A Romance of the Republic - Lydia Maria Francis Child
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"Do you suppose he'd give five thousand dollars for the young
niggers?" inquired the trader.
"Try him," said the Deacon.
The final result was that the sum was deposited by Mr. King, to be
paid over whenever Tulee's children made their appearance; and in due
time they all arrived. Tulee was full of joy and gratitude; but Mr.
Bright always maintained it was a sin and a shame to pay slave-traders
so much for what never belonged to them.
Of course there were endless questions to be asked and answered
between the sisters and their faithful servant; but all she could tell
threw no further light on the destiny of the little changeling whom
she supposed to be Rosa's own child. In the course of these private
conversations, it came out that she herself had suffered, as all women
must suffer, who have the feelings of human beings, and the treatment
of animals. But her own humble little episode of love and separation,
of sorrow and shame, was whispered only to Missy Rosy and Missy Flory.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The probability that the lost child was alive and in slavery was
a very serious complication of existing difficulties. Thinking it
prudent to prepare Gerald's mind for any contingencies that might
occur, Mr. King proceeded immediately to Boston to have a conference
with him. The young man received the news with unexpected composure.
"It will annoy Lily-mother very much," said he, "and on that account
I regret it; but so far as I am myself concerned, it would in some
respects be a relief to me to get out of the false position in which I
find myself. Grandfather Bell has always grumbled about the expense I
have been to him in consequence of my father's loss of fortune, and of
course that adds to the unpleasantness of feeling that I am practising
a fraud upon him. He is just now peculiarly vexed with me for leaving
Northampton so suddenly. He considers it an unaccountable caprice of
mine, and reproaches me with letting Eulalia slip through my fingers,
as he expresses it. Of course, he has no idea how it cuts me. This
state of things is producing a great change in my views. My prevailing
wish now is to obtain an independent position by my own exertions, and
thus be free to become familiar with my new self. At present, I feel
as if there were two of me, and that one was an impostor."
"I heartily approve of your wish to rely upon your own resources,"
replied Mr. King; "and I will gladly assist you to accomplish it. I
have already said you should be to me as a son, and I stand by my
word; but I advise you, as I would an own son, to devote yourself
assiduously to some business, profession, or art. Never be a gentleman
of leisure. It is the worst possible calling a man can have. Nothing
but stagnation of faculties and weariness of soul comes of it. But we
will talk about _your_ plans hereafter. The urgent business of the
present moment is to obtain some clew to your missing brother. My
conscientious wife will suffer continual anxiety till he is found. I
must go to New Orleans and seek out Mr. Bruteman, to ascertain whether
he has sold him."
"Bruteman!" exclaimed the young man, with sudden interest. "Was he the
one who seized that negro woman and the child?"
"Yes," rejoined Mr. King. "But why does that excite your interest?"
"I am almost ashamed to tell you," replied Gerald. "But you know I
was educated in the prejudices of my father and grandfather. It was
natural that I should be proud of being the son of a slaveholder,
that I should despise the colored race, and consider abolition a very
vulgar fanaticism. But the recent discovery that I was myself born a
slave has put me upon my thoughts, and made me a little uneasy about
a transaction in which I was concerned. The afternoon preceding Mrs.
Green's splendid ball, where I first saw my beautiful Rose-mother, two
fugitive slaves arrived here in one of grandfather's ships called 'The
King Cotton.' Mr. Bruteman telegraphed to grandfather about them, and
the next morning he sent me to tell Captain Kane to send the slaves
down to the islands in the harbor, and keep them under guard till a
vessel passed that would take them back to New Orleans. I did his
errand, without bestowing upon the subjects of it any more thought or
care than I should have done upon two bales of cotton. At parting,
Captain Kane said to me, 'By George, Mr. Fitzgerald, one of these
fellows looks so much like you, that, if you were a little tanned by
exposure to the sun, I shouldn't know you apart.' 'That's flattering,'
replied I, 'to be compared to a negro.' And I hurried away, being
impatient to make an early call upon your lady at the Revere House. I
don't suppose I should ever have thought of it again, if your present
conversation had not brought it to my mind."
"Do you know whether Mr. Bruteman sold those slaves after they were
sent back?" inquired Mr. King.
"There is one fact connected with the affair which I will tell you,
if you promise not to mention it," replied the young man. "The
Abolitionists annoyed grandfather a good deal about those runaways,
and he is nervously sensitive lest they should get hold of it, and
publish it in their papers." Having received the desired promise, he
went on to say: "Those slaves were mortgaged to grandfather, and he
sent orders to have them immediately sold. I presume Mr. Bruteman
managed the transaction, for they were his slaves; but I don't know
whether he reported the name of the purchaser. He died two months
ago, leaving his affairs a good deal involved; and I heard that some
distant connections in Mississippi were his heirs."
"Where can I find Captain Kane?" inquired Mr. King.
"He sailed for Calcutta a fortnight ago," rejoined Gerald.
"Then there is no other resource but to go to New Orleans, as soon as
the weather will permit," was the reply.
"I honor your zeal," said the young man. "I wish my own record was
clean on the subject. Since I have taken the case home to myself,
I have felt that it was mean and wrong to send back fugitives from
slavery; but it becomes painful, when I think of the possibility of
having helped to send back my own brother,--and one, too, whom I have
supplanted in his birthright."
* * * * *
When Mr. King returned to Northampton, the information he had obtained
sent a new pang to the heart of his wife. "Then he _is_ a slave!" she
exclaimed. "And while the poor fellow was being bound and sent back
to slavery, I was dancing and receiving homage. Verily the Furies do
pursue me. Do you think it is necessary to tell Mrs. Fitzgerald of
this?"
"In a reverse of cases, I think you would feel that you ought to be
informed of everything," he replied. "But I will save you from that
portion of the pain. It was most fitting that a woman should make the
first part of the disclosure; but this new light on the subject can be
as well revealed by myself."
"Always kind and considerate," she said. "This news will be peculiarly
annoying to her, and perhaps she will receive it better from you than
from me; for I can see that I have lost her favor. But you have taught
me that it is of more consequence to _deserve_ favor than to _have_
it; and I shall do my utmost to deserve a kindly estimate from her."
"I confess I am somewhat puzzled by this tangle," rejoined her
husband. "But where there is both the will and the means to repair a
wrong, it will be strange if a way cannot be found."
"I would like to sell my diamonds, and all my other expensive
ornaments, to buy that young man," said she.
"That you can do, if it will be any gratification to you," he replied;
"but the few thousands I have invested in jewels for you would go but
little way toward the full remuneration I intend to make, if he can be
found. We will send the young people out of the way this evening, and
lay the case before a family council of the elders. I should like to
consult Blumenthal. I have never known a man whose natural instincts
were so true as his; and his entire freedom from conventional
prejudices reminds me of my good father. I have great reliance also
on Mrs. Delano's delicate perceptions and quiet good sense. And our
lively little Flora, though she jumps to her conclusions, always jumps
in a straight line, and usually hits the point."
As soon as the council was convened, and the subject introduced, Mrs.
Blumenthal exclaimed: "Why, Florimond, those slaves in 'The King
Cotton' were the ones you and Mr. Goldwin tried so hard to help them
find."
"Yes," rejoined he; "I caught a hasty glimpse of one of the poor
fellows just as they were seizing him with the cry of 'Stop thief!'
and his Italian look reminded me so forcibly of the danger Flora was
once in, that I was extremely troubled about him after I heard he was
a slave. As I recall him to my mind, I do think he resembled young
Fitzgerald. Mr. Percival might perhaps throw some light on the
subject; for he was unwearied in his efforts to rescue those
fugitives. He already knows Flora's history."
"I should like to have you go to Boston with me and introduce me to
him," said Mr. King.
"That I will do," answered Blumenthal. "I think both Mr. Bell and
Mrs. Fitzgerald would prefer to have it all sink into unquestioned
oblivion; but that does not change our duty with regard to the poor
fellow."
"Do you think they ought to be informed of the present circumstances?"
inquired Mr. King.
"If I were in their position, I should think I ought to know all the
particulars," replied he; "and the golden rule is as good as it is
simple."
"Mrs. Fitzgerald has great dread of her father's knowing anything
about it," responded Rosa; "and I have an earnest desire to spare her
pain as far as possible. It seems as if she had a right to judge in
the premises."
Mrs. Delano took Mr. Blumenthal's view of the subject, and it was
decided to leave that point for further consideration. Flora suggested
that some difficulties might be removed by at once informing Eulalia
that Gerald was her brother. But Mrs. Delano answered: "Some
difficulties might be avoided for ourselves by that process; but the
good of the young people is a paramount consideration. You know none
of them are aware of all the antecedents in their family history,
and it seems to me best that they should not know them till their
characters are fully formed. I should have no objection to telling
them of their colored ancestry, if it did not involve a knowledge of
laws and customs and experiences growing out of slavery, which might,
at this early age, prove unsettling to their principles. Anything that
mystifies moral perceptions is not so easily removed from youthful
minds as breath is wiped from a mirror."
"I have that feeling very deeply fixed with regard to our Eulalia,"
observed Mr. King; "and I really see no need of agitating their
young, unconscious minds with subjects they are too inexperienced to
understand. I will have a talk with Mrs. Fitzgerald, and then proceed
to Boston."
Mrs. Fitzgerald received the announcement with much less equanimity
than she had manifested on a former occasion. Though habitually
polite, she said very abruptly: "I was in hopes I should never be
troubled any more with this vulgar subject. Since Mrs. King saw fit to
change the children, let her take care of the one she has chosen. Of
course, it would be very disagreeable to me to have a son who had been
brought up among slaves. If I wished to make his acquaintance, I could
not do it without exciting a great deal of remark; and there has
already been too much talk about my husband's affairs. But I have no
wish to see him. I have educated a son to my own liking, and everybody
says he is an elegant young man. If you would cease from telling me
that there is a stain in his blood, I should never be reminded of it."
"We thought it right to inform you of everything," rejoined Mr. King,
"and leave you to decide what was to be done."
"Then, once for all," said she, "please leave Gerald and me in peace;
and do what you choose about the other one. We have had sufficient
annoyance already; and I never wish to hear the subject mentioned
again."
"I accept your decision," replied Mr. King. "If the unfortunate young
man can be found, I will educate him and establish him in business,
and do the same for him in all respects that you would have done if he
had been your acknowledged heir."
"And keep him at a distance from me," said the perturbed lady; "for
if he resembles Gerald so strongly, it would of course give rise to
unpleasant inquiries and remarks."
The gentleman bowed, wished her good morning, and departed, thinking
what he had heard was a strange commentary on natural instincts.
Mr. Percival was of course greatly surprised and excited when he
learned the relation which one of the fugitives in "The King Cotton"
bore to Mr. Bell. "We hear a good deal about poetical justice," said
he; "but one rarely sees it meted out in this world. The hardness of
the old merchant when Mr. Jackson and I called upon him was a thing to
be remembered. He indorsed, with warm approbation, the declaration
of the reverend gentleman who professed his willingness to send his
mother or brother into slavery, if the laws of the United States
required it."
"If our friend Mr. Bright was with us, he would say the Lord took him
at his word," rejoined Mr. Blumenthal, smiling.
An earnest discussion ensued concerning the possibilities of the case,
and several days were spent in active investigation. But all the
additional light obtained was from a sailor, who had been one of the
boat's crew that conveyed the fugitives to the islands in the harbor;
and all he could tell was that he heard them call each other George
and Henry. When he was shown a colored photograph, which Gerald had
just had taken for his Rose-mother, he at once said that was the one
named George.
"This poor fellow must be rescued," said Mr. King, after they returned
from their unsatisfactory conference with the sailor. "Mr. Bell may
know who purchased him, and a conversation with him seems to be the
only alternative."
"Judging by my own experience, your task is not to be envied,"
rejoined Mr. Percival. "He will be in a tremendous rage. But perhaps
the lesson will do him good. I remember Francis Jackson said at the
time, that if his dark-complexioned grandson should be sent into
slavery, it might bring him to a realizing sense of the state of
things he was doing his utmost to encourage."
The undertaking did indeed seem more formidable to Mr. King than
anything he had yet encountered; but true to his sense of duty he
resolved to go bravely through with it.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The old merchant received Mr. King with marked politeness; for though
he suspected him of anti-slavery proclivities, and despised him for
that weakness, he had great respect for a man whose name was as good
as gold, and who was the father of such an eligible match as Eulalia.
After some discursive conversation, Mr. King said, "I am desirous to
tell you a short story, if you will have patience to listen to it."
"Certainly, sir," replied the old gentleman.
His visitor accordingly began by telling of Mr. Royal's having formed
one of those quadroon alliances so common in New Orleans; of his
having died insolvent; and of his two handsome octoroon daughters
having been claimed as slaves by his creditors.
"What the deuce do you suppose I care about his octoroon daughters?"
interrupted Mr. Bell, impatiently. "I wasn't one of his creditors."
"Perhaps you will take some interest in it," rejoined Mr. King,
"when I tell you that the eldest of them was married to Mr. Gerald
Fitzgerald of Savannah, and that she is still living."
"Do you mean the Mr. Fitzgerald who married my daughter Lily?"
inquired he.
"I do mean him," was the response.
"It's false," vociferated Mr. Bell, growing almost purple in the face.
"No, sir, it is not false," replied Mr. King. "But you need not be so
much excited. The first marriage did not render the second illegal;
first, because a sham ceremony was performed to deceive the
inexperienced girl; and secondly, because, according to the laws of
the South, any marriage with a slave, however sanctified by religious
forms, is utterly void in law."
"I consider such a law a very wise provision," replied the merchant.
"It is necessary to prevent the inferior race from being put on an
equality with their superiors. The negroes were made to be servants,
sir. _You_ may be an advocate for amalgamation, but I am not."
"I would simply ask you to observe that the law you so much approve is
not a preventive of amalgamation. Mr. Fitzgerald married the daughter
of the quadroon. The only effect of the law was to deprive her of a
legal right to his support and protection, and to prevent her son from
receiving any share of his father's property. By another Southern law,
that 'the child shall follow the condition of the mother,' her son
became a slave."
"Well, sir, what interest do you suppose I can take in all this?"
interrupted the merchant. "It's nothing to me, sir. The South is
competent to make her own laws."
Mr. King begged his attention a little longer. He then proceeded to
tell how Mr. Fitzgerald had treated the octoroon, at the time of his
marriage with Miss Bell; that he had subsequently sold her to a very
base man, in payment of a debt; that she, terrified and bewildered
by the prospect of such a fate, had, in a moment of frantic revenge,
changed her babe for his daughter's; and that consequently the Gerald
he had been educating as his grandson was in fact the son of the
octoroon, and born a slave.
"Really, sir," said Mr. Bell, with a satirical smile, "that story
might sell for something to a writer of sensation novels; but I
should hardly have expected to hear it from a sensible gentleman like
yourself. Pray, on whose testimony do you expect me to believe such an
improbable fiction?"
"On that of the mother herself," replied Mr. King.
With a very contemptuous curl of his lip, Mr. Bell answered: "And
you really suppose, do you, that I can be induced to disinherit my
grandson on the testimony of a colored woman? Not I, sir. Thank God, I
am not infected with this negro mania."
"But you have not asked who the woman is," rejoined Mr. King; "and
without knowing that, you cannot judge candidly of the value of her
testimony."
"I don't ask, because I don't care," replied the merchant. "The
negroes are a lying set, sir; and I am no Abolitionist, that I should
go about retailing their lies."
Mr. King looked at him an instant, and then answered, very calmly:
"The mother of that babe, whose word you treat so contemptuously, is
Mrs. King, my beloved and honored wife."
The old merchant was startled from his propriety; and, forgetful of
the gout in his feet, he sprung from his chair, exclaiming, "The
Devil!"
Mr. King, without noticing the abrupt exclamation, went on to relate
in detail the manner of his first introduction to Miss Royal, his
compassion for her subsequent misfortunes, his many reasons for
believing her a pure and noble woman, and the circumstances which
finally led to their marriage. He expressed his conviction that the
children had been changed in a fit of temporary insanity, and dwelt
much on his wife's exceeding anxiety to atone for the wrong, as far as
possible. "I was ignorant of the circumstance," said he, "until the
increasing attraction between Gerald and Eulalia made an avowal
necessary. It gives me great pain to tell you all this; but I thought
that, under a reverse of circumstances, I should myself prefer to know
the facts. I am desirous to do my utmost to repair the mischief done
by a deserted and friendless woman, at a moment when she was crazed
by distress and terror; a woman, too, whose character I have abundant
reason to love and honor. If you choose to disinherit Gerald, I will
provide for his future as if he were my own son; and I will repay with
interest all the expense you have incurred for him. I hope that this
affair may be kept secret from the world, and that we may amicably
settle it, in such a way that no one will be materially injured."
Somewhat mollified by this proposal, the old gentleman inquired in a
milder tone, "And where is the young man who you say is my daughter's
son?"
"Until very recently he was supposed to be dead," rejoined Mr. King;
"and unfortunately that circumstance led my wife to think there was
no need of speaking to me concerning this affair at the time of our
marriage. But we now have reason to think he may be living; and that
is why I have particularly felt it my duty to make this unpleasant
revelation." After repeating Tulee's story, he said, "You probably
have not forgotten that last winter two slaves escaped to Boston in
your ship 'The King Cotton'?"
The old merchant started as if he had been shot.
"Try not to be agitated," said Mr. King. "If we keep calm, and assist
each other, we may perhaps extricate ourselves from this disagreeable
dilemma, without any very disastrous results. I have but one reason
for thinking it possible there may be some connection between the lost
babe and one of the slaves whom you sent back to his claimant. The two
babes were very nearly of an age, and so much alike that the exchange
passed unnoticed; and the captain of 'The King Cotton' told Gerald
that the eldest of those slaves resembled him so much that he should
not know them apart."
Mr. Bell covered his face and uttered a deep groan. Such distress in
an old man powerfully excited Mr. King's sympathy; and moving near to
him, he placed his hand on his and said: "Don't be so much troubled,
sir. This is a bad affair, but I think it can be so managed as to do
no very serious harm. My motive in coming to you at this time is to
ascertain whether you can furnish me with any clew to that young man.
I will myself go in search of him, and I will take him to Europe and
have him educated in a manner suitable to his condition, as your
descendant and the heir of your property."
The drawn expression of the old merchant's mouth was something painful
to witness. It seemed as if every nerve was pulled to its utmost
tension by the excitement in his soul. He obviously had to make a
strong effort to speak when he said, "Do you suppose, sir, that a
merchant of my standing is going to leave his property to negroes?"
"You forget that this young man is pure Anglo-Saxon," replied Mr.
King.
"I tell you, sir," rejoined Mr. Bell, "that the mulatto who was with
him was his wife; and if he is proved to be my grandson, I'll never
see him, nor have anything to do with him, unless he gives her up;
not if you educate him with the Prince Royal of France or England. A
pretty dilemma you have placed me in, sir. My property, it seems, must
either go to Gerald, who you say has negro blood in his veins, or to
this other fellow, who is a slave with a negro wife."
"But she could be educated in Europe also," pleaded Mr. King; "and I
could establish him permanently in lucrative business abroad. By this
arrangement--"
"Go to the Devil with your arrangements!" interrupted the merchant,
losing all command of himself. "If you expect to arrange a pack of
mulatto heirs for _me_, you are mistaken, sir."
He rose up and struck his chair upon the floor with a vengeance, and
his face was purple with rage, as he vociferated: "I'll have legal
redress for this, sir. I'll expose your wife, sir. I'll lay my damages
at a million, sir."
Mr. King bowed and said, "I will see you again when you are more
calm."
As he went out, he heard Mr. Bell striding across the room and
thrashing the furniture about. "Poor old gentleman!" thought he. "I
hope I shall succeed in convincing him how little I value money in
comparison with righting this wrong, as far as possible. Alas! it
would never have taken place had there not been a great antecedent
wrong; and that again grew out of the monstrous evil of slavery."
He had said to the old merchant, "I will see you again when you are
calmer." And when he saw him again, he was indeed calm, for he had
died suddenly, of a fit produced by violent excitement.
CHAPTER XXXV.
A few weeks after the funeral of Mr. Bell, Gerald wrote the following
letter to Mr. King:--
"My honored and dear Friend,--Lily-mother has decided to go to Europe
this fall, that I may have certain educational advantages which she
has planned for me. That is the only reason she assigns; but she is
evidently nervous about your investigations, and I think a wish to be
out of the country for the present has had some effect in producing
this decision. I have not sought to influence her concerning this, or
the other important point you wot of. My desire is to conform to her
wishes, and promote her happiness in any way she chooses. This it is
my duty as well as my pleasure to do. She intends to remain in Europe
a year, perhaps longer. I wish very much to see you all; and Eulalia
might well consider me a very impolite acquaintance, if I should go
without saying good by. If you do not return to Boston before we
sail, I will, with your permission, make a short call upon you in
Northampton. I thank Rose-mother for her likeness. It will be very
precious to me. I wish you would add your own and another; for
wherever my lot may be cast, you three will always be among my dearest
memories."