American Scenes, and Christian Slavery - Ebenezer Davies
"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.