the acquisition of languages, which are merely the external forms
of thought, men were pedantic, and women were the same; for the
correspondence between the character of the sexes is as intimate, as
the affections and thoughts of the same individual. In these days,
when knowledge is obtained to be applied to use,--when even that
pretty and ever-varying toy, the kaleidoscope, is used to furnish new
patterns at carpet-manufactories,--female literature is universally
more or less practical. Modern female writers are generally known
to be women who can make a pudding, embroider a collar, or dance a
cotillion, as well as their neighbors. It is no longer deemed a mark
of intellect to despise the homelier duties, or lighter graces of the
social system. This will, in time, probably make men more liberal with
regard to female learning. A writer in the time of Charles the First
says, “She that knoweth how to compound a pudding is more desirable
than she who skilfully compoundeth a poem. A female poet I mislike
at all times.” Within the last century it has been gravely asserted
that “chemistry enough to keep the pot boiling, and geography enough
to know the location of the different rooms in her house, is learning
sufficient for a woman.” Byron, who was too sensual to conceive of a
pure and perfect companionship between the sexes, would limit a woman’s
library to a Bible and a cookery book. All this is poor philosophy and
miserable wit. It is on a par with the dictatorial assertions of the
Austrian emperor, that his people will be better subjects, and far more
happy, if they are not allowed to learn to read.
One of the most striking characteristics of modern times is the
tendency toward a universal dissemination of knowledge in all
Protestant communities. It is now a very common thing for women to be
well versed in the popular sciences, and to know other languages than
their own; and this circumstance, independent of the liberality and
sincerity induced by true knowledge, has very perceptibly diminished
the tendency to literary affectation. Pedantry is certainly not the
vice of modern times; yet the old prejudice still lurks in the minds of
men, who ought to be ashamed of it. It is by no means easy to find a
man so magnanimous, as to be perfectly willing that a woman should know
more than himself, on any subject except dress and cookery.
That women are more fond of ornament than men is probably true; but I
doubt whether there is so much difference between the personal vanity
of the sexes, as has been imagined. Dandies are a large class, if not a
respectable one. No maiden lady was ever more irritable under a sense
of personal deformity than were Pope and Byron; and Bonaparte was quite
as vain of his small foot, as Madam de Staël of her beautiful arms.
In searching the history of women, the mild, unobtrusive domestic
virtues, which constitute their greatest charm, and ought always to be
the ground-work of their character, are not found on record. We hear of
storms and tempests, and northern lights; but men do not describe the
perpetual blessing of sunshine.
The personal bravery evinced by women at all periods excites surprise.
We hear scarcely any thing of the Phœnician women, except that they
agreed to perish in the flames, if their countrymen lost a certain
battle, and that they crowned with flowers the woman who first made
that motion in the council. The Moorish women of Spain were full of
this fiery spirit. When Boabdil wept at taking a farewell glance of
beautiful Granada, his proud-hearted mother said, scornfully, “You do
well to weep for it like a woman, since you would not defend it like a
man.”
The old Hungarian women, when their country was invaded by the Turks,
performed prodigies of valor; and now, among the predatory tribes of
Illyria and Dalmatia, he who attempted to insult a girl, would find
that she wore a dagger and pistol at her belt. But Christianity, which
has done so much for woman--which, at a time when its pure maxims
could produce nothing better, by reason of man’s own evils, brought
forth the generous spirit of chivalry from the iron despotism of the
middle ages--Christianity is removing the garlands from the bloody
front of war, and teaching her sons and her daughters that evil must be
“overcome with good.”
Women are apt to be more aristocratic than men; for the habits of their
life compel attention to details, and consequently make them more
observing of manners than of principles.
Where the Mohammedan religion prevails, man’s reason is taught to bow
blindly to faith, and his affections have little freedom to seek their
corresponding truth; in all such countries women are slaves.
At those periods when reason has run wild, and men have maintained that
there was no such thing as unchangeable truth, but that every one made
it, according to the state of his own will--at such times, there has
always been a tendency to have men and women change places, that the
latter might command armies and harangue senates, while men attended
to domestic concerns. These doctrines were maintained by infidels of
the French revolution, and by their modern disciple, Fanny Wright.
Many silly things have been written, and are now written, concerning
the equality of the sexes; but that true and perfect companionship,
which gives both man and woman complete freedom _in_ their places,
without a restless desire to go out of them, is as yet imperfectly
understood. The time will come, when it will be seen that the moral
and intellectual condition of woman must be, and ought to be, in exact
correspondence with that of man, not only in its general aspect, but in
its individual manifestations; and then it will be perceived that all
this discussion about relative superiority, is as idle as a controversy
to determine which is most important to the world, the light of the
sun, or the warmth of the sun.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
WOMEN IN SLAVE-HOLDING COUNTRIES.
A separate article is appropriated to this subject, because slavery
everywhere produces nearly the same effects on character; but the
story is briefly told, because the details of that system are alike
discreditable to man and woman. A recent writer who defends slavery has
said that in slave-holding countries “women are not beasts of burden.”
This is a gallant phrase to apply to all those ladies who live in
countries where the traffic in human beings is not introduced, like a
plague-spot, into the social system; but the chief fault to be found
with it is, that it is founded on the common mistake of leaving out of
the estimate all those whose complexions are not perfectly white. In
all slave-holding communities, colored women are emphatically “beasts
of burden;” yet, under kindly influences, they are capable of the same
moral and intellectual cultivation as other human beings.
One of the worst features of this polluting system is that female
slaves are neither protected by law, or restrained by public opinion.
Their masters own them as property, and have despotic control over
their actions; and such is their degraded condition, that to be the
mistress of a white man is an object of ambition rather than of shame.
The same result would be produced upon any class of people under
similar circumstances. They are taught from infancy that they have
no character to gain or to lose; and their whole moral code consists
in one maxim--obedience to the white men. The personal kindness of
their masters, though founded on the most impure feelings, is likely
to shelter them in some degree from harsh treatment, and to procure
for them those articles of finery upon which all ignorant people place
an inordinate value. The idea of obtaining money to purchase freedom
is likewise a frequent incentive to immorality. It is not proposed to
disgust the reader with a recapitulation of facts in proof of these
remarks. It is sufficient to say that female virtue is a thing not even
supposed to exist among slaves; and that when individual instances of
it occur, it sometimes meets with severe castigation, and generally
with contemptuous ridicule.
It may well be supposed that those who are delicately termed “favorite
slaves,” sometimes become very pert and impudent, in consequence of
their situation in their master’s family. A female slave in Baltimore
was, for obvious reasons, very odious in the eyes of her mistress, who
let no opportunity escape of getting her flogged for some misdemeanor,
real or pretended. The master, for reasons equally obvious, was always
reluctant to give orders for her punishment; but he was sometimes
obliged to do so, for the sake of domestic peace. On such occasions,
the slave flounced about the house, and boasted that every whipping he
ordered her should cost him a handsome sum for broken china.
Stedman relates that Mrs. S--lk--r, of Surinam, having observed, among
some newly imported slaves, a negro girl of remarkably fine figure and
expressive countenance, immediately ordered the poor creature’s mouth,
cheeks, and forehead to be burned with red-hot iron, and the tendon of
her heel to be cut. These cruel orders were given from mere prospective
jealousy of her husband; and to gratify this wicked passion, the
unoffending girl was maimed and deformed for life.
One of the most observable effects produced by this system, is that
it invariably induces the habit of not considering a large number of
men, women, and children in the same light as other human beings; hence
the most common maxims of justice and morality, recognised in all
other cases, are not supposed to apply to slaves. The dimness of moral
perception and the obtuseness of moral feeling, produced by this state
of things, sometimes come out in forms very shocking to those who are
unaccustomed to the system. Miss G----, of South Carolina, being on a
visit to an intimate friend of the writer, certain ladies, who were
present, began to talk on the never-failing topic of domestics. “You
do not have the trouble of such frequent changes,” said one of them to
Miss G----; “but I should think you would find it very disagreeable
to be surrounded by so many slaves.” “Not at all disagreeable,”
replied the lady from South Carolina; “I have always been accustomed
to blacks; I was nursed by one of them, of whom I was very fond. As
for good looks, I assure you some of them are very handsome. I had a
young slave, who was an extremely pretty creature. A gentleman, who
visited at our house, became very much in love with her. One day she
requested me to speak to that gentleman, for she did not wish to be his
mistress, and he troubled her exceedingly. I did speak to him, begging
him to change his conduct, as his attentions were very disagreeable to
my slave. For a few weeks he desisted; but at the end of that time, he
told me he must have that girl, at some rate or other; he offered me a
very high price; I pitied the poor fellow, and sold her to him.”
Miss G---- was an unmarried woman, with correct ideas of propriety
concerning those of her own color; but having been educated under
a system that taught her to regard a portion of the human race as
mere animals, she made the above remarks without the slightest
consciousness that there was any thing shameful in the transaction.
Pinckard, in his Notes on the West Indies, speaks in terms of strong
disgust, of the entire want of modesty evinced by women in cases where
their female slaves were concerned. “It is to the advantage of the
hostess of a tavern,” says he, “that the female attendants of her
family should be as handsome as she can procure them. Being slaves,
the only recompense of their services is the food they eat, the hard
bed they sleep on, and the few loose clothes which are hung upon them.
One privilege, indeed, is allowed them, which you will be shocked to
know; and this offers the only hope they have of procuring a sum of
money, wherewith to purchase their freedom: and the resource among them
is so common, that neither shame nor disgrace attaches to it; but, on
the contrary, she who is most sought becomes an object of envy, and is
proud of the distinction shown her.
“One of our attendants at table appeared, both from her conversation
and behavior, to be very superior to her degraded station. She had
nothing of beauty, nor even prettiness of face, but she was of good
figure, and of respectable and interesting demeanor, and, in point
of intellect, far above her colleagues. Together with gentleness
of manner, and an easy, pleasant address, she possesses a degree
of understanding and ability which claim respect. In principle and
in sentiment she appeared virtuous; and, from the frankness of her
replies, it was evident that she knew no sense of wrong in her
conduct. We could not but lament, that the imperious habits of the
country did not allow of her being placed as a more respectable member
of society.
“This woman is the great support of the house--the bar-maid, and
leading manager of the family. Her mistress had refused to take one
hundred guineas for her; which, she assured us, had been offered by
a gentleman, who would have purchased her. She has a very lively,
interesting little daughter, a Mestee, about four years old. Of this
child she spake with great tenderness, and appeared to bear it all
the fond attachment of an affectionate parent. Yet, as the infant was
born in slavery, should the mother by any means obtain her freedom,
she cannot claim her child, but must leave it, still the disposable
property of her mistress, equally liable to be sold as any other piece
of furniture in the house.”
This same habit of putting slaves out of the pale of humanity, leads
to great carelessness in sundering the ties of domestic affection.
The slave mother and her little ones are advertised for sale “either
singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers.” If the will of the purchaser
separates them, the wretched parent in vain shrieks, “I can’t leave
my children! I won’t leave my children!” With all the kind instincts
of human nature strong within her, she is an article of property; and
resistance is useless. In old times, when slavery was sanctioned in
Massachusetts, a wealthy lady residing in Gloucester was in the habit
of giving away the infants of her female slaves, a few days after
they were born, as people are accustomed to dispose of a litter of
kittens. One of her neighbors begged an infant, which, in those days
of comparative simplicity, she nourished with her own milk, and reared
among her own children. This woman had an earnest desire for a brocade
gown; and her husband not feeling able to purchase one, she sent her
little nursling to Virginia, and sold her, when she was about seven
years old.
People who have never been under the influence of this system, are
reluctant to believe that slave-owners make no scruple of selling
their own mulatto children; but those who have long resided in slave
countries know perfectly well that it is a fact of frequent occurrence.
One of the most singular instances of this kind occurred a few years
since. Doctor W---- went into one of the south-western of the United
States to settle as a physician. In one of the families where he
visited in the course of his practice, he saw a girl in a humble
situation, who was very handsome in her person, and modest in her
manners. He became in love with her, and married her. Sometime after,
a gentleman called, and announced himself as Mr. I--r--, of Mobile.
“Sir,” said he, “I have a trifling affair of business to settle with
you. You have married a slave of mine.” Dr. W---- was surprised and
indignant; for he had supposed his wife to be perfectly white. But Mr.
I--r-- brought forward proofs of his assertion, and the unrighteous
laws of the land supported his claim. After considerable discussion,
the young man found he must either pay eight hundred dollars, or
suffer his wife to be sold at auction. He paid the money. When Mrs.
W. was informed of the circumstance, she was in deep distress, and
apologized to her husband for the concealment she had practised, by
saying, “As Mr. I--r-- is my own father, I did hope when I had found an
honorable protector he would leave me in peace.”
Another great evil resulting from this system, is the tyrannical
habits and impetuous passions that are unavoidably developed by
early habits of despotic sway. The manner of speaking to a slave is
almost universally haughty and contemptuous. Delicate, languid, and
graceful ladies, who would cherish a lapdog, and shrink from harming a
butterfly, will, in a moment of anger, seize the whip and chastise a
slave for the slightest fault, and sometimes for errors, which in their
calmer moments they discover were never committed. If all history did
not prove that the possession of absolute power is apt to produce a
species of insanity, it would be difficult to believe the occasional
demonstrations of vindictive passions in slave countries.
A young man from Missouri lately related, at a public meeting in Ohio,
the following circumstance which took place in his own state. A young
slave, who had been much abused, ran away, after an unusually severe
whipping. She returned in a few days, and was sent into the field to
work. In consequence of excessive punishment she was very ill; and when
she reached the house at night, she lay down on the floor exhausted.
When her mistress spoke to her, she made no reply. She again asked
what was the matter, but received no answer. “I’ll see if I can’t make
you speak,” exclaimed she, in a rage; and she applied red-hot tongs
to her limbs and throat. The poor girl faintly whispered, “Oh, misse,
don’t; I’m most gone”--and expired.
Such cruelties probably are not of common occurrence; but the habits of
indolence, acquired by having slaves to obey every look, are universal.
Ladies thus educated consider it a hardship to untie a string, or pick
up a handkerchief that has fallen. A slave must be always near them
to perform such offices. Even after the family have retired to rest,
some of their locomotive machinery must be within call. A lady, having
heard surprise expressed at this custom, replied with much earnestness,
“Mercy! what should I, or my husband do, if we happened to want a glass
of water in the night, and there was nobody near to bring it!” A little
girl, whose parents removed from Massachusetts to South Carolina,
complained that she had an utter aversion to going to school, it was so
fatiguing to carry her books. All the other little girls had slaves to
carry them.
Among the women of slave countries there is a tendency to mental as
well as physical indolence. They are often more elegant and graceful
than ladies educated under a more healthy system; but they are far less
capable, industrious, and well-informed.
The slaves themselves are brutally ignorant. In several of the United
States, there are very strict laws to prevent their learning the
alphabet.
Early habits of allowed profligacy in men form a bad school for the
domestic affections; and a wife who sees herself neglected for others,
with a great deal of unemployed time on her own hands, is placed in
circumstances where she has need of great strength of principle.
According to Stedman’s account, these influences have produced a
lamentable effect on the character of women in Surinam; though there
are there, as elsewhere, honorable exceptions to the general tone of
manners and morals.
Human beings are generally merry and thoughtless in proportion as their
wants are merely animal; and slaves are light-hearted, both by habit
and natural temperament. The memory of suffering soon passes away; and
during every interval of labor they will sing, dance, and laugh, as
if the world had no cares for them. Pinckard, speaking of the British
West Indies, says: “Sunday is a day of festivity among the slaves. They
are passionately fond of dancing; and the Sabbath, offering them an
interval from toil, is generally devoted to their favorite amusement.
Instead of remaining in tranquil rest, they undergo more fatigue, or at
least more personal exertion, during their gala hours of Saturday night
and Sunday, than is demanded of them in labor during any four days of
the week. They assemble in crowds upon the open green, or in any square
or corner of the town, and forming a ring in the centre of the throng,
dance to the sound of their beloved African music, consisting of a
species of drum, a kind of rattle, and their ever delightful _banjar_.
The dance consists of stamping of the feet, twisting of the body,
and a number of strange, indecent attitudes. It is a severe bodily
exertion, more bodily indeed than you can well imagine, for the limbs
have little to do with it.”
The clothing of slaves is generally the slightest possible, and of the
coarsest materials. Pinckard speaks of seeing old women at Barbadoes
washing clothes in the river, with no other covering than a piece of
blue cloth fastened round the loins, after the manner of savages. He
says “their bodies bore the crowded and callous scars of repeated
punishment.”
In the West Indies, the negro women carry their babes across the hip,
as in Africa.
Small rude huts are appropriated to the field slaves, where they
live much after the fashion of pigs in a sty. Those who are kept for
house-servants generally lie down upon the floor, wherever they happen
to be when the labors of the day are over. A person rising earlier than
usual, is liable to stumble over them in the entries. Female slaves
toil in the fields, under the lash of the driver, as laboriously as
the men; and, generally speaking, no difference is made in the mode or
severity of punishment. A little patch of ground is usually assigned to
each slave family, where they may raise vegetables for themselves, in
addition to the tasks performed for their masters. Many of them spend
their leisure moments in making baskets and brooms to carry to market,
and thus procure a little money.
The negroes believe they shall return to Africa when they die; and this
idea has often led to suicide. They follow a friend to the grave with
every demonstration of joy; and when the ceremony is finished, sing:
“God bless you, Jenny--Good-bye--remember me to all friends t’other
side of the sea--tell ’em me come soon--Good-bye, Jenny.”
The influence of slavery is in every sense injurious to the slave. As
they derive no benefit from being industrious, they try to evade labor,
under all manner of false pretexts; and the more time they can waste,
the more they think they have gained. They do not, like free laborers,
fear to be dishonest, lest they should lose their character and place;
but the compensation which is not given they conceive themselves at
liberty to take. It is a common thing for them to say, “Me no steal
him; me take him from massa.” Persons who are most kind and indulgent
to their slaves are often liable to be served in the most negligent
manner. Some have unjustly ascribed this to the bad disposition of the
Africans; but the fault is in the pernicious system, which removes
all salutary moral restraints, and healthy incentives to exertion. No
human being will work from a disinterested love of toil; and slaves
soon learn that they gain nothing by industry, and lose nothing by
laziness; in either case they get something to eat, and something to
cover them--and their greatest exertions will do no more. Under a
severe master or mistress, they will work, from fear of the whip, which
a driver is paid to hold over their backs; but when this is removed, no
other inducement to industry remains.
In all slave countries, there are many honorable exceptions to
the character implied in the preceding remarks--men and women who
conscientiously endeavor to mitigate the condition of their slaves,
as far as possible. Instances of strong mutual attachment sometimes
occur, between masters and their dependents, as there did in the
proud old feudal times. The negro nurse is called “mammy,” by those
whom she tended in their infancy, and is sometimes treated with so
much tenderness, that her young master and mistress will resent it if
an unkind word be spoken to her. The negroes are of an affectionate
disposition, and are often devoted to their foster-children with all
the strength of maternal affection. During a tremendous earthquake in
St. Domingo, when others were saving themselves with all haste, a young
female slave remembered a white infant, forgotten by its own mother.
She hastened to her nursling, and placing herself in an arch over its
body, was killed by the tumbling walls of the house; but the little
object of her solicitude was safely restored to its agonized parents.