The revelations made by these passengers were painful to listen to, and
would not have been credited if any room had existed for doubt.
John Wesley was thirty-two years of age, of a lively turn, pleasant
countenance, dark color, and ordinary size. In unburdening his mind to
the Committee the all-absorbing theme related to the manner in which he
had been treated as a slave, and the character of those who had
oppressed him. He stated that he had been the victim of a man or party,
named Johnson, in whose family John had been a witness to some of the
most high-handed phases of barbarism; said he, "these Johnsons were
notorious for abusing their servants. A few years back one of their
slaves, a coachman, was kept on the coach box one cold night when they
were out at a ball until he became almost frozen to death, in fact he
did die in the infirmary from the effects of the frost about one week
afterwards."
"Another case was that of a slave woman in a very delicate state, who
was one day knocked down stairs by Mrs. Johnson herself, and in a few
weeks after, the poor woman died from the effects of the injury thus
received. The doctor who attended the injured creature in this case was
simply told that she slipped and fell down stairs as she was coming
down. Colored witnesses had no right to testify, and the doctor was
mute, consequently the guilty escaped wholly unpunished." "Another
case," said John Wesley, "was a little girl, half-grown, who was washing
windows up stairs one day, and unluckily fell asleep in the window, and
in this position was found by her mistress; in a rage the mistress hit
her a heavy slap, knocked her out of the window, and she fell to the
pavement, and died in a few hours from the effects thereof. The mistress
professed to know nothing about it, simply said, 'she went to sleep and
fell out herself.' As usual nothing was done in the way of punishment."
These were specimens of the inner workings of the peculiar institution.
John, however, had not only observed Slavery from a domestic
stand-point, he had also watched master and mistress abroad as visitors
and guests in other people's houses, noticed not only how they treated
white people, but also how they treated black people. "These Johnsons
thought that they were first-rate to their servants. When visiting among
their friends they were usually very polite, would bow and scrape more
than a little, even to colored people, knowing that their names were in
bad odor, on account of their cruelty, for they had been in the papers
twice about how they abused their colored people."
As to advertising him, John gave it as his opinion that they would be
ashamed to do it from the fact that they had already rendered themselves
more notorious than they had bargained for, on account of their cruelty
towards their slaves; they were wealthy, and courted the good opinion of
society. Besides they were members of the Presbyterian Church, and John
thought that they were very willing that people should believe that they
were great saints. On the score of feeding and clothing John gave them
credit, saying that "the clothing was good enough, they liked to see the
house servants dressed;" he spoke too of the eating as being all right,
but added, that "very often time was not allowed them to finish their
meals." Respecting work, John bore witness that they were very sharp.
With John's intelligence, large observation, good memory, and excellent
natural abilities, with the amount of detail that he possessed, nothing
more would have been needed for a thrilling book than the facts and
incidents of slave life, as he had been conversant with it under the
Johnsons in Maryland.
As the other two companions of John Wesley were advertised in the
_Baltimore Sun_, we avail ourselves of the light thus publicly afforded:
$2000 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, living on the York
Turnpike, eight miles from Baltimore city, on Sunday, April
11th, my negro man, JACOB, aged 20 years: 5 feet 10 inches high;
chestnut color; spare made; good features. I will give $50
reward if taken in Baltimore city or county, and $200 if taken
out of the State and secured in jail so that I get him again.
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