slave-holding state, it was with all my feelings arrayed against
slavery, and in the fear that I should be compelled to witness
those brutal scenes of oppression and injustice, which have been so
industriously circulated against slave-holders, and their obsequious
overseers. I had seen prints portraying merciless masters--tyrants
rather--in the act of applying the lash to the naked backs of their
unhappy victims, whose supplicating looks might have drawn pity from
a heart of adamant. I had heard tales of overseers, which made me
blush to think myself a man, so foully were they pictured, and which,
if true, must have made the earth groan to bear such monsters on its
surface. I regarded a slave-holder as lost to all the finer feelings
of humanity, and an involuntary sympathy for their unfortunate
dependants occasioned in me a constant watchfulness over every word,
and look, and act, that passed between master or mistress and their
slaves. I have said that I expected to meet with many revolting
incidents--we shall see with what coloring of justice; and let it
be remembered, that in penning these desultory observations, I am
actuated by no motive, save that of disabusing the public mind from
the misrepresentations of ignorant or designing persons.
Pirates and man-stealers are the epithets usually bestowed upon
the planters of the South. Abuse is not argument, neither can the
calling of hard names abate one jot of oppression. Thus far, it
has rivetted the chains of the slave more closely. The confidence
which formerly existed between master and slave, has given way to
a watchful suspicion on the one side, and a sullen reserve on the
other; with the curtailment of many privileges formerly bestowed,
and which, from long usage, had become matters of course. This has
been one result of the efforts of abolitionists; and those worthies
may place this to the account of their own intemperate measures.
Were the enemies of slavery to predicate their sentiments on other
grounds than the alleged cruelties practised upon the persons of
slaves, southern people would probably bestow on them that degree
of attention which the subject justly merits. Were they simply to
assert that it is at variance with the enlightenment and liberality
of the present age; that mere matter of expediency would one day
render slavery a greater curse than it already is; that England has
set an example which she expects us to follow, and that the eyes of
all Europe are upon us; as men of understanding, they would ere this
have been inquiring, 'What is best to be done?' But no. Americans
have abused their brothers; have represented them to be monsters
of brutality--murderers, in fine, living without law and without
decency. Britain has been appealed to for pecuniary aid; and she too
has hurled her measure of anathema upon us. She has, however, but
too recently liberated her own slaves, to say much upon the subject;
and whether the condition of the blacks in the West Indies has been
improved by the change, remains yet to be seen. Look at the British
possessions in the East Indies; at Russia, with her thousands of
white slaves. Turn to unhappy Ireland, bowed, even to her own emerald
sward, with oppression; and what consistency is there in this hue
and cry, against one only of the existent evils, to the exclusion of
others of equal importance?
I have sojourned for a season in no less than six of the southern
states, in one of which I resided upward of two years, and had every
opportunity, in my professional capacity, for seeing and knowing the
truth; and I honestly and firmly declare, that the atrocities and
brutal character attributed to the slave-holder, is a most foul and
unnatural slander. Can it be believed, that men would countenance
each other, that such a state of society could exist, where a man
would destroy a fellow being, with as little remorse as he would
crush a scorpion that crossed his path? Were they restrained by no
other feeling, that of avarice alone would prevent such barbarity;
for it cannot be supposed that a man would deliberately burn, shoot,
or otherwise injure or maim a piece of property that he could at any
moment dispose of for several hundred pounds. It is not credible; yet
such is represented to be a case of frequent occurrence. Verily, the
people, both of Great Britain and America, are one and all possessed
of marvellous gullibilities!
Soon after my settlement on the St. John's river in East Florida,
a report was circulated that a planter on the opposite side of
the river had whipped a slave to death. The people, so far from
appearing indifferent, and attempting to hide such an occurrence,
rose simultaneously. By order of a magistrate of the city of
Jacksonville, inquiries were instituted, and it was ascertained that
a slave had died soon after receiving a flogging from his master. The
body was disinterred, but as no marks of violence were discovered,
it was again buried, and the owner put under bonds of ten thousand
dollars, for his good treatment to his slaves; beside being prevented
in future from whipping, or causing a slave to be whipped, on his
plantation. When coercion was necessary, he was compelled to inform
the magistrates of the county, and they meted out the punishment.
This man was a native of one of our eastern states, and, as is
invariably the case with such, was severe to his slaves. Northern
people possess too much energy and decision of character to be
patiently served by indolent servants; and there, they must either
wait upon themselves, or receive attendance when and how they can;
for a southern negro moves with about as much rapidity as a snail:
and hence, when a northern man becomes a master, he is usually a hard
one. One other instance I knew of, and that also was a northern man;
one of the wealthiest in the territory, and at the same time the
most despised. This planter lived sixty miles from where I resided;
yet ask a child, either white or black, who was a hard master, and
the answer unhesitatingly was, 'Bulow is a hard master.' He had
no family, and was shunned by every respectable white person who
knew him. In fact, during the summer months that he resided off his
plantation, he found it difficult to obtain board in any respectable
hotel, so prejudiced were people against him. Public opinion is an
ordeal that many men dare brave; but public abhorrence none but the
most hardened can endure. A master cannot hide his cruelties; negroes
have too much communication with each other, and with neighboring
plantations, not to trumpet loudly their hardships; and abject as
their condition is, they do not tamely submit to an encroachment upon
their rights or privileges. Infringe either the one or the other, and
they become as inveterate grumblers as John Bull himself.
That magistrates are not always imbued with a sense of justice, we
learn from that very respectable source, our spelling-book, in the
story of the judge and the farmer; and a very little of every day's
observation will prove to us that the species is not extinct. One of
this class hired two negroes for two months, of a highly respectable
planter in my neighborhood, to send with a partner about thirty
miles distant, for the purpose of planting an orange grove. They
had been absent about six weeks, when one of the men returned very
unexpectedly to his master, complaining of ill treatment. He stated
that they had been kept in the water for many days, in building
a dock, with bad and scanty food; that he became sick, but being
threatened, was obliged to work; and finally being unable to endure
it any longer, he left his companion, and taking a canoe belonging
to the firm, had returned home. His master felt for him, but urged
his return till the expiration of the engagement. This the negro
resolutely refused, saying he should only be whipped if he returned.
The magistrate, on learning that one of the men had left his service,
with bad accounts of the treatment he had received, instantly lodged
him in jail on a charge of stealing the canoe. Nothing could be
farther from the truth than this charge, and he knew it well; but he
had long indulged a private pique against the owner of these slaves,
who had more than once reproved his excesses. After keeping the man
in jail for a week, he ordered him to receive forty lashes save one,
on his naked back, for a crime he had never thought of committing.
In vain the poor fellow protested his innocence; in vain his master
offered to pay treble the price of the canoe; the sentence was
awarded, and like Shylock, he would have his bond. The owner of these
slaves, a near descendant of the learned and admirable Sir Alexander
Crichton, was compelled to witness this violation of justice on the
person of one of his household, and this too from a man who had fled
from a northern city for defrauding his creditors. A whipping-post
ought justly to be considered an emblem of the dark ages; yet, to our
disgrace be it told, public whipping is still practised in some few
of our northern states; and fourteen years ago, I myself witnessed in
Jersey City, opposite to New-York, an aged woman, a _white_ woman,
taken to a post and publicly whipped for stealing a few articles of
clothing! We hope the day is not far distant, at least not forever
distant, when men shall be so taught, as to love and practice virtue
for its own sake. Then every man will pursue truth and justice with
his neighbor; then oppression shall no more stalk the earth, and the
inferior passions of mankind yield to the intellectual and the moral.
This will be the anticipated millennium; and let the philanthropist
take heart, and pursue his onward course, which, though encompassed
by a thousand thorns, and of a thousand different hues, must
disappear under the sturdy culture of the indefatigable husbandman.
I have now stated the only acts of oppression that came to my
knowledge during my southern residence; and with far greater pleasure
can I bear testimony to the paternal character of masters. That
a strong feeling of attachment does exist between many masters
and slaves, no person who has spent any time with them can deny.
Frequently born on the same plantations, they have played together
as children, and together shared feats of peril in youth. I was
acquainted with the parties, where a slave, advanced in years, was
offered his freedom, for a small sum of money which he had saved by
over-work, by his young master, who soon after taking possession of
his property became embarrassed. 'No, massa George;' said the man, 'I
hab carried massa in my arms when him was a baby; and if I leave him
now, who will take care of me when I get old?' The slave was right;
for when they get past work, their old age is made comfortable. In
fact, the amount of labor required from a prime man or woman is
comparatively light. One quarter of an acre per day is their required
task, either of planting or digging. Ploughs are seldom used, and
almost all of them can finish their task in three-quarters of a day;
the remainder of the day is their own, and whatever they raise in
their own time, they receive the avails of. I have known instances
where they chiefly supplied the table of their master with chickens,
eggs, or fish, for which they received pay, or, as they sometimes
preferred bartering, sugar or molasses. The Sabbath is also their
own, on which many of them hunt, fish, or gather the moss which
grows on the live-oaks, and for which they receive four cents a
pound. Their weekly allowance is one peck of Indian corn per head,
which they grind into hominy or meal; several pounds of salt pork
or beef, with sweet potatoes and salt. Few masters, however, are
particular; they frequently receive many additions; and when sick,
are taken good care of. They receive two suits of coarse clothes in
a year, and the gay handkerchiefs, and fine calico dresses in which
the females always appear on the Sabbath, are purchased with the
proceeds of their extra labor. I have frequently been awakened on
moonlight nights with the songs of negroes approaching our settlement
to trade. With a written permit from their masters, they come in
boats from a distance of thirty or forty miles; and if they return
in time to commence their accustomed morning labor, all is well. The
effect of this kind of music in a calm night is singularly wild and
pleasing. They possess powerful voices, which can be heard for miles:
one or two carry the air, while all join in the chorus; keeping pace
in some measure with the strokes of their oars, each of which are
clearly heard long before they near the landing. They bring, on these
occasions, fowls, eggs, moss, ground or pea-nuts, with melons, and
other fruits; and sometimes trade to a considerable amount. Their
shopping consists in purchases of tobacco, coffee, or sugar, candles,
and fancy handkerchiefs. Their general appearance is plump, healthy,
and cheerful: living constantly in the open air, with a song for ever
on their lips, life seems to wear for them a holiday dress the year
round.
Will abolitionists believe this? It is true, nevertheless; and how
can it be otherwise, in those so perfectly exempt from care? The
scriptural command, 'Take no thought for the morrow,' is verified to
the letter in the slave. They have neither to provide for families,
for sickness, for the change of seasons, nor for any thing under
the sun. To perform their customary meed of labor, is all that is
required of them; this done, they prepare their suppers, when they
retire, if they choose, or dance to the violin, or amuse themselves
as they please. Most frequently, however, they assemble in front of
the kitchen, after the people in the 'house,' as the family mansion
is termed, have supped. A small fire of pine knots is kindled to
keep away insects, and one is soon greeted with a 'concord of sweet
sounds,' which sends off the youths of both sexes on 'the light
fantastic toe.' They possess full, rich voices; most of the men
perform on the violin, and many of them are proficients on that
instrument. Imitation is large in the negro; and at these meetings it
is a common amusement for them to mimic any peculiarity they may have
noticed in the dancing of whites. 'Phillis, now dance like fat Mrs.
----,' bawled out the master of ceremonies to a tidy girl of sixteen.
Her feats drew forth peals of laughter. 'See me dance like Mr.
----,' and in whipped a half-naked, strapping fellow, who received
his share of applause. Comparisons are said to be odious; but at
such moments I could not but contrast their condition with that of
our laboring whites. The latter, compelled to work from sunrise to
sunset to obtain a livelihood; a large family to provide for, during
many tedious and severe winter months, to say nothing of sickness,
casualties, etc., how can the father of a family divest himself of
the cares and responsibilities of his situation, to indulge in even
occasional relaxation and mirth? Worn out with the fatigues of the
day, and greeted on his arrival at home with a list of wants and
necessities, his life remains to the end one scene of self-denial and
hardship. He maintains his independence, and that of his family, but
at the expense of cheerfulness, and the foregoing of those innocent
recreations, which nature, or the great God of Nature, intended
for all. Exhausted at length with labor and anxieties, he sinks in
premature old age to a welcome tomb.
That this is the history of thousands, even in our own favored
country, is undeniable; and if we cast our eyes over the vast
continent of Europe, what find we but toil and wretchedness,
unknown in our western world? Were those who sigh and lament over
the miseries of slaves, to bestow a little of their superfluous
sympathy on the owners of slaves, it would be exceedingly better
appropriated. They need it more than their dependants, who are not
only eye-servants, but seemingly wilfully stupid. That they are less
intelligent and more brutish than many of the inferior animals, is a
lamentable fact; and that the circumstances in which they have been
placed, is one cause of this stupidity, is no less a fact; but that
they can ever attain to the intelligence of whites, I am not inclined
to admit. Nature, habit, opinion, have drawn lines of separation,
which can never be totally removed. It was remarked in the presence
of a French gentleman, who had spent some years in South America,
that the greatest prejudice existing in the minds of whites against
blacks was their color. 'Non, non,' he exclaimed with warmth; 'ce
n'est pas seulement leur couleur; d'autres sens outre celui de la vue
sont offensés.' And truly, place a person at a southern tea-table,
with the thermometer above 90°, and two or three black waiters in
attendance, with a half grown negro at his elbow, wielding a huge
feather fan, and unless his olfactories were more than ordinarily
obtuse, he would essay in vain to repeat with the tender Sappho,
'Come, gentle air!' That they are susceptible of culture, to a
certain extent, is correct; and that many of them possess what is
termed mother wit, I had daily opportunities of observing. This
species of humor is most frequently shown in the composition of their
songs, more particularly in their boat songs; in which I have known
the whole family receive sly thrusts from their negroes, while being
rowed by them, and which seldom failed in eliciting good-natured
mirth. Music is the life and soul of a southern negro: he does every
thing, but eat and sleep, with a tune.
Their organization seems to have been expressly adapted to the
climate in which they were to live. The hotter the weather, the
better it suits them; and when exposure would be fatal to whites,
a negro enjoys the best health. A boat with three hands was sent
for me, in the month of July, to visit a planter who was taken
suddenly ill. We left my residence at ten in the morning, of one of
the hottest days I have ever experienced. The atmosphere was nearly
suffocating, without the _slightest_ breath of air. The negroes were
clad in duck trowsers, and a shirt of the same material, with an
apology for a hat on the head of each. After rowing several miles,
one took off his hat, then another, and opened his collar; presently
the third threw down his, protesting it was too hot to wear a hat. I
carried with me a small pocket-thermometer, which I consulted, and it
stood at 103°, Fahrenheit, and I am confident that a white person,
to have been guilty of the same imprudence, would have fallen under
_coup de soleil_. I wore a large chip hat, and held an umbrella above
my head; yet when we reached the distance, which was fifteen miles,
my face and hands were in a light blister. The case to which I was
called was one of extreme urgency, and for which my presence was
required several days.
The evening before I left, I had the satisfaction of witnessing a
negro marriage, which had been delayed a day or two, in consequence
of the illness of their master. The groom was a fine young man, about
twenty; the bride was free, though the daughter of a slave. Children
always belong to the mother: hence if a slave marries a free woman,
their children are free, and _vice versa_. A tutor in the family
performed the ceremony, by reading our church service, the oldest
daughter of their master and myself being present. I believe this
wedding was something extraordinary, from the importance the blacks
seemed to feel on the occasion; and it certainly surpassed many white
weddings I have known. The bride was dressed in white, and after the
ceremony, wine was passed round, with very respectable wedding-cake,
and slices of cold venison. These were of course furnished by the
parties themselves; and the kitchen was the place of rendezvous,
which was crowded with all the slaves on the plantation; and being
Saturday night, their mirth sounded in our ears till midnight. The
next morning I accompanied my companions of the preceding night to
the negro quarter, about a quarter of a mile distant from the house,
where they were assembled according to custom. A chapter from the New
Testament was read to them, and the catechism taught to the children.
The father of the bride was a preacher, and on Sunday evenings he
usually held forth to his fellow servants. As I departed in the
afternoon, he was prevailed on to give his usual evening sermon that
morning. It was a curious medley, I must confess; and he wound up his
discourse, by urging his hearers to become religious, in order to get
to heaven; and by way of encouragement to their color, affirmed, that
a great many _indecent_ people were already in heaven.
And now, what shall be said of the licentiousness which exists in
the South? Shall we attempt to palliate the fact? Most assuredly no.
That there are children born on plantations, who are very nearly
white, and of whose paternity there can be no doubt, is no less a
fact; and this always appeared to me as one of the most disagreeable
features in slavery. I have known a few instances in which a favorite
slave kept pace with her mistress in increasing the family stock, if
not the name. These children are usually employed as house-servants
as they grow up; and the mistress, though perfectly aware of the
relationship, generally regards them with peculiar kindness and care.
Great pains are usually taken by the mother to let these unfortunates
know to whom they are indebted for existence; and whether this
knowledge renders them more faithful to the interests of the family,
or from whatever cause it may be, they are the best servants, and
the most attached, that I have ever seen. These practises are the
productive source of much domestic unhappiness. It is not to be
supposed that a wife can regard her sable rival with other feelings
than those of deep aversion and dislike; without the power to banish
such from her daily sight. Negroes themselves, the men particularly,
look with no very pleasant eye on such liaisons. A circumstance
was related to me by one of them, which had excited in his breast
much indignation. 'Do you think such things are right, massa?' he
asked, at the conclusion. I assured the honest fellow of my deep
disapprobation of such wickedness, which seemed to afford him much
satisfaction.
While I state that such practices do exist, let it not be understood
that I extend these connections to all planters, or even to the
greater number of them. Such an accusation would be destitute of
either truth or justice. That they exist at all, however, is at
variance with every principle of morality, and for which let not
the shadow of an excuse ever be made. Yet turn we to other portions
of civilized society, and what do we behold? Vice is vice, wherever
it is found; and let not the haughty man of fashion, who spends his
hundreds upon an unworthy mistress, or the systematic seducer of
female innocence, from whose fatal snares neither virgin purity,
nor the holiness of the marriage tie are exempt, let them not, I
say, join their polluted voices in the general cry of the monstrous
depravity and licentiousness of the South. First pull the beam from
the eye of self, and then turn we to convince our neighbor of the
mote that obscures his moral vision.