Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the
Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at
the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French
and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New
Orleans--American Manners.
The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British
Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the
whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and
I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They
were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very
clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico,
looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She
evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced
myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the
ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind
and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea.
We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our
negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed;
and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as
you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to
be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how
extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery!
"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have
nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and
try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example
of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not
aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow. He simply told
masters and slaves their duty, without at all interfering with the
relation subsisting between them. Besides, the opposite of this course
would render us and our churches unpopular, and thereby destroy our
usefulness." He also seemed very sore at the idea of the Christianity
of slave-holders being at all called in question. "People," said he, or
words to the same effect, "may spare themselves the trouble to pass
resolutions of non-fellowship with us; we wish for no fellowship with
those who are so uncharitable as to question our piety." I began now to
understand why the Abolitionists call the American churches "the
bulwark of slavery."
Subsequently, on the same day, I had conversation with a young man,
whom I had that afternoon seen sitting down at the Lord's Table in the
Baptist Church. He told me that there were in New Orleans two Baptist
Churches of coloured people, presided over by faithful and devoted
pastors of their own colour. "And does your pastor," I inquired,
"recognise them, and have fellowship with them?" "Oh! yes, he has often
preached to them. He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the
conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy
your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say
they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be
tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and
in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand
them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn."
This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence
in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly
right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his
rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the
soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire
population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is
the most damning!
"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your
churches, they have to sit by themselves?"
_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise."
_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so. With us, in British
Guiana, blacks and whites mingle together indiscriminately in the
worship of our common Father."
_Young Man._ (with amazement).--"There must be a a great change here
before it comes to that. It must appear very strange."
_Myself._--"Very much like heaven where they shall come together from
the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, &c. Why,
we have black deacons, who, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper,
carry the bread and wine, and give them even to white people."
_Young Man._ (with more astonishment than ever, and in a tone of
offended dignity).--"I don't think I could stand that--I don't! A great
change must take place in my feelings before I could. I don't like to
mingle Ham and Japhet together for my part--I don't!"
_Myself._--"Why, they were mingled together in the ark."
_Young Man._--"Yes; but old Noah quarrelled with Ham soon after he came
out, and cursed him."
_Myself._--"Granted; but you and your pastor profess to be anxious for
the slaves' conversion to God, and thereby to roll away the curse."
Here the dialogue ended.
In the evening I was desirous of hearing Dr. Hawkes, an Episcopalian
minister, of whose talents and popularity I had heard much in New
Orleans; but, finding that he did not preach in the evening, I went
again to hear Dr. Scott at the Presbyterian Church. Having stood a
considerable time at the door inside, and receiving no encouragement to
advance, I ventured, along with my wife, to enter the pew next to the
door. This proved a most unfortunate position. There was not light
enough to take any notes; while the incessant opening and shutting of
the door, with its rusty hinges, made it extremely difficult to hear.
The discourse, however, which was again addressed to young men in great
cities, was characterized by all the power and piety which
distinguished the one of the previous Sabbath. I retired deeply
impressed with the value of such a ministry in such a place. Dr. Scott
was one of the American delegates to the Conference for the formation
of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. He is a Southern man, born and
bred amidst the wilds of Tennessee, whose early educational advantages
were very small. He is, in a great measure, a self-made man. Brought up
in the midst of slavery, he is (I rejoice to hear) a cordial hater of
the system. As a minister, he is "thoroughly furnished--a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed." His knowledge of the world, as well as of
the Word of God and of the human heart, is extensive, and is turned to
the best account in his ministrations. In leaving New Orleans I felt no
regret, but that I had not called upon this good man.
On Monday morning, the 8th of February, I had a peep at the House of
Representatives of the State of Louisiana, then in session at New
Orleans. The room, a dark and dingy-looking place, was fitted up with
desks and seats in the form of the letter D. A desk and a spittoon were
allowed to each honourable member,--the latter article being deemed as
necessary as the former. Whether smoking was suffered during the hours
of business or not I cannot tell, but the room smelt horribly of stale
tobacco. Between fifty and sixty members were present, and never
certainly, either in the Old World or in the New, did I see an
assemblage of worse-looking men. They seemed fitted for any deeds of
robbery, blood, and death. Several distinguished duellists were pointed
out to me; among them Colonel Crane, an old man, who had repeatedly
fought with Mr. Bowie, the inventor of the "Bowie knife," and had
killed several men in personal combat! The motion before the house just
at that time was for the release from prison of a Mr. Simms, who a few
days before had violently assaulted one of the members in the lobby. He
was released accordingly. Who will not pity the 200,000 slaves of this
State, who are at the "tender mercies" of these sanguinary men? Nor let
it be said, as it often is, that New Orleans and Louisiana are not a
fair specimen of things even in the South,--that they are more French
than American, &c. This is not the case. Nothing in New Orleans struck
me more forcibly than its thoroughly American character. American
usages, American influence, American laws, and American religion are
there predominant. Things were much better for the black and coloured
people when it was not so. The French treated their slaves incomparably
kinder than the Americans do. They often married coloured women, and
invariably treated their own coloured offspring, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, with tenderness and regard. They had them suitably
educated and adequately provided for; so that, at the present moment, a
large portion of the city of New Orleans is the freehold property of
coloured persons. Not so act the Americans. They indulge in the
grossest licentiousness with coloured women, but would shudder at the
idea of marrying one of them; and, instead of giving any property to
their coloured offspring, they do not scruple to sell them as slaves!
Had I gone to the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city, which is
attended chiefly by the French and their descendants, I should have
found no negro pew, but persons of all colours intermingled together in
religious observances. The Southerners seem to have no heart--no
feeling, except that of love to the almighty dollar.
The population of New Orleans is about 90,000. On this mass of people
are brought to bear the labours of at least thirteen ministers of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, seven Presbyterians, four Episcopalians,
and three Baptists,--all professedly evangelical;--besides a
considerable number of Roman Catholics, and other non-evangelical
teachers. But Satan has there a large array of synagogues.
I omitted, at the proper time, to describe the scene we witnessed at
our "private" lodgings the first day we sat down to dinner. Though it
was called a "private" boarding-house, and we had taken the apartments
as such, we found ourselves surrounded by about thirty boarders! These
were all respectable men, or rather men whom, from their position in
society, you would expect to be respectable. Doctors, lieutenants in
the army, captains, merchants, editors, clerks of the senate, and so
forth, were among them. My wife was the only lady besides the mistress
of the house.
We were all waiting in an ante-room for the summons to dinner. It came.
The door of the dining-room was thrown open; and before you could have
said "Jack Robinson," the whole had rushed through, were seated at
table, and sending forth a forest of forks in the direction of the
various dishes! I had often heard of this wolfish habit, but thought
our cousins were caricatured. Here, however, was the reality. Had I not
been an eye-witness, I could not have believed it. Not a single seat
had been kept vacant for the only lady who had to be accommodated, and
we were both left to console ourselves in the ante-room! The landlady,
however, having "an eye to business," arranged for our accommodation at
the table. There had been on the table a turkey, a piece of beef, some
fish, and pastry,--all ready carved. Most of these things had instantly
disappeared,--the knives and forks had borne them away in triumph.
There was no waiting to be served: every one stuck his fork in what he
liked best, or what was most within his reach. It was a regular
scramble. The principle seemed to be to _begin_ to eat as soon as
possible, no matter what! Some began with nothing but potatoes, some
with a bit of bread, some with a piece of beef, some with a limb of the
turkey. Some, I noticed, beginning with fowl, then taking roast beef,
then boiled mutton, then fish, and then some pastry,--all on the same
plate, and--faugh!--portions of most of them there at the same time! No
change of plate,--that would have been extravagant, and would have
savoured of aristocracy. Freedom, it seemed, allowed every one to help
himself; and that with his own knife and fork, which he had before used
for all sorts of purposes. Such luxuries as salt-spoons and
mustard-spoons are very rare south of the Ohio. My wife asked the lady
of the house for a small slice of the ham she had before her, when the
latter very politely begged Mrs. Davies to lend her her knife to cut it
with! This was good society in New Orleans. Things improved as we
advanced towards the North; but in most places, though the Americans
provide bountifully, the cooking is not good, and they make a strange
jumble of things at table. They have the appearance of a people
suddenly raised in the world, and able to afford themselves nice
things, but very ignorant and awkward in the use of them. With so much
hurry to begin, the time occupied in eating by our company was very
short. We Britishers had scarcely begun, when one and another got up
from table, finishing his dinner as he walked away. They cannot bear to
sit at table a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. While we
remained seated, they passed before us on their way out,--one eating,
one picking his teeth, one scraping his throat, one spitting on the
floor. Of course, we seldom made a hearty meal under such
circumstances.