Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the
Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American
Sabbath-School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New
Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion."
You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. "Elizabeth"
was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very
genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the
daughter of a white man, and said to be "a good seamstress and
house-servant--_excellente couturière et domestique de maison_." 600
dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about
170_l._) Elizabeth--so young and so interesting--was sold!
"Susan," too, was a mulatto--the daughter of a white man. She was
short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, "a plain
seamstress and house-servant." She appeared exceedingly modest, and
kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as
usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring
forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was
500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150_l._), at which she was
"knocked down." But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar
drawling nasal tones, said, "The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore
Susan is not sold." Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy.
"Betsy," another "plain seamstress and house-servant," about sixteen
years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent
eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The
offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition,
which had lasted an hour.
The next day being the Sabbath, I took it into my head to find out the
Baptist Church. They are all "churches" in America. It was not far from
the Presbyterian place of worship. In passing the latter, I saw (as on
the previous Sabbath) about forty or fifty boys in the square in front
playing at cricket. A number of grave-looking gentlemen were standing
under the portico of the church, looking on with apparent
complacency,--not one attempting either to check these juvenile
Sabbath-breakers, or to allure them to occupations more suitable to the
day.
The Baptist Church is a small place, about 60 feet by 30, without
galleries, except a little one for the singers. When we arrived, a
small Sabbath-school was being conducted in the body of the chapel.
About fifty children were present, of whom not one was coloured. One of
the teachers kindly led us to a pew. It was the third or fourth from
the door. The school, which occupied the part next to the pulpit, was
about to be dismissed. The superintendent got into the "table-pew" to
address the scholars. It was the first time I had had an opportunity of
hearing an address to children in America. In the land of the Todds,
the Abbotts, and the Gallaudets, I expected something very lively and
interesting. But grievous was my disappointment. The address was dull
and lifeless. There was in it neither light nor heat. When the
superintendent had done, an elderly gentleman, shrewd and busy-looking,
having in his hand a black walking-stick and on his neck a black stock,
with shirt-collar turned over it like a white binding (the national
fashion of the Americans), came up, and told the school that the
proprietor of the splendid picture, "The Departure of the Israelites
from Egypt," had requested him to deliver a lecture upon it; that he
had engaged to do so on Monday a-week; and that the scholars and
teachers of that school would be admitted free. I should like (said I
to myself) to hear you: a lecture on the emancipation of those poor
slaves cannot fail to be interesting in the slave-holding city of New
Orleans. The school was now dismissed, and the scholars left to enjoy
their full swing of lawless liberty.
The elderly gentleman descended from his elevation, and walked about
the "church," backwards and forwards, whispering a few words to one,
and then to another, in a very bustling manner. As I looked down the
aisle, I saw on one side of it, near the pulpit end, a leg projecting
about eighteen inches, in a pendent position, at an angle of about
forty-five degrees. This leg attracted my notice by its strange and
solitary appearance. It seemed as if it had got astray from its owner.
In America gentlemen's legs do get sometimes most strangely astray,--on
the chair arms, on the tables, on the chimney-pieces, and into all
sorts of out-of-the-way places. While other people generally try how
high they can carry their heads, the ambition of the Americans is to
try how high they can carry their heels! Observing the leg in question
a little more attentively, I found that behind it (in the adjoining
pew), and in close and intimate connection with it, was a man dressed
in black. The bustling old gentleman came by, tapped him on the
shoulder, and beckoned him forward, along with himself, to the rostrum.
Here they were met by a tall man of grave appearance, about thirty
years of age, with a pale face and bald forehead, wearing a white
cravat, with corners about ten inches long, stretching out on either
side towards the shoulders. He was made to take the central position at
the desk; while the man with the leg took the right, and the elderly
gentleman the left.
The elderly gentleman (who, from his I'm-at-home kind of air, was
evidently the pastor) offered up a short prayer, and then gave out a
hymn, which some few friends in the gallery (standing up) sang; all the
rest of the congregation sitting down, and very few joining at all in
the psalmody. This exercise over, the central gentleman arose, and,
having first read a few verses of Scripture, offered up a very suitable
prayer about eight or ten minutes long. The man on the right then gave
out another hymn, which was sung as before.
The central gentleman now, in a very low don't-
care-whether-you-hear-or-not tone of voice, gave out a text. It was
John iii. 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
I will give you a sketch of his sermon. He observed that of all
subjects on which men might be addressed, religious subjects were the
most important; and that of all religious subjects, that to which the
text referred was the most momentous. Having noticed the context, he
proposed to inquire, first, into the necessity of being born again.
This change (he observed) was necessary, in order to enjoy heaven. It
was a common observation, that "society seeks its level." The Indian,
for example, could not be happy amidst the refinements of civilization.
The gambler and the swearer could not be happy in the society of the
pious and devout. If so in this world, amidst imperfect holiness, how
much more so in the pure society of the celestial state!
During these remarks, I was much annoyed by the cracking of nuts not
very far off. I looked around, and actually found it was a mother
cracking them for her two boys, one of whom might be seven and the
other five years of age,--one by her side, and the other in the next
pew behind. To the latter she deliberately handed over the kernels in a
pocket-handkerchief; and yet, to look at her, you would have thought
her a woman of sense and piety!
The preacher noticed, in the second place, the nature of this change.
It was spiritual, not physical,--a "revolution" (!) of the mind,
rather than a mere change of opinion or of outward deportment. The
third observation related to the evidence of the change. Its existence
might be ascertained by our own experience, and by the Word of God. The
former was not to be trusted without a reference to the latter. This
change destroyed the love of the world. It led man to abandon his
favourite sins, and to live and labour to do good. It also created in
him new desires and enjoyments. These topics were variously and
suitably illustrated, and the whole was a very good sermon on the
subject.
At the close the man on the right offered an appropriate prayer. The
pastor then made several announcements; among them, that a meeting to
pray for the success of Sabbath-schools would be held on the morrow
evening. In connection with that announcement, he said: "I am a very
plain man, and my God is a very plain God. He is so in all his dealings
with men. He always acts on the plain common-sense principle, that, if
a favour is worth bestowing, it is worth asking for." He also intimated
that there would be a Church-meeting immediately after the service,
preparatory to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon,
inviting at the same time any members of other Baptist Churches who
might be present to participate with them in that privilege. This form
of invitation led me to understand that they were "close
communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only
with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The
influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that
side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy
pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed
slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a
sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe,
however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large
congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of
Christian fellowship with slave-holders.