The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Scenes, and Christian Slavery
by Ebenezer Davies

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Title: American Scenes, and Christian Slavery
       A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States

Author: Ebenezer Davies

Release Date: February 1, 2004 [EBook #10898]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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AMERICAN SCENES,

AND

CHRISTIAN SLAVERY:


A RECENT TOUR OF FOUR THOUSAND MILES IN THE UNITED STATES.




BY EBENEZER DAVIES,

LATE MINISTER OF MISSION CHAPEL, NEW AMSTERDAM, BERBICE.


MDCCCXLIX.




PREFACE.


During his recent sojourn in the United States, the Author did not
conceive the intention of writing a book on the subject. All he
contemplated was the publication of a few letters in a London Journal
on which he had been accustomed to rely for intelligence from Europe
when residing in Berbice. So much he was disposed to attempt for
several reasons.

Having entered the States by their most Southern port--that of New
Orleans, and finding himself at once in the midst of Slavery, he had
opportunities of observing that system not often enjoyed by a British
"Abolitionist." As the Pastor, also, of a large congregation, of whom a
great number were but a few years ago held in cruel bondage, he would
naturally look upon the treatment of the same race in America with
keener eyes and feelings more acute than if he had not stood in that
relation.

Identified, too, with those persons who represent the principles of the
old Puritans and Nonconformists in England, he would survey the growth
and spread of those principles in their new soil and climate with a
more than common interest. New England, especially, on whose sods the
foot-prints of the Pilgrims had been impressed, and on whose rocks
their early altars had been reared, would be to him hallowed ground.

Travelling, leisurely, as he did, at his own expense, northward from
New Orleans to Boston, and westward as far as Utica,--making a tour of
more than four thousand miles, sometimes known and sometimes unknown,
just as inclination prompted,--representing no public body, bound to no
party, a "Deputation sent by himself,"--he was completely free and
independent in thought and action, and enjoyed advantages for
observation which do not often meet.

It was natural that he should wish to tell his friends in Great
Britain, and in the West Indies, what he had seen and heard. To
denounce what is evil and to commend what is good is at all times
gratifying; in doing which, he sought to describe the men and the
manners of America just as they appeared to him.

Several letters, containing the narrative of a few days spent in New
Orleans, appeared in the _Patriot_. Their favourable reception by the
readers of that journal led to the preparation of the present volume,
in which the letters referred to, having undergone a careful revision,
re-appear, followed by nearly thirty others descriptive of the Author's
tour.

Our Transatlantic friends are morbidly sensitive as to the strictures
of strangers. They hate the whole tribe of Travellers and Tourists,
Roamers and Ramblers, Peepers and Proclaimers, and affect to ridicule
the idea of men who merely pass through the country, presuming to give
opinions on things which it is alleged so cursory a view cannot qualify
them fully to understand. Our cousins have, doubtless, had occasional
provocations from the detested race in question; but their feeling on
this point amounts to a national weakness. It is always worth knowing
how we appear to the eyes of others, and what impression the first
sight of us is apt to produce; and this knowledge none can communicate
but the stranger, the tourist, the passer-by. What faults and failings
soever we may have in England, and their "name is legion," by all means
let them be unsparingly exposed by every foreign tourist that treads
upon our soil. Let us be satirized, ridiculed, laughed at, caricatured,
anything, so that we may be shamed out of all that is absurd and
vicious in our habits and customs. In the present instance our Western
kinsmen are described by one, if they will believe his own testimony,
of the most candid and truthful of travellers,--one who has viewed them
and all their institutions, except _one_, with the most friendly eye,
and who deeply regrets that so much of what is lovely and of good
report should be marred and blotted by so much of what is disgraceful
to a great and enlightened people.

As to the performance in a literary point of view, the Author will say
nothing. The public will form their own judgment. If they like it, they
will read; if not, the most seductive preface would not tempt them.

E. DAVIES.

LONDON, _January_ 1, 1849.





CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the
Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The
New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High Pressure Steam-Tug
Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae


LETTER II.

American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship
ashore--Taken off by a Steam Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway
Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at
New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A
Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel


LETTER III.

New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St Charles's--Description
of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for Sale--Texts for Southern
Divines--Perilous Picture


LETTER IV.

A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration--A
Negro Pew--The Sermon


LETTER V.

First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken
up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of
the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer


LETTER VI.

"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other
Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A
Slave-Auction


LETTER VII.

The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his
Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another
Jim--Tom, the House Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A
Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child


LETTER VIII.

St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan
Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men


LETTER IX.

Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the
Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American
Sabbath School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New
Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion"


LETTER X.

Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the
Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at
the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French
and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New
Orleans--American Manners


LETTER XI.

Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon"
Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi
--Steam-boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the
"Crescent City"--Slave Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar
Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A
Reverend Slave-holder


LETTER XII.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The
Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez
--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi


LETTER XIII.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black
River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man
Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of
Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience


LETTER XIV.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the
Indians--M de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its
Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos
Dresser


LETTER XV.

Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough
--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave of
President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The
Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service


LETTER XVI.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The
Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's
Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private
Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a
Democratic Meeting


LETTER XVII.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane
Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education


LETTER XVIII.

Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The
College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane
Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual
Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and
Students


LETTER XIX.

A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of
a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German
Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the
Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at
the House of a Coloured Minister


LETTER XX.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The
Rev. C.B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New
Era"--American Nationality


LETTER XXI.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a
White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr.
Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to
the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane Seminary
--Departure from Cincinnati


LETTER XXII.

Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its
Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects
--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An
Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills


LETTER XXIII.

Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance-Newspapers
--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the
Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of
America


LETTER XXIV.

Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage--A
Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and Dr.
Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr. Plummer's Pro-slavery
Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church


LETTER XXV.

A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The
Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore
--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak
Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery
--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will


LETTER XXVI.

Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The
Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred
Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private
Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging houses--A Lecture on
Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church


LETTER XXVII.

A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and
their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's
Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice
against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ----'s Church--Another Fact
in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with
Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church


LETTER XXVIII

A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and
New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L----'s--Afternoon Service at
Mr. C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr. ----'s


LETTER XXIX.

The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His
Funeral--Drs Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The
Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright


LETTER XXX.

Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New
Haven.--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The
Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan
Edwards, junior


LETTER XXXI.

The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor
Yale--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological
Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The
Graves of the Regicides


LETTER XXXII.

A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The
Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at
College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The
"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at
Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak


LETTER XXXIII.

The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity--
Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr. Bushnell
and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground--The New
Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure from
Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth Bliss--The
Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill


LETTER XXXIV.

Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between
Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman
and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd
and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan
House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to
churn, and Horses to saw Wood


LETTER XXXV.

A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chan is but a
Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning
Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House
and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A
hurried Glance


LETTER XXXVI.

The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery
Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing
in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects
of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author
thinks of the Americans


LETTER XXXVII.

What the Author thinks of the Americans (continued)--Slavery
--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance
of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor
and his Blood-hounds




LETTER I.

Occasion of Visit to the United States--First Impressions of the
Mississippi--Magnitude of that River--Impediment at its Entrance--The
New Harbour--The "Great" and "Fat" Valley--High-Pressure Steam-Tug
Frolics--Slave-Auction Facetiae.


The ill health of my wife, occasioned by long residence amid the sultry
swamps of Guiana, compelled me a few months ago to accompany her on a
visit to the United States of America. Having taken our passage in a
ship to New Orleans, we found ourselves in fifteen days on the
far-famed Mississippi,--the "father of waters." On gazing around, our
first feeling was one of awe, to find ourselves actually ascending that
majestic stream, that great artery of the greatest valley in the world,
leading into the very heart of a continent. The weather was very cold;
the trees on the river's bank were leafless; and the aspect of nature
on every hand told it was winter. What a change! But a fortnight before
we were panting under an almost vertical sun.  We found the Mississippi
much narrower than we had anticipated. In some places it is only about
half a mile wide; while below New Orleans it never, I should say,
exceeds a mile in width. This is remarkable, since not less than
fifty-seven large navigable rivers contribute to swell its waters. It
is, however, very deep, and, even at the distance of 500 miles above
New Orleans, is navigated by vessels of 300 tons; nay, at 1,364 miles
from its mouth, it attains an average depth of fifteen feet. In its
course, it waters 2,500 miles of country. Among the rivers that pour
themselves into this immense stream are--the Missouri, which has first
traversed a space of 2,000 miles; the Arkansas, 1,300 miles; the Red
River, 1,000 miles; and the Ohio, 700 miles.

Unfortunately, at the entrance of this noble river, there is a bar
called the Balize, so shallow as hitherto to have seriously interfered
with the navigation of large and deeply-laden vessels. Even for the
cotton trade, a particular construction of ship has been found needful,
with a flatter bottom than usual, in order to pass easily over this
bar, any effort to remove which the rapidity of the stream would render
fruitless. This circumstance, with the want of harbour at the mouth of
the Mississippi, has hitherto operated greatly against the trade with
New Orleans, which is 110 miles up the river. Recently, however, a
magnificent harbour has been discovered between Cat Island and Isle
Apitre, within Lake Borgne, and only ten miles from the coast of the
mainland. This new harbour, easily accessible from the sea, at all
times contains a depth of water varying from thirty to fifty feet, and
is so protected on all sides that vessels may ride with the greatest
safety in the worst weather. From this harbour to Bayou on the mainland
the distance is only twelve miles, and from Bayou to New Orleans
forty-six miles,--making altogether only fifty-eight miles from Cat
Island Harbour to New Orleans; whereas, by the difficult and dangerous
route of the Mississippi, the distance is 110 miles. The importance and
value of such a harbour it is difficult to over-estimate. Its
beneficial effect on the future destiny of the great valley will be
prodigious.

I have said the "great valley," and well it deserves the appellation.
It contains as many square miles, with more tillable ground than the
whole continent of Europe. It measures about 1,341,649 square miles,
and is therefore six times larger than France. And this valley is as
rich as it is extensive. It is the "fat" valley. Never did human eye
behold a finer soil, or more luxuriant productions. The treasures
beneath the surface are as precious as those above. The lead and copper
mines are among the best in the world. Iron and coal also abound.
Building materials, of beauty and strength, adapted to form cottages
for the poor or palaces for the rich, are not wanting. Nature has here
furnished in lavish profusion everything necessary for converting the
wilderness into smiling fields, studded with populous cities.

But we are not yet within the great valley. We are only at its
entrance, sailing up the "father of waters," against the stream, at the
rate of four or five miles an hour. It is usual for sailing-vessels to
be towed by steam-tugs to their destination; but, having a fair breeze,
and no tug at hand, we were indebted to our sails alone. The motion was
exceedingly pleasant, after the tossings we had had in the Gulf of
Mexico. The vessel glided smoothly along, and new objects presented
themselves continually on either hand.

My enjoyment of the scenery, however, was soon marred by an attack of
fever and ague, which sent me below. While I was down, several
steam-tugs towing vessels down the river met us. Their unearthly groans
filled me with terror. Their noise was not that of puff--puff
--puff--puff, like all the other steamers that I had ever
heard, but something composed of a groan, a grunt, and a
growl--deep-drawn, as from the very caverns of Vulcan, and that at
awfully-solemn intervals,--grunt--grunt--grunt--grunt! This
peculiarity, I was told, arose from their "high-pressure" engines. The
sound, thus explained, brought to my recollection all the dreadful
stories of boiler explosions with which the very name of the
Mississippi had become associated in my mind. But (thought I) they have
surely learned wisdom from experience, and are become more skilful or
more cautious than they used to be!

While I was engaged with these reflections, our captain came down, and
handed me a couple of New Orleans papers, which he had just received
from the pilot. Here was a treat; and, feeling a little better, I began
with eagerness to open one of them out. It was the _New Orleans Bee_ of
January 23; and, _horresco referens_, the first thing that caught my
eye was the following paragraph:--

"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--LOSS OF LIFE.--Captain Haviland, of the
steam-ship 'Galveston,' from Galveston, reports that the tow-boat
'Phoenix,' Captain Crowell, burst her boilers when near the head of the
South-west Pass [which we had but just passed], killing and wounding
about twenty-five in number, seven of whom belonged to the boat, the
_balance_ to a barque she had alongside; carrying away the foremast of
the barque close to her deck, and her mainmast above her cross-trees,
together with all her fore-rigging, bulwarks, and injuring her hull
considerably. The ship 'Manchester,' which she had also alongside, was
seriously injured, having her bulwarks carried away, her longboat
destroyed," &c.

Such was the paragraph, with not a syllable of note or comment on cause
or consequences. It was evidently an every-day occurrence. What
recklessness was here indicated! and how comforting to a sick and
nervous man, now near the very spot of the occurrence, and in a vessel
about to be placed in the same pleasant relation to one of those
grunting monsters as the unfortunate "barque" had but three days before
occupied, with the trifling "balance" of eighteen of her crew "killed
and wounded!"

The fever having left me, I ventured on deck. At this moment one of
these infernal machines came in sight, towing down three large ships.
Instead of having them behind, as on the Thames and Mersey, she (like
the "Phoenix") had one on either side, closely lashed to herself, and
the other only behind. This terrific monster seemed to be carrying them
away arm-in-arm, like two prisoners, to destruction. At all events, it
was a position of familiarity and friendship with the "Sprite of Steam"
of which I did not at all like the idea; and yet we ourselves were
by-and-by to be placed in its perilous embrace!

The dreaded monster gone by, I resumed the perusal of my New Orleans
papers. Now (thought I) I am in a slave country! I wonder whether these
papers will give any indication of the fact. In a little while my eye,
surveying the _Bee_ of January 21, caught sight of an advertisement
signed "N. St. Martin, Sheriff, Parish of St. Charles," and containing
a list of 112 human beings offered for sale! The miserable catalogue
was full of instruction. In drawing it up the humane sheriff became
quite facetious, telling the public that "Frank, 35 years old, American
negro, [was] _good for everything_;" while "Stephen, 46 years old,
[was] _fit for nothing at all_;" that "Salinette, 60 years old,
hospital-nurse, [was] _a good subject, subject to rheumatisms_;" and
that "Peter, American negro-man, 38 years old, [was] _a good cook,
having had two fits of madness_." I will back this against the Dublin
_Hue and Cry_.





LETTER II.

American Oysters--Becalmed in the Mississippi--Anchor raised--Ship
ashore--Taken off by a Steam-Tug--Slave-Sale Advertisements--Runaway
Negroes--Return of Fever--Terrific Storm--Frightful Position--Ashore at
New Orleans--A Ship-Chandler's Store--American Wheels--A
Joltification--The St. Charles's Hotel.


The evening closed upon us, sailing pleasantly up the Mississippi.
Having a beautiful moonlight night, we kept on our way. About seven
o'clock we overtook a small fishing-boat laden with oysters. In
consideration of our allowing them--not the oysters, but the
boatmen--to fasten a rope to our vessel, to help them on, they gave us
a generous and refreshing supply. But such oysters! In neither size nor
shape did they resemble those of the Old World. As to size, they were
gigantic,--as to shape, not unlike the human foot. They abound not far
from the mouth of the river, and many men obtain a livelihood by
carrying them up to the New Orleans market. The mode of cooking adopted
in this instance was that of putting them on the fire till the shells
opened. To our taste, they were not in flavour to be compared to the
London oysters; but we did not venture to tell our American captain so.
We had yet, however, to taste the deliciously-cooked oysters of the
northern cities.

About 10 p.m., the breeze having in a great measure died away, our
captain thought it imprudent to attempt to "go a-head" further that
night, and the anchor was cast. We were now fifty miles above the
entrance of the river.

Early next day the anchor was raised, the sails were unfurled, and we
again moved along. About 8 a.m., through the narrowness of the river,
the rapidity of the stream, and other causes, our "smart" captain, who
had chuckled vastly on passing all other ships in the river,--and
especially British ships,--ran his own vessel right ashore! There we
were in a complete "fix," till one of the grunting monsters (coming up
with two vessels--one on each arm, as usual,--and letting them go for a
few minutes,) came to our rescue. Forbidding as was his aspect, we were
very glad to feel a little of his giant power. Of this one I had, of
course, a better view than I had had of any other of the species. It
had, like the rest, two chimneys in front, like perpendicular tusks,
with a ladder between them. The ladder was for the purpose of
ascent,--the ascent for the purpose of elevation,--and the elevation
for the purpose of "look out." The top of the ladder, in short,
rendered the same service as the top of a ship's mast at sea. This
"tug" had also, a little further aft, a funnel-like sort of chimney,
for the emission of steam. The whole structure was--like a forge below,
and a palace above. In the lower story were the boiler, engine, fuel,
&c., all exposed to view; while, the upper contained splendid
apartments for the captain, the engineer, and other officers. The
engineer of that vessel, I understood, had a salary of 250 dollars (50
guineas) per month!

Released from our stranded position, we found ourselves in a few
minutes lashed to the monster's side, and completely in his power. Here
we were, in the same dread position in which the day before we felt
horrified to see others! From some of the officers, our captain
obtained another newspaper. It was the _New Orleans Daily Picayune_ for
January 26. Getting hold of it, I found whole columns of slave-sale
advertisements. A few specimens will illustrate better than any
description the state of things in this "land of liberty!"

"NEGROES FOR SALE.--The subscribers No. 56, Esplanade-street, have just
received a lot of valuable Slaves from Virginia and Maryland,
consisting of Mechanics, Farm Hands, and House Servants, and have made
_arrangements not to be surpassed_ in this market for a _regular
supply_ from the above markets, as also Alabama. We hazard nothing in
saying, if our former friends, and others wishing to purchase good
servants or hands, will give us a call, they shall not be disappointed.

"N.B. All Negroes sold by the undersigned are fully guaranteed.

"SLATTER & LOCKETT,

"56, Esplanade-street."

"n11--6m."

"FOR SALE.--A likely Mulatto Negress, aged twenty-two years,--she is a
first-rate cook, and a good washer and ironer, besides being a
tolerable good seamstress.

"ANDERSON & BURNET,

"38, Camp-street."

"J26."

"SLAVES FOR SALE.--I have just received, and offer for sale, a very
likely lot of Virginia Negroes. Those wishing to purchase will do well
to give me a call at my office, No. 157, Gravier-street, between
Carondelet and Baronne streets. I will be _constantly receiving_
Negroes from Virginia and North Carolina during the winter.

"C. M. RUTHERFORD."

"n13--6m."

"SLAVES FOR SALE.--No. 165, Gravier-street.--The subscriber has always
on hand a number of Slaves, consisting of House Servants, Field Hands,
and Mechanics, which will be sold low for cash or negotiable paper.
Persons desirous of purchasing will find it to their interest to call
and examine. The subscriber will also receive and sell on consignment
any Negro that may be intrusted to his care.

"He would also respectfully notify persons engaged in the Slave Trade,
that he is prepared to board them and their Slaves on the most
reasonable terms.

"WM. H. MERRITT."

"o1--6m."

"References--J.A. Barelli, C.J. Mansoni."

"ONE HUNDRED NEGROES.--For Sale at No. 13, Moreau-street.--All of which
have just been received from Maryland and Virginia. My old friends, and
others wishing to purchase Slaves, will find it to their interest to
call on me before purchasing elsewhere. Also will receive _large
shipments during the season_ from the above States.

"R. R. BEASLEY,

"13, Moreau-street."

"d31--3m."

Runaway slaves seem to be constantly advertised, with (as in the case
of ship advertisements) a small woodcut figure representing them in the
very act of making their escape. Indeed, almost everything advertised
is accompanied by its picture,--ships, houses, bonnets, boots, leeches,
oysters, and so forth. Even a strayed horse or a strayed cow is
advertised with a picture representing the animal in the very act of
going astray. On the same principle, and in like manner, human chattels
assuming their natural right to go where they please, are advertised
with a woodcut representing them as bending forward in the act of
running, and carrying with them a small bundle containing their scanty
wardrobe,--a pitiable figure! And yet this is done, not to awaken
sympathy, but to excite vigilance, as in the following instances, which
I have picked out of the _Picayune_:--

"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--The aforesaid sum will be given to any
person who will bring back to the undersigned the negro-girl Eugenia,
and her mulatto child aged two years. Said slave has been purloined or
enticed away by her former owner, Madame Widow Decaux, who secretly
went out of this State on the 12th December, 1846. Said Widow Decaux is
well known in New Orleans as a notorious swindler, having been
prosecuted for having pawned logs of wood to a merchant of this city
instead of dry goods. She has a scar on her forehead, and several
others on her neck, and is accompanied by her aged mother, and her boy
aged ten years.

"J. B. DUPEIRE."

"j7--15t*."

"Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th November last, a negro man
named Sandy, about twenty-five years of age, five feet five inches
high, very dark complexion, speaks both French and English, _shows the
mark of the whip very much_. A liberal reward will be paid for his
apprehension, either by confining in any gaol, so that I can secure
him, or his delivery to me at Plaquemine, La.

"W. H. CARR."

"J20--3tW."

And yet the editor of this very paper, in his leading article,
reviewing the past, (that day being the tenth anniversary of its own
existence,) coolly says, "In entering upon our eleventh anniversary,
how different the spectacle! Industry in every quarter of the land
receives its meet reward; Commerce is remunerated by wholesome gains;
_Comfort blesses the toil of the labourer_(!) and Hope encourages the
enterprise of all the industrial classes of our citizens."

As the day advanced, my fever returned; and I was obliged to go below.
A furious tempest arose, so that even our "monster" could scarcely get
along. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and the rain fell in
torrents. It was a terrific day! As night approached, our captain told
us the vessel could not then be got any further,--it was about two
miles from the city; and if we particularly wished to go ashore, we
must get ready directly, and go with him in the steam-tug. Anxious for
a good night's rest, on shore we resolved to go. I had to turn out in
that state of profuse perspiration which always succeeds the fever, and
my wife hurriedly selected a few necessary things. Poor thing! she was
almost overwhelmed with the trying circumstances in which she was
placed,--thousands of miles from home--about to enter a place in which
she knew not a single soul--her husband ill, and herself an invalid!
But there was no help for it. Amidst torrents of rain, we made the
fearful transition from the ship to the tug, while both vessels were in
violent agitation. It was done. And now we were in the "monster's" own
bosom, expecting every moment his bowels to burst, and send us into
eternity. The noise of the engine, the grunting of the steam, the
raging of the wind, the pelting of the rain, and the roaring of the
thunder, made it almost impossible to hear anything besides; but I
managed to shout in my wife's ear the natural, though not very
consolatory question, "Were we ever in so fearful a position before?"
"Never!" (and we had had some experience of storms by both land and
sea) was her awe-stricken reply.

We detached ourselves from the sailing-vessel; but, with all the power
of steam, we could scarcely get along. At last the "monster's"
bellowing was hushed,--the tremor ceased,--we were there! But how to
get ashore was still a difficulty. It was about 100 yards off. Planks,
however, were eventually placed so as to enable us to descend from our
lofty "tug" into a ship at anchor, from that into another, from that
again into a third, and from that at length on _terra firma_.

The hour was between 7 and 8 p.m.; and we were taken to a
ship-chandler's store, while our kind captain went to get a chaise for
us. The store was closed; but the owner and three other gentlemen were
there, seated before a comfortable coal fire, apparently enjoying
themselves after the business of the day. They received us very
courteously, and gave us chairs by the fireside. The storm of that day
they told us had done much harm to the shipping, and was severer than
any other they had experienced during the last seven years. While the
conversation was going on, _plash_ made one, _plash_ made another,
_plash_ made a third, by spurting a certain brownish secretion on the
floor! I had often heard of this as an American habit, but always
thought our cousins in this matter (as in many others) were
caricatured. Here, however, was the actual fact, and that in the
presence of a lady! Yet these were apparently very respectable men.

Having waited about a quarter of an hour, anxiously listening for the
rumbling of the expected wheels, I heard in the distance a strange kind
of noise, resembling that of a fire-shovel, a pair of tongs, a poker,
and an iron hoop tied loosely together with a string, and drawn over
the pavement! "What in the world is that?" said I. "It is the chaise,"
was the answer. The vehicle was quickly at the door. In we were
bundled, and orders given to drive us to the "St. Charles's." We
scarcely knew what this "St. Charles's" was; but, as all with whom we
had conversed seemed to take it for granted that we should go thither,
and as any one _saint_ was to us as good as any other, we echoed, "To
the St. Charles's." And now began such a course of jolting as we had
never before experienced. It seemed as if all the gutters and
splash-holes in the universe had been collected together, and we had to
drive over the whole. This continued about half an hour, by which we
learned that we were at first much further from the "St. Charles's"
than we supposed. The machine at last stopped, and we alighted,
thankful to have escaped a complete stoppage of our breath.

We were there. A waiter (he was not to be mistaken,--he bore a family
resemblance to all the waiters of the world) was instantly at the
coach-door, to help us _out_ and to help us _in_. He conducted us into
a lobby, up a flight of stairs, and through a long passage, to a large
saloon, where about 150 ladies and gentlemen were assembled,--some
sitting, some standing, some talking, some laughing, and some playing
with their fingers. But, no! we shrunk back. Thither we would not be
led, all wet and dirty as we were. We begged to be shown into a private
room. The waiter stared, and said he had none to take us to, except I
would first go to the "office." But what was to become of my
fellow-traveller in the meantime? No woman belonging to the
establishment made her appearance, and there my wife was obliged to
stand alone in the passage, whilst I followed the waiter through aisles
and passages, and turnings and twistings, and ups and downs, to a large
saloon, where about 200 gentlemen were smoking cigars! What a sight!
and what a smell! Who can realize the vast idea of 200 mouths, in one
room, pouring forth the fumes of tobacco? I was directed to the
high-priest of the establishment in the "office," or (as I should say)
at the "bar." Without verbally replying to my application, he handed me
a book in which to record my name. Having obeyed the hint, I again
asked my taciturn host if myself and wife could be accommodated. He
then, with manifest reluctance, took the cigar out of his mouth, and
said he had only one room to spare, and that was at the top of the
house. It was "Hobson's choice," and I accepted it. And now for a
journey! Talk of ascending the Monument on Fish-street Hill! what is
that compared to ascending the St. Charles's, at New Orleans? No. 181
was reached at last. The next task was to find my wife, which after
another long and circuitous journey was accomplished. In process of
time fire was made, and "tea for two" brought up. Let me, therefore,
close my letter and enjoy it.




LETTER III.

New Orleans--The Story of Pauline--Adieu to the St.
Charles's--Description of that Establishment--First Sight of Slaves for
Sale--Texts for Southern Divines--Perilous Picture.


From No. 181 of the "St. Charles's," we descended, after a good night's
rest, to see some of the lions of the place. Here we are (thought I) in
New Orleans--the metropolis of a great slave country,--a town in which
exist many depôts for the disposal of human beings,--the very city
where, a few months ago, poor Pauline was sacrificed as the victim of
lust and cruelty! Unhappy girl! What a tragedy! On the 1st of August
last, I told the horrid tale to my emancipated people in Berbice. Here
it is, as extracted from the _Essex_ (United States) _Transcript_. Read
it, if you please; and then you will have a notion of the feelings with
which I contemplated a city rendered infamous by such a transaction.

"Many of our readers have probably seen a paragraph stating that a
young slave girl was recently hanged at New Orleans for the crime of
striking and abusing her mistress. The religious press of the north has
not, so far as we are aware, made any comments upon this execution. It
is too busy pulling the mote out of the eye of the heathen, to notice
the beam in our nominal Christianity at home. Yet this case, viewed in
all its aspects, is an atrocity which has (God be thanked) no parallel
in heathen lands. It is a hideous offshoot of American Republicanism
and American Christianity! It seems that Pauline--a young and beautiful
girl--attracted the admiration of her master, and being (to use the
words of the law) his "chattel personal to all intents and purposes
whatsoever," became the victim of his lust. So wretched is the
condition of the slave woman, that even the brutal and licentious
regard of her master is looked upon as the highest exaltation of which
her lot is susceptible. The slave girl in this instance evidently so
regarded it; and as a natural consequence, in her new condition,
triumphed over and insulted her mistress,--in other words, repaid in
some degree the scorn and abuse with which her mistress had made her
painfully familiar. The laws of the Christian State of Mississippi
inflict the punishment of death upon the slave who lifts his or her
hand against a white person. Pauline was accused of beating her
mistress,--tried, found guilty, and condemned to die! But it was
discovered on the trial that she was in a condition to become a mother,
and her execution was delayed until the birth of the child. She was
conveyed to the prison cell. There, for many weary months, uncheered by
the voice of kindness, alone, hopeless, desolate, she waited for the
advent of the new and quickening life within her, which was to be the
signal of her own miserable death. And the bells there called to mass
and prayer-meeting, and Methodists sang, and Baptists immersed, and
Presbyterians sprinkled, and young mothers smiled through tears upon
their new-born children,--and maidens and matrons of that great city
sat in their cool verandahs, and talked of love, and household joys,
and domestic happiness; while, all that dreary time, the poor slave
girl lay on the scanty straw of her dungeon, waiting--with what agony
the great and pitying God of the white and black only knows--for the
birth of the child of her adulterous master. Horrible! Was ever what
George Sand justly terms 'the great martyrdom of maternity'--that
fearful trial which love alone converts into joy unspeakable--endured
under such conditions? What was her substitute for the kind voices and
gentle soothings of affection? The harsh grating of her prison
lock,--the mockings and taunts of unfeeling and brutal keepers! What,
with the poor Pauline, took the place of the hopes and joyful
anticipations which support and solace the white mother, and make her
couch of torture happy with sweet dreams? The prospect of seeing the
child of her sorrow, of feeling its lips upon her bosom, of hearing its
feeble cry--alone, unvisited of its unnatural father; and then in a few
days--just when the mother's affections are strongest, and the first
smile of her infant compensates for the pangs of the past--the scaffold
and the hangman! Think of the last terrible scene,--the tearing of the
infant from her arms, the death-march to the gallows, the rope around
her delicate neck, and her long and dreadful struggles, (for,
attenuated and worn by physical suffering and mental sorrow, her slight
frame had not sufficient weight left to produce the dislocation of her
neck on the falling of the drop,) swinging there alive for nearly half
an hour--a spectacle for fiends in the shape of humanity! Mothers of
New England! such are the fruits of slavery. Oh! in the name of the
blessed God, teach your children to hate it, and to pity its victims.
Petty politicians and empty-headed Congress debators are vastly
concerned, lest the 'honour of the country' should be compromised in
the matter of the Oregon Boundary. Fools! One such horrible atrocity as
this murder of poor Pauline 'compromises' us too deeply to warrant any
further display of their patriotism. It would compromise Paradise
itself! An intelligent and philanthropic European gentleman, who was in
New Orleans at the time of the execution, in a letter to a friend in
this vicinity, after detailing the circumstances of the revolting
affair, exclaims, 'God of goodness! God of justice! There must be a
future state to redress the wrongs of this. I am almost tempted to
say--there must be a future state, or no God!'"

On Saturday, the 30th, we set off to seek private lodgings. Led by a
board having on it in large letters the words "Private Boarding," we
"inquired within," found what we wanted, and engaged for eight dollars
per week each. We then went to pay our bill at the "St. Charles's," and
to bring away our carpet-bag. We had been there two nights, had had one
dinner, two teas, and two breakfasts. These meals, as we did not like
to join the hundreds at the "ordinary," were served to us (in a very
_ordinary_ way however) in our bedroom. In fact, the waiting was
miserably done. And yet for this we had the pleasure of paying eleven
dollars,--say _£2. 6s._! We gladly bade adieu to the "St. Charles's."
It suited neither our taste nor our pocket. Nevertheless, it is a
magnificent concern. The edifice was finished in 1838 by a company, and
cost 600,000 dollars. The gentlemen's dining-room is 129 feet by 50,
and is 22 feet high; having four ranges of tables, capable of
accommodating 500 persons. The ladies' dining-room is 52 feet by 36.
The house contains 350 rooms, furnishing accommodation for between 600
and 700 guests; and it was quite full when we were there. The front is
adorned with a projecting portico, supported by six fine Corinthian
columns, resting upon a rustic basement. The edifice is crowned with a
large dome, forty-six feet in diameter, having a beautiful Corinthian
turret on the top. This dome is the most conspicuous object in the
city. Viewed from a distance, it seems to stand in the same relation to
New Orleans as St. Paul's to London. The furniture of this immense
establishment cost 150,000 dollars. A steam-engine, producing a very
disagreeable tremor, is constantly at work in the culinary department.

While on our way to get the remainder of our baggage from the ship, we
came upon a street in which a long row, or rather several rows, of
black and coloured people were exposed in the open air (and under a
smiling sun) for sale! There must have been from 70 to 100, all young
people, varying from 15 to 30 years of age. All (both men and women)
were well dressed, to set them off to the best advantage, as is always
the case at these sales. Several of the coloured girls--evidently the
daughters of white men--had their sewing-work with them, as evidence of
their skill in that department. The whole were arranged under a kind of
verandah, having a foot-bench (about six inches high) to stand upon,
and their backs resting against the wall. None were in any way tied or
chained; but two white men ("soul-drivers," I suppose) were sauntering
about in front of them, each with a cigar in his mouth, a whip under
his arm, and his hands in his pockets, looking out for purchasers. In
its external aspect, the exhibition was not altogether unlike what I
have sometimes seen in England, when some wandering Italian has ranged
against a wall his bronzed figures of distinguished men,--Shakspeare,
Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, &c. It was between twelve and one in the
day; but there was no crowd, not even a single boy or girl looking
on,--so common and every-day was the character of the scene. As we
moved along in front of this sable row, one of the white attendants
(though my wife had hold of my arm) said to me, with all the
_nonchalance_ of a Smithfield cattle-drover, "Looking out for a few
niggers this morning?" Never did I feel my manhood so insulted. My
indignation burned for expression. But I endeavoured to affect
indifference, and answered in a don't-care sort of tone, "No, I am not
particularly in want of any to-da--." I could scarcely finish the
sentence. Emotion choked my utterance. I passed on, gazing at the troop
of degraded human beings, till my eyes became so filled with tears that
I was compelled to turn my face another way. Though I anticipated such
scenes, and had tried to prepare my mind for them, yet (now that they
were actually before me) I was completely overcome, and was obliged to
seek a place to sit down while I composed my feelings. With what
sentiments my companion beheld the scene, I will leave you to
conjecture!

It was Saturday morning; and with my professional habits, I naturally
thought of the many divines in that very city, who were at that moment
shut up in their studies, preparing their discourses for the morrow. I
wished I had them all before me. I could have given every one of them a
text to preach upon. I would have said, "Gentlemen, see there! and
blush for your fellow-citizens. See there! and never again talk of
American liberty. See there! and lift up your voices like so many
trumpets against this enormity. See there! and in the face of
persecution, poverty, imprisonment, and (if needs be) even death
itself, bear your faithful testimony, and cease not until this foul
stain be wiped away from your national escutcheon. Dr. S----, to-morrow
morning let this be your text,--'Where is Abel, thy brother?' Dr.
II----, let your discourse be founded on Exod. xxi. 16: 'And he that
stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he
shall surely be put to death.' You, the Rev. Mr. C----, let your gay
and wealthy congregation be edified with a solemn and impressive sermon
on Is. lviii. 6: 'Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?' And you, the Rev. Mr.
H----, let your hearers have a full and faithful exposition of that law
which is 'fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.'"

In the afternoon of the same day, as I walked along one of the
principal streets, I saw a flag issue from a fine large public building
to invite "ladies and gentlemen" to see "the magnificent picture of the
departure of the Israelites from Egypt,"--the canvas containing 2,000
square feet, and 2,000,000 of figures! How significant! It would have
been still more so, if the number of "figures" had been 3,000,000
instead of 2,000,000. What an "abolition" picture! It must have been
worse than "Jacob and his Sons," which was expunged from a catalogue of
the American Sunday-School Union, because, in reprehending the sale of
Joseph to the merchants, it reflected upon the _internal_ slave-trade!
Surely such exhibitions will affect the safety of the "peculiar
institution!"




LETTER IV.

A Sabbath in New Orleans--The First Presbyterian Church--Expectoration
--A Negro Pew--The Sermon.


Think of a Sabbath in New Orleans! Curious to know how people did
really pray and preach, with slavery and slave-trading in their vilest
forms around them, I set off in search of the "First Presbyterian
Church." It is a beautiful building; seldom, if ever, had I seen a
place of worship the exterior of which I liked so much. Being a quarter
of an hour too soon, I had opportunity for some preliminary researches.
Wishing to see whether there was a "Negro Pew," I went into the
gallery, and took a seat on the left side of the organ. The "church" I
found as beautiful inside as out. Instead of a pulpit, there was a kind
of platform lined with crimson, which looked very nice. Most of the
pews below, and some above, were lined with the same material. A
splendid chandelier, having many circles of glass brilliants, was
suspended from the ceiling. Altogether, the "church" was a very neat
and graceful structure,--capable, as I learned, of accommodating about
1,500 people. But the floor--the floor! What a drawback! It was stained
all over with tobacco juice! Faugh! Those Southern men are the most
filthy people in that respect I ever met with. They are a great
"spitting" community. To make it still more revolting to luckless
travellers, this nasty habit is generally attended with noises in the
throat resembling the united growling of a dozen mastiffs.

While the congregation was assembling, a greyheaded,
aristocratic-looking old negro came up into the gallery, walked along
"as one having authority," and placed himself in a front pew on the
right-hand side of the pulpit. Two black women shortly followed, taking
their seats in the same region. Others succeeded, till ultimately there
were from forty to fifty of the sable race in that part of the gallery.
Not one white was to be seen among the blacks, nor one black among the
whites. There, then, was the "Negro Pew!" It was the first time even my
West India eyes ever beheld a distinction of colour maintained in the
house of God!

At eleven o'clock precisely, a man of tall but stooping figure and dark
complexion, about forty years of age, muffled up in a cloak, took his
stand at the bottom of the pulpit or platform stairs. It was Dr. S----.
He appeared to beckon to some one in the congregation. A tall, lank old
gentleman, with a black cravat, and shirt-collar turned over it _à
l'Américain_, stepped forward, and, ascending the steps before the
Doctor, occupied one of the two chairs with which the rostrum was
furnished, the Doctor taking the other. I supposed him to be one of the
elders, going to give out the hymns, or to assist in the devotional
exercises. At this moment the organ--a fine-toned instrument--struck
up, and the choir sang some piece--known, I presume, only to
themselves, for no others joined in it. This prelude I have since found
is universal in America. In all places of worship provided with an
organ, a "voluntary" on that instrument is the first exercise. In the
present instance the choir had no sooner ceased than the Doctor stood
up, having his cloak still resting upon his shoulders, and stretched
forth his right hand. At this signal all the people stood up, and he
offered a short prayer. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" thought I, during
this address to the Father of the spirits of all flesh. He then read
the 23rd and 24th Psalms. "Where is Abel, thy brother?" was still
ringing in my ears. The 33rd Psalm was then sung. "Where is Abel, thy
brother?" was still heard (by me at least) louder than the swelling
tones of the organ. The singing done, of which the choir still had an
entire monopoly, the Doctor read the 14th chapter of Mark; and as he
read the awful story of our Lord's betrayal, I could not help thinking
that the only difference between some of the Southern slave-dealers and
Judas was, that had they been in his place, they would have made a
"smarter" bargain. The reading, though free from affectation, was not
by any means in the best style. The chapter finished, the tall elder
(as I took him to be) prayed,--the congregation standing. The prayer
was short and appropriate, and the language tolerably correct; but the
tone and pronunciation were queer. I supposed them to indicate some
provincialism with which I was not acquainted. Along with that peculiar
nasal sound for which nearly all Americans are distinguished, there was
in the voice a mixture of coaxing and familiarity which was a little
offensive; still, as a "layman's" exercise, it was very good. He prayed
for "every grace and Christian virtue." Amen, ejaculated I,--then your
slaves will soon be free. He prayed for "our nation and rulers." He
prayed that "the great blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty which
we enjoy may be handed down to future generations." "Looking out for a
few niggers this morning?" thought I. He also prayed for "the army and
navy, and our fellow-citizens now on the field of battle," in allusion
to the Mexican War.--The prayer ended, Dr. S---- gave out another hymn.
During the whole of the service, I may here remark, there was a good
deal of going in and out, talking, whispering, spitting, guttural
turbulence, &c. At first there were about a dozen white boys in my
neighbourhood, who seemed as if they belonged to the Sabbath-school;
but, having no teacher to look after them, and enjoying the full swing
of liberty, they had before sermon all disappeared.

After the singing, Dr. S---- made several announcements,--amongst
others, that the monthly concert to pray for the success of Foreign
Missions would be held there to-morrow evening, when several speakers
would address the meeting. By all means (said I to myself), and I'll
try to be present. He also told his people that the Rev. ----. ------,
(from some place in Kentucky,--the particulars I did not catch,) was
in the city, as a deputation from the ladies, to solicit subscriptions
for the erection of a new church that was greatly needed.

The tall man in the black neckcloth then rose, and, to my surprise and
disappointment, read a text. It was I Cor. iii. 21: "For all things are
yours." I imagine _he_ was the deputation from the Kentuckian ladies.

After a few introductory remarks explanatory of the context, he
proposed to inquire what are the things which "enter into"
("constitute," we should say) the inheritance of God's people. Slaves
(said I to myself) are a part of the inheritance of "God's people,"
both here and in Kentucky: I wonder if he will notice that.

The first thing, I observe (said he), that enters into the inheritance
of God's people, is the living ministry--"Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas."
To illustrate the value of this blessing, he referred to the imaginary
Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Universal Panacea. If
such things really existed, what a high value would men set upon them!
But here was something of incomparably higher worth. In order to form
an estimate of its value, he led his hearers to imagine the entire loss
of the living ministry. Secondly, the "world" belongs to God's people.
It is sustained for their sake, and therefore sinners are indebted to
God's people for the preservation of their lives. To prove this he
referred to the words of our Lord, "Ye are the salt of the earth." In
speaking of the preserving nature of salt, he supposed the sea to be
without salt.

How pestilential then! But as it is, how salubrious the air that has
swept over it! He also referred to another case. There was once (said
he) a ship in a tremendous storm; the crew and passengers--about 270 in
number--were at their wits' end; nothing appeared before them but a
watery grave. On board of that ship was a poor prisoner, bound in
chains. He was deemed to be of the filth of the world, and the
off-scouring of all things. To that poor prisoner the angel of the Lord
came, and told him what must be done to save the life of every one on
board. The angel's directions were obeyed, and all were preserved.
Thus, for the sake of one of God's people, were 270 lives spared. He
offered another illustration. Three men came to converse with Abraham,
on the plains of Mamre. They told him that God was about to destroy
five cities. Abraham began to intercede for them. The preacher
recapitulated the wondrous story of this intercession and its success,
as further proving that ungodly men owe the preservation of their lives
to the presence and prayers of the people of God. The parable of the
tares was also cited, as illustrating the same position. "Let both grow
together until the harvest." Imagine (said he) all the people of God
removed from the face of the earth--no heart to love Him--no tongue to
praise Him,--there would be no reason why the earth should be continued
in existence another moment. In the light of this subject, see how
great a privilege it is to have pious relatives. "Life" also was, in
the third place, a part of the inheritance of the child of God, because
during it he makes a provision for eternity. He dwelt on the richness
of the treasure which God's people are laying up. Suppose (said he) any
of you were making money at the rate of fifty dollars an hour,--(I dare
say you do so sometimes, reflected I, when you get a good price for
your "niggers,")--how rich you would soon be! and how anxious that not
a single hour should be lost! But the child of God is laying up
treasure at a faster rate than this. Every time he works for God, he is
laying it up. The Christian's treasure is also of the right kind, and
laid up in the right place. If any of you were going to emigrate to
another country, you would be anxious to know what sort of money was
current in that country, and to get yours changed into it. The
Christian's treasure is the current coin of eternity. It is also in the
right place. Where would you like to have your treasure? Why, at home.
The Christian's treasure is at home--in his Father's house. Life is his
also, because during it he fights the battles of the Lord. Here the
preacher made an approving reference to the war against the Mexicans;
and I strongly suspect that this view of the Christian's inheritance
was dragged in for the very purpose. We fight (said he) under the eye
of the General. We fight with a certainty of victory. Death too was, in
the fourth place, a portion of the Christian's inheritance. To the
people of God curses are made blessings, and to those who are not his
people blessings are made curses. So sickness, persecution, and death
are made blessings to the saints. Death to the Christian is like an
honourable discharge to the soldier after the toil and the danger of
the field of strife. But that illustration (said he) is too feeble: I
will give you another. Imagine, on a bleak and dreary mountain, the
humble dwelling of two old people. They are bending under the weight of
years. Amidst destitution and want, they are tottering on the verge of
the grave. A messenger comes, and tells them of a relative who has
died, and left them a large inheritance,--one by which every want will
be supplied, and every desire realized,--one that will, the moment they
touch it with the soles of their feet, make them young again: he
points, moreover, to the very chariot that is to convey them thither.
Would this be bad news to those old people? Now, such is death to the
child of God. The cord is cut, and the spirit takes its flight to the
abodes of the blest. Or take another illustration. A stage-coach was
once upset. Many of the passengers were in great danger. One man
snatched a little babe from among the wheels, and laid it down in a
place of safety on the roadside. Twenty years after the same man was
travelling in a stage, on the same road, and telling those around him
about the accident which had taken place a long time before. A young
lady, sitting opposite, was listening to the narrative with eager
interest, and at last she burst out with rapture, "Is it possible that
I have at last found my deliverer? I was that little babe you rescued!"
Something like this will be the disclosures that death will make.
Having thus illustrated the inheritance of the people of God, let me
ask you (said he) who are not his people--what will all these things be
to you, if you die without Christ? The living ministry? The world?
Life? Death? Having spoken briefly, with power and pathos, on each of
these particulars, he very coolly and deliberately turned to Rev. xxii.
17, and read, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that
heareth say, Come," &c., &c., and closed abruptly, with neither an Amen
nor an invocation of any kind.

Such was the first sermon I heard in the United States. It was
thoroughly evangelical and good; but I listened to it with mingled
feelings. It was painful to think that such a ministry could co-exist
with slavery. The creed it is evident may be evangelical, while there
is a woful neglect of the duties of practical piety.




LETTER V.

First Religious Service in America (continued)--A Collection "taken
up"--Rush out--Evening Service--Sketch of the Sermon--Profanation of
the Sabbath--The Monthly Concert for Prayer.


After sermon Dr. S. gave out a hymn, and told the congregation that the
collection for the support of the "beneficiaries" of that church would
be "taken up" that morning; adding that, in consequence of this
collection not having been made at the usual time (in May last), some
of the young men who were preparing for the ministry, and dependent on
that congregation for food and clothing, were now in great want. He
also suggested that, if any present were unprepared with money, they
might put in a slip of paper, with their name, address, and the amount
of their contribution, and some one would call upon them.

The collection was "taken up" during the singing, At the last verse the
congregation stood up. The benediction was pronounced, with
outstretched arm, by the Doctor; and the moment he uttered the "Amen!"
all rushed out of the place as fast as they could. This rushing is a
characteristic of the Americans. It is seen in their approach to the
dining-table, as well as in a hundred other instances. I suppose it is
what they call being "smart," and "going a-head."

In the evening I went again to the same "church." The introductory part
was shorter and more simple than in the morning. The Doctor's prayer
(seven or eight minutes long) was admirable. I wished some dry, prosy
petitioners in England could have heard it. It was devout,
comprehensive, and to the point. All classes of men--but one--were
remembered in it. The slaves were not mentioned,--their freedom was not
prayed for!

The Doctor gave us to understand that he was about to deliver the fifth
of a series of lectures to young men in great cities. The text was,
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" the
subject, "The importance of the Sabbath to young men in great cities."

The text (he observed) involved the principle, that man was not made to
observe certain ceremonies and obey certain precepts, but that the
observance of rites and laws was enjoined for man's own sake. This
principle applied to the institution of the Sabbath. The body, the
intellect, the affections--all required the rest which the Sabbath
affords. The experiment had been abundantly tried; and it had been
invariably found that more could be done, in every department of
labour, with the regular observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest
than without it. The farmer, the student, the legislator, had all tried
it. Man could no more do without the Sabbath than he could do without
sleep. Writers on slavery, however they differed on other points, were
all agreed on this,--that the withholding of the Sabbath from the
slaves in the West Indies, together with the other cruelties inflicted
upon them, had materially shortened their lives! (How telescopic, by
the way, are our views with regard to evils at a distance! West India
slavery never wore the hideous features which slavery presents in the
Southern States of America. Slavery even in Cuba, with all its horrors,
is far milder than in the United States.) France once presented a
fearful example of what a nation would be without a Sabbath. The
testimonies of Drs. Spurzheim and Rush were cited in confirmation; also
that of a respectable merchant in New York, well known to the preacher,
who, after the observation and experience of twenty-five years in that
city, declared that of those who kept their counting-houses open on the
Sabbath not one had escaped insolvency. A poor boy was apprenticed to
an apothecary in a large city. To increase his wages and encourage his
efforts, his master gave him a recipe and materials for making blacking
on his own account. The blacking was made, and placed in pots in the
shop window; but day after day passed, and no purchaser appeared. One
Sunday morning, while the shop was open for medicine, before the hour
of public service, a person came in, and asked for a pot of blacking.
The boy was in the very act of stretching out his hand to reach it,
when he reflected it was the Lord's-day. Falteringly, he told the
customer it was the Sabbath, and he could not do it. After this the boy
went to church. The Tempter there teased him about his folly in losing
a customer for his blacking: the boy held in reply that he had done
right, and, were the case to occur again, he would do just the same. On
Monday morning, as soon as he had taken down the shutters, a person
came in, and bought every pot of blacking there was; and the boy found
that, after deducting the cost of materials, he had cleared one dollar.
With more faith and fortitude than some of you possess (said the
preacher), he went and took that dollar--the first he had ever
earned--to the Bible Society. That poor boy is still living, and is now
a wealthy man.

The preacher said he knew a man, in his own native State of Tennessee,
who on his arrival in America had nothing but a pocket Bible; but he
made two resolutions,--1st. That he would honour the Sabbath; 2nd. That
he would remember his mother. The first dollar he got he sent to her,
and declared that he would never forget the Sabbath and his mother. He
also was now a wealthy man.

The punishment of Sabbath-breaking was sure, though not immediate. Like
the punishment of intemperance or impurity, it would come. Here the
celebrated testimony of Sir Matthew Hale was adduced. Dr. Johnson's
rules respecting the Sabbath were read, with the observation that no
doubt he owed much of his celebrity to their observance. Wilberforce
had declared that, at one period of his life, parliamentary duties were
so heavy that he would certainly have sunk under them, had it not been
for the rest the Sabbath afforded. But the Sabbath was not merely a day
of rest,--it was a day for improvement. Where there was no Sabbath, all
was bad. The inhabitants of Scotland and New England were distinguished
for industry and mental vigour; and they were equally distinguished for
observance of the Sabbath. The universal observance of the same day was
of great importance. It guarded against neglect. It told upon the
ungodly, as was shown by an eloquent induction of circumstances,--the
shops closed--the sound of the church-going bell--the throngs of decent
worshippers going to and fro, &c.

Young men in great cities (it was observed) were in great danger,
chiefly from example. They met with those who were older in sin than
themselves--who prided themselves on knowing where the best oysters
were sold, the cheapest horses to be hired, or the cheapest boats to be
engaged for the Sunday's excursion. Young men were ready to think, "If
I don't do this, I may do something worse." The fallacy and danger of
this mode of reasoning were exposed. It might be employed to excuse any
sin. Public places of amusement were highways to destruction. Ah! how
those old people in that little cottage--surrounded with a stone
wall--on the hill side--far away--would weep, if they knew their son
was treading on the verge of these burning craters! Familiarity with
Sabbath-breaking destroyed the sense of guilt. The young medical
student when he first visited the dissecting-room, and the soldier when
he first stood on the field of battle, were sensible of misgivings,
against which repetition only made them proof,--each gradually losing
his first sensations.

The desecration of the Sabbath was a greater evil to society than any
tyrant could inflict. How would any infringement of civil rights be
resisted! Here was an infringement with consequences infinitely more
injurious; and yet the press were dumb dogs, and the pulpit itself was
not guiltless!

This masterly discourse was read, but read in such a manner as to lose
none of its effect. It occupied upwards of an hour. My irresistible
impression as I listened was, _There is a man of God!_ Truly a light
shining in a dark place; for, as I returned to my lodgings, I found the
coffee-houses, oyster-saloons, and theatres all open, just as on any
other day, only more thronged with customers. How much such discourses
are needed in this place, I leave you to judge from the following
extract from the _New Orleans Guide_:--

"The greatest market-day is Sunday. At break of day the gathering
commences,--youth and age--beauty and not so beautiful--all colours,
nations, and tongues are co-mingled in one heterogeneous mass of
delightful confusion. The traveller who leaves the city without
visiting one of the popular markets on Sunday morning has suffered a
rare treat to escape him."

On the evening of the next day, being the first Monday in the month, I
went to the "Concert" for prayer, which had been announced the day
before. It was held in a vestry or a school-room under the church.
About sixty or seventy persons were in attendance. When I got there,
they were singing the last verse of

  "O'er the gloomy Mils of darkness," &c.

A gentleman then gave an address. His object was to show that extensive
fields were open in various parts of the world for the introduction of
the Gospel. There was nothing clerical in his appearance, and he
boggled a great deal; but, as he said "We, the ministers of the
Gospel," I inferred that he was the pastor of some other Presbyterian
church in the city. Behind the desk, where sat Dr. S----, was hung up a
missionary map of the world, drawn on canvas, and illuminated from
behind. It was an excellent device. All missionary prayer-meetings
should be furnished with one. Those parts where the Gospel is already
preached were light, the realms of Heathenism dark, the lands of Popery
red, and so forth.

After the address, the pastor called upon "Brother Franklin" to "lead
in prayer." The phrase was new to me, but I liked it,--it was
appropriate. The prayer was scriptural and good, as was that also of
another brother. The second prayed that the war, in which they were
then as a nation engaged, might be overruled for good, and "be the
means of introducing the Gospel and free institutions to a neighbouring
republic." Free institutions, indeed! (I said to myself): if you
conquer, I fear it will be the means of introducing slavery where now
it is not! After this prayer the pastor, having delivered a very short
address, gave out a hymn, and said that while they were singing Brother
such-a-one would "take up the collection,"--a phrase which seems to
indicate a greater degree of preparation on the part of the people than
our "make a collection." The Americans suppose it to be already made,
and nothing remains but to take it up. The good brother came round with
an old hat to receive contributions for the cause of missions. The
pastor then closed with a short prayer and the benediction. Upon the
whole, there were indications of a considerable degree of
warm-heartedness in reference to the missionary cause, and especially
of tender sympathy and affection towards missionaries themselves. As
one of the tribe, I found it rather difficult to preserve my _incog_.
There were present about half-a-dozen black people, some on the right
and some on the left of the pastor--"the place of honour!"




LETTER VI.

"Jack Jones"--A Public Meeting for Ireland--Henry Clay--Other
Speakers--American Feeling in reference to the Irish Famine--A
Slave-Auction.


On that dreadful day, the 28th of January, on which we arrived in New
Orleans, Jack Jones, a Welshman, was drowned in the Mississippi, in a
generous effort to save another man from a watery grave. In that effort
he succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. On the 2nd of February
there was an advertisement in the papers, in which his friends offered
a reward for the recovery of the body. Where was the corporation, or
some one of the municipalities? for the papers make a continual
reference to first, second, and third municipalities. Was there no
public body, either civil or humane, to come forward on such an
occasion? Had "Jack Jones" gone to the war, and butchered a score or
two of harmless Mexicans, he would have been loaded with honours; but
he _saved_ a human being, close to the metropolis of the South, and his
body was left to perish like that of a dog--for aught the citizens
cared. I felt proud of my countryman. All honour to "Jack Jones!" May
none of Cambria's sons perish in a cause less noble!

On the evening of the 4th of February I attended a public meeting for
the relief of the Irish. It was held in the New Commercial Exchange,
and was the first public meeting I had had an opportunity of attending
in America. The Commercial Exchange is a fine large building, supported
by pillars, and containing an area on the ground floor that would
accommodate about 1,500 people. It is but ill-adapted for a public
meeting, having no seats or benches. I found about 800 gentlemen
present, but no ladies. Nor was that to be wondered at; for out of the
800, about 799 were spitting, 600 smoking cigars, 100 chewing tobacco,
and perhaps 200 both chewing and smoking at the same time, for many of
those people chew one end of the cigar while burning the other. There
was a large platform, and a great number of gentlemen were upon it.
Governor Johnson was the president, assisted by lots of
vice-presidents. When I entered, a tall old gentleman, with rather high
cheek bones, and a voice somewhat tremulous and nasal, was speaking. He
descanted, in a second or third rate style, on the horrors of famine in
Ireland,--its horrors especially as seen in the family. Coming to a
period, he said, "It is under these circumstances that I want you to
put your hands into your pockets, and pull out something, and throw it
into the lap of starving Ireland!" This caused the most tremendous
cheering I ever heard,--"bravo--bravo--bravo,--whoo--hoo--whoo!" The
last sound was to me altogether new. Not having learned phonography, I
can give you no adequate notion of it; but it was a combination of the
owl's screech and the pig's scream. The favoured orator continued his
speech a little longer, and at the close there was a storm of applause
ten times more terrific than the former. And who was the speaker? It
was none other, as I subsequently ascertained, than the celebrated
Henry Clay! In departing from the tone of eulogy in which it is
fashionable to speak of him, I may be charged with a want of taste and
discrimination. That I cannot help. My simple object in these letters
is to tell how Transatlantic men and manners appeared to my eye or ear.
Before I went to America my respect for Henry Clay was very great. I am
sorry to say it is not so now. I have closely examined his conduct in
reference to "the peculiar institution," and find it to have been
that--not of a high-minded statesman and true philanthropist--but of a
trimming, time-serving partisan. He has been a main pillar of slavery;
and as the idol of the Whig party, a great stumbling-block in the way
of those who sought the overthrow of that system. The man of whom I
have thus freely, yet conscientiously expressed myself, is nevertheless
thus spoken of in the _New Englander_, a quarterly review of high
character now open before me:--"We intend to speak in the praise of
Henry Clay. His place among the great men of our country is permanently
fixed. He stands forth prominent above the politicians of the hour, in
the midst of the chosen few who are perpetual guardians of the interest
and of the honour [slavery?] of the nation. The foundations of his fame
are laid deep and imperishable, and the superstructure is already
erected. It only remains that the mild light of the evening of life be
shed around it."

The cheering at the close of Mr. Clay's speech merged into an awful
tempest of barking. I could compare it to nothing else,--500 men
barking with all their might! I thought it was all up with the
meeting--that all was lost in incurable confusion; and yet the
gentlemen on the platform looked down upon the raging tempest below
with calmness and composure, as a thing of course. Amidst the noise I
saw a middle-aged gentleman, rising on the platform, deliberately take
off his top-coat, and all was hushed--except at the outskirts of the
assembly, where a great trade in talking and tobacco was constantly
carried on. This gentleman's name was S.S. Prentiss, Esq.; and the
barking, it was now evident, consisted of calling out Prentiss!
--Prentiss!--Prentiss! with all their might, on the top of the
voice, and with an accent, sharp and rising, on the first syllable.

This gentleman gave us to understand that he was a lawyer--that he had
often appeared before his fellow-citizens on former occasions (those
occasions he briefly enumerated); but that the present was the most
painful of all. He expatiated largely, and with great vehemence of tone
and action, on the miseries of famine as experienced in
Ireland,--talked much of their own glorious and free country--("Looking
out for a few niggers this morning?" occurred to me),--and made some
severe reflections--not, I admit, altogether undeserved--on the
Government of England. This man was fluent, though turgid. He seemed
resolved to _act_ the orator throughout, and certainly to me appeared
in point of talent far--far a-head of Henry Clay. Bravos and hoohoos in
abundance greeted Mr. Prentiss. He spoke long; but the noise of the
suburbs prevented my hearing so perfectly as I wished.

The cheering at the close of this speech merged into barking as before.
In this instance it was Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! that they called for. The
president (standing) showed them a sheet of paper, containing probably
a list of subscriptions, and smiled coaxingly to intimate that he
wished that to be read. But it would not do. Hunt!--Hunt!--Hunt! was
still the cry; and the democracy, as before, carried the day.

By this time the atmosphere of the room had become so poisoned with
smoking that I could endure it no longer. I had not only the general
atmosphere to bear, but special puffs, right in my face, accompanying
the questions and remarks which, in that free meeting, of free
citizens, in a free country, were freely put to me by the free-and-easy
gentlemen around. The meeting resulted in the raising of 15,000 dollars
for the relief of the Irish. The sum was handed by the American
Minister in London to Lord John Russell; and a note from his Lordship,
acknowledging the gift, has gone the round of the papers on both sides
of the Atlantic. The subject of relief to Ireland was subsequently, in
many ways and places, brought under my notice; and while I have been
delighted in many instances with the display of pure and noble
generosity, it was too evident that much of what was done was done in a
spirit of self-glorification over a humbled and afflicted rival. It was
a fine opportunity to feed the national vanity, and to deal hard blows
to England. Not that I was sorry to see those blows, or to feel them.
They drew no blood, and were a hundred times more efficacious than if
they had. I felt that there was much in the conduct of England towards
her unhappy sister-isle for which she deserved the severest
castigation.  But I must protest against the form of putting the case,
which was very common throughout the United States: "You are shocked at
our slavery; and yet you have horrors of ten times greater magnitude,
in the Irish famine at your own doors." In this way the Irish famine,
was a God-sent sort of a salvo for the slave-holder's conscience, so
soothing and grateful to his tortured feelings that he was but too
happy to pay for it by a contribution for the relief of Ireland.

In consequence of the following advertisement in the _Picayune_, I
screwed up my feelings, and resolved for once at least in my life to
see a slave-auction. I was the more disposed to attend this, as it was
distinctly stated that they would be sold in families. I should not
therefore have to behold the wife torn away from the husband, the
husband from the wife, the parent from the child, or the child from the
parent, as is so commonly done.

"COTTON-FIELD HANDS.--By Beard, Calhoun, and Co., auctioneers.--Will be
sold at auction, on Friday, the 5th inst., at 12 o'clock, at Bank's
Arcade, thirty-seven Field Slaves; comprising eighteen from one
plantation, and fourteen from another. All acclimated Negroes. To be
sold in Families. Full particulars at sale."

"F. 4."

Setting off a few minutes before 12, after about half-a-dozen
inquiries, and as many "guessing" answers, I found "Bank's Arcade." It
was very near the Presbyterian church, in which I had heard such
excellent sermons on the preceding Sabbath. It was a large open
building: one side occupied as a bar for the retail of strong drinks,
and the other fitted up for auctioneering purposes,--there being
conveniences for three or four of the trade to exercise their vocation
at the same time. One end was used for the sale of books and other
publications, chiefly novels; and the other for the exhibition of fancy
goods.

As I got in at one end, I heard a voice--with that peculiar, twirling,
rapid, nasal twang, which marks the Transatlantic auctioneer--say, "400
dollars for this fine young woman--only 400 dollars--420, only
420--430--440, only 440 dollars offered for this fine young woman." By
this time I had got in front of the performer, and had a full view of
the whole affair. And sure enough she was a "fine young woman," about
twenty-three years of age, neatly dressed, not quite----But the scene
shall form the subject of my next letter.




LETTER VII.

The Slave-Auction (continued)--"A Fine Young Woman"--A Man and his
Wife--Jim, the Blacksmith--A Family--A Ploughboy--Cornelia--Another
Jim--Tom, the House-Boy--Edmund--Tom, and "his reserved rights"--A
Carriage Driver--Margaret and her Child.


Yes, she _was_ a "fine young woman," about 23 years of age, neatly
dressed, not black, but slightly coloured. The auctioneer was a
sleek-looking fellow, with a face that indicated frequent and familiar
intercourse with the brandy-bottle. He stood upon a platform, about
four feet high. Behind him was a table, at which a clerk sat to record
the sales. High above was a semi-circular board, on which were written
in large letters "Beard, Calhoun, and Co." In front, standing upon a
chair, exposed to the gaze of a crowd of men, stood the "fine young
woman." She had an air of dignity even in that degrading position.
Around were twenty or thirty more of the sable race, waiting their
turn.

"440 dollars only offered," continued the coarse and heartless
auctioneer; "450, thank you; 460, 460 dollars only offered for this
excellent young woman--470 only, 470--480, 480 dollars only
offered--490--500 dollars offered--going for 500 dollars--once, going
for 500 dollars--503 dollars--going for 503 dollars--going--once
--twice--gone for 503 dollars. She is yours, sir," pointing
to the highest bidder. She stepped down, and disappeared in the custody
of her new proprietor.

A man and his wife, both black, were now put up. They were made to
ascend the platform. "Now, how much for this man and his wife? Who
makes an offer? What say you for the pair? 550 dollars offered--560
dollars only; 560 dollars," &c., &c., till some one bidding 600
dollars--he added, "Really, gentlemen, it is throwing the people
away--going for 600 dollars; going--once--twice--gone for 600 dollars.
They are yours, sir."

Jim, a blacksmith, about 30 years of age, was the next. He stood on the
chair in front. "Now, who bids for Jim? He is an excellent blacksmith;
can work on a plantation, and make his own tools; in fact, can turn his
hand to anything. The title is good,"--(Is it, indeed? breathed
I,)--"and he is guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies
provided against by law. Who bids for him? 600 dollars bid for him
--625 dollars--650 dollars," and so on to 780. "'Pon my soul,
gentlemen, this is throwing the man away; he is well worth 1,200
dollars of anybody's money; 790 dollars only offered for him--going for
790 dollars;--going--once--twice--gone for 790 dollars."

The next "lot" was a family, consisting of the husband, a man slightly
coloured, about 30 years of age, the wife about 25, quite black, and
reminding me forcibly of an excellent woman in my own congregation, a
little girl about 4 years of age, and a child in the arms. They were
told to mount the platform. As they obeyed, I was attracted by a little
incident, which had well nigh caused my feelings to betray me. Never
shall I forget it. Parents of England, let me tell it you, and enlist
your sympathies on behalf of oppressed and outraged humanity. It was
that of a father helping up, by the hand, _his own little girl to be
exposed for sale_. "Now, who bids for this family? Title
good--guaranteed free from the vices and maladies provided against by
law. The man is an excellent shoemaker--can turn his hand to
anything,--and his wife is a very good house-servant. Who bids for the
lot? 500 dollars bid for them--600 dollars--only 600 dollars--700
dollars offered for them." But the price ultimately mounted up to 1,125
dollars.--"Going for 1,125 dollars--once--twice--gone for 1,125
dollars."

The next was a black boy, 16 years of age. He mounted the chair, not
the platform. "Now, gentlemen, here is an excellent ploughboy. Who bids
for him? Thank you,--400 dollars bid for him--425," and so on to 550
dollars. "Why, look at him; he is a powerful-limbed boy; he will make a
very large strong man." He was knocked down at 625 dollars.

"The next I have to put up, gentlemen, is a young piece of city
goods--the girl Cornelia. She is 18 years of age, a good washer and
ironer, but not a very good cook. She is well known in the city, and
has always belonged to some of the best families." By this time
Cornelia was standing upon the chair. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for
this girl? She is sold for no fault, but simply for want of money. Who
bids for this excellent washer and ironer?" At this moment one of the
"gentlemen," standing in front of her, deliberately took his
walking-stick, and, with the point of it, lifted up her clothes as high
as the knee. I afterwards saw this same man walking arm-in-arm with his
white wife in the street. "500 dollars offered for her--530 dollars."
She went for 580.

Here let me state, once for all, that I took notes on the spot. Those
around me no doubt thought I was deeply interested in the state of the
slave-market, and wishful to convey the most accurate information to my
slave-breeding and soul-driving correspondents at a distance. Had my
real object and character been discovered, I gravely doubt whether I
should have left that "great" and "free" city alive!

The next "lot" were Jim, his wife, and two children, one about three,
and the other about two years of age,--all on the platform. They were
said to be excellent cotton-field hands, title good, and so forth; but,
somehow, there were no bidders.

A boy about ten years of age, a fine intelligent-looking little fellow,
was now made to mount the chair. "Now, who bids for Tom? an excellent
house-boy, a 'smart' young lad; can wait well at table--title
good--guaranteed free from all the vices and maladies provided against
by law. Who bids for him?" The bidding began, at 350 dollars, and ended
at 425.

"I have now to put up the boy Edmund, thirty-two years of age, an
excellent cotton-field hand. Who bids for the boy Edmund?" At this
moment a gentleman, who, like most of those present, appeared to be a
sort of speculator in slaves, stepped forward, and examined with his
hands the boy's legs, especially about the ankles, just as I have seen
horse-dealers do with those animals at fairs. There were, however, no
bidders; and Edmund was put down again.

The next that mounted the chair was a shrewd-looking negro, about
thirty-five years of age. "Now, gentlemen, who bids for Tom? He is an
excellent painter and glazier, and a good cook besides; title good;
sold for no fault, except that his owner had hired him at 25 dollars a
month, and Tom would not work. An excellent painter and glazier, and a
good cook besides. His only fault is that he has a great idea of his
own reserved rights, to the neglect of those of his master." This was
said with a waggish kind of a leer, as if he thought he had said a very
smart thing in a very smart way. 300 dollars were first offered for
him; but poor Tom went for 350. "Now, sir," said the man-seller to Tom,
with a malicious look, "you'll go into the country." He was bought by
one of the speculators, who no doubt would sell him again for double
the amount. Tom, as he descended from the chair, gave a look which
seemed to say, "I care not whither I go; but my own reserved rights
shall not be forgotten!"

A girl of seventeen years of age, somewhat coloured, was the next put
up. She was "an excellent washer and getter-up of linen." She was also
"a tolerably good cook." But there were no bidders; and the auctioneer
said, "Really, gentlemen, I have a great deal of business to do in my
office: I cannot lose any more time here, as you are not disposed to
bid." And so ended the exhibition.

I was now at leisure to observe that a strange noise which I had heard
for some time proceeded from another auctioneer, engaged in the same
line of business at the other end of the room. As I approached, I saw
him with a young coloured man of about twenty-two years of age,
standing on his left hand on the platform. What a sight! Two men
standing together, and the one offering the other for sale to the
highest bidder! In the young man's appearance there was something very
good and interesting. He reminded me forcibly of an excellent young man
of the same colour in my own congregation. 430 dollars were offered for
him; but, as he was a good carriage driver, and worth a great deal
more, only he had not had time to dress himself for the sale, being
industrious, sober, and _no runaway_ (said with significant emphasis),
the bidding ran up to 660 dollars. Here one of the bidders on the
auctioneer's right hand asked him something aside; to which he
answered, loudly and emphatically, "_Fully guaranteed in every
respect_;" and then said to the young man, "Turn this way, and let the
gentleman see you," He was sold for 665 dollars.

The next was a very modest-looking young mulatto girl, of small
features and slender frame, with a little child (apparently not more
than a year old) in her arms, evidently the daughter of a white man.
"Now, who bids for Margaret and her child?" Margaret! my own dear
mother's name. "Margaret and her child!" What should I have been this
day, if _that_ Margaret "and her child" Ebenezer had been so treated?
Who can think of his own mother, and not drop a tear of sympathy for
this mother--so young, so interesting, and yet so degraded? "Now,
gentlemen, who bids for Margaret and her child? She is between sixteen
and seventeen years of age, and is six months gone in pregnancy of her
second child: I mention the last circumstance, because you would not
think it to look at her,--it is right, however, that you should know.
She cooks well, sews well, washes well, and irons well. Only 545
dollars! Really, gentlemen, it's throwing the girl away; she is well
worth 800 dollars of any man's money. She'll no doubt be the mother of
a great many children; and that is a consideration to a purchaser who
wants to raise a fine young stock. Only 545 dollars offered for her!"
No higher offer being made, she was sent down,--it was no sale. Let us
breathe again.




LETTER VIII.


St. Louis Exchange--Inspection of Human Chattels--Artizan
Slaves--Scenes and Proceedings of the Auction--Sale of the Men.

Finding that another slave-auction was to be held at noon next day in
the St. Louis Exchange, I resolved to attend. The day was dull and
dirty. "Please, sir," said I to the first man I met, "to tell me where
St. Louis Exchange is?" "Don't know, sir." I walked on a little
further, and tried again. "Please to direct me to St. Louis Exchange?"
"Can't; but it's somewhere in that direction," pointing with his
finger. "Is this the way to St. Louis Exchange?" I asked a third. "I
guess it is," was the curt and characteristic reply. "How far is it?"
"Three blocks further on; then turn to your right; go a little way
down, and you will find it on your left." I went as directed, and came
to an immense building--a kind of hotel. There were nearly a dozen
entrances, all leading into one vast saloon, where I found about 200
gentlemen,--some drinking, some eating, some smoking, some reading,
some talking, and all spitting. One end of the saloon was fitted up as
a refreshment place, similar to those on railway stations in England.
But I could see nothing like preparations for a sale.

On looking around I perceived a large door in two halves, with spring
hinges, leading as it were further into the building. I pushed one half
open, and found myself in a spacious circular hall,--its roof, ending
in a dome, supported by a suitable number of massive columns. The floor
was tastefully paved with black and white marble, and all the light
came from the dome. Some 100 gentlemen were sauntering about, and now
and then turning to several groupes of black people to ask them
questions. This place was evidently fitted up for auctioneering
purposes, and seemed peculiarly adapted for man-selling. At equal
distances were a dozen elevated desks for the chief actors, each with a
small platform in front for the exhibition of the articles of sale.

It was a quarter to twelve, by the clock that faced the entrance door,
when I got in. Anxious to know what kind of questions were put to the
slaves, I pushed myself into the knots of intending purchasers, just as
if I had been one of them. The inquiries, I found, related to place of
birth, subsequent removals, competency for work, and so forth. The
answers presented a fearful view of the extent to which the internal
slave-trade is carried on. Most of the slaves said they had been
"raised" in Virginia and Kentucky. To avoid the suspicion of being a
spy, I resolved to put a few questions too. I found myself at the
establishment where those named in the advertisement which had drawn me
thither were to be disposed of. A pile of handbills--each containing an
exact copy of the advertisement, and a French translation--was lying on
the platform. Taking one up, I observed the name of "Squires, a
carpenter." Assuming all the confidence I could muster, I said, "Which
is Squires?" "I'm here, sir." "You are a carpenter, are you not?" "Yes,
sir," (with a very polite bow). "And what can you do?" "I can trim a
house, sir, from top to bottom." "Can you make a panelled door?" "Yes,
Sir." "Sash windows?" "Yes, sir." "A staircase?" "Yes, sir." I gave a
wise and dignified nod, and passed on to another groupe. In my
progress, I found by one of the platforms a middle-aged black woman,
and a mulatto girl of perhaps eighteen crouching by her side. "Are you
related to each other?" I said. "No, sir." "Have you lived long in the
city?" I said to the younger. "About two years, sir; but I was 'raised'
in South Carolina." "And why does your owner sell you?" "Because I
cannot cut--she wants a cutter--I can only sew." I then returned to the
groupe at platform No. 1.

The clock was striking twelve; and, before it had finished, the vast
dome reverberated with the noise of half-a-dozen man-sellers bawling at
once, disposing of God's images to the highest bidders. It was a
terrible din. But, at our platform, business proceeded rather
leisurely. Two gentlemen ascended the desk: the one of a light
complexion, about fifty-five years of age, rather fat, whiskers and
beard smoothly shaven off; the other, a Frenchified-looking young man,
about twenty-five years of age, of dark complexion, with green
spectacles to hide some deformity of the eye, no whiskers, but a large
quantity of beard on the lower chin. The elderly man, whom I took to be
the notary public mentioned in the advertisement, read the terms of
sale; then the dark auctioneer, stroking his bearded chin, proceeded to
business.

"Now, gentlemen, let me sell you Jacob. He is twenty-six years of
age--a first-rate carpenter and wheelwright--_Jacob âgé d'environ 26
ans, charpentier et charron de la première ordre_--guaranteed free from
the vices and maladies provided against by law--_garanti exempt des
vices et des maladies prévus par la loi_. How much for Jacob? _Combien
pour Jacob?_" He was run up from 1,000 dollars, and was going for
1,175, when the fat old gentleman offered 1,200, at which he was
knocked down. "Now, gentlemen," said the fat man, with deliberation and
emphasis, "the 1,200 dollars was my bid, and therefore Jacob is not
sold. He is well worth 1,800 dollars."

At this performance, be it observed, the chief actor uttered everything
first in English, and then in French, in the same breath, thereby
giving the proceedings a most strange and comical sound.

Abraham, although on the advertisement, was not present.

Sancho, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next in order.
He was described as "an excellent carpenter--_excellent
charpentier_--can do anything but fine work--fully guaranteed free from
the maladies and vices provided against by law;" and, as nobody would
bid higher, he also was bought in by the fat man at 1,025 dollars.

George, a black man, twenty-seven years of age, was the next to mount
the platform. George kept his eyes fixed upon the dome, as if he felt
above looking down on the grovelling creatures beneath him. He was a
stout-built, thick-set man, who evidently felt to the very core the
degradation to which he was exposed. "Now, gentlemen, let me sell you
George--a first-rate bricklayer--_excellent poseur de briques_--bears
an excellent character--only he absconded once from his master for a
few days. How much do you offer for him?" The bidding began at 500
dollars; but George, like his predecessors, was bought in at 980 by the
fat man, who protested him to be well worth 1,500.

Squires--whom I questioned about doors, sash-windows, and
staircases--was next put up. He was said to be twenty-eight years of
age; but I think he was nearer forty. On his forehead was a deep scar,
occasioned by some severe cut. He appeared to be a very good-tempered
man, and by his smiling looks seemed to say, "Buy me, and I'll serve
you well." "What will you offer for Squires, gentlemen?--an excellent
carpenter--can trim a house--all but the very fine work--bears an
excellent character--is fully guaranteed," &c. &c. "Who bids for
Squires?" Poor fellow! he was sold for 900 dollars.

Sancho was put up again, the fat man observing that he had made a
mistake in offering a reserve bid for him--that he would be sold
without reserve. He was put up at 600 dollars. The biddings gradually
ascended to 900, and there stood, till, after a considerable
expenditure of the Frenchman's breath and talent, Sancho was knocked
down at 900 dollars, though when first put up 1,025 had been offered
for him.

John, a black man, twenty-five years of age, "an excellent French and
American cook--_excellent cuisinier Français et Américain_," was put up
at 600 dollars, and, after the usual quantity of the Frenchman's
eloquence, (accompanied, as in all other cases, by the constant rubbing
of his tuft of chin-beard with the left hand, while in the right he
flourished a fine massive gold pencil-case and a sheet of paper,)
fetched 775 dollars, at which price he was knocked down to one Robert
Murphy.

Silas also, a black boy, fifteen years of age, a house-servant, with a
large scar on the right cheek, was sold for 670 dollars to Robert
Murphy; who likewise became the purchaser of Scipio, a black man about
twenty-four years of age, "an excellent cook, fully warranted in every
respect," for 705 dollars.

"Now, gentlemen," resumed the green-spectacled auctioneer, still
stroking his cherished tuft of long black beard,--"now, gentlemen, let
me sell you Samson! He is twenty-six years of age--an excellent
house-servant--guaranteed free," &c. &c. "What do you offer for
Samson?" Poor Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines at 710
dollars.

Sam, the next on the list, was not present. Ben was therefore put up.
He was a fine buckish young fellow, about twenty-one. His complexion
was lighter than that of a mulatto, and his hair was not at all
crisped, but straight, and of a jet black. He was dressed in a good
cloth surtout coat, and looked altogether far more respectable and
intelligent than most of the bidders. He was evidently a high-minded
young man, who felt deeply the insulting position he was made to
occupy. Oh! that I could have whispered in his ear a few words of
sympathy and comfort. He stood on the platform firm and erect, his eyes
apparently fixed on the clock opposite. "Now, gentlemen, what do you
offer for Ben?" said the Frenchified salesman; "a first-rate
tailor--only twenty-one years of age." 700 dollars proved to be the
estimated value of this "excellent tailor."

Charles (not in the catalogue) was now offered. He was a black man, of
great muscular power, said to be twenty-eight years of age. He had, it
was admitted, absconded once from his master! At this intelligence the
countenances of the bidders fell. He had evidently gone down at least
20 per cent. in value. Though offered at 300 dollars, however, he rose
to 640, at which price he was sold.

The "ladies" were yet to be exhibited. "Elizabeth" (my own dear
sister's name) was the first. But I reserve this part of the scene for
another letter.




LETTER IX.


Sale of Women--Second Sabbath in New Orleans--Cricket in front of the
Presbyterian "Church"--The Baptist "Church"--A Peep at an American
Sabbath-School--Proceedings in "Church"--A Sermon on "The New
Birth"--Nut-cracking during Sermon--"Close Communion."


You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. "Elizabeth"
was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very
genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the
daughter of a white man, and said to be "a good seamstress and
house-servant--_excellente couturière et domestique de maison_." 600
dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about
170_l._) Elizabeth--so young and so interesting--was sold!

"Susan," too, was a mulatto--the daughter of a white man. She was
short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, "a plain
seamstress and house-servant." She appeared exceedingly modest, and
kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as
usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring
forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was
500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150_l._), at which she was
"knocked down." But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar
drawling nasal tones, said, "The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore
Susan is not sold." Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy.

"Betsy," another "plain seamstress and house-servant," about sixteen
years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent
eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The
offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition,
which had lasted an hour.

The next day being the Sabbath, I took it into my head to find out the
Baptist Church. They are all "churches" in America. It was not far from
the Presbyterian place of worship. In passing the latter, I saw (as on
the previous Sabbath) about forty or fifty boys in the square in front
playing at cricket. A number of grave-looking gentlemen were standing
under the portico of the church, looking on with apparent
complacency,--not one attempting either to check these juvenile
Sabbath-breakers, or to allure them to occupations more suitable to the
day.

The Baptist Church is a small place, about 60 feet by 30, without
galleries, except a little one for the singers. When we arrived, a
small Sabbath-school was being conducted in the body of the chapel.
About fifty children were present, of whom not one was coloured. One of
the teachers kindly led us to a pew. It was the third or fourth from
the door. The school, which occupied the part next to the pulpit, was
about to be dismissed. The superintendent got into the "table-pew" to
address the scholars. It was the first time I had had an opportunity of
hearing an address to children in America. In the land of the Todds,
the Abbotts, and the Gallaudets, I expected something very lively and
interesting. But grievous was my disappointment. The address was dull
and lifeless. There was in it neither light nor heat. When the
superintendent had done, an elderly gentleman, shrewd and busy-looking,
having in his hand a black walking-stick and on his neck a black stock,
with shirt-collar turned over it like a white binding (the national
fashion of the Americans), came up, and told the school that the
proprietor of the splendid picture, "The Departure of the Israelites
from Egypt," had requested him to deliver a lecture upon it; that he
had engaged to do so on Monday a-week; and that the scholars and
teachers of that school would be admitted free. I should like (said I
to myself) to hear you: a lecture on the emancipation of those poor
slaves cannot fail to be interesting in the slave-holding city of New
Orleans. The school was now dismissed, and the scholars left to enjoy
their full swing of lawless liberty.

The elderly gentleman descended from his elevation, and walked about
the "church," backwards and forwards, whispering a few words to one,
and then to another, in a very bustling manner. As I looked down the
aisle, I saw on one side of it, near the pulpit end, a leg projecting
about eighteen inches, in a pendent position, at an angle of about
forty-five degrees. This leg attracted my notice by its strange and
solitary appearance. It seemed as if it had got astray from its owner.
In America gentlemen's legs do get sometimes most strangely astray,--on
the chair arms, on the tables, on the chimney-pieces, and into all
sorts of out-of-the-way places. While other people generally try how
high they can carry their heads, the ambition of the Americans is to
try how high they can carry their heels! Observing the leg in question
a little more attentively, I found that behind it (in the adjoining
pew), and in close and intimate connection with it, was a man dressed
in black. The bustling old gentleman came by, tapped him on the
shoulder, and beckoned him forward, along with himself, to the rostrum.
Here they were met by a tall man of grave appearance, about thirty
years of age, with a pale face and bald forehead, wearing a white
cravat, with corners about ten inches long, stretching out on either
side towards the shoulders. He was made to take the central position at
the desk; while the man with the leg took the right, and the elderly
gentleman the left.

The elderly gentleman (who, from his I'm-at-home kind of air, was
evidently the pastor) offered up a short prayer, and then gave out a
hymn, which some few friends in the gallery (standing up) sang; all the
rest of the congregation sitting down, and very few joining at all in
the psalmody. This exercise over, the central gentleman arose, and,
having first read a few verses of Scripture, offered up a very suitable
prayer about eight or ten minutes long. The man on the right then gave
out another hymn, which was sung as before.

The central gentleman now, in a very low don't-
care-whether-you-hear-or-not tone of voice, gave out a text. It was
John iii. 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
I will give you a sketch of his sermon. He observed that of all
subjects on which men might be addressed, religious subjects were the
most important; and that of all religious subjects, that to which the
text referred was the most momentous. Having noticed the context, he
proposed to inquire, first, into the necessity of being born again.
This change (he observed) was necessary, in order to enjoy heaven. It
was a common observation, that "society seeks its level." The Indian,
for example, could not be happy amidst the refinements of civilization.
The gambler and the swearer could not be happy in the society of the
pious and devout. If so in this world, amidst imperfect holiness, how
much more so in the pure society of the celestial state!

During these remarks, I was much annoyed by the cracking of nuts not
very far off. I looked around, and actually found it was a mother
cracking them for her two boys, one of whom might be seven and the
other five years of age,--one by her side, and the other in the next
pew behind. To the latter she deliberately handed over the kernels in a
pocket-handkerchief; and yet, to look at her, you would have thought
her a woman of sense and piety!

The preacher noticed, in the second place, the nature of this change.
It was spiritual, not physical,--a "revolution" (!) of the mind,
rather than a mere change of opinion or of outward deportment. The
third observation related to the evidence of the change. Its existence
might be ascertained by our own experience, and by the Word of God. The
former was not to be trusted without a reference to the latter. This
change destroyed the love of the world. It led man to abandon his
favourite sins, and to live and labour to do good. It also created in
him new desires and enjoyments. These topics were variously and
suitably illustrated, and the whole was a very good sermon on the
subject.

At the close the man on the right offered an appropriate prayer. The
pastor then made several announcements; among them, that a meeting to
pray for the success of Sabbath-schools would be held on the morrow
evening. In connection with that announcement, he said: "I am a very
plain man, and my God is a very plain God. He is so in all his dealings
with men. He always acts on the plain common-sense principle, that, if
a favour is worth bestowing, it is worth asking for." He also intimated
that there would be a Church-meeting immediately after the service,
preparatory to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon,
inviting at the same time any members of other Baptist Churches who
might be present to participate with them in that privilege. This form
of invitation led me to understand that they were "close
communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only
with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The
influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that
side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy
pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed
slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a
sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe,
however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large
congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of
Christian fellowship with slave-holders.




LETTER X.


Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the
Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at
the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French
and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New
Orleans--American Manners.


The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British
Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the
whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and
I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They
were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very
clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico,
looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She
evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced
myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the
ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind
and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea.
We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our
negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed;
and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as
you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to
be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how
extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery!
"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have
nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and
try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example
of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not
aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow. He simply told
masters and slaves their duty, without at all interfering with the
relation subsisting between them. Besides, the opposite of this course
would render us and our churches unpopular, and thereby destroy our
usefulness." He also seemed very sore at the idea of the Christianity
of slave-holders being at all called in question. "People," said he, or
words to the same effect, "may spare themselves the trouble to pass
resolutions of non-fellowship with us; we wish for no fellowship with
those who are so uncharitable as to question our piety." I began now to
understand why the Abolitionists call the American churches "the
bulwark of slavery."

Subsequently, on the same day, I had conversation with a young man,
whom I had that afternoon seen sitting down at the Lord's Table in the
Baptist Church. He told me that there were in New Orleans two Baptist
Churches of coloured people, presided over by faithful and devoted
pastors of their own colour. "And does your pastor," I inquired,
"recognise them, and have fellowship with them?" "Oh! yes, he has often
preached to them. He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the
conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy
your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say
they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be
tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and
in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand
them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn."
This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence
in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly
right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his
rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the
soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire
population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is
the most damning!

"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your
churches, they have to sit by themselves?"

_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise."

_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so. With us, in British
Guiana, blacks and whites mingle together indiscriminately in the
worship of our common Father."

_Young Man._ (with amazement).--"There must be a a great change here
before it comes to that. It must appear very strange."

_Myself._--"Very much like heaven where they shall come together from
the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, &c. Why,
we have black deacons, who, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper,
carry the bread and wine, and give them even to white people."

_Young Man._ (with more astonishment than ever, and in a tone of
offended dignity).--"I don't think I could stand that--I don't! A great
change must take place in my feelings before I could. I don't like to
mingle Ham and Japhet together for my part--I don't!"

_Myself._--"Why, they were mingled together in the ark."

_Young Man._--"Yes; but old Noah quarrelled with Ham soon after he came
out, and cursed him."

_Myself._--"Granted; but you and your pastor profess to be anxious for
the slaves' conversion to God, and thereby to roll away the curse."
Here the dialogue ended.

In the evening I was desirous of hearing Dr. Hawkes, an Episcopalian
minister, of whose talents and popularity I had heard much in New
Orleans; but, finding that he did not preach in the evening, I went
again to hear Dr. Scott at the Presbyterian Church. Having stood a
considerable time at the door inside, and receiving no encouragement to
advance, I ventured, along with my wife, to enter the pew next to the
door. This proved a most unfortunate position. There was not light
enough to take any notes; while the incessant opening and shutting of
the door, with its rusty hinges, made it extremely difficult to hear.
The discourse, however, which was again addressed to young men in great
cities, was characterized by all the power and piety which
distinguished the one of the previous Sabbath. I retired deeply
impressed with the value of such a ministry in such a place. Dr. Scott
was one of the American delegates to the Conference for the formation
of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. He is a Southern man, born and
bred amidst the wilds of Tennessee, whose early educational advantages
were very small. He is, in a great measure, a self-made man. Brought up
in the midst of slavery, he is (I rejoice to hear) a cordial hater of
the system. As a minister, he is "thoroughly furnished--a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed." His knowledge of the world, as well as of
the Word of God and of the human heart, is extensive, and is turned to
the best account in his ministrations. In leaving New Orleans I felt no
regret, but that I had not called upon this good man.

On Monday morning, the 8th of February, I had a peep at the House of
Representatives of the State of Louisiana, then in session at New
Orleans. The room, a dark and dingy-looking place, was fitted up with
desks and seats in the form of the letter D. A desk and a spittoon were
allowed to each honourable member,--the latter article being deemed as
necessary as the former. Whether smoking was suffered during the hours
of business or not I cannot tell, but the room smelt horribly of stale
tobacco. Between fifty and sixty members were present, and never
certainly, either in the Old World or in the New, did I see an
assemblage of worse-looking men. They seemed fitted for any deeds of
robbery, blood, and death. Several distinguished duellists were pointed
out to me; among them Colonel Crane, an old man, who had repeatedly
fought with Mr. Bowie, the inventor of the "Bowie knife," and had
killed several men in personal combat! The motion before the house just
at that time was for the release from prison of a Mr. Simms, who a few
days before had violently assaulted one of the members in the lobby. He
was released accordingly. Who will not pity the 200,000 slaves of this
State, who are at the "tender mercies" of these sanguinary men? Nor let
it be said, as it often is, that New Orleans and Louisiana are not a
fair specimen of things even in the South,--that they are more French
than American, &c. This is not the case. Nothing in New Orleans struck
me more forcibly than its thoroughly American character. American
usages, American influence, American laws, and American religion are
there predominant. Things were much better for the black and coloured
people when it was not so. The French treated their slaves incomparably
kinder than the Americans do. They often married coloured women, and
invariably treated their own coloured offspring, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, with tenderness and regard. They had them suitably
educated and adequately provided for; so that, at the present moment, a
large portion of the city of New Orleans is the freehold property of
coloured persons. Not so act the Americans. They indulge in the
grossest licentiousness with coloured women, but would shudder at the
idea of marrying one of them; and, instead of giving any property to
their coloured offspring, they do not scruple to sell them as slaves!
Had I gone to the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city, which is
attended chiefly by the French and their descendants, I should have
found no negro pew, but persons of all colours intermingled together in
religious observances. The Southerners seem to have no heart--no
feeling, except that of love to the almighty dollar.

The population of New Orleans is about 90,000. On this mass of people
are brought to bear the labours of at least thirteen ministers of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, seven Presbyterians, four Episcopalians,
and three Baptists,--all professedly evangelical;--besides a
considerable number of Roman Catholics, and other non-evangelical
teachers. But Satan has there a large array of synagogues.

I omitted, at the proper time, to describe the scene we witnessed at
our "private" lodgings the first day we sat down to dinner. Though it
was called a "private" boarding-house, and we had taken the apartments
as such, we found ourselves surrounded by about thirty boarders! These
were all respectable men, or rather men whom, from their position in
society, you would expect to be respectable. Doctors, lieutenants in
the army, captains, merchants, editors, clerks of the senate, and so
forth, were among them. My wife was the only lady besides the mistress
of the house.

We were all waiting in an ante-room for the summons to dinner. It came.
The door of the dining-room was thrown open; and before you could have
said "Jack Robinson," the whole had rushed through, were seated at
table, and sending forth a forest of forks in the direction of the
various dishes! I had often heard of this wolfish habit, but thought
our cousins were caricatured. Here, however, was the reality. Had I not
been an eye-witness, I could not have believed it. Not a single seat
had been kept vacant for the only lady who had to be accommodated, and
we were both left to console ourselves in the ante-room! The landlady,
however, having "an eye to business," arranged for our accommodation at
the table. There had been on the table a turkey, a piece of beef, some
fish, and pastry,--all ready carved. Most of these things had instantly
disappeared,--the knives and forks had borne them away in triumph.
There was no waiting to be served: every one stuck his fork in what he
liked best, or what was most within his reach. It was a regular
scramble. The principle seemed to be to _begin_ to eat as soon as
possible, no matter what! Some began with nothing but potatoes, some
with a bit of bread, some with a piece of beef, some with a limb of the
turkey. Some, I noticed, beginning with fowl, then taking roast beef,
then boiled mutton, then fish, and then some pastry,--all on the same
plate, and--faugh!--portions of most of them there at the same time! No
change of plate,--that would have been extravagant, and would have
savoured of aristocracy. Freedom, it seemed, allowed every one to help
himself; and that with his own knife and fork, which he had before used
for all sorts of purposes. Such luxuries as salt-spoons and
mustard-spoons are very rare south of the Ohio. My wife asked the lady
of the house for a small slice of the ham she had before her, when the
latter very politely begged Mrs. Davies to lend her her knife to cut it
with! This was good society in New Orleans. Things improved as we
advanced towards the North; but in most places, though the Americans
provide bountifully, the cooking is not good, and they make a strange
jumble of things at table. They have the appearance of a people
suddenly raised in the world, and able to afford themselves nice
things, but very ignorant and awkward in the use of them. With so much
hurry to begin, the time occupied in eating by our company was very
short. We Britishers had scarcely begun, when one and another got up
from table, finishing his dinner as he walked away. They cannot bear to
sit at table a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. While we
remained seated, they passed before us on their way out,--one eating,
one picking his teeth, one scraping his throat, one spitting on the
floor. Of course, we seldom made a hearty meal under such
circumstances.




LETTER XI.


Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon"
Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi--Steam
boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the "Crescent City"--Slave
Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The
Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A Reverend Slave-holder.


Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February,
we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a
charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be
imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our
"smart" landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty
wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie
knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for
sale on every side,--a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand.

Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good
authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of
slaves from the "slave-breeding" States, having on board a considerable
number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a
volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico.
The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700
dollars, or 150_l._ sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this
_great_ and _free_ country had, however, consigned these helpless young
women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier
home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the
country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the
excellent author of "Lectures to Children," thus writes,--"This land is
free. The mind is here free,--and the child is to be born--if indeed he
ever will be born--whose powers and faculties may not be called out and
cultivated. There is no bondage to forms or precedents; but the whole
mass may be seasoned, leavened, and moved, and is at liberty to do what
is great and good in the way that is most convenient."

Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the
"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in
Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of
1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we
should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were,
however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the
occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished
table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there
was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars
really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it
was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper
than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food,
lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace
above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The
dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel
182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of
cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2
inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a
fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but
often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance
vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged
chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors,
had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by
marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen
into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid
explosion.

The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down
the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in
the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of
a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place
is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy.
Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly
studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest
class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as
_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink.

In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more
highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere
else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more
complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam,
thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_,
and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three
months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now
ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five
years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them.
The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had
separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend
the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical
juxtaposition.

On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off
that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till
morning.

February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers
of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels
were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be
afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of
this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light."
This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in
England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value
and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something
worse?

At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The
"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we
had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An
area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats,
keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down
from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats,
rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal
streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and
sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of
masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as
they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing
splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it!

Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of
this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the
following paragraph!

"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the
tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th
instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William
Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly
killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly
scalded."

These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh
boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was
very small.

The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same
paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout
the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first!

"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years
old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and
English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a
strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is
for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for
sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For
particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street.

"F 9--t."


"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good
Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior
Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on
trial at their respective trades.

"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO.,

"8, Bank's Arcade."

"F 3--10t."

"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20
years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable
seamstress. Apply to

"McMAHON & PEARSALL,

"29, Natchez-street."

"F4--6t."

"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday
morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40
_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting
_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams,
Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street.

"WILLIAM ARNOLD."

"F7--3t."


"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on
the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16
years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when
she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and
stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away
by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the
city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to
receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the
apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or
free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a
conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New
Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing.

"RICHARD KING."

"F 7--2t."

"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the
Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built;
has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her
person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish.

"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO,

"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets."

"F2--6t."

Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at
the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we
passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the
capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation,
to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks
there are built, I am told, in a very fine style.

February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer
was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate
to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of
the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar
and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going
ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings
as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in
observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior;
but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and
too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the
purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of
them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received
very sensible and even _polite_ answers.

By this time we had received an impression of the character of our
fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy
beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be
very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No
lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting
on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the
water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as
Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not
help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this
was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers,
who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers,"
and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin
passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers
below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much
resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with
me, I had the _entrée_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of
quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of
these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from
Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat,
came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought
there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home
again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all
the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her
husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and
was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The
third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans
for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her
brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New
England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she
thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American
society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like
aristocracy, except towards the coloured people!

I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New
England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South
on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother
minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever
the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his
reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of
large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him.

These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running
away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion
assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically
complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship!




LETTER XII.


Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The
Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch-Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez
--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi.


On the 10th of February we passed a great many sugar estates on both
sides of the river, which would be agreeable objects but for the curse
of slavery. For who can look with pleasure upon the foul abodes of
lust, oppression, and cruelty? At the outer gate, in front of one of
these "patriarchal" establishments, was a small octagonal building
about 6 or 8 feet in mean diameter. The basement was of brick, pierced
by small air holes, barred with iron, at the height of about 8 feet
from the ground; and the upper part was of wood, terminating in a
pigeon-house. Making a short stay there to take in fire-wood, we
inquired into the use of the building; but all the answer we could get
was, that it was a "pigeon-house." The Baptist minister from Maine
asked a negro, who was helping to bring wood on board; and from him he
learned the real truth,--that it was a place of punishment and torture
for the oppressed slave. We have since ascertained that such buildings
are very common, and generally pass under the euphemistic name of
"pigeon-houses."

On the 11th of February--a fine frosty day--we came to Red River,
branching on our left in the direction of Texas, with which country it
forms an important means of communication. This river, even where it
pours its waters into the Mississippi, is not more than from 300 to 500
feet wide, and yet is navigable by steamers for about 1,200 miles. My
Baptist friend had recently been on a visit to Elder Wright, a planter
and a slave-holder on that river. This Wright was a New-England man,
had graduated at Yale College, and boasted that he was "a Northern man
with Southern feelings." He was called Elder Wright because he was a
preacher,--the Baptists here calling all preachers "elders." Now, this
Elder Wright told my friend that a few years ago there was great fear
in his district of the slaves rising up against their masters. To this
they were supposed to be instigated by the presence and influence of
some strangers. Under this apprehension, a secret committee was formed
to seize and try every suspected stranger, and, if he could not clear
himself to their satisfaction, to "hang him up quietly." Of this secret
and murderous committee Elder Wright--an _alumnus_ of Yale College, a
professor of religion, and a preacher of the gospel--was chosen
chairman; and the statement I have just made came in the way described
from his own lips! It is notorious that in the South they think nothing
of taking away a man's life, if he be even suspected of sympathy with
the slave; and a country so thinly inhabited affords abundant
opportunities of doing it as "quietly" as can be desired. America is
indeed a land of "liberty!"

At night we came to Natchez, a town beautifully situated on the top of
a hill, about 300 feet above the level of the river, and for this
reason called "Natchez-on-the-Hill." Its population is about 5,000; and
it is the largest town in the State of Mississippi. Its distance from
New Orleans is 300 miles. Darkness had set in when we approached it;
yet the numerous lights on shore, rising row above row to a great
elevation, gave it a lively and interesting appearance. But, alas!
Natchez also is a great slave market; and I can never think of it
without remembering the sufferings of poor Mary Brown. Let me narrate
her painful story. It may waken in some breast a feeling of sympathy
for the American slave.

Mary Brown, a coloured girl, was the daughter of _free_ parents in
Washington city--the capital of the freest nation under heaven! She
lived with her parents till the death of her mother. One day, when she
was near the Potomac Bridge, the sheriff overtook her, and told her
that she must go with him. She inquired what for? He made no reply, but
told her to come along, and took her immediately to a slave-auction.
Mary told him she was free; but he contradicted her, and the sale
proceeded. The auctioneer soon sold her for 350 dollars to a
Mississippi trader. She was first taken to jail; and after a few hours
was handcuffed, chained to a _man-slave_, and started in a drove of
about forty for New Orleans. Her handcuffs made her wrists swell so
much that at night they were obliged to take them off, and put fetters
round her ankles. In the morning the handcuffs were again put on. Thus
they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, whipped up all day, and
beaten at night if they had not performed the prescribed distance. She
frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up to her waist. The
month was October, and the air cold and frosty. After she had travelled
thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles had become so swollen
that she felt as if she could go no further. They had no beds, usually
sleeping in barns, sometimes out on the naked ground; and such were her
misery and pain that she could only lie and cry all night. Still she
was driven on for another week; and every time the trader caught her
crying he beat her, uttering fearful curses. If he caught her praying,
he said, he would "give her _hell_." Mary was a member of the Methodist
Church in Washington. There were several pious people in the company;
and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to
pray, he had a fiddle brought, and made them dance in their chains,
whipping them till they complied. Mary at length became so weak that
she really could travel on foot no further. Her feeble frame was
exhausted, and sank beneath accumulated sufferings. She was seized with
a burning fever; and the diabolical trader--not moved with pity, but
only fearing he should lose her--placed her for the remainder of the
way in a waggon. Arriving at Natchez, they were all offered for sale.
Mary, being still sick, begged she might be sold to a kind master.
Sometimes she made this request in the hearing of purchasers, but was
always insulted for it, and afterwards punished by her cruel master for
her presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by the hands so that
she could barely touch the floor with her toes. He kept her thus
suspended a whole day, whipping her at intervals. In any other country
this inhuman beast would have been tried for the greatest crime, short
of murder, that man can commit against woman, and transported for life.
Poor Mary Brown was at length sold, at 450 dollars, as a house-servant
to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, who compelled her to cohabit with him,
and had children by her,--most probably filling up the measure of his
iniquity by selling his own flesh. Wrongs like these must have inspired
our poet when he exclaimed,--

"To think that man--them just and gentle God--Should stand before
Thee with a tyrant's rod O'er creatures like himself, with souls from
Thee, Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty! Away! away! I 'd rather
hold my neck In doubtful tenure from a sultan's beck, In climes where
Liberty has scarce been named, Nor any right but that of ruling
claimed, Than thus to live where bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag
in mockery over slaves!"

As we advanced, we continually met with flat boats, laden with produce,
and floating sluggishly down. In the vernacular phrase, these boats are
called "Kentucky flats," or "broad-horns." They are curiously
constructed. At a distance, they appear like large chests or trunks
afloat. They are from 50 to 100 feet long, and generally about 15 or 20
feet wide. The timbers of the bottom are massive beams. The sides are
boarded up square to the height of 6 feet above the water; the roof
being slightly curved, like a trunk lid, to throw off rain. They are
adapted to carry from 200 to 400 barrels. Great numbers of cattle,
hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. Coals, too, are thus
brought down from the upper parts of the valley. Some of these barges
have apartments fitted up for the accommodation of a family, with a
stove, beds, tables, &c. You may sometimes see in them ladies,
servants, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and poultry,--all floating on the
same bottom. It was precisely in this fashion that the Pennsylvanian
farmer and his wife had reached New Orleans. Indeed, most of our
fellow-passengers had come as captains or crews of flat boats. Of
course, no attempt is made to get these unwieldy boats back against the
current. It would be impracticable. The flat boat makes but one trip
during its individual existence. Arrived at New Orleans, it is sold for
"lumber," and taken to pieces. In short, by this arrangement timber and
produce are brought to market at the same time, the "stuff" of which
the float is composed being but little injured. One cannot look at
these temporary structures without being impressed with the vast
importance of those water-powers which the Americans, with a wonderful
tact, bring to bear in the way of saw-mills on the exhaustless
resources of the forest. The very first thing looked for in settling a
new district is water-power.

These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not
reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never
without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands.
Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and
dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they
often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers
in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they
run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew
and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and
produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and
dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a
flat boat, do not appear to the passer-by. As you cut along by the
power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or
care. One of the hands scrapes a violin, while the others dance.
Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or
proffers of love to the girls on shore, or saucy messages pass between
them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet,
knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of
them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr.
Watts:--

"Your streams were floating me along
  Down to the gulf of black despair;
And, whilst I listened to your song,
  Your streams had e'en conveyed me there."

These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently,
at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards
evening a large number of them assembled. They have come from regions
thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will
probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a
surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as
invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard.
The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine
scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a
hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat
to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in
miniature.




LETTER XIII.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black
River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man
Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of
Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience.


We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black
River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary
"bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_
to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution,
for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable
citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of
this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the
real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the
"_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife!

The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely
narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles.

Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from
"racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats
on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are
trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the
river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from
30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity
of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12
feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water
that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they
are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the
stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and
thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed,
immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large
hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and
all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often
so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and
over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a
case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has
cleared off.

May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and
circumstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call
to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by
all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the
snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance.

On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber,
waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or
not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you
belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt
and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is
free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New
Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars.
He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every
slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man
should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling
in order to "own himself!" Land of liberty, forsooth!

In the evening we reached Vicksburg. This place, like nearly all other
places in this region, is deeply stained with deeds of violence and
blood. A few years ago, a set of thieves and gamblers were here put to
death by Lynch law. "Gentlemen of property and standing laughed the law
(the constitutional law) to scorn, rushed to the gamblers' house, put
ropes round their necks, dragged them through the streets, hanged them
in the public square, and thus saved the sum they had not yet paid.
Thousands witnessed this wholesale murder; yet of the scores of legal
officers present, not a soul raised a finger to prevent it: the whole
city consented to it, and thus aided and abetted it. How many hundreds
of them helped to commit the murders with their own hands does not
appear; but not one of them has been indicted for it, and no one made
the least effort to bring them to trial. Thus, up to the present hour,
the blood of those murdered men rests on that whole city; and it will
continue to be a CITY OF MURDERERS so long as its citizens agree
together to shield those felons from punishment."

Darkness had covered the city of blood when we arrived, and therefore
we could not see it. One of the passengers, in stepping on a plank to
go ashore, fell into the water. It was a frightful sight to see the
dark figure of a fellow-man splattering and holloing in so perilous a
position. Seldom can a person be saved who falls into the Mississippi,
so rapid is the current; and, moreover, the banks are so steep that,
though he be a good swimmer, he cannot get up. The knowledge of these
facts generally destroys in the person who falls in all hope and
self-command. Fortunately, however, in the present instance a rope was
instantly thrown out, and the individual was saved. He assured us,
afterwards, that some one had designedly pushed him from the plank into
the water.

On the 13th of February we breasted a small settlement on our left,
called Providence, in Louisiana. We observed on the river's bank what a
man at my elbow (a professor of religion, who had discovered a great
propensity to talk about his religious experience before gamblers)
coolly designated "a drove of horses, mules, and niggers." Observe the
order of his enumeration! Of the "niggers" there were about 100, small
and great, young and old, and of both sexes. The whole "drove" were
waiting to be shipped for the New Orleans market, and were jealously
guarded by several large dogs. From individual instances like this, one
may form a clearer notion of the internal slave-trade of America.
Thousands every year are thus brought down the Mississippi to supply
the Natchez and New Orleans markets. "Those who are transported down
the Mississippi," says a manual of American slavery, "are stowed away
on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young, usually
chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the passengers and
navigators, and often by bribes or threats, or by the lash, made
subject to abominations not to be named." On the same deck, you may see
horses and human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to
supply the same market. The _dumb_ beasts, being less manageable, are
allowed the first place; while the _human_ are forced into spare
corners and vacant places. My informant saw one trader who was taking
down to New Orleans 100 horses, some sheep, and between fifty and sixty
slaves. The sheep and the slaves occupied the same deck. Many
interesting and intelligent women were of the number. I could relate
facts concerning the brutal treatment of these defenceless females,
while on the downward passage, which would kindle the hot indignation
of every mother, and daughter, and sister in Old England. The slaves
are carried down in companies, varying in number from 20 to 500. Men of
considerable capital are engaged in the traffic. Go into the principal
towns on the Mississippi, and you will find these negro traders in the
bar-rooms boasting of their adroitness in driving human flesh, and
describing the process by which they succeed in "_taming down_ the
spirit of a _refractory_ negro." Here, then, were human beings,
children of our common Father, bone of our bone, and flesh of our
flesh, classed with the brutes that perish,--nay, degraded below them,
and placed under the surveillance of dogs. The horrors of such a system
it is impossible to exaggerate.

The majority of our fellow-passengers did nothing but gamble, eat,
drink, smoke, and spit, from morning till night. In the afternoon a
dispute arose between two of them about ten dollars, which the one
maintained he had won from the other. One of the two quickly drew out
his Bowie knife, and would certainly have stabbed the other but for the
intervention of the boat's officers. When the whites have so little
hesitation in shedding each other's blood, we cannot be surprised at
the indifference with which negro life is put an end to. "A rencontre
took place last week," says the _New Orleans Delta_, "between the
overseer of Mr. A. Collins (a planter in our vicinity) and one of the
negroes. It seems the overseer wished to chastise the negro for some
offence, and the negro resisted and struck the overseer with a spade.
The overseer grappled with him, and called some of the negroes to his
assistance; but, perceiving that the negroes were not willing to assist
him, he drew his knife, and stabbed the negro to the heart. A coroner's
inquest has been held, and a verdict given in accordance with the
circumstances, declaring the overseer justifiable."

The 14th of February was Sunday. My Baptist friend, when engaging his
passage, had given the captain a hint that, when the Sabbath came, he
should like to have divine service on board. Nothing, however, was now
said about it. Not, I think, that the officers of the boat would have
disliked it; but, considering the general character of their
passengers, they perhaps thought it would have been only "casting
pearls before swine." One passenger indeed, who _said_ he was a
Congregationalist, expressed to my friend a wish to have worship; but
he was playing at cards every day, and was in other respects no great
credit to Congregationalism. The Baptist assured me that his countrymen
too generally, when they travel, leave their religion behind!

The Baptist related to me an awful story respecting a captain with whom
he had sailed from New England to Guadaloupe, and thence to New
Orleans. This man belonged to my friend's congregation, and professed
to have been "converted" under his ministry. His pastor had frequent
occasion to reprove him for his disregard of the Sabbath at sea. In New
Orleans he engaged to take a cargo of Government stores to Tampico, for
the supply of the army. He had to sign a bond to take in the cargo, and
sail before a certain day, or forfeit the sum of 500 dollars. The
Sabbath came. The pastor was at that time absent, on his visit to
"Elder Wright" before mentioned, on the Red River. An agent of the
"Bethel Union," who was going round to invite seamen to the "Bethel"
worship, invited the said captain and his men. He excused himself and
his crew on the plea that they had no time--were under contract--had
signed a bond--and might forfeit 500 dollars, &c. "What!" said the
agent, "not afford time to attend the worship of God" on his own day!
"No, I really cannot--very sorry--what I have never done before--should
like to go"--was the faltering reply. "Well," replied the agent with
great solemnity, "God will soon call you to account for this." "I know
He will," rejoined the captain with a downcast eye. The interview
ended. The agent proceeded on his pious mission, and the captain to
take in his cargo. The next morning, as he was looking over the side of
the vessel to see how deep she was in the water, he fell overboard. His
body was never found. His watch, which had been left in the cabin, and
a few other personal articles, the pastor was now taking with him to
the afflicted widow and family.




LETTER XIV.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the
Indians--M. de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its
Advertisements--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos
Dresser.


At 4 o'clock P.M. of February the 14th, we reached the mouth of the
Arkansas. This is a noble river, navigable for 2,000 miles! Not twenty
years ago, the remnants of the four great Indian nations of the
southern part of what is now the United States, amounting to about
75,000 souls, were urged to remove to the banks of this river, with an
assurance of an undisturbed and permanent home. These four nations were
the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. They were
established upon a territory, which they occupied before the settlement
of any Europeans in their vicinity, and which had been confirmed to
them by solemn treaties again and again. The Anglo-Americans of the
States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were however annoyed at
their proximity, because it was unfavourable to the "peculiar
institution" of America. Slaves occasionally made their escape to these
children of the forest, and found sympathy and succour. This would not
do. The Indians must be removed. But how was it to be accomplished?
Annoy them; harass them; wrong them in every possible way, so that they
may be sickened with the place. Georgia, accordingly, first attempted
to establish a division line for the purpose of limiting the boundaries
of the Cherokees. Then, in 1829, the State of Alabama divided the Creek
territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to the
power of white magistrates. And, in 1830, the State of Mississippi
assimilated the Chocktaws and Chickasaws to the white population, and
declared that any one who should take the title of Chief should be
punished with a fine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. Under
these accumulated annoyances, the Cherokees, on the 18th of December,
1829, addressed to Congress the following powerful and touching
appeal:--

"By the will of our Father in heaven, the Governor of the whole world,
the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and
renowned. When the ancestors of the people of the United States first
came to the shores of America, they found the red man strong, though he
was ignorant and savage; yet he received them kindly, and gave them dry
land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in
token of friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the
Indian, the latter willingly gave. At that time the Indian was the
lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the scene has changed.
The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbours
increased in numbers, his power became less and less; and now, of the
many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few
are to be seen,--a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The
northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly
extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who
are remnants, share the same fate?"

"Oh, no!" was the response. "Beyond the great river Mississippi," said
the President to them in 1829, "where a part of your nation has gone,
your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you; and he
advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble
you: they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you
and your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in
peace and plenty. _It will be yours for ever_."

With this assurance, many left the land of their birth and the homes of
their childhood, travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the Mississippi,
and settled on the banks of the Arkansas. M. de Tocqueville was
"assured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians had
already gone to the shores of the Arkansas, and fresh detachments were
constantly following them." Many, however, were unwilling to be thus
expatriated. "The Indians readily discover," says M. de Tocqueville,
"that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary
expedient. Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to
dwell in peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge
themselves to the observance of the obligation; but the territory which
they at present occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn
oaths of Anglo-American faith. The American Government does not,
indeed, rob them of their land, but it allows perpetual incursions to
be made upon them. In a few years the same white population which now
flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas:
they will then be exposed to the same evils, without the same remedies;
and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only
refuge is the grave."

The views of this keen French philosopher were prophetic. In vain did I
strain my eyes, as we passed along, to discover any trace of these
Indians. Not one representative of those noble aborigines was to be
seen. In 1836 Arkansas was constituted a State, and admitted into the
Union; and, if you look at a recent map of the United States, you will
see the "location" of these Indians marked, not in the State of
Arkansas at all, but far--far beyond, towards the setting sun, in what
is called the "Western Territory," where, indeed, the river Arkansas
has its source. Nor will ten years pass away before they will be again
disturbed, and pushed further back.

At the mouth of the Arkansas is a village called Napoleon, of which I
received, on authority not to be disputed, the following horrible
account. A few years ago it was the head quarters of lawless and bloody
men. They fabricated base coin, gambled, robbed, murdered. To such a
pitch of wickedness had they arrived, and such a terror were they to
the whole country, that a party of men from Memphis (a city on the
eastern side of the Mississippi, 180 miles up) took the law into their
own hands, armed themselves with deadly weapons, came down, scoured the
country around, caught about fifty of the ringleaders, and put them to
death. Some they shot,--some they hanged,--and some they threw, tied
hand and foot, into the river. Of this dreadful tragedy no judicial
notice was ever taken!

February 15.--I had an attack of intermittent fever, and consequently
saw nothing of the scenery around. At night the fog was so dense that
the officers deemed it prudent to "lie to."

February 16.--At 9 A.M. we were abreast of the city of Memphis, on the
Tennessee side of the river. Higher up there is Cairo. These
slave-holders, who retain their fellow-men in worse than Egyptian
bondage, seem to have a great partiality for Egyptian names. Memphis is
pleasantly situated on high "bluffs," and is a great point for the
shipping of cotton. It does not, however, thrive by _honest_ industry.
I obtained a copy of the _Daily Inquirer_ of that day, where--among
advertisements of pianos, music, bonnets, shawls, &c., for the
ladies--I found the following:--

"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th
of October last, two Negro Fellows of the following description.--To
wit,--Evan, 25 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high, complexion
black, thick bristly beard, low soft voice, and apt to look down when
spoken to; has a large scar on the calf of one of his legs, caused by
the bite of a dog when he was 8 or 10 years old; some of his jaw-teeth
missing or decayed. Ellis, 22 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches
high; complexion dark mulatto, tinged with Indian blood; beard thin and
light. From information derived from a brother of these boys, who was
caught in Washington County, Miss., it appears they intended to apply
for employment as wood-choppers in the upper part of this State, until
they could raise money enough to dress fine, then set off for the State
of Illinois. It is highly probable they will resort to fictitious
names, for the purpose of baffling pursuit.

"The above reward will be paid to any person confining them in any
jail, so that I can get them again; or fifty dollars for either of
them.

"DUNCAN M'ALPIN."

"SLAVE MARKET.--The subscribers have now, and will continue to keep on
hand throughout the season, a large supply of choice Negroes, suited to
every capacity, which they offer at the lowest market rates. They have
agents abroad engaged in purchasing for them, which enables them to bid
defiance to competition.

"Depôt on Adams-street, between Main and Second Streets.

"BOLTON & DICKINS."

"JAILOR'S NOTICE.--Was committed to the jail of Shelby County, on 25th
January, a Negro Boy named Silas. He says he belongs to William Wise,
of Fayette, County Tenne. He is about 30 years old, black complexion,
about 5 feet 11 inches high; weighs about 165 lbs. The owner of said
Negro is requested to come and prove property, and pay charges, or he
will be dealt with according to law.

"E. W. HARREL,

"_Jailor_."

"Feb. 13.--3tW."

In connection with Memphis, M. de Tocqueville narrates the following
touching incident, relative to the expatriation of the Indians, to
which I have already referred. "At the end of the year 1831, while I
was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a place named by Europeans
Memphis, there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws. These _savages_ [so
his American translator renders it] had left their country, and were
endeavouring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they
hoped to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American
Government. It was the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually
severe: the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the river was
drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them;
and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children
newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither
tents nor waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them
embark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle
fade from my remembrance! No cry, no sob was heard among the assembled
crowd: all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they
knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark
that was to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank.
As soon as these animals perceived that their masters were finally
leaving the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all
together into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the
boat." So much for Memphis and its associations!

February 18th, at 5 A.M., we entered the Ohio River, and at 1 P.M. the
mouth of the Tennessee; coming shortly afterwards to Smithland, at the
mouth of the Cumberland River, which runs parallel with the Tennessee,
and communicates directly with Nashville, the capital of that State.
This city also has its association of ideas. I cannot think of it
without at the same time thinking of Amos Dresser. He was a student at
Lane Seminary (Dr. Beecher's), and subsequently a missionary to
Jamaica. In the vacation of 1835 he undertook to sell Bibles in the
State of Tennessee, with a view to raise the means of continuing his
studies for the ministry. Under suspicion of being an Abolitionist, he
was arrested by the "Vigilance Committee" (a Lynch-law institution),
while attending a religious meeting in the neighbourhood of Nashville.
After an afternoon and evening's inquisition, he was condemned to
receive twenty lashes with the cow-hide on his naked body. Between 11
and 12 on Saturday night the sentence was executed upon him, in the
presence of most of the committee, and of an infuriated and blaspheming
mob. The Vigilance Committee consisted of sixty persons. Of these,
twenty-seven were members of churches: one was a religious teacher, and
others were _elders_ of the Presbyterian Church,--one of whom had a few
days before offered Mr. Dresser the bread and wine at the Lord's
Supper. But let Amos Dresser himself describe the scene and the
circumstances.

"I knelt down," says he, "to receive the punishment, which was
inflicted by Mr. Braughton, the city officer, with a HEAVY COW-SKIN.
When the infliction ceased, an involuntary thanksgiving to God, for the
fortitude with which I had been enabled to endure it, arose in my soul,
to which I began aloud to give utterance. The death-like silence that
prevailed for a moment was suddenly broken with loud exclamations,
--'G--d d--n him! Stop his praying!' I was raised to my
feet by Mr. Braughton, and conducted by him to my lodgings, where it
was thought safe for me to remain but a few moments.

"Among my triers was a great portion of the respectability of
Nashville; nearly half of the whole number professors of Christianity,
the reputed stay of the Church, supporters of the cause of benevolence
in the form of tract and missionary societies and Sabbath-schools;
several members and _most_ of the elders of the Presbyterian Church,
from whose hands but a few days before I had received the emblems of
the broken body and shed blood of our blessed Saviour!"

In relating this shameful circumstance, the editor of the _Georgia
Chronicle_, a professor of religion, said that Dresser "should have
been hung up as high as Haman, to rot upon the gibbet until the wind
whistled through his bones. The cry of the whole South should be death,
_instant death_, to the Abolitionist, wherever he is caught." What a
great and free country!




LETTER XV.

Voyage up the Ohio (continued)--Illinois--Evansville--Owensborough
--Indiana--New Albany--Louisville, and its Cruel Histories--The Grave
of President Harrison--Arrival in Cincinnati--First Impressions--The
Congregational Minister--A Welsh Service.


The Ohio, the "beautiful river," is a magnificent stream formed by the
confluence at Pittsburg of the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers, and is
1,008 miles long, constituting the boundary of six States: Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois on the north,--all free States; and Virginia,
Kentucky, and Tennessee on the south,--all slave States. A trip on this
river, therefore, affords a fine opportunity for observing the contrast
between slavery and freedom.

The Ohio is the great artery through which the inland commerce of the
Eastern States flows into the valley of the Mississippi. In ascending
this river, we had first on our left the State of Illinois. This
territory, which contains an area of 60,000 square miles, was settled
by the French in 1720, and was admitted into the Union in 1818. Its
population in 1810 was 12,300; in 1840, 476,180. It is now, probably,
not far short of 1,000,000!

On the 19th of February, about noon, we arrived at Evansville, on the
Indiana side of the river. This was the prettiest place we had yet
seen; and its charms were enhanced by the assurance that it was free
from the taint of slavery. The rise of this little town has been rapid.
Its population is about 3,000. Three "churches," with their neat and
graceful spires, rising above the other buildings, were conspicuous in
the distance.

At 5 P.M. we passed Owensborough, on the Kentucky side of the river.
This, too, is a neat little town, with a proportionate number of places
of worship. Indeed, on every hand, places of worship appear to rise
simultaneously with the young settlement. The free and efficient
working of the voluntary principle is the glory of America. In
reference to "church" accommodation, it everywhere appears to decided
advantage compared to the most favoured parts of England. On this
subject Dr. Baird's book on Religion in America is very truthful.

The fever left me on entering the Ohio, and returned no more,--a clear
proof that this river is healthier than the Mississippi. The latter has
much fog and malaria, which tell quickly upon a constitution like mine,
already predisposed by residence among the swamps of Guiana to fever
and ague.

As I have already intimated, we had now Indiana, a free State, on our
left. This State is rapidly advancing in wealth and population. It was
settled by the French in 1730, and became an independent State in 1816.
It has an area of 36,840 square miles, being by two-fifths less than
its neighbour Illinois. Its population at the beginning of this century
was only 5,640; in 1840 it was 685,860. It is now above a million! In
1840 it produced upwards of four millions of bushels of wheat, and
twenty-eight millions of corn!

February 20.--The scenery was diversified. Hills covered with trees
rose on either side. In the summer, when all is fresh and green, there
must be here scenes of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed. At present
the country had a cold and winterly aspect. It rained, too, the whole
day. At 3 P.M. we approached New Albany, on the Indiana side. It is a
flourishing place, with from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. Just above
this town are some falls in the Ohio, that can seldom be ascended by
steamers, which therefore pass through a side canal, with locks, formed
(through the superior influence of the slave-power) on the Kentucky or
slave bank of the river. We had to pass through three locks, which have
been very foolishly made too small to receive steamers of the largest
class in the navigation of the Ohio. Ours fortunately, not being of
that class, could "go a-head."

At 5 P.M. we got to Louisville, a city of about 30,000 or 40,000
inhabitants, on the Kentucky side. This city is a great depot for
slaves, whence they are shipped for the New Orleans market. By this
means it has acquired a detestable notoriety.

"A trader was about to start from Louisville, Kentucky," says the
_Anti-Slavery Record_, "with one hundred slaves for New Orleans. Among
them were two women, with infants at the breast. Knowing that these
infants would depreciate the value of the mothers, the trader sold them
for _one dollar each_. Another mother was separated from her sick child
about four or five years old. Her anguish was so great that she
sickened and died before reaching her destination."

Take another instance, on the same authority:--

"Not very long ago, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, a female slave was
sold to a Southern slaver under most afflicting circumstances. She had
at her breast an infant boy three months old. The slaver did not want
the child on any terms. The master sold the mother, and retained the
child. She was hurried away immediately to the depot at Louisville, to
be sent down the river to the Southern market. The last news my
informant had of her was that she was lying _sick_, in the most
miserable condition, her breast having risen, inflamed, and _burst_!"

Let another case, testified by the Rev. C.S. Renshaw, add to the fame
of this _infamous_ city.

"Hughes and Neil traded in slaves down the river: they had bought up a
part of their stock in the upper counties of Kentucky, and brought them
down to Louisville, where the remainder of their drove was in jail
waiting their arrival. Just before the steam-boat put off for the lower
country, two negro women were offered for sale, each of them having a
child at the breast. The traders bought them, took their babes from
their arms, and offered them to the highest bidder; and they were sold
for one dollar a piece, whilst the stricken parents were driven on
board the boats, and in an hour were on their way to the New Orleans
market. You are aware that a young babe diminishes the value of a field
hand in the lower country, while it enhances her value in the breeding
States."

February 21.--Another dreary Sabbath on board. The principal objects of
interest pointed out to us on that day were the residence and the tomb
of the late President Harrison. The latter is a plain brick erection,
in the midst of a field on the top of a hill, about half a mile in the
rear of the former. The recollection of that man, so highly elevated,
and so quickly cut down, could hardly fail to suggest a train of not
unprofitable reflections. He was, I suppose, a moral and well-meaning
man, distinguished for qualities not often to be found in high places;
but I was sorry to be obliged to infer that much of what I had heard
respecting the _religiousness_ of his character wanted confirmation.

At half-past 4 P.M. we arrived at the long-wished-for Cincinnati--the
"Queen of the West." Our voyage from New Orleans had thus occupied
twelve days, during which time we had been boarded and lodged, as well
as conveyed over a space of 1,550 miles, for 12 dollars each, or one
dollar per diem! It was the cheapest, and (apart from the
companionships) the most pleasant mode of travelling we had ever
experienced. As the boat stayed but a couple of hours at Cincinnati, we
had to land without delay. Being a stranger in a strange land, I
inquired for the Congregational minister, and was told that his name
was Boynton. In perambulating the streets in search of his house, I was
pleased to see but one shop open. It was a tailor's, and, as I
afterwards learned, belonged to a Jew, who closed it on Saturdays, the
law of the State compelling all to close their shops one day in the
week. In every street, we were struck with the glorious liberty enjoyed
by the pigs. On all hands, the swinish multitude were seen luxuriating
in unrestricted freedom. Mr. Boynton, who received us kindly, did not
know of any place where we could be accommodated with private board and
lodging, but promised to make inquiry that evening. He was a man of
about forty years of age, wearing on the Sabbath, and even in the
pulpit (as most American ministers do), a black neckerchief, and
shirt-collar turned down over it. That night we had to go to an hotel,
and were recommended to the Denison House, which we found pretty cheap
and comfortable. But the American hotels are not, in point of comfort,
to be compared for a moment to those of Old England. My wife was too
tired to go out in the evening; and unwilling for my own part to close
the Sabbath without going to some place of public worship, I thought I
would try to find the sanctuary of "my brethren--my kinsmen according
to the flesh"--the Welsh. Following the directions I had received, I
arrived at the top of a certain street, when I heard the sound of
sacred song; but I could not tell whether it was Welsh or not, nor
exactly whence it came. As I stood listening, an overgrown boy came by,
of whom I inquired, "Where does that singing come from?"--"I _guess_ it
comes from a church down below there." "Is it a Welsh Church?"--"I
can't tell, but I _guess_ it is." "Well, then," I rejoined, "I _guess_
I will go and see." I turned, and the youth "guessed" he would follow
me. I got to the door. The singing had not ceased. It _was_ Welsh--the
language in which I had first heard "_Am Geidwad i'r Colledig!_"[1] How
interesting in the "Far West" to hear sounds so sweet and so familiar
to my childhood! None but those who have experienced can tell the charm
of such an incident. The minister was in the pulpit. His dress and hair
were very plain, and his complexion was extremely dark. He was
evidently a Welshman: there was no mistake about it: his gravity,
plainness, attitude--all told the fact. I ventured forward, and walked
along to the stove, which to me was an object of agreeable attraction.
Around the stove were two or three chairs. A big aristocratic-looking
Welshman, a sort of a "Blaenor," who occupied one of these chairs,
invited me to take another that was vacant. The eyes of all in the
synagogue were upon me. My "guessing" informant had followed me even
there, though he evidently understood not a word of Welsh. The building
was about 40 feet by 35, without galleries, and was about two-thirds
full. The pulpit was fitted up in the platform style--the "genuine"
American mode. The text was, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so
great a salvation?" The sermon was good and faithful. The audience--the
men on one side of the chapel, and the women on the other--did not
excite much interest. The men, especially, were among the worst hearers
I had ever seen. I felt ashamed of my countrymen. The spitting was
incessant, and attended with certain unmentionable circumstances which
render it most disgusting and offensive. What a contrast to my own
clean and comely congregation of black and coloured people in New
Amsterdam! In about twenty minutes after the preacher had begun his
sermon, one-half of the men had their heads down, resting on both arms
folded on the tops of the pews before them. Whether they were asleep or
not, the attitude was that of deep sleep. This behaviour was grossly
rude,--to say nothing of the apathetic state of mind which it
indicated. I wondered how the preacher could get on at all, with such
hearers before him. I am sorry to say that the Welsh too frequently
manifest a great want of decorum and devotion in their religious
assemblies. This is telling, and will tell, against dissent in the
Principality.

[Footnote 1: Literally, "Of a Saviour for the lost."]




LETTER XVI.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--Close of the Welsh Service--The
Governor of Ohio and his Relatives--The "Black Laws"--Governor Bebb's
Hostility to them--Dr. Weed and American Versatility--Private
Lodgings--Introduction to Dr. Beecher and others--A Peep at a
Democratic Meeting.


The Welsh service being ended, my big friend on the next chair asked
me, in the same language, if I was a _llafarwr_ (preacher). I answered
him in the usual Welsh phrase, "_Byddaf yn dweyd ychydig weithiau_,"
which means that I did a little in that way. On learning this, he
desired my "_cyhoeddiad_" (publication--another Welsh phrase) to preach
there some night during the coming week; and he wished it to be
announced there and then, to which I would not consent. He introduced
me to Mr. Jones, the minister. After most of the congregation were
gone, a groupe, including my big friend and Mr. Jones, collected around
me, and most earnestly pressed for my "publication." I told them I had
never been a Welsh preacher, that it was nearly five-and-twenty years
since I had left the Principality, and that, moreover, _I could not_
preach at all to men who put down their heads in the sluggish and
sleepy manner in which most of their men had done that night. "Oh! but
they won't do so when you, a stranger, preach," was the reply. "Then,"
I said, "there must be a great want of true devotion among them, if
that would make all the difference." However, being much pressed, I
promised at last to give them, before I left the city, a little
missionary information in Welsh.

The name of my big friend was Bebb, a near relative, as I subsequently
learned, of His Excellency W. Bebb, the present Governor of the State
of Ohio. The history of this Governor deserves a passing notice. He is
the nephew of the late Rev. John Roberts, of Llanbrynmair, a man of
great worth and usefulness, whose praise is in all the Congregational
Churches of North Wales. Mr. Roberts, when a young man, joined the
Church at Llanbrynmair, began to preach under its sanction, became its
pastor, sustained that office for thirty-six years, and is succeeded by
his two excellent sons, Samuel and John, as co-pastors! Towards the
close of last century, Mr. Roberts's sister, married to a Mr. Bebb,
emigrated to America; as did also his brother George, who still
survives, and of whom Dr. Matheson gives an interesting account in the
seventh letter of the second volume of "Reed and Matheson's Narrative,"
calling him "_Judge_ Roberts, the _Pastor_ of the Congregational
Church!" at Ebensburg, in Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Bebb was soon left a widow, with two sons, William and Evan. But
"the Judge of the widow" and "the Father of the fatherless" did not
forsake her. She is a woman of a strong mind and great piety, and a
thorough hater of slavery and oppression in all their forms. Her own
principles she endeavoured to instil into the minds of her sons,
sparing no efforts to fit them for acting a useful and honourable part
in society. William was brought up to the law, and Evan to commerce.
And now, in the evening of her days, the pious old Welsh-woman has the
gratification of seeing Evan an enterprising and successful merchant in
New York, while William enjoys the highest honour that his
fellow-citizens of Ohio can confer upon him! He is the Governor of a
territory of nearly 40,000 square miles, and a population of 2,000,000.
Mr. Jones, the minister, is intimately acquainted with Mrs. Bebb, who
carefully instructed her distinguished son in the good old language of
Wales, so that, at the time of his recent canvass for office, he was
able to address the Cambrian portion of his constituency in their
mother tongue.

On entering into office, he declared his determined opposition to the
"black laws" of Ohio. Those "black laws" are black indeed. They are the
foul blot of this otherwise honoured State. One of them is intended to
prevent the coloured citizens of other States from removing to Ohio. It
was enacted in 1807, and is to this effect,--that within twenty days
after the entrance of an emigrant into the State, he is to find two
freehold sureties in the sum of 500 dollars for his _good behaviour_,
and likewise for his _maintenance_, should he, at any future period, be
unable to maintain himself. The Legislature well knew that it would be
utterly impossible, generally speaking, for a _black_ or _coloured_
stranger to find such securities. In 1800 there were only 337 free
blacks in the territory; but in 1830, notwithstanding the "black laws,"
there were 9,500. A large portion of them entered in entire ignorance
of this iniquitous law, and some perhaps in bold defiance of it. But it
has by no means remained a dead letter. In 1829 a very general effort
was made to enforce it,--about 1,000 free blacks being driven from the
State, to take refuge in the more free and Christian country of Canada.
Sir J. Colebrook, the Governor of Upper Canada, said to the coloured
deputation that waited upon him, "Tell the _Republicans_ on your side
of the line that we Royalists do not know men by their colour. Should
you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest
of His Majesty's subjects." A noble sentiment! and one calculated to
make a "_Britisher_" proud of his country, particularly since the
abolition of slavery in our other colonies. At the time these people
were thus driven away, the State of Ohio contained but 23 inhabitants
to one square mile!

In 1838 official notice was given to the inhabitants of the town of
Fairfield, in Ohio, that all "black or mulatto persons" residing there
were to comply with the requirements of the law of 1807 within twenty
days, or it would be enforced against them. The proclamation addresses
the _white_ inhabitants in the following remarkable terms: "Whites,
look out! If any person or persons _employing_ any black or mulatto
person, contrary to the 3rd section of this law, you may look out for
the breakers!"

At the very time I was in Ohio an attempt was made, in Mercer County,
to eject by force a number of inoffensive black people. Originally
slaves in Virginia, they had been liberated by the will of their late
master, and located on a suitable quantity of land which he had secured
for them. But the magnanimous and liberty-boasting Americans would not
allow them to enjoy their little settlement unmolested; and it was
extremely doubtful whether the Governor would be able to protect them
from outrage.

In 1839 a number of coloured inhabitants of Ohio addressed a respectful
petition to the Legislature, praying for the removal of certain legal
disabilities under which they were labouring. The answer was a denial,
not merely of the _prayer_ of the petition, but of the very _right_ of
petition! "Resolved, that the blacks and mulattoes who may be residents
within this State have no constitutional right to present their
petitions to the General Assembly for any purpose whatsoever; and that
any reception of such petitions on the part of the General Assembly is
a mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed by any expressed or
implied power of the Constitution!"

But the _blackest_ of these black laws is the following: "That no black
or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn,
or give evidence in any court of record or elsewhere in this State, in
any cause depending, or matter of controversy, when either party to the
same is a _white_ person; or in any prosecution of the State against
any _white_ person!"

Under such a law a white man may with perfect impunity defraud or abuse
a negro to any extent, provided that he is careful to avoid the
presence of any of his own caste at the execution of his contract, or
the commission of his crime!

To these "black laws" Governor Bebb has avowed an uncompromising
hostility; but the first session of the State Legislature after his
election had just closed, and the black laws were still in force. Mr.
Bebb was not sufficiently supported in his just and humane intentions
to enable him to carry those intentions out. I was assured, however, by
those who knew him well, that he was only "biding his time," being as
determined as ever to wipe away from the statute-book every remnant of
these foul enactments. If he succeed, the poor old Welsh-woman, in her
obscurity and widowhood, will have rendered an important service to the
cause of humanity and justice. Let mothers think of this, and be
encouraged!

The day after our arrival in Cincinnati, being the 22nd of February, we
obtained, by the aid of Dr. Weed (one of Mr. Boynton's deacons), a
suitable private lodging. Dr. Weed in early life studied for the
medical profession, and graduated in physic. Afterwards he spent some
years as a missionary among the Indians. Now he is a bookseller,
publisher, and stationer in Cincinnati, affording an illustration of
that versatility for which the Americans are distinguished. "Men are to
be met with," says M. de Tocqueville, (and the present writer has
himself seen many instances,) "who have successively been barristers,
farmers, merchants, ministers of the Gospel, and physicians. If the
American be less perfect in each craft than the European, at least
there is scarcely any trade with which he is utterly unacquainted." I
have heard of a man in New York, who, having tried the ministry and
completely failed, wisely judged that that was not the way in which he
could best serve God, and turned to commerce. He is now a substantial
merchant, and supports five other men to preach the Gospel; each of
whom, he is wont to say, does it much better than he could ever have
done.

The lodging which Dr. Weed kindly found us was at the house of the
Misses M'Pherson, five Quaker sisters, living together. It was clean
and respectable,--the cheapest and most comfortable lodging we had
hitherto met with. The table was bountifully supplied with excellent
and well-cooked provisions; for which the charge was only 4 dollars
each per week, and half-a-dollar for fuel, making altogether only 9
dollars for us both. Of the kindness and hospitality of these ladies we
shall always retain a grateful remembrance.

In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Beecher,
Dr. Stowe, Professor Allen, and several other Presbyterian ministers of
the New School. They were assembled for fraternal intercourse in the
vestry of one of the "churches." I was struck with the sallowness of
their complexions, and the want of polish in their manners. Dr. Beecher
invited me to go up some day to see Lane Seminary, about two miles off.
To this invitation I readily acceded. I was greatly interested in this
veteran, of whose fame I had so often heard.

February 23rd.--In the evening, I went to a meeting of the Democratic
party in the town-hall, thinking it would afford me a good opportunity
for observing American manners. The place was full; and when I arrived,
a gentleman was addressing the meeting with great vehemence of tone and
gesture. His speech consisted of innumerable changes rung on the
sentiment--"There must be a vigorous prosecution of the war against
Mexico." But I must reserve any further account of this meeting for my
next letter.




LETTER XVII.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Democratic Meeting--A Visit to Lane
Seminary--"Public Declamation"--Poem on War--Essay on Education.


In resuming my notice of the Democratic meeting, let me observe that
the Democratic party in America is not very reputable. It is the war
party, the pro-slavery party, the mob party, and, at present, the
dominant party,--the party, in fine, of President Polk. It had just
been aroused to the highest pitch of indignation, by a telling speech
delivered in Congress against the Mexican War by Thomas Corwin, Esq.,
one of the Ohio senators. This meeting, then, was intended as a
demonstration in favour of Polk and his policy; but it turned out a
miserable failure.

When the blustering speaker who "had the floor" when I entered sat
down, the "president" (for they do not say the chairman) rose, amidst a
tremendous storm of favourite names, uttered simultaneously by all
present at the top of their voices, and, as soon as he could be heard,
said it had been moved and seconded that So-and-so, Esq., be requested
to address the meeting: those who were in favour of that motion were to
say "Ay,"--those against it, "No." One great "Ay" was then uttered by
the mass, and a few "Noes" were heard. The "_Ayes"_ had it. But an
unforeseen difficulty occurred. So-and-so, Esq., either was not there,
or would not speak. Amidst deafening noise again, the president rose,
and said it had been moved and seconded that John Brough, Esq., be
requested to address the meeting. "Ay"--"No;" but the "Ayes" had it.
"Now, John Brough," said a droll-looking Irishman, apparently a
hod-carrier, who was at my elbow,--

  "Now, John Brough,
  Out with the stuff."

Here was Paddy on the western side of the Allegany Mountains, with his
native accent and native wit as fresh and unimpaired as if he had but
just left his green isle, and landed on one of the quays at Liverpool.
But John Brough again declined the honour conferred upon him! Then it
was moved and seconded and "ayed" that So-and-so, Esq., be requested to
address the meeting, but _he_ also was not forthcoming! _Nil
desperandum_. It was moved and seconded and "ayed" that--Callaghan,
Esq., be requested to address the meeting. After some hesitation, and a
reference to his own "proverbial modesty," he proceeded to foam, and
stamp, and thump, and bluster for "the vigorous prosecution of the
war," till the American eagle should "stretch his wings over the halls
of the Montezumas." At this stage of the proceedings, the spitting and
smoke had become so offensive that I was compelled to retire; and I did
so with no very high notions of the intelligence and respectability of
the American democrats.

The next day being fine and frosty, and the roads hard, I set off in
the morning to pay my intended visit to Lane Seminary. I found it a
long two miles, all up hill. The seminary itself, the building in which
the students are accommodated, is a large plain brick edifice, four
stories high, besides the basement-story, and has very much the
appearance of a small Lancashire factory. It is 100 feet long by about
40 feet wide, and contains 84 rooms for students. The situation is
pleasant, and at a nice distance from the roadside. A large bell was
being tolled awkwardly when I arrived. It was 11 o'clock A.M. I found
the front door thrown wide open, with every indication of its being
entered by all comers without the least ceremony--not even that of
wiping the shoes. There was neither door-bell nor knocker, scraper nor
mat; and the floor of the lobby seemed but slightly acquainted with the
broom,--to say nothing of the scrubbing-brush. It looked like the floor
of a corn or provision warehouse. I had no alternative but to venture
in. Immediately after, there entered a young man with a fowling-piece,
whom before I had seen at a little distance watching the movements of a
flock of wild pigeons. I took him for a sportsman; but he was a young
divine! I asked him if Dr. Beecher was about. He replied that he
guessed not, but he would be at the lecture-room in a few minutes, for
the bell that had just tolled was a summons to that room. "Does the
Doctor, then," said I, "deliver a lecture this morning?"--"No, it is
_declamation_ this morning." "Is it such an exercise," I continued, "as
a stranger may attend?"--"Oh, yes!" he replied; "it is _public_
declamation." He then directed me to the lecture-room. It was across
the yard, and under the chapel belonging to the institution. This
chapel is a very neat building, after the model of a Grecian temple,
having the roof in front carried out and supported by six
well-proportioned columns in the form of a portico. In a part of the
basement-story was the lecture-room in question. The students were
mustering. By-and-by Dr. Stowe entered. He invited me to take a chair
by his side, on a kind of platform. Professor Allen then came in, and
after him Dr. Beecher. The exercise began with a short prayer by Mr.
Allen. He then called upon a Mr. Armstrong, one of the students, to
ascend the platform. The young man obeyed; and, somewhat abruptly and
vehemently, rehearsed from memory a Poem on War. Suiting the action to
the words, he began--

  "_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!"

It quite startled me! Soon afterwards I heard,--

  "And Montezuma's halls shall _ring_."

What! (reasoned I) is this the sequel to the Democratic meeting of last
night? Has Mars, who presided at the town-hall, a seat in the
lecture-room of this Theological Seminary? As the young man proceeded,
however, I perceived that his poem was, in fact, a denunciation of the
horrors of war,--not, as I had supposed, the composition of another
person committed to memory, and now rehearsed as an exercise in
elocution, but entirely his own. It was altogether a creditable
performance. The Professors at the close made their criticisms upon it,
which were all highly favourable. Dr. Beecher said, "My only criticism
is, _Print it, print it_." The venerable Doctor, with the natural
partiality of a tutor, afterwards observed to me he had never heard
anything against war that took so strong a hold of his feelings as that
poem. Dr. Stowe also told me that Mr. Armstrong was considered a young
man of fine talents and great devotion; and that some of the students
had facetiously said, "Brother Armstrong was so pious that even the
dogs would not bark at him!"

Mr. Armstrong was not at all disposed to take his tutor's advice. But
he favoured me with a copy of his poem, on condition that I would not
cause it to be printed in America,--in England I might. It contains
some turgid expressions, some halting and prosaic lines, and might be
improved by a severe revision; but, besides its interest as a
Transatlantic college-exercise, I feel it possesses sufficient merit to
relieve the tediousness of my own prose.

"'_On_--to the glorious conflict--ON!'--
  Is heard throughout the land,
While flashing columns, thick and strong,
  Sweep by with swelling band.
'Our country, right or wrong,' they shout,
  'Shall still our motto he:
With _this_ we are prepared to rout
  Our foes from sea to sea.
Our own right arms to us shall bring
  The victory and the spoils;
And Montezuma's halls shall ring,
  When there we end our toils.'
ON, then, ye brave' like tigers rage,
  That you may win your crown,
Mowing both infancy and age
  In ruthless carnage down.
Where flows the tide of life and light,
  Amid the city's hum,
There let the cry, at dead of night,
  Be heard, 'They come, they come!'
Mid scenes of sweet domestic bliss,
  Pour shells of livid fire,
While red-hot balls among them hiss,
  To make the work entire
And when the scream of agony
  Is heard above the din,
_Then_ ply your guns with energy,
  And throw your columns in
Thro' street and lane, thro' house and church,
  The sword and faggot hear,
And every inmost recess search,
  To fill with shrieks the air
Where waving fields and smiling homes
  Now deck the sunny plain,
And laughter-loving childhood roams
  Unmoved by care or pain;
Let famine gaunt and grim despair
  Behind you stalk along,
And pestilence taint all the air
  With victims from the strong
Let dogs from mangled beauty's cheeks
  The flesh and sinews tear,
And craunch the bones around for weeks,
  And gnaw the skulls till bare
Let vultures gather round the heaps
  Made up of man and beast,
And, while the widowed mother weeps,
  Indulge their horrid feast,
Till, startled by wild piteous groans,
  On dreary wings they rise,
To come again, mid dying moans,
  And tear out glazing eyes
_Tho'_ widows' tears, and orphans' cries,
  When starving round the spot
Where much-loved forms once met their eyes
  Which now are left to rot,
With trumpet-tongue, for vengeance call
  Upon each guilty head
That drowns, mid revelry and brawls,
  Remembrance of the dead.
_Tho'_ faint from fighting--wounded--wan,
  To camp you'll turn your feet,
And no sweet, smiling, happy home,
  Your saddened hearts will greet:
No hands of love--no eyes of light--
  Will make your wants their care,
Or soothe you thro' the dreary night,
  Or smooth your clotted hair.
But crushed by sickness, famine, thirst,
  You'll strive in vain to sleep,
Mid corpses mangled, blackened, burst,
  And blood and mire deep;
While horrid groans, and fiendish yells,
  And every loathsome stench,
Will kindle images of hell
  You'll strive in vain to quench.
Yet _on_--press on, in all your might,
  With banners to the field,
And mingle in the glorious fight,
  With Satan for your shield:
For marble columns, if you die,
  _May_ on them bear your name;
While papers, tho' they sometimes lie,
  Will praise you, or will blame.
Yet woe! to those who build a house,
  Or kingdom, not by right,--
Who in their feebleness propose
  Against the Lord to fight.
For when the Archangel's trumpet sounds,
  And all the dead shall hear,
And haste from earth's remotest bounds
  In judgment to appear,--
When every work, and word, and _thought_,
  Well known or hid from sight,
Before the Universe is brought
  To blaze in lines of light,--
When by the test of _perfect_ law
  Your '_glorious_' course is tried,
On what resources will you draw?--
  In what will you confide?
For know that eyes of awful light
  Burn on you from above,
Where nought but kindness meets the sight,
  And all the air is love.
When all unused to such employ
  As charms the angelic hands,
How can you hope to share their joy
  Who dwell in heavenly lands?"

Such was the poem of Frederick Alexander Armstrong. After its
rehearsal, a young gentleman _read_ a prose Essay on Education. It was
clever, and indicated a mind of a high order, but was too playful; and
the performance was severely criticised. Here ended the "public
declamation."




LETTER XVIII.

Visit to Lane Seminary (continued)--Dr. Beecher and his Gun--The
College Library--Dr. Stowe and his Hebrew Class--History of Lane
Seminary--Qualifications for Admission--The Curriculum--Manual
Labour--Expenses of Education--Results--Equality of Professors and
Students.


The "public declamation" ended, Dr. Beecher asked me to accompany him
to his house. It was about an eighth of a mile from the institution,
over a very bad road, or rather over no road at all. He conducted me
into a snug little sitting-room, having no grate; but a wood fire on
the floor under the chimney. It looked primitive and homely. This style
of fire is not uncommon in America. The logs of wood lie across two
horizontal bars of iron, by which they are raised four or six inches
from the floor. The Doctor's first care was to replenish the fire with
a few sturdy pieces of wood. All through the States, I have observed
that the task of feeding the fire generally devolves on the head of the
family. In this little room I was introduced to Mrs. Beecher. She is, I
believe, the third lady on whom the Doctor has conferred his name. In
one corner of this apartment was a gun, and on the sofa a heap of shot.
Thousands of wild pigeons were flying about. The visit of these birds
made the Doctor very uneasy. He was ever and anon snatching up his gun,
and going out to have a pop at them. Though upwards of seventy years of
age, he is an excellent marksman. It was to me a little odd to see a
venerable D.D., a Professor of Theology, handling a fowling-piece! The
Americans, have by circumstances been trained to great skill in the use
of fire-arms. The gun, however, proved a fatal instrument in the hands
of one of the Doctor's sons, a young man of great promise, who was
killed by the accidental explosion of one. Nevertheless, Dr. Beecher
has five sons, all (like himself) in the ministry! He has a maiden
daughter, who has distinguished herself by her literary attainments and
active benevolence. The excellent and accomplished wife of Dr. Stowe
was also a Miss Beecher.

At 1 o'clock P.M. we dined. The Professors never dine, or take any
other meal, with the assembled students. This is a disadvantage. But in
America eating, under any circumstances, is not so sociable a matter as
in England.

After dinner, I took my leave of Dr. Beecher, and went to see the
library of the institution. This is over the chapel, but so arranged as
not at all to detract from the just proportions of the building.
Indeed, no one would suspect that there was a story above. This library
was collected with great care and judgment by Dr. Stowe, in England and
on the continent of Europe, and contains 10,000 volumes! The
library-room is capable of receiving 30,000 volumes. But even now it is
the largest library on this side the Allegany Mountains. It comprises
not only the standard works in all the departments of a theological
course, but also a very rich variety of authors in general literature
and science. The books are arranged in alcoves according to their
character,--Theology--Biblical Literature--Classics--History--Philosophy;
and so forth.

There is a "Society of Inquiry" in connection with the seminary, which
has a distinct library of 326 volumes. "The Reading Room and Athenaeum"
is furnished with 21 newspapers, and several of the best literary and
theological periodicals.

From the library, my guide (one of the students) led me down into the
lecture-room, where Professor Stowe was engaged with a Hebrew class.
They were reading in the Song of Solomon. The exhibition did not strike
me as much superior to what we used to have at Rotherham College ten or
twelve years ago. In point of domestic _comfort_, the latter is
incomparably before Lane Seminary, and in literary advantages not far
behind. Professor Stowe kindly drove me back to Cincinnati in his
buggy, or waggon, or phaeton.

Lane Seminary is an institution devoted entirely to theological
education, in connection with the New-School Presbyterians. The
building, including chapel and library, cost about 50,000 dollars, or
10,000_l._, and must have been very cheap at that. In 1828-30, Ebenezer
Lane, Esq., and his brother Andrew Lane, Esq., made a donation of 4,000
dollars for the purpose of establishing the seminary, whereupon it was
incorporated under the name of "Lane Seminary," and trustees were
appointed. To these trustees the Rev. Mr. Kemper and his sons made
over, for the benefit of the institution, 60 acres of land, including
the site on which the buildings stand. In 1832 Arthur Tappan, Esq., of
New York, subscribed 20,000 dollars for the Professorship of Theology.
In the same year 15,000 dollars were raised for the Professorship of
Ecclesiastical History; the largest contributor to which was Ambrose
White, Esq., of Philadelphia: and an equal sum was contributed for the
Professorship of Biblical Literature,--Stephen Van Rennselaer, Esq., of
Albany, being the chief contributor. In 1835, a fund of 20,000 dollars
was raised for the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric, of which a large
portion was given by John Tappan, Esq., of Boston. A literary
department was organized in 1829, which was discontinued in 1834; at
which period the institution, in its full operation as a Theological
Seminary, may be said to have commenced. Since then it has sent forth
about 250 ministers!

Candidates for admission must produce satisfactory testimonials, that
they are members, in good standing, of some Christian Church; that they
possess competent talents; and that they have regularly graduated at
some college or university, or have pursued a course of study
equivalent to the common college course.

The course of study occupies three years; and every student is expected
to enter with the intention of completing the full course. So far as
practicable, the different branches are pursued simultaneously. Thus
the department of Biblical Literature, during the first year, occupies
three days in the week; during the second, two; and during the third,
one: Church History, one day in the week: Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral
Theology, one day in the week during the first year, two the second,
and three the third. The object of this arrangement is to afford a
pleasant variety in study, and to keep up a proper interest in all the
departments through the whole course. "Hitherto," it is stated, "the
plan has been pursued with results highly satisfactory to the Faculty."
Theological students may be glad to learn the following particulars of
the whole course.

I. BIBLICAL LITERATURE.--This department embraces--1. Biblical
Geography and Antiquities. 2. Principles of Biblical Interpretation. 3.
General Introduction to the Old and New Testaments, and Particular
Introduction to the Pentateuch, Gospels, and Acts. 4. Interpretation of
the Gospels in Harmony and of the Acts. 5. Interpretation of the
Historical Writings of Moses. 6. Particular Introduction to the several
Books of the Old and New Testaments. 7. Hebrew Poetry, including
Figurative and Symbolical Language of Scripture. 8. Interpretation of
Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. 9. Epistles to Romans, Corinthians,
Timothy, and I Peter. 10. Nature and Fulfilment of Prophecy,
particularly in reference to the Messiah. 11. Interpretation of Isaiah,
Zechariah, and Nahum. 12. The Revelation, in connection with Daniel.

II. CHURCH HISTORY AND POLITY.--In this department a regular course of
lectures is given on the History of Doctrines to all the classes, and
on Church Polity to the senior classes.

III. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.--In this department are included--1. Cause
and Effect. 2. Mental Philosophy. 3. Atheism, its History and
Hypothesis, Arguments, Objections, and Folly. 4. The Being, Character,
and Attributes of God. 5. Reason, Light of Nature, Necessity of
Revelation. 6. The Truth and Inspiration of the Bible. 7. Doctrine of
Revelation.

IV. SACRED RHETORIC AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY. _First Year_.--Lectures on
Rhetoric and Elocution. Exercises in Reading and Elocution. _Second
Year_.--Written Discussions, with Public Criticism in the class. _Third
Year_.--Exercises in criticising Skeletons continued. Public and
Private Criticism of Sermons. Lectures on Preaching and on Pastoral
Duties.

The annual term of study begins on the second Wednesday in September,
and closes on the second Wednesday in June, which is the Anniversary.
The term closes with a public examination.

Dr. Andrew Reed, who visited Lane Seminary in 1834, refers to it as a
_model_ manual-labour institution. With the advancement of society
around, it has lost in a great measure that peculiarity. There is now
but little done in that way, though it is still recorded in italics
among its regulations, that "every student is expected to labour three
hours a day at some agricultural or mechanical business." "While the
leading aim of this regulation," it is added, "is to promote health and
vigour of both body and mind, compensation is received according to the
value of the labour."

No charge is made for tuition. Rooms are fully furnished and rented at
5 dollars a year from each student. The incidental expenses, including
fuel and light for public rooms, ringing the bell, and sweeping, are 5
dollars more. The room-rent and incidental bill are paid in advance.
For the aid of indigent students funds are collected annually, by means
of which board is furnished to such gratuitously. To those who receive
no assistance from the funds, the price of board is about 90 cents a
week. The cost of fuel and lights for each student, in his own room,
will average from 8 to 12 dollars a year. Thus the entire expense to a
young man for a whole term of nine months is only from 50 to 60
dollars, or from 10 to 12 guineas of our money.

"The results of these thirteen years of labour," say the trustees in a
document recently issued, "considering the difficulties attending the
establishment of such an institution in a new country, amid a
population as yet unassimilated in feelings and habits, and whose
schools, academies, and colleges are of comparatively recent origin,
are indeed highly encouraging. The friends of the institution, and of
religion and learning generally, thankful for what has already been
accomplished, will feel encouraged to do whatever may be necessary for
the highest efficiency of the seminary; and will give their prayers
that the labours of the 300 young men, who have enjoyed or now enjoy
its advantages," (there being about 50 then in the house,) "may be
abundantly blessed by the Head of the Church."

Lane Seminary is a valuable and catholic institution. At their
entrance, the students have to subscribe to no confession of faith;
and, when they have completed their curriculum, they are at perfect
liberty to exercise their ministry among whatever denomination they
please. Congregational as well as Presbyterial Churches obtain pastors
from this "school of the prophets."

The "Faculty" at present consists of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D.D.,
President, and Professor of Theology; the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, D.D.,
Professor of Biblical Literature, and Lecturer on Church History; and
the Rev. D. Howe Allen, Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral
Theology, and Lecturer on Church Polity.

Nothing struck me more than the feeling of equality that seemed to
subsist between students and professors. The latter, in speaking to or
of any of the former, would generally say "Brother" So-and-so. The
students also, in their bearing towards the professors, seemed each to
say, "I am as good a man as you are." This is the genius of America.
You meet it everywhere. There man is man (except his skin be black),
and he expects to be treated as such. Respect to superiors is not among
the maxims of our Transatlantic brethren. The organ of veneration is,
perhaps, imperfectly developed.




LETTER XIX.

A Sabbath at Cincinnati--The Second Presbyterian Church--Mutilation of
a Popular Hymn--The Rushing Habit--A wrong "Guess"--A German
Sunday-School--Visit to a Church of Coloured People--Engagement at the
Welsh "Church"--Monthly Concert--The Medical College of Ohio--Tea at
the House of a Coloured Minister.


On the previous Friday, Professor Allen called to request me to preach
in his stead at the Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, the
28th of February, as he had to go some twenty miles into the country to
"assist at a revival." I agreed to do so. Sunday morning was
excessively cold, with a heavy fall of snow. On arriving at the
"church," I found there was no vestry. Indeed, a vestry, as a private
room for the minister, is seldom found in America. The places are
exceedingly neat and comfortable, but they want _that_ convenience. I
had therefore to go with my hat and top-coat, covered with snow, right
into the pulpit. This church outside is a noble-looking building, with
massive pillars in front, and a bell-tower containing a town-clock; but
the interior seemed comparatively small. It had a gallery at one end,
which held only the singers and the organ. The seats below were not
more than one-third full. Dr. Beecher ministered in this place for
about ten years. It was now without a pastor, but was temporarily
supplied by Professor Allen. The congregation was far more decorous and
attentive than those in New Orleans. After the introductory service,
and while the hymn before sermon was being sung, a man came trudging
down the aisle, bearing an immense scuttle full of coals to supply the
stoves. How easy it would have been before service to place a box of
fuel in the vicinity of each stove, and thereby avoid this unseemly
bustle! But in the singing of the hymn, I found something to surprise
and offend me even more than the coal-scuttle. The hymn was--

  "O'er the gloomy hills of darkness," &c.

I had selected it myself; but when I got to the second verse, where I
had expected to find

  "Let the Indian, let the negro,
   Let the rude barbarian see," &c.,

lo! "the Indian." and "the negro" had vanished, and

  "Let the dark benighted pagan"

was substituted. A wretched alteration,--as feeble and tautological in
effect as it is suspicious in design. The altered reading, I learned,
prevails universally in America, except in the _original_ version used
by the Welsh congregations. Slave-holders, and the abettors of that
horrid system which makes it a crime to teach a negro to read the Word
of God, felt perhaps that they could not devoutly and consistently sing

  "Let the Indian, let the negro," &c.

This church, I heard, was more polluted with a pro-slavery feeling than
any other in Cincinnati of the same denomination,--a circumstance
which, I believe, had something to do with Dr. Beecher's resignation of
the pastorate.

At the close of the sermon, having pronounced the benediction, I
engaged, according to our English custom, in a short act of private
devotion. When I raised my head and opened my eyes, the very last man
of the congregation was actually making his exit through the doorway;
and it was quite as much as I could manage to put on my top-coat and
gloves and reach the door before the sexton closed it. This rushing
habit in the House of God strikes a stranger as rude and irreverent.
You meet with no indications of private devotion, either preceding or
following public worship. A man marches into his pew, or his pulpit,
sits down, wipes his nose, and stares at all about him; and at the
close, the moment the "Amen" is uttered, he is off with as much speed
as if the house were on fire. In this instance, the service had not
exceeded an hour and a half; and yet they hurried out as if they
thought the beef was all burnt, and the pudding all spoiled. Of course,
there were no thanks to the stranger for his services,--to say nothing
of the _quiddam honorarium_, which to a man travelling for health, at
his own expense, with an invalid wife, might have been supposed not
unacceptable.

When, however, I got to the portico outside, a gentleman, with his
wife, was waiting to see me before they stepped into their carriage.
Here was some token of politeness and hospitality,--an invitation to
dinner, no doubt.--"Thank you, sir, I am very much obliged to you; but
I left my wife very ill at our lodgings this morning, and therefore I
cannot have the pleasure to dine with you to-day," was the civil excuse
I was preparing. Never was expectation more beside the mark. My "guess"
was altogether wrong. "What are you going to do with yourself this
afternoon?" was the gentleman's blunt salutation. "What have _you_ to
propose, sir?" was my reply. "I am the superintendent," he said, "of a
German Sunday-school in the upper part of the city, and I should like
you to come and address the children this afternoon." I promised to go,
and he to send to my "lodgings" for me. We both kept our appointment.
The number of scholars was about 100. This effort to bring the Germans
under a right religious influence is very laudable; for there are about
10,000 of that people in Cincinnati. One quarter of the city is
entirely German. You see nothing else on the sign-boards; you hear
nothing else in the streets. Of these Germans the greater part are
Roman Catholics.

After visiting the school, I found myself in time to attend one of the
chapels of the coloured people at 3 P.M. A medical student, whom I had
met in the morning, and again at the German school, accompanied me. He
was a New Englander, and a thorough anti-slavery man. When we got to
the chapel--a Baptist one--they were at prayer. Walking in softly, we
entered a pew right in the midst of them. The minister--a mulatto of
about thirty years of age, with a fine intelligent eye--was very simple
in dress, and unostentatious in manner. His language, too, was
appropriate and correct. He was evidently a man of good common sense.
His text was Psalm li. l2, l3. He referred very properly to the
occasion on which the Psalm was composed, and drew from the text a
large mass of sound practical instruction. The chapel (capable of
containing about 150 people) was only half-full. Before the sermon, I
had observed a very old negro, in a large shabby camlet cloak and a
black cap, ascending the pulpit-stairs. I supposed that, being dull of
hearing, he had taken that position that he might better listen to the
service. However, when the sermon was over, this patriarchal-looking
black man rose to pray; and he prayed "like a bishop," with astonishing
correctness and fluency! He was formerly a slave in Kentucky, and was
at this time about eighty years of age. They call him "Father Watkins."
At the close I introduced myself to him and to the minister. They both
expressed regret that they had not had me up in the pulpit, to tell
them something, as "Father Watkins" said, about their "brothers and
sisters on the other side of the water." The minister gave me his card,
and invited me and my wife to take tea with him on Tuesday afternoon.
This was the first invitation I received within the city of Cincinnati
to take a meal anywhere; and it was the more interesting to me as
coming from a coloured man.

In the evening I went, according to appointment, to the Welsh Chapel.
There I met a Mr. Bushnel, an American missionary from the Gaboon
River, on the western coast of Africa. He first spoke in English, and I
afterwards a little in Welsh; gladly embracing the opportunity to
exhort my countrymen in that "Far West" to feel kindly and tenderly
towards the coloured race among them; asking them how they would
themselves feel if, as Welshmen, they were branded and despised
wherever they went! I was grieved to see the excess to which they
carried the filthy habit of spitting. The coloured people in _their_
chapel were incomparably cleaner in that respect.

In the morning a notice had been put into my hand at the Presbyterian
Church for announcement, to the effect that Mr. Bushnel and myself
would address the "monthly concert at the church in Sixth-street" on
the morrow evening. Of this arrangement not a syllable had been said to
me beforehand. This was American liberty, and I quietly submitted to
it. The attendance was not large; and we two missionaries had it all to
ourselves. No other ministers were present,--not even the minister of
the church in which we were assembled. The people, however, seemed
heartily interested in the subject of missions. At the close, a lady
from Manchester, who had seen me there in 1845 at the missionary
meeting, came forward full of affection to shake hands. She was a
member of Mr. Griffin's church in that city, and had removed to America
a few months before, with her husband (who is a member of the "Society
of Friends") and children. I was glad to find that they were likely to
be comfortable in their adopted country.

Next morning I went with Dr. Reuben D. Mussey, a New Englander, to see
the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Mussey is the Professor of Surgery and
Dean of the Faculty, and is highly esteemed for his professional skill
and general character. He and his son, who was my guide on the Sunday,
very kindly showed and explained to me everything of interest in the
institution. The cabinet belonging to the anatomical department is
supplied with all the materials necessary for acquiring a minute and
perfect knowledge of the human frame. These consist of detached bones,
of wired natural skeletons, and of dried preparations to exhibit the
muscles, bloodvessels, nerves, &c. The cabinet of comparative anatomy
is supposed to be more extensively supplied than any other in the
United States. Besides perfect skeletons of American and foreign birds
and other animals, there is an immense number of detached _crania_,
from the elephant and hippopotamus down to the minuter orders. The
cabinet in the surgical department has been formed at great expense,
chiefly by Dr. Mussey himself, during the labour of more than forty
years. It contains a large number of rare specimens,--600 specimens of
diseased bones alone. Other departments are equally well furnished. The
Faculty is composed of six Professorships,--Surgery, Anatomy and
Physiology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Obstetrics and
Diseases of Women and Children, and the Theory and Practice of
Medicine. The fees of tuition are only 15 dollars, or 3 guineas, to
each professor, making an aggregate of 90 dollars. There were 190
students. It will probably be admitted that this institution, formed in
a new country, has arrived at an astonishing degree of vigour and
maturity. It is only one of many instances in which the Americans are
before us in the facilities afforded for professional education.

In the afternoon my wife and myself went to take tea with the coloured
minister. His dwelling, though small and humble, was neat and clean.
With his intelligence and general information we were quite delighted.
He spoke with feeling of the gross insults to which the coloured
people, even in this free State, are exposed. When they travel by
railway, though they pay the same fare as other people, they are
generally put in the luggage-van! He had himself, when on board of
steam-boats, often been sent to the "pantry" to eat his food. Nor will
the white people employ them but in the most menial offices; so that it
is nearly impossible for them to rise to affluence and horse-and-gig
respectability. The consequence is that they are deeply and justly
disaffected towards the American people and the American laws. They
clearly understand that England is their friend. For one month all the
free coloured people wore crape as mourning for Thomas Clarkson.




LETTER XX.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The New Roman Catholic Cathedral--The
Rev. C. B. Boynton and Congregationalism--"The Herald of a New
Era"--American Nationality.


A lady, belonging to the Presbyterian Church at which I preached,
kindly sent her carriage to take us about to see the city. We visited
the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, one of the principal "lions." It was
begun in 1841, and, though used for public worship, is not yet
finished. The building is a parallelogram of 200 feet long by 80 feet
wide, and is 58 feet from the floor to the ceiling. The roof is partly
supported by the side walls, and partly by two rows of freestone
columns--nine in each row--at a distance of about 11 feet from the wall
inside. These columns are of the Corinthian Order, and are 35 feet
high, and 3 feet 6 inches in diameter. There is no gallery, except at
one end, for the organ, which cost 5,400 dollars, or about 1,100_l._
sterling. The floor of the building is furnished with a centre aisle of
6 feet wide, and two other aisles, each 11 feet wide, along the side
walls, for processional purposes. The remainder of the area is formed
into 140 pews, 10 feet deep. Each pew will accommodate with comfort
only six persons; so that this immense edifice affords sitting room for
no more than 840 people! It is a magnificent structure, displaying in
all its proportions a remarkable degree of elegance and taste. The
tower, when finished, will present an elevation of 200 feet, with a
portico of twelve Corinthian columns, six in front and three on either
side, on the model of the Tower of the Wind at Athens. The entire
building will be Grecian in all its parts. One-fourth of the population
of Cincinnati are Roman Catholics. They have lately discontinued the
use of public government-schools for their children, and have
established some of their own, I am not so much alarmed at the progress
of Popery in America as I was before I visited that country. Its
proselytes are exceedingly few. Its supporters consist chiefly of the
thousands of Europeans, already Roman Catholic, who flock to the New
World. The real _progress_ of Popery is greater in Britain than in
America.

In the evening I preached for Mr. Boynton in the "Sixth-street Church,"
Mr. Boynton and his Church, heretofore Presbyterians, have recently
become Congregationalists. This has given great umbrage to the
Presbyterians. Congregationalism is rapidly gaining ground in the
Western World, and seems destined there, as in England since Cromwell's
time, to swallow up Presbyterianism. I make no invidious comparison
between the two systems: I merely look at facts. And it does appear to
me that Congregationalism--so simple, so free, so unsectarian, and so
catholic--is nevertheless a powerful absorbent. It _has_ absorbed all
that was orthodox in the old Presbyterian Churches of England; and it
_is_ absorbing the Calvinistic Methodists and the churches named after
the Countess of Huntingdon. It has all along exerted a powerful
influence on the Presbyterianism of America. The Congregational element
diffused among those churches occasioned the division of the
Presbyterian Church into Old School and New School.

Mr. Boynton is what a friend of mine called "intensely American." He
has lately published, under the title of "Our Country the Herald of a
New Era," a lecture delivered before the "Young Men's Mercantile
Library Association." To show the magnificent ideas the Americans
entertain of themselves and their country, I will transcribe a few
passages.

"This nation is an enigma, whose import no man as yet may fully know.
She is a germ of boundless things. The unfolded bud excites the hope of
one-half the human race, while it stirs the remainder with both anger
and alarm. Who shall now paint the beauty and attraction of the
expanded flower? Our Eagle is scarcely fledged; but one wing stretches
over Massachusetts Bay, and the other touches the mouth of the
Columbia. Who shall say, then, what lands shall be overshadowed by the
full-grown pinion? Who shall point to any spot of the northern
continent, and say, with certainty, Here the starry banner shall never
be hailed as the symbol of dominion? [The annexation of Canada!] * * *
It cannot be disguised that the idea is gathering strength among us,
that the territorial mission of this nation is to obtain and hold at
least all that lies north of Panama. * * * Whether the millions that
are to dwell on the great Pacific slope of our continent are to
acknowledge our banner, or rally to standards of their own; whether
Mexico is to become ours by sudden conquest or gradual absorption;
whether the British provinces, when they pass from beneath the sceptre
of England, shall be incorporated with us, or retain an independent
dominion;--are perhaps questions which a not distant future may decide.
However they may be settled, the great fact will remain essentially the
same, that the two continents of this Western Hemisphere shall yet bear
up a stupendous social, political, and religious structure, wrought by
the American mind, moulded and coloured by the hues of American
thought, and animated and united by an American soul. It seems equally
certain that, whatever the divisions of territory may be, these United
States are the living centre, from which already flows the resistless
stream which will ultimately absorb in its own channel, and bear on its
own current, the whole thought of the two Americas. * * * If, then, I
have not over-rated the moral and intellectual vigour of the people of
this nation, and of the policy lately avowed to be acted upon--that the
further occupation of American soil by the Governments of Europe is not
to be suffered,--then the inference is a direct one, that the stronger
elements will control and absorb the lesser, so that the same causes
which melted the red races away will send the influence of the United
States not only over the territory north of Panama, but across the
Isthmus, and southward to Magellan."

The "New Era" of which America is the "Herald" is, he tells us, to be
marked by three grand characteristics,--

"First. A new theory and practice in government and in social life,
such as the world has never seen, of which we only perceive the germ as
yet." Already have you indeed presented before the world your "peculiar
institution" of slavery in a light new and striking. Already have you a
"theory and practice" in the government of slaves such as the world
never beheld!

"Second. A literature which shall not only be the proper outgrowth of
the American mind, but which shall form a distinctive school, as
clearly so as the literature of Greece!" Under this head he says, "Very
much would I prefer that our literature should appear even in the guise
of the awkward, speculating, guessing, but still original,
strong-minded _American_ Yankee, than to see it mincing in the costume
of a London dandy. I would rather see it, if need be, showing the wild
rough strength, the naturalness and fervour of the extreme West,
equally prepared to liquor with a stranger or to fight with him, than
to see it clad in the gay but filthy garments of the saloons of Paris.
Nay more, much as every right mind abhors and detests such things, I
would sooner behold our literature holding in one hand the murderous
Bowie knife, and in the other the pistol of the duellist, than to see
her laden with the foul secrets of a London hell, or the gaming-houses
of Paris. * * * If we must meet with vice in our literature, let it be
the growth of our own soil; for I think our own rascality has yet the
healthier aspect."

"Third. A new era in the fine arts, from which future ages shall derive
their models and their inspirations, as we do from Greece and Italy. *
* * So far as scenery is concerned in the moulding of character, we may
safely expect that a country where vastness and beauty are so
wonderfully blended will stamp upon the national soul its own magestic
and glorious image. It must be so. The mind will expand itself to the
measure of things about it. Deep in the wide American soul there shall
be Lake Superiors, inland oceans of thought; and the streams of her
eloquence shall be like the sweep of the Mississippi in his strength.
The rugged strength of the New England hills, the luxuriance of the
sunny South, the measureless expanse of the prairie, the broad flow of
our rivers, the dashing of our cataracts, the huge battlements of the
everlasting mountains,--these are _American_. On the face of the globe
there is nothing like to them. When therefore these various influences
have been thoroughly wrought into the national soul, there will be such
a correspondence between man and the works of God about him, that our
music, our poetry, our eloquence, our all, shall be our own, individual
and peculiar, like the Amazon and the Andes, the Mississippi and
Niagara, alone in their strength and glory."

Now, mark you! amidst all these splendid visions of the future, there
is no vision of liberty for 3,000,000 of slaves. That idea was too
small to find a place among conceptions so vast. The lecture contains
not a syllable of reference to them. On the contrary, the empty boast
of freedom is heard in the following words of solemn mockery: "_The
soul of man_ here no longer sits _bound_ and blind amid the despotic
forms of the past; it walks abroad _without a shackle_, and with an
uncovered eye." It follows then that there is an essential difference
between "the soul of man" and the soul of "nigger," or rather that
"niggers" have no soul at all. How _can_ men of sense, and especially
ministers of the Gospel, sit down to pen such fustian? These extracts
show how intensely national the Americans are, and consequently how
futile the apology for the existence of slavery so often presented,
that one State can no more interfere with the affairs of another State
than the people of England can with France and the other countries of
the European continent. The Americans are to all intents and purposes
_one_ people. In short, the identity of feeling among the _States_ of
the Union is more complete than among the _counties_ of Great Britain.

On the morning of the 4th of March, Dr. Stowe called to invite me to
address the students at Lane Seminary, on the following Sabbath
evening, on the subject of missions and the working of freedom in the
West Indies. I readily promised to comply, glad of an opportunity to
address so many of the future pastors of the American Churches, who
will occupy the field when emancipation is sure to be the great
question of the day. In fact, it is so already.




LETTER XXI.

Stay at Cincinnati (continued)--The Orphan Asylum--A Coloured Man and a
White Fop treated as each deserved--A Trip across to Covington--Mr.
Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children--"The Fugitive Slave to
the Christian"--Sabbath--Mr. Boynton--Dr. Beecher--Lane
Seminary--Departure from Cincinnati.


In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B---- to see an Orphan Asylum,
in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I
took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and
anti-colour-hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is
capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at
that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one
apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and
conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place.

_Myself._--"Now, Mrs. B, this place is very beautiful: I admire it
exceedingly. Would you refuse a little _coloured_ orphan admission into
this asylum?"

_The Lady._ (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look
of horror and indignation),--"Indeed, we would!"

_Myself._--"Oh, shocking! shocking!"

_The Lady._--"Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children;
they are not neglected."

_Myself._--"Ay, but why should they not be together?--why should there
be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?"

_The Lady._ (in a tone of triumph).--"Why has God made such a
distinction between them?"

_Myself._--"And why has he made such a distinction between me and Tom
Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6
inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from
society on account of his stature as his colour."

At this moment my wife, seeing I was waxing warm, pulled me by the
coat-tail, and I said no more. The lady, however, went on to say that
she was opposed to slavery--was a colonizationist, and heartily wished
all the coloured people were back again in their own country. "In their
own country, indeed!" I was going to say,--"why, this is their country
as much as it is yours;" but I remembered my wife's admonition, and
held my peace. These were the sentiments of a lady first and foremost
in the charitable movements of the day, and regarded by those around
her as a pattern of piety and benevolence. She was shocked at the
notion of the poor coloured orphan mingling with fellow-orphans of a
fairer hue.

In the evening we went to take tea at the house of an English Quaker.
About half-a-dozen friends had been invited to meet us. These were
kindred spirits, anti-slavery out-and-out, and we spent the evening
very pleasantly. One of the company, in speaking of the American
prejudice against colour, mentioned a remarkable circumstance. Some
time ago, at an hotel in one of the Eastern States, a highly
respectable coloured gentleman, well known to the host and to his
guests, was about to sit down at the dinner table. A military
officer--a conceited puppy--asked the landlord if that "nigger" was
going to sit down? The landlord replied in the affirmative. "Then,"
said the fop, "_I_ cannot sit down with a nigger." The rest of the
company, understanding what was going forward, rose as one man from
their seats, ordered another table to be spread, and presented a
respectful invitation to the coloured gentleman to take a seat with
them. The military dandy was left at the first table, "alone in his
glory." When thus humbled, and when he also understood who the coloured
man was, he went up to him to apologize in the best way he could, and
to beg that the offence might be forgotten. The coloured gentleman's
reply was beautiful and touching,--"Favours I write on marble, insults
on sand."

On the morning of the 5th of March, the sun shining pleasantly, we were
tempted to cross over to Covington, on the Kentucky or slave side of
the river. Ferry-steamers ran every five or ten minutes, and the fare
was only 5 cents. At this place the Baptists have a large and important
college. Why did they erect it on the slave rather than on the free
side of the Ohio? This institution I was anxious to see; but I found it
too far off, and the roads too bad. Feeling weary and faint, we called
at a house of refreshment, where we had a genuine specimen of American
inquisitiveness.

In five minutes the daughter of the house had asked us where we came
from--what sort of a place it was--how long we had been in the United
States--how long it took us to come--how far we were going--how long we
should stay--and if we did not like that part of America so well that
we would come and settle in it altogether! and in five minutes more our
answers to all these important questions had been duly reported to the
rest of the family in an adjoining room. This inquisitiveness prevails
more in the slave than in the free States, and originates, I believe,
in the fidgetty anxiety they feel about their slaves. The stranger must
be well catechised, lest he should prove to be an Abolitionist come to
give the slaves a sly lesson in geography.

In the afternoon I went to see the school of the coloured children in
Cincinnati. This was established about four years ago by a Mr. Gilmore,
a white gentleman, who is also a minister of the Gospel. He is a man of
some property, and all connected with this school has been done at his
own risk and responsibility. On my venturing to inquire what sacrifice
of property he had made in the undertaking, he seemed hurt at the
question, and replied, "No sacrifice whatever, sir." "But what, may I
ask, have these operations cost beyond what you have received in the
way of school-fees?" I continued. "About 7,000 dollars," (1,500_l._)
said he. Including two or three branches, there are about 300 coloured
children thus educated. Mr. Gilmore was at first much opposed and
ridiculed; but that state of feeling was beginning to wear away.
Several of the children were so fair that, accustomed as I am to shades
of colour, I could not distinguish them from the Anglo-Saxon race; and
yet Mr. Gilmore told me even they would not have been admitted to the
other public schools! How discerning the Americans are! How proud of
their skin-deep aristocracy! And the author of "Cincinnati in 1841," in
speaking of those very schools from which these fair children were
excluded, says, "These schools are founded not merely on the principle
that all men are free and equal, but that all men's children are so
likewise; and that, as it is our duty to love our neighbour as
ourselves, it is our duty to provide the same benefits and blessings to
his children as to our own. These establishments result from the
recognition of the fact also, that we have all a common
interest--moral, political, and pecuniary--in the education of the
whole community." Those gloriously exclusive schools I had no wish to
visit. But I felt a peculiar pleasure in visiting this humbler yet
well-conducted institution, for the benefit of those who are despised
and degraded on account of their colour. As I entered, a music-master
was teaching them, with the aid of a piano, to sing some select pieces
for an approaching examination, both the instrument and the master
having been provided by the generous Gilmore. Even the music-master,
notwithstanding his first-rate ability, suffers considerable loss of
patronage on account of his services in this branded school. Among the
pieces sung, and sung exceedingly well, was the following touching
appeal, headed "The Fugitive Slave to the Christian"--Air,
"Cracovienne."

"The fetters galled my weary soul,--
  A soul that seemed but thrown away:
I spurned the tyrant's base control,
  Resolved at last the man to play:
    The hounds are haying on my track;
    O Christian! will you send me back?

"I felt the stripes,--the lash I saw,
  Red dripping with a father's gore;
And, worst of all their lawless law,
  The insults that my mother bore!
    The hounds are baying on my track;
    O Christian! will you send me back?

"Where human law o'errules Divine,
  Beneath the sheriff's hammer fell
My wife and babes,--I call them mine,--
  And where they suffer who can tell?
    The hounds are baying on my track;
    O Christian! will you send me back?

"I seek a home where man is man,
  If such there be upon this earth,--
To draw my kindred, if I can,
  Around its free though humble hearth.
    The hounds are baying on my track;
    O Christian! will you send me back?"

March 7.--This being the Sabbath, we went in the morning to worship at
Mr. Boynton's church. The day was very wet, and the congregation small.
His text was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." The sermon, though read, and composed
too much in the essay style, indicated considerable powers of mind and
fidelity of ministerial character. Although from incessant rain the day
was very dark, the Venetian blinds were down over all the windows! The
Americans, I have since observed, are particularly fond of the "dim
religious light." Among the announcements from the pulpit were several
funerals, which it is there customary thus to advertise.

In the afternoon I heard Dr. Beecher. Here, again, I found the blinds
down. The Doctor's text was, "Let me first go and bury my father," &c.
Without at all noticing the context,--an omission which I
regretted,--he proceeded at once to state the doctrine of the text to
be, that nothing can excuse the putting off of religion--that it is
every man's duty to follow Christ immediately. This subject,
notwithstanding the heaviness of the day, the infirmities of more than
threescore years and ten (74), and the frequent necessity of adjusting
his spectacles to consult his notes, he handled with much vigour and
zeal. Some of his pronunciations were rather antiquated; but they were
the elegant New England pronunciations of his youthful days. The sermon
was marked by that close and faithful dealing with the conscience in
which so many American ministers excel.

Professor Allen called to take me up to Lane Seminary, where I was to
address the students in the evening. The service was public, and held
in the chapel of the institution; but the evening being wet, the
congregation was small. I had, however, before me the future pastors of
about fifty churches, and two of the professors. I was domiciled at Mr.
Allen's. Both he and his intelligent wife are sound on the subject of
slavery. They are also quite above the contemptible prejudice against
colour. But I was sorry to hear Mrs. Allen say, that, in her domestic
arrangements, she had often had a great deal of trouble with her
_European_ servants, who would refuse to take their meals with black
ones, though the latter were in every respect superior to the former! I
have heard similar remarks in other parts of America. Mr. Allen's
system of domestic training appeared excellent. His children, of whom
he has as many as the patriarch Jacob, were among the loveliest I had
ever seen.

At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 8th of March I left Lane Seminary,
with a heavy heart at the thought that in all probability I should
never see it again. There was a sharp frost. Dr. Stowe accompanied me
to the omnibus. "All right!"--"_Pax vobiscum!_"--the vehicle moved on,
and directly the Doctor was at a distance of a hundred yards waving a
farewell. It was the last look.

At 11 A.M. myself, wife, baggage,--all were setting off from the "Queen
City" for Pittsburgh, a distance of 496 miles, in the Clipper No. 2, a
fine boat, and in good hands.




LETTER XXII.

Cincinnati--Its History and Progress--Its Trade and Commerce--Its
Periodical Press--Its Church Accommodation--Its Future Prospects
--Steaming up the Ohio--Contrast between Freedom and Slavery--An
Indian Mound--Splendid Scenery--Coal Hills.


Before proceeding with our trip to Pittsburg, I will bring together all
the material points of information I have gathered relative to
Cincinnati.

1. _Its History and Progress_.--The first year of the present century
found here but 750 inhabitants. In 1810 there were 2,540; in 1820,
9,602; in 1830, 24,381; in 1840, 46,382. At present the population is
estimated at 80,000. The coloured population forms one twenty-fifth, or
4 per cent., of the whole. The native Europeans form one-fifth of the
white population.

2. _Its Trade and Commerce_.--The principal trade is in pork.  Hence
the nickname of _Porkapolis_. The yearly value of pork packed and
exported is about five millions of dollars, or one million of guineas!
As a proof of the amazing activity which characterizes all the details
of cutting, curing, packing, &c., I have been credibly informed that
two men, in one of the pork-houses, cut up in less than thirteen hours
850 hogs, averaging 300 lbs. each,--two others placing them on the
block for the purpose. All these hogs were weighed singly on scales in
the course of eleven hours. Another hand trimmed the hams, 1,700
pieces, in "Cincinnati style," as fast as they were separated from the
carcases. The hogs were thus cut up and disposed of at the rate of more
than one per minute! And this, I was told, was not much beyond the
ordinary day's work at the pork-houses.

Steam-boat building is another important branch of trade in this place.

                                                        DOLLARS.
In 1840 there were built here 33 boats of 15,341 tons,
  costing                                               592,600
  1844    "       "          37   "       7,838   "     542,500
  1845    "       "          27   "       6,609   "     506,500

3. _Its Periodical Press_.--There are sixteen daily papers! Of these,
thirteen issue also a weekly number. Besides these, there are seventeen
weekly papers unconnected with daily issues. But Cincinnati is liberal
in her patronage of eastern publications. During the year 1845 one
house, that of Robinson and Jones, the principal periodical depot in
the city, and through which the great body of the people are supplied
with this sort of literature, sold of

Magazines and Periodicals                29,822  numbers.
Newspapers                               25,390[1] "
Serial Publications                      30,826    "
Works of Fiction                         48,961    "     !

[Footnote 1: Besides an immense quantity sent direct per mail!]

It is estimated that the people of the United States, at the present
time, support 1,200 newspapers. There being no stamp-duty, no duty on
paper, and none on advertisements, the yearly cost of a daily paper,
such as the _New York Tribune_ for instance, is only 5 dollars, or one
guinea. The price of a single copy of such papers is only 2 cents, or
one penny; and many papers are only one cent, or a half-penny per copy.

4. _Its Church Accommodation_.--By the close of the year 1845 the
voluntary principle, without any governmental or municipal aid
whatever, had provided the following places of worship:--

Presbyterian         12      New Jerusalem    1
Methodist Episcopal  12      Universalist     1
Roman Catholic        7      Second Advent    1
Baptist               5      Mormons          1
Lutheran              5      Friends          1
Protestant Episcopal  4      Congregational   1
"Christian Disciples" 4      Restorationists  1
Methodist Protestants 3      United Brethren  1
Jewish                2      "Christians"     1
Welsh                 2
German Reformed       2      Total           67

This number of places of worship, at an average of 600 persons to each,
would afford accommodation for nearly two-thirds of what the entire
population was at that time; and surely two-thirds of any community is
quite as large a proportion as can, under the most favourable
circumstances, be expected to attend places of worship at any given
time. Behold, then, the strength and efficiency of the voluntary
principle! This young city, with all its wants, is far better furnished
with places of worship than the generality of commercial and
manufacturing towns in England.

Dr. Reed visited Cincinnati in 1834. He gives the population at that
time at 30,000, and the places of worship as follows. I insert them
that you may see at a glance what the voluntary principle did in the
eleven years that followed.

Presbyterian          6    Campbellite Baptists   1
Methodist             4    Jews                   1
Baptist               2                          --
Episcopalian          2    Total in 1834         21
German Lutheran       2    Do. in 1845           67
Unitarian             1                          --
Roman Catholic        1    Increase              46
Swedes                1

5. _Its Future Prospects_.--The author of "Cincinnati in 1841" says, "I
venture the prediction that within 100 years from this time Cincinnati
will be the greatest city in America, and by the year of our Lord 2,000
the greatest city in the world." Our cousin here uses the superlative
degree when the comparative would be more appropriate. Deduct 80 or 90
per cent, from this calculation, and you still leave before this city a
bright prospect of future greatness.

We must, however, bid adieu to this "Queen of the West," and pursue our
course against the Ohio's current towards Pittsburg. We steam along
between freedom and slavery. The contrast is striking. On this subject
the remarks of the keen and philosophic M. de Tocqueville are so
accurate, and so much to the point, that I cannot do better than
transcribe and endorse them.

"A century had scarcely elapsed since the foundation of the colonies,
when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact
that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves
increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity, more rapidly
than those which contained the greatest number of negroes. In the
former, however, the inhabitants were obliged to cultivate the soil
themselves, or by hired labourers; in the latter, they were furnished
with hands for which they paid no wages: yet, although labour and
expense were on the one side, and ease with economy on the other, the
former were in possession of the most advantageous system. * * * The
more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so
cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master.

"But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization
reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had
distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of
the most magnificent valleys which have ever been made the abode of
man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil
affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On either bank the air
is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of those banks forms the
extreme frontier of a vast State: that which follows the numerous
windings of the Ohio on the left is Kentucky [in ascending the river it
was on our _right_]; that on the right [our left] bearing the name of
the river. These two States differ only in one respect,--Kentucky has
admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has not. * * *

"Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to
time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert
fields; the primeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be
asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and
life.

"From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which
proclaims the presence of industry; the fields are covered with
abundant harvests; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste
and activity of the labourer; and man appears to be in the enjoyment of
that wealth and contentment which are the reward of labour."

The Kentucky and the Ohio States are nearly equal as to their area in
square miles. Kentucky was founded in 1775, and Ohio in 1788. In 1840
the population of Kentucky was 779,828, while that of Ohio was
1,519,467--nearly double that of the former. By this time it is far
more than double.

"Upon the left bank of the Ohio," continues De Tocqueville, "labour is
confounded with the idea of slavery; upon the right bank it is
identified with that of prosperity and improvement: on the one side it
is degraded, on the other it is honoured. On the former territory no
white labourers can be found, for they would be afraid of assimilating
themselves to the negroes; on the latter no one is idle, for the white
population extends its activity and its intelligence to every kind of
improvement. Thus the men whose task it is to cultivate the rich soil
of Kentucky are ignorant and lukewarm; while those who are active and
enlightened either do nothing or pass over into the State of Ohio,
where they may work without dishonour."

March the 9th was a dull day; but the scenery was of surpassing beauty.
At night a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with
rain, compelled us to "lie to." A charming morning succeeded. During
the forenoon, we passed a small town on the Virginia side called
Elizabeth Town. An Indian mound was pointed out to me, which in size
and shape resembled "Tomen y Bala" in North Wales. These artificial
mounds are very numerous in the valleys of the Ohio and the
Mississippi. The ancient relics they are sometimes found to contain
afford abundant proofs that these fertile regions were once peopled by
a race of men in a far higher state of civilization than the Indians
when first discovered by the white man. The innocent and imaginative
speculations of a Christian minister in the State of Ohio on these
ancient remains laid the foundation of the curious book of "Mormon."

Nature being now arrayed in her winter dress, we could form but a faint
conception of her summer loveliness when clothed in her gayest green.
Hills were seen rising up, sometimes almost perpendicularly from the
stream, and sometimes skirted with fertile fields extending to the
river's edge. Here a house on the brow of a hill, and there another at
its base. Here the humble log hut, and there the elegant mansion, and
sometimes both in unequal juxtaposition. The hills are in parts
scolloped in continuous succession, presenting a beautiful display of
unity and diversity combined; but often they appear in isolated and
distinct grandeur, like a row of semi-globes; while, in other
instances, they rise one above another like apples in a fruit-vase.
Sometimes the rivulets are seen like silver cords falling
perpendicularly into the river; at other times, you discern them only
by their musical murmurs as they roll on through deep ravines formed by
their own action. These hills, for more than 100 miles before you come
to Pittsburg, are literally heaps of coal. In height they vary from 100
to 500 feet, and nothing more is required than to clear off the soil,
and then dig away the treasure.

What struck me most was the immense number of children everywhere
gazing upon us from the river's banks. At settlements of not more than
half-a-dozen houses, I counted a groupe of more than twenty children.




LETTER XXIII.

Arrival at Pittsburg--Its Trade and Prospects--Temperance--Newspapers
--Trip up the Monongahela to Brownsville--Staging by Night across the
Alleghany Mountains--Arrival at Cumberland--The Railway Carriages of
America.


Arriving at Pittsburg in the middle of the night of the 10th of March,
we remained on board till morning. As we had been accustomed on this
"Clipper No. 2" to breakfast at half-past 7, I thought they surely
would not send us empty away. But no! we had to turn out at that early
hour of a morning piercingly cold, and get a breakfast where we could,
or remain without. This was "clipping" us rather too closely, after we
had paid seven dollars each for our passage and provisions.

Pittsburg is in the State of Pennsylvania. Its progress has been rapid,
and its prospects are bright. Seventy years ago the ground on which it
stands was a wilderness, the abode of wild beasts and the hunting
ground of Indians. Its manufactures are chiefly those of glass, iron,
and cotton. It is the Birmingham of America. Indeed one part of it,
across the river, is called "Birmingham," and bids fair to rival its
old namesake. Its advantages and resources are unparalleled. It
occupies in reference to the United States, north and south, east and
west, a perfectly central position. It is surrounded with, solid
mountains of coal, which--dug out, as I have intimated, with the
greatest ease--is conveyed with equal ease down inclined planes to the
very furnace mouths of the foundries and factories! This great workshop
communicates directly, by means of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Red
River, &c., with immense countries, extending to Texas, to Mexico, and
to the Gulph. Its population, already 70,000, is (I believe)
incomparably more intelligent, more temperate, more religious, and more
steady than that of any manufacturing town in England. In fact, England
has not much chance of competing successfully with America, unless her
artizans copy more extensively the example of the American people in
the entire abandonment of intoxicating liquors. In travelling leisurely
from New Orleans to Boston (the whole length of the United States), and
sitting down at all sorts of tables, on land and on water, private and
public, I have never once seen even wine brought to the table. Nothing
but water was universally used!

At Pittsburg I bought three good-sized newspapers for 5 cents, or
twopence-halfpenny. One of them, _The Daily Morning Post_, was a large
sheet, measuring 3 feet by 2, and well filled on both sides with close
letter-press, for 2 cents, or one penny. The absence of duty on paper
and of newspaper stamps is no doubt one great cause of the advanced
intelligence of the mass of the American people. What an absurd policy
is that of the British Government, first to impose taxes upon
_knowledge_, and then to use the money in promoting _education_!

At Pittsburg the Ohio ends, or rather begins, by the confluence of the
Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers. We ascended the latter to
Brownsville, about 56 miles. Having booked ourselves at an office, we
had to get into a smaller steamer on the other side of the bridge which
spans the river. The entire charge to Philadelphia was 12 dollars each.
We went by the "Consul," at half-past 8 A.M. of the 11th of March. The
water was very high, as had been the case in the Ohio all the way from
Cincinnati. We had not proceeded far when I found the passengers
a-stir, as if they had got to their journey's end. What was the matter?
Why, we had come to falls, which it was very doubtful whether the
steamer could get over. The passengers were soon landed, and the
steamer, with the crew, left to attempt the ascent. There were locks at
hand by which, under ordinary circumstances, boats evaded the
difficulty; but the flood was now so great that they could not be used.
Our steamer, therefore, stirred up her fires, raised her steam, brought
all her powers to bear, faced the difficulty, dashed into it, cut
along, and set at defiance the fury of the flood. "There she
goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--"No!"--"She's at a stand,"--the next moment she
was gliding back with the torrent: she had failed! But _nil
desperandum_. "Try--try--try again!" An immense volume of smoke issued
from her chimney, and soon she seemed again to be fully inflated with
her vapoury aliment. I expected every moment an explosion, and, while
rejoicing in our own safety on _terra firma_, felt tremblingly anxious
for the lives of those on board. Having had sufficient time to "recover
strength," she made for the foaming surge once more. "There she
goes!"--"No!"--"Yes!"--she paused--but it was only for the twinkling of
an eye,--the next moment she was over, and the bank's of the
Monongahela resounded with the joyful shouts of the gazing passengers.
We now breathed more freely, and were soon on board again; but we had
not advanced very far before we had to get out once more, in
consequence of other falls, which were stemmed with the same
inconvenience, the same anxiety, and the same success as in the
preceding instance.

But ere long an obstacle more formidable than the falls presented
itself--a bridge across the river. This bridge the boats were
accustomed to pass under, but the water was now so high that it could
not be done; and we had to wait till another boat belonging to the same
company, above the bridge, came down from Brownsville, and enabled us
to effect an exchange of passengers; for neither of the boats could get
under the bridge. The down boat soon made its appearance; and a scene
of confusion ensued which I know not how to describe. Imagine two sets
of passengers, about 150 persons in each set, exchanging boats! Three
hundred travellers jostling against each other, with "plunder"
amounting to some thousands of packages, to be removed a distance of
300 or 400 yards, at the risk and responsibility of the owners, without
any care or concern on the part of the officers of the boats! Trunks
seemed to run on wheels, carpet-bags to have wings, and portmanteaus to
jump about like grasshoppers. If you had put down one article while
looking for the rest, in an instant it would be gone. In this amusing
scuffle were involved several members of Congress, returning in the
"down" boat from their legislative duties. The celebrated Judge M'Lean
was among them. But the safety of some box or parcel was just then--to
most of us--of more importance than all the great men in the world. The
baggage storm being over, and the great division and trans-shipment
effected, we moved forward in peace. By-and-by, however, each one was
called upon to show his baggage, that it might be set apart for the
particular coach to which it would have to be consigned. This was a
most troublesome affair. At half-past 6 in the evening we arrived at
Brownsville, having been ten hours in getting over the 56 miles from
Pittsburg.

And now for the stage-coaches; for, _nolens volens_, "a-head" we must
go that very night. About seven or eight coaches were filled by those
of our fellow-passengers who, like ourselves, were going to cross the
mountains. Some of the vehicles set off immediately; but three waited
to let their passengers get tea or supper, meals which in America are
identical. About 8 P.M. we started on our cold and dreary journey of 73
miles across the Alleghany Mountains. A stage-coach in America is a
very different thing from the beautiful machine that used to pass by
that name in England.

It has no outside accommodation, except for one person on the box along
with the driver. The inside, in addition to the fore seat and the hind
seat, has also a middle seat across the vehicle. Each of these three
seats holds three persons, making nine in all. In our stage we had ten
persons; but the ten, in a pecuniary point of view, were only eight and
a half. The night was fearfully dark, and the roads were altogether
unworthy of the name. Yet there is an immense traffic on this route,
which is the highway from East to West. The Americans, with all their
"smartness," have not the knack of making either good roads or good
streets. About 11 P.M. we arrived at Uniontown, 12 miles from
Brownsville. There the horses were to be changed, an operation which
took about an hour to accomplish. Three coaches were there together.
The passengers rushed out of the inn, where we had been warming
ourselves, and jumped into the coaches. Crack went the whips, off went
the horses, and round went the wheels. But, alas! while we could hear
the rattling of the other coaches, our own moved not at all! "Driver,
why don't you be off?" No answer. "Driver, push on." No reply. "Go
a-head, driver,--don't keep us here all night." No notice taken. We
began to thump and stamp. No response. At last I put my head out
through the window. There _was_ no driver; and, worse still, there were
no horses! How was this? There was no "team," we were told, for our
coach! I jumped out, and began to make diligent inquiry: one told me
one thing, and another another. At length I learned that there was a
"team" in the stable, but there was no driver disposed to go. The one
who should have taken us was cursing and swearing in bed, and would not
get up. This was provoking enough. "Where is the agent of the
stage-coach company?"--"He lives about 47 miles off." "Where is the
landlord of this house?"--"He is in bed." There we were helpless and
deserted on the highroad, between 12 and 1 o'clock, in an extremely
cold night, without any redress or any opportunity of appeal! It was
nobody's business to care for us. I groped my way, however, to some
outbuilding, where about half-a-dozen drivers were snoring in their
beds, and, with the promise of making it "worth his while," succeeded
in inducing one of them to get up and take us to the next place for
changing horses. But before we could get off it was 2 o'clock in the
morning. We reached the next station, a distance of 10 miles, at 5
P.M., and paid our driver two dollars. In America drivers are not
accustomed to receive gratuities from passengers, but ours was a
peculiar case. After a most wearisome day of travel, being tossed about
in the coach like balls, expecting every moment to be upset, and
feeling bruised all over, we reached Cumberland at 9 P.M., having been
25 hours in getting over 73 miles, at the amazing rate of 3 miles an
hour! In Cumberland we had to stay all night.

At 8 A.M. the next day we set off by railway, or (as the Americans
would say) "by the cars," to Baltimore. In committing my trunk to the
luggage-van, I was struck with the simplicity and suitableness of the
check system there adopted. A piece of tin, with a certain number upon
it, was fastened by a strap to each article of baggage, and a duplicate
piece given to the passenger. I also remarked the size, shape, and
fittings-up of the cars. They are from 30 to 50 feet long, having an
aisle right through the middle from end to end, and on each side of
that aisle rows of seats, each of sufficient length to accommodate two
persons. The arrangement reminded me of a little country meeting-house,
the congregation amounting to from 50 to 100 persons. Each carriage
contained a stove,--at that season a most important article of
furniture. The seats, which were very nicely cushioned, had their hacks
so arranged as that the passengers could easily turn them as they
pleased, and sit with either their faces or their backs "towards the
horses" as they might feel disposed. This part of the arrangement is
indispensable, as these long carriages can never be turned. The hind
part in coming is the fore part in going, and _vice versa_. The
distinctions of first, second, and third class carriages are unknown.
That would be too aristocratic. But the "niggers" must go into the
luggage-van. These republican carriages are very neatly fitted up,
being mostly of mahogany with crimson velvet linings; but you often
feel annoyed that such dirty people should get in.




LETTER XXIV.

Journey by Railroad from Cumberland to Baltimore--A Tedious Stoppage
--A Sabbath in Baltimore--Fruitless Inquiry--A Presbyterian Church and
Dr. Plummer--Richmond and its Resolutions--Dr Plummer's Pro slavery
Manifesto--The Methodist Episcopal Church.


The railway from Cumberland to Baltimore is 178 miles long, and (like
most lines in the States) is single. This fact is important, for our
cousins, in boasting of the hundreds or thousands of miles of railway
they have constructed, forget to tell us that they are nearly all
single. Here and there they have a double set of rails, like our
sidings, to enable trains to pass each other.

The ground was covered with snow, otherwise the scenery would have been
magnificent. For a long time the Potomac was our companion. More than
once we had to cross the stream on wooden bridges; so that we had it
sometimes on our right and sometimes on our left, ourselves being
alternately in Virginia and in Maryland. When within 14 miles of
Baltimore, and already benighted, we were told we could not proceed, on
account of some accident to a luggage-tram that was coming up. The
engine, or (as the Americans invariably say) the "locomotive," had got
off the rail, and torn up the ground in a frightful manner; but no one
was hurt. We were detained for 7 hours; and instead of getting into
Baltimore at 8 P.M., making an average of about 15 miles an hour, which
was the utmost we had been led to expect, we did not get there till 3
A.M., bringing our average rate per hour down to about 9-1/2 miles. The
tediousness of the delay was considerably relieved by a man sitting
beside me avowing himself a thorough Abolitionist, and a hearty friend
of the coloured race. He spoke out his sentiments openly and
fearlessly, and was quite a match for any one that dared to assail him.
His name was Daniel Carmichael, of Brooklyn. He is a great railway and
canal contractor, and has generally in his employ from 500 to 800
people. He is also a very zealous "teetotaler." We had also a _Mrs.
Malaprop_, from Baltimore, with us, who told us, among other marvellous
things, that in that city they took the _senses_ (census) of the people
every month. She was very anxious to let all around her know that her
husband was a medical man: she therefore wondered what "the Doctor" was
then doing, what "the Doctor" thought of the non-arrival of the train,
whether "the Doctor" would be waiting for her at the station, and
whether "the Doctor" would bring his own carriage, or hire one, to meet
her, &c.

March 14.--The day on which we arrived at Baltimore was the Sabbath. In
a public room in the National Hotel, at which we were stopping, was
hung up a nicely-framed announcement of the order of services in one of
the Presbyterian Churches. We wished, however, to find a Congregational
place of worship, and set off with that view. It was a beautiful day,
and Baltimore seemed to send forth its inhabitants by streets-full to
the various churches. In the _Old_ World I never saw anything like it,
nor elsewhere in the _New_, except perhaps at Boston. All secular
engagements seemed to be entirely suspended, and the whole city seemed
to enjoy a Sabbath! As we walked along, I asked a young man if he could
direct me to a Congregational church. He stared at me for a moment, and
then said, "Do you mean a church with pews in it?" I asked another,
"Can you tell me where I shall find a Congregational church in this
city?"--"What congregation do you mean, sir?" was the reply. They
evidently knew nothing at all about Congregationalism. The fact was, as
I afterwards understood, we had not yet come into its latitude; for in
America Presbyterianism and Congregationalism have hitherto been
matters of latitude and longitude rather than of earnest conviction and
firm adherence. We now inquired for a _Presbyterian_ church, and were
told that there was one not far from where we then stood, in which Mr.
Plummer--a very popular minister just come into the city--preached.
Following the directions given, we came to a certain church, in front
of which two or three grave men stood talking to each other. In answer
to the question, "What church is this?" one of these grave men said,
with a good broad Scotch accent, "It's a Presbyterian church." The
accent gave a double confirmation to the answer. "Is it Mr. Plummer's
church?" I continued. With the same accent, and in a tone of gentle
rebuke, I was told, "Yes, it is _Doctor_ Plummer's." We entered. The
congregation were assembling. We were left either to stand in the aisle
or to take a seat as we pleased. We preferred the latter. The building
was new, but built in the old Gothic style. The pews, the pulpit, the
front of the gallery, the organ, and the framework of the roof, which
was all exposed, were of oak, which had been made to resemble in colour
wood that has stood the test of 400 or 500 years. The windows also were
darkened. The whole affair was tremendously heavy, enough to mesmerize
any one. The congregation was large, respectable, and decorous. After a
few glances around, to see if there was a negro pew anywhere, I
observed several coloured faces peeping from a recess in the gallery,
on the left side of the organ,--there was the "Negro Pew," In due time
_Doctor_ Plummer ascended the pulpit. He was a fine tall man,
grey-haired, well dressed, with commanding aspect and a powerful voice.
I ceased to wonder at the emphasis with which the Scotchman called him
_Doctor_ Plummer. He was quite the _ideal_ of a _Doctor_. His text was
John iii. 18: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God." His subject was, that "man is
justly accountable to God for his belief." This truth he handled in a
masterly manner, tossing about as with a giant's arm Lord Brougham and
the Universalists. Notwithstanding my want of rest on the previous
night, the absurd heaviness of the building, and the fact that the
sermon--which occupied a full hour--was all read, I listened with
almost breathless attention, and was sorry when he had done.

And who was this Dr. Plummer? It was Dr. Plummer late of Richmond, in
Virginia. "Richmond," says Dr. Reed, "is still the great mart of
slavery; and the interests of morality and religion suffer from this
cause. Several persons of the greatest wealth, and therefore of the
greatest consideration in the town, are known slave-dealers; and their
influence, in addition to the actual traffic, is of course
unfavourable. The sale of slaves is as common, and produces as little
sensation, as that of cattle. It occurs in the main street, and before
the door of the party who is commissioned to make the sale." And what
was the conduct of this Doctor of Divinity in reference to this state
of things? He sanctioned it! He pleaded for it! He lived upon it! He
was once actually supported, either wholly or in part, by slave labour!
The church of which he was the pastor was endowed with a number of
slaves. These slaves were hired out, and the proceeds were given in the
way of stipend to the _Doctor_! Nor is this all. A few years ago the
slave-holders of the South were greatly alarmed by the vigorous efforts
of the Abolitionists of the North. It was about the time that the
Charleston Post-office was plundered by a mob of several thousand
people, and all the anti-slavery publications there found were made a
bonfire of in the street; and where "the clergy of all denominations
attended in a body, lending their sanction to the proceedings, and
adding by their presence to the impressive character of the scene." On
that occasion the clergy of the city of Richmond were not less prompt
than their brethren of Charleston in responding to the "public
sentiment."' They resolved _unanimously_,--

"That we earnestly deprecate the unwarrantable and highly improper
interference of the people of any other State with the domestic
relations of master and slave.

"That the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles, in not
interfering with the question of slavery, but uniformly recognising the
relations of master and servant, and giving full and affectionate
instruction to both, is worthy the imitation of all ministers of the
Gospel.

"That we will not patronise nor receive any pamphlet or newspaper of
the Anti-slavery Societies, and that we will discountenance the
circulation of all such papers in the community.

"That the suspicions which have prevailed to a considerable extent
against ministers of the Gospel and professors of religion in the State
of Virginia, as identified with Abolitionists, are _wholly unmerited_;
believing as we do, from extensive acquaintance with our churches and
brethren, that they are unanimous in opposing the pernicious schemes of
Abolitionists."

After this, are men to be branded as "infidels," because they say the
American churches are the "bulwarks of slavery?"

But what has all this to do with our fine-looking and dignified
"_Doctor_?" I will tell you. When these resolutions were passed, he was
from home; but on his return, he lost no time in communicating to the
"Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence" his entire concurrence
with what had been done,--and here are extracts from his letter:--

"I have carefully watched this matter from its earliest existence; and
everything I have seen or heard of its character, both from its patrons
and its enemies, has confirmed me beyond repentance in the belief,
that, let the character of the Abolitionists be what it may in the
sight of the Judge of all the earth, this is the most meddlesome,
impudent, reckless, fierce, and wicked excitement I ever saw.

"If Abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but right that
they should receive the _first warming at the fire_.

"Let it be proclaimed throughout the nation, that every movement made
by the fanatics (so far as it has any effect in the South) does but
rivet every fetter of the bondman, and diminish the probability of
anything being successfully undertaken for making him either fit for
freedom or likely to obtain it. We have the authority of Montesquieu,
Burke, and Coleridge, three eminent masters of the science of human
nature, that, of all men, slave-holders are the most jealous of their
liberties. One of Pennsylvania's most gifted sons has lately pronounced
the South the _cradle of liberty_.

"Lastly. Abolitionists are like infidels, wholly unaddicted to
martyrdom for opinion's sake. Let them understand that _they will be
caught_ [lynched] if they come among us, and they will take good heed
to keep out of our way. There is not one man among them who has any
more idea of shedding his blood in the cause, than he has of making war
on the Grand Turk."

So much for my splendid D.D., on whose lips I hung with such intense
interest. I did not know all this at the time, or I should have felt
very differently. As he had but recently left Richmond when I saw him,
it is not at all unlikely that those fine clothes he had on were the
fruit of the slave's unrequited toil. He has always, I believe, stood
high among his brethren, and one or two excellent tracts of his are
published by the American Tract Society.

All denominations are here alike guilty in reference to their coloured
brethren. In this very city the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church for 1840 passed the following resolution:--

"That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher to permit
coloured persons to give testimony against white persons in any State
where they are denied that privilege by law."

Against this iniquitous resolution the official members of two of the
coloured Methodist Episcopal Churches in Baltimore immediately
remonstrated and petitioned. The following powerful and pathetic
passages are from their address:--

"The adoption of such a resolution by our highest ecclesiastical
judicatory,--a judicatory composed of the most experienced and the
wisest brethren in the Church, the choice selection of twenty-eight
Annual Conferences,--has inflicted, we fear, an irreparable injury upon
eighty thousand souls for whom Christ died,--souls who, by this act of
your body, have been stripped of the dignity of Christians, degraded in
the scale of humanity, and treated as criminals, for no other reason
than the colour of their skin! Your resolution has, in our humble
opinion, _virtually_ declared that a mere physical peculiarity, the
handiwork of our all-wise and benevolent Creator, is _primâ facie_
evidence of incompetency to tell the truth, or is an unerring
indication of unworthiness to bear testimony against a fellow-being
whose skin is denominated white. * * *

"Brethren, out of the abundance of the heart we have spoken. _Our
grievance is before you_! If you have any regard for the salvation of
the eighty thousand immortal souls committed to your care,--if you
would not _thrust_ beyond the pale of the Church _twenty-five thousand
souls in this city_, who have felt determined never to leave the Church
that has nourished and brought them up,--if you regard us as children
of one Common Father, and can upon reflection sympathize with us as
members of the body of Christ,--if you would not incur the fearful, the
tremendous responsibility of offending not only one, but many thousands
of his 'little ones,'--we conjure you to wipe from your journal the
odious resolution which is ruining our people."

This address was presented to one of the Secretaries, a delegate of the
Baltimore Conference, and subsequently given by him to the Bishops. How
many of the members of Conference saw it, is unknown. One thing is
certain, _it was never read to the Conference_.




LETTER XXV.

A Sabbath at Baltimore (continued)--A Coloured Congregation--The
Thought of seeing Washington abandoned--Departure from Baltimore
--Coloured Ladies in the Luggage-Van--American Railways--Chesapeak
Bay--Susquehannah--State of Delaware, and Abolition of Slavery
--Philadelphia--Albert Barnes--Stephen Girard's Extraordinary Will.


In the afternoon of my first Sabbath at Baltimore I found, after much
inquiry, a congregation of coloured people, who were some sort of
Methodists. My wife and I were the only white people in the place. We
were treated with great politeness, and put, not in a pew apart by
ourselves, but in one of the best places they could find, in the very
midst of the congregation. A serious-looking coloured man opened the
service, with great propriety of manner and expression. He was the
regular pastor. A black man, a stranger as I understood, preached. His
text (he said) was, "Behold, I come quickly;" and they would find it in
the Book of Revelation. But chapter and verse were not given, nor had
he the Bible open in Revelation at all. I suspected that he could not
read; and that suspicion was confirmed by the amount of nonsense which
he soon uttered. At first his words were "few and far between," uttered
in a tone of voice scarcely audible. Soon, however, he worked both
himself and his audience into a tremendous phrenzy. The burden of his
song was--how John had lived to a very great age, in spite of all
attempts to put him to death; how his enemies had at last decided to
try the plan of throwing him into a "kittle of biling ile;" how God had
said to him, "Never mind, John,--if they throw thee into that kittle,
I'll go there with thee,--they shall bile me too;" how John was
therefore taken up alive; and how his persecutors, baffled in all their
efforts to despatch him, ultimately determined to throw their victim
upon a desolate island, and leave him there to live or perish as he
might. During the delivery of all this nonsense, the laughing, the
shouting, the groaning, and the jumping were positively terrific. It
was Methodism gone mad. How disgraceful, that American Christians, so
called, with all their schools and colleges, and with all their efforts
to send the Gospel to Africa, should leave these people at their very
doors thus to feed upon "husks" and "ashes!" Between 500 and 600 people
were listening to this ignorant man, giving as the pure and positive
word of God what was of very doubtful authority, intermingled with the
crudities of his own brain. I wished to stay through the service, and
perhaps at the close express my fraternal feelings; but I was so
shocked and grieved at this ranting exhibition that I felt it
unwarrantable to remain.

Leaving these unfortunate people, we peeped into two cathedral
churches,--that of the Church of England, or (as it is here called) the
Protestant Episcopal Church, and that of the Church of Rome. Both
buildings are very splendid. We had been in the former some time before
we felt quite sure that we were not in a Popish place of worship, so
papistical were its aspect and arrangements. It was evident that
Puseyism, or Popery in some form, had there its throne and its sceptre.
The avowedly Popish cathedral was crowded with worshippers; and, to the
shame of Protestantism be it spoken, black and coloured people were
_there_ seen intermingled with the whites in the performance of their
religious ceremonies! The State of Maryland, of which Baltimore is the
capital, having been first settled by a colony of Roman Catholics,
might be expected to be a stronghold of Popery. Yet, it is not so. The
adherents of that system are but a small minority of the population.

Baltimore is, however, a stronghold of slavery. Here Garrison's
indignation against the system was first kindled--here Frederick
Douglas tasted some of its bitter draughts--and here Torrey died its
victim. The following are specimens of the manner in which the trade in
human flesh is carried on in this city:--

"NEGROES WANTED.--I have removed from my former residence. West
Pratt-street, to my new establishment on Camden-street, immediately in
the rear of the Railroad Depôt, where I am permanently located. Persons
bringing Negroes by the cars will find it very convenient, as it is
only a few yards from where the passengers get out. Those having
Negroes for sale will find it to their advantage to call and see me, as
I am at all times paying the highest prices in cash.

"J. S. DONOVAN, Balt. Md."

"o28--6m*."

"CASH FOR FIVE HUNDRED NEGROES.--At the old establishment of Slatter's,
No. 244, Pratt-street, Baltimore, between Sharp and Howard Streets,
where the highest prices are paid, which is well known. We have large
accommodations for Negroes, and always buying. Being regular shippers
to New Orleans, persons should bring their property where no
commissions are paid, as the owners lose it. All communications
attended to promptly by addressing

"H. F. SLATTER."

"j5--6m*."

Before and since my arrival in the United States, I had thought much of
seeing Washington, and, if possible, Congress in session. But such was
the severity of the weather that we could not cross the Alleghanies
before that assembly had risen and dispersed. At Baltimore I was within
two hours' journey of the capital. Should I go and see it? No; for what
can _there_ be found to gratify the friend of freedom and of man? The
Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, are
all associated with Washington. The capital itself is but a great
slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and
auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice,
wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front
the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the
influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting
Washington.

At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia.
While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at
the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable
coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of
course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them,
though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to
whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat.
But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and
dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference
between the railway economy of England and that of America. In the
former, as you know, the railway is haughty, exclusive, and
aristocratic. It scorns all fellowship with common roads, and dashes
on, either under or over the houses, with arbitrary indifference. In
America, it generally condescends to pass along the public streets to
the very centre of the city, the engine being taken off or put to in
the suburbs, and its place _intra muros_, if I may so say, supplied by
horses. In leaving Baltimore, the engine was attached _before_ we got
quite out of the city; and we were going for some time along the common
road, meeting in one place a horse and cart, in another a man on
horseback, in another a pair of oxen fastened to each other, and so on.
Dangerous enough, apparently! yet railway accidents are much less
frequent in America than in England. It is, besides, an immense saving
of capital.

In our progress, we had to cross several arms of the Chesapeak Bay.
These arms were from one to two miles wide, and the railway is carried
over them upon posts driven into the ground. It seemed like crossing
the sea in a railway carriage. At Havre de Grace we had to cross the
Susquehannah River. This word Susquehannah is Indian, and means
literally, I am told, "the rolling thunder." In crossing it, however,
we heard no thunder, except that of the luggage-van over our heads, on
the top of the steamer. Here we changed carriages. We soon got sight of
the Delaware, which kept us company nearly all the way to Philadelphia.
Delaware, the smallest of all the States except Rhode Island, we
entirely crossed. A few days before, Delaware had well nigh done
herself great honour. Her House of Representatives carried, by a
majority, a vote for the abolition of slavery within her boundaries;
but the measure was lost in her Senate by a majority of one or two. The
State legislature will not meet again for two years. All parties are
confident that the measure will then be triumphantly carried through.
In America, however, the abolition of slavery in any State does not
always mean freedom to the slaves. Too often it is a mere
transportation of them to the Southern States. Had Delaware passed a
law that all slaves should he free at the expiration of five years, or
that all children born after a certain period should he free, the
owners of slaves would have had an obvious interest in disposing of
their human property to the Southern traders _before_ that period
arrived. Mothers, too, would have been hastened Southward to give birth
to their offspring; so that the "peculiar institution" might lose none
of its prey. Measures for the abolition of slavery in any part of
America do not arise from sympathy with the negro, and from a wish to
improve his condition and promote his happiness, but from aversion to
his presence, or perhaps from a conviction that the system of slavery
is expensive and impolitic. Those who feel kindly towards their
coloured brother, and act towards him under the impulse of pure and
lofty philanthropy, are, I am sorry to say, very few indeed.

These views may appear severe and uncharitable towards the American
people, but they are confirmed by M. de Tocqueville. "When a Northern
State declared that the son of the slave should be born free," observes
that impartial writer, "the slave lost a large portion of his market
value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and
the owner had then a strong interest in transporting him to the South.
Thus the same law prevents the slaves of the South from coming to the
Northern States, and drives those of the North to the South. The want
of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves
decreases. But, in proportion as labour is performed by free hands,
slave labour becomes less productive; and the slave is then a useless
or an onerous possession, whom it is important to export to those
Southern States where the same competition is not to be feared. _Thus
the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free: it merely
transfers him from one master to another, and from the North to the
South_." M. de Tocqueville adds, in a note, "The States in which
slavery is abolished usually do what they can to render their territory
disagreeable to the negroes as a place of residence; and as a kind of
emulation exists between the different States in this respect, the
unhappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset
them." This is perfectly true.

Crossing the Schuilkyl, we arrived about 3 o'clock P. M. in
Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love," having performed the
journey of 97 miles in six hours, a rate of only 16 miles an hour!

In Philadelphia were many men and things that I wished to see. First
and foremost, in my professional curiosity, was Albert Barnes; but
being anxious to push on to New York that night, I had but an hour and
a half to stay. Of a sight of the famous author of the "Notes," I was
therefore compelled to deny myself. My regret was diminished, when I
learned from an English minister of high standing, who, under the
influence of the best feelings, and with an excellent introduction, had
called upon the Commentator, that he received him with a degree of
indifference bordering on rudeness.

In Philadelphia there is no Congregational Church. A few years ago John
Todd, the well-known author of "The Student's Guide," attempted to
raise one. He was but little countenanced, however, by Albert Barnes
and the Presbyterians, and failed.

In passing through this city, I had a distant glimpse of a most
remarkable institution. M. Girard, an old bachelor, a native of France,
who had accumulated immense wealth, died a few years ago, leaving by
will the enormous sum of two millions of dollars, or upwards of four
hundred thousand pounds sterling, to erect and endow a college for the
accommodation and education of three hundred orphan boys. The ground on
which it was to be built, consisting of no less than 45 acres, he
ordered to be enclosed with a high solid wall, capped with marble, and
lined upon the top with long iron spikes. He also inserted in his will
the following extraordinary clause: "I enjoin and require that no
ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever, shall ever
hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college; nor
shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a
visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purpose of said
college." An attempt was made before the Supreme Court of the United
States to set aside this will, and Daniel Webster, the great New
England barrister, delivered a powerful "plea" against it; but the
attempt was overruled. For some years the building has been slowly
proceeding, and is not yet ready for occupation. Had I had time, I
could not, being a minister, have entered the premises. To me, and to
all like me, "_Procul, procul, este, profani_" is chiselled on every
stone!--a singular monument of the priest-hating propensities of the
old French Revolutionists.




LETTER XXVI.

Departure from Philadelphia--A Communicative Yankee--Trenton--The
Mansion of Joseph Bonaparte--Scenes of Brainerd's Labours One Hundred
Years ago--First Impressions of New York--150, Nassau-street--Private
Lodgings--Literary Society--American Lodging-houses--A Lecture on
Astronomy--The "Negro Pew" in Dr. Patton's Church.


At half-past 4 in the afternoon of March 15 we left Philadelphia by
railway for New York, which we reached at 10 P.M., an average again of
about 16 miles an hour. In this journey I met with a very communicative
Yankee, who, though not a religious man, was proud to trace his
genealogy to the "Pilgrim Fathers," and, through them, to the Normans.
Intercourse, he said, had been maintained for the last two centuries
between the English and American branches of the family. He also took
care to inform me that the head of the English branch was a baronet.
This was but one of many instances in which I found among our
Transatlantic friends a deep idolatry of rank and titles. In talking of
their own political institutions, he declared their last two Presidents
to have been--the one a fool, and the other a knave,--Polk the fool,
and Tyler the knave. He entertained an insane and cruel prejudice
against those whose skin was not exactly of the same colour with his
own, and "thanked God" that he had no African blood in his veins.

We passed through Trenton, celebrated as the scene of a bloody conflict
between the British and the American forces. The Americans, I am sorry
to say, dwell too fondly on the remembrance of those deadly struggles.
They cherish the spirit of war. The influence of Elihu Burritt and his
"bond of brotherhood" is indeed greatly needed on both sides of the
Atlantic.

We also passed what once was the residence of ex-royalty--the princely
mansion which Joseph Bonaparte erected for himself after he lost the
throne of Spain. It is surrounded with about 900 acres of land, his own
private property; and was still in the family, though about to be sold.
What a home has America proved both to fallen greatness and to
struggling poverty! Princes and peasants alike find shelter here.

This journey conducted us through New Brunswick, Elizabeth Town,
Newark,--places associated with the name of David Brainerd, and often
(a hundred years ago) the scenes of his toils and travels. But where
are the descendants of those Indians on whose behalf he felt such
intense solicitude? Alas! not a vestige of them is to be seen.

Having thus crossed New Jersey State, we came to New Jersey city, where
we crossed a ferry to New York. After rather more than the usual amount
of anxiety about baggage, &c., we reached the Planter's Hotel a little
after 10 at night.

Next morning I sallied forth to gaze, for the first time, at the
wonders of New York. The state of the streets impressed me
unfavourably. The pigs were in the enjoyment of the same unstinted
liberty as at Cincinnati. Merchants and storekeepers spread their goods
over the entire breadth of the causeway, and some even to the very
middle of the street. Slops of all sorts, and from all parts of the
houses, were emptied into the street before the front doors! The ashes
were disposed of in a very peculiar manner. Each house had, on the edge
of the parapet opposite, an old flour-barrel, or something of the sort,
into which were thrown ashes, sweepings, fish-bones, dead rats, and all
kinds of refuse. A dead rat very frequently garnished the top of the
barrel. This was the order of things, not in small by-streets only, but
also in the very best streets, and before the very best houses. The
pavement too, even in Broadway, was in a very wretched state.

I made for No. 150, Nassau-street, where the Tract Society, the Home
Missionary Society, and the Foreign Missionary Society have their
rooms. To some parties in that house I had introductions. The brethren
connected with those societies treated me with great kindness and
cordiality, and made me feel as though I had been in our own missionary
rooms in Blomfield-street. By their aid I obtained private lodgings, in
a good situation and in good society.

The landlady was a Quaker, with half-a-dozen grown-up daughters. Our
fellow-lodgers consisted of the Rev. A.E. Lawrence, Assistant-Secretary
of the American Home Missionary Society (who had a few months before
become the landlady's son-in-law); the Rev. Mr. Martyn, and his wife, a
woman of fine talents, and editor of "The Ladies' Wreath;" the Rev. Mr.
Brace, an editor in the employ of the Tract Society; Mr. Daniel Breed,
M.D., a Quaker, and principal of a private academy for young gentlemen
(also the landlady's son-in-law); Mr. Oliver Johnson, a sub-editor of
the _Daily Tribune_, and a well-known Abolitionist; and Mr. Lockwood, a
retired grocer,--who, having gained a small independence, was thus
enjoying it with his youthful wife and child in lodgings.

Into society better adapted to my taste and purposes I could not have
gone. This mode of life is very extensively adopted in America,
--married couples, with families, living in this manner for
years, without the least loss of respectability. They seldom have
sitting-rooms distinct from their bed-rooms, which are made to answer
both purposes; and as to meals, all meet to eat the same things, at the
same table, and at the same time. The custom is economical; but it has
an injurious effect upon character, especially in the case of the
women. The young wife, not being called upon to exercise herself in
domestic economy, is apt to become idle, slovenly, and--in a certain
sense--worthless. The softening associations and influences, and even
the endearments, of "home," are lost. There is no _domesticity_.

In the evening of the 17th I went to the Broadway Tabernacle, to hear a
lecture on Astronomy from Professor Mitchell of Cincinnati, no ordinary
man. Although the admission fee was half-a-dollar, upwards of a
thousand persons were present. Without either diagrams or notes, the
accomplished lecturer kept his audience in breathless attention for
upwards of an hour. He seemed to be a devout, unassuming man, and threw
a flood of light on every subject he touched. His theme was the recent
discovery of the Leverrier planet; and perhaps you will not be
displeased if I give you a summary of his lucid observations. In
observing how the fluctuations of the planet Herschel had ultimately
led to this discovery, he said:

"For a long time no mind dared to touch the problem. At length a young
astronomer rises, unknown to fame, but with a mind capable of grasping
all the difficulties involved in any of these questions. I refer of
course to LEVERRIER. He began by taking up the movements of Mercury. He
was dissatisfied with the old computations and the old tables; and he
ventured to begin anew, and to compute an entirely new set of tables.
With these new tables, he predicted the _precise instant_ when the
planet Mercury, on the 18th of May, 1845, would touch the sun, and
sweep across it. The time rolls round when the planet is to be seen,
and his prediction verified or confuted. The day arrives, but, alas!
for the computer, the clouds let down their dark curtains, and veil the
sun from his sight. Our own Observatory had just been finished; and if
the audience will permit, I will state briefly my own observations upon
the planet. I had ten long years been toiling. I had commenced what
appeared to be a hopeless enterprise. But finally I saw the building
finished. I saw this mighty telescope erected,--I had adjusted it with
my own hands,--I had computed the precise time when the planet would
come in contact with the sun's disk, and the precise point where the
contact would take place; but when it is remembered that only about the
thousandth part of the sun's disk enters upon the field of the
telescope, the importance of directing the instrument to the right
point will be realized. Five minutes before the computed time of the
contact, I took my place at the instrument. The beautiful machinery
that carries the telescope with the sun was set in motion, and the
instrument directed to that part of the sun's disk at which it was
anticipated the contact would take place. And there I sat, with
feelings which no one in this audience can realize. It was my first
effort. All had been done by myself. After remaining there for what
seemed to be long hours, I inquired of my assistant how much longer I
would have to wait. I was answered _four minutes_. I kept my place for
what seemed an age, and again inquired as before. He told me that but
one minute had rolled by. It seemed as if time had folded his wings, so
slowly did the moments crawl on. I watched on till I was told that but
one minute remained; and, within sixteen seconds of the time, I had the
almost bewildering gratification of seeing the planet break the
contact, and slowly move on till it buried itself round and deep and
sharp in the sun.

"I refer to this fact for two reasons,--first, to verify Leverrier;
and, second, to impress upon your minds the desirableness of locating
our observatories in different parts of the earth. No European
astronomer could have made this observation, because in their
longitudes the sun would have set previous to the contact of the planet
with its disk. I had the gratification of furnishing these observations
to Leverrier himself, who reported upon them to the Academy of
Sciences. The triumph of Leverrier was complete. It was after this that
Arago, seeing the characteristics of his mind, said to him, 'Take up
the movements of the planet Herschel,--watch them, analyze them, and
tell us what it is that causes them.' Leverrier throws aside all other
employments, and gives his mind to the investigation of this subject.
He begins entirely back. He takes up the movements of the planets
Jupiter and Saturn, and investigates them anew: he leaves nothing
untouched. Finally, after having in the most absolute manner computed
all the influence they exercise upon the planet Herschel, he says, 'I
now know positively all existing causes that disturb the planet; but
there is an outstanding power that disturbs it not yet accounted for,
and now let me rise to a knowledge of that outstanding cause.' He did
what no other man ever had attempted. He cleared up all
difficulties;--he made all daylight before his gaze. And now, how shall
I give to you an account of the train of reasoning by which he reached
out into unknown space, and evoked from its bosom a mighty world? If
you will give me the time, I will attempt to give you an idea of his
mighty workings in the field of science.

"In the first place, let it be remembered that the planets circulate
through the heavens in nearly the same plane. If I were to locate the
sun in the centre of the floor, in locating the planets around it, I
should place them upon the floor in the same plane. The first thing
that occurred to Leverrier, in looking for the planet, was this,--he
need not look out of the plane of the ecliptic. Here, then, was one
quarter in which the unknown body was to be found. The next thing was
this,--where is it located, and what is its distance from the sun? The
law of Bode gave to him the approximate distance. He found the distance
of Saturn was about double that of Jupiter, and the distance of
Herschel twice that of Saturn; and the probability was that the new
planet would be twice the distance of Herschel,--and as Herschel's
distance is 1,800,000 miles, the new planet's would be 3,600,000.
Having approximated its distance, what is its periodic time?--for if he
can once get its periodic time, he can trace it out without difficulty.
According to the third of Kepler's laws, as the square of the period of
Herschel is to the square of the period of the unknown planet, so is
the cube of the distance of Herschel to the cube of the distance of the
unknown planet. There is only one term unknown. The periodic time of
Herschel we will call 1, and its distance 1, and by resolving the
equation, we find the periodic time of the new planet to be a fraction
less than three times that of Herschel, or about 220 years. Now, if it
be required to perform 360 degrees in 220 years, it will perform about
a degree and a half in one year. Only one thing more remains to be
accomplished. If it is possible to get the position of the unknown body
at _any time_, we can trace it up to where it should be in 1847.

"First, then, let us suppose the sun, Herschel, and the new planet in
certain fixed positions, which we will represent as follows,--

[Illustration:
           A          B          C

          Sun.     Herschel.  Unknown, or
                            Leverrier Planet.
]

"It will be observed that a line drawn out from the sun to the right
will pass through Herschel, and if continued will intersect the new
planet. It is very apparent that, when these three orbs occupy the
position assigned them above, the influence of the unknown planet upon
Herschel will be exercised in the highest degree, and consequently that
Herschel will be drawn farther from the sun at that juncture than at
any other; and if we know where _Herschel_ is, when this effect is
produced, by prolonging the line through Herschel outward, it must pass
through the new planet. The delicate observations upon Herschel gave
this result, and showed when it was that it was swayed farthest from
the sun. By taking the place occupied by the planet at that time, and
increasing it onward one degree and a half per annum, we can point out
the place it must occupy at any given period. In September last we find
Leverrier communicating these results to his friends in Berlin. They
are provided with charts, on which every observed star is mapped down;
and if any new object presents itself in the heavens, it is immediately
subjected to a rigid scrutiny. On the very night on which Leverrier's
letter had been received, we find the telescope directed to the
designated point in the heavens. A stranger appears, but has only the
aspect of a fixed star. Long did the eye watch that night, but no
motion was found. When twenty-four hours rolled round, and it was once
more possible to fix the instrument upon this strange body, it had
moved in the precise degree and direction computed. The new planet was
found. The news spread with the utmost rapidity throughout the
world,--all Europe was electrified, and soon the intelligence crossed
the waters. Our telescope was directed to this object. All had hitherto
failed,--no eye had ever seen it round and planet-like from its disk.
The evening finally came round for the examination. Time moved on its
leaden wings; but twilight faded away at length, and I took my seat,
with my assistant, at the instrument. I directed the telescope to that
point of the heavens. I found four stars in the field of view. The
first was brought to the field of view of the instrument, and
pronounced to be a fixed star; and so with the second. The third was
brought forward; and before it had reached the centre of the field, I
heard the exclamation, 'There it is!' and there it was, as bright and
beautiful as Jupiter himself. Here was a result not attained by any
other instrument in the world. When we know that a body is a planet,
then, and not till then, do we find the disk. The great rival of our
instrument had seen it, but did not recognise it.

"Before five minutes had elapsed, the micrometical wires pronounced its
diameter to be 40,000 miles. Here were results such as no previous one
had attained, I mention it, because I think it is right that our own
country, which has but just commenced its career in this science,
should know what is her due; and I trust the day is not far distant
when we shall become as distinguished for our proficiency, for our
learning, for our researches, and for our efforts in behalf of
Astronomy, as we have hitherto been for our profound neglect of
everything belonging to this sublime science."

So much had been recently said in England about the "Negro Pew" in Dr.
Patton's Church that I naturally felt curious to see it for myself,
resolving (if possible) to sit in it. On Sabbath morning the 21st of
March I set off with my wife on this errand, taking for our guide as to
the precise position of the "locality" Mr. Page's "Letter of
Apology,"--in which it was stated that in that church they treated the
coloured people well; that they were elevated above the rest of the
congregation, and nearer heaven; and, finally, that they occupied a
position of honour, being on the right hand of the minister, as Jesus
Christ was on the right hand of God! We found two coloured people--an
old man and an old woman--seated in the front pew close to the
minister's right hand; and at once concluded that the section of pews
at the end wall must be the favoured spot, the terrestrio-celestial
elevation commonly called the "Negro Pew." We advanced, and installed
our white faces in the pew immediately behind the sable couple. The old
lady seemed really alarmed, and, with amusing earnestness, motioned us
to take a seat elsewhere. Remonstrance was all in vain,--we were
determined to sit among the happy favourites. At this time but few
persons were present. By-and-by the children of the Sunday-school were
marched into the neighbouring pews on the other side of the aisle, and
one of the lady teachers made eager signs for us to come away from our
strange position. I nodded an intimation that we were all right, and
perfectly comfortable. After the lapse of a few moments, another polite
and compassionate lady actually rose and came to the pew-door to
remonstrate with us.

In a serious yet coaxing tone, she said, "Won't you take a seat here on
this side of the aisle?"

"No, thank you, madam," I replied; "we are quite comfortable."

"But," she continued, in a voice of deep commiseration, "this is the
place allotted to the coloured people."

"Thank you," I rejoined; "we have made no mistake."

"Well, just as you please, sir!" (as though she had said _De gustibus
non disputandum_) and with that she retreated.

The eyes of all in the synagogue were upon us. The little people
whispered, and the big people stared, and all the people marvelled.

The morning was dark and wet, and yet (as usual) the Venetian blinds
were all down. The gallery was occupied by three classes of persons:
the black people--about a dozen in number--on the "right hand," the
singing people in front, and the Sunday-school children everywhere
else. The regular congregation, amounting perhaps to 300, were all
downstairs.

Dr. Patton ascended the pulpit-stairs with his cloak on, placed a
manuscript "fresh from the mint" under the cushion, sat down, took out
his pocket-handkerchief, applied it vigorously, and then gazed
leisurely around.

The pulpit service commenced with a short prayer; then followed singing
by the choir, all else sitting silent. The tenth chapter of Romans was
read; then came the long prayer, in which the Doctor prayed for the
abolition of slavery, and for the spread of the Gospel. The text, which
succeeded, was Rom. x. 3, 4. Having noticed the context, the preacher
proposed--

I. To explain the text. (Here he examined very critically the meaning
of the Greek word [Greek: dikai-osunous], quoting Moses Stuart and
others.)

II. To designate those who go about to establish their own
righteousness.

III. To remonstrate against such conduct, as being unnecessary,
criminal, and dangerous.

The discourse was sound and good, but every word read. The disorderly
conduct of the children in the gallery proved a great annoyance; and
for all the solicitude of the ladies to get us away from the vicinity
of coloured skins, not one of them had the politeness to offer us
either Bible or hymn-book.

This visit of ours to the "Negro Pew" was immediately laid hold of by
the Abolitionists, and made to go the whole round of their papers as a
"testimony against caste." This provoked into action the prolix pen of
the celebrated Mr. Page, who wasted on the subject an immense quantity
of ink and paper. "Page" after page did he pen; continued to do so, to
my certain knowledge, for about three months after; and, for aught I
know to the contrary, he may be _paging_ away to this very day. This
commotion answered my purpose exceedingly well,--my object being to
bear testimony against the impiousness of such a distinction and
separation in the house of God. It is, however, but justice to Dr.
Patton to observe that the case is not singular, the peculiar celebrity
of his "Negro Pew" arising entirely from the imbecile and somewhat
profane apology volunteered by Mr. Page. In point of fact, Dr. Patton
and his people, as I ascertained in conversation with him on the
subject, are rather in advance of their neighbours in kind feeling
towards the coloured people.




LETTER XXVII.

A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and
their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's
Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice
against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ------'s Church--Another Fact
in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with
Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church.


In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev. ------, in the
---- Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than
150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very
fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to
showing me some of the "lions" of the city. The first place we visited
was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for
young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we
were introduced was John Abbott, the author of "The Mother at Home." He
is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the
senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25
years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott,
the author of "The Young Christian," "The Corner Stone," "The Way for
a Child," &c., &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob
Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sitting-room.
I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years
of age, but looks younger. He wrote both "The Young Christian" and "The
Corner Stone" when he was only 25. John is two years younger than
Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and
Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four. All are
ministers, though not pastors,--all highly intellectual men, and
connected more or less with this seminary, which is one of the best
conducted I have ever seen. The pupils are not boarders, but they pay
from 10_l._ to 15_l._ a year for their tuition alone. I subsequently
made another visit to this institution in company with my wife, upon
whom Mr. Jacob Abbott had very politely called.

Mr. ------ intended to introduce me to Dr. Spring, but he was not at
home. He then took me to the Union Theological Seminary. In that
institution about 120 young men are preparing for the Christian
ministry. The library contains _twenty thousand_ volumes on theology
alone--musty and prosy tomes! What a punishment it would be to be
compelled to wade through the whole! We saw neither professors nor
students. My principal recollection of the place is that of feeling
intensely hungry, and smelling at the same time the roast beef on
which, in some of the lower regions of the buildings, the young divines
were regaling themselves. In vain I wished to join them in that
exercise.

When we came out, my guide proposed to take me to see Dr. Robinson.
Much as I wanted to see the author of the "Greek Lexicon," and the
Traveller in Palestine, there were other claims that then more urgently
pressed themselves. I had breakfasted at 7, and it was now near 1. I
gave my friend a hint to that effect. But he overruled it by saying,
"It is close by, and won't take us many minutes." We went, but the
Doctor was not in. We were now opposite Dr. Skinner's Church, and my
friend insisted on my going to see it. It will hold about 1,000 people.
All the pews are cushioned and lined, and the place has a decided air
of aristocracy about it. The school-room, the lecture-room, the vestry,
&c., were very complete and convenient. "How strange," I observed to my
friend, "that you should so far exceed us in the comfort of your places
of worship, and at the same time be so far behind us in domestic
comforts." "_That_" said he, "was the principle of the Puritans,--the
house of God first, their own after." I ventured to ask him what
salaries ministers in New York generally received. He told me from
1,000 to 4,000 dollars, or from 200_l._ to 800_l._ "My own," he added,
"is 2,000 dollars." We were now not far from the New York University.
"You must go and see that," said he. I went, but saw nothing particular
except the library, empty lecture-rooms, and chapel,--no professors. My
friendly guide pointed to a portrait of Lord Lyndhurst, told me with
evident pride that he was a Yankee, and marvelled at my ignorance of
the fact.

From time to time I had given him hints that I was afraid of being too
late for dinner at my lodgings; and when the sight-seeing was at last
ended, he very coolly and complacently said, "Now, if you really think
you are too late for dinner at your place, I shall be under the
_necessity_ of asking you to go and take a plate with me." Those were
the _ipsissima verba_. I could scarcely keep my gravity; but I replied,
"Thank you, sir; I want to go to the centre of the city, and I can
easily get a dinner at any eating-house." He both nodded and expressed
an entire concurrence, and seemed to think it an _admirable_
arrangement. In parting, he pressed me to preach for him on the
following Thursday, but I declined. The next day I was told, on
unquestionable authority, that two or three years ago one of the elders
of this gentleman's church, meeting a man from South America whom he
took to be a mixture of Spaniard and Indian, requested his company to
church. The stranger assented, and sat with him in his pew. He liked
the service, became interested, and went again and again. At last it
was whispered that he was a "Nigger,"--_i.e._ had a slight mixture of
African blood in him. The next week a meeting of the Session was held,
at which it was unanimously resolved that the intruder's entrance into
the body of the church must be prohibited. Two men were stationed at
the door for that purpose. The stranger came. He was stopped, and told
that he could not be allowed to enter the body of the church, there
being a place up in the gallery for coloured people. The man
remonstrated, and said he had been invited to take a seat in Mr.
So-and-so's pew. "Yes," they replied, "we are aware of that; but public
feeling is against it, and it cannot be allowed." The stranger turned
round, burst into tears, and walked home.

Mr. Johnson, of the _Tribune_, told me that two or three years ago he
and thirty or forty more were returning from an Anti-slavery Convention
held at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. They had left by railway for
Philadelphia at 3 o'clock in the morning. At a town called Lancaster
they stopped to breakfast. In the company were two coloured gentlemen,
one of whom was a minister. They all sat down together. Soon the
waiters began to whisper, "A nigger at table!" "There is two!" The
landlord quickly appeared, seized one of the coloured gentlemen by the
shoulder, and asked him how he dared to sit down at table in his house.
The company remonstrated, and assured him that those whose presence
appeared to be so offensive were very respectable men, friends of
theirs, whom they had invited to sit down. It was all in vain. The
landlord would hear nothing; "the niggers must go." "Very well," said
the rest of the company; "then we shall all go." Away they went, and
left the refined landlord to console himself for the loss of a large
party to breakfast. They had to travel all the way to Philadelphia
before they could break their fast.

The same gentleman told me that he believed if a white man of any
standing in society in New York were now to marry a coloured lady,
however intelligent and accomplished, his life would be in danger,--he
would be lynched for having committed such an outrage upon "public
opinion." And yet the boast is ever ringing in our ears, "This is a
free country--every one does as he pleases here!"

On the 24th of March I called upon Dr. Spring. He is an Old School
Presbyterian, and a supporter of the Colonization Society. In the
course of conversation reference was made to State Churches.

_Myself._--"You see, Doctor, State Churches are the curse of the
British Empire, just as slavery is the curse of your country."

_The Doctor._--"Ah! so it is; and yet we can do nothing to remove them.
Here is our slavery,--we can't touch it; and you cannot touch your
Established Church. Do you think you will ever get rid of it?"

_Myself._--"Oh! Yes; I hope so."

_The Doctor._--"But it will be a _very_ long time before it comes to
pass."

_Myself._--"Perhaps not so very long. We are rapidly hastening towards
some great change. The old principle of an Establishment is now being
abandoned by all parties; and we shall soon come either to the pay-all
or to the pay-none principle. I am much afraid it will be the former."

_The Doctor._--"But were it to come to that, and the State would pay
you as well as all the rest, you would have no further ground of
complaint."

_Myself._--"Oh! but we should: we dread that above all other evils. It
will be a dark day for evangelical religion in England, if ever that
principle be adopted."

_The Doctor._--"Why? What harm can it do you to receive the money of
the State, provided it does not infringe upon your liberties?"

_Myself._--"In the first place, it would be a departure from the law of
Jesus Christ, and every departure from his law is sure to be productive
of evil."

_The Doctor._--"Very true. That's a sound principle--that every
departure from his law will be productive of evil; but then, it remains
to be proved that it _is_ a departure from his law. However, I am glad
to see you stick so firmly to your principles."

He then went on to ask if I would preach for him next Sabbath. Now,
whether he was only trying me on those points, or whether he had not
studied the subject, or whether he was anxious to keep me off from the
subject of slavery, I cannot tell. But I came away with my knowledge of
Dr. Spring less than it was when I entered. He seemed like a cold,
stiff, formal State parson.

In the evening I attended a missionary meeting in Dr. Adams's Church.
It was the anniversary of the New York and Brooklyn Auxiliary to the
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and embraced about thirty
churches. I expected great things. When I entered they were singing.
The place was little more than half-full,--say 500 persons. Three
gentlemen were sitting in the pulpit. These were Dr. Adams, Dr. Cox,
and Mr. Storrers. I looked around for the negro pew. There it was on
the left of the organ, and five sable friends in it. The first speaker
was Dr. Adams, who delivered a well-prepared oration of half an hour
long. The Rev. Mr. Storrers, a young man, the pastor of the "Church of
the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn, was the next speaker. His preparation and
delivery were of the same character as those of Dr. Adams. But he
possesses great mental power. He occupied exactly half an hour. Both
speakers complained bitterly of diminished confidence and
contributions. I forget the exact amount announced as the contribution
of this auxiliary; but it was small. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, was the
third speaker. He told us that the last meeting he had attended in
England, a few months before, was the missionary meeting in Birmingham.
It was held in the town-hall, a magnificent building, and well filled.
He pronounced an eloquent eulogy on John Angell James. He described the
missionary breakfast in Birmingham; but, in mentioning such a thing as
a "missionary breakfast," he felt it necessary to make some apology. He
assured them it was not attended with the evils they might be apt to
imagine would be inseparably connected with it. The fact is that
missionary breakfasts are altogether unknown in America. Dr. Cox stated
that he had often been asked in England how they managed missionary
meetings in America, that the people of England held them in high
estimation, that in England they depended chiefly for the support of
the missionary cause upon legacies, stock, &c., while they in America
were content to say, "Give us day by day our daily bread." He also
mentioned Dr. Chalmers's eulogy upon them. While in England, he (Dr.
Cox) and another had waited upon Sir Stratford Canning, to commend
their mission at Constantinople to his kind notice, and Sir Stratford
had spoken in very high terms of the American people. Thus, even at the
missionary meeting, incense must be offered to national vanity.




LETTER XXVIII.

A Visit to Mount Vernon--Dr. Robinson--Welsh Deputation--Queen Anne and
New York--The Sabbath--Preaching at Dr. L's--Afternoon Service at Mr.
C----'s--Tea at Dr. L----'s--Evening Service at Mr.----'s.


The next day my wife and I paid our promised visit to the institution
of the Abbotts at Mount Vernon. In its government there are neither
rewards nor punishments; but each pupil, at the close of the day, has
to present a brief report of her own conduct. Her good deeds and her
bad deeds must be alike proclaimed--proclaimed by herself,--and that in
the presence of her fellow-pupils who were witnesses of the conduct to
which she refers. This compels her to be faithful. If she tries to
conceal what was faulty, she is surrounded by those who will detect
that concealment: if she ostentatiously parades her own excellences,
she knows she will sink in the estimation of her friends. The
encouragement of self-respect, and of a regard for that which is good
for its _own_ sake, are the great principles of government in this
establishment.

Mr. Abbott's plan of teaching a language is, not at first to weary the
pupils with the dry rules of grammar, but to store their memories with
words. He read a word or a short sentence in French, for instance, and
asked the pupils to translate it into English. Then, with closed books,
he would give them the English in like manner to be turned into French.
I have since adopted the plan with Latin pupils with pleasure and
success.

Mr. Abbott allows a recess of five minutes at the close of every
half-hour. The hours of attendance are from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.; but a
rest of half an hour is allowed in the midst of that period. We
happened to be there when the said half-hour arrived. All the Abbotts,
the pupils, and ourselves went out to the playground, which was
furnished with seats, and swings, and skipping-ropes, and
swinging-boats, and all sorts of machines for exercise and amusement.
In these gymnastic performances the Abbotts themselves joined the
pupils, with a beautiful combination of freedom and propriety. A
happier assemblage I never saw. We retired highly delighted with all we
had witnessed.

In the afternoon I had the honour of being introduced to Dr. Robinson,
whose Greek Lexicon I had often thumbed with advantage. He appeared to
be from 45 to 50 years of age. His manners were exceedingly simple and
unostentatious,--the constant characteristics of true greatness. I
looked upon him with high respect and veneration. He is a man of whom
America may well be proud. He pressed me to go and address the students
at Union College, of which he is one of the Professors; but an
opportunity of doing so did not occur.

In the evening I was waited upon by two gentlemen who announced
themselves as the "President and Secretary" of a Welsh Temperance
Society, and wished me to attend and address one of their meetings at a
given time. This I could not do. In conversation with them about
slavery, and the oppression of the coloured people, I was surprised and
grieved to find how soon the Welsh people imbibed the feelings and aped
the conduct of the Americans in those matters. On their pressing me to
attend a meeting of their society on some _future_ occasion, I told
them I was one of the most downright Abolitionists that ever lived,
and, if I came, would terrify them all with such an abolition speech as
they had never heard. This, of course, was cold water upon their love,
and our interview soon terminated.

The weather for the next two days was so unfavourable that we could not
go out at all. Among the information I then derived from books were the
following precious morsels from the Introduction to the Natural History
of New York: "The Governor was directed by Queen Anne to take especial
care that the Almighty should be devoutly and duly served according to
the rites of the Church of England," and was at the _same time_ desired
by the Queen "to take especial care that the colony should have a
constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate
rates." Just what our own West India planters _now_ want! Oh! how they
would hail the return of the palmy days of Queen Anne!

On Sabbath the 28th of March I was invited to preach in the morning in
the church of Dr. L----, a Congregational place of worship, capable of
accommodating about 500 persons. The attendance was not more than 200.
There I was delighted to find no negro pew. A few coloured children
were intermingled with the white ones in the gallery. The Doctor, to
whom I had not been introduced, was already in the pulpit when I
arrived. The ceremony of introduction to each other had to be duly
performed in the rostrum. He is a fine, tall, clean, and
venerable-looking old gentleman. He began the service, and, before
sermon, announced that they would then "take up" the usual collection.
That place of worship is what they call a "Free Church,"--_i.e._ there
is no pew-letting; as a substitute for which, they "take up" a weekly
collection. The Doctor also made the following announcement: "A
Missionary of the London Missionary Society, from Guiana, one of the
South American possessions of Britain,--his name is Mr. Davies,--will
now preach; and in the evening Professor Kellog from----, a _long_
friend of mine, will preach." At the close I was introduced to the
Doctor's _long_ friend, Professor Kellog; and sure enough he was a
"long" one! There was present also Professor Whipple, of the Oberlin
Institute, to whom I had before been introduced.

In the afternoon I preached for a Mr. C----, in a Presbyterian Church.
The place was beautiful, commodious, and nearly full. The pastor
introduced the service. In his manner of doing so, I was very much
struck with--what I had before often observed in our Transatlantic
brethren--a great apparent want of reverence and fervour. The singing
was very good--in the choir. In my address, I urged them to give their
legislators, and their brethren in the South, no rest till the guilt
and disgrace of slavery were removed from their national character and
institutions. I also besought them, as men of intelligence and piety,
to frown upon the ridiculous and contemptible prejudice against colour
wherever it might appear. To all which they listened with apparent
kindness and interest.

We took tea by invitation with Dr. L----, for whom I had preached in
the morning. There we met with his nice wife, nice deacon, nice little
daughters, and nice nieces,--but a most intolerable nephew. This man
professed to be greatly opposed to slavery, and yet was full of
contempt for "niggers." He talked and _laughed_ over divisions in
certain churches, and told the company how he used occasionally to go
on Sunday nights to hear a celebrated minister, just "for the sake of
hearing him _talk_--ha--ha--ha!" And yet this was a professor of
religion!

On the subject of slavery the following conversation took place:--

_Nephew._--"If I were in a Slave State, I would not hold slaves."

_Aunt._--"Ah! but you would."

_Nephew._--"No! that I would not."

_Aunt._--"You could not live there without."

_Dr. L._----(gravely).--"Well, I _guess_ we had better pray, 'Lead us
not into temptation.'"

_Aunt._ (devoutly)--"I _guess_ we had."

By-and-by one of the young ladies said to my wife, "I guess we had
better go and fix our things, and get ready for church." This was the
signal for the breaking up of our social enjoyment, which would have
been one of unmingled pleasure, had it not been for this noisy,
conceited, talkative nephew.

In the evening I had to preach again for Mr.----, the place where the
coloured gentleman was refused admission to the body of the church. The
building was very fine, and the congregation very large. Professor
Fowler, of Amherst College, who happened to be present, read the
Scriptures and prayed. My subject was "the woes and wants of the
African race." I touched upon American slavery, and gave details of the
horrors of the slave traffic as at present carried on. I also bore
testimony against the cruel prejudice which so extensively exists
against the African colour. All were attentive, except one man, who
rose and walked out; and I fancied him saying to himself, "I am not
going to sit here to listen to this abolition nonsense any longer." And
so ended my Sabbath in New York.




LETTER XXIX.

The Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright--His Testimony against Caste--His
Funeral--Drs. Cox and Patton--The Service in the House--The
Procession--The Church--The Funeral Oration--Mrs. Wright.


During my stay at this time in New York, there died in that city the
Rev. Theodore Sedgwick Wright, a Presbyterian minister of colour. His
attainments and talents were very respectable; and for fifteen years he
had been the successful pastor of a church of coloured people in the
city.

Before you accompany me to his funeral, listen to his voice. Though
"dead, he yet speaketh." He had felt this cruel prejudice against the
colour of his skin as iron entering his soul. Here is his touching
testimony on the subject, delivered in a speech at Boston eleven years
before his death:--

"No man can really understand this prejudice, unless he feels it
crushing him to the dust, because it is a matter of feeling. It has
bolts, scourges, and bars, wherever the coloured man goes. It has bolts
in all the schools and colleges. The coloured parent, with the same
soul as a white parent, sends his child to the seats of learning; and
he finds the door bolted, and he sits down to weep beside his boy.
Prejudice stands at the door, and bars him out. Does the child of the
coloured man show a talent for mechanics, the heart of the parent beats
with hope. He sees the children of the white man engaged in employment;
and he trusts that there is a door open to his boy, to get an honest
living, and become a useful member of society. But, when he comes to
the workshop with his child, he finds a bolt there. But, even suppose
that he can get this first bolt removed, he finds other bars. He can't
work. Let him be ever so skilled in mechanics, up starts prejudice, and
says, 'I won't work in the shop if you do.' Here he is scourged by
prejudice, and has to go back, and sink down to some of the employments
which white men leave for the most degraded. He hears of the death of a
child from home, and he goes in a stage or a steam-boat. His money is
received, but he is scourged there by prejudice. If he is sick, he can
have no bed, he is driven on deck: money will not buy for him the
comforts it gets for all who have not his complexion. He turns to some
friend among the white men. Perhaps that white man had sat at his table
at home, but he does not resist prejudice here. He says, 'Submit. 'Tis
an ordinance of God,--you must be humble.' Sir, I have felt this. As a
minister, I have been called to pass often up and down the North River
in steam-boats. Many a night I have walked the deck, and not been
allowed to lie down in a bed. Prejudice would even turn money to dross
when it was offered for these comforts by a coloured man. Thus
prejudice scourges us from the table; it scourges us from the cabin,
from the stage-coach, from the bed. Wherever we go, it has for us
bolts, bars, and rods."

And now let us attend the speaker's funeral. Professor Whipple will be
our guide. As we proceed, crowds of coloured people are hastening in
the same direction from all quarters. We are at the house. But so great
is the throng that it is impossible to get in. Here, however, comes Dr.
Cox. "Make room for Dr. Cox!"--"Make room for Dr. Cox!" is now heard on
every hand. A path is opened for the great man, and we little men slip
in at his skirt. On reaching the room where the remains of the good man
lie, we find Dr. Patton and the Rev. Mr. Hatfield. They and Dr. Cox are
there in a semi-official capacity, as representing the Presbytery with
which Mr. Wright was connected. Louis Tappan, the long-tried and
faithful friend of the coloured race, is there also. I am asked to be a
pall-bearer: without at all reflecting on the duties and inconveniences
of the office, I good-naturedly consent. A _white_ cotton scarf is
instantly thrown over my shoulder. There is the coffin; and there is a
lifelike portrait of Mr. Wright hung up against the wall, and looking
as it were down upon that coffin. But you can see the face of Mr.
Wright himself. The coffin-lid is screwed down; but there is a square
of glass, like a little window, just over the face, as is generally the
case in America, and you can have a view of the whole countenance.

A black man reads a hymn, and, in connection with it, begins an address
in a very oracular style, and with very solemn pauses. A hint is given
him not to proceed. They sing. Mr. Hatfield delivers an appropriate
address. A coloured minister prays, sometimes using the first person
singular, and sometimes the first person plural; also talking about the
"meanderings of life," and a great deal of other nonsense.

We move down stairs. The immense procession starts. Drs. Cox and
Patton, Mr. Hatfield, and about half-a-dozen more white ministers, are
in it. As we pass on from street to street, and from crossing to
crossing, all sorts of people seem to regard the procession with the
utmost respect. The cabmen, 'busmen, and cartmen behave exceedingly
well. But did you overhear what those three or four low dirty men said
as we approached? I am ashamed to tell, because those men are not
Americans, but _Irishmen_,--"Here comes the dead nigger!" The boys, now
and then, are also overheard counting how many _white_ men there are in
the procession.

We are now at the church. After much delay and difficulty we enter. The
place, which is not large, is crammed. There must be about 600 people
in. Dr. Cox urges them to make room for more, and says there are not
more than one-tenth in of those who wish to enter. If so, there must be
a concourse of 6,000 people, and not more than twenty whites among them
all!

A coloured man gives out a hymn. Dr. Cox reads the Scriptures, and
makes a few remarks. Dr. Patton delivers an oration. In that oration,
while speaking of Mr. Wright's anti-slavery feelings as being very
strong, he adds, with very questionable taste, "But at the same time
our brother had no sympathy with those who indulged in _denunciation,
wrath, and blackguardism_. He would never touch the missiles which
_none but scoundrels use_." What a selection of words in a funeral
oration! In speaking of Mr. Wright's labours in connection with that
church for fifteen years, he says, "Our brother had difficulties which
other men have not. Two or three years ago he had to trudge about the
city, under the _full muzzle_ of a July or August sun, to beg money in
order to extricate this place from pecuniary difficulties. On one
occasion, after walking all the way to the upper part of the city to
call upon a gentleman from whom he hoped to receive a donation, he
found that he had just left his residence for his office in the city.
Our brother, though greatly exhausted, was compelled to walk the same
distance down again; for--to the shame, the everlasting shame of our
city be it spoken--our brother, on account of his colour, could not
avail himself of one of the public conveyances. The next week disease
laid hold of him, and he never recovered."

What a strong and unexpected testimony against that cruel prejudice!
According to this testimony, Theodore Sedgwick Wright fell a _victim_
to it. But who would have thought that Dr. Patton, who thus denounced
the cabmen and 'busmen of New York, had at the very time the "Negro
Pew" in his own church!

While on this subject, let me tell you another fact respecting poor Mr.
Wright. The life of his first wife was sacrificed to this heartless and
unmanly feeling. He was travelling with her by steam-boat between New
York and Boston. They had to be out all night, and a bitter cold
winter's night it was. Being coloured people, their only accommodation
was the "hurricane-deck." Mrs. Wright was delicate. Her husband offered
to pay any money, if they would only let her be in the kitchen or the
pantry. No,--she was a "nigger," and could not be admitted. Mr. Wright
wrapped her in his own cloak, and placed her against the chimney to try
to obtain for her a little warmth. But she took a severe cold, and soon
died. _His_ colour, it would seem, hastened his own exit to rejoin her
in that world where such absurd and inhuman distinctions are unknown.

Dr. Patton's oration is now ended. But--did you ever hear such a thing
at a funeral?--that minister in the table pew is actually giving out--

  "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!"

and they sing it to a funeral tune!

We start for the place of burial. But it is a long way off, and I had
better spare you the journey. The great men fell off one after another;
but my pall-bearing office compelled me to remain to the last. It was 4
o'clock P.M. before the solemnities were closed.




LETTER XXX.

Trip to New Haven--Captain Stone and his Tender Feeling--Arrival in New
Haven--A Call from Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton--Newspapers--The
Centre Church and Standing Order--The North Church and Jonathan
Edwards, junior.


Now for an excursion to New Haven. We leave by the steamer "Traveller,"
Captain Stone, at 61/2 A.M. Wrap yourself up well; it is piercing cold,
being the 30th of March. This boat is altogether different from the
boats on the Mississippi. It seems to belong to quite another species.
It is, however, admirably adapted for its purpose,--that of running
along a stormy coast. In the gentlemen's cabin are three tiers of
berths, one above another like so many book-shelves. The engine works
outside, like a top-sawyer. We shall pass "Hell Gate" directly; but
don't be alarmed. You would not have known it, had I not told you. The
Hog's Back, the Frying Pan, and other places of Knickerbocker
celebrity, are in this neighbourhood.

Let us go to the ladies' saloon. Well! I declare! There is a coloured
woman, and allowed to remain unmolested! Things improve as we approach
New England, and are much better even there than they were a few years
ago.

But here comes the captain muffled up. He brings with him a poor
sickly-looking woman, begs the ladies' pardon, and bids her sit down by
the stove and warm herself. He then tells the passengers her painful
story. The night before, in New York, this woman came on board, from
one of the Philadelphia boats, bringing with her a bed and a child. On
being spoken to by the captain, she informed him that she was on her
way from St. Louis to her home in Massachusetts,--that she had been
fifteen days upon the journey, and had two children with her. On being
asked where the other was, she replied, "There it is," pointing to the
bed, where, clad in its usual dress, the little sufferer, released from
the trials of life, lay extended in death. It had caught cold, and died
in her arms in New York. She was friendless and penniless, and wanted a
passage to New Haven. The captain had obtained a coroner's inquest over
the body, purchased for it a little coffin, had it decently laid out,
and gratified her maternal feelings by allowing her to bring it with
her, that it might be buried in her village-home in Massachusetts. All
this he had done without money and without price, had also given her a
free passage to New Haven, and was about to forward her home by railway
at his own expense! Captain _Stone_--"what's in a name?"--at the close
of this statement had to take out his pocket-handkerchief, and wipe
away a few manly tears from his weather-beaten cheeks, as he added, "I
have met in my life with many cases of distress, but with none that
came so much to my heart as this." His object, in introducing the woman
and her case, was to make an appeal to the passengers on her behalf. He
did so; and the result was a subscription amounting to about five
pounds sterling, which was handed over to her. Captain Stone's was a
deed worthy of a golden inscription!

It is half-past 11 A.M., and we are now at the landing-place in the
harbour of New Haven, having accomplished the distance from New York,
about 80 miles, in five hours! We have a long wharf of 3,943 feet to
travel; and then we set foot for the first time on the soil of New
England. We have been invited to make our abode here with the Rev.
Leicester Sawyer, who makes his abode at Deacon Wilcoxon's, corner of
Sherman-avenue and Park-street. Thither, therefore, let us go. Mr.
Sawyer, whom we had before met in New York, is the author of several
books, comprising two on Mental and Moral Philosophy, and was also
lately the President of the Central College of Ohio. Deacon Wilcoxon
and his wife are plain, homely, kind Christian people. They make you
feel at home as soon as you have crossed their threshold.

Soon after our arrival the Rev. Dr. Bacon and the Rev. Mr. Dutton, the
pastors of the "first" and "second" Congregational Churches in this
city, honour us with a call. This is brotherly, and more than we could
have expected. Dr. Bacon regrets that he is going from home, and cannot
have us to spend a few days at his house. Mr. Dutton, however, presses
us to accept of his hospitality. We promise to do so in a day or two.
Dr. Bacon is one of the great men of New England. He is a living
encyclopaedia,--a walking library. He keeps fully up with the
literature and sciences of the day. I have not met a man, either in the
Old World or in the New, that so thoroughly understood the state of the
British West Indies at the present time as he does. He might have spent
years in that part of the world, and devoted himself to its exclusive
study. His position at home is high, and his influence great. The
estimation in which he is held in New England may be judged of by the
fact, that when, in August 1846, Dr. Theodore Dwight Woolsey had to be
installed as President of Yale College, Dr. Bacon, living within a
stone's throw of that institution, was the man chosen to preach the
inauguration sermon.

In the middle of the afternoon, my friend Mr. Sawyer presses me to
preach in his place of worship--the Howe-street Church--this evening. I
consent. By-and-by I observe him very busy with some slips of paper;
and I ask him what he is doing? "I am sending," he says, "notices to
the evening papers, to make it known that you are going to preach this
evening!" What a people the Americans are for newspapers! New Haven has
only a population of about 18,000; and yet it has six daily papers--all
having a weekly issue besides, two monthly periodicals, and two
quarterly ones! The daily papers are, I believe, none of them more than
5 dollars (a guinea) a year, or 2 cents (one penny) per number. No
paper duty, and no stamp. At the service in the evening several
ministers and students were present.

The next day snow to the depth of six inches cover the ground. Let
_us_, however, turn out in the afternoon. We will go and see the
central square,--or the Green, as it is commonly called. This is a
large open space like a park, surrounded on all sides with rows of
stately elms, and is considered one of the most beautiful spots in the
United States. And now we are in a position to take a full view. Three
churches, arranged side by side on this open space, at a few rods from
each other, stand before us. The central one has the most imposing
aspect. It is a large Grecian building; having a portico, supported by
four massive columns, from which rises a lofty bell-tower, ending in a
spire. The combination of the belfry or spire with the Grecian style is
a violation of propriety; but _I like it_. This is the "first"
Congregational Church--that in which Dr. Bacon ministers. That
church--not the building--is coeval with the colony, and can trace back
its history for more than 200 years. It was formerly a State Church.
Congregationalism was for ages the "standing order," or the established
religion, in Connecticut! All the people were taxed for its support;
and no man could have any share in the administration of the civil
government, or give his vote in any election, unless he was a member of
one of the churches. It was not till forty years after the separation
of Church and State in Virginia, where the establishment was Episcopal,
that the example was followed in Connecticut. Happily, however, in 1816
all parties that differed from it--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists,
Universalists, &c., combined together, gained a majority in the
legislature, and severed the connection between Congregationalism and
the State! There are old men now living who then anxiously and piously
"trembled for the Ark of the Lord." They have, however, lived to see
that the dissolution of the union between Church and State in
Connecticut, as in Virginia, was to the favoured sect as "life from the
dead." The Congregationalist of the one, and the Episcopalian of the
other, would alike deprecate being placed in the same position again.
But this is a digression.

We are still looking at these churches. The church on our right, which
is about the same size and of the same architectural character as the
other, though not quite so showy, is the "second" Congregational
Church, commonly called the North Church--that in which Mr. Button now
ministers. This church originated in the "great awakening" in 1740, was
formed in 1742, and has a history of more than a century in duration.
It arose from dissatisfaction with the ministry of a Mr. Noyes, a
contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, but one who had no sympathy in
Edwards's views and spirit. This man was, indeed, greatly opposed to
the "awakening," and refused George Whitfield admission to his pulpit.
The originators of this second church, therefore, separated from the
original parent, availed themselves of the Act of Toleration, and
became Congregational Dissenters from a Congregational Establishment!
They had of course no State support, nor were they "free from taxation
by the society from which they dissented." "The foundations of this
church, my brethren," said its present gifted pastor, in a sermon
preached at the centenary of its formation, "are love of evangelical
doctrine, of ecclesiastical liberty, of revivals of religion. Such ever
be its superstructure."

Here, for a quarter of a century, lived and laboured Jonathan Edwards
the younger. Perhaps you have never before heard of him; neither had I
till I came to New Haven. If you won't think it too long to be detained
here standing in front of the church, I will tell you a few facts
respecting him. He was the second son and ninth child of the celebrated
Jonathan Edwards of Northampton. His mother, too, was an extraordinary
woman. You will smile at the impression she made on the mind of good
old George Whitfield. He had spent two days at Mr. Edwards's house in
Northampton; and he says, "I felt wonderful satisfaction in being at
the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a son himself, and hath a daughter of
Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. She is a
woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and
solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her
husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some
months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of
Abraham to be my wife. I find, upon many accounts, it is my duty to
marry. Lord, I desire to have no choice of my own. Thou knowest my
circumstances."

In quoting this, an American writer adds, "He had not yet learned, if
he ever did, that God is not pleased to make such 'sweet couples' out
of persons who have no choice of their own."

Mr. Edwards, junior, or rather Dr. Edwards, was (like his father) a
great scholar and a profound divine. He was frequently invited to
assist at the examinations in Yale College. On those occasions he used
frequently to display his strictness and accuracy by calling out,
"_Haud recté_" (not right). This procured him the _sobriquet_ of "Old
Haud Recté," by which he was afterwards known among the students. Some
time after his resignation of the pastorate of this church he became
the President of Union College. His works have recently been published
in two large octavo volumes. There is a striking parallel between the
father and the son. They were alike in the character of their minds and
in their intellectual developments. The name, education, and early
employments of the two were alike. Both were pious in their youth; both
were distinguished scholars; both were tutors for equal periods in the
colleges where they were respectively educated; both were settled in
the ministry as successors to their maternal grandfathers; both were
dismissed, and again settled in retired places, where they had leisure
to prepare and publish their works; both were removed from those
stations to become presidents of colleges; both died shortly after
their respective inaugurations, the one in the 56th and the other in
the 57th year of their age; and each of them preached on the first
Sabbath of the year of his death from the same text--"This year thou
shalt die!"

But we must not dwell too long on these historical incidents. I have
told you something about the Centre Church and the North Church. That
Gothic building on our left is an episcopal church. That white building
immediately in the rear of the Centre Church is the State House,
completed in 1831. It is constructed of stone and marble, and forms a
prominent ornament of the city. It presents one of the best copies of a
Grecian temple I have seen in the States. In the rear of the North
Church, quite at the remote corner of the Green, stands a plain
barn-like Methodist chapel. And, behind the whole, peeping through the
elm-trees, you see the long range of buildings which constitutes Yale
College. Take it all in all, a view more interesting than that from the
spot on which we now stand I have never beheld.




LETTER XXXI.

The Spot on which Whitfield preached--Judge Daggett--Governor Yale
--Yale College--The Libraries--Elliot's Indian Bible--Geological
Museum--Dr. Goodrich--Education and Expenses at Yale College--The
Graves of the Regicides.


Before I take you to "Yale," let me show you the spot on the Green on
which, in 1745, Whitfield, being refused admission to the
Congregational church, preached in the open air, under a tree, to an
immense congregation,--so great at that time was the dislike to a
fervid evangelical ministry. But more than a century has rolled away;
and how changed is the scene!

But, observe you that feeble, tottering old gentleman coming along the
avenue? It is the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., late Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is a member, and, I believe, a deacon
of one of the Congregational churches in this city. Twelve or thirteen
years ago that very man, sitting on the judicial bench, condemned Miss
Randall to be punished for--teaching a coloured child to read!

Now for Yale. The Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, the minister of the North
Church, will accompany us. This institution was founded in the year
1700. It derived its name from the Hon. Elihu Yale, a gentleman, I am
proud to say, descended from an ancient and respectable family in
Wales. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came over with the first settlers
of New Haven. His son Elihu went to England at ten years of age, and to
the East Indies at thirty. In the latter country he resided about
twenty years, was made Governor of Madras, acquired a large fortune,
returned to England, was chosen Governor of the East India Company, and
died at Wrexham in Denbighshire in 1721. On several occasions he made
munificent donations to the new institution during the years of its
infancy and weakness, on account of which the trustees by a solemn act
named it "Yale College."

The college buildings--which, like Rome, were not all erected in a
day--consist of four plain spacious edifices, built of brick, each four
stories high, and presenting a front, including passage-ways, of about
600 feet. That neat white house on your right, as you stand before
these buildings, is the President's dwelling--the very house in which
resided Dr. Timothy Dwight. But you are not looking at it. Ah! I see
your attention is attracted by that student sitting on the sill of the
open window of his study, having in his hand a book, and in his mouth a
pipe of clay; by which, with the aid of fire, he is reducing a certain
tropical weed into its original chemical elements. Perhaps you think
that rather undignified; and so it is. I wish you had not seen it; but
worse is done at Oxford and Cambridge.

Behind this range of buildings is another, a more modern and more
imposing pile. This extends in front 151 feet, is built of red
sandstone, is in the Gothic style, and contains the libraries of the
institution. The central building, called the College Hall, containing
the College Library properly so called, measures in front 51 feet, and
in depth from front to rear 95 feet, having at each corner a tower of
the extreme height of 91 feet. The interior is one room, whose
measurement is 83 feet by 41, resembling in form a Gothic chapel, with
its nave and aisles. The nave is 51 feet high, and its breadth 17 feet.
Between its clustered pillars on either side are alcoves, each 10 feet
by 12, fitted up with shelves for books. The number of volumes it now
contains is about 20,000. The extreme wings and the connecting wings on
either side are very elegant, and fitted up for various libraries
connected with the institution, such as the Students' Library, the
Reading Room, the Calliopean Library, and the Livonian Library. The
Students' Library contains 9,000 volumes. This beautiful range of
buildings probably contains not fewer than 40,000 volumes; and ere long
the number will be doubled! Little did the ten ministers who, in 1700,
met together to establish this seminary, each laying down his donation
of books with these words, "I give these books for the founding of a
college in this colony," and who found that their joint-contribution
amounted to only _forty volumes_,--little did they think what that
small beginning would come to!

You are looking out for literary curiosities. Here is one--Elliot's
Indian Bible! You have heard of Elliot, "the Apostle of the North
American Indians." Here is a translation of the entire sacred volume
into one of the languages of those people. The New Testament was
published in 1661, and the Old Testament in 1663. The book before us is
a copy of the second edition of the New Testament in 1680, and of the
Old Testament in 1685. But where are those Indians, or their
descendants? They are extinct; and there is not now a man on the whole
continent of America that speaks their language!

Time will not permit me to describe the Picture Gallery, the Anatomical
Museum, the Cabinet of the Materia Medica, the Museum of Natural
History, and many other objects of interest. You must, however, take a
peep at the Mineral Cabinet, or Geological Museum. It has been
collected and arranged, with great industry and taste, by Professor
Silliman. Look at this meteoric iron-stone. It fell a few years ago in
Texas, and weighs 1,635 lbs.!

Our guide, Mr. Dutton, insists upon our calling at the college-room of
Dr. Goodrich, one of the Theological Professors. We do so; and find him
engaged in revising Webster's Large Dictionary, about a dozen volumes,
for a new edition. But what a polite man! Talk of American rudeness! A
reception more kind and courteous than this you have never received
from any man.

Yale College is a noble institution. Oh that we had a few like it in
England! The Faculty consists of 25 Professors--men who would be an
honour to any country, 7 "Tutors," and 6 "Instructors." At the time of
our visit there are 584 students thus classified:--

Theological Students          53
Law            "              62
Medical        "              52
Resident Graduates             5

Undergraduates,--
  Seniors                  121
  Juniors                   90
  Sophomores (wise fools)  112
  Freshmen                  99
                          -----
                               422
                              -----
                        Total  584

Candidates for admission to the Freshmen Class are examined in Cicero's
Select Orations, the whole of Virgil and Sallust, and the first three
books of Xenophon's Anabasis, together with various "Readers,"
"Exercises," and Grammars.

The whole course of instruction occupies four years, each year being
divided into three terms or sessions.

With regard to expense, the annual charges made by the Treasurer are--

                                        DOLLS. CENTS.
For instruction                           33     00
For rent of chamber in college (average)  12     00
For ordinary repairs and contingencies     2     40
For general damages, sweeping, &c.         3     60
For expenses of recitation-rooms           3     00
                                          -----------
                                          54     00 = £11. 5_s._

Board is obtained at prices varying from a dollar and a quarter to 3
dollars a week. To a majority of the students, the cost of board is
less than 2 dollars a week, or, reckoning the dollar at 4_s._ 2_d._,
less than 8_s._ 4_d._ Fuel is procured by the College Corporation, and
sold to the students at cost-price. The students provide for themselves
bed and bedding, furniture for their rooms, candles, books, stationery,
and washing. In the several classes and literary societies
subscriptions to a small amount are required. If books and furniture
are sold when the student completes his course, the expense incurred by
their use will not be great. The following is an approximate estimate
of the _necessary_ expenses, without including apparel, pocket-money,
travelling, and board during vacations:--

                                          DOLLARS.

Treasurer's account as above             54 ... 54
Board for forty weeks               from 60  to 90
Fuel and lights                       "   6  "  15
Use of books recited, and stationery  "   5  "  15
Use of furniture, bed and bedding     "   5  "  15
Washing......                         "   5  "  15
Contributions in the classes ...      "   5  "   6
                                         ----------
                                        140 to 210

or from 29_l._ to 43_l._ No students are permitted to take lodgings in
town, except when the rooms in college are all occupied.

In addition to the regular college course of four years, those who
study for the ministry go through a theological course, which occupies
three years more. No charges are made for tuition or lectures. For the
accommodation of students of this order a building has been erected, in
which the rooms are free of charge. The law department, in like manner,
occupies two years, and the medical two or three.

Let us now go and see the graves of the Regicides. They are at the rear
of the Centre Church. Soon after the restoration of Charles II., many
of the judges who had condemned to death his father were apprehended;
of whom thirty were condemned, and ten executed as traitors. Three,
however, made their escape to New England,--Generals Goffe and Whalley,
and Colonel Dixwell. A cave is shown in the neighbourhood, still called
the "Judges' Cave," in which a great part of their time was spent in
concealment. Many were their hair-breadth 'scapes from their
pursuers--the Royalist party. The colonists, however, gave them all the
sympathy and protection that they deserved. On one occasion, knowing
that the pursuers were coming to New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Davenport
preached on the text, "Hide the outcasts; betray not him that
wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to
them from the face of the spoiler." This, doubtless, had its effect,
putting the whole town on their guard, and uniting the people in
caution and concealment.

Do you see that rudely-shaped, dark blue stone, about 2 feet in width,
the same in height, and 8 inches thick? Do you see the inscription upon
it--E W in coarsely-carved letters, and the figures 1658 over them?
That is, doubtless, the headstone of Whalley's grave. The footstone is
similar, having the same letters; but above them you see figures that
may be read either sixteen hundred and fifty-eight, or sixteen hundred
and seventy-eight--16578. The latter was the date of the General's
death; and the figures, perhaps, were thus tampered with to baffle the
Royalists.

The other stone, about a foot broad and ten inches high, bearing the
letters M. G. and the number 80, is supposed to indicate the
resting-place of Goffe. He died about the year 1680. The M, with a
deep-drawn stroke under its limbs, may be taken for an inverted W; and
thus, with the G, stand for William Goffe, in harmony with the designed
concealment that pervades the whole. Colonel John Dixwell lived here,
for seventeen years or more, under the assumed name of James Davids,
and died here after an exile of twenty-nine years from his native
country. He, as well as the other two judges, lived and died in the
firm expectation of another revolution in England. That revolution had
actually taken place in the November before his death; but, as those
were the days of slow and tedious voyages, the news did not arrive till
about a month after his death. A little before his decease he revealed
to the people his real name and character, which had long been known to
the Rev. Mr. Pierpont the minister, but requested that no monument
should be erected at his grave, "lest his enemies might dishonour his
ashes," but only a plain stone inscribed with his initials J. D., Esq.,
his age, and time of death. And here it is--that piece of red stone,
about 2 feet in height and breadth, and 5 inches thick, inscribed--

"I. D. ESQR

DECEASED MARCH ye

18th IN ye 82d YEAR OF

HIS AGE 1688^9."

President Stiles, in his "History of the Judges," says, "So late as the
last French war, 1760, some British officers passing through New Haven,
and hearing of Dixwell's grave, visited it, and declared, with
rancorous and malicious vengeance, that if the British ministry knew
it, they would even then cause their bodies to be dug up and vilified.
Often have we heard the crown officers aspersing and vilifying them;
and some so late as 1775 visited and treated the graves with marks of
indignity too indecent to be detailed."

By those who can make a due allowance for difference of time and
circumstances, the graves of these exiles will be visited with
sentiments of veneration. It would have been grand to spare the
presumptuous monarch; but we cannot feel surprised that he was
sacrificed to the indignation of an outraged people. In these days,
happily, kings and nations have learned that to take away the life of
tyrannical rulers, or of resisting subjects, is but to sow the seeds of
future troubles, and not to lay the foundation of permanent peace.




LETTER XXXII.

A Fast-Day--Political Sermons--A Church of Coloured People--The
Sabbath--Morning Service--Afternoon ditto and Dr. Hawes--Prayers at
College Chapel--United Service in North Church--The Cemetery--The
"Fathers"--Professor Gibbs--Annual Election--Statistics--Arrival at
Hartford--Mr. Hosmer--Chief Justice--Deaf and Dumb--Charter Oak.


Good Friday was observed by the people of New England as an annual
fast-day, to humble themselves on account of their national sins. It
seemed, somewhat to our inconvenience, to be literally and very rigidly
observed in the circle in which we moved. On that day all ministers are
at liberty to preach upon politics. Accordingly, my friend Mr. Sawyer
took for his text Isaiah lviii. 6: "Is not this the fast that I have
chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" He
touched upon the war with Mexico, but dwelt chiefly on the subject of
slavery in America. His remarks were, however, too much mingled with
party politics to make the church uncomfortable.

In the afternoon I heard Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. His text was
Neh. ii. 3, and his subject _Patriotism_. The existing war occupied
much of his attention, and was strongly and unsparingly denounced. The
maxim--too frequently heard at that time in the United States--"Our
country, right or wrong," he shattered to atoms. Defensive war,
however, he justified. He dwelt powerfully on the responsibility
connected with the exercise of the elective franchise, and urged the
duty of voting, at all times, not blindly and for party purposes, but
intelligently, honestly, and piously. Exceptions might perhaps be taken
by some to his views on defensive war; otherwise the discourse was
excellent and seasonable. At the close of the service, we went, in
accordance with previous arrangements, to be his guests for a few days.

In the evening I attended a Congregational church of coloured people.
The place was exceedingly neat and clean. The minister, the Rev. Mr.
Beman (himself a coloured man), gave out the well-known hymn--

"Come we that love the Lord,
  And let our joys be known," &c.,

which was sung beautifully. He then offered up a very judicious,
sensible, and pious prayer. The meeting was one of a series of revival
meetings. A large number professed to have been converted; but, such
were the care and caution exercised, none of them had been admitted
into the fellowship of the church. Mr. Beman was so prudent,
unassuming, and devout, that I could not resist the inclination to go
up, introduce myself, and give a short address. Most cordial was my
reception, and great my enjoyment. At the close, one and another were
introduced to me as having made their escape from Southern slavery,
under circumstances painfully affecting; and they would not let me go
without a promise that I would preach to them on the following Sabbath
morning.

I did so, and enjoyed the service very much. As in the evening there
was to be a service in the North Church, in which all the other
churches were to unite, for the purpose of hearing from me a statement
with regard to the history and operations of the London Missionary
Society, together with some special reference to British Guiana, I said
to Mr. Beman, "Brother Beman, won't you and your people go to the North
Church to-night?" He hesitatingly said, "No,--he thought not." "Why
not?" said I,--"you know my statements will in a great measure refer to
those who are your brethren--your kindred according to the flesh."
"Yes," he replied,--"we should be glad to come; but the fact is they
would pack us--myself and all--into some negro pew, and we should feel
it keenly."

In the afternoon I preached for Mr. Dutton, in the North Church. Dr.
Bacon had that day exchanged pulpits with Dr. Hawes of Hartford. My
service closing a little sooner than his, I reached the Centre Church
in time to hear the latter part of his sermon. Dr. Hawes is a fine,
tall man, of about 55 years of age. In personal appearance, and in
tones of voice, he struck me as greatly resembling some of the sons of
Caledonia. His sermon, which was read, seemed to be very good; but the
delivery, even in the application, was slow and heavy. Both churches
were even more beautiful inside than out, and were filled with very
large congregations.

Shortly after, Mr. Dutton took me to attend the afternoon worship at
the College Chapel, where a church is formed, and public services are
conducted every Sabbath. It was here that Dr. Dwight delivered his
well-known Lectures. There are prayers morning and afternoon every day,
which the students are expected to attend. Such was the present
engagement. One of the professors read a chapter; gave out a hymn,
which was magnificently sung; and then offered an extempore prayer.
There were between 300 and 400 students present.

In the evening Dr. Hawes accompanied me into the pulpit, and took the
introductory part of the service. Most of the professors and students
were present. It was a fine, though formidable, opportunity to plead
the cause of the despised and oppressed sons of Afric before an
audience of so much learning and intelligence. What a contrast! In 1742
the students were forbidden to attend the meetings of this church; and
it was partly for once disobeying this prohibition, in order to hear
the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, that David Brainerd was expelled from the
college.

Nor were the sentiments I uttered new in this place. Nearly 60 years
have rolled away since Jonathan Edwards the younger preached here a
sermon, afterwards published by _request_, on the injustice and
impolicy of the slave-trade and slavery,--a sermon which in these days
would be called by many not merely abolitionism but incendiarism.

On Monday morning we were taken to see the cemetery, outside of the
city. Formerly the Green was used as a burying-ground; but in the
latter part of last century this field of ten acres was levelled and
inclosed for the purpose; and in 1821 the monuments, with the exception
of the humble stones of the three judges, were removed hither. The
broken tablets and half-legible inscriptions, which constituted the
memorials of the fathers and founders of this colony, were peculiarly
interesting. On the 18th of April, 1638, those men kept their first
Sabbath here. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, and Mr.
Davenport, their pastor, preached to them from Matt. iv. 1: "Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil." His subject was the temptations of the wilderness; and he
recorded the remark, that he had enjoyed "a good day." The following
year they met in a large barn, and in a very solemn manner proceeded to
lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity. Mr. Davenport
introduced the business with a sermon on "Wisdom hath builded her
house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The most ancient record of
this event is a curiosity in the history of civil government. It thus
begins:--"The 4th day of the 6th moneth, called June, all the free
planters assembled together in a general meetinge, to consult about
settling civil government according to God, and about the nomination of
persons that may be found by consent of all fittest in all respects for
the foundation work of a church, which was to be gathered in Quinipiack
[the Indian name of the place]. After sollemne invocation of the name
of God in prayer," &c., they resolved--Alas! for that resolve! it
admitted a wrong principle, and was productive, for more than 150
years, of the most withering and blighting effect upon that religion
which they aimed to foster--they resolved among other things, "That
church members only shall be free burgesses; and that they only shall
chuse magistrates and officers among themselves, to have the power of
transacting all publique civil affairs of this plantation," &c.

But why record their errors while standing over their tombs? _De
mortuis nil nisi bonum_. Take them for all in all, they were men whom
we delight to honour. Here are some of their memorials, dated so far
back as 1657. Here too is the resting-place of Dr. Dwight.

As we return from this necropolis, the Rev. Mr. Sawyer points out to us
the house of Professor Gibbs. "Gibbs--Gibbs," said I; "what! Gibbs's
Gesenius?" "Yes," said he. "I should like to see him," I replied, "for
I used at college his editions of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon." "Let us
then call by all means," said Mr. Sawyer. We did so; and a thin, spare,
sallow, sickly, withered, little old gentleman made his appearance.
This was the Professor. He seemed as if all the juice and sap of his
constitution had been pressed out to nourish the Hebrew roots. I
expressed my pleasure in seeing him, and acknowledged the advantages I
had derived from his labours. The conversation soon touched upon the
Established Church of England, of which he seemed to have a great
horror. "You ought to put down," said he, "that Establishment. You
might very easily do it." "We should be very happy, sir, to know how,"
I replied. "I will tell you. Make thorough Hebrew scholars of your
ministers. Let them be with regard to Biblical learning quite on a par
with those of the Establishment, and it will soon fall." I answered,
that upon the whole I thought they were in that respect quite in
advance of those of the Establishment. But I was amused at the good
Professor's simplicity. He little understood the mighty bulwarks by
which that institution is defended. A little more of the article in
which _he_ dealt would be just the thing to accomplish wonders! It was
his nostrum.

To-day the annual election of the State of Connecticut is held. All the
officers of state are to be chosen, and New Haven is one of the
principal polling-places. But how quiet the town! The only thing that
indicates an election is the presence of a larger number of people than
usual; and the only display you can see is that little bit of a flag,
about 18 inches square, stuck on the top of a cab, having on the word
"Democracy!" Let us go into the State House, and see how it is done.
Men leave their stores or their studies,--enter by one door, drop their
vote into a box, and quietly return to their avocations. The students
at Yale who are 21 years of age do the same, and go back to their
exercises. The whole affair is managed with as much propriety as the
election of deacons in the church at New Amsterdam. _This_ is the
working of universal suffrage in New England. Oh that all America, and
all the world, were in this respect like the land of the Pilgrim
Fathers!

And now we must bid adieu to New Haven. Many are the warm hearts and
clear heads it contains. The population is about 18,000. There are in
it--

5 Congregational Churches, and 1 Coloured ditto.
2 Episcopal ditto     .    .   1       "
2 Methodist Episcopal ditto    1       "
2 Baptist ditto.
1 Primitive Methodist ditto.   1 Bethel ditto.
1 Catholic ditto.             --
____

13 + 4 = 17 total of places of worship.

                                              DOLLARS.

The Salary of the Governor of Connecticut is  1,100
      "           Lieutenant      "    .  .     300
      "           Rev. Dr. Bacon   .   .  .   1,500
      "           Rev. Mr. Dutton  .   .  .   1,500

In the middle of the day, we leave by railway for Hartford, 36 miles
off. Dr. Hawes is our fellow-traveller. Coloured people are here
allowed to travel in the same carriages with others. It was not so,
even on this line, three or four years ago, when the Rev. Mr.
Pennington was setting off from Hartford for England. He told me
himself that he was obliged on that occasion to travel in the
luggage-van. On our arrival, we are met by Charles Hosmer, Esq., (a
cousin of Elihu Burritt,) an old and valued correspondent of mine, and
of my predecessor Mr. Wray. To both of us he had occasionally sent
presents of excellent American publications. We must be his guests
during the few days we remain at Hartford. Dr. Hawes and Chief Justice
Williams, came in a homely way to spend the evening with us. The Chief
Justice is a deacon of the Doctor's church, and a teacher in the
Sabbath-school.

The next day we were taken to see the Deaf and Dumb Institution. This
asylum was founded by the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet, who, becoming deeply
interested in this class of afflicted humanity, visited England and the
Continent with a view to obtain information as to the best mode of
communicating instruction to them. I may also observe that he himself
married a deaf and dumb lady, by whom he has a large family of
children, now grown up, none of whom however inherit the maternal
affliction. His son also has married a lady who, like his mother, is
deaf and dumb. We were highly delighted with the success of the
undertaking as seen in the comfort, cheerfulness, and proficiency of
the pupils. In coming out, we met at the door a respectable
well-dressed man and a woman, both of them deaf and dumb, who had
formerly been pupils here, had formed an attachment to each other,
married, settled comfortably in life, and were now coming to pay a
visit to their former home.

On our return we saw the celebrated Charter Oak. The early settlers of
this place had obtained from the second Charles, and that in the very
year in which 2,000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England,
a most favourable charter--far more so than the Colonial Office in the
present day would grant. Charles, however, repented having granted it,
and in 1687 sent over Sir Edmund Andross, under some pretence or other,
to demand it back. It was night, and the Legislative Assembly were
convened on the subject, when suddenly the lights were extinguished,
and the charter was missing. For a long time it was not known, except
to the initiated, what had become of it. When, however, the danger was
past, the Charter was forthcoming. It had been concealed in the hollow
of this old oak, which still survives. I was gratified in seeing the
document carefully preserved in the office of the Secretary of State.
It is dated 1662, and "in the fourteenth year of our reign," though in
reality Charles had then reigned but two years.




LETTER XXXIII.

The "Retreat"--Introductions to the Insane--Piety and Profanity
--Service in the Fourth Church--Memorials of the Pilgrims--Dr.
Bushnell and his Opinions--The Mother Church and its Burying-Ground
--The New Cemetery--Prejudice against Colour--Mrs. Sigourney--Departure
from Hartford--Worcester and Elihu Burritt--Boston--The Rev. Seth
Bliss--The Cradle of Liberty--Mr. Garrison--Bunker's Hill.


Having seen the Charter Oak, let us proceed in company with the Rev.
Mr. Gallaudet to the "Retreat for the Insane," of which he is chaplain.
The place is delightfully situated, and severity of treatment carefully
avoided. As we pass from room to room, we are very gravely and formally
introduced, as strangers in the country, to the inmates. Here we are
introduced to a tall muscular old lady, who has her cap fantastically
trimmed with bits of ribbon of various gaudy colours. With an air of
assumed politeness and dignity, she asks me if I have been to
Washington. On receiving a reply in the negative, she expresses great
regret, and inquires if I have seen "Dan Webster," and, without waiting
for an answer, hurries on, "Fine fellow Dan,--some solid timbers about
Dan,--indeed, the Yankees altogether are not to be sniffed at." I
nodded the most entire assent to all she said.

We enter another room, and are introduced to a curious groupe. One
woman has tied her mouth up with a handkerchief, to prevent her talking
too much. She tells us that at first she had tied it over her ears, to
prevent her hearing another woman's voice, who is constantly talking to
herself, and making her head ache; but that she found her own tongue
then going faster than anybody else's. She had therefore adopted the
_wise_ plan of tying her own mouth. She is eloquent in the praises of
the institution, and calls it "A blessed Retreat--a blessed Retreat."

We move on, and are introduced to a fine-looking woman--the wife of a
respectable merchant in New York. She looks wild, and shakes her head
violently. She pours upon us a flood of questions, most of which relate
to her own husband, such as--When did we see him last?--How was
he?--What message did he send to her? &c. Turning to my wife, she said,
"You had better have staid at home, and never come to this country.
This country _was_ once a great country: it is so no longer, and all
through that man,"--pointing to Mr. Gallaudet. "Oh that man! what a
villain he is! People out of doors don't know him; and," looking at
myself, "you can't do this country better service than to make known
everywhere the real character of that man. Here he keeps me a prisoner
in this place for nothing at all; but I hope the State will take up the
matter, and punish him well for it." I promised to make known Mr.
Gallaudet's character, and bade her adieu.

We are next introduced to a student of theology, who asks very sensible
and pious questions in reference to the missionary cause and the
progress of the Gospel in British Guiana. This man is perfectly sane
except on one point. He thinks there is a conspiracy to poison him, and
that slow poison is administered to him continually in his food. Mr.
Gallaudet, even by dining at the same table and eating out of the same
dish, has failed to convince him to the contrary.

Now we are taken to the chapel in which Mr. Gallaudet officiates among
them. On the desk is an elegantly-bound Bible, which has been presented
by a former patient, who had experienced in his restoration the value
of this "Retreat." The hymn-book is a collection made on purpose for
the insane, everything gloomy and terrific being excluded. Mr.
Gallaudet, a most intelligent and accomplished man, describes many
remarkable developments of human nature which have come under his
observation, comprising strange combinations of piety and profanity in
the same persons. A patient, who was really a very religious man, in
enumerating the many advantages they there enjoyed said, "We have a
good house to live in; good rooms to occupy; good food to eat; a good
doctor to attend us; a good chaplain to give us religious instruction;
and" (waxing warm) "what the devil do we want more?"

In the afternoon we meet with Dr. Hawes, at the house of Chief Justice
Williams to tea.

In the evening there is a united service in the "Fourth Church"--that
of which Dr. Patton's son is minister,--to hear from me an address on
the subject of missions. After which Dr. Bushnell puts to me publicly
some very close and intelligent questions with regard to the working of
freedom in our West India Colonies. He is evidently anxious to elicit
from me that kind of information which would enable them to contradict
the statements of the pro-slavery party. Young Patton is also an
anti-slavery man, and will not tolerate the distinction of colour in
his own church.

The next day Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Patton call and accompany us to the
Historical Room. There we see carefully kept an old chest that had come
over in the "May Flower," and also the three-legged pot in which the
"Pilgrims" had first boiled their food after landing on Plymouth Rock.
These and many other memorials of the "Fathers" we are happy to find
are very piously preserved. Then we go to a Gallery of Pictures. The
admission fee is 25 cents, or one shilling; but from us, being
strangers, they will accept of nothing! In the collection there was
much to admire; but I could not help regretting that the canvas was
made to preserve the memory of so many conflicts between England and
her Transatlantic sons.

We dined at Dr. Bushnell's house. The Doctor is a very unassuming man,
and a very original but somewhat eccentric thinker. He had lately
published a sermon on Roads, a sermon on the Moral Uses of the Sea, a
sermon on Stormy Sabbaths, and a sermon on Unconscious Influence,--all
treated in a very striking manner. He had recently visited England and
the continent of Europe, and had also contributed an article to the
_New Englander_, a quarterly review, on the Evangelical Alliance. The
views of a keen thinker from another land on that and kindred topics
deserve to be pondered. "The Church of God in England," says the
Doctor, "can never be settled upon any proper basis, whether of truth
or of practical harmony, until the Established Church, as such, is
separated from the State." His estimate of "a large class of English
Christians" is not very flattering. "They are good men, but not
thinking men. Their piety gurgles in a warm flood through their heart,
but it has not yet mounted to their head. * * * In the ordinary, _i.e._
in their preaching and piety, they show a style of goodishness fitly
represented by Henry's Commentary; in the extraordinary, they rise into
sublimity by inflation and the swell of the occasion." Towards slavery
and slaveholders he manifests a tenderness of feeling at which we are
surprised and pained. The proposed exclusion of slaveholders from the
Alliance he characterizes as "absurd and fanatical," speaking of the
subject as having been "so unhandsomely forced upon" the American
brethren in London. Again, "There is too much good sense among the
Christians of this country (America) to think of constituting an
Alliance on the basis which denies Christian character to all
slaveholders. At a future time, when slavery has been discussed long
enough, we shall do so. We cannot do it now,--least of all can we do it
at the dictation of brethren beyond the sea, who do not understand the
question," &c.

And yet in the same article the Doctor proposes that the Christians of
England and America should unite their efforts for the promotion of
religious liberty in Italy, and says, "If we lift our testimony against
all church dungeons and tortures, and against all suppression of
argument by penalties, as cruel, absurd, anti-christian, and impious,
there is no prince or priesthood in Italy or anywhere else that can
long venture to perpetrate such enormities." Will they yield, Doctor,
to the "dictation of brethren beyond the sea?" But this subject of
American slavery is always represented by our Transatlantic friends as
a thing so _profound_ that none but themselves can understand it; and
yet it is evident that they understand it least of all. Hear the
Doctor:--

"We do not propose, however, in this movement for religious liberty, to
invite the efforts of our English brethren here against slavery. We
have too little confidence in their knowledge of our condition, and the
correctness of their opinions generally on the subject of American
slavery. They must consent to let us manage the question in our own
way," &c. How strikingly is it here seen that this slavery is the weak
point and the wicked point in the American character! We liked Dr.
Bushnell's company, his hospitality, his wife, his children, his
domestic discipline, his church, his other writings,--everything better
than the article in question, though even it contained much that we
admired.

The next day we went to see the "First Congregational Church" in this
place--that in which Dr. Hawes ministers, together with the old
burying-ground attached to it. This was the original church formed by
the first settlers, who in 1636 came from Braintree in Essex, bringing
their pastor the Rev. Thos. Hooker along with them. Of him it is said,
that he appeared in the pulpit with such dignity and independence as if
"while engaged in his Master's work he could put a king in his pocket."
Here is his tomb, dated 1647. Two eventful centuries have rolled away,
during which this church has had only nine pastors; all of whom, except
the last, Dr. Hawes, who still survives, died in their charge, and were
interred in this place. Interments here are no longer continued; but an
old bachelor, of independent means, a descendant of the Pilgrims,
spends nearly the whole of his time "among the tombs" of the fathers
and prophets, and, _con amore_, keeps the ground and the graves in the
most beautiful order.

Our host Mr. Hosmer took us to see the new burying-ground outside of
the city. Here the Catholics and the coloured people had each a parcel
of ground allotted for themselves,--the former because they _would_
not, and the latter because they _should_ not, mingle their dust with
that of other people!

On our way back I said to my friend, "How was it that neither Mr.
Pennington nor any of his people (coloured congregation) were at the
meeting last night? I should have thought they would have come to hear
about their own brethren in Guiana." "Why," he replied, "the fact was I
did not send a notice to them on Sunday: I knew that in the 'Fourth'
Church they would have been scattered all over the place; it would have
been so unpleasant, and talked of for months." Here then was a man of a
large heart, a friend of missions and of all that is good, one who
seemed as if he could embrace the whole world in his sympathies, under
the dominion of a prejudice you would have expected him to scorn!

At Hartford lives Mrs. Sigourney, the graceful American poetess. She is
a pious member of one of the Congregational Churches. Mr. Hosmer kindly
took us to call upon her; and we were greatly pleased with our brief
visit.

At 2 P.M. we left with regret this delightful little city, and shall
always cherish a grateful remembrance of the Christian kindness and
hospitality with which we were treated. In all the States we met with
nothing to be compared, in all that was pleasing, to the two cities of
Connecticut--New Haven and Hartford.

In passing, on our way to Boston, through Worcester in Massachusetts, I
cast a hurried glance at every place that looked like a smithy,
wondering whether it was there that Elihu Burritt had wielded his
forge-hammer and scattered his "sparks from the anvil."

We reached Boston at 9 P.M., and stopped at the United States Hotel.
The next day I called to deliver notes of introduction to several of
the Boston divines. Among them was one to the Rev. Seth Bliss, at the
Tract Depository. Having glanced at the note, he very hurriedly said to
me, "Ah, how do you do?--very glad to see you!--where are you stopping
at?"--"At the United States Hotel, sir." "Oh," he replied all in a
breath, "you had better come to my house,--it'll be cheaper for
you,--they'll charge you 2 dollars a day at the United States Hotel,--I
only charge a dollar and a half,--I have a room at liberty now.
Besides, if you want to get acquainted with ministers, you can't do
better than come to my house. In fact, the wags call my house the
'Saints' Rest,'--because, I suppose, they see I sell the book here."
The conjuncture of "Bliss" and "Saints' Rest!" Who could refuse? We
went. But I will not tell how far the accommodation tended to realize
our conceptions of those beatitudes.

On the morrow we went to see Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty." A
notice was up at the door to say the key was to be found at such a
store in the neighbourhood. I asked for the key; had it without a
single question being put; went, opened the door myself, and staid as
long as we pleased. There was no hanger-on, to try to squeeze a fee out
of us, as would have been the case in a country I know.

I then went and called without any introduction upon William Lloyd
Garrison, from whom I received the most kind attentions. He accompanied
me to the celebrated Bunker's Hill, a scene of dreadful encounter
between those who ought never to have been foes. A column of 200 feet
high now stands upon the spot. It is unfortunate that the Americans
have so many mementos, both natural and artificial, of their struggles
with us. They tend to perpetuate an undesirable feeling.




LETTER XXXIV.

Boston (continued)--The Old South--Unitarianism, and Connection between
Church and State--A Welsh Service in an "Upper Room"--Laura Bridgman
and the Wedding Ring--Oliver Caswell--Departure from Boston--John Todd
and his Family--His Congregationalism--Albany and the Delevan
House--Journey to Utica--Remsen and the Welsh People--Dogs made to
churn, and Horses to saw Wood.


On Sabbath morning the 11th of April I preached for the Rev. Mr.
Blagden, in the Old South Church. This is a large old-fashioned square
building, having two galleries, one above the other, on three of its
sides. It is rich in historical recollections. Here Whitfield preached.
Here patriotic meetings were held even before Faneuil Hall was built;
and here the British troops were quartered at the time of the
Revolutionary War. Here, too, the lamp of truth was kept feebly burning
when all around had sunk into darkness and heresy. At the commencement
of this century, the ministry in all the other Congregational Churches
in Boston had become Unitarian. In the Old South, however, there were a
few people, eight in number, who formed a "Society for Religious
Improvement." They could not at first _pray_ together; they only read
the Scriptures and conversed on religious subjects. But they grew in
wisdom, fervour, and zeal, and were eventually the means, not only of
reviving religion in the Old South, but also of giving an impulse in
Boston which is felt to this day. Church after church on orthodox
principles has been instituted, till there are in Boston more than a
dozen large and vigorous churches of the Congregational order; and the
Old South, the honoured "mother of churches," has had her "youth
renewed like the eagles."

But how came Congregationalism to be so deteriorated? It was owing to
its having been made the State religion. All were at first taxed for
its exclusive support. This was felt to be unjust and oppressive, and
it brought the favoured system into bad repute. Then a modification of
the law was adopted, and the citizens had their choice of systems, but
were taxed for the support of some system or other. This provision,
likewise, began ere long to be felt as unjust towards those who did not
wish to maintain _any_ system, or at least not by taxation. This law,
moreover, gave a virtual support to Unitarianism. "This," says the Rev.
Mr. Button of New Haven, "has been more fully illustrated in
Massachusetts than in Connecticut. The repeal of the law for the
compulsory support of religion in that commonwealth has proved a severe
blow to Unitarianism."

After the morning service at the Old South, we turned in to see
Park-street Church, another Congregational place of worship, which for
the following reason I was curious to enter. A few years ago a coloured
gentleman of respectability instructed a friend to purchase for him a
pew in that church. That no objection to the sale might arise from any
neglect of decorations, the new proprietor had it beautifully lined and
cushioned. It was made to look as handsome as any other pew in the
church; and, when it was finished, the gentleman and his family one
Sabbath morning took possession. This gave rise to great anxiety and
alarm. Niggers in the body of the church! What was to be done? In the
course of the following week a meeting was held, and a deputation
appointed to wait upon the gentleman, and to tell him that it was
against "public feeling" for him to occupy the pew in question. The
gentleman remonstrated, and pointed out the injustice, after he had
purchased the pew, and incurred the expense of fitting it up, of not
being allowed to enjoy it. To this the deputation replied that they
were sorry for any inconvenience or loss he might sustain, but public
feeling _must_ be respected, and the pew _must_ be given up. Against
this decision there was no appeal; and the gentleman was obliged to let
the pew be resold for such a price as the white aristocracy thought fit
to give. On the principle that "prevention is better than cure," they
have, I am told, in Boston introduced into every new trust-deed a
clause that will effectually guard against the recurrence of such a
calamity. But so "smartly" has it been done that, were you to examine
those deeds, you would look in vain for a single syllable having the
remotest apparent bearing on either black or coloured people, and you
would be ready to suspect that the whole was a mere invention of the
Abolitionists. Indeed, Mrs. "Bliss," at the "Saints' Rest," assured me
in the most positive manner that such was the case, and that the whole
of the story I have related had not the shadow of a foundation in
truth. But she might as well have attempted to deny the existence of
Bunker's Hill or Boston Bay. This was only a specimen of the manner in
which the colour-hating party attempt to throw dust in the eyes of
strangers, and deny the existence of the most palpable facts. But how
runs the conservative clause which led to this digression? It is
expressed in words to this effect,--That no sale of any pew is valid if
two-thirds or three-fourths (I forget which) of the congregation should
object to the purchaser! This was quite enough. Those against whom it
was directed need not be even mentioned. It was well known that with
this clause no coloured man could ever own a pew. Public feeling would
piously take hold of this key, and turn it against him.

In the afternoon I heard the Rev. E.N. Kirk. The church was new and
beautiful, the congregation large, and the sermon good.

In the evening I preached in Welsh to about 70 people, in a small
"upper room." It was my first attempt for many years to deliver a
_sermon_ in that language. Nor should I have made it, but for the
peculiarity of the case. The parties were representatives of four
different denominations in Wales, had formed themselves into a kind of
Evangelical Alliance, and had no stated minister, but gladly availed
themselves of the occasional services of any minister of evangelical
views who might be passing through! Poor and few as they were, they
insisted upon my receiving towards travelling expenses four dollars and
a half. This was not done at the Old South, though the pastor told me
they were "burdened with wealth;" nor was it done in any other instance
in the _American_ churches.

The next day the Rev. Mr. Blagden accompanied us to see the
Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Here we were introduced to Laura
Bridgman, who since she was about two years of age has been deaf, dumb,
and blind. Her senses of taste and smell are also impaired. She is 18
years of age, and has been in the institution ten years. Every avenue
of communication with the soul was closed--but one. The sense of touch
remained; and by means of that they have contrived to reach the mind,
to inform it, to instruct it, to refine and elevate it. We found her
exactly corresponding to the beautiful description given of her by Dr.
Howe, who is at the head of the institution. That description has so
often been published in England that I will not transcribe it. Her
figure is genteel, slender, and well-proportioned. She appears to be
lively, sensitive, and benevolent. The place where the bright blue eyes
once sparkled that are now quenched in darkness is covered with a piece
of green ribbon. Conversation with her is carried on by means of the
"speaker's" rapid fingering on her right hand. It was in this manner
that we were introduced. She shook hands with us very affectionately,
--taking hold of both hands of Mrs. Davies, and feeling all
about her head, her dress, and her arms. In doing so she felt the
wedding-ring, and wanted to know by means of her interpreter--her
governess--why the English ladies wore a ring on that finger. (The
American ladies do not observe the custom.) On my wife telling her it
was to show they were married, she seemed very much amused and
astonished. Here it was very interesting to observe the progress of a
thought from ourselves to the governess, and from her to that "little,
white, whispering, loving, listening" hand that received and
communicated all ideas, until the brightened countenance and the lovely
smile showed it had reached the soul. She felt a deep sympathy for
Ireland, and wished to know what the English were doing for the
starving inhabitants. We told her; and soon after we saw by the public
papers that, subsequently to our visit, she had done some needle-work,
which was sold, and the proceeds appropriated at her request to
purchase a barrel of flour for that unhappy land. "How," exclaims Elihu
Burritt, "she plied at morning, noon, and night, those fingers!
wonderful fingers! It seemed that the very finger of God had touched
them with miraculous susceptibilities of fellowship with the spirit
world and that around her. She put them upon the face of His written
word, and felt them thrilled to her heart with the pulsation of His
great thoughts of love to man. And then she _felt_ for other's woe.
Poor child! God bless her richly! She reached out her short arms to
feel after some more unhappy than she in the condition of this life;
some whose fingers' ends had not read such sweet paragraphs of heaven's
mercy as hers had done; some who had not seen, heard, and felt what her
dumb, silent, deaf fingers had brought into her heart of joy, hope, and
love. Think of that, ye young eyes and ears that daily feast upon the
beauty and melody of this outer world! Within the atmosphere of her
quick sensibilities, she felt the presence of those whose cup was full
of affliction. She put her fingers, with their throbbing sympathies,
upon the lean bloodless faces of the famishing children in Ireland, and
her sightless eyes filled with the tears that the blind may shed for
griefs they cannot see. And then she plied the needle and those
fingers, and quickened their industry by placing them anon upon the
slow sickly pulse of want that wasted her kind at noonday across the
ocean. Days, and nights too--for day and night were alike to her
wakeful sympathies--and weeks she wrought on with her needle. And then
the embroidery of those fingers was sold to the merchants. Would it had
been sold to England's Queen, to be worn by the young princesses on
days of state! It was sold; and its purchase price was _a barrel of
flour_, instead of a country's harvest, which it was well worth. And
that barrel of flour was stowed away without other private mark than
that the recording Angel put upon it, among the thousands that
freighted the _Jamestown_ on her recent mission of brotherly love to
Ireland. _Laura Bridgman and her barrel of flour_ should teach the
world a lesson worth the woes of one year's famine." Laura favoured us
with her autograph on a slip of paper, which we shall always carefully
preserve as a memorial of a visit to one of the greatest wonders of the
age.

In another room we were introduced to Oliver Caswell. He is about the
same age as Laura, and similarly afflicted, but has been in the
institution only six years. His teacher told him, in the same
finger-language which was used with Laura, that we came from British
Guiana, and desired him to find out the place on the large globe before
him. This globe was made for the use of the blind, having upon it the
countries and their names in relievo. Oliver turned it round, and felt
with his fingers until they soon rested on the required spot, when he
seemed greatly delighted. His attainments are not so remarkable as
those of Laura, for he has not been so long under tuition; but his
progress is highly encouraging.

At 4 P.M. we left Boston by railway for Albany,--fare 5 dollars each.
We rested, however, at Springfield for the night, and that in the most
comfortable hotel we had met with in the States. The next day we moved
on to Pittsfield, where we arrived at half-past 11. Finding that we
might get off from that train, and go by another in three or four
hours' time, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of calling upon
the Rev. Dr. Todd, the author of "Lectures to Children," "The Student's
Guide," &c. Instead of the prim, neat, little man we had always
imagined him to be, we found him tall, coarse, slovenly, and unshaven;
a man of 46 years of age; hair of an iron-grey, rough and uncombed;
features large; cheek-bones prominent; and the straps of his trowsers
unbuttoned, and flapping about his slippers. But, under this
unpromising exterior, we discerned a soul of great intelligence,
frankness, and brotherly kindness. Mrs. Todd has been a woman of great
beauty, and, though she has brought up a large family of children, is
still fresh and comely. Their eldest daughter is 19 years of age; and
John, to whom the "Lectures to Children" were dedicated, is now 14
years of age. The Doctor's insane mother, for whose sake he was first
led to employ his pen, has been dead for some years. His desire to
visit England is very strong. He had been appointed by the churches of
Massachusetts to visit those of England last year in the character of a
delegate; but the means of meeting the expenses of such a delegation
were not provided, and consequently the visit was not paid. It is
worthy of observation that the Doctor's books have been sold in England
far more extensively than in America; but from the English editions he
receives no profit, and even from the American ones very little. As it
may be the first time that English readers hear of John Todd as
_Doctor_ Todd, and as there is an impression that our American friends
bestow their literary honours too freely and indiscriminately,--which,
indeed, is true in reference to some scores of institutions,--nothing
being easier than to obtain a D.D.,--I would just observe that this
applies not to the New England Colleges. They are very chary of such
honours, and only confer that of D.D. on ministers of long standing and
high attainments. In the case of Mr. Todd it was most deservedly
bestowed.

Pittsfield is but a small town, of about 5,000 inhabitants. The
Governor of Massachusetts resided there, and was a deacon of a Baptist
Church. Dr. Todd presides over a Congregational Church. To the
principles of Congregationalism he is devoutly attached. While others
regard Presbyterianism and Congregationalism as matters of mere
geographical boundary, Todd could never be prevailed upon, even by the
most advantageous offers, to do the same. He said he had nailed his
flag to the mast, and would never abandon it. "I regard
Congregationalism," said he to me, "as a sort of a working-jacket: with
it on I can work with anybody, in any place, and in any way." With this
great and good man we exceedingly enjoyed a homely dinner and a few
hours' converse. In coming out, I observed before the door,
half-covered with snow, a beautiful model of the Temple of Theseus.
This was the work of the Doctor's own hands.

At 3-1/2 P.M. we left for Albany. At the station, before crossing the
Hudson, we observed in large letters the ominous words "Beware of
pickpockets!" On reaching the city we went to the "Delevan House," so
called after Mr. Delevan, who has done so much for the advancement of
temperance in America. The house is his property, but he does not
conduct it. He lives there as a lodger; and I was permitted to spend
the evening in conversation with him. The house is the largest
temperance hotel in the world. It will accommodate about 400 guests.
Those who keep it are religious people, and have a public
family-worship every evening, usually conducted by the master of the
house; but if a minister of any denomination be present, he is asked to
officiate. A bell is rung, and all who feel disposed to unite in the
worship assemble in a large room. On this occasion it was my privilege
to conduct the service; and in such a place, and under such
circumstances, it was to me an exercise of peculiar interest. A hymn
too was sung, and well sung,--the tune being led by the master of the
house, aided by his family.

The next morning, at half-past 7, we set off by railway to Utica, a
distance of 94 miles, which we did not accomplish in less than 6-1/2
hours, making an average of less than 15 miles an hour, and for which
we paid 2-1/2 dollars, or 10s. 6d. This journey led us through the
valley of the Mohawk, and that river was for the most part our constant
companion. The railway and the river seemed to be wedded to each
other,--the former conforming to all the whims and windings, and
turnings and twistings of the latter.

Utica is a small city, of about 14,000 inhabitants. Its progress has
been but slow. The houses are painted white, and appear neat and
comfortable. I was struck with the immense number of them that were
erected with their gable end to the street, and with a small portico
supported by two fluted columns. A large portion of the inhabitants are
Welsh, who have here four or five places of worship. The Rev. James
Griffiths, a man of great piety and worth, is the minister of the Welsh
Independents. At his house we were most kindly entertained during our
stay. On the Sabbath I preached for him twice in Welsh. The following
week we were taken to Remsen, eighteen miles off, to see the Rev. Mr.
Everett, whose farewell sermon on leaving Wales I had heard when quite
a boy,--and the Rev. Morris Roberts, to whom I had bidden adieu in
Liverpool sixteen years before. It was delightful to meet these
honoured brethren in their adopted home, after the lapse of so many
years. Remsen is quite a Welsh settlement; and these men both preside
over Welsh churches there. Mr. Everett is the editor of a Welsh Monthly
Magazine. In that periodical, as well as in his ministrations, he has
been unflinching in his denunciations of slavery. This has exposed him
to cruel persecutions. There are about 70,000 Welsh people in the
United States who worship in their own language. At Remsen I had to
deliver two addresses on the results of emancipation in the West
Indies. On our return to Utica, the friend who drove us happened
incidentally to mention that in that country they make the dogs churn!
"The dogs churn!" I said, "Yes," said he; "and I dare say they have a
churning-machine so worked at this house: let us call and see." It was
a farm-house. At the door about half-a-dozen chubby little children,
with fine rosy cheeks, were assembled to see the strangers. I began to
speak in English to the eldest, a boy about 10 years of age; but the
lad stared! He understood not a word I said.

Though born and so far brought up there, he knew nothing but Welsh! We
were gratified with an inspection of the machine for churning. It was
worked very much on the same principle as a treadmill, and exceedingly
disliked by the poor dog. Goats are sometimes made to perform the same
service. In several instances, we saw horses in like manner made to saw
wood, and admired the ingenuity of our cousins in turning to account
every particle of power they possess. "What is the difference," said
Dr. Beecher once to a ship-captain, "between an English sailor and a
Yankee one?" The answer was, "An English sailor can do a thing very
well in _one_ way, but the Yankee can do it in half-a-dozen ways."




LETTER XXXV.

A Peep at the House of Representatives in Albany--"The Chair is but a
Man," &c.--Sailing down the Hudson--Dr. Spring--His Morning
Sermon--Afternoon Service--Gough the great Lecturer--The Tract House
and Steam-presses--May-day in New York--Staten Island--Immigrants--A
hurried Glance.


On the 22nd we left Utica at 11 A.M., and reached Albany at 5 P.M. At
Schenectady Mr. Delevan got into the same carriage with us; and we had
his company to Albany. He had caused to be put into the hand of every
passenger by that train a tract on the claims of the Sabbath, a large
number of which he had printed at his own expense. He spends an immense
fortune in doing good, chiefly by means of the press.

In the evening I strolled out to see a little of Albany, the capital of
the State of New York. I gazed with interest on Dr. Sprague's Church,
and wandered until I came to a large building brilliantly lighted. It
was the State House or Capitol. The legislature was then in session. I
marched on, and got in without the least hinderance. There was no crowd
and no stir about the doors. A simple rail divided the part allotted to
the spectators from that which was used by the members. About a hundred
of the latter were present. The Senate, whose hall was in another part
of the same building, had been adjourned till next day. This was the
House of Representatives; and they seemed to be in the midst of a very
angry discussion. Their cheeks swelled with rage, or with--quids of
tobacco. A spittoon, constantly used, was placed by the side of each
member. They were rebelling against the speaker; and, of all mortals, I
never saw one in a more unenviable position than he. All that his
little hammer, his tongue, and his hands could do was of no avail. The
storm raged. The words "honourable member," "unparliamentary," "order,"
"chair," and "_in_-quiry," were bandied about in all directions. One of
the "honourable members," rushing out past me, said with a loud voice,
"I'll go and get a segar," &c. At last the speaker--poor fellow!--in
tones of humiliation and despair said, "The _chair_ is but a _man_;
and, if we err, we are ready to acknowledge our error."

The next day we left by the steam-boat "Roger Williams," and sailed
down the majestic Hudson to New York, a distance of 145 miles; fare one
dollar each. This river has so often been described by travellers that
I need not repeat the attempt.

The following day was Saturday. In the afternoon I met Dr. Spring at
the Tract House. After the usual salutation, he said, "Shall we hear
your voice at our place to-morrow afternoon?"--"I have no objection,
sir,--what time does your service commence?" "At 4 o'clock."--"Very
well." "Where shall I find you?"--"Where will you be?" "I shall be in
the pulpit five minutes before the time."--"Oh! _very_ well, _very_
well."

In the morning I went to hear the Doctor. His introductory prayer was
long. In it he prayed for Mexico--that it might have a "free and
religious government," and that the present war might result in the
overthrow there of the "man of sin;" but no reference to American
slavery. The Doctor, bear in mind, is an Old School Presbyterian, and a
supporter of the Colonization Society. His text was John v. 23: "That
all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father," &c. His
divisions were--

I. What honours are ascribed to the Father.

1. Appropriate names and titles. Jehovah, &c.

2. Ascription of most glorious attributes. Eternal--Immutable
--Omnipotent, &c.

3. Great and glorious works. Creation--Preservation--Redemption
--Atonement--Regeneration--Justification--Raising the dead--Judging the
world--Destroying it--Glory of the righteous--Punishment of the wicked.
(All these were supported by appropriate quotations of Scripture.)

4. Duties enjoined in reference to Him. Confidence--Worship, &c.

II. That the same honours are ascribed to the Son. (He went over each
of the above particulars, showing from Scripture their application to
the Son.)

III. That, therefore, the Son is properly and truly God.

1. We cannot believe the Scriptures would ascribe the same honours to
Him as to the Father, if He were not equal to the Father.

2. If He be not truly God, the Scriptures tempt to idolatry.

3. If He be not truly God, the accounts which the Scriptures give of
Him are self-contradictory.

4. If He be not truly God, there is no evidence from Scripture that
there is a God at all.

This was a massive and compact argument for the Divinity of Christ. It
occupied upwards of an hour in the delivery, and was read.

In the afternoon I took care to be in the pulpit five minutes before
the time. The Doctor shortly after came, and took his seat behind me.
This to me is always an annoyance,--I would almost as soon have a man
with me in bed as in the pulpit;--and in this instance it was
peculiarly so, as towards the close, although I had not exceeded forty
minutes, I felt quite persuaded that the Doctor was pulling at my
coat-tail, which led me rather abruptly to conclude. In this, however,
I was mistaken; and the Doctor assured me it was what he had never done
in his life, except in one instance,--and that was when the preacher,
having occupied two hours with his sermon, was entering upon a third.

In the evening of the 27th of April I heard, at the Tabernacle, New
York, the celebrated Gough deliver a lecture on Temperance. It was to
commence at 8 o'clock; but we had to be there an hour before the time,
in order to get a comfortable place. That hour was a dreary one. The
scraping of throats and the spitting were horrible. It seemed as if
some hundreds of guttural organs were uttering the awfully guttural
sentence, _"Hwch goch dorchog a chwech o berchill cochion."_

At last Gough made his appearance on the platform. He is a slender
young man of three or four and twenty. He told us he had spoken every
night except three for the last thirty nights, and was then very weary,
but thought "what a privilege it is to live and labour in the present
day." He related his own past experience of _delirium tremens_,--how an
iron rod in his hand became a snake,--how a many-bladed knife pierced
his flesh,--how a great face on the wall grinned at and threatened him;
"and yet," he added, "I _knew_ it was a delusion!"

A temperance man, pointing to Gough, had once observed to another,
"What a miserable-looking fellow that is!" "But," replied the other,
"you would not say so, if you saw how he keeps everybody in a roar of
laughter at the public-house till 1 or 2 in the morning." "But I _was_
miserable," said Gough; "I _knew_ that the parties who courted and
flattered me really _despised_ me." He told us some humorous
tales,--how he used to mortify some of them by claiming acquaintance
with them in the street, and in the presence of their respectable
friends. He returned scorn for scorn. "Gough," said a man once to him,
"you ought to be ashamed of yourself to be always drinking in this
manner." "Do I drink at your expense?"--"No." "Do I owe you
anything?"--"No." "Do I ever ask you to treat me?"--"No." "Then mind
your own business," &c. He introduced this to show that that mode of
dealing with the drunkard was not likely to answer the purpose.

"Six years ago," said he, "a man on the borders of Connecticut, sat
night after night on a stool in a low tavern to scrape an old fiddle.
Had you seen him, with his old hat drawn over his eyebrows, his swollen
lips, and his silly grin, you would have thought him adapted for
nothing else. But he signed the pledge, and in two years became a
United States senator, and thrilled the House with his eloquence."

In one place, after Gough had delivered a lecture, some ladies gathered
around him, and one of them said, "I wish you would ask Joe to 'sign
the pledge,"--referring to a wretched-looking young man that was
sauntering near the door. Gough went up to him, spoke _kindly_ to him,
and got him to sign: the ladies were delighted, and heartily shook
hands with Joe. A year after Gough met Joe quite a dandy, walking
arm-in-arm with a fine young lady. "Well, Joe, did you stick to the
pledge?" said Gough to him. "Yes," said Joe with an exulting smile,
"and the lady has stuck to me."

For more than an hour Gough kept the vast audience enchained by his
varied and charming talk.

On the 29th I went over the Tract House in New York, and was delighted
to see there six steam-presses,--four of which were then at work,
pouring forth in rapid succession sheet after sheet impressed with that
kind of literature which in my judgment is admirably adapted to meet
the wants of this growing country. They were then printing on an
average 27,000 publications, including nearly 2,400 of each kind, _per
diem!_ and employing sixty women in folding and stitching. During the
last year they printed 713,000 volumes, and 8,299,000 smaller
publications, making a total of 217,499,000 pages, or 58,154,661 pages
more than in any previous year! Of the _volumes_ issued, I may mention
14,000 sets of four volumes of D'Aubigné's History of the Reformation,
17,000 of Bunyan's Pilgrim, 10,000 of Baxter's Saints' Rest, 9,000 of
Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 7,000 of Pike's Persuasives, 13,000 of
Alleine's Alarm, and 41,000 of Baxter's Call! The two Secretaries,
whose business it is to superintend the publishing department and
matters relating to the raising of funds, the Rev. Wm. A. Hallock and
the Rev. O. Eastman, are enterprising and plodding men. They told me
they were brought up together in the same neighbourhood, and had both
worked at the plough till they were 20 years of age!

The 1st of May is the great moving day in New York. Throughout the city
one house seems to empty itself into another. Were it to the next door,
it might be done with no great inconvenience; but it is not so. Try to
walk along the causeway, and you are continually blocked up with
tables, chairs, and chests of drawers. Get into an omnibus, and you are
beset with fenders, pokers, pans, Dutch ovens, baskets, brushes, &c.
Hire a cart, and they charge you double fare.

One day at the water-side, happening to see the steamer for Staten
Island about to move off, we stepped on board, and in less than half an
hour found ourselves there. The distance is 6 miles, and the island is
18 miles long, 7 miles wide, and 300 feet high. Here are a large
hospital for mariners and the quarantine burying-ground. It is also
studded with several genteel residences. In 1657 the Indians sold it to
the Dutch for 10 shirts, 30 pairs of stockings, 10 guns, 30 bars of
lead, 30 lbs. of powder, 12 coats, 2 pieces of duffil, 30 kettles, 30
hatchets, 20 hoes, and one case of knives and awls.

Several emigrant vessels were then in the bay. On our return, we saw
with painful interest many of them setting their foot for the first
time on the shore of the New World. They were then arriving in New
York, chiefly from the United Kingdom, at the rate of one thousand a
day. The sight affected me even to tears. It was like a vision of the
British Empire crumbling to pieces, and the materials taken to build a
new and hostile dominion.

I should draw too largely upon your patience, were I to describe many
objects of interest and many scenes of beauty I witnessed in New York
and the neighbourhood. The Common Schools; the Croton Waterworks,
capable of yielding an adequate supply for a million-and-a-half of
people; Hoboken, with its sibyl's cave and elysian fields; the spot on
which General Hamilton fell in a duel; the Battery and Castle Garden--a
covered amphitheatre capable of accommodating 10,000 people; the Park,
and the City Hall with its white marble front; Trinity Church; and its
wealthy Corporation; Long Island, or Brooklyn, with its delightful
cemetery, &c., &c. Suffice it to say that New York has a population of
about 400,000; and that it has for that population, without an
Established Church, 215 places of worship. Brooklyn has also a
population of 60,000, and 30 places of worship.




LETTER XXXVI.

The May Meetings--Dr. Bushnell's Striking Sermon--Two Anti-Slavery
Meetings--A Black Demosthenes--Foreign Evangelical Society--A New Thing
in the New World--The Home-Missionary Society--Progress and Prospects
of the West--Church of Rome--Departure from New York--What the Author
thinks of the Americans.


The American May Meetings held in New York do not last a month as in
England,--a week suffices. That week is the second in the month. On the
Sabbath preceding, sermons on behalf of many of the societies are
preached in various churches. On the morning of the Sabbath in question
we went to the Tabernacle, not knowing whom we should hear. To our
surprise and pleasure, my friend Dr. Baird was the preacher. His text
was, "Let thy kingdom come;" and the object for which he had to plead
was the Foreign Evangelical Society, of which he was the Secretary. His
sermon was exceedingly simple, and the delivery quite in an off-hand
conversational style. There was no reading.

In the evening we heard Dr. Bushnell preach, on behalf of the American
Home-Missionary Society, at the "Church of the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn.
This is a fine costly building, named in honour of the Pilgrim Fathers,
and having a fragment of the Plymouth Rock imbedded in the wall. The
sermon was a very ingenious one on Judges xvii. 13: "Then said Micah,
Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my
priest." The preacher observed that Micah lived in the time of the
Judges--what might be called the "emigrant age" of Israel,--that he was
introduced on the stage of history as a thief,--that he afterwards
became in his own way a saint, and must have a priest. First, he
consecrates his own son; but his son not being a Levite, it was
difficult for so pious a man to be satisfied. Fortunately a young
Levite--a strolling mendicant probably--comes that way; and he promptly
engages the youth to remain and act the _padre_ for him, saying, "Dwell
with me, and be a _father_ unto me." Having thus got up a religion, the
thief is content, and his mental troubles are quieted. Becoming a
Romanist before Rome is founded, he says, "Now know I that the Lord
will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Religion to him
consisted in a fine silver apparatus of gods, and a priest in regular
succession. In this story of Micah it was seen that _emigration, or a
new settlement of the social state, involves a tendency to social
decline_. "Our first danger," said the preacher, "is barbarism
--Romanism next."

The tendency to barbarism was illustrated by historic references. The
emigration headed by Abraham soon developed a mass of barbarism,--Lot
giving rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites; meanwhile, Abraham
throwing off upon the world in his son Ishmael another stock of
barbarians--the Arabs,--a name which according to some signifies
_Westerners_. One generation later, and another ferocious race springs
from the family of Isaac--the descendants of Esau, or the Edomites.
Then coming down to the time of the Judges we find that violence
prevailed, that the roads were destroyed, and that the arts had
perished: there was not even a smith left in the land; and they were
obliged to go down to the Philistines to get an axe or a mattock
sharpened. Then the preacher came to the great American question
itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been
an upward tendency. It was not so. It had been downward until the
"great revival" about the year 1740. The dangers to which society in
the South and "Far West" is now exposed were powerfully described. The
remedies were then pointed out.

"First of all, we must not despair." "And what next? We must get rid,
if possible, of slavery." "'We must have peace.'". Also "Railways and
telegraphs." "Education, too, we must favour and promote." "Above all,
provide a talented and educated body of Christian teachers, and keep
them pressing into the wilderness as far as emigration itself can go."
The conclusion of this great sermon was so remarkable that I cannot but
give it in the Doctor's own words.

"And now, Jehovah God, thou who, by long ages of watch and discipline,
didst make of thy servant Abraham a people, be thou the God also of
this great nation. Remember still its holy beginnings, and for the
fathers' sakes still cherish and sanctify it. Fill it with thy Light
and thy Potent Influence, till the glory of thy Son breaks out on the
Western sea as now upon the Eastern, and these uttermost parts, given
to Christ for his possession, become the bounds of a new Christian
empire, whose name the believing and the good of all people shall hail
as a name of hope and blessing."

On the Tuesday I attended two Anti-slavery Meetings in the Tabernacle.
The one in the morning was that of Mr. Garrison's party. The chief
speakers were Messrs. Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick
Douglass. This party think that the constitution of the United States
is so thoroughly pro-slavery that nothing can be done without breaking
it up. Another party, at the head of which is Lewis Tappan, think that
there are elements in the constitution which may be made to tell
powerfully against slavery, and ultimately to effect its overthrow.
Both parties mean well; but they unhappily cherish towards each other
great bitterness of feeling. Mr. Tappan's party held their meeting in
the afternoon. Among the speakers was the Rev. Mr. Patton from
Hartford, son of Dr. Patton, who made a very effective speeches. The
Rev. Samuel Ward also, a black man of great muscular power, and amazing
command of language and of himself, astonished and delighted me. I
could not but exclaim, "There speaks a black Demosthenes!" This man,
strange to say, is the pastor of a Congregational church of white
people in the State of New York. As a public speaker he seemed superior
to Frederick Douglass. It was pleasing at those anti-slavery meetings
to see how completely intermingled were the whites and the coloured.

I had been invited in the evening to speak at the public meeting of the
Foreign Evangelical Society, and to take tea at Dr. Baird's house.
While I was there, Dr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Mr. Merwin, called to
invite me to address the public meeting of that society on the Friday.
I promised to do so, if I should not previously have left for the West
Indies. The public meeting of Dr. Baird's society was held in the Dutch
Reformed Church, Dr. Hutton's, a magnificent Gothic building. Dr. De
Witt took the chair. The attendance was large and respectable. Dr.
Baird, as Secretary, having recently returned from Europe, where he had
conversed on the subject of his mission with fourteen crowned heads,
read a most interesting report. The writer had then to address the
meeting. After him three other gentlemen spoke. There was no
collection! Strange to say, that, with all their revivals, our friends
in America seem to be morbidly afraid of doing anything under the
influence of excitement. Hence the addresses on occasions like this are
generally stiff and studied, half-an-hour orations. This feeling
prevents their turning the voluntary principle, in the support of their
religious societies, to so good an account as they otherwise might. At
the close of this meeting, there seemed to be a fine state of feeling
for making a collection; and yet no collection was made. This society
is one of great value and importance. It is designed to tell in the
promotion of evangelical truth on the Catholic countries of Europe and
South America. In those countries, it employs a hundred colporteurs in
the sale and distribution of religious publications.

The next morning I addressed a breakfast meeting of about 400 people,
in a room connected with the Tabernacle. This was a new thing in the
New World. It was, moreover, an anti-slavery breakfast, under the
presidency of Lewis Tappan. It was charming to see the whites and the
coloured so intermingled at this social repast, and that in the very
heart of the great metropolis of America.

At 10 the same morning a meeting of the American Tract Society was held
at the Tabernacle. I had been engaged to speak on that occasion, but
was obliged to go and see about the vessel that was to take us away.

In the evening I was pressed, at half an hour's notice, to speak at the
meeting of the American Home-Missionary Society. The Rev. H.W. Beecher
of Indianapolis, one of the sons of Dr. Beecher, made a powerful speech
on the claims of the West and South-west. In my own address I
complimented the Directors on the ground they had recently taken in
reference to slavery, and proceeded to say that there was an important
sense in which that society should be an anti-slavery society. This
elicited the cheers of the few, which were immediately drowned in the
hisses of the many. The interruption was but momentary, and I
proceeded. The next morning one of the Secretaries endeavoured to
persuade me that the hisses were not at myself, but at those who
interrupted me with their cheers. I told him his explanation was
ingenious and kind; nevertheless I thought I might justly claim the
honour of having been hissed for uttering an anti-slavery sentiment at
the Tabernacle in New York!

This society has an herculean task to perform; and, in consideration of
it, our American friends might well be excused for some years, were it
possible, from all foreign operations.

  "Westward the star of empire moves."

Ohio welcomed its first permanent settlers in 1788, and now it is
occupied by nearly 2,000,000 of people. Michigan obtained its first
immigrants but fourteen or fifteen years ago, and now has a population
of 300,000. Indiana, admitted into the Union in 1816, has since then
received a population of more than half a million, and now numbers
nearly a million of inhabitants. Illinois became a State in 1818. From
that date its population trebled every ten years till the last census
of 1840, and since then has risen from 476,000 to about 900,000.
Missouri, which in 1810 had only 20,800 people, has now 600,000, having
increased 50 per cent. in six years. Iowa was scarcely heard of a dozen
years ago. It is now a State, and about 150,000 people call its land
their home. Wisconsin was organized but twelve years ago, and has now a
population of not less than 200,000. One portion of its territory, 33
miles by 30, which ten years before was an unbroken wilderness,
numbered even in 1846 87,000 inhabitants; and the emigration to the
"Far West" is now greater than ever.  A giant is therefore growing up
there, who will soon be able and disposed to rule the destinies of the
United States. The Church of Rome is straining every nerve to have that
giant in her own keeping, and already shouts the song of triumph. Says
one of her sanguine sons, "The Church is now firmly established in this
country, and persecution will but cause it to thrive. Our countrymen
may grieve that it is so; but it is useless for them to kick against
the decrees of the Almighty God. They have an open field and fair play
for Protestantism. Here she has had free scope, has reigned without a
rival, and proved what she could do, and that her best is evil; for the
very good she boasts is not hers. A new day is dawning on this chosen
land, and the Church is about to assume her rightful position and
influence. Ours shall yet become consecrated ground. _Our hills and
valleys shall yet echo to the convent-bell._ The cross shall be planted
throughout the length and breadth of our land; and our happy sons and
daughters shall drive away fear, shall drive away evil from our borders
with the echoes of their matin and vesper hymns. No matter who writes,
who declaims, who intrigues, who is alarmed, or what leagues are
formed, THIS IS TO BE A CATHOLIC COUNTRY; and from Maine to Georgia,
from the broad Atlantic to broader Pacific, the 'clean sacrifice' is to
be offered daily for quick and dead." The triumph may be premature; but
it conveys a timely warning.

The next day the Anniversary of the Bible Society was held. The Hon.
Theodore Frelinghuysen presided. At that meeting I had been requested,
to speak, but could not. Indeed, we were detained all day on board a
vessel by which we expected every hour to sail for Jamaica; though,
after all, we had to wait until the following day. On that day, the
14th of May, just at the time the Board of Missions were holding their
public meeting, we sailed, and bade adieu to New York and all the
delightful engagements of that memorable week.

But, say you, Tell us in a few words what you think of America upon the
whole? I will try to do so. There is a class of things I greatly
admire; and there is a class of things I greatly detest. Among the
former I may mention--

1. Religious equality--the absence of a State church.

2. The workings of the voluntary principle in the abundant supply of
places of worship, and in the support of religious institutions.

3. General education. With regard to their common schools, and also to
their colleges, they are far in advance of us in England. The existence
of universal suffrage has the effect of stimulating educational efforts
to a degree which would not otherwise be attained. The more respectable
and intelligent of the citizens are made to feel that, with universal
suffrage, their dearest institutions are all perilled unless the mass
be educated.

As education is the great question of the day, I must not omit to make
a few remarks on the Primary Schools of the United States. There is no
_national_ system of education in America. Congress does not interfere
in the matter, except in the "Territories" before they become "States."
The States of the Union are so many distinct Republics, and, in the
matter of education, as in all their internal affairs, are left
entirely to take their own measures. With regard to education, no two
States act precisely alike. If we glance at the States of
Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, we shall, however, discover the
three great types of what in this respect generally prevails throughout
the States.

MASSACHUSETTS.--Scarcely had the "Pilgrims" been half-a-dozen years in
their wilderness home before they began to make what they deemed a
suitable provision for the instruction of their children. They adopted
the same principle in reference to education and religion--that of
taxation. A general tax was not imposed; but the people in the various
townships were empowered to tax themselves to a certain amount, and to
manage the whole affair by means of their own "select men." But,
although this law has continued for 200 years, the people have always
done far more than it required. In Boston, for instance, the law
demands only 3,000 dollars a year, but not less than 60,000 dollars is
raised and applied! So that here we have a noble proof, not so much of
the effect of government interference, as of the efficiency of the
voluntary principle in providing education for the young. The people of
Massachusetts, and indeed of all the New England States, are doubtless
the best educated in the world. Not one in a thousand of those born
here grows up unable to read and write.

The calumniated "Pilgrims" were thus early attentive to the importance
of education; and their system had been in full operation for between
thirty and forty years, when, in 1670, Sir William Berkley, Governor of
Virginia, the stronghold of the Anglican Church, thus devoutly
addressed the "Lords of Plantations in England:"--"I thank God _there
are no free schools nor printing_, and I hope we shall not have them
these hundred years; for learning has brought _disobedience and heresy
and sects_ into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels
against the best government. God keep us from both!"

The system of Massachusetts may be regarded as a type of what prevails
in the six New England States, except Connecticut, where there is a
State fund of upwards of 2,000,000 dollars, yielding an annual dividend
of about 120,000 dollars for school purposes.

NEW YORK.--In this State a large fund for schools has been created by
the sale of public land. The proceeds of this fund are annually
distributed in such a way as to secure the raising by local efforts of
at least three times the amount for the same object. This fund is thus
used as a gentle stimulant to local exertions. The system described
will convey a notion of what exists in the _middle_ States.

Ohio.--In this and the Western States every township is divided into so
many sections of a mile square; and one of these sections, out of a
given number, is devoted to the maintenance of schools. As a township
increases in population, the reserved section advances in value. These
schools are not subject to any central control, but are under the
management of a committee chosen by the township.

Still education is not so general in all the States as might be wished.
Miss Beecher, the daughter of Dr. Beecher, having devoted to the
subject much time and talent, tells us that there are in the United
States "a million adults who cannot read and write, and more than two
millions of children utterly illiterate and entirely without schools!"
Of the children in this condition, 130,000 are in Ohio, and 100,000 in
Kentucky.

In the working of this system of education, the absence of a State
Church affords advantages not enjoyed in England. Of late, however, an
objection to the use of the Bible in these schools has been raised by
the Roman Catholics, and the question in some States has been fiercely
agitated. In the city of St. Louis the Bible has been excluded. In
Cincinnati the Catholics, failing to exclude it, have established
schools of their own.

This agitation is one of great interest. It leads thoughtful and devout
men to ask, whether, when the State, assuming to be the instructor of
its subjects, establishes schools, and puts Protestant Bibles, or any
other, or none into them _by law_, they have not thenceforth
Protestantism, Popery, or Infidelity so far _by law established_; and
whether it is not better that the State should restrict itself to its
proper function as the minister of justice, leaving secular
instruction, like religious, to the spontaneous resources of the
people.

To this, I think, it will come at last. The Common School economy is a
remnant of the old Church-and-State system, which has not been entirely
swept away. But for this impression I should feel some uneasiness, lest
it should prove the germ of a new order of things leading back to
State-Churchism. It appeared to me quite natural to say, "Here is a
State provision for schools,--why not have a similar provision for
churches? It works well for the one,--why not for the other? Is it not
as important that our churches should rely, not alone on the capricious
and scanty efforts of the voluntary principle, but also on the more
respectable and permanent support of the State, as it is that our
Common Schools should adopt this course?" To me it seemed that the
arguments which recommended the one supported the other; but when I
have mentioned to intelligent men the possibility, not to say
probability, of the one step leading to the other, they have invariably
been surprised at my apprehensions, and have assured me that nothing
was more unlikely to take place.

But, to show the jealousy with which on _other_ grounds the system
begins to be viewed, I will close by a short quotation from a writer in
the _New Englander_, a respectable _Quarterly_, to which I have before
referred. "It will, doubtless, be thought strange to say that the
systems of public common-school education now existing, and sought to
be established throughout our country, may yet, while Christians sleep,
become one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, antagonism in the
land to all evangelical instruction and piety. But how long before they
will be so,--when they shall have become the mere creatures of the
State, and, under the plea of no sectarianism, mere naturalism shall be
the substance of all the religious, and the basis of all the secular
teaching which they shall give? And let it not be forgotten that strong
currents of influence, in all parts of the country, acting in no chance
concert, are doing their utmost to bring about just this result."

4. I admire their _temperance_.

I confess that I felt humbled and ashamed for my own country, when, so
soon as I trod on British ground, or British _planks_, the old absurd
drinking usages again saluted my eye. In all the States I met with
nothing more truly ludicrous than some of these. For instance, when
A.B.'s mouth happens to be well replenished with, "flesh, fish, or
fowl," potatoes, pudding, or pastry, at one table, C.D., from another
table far away across the room, at the top of his voice, calls out,
"Mr. A.B., allow me the pleasure to take a glass of wine with you."
A.B. makes a very polite bow, fills his glass in a great hurry, holds
it up with his right hand, C.D. doing the same thing with his; and
then A.B. and C.D., making another polite bow to each other,
simultaneously swallow their glasses of wine! Were we not _accustomed_
to the sight, it would appear as laughable as anything travellers tell
us of the manners and customs of the least enlightened nations. Surely,
if this childish practice is still a rule in polite society, it is one
"more honoured in the breach than the observance." In no city on the
Eastern side of the Alleghany Mountains did I meet a single drunken
American in the street. The few whom I did detect in that plight were
manifestly recent importations from Great Britain and Ireland!


5. I also greatly admire their _secular enterprise_. They afford a
fine illustration of the idea conveyed in their own indigenous phrase,
"Go a-head."




LETTER XXXVII.

Slavery--Responsibility of the North--District of Columbia--Preponderance
of the Slave Power--Extermination of the Indians--President Taylor and
his Blood-hounds--Conclusion.


But there is a class of things among them which men of well-regulated
minds and habits cannot but detest. These, as they have come under my
notice, I have pointed out. The chief of all is _slavery_. This stared
me in the face the moment I entered the States; and it presses itself
on my notice now that I have retired from the American shore. It is the
beginning and the ending of all that is vile and vicious in this
confederation of Republics. In England, you have been often told by
American visiters that the Northern States of the Union are not at all
identified with slavery, and are, in fact, no more responsible for its
existence in the South than we are for the existence of a like system
in the colonies of some of our European Allies. Than this
representation nothing can be further from the truth. There is really
no analogy whatever between the two cases. Each State, it is true, has
its own distinct and independent legislature; but all the States are
united in one federation, which has a thoroughly pro-slavery
government. The constitution is pledged to maintain the execrable
system, and the Northern States are pledged to maintain the
hypocritical constitution.

That no preponderance of influence might be given to any one State over
the rest, by making it the seat of the central government, a district
of 10 miles square was partitioned out, partly from Virginia and partly
from Maryland, for that purpose. This district, called the District of
Columbia, has no government and no representation of its own, but is
under the absolute control and regulation of the United Government or
Congress, "exclusive jurisdiction over it in all cases whatsoever"
having been given by the constitution. In this absolute government of
the "ten miles square," embracing the site of Washington the capital,
the Northern States, by their representatives in Congress, have their
full share. Now, not merely does slavery exist in that District, but it
exists there under statutes so barbarous and cruel that the
neighbouring slave States have actually abolished the like within the
bounds of their separate jurisdiction, leaving to the _free_ States the
unenviable responsibility of enforcing laws too horrible for
kidnappers. Take a specimen,--"A slave convicted of any petit treason,
or murder, or wilful burning of a dwelling-house, to have the right
hand cut off, to be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from
the body, the body divided into four quarters, and the head and
quarters set up in the most public places of the county where such act
was committed." Take another,--"A _free negro_ may be arrested, and put
in jail for 3 months, on _suspicion_ of being a runaway; and if he is
not able to _prove_ his freedom in 12 months, _he is to be sold as a
slave_ TO PAY HIS JAIL FEES!" Are there not hundreds of free men, both
black and white, who could not _prove_ their freedom under such
circumstances? Yet, for this _crime_, they are reduced to perpetual
bondage _by authority of Congress_. And all this the North upholds!

Washington, the capital, thus governed, is but the great mart of the
national man-trade. From the adjoining port of Alexandria, 7 miles off,
the victims are shipped for the South. Listen to the _Gazette_ of that
place,--"Here you may behold fathers and brothers leaving behind them
the dearest objects of affection, and moving slowly along in the mute
agony of despair,--there the young mother sobbing over the infant,
whose innocent smiles seem but to increase her misery. From some you
will hear the burst of bitter lamentation; while from others the loud
hysteric laugh breaks forth, denoting still deeper agony."

But you will be told that it is not in the power of Northern members to
alter this state of things. Why not? In the House of Representatives
the free States have a majority of about 50, and in the Senate they
have for some years been equal. But have they tried? Have they
protested? Have they voted? Have they divided the House? They _have_
voted. How? _Eighty-two Northern men_, a few years ago, voted that
Congress ought not to interfere _in any way_ with slavery in the
District of Columbia!

Look at some of the provisions of the Federal Government. See what
"SOLEMN GUARANTEES" it gives to the accursed system of slavery, in
whatever State it may be found!

Art. I., sect. 2, says, "Representatives and direct taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be included within this
Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to
serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
_three-fifths of all other persons_"--that is to say, _slaves_, for
once called "persons!" Here is a positive premium on slave-holding.
This constitutes an aristocracy of the most monstrous character, and
introduces into the social fabric an element as absurd as it is
perilous. Talk of the aristocracy of England, and the undue influence
of landed proprietors! You have nothing half so unjust and vicious as
this. Suppose the Southern States have two millions and a half of
slaves: for that amount of property they have one million and a half of
additional votes; while in the free States there is no property
representation whatever. Or look at the question in another aspect. Two
citizens have each a capital of 5,000_l._ to invest. The one invests in
shipping or commerce in New York, and at the time of the election,
counts _one_; the other invests in slaves in South Carolina, obtaining
for the sum mentioned a whole gang of 100 human beings of both sexes
and of all ages, and at the time of the election he counts
_sixty-one_,--swamping with his 100 slaves the votes of sixty-one
respectable merchants in a free State! This it is which has constituted
an aristocracy of about 200,000 slaveholders in the South, the ruling
power in the United States. It has made the preservation and extension
of slavery the vital and moving principle of the national policy. So
that ever since 1830 slavery, slave-holding, slave-breeding, and
slave-trading have enjoyed the special and fostering care of the
Federal Government. As to the _quid pro quo_--the taxation that was to
be connected with the representation of "three-fifths of all other
persons," that has been almost entirely evaded. "There has not been,"
says a New England Reviewer, "if we mistake not, but in one instance,
and then in a very light degree, an assessment of direct taxation."

Art. I., sect. 8, says, "Congress shall have power"--among other
things--"to suppress _insurrections_." And Art. IV., sect. 4, says,
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a
republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against
invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive
(when the legislature cannot be convened), against _domestic
violence_."

These clauses pledge the whole force of the United States' army, and
navy too, if needs be, to the maintenance of slavery in any or in all
the States and Districts in which it may exist. But for this, the
system could not stand a single day. Let the North say to the South,
"We will not interfere with your 'peculiar institution,' but we will
not defend it; if you cannot keep your slaves in subjection, you must
expect no aid from us." Let them only say this, and _do_ nothing, and
the whole fabric of slavery would instantly crumble and fall. The
edifice is rotten, and is propped up only by the buttresses of the
North. The South retains the slave, because the free States furnish the
sentinels.

Again, Art. IV., sect. 2, says, "No person held to service or labour in
one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labour; but shall be _delivered up_ on claim of the party to
whom such service or labour may be due."

This clause pledges the North, not only to refuse an asylum to the
fugitive slave, but also to deliver him up to his unrighteous and cruel
task-master,--a deed which the law of God expressly condemns, and which
the best impulses of our nature repudiate with loathing and contempt.
The article before us constitutes all the free States of the Union a
slave-hunting ground for the Southern aristocracy. Talk of the game
laws of England! Here is a game law infinitely more unjust and
oppressive. A free country this! A noble government! Hail Columbia!

See how this slave-holding aristocracy have always managed to oppress
the North, and to secure to themselves the lion's share of the good
things of government.

THE PRESIDENCY.--Out of the 16 presidential elections since the origin
of the Confederation, 13 have been in favour of slave-holders, and only
3 in favour of Northern men. By holding the Presidency, slavery rules
the cabinet, the diplomacy, the army, and the navy of the Union. The
power that controls the Presidency controls the nation. No Northern
President has ever been re-elected.

THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.--The individual who holds this office is
_ex-officio_ President of the Senate, and, as such, has a casting vote
in all questions before that body. During the last 20 years, with one
exception, this functionary has always been a slave-holder.

THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.--This is second only in importance to
the Presidency. It is the duty of this officer to direct correspondence
with foreign courts, instruct the foreign ministers, negotiate
treaties, &c. Of the 16 who have hitherto filled that office, 10 have
been from the slave States, and 6 from the free.

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.--This officer has the
appointment of all committees, and exerts an immense influence on the
legislation of the country. During 31 of the 34 years from 1811 to 1845
the Speakers were all slave-holders.

The slave power, having thus the whole machinery of government under
its control, can at any time bring all the resources of the nation to
bear upon the preservation and extension of the "peculiar institution."
While Florida, for instance, belonged to Spain, it furnished an asylum
for runaway slaves from the neighbouring States. It must therefore be
purchased by the Union, and five millions of dollars were paid for it.
Still the native Indians, those children of the forest, afforded a
shelter to fugitives from slavery. They must therefore be either
exterminated or exiled. A war was waged against them. They were driven
from the homes of their fathers, and the negroes among them hunted and
shot like wild beasts. At the urgent recommendation of Zachary
Taylor--the person who in March next will doubtless mount the
presidential chair--blood-hounds were purchased as AUXILIARIES to the
army, at a cost of five thousand dollars; and blood-hounds and
soldiers and officers marched together under the "star-spangled banner"
in pursuit of the panting fugitives from Southern oppression. In this
expedition they captured 460 negroes, each one at the cost of the lives
of two white men, and at a further expense of at least eighty thousand
dollars per head. The whole outlay of the war was _forty millions of
dollars_, most of which was drawn from the pockets of Northern people.

The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War--all for the perpetuation
and extension of slavery--are fresh in your remembrance.

And here I quit the land of "The Bond and the Free."

  "Nineveh, Babylon, and ancient Rome
  Speak to the present times, and times to come:
  They cry aloud in every careless ear,
  'Stop, while you may; suspend your mad career;
  Oh! learn from our example and our fate,--
  Learn wisdom and repentance ere too late.'"






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