of George T. Downing would attract attention in any community, even
where he is unknown. Possessing remarkable talents, finely educated, a
keen observer, and devoted to the freedom and elevation of his race,
he has long been looked upon as a representative man. A good debater,
quick to take advantage of the weak points of an opponent, forcible
in speech, and a natural orator, Mr. Downing is always admired as a
speaker. Chosen president of the convention of colored citizens which
assembled in Boston on the first of August, 1859, he delivered an
impressive and eloquent opening address, of which we regret that we can
give only an extract. He said,--
"The great consideration that presses upon me is, what may we do
to make ourselves of more importance in community--necessary,
indispensable? To sustain such a relation as this to community, (and
it is possible,) is to secure, beyond a question, all the respect,
to make sure the enjoyment of all the rights, that the most deferred
to of the land enjoy. Society is deferential; it defers to power.
Learning, and wealth, and power are most potent in society. It is not
necessary that many men and women of us be wealthy and learned before
we can force respect as a class; but it is necessary that we exhibit a
proportionate representative character for learning and wealth, to be
respected. It is not numbers alone, it is not universal wealth, it is
not general learning, that secures to those, known by a distinction in
society as whites--that gains them power; for they are not generally
wealthy, not commonly learned. The number of these among them, as in
all communities, is limited; but that number forms a representative
character, some of whom excel; hence they have power--the class enjoy a
name.
"There is another sense of power in community, which, though silent,
has its weight--it should be most potent: that power is moral
character. This also, like the other powers of which I have spoken,
need not be universal to have an effect favorable to a class. I think
that I am not claiming too much for the colored people in asserting
that we have a decent representation in this respect--a most remarkable
one, considering all the depressing influences which the present and
preceding generations have had to struggle up under. Happily, this
power on community is not growing less; it is on the increase. An
illustration of the correctness of my position as to the power of a
representative character for wealth and learning in commanding respect,
is forcibly exhibited in the Celts in our midst, who came among us poor
and ignorant, and who, consequently, fill menial, dependent positions.
They are the least respected of all immigrants. In speaking thus, I am
simply dealing with facts, not intending to be invidious. The German
element, mingling with the general element which comes among us,
representing a higher intelligence, more wealth, with great practical
industry, is silently stealing a hold, a power in the nation, because
of these possessions, at which native America will yet start. Now,
gentlemen, if these be facts, is it not well for us, as sensible men
here assembled, to consider our best interest--to have in view these
sources of power? Would it not be well to consider these--to fall
upon some plan by which we may possess or excite to the possession of
them--rather than devote much of our time in a discussion as to the
injustice of our fellow-countrymen in their relation to us? Of this
_they_ know full well, and _we_ too bitterly.
"The ballot is a power in this country which should not be lost sight
of by us. Were it more generally exercised by the colored people,
the effect would be very perceptible. Those of them residents of the
states that deny them the privilege of the elective franchise, should
earnestly strive to have the right and the power secured to them;
those who have it should never let an occasion pass, when they may
consistently exercise it, without doing so. We know that the government
and the states have acted most unfairly in their relation to us; but
that government and the states, in doing so, have clearly disregarded
justice, as well as perverted the legal interpretation of the supreme
law of the land, as set forth in its constitution; which facts alone
require that we exercise the right to vote, whenever we can, towards
correcting this injustice. Were it known on election day that any
colored man would deposit a vote, that there would be a concert of
action in doing so, the effect would be irresistible. Cannot such
a vote be cast at the approaching presidential election? Will the
Republican party (a party which is entitled to credit for the service
it has rendered to the cause of freedom) put in nomination, in 1860, a
man for whom we can, with some degree of consistency, cast our ballots?
It has such men in its ranks--prominent men of the party--men who are
available.
"I would have it noted, that we cannot vote for a man who subscribes to
the doctrine that, in struggling for freedom in a presidential or any
other election, he ignores the rights of the colored man.
"There is an increased as well as an increasing respect for us in
community. This is not simply because we have friends (all praise to
them) who speak out boldly and uncompromisingly for the right,--in
fact, the most of their efforts have been directed towards relieving
the country of the blight and of the injustice of slavery,--but it is
because our character, as a class, is better understood."
Mr. Downing is a native of New York, but spends his summers at Newport,
where he has an excellent retreat for those seeking that fashionable
watering-place, and where he stands high with the better class of the
community.
ROBERT PURVIS.
Few private gentlemen are better known than Robert Purvis. Born in
Charleston, S. C., a son of the late venerable William Purvis, Esq.,
educated in New England, and early associated with William Lloyd
Garrison, Francis Jackson, and Wendell Phillips, he has always
been understood as belonging to the most ultra wing of the radical
abolitionists. Residing in Philadelphia when it was unsafe to avow
one's self a friend of the slave, Mr. Purvis never was known to deny
his hatred to the "peculiar institution." A writer for one of the
public journals, seeking out distinguished colored persons as subjects
for his pen, paid him a visit, of which the following is his account:--
"The stage put us down at his gate, and we were warned to be ready to
return in an hour and a half. His dwelling stands some distance back
from the turnpike. It is approached by a broad lawn, and shaded with
ancient trees. In the rear stands a fine series of barns. There are
magnificent orchards connected with his farm, and his live stock is of
the most approved breeds. We understand that he receives numbers of
premiums annually from agricultural societies. In this fine old mansion
Mr. Purvis has resided many years.
"We were ushered, upon our visit, into a pleasant dining room, hung
with a number of paintings. Upon one side of an old-fashioned mantel
was a large portrait of a fine-looking white man; on the other side, a
portrait of a swarthy negro. Above these old John Brown looked gloomily
down, like a bearded patriarch.
"In a few minutes Mr. Purvis came in. We had anticipated a
stubborn-looking negro, with a swagger, and a tone of bravado. In place
of such, we saw a tall, beautifully knit gentleman, almost white, and
handsomely dressed. His foot and hand were symmetrical, and, although
his hair was gray with years, every limb was full, and every movement
supple and easy. He saluted us with decorous dignity, and began to
converse.
"It was difficult to forget that the man before us was not of our own
race. The topics upon which he spoke were chiefly personal. He related
some very amusing anecdotes of his relations with southern gentlemen.
On one occasion he applied for a passage to Liverpool in a Philadelphia
packet. Some southern gentlemen, unacquainted with Purvis, save as a
man of negro blood, protested that he should not be received. Among
these was a Mr. Hayne, a near relative of Hayne the orator.
"Purvis accordingly went to Liverpool by another vessel. He met
Hayne and the southerners as they were about returning home, and
took passage with them, passing for a white man. He gained their
esteem, was cordially invited by each to visit him in the south, and
no entertainment was complete without his joke and his presence. At
a final dinner, given to the party by the captain of the vessel, Mr.
Hayne, who had all along spoken violently of the negro race, publicly
toasted Mr. Purvis, as the finest type of the Caucasian race he had
ever met.
"Mr. Purvis rose to reply. 'I am not a Caucasian,' said he; 'I belong
to the degraded tribe of Africans.'
"The feelings of the South Carolinians need not be described.
"Mr. Purvis has written a number of anti-slavery pamphlets, and is
regarded, by rumor, as the president of the Underground Railroad. He
has figured in many slave-rescue cases, some of which he relates with
graphic manner of description.
"He is the heaviest tax-payer in the township, and owns two very
valuable farms. By his influence the public schools of the township
have been thrown open to colored children. He has also built, at his
own expense, a hall for free debate. We left him with feelings of
higher regard than we have yet felt for any of his people. It is proper
to remark, that Purvis is the grandchild of a blackamoor, who was taken
a slave to South Carolina."
Although disdaining all profession of a public character, Mr. Purvis
is, nevertheless, often invited to address public gatherings. As a
speaker he is energetic, eloquent, and sarcastic. He spares neither
friend nor foe in his argument; uses choice language, and appears to
feel that nature and humanity are the everlasting proprietors of truth,
and that truth should be spoken at all times. Mr. Purvis is an able
writer, and whatever he says comes directly from the heart. His letter
to Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, on colonization, is characteristic of him. We
regret that space will not allow us to give the whole of this timely
and manly production.
"There are some aspects of this project which surely its advocates
cannot have duly considered. You purpose to exile hundreds and
thousands of your laborers. The wealth of a country consists mainly
in its labor. With what law of economy, political or social, can you
reconcile this project to banish from your shores the men that plough
your fields, drive your teams, and help build your houses? Already the
farmers around me begin to feel the pinching want of labor; how will
it be after this enormous draft? I confess the project seems to me one
of insanity. What will foreign nations, on whose good or ill will so
much is supposed now to depend, think of this project? These nations
have none of this vulgar prejudice against complexion. What, then,
will they think of the wisdom of a people who, to gratify a low-born
prejudice, deliberately plan to drive out hundreds and thousands of the
most peaceful, industrious, and competent laborers? Mr. Roebuck said
in a late speech at Sheffield, as an argument for intervention, 'that
the feeling against the black was stronger at the north than in the
south.' Mr. Roebuck can now repeat that assertion, and point to this
governmental project in corroboration of its truth. A 'Slaveholders'
Convention' was held a few years since in Maryland to consider whether
it would not be best either to re-enslave the free blacks of that
state, or banish them from its borders. The question was discussed, and
a committee, the chairman of which was United States Senator Pearce,
was appointed to report upon it. That committee reported 'that to
enslave men now free would be inhuman, and to banish them from the
state would be to inflict a deadly blow upon the material interests of
the commonwealth; that their labor was indispensable to the welfare
of the state.' Sir, your government proposes to do that which the
Slaveholders' Convention of Maryland, with all their hate of the free
blacks, declared to be inconsistent with the public interest.
"But it is said this is a question of prejudice, of national antipathy,
and not to be reasoned about. The president has said, 'whether it is
right or wrong I need not now discuss.'
"Great God! Is justice nothing? Is honor nothing? Is even pecuniary
interest to be sacrificed to this insane and vulgar hate? But it is
said this is the 'white man's country.' Not so, sir. This is the red
man's country by natural right, and the black man's by virtue of
his sufferings and toil. Your fathers by violence drove the red man
out, and forced the black man in. The children of the black man have
enriched the soil by their tears, and sweat, and blood. Sir, we were
born here, and here we choose to remain. For twenty years we were
goaded and harassed by systematic efforts to make us colonize. We were
coaxed and mobbed, and mobbed and coaxed, but we refused to budge. We
planted ourselves upon our inalienable rights, and were proof against
all the efforts that were made to expatriate us. For the last fifteen
years we have enjoyed comparative quiet. Now again the malign project
is broached, and again, as before, in the name of humanity are we
invited to leave.
"In God's name, what good do you expect to accomplish by such a course?
If you will not let our brethren in bonds go free, if you will not let
us, as did our fathers, share in the privileges of the government, if
you will not let us even help fight the battles of the country, in
Heaven's name, at least, _let us alone_. Is that too great a boon to
ask of your magnanimity?
"I elect to stay on the soil on which I was born, and on the plot of
ground which I have fairly bought and honestly paid for. Don't advise
me to leave, and don't add insult to injury by telling me it's for my
own good; of that I am to be the judge. It is in vain that you talk to
me about the 'two races,' and their 'mutual antagonism.' In the matter
of rights there is but one race, and that is the _human_ race. 'God has
made of one blood all nations to dwell on all the face of the earth.'
And it is not true that there is a mutual antagonism between the white
and colored people of this community. You may antagonize us, but we
do not antagonize you. You may hate us, but we do not hate you. It may
argue a want of spirit to cling to those who seek to banish us, but
such is, nevertheless, the fact.
"Sir, this is our country as much as it is yours, _and we will not
leave it_. Your ships may be at the door, but we choose to remain.
A few may go, as a few went to Hayti, and a few to Liberia; but the
colored people as a mass will not leave the land of their birth. Of
course, I can only speak by authority for myself; but I know the people
with whom I am identified, and I feel confident that I only express
their sentiment as a body when I say that your project of colonizing
them in Central America, or any where else, with or without their
consent, will never succeed. They will migrate, as do other people,
when left to themselves, and when the motive is sufficient; but they
will neither be 'compelled to volunteer,' nor _constrained_ to go of
their 'own accord.'"
JOSEPH JENKINS.
"Look here, upon this picture, and on this."--HAMLET.
No one accustomed to pass through Cheapside could fail to have noticed
a good-looking man, neither black nor white, engaged in distributing
bills to the thousands who throng that part of the city of London.
While strolling through Cheapside, one morning, I saw, for the fiftieth
time, Joseph Jenkins, the subject of this article, handing out his
bills to all who would take them as he thrust them into their hands.
I confess that I was not a little amused, and stood for some moments
watching and admiring his energy in distributing his papers. A few days
after, I saw the same individual in Chelsea, sweeping a crossing; here,
too, he was equally as energetic as when I met him in the city. Some
days later, while going through Kensington, I heard rather a sweet,
musical voice singing a familiar psalm, and on looking round was not
a little surprised to find that it was the Cheapside bill-distributor
and Chelsea crossing-sweeper. He was now singing hymns, and selling
religious tracts. I am fond of patronizing genius, and therefore took
one of his tracts and paid him for a dozen.
During the following week, I saw, while going up the City Road, that
Shakspeare's tragedy of Othello was to be performed at the Eagle
Saloon that night, and that the character of the Moor was to be taken
by "_Selim, an African prince_." Having no engagement that evening, I
resolved at once to attend, to witness the performance of the "African
Talma," as he was called. It was the same interest that had induced me
to go to the Italian opera to see Mesdames Sontag and Grisi in Norma,
and to visit Drury Lane to see Macready take leave of the stage. My
expectations were screwed up to the highest point. The excitement
caused by the publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had prepared the
public for any thing in the African line, and I felt that the _prince_
would be sure of a good audience; and in this I was not disappointed,
for, as I took my seat in one of the boxes near the stage, I saw that
the house was crammed with an orderly company. The curtain was already
up when I entered, and Iago and Roderigo were on the stage. After
a while Othello came in, and was greeted with thunders of applause,
which he very gracefully acknowledged. Just black enough to take his
part without coloring his face, and being tall, with a good figure
and an easy carriage, a fine, full, and musical voice, he was well
adapted to the character of Othello. I immediately recognized in the
countenance of the Moor a face that I had seen before, but could not at
the moment tell where. Who could this "prince" be? thought I. He was
too black for Douglass, not black enough for Ward, not tall enough for
Garnet, too calm for Delany, figure, though fine, not genteel enough
for Remond. However, I was soon satisfied as to who the _star_ was.
Reader, would you think it? it was no less a person than Mr. Jenkins,
the bill-distributor from Cheapside, and crossing-sweeper from Chelsea!
For my own part, I was overwhelmed with amazement, and it was some time
before I could realize the fact. He soon showed that he possessed great
dramatic power and skill; and his description to the senate of how he
won the affections of the gentle Desdemona stamped him at once as an
actor of merit. "What a pity," said a lady near me to a gentleman that
was by her side, "that a prince of the royal blood of Africa should
have to go upon the stage for a living! It is indeed a shame!" When he
came to the scene,--
"O, cursed, cursed slave!--whip me, ye devils,
From the possession of this heavenly sight!
Blow me about in winds, roast me in sulphur!
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!
O, Desdemona! Desdemona! dead?
Dead? O! O! O!"--
the effect was indeed grand. When the curtain fell, the prince was
called upon the stage, where he was received with deafening shouts of
approbation, and a number of _bouquets_ thrown at his feet, which he
picked up, bowed, and retired. I went into Cheapside the next morning,
at an early hour, to see if the prince had given up his old trade for
what I supposed to be a more lucrative one; but I found the hero of the
previous night at his post, and giving out his bills as energetically
as when I had last seen him. Having to go to the provinces for some
months, I lost sight of Mr. Jenkins, and on my return to town did not
trouble myself to look him up. More than a year after I had witnessed
the representation of Othello at the Eagle, I was walking, one pleasant
Sabbath evening, through one of the small streets in the borough,
when I found myself in front of a little chapel, where a number of
persons were going in. As I was passing on slowly, an elderly man
said to me, "I suppose you have come to hear your colored brother
preach." "No," I answered; "I was not aware that one was to be here."
"Yes," said he; "and a clever man he is, too." As the old man offered
to find me a seat, I concluded to go in and hear this son of Africa.
The room, which was not large, was already full. I had to wait but a
short time before the reverend gentleman made his appearance. He was
nearly black, and dressed in a black suit, with high shirt-collar,
and an intellectual-looking cravat, that nearly hid his chin. A pair
of spectacles covered his eyes. The preacher commenced by reading a
portion of Scripture, and then announced that they would sing the
twenty-eighth hymn in "the arrangement." O, that voice! I felt sure
that I had heard that musical voice before; but where, I could not
tell. I was not aware that any of my countrymen were in London, but
felt that, whoever he was, he was no discredit to the race; for he was
a most eloquent and accomplished orator. His sermon was against the
sale and use of intoxicating drinks, and the bad habits of the working
classes, of whom his audience was composed.
Although the subject was intensely interesting, I was impatient for
it to come to a close, for I wanted to speak to the preacher. But the
evening being warm, and the room heated, the reverend gentleman, on
wiping the perspiration from his face, (which, by the way, ran very
freely,) took off his spectacles on one occasion, so that I immediately
recognized him, which saved me from going up to the pulpit at the
end of the service. Yes; it was the bill-distributor of Cheapside,
the crossing-sweeper of Chelsea, the tract-seller and psalm-singer
of Kensington, and the Othello of the Eagle Saloon. I could scarcely
keep from laughing outright when I discovered this to be the man that
I had seen in so many characters. As I was about leaving my seat at
the close of the services, the old man who showed me into the chapel
asked me if I would not like to be introduced to the minister; and I
immediately replied that I would. We proceeded up the aisle, and met
the clergyman as he was descending. On seeing me, he did not wait for
a formal introduction, but put out his hand and said, "I have seen you
so often, sir, that I seem to know you." "Yes," I replied; "we have met
several times, and under different circumstances." Without saying more,
he invited me to walk with him towards his home, which was in the
direction of my own residence. We proceeded; and, during the walk, Mr.
Jenkins gave me some little account of his early history. "You think me
rather an odd fish, I presume," said he. "Yes," I replied. "You are not
the only one who thinks so," continued he. "Although I am not as black
as some of my countrymen, I am a native of Africa. Surrounded by some
beautiful mountain scenery, and situated between Darfour and Abyssinia,
two thousand miles in the interior of Africa, is a small valley going
by the name of _Tegla_. To that valley I stretch forth my affections,
giving it the endearing appellation of my native home and fatherland.
It was there that I was born, it was there that I received the fond
looks of a loving mother, and it was there that I set my feet, for
the first time, upon a world full of cares, trials, difficulties, and
dangers. My father being a farmer, I used to be sent out to take care
of his goats. This service I did when I was between seven and eight
years of age. As I was the eldest of the boys, my pride was raised in
no small degree when I beheld my father preparing a farm for me. This
event filled my mind with the grand anticipation of leaving the care of
the goats to my brother, who was then beginning to work a little. While
my father was making these preparations, I had the constant charge of
the goats; and being accompanied by two other boys, who resided near
my father's house, we wandered many miles from home, by which means we
acquired a knowledge of the different districts of our country.