The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus
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Chapter 193 : "In the kitchen of the minister of the church, a slave man was living in open adu
"In the kitchen of the minister of the church, a slave man was living in open adultery with a slave woman, who was a member of the church, with an 'a.s.sured hope' of heaven--whilst the man's wife was on the minister's farm in Fayette county. The minister had to bring a cook down from his farm to the place in which he was preaching. The choice was between the wife of the man and this church member. He _left the wife_, and brought the church member to the adulterer's bed.
"A METHODIST PREACHER last fall took a load of produce down the river.
Amongst other _things_ he took down five slaves. He sold them at New Orleans--he came up to Natchez--bought seven there--and took them down and sold them also. Last March he came up to preach the Gospel again.
A number of persons on board the steamboat (the Tuscarora.) who had seen him in the slave-shambles in Natchez and New Orleans, and now, for the first time, found him to be a preacher, had much sport at the expense of 'the fine old preacher who dealt in slaves.'
A non-professor of religion, in Campbell county, Ky. sold a female and two children to a Methodist professor, with the proviso that they should not leave that region of country. The slave-driver came, and offered $5 more for the woman than he had given, and he sold her. She is now in the lower country, and _her orphan babes are in Kentucky_.
"I was much shocked once, to see a Presbyterian elder's wife call a little slave to her to kiss her feet. At first the boy hesitated--but the command being repeated in tones not to be misunderstood, be approached timidly, knelt, and kissed her foot."
Rev. W.T. ALLAN, of Chatham, Illinois, gives the following in a letter dated Feb. 4, 1839:
"Mr. Peter Vanarsdale, an elder of the Presbyterian church in Carrollton, formerly from Kentucky, told me, the other day, that a Mrs. Burford, in the neighborhood of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, had _separated a woman and her children_ from their husband and father, taking them into another state. Mrs. B. was a member of the _Presbyterian Church_. The bereaved husband and father was also a professor of religion.
"Mr. V. told me of a slave woman who had lost her son, separated from her by public sale. In the anguish of her soul, she gave vent to her indignation freely, and perhaps harshly. Sometime after, she wished to become a member of the church. Before they received her, she had to make humble confession for speaking as she had done. _Some of the elders that received her, and required the confession, were engaged is selling the son from his mother_."
The following communication from the Rev. WILLIAM BARDWELL, of Sandwich, Ma.s.sachusetts, has just been published in Zion's Watchman, New York city:
_Mr. Editor_:--The following fact was given me last evening, from the pen of a s.h.i.+pmaster, who has traded in several of the princ.i.p.al ports in the south. He is a man of unblemished character, a member of the M.E. Church in this place, and familiarly known in this town. The facts were communicated to me last fall in a letter to his wife, with a request that she would cause them to be published. I give verbatim, as they were written from the letter by brother Perry's own hand while I was in his house.
"A Methodist preacher, Wm. Whitby by name, who married in Bucksville, S.C., and by marriage came into possession of some slaves, in July, 1838, was about moving to another station to preach, and wished, also, to move his family and slaves to Tennessee, much against the will of the slaves, one of which, to get clear from him, ran into the woods after swimming a brook. The parson took after him with his gun, which, however, got wet and missed fire, when he ran to a neighbor for another gun, with the intention, as he said, of killing him: he did not, however, catch or kill him; he chained another for fear of his running away also. The above particulars were related to me by William Whitby himself. THOMAS C. PERRY. March 3, 1839."
"I find by examining the minutes of the S.C. Conference, that there is such a preacher in the Conference, and brother Perry further stated to me that he was well acquainted with him, and if this statement was published, and if it could be known where he was since the last Conference, he wished a paper to be sent him containing the whole affair. He also stated to me, verbally, that the young man he attempted to shoot was about nineteen years of age, and had been shut up in a corn-house, and in the attempt of Mr. Whitby to chain him, he broke down the door and made his escape as above mentioned, and that Mr. W. was under the necessity of hiring him out for one year, with the risk of his employer's getting him. Brother Perry conversed with one of the slaves, who was so old that he thought it not profitable to remove so far, and had been sold; _he_ informed him of all the above circ.u.mstances, and said, with tears, that he thought he had been so faithful as to be ent.i.tled to liberty, but instead of making him free, he had sold him to another master, besides parting one husband and wife from those ties rendered a thousand times dearer by an infant child which was torn for ever from the husband.
WILLIAM BARDWELL.
_Sandwich, Ma.s.s._, March 4, 1839."
Mr. WILLIAM POE, till recently a slaveholder in Virginia, now an elder in the Presbyterian Church at Delhi, Ohio, gives the following testimony:--
"An elder in the Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg had a most faithful servant, whom he flogged severely and sent him to prison, and had him confined as a felon a number of days, for being _saucy_. Another elder of the same church, an auctioneer, habitually sold slaves at his stand--very frequently _parted families_--would often go into the country to sell slaves on execution and otherwise; when remonstrated with, he justified himself, saying, 'it was his business;' the church also justified him on the same ground.
"A Doctor Duval, of Lynchburg, Va. got offended with a very faithful, worthy servant, and immediately sold him to a negro trader, to be taken to New Orleans; Duval still keeping the wife of the man as his slave. This Duval was a professor of religion."
Mr. SAMUEL HALL, a teacher in Marietta College, Ohio, says, in a recent letter:--
"A student in Marietta College, from Mississippi, a professor of religion, and in every way worthy of entire confidence, made to me the following statement. [If his name were published it would probably cost him his life.]
"When I was in the family of the Rev. James Martin, of Louisville, Winston county, Mississippi, in the spring of 1838, Mrs. Martin became offended at a female slave, because she did not move faster. She commanded her to do so; the girl quickened her pace; again she was ordered to move faster, or, Mrs. M. declared, she would break the broomstick over her head. Again the slave quickened her pace; but not coming up to the _maximum_ desired by Mrs. M. the latter declared she would _see_ whether she (the slave) could move or not: and, going into another apartment, she brought in a raw hide, awaiting the return of her husband for its application. In this instance I know not what was the final result, but I have heard the sound of the raw-hide in at least _two_ other instances, applied by this same reverend gentleman to the back of his _female_ servant."
Mr. Hall adds--"The name of my informant must be suppressed, as" he says, "there are those who would cut my throat in a moment, if the information I give were to be coupled with my name." Suffice it to say that he is a professor of religion, a native of Virginia, and a student of Marietta College, whose character will bear the strictest scrutiny. He says:--
"In 1838, at Charlestown, Va. I conversed with several members of the church under the care of the Rev. Mr. Brown, of the same place. Taking occasion to speak of slavery, and of the sin of slaveholding, to one of them who was a lady, she replied, "I am a slaveholder, and I _glory_ in it." I had a conversation, a few days after, with the pastor himself, concerning the state of religion in his church, and who were the most exemplary members in it. The pastor mentioned several of those who were of that description; the _first_ of whom, however, was the identical lady who _gloried_ in being a slaveholder!
That church numbers nearly two hundred members.
"Another lady, who was considered as devoted a Christian as any in the same church, but who was in poor health, was accustomed to flog some of her female domestics with a raw-hide till she was exhausted, and then go and lie down till her strength was recruited, rising again and resuming the flagellation. This she considered as not at all derogatory to her Christian character."
Mr. JOEL S. BINGHAM, of Cornwall, Vermont, lately a student in Middlebury College, and a member of the Congregational Church, spent a few weeks in Kentucky, in the summer of 1838. He relates the following occurrence which took place in the neighborhood where he resided, and was a matter of perfect notoriety in the vicinity.
"Rev. Mr. Lewis, a Baptist minister in the vicinity of Frankfort, Ky.
had a slave that ran away, but was retaken and brought back to his master, who threatened him with punishment for making an attempt to escape. Though terrified the slave immediately attempted to run away again. Mr. L. commanded him to stop, but he did not obey. _Mr. L. then took a gun, loaded with small shot and fired at the slave, who fell_; but was not killed, and afterward recovered. Mr. L. did not probably intend to kill the slave, as it was his legs which were aimed at and received the contents of the gun. The master a.s.serted that he was driven to this necessity to maintain his authority. This took place about the first of July, 1838."
The following is given upon the authority of Rev. ORANGE SCOTT, of Lowell, Ma.s.s. for many years a presiding elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"Rev. Joseph Hough, a Baptist minister, formerly of Springfield, Ma.s.s.
now of Plainfield, N.H. while traveling in the south, a few years ago, put up one night with a Methodist family, and spent the Sabbath with them. While there, one of the female slaves did something which displeased her mistress. She took a chisel and mallet, and very deliberately cut off one of her toes!"
SLAVE BREEDING AN INDEX OF PUBLIC 'OPINION' AMONG THE 'HIGHEST CLa.s.s OF SOCIETY' IN VIRGINIA AND OTHER NORTHERN SLAVE STATES.
But we shall be told, that 'slave-breeders' are regarded with contempt, and the business of slave breeding is looked upon as despicable; and the hot disclaimer of Mr. Stevenson, our Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of St. James, in reply to Mr. O'Connell, who had intimated that he might be a 'slave breeder,' will doubtless be quoted.[40] In reply, we need not say what every body knows, that if Mr. Stevenson is not a 'slave breeder,' he is a solitary exception among the large slaveholders of Virginia. What! Virginia slaveholders not 'slave-breeders?' the pretence is ridiculous and contemptible; it is meanness, hypocrisy, and falsehood, as is abundantly proved by the testimony which follows:--
Mr. GHOLSON, of Virginia, in his speech in the Legislature of that state, Jan. 18, 1832, (see Richmond Whig,) says:--
"It has always (perhaps erroneously) been considered by steady and old-fas.h.i.+oned people, that the owner of land had a reasonable right to its annual profits; the owner of orchards, to their annual fruits; the owner of _brood mares_, to their product; and the owner of _female slaves, to their increase_. We have not the fine-spun intelligence, nor legal ac.u.men, to discover the technical distinctions drawn by gentlemen. The legal maxim of '_Partus sequitur ventrem_' is coeval with the existence of the rights of property itself, and is founded in wisdom and justice. It is on the justice and inviolability of this maxim that the master foregoes the service of the female slave; has her nursed and attended during the period of her gestation, and raises the helpless and infant offspring. The value of the property justifies the expense; and I do not hesitate to say, that in its _increase consists much of our wealth_."
Hon. THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH, of Virginia. formerly Governor of that state, in his speech before the legislature in 1832, while speaking of the number of slaves annually sold from Virginia to the more southern slave states, said:--
"The exportation has _averaged_ EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED for the last twenty years. Forty years ago, the whites exceeded the colored 25,000, the colored now exceed the whites 81,000; and these results too during an exportation of near 260,000 slaves since the year 1790, now perhaps the fruitful progenitors of half a million in other states. It is a practice and an increasing practice, in parts of Virginia, to rear slaves for market. How can an honorable mind, a patriot and a lover of his country, bear to see this ancient dominion converted into one grand menagerie, where men are to be reared for market, like oxen for the shambles."
Professor DEW, now President of the University of William and Mary, Virginia, in his Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature, 1831-2, says, p 49.
"From all the information we can obtain, we have no hesitation in saying that upwards of six thousand [slaves] are yearly exported [from Virginia] to other states.' Again, p. 61: 'The 6000 slaves which Virginia annually sends off to the south, are a source of wealth to Virginia'--Again, p. 120: 'A full equivalent being thus left in the place of the slave, this emigration becomes an advantage to the state, and does not check the black population as much as, at first view, we might imagine--because it furnishes every inducement to the master to attend to the negroes, to ENCOURAGE BREEDING, and to cause the _greatest number possible to be raised._ &c."
_"Virginia is, in fact, a negro-raising state for other states."_
Extract from the speech of MR. FAULKNER, in the Va. House of Delegates, 1832. [See Richmond Whig.]
"But he [Mr. Gholson,] has labored to show that the Abolition of Slavery, were it practicable, would be _impolitic_, because as the drift of this portion of his argument runs, your slaves const.i.tute the entire wealth of the state, all the _productive capacity_ Virginia possesses. And, sir, as things are, _I believe he is correct_. He says, and in this he is sustained by the gentleman from Halifax, Mr.
Bruce, that the slaves const.i.tute the entire available wealth at present, of Eastern Virginia. Is it true that for 200 years the only increase in the wealth and resources of Virginia, has been a remnant of the natural _increase_ of this miserable race?--Can it be, that on this _increase_, she places her solo dependence? I had always understood that indolence and extravagance were the necessary concomitants of slavery; but, until I heard these declarations, I had not fully conceived the horrible extent of this evil. These gentlemen state the fact, which the history and _present aspect of the Commowealth but too well sustain_. The gentlemen's facts and argument in support of his plea of impolicy, to me, seem rather unhappy. To me, such a state of things would itself be conclusive at least, that something, even as a measure of policy, should be done. What, sir, have you lived for two hundred years, without personal effort or productive industry, in extravagance and indolence, sustained alone _by the return from sales of the increase of slaves_, and retaining merely such a number as your now impoverished lands can sustain, AS STOCK, _depending, too, upon a most uncertain market_? When that market is closed, as in the nature of things it must be, what then will become of this gentleman's hundred millions worth of slaves, AND THE ANNUAL PRODUCT?"
In the debates in the Virginia Convention, in 1829, Judge Upsher said--"The value of slaves as an article of property [and it is in that view only that they are legitimate subjects of taxation] _depends much on the state of the market abroad_. In this view, it is the value of land _abroad_, and not of land here, which furnishes the ratio. It is well known to us all, that nothing is more fluctuating than the value of slaves. A late law of Louisiana reduced their value 25 per cent, in two hours after its pa.s.sage was known. IF IT SHOULD BE OUR LOT, AS I TRUST IT WILL BE, TO ACQUIRE THE COUNTRY OF TEXAS, THEIR PRICE WILL RISE AGAIN."--p. 77.
Mr. Goode, Of Virginia, in his speech before the Virginia Legislature, in Jan. 1832, [See Richmond Whig, of that date,] said:--
"The superior usefulness of the slaves in the south, will const.i.tute an _effectual demand_, which will remove them from our limits. We shall send them from our state, because _it will be our interest to do so_. Our planters are already becoming farmers. Many who grew tobacco as their only staple, have already introduced, and commingled the wheat crop. They are already semi-farmers; and in the natural course of events, they must become more and more so.--As the greater quant.i.ty of rich western lands are appropriated to the production of the staple of our planters, that staple will become less profitable.--We shall gradually divert our lands from its production, until we shall become actual farmers.--Then will the necessity for slave labor diminish; then will the effectual demand diminish, and then will the quant.i.ty of slaves diminish, until they shall be adapted to the effectual demand.
"But gentlemen are alarmed _lest the markets of other states be closed against the introduction of our slaves_. Sir, the demand for slave labor MUST INCREASE through the South and West. It has been heretofore limited by the want of capital; but when emigrants shall be relieved from their embarra.s.sments, contracted by the purchase of their lands, the annual profits of their estates, will const.i.tute an acc.u.mulating capital, which they will _seek to invest in labor_. That the demand for labor must increase in proportion to the increase of capital, is one of the demonstrations of political economists; and I confess, that for the removal of slavery from Virginia, I look to the efficacy of that principle; together with the circ.u.mstance that our southern brethren are constrained to continue planters, by their position, soil and climate."
The following is from Niles' Weekly Register, published at Baltimore, Md. vol. 35, p. 4.
_"Dealing in slaves has become a large business_; establishments are made in several places in Maryland and Virginia, at which they are sold like cattle; these places of deposit are strongly built, and well supplied with thumb-screws and gags, and ornamented with cow-skins and other whips oftentimes b.l.o.o.d.y."
R.S. FINLEY, Esq., late General Agent of the American Colonization Society, at a meeting in New York, 27th Feb. 1833, said:
"In Virginia and other grain-growing slave states, the blacks do not support themselves, and the only profit their masters derive from them is, repulsive as the idea may justly seem, in breeding them, like other live stock for the more southern states."
