DEATH OF B. PAUL, AND RETURN OF HIS BROTHER.
The bold and wicked attempt to take my life, recorded in the preceding
chapter, aroused a feeling of indignation in the community against Lewis,
and completely destroyed the little influence he had left; moreover, he
had now been so extensively published as an impostor, that he could
collect no more money on the false pretense of raising it for the benefit
of the colony. As soon as his money was gone and his influence destroyed,
--many who had been his firmest friends, turned against him, and among
this class was the Rev. Benjamin Paul. He had ever professed the greatest
friendship for, and interest in the success of Mr. Lewis. Heretofore,
whenever he went to the States he was commissioned by that gentleman's
family, to purchase a long list of expensive articles, which the poor
colonists were seldom able to buy; and he generally returned to them
richly laden with goods, purchased with, money given to the poor, sick,
and destitute in the colony.
Mr. B. Paul had ever been a very proud man, but not a very healthy one. He
was inclined to pulmonary diseases; but had kept up pretty well, until
Lewis was effectually put down, and his own character involved in many of
his notorious proceedings, together with the disappointment occasioned by
his brother remaining so long in England, when his health failed, and he
sank rapidly under accumulating disasters, to the grave.
The Welshmen had partially engaged him to preach for them the ensuing
year, but something they had heard of him changed their minds, and they
were about appointing a meeting to investigate his conduct, when they were
informed of his illness, and concluded to let it pass. His son, with whom
he lived, became deranged, and his oldest daughter on whom he was greatly
dependent, had been dismissed from school, where she had been for some
time engaged in teaching. All these unpleasant circumstances in his sickly
state weighed heavily upon his proud heart; and he not only declined in
health, but sank into a state of melancholy and remorse for his past
course of living. As he lay pining and murmuring on his death bed, I
could but reflect how different the scene from that of an apostle of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who could exclaim, when about to be offered, "I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith;
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
I called to see him as he lay writhing in agony, his sunken eyes gleaming
wildly, rolling and tossing from side to side, while great drops of
perspiration stood upon his forehead, continually lamenting his misspent
time, and the life he had led! He took my hand in his cold, bony fingers,
thanking me that I did not so despise him, that I could not come to see
him in his sorrow and affliction. Generally, however, when he raved and
talked of his wicked life, his family excluded all persons from his room
except his attendants.
Pride, which had ever been his besetting sin, displayed itself in his
conduct to the last, for he had a lengthy will made, dispensing some
sixteen hundred dollars to different individuals, when he must have known
that his whole possessions would not amount to half that sum. As I looked
upon him I could but reflect on the mysterious ways of Providence. Before
me lay a man, who had for years arrayed himself against me, using all his
influence as a man and a minister to injure me, by setting Lewis forward
in his wickedness; his family living in extravagance and a style far
beyond their means, while mine had labored hard and were sometimes
destitute, often harassed and perplexed on every side by himself and
party. And for what? Because I would not join hands with iniquity, and
deeds of darkness. Notwithstanding the contrast, when I heard his bitter
lamentations and self-reproaches, I could lift my heart to God, in
gratitude for His protecting goodness, which had preserved me an _honest
man_. I had often erred no doubt, but it had never been designedly; and
never did I value a good conscience more than when standing by the
death-bed of Benjamin Paul, who now had passed the Jordan of death; and it
is enough to know that his future, whether of joy or woe, will be meted
out to him, by a merciful and just God,--nevertheless, his last moments on
earth were such as ought to arouse every professed Christian, to redoubled
diligence in watchfulness and prayer, lest they fall into temptation,--
lest they determine to become rich, and thereby fall into diverse and
hurtful lusts, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows.
Soon after the event above narrated, a law was passed in the Province,
allowing each township to elect three commissioners, whose duty it should
be, to transact the public business pertaining to the township. Each
township should also elect one township clerk, whose business it should
be, to hold and keep all moneys, books, and papers belonging to said town;
with power to administer oaths, and in fact, he, with the commissioners,
were to constitute a board, possessing all the power of a court, in
relation to township business.
In our colony, located in the township of Bidulph, the colored people were
a large majority of the inhabitants, which gave us the power to elect
commissioners from our own settlement, and therefore, three black men
where duly chosen, who entered on the duties of their office, while your
humble servant, A. Steward, was elected township clerk, with all the
responsibility of the office resting upon him and the same power given him
as though he had been born in Her Britannic Majesty's dominion, with a
face as white as the driven snow. I felt the responsibility of my office,
but not more deeply than I did this assurance of entire confidence, and
respect shown me by my townsmen, after all the cruel persecutions I had
met; after all the accusations of theft, forgery, &c., that vicious person
could bring against me.
The Rev. Nathaniel Paul, with his lady, arrived at Wilberforce in the
spring of 1835, to the great joy of the colonists, to find that his
brother had gone the way of all the earth, and his remains quietly resting
on his own premises, where his afflicted family still resided.
In the colony there was a great deal of excitement regarding the course
our agent would pursue, and all waited with anxious expectancy to see him
enrich the treasury with his long-promised collections.
We had agreed, on sending him forth as an agent for the colony, to give
him fifty dollars per month for his services, besides bearing his expenses.
The reverend gentleman, charged, on his return to the colony, the sum
specified, for four years, three months and twenty days. We spent several
days in auditing his account, with increased fearful forebodings. We found
his receipts to be, in the United Kingdoms of Great Britain, one thousand
six hundred and eighty-three pounds, nineteen shillings; or, eight
thousand and fifteen dollars, eighty cents. His expenditures amounted to
one thousand four hundred and three pounds, nineteen shillings; or, seven
thousand and nineteen dollars, eighty cents. Then his wages for over four
years, at fifty dollars per month, left a balance against the board of
several hundred dollars, which we had no funds to cancel, inasmuch as the
reverend gentleman had paid us nothing of all he had collected in Europe,
nor even paid a farthing toward liquidating the debts incurred for his
outfit and expenses.
There was also in Mr. Paul's charge against the board of managers, an item
of two hundred dollars, which he had paid to Wm. Loyd Garrison, while that
gentleman was also in England; but by whose authority he had paid or given
it, it was hard to determine. We gave him no orders to make donations of
any kind. To take the liberty to do so, and then to charge it to our poor
and suffering colony, seemed hard to bear; still we allowed the charge.
Had we, in our straitened and almost destitute circumstances, made a
donation of that, to us, large sum of money to Mr. Garrison or any body
else, certainly _we_ should, at least, have had the credit of it; and as
Mr. Garrison had made no acknowledgment of the receipt, I wrote him on
the subject, and his answer will be found, heading our correspondence, in
this volume.
Not a dollar did the treasurer ever receive of the Rev. N. Paul, unless we
call the donations he had made without our permission, a payment. He did,
it is true, award to the board, the sum of two hundred dollars, paid by
him to Mr. Garrison, and fifty dollars more given by himself to Mr. Nell,
on his departure from England. Not a farthing could we get of him; and in
short, as far as the monied interest of the colony was concerned, his
mission proved an entire failure. How much good the reverend gentleman
may have done in spreading anti-slavery truth, during his stay in Europe,
is not for me to say. The English, at that time held slaves; and report
speaks well of his labors and endeavors to open the eyes of that nation
to the sin of slavery and the injustice of the colonization scheme. It
is said that he continually addressed crowded and deeply interested
audiences, and that many after hearing him, firmly resolved to exert
themselves, until every chain was broken and every bondman freed beneath
the waving banner of the British Lion. Perhaps his arduous labors assisted
in freeing the West India islands of the hateful curse of Slavery; if so,
we shall not so much, regret the losses and severe trials, it was ours to
bear at that time.
The indignant and disappointed colonists, however, took no such view of
his mission; and knowing as they did, that he had paid not a cent of cash
into the treasury, nor liquidated one debt incurred on his account, they
became excited well nigh to fury,--so much so, that at one time we found
it nearly impossible to restrain them from having recourse to Lynch law.
They thought that the reverend gentleman must have large sums of money at
his command somewhere--judging from his appearance and mode of living, and
that a little wholesome punishment administered to his reverence, by grave
Judge Lynch, enthroned upon a "cotton bale," might possibly bring him to
terms, and induce him to disgorge some of his ill-gotten wealth, which he
so freely lavished upon himself, and was withholding from those to whose
wants it had been kindly contributed.
Just, as was their dissatisfaction, I was satisfied by the examination of
his accounts, that he had spent nearly all of the money collected for us;
his expenses had been considerable; beside, he had fallen in love, during
his stay in England, with a white woman, and I suppose it must have
required both time and money to woo and win so fine and fair an English
lady, said also to possess quite a little sum of money, that is, several
thousand dollars, all of which our poor, little suffering colony must pay
for,--the reverend gentleman's statement to the contrary notwithstanding.
We succeeded at last, after a tedious effort, in satisfying the minds of
the settlers to the extent, that a violent outbreak was no longer to be
feared or dreaded. When all was quiet in the colony, I ventured to make my
first call on the wife of N. Paul, who was then stopping with the widow of
the late Rev. B. Paul, residing some three miles from us.
The houses of the colonists were generally built of logs, hewn on both
sides, the spaces chinked with mortar, and the roof constructed of boards.
The lower part was generally left in one large room, and when another
apartment was desired, it was made by drawing a curtain across it. When
we arrived at the residence of Mrs. Paul, we were immediately ushered into
the presence of Mrs. Nathaniel Paul, whom we found in an inner apartment,
made by drawn curtains, carpeted in an expensive style, where she was
seated like a queen in state,--with a veil floating from her head to the
floor; a gold chain encircling her neck, and attached to a gold watch in
her girdle; her fingers and person sparkling with costly jewelry. Her
manners were stiff and formal nor was she handsome, but a tolerably fair
looking woman, of about thirty years of age: and this was the wife of our
agent for the poor Wilberforce colony!
N. Paul had now settled his business with the colonists, and being about
to leave for the States, we appealed to his honor as a man and a
Christian, to call at Rochester and pay the seven hundred dollar bank
debt, for which he was justly and legally holden, and relieve honorably,
those kind gentlemen who had raised the money for him. He well knew the
condition of our friend E. Peck, and that the names of some of our colored
friends were also attached to the note; all of whom were relying
implicitly on his or our honor to pay the obligation. That we had no funds
in the treasury he was well aware; also, that all were deeply concerned
about that debt. All this he knew; and in answer to our earnest and
repeated injunction, he promised most faithfully and solemnly that he
would call at Rochester, and take up the note. On those conditions he was
allowed to leave the colony, and when parting with me, no more to meet in
this life, his last assurance was, that he would cancel that obligation.
What then could we think of his word, when we learned soon after that he
passed Rochester, without calling, direct to Albany; nor did he ever
return, or make any explanation of his conduct; nor give any reason why
his promise was not redeemed and the money paid.
He preached in Albany until his health failed, then he was obliged to live
the best way he could, and at last to depend on charity.
His disease was dropsy, from which he suffered deeply, being unable to lie
down for some time previous to his death. I have been told that his
domestic life was far from a peaceable or happy one, and that in poverty,
sorrow and affliction, he lingered on a long time, till death at last
closed the scene.