victim of the slave-trader. We were tied with cords and taken to
Tegla, and thence to Kordofan, which is under the jurisdiction of the
Pacha of Egypt. From Kordofan I was brought down to Dongola and Korti,
in Nubia, and from thence down the Nile to Cairo; and, after being
sold nine times, I became the property of an English gentleman, who
brought me to this country and put me into school. But he died before I
finished my education, and his family feeling no interest in me, I had
to seek a living as best I could. I have been employed for some years
to distribute handbills for a barber in Cheapside in the morning, go
to Chelsea and sweep a crossing in the afternoon, and sing psalms and
sell religious tracts in the evening. Sometimes I have an engagement
to perform at some of the small theatres, as I had when you saw me at
the Eagle. I preach for this little congregation over here, and charge
them nothing; for I want that the poor should have the gospel without
money and without price. I have now given up distributing bills; I have
settled my son in that office. My eldest daughter was married about
three months ago; and I have presented her husband with the Chelsea
crossing, as my daughter's wedding portion." "Can he make a living at
it?" I eagerly inquired. "O, yes; that crossing at Chelsea is worth
thirty shillings a week, if it is well swept," said he. "But what do
you do for a living for yourself?" I asked. "I am the leader of a
band," he continued; "and we play for balls and parties, and three
times a week at the Holborn Casino." "You are determined to rise," said
I. "Yes," he replied,--
'Upward, onward, is my watchword;
Though the winds blow good or ill,
Though the sky be fair or stormy,
This shall be my watchword still.'"
By this time we had reached a point where we had to part; and I left
Joseph Jenkins, impressed with the idea that he was the greatest genius
that I had met in Europe.
JOHN S. ROCK.
The subject of this sketch was born in Salem, N. J., in 1825. When
quite a child, he became passionately attached to his book, and, unlike
most children, seldom indulged in amusements of any kind. His parents,
anxious to make the most of his talents, kept him at school until he
was eighteen years of age, at which time he was examined and approved
as a teacher of public schools. He taught school from 1844 to 1848. Mr.
David Allen writes, "His was certainly the most orderly, and the best
conducted, school I ever visited, although myself a teacher for nearly
twenty years." During the time Mr. Rock was teaching, Drs. Sharp and
Gibbon opened their libraries to him, and he commenced the study of
physic,--teaching six hours, studying eight, and giving private lessons
two hours every day. After completing his medical studies, he found it
impossible to get into a medical college; so he abandoned his idea of
becoming a physician, and went with Dr. Harbert and studied dentistry.
He finished his studies in the summer of 1849. In January, 1850, he
went to Philadelphia to practise his profession. In 1851, he received a
silver medal for artificial teeth. In the same year, he took a silver
medal for a prize essay on temperance. After the Apprentices' High
School had been established in Philadelphia, and while it was still an
evening school, Mr. Rock took charge of it, and kept it until it was
merged into a day school, under the direction of Professor Reason. He
attended lectures in the American Medical College, and graduated in
1852.
In 1853, Dr. Rock came to Boston, where he now resides. On leaving the
city of Philadelphia, the professors of the Dental College gave him
letters bearing testimony to his high professional skill and integrity.
Professor Townsend writes, "Dr. Rock is a graduate of a medical
school in this city, and is favorably known, and much respected, by
the profession. Having seen him operate, it gives me great pleasure
to bear my testimony to his superior abilities." Professor J. F. B.
Flagg writes, "I have seen his operations, and have been much pleased
with them. As a scientific man, I shall miss the intercourse which I
have so long enjoyed in his acquaintance." After Mr. R. graduated in
medicine, he practised both of his professions. In 1856, he accepted
an invitation to deliver a lecture on the "Unity of the Human Races,"
before the Massachusetts legislature. In 1857, he delivered the
oration on the occasion of the dedication of the new Masonic Temple in
Eleventh Street, Philadelphia. His intense application to study and
to business had so undermined his health that, in the summer of 1856,
he was obliged to give up all business. After several unsuccessful
surgical operations here, and when nearly all hope for the restoration
of his health was gone, he determined to go to France. When he was
ready to go, he applied to the government for a passport. This was
refused, Mr. Cass, then secretary of state, saying in reply, that "a
passport had never been granted to a colored man since the foundation
of the government." Mr. Rock went to France, however, and underwent
a severe surgical operation at the hands of the celebrated Nélaton.
Professor Nélaton advised him to give up dentistry altogether; and
as his shattered constitution forbade the exposure necessary for the
practice of medicine, he gave up both, and bent all his energies to
the study of law. In 1860, he accepted an invitation, and delivered
a lecture on the "Character and Writings of Madame De Staël," before
the Massachusetts legislature, which he did "with credit to himself
and satisfaction to the very large audience in attendance." _Der
Pionier_, a German newspaper, in Boston, said, when commenting on his
criticism of De Staël's "Germany," "This thinking, educated German and
French speaking negro proved himself as learned in German as he is in
French literature." On the 14th of September, 1861, on motion of T.
K. Lothrop, Esq., Dr. Rock was examined in the Superior Court, before
Judge Russell, and admitted to practice as an attorney and counsellor
at law in all the courts of Massachusetts. On the 21st of the same
month Mr. Rock received a commission from the governor and council as a
justice of the peace for seven years for the city of Boston and county
of Suffolk.
We annex an extract from a speech made by him before the last
anniversary of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.
"Other countries are held out as homes for us. Why is this? Why is it
that the people from all other countries are invited to come here, and
we are asked to go away? Is it to make room for the refuse population
of Europe? Or why is it that the white people of this country desire
to get rid of us? Does any one pretend to deny that this is _our_
country? or that much of its wealth and prosperity is the result of the
labor of _our_ hands? or that our blood and bones have crimsoned and
whitened every battle-field from Maine to Louisiana? Why this desire to
get rid of us? Can it be possible that because the nation has robbed
us for more than two centuries, and now finds that she can do it no
longer and preserve a good character among the nations, she, out of
hatred, wishes to banish, because she cannot continue to rob, us? Or
why is it? I will tell you. The free people of color have succeeded in
spite of every thing; and we are to-day a living refutation of that
shameless assertion that we cannot take care of ourselves. Abject as
our condition has been, our whole lives prove us to be superior to the
influences that have been brought to bear upon us to crush us. This
cannot be said of your race when it was oppressed and enslaved. Another
reason is, this nation has wronged us; therefore many hate us. The
Spanish proverb is, 'Since I have wronged you I have never liked you.'
This is true of every class of people. When a man wrongs another, he
not only hates him, but tries to make others dislike him. Unnatural as
this may appear, it is nevertheless true. You may help a man during his
lifetime, and he will speak well of you; but your first refusal will
incur his displeasure, and show you his ingratitude. When he has got
all he can from you, he has no further use for you. When the orange is
squeezed, we throw it aside. The black man is a good fellow while he is
a slave, and toils for nothing; but the moment he claims his own flesh
and blood and bones, he is a most obnoxious creature, and there is a
proposition to get rid of him. He is happy while he remains a poor,
degraded, ignorant slave, without even the right to his own offspring.
While in this condition the master can ride in the same carriage, sleep
in the same bed, and nurse from the same bosom. But give this slave
the right to use his own legs, his hands, his body, and his mind, and
this happy and desirable creature is instantly transformed into a most
loathsome wretch, fit only to be colonized somewhere near the mountains
of the moon, or eternally banished from civilized beings! You must
not lose sight of the fact it is the emancipated slave and the free
colored man that it is proposed to remove--not the slave. This country
is perfectly adapted to negro slavery; it is the free blacks that the
air is not good for! What an idea! a country good for slavery and not
good for freedom! This monstrous idea would be scorned by even a Fejee
Islander."
As a public speaker Mr. Rock stands deservedly high; his discourses
being generally of an elevated tone, and logically put together. As
a member of the Boston bar, he has thus far succeeded well, and bids
fair to obtain his share of public patronage. In personal appearance
Mr. Rock is tall and of good figure, with a thoughtful countenance,
and a look that indicates the student. In color he is what is termed a
_grief_, about one remove from the negro. By his own color he has long
been regarded as a representative man.
WILLIAM DOUGLASS.
William Douglass was a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal
denomination, and for a number of years was rector of St. Thomas
Church, Philadelphia. We met Mr. Douglass in England in 1852, and
became impressed with the belief that he was no ordinary man. He had a
finished education, being well versed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He
possessed large and philanthropic views, but was extremely diffident,
which gave one the opinion that he was a man of small ability. Being
in Philadelphia in the spring of 1860, we attended the morning service
at his church. When the preacher made his appearance, all eyes were
turned to the pulpit. His figure was prepossessing--a great thing in a
public speaker. Weak, stunted, deformed-looking men labor under much
disadvantage. Mr. Douglass had a commanding look, a clear, musical
voice, and was a splendid reader. He was no dull drone when the service
was over and the sermon had commenced. With downcast eye he read no
moral essay that touched no conscience and fired no heart. On the
contrary, he was spirited in the pulpit. He looked his congregation
in the face; he directed his discourse to them. He took care that
not a single word should lose its aim. No one fell asleep while he
was speaking, but all seemed intensely interested in the subject in
hand. Mr. Douglass was a general favorite with the people of his own
city, and especially the members of his society. He was a talented
writer, and published, a few years ago, a volume of sermons, which
are filled with gems of thought and original ideas. A feeling of deep
piety and humanity runs through the entire book. Mr. Douglass was of
unmixed blood, gentlemanly in his manners, chaste in conversation,
and social in private life. Though not active in public affairs, he
was, nevertheless, interested in all that concerned the freedom and
elevation of his race. He visited England and the West Indies some
years ago, and had an extensive acquaintance beyond the limits of his
own country. Mr. Douglass was respected and esteemed by the white
clergy of Philadelphia, who were forced to acknowledge his splendid
abilities.
ELYMAS PAYSON ROGERS.
E. P. Rogers, a clergyman of the Presbyterian order, and pastor of
a church at Newark, New Jersey, was a man of education, research,
and literary ability. He was not a fluent and easy speaker, but he
was logical, and spoke with a degree of refinement seldom met with.
He possessed poetical genius of no mean order, and his poem on the
"Missouri Compromise," which he read in many of the New England cities
and towns in 1856, contains brilliant thoughts and amusing suggestions.
The following on _Truth_ is not without point:--
"When Truth is girded for the fight,
And draws her weapons keen and bright,
And lifts aloft her burnished shield,
Her godlike influence to wield,
If victory in that self-same hour
Is not accomplished by her power,
She'll not retreat nor flee away,
But win the field another day.
She will with majesty arise,
Seize her traducers by surprise,
And by her overwhelming might
Will put her deadly foes to flight."
The allusion to the threat of the south against the north is a happy
one, in connection with the rebellion.
"I'll show my power the country through,
And will the factious north subdue;
And Massachusetts shall obey,
And yield to my increasing sway.
She counts her patriotic deeds,
But scatters her disunion seeds;
She proudly tells us of the tea
Sunk by her worthies in the sea,
And then she talks more proudly still
Of Lexington and Bunker Hill;
But on that hill, o'er patriots' graves,
I'll yet enroll my negro slaves.
I may have trouble, it is true,
But still I'll put the rebels through,
And make her statesmen bow the knee,
Yield to my claims, and honor me.
And though among them I shall find
The learned, the brilliant, and refined,
If on me they shall e'er reflect,
No senate chamber shall protect
Their guilty pates and heated brains,
From hideous gutta percha canes."
The election of N. P. Banks, as speaker of the House of Representatives,
is mentioned in the succeeding lines:--
"But recently the north drove back
The southern tyrants from the track,
And put to flight their boasting ranks,
And gave the speaker's chair to Banks."
Mr. Rogers was of unmixed race, genteel in appearance, forehead large
and well developed, fine figure, and pleasing in his manners. Anxious
to benefit his race, he visited Africa in 1861, was attacked with the
fever, and died in a few days. No man was more respected by all classes
than he. His genial influence did much to soften down the pro-slavery
feeling which existed in the city where he resided.
J. THEODORE HOLLY.
If there is any man living who is more devoted to the idea of a "Negro
Nationality" than Dr. Delany, that man is J. Theodore Holly. Possessing
a good education, a retentive memory, and being of studious habits,
Mr. Holly has brought himself up to a point of culture not often
attained by men even in the higher walks of life. Unadulterated in
race, devotedly attached to Africa and her descendants, he has made
a "Negro Nationality" a matter of much thought and study. He paid a
visit to Hayti in 1858 or 1859, returned home, and afterwards preached,
lectured, and wrote in favor of Haytian emigration. In concluding a
long essay on this subject, in the _Anglo-African Magazine_, he says,--
"From these thoughts it will be seen that whatsoever is to be the
future destiny of the descendants of Africa, Hayti certainly holds the
most important relation to that destiny. And if we were to be reduced
to the dread alternative of having her historic fame blotted out of
existence, or that celebrity which may have been acquired elsewhere by
all the rest of our race combined, we should say, Preserve the name,
the fame, and the sovereign existence of Hayti, though every thing else
shall perish. Yes, let Britain and France undermine, if they will,
the enfranchisement which they gave to their West Indian slaves, by
their present apprenticeship system; let the lone star of Liberia,
placed in the firmament of nationalities by a questionable system of
American philanthropy, go out in darkness; let the opening resources
of Central Africa be again shut up in their wonted seclusion; let
the names and deeds of our Nat Turners, Denmark Veseys, Penningtons,
Delanys, Douglasses, and Smiths be forgotten forever; but never let the
self-emancipating deeds of the Haytian people be effaced; never let
her heroically achieved nationality be brought low; no, never let the
names of her Toussaint, her Dessalines, her Rigaud, her Christophe, and
her Petion be forgotten, or blotted out from the historic pages of the
world's history."
Mr. Holly is a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal order, and for
several years was pastor of a church at New Haven, Connecticut, where
he sustained the reputation of being an interesting and eloquent
preacher. His reading is at times rapid, yet clear and emphatic. He
seems to aim more at what he says than how he says it; and if you
listen, you will find food for thought in every phrase. As a writer he
is forcible and argumentative, but never dull. In person, Mr. Holly is
of the ordinary size, has a bright eye, agreeable countenance, form
erect, voice clear and mellow. He uses good language, is precise in his
manners, and wears the air of a gentleman. Infatuated with the idea of
a home in Hayti, he raised a colony and sailed for Port au Prince in
the spring of 1861. He was unfortunate in the selection of a location,
and the most of those who went out with him, including his own family,
died during their first six months on the island. Mr. Holly has
recently returned to the United States. Whether he intends to remain or
not, we are not informed.
JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON.
Dr. Pennington was born a slave on the farm of Colonel Gordon, in the
State of Maryland. His early life was not unlike the common lot of
the bondmen of the Middle States. He was by trade a blacksmith, which
increased his value to his owner. He had no opportunities for learning,
and was ignorant of letters when he made his escape to the north.
Through intense application to books, he gained, as far as it was
possible, what slavery had deprived him of in his younger days. But he
always felt the early blight upon his soul.
Dr. Pennington had not been free long ere he turned his attention
to theology, and became an efficient preacher in the Presbyterian
denomination. He was several years settled over a church at Hartford,
Conn. He has been in Europe three times, his second visit being the
most important, as he remained there three or four years, preaching
and lecturing, during which time he attended the Peace Congresses held
at Paris, Brussels, and London. While in Germany, the degree of Doctor
of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of Heidelberg. On
his return to the United States he received a call, and was settled as
pastor over Shiloh Church, New York city.
The doctor has been a good student, is a ripe scholar, and is deeply
versed in theology. While at Paris, in 1849, we, with the American
and English delegates to the Peace Congress, attended divine service
at the Protestant Church, where Dr. Pennington had been invited to
preach. His sermon on that occasion was an eloquent production, made a
marked impression on his hearers, and created upon the minds of all a
more elevated idea of the abilities of the negro. In past years he has
labored zealously and successfully for the education and moral, social,
and religious elevation of his race. The doctor is unadulterated in
blood, with strongly-marked African features; in stature he is of the
common size, slightly inclined to corpulency, with an athletic frame
and a good constitution. The fact that Dr. Pennington is considered
a good Greek, Latin, and German scholar, although his early life was
spent in slavery, is not more strange than that Henry Diaz, the black
commander in Brazil, is extolled in all the histories of that country
as one of the most sagacious and talented men and experienced officers
of whom they could boast; nor that Hannibal, an African, gained by his
own exertion a good education, and rose to be a lieutenant-general and
director of artillery under Peter the Great; nor that Don Juan Latino,
a negro, became teacher of the Latin language at Seville; nor that
Anthony William Amo, a native of Guinea, took the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy at the University of Wittenburg; nor that James J. Capetein,
fresh from the coast of Africa, became master of the Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, and Chaldaic languages; nor that James Derham, an imported
negro, should, by his own genius and energy, be considered one of the
ablest physicians in New Orleans, and of whom Dr. Rush says, "I found
him very learned. I thought I could give him information concerning
the treatment of diseases; but I learned more from him than he could
expect from me." We might easily extend the catalogue, for we have
abundant materials. Blumenbach boldly affirms of the negro, "There is
no savage people who have distinguished themselves by such examples of
perfectibility and capacity for scientific cultivation."
A MAN WITHOUT A NAME.
It was in the month of December, 1852, while Colonel Rice and family
were seated around a bright wood fire, whose blaze lighted up the large
dining room in their old mansion, situated ten miles from Dayton, in
the State of Ohio, that they heard a knock at the door, which was
answered by the familiar "Come in" that always greets the stranger in
the Western States. Squire Loomis walked in and took a seat on one
of the three rocking-chairs, which had been made vacant by the young
folks, who rose to give place to their highly influential and wealthy
neighbor. It was a beautiful night; the sky was clear, the wind had
hushed its deep moanings, the most brilliant of the starry throng stood
out in bold relief, despite the superior light of the moon. "I see
some one standing at the gate," said Mrs. Rice, as she left the window
and came nearer the fire. "I'll go out and see who it is," exclaimed
George, as he quitted his chair and started for the door. The latter
soon returned and whispered to his father, and both left the room,
evincing that something unusual was at hand. Not many minutes elapsed,
however, before the father and son entered, accompanied by a young
man, whose complexion showed plainly that other than Anglo-Saxon blood
coursed through his veins. The whole company rose, and the stranger
was invited to draw near to the fire. Question after question was now
pressed upon the new-comer by the colonel and the squire, but without
eliciting satisfactory replies.
"You need not be afraid, my friend," said the host, as he looked
intently in the colored man's face, "to tell where you are from and to
what place you are going. If you are a fugitive, as I suspect, give us
your story, and we will protect and defend you to the last."
Taking courage from these kind remarks, the mulatto said, "I was born,
sir, in the State of Kentucky, and raised in Missouri. My master
was my father; my mother was his slave. That, sir, accounts for the
fairness of my complexion. As soon as I was old enough to labor I was
taken into my master's dwelling as a servant, to attend upon the
family. My mistress, aware of my near relationship to her husband,
felt humiliated, and often in her anger would punish me severely for
no cause whatever. My near approach to the Anglo-Saxon aroused the
jealousy and hatred of the overseer, and he flogged me, as he said, to
make me know my place. My fellow-slaves hated me because I was whiter
than themselves. Thus my complexion was construed into a crime, and
I was made to curse my father for the Anglo-Saxon blood that courses
through my veins.