes and joyful +anticipations which support and solace the white mother, and make her +couch of torture happy with sweet dreams? The prospect of seeing the +child of her sorrow, of feeling its lips upon her bosom, of hearing its +feeble cry--alone, unvisited of its unnatural father; and then in a few +days--just when the mother's affections are strongest, and the first +smile of her infant compensates for the pangs of the past--the scaffold +and the hangman! Think of the last terrible scene,--the tearing of the +infant from her arms, the death-march to the gallows, the rope around +her delicate neck, and her long and dreadful struggles, (for, +attenuated and worn by physical suffering and mental sorrow, her slight +frame had not sufficient weight left to produce the dislocation of her +neck on the falling of the drop,) swinging there alive for nearly half +an hour--a spectacle for fiends in the shape of humanity! Mothers of +New England! such are the fruits of slavery. Oh! in the name of the +blessed God, teach your children to hate it, and to pity its victims. +Petty politicians and empty-headed Congress debators are vastly +concerned, lest the 'honour of the country' should be compromised in +the matter of the Oregon Boundary. Fools! One such horrible atrocity as +this murder of poor Pauline 'compromises' us too deeply to warrant any +further display of their patriotism. It would compromise Paradise +itself! An intelligent and philanthropic European gentleman, who was in +New Orleans at the time of the execution, in a letter to a friend in +this vicinity, after detailing the circumstances of the revolting +affair, exclaims, 'God of goodness! God of justice! There must be a +future state to redress the wrongs of this. I am almost tempted to +say--there must be a future state, or no God!'" + +On Saturday, the 30th, we set off to seek private lodgings. Led by a +board having on it in large letters the words "Private Boarding," we +"inquired within," found what we wanted, and engaged for eight dollars +per week each. We then went to pay our bill at the "St. Charles's," and +to bring away our carpet-bag. We had been there two nights, had had one +dinner, two teas, and two breakfasts. These meals, as we did not like +to join the hundreds at the "ordinary," were served to us (in a very +_ordinary_ way however) in our bedroom. In fact, the waiting was +miserably done. And yet for this we had the pleasure of paying eleven +dollars,--say _L2. 6s._! We gladly bade adieu to the "St. Charles's." +It suited neither our taste nor our pocket. Nevertheless, it is a +magnificent concern. The edifice was finished in 1838 by a company, and +cost 600,000 dollars. The gentlemen's dining-room is 129 feet by 50, +and is 22 feet high; having four ranges of tables, capable of +accommodating 500 persons. The ladies' dining-room is 52 feet by 36. +The house contains 350 rooms, furnishing accommodation for between 600 +and 700 guests; and it was quite full when we were there. The front is +adorned with a projecting portico, supported by six fine Corinthian +columns, resting upon a rustic basement. The edifice is crowned with a +large dome, forty-six feet in diameter, having a beautiful Corinthian +turret on the top. This dome is the most conspicuous object in the +city. Viewed from a distance, it seems to stand in the same relation to +New Orleans as St. Paul's to London. The furniture of this immense +establishment cost 150,000 dollars. A steam-engine, producing a very +disagreeable tremor, is constantly at work in the culinary department. + +While on our way to get the remainder of our baggage from the ship, we +came upon a street in which a long row, or rather several rows, of +black and coloured people were exposed in the open air (and under a +smiling sun) for sale! There must have been from 70 to 100, all young +people, varying from 15 to 30 years of age. All (both men and women) +were well dressed, to set them off to the best advantage, as is always +the case at these sales. Several of the coloured girls--evidently the +daughters of white men--had their sewing-work with them, as evidence of +their skill in that department. The whole were arranged under a kind of +verandah, having a foot-bench (about six inches high) to stand upon, +and their backs resting against the wall. None were in any way tied or +chained; but two white men ("soul-drivers," I suppose) were sauntering +about in front of them, each with a cigar in his mouth, a whip under +his arm, and his hands in his pockets, looking out for purchasers. In +its external aspect, the exhibition was not altogether unlike what I +have sometimes seen in England, when some wandering Italian has ranged +against a wall his bronzed figures of distinguished men,--Shakspeare, +Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, &c. It was between twelve and one in the +day; but there was no crowd, not even a single boy or girl looking +on,--so common and every-day was the character of the scene. As we +moved along in front of this sable row, one of the white attendants +(though my wife had hold of my arm) said to me, with all the +_nonchalance_ of a Smithfield cattle-drover, "Looking out for a few +niggers this morning?" Never did I feel my manhood so insulted. My +indignation burned for expression. But I endeavoured to affect +indifference, and answered in a don't-care sort of tone, "No, I am not +particularly in want of any to-da--." I could scarcely finish the +sentence. Emotion choked my utterance. I passed on, gazing at the troop +of degraded human beings, till my eyes became so filled with tears that +I was compelled to turn my face another way. Though I anticipated such +scenes, and had tried to prepare my mind for them, yet (now that they +were actually before me) I was completely overcome, and was obliged to +seek a place to sit down while I composed my feelings. With what +sentiments my companion beheld the scene, I will leave you to +conjecture! + +It was Saturday morning; and with my professional habits, I naturally +thought of the many divines in that very city, who were at that moment +shut up in their studies, preparing their discourses for the morrow. I +wished I had them all before me. I could have given every one of them a +text to preach upon. I would have said, "Gentlemen, see there! and +blush for your fellow-citizens. See there! and never again talk of +American liberty. See there! and lift up your voices like so many +trumpets against this enormity. See there! and in the face of +persecution, poverty, imprisonment, and (if needs be) even death +itself, bear your faithful testimony, and cease not until this foul +stain be wiped away from your national escutcheon. Dr. S----, to-morrow +morning let this be your text,--'Where is Abel, thy brother?' Dr. +II----, let your discourse be founded on Exod. xxi. 16: 'And he that +stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he +shall surely be put to death.' You, the Rev. Mr. C----, let your gay +and wealthy congregation be edified with a solemn and impressive sermon +on Is. lviii. 6: 'Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the +bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the +oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?' And you, the Rev. Mr. +H----, let your hearers have a full and faithful exposition of that law +which is 'fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy +neighbour as thyself.'" + +In the afternoon of the same day, as I walked along one of the +principal streets, I saw a flag issue from a fine large public building +to invite "ladies and gentlemen" to see "the magnificent picture of the +departure of the Israelites from Egypt,"--the canvas containing 2,000 +square feet, and 2,000,000 of figures! How significant! It would have +been still more so, if the number of "figures" had been 3,000,000 +instead of 2,000,000. What an "abolition" picture! It must have been +worse than "Jacob and his Sons," which was expunged from a catalogue of +the American Sunday-School Union, because, in reprehending the sale of +Joseph to the merchants, it reflected upon the _internal_ slave-trade! +Surely such exhibitions will affect the safety of the "peculiar +institution!" + + + + +LETTER IV. + +A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration +--A Negro Pew--The Sermon. + + +Think of a Sabbath in New Orleans! Curious to know how people did +really pray and preach, with slavery and slave-trading in their vilest +forms around them, I set off in search of the "First Presbyterian +Church." It is a beautiful building; seldom, if ever, had I seen a +place of worship the exterior of which I liked so much. Being a quarter +of an hour too soon, I had opportunity for some preliminary researches. +Wishing to see whether there was a "Negro Pew," I went into the +gallery, and took a seat on the left side of the organ. The "church" I +found as beautiful inside as out. Instead of a pulpit, there was a kind +of platform lined with crimson, which looked very nice. Most of the +pews below, and some above, were lined with the same material. A +splendid chandelier, having many circles of glass brilliants, was +suspended from the ceiling. Altogether, the "church" was a very neat +and graceful structure,--capable, as I learned, of accommodating about +1,500 people. But the floor--the floor! What a drawback! It was stained +all over with tobacco juice! Faugh! Those Southern men are the most +filthy people in that respect I ever met with. They are a great +"spitting" community. To make it still more revolting to luckless +travellers, this nasty habit is generally attended with noises in the +throat resembling the united growling of a dozen mastiffs. + +While the congregation was assembling, a greyheaded, +aristocratic-looking old negro came up into the gallery, walked along +"as one having authority," and placed himself in a front pew on the +right-hand side of the pulpit. Two black women shortly followed, taking +their seats in the same region. Others succeeded, till ultimately there +were from forty to fifty of the sable race in that part of the gallery. +Not one white was to be seen among the blacks, nor one black among the +whites. There, then, was the "Negro Pew!" It was the first time even my +West India eyes ever beheld a distinction of colour maintained in the +house of God! + +At eleven o'clock precisely, a man of tall but stooping figure and dark +complexion, about forty years of age, muffled up in a cloak, took his +stand at the bottom of the pulpit or platform stairs. It was Dr. S----. +He appeared to beckon to some one in the congregation. A tall, lank old +gentleman, with a black cravat, and shirt-collar turned over it _a +l'Americain_, stepped forward, and, ascending the steps before the +Doctor, occupied one of the two chairs with which the rostrum was +furnished, the Doctor taking the other. I supposed him to be one of the +elders, going to give out the hymns, or to assist in the devotional +exercises. At this moment the organ--a fine-toned instrument--struck +up, and the choir sang some piece--known, I presume, only to +themselves, for no others joined in it. This prelude I have since found +is universal in America. In all places of worship provided with an +organ, a "voluntary" on that instrument is the first exercise. In the +present instance the choir had no sooner ceased than the Doctor stood +up, having his cloak still resting upon his shoulders, and stretched +forth his right hand. At this signal all the people stood up, and he +offered a short prayer. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" thought I, during +this address to the Father of the spirits of all flesh. He then read +the 23rd and 24th Psalms. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" was still +ringing in my ears. The 33rd Psalm was then sung. "Where is Abel, thy +brother?" was still heard (by me at least) louder than the swelling +tones of the organ. The singing done, of which the choir still had an +entire monopoly, the Doctor read the 14th chapter of Mark; and as he +read the awful story of our Lord's betrayal, I could not help thinking +that the only difference between some of the Southern slave-dealers and +Judas was, that had they been in his place, they would have made a +"smarter" bargain. The reading, though free from affectation, was not +by any means in the best style. The chapter finished, the tall elder +(as I took him to be) prayed,--the congregation standing. The prayer +was short and appropriate, and the language tolerably correct; but the +tone and pronunciation were queer. I supposed them to indicate some +provincialism with which I was not acquainted. Along with that peculiar +nasal sound for which nearly all Americans are distinguished, there was +in the voice a mixture of coaxing and familiarity which was a little +offensive; still, as a "layman's" exercise, it was very good. He prayed +for "every grace and Christian virtue." Amen, ejaculated I,--then your +slaves will soon be free. He prayed for "our nation and rulers." He +prayed that "the great blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty which +we enjoy may be handed down to future generations." "Looking out for a +few niggers this morning?" thought I. He also prayed for "the army and +navy, and our fellow-citizens now on the field of battle," in allusion +to the Mexican War.--The prayer ended, Dr. S---- gave out another hymn. +During the whole of the service, I may here remark, there was a good +deal of going in and out, talking, whispering, spitting, guttural +turbulence, &c. At first there were about a dozen white boys in my +neighbourhood, who seemed as if they belonged to the Sabbath-school; +but, having no teacher to look after them, and enjoying the full swing +of liberty, they had before sermon all disappeared. + +After the singing, Dr. S---- made several announcements,--amongst +others, that the monthly concert to pray for the success of Foreign +Missions would be held there to-morrow evening, when several speakers +would address the meeting. By all means (said I to myself), and I'll +try to be present. He also told his people that the Rev. ----. ------, +(from some place in Kentucky,--the particulars I did not catch,) was +in the city, as a deputation from the ladies, to solicit subscriptions +for the erection of a new church that was greatly needed. + +The tall man in the black neckcloth then rose, and, to my surprise and +disappointment, read a text. It was I Cor. iii. 21: "For all things are +yours." I imagine _he_ was the deputation from the Kentuckian ladies. + +After a few introductory remarks explanatory of the context, he +proposed to inquire what are the things which "enter into" +("constitute," we should say) the inheritance of God's people. Slaves +(said I to myself) are a part of the inheritance of "God's people," +both here and in Kentucky: I wonder if he will notice that. + +The first thing, I observe (said he), that enters into the inheritance +of God's people, is the living ministry--"Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas." +To illustrate the value of this blessing, he referred to the imaginary +Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Universal Panacea. If +such things really existed, what a high value would men set upon them! +But here was something of incomparably higher worth. In order to form +an estimate of its value, he led his hearers to imagine the entire loss +of the living ministry. Secondly, the "world" belongs to God's people. +It is sustained for their sake, and therefore sinners are indebted to +God's people for the preservation of their lives. To prove this he +referred to the words of our Lord, "Ye are the salt of the earth." In +speaking of the preserving nature of salt, he supposed the sea to be +without salt. + +How pestilential then! But as it is, how salubrious the air that has +swept over it! He also referred to another case. There was once (said +he) a ship in a tremendous storm; the crew and passengers--about 270 in +number--were at their wits' end; nothing appeared before them but a +watery grave. On board of that ship was a poor prisoner, bound in +chains. He was deemed to be of the filth of the world, and the +off-scouring of all things. To that poor prisoner the angel of the Lord +came, and told him what must be done to save the life of every one on +board. The angel's directions were obeyed, and all were preserved. +Thus, for the sake of one of God's people, were 270 lives spared. He +offered another illustration. Three men came to converse with Abraham, +on the plains of Mamre. They told him that God was about to destroy +five cities. Abraham began to intercede for them. The preacher +recapitulated the wondrous story of this intercession and its success, +as further proving that ungodly men owe the preservation of their lives +to the presence and prayers of the people of God. The parable of the +tares was also cited, as illustrating the same position. "Let both grow +together until the harvest." Imagine (said he) all the people of God +removed from the face of the earth--no heart to love Him--no tongue to +praise Him,--there would be no reason why the earth should be continued +in existence another moment. In the light of this subject, see how +great a privilege it is to have pious relatives. "Life" also was, in +the third place, a part of the inheritance of the child of God, because +during it he makes a provision for eternity. He dwelt on the richness +of the treasure which God's people are laying up. Suppose (said he) any +of you were making money at the rate of fifty dollars an hour,--(I dare +say you do so sometimes, reflected I, when you get a good price for +your "niggers,")--how rich you would soon be! and how anxious that not +a single hour should be lost! But the child of God is laying up +treasure at a faster rate than this. Every time he works for God, he is +laying it up. The Christian's treasure is also of the right kind, and +laid up in the right place. If any of you were going to emigrate to +another country, you would be anxious to know what sort of money was +current in that country, and to get yours changed into it. The +Christian's treasure is the current coin of eternity. It is also in the +right place. Where would you like to have your treasure? Why, at home. +The Christian's treasure is at home--in his Father's house. Life is his +also, because during it he fights the battles of the Lord. Here the +preacher made an approving reference to the war against the Mexicans; +and I strongly suspect that this view of the Christian's inheritance +was dragged in for the very purpose. We fight (said he) under the eye +of the General. We fight with a certainty of victory. Death too was, in +the fourth place, a portion of the Christian's inheritance. To the +people of God curses are made blessings, and to those who are not his +people blessings are made curses. So sickness, persecution, and death +are made blessings to the saints. Death to the Christian is like an +honourable discharge to the soldier after the toil and the danger of +the field of strife. But that illustration (said he) is too feeble: I +will give you another. Imagine, on a bleak and dreary mountain, the +humble dwelling of two old people. They are bending under the weight of +years. Amidst destitution and want, they are tottering on the verge of +the grave. A messenger comes, and tells them of a relative who has +died, and left them a large inheritance,--one by which every want will +be supplied, and every desire realized,--one that will, the moment they +touch it with the soles of their feet, make them young again: he +points, moreover, to the very chariot that is to convey them thither. +Would this be bad news to those old people? Now, such is death to the +child of God. The cord is cut, and the spirit takes its flight to the +abodes of the blest. Or take another illustration. A stage-coach was +once upset. Many of the passengers were in great danger. One man +snatched a little babe from among the wheels, and laid it down in a +place of safety on the roadside. Twenty years after the same man was +travelling in a stage, on the same road, and telling those around him +about the accident which had taken place a long time before. A young +lady, sitting opposite, was listening to the narrative with eager +interest, and at last she burst out with rapture, "Is it possible that +I have at last found my deliverer? I was that little babe you rescued!" +Something like this will be the disclosures that death will make. +Having thus illustrated the inheritance of the people of God, let me +ask you (said he) who are not his people--what will all these things be +to you, if you die without Christ? The living ministry? The world? +Life? Death? Having spoken briefly, with power and pathos, on each of +these particulars, he very coolly and deliberately turned to Rev. xxii. +17, and read, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that +heareth say, Come," &c., &c., and closed abruptly, with neither an Amen +nor an invocation of any kind. + +Such was the first sermon I heard in the United States. It was +thoroughly evangelical and good; but I listened to it with mingled +feelings. It was painful to think that such a ministry could co-exist +with slavery. The creed it is evident may be evangelical, while there +is a woful neglect of the duties of practical piety. + + + + +LETTER V. + +First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken +up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of +the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer. + + +After sermon Dr. S. gave out a hymn, and told the congregation that the +collection for the support of the "beneficiaries" of that church would +be "taken up" that morning; adding that, in consequence of this +collection not having been made at the usual time (in May last), some +of the young men who were preparing for the ministry, and dependent on +that congregation for food and clothing, were now in great want. He +also suggested that, if any present were unprepared with money, they +might put in a slip of paper, with their name, address, and the amount +of their contribution, and some one would call upon them. + +The collection was "taken up" during the singing, At the last verse the +congregation stood up. The benediction was pronounced, with +outstretched arm, by the Doctor; and the moment he uttered the "Amen!" +all rushed out of the place as fast as they could. This rushing is a +characteristic of the Americans. It is seen in their approach to the +dining-table, as well as in a hundred other instances. I suppose it is +what they call being "smart," and "going a-head." + +In the evening I went again to the same "church." The introductory part +was shorter and more simple than in the morning. The Doctor's prayer +(seven or eight minutes long) was admirable. I wished some dry, prosy +petitioners in England could have heard it. It was devout, +comprehensive, and to the point. All classes of men--but one--were +remembered in it. The slaves were not mentioned,--their freedom was not +prayed for! + +The Doctor gave us to understand that he was about to deliver the fifth +of a series of lectures to young men in great cities. The text was, +"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" the +subject, "The importance of the Sabbath to young men in great cities." + +The text (he observed) involved the principle, that man was not made to +observe certain ceremonies and obey certain precepts, but that the +observance of rites and laws was enjoined for man's own sake. This +principle applied to the institution of the Sabbath. The body, the +intellect, the affections--all required the rest which the Sabbath +affords. The experiment had been abundantly tried; and it had been +invariably found that more could be done, in every department of +labour, with the regular observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest +than without it. The farmer, the student, the legislator, had all tried +it. Man could no more do without the Sabbath than he could do without +sleep. Writers on slavery, however they differed on other points, were +all agreed on this,--that the withholding of the Sabbath from the +slaves in the West Indies, together with the other cruelties inflicted +upon them, had materially shortened their lives! (How telescopic, by +the way, are our views with regard to evils at a distance! West India +slavery never wore the hideous features which slavery presents in the +Southern States of America. Slavery even in Cuba, with all its horrors, +is far milder than in the United States.) France once presented a +fearful example of what a nation would be without a Sabbath. The +testimonies of Drs. Spurzheim and Rush were cited in confirmation; also +that of a respectable merchant in New York, well known to the preacher, +who, after the observation and experience of twenty-five years in that +city, declared that of those who kept their counting-houses open on the +Sabbath not one had escaped insolvency. A poor boy was apprenticed to +an apothecary in a large city. To increase his wages and encourage his +efforts, his master gave him a recipe and materials for making blacking +on his own account. The blacking was made, and placed in pots in the +shop window; but day after day passed, and no purchaser appeared. One +Sunday morning, while the shop was open for medicine, before the hour +of public service, a person came in, and asked for a pot of blacking. +The boy was in the very act of stretching out his hand to reach it, +when he reflected it was the Lord's-day. Falteringly, he told the +customer it was the Sabbath, and he could not do it. After this the boy +went to church. The Tempter there teased him about his folly in losing +a customer for his blacking: the boy held in reply that he had done +right, and, were the case to occur again, he would do just the same. On +Monday morning, as soon as he had taken down the shutters, a person +came in, and bought every pot of blacking there was; and the boy found +that, after deducting the cost of materials, he had cleared one dollar. +With more faith and fortitude than some of you possess (said the +preacher), he went and took that dollar--the first he had ever +earned--to the Bible Society. That poor boy is still living, and is now +a wealthy man. + +The preacher said he knew a man, in his own native State of Tennessee, +who on his arrival in America had nothing but a pocket Bible; but he +made two resolutions,--1st. That he would honour the Sabbath; 2nd. That +he would remember his mother. The first dollar he got he sent to her, +and declared that he would never forget the Sabbath and his mother. He +also was now a wealthy man. + +The punishment of Sabbath-breaking was sure, though not immediate. Like +the punishment of intemperance or impurity, it would come. Here the +celebrated testimony of Sir Matthew Hale was adduced. Dr. Johnson's +rules respecting the Sabbath were read, with the observation that no +doubt he owed much of his celebrity to their observance. Wilberforce +had declared that, at one period of his life, parliamentary duties were +so heavy that he would certainly have sunk under them, had it not been +for the rest the Sabbath afforded. But the Sabbath was not merely a day +of rest,--it was a day for improvement. Where there was no Sabbath, all +was bad. The inhabitants of Scotland and New England were distinguished +for industry and mental vigour; and they were equally distinguished for +observance of the Sabbath. The universal observance of the same day was +of great importance. It guarded against neglect. It told upon the +ungodly, as was shown by an eloquent induction of circumstances,--the +shops closed--the sound of the church-going bell--the throngs of decent +worshippers going to and fro, &c. + +Young men in great cities (it was observed) were in great danger, +chiefly from example. They met with those who were older in sin than +themselves--who prided themselves on knowing where the best oysters +were sold, the cheapest horses to be hired, or the cheapest boats to be +engaged for the Sunday's excursion. Young men were ready to think, "If +I don't do this, I may do something worse." The fallacy and danger of +this mode of reasoning were exposed. It might be employed to excuse any +sin. Public places of amusement were highways to destruction. Ah! how +those old people in that little cottage--surrounded with a stone +wall--on the hill side--far away--would weep, if they knew their son +was treading on the verge of these burning craters! Familiarity with +Sabbath-breaking destroyed the sense of guilt. The young medical +student when he first visited the dissecting-room, and the soldier when +he first stood on the field of battle, were sensible of misgivings, +against which repetition only made them proof,--each gradually losing +his first sensations. + +The desecration of the Sabbath was a greater evil to society than any +tyrant could inflict. How would any infringement of civil rights be +resisted! Here was an infringement with consequences infinitely more +injurious; and yet the press were dumb dogs, and the pulpit itself was +not guiltless! + +This masterly discourse was read, but read in such a manner as to lose +none of its effect. It occupied upwards of an hour. My irresistible +impression as I listened was, _There is a man of God!_ Truly a light +shining in a dark place; for, as I returned to my lodgings, I found the +coffee-houses, oyster-saloons, and theatres all open, just as on any +other day, only more thronged with customers. How much such discourses +are needed in this place, I leave you to judge from the following +extract from the _New Orleans Guide_:-- + +"The greatest market-day is Sunday. At break of day the gathering +commences,--youth and age--beauty and not so beautiful--all colours, +nations, and tongues are co-mingled in one heterogeneous mass of +delightful confusion. The traveller who leaves the city without +visiting one of the popular markets on Sunday morning has suffered a +rare treat to escape him." + +On the evening of the next day, being the first Monday in the month, I +went to the "Concert" for prayer, which had been announced the day +before. It was held in a vestry or a school-room under the church. +About sixty or seventy persons were in attendance. When I got there, +they were singing the last verse of + + "O'er the gloomy Mils of darkness," &c. + +A gentleman then gave an address. His object was to show that extensive +fields were open in various parts of the world for the introduction of +the Gospel. There was nothing clerical in his appearance, and he +boggled a great deal; but, as he said "We, the ministers of the +Gospel," I inferred that he was the pastor of some other Presbyterian +church in the city. Behind the desk, where sat Dr. S----, was hung up a +missionary map of the world, drawn on canvas, and illuminated from +behind. It was an excellent device. All missionary prayer-meetings +should be furnished with one. Those parts where the Gospel is already +preached were light, the realms of Heathenism dark, the lands of Popery +red, and so forth. + +After the address, the pastor called upon "Brother Franklin" to "lead +in prayer." The phrase was new to me, but I liked it,--it was +appropriate. The prayer was scriptural and good, as was that also of +another brother. The second prayed that the war, in which they were +then as a nation engaged, might be overruled for good, and "be the +means of introducing the Gospel and free institutions to a neighbouring +republic." Free institutions, indeed! (I said to myself): if you +conquer, I fear it will be the means of introducing slavery where now +it is not! After this prayer the pastor, having delivered a very short +address, gave out a hymn, and said that while they were singing Brother +such-a-one would "take up the collection,"--a phrase which seems to +indicate a greater degree of preparation on the part of the people than +our "make a collection." The Americans suppose it to be already made, +and nothing remains but to take it up. The good brother came round with +an old hat to receive contributions for the cause of missions. The +pastor then closed with a short prayer and the benediction. Upon the +whole, there were indications of a considerable degree of +warm-heartedness in reference to the missionary cause, and especially +of tender sympathy and affection towards missionaries themselves. As +one of the tribe, I found it rather difficult to preserve my _incog_. +There were present about half-a-dozen black people, some on the right +and some on the left of the pastor--"the place of honour!" + + + + +LETTER VI. + +"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other +Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A +Slave-Auction. + + +On that dreadful day, the 28th of January, on which we arrived in New +Orleans, Jack Jones, a Welshman, was drowned in the Mississippi, in a +generous effort to save another man from a watery grave. In that effort +he succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. On the 2nd of February +there was an advertisement in the papers, in which his friends offered +a reward for the recovery of the body. Where was the corporation, or +some one of the municipalities? for the papers make a continual +reference to first, second, and third municipalities. Was there no +public body, either civil or humane, to come forward on such an +occasion? Had "Jack Jones" gone to the war, and butchered a score or +two of harmless Mexicans, he would have been loaded with honours; but +he _saved_ a human being, close to the metropolis of the South, and his +body was left to perish like that of a dog--for aught the citizens +cared. I felt proud of my countryman. All honour to "Jack Jones!" May +none of Cambria's sons perish in a cause less noble! + +On the evening of the 4th of February I attended a public meeting for +the relief of the Irish. It was held in the New Commercial Exchange, +and was the first public meeting I had had an opportunity of attending +in America. The Commercial Exchange is a fine large building, supported +by pillars, and containing an area on the ground floor that would +accommodate about 1,500 people. It is but ill-adapted for a public +meeting, having no seats or benches. I found about 800 gentlemen +present, but no ladies. Nor was that to be wondered at; for out of the +800, about 799 were spitting, 600 smoking cigars, 100 chewing tobacco, +and perhaps 200 both chewing and smoking at the same time, for many of +those people chew one end of the cigar while burning the other. There +was a large platform, and a great number of gentlemen were upon it. +Governor Johnson was the president, assisted by lots of +vice-presidents. When I entered, a tall old gentleman, with rather high +cheek bones, and a voice somewhat tremulous and nasal, was speaking. He +descanted, in a second or third rate style, on the horrors of famine in +Ireland,--its horrors especially as seen in the family. Coming to a +period, he said, "It is under these circumstances that I want you to +put your hands into your pockets, and pull out something, and throw it +into the lap of starving Ireland!" This caused the most tremendous +cheering I ever heard,--"bravo--bravo--bravo,--whoo--hoo--whoo!" The +last sound was to me altogether new. Not having learned phonography, I +can give you no adequate notion of it; but it was a combination of the +owl's screech and the pig's scream. The favoured orator continued his +speech a little longer, and at the close there was a storm of applause +ten times more terrific than the former. And who was the speaker? It +was none other, as I subsequently ascertained, than the celebrated +Henry Clay! In departing from the tone of eulogy in which it is +fashionable to speak of him, I may be charged with a want of taste and +discrimination. That I cannot help. My simple object in these letters +is to tell how Transatlantic men and manners appeared to my eye or ear. +Before I went to America my respect for Henry Clay was very great. I am +sorry to say it is not so now. I have closely examined his conduct in +reference to "the peculiar institution," and find it to have been +that--not of a high-minded statesman and true philanthropist--but of a +trimming, time-serving partisan. He has been a main pillar of slavery; +and as the idol of the Whig party, a great stumbling-block in the way +of those who sought the overthrow of that system. The man of whom I +have thus freely, yet conscientiously expressed myself, is nevertheless +thus spoken of in the _New Englander_, a quarterly review of high +character now open before me:--"We intend to speak in the praise of +Henry Clay. His place among the great men of our country is permanently +fixed. He stands forth prominent above the politicians of the hour, in +the midst of the chosen few who are perpetual guardians of the interest +and of the honour [slavery?] of the nation. The foundations of his fame +are laid deep and imperishable, and the superstructure is already +erected. It only remains that the mild light of the evening of life be +shed around it." + +The cheering at the close of Mr. Clay's speech merged into an awful +tempest of barking. I could compare it to nothing else,--500 men +barking with all their might! I thought it was all up with the +meeting--that all was lost in incurable confusion; and yet the +gentlemen on the platform looked down upon the raging tempest below +with calmness and composure, as a thing of course. Amidst the noise I +saw a middle-aged gentleman, rising on the platform, deliberately take +off his top-coat, and all was hushed--except at the outskirts of the +assembly, where a great trade in talking and tobacco was constantly +carried on. This gentleman's name was S.S. Prentiss, Esq.; and the +barking, it was now evident, consisted of calling out Prentiss! +--Prentiss!--Prentiss! with all their might, on the top of the +voice, and with an accent, sharp and rising, on the first syllable. + +This gentleman gave us to understand that he was a lawyer--that he had +often appeared before his fellow-citizens on former occasions (those +occasions he briefly enumerated); but that the present was the most +painful of all. He expatiated largely, and with great vehemence of tone +and action, on the miseries of famine as experienced in +Ireland,--talked much of their own glorious and free country--("Looking +out for a few niggers this morning?" occurred to me),--and made some +severe reflections--not, I admit, altogether undeserved--on the +Government of England. This man was fluent, though turgid. He seemed +resolved to _act_ the orator throughout, and certainly to me appeared +in point of talent far--far a-head of Henry Clay. Bravos and hoohoos in +abundance greeted Mr. Prentiss. He spoke long; but the noise of the +suburbs prevented my hearing so perfectly as I wished. + +The cheering at the close of this speech merged into barking as before. +In this instance it was Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! that they called for. The +president (standing) showed them a sheet of paper, containing probably +a list of subscriptions, and smiled coaxingly to intimate that he +wished that to be read. But it would not do. Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! was +still the cry; and the democracy, as before, carried the day. + +By this time the atmosphere of the room had become so poisoned with +smoking that I could endure it no longer. I had not only the general +atmosphere to bear, but special puffs, right in my face, accompanying +the questions and remarks which, in that free meeting, of free +citizens, in a free country, were freely put to me by the free-and-easy +gentlemen around. The meeting resulted in the raising of 15,000 dollars +for the relief of the Irish. The sum was handed by the American +Minister in London to Lord John Russell; and a note from his Lordship, +acknowledging the gift, has gone the round of the papers on both sides +of the Atlantic. The subject of relief to Ireland was subsequently, in +many ways and places, brought under my notice; and while I have been +delighted in many instances with the display of pure and noble +generosity, it was too evident that much of what was done was done in a +spirit of self-glorification over a humbled and afflicted rival. It was +a fine opportunity to feed the national vanity, and to deal hard blows +to England. Not that I was sorry to see those blows, or to feel them. +They drew no blood, and were a hundred times more efficacious than if +they had. I felt that there was much in the conduct of England towards +her unhappy sister-isle for which she deserved the severest +castigation. But I must protest against the form of putting the case, +which was very common throughout the United States: "You are shocked at +our slavery; and yet you have horrors of ten times greater magnitude, +in the Irish famine at your own doors." In this way the Irish famine, +was a God-sent sort of a salvo for the slave-holder's conscience, so +soothing and grateful to his tortured feelings that he was but too +happy to pay for it by a contribution for the relief of Ireland. + +In consequence of the following advertisement in the _Picayune_, I +screwed up my feelings, and resolved for once at least in my life to +see a slave-auction. I was the more disposed to attend this, as it was +distinctly stated that they would be sold in families. I should not +therefore have to behold the wife torn away from the husband, the +husband from the wife, the parent from the child, or the child from the +parent, as is so commonly done. + +"COTTON-FIELD HANDS.--By Beard, Calhoun, and Co., auctioneers.--Will be +sold at auction, on Friday, the 5th inst., at 12 o'clock, at Bank's +Arcade, thirty-seven Field Slaves; comprising eighteen from one +plantation, and fourteen from another. All acclimated Negroes. To be +sold in Families. Full particulars at sale." + +"F. 4." + +Setting off a few minutes before 12, after about half-a-dozen +inquiries, and as many "guessing" answers, I found "Bank's Arcade." It +was very near the Presbyterian church, in which I had heard such +excellent sermons on the preceding Sabbath. It was a large open +building: one side occupied as a bar for the retail of strong drinks, +and the other fitted up for auctioneering purposes,--there being +conveniences for three or four of the trade to exercise their vocation +at the same time. One end was used for the sale of books and other +publications, chiefly novels; and the other for the exhibition of fancy +goods. + +As I got in at one end, I heard a voice--with that peculiar, twirling, +rapid, nasal twang, which marks the Transatlantic auctioneer--say, "400 +dollars for this fine young woman--only 400 dollars--420, only +420--430--440, only 440 dollars offered for this fine young woman." By +this time I had got in front of the performer, and had a full view of +the whole affair. And sure enough she was a "fine young woman," about +twenty-three years of age, neatly dressed, not quite----But the scene +shall form the subject of my next letter. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his +Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another +Jim--Tom, the House-Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A +Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child. + + +Yes, she _was_ a "fine young woman," about 23 years of age, neatly +dressed, not black, but slightly coloured. The auctioneer was a +sleek-looking fellow, with a face that indicated frequent and familiar +intercourse with the brandy-bottle. He stood upon a platform, about +four feet high. Behind him was a table, at which a clerk sat to record +the sales. High above was a semi-circular board, on which were written +in large letters "Beard, Calhoun, and Co." In front, standing upon a +chair, exposed to the gaze of a crowd of men, stood the "fine young +woman." She had an air of dignity even in that degrading position. +Around were twenty or thirty more of the sable race, waiting their +turn. + +"440 dollars only offered," continued the coarse and heartless +auctioneer; "450, thank you; 460, 460 dollars only offered for this +excellent young woman--470 only, 470--480, 480 dollars only +offered--490--500 dollars offered--going for 500 dollars--once, going +for 500 dollars--503 dollars--going for 503 dollars--going--once +--twice--gone for 503 dollars. She is yours, sir," pointing +to the highest bidder. She stepped down, and disappeared in the custody +of her new proprietor. + +A man and his wife, both black, were now put up. They were made to +ascend the platform. "Now, how much for this man and his wife? Who +makes an offer? What say you for the pair? 550 dollars offered--560 +dollars only; 560 dollars," &c., &c., till some one bidding 600 +dollars--he added, "Really, gentlemen, it is throwing the people +away--going for 600 dollars; going--once--twice--gone for 600 dollars. +They are yours, sir." + +Jim, a blacksmith, about 30 years of age, was the next. He stood on the +chair in front. "Now, who bids for Jim? He is an excellent blacksmith; +can work on a plantation, and make his own tools; in fact, can turn his +hand to anything. The title is good,"--(Is it, indeed? breathed +I,)--"and he is guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies +provided against by law. Who bids for him? 600 dollars bid for him +--625 dollars--650 dollars," and so on to 780. "'Pon my soul, +gentlemen, this is throwing the man away; he is well worth 1,200 +dollars of anybody's money; 790 dollars only offered for him--going for +790 dollars;--going--once--twice--gone for 790 dollars." + +The next "lot" was a family, consisting of the husband, a man slightly +coloured, about 30 years of age, the wife about 25, quite black, and +reminding me forcibly of an excellent woman in my own congregation, a +little girl about 4 years of age, and a child in the arms. They were +told to mount the platform. As they obeyed, I was attracted by a little +incident, which had well nigh caused my feelings to betray me. Never +shall I forget it. Parents of England, let me tell it you, and enlist +your sympathies on behalf of oppressed and outraged humanity. It was +that of a father helping up, by the hand, _his own little girl to be +exposed for sale_. "Now, who bids for this family? Title +good--guaranteed free from the vices and maladies provided against by +law. The man is an excellent shoemaker--can turn his hand to +anything,--and his wife is a very good house-servant. Who bids for the +lot? 500 dollars bid for them--600 dollars--only 600 dollars--700 +dollars offered for them." But the price ultimately mounted up to 1,125 +dollars.--"Going for 1,125 dollars--once--twice--gone for 1,125 +dollars." + +The next was a black boy, 16 years of age. He mounted the chair, not +the platform. "Now, gentlemen, here is an excellent ploughboy. Who bids +for him? Thank you,--400 dollars bid for him--425," and so on to 550 +dollars. "Why, look at him; he is a powerful-limbed boy; he will make a +very large strong man." He was knocked down at 625 dollars. + +"The next I have to put up, gentlemen, is a young piece of city +goods--the girl Cornelia. She is 18 years of age, a good washer and +ironer, but not a very good cook. She is well known in the city, and +has always belonged to some of the best families." By this time +Cornelia was standing upon the chair. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for +this girl? She is sold for no fault, but simply for want of money. Who +bids for this excellent washer and ironer?" At this moment one of the +"gentlemen," standing in front of her, deliberately took his +walking-stick, and, with the point of it, lifted up her clothes as high +as the knee. I afterwards saw this same man walking arm-in-arm with his +white wife in the street. "500 dollars offered for her--530 dollars." +She went for 580. + +Here let me state, once for all, that I took notes on the spot. Those +around me no doubt thought I was deeply interested in the state of the +slave-market, and wishful to convey the most accurate information to my +slave-breeding and soul-driving correspondents at a distance. Had my +real object and character been discovered, I gravely doubt whether I +should have left that "great" and "free" city alive! + +The next "lot" were Jim, his wife, and two children, one about three, +and the other about two years of age,--all on the platform. They were +said to be excellent cotton-field hands, title good, and so forth; but, +somehow, there were no bidders. + +A boy about ten years of age, a fine intelligent-looking little fellow, +was now made to mount the chair. "Now, who bids for Tom? an excellent +house-boy, a 'smart' young lad; can wait well at table--title +good--guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies provided against +by law. Who bids for him?" The bidding began, at 350 dollars, and ended +at 425. + +"I have now to put up the boy Edmund, thirty-two years of age, an +excellent cotton-field hand. Who bids for the boy Edmund?" At this +moment a gentleman, who, like most of those present, appeared to be a +sort of speculator in slaves, stepped forward, and examined with his +hands the boy's legs, especially about the ankles, just as I have seen +horse-dealers do with those animals at fairs. There were, however, no +bidders; and Edmund was put down again. + +The next that mounted the chair was a shrewd-looking negro, about +thirty-five years of age. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for Tom? He is an +excellent painter and glazier, and a good cook besides; title good; +sold for no fault, except that his owner had hired him at 25 dollars a +month, and Tom would not work. An excellent painter and glazier, and a +good cook besides. His only fault is that he has a great idea of his +own reserved rights, to the neglect of those of his master." This was +said with a waggish kind of a leer, as if he thought he had said a very +smart thing in a very smart way. 300 dollars were first offered for +him; but poor Tom went for 350. "Now, sir," said the man-seller to Tom, +with a malicious look, "you'll go into the country." He was bought by +one of the speculators, who no doubt would sell him again for double +the amount. Tom, as he descended from the chair, gave a look which +seemed to say, "I care not whither I go; but my own reserved rights +shall not be forgotten!" + +A girl of seventeen years of age, somewhat coloured, was the next put +up. She was "an excellent washer and getter-up of linen." She was also +"a tolerably good cook." But there were no bidders; and the auctioneer +said, "Really, gentlemen, I have a great deal of business to do in my +office: I cannot lose any more time here, as you are not disposed to +bid." And so ended the exhibition. + +I was now at leisure to observe that a strange noise which I had heard +for some time proceeded from another auctioneer, engaged in the same +line of business at the other end of the room. As I approached, I saw +him with a young coloured man of about twenty-two years of age, +standing on his left hand on the platform. What a sight! Two men +standing together, and the one offering the other for sale to the +highest bidder! In the young man's appearance there was something very +good and interesting. He reminded me forcibly of an excellent young man +of the same colour in my own congregation. 430 dollars were offered for +him; but, as he was a good carriage driver, and worth a great deal +more, only he had not had time to dress himself for the sale, being +industrious, sober, and _no runaway_ (said with significant emphasis), +the bidding ran up to 660 dollars. Here one of the bidders on the +auctioneer's right hand asked him something aside; to which he +answered, loudly and emphatically, "_Fully guaranteed in every +respect_;" and then said to the young man, "Turn this way, and let the +gentleman see you," He was sold for 665 dollars. + +The next was a very modest-looking young mulatto girl, of small +features and slender frame, with a little child (apparently not more +than a year old) in her arms, evidently the daughter of a white man. +"Now, who bids for Margaret and her child?" Margaret! my own dear +mother's name. "Margaret and her child!" What should I have been this +day, if _that_ Margaret "and her child" Ebenezer had been so treated? +Who can think of his own mother, and not drop a tear of sympathy for +this mother--so young, so interesting, and yet so degraded? "Now, +gentlemen, who bids for Margaret and her child? She is between sixteen +and seventeen years of age, and is six months gone in pregnancy of her +second child: I mention the last circumstance, because you would not +think it to look at her,--it is right, however, that you should know. +She cooks well, sews well, washes well, and irons well. Only 545 +dollars! Really, gentlemen, it's throwing the girl away; she is well +worth 800 dollars of any man's money. She'll no doubt be the mother of +a great many children; and that is a consideration to a purchaser who +wants to raise a fine young stock. Only 545 dollars offered for her!" +No higher offer being made, she was sent down,--it was no sale. Let us +breathe again. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + +St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan +Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men. + +Finding that another slave-auction was to be held at noon next day in +the St. Louis Exchange, I resolved to attend. The day was dull and +dirty. "Please, sir," said I to the first man I met, "to tell me where +St. Louis Exchange is?" "Don't know, sir." I walked on a little +further, and tried again. "Please to direct me to St. Louis Exchange?" +"Can't; but it's somewhere in that direction," pointing with his +finger. "Is this the way to St. Louis Exchange?" I asked a third. "I +guess it is," was the curt and characteristic reply. "How far is it?" +"Three blocks further on; then turn to your right; go a little way +down, and you will find it on your left." I went as directed, and came +to an immense building--a kind of hotel. There were nearly a dozen +entrances, all leading into one vast saloon, where I found about 200 +gentlemen,--some drinking, some eating, some smoking, some reading, +some talking, and all spitting. One end of the saloon was fitted up as +a refreshment place, similar to those on railway stations in England. +But I could see nothing like preparations for a sale. + +On looking around I perceived a large door in two halves, with spring +hinges, leading as it were further into the building. I pushed one half +open, and found myself in a spacious circular hall,--its roof, ending +in a dome, supported by a suitable number of massive columns. The floor +was tastefully paved with black and white marble, and all the light +came from the dome. Some 100 gentlemen were sauntering about, and now +and then turning to several groupes of black people to ask them +questions. This place was evidently fitted up for auctioneering +purposes, and seemed peculiarly adapted for man-selling. At equal +distances were a dozen elevated desks for the chief actors, each with a +small platform in front for the exhibition of the articles of sale. + +It was a quarter to twelve, by the clock that faced the entrance door, +when I got in. Anxious to know what kind of questions were put to the +slaves, I pushed myself into the knots of intending purchasers, just as +if I had been one of them. The inquiries, I found, related to place of +birth, subsequent removals, competency for work, and so forth. The +answers presented a fearful view of the extent to which the internal +slave-trade is carried on. Most of the slaves said they had been +"raised" in Virginia and Kentucky. To avoid the suspicion of being a +spy, I resolved to put a few questions too. I found myself at the +establishment where those named in the advertisement which had drawn me +thither were to be disposed of. A pile of handbills--each containing an +exact copy of the advertisement, and a French translation--was lying on +the platform. Taking one up, I observed the name of "Squires, a +carpenter." Assuming all the confidence I could muster, I said, "Which +is Squires?" "I'm here, sir." "You are a carpenter, are you not?" "Yes, +sir," (with a very polite bow). "And what can you do?" "I can trim a +house, sir, from top to bottom." "Can you make a panelled door?" "Yes, +Sir." "Sash windows?" "Yes, sir." "A staircase?" "Yes, sir." I gave a +wise and dignified nod, and passed on to another groupe. In my +progress, I found by one of the platforms a middle-aged black woman, +and a mulatto girl of perhaps eighteen crouching by her side. "Are you +related to each other?" I said. "No, sir." "Have you lived long in the +city?" I said to the younger. "About two years, sir; but I was 'raised' +in South Carolina." "And why does your owner sell you?" "Because I +cannot cut--she wants a cutter--I can only sew." I then returned to the +groupe at platform No. 1. + +The clock was striking twelve; and, before it had finished, the vast +dome reverberated with the noise of half-a-dozen man-sellers bawling at +once, disposing of God's images to the highest bidders. It was a +terrible din. But, at our platform, business proceeded rather +leisurely. Two gentlemen ascended the desk: the one of a light +complexion, about fifty-five years of age, rather fat, whiskers and +beard smoothly shaven off; the other, a Frenchified-looking young man, +about twenty-five years of age, of dark complexion, with green +spectacles to hide some deformity of the eye, no whiskers, but a large +quantity of beard on the lower chin. The elderly man, whom I took to be +the notary public mentioned in the advertisement, read the terms of +sale; then the dark auctioneer, stroking his bearded chin, proceeded to +business. + +"Now, gentlemen, let me sell you Jacob. He is twenty-six years of +age--a first-rate carpenter and wheelwright--_Jacob age d'environ 26 +ans, charpentier et charron de la premiere ordre_--guaranteed free from +the vices and maladies provided against by law--_garanti exempt des +vices et des maladies prevus par la loi_. How much for Jacob? _Combien +pour Jacob?_" He was run up from 1,000 dollars, and was going for +1,175, when the fat old gentleman offered 1,200, at which he was +knocked down. "Now, gentlemen," said the fat man, with deliberation and +emphasis, "the 1,200 dollars was my bid, and therefore Jacob is not +sold. He is well worth 1,800 dollars." + +At this performance, be it observed, the chief actor uttered everything +first in English, and then in French, in the same breath, thereby +giving the proceedings a most strange and comical sound. + +Abraham, although on the advertisement, was not present. + +Sancho, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next in order. +He was described as "an excellent carpenter--_excellent +charpentier_--can do anything but fine work--fully guaranteed free from +the maladies and vices provided against by law;" and, as nobody would +bid higher, he also was bought in by the fat man at 1,025 dollars. + +George, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next to mount +the platform. George kept his eyes fixed upon the dome, as if he felt +above looking down on the grovelling creatures beneath him. He was a +stout-built, thick-set man, who evidently felt to the very core the +degradation to which he was exposed. "Now, gentlemen, let me sell you +George--a first-rate bricklayer--_excellent poseur de briques_--bears +an excellent character--only he absconded once from his master for a +few days. How much do you offer for him?" The bidding began at 500 +dollars; but George, like his predecessors, was bought in at 980 by the +fat man, who protested him to be well worth 1,500. + +Squires--whom I questioned about doors, sash-windows, and +staircases--was next put up. He was said to be twenty-eight years of +age; but I think he was nearer forty. On his forehead was a deep scar, +occasioned by some severe cut. He appeared to be a very good-tempered +man, and by his smiling looks seemed to say, "Buy me, and I'll serve +you well." "What will you offer for Squires, gentlemen?--an excellent +carpenter--can trim a house--all but the very fine work--bears an +excellent character--is fully guaranteed," &c. &c. "Who bids for +Squires?" Poor fellow! he was sold for 900 dollars. + +Sancho was put up again, the fat man observing that he had made a +mistake in offering a reserve bid for him--that he would be sold +without reserve. He was put up at 600 dollars. The biddings gradually +ascended to 900, and there stood, till, after a considerable +expenditure of the Frenchman's breath and talent, Sancho was knocked +down at 900 dollars, though when first put up 1,025 had been offered +for him. + +John, a black man, twenty-five years of age, "an excellent French and +American cook--_excellent cuisinier Francais et Americain_," was put up +at 600 dollars, and, after the usual quantity of the Frenchman's +eloquence, (accompanied, as in all other cases, by the constant rubbing +of his tuft of chin-beard with the left hand, while in the right he +flourished a fine massive gold pencil-case and a sheet of paper,) +fetched 775 dollars, at which price he was knocked down to one Robert +Murphy. + +Silas also, a black boy, fifteen years of age, a house-servant, with a +large scar on the right cheek, was sold for 670 dollars to Robert +Murphy; who likewise became the purchaser of Scipio, a black man about +twenty-four years of age, "an excellent cook, fully warranted in every +respect," for 705 dollars. + +"Now, gentlemen," resumed the green-spectacled auctioneer, still +stroking his cherished tuft of long black beard,--"now, gentlemen, let +me sell you Samson! He is twenty-six years of age--an excellent +house-servant--guaranteed free," &c. &c. "What do you offer for +Samson?" Poor Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines at 710 +dollars. + +Sam, the next on the list, was not present. Ben was therefore put up. +He was a fine buckish young fellow, about twenty-one. His complexion +was lighter than that of a mulatto, and his hair was not at all +crisped, but straight, and of a jet black. He was dressed in a good +cloth surtout coat, and looked altogether far more respectable and +intelligent than most of the bidders. He was evidently a high-minded +young man, who felt deeply the insulting position he was made to +occupy. Oh! that I could have whispered in his ear a few words of +sympathy and comfort. He stood on the platform firm and erect, his eyes +apparently fixed on the clock opposite. "Now, gentlemen, what do you +offer for Ben?" said the Frenchified salesman; "a first-rate +tailor--only twenty-one years of age." 700 dollars proved to be the +estimated value of this "excellent tailor." + +Charles (not in the catalogue) was now offered. He was a black man, of +great muscular power, said to be twenty-eight years of age. He had, it +was admitted, absconded once from his master! At this intelligence the +countenances of the bidders fell. He had evidently gone down at least +20 per cent. in value. Though offered at 300 dollars, however, he rose +to 640, at which price he was sold. + +The "ladies" were yet to be exhibited. "Elizabeth" (my own dear +sister's name) was the first. But I reserve this part of the scene for +another letter. + + + + +LETTER IX. + + +Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the +Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American +Sabbath-School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New +Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion." + + +You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. "Elizabeth" +was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very +genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the +daughter of a white man, and said to be "a good seamstress and +house-servant--_excellente couturiere et domestique de maison_." 600 +dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about +170_l._) Elizabeth--so young and so interesting--was sold! + +"Susan," too, was a mulatto--the daughter of a white man. She was +short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, "a plain +seamstress and house-servant." She appeared exceedingly modest, and +kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as +usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring +forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was +500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150_l._), at which she was +"knocked down." But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar +drawling nasal tones, said, "The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore +Susan is not sold." Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy. + +"Betsy," another "plain seamstress and house-servant," about sixteen +years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent +eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The +offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition, +which had lasted an hour. + +The next day being the Sabbath, I took it into my head to find out the +Baptist Church. They are all "churches" in America. It was not far from +the Presbyterian place of worship. In passing the latter, I saw (as on +the previous Sabbath) about forty or fifty boys in the square in front +playing at cricket. A number of grave-looking gentlemen were standing +under the portico of the church, looking on with apparent +complacency,--not one attempting either to check these juvenile +Sabbath-breakers, or to allure them to occupations more suitable to the +day. + +The Baptist Church is a small place, about 60 feet by 30, without +galleries, except a little one for the singers. When we arrived, a +small Sabbath-school was being conducted in the body of the chapel. +About fifty children were present, of whom not one was coloured. One of +the teachers kindly led us to a pew. It was the third or fourth from +the door. The school, which occupied the part next to the pulpit, was +about to be dismissed. The superintendent got into the "table-pew" to +address the scholars. It was the first time I had had an opportunity of +hearing an address to children in America. In the land of the Todds, +the Abbotts, and the Gallaudets, I expected something very lively and +interesting. But grievous was my disappointment. The address was dull +and lifeless. There was in it neither light nor heat. When the +superintendent had done, an elderly gentleman, shrewd and busy-looking, +having in his hand a black walking-stick and on his neck a black stock, +with shirt-collar turned over it like a white binding (the national +fashion of the Americans), came up, and told the school that the +proprietor of the splendid picture, "The Departure of the Israelites +from Egypt," had requested him to deliver a lecture upon it; that he +had engaged to do so on Monday a-week; and that the scholars and +teachers of that school would be admitted free. I should like (said I +to myself) to hear you: a lecture on the emancipation of those poor +slaves cannot fail to be interesting in the slave-holding city of New +Orleans. The school was now dismissed, and the scholars left to enjoy +their full swing of lawless liberty. + +The elderly gentleman descended from his elevation, and walked about +the "church," backwards and forwards, whispering a few words to one, +and then to another, in a very bustling manner. As I looked down the +aisle, I saw on one side of it, near the pulpit end, a leg projecting +about eighteen inches, in a pendent position, at an angle of about +forty-five degrees. This leg attracted my notice by its strange and +solitary appearance. It seemed as if it had got astray from its owner. +In America gentlemen's legs do get sometimes most strangely astray,--on +the chair arms, on the tables, on the chimney-pieces, and into all +sorts of out-of-the-way places. While other people generally try how +high they can carry their heads, the ambition of the Americans is to +try how high they can carry their heels! Observing the leg in question +a little more attentively, I found that behind it (in the adjoining +pew), and in close and intimate connection with it, was a man dressed +in black. The bustling old gentleman came by, tapped him on the +shoulder, and beckoned him forward, along with himself, to the rostrum. +Here they were met by a tall man of grave appearance, about thirty +years of age, with a pale face and bald forehead, wearing a white +cravat, with corners about ten inches long, stretching out on either +side towards the shoulders. He was made to take the central position at +the desk; while the man with the leg took the right, and the elderly +gentleman the left. + +The elderly gentleman (who, from his I'm-at-home kind of air, was +evidently the pastor) offered up a short prayer, and then gave out a +hymn, which some few friends in the gallery (standing up) sang; all the +rest of the congregation sitting down, and very few joining at all in +the psalmody. This exercise over, the central gentleman arose, and, +having first read a few verses of Scripture, offered up a very suitable +prayer about eight or ten minutes long. The man on the right then gave +out another hymn, which was sung as before. + +The central gentleman now, in a very low don't- +care-whether-you-hear-or-not tone of voice, gave out a text. It was +John iii. 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." +I will give you a sketch of his sermon. He observed that of all +subjects on which men might be addressed, religious subjects were the +most important; and that of all religious subjects, that to which the +text referred was the most momentous. Having noticed the context, he +proposed to inquire, first, into the necessity of being born again. +This change (he observed) was necessary, in order to enjoy heaven. It +was a common observation, that "society seeks its level." The Indian, +for example, could not be happy amidst the refinements of civilization. +The gambler and the swearer could not be happy in the society of the +pious and devout. If so in this world, amidst imperfect holiness, how +much more so in the pure society of the celestial state! + +During these remarks, I was much annoyed by the cracking of nuts not +very far off. I looked around, and actually found it was a mother +cracking them for her two boys, one of whom might be seven and the +other five years of age,--one by her side, and the other in the next +pew behind. To the latter she deliberately handed over the kernels in a +pocket-handkerchief; and yet, to look at her, you would have thought +her a woman of sense and piety! + +The preacher noticed, in the second place, the nature of this change. +It was spiritual, not physical,--a "revolution" (!) of the mind, +rather than a mere change of opinion or of outward deportment. The +third observation related to the evidence of the change. Its existence +might be ascertained by our own experience, and by the Word of God. The +former was not to be trusted without a reference to the latter. This +change destroyed the love of the world. It led man to abandon his +favourite sins, and to live and labour to do good. It also created in +him new desires and enjoyments. These topics were variously and +suitably illustrated, and the whole was a very good sermon on the +subject. + +At the close the man on the right offered an appropriate prayer. The +pastor then made several announcements; among them, that a meeting to +pray for the success of Sabbath-schools would be held on the morrow +evening. In connection with that announcement, he said: "I am a very +plain man, and my God is a very plain God. He is so in all his dealings +with men. He always acts on the plain common-sense principle, that, if +a favour is worth bestowing, it is worth asking for." He also intimated +that there would be a Church-meeting immediately after the service, +preparatory to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon, +inviting at the same time any members of other Baptist Churches who +might be present to participate with them in that privilege. This form +of invitation led me to understand that they were "close +communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only +with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The +influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that +side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy +pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed +slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a +sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe, +however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large +congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of +Christian fellowship with slave-holders. + + + + +LETTER X. + + +Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the +Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at +the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French +and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New +Orleans--American Manners. + + +The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British +Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the +whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and +I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They +were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very +clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico, +looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She +evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced +myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the +ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind +and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea. +We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our +negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed; +and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as +you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to +be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how +extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery! +"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have +nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and +try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example +of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not +aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow. He simply told +masters and slaves their duty, without at all interfering with the +relation subsisting between them. Besides, the opposite of this course +would render us and our churches unpopular, and thereby destroy our +usefulness." He also seemed very sore at the idea of the Christianity +of slave-holders being at all called in question. "People," said he, or +words to the same effect, "may spare themselves the trouble to pass +resolutions of non-fellowship with us; we wish for no fellowship with +those who are so uncharitable as to question our piety." I began now to +understand why the Abolitionists call the American churches "the +bulwark of slavery." + +Subsequently, on the same day, I had conversation with a young man, +whom I had that afternoon seen sitting down at the Lord's Table in the +Baptist Church. He told me that there were in New Orleans two Baptist +Churches of coloured people, presided over by faithful and devoted +pastors of their own colour. "And does your pastor," I inquired, +"recognise them, and have fellowship with them?" "Oh! yes, he has often +preached to them. He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the +conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy +your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say +they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be +tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and +in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand +them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn." +This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence +in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly +right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his +rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the +soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire +population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is +the most damning! + +"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your +churches, they have to sit by themselves?" + +_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise." + +_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so. With us, in British +Guiana, blacks and whites mingle together indiscriminately in the +worship of our common Father." + +_Young Man._ (with amazement).--"There must be a a great change here +before it comes to that. It must appear very strange." + +_Myself._--"Very much like heaven where they shall come together from +the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, &c. Why, +we have black deacons, who, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, +carry the bread and wine, and give them even to white people." + +_Young Man._ (with more astonishment than ever, and in a tone of +offended dignity).--"I don't think I could stand that--I don't! A great +change must take place in my feelings before I could. I don't like to +mingle Ham and Japhet together for my part--I don't!" + +_Myself._--"Why, they were mingled together in the ark." + +_Young Man._--"Yes; but old Noah quarrelled with Ham soon after he came +out, and cursed him." + +_Myself._--"Granted; but you and your pastor profess to be anxious for +the slaves' conversion to God, and thereby to roll away the curse." +Here the dialogue ended. + +In the evening I was desirous of hearing Dr. Hawkes, an Episcopalian +minister, of whose talents and popularity I had heard much in New +Orleans; but, finding that he did not preach in the evening, I went +again to hear Dr. Scott at the Presbyterian Church. Having stood a +considerable time at the door inside, and receiving no encouragement to +advance, I ventured, along with my wife, to enter the pew next to the +door. This proved a most unfortunate position. There was not light +enough to take any notes; while the incessant opening and shutting of +the door, with its rusty hinges, made it extremely difficult to hear. +The discourse, however, which was again addressed to young men in great +cities, was characterized by all the power and piety which +distinguished the one of the previous Sabbath. I retired deeply +impressed with the value of such a ministry in such a place. Dr. Scott +was one of the American delegates to the Conference for the formation +of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. He is a Southern man, born and +bred amidst the wilds of Tennessee, whose early educational advantages +were very small. He is, in a great measure, a self-made man. Brought up +in the midst of slavery, he is (I rejoice to hear) a cordial hater of +the system. As a minister, he is "thoroughly furnished--a workman that +needeth not to be ashamed." His knowledge of the world, as well as of +the Word of God and of the human heart, is extensive, and is turned to +the best account in his ministrations. In leaving New Orleans I felt no +regret, but that I had not called upon this good man. + +On Monday morning, the 8th of February, I had a peep at the House of +Representatives of the State of Louisiana, then in session at New +Orleans. The room, a dark and dingy-looking place, was fitted up with +desks and seats in the form of the letter D. A desk and a spittoon were +allowed to each honourable member,--the latter article being deemed as +necessary as the former. Whether smoking was suffered during the hours +of business or not I cannot tell, but the room smelt horribly of stale +tobacco. Between fifty and sixty members were present, and never +certainly, either in the Old World or in the New, did I see an +assemblage of worse-looking men. They seemed fitted for any deeds of +robbery, blood, and death. Several distinguished duellists were pointed +out to me; among them Colonel Crane, an old man, who had repeatedly +fought with Mr. Bowie, the inventor of the "Bowie knife," and had +killed several men in personal combat! The motion before the house just +at that time was for the release from prison of a Mr. Simms, who a few +days before had violently assaulted one of the members in the lobby. He +was released accordingly. Who will not pity the 200,000 slaves of this +State, who are at the "tender mercies" of these sanguinary men? Nor let +it be said, as it often is, that New Orleans and Louisiana are not a +fair specimen of things even in the South,--that they are more French +than American, &c. This is not the case. Nothing in New Orleans struck +me more forcibly than its thoroughly American character. American +usages, American influence, American laws, and American religion are +there predominant. Things were much better for the black and coloured +people when it was not so. The French treated their slaves incomparably +kinder than the Americans do. They often married coloured women, and +invariably treated their own coloured offspring, whether legitimate or +illegitimate, with tenderness and regard. They had them suitably +educated and adequately provided for; so that, at the present moment, a +large portion of the city of New Orleans is the freehold property of +coloured persons. Not so act the Americans. They indulge in the +grossest licentiousness with coloured women, but would shudder at the +idea of marrying one of them; and, instead of giving any property to +their coloured offspring, they do not scruple to sell them as slaves! +Had I gone to the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city, which is +attended chiefly by the French and their descendants, I should have +found no negro pew, but persons of all colours intermingled together in +religious observances. The Southerners seem to have no heart--no +feeling, except that of love to the almighty dollar. + +The population of New Orleans is about 90,000. On this mass of people +are brought to bear the labours of at least thirteen ministers of the +Methodist Episcopal Church, seven Presbyterians, four Episcopalians, +and three Baptists,--all professedly evangelical;--besides a +considerable number of Roman Catholics, and other non-evangelical +teachers. But Satan has there a large array of synagogues. + +I omitted, at the proper time, to describe the scene we witnessed at +our "private" lodgings the first day we sat down to dinner. Though it +was called a "private" boarding-house, and we had taken the apartments +as such, we found ourselves surrounded by about thirty boarders! These +were all respectable men, or rather men whom, from their position in +society, you would expect to be respectable. Doctors, lieutenants in +the army, captains, merchants, editors, clerks of the senate, and so +forth, were among them. My wife was the only lady besides the mistress +of the house. + +We were all waiting in an ante-room for the summons to dinner. It came. +The door of the dining-room was thrown open; and before you could have +said "Jack Robinson," the whole had rushed through, were seated at +table, and sending forth a forest of forks in the direction of the +various dishes! I had often heard of this wolfish habit, but thought +our cousins were caricatured. Here, however, was the reality. Had I not +been an eye-witness, I could not have believed it. Not a single seat +had been kept vacant for the only lady who had to be accommodated, and +we were both left to console ourselves in the ante-room! The landlady, +however, having "an eye to business," arranged for our accommodation at +the table. There had been on the table a turkey, a piece of beef, some +fish, and pastry,--all ready carved. Most of these things had instantly +disappeared,--the knives and forks had borne them away in triumph. +There was no waiting to be served: every one stuck his fork in what he +liked best, or what was most within his reach. It was a regular +scramble. The principle seemed to be to _begin_ to eat as soon as +possible, no matter what! Some began with nothing but potatoes, some +with a bit of bread, some with a piece of beef, some with a limb of the +turkey. Some, I noticed, beginning with fowl, then taking roast beef, +then boiled mutton, then fish, and then some pastry,--all on the same +plate, and--faugh!--portions of most of them there at the same time! No +change of plate,--that would have been extravagant, and would have +savoured of aristocracy. Freedom, it seemed, allowed every one to help +himself; and that with his own knife and fork, which he had before used +for all sorts of purposes. Such luxuries as salt-spoons and +mustard-spoons are very rare south of the Ohio. My wife asked the lady +of the house for a small slice of the ham she had before her, when the +latter very politely begged Mrs. Davies to lend her her knife to cut it +with! This was good society in New Orleans. Things improved as we +advanced towards the North; but in most places, though the Americans +provide bountifully, the cooking is not good, and they make a strange +jumble of things at table. They have the appearance of a people +suddenly raised in the world, and able to afford themselves nice +things, but very ignorant and awkward in the use of them. With so much +hurry to begin, the time occupied in eating by our company was very +short. We Britishers had scarcely begun, when one and another got up +from table, finishing his dinner as he walked away. They cannot bear to +sit at table a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. While we +remained seated, they passed before us on their way out,--one eating, +one picking his teeth, one scraping his throat, one spitting on the +floor. Of course, we seldom made a hearty meal under such +circumstances. + + + + +LETTER XI. + + +Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon" +Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi--Steam +boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the "Crescent City"--Slave +Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The +Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A Reverend Slave-holder. + + +Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February, +we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a +charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be +imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our +"smart" landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty +wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie +knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for +sale on every side,--a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand. + +Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good +authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of +slaves from the "slave-breeding" States, having on board a considerable +number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a +volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico. +The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700 +dollars, or 150_l._ sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this +_great_ and _free_ country had, however, consigned these helpless young +women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier +home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the +country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the +excellent author of "Lectures to Children," thus writes,--"This land is +free. The mind is here free,--and the child is to be born--if indeed he +ever will be born--whose powers and faculties may not be called out and +cultivated. There is no bondage to forms or precedents; but the whole +mass may be seasoned, leavened, and moved, and is at liberty to do what +is great and good in the way that is most convenient." + +Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the +"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in +Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of +1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we +should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were, +however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the +occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished +table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there +was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars +really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it +was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper +than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food, +lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace +above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The +dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel +182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of +cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2 +inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a +fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but +often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance +vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged +chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors, +had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by +marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen +into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid +explosion. + +The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down +the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in +the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of +a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place +is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy. +Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly +studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest +class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as +_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink. + +In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more +highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere +else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more +complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam, +thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_, +and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three +months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now +ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five +years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them. +The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had +separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend +the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical +juxtaposition. + +On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off +that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till +morning. + +February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers +of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels +were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be +afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of +this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." +This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in +England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value +and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something +worse? + +At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The +"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we +had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An +area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats, +keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down +from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats, +rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal +streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and +sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of +masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as +they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing +splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it! + +Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of +this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the +following paragraph! + +"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the +tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th +instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William +Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly +killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly +scalded." + +These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh +boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was +very small. + +The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same +paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout +the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first! + +"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years +old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and +English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a +strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is +for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for +sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For +particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street. + +"F 9--t." + + +"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good +Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior +Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on +trial at their respective trades. + +"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO., + +"8, Bank's Arcade." + +"F 3--10t." + +"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20 +years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable +seamstress. Apply to + +"McMAHON & PEARSALL, + +"29, Natchez-street." + +"F4--6t." + +"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday +morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40 +_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting +_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams, +Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street. + +"WILLIAM ARNOLD." + +"F7--3t." + + +"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on +the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16 +years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when +she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and +stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away +by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the +city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to +receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the +apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or +free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a +conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New +Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing. + +"RICHARD KING." + +"F 7--2t." + +"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the +Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built; +has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her +person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish. + +"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO, + +"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets." + +"F2--6t." + +Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at +the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we +passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the +capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation, +to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks +there are built, I am told, in a very fine style. + +February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer +was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate +to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of +the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar +and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going +ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings +as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in +observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior; +but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and +too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the +purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of +them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received +very sensible and even _polite_ answers. + +By this time we had received an impression of the character of our +fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy +beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be +very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No +lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting +on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the +water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as +Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not +help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this +was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers, +who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers," +and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin +passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers +below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much +resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with +me, I had the _entree_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of +quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of +these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from +Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat, +came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought +there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home +again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all +the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her +husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and +was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The +third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans +for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her +brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New +England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she +thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American +society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like +aristocracy, except towards the coloured people! + +I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New +England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South +on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother +minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever +the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his +reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of +large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him. + +These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running +away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion +assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically +complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship! + + + + +LETTER XII. + + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The +Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch-Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez +--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi. + + +On the 10th of February we passed a great many sugar estates on both +sides of the river, which would be agreeable objects but for the curse +of slavery. For who can look with pleasure upon the foul abodes of +lust, oppression, and cruelty? At the outer gate, in front of one of +these "patriarchal" establishments, was a small octagonal building +about 6 or 8 feet in mean diameter. The basement was of brick, pierced +by small air holes, barred with iron, at the height of about 8 feet +from the ground; and the upper part was of wood, terminating in a +pigeon-house. Making a short stay there to take in fire-wood, we +inquired into the use of the building; but all the answer we could get +was, that it was a "pigeon-house." The Baptist minister from Maine +asked a negro, who was helping to bring wood on board; and from him he +learned the real truth,--that it was a place of punishment and torture +for the oppressed slave. We have since ascertained that such buildings +are very common, and generally pass under the euphemistic name of +"pigeon-houses." + +On the 11th of February--a fine frosty day--we came to Red River, +branching on our left in the direction of Texas, with which country it +forms an important means of communication. This river, even where it +pours its waters into the Mississippi, is not more than from 300 to 500 +feet wide, and yet is navigable by steamers for about 1,200 miles. My +Baptist friend had recently been on a visit to Elder Wright, a planter +and a slave-holder on that river. This Wright was a New-England man, +had graduated at Yale College, and boasted that he was "a Northern man +with Southern feelings." He was called Elder Wright because he was a +preacher,--the Baptists here calling all preachers "elders." Now, this +Elder Wright told my friend that a few years ago there was great fear +in his district of the slaves rising up against their masters. To this +they were supposed to be instigated by the presence and influence of +some strangers. Under this apprehension, a secret committee was formed +to seize and try every suspected stranger, and, if he could not clear +himself to their satisfaction, to "hang him up quietly." Of this secret +and murderous committee Elder Wright--an _alumnus_ of Yale College, a +professor of religion, and a preacher of the gospel--was chosen +chairman; and the statement I have just made came in the way described +from his own lips! It is notorious that in the South they think nothing +of taking away a man's life, if he be even suspected of sympathy with +the slave; and a country so thinly inhabited affords abundant +opportunities of doing it as "quietly" as can be desired. America is +indeed a land of "liberty!" + +At night we came to Natchez, a town beautifully situated on the top of +a hill, about 300 feet above the level of the river, and for this +reason called "Natchez-on-the-Hill." Its population is about 5,000; and +it is the largest town in the State of Mississippi. Its distance from +New Orleans is 300 miles. Darkness had set in when we approached it; +yet the numerous lights on shore, rising row above row to a great +elevation, gave it a lively and interesting appearance. But, alas! +Natchez also is a great slave market; and I can never think of it +without remembering the sufferings of poor Mary Brown. Let me narrate +her painful story. It may waken in some breast a feeling of sympathy +for the American slave. + +Mary Brown, a coloured girl, was the daughter of _free_ parents in +Washington city--the capital of the freest nation under heaven! She +lived with her parents till the death of her mother. One day, when she +was near the Potomac Bridge, the sheriff overtook her, and told her +that she must go with him. She inquired what for? He made no reply, but +told her to come along, and took her immediately to a slave-auction. +Mary told him she was free; but he contradicted her, and the sale +proceeded. The auctioneer soon sold her for 350 dollars to a +Mississippi trader. She was first taken to jail; and after a few hours +was handcuffed, chained to a _man-slave_, and started in a drove of +about forty for New Orleans. Her handcuffs made her wrists swell so +much that at night they were obliged to take them off, and put fetters +round her ankles. In the morning the handcuffs were again put on. Thus +they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, whipped up all day, and +beaten at night if they had not performed the prescribed distance. She +frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up to her waist. The +month was October, and the air cold and frosty. After she had travelled +thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles had become so swollen +that she felt as if she could go no further. They had no beds, usually +sleeping in barns, sometimes out on the naked ground; and such were her +misery and pain that she could only lie and cry all night. Still she +was driven on for another week; and every time the trader caught her +crying he beat her, uttering fearful curses. If he caught her praying, +he said, he would "give her _hell_." Mary was a member of the Methodist +Church in Washington. There were several pious people in the company; +and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to +pray, he had a fiddle brought, and made them dance in their chains, +whipping them till they complied. Mary at length became so weak that +she really could travel on foot no further. Her feeble frame was +exhausted, and sank beneath accumulated sufferings. She was seized with +a burning fever; and the diabolical trader--not moved with pity, but +only fearing he should lose her--placed her for the remainder of the +way in a waggon. Arriving at Natchez, they were all offered for sale. +Mary, being still sick, begged she might be sold to a kind master. +Sometimes she made this request in the hearing of purchasers, but was +always insulted for it, and afterwards punished by her cruel master for +her presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by the hands so that +she could barely touch the floor with her toes. He kept her thus +suspended a whole day, whipping her at intervals. In any other country +this inhuman beast would have been tried for the greatest crime, short +of murder, that man can commit against woman, and transported for life. +Poor Mary Brown was at length sold, at 450 dollars, as a house-servant +to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, who compelled her to cohabit with him, +and had children by her,--most probably filling up the measure of his +iniquity by selling his own flesh. Wrongs like these must have inspired +our poet when he exclaimed,-- + +"To think that man--them just and gentle God--Should stand before +Thee with a tyrant's rod O'er creatures like himself, with souls from +Thee, Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty! Away! away! I 'd rather +hold my neck In doubtful tenure from a sultan's beck, In climes where +Liberty has scarce been named, Nor any right but that of ruling +claimed, Than thus to live where bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag +in mockery over slaves!" + +As we advanced, we continually met with flat boats, laden with produce, +and floating sluggishly down. In the vernacular phrase, these boats are +called "Kentucky flats," or "broad-horns." They are curiously +constructed. At a distance, they appear like large chests or trunks +afloat. They are from 50 to 100 feet long, and generally about 15 or 20 +feet wide. The timbers of the bottom are massive beams. The sides are +boarded up square to the height of 6 feet above the water; the roof +being slightly curved, like a trunk lid, to throw off rain. They are +adapted to carry from 200 to 400 barrels. Great numbers of cattle, +hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. Coals, too, are thus +brought down from the upper parts of the valley. Some of these barges +have apartments fitted up for the accommodation of a family, with a +stove, beds, tables, &c. You may sometimes see in them ladies, +servants, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and poultry,--all floating on the +same bottom. It was precisely in this fashion that the Pennsylvanian +farmer and his wife had reached New Orleans. Indeed, most of our +fellow-passengers had come as captains or crews of flat boats. Of +course, no attempt is made to get these unwieldy boats back against the +current. It would be impracticable. The flat boat makes but one trip +during its individual existence. Arrived at New Orleans, it is sold for +"lumber," and taken to pieces. In short, by this arrangement timber and +produce are brought to market at the same time, the "stuff" of which +the float is composed being but little injured. One cannot look at +these temporary structures without being impressed with the vast +importance of those water-powers which the Americans, with a wonderful +tact, bring to bear in the way of saw-mills on the exhaustless +resources of the forest. The very first thing looked for in settling a +new district is water-power. + +These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not +reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never +without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands. +Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and +dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they +often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers +in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they +run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew +and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and +produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and +dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a +flat boat, do not appear to the passer-by. As you cut along by the +power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or +care. One of the hands scrapes a violin, while the others dance. +Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or +proffers of love to the girls on shore, or saucy messages pass between +them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet, +knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of +them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr. +Watts:-- + +"Your streams were floating me along + Down to the gulf of black despair; +And, whilst I listened to your song, + Your streams had e'en conveyed me there." + +These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently, +at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards +evening a large number of them assembled. They have come from regions +thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will +probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a +surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as +invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard. +The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine +scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a +hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat +to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in +miniature. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black +River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man +Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of +Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience. + + +We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black +River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary +"bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_ +to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution, +for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable +citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of +this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the +real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the +"_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife! + +The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely +narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles. + +Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from +"racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats +on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are +trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the +river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from +30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity +of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12 +feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water +that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they +are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the +stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and +thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed, +immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large +hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and +all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often +so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and +over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a +case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has +cleared off. + +May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and +circumstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call +to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by +all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the +snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance. + +On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber, +waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or +not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you +belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt +and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is +free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New +Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars. +He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every +slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man +should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling +in order to "own himself!" Land of liberty, forsooth! + +In the evening we reached Vicksburg. This place, like nearly all other +places in this region, is deeply stained with deeds of violence and +blood. A few years ago, a set of thieves and gamblers were here put to +death by Lynch law. "Gentlemen of property and standing laughed the law +(the constitutional law) to scorn, rushed to the gamblers' house, put +ropes round their necks, dragged them through the streets, hanged them +in the public square, and thus saved the sum they had not yet paid. +Thousands witnessed this wholesale murder; yet of the scores of legal +officers present, not a soul raised a finger to prevent it: the whole +city consented to it, and thus aided and abetted it. How many hundreds +of them helped to commit the murders with their own hands does not +appear; but not one of them has been indicted for it, and no one made +the least effort to bring them to trial. Thus, up to the present hour, +the blood of those murdered men rests on that whole city; and it will +continue to be a CITY OF MURDERERS so long as its citizens agree +together to shield those felons from punishment." + +Darkness had covered the city of blood when we arrived, and therefore +we could not see it. One of the passengers, in stepping on a plank to +go ashore, fell into the water. It was a frightful sight to see the +dark figure of a fellow-man splattering and holloing in so perilous a +position. Seldom can a person be saved who falls into the Mississippi, +so rapid is the current; and, moreover, the banks are so steep that, +though he be a good swimmer, he cannot get up. The knowledge of these +facts generally destroys in the person who falls in all hope and +self-command. Fortunately, however, in the present instance a rope was +instantly thrown out, and the individual was saved. He assured us, +afterwards, that some one had designedly pushed him from the plank into +the water. + +On the 13th of February we breasted a small settlement on our left, +called Providence, in Louisiana. We observed on the river's bank what a +man at my elbow (a professor of religion, who had discovered a great +propensity to talk about his religious experience before gamblers) +coolly designated "a drove of horses, mules, and niggers." Observe the +order of his enumeration! Of the "niggers" there were about 100, small +and great, young and old, and of both sexes. The whole "drove" were +waiting to be shipped for the New Orleans market, and were jealously +guarded by several large dogs. From individual instances like this, one +may form a clearer notion of the internal slave-trade of America. +Thousands every year are thus brought down the Mississippi to supply +the Natchez and New Orleans markets. "Those who are transported down +the Mississippi," says a manual of American slavery, "are stowed away +on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young, usually +chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the passengers and +navigators, and often by bribes or threats, or by the lash, made +subject to abominations not to be named." On the same deck, you may see +horses and human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to +supply the same market. The _dumb_ beasts, being less manageable, are +allowed the first place; while the _human_ are forced into spare +corners and vacant places. My informant saw one trader who was taking +down to New Orleans 100 horses, some sheep, and between fifty and sixty +slaves. The sheep and the slaves occupied the same deck. Many +interesting and intelligent women were of the number. I could relate +facts concerning the brutal treatment of these defenceless females, +while on the downward passage, which would kindle the hot indignation +of every mother, and daughter, and sister in Old England. The slaves +are carried down in companies, varying in number from 20 to 500. Men of +considerable capital are engaged in the traffic. Go into the principal +towns on the Mississippi, and you will find these negro traders in the +bar-rooms boasting of their adroitness in driving human flesh, and +describing the process by which they succeed in "_taming down_ the +spirit of a _refractory_ negro." Here, then, were human beings, +children of our common Father, bone of our bone, and flesh of our +flesh, classed with the brutes that perish,--nay, degraded below them, +and placed under the surveillance of dogs. The horrors of such a system +it is impossible to exaggerate. + +The majority of our fellow-passengers did nothing but gamble, eat, +drink, smoke, and spit, from morning till night. In the afternoon a +dispute arose between two of them about ten dollars, which the one +maintained he had won from the other. One of the two quickly drew out +his Bowie knife, and would certainly have stabbed the other but for the +intervention of the boat's officers. When the whites have so little +hesitation in shedding each other's blood, we cannot be surprised at +the indifference with which negro life is put an end to. "A rencontre +took place last week," says the _New Orleans Delta_, "between the +overseer of Mr. A. Collins (a planter in our vicinity) and one of the +negroes. It seems the overseer wished to chastise the negro for some +offence, and the negro resisted and struck the overseer with a spade. +The overseer grappled with him, and called some of the negroes to his +assistance; but, perceiving that the negroes were not willing to assist +him, he drew his knife, and stabbed the negro to the heart. A coroner's +inquest has been held, and a verdict given in accordance with the +circumstances, declaring the overseer justifiable." + +The 14th of February was Sunday. My Baptist friend, when engaging his +passage, had given the captain a hint that, when the Sabbath came, he +should like to have divine service on board. Nothing, however, was now +said about it. Not, I think, that the officers of the boat would have +disliked it; but, considering the general character of their +passengers, they perhaps thought it would have been only "casting +pearls before swine." One passenger indeed, who _said_ he was a +Congregationalist, expressed to my friend a wish to have worship; but +he was playing at cards every day, and was in other respects no great +credit to Congregationalism. The Baptist assured me that his countrymen +too generally, when they travel, leave their religion behind! + +The Baptist related to me an awful story respecting a captain with whom +he had sailed from New England to Guadaloupe, and thence to New +Orleans. This man belonged to my friend's congregation, and professed +to have been "converted" under his ministry. His pastor had frequent +occasion to reprove him for his disregard of the Sabbath at sea. In New +Orleans he engaged to take a cargo of Government stores to Tampico, for +the supply of the army. He had to sign a bond to take in the cargo, and +sail before a certain day, or forfeit the sum of 500 dollars. The +Sabbath came. The pastor was at that time absent, on his visit to +"Elder Wright" before mentioned, on the Red River. An agent of the +"Bethel Union," who was going round to invite seamen to the "Bethel" +worship, invited the said captain and his men. He excused himself and +his crew on the plea that they had no time--were under contract--had +signed a bond--and might forfeit 500 dollars, &c. "What!" said the +agent, "not afford time to attend the worship of God" on his own day! +"No, I really cannot--very sorry--what I have never done before--should +like to go"--was the faltering reply. "Well," replied the agent with +great solemnity, "God will soon call you to account for this." "I know +He will," rejoined the captain with a downcast eye. The interview +ended. The agent proceeded on his pious mission, and the captain to +take in his cargo. The next morning, as he was looking over the side of +the vessel to see how deep she was in the water, he fell overboard. His +body was never found. His watch, which had been left in the cabin, and +a few other personal articles, the pastor was now taking with him to +the afflicted widow and family. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the +Indians--M. de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its +Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos +Dresser. + + +At 4 o'clock P.M. of February the 14th, we reached the mouth of the +Arkansas. This is a noble river, navigable for 2,000 miles! Not twenty +years ago, the remnants of the four great Indian nations of the +southern part of what is now the United States, amounting to about +75,000 souls, were urged to remove to the banks of this river, with an +assurance of an undisturbed and permanent home. These four nations were +the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. They were +established upon a territory, which they occupied before the settlement +of any Europeans in their vicinity, and which had been confirmed to +them by solemn treaties again and again. The Anglo-Americans of the +States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were however annoyed at +their proximity, because it was unfavourable to the "peculiar +institution" of America. Slaves occasionally made their escape to these +children of the forest, and found sympathy and succour. This would not +do. The Indians must be removed. But how was it to be accomplished? +Annoy them; harass them; wrong them in every possible way, so that they +may be sickened with the place. Georgia, accordingly, first attempted +to establish a division line for the purpose of limiting the boundaries +of the Cherokees. Then, in 1829, the State of Alabama divided the Creek +territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to the +power of white magistrates. And, in 1830, the State of Mississippi +assimilated the Chocktaws and Chickasaws to the white population, and +declared that any one who should take the title of Chief should be +punished with a fine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. Under +these accumulated annoyances, the Cherokees, on the 18th of December, +1829, addressed to Congress the following powerful and touching +appeal:-- + +"By the will of our Father in heaven, the Governor of the whole world, +the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and +renowned. When the ancestors of the people of the United States first +came to the shores of America, they found the red man strong, though he +was ignorant and savage; yet he received them kindly, and gave them dry +land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in +token of friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the +Indian, the latter willingly gave. At that time the Indian was the +lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the scene has changed. +The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbours +increased in numbers, his power became less and less; and now, of the +many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few +are to be seen,--a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The +northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly +extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who +are remnants, share the same fate?" + +"Oh, no!" was the response. "Beyond the great river Mississippi," said +the President to them in 1829, "where a part of your nation has gone, +your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you; and he +advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble +you: they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you +and your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in +peace and plenty. _It will be yours for ever_." + +With this assurance, many left the land of their birth and the homes of +their childhood, travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the Mississippi, +and settled on the banks of the Arkansas. M. de Tocqueville was +"assured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians had +already gone to the shores of the Arkansas, and fresh detachments were +constantly following them." Many, however, were unwilling to be thus +expatriated. "The Indians readily discover," says M. de Tocqueville, +"that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary +expedient. Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to +dwell in peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge +themselves to the observance of the obligation; but the territory which +they at present occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn +oaths of Anglo-American faith. The American Government does not, +indeed, rob them of their land, but it allows perpetual incursions to +be made upon them. In a few years the same white population which now +flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas: +they will then be exposed to the same evils, without the same remedies; +and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only +refuge is the grave." + +The views of this keen French philosopher were prophetic. In vain did I +strain my eyes, as we passed along, to discover any trace of these +Indians. Not one representative of those noble aborigines was to be +seen. In 1836 Arkansas was constituted a State, and admitted into the +Union; and, if you look at a recent map of the United States, you will +see the "location" of these Indians marked, not in the State of +Arkansas at all, but far--far beyond, towards the setting sun, in what +is called the "Western Territory," where, indeed, the river Arkansas +has its source. Nor will ten years pass away before they will be again +disturbed, and pushed further back. + +At the mouth of the Arkansas is a village called Napoleon, of which I +received, on authority not to be disputed, the following horrible +account. A few years ago it was the head quarters of lawless and bloody +men. They fabricated base coin, gambled, robbed, murdered. To such a +pitch of wickedness had they arrived, and such a terror were they to +the whole country, that a party of men from Memphis (a city on the +eastern side of the Mississippi, 180 miles up) took the law into their +own hands, armed themselves with deadly weapons, came down, scoured the +country around, caught about fifty of the ringleaders, and put them to +death. Some they shot,--some they hanged,--and some they threw, tied +hand and foot, into the river. Of this dreadful tragedy no judicial +notice was ever taken! + +February 15.--I had an attack of intermittent fever, and consequently +saw nothing of the scenery around. At night the fog was so dense that +the officers deemed it prudent to "lie to." + +February 16.--At 9 A.M. we were abreast of the city of Memphis, on the +Tennessee side of the river. Higher up there is Cairo. These +slave-holders, who retain their fellow-men in worse than Egyptian +bondage, seem to have a great partiality for Egyptian names. Memphis is +pleasantly situated on high "bluffs," and is a great point for the +shipping of cotton. It does not, however, thrive by _honest_ industry. +I obtained a copy of the _Daily Inquirer_ of that day, where--among +advertisements of pianos, music, bonnets, shawls, &c., for the +ladies--I found the following:-- + +"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th +of October last, two Negro Fellows of the following description.--To +wit,--Evan, 25 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high, complexion +black, thick bristly beard, low soft voice, and apt to look down when +spoken to; has a large scar on the calf of one of his legs, caused by +the bite of a dog when he was 8 or 10 years old; some of his jaw-teeth +missing or decayed. Ellis, 22 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches +high; complexion dark mulatto, tinged with Indian blood; beard thin and +light. From information derived from a brother of these boys, who was +caught in Washington County, Miss., it appears they intended to apply +for employment as wood-choppers in the upper part of this State, until +they could raise money enough to dress fine, then set off for the State +of Illinois. It is highly probable they will resort to fictitious +names, for the purpose of baffling pursuit. + +"The above reward will be paid to any person confining them in any +jail, so that I can get them again; or fifty dollars for either of +them. + +"DUNCAN M'ALPIN." + +"SLAVE MARKET.--The subscribers have now, and will continue to keep on +hand throughout the season, a large supply of choice Negroes, suited to +every capacity, which they offer at the lowest market rates. They have +agents abroad engaged in purchasing for them, which enables them to bid +defiance to competition. + +"Depot on Adams-street, between Main and Second Streets. + +"BOLTON & DICKINS." + +"JAILOR'S NOTICE.--Was committed to the jail of Shelby County, on 25th +January, a Negro Boy named Silas. He says he belongs to William Wise, +of Fayette, County Tenne. He is about 30 years old, black complexion, +about 5 feet 11 inches high; weighs about 165 lbs. The owner of said +Negro is requested to come and prove property, and pay charges, or he +will be dealt with according to law. + +"E. W. HARREL, + +"_Jailor_." + +"Feb. 13.--3tW." + +In connection with Memphis, M. de Tocqueville narrates the following +touching incident, relative to the expatriation of the Indians, to +which I have already referred. "At the end of the year 1831, while I +was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a place named by Europeans +Memphis, there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws. These _savages_ [so +his American translator renders it] had left their country, and were +endeavouring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they +hoped to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American +Government. It was the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually +severe: the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the river was +drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them; +and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children +newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither +tents nor waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them +embark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle +fade from my remembrance! No cry, no sob was heard among the assembled +crowd: all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they +knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark +that was to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank. +As soon as these animals perceived that their masters were finally +leaving the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all +together into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the +boat." So much for Memphis and its associations! + +February 18th, at 5 A.M., we entered the Ohio River, and at 1 P.M. the +mouth of the Tennessee; coming shortly afterwards to Smithland, at the +mouth of the Cumberland River, which runs parallel with the Tennessee, +and communicates directly with Nashville, the capital of that State. +This city also has its association of ideas. I cannot think of it +without at the same time thinking of Amos Dresser. He was a student at +Lane Seminary (Dr. Beecher's), and subsequently a missionary to +Jamaica. In the vacation of 1835 he undertook to sell Bibles in the +State of Tennessee, with a view to raise the means of continuing his +studies for the ministry. Under suspicion of being an Abolitionist, he +was arrested by the "Vigilance Committee" (a Lynch-law institution), +while attending a religious meeting in the neighbourhood of Nashville. +After an afternoon and evening's inquisition, he was condemned to +receive twenty lashes with the cow-hide on his naked body. Between 11 +and 12 on Saturday night the sentence was executed upon him, in the +presence of most of the committee, and of an infuriated and blaspheming +mob. The Vigilance Committee consisted of sixty persons. Of these, +twenty-seven were members of churches: one was a religious teacher, and +others were _elders_ of the Presbyterian Church,--one of whom had a few +days before offered Mr. Dresser the bread and wine at the Lord's +Supper. But let Amos Dresser himself describe the scene and the +circumstances. + +"I knelt down," says he, "to receive the punishment, which was +inflicted by Mr. Braughton, the city officer, with a HEAVY COW-SKIN. +When the infliction ceased, an involuntary thanksgiving to God, for the +fortitude with which I had been enabled to endure it, arose in my soul, +to which I began aloud to give utterance. The death-like silence that +prevailed for a moment was suddenly broken with loud exclamations, +--'G--d d--n him! Stop his praying!' I was raised to my +feet by Mr. Braughton, and conducted by him to my lodgings, where it +was thought safe for me to remain but a few moments. + +"Among my triers was a great portion of the respectability of +Nashville; nearly half of the whole number professors of Christianity, +the reputed stay of the Church, supporters of the cause of benevolence +in the form of tract and missionary societies and Sabbath-schools; +several members and _most_ of the elders of the Presbyterian Church, +from whose hands but a few days before I had received the emblems of +the broken body and shed blood of our blessed Saviour!" + +In relating this shameful circumstance, the editor of the _Georgia +Chronicle_, a professor of religion, said that Dresser "should have +been hung up as high as Haman, to rot upon the gibbet until the wind +whistled through his bones. The cry of the whole South should be death, +_instant death_, to the Abolitionist, wherever he is caught." What a +great and free country! + + + + +LETTER XV. + +Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough +--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave +of President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The +Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service. + + +The Ohio, the "beautiful river," is a magnificent stream formed by the +confluence at Pittsburg of the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers, and is +1,008 miles long, constituting the boundary of six States: Ohio, +Indiana, and Illinois on the north,--all free States; and Virginia, +Kentucky, and Tennessee on the south,--all slave States. A trip on this +river, therefore, affords a fine opportunity for observing the contrast +between slavery and freedom. + +The Ohio is the great artery through which the inland commerce of the +Eastern States flows into the valley of the Mississippi. In ascending +this river, we had first on our left the State of Illinois. This +territory, which contains an area of 60,000 square miles, was settled +by the French in 1720, and was admitted into the Union in 1818. Its +population in 1810 was 12,300; in 1840, 476,180. It is now, probably, +not far short of 1,000,000! + +On the 19th of February, about noon, we arrived at Evansville, on the +Indiana side of the river. This was the prettiest place we had yet +seen; and its charms were enhanced by the assurance that it was free +from the taint of slavery. The rise of this little town has been rapid. +Its population is about 3,000. Three "churches," with their neat and +graceful spires, rising above the other buildings, were conspicuous in +the distance. + +At 5 P.M. we passed Owensborough, on the Kentucky side of the river. +This, too, is a neat little town, with a proportionate number of places +of worship. Indeed, on every hand, places of worship appear to rise +simultaneously with the young settlement. The free and efficient +working of the voluntary principle is the glory of America. In +reference to "church" accommodation, it everywhere appears to decided +advantage compared to the most favoured parts of England. On this +subject Dr. Baird's book on Religion in America is very truthful. + +The fever left me on entering the Ohio, and returned no more,--a clear +proof that this river is healthier than the Mississippi. The latter has +much fog and malaria, which tell quickly upon a constitution like mine, +already predisposed by residence among the swamps of Guiana to fever +and ague. + +As I have already intimated, we had now Indiana, a free State, on our +left. This State is rapidly advancing in wealth and population. It was +settled by the French in 1730, and became an independent State in 1816. +It has an area of 36,840 square miles, being by two-fifths less than +its neighbour Illinois. Its population at the beginning of this century +was only 5,640; in 1840 it was 685,860. It is now above a million! In +1840 it produced upwards of four millions of bushels of wheat, and +twenty-eight millions of corn! + +February 20.--The scenery was diversified. Hills covered with trees +rose on either side. In the summer, when all is fresh and green, there +must be here scenes of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed. At present +the country had a cold and winterly aspect. It rained, too, the whole +day. At 3 P.M. we approached New Albany, on the Indiana side. It is a +flourishing place, with from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. Just above +this town are some falls in the Ohio, that can seldom be ascended by +steamers, which therefore pass through a side canal, with locks, formed +(through the superior influence of the slave-power) on the Kentucky or +slave bank of the river. We had to pass through three locks, which have +been very foolishly made too small to receive steamers of the largest +class in the navigation of the Ohio. Ours fortunately, not being of +that class, could "go a-head." + +At 5 P.M. we got to Louisville, a city of about 30,000 or 40,000 +inhabitants, on the Kentucky side. This city is a great depot for +slaves, whence they are shipped for the New Orleans market. By this +means it has acquired a detestable notoriety. + +"A trader was about to start from Louisville, Kentucky," says the +_Anti-Slavery Record_, "with one hundred slaves for New Orleans. Among +them were two women, with infants at the breast. Knowing that these +infants would depreciate the value of the mothers, the trader sold them +for _one dollar each_. Another mother was separated from her sick child +about four or five years old. Her anguish was so great that she +sickened and died before reaching her destination." + +Take another instance, on the same authority:-- + +"Not very long ago, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a female slave was +sold to a Southern slaver under most afflicting circumstances. She had +at her breast an infant boy three months old. The slaver did not want +the child on any terms. The master sold the mother, and retained the +child. She was hurried away immediately to the depot at Louisville, to +be sent down the river to the Southern market. The last news my +informant had of her was that she was lying _sick_, in the most +miserable condition, her breast having risen, inflamed, and _burst_!" + +Let another case, testified by the Rev. C.S. Renshaw, add to the fame +of this _infamous_ city. + +"Hughes and Neil traded in slaves down the river: they had bought up a +part of their stock in the upper counties of Kentucky, and brought them +down to Louisville, where the remainder of their drove was in jail +waiting their arrival. Just before the steam-boat put off for the lower +country, two negro women were offered for sale, each of them having a +child at the breast. The traders bought them, took their babes from +their arms, and offered them to the highest bidder; and they were sold +for one dollar a piece, whilst the stricken parents were driven on +board the boats, and in an hour were on their way to the New Orleans +market. You are aware that a young babe diminishes the value of a field +hand in the lower country, while it enhances her value in the breeding +States." + +February 21.--Another dreary Sabbath on board. The principal objects of +interest pointed out to us on that day were the residence and the tomb +of the late President Harrison. The latter is a plain brick erection, +in the midst of a field on the top of a hill, about half a mile in the +rear of the former. The recollection of that man, so highly elevated, +and so quickly cut down, could hardly fail to suggest a train of not +unprofitable reflections. He was, I suppose, a moral and well-meaning +man, distinguished for qualities not often to be found in high places; +but I was sorry to be obliged to infer that much of what I had heard +respecting the _religiousness_ of his character wanted confirmation. + +At half-past 4 P.M. we arrived at the long-wished-for Cincinnati--the +"Queen of the West." Our voyage from New Orleans had thus occupied +twelve days, during which time we had been boarded and lodged, as well +as conveyed over a space of 1,550 miles, for 12 dollars each, or one +dollar per diem! It was the cheapest, and (apart from the +companionships) the most pleasant mode of travelling we had ever +experienced. As the boat stayed but a couple of hours at Cincinnati, we +had to land without delay. Being a stranger in a strange land, I +inquired for the Congregational minister, and was told that his name +was Boynton. In perambulating the streets in search of his house, I was +pleased to see but one shop open. It was a tailor's, and, as I +afterwards learned, belonged to a Jew, who closed it on Saturdays, the +law of the State compelling all to close their shops one day in the +week. In every street, we were struck with the glorious liberty enjoyed +by the pigs. On all hands, the swinish multitude were seen luxuriating +in unrestricted freedom. Mr. Boynton, who received us kindly, did not +know of any place where we could be accommodated with private board and +lodging, but promised to make inquiry that evening. He was a man of +about forty years of age, wearing on the Sabbath, and even in the +pulpit (as most American ministers do), a black neckerchief, and +shirt-collar turned down over it. That night we had to go to an hotel, +and were recommended to the Denison House, which we found pretty cheap +and comfortable. But the American hotels are not, in point of comfort, +to be compared for a moment to those of Old England. My wife was too +tired to go out in the evening; and unwilling for my own part to close +the Sabbath without going to some place of public worship, I thought I +would try to find the sanctuary of "my brethren--my kinsmen according +to the flesh"--the Welsh. Following the directions I had received, I +arrived at the top of a certain street, when I heard the sound of +sacred song; but I could not tell whether it was Welsh or not, nor +exactly whence it came. As I stood listening, an overgrown boy came by, +of whom I inquired, "Where does that singing come from?"--"I _guess_ it +comes from a church down below there." "Is it a Welsh Church?"--"I +can't tell, but I _guess_ it is." "Well, then," I rejoined, "I _guess_ +I will go and see." I turned, and the youth "guessed" he would follow +me. I got to the door. The singing had not ceased. It _was_ Welsh--the +language in which I had first heard "_Am Geidwad i'r Colledig!_"[1] How +interesting in the "Far West" to hear sounds so sweet and so familiar +to my childhood! None but those who have experienced can tell the charm +of such an incident. The minister was in the pulpit. His dress and hair +were very plain, and his complexion was extremely dark. He was +evidently a Welshman: there was no mistake about it: his gravity, +plainness, attitude--all told the fact. I ventured forward, and walked +along to the stove, which to me was an object of agreeable attraction. +Around the stove were two or three chairs. A big aristocratic-looking +Welshman, a sort of a "Blaenor," who occupied one of these chairs, +invited me to take another that was vacant. The eyes of all in the +synagogue were upon me. My "guessing" informant had followed me even +there, though he evidently understood not a word of Welsh. The building +was about 40 feet by 35, without galleries, and was about two-thirds +full. The pulpit was fitted up in the platform style--the "genuine" +American mode. The text was, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great a salvation?" The sermon was good and faithful. The audience--the +men on one side of the chapel, and the women on the other--did not +excite much interest. The men, especially, were among the worst hearers +I had ever seen. I felt ashamed of my countrymen. The spitting was +incessant, and attended with certain unmentionable circumstances which +render it most disgusting and offensive. What a contrast to my own +clean and comely congregation of black and coloured people in New +Amsterdam! In about twenty minutes after the preacher had begun his +sermon, one-half of the men had their heads down, resting on both arms +folded on the tops of the pews before them. Whether they were asleep or +not, the attitude was that of deep sleep. This behaviour was grossly +rude,--to say nothing of the apathetic state of mind which it +indicated. I wondered how the preacher could get on at all, with such +hearers before him. I am sorry to say that the Welsh too frequently +manifest a great want of decorum and devotion in their religious +assemblies. This is telling, and will tell, against dissent in the +Principality. + +[Footnote 1: Literally, "Of a Saviour for the lost."] + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The +Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's +Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private +Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a +Democratic Meeting. + + +The Welsh service being ended, my big friend on the next chair asked +me, in the same language, if I was a _llafarwr_ (preacher). I answered +him in the usual Welsh phrase, "_Byddaf yn dweyd ychydig weithiau_," +which means that I did a little in that way. On learning this, he +desired my "_cyhoeddiad_" (publication--another Welsh phrase) to preach +there some night during the coming week; and he wished it to be +announced there and then, to which I would not consent. He introduced +me to Mr. Jones, the minister. After most of the congregation were +gone, a groupe, including my big friend and Mr. Jones, collected around +me, and most earnestly pressed for my "publication." I told them I had +never been a Welsh preacher, that it was nearly five-and-twenty years +since I had left the Principality, and that, moreover, _I could not_ +preach at all to men who put down their heads in the sluggish and +sleepy manner in which most of their men had done that night. "Oh! but +they won't do so when you, a stranger, preach," was the reply. "Then," +I said, "there must be a great want of true devotion among them, if +that would make all the difference." However, being much pressed, I +promised at last to give them, before I left the city, a little +missionary information in Welsh. + +The name of my big friend was Bebb, a near relative, as I subsequently +learned, of His Excellency W. Bebb, the present Governor of the State +of Ohio. The history of this Governor deserves a passing notice. He is +the nephew of the late Rev. John Roberts, of Llanbrynmair, a man of +great worth and usefulness, whose praise is in all the Congregational +Churches of North Wales. Mr. Roberts, when a young man, joined the +Church at Llanbrynmair, began to preach under its sanction, became its +pastor, sustained that office for thirty-six years, and is succeeded by +his two excellent sons, Samuel and John, as co-pastors! Towards the +close of last century, Mr. Roberts's sister, married to a Mr. Bebb, +emigrated to America; as did also his brother George, who still +survives, and of whom Dr. Matheson gives an interesting account in the +seventh letter of the second volume of "Reed and Matheson's Narrative," +calling him "_Judge_ Roberts, the _Pastor_ of the Congregational +Church!" at Ebensburg, in Pennsylvania. + +Mrs. Bebb was soon left a widow, with two sons, William and Evan. But +"the Judge of the widow" and "the Father of the fatherless" did not +forsake her. She is a woman of a strong mind and great piety, and a +thorough hater of slavery and oppression in all their forms. Her own +principles she endeavoured to instil into the minds of her sons, +sparing no efforts to fit them for acting a useful and honourable part +in society. William was brought up to the law, and Evan to commerce. +And now, in the evening of her days, the pious old Welsh-woman has the +gratification of seeing Evan an enterprising and successful merchant in +New York, while William enjoys the highest honour that his +fellow-citizens of Ohio can confer upon him! He is the Governor of a +territory of nearly 40,000 square miles, and a population of 2,000,000. +Mr. Jones, the minister, is intimately acquainted with Mrs. Bebb, who +carefully instructed her distinguished son in the good old language of +Wales, so that, at the time of his recent canvass for office, he was +able to address the Cambrian portion of his constituency in their +mother tongue. + +On entering into office, he declared his determined opposition to the +"black laws" of Ohio. Those "black laws" are black indeed. They are the +foul blot of this otherwise honoured State. One of them is intended to +prevent the coloured citizens of other States from removing to Ohio. It +was enacted in 1807, and is to this effect,--that within twenty days +after the entrance of an emigrant into the State, he is to find two +freehold sureties in the sum of 500 dollars for his _good behaviour_, +and likewise for his _maintenance_, should he, at any future period, be +unable to maintain himself. The Legislature well knew that it would be +utterly impossible, generally speaking, for a _black_ or _coloured_ +stranger to find such securities. In 1800 there were only 337 free +blacks in the territory; but in 1830, notwithstanding the "black laws," +there were 9,500. A large portion of them entered in entire ignorance +of this iniquitous law, and some perhaps in bold defiance of it. But it +has by no means remained a dead letter. In 1829 a very general effort +was made to enforce it,--about 1,000 free blacks being driven from the +State, to take refuge in the more free and Christian country of Canada. +Sir J. Colebrook, the Governor of Upper Canada, said to the coloured +deputation that waited upon him, "Tell the _Republicans_ on your side +of the line that we Royalists do not know men by their colour. Should +you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest +of His Majesty's subjects." A noble sentiment! and one calculated to +make a "_Britisher_" proud of his country, particularly since the +abolition of slavery in our other colonies. At the time these people +were thus driven away, the State of Ohio contained but 23 inhabitants +to one square mile! + +In 1838 official notice was given to the inhabitants of the town of +Fairfield, in Ohio, that all "black or mulatto persons" residing there +were to comply with the requirements of the law of 1807 within twenty +days, or it would be enforced against them. The proclamation addresses +the _white_ inhabitants in the following remarkable terms: "Whites, +look out! If any person or persons _employing_ any black or mulatto +person, contrary to the 3rd section of this law, you may look out for +the breakers!" + +At the very time I was in Ohio an attempt was made, in Mercer County, +to eject by force a number of inoffensive black people. Originally +slaves in Virginia, they had been liberated by the will of their late +master, and located on a suitable quantity of land which he had secured +for them. But the magnanimous and liberty-boasting Americans would not +allow them to enjoy their little settlement unmolested; and it was +extremely doubtful whether the Governor would be able to protect them +from outrage. + +In 1839 a number of coloured inhabitants of Ohio addressed a respectful +petition to the Legislature, praying for the removal of certain legal +disabilities under which they were labouring. The answer was a denial, +not merely of the _prayer_ of the petition, but of the very _right_ of +petition! "Resolved, that the blacks and mulattoes who may be residents +within this State have no constitutional right to present their +petitions to the General Assembly for any purpose whatsoever; and that +any reception of such petitions on the part of the General Assembly is +a mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed by any expressed or +implied power of the Constitution!" + +But the _blackest_ of these black laws is the following: "That no black +or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn, +or give evidence in any court of record or elsewhere in this State, in +any cause depending, or matter of controversy, when either party to the +same is a _white_ person; or in any prosecution of the State against +any _white_ person!" + +Under such a law a white man may with perfect impunity defraud or abuse +a negro to any extent, provided that he is careful to avoid the +presence of any of his own caste at the execution of his contract, or +the commission of his crime! + +To these "black laws" Governor Bebb has avowed an uncompromising +hostility; but the first session of the State Legislature after his +election had just closed, and the black laws were still in force. Mr. +Bebb was not sufficiently supported in his just and humane intentions +to enable him to carry those intentions out. I was assured, however, by +those who knew him well, that he was only "biding his time," being as +determined as ever to wipe away from the statute-book every remnant of +these foul enactments. If he succeed, the poor old Welsh-woman, in her +obscurity and widowhood, will have rendered an important service to the +cause of humanity and justice. Let mothers think of this, and be +encouraged! + +The day after our arrival in Cincinnati, being the 22nd of February, we +obtained, by the aid of Dr. Weed (one of Mr. Boynton's deacons), a +suitable private lodging. Dr. Weed in early life studied for the +medical profession, and graduated in physic. Afterwards he spent some +years as a missionary among the Indians. Now he is a bookseller, +publisher, and stationer in Cincinnati, affording an illustration of +that versatility for which the Americans are distinguished. "Men are to +be met with," says M. de Tocqueville, (and the present writer has +himself seen many instances,) "who have successively been barristers, +farmers, merchants, ministers of the Gospel, and physicians. If the +American be less perfect in each craft than the European, at least +there is scarcely any trade with which he is utterly unacquainted." I +have heard of a man in New York, who, having tried the ministry and +completely failed, wisely judged that that was not the way in which he +could best serve God, and turned to commerce. He is now a substantial +merchant, and supports five other men to preach the Gospel; each of +whom, he is wont to say, does it much better than he could ever have +done. + +The lodging which Dr. Weed kindly found us was at the house of the +Misses M'Pherson, five Quaker sisters, living together. It was clean +and respectable,--the cheapest and most comfortable lodging we had +hitherto met with. The table was bountifully supplied with excellent +and well-cooked provisions; for which the charge was only 4 dollars +each per week, and half-a-dollar for fuel, making altogether only 9 +dollars for us both. Of the kindness and hospitality of these ladies we +shall always retain a grateful remembrance. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Beecher, +Dr. Stowe, Professor Allen, and several other Presbyterian ministers of +the New School. They were assembled for fraternal intercourse in the +vestry of one of the "churches." I was struck with the sallowness of +their complexions, and the want of polish in their manners. Dr. Beecher +invited me to go up some day to see Lane Seminary, about two miles off. +To this invitation I readily acceded. I was greatly interested in this +veteran, of whose fame I had so often heard. + +February 23rd.--In the evening, I went to a meeting of the Democratic +party in the town-hall, thinking it would afford me a good opportunity +for observing American manners. The place was full; and when I arrived, +a gentleman was addressing the meeting with great vehemence of tone and +gesture. His speech consisted of innumerable changes rung on the +sentiment--"There must be a vigorous prosecution of the war against +Mexico." But I must reserve any further account of this meeting for my +next letter. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane +Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education. + + +In resuming my notice of the Democratic meeting, let me observe that +the Democratic party in America is not very reputable. It is the war +party, the pro-slavery party, the mob party, and, at present, the +dominant party,--the party, in fine, of President Polk. It had just +been aroused to the highest pitch of indignation, by a telling speech +delivered in Congress against the Mexican War by Thomas Corwin, Esq., +one of the Ohio senators. This meeting, then, was intended as a +demonstration in favour of Polk and his policy; but it turned out a +miserable failure. + +When the blustering speaker who "had the floor" when I entered sat +down, the "president" (for they do not say the chairman) rose, amidst a +tremendous storm of favourite names, uttered simultaneously by all +present at the top of their voices, and, as soon as he could be heard, +said it had been moved and seconded that So-and-so, Esq., be requested +to address the meeting: those who were in favour of that motion were to +say "Ay,"--those against it, "No." One great "Ay" was then uttered by +the mass, and a few "Noes" were heard. The "_Ayes"_ had it. But an +unforeseen difficulty occurred. So-and-so, Esq., either was not there, +or would not speak. Amidst deafening noise again, the president rose, +and said it had been moved and seconded that John Brough, Esq., be +requested to address the meeting. "Ay"--"No;" but the "Ayes" had it. +"Now, John Brough," said a droll-looking Irishman, apparently a +hod-carrier, who was at my elbow,-- + + "Now, John Brough, + Out with the stuff." + +Here was Paddy on the western side of the Allegany Mountains, with his +native accent and native wit as fresh and unimpaired as if he had but +just left his green isle, and landed on one of the quays at Liverpool. +But John Brough again declined the honour conferred upon him! Then it +was moved and seconded and "ayed" that So-and-so, Esq., be requested to +address the meeting, but _he_ also was not forthcoming! _Nil +desperandum_. It was moved and seconded and "ayed" that--Callaghan, +Esq., be requested to address the meeting. After some hesitation, and a +reference to his own "proverbial modesty," he proceeded to foam, and +stamp, and thump, and bluster for "the vigorous prosecution of the +war," till the American eagle should "stretch his wings over the halls +of the Montezumas." At this stage of the proceedings, the spitting and +smoke had become so offensive that I was compelled to retire; and I did +so with no very high notions of the intelligence and respectability of +the American democrats. + +The next day being fine and frosty, and the roads hard, I set off in +the morning to pay my intended visit to Lane Seminary. I found it a +long two miles, all up hill. The seminary itself, the building in which +the students are accommodated, is a large plain brick edifice, four +stories high, besides the basement-story, and has very much the +appearance of a small Lancashire factory. It is 100 feet long by about +40 feet wide, and contains 84 rooms for students. The situation is +pleasant, and at a nice distance from the roadside. A large bell was +being tolled awkwardly when I arrived. It was 11 o'clock A.M. I found +the front door thrown wide open, with every indication of its being +entered by all comers without the least ceremony--not even that of +wiping the shoes. There was neither door-bell nor knocker, scraper nor +mat; and the floor of the lobby seemed but slightly acquainted with the +broom,--to say nothing of the scrubbing-brush. It looked like the floor +of a corn or provision warehouse. I had no alternative but to venture +in. Immediately after, there entered a young man with a fowling-piece, +whom before I had seen at a little distance watching the movements of a +flock of wild pigeons. I took him for a sportsman; but he was a young +divine! I asked him if Dr. Beecher was about. He replied that he +guessed not, but he would be at the lecture-room in a few minutes, for +the bell that had just tolled was a summons to that room. "Does the +Doctor, then," said I, "deliver a lecture this morning?"--"No, it is +_declamation_ this morning." "Is it such an exercise," I continued, "as +a stranger may attend?"--"Oh, yes!" he replied; "it is _public_ +declamation." He then directed me to the lecture-room. It was across +the yard, and under the chapel belonging to the institution. This +chapel is a very neat building, after the model of a Grecian temple, +having the roof in front carried out and supported by six +well-proportioned columns in the form of a portico. In a part of the +basement-story was the lecture-room in question. The students were +mustering. By-and-by Dr. Stowe entered. He invited me to take a chair +by his side, on a kind of platform. Professor Allen then came in, and +after him Dr. Beecher. The exercise began with a short prayer by Mr. +Allen. He then called upon a Mr. Armstrong, one of the students, to +ascend the platform. The young man obeyed; and, somewhat abruptly and +vehemently, rehearsed from memory a Poem on War. Suiting the action to +the words, he began-- + + "_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!" + +It quite startled me! Soon afterwards I heard,-- + + "And Montezuma's halls shall _ring_." + +What! (reasoned I) is this the sequel to the Democratic meeting of last +night? Has Mars, who presided at the town-hall, a seat in the +lecture-room of this Theological Seminary? As the young man proceeded, +however, I perceived that his poem was, in fact, a denunciation of the +horrors of war,--not, as I had supposed, the composition of another +person committed to memory, and now rehearsed as an exercise in +elocution, but entirely his own. It was altogether a creditable +performance. The Professors at the close made their criticisms upon it, +which were all highly favourable. Dr. Beecher said, "My only criticism +is, _Print it, print it_." The venerable Doctor, with the natural +partiality of a tutor, afterwards observed to me he had never heard +anything against war that took so strong a hold of his feelings as that +poem. Dr. Stowe also told me that Mr. Armstrong was considered a young +man of fine talents and great devotion; and that some of the students +had facetiously said, "Brother Armstrong was so pious that even the +dogs would not bark at him!" + +Mr. Armstrong was not at all disposed to take his tutor's advice. But +he favoured me with a copy of his poem, on condition that I would not +cause it to be printed in America,--in England I might. It contains +some turgid expressions, some halting and prosaic lines, and might be +improved by a severe revision; but, besides its interest as a +Transatlantic college-exercise, I feel it possesses sufficient merit to +relieve the tediousness of my own prose. + +"'_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!'-- + Is heard throughout the land, +While flashing columns, thick and strong, + Sweep by with swelling band. +'Our country, right or wrong,' they shout, + 'Shall still our motto he: +With _this_ we are prepared to rout + Our foes from sea to sea. +Our own right arms to us shall bring + The victory and the spoils; +And Montezuma's halls shall ring, + When there we end our toils.' +ON, then, ye brave' like tigers rage, + That you may win your crown, +Mowing both infancy and age + In ruthless carnage down. +Where flows the tide of life and light, + Amid the city's hum, +There let the cry, at dead of night, + Be heard, 'They come, they come!' +Mid scenes of sweet domestic bliss, + Pour shells of livid fire, +While red-hot balls among them hiss, + To make the work entire +And when the scream of agony + Is heard above the din, +_Then_ ply your guns with energy, + And throw your columns in +Thro' street and lane, thro' house and church, + The sword and faggot hear, +And every inmost recess search, + To fill with shrieks the air +Where waving fields and smiling homes + Now deck the sunny plain, +And laughter-loving childhood roams + Unmoved by care or pain; +Let famine gaunt and grim despair + Behind you stalk along, +And pestilence taint all the air + With victims from the strong +Let dogs from mangled beauty's cheeks + The flesh and sinews tear, +And craunch the bones around for weeks, + And gnaw the skulls till bare +Let vultures gather round the heaps + Made up of man and beast, +And, while the widowed mother weeps, + Indulge their horrid feast, +Till, startled by wild piteous groans, + On dreary wings they rise, +To come again, mid dying moans, + And tear out glazing eyes +_Tho'_ widows' tears, and orphans' cries, + When starving round the spot +Where much-loved forms once met their eyes + Which now are left to rot, +With trumpet-tongue, for vengeance call + Upon each guilty head +That drowns, mid revelry and brawls, + Remembrance of the dead. +_Tho'_ faint from fighting--wounded--wan, + To camp you'll turn your feet, +And no sweet, smiling, happy home, + Your saddened hearts will greet: +No hands of love--no eyes of light-- + Will make your wants their care, +Or soothe you thro' the dreary night, + Or smooth your clotted hair. +But crushed by sickness, famine, thirst, + You'll strive in vain to sleep, +Mid corpses mangled, blackened, burst, + And blood and mire deep; +While horrid groans, and fiendish yells, + And every loathsome stench, +Will kindle images of hell + You'll strive in vain to quench. +Yet _on_--press on, in all your might, + With banners to the field, +And mingle in the glorious fight, + With Satan for your shield: +For marble columns, if you die, + _May_ on them bear your name; +While papers, tho' they sometimes lie, + Will praise you, or will blame. +Yet woe! to those who build a house, + Or kingdom, not by right,-- +Who in their feebleness propose + Against the Lord to fight. +For when the Archangel's trumpet sounds, + And all the dead shall hear, +And haste from earth's remotest bounds + In judgment to appear,-- +When every work, and word, and _thought_, + Well known or hid from sight, +Before the Universe is brought + To blaze in lines of light,-- +When by the test of _perfect_ law + Your '_glorious_' course is tried, +On what resources will you draw?-- + In what will you confide? +For know that eyes of awful light + Burn on you from above, +Where nought but kindness meets the sight, + And all the air is love. +When all unused to such employ + As charms the angelic hands, +How can you hope to share their joy + Who dwell in heavenly lands?" + +Such was the poem of Frederick Alexander Armstrong. After its +rehearsal, a young gentleman _read_ a prose Essay on Education. It was +clever, and indicated a mind of a high order, but was too playful; and +the performance was severely criticised. Here ended the "public +declamation." + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The +College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane +Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual +Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and +Students. + + +The "public declamation" ended, Dr. Beecher asked me to accompany him +to his house. It was about an eighth of a mile from the institution, +over a very bad road, or rather over no road at all. He conducted me +into a snug little sitting-room, having no grate; but a wood fire on +the floor under the chimney. It looked primitive and homely. This style +of fire is not uncommon in America. The logs of wood lie across two +horizontal bars of iron, by which they are raised four or six inches +from the floor. The Doctor's first care was to replenish the fire with +a few sturdy pieces of wood. All through the States, I have observed +that the task of feeding the fire generally devolves on the head of the +family. In this little room I was introduced to Mrs. Beecher. She is, I +believe, the third lady on whom the Doctor has conferred his name. In +one corner of this apartment was a gun, and on the sofa a heap of shot. +Thousands of wild pigeons were flying about. The visit of these birds +made the Doctor very uneasy. He was ever and anon snatching up his gun, +and going out to have a pop at them. Though upwards of seventy years of +age, he is an excellent marksman. It was to me a little odd to see a +venerable D.D., a Professor of Theology, handling a fowling-piece! The +Americans, have by circumstances been trained to great skill in the use +of fire-arms. The gun, however, proved a fatal instrument in the hands +of one of the Doctor's sons, a young man of great promise, who was +killed by the accidental explosion of one. Nevertheless, Dr. Beecher +has five sons, all (like himself) in the ministry! He has a maiden +daughter, who has distinguished herself by her literary attainments and +active benevolence. The excellent and accomplished wife of Dr. Stowe +was also a Miss Beecher. + +At 1 o'clock P.M. we dined. The Professors never dine, or take any +other meal, with the assembled students. This is a disadvantage. But in +America eating, under any circumstances, is not so sociable a matter as +in England. + +After dinner, I took my leave of Dr. Beecher, and went to see the +library of the institution. This is over the chapel, but so arranged as +not at all to detract from the just proportions of the building. +Indeed, no one would suspect that there was a story above. This library +was collected with great care and judgment by Dr. Stowe, in England and +on the continent of Europe, and contains 10,000 volumes! The +library-room is capable of receiving 30,000 volumes. But even now it is +the largest library on this side the Allegany Mountains. It comprises +not only the standard works in all the departments of a theological +course, but also a very rich variety of authors in general literature +and science. The books are arranged in alcoves according to their +character,--Theology--Biblical Literature--Classics--History--Philosophy; +and so forth. + +There is a "Society of Inquiry" in connection with the seminary, which +has a distinct library of 326 volumes. "The Reading Room and Athenaeum" +is furnished with 21 newspapers, and several of the best literary and +theological periodicals. + +From the library, my guide (one of the students) led me down into the +lecture-room, where Professor Stowe was engaged with a Hebrew class. +They were reading in the Song of Solomon. The exhibition did not strike +me as much superior to what we used to have at Rotherham College ten or +twelve years ago. In point of domestic _comfort_, the latter is +incomparably before Lane Seminary, and in literary advantages not far +behind. Professor Stowe kindly drove me back to Cincinnati in his +buggy, or waggon, or phaeton. + +Lane Seminary is an institution devoted entirely to theological +education, in connection with the New-School Presbyterians. The +building, including chapel and library, cost about 50,000 dollars, or +10,000_l._, and must have been very cheap at that. In 1828-30, Ebenezer +Lane, Esq., and his brother Andrew Lane, Esq., made a donation of 4,000 +dollars for the purpose of establishing the seminary, whereupon it was +incorporated under the name of "Lane Seminary," and trustees were +appointed. To these trustees the Rev. Mr. Kemper and his sons made +over, for the benefit of the institution, 60 acres of land, including +the site on which the buildings stand. In 1832 Arthur Tappan, Esq., of +New York, subscribed 20,000 dollars for the Professorship of Theology. +In the same year 15,000 dollars were raised for the Professorship of +Ecclesiastical History; the largest contributor to which was Ambrose +White, Esq., of Philadelphia: and an equal sum was contributed for the +Professorship of Biblical Literature,--Stephen Van Rennselaer, Esq., of +Albany, being the chief contributor. In 1835, a fund of 20,000 dollars +was raised for the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric, of which a large +portion was given by John Tappan, Esq., of Boston. A literary +department was organized in 1829, which was discontinued in 1834; at +which period the institution, in its full operation as a Theological +Seminary, may be said to have commenced. Since then it has sent forth +about 250 ministers! + +Candidates for admission must produce satisfactory testimonials, that +they are members, in good standing, of some Christian Church; that they +possess competent talents; and that they have regularly graduated at +some college or university, or have pursued a course of study +equivalent to the common college course. + +The course of study occupies three years; and every student is expected +to enter with the intention of completing the full course. So far as +practicable, the different branches are pursued simultaneously. Thus +the department of Biblical Literature, during the first year, occupies +three days in the week; during the second, two; and during the third, +one: Church History, one day in the week: Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, one day in the week during the first year, two the second, +and three the third. The object of this arrangement is to afford a +pleasant variety in study, and to keep up a proper interest in all the +departments through the whole course. "Hitherto," it is stated, "the +plan has been pursued with results highly satisfactory to the Faculty." +Theological students may be glad to learn the following particulars of +the whole course. + +I. BIBLICAL LITERATURE.--This department embraces--1. Biblical +Geography and Antiquities. 2. Principles of Biblical Interpretation. 3. +General Introduction to the Old and New Testaments, and Particular +Introduction to the Pentateuch, Gospels, and Acts. 4. Interpretation of +the Gospels in Harmony and of the Acts. 5. Interpretation of the +Historical Writings of Moses. 6. Particular Introduction to the several +Books of the Old and New Testaments. 7. Hebrew Poetry, including +Figurative and Symbolical Language of Scripture. 8. Interpretation of +Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. 9. Epistles to Romans, Corinthians, +Timothy, and I Peter. 10. Nature and Fulfilment of Prophecy, +particularly in reference to the Messiah. 11. Interpretation of Isaiah, +Zechariah, and Nahum. 12. The Revelation, in connection with Daniel. + +II. CHURCH HISTORY AND POLITY.--In this department a regular course of +lectures is given on the History of Doctrines to all the classes, and +on Church Polity to the senior classes. + +III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.--In this department are included--1. Cause +and Effect. 2. Mental Philosophy. 3. Atheism, its History and +Hypothesis, Arguments, Objections, and Folly. 4. The Being, Character, +and Attributes of God. 5. Reason, Light of Nature, Necessity of +Revelation. 6. The Truth and Inspiration of the Bible. 7. Doctrine of +Revelation. + +IV. SACRED RHETORIC AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY. _First Year_.--Lectures on +Rhetoric and Elocution. Exercises in Reading and Elocution. _Second +Year_.--Written Discussions, with Public Criticism in the class. _Third +Year_.--Exercises in criticising Skeletons continued. Public and +Private Criticism of Sermons. Lectures on Preaching and on Pastoral +Duties. + +The annual term of study begins on the second Wednesday in September, +and closes on the second Wednesday in June, which is the Anniversary. +The term closes with a public examination. + +Dr. Andrew Reed, who visited Lane Seminary in 1834, refers to it as a +_model_ manual-labour institution. With the advancement of society +around, it has lost in a great measure that peculiarity. There is now +but little done in that way, though it is still recorded in italics +among its regulations, that "every student is expected to labour three +hours a day at some agricultural or mechanical business." "While the +leading aim of this regulation," it is added, "is to promote health and +vigour of both body and mind, compensation is received according to the +value of the labour." + +No charge is made for tuition. Rooms are fully furnished and rented at +5 dollars a year from each student. The incidental expenses, including +fuel and light for public rooms, ringing the bell, and sweeping, are 5 +dollars more. The room-rent and incidental bill are paid in advance. +For the aid of indigent students funds are collected annually, by means +of which board is furnished to such gratuitously. To those who receive +no assistance from the funds, the price of board is about 90 cents a +week. The cost of fuel and lights for each student, in his own room, +will average from 8 to 12 dollars a year. Thus the entire expense to a +young man for a whole term of nine months is only from 50 to 60 +dollars, or from 10 to 12 guineas of our money. + +"The results of these thirteen years of labour," say the trustees in a +document recently issued, "considering the difficulties attending the +establishment of such an institution in a new country, amid a +population as yet unassimilated in feelings and habits, and whose +schools, academies, and colleges are of comparatively recent origin, +are indeed highly encouraging. The friends of the institution, and of +religion and learning generally, thankful for what has already been +accomplished, will feel encouraged to do whatever may be necessary for +the highest efficiency of the seminary; and will give their prayers +that the labours of the 300 young men, who have enjoyed or now enjoy +its advantages," (there being about 50 then in the house,) "may be +abundantly blessed by the Head of the Church." + +Lane Seminary is a valuable and catholic institution. At their +entrance, the students have to subscribe to no confession of faith; +and, when they have completed their curriculum, they are at perfect +liberty to exercise their ministry among whatever denomination they +please. Congregational as well as Presbyterial Churches obtain pastors +from this "school of the prophets." + +The "Faculty" at present consists of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D.D., +President, and Professor of Theology; the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, D.D., +Professor of Biblical Literature, and Lecturer on Church History; and +the Rev. D. Howe Allen, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral +Theology, and Lecturer on Church Polity. + +Nothing struck me more than the feeling of equality that seemed to +subsist between students and professors. The latter, in speaking to or +of any of the former, would generally say "Brother" So-and-so. The +students also, in their bearing towards the professors, seemed each to +say, "I am as good a man as you are." This is the genius of America. +You meet it everywhere. There man is man (except his skin be black), +and he expects to be treated as such. Respect to superiors is not among +the maxims of our Transatlantic brethren. The organ of veneration is, +perhaps, imperfectly developed. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + +A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of +a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German +Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the +Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at +the House of a Coloured Minister. + + +On the previous Friday, Professor Allen called to request me to preach +in his stead at the Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, the +28th of February, as he had to go some twenty miles into the country to +"assist at a revival." I agreed to do so. Sunday morning was +excessively cold, with a heavy fall of snow. On arriving at the +"church," I found there was no vestry. Indeed, a vestry, as a private +room for the minister, is seldom found in America. The places are +exceedingly neat and comfortable, but they want _that_ convenience. I +had therefore to go with my hat and top-coat, covered with snow, right +into the pulpit. This church outside is a noble-looking building, with +massive pillars in front, and a bell-tower containing a town-clock; but +the interior seemed comparatively small. It had a gallery at one end, +which held only the singers and the organ. The seats below were not +more than one-third full. Dr. Beecher ministered in this place for +about ten years. It was now without a pastor, but was temporarily +supplied by Professor Allen. The congregation was far more decorous and +attentive than those in New Orleans. After the introductory service, +and while the hymn before sermon was being sung, a man came trudging +down the aisle, bearing an immense scuttle full of coals to supply the +stoves. How easy it would have been before service to place a box of +fuel in the vicinity of each stove, and thereby avoid this unseemly +bustle! But in the singing of the hymn, I found something to surprise +and offend me even more than the coal-scuttle. The hymn was-- + + "O'er the gloomy hills of darkness," &c. + +I had selected it myself; but when I got to the second verse, where I +had expected to find + + "Let the Indian, let the negro, + Let the rude barbarian see," &c., + +lo! "the Indian." and "the negro" had vanished, and + + "Let the dark benighted pagan" + +was substituted. A wretched alteration,--as feeble and tautological in +effect as it is suspicious in design. The altered reading, I learned, +prevails universally in America, except in the _original_ version used +by the Welsh congregations. Slave-holders, and the abettors of that +horrid system which makes it a crime to teach a negro to read the Word +of God, felt perhaps that they could not devoutly and consistently sing + + "Let the Indian, let the negro," &c. + +This church, I heard, was more polluted with a pro-slavery feeling than +any other in Cincinnati of the same denomination,--a circumstance +which, I believe, had something to do with Dr. Beecher's resignation of +the pastorate. + +At the close of the sermon, having pronounced the benediction, I +engaged, according to our English custom, in a short act of private +devotion. When I raised my head and opened my eyes, the very last man +of the congregation was actually making his exit through the doorway; +and it was quite as much as I could manage to put on my top-coat and +gloves and reach the door before the sexton closed it. This rushing +habit in the House of God strikes a stranger as rude and irreverent. +You meet with no indications of private devotion, either preceding or +following public worship. A man marches into his pew, or his pulpit, +sits down, wipes his nose, and stares at all about him; and at the +close, the moment the "Amen" is uttered, he is off with as much speed +as if the house were on fire. In this instance, the service had not +exceeded an hour and a half; and yet they hurried out as if they +thought the beef was all burnt, and the pudding all spoiled. Of course, +there were no thanks to the stranger for his services,--to say nothing +of the _quiddam honorarium_, which to a man travelling for health, at +his own expense, with an invalid wife, might have been supposed not +unacceptable. + +When, however, I got to the portico outside, a gentleman, with his +wife, was waiting to see me before they stepped into their carriage. +Here was some token of politeness and hospitality,--an invitation to +dinner, no doubt.--"Thank you, sir, I am very much obliged to you; but +I left my wife very ill at our lodgings this morning, and therefore I +cannot have the pleasure to dine with you to-day," was the civil excuse +I was preparing. Never was expectation more beside the mark. My "guess" +was altogether wrong. "What are you going to do with yourself this +afternoon?" was the gentleman's blunt salutation. "What have _you_ to +propose, sir?" was my reply. "I am the superintendent," he said, "of a +German Sunday-school in the upper part of the city, and I should like +you to come and address the children this afternoon." I promised to go, +and he to send to my "lodgings" for me. We both kept our appointment. +The number of scholars was about 100. This effort to bring the Germans +under a right religious influence is very laudable; for there are about +10,000 of that people in Cincinnati. One quarter of the city is +entirely German. You see nothing else on the sign-boards; you hear +nothing else in the streets. Of these Germans the greater part are +Roman Catholics. + +After visiting the school, I found myself in time to attend one of the +chapels of the coloured people at 3 P.M. A medical student, whom I had +met in the morning, and again at the German school, accompanied me. He +was a New Englander, and a thorough anti-slavery man. When we got to +the chapel--a Baptist one--they were at prayer. Walking in softly, we +entered a pew right in the midst of them. The minister--a mulatto of +about thirty years of age, with a fine intelligent eye--was very simple +in dress, and unostentatious in manner. His language, too, was +appropriate and correct. He was evidently a man of good common sense. +His text was Psalm li. l2, l3. He referred very properly to the +occasion on which the Psalm was composed, and drew from the text a +large mass of sound practical instruction. The chapel (capable of +containing about 150 people) was only half-full. Before the sermon, I +had observed a very old negro, in a large shabby camlet cloak and a +black cap, ascending the pulpit-stairs. I supposed that, being dull of +hearing, he had taken that position that he might better listen to the +service. However, when the sermon was over, this patriarchal-looking +black man rose to pray; and he prayed "like a bishop," with astonishing +correctness and fluency! He was formerly a slave in Kentucky, and was +at this time about eighty years of age. They call him "Father Watkins." +At the close I introduced myself to him and to the minister. They both +expressed regret that they had not had me up in the pulpit, to tell +them something, as "Father Watkins" said, about their "brothers and +sisters on the other side of the water." The minister gave me his card, +and invited me and my wife to take tea with him on Tuesday afternoon. +This was the first invitation I received within the city of Cincinnati +to take a meal anywhere; and it was the more interesting to me as +coming from a coloured man. + +In the evening I went, according to appointment, to the Welsh Chapel. +There I met a Mr. Bushnel, an American missionary from the Gaboon +River, on the western coast of Africa. He first spoke in English, and I +afterwards a little in Welsh; gladly embracing the opportunity to +exhort my countrymen in that "Far West" to feel kindly and tenderly +towards the coloured race among them; asking them how they would +themselves feel if, as Welshmen, they were branded and despised +wherever they went! I was grieved to see the excess to which they +carried the filthy habit of spitting. The coloured people in _their_ +chapel were incomparably cleaner in that respect. + +In the morning a notice had been put into my hand at the Presbyterian +Church for announcement, to the effect that Mr. Bushnel and myself +would address the "monthly concert at the church in Sixth-street" on +the morrow evening. Of this arrangement not a syllable had been said to +me beforehand. This was American liberty, and I quietly submitted to +it. The attendance was not large; and we two missionaries had it all to +ourselves. No other ministers were present,--not even the minister of +the church in which we were assembled. The people, however, seemed +heartily interested in the subject of missions. At the close, a lady +from Manchester, who had seen me there in 1845 at the missionary +meeting, came forward full of affection to shake hands. She was a +member of Mr. Griffin's church in that city, and had removed to America +a few months before, with her husband (who is a member of the "Society +of Friends") and children. I was glad to find that they were likely to +be comfortable in their adopted country. + +Next morning I went with Dr. Reuben D. Mussey, a New Englander, to see +the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Mussey is the Professor of Surgery and +Dean of the Faculty, and is highly esteemed for his professional skill +and general character. He and his son, who was my guide on the Sunday, +very kindly showed and explained to me everything of interest in the +institution. The cabinet belonging to the anatomical department is +supplied with all the materials necessary for acquiring a minute and +perfect knowledge of the human frame. These consist of detached bones, +of wired natural skeletons, and of dried preparations to exhibit the +muscles, bloodvessels, nerves, &c. The cabinet of comparative anatomy +is supposed to be more extensively supplied than any other in the +United States. Besides perfect skeletons of American and foreign birds +and other animals, there is an immense number of detached _crania_, +from the elephant and hippopotamus down to the minuter orders. The +cabinet in the surgical department has been formed at great expense, +chiefly by Dr. Mussey himself, during the labour of more than forty +years. It contains a large number of rare specimens,--600 specimens of +diseased bones alone. Other departments are equally well furnished. The +Faculty is composed of six Professorships,--Surgery, Anatomy and +Physiology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Obstetrics and +Diseases of Women and Children, and the Theory and Practice of +Medicine. The fees of tuition are only 15 dollars, or 3 guineas, to +each professor, making an aggregate of 90 dollars. There were 190 +students. It will probably be admitted that this institution, formed in +a new country, has arrived at an astonishing degree of vigour and +maturity. It is only one of many instances in which the Americans are +before us in the facilities afforded for professional education. + +In the afternoon my wife and myself went to take tea with the coloured +minister. His dwelling, though small and humble, was neat and clean. +With his intelligence and general information we were quite delighted. +He spoke with feeling of the gross insults to which the coloured +people, even in this free State, are exposed. When they travel by +railway, though they pay the same fare as other people, they are +generally put in the luggage-van! He had himself, when on board of +steam-boats, often been sent to the "pantry" to eat his food. Nor will +the white people employ them but in the most menial offices; so that it +is nearly impossible for them to rise to affluence and horse-and-gig +respectability. The consequence is that they are deeply and justly +disaffected towards the American people and the American laws. They +clearly understand that England is their friend. For one month all the +free coloured people wore crape as mourning for Thomas Clarkson. + + + + +LETTER XX. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The +Rev. C. B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New +Era"--American Nationality. + + +A lady, belonging to the Presbyterian Church at which I preached, +kindly sent her carriage to take us about to see the city. We visited +the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, one of the principal "lions." It was +begun in 1841, and, though used for public worship, is not yet +finished. The building is a parallelogram of 200 feet long by 80 feet +wide, and is 58 feet from the floor to the ceiling. The roof is partly +supported by the side walls, and partly by two rows of freestone +columns--nine in each row--at a distance of about 11 feet from the wall +inside. These columns are of the Corinthian Order, and are 35 feet +high, and 3 feet 6 inches in diameter. There is no gallery, except at +one end, for the organ, which cost 5,400 dollars, or about 1,100_l._ +sterling. The floor of the building is furnished with a centre aisle of +6 feet wide, and two other aisles, each 11 feet wide, along the side +walls, for processional purposes. The remainder of the area is formed +into 140 pews, 10 feet deep. Each pew will accommodate with comfort +only six persons; so that this immense edifice affords sitting room for +no more than 840 people! It is a magnificent structure, displaying in +all its proportions a remarkable degree of elegance and taste. The +tower, when finished, will present an elevation of 200 feet, with a +portico of twelve Corinthian columns, six in front and three on either +side, on the model of the Tower of the Wind at Athens. The entire +building will be Grecian in all its parts. One-fourth of the population +of Cincinnati are Roman Catholics. They have lately discontinued the +use of public government-schools for their children, and have +established some of their own, I am not so much alarmed at the progress +of Popery in America as I was before I visited that country. Its +proselytes are exceedingly few. Its supporters consist chiefly of the +thousands of Europeans, already Roman Catholic, who flock to the New +World. The real _progress_ of Popery is greater in Britain than in +America. + +In the evening I preached for Mr. Boynton in the "Sixth-street Church," +Mr. Boynton and his Church, heretofore Presbyterians, have recently +become Congregationalists. This has given great umbrage to the +Presbyterians. Congregationalism is rapidly gaining ground in the +Western World, and seems destined there, as in England since Cromwell's +time, to swallow up Presbyterianism. I make no invidious comparison +between the two systems: I merely look at facts. And it does appear to +me that Congregationalism--so simple, so free, so unsectarian, and so +catholic--is nevertheless a powerful absorbent. It _has_ absorbed all +that was orthodox in the old Presbyterian Churches of England; and it +_is_ absorbing the Calvinistic Methodists and the churches named after +the Countess of Huntingdon. It has all along exerted a powerful +influence on the Presbyterianism of America. The Congregational element +diffused among those churches occasioned the division of the +Presbyterian Church into Old School and New School. + +Mr. Boynton is what a friend of mine called "intensely American." He +has lately published, under the title of "Our Country the Herald of a +New Era," a lecture delivered before the "Young Men's Mercantile +Library Association." To show the magnificent ideas the Americans +entertain of themselves and their country, I will transcribe a few +passages. + +"This nation is an enigma, whose import no man as yet may fully know. +She is a germ of boundless things. The unfolded bud excites the hope of +one-half the human race, while it stirs the remainder with both anger +and alarm. Who shall now paint the beauty and attraction of the +expanded flower? Our Eagle is scarcely fledged; but one wing stretches +over Massachusetts Bay, and the other touches the mouth of the +Columbia. Who shall say, then, what lands shall be overshadowed by the +full-grown pinion? Who shall point to any spot of the northern +continent, and say, with certainty, Here the starry banner shall never +be hailed as the symbol of dominion? [The annexation of Canada!] * * * +It cannot be disguised that the idea is gathering strength among us, +that the territorial mission of this nation is to obtain and hold at +least all that lies north of Panama. * * * Whether the millions that +are to dwell on the great Pacific slope of our continent are to +acknowledge our banner, or rally to standards of their own; whether +Mexico is to become ours by sudden conquest or gradual absorption; +whether the British provinces, when they pass from beneath the sceptre +of England, shall be incorporated with us, or retain an independent +dominion;--are perhaps questions which a not distant future may decide. +However they may be settled, the great fact will remain essentially the +same, that the two continents of this Western Hemisphere shall yet bear +up a stupendous social, political, and religious structure, wrought by +the American mind, moulded and coloured by the hues of American +thought, and animated and united by an American soul. It seems equally +certain that, whatever the divisions of territory may be, these United +States are the living centre, from which already flows the resistless +stream which will ultimately absorb in its own channel, and bear on its +own current, the whole thought of the two Americas. * * * If, then, I +have not over-rated the moral and intellectual vigour of the people of +this nation, and of the policy lately avowed to be acted upon--that the +further occupation of American soil by the Governments of Europe is not +to be suffered,--then the inference is a direct one, that the stronger +elements will control and absorb the lesser, so that the same causes +which melted the red races away will send the influence of the United +States not only over the territory north of Panama, but across the +Isthmus, and southward to Magellan." + +The "New Era" of which America is the "Herald" is, he tells us, to be +marked by three grand characteristics,-- + +"First. A new theory and practice in government and in social life, +such as the world has never seen, of which we only perceive the germ as +yet." Already have you indeed presented before the world your "peculiar +institution" of slavery in a light new and striking. Already have you a +"theory and practice" in the government of slaves such as the world +never beheld! + +"Second. A literature which shall not only be the proper outgrowth of +the American mind, but which shall form a distinctive school, as +clearly so as the literature of Greece!" Under this head he says, "Very +much would I prefer that our literature should appear even in the guise +of the awkward, speculating, guessing, but still original, +strong-minded _American_ Yankee, than to see it mincing in the costume +of a London dandy. I would rather see it, if need be, showing the wild +rough strength, the naturalness and fervour of the extreme West, +equally prepared to liquor with a stranger or to fight with him, than +to see it clad in the gay but filthy garments of the saloons of Paris. +Nay more, much as every right mind abhors and detests such things, I +would sooner behold our literature holding in one hand the murderous +Bowie knife, and in the other the pistol of the duellist, than to see +her laden with the foul secrets of a London hell, or the gaming-houses +of Paris. * * * If we must meet with vice in our literature, let it be +the growth of our own soil; for I think our own rascality has yet the +healthier aspect." + +"Third. A new era in the fine arts, from which future ages shall derive +their models and their inspirations, as we do from Greece and Italy. * +* * So far as scenery is concerned in the moulding of character, we may +safely expect that a country where vastness and beauty are so +wonderfully blended will stamp upon the national soul its own magestic +and glorious image. It must be so. The mind will expand itself to the +measure of things about it. Deep in the wide American soul there shall +be Lake Superiors, inland oceans of thought; and the streams of her +eloquence shall be like the sweep of the Mississippi in his strength. +The rugged strength of the New England hills, the luxuriance of the +sunny South, the measureless expanse of the prairie, the broad flow of +our rivers, the dashing of our cataracts, the huge battlements of the +everlasting mountains,--these are _American_. On the face of the globe +there is nothing like to them. When therefore these various influences +have been thoroughly wrought into the national soul, there will be such +a correspondence between man and the works of God about him, that our +music, our poetry, our eloquence, our all, shall be our own, individual +and peculiar, like the Amazon and the Andes, the Mississippi and +Niagara, alone in their strength and glory." + +Now, mark you! amidst all these splendid visions of the future, there +is no vision of liberty for 3,000,000 of slaves. That idea was too +small to find a place among conceptions so vast. The lecture contains +not a syllable of reference to them. On the contrary, the empty boast +of freedom is heard in the following words of solemn mockery: "_The +soul of man_ here no longer sits _bound_ and blind amid the despotic +forms of the past; it walks abroad _without a shackle_, and with an +uncovered eye." It follows then that there is an essential difference +between "the soul of man" and the soul of "nigger," or rather that +"niggers" have no soul at all. How _can_ men of sense, and especially +ministers of the Gospel, sit down to pen such fustian? These extracts +show how intensely national the Americans are, and consequently how +futile the apology for the existence of slavery so often presented, +that one State can no more interfere with the affairs of another State +than the people of England can with France and the other countries of +the European continent. The Americans are to all intents and purposes +_one_ people. In short, the identity of feeling among the _States_ of +the Union is more complete than among the _counties_ of Great Britain. + +On the morning of the 4th of March, Dr. Stowe called to invite me to +address the students at Lane Seminary, on the following Sabbath +evening, on the subject of missions and the working of freedom in the +West Indies. I readily promised to comply, glad of an opportunity to +address so many of the future pastors of the American Churches, who +will occupy the field when emancipation is sure to be the great +question of the day. In fact, it is so already. + + + + +LETTER XXI. + +Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a +White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr. +Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to +the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane +Seminary--Departure from Cincinnati. + + +In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B---- to see an Orphan Asylum, +in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I +took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and +anti-colour-hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is +capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at +that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one +apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and +conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place. + +_Myself._--"Now, Mrs. B, this place is very beautiful: I admire it +exceedingly. Would you refuse a little _coloured_ orphan admission into +this asylum?" + +_The Lady._ (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look +of horror and indignation),--"Indeed, we would!" + +_Myself._--"Oh, shocking! shocking!" + +_The Lady._--"Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children; +they are not neglected." + +_Myself._--"Ay, but why should they not be together?--why should there +be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?" + +_The Lady._ (in a tone of triumph).--"Why has God made such a +distinction between them?" + +_Myself._--"And why has he made such a distinction between me and Tom +Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6 +inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from +society on account of his stature as his colour." + +At this moment my wife, seeing I was waxing warm, pulled me by the +coat-tail, and I said no more. The lady, however, went on to say that +she was opposed to slavery--was a colonizationist, and heartily wished +all the coloured people were back again in their own country. "In their +own country, indeed!" I was going to say,--"why, this is their country +as much as it is yours;" but I remembered my wife's admonition, and +held my peace. These were the sentiments of a lady first and foremost +in the charitable movements of the day, and regarded by those around +her as a pattern of piety and benevolence. She was shocked at the +notion of the poor coloured orphan mingling with fellow-orphans of a +fairer hue. + +In the evening we went to take tea at the house of an English Quaker. +About half-a-dozen friends had been invited to meet us. These were +kindred spirits, anti-slavery out-and-out, and we spent the evening +very pleasantly. One of the company, in speaking of the American +prejudice against colour, mentioned a remarkable circumstance. Some +time ago, at an hotel in one of the Eastern States, a highly +respectable coloured gentleman, well known to the host and to his +guests, was about to sit down at the dinner table. A military +officer--a conceited puppy--asked the landlord if that "nigger" was +going to sit down? The landlord replied in the affirmative. "Then," +said the fop, "_I_ cannot sit down with a nigger." The rest of the +company, understanding what was going forward, rose as one man from +their seats, ordered another table to be spread, and presented a +respectful invitation to the coloured gentleman to take a seat with +them. The military dandy was left at the first table, "alone in his +glory." When thus humbled, and when he also understood who the coloured +man was, he went up to him to apologize in the best way he could, and +to beg that the offence might be forgotten. The coloured gentleman's +reply was beautiful and touching,--"Favours I write on marble, insults +on sand." + +On the morning of the 5th of March, the sun shining pleasantly, we were +tempted to cross over to Covington, on the Kentucky or slave side of +the river. Ferry-steamers ran every five or ten minutes, and the fare +was only 5 cents. At this place the Baptists have a large and important +college. Why did they erect it on the slave rather than on the free +side of the Ohio? This institution I was anxious to see; but I found it +too far off, and the roads too bad. Feeling weary and faint, we called +at a house of refreshment, where we had a genuine specimen of American +inquisitiveness. + +In five minutes the daughter of the house had asked us where we came +from--what sort of a place it was--how long we had been in the United +States--how long it took us to come--how far we were going--how long we +should stay--and if we did not like that part of America so well that +we would come and settle in it altogether! and in five minutes more our +answers to all these important questions had been duly reported to the +rest of the family in an adjoining room. This inquisitiveness prevails +more in the slave than in the free States, and originates, I believe, +in the fidgetty anxiety they feel about their slaves. The stranger must +be well catechised, lest he should prove to be an Abolitionist come to +give the slaves a sly lesson in geography. + +In the afternoon I went to see the school of the coloured children in +Cincinnati. This was established about four years ago by a Mr. Gilmore, +a white gentleman, who is also a minister of the Gospel. He is a man of +some property, and all connected with this school has been done at his +own risk and responsibility. On my venturing to inquire what sacrifice +of property he had made in the undertaking, he seemed hurt at the +question, and replied, "No sacrifice whatever, sir." "But what, may I +ask, have these operations cost beyond what you have received in the +way of school-fees?" I continued. "About 7,000 dollars," (1,500_l._) +said he. Including two or three branches, there are about 300 coloured +children thus educated. Mr. Gilmore was at first much opposed and +ridiculed; but that state of feeling was beginning to wear away. +Several of the children were so fair that, accustomed as I am to shades +of colour, I could not distinguish them from the Anglo-Saxon race; and +yet Mr. Gilmore told me even they would not have been admitted to the +other public schools! How discerning the Americans are! How proud of +their skin-deep aristocracy! And the author of "Cincinnati in 1841," in +speaking of those very schools from which these fair children were +excluded, says, "These schools are founded not merely on the principle +that all men are free and equal, but that all men's children are so +likewise; and that, as it is our duty to love our neighbour as +ourselves, it is our duty to provide the same benefits and blessings to +his children as to our own. These establishments result from the +recognition of the fact also, that we have all a common +interest--moral, political, and pecuniary--in the education of the +whole community." Those gloriously exclusive schools I had no wish to +visit. But I felt a peculiar pleasure in visiting this humbler yet +well-conducted institution, for the benefit of those who are despised +and degraded on account of their colour. As I entered, a music-master +was teaching them, with the aid of a piano, to sing some select pieces +for an approaching examination, both the instrument and the master +having been provided by the generous Gilmore. Even the music-master, +notwithstanding his first-rate ability, suffers considerable loss of +patronage on account of his services in this branded school. Among the +pieces sung, and sung exceedingly well, was the following touching +appeal, headed "The Fugitive Slave to the Christian"--Air, +"Cracovienne." + +"The fetters galled my weary soul,-- + A soul that seemed but thrown away: +I spurned the tyrant's base control, + Resolved at last the man to play: + The hounds are haying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I felt the stripes,--the lash I saw, + Red dripping with a father's gore; +And, worst of all their lawless law, + The insults that my mother bore! + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"Where human law o'errules Divine, + Beneath the sheriff's hammer fell +My wife and babes,--I call them mine,-- + And where they suffer who can tell? + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back? + +"I seek a home where man is man, + If such there be upon this earth,-- +To draw my kindred, if I can, + Around its free though humble hearth. + The hounds are baying on my track; + O Christian! will you send me back?" + +March 7.--This being the Sabbath, we went in the morning to worship at +Mr. Boynton's church. The day was very wet, and the congregation small. +His text was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every +creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that +believeth not shall be damned." The sermon, though read, and composed +too much in the essay style, indicated considerable powers of mind and +fidelity of ministerial character. Although from incessant rain the day +was very dark, the Venetian blinds were down over all the windows! The +Americans, I have since observed, are particularly fond of the "dim +religious light." Among the announcements from the pulpit were several +funerals, which it is there customary thus to advertise. + +In the afternoon I heard Dr. Beecher. Here, again, I found the blinds +down. The Doctor's text was, "Let me first go and bury my father," &c. +Without at all noticing the context,--an omission which I +regretted,--he proceeded at once to state the doctrine of the text to +be, that nothing can excuse the putting off of religion--that it is +every man's duty to follow Christ immediately. This subject, +notwithstanding the heaviness of the day, the infirmities of more than +threescore years and ten (74), and the frequent necessity of adjusting +his spectacles to consult his notes, he handled with much vigour and +zeal. Some of his pronunciations were rather antiquated; but they were +the elegant New England pronunciations of his youthful days. The sermon +was marked by that close and faithful dealing with the conscience in +which so many American ministers excel. + +Professor Allen called to take me up to Lane Seminary, where I was to +address the students in the evening. The service was public, and held +in the chapel of the institution; but the evening being wet, the +congregation was small. I had, however, before me the future pastors of +about fifty churches, and two of the professors. I was domiciled at Mr. +Allen's. Both he and his intelligent wife are sound on the subject of +slavery. They are also quite above the contemptible prejudice against +colour. But I was sorry to hear Mrs. Allen say, that, in her domestic +arrangements, she had often had a great deal of trouble with her +_European_ servants, who would refuse to take their meals with black +ones, though the latter were in every respect superior to the former! I +have heard similar remarks in other parts of America. Mr. Allen's +system of domestic training appeared excellent. His children, of whom +he has as many as the patriarch Jacob, were among the loveliest I had +ever seen. + +At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 8th of March I left Lane Seminary, +with a heavy heart at the thought that in all probability I should +never see it again. There was a sharp frost. Dr. Stowe accompanied me +to the omnibus. "All right!"--"_Pax vobiscum!_"--the vehicle moved on, +and directly the Doctor was at a distance of a hundred yards waving a +farewell. It was the last look. + +At 11 A.M. myself, wife, baggage,--all were setting off from the "Queen +City" for Pittsburgh, a distance of 496 miles, in the Clipper No. 2, a +fine boat, and in good hands. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + +Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its +Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects +--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An +Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills. + + +Before proceeding with our trip to Pittsburg, I will bring together all +the material points of information I have gathered relative to +Cincinnati. + +1. _Its History and Progress_.--The first year of the present century +found here but 750 inhabitants. In 1810 there were 2,540; in 1820, +9,602; in 1830, 24,381; in 1840, 46,382. At present the population is +estimated at 80,000. The coloured population forms one twenty-fifth, or +4 per cent., of the whole. The native Europeans form one-fifth of the +white population. + +2. _Its Trade and Commerce_.--The principal trade is in pork. Hence +the nickname of _Porkapolis_. The yearly value of pork packed and +exported is about five millions of dollars, or one million of guineas! +As a proof of the amazing activity which characterizes all the details +of cutting, curing, packing, &c., I have been credibly informed that +two men, in one of the pork-houses, cut up in less than thirteen hours +850 hogs, averaging 300 lbs. each,--two others placing them on the +block for the purpose. All these hogs were weighed singly on scales in +the course of eleven hours. Another hand trimmed the hams, 1,700 +pieces, in "Cincinnati style," as fast as they were separated from the +carcases. The hogs were thus cut up and disposed of at the rate of more +than one per minute! And this, I was told, was not much beyond the +ordinary day's work at the pork-houses. + +Steam-boat building is another important branch of trade in this place. + + DOLLARS. +In 1840 there were built here 33 boats of 15,341 tons, + costing 592,600 + 1844 " " 37 " 7,838 " 542,500 + 1845 " " 27 " 6,609 " 506,500 + +3. _Its Periodical Press_.--There are sixteen daily papers! Of these, +thirteen issue also a weekly number. Besides these, there are seventeen +weekly papers unconnected with daily issues. But Cincinnati is liberal +in her patronage of eastern publications. During the year 1845 one +house, that of Robinson and Jones, the principal periodical depot in +the city, and through which the great body of the people are supplied +with this sort of literature, sold of + +Magazines and Periodicals 29,822 numbers. +Newspapers 25,390[1] " +Serial Publications 30,826 " +Works of Fiction 48,961 " ! + +[Footnote 1: Besides an immense quantity sent direct per mail!] + +It is estimated that the people of the United States, at the present +time, support 1,200 newspapers. There being no stamp-duty, no duty on +paper, and none on advertisements, the yearly cost of a daily paper, +such as the _New York Tribune_ for instance, is only 5 dollars, or one +guinea. The price of a single copy of such papers is only 2 cents, or +one penny; and many papers are only one cent, or a half-penny per copy. + +4. _Its Church Accommodation_.--By the close of the year 1845 the +voluntary principle, without any governmental or municipal aid +whatever, had provided the following places of worship:-- + +Presbyterian 12 New Jerusalem 1 +Methodist Episcopal 12 Universalist 1 +Roman Catholic 7 Second Advent 1 +Baptist 5 Mormons 1 +Lutheran 5 Friends 1 +Protestant Episcopal 4 Congregational 1 +"Christian Disciples" 4 Restorationists 1 +Methodist Protestants 3 United Brethren 1 +Jewish 2 "Christians" 1 +Welsh 2 +German Reformed 2 Total 67 + +This number of places of worship, at an average of 600 persons to each, +would afford accommodation for nearly two-thirds of what the entire +population was at that time; and surely two-thirds of any community is +quite as large a proportion as can, under the most favourable +circumstances, be expected to attend places of worship at any given +time. Behold, then, the strength and efficiency of the voluntary +principle! This young city, with all its wants, is far better furnished +with places of worship than the generality of commercial and +manufacturing towns in England. + +Dr. Reed visited Cincinnati in 1834. He gives the population at that +time at 30,000, and the places of worship as follows. I insert them +that you may see at a glance what the voluntary principle did in the +eleven years that followed. + +Presbyterian 6 Campbellite Baptists 1 +Methodist 4 Jews 1 +Baptist 2 -- +Episcopalian 2 Total in 1834 21 +German Lutheran 2 Do. in 1845 67 +Unitarian 1 -- +Roman Catholic 1 Increase 46 +Swedes 1 + +5. _Its Future Prospects_.--The author of "Cincinnati in 1841" says, "I +venture the prediction that within 100 years from this time Cincinnati +will be the greatest city in America, and by the year of our Lord 2,000 +the greatest city in the world." Our cousin here uses the superlative +degree when the comparative would be more appropriate. Deduct 80 or 90 +per cent, from this calculation, and you still leave before this city a +bright prospect of future greatness. + +We must, however, bid adieu to this "Queen of the West," and pursue our +course against the Ohio's current towards Pittsburg. We steam along +between freedom and slavery. The contrast is striking. On this subject +the remarks of the keen and philosophic M. de Tocqueville are so +accurate, and so much to the point, that I cannot do better than +transcribe and endorse them. + +"A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies, +when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact +that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves +increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity, more rapidly +than those which contained the greatest number of negroes. In the +former, however, the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil +themselves, or by hired labourers; in the latter, they were furnished +with hands for which they paid no wages: yet, although labour and +expense were on the one side, and ease with economy on the other, the +former were in possession of the most advantageous system. * * * The +more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so +cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master. + +"But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization +reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had +distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of +the most magnificent valleys which have ever been made the abode of +man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil +affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On either bank the air +is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of those banks forms the +extreme frontier of a vast State: that which follows the numerous +windings of the Ohio on the left is Kentucky [in ascending the river it +was on our _right_]; that on the right [our left] bearing the name of +the river. These two States differ only in one respect,--Kentucky has +admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has not. * * * + +"Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to +time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert +fields; the primeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be +asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and +life. + +"From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which +proclaims the presence of industry; the fields are covered with +abundant harvests; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste +and activity of the labourer; and man appears to be in the enjoyment of +that wealth and contentment which are the reward of labour." + +The Kentucky and the Ohio States are nearly equal as to their area in +square miles. Kentucky was founded in 1775, and Ohio in 1788. In 1840 +the population of Kentucky was 779,828, while that of Ohio was +1,519,467--nearly double that of the former. By this time it is far +more than double. + +"Upon the left bank of the Ohio," continues De Tocqueville, "labour is +confounded with the idea of slavery; upon the right bank it is +identified with that of prosperity and improvement: on the one side it +is degraded, on the other it is honoured. On the former territory no +white labourers can be found, for they would be afraid of assimilating +themselves to the negroes; on the latter no one is idle, for the white +population extends its activity and its intelligence to every kind of +improvement. Thus the men whose task it is to cultivate the rich soil +of Kentucky are ignorant and lukewarm; while those who are active and +enlightened either do nothing or pass over into the State of Ohio, +where they may work without dishonour." + +March the 9th was a dull day; but the scenery was of surpassing beauty. +At night a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with +rain, compelled us to "lie to." A charming morning succeeded. During +the forenoon, we passed a small town on the Virginia side called +Elizabeth Town. An Indian mound was pointed out to me, which in size +and shape resembled "Tomen y Bala" in North Wales. These artificial +mounds are very numerous in the valleys of the Ohio and the +Mississippi. The ancient relics they are sometimes found to contain +afford abundant proofs that these fertile regions were once peopled by +a race of men in a far higher state of civilization than the Indians +when first discovered by the white man. The innocent and imaginative +speculations of a Christian minister in the State of Ohio on these +ancient remains laid the foundation of the curious book of "Mormon." + +Nature being now arrayed in her winter dress, we could form but a faint +conception of her summer loveliness when clothed in her gayest green. +Hills were seen rising up, sometimes almost perpendicularly from the +stream, and sometimes skirted with fertile fields extending to the +river's edge. Here a house on the brow of a hill, and there another at +its base. Here the humble log hut, and there the elegant mansion, and +sometimes both in unequal juxtaposition. The hills are in parts +scolloped in continuous succession, presenting a beautiful display of +unity and diversity combined; but often they appear in isolated and +distinct grandeur, like a row of semi-globes; while, in other +instances, they rise one above another like apples in a fruit-vase. +Sometimes the rivulets are seen like silver cords falling +perpendicularly into the river; at other times, you discern them only +by their musical murmurs as they roll on through deep ravines formed by +their own action. These hills, for more than 100 miles before you come +to Pittsburg, are literally heaps of coal. In height they vary from 100 +to 500 feet, and nothing more is required than to clear off the soil, +and then dig away the treasure. + +What struck me most was the immense number of children everywhere +gazing upon us from the river's banks. At settlements of not more than +half-a-dozen houses, I counted a groupe of more than twenty children. + + + + +LETTER XXIII. + +Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance--Newspapers +--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the +Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of +America. + + +Arriving at Pittsburg in the middle of the night of the 10th of March, +we remained on board till morning. As we had been accustomed on this +"Clipper No. 2" to breakfast at half-past 7, I thought they surely +would not send us empty away. But no! we had to turn out at that early +hour of a morning piercingly cold, and get a breakfast where we could, +or remain without. This was "clipping" us rather too closely, after we +had paid seven dollars each for our passage and provisions. + +Pittsburg is in the State of Pennsylvania. Its progress has been rapid, +and its prospects are bright. Seventy years ago the ground on which it +stands was a wilderness, the abode of wild beasts and the hunting +ground of Indians. Its manufactures are chiefly those of glass, iron, +and cotton. It is the Birmingham of America. Indeed one part of it, +across the river, is called "Birmingham," and bids fair to rival its +old namesake. Its advantages and resources are unparalleled. It +occupies in reference to the United States, north and south, east and +west, a perfectly central position. It is surrounded with, solid +mountains of coal, which--dug out, as I have intimated, with the +greatest ease--is conveyed with equal ease down inclined planes to the +very furnace mouths of the foundries and factories! This great workshop +communicates directly, by means of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Red +River, &c., with immense countries, extending to Texas, to Mexico, and +to the Gulph. Its population, already 70,000, is (I believe) +incomparably more intelligent, more temperate, more religious, and more +steady than that of any manufacturing town in England. In fact, England +has not much chance of competing successfully with America, unless her +artizans copy more extensively the example of the American people in +the entire abandonment of intoxicating liquors. In travelling leisurely +from New Orleans to Boston (the whole length of the United States), and +sitting down at all sorts of tables, on land and on water, private and +public, I have never once seen even wine brought to the table. Nothing +but water was universally used! + +At Pittsburg I bought three good-sized newspapers for 5 cents, or +twopence-halfpenny. One of them, _The Daily Morning Post_, was a large +sheet, measuring 3 feet by 2, and well filled on both sides with close +letter-press, for 2 cents, or one penny. The absence of duty on paper +and of newspaper stamps is no doubt one great cause of the advanced +intelligence of the mass of the American people. What an absurd policy +is that of the British Government, first to impose taxes upon +_knowledge_, and then to use the money in promoting _education_! + +At Pittsburg the Ohio ends, or rather begins, by the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers. We ascended the latter to +Brownsville, about 56 miles. Having booked ourselves at an office, we +had to get into a smaller steamer on the other side of the bridge which +spans the river. The entire charge to Philadelphia was 12 dollars each. +We went by the "Consul," at half-past 8 A.M. of the 11th of March. The +water was very high, as had been the case in the Ohio all the way from +Cincinnati. We had not proceeded far when I found the passengers +a-stir, as if they had got to their journey's end. What was the matter? +Why, we had come to falls, which it was very doubtful whether the +steamer could get over. The passengers were soon landed, and the +steamer, with the crew, left to attempt the ascent. There were locks at +hand by which, under ordinary circumstances, boats evaded the +difficulty; but the flood was now so great that they could not be used. +Our steamer, therefore, stirred up her fires, raised her steam, brought +all her powers to bear, faced the difficulty, dashed into it, cut +along, and set at defiance the fury of the flood. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--"No!"--"She's at a stand,"--the next moment she +was gliding back with the torrent: she had failed! But _nil +desperandum_. "Try--try--try again!" An immense volume of smoke issued +from her chimney, and soon she seemed again to be fully inflated with +her vapoury aliment. I expected every moment an explosion, and, while +rejoicing in our own safety on _terra firma_, felt tremblingly anxious +for the lives of those on board. Having had sufficient time to "recover +strength," she made for the foaming surge once more. "There she +goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--she paused--but it was only for the twinkling of +an eye,--the next moment she was over, and the bank's of the +Monongahela resounded with the joyful shouts of the gazing passengers. +We now breathed more freely, and were soon on board again; but we had +not advanced very far before we had to get out once more, in +consequence of other falls, which were stemmed with the same +inconvenience, the same anxiety, and the same success as in the +preceding instance. + +But ere long an obstacle more formidable than the falls presented +itself--a bridge across the river. This bridge the boats were +accustomed to pass under, but the water was now so high that it could +not be done; and we had to wait till another boat belonging to the same +company, above the bridge, came down from Brownsville, and enabled us +to effect an exchange of passengers; for neither of the boats could get +under the bridge. The down boat soon made its appearance; and a scene +of confusion ensued which I know not how to describe. Imagine two sets +of passengers, about 150 persons in each set, exchanging boats! Three +hundred travellers jostling against each other, with "plunder" +amounting to some thousands of packages, to be removed a distance of +300 or 400 yards, at the risk and responsibility of the owners, without +any care or concern on the part of the officers of the boats! Trunks +seemed to run on wheels, carpet-bags to have wings, and portmanteaus to +jump about like grasshoppers. If you had put down one article while +looking for the rest, in an instant it would be gone. In this amusing +scuffle were involved several members of Congress, returning in the +"down" boat from their legislative duties. The celebrated Judge M'Lean +was among them. But the safety of some box or parcel was just then--to +most of us--of more importance than all the great men in the world. The +baggage storm being over, and the great division and trans-shipment +effected, we moved forward in peace. By-and-by, however, each one was +called upon to show his baggage, that it might be set apart for the +particular coach to which it would have to be consigned. This was a +most troublesome affair. At half-past 6 in the evening we arrived at +Brownsville, having been ten hours in getting over the 56 miles from +Pittsburg. + +And now for the stage-coaches; for, _nolens volens_, "a-head" we must +go that very night. About seven or eight coaches were filled by those +of our fellow-passengers who, like ourselves, were going to cross the +mountains. Some of the vehicles set off immediately; but three waited +to let their passengers get tea or supper, meals which in America are +identical. About 8 P.M. we started on our cold and dreary journey of 73 +miles across the Alleghany Mountains. A stage-coach in America is a +very different thing from the beautiful machine that used to pass by +that name in England. + +It has no outside accommodation, except for one person on the box along +with the driver. The inside, in addition to the fore seat and the hind +seat, has also a middle seat across the vehicle. Each of these three +seats holds three persons, making nine in all. In our stage we had ten +persons; but the ten, in a pecuniary point of view, were only eight and +a half. The night was fearfully dark, and the roads were altogether +unworthy of the name. Yet there is an immense traffic on this route, +which is the highway from East to West. The Americans, with all their +"smartness," have not the knack of making either good roads or good +streets. About 11 P.M. we arrived at Uniontown, 12 miles from +Brownsville. There the horses were to be changed, an operation which +took about an hour to accomplish. Three coaches were there together. +The passengers rushed out of the inn, where we had been warming +ourselves, and jumped into the coaches. Crack went the whips, off went +the horses, and round went the wheels. But, alas! while we could hear +the rattling of the other coaches, our own moved not at all! "Driver, +why don't you be off?" No answer. "Driver, push on." No reply. "Go +a-head, driver,--don't keep us here all night." No notice taken. We +began to thump and stamp. No response. At last I put my head out +through the window. There _was_ no driver; and, worse still, there were +no horses! How was this? There was no "team," we were told, for our +coach! I jumped out, and began to make diligent inquiry: one told me +one thing, and another another. At length I learned that there was a +"team" in the stable, but there was no driver disposed to go. The one +who should have taken us was cursing and swearing in bed, and would not +get up. This was provoking enough. "Where is the agent of the +stage-coach company?"--"He lives about 47 miles off." "Where is the +landlord of this house?"--"He is in bed." There we were helpless and +deserted on the highroad, between 12 and 1 o'clock, in an extremely +cold night, without any redress or any opportunity of appeal! It was +nobody's business to care for us. I groped my way, however, to some +outbuilding, where about half-a-dozen drivers were snoring in their +beds, and, with the promise of making it "worth his while," succeeded +in inducing one of them to get up and take us to the next place for +changing horses. But before we could get off it was 2 o'clock in the +morning. We reached the next station, a distance of 10 miles, at 5 +P.M., and paid our driver two dollars. In America drivers are not +accustomed to receive gratuities from passengers, but ours was a +peculiar case. After a most wearisome day of travel, being tossed about +in the coach like balls, expecting every moment to be upset, and +feeling bruised all over, we reached Cumberland at 9 P.M., having been +25 hours in getting over 73 miles, at the amazing rate of 3 miles an +hour! In Cumberland we had to stay all night. + +At 8 A.M. the next day we set off by railway, or (as the Americans +would say) "by the cars," to Baltimore. In committing my trunk to the +luggage-van, I was struck with the simplicity and suitableness of the +check system there adopted. A piece of tin, with a certain number upon +it, was fastened by a strap to each article of baggage, and a duplicate +piece given to the passenger. I also remarked the size, shape, and +fittings-up of the cars. They are from 30 to 50 feet long, having an +aisle right through the middle from end to end, and on each side of +that aisle rows of seats, each of sufficient length to accommodate two +persons. The arrangement reminded me of a little country meeting-house, +the congregation amounting to from 50 to 100 persons. Each carriage +contained a stove,--at that season a most important article of +furniture. The seats, which were very nicely cushioned, had their hacks +so arranged as that the passengers could easily turn them as they +pleased, and sit with either their faces or their backs "towards the +horses" as they might feel disposed. This part of the arrangement is +indispensable, as these long carriages can never be turned. The hind +part in coming is the fore part in going, and _vice versa_. The +distinctions of first, second, and third class carriages are unknown. +That would be too aristocratic. But the "niggers" must go into the +luggage-van. These republican carriages are very neatly fitted up, +being mostly of mahogany with crimson velvet linings; but you often +feel annoyed that such dirty people should get in. + + + + +LETTER XXIV. + +Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage +--A Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and +Dr. Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr Plummer's Pro slavery +Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church. + + +The railway from Cumberland to Baltimore is 178 miles long, and (like +most lines in the States) is single. This fact is important, for our +cousins, in boasting of the hundreds or thousands of miles of railway +they have constructed, forget to tell us that they are nearly all +single. Here and there they have a double set of rails, like our +sidings, to enable trains to pass each other. + +The ground was covered with snow, otherwise the scenery would have been +magnificent. For a long time the Potomac was our companion. More than +once we had to cross the stream on wooden bridges; so that we had it +sometimes on our right and sometimes on our left, ourselves being +alternately in Virginia and in Maryland. When within 14 miles of +Baltimore, and already benighted, we were told we could not proceed, on +account of some accident to a luggage-tram that was coming up. The +engine, or (as the Americans invariably say) the "locomotive," had got +off the rail, and torn up the ground in a frightful manner; but no one +was hurt. We were detained for 7 hours; and instead of getting into +Baltimore at 8 P.M., making an average of about 15 miles an hour, which +was the utmost we had been led to expect, we did not get there till 3 +A.M., bringing our average rate per hour down to about 9-1/2 miles. The +tediousness of the delay was considerably relieved by a man sitting +beside me avowing himself a thorough Abolitionist, and a hearty friend +of the coloured race. He spoke out his sentiments openly and +fearlessly, and was quite a match for any one that dared to assail him. +His name was Daniel Carmichael, of Brooklyn. He is a great railway and +canal contractor, and has generally in his employ from 500 to 800 +people. He is also a very zealous "teetotaler." We had also a _Mrs. +Malaprop_, from Baltimore, with us, who told us, among other marvellous +things, that in that city they took the _senses_ (census) of the people +every month. She was very anxious to let all around her know that her +husband was a medical man: she therefore wondered what "the Doctor" was +then doing, what "the Doctor" thought of the non-arrival of the train, +whether "the Doctor" would be waiting for her at the station, and +whether "the Doctor" would bring his own carriage, or hire one, to meet +her, &c. + +March 14.--The day on which we arrived at Baltimore was the Sabbath. In +a public room in the National Hotel, at which we were stopping, was +hung up a nicely-framed announcement of the order of services in one of +the Presbyterian Churches. We wished, however, to find a Congregational +place of worship, and set off with that view. It was a beautiful day, +and Baltimore seemed to send forth its inhabitants by streets-full to +the various churches. In the _Old_ World I never saw anything like it, +nor elsewhere in the _New_, except perhaps at Boston. All secular +engagements seemed to be entirely suspended, and the whole city seemed +to enjoy a Sabbath! As we walked along, I asked a young man if he could +direct me to a Congregational church. He stared at me for a moment, and +then said, "Do you mean a church with pews in it?" I asked another, +"Can you tell me where I shall find a Congregational church in this +city?"--"What congregation do you mean, sir?" was the reply. They +evidently knew nothing at all about Congregationalism. The fact was, as +I afterwards understood, we had not yet come into its latitude; for in +America Presbyterianism and Congregationalism have hitherto been +matters of latitude and longitude rather than of earnest conviction and +firm adherence. We now inquired for a _Presbyterian_ church, and were +told that there was one not far from where we then stood, in which Mr. +Plummer--a very popular minister just come into the city--preached. +Following the directions given, we came to a certain church, in front +of which two or three grave men stood talking to each other. In answer +to the question, "What church is this?" one of these grave men said, +with a good broad Scotch accent, "It's a Presbyterian church." The +accent gave a double confirmation to the answer. "Is it Mr. Plummer's +church?" I continued. With the same accent, and in a tone of gentle +rebuke, I was told, "Yes, it is _Doctor_ Plummer's." We entered. The +congregation were assembling. We were left either to stand in the aisle +or to take a seat as we pleased. We preferred the latter. The building +was new, but built in the old Gothic style. The pews, the pulpit, the +front of the gallery, the organ, and the framework of the roof, which +was all exposed, were of oak, which had been made to resemble in colour +wood that has stood the test of 400 or 500 years. The windows also were +darkened. The whole affair was tremendously heavy, enough to mesmerize +any one. The congregation was large, respectable, and decorous. After a +few glances around, to see if there was a negro pew anywhere, I +observed several coloured faces peeping from a recess in the gallery, +on the left side of the organ,--there was the "Negro Pew," In due time +_Doctor_ Plummer ascended the pulpit. He was a fine tall man, +grey-haired, well dressed, with commanding aspect and a powerful voice. +I ceased to wonder at the emphasis with which the Scotchman called him +_Doctor_ Plummer. He was quite the _ideal_ of a _Doctor_. His text was +John iii. 18: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that +believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the +name of the only begotten Son of God." His subject was, that "man is +justly accountable to God for his belief." This truth he handled in a +masterly manner, tossing about as with a giant's arm Lord Brougham and +the Universalists. Notwithstanding my want of rest on the previous +night, the absurd heaviness of the building, and the fact that the +sermon--which occupied a full hour--was all read, I listened with +almost breathless attention, and was sorry when he had done. + +And who was this Dr. Plummer? It was Dr. Plummer late of Richmond, in +Virginia. "Richmond," says Dr. Reed, "is still the great mart of +slavery; and the interests of morality and religion suffer from this +cause. Several persons of the greatest wealth, and therefore of the +greatest consideration in the town, are known slave-dealers; and their +influence, in addition to the actual traffic, is of course +unfavourable. The sale of slaves is as common, and produces as little +sensation, as that of cattle. It occurs in the main street, and before +the door of the party who is commissioned to make the sale." And what +was the conduct of this Doctor of Divinity in reference to this state +of things? He sanctioned it! He pleaded for it! He lived upon it! He +was once actually supported, either wholly or in part, by slave labour! +The church of which he was the pastor was endowed with a number of +slaves. These slaves were hired out, and the proceeds were given in the +way of stipend to the _Doctor_! Nor is this all. A few years ago the +slave-holders of the South were greatly alarmed by the vigorous efforts +of the Abolitionists of the North. It was about the time that the +Charleston Post-office was plundered by a mob of several thousand +people, and all the anti-slavery publications there found were made a +bonfire of in the street; and where "the clergy of all denominations +attended in a body, lending their sanction to the proceedings, and +adding by their presence to the impressive character of the scene." On +that occasion the clergy of the city of Richmond were not less prompt +than their brethren of Charleston in responding to the "public +sentiment."' They resolved _unanimously_,-- + +"That we earnestly deprecate the unwarrantable and highly improper +interference of the people of any other State with the domestic +relations of master and slave. + +"That the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles, in not +interfering with the question of slavery, but uniformly recognising the +relations of master and servant, and giving full and affectionate +instruction to both, is worthy the imitation of all ministers of the +Gospel. + +"That we will not patronise nor receive any pamphlet or newspaper of +the Anti-slavery Societies, and that we will discountenance the +circulation of all such papers in the community. + +"That the suspicions which have prevailed to a considerable extent +against ministers of the Gospel and professors of religion in the State +of Virginia, as identified with Abolitionists, are _wholly unmerited_; +believing as we do, from extensive acquaintance with our churches and +brethren, that they are unanimous in opposing the pernicious schemes of +Abolitionists." + +After this, are men to be branded as "infidels," because they say the +American churches are the "bulwarks of slavery?" + +But what has all this to do with our fine-looking and dignified +"_Doctor_?" I will tell you. When these resolutions were passed, he was +from home; but on his return, he lost no time in communicating to the +"Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence" his entire concurrence +with what had been done,--and here are extracts from his letter:-- + +"I have carefully watched this matter from its earliest existence; and +everything I have seen or heard of its character, both from its patrons +and its enemies, has confirmed me beyond repentance in the belief, +that, let the character of the Abolitionists be what it may in the +sight of the Judge of all the earth, this is the most meddlesome, +impudent, reckless, fierce, and wicked excitement I ever saw. + +"If Abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but right that +they should receive the _first warming at the fire_. + +"Let it be proclaimed throughout the nation, that every movement made +by the fanatics (so far as it has any effect in the South) does but +rivet every fetter of the bondman, and diminish the probability of +anything being successfully undertaken for making him either fit for +freedom or likely to obtain it. We have the authority of Montesquieu, +Burke, and Coleridge, three eminent masters of the science of human +nature, that, of all men, slave-holders are the most jealous of their +liberties. One of Pennsylvania's most gifted sons has lately pronounced +the South the _cradle of liberty_. + +"Lastly. Abolitionists are like infidels, wholly unaddicted to +martyrdom for opinion's sake. Let them understand that _they will be +caught_ [lynched] if they come among us, and they will take good heed +to keep out of our way. There is not one man among them who has any +more idea of shedding his blood in the cause, than he has of making war +on the Grand Turk." + +So much for my splendid D.D., on whose lips I hung with such intense +interest. I did not know all this at the time, or I should have felt +very differently. As he had but recently left Richmond when I saw him, +it is not at all unlikely that those fine clothes he had on were the +fruit of the slave's unrequited toil. He has always, I believe, stood +high among his brethren, and one or two excellent tracts of his are +published by the American Tract Society. + +All denominations are here alike guilty in reference to their coloured +brethren. In this very city the General Conference of the Methodist +Episcopal Church for 1840 passed the following resolution:-- + +"That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher to permit +coloured persons to give testimony against white persons in any State +where they are denied that privilege by law." + +Against this iniquitous resolution the official members of two of the +coloured Methodist Episcopal Churches in Baltimore immediately +remonstrated and petitioned. The following powerful and pathetic +passages are from their address:-- + +"The adoption of such a resolution by our highest ecclesiastical +judicatory,--a judicatory composed of the most experienced and the +wisest brethren in the Church, the choice selection of twenty-eight +Annual Conferences,--has inflicted, we fear, an irreparable injury upon +eighty thousand souls for whom Christ died,--souls who, by this act of +your body, have been stripped of the dignity of Christians, degraded in +the scale of humanity, and treated as criminals, for no other reason +than the colour of their skin! Your resolution has, in our humble +opinion, _virtually_ declared that a mere physical peculiarity, the +handiwork of our all-wise and benevolent Creator, is _prima facie_ +evidence of incompetency to tell the truth, or is an unerring +indication of unworthiness to bear testimony against a fellow-being +whose skin is denominated white. * * * + +"Brethren, out of the abundance of the heart we have spoken. _Our +grievance is before you_! If you have any regard for the salvation of +the eighty thousand immortal souls committed to your care,--if you +would not _thrust_ beyond the pale of the Church _twenty-five thousand +souls in this city_, who have felt determined never to leave the Church +that has nourished and brought them up,--if you regard us as children +of one Common Father, and can upon reflection sympathize with us as +members of the body of Christ,--if you would not incur the fearful, the +tremendous responsibility of offending not only one, but many thousands +of his 'little ones,'--we conjure you to wipe from your journal the +odious resolution which is ruining our people." + +This address was presented to one of the Secretaries, a delegate of the +Baltimore Conference, and subsequently given by him to the Bishops. How +many of the members of Conference saw it, is unknown. One thing is +certain, _it was never read to the Conference_. + + + + +LETTER XXV. + +A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The +Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore +--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak +Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery +--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will. + + +In the afternoon of my first Sabbath at Baltimore I found, after much +inquiry, a congregation of coloured people, who were some sort of +Methodists. My wife and I were the only white people in the place. We +were treated with great politeness, and put, not in a pew apart by +ourselves, but in one of the best places they could find, in the very +midst of the congregation. A serious-looking coloured man opened the +service, with great propriety of manner and expression. He was the +regular pastor. A black man, a stranger as I understood, preached. His +text (he said) was, "Behold, I come quickly;" and they would find it in +the Book of Revelation. But chapter and verse were not given, nor had +he the Bible open in Revelation at all. I suspected that he could not +read; and that suspicion was confirmed by the amount of nonsense which +he soon uttered. At first his words were "few and far between," uttered +in a tone of voice scarcely audible. Soon, however, he worked both +himself and his audience into a tremendous phrenzy. The burden of his +song was--how John had lived to a very great age, in spite of all +attempts to put him to death; how his enemies had at last decided to +try the plan of throwing him into a "kittle of biling ile;" how God had +said to him, "Never mind, John,--if they throw thee into that kittle, +I'll go there with thee,--they shall bile me too;" how John was +therefore taken up alive; and how his persecutors, baffled in all their +efforts to despatch him, ultimately determined to throw their victim +upon a desolate island, and leave him there to live or perish as he +might. During the delivery of all this nonsense, the laughing, the +shouting, the groaning, and the jumping were positively terrific. It +was Methodism gone mad. How disgraceful, that American Christians, so +called, with all their schools and colleges, and with all their efforts +to send the Gospel to Africa, should leave these people at their very +doors thus to feed upon "husks" and "ashes!" Between 500 and 600 people +were listening to this ignorant man, giving as the pure and positive +word of God what was of very doubtful authority, intermingled with the +crudities of his own brain. I wished to stay through the service, and +perhaps at the close express my fraternal feelings; but I was so +shocked and grieved at this ranting exhibition that I felt it +unwarrantable to remain. + +Leaving these unfortunate people, we peeped into two cathedral +churches,--that of the Church of England, or (as it is here called) the +Protestant Episcopal Church, and that of the Church of Rome. Both +buildings are very splendid. We had been in the former some time before +we felt quite sure that we were not in a Popish place of worship, so +papistical were its aspect and arrangements. It was evident that +Puseyism, or Popery in some form, had there its throne and its sceptre. +The avowedly Popish cathedral was crowded with worshippers; and, to the +shame of Protestantism be it spoken, black and coloured people were +_there_ seen intermingled with the whites in the performance of their +religious ceremonies! The State of Maryland, of which Baltimore is the +capital, having been first settled by a colony of Roman Catholics, +might be expected to be a stronghold of Popery. Yet, it is not so. The +adherents of that system are but a small minority of the population. + +Baltimore is, however, a stronghold of slavery. Here Garrison's +indignation against the system was first kindled--here Frederick +Douglas tasted some of its bitter draughts--and here Torrey died its +victim. The following are specimens of the manner in which the trade in +human flesh is carried on in this city:-- + +"NEGROES WANTED.--I have removed from my former residence. West +Pratt-street, to my new establishment on Camden-street, immediately in +the rear of the Railroad Depot, where I am permanently located. Persons +bringing Negroes by the cars will find it very convenient, as it is +only a few yards from where the passengers get out. Those having +Negroes for sale will find it to their advantage to call and see me, as +I am at all times paying the highest prices in cash. + +"J. S. DONOVAN, Balt. Md." + +"o28--6m*." + +"CASH FOR FIVE HUNDRED NEGROES.--At the old establishment of Slatter's, +No. 244, Pratt-street, Baltimore, between Sharp and Howard Streets, +where the highest prices are paid, which is well known. We have large +accommodations for Negroes, and always buying. Being regular shippers +to New Orleans, persons should bring their property where no +commissions are paid, as the owners lose it. All communications +attended to promptly by addressing + +"H. F. SLATTER." + +"j5--6m*." + +Before and since my arrival in the United States, I had thought much of +seeing Washington, and, if possible, Congress in session. But such was +the severity of the weather that we could not cross the Alleghanies +before that assembly had risen and dispersed. At Baltimore I was within +two hours' journey of the capital. Should I go and see it? No; for what +can _there_ be found to gratify the friend of freedom and of man? The +Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, are +all associated with Washington. The capital itself is but a great +slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and +auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice, +wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front +the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are +endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among +these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the +influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting +Washington. + +At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia. +While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at +the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable +coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of +course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them, +though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to +whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat. +But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and +dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference +between the railway economy of England and that of America. In the +former, as you know, the railway is haughty, exclusive, and +aristocratic. It scorns all fellowship with common roads, and dashes +on, either under or over the houses, with arbitrary indifference. In +America, it generally condescends to pass along the public streets to +the very centre of the city, the engine being taken off or put to in +the suburbs, and its place _intra muros_, if I may so say, supplied by +horses. In leaving Baltimore, the engine was attached _before_ we got +quite out of the city; and we were going for some time along the common +road, meeting in one place a horse and cart, in another a man on +horseback, in another a pair of oxen fastened to each other, and so on. +Dangerous enough, apparently! yet railway accidents are much less +frequent in America than in England. It is, besides, an immense saving +of capital. + +In our progress, we had to cross several arms of the Chesapeak Bay. +These arms were from one to two miles wide, and the railway is carried +over them upon posts driven into the ground. It seemed like crossing +the sea in a railway carriage. At Havre de Grace we had to cross the +Susquehannah River. This word Susquehannah is Indian, and means +literally, I am told, "the rolling thunder." In crossing it, however, +we heard no thunder, except that of the luggage-van over our heads, on +the top of the steamer. Here we changed carriages. We soon got sight of +the Delaware, which kept us company nearly all the way to Philadelphia. +Delaware, the smallest of all the States except Rhode Island, we +entirely crossed. A few days before, Delaware had well nigh done +herself great honour. Her House of Representatives carried, by a +majority, a vote for the abolition of slavery within her boundaries; +but the measure was lost in her Senate by a majority of one or two. The +State legislature will not meet again for two years. All parties are +confident that the measure will then be triumphantly carried through. +In America, however, the abolition of slavery in any State does not +always mean freedom to the slaves. Too often it is a mere +transportation of them to the Southern States. Had Delaware passed a +law that all slaves should he free at the expiration of five years, or +that all children born after a certain period should he free, the +owners of slaves would have had an obvious interest in disposing of +their human property to the Southern traders _before_ that period +arrived. Mothers, too, would have been hastened Southward to give birth +to their offspring; so that the "peculiar institution" might lose none +of its prey. Measures for the abolition of slavery in any part of +America do not arise from sympathy with the negro, and from a wish to +improve his condition and promote his happiness, but from aversion to +his presence, or perhaps from a conviction that the system of slavery +is expensive and impolitic. Those who feel kindly towards their +coloured brother, and act towards him under the impulse of pure and +lofty philanthropy, are, I am sorry to say, very few indeed. + +These views may appear severe and uncharitable towards the American +people, but they are confirmed by M. de Tocqueville. "When a Northern +State declared that the son of the slave should be born free," observes +that impartial writer, "the slave lost a large portion of his market +value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and +the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South. +Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the +Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. The want +of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves +decreases. But, in proportion as labour is performed by free hands, +slave labour becomes less productive; and the slave is then a useless +or an onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those +Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. _Thus +the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free: it merely +transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the +South_." M. de Tocqueville adds, in a note, "The States in which +slavery is abolished usually do what they can to render their territory +disagreeable to the negroes as a place of residence; and as a kind of +emulation exists between the different States in this respect, the +unhappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset +them." This is perfectly true. + +Crossing the Schuilkyl, we arrived about 3 o'clock P. M. in +Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love," having performed the +journey of 97 miles in six hours, a rate of only 16 miles an hour! + +In Philadelphia were many men and things that I wished to see. First +and foremost, in my professional curiosity, was Albert Barnes; but +being anxious to push on to New York that night, I had but an hour and +a half to stay. Of a sight of the famous author of the "Notes," I was +therefore compelled to deny myself. My regret was diminished, when I +learned from an English minister of high standing, who, under the +influence of the best feelings, and with an excellent introduction, had +called upon the Commentator, that he received him with a degree of +indifference bordering on rudeness. + +In Philadelphia there is no Congregational Church. A few years ago John +Todd, the well-known author of "The Student's Guide," attempted to +raise one. He was but little countenanced, however, by Albert Barnes +and the Presbyterians, and failed. + +In passing through this city, I had a distant glimpse of a most +remarkable institution. M. Girard, an old bachelor, a native of France, +who had accumulated immense wealth, died a few years ago, leaving by +will the enormous sum of two millions of dollars, or upwards of four +hundred thousand pounds sterling, to erect and endow a college for the +accommodation and education of three hundred orphan boys. The ground on +which it was to be built, consisting of no less than 45 acres, he +ordered to be enclosed with a high solid wall, capped with marble, and +lined upon the top with long iron spikes. He also inserted in his will +the following extraordinary clause: "I enjoin and require that no +ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever, shall ever +hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college; nor +shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a +visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purpose of said +college." An attempt was made before the Supreme Court of the United +States to set aside this will, and Daniel Webster, the great New +England barrister, delivered a powerful "plea" against it; but the +attempt was overruled. For some years the building has been slowly +proceeding, and is not yet ready for occupation. Had I had time, I +could not, being a minister, have entered the premises. To me, and to +all like me, "_Procul, procul, este, profani_" is chiselled on every +stone!--a singular monument of the priest-hating propensities of the +old French Revolutionists. + + + + +LETTER XXVI. + +Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The +Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred +Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private +Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging-houses--A Lecture on +Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church. + + +At half-past 4 in the afternoon of March 15 we left Philadelphia by +railway for New York, which we reached at 10 P.M., an average again of +about 16 miles an hour. In this journey I met with a very communicative +Yankee, who, though not a religious man, was proud to trace his +genealogy to the "Pilgrim Fathers," and, through them, to the Normans. +Intercourse, he said, had been maintained for the last two centuries +between the English and American branches of the family. He also took +care to inform me that the head of the English branch was a baronet. +This was but one of many instances in which I found among our +Transatlantic friends a deep idolatry of rank and titles. In talking of +their own political institutions, he declared their last two Presidents +to have been--the one a fool, and the other a knave,--Polk the fool, +and Tyler the knave. He entertained an insane and cruel prejudice +against those whose skin was not exactly of the same colour with his +own, and "thanked God" that he had no African blood in his veins. + +We passed through Trenton, celebrated as the scene of a bloody conflict +between the British and the American forces. The Americans, I am sorry +to say, dwell too fondly on the remembrance of those deadly struggles. +They cherish the spirit of war. The influence of Elihu Burritt and his +"bond of brotherhood" is indeed greatly needed on both sides of the +Atlantic. + +We also passed what once was the residence of ex-royalty--the princely +mansion which Joseph Bonaparte erected for himself after he lost the +throne of Spain. It is surrounded with about 900 acres of land, his own +private property; and was still in the family, though about to be sold. +What a home has America proved both to fallen greatness and to +struggling poverty! Princes and peasants alike find shelter here. + +This journey conducted us through New Brunswick, Elizabeth Town, +Newark,--places associated with the name of David Brainerd, and often +(a hundred years ago) the scenes of his toils and travels. But where +are the descendants of those Indians on whose behalf he felt such +intense solicitude? Alas! not a vestige of them is to be seen. + +Having thus crossed New Jersey State, we came to New Jersey city, where +we crossed a ferry to New York. After rather more than the usual amount +of anxiety about baggage, &c., we reached the Planter's Hotel a little +after 10 at night. + +Next morning I sallied forth to gaze, for the first time, at the +wonders of New York. The state of the streets impressed me +unfavourably. The pigs were in the enjoyment of the same unstinted +liberty as at Cincinnati. Merchants and storekeepers spread their goods +over the entire breadth of the causeway, and some even to the very +middle of the street. Slops of all sorts, and from all parts of the +houses, were emptied into the street before the front doors! The ashes +were disposed of in a very peculiar manner. Each house had, on the edge +of the parapet opposite, an old flour-barrel, or something of the sort, +into which were thrown ashes, sweepings, fish-bones, dead rats, and all +kinds of refuse. A dead rat very frequently garnished the top of the +barrel. This was the order of things, not in small by-streets only, but +also in the very best streets, and before the very best houses. The +pavement too, even in Broadway, was in a very wretched state. + +I made for No. 150, Nassau-street, where the Tract Society, the Home +Missionary Society, and the Foreign Missionary Society have their +rooms. To some parties in that house I had introductions. The brethren +connected with those societies treated me with great kindness and +cordiality, and made me feel as though I had been in our own missionary +rooms in Blomfield-street. By their aid I obtained private lodgings, in +a good situation and in good society. + +The landlady was a Quaker, with half-a-dozen grown-up daughters. Our +fellow-lodgers consisted of the Rev. A.E. Lawrence, Assistant-Secretary +of the American Home Missionary Society (who had a few months before +become the landlady's son-in-law); the Rev. Mr. Martyn, and his wife, a +woman of fine talents, and editor of "The Ladies' Wreath;" the Rev. Mr. +Brace, an editor in the employ of the Tract Society; Mr. Daniel Breed, +M.D., a Quaker, and principal of a private academy for young gentlemen +(also the landlady's son-in-law); Mr. Oliver Johnson, a sub-editor of +the _Daily Tribune_, and a well-known Abolitionist; and Mr. Lockwood, a +retired grocer,--who, having gained a small independence, was thus +enjoying it with his youthful wife and child in lodgings. + +Into society better adapted to my taste and purposes I could not have +gone. This mode of life is very extensively adopted in America, +--married couples, with families, living in this manner for +years, without the least loss of respectability. They seldom have +sitting-rooms distinct from their bed-rooms, which are made to answer +both purposes; and as to meals, all meet to eat the same things, at the +same table, and at the same time. The custom is economical; but it has +an injurious effect upon character, especially in the case of the +women. The young wife, not being called upon to exercise herself in +domestic economy, is apt to become idle, slovenly, and--in a certain +sense--worthless. The softening associations and influences, and even +the endearments, of "home," are lost. There is no _domesticity_. + +In the evening of the 17th I went to the Broadway Tabernacle, to hear a +lecture on Astronomy from Professor Mitchell of Cincinnati, no ordinary +man. Although the admission fee was half-a-dollar, upwards of a +thousand persons were present. Without either diagrams or notes, the +accomplished lecturer kept his audience in breathless attention for +upwards of an hour. He seemed to be a devout, unassuming man, and threw +a flood of light on every subject he touched. His theme was the recent +discovery of the Leverrier planet; and perhaps you will not be +displeased if I give you a summary of his lucid observations. In +observing how the fluctuations of the planet Herschel had ultimately +led to this discovery, he said: + +"For a long time no mind dared to touch the problem. At length a young +astronomer rises, unknown to fame, but with a mind capable of grasping +all the difficulties involved in any of these questions. I refer of +course to LEVERRIER. He began by taking up the movements of Mercury. He +was dissatisfied with the old computations and the old tables; and he +ventured to begin anew, and to compute an entirely new set of tables. +With these new tables, he predicted the _precise instant_ when the +planet Mercury, on the 18th of May, 1845, would touch the sun, and +sweep across it. The time rolls round when the planet is to be seen, +and his prediction verified or confuted. The day arrives, but, alas! +for the computer, the clouds let down their dark curtains, and veil the +sun from his sight. Our own Observatory had just been finished; and if +the audience will permit, I will state briefly my own observations upon +the planet. I had ten long years been toiling. I had commenced what +appeared to be a hopeless enterprise. But finally I saw the building +finished. I saw this mighty telescope erected,--I had adjusted it with +my own hands,--I had computed the precise time when the planet would +come in contact with the sun's disk, and the precise point where the +contact would take place; but when it is remembered that only about the +thousandth part of the sun's disk enters upon the field of the +telescope, the importance of directing the instrument to the right +point will be realized. Five minutes before the computed time of the +contact, I took my place at the instrument. The beautiful machinery +that carries the telescope with the sun was set in motion, and the +instrument directed to that part of the sun's disk at which it was +anticipated the contact would take place. And there I sat, with +feelings which no one in this audience can realize. It was my first +effort. All had been done by myself. After remaining there for what +seemed to be long hours, I inquired of my assistant how much longer I +would have to wait. I was answered _four minutes_. I kept my place for +what seemed an age, and again inquired as before. He told me that but +one minute had rolled by. It seemed as if time had folded his wings, so +slowly did the moments crawl on. I watched on till I was told that but +one minute remained; and, within sixteen seconds of the time, I had the +almost bewildering gratification of seeing the planet break the +contact, and slowly move on till it buried itself round and deep and +sharp in the sun. + +"I refer to this fact for two reasons,--first, to verify Leverrier; +and, second, to impress upon your minds the desirableness of locating +our observatories in different parts of the earth. No European +astronomer could have made this observation, because in their +longitudes the sun would have set previous to the contact of the planet +with its disk. I had the gratification of furnishing these observations +to Leverrier himself, who reported upon them to the Academy of +Sciences. The triumph of Leverrier was complete. It was after this that +Arago, seeing the characteristics of his mind, said to him, 'Take up +the movements of the planet Herschel,--watch them, analyze them, and +tell us what it is that causes them.' Leverrier throws aside all other +employments, and gives his mind to the investigation of this subject. +He begins entirely back. He takes up the movements of the planets +Jupiter and Saturn, and investigates them anew: he leaves nothing +untouched. Finally, after having in the most absolute manner computed +all the influence they exercise upon the planet Herschel, he says, 'I +now know positively all existing causes that disturb the planet; but +there is an outstanding power that disturbs it not yet accounted for, +and now let me rise to a knowledge of that outstanding cause.' He did +what no other man ever had attempted. He cleared up all +difficulties;--he made all daylight before his gaze. And now, how shall +I give to you an account of the train of reasoning by which he reached +out into unknown space, and evoked from its bosom a mighty world? If +you will give me the time, I will attempt to give you an idea of his +mighty workings in the field of science. + +"In the first place, let it be remembered that the planets circulate +through the heavens in nearly the same plane. If I were to locate the +sun in the centre of the floor, in locating the planets around it, I +should place them upon the floor in the same plane. The first thing +that occurred to Leverrier, in looking for the planet, was this,--he +need not look out of the plane of the ecliptic. Here, then, was one +quarter in which the unknown body was to be found. The next thing was +this,--where is it located, and what is its distance from the sun? The +law of Bode gave to him the approximate distance. He found the distance +of Saturn was about double that of Jupiter, and the distance of +Herschel twice that of Saturn; and the probability was that the new +planet would be twice the distance of Herschel,--and as Herschel's +distance is 1,800,000 miles, the new planet's would be 3,600,000. +Having approximated its distance, what is its periodic time?--for if he +can once get its periodic time, he can trace it out without difficulty. +According to the third of Kepler's laws, as the square of the period of +Herschel is to the square of the period of the unknown planet, so is +the cube of the distance of Herschel to the cube of the distance of the +unknown planet. There is only one term unknown. The periodic time of +Herschel we will call 1, and its distance 1, and by resolving the +equation, we find the periodic time of the new planet to be a fraction +less than three times that of Herschel, or about 220 years. Now, if it +be required to perform 360 degrees in 220 years, it will perform about +a degree and a half in one year. Only one thing more remains to be +accomplished. If it is possible to get the position of the unknown body +at _any time_, we can trace it up to where it should be in 1847. + +"First, then, let us suppose the sun, Herschel, and the new planet in +certain fixed positions, which we will represent as follows,-- + +[Illustration: + A B C + + Sun. Herschel. Unknown, or + Leverrier Planet. +] + +"It will be observed that a line drawn out from the sun to the right +will pass through Herschel, and if continued will intersect the new +planet. It is very apparent that, when these three orbs occupy the +position assigned them above, the influence of the unknown planet upon +Herschel will be exercised in the highest degree, and consequently that +Herschel will be drawn farther from the sun at that juncture than at +any other; and if we know where _Herschel_ is, when this effect is +produced, by prolonging the line through Herschel outward, it must pass +through the new planet. The delicate observations upon Herschel gave +this result, and showed when it was that it was swayed farthest from +the sun. By taking the place occupied by the planet at that time, and +increasing it onward one degree and a half per annum, we can point out +the place it must occupy at any given period. In September last we find +Leverrier communicating these results to his friends in Berlin. They +are provided with charts, on which every observed star is mapped down; +and if any new object presents itself in the heavens, it is immediately +subjected to a rigid scrutiny. On the very night on which Leverrier's +letter had been received, we find the telescope directed to the +designated point in the heavens. A stranger appears, but has only the +aspect of a fixed star. Long did the eye watch that night, but no +motion was found. When twenty-four hours rolled round, and it was once +more possible to fix the instrument upon this strange body, it had +moved in the precise degree and direction computed. The new planet was +found. The news spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the +world,--all Europe was electrified, and soon the intelligence crossed +the waters. Our telescope was directed to this object. All had hitherto +failed,--no eye had ever seen it round and planet-like from its disk. +The evening finally came round for the examination. Time moved on its +leaden wings; but twilight faded away at length, and I took my seat, +with my assistant, at the instrument. I directed the telescope to that +point of the heavens. I found four stars in the field of view. The +first was brought to the field of view of the instrument, and +pronounced to be a fixed star; and so with the second. The third was +brought forward; and before it had reached the centre of the field, I +heard the exclamation, 'There it is!' and there it was, as bright and +beautiful as Jupiter himself. Here was a result not attained by any +other instrument in the world. When we know that a body is a planet, +then, and not till then, do we find the disk. The great rival of our +instrument had seen it, but did not recognise it. + +"Before five minutes had elapsed, the micrometical wires pronounced its +diameter to be 40,000 miles. Here were results such as no previous one +had attained, I mention it, because I think it is right that our own +country, which has but just commenced its career in this science, +should know what is her due; and I trust the day is not far distant +when we shall become as distinguished for our proficiency, for our +learning, for our researches, and for our efforts in behalf of +Astronomy, as we have hitherto been for our profound neglect of +everything belonging to this sublime science." + +So much had been recently said in England about the "Negro Pew" in Dr. +Patton's Church that I naturally felt curious to see it for myself, +resolving (if possible) to sit in it. On Sabbath morning the 21st of +March I set off with my wife on this errand, taking for our guide as to +the precise position of the "locality" Mr. Page's "Letter of +Apology,"--in which it was stated that in that church they treated the +coloured people well; that they were elevated above the rest of the +congregation, and nearer heaven; and, finally, that they occupied a +position of honour, being on the right hand of the minister, as Jesus +Christ was on the right hand of God! We found two coloured people--an +old man and an old woman--seated in the front pew close to the +minister's right hand; and at once concluded that the section of pews +at the end wall must be the favoured spot, the terrestrio-celestial +elevation commonly called the "Negro Pew." We advanced, and installed +our white faces in the pew immediately behind the sable couple. The old +lady seemed really alarmed, and, with amusing earnestness, motioned us +to take a seat elsewhere. Remonstrance was all in vain,--we were +determined to sit among the happy favourites. At this time but few +persons were present. By-and-by the children of the Sunday-school were +marched into the neighbouring pews on the other side of the aisle, and +one of the lady teachers made eager signs for us to come away from our +strange position. I nodded an intimation that we were all right, and +perfectly comfortable. After the lapse of a few moments, another polite +and compassionate lady actually rose and came to the pew-door to +remonstrate with us. + +In a serious yet coaxing tone, she said, "Won't you take a seat here on +this side of the aisle?" + +"No, thank you, madam," I replied; "we are quite comfortable." + +"But," she continued, in a voice of deep commiseration, "this is the +place allotted to the coloured people." + +"Thank you," I rejoined; "we have made no mistake." + +"Well, just as you please, sir!" (as though she had said _De gustibus +non disputandum_) and with that she retreated. + +The eyes of all in the synagogue were upon us. The little people +whispered, and the big people stared, and all the people marvelled. + +The morning was dark and wet, and yet (as usual) the Venetian blinds +were all down. The gallery was occupied by three classes of persons: +the black people--about a dozen in number--on the "right hand," the +singing people in front, and the Sunday-school children everywhere +else. The regular congregation, amounting perhaps to 300, were all +downstairs. + +Dr. Patton ascended the pulpit-stairs with his cloak on, placed a +manuscript "fresh from the mint" under the cushion, sat down, took out +his pocket-handkerchief, applied it vigorously, and then gazed +leisurely around. + +The pulpit service commenced with a short prayer; then followed singing +by the choir, all else sitting silent. The tenth chapter of Romans was +read; then came the long prayer, in which the Doctor prayed for the +abolition of slavery, and for the spread of the Gospel. The text, which +succeeded, was Rom. x. 3, 4. Having noticed the context, the preacher +proposed-- + +I. To explain the text. (Here he examined very critically the meaning +of the Greek word [Greek: dikai-osunous], quoting Moses Stuart and +others.) + +II. To designate those who go about to establish their own +righteousness. + +III. To remonstrate against such conduct, as being unnecessary, +criminal, and dangerous. + +The discourse was sound and good, but every word read. The disorderly +conduct of the children in the gallery proved a great annoyance; and +for all the solicitude of the ladies to get us away from the vicinity +of coloured skins, not one of them had the politeness to offer us +either Bible or hymn-book. + +This visit of ours to the "Negro Pew" was immediately laid hold of by +the Abolitionists, and made to go the whole round of their papers as a +"testimony against caste." This provoked into action the prolix pen of +the celebrated Mr. Page, who wasted on the subject an immense quantity +of ink and paper. "Page" after page did he pen; continued to do so, to +my certain knowledge, for about three months after; and, for aught I +know to the contrary, he may be _paging_ away to this very day. This +commotion answered my purpose exceedingly well,--my object being to +bear testimony against the impiousness of such a distinction and +separation in the house of God. It is, however, but justice to Dr. +Patton to observe that the case is not singular, the peculiar celebrity +of his "Negro Pew" arising entirely from the imbecile and somewhat +profane apology volunteered by Mr. Page. In point of fact, Dr. Patton +and his people, as I ascertained in conversation with him on the +subject, are rather in advance of their neighbours in kind feeling +towards the coloured people. + + + + +LETTER XXVII. + +A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and +their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's +Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice +against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ------'s Church--Another Fact +in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with +Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. + + +In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev. ------, in the +---- Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than +150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very +fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to +showing me some of the "lions" of the city. The first place we visited +was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for +young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we +were introduced was John Abbott, the author of "The Mother at Home." He +is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the +senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25 +years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott, +the author of "The Young Christian," "The Corner Stone," "The Way for +a Child," &c., &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob +Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sitting-room. +I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years +of age, but looks younger. He wrote both "The Young Christian" and "The +Corner Stone" when he was only 25. John is two years younger than +Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and +Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four. All are +ministers, though not pastors,--all highly intellectual men, and +connected more or less with this seminary, which is one of the best +conducted I have ever seen. The pupils are not boarders, but they pay +from 10_l._ to 15_l._ a year for their tuition alone. I subsequently +made another visit to this institution in company with my wife, upon +whom Mr. Jacob Abbott had very politely called. + +Mr. ------ intended to introduce me to Dr. Spring, but he was not at +home. He then took me to the Union Theological Seminary. In that +institution about 120 young men are preparing for the Christian +ministry. The library contains _twenty thousand_ volumes on theology +alone--musty and prosy tomes! What a punishment it would be to be +compelled to wade through the whole! We saw neither professors nor +students. My principal recollection of the place is that of feeling +intensely hungry, and smelling at the same time the roast beef on +which, in some of the lower regions of the buildings, the young divines +were regaling themselves. In vain I wished to join them in that +exercise. + +When we came out, my guide proposed to take me to see Dr. Robinson. +Much as I wanted to see the author of the "Greek Lexicon," and the +Traveller in Palestine, there were other claims that then more urgently +pressed themselves. I had breakfasted at 7, and it was now near 1. I +gave my friend a hint to that effect. But he overruled it by saying, +"It is close by, and won't take us many minutes." We went, but the +Doctor was not in. We were now opposite Dr. Skinner's Church, and my +friend insisted on my going to see it. It will hold about 1,000 people. +All the pews are cushioned and lined, and the place has a decided air +of aristocracy about it. The school-room, the lecture-room, the vestry, +&c., were very complete and convenient. "How strange," I observed to my +friend, "that you should so far exceed us in the comfort of your places +of worship, and at the same time be so far behind us in domestic +comforts." "_That_" said he, "was the principle of the Puritans,--the +house of God first, their own after." I ventured to ask him what +salaries ministers in New York generally received. He told me from +1,000 to 4,000 dollars, or from 200_l._ to 800_l._ "My own," he added, +"is 2,000 dollars." We were now not far from the New York University. +"You must go and see that," said he. I went, but saw nothing particular +except the library, empty lecture-rooms, and chapel,--no professors. My +friendly guide pointed to a portrait of Lord Lyndhurst, told me with +evident pride that he was a Yankee, and marvelled at my ignorance of +the fact. + +From time to time I had given him hints that I was afraid of being too +late for dinner at my lodgings; and when the sight-seeing was at last +ended, he very coolly and complacently said, "Now, if you really think +you are too late for dinner at your place, I shall be under the +_necessity_ of asking you to go and take a plate with me." Those were +the _ipsissima verba_. I could scarcely keep my gravity; but I replied, +"Thank you, sir; I want to go to the centre of the city, and I can +easily get a dinner at any eating-house." He both nodded and expressed +an entire concurrence, and seemed to think it an _admirable_ +arrangement. In parting, he pressed me to preach for him on the +following Thursday, but I declined. The next day I was told, on +unquestionable authority, that two or three years ago one of the elders +of this gentleman's church, meeting a man from South America whom he +took to be a mixture of Spaniard and Indian, requested his company to +church. The stranger assented, and sat with him in his pew. He liked +the service, became interested, and went again and again. At last it +was whispered that he was a "Nigger,"--_i.e._ had a slight mixture of +African blood in him. The next week a meeting of the Session was held, +at which it was unanimously resolved that the intruder's entrance into +the body of the church must be prohibited. Two men were stationed at +the door for that purpose. The stranger came. He was stopped, and told +that he could not be allowed to enter the body of the church, there +being a place up in the gallery for coloured people. The man +remonstrated, and said he had been invited to take a seat in Mr. +So-and-so's pew. "Yes," they replied, "we are aware of that; but public +feeling is against it, and it cannot be allowed." The stranger turned +round, burst into tears, and walked home. + +Mr. Johnson, of the _Tribune_, told me that two or three years ago he +and thirty or forty more were returning from an Anti-slavery Convention +held at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. They had left by railway for +Philadelphia at 3 o'clock in the morning. At a town called Lancaster +they stopped to breakfast. In the company were two coloured gentlemen, +one of whom was a minister. They all sat down together. Soon the +waiters began to whisper, "A nigger at table!" "There is two!" The +landlord quickly appeared, seized one of the coloured gentlemen by the +shoulder, and asked him how he dared to sit down at table in his house. +The company remonstrated, and assured him that those whose presence +appeared to be so offensive were very respectable men, friends of +theirs, whom they had invited to sit down. It was all in vain. The +landlord would hear nothing; "the niggers must go." "Very well," said +the rest of the company; "then we shall all go." Away they went, and +left the refined landlord to console himself for the loss of a large +party to breakfast. They had to travel all the way to Philadelphia +before they could break their fast. + +The same gentleman told me that he believed if a white man of any +standing in society in New York were now to marry a coloured lady, +however intelligent and accomplished, his life would be in danger,--he +would be lynched for having committed such an outrage upon "public +opinion." And yet the boast is ever ringing in our ears, "This is a +free country--every one does as he pleases here!" + +On the 24th of March I called upon Dr. Spring. He is an Old School +Presbyterian, and a supporter of the Colonization Society. In the +course of conversation reference was made to State Churches. + +_Myself._--"You see, Doctor, State Churches are the curse of the +British Empire, just as slavery is the curse of your country." + +_The Doctor._--"Ah! so it is; and yet we can do nothing to remove them. +Here is our slavery,--we can't touch it; and you cannot touch your +Established Church. Do you think you will ever get rid of it?" + +_Myself._--"Oh! Yes; I hope so." + +_The Doctor._--"But it will be a _very_ long time before it comes to +pass." + +_Myself._--"Perhaps not so very long. We are rapidly hastening towards +some great change. The old principle of an Establishment is now being +abandoned by all parties; and we shall soon come either to the pay-all +or to the pay-none principle. I am much afraid it will be the former." + +_The Doctor._--"But were it to come to that, and the State would pay +you as well as all the rest, you would have no further ground of +complaint." + +_Myself._--"Oh! but we should: we dread that above all other evils. It +will be a dark day for evangelical religion in England, if ever that +principle be adopted." + +_The Doctor._--"Why? What harm can it do you to receive the money of +the State, provided it does not infringe upon your liberties?" + +_Myself._--"In the first place, it would be a departure from the law of +Jesus Christ, and every departure from his law is sure to be productive +of evil." + +_The Doctor._--"Very true. That's a sound principle--that every +departure from his law will be productive of evil; but then, it remains +to be proved that it _is_ a departure from his law. However, I am glad +to see you stick so firmly to your principles." + +He then went on to ask if I would preach for him next Sabbath. Now, +whether he was only trying me on those points, or whether he had not +studied the subject, or whether he was anxious to keep me off from the +subject of slavery, I cannot tell. But I came away with my knowledge of +Dr. Spring less than it was when I entered. He seemed like a cold, +stiff, formal State parson. + +In the evening I attended a missionary meeting in Dr. Adams's Church. +It was the anniversary of the New York and Brooklyn Auxiliary to the +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and embraced about thirty +churches. I expected great things. When I entered they were singing. +The place was little more than half-full,--say 500 persons. Three +gentlemen were sitting in the pulpit. These were Dr. Adams, Dr. Cox, +and Mr. Storrers. I looked around for the negro pew. There it was on +the left of the organ, and five sable friends in it. The first speaker +was Dr. Adams, who delivered a well-prepared oration of half an hour +long. The Rev. Mr. Storrers, a young man, the pastor of the "Church of +the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn, was the next speaker. His preparation and +delivery were of the same character as those of Dr. Adams. But he +possesses great mental power. He occupied exactly half an hour. Both +speakers complained bitterly of diminished confidence and +contributions. I forget the exact amount announced as the contribution +of this auxiliary; but it was small. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, was the +third speaker. He told us that the last meeting he had attended in +England, a few months before, was the missionary meeting in Birmingham. +It was held in the town-hall, a magnificent building, and well filled. +He pronounced an eloquent eulogy on John Angell James. He described the +missionary breakfast in Birmingham; but, in mentioning such a thing as +a "missionary breakfast," he felt it necessary to make some apology. He +assured them it was not attended with the evils they might be apt to +imagine would be inseparably connected with it. The fact is that +missionary breakfasts are altogether unknown in America. Dr. Cox stated +that he had often been asked in England how they managed missionary +meetings in America, that the people of England held them in high +estimation, that in England they depended chiefly for the support of +the missionary cause upon legacies, stock, &c., while they in America +were content to say, "Give us day by day our daily bread." He also +mentioned Dr. Chalmers's eulogy upon them. While in England, he (Dr. +Cox) and another had waited upon Sir Stratford Canning, to commend +their mission at Constantinople to his kind notice, and Sir Stratford +had spoken in very high terms of the American people. Thus, even at the +missionary meeting, incense must be offered to national vanity. + + + + +LETTER XXVIII. + +A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and +New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L's--Afternoon Service at Mr. +C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr.----'s. + + +The next day my wife and I paid our promised visit to the institution +of the Abbotts at Mount Vernon. In its government there are neither +rewards nor punishments; but each pupil, at the close of the day, has +to present a brief report of her own conduct. Her good deeds and her +bad deeds must be alike proclaimed--proclaimed by herself,--and that in +the presence of her fellow-pupils who were witnesses of the conduct to +which she refers. This compels her to be faithful. If she tries to +conceal what was faulty, she is surrounded by those who will detect +that concealment: if she ostentatiously parades her own excellences, +she knows she will sink in the estimation of her friends. The +encouragement of self-respect, and of a regard for that which is good +for its _own_ sake, are the great principles of government in this +establishment. + +Mr. Abbott's plan of teaching a language is, not at first to weary the +pupils with the dry rules of grammar, but to store their memories with +words. He read a word or a short sentence in French, for instance, and +asked the pupils to translate it into English. Then, with closed books, +he would give them the English in like manner to be turned into French. +I have since adopted the plan with Latin pupils with pleasure and +success. + +Mr. Abbott allows a recess of five minutes at the close of every +half-hour. The hours of attendance are from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.; but a +rest of half an hour is allowed in the midst of that period. We +happened to be there when the said half-hour arrived. All the Abbotts, +the pupils, and ourselves went out to the playground, which was +furnished with seats, and swings, and skipping-ropes, and +swinging-boats, and all sorts of machines for exercise and amusement. +In these gymnastic performances the Abbotts themselves joined the +pupils, with a beautiful combination of freedom and propriety. A +happier assemblage I never saw. We retired highly delighted with all we +had witnessed. + +In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Robinson, +whose Greek Lexicon I had often thumbed with advantage. He appeared to +be from 45 to 50 years of age. His manners were exceedingly simple and +unostentatious,--the constant characteristics of true greatness. I +looked upon him with high respect and veneration. He is a man of whom +America may well be proud. He pressed me to go and address the students +at Union College, of which he is one of the Professors; but an +opportunity of doing so did not occur. + +In the evening I was waited upon by two gentlemen who announced +themselves as the "President and Secretary" of a Welsh Temperance +Society, and wished me to attend and address one of their meetings at a +given time. This I could not do. In conversation with them about +slavery, and the oppression of the coloured people, I was surprised and +grieved to find how soon the Welsh people imbibed the feelings and aped +the conduct of the Americans in those matters. On their pressing me to +attend a meeting of their society on some _future_ occasion, I told +them I was one of the most downright Abolitionists that ever lived, +and, if I came, would terrify them all with such an abolition speech as +they had never heard. This, of course, was cold water upon their love, +and our interview soon terminated. + +The weather for the next two days was so unfavourable that we could not +go out at all. Among the information I then derived from books were the +following precious morsels from the Introduction to the Natural History +of New York: "The Governor was directed by Queen Anne to take especial +care that the Almighty should be devoutly and duly served according to +the rites of the Church of England," and was at the _same time_ desired +by the Queen "to take especial care that the colony should have a +constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate +rates." Just what our own West India planters _now_ want! Oh! how they +would hail the return of the palmy days of Queen Anne! + +On Sabbath the 28th of March I was invited to preach in the morning in +the church of Dr. L----, a Congregational place of worship, capable of +accommodating about 500 persons. The attendance was not more than 200. +There I was delighted to find no negro pew. A few coloured children +were intermingled with the white ones in the gallery. The Doctor, to +whom I had not been introduced, was already in the pulpit when I +arrived. The ceremony of introduction to each other had to be duly +performed in the rostrum. He is a fine, tall, clean, and +venerable-looking old gentleman. He began the service, and, before +sermon, announced that they would then "take up" the usual collection. +That place of worship is what they call a "Free Church,"--_i.e._ there +is no pew-letting; as a substitute for which, they "take up" a weekly +collection. The Doctor also made the following announcement: "A +Missionary of the London Missionary Society, from Guiana, one of the +South American possessions of Britain,--his name is Mr. Davies,--will +now preach; and in the evening Professor Kellog from----, a _long_ +friend of mine, will preach." At the close I was introduced to the +Doctor's _long_ friend, Professor Kellog; and sure enough he was a +"long" one! There was present also Professor Whipple, of the Oberlin +Institute, to whom I had before been introduced. + +In the afternoon I preached for a Mr. C----, in a Presbyterian Church. +The place was beautiful, commodious, and nearly full. The pastor +introduced the service. In his manner of doing so, I was very much +struck with--what I had before often observed in our Transatlantic +brethren--a great apparent want of reverence and fervour. The singing +was very good--in the choir. In my address, I urged them to give their +legislators, and their brethren in the South, no rest till the guilt +and disgrace of slavery were removed from their national character and +institutions. I also besought them, as men of intelligence and piety, +to frown upon the ridiculous and contemptible prejudice against colour +wherever it might appear. To all which they listened with apparent +kindness and interest. + +We took tea by invitation with Dr. L----, for whom I had preached in +the morning. There we met with his nice wife, nice deacon, nice little +daughters, and nice nieces,--but a most intolerable nephew. This man +professed to be greatly opposed to slavery, and yet was full of +contempt for "niggers." He talked and _laughed_ over divisions in +certain churches, and told the company how he used occasionally to go +on Sunday nights to hear a celebrated minister, just "for the sake of +hearing him _talk_--ha--ha--ha!" And yet this was a professor of +religion! + +On the subject of slavery the following conversation took place:-- + +_Nephew._--"If I were in a Slave State, I would not hold slaves." + +_Aunt._--"Ah! but you would." + +_Nephew._--"No! that I would not." + +_Aunt._--"You could not live there without." + +_Dr. L._----(gravely).--"Well, I _guess_ we had better pray, 'Lead us +not into temptation.'" + +_Aunt._ (devoutly)--"I _guess_ we had." + +By-and-by one of the young ladies said to my wife, "I guess we had +better go and fix our things, and get ready for church." This was the +signal for the breaking up of our social enjoyment, which would have +been one of unmingled pleasure, had it not been for this noisy, +conceited, talkative nephew. + +In the evening I had to preach again for Mr.----, the place where the +coloured gentleman was refused admission to the body of the church. The +building was very fine, and the congregation very large. Professor +Fowler, of Amherst College, who happened to be present, read the +Scriptures and prayed. My subject was "the woes and wants of the +African race." I touched upon American slavery, and gave details of the +horrors of the slave traffic as at present carried on. I also bore +testimony against the cruel prejudice which so extensively exists +against the African colour. All were attentive, except one man, who +rose and walked out; and I fancied him saying to himself, "I am not +going to sit here to listen to this abolition nonsense any longer." And +so ended my Sabbath in New York. + + + + +LETTER XXIX. + +The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His +Funeral--Drs. Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The +Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright. + + +During my stay at this time in New York, there died in that city the +Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright, a Presbyterian minister of colour. His +attainments and talents were very respectable; and for fifteen years he +had been the successful pastor of a church of coloured people in the +city. + +Before you accompany me to his funeral, listen to his voice. Though +"dead, he yet speaketh." He had felt this cruel prejudice against the +colour of his skin as iron entering his soul. Here is his touching +testimony on the subject, delivered in a speech at Boston eleven years +before his death:-- + +"No man can really understand this prejudice, unless he feels it +crushing him to the dust, because it is a matter of feeling. It has +bolts, scourges, and bars, wherever the coloured man goes. It has bolts +in all the schools and colleges. The coloured parent, with the same +soul as a white parent, sends his child to the seats of learning; and +he finds the door bolted, and he sits down to weep beside his boy. +Prejudice stands at the door, and bars him out. Does the child of the +coloured man show a talent for mechanics, the heart of the parent beats +with hope. He sees the children of the white man engaged in employment; +and he trusts that there is a door open to his boy, to get an honest +living, and become a useful member of society. But, when he comes to +the workshop with his child, he finds a bolt there. But, even suppose +that he can get this first bolt removed, he finds other bars. He can't +work. Let him be ever so skilled in mechanics, up starts prejudice, and +says, 'I won't work in the shop if you do.' Here he is scourged by +prejudice, and has to go back, and sink down to some of the employments +which white men leave for the most degraded. He hears of the death of a +child from home, and he goes in a stage or a steam-boat. His money is +received, but he is scourged there by prejudice. If he is sick, he can +have no bed, he is driven on deck: money will not buy for him the +comforts it gets for all who have not his complexion. He turns to some +friend among the white men. Perhaps that white man had sat at his table +at home, but he does not resist prejudice here. He says, 'Submit. 'Tis +an ordinance of God,--you must be humble.' Sir, I have felt this. As a +minister, I have been called to pass often up and down the North River +in steam-boats. Many a night I have walked the deck, and not been +allowed to lie down in a bed. Prejudice would even turn money to dross +when it was offered for these comforts by a coloured man. Thus +prejudice scourges us from the table; it scourges us from the cabin, +from the stage-coach, from the bed. Wherever we go, it has for us +bolts, bars, and rods." + +And now let us attend the speaker's funeral. Professor Whipple will be +our guide. As we proceed, crowds of coloured people are hastening in +the same direction from all quarters. We are at the house. But so great +is the throng that it is impossible to get in. Here, however, comes Dr. +Cox. "Make room for Dr. Cox!"--"Make room for Dr. Cox!" is now heard on +every hand. A path is opened for the great man, and we little men slip +in at his skirt. On reaching the room where the remains of the good man +lie, we find Dr. Patton and the Rev. Mr. Hatfield. They and Dr. Cox are +there in a semi-official capacity, as representing the Presbytery with +which Mr. Wright was connected. Louis Tappan, the long-tried and +faithful friend of the coloured race, is there also. I am asked to be a +pall-bearer: without at all reflecting on the duties and inconveniences +of the office, I good-naturedly consent. A _white_ cotton scarf is +instantly thrown over my shoulder. There is the coffin; and there is a +lifelike portrait of Mr. Wright hung up against the wall, and looking +as it were down upon that coffin. But you can see the face of Mr. +Wright himself. The coffin-lid is screwed down; but there is a square +of glass, like a little window, just over the face, as is generally the +case in America, and you can have a view of the whole countenance. + +A black man reads a hymn, and, in connection with it, begins an address +in a very oracular style, and with very solemn pauses. A hint is given +him not to proceed. They sing. Mr. Hatfield delivers an appropriate +address. A coloured minister prays, sometimes using the first person +singular, and sometimes the first person plural; also talking about the +"meanderings of life," and a great deal of other nonsense. + +We move down stairs. The immense procession starts. Drs. Cox and +Patton, Mr. Hatfield, and about half-a-dozen more white ministers, are +in it. As we pass on from street to street, and from crossing to +crossing, all sorts of people seem to regard the procession with the +utmost respect. The cabmen, 'busmen, and cartmen behave exceedingly +well. But did you overhear what those three or four low dirty men said +as we approached? I am ashamed to tell, because those men are not +Americans, but _Irishmen_,--"Here comes the dead nigger!" The boys, now +and then, are also overheard counting how many _white_ men there are in +the procession. + +We are now at the church. After much delay and difficulty we enter. The +place, which is not large, is crammed. There must be about 600 people +in. Dr. Cox urges them to make room for more, and says there are not +more than one-tenth in of those who wish to enter. If so, there must be +a concourse of 6,000 people, and not more than twenty whites among them +all! + +A coloured man gives out a hymn. Dr. Cox reads the Scriptures, and +makes a few remarks. Dr. Patton delivers an oration. In that oration, +while speaking of Mr. Wright's anti-slavery feelings as being very +strong, he adds, with very questionable taste, "But at the same time +our brother had no sympathy with those who indulged in _denunciation, +wrath, and blackguardism_. He would never touch the missiles which +_none but scoundrels use_." What a selection of words in a funeral +oration! In speaking of Mr. Wright's labours in connection with that +church for fifteen years, he says, "Our brother had difficulties which +other men have not. Two or three years ago he had to trudge about the +city, under the _full muzzle_ of a July or August sun, to beg money in +order to extricate this place from pecuniary difficulties. On one +occasion, after walking all the way to the upper part of the city to +call upon a gentleman from whom he hoped to receive a donation, he +found that he had just left his residence for his office in the city. +Our brother, though greatly exhausted, was compelled to walk the same +distance down again; for--to the shame, the everlasting shame of our +city be it spoken--our brother, on account of his colour, could not +avail himself of one of the public conveyances. The next week disease +laid hold of him, and he never recovered." + +What a strong and unexpected testimony against that cruel prejudice! +According to this testimony, Theodore Sedgwick Wright fell a _victim_ +to it. But who would have thought that Dr. Patton, who thus denounced +the cabmen and 'busmen of New York, had at the very time the "Negro +Pew" in his own church! + +While on this subject, let me tell you another fact respecting poor Mr. +Wright. The life of his first wife was sacrificed to this heartless and +unmanly feeling. He was travelling with her by steam-boat between New +York and Boston. They had to be out all night, and a bitter cold +winter's night it was. Being coloured people, their only accommodation +was the "hurricane-deck." Mrs. Wright was delicate. Her husband offered +to pay any money, if they would only let her be in the kitchen or the +pantry. No,--she was a "nigger," and could not be admitted. Mr. Wright +wrapped her in his own cloak, and placed her against the chimney to try +to obtain for her a little warmth. But she took a severe cold, and soon +died. _His_ colour, it would seem, hastened his own exit to rejoin her +in that world where such absurd and inhuman distinctions are unknown. + +Dr. Patton's oration is now ended. But--did you ever hear such a thing +at a funeral?--that minister in the table pew is actually giving out-- + + "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!" + +and they sing it to a funeral tune! + +We start for the place of burial. But it is a long way off, and I had +better spare you the journey. The great men fell off one after another; +but my pall-bearing office compelled me to remain to the last. It was 4 +o'clock P.M. before the solemnities were closed. + + + + +LETTER XXX. + +Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New +Haven--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The +Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan +Edwards, junior. + + +Now for an excursion to New Haven. We leave by the steamer "Traveller," +Captain Stone, at 61/2 A.M. Wrap yourself up well; it is piercing cold, +being the 30th of March. This boat is altogether different from the +boats on the Mississippi. It seems to belong to quite another species. +It is, however, admirably adapted for its purpose,--that of running +along a stormy coast. In the gentlemen's cabin are three tiers of +berths, one above another like so many book-shelves. The engine works +outside, like a top-sawyer. We shall pass "Hell Gate" directly; but +don't be alarmed. You would not have known it, had I not told you. The +Hog's Back, the Frying Pan, and other places of Knickerbocker +celebrity, are in this neighbourhood. + +Let us go to the ladies' saloon. Well! I declare! There is a coloured +woman, and allowed to remain unmolested! Things improve as we approach +New England, and are much better even there than they were a few years +ago. + +But here comes the captain muffled up. He brings with him a poor +sickly-looking woman, begs the ladies' pardon, and bids her sit down by +the stove and warm herself. He then tells the passengers her painful +story. The night before, in New York, this woman came on board, from +one of the Philadelphia boats, bringing with her a bed and a child. On +being spoken to by the captain, she informed him that she was on her +way from St. Louis to her home in Massachusetts,--that she had been +fifteen days upon the journey, and had two children with her. On being +asked where the other was, she replied, "There it is," pointing to the +bed, where, clad in its usual dress, the little sufferer, released from +the trials of life, lay extended in death. It had caught cold, and died +in her arms in New York. She was friendless and penniless, and wanted a +passage to New Haven. The captain had obtained a coroner's inquest over +the body, purchased for it a little coffin, had it decently laid out, +and gratified her maternal feelings by allowing her to bring it with +her, that it might be buried in her village-home in Massachusetts. All +this he had done without money and without price, had also given her a +free passage to New Haven, and was about to forward her home by railway +at his own expense! Captain _Stone_--"what's in a name?"--at the close +of this statement had to take out his pocket-handkerchief, and wipe +away a few manly tears from his weather-beaten cheeks, as he added, "I +have met in my life with many cases of distress, but with none that +came so much to my heart as this." His object, in introducing the woman +and her case, was to make an appeal to the passengers on her behalf. He +did so; and the result was a subscription amounting to about five +pounds sterling, which was handed over to her. Captain Stone's was a +deed worthy of a golden inscription! + +It is half-past 11 A.M., and we are now at the landing-place in the +harbour of New Haven, having accomplished the distance from New York, +about 80 miles, in five hours! We have a long wharf of 3,943 feet to +travel; and then we set foot for the first time on the soil of New +England. We have been invited to make our abode here with the Rev. +Leicester Sawyer, who makes his abode at Deacon Wilcoxon's, corner of +Sherman-avenue and Park-street. Thither, therefore, let us go. Mr. +Sawyer, whom we had before met in New York, is the author of several +books, comprising two on Mental and Moral Philosophy, and was also +lately the President of the Central College of Ohio. Deacon Wilcoxon +and his wife are plain, homely, kind Christian people. They make you +feel at home as soon as you have crossed their threshold. + +Soon after our arrival the Rev. Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton, the +pastors of the "first" and "second" Congregational Churches in this +city, honour us with a call. This is brotherly, and more than we could +have expected. Dr. Bacon regrets that he is going from home, and cannot +have us to spend a few days at his house. Mr. Dutton, however, presses +us to accept of his hospitality. We promise to do so in a day or two. +Dr. Bacon is one of the great men of New England. He is a living +encyclopaedia,--a walking library. He keeps fully up with the +literature and sciences of the day. I have not met a man, either in the +Old World or in the New, that so thoroughly understood the state of the +British West Indies at the present time as he does. He might have spent +years in that part of the world, and devoted himself to its exclusive +study. His position at home is high, and his influence great. The +estimation in which he is held in New England may be judged of by the +fact, that when, in August 1846, Dr. Theodore Dwight Woolsey had to be +installed as President of Yale College, Dr. Bacon, living within a +stone's throw of that institution, was the man chosen to preach the +inauguration sermon. + +In the middle of the afternoon, my friend Mr. Sawyer presses me to +preach in his place of worship--the Howe-street Church--this evening. I +consent. By-and-by I observe him very busy with some slips of paper; +and I ask him what he is doing? "I am sending," he says, "notices to +the evening papers, to make it known that you are going to preach this +evening!" What a people the Americans are for newspapers! New Haven has +only a population of about 18,000; and yet it has six daily papers--all +having a weekly issue besides, two monthly periodicals, and two +quarterly ones! The daily papers are, I believe, none of them more than +5 dollars (a guinea) a year, or 2 cents (one penny) per number. No +paper duty, and no stamp. At the service in the evening several +ministers and students were present. + +The next day snow to the depth of six inches cover the ground. Let +_us_, however, turn out in the afternoon. We will go and see the +central square,--or the Green, as it is commonly called. This is a +large open space like a park, surrounded on all sides with rows of +stately elms, and is considered one of the most beautiful spots in the +United States. And now we are in a position to take a full view. Three +churches, arranged side by side on this open space, at a few rods from +each other, stand before us. The central one has the most imposing +aspect. It is a large Grecian building; having a portico, supported by +four massive columns, from which rises a lofty bell-tower, ending in a +spire. The combination of the belfry or spire with the Grecian style is +a violation of propriety; but _I like it_. This is the "first" +Congregational Church--that in which Dr. Bacon ministers. That +church--not the building--is coeval with the colony, and can trace back +its history for more than 200 years. It was formerly a State Church. +Congregationalism was for ages the "standing order," or the established +religion, in Connecticut! All the people were taxed for its support; +and no man could have any share in the administration of the civil +government, or give his vote in any election, unless he was a member of +one of the churches. It was not till forty years after the separation +of Church and State in Virginia, where the establishment was Episcopal, +that the example was followed in Connecticut. Happily, however, in 1816 +all parties that differed from it--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, +Universalists, &c., combined together, gained a majority in the +legislature, and severed the connection between Congregationalism and +the State! There are old men now living who then anxiously and piously +"trembled for the Ark of the Lord." They have, however, lived to see +that the dissolution of the union between Church and State in +Connecticut, as in Virginia, was to the favoured sect as "life from the +dead." The Congregationalist of the one, and the Episcopalian of the +other, would alike deprecate being placed in the same position again. +But this is a digression. + +We are still looking at these churches. The church on our right, which +is about the same size and of the same architectural character as the +other, though not quite so showy, is the "second" Congregational +Church, commonly called the North Church--that in which Mr. Button now +ministers. This church originated in the "great awakening" in 1740, was +formed in 1742, and has a history of more than a century in duration. +It arose from dissatisfaction with the ministry of a Mr. Noyes, a +contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, but one who had no sympathy in +Edwards's views and spirit. This man was, indeed, greatly opposed to +the "awakening," and refused George Whitfield admission to his pulpit. +The originators of this second church, therefore, separated from the +original parent, availed themselves of the Act of Toleration, and +became Congregational Dissenters from a Congregational Establishment! +They had of course no State support, nor were they "free from taxation +by the society from which they dissented." "The foundations of this +church, my brethren," said its present gifted pastor, in a sermon +preached at the centenary of its formation, "are love of evangelical +doctrine, of ecclesiastical liberty, of revivals of religion. Such ever +be its superstructure." + +Here, for a quarter of a century, lived and laboured Jonathan Edwards +the younger. Perhaps you have never before heard of him; neither had I +till I came to New Haven. If you won't think it too long to be detained +here standing in front of the church, I will tell you a few facts +respecting him. He was the second son and ninth child of the celebrated +Jonathan Edwards of Northampton. His mother, too, was an extraordinary +woman. You will smile at the impression she made on the mind of good +old George Whitfield. He had spent two days at Mr. Edwards's house in +Northampton; and he says, "I felt wonderful satisfaction in being at +the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath a daughter of +Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. She is a +woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and +solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her +husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some +months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of +Abraham to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to +marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my +circumstances." + +In quoting this, an American writer adds, "He had not yet learned, if +he ever did, that God is not pleased to make such 'sweet couples' out +of persons who have no choice of their own." + +Mr. Edwards, junior, or rather Dr. Edwards, was (like his father) a +great scholar and a profound divine. He was frequently invited to +assist at the examinations in Yale College. On those occasions he used +frequently to display his strictness and accuracy by calling out, +"_Haud recte_" (not right). This procured him the _sobriquet_ of "Old +Haud Recte," by which he was afterwards known among the students. Some +time after his resignation of the pastorate of this church he became +the President of Union College. His works have recently been published +in two large octavo volumes. There is a striking parallel between the +father and the son. They were alike in the character of their minds and +in their intellectual developments. The name, education, and early +employments of the two were alike. Both were pious in their youth; both +were distinguished scholars; both were tutors for equal periods in the +colleges where they were respectively educated; both were settled in +the ministry as successors to their maternal grandfathers; both were +dismissed, and again settled in retired places, where they had leisure +to prepare and publish their works; both were removed from those +stations to become presidents of colleges; both died shortly after +their respective inaugurations, the one in the 56th and the other in +the 57th year of their age; and each of them preached on the first +Sabbath of the year of his death from the same text--"This year thou +shalt die!" + +But we must not dwell too long on these historical incidents. I have +told you something about the Centre Church and the North Church. That +Gothic building on our left is an episcopal church. That white building +immediately in the rear of the Centre Church is the State House, +completed in 1831. It is constructed of stone and marble, and forms a +prominent ornament of the city. It presents one of the best copies of a +Grecian temple I have seen in the States. In the rear of the North +Church, quite at the remote corner of the Green, stands a plain +barn-like Methodist chapel. And, behind the whole, peeping through the +elm-trees, you see the long range of buildings which constitutes Yale +College. Take it all in all, a view more interesting than that from the +spot on which we now stand I have never beheld. + + + + +LETTER XXXI. + +The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor Yale +--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological +Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The +Graves of the Regicides. + + +Before I take you to "Yale," let me show you the spot on the Green on +which, in 1745, Whitfield, being refused admission to the +Congregational church, preached in the open air, under a tree, to an +immense congregation,--so great at that time was the dislike to a +fervid evangelical ministry. But more than a century has rolled away; +and how changed is the scene! + +But, observe you that feeble, tottering old gentleman coming along the +avenue? It is the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., late Chief Justice of the +Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is a member, and, I believe, a deacon +of one of the Congregational churches in this city. Twelve or thirteen +years ago that very man, sitting on the judicial bench, condemned Miss +Randall to be punished for--teaching a coloured child to read! + +Now for Yale. The Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, the minister of the North +Church, will accompany us. This institution was founded in the year +1700. It derived its name from the Hon. Elihu Yale, a gentleman, I am +proud to say, descended from an ancient and respectable family in +Wales. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came over with the first settlers +of New Haven. His son Elihu went to England at ten years of age, and to +the East Indies at thirty. In the latter country he resided about +twenty years, was made Governor of Madras, acquired a large fortune, +returned to England, was chosen Governor of the East India Company, and +died at Wrexham in Denbighshire in 1721. On several occasions he made +munificent donations to the new institution during the years of its +infancy and weakness, on account of which the trustees by a solemn act +named it "Yale College." + +The college buildings--which, like Rome, were not all erected in a +day--consist of four plain spacious edifices, built of brick, each four +stories high, and presenting a front, including passage-ways, of about +600 feet. That neat white house on your right, as you stand before +these buildings, is the President's dwelling--the very house in which +resided Dr. Timothy Dwight. But you are not looking at it. Ah! I see +your attention is attracted by that student sitting on the sill of the +open window of his study, having in his hand a book, and in his mouth a +pipe of clay; by which, with the aid of fire, he is reducing a certain +tropical weed into its original chemical elements. Perhaps you think +that rather undignified; and so it is. I wish you had not seen it; but +worse is done at Oxford and Cambridge. + +Behind this range of buildings is another, a more modern and more +imposing pile. This extends in front 151 feet, is built of red +sandstone, is in the Gothic style, and contains the libraries of the +institution. The central building, called the College Hall, containing +the College Library properly so called, measures in front 51 feet, and +in depth from front to rear 95 feet, having at each corner a tower of +the extreme height of 91 feet. The interior is one room, whose +measurement is 83 feet by 41, resembling in form a Gothic chapel, with +its nave and aisles. The nave is 51 feet high, and its breadth 17 feet. +Between its clustered pillars on either side are alcoves, each 10 feet +by 12, fitted up with shelves for books. The number of volumes it now +contains is about 20,000. The extreme wings and the connecting wings on +either side are very elegant, and fitted up for various libraries +connected with the institution, such as the Students' Library, the +Reading Room, the Calliopean Library, and the Livonian Library. The +Students' Library contains 9,000 volumes. This beautiful range of +buildings probably contains not fewer than 40,000 volumes; and ere long +the number will be doubled! Little did the ten ministers who, in 1700, +met together to establish this seminary, each laying down his donation +of books with these words, "I give these books for the founding of a +college in this colony," and who found that their joint-contribution +amounted to only _forty volumes_,--little did they think what that +small beginning would come to! + +You are looking out for literary curiosities. Here is one--Elliot's +Indian Bible! You have heard of Elliot, "the Apostle of the North +American Indians." Here is a translation of the entire sacred volume +into one of the languages of those people. The New Testament was +published in 1661, and the Old Testament in 1663. The book before us is +a copy of the second edition of the New Testament in 1680, and of the +Old Testament in 1685. But where are those Indians, or their +descendants? They are extinct; and there is not now a man on the whole +continent of America that speaks their language! + +Time will not permit me to describe the Picture Gallery, the Anatomical +Museum, the Cabinet of the Materia Medica, the Museum of Natural +History, and many other objects of interest. You must, however, take a +peep at the Mineral Cabinet, or Geological Museum. It has been +collected and arranged, with great industry and taste, by Professor +Silliman. Look at this meteoric iron-stone. It fell a few years ago in +Texas, and weighs 1,635 lbs.! + +Our guide, Mr. Dutton, insists upon our calling at the college-room of +Dr. Goodrich, one of the Theological Professors. We do so; and find him +engaged in revising Webster's Large Dictionary, about a dozen volumes, +for a new edition. But what a polite man! Talk of American rudeness! A +reception more kind and courteous than this you have never received +from any man. + +Yale College is a noble institution. Oh that we had a few like it in +England! The Faculty consists of 25 Professors--men who would be an +honour to any country, 7 "Tutors," and 6 "Instructors." At the time of +our visit there are 584 students thus classified:-- + +Theological Students 53 +Law " 62 +Medical " 52 +Resident Graduates 5 + +Undergraduates,-- + Seniors 121 + Juniors 90 + Sophomores (wise fools) 112 + Freshmen 99 + ----- + 422 + ----- + Total 584 + +Candidates for admission to the Freshmen Class are examined in Cicero's +Select Orations, the whole of Virgil and Sallust, and the first three +books of Xenophon's Anabasis, together with various "Readers," +"Exercises," and Grammars. + +The whole course of instruction occupies four years, each year being +divided into three terms or sessions. + +With regard to expense, the annual charges made by the Treasurer are-- + + DOLLS. CENTS. +For instruction 33 00 +For rent of chamber in college (average) 12 00 +For ordinary repairs and contingencies 2 40 +For general damages, sweeping, &c. 3 60 +For expenses of recitation-rooms 3 00 + ----------- + 54 00 = L11. 5_s._ + +Board is obtained at prices varying from a dollar and a quarter to 3 +dollars a week. To a majority of the students, the cost of board is +less than 2 dollars a week, or, reckoning the dollar at 4_s._ 2_d._, +less than 8_s._ 4_d._ Fuel is procured by the College Corporation, and +sold to the students at cost-price. The students provide for themselves +bed and bedding, furniture for their rooms, candles, books, stationery, +and washing. In the several classes and literary societies +subscriptions to a small amount are required. If books and furniture +are sold when the student completes his course, the expense incurred by +their use will not be great. The following is an approximate estimate +of the _necessary_ expenses, without including apparel, pocket-money, +travelling, and board during vacations:-- + + DOLLARS. + +Treasurer's account as above 54 ... 54 +Board for forty weeks from 60 to 90 +Fuel and lights " 6 " 15 +Use of books recited, and stationery " 5 " 15 +Use of furniture, bed and bedding " 5 " 15 +Washing...... " 5 " 15 +Contributions in the classes ... " 5 " 6 + ---------- + 140 to 210 + +or from 29_l._ to 43_l._ No students are permitted to take lodgings in +town, except when the rooms in college are all occupied. + +In addition to the regular college course of four years, those who +study for the ministry go through a theological course, which occupies +three years more. No charges are made for tuition or lectures. For the +accommodation of students of this order a building has been erected, in +which the rooms are free of charge. The law department, in like manner, +occupies two years, and the medical two or three. + +Let us now go and see the graves of the Regicides. They are at the rear +of the Centre Church. Soon after the restoration of Charles II., many +of the judges who had condemned to death his father were apprehended; +of whom thirty were condemned, and ten executed as traitors. Three, +however, made their escape to New England,--Generals Goffe and Whalley, +and Colonel Dixwell. A cave is shown in the neighbourhood, still called +the "Judges' Cave," in which a great part of their time was spent in +concealment. Many were their hair-breadth 'scapes from their +pursuers--the Royalist party. The colonists, however, gave them all the +sympathy and protection that they deserved. On one occasion, knowing +that the pursuers were coming to New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Davenport +preached on the text, "Hide the outcasts; betray not him that +wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to +them from the face of the spoiler." This, doubtless, had its effect, +putting the whole town on their guard, and uniting the people in +caution and concealment. + +Do you see that rudely-shaped, dark blue stone, about 2 feet in width, +the same in height, and 8 inches thick? Do you see the inscription upon +it--E W in coarsely-carved letters, and the figures 1658 over them? +That is, doubtless, the headstone of Whalley's grave. The footstone is +similar, having the same letters; but above them you see figures that +may be read either sixteen hundred and fifty-eight, or sixteen hundred +and seventy-eight--16578. The latter was the date of the General's +death; and the figures, perhaps, were thus tampered with to baffle the +Royalists. + +The other stone, about a foot broad and ten inches high, bearing the +letters M. G. and the number 80, is supposed to indicate the +resting-place of Goffe. He died about the year 1680. The M, with a +deep-drawn stroke under its limbs, may be taken for an inverted W; and +thus, with the G, stand for William Goffe, in harmony with the designed +concealment that pervades the whole. Colonel John Dixwell lived here, +for seventeen years or more, under the assumed name of James Davids, +and died here after an exile of twenty-nine years from his native +country. He, as well as the other two judges, lived and died in the +firm expectation of another revolution in England. That revolution had +actually taken place in the November before his death; but, as those +were the days of slow and tedious voyages, the news did not arrive till +about a month after his death. A little before his decease he revealed +to the people his real name and character, which had long been known to +the Rev. Mr. Pierpont the minister, but requested that no monument +should be erected at his grave, "lest his enemies might dishonour his +ashes," but only a plain stone inscribed with his initials J. D., Esq., +his age, and time of death. And here it is--that piece of red stone, +about 2 feet in height and breadth, and 5 inches thick, inscribed-- + +"I. D. ESQR + +DECEASED MARCH ye + +18th IN ye 82d YEAR OF + +HIS AGE 1688^9." + +President Stiles, in his "History of the Judges," says, "So late as the +last French war, 1760, some British officers passing through New Haven, +and hearing of Dixwell's grave, visited it, and declared, with +rancorous and malicious vengeance, that if the British ministry knew +it, they would even then cause their bodies to be dug up and vilified. +Often have we heard the crown officers aspersing and vilifying them; +and some so late as 1775 visited and treated the graves with marks of +indignity too indecent to be detailed." + +By those who can make a due allowance for difference of time and +circumstances, the graves of these exiles will be visited with +sentiments of veneration. It would have been grand to spare the +presumptuous monarch; but we cannot feel surprised that he was +sacrificed to the indignation of an outraged people. In these days, +happily, kings and nations have learned that to take away the life of +tyrannical rulers, or of resisting subjects, is but to sow the seeds of +future troubles, and not to lay the foundation of permanent peace. + + + + +LETTER XXXII. + +A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The +Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at +College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The +"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at +Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak. + + +Good Friday was observed by the people of New England as an annual +fast-day, to humble themselves on account of their national sins. It +seemed, somewhat to our inconvenience, to be literally and very rigidly +observed in the circle in which we moved. On that day all ministers are +at liberty to preach upon politics. Accordingly, my friend Mr. Sawyer +took for his text Isaiah lviii. 6: "Is not this the fast that I have +chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, +and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" He +touched upon the war with Mexico, but dwelt chiefly on the subject of +slavery in America. His remarks were, however, too much mingled with +party politics to make the church uncomfortable. + +In the afternoon I heard Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. His text was +Neh. ii. 3, and his subject _Patriotism_. The existing war occupied +much of his attention, and was strongly and unsparingly denounced. The +maxim--too frequently heard at that time in the United States--"Our +country, right or wrong," he shattered to atoms. Defensive war, +however, he justified. He dwelt powerfully on the responsibility +connected with the exercise of the elective franchise, and urged the +duty of voting, at all times, not blindly and for party purposes, but +intelligently, honestly, and piously. Exceptions might perhaps be taken +by some to his views on defensive war; otherwise the discourse was +excellent and seasonable. At the close of the service, we went, in +accordance with previous arrangements, to be his guests for a few days. + +In the evening I attended a Congregational church of coloured people. +The place was exceedingly neat and clean. The minister, the Rev. Mr. +Beman (himself a coloured man), gave out the well-known hymn-- + +"Come we that love the Lord, + And let our joys be known," &c., + +which was sung beautifully. He then offered up a very judicious, +sensible, and pious prayer. The meeting was one of a series of revival +meetings. A large number professed to have been converted; but, such +were the care and caution exercised, none of them had been admitted +into the fellowship of the church. Mr. Beman was so prudent, +unassuming, and devout, that I could not resist the inclination to go +up, introduce myself, and give a short address. Most cordial was my +reception, and great my enjoyment. At the close, one and another were +introduced to me as having made their escape from Southern slavery, +under circumstances painfully affecting; and they would not let me go +without a promise that I would preach to them on the following Sabbath +morning. + +I did so, and enjoyed the service very much. As in the evening there +was to be a service in the North Church, in which all the other +churches were to unite, for the purpose of hearing from me a statement +with regard to the history and operations of the London Missionary +Society, together with some special reference to British Guiana, I said +to Mr. Beman, "Brother Beman, won't you and your people go to the North +Church to-night?" He hesitatingly said, "No,--he thought not." "Why +not?" said I,--"you know my statements will in a great measure refer to +those who are your brethren--your kindred according to the flesh." +"Yes," he replied,--"we should be glad to come; but the fact is they +would pack us--myself and all--into some negro pew, and we should feel +it keenly." + +In the afternoon I preached for Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. Dr. +Bacon had that day exchanged pulpits with Dr. Hawes of Hartford. My +service closing a little sooner than his, I reached the Centre Church +in time to hear the latter part of his sermon. Dr. Hawes is a fine, +tall man, of about 55 years of age. In personal appearance, and in +tones of voice, he struck me as greatly resembling some of the sons of +Caledonia. His sermon, which was read, seemed to be very good; but the +delivery, even in the application, was slow and heavy. Both churches +were even more beautiful inside than out, and were filled with very +large congregations. + +Shortly after, Mr. Dutton took me to attend the afternoon worship at +the College Chapel, where a church is formed, and public services are +conducted every Sabbath. It was here that Dr. Dwight delivered his +well-known Lectures. There are prayers morning and afternoon every day, +which the students are expected to attend. Such was the present +engagement. One of the professors read a chapter; gave out a hymn, +which was magnificently sung; and then offered an extempore prayer. +There were between 300 and 400 students present. + +In the evening Dr. Hawes accompanied me into the pulpit, and took the +introductory part of the service. Most of the professors and students +were present. It was a fine, though formidable, opportunity to plead +the cause of the despised and oppressed sons of Afric before an +audience of so much learning and intelligence. What a contrast! In 1742 +the students were forbidden to attend the meetings of this church; and +it was partly for once disobeying this prohibition, in order to hear +the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, that David Brainerd was expelled from the +college. + +Nor were the sentiments I uttered new in this place. Nearly 60 years +have rolled away since Jonathan Edwards the younger preached here a +sermon, afterwards published by _request_, on the injustice and +impolicy of the slave-trade and slavery,--a sermon which in these days +would be called by many not merely abolitionism but incendiarism. + +On Monday morning we were taken to see the cemetery, outside of the +city. Formerly the Green was used as a burying-ground; but in the +latter part of last century this field of ten acres was levelled and +inclosed for the purpose; and in 1821 the monuments, with the exception +of the humble stones of the three judges, were removed hither. The +broken tablets and half-legible inscriptions, which constituted the +memorials of the fathers and founders of this colony, were peculiarly +interesting. On the 18th of April, 1638, those men kept their first +Sabbath here. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, and Mr. +Davenport, their pastor, preached to them from Matt. iv. 1: "Then was +Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the +devil." His subject was the temptations of the wilderness; and he +recorded the remark, that he had enjoyed "a good day." The following +year they met in a large barn, and in a very solemn manner proceeded to +lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity. Mr. Davenport +introduced the business with a sermon on "Wisdom hath builded her +house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The most ancient record of +this event is a curiosity in the history of civil government. It thus +begins:--"The 4th day of the 6th moneth, called June, all the free +planters assembled together in a general meetinge, to consult about +settling civil government according to God, and about the nomination of +persons that may be found by consent of all fittest in all respects for +the foundation work of a church, which was to be gathered in Quinipiack +[the Indian name of the place]. After sollemne invocation of the name +of God in prayer," &c., they resolved--Alas! for that resolve! it +admitted a wrong principle, and was productive, for more than 150 +years, of the most withering and blighting effect upon that religion +which they aimed to foster--they resolved among other things, "That +church members only shall be free burgesses; and that they only shall +chuse magistrates and officers among themselves, to have the power of +transacting all publique civil affairs of this plantation," &c. + +But why record their errors while standing over their tombs? _De +mortuis nil nisi bonum_. Take them for all in all, they were men whom +we delight to honour. Here are some of their memorials, dated so far +back as 1657. Here too is the resting-place of Dr. Dwight. + +As we return from this necropolis, the Rev. Mr. Sawyer points out to us +the house of Professor Gibbs. "Gibbs--Gibbs," said I; "what! Gibbs's +Gesenius?" "Yes," said he. "I should like to see him," I replied, "for +I used at college his editions of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon." "Let us +then call by all means," said Mr. Sawyer. We did so; and a thin, spare, +sallow, sickly, withered, little old gentleman made his appearance. +This was the Professor. He seemed as if all the juice and sap of his +constitution had been pressed out to nourish the Hebrew roots. I +expressed my pleasure in seeing him, and acknowledged the advantages I +had derived from his labours. The conversation soon touched upon the +Established Church of England, of which he seemed to have a great +horror. "You ought to put down," said he, "that Establishment. You +might very easily do it." "We should be very happy, sir, to know how," +I replied. "I will tell you. Make thorough Hebrew scholars of your +ministers. Let them be with regard to Biblical learning quite on a par +with those of the Establishment, and it will soon fall." I answered, +that upon the whole I thought they were in that respect quite in +advance of those of the Establishment. But I was amused at the good +Professor's simplicity. He little understood the mighty bulwarks by +which that institution is defended. A little more of the article in +which _he_ dealt would be just the thing to accomplish wonders! It was +his nostrum. + +To-day the annual election of the State of Connecticut is held. All the +officers of state are to be chosen, and New Haven is one of the +principal polling-places. But how quiet the town! The only thing that +indicates an election is the presence of a larger number of people than +usual; and the only display you can see is that little bit of a flag, +about 18 inches square, stuck on the top of a cab, having on the word +"Democracy!" Let us go into the State House, and see how it is done. +Men leave their stores or their studies,--enter by one door, drop their +vote into a box, and quietly return to their avocations. The students +at Yale who are 21 years of age do the same, and go back to their +exercises. The whole affair is managed with as much propriety as the +election of deacons in the church at New Amsterdam. _This_ is the +working of universal suffrage in New England. Oh that all America, and +all the world, were in this respect like the land of the Pilgrim +Fathers! + +And now we must bid adieu to New Haven. Many are the warm hearts and +clear heads it contains. The population is about 18,000. There are in +it-- + +5 Congregational Churches, and 1 Coloured ditto. +2 Episcopal ditto . . 1 " +2 Methodist Episcopal ditto 1 " +2 Baptist ditto. +1 Primitive Methodist ditto. 1 Bethel ditto. +1 Catholic ditto. -- +____ + +13 + 4 = 17 total of places of worship. + + DOLLARS. + +The Salary of the Governor of Connecticut is 1,100 + " Lieutenant " . . 300 + " Rev. Dr. Bacon . . . 1,500 + " Rev. Mr. Dutton . . . 1,500 + +In the middle of the day, we leave by railway for Hartford, 36 miles +off. Dr. Hawes is our fellow-traveller. Coloured people are here +allowed to travel in the same carriages with others. It was not so, +even on this line, three or four years ago, when the Rev. Mr. +Pennington was setting off from Hartford for England. He told me +himself that he was obliged on that occasion to travel in the +luggage-van. On our arrival, we are met by Charles Hosmer, Esq., (a +cousin of Elihu Burritt,) an old and valued correspondent of mine, and +of my predecessor Mr. Wray. To both of us he had occasionally sent +presents of excellent American publications. We must be his guests +during the few days we remain at Hartford. Dr. Hawes and Chief Justice +Williams, came in a homely way to spend the evening with us. The Chief +Justice is a deacon of the Doctor's church, and a teacher in the +Sabbath-school. + +The next day we were taken to see the Deaf and Dumb Institution. This +asylum was founded by the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet, who, becoming deeply +interested in this class of afflicted humanity, visited England and the +Continent with a view to obtain information as to the best mode of +communicating instruction to them. I may also observe that he himself +married a deaf and dumb lady, by whom he has a large family of +children, now grown up, none of whom however inherit the maternal +affliction. His son also has married a lady who, like his mother, is +deaf and dumb. We were highly delighted with the success of the +undertaking as seen in the comfort, cheerfulness, and proficiency of +the pupils. In coming out, we met at the door a respectable +well-dressed man and a woman, both of them deaf and dumb, who had +formerly been pupils here, had formed an attachment to each other, +married, settled comfortably in life, and were now coming to pay a +visit to their former home. + +On our return we saw the celebrated Charter Oak. The early settlers of +this place had obtained from the second Charles, and that in the very +year in which 2,000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England, +a most favourable charter--far more so than the Colonial Office in the +present day would grant. Charles, however, repented having granted it, +and in 1687 sent over Sir Edmund Andross, under some pretence or other, +to demand it back. It was night, and the Legislative Assembly were +convened on the subject, when suddenly the lights were extinguished, +and the charter was missing. For a long time it was not known, except +to the initiated, what had become of it. When, however, the danger was +past, the Charter was forthcoming. It had been concealed in the hollow +of this old oak, which still survives. I was gratified in seeing the +document carefully preserved in the office of the Secretary of State. +It is dated 1662, and "in the fourteenth year of our reign," though in +reality Charles had then reigned but two years. + + + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity +--Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. +Bushnell and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground +--The New Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure +from Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth +Bliss--The Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill. + + +Having seen the Charter Oak, let us proceed in company with the Rev. +Mr. Gallaudet to the "Retreat for the Insane," of which he is chaplain. +The place is delightfully situated, and severity of treatment carefully +avoided. As we pass from room to room, we are very gravely and formally +introduced, as strangers in the country, to the inmates. Here we are +introduced to a tall muscular old lady, who has her cap fantastically +trimmed with bits of ribbon of various gaudy colours. With an air of +assumed politeness and dignity, she asks me if I have been to +Washington. On receiving a reply in the negative, she expresses great +regret, and inquires if I have seen "Dan Webster," and, without waiting +for an answer, hurries on, "Fine fellow Dan,--some solid timbers about +Dan,--indeed, the Yankees altogether are not to be sniffed at." I +nodded the most entire assent to all she said. + +We enter another room, and are introduced to a curious groupe. One +woman has tied her mouth up with a handkerchief, to prevent her talking +too much. She tells us that at first she had tied it over her ears, to +prevent her hearing another woman's voice, who is constantly talking to +herself, and making her head ache; but that she found her own tongue +then going faster than anybody else's. She had therefore adopted the +_wise_ plan of tying her own mouth. She is eloquent in the praises of +the institution, and calls it "A blessed Retreat--a blessed Retreat." + +We move on, and are introduced to a fine-looking woman--the wife of a +respectable merchant in New York. She looks wild, and shakes her head +violently. She pours upon us a flood of questions, most of which relate +to her own husband, such as--When did we see him last?--How was +he?--What message did he send to her? &c. Turning to my wife, she said, +"You had better have staid at home, and never come to this country. +This country _was_ once a great country: it is so no longer, and all +through that man,"--pointing to Mr. Gallaudet. "Oh that man! what a +villain he is! People out of doors don't know him; and," looking at +myself, "you can't do this country better service than to make known +everywhere the real character of that man. Here he keeps me a prisoner +in this place for nothing at all; but I hope the State will take up the +matter, and punish him well for it." I promised to make known Mr. +Gallaudet's character, and bade her adieu. + +We are next introduced to a student of theology, who asks very sensible +and pious questions in reference to the missionary cause and the +progress of the Gospel in British Guiana. This man is perfectly sane +except on one point. He thinks there is a conspiracy to poison him, and +that slow poison is administered to him continually in his food. Mr. +Gallaudet, even by dining at the same table and eating out of the same +dish, has failed to convince him to the contrary. + +Now we are taken to the chapel in which Mr. Gallaudet officiates among +them. On the desk is an elegantly-bound Bible, which has been presented +by a former patient, who had experienced in his restoration the value +of this "Retreat." The hymn-book is a collection made on purpose for +the insane, everything gloomy and terrific being excluded. Mr. +Gallaudet, a most intelligent and accomplished man, describes many +remarkable developments of human nature which have come under his +observation, comprising strange combinations of piety and profanity in +the same persons. A patient, who was really a very religious man, in +enumerating the many advantages they there enjoyed said, "We have a +good house to live in; good rooms to occupy; good food to eat; a good +doctor to attend us; a good chaplain to give us religious instruction; +and" (waxing warm) "what the devil do we want more?" + +In the afternoon we meet with Dr. Hawes, at the house of Chief Justice +Williams to tea. + +In the evening there is a united service in the "Fourth Church"--that +of which Dr. Patton's son is minister,--to hear from me an address on +the subject of missions. After which Dr. Bushnell puts to me publicly +some very close and intelligent questions with regard to the working of +freedom in our West India Colonies. He is evidently anxious to elicit +from me that kind of information which would enable them to contradict +the statements of the pro-slavery party. Young Patton is also an +anti-slavery man, and will not tolerate the distinction of colour in +his own church. + +The next day Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Patton call and accompany us to the +Historical Room. There we see carefully kept an old chest that had come +over in the "May Flower," and also the three-legged pot in which the +"Pilgrims" had first boiled their food after landing on Plymouth Rock. +These and many other memorials of the "Fathers" we are happy to find +are very piously preserved. Then we go to a Gallery of Pictures. The +admission fee is 25 cents, or one shilling; but from us, being +strangers, they will accept of nothing! In the collection there was +much to admire; but I could not help regretting that the canvas was +made to preserve the memory of so many conflicts between England and +her Transatlantic sons. + +We dined at Dr. Bushnell's house. The Doctor is a very unassuming man, +and a very original but somewhat eccentric thinker. He had lately +published a sermon on Roads, a sermon on the Moral Uses of the Sea, a +sermon on Stormy Sabbaths, and a sermon on Unconscious Influence,--all +treated in a very striking manner. He had recently visited England and +the continent of Europe, and had also contributed an article to the +_New Englander_, a quarterly review, on the Evangelical Alliance. The +views of a keen thinker from another land on that and kindred topics +deserve to be pondered. "The Church of God in England," says the +Doctor, "can never be settled upon any proper basis, whether of truth +or of practical harmony, until the Established Church, as such, is +separated from the State." His estimate of "a large class of English +Christians" is not very flattering. "They are good men, but not +thinking men. Their piety gurgles in a warm flood through their heart, +but it has not yet mounted to their head. * * * In the ordinary, _i.e._ +in their preaching and piety, they show a style of goodishness fitly +represented by Henry's Commentary; in the extraordinary, they rise into +sublimity by inflation and the swell of the occasion." Towards slavery +and slaveholders he manifests a tenderness of feeling at which we are +surprised and pained. The proposed exclusion of slaveholders from the +Alliance he characterizes as "absurd and fanatical," speaking of the +subject as having been "so unhandsomely forced upon" the American +brethren in London. Again, "There is too much good sense among the +Christians of this country (America) to think of constituting an +Alliance on the basis which denies Christian character to all +slaveholders. At a future time, when slavery has been discussed long +enough, we shall do so. We cannot do it now,--least of all can we do it +at the dictation of brethren beyond the sea, who do not understand the +question," &c. + +And yet in the same article the Doctor proposes that the Christians of +England and America should unite their efforts for the promotion of +religious liberty in Italy, and says, "If we lift our testimony against +all church dungeons and tortures, and against all suppression of +argument by penalties, as cruel, absurd, anti-christian, and impious, +there is no prince or priesthood in Italy or anywhere else that can +long venture to perpetrate such enormities." Will they yield, Doctor, +to the "dictation of brethren beyond the sea?" But this subject of +American slavery is always represented by our Transatlantic friends as +a thing so _profound_ that none but themselves can understand it; and +yet it is evident that they understand it least of all. Hear the +Doctor:-- + +"We do not propose, however, in this movement for religious liberty, to +invite the efforts of our English brethren here against slavery. We +have too little confidence in their knowledge of our condition, and the +correctness of their opinions generally on the subject of American +slavery. They must consent to let us manage the question in our own +way," &c. How strikingly is it here seen that this slavery is the weak +point and the wicked point in the American character! We liked Dr. +Bushnell's company, his hospitality, his wife, his children, his +domestic discipline, his church, his other writings,--everything better +than the article in question, though even it contained much that we +admired. + +The next day we went to see the "First Congregational Church" in this +place--that in which Dr. Hawes ministers, together with the old +burying-ground attached to it. This was the original church formed by +the first settlers, who in 1636 came from Braintree in Essex, bringing +their pastor the Rev. Thos. Hooker along with them. Of him it is said, +that he appeared in the pulpit with such dignity and independence as if +"while engaged in his Master's work he could put a king in his pocket." +Here is his tomb, dated 1647. Two eventful centuries have rolled away, +during which this church has had only nine pastors; all of whom, except +the last, Dr. Hawes, who still survives, died in their charge, and were +interred in this place. Interments here are no longer continued; but an +old bachelor, of independent means, a descendant of the Pilgrims, +spends nearly the whole of his time "among the tombs" of the fathers +and prophets, and, _con amore_, keeps the ground and the graves in the +most beautiful order. + +Our host Mr. Hosmer took us to see the new burying-ground outside of +the city. Here the Catholics and the coloured people had each a parcel +of ground allotted for themselves,--the former because they _would_ +not, and the latter because they _should_ not, mingle their dust with +that of other people! + +On our way back I said to my friend, "How was it that neither Mr. +Pennington nor any of his people (coloured congregation) were at the +meeting last night? I should have thought they would have come to hear +about their own brethren in Guiana." "Why," he replied, "the fact was I +did not send a notice to them on Sunday: I knew that in the 'Fourth' +Church they would have been scattered all over the place; it would have +been so unpleasant, and talked of for months." Here then was a man of a +large heart, a friend of missions and of all that is good, one who +seemed as if he could embrace the whole world in his sympathies, under +the dominion of a prejudice you would have expected him to scorn! + +At Hartford lives Mrs. Sigourney, the graceful American poetess. She is +a pious member of one of the Congregational Churches. Mr. Hosmer kindly +took us to call upon her; and we were greatly pleased with our brief +visit. + +At 2 P.M. we left with regret this delightful little city, and shall +always cherish a grateful remembrance of the Christian kindness and +hospitality with which we were treated. In all the States we met with +nothing to be compared, in all that was pleasing, to the two cities of +Connecticut--New Haven and Hartford. + +In passing, on our way to Boston, through Worcester in Massachusetts, I +cast a hurried glance at every place that looked like a smithy, +wondering whether it was there that Elihu Burritt had wielded his +forge-hammer and scattered his "sparks from the anvil." + +We reached Boston at 9 P.M., and stopped at the United States Hotel. +The next day I called to deliver notes of introduction to several of +the Boston divines. Among them was one to the Rev. Seth Bliss, at the +Tract Depository. Having glanced at the note, he very hurriedly said to +me, "Ah, how do you do?--very glad to see you!--where are you stopping +at?"--"At the United States Hotel, sir." "Oh," he replied all in a +breath, "you had better come to my house,--it'll be cheaper for +you,--they'll charge you 2 dollars a day at the United States Hotel,--I +only charge a dollar and a half,--I have a room at liberty now. +Besides, if you want to get acquainted with ministers, you can't do +better than come to my house. In fact, the wags call my house the +'Saints' Rest,'--because, I suppose, they see I sell the book here." +The conjuncture of "Bliss" and "Saints' Rest!" Who could refuse? We +went. But I will not tell how far the accommodation tended to realize +our conceptions of those beatitudes. + +On the morrow we went to see Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty." A +notice was up at the door to say the key was to be found at such a +store in the neighbourhood. I asked for the key; had it without a +single question being put; went, opened the door myself, and staid as +long as we pleased. There was no hanger-on, to try to squeeze a fee out +of us, as would have been the case in a country I know. + +I then went and called without any introduction upon William Lloyd +Garrison, from whom I received the most kind attentions. He accompanied +me to the celebrated Bunker's Hill, a scene of dreadful encounter +between those who ought never to have been foes. A column of 200 feet +high now stands upon the spot. It is unfortunate that the Americans +have so many mementos, both natural and artificial, of their struggles +with us. They tend to perpetuate an undesirable feeling. + + + + +LETTER XXXIV. + +Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between +Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman +and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd +and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan +House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to +churn, and Horses to saw Wood. + + +On Sabbath morning the 11th of April I preached for the Rev. Mr. +Blagden, in the Old South Church. This is a large old-fashioned square +building, having two galleries, one above the other, on three of its +sides. It is rich in historical recollections. Here Whitfield preached. +Here patriotic meetings were held even before Faneuil Hall was built; +and here the British troops were quartered at the time of the +Revolutionary War. Here, too, the lamp of truth was kept feebly burning +when all around had sunk into darkness and heresy. At the commencement +of this century, the ministry in all the other Congregational Churches +in Boston had become Unitarian. In the Old South, however, there were a +few people, eight in number, who formed a "Society for Religious +Improvement." They could not at first _pray_ together; they only read +the Scriptures and conversed on religious subjects. But they grew in +wisdom, fervour, and zeal, and were eventually the means, not only of +reviving religion in the Old South, but also of giving an impulse in +Boston which is felt to this day. Church after church on orthodox +principles has been instituted, till there are in Boston more than a +dozen large and vigorous churches of the Congregational order; and the +Old South, the honoured "mother of churches," has had her "youth +renewed like the eagles." + +But how came Congregationalism to be so deteriorated? It was owing to +its having been made the State religion. All were at first taxed for +its exclusive support. This was felt to be unjust and oppressive, and +it brought the favoured system into bad repute. Then a modification of +the law was adopted, and the citizens had their choice of systems, but +were taxed for the support of some system or other. This provision, +likewise, began ere long to be felt as unjust towards those who did not +wish to maintain _any_ system, or at least not by taxation. This law, +moreover, gave a virtual support to Unitarianism. "This," says the Rev. +Mr. Button of New Haven, "has been more fully illustrated in +Massachusetts than in Connecticut. The repeal of the law for the +compulsory support of religion in that commonwealth has proved a severe +blow to Unitarianism." + +After the morning service at the Old South, we turned in to see +Park-street Church, another Congregational place of worship, which for +the following reason I was curious to enter. A few years ago a coloured +gentleman of respectability instructed a friend to purchase for him a +pew in that church. That no objection to the sale might arise from any +neglect of decorations, the new proprietor had it beautifully lined and +cushioned. It was made to look as handsome as any other pew in the +church; and, when it was finished, the gentleman and his family one +Sabbath morning took possession. This gave rise to great anxiety and +alarm. Niggers in the body of the church! What was to be done? In the +course of the following week a meeting was held, and a deputation +appointed to wait upon the gentleman, and to tell him that it was +against "public feeling" for him to occupy the pew in question. The +gentleman remonstrated, and pointed out the injustice, after he had +purchased the pew, and incurred the expense of fitting it up, of not +being allowed to enjoy it. To this the deputation replied that they +were sorry for any inconvenience or loss he might sustain, but public +feeling _must_ be respected, and the pew _must_ be given up. Against +this decision there was no appeal; and the gentleman was obliged to let +the pew be resold for such a price as the white aristocracy thought fit +to give. On the principle that "prevention is better than cure," they +have, I am told, in Boston introduced into every new trust-deed a +clause that will effectually guard against the recurrence of such a +calamity. But so "smartly" has it been done that, were you to examine +those deeds, you would look in vain for a single syllable having the +remotest apparent bearing on either black or coloured people, and you +would be ready to suspect that the whole was a mere invention of the +Abolitionists. Indeed, Mrs. "Bliss," at the "Saints' Rest," assured me +in the most positive manner that such was the case, and that the whole +of the story I have related had not the shadow of a foundation in +truth. But she might as well have attempted to deny the existence of +Bunker's Hill or Boston Bay. This was only a specimen of the manner in +which the colour-hating party attempt to throw dust in the eyes of +strangers, and deny the existence of the most palpable facts. But how +runs the conservative clause which led to this digression? It is +expressed in words to this effect,--That no sale of any pew is valid if +two-thirds or three-fourths (I forget which) of the congregation should +object to the purchaser! This was quite enough. Those against whom it +was directed need not be even mentioned. It was well known that with +this clause no coloured man could ever own a pew. Public feeling would +piously take hold of this key, and turn it against him. + +In the afternoon I heard the Rev. E.N. Kirk. The church was new and +beautiful, the congregation large, and the sermon good. + +In the evening I preached in Welsh to about 70 people, in a small +"upper room." It was my first attempt for many years to deliver a +_sermon_ in that language. Nor should I have made it, but for the +peculiarity of the case. The parties were representatives of four +different denominations in Wales, had formed themselves into a kind of +Evangelical Alliance, and had no stated minister, but gladly availed +themselves of the occasional services of any minister of evangelical +views who might be passing through! Poor and few as they were, they +insisted upon my receiving towards travelling expenses four dollars and +a half. This was not done at the Old South, though the pastor told me +they were "burdened with wealth;" nor was it done in any other instance +in the _American_ churches. + +The next day the Rev. Mr. Blagden accompanied us to see the +Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Here we were introduced to Laura +Bridgman, who since she was about two years of age has been deaf, dumb, +and blind. Her senses of taste and smell are also impaired. She is 18 +years of age, and has been in the institution ten years. Every avenue +of communication with the soul was closed--but one. The sense of touch +remained; and by means of that they have contrived to reach the mind, +to inform it, to instruct it, to refine and elevate it. We found her +exactly corresponding to the beautiful description given of her by Dr. +Howe, who is at the head of the institution. That description has so +often been published in England that I will not transcribe it. Her +figure is genteel, slender, and well-proportioned. She appears to be +lively, sensitive, and benevolent. The place where the bright blue eyes +once sparkled that are now quenched in darkness is covered with a piece +of green ribbon. Conversation with her is carried on by means of the +"speaker's" rapid fingering on her right hand. It was in this manner +that we were introduced. She shook hands with us very affectionately, +--taking hold of both hands of Mrs. Davies, and feeling all +about her head, her dress, and her arms. In doing so she felt the +wedding-ring, and wanted to know by means of her interpreter--her +governess--why the English ladies wore a ring on that finger. (The +American ladies do not observe the custom.) On my wife telling her it +was to show they were married, she seemed very much amused and +astonished. Here it was very interesting to observe the progress of a +thought from ourselves to the governess, and from her to that "little, +white, whispering, loving, listening" hand that received and +communicated all ideas, until the brightened countenance and the lovely +smile showed it had reached the soul. She felt a deep sympathy for +Ireland, and wished to know what the English were doing for the +starving inhabitants. We told her; and soon after we saw by the public +papers that, subsequently to our visit, she had done some needle-work, +which was sold, and the proceeds appropriated at her request to +purchase a barrel of flour for that unhappy land. "How," exclaims Elihu +Burritt, "she plied at morning, noon, and night, those fingers! +wonderful fingers! It seemed that the very finger of God had touched +them with miraculous susceptibilities of fellowship with the spirit +world and that around her. She put them upon the face of His written +word, and felt them thrilled to her heart with the pulsation of His +great thoughts of love to man. And then she _felt_ for other's woe. +Poor child! God bless her richly! She reached out her short arms to +feel after some more unhappy than she in the condition of this life; +some whose fingers' ends had not read such sweet paragraphs of heaven's +mercy as hers had done; some who had not seen, heard, and felt what her +dumb, silent, deaf fingers had brought into her heart of joy, hope, and +love. Think of that, ye young eyes and ears that daily feast upon the +beauty and melody of this outer world! Within the atmosphere of her +quick sensibilities, she felt the presence of those whose cup was full +of affliction. She put her fingers, with their throbbing sympathies, +upon the lean bloodless faces of the famishing children in Ireland, and +her sightless eyes filled with the tears that the blind may shed for +griefs they cannot see. And then she plied the needle and those +fingers, and quickened their industry by placing them anon upon the +slow sickly pulse of want that wasted her kind at noonday across the +ocean. Days, and nights too--for day and night were alike to her +wakeful sympathies--and weeks she wrought on with her needle. And then +the embroidery of those fingers was sold to the merchants. Would it had +been sold to England's Queen, to be worn by the young princesses on +days of state! It was sold; and its purchase price was _a barrel of +flour_, instead of a country's harvest, which it was well worth. And +that barrel of flour was stowed away without other private mark than +that the recording Angel put upon it, among the thousands that +freighted the _Jamestown_ on her recent mission of brotherly love to +Ireland. _Laura Bridgman and her barrel of flour_ should teach the +world a lesson worth the woes of one year's famine." Laura favoured us +with her autograph on a slip of paper, which we shall always carefully +preserve as a memorial of a visit to one of the greatest wonders of the +age. + +In another room we were introduced to Oliver Caswell. He is about the +same age as Laura, and similarly afflicted, but has been in the +institution only six years. His teacher told him, in the same +finger-language which was used with Laura, that we came from British +Guiana, and desired him to find out the place on the large globe before +him. This globe was made for the use of the blind, having upon it the +countries and their names in relievo. Oliver turned it round, and felt +with his fingers until they soon rested on the required spot, when he +seemed greatly delighted. His attainments are not so remarkable as +those of Laura, for he has not been so long under tuition; but his +progress is highly encouraging. + +At 4 P.M. we left Boston by railway for Albany,--fare 5 dollars each. +We rested, however, at Springfield for the night, and that in the most +comfortable hotel we had met with in the States. The next day we moved +on to Pittsfield, where we arrived at half-past 11. Finding that we +might get off from that train, and go by another in three or four +hours' time, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of calling upon +the Rev. Dr. Todd, the author of "Lectures to Children," "The Student's +Guide," &c. Instead of the prim, neat, little man we had always +imagined him to be, we found him tall, coarse, slovenly, and unshaven; +a man of 46 years of age; hair of an iron-grey, rough and uncombed; +features large; cheek-bones prominent; and the straps of his trowsers +unbuttoned, and flapping about his slippers. But, under this +unpromising exterior, we discerned a soul of great intelligence, +frankness, and brotherly kindness. Mrs. Todd has been a woman of great +beauty, and, though she has brought up a large family of children, is +still fresh and comely. Their eldest daughter is 19 years of age; and +John, to whom the "Lectures to Children" were dedicated, is now 14 +years of age. The Doctor's insane mother, for whose sake he was first +led to employ his pen, has been dead for some years. His desire to +visit England is very strong. He had been appointed by the churches of +Massachusetts to visit those of England last year in the character of a +delegate; but the means of meeting the expenses of such a delegation +were not provided, and consequently the visit was not paid. It is +worthy of observation that the Doctor's books have been sold in England +far more extensively than in America; but from the English editions he +receives no profit, and even from the American ones very little. As it +may be the first time that English readers hear of John Todd as +_Doctor_ Todd, and as there is an impression that our American friends +bestow their literary honours too freely and indiscriminately,--which, +indeed, is true in reference to some scores of institutions,--nothing +being easier than to obtain a D.D.,--I would just observe that this +applies not to the New England Colleges. They are very chary of such +honours, and only confer that of D.D. on ministers of long standing and +high attainments. In the case of Mr. Todd it was most deservedly +bestowed. + +Pittsfield is but a small town, of about 5,000 inhabitants. The +Governor of Massachusetts resided there, and was a deacon of a Baptist +Church. Dr. Todd presides over a Congregational Church. To the +principles of Congregationalism he is devoutly attached. While others +regard Presbyterianism and Congregationalism as matters of mere +geographical boundary, Todd could never be prevailed upon, even by the +most advantageous offers, to do the same. He said he had nailed his +flag to the mast, and would never abandon it. "I regard +Congregationalism," said he to me, "as a sort of a working-jacket: with +it on I can work with anybody, in any place, and in any way." With this +great and good man we exceedingly enjoyed a homely dinner and a few +hours' converse. In coming out, I observed before the door, +half-covered with snow, a beautiful model of the Temple of Theseus. +This was the work of the Doctor's own hands. + +At 3-1/2 P.M. we left for Albany. At the station, before crossing the +Hudson, we observed in large letters the ominous words "Beware of +pickpockets!" On reaching the city we went to the "Delevan House," so +called after Mr. Delevan, who has done so much for the advancement of +temperance in America. The house is his property, but he does not +conduct it. He lives there as a lodger; and I was permitted to spend +the evening in conversation with him. The house is the largest +temperance hotel in the world. It will accommodate about 400 guests. +Those who keep it are religious people, and have a public +family-worship every evening, usually conducted by the master of the +house; but if a minister of any denomination be present, he is asked to +officiate. A bell is rung, and all who feel disposed to unite in the +worship assemble in a large room. On this occasion it was my privilege +to conduct the service; and in such a place, and under such +circumstances, it was to me an exercise of peculiar interest. A hymn +too was sung, and well sung,--the tune being led by the master of the +house, aided by his family. + +The next morning, at half-past 7, we set off by railway to Utica, a +distance of 94 miles, which we did not accomplish in less than 6-1/2 +hours, making an average of less than 15 miles an hour, and for which +we paid 2-1/2 dollars, or 10s. 6d. This journey led us through the +valley of the Mohawk, and that river was for the most part our constant +companion. The railway and the river seemed to be wedded to each +other,--the former conforming to all the whims and windings, and +turnings and twistings of the latter. + +Utica is a small city, of about 14,000 inhabitants. Its progress has +been but slow. The houses are painted white, and appear neat and +comfortable. I was struck with the immense number of them that were +erected with their gable end to the street, and with a small portico +supported by two fluted columns. A large portion of the inhabitants are +Welsh, who have here four or five places of worship. The Rev. James +Griffiths, a man of great piety and worth, is the minister of the Welsh +Independents. At his house we were most kindly entertained during our +stay. On the Sabbath I preached for him twice in Welsh. The following +week we were taken to Remsen, eighteen miles off, to see the Rev. Mr. +Everett, whose farewell sermon on leaving Wales I had heard when quite +a boy,--and the Rev. Morris Roberts, to whom I had bidden adieu in +Liverpool sixteen years before. It was delightful to meet these +honoured brethren in their adopted home, after the lapse of so many +years. Remsen is quite a Welsh settlement; and these men both preside +over Welsh churches there. Mr. Everett is the editor of a Welsh Monthly +Magazine. In that periodical, as well as in his ministrations, he has +been unflinching in his denunciations of slavery. This has exposed him +to cruel persecutions. There are about 70,000 Welsh people in the +United States who worship in their own language. At Remsen I had to +deliver two addresses on the results of emancipation in the West +Indies. On our return to Utica, the friend who drove us happened +incidentally to mention that in that country they make the dogs churn! +"The dogs churn!" I said, "Yes," said he; "and I dare say they have a +churning-machine so worked at this house: let us call and see." It was +a farm-house. At the door about half-a-dozen chubby little children, +with fine rosy cheeks, were assembled to see the strangers. I began to +speak in English to the eldest, a boy about 10 years of age; but the +lad stared! He understood not a word I said. + +Though born and so far brought up there, he knew nothing but Welsh! We +were gratified with an inspection of the machine for churning. It was +worked very much on the same principle as a treadmill, and exceedingly +disliked by the poor dog. Goats are sometimes made to perform the same +service. In several instances, we saw horses in like manner made to saw +wood, and admired the ingenuity of our cousins in turning to account +every particle of power they possess. "What is the difference," said +Dr. Beecher once to a ship-captain, "between an English sailor and a +Yankee one?" The answer was, "An English sailor can do a thing very +well in _one_ way, but the Yankee can do it in half-a-dozen ways." + + + + +LETTER XXXV. + +A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chair is but a +Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning +Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House +and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A +hurried Glance. + + +On the 22nd we left Utica at 11 A.M., and reached Albany at 5 P.M. At +Schenectady Mr. Delevan got into the same carriage with us; and we had +his company to Albany. He had caused to be put into the hand of every +passenger by that train a tract on the claims of the Sabbath, a large +number of which he had printed at his own expense. He spends an immense +fortune in doing good, chiefly by means of the press. + +In the evening I strolled out to see a little of Albany, the capital of +the State of New York. I gazed with interest on Dr. Sprague's Church, +and wandered until I came to a large building brilliantly lighted. It +was the State House or Capitol. The legislature was then in session. I +marched on, and got in without the least hinderance. There was no crowd +and no stir about the doors. A simple rail divided the part allotted to +the spectators from that which was used by the members. About a hundred +of the latter were present. The Senate, whose hall was in another part +of the same building, had been adjourned till next day. This was the +House of Representatives; and they seemed to be in the midst of a very +angry discussion. Their cheeks swelled with rage, or with--quids of +tobacco. A spittoon, constantly used, was placed by the side of each +member. They were rebelling against the speaker; and, of all mortals, I +never saw one in a more unenviable position than he. All that his +little hammer, his tongue, and his hands could do was of no avail. The +storm raged. The words "honourable member," "unparliamentary," "order," +"chair," and "_in_-quiry," were bandied about in all directions. One of +the "honourable members," rushing out past me, said with a loud voice, +"I'll go and get a segar," &c. At last the speaker--poor fellow!--in +tones of humiliation and despair said, "The _chair_ is but a _man_; +and, if we err, we are ready to acknowledge our error." + +The next day we left by the steam-boat "Roger Williams," and sailed +down the majestic Hudson to New York, a distance of 145 miles; fare one +dollar each. This river has so often been described by travellers that +I need not repeat the attempt. + +The following day was Saturday. In the afternoon I met Dr. Spring at +the Tract House. After the usual salutation, he said, "Shall we hear +your voice at our place to-morrow afternoon?"--"I have no objection, +sir,--what time does your service commence?" "At 4 o'clock."--"Very +well." "Where shall I find you?"--"Where will you be?" "I shall be in +the pulpit five minutes before the time."--"Oh! _very_ well, _very_ +well." + +In the morning I went to hear the Doctor. His introductory prayer was +long. In it he prayed for Mexico--that it might have a "free and +religious government," and that the present war might result in the +overthrow there of the "man of sin;" but no reference to American +slavery. The Doctor, bear in mind, is an Old School Presbyterian, and a +supporter of the Colonization Society. His text was John v. 23: "That +all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father," &c. His +divisions were-- + +I. What honours are ascribed to the Father. + +1. Appropriate names and titles. Jehovah, &c. + +2. Ascription of most glorious attributes. Eternal--Immutable +--Omnipotent, &c. + +3. Great and glorious works. Creation--Preservation--Redemption +--Atonement--Regeneration--Justification--Raising the dead--Judging the +world--Destroying it--Glory of the righteous--Punishment of the wicked. +(All these were supported by appropriate quotations of Scripture.) + +4. Duties enjoined in reference to Him. Confidence--Worship, &c. + +II. That the same honours are ascribed to the Son. (He went over each +of the above particulars, showing from Scripture their application to +the Son.) + +III. That, therefore, the Son is properly and truly God. + +1. We cannot believe the Scriptures would ascribe the same honours to +Him as to the Father, if He were not equal to the Father. + +2. If He be not truly God, the Scriptures tempt to idolatry. + +3. If He be not truly God, the accounts which the Scriptures give of +Him are self-contradictory. + +4. If He be not truly God, there is no evidence from Scripture that +there is a God at all. + +This was a massive and compact argument for the Divinity of Christ. It +occupied upwards of an hour in the delivery, and was read. + +In the afternoon I took care to be in the pulpit five minutes before +the time. The Doctor shortly after came, and took his seat behind me. +This to me is always an annoyance,--I would almost as soon have a man +with me in bed as in the pulpit;--and in this instance it was +peculiarly so, as towards the close, although I had not exceeded forty +minutes, I felt quite persuaded that the Doctor was pulling at my +coat-tail, which led me rather abruptly to conclude. In this, however, +I was mistaken; and the Doctor assured me it was what he had never done +in his life, except in one instance,--and that was when the preacher, +having occupied two hours with his sermon, was entering upon a third. + +In the evening of the 27th of April I heard, at the Tabernacle, New +York, the celebrated Gough deliver a lecture on Temperance. It was to +commence at 8 o'clock; but we had to be there an hour before the time, +in order to get a comfortable place. That hour was a dreary one. The +scraping of throats and the spitting were horrible. It seemed as if +some hundreds of guttural organs were uttering the awfully guttural +sentence, _"Hwch goch dorchog a chwech o berchill cochion."_ + +At last Gough made his appearance on the platform. He is a slender +young man of three or four and twenty. He told us he had spoken every +night except three for the last thirty nights, and was then very weary, +but thought "what a privilege it is to live and labour in the present +day." He related his own past experience of _delirium tremens_,--how an +iron rod in his hand became a snake,--how a many-bladed knife pierced +his flesh,--how a great face on the wall grinned at and threatened him; +"and yet," he added, "I _knew_ it was a delusion!" + +A temperance man, pointing to Gough, had once observed to another, +"What a miserable-looking fellow that is!" "But," replied the other, +"you would not say so, if you saw how he keeps everybody in a roar of +laughter at the public-house till 1 or 2 in the morning." "But I _was_ +miserable," said Gough; "I _knew_ that the parties who courted and +flattered me really _despised_ me." He told us some humorous +tales,--how he used to mortify some of them by claiming acquaintance +with them in the street, and in the presence of their respectable +friends. He returned scorn for scorn. "Gough," said a man once to him, +"you ought to be ashamed of yourself to be always drinking in this +manner." "Do I drink at your expense?"--"No." "Do I owe you +anything?"--"No." "Do I ever ask you to treat me?"--"No." "Then mind +your own business," &c. He introduced this to show that that mode of +dealing with the drunkard was not likely to answer the purpose. + +"Six years ago," said he, "a man on the borders of Connecticut, sat +night after night on a stool in a low tavern to scrape an old fiddle. +Had you seen him, with his old hat drawn over his eyebrows, his swollen +lips, and his silly grin, you would have thought him adapted for +nothing else. But he signed the pledge, and in two years became a +United States senator, and thrilled the House with his eloquence." + +In one place, after Gough had delivered a lecture, some ladies gathered +around him, and one of them said, "I wish you would ask Joe to 'sign +the pledge,"--referring to a wretched-looking young man that was +sauntering near the door. Gough went up to him, spoke _kindly_ to him, +and got him to sign: the ladies were delighted, and heartily shook +hands with Joe. A year after Gough met Joe quite a dandy, walking +arm-in-arm with a fine young lady. "Well, Joe, did you stick to the +pledge?" said Gough to him. "Yes," said Joe with an exulting smile, +"and the lady has stuck to me." + +For more than an hour Gough kept the vast audience enchained by his +varied and charming talk. + +On the 29th I went over the Tract House in New York, and was delighted +to see there six steam-presses,--four of which were then at work, +pouring forth in rapid succession sheet after sheet impressed with that +kind of literature which in my judgment is admirably adapted to meet +the wants of this growing country. They were then printing on an +average 27,000 publications, including nearly 2,400 of each kind, _per +diem!_ and employing sixty women in folding and stitching. During the +last year they printed 713,000 volumes, and 8,299,000 smaller +publications, making a total of 217,499,000 pages, or 58,154,661 pages +more than in any previous year! Of the _volumes_ issued, I may mention +14,000 sets of four volumes of D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, +17,000 of Bunyan's Pilgrim, 10,000 of Baxter's Saints' Rest, 9,000 of +Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 7,000 of Pike's Persuasives, 13,000 of +Alleine's Alarm, and 41,000 of Baxter's Call! The two Secretaries, +whose business it is to superintend the publishing department and +matters relating to the raising of funds, the Rev. Wm. A. Hallock and +the Rev. O. Eastman, are enterprising and plodding men. They told me +they were brought up together in the same neighbourhood, and had both +worked at the plough till they were 20 years of age! + +The 1st of May is the great moving day in New York. Throughout the city +one house seems to empty itself into another. Were it to the next door, +it might be done with no great inconvenience; but it is not so. Try to +walk along the causeway, and you are continually blocked up with +tables, chairs, and chests of drawers. Get into an omnibus, and you are +beset with fenders, pokers, pans, Dutch ovens, baskets, brushes, &c. +Hire a cart, and they charge you double fare. + +One day at the water-side, happening to see the steamer for Staten +Island about to move off, we stepped on board, and in less than half an +hour found ourselves there. The distance is 6 miles, and the island is +18 miles long, 7 miles wide, and 300 feet high. Here are a large +hospital for mariners and the quarantine burying-ground. It is also +studded with several genteel residences. In 1657 the Indians sold it to +the Dutch for 10 shirts, 30 pairs of stockings, 10 guns, 30 bars of +lead, 30 lbs. of powder, 12 coats, 2 pieces of duffil, 30 kettles, 30 +hatchets, 20 hoes, and one case of knives and awls. + +Several emigrant vessels were then in the bay. On our return, we saw +with painful interest many of them setting their foot for the first +time on the shore of the New World. They were then arriving in New +York, chiefly from the United Kingdom, at the rate of one thousand a +day. The sight affected me even to tears. It was like a vision of the +British Empire crumbling to pieces, and the materials taken to build a +new and hostile dominion. + +I should draw too largely upon your patience, were I to describe many +objects of interest and many scenes of beauty I witnessed in New York +and the neighbourhood. The Common Schools; the Croton Waterworks, +capable of yielding an adequate supply for a million-and-a-half of +people; Hoboken, with its sibyl's cave and elysian fields; the spot on +which General Hamilton fell in a duel; the Battery and Castle Garden--a +covered amphitheatre capable of accommodating 10,000 people; the Park, +and the City Hall with its white marble front; Trinity Church; and its +wealthy Corporation; Long Island, or Brooklyn, with its delightful +cemetery, &c., &c. Suffice it to say that New York has a population of +about 400,000; and that it has for that population, without an +Established Church, 215 places of worship. Brooklyn has also a +population of 60,000, and 30 places of worship. + + + + +LETTER XXXVI. + +The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery +Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing +in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects +of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author +thinks of the Americans. + + +The American May Meetings held in New York do not last a month as in +England,--a week suffices. That week is the second in the month. On the +Sabbath preceding, sermons on behalf of many of the societies are +preached in various churches. On the morning of the Sabbath in question +we went to the Tabernacle, not knowing whom we should hear. To our +surprise and pleasure, my friend Dr. Baird was the preacher. His text +was, "Let thy kingdom come;" and the object for which he had to plead +was the Foreign Evangelical Society, of which he was the Secretary. His +sermon was exceedingly simple, and the delivery quite in an off-hand +conversational style. There was no reading. + +In the evening we heard Dr. Bushnell preach, on behalf of the American +Home-Missionary Society, at the "Church of the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn. +This is a fine costly building, named in honour of the Pilgrim Fathers, +and having a fragment of the Plymouth Rock imbedded in the wall. The +sermon was a very ingenious one on Judges xvii. 13: "Then said Micah, +Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my +priest." The preacher observed that Micah lived in the time of the +Judges--what might be called the "emigrant age" of Israel,--that he was +introduced on the stage of history as a thief,--that he afterwards +became in his own way a saint, and must have a priest. First, he +consecrates his own son; but his son not being a Levite, it was +difficult for so pious a man to be satisfied. Fortunately a young +Levite--a strolling mendicant probably--comes that way; and he promptly +engages the youth to remain and act the _padre_ for him, saying, "Dwell +with me, and be a _father_ unto me." Having thus got up a religion, the +thief is content, and his mental troubles are quieted. Becoming a +Romanist before Rome is founded, he says, "Now know I that the Lord +will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Religion to him +consisted in a fine silver apparatus of gods, and a priest in regular +succession. In this story of Micah it was seen that _emigration, or a +new settlement of the social state, involves a tendency to social +decline_. "Our first danger," said the preacher, "is barbarism +--Romanism next." + +The tendency to barbarism was illustrated by historic references. The +emigration headed by Abraham soon developed a mass of barbarism,--Lot +giving rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites; meanwhile, Abraham +throwing off upon the world in his son Ishmael another stock of +barbarians--the Arabs,--a name which according to some signifies +_Westerners_. One generation later, and another ferocious race springs +from the family of Isaac--the descendants of Esau, or the Edomites. +Then coming down to the time of the Judges we find that violence +prevailed, that the roads were destroyed, and that the arts had +perished: there was not even a smith left in the land; and they were +obliged to go down to the Philistines to get an axe or a mattock +sharpened. Then the preacher came to the great American question +itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been +an upward tendency. It was not so. It had been downward until the +"great revival" about the year 1740. The dangers to which society in +the South and "Far West" is now exposed were powerfully described. The +remedies were then pointed out. + +"First of all, we must not despair." "And what next? We must get rid, +if possible, of slavery." "'We must have peace.'". Also "Railways and +telegraphs." "Education, too, we must favour and promote." "Above all, +provide a talented and educated body of Christian teachers, and keep +them pressing into the wilderness as far as emigration itself can go." +The conclusion of this great sermon was so remarkable that I cannot but +give it in the Doctor's own words. + +"And now, Jehovah God, thou who, by long ages of watch and discipline, +didst make of thy servant Abraham a people, be thou the God also of +this great nation. Remember still its holy beginnings, and for the +fathers' sakes still cherish and sanctify it. Fill it with thy Light +and thy Potent Influence, till the glory of thy Son breaks out on the +Western sea as now upon the Eastern, and these uttermost parts, given +to Christ for his possession, become the bounds of a new Christian +empire, whose name the believing and the good of all people shall hail +as a name of hope and blessing." + +On the Tuesday I attended two Anti-slavery Meetings in the Tabernacle. +The one in the morning was that of Mr. Garrison's party. The chief +speakers were Messrs. Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick +Douglass. This party think that the constitution of the United States +is so thoroughly pro-slavery that nothing can be done without breaking +it up. Another party, at the head of which is Lewis Tappan, think that +there are elements in the constitution which may be made to tell +powerfully against slavery, and ultimately to effect its overthrow. +Both parties mean well; but they unhappily cherish towards each other +great bitterness of feeling. Mr. Tappan's party held their meeting in +the afternoon. Among the speakers was the Rev. Mr. Patton from +Hartford, son of Dr. Patton, who made a very effective speeches. The +Rev. Samuel Ward also, a black man of great muscular power, and amazing +command of language and of himself, astonished and delighted me. I +could not but exclaim, "There speaks a black Demosthenes!" This man, +strange to say, is the pastor of a Congregational church of white +people in the State of New York. As a public speaker he seemed superior +to Frederick Douglass. It was pleasing at those anti-slavery meetings +to see how completely intermingled were the whites and the coloured. + +I had been invited in the evening to speak at the public meeting of the +Foreign Evangelical Society, and to take tea at Dr. Baird's house. +While I was there, Dr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of the American +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Mr. Merwin, called to +invite me to address the public meeting of that society on the Friday. +I promised to do so, if I should not previously have left for the West +Indies. The public meeting of Dr. Baird's society was held in the Dutch +Reformed Church, Dr. Hutton's, a magnificent Gothic building. Dr. De +Witt took the chair. The attendance was large and respectable. Dr. +Baird, as Secretary, having recently returned from Europe, where he had +conversed on the subject of his mission with fourteen crowned heads, +read a most interesting report. The writer had then to address the +meeting. After him three other gentlemen spoke. There was no +collection! Strange to say, that, with all their revivals, our friends +in America seem to be morbidly afraid of doing anything under the +influence of excitement. Hence the addresses on occasions like this are +generally stiff and studied, half-an-hour orations. This feeling +prevents their turning the voluntary principle, in the support of their +religious societies, to so good an account as they otherwise might. At +the close of this meeting, there seemed to be a fine state of feeling +for making a collection; and yet no collection was made. This society +is one of great value and importance. It is designed to tell in the +promotion of evangelical truth on the Catholic countries of Europe and +South America. In those countries, it employs a hundred colporteurs in +the sale and distribution of religious publications. + +The next morning I addressed a breakfast meeting of about 400 people, +in a room connected with the Tabernacle. This was a new thing in the +New World. It was, moreover, an anti-slavery breakfast, under the +presidency of Lewis Tappan. It was charming to see the whites and the +coloured so intermingled at this social repast, and that in the very +heart of the great metropolis of America. + +At 10 the same morning a meeting of the American Tract Society was held +at the Tabernacle. I had been engaged to speak on that occasion, but +was obliged to go and see about the vessel that was to take us away. + +In the evening I was pressed, at half an hour's notice, to speak at the +meeting of the American Home-Missionary Society. The Rev. H.W. Beecher +of Indianapolis, one of the sons of Dr. Beecher, made a powerful speech +on the claims of the West and South-west. In my own address I +complimented the Directors on the ground they had recently taken in +reference to slavery, and proceeded to say that there was an important +sense in which that society should be an anti-slavery society. This +elicited the cheers of the few, which were immediately drowned in the +hisses of the many. The interruption was but momentary, and I +proceeded. The next morning one of the Secretaries endeavoured to +persuade me that the hisses were not at myself, but at those who +interrupted me with their cheers. I told him his explanation was +ingenious and kind; nevertheless I thought I might justly claim the +honour of having been hissed for uttering an anti-slavery sentiment at +the Tabernacle in New York! + +This society has an herculean task to perform; and, in consideration of +it, our American friends might well be excused for some years, were it +possible, from all foreign operations. + + "Westward the star of empire moves." + +Ohio welcomed its first permanent settlers in 1788, and now it is +occupied by nearly 2,000,000 of people. Michigan obtained its first +immigrants but fourteen or fifteen years ago, and now has a population +of 300,000. Indiana, admitted into the Union in 1816, has since then +received a population of more than half a million, and now numbers +nearly a million of inhabitants. Illinois became a State in 1818. From +that date its population trebled every ten years till the last census +of 1840, and since then has risen from 476,000 to about 900,000. +Missouri, which in 1810 had only 20,800 people, has now 600,000, having +increased 50 per cent. in six years. Iowa was scarcely heard of a dozen +years ago. It is now a State, and about 150,000 people call its land +their home. Wisconsin was organized but twelve years ago, and has now a +population of not less than 200,000. One portion of its territory, 33 +miles by 30, which ten years before was an unbroken wilderness, +numbered even in 1846 87,000 inhabitants; and the emigration to the +"Far West" is now greater than ever. A giant is therefore growing up +there, who will soon be able and disposed to rule the destinies of the +United States. The Church of Rome is straining every nerve to have that +giant in her own keeping, and already shouts the song of triumph. Says +one of her sanguine sons, "The Church is now firmly established in this +country, and persecution will but cause it to thrive. Our countrymen +may grieve that it is so; but it is useless for them to kick against +the decrees of the Almighty God. They have an open field and fair play +for Protestantism. Here she has had free scope, has reigned without a +rival, and proved what she could do, and that her best is evil; for the +very good she boasts is not hers. A new day is dawning on this chosen +land, and the Church is about to assume her rightful position and +influence. Ours shall yet become consecrated ground. _Our hills and +valleys shall yet echo to the convent-bell._ The cross shall be planted +throughout the length and breadth of our land; and our happy sons and +daughters shall drive away fear, shall drive away evil from our borders +with the echoes of their matin and vesper hymns. No matter who writes, +who declaims, who intrigues, who is alarmed, or what leagues are +formed, THIS IS TO BE A CATHOLIC COUNTRY; and from Maine to Georgia, +from the broad Atlantic to broader Pacific, the 'clean sacrifice' is to +be offered daily for quick and dead." The triumph may be premature; but +it conveys a timely warning. + +The next day the Anniversary of the Bible Society was held. The Hon. +Theodore Frelinghuysen presided. At that meeting I had been requested, +to speak, but could not. Indeed, we were detained all day on board a +vessel by which we expected every hour to sail for Jamaica; though, +after all, we had to wait until the following day. On that day, the +14th of May, just at the time the Board of Missions were holding their +public meeting, we sailed, and bade adieu to New York and all the +delightful engagements of that memorable week. + +But, say you, Tell us in a few words what you think of America upon the +whole? I will try to do so. There is a class of things I greatly +admire; and there is a class of things I greatly detest. Among the +former I may mention-- + +1. Religious equality--the absence of a State church. + +2. The workings of the voluntary principle in the abundant supply of +places of worship, and in the support of religious institutions. + +3. General education. With regard to their common schools, and also to +their colleges, they are far in advance of us in England. The existence +of universal suffrage has the effect of stimulating educational efforts +to a degree which would not otherwise be attained. The more respectable +and intelligent of the citizens are made to feel that, with universal +suffrage, their dearest institutions are all perilled unless the mass +be educated. + +As education is the great question of the day, I must not omit to make +a few remarks on the Primary Schools of the United States. There is no +_national_ system of education in America. Congress does not interfere +in the matter, except in the "Territories" before they become "States." +The States of the Union are so many distinct Republics, and, in the +matter of education, as in all their internal affairs, are left +entirely to take their own measures. With regard to education, no two +States act precisely alike. If we glance at the States of +Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, we shall, however, discover the +three great types of what in this respect generally prevails throughout +the States. + +MASSACHUSETTS.--Scarcely had the "Pilgrims" been half-a-dozen years in +their wilderness home before they began to make what they deemed a +suitable provision for the instruction of their children. They adopted +the same principle in reference to education and religion--that of +taxation. A general tax was not imposed; but the people in the various +townships were empowered to tax themselves to a certain amount, and to +manage the whole affair by means of their own "select men." But, +although this law has continued for 200 years, the people have always +done far more than it required. In Boston, for instance, the law +demands only 3,000 dollars a year, but not less than 60,000 dollars is +raised and applied! So that here we have a noble proof, not so much of +the effect of government interference, as of the efficiency of the +voluntary principle in providing education for the young. The people of +Massachusetts, and indeed of all the New England States, are doubtless +the best educated in the world. Not one in a thousand of those born +here grows up unable to read and write. + +The calumniated "Pilgrims" were thus early attentive to the importance +of education; and their system had been in full operation for between +thirty and forty years, when, in 1670, Sir William Berkley, Governor of +Virginia, the stronghold of the Anglican Church, thus devoutly +addressed the "Lords of Plantations in England:"--"I thank God _there +are no free schools nor printing_, and I hope we shall not have them +these hundred years; for learning has brought _disobedience and heresy +and sects_ into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels +against the best government. God keep us from both!" + +The system of Massachusetts may be regarded as a type of what prevails +in the six New England States, except Connecticut, where there is a +State fund of upwards of 2,000,000 dollars, yielding an annual dividend +of about 120,000 dollars for school purposes. + +NEW YORK.--In this State a large fund for schools has been created by +the sale of public land. The proceeds of this fund are annually +distributed in such a way as to secure the raising by local efforts of +at least three times the amount for the same object. This fund is thus +used as a gentle stimulant to local exertions. The system described +will convey a notion of what exists in the _middle_ States. + +Ohio.--In this and the Western States every township is divided into so +many sections of a mile square; and one of these sections, out of a +given number, is devoted to the maintenance of schools. As a township +increases in population, the reserved section advances in value. These +schools are not subject to any central control, but are under the +management of a committee chosen by the township. + +Still education is not so general in all the States as might be wished. +Miss Beecher, the daughter of Dr. Beecher, having devoted to the +subject much time and talent, tells us that there are in the United +States "a million adults who cannot read and write, and more than two +millions of children utterly illiterate and entirely without schools!" +Of the children in this condition, 130,000 are in Ohio, and 100,000 in +Kentucky. + +In the working of this system of education, the absence of a State +Church affords advantages not enjoyed in England. Of late, however, an +objection to the use of the Bible in these schools has been raised by +the Roman Catholics, and the question in some States has been fiercely +agitated. In the city of St. Louis the Bible has been excluded. In +Cincinnati the Catholics, failing to exclude it, have established +schools of their own. + +This agitation is one of great interest. It leads thoughtful and devout +men to ask, whether, when the State, assuming to be the instructor of +its subjects, establishes schools, and puts Protestant Bibles, or any +other, or none into them _by law_, they have not thenceforth +Protestantism, Popery, or Infidelity so far _by law established_; and +whether it is not better that the State should restrict itself to its +proper function as the minister of justice, leaving secular +instruction, like religious, to the spontaneous resources of the +people. + +To this, I think, it will come at last. The Common School economy is a +remnant of the old Church-and-State system, which has not been entirely +swept away. But for this impression I should feel some uneasiness, lest +it should prove the germ of a new order of things leading back to +State-Churchism. It appeared to me quite natural to say, "Here is a +State provision for schools,--why not have a similar provision for +churches? It works well for the one,--why not for the other? Is it not +as important that our churches should rely, not alone on the capricious +and scanty efforts of the voluntary principle, but also on the more +respectable and permanent support of the State, as it is that our +Common Schools should adopt this course?" To me it seemed that the +arguments which recommended the one supported the other; but when I +have mentioned to intelligent men the possibility, not to say +probability, of the one step leading to the other, they have invariably +been surprised at my apprehensions, and have assured me that nothing +was more unlikely to take place. + +But, to show the jealousy with which on _other_ grounds the system +begins to be viewed, I will close by a short quotation from a writer in +the _New Englander_, a respectable _Quarterly_, to which I have before +referred. "It will, doubtless, be thought strange to say that the +systems of public common-school education now existing, and sought to +be established throughout our country, may yet, while Christians sleep, +become one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, antagonism in the +land to all evangelical instruction and piety. But how long before they +will be so,--when they shall have become the mere creatures of the +State, and, under the plea of no sectarianism, mere naturalism shall be +the substance of all the religious, and the basis of all the secular +teaching which they shall give? And let it not be forgotten that strong +currents of influence, in all parts of the country, acting in no chance +concert, are doing their utmost to bring about just this result." + +4. I admire their _temperance_. + +I confess that I felt humbled and ashamed for my own country, when, so +soon as I trod on British ground, or British _planks_, the old absurd +drinking usages again saluted my eye. In all the States I met with +nothing more truly ludicrous than some of these. For instance, when +A.B.'s mouth happens to be well replenished with, "flesh, fish, or +fowl," potatoes, pudding, or pastry, at one table, C.D., from another +table far away across the room, at the top of his voice, calls out, +"Mr. A.B., allow me the pleasure to take a glass of wine with you." +A.B. makes a very polite bow, fills his glass in a great hurry, holds +it up with his right hand, C.D. doing the same thing with his; and +then A.B. and C.D., making another polite bow to each other, +simultaneously swallow their glasses of wine! Were we not _accustomed_ +to the sight, it would appear as laughable as anything travellers tell +us of the manners and customs of the least enlightened nations. Surely, +if this childish practice is still a rule in polite society, it is one +"more honoured in the breach than the observance." In no city on the +Eastern side of the Alleghany Mountains did I meet a single drunken +American in the street. The few whom I did detect in that plight were +manifestly recent importations from Great Britain and Ireland! + + +5. I also greatly admire their _secular enterprise_. They afford a +fine illustration of the idea conveyed in their own indigenous phrase, +"Go a-head." + + + + +LETTER XXXVII. + +Slavery--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance +of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor and +his Blood-hounds--Conclusion. + + +But there is a class of things among them which men of well-regulated +minds and habits cannot but detest. These, as they have come under my +notice, I have pointed out. The chief of all is _slavery_. This stared +me in the face the moment I entered the States; and it presses itself +on my notice now that I have retired from the American shore. It is the +beginning and the ending of all that is vile and vicious in this +confederation of Republics. In England, you have been often told by +American visiters that the Northern States of the Union are not at all +identified with slavery, and are, in fact, no more responsible for its +existence in the South than we are for the existence of a like system +in the colonies of some of our European Allies. Than this +representation nothing can be further from the truth. There is really +no analogy whatever between the two cases. Each State, it is true, has +its own distinct and independent legislature; but all the States are +united in one federation, which has a thoroughly pro-slavery +government. The constitution is pledged to maintain the execrable +system, and the Northern States are pledged to maintain the +hypocritical constitution. + +That no preponderance of influence might be given to any one State over +the rest, by making it the seat of the central government, a district +of 10 miles square was partitioned out, partly from Virginia and partly +from Maryland, for that purpose. This district, called the District of +Columbia, has no government and no representation of its own, but is +under the absolute control and regulation of the United Government or +Congress, "exclusive jurisdiction over it in all cases whatsoever" +having been given by the constitution. In this absolute government of +the "ten miles square," embracing the site of Washington the capital, +the Northern States, by their representatives in Congress, have their +full share. Now, not merely does slavery exist in that District, but it +exists there under statutes so barbarous and cruel that the +neighbouring slave States have actually abolished the like within the +bounds of their separate jurisdiction, leaving to the _free_ States the +unenviable responsibility of enforcing laws too horrible for +kidnappers. Take a specimen,--"A slave convicted of any petit treason, +or murder, or wilful burning of a dwelling-house, to have the right +hand cut off, to be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from +the body, the body divided into four quarters, and the head and +quarters set up in the most public places of the county where such act +was committed." Take another,--"A _free negro_ may be arrested, and put +in jail for 3 months, on _suspicion_ of being a runaway; and if he is +not able to _prove_ his freedom in 12 months, _he is to be sold as a +slave_ TO PAY HIS JAIL FEES!" Are there not hundreds of free men, both +black and white, who could not _prove_ their freedom under such +circumstances? Yet, for this _crime_, they are reduced to perpetual +bondage _by authority of Congress_. And all this the North upholds! + +Washington, the capital, thus governed, is but the great mart of the +national man-trade. From the adjoining port of Alexandria, 7 miles off, +the victims are shipped for the South. Listen to the _Gazette_ of that +place,--"Here you may behold fathers and brothers leaving behind them +the dearest objects of affection, and moving slowly along in the mute +agony of despair,--there the young mother sobbing over the infant, +whose innocent smiles seem but to increase her misery. From some you +will hear the burst of bitter lamentation; while from others the loud +hysteric laugh breaks forth, denoting still deeper agony." + +But you will be told that it is not in the power of Northern members to +alter this state of things. Why not? In the House of Representatives +the free States have a majority of about 50, and in the Senate they +have for some years been equal. But have they tried? Have they +protested? Have they voted? Have they divided the House? They _have_ +voted. How? _Eighty-two Northern men_, a few years ago, voted that +Congress ought not to interfere _in any way_ with slavery in the +District of Columbia! + +Look at some of the provisions of the Federal Government. See what +"SOLEMN GUARANTEES" it gives to the accursed system of slavery, in +whatever State it may be found! + +Art. I., sect. 2, says, "Representatives and direct taxes shall be +apportioned among the several States which may be included within this +Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined +by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to +serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, +_three-fifths of all other persons_"--that is to say, _slaves_, for +once called "persons!" Here is a positive premium on slave-holding. +This constitutes an aristocracy of the most monstrous character, and +introduces into the social fabric an element as absurd as it is +perilous. Talk of the aristocracy of England, and the undue influence +of landed proprietors! You have nothing half so unjust and vicious as +this. Suppose the Southern States have two millions and a half of +slaves: for that amount of property they have one million and a half of +additional votes; while in the free States there is no property +representation whatever. Or look at the question in another aspect. Two +citizens have each a capital of 5,000_l._ to invest. The one invests in +shipping or commerce in New York, and at the time of the election, +counts _one_; the other invests in slaves in South Carolina, obtaining +for the sum mentioned a whole gang of 100 human beings of both sexes +and of all ages, and at the time of the election he counts +_sixty-one_,--swamping with his 100 slaves the votes of sixty-one +respectable merchants in a free State! This it is which has constituted +an aristocracy of about 200,000 slaveholders in the South, the ruling +power in the United States. It has made the preservation and extension +of slavery the vital and moving principle of the national policy. So +that ever since 1830 slavery, slave-holding, slave-breeding, and +slave-trading have enjoyed the special and fostering care of the +Federal Government. As to the _quid pro quo_--the taxation that was to +be connected with the representation of "three-fifths of all other +persons," that has been almost entirely evaded. "There has not been," +says a New England Reviewer, "if we mistake not, but in one instance, +and then in a very light degree, an assessment of direct taxation." + +Art. I., sect. 8, says, "Congress shall have power"--among other +things--"to suppress _insurrections_." And Art. IV., sect. 4, says, +"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a +republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against +invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive +(when the legislature cannot be convened), against _domestic +violence_." + +These clauses pledge the whole force of the United States' army, and +navy too, if needs be, to the maintenance of slavery in any or in all +the States and Districts in which it may exist. But for this, the +system could not stand a single day. Let the North say to the South, +"We will not interfere with your 'peculiar institution,' but we will +not defend it; if you cannot keep your slaves in subjection, you must +expect no aid from us." Let them only say this, and _do_ nothing, and +the whole fabric of slavery would instantly crumble and fall. The +edifice is rotten, and is propped up only by the buttresses of the +North. The South retains the slave, because the free States furnish the +sentinels. + +Again, Art. IV., sect. 2, says, "No person held to service or labour in +one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in +consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such +service or labour; but shall be _delivered up_ on claim of the party to +whom such service or labour may be due." + +This clause pledges the North, not only to refuse an asylum to the +fugitive slave, but also to deliver him up to his unrighteous and cruel +task-master,--a deed which the law of God expressly condemns, and which +the best impulses of our nature repudiate with loathing and contempt. +The article before us constitutes all the free States of the Union a +slave-hunting ground for the Southern aristocracy. Talk of the game +laws of England! Here is a game law infinitely more unjust and +oppressive. A free country this! A noble government! Hail Columbia! + +See how this slave-holding aristocracy have always managed to oppress +the North, and to secure to themselves the lion's share of the good +things of government. + +THE PRESIDENCY.--Out of the 16 presidential elections since the origin +of the Confederation, 13 have been in favour of slave-holders, and only +3 in favour of Northern men. By holding the Presidency, slavery rules +the cabinet, the diplomacy, the army, and the navy of the Union. The +power that controls the Presidency controls the nation. No Northern +President has ever been re-elected. + +THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.--The individual who holds this office is +_ex-officio_ President of the Senate, and, as such, has a casting vote +in all questions before that body. During the last 20 years, with one +exception, this functionary has always been a slave-holder. + +THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.--This is second only in importance to +the Presidency. It is the duty of this officer to direct correspondence +with foreign courts, instruct the foreign ministers, negotiate +treaties, &c. Of the 16 who have hitherto filled that office, 10 have +been from the slave States, and 6 from the free. + +THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.--This officer has the +appointment of all committees, and exerts an immense influence on the +legislation of the country. During 31 of the 34 years from 1811 to 1845 +the Speakers were all slave-holders. + +The slave power, having thus the whole machinery of government under +its control, can at any time bring all the resources of the nation to +bear upon the preservation and extension of the "peculiar institution." +While Florida, for instance, belonged to Spain, it furnished an asylum +for runaway slaves from the neighbouring States. It must therefore be +purchased by the Union, and five millions of dollars were paid for it. +Still the native Indians, those children of the forest, afforded a +shelter to fugitives from slavery. They must therefore be either +exterminated or exiled. A war was waged against them. They were driven +from the homes of their fathers, and the negroes among them hunted and +shot like wild beasts. At the urgent recommendation of Zachary +Taylor--the person who in March next will doubtless mount the +presidential chair--blood-hounds were purchased as AUXILIARIES to the +army, at a cost of five thousand dollars; and blood-hounds and +soldiers and officers marched together under the "star-spangled banner" +in pursuit of the panting fugitives from Southern oppression. In this +expedition they captured 460 negroes, each one at the cost of the lives +of two white men, and at a further expense of at least eighty thousand +dollars per head. The whole outlay of the war was _forty millions of +dollars_, most of which was drawn from the pockets of Northern people. + +The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War--all for the perpetuation +and extension of slavery--are fresh in your remembrance. + +And here I quit the land of "The Bond and the Free." + + "Nineveh, Babylon, and ancient Rome + Speak to the present times, and times to come: + They cry aloud in every careless ear, + 'Stop, while you may; suspend your mad career; + Oh! learn from our example and our fate,-- + Learn wisdom and repentance ere too late.'" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery +by Ebenezer Davies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SLAVERY *** + +***** This file should be named 10898.txt or 10898.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/9/10898/ + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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