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diff --git a/old/62962-0.txt b/old/62962-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ad5436b..0000000 --- a/old/62962-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7782 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Autographs for Freedom by Harriet Beecher -Stowe, by Harriet Beecher Stowe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Autographs for Freedom by Harriet Beecher Stowe - and Thirty-five Other Eminent Writers - -Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe - -Editor: Julia Griffiths - -Release Date: August 18, 2020 [EBook #62962] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUTOGRAPHS FOR FREEDOM *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, hekula03, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - AUTOGRAPHS - FOR - FREEDOM. - - - - - BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, - - AND - - Thirty-five other Eminent Writers. - - - LONDON: - SAMPSON LOW, SON & CO.; AND JOHN CASSELL, - LUDGATE HILL: - - AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. - - 1853. - - - - - PREFACE - TO THE - American Edition. - - -There is, perhaps, little need of detaining the kind reader, even for -one moment, in this the vestibule of our Temple of Liberty, to state the -motives and reasons for the publication of this collection of -Anti-slavery testimonies. - -The good cause to which the volume is devoted;—the influence which must -ever be exerted by persons of exalted character, and high mental -endowments;—the fact that society is slow to accept any cause that has -not the baptism of the acknowledged noble and good;—the happiness -arising from making any exertion to ameliorate the condition of the -injured race amongst us, will at once suggest reasons and motives for -sending forth this offering, which, while it shall prove acceptable as a -GIFT BOOK, may help to swell the tide of that sentiment that, by the -Divine blessing, will sweep away from this otherwise happy land the -great sin of SLAVERY. - -Should this publication be instrumental in casting _one_ ray of hope on -the heart of one poor slave, or should it draw the attention of one -person, hitherto uninterested, to the deep wrongs of the bondman, or -cause one sincere and earnest effort to promote emancipation, we believe -that the kind contributors, who have generously responded to our call, -not less than the members of our Society, will feel themselves gratified -and compensated. - -The proceeds of the sale of the “AUTOGRAPHS FOR FREEDOM” will be devoted -to the dissemination of light and truth on the subject of slavery -throughout the country. - -On behalf of “_The Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society_,” - - JULIA GRIFFITHS, _Secretary_. - - - - - Preface to the English Edition. - - -Few better evidences of the deep interest which most of the leading -minds in America take in the question of slavery can be afforded than -are contained in this book. The ablest men and women of the country have -here set their hands to a solemn protest against its enormities. Mrs. -Stowe, who has achieved a reputation as widely extended as it is well -earned,—who has, both in this country and in the United States, aroused -thousands to a sense of the guilt and wrong of slavery who never spent a -thought upon it before,—has her name side by side with that of Horace -Mann, one of the most brilliant orators in the Union. Whittier, whose -sweet strains have delighted thousands wherever the English language is -spoken, finds himself in company with Frederick Douglass, who has -experienced all those horrors whose bare recital has made us shudder; -and with the Earl of Carlisle, who is setting an example full of promise -to the men of his order; and with the son of the immortal Wilberforce. -Widely differing as these do upon the majority of public questions, -there is not a shade of difference in their opinions as to the iniquity -of slavery. - -Linked as we are with America by the ties of kindred, commerce, -language, literature, and political sympathies, upon nothing which -affects the destiny and progress of the Union can the English people -help looking with the deepest interest. There is not a man of intellect -or judgment on either side of the Atlantic who does not acknowledge the -fearful importance of the slavery question, even if it be considered in -a political point of view only, and laying aside all thoughts of its -guilt and immorality. It already threatens to cause the disruption of -the great American confederation, upon which we all look with so much -hope and pride; and there exists not a doubt, that, sooner or later, all -the wrongs it has caused will be atoned for by a terrible social -convulsion, if not remedied by the timely and peaceful concession of the -rights of the negro race. We can hardly wonder, then, that the whole -subject should possess such momentous importance in the eyes of all -earnest-thinking, patriotic men and women in America. Assuredly, if in -the face of the tremendous difficulties, deeply rooted prejudice, -self-interest, and a host of base passions, which beset them in arguing -the cause of the slave, they occasionally commit errors of judgment, or -make use of means which we, farther removed from the scene of action, -may deem inexpedient or ill-timed,—no Englishman should regard their -self-denying efforts with any other feeling than one of deep sympathy. -Nay, we should look upon their struggle with the greater admiration, -when we know that the church in America has abandoned its post, and is -unfaithful to its mission; that the clergy, who, of all others, should -be the last to recognise any inequality in men as men, have sought to -hide the abominations of slave-holding under the cloak of Divine -sanction. We all know the vast moral power which England possesses in -the United States, and we may readily conjecture how comforting it must -be for those who are battling for the rights of a down-trodden race, in -the face of a hostile senate, a hostile press, and a hostile aristocracy -of slave-holders, to hear a cheer of encouragement from those across the -water who feel that the position of the Anglo-Saxon race in the future -of the world, depends upon the respect it now shews for the sacred -rights, and the inherent nobility of humanity. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - Be up and doing _Hon. Wm. H. Seward_ 9 - - Caste and Christ _Mrs. H. E. B. Stowe_ 11 - - Letter from the Earl of Carlisle to Mrs. H. B. Stowe 13 - - Momma Charlotte _Mrs. C. M. Kirkland_ 16 - - A Name _Hon. Horace Mann_ 19 - - Letter from Joseph Sturge 20 - - Slavery and Polygamy _R. Hildreth_ 20 - - The Way _John G. Whittier_ 22 - - The Slave and Slave-Owner _Miss Sedgwick_ 23 - - Letter from the Bishop of Oxford 25 - - Hide the Outcasts _Rev. William Goodell_ 25 - - Can Slaves rightfully resist and _Rev. Geo. W. Perkins_ - fight? 28 - - Death in Life _Ebenezer Button_ 33 - - True Reform _Mrs. C. W. H. Dall_ 34 - - How Long? _J. M. Whitfield_ 35 - - Letter from Wilson Armistead 42 - - Impromptu Stanzas _J. M. Eells_ 44 - - John Murray (of Glasgow) _James M’Cune Smith_ 46 - - Power of American Example _Lewis Tappan_ 50 - - The Gospel as a Remedy for Slavery „ „ 52 - - Letter from Rev. C. G. Finney 54 - - The Slave’s Prayer _Miss C. E. Beecher_ 55 - - The Struggle _Hon. Charles Sumner_ 56 - - Work and Wait _Horace Greeley_ 56 - - The Great Emancipation _Gerrit Smith_ 58 - - Ode _Rev. John Pierpont_ 58 - - Passages in the Life of a Slave _Annie Parker_ - Woman 61 - - Story Telling „ „ 68 - - The Man-Owner _Rev. E. Buckingham_ 70 - - Damascus in 1851 _Rev. F. W. Holland_ 73 - - Religious, Moral, and Political _Lindley Murray Moore_ - Duties 80 - - Why Slavery is in the Constitution _James G. Birney_ 81 - - The Two Altars _Mrs. H. B. Stowe_ 88 - - Outline of a Man _Rev. R. R. Raymond_ 103 - - The Heroic Slave Woman _Rev. S. J. May_ 112 - - Kossuth _John Thomas_ 115 - - The Heroic Slave _Frederick Douglass_ 120 - - A Plea for Free Speech _Prof. J. H. Raymond_ 166 - - Placido _Prof. W. G. Allen_ 177 - - To the Friends of Emancipation 183 - - - - - AUTOGRAPHS FOR FREEDOM. - - - - - BE UP AND DOING. - - -Can nothing be done for Freedom? Yes, much can be done. Everything can -be done. Slavery can be confined within its present bounds. It can be -meliorated. It can be, and it must be abolished. The task is as simple -as its performance would be beneficent and as its rewards would be -glorious. It requires only that we follow this plain rule of conduct and -course of activity, namely, to do, everywhere, and on every occasion -what we can, and not to neglect nor refuse to do what we can at any -time, because at that precise time and on that particular occasion we -cannot do more. Circumstances define possibilities. When we have done -our best to shape them and to make them propitious, we may rest -satisfied that superior wisdom has, nevertheless, controlled them and -us, and that it will be satisfied with us if we do all the good that -shall then be found possible. - -But we can, and we must begin deeper and lower than the composition and -combination of factions. Wherein do the security and strength of slavery -consist? You answer, in the constitution of the United States, and in -the constitutions and laws of the slave-holding States. Not at all. It -is in the erroneous sentiments of the American people. Constitutions and -laws can no more rise above the virtue of the people than the limpid -stream can climb above its native spring. Inculcate the love of freedom -and the sacredness of the rights of man under the paternal roof. See to -it, that they are taught in the schools and in the churches. Reform your -own codes and expurgate the vestiges of slavery. Reform your own manners -and customs and rise above the prejudices of caste. Receive the fugitive -who lays his weary limbs at your door, and defend him as you would your -household gods, for he, not they, has power to bring down blessings on -your hearth. Correct your error that slavery has any constitutional -guarantee that may not be released, and that ought not to be -relinquished. Say to slavery, when it shows its bond and demands its -pound of flesh, that if it draws one drop of blood its life shall pay -the forfeit. Inculcate that the free States can exercise the rights of -hospitality and humanity, that Congress knows no finality and can -debate, that Congress can at least mediate with the slave-holding -States, that at least future generations may be bought and given up to -freedom. Do all this, and inculcate all this, in the spirit of -moderation and benevolence, and not of retaliation and fanaticism, and -you will ultimately bring the parties of this country into a common -condemnation, and even the slave-holding States themselves into a -renunciation of slavery, which is not less necessary for them than for -the common security and welfare. Whenever the public mind shall be -prepared, and the public conscience shall demand the abolition of -slavery, the way to do it will open before us, and then mankind will be -surprised at the ease with which the greatest of social and political -evils can be removed. - -[Signature: William H. Seward.] - - - - - CASTE AND CHRIST. - - “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” - - - Ho! thou dark and weary stranger - From the tropic’s palmy strand, - Bowed with toil, with mind benighted, - What wouldst thou upon our land? - - Am I not, O man, thy brother? - Spake the stranger, patiently, - All that makes thee, man, immortal, - Tell me, dwells it not in me? - - I, like thee, have joy, have sorrow; - I, like thee, have love and fear; - I, like thee, have hopes and longings - Far beyond this earthly sphere. - - Thou art happy,—I am sorrowing; - Thou art rich, and I am poor; - In the name of our _one_ Father, - Do not spurn me from your door. - - Thus the dark one spake, imploring, - To each stranger passing nigh; - But each child and man and woman, - Priest and Levite passed him by. - - Spurned of men,—despised, rejected, - Spurned from school and church and hall, - Spurned from business and from pleasure, - Sad he stood, apart from all. - - Then I saw a form all glorious, - Spotless as the dazzling light, - As He passed, men veiled their faces, - And the earth, as heaven, grew bright. - - Spake he to the dusky stranger, - Awe-struck there on bended knee, - Rise! for _I_ have called thee _brother_, - I am not ashamed of thee. - - When I wedded mortal nature - To my Godhead and my throne, - Then I made all mankind sacred, - Sealed all human for mine own. - - By Myself, the Lord of ages, - I have sworn to right the wrong; - I have pledged my word, unbroken, - For the weak against the strong. - - And upon my Gospel banner - I have blazed in light the sign— - He who scorns his lowliest brother, - Never shall have hand of mine. - - Hear the word!—who fight for freedom! - Shout it in the battle’s van! - Hope! for bleeding human nature! - Christ the _God_, is Christ the _man_! - -[Signature: H. E. B. Stowe.] - - ANDOVER, JULY 22, 1852. - - - - - LETTER FROM THE EARL OF CARLISLE TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. - - - LONDON, JULY 8, 1852. - -MADAM,—I should be very sorry indeed to refuse any request addressed to -me from the “Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Association.” - -At the same time I really should feel at a loss what to send, but as I -am on the point of sending off a letter to the authoress of Uncle Tom’s -Cabin, I venture to submit a copy of it to those who I feel sure must be -fond of such a countrywoman. - - Your very faithful Servant, - -[Signature: Carlisle.] - - * * * * * - - LONDON, JULY 8, 1852. - -MADAM,—I have allowed some time to elapse before I thanked you for the -great honour and kindness you did me in sending to me, from yourself, a -copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I thought it due to the subject of which I -perceived that it treated, not to send a mere acknowledgment, as I -confess from a motive of policy I am apt to do, upon the first arrival -of the book. I therefore determined to read, before I wrote. - -Having thus read, it is not in the stiff and conventional form of -compliment, still less in the technical language of criticism, that I am -about to speak of your work. I return my deep and solemn thanks to -Almighty God, who has led and enabled you to write such a book. - -I do feel, indeed, the most thorough assurance that in His good -providence such a book cannot have been written in vain. I have long -felt that slavery is by far the _topping_ question of the world and age -we live in, involving all that is most thrilling in heroism, and most -touching in distress,—in short, the real epic of the universe. The -self-interest of the parties most nearly concerned on the one hand, the -apathy and ignorance of unconcerned observers on the other, have left -these august pretensions to drop very much out of sight, and hence my -rejoicing that a writer has appeared who will be read, and must be felt, -and that happen what may to the transactions of slavery, they will no -longer be suppressed, “carent quia vate sacrâ.” - -I trust that what I have just said was not required to show the entire -sympathy I entertain with respect to the main truth and leading scope of -your high argument, but we live in a world only too apt to regard the -accessories and accidents of a subject above its real and vital essence; -no one can know so well as you how much the external appearance of the -negro detracts from the romance and sentimentality which undoubtedly -might attach to his position and his wrongs, and on this account it does -seem to me proportionately important that you should have brought to -your portraiture great grace of style, great power of language, a play -of humour which relieves and brightens even the dark depth of the -back-ground which you were called upon to reveal, a force of pathos -which, to give it the highest praise, does not lay behind even all the -dread reality, and, above all, a variety, a discrimination, and a truth -in the delineation of character, which even to my own scanty and limited -experience of the society you describe accredits itself instantaneously -and irresistibly. Seldom, indeed, could I more forcibly apply the line -of a very favourite poet,— - - “And truths divine came mended from that tongue.” - -I have been told, that in an English periodical the quality of genius -has been denied to your book. The motives which must have guided its -composition will probably have made you supremely indifferent to mere -criticism, especially to any which argues so much obfuscation both of -head and heart. Your work has genius of the highest order, and it is the -lowest of its merits. - -There is one point which, in face of all that your book has aimed at and -achieved, I think of extremely slight importance, but which I will -nevertheless just mention, if only to show that I have not been bribed -into this fervour of admiration. I think, then, that whenever you speak -of England and her institutions, it is in a tone which fails to do them -fair justice. I do not know what distinct charges you think could be -established against our aristocracy and capitalists, but you generally -convey the impression that the same oppressions in degree, though not in -kind, might be brought home to them which are now laid to the charge of -Southern slave-holders. Exposed to the same ordeal, they might very -probably not stand the test better. All I contend for is, that the -circumstances in which they are placed, and the institutions by which -they are surrounded, make the parallel wholly inapplicable. I cannot but -suspect that your view has been in many respects derived from composers -of fiction and others among ourselves who, writing with distinguished -ability, have been more successful in delineating and dissecting the -morbid features of our modern society, than in detecting the principle -which is at fault, or suggesting the appropriate remedy. My own belief -is, liable, if you please, to national bias, that our capitalists are -very much the same sort of persons as your own in the Northern States, -with the same mixtures and inequalities of motive and action. With -respect to our aristocracy, I should really be tempted to say that, -tried by their conduct on the question of Free Trade, they do not -sustain an unfavourable comparison with your uppermost classes. Allow me -to add, that when in one place you refer to those who have already -emancipated their slaves, I think a case more directly in point than the -proceedings of the Hungarian nobles might have been selected: such, at -least, I feel sure would have been the case, if the passages in question -had been written by one who certainly was keenly alive to the faults of -England, but who did justice to her good qualities and deeds with a -heartiness exceeding that of most of her own sons,—your great and good -Dr. Channing. - -I need not repeat how irrelevant, after all, I feel what I have said -upon this head to be to the main issues involved in your work; there is -little doubt, too, that as a nation we have our special failings, and -one of them probably is that we care too little about what other nations -think of them. - -Nor can I wish my countrymen ever to forget that their own past history -should prevent them from being forward in casting accusations on their -transatlantic brethren on the subject of slavery. With great ignorance -of its actual miseries and horrors, there is also among us great -ignorance of the fearful perplexities and difficulties with which its -solution could not fail to be attended. I feel, however, that there is a -considerable difference between reluctant acquiescence in what you -inherit from the past, and voluntary fresh enlargements and -reinforcements of the system. For instance, I should not say that the -mode in which such an enactment as the Fugitive Slave Law has been -considered in this country has at all erred upon the side of overmuch -indignation. - -I need not detain you longer; I began my letter with returning thanks to -Almighty God for the appearance of your work, and I offer my humble and -ardent prayer to the same Supreme Source that it may have a marked -agency in hastening the great consummation, which I should feel it a -practical atheism not to believe must be among the unfulfilled purposes -of the Divine power and love. - - I have the honour to be, Madam, - Your sincere admirer and well-wisher, - CARLISLE. - - MRS. BEECHER STOWE. - - - - - MOMMA CHARLOTTE. - - -“Slavery is merely an idea!” said Mr. S——; “the slaves are, in reality, -better off than we are, if they had sense enough to know it. They are -taken care of—(they must be, you know, because it is the master’s -interest to keep them in good condition, and a man will always do what -is for his interest). They get rid of all responsibility,—which is what -we are groaning under; and if they were only let alone, they would be -happy enough,—happier than their masters, I dare say.” - -“You think it, then, anything but kindness to urge their emancipation?” - -“To be sure I do! and I would have every one that teaches them to be -discontented hung up without judge or jury.” - -“You seem particularly interested for the slave,—” - -“Interested! I would have every one of them sent beyond the Rocky -Mountains, if I could,—or into ‘kingdom come,’ for that matter. They are -the curse of the country; but as long as they are _property_, I would -shoot any man that put bad ideas in their heads or that interfered with -my management of them, as I would shoot a dog that killed my sheep.” - -“But do they never get what you call ‘bad ideas’ from any but white -people?” - -“O, there is no knowing where they get them,—but they are full of ’em. -No matter how kind you are to them, they are never satisfied!” - -“I can tell you where they get some of their ideas of slavery, if you -will allow me.” - -“Certainly,—I am always glad of information.” - -“Well,—I will take up your time with nothing but actual facts, for the -truth of which I will be answerable. In a Western tour, not many years -since, I saw one day a young lady, fair as a lily, and with a sweet -expression of countenance, walking in the street with a little black -girl whom she held by the hand. The little girl was about six years old, -neatly dressed and very clean; and on her neck she had a little gauze -shawl that somebody had given her, the border of which was composed of -the figure of the American Eagle many times repeated, each impression -accompanied by the word ‘LIBERTY,’ woven into the fabric. - -“This curious decoration, together with the wistful look of the child’s -face, and the benevolent air of the young lady, with whom I was slightly -acquainted, led me to ask some questions, which were answered with an -air in which modesty and sensibility were blended. I learned that the -young lady had undertaken the trying task of accompanying the little -girl through the place—which was a considerable village—for the purpose -of collecting the sum of fifty dollars, with which to purchase the -freedom of the child. - -“‘And how,’ said I, ‘did you become interested in the poor little -thing?’ - -“‘She belongs to a member of my family,’ said Miss C——, with a blush; -‘to my aunt, Mrs. Jones.’ - -“‘And how did she find her way to the north?’ - -“‘Her mother, who is the servant of my aunt, got leave to bring Violet -along with her, when her mistress came here for the summer.’ - -“‘But both mother and child are free by the mere circumstance of being -brought here,—’ - -“‘O, but Momma Charlotte promised her mistress that she would not leave -her, nor let Violet do so, if she might bring the child with her, and -beg money to buy her. She says she does not care for freedom for -herself.’ - -“I could not do less than go with the good girl for awhile, to assist a -little in her labour of love, which in the end, and with a good deal of -difficulty, was finally accomplished. It was not until after this that I -became acquainted with Momma Charlotte, the mother of Violet, and -learned a few of the particulars of a story which had made her ‘not care -for freedom.’ - -“Momma Charlotte was the mother of ten children,—six daughters and four -sons. Her husband had been a free black,—a carpenter, able to keep a -comfortable home for his family, hiring his wife of her master. At the -time of the Southampton insurrection, this man was among the suspected, -and, on suspicion, not proof, he was taken up, tried after the fashion -of that time, and hung, with several others, all between sunset and -sunrise of a single day. - -“‘He was innocent,—he had had no hand in the matter, as God is my -judge!’ said poor Momma Charlotte. - -“This was but the beginning of troubles. A sense of insecurity made the -sale of slaves more vigorous than ever. Charlotte’s children were sold, -one by one—no two together—the boys for the sugar country,—the girls for -‘the New Orleans market,’ whence they were dispersed, she never knew -where. - -“‘All gone!’ she said; ‘where I could never see ’em nor hear from ’em. I -don’t even know where one of ’em is!’ - -“‘And Violet?’ - -“‘O yes,—I mean all but Violet. She’s all I’ve got in the world, and I -want to keep her. I begged Missus to let me keep jist one! and she said -if I could get any body to buy her for me, I might have her,—for you -know I couldn’t own her myself, ’cause I’m a slave.’ - -“‘But you are no longer a slave, Momma Charlotte; your mistress by -bringing you here voluntarily has freed you,—’ - -“‘Yes,—I know,—but I promised, you see! And I don’t care to be free. I’m -old, and my children’s gone, and my heart’s broke. I ha’n’t no more -courage. If I can keep Violet, it’s all I expect. My mistress is good -enough to me,—I live pretty easy.’ - -“Such was Momma Charlotte’s philosophy, but her face told through what -sufferings such philosophy had been acquired. A fixed grief sat on her -brow; since the judicial murder of her husband she had never been known -to laugh,—hardly to smile. Her eyes were habitually cast on the ground, -and her voice seemed always on the brink of tears. She was what you call -‘_dissatisfied_,’ I think, Mr. S——.” - -“O, you have selected an extreme case! those things very seldom happen.” -(Seldom!) “After all, you see the poor old thing knew what was right; -she showed the right spirit,—” - -“Yes,—she,—but her _owners_?” - -Here Mr. S—— was sure he saw a friend at a distance to whom it was -necessary he should speak immediately; so he darted off, and I lost the -benefit of his defence of the peculiarities of the peculiar institution. - -[Signature: Mrs. C. M. Kirkland] - - - - - A NAME, - ON BEING ASKED FOR HIS AUTOGRAPH. - - - Why ask a Name? Small is the good it brings; - Names are but breath; _deeds_, DEEDS alone are Things. - -[Signature: Horace Mann.] - - WEST NEWTON, OCT. 23, 1852. - - - - - TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. - - -In compliance with the request that I would send a few lines for -insertion in “The Anti-Slavery Autograph,” I may say that I cannot -express too strongly my conviction that, if there be truth in -Revelation, it is the duty of every Christian to promote, by all -legitimate means, not only the universal and total, but the _immediate_ -abolition of any system under which man can hold property in his fellow -man. Perhaps few of those who take this view of the subject are -sufficiently careful to avoid, as far as possible, any participation in, -or encouragement of slavery, by refusing to use the produce of the -unrequited toil of the slave. Yet until we do this, I think we have -little right to expect the Divine blessing upon our efforts to promote -the abolition of slavery and of the slave trade. - -[Signature: Joseph Sturge] - - - - - SLAVERY AND POLYGAMY: DOCTORS OF DIVINITY IN A DILEMMA. - - -An argument is derived from the Jewish Scriptures in favour of -slave-holding, very plausible and weighty with that large class of -persons so poorly gifted with hearts as to find it difficult to -discriminate between the letter that killeth and the spirit that maketh -alive. The Old Testament shows clearly enough, that slave-holding was -tolerated among the Jews; and it being assumed that the system of Jewish -society, or, at all events, that the Mosaic code, was framed after a -Divine model, it is alleged to be at least supererogatory, if not -actually impious, to denounce as inconsistent with Christianity that -which God permitted to his chosen and selected people. Are _we_ to -pretend to be better and wiser than Abraham and Moses, David and -Solomon? - -A recent application of this same argument can hardly fail to operate -with many, as what the mathematicians call a _reductio ad absurdum_; a -proof, that is, of the falsity of a proposition assumed, by exhibiting -its operation in other cases. - -The famous Mormon doctrine of the plurality of wives, now at length -openly avowed by the heads and apostles of that new sect, is upheld and -justified by this very same argument. It plainly appears from the Old -Testament, that polygamy, equally with slavery, was one of the social -institutions of the Jews, recognised and sanctioned by their laws. And -borrowing the tone, and indeed the very words of our pro-slavery -theologians,—“Do you pretend,” asks Orson Hyde, one of the Mormon -apostles, addressing himself to those who question this new privilege of -the saints,—“Do you pretend to set yourselves above the teaching of God, -and the example of his chosen people?” - -Nor does the analogy between the two cases stop here. According to the -pro-slavery biblical argument, slave-holding is only to be justified in -Christian slave-holders, who, in holding slaves, have in view not only -selfish benefit or advantage, but the good of the slaves, (who are not -able to take care of themselves,) and the glory of God. According to the -Mormon biblical argument, polygamy is to be allowed only to the saints; -and that, not for any sensual gratification, but only for the benefit of -the women (who, according to the Mormon doctrine, cannot get to heaven -without some holy husband to introduce them), and for the raising up of -a righteous seed to God’s glory. - -Their favourite biblical argument, urged with such a tone of triumph and -self-satisfaction in all the southern presbyteries and consociations, -and in some northern ones, being thus newly applied by the Mormons, our -pro-slavery friends are placed in a somewhat delicate dilemma. For they -must either abandon as invalid their dogma of slave-holding derived from -Jewish practices, or, if they still hold on to the argument, and -maintain its force, they must prepare to extend the right hand of -fellowship to Brigham Young and his five and forty wives. It is, indeed, -very natural, in fact inevitable, that slavery and polygamy, avowed or -disavowed, should go together; nor does any good reason appear why those -who find justification for the one in the Jewish Scriptures should -hesitate about accepting the other. - -[Signature: R. Hildreth] - - - - - THE WAY. - - - Believe me still, as I have ever been, - The steadfast lover of my fellow men; - My weakness,—love of holy Liberty! - My crime,—the wish that all mankind were free! - Free, not by blood; redeemed, but not by crime; - Each fetter broken, but in God’s good time! - -[Signature: John G. Whittier] - - AMESBURY, 10th MO. 16, 1852. - - - - - THE SLAVE AND SLAVE-OWNER. - - -“I would rather be anything than a slave,—except a slave-owner!” said a -wise and good man. The slave-owner inflicts wrongs,—the slave but -suffers it. He has friends and champions by thousands. Some men live -only to defend and save him. Many are willing to fight for him. Some -even to die for him. - -The most effective romance of our times has been written for slaves. The -genius of more than one of our best poets has been consecrated to them. -They divide the hearts and councils of our great nation. They are daily -remembered in the prayers of the faithful. They are the most earnest -topic of the Christian world. - -But the slave-owner! who weeps, who prays, who lives, who dies for him! -True, he is of the boasted Saxon race, or descended from the brilliant -Gaul, or gifted Celt. He is enriched by the transmitted civilisation of -all ages. He has been nurtured by Christian institutions. To him have -been opened the fountains of Divine truth. But from this elevation he is -to be dragged down by the mill-stone of slavery. - -If he be a rural landlord, he looks around upon his ancestral -possessions, and sees the curse of slave-ownership upon them,—he knows -the time must come when “the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall -be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stall.” To -him the onward tendencies of the age are reversed. His movement is -steadily backward. - -To the slave are held out the rewards of fortitude, of long suffering, -of meekness, of patience in tribulation. What and where are the promises -to the slave-owner? - -Thousands among them are in a false position. They are the involuntary -maintainers of wrong, and transmitters of evil. Hundreds among them have -scrupulous consciences and tender feelings. They use power gently. They -feed their servants bountifully. They nurse the sick kindly,—and devote -weary days to their instruction. But alas! they live under the laws of -slave-owners. They are forbidden to teach the slave to read, write, or -cipher, to give them the means of independent progress and increasing -light. Their teaching is as bootless as the labour of Sisyphus! most -wearisome and disheartening. - -The great eras of domestic life, bright to the thoughtless slave, are -dark with forecasting shadows to the slave-owner. The mother cannot -forget her sorrows, because a man-child is born. If she dare contemplate -his future, she sees that the activities of his nature must be -repressed, his faculties but half developed, his passions stimulated by -irresponsible power, inflamed by temptation, and solicited by convenient -opportunity. She knows that his path in life must be more and more -entangled as he goes onward,—darker and darker with the ever-deepening -misery of this cruel institution. - -Is it a “_merry_ marriage-bell” that rings in the ear of a slave-owning -mother for the bridal of her daughter? Does not her soul recoil from the -possible (probable?) evils before her child; to be placed, perchance, on -an isolated plantation, environed by natural enemies; to see, it may be, -the brothers and sisters of her own children follow their slave-mother -to the field, or severed from her to be sold at the slave-market? - -Compared with these miseries of the slave-owner, what are the toils and -stripes of the slave? what his labour without stimulus or requital? what -his degradation to a chattel? what the deprivation of security to the -ties of kindred, and the annulling of that relation which is their -source and chiefest blessing? - -The slave looks forward with ever-growing hope to the struggle that must -come. He joyfully “smells the battle afar off.” The slave-owner folds -his arms, and shuts his eyes in paralysing despair. He hears the fearful -threatenings of the gathering storm. He knows it must come,—to him -fatally. It is only a question of time! - -Who would not “rather be a slave than a slave-owner?” - -[Signature: C. M. Sedgwick] - - - - - LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF OXFORD[1] TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. - - - CUDDESDON PALACE, JULY 7, 1852. - -MADAM,—I readily comply with your desire. England taught her descendants -in America to injure their African brethren. Every Englishman should aid -the American to get rid of this cleaving wrong and deep injury to his -race and nation.—I am ever yours, - -[Signature: S Oxon.] - - - - - “HIDE THE OUTCASTS.” - - - Hide the outcasts, and bewray not - Him that wand’reth to be free; - Haste!—deliver and delay not;— - Let my outcasts dwell with thee.[2] - - Shelter thou shalt not refuse him, - Lest, with him, his Lord ye slight;[3] - When, at noon, the foe pursues him, - Make thy shadow dark as night. - - With thee shall he dwell, protected, - Near thee, cherished by thy side; - Though degraded, scorned, neglected,— - Thrust him not away, in pride.[4] - - As, in truth, ye would that others - Unto you should succour lend, - So, to them, as equal brothers, - Equal love and help extend.[5] - - Thou shalt not the slave deliver - To his master, when he flees:— - Heritage, from GOD, the Giver, - Yield them freely, where they please.[6] - - As thyself,[7]—thy babes,—their mother,— - Thou wouldst shield from murd’rous arm, - So the slave, thy equal brother, - And his household, shield from harm. - - Hearken, ye that know and fear me,[8] - Ye who in my law delight; - Ye that seek me, and revere me, - Hate the wrong and love the right.[9] - - Fear ye not, when men upbraid you, - Worms shall all their strength devour; - My salvation still shall aid you, - Coming ages learn my power. - - Why forget the Lord thy Maker? - Why th’ oppressor’s fury dread? - Zion’s King shall ne’er forsake her;— - Where’s th’ oppressor’s fury fled?[10] - - Scorn the mandates of transgressors;[11] - Fear thy God, and fear none other; - ’Gainst _thyself_ conspire oppressors, - When they bid thee bind thy _brother_. - - Lo! the captive exile hasteth - To be loosed from thrall, forever;[12] - Lo! the power of tyrants wasteth, - Perish soon,—recovered, never! - -[Signature: Wm. Goodell] - - - - - CAN SLAVES RIGHTFULLY RESIST AND FIGHT? - - -I do not answer this question. But the following facts are submitted as -containing the materials for an answer. - -About seventy years ago, three millions of people in America thought -themselves wronged by the powers ordained of God. They resolved not to -endure the wrong. They published to the world a statement of grievances -which justified resistance to the powers ordained of God, and -deliberately revolted against the king, though explicitly commanded by -God to “honour the king.” In the process of revolt, about one hundred -thousand men, Europeans and Americans,—were slaughtered in battle, or -slowly butchered by the sickness, imprisonments, and hardships incident -to a state of war. - -It was distinctly maintained in 1776, that men may rightfully fight for -liberty, and resist the powers ordained of God, if those powers -destroyed liberty. Christian men, ministers in their pulpits, -strenuously argued that it was men’s _duty_ to fight for liberty, and to -kill those who opposed them. Prayer was offered to God for success in -this process of resistance and blood; and good men implored and obtained -help from other nations, to complete the work of resistance to -oppression, and death to the oppressors. - -I do not say that these positions were right, or that the men of 1776 -acted right. But I do say, that _if_ they were right, we are necessarily -led to some startling conclusions. For there are now three millions of -people of America grievously wronged by the government they live under. -_If_ it was right in 1776 to resist, fight, and kill, to secure -liberty,—it is right to do the same in 1852. _If_ three millions of -whites might rightfully resist the powers ordained of God, then three -millions of blacks may rightfully do the same. _If_ France was justified -in aiding our band of revolutionists to fight for liberty, then a -foreign nation may lawfully aid men now to vindicate their rights. _If_, -as the men of 1776 declared, “when a long train of abuses evinces a -design to reduce them _under absolute despotism_, it is their right, it -is their _duty_, to throw off such government,”—then it is the duty of -three millions of men in 1852 to throw off the government which reduces -them to the frightful and absolute despotism of chattel slavery. - -But what were the oppressions, which, in 1776, justified revolt, battle, -and one hundred thousand deaths? They are stated in the “Declaration of -Independence,” are familiar to all, and will therefore only be abridged -here. The powers ordained of God over the men of 1776,—“restrained their -trade,”—“refused assent to laws enacted by the local legislature,”—“kept -soldiers to overawe them,”—“did not punish soldiers for killing a few -colonists,”—“imposed taxes without their consent,”—“in some cases, did -not allow them trial by jury,”—“abolished good laws,”—“made war on them -in case of disobedience.” - -These were the wrongs they complained of. But nearly all their rights -were untouched. They had schools and colleges, and could educate their -children; they could become intelligent and learned themselves; they -could acquire property, and large numbers of them had become rich; they -could emigrate without hindrance to any other country, when weary of the -oppressions of their own; they could elect their own town and state -officers; they could keep swords, muskets, powder and ball in their own -houses; they could not be lashed and sold like brutes; they were never -compelled to work without wages; they could appeal to courts of justice -for protection. - -Let us now hear a statement of the wrongs inflicted on three millions of -Americans in 1852. - -We have no rights left to us. - -Laws forbid us to be taught even to read, and severe penalties are -inflicted on those who teach us. - -The natural right of the parent over the child is wholly taken away; our -children are systematically kept in profound ignorance, and are worked -or sold like brutes, at the will of slave-holders. - -We can acquire no property, and are kept in utter and perpetual -pauperism, dependent on the mere caprice or selfishness of other men for -subsistence. - -If we attempt peaceably to emigrate from this land of oppression, we are -hunted by bull-dogs, or shot down like beasts,—dragged back to perpetual -slavery without trial by jury. - -We are exposed to the most degrading and revolting punishments, without -judge or trial, at the passion, caprice, or cruelty of the basest -overseers. - -When our wives and daughters are seduced or ravished, we are forbidden -to appeal to the courts of justice. - -Whatever outrage may be perpetrated on ourselves or our families, we -have no redress. - -We are compelled to work without wages; the fruits of our labour are -systematically extorted from us. - -Many thousands of our people are annually collected by slave-traders, -and sold to distant States; by which means families are broken up, and -the most frightful debasement, anguish, and outrage is inflicted on us. - -We have no access to courts of justice, no voice in the election of -rulers, no agency in making the laws,—not even the miserable remnant of -liberty, in choosing the despot who may have absolute power over us. - -We are hopelessly consigned to that condition most revolting and -loathsome to one in whom the least vestige of manly or womanly feeling -is left,—that of absolute slavery. - -The laws treat us not as human beings, but “as _chattels personal_, to -all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.” - -Great numbers of our people, in addition to all these enormities, endure -unutterable bodily sufferings, from the cruelty and torturing -punishments inflicted on us. - -I do not assert that three millions of people, suffering such -intolerable wrongs and outrages, ought to throttle their oppressors, and -kill fifty thousand of them. I only say, that _if_ it was right to do so -in 1776, it is also right to do the same in 1852. _If_ the light -oppressions which the men of the last century endured justified war and -bloodshed, then oppressions ten thousand times worse would surely -justify revolt and blood. _If_ the colonists might rightfully refuse to -“remain in the calling wherein they were called,” as subjects of the -English government, then slaves may rightfully refuse to continue in the -calling wherein they were called. _If_ three millions of men might -lawfully disregard the text, “honour the king,” on the ground that the -king oppressed them, then three millions of men may lawfully disregard -the text, “servants obey your masters,” on the ground that those masters -grievously oppress them. _If_ the _prospect of success_ justified the -war of 1776, then as soon as three millions of slaves feel able and -determined to vindicate their rights, they may justly demand them at the -point of the sword; and any black Washington who shall lead his -countrymen to victory and liberty, even through carnage, will merit our -veneration. _If_ “liberty or death” was a noble and Christian war-cry in -1776 for the oppressed, then it would be noble and Christian-like for -the oppressed men of 1852 practically to adopt the same. - -If these inferences appear startling and even horrible, why do they so -appear? Is there any reason except that inveterate prejudice, which -applies very different principles to the coloured man and the white man? -If three millions of white men were in slavery in Algiers now, should we -not urge them, as soon as there was hope of success, to imitate the men -of 1776, rise and fight for liberty? Therefore, until we are prepared to -condemn our ancestors as guilty rebels, and abhor their insurrection as -a wicked resistance to the ordinance of God, can we blame _any class_ of -people for successful revolt against an oppressive government? - -Let this further question be pondered. Who were to blame for the -destruction of one hundred thousand lives in the war of 1776? The -oppressors or the oppressed? The men who fought for liberty or the men -who would not let them have it without fighting? Who then would be -responsible for the death of one hundred thousand men, if the oppressed -men of 1852 should kill so many, in fighting for liberty? - -If the reader is shocked by such inquiries and inferences, and as -directly and intentionally designed to encourage servile insurrection -and civil war, he may be assured that my aim is entirely different. It -is my wish to secure timely precautions against danger. For we are to -remember, that our slave and coloured population is advancing with the -same gigantic rate of increase characteristic of our country. In -twenty-five years, we shall have six millions of slaves; in fifty years, -twelve millions; in seventy-five years, twenty-four millions. Can any -one dream of the possibility of retaining twenty-four millions, or -twelve millions, of human beings in slavery? Long before that number is -reached, will not vast multitudes of them learn the simple lessons of -liberty and right, which our books, orations, and politicians inculcate -day by day? Will there not arise among them men of courage, genius, -enthusiasm, who will, at all hazards, lead them on to that glorious -liberty which we have taught them is cheaply purchased at any peril, or -war, or bloodshed? When that day comes, as sure it must, will there not -be horrors such as civil war has never yet produced? Is it not wise, -then, to begin measures for averting so fearful a catastrophe? Is it not -madness to slumber over such a frightful future? Should not the talent -and energies of the country be directed to the momentous inquiry, How -can slavery _now_ be peacefully and rightfully removed? Does not every -attempt to hush agitation, and insist on the finality of anti-slavery -measures, make more sure the awful fact that slavery is to work out its -own emancipation in fighting and blood? - -[Signature: Geo. W. Perkins] - - - - - DEATH IN LIFE. - - SUPPOSED INSCRIPTION UPON THE SEPULCHRE OF A NEGRO SLAVE, WHO, FOR - SOME IMAGINED CRIME, HAD BEEN IMMURED HALF A CENTURY IN A DUNGEON. - - - Ope, jealous portal! ope thy cavern womb, - Thy pris’ner will not flee its close embrace; - He lived and moved too long within a tomb, - Beyond its narrow bounds to dream of space. - - To eat his crust and muse, unvarying lot! - Thus, like his beard, his life slow length’ning grew; - So long shut out, the world the wretch forgot, - His cell his universe,—’twas all he knew. - - For Memory soon with loving pinions wheeled - In circles narrowing each successive flight; - Her sickly wings at length enfeebled yield, - Too weak to scale the walls that bound his sight. - - But Hope sat with him once, and cheered his day; - And raised his limbs, and kept his lamp alight; - Scared by his groans, at length she fled away; - And left him lone,—to spend one endless night. - - What change to him, then, is the vault below, - From that where late the captive was confined? - But this,—a worm _here_ eats his BODY now; - Whilst _there_ it gnawed his slow decaying MIND. - -[Signature: E. Button.] - - LONDON, 1852. - - - - - TRUE REFORM. - - -I have received your appeal, my friends, and am not sorry to find myself -remembered by you. Every moment of the ages is pregnant with the fate of -humanity, but we are inclined to imagine that in which we live to have a -peculiar significance. At this hour, it seems to us as if the great -balance of justice swayed to and fro, in most disheartening uncertainty; -but this moment, like all others, lies in the hollow of God’s hand, and -his infinite love will not fail to justify to men and angels its -terrible discipline. - -I have departed on this occasion from the plan of action once laid down -to myself. I have not presented you in these pages with the revolting -facts of slavery; for to deal with the subject at this moment in a -fitting manner, demands a prudence and tact not likely to be possessed -by one absent from the scene of action, and ignorant of the passing -moment. I wish to convey to you the assurance of my deep sympathy in all -Christ-like opposition to sin; my deep sorrow for every loss of manly -self-control, and failure of faith in God, among reformers; my -conviction that the Constitution of the United States, in so far as it -is not in harmony with the law of God, can be no sure foundation for the -law of man; that until it gives place to a higher ground of union, or -until the nation consent to give it a higher interpretation, it will -depress the national industry, corrupt the national morals, and palsy -the national strength. It is my firm faith, that man owes his first -allegiance to God, and that it is the duty of every citizen who disobeys -the law of a land, to bear its penalties with a patience and firmness -which shall show him adequate to the hour, and neither unwilling nor -unfit to complete the sacrifice he has begun. Above all, O my friends! I -pray that God may fill the hearts of the reformers in this cause with -the deepest devotion to his absolute truth, the truest perception of the -humility of Christ; that He may show them how, as its exigencies press, -they must not only be men full of anti-slavery zeal, but filled with -Divine prudence, sincere desirers of that peace which is founded on -purity,—possessors of that temperance which is its own best pledge. In -the consciousness of the martyrdom of the affections, which his position -involves, the reformer feels oftentimes secure of his eternal -compensation. But I have wondered, of late, whether martyrdom may not be -as dangerous to his spiritual life as worldly renown, or pecuniary -prosperity. - -Stretched upon the rack, I may still be puffed up with pride, or an -unhealthy spirit of self-dependence; and sacrificing my last copper on -the altar of a great truth, I may still refuse to offer there my -personal vanity, my wilful self-esteem, or my bitterness of temper. - -Let us be willing, O my friends! to lay these also at the feet of -Christ. - -[Signature: Caroline W. Healey Dall.] - -TORONTO, CANADA, JULY 22, 1852. - - - - - HOW LONG? - - - How long, O gracious God! how long, - Shall power lord it over right? - The feeble, trampled by the strong, - Remain in slavery’s gloomy night? - In every region of the earth, - Oppression rules with iron power; - And every man of sterling worth, - Whose soul disdains to cringe or cower - Beneath a haughty tyrant’s nod, - And, supplicating, kiss the rod - That, wielded by oppression’s might, - Smites to the earth his dearest right,— - The right to speak, and think, and feel, - And spread his uttered thoughts abroad, - To labour for the common weal, - Responsible to none but God,— - Is threatened with the dungeon’s gloom, - The felon’s cell, the traitor’s doom, - And treacherous politicians league - With hireling priests, to crush and ban - All who expose their vile intrigue, - And vindicate the rights of man. - How long shall Afric’ raise to thee - Her fettered hand, O Lord! in vain, - And plead in fearful agony - For vengeance for her children slain? - I see the Gambia’s swelling flood, - And Niger’s darkly rolling wave, - Bear on their bosoms, stained with blood, - The bound and lacerated slave; - While numerous tribes spread near and far, - Fierce, devastating, barbarous war, - Earth’s fairest scenes in ruin laid, - To furnish victims for that trade, - Which breeds on earth such deeds of shame, - As fiends might blush to hear or name. - I see where Danube’s waters roll, - And where the Magyar vainly strove, - With valiant arm and faithful soul, - In battle for the land he loved,— - A perjured tyrant’s legions tread - The ground where Freedom’s heroes bled, - And still the voice of those who feel - Their country’s wrongs, with Austrian steel. - I see the “Rugged Russian Bear,” - Lead forth his slavish hordes, to war - Upon the right of every State - Its own affairs to regulate; - To help each despot bind the chain - Upon the people’s rights again, - And crush beneath his ponderous paw - All constitutions, rights, and law. - I see in France,—O burning shame!— - The shadow of a mighty name, - Wielding the power her patriot bands - Had boldly wrenched from kingly hands, - With more despotic pride of sway - Than ever monarch dared display. - The fisher too whose world-wide nets - Are spread to snare the souls of men, - By foreign tyrants’ bayonets - Established on his throne again, - Blesses the swords still reeking red - With the best blood his country bore, - And prays for blessings on the head - Of him who wades through Roman gore. - The same unholy sacrifice - Where’ere I turn bursts on mine eyes, - Of princely pomp, and priestly pride, - The people trampled in the dust, - Their dearest, holiest rights denied, - Their hopes destroyed, their spirit crushed: - But when I turn the land to view, - Which claims, par excellence, to be - The refuge of the brave and true, - The strongest bulwark of the free, - The grand asylum for the poor - And trodden down of every land, - Where they may rest in peace, secure, - Nor fear the oppressor’s iron hand,— - Worse scenes of rapine, lust, and shame, - Than e’er disgraced the Russian name, - Worse than the Austrian ever saw, - Are sanctioned here as righteous law. - Here might the Austrian butcher[13] make - Progress in shameful cruelty, - Where women-whippers proudly take - The meed and praise of chivalry. - Here might the cunning Jesuit learn, - Though skilled in subtle sophistry, - And trained to persevere in stern - Unsympathising cruelty, - And call that good, which, right or wrong, - Will tend to make his order strong: - He here might learn from those who stand - High in the gospel ministry, - The very magnates of the land - In evangelic piety, - That conscience must not only bend - To everything the church decrees, - But it must also condescend, - When drunken politicians please - To place their own inhuman acts - Above the “higher law” of God, - And on the hunted victim’s tracks - Cheer the malignant fiends of blood, - To help the man-thief bind the chain - Upon his Christian brother’s limb, - And bear to slavery’s hell again - The bound and suffering child of Him - Who died upon the cross, to save - Alike, the master and the slave. - While all the oppressed from every land - Are welcomed here with open hand, - And fulsome praises rend the heaven - For those who have the fetters riven - Of European tyranny, - And bravely struck for liberty; - And while from thirty thousand fanes - Mock prayers go up, and hymns are sung, - Three million drag their clanking chains, - “Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung;” - Doomed to a state of slavery, - Compared with which the darkest night - Of European tyranny, - Seems brilliant as the noonday light. - While politicians void of shame, - Cry this is law and liberty, - The clergy lend the awful name - And sanction of the Deity, - To help sustain the monstrous wrong, - And crush the weak beneath the strong. - Lord, thou hast said the tyrant’s ear - Shall not be always closed to thee, - But that thou wilt in wrath appear, - And set the trembling captive free. - And even now dark omens rise - To those who either see or hear, - And gather o’er the darkening skies - The threatening signs of fate and fear; - Not like the plagues which Egypt saw, - When rising in an evil hour, - A rebel ’gainst the “higher law,” - And glorying in her mighty power,— - Saw blasting fire, and blighting hail, - Sweep o’er her rich and fertile vale, - And heard on every rising gale - Ascend the bitter mourning wail; - And blighted herd, and blasted plain, - Through all the land the first-born slain, - Her priests and magi made to cower - In witness of a higher power, - And darkness like a sable pall - Shrouding the land in deepest gloom, - Sent sadly through the minds of all, - Forebodings of approaching doom. - What though no real shower of fire - Spreads o’er this land its withering blight, - Denouncing wide Jehovah’s ire - Like that which palsied Egypt’s might; - And though no literal darkness spreads - Upon the land its sable gloom, - And seems to fling around our heads - The awful terrors of the tomb; - Yet to the eye of him who reads - The fate of nations past and gone, - And marks with care the wrongful deeds - By which their power was overthrown,— - Worse plagues than Egypt ever felt - Are seen wide-spreading through the land, - Announcing that the heinous guilt - On which the nation proudly stands, - Has risen to Jehovah’s throne, - And kindled his Almighty ire, - And broadcast through the land has sown - The seeds of a devouring fire; - Blasting with foul pestiferous breath, - The fountain springs of moral life, - And planting deep the seeds of death, - And future germs of deadly strife; - And moral darkness spreads its gloom - Over the land in every part, - And buries in a living tomb - Each generous prompting of the heart. - Vice in its darkest, deadliest stains, - Here walks with brazen front abroad, - And foul corruption proudly reigns - Triumphant in the Church of God, - And sinks so low the Christian name, - In foul degrading vice and shame, - That Moslem, Heathen, Atheist, Jew, - And men of every faith and creed, - To their professions far more true, - More liberal both in word and deed, - May well reject with loathing scorn - The doctrines taught by those who sell - Their brethren in the Saviour born, - Down into slavery’s hateful hell; - And with the price of Christian blood - Build temples to the Christian’s God, - And offer up as sacrifice, - And incense to the God of heaven, - The mourning wail, and bitter cries, - Of mothers from their children riven; - Of virgin purity profaned - To sate some brutal ruffian’s lust, - Millions of godlike minds ordained - To grovel ever in the dust, - Shut out by Christian power and might - From every ray of Christian light. - How long, O Lord! shall such vile deeds - Be acted in thy holy name, - And senseless bigots o’er their creeds - Fill the whole world with war and flame? - How long shall ruthless tyrants claim - Thy sanction to their bloody laws, - And throw the mantle of thy name - Around their foul, unhallowed cause? - How long shall all the people bow - As vassals of the favoured few, - And shame the pride of manhood’s brow,— - Give what to God alone is due, - Homage, to wealth, and rank, and power, - Vain shadows of a passing hour? - Oh for a pen of living fire, - A tongue of flame, an arm of steel! - To rouse the people’s slumbering ire, - And teach the tyrants’ hearts to feel. - O Lord! in vengeance now appear, - And guide the battles for the right, - The spirits of the fainting cheer, - And nerve the patriot’s arm with might; - Till slavery, banished from the world, - And tyrants from their power hurled, - And all mankind from bondage free, - Exult in glorious liberty! - -[Signature: J M Whitfield] - - - - - LETTER FROM MR. WILSON ARMISTEAD TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY. - - - LEEDS, 7TH MO. 22, 1852. - -MY DEAR FRIEND,—In responding to thy welcome communication, I may say -that I rejoice in the cause of the interruption of our correspondence, -so far as it concerns thyself; thy time and talents being so -increasingly occupied, in union with other of humanity’s advocates, in -assisting to overturn the monster iniquity of our age, that crowning -crime of Christendom,—_negro slavery_! - -Go on in this good work! and may God’s blessing abundantly attend, till -the eternal overthrow be effected of a system so fraught with every -evil, so abhorrent to the rights of nature, and so contrary to the -spirit of the Gospel;—till the galling chain be broken off the necks of -America’s three million slaves; till its victims be raised from the -profoundest depths of ignorance and woe, to which they are now degraded. - -’Tis a marvel to me, that a system like that of negro slavery, which -admits of such atrocities, can be tolerated for a single hour! Ought not -every one who has a spark of humanity, to say nothing of Christianity, -in his bosom,—ought not all the sound part of every community in which -slavery exists, to rise up _en masse_, and declare that this abomination -shall exist no longer? - -Who gave to any man the right to enslave his fellow-man? Can any -enactment of human legislators so far sanction robbery, as lawfully to -make one man the property of another? Has God poured the tide of life -through the African’s breast, and animated it with a portion of his own -Divine spirit, and at the same time deprived him of all natural -affections, that _he_ alone is to be struck off the list of rational -beings, and placed on a level with the brute? Is his flesh marble, and -his sinews iron, or his immortal spirit of a class condemned, without -hope, to penal suffering, that he is called upon to endure incessant -toil, and to be subjected to degradation, bodily and mental, such as no -other portion of the family of Adam have ever been destined to endure, -without the vengeance of Heaven being signally displayed upon the -oppressors? Does the African mother feel less love to her offspring than -the white woman? or the African husband regard with less tenderness the -wife of his bosom? Is his heart dead to the ties of kindred,—his nature -so brutalized, that the sacred associations of home and country awaken -no emotions in his breast? - -History unanswerably demonstrates that the negro does feel, keenly feel, -the wrongs inflicted upon him by his unrighteous enslavers, and that his -mind, barren as it has been rendered by hard usage, and desolated with -misery, is not unwatered by the pure and gentle streams of natural -affection. Yet the lordly oppressors remain unmoved by the sad condition -of the negro, contemplate with indifference his bodily and mental -sufferings, and still dare to postpone to an indefinite period the -termination of his oppression and of their own guilt. - -But thanks be to God! there _is_ some counteracting influence to this -feeling, and that it is on the advance. The night has been long and -dark,—already the horizon brightens; the day of freedom dawns. - -Go on, then, my friend; I say, go on! in the good cause thou hast -espoused. Labour, and faint not. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do -it with all thy might.” My kind regards to Frederick Douglass; may he, -and all others also, be strengthened and encouraged to labour in the -great work of human freedom; that so, by gradual increase, like the -mighty surge, they may become strong enough to overpower and drown the -oppressor, and be enabled to devise and execute measures of mercy and -justice, which may avert the judgments of the Almighty from their guilty -land. For surely some signal display of Divine displeasure must await -America unless she repent, and undo the heavy burdens of her THREE -MILLION SLAVES. - -Are not the signs of the times calculated to remind us forcibly of this -language of Isaiah, “Behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish -the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall -disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain.” Do we not hear -already— - - “——the wheels of an avenging God, - Groan heavily along the distant road?” - -Assuredly, he comes to judge the earth. “Who shall abide the day of his -coming; who shall stand when he appeareth?” - - Thy Friend, very truly, - -[Signature: Wilson Armistead] - - - - - IMPROMPTU STANZAS, - SUGGESTED BY THE WORKING OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT, AS ILLUSTRATED IN - THE CASE OF REV. DOCTOR PENNINGTON. - - BY THE WORKSHOP BARD. - - - Bring out the handcuffs, clank the rusted gyves; - Rain down your curses on the doomed race; - Hang out a terror that shall haunt their lives, - In every place. - - Unloose the blood-hounds from oppression’s den; - Arm every brigand in the name of law, - And triple shield of pulpit, press and pen, - Around them draw. - - Ho! politicians, orators, divines! - Ho! cotton-mongers of the North and South! - Strike now for slavery, or our Union’s shrines - Are gone forsooth! - - Down from their glory into chaos hurled, - Your thirty States in shivered fragments go, - Like the seared leaves by autumn tempests whirled - To depths below. - - Closed be each ear, let every tongue be dumb; - Nor one sad pitying tear o’er man be shed, - Though fainting at your threshold he should come, - And ask for bread. - - Though woman, fleeing from the cruel grip - Of foul oppression, scarred and stained with blood, - Where from the severed veins the driver’s whip - Hath drank its flood. - - Though helpless childhood ask—O pitying Heaven!— - The merest crumb which falls upon the floor, - Tho’ faint and famished, bread must not be given, - Bolt fast the door. - - And must it be, thou just and holy God! - That in our midst thy peeled and stricken poor - Shall kneel and plead amid their tears and blood, - For evermore? - - Shall those whom thou hast sent baptised from heaven, - To preach the Gospel the wide world around, - To teach the erring they may be forgiven, - Be seized and bound? - - Placed on the auction-block, with chattels sold, - Driven like beasts of burden day by day, - The flock be scattered from the shepherd’s fold, - The spoiler’s prey? - - How long—thy people cry—O Lord, how long! - Shall not thine arm “shake down the bolted fire!” - Can deeds like these of God-defying wrongs, - Escape His ire? - - Must judgments,—such as swept with fearful tread - O’er Egypt when she made thy people slaves, - Where thy hand strewed with their unburied dead - The Red Sea waves? - - Must fire and hail from heaven upon us fall, - Our first-born perish ’neath the Avenger’s brand, - And sevenfold darkness, like a funeral pall - O’erspread the land? - - We kneel before thy footstool, gracious God, - Spare thou our nation, in thy mercy spare; - We perish quickly ’neath thy lifted rod - And arm made bare. - -[Signature: J. M. Eells.] - - WEST TROY, MARCH, 1851. - - - - - JOHN MURRAY (OF GLASGOW). - - -About a year ago, the newspapers announced the death of Mr. John Murray, -for many years the secretary of the Glasgow Emancipation Society, and I -would do violence to truth and humanity whose servant and soldier he -was, should I neglect to pen a few recollections of that most earnest -and efficient man. - -He was related to the ancient and honourable family of the Oswalds of -Sheildhall, and received that excellent educational and religious -training which is given to the children of the middle and higher classes -in Scotland. At the age of twenty-two or three, in consequence of an -attack of pulmonary hemorrhage, he sailed for the West Indies and found -employment at his trade, house-building, in St. Kitts. Very soon, -however, he found other matters to engage, and almost engross his -attention and labours; in conjunction with an uncle of George Stephen of -London, and a Dr. Hamilton, resident in St. Kitts, he did manly and -successful fight in behalf of the wronged and bleeding slave. - -After a residence in that island of some years, during which he obtained -a thorough knowledge of the workings of slavery, he returned to Glasgow, -poor in pocket, but rich in abolitionism. Soon after his return, he was -united in marriage to Miss Anna ——, a lady whose perfect harmony in -sentiment, softened by feminine delicacy, made a happy anti-slavery home -for the zealous and ardent abolitionism of John Murray. It was a union -of hearts attached in early youth, and which had remained “leal” during -a long separation. - -Shortly after marriage, he commenced business as a _spirit-dealer_, then -and now a most reputable calling in the opinion of the good citizens of -Glasgow. Temperate himself, his calling gradually became unpleasant to -him. At first he refused to sell spirits to any person partly -inebriated; then he reasoned himself into a total abandonment of the -death-dealing traffic. With no other business prospect before him, -prevented by his long difficulty from working at his trade, with a young -wife and child dependent on him, he suddenly locked up his spirit-cellar -and never more sold rum! - -In 1828 or 1829, through the influence of his kinsman, James Oswald, -Esq., of Sheildhall, Mr. Murray was appointed surveyor on a part of the -Forth and Clyde canal, an office requiring much labour for little pay. -His prospects of promotion depended on Mr. Oswald and other members of -the Kirk of Scotland. Mr. Murray was a full member of the Tron Church, -Glasgow, when, according to law, a minister was appointed there -regardless of the choice, and contrary to the wishes of the great -majority of its members. In consequence of this appointment, and again -unmindful of personal advancement, John Murray shook the dust from his -sandals and quit at once and for ever the Tron Church and the Kirk of -Scotland. - -About the same time the Glasgow Emancipation Society was formed or -re-organised, on the doctrine of immediate emancipation so splendidly -announced by a secession minister of Edinburgh. The secretaries of this -association were John Murray the surveyor, and William Smead, of the -Gallowgate, grocer; the last a Friend. These two were the head and -front, the thinking and the locomotive power of this well-known -association which did notable fight, if not the principal labour, in -effecting emancipation in the British West Indies, and in assaulting -American slavery. - -And, twenty odd years ago, it was no trifling matter to do anti-slavery -work in Glasgow, the very names of whose stateliest streets proclaimed -that they were built by money wrung out of the blood and sweat of the -negroes of Jamaica, St. Vincent, &c. The whole of the retired wealth, -nearly all the active business influence, the weight of the Established -Church, the rank and fashion of Glasgow, and though last not least, the -keen wit of the poet Motherwell,[14] and the great statistical learning -and industry of M‘Queen were arrayed on the side of the slave-holder. -Sugar and cotton and rum were lords of the ascendant! Yet the poor -surveyor and the humble grocer fought on; nor did they fight alone; the -silvery voice and keen acumen of Ralph Wardlow, the earnest and powerful -Hugh Heugh, the inexorable logic and burning sarcasm of swarthy Wully -Anderson, and the princely munificence of James Johnston, combined to -awaken the people to the enormity of slavery. And the Voluntary Church -movement, and the fight for the Reform Bill aroused a varied eloquence -in the orators who pleaded for, and a kindling enthusiasm in the people -who were struggling on the liberal side of all these questions; for the -people, battling for their own rights, had heart room to hear the prayer -for the rights of others more deeply oppressed. Thus ever will liberty -be expansive and expanding in the direction of human brotherhood. - -Then KNIBB came along with his fiery eloquence, which swept over and -warmed the hearts of the people with indignation at the dishonour done -religion in the martyrdom of the missionary Smith; and then the grand -scene in the British emancipation drama, the overthrow of Bothwick by -George Thompson, and the monster petitions and the reluctant assent of -the ministry and the passage of the bill. - -Those were stirring times in Glasgow, and it did one’s heart good to see -John Murray in their midst. The arrangements for nearly all those -movements originated with, and were carried out by him; he never made a -speech of one minute long, yet he most effectively arranged all the -speaking, drew up all resolutions and reports and addresses; and most of -the movements in England, the pressure upon the ministry, and the -advocacy in Parliament were the result of his wide and laborious -correspondence. He used more than one ream of paper for manuscripts upon -the great cause which he seemed born to carry out successfully. In -addition to his other correspondence, nearly every issue of two of the -Glasgow tri-weekly papers contained able articles from his pen in reply -to the elaborate defence of slavery carried on in the _Glasgow Courier_ -by Mr. M‘Queen. And yet this man, doing this mighty work, was so -entirely unobtrusive, so quiet in his labours, that few beyond the -committee knew him other than the silent secretary of the Glasgow -Emancipation Society. And I shall not soon forget the perfect -consternation with which he heard a vote of thanks tendered him by -resolution at an annual meeting of the society. - -In 1835 or 1836, Mr. Murray was promoted to the office of collector at -Bowling Bay, for the company he had so long and faithfully served. And -many an anti-slavery wayfarer can testify to the warm welcome and genial -hospitality of the snug little stone building so beautifully packed on -the Clyde entrance of the Forth and Clyde canal. A charming family, -consisting of a devoted wife, two most promising boys, and a retiring, -sweet tempered girl, made happy the declining years of this great friend -of the slave, and earnest pioneer in many reforms. Freedom for Ireland, -the Peace Question, Radical Reform, a Free Church, and Total Abstinence, -were questions to all of which Mr. Murray devoted his pen and his purse. -His soul received and advocated whatever looked towards human progress. - -In person, Mr. Murray was tall and gaunt, and would strongly remind one -of Henry Clay. About a mile from Bowling Bay, within the enclosure that -surrounds the Relief Church, in a sweet quiet spot, the green turf now -covers what remains of the once active frame of John Murray; and as, -with moistened cheek, I fling this pebble upon his cairn, I cannot help -thinking how much more has been done for the cause of human progress by -this faithful servant to his own convictions of the truth, than by the -nation-wept sage of Ashland. - -[Signature: James M’Cune Smith] - -NEW YORK, SEPT. 25, 1852. - - - - - POWER OF AMERICAN EXAMPLE. - - -At the last anniversary of the American Home Missionary Society, Rev. -John P. Gulliver made an eloquent address on the duty of bringing the -American people under the full influence of Christian principle, in an -argument drawn from the bearings of our national example on the people -of other lands. _Christianity_, he said, _alone can make the nations -free_. We fully believe in this sentiment. In answer to the question, -_How is Christianity to effect this result?_—Mr. Gulliver’s answer was: -AMERICA IS TO BE THE AGENT. - -Other nations, he thought, might do much in working out this great -result; but the chief hopes of the friends of freedom, he suggested, are -centered upon this country. The world needs _an example_; and he pointed -to what the example of this nation has already done, imperfect as it is. -“It is doing, at this moment, more to change the political condition of -man than all the armies and navies,—than all the diplomacy and kingcraft -of the world.” If it be so, if as the speaker declared, “the battle of -the world’s freedom is to be fought on our own soil,” it would be -interesting to look at the obstacles in the way. The United States must -present a very different example from that exhibited the last -twenty-five years, and now exhibited, before this country will be the -agent of Christianity in evangelising the world. Think of three millions -of our countrymen in chains! Think of the large numbers held by -ministers of the Gospel and members of churches! Think of the -countenance given to slave-holders by our ecclesiastical assemblies, by -Northern preachers, by Christian lawyers, merchants, and mechanics! -Think of the platforms, adopted by the two leading political parties of -the country, composed partly of religious men! Think of the dumbness of -those that minister at the altar, in view of the great national -iniquity, and then consider the effects of _such an example_ upon other -nations, Christian and Heathen! - -Dr. Hawes is stated to have said at the last annual meeting of the A. B. -C. F. M., that Dr. John H. Rice said, in his hearing, more than twenty -years ago: “I do not believe the Lord will suffer the existing type or -character of the Christian world to be impressed on the heathen.” We -also heard the remark, and believe that Dr. Rice, in alluding to the -state of religion in this country, said, “It was so far short of what -Christianity required, that sanguine as many were that the United States -was speedily to be the agent of the world’s conversion, he did not -believe, for one, that God would suffer the Christianity of this -country, as it then was, to be impressed upon the heathen world.” If the -character of our religion was thus twenty years ago, what is it now? As -a religious people we have been boastful. We have acted as if we thought -God could not convert the world without the instrumentality of this -country. It is far more probable that the converted heathen will send -missionaries to the United States to teach us the first rudiments of -Christianity, than that this country, at the present low ebb of -religion, will be the agent of converting heathen nations to God. - -Dr. Hawes believed “that if the piety of the church were corrected and -raised to the standard of Paul, God would soon give to the Son the -heathen for his inheritance.” No doubt of it. Such piety would do away -with chattel slavery, with caste, with slavery platforms, with ungodly -rulers, with Indian oppression, with divorcing Christianity from the -ballot-box, with heathenism at home. Let us pray for such piety; and -that hundreds of such men as RICE and HAWES may lift up their voices -like a trumpet, and put forth corresponding action, until the nation -shall be regenerated and become fit to enlighten, and, through the grace -of God, save a dying world. - - - - - “THE GOSPEL AS A REMEDY FOR SLAVERY.” - - -In one of the leading Congregational papers, a writer, W. C. J., has -commenced a series of communications under the above heading. It is well -to discuss the subject. The writer says, “There are, it is true, many -among our three millions of slaves who are acquainted with the rudiments -of religious truth, and are leading lives of sincere piety.” Dr. Nelson, -a native of a slave State, stated, as the result of experience for many -years, that he had never known more than three or four slaves who he had -reason to believe were truly and intelligently pious. The Synod of South -Carolina and Georgia published to the world, some years since, that the -great mass of slaves were heathen, as much so as the heathen of any -portion of the globe. What authority W. C. J. has for saying there are, -among the three millions of American slaves, “many” who are “leading -lives of sincere piety,” I do not know. It is probably the mere -conjecture of an ardent mind. He qualifies the expression by asking, -“What is the type of the religion that too generally appears among the -slaves?” And then replies to his own question, “It is sickly and weak, -like a plant growing in a cellar, or a cave; a compound of sincere piety -with much of superstition and fanaticism.” What sort of piety is that? - -A sagacious observer has remarked, that there never can be, in our day, -intelligent piety where men are not possessed of property, especially -where they are mere serfs or slaves. How many American slaves have the -piety of “Uncle Tom,” we are unable to say. Probably very few. And it -must fill the heart of every one who loves the souls of men, with -anguish to contemplate the spiritual destitution of the slaves in this -country; kept in bondage by the religious and political apathy or acts -of professing Christians, of different denominations, in their -individual or associated capacity. But to the question: _Is the Gospel a -remedy for slavery?_ We answer, unhesitatingly, not such a Gospel as is -preached to them; for while it does very little to enlighten either -slave or master, it enjoins upon the former passive obedience, and -inculcates upon the latter the right and duty of holding their -fellow-men in bondage. Nor have we much hesitation in avowing it as our -belief, that the Gospel, as generally preached in the free States, is -quite inadequate to put an end to slavery. It does not reach the -conscience of the tens of thousands who are, in various ways, connected -with slave-holding by relationship, business correspondence, or -political or ecclesiastical ties. As proof of this, we need only -contemplate the action of the Northern divisions of the political and -religious national parties. Slavery is countenanced, strengthened, -increased, and extended by their connivance or direct agency. The truth -is, Christianity, as promulgated by the great mass of the preachers and -professors at this day even in the free States, is not a remedy for -slavery. It is a lamentable truth, one that might justly occasion in the -heart of every true Christian the lamentation of the prophet Jeremiah: -“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I -might weep, day and night, for the slain of the daughters of my people!” -And it is in view of this truth, that the friends of a pure and full -Gospel have great encouragement to persevere in their work of faith and -love. The missionaries connected with the American Missionary -Association, at home and abroad, inculcate, fearlessly and persistently, -a Gospel of freedom, and make no more apology or allowance for -slave-holding than for any other sin or crime. Such missionaries should -be sustained, their numbers augmented, and prayer ascend for them -continually. - -[Signature: Lewis Tappan] - - - - - LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. - - -DEAR MADAM,—Your request to transmit my name, with a short article, for -insertion in your contemplated publication, is before me. I have neither -time nor words in which to express my unalterable abhorrence of slavery, -with all the odious apologies and blasphemous claims of divine sanction -for it, that have been attempted. I regard all attempts, by legislation -or otherwise, to give the abominable system “aid and comfort” as -involving treason against the government of God, and as insulting the -consciences and common sense of men. - - Yours truly, - -[Signature: C. G. Finney] - -OBERLIN, 24 SEPT., 1852. - - - - - THE SLAVE’S PRAYER. - - -The _first effort_ of my early life in narrative writing, was in behalf -of those who, in even darker days than these, were preeminently those -who, on earth, “had no helper.” - -From this tale is selected these few lines—a song introduced into the -story—not because it has any poetic merit, but because to me and perhaps -to others, it seems interesting from the above circumstance. - -[Signature: Catharine E. Beecher.] - - - SONG OF PRAISE. - - Though man neglects my sighing, - And mocks the bitter tear, - Yet does not God my crying - With kindest pity hear? - - And when with fierce heat panting - His hand can be my shade, - And when with weakness fainting - Support my aching head. - - And when I felt my cares - For those his love can save, - Will he not hear the prayers - Of the poor negro slave? - - Yes, for the poor and needy - He promises to save, - And who is poor and needy - Like the poor negro slave? - - - - - THE STRUGGLE. - - -Ours is a noble cause; nobler even than that of our fathers, inasmuch as -it is more exalted to struggle for the freedom of _others_, than for our -_own_. The love of right, which is the animating impulse of our -movement, is higher even than the love of freedom. But right, freedom, -and humanity, all concur in demanding the abolition of slavery. - -[Signature: Charles Sumner] - -BOSTON, OCT. 16, 1852. - - - - - WORK AND WAIT. - - -My Friend,—I have found no moment till the present that I could devote -to a compliance with your request, and I am now probably too late. -However, let me hastily proffer a few suggestions to opponents of -slavery, which I trust may not be found unprofitable. I would say, then: - -1. Do not choose to separate and isolate yourselves from the general -movement of humanity, save as you may be constrained to oppose certain -eddies of that movement. Had WILBERFORCE, CLARKSON, and their associate -pioneers in the cause of British abolition, seen fit to cut themselves -loose from all pre-existing sects and parties, and form a special -anti-slavery church and party, I think the triumph of their cause would -have been still unattained. - -2. Do not refuse to do a little good because you would much prefer to do -a greater which is now unattainable. The earth revolves in her vast -orbit gradually; and he who has done whatever good he can, need not -reproach himself for his inability to do more. - -3. Be foremost in every good work that the community around you _will_ -appreciate,—not _because_ they will appreciate it, but because their -appreciation and sympathy will enable you to do good in other spheres, -and do it more effectually. - -4. Be pre-eminent in your consideration and regard for the rights and -wrongs of labour in your own circle, even the rudest and humblest. An -abolitionist who hires his linen made up at the lowest market rate, and -pays his wash-woman in proportion, will do little good to the -anti-slavery or any other philanthropic cause. The man of liberal -culture and generous heart who unostentatiously tries to elevate the -most depressed to his own level, is doing a good work against slavery, -however unconsciously. - -5. Have faith, with a divine patience; man is privileged to labour for a -good cause, but the glory of its success must redound to his Maker. Next -to a great defeat, the most fatal event for slavery would be a great -triumph. Doubtless, the bolts are now forging in some celestial armoury -destined to strike the shackles from the limbs of the bond-man, and -cleanse the land from the foulest and blackest iniquity ever organised -and legalised in the Christian world. The shout of deliverance may come -when it is least expected,—nay, the very means employed to render its -coming impossible, will probably secure and hasten it. For that and -every other needed reform, let the humane and hopeful strive, not -despairing in the densest midnight, and realising that the darkest hour -is often that preceding the dawn. Let them, squandering no opportunity, -and sacrificing no principle, - - “Learn to labour, and to wait.” - -[Signature: Horace Greeley] - - - - - THE GREAT EMANCIPATION. - - -Beautiful and happy will this world be, when slavery and every other -form of oppression shall have ceased. But this change can be produced -only by the religion of Jesus Christ. Reliance on any other power to -overthrow slavery, or restore to order and happiness this sin-crazed and -sin-ruined world, will be vain. - -[Signature: Gerrit Smith] - -PETERBORO’, SEPT. 22, 1852. - - - - - ODE - - Sung at the celebration of the First Anniversary of the kidnapping, - at Boston, of Thomas Sims, a fugitive slave:—the kidnapping done - under the forms of law, and by its officers, 12 June, 1851. The deed - _celebrated_ at the Melodeon, Boston, 12 June, 1852. - - BY REV. JOHN PIERPONT. - - - Souls of the patriot dead, - On Bunker’s height who bled! - The pile, that stands - On your long-buried bones,— - Those monumental stones,— - Should not suppress the groans, - This day demands. - - For Freedom there ye stood; - There gave the earth your blood; - There found your graves; - That men of every clime, - Faith, colour, tongue, and time, - Might, through your death sublime, - Never be slaves. - - Over your bed, so low, - Heard ye not, long ago, - A voice of power[15] - Proclaim to earth and sea, - That where ye sleep, should be - A home for Liberty, - Till Time’s last hour? - - Hear ye the chains of slaves, - Now clanking round your graves? - Hear ye the sound - Of that same voice, that calls - From out our Senate halls,[16] - “Hunt down those fleeing thralls, - With horse and hound!” - - That voice your sons hath swayed! - ’Tis heard, and is obeyed! - This gloomy day - Tells you of ermine stained, - Of Justice’ name profaned, - Of a poor bondman, chained - And borne away! - - Over Virginia’s Springs, - Her eagles spread their wings, - Her Blue Ridge towers:— - That voice,[17]—once heard with awe,— - Now asks,—“Who ever saw, - Up there, a higher law - Than this of ours?” - - Must _we_ obey that voice? - When God, or man’s the choice, - Must we postpone - HIM, who from Sinai spoke? - Must we wear slavery’s yoke? - Bear of her lash the stroke, - And prop her throne? - - Lashed with her hounds, must we - Run down the poor, who flee - From Slavery’s hell? - Great God! when we _do_ this, - Exclude us from thy bliss; - At us let angels hiss, - From heaven that fell! - -[Signature: J. Pierpoint] - - - - - PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE WOMAN. - - BY ANNIE PARKER. - - -The slaves at Oak Grove did not mourn for poor Elsie when she died, said -Aunt Phillis, continuing her narrative. She was never a favourite, and -from the time her beauty attracted the notice of the young master, and -he began to pet her, she grew prouder and prouder, and treated the other -slaves as if she were their mistress, rather than their equal. They -hated her for her influence over the master, and she knew it, and that -made matters worse between them. - -When she died in giving birth to her second child, her little boy and I -were the only ones who felt any sorrow. The master had grown tired of -her, though he had once been very fond of her. Besides, he was at this -time making arrangements for his marriage with a beautiful Northern -lady, so that whatever he might have felt, nobody knew anything about -it. - -Elsie was my younger sister. I loved her dearly, and had been almost as -proud as she was of her remarkable beauty. Her little boy was very fond -of his mother, and she doated upon him. He mourned and mourned for her, -after her death, till I almost thought he would die too. He was a -beautiful boy, and at that time looked very much like his father, which -was probably the reason why the master sold him, before he brought his -bride to Oak Grove. - -It was very hard for me to part with poor Elsie’s little boy. But the -master chose to sell him, and my tears availed nothing. Zilpha, Elsie’s -infant, was given me to take care of when her mother died, and with that -I was obliged to be content. - -Marion Lee, the young mistress, was very beautiful, but as different -from poor Elsie as light from darkness. She had deep blue eyes, with -long silken lashes, and a profusion of soft brown hair. She always made -me think of a half-blown rosebud, she was so delicate and fair. She -proved a kind and gentle mistress. All the slaves loved her, as well -they might, for she did everything in her power to make them comfortable -and happy. - -When she came to Oak Grove, she chose me to be her waiting-maid. Zilpha -and I occupied a large pleasant room next to her dressing-room. - -She made a great pet of Zilpha. No one ever told her that she was her -husband’s child. No one would have dared to tell her, even if she had -not been too much beloved, for any one to be willing to grieve her, as -the knowledge of this fact must have done. - -In due time she, too, had a little girl, beautiful like herself. Zilpha -was delighted with the baby. She never wearied of kissing its tiny -hands, and talking to it in her sweet coaxing tones. Mrs. Lee said -Zilpha should be Ida’s little maid. The children, accordingly, grew up -together, and when they were old enough to be taught from books, -everything that Ida learned Zilpha learned also. - -When Zilpha was seventeen, she was more beautiful than her mother had -ever been, and she was as gentle and loving as Elsie had been passionate -and proud. There was a beautiful, pleading look in her large dark eyes, -when she lifted the long lashes so that you could see into their clear -depths. She was graceful as a young fawn, and playful as a kitten, and -she had read and studied so many books, that _I_ thought she knew almost -as much as the master himself. - -Mr. Minturn lived at Lilybank, the estate joining Oak Grove. He was an -old friend of Mr. Lee, and the families were very intimate. About this -time a relative of Mrs. Minturn died at the far South, and left her a -large number of slaves. I don’t know how they were _all_ disposed of, -but one of the number, a very handsome young man, named Jerry, was -brought to Lilybank, and became Mr. Minturn’s coachman. He was -considered a great prize, for he had a large muscular frame, and was -capable of enduring a great amount of bodily fatigue. He was, also, for -a slave, very intelligent, and from being at first merely the coachman, -he soon became the confidential servant of his master. - -Owing to the intimacy between the heads of the two families, the young -people of both were much together. Ida often spent whole days at -Lilybank, and as Zilpha always accompanied her, she had ample -opportunity to become acquainted with the new man Jerry. - -It so happened that I, being more closely confined by my duties at home, -had never seen Jerry, when in the summer following his coming to -Lilybank, Mrs. Lee went to visit her friends at the North, and took me -with her. Ida and Zilpha remained at home. We were gone three months. A -few days after our return, Zilpha told me that she was soon to be -married to Jerry. The poor child was very happy. She had evidently given -him her whole heart. We talked long that day, for I wanted to know how -it had been brought about, and she told me all, with the simplicity and -artlessness of a child. They had felt great anxiety less their masters -should oppose the marriage. But the fear was removed. Mr. Lee had -himself proposed it, and Mr. Minturn gladly consented. I rejoiced to see -my darling so happy, and felt truly thankful to God that the warm love -of her heart had not been blighted. - -That same evening Jerry came to see Zilpha. She called me immediately, -for I had never seen him, and she wished us to meet. The moment I looked -upon his face, I knew he was my poor Elsie’s son. I grew sick and faint, -and thought I should have fallen. - -Zilpha made me sit down, and brought me a glass of water, wondering all -the time, poor thing, what had made me ill so suddenly. I soon recovered -sufficiently to remember that I must not betray the cause of my -agitation. I did not speak much, but watched Jerry’s face as closely as -I could, without arresting their attention. Every moment strengthened -the conviction that my suspicion was correct. There was the same proud -look that Elsie had, the same flashing eye, and slightly curled lip, and -when he carelessly brushed back the hair from his forehead, I saw a scar -upon it, which I knew was caused by a fall but a little while before his -mother died. O God! I thought, what will become of my darling child! - -I soon left the room, on the pretence that my mistress wanted me, but -really that I might shut myself into my own room and think. I did not -close my eyes that night, and when the morning dawned, I was as far as -ever from knowing what I ought to do. At last I resolved to see the -master as early as I could, and tell him all. - -After breakfast I went to the library to fetch a book for my mistress, -and found the master there. He was reading, but looked up as I entered, -and said kindly, “What do you wish for, Phillis?” I named the book my -mistress wanted. He told me where it was. I took it from the shelf, and -stood with it in my hand. The opportunity which I desired had come, but -I trembled from head to foot, and had no power to speak. I don’t know -how I ever found words to tell him that Jerry was his own child. I -tried, afterwards, to remember what I said, but I could not recall a -word. He turned deadly pale, and sat for some minutes silent. At length -in a low, husky voice, he said, “You will not be likely to speak of -this, and it is well, for it must not be known. I shall satisfy myself -if what you have told me is true. If I find that it is, I shall know -what to do. You may go.” - -I took the book to my mistress, and was sent by her to find Zilpha. She -was in the garden with Ida, and when I called her, she came bounding -towards me with such a bright, happy face, that I could scarcely -restrain my tears. Zilpha was a beautiful reader. She often read aloud -to her mistress, by the hour together. I liked to take my sewing and sit -with them at such times, but that day I was glad to shut myself up alone -in my room. - -The next day the master sent for me to the library. “It is true, -Phillis,” he said to me, “Jerry is without doubt poor Elsie’s child.” If -an arrow had pierced my heart at that moment, I could not have felt -worse, for though I had thought I was sure it was so, all the while a -hope was lingering in my heart that I was mistaken. I did not speak, and -the master seeing how I trembled, kindly told me to sit down, and went -on; “I did not see Jerry myself,” he said, “Mr. Minturn made all -necessary inquiries for me. Jerry remembers his mother, and describes -her in a way that admits of no mistake. He remembers, too, that a -gentleman used sometimes to visit his mother, who took a great deal of -notice of him, and would let him sit upon his lap and play with his -watch seals. His mother used to be very happy when this gentleman came, -and when he went away she would almost smother the little boy with -kisses, and talk to him of his papa. I offered to buy Jerry, but Mr. -Minturn would not part with him. If he would have consented, I might -easily have disposed of the whole matter.” - -A horrible fear took possession of me at these words. Would he _dare_ to -sell my darling Zilpha? The thought almost maddened me. Scarce knowing -what I did, I threw myself on my knees before him, and begged him not to -think a second time of selling his own flesh and blood. He angrily bade -me rise, and not meddle with that in which I had no concern. That he had -a right, which he should exercise, to do what he would with his own. He -had thought it proper, he said, to tell me what I had just heard, but -charged me never again to name the subject to any living being, and not -to let any one suspect from my appearance that anything unusual had -occurred. With this he dismissed me. - -What I suffered during that dreadful week, is known only to God. I could -neither eat nor sleep. It seemed to me I should lose my reason. - -Jerry came once to Oak Grove, but I would not see him. Zilpha I avoided -as much as possible. I could not bear to look upon her innocent -happiness, knowing as I did that it would soon be changed into -unspeakable misery. - -The first three days the master was away from home. On Thursday he -returned. When I chanced to meet him, he looked uneasy; and if he came -to his wife’s room and found me with her, he would make some excuse for -sending me away. - -Saturday was a beautiful bright October day, and Ida proposed to Zilpha -that they should take their books and spend the forenoon in the woods. -They went off in high spirits. I thought I had never seen my Zilpha look -so lovely. Love and happiness had added a softer grace to her whole -being. I followed them to the door, and she kissed me twice before -leaving me; then looking back, when she had gone a little way, and -seeing me still standing there, she threw a kiss to me with her little -hand, and looked so bright and joyous, that my aching heart felt a new -pang of sorrow. What was it whispered to me then that I should never see -her again? - -I went back to my work, and presently the master came and asked for Ida. -He wished her to ride with him. I told him where she was, and he went in -search of her. Zilpha did not come back with them. “We told her to stay -if she wished,” Ida said. But my heart misgave me. I should at once have -gone in search of her, but Mrs. Lee wanted me, and I could not go. - -I cannot bear, even now, to recall the events of that day. My worst -fears were realized. During my master’s absence, he had sold my darling -to a Southern trader, who only waited a favorable opportunity to take -her away without the knowledge of the family. He had been that morning -with Mr. Lee, and was in the house when Mr. Lee returned with Ida from -the woods. - -I don’t know how the master ever satisfied his wife and Ida about -Zilpha’s disappearance. There was a report that she had run away. But I -don’t think they believed it. Certainly _I_ never did. - -I almost forgot my own sorrow when I saw how poor Jerry felt when he -knew what had happened. Of course he did not know what I did. He _never_ -knew why Zilpha was sent away, but he knew she was sold, and that there -was little reason to hope he should ever see her again. He went about -his work as usual, but there was a look in his eye which made one -tremble. - -Before many days he was missing, and though his master searched the -country, and took every possible means to find him, he could discover no -trace of the fugitive. I felt satisfied he had followed the North Star, -but I said nothing, and was glad the poor fellow had gone from what -would constantly remind him of Zilpha. - -During the following winter, Mrs. Lee had a dangerous illness. I watched -over her night and day, and when she recovered, my master was so -grateful for what I had done, that he gave me my freedom, and money -enough to bring me to the North. - -Of Zilpha’s fate I have been able to learn nothing. I can only leave her -with God, who, though his vengeance is long delayed, hears and treasures -up every sigh and tear of his poor slave-children. - -I saw, a few days since, a man who knows Jerry. He is living not many -miles from me, and I shall try to see him before I die. But I shall -never tell him the whole extent of the wrongs he suffered in slavery. - -[Signature: Annie Parker.] - - - - - STORY TELLING. - - BY ANNIE PARKER. - - - The winter wind blew cold, and the snow was falling fast, - But within the cheerful parlour none listened to the blast; - The fire was blazing brightly, and soft lamps their radiance shed - On rare and costly pictures, and many a fair young head. - - The father in the easy chair, to his youngest nestling dove, - Whispered a wondrous fairy tale, such as all children love; - Brothers and sisters gathered round, and the eye might clearly trace - A happiness too deep for words, on the mother’s lovely face. - - And when the fairy tale was done, the blue-eyed Ella said, - “Mama, please tell a story, too, before we go to bed, - And let it be a funny one, such as I like to hear, - ‘Red Riding Hood,’ or ‘The Three Bears,’ or ‘Chicken Little-dear.’” - - A smile beamed on the mother’s face, as the little prattler spoke, - And kissing her soft, rosy cheek, she thus the silence broke, - “I will tell you my own darlings, a story that is true, - Of a little Southern maiden, with a skin of sable hue. - - “Xariffe, her mother called her, a child of beauty rare, - With soft gazelle-like eyes, and curls of dark and shining hair, - A fairy form of perfect grace, and such artless winning ways - That none who saw her, e’er could fail her loveliness to praise. - - “She sported mid the orange-groves in gleeful, careless play, - And her mother, as she gazed on her, in agony would pray, - ‘My Father, God! be merciful! my cherished darling save - From the curse whose sum of bitterness is to be a female slave.’” - - “God heard her prayer, but often he in wisdom doth withhold - The boon we crave, that we may be pure and refined like gold; - And the mother saw Xariffe grow in loveliness and grace, - Till the roses of five summers blushed in beauty on her face. - - “At length, one day, one sunny day, when earth and heaven were bright, - The mother to her daily toil went forth at morning light; - At evening, when her task was done—how can the tale be told? - She came back to her empty hut, to find her darling sold. - - “Come nearer, my own precious ones, your soft white arms entwine - Around my neck, and kiss me close, sweet Ella, daughter mine; - Five years in beauty _thou_ hast bloomed, of my happy life a part, - Oh, God! I guess the anguish of that lone slave-mother’s heart. - - “Now, darlings, go and kiss papa, and whisper your good night, - Then hasten to your little beds, and sleep till morning light; - But, oh! before you close your eyes, God’s care and blessing crave, - On the saddest of His children, that poor heart-broken slave.” - - - - - THE MAN-OWNER. - - -A friend of mine, on the —— day of ——, 18—, (the dates it is unnecessary -to specify,) became the owner of a man. He had never owned one before; -and he has had so much trouble with him, that I doubt if he will ever -allow himself to become owner of one again. My friend is not a -Southerner; yet the circumstances by which so singular a dispensation -fell to him, it is unnecessary for me to recount. I will briefly -describe the master and the man, and show how they succeeded in their -relationship. - -The master was wholly respectable in his life and character; endowed -with good sense; well enough off in the world, able to hire service, if -he needed, and to pay for it: his temper not bad, though sometimes -irritable;—he could be provoked as others can. He had strong passions, -and sometimes in the course of his life they had got the better of him, -and had led him to conduct which, in the coolness of his mind, he -bitterly repented. Circumstances might have made a bad man of him. The -instructions which he received in his childhood, the example of his -parents, the respectable neighbourhood in which he resided, the church -which he attended, all had a favourable influence upon him. So he became -a man of principle. He had not, indeed, the highest principles; he was -no hero; he was not disposed to make himself a martyr. His religion was -no other than the common religion of the church to which he was -attached, and it demanded no peculiar sacrifice of him. He was a member -of one of the leading political parties, and did his full duty in -maintaining its cause. He called himself a patriot, however, not a -partizan; and talked ever of his country, as the highest exemplification -of the great principles of liberty, and considered the success of our -institutions as the hope of humanity. Yet he loved his country,—not his -race. He was not without charity to the poor; and was not unwilling to -see them, individually, rising above destitution. Yet he did not like to -associate with men lower in the social scale than himself; but had an -ambition that impelled him to court the society of those whose station -and influence were superior to his own. Nor did he care for, or believe -in, any suggestions or plans, the object of which was the elevation of -the poor as a class, and the levelling upwards of the human race. He -thought that as a divine authority has declared to us, “ye have the poor -with you always,” it was ordained that we should always have them,—that -they were an exceedingly useful class, as a foundation in society, that -the prosperous men of the world could not do without them, and that it -was not best to give them too much hope of rising. - -Perhaps you will say I have given you no very definite description of -him. You will think, perhaps, were I called to write of him again, I -might, at once, better make use of the words of the poet,— - - The annals of the human race, - Their ruins, since the world began, - Of him afford no other trace, - Than this,—THERE LIVED A MAN! - -I fear, however, that I shall be unable to be more particular in my -description of the servant. It is said, “like master, like man,” and, -indeed, leaving out the expressions above, which show the relationship -of the master to the community and the church, the description of -temper, and of general, moral, and religious principle, would answer to -be repeated now. Suffice it to say, the man was not bad; that is, not -thoroughly bad. He cherished no secret desire for liberty. His master -had no real fear of his attempting to escape. He loved his master; and -some thought, who did not wholly know him, that never slave loved a -master with more fondness and devotion. Yet I know that he was often -disobedient. Passages,—not of arms,—but of ill-temper, of reproach, and -of insolence, not unfrequently occurred between them. High words were -used, hard looks and moody oftener still, perhaps, yet the master never -struck his servant, nor did the servant ever offer violence towards his -master. But at times they would have been very glad to part company, if -the one could have easily escaped, or the other could have made out to -do without him. Much of the disobedience which gave serious offence to -the master, was the result of inadvertence. Lessons, the most frequently -enjoined, were forgotten; they were not always listened to with an -obedient mind. Years long the master required this or that service from -day to day, and yet the command was not once a year, I may say, attended -to. Always the master was saying,—“to-morrow I shall turn over a new -leaf with him;” but he had not energy enough to carry his purpose into -effect. He intended to give his servant at least some moral education, -to teach him self-control, to prevent his bursts of passion, not by the -infliction of punishment, but by a true moral discipline; yet the work -was always delayed, and never accomplished. You will say, the master had -himself some idle fancies that he ought not to have indulged, and that a -severer course would have been more successful. But he was one of those -who doubt the advantages and shrink from the application of severity, -and he would have been no more prompt and resolute and persevering with -his servant than with himself. - -At the commencement, I seemed to promise a story. But all my narrative -is closed with a word more. The master was at the age of twenty-one, -when he came into possession of his man. The connection will never be -dissolved, except, at least, by death. Indeed, reader, if you have not -already seen it, master and man were but one and the same person. - -And this is the moral of my little fiction. Who will believe that any -man ought to have the ownership of another, when it is so rare to find -one of us wholly competent to govern and to own himself? Nay, the better -a man is, and the more qualified to direct and to govern others with -absolute sway, the less is he willing to take the responsibility of the -disposal of them,—but seeing his own unfitness for the office of lord, -even of himself, he prays, not that he may be a master of others, but -himself a servant of God. - -[Signature: E. Buckingham] - - CAMBRIDGE, MASS., - OCT., 1852. - - - - - DAMASCUS IN 1851. - - -No city has been more variously described than Damascus, because none -has more contrasted features. A spruce Yankee, hearing “Silk -Buckingham’s” description of his “Paradise,” and seeing merely narrow, -half-paved, mat-covered streets, and dirty, mud-walled buildings, would -prefer his native “Slabtown” to the “most refreshing scene in all our -travels.” And yet Damascus is one of the wonders of the world, -unrivalled in what is peculiarly its own, admitting no comparison with -any existing city, revelling in a beauty and a splendour belonging to -Islamism more than Christianity, characterising the age of the Caliphs -rather than of the Crystal Palace. - -In antiquity it has no rival. Nineveh, Babylon, Palmyra, its -contemporaries, have wholly perished; while this oldest inhabited place -has lost none of its population, yielded none of its local pre-eminence, -abandoned but one of the arts for which it was so renowned, and taken -not a tinge of European thought, worship, life. It numbers not far from -one hundred and fifty thousand souls, of whom twenty thousand may be -Greek and Armenian Christians. It lies in an exquisite garden at the -foot of Anti-Lebanon, in a plain of inexhaustible fertility, watered by -innumerable brooklets from those ancient streams, “Abana and Pharphar,” -and shut in by vast groves of walnut and poplar, a “verdurous wall of -Paradise,” which are all that the traveller sees for hours as he draws -near the city of “Abraham’s steward.” - -Originally the seat of a renowned kingdom, and once the capital of the -Saracen empire, it is now the centre of an Ottoman Pashalik, but -virtually the metropolis of Syria, as it was in the earliest time. Miss -Martineau and some others carelessly give it a length of seven miles; -but the real extent of the city walls in any one direction is not more -than two. The gardens and groves around, however, take the same name, -and are over twenty miles in circuit, of a studied, picturesque -wildness, shaded lanes, running side by side with merry brooks, the -whole overshadowed by the deepest forest, and forming delicious relief -from the sunburnt plains of Syria. Besides the walnut, so much prized -for its fruit all through the East, and the poplar, the main dependence -for building, the famous damson, or Damascene plum, abounds, the citron, -orange and pomegranate spread their fruit around, the vine is everywhere -seen, and only three miles off stands the forest of damask rose-trees -whence the most delicious attar is made. But a genuine American will -prefer the walnut-tree to all others, because of its freedom of growth, -massiveness of trunk, depth of shade, and impressive reminiscence of -home. These trees, together with the mulberry, do very much for the -commerce of the city. But, indeed, Damascus is the chief depôt of -manufactures for Syria. Silk goods cannot be bought to such advantage -elsewhere, nor of such antique patterns, nor of genuine “damask” -colours. The business has suffered somewhat of late, because Turkish -husbands discovering that English prints are so much cheaper, and their -wives fancying the flowing calicoes to be so much prettier than the -patterns which their grandmothers wore, foreign goods are supplanting -the domestic; and a macadamized road is contemplated from the city to -its seaport Beiroot, whose effect would be to make British and French -manufactures still more common, but, at the same time, to give free -circulation to the handicraft of Damascus. As at Constantinople, Cairo, -and elsewhere, each trade occupies its own quarter,—the jewellers, -pipe-makers, silk-dealers, grocers, saddlers, having each their -exclusive neighbourhood; none of the Bazaars are such noble edifices as -cluster around the mosque of St. Sophia; and in the rainy season (that -is, during their winter) the pavement is so wretched and slippery, and -such a mass of mud and water oozes down from the rotten awnings, that -one does no justice to the unequalled richness of some of the fabrics -and the grandeur of some of the khans. One traveller informs the public -that there is a grand “Bazaar for wholesale business” of variegated -black and white marble, “surmounted by an ample dome,” with a lively -fountain in the centre. There are _thirty-one_ such buildings, which -_we_ should call Exchanges, bearing each the name of the Sultan who -erected them. Those that I visited were contiguous to the only street -which wears a name in the East, and that name, familiar to us in the -book of Acts, “Strait,” Dritto, as your guide mumbles the word,—a long -avenue, containing the only hotel in the city. - -An oriental peculiarity which makes the large towns exceedingly -interesting is, that every occupation is carried on out of doors, and -right under your eyes as you stroll along. Here the silk web is -stretched upon the outside wall of some extended building; here the -butcher is dressing the meat, perhaps for your dinner, right upon the -side-walk; and here a sort of extempore sausage is cooking, so that one -might almost eat it as he walks,—a capital idea for hasty eaters, and a -very nice article in its way. There is no other part of the world where -so much cooking is to be seen all the while, and such loads of -sweetmeats gladden the eyes of childhood, and such luscious compounds, -scented with attar, spread temptation before every sense. The business -of “El-Shans” might almost be headed by the five hundred public bakers, -though the silk is still the principal manufacture, and there are -reported to be seven hundred and forty-eight dealers in damask, -thirty-four silk-winders, one hundred silk dyers, and one hundred and -forty-three weavers of the same article. - -The famous Damascus blades are nothing but an “antiquity” now; they are -uniformly called so by the people, were offered to our purchase in very -small quantities by persons who knew nothing of their manufacture, at -exorbitant prices, and in very uncouth forms. They appeared to be -curiosities to them, as they certainly were to us, and are said to be -sometimes manufactured in England. A mace, offered for sale among these -scimetars of wavy steel, smacked of the Crusaders’ time, and was richly -inlaid with gold; the fire-arms, or blunderbusses, were grotesque and -unwieldy, richly mounted, and gorgeously ornamented. - -An attempt is making in certain quarters to persuade the civilised world -that Turkey has still some military power. Of this almost imperial city -the citadel is but a mass of ruins. Count Guyon, a confederate general -with Kossuth, and now a Turkish Pasha and drill-officer, assured us it -would be repaired and strengthened; but the city walls offer no defence -against a modern army; and the Turkish soldier, notwithstanding his -courage and endurance, cannot be bastinadoed into military science; -neither have educated Christian officers, like Guyon, any real -influence. I frequently saw the sentinels asleep while upon duty, and -recent experience has proved them incapable of standing before a far -smaller amount of really trained troops. Some of the barracks at -Damascus are rather the finest which the Sultan possesses, and among the -best in the world,—some, too, of the military exercises are pursued with -a creditable zeal,—but, on the whole, a more slatternly corps of men was -never seen, nor one less confident in themselves. - -The Christian curiosities of this oldest of inhabited cities begin with -the mosque of peculiar sanctity, once the site of St. John’s Cathedral, -whose chamber of relics, containing a pretended head of the Baptist, is -inaccessible even to Mussulmen, the priesthood excepted. Six huge -Corinthian columns, once a part of its proud portico, are built into -houses and stores, so that you get but faint glimpses of their beauty -and size until you mount the flat mud roof of the modern buildings, and -look down into the vast area of the temple, six hundred and fifty feet -by one hundred and fifty; and there find towering above you these -massive, blackened remains of Christian architecture,—significant -emblems of the triumph of the Crescent over the Cross, and yet, by their -imperishableness, a promise of renewed glory in some brighter future. -That Islamism is hastening to decay, is shown impressively enough in the -grand dervish mosque and khan, once quite celebrated as the Syrian -enthronement of this advance guard of Mahommed; now nothing could seem -more deserted! one minaret is threatening to fall, the spacious garden -is all weed-grown, and few are left to mourn over the reverse. These -banner-men of the prophet, no longer warriors, students, and apostles, -do but beg their bread and drone their prayers, and exchange the -reputation of fanatics for that of hypocrites; they are, in fact, monks -of the mosque, like their brothers in celibacy, changing sadly enough -from enthusiasm to formality—from the fervour of first love to the -grave-like chillness of an exhausted ritual. - -St. Paul is of course the great name at Damascus; and your dragoman is -very certain always as to the place where he was lowered down the city -wall; then he takes you to the tomb of the soldier who befriended him, -close at hand, and to the little underground chapel where the apostle’s -sight was restored. But, having passed in turn under the sceptre of -Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Jew, Roman, Arabian, Turk, every stone of -these buildings could tell a most interesting tale, and every timber of -the wall could answer with an experience corresponding to the out-door -revolution. - -But the grand attractions in this “Flower of the Levant and Florence of -Turkey” are the coffee-houses and the palaces of the rich. The writer of -Eothen, I think it is, says, “there is one coffee-house at Damascus -capable of containing a hundred persons.” A Damascus friend, a resident -clergyman, carried me into one where he had himself seen three thousand -people on a gala-day, and several where hundreds of visitors would not -make a crowd. This great necessity of Turkish life,—this deliverance -from the loneliness of an oriental home,—this luxurious substitute for -the daily newspaper, is carried to perfection here. First of all comes -the lofty, dome-covered hall, surrounded by couches like beds, enlivened -on all festivals by the Arabian improvisator with his song and his tale; -back of this are a number of rude arbours, interlaced with noble -shade-trees, and watered profusely by nimble brooks, the whole lighted -every night by little pale lamps. These are the gossiping-places for the -Damascene gentlemen; where the fragrant tchébouque, the coal narghilch, -or water-pipe, the delicious coffee, the indolent game at dominoes (I -never saw chess played at the east), is relieved by such domestic -anecdotes as, according to my American friend, brand the domestic life -of the city with beastly sensuality. - -One would fain hope that these are the prejudices of an earnest -missionary; but, until the residence of years had given familiarity with -the language, any opinions of a visitor would be erroneous, as well as -presuming. Nothing, however, can bring back so powerfully the Arabian -tales of enchantment as the interior of the wealthier Damascus houses. -The outside is always mean and forbidding. You have sometimes to stoop -under the rude, low gate; and the first court, surrounded only by -servants’ rooms, has nothing of interest. But the second and third -quadrangles become more and more spacious, and are always of variegated -marble, containing a perpetually playing fountain, overhung by the -orange, the citron, and the vine, whose fragrance floats dreamily on the -moist air, lulling the senses to repose. The grand saloon I found to be -always arranged pretty much the same. A lower part of the pavement near -the door is the place of deposit for slippers, shoes, and the pattens -which Damascus women use so much in the winter—articles, all of them, -never intended for ornament, and never fitted to the foot, but worn as -loose as possible, and never within the sitting-room, but simply as a -protection from out-door wet and soil. The lower portion of the room and -its rug-strewn floor are of variegated marbles; then comes -curiously-carved woods, then painted stucco, decorated with mirrors -rising to the distant, gay-coloured roof. The immense loftiness, the -moist coolness, the gorgeous hues, the emblazoned texts from the Koran, -the sweet murmur of the various fountains, the fragrance of the -orange-groves, succeed to the out-door dreariness like a dream of Haroun -Al Raschid to the wearied pilgrim on desert sands. The divan, or wide -sofa, on three sides of this hall, is far more agreeable in this -enervating climate than any European furniture; only in winter, as the -ground underneath is permeated by leaky clay tubes bearing the waters of -the Barrady, and there is no other heating apparatus save a brazer of -charcoal, one is sometimes very chilly, and is tempted to exchange this -tomb-like dampness for a cozy corner near some friendly stove or -familiar fire-place. - -But the general impression which unintelligent strangers carry from -Damascus is, that the people have what they want, and have gone wisely -to work to realise their idea of earthly blessedness—an indolent, -sensual, dreamy one to you, but in their eyes no faint type of the -Mussulman’s heaven. - -[Signature: F W Holland] - -CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - - - - - RELIGIOUS, MORAL, AND POLITICAL DUTIES. - - -What is morally wrong cannot be made practically right. The laws of -morality are taught in the Bible; they are unchangeable truths; no -sophistry, no expediency, no compromise can set them aside. - -If politics are the science of government, and if civil government is a -divine institution, intended to protect the rights of all; if “an injury -done to the meanest subject is an injury done to the whole body;” and if -“rulers must be just, ruling in the fear of God,” all legislation should -be based on moral duty. Any enactments that have not this basis are, in -the Divine sight, null and void. If man is endowed by nature with -inalienable rights, no legislation can rightfully wrest them from him. -Any attempt to do it is an infraction of the moral law. Our religious, -moral, and political duties are identical and inseparable. It is the -duty of all Christian legislators so to act _now_, as they know all must -act when truth and righteousness shall have a universal prevalence on -the earth. - -[Signature: Lindley Murray Moore] - - - - - WHY SLAVERY IS IN THE CONSTITUTION. - - -That the constitution of a country should guide its actions is a -_truism_ which none, perhaps, will be inclined to controvert. Indeed, so -thoroughly is this sentiment inwrought into us, that we generally expect -_practice_ will conform to the constitution. But does not this subject -States or nations to misapprehension by others? South Carolina, for -instance, abolishes the writ of _habeas corpus_ with regard to the -coloured people, and imprisons them, although citizens of the other -States, when they enter her borders in any way. Now these are direct -violations of the constitution of the United States, so direct that they -cannot be explained away. Nor do we think that South Carolina even -attempts it. She openly says, that it is owing to the existence of -slavery among them, that the _free_ coloured man, coming into contact -with the slaves, will taint them with notions of liberty which will make -them discontented—that therefore her own preservation, the first law of -nature, requires her to do everything she can to keep the disturbing -force out of her limits, even if she have to violate the constitution of -the United States. This she asserts, too, when, at the formation of the -constitution, she was one of the large slave-holding States—when she had -before her the example of every nation that had practised slavery, and -when now her senators and representatives in Congress are sworn to -support the Constitution of the Union. Thus we see that it would be -doing injustice to the constitution, were we to judge of it by the -practice of South Carolina. - -But the inquirer will not be satisfied with the South Carolina reason. -He wants something more and better. He says, too, that these give good -occasion to those exercising the powers of the government to confirm all -law-abiding citizens in the belief that they are well protected by the -constitution, and to let the world see how much the United States prize -it. But supposing he were told that those who control the government -feel, in this matter with South Carolina,—that those who had the control -of the government had no power to coerce South Carolina to perform her -duty,—indeed, in a partizan view, that the person injured were _no_ -party,—that, as a general thing, they could not even vote,—were -unimportant, nay, insignificant. If those reasons will not satisfy him, -he must be content with them, for it is not likely that he will get any -other. We further see that injustice would be done by considering the -_practice_ of a people as fairly representing their constitution. - -A constitution—the organic law—in truth, all other law is, in some -degree, a restraint on men. It makes an umpire of right, of reason, -which, if not the same in degree in all of us, is the same in nature. -Yet it must be, to some extent, a restraint on the desires or selfish -passions of men. In fact, it is only carrying out the rule of doing to -others what they should do to us, and tends not only to preserve, but -advance society. If no constitution or law agreeing with it existed, men -would be left to the sway of their own passions—nearly always -selfish—and they being many, and very different in different persons, -sometimes, indeed, altogether opposite, and of various intensity—would, -by their indulgence, tend to confusion, to the deterioration of society, -and to its ultimate dissolution. - -Now the people of the United States, without the least hesitation, -declare—and they fully believe it—that we are the freest nation on -earth. Other nations, doubtless, with equal sincerity, say of themselves -the same thing. In England where, as in other countries of the old -world, there is a crowded population, raising to a high price everything -eatable, the _operatives_, as they are called, find it difficult to -sustain life. They work all the time they can, and, even after doing -this, they sometimes perish for want of such food as a human being ought -to eat. No one will say that affairs are well ordered here. Having no -such state of things ourselves—for except in some of our large cities, -no one starves to death—we think that to suffer one to die in this way -is cruel and heartless. And we greatly upbraid them for it. - -But here we have slavery—a vicious usage which European nations, -excepting one, have long since laid aside. This they have done not only -because it was productive of innumerable visible evils, but because it -greatly and injuriously affected the character of all concerned in it, -and in this way the character of the whole community—making one part of -it proud and imperious—another suppliant and servile. They upbraid us -with it, as being more inconsistent with the high principles we profess, -than any act tolerated among them is or can be with the principles they -profess. Then whilst we wonder that with so much wealth as England -unquestionably has, she should suffer her operatives to die for -something to eat, she wonders that slavery—the worst thing known among -men—should be permitted to raise its head, not only as high as the many -good things and exalted things we possess, but above them, making them, -when necessary, give way to it, and even contribute to its support. -Indeed, it appears to them like Satan appearing in company with the sons -of God, to accuse and try one of his children. - -But all this is of no avail. It produces no satisfying results—in fact, -nothing but mutual ill-will and irritation. It is no difficult thing to -select from the _practices_ of many people such as are not what they -ought to be—still the theory, the foundation of the government may be -opposed to them, but may be unable to put them down. They may exist in -spite of it, and in entire opposition to its _main_ object. Indeed, it -appears to be much like reasoning in a circle. We come to no end—no -conclusion. To come to any satisfactory end, any useful conclusion, we -must take something permanent—something believed by both to be -unchangeably right and moral, and compare our governments with it. -Whichever comes nearest to the standard agreed on by both, must of -course be nearest right. But what shall this be? Now as it is utterly in -vain for one to be happy unless he conform to the laws of his being, so -it is in vain that governments are instituted, unless they aim to secure -the happiness and safety of the governed—the people. The peculiar -benefit or enrichment of those that administer the laws, has nothing to -do with good government. Then it ought, by all means, to resemble the -Divine government. We do not mean a _theocracy_ as it has been -administered, the worst, perhaps, of all governments—but it should be -remarkable for its sacred regard to justice and right. - -But it is objected, this deals with persons as individuals, and not as -members of the body politic, and that all Christ’s exhortations were of -this kind. Well, be it so—what of that? There is not the least danger, -if one will acquit himself well in his various relations as an -individual—a MAN—but what he will make a good citizen. - -Taking this as our standard, and recurring for a moment to the assertion -of our superior happiness as a people—an assertion sometimes regarded as -the boastful grandiloquence of our people—is it not true that our -government, _our constitution of government we mean_, more nearly -resembles the Divine government than any other does, and _therefore_, -that those under it _are_ more happy? Some, while they are inclined to -admit the fact of our superior happiness, yet seem rather to attribute -it to our great abundance of land than to the nature of the government. -We do not wish in any way to deny, or even to neutralize this statement -about the abundance of our land, but still it is one of the _facts_ of -the government—the government was made with this in view—it constitutes -a subject for its action, and it makes of it a strong auxiliary. This, -though undeniably a _great_ cause, is not, in our judgment, the _chief_ -one. It is intellect—mind united to such feelings and desires that most -advance others to be like God in intelligence and worth—that makes the -chief cause. Where this _is_ not—or is not called forth and put into -activity, nothing to purpose can be done. Indeed it is the most powerful -agent for good anywhere to be found—for it is behind all others, and -sets all others to work. - -We have among us here no form of religion, as they have in other -countries, to which one must conform before he can have any share in the -government—no religion that is made part of the government, and which -is, therefore, _national_ Religion—how we shall serve or worship a Being -or beings superior to ourselves, and who are thought to influence our -destiny for ever—is, certainly, the highest concern of man. As no church -or nation can answer for him at the judgment-seat, he ought to be left -free on this matter. On this point he is free in this country, he is -under no necessity to think in a particular channel. In his inquiries -after truth, he has nothing to fear from the government about the -changes through which his mind may pass, or the conclusions to which it -may be led; although he may draw on him the prejudice and hatred of the -sects from whom he feels compelled to differ.[18] We may truly say, that -in this country, however far we may go in imitating foreign forms, we -have nothing higher than the preacher of the truth. - -We have no monarch _born_ to rule over us, whether we will or not; nor -are we obliged to support this costly leech according to _his_ dignity -by money wrung from the labour of the country, nor a host of relatives -according to _their_ dignity, as connected with the monarch. - -Nor have we a class _born_ to be our legislators. We have no legislative -castes, nor social castes, but we may truly say, that any native-born -citizen of the United States may aspire to any position, be it -governmental or social. - -Nor have we fought so long—though it must be confessed we are ready -pupils here—as most of the countries of the old world have; still we -begin to make fighting almost a part of the government, and a part of -the religion of the land. But all this does not answer the question that -many have asked, and that our intelligence and exemption from bias in -many things make more remarkable—why did we suffer slavery to find a -place in a constitution in which there are so many good things—why did -we make a garden of healthful fruits and enchanting flowers, and place -this serpent in it? - -The answer to this question may be easily given by one that well knows -the condition of the country that soon followed on the treaty of 1783. -Till we were governed by the present constitution we were governed by -the Articles of Confederation. The United States, though nominally a -nation, had no power to enforce any stipulations she might make. For -instance, if she should promise by a treaty to pay interest on the debt -that we had contracted to secure our national independence, each State, -by its _own_ power and authority, were to raise its quota of the whole -amount. If a State failed to raise it, the _United States_ had no -redress. It had no authority to coerce any State, no matter what was the -cause of failure. This is given as only an instance, and did we not -think it made our position very plain, others might be given in manifold -abundance—all tending to show the unfaithfulness of the States to the -engagements of the United States, and the utter powerlessness of the -latter to keep her word. It was owing to this that the _main_ object of -the Convention was the more perfect union of the States, and that in -this way there might be conferred on the United States the same plenary -power to carry out her engagements that a State had to carry out hers. - -The Convention did not meet to do away with slavery, but chiefly to form -such an union as would obviate the difficulty already mentioned, and so -keenly felt by some of the most earnest friends of the country. Although -slavery was pretty well understood then, and seemed to be opposed to all -the principles of freedom asserted, yet as it had been embraced by so -many, that if they should be united against the constitution its -adoption would be endangered, it was thought best not to insist on its -instant abolition. Men as yet had too much selfishness in them, and, -although reasonable beings, they have too much of the animal in them to -see that, in the long run, honesty is the best policy. Many of the -opponents of slavery, even from the slave States themselves, took this -opportunity of showing the baseness and turpitude of the whole -system—its advocates from the far South defending it as well as they -could. These advocates gave it as their opinion that, owing to the -Declaration of 1776, one which had already done wonders at the -North—owing to the influence of the principles of liberty inserted into -the constitution, and to the feeling of justice pervading all classes of -persons, and to the progress of refinement and true civilization, -slavery would ultimately disappear.[19] - -At the time this opinion was expressed by the conventionists from the -South, although we cultivated cotton to a small extent, it could not be -regarded as staple. Soon after making the constitution it began to be -important. It could be produced only at the South. As it grew in value -the notion of abolishing slavery began to wane, till now some of the -leading men of that part of the country say it is not only a good thing, -but an indispensable one to the highest perfection of the social system. - -[Signature: James G. Birney.] - - - - - THE TWO ALTARS; - OR, TWO PICTURES IN ONE. - - BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. - - - I.—THE ALTAR OF LIBERTY, OR 1776. - -The well-sweep of the old house on the hill was relieved, dark and -clear, against the reddening sky, as the early winter sun was going down -in the west. It was a brisk, clear, metallic evening; the long drifts of -snow blushed crimson red on their tops, and lay in shades of purple and -lilac in the hollows; and the old wintry wind brushed shrewdly along the -plain, tingling people’s noses, blowing open their cloaks, puffing in -the back of their necks, and showing other unmistakable indications that -he was getting up steam for a real roystering night. - -“Hurra! how it blows!” said little Dick Ward, from the top of the mossy -wood-pile. - -Now Dick had been sent to said wood-pile, in company with his little -sister Grace, to pick up chips, which everybody knows was in the olden -time considered a wholesome and gracious employment, and the peculiar -duty of the rising generation. But said Dick, being a boy, had mounted -the wood-pile, and erected there a flag-staff, on which he was busily -tying a little red pocket handkerchief, occasionally exhorting Gracie -“to be sure and pick up fast.” “O, yes, I will,” said Grace; “but you -see the chips have got ice on ’em, and make my hands so cold?” - -“O! don’t stop to suck your thumbs!—who cares for ice? Pick away, I say, -while I set up the flag of Liberty.” - -So Grace picked away as fast as she could, nothing doubting but that her -cold thumbs were in some mysterious sense an offering on the shrine of -Liberty; while soon the red handkerchief, duly secured, fluttered and -snapped in the brisk evening wind. - -“Now you must hurra, Gracie, and throw up your bonnet,” said Dicky, as -he descended from the pile. - -“But won’t it lodge down in some place in the wood-pile?” suggested -Gracie, thoughtfully. - -“O, never fear; give it to me, and just holler now, Gracie, ‘Hurra for -Liberty!’ and we’ll throw up your bonnet and my cap; and we’ll play, you -know, that we were a whole army, and I’m General Washington.” - -So Gracie gave up her little red hood, and Dick swung his cap, and up -they both went into the air; and the children shouted, and the flag -snapped and fluttered, and altogether they had a merry time of it. But -then the wind—good-for-nothing, roguish fellow!—made an ungenerous -plunge at poor Gracie’s little hood, and snipped it up in a twinkling, -and whisked it off, off, off—fluttering and bobbing up and down, quite -across a wide, waste, snowy field, and finally lodged it on the top of a -tall strutting rail, that was leaning very independently, quite another -way from all the other rails of the fence. - -“Now, see; do see!” said Gracie; “there goes my bonnet! What will Aunt -Hitty say?” and Gracie began to cry. - -“Don’t you cry, Gracie; you offered it up to Liberty, you know; it’s -glorious to give up everything for Liberty.” - -“O! but Aunt Hitty won’t think so.” - -“Well, don’t cry, Gracie, you foolish girl! Do you think I can’t get it? -Now, only play that that great rail was a fort, and your bonnet was a -prisoner in it, and see how quick I’ll take the fort, and get it!” and -Dick shouldered a stick, and started off. - - -“What upon ’arth keeps those children so long? I should think they were -making chips!” said Aunt Mehetabel; “the fire’s just a-going out under -the tea-kettle.” - -By this time Gracie had lugged her heavy basket to the door, and was -stamping the snow off her little feet, which were so numb that she -needed to stamp to be quite sure that they were yet there. Aunt -Mehetabel’s shrewd face was the first who greeted her as the door -opened. - -“Gracie—what upon ’arth!—wipe your nose, child; your hands are frozen. -Where alive is Dick? and what’s kept you out all this time? and where is -your bonnet?” - -Poor Gracie, stunned by this cataract of questions, neither wiped her -nose nor gave any answer; but sidled up into the warm corner, where -grandmamma was knitting, and began quietly rubbing and blowing her -fingers, while the tears silently rolled down her cheeks, as the fire -made their former ache intolerable. - -“Poor little dear!” said grandmamma, taking her hands in hers; “Hitty -shan’t scold you. Grandma knows you’ve been a good girl; the wind blew -poor Gracie’s bonnet away;” and grandmamma wiped both eyes and nose, and -gave her, moreover, a stalk of dried fennel out of her pocket, whereat -Gracie took heart once more. - -“Mother always makes fools of Roxy’s children,” said Mehetabel, puffing -zealously under the tea-kettle. “There’s a little maple sugar in that -saucer up there, mother, if you will keep giving it to her,” she said, -still vigorously puffing. “And now, Gracie,” she said, when, after a -while, the fire seemed in tolerable order, “will you answer my -question?—Where is Dick?” - -“Gone over in the lot to get my bonnet.” - -“How came your bonnet off?” said Aunt Mehetabel. “I tied it on firm -enough.” - -“Dick wanted me to take it off for him to throw up for Liberty,” said -Grace. - -“Throw up for fiddlestick! Just one of Dick’s cut-ups, and you were -silly enough to mind him!” - -“Why, he put up a flag-staff on the wood-pile, and a flag to Liberty, -you know, that papa’s fighting for,” said Grace more confidently, as she -saw her quiet, blue-eyed mother, who had silently walked into the room -during the conversation. - -Grace’s mother smiled, and said encouragingly, “And what then?” - -“Why, he wanted me to throw up my bonnet and he his cap, and shout for -Liberty; and then the wind took it and carried it off, and he said I -ought not to be sorry if I did lose it; it was an offering to Liberty.” - -“And so I did,” said Dick, who was standing as straight as a poplar -behind the group; “and I heard it in one of father’s letters to mother, -that we ought to offer up everything on the altar of Liberty! And so I -made an altar of the wood-pile.” - -“Good boy!” said his mother; “always remember everything your father -writes. He has offered up everything on the altar of Liberty, true -enough; and I hope you, son, will live to do the same.” - -“Only, if I have the hoods and caps to make,” said Aunt Hitty, “I hope -he won’t offer them up every week—that’s all!” - -“O! well, Aunt Hitty, I’ve got the hood; let me alone for that. It blew -clear over into the Daddy-ward pasture-lot, and there stuck on the top -of the great rail; and I played that the rail was a fort, and besieged -it, and took it.” - -“O! yes, you’re always up to taking forts, and anything else that nobody -wants done. I’ll warrant, now, you left Gracie to pick up every blessed -one of them chips!” - -“Picking up chips is girl’s work,” said Dick; “and taking forts and -defending the country is men’s work.” - -“And pray, Mister Pomp, how long have you been a man?” said Aunt Hitty. - -“If I an’t a man, I soon shall be; my head is ’most up to my mother’s -shoulder, and I can fire off a gun too. I tried the other day, when I -was up to the store. Mother, I wish you’d let me clean and load the old -gun; so that, if the British should come!”— - -“Well, if you are so big and grand, just lift me out that table, sir,” -said Aunt Hitty, “for it’s past supper-time.” - -Dick sprung, and had the table out in a trice, with an abundant clatter, -and put up the leaves with quite an air. His mother, with the silent and -gliding motion characteristic of her, quietly took out the table-cloth -and spread it, and began to set the cups and saucers in order, and to -put on the plates and knives, while Aunt Hitty bustled about the tea. - -“I’ll be glad when the war’s over, for one reason,” said she. “I’m -pretty much tired of drinking sage-tea, for one, I know.” - -“Well, Aunt Hitty, how you scolded that pedlar, last week, that brought -along that real tea.” - -“To be sure I did! S’pose I’d be taking any of his old tea, bought of -the British? Fling every teacup in his face first!” - -“Well, mother,” said Dick, “I never exactly understood what it was about -the tea, and why the Boston folks threw it all overboard.” - -“Because there was an unlawful tax laid upon it, that the Government had -no right to lay. It wasn’t much in itself; but it was a part of a whole -system of oppressive meanness, designed to take away our rights, and -make us slaves of a foreign power!” - -“Slaves!” said Dicky, straightening himself proudly. “Father a slave!” - -“But they would not be slaves! They saw clearly where it would all end, -and they would not begin to submit to it in ever so little,” said the -mother. - -“I wouldn’t, if I was they,” said Dicky. - -“Besides,” said his mother, drawing him towards her, “it wasn’t for -themselves alone they did it. This is a great country, and it will be -greater and greater; and it’s very important that it should have free -and equal laws, because it will by-and-by be so great. This country, if -it is a free one, will be a light of the world—a city set on a hill, -that cannot be hid; and all the oppressed and distressed from other -countries shall come here to enjoy equal rights and freedom. This, dear -boy, is why your father and uncles have gone to fight, and why they do -stay and fight, though God knows what they suffer, and” —and the large -blue eyes of the mother were full of tears; yet a strong, bright beam of -pride and exultation shone through those tears. - -“Well, well, Roxy, you can alway talk, everybody knows,” said Aunt -Hitty, who had been not the least attentive listener of this little -patriotic harangue; “but, you see, the tea is getting cold, and yonder I -see the sleigh is at the door, and John’s come; so let’s set up our -chairs for supper.” - -The chairs were soon set up, when John, the eldest son, a lad of about -fifteen, entered with a letter. There was one general exclamation, and -stretching out of hands towards it. John threw it into his mother’s lap; -the tea-table was forgotten, and the tea-kettle sang unnoticed by the -fire, as all hands piled themselves up by mother’s chair to hear the -news. It was from Captain Ward, then in the American army, at Valley -Forge. Mrs. Ward ran it over hastily, and then read it aloud. A few -words we may extract:—“There is still,” it said, “much suffering. I have -given away every pair of stockings you sent me, reserving to myself only -one; for I will not be one whit better off than the poorest soldier that -fights for his country. Poor fellows! it makes my heart ache sometimes -to go round among them, and see them with their worn clothes and torn -shoes, and often bleeding feet, yet cheerful and hopeful, and every one -willing to do his very best. Often the spirit of discouragement comes -over them, particularly at night, when, weary, cold, and hungry, they -turn into their comfortless huts on the snowy ground. Then sometimes -there is a thought of home and warm fires, and some speak of giving up; -but next morning out comes Washington’s general orders—little short -note; but it’s wonderful the good it does! and then they all resolve to -hold on, come what may. There are commissioners going all through the -country to pick up supplies. If they come to you, I need not tell you -what to do. I know all that will be in your hearts.” - -“There, children, see what your father suffers,” said the mother, “and -what it costs these poor soldiers to gain our liberty.” - -“Ephraim Scranton told me that the commissioners had come as far as the -Three-mile Tavern, and that he rather ’spected they’d be along here -to-night,” said John, as he was helping round the baked beans to the -silent company at the tea-table. - -“To-night?—Do tell, now!” said Aunt Hitty. “Then it’s time we were awake -and stirring. Let’s see what can be got.” - -“I’ll send my new over-coat, for one,” said John. “That old one an’t cut -up yet, is it, Aunt Hitty?” - -“No,” said Aunt Hitty; “I was laying out to cut it over, next Wednesday, -when Desire Smith could be here to do the tailoring.” - -“There’s the south room,” said Aunt Hitty, musing; “that bed has the two -old Aunt Ward blankets on it, and the great blue quilt, and two -comforters. Then mother’s and my room, two pair—four comforters—two -quilts—the best chamber has got——” - -“O! Aunt Hitty, send all that’s in the best chamber. If any company -comes, we can make it up off from our beds!” said John. “I can send a -blanket or two off from my bed, I know;—can’t but just turn over in it, -so many clothes on, now.” - -“Aunt Hitty, take a blanket off from our bed,” said Grace and Dicky at -once. - -“Well, well, we’ll see,” said Aunt Hitty, bustling up. - -Up rose grandmamma, with great earnestness, now, and going into the next -room, and opening a large cedar-wood chest, returned, bearing in her -arms two large snow-white blankets, which she deposited flat on the -table, just as Aunt Hitty was whisking off the table-cloth. - -“Mortal! mother, what are you going to do?” said Aunt Hitty. - -“There,” she said, “I spun those, every thread of ’em, when my name was -Mary Evans. Those were my wedding blankets, made of real nice wool, and -worked with roses in all the corners. I’ve got them to give!” and -grandmamma stroked and smoothed the blankets, and patted them down, with -great pride and tenderness. It was evident she was giving something that -lay very near her heart; but she never faltered. - -“La! mother, there’s no need of that,” said Aunt Hitty. “Use them on -your own bed, and send the blankets off from that;—they are just as good -for the soldiers.” - -“No, I shan’t!” said the old lady, waxing warm; “’t an’t a bit too good -for ’em. I’ll send the very best I’ve got, before they shall suffer. -Send ’em the _best_!” and the old lady gestured oratorically! - -They were interrupted by a rap at the door, and two men entered, and -announced themselves as commissioned by Congress to search out supplies -for the army. Now the plot thickens. Aunt Hitty flew in every -direction,—through entry-passages, meal-room, milk-room, down cellar, up -chamber,—her cap-border on end with patriotic zeal; and followed by -John, Dick, and Gracie, who eagerly bore to the kitchen the supplies -that she turned out, while Mrs. Ward busied herself in quietly sorting, -bundling, and arranging in the best possible travelling order, the -various contributions that were precipitately launched on the kitchen -floor. - -Aunt Hitty soon appeared in the kitchen with an armful of stockings, -which, kneeling on the floor, she began counting and laying out. - -“There,” she said, laying down a large bundle on some blankets, “that -leaves just two pair apiece all round.” - -“La!” said John, “what’s the use of saving two pair for me? I can do -with one pair, as well as father.” - -“Sure enough,” said his mother; “besides, I can knit you another pair in -a day.” - -“And I can do with one pair,” said Dickey. - -“Yours will be too small, young master, I guess,” said one of the -commissioners. - -“No,” said Dicky; “I’ve got a pretty good foot of my own, and Aunt Hitty -will always knit my stockings an inch too long, ’cause she says I grow -so. See here,—these will do;” and the boy shook his, triumphantly. - -“And mine, too,” said Gracie, nothing doubting, having been busy all the -time in pulling off her little stockings. - -“Here,” she said to the man who was packing the things into a -wide-mouthed sack; “here’s mine,” and her large blue eyes looked -earnestly through her tears. - -Aunt Hitty flew at her.—“Good land! the child’s crazy. Don’t think the -men could wear your stockings,—take ’em away!” - -Gracie looked around with an air of utter desolation, and began to cry, -“I wanted to give them something,” said she. “I’d rather go barefoot on -the snow all day, than not send ’em anything.” - -“Give me the stocking’s, my child,” said the old soldier tenderly. -“There, I’ll take ’em, and show ’em to the soldiers, and tell them what -the little girl said that sent them. And it will do them as much good as -if they could wear them. They’ve got little girls at home, too.” Gracie -fell on her mother’s bosom, completely happy, and Aunt Hitty only -muttered, “Everybody does spile that child; and no wonder, neither!” - -Soon the old sleigh drove off from the brown house, tightly packed and -heavily loaded. And Gracie and Dicky were creeping up to their little -beds. - -“There’s been something put on the altar of Liberty to-night, hasn’t -there, Dick?” - -“Yes, indeed,” said Dick; and, looking up to his mother, he said, “But, -mother, what did you give?” - -“I?” said the mother, musingly. - -“Yes, you, mother; what have you given to the country?” - -“All that I have, dears,” said she, laying her hands gently on their -heads,—“my husband and my children!” - - - II.—THE ALTAR OF ——, OR 1850. - -The setting sun of chill December lighted up the solitary front window -of a small tenement on —— street, which we now have occasion to visit. -As we push gently aside the open door, we gain sight of a small room, -clean as busy hands can make it, where a neat, cheerful young mulatto -woman is busy at an ironing-table. A basket full of glossy-bosomed -shirts, and faultless collars and wristbands, is beside her, into which -she is placing the last few items with evident pride and satisfaction. A -bright, black-eyed boy, just come in from school, with his satchel of -books over his shoulder, stands, cap in hand, relating to his mother how -he has been at the head of his class, and showing his school-tickets, -which his mother, with untiring admiration, deposits in the little real -china tea-pot, which, as being their most reliable article of gentility, -is made the deposit of all the money and most especial valuables of the -family. - -“Now, Henry,” says the mother, “look out and see if father is coming -along the street;” and she begins filling the little black tea-kettle, -which is soon set singing on the stove. - -From the inner room now daughter Mary, a well-grown girl of thirteen, -brings the baby, just roused from a nap, and very impatient to renew his -acquaintance with his mamma. - -“Bless his bright eyes!—mother will take him,” ejaculates the busy -little woman, whose hands are by this time in a very floury condition, -in the incipient stages of wetting up biscuit, “in a minute;” and she -quickly frees herself from the flour and paste, and, deputing Mary to -roll out her biscuit, proceeds to the consolation and succour of young -master. - -“Now, Henry,” says the mother, “you’ll have time, before supper, to take -that basket of clothes up to Mr. Sheldin’s;—put in that nice bill that -you made out last night. I shall give you a cent for every bill you -write out for me. What a comfort it is, now, for one’s children to be -gettin’ learnin’ so!” - -Henry shouldered the basket, and passed out the door, just as a -neatly-dressed coloured man walked up, with his pail and white-wash -brushes. - -“O, you’ve come, father, have you?— Mary, are the biscuits in? —you may -as well set the table, now. Well, George, what’s the news?” - -“Nothing, only a pretty smart day’s work. I’ve brought home five -dollars, and shall have as much as I can do these two weeks!” and the -man, having washed his hands, proceeded to count out his change on the -ironing-table. - -“Well, it takes you to bring in the money,” said the delighted wife; -“nobody but you could turn off that much in a day!” - -“Well, they do say—those that’s had me once—that they never want any -other hand to take hold in their rooms. I s’pose its a kinder practice -I’ve got, and kinder natural!” - -“Tell ye what,” said the little woman, taking down the family strong -box—to wit, the china tea-pot aforenamed—and pouring the contents on the -table, “we’re getting mighty rich now! We can afford to get Henry his -new Sunday cap, and Mary her muslin-de-laine dress;—take care, baby, you -rogue!” she hastily interposed, as young master made a dive at a dollar -bill, for his share in the proceeds. - -“He wants something, too, I suppose,” said the father; “let him get his -hand in while he’s young.” - -The baby gazed with round, astonished eyes, while mother with some -difficulty, rescued the bill from his grasp; but, before any one could -at all anticipate his purpose, he dashed in among the small change with -such zeal as to send it flying all over the table. - -“Hurra!—Bob’s a smasher!” said the father, delighted; “he’ll make it -fly, he thinks;” and, taking the baby on his knee, he laughed merrily, -as Mary and her mother pursued the rolling coin all over the room. - -“He knows now, as well as can be, that he’s been doing mischief,” said -the delighted mother, as the baby kicked and crowed uproariously;—“he’s -such a forward child, now, to be only six months old!—O, you’ve no idea, -father, how mischievous he grows;” and therewith the little woman began -to roll and tumble the little mischief-maker about, uttering divers -frightful threats, which appeared to contribute, in no small degree, to -the general hilarity. - -“Come, come, Mary,” said the mother, at last, with a sudden burst of -recollection; “you mustn’t be always on your knees fooling with this -child!—Look in the oven at them biscuits.” - -“They’re done exactly, mother,—just the brown!”—and, with the word, the -mother dumped baby on to his father’s knee, where he sat contentedly -munching a very ancient crust of bread, occasionally improving the -flavour thereof by rubbing it on his father’s coat-sleeve. - -“What have you got in that blue dish, there?” said George, when the -whole little circle were seated around the table. - -“Well, now, what _do_ you suppose?” said the little woman, delighted;—“a -quart of nice oysters,—just for a treat, you know. I wouldn’t tell you -till this minute,” said she, raising the cover. - -“Well,” said George, “we both work hard for our money, and we don’t owe -anybody a cent; and why shouldn’t we have our treats, now and then, as -well as rich folks?” - -And gaily passed the supper hour; the tea-kettle sung, the baby crowed, -and all chatted and laughed abundantly. - -“I’ll tell you,” said George, wiping his mouth, “wife, these times are -quite another thing from what it used to be down in Georgia. I remember -then old Mas’r used to hire me out by the year; and one time, I -remember, I came and paid him in two hundred dollars,—every cent I’d -taken. He just looked it over, counted it, and put it in his -pocket-book, and said, ‘You are a good boy, George,’—and he gave me -_half-a-dollar_!” - -“I want to know, now!” said his wife. - -“Yes, he did, and that was every cent I ever got of it; and, I tell you, -I was mighty bad off for clothes, them times.” - -“Well, well, the Lord be praised, they’re over, and you are in a free -country now!” said the wife, as she rose thoughtfully from the table, -and brought her husband the great Bible. The little circle were ranged -around the stove for evening prayers. - -“Henry, my boy, you must read,—you are a better reader than your -father,—thank God, that let you learn early!” - -The boy, with a cheerful readiness, read, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and -the mother gently stilled the noisy baby, to listen to the holy words. -Then all kneeled, while the father, with simple earnestness, poured out -his soul to God. - -They had but just risen,—the words of Christian hope and trust scarce -died on their lips,—when, lo! the door was burst open, and two men -entered; and one of them advancing, laid his hand on the father’s -shoulder. “This is the fellow,” said he. - -“You are arrested in the name of the United States!” said the other. - -“Gentlemen, what is this?” said the poor man, trembling. - -“Are you not the property of _Mr. B._, of Georgia?” said the officer. - -“Gentlemen, I’ve been a free, hard-working man, these ten years.” - -“Yes, but you are arrested on suit of Mr. B., as his slave.” - -Shall we describe the leave-taking?—the sorrowing wife, the dismayed -children, the tears, the anguish,—that simple, honest, kindly home, in a -moment so desolated! Ah, ye who defend this because it is law, think, -for one hour, what if this that happens to your poor brother should -happen to you! - - * * * * * - -It was a crowded court-room, and the man stood there to be tried—for -life?—no; but for the life of life—for liberty! - -Lawyers hurried to and fro, buzzing, consulting, bringing -authorities,—all anxious, zealous, engaged,—for what?—to save a -fellow-man from bondage?—no; anxious and zealous lest he might -escape,—full of zeal to deliver him over to slavery. The poor man’s -anxious eyes follow vainly the busy course of affairs, from which he -dimly learns that he is to be sacrificed—on the altar of the Union; and -that his heart-break and anguish, and the tears of his wife, and the -desolation of his children, are, in the eyes of these well-informed men, -only the bleat of a sacrifice, bound to the horns of the glorious -American altar! - - * * * * * - -Again it is a bright day, and business walks brisk in this market. -Senator and statesman, the learned and patriotic, are out this day, to -give their countenance to an edifying and impressive, and truly American -spectacle,—the sale of a man! All the preliminaries of the scene are -there; dusky-browed mothers, looking with sad eyes while speculators are -turning round their children,—looking at their teeth, and feeling of -their arms; a poor, old, trembling woman, helpless, half-blind, whose -last child is to be sold, holds on to her bright boy with trembling -hands. Husbands and wives, sisters and friends, all soon to be scattered -like the chaff of the threshing-floor, look sadly on each other with -poor nature’s last tears; and among them walk briskly glib, oily -politicians, and thriving men of law, letters, and religion, exceedingly -sprightly and in good spirits,—for why?—it isn’t _they_ that are going -to be sold; it’s only somebody else. And so they are very comfortable, -and look on the whole thing as quite a matter-of-course affair; and, as -it is to be conducted to-day, a decidedly valuable, and judicious -exhibition. - -And now, after so many hearts and souls have been knocked and thumped -this way and that way by the auctioneer’s hammer, comes the -_instructive_ part of the whole; and the husband and father, whom we saw -in his simple home, reading and praying with his children, and -rejoicing, in the joy of his poor ignorant heart, that he lived in a -free country, is now set up to be admonished of his mistake. - -Now there is great excitement, and pressing to see, and exultation and -approbation; for it is important and interesting to see a man put down -that has tried to be a _free man_. - -“That’s he, is it?—Couldn’t come it, could he?” says one. - -“No, and he will never come it, that’s more,” says another, -triumphantly. - -“I don’t generally take much interest in scenes of this nature,” says a -grave representative;—“but I came here to-day for the sake of the -_principle_!” - -“Gentlemen,” says the auctioneer, “we’ve got a specimen here that some -of your Northern abolitionists would give any price for; but they shan’t -have him!—no! we’ve looked out for that. The man that buys him must give -bonds never to sell him to go North again!” - -“Go it!” shout the crowd, “good!—good!—hurra!” “An impressive idea!” -says a senator; “a noble maintaining of principle!” and the man is bid -off, and the hammer falls with a last crash on his hearth, and hopes, -and manhood, and he lies a bleeding wreck on the altar of Liberty! - -Such was the altar in 1776;—such is the altar in 1850. - - - - - OUTLINE OF A MAN. - - -In some of those castle building day-dreams, in which, like all youth of -an imaginative turn, I was wont, in my early days, to indulge; a -favourite image of my creation was an _Africo-American for the time_,—a -coloured man, who had known by experience the bitterness of slavery, and -now by some process free, so endowed with natural powers, and a certain -degree of attainments, all the more rare and effective for being -acquired under great disadvantages,—as to be a sort of Moses to his -oppressed and degraded tribe. He was to be gifted with a noble person, -of course, and refinement of manners, and some elegance of thought and -expression; by what unprecedented miracle such a paragon was to be -graduated through the educational appliances of American slavery, -imagination did not trouble herself to inquire. She was painting -fancy-pieces, not portraits. - -Having thus irresponsibly struck out upon the canvas her central figure, -she would not be slow to complete the picture with many a rose-coloured -vision of brilliant successes and magic triumphs won by her hero, in his -great enterprise of the redemption of his people. A burning sense of -their wrongs fired his eloquence with an undying, passionate -earnestness, and as he alternately reproached the injustice, and -appealed to the generosity of his oppressors, all opposition gave way -before him; the masses, as one man, demanded the emancipation of his -long-degraded, deeply-injured race; and millions of regenerated men rose -up, upon their broken chains, and called him blessed. - -Years rolled away, and these poetic fancies faded “into the light of -common day.” The cold, stern, pitiless reality remained. The dark -incubus of slavery yet rested down upon more than three millions of the -victims of democratic despotism. But the triumphant champion of the -devoted race had melted away, with the morning mists of my boyish -conjuring. - -One morning in the summer of 1844, walking up Main-street in the city of -Hartford, I was attracted by the movements of a group of some -twenty-five or thirty men and women, in a small recess, or court, by the -side of the old Centre Church. They appeared to be organized into an -assembly, and a tall mulatto was addressing them. I drew near to listen. -The speaker was recounting the oft-enacted history of a flight from -slavery. With his eye upon the cold, but true north star, and his ear -ever and anon bent to the ground, listening for the “blood-hound’s -savage bay,” sure-footed and panting, the fugitive was before me! My -attention had been arrested; I was profoundly interested. The audience -was the American Anti-slavery Society, then just excluded from some of -the public halls of the city, and fain to content themselves, after an -apostolic sort, with the _next best_ accommodations. The orator was -FREDERICK DOUGLASS, the most remarkable man of this country, and of this -age; and—may I not dare to add—the almost complete fulfilment of my -early dream! - -Since that day, through assiduous application, and a varied experience, -he has continued to develop in the same wonderful ratio of improvement, -which even then distinguished him as a prodigy in self-education. -Unusually favored in personal appearance and address, full of generous -impulse and delicate sensibility, exuberant in playful wit, or biting -sarcasm, or stern denunciation, ever commanding in his moral attitude, -earnest and impressive in manner, with a voice eminently sonorous and -flexible, and gesture full of dramatic vivacity, I have many times seen -large audiences swayed at his will; at one moment convulsed with -laughter, and the next bathed in tears; now lured with admiration of the -orator, and now with indignation at the oppressor, against whom he -hurled his invective. But in my boyhood’s quasi-prophetic fancy of such -a man and his inimitable success, I had not counted upon one antagonist, -whose reality and potency, the observation of every day now forces -painfully upon me. I mean the strange and unnatural _prejudice against -mere colour_, which is so all-prevalent in the American breast, as -almost to nullify the influence of _such_ a man, _so_ pleading; while -his dignity, his urbanity, his imperturbable serenity and good nature, -his genuine purity and worth all fail, at times, to secure him from the -grossest indignities, at the hands of the coarse and brutal. Nobody who -knows him will be inclined to question our estimate of his character, -but it still comports with the intelligence and refinement and piety of -a large proportion of American society to label him “nigger,” and the -name itself invites to safe contumely, and irresponsible violence. - -I have spoken of Frederick Douglass as an interesting man—a wonderful -man. Look at him as he stands to-day before this nation, and then -contemplate his history. - -Begin with him when, a little slave-child, he lay down on his rude -pallet, and that slave-mother, from a plantation twelve miles away, -availed herself of the privilege granted grudgingly, of travelling the -whole distance, after the day’s work, (on peril of the lash, unless back -again by sunrise to her task,) that she might lie there by his side, and -sing him with her low sweet song to sleep. “I do not recollect,” says -he, “of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in -the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long -before I awaked she was gone.” How touching the love of that dark-browed -bondwoman for her boy! How precious must the memory of that dim but -sweet remembrance be to him, who though once a vassal, bound and -scourged, and still a Helot, proscribed and wronged, may not be robbed -of this dear token that he, too, _had once a mother_! Her low sad -lullaby yet warps his life’s dark woof—for she watches over his pathway -now with spirit-eyes, and still keeps singing on in his heart, and -nursing his courage and his patience. - -Follow him through all the tempestuous experience of his bondage. His -lashings, his longings, his perseverance in possessing himself of the -key of knowledge, which, after all, only unlocked to him the fatal -secret that he was a slave, a thing to be bought and sold like oxen. -Imagine the tumult of his soul, as standing by the broad Chesapeake, he -watched the receding vessels, “while they flew on their white wings -before the breeze, and apostrophized them as animated by the living -spirit of freedom;”[20] or when reading in a stray copy of the old -“Columbian Orator,” (verily, all our school-books must be expurgated of -the incendiary ‘perilous stuff’ in which they abound,) the “Dialogue -between a Master and his Slave,” and Sheridan’s great speech on Catholic -Emancipation.[21] See to what heroic resistance his proud heart had -swollen, when he turned outright upon his tormentor—pious Mr. Corey, the -“nigger-breaker”—and inflicted condign retribution on his heartless -ribs; “after which,” says he, significantly, “I was never whipped again; -_I had several fights_, but was never whipped.” Attend him in his exodus -from our republican Egypt. Witness his struggles with poverty; his vain -attempts to find employment at his trade, as a coloured man, in the -_free_ North. Behold him at last emerging from his obscurity at the -Anti-slavery Convention in Nantucket. Somebody, who is aware of his -extraordinary natural intelligence, invites him to speak. Tremblingly he -consents. “As soon as he had taken his seat,” said Mr. Garrison, after -describing the tremendous effect of his remarks upon the audience, -“filled with hope and admiration, I rose and declared that Patrick -Henry, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the -cause of liberty, than the one we had just listened to from the hunted -fugitive.” - -That was just _eleven years_ ago,—and what is Frederick Douglass now? I -would fain avoid the language of exaggeration. It is ever a cruel -kindness which over-praises, exciting expectations, which cannot but be -disappointed. But when, in view of the fact that the subject of this -sketch was but thirteen years ago A SLAVE, in all the darkness and -disability of Southern bondage, I affirm that his present character, -attainments, and position constitute a phenomenon hitherto perhaps -unprecedented in the history of intellectual and moral achievement, none -who know and are competent to weigh the facts, will account the terms -extravagant. It is not to be expected but that his mental condition -should betray his early disadvantages. His information, though amazing, -under the circumstances, will not of course bear comparison, in fulness -and accuracy, with that of men who have been accumulating their -resources from childhood. In his writings, the deficiency of early -discipline is most manifest, rendering them diffuse and unequal, though -always interesting, and often exceedingly effective. He is properly an -_orator_. His addresses, like those of Whitfield, and many other popular -speakers, lose a large proportion of their effect in reading. They -require the living voice, and the magnetic presence of the orator. But -even in this respect, Douglass is not uniform in his performance, but is -quite dependent on his _surroundings_, and the inspiration of the -moment. But when, all these consenting, he becomes thoroughly possessed -of his theme, and his tall form—six feet high and straight as an -arrow,—his bearing dignified and graceful,—self-possessed, yet -modest,—his countenance flexible, and wonderful in power of expression, -and his voice, with its rich and varied modulation, are all summoned to -the work of enchantment, many a rapt assembly, insignificant in neither -numbers nor intelligence, can testify to the witchery of his eloquence. - -And, after all, the _moral_ features of this interesting character -constitute its principal charm. The integrity and manliness of Frederick -Douglass, potent and acknowledged where he is at all known, have much to -do with his influence as a popular orator. It has been customary, with a -certain class of Shibboleth-pronouncers to class him with infidels, but -this is only the appropriate and characteristic retort of a certain sort -of “highly respectable” Christianity to his uncompromising denunciations -of its hollow and selfish character. _I_ think Frederick Douglass is a -Christian; he is a gentleman, I _know_. There are few white men of my -acquaintance, who could have borne so much adulation, without losing the -balance of their self-appreciation. Nobody ever knew Frederick Douglass -to over-rate himself, or to thrust himself anywhere where he did not -belong, or upon anybody who might by any possibility object to his -companionship,—unless, in the latter case, when he deemed necessary the -assertion of a simple right. Whence he got his retiring and graceful -modesty, and his nice sense of the minute proprieties,—unless it be -somehow in his _blood_,—is a mystery to me. Can it be possible that such -refinements are _scourged_ into men “down South?” An illustration of -this may be seen in his response to those gentlemen of Rochester, who, -by way of gratifying a grudge against the Anti-slavery faction of their -party, nominated Douglass for Congress in derision. - - “GENTLEMEN:—I have learned with some surprise, that in the Whig - Convention held in this city on Saturday last, you signified, by - your votes, a desire to make me your representative in the - Legislature of this State. Never having, at any time that I - recollect, thought, spoken, or acted, in any way, to commit myself - to either the principles or the policy of the Whig party; but on the - contrary, having always held, and publicly expressed opinions - diametrically opposed to those held by that part of the Whig party - which you are supposed to represent, your voting for me, I am bound - in courtesy to suppose, is founded in a misapprehension of my - political sentiments. - - “Lest you should, at any other time, commit a similar blunder, I beg - to state, once for all, that I do not believe that the slavery - question is settled, and settled for ever. I do not believe that - slave-catching is either a Christian duty, or an innocent amusement. - I do not believe that he who breaks the arm of a kidnapper, or - wrests the trembling captive from his grasp, is ‘a traitor.’ I do - not believe that Daniel Webster is the saviour of the Union, nor - that the Union stands in need of such a saviour. I do not believe - that human enactments are to be obeyed when they are point-blank - against the law of the living God. And believing most fully, as I - do, the reverse of all this, you will easily believe me to be a - person wholly unfit to receive the suffrages of gentlemen holding - the opinion and favouring the policy of that wing of the Whig party - denominated ‘the _Silver Grays_.’ - - “With all the respect which your derision permits me to entertain - for you, - - “I am, gentlemen, - “Your faithful fellow-citizen, - “FREDERICK DOUGLASS.” - -The perpetrators of the wanton and gratuitous insult which elicited this -beautiful rebuke, would be sadly outraged were we to insist on -withholding the title of “gentlemen” from those who could, on any -pretence, trample on the feelings of such as they esteem their -inferiors. If they half begin to comprehend the meaning of the term, -much more to feel its power, their cheeks must have crimsoned with -shame, when they saw their own unprovoked assault, contrasted with, the -calm and self-respectful serenity of this reply. - -Another instance of this dignity under circumstances of peculiar trial, -may be found in his own account—in the columns of “Frederick Douglass’ -Paper”—of a rencontre with a hotel clerk in Cleveland. It is as -follows:— - -“At the ringing of the morning bell for breakfast, I made my way to the -table, supposing myself included in the call; but I was scarcely seated, -when there stepped up to me a young man, apparently much agitated, -saying: ‘Sir, you must leave this table.’ ‘And why,’ said I, ‘must I -leave this table?’ ‘I want no controversy with you. You must leave this -table.’ I replied, ‘that I had regularly enrolled myself as a boarder in -that house; I expected to pay the same charges imposed upon others; and -I came to the table in obedience to the call of the bell; and if I left -the table I must know the reason.’ ‘We will serve you in your room. It -is against our rules.’ ‘You should have informed me of _your rules_ -earlier. Where are your rules? Let me see them.’ ‘I don’t want any -altercation with you. You must leave this table.’ ‘But have I not -deported myself as a gentleman? What have I done? Is there any gentleman -who objects to my being seated here?’ (There was silence round the -table.) ‘Come, sir, come, sir, you must leave this table at once.’ -‘Well, sir, I cannot leave it unless you will give me a better reason -than you have done for my removal.’ ‘Well, I’ll give you a reason if -you’ll leave the table and go to another room.’ ‘That, sir, I will not -do. You have invidiously selected me out of all this company, to be -dragged from this table, and have thereby reflected upon me as a man and -a gentleman; and the reason for this treatment shall be as public as the -insult you have offered.’ At these remarks, my carrot-headed assailant -left me, _as he said_, to get help to remove me from the table. -Meanwhile I called upon one of the servants (who appeared to wait upon -me with alacrity), to help me to a cup of coffee, and assisting myself -to some of the good things before me, I quietly and thankfully partook -of my morning meal without further annoyance.” - -Whatever may have been the duty of Mr. Douglass, (and none who know him -can for a moment doubt what his inclination would have been,) in case -the proscriptive “rules of the house” had been previously made known to -him, the justice, as well as the gentlemanly self-possession of his -bearing, in relation to this public outrage, must, I think, be -sufficiently obvious. - - * * * * * - -[Signature: Rob R. Raymond] - - - - - THE HEROIC SLAVE-WOMAN. - - -It was my privilege to see much of Edward S. Abdy, Esq., of England, -during his visit to our country, in 1833 and 1834. The first time I met -him was at the house of Mr. James Forten, of Philadelphia, in company -with two other English gentlemen, who had come to the United States, -commissioned by the British Parliament to examine our systems of prison -and penitentiary discipline. Mr. Abdy was interested in whatsoever -affected the welfare of man. But he was more particularly devoted to the -investigation of slavery. He travelled extensively in our Southern -States, and contemplated with his own eyes the manifold abominations of -our American despotism. He was too much exasperated by our tyranny to be -enamoured of our democratic institutions; and on his return to England, -he published two very sensible volumes, that were so little -complimentary to our nation, that our booksellers thought it not worth -their while to republish them. - -This warm-hearted philanthropist visited me several times at my home in -Connecticut. The last afternoon that he was there, we were sitting -together at my study window, when our attention was arrested by a very -handsome carriage driving up to the hotel opposite my house. A gentleman -and lady occupied the back seat; and on the front were two children, -tended by a black woman, who wore the turban that was then, more than -now, usually worn by _slave_ women. - -We hastened over to the hotel, and soon entered into conversation with -the slave-holder. He was polite, but somewhat nonchalant, and defiant of -our sympathy with his victim. He readily acknowledged, as slave-holders -of that day generally did, that, abstractedly considered, the -enslavement of fellow men was a great wrong; but then he contended that -it had become a necessary evil, necessary to the enslaved, no less than -to the enslavers; the former being unable to do without masters, as much -as the latter were to do without servants. And he added, in a very -confident tone, “you are at liberty to persuade our servant-woman to -remain here, if you can.” - -Thus challenged, we of course sought an interview with the slave; and -informed her that having been brought by her master into the free -States, she was, by the laws of the land, set at liberty. “No, I am not, -gentlemen,” was her prompt reply. We adduced cases, and quoted -authorities to establish our assertion that she was free. But she -significantly shook her head, and still insisted that the examples and -the legal decisions did not reach her case. “For,” said she, “_I -promised_ mistress that I would go back with her and the children.” Mr. -Abdy undertook to argue with her that such a promise was not binding. He -had been drilled in the moral philosophy of Dr. Paley, and in that -debate seemed to be possessed of its spirit. But he failed to make any -visible impression upon the woman. She had bound herself by a promise to -her mistress, that she would not leave her; and that promise had -fastened upon her conscience an obligation, from which she could not be -persuaded that even her natural right to liberty could exonerate her. -Mr. Abdy at last was impatient with her, and said, in his haste, “Is it -possible that you do not wish to be free?” She replied with solemn -earnestness, “Was there ever a slave that did not wish to be free? I -long for liberty. I will get out of slavery, if I can, the day after I -have returned, but go back I must, because I _promised_ that I would.” -At this, we desisted from our endeavour to induce her to take the boon -that was, apparently to us, within her reach. We could not but feel a -profound respect for that moral sensibility which would not allow her to -embrace even her freedom, at the expense of violating a promise. - -The next morning, at an early hour, the slave-holder with his wife and -children drove off, leaving the slave-woman and their heaviest trunk to -be brought on after them in the stage-coach. We could not refrain from -again trying to persuade her to remain and be free. We told her that her -master had given us leave to persuade her if we could. She pointed to -the trunk, and to a very valuable gold watch and chain, which her -mistress had committed to her care, and insisted that fidelity to a -trust was of more consequence to her soul even than the attainment of -liberty. Mr. Abdy offered to take the trunk and watch into his charge, -follow her master, and deliver them into his hands. But she could not be -made to see that in this there would be no violation of her duty. And -then her own person, that, too, she had promised should be returned to -the home of her master; and much as she longed for liberty, she longed -for a clear conscience more. - -Mr. Abdy was astonished, delighted at this instance of heroic virtue in -a poor, ignorant slave. He packed his trunk, gave me a hearty adieu, -and, when the coach drove up, he took his seat on the outside with the -trunk and the slave—chattels of a Mississippi slave-holder—that he might -study for a few hours more the morality of that strong-hearted woman, -who could not be bribed to violate her promise, even by the gift of -liberty. - -It was the last time I saw Mr. Abdy,—and it was a sight to be -remembered,—he, an accomplished English gentleman, a fellow of Oxford or -Cambridge University, riding on the driver’s box of a stage-coach, side -by side with an American slave-woman, that he might learn more of her -history and character. - - “Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, - The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; - Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, - And waste its sweetness on the desert air.” - - Yours, respectfully, - -[Signature: Samuel J. May] - - SYRACUSE, OCT. 9, 1852. - - - - - KOSSUTH. - - -You ask me what I think of Kossuth. The history of Kossuth is but partly -told. An opinion of him now, is, of course, founded on the past and -present. But so decisive have been the manifestations in regard to his -abilities and aims, that we may confidently say he is the great man of -the age. I don’t mean that there is no other man who is responsible for -as great or greater physical and intellectual endowments and education. -We measure men by what they _do_, not by what they are _able_ to do. He -is great because he has manifested great thoughts and corresponding -deeds. In this regard he has no superior. - -When I speak of Kossuth as _great_, I mean that the divine elements of -power, wisdom, and goodness are so mixed in him, as to qualify him to -embrace the largest interests, and attract the agencies to secure those -interests. That his eye sees, and his heart feels, and his philanthropy -embraces a larger area, and is acknowledged by a larger portion of the -human family than any other living man. I do not say there are not men -living whose hearts are as large, whose abilities are as great, and -whose virtues are as exalted as Kossuth’s. Men, too, whose great -qualities under like contingencies would, and by future contingencies -may, brighten into a glory as large as his. Nor would I say it does not -often require as great, or even greater, talents and virtues to -accomplish deeds of humanity or patriotism, on a theatre vastly less -dazzling and imposing. It is not necessary to my argument to exclude -such conclusions. When God decrees great events, he brings upon the -stage and qualifies the human instrumentalities by which such events are -accomplished; and that, too, at the very time they are needed. We don’t -know the future; but if we are to measure the present and the past in -the life of Kossuth, leaving alone the shadows which coming events cast -in the path of our hopes, we must rank Kossuth with the greatest, and if -we couple his heart with his deeds, with the best of mankind. - -I am aware that the opinion I here give of the great Magyar, is widely -different from the opinions of some others for whom I have very high -respect. Gerrit Smith honors Kossuth; but he honors him only as a -patriot, a Christian patriot. Professor Atler, of McGranville College, -in an oration that does him credit as a philosopher and orator, says, -that “he who thinks the largest thought is the ruler of the world,”—and -yet he dwarfs the character of Kossuth to the simple patriot of Hungary. -To my mind, these are strange conclusions. It is the greatest thought -illustrated by corresponding action that denotes the ruler of the world. -It is the external manifestation of the mighty spiritual that -demonstrates the right to rule mankind. Apply that rule to Kossuth, and -I maintain his right to the sceptre of the world. - -The brotherhood of nations is an idea to which philanthropy only could -give birth. Its home is in the hearts of all good men, and yet, until -Kossuth came before the world, that idea had been esteemed so vast in -its circumference, so out of the reach of means, so far beyond the grasp -of present experience and possibility, that he would have been thought a -fanatic or a fool who attempted it. He, indeed, by power strictly -personal, not only seized upon it as a practical thought, and nobly -argued it, but has actually and bravely entered upon the experiment, and -forced it upon the conceptions of the world, and organized, not in our -country only, but in Europe, plans and parties for its realization. Here -is not only a great _thought_, but a great _deed_. To gather up the -philanthropic minds or the patriot minds of the world to embrace such an -enterprise as not only a dutiful but practicable scheme, is an -achievement that leaves out of sight any other achievement of eighteen -hundred years. - -It is not the development of abstract principles in science, in -philosophy, or in religion, that establishes the highest claim to the -world’s gratitude and admiration. It is the successful application of -those principles to human life and conduct, the setting them to work to -restore the world to the shape and aspect which God gave it, that -demonstrates the God-like in man. It is the manifestation of a great -idea upon the external, as God’s great thoughts are manifested by the -landscape, the ocean, and the heavens, by which we arrive at the -spiritual power that conceived them. A patriot indeed! The great -Hungarian _did_ attempt to link America to his great purpose by appeals -to her patriotism. It was the only common sentiment between our country -and him. It is America’s loftiest thought. Her beau-ideal of public -virtue. I don’t mean that there was no Christianity or philanthropy in -the United States when Kossuth came amongst us: but I do mean that, as a -nation, we had none of them. He came on an errand of practical -philanthropy; to appeal to our national heart, and cause the only chord -of humanity in it that could be touched, to vibrate in unison with his -own in behalf of the down-trodden nations of the world. He wished to -engage its organic power in behalf of national law. Had Kossuth appealed -to any higher principle, he would have overshot his mark. Love of -country is common to the Christian and to the mere patriot. In the -latter it is only selfishness, in the former genuine philanthropy. -American patriotism was the only aperture through which he could reach -our nation’s heart, to raise it to the higher region of philanthropy, -and place it in his own bosom, and impregnate it with his own holy -sentiments, that their sympathies might circulate together for a common -brotherhood. He represented Hungary. He appeared at our door as an -outraged brother, to enlist us in behalf of a brother’s rights and -wrongs. He sought to excite in the nation’s bosom the activity of a -common principle, due at all times, and from nations no less than -individuals. It is the core of Christianity, described in these words, -“do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” - -Our Washington had told us “to cultivate peace with all nations, and -form entangling alliances with none.” Our sensual and short-sighted -statesmen construed the sentiment as the rule of active power. Instead -of adopting it as Washington probably intended it, as a rule of -temporary policy, they inculcated the notion that we were to cut -ourselves clear from the family of nations, and live only for ourselves. -The large patriotism of Washington they had shrunken to the merest -selfishness. We may well thank God for the providence which sent Kossuth -among us, to relieve his fame from the suspicion of having begot, and -our country from the sin of cherishing, so weak and dishonouring a -delusion. Heaven-assisted man only could have dreamed of believing a -nation so securely blinded. Like the prophet of God, whose lips were -touched with celestial fire, he breathed upon the spell, and it -vanished. The nation’s eyes were opened. It saw, and all true men -admitted, that the sentiment was designed and adapted only to our -infancy, and, to use his own figure, no more fitting our manhood, than -the clothes of an infant are fitting the full grown man. - -Now I admit we had philanthropists, wise men, orators, and some -statesmen, who asserted the doctrine of the human brotherhood, yet we -had no Kossuth to dissolve (if I may so speak) this Washingtonian -delusion. Kossuth touched it and it disappeared. The nation seemed to -have come to a new birth. Its heart, like the rock in the desert which -was touched by the staff of the prophet opened, and its imprisoned -waters poured over the world. We all felt as the bondman feels who is -set free by a strong man. From that moment we grew larger, saw farther, -and felt our hearts moving over an unlimited area of humanity. From that -moment we felt that a new day was dawning. From that moment the -principle of the human brotherhood struck its deep roots in our soil, as -immovable as our mountains, as irradicable as our religion. Nor was it -in America alone that this sentiment was then awakened. Touched by his -notes, it trembled in the bosom of Europe. The heart of humanity -throbbed with a common sympathy throughout the civilized world. Kossuth -and Mazzini, crushed from beneath, ascended above the despotisms of the -world in the clear upper sky, and, in sight of heaven and earth, -reflected God’s light and curse upon them; and called into being the -activities which we hope is to tumble them into a common ruin, as the -precursor of the holy compact which shall secure all human rights. - -It is objected that Kossuth did not denounce our slavery. The same -objection has equal strength against the philanthropy of Paul and Jesus. -I shall not dwell on this point. He did denounce American slavery. The -presence of Kossuth was a killing rebuke, his words a consuming fire to -it. The former is still felt as an incurable wound, and the latter still -scorches to the very centre of its vitality. I have it from high -authority, when Kossuth first came upon the soil, and into the -atmosphere of American slavery, his soul was so shocked and disgusted by -its offensiveness, that he proposed to abandon his mission in those -States where it existed, and denounce it specifically; and was only -deterred from doing so, by his sense of the more comprehensive claims of -that mission, which embraced the utter destruction of all human -oppression. I drop this topic with the remark, that this objection, and -all objections to his philanthropy, within my knowledge, were made -antecedent to his inimitable speech in New York city, in behalf of his -mother and sisters, a short time before he took his departure for -Europe. If there is not Christianity, philanthropy, anti-slavery in that -speech, we may despair of finding it in earth, or even in the heavens. I -have never read anything so representative of heaven’s mercy, or angel’s -eloquence, as that. Oh! I wish the world knew it by heart. Methinks if -it did, all wrong and oppression would disappear from among men. - -I was going to speak of the future, and of Mazzini, the twin apostle of -liberty, whose exile was wrung from the heart of poor Italy. But the -subject exceeds the brevity which must govern me. These rulers of the -world are linked with the mighty events which are fast becoming history. -From their hiding-places in London, they are moving and controlling the -passions which seem ready to break forth and obliterate every cruel code -under the sun, and hasten the time when all men shall feel as brethren, -and mingle their hearts in anthems of gratitude and love. - -[Signature: John Thomas] - - SYRACUSE, NOV. 14, 1852. - - - - - THE HEROIC SLAVE. - - - PART I. - - Oh! child of grief, why weepest thou? - Why droops thy sad and mournful brow? - Why is thy look so like despair? - What deep, sad sorrow lingers there? - -The State of Virginia is famous in American annals for the multitudinous -array of her statesmen and heroes. She has been dignified by some the -mother of statesmen. History has not been sparing in recording their -names, or in blazoning their deeds. Her high position in this respect, -has given her an enviable distinction among her sister States. With -Virginia for his birth-place, even a man of ordinary parts, on account -of the general partiality for her sons, easily rises to eminent -stations. Men, not great enough to attract special attention in their -native States, have, like a certain distinguished citizen in the State -of New York, sighed and repined that they were not born in Virginia. Yet -not all the great ones of the Old Dominion have, by the fact of their -birth-place, escaped undeserved obscurity. By some strange neglect, -_one_ of the truest, manliest, and bravest of her children,—one who, in -after years, will, I think, command the pen of genius to set his merits -forth, holds now no higher place in the records of that grand old -Commonwealth than is held by a horse or an ox. Let those account for it -who can, but there stands the fact, that a man who loved liberty as well -as did Patrick Henry,—who deserved it as much as Thomas Jefferson,—and -who fought for it with a valour as high, an arm as strong, and against -odds as great, as he who led all the armies of the American colonies -through the great war for freedom and independence, lives now only in -the chattel records of his native State. - -Glimpses of this great character are all that can now be presented. He -is brought to view only by a few transient incidents, and these afford -but partial satisfaction. Like a guiding star on a stormy night, he is -seen through the parted clouds and the howling tempests; or, like the -gray peak of a menacing rock on a perilous coast, he is seen by the -quivering flash of angry lightning, and he again disappears covered with -mystery. - -Curiously, earnestly, anxiously we peer into the dark, and wish even for -the blinding flash, or the light of northern skies to reveal him. But, -alas! he is still enveloped in darkness, and we return from the pursuit -like a wearied and disheartened mother, (after a tedious and -unsuccessful search for a lost child,) who returns weighed down with -disappointment and sorrow. Speaking of marks, traces, possibles, and -probabilities, we come before our readers. - -In the spring of 1835, on a Sabbath morning, within hearing of the -solemn peals of the church bells at a distant village, a northern -traveller through the State of Virginia drew up his horse to drink at a -sparkling brook, near the edge of a dark pine forest. While his weary -and thirsty steed drew in the grateful water, the rider caught the sound -of a human voice, apparently engaged in earnest conversation. - -Following the direction of the sound, he descried, among the tall pines, -the man whose voice had arrested his attention. “To whom can he be -speaking?” thought the traveller. “He seems to be alone.” The -circumstance interested him much, and he became intensely curious to -know what thoughts and feelings, or, it might be, high aspirations, -guided those rich and mellow accents. Tying his horse at a short -distance from the brook, he stealthily drew near the solitary speaker, -and concealing himself by the side of a huge fallen tree, he distinctly -heard the following soliloquy:— - -“What, then, is life to me? it is aimless and worthless, and worse than -worthless. Those birds, perched on yon swinging boughs, in friendly -conclave, sounding forth their merry notes in seeming worship of the -rising sun, though liable to the sportsman’s fowling-piece, are still my -superiors. They _live free_, though they may die slaves. They fly where -they list by day, and retire in freedom at night. But what is freedom to -me, or I to it? I am a _slave_,—born a slave, an abject slave,—even -before I made part of this breathing world, the scourge was platted for -my back; the fetters were forged for my limbs. How mean a thing am I. -That accursed and crawling snake, that miserable reptile, that has just -glided into its slimy home, is freer and better off than I. He escaped -my blow, and is safe. But here am I, a man,—yes, _a man!_—with thoughts -and wishes, with powers and faculties as far as angel’s flight above -that hated reptile,—yet he is my superior, and scorns to own me as his -master, or to stop to take my blows. When he saw my uplifted arm, he -darted beyond my reach, and turned to give me battle. I dare not do as -much as that. I neither run nor fight, but do meanly stand, answering -each heavy blow of a cruel master with doleful wails and piteous cries. -I am galled with irons; but even these are more tolerable than the -consciousness, the _galling_ consciousness of cowardice and indecision. -Can it be that I _dare_ not run away? _Perish the thought_, I _dare_ do -any thing which may be done by another. When that young man struggled -with the waves _for life_, and others stood back appalled in helpless -horror, did I not plunge in, forgetful of life, to save his? The raging -bull from whom all others fled, pale with fright, did I not keep at bay -with a single pitchfork? Could a coward do that? _No,—no_,—I wrong -myself,—I am no coward. _Liberty_ I will have, or die in the attempt to -gain it. This working that others may live in idleness! This cringing -submission to insolence and curses! This living under the constant dread -and apprehension of being sold and transferred, like a mere brute, is -_too_ much for me. I will stand it no longer. What others have done, I -will do. These trusty legs, or these sinewy arms shall place me among -the free. Tom escaped; so can I. The North Star will not be less kind to -me than to him. I will follow it. I will at least make the trial. I have -nothing to lose. If I am caught, I shall only be a slave. If I am shot, -I shall only lose a life which is a burden and a curse. If I get clear, -(as something tells me I shall,) liberty, the inalienable birth-right of -every man, precious and priceless, will be mine. My resolution is fixed. -_I shall be free._” - -At these words the traveller raised his head cautiously and noiselessly, -and caught, from his hiding-place, a full view of the unsuspecting -speaker. Madison (for that was the name of our hero) was standing erect, -a smile of satisfaction rippled upon his expressive countenance, like -that which plays upon the face of one who has but just solved a -difficult problem, or vanquished a malignant foe; for at that moment he -was free, at least in spirit. The future gleamed brightly before him, -and his fetters lay broken at his feet. His air was triumphant. - -Madison was of manly form. Tall, symmetrical, round, and strong. In his -movements he seemed to combine, with the strength of the lion, a lion’s -elasticity. His torn sleeves disclosed arms like polished iron. His face -was “black, but comely.” His eye, lit with emotion, kept guard under a -brow as dark and as glossy as the raven’s wing. His whole appearance -betokened Herculean strength; yet there was nothing savage or forbidding -in his aspect. A child might play in his arms, or dance on his -shoulders. A giant’s strength, but not a giant’s heart was in him. His -broad mouth and nose spoke only of good nature and kindness. But his -voice, that unfailing index of the soul, though full and melodious, had -that in it which could terrify as well as charm. He was just the man you -would choose when hardships were to be endured, or danger to be -encountered,—intelligent and brave. He had a head to conceive, and the -hand to execute. In a word, he was one to be sought as a friend, but to -be dreaded as an enemy. - -As our traveller gazed upon him, he almost trembled at the thought of -his dangerous intrusion. Still he could not quit the place. He had long -desired to sound the mysterious depths of the thoughts and feelings of a -slave. He was not therefore, disposed to allow so providential an -opportunity to pass unimproved. He resolved to hear more; so he listened -again for those mellow and mournful accents which, he says made such an -impression upon him as can never be erased. He did not have to wait -long. There came another gush from the same full fountain; now bitter, -and now sweet. Scathing denunciations of the cruelty and injustice of -slavery; heart-touching narrations of his own personal suffering, -intermingled with prayers to the God of the oppressed for help and -deliverance, were followed by presentations of the dangers and -difficulties of escape, and formed the burden of his eloquent -utterances; but his high resolution clung to him,—for he ended each -speech by an emphatic declaration of his purpose to be free. It seemed -that the very repetition of this, imparted a glow to his countenance. -The hope of freedom seemed to sweeten, for a season, the bitter cup of -slavery, and to make it, for a time, tolerable; for when in the very -whirlwind of anguish,—when his heart’s cord seemed screwed up to -snapping tension, hope sprung up and soothed his troubled spirit. -Fitfully he would exclaim, “How can I leave her? Poor thing! what can -she do when I am gone? Oh! oh! ’tis impossible that I can leave poor -Susan!” - -A brief pause intervened. Our traveller raised his head, and saw again -the sorrow-stricken slave. His eye was fixed upon the ground. The strong -man staggered under a heavy load. Recovering himself, he argued thus -aloud: “All is uncertain here. To-morrow’s sun may not rise before I am -sold, and separated from her I love. What, then, could I do for her? I -should be in more hopeless slavery, and she no nearer to -liberty,—whereas if I were free,—my arms my own, I might devise the -means to rescue her.” - -This said, Madison cast around a searching glance, as if the thought of -being overheard had flashed across his mind. He said no more, but, with -measured steps, walked away, and was lost to the eye of our traveller -amidst the wildering woods. - -Long after Madison had left the ground, Mr. Listwell (our traveller) -remained in motionless silence, meditating on the extraordinary -revelations to which he had listened. He seemed fastened to the spot, -and stood half hoping, half fearing the return of the sable preacher to -his solitary temple. The speech of Madison rung through the chambers of -his soul, and vibrated through his entire frame. “Here is indeed a man,” -thought he, “of rare endowments,—a child of God,—guilty of no crime but -the colour of his skin—hiding away from the face of humanity, and -pouring out his thoughts and feelings, his hopes and resolutions to the -lonely woods; to him those distant church bells have no grateful music. -He shuns the church, the altar, and the great congregation of the -Christian worshippers, and wanders away to the gloomy forest, to utter -in the vacant air complaints and griefs, which the religion of his times -and his country can neither console nor relieve. Goaded almost to -madness by the sense of the injustice done him, he resorts hither to -give vent to his pent-up feelings, and to debate with himself the -feasibility of plans, plans of his own invention, for his own -deliverance. From this hour I am an abolitionist. I have seen enough and -heard enough, and I shall go to my home in Ohio resolved to atone for my -past indifference to this ill-starred race, by making such exertions as -I shall be able to do, for the speedy emancipation of every slave in the -land.” - - - PART II. - - “The gaudy, blabbing and remorseful day - Is crept into the bosom of the sea; - And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades - That drag the tragic melancholy night; - Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings - Clip dead men’s graves, and from their misty jaws - Breathe foul contagions, darkness in the air.” - - _Shakspeare._ - -Five years after the foregoing singular occurrence, in the winter of -1840, Mr. and Mrs. Listwell sat together by the fireside of their own -happy home, in the State of Ohio. The children were all gone to bed. A -single lamp burned brightly on the centre-table. All was still and -comfortable within; but the night was cold and dark; a heavy wind sighed -and moaned sorrowfully around the house and barn, occasionally bringing -against the clattering windows a stray leaf from the large oak trees -that embowered their dwelling. It was a night for strange noises and for -strange fancies. A whole wilderness of thought might pass through one’s -mind during such an evening. The smouldering embers, partaking of the -spirit of the restless night, became fruitful of varied and fantastic -pictures, and revived many bygone scenes and old impressions. The happy -pair seemed to sit in silent fascination, gazing on the fire. Suddenly -this _reverie_ was interrupted by a heavy growl. Ordinarily such an -occurrence would have scarcely provoked a single word, or excited the -least apprehension. But there are certain seasons when the slightest -sound sends a jar through all the subtle chambers of the mind; and such -a season was this. The happy pair started up, as if some sudden danger -had come upon them. The growl was from their trusty watch-dog. - -“What can it mean? certainly no one can be out on such a night as this,” -said Mrs. Listwell. - -“The wind has deceived the dog, my dear; he has mistaken the noise of -falling branches, brought down by the wind, for that of the footsteps of -persons coming to the house. I have several times to-night thought that -I heard the sound of footsteps. I am sure, however, that it was but the -wind. Friends would not be likely to come out at such an hour, or such a -night; and thieves are too lazy and self-indulgent to expose themselves -to this biting frost; but should there be any one about, our brave old -Monte, who is on the look-out, will not be slow in sounding the alarm.” - -Saying this they quietly left the window, whither they had gone to learn -the cause of the menacing growl, and re-seated themselves by the fire, -as if reluctant to leave the slowly expiring embers, although the hour -was late. A few minutes only intervened after resuming their seats, when -again their sober meditations were disturbed. Their faithful dog now -growled and barked furiously, as if assailed by an advancing foe. -Simultaneously the good couple arose, and stood in mute expectation. The -contest without seemed fierce and violent. It was, however, soon -over,—the barking ceased, for, with true canine instinct, Monte soon -discovered that a friend, not an enemy of the family, was coming to the -house, and instead of rushing to repel the supposed intruder, he was now -at the door, whimpering and dancing for the admission of himself and his -newly-made friend. - -Mr. Listwell knew by this movement that all was well; he advanced and -opened the door, and saw by the light that streamed out into the -darkness, a tall man advancing slowly towards the house, with a stick in -one hand, and a small bundle in the other. “It is a traveller,” thought -he, “who has missed his way, and is coming to inquire the road. I am -glad we did not go to bed earlier,—I have felt all the evening as if -somebody would be here to-night.” - -The man had now halted a short distance from the door, and looked -prepared alike for flight or battle. “Come in, sir, don’t be alarmed, -you have probably lost your way.” - -Slightly hesitating, the traveller walked in; not, however, without -regarding his host with a scrutinizing glance. “No, sir,” said he, “I -have come to ask you a greater favour.” - -Instantly Mr. Listwell exclaimed, (as the recollection of the Virginia -forest scene flashed upon him,) “Oh, sir, I know not your name, but I -have seen your face, and heard your voice before. I am glad to see you. -_I know all._ You are flying for your liberty,—be seated,—be -seated,—banish all fear. You are safe under my roof.” - -This recognition, so unexpected, rather disconcerted and disquieted the -noble fugitive. The timidity and suspicion of persons escaping from -slavery are easily awakened, and often what is intended to dispel the -one, and to allay the other, has precisely the opposite effect. It was -so in this case. Quickly observing the unhappy impression made by his -words and action, Mr. Listwell assumed a more quiet and inquiring -aspect, and finally succeeded in removing the apprehensions which his -very natural and generous salutation had aroused. - -Thus assured, the stranger said, “Sir, you have rightly guessed, I am, -indeed, a fugitive from slavery. My name is Madison,—Madison Washington, -my mother used to call me. I am on my way to Canada, where I learn that -persons of my colour are protected in all the rights of men; and my -object in calling upon you was, to beg the privilege of resting my weary -limbs for the night in your barn. It was my purpose to have continued my -journey till morning; but the piercing cold, and the frowning darkness -compelled me to seek shelter; and, seeing a light through the lattice of -your window, I was encouraged to come here to beg the privilege named. -You will do me a great favour by affording me shelter for the night.” - -“A resting-place, indeed, sir, you shall have; not, however, in my barn, -but in the best room of my house. Consider yourself, if you please, -under the roof of a friend; for such I am to you, and to all your deeply -injured race.” - -While this introductory conversation was going on, the kind lady had -revived the fire, and was diligently preparing supper; for she, not less -than her husband, felt for the sorrows of the oppressed and hunted ones -of the earth, and was always glad of an opportunity to do them a -service. A bountiful repast was quickly prepared, and the hungry and -toil-worn bondman, was cordially invited to partake thereof. Gratefully -he acknowledged the favour of his benevolent benefactress: but appeared -scarcely to understand what such hospitality could mean. It was the -first time in his life that he had met so humane and friendly a greeting -at the hands of persons whose colour was unlike his own; yet it was -impossible for him to doubt the charitableness of his new friends, or -the genuineness of the welcome so freely given; and he therefore, with -many thanks, took his seat at the table with Mr. and Mrs. Listwell, who, -desirous to make him feel at home, took a cup of tea themselves, while -urging upon Madison the best that the house could afford. - -Supper over, all doubts and apprehensions banished, the three drew -around the blazing fire, and a conversation commenced which lasted till -long after midnight. - -“Now,” said Madison to Mr. Listwell, “I was a little surprised and -alarmed when I came in, by what you said; do tell me, sir, _why_ you -thought you had seen my face before, and by what you knew me to be a -fugitive from slavery; for I am sure that I never was before in this -neighbourhood, and I certainly sought to conceal what I supposed to be -the manner of a fugitive slave.” - -Mr. Listwell at once frankly disclosed the secret; describing the place -where he first saw him; rehearsing the language which he (Madison) had -used; referring to the effect which his manner and speech had made upon -him; declaring the resolution he there formed to be an abolitionist; -telling how often he had spoken of the circumstance, and the deep -concern he had ever since felt to know what had become of him; and -whether he had carried out the purpose to make his escape, as in the -woods he declared he would do. - -“Ever since that morning,” said Mr. Listwell, “you have seldom been -absent from my mind, and though now I did not dare to hope that I should -ever see you again, I have often wished that such might be my fortune; -for, from that hour, your face seemed to be daguerreotyped on my -memory.” - -Madison looked quite astonished, and felt amazed at the narration to -which he had listened. After recovering himself he said, “I well -remember that morning, and the bitter anguish that wrung my heart; I -will state the occasion of it. I had, on the previous Saturday, suffered -a cruel lashing; had been tied up to the limb of a tree, with my feet -chained together, and a heavy iron bar placed between my ankles. Thus -suspended, I received on my naked back forty stripes, and was kept in -this distressing position three or four hours, and was then let down, -only to have my torture increased; for my bleeding back, gashed by the -cow-skin, was washed by the overseer with old brine, partly to augment -my suffering, and partly, as he said, to prevent inflammation. My crime -was that I stayed longer at the mill, the day previous, than it was -thought I ought to have done, which, I assured my master and the -overseer, was no fault of mine; but no excuses were allowed. ‘Hold your -tongue, you impudent rascal,’ met my every explanation. Slave-holders -are so imperious when their passions are excited, as to construe every -word of the slave into insolence. I could do nothing but submit to the -agonizing infliction. Smarting still from the wounds, as well as from -the consciousness of being whipt for no cause, I took advantage of the -absence of my master, who had gone to church, to spend the time in the -woods, and brood over my wretched lot. Oh, sir, I remember it well,—and -can never forget it.” - -“But this was five years ago; where have you been since?” - -“I will try to tell you,” said Madison. “Just four weeks after that -Sabbath morning, I gathered up the few rags of clothing I had, and -started, as I supposed, for the North and for freedom. I must not stop -to describe my feelings on taking this step. It seemed like taking a -leap into the dark. The thought of leaving my poor wife and two little -children caused me indescribable anguish; but consoling myself with the -reflection that once free, I could, possibly, devise ways and means to -gain their freedom also, I nerved myself up to make the attempt. I -started, but ill-luck attended me; for after being out a whole week, -strange to say, I still found myself on my master’s grounds; the third -night after being out, a season of clouds and rain set in, wholly -preventing me from seeing the North Star, which I had trusted as my -guide, not dreaming that clouds might intervene between us. - -“This circumstance was fatal to my project, for in losing my star, I -lost my way; so when I supposed I was far towards the North, and had -almost gained my freedom, I discovered myself at the very point from -which I had started. It was a severe trial, for I arrived at home in -great destitution; my feet were sore, and in travelling in the dark, I -had dashed my foot against a stump, and started a nail, and lamed -myself. I was wet and cold; one week had exhausted all my stores; and -when I landed on my master’s plantation, with all my work to do over -again,—hungry, tired, lame, and bewildered,—I almost cursed the day that -I was born. In this extremity I approached the quarters. I did so -stealthily, although in my desperation I hardly cared whether I was -discovered or not. Peeping through the rents of the quarters, I saw my -fellow-slaves seated by a warm fire, merrily passing away the time, as -though their hearts knew no sorrow. Although I envied their seeming -contentment, all wretched as I was, I despised the cowardly acquiescence -in their own degradation which it implied, and felt a kind of pride and -glory in my own desperate lot. I dared not enter the quarters,—for where -there is seeming contentment with slavery, there is certain treachery to -freedom. I proceeded towards the great house, in the hope of catching a -glimpse of my poor wife, whom I knew might be trusted with my secrets -even on the scaffold. Just as I reached the fence which divided the -field from the garden, I saw a woman in the yard, who in the darkness I -took to be my wife; but a nearer approach told me it was not she. I was -about to speak; had I done so, I would not have been here this night; -for an alarm would have been sounded, and the hunters been put on my -track. Here were hunger, cold, thirst, disappointment, and chagrin, -confronted only by the dim hope of liberty. I tremble to think of that -dreadful hour. To face the deadly cannon’s mouth, in warm blood -unterrified, is, I think, a small achievement, compared with a conflict -like this with gaunt starvation. The gnawings of hunger conquers by -degrees, till all that a man has he would give in exchange for a single -crust of bread. Thank God, I was not quite reduced to this extremity. - -“Happily for me, before the fatal moment of utter despair, my good wife -made her appearance in the yard. It was she; I knew her step. All was -well now. I was, however, afraid to speak, lest I should frighten her. -Yet speak I did; and, to my great joy, my voice was known. Our meeting -can be more easily imagined than described. For a time hunger, thirst, -weariness, and lameness were forgotten. But it was soon necessary for -her to return to the house. She being a house-servant, her absence from -the kitchen, if discovered, might have excited suspicion. Our parting -was like tearing the flesh from my bones; yet it was the part of wisdom -for her to go. She left me with the purpose of meeting me at midnight in -the very forest where you last saw me. She knew the place well, as one -of my melancholy resorts, and could easily find it, though the night was -dark. - -“I hastened away, therefore, and concealed myself, to await the arrival -of my good angel. As I lay there among the leaves, I was strongly -tempted to return again to the house of my master and give myself up; -but remembering my solemn pledge on that memorable Sunday morning, I was -able to linger out the two long hours between ten and midnight. I may -well call them long hours. I have endured much hardship; I have -encountered many perils; but the anxiety of those two hours, was the -bitterest I ever experienced. True to her word, my wife came laden with -provisions, and we sat down on the side of a log, at that dark and -lonesome hour of the night. I cannot say we talked; our feelings were -too great for that; yet we came to an understanding that I should make -the woods my home, for if I gave myself up, I should be whipped and sold -away; and if I started for the North, I should leave a wife doubly dear -to me. We mutually determined, therefore, that I should remain in the -vicinity. In the dismal swamps I lived, sir, five long years,—a cave for -my home during the day. I wandered about at night with the wolf and the -bear,—sustained by the promise that my good Susan would meet me in the -pine woods at least once a week. This promise was redeemed, I assure -you, to the letter, greatly to my relief. I had partly become contented -with my mode of life, and had made up my mind to spend my days there; -but the wilderness that sheltered me thus long took fire, and refused -longer to be my hiding-place. - -“I will not harrow up your feelings by portraying the terrific scene of -this awful conflagration. There is nothing to which I can liken it. It -was horribly and indescribably grand. The whole world seemed on fire, -and it appeared to me that the day of judgment had come; that the -burning bowels of the earth had burst forth, and that the end of all -things was at hand. Bears and wolves, scorched from their mysterious -hiding-places in the earth, and all the wild inhabitants of the -untrodden forest, filled with a common dismay, ran forth, yelling, -howling, bewildered amidst the smoke and flame. The very heavens seemed -to rain down fire through the towering trees; it was by the merest -chance that I escaped the devouring element. Running before it, and -stopping occasionally to take breath, I looked back to behold its -frightful ravages, and to drink in its savage magnificence. It was -awful, thrilling, solemn, beyond compare. When aided by the fitful wind, -the merciless tempest of fire swept on, sparkling, creaking, cracking, -curling, roaring, outdoing in its dreadful splendour a thousand -thunderstorms at once. From tree to tree it leaped, swallowing them up -in its lurid, baleful glare; and leaving them leafless, limbless, -charred, and lifeless behind. The scene was overwhelming, -stunning,—nothing was spared,—cattle, tame and wild, herds of swine and -of deer, wild beasts of every name and kind,—huge night-birds, bats, and -owls, that had retired to their homes in lofty tree-tops to rest, -perished in that fiery storm. The long-winged buzzard and croaking raven -mingled their dismal cries with those of the countless myriads of small -birds that rose up to the skies, and were lost to the sight in clouds of -smoke and flame. Oh, I shudder when I think of it! Many a poor wandering -fugitive who, like myself, had sought among wild beasts the mercy denied -by our fellow men, saw, in helpless consternation, his dwelling-place -and city of refuge reduced to ashes for ever. It was this grand -conflagration that drove me hither; I ran alike from fire and from -slavery.” - -After a slight pause, (for both speaker and hearers were deeply moved by -the above recital,) Mr. Listwell, addressing Madison, said, “If it does -not weary you too much, do tell us something of your journeyings since -this disastrous burning,—we are deeply interested in everything which -can throw light on the hardships of persons escaping from slavery; we -could hear you talk all night; are there no incidents that you could -relate of your travels hither? or are they such that you do not like to -mention them?” - -“For the most part, sir, my course has been uninterrupted; and, -considering the circumstances, at times even pleasant. I have suffered -little for want of food; but I need not tell you how I got it. Your -moral code may differ from mine, as your customs and usages are -different. The fact is, sir, during my flight, I felt myself robbed by -society of all my just rights; that I was in an enemy’s land, who sought -both my life and my liberty. They had transformed me into a brute; made -merchandise of my body, and, for all the purposes of my flight, turned -day into night,—and guided by my own necessities, and in contempt of -their conventionalities, I did not scruple to take bread where I could -get it.” - -“And just there you were right,” said Mr. Listwell; “I once had doubts -on this point myself, but a conversation with Gerrit Smith, (a man, by -the way, that I wish you could see, for he is a devoted friend of your -race, and I know he would receive you gladly,) put an end to all my -doubts on this point. But do not let me interrupt you.” - -“I had but one narrow escape during my whole journey,” said Madison. - -“Do let us hear of it,” said Mr. Listwell. - -“Two weeks ago,” continued Madison, “after travelling all night, I was -overtaken by daybreak, in what seemed to me an almost interminable wood. -I deemed it unsafe to go farther, and, as usual, I looked around for a -suitable tree in which to spend the day. I liked one with a bushy top, -and found one just to my mind. Up I climbed, and hiding myself as well -as I could, I, with this strap, (pulling one out of his old -coat-pocket,) lashed myself to a bough, and flattered myself that I -should get a _good night’s_ sleep that day; but in this I was soon -disappointed. I had scarcely got fastened to my natural hammock, when I -heard the voices of a number of persons, apparently approaching the part -of the woods where I was. Upon my word, sir, I dreaded more these human -voices than I should have done those of wild beasts. I was at a loss to -know what to do. If I descended, I should probably be discovered by the -men; and if they had dogs I should, doubtless, be ‘_treed_.’ It was an -anxious moment, but hardships and dangers have been the accompaniments -of my life; and have, perhaps, imparted to me a certain hardness of -character, which, to some extent, adapts me to them. In my present -predicament, I decided to hold my place in the tree-top, and abide the -consequences. But here I must disappoint you; for the men, who were all -coloured, halted at least a hundred yards from me, and began with their -axes, in right good earnest, to attack the trees. The sound of their -axes was like the report of as many well-charged pistols. By-and-by -there came down at least a dozen trees with a terrible crash. They -leaped upon the fallen trees with an air of victory. I could see no dog -with them, and felt comparatively safe, though I could not forget the -possibility that some freak or fancy might bring the axe a little nearer -my dwelling than comported with my safety. - -“There was no sleep for me that day, and I wished for night. You may -imagine that the thought of having the tree attacked under me was far -from agreeable, and that it very easily kept me on the look-out. The day -was not without diversion. The men at work seemed to be a gay set; and -they would often make the woods resound with that uncontrolled laughter -for which we, as a race, are remarkable. I held my place in the tree -till sunset,—saw the men put on their jackets to be off. I observed that -all left the ground except one, whom I saw sitting on the side of a -stump, with his head bowed, and his eyes apparently fixed on the ground. -I became interested in him. After sitting in the position to which I -have alluded ten or fifteen minutes, he left the stump, walked directly -towards the tree in which I was secreted, and halted almost under the -same. He stood for a moment and looked around, deliberately and -reverently took off his hat, by which I saw that he was a man in the -evening of life, slightly bald and quite gray. After laying down his hat -carefully, he knelt and prayed aloud, and such a prayer, the most -fervent, earnest, and solemn, to which I think I ever listened. After -reverently addressing the Almighty, as the all-wise, all-good, and the -common Father of all mankind, he besought God for grace, for strength, -to bear up under, and to endure, as a good soldier, all the hardships -and trials which beset the journey of life, and to enable him to live in -a manner which accorded with the gospel of Christ. His soul now broke -out in humble supplication for deliverance from bondage. ‘O thou,’ said -he, ‘that hearest the raven’s cry, take pity on poor me! O deliver me! O -deliver me! in mercy, O God, deliver me from the chains and manifold -hardships of slavery! With thee, O Father, all things are possible. Thou -canst stand and measure the earth. Thou hast beheld and drove asunder -the nations,—all power is in thy hand,—thou didst say of old, “I have -seen the affliction of my people, and am come to deliver them,”—O look -down upon our afflictions, and have mercy upon us.’ But I cannot repeat -his prayer, nor can I give you an idea of its deep pathos. I had given -but little attention to religion, and had but little faith in it; yet, -as the old man prayed, I felt almost like coming down and kneel by his -side, and mingle my broken complaint with his. - -“He had already gained my confidence; as how could it be otherwise? I -knew enough of religion to know that the man who prays in secret is far -more likely to be sincere than he who loves to pray standing in the -street, or in the great congregation. When he arose from his knees, like -another Zaccheus, I came down from the tree. He seemed a little alarmed -at first, but I told him my story, and the good man embraced me in his -arms, and assured me of his sympathy. - -“I was now about out of provisions, and thought I might safely ask him -to help me replenish my store. He said he had no money; but if he had, -he would freely give it me. I told him I had _one dollar_; it was all -the money I had in the world. I gave it to him, and asked him to -purchase some crackers and cheese, and to kindly bring me the balance; -that I would remain in or near that place, and would come to him on his -return, if he would whistle. He was gone only about an hour. Meanwhile, -from some cause or other, I know not what (but as you shall see very -wisely), I changed my place. On his return I started to meet him; but it -seemed as if the shadow of approaching danger fell upon my spirit, and -checked my progress. In a very few minutes, closely on the heels of the -old man, I distinctly saw _fourteen men_, with something like guns in -their hands.” - -“Oh! the old wretch!” exclaimed Mrs. Listwell, “he had betrayed you, had -he?” - -“I think not,” said Madison, “I cannot believe that the old man was to -blame. He probably went into a store, asked for the articles for which I -sent, and presented the bill I gave him; and it is so unusual for slaves -in the country to have money, that fact, doubtless, excited suspicion, -and gave rise to inquiry. I can easily believe that the truthfulness of -the old man’s character compelled him to disclose the facts; and thus -were these blood-thirsty men put on my track. Of course I did not -present myself; but hugged my hiding-place securely. If discovered and -attacked, I resolved to sell my life as dearly as possible. - -“After searching about the woods silently for a time, the whole company -gathered around the old man; one charged him with lying, and called him -an old villain; said he was a thief; charged him with stealing money; -said if he did not instantly tell where he got it, they would take the -shirt from his old back, and give him thirty-nine lashes. - -“‘I did _not_ steal the money’, said the old man, ‘it was given me, as I -told you at the store; and if the man who gave it me is not here, it is -not my fault.’ - -“‘Hush! you lying old rascal; we’ll make you smart for it. You shall not -leave this spot until you have told where you got that money.’ - -“They now took hold of him, and began to strip him; while others went to -get sticks with which to beat him. I felt, at the moment, like rushing -out in the midst of them; but considering that the old man would be -whipped the more for having aided a fugitive slave, and that, perhaps, -in the _melee_ he might be killed outright, I disobeyed this impulse. -They tied him to a tree, and began to whip him. My own flesh crept at -every blow, and I seem to hear the old man’s piteous cries even now. -They laid thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, and were going to repeat -that number, when one of the company besought his comrades to desist. -‘You’ll kill the d—d old scoundrel! You’ve already whipt a dollar’s -worth out of him, even if he stole it!’ ‘O yes,’ said another, ‘let him -down. He’ll never tell us another lie, I’ll warrant ye!’ With this, one -of the company untied the old man, and bid him go about his business.” - -The old man left, but the company remained as much as an hour, scouring -the woods. Round and round they went, turning up the underbrush, and -peering about like so many bloodhounds. Two or three times they came -within six feet of where I lay. I tell you I held my stick with a firmer -grasp than I did in coming up to your house to-night. I expected to -level one of them at least. Fortunately, however, I eluded their -pursuit, and they left me alone in the woods. - -“My last dollar was now gone, and you may well suppose I felt the loss -of it; but the thought of being once again free to pursue my journey, -prevented that depression which a sense of destitution causes, so -swinging my little bundle on my back, I caught a glimpse of the _Great -Bear_ (which ever points the way to my beloved star), and I started -again on my journey. What I lost in money I made up at a hen-roost that -same night, upon which I fortunately came.” - -“But you didn’t eat your food raw? How did you cook it?” said Mrs. -Listwell. - -“O no, Madam,” said Madison, turning to his little bundle;—“I had the -means of cooking.” Here he took out of his bundle an old-fashioned -tinder-box, and taking up a piece of a file, which he brought with him, -he struck it with a heavy flint, and brought out at least a dozen sparks -at once. “I have had this old box,” said he, “more than five years. It -is the _only_ property saved from the fire in the dismal swamp. It has -done me good service. It has given me the means of broiling many a -chicken!” - -It seemed quite a relief to Mrs. Listwell to know that Madison had, at -least, lived upon cooked food. Women have a perfect horror of eating -uncooked food. - -By this time thoughts of what was best to be done about getting Madison -to Canada, began to trouble Mr. Listwell; for the laws of Ohio were very -stringent against any one who should aid, or who were found aiding a -slave to escape through that State. A citizen, for the simple act of -taking a fugitive slave in his carriage, had just been stripped of all -his property, and thrown penniless upon the world. Notwithstanding this, -Mr. Listwell was determined to see Madison safely on his way to Canada. -“Give yourself no uneasiness,” said he to Madison, “for if it cost my -farm, I shall see you safely out of the States, and on your way to a -land of liberty. Thank God that there is _such_ a land so near us! You -will spend to-morrow with us, and to-morrow night I will take you in my -carriage to the Lake. Once upon that, and you are safe.” - -“Thank you! thank you,” said the fugitive; “I will commit myself to your -care.” - -For the _first_ time during _five_ years, Madison enjoyed the luxury of -resting his limbs on a comfortable bed, and inside a human habitation. -Looking at the white sheets, he said to Mr. Listwell, “What, sir! you -don’t mean that I shall sleep in that bed?” - -“Oh yes, oh yes.” - -After Mr. Listwell left the room, Madison said he really hesitated -whether or not he should lie on the floor; for that was _far_ more -comfortable and inviting than any bed to which he had been used. - - -We pass over the thoughts and feelings, the hopes and fears, the plans -and purposes, that revolved in the mind of Madison during the day that -he was secreted at the house of Mr. Listwell. The reader will be content -to know that nothing occurred to endanger his liberty, or to excite -alarm. Many were the little attentions bestowed upon him in his quiet -retreat and hiding-place. In the evening, Mr. Listwell, after treating -Madison to a new suit of winter clothes, and replenishing his exhausted -purse with five dollars, all in silver, brought out his two-horse -waggon, well provided with buffaloes, and silently started off with him -to Cleveland. They arrived there without interruption a few minutes -before sunrise the next morning. Fortunately the steamer _Admiral_ lay -at the wharf, and was to start for Canada at nine o’clock. Here the last -anticipated danger was surmounted. It was feared that just at this point -the hunters of men might be on the look-out, and, possibly, pounce upon -their victim. Mr. Listwell saw the captain of the boat; cautiously -sounded him on the matter of carrying liberty-loving passengers, before -he introduced his precious charge. This done, Madison was conducted on -board. With usual generosity this true subject of the emancipating Queen -welcomed Madison, and assured him that he should be safely landed in -Canada, free of charge. Madison now felt himself no more a piece of -merchandise, but a passenger, and, like any other passenger, going about -his business, carrying with him what belonged to him, and nothing which -rightfully belonged to anybody else. - -Wrapped in his new winter suit, snug and comfortable, a pocket full of -silver, safe from his pursuers, embarked for a free country, Madison -gave every sign of sincere gratitude, and bade his kind benefactor -farewell, with such a grip of the hand as bespoke a heart full of honest -manliness, and a soul that knew how to appreciate kindness. It need -scarcely be said that Mr. Listwell was deeply moved by the gratitude and -friendship he had excited in a nature so noble as that of the fugitive. -He went to his home that day with a joy and gratification which knew no -bounds. He had done something “to deliver the spoiled out of the hands -of the spoiler,” he had given bread to the hungry, and clothes to the -naked; he had befriended a man to whom the laws of his country forbade -all friendship,—and, in proportion to the odds against his righteous -deed, was the delightful satisfaction that gladdened his heart. On -reaching home, he exclaimed, “_He is safe,—he is safe,—he is safe_,”—and -the cup of his joy was shared by his excellent lady. The following -letter was received from Madison a few days after:— - - “WINDSOR, CANADA WEST, DEC. 16, 1840. - - My dear Friend,—for such you truly are:— - - Madison is out of the woods at last; I nestle in the mane of the - British lion, protected by his mighty paw from the talons and the - beak of the American eagle. I AM FREE, and breathe an atmosphere too - pure for _slaves_, slave-hunters, or slave-holders. My heart is - full. As many thanks to you, sir, and to your kind lady, as there - are pebbles on the shores of Lake Erie; and may the blessing of God - rest upon you both. You will never be forgotten by your profoundly - grateful friend, - - MADISON WASHINGTON.” - - - PART III. - - ——His head was with his heart, - And that was far away! - - _Childe Harold._ - -Just upon the edge of the great road from Petersburg, Virginia, to -Richmond, and only about fifteen miles from the latter place, there -stands a somewhat ancient and famous public tavern, quite notorious in -its better days, as being the grand resort for most of the leading -gamblers, horse-racers, cock-fighters, and slave-traders from all the -country round about. This old rookery, the nucleus of all sorts of -birds, mostly those of ill omen, has, like everything else peculiar to -Virginia, lost much of its ancient consequence and splendour; yet it -keeps up some appearance of gaiety and high life, and is still -frequented, even by respectable travellers, who are unacquainted with -its past history and present condition. Its fine old portico looks well -at a distance, and gives the building an air of grandeur. A nearer view, -however, does little to sustain this pretension. The house is large, and -its style imposing, but time and dissipation, unfailing in their -results, have made ineffaceable marks upon it, and it must, in the -common course of events, soon be numbered with the things that were. The -gloomy mantle of ruin is, already outspread to envelop it, and its -remains, even but now remind one of a human skull, after the flesh has -mingled with the earth. Old hats and rags fill the places in the upper -windows once occupied by large panes of glass, and the moulding boards -along the roofing have dropped off from their places, leaving holes and -crevices in the rented wall for bats and swallows to build their nests -in. The platform of the portico which fronts the highway is a rickety -affair, its planks are loose, and in some places entirely gone, leaving -effective man-traps in their stead for nocturnal ramblers. The wooden -pillars, which once supported it, but which now hang as encumbrances, -are all rotten, and tremble with the touch. A part of the stable, a fine -old structure in its day, which has given comfortable shelter to -hundreds of the noblest steeds of “the Old Dominion” at once, was blown -down many years ago, and never has been, and probably never will be, -re-built. The doors of the barn are in wretched condition; they will -shut with a little human strength to help their worn-out hinges, but not -otherwise. The side of the great building seen from the road is much -discoloured in sundry places by slops poured from the upper windows, -rendering it unsightly and offensive in other respects. Three or four -great dogs, looking as dull and gloomy as the mansion itself, lie -stretched out along the door-sills under the portico; and double the -number of loafers, some of them completely rum-ripe, and others -ripening, dispose themselves like so many sentinels about the front of -the house. These latter understand the science of scraping acquaintance -to perfection. They know everybody, and almost everybody knows them. Of -course, as their title implies, they have no regular employment. They -are (to use an expressive phrase) _hangers on_, or still better, they -are what sailors would denominate _holders-on to the slack, in -everybody’s mess, and in nobody’s watch_. They are, however, as good as -the newspaper for the events of the day, and they sell their knowledge -almost as cheap. Money they seldom have; yet they always have capital -the most reliable. They make their way with a succeeding traveller by -intelligence gained from a preceding one. All the great names of -Virginia they know by heart, and have seen their owners often. The -history of the house is folded in their lips, and they rattle off -stories in connection with it, equal to the guides at Dryburgh Abbey. He -must be a shrewd man, and well skilled in the art of evasion, who gets -out of the hands of these fellows without being at the expence of a -treat. - -It was at this old tavern, while on a second visit to the State of -Virginia, in 1841, that Mr. Listwell, unacquainted with the fame of the -place, turned aside, about sunset, to pass the night. Riding up to the -house, he had scarcely dismounted, when one of the half-dozen bar-room -fraternity met and addressed him in a manner exceedingly bland and -accommodating. - -“Fine evening, sir.” - -“Very fine,” said Mr. Listwell. “This is a tavern, I believe?” - -“O yes, sir, yes; although you may think it looks a little the worse for -wear, it was once as good a house as any in Virginy. I make no doubt if -ye spend the night here, you’ll think it a good house yet; for there -ain’t a more accommodating man in the country than you’ll find the -landlord.” - -_Listwell._ “The most I want is a good bed for myself, and a full manger -for my horse. If I get these, I shall be quite satisfied.” - -_Loafer._ “Well, I alloys like to hear a gentleman talk for his horse; -and just because the horse can’t talk for itself. A man that don’t care -about his beast, and don’t look arter it when he’s travelling ain’t much -in my eye anyhow. Now, sir, I likes a horse, and I’ll guarantee your -horse will be taken good care on here. That old stable, for all you see -it looks so shabby now, once sheltered the great _Eclipse_, when he run -here agin _Batchelor_ and _Jumping Jemmy_. Them was fast horses, but he -beat ’em both.” - -_Listwell._ “Indeed.” - -_Loafer._ “Well, I rather reckon you’ve travelled a right smart distance -to-day, from the look of your horse?” - -_Listwell._ “Forty miles only.” - -_Loafer._ “Well! I’ll be darned if that aint a pretty good _only_. -Mister, that beast of yours is a singed cat, I warrant you. I never -see’d a creature like that that wasn’t good on the road. You’ve come -about forty miles, then?” - -_Listwell._ “Yes, yes, and a pretty good pace at that.” - -_Loafer._ “You’re somewhat in a hurry, then, I make no doubt? I reckon I -could guess if I would, what you’re going to Richmond for? It wouldn’t -be much of a guess either; for it’s rumoured hereabouts, that there’s to -be the greatest sale of niggers at Richmond to-morrow that has taken -place there in a long time; and I’ll be bound you’re a going there to -have a hand in it.” - -_Listwell._ “Why, you must think, then, that there’s money to be made at -that business?” - -_Loafer._ “Well, ’pon my honour, sir, I never made any that way myself; -but it stands to reason that it’s a moneymaking business; for almost all -other business in Virginia is dropped to engage in this. One thing is -sartain, I never see’d a nigger-buyer yet that hadn’t a plenty of money, -and he wasn’t as free with it as water. I has known one on ’em to treat -as high as twenty times in a night; and, ginerally speaking, they’s men -of edication, and knows all about the government. The fact is, sir, I -alloys like to hear ’em talk, becase I alloys can learn something from -them.” - -_Listwell._ “What may I call your name, sir?” - -_Loafer._ “Well, now, they calls me Wilkes. I’m known all around by the -gentlemen that comes here. They all knows old Wilkes.” - -_Listwell._ “Well, Wilkes, you seem to be acquainted here, and I see you -have a strong liking for a horse. Be so good as to speak a kind word for -mine to the hostler to-night, and you’ll not lose any thing by it.” - -_Loafer._ “Well, sir, I see you don’t say much, but you’ve got an -insight into things. It’s alloys wise to get the good will of them -that’s acquainted about a tavern; for a man don’t know when he goes into -a house what may happen, or how much he may need a friend.” Here the -loafer gave Mr. Listwell a significant grin, which expressed a sort of -triumphant pleasure at having, as he supposed, by his tact succeeded in -placing so fine appearing a gentleman under obligations to him. - -The pleasure, however, was mutual; for there was something so -insinuating in the glance of this loquacious customer, that Mr. Listwell -was very glad to get quit of him, and to do so more successfully, he -ordered his supper to be brought to him in his private room, private to -the eye, but not to the ear. This room was directly over the bar, and -the plastering being off, nothing but pine boards and naked laths -separated him from the disagreeable company below,—he could easily hear -what was said in the bar-room, and was rather glad of the advantage it -afforded, for, as you shall see, it furnished him important hints as to -the manner and deportment he should assume during his stay at that -tavern. - -Mr. Listwell says he had got into his room but a few moments, when he -heard the officious Wilkes below, in a tone of disappointment, exclaim, -“Whar’s that gentleman?” Wilkes was evidently expecting to meet with his -friend at the bar-room, on his return, and had no doubt of his doing the -handsome thing. “He has gone to his room,” answered the landlord, “and -has ordered his supper to be brought to him.” - -Here some one shouted out, “Who is he, Wilkes? Where’s he going?” - -“Well, now, I’ll be hanged if I know; but I’m willing to make any man a -bet of this old hat agin a five-dollar bill, that that gent is as full -of money as a dog is of fleas. He’s going down to Richmond to buy -niggers, I make no doubt. He’s no fool, I warrant ye.” - -“Well, he acts d——d strange,” said another, “anyhow. I likes to see a -man, when he comes up to a tavern, to come straight into the bar-room, -and show that he’s a man among men. Nobody was going to bite him.” - -“Now, I don’t blame him a bit for not coming in here. That man knows his -business, and means to take care on his money,” answered Wilkes. - -“Wilkes, you’re a fool. You only say that, bekase you hope to get a few -coppers out on him.” - -“You only measure my corn by your half-bushel, I won’t say that you’re -only mad becase I got the chance of speaking to him first.” - -“O Wilkes! you’re known here. You’ll praise up any body that will give -you a copper; besides, ’tis my opinion that that fellow who took his -long slab-sides up stairs, for all the world just like a half-scared -woman, afraid to look honest men in the face, is a _Northerner_, and as -mean as dish-water.” - -“Now what will you bet of that?” said Wilkes. - -The speaker said, “I make no bets with you, ’kase you can get that -fellow up stairs there to say anything.” - -“Well,” said Wilkes, “I am willing to bet any man in the company that -_that_ gentleman is a _nigger_-buyer. He didn’t tell me so right down, -but I reckon I knows enough about men to give a pretty clean guess as to -what they are arter.” - -The dispute as to _who_ Mr. Listwell was, what his business, where he -was going, &c., was kept up with much animation for some time, and more -than once threatened a serious disturbance of the peace. Wilkes had his -friends as well as his opponents. After this sharp debate, the company -amused themselves by drinking whisky, and telling stories. The latter -consisting of quarrels, fights, _rencontres_, and duels, in which -distinguished persons of that neighbourhood, and frequenters of that -house, had been actors. Some of these stories were frightful enough, and -were told, too, with a relish which bespoke the pleasure of the parties -with the horrid scenes they portrayed. It would not be proper here to -give the reader any idea of the vulgarity and dark profanity which -rolled, as “sweet morsel,” under these corrupt tongues. A more brutal -set of creatures, perhaps, never congregated. - -Disgusted, and a little alarmed withal, Mr. Listwell, who was not -accustomed to such entertainment, at length retired, but not to sleep. -He was _too_ much wrought upon by what he had heard to rest quietly, and -what snatches of sleep he got, were interrupted by dreams which were -anything than pleasant. At eleven o’clock, there seemed to be several -hundreds of persons crowding into the house. A loud and confused -clamour, cursing and cracking of whips, and the noise of chains startled -him from his bed; for a moment he would have given the half of his farm -in Ohio to have been at home. This uproar was kept up with undulating -course, till near morning. There was loud laughing,—loud singing,—loud -cursing,—and yet there seemed to be weeping and mourning in the midst of -all. Mr. Listwell said he had heard enough during the forepart of the -night to convince him that a buyer of men and women stood the best -chance of being respected. And he, therefore, thought it best to say -nothing which might undo the favourable opinion that had been formed of -him in the bar-room by at least one of the fraternity that swarmed about -it. While he would not avow himself a purchaser of slaves, he deemed it -not prudent to disavow it. He felt that he might, properly, refuse to -cast such a pearl before parties which, to him, were worse than swine. -To reveal himself, and to impart a knowledge of his real character and -sentiments would, to say the least, be imparting intelligence with the -certainty of seeing it and himself both abused. Mr. Listwell confesses, -that this reasoning did not altogether satisfy his conscience, for, -hating slavery as he did, and regarding it to be the immediate duty of -every man to cry out against it, “without compromise and without -concealment,” it was hard for him to admit to himself the possibility of -circumstances wherein a man might, properly, hold his tongue on the -subject. Having as little of the spirit of a martyr as Erasmus, he -concluded, like the latter, that it was wiser to trust the mercy of God -for his soul, than the humanity of slave-traders for his body. Bodily -fear, not conscientious scruples, prevailed. - -In this spirit he rose early in the morning, manifesting no surprise at -what he had heard during the night. His quandam friend was soon at his -elbow, boring him with all sorts of questions. All, however, directed to -find out his character, business, residence, purposes, and destination. -With the most perfect appearance of goodnature and carelessness, Mr. -Listwell evaded these meddlesome inquiries, and turned conversation to -general topics, leaving himself and all that specially pertained to him -out of discussion. Disengaging himself from their troublesome -companionship, he made his way to an old bowling-alley, which was -connected with the house, and which, like all the rest, was in very bad -repair. - -On reaching the alley Mr. Listwell saw, for the first time in his life, -a slave-gang on their way to market. A sad sight truly. Here were one -hundred and thirty human beings,—children of a common Creator—guilty of -no crime—men and women, with hearts, minds, and deathless spirits, -chained and fettered, and bound for the market, in a Christian -country,—in a country boasting of its liberty, independence, and high -civilization! Humanity converted into merchandise, and linked in iron -bands, with no regard to decency or humanity! All sizes, ages, and -sexes, mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, sisters,—all huddled -together, on their way to market to be sold and separated from home, and -from each other _for ever_. And all to fill the pockets of men too lazy -to work for an honest living, and who gain their fortune by plundering -the helpless, and trafficking in the souls and sinews of men. As he -gazed upon this revolting and heartrending scene, our informant said he -almost doubted the existence of a God of justice! And he stood wondering -that the earth did not open and swallow up such wickedness. - -In the midst of these reflections, and while running his eye up and down -the fettered ranks, he met the glance of one whose face he thought he -had seen before. To be resolved, he moved towards the spot. It was -MADISON WASHINGTON! Here was a scene for the pencil! Had Mr. Listwell -been confronted by one risen from the dead, he could not have been more -appalled. He was completely stunned. A thunderbolt could not have struck -him more dumb. He stood, for a few moments, as motionless as one -petrified; collecting himself, he at length exclaimed, “_Madison! is -that you?_” - -The noble fugitive, but little less astonished than himself, answered -cheerily. “O yes, sir, they’ve got me again.” - -Thoughtless of consequences for the moment, Mr. Listwell ran up to his -old friend, placing his hands upon his shoulders, and looked him in the -face. Speechless they stood gazing at each other as if to be doubly -resolved that there was no mistake about the matter, till Madison -motioned his friend away, intimating a fear lest the keepers should find -him there, and suspect him of tampering with the slaves. - -“They will soon be out to look after us. You can come when they go to -breakfast, and I will tell you all.” - -Pleased with this arrangement, Mr. Listwell passed out of the alley; but -only just in time to save himself, for, while near the door, he observed -three men making their way to the alley. The thought occurred to him to -await their arrival, as the best means of diverting the ever ready -suspicions of the guilty. - -While the scene between Mr. Listwell and his friend Madison was going -on, the other slaves stood as mute spectators,—at a loss to know what -all this could mean. As he left, he heard the man chained to Madison -ask, “Who is that gentleman?” - -“He is a friend of mine. I cannot tell you now. Suffice it to say he is -a friend. You shall hear more of him before long, but mark me! whatever -shall pass between that gentleman and me, in your hearing, I pray you -will say nothing about it. We are all chained here together,—ours is a -common lot; and that gentleman is not less _your_ friend than _mine_.” -At these words, all mysterious as they were, the unhappy company gave -signs of satisfaction and hope. It seems that Madison, by that mesmeric -power which is the invariable accompaniment of genius, had already won -the confidence of the gang, and was a sort of general-in-chief among -them. - -By this time the keepers arrived. A horrid trio, well fitted for their -demoniacal work. Their uncombed hair came down over foreheads -“_villainously low_” and with eyes, mouths, and noses to match. “Hallo! -hallo!” they growled out as they entered. “Are you all there?” - -“All here,” said Madison. - -“Well, well, that’s right! your journey will soon be over. You’ll be in -Richmond by eleven to-day, and then you’ll have an easy time on it.” - -“I say, gal, what in the devil are you crying about?” said one of them. -“I’ll give you something to cry about, if you don’t mind.” This was said -to a girl, apparently not more than twelve years old, who had been -weeping bitterly. She had, probably, left behind her a loving mother, -affectionate sisters, brothers, and friends, and her tears were but the -natural expression of her sorrow, and the only solace. But the dealers -in human flesh have _no_ respect for such sorrow. They look upon it as a -protest against their cruel injustice, and they are prompt to punish it. - -This is a puzzle not easily solved. _How_ came he here? what can I do -for him? may I not even now be in some way compromised in this affair? -were thoughts that troubled Mr. Listwell, and made him eager for the -promised opportunity of speaking to Madison. - -The bell now sounded for breakfast, and keepers and drivers, with -pistols and bowie-knives gleaming from their belts, hurried in, as if to -get the best places. Taking the chance now afforded, Mr. Listwell -hastened back to the bowling-alley. Reaching Madison, he said, “Now _do_ -tell me all about the matter. Do you know me?” - -“Oh, yes,” said Madison, “I know you well, and shall never forget you -nor that cold and dreary night you gave me shelter. I must be short,” he -continued, “for they’ll soon be out again. This, then, is the story in -brief. On reaching Canada, and getting over the excitement of making my -escape, sir, my thoughts turned to my poor wife, who had well deserved -my love by her virtuous fidelity and undying affection for me. I could -not bear the thought of leaving her in the cruel jaws of slavery, -without making an effort to rescue her. First, I tried to get money to -buy her; but, oh! the process was _too slow_. I despaired of -accomplishing it. She was in all my thoughts by day, and my dreams by -night. At times I could almost hear her voice, saying, ‘O Madison! -Madison! will you then leave me here? can you leave me here to die? No! -no! you will come! you will come!’ I was wretched. I lost my appetite. I -could neither work, eat, nor sleep, till I resolved to hazard my own -liberty, to gain that of my wife! But I must be short. Six weeks ago I -reached my old master’s place. I laid about the neighbourhood nearly a -week, watching my chance, and, finally, I ventured upon the desperate -attempt to reach my poor wife’s room by means of a ladder. I reached the -window, but the noise in raising it frightened my wife, and she screamed -and fainted. I took her in my arms, and was descending the ladder, when -the dogs began to bark furiously, and before I could get to the woods -the white folks were roused. The cool night air soon restored my wife, -and she readily recognized me. We made the best of our way to the woods, -but it was now _too_ late,—the dogs were after us as though they would -have torn us to pieces. It was all over with me now! My old master and -his two sons ran out with loaded rifles, and before we were out of -gunshot, our ears were assailed with ‘_Stop! stop! or be shot down._’ -Nevertheless we ran on. Seeing that we gave no heed to their calls, they -fired, and my poor wife fell by my side dead, while I received but a -slight flesh wound. I now became desperate, and stood my ground, and -awaited their attack over her dead body. They rushed upon me, with their -rifles in hand. I parried their blows, and fought them till I was -knocked down and overpowered.” - -“Oh! it was madness to have returned,” said Mr. Listwell. - -“Sir, I could not be free with the galling thought that my poor wife was -still a slave. With her in slavery, my body, not my spirit, was free. I -was taken to the house,—chained to a ring-bolt,—my wounds dressed. I was -kept there three days. All the slaves, for miles around, were brought to -see me. Many slave-holders came with their slaves, using me as proof of -the completeness of their power, and of the impossibility of slaves -getting away. I was taunted, jeered at, and be-rated by them, in a -manner that pierced me to the soul. Thank God I was able to smother my -rage, and to bear it all with seeming composure. After my wounds were -nearly healed, I was taken to a tree and stripped, and I received sixty -lashes on my naked back. A few days after, I was sold to a slave-trader, -and placed in this gang for the New Orleans market.” - -“Do you think your master would sell you to me?” - -“O no, sir! I was sold on condition of my being taken South. Their -motive is revenge.” - -“Then, then,” said Mr. Listwell, “I fear I can do nothing for you. Put -your trust in God, and bear your sad lot with the manly fortitude which -becomes a man. I shall see you at Richmond, but don’t recognize me.” -Saying this, Mr. Listwell handed Madison ten dollars; said a few words -to the other slaves; received their hearty “God bless you,” and made his -way to the house. - -Fearful of exciting suspicion by too long delay, our friend went to the -breakfast table, with the air of one who half reproved the greediness of -those who rushed in at the sound of the bell. A cup of coffee was all -that he could manage. His feelings were too bitter and excited, and his -heart was too full with the fate of poor Madison (whom he loved as well -as admired) to relish his breakfast; and although he sat long after the -company had left the table, he really did little more than change the -position of his knife and fork. The strangeness of meeting again one -whom he had met on two several occasions before, under extraordinary -circumstances, was well calculated to suggest the idea that a -supernatural power, a wakeful providence, or an inexorable fate, had -linked their destiny together; and that no efforts of his could -disentangle him from the mysterious web of circumstances which enfolded -him. - -On leaving the table, Mr. Listwell nerved himself up and walked firmly -into the bar-room. He was at once greeted again by that talkative -chatter-box, Mr. Wilkes. - -“Them’s a likely set of niggers in the allay there,” said Wilkes. - -“Yes, they’re fine looking fellows; one of them I should like to -purchase, and for him I would be willing to give a handsome sum.” - -Turning to one of his comrades, and with a grin of victory, Wilkes said, -“Aha, Bill, did you hear that? I told you I know’d that gentleman wanted -to buy niggers, and would bid as high as any purchaser in the market.” - -“Come, come,” said Listwell, “don’t be too loud in your praise, you are -old enough to know that prices rise when purchasers are plenty.” - -“That’s a fact,” said Wilkes, “I see you knows the ropes—and there’s not -a man in old Virginy whom I’d rather help to make a good bargain than -you, sir.” - -Mr. Listwell here threw a dollar at Wilkes, (which the latter caught -with a dexterous hand,) saying, “Take that for your kind good will.” -Wilkes held up the dollar to his right eye, with a grin of victory, and -turned to the morose grumbler in the corner who had questioned the -liberality of a man of whom he knew nothing. - -Mr. Listwell now stood as well with the company as any other occupant of -the bar-room. - -We pass over the hurry and bustle, the brutal vociferations of the -slave-drivers in getting their unhappy gang in motion for Richmond; and -we need not narrate every application of the lash to those who faltered -in the journey. Mr. Listwell followed the train at a long distance, with -a sad heart; and on reaching Richmond, left his horse at an hotel, and -made his way to the wharf, in the direction of which he saw the -slave-coffle driven. He was just in time to see the whole company embark -for New Orleans. The thought struck him that, while mixing with the -multitude, he might do his friend Madison one last service, and he -stepped into a hardware store and purchased three strong _files_. These -he took with him, and standing near the small boat, which lay in waiting -to bear the company by parcels to the side of the brig that lay in the -stream, he managed, as Madison passed him, to slip the files into his -pocket, and at once darted back among the crowd. - -All the company now on board, the imperious voice of the captain -sounded, and instantly a dozen hardy seamen were in the rigging, -hurrying aloft to unfurl the broad canvas of our Baltimore built -American Slaver. The sailors hung about the ropes, like so many black -cats, now in the round-tops, now in the cross-trees, now on the -yard-arms; all was bluster and activity. Soon the broad topsail, the -royal and top gallant sail were spread to the breeze. Round went the -heavy windlass, clank, clank went the fall-bit,—the anchors -weighed,—jibs, mainsails, and topsails hauled to the wind, and the long, -low, black slaver, with her cargo of human flesh, careened, and moved -forward to the sea. - -Mr. Listwell stood on the shore, and watched the slaver till the last -speck of her upper sails faded from sight, and announced the limit of -human vision. “Farewell! farewell! brave and true man! God grant that -brighter skies may smile upon your future than have yet looked down upon -your thorny pathway.” - -Saying this to himself, our friend lost no time in completing his -business, and in making his way homewards, gladly shaking off from his -feet the dust of Old Virginia. - - - PART IV. - - Oh, where’s the slave so lowly - Condemn’d to chains unholy, - Who could he burst - His bonds at first - Would pine beneath them slowly? - - _Moore._ - - ——Know ye not - Who would be free, _themselves_ must strike the blow. - - _Childe Harold._ - -What a world of inconsistency; as well as of wickedness, is suggested by -the smooth and gliding phrase, AMERICAN SLAVE TRADE; and how strange and -perverse is that moral sentiment which loathes, execrates, and brands as -piracy and as deserving of death the carrying away into captivity men, -women, and children from the _African coast_; but which is neither -shocked nor disturbed by a similar traffic, carried on with the same -motives and purposes, and characterized by even _more_ odious -peculiarities on the coast of our MODEL REPUBLIC. We execrate and hang -the wretch guilty of this crime on the coast of Guinea, while we respect -and applaud the guilty participators in this murderous business on the -enlightened shores of the Chesapeake. The inconsistency is so flagrant -and glaring, that it would seem to cast a doubt on the doctrine of the -innate moral sense of mankind. - -Just two months after the sailing of the Virginia slave brig, which the -reader has seen move off to sea so proudly with her human cargo for the -New Orleans market, there chanced to meet, in the Marine Coffee-house at -Richmond, a company of _ocean birds_, when the following conversation, -which throws some light on the subsequent history, not only of Madison -Washington, but of the hundred and thirty human beings with whom we last -saw him chained. - -“I say, shipmate, you had rather rough weather on your late passage to -Orleans?” said Jack Williams, a regular old salt, tauntingly, to a trim, -compact, manly-looking person, who proved to be the first mate of the -slave brig in question. - -“Foul play, as well as foul weather,” replied the firmly knit personage, -evidently but little inclined to enter upon a subject which terminated -so ingloriously to the captain and officers of the American slaver. - -“Well, betwixt you and me,” said Williams, “that whole affair on board -of the Creole was miserably and disgracefully managed. Those black -rascals got the upper hand of ye altogether: and in my opinion, the -whole disaster was the result of ignorance of the real character of -_darkies_ in general. With half a dozen _resolute_ white men, (I say it -not boastingly,) I could have had the rascals in irons in ten minutes, -not because I’m so strong, but I know how to manage ’em. With my back -against the _caboose_, I could, myself, have flogged a dozen of them; -and had I been on board, by every monster of the deep, every black devil -of ’em all would have had his neck stretched from the yard-arm. Ye made -a mistake in yer manner of fighting ’em. All that is needed in dealing -with a set of _darkies_, is to show that yer not afraid of ’em. For my -own part, I would not honour a dozen niggers by pointing a gun at one of -’em,—a good stout whip, or a stiff rope’s end, is better than all the -guns at Old Point to quell a _nigger_ insurrection. Why, sir, to take a -gun to a _nigger_ is the best way you can select to tell him you are -afraid of him, and the best way of inviting his attack.” - -This speech made quite a sensation among the company, and a part of them -intimated solicitude for the answer which might be made to it. Our first -mate replied, “Mr. Williams, all that you’ve now said sounds very well -_here_ on shore, where, perhaps, you have studied negro character. I do -not profess to understand the subject as well as yourself; but it -strikes me, you apply the same rule in dissimilar cases. It is quite -easy to talk of flogging niggers here on land, where you have the -sympathy of the community, and the whole physical force of the -government, state and national, at your command; and where, if a negro -shall lift his hand against a white man, the whole community, with one -accord, are ready to unite in shooting him down. I say, in such -circumstances, it’s easy to talk of flogging negroes and of negro -cowardice: but, sir, I deny that the negro is, naturally, a coward, or -that your theory of managing slaves will stand the test of _salt_ water. -It may do very well for an overseer, a contemptible hireling, to take -advantage of fears already in existence, and which his presence has no -power to inspire; to swagger about, whip in hand, and discourse on the -timidity and cowardice of negroes; for they have a smooth sea and a fair -wind. It is one thing to manage a company of slaves on a Virginia -plantation, and quite another thing to quell an insurrection on the -lonely billows of the Atlantic, where every breeze speaks of courage and -liberty. For the negro to act cowardly on shore, may be to act wisely; -and I’ve some doubts whether _you_, Mr. Williams, would find it very -convenient, were you a slave in Algiers, to raise your hand against the -bayonets of a whole government.” - -“By George, shipmate,” said Williams, “you’re coming rather _too_ near. -Either I’ve fallen very low in your estimation, or your notions of negro -courage have got up a buttonhole too high. Now I more than ever wish I’d -been on board of that luckless craft. I’d have given ye practical -evidence of the truth of my theory. I don’t doubt there’s some -difference in being at sea. But a nigger’s a nigger, on sea or land; and -is a coward, find him where you will; a drop of blood from one on ’em -will skeer a hundred. A knock on the nose, or a kick on the shin, will -tame the wildest ‘_darkey_’ you can fetch me. I say again, and will -stand by it, I could, with half a dozen good men, put the whole nineteen -on ’em in irons, and have carried them safe to New Orleans too. Mind, I -don’t blame you; but I do say, and every gentleman here will bear me out -in it, that the fault was somewhere, or them niggers would never have -got off as they have done. For my part I feel ashamed to have the idea -go abroad, that a ship-load of slaves can’t be safely taken from -Richmond to New Orleans. I should like, merely to redeem the character -of Virginia sailors, to take charge of a ship-load on ’em to-morrow.” - -Williams went on in this strain, occasionally casting an imploring -glance at the company for applause for his wit, and sympathy for his -contempt of negro courage. He had, evidently, however, waked up the -wrong passenger; for besides being in the right, his opponent carried -that in his eye which marked him a man not to be trifled with. - -“Well, sir,” said the sturdy mate, “you can select your own method for -distinguishing yourself;—the path of ambition in this direction is quite -open to you in Virginia, and I’ve no doubt that you will be highly -appreciated and compensated for all your valiant achievements in that -line; but, for myself, while I do not profess to be a giant, I have -resolved never to set my foot on the deck of a slave ship, either as -officer, or common sailor again; I have got enough of it.” - -“Indeed! indeed!” exclaimed Williams, derisively. - -“Yes, _indeed_,” echoed the mate; “but don’t misunderstand me. It is not -the high value that I set upon my life that makes me say what I have -said; yet I’m resolved never to endanger my life again in a cause which -my conscience does not approve. I dare say _here_ what many men _feel_, -but _dare not speak_, that this whole slave-trading business is a -disgrace and scandal to Old Virginia.” - -“Hold! hold on! shipmate,” said Williams, “I hardly thought you’d have -shown your colours so soon,—I’ll be hanged if you’re not as good an -abolitionist as Garrison himself.” - -The mate now rose from his chair, manifesting some excitement. “What do -you mean, sir,” said he, in a commanding tone. “_That man does not live -who shall offer me an insult with impunity._” - -The effect of these words was marked; and the company clustered around. -Williams, in an apologetic tone said, “Shipmate! keep your temper. I -meant no insult. We all know that Tom Grant is no coward, and what I -said about your being an abolitionist was simply this: you _might_ have -put down them black mutineers and murderers, but your conscience held -you back.” - -“In that, too,” said Grant, “you were mistaken. I did all that any man -with equal strength and presence of mind could have done. The fact is, -Mr. Williams, you underrate the courage as well as the skill of these -negroes, and further, you do not seem to have been correctly informed -about the case in hand at all.” - -“All I know about it is,” said Williams, “that on the ninth day after -you left Richmond, a dozen or two of the niggers ye had on board, came -on deck and took the ship from you;—had her steered into a British port, -where, by-the-bye, every woolly head of them went ashore and was free. -Now I take this to be a discreditable piece of business, and one -demanding explanation.” - -“There are a great many discreditable things in the world,” said Grant. -“For a ship to go down under a calm sky is, upon the first flush of it, -disgraceful either to sailors or caulkers. But when we learn, that by -some mysterious disturbance in nature, the waters parted beneath, and -swallowed the ship up, we lose our indignation and disgust in -lamentation of the disaster, and in awe of the Power which controls the -elements.” - -“Very true, very true,” said Williams, “I should be very glad to have an -explanation which would relieve the affair of its present discreditable -features. I have desired to see you ever since you got home, and to -learn from you a full statement of the facts in the case. To me the -whole thing seems unaccountable. I cannot see how a dozen or two of -ignorant negroes, not one of whom had ever been to sea before, and all -of whom were closely ironed between decks, should be able to get their -fetters off, rush out of the hatchway in open daylight, kill two white -men, the one the captain and the other their master, and then carry the -ship into a British port, where every ‘_darkey_’ of them was set free. -There must have been great carelessness, or cowardice somewhere!” - -The company which had listened in silence during most of this -discussion, now became much excited. One said, I agree with Williams; -and several said the thing looks black enough. After the temporary -tumultuous exclamations had subsided,— - -“I see,” said Grant, “how you regard this case, and how difficult it -will be for me to render our ship’s company blameless in your eyes. -Nevertheless, I will state the fact precisely as they came under my own -observation. Mr. Williams speaks of ‘ignorant negroes,’ and, as a -general rule, they are ignorant; but had he been on board the _Creole_, -as I was, he would have seen cause to admit that there are exceptions to -this general rule. The leader of the mutiny in question was just as -shrewd a fellow as ever I met in my life, and was as well fitted to lead -in a dangerous enterprise as any one white man in ten thousand. The name -of this man, strange to say, (ominous of greatness,) was MADISON -WASHINGTON. In the short time he had been on board, he had secured the -confidence of every officer. The negroes fairly worshipped him. His -manner and bearing were such, that no one could suspect him of a -murderous purpose. The only feeling with which we regarded him was, that -he was a powerful, good-disposed negro. He seldom spake to any one, and -when he did speak, it was with the utmost propriety. His words were well -chosen, and his pronunciation equal to any schoolmaster. It was a -mystery to us _where_ he got his knowledge of language; but as little -was said to him, none of us knew the extent of his intelligence and -ability till it was too late. It seems he brought three files with him -on board, and must have gone to work upon his fetters the first night -out; and he must have worked well at that; for on the day of the rising, -he got the irons _off eighteen_ besides himself. - -“The attack began just about twilight in the evening. Apprehending a -squall, I had commanded the second mate to order all hands on deck, to -take in sail. A few minutes before this I had seen Madison’s head above -the hatchway, looking out upon the white-capped waves at the leeward. I -think I never saw him look more good-natured. I stood just about -midship, on the larboard side. The captain was pacing the quarter-deck -on the starboard side, in company with Mr. Jameson, the owner of most of -the slaves on board. Both were armed. I had just told the men to lay -aloft, and was looking to see my orders obeyed, when I heard the -discharge of a pistol on the starboard side; and turning suddenly -around, the very deck seemed covered with fiends from the pit. The -nineteen negroes were all on deck, with their broken fetters in their -hands, rushing in all directions. I put my hand quickly in my pocket to -draw out my jack-knife; But before I could draw it, I was knocked -senseless to the deck. When I came to myself, (which I did in a few -minutes, I suppose, for it was yet quite light,) there was not a white -man on deck. The sailors were all aloft in the rigging, and dared not -come down. Captain Clarke and Mr. Jameson lay stretched on the -quarter-deck,—both dying,—while Madison himself stood at the helm -unhurt. - -“I was completely weakened by the loss of blood, and had not recovered -from the stunning blow which felled me to the deck; but it was a little -too much for me, even in my prostrate condition, to see our good brig -commanded by a _black murderer_. So I called out to the men to come down -and take the ship, or die in the attempt. Suiting the action to the -word, I started aft. You murderous villain, said I, to the imp at the -helm, and rushed upon him to deal him a blow, when he pushed me back -with his strong, black arm, as though I had been a boy of twelve. I -looked around for the men. They were still in the rigging. Not one had -come down. I started towards Madison again. The rascal now told me to -stand back. ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘your life is in my hands. I could have -killed you a dozen times over during this last half hour, and could kill -you now. You call me a _black murderer_. I am not a murderer. God is my -witness that LIBERTY, not _malice_, is the motive for this night’s work. -I have done no more to those dead men yonder, than they would have done -to me in like circumstances. We have struck for our freedom, and if a -true man’s heart be in you, you will honour us for the deed. We have -done that which you applaud your fathers for doing, and if we are -murderers, _so were they_.’ - -“I felt little disposition to reply to this impudent speech. By heaven, -it disarmed me. The fellow loomed up before me. I forgot his blackness -in the dignity of his manner, and the eloquence of his speech. It seemed -as if the souls of both the great dead (whose names he bore) had entered -him. To the sailors in the rigging he said: ‘Men! the battle is -over,—your captain is dead. I have complete command of this vessel. All -resistance to my authority will be in vain. My men have won their -liberty, with no other weapons but their own BROKEN FETTERS. We are -nineteen in number. We do not thirst for your blood, we demand only our -rightful freedom. Do not flatter yourselves that I am ignorant of chart -or compass. I know both. We are now only about sixty miles from Nassau. -Come down, and do your duty. Land us in Nassau, and not a hair of your -heads shall be hurt.’ - -“I shouted, _Stay where you are, men_,—when a sturdy black fellow ran at -me with a handspike, and would have split my head open, but for the -interference of Madison, who darted between me and the blow. ‘I know -what you are up to,’ said the latter to me. ‘You want to navigate this -brig into a slave port, where you would have us all hanged; but you’ll -miss it; before this brig shall touch a slave-cursed shore while I am on -board, I will myself put a match to the magazine, and blow her, and be -blown with her, into a thousand fragments. Now I have saved your life -twice within these last twenty minutes,—for, when you lay helpless on -deck, my men were about to kill you. I held them in check. And if you -now (seeing I am your friend and not your enemy) persist in your -resistance to my authority, I give you fair warning, YOU SHALL DIE.’ - -“Saying this to me, he cast a glance into the rigging, where the -terror-stricken sailors were clinging, like so many frightened monkeys, -and commanded them to come down, in a tone from which there was no -appeal; for four men stood by with muskets in hand, ready at the word of -command to shoot them down. - -“I now became satisfied that resistance was out of the question; that my -best policy was to put the brig into Nassau, and secure the assistance -of the American consul at that port. I felt sure that the authorities -would enable us to secure the murderers, and bring them to trial. - -“By this time the apprehended squall had burst upon us. The wind howled -furiously,—the ocean was white with foam, which, on account of the -darkness, we could see only by the quick flashes of lightning that -darted occasionally from the angry sky. All was alarm and confusion. -Hideous cries came up from the slave women. Above the roaring billows a -succession of heavy thunder rolled along, swelling the terrific din. -Owing to the great darkness, and a sudden shift of the wind, we found -ourselves in the trough of the sea. When shipping a heavy sea over the -starboard bow, the bodies of the captain and Mr. Jameson were washed -overboard. For awhile we had dearer interests to look after than slave -property. A more savage thunder-gust never swept the ocean. Our brig -rolled and creaked as if every bolt would be started, and every thread -of oakum would be pressed out of the seams. To the pumps! to the pumps! -I cried, but not a sailor would quit his grasp. Fortunately this squall -soon passed over, or we must have been food for sharks. - -“During all the storm Madison stood firmly at the helm, his keen eye -fixed upon the binnacle. He was not indifferent to the dreadful -hurricane; yet he met it with the equanimity of an old sailor. He was -silent, but not agitated. The first words he uttered after the storm had -slightly subsided, were characteristic of the man. ‘Mr. mate, you cannot -write the bloody laws of slavery on those restless billows. The ocean, -if not the land, is free.’ I confess, gentlemen, I felt myself in the -presence of a superior man; one who, had he been a white man, I would -have followed willingly and gladly in any honourable enterprise. Our -difference of colour was the only ground for difference of action. It -was not that his principles were wrong in the abstract; for they are the -principles of 1776. But I could not bring myself to recognize their -application to one whom I deemed my inferior. - -“But to my story. What happened now is soon told. Two hours after the -frightful tempest had spent itself, we were plump at the wharf in -Nassau. I sent two of our men immediately to our consul with a statement -of facts, requesting his interference on our behalf. What he did, or -whether he did anything, I don’t know; but, by order of the authorities, -a company of _black_ soldiers came on board, for the purpose, as they -said, of protecting the property. These impudent rascals, when I called -on them to assist me in keeping the slaves on board, sheltered -themselves adroitly under their instructions only to protect -property,—and said they did not recognize _persons_ as _property_. I -told them that, by the laws of Virginia and the laws of the United -States, the slaves on board were as much property as the barrels of -flour in the hold. At this the stupid blockheads showed their _ivory_, -rolled up their white eyes in horror, as if the idea of putting men on a -footing with merchandise were revolting to their humanity. When these -instructions were understood among the negroes, it was impossible for us -to keep them on board. They deliberately gathered up their baggage -before our eyes, and, against our remonstrances, poured through the -gangway,—formed themselves into a procession on the wharf,—bid farewell -to all on board, and, uttering the wildest shouts of exultation, they -marched, amidst the deafening cheers of a multitude of sympathising -spectators, under the triumphant leadership of their heroic chief and -deliverer, MADISON WASHINGTON.” - -[Signature: Frederick Douglass.] - - - - - A PLEA FOR FREE SPEECH. - - Give me leave to speak my mind. - - _As You Like it._ - - -The clamorous demand which certain patriotic gentlemen are just now -making for perfect silence on the slavery question, strikes a quiet -looker-on as something very odd. It might pass for a dull sort of joke, -were it not that the means taken to enforce it, by vexatious -prosecutions, political and social proscriptions, and newspaper assaults -on private reputation, are beginning, in certain quarters, to assume a -decidedly tragic aspect, and forcing upon all anti-slavery men the -alternative of peremptorily refusing compliance, or standing meanly by -to see others crushed for advocating _their_ opinions. - -The question has been extensively, and I think very naturally raised, -why these anti-agitation gentlemen do not keep silent themselves. For, -strange as it may seem, this perilous topic is the very one which most -of all appears to occupy their thoughts too, and is ever uppermost when -they undertake to speak of the affairs of the country. They are in the -predicament of the poor man in the Eastern fable, who, being forbidden, -on pain of the genie’s wrath, to utter another cabalistic syllable, -found, to his horror, that he could never after open his lips without -their beginning perversely to frame the tabooed articulation. But not, -as in his case, does fear chain up their organs. They speak it boldly -out, proclaim it “the corner-stone” of their political creed, and do -their best in every way, by speeches and articles, Union-safety -pamphlets and National Convention platforms, to “keep it before the -people.” And the object always is, to keep the people quiet! Surely, if -the Union is _not_ strong enough to bear agitations, the special friends -of the Union have chosen a singular way to save it. - -I would by no means infer, that they are _altogether_ insecure in their -professions of anxiety. The truth appears to be, however, that in so far -as these professions are not a sheer pretence, got up by political men -for political effect, our estimable fellow citizens have, all -unwittingly, been obeying a higher law than that which they would impose -on their neighbours,—a law, written in the very nature of the free soul. -On this, the subject of the age, they must think, and cannot refrain -from uttering their thoughts. “They believe, and _therefore_ have they -spoken.” And it is a sufficient reply to their unanswerable demand for -silence on the other side. “We _also_ believe, and therefore speak.” -Pray, why not? - -A certain ardent conservative friend of mine, to whom I once proposed -this inquiry, made a short answer to it after this fashion:—“The -abolitionists are all fools and fanatics. Whenever the idea of -anti-slavery gets hold of a man, he takes leave of his common sense, and -is thenceforth as one possessed. I would put a padlock on every such -crazy fellow’s mouth.” My friend’s rule, it will be seen, is a very -broad one; stopping the mouths of all who speak foolishly. Who will -undertake to see it fairly applied? or who could feel quite free from -nervousness in view of its possible operation? Under an infallible -administration, I apprehend, many—some, perhaps, even of the most -strenuous advocates of the law—might find themselves uncomfortably -implicated, who at present hardly suspect the danger. “By’rlakin, a -parlous fear! my masters, you ought to consider with yourselves!” I am -constrained to confess, that in the very midst of my friend’s aforesaid -patriotic diatribe against folly and fanaticism, and his plea for a -summary fool-act, I could not keep out of my mind some wicked -recollections of Horace’s lines: - - _Communi sensu plane caret_, inquimus. Eheu! - Quam temere in _nosmet_ legem sancimus iniquam! - -It must in all candour be confessed, that there is something in the -subject of slavery which, when fairly looked at and realized, is a -little trying to one’s sanity. Even such intellects as John Wesley’s and -Thomas Jefferson’s seem to stagger a little under a view of the -appalling sum of iniquity and wretchedness which the word represents, -and vent their excitement in terms not particularly measured. What -wonder, then, if men of simpler minds should now and then be thrown -quite off the balance, and think and say some things that are really -unwise. I think, indeed, it will have to be confessed, that we have had -fools and fanatics on both sides of the slavery question; and it is -altogether among the probabilities, that such will continue to be the -case hereafter. Still, until we have some infallible criterion to -distinguish actual folly from that which foolish people merely think -such, I fancy we must forego the convenience of my friend’s summary -process, and, giving leave to every man to speak his mind, leave it to -Time—great sifter of men and opinions—to separate between the precious -and the vile. - -It may be the kindness bred of a fellow feeling, but I must confess to a -warm side towards my brethren of the motley tribe. While on the one hand -I firmly hold with Elihu—who seems to have represented young Uz among -the friends of Job—that “great men are not always wise.” I rejoice on -the other hand in the concession of Polonius,—chief old Fogy of the -court of Denmark,—that there is “a happiness which madness often hits -on, that reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of.” -Folly and craziness, quotha! Did it, then, never occur to you, O Worldly -Wiseman, that even your wisdom might be bettered by a dash of that which -you thus contemptuously brand? Or does the apostle seem to you as one -that driveleth, when he says, “If any man among you seemeth to be wise -in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise?” - -I have often admired the sagacity of our mediæval forefathers, in the -treatment of their (so called) fools. They gave them a _special licence_ -of the tongue; for they justly estimated the advantages which the truly -wise know how to draw from the untrammelled utterances of any honest -mind, especially of minds which, refusing to run tamely in the oiled -grooves of prescriptive and fashionable orthodoxy, are the more likely, -now and then, (where if only by accident,) to hit upon truths which -others missed. Hence they maintained an “Independent Order” of the -motley, whose only business it was freely to think and freely speak -their minds. “I must have liberty withal,” says Jaques, aspiring to this -dignity, - - —“as free a charter as the wind, - To blow on whom I please: for _so fools have_.” - -And he adds, in a strain of admonition which certain contemporaneous -events might almost lead one to consider prophetic— - - “They that are most galled with my folly, - They most must laugh. And why, sir, must they so? - The _why_ is as plain as way to parish church. - He that a fool doth very wisely hit, - Doth very foolishly, although he smart, - Not to seem senseless of the bob. If not, - The wise man’s folly is anatomised - Even by the squandering glances of the fool. - * * What then? Let me see wherein - My speech hath wronged him. If it do him right, - Then he hath wronged himself; if he be free, - Why then, my taxing like a wild goose flies, - Unclaimed of any man.” - -Now if there be “fools in the nineteenth century,” as I devoutly hope -there be,—men possessed with the belief of a Higher Law, Inalienable -Rights, Supremacy of Conscience, and such like obsolete phantoms, and -passing strange judgments on the deeds of men, and nations in the light -thereof,—I beg to put in a similar plea for them. _Give them leave to -speak their minds._ Now and then, it may be worth the pondering, and, -heeded betimes, may, peradventure, save from calamity and ruin. If not, -an attempt to _enforce_ silence on fools—and is it not much the same -with freemen?—is likely to produce, not silence at all, but a greater -outcry. And as for our great and wise men, when hit, let them conceal -the smart, and profit by the lesson. But, for their own greatness’ sake, -and the honour of their wisdom, whether hit or not, let them never fall -into a passion at the freedom of men’s speech, and cry, _This must be -put down_. For it will not down at their bidding. - -But the subject refuses to be treated lightly. The vast interest at -stake on both sides, and the immediate urgency of crisis, compel the -mind to sobriety and solicitude in the contemplation of it. No truly -wise man will look upon the anti-slavery doctrine as mere folly, or on -the promulgation of it as idle breath. It is the measureless power of -that sentiment, and all its power lies in its truth—that wakens this -alarm; and it is the consciousness of holding such a weapon in their -hands, that makes the anti-slavery masses at the North pause, lest, in -attempting to use it for good, they should, unwittingly, do harm. For -such a sentiment, who can fail to feel respect? Who would not despise -himself if his own bosom were destitute of it? But, by as much as I -respect it in others, and would cherish it in myself, by so much will I -resent all playing upon it by political men for party or personal ends, -and fear lest it betray me into pusillanimity and inertness where the -times demand action for humanity and God. It _is_ a serious question for -all honest anti-slavery men throughout the land, in what way they can -most wisely and hopefully quit them of their responsibility in relation -to this thing. Their actions as citizens should, unquestionably, be -restricted by the just limits of their civil responsibility; as men by -those of their moral responsibility. Even within those limits, they -should act with a wise moderation, and in a generous spirit of candour -and kindness. But one thing is abundantly certain, that by ignoring the -responsibility, they do not get rid of it; by turning their backs on the -obligation, they will not get it discharged. Still the terrible _fact_ -remains. _Still the tears and blood of the enslaved are daily dropping -on our country’s soil._ Throw over it what veil of extenuation and -excuse you may, the essential crime and shame remains. Believe as kindly -as you can of the treatment which the slaves receive of humane and -Christian masters; it is only on condition that they first surrender -their every _right_ as men. Let them dare demur to that, and their tears -and blood must answer it. That is the terrible fact; and _our country_ -is the abettor, the protector, and the agent of the iniquity. Must we be -indifferent? May we be indifferent? It is a question of tremendous -import to every freeman in the land, who honestly believes that the -rights he claims as a man are common to the race. - -We used to be told, and are sometimes still, that this is a matter which -belongs to our Southern brethren exclusively, and that when we of the -Free States interfere with it, we meddle with that which is “none of our -business.” And there was a time, when this might be urged with a show of -consistency. It was when slavery claimed only to be a creature of State -legislation, and asked only of the national Government and the Free -States to be let alone. Even then, it had no right of exemption from the -rational scrutiny to which all human institutions are amenable, nor from -the rebuke and denouncement which all men may, in Heaven’s name, utter -against all iniquity done in the face of Heaven. But the _special_ right -of republican citizens to demand the correction of wrongs done by _their -own_ government, attached in the matter of slavery only to the citizens -of the slave States. - -But a wonderful change has been passing before our eyes. The attitude of -slavery is entirely altered. It now claims to be nationalized. It -demands a distinct recognition and active protection from the general -government, and indirect, but most effectual support from every State in -the Union, and from every citizen thereof! The government has -acknowledged the validity of the claim; and our great political -leaders—some on whom we have been wont to rely as stalwart champions of -freedom—have turned short round in their tracks, and require us to -believe that we are _under constitutional obligations_ to help maintain -the accursed thing,—yea, through all future time, to do its most menial -work! Nor is the doctrine to be left in the dubious region of -speculation. It is already “a fixed fact,” terribly embodied in a penal -law. It enters the home of every Northern freeman, and announces in -thunder-tones this ancestral obligation, which had so strangely faded -from the recollections of men. It tolerates no dulness of apprehension, -no hesitancy of belief. It bids us all, on pain of imprisonments and -fines, to conquer our prejudices, to swallow our scruples, to be still -with our nonsensical humanities, and, “as good citizens,” to start out -at the whistle of a United States’ constable, to chase down miserable -negroes fleeing from the hell of bondage! - -Slavery, then, has become _our_ business at last; and, as such, does it -not behove us to attend to it? I think, in the language of honest -Dogberry, that “that is proved already, and will go near to be thought -so shortly.” The thing lies in a nut-shell. Millard Fillmore is not our -master, but our servant. It is not his to prescribe duties, but ours; -and his to perform them. What he does, in his own person and by his -subordinate executive officers, he does for us, and on our -responsibility. What he does or they do, in other words, WE do; and we -must abide the reckoning. In this responsibility, the humblest citizen -bears his share, and cannot shirk it if he would. When, then, I see the -ministers of my country’s law consigning men with flesh and blood like -my own, with homes and business, with wives and children, - - As dear to them, as are the ruddy drops - That visit their sad hearts, - -men unaccused of crime, and eating the daily bread of honest -labour—consigning them, I say, and their posterity to hopeless -vassalage, and degrading chattelhood, by a process, too, which tramples -under foot the most ancient and sacred guarantees of my own and my -neighbour’s rights. When I see this great nation lay its terrible grasp -upon the throat of a feeble, unoffending man, and thrust him back to -worse than a felon’s fate for doing that which no casuistry can torture -into a crime, I am compelled to feel that _it is myself_ engaged in this -atrocious business; and no one but myself can rid me of the -responsibility. I can no longer be silent; I dare no longer be silent; I -will no longer be silent. I will remonstrate and cry, shame! I will -refuse to obey the law; I will demand to be released, and to have my -country released, from its odious requirements. I will vote, and -influence voters, and use every prerogative of freedom, to throw at -least from off my conscience a burden that it cannot bear. And who that -is worthy to be free himself, will blame me? To speak is no longer a -mere right; it has become a religious duty. - -Let no man tell me, that this law is a mere dead letter. The old -Fugitive Law, had, indeed, become so; and so would any other be likely -to become, which, while grasping after the slave, should pay a decent -respect to the rights of the free. But slavery cannot subsist on any -such condition; and this law was framed to supply the deficiencies of -the old law, _and to accomplish the thing_. It is based on the -assumption that the government of the United States is bound to effect -the rendition of fugitives, if possible at all, _at whatever cost_. And, -if this law is insufficient, the assumption is equally good for still -more stringent measures. But I repeat it, let no man tell me it is _now_ -a nullity. Have we not seen it executed in our streets, and at our very -doors? I chanced to be in the city of New York at the time when, I -think, its first victim, Henry Long, was torn from his family, and from -a reputable and profitable business, and sent back,—limbs, and brain, -and throbbing, loving heart—the husband, father, friend, the peaceful -and industrious member of society, all, to be the _property_ of a -fellow-mortal in a hostile land. Could I look upon this crimeless man, -thus in the grasp of the officers of my country’s laws, my own -representatives, and hurried unresisting to that dreadful doom; and ever -be able to believe the law innocuous, and myself guiltless while I -acquiesced in silence? The rabble followed him along the streets, -shouting in exultation at the negro’s fate. _Them_ I must acknowledge as -my fellows and brethren, but _him_—on him I must put my heel, with -theirs, to crush him out of manhood! And the morrow’s papers, edited by -professed Christians, heralded the occurrence, with not even a decent -pretence of pity and regret, but as a triumph of LAW, (O sacred name -profaned!) in which all good men should rejoice. That day I felt a -stifling sensation settling down upon me, of which my previous -experience had afforded no precedent, and with an oppressive weight -which no language can describe. _I felt that I no longer breathed the -air of liberty;_ that slavery was spreading her upas branches athwart -_my_ sky also. The convenient apology that the sin was not mine, but -another’s, no longer stood me in stead; and I have wondered ever since -to hear any honest Northern man employ it. There are Northern men, from -whom nothing could surprise me. - -And what have we since witnessed? The inferior officers of the law -prowling throughout the North for victims on whom to enforce it. Their -superiors, even to the highest, labouring by speeches and proclamations -and journeyings to an fro in the land (is it too much to say?) to -_dragoon_ the people into its support. The national treasury thrown wide -open to meet its “extraordinary expenses.” Fanueil Hall hung in chains, -to ensure its execution. Presidential candidates vieing with each other -in expressions of attachment and fidelity to it. Able men, in Church and -State, spotted for proscription for no other sin than hating that law, -and daring to declare that hatred. And to crown the whole, the wisdom of -the nation, in Baltimore Conventions once and again assembled, -pronouncing the new doctrines of constitutional responsibility, with the -law that embodies it, not only a certainty, but—(hear it, O heavens!) a -_finality!_ A new word in the political vocabulary, and verily a new -thing in the earth! “Finality,” in the legislation of freemen! A -finality, that for ever precludes reconsideration, amendment, or repeal! -When such things are said, and gravely said, by men professing to be -American statesmen, I can almost imagine the fathers of my country -turning painfully in their graves. And can it be possible, that in the -same breath with which men assume to roll political responsibilities on -freemen, they dare require perpetual silence and unconsidering -submission thereto? Then, what is it to be free? - -But let no one dream that these formidable pronouncements have any -enduring force. It is natural, that Southern statesmen should seek, by -every possible expedient, to keep out the flood of discussion from a -system which can so illy bear it. And it is not strange, that Northern -politicians should, for temporary purposes, assist them in the effort. -This is for a day; but the great tide of human thought flows on for -ever, and there is no spot from which it will be shut out. I remember -when the right of petition was denied by our Southern brethren, in -respect to this subject; and they found compliant tools enough from the -North to work with for a season. But was the right of petition -sacrificed? Of course not. And is the right of free discussion, the -right to make and (if we please) unmake our laws less precious? This -subject _will_ be agitated. This law will be reconsidered; and, if it is -not repealed, it will be for the same reasons that ensures the -continuance of other laws, namely, because it is able to sustain severe -and ever recurring scrutiny. - -But what is to become of the Union meanwhile? One thing is very certain. -If it deliberately places itself in competition with those “blessings of -liberty,” which it was created to “secure,” it _ought_ to fall. Shall -the end be sacrificed to preserve the means, to which the end alone -gives value? And what are we to think of the statesmanship of those, -who, to effect that preservation, would force such an issue on a people -nursed at the breasts of freedom? I would rather die than live a traitor -to my country; but let me die _ten thousand_ deaths before I prove -treacherous to freedom and to God. “If this be treason, make the most of -it.” - -But it is worse than idle to talk so. There is no such issue before the -nation. We are not compelled to choose between disunion and slavery; a -slavery, too, that would not only hold the black man in its remorseless -gripe, but put its fetters on the conscience of the white man, and its -gag into his mouth. Our Southern brethren themselves, even to save their -cherished institution, would not dare, would not desire to press such an -alternative. Were it so, who would not be ready to surrender the Union -as valueless to him, and to part company with Southrons as men unworthy -to be free? But it is not so. There are Hotspurs, doubtless, enough of -them at the South; and Jehus, too many, at the North. And there are -cunning politicians to stand between the two sections, and play upon the -prejudices of both, and into each other’s hands, for selfish ends. But -the great heart of the nation, North and South, on the whole and -according to the measure of its understanding, beats true alike to -freedom and the constitution,—true to that immortal sentiment which, as -long as this nation endures, shall encircle its author’s name with a -halo, in whose splendour some later words that have fallen from his lips -will be happily lost and forgotten: “Liberty _and_ Union, now and for -ever, one and inseparable.” Whatever differences there may be as to the -nature, conditions, and obligations of freedom, or as to the intent and -meaning of the constitution, no party among the people will refuse to -submit them to the ordeal of discussion, and the arbitrament of the -appointed tribunals. - -While this is so, let him be deemed the traitor, who stands up before -the world, and belies his country by declaring it to be otherwise. And -let every man prepare to enter into those discussions which no human -power can now stave off, in a spirit of intelligent candour and -kindness, but, at the same time of inflexible fidelity to God and man. - -[Signature: J. H. Raymond] - - - - - PLACIDO. - - -The true wealth and glory of a nation consist not in its gold dust, nor -in its commerce, nor in the grandeur of its palaces, nor yet in the -magnificence of its cities,—but in the intellectual and moral energy of -its people. Egypt is more glorious because of her carrying into Greece -the blessings of civilization, than because of her Pyramids, however -wondrous, her lakes and labyrinths, however stupendous, or her Thebes, -though every square marked a palace, or every alley a dome. Who hears of -the moneyed men of Athens, of Rome? And who does _not_ hear of Socrates, -of Plato, of Demosthenes, of Virgil, of Cicero? Are you in converse with -him of the “Sea-girt Isle,” and would touch the chord that vibrates most -readily in his heart?—then talk to him of Shakspeare, of Milton, of -Cowper, of Bacon, of Newton; of Burns, of Scott. To the intelligent son -of the “Emerald Isle,” talk of Curran, of Emmett, of O’Connell. - -Great men are a nation’s vitality. Nations pass away,—great men, never. -Great men are not unfrequently buried in dungeons or in obscurity; but -they work out great thoughts for all time, nevertheless. Did not Bunyan -work out a great thought all-vital and vitalizing, when he lay twelve -years in Bedford jail, weaving his tagged lace, and writing his -Pilgrim’s Progress? The greatest man in all America is now in obscurity. -It is he who is “_the Lord of his own soul_,” on whose brow wisdom has -marked her supremacy, and who, in his sphere, moves - - “Stilly as a star, on his eternal way.” - -A great writer hath said, “Nature is stingy of her great men.” I do not -believe it. God doeth all his work fitly and well; how, therefore, could -he give us great men, not plentifully, but stingily? The truth is, there -are great men, and they are plentiful,—plentiful for the times, I -mean,—but we do not see them, because we will not come into the -sun-light of truth and rectitude where, and where only, dwelleth -greatness. - -Placido was a great man. He was a great poet besides. He was a patriot, -also,—how could he be otherwise? Are not all poets patriots? - -“Adios Mundo,” cried he, as with tear-bedimmed eyes he looked up into -the blue heavens above him, and upon the green earth beneath him; and -upon the portals of the universe read wisdom, majesty, and power. Was -there no poetry in this outburst of a full heart, and in this looking -upward to heaven? “Adios Mundo,” cried he, as now beholding, for the -last time, the home of his love,—he bared his bosom to the death-shot of -the soldiers. - -Great was Placido in life,—he was greater still in death. His was the -faith which fastens itself upon the EVERLASTING I AM. - -Call you that greatness which Pizarro achieved when, seizing a sword and -drawing a line upon the sand from east to west, he himself facing the -south, he said to his band of pirates—“_Friends, comrades, on that side -are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; -on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its richness; here -Panama with its poverty. Choose each man what best becomes a brave -Castillian. For my part I go to the south_;”—suiting the action to the -word? So do I,—but look ye, this is merely the greatness of overwhelming -energy and concentrated purpose, not illuminated by a single ray of -light from the Divine. See here, how Placido dwarfeth Pizarro when he -thus prayeth, - - “God of unbounded love, and power eternal! - To Thee I turn in darkness and despair; - Stretch forth Thine arm, and from the brow infernal - Of calumny the veil of justice tear! - - · · · · · - O, King of kings!—my father’s God!—who only - Art strong to save, by whom is all controlled,— - Who giv’st the sea its waves, the dark and lonely - Abyss of heaven its light, the North its cold, - The air its currents, the warm sun its beams, - Life to the flowers, and motion to the streams: - - All things obey Thee; dying or reviving - As Thou commandest; all apart from Thee, - From Thee alone their life and power deriving, - Sink and are lost in vast eternity! - - · · · · · - - O, merciful God! I cannot shun Thy presence, - For through its veil of flesh, Thy piercing eye - Looketh upon my spirit’s unsoiled essence, - As through the pure transparence of the sky; - Let not the oppressor clap his bloody hands, - As o’er my prostrate innocence he stands. - - · · · · · - - But if, alas, it seemeth good to Thee - That I should perish as the guilty dies, - Still, fully in me, Thy will be done, O God!” - -Placido had a symmetrically developed character. All great men have -this. His intellectual and moral nature blended harmoniously as - - “Kindred elements into one.” - -An ancient philosopher hath said that the passions and the soul are -placed in the same body, so that the passions might have ready -opportunity to persuade the soul to become subservient to their purpose. -A terrible conflict. And yet through it Placido passed triumphantly. - -Placido was born a slave on the island of Cuba, on the plantation of Don -Terribio De Castro. The year of his birth I am unable to give, but it -must have been somewhere between the years 1790 and 1800. He was of -African origin. But little is known of his earliest days save that he -was of gentle demeanor, and wore an aspect which, though mild, indicated -the working of great thoughts within. He was allowed some little -advantage of education in his youth, and he evinced great poetic genius. -The prayer just quoted was composed by him while he lay in prison, and -repeated on his way from his dungeon to his place of execution. - -The Heraldo, a leading journal of Havanna, thus spoke of him after his -arrest:— - -“Placido is a celebrated poet,—a man of great genius, but too wild and -ambitious. His object was to subdue Cuba, and make himself the chief.” - -The following lines, also, were found inscribed upon the walls of his -dungeon. They were written on the day previous to his execution. - - “O Liberty! I wait for thee, - To break this chain, and dungeon bar; - I hear thy voice calling me, - Deep in the frozen North, afar, - With voice like God’s, and vision like a star. - - Long cradled in the mountain wind, - Thy mates, the eagle and the storm: - Arise; and from thy brow unbind - The wreath that gives its starry form, - And smite the strength, that would thy strength deform. - - Yet Liberty; thy dawning light, - Obscured by dungeon bars, shall cast - A splendour on the breaking night, - And tyrants, flying thick and fast, - Shall tremble at thy gaze, and stand aghast.” - -In poetic feeling, patriotic spirit, living faith, and withal in -literary beauty, these lines are not surpassed; and they cannot fail to -rank Placido not only with the great-hearted, but with the gifted men of -the earth. A tribute to his genius is recorded in the fact, that he was -ransomed from slavery by the contributions of slave-holders of Cuba. - -Placido was executed on the 7th of July, 1844. On the first fire of the -soldiers, no ball entered his heart. He looked up, but with no spirit of -revenge, no aspect of defiance,—only sat upon his countenance the desire -to pass at once into the region where no death is. - -“Pity me,” said he, “and fire here,”—putting his hand upon his heart. -Two balls then entered his body, and Placido fell. - -As Wordsworth said of Touissant, so may it be said of Placido,— - - “Thou hast left behind thee - Powers that work for thee; air, earth, and skies. - There’s not a breathing of the common wind - That will forget thee; thou hast great allies, - Thy friends are exultations, agonies, - A love, and man’s unconquerable mind.” - -The charge against Placido was, that he was at the head of a conspiracy -to overthrow slavery in his native island. Blessings on thee, Placido! -Nor didst thou fail of thy mission. Did the martyrs, stake-bound, fail -of theirs? As the Lord liveth, Cuba shall yet be free. - -That Placido was at the head of this conspiracy there is not a doubt; -but what his plans in detail were, I know not; the means of acquiring -them are not within my reach. Nevertheless, from the treatment -throughout of the Cuban authorities towards Placido, we may safely -conclude that Placido’s plan in detail evinced no lack of ability to -originate and execute, nor of that sagacity which should mark a -revolutionary leader. Placido hated slavery with a hatred intensified by -the remembrance of wrongs which a loving and loved mother had borne. The -iron, too, had entered into his own soul; and he had been a daily -witness of scenes such as torment itself could scarcely equal, nor the -pit itself outdo. Call you this extravagance? You will not,—should you -but study a single chapter in the history of Cuban slavery. - -Do you honour Kossuth?—then forget not him who is worthy to stand side -by side with Hungary’s illustrious son. - -What may be the destiny of Cuba in the future near at hand, I will not -venture to predict. What may be her _ultimate_ destiny is written in the -fact that,—“God hath no attribute which, in a contest between the -oppressed and the oppressor, can take sides with the latter.” - -This sketch, though hastily written, and meagre in detail as it must -necessarily be, will show, at least, by the quotations of poetry -introduced, that God hath not given to one race alone, all intellectual -and moral greatness. - -[Signature: Wm G. Allen] - - - - - TO THE FRIENDS OF NEGRO EMANCIPATION. - - -The following powerful Appeal, reprinted from the “_Uncle Tom’s Cabin -Almanack_,” will not, it is hoped, be deemed an inappropriate -termination of this most interesting Volume: - - Many of the interpreters of prophecy consider that England is one of - “the ten horns” of the beast, or Roman power, referred to by the - Apostle John. It is also allowed that, in the highly figurative and - varied language of Scripture, the monster of the Apocalypse is the - same as the image of Daniel, whose feet were partly strong and - partly fragile. In a being that has to stand, walk, fight, and run, - very much depends upon the lower members. The physical man of Louis - XVIII. was very kingly as far as his hips, but his extremities were - feeble, and it was a poor affair when he attempted to walk. Now this - is the very spirit of Daniel’s description of the Roman power. It - had no good legs and feet to stand upon, for they were part of iron - and part of clay, partly strong and partly fragile. As a limb of old - Rome, we are at present in this very predicament. Thank God, we have - a great deal of “_iron_” among us, both metallic, mental, and moral; - but we have an enormous quantity of the old Pagan “_clay_,” and - hence our strength and our weakness. - - Passing over a host of subjects which might illustrate what we have - just stated, we now refer only to the _slavery question_. Here we - are strong, and we are also feeble. The twenty millions we paid for - the emancipation of our slaves in the West Indies was one of the - most generous acts of the nation, especially if we consider the - burden of taxation under which we were then groaning. Such a - sacrifice at the shrine of cupidity, for the noble and glorious - object of bursting the yoke of the captive, exhibited no small - degree of moral principle and power. But some beheld in this - munificent price the “clay” blended with the “iron.” Not a few of - the anti-slavery labourers were growing tired of the agitation. The - task had been an arduous one—had demanded considerable toil and - incurred much odium. The philanthropists were stigmatised as “_the - saints_,” as “_canting hypocrites_,” and by other terms equally - expressive of the ire and malignity of their opponents; and while - there were numbers among us who were willing to suffer any kind of - martyrdom in this good cause, there was a still greater multitude - who had been galvanised, rather than vitally quickened into - activity, and longed, from the inert characters of their hearts and - benevolence, to relapse again into their wonted apathy. The money - therefore was paid down quite as much to release these worried - philanthropists from travail, as to meet any supposed equitable - claim of the slave-holder; and no sooner was the contract of - emancipation sealed than these soldiers of humanity threw off their - armour, and retired from the fray; and hence, though slavery has - been abolished in our colonies, it has been allowed to vegetate and - grow in the United States and elsewhere. - - Now all this showed that we were not sound at heart. Because the - negroes perishing under the iron sceptre of the American Republican - were just as much “our bone and our flesh” as the victims of West - Indian bondage. It is true we had more control over the condition of - the one than the other, because the one was our fellow-subject, and - the other was not; but still this very fact, instead of being a - reason for inactivity, ought to have furnished a motive for more - energetic operations. Even the brutish horse puts forth extra - strength when the burden increases, or when a hill is to be climbed; - and we need scarcely add that generally among beasts and men the - greater the foe the more vigorous the effort to overcome him; but, - strange to say, in the anti-slavery cause, we reversed this common - mode of proceeding, and, because the enemy was powerful, our - exertions to vanquish him became proportionably feeble! We know that - many will ask what could we have done? But then the very question - betrays the state of their hearts. True philanthropy is never at a - loss for expedients to accomplish her benevolent purpose, and - therefore never retires because there is a lion or a mountain in the - way. Its faith can stop the mouth of the one, or slay him - altogether, and remove the other into the midst of the sea. Before - we close this paper, we shall, perhaps, show that if we had not been - weary in well doing, we might have brought an immense amount of - influence against American slavery, which, long before this, would - have produced the most happy results. - - There was one circumstance which especially contributed to paralyse - our efforts for the emancipation of American slaves. Just about the - time that we liberated our brethren in the British colonies, we - heard a great deal about revivals of religion in the United States, - and we were told that the Spirit from on high was poured out on - transatlantic churches and congregations in almost Pentecostal - abundance; and what was more astonishing, the slave-holders were - said to be remarkably favoured with these supposed tokens of Divine - favour. The writer remembers that in those days, when he was about - to offer some remarks at an anti-slavery meeting, he was called - aside by a minister of religion, and especially reminded of the - great piety of many of the slave-owners, and therefore exhorted to - be very tender in his animadversions! He was allowed to be as severe - as he pleased on the poor ignorant, blind, dead, unconverted - traffickers in human flesh! but the enlightened, pious, spiritual - holders of slaves were, forsooth, to be treated with the utmost - lenity!! Our Saviour’s rule was thus to be reversed; for he who knew - his Lord’s will and did things worthy of stripes, was to be beaten - with _few_ stripes! but he who knew _not_ his Lord’s will, was to be - beaten with _many_ stripes!! - - That the people of England should have allowed themselves to be - duped in this manner, is almost equal to an eighth wonder of the - world. Why, there is as great probability that the Holy Spirit will - be poured out upon Satan as upon men and women who for “paltry pelf” - hold their brethren in bondage. Had such a phenomenon taken place, - the very first fruit would have been the breaking “of every yoke.” - Strange that people who read the New Testament should have supposed - that the Holy Ghost could have been granted to the worst of tyrants - without destroying their tyranny and rendering them abolitionists. A - real Christian man never “confers with flesh and blood.” Poverty, - dungeons, racks, losses, and tortures of every kind, are cheerfully - endured in the cause of humanity, justice, liberty, and religion, - and therefore a slave-holder endued with the special influences of - the Holy Spirit would instantly have braved penury and death rather - than have continued to retain in bondage his poor brethren and - sisters. - - The sum and substance of all true religion is love to God and love - to man, and when the Spirit is poured out on any individual or body - of individuals, he sheds abroad the love of God in the heart; and - this invariably exhibits itself in benevolence of life. The apostle - John is plain even to what some would call bluntness on this matter. - “If a man say ‘I love God,’ and hateth his brother, he is a _liar_: - for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he - love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from - him, that he who loveth God, loves his brother also.” Now the negro - is both “_neighbour_” and “_brother_” to his master, and unless his - owner loves him as he loves himself, he has no real religion, and - not one particle of evidence that the Spirit has been poured out - upon him, or that the love of God has been shed abroad in his heart - by the Holy Ghost. It was therefore the height of absurdity to talk - of a revival of religion in the heart of any one so long as he held - his brother in bondage; because he does not love him as he loves - himself, and consequently is a stranger to the love of God and to - vital Christianity. Love to our brother, prompting us to give him - equal rights and blessings with ourselves, whatever may be his - colour or country, is a perfect window to the soul, and renders the - heart transparent. On the contrary, the plain language of John, - which we have just quoted, assures us that every individual who - professes to love God while he does not love his brother, is “a - _liar_.” And it must be remembered that the love of which John - speaks is not that sickly sort of charity which will bestow a few - pence or privileges on a brother while we rob him of liberty and his - natural rights, but it is that “perfect love” which loves every - human being as we love ourselves, and will make any sacrifice for - the purpose of developing this love. - - We may congratulate the real friends of emancipation on the progress - of public opinion in this affair. Our churches refuse communion with - slave-holders. We deny their Christianity. Their deeds show that - they are strangers to the love of God. They have not learnt the A B - C of the Gospel: they sacrifice everything to gain. Mammon is their - god, and to enrich themselves and their families they traffic in - human flesh and blood. They do violence to every natural affection - which Jehovah has implanted in the human soul, and thus offer one of - the greatest insults to the Majesty of Heaven. The great curse of - the slave is that God has created him a human being. He suffers - severely from the chain, the scourge, and other instruments of - cruelty; but the greatest of all torments is his possession of a - heart. Slaves, to be happy, ought to be created without any - susceptibilities. Love is the cement of society, and the angel which - blesses all the relations of life. A world of love would be a second - paradise, and the bright reflection of heaven and of the Deity. “God - is love.” No tongue can tell, no heart can conceive the unspeakable - blessings and joys which spring from the tender affections of - parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and friends. - What would life be without these? God has so constituted us that - there can be no real happiness without love; and yet this precious - feeling, which comes to us fresh from the heart of the Deity, - constitutes the Negro’s hell upon earth. Talk of racks, dungeons, - thumb-screws, and other tortures of the Inquisition, slavery - embodies them all. To tear relatives from relatives, and friends - from friends; to sever the brother from the sister, the husband from - the wife, and the child from its mother, inflicts far more suffering - on the soul than any outward scourge can lay on the body. - Consequently slavery is the monster of monsters, and the - slave-holder is the head and chief of all tyrants who have ever - cursed the world. He shall therefore no longer stand before us in - the garb of Christianity, but shall be exhibited to the world as the - lowest, worst, and basest of all criminals, and as such he shall be - refused the right hand of fellowship, and expelled from the pale of - the Christian Church. - - Nothing has ever augured better for the cause of emancipation than - the popularity of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The benevolent authoress has - thrown so many bewitching charms into her narrative, that she has - fascinated every one, and may justly be called the Enchantress of - the age. She is read by all ranks and classes. We are amused - everywhere by the sight of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” We meet the little - British National Schoolboy going home and reading his “Uncle Tom,” - as affording him greater amusement than his hoop, his top, or his - marbles. And we find the grave divine and scholar, in the - first-class railway carriage, with his more costly “Uncle Tom.” We - see the lady in her chariot, who has gone out for a ride to enjoy - the scenery, and taste the breeze of heaven, beguiled from - surrounding objects by the touching pages of Mrs. Stowe. We have - witnessed a whole family of children to turn from every other - pursuit and amusement to enjoy this mental and moral treat. It has - come with them to their meals, and yielded them such a repast that - the luxuries of the table were almost unheeded. And then the - servants also sought it at every interval, and read it with avidity - by stealth. In a word, it is the favourite of the saint and the - sinner, the sage and the frivolous, the believer and the unbeliever, - the young and the old, the grave and the gay, the learned and the - illiterate, the rude and the polished, the sad and the cheerful. And - nothing could be more opportune for the cause of humanity. Mrs. - Stowe must hereafter take her stand by the side of Clarkson, - Wilberforce, and others, as one of the chief instruments raised up - by Providence to burst the fetters of the slave, and let the - oppressed go free. - - We trust, indeed we feel sure, that the slumbering embers of - anti-slavery zeal will, by means of this volume, be kindled into - active power. We have influence enough among us to move the world on - this topic, and all that we require is cooperation and union. The - pulpit, the press, and the platform must speak out once more, and by - its thunders shake the whole world of slavery. Already the old theme - is firing the British heart. Week after week the _Morning - Advertiser_ appeals and instructs and arouses. Nor has it laboured - in vain. Far and near the friends of the slave look to it as their - tower of strength. In America we have a goodly number of - abolitionists as our fellow-helpers, and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” will - increase them a thousandfold. The book speaks to the intellect, the - reason, and the heart. Women are said to possess an innate power of - arriving at truth, without employing the tedious metaphysics of men, - and here we have a glorious example. In “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” we have - logic stripped of its dryness, and clothed with all the charms of - romance. We would as soon believe in the power of the planters to - reverse the revolutions of the planets as to resist the influence of - Mrs. Stowe. The voice of humanity is the voice of God, and is - essentially omnipotent. As a punishment for not having listened to - this divine oracle, the slave-holders must have the humiliation of - being vanquished by a woman. And, after all, what more natural than - that the woes of our race should owe their softest, sweetest, and - consequently most powerful, utterances to the heart of the sex which - was created to bless the world with its tenderest sympathies. - - We are thus placed on a vantage ground from which it would be base - to retire, especially as we have been raised thus high by the talent - and benevolence of a female. Christian chivalry has now open before - it a race of glory, compared with which the tilts and tournaments of - the olden time are the veriest trifles. The whole country is - baptised with anti-slavery zeal, just ready to burst forth in every - possible way to emancipate the slave. We must have public meetings - everywhere. - - The “braying of Exeter Hall,” like the ass of Balaam, has, in ten - thousand instances, rebuked the madness of our modern false - prophets, who, from love of filthy lucre, have gone forth to curse - God’s Israel, because they have left the house of bondage. It is - only for the friends of humanity once more to gird themselves for - their work, and in a few years there will be another and more - extensive triumph over the foes of liberty and the negro. - - We can also expostulate. The life of William Allen shows how - powerful the voice of an unofficial individual may be, when that - voice is the voice of reason, justice, and philanthropy. He brought - the tyrants of Europe on their knees before the Majesty of Heaven, - and there constrained them to ameliorate the laws which oppressed - their subjects. Why should not the diplomacy of England be - christianised? If this had been done years ago, we might have - converted Napoleon into a man of peace, and saved the nation a - thousand millions of taxation. Humanity is the genius of economy. - Christian diplomacy would long ago have burst the fetters of the - continent, and could now effect wonders in every part of the globe. - It is left with the electors to say, whether foreign ambassadors, - consuls, &c., shall continue to be the mere minions of mammon, or - become the missionaries of justice and philanthropy. But supposing - we failed here, there is power beyond that of bureaucratic - officials; the denunciations we utter against the rulers of the - slave will be carried by the birds of the air to the ears of these - tyrants, and make their hearts quiver and knees shake like those of - Belshazzar. The words of justice require no patent from courts to - render them authoritative. The stamp of Heaven is upon them, and - though spoken by a Paul in chains, they pierce the hearts of despots - and make them tremble. We mistake if we suppose that conscience is - altogether dead in the souls of slave-holders. Heaven has decreed - that the wretch who is deaf to the small still voice of duty and - mercy, shall be horrified by the thunders of guilt, and feel a hell - within. “Haley,” hoping to cheat the devil when he has made his - fortune; and “Legree” trembling for fear of ghosts and hobgoblins, - are no creatures of fiction, but the truthful delineations of the - conscious degradation and forebodings of the trader in human blood. - - And further, cannot _consistency_ utter a plea? There is nothing, - perhaps, at which men labour more earnestly than to appear - consistent. But what fellowship can there be between liberty and - slavery? Slavery is a foul blot on the escutcheon of the United - States; and every patriotic American feels it to be so. Here, in the - land of liberty, Freedom receives her deepest wound in the house of - her vaunting friends. The enemies of tyranny over the world are - taunted with the despotism of the American democrat. The infidel of - our day draws his most potent arguments from the vices and faults of - professing Christians; and the advocates of despotism act in the - same manner, and procure their artillery from the barbarism of - American slave-holders. We must then assail this inconsistency until - the guilty parties blush and are ashamed. The continual dropping of - water will wear away stones, and the persevering reiterations of - truth shall eventually prevail, and make even slave-holders relent - and listen to the voice of consistency and humanity. - - We have had among us glorious specimens of what the slave can be. To - those who talk of his inferior powers and limited rights, we point - to such men as Frederick Douglass, Wells Brown, Henson, Garnett, and - Dr. Pennington. It was our privilege to enter the hall at - Heidelberg, just as the academy conferred on Dr. Pennington his - diploma. And is this the man that the slave-holder would sell as he - would a horse or bullock? What is the reply of humanity to this - question? I need not dwell on the mind, talents, and piety of Brown, - Henson, or Garnett. The country has long since borne witness to - these. Exeter-hall has often resounded with the loftiest strains of - eloquence, but never has it listened to a more intellectual, - eloquent, and soul-stirring tongue, than that of Frederick Douglass, - and yet this is the man, on whose head the planters have set a - price, because he obeyed the voice of nature and of God in running - away from the horrors of slavery. But why advance these examples? - There is not a field of slaves, a slave-market, or a negro cabin, - but proclaims the equality of the African with the rest of the human - family. The tears, cries, and broken hearts which every separation - by the dealer occasions, proclaim that the sympathies of the slave - are equal to those of the rest of mankind. Every argument used by - these sons and daughters of bondage, every prayer they offer, every - speech they make, and every sermon they preach, prove that all the - essentials of soul belong to them in as much native richness as to - us. ’Tis true everything has been done to degrade them. The - cruelties practised by Simon the cobbler to deprave and demoralise - the Dauphin of France, and which awakened the execration of the - world, are every day being followed by the planters of America. What - if any of us had had the sphere of our knowledge contracted to the - smallest span, and our language confined to a few words of the most - outlandish _patois_, is there one man among us that would surpass - them in their present condition? Where would Milton, Shakspeare, or - Newton have been under such training? Considering the debasing - education to which they have been doomed, the slaves are our equals, - if not our superiors; every part of their history shows the truth of - the words of our poet— - - “Fleecy locks and black complexion, - Cannot forfeit Nature’s claim; - Skins may differ, but affection - Dwells in black and white the same; - - Deem our nation brutes no longer, - Till some reason ye shall find, - Worthier of regard and stronger - Than the colour of our kind. - - Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings - Tarnish all your boasted powers, - Prove that you have human feelings - Ere you proudly question ours.” - - The passing of “The Fugitive Slave Bill” adds strength to our cause. - This measure has shocked every human heart; it has libelled - humanity; it has sunk the Republican below most of the tyrants that - have ever scourged society; it has insulted the world, and - blasphemed the Eternal. It commands and compels free men to become - informers and kidnappers, and thus degrades them below the meanest - of our race. It is an attempt to render freedom the slave of - slavery. A viler law has never degraded any statute book. However, - its iniquity and its cruelty have aroused thousands to action who - before were asleep; and when the history of the emancipation of - American slaves shall be written, the narrator will triumphantly - relate that the infamous “Fugitive Slave Bill” very greatly hastened - this glorious consummation. - - We have also another material aid in the clerical teachings of - pro-slavery priests and preachers. We shall hereafter have to thank - Dr. Spring, of New York; Dr. Parker, of Philadelphia; Dr. Stuart, of - Andover; Dr. Spencer, of Brooklyn; the Right Rev. Bishop Hopkins, of - Vermont; and a host of other reverends; for their advocacy of the - cause of slavery. This outrage on Christianity by its own ministers - has shocked the whole Christian world. Even the planters despise - these sycophants. To hear men in the sacred desk, and in the name of - the Redeemer of the world, advocate a system which cherishes - ignorance, vice, debauchery, dishonesty, and murder, out-Herods - anything that was ever taught by the most depraved heathens and - infidels. Even Pagans had their dark groves and other midnight - recesses for their sensual orgies. No atheist or barbarian has yet - taught that the infant should be torn from the breast of its mother, - and sold like a swine to the murderous dealer in human flesh. It was - left for the 19th century, and doctors of divinity in a Christian - garb, to arrive at this decree of blasphemy, impiety, and - immorality. Well, we thank them for their teachings, we congratulate - them for their boldness in iniquity, and we will repeat their - sayings until we make every ear in Christendom tingle with their - presumption and inhumanity. - - We have thus briefly shown that the friends of the slave have every - thing on their side, and may now make a noble stand in the cause of - liberty. Providence is remarkably appearing on their behalf, and - pointing out the path of duty and victory. “Is not the Lord gone up - before us.” As far as England is concerned, the odium of an - anti-slavery movement has passed away. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” has - rekindled the zeal of the lukewarm, and baptized with holy fire - myriads who before cared nothing for the negro. Let us only do our - duty, and this foul blot on humanity and daring insult to the Deity - shall ere long become the history of a by-gone age; and a few years - hence the system shall be deemed too monstrous to be believed but as - a myth of some misanthrope who felt a malignant pleasure in - libelling his species. - - - [ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL.] - - - John Cassell, Ludgate-hill. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - A son of that distinguished friend of humanity, WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. - -Footnote 2: - - “Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the - midst of the noon-day; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that - wandereth. Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to - them, from the face of the spoiler.”—Isaiah xvi. 3, 4. - -Footnote 3: - - “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not - to me.”—_Jesus Christ._ Matt. xxv. 45. - -Footnote 4: - - “Is it not that thou deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring - the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked - that thou cover him? and that thou hide not thyself from thine own - flesh?” “If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the - putting forth of the finger, and speaking of vanity,” &c.—Isaiah - lviii. 6–9. - -Footnote 5: - - “Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, - do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”—_Jesus - Christ._ Matt. vii. 12. - -Footnote 6: - - “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped - from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee; even among you in - that place which he shall choose, in one of thy gates, where it liketh - him best; thou shalt not oppress him.”—Deut. xxiii. 15, 16. - -Footnote 7: - - “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”—Lev. xix. 18; Matt. xix. - 19. - -Footnote 8: - - “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness; the people in whose - heart is my law: fear yet not the reproach of men, neither be ye - afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a - garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness - shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to - generation.”—Isaiah li. 7, 8. - -Footnote 9: - - “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.”—Ps. xcvii. 10. “The fear of the - Lord is to hate evil.”—Prov. viii. 13. - -Footnote 10: - - “Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man? * * * And - forgettest the Lord thy Maker, * * * and has feared continually every - day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to - destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?”—Isa. li. 12, 13, 14. - -Footnote 11: - - “We ought to obey God rather than men.”—Acts v. 29. - -Footnote 12: - - “The captive exile hasteth that he maybe loosed,” &c.—Isa. li. 15. - -Footnote 13: - - Haynau. - -Footnote 14: - - Editor of the _Glasgow Courier_. Poor Motherwell! I have it from a - mutual friend that he sympathised _with_ the cause of Freedom, while - paid to write against it. - -Footnote 15: - - Daniel Webster’s oration, at the laying the corner-stone of Bunker - Hill Monument, 17 June, 1825. - -Footnote 16: - - Daniel Webster’s speech in the Senate of the U. S., 7 March, 1850. - -Footnote 17: - - Daniel Webster’s speech at the Capron Springs, Virginia, 1851. - -Footnote 18: - - It is vain to say that rich governments cannot, and do not, offer - effective temptations to clever and eloquent men, whose religious - views differ from the national form, to induce them to adopt the - latter. - -Footnote 19: - - Congress, the legislative department, and, of course, the judicial, - its interpreter, were intended to be founded on such undoubted - principles of liberty, that it would be difficult for them to use - their everywhere acknowledged rights, and perform their everywhere - expected duties, without first putting aside the strongest impediment - to their exercise—slavery. In our judgment this has been done. There - is no truth in public law more certain than that protection and - allegiance are reciprocal. They must exist together or not at all. The - power of the United States is adequate for the protection of all - within her limits, and from all within them she expects allegiance. If - she is informed, in any way to be relied on, that any person is - restrained of his rights under the constitution of the United States, - it is her duty to see him set at liberty, if he be confined, and see - that he is redressed. It is in vain for Congress to excuse itself from - acting, by saying that it is a State concern. Can a citizen of the - United States, if he be a citizen, be tortured or tormented by a - State, when there is no pretence that he has violated the law of - either? - - The constitution of the United States authorises no man to hold - another as a slave. The United States has no power to hold a slave. It - matters not that it was _intended_ to allow some to hold others as - their slaves. A very vile person may _intend_ to lock up in prison an - innocent and just one, but through mistake he leaves the door - unlocked; does this, in the eyes of any reasonable men, prevent his - making his escape through the door? We are certain not. The only - proper inquiry here is, which is supreme, the government of the Union, - or the government of a particular State of it? It is not necessary to - answer this. If the first deal with no one as a slave, the subordinate - cannot by law. Persons may be held as slaves by fraud, by cunning, by - taking advantage of the ignorance in which we hold them by force, or a - successful combination of force, but not by LAW. - -Footnote 20: - - “Our house stood within a few rods of the Chesapeake bay, whose broad - bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable - globe. Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, so delightful - to the eye of freemen, were to me so many shrouded ghosts to terrify - and torment me with thoughts of my wretched condition. I have often, - in the deep stillness of a summer’s Sabbath, stood all alone upon the - lofty banks of that noble bay, and traced, with saddened heart and - tearful eye, the countless number of sails moving off to the mighty - ocean. The sight of these always affected me powerfully. My thoughts - would compel utterance; and then, with no audience but the Almighty, I - would pour out my soul’s complaint, in my rude way, with an apostrophe - to the moving multitude of ships:— - - “You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my - chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I - sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom’s swift-winged angels - that fly around the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I - were free! O that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your - protecting wing! Alas! betwixt me and you the turbid waters roll. Go - on, go on. O that I could also go! Could I but swim! If I could fly! - O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is - gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest hell of - unending slavery. O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! Is - there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. * * * Only think of - it; one hundred miles straight north, and I am free! Try it? Yes! God - helping me, I will. It cannot be that I shall live and die a - slave. * * *”—_Autobiography of Douglass_, pp. 64, 65. - -Footnote 21: - - “There was no getting rid of it [the thought of his condition]. It was - pressed upon me by every object within sight or hearing, animate or - inanimate. The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal - wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more for ever. It - was heard in every sound, and seen in everything. It was ever present - to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing - without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt - nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star; it smiled in - every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every - storm.”—_Autobiography_, pp. 40, 41. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - WORKS ISSUED BY JOHN CASSELL, - - LUDGATE HILL, LONDON. - - - THE BOOK FOR EVERY FAMILY - - Now ready, the First Volume of - - - THE POPULAR EDUCATOR, - -The most comprehensive Educational Work ever issued from the Press. 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From -the Text of ROBERT SIMSON, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in -the University of Glasgow; with Corrections, Annotations, and Exercises, -by ROBERT WALLACE, A.M., of the same University, and Collegiate Tutor of -the University of London. - - - Price 3d., in a convenient size for the Pocket, - - THE SELF AND CLASS EXAMINER IN EUCLID; - -Containing the Enunciations of all the Propositions and Corollaries in -Cassell’s Edition. For the use of Colleges, Schools, and Private -Students. - - - Price 1s. in stiff covers, or 1s. 6d. neat cloth, - - CASSELL’S ELEMENTS OF ARITHMETIC, - - BEING A COMPANION TO CASSELL’S EUCLID, - -Leading the Student from Simple Numeration through all the Elementary -and Practical Rules required for Mathematics and the Counting-house. -Edited by Professor WALLACE, A.M., of the University of London. - - - Twenty-first Thousand.—Price Sixpence, in a neat wrapper. - - A SERIES OF LESSONS IN FRENCH, - - On an entirely Novel and Simple Plan, by means of which a Knowledge - of the French Language may be acquired without the Aid of a Teacher. - Reprinted in a revised form from THE WORKING MAN’S FRIEND. - - ⁂ By special permission of Her Majesty’s Postmaster-General, this - Work may be transmitted through the Post-office, and will be sent to - any address on the receipt of Seven Postage Stamps. - - - A New Guide to the French Language. - - Price Three Shillings. - - A COMPLETE MANUAL of the FRENCH LANGUAGE. - - By Professor DE LOLME. - -This will form one of the most simple, practical, and complete Guides to -the knowledge of the French Language which has hitherto been published. - - [_In the Press._ - - - A LIBRARY IN ITSELF. - - THE WORKING MAN’S FRIEND AND FAMILY INSTRUCTOR.—OLD SERIES. - - Volumes I., II., III., IV., V., VI. and VII. (each Volume containing - 13 Weekly Numbers), price 1s. 6d. per Vol., neatly bound in cloth. - -⁂ This completes the original Series of this highly-interesting and -popular work. - - - THE LITERATURE OF WORKING MEN: - -Being the Supplementary Numbers of “The Working Man’s Friend.” With -Introductory Essays. In Two Volumes, neatly bound in cloth, price 1s. -6d. each. - - - Preparing for immediate publication, price 2s. 6d. neatly bound, - - ATHEISM CONSIDERED THEOLOGICALLY AND POLITICALLY. - - A SERIES OF LECTURES, - - By LYMAN BEECHER, D. D. (Father of Mrs. Beecher Stowe.) - - - Price One Shilling, printed in Super-Royal 8vo, The - - UNCLE TOM’S CABIN ALMANACK; - - OR, - - THE ABOLITIONIST MEMENTO FOR 1853; - - With Splendid Illustrations by G. CRUIKSHANK, Esq.; J. GILBERT, Esq.; - W. HARVEY, Esq.; H. K. BROWNE, Esq. (“Phiz”); and other eminent - Artists. - -_The most complete Work on the Question of Slavery that has hitherto -been published._ - -☞ Everybody who has read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” should possess themselves -of a copy of this Book, which more than verifies all the statements in -Mrs. Stowe’s thrilling narrative. - -This Almanack, while affording all the information common to Almanacks, -furnishes abundant demonstration of the truth of the statements made in -Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s popular Work, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and -includes Narratives of the most striking Incidents in the Lives of Negro -Slaves, such as Frederick Douglass, Rev. J. Pennington, D.D., Lewis -Clarke, W. Wells Brown, Rev. J. Henson, M. Clarke, Gustavus Vassa, -Ignatius Sancho, Toussaint L’Ouverture, &c.; Important Phases in the -Working of the Slavery System and the Fugitive Slave Law; Statistics of -Slavery in the United States of America; Opinions of various Christian -Ministers in favour of Slavery and Slaveholding; Visits to the Fugitive -Slaves in Upper Canada; Comparative Results of Free and Slave Labour; -Prospects of the Abolitionists; Appeal against Slavery, &c. &c. - -Among the Illustrations are the following, in the production of which no -expense has been spared:—Scene on the Coast of Africa—Rev. J. Henson, -when seven years old, separated from his Mother, and Sold at a Slave -Mart—Frederick Douglass, when a lad, whipped by Covey, the -Slave-breaker—Frederick Douglass, the Escaped Slave, on an English -platform, denouncing Slaveholders and their Religious Abettors—Slaves -proceeding to the South to be Sold; from the Life of Wm. Wells -Brown—Flight of Fugitives, guided by the North Star—The Fugitive Preston -carried off by the Slave-hunters—Landing of the Fugitives in Canada—Rev. -Dr. Pennington received by W. W. on his escape from Slavery—The Fugitive -Seized while Happy in the midst of his Family—The Fugitive Slave Flying -from the Slave-hunters and their Bloodhounds—Mrs. Banton’s Treatment of -her Young Slaves; an Incident in the Life of Lewis Clarke—Chase of a -Slaver at Sea—Interior of a Slave Ship, &c. &c. - -⁂ Between 40,000 and 50,000 of this Almanack have already been sold, and -the demand still continues. - - - LONDON: JOHN CASSELL, LUDGATE HILL; - AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. - - - - - DOMESTIC WORSHIP. - - - Now publishing, in Monthly Parts, each containing 64 Pages, demy quarto, - price ONE SHILLING, - - THE ALTAR OF THE HOUSEHOLD: - - A SERIES OF - - Services for Domestic Worship for every Morning and Evening in the Year; - - SELECT PORTIONS OF HOLY WRIT, - - AND - - PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS FOR PARTICULAR OCCASIONS; - - With an Address to Heads of Families. - - EDITED BY THE REV. JOHN HARRIS, D.D. - - _Principal of New College, St. John’s Wood; Author of “The Great - Teacher;” “Mammon;” “Pre-Adamite Earth,” &c. &c._ - - ASSISTED BY EMINENT CONTRIBUTORS. - - -The desirableness of such a Publication is too obvious to need remark. -Even amongst those in whose hearts the spirit of devotion is pure and -ardent, a difficulty of expression, or a desire to avoid day after day -the repetition of the same phrases while referring to common -occurrences—acknowledging “every-day blessings,” or praying for their -daily renewal,—frequently produces considerable embarrassment; while -others—as, for instance, females, in the absence of the head of the -family—in consequence of nervousness or timidity, are prevented from -leading the devotions of the household. To such persons THE ALTAR OF THE -HOUSEHOLD will prove a valuable boon, whether used in the precise form -in which it appears, or as suggesting a suitable train of thoughts and -expressions. In these respects it may also greatly aid the private -devotions of the closet. - -It will be seen that, in addition to the distinguished EDITOR, numerous -Ministers are engaged in the preparation of this Work. This may be -regarded as a guarantee for its Scriptural character, and its -acceptableness to all sections of the Christian Church—to “all who love -the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” At the same time, this provides for -a rich variety in the modes of expression, whether of adoration, -thanksgiving, or petition. Thus, languor and formality will be -prevented, while the moderate length of each service will be security -against “weariness of spirit” in any of the worshippers. - -The following are among the Ministers engaged in the preparation of THE -ALTAR OF THE HOUSEHOLD:— - - The Rev. J. SHERMAN, - The Rev. W. URWICK, D.D., - The Rev. W. H. BUNTING, M.A., - The Rev. R. FERGUSON, LL.D., - The Rev. F. A. COX, D.D., LL.D., - The Rev. Professor LORIMER, - The Rev. NEWMAN HALL, B.A., - The Rev. B. S. HOLLIS, - The Rev. W. CHALMERS, A.M., - The Rev. J. BEAUMONT, M.D., - The Rev. SAMUEL MARTIN, - The Rev. WILLIAM BROCK, - The Rev. JOHN KENNEDY, A.M. - The Rev. WILLIAM LEASK, - The Rev. CHARLES WILLIAMS, - The Rev. W. W. EWBANK, A.M., - The Rev. J. STOUGHTON, - The Rev. W. REID, - The Rev. GEORGE SMITH, - &c. &c. - -The Publisher, therefore, confidently promises, as the result, a Work of -singular ability, adapted to every Family where such aid in Domestic -Worship is occasionally or regularly desirable. - -The Work will be completed in Twelve Parts, one to appear on the First -day of each successive month; the whole forming One Handsome Volume; -with Frontispiece engraved on steel by a first-rate Artist.—Parts I. and -II. are now ready. - - - - - JOHN CASSELL’S LIBRARY COMPLETE. - - _This Series consists of Twenty-six Monthly Volumes, 7d. each, in - paper covers; or the whole bound in cloth, forming the complete - Library, 19s. 6d.; or arranged in a Library Box, 25s. The Works may - be had separately, as follows:—Neatly bound, 1s. 6d. per Double - Volume, or 2s. 3d. when Three Volumes in One, as in the History of - France, and History of Ireland._ - - - Historical Works. - -THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND, by ROBERT FERGUSON, LL.D., in Four Volumes, 7d. -each, or in Two Double Volumes neatly bound in cloth, 1s. 6d. each; or -the whole bound together in One Thick Volume, 3s., or on fine paper, -with Portrait of the Author, 3s. 6d.; with gilt edges, 4s. - -THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, by ROBERT FERGUSON, LL.D., in Two Volumes, 7d. -each, or One Double Volume, neatly bound in cloth, 1s. 6d. - -THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, in Three Volumes, 7d. each, or the Three neatly -bound in One, 2s. 3d. This is pronounced, by competent judges, to be the -most impartial history of the sister kingdom ever published. - -THE HISTORY AND SOURCES OF THE GREATNESS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. By -BENJAMIN PARSONS. In Two Volumes, price 7d. each, or neatly bound in -One, price 1s. 6d. - -THE HISTORY OF FRANCE, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; -with numerous Portraits. In Three Vols., 7d. each, or neatly bound in -One, 2s. 3d. - - - Biographical. - -THE PEOPLE’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. By J. R. BEARD, D.D. Two Double -Vols., 3s. - - - Scientific Works. - -THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN; OR, POPULAR CHAPTERS ON ETHNOGRAPHY. By JOHN -KENNEDY, A.M. In Two Volumes, 7d. each, or neatly bound in One, 1s. 6d. - -THE WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS. By FREDERICK S. WILLIAMS. With Diagrams. In -One Volume, price 7d. - -THE HISTORY OF THE STEAM-ENGINE, from the Second Century before the -Christian Era to the Time of the Great Exhibition, with many Engravings. -By Professor WALLACE. One Volume, price 7d. - - ☞ The last Two Vols. bound together, price 1s. 6d. - - - Voyages and Travels. - -SAILINGS OVER THE GLOBE; or, the Progress of Maritime Discovery, East, -West, South, and North; including the Early Discoveries of the -Portuguese; the Voyages of Vasco de Gama, Mendez Pinto, and Magellan; -Eastern Enterprises of the English, and First Circumnavigation of the -Globe; the Four Voyages of Columbus; Cortez and the Conquest of Mexico; -Pizarro and the Discovery of Peru. In Two Volumes, 7d. each, or the Two -neatly bound in One, 1s. 6d. - -FOOTPRINTS OF TRAVELLERS, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; -including Capel de Brooke’s Travels in Norway, Sweden, and Lapland; -Lyall’s Travels in the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Georgia; Inglis’s -Travels in the Tyrol; Travels among the Tartars, by the Ambassador of -the Pope, and also by Zivick and Schill; Heber’s Travels in India; -Burne’s Travels in Bokhara. In Two Volumes, 7d. each, or the Two neatly -bound in One, 1s. 6d. - - - London: JOHN CASSELL, Ludgate Hill; and all Booksellers. - - - THE HALF-YEARLY SECTION OF - - THE HISTORY OF THE PAINTERS OF ALL NATIONS. - - Beautifully bound in cloth, price 14s., including— - - Part 1.—MURILLO. - Part 2.—TENIERS THE YOUNGER. - Part 3.—REMBRANDT. - Part 4.—RUYSDAEL. - Part 5.—VALENTIN. - Part 6.—ALBERT DURER. - -The “History of the Painters” is published in Monthly Parts, price 2s., -each containing a Life, Portrait, and choice specimens of each Painter’s -Works, printed on separate Plate Paper. - - Elegantly bound in cloth, gilt, price 7s. 6d.; or handsomely bound in - extra cloth, gilt edges, 8s., - - - THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR FOR 1851; - A TRIBUTE TO THE WORLD’S INDUSTRIAL JUBILEE. - -This really National Work will enable every Family to possess, at the -cheapest possible cost, a monumental record of one of the most -remarkable events in the world’s history. The Volume contains upwards of -600 Pages, and more than 1,000 Engravings, giving the most perfect and -compendious view of the Great Exhibition—its History, Construction of -the Building, and Historical and Moral Associations, besides comprising -Engravings of the most noticeable objects in Machinery, Manufactures, -Natural Produce, and Works of Art. - - - THE LADIES’ WORK BOOK; - -Containing full Instructions for every kind of Ladies’ Work, in Point -Lace, Knitting, Embroidery, Crochet, &c., forming the most splendid Book -for the Work-table ever issued. This Work will contain an immense number -of the Newest Designs for Ladies’ Work, of every description, and will -be produced in a style perfectly unique. Price 2s. 6d. - - - THE LADIES’ DRAWING-ROOM BOOK; - -In which will be introduced the choicest Engravings from the -“Illustrated Exhibitor and Magazine of Art,” and the “Ladies’ Work -Table;” the whole forming a beautiful Book for the Drawing-room. A more -handsome Book for a Christmas Present will not be published. The whole -Work will be printed on the finest Plate Paper, and got up in the first -style of art. Price 10s. 6d. - - - THE PATHWAY: A Religious Magazine. - -Published on the First of each Month. Consisting of Thirty-two Pages -octavo, handsomely printed on good paper, enclosed in a neat Wrapper, -price Twopence per Number. - -This is a Magazine of deep interest to Families, to Sabbath-school -Teachers, and to the Youth of England generally. Writers of known talent -furnish articles for the various departments, which include:—The Bible -and its Claims—Biblical Geography—History, Sacred and Profane—Christian -Philosophy—Biography—Miscellanies, and Select Poetry. Each article is -distinguished no less by its nervous and manly style than by the -directness and force of its truth. - -Vols. I., II., and III., neatly bound in cloth, with Title-page and -Table of Contents, complete, price 2s. 3d. each. The Third Volume -contains interesting Papers on various Modes of Spending the Sabbath, by -Mrs. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, authoress of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” - - - J. CASSELL, LUDGATE HILL; AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. - - - - - THIS DAY IS PUBLISHED, PRICE ONE SHILLING, - - Enclosed in an Ornamental Wrapper, - - THE FIRST MONTHLY PART OF - - THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF ART, - - BEING A MUCH-IMPROVED SERIES OF - - THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR & MAGAZINE OF ART. - - -For the information of those who have not seen previous announcements, -the character of the changes introduced may be thus stated:— - -FIRST—as to the _Title_ of the Work. This will be, in future, THE -ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF ART. The title, “The Illustrated Exhibitor,” -&c., led many persons to suppose that it was a description of the -objects deposited at the Great Exhibition of 1851; whereas it is, as its -new title will more clearly explain, a rich repository of choice -Specimens of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Ornamental Design, -Natural History, Portraits, Machinery, Manufacturing Processes, &c. &c. - -SECONDLY—as to the _character of the Contents_. The Articles will appear -in a more continuous and perfect form, with few or none of those breaks -and interruptions which gave the Series just concluded somewhat too much -of a fragmentary form. Due regard will be paid to an interesting -variety; and, where the entire subject cannot be disposed of in one -Part, it will be so arranged as that each portion shall be complete in -itself. - -THIRDLY—as to the _Price_. Instead of the Monthly Parts varying in -price,—at sometimes 9d., and at other times 11d.,—the Parts will be -published at the uniform price of ONE SHILLING each. For this slight -advance in price the Purchasers will have a valuable equivalent. Besides -the profusion of Engravings throughout the Work, each Part will contain -at least Four principal Engravings, worked off separately upon superfine -Plate Paper. In order to compete the Half-yearly Volumes, the Parts for -_June_ and _December_ will contain _Thirty-two Pages_ extra of -illustrated matter, and Two separate first-class Engravings, worked on -Plate Paper. The price of these Parts will be 1s. 6d. each. As has been -already announced, the _Weekly Sections_ will consist of Sixteen Pages, -with a number of Engravings in the Text, and a first-class Engraving, -printed separately on fine Plate Paper; the whole stitched in a neat -Wrapper, price Threepence. - -A feature of considerable interest will be introduced in the _Pictorial_ -Department, namely, THE WORKS OF THE GREAT MASTERS. One entire Work will -be given in each Monthly Part, including a Memoir of the Master, with -his Portrait, and a Selection of Six of his principal Works, beautifully -engraved, and accompanied with appropriate descriptions. - -The _Literary_ Department of the Work, also, will undergo considerable -improvement. Not the least interesting of the improvements will be a -course of Papers entitled, “The Men and Women of the Age,” not only of -this but of other countries, with exquisitely engraved Portraits, and -Original Biographical Sketches, obtained from the most authentic -sources. Nor will the taste for lighter Literature be overlooked. THE -ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF ART will contain a Series of Original Historical -and other Tales; including several by ANNA MARIA HOWITT, entitled, “The -School of Life;” and an Historical Novel, “The Dead Bridal,” -illustrative of one of the most interesting periods in the history of -the Venetian Republic, by “JONATHAN FRERE SLINGSBY,” of the _Dublin -University Magazine_, which will be commenced in the next Part; also -contributions from WILLIAM and MARY HOWITT, PERCY B. ST. JOHN, and other -distinguished Writers. In other respects, too, THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE -OF ART will be decidedly superior to its predecessor, upon which such -high eulogiums have been pronounced by all portions of the Public Press. - - - London: JOHN CASSELL, Ludgate Hill; and all Booksellers. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Moved the initial book listings from before the Title Page to - between the Colophon and the continuation of the lists. - 2. P. 172, changed “Millard Fillmore is not our master, but our master, - but our servant” to “Millard Fillmore is not our master, but our - servant”. - 3. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 4. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 5. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at - the end of the last chapter. - 6. 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