A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The
Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore
--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak
Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery
--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will.
In the afternoon of my first Sabbath at Baltimore I found, after much
inquiry, a congregation of coloured people, who were some sort of
Methodists. My wife and I were the only white people in the place. We
were treated with great politeness, and put, not in a pew apart by
ourselves, but in one of the best places they could find, in the very
midst of the congregation. A serious-looking coloured man opened the
service, with great propriety of manner and expression. He was the
regular pastor. A black man, a stranger as I understood, preached. His
text (he said) was, "Behold, I come quickly;" and they would find it in
the Book of Revelation. But chapter and verse were not given, nor had
he the Bible open in Revelation at all. I suspected that he could not
read; and that suspicion was confirmed by the amount of nonsense which
he soon uttered. At first his words were "few and far between," uttered
in a tone of voice scarcely audible. Soon, however, he worked both
himself and his audience into a tremendous phrenzy. The burden of his
song was--how John had lived to a very great age, in spite of all
attempts to put him to death; how his enemies had at last decided to
try the plan of throwing him into a "kittle of biling ile;" how God had
said to him, "Never mind, John,--if they throw thee into that kittle,
I'll go there with thee,--they shall bile me too;" how John was
therefore taken up alive; and how his persecutors, baffled in all their
efforts to despatch him, ultimately determined to throw their victim
upon a desolate island, and leave him there to live or perish as he
might. During the delivery of all this nonsense, the laughing, the
shouting, the groaning, and the jumping were positively terrific. It
was Methodism gone mad. How disgraceful, that American Christians, so
called, with all their schools and colleges, and with all their efforts
to send the Gospel to Africa, should leave these people at their very
doors thus to feed upon "husks" and "ashes!" Between 500 and 600 people
were listening to this ignorant man, giving as the pure and positive
word of God what was of very doubtful authority, intermingled with the
crudities of his own brain. I wished to stay through the service, and
perhaps at the close express my fraternal feelings; but I was so
shocked and grieved at this ranting exhibition that I felt it
unwarrantable to remain.
Leaving these unfortunate people, we peeped into two cathedral
churches,--that of the Church of England, or (as it is here called) the
Protestant Episcopal Church, and that of the Church of Rome. Both
buildings are very splendid. We had been in the former some time before
we felt quite sure that we were not in a Popish place of worship, so
papistical were its aspect and arrangements. It was evident that
Puseyism, or Popery in some form, had there its throne and its sceptre.
The avowedly Popish cathedral was crowded with worshippers; and, to the
shame of Protestantism be it spoken, black and coloured people were
_there_ seen intermingled with the whites in the performance of their
religious ceremonies! The State of Maryland, of which Baltimore is the
capital, having been first settled by a colony of Roman Catholics,
might be expected to be a stronghold of Popery. Yet, it is not so. The
adherents of that system are but a small minority of the population.
Baltimore is, however, a stronghold of slavery. Here Garrison's
indignation against the system was first kindled--here Frederick
Douglas tasted some of its bitter draughts--and here Torrey died its
victim. The following are specimens of the manner in which the trade in
human flesh is carried on in this city:--
"NEGROES WANTED.--I have removed from my former residence. West
Pratt-street, to my new establishment on Camden-street, immediately in
the rear of the Railroad Depôt, where I am permanently located. Persons
bringing Negroes by the cars will find it very convenient, as it is
only a few yards from where the passengers get out. Those having
Negroes for sale will find it to their advantage to call and see me, as
I am at all times paying the highest prices in cash.
"J. S. DONOVAN, Balt. Md."
"o28--6m*."
"CASH FOR FIVE HUNDRED NEGROES.--At the old establishment of Slatter's,
No. 244, Pratt-street, Baltimore, between Sharp and Howard Streets,
where the highest prices are paid, which is well known. We have large
accommodations for Negroes, and always buying. Being regular shippers
to New Orleans, persons should bring their property where no
commissions are paid, as the owners lose it. All communications
attended to promptly by addressing
"H. F. SLATTER."
"j5--6m*."
Before and since my arrival in the United States, I had thought much of
seeing Washington, and, if possible, Congress in session. But such was
the severity of the weather that we could not cross the Alleghanies
before that assembly had risen and dispersed. At Baltimore I was within
two hours' journey of the capital. Should I go and see it? No; for what
can _there_ be found to gratify the friend of freedom and of man? The
Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, are
all associated with Washington. The capital itself is but a great
slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and
auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice,
wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front
the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the
influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting
Washington.
At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia.
While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at
the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable
coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of
course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them,
though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to
whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat.
But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and
dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference
between the railway economy of England and that of America. In the
former, as you know, the railway is haughty, exclusive, and
aristocratic. It scorns all fellowship with common roads, and dashes
on, either under or over the houses, with arbitrary indifference. In
America, it generally condescends to pass along the public streets to
the very centre of the city, the engine being taken off or put to in
the suburbs, and its place _intra muros_, if I may so say, supplied by
horses. In leaving Baltimore, the engine was attached _before_ we got
quite out of the city; and we were going for some time along the common
road, meeting in one place a horse and cart, in another a man on
horseback, in another a pair of oxen fastened to each other, and so on.
Dangerous enough, apparently! yet railway accidents are much less
frequent in America than in England. It is, besides, an immense saving
of capital.
In our progress, we had to cross several arms of the Chesapeak Bay.
These arms were from one to two miles wide, and the railway is carried
over them upon posts driven into the ground. It seemed like crossing
the sea in a railway carriage. At Havre de Grace we had to cross the
Susquehannah River. This word Susquehannah is Indian, and means
literally, I am told, "the rolling thunder." In crossing it, however,
we heard no thunder, except that of the luggage-van over our heads, on
the top of the steamer. Here we changed carriages. We soon got sight of
the Delaware, which kept us company nearly all the way to Philadelphia.
Delaware, the smallest of all the States except Rhode Island, we
entirely crossed. A few days before, Delaware had well nigh done
herself great honour. Her House of Representatives carried, by a
majority, a vote for the abolition of slavery within her boundaries;
but the measure was lost in her Senate by a majority of one or two. The
State legislature will not meet again for two years. All parties are
confident that the measure will then be triumphantly carried through.
In America, however, the abolition of slavery in any State does not
always mean freedom to the slaves. Too often it is a mere
transportation of them to the Southern States. Had Delaware passed a
law that all slaves should he free at the expiration of five years, or
that all children born after a certain period should he free, the
owners of slaves would have had an obvious interest in disposing of
their human property to the Southern traders _before_ that period
arrived. Mothers, too, would have been hastened Southward to give birth
to their offspring; so that the "peculiar institution" might lose none
of its prey. Measures for the abolition of slavery in any part of
America do not arise from sympathy with the negro, and from a wish to
improve his condition and promote his happiness, but from aversion to
his presence, or perhaps from a conviction that the system of slavery
is expensive and impolitic. Those who feel kindly towards their
coloured brother, and act towards him under the impulse of pure and
lofty philanthropy, are, I am sorry to say, very few indeed.
These views may appear severe and uncharitable towards the American
people, but they are confirmed by M. de Tocqueville. "When a Northern
State declared that the son of the slave should be born free," observes
that impartial writer, "the slave lost a large portion of his market
value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and
the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South.
Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the
Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. The want
of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves
decreases. But, in proportion as labour is performed by free hands,
slave labour becomes less productive; and the slave is then a useless
or an onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those
Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. _Thus
the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free: it merely
transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the
South_." M. de Tocqueville adds, in a note, "The States in which
slavery is abolished usually do what they can to render their territory
disagreeable to the negroes as a place of residence; and as a kind of
emulation exists between the different States in this respect, the
unhappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset
them." This is perfectly true.
Crossing the Schuilkyl, we arrived about 3 o'clock P. M. in
Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love," having performed the
journey of 97 miles in six hours, a rate of only 16 miles an hour!
In Philadelphia were many men and things that I wished to see. First
and foremost, in my professional curiosity, was Albert Barnes; but
being anxious to push on to New York that night, I had but an hour and
a half to stay. Of a sight of the famous author of the "Notes," I was
therefore compelled to deny myself. My regret was diminished, when I
learned from an English minister of high standing, who, under the
influence of the best feelings, and with an excellent introduction, had
called upon the Commentator, that he received him with a degree of
indifference bordering on rudeness.
In Philadelphia there is no Congregational Church. A few years ago John
Todd, the well-known author of "The Student's Guide," attempted to
raise one. He was but little countenanced, however, by Albert Barnes
and the Presbyterians, and failed.
In passing through this city, I had a distant glimpse of a most
remarkable institution. M. Girard, an old bachelor, a native of France,
who had accumulated immense wealth, died a few years ago, leaving by
will the enormous sum of two millions of dollars, or upwards of four
hundred thousand pounds sterling, to erect and endow a college for the
accommodation and education of three hundred orphan boys. The ground on
which it was to be built, consisting of no less than 45 acres, he
ordered to be enclosed with a high solid wall, capped with marble, and
lined upon the top with long iron spikes. He also inserted in his will
the following extraordinary clause: "I enjoin and require that no
ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever, shall ever
hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college; nor
shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a
visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purpose of said
college." An attempt was made before the Supreme Court of the United
States to set aside this will, and Daniel Webster, the great New
England barrister, delivered a powerful "plea" against it; but the
attempt was overruled. For some years the building has been slowly
proceeding, and is not yet ready for occupation. Had I had time, I
could not, being a minister, have entered the premises. To me, and to
all like me, "_Procul, procul, este, profani_" is chiselled on every
stone!--a singular monument of the priest-hating propensities of the
old French Revolutionists.