SLAVERY
THE upholders of slavery in America—of the atrocities of which system, I
shall not write one word for which I have not had ample proof and
warrant—may be divided into three great classes.
The first, are those more moderate and rational owners of human cattle,
who have come into the possession of them as so many coins in their
trading capital, but who admit the frightful nature of the Institution in
the abstract, and perceive the dangers to society with which it is
fraught: dangers which however distant they may be, or howsoever tardy in
their coming on, are as certain to fall upon its guilty head, as is the
Day of Judgment.
The second, consists of all those owners, breeders, users, buyers and
sellers of slaves, who will, until the bloody chapter has a bloody end,
own, breed, use, buy, and sell them at all hazards: who doggedly deny the
horrors of the system in the teeth of such a mass of evidence as never
was brought to bear on any other subject, and to which the experience of
every day contributes its immense amount; who would at this or any other
moment, gladly involve America in a war, civil or foreign, provided that
it had for its sole end and object the assertion of their right to
perpetuate slavery, and to whip and work and torture slaves, unquestioned
by any human authority, and unassailed by any human power; who, when they
speak of Freedom, mean the Freedom to oppress their kind, and to be
savage, merciless, and cruel; and of whom every man on his own ground, in
republican America, is a more exacting, and a sterner, and a less
responsible despot than the Caliph Haroun Alraschid in his angry robe of
scarlet.
The third, and not the least numerous or influential, is composed of all
that delicate gentility which cannot bear a superior, and cannot brook an
equal; of that class whose Republicanism means, ‘I will not tolerate a
man above me: and of those below, none must approach too near;’ whose
pride, in a land where voluntary servitude is shunned as a disgrace, must
be ministered to by slaves; and whose inalienable rights can only have
their growth in negro wrongs.
It has been sometimes urged that, in the unavailing efforts which have
been made to advance the cause of Human Freedom in the republic of
America (strange cause for history to treat of!), sufficient regard has
not been had to the existence of the first class of persons; and it has
been contended that they are hardly used, in being confounded with the
second. This is, no doubt, the case; noble instances of pecuniary and
personal sacrifice have already had their growth among them; and it is
much to be regretted that the gulf between them and the advocates of
emancipation should have been widened and deepened by any means: the
rather, as there are, beyond dispute, among these slave-owners, many kind
masters who are tender in the exercise of their unnatural power. Still,
it is to be feared that this injustice is inseparable from the state of
things with which humanity and truth are called upon to deal. Slavery is
not a whit the more endurable because some hearts are to be found which
can partially resist its hardening influences; nor can the indignant tide
of honest wrath stand still, because in its onward course it overwhelms a
few who are comparatively innocent, among a host of guilty.
The ground most commonly taken by these better men among the advocates of
slavery, is this: ‘It is a bad system; and for myself I would willingly
get rid of it, if I could; most willingly. But it is not so bad, as you
in England take it to be. You are deceived by the representations of the
emancipationists. The greater part of my slaves are much attached to me.
You will say that I do not allow them to be severely treated; but I will
put it to you whether you believe that it can be a general practice to
treat them inhumanly, when it would impair their value, and would be
obviously against the interests of their masters.’
Is it the interest of any man to steal, to game, to waste his health and
mental faculties by drunkenness, to lie, forswear himself, indulge
hatred, seek desperate revenge, or do murder? No. All these are roads
to ruin. And why, then, do men tread them? Because such inclinations are
among the vicious qualities of mankind. Blot out, ye friends of slavery,
from the catalogue of human passions, brutal lust, cruelty, and the abuse
of irresponsible power (of all earthly temptations the most difficult to
be resisted), and when ye have done so, and not before, we will inquire
whether it be the interest of a master to lash and maim the slaves, over
whose lives and limbs he has an absolute control!
But again: this class, together with that last one I have named, the
miserable aristocracy spawned of a false republic, lift up their voices
and exclaim ‘Public opinion is all-sufficient to prevent such cruelty as
you denounce.’ Public opinion! Why, public opinion in the slave States
_is_ slavery, is it not? Public opinion, in the slave States, has
delivered the slaves over, to the gentle mercies of their masters.
Public opinion has made the laws, and denied the slaves legislative
protection. Public opinion has knotted the lash, heated the
branding-iron, loaded the rifle, and shielded the murderer. Public
opinion threatens the abolitionist with death, if he venture to the
South; and drags him with a rope about his middle, in broad unblushing
noon, through the first city in the East. Public opinion has, within a
few years, burned a slave alive at a slow fire in the city of St. Louis;
and public opinion has to this day maintained upon the bench that
estimable judge who charged the jury, impanelled there to try his
murderers, that their most horrid deed was an act of public opinion, and
being so, must not be punished by the laws the public sentiment had made.
Public opinion hailed this doctrine with a howl of wild applause, and set
the prisoners free, to walk the city, men of mark, and influence, and
station, as they had been before.
Public opinion! what class of men have an immense preponderance over the
rest of the community, in their power of representing public opinion in
the legislature? the slave-owners. They send from their twelve States
one hundred members, while the fourteen free States, with a free
population nearly double, return but a hundred and forty-two. Before
whom do the presidential candidates bow down the most humbly, on whom do
they fawn the most fondly, and for whose tastes do they cater the most
assiduously in their servile protestations? The slave-owners always.
Public opinion! hear the public opinion of the free South, as expressed
by its own members in the House of Representatives at Washington. ‘I
have a great respect for the chair,’ quoth North Carolina, ‘I have a
great respect for the chair as an officer of the house, and a great
respect for him personally; nothing but that respect prevents me from
rushing to the table and tearing that petition which has just been
presented for the abolition of slavery in the district of Columbia, to
pieces.’—‘I warn the abolitionists,’ says South Carolina, ‘ignorant,
infuriated barbarians as they are, that if chance shall throw any of them
into our hands, he may expect a felon’s death.’—‘Let an abolitionist come
within the borders of South Carolina,’ cries a third; mild Carolina’s
colleague; ‘and if we can catch him, we will try him, and notwithstanding
the interference of all the governments on earth, including the Federal
government, we will HANG him.’
Public opinion has made this law.—It has declared that in Washington, in
that city which takes its name from the father of American liberty, any
justice of the peace may bind with fetters any negro passing down the
street and thrust him into jail: no offence on the black man’s part is
necessary. The justice says, ‘I choose to think this man a runaway:’ and
locks him up. Public opinion impowers the man of law when this is done,
to advertise the negro in the newspapers, warning his owner to come and
claim him, or he will be sold to pay the jail fees. But supposing he is
a free black, and has no owner, it may naturally be presumed that he is
set at liberty. No: HE IS SOLD TO RECOMPENSE HIS JAILER. This has been
done again, and again, and again. He has no means of proving his
freedom; has no adviser, messenger, or assistance of any sort or kind; no
investigation into his case is made, or inquiry instituted. He, a free
man, who may have served for years, and bought his liberty, is thrown
into jail on no process, for no crime, and on no pretence of crime: and
is sold to pay the jail fees. This seems incredible, even of America,
but it is the law.
Public opinion is deferred to, in such cases as the following: which is
headed in the newspapers:—
‘_Interesting Law-Case_.
‘An interesting case is now on trial in the Supreme Court, arising
out of the following facts. A gentleman residing in Maryland had
allowed an aged pair of his slaves, substantial though not legal
freedom for several years. While thus living, a daughter was born to
them, who grew up in the same liberty, until she married a free
negro, and went with him to reside in Pennsylvania. They had several
children, and lived unmolested until the original owner died, when
his heir attempted to regain them; but the magistrate before whom
they were brought, decided that he had no jurisdiction in the case.
_The owner seized the woman and her children in the night_, _and
carried them to Maryland_.’
‘Cash for negroes,’ ‘cash for negroes,’ ‘cash for negroes,’ is the
heading of advertisements in great capitals down the long columns of the
crowded journals. Woodcuts of a runaway negro with manacled hands,
crouching beneath a bluff pursuer in top boots, who, having caught him,
grasps him by the throat, agreeably diversify the pleasant text. The
leading article protests against ‘that abominable and hellish doctrine of
abolition, which is repugnant alike to every law of God and nature.’ The
delicate mamma, who smiles her acquiescence in this sprightly writing as
she reads the paper in her cool piazza, quiets her youngest child who
clings about her skirts, by promising the boy ‘a whip to beat the little
niggers with.’—But the negroes, little and big, are protected by public
opinion.
Let us try this public opinion by another test, which is important in
three points of view: first, as showing how desperately timid of the
public opinion slave-owners are, in their delicate descriptions of
fugitive slaves in widely circulated newspapers; secondly, as showing how
perfectly contented the slaves are, and how very seldom they run away;
thirdly, as exhibiting their entire freedom from scar, or blemish, or any
mark of cruel infliction, as their pictures are drawn, not by lying
abolitionists, but by their own truthful masters.
The following are a few specimens of the advertisements in the public
papers. It is only four years since the oldest among them appeared; and
others of the same nature continue to be published every day, in shoals.
‘Ran away, Negress Caroline. Had on a collar with one prong turned
down.’
‘Ran away, a black woman, Betsy. Had an iron bar on her right leg.’
‘Ran away, the negro Manuel. Much marked with irons.’
‘Ran away, the negress Fanny. Had on an iron band about her neck.’
‘Ran away, a negro boy about twelve years old. Had round his neck a
chain dog-collar with “De Lampert” engraved on it.’
‘Ran away, the negro Hown. Has a ring of iron on his left foot.
Also, Grise, _his wife_, having a ring and chain on the left leg.’
‘Ran away, a negro boy named James. Said boy was ironed when he left
me.’
‘Committed to jail, a man who calls his name John. He has a clog of
iron on his right foot which will weigh four or five pounds.’
‘Detained at the police jail, the negro wench, Myra. Has several
marks of LASHING, and has irons on her feet.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman and two children. A few days before she
went off, I burnt her with a hot iron, on the left side of her face.
I tried to make the letter M.’
‘Ran away, a negro man named Henry; his left eye out, some scars from
a dirk on and under his left arm, and much scarred with the whip.’
‘One hundred dollars reward, for a negro fellow, Pompey, 40 years
old. He is branded on the left jaw.’
‘Committed to jail, a negro man. Has no toes on the left foot.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman named Rachel. Has lost all her toes except
the large one.’
‘Ran away, Sam. He was shot a short time since through the hand, and
has several shots in his left arm and side.’
‘Ran away, my negro man Dennis. Said negro has been shot in the left
arm between the shoulder and elbow, which has paralysed the left
hand.’
‘Ran away, my negro man named Simon. He has been shot badly, in his
back and right arm.’
‘Ran away, a negro named Arthur. Has a considerable scar across his
breast and each arm, made by a knife; loves to talk much of the
goodness of God.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man Isaac. He has a scar on his
forehead, caused by a blow; and one on his back, made by a shot from
a pistol.’
‘Ran away, a negro girl called Mary. Has a small scar over her eye,
a good many teeth missing, the letter A is branded on her cheek and
forehead.’
‘Ran away, negro Ben. Has a scar on his right hand; his thumb and
forefinger being injured by being shot last fall. A part of the bone
came out. He has also one or two large scars on his back and hips.’
‘Detained at the jail, a mulatto, named Tom. Has a scar on the right
cheek, and appears to have been burned with powder on the face.’
‘Ran away, a negro man named Ned. Three of his fingers are drawn
into the palm of his hand by a cut. Has a scar on the back of his
neck, nearly half round, done by a knife.’
‘Was committed to jail, a negro man. Says his name is Josiah. His
back very much scarred by the whip; and branded on the thigh and hips
in three or four places, thus (J M). The rim of his right ear has
been bit or cut off.’
‘Fifty dollars reward, for my fellow Edward. He has a scar on the
corner of his mouth, two cuts on and under his arm, and the letter E
on his arm.’
‘Ran away, negro boy Ellie. Has a scar on one of his arms from the
bite of a dog.’
‘Ran away, from the plantation of James Surgette, the following
negroes: Randal, has one ear cropped; Bob, has lost one eye; Kentucky
Tom, has one jaw broken.’
‘Ran away, Anthony. One of his ears cut off, and his left hand cut
with an axe.’
‘Fifty dollars reward for the negro Jim Blake. Has a piece cut out
of each ear, and the middle finger of the left hand cut off to the
second joint.’
‘Ran away, a negro woman named Maria. Has a scar on one side of her
cheek, by a cut. Some scars on her back.’
‘Ran away, the Mulatto wench Mary. Has a cut on the left arm, a scar
on the left shoulder, and two upper teeth missing.’
I should say, perhaps, in explanation of this latter piece of
description, that among the other blessings which public opinion secures
to the negroes, is the common practice of violently punching out their
teeth. To make them wear iron collars by day and night, and to worry
them with dogs, are practices almost too ordinary to deserve mention.
‘Ran away, my man Fountain. Has holes in his ears, a scar on the
right side of his forehead, has been shot in the hind part of his
legs, and is marked on the back with the whip.’
‘Two hundred and fifty dollars reward for my negro man Jim. He is
much marked with shot in his right thigh. The shot entered on the
outside, halfway between the hip and knee joints.’
‘Brought to jail, John. Left ear cropt.’
‘Taken up, a negro man. Is very much scarred about the face and
body, and has the left ear bit off.’
‘Ran away, a black girl, named Mary. Has a scar on her cheek, and
the end of one of her toes cut off.’
‘Ran away, my Mulatto woman, Judy. She has had her right arm broke.’
‘Ran away, my negro man, Levi. His left hand has been burnt, and I
think the end of his forefinger is off.’
‘Ran away, a negro man, NAMED WASHINGTON. Has lost a part of his
middle finger, and the end of his little finger.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man John. The tip of his nose is
bit off.’
‘Twenty-five dollars reward for the negro slave, Sally. Walks _as
though_ crippled in the back.’
‘Ran away, Joe Dennis. Has a small notch in one of his ears.’
‘Ran away, negro boy, Jack. Has a small crop out of his left ear.’
‘Ran away, a negro man, named Ivory. Has a small piece cut out of
the top of each ear.’
While upon the subject of ears, I may observe that a distinguished
abolitionist in New York once received a negro’s ear, which had been cut
off close to the head, in a general post letter. It was forwarded by the
free and independent gentleman who had caused it to be amputated, with a
polite request that he would place the specimen in his ‘collection.’
I could enlarge this catalogue with broken arms, and broken legs, and
gashed flesh, and missing teeth, and lacerated backs, and bites of dogs,
and brands of red-hot irons innumerable: but as my readers will be
sufficiently sickened and repelled already, I will turn to another branch
of the subject.
These advertisements, of which a similar collection might be made for
every year, and month, and week, and day; and which are coolly read in
families as things of course, and as a part of the current news and
small-talk; will serve to show how very much the slaves profit by public
opinion, and how tender it is in their behalf. But it may be worth while
to inquire how the slave-owners, and the class of society to which great
numbers of them belong, defer to public opinion in their conduct, not to
their slaves but to each other; how they are accustomed to restrain their
passions; what their bearing is among themselves; whether they are fierce
or gentle; whether their social customs be brutal, sanguinary, and
violent, or bear the impress of civilisation and refinement.
That we may have no partial evidence from abolitionists in this inquiry,
either, I will once more turn to their own newspapers, and I will confine
myself, this time, to a selection from paragraphs which appeared from day
to day, during my visit to America, and which refer to occurrences
happening while I was there. The italics in these extracts, as in the
foregoing, are my own.
These cases did not ALL occur, it will be seen, in territory actually
belonging to legalised Slave States, though most, and those the very
worst among them did, as their counterparts constantly do; but the
position of the scenes of action in reference to places immediately at
hand, where slavery is the law; and the strong resemblance between that
class of outrages and the rest; lead to the just presumption that the
character of the parties concerned was formed in slave districts, and
brutalised by slave customs.
‘_Horrible Tragedy_.
‘By a slip from _The Southport Telegraph_, Wisconsin, we learn that
the Hon. Charles C. P. Arndt, Member of the Council for Brown county,
was shot dead _on the floor of the Council chamber_, by James R.
Vinyard, Member from Grant county. _The affair_ grew out of a
nomination for Sheriff of Grant county. Mr. E. S. Baker was
nominated and supported by Mr. Arndt. This nomination was opposed by
Vinyard, who wanted the appointment to vest in his own brother. In
the course of debate, the deceased made some statements which Vinyard
pronounced false, and made use of violent and insulting language,
dealing largely in personalities, to which Mr. A. made no reply.
After the adjournment, Mr. A. stepped up to Vinyard, and requested
him to retract, which he refused to do, repeating the offensive
words. Mr. Arndt then made a blow at Vinyard, who stepped back a
pace, drew a pistol, and shot him dead.
‘The issue appears to have been provoked on the part of Vinyard, who
was determined at all hazards to defeat the appointment of Baker, and
who, himself defeated, turned his ire and revenge upon the
unfortunate Arndt.’
‘_The Wisconsin Tragedy_.
Public indignation runs high in the territory of Wisconsin, in
relation to the murder of C. C. P. Arndt, in the Legislative Hall of
the Territory. Meetings have been held in different counties of
Wisconsin, denouncing _the practice of secretly bearing arms in the
Legislative chambers of the country_. We have seen the account of
the expulsion of James R. Vinyard, the perpetrator of the bloody
deed, and are amazed to hear, that, after this expulsion by those who
saw Vinyard kill Mr. Arndt in the presence of his aged father, who
was on a visit to see his son, little dreaming that he was to witness
his murder, _Judge Dunn has discharged Vinyard on bail_. The Miners’
Free Press speaks _in terms of merited rebuke_ at the outrage upon
the feelings of the people of Wisconsin. Vinyard was within arm’s
length of Mr. Arndt, when he took such deadly aim at him, that he
never spoke. Vinyard might at pleasure, being so near, have only
wounded him, but he chose to kill him.’
‘_Murder_.
By a letter in a St. Louis paper of the ‘4th, we notice a terrible
outrage at Burlington, Iowa. A Mr. Bridgman having had a difficulty
with a citizen of the place, Mr. Ross; a brother-in-law of the latter
provided himself with one of Colt’s revolving pistols, met Mr. B. in
the street, _and discharged the contents of five of the barrels at
him_: _each shot taking effect_. Mr. B., though horribly wounded,
and dying, returned the fire, and killed Ross on the spot.’
‘_Terrible Death of Robert Potter_.
‘From the “Caddo Gazette,” of the 12th inst., we learn the frightful
death of Colonel Robert Potter. . . . He was beset in his house by an
enemy, named Rose. He sprang from his couch, seized his gun, and, in
his night-clothes, rushed from the house. For about two hundred
yards his speed seemed to defy his pursuers; but, getting entangled
in a thicket, he was captured. Rose told him _that he intended to
act a generous part_, and give him a chance for his life. He then
told Potter he might run, and he should not be interrupted till he
reached a certain distance. Potter started at the word of command,
and before a gun was fired he had reached the lake. His first
impulse was to jump in the water and dive for it, which he did. Rose
was close behind him, and formed his men on the bank ready to shoot
him as he rose. In a few seconds he came up to breathe; and scarce
had his head reached the surface of the water when it was completely
riddled with the shot of their guns, and he sunk, to rise no more!’
‘_Murder in Arkansas_.
‘We understand _that a severe rencontre came off_ a few days since in
the Seneca Nation, between Mr. Loose, the sub-agent of the mixed band
of the Senecas, Quapaw, and Shawnees, and Mr. James Gillespie, of the
mercantile firm of Thomas G. Allison and Co., of Maysville, Benton,
County Ark, in which the latter was slain with a bowie-knife. Some
difficulty had for some time existed between the parties. It is said
that Major Gillespie brought on the attack with a cane. A severe
conflict ensued, during which two pistols were fired by Gillespie and
one by Loose. Loose then stabbed Gillespie with one of those
never-failing weapons, a bowie-knife. The death of Major G. is much
regretted, as he was a liberal-minded and energetic man. Since the
above was in type, we have learned that Major Allison has stated to
some of our citizens in town that Mr. Loose gave the first blow. We
forbear to give any particulars, as _the matter will be the subject
of judicial investigation_.’
‘_Foul Deed_.
The steamer Thames, just from Missouri river, brought us a handbill,
offering a reward of 500 dollars, for the person who assassinated
Lilburn W. Baggs, late Governor of this State, at Independence, on
the night of the 6th inst. Governor Baggs, it is stated in a written
memorandum, was not dead, but mortally wounded.
‘Since the above was written, we received a note from the clerk of
the Thames, giving the following particulars. Gov. Baggs was shot by
some villain on Friday, 6th inst., in the evening, while sitting in a
room in his own house in Independence. His son, a boy, hearing a
report, ran into the room, and found the Governor sitting in his
chair, with his jaw fallen down, and his head leaning back; on
discovering the injury done to his father, he gave the alarm. Foot
tracks were found in the garden below the window, and a pistol picked
up supposed to have been overloaded, and thrown from the hand of the
scoundrel who fired it. Three buck shots of a heavy load, took
effect; one going through his mouth, one into the brain, and another
probably in or near the brain; all going into the back part of the
neck and head. The Governor was still alive on the morning of the
7th; but no hopes for his recovery by his friends, and but slight
hopes from his physicians.
‘A man was suspected, and the Sheriff most probably has possession of
him by this time.
‘The pistol was one of a pair stolen some days previous from a baker
in Independence, and the legal authorities have the description of
the other.’
‘_Rencontre_.
‘An unfortunate _affair_ took place on Friday evening in Chatres
Street, in which one of our most respectable citizens received a
dangerous wound, from a poignard, in the abdomen. From the Bee (New
Orleans) of yesterday, we learn the following particulars. It
appears that an article was published in the French side of the paper
on Monday last, containing some strictures on the Artillery Battalion
for firing their guns on Sunday morning, in answer to those from the
Ontario and Woodbury, and thereby much alarm was caused to the
families of those persons who were out all night preserving the peace
of the city. Major C. Gally, Commander of the battalion, resenting
this, called at the office and demanded the author’s name; that of
Mr. P. Arpin was given to him, who was absent at the time. Some
angry words then passed with one of the proprietors, and a challenge
followed; the friends of both parties tried to arrange the affair,
but failed to do so. On Friday evening, about seven o’clock, Major
Gally met Mr. P. Arpin in Chatres Street, and accosted him. “Are you
Mr. Arpin?”
‘“Yes, sir.”
‘“Then I have to tell you that you are a—” (applying an appropriate
epithet).
‘“I shall remind you of your words, sir.”
‘“But I have said I would break my cane on your shoulders.”
‘“I know it, but I have not yet received the blow.”
‘At these words, Major Gally, having a cane in his hands, struck Mr.
Arpin across the face, and the latter drew a poignard from his pocket
and stabbed Major Gally in the abdomen.
‘Fears are entertained that the wound will be mortal. _We understand
that Mr. Arpin has given security for his appearance at the Criminal
Court to answer the charge_.’
‘_Affray in Mississippi_.
‘On the 27th ult., in an affray near Carthage, Leake county,
Mississippi, between James Cottingham and John Wilburn, the latter
was shot by the former, and so horribly wounded, that there was no
hope of his recovery. On the 2nd instant, there was an affray at
Carthage between A. C. Sharkey and George Goff, in which the latter
was shot, and thought mortally wounded. Sharkey delivered himself up
to the authorities, _but changed his mind and escaped_!’
‘_Personal Encounter_.
‘An encounter took place in Sparta, a few days since, between the
barkeeper of an hotel, and a man named Bury. It appears that Bury
had become somewhat noisy, _and that the barkeeper_, _determined to
preserve order_, _had threatened to shoot Bury_, whereupon Bury drew
a pistol and shot the barkeeper down. He was not dead at the last
accounts, but slight hopes were entertained of his recovery.’
‘_Duel_.
‘The clerk of the steamboat _Tribune_ informs us that another duel
was fought on Tuesday last, by Mr. Robbins, a bank officer in
Vicksburg, and Mr. Fall, the editor of the Vicksburg Sentinel.
According to the arrangement, the parties had six pistols each,
which, after the word “Fire!” _they were to discharge as fast as they
pleased_. Fall fired two pistols without effect. Mr. Robbins’ first
shot took effect in Fall’s thigh, who fell, and was unable to
continue the combat.’
‘_Affray in Clarke County_.
‘An _unfortunate affray_ occurred in Clarke county (MO.), near
Waterloo, on Tuesday the 19th ult., which originated in settling the
partnership concerns of Messrs. M‘Kane and M‘Allister, who had been
engaged in the business of distilling, and resulted in the death of
the latter, who was shot down by Mr. M‘Kane, because of his
attempting to take possession of seven barrels of whiskey, the
property of M‘Kane, which had been knocked off to M‘Allister at a
sheriff’s sale at one dollar per barrel. M‘Kane immediately fled
_and at the latest dates had not been taken_.
‘_This unfortunate affray_ caused considerable excitement in the
neighbourhood, as both the parties were men with large families
depending upon them and stood well in the community.’
I will quote but one more paragraph, which, by reason of its monstrous
absurdity, may be a relief to these atrocious deeds.
‘_Affair of Honour_.
‘We have just heard the particulars of a meeting which took place on
Six Mile Island, on Tuesday, between two young bloods of our city:
Samuel Thurston, _aged fifteen_, and William Hine, _aged thirteen_
years. They were attended by young gentlemen of the same age. The
weapons used on the occasion, were a couple of Dickson’s best rifles;
the distance, thirty yards. They took one fire, without any damage
being sustained by either party, except the ball of Thurston’s gun
passing through the crown of Hine’s hat. _Through the intercession
of the Board of Honour_, the challenge was withdrawn, and the
difference amicably adjusted.’
If the reader will picture to himself the kind of Board of Honour which
amicably adjusted the difference between these two little boys, who in
any other part of the world would have been amicably adjusted on two
porters’ backs and soundly flogged with birchen rods, he will be
possessed, no doubt, with as strong a sense of its ludicrous character,
as that which sets me laughing whenever its image rises up before me.
Now, I appeal to every human mind, imbued with the commonest of common
sense, and the commonest of common humanity; to all dispassionate,
reasoning creatures, of any shade of opinion; and ask, with these
revolting evidences of the state of society which exists in and about the
slave districts of America before them, can they have a doubt of the real
condition of the slave, or can they for a moment make a compromise
between the institution or any of its flagrant, fearful features, and
their own just consciences? Will they say of any tale of cruelty and
horror, however aggravated in degree, that it is improbable, when they
can turn to the public prints, and, running, read such signs as these,
laid before them by the men who rule the slaves: in their own acts and
under their own hands?
Do we not know that the worst deformity and ugliness of slavery are at
once the cause and the effect of the reckless license taken by these
freeborn outlaws? Do we not know that the man who has been born and bred
among its wrongs; who has seen in his childhood husbands obliged at the
word of command to flog their wives; women, indecently compelled to hold
up their own garments that men might lay the heavier stripes upon their
legs, driven and harried by brutal overseers in their time of travail,
and becoming mothers on the field of toil, under the very lash itself;
who has read in youth, and seen his virgin sisters read, descriptions of
runaway men and women, and their disfigured persons, which could not be
published elsewhere, of so much stock upon a farm, or at a show of
beasts:—do we not know that that man, whenever his wrath is kindled up,
will be a brutal savage? Do we not know that as he is a coward in his
domestic life, stalking among his shrinking men and women slaves armed
with his heavy whip, so he will be a coward out of doors, and carrying
cowards’ weapons hidden in his breast, will shoot men down and stab them
when he quarrels? And if our reason did not teach us this and much
beyond; if we were such idiots as to close our eyes to that fine mode of
training which rears up such men; should we not know that they who among
their equals stab and pistol in the legislative halls, and in the
counting-house, and on the marketplace, and in all the elsewhere peaceful
pursuits of life, must be to their dependants, even though they were free
servants, so many merciless and unrelenting tyrants?
What! shall we declaim against the ignorant peasantry of Ireland, and
mince the matter when these American taskmasters are in question? Shall
we cry shame on the brutality of those who hamstring cattle: and spare
the lights of Freedom upon earth who notch the ears of men and women, cut
pleasant posies in the shrinking flesh, learn to write with pens of
red-hot iron on the human face, rack their poetic fancies for liveries of
mutilation which their slaves shall wear for life and carry to the grave,
breaking living limbs as did the soldiery who mocked and slew the Saviour
of the world, and set defenceless creatures up for targets! Shall we
whimper over legends of the tortures practised on each other by the Pagan
Indians, and smile upon the cruelties of Christian men! Shall we, so
long as these things last, exult above the scattered remnants of that
race, and triumph in the white enjoyment of their possessions? Rather,
for me, restore the forest and the Indian village; in lieu of stars and
stripes, let some poor feather flutter in the breeze; replace the streets
and squares by wigwams; and though the death-song of a hundred haughty
warriors fill the air, it will be music to the shriek of one unhappy
slave.
On one theme, which is commonly before our eyes, and in respect of which
our national character is changing fast, let the plain Truth be spoken,
and let us not, like dastards, beat about the bush by hinting at the
Spaniard and the fierce Italian. When knives are drawn by Englishmen in
conflict let it be said and known: ‘We owe this change to Republican
Slavery. These are the weapons of Freedom. With sharp points and edges
such as these, Liberty in America hews and hacks her slaves; or, failing
that pursuit, her sons devote them to a better use, and turn them on each
other.’