American Scenes, and Christian Slavery - Ebenezer Davies
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!