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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 095 657 338 
 
 Date Due 
 
 Upr^'inii, m^.r 
 
 PRINTED IN 
 
 («r 
 
 NO. 23233 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924095657338 
 
INSIDE VIEW 
 
 OP 
 
 SLAVERY: 
 
 OB A 
 
 TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 
 
 ^ BY C. G. RiESONS, M. D., 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY 
 
 MKS. H. B. STOWE. 
 
 BOSTON- 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AM) COMPANY. 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO : 
 JEWETT, FEOCTOR AND WOETBIkIgI-ONi. 
 1855. 
 
 473' 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, A. D. 1855, 
 
 by C. G. PABSONS & CO. 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Mdne. 
 
 B. THDBSTON 
 0ectrotyper, and Steam I'linter, 
 Fortlfiod, Maloe. 
 
Prefatory Note. — The following work is little more than a record 
 of fects seen and learned dviring an extensive tour in the Southern 
 States in 1852 and 1853, from a journal made at the time. This tour 
 was made, and the notes had been used by the author as the basis of a 
 series of lectures delivered in several of the New England States, before 
 any other " view " of slaverj' had been published. Neither its origin 
 nor its preparation has been induced, therefore, by any publication that 
 has preceded it. 
 
 The manuscript copy, as originally prepared for the press, contained 
 the entire names of individuals and places. At the suggestion of the 
 publisher many of these names have been suppressed, or the initials 
 only inserted. But as this has been done solely from a regard for the 
 feelings of the individuals referred to, — many of whom are the author's 
 personal friends, — any one desiring to obtain the names, with the view 
 of testing the truth of any statements contained in the volume, can do 
 80 by applying to him, or to the publisher. C. G. P. 
 
 Windham, Aug. 1, 1855. 
 
INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
" When Freedom, on her natal day, 
 
 Within her war-rocked cradle lay, 
 
 An iron race around her stood, 
 
 Baptized her infent brow in blood. 
 
 And, through the storm which round her swept, 
 
 Their constant ward and watching kept. 
 
 " Our fethers to their graves have gone 
 Their strife is past, — their triumph won ; 
 But sterner trials wait the rice 
 WTiich rises in their honored place — 
 A moral warfare with the crime 
 And folly of an evil time. 
 
 " So let it be. In God's own might 
 
 We gird us for the coming fight, 
 
 And, strong in Him whose cause is ours. 
 
 In conflict with unholy powers. 
 
 We grasp the weapons He has given, — 
 
 The Light, and Trutli, and Love of Heaven!" 
 
 Whutiee. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK. PAGE 
 
 IsrmoDnCTiOJ!! ^ By Mrs. H.B.Stowe, • 11 
 
 I. — Peeliminabt Remaeks, 13 
 
 n. — Aeeival AT Savannah, 20 
 
 in. — Aee THE Slates Contented ? - ... 29 
 
 IV. — Christmas in Savannah, 40 
 
 V Illusions op Slavery, 53 
 
 VI. — Why the North Prospers, .... 62 
 
 Vn. — Reboueces OP THE South, 67 
 
 VLLl. — Southern Agriculture, 78 
 
 IX. — Yankee and Slaveholdee Compared, - 96 
 
 X. — Privatb and Public Buildings, - - - 106 
 
 XI. — The Paeting Scene, 118 
 
 Xn. — Slaveholders as Business Men, • ■ 125 
 
 Xm. — Southern Spoets, ...... 135 
 
 XrV. — Treatment op Slaves, 150 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV. — Footprints OP Slaveet, 163 
 
 XVI. — No Sympathy FOE Slates, - - - - 173 
 
 XVII. — Southern JoEispEUDENCE, - • - - 186 
 XVHl Slavery Hardens THE Heart, - - 203 
 
 XIX. — Slavery AND Education, .... 232 
 
 XX. — Slavery and the Sabbath, - - . . 254 
 
 XXI. — Slavery AND Christianity, .... 269 
 
 XXn. — Wayside Notes, 286 
 
 XXin. — The Giant Slave, 300 
 
 XXTV. — The Ethiopian Soceates, ... 311 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 We have ia this book the simple, straightforward 
 narrative of an impartial witness, whose relationships 
 and business brought him into intimate connections 
 with all the phases of Southern society. 
 
 It is truly, as iis title indicates, an inside view of 
 slavery, — a view which could only be taken by one 
 brought into intimate association with the society de- 
 scribed. 
 
 It appears to be candid and fair in its spirit — to 
 extenuate nothing, nor set down ought in malice, — and 
 the facts carry their own authentication with them. 
 
 We recommend to all unprejudiced, or even preju- 
 diced persons, to read it. If they once begin, they 
 will not be likely to leave before the book is fin- 
 
xii. EJTEODDCXION. 
 
 ished. And having read it, we hope they will ask 
 themselves the question — are these things so? — and 
 if they are, — have / any duties to perform respect- 
 ing them ? Every man, woman, and child in America 
 has a personal interest in the question — ^what is slav- 
 ery? — and every person is morally bound to form a 
 correct opinion with regard to it. 
 
 This book is earnestly commended, therefore, to the 
 attention of all who wish an iatelligent answer to that 
 question. H. B. Stowe. 
 
 Andover, August 8th, 1855. 
 
INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 I. 
 
 A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 
 
 " Oh ! come to the South, where my servants shall all 
 Depart at thy bidding, and come at thy call, — 
 Where the shade of the palm tree is over my home, 
 And the lemon and orange are white in their bloom ! * 
 
 One of the moat interesting features of the age in 
 which we live, is the spirit of reform that everywhere 
 pervades it. It is confined to no nation or coimtry. 
 The whole civilized world is alive with it. Before its 
 searching scrutiny, no abuse is allowed to pass unnoticed. 
 It finds its way into the prisons and cloisters of Europe, 
 to deliver their inmates, or ameliorate their condition. 
 It attacks despotism, alike in church and state. It strikes 
 at systems hoary with age and crime, and exposes their 
 enormities; — while it brings the habits and practices 
 of men, — though sanctioned by fashion and custom, — to 
 the test of its searching scrutiny. Like Ithuriel's spear, 
 it touches everything, however disguised, that tends to 
 2 
 
14 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY 
 
 degrade, or injure, or debase mankind, and reveals it to 
 the world, in aU its native ugliness and deformity. 
 
 This spirit, as now developed with special prominence 
 in this country, relates to the two great evils of the 
 land, — slavery, and intemperance. I do not mean to 
 say that it is limited to these. It has no limit, within 
 the range of human welfare. But as these evils are now 
 engrossing a large share of public attention, so the voice 
 of reform is calling loudly for some way of deliverance. 
 The question of remedy is more properly within the 
 sphere of political discussion j — but the evils themselves, 
 as they deeply affect moral, social, and physical life, en- 
 ter into almost every field of literary effort. 
 
 The observations which have resulted in the prepara- 
 tion of this volume were made more minutely, as well as 
 more extensively, in Georgia than in any other State. 
 The early settlement of that State was begun under 
 more favorable auspices than attended the birth of any 
 other, — not excepting even Massachusetts. The found- 
 ers of the colony of Georgia seem to have had some 
 premonitions of the evils that were afterwards to afOict 
 our country, — and they sought to avert them. Under 
 their first charter, therefore, the introduction of slavery, 
 and the importation of spirituous liquors were both ex- 
 pressly prohibited. How different would have been the 
 condition of that State, and, perhaps, of the whole nation, 
 if those provisions had been maintained to this day ! 
 
 But the adjacent colony of South Carolina was thickly 
 populated with slaves, and the evil example was conta- 
 gious. Like the ancient Hebrews when they desired a 
 
A TOTJR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 15 
 
 king, — wishing to be like their neighbors, they at length 
 became so. As the population increased, and the inhab- 
 itants became closely connected in business, the anti- 
 slavery clause in their code began to be violated with 
 impunity, and in 1749 it was abrogated. 
 
 The same struggle and defeat on the temperance ques- 
 tion had already been seen. As early as 1 786 a cargo 
 of liquors, brought into Savannah by the Carolina tra- 
 ders, wag seized by the civil authorities, and publicly 
 destroyed, — and the traders were imprisoned. Perhaps 
 nothing in the early colonial histories approaches nearer 
 to the " Maine Law" than this. But it was too far in ad- 
 vance of the age, to stand. Adverse influences from the 
 neighboring colonies, — especially from South Caroli- 
 na, — together with the power of appetite and interest 
 at home, finally gained the victory, — and the prohibition 
 was removed. 
 
 There are few Northern men who have not relatives, 
 or intimate friends, in the South. State sovereignty and 
 citizenship, local attachments, the sacred associations of 
 home, all yield to the centrifugal forces of active life, 
 and families are scattered until, perhaps, each member 
 resides in a different State. But the strong ties of early 
 affection, though lacerated, are t destroyed. The com- 
 panions of childhood are remembered, and if we are not 
 able to revisit them among 
 
 " The smiling hilts, the spacious, fertile vales, 
 Where oft we wandered, plucking yemal flowers, 
 And reveledin the odor-breathing gales, 
 
 we long for them to visit us where another home has 
 
16 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 been hallowed by new associations. And hence, though 
 there are repulsions iu religion and politics, and sec- 
 tional controversies have arisen, the warm greeting and 
 kind invitation are still sent and returned. And, thanks 
 to a good Providence, whatever have been the recrimina- 
 tions of politicians, and whatever blemishes there may 
 be upon the character of our people, either North or 
 South, this spirit of generous hospitality and warm- 
 hearted social intercourse is not yet dead ! 
 
 From the commencement of the anti-slavery move- 
 ment in this country, I have been deeply interested in 
 its progress ; and though I have never believed it neces- 
 sary, in order to understand this subject, that one shoul(J 
 visit the slave States, still I had long wished to do so. 
 I felt certain that there must be, among the effects of the 
 slave system, facts that would arrest the attention and 
 awaken the sympathy of Northern men more than could 
 be done by discussing its abstract principles. I there- 
 fore determined to know, from actual observation, the 
 workings and results of this system. 
 
 In the autumn of 1862, I made my arrangements for 
 a tour in the Southern States. I had a number of rela- 
 tives in Georgia whom I desired to visit ; and as some 
 of them were slaveholders, and all of them so situated 
 that a more intimate acquaintance with their southern 
 homes would bring me into close contact with slavery, 
 I designed to avail myself of every opportunity which 
 the occasion might afford for a thorough investigation. 
 The fact that I had influential friends connected with| 
 the system, gave me, probably, a nearer access to its 
 
A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 17 
 
 8<}cret operations than had ever been enjoyed by any one 
 not supposed to be in favor of it. The time of my visit 
 was also opportune, being after the compromise meas- 
 ures had been adopted in Congress. The pulpit and the 
 press had proclaimed that all " agitation had ceased," 
 and that the "anti-slavery cause was dead." In the 
 South this was, to some extent, believed to be true ; and 
 the espionage of slaveholders over the movements of 
 Northern men was less than had been known before for 
 many years. 
 
 During my sojourn in the South, I traveled throng 
 Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Caro- 
 linas. Thus I learned that the agricultural system of 
 all the slave States is generally the same. But my in- 
 quiries into the condition and the business habits of the 
 people, the institutions of learning and religion, and the 
 whole modus operandi of the slave system, in its effects 
 upon masters, non-slaveholders, and slaves, were made 
 more particularly in the State of Georgia. And, per- 
 haps, no single State exhibits a fairer view of the whole 
 system. Though not in so mild a form as in Virginia 
 and Maryland, still darker and more cruel aspects of it 
 may be seen in the Carolinas, and the South Western 
 States. 
 
 In order to obtain a correct knowledge of the man- 
 ners and customs of the people, and their modes of 
 doing business, I engaged, at different times, in various 
 occupations. In no other way can a stranger become 
 acquainted with men and things. For some time I trav- 
 eled in the interior, as agent for a commission house in 
 
18 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 the city of Savannah, purchasing cotton, corn, hides, &c. 
 At another time I was employed by a lumber company) 
 that was building mills in the country, to superintend 
 the operation, and take charge of the manufacturing 
 business. Here were slaveholders and slaves laboring 
 together, living in log cabins, eating from the same dish, 
 and sleeping on the same floor, or on the ground, at 
 night. One of the owners was a Presbyterian clergy- 
 man, and a slaveholder, but the smartest man to work 
 we had in the "crowd." The "master builder" was 
 also a minister, of the Baptist denomination. He was a 
 native Georgian, but a thorough going abolitionist. The 
 subject of slavery was frequently and fully discussed 
 among us, and its injurious effects on industrial pursuits, 
 were admitted by aU. '' 
 
 No one can understand much of slavery by looking at 
 the features which it presents in the northern slave 
 States. The influence of free labor, and Northern insti- 
 tutions, here modifies the system, and either banishes or 
 conceals many barbarous practices which are commod 
 farther south. The master, even if unconscious of it, 
 feels the influence of public sentiment, and often seeks 
 to palliate the great wrong by kind treatment. 
 
 Neither can any one see and know what slavery is bpi 
 visiting only the cities and large villages in the southern 
 slave States. Here, as in the States farther north, the 
 slaveholder is surrounded by influences that change th^ 
 external features of the system, and tend to check ita 
 excesses. Those men who are prominent in the learned 
 professions, and most successful in business, are many, 
 
A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 19 
 
 if not most of them, from the North. K we inquire of 
 the most enterprising, wealthy merchants in the cities, 
 not only on the coast, but in the interior of the slave 
 States, where they originated, they will point us to their 
 remote country homes in New England, where they fibrst 
 saw the light, where their early years of life were em- 
 ployed in vigorous exercise on the rough farm in sum- 
 mer, and in the common school in winter. These men 
 learned the value of schools and churches before they 
 left their good old puritan homes, and they have strug- 
 gled manfully to maintain these institutions, in spite of 
 the downward tendencies, and the untoward influences 
 of the slave system. And they have also felt that labor- 
 ing men need wholesome, nutritious food to stimulate 
 the muscle, and quiet rest at night, on a comfortable bed, 
 to restore tone to the nerves. Such men care for the 
 condition of their servants. The legitimate effects of 
 slavery are not fully developed in their families, though 
 the slaves probably experience great sufferings in the 
 best condition, which the stranger cannot perceive, nor 
 even the master know. 
 
 f But to understand what slavery is, we must go into the 
 planting districts, and see the " live Crackers," as the 
 inhabitants of those districts are familiarly called. Here 
 we behold the native slaveholder alone with his slaves, 
 having no Northern men about him to influence his con- 
 duct, to check the full indulgence of his appetites, or re- 
 strain his passions. Here, and here only, can we see 
 slavery as it is. No where else are its legitimate results 
 and real influences so fully disclosed. 
 
II. 
 
 A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 
 
 " By storied hill and hallowed grot, 
 By mossy wood and marshy glen, 
 Whence rang of old the rifle shot, 
 And hurrying shout of Marion's men, 
 The groan of breaking hearts is there — 
 The falling lash, the fetters' ckok ! 
 Slaves — slaves are breathing in that air, 
 Which old DeKalb and Sumpter drank ! 
 
 Whiitiee. 
 
 The Southern Colonies did not distinguish themselves 
 in the Revolutionary War. Savannah and Charleston 
 successively surrendered to the British arms, and at last, 
 Georgia and both the Carolinas were abandoned to the 
 British power. The Southern army was nearly destroyed, 
 and the remnant withdrawn from the field. And yet, 
 these colonies were the scenes of some of the most bril- 
 liant exploits and heroic adventures that arc recorded ini 
 the history of that memorable struggle. The death oq 
 Pulaski, and DeKalb, the daring bravery of Gen. Sump 
 ter as he contested the ground, inch by inch, with a su 
 perior force, before which he was compelled at last t( 
 retire, the struggles and triumphs of Marion, Wayne, 
 
A TOUB AMONa THE PLANTERS. 21 
 
 and Morgan, after Gen. Greene had taken the command 
 of the Southern division of the army, form a chapter of 
 events not inferior in interest to any other. It was from 
 this field that Kennedy gathered the materials for his 
 fine historical romance " Horse-shoe Robinson." And 
 whatever may be said of the devotion which the South 
 exhibited to the American cause during the Revolution- 
 ary War, it must be admitted that since that time she 
 has held the names of the heroes who fought and bled 
 upon her soil in grateful remembrance. Her counties, 
 cities, and towns are named in honor of them, and the 
 places consecrated by their struggles are pointed out to 
 strangers as shrines of patriotic devotion. In a public 
 square in the city of Savannah, a monument has been 
 erected to the memory of Gen. Greene, — and another 
 to commemorate the fame of Count Pulaski, who fell 
 diu-ing the gallant but unsuccessful attempt to retake the 
 city, by Gen. Lincoln, in 1779. 
 
 I arrived in Savannah on the 22d of November, 1852. 
 This city is located upon the river of the same name, 18 
 miles from its mouth. The site is an elevated sandy 
 plain, about forty feet above the level of the river, the 
 bank of which was originally called " Yamacraw Bluff; " 
 a name, like that of the river itself, of Indian origin. 
 The earliest settlement in the State was at this place. 
 The city was laid out by Gen. Oglethorpe, in 1733, and 
 has always been the largest commercial depot on the 
 Atlantic coast, south of Charleston. The British took 
 possession of it in 1778, and. held it until 1783. A large 
 portion of it was destroyed by fire in 1820, but so far 
 
22 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 from checking its prosperity, this disaster resulted in its 
 permanent improvement. It was unhealthy in summer, 
 until the rice growers were induced, by a contribution of 
 $70,000 from the citizens, to abandon the practice of j 
 flowing the rice fields in the vicinity. The dry cultiva^ 
 tion of rice is substituted, but to less profit. The river 
 is navigable as far as Augusta, 230 miles from its mouth. 
 This, with several railroads by which Savannah is con?} 
 nected with the interior, makes it the center of a large 
 amount of inland trade. About 350,000 bales of cotton 
 are annually received and shipped here, and in 1852, 
 there were exported from this city 40,000 casks of rice,, 
 and 25,000,000 feet of lumber. In 1853 the population, 
 was 23,000, of whom about 10,000 were slaves. 
 
 The city stands upon a sandy plain, or table land. It 
 is regularly laid out with wide, unpaved streets. At 
 every alternate corner, there is reserved a public square, 
 planted with ornamental trees. The most of these are 
 the Pride of India tree, which are very far from being 
 beautiful in foliage, or fragrant in blossom. Since my 
 return to the North, I have learned that a large part of 
 them have been destroyed by a violent wind, — and if 
 some other kind of tree shall be substituted for this, 
 in a few years no one will regret the loss. 
 
 In the rear of the city is a public park, containing forty 
 acres, mostly covered with the original pine trees, stand- 
 ing so far apart as not to prevent the growth of grass, 
 and enclosed by a high, costly, iron fence. 
 
 The monument to Count Pulaski, before mentioned] 
 though wanting in proportion and symmetry, is an honor 
 
A TOUR AMONG THE PLA^fTEES. 23 
 
 to the city, and an ornament to the beautiful square in 
 front of the large hotel by the same name. 
 . ' No one of the fourteen churches -vrould be called ele- 
 gant, except the Independent Presbyterian, which is truly 
 magnificent. It cost $120,000. It is bmlt of light mar- 
 ble, and has wide aisles with marble floors. Retreating 
 sky-blue niches between the windows, for monuments, 
 add beauty to the interior ; and the whole edifice, both 
 within and without, for symmetry and beauty is probably 
 not surpassed in the country. 
 
 Savannah exhibits unmistakable signs of enterprise, 
 refinement, and wealth. Many of the dwelling houses 
 are spacious and elegant, the stores are large and well 
 filled. In the heart of the city every thing imparts to 
 the view of the stranger an idea of comfort ; but in the 
 suburbs, the low, dingy, dirty, squalid, cheerless negro 
 huts, remind the Northern visitor of the fearful price 
 paid by one class to support another. 
 
 The principal business is based on the great staple, 
 cotton. During my first visit to the place, nine trains 
 came down the Central Railroad daily, with from twenty 
 to thirty cars in each train, loaded mountain high with 
 this article. The depots and plank yards, covering sev- 
 eral acres, were groaning constantly under the immense 
 burden, while long trains of horse teams were laboring 
 for their relief, by drawing it over a plank road a mile 
 or more in length, to the commission houses. Samples 
 of the various descriptions of cotton are displayed in 
 the ante-rooms of the stores, into which purchasers are 
 introduced, and contracts are made so privately and 
 
24 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 quickly that it is difficult for a Yankee to find out 
 ■whether any business is done at all. But the clerks are 
 standing, silent, at their desks, dashing their pens for 
 their lives. Bills, orders, checks, drafts, are exchanged, 
 bales of cotton are passing into vessels from the wharves 
 as fast and still as ripe blossoms from the trees in the 
 spring-time, when shaken with a strong east wind. 
 
 1 spent more time in Savannah than in any other South- 
 em city. From this place I made my excursions for busi- 
 ness, or observation, or pleasure, and having accom- 
 plished the object in view, returned here again, to form 
 new plans, or complete my notes of slavery in city life. 
 In short, I made this a sort of poi7it d'appui, if I may 
 use a military phrase, around which the operations of 
 my Southern tour were carried on. And it was fortu- 
 nate for my purpose that I took this course. For 
 though the true features of slavery may generally be 
 seen in the country without much trouble, it is not so in 
 the city, as has already been noticed. It is only by a 
 protracted residence, and a careful examination, that the 
 real condition of the slaves can here be understood. 
 And even then, there are many who have had no special 
 reasons for investigating this subject, who know but lit- 
 tle about it. I have known Northern men who have 
 lived in Southern cities many years, without ascertaining 
 whether slaves, belonging to families in which they re- 
 side, have wholesome food, or comfortable beds. 
 
 A few weeks before I left Savannah for the interior 
 I boarded at the Marshall House. A friend of mine 
 who had boarded at the same house for several years 
 
A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS. 25 
 
 and ■who had become an advocate of slavery, not having 
 witnessed much of the privations and sufferings of slaves, 
 frequently inquired of me if the slaves in that city did 
 not appear to be in a better condition than the colored 
 population of the North. And I was constrained to ad- 
 mit that, so far as I had been able to judge from what 
 I had seen, the slaves were very well cared for. But 
 before I left that house, some facts came to my knowl- 
 edge, in relation to the treatment of slaves at the public 
 boarding houses, which astonished some of the Yankees 
 who had been there for years. And the disclosures 
 show that business relations afford the best opportuni- 
 ties for obtaining facts. 
 
 Mr. L., of Maine, contracted with the proprietor of 
 the Marshall House for a lease of those premises for sev- 
 eral years. The keys were put into his hands on the 
 third morning of January, 1853. When Mr. L. opened 
 the bar-room door, he found three of the male servants 
 sleeping on narrow boards placed on chairs, the floor 
 being sanded, without a pillow or a blanket. He opened 
 the boot room, and there found two of the " boot blacks," 
 in a room too short for them to lie down at full length, 
 with nothing but boots for pillows. In the kitchen, there 
 were five female cooks sleeping on the solid brick hearth. 
 This fact was not disclosed to the Northern boarders 
 until this gentleman had taken charge of the house. My 
 friend, thougli he had boarded there two years, had not 
 known until that morning, that Mr. Johnson's slaves had 
 no beds. Mr. L. inquired of Mr. J., if there were no 
 3 
 
26 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 beds furnished, and sleeping apartments appropriated 
 to the slaves ? 
 
 " No," replied Mr. J. ; " niggers never sleep on beds in 
 the public houses in this State." 
 
 I mentioned to a gentleman of my acquaintance who 
 was boarding at the Pulaski House, that we had made 
 the discovery at the Marshall House, that the slaves had 
 no beds to rest upon ; to which he replied, 
 
 " Mr. Johnson is a brute, not to furnish his negroes 
 with beds, for they have to work very hard here in win- 
 ter." 
 
 " Do they have beds at your house ? " I asked. 
 
 " Of course they do," was the reply. 
 
 " Are you sure ? Because Mr. Johnson says they 
 never have beds at the taverns." 
 
 The next day, my friend told me that he had asked 
 the proprietor at the Pulaski House what kind of beds 
 were furnished for his servants. 
 
 " Beds I " exclaimed Capt. W., " don't you know that: 
 niggers never sleep on beds ? Put any one of my nig-i 
 gers on the best bed there is in my house, and he wont 
 lie there half an hour. Niggers prefer sleeping on the 
 Boor." 
 
 This was the largest hotel in the State, and its patrons 
 were among the wealthiest and most refined. There 
 were some fifty slaves, or more, owned or employed 
 about the establishment, as it is necessary to have many 
 more servants in a first class hotel in the South than in 
 the North. And yet, this gentleman had boarded ther« 
 
A TOUE AMONG THE PLANTERS. 27 
 
 some years, and having no special interest in making the 
 inquiry, he had not learned that the slaves who waited 
 upon him by day and by night, were never provided with 
 even such beds as Northern farmers furnish their horses. 
 
 One of the first strange sights to a Northern man 
 on visiting the cotton-growing States, is the enormous 
 quantity of this article that he sees wherever he goes. 
 In the streets, in the storehouses, on the wharves, it is 
 constantly before him. He will no longer wonder that 
 Gen. Jackson made a breastwork of it in defending New 
 Orleans. At or near the railroad depot in Savannah, 
 there are, sometimes, literally, acres of cotton bales. 
 Standing in view of it, and remembering that this city 
 is but one of the depots for this trade, he can compre- 
 hend, to some extent, the remarkable influence which this 
 great American staple exerts, not only upon industrial 
 pursuits, but upon the business, and even upon the poli- 
 tics of the country. 
 
 My first impression was that, as nearly all the cotton 
 raised in Georgia was shipped from this port, I should 
 find Savannah frequented from day to day by cotton- 
 growers from the interior. But 1 was mistaken. Occa- 
 sionally a specimen of the •' Crackers " may be seen at a 
 hotel, but no one can form any correct opinion of the 
 manners, customs, or the intelligence of the people in 
 the back counties by anything which he will see on the 
 seaboard. Their habits are entirely different from those 
 of business men in the North. I found, before leaving 
 the South, that there was very little intercourse between 
 the inhabitants of the planting districts and the cities on 
 the coast. 
 
28 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAYEBY. 
 
 I traveled over tlie Central Railroad six times, from 
 Savannali to Macon, a flourishing inland city, containing 
 some 7000 inhabitants. This road is the great thor- 
 oughfare from the interior to the seaboard. Only one 
 passenger car was ever attached to the train. At one 
 time, on a fair day, there were only twelve passengers 
 on board. The highest number at any time was only 
 thirty-five. 
 
 The " Crackers" send their negroes and mule teams 
 with the cotton to their agents at the railroad depots. 
 These agents forward it to the commission merchants in 
 the ports. The merchants sell it to shippers, and the 
 planters draw on them, at the banks, for their pay. So 
 that there is no necessity for them to go to market them-< 
 selves. And any one who visits the country remote 
 from the seaboard, will find many slaveholders, who are 
 in easy circumstances, who have never seen a vessel, on 
 a printing press. 
 
 As a general thing, also, the " Crackers" are very igno-j 
 rant. And I may as well state a fact here, which I didj 
 not learn until some time after I first visited Savannah! 
 There are few Northern men who are not capable o& 
 ascertaining the quantity, and computing the value, of 
 whatever they send to market. I dare say the instanc^ 
 was never known, of a Northern farmer sending his 
 pressed hay to be sold, without having it weighed and 
 marked, and knowing himself the amount. But the cot; 
 ton-grower is frequently incapable of weighing and mark- 
 ing his cotton, and is, therefore, obliged to send it uoii 
 marked, and trust entirely to the honesty of the mer* 
 chant who acts as his agent. 
 
III. 
 
 AEE THE SLAVES CONTENTED? 
 
 " The slave happy ! You may place him wheTe you please ; — you 
 may drj' up, to your utmost, the fountain of his feelings, the springs of 
 his thought ; — you may close upon his miud every avenue to know- 
 ledge, and cloud it over with artificial night ; — you may yoke him to 
 your labor, as the ox which liveth only to work ; — you may put him 
 under any process which, without destroying his value as a slave, will 
 debase and crush him as a rational being ; — you may do this, and the 
 idea that he was bom to be free will survive it alL It is allied to his 
 hopes of immortality ; it is the eternal part of his nature, which oppres- 
 sion cannot reach. It is a torch lit up in his soul by the hand of the 
 Deky, that can never be extinguished by the hand of man." 
 
 Mc. DowELL, OP Virginia. 
 
 Northern men and women who visit their relations in 
 the South, usually find them in the cities and villages, 
 where they see the slaves enjoying the comforts of a 
 poor bed, and other privileges, which slaves in the coun- 
 try seldom, if ever, enjoy. They are liable, therefore, 
 to form too favorable opinions of the condition and 
 treatment of the slaves ; and they often honestly arrive 
 at the conclusion that they are in a better condition than 
 the poor colored po'pulation of the North. 
 
 Sometimes one is allowed to inquire of the slaves 
 themselves how they fare. The answer, almost invari- 
 ably, is, that they fare well — have kind masters--are 
 contented and happy — do not desire their freedom if 
 
30 INSIDE VIEW OF SLA'^'EET. 
 
 it can only be obtained by leaving the family of their 
 master, and their good home, to which they are ardently 
 attached ; — and the inquirer decides that the Northern 
 abolitionists hare greatly exaggerated their sufferings. 
 He does not know that the slave h^a been educated to 
 deceive in these ma tters ; and he believes that he is con- 
 tented and happy, simply because he says so. 
 
 At a hotel where I was boarding, in the city of Savan- 
 nah, there was a christian slave named "John." His 
 wife had been torn away from him, and carried into the 
 back country a distance of twenty five miles. John's 
 affection was so strong that he had several times "run 
 away " to see her, though he was always whipped severely 
 on his return. At last his master told him that he must 
 give up the old wife, and take a new one. Accordingly, 
 he " bought a wife for John," and commanded the slave 
 to regard and treat her as his wife. John refused to 
 obey, and was whipped, again and again, but he did not 
 yield. A Northern gentleman, who was not acquainted 
 with these facts, had frequently asserted that the slaves 
 were happy, and I suggested that inquiries be made of 
 " honest John " touching his domestic enjoyments. The 
 bell was rung, and John came in. 
 
 " Now, John," said my friend, " I want you to tell me 
 if you would like to be free." 
 
 " no, master," replied John, quickly. " I don't want 
 to be free, no how." 
 
 " Then you have a kind master, have you, John ?" 
 
 '• Yes, I have a kind master, and I don't want to be 
 sold away." 
 
 " Then you prefer to stay with your present master 
 
ARE THE SLAVES CONTENTED? 31 
 
 John, rather than, to be made free, or go to any other 
 place to live, you say ? " 
 
 " I reckon I rather remain here," ansTvered John, " be- 
 cause I don't know what worse hands I may fall iato." 
 
 " There, now what do you say," said the gentleman, 
 turning to me, "about the discontent of the slaves?" 
 
 " I think John has deceived you, sir," I replied. '^ 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 " Has he satisfied you that he is contented and happy ? " 
 
 " Most certainly. I have no doubt he is so." 
 
 "In this you are entirely mistaken, sir, and John 
 sees it, but he dare not undeceive you. I secured his 
 confidence a few days ago, and he told me the story of 
 his wrongs, and afllictions, and sufierings. 
 
 "And now, John," said I, "will you state the facts 
 connected with your treatment on account of your wife, 
 that my friend here, who is also your friend, may know 
 the truth iu this matter ? Speak freely ; you shall not 
 be betrayed." 
 
 John then threw off the mask, and stated the simple 
 facts. The affecting story would melt any heart except 
 that of a slaveholder. The Northern merchant acknowl- 
 edged that he he was never before so artfully deceived. 
 And these f alse representations, which the slaves are 
 compel led to make for their own security , have kept 
 Northern men in ignorance of their true condition. 
 
 The following incidents will show how liable we are 
 to be deceived in the cities of the South, by having the 
 best aspects of slavery presented to us ; and also what 
 duplicity is practised upon us by the slaveholders for 
 this purpose. 
 
32 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEEf. 
 
 Among the boarders at the hotel where I stoppe^ 
 were Mr. N. and his excellent christian lady. They were 
 members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. N. was a 
 cotton broker, a native of that State, and owned a plant- 
 ation and slaves in the coimtry. He was a warm friend 
 of the temperance cause, in which I had expressed a deep 
 interest publicly in that city. While making a call at 
 his private room, where I found him and his lady alone, 
 after conversing upon the subject of temperance awhile, 
 Mr. N. asked me if I was an abolitionist. He said that 
 he had been so informed by one of my Northern friends. 
 
 I replied that he had been correctly informed. 
 
 " Are you a Garrisonite ? " he asked. 
 
 I answered, that I was not. 
 
 " You are a political abolitionist, then, I presume ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, you are right ; I am a political abolitionist,, 
 and I profess to be a moral and religious abolitionist, 
 
 " "Well, now, let me say to you," said Mr. N., " that I 
 have been North, during the summer, for several years, 
 visiting the cities, and Springs, and Falls, where I hav^ 
 read your anti-slavery papers, — not only those of the 
 Garrison school, but Bailey's, and Leavitt's, and others, 
 — and let me tell you, sir, that, if you have taken youji 
 views of slavery from those papers, you have formed 
 erroneous opinions of the institution. You will fin^ 
 the slaves in a much better condition than that which is 
 described in those fanatical papers. Most of the writers 
 in those papers have never traveled in the South, to se* 
 for themselves how well the slaves fare. Now if you 
 examine closely, you will see that the slaves are well 
 
AKE THE SLAVES CONTENTED.'' 33 
 
 cared for, in every respect. You will not find the cru- 
 elty and the suffering you have expected to see." 
 h "I have no doubt, sir," he added, positively, " that you 
 vill have your views of slavery essentially modified, 
 and return to the North with your opinions in relation 
 to this whole subject entirely changed." 
 
 This was said with so much apparent sincerity, and 1 
 had reposed so much confidence in the integrity of Mr. 
 N., that he actually inspired me with the hope, at least, 
 that I should find the slaves in a better state than I had 
 anticipated. 
 
 This interview was had previous to my traveling in 
 the country; but subsequent disclosures of the suffer- 
 ings and privations of the slaves at that public house, 
 led me to suspect that Mr. N. intended to deceive me. 
 And especially after I had traveled among the " Crack- 
 ers," and had been permitted to lift the veil and take 
 an inside view of the system, in all its forms, I knew 
 that he intended to misrepresent the case, and make 
 a false impression upon my mind. 
 
 On my return to that city, just before I left the Soiith, 
 I called on Mr. N. again, and found him and his excellent 
 lady alone, as before. I was greeteji very cordially. 
 During this conversation, I remarked to Mr. N. that I 
 had taken the liberty to call to ask him a simple, straight- 
 forward question, to which I wanted him to give me an 
 honest, explicit, christian answer. 
 
 '• Well, what is it, sir, you wish to know ? " inquired 
 Mr. N., with evident surprise, and a little embarrassment. 
 
 "It is this, sir" 1 replied. "Will you inform mo 
 
34 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEBr. 
 
 why you stated to mc, when I first came to this city, that 
 the slaves were well treated, that the anti-slavery papers 
 of the North had belied the slaveholders, and that I 
 should find good reasons, by a careful examination of 
 the system, for changing my abolition views ? " 
 
 "To tell you the plain truth," said Mr. N., with a 
 blush and a laugh mingled in the expression, " I did not 
 know then that you were intending to go out into the 
 country 1 " 
 
 " I told Mr. N., after you left us at that time, sir," 
 said Mrs. K, quickly, " that he had deceived you ; and 
 the only apology he made for it was, that slavery would 
 never be abolished, that you could do nothing to makiff 
 the condition of the slave better, and that you might as 
 well be sent home to the North with your heart and 
 mind put to rest on that matter, as to have you trouble 
 yourself any farther about it." 
 
 Mr. N. did not deny that his good lady had given me the 
 true explanation of his equivocal conduct and language. 
 By arts like these has many a Northern man been 
 sent home to peddle South-side notions in Yankeedom. 
 Slavery is a shrewd, practiced, and cunning dissembler. 
 Like Milton's Comus, 
 
 " it hurls 
 Its dazzling spells into the spungy air, 
 Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion. 
 And give it felse presentanents j * • 
 And, under feir pretence of ftiendly ends, 
 And well placed words of glozing courtesy, 
 Baited with reasons not unplausible, 
 Winds itself into easy-hearted men, 
 And hugs them in its snares." 
 
ARE TIIE SLAVES CONTENTED? 35 
 
 A wealthy planter, from the interior of the State, was 
 introduced to me, in the city of S., before I traveled in 
 the interior, for the purpose, as I afterwards ascertained, 
 of deceiving me with reference to the treatment of slaves 
 in his neighborhood. 
 
 1 had been previously assured, by a friend, that this 
 gentleman enjoyed a reputation entirely above suspicion 
 for honor and integrity, and I could therefore place the 
 fullest confidence in his statements. His manner of 
 conversation aided to confirm a favorable impression of 
 his reliability. 
 
 During our interview, several topics relating to slavery 
 were discussed, and, among others, the feeding of slaves. 
 
 I inquired how the slaves were fed in his part of the 
 State. 
 
 He replied, " that formerly they were not so well fed 
 as at that time. The planters," he said, "have found it 
 more profitable to treat the slaves kindly' and feed them 
 well, as they would perform more labor, and take a 
 deeper interest in the master's welfare. Therefore they 
 have adopted a system of high feeding." 
 
 " Do you give your slaves as much meat as they want, 
 Colonel ? " I inquired. 
 
 "Meat! " said he, with a laugh ; " I feed my hands on 
 the best, most costly, and nutritious articles which the 
 market affords, such as eggs, poultry, fresh meats, butter, 
 <&c., and just as much as they are disposed to eat." 
 
 " Indeed ! And do your neighbors feed in the same 
 manner ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, most of my neighbors feed in the same 
 
36 INSIDK VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 way ; and I can assm-e you it is altogether the best way. 
 Provisions are generally cheap in this State, and handa 
 that are well fed have better health, and do more work ; 
 and we find it to be the most profitable way, after all, 
 to feed well." 
 
 I was really surprised at this ; and yet it was all true. 
 But still it left a false impression on my mind, which I 
 should probably have brought home with me, had I not 
 afterwards visited the place where Colonel H. resides, 
 and learned " the other side of the story." The " sunny 
 side " gave me only half the truth. When the other 
 half from the " shady side " was brought to the light, and 
 the two halves were joined together, the whole truth 
 gave the fullest evidence that the slaves in that neigh- 
 borhood sufifered more by severe treatment from exact- 
 ing, rigorous masters, than in any other part of the 
 State. 
 
 Let us walk in and see the slaves of the " reliable " 
 Col. H. Let us go into the huts, and out upon the 
 plantations, and see with our eyes a well fed, " kindly 
 treated " family of slaves. 
 
 " Whose field is that on the other side of the creek ? " 
 said a Northern gentleman, who was traveling with me, 
 to a neighbor of Col. H. 
 
 " That is a plantation of negroes the Colonel hires 
 this year, I believe," replied the " Cracker." 
 
 " Will there be any harm in our going over there to 
 see the boys work?" 
 
 "I reckon you had better go and see the Colonel 
 first" answered his neighbor, "for he is mighty particu- 
 
ARE THE SLAVES CONTENTED? 37 
 
 lar about allowing strangers around among his people." 
 
 "Will y6u be so kind, sir, as to direct us to the 
 Colonel's house ?" said I. 
 
 " There comes his old boy, ' Monday/ now. He will 
 show you up there, sir." 
 
 " Thank you, sir." 
 
 " Ho, Monday ! This way 1 We want you to go and 
 show us the way to your master's house." 
 
 " Well, I can't go now, master. I must go down to the 
 store first, and get a gun for young master William. 
 He is up at the school house you see there by the great 
 tree, and he will tell you where the folks live." 
 
 We passed on to the log school house, where, much 
 to our joy, we found a Yankee shool teacher — an old 
 acquaintance. 
 
 The school was left to take care of itself awhile. I 
 made inquiries respecting Col. H. and his slaves, re- 
 peated the statements he made to me, and expressed my 
 great surprise to learn that slaves were fed in the man- 
 ner stated by him. 
 
 " Ah ! there is another side to that story ! " exclaimed 
 the teacher. " That gentleman het Jive thousund dol- 
 lars last year that he could raise more cotton with his 
 hands than a neighbor could with the same number." 
 
 The truth now flashed upon me. I could see a motive 
 now for feeding high. The slaves were to be driven 
 hard. The man who raised the largest amount of cot- 
 ton would gain the iive thousand dollars, in addition to 
 the product of the field. 
 
 " Costly and nutritious food was supplied to those 
 4- 
 
38 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 slaves," said the teacher of that school, "and the cotton- 
 planter's whip was as freely applied to them." 
 
 The Colonel's plantation was close by that school 
 room. 
 
 "The driver," said he, "went behind the gang ofi 
 slaves, constantly cracking his whip, from morning till 
 night. The boy or girl that fell in the rear received the 
 lash, just like the poor, feeble lamb that falls behind in, 
 the drove. And I was informed," he added, in a tone : 
 expressing great grief and sympathy, "that eighteenl 
 slaves belonging to that man perished in the fields and] 
 huts last summer, from being over driven. But Col. H. 
 raised more cotton than the neighbor with whom he laidj 
 the wager." 
 
 " How much cotton did he raise ? " I asked. 
 
 "About fifty thousand dollars' worth, I have heard,", 
 said the teacher. 
 
 " With how many hands ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Four hundred, I believe." 
 
 The amount of cotton raised probably exceeded, by 
 some fifteen or twenty thousand dollars in value, the 
 usual crop obtained under the ordinary mode of feeding 
 and driving. In both respects the case was an excep- 
 tion, proving nothing but the fact that, whether well or 
 ill fed, kindly or cruelly treated, the slave is completely 
 in the power of his master, with no source of protec- 
 tion, no power of resistance, no hope of redress. 
 
 No one can travel in the South without seeing that 
 the system of slavery has no « abuses," — that what he 
 has been accustomed to regard as such are only the 
 
ARE THE SLAVE9 CONTENTED? 39 
 
 legitimate fruits, or rather the constituent elements of 
 the system itself. All tlie cruelties and the tortures, — 
 so far a 3 required to enforce submission, — the sundering 
 of families, the degradation, and the wholesale concu- 
 binage, are inseparable from the system. K the system 
 is right, it is right that any "privilege and appurte- 
 nance " required to perpetuate it should be included in 
 the deed. If it is right to hold a man in bondage, it 
 is right to take his wife from him, sell his children, 
 keep him ignorant of tJie word of God, chain him, whip 
 him, take his life, if he refuses to yield. Deny any of 
 these, and you leave no security for a permanent posses- 
 sion of the man. 
 
 The feelings of our common nature rise in rebellion 
 against such a system. In the words of one of England's 
 most gifted orators, "Be the appeal made to the under- 
 standing or the heart, the sentence is the same that 
 rejects it. There is a law above all the enactments of 
 human codes, — the same throughout the world, — the 
 same in all times, — and by that law, unchangeable and 
 eternal, while men despise fraud, and loath rapine, and 
 abhor blood, they will reject, with indignation, the wild 
 and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in 
 
 man. 
 
ly. 
 
 CHRISTIMAS IN SAVANNAH. 
 
 " They were red-hot -with drinking ; 
 
 So full of valor that they smote the air 
 
 For breathing in their faces ; beat the ground 
 
 For kisang of their feet" Shakespeaee. 
 
 Me. J. was landlord of the "Marshall House," in the 
 city of S. He had a beautiful negro boy named John; 
 sometimes called " Little John," to distinguish him from' 
 an older slave boy of the same name, belonging to Mr. J, 
 
 I have said little John was a beautiful boy, and so 
 said all the boarders, even the lady boarders from the 
 North. From this fact, some of my Northern readeS 
 wiU infer that Johnny was a white boy. They entertai^ 
 so deep a prejudice against the African that they cannfet 
 associate an idea of the beautiful with a black complex- 
 ion. But Johnny was a « real black" boy. His form 
 was elegant, his head as " pretty shaped" as any white 
 boy's head — a good forehead, and very thin lips, for a 
 negro. But his courteous manners, mild dispositi<|), 
 good conduct, and kind heart, made him more beautiful 
 
 Besides, little Johnny had excellent common scns^ 
 and talked with such propriety, and his voice wa3j| 
 
CHEISTMAS IN SAVANNAIL 41 
 
 musical, and soft, and persuasive, and captivating, that 
 everybody was charmed -with everything he said, and 
 delighted with everything he did. 
 
 Mr. L., a Yankee boarder, had been negotiating with 
 Mr. J., for a lease of the House ; and so nearly was the 
 bargain completed, the report ran through the house 
 that the proprietor's keys were to be put into the hands 
 of Mr. L. the next morning. 
 
 All the slaves expect Christmas presents from friends 
 and boarders, and all " to whom they yield themselves 
 servants to obey," during Christmas week. 
 
 Johnny had received many presents both from ]\[r. L. 
 and his amiable lady, who had often spoken to him with 
 words of more kindness and sympathy than slaves are 
 wont to hear addressed to them by the whites. Encour- 
 aged by these expressions of interest in his welfare, 
 which he had fondly treasured in his warm, confiding 
 heart, be ran up to Mr. L. on the last day of Christmas, 
 — for Christmas lasts till January — and said, f Mr. L., 
 I want you to give me a dollar !" 
 
 " A dollar ! Johnny ?" replied Mr. L., '■ that is a great 
 Christmas present. What are you going to do with a 
 doUar?" 
 
 Emboldened by the recollection of the former kind 
 words and deeds of Mr. L., and inspired by his own 
 trusting nature, he answered with deep emotion : 
 " I am going to keep it, Mr. L." 
 • What are you going to keep it for, Johnny ?" asked 
 Mr. L., smiling. 
 
 •' I do'nt like to tell you, Mr. L.," was the almost sup- 
 pressed reply. 
 
42 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 " Don't like to tell me, Johnny ? Why not ? " asked 
 Mr. L. again. 
 
 " I am afraid you will tell Master J.," whispered John- 
 ny, as there were other gentlemen present. 
 
 " If 1 give you a dollar, Johnny," added Mr. L., « your 
 master will get it away from you." 
 
 " No he wont ! " said Johnny earnestly. " I tell you 
 I am going to keep it, Mr. L." 
 
 " Well now, Johnny," said Mr. L., " if you will tell me 
 the object for which you want to keep it, and can satisfy 
 me that it will ever do you any good, I will certainly 
 give you a dollar." 
 
 " Now, then, I will tell yon, Mr. L.," said Johnny, feel- 
 ing re-assured, " and I know you wont tell Master John- 
 son. I am going to keep all the money I can get, so 
 when I get enough, I can buy my FREEDOM ! ! " 
 
 The last word, " freedom," was spoken aloud, and ex- 
 hibited 30 much of the spirit and genius of Liberty — such 
 a deep, innate, impassioned desire to be free, that Mr. 
 L. could withhold the dollar no longer. And that wag 
 not the only dollar added to little Johnny's consecra-^ 
 ted treasure, by which he fondly, but vainly, hoped at 
 some future day to purchase the restoration of his " in- 
 alienable rights." 
 
 It was rumored that Mr. J, had great liabilities at the 
 return of Christmas, but not so great as John's. Both 
 were liable to be intoxicated, but the poor boy had the 
 additional liability to pay for it in a whipping. And so 
 it proved this time, to his sorrow. 
 
 His young mistress, Miss C, had a new, rich silk dress. 
 
CHRISTiMAS IN SAVANNAH. 43 
 
 Unfortunate little Johnny, staggering as he went by Miss 
 C, spilled some burning fluid on the large, elegant cape 
 of her splendid dress, which entirely ruined the beauty 
 of that costly, dazzling drapery. 
 
 Mr. J. was informed by his amiable lady the next 
 moi-ning, that John had spoiled their daughter's new 
 dress by his carelessness. The master, greatly enraged 
 at this communication from the mistress, vociferously 
 uttered in tones of bitter complaint towards the boy, 
 started to run down the narrow walk to the kitchen, and 
 met John coming up the walk to the dining room. He 
 caught the boy by the throat, exclaiming, " Now you 
 scoundrel, I'll pay you for spoiling C.'s dress!" And 
 he threw him on the floor, jumped on him with his hard 
 heeled winter boots, and stamped on his breast and face, 
 mangling him in a most shocking manner! After he 
 stepped off, the slave did not move ! He seemed not to 
 breathe, and Mr. J. ran into ilr. L.'s room, near by, who 
 was expected to take possession of the house in a few 
 days, and exclaimed, " I wish you would come out, Mr. 
 L. 1 I believe I have killed John 1" 
 
 " Killed John ! How ?" said Mr. L. 
 
 " I only chastised him a little for getting drunk, and 
 spoiling C.'s dress." 
 
 Mr. L. ran into the walk. John had begun to breathe 
 again ; other signs of returning life soon followed ; ser- 
 vants were called, and the helpless boy was carried off 
 into some dark apartment, where he was not seen again 
 by the boarders for three weeks. When he returned to 
 his services as waiter at the table, more than half his 
 
44 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 face was still covered with the bruises. The broken- 
 hearted, broken-spirited Johnny was never so blithsomlj 
 and sprightly, and genial-hearted, and happy, after hia 
 "joyous, jolly Christmas '' was succeeded by that terrible 
 stamping, which well-nigh terminated his life ; and all 
 the fond dreams he had cherished of his future freedon| 
 had vanished, for his money was not to be found 1 ' 
 A mulatto boy named "Joe," about this time ran 
 away into the woods. The steward, a hot-blooded, iron- 
 hearted Spaniard, who was constantly whipping some of 
 the servants, had threatened to whip Joe, for some mis- 
 demeanor on one of the Christmas days ; and to avoid 
 the whipping, which he dreaded as much as death, he ran- 
 off. Hc'Was a young boy, not over twelve years of so-e, 
 and had no idea of running away in scarcli of f]-ecr!om, 
 or another home ; but he ran out into the woods, near 
 the city, having no thought in his plan but to escape the 
 whipping, — not even deciding in his own mind how long 
 he should remain in the woods, or whether he should 
 ever return to his master's house. He staid in the 
 woods iive days, until he was almost famished with hun- 
 ger. He then decided to return to the house in the even- 
 ing, and gain access to the room of his mistress secretly, 
 and appeal to her for protection from the brutal stew- 
 ard. He succeeded in gaining the ear, but not the sym- 
 pathy of his mistress. She immediately reported the 
 return of the runaway to the steward, who settled with 
 the poor, emaciated, suffering boy, for his Christmas sins, 
 
 " With stripes, that mercy weeps 
 To see inflicted on a beast." 
 
CHRISnUS IN SAVANNAH. 45 
 
 Mr. J. and his wife were " Crackers." They owned a 
 plantation in the country, where they had always lived 
 until within a year or two, — and there is no sympathy for 
 "ni<jgers" in the country. Conversation tinned, one 
 evening, upon the subject of catching runaways, and a 
 lady from Maine remarked that she had '■' heard of their 
 setting dogs on the tracks of the slaves when they ran 
 away, and that the dogs often bit them, but she never 
 believed it." 
 
 " Well, you had better believe it, Mrs. L.," said a 
 daughter of Mr. J., " for father used to keep twenty-five 
 hounds, to catch niggers with. I have seen the runaway 
 niggers brouglit in, with large junks bitten out of their 
 arms and legs, big enough to fry." 
 , This was spoken with apparently as little pity for the 
 slave, as she would feel for the dead hog, when speaking 
 of cutting up legs of bacon. 
 
 Joe's running away was not the only calamity of the 
 kind that visited Mr. J.'s family during the holidays. 
 One of his sons ran away with another fellow, like him- 
 self, already a drunkard. They ward thoughtful enough 
 to take bottles of whiskey with them, but took little 
 money in their sacks. Johnson's son had suffered so 
 much at home, that he declared to his comrade he would 
 shoot his father if he overtook them and attempted to 
 take them back. The father, after pursuing them sev- 
 eral days, found them down in Liberty county. 
 
 When the profligate son saw his father drawing nigh, 
 on horseback, he drew his pistol to shoot him ; but the 
 father took out a bottle of whiskey from his portman- 
 
46 rasmB view of slavery. 
 
 teau, and brandished that in sight of the thirsty, •wbis- 
 kev-lovin» son, — whose empty bottles admonished him 
 of his folly in leaving a father's house, where there wag 
 whiskey enough and to spare, — and the heart of the tru- 
 ant relented. With humble confession for his deep in- 
 gratitude, the father receiTcd him with great joy and 
 mirth. 
 
 Many a time, after most of the boarders had retired at 
 night, reports of pistols were heard in adjoining rooms. 
 Sudden calls for the doctor to attend cases of delirium 
 tremens, in the house, were numerous during Christmas. 
 The Georgia physicians say that the enervating Southera, 
 climate induces this disease, as the Northern rigorous 
 climate does consumption. But if the climate is the only 
 exciting cause of delirium tremens, in Georsria. it is morCj 
 to be avoided through fear of premature death, than 
 tendencies to consumption in Maine ; for more adult, fre 
 male inhabitants of that State, die annually of delirium 
 tremens, than die in Maine of consumption. 
 
 A Christian lady of Maine, who had read and heaii 
 accounts of the destructive influence of the habits of 
 dissipation upon young men in the South, became alarmed 
 for the safety of her son, who was employed as a clerk, 
 in ilacon, Georgia, and she sent her request for him ta 
 return home. 
 
 \NTiile at Macon, ilr. L. formed an intimate acquaint^ 
 ancc with twelve young men — clerks in that city — sev- 
 en of whom were from the North. At this request of 
 
 his mother, 
 
 " whose pious care 
 Shielded his infan t innocence vith prayer," 
 
 lore 
 
CHRISTMAS IN SAVANNAH. 47 
 
 Mr. L. came back to the Xorth. I \ras with him, ten 
 years afterwards, when he visited Macon s^in, and in. 
 quired for one after another of his old comrades. 
 
 '■ Where is George ? " 
 
 " Dead ! " replied an old friend. 
 
 "Where is Ben?" 
 
 "Dead!" 
 
 "Where is Frank?" 
 
 "Dead!" 
 
 " What was the matter ? " 
 
 "Delirium tremens!" 
 
 And, to be brief, ten of those young men had gone in- 
 to drunkards' graves by delirium tremens, — one was an 
 idiot, — and the last insane. There was not a man 
 among the twelve with whom he could shake hands and 
 be recognized as a friend, when only ten years previous, 
 they were all enterprising young men, from eighteen to 
 tweut} -two years of age. Mr. L. confessed that he formed 
 a very favorable opinion of slavery the first year he spent 
 in Macon, but he was now brought to a position where he 
 could see one of its most terrible results, and he instantly 
 turned his tiioughts gratefully towards his mother, whose 
 prayers and fidelity had saved him. " Had not my 
 mother been faithful," he said to me, " doubtless I should 
 have shared the same sad fiite that has cut down my un- 
 fortunate friends ! " 
 
 Mr. L. is now an active business man in New England, 
 whose credibility no one wiU question. 
 
 But I am inclined to the belief that the Maine Law, 
 well executed in the slave States, would subdue the pre- 
 
48 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 disposing causes to delirium tremens, — wliile the habits 
 of the South, if introduced into New England, would 
 not diminish the tables of mortality by consumption. 
 
 While I was sitting on the stone sidewalk in front of 
 the Marshall House, conversing with Mr. Johnson, one 
 of the Christmas evenings, three, heavy, cut-glass tum- 
 blers were thrown from a window of a room in the third 
 story, and came down upon the sidewalk near our seats, 
 with a startling crash. Anon, plates, and knives and 
 forks, and small articles of furniture were thrown out 
 further into the street. One large platter was tlirowa 
 out into the middle of the street, by one of the Ken- 
 tuckians who occupied that chamber. The platter fell 
 in the " horse-bed," directly before a horse and buggy, 
 passing at that instant. The horse stepped into the 
 platter, breaking it in many pieces, and, taking fright at 
 the noise, he ran away with the gentlemen in the car- 
 riage. 
 
 The young Kentuckians, sons of slaveholders, cama:-^ 
 down to S., with a drove of horses and mules which 
 their fathers gave them for a Christmas present, and, 
 having sold them, they were spending the effects of the 
 sale to suit their taste. Mr. J. uttered a round oath 
 against the rowdies, and then started to go to the cham- 
 ber to ascertain what they were doing. It was very con- 
 venient for me to be passing up to my room at the time 
 Mr. J. rapped at the door of the Kentuckians' room, ou 
 the same floor. 
 
 " Who 's there ?" halloed one of the b'hoys. 
 
 " Johnson," replied the host. 
 
CHRISTMAS IN SAVANNAH. 49 
 
 « What do you want ? " 
 
 " I want to come in here." 
 
 "You sha'nt come in, sir." 
 
 "Yes I -will come in," replied Mr. J, 
 
 " K you come in here, we will shoot you." 
 
 " Very well, boys," said Mr. Johnson, gruffly, and left 
 the room to its fate, at the mercy of a Christmas revel. 
 
 The next morning, I happened to be at the office when 
 the Kentuckians settled their bill. One of them asked, 
 
 " Well, Mr. J., what is the bill ? " 
 
 " I have looked at the biU of furniture I put into that 
 room," said Mr. J., " and I find it amounted to just sev- 
 enty dollars. I suppose you have smashed it all up." 
 
 " Very like," replied the Kentuckian ; and he added, 
 Ij I am sure that what is left is of no accoimt, sir ! " 
 
 The seventy dollars in addition to the regular fare, 
 were paid, and the party left. t ' 
 
 The following day, in conversation with Mrs. C, wife 
 of a hardware merchant of that city, I was expressing 
 my astonishment that those young men would spend so 
 large a sum of money for such a foolish gratification. 
 That excellent lady, who was a native of Savannah, re- 
 marked that that was a small amount, compared with 
 what is frequently paid for such " busts " by young men 
 at the South, whose fathers are wealthy ; and then she 
 related the following facts : 
 
 There was a young man who came to this city, and 
 received several thousand dollars at a bank, for cotton 
 his father had sent to this market. He was a fast young 
 man, and he concluded to have a fi-olic before he loft the 
 
 5 
 
50 INSIDE VIEW OP SLA.VEET, 
 
 city for his home in the back part of the State. So ha 
 bought a little box gig, and took it to the smith and or- 
 dered the axletree cut off at each end, to bring the 
 Trheels close up to the body of the carriage, making it 
 so narrow that it would ply along the narrow sidewalks 
 in that city. He then hired the fleetest horse and had 
 him harnessed into the gig on Sabbath morning; and 
 after the church bells had called the people out upon the 
 walks, the reckless youth sprang into his gig, and drove, 
 around the city on the sidewalks, driving the women and 
 children into the middle of the streets of sand, scream- 
 ing for their lives. 
 
 The police were called, and they pursued the disturber 
 of the peace ; but they were unable to catch him. ComJ 
 ing around in front of the Pulaski House — the lai^H 
 hotel in the city — the wide bar-room doors, which oper 
 directly into the street, being open, he drove his team, 
 into that bar-room, discharged a pistol towards the bar- 
 keeper, the bullet entering the wall just above Ms hea^ 
 whirled his horse before he could be seized by the bridle^ 
 turned about and dashed into the street agaia, and drove 
 until the horse became weary, so that the police were 
 enabled to take him. 
 
 They carried him to the Pulaski House. Capt. W. 
 looked at the gentleman, saw that he was « well dressed," 
 and inferring that he had a long purse, told him that hs^ 
 wist T^&y Jive hundred dollars. 
 
 "Cheap enough I" repUed the rowdy, complacently. 
 « I have had a good frolic ! " 
 
 The money was paid over, and thus the affair was 
 
CHKISTMAS IN SAVAHHAH. 51 
 
 settled, to the " satisfactiou" of all the chnrch-going folks 
 in that Christian city. 
 
 Few young men who go South from the free States, 
 to engage in business, retain the steady habits of their 
 Northern education. A friend of the writer, in New 
 York, had a son employed as clerk in a cotton store at 
 S., with a salary of a thousand dollars. But this sum 
 was insufficient to meet the expenses of that fashionable 
 clerk, and he drew on his father quite often to pay up 
 arrears for board. The father addressed me a note, re- 
 questing that I would, if possible, ascertain the cause of 
 this draft upon him, and desired me to learn the habits 
 of his son, and inform him. On the father's account, I 
 took occasion to notice the conduct of his son while at 
 ti^jC bar-room, one evening soon after. 
 
 ' It is customary at the South among young men of that 
 class, to drink large quantities of wine or other liquors ; 
 but when reciprocating a treat with' comrades, they take 
 a much less quantity at a time than is taken at the North. 
 Sometimes, in the South, the " convivial " glass passes 
 several times ia an hour. When the Southron intends 
 to have a " soak," he takes the bottle to his bed-side, 
 goes to bed, and lies there till he gets drunk and becomes 
 Bober, and then he gets up. 
 
 My young friend H. W. came in from his store that 
 night, stepped to the bar, and called for spirits. He 
 drank a small quantity, turned around, saw an old ac- 
 quaintance, called for more. In a few minutes after, 
 some other comrades came in. He drank with them 
 and they with him, by turns, and so in the course of one 
 
52 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERV. 
 
 short hour, the young gentleman took eight social 
 drinks ; but not more than a table spoon-full at each time. 
 He drew his purse, paid a dollar to the bar-keeper for 
 the treat ; then ordered a bottle of wine to his room, 
 and paid a half eagle for that. Six dollars a day for 
 liquor I Two thottband one hundred and ninety dol- 
 
 LABS A TEAR I 
 
V. 
 
 ILLUSIONS OF THE SYSTEM. 
 
 "What man so -wise, what earthly mt so •ware, 
 
 As to descry the crafty, cunning train. 
 
 By which deceit doth mask in visor fair. 
 
 And cast her colors, dyed deep in grain, 
 
 To seem like truth, whose shape she well can feign, 
 
 And fitting gestures to her purpose frame. 
 
 The guileless man with guile to entertain ! " 
 
 Spenser's Faiht Queen. 
 
 No man can visit the South for the first time -without 
 having his views of slavery, whatever they may be, to 
 some extent modified. If he is credulous, disposed to 
 believe that everything is really what it seems to be, 
 that the surface of society mirrors that which lies be- 
 neath, as well as that which is above it, — if he credits all 
 that is told him, and looks at slavery through the slave- 
 holder's glasses, he will return home with a south-side 
 view, and his acquaintances in the South will laugh at 
 his creduKty. But if he takes nothing on trust, exam- 
 ines everything for himself, engages in business, and 
 gains the confidence of the slaves, so that he can feel 
 their hearts beat and throb against the great wrong, 
 and look at the system with their eyes instead of their 
 master's, "remembering those in bonds as bound with 
 
54 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 them" he will wonder at his own coldness hitnerto. 
 And from his new position he will understand some of 
 the ways in which men have been deceived, or have de- 
 ceived themselves on this subject. 
 
 There is one source of delusion, on this subject, of 
 which few seem to be aware. It lies in the power of a 
 name to chill our sympathies, and pervert our moral 
 convictions. The term slave has a definite meaning. 
 It signifies, not a person, but a thing, a chattel ; and an 
 immense advantage has been secured to the pro-slaverjfj 
 side of the argument from Scripture, by virtually chang- 
 ing our own translation from servant to slave. Even 
 anti-slavery men write and talk about Hebrew slava 
 instead of servants, and thus yield half the force of their 
 arguments by the use of the term. ' 
 
 More than this, the Southern bondman is likely 'ffl 
 lose more than half his worth, in our estimation, when m 
 think and speak of him as a slave, instead of a man, op- 
 pressed and in bondage. It is very di£Bcult for one to 
 •resist this influence of a name on his own mind. "Whetii 
 we have called a man a slave. We shall probably find, ff 
 we analyze our thoughts, that we have degraded hifii 
 below the level of manhood, in our practical estimatioli, 
 and the wrongs he suffers seem to lose a great measttft 
 of the enormity we should attach to them if inflicted Oil 
 a man. Our sympathies are moved when the slatv% 
 starved, scourged, tortured ; but it is not so much becanse 
 his manhood is degraded as because the animal is suf- 
 fering. 
 , Such being the influence upon ourselves, it is not 
 
ILLUSIONS OF THE SYSTEM. 55 
 
 strange that those who have been trained in the midst 
 
 « 
 
 of the corrupting system, and taught to regard the slave 
 as a mere chattel, without personal rights, should exer- 
 cise little sympathy for his wrongs. 
 
 I intend no disrespect to clergymen, when I say that 
 no class of men have so little knowledge of men and 
 things as some of the most learned theologians, who 
 from boyhood have been shut up to schools and books. 
 They have enjoyed little opportunity to learn the work- 
 ings of human nature among the mass of mankind, — they 
 are therefore poorly qualified to iuvestigate the ordinary 
 business of life, or to look into other men's matters. 
 Their training may have been favorable to purity of 
 mind and manners ; it has removed them from many of 
 the corrupting influences of society ; but for this very 
 reason they are unqnaMed to examine the workings of 
 a system whose influence pervades every interest, every 
 employment, and every thought of the community. 
 
 They have visited the South, and brought back their 
 reports of its effects on the varied interests and institu- 
 tions of the country. They naturally make their inqui- 
 ries of the same class of men, who themselves know 
 little of slavery except its fairer aspects, or, if they do 
 know, are careful to hide its most revolting features ; 
 and they return as ignorant of the workings and influence 
 of slavery as they went. 
 
 '' And I also found it to be true, though wii3i some ex- 
 ceptions, that clergymen in Southern cities are not well 
 informed as to the condition of the slave. The means of 
 accurate information on this subject are not enjoyed in 
 
56 INSIDE VIEW OF SLATEEY. 
 
 the South. It is not freely discussed there. The vreV 
 fare of the slave is seldom a topic of conversation. His 
 condition is below the consideration of the higher classes. 
 
 A clergyman, eminent for piety, talent, and learning, 
 assured me that he had resided in one of the most pop- 
 ulous cities of the South several years without having 
 the opportunity afforded him to look into the practical 
 operation of the system. 
 
 " And probably," said he, " I should have remained in 
 ignorance of the destructive effects of the system to 
 this day, had not a Northern minister of my own denomj 
 ination come down to make me a visit. He prevailed 
 on me to make a tour with him through the coimtry.'.; 
 We went out through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Ala- 
 bama, over to the Mississippi River, and down to New 
 Orleans. Then we came back in another direction| 
 through the planting districts, and we saw that slavery 
 ruined everything that it touched. We were astonishefl 
 at every step to witness its destructive influence on 
 everything valuable. I was most surprised at my own 
 ignorance of the condition of the inhabitants of the 
 planting districts. They are miserable beyond descrip- 
 tion." 
 
 " I am willing," he added, " to make all due allow- 
 ance for the disabilities of the master, stru^ling against 
 adverse influences ; but I must confess to you, sir, that 
 I am an abolitionist. If slavery is not abolished soon, 
 it will ruin the whole country. The tendency of the 
 system is to make men idle and vicious, and consequently 
 ignorant and degraded." 
 
ILLrSIONS OF THE SYSTEM. 67 
 
 .' "Why really, sir," said I, "you admit all the evils 
 ■W& have ever charged against the system. If 1 should 
 talk about slavery after I go home as you do now, some 
 of your Northern ministerial brethren would say it was 
 fanatical, and an exaggeration." 
 
 " Exaggeration ! " exclaimed the reverend gentleman, 
 " impossible ! Tou can not exaggerate when speaking of 
 the evils of slavery 1 The pit has not been uncovered 
 yet. If it ever is, and the North are permitted to look' 
 into it, they will pronounce it ' the bottomless pit ! ' " 
 
 " Good men here in the South," he added, " know very 
 little of the shocking cruelties perpetrated on the de- 
 fenceless slaves. And, indeed, but little is known in 
 the cities of the vn-etchedncss and poverty of most of 
 the whites in the country. No good man can know what 
 the system is doing to us all, and not detest it; much 
 less, apologize for it, or connect himself with it." 
 
 And yet this minister was not known by his society 
 to be an abolitionist. He thought that it would do no 
 good to the slaves for him to speak out his real feelings 
 on this subject, and that by doing so he would lose all 
 his influence, and be driven from his field of labor. 
 Hence he only uttered his opinions where they would 
 not be used against him. There are many like him in 
 the South. It is not my province to judge them. They 
 weep in secret over the sins of the people. Would to 
 JBeaven that they had the courage to lift up their voices, 
 " cry aloud and spare not," though compelled in conse-. 
 quence to shake off the dust of their feet against them I 
 
 It ia also true, as strange as it may appear, that there 
 
58 INSIDK VIEW OF SIAVEEY. 
 
 are many slaveholders who know but very little about 
 the condition of the slaves. Statesmen, lawyers, and 
 even merchants, who own plantations, spend very little 
 time upon them, and know scarcely anything which occnrs 
 there, except what is reported to them by their overseers. 
 
 I had a conversation on the subject of slavery with i 
 Southern clergyman, who was well acquainted with John 
 C. Calhoun. During the interview, I made frequent allu- 
 sions to the ultra pro-slavery doctrines of this great 
 statesman, and expressed my want of confidence in the 
 integrity of a man who gave all the influence of his great 
 name, and employed all his talent, and learning, and 
 logic, to bmld up such an institution. But his clerieatt 
 friend, who had admitted to me his own hatred of the 
 system, apologized for Mr. Calhoun's apparent inconsis- 
 tency. 
 
 " Mr. Calhoun," said he, " knew nothing about slavery4L 
 
 " Is it possible, sir ? " said I. " I have always inferred, 
 from the manner he wrote about it, that he must be 
 perfectly acquainted with the operations of the system. 
 Will you do me the favor to explain, your statement, 
 — that he knew nothing about it ? " 
 
 "I will, sir. Mr. Calhoun, it is well known, was a 
 kind, benevolent slaveholder. He gave orders to have 
 his slaves well fed and clothed, but he did not conde- 
 scend to visit his kitchens and slave huts to see whetber 
 his directions were obeyed. He always kept more serv- 
 ants, in every department of his family, than were neces- 
 sary to perform the labor required, so that his house- 
 servants were not overworked. No slave of Mr. C.'s 
 
ILLUSIONS OF THE SYSTEM 59 
 
 was afraid at any time to ask his master, in person, for 
 a dollar to supply any want, nor had any fears of being 
 turned away empty, if he could convince him that he 
 really needed the favor he asked. That constant incli- 
 nation to supply every known want of his servants, and 
 the positive instructions invariably given to the " mana- 
 gers " of his slaves, constituted the whole of his personal 
 care for them. Farther than that, the happiness of his 
 slaves was a thing not included with the bounds of his 
 thoughts." 
 
 " But," I inquired, " could he not see the instances of 
 cruelty and suffering among other slaves, whom he^^aw 
 in his daily walks ? " 
 
 " No, sir, he did not stop for that, nor think of it. 
 The class of slaveholders to which Mr. C. belonged, do 
 not come down to enter the walks in life where the suf- 
 ferings of the slaves can be seen. K they hear one 
 writhing under the lash, they lend no ear to his cry. 
 They presume that the punishment is merited. It is 
 the conventional law of society, that no white man shall 
 listen to the story of the slave's wrongs from his own 
 lips." 
 
 « What aristocrats the slaveholders are I " I exclaimed. 
 
 " You do not hit Mr. Calhoun with that remark," said 
 his friend, "for he was no aristocrat, I assure you. 
 When he employed a white man in his service, — a car- 
 penter, for instance, about his house, — that carpenter 
 sat down with Mr. C. to eat at his table, and he con- 
 versed with him as an equaL In this respect he set a 
 worthy example to your Northern aristocrats. He often 
 
60 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEKY. 
 
 spoke of the aristocracy of Northern capitalists, as man« 
 Ifested in their treatment of their free white laborers. 
 Mr. C. ever regarded a white man as his equal. The 
 badge of a slave only, disentitled a man to his compaa4 
 ionship." ^ 
 
 " When Mr. Calhoun -visited any of his friends," the 
 gentleman continued, " especially in the country, he would 
 of course send a note some time previous, informing them 
 at what time they might expect to entertain himself and 
 family. Then when he arrived at the house of his friend, 
 he found everything put in preparation to receive him. 
 The servants were all dressed finely, looking neat an^ 
 cheerful. He gave them all little presents, as is cub- 
 tomary in such families, which made the slaves appeap| 
 very happy and joyous- It was in such circumstancet^ 
 that Mr. Calhoun saw the slaves of the South. "^ 
 
 « Then when he went North, and noticed the degraded 
 
 condition of the free colored man in your cities, often 
 
 having no one to care for him, nobody offering him profit- 
 able employment, none aiding him to obtain knowledg^l 
 or assisting to elevate him in society, Mr. C. came to 
 the conclusion that slavery .was the best condition of the 
 African race. I have no doubt he honestly believed that 
 the white man was bom with a scepter in his hand, and 
 that the black man was created to be his servant." 
 
 Such was the apology which this gentleman offered 
 for the great Southern statesman. How much weight 
 it should be allowed to have in extenuation of Mr. Cal- 
 houn's inveterate devotion to the slave system, it is not 
 for me to say. But I have no doubt of the general truth 
 
nXUSIONS OP THE SYSTEM, 61 
 
 before stated, that many slaveholders are ignorant on 
 this subject. And in judgiag of any of them it ought 
 not to be forgotten that persons living in the midst of 
 slavery gradually become familiar with its attendant 
 evils, and by imperceptible degrees they come to view 
 calmly exhibitions of cruelty and suffering from which 
 they would once have shrunk with horror. 
 6 
 
VI. 
 
 WHY THE NOBTH PROSPERS. 
 
 "Labour is life! — lis the still water 6ileth; 
 
 Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth; 
 
 Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth; 
 
 Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon. 
 
 Labour is gloiy! — the flying cloud lightens; 
 
 Only the waving wing changes and brightens ; 
 
 Idle hearts only the dark future frightens ; 
 
 Play the sweet keys would'st thou keep them in tune ! " 
 
 Fkances S. Osgood. 
 
 It is the superior physical education of the North, — the 
 practical knowledge, and the advantages derived from 
 the various kinds of labor to •which her whole people 
 are devoted — that best qualifies them for the ordi- 
 nary business of life. The young man must work, as 
 well as think, that the muscles may mature while the 
 mind is being developed, or he will not succeed in any 
 profession. " No man," says a learned physician, " ever 
 enjoyed perfect health who was brought up in idleness." 
 The superior intellectual character of the people of New 
 England is to be attributed mainly to their early hab- 
 its of industry, which give them athletic physical systems 
 for vigorous minds to work in. 
 
WHY THE NORTH PROSPERS. 63 
 
 " As an humble farmer's son, upon the granite hills of 
 New England," says Horace Greely, " I became early 
 inured to constaxit toil, and learned not merely to con- 
 front labor, but to respect it, — to recognize its stem 
 afflictions as one of the greatest blessings which Heaven 
 sends. It is a necessary and vital safeguard against 
 falling into the depths of depravity and misery. Through 
 it alone has our race, or any part of it, ever risen in the 
 scale of moral being. Moral degradation has always 
 first come upon those who have felt least heavily the 
 stern necessity for labor. No man ever lived and worked, 
 and was content to live by work, who was not essentially 
 honest, and did not become every day more manly." 
 
 Carlyle says, — " The latest Gospel is. Know thy work, 
 and do it. Know what thou canst work out, and work 
 it out like Hercules." « It is not with the sword bat 
 with the axe that man must hew out his way to great- 
 ness." 
 
 Though Fortune has been called a fickle Goddess, she 
 seldom fails to bestow the boon of success upon those 
 who, when shut up to their own resources, struggle on 
 with a determination and courage that scorn defeat. 
 The battle of life is not a mere game of chance. Learn- 
 ing, wealth, and honor are but the sequences of forces 
 as unfailing in their results as the physical laws of the 
 universe. The foundation of every man's fortune or mis- 
 fortune is laid for him and in hnn, long before he leaves 
 the paternal roof. 
 
 The Northern farmer says to his boys, on the morning 
 of the first snow storm^ " George ! you may go to the 
 
64 INSIDE VIEW Of SLAVERY. 
 
 barn and yoke the steers, take the sled, drive into the 
 ■woods, and get a load of wood before school-time." 
 " John I you can take the horse and sleigh and go to miU, 
 and return in season to carry the children to schooL" 
 " Charlie will cut and bring in some wood for his mother. 
 Now you understand, boys 1 Don't stop to play until 
 your work is done 1" 
 
 The boys spring for their hats — for which each has 
 his own peg — and then rush to their work. George, 
 the eldest — fourteen — after a severe struggle with the 
 steers in putting the yoke on their necks for the first 
 time, he gets the tongue of the sled into the ring, and 
 starts for the wood. He enters the woods, and cuts 
 down a tree, — but it falls the wrong way. — He looks; 
 for a cause, notices his notches, and perceives that the 
 tree fell directly across the lower or deeper notch. He 
 attacks another tree — makes his deep cut on the side 
 where he wants it to fall. And behold it falls in that 
 direction 1 Henceforth he can fell the tree in any direc- 
 tion to suit his convenience. Valuable practical knowl- 
 edge has been acquired — self-taught — and " experience 
 is the best schoolmaster." 
 
 Now his sled must be turned, — he must contrive, to 
 load the butt log — a rock maple eight feet in length. 
 He cannot lift either end without the lever, nor place it 
 on tho sled without the skids. These he invents and 
 makes. The boy succeeds in getting home a good load 
 of wood. His muscles have acquired strength, and his 
 mind knowledge. No obstacles or contingencies will im- 
 part misgivings to him in his nest enterprise. Now he 
 
WHY THE NORTH PROSPERS. 65 
 
 goes to school, and begins his task in mathematics and 
 philosophy with a will. As he studies, he perceives the 
 advantages which a knowledge of mechanical powers 
 and philosophical principles will afford him in his future 
 efforts to overcome obstacles in providing for life's ne- 
 cessities. By thus associating labor and study, the body 
 and mind are mutually developed. In a few years he 
 may build a ship, or guide it around the world. And if 
 he should ever become a merchant, or enter one of the 
 learned professions, his early experience will not only 
 bo of daily and practical use to him, but the strength of 
 purpose, the power of persistent effort, the " backbone" " 
 it has given him, will render success in any department 
 of life morally certain. 
 
 Slaveholders are beginning to see that the sons of 
 poor white men in the South, who, by reverse of fortune,* 
 have been compelled to earn their own bread by the 
 sweat of the face, are rising in the scale of intellect, and 
 power, and would even now be ranked higher than their 
 own sons, if personal merit were the only basis of hon« 
 orable distinction. No honest, intelligent Southerner, 
 who is thoroughly acquainted with the intelligence and 
 business capacity of the different races in the South, will 
 deny that the African is better qualified now to obtain a 
 livelihood than the white man who rules over him, if 
 both were left with only natural resources and the labor 
 of their own hands to rely upon. 
 
 The mulattoes, especially — and they constitute a 
 large proportion of the slave population, — are the best 
 specimens of manhood to be foimd in the South. The 
 
66 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 African mothers have giren them a good physical sys. 
 tem, and the Anglo-Saxon fathers a good mental consti- 
 tution. They have enjoyed the important advantages 
 derived from the education of various kinds of labojf. 
 The contingencies to be met and provided for, the diffi- 
 culties to be overcome in their industrial pursuits, have 
 made them efficient and practical men. Give them th6 
 entire possession and management of either of the Caro- 
 Unas — and let thfe masters occupy the othe:f alone, — and 
 the experiment -would not be prolonged many years be- 
 fore it would be settled beyond any farther controversy, 
 that the slaves could " take care of themselves" I 
 
VII. 
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES) 
 
 " A country, whereof here needs no account, " 
 Where from the sapphire fount the crisped brooks^ 
 Rolling on orient pearl, and sands of gold. 
 With mazy error, under pendant shades 
 Kan nectar, visiting each plant, and fed 
 Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not tiicie art, 
 In beds and curious knotS) but nature boon 
 Poured forth profuse on hill« tuid dale, and plain." 
 ' Milton. 
 
 The South has been called the garden of our land. 
 Its genial climate, and fertile soil, — its abundant fruit- 
 age* and charming scenery, have won the admiration of 
 travelers, who have described it in prose. Or celebrated 
 it in verse. Of this we mak6 no complaint. Nature 
 has here been lavish of her bounties, — be otirs the hum- 
 ble task of leiiming how they have been itoproved, — or 
 if not, how wasted and lost. 
 
 ( My early years were spent npoii a farm, and with its 
 variety of occupation I have always been familiar. In 
 my lirst excursion, therefore, into the interior counties 
 of the slave States, my attention was naturally directed 
 to its agricultural resources, the habits and practices of 
 those who till the soil, and the different restdts following 
 
68 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEEY. 
 
 the application of slave labor from those which legiti- 
 mately follo-w from free labor. ; 
 
 The Atlantic coast of these States is a broad, level 
 table land, varying in width from one hundred to two 
 hundred miles, and seldom attaining an elevation of more 
 than 150 feet. It is said to be divided into three ter- 
 races, rising one above another as you go back from the 
 seaboard, each one being distinctly marked by different 
 kinds of plants and trees. But the elevation is so small 
 as scarcely ever to be noticed without accurate measure- 
 ment. The whole of it is evidently of marine forma- 
 tion, and was at some remote period submerged. The 
 soil is not deep, and is entirely formed from the decom- 
 position of vegetable deposits, upon a base of sand which 
 everywhere underlies it. 
 
 The first terrace includes what are called the bottom 
 lands, which have a deep, rich surface soil, formed of 
 silica and clay loam, combined with large quantities of 
 vegetable matter deposited in the freshets, which are 
 very frequent in vnnter, and cause most of the rivers to 
 overflow their banks. They extend back froja a half 
 mile to one or two miles from the rivers. Being situated 
 so low as to be overflown every heavy rain, they are not 
 much cultivated. A little Yankee enterprise would dike 
 them, and thus easily convert them to valuable wheat 
 fields. 
 
 FOREST TEEES. 
 
 The table lands produce a luxuriant growth of hard 
 pine, pitch pine, and yellow pine. All these species of 
 
NATURAL RESOURCES. 69 
 
 pme are very valuable for ship timber, and vast quanti- 
 ties of it are annually transported to the North for that 
 purpose. The hard and yellow pine are both sometimes 
 found on the bottom lands, where they attain a mam- 
 moth size among the magnificent forests of oak that 
 abound there. The large pine trees used for masts of 
 ships are usually taken from the low lands. 
 
 The white oak, as weU as the live and red oak, grows 
 to an enormous size on the bottoms. This species — 
 querents albus — (called "basket" oak, in the South) is 
 so heavy that it cannot be rafted green, and hence little 
 of it is seen in market. The wood is tough and dura- 
 ble, and is used in making all kinds of farming utensils, 
 carriages, and even baskets — from whence its name. 
 In one of my excursions finding one of these trees blown 
 down, I measured it. It was six feet in diameter at the 
 butt, and four feet in diameter 80 feet from the root. 
 The cypress tree, and sweet-gum are found in swamps 
 or bottom lands. Both are often seen from four to six 
 feet in diameter. The cypress is a light, soft wood, and 
 is often used for making canoes. Boards and shingles 
 are also made from it, and as it is easily wrought, it is 
 a frequent substitute for Northern white pine for the in- 
 terior finishing of houses. The sweet-gum is very heavy 
 and hard when seasoned. It is the best wood in the 
 country for keels of vessels, naves of wheels , or any 
 ■purpose where iron firmness and tenacity are required. 
 
 These lowland forests present a beautiful appearance 
 when adorned with deep foliage and enlivened with the 
 
70 INSPB VIEW 0? SLAVERY^ 
 
 Tariegated flo-wera of spring. But in winter, when de*] 
 iiuded of leaves, the long, gray, living moss that grower- 
 thick and hangs from every branch, gives them a sombre 
 and dreary aspect, far from agreeable. This moss is 
 sometimes used for beds. 
 
 The reckless waste of these valuable forests of iink 
 ber in the South ia truly astonishing to a Yankee. The 
 pine and oak standing on the banks of their rivers, so 
 near that the axeman can fell them in. — and so near the 
 harbors that the choppers blows can be heard from the 
 vessels — are girdled and destroyed for no purpose but 
 to let the rays of the sun iu upon the cotton and com. 
 And whole forests of pine are frequently destroyed to 
 obtain a "crop of turpentine." On the banks of the 
 Altamaha, within a dozen nules of the old city of Darien,' 
 I saw all the pines " boxed " for a distance of several 
 miles. The outer bark is all taken off, up eight or ten 
 feet from the ground, spiral grooves are then cut round 
 the tree, and near the ground a deep notch is cut into 
 the tree, lowest on the inside, next the heart, forming'a 
 vessel in which to catch the turpentine. This process 
 destroys the life of the tree. The timber is all wasted, ' 
 the fires soon get in and bum up all the grovrth and the 
 soil, and the lands are left barren and worthless. 
 
 Timber lands on the banks of that river and its tribu-'^ 
 taries, covered with large pine and oak, from twenty to 
 fifty thousand feet to the acre, were in the market when ' 
 I was there at one dollar per acre. Make Georgia a 
 free State and these lands would be worth from five to 
 
NATtlBAL BESOURCES. 71 
 
 twenty dollars per acre, and would not long remain un- 
 sold. 
 
 PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Of the agricultural productions of the South it is un- 
 necessary for me to give a detailed account. The great 
 staple is well known to be cotton, which is the leading 
 article among the exports of our country. Some account 
 of the manner of cultivating this, as well as other crops, 
 will be found in another chapter. Ecsidos cotton, rice,, 
 sugar, and tobacco are produced in large quantities. 
 Corn, wheat, rye, oats, beans, barley, and other grains 
 common in the North can be raised as well in the South, 
 and if cotton, rice, tobacco, and sugar, were not more 
 profitable, and especially if they were not better adapted 
 to slave labor, cereal productions would abound in the 
 South more than in the North. Sweet potatoes are 
 raised in great abundance in most of the slave States. 
 The soil and climate are also peculiarly favorable for the 
 cultivation of silk, which free labor would produce in 
 great quantities, and to great profit. The culture of silk 
 was introduced into Virginia as early as 1609, and in a 
 pamphlet published about that time it was said that 
 « there are silke worms, and plenty of mulberie-trees, 
 whereby ladies, gentlewomen, and little children, being 
 Bet in the way to do it, may be all imploied, with pleas- 
 ure, making silke comparable to that of Persia, Turkey, or. 
 any other." But slavery was soon afterwards introduced 
 into Virginia, and " ladies and gentlewomen " were above 
 labor, and the sJaTCS, being incapable of Qultivating silk. 
 
72 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEEY. 
 
 ■were set to raising tobacco.* In 1703 the cultivation 
 of silk was commenced in South Carolina, but failed for 
 the same reason. Slaves could raise rice more profit- 
 ably. It was also introduced into Georgia when it was 
 first settled, in 1733. Lilte all new enterprises, success 
 was not always uniform. But considerable quantities 
 were produced, and being encouraged by bounties, it bid 
 fair to become a permanent branch of industry. But 
 slavery was introduced in 1749, and the culture of rice, 
 and afterwards of cotton, gave it the death blow. 
 
 COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, ETC. 
 
 The Southern States have all the resources for. foreign 
 and domestic commerce which could be desired. The 
 principal part of our exports are from their shores. 
 The materials for ship-building abound in unlimited quan-^ 
 titles. And the numerous rivers afford facilities for ex- 
 tensive inland navigation. How these advantages have 
 been improved will be noticed hereafter. 
 
 The South also has all the natural advantages for 
 manufactures, in the abundance of water-power, and fuel, 
 in the nearness of the raw material, and the facilities 
 for reaching the market. Under a free labor system it 
 would probably surpass the North. For some years 
 past strong efiforts have been made to introduce tins 
 business into the Southern States, in connection with 
 slave labor, — but not with much success. In 1850 the 
 number of hands, male and female, employed in manu- 
 facturing cotton in tho State of Georgia was only 2,272. 
 
 • See Sparks's Am. Biography, new series XU, 231. 
 
NATURAL RESOURCES. 73 
 
 and the value of stuffs made 1 2,135,000. In 1852 the 
 number of hands was reduced to 2,037, and the value 
 produced not so much by $ 600,000.* In South Carolina 
 the whole number employed in the manufacture of cot- 
 ton in 1850 was 1,019, 
 
 In Minerals the South is also rich. Gold, silver, iron, 
 copper, and lead abound, and also coal. At a branch 
 mint in the northern part of Georgia there was produced 
 in 1851 $ 350,000 in gold. Alabama produces coal and 
 iron in great abundance. Iron and lead are found in 
 the Carolinas. The gold mines of William Dome in 
 South Carolina yield over $ 200,000 a year, and the 
 quartz-crusher it is said will increase the product to 
 several thousand dollars per day. In North Carolina 
 the annual yield of gold is nearly as large, and copper 
 also is found in considerable quantities. In Virginia, be- 
 sides the precious metals, there is an inexhaustible sup- 
 ply of coal. 
 
 It may be well to remember, also, that the slave 
 States have more than twice the extent of territory 
 included in the free States. In the midst of aU this 
 natural wealth, how happens it that the South contains 
 less than half so great a free population as the North ? 
 I will let Cassius M. Clay, formerly a Kentucky slave- 
 holder, answer the question. 
 
 " I propose to show to them, how it is that this million 
 of citizens h3,ve been expelled from the soil by inevitable 
 and inexorable laws. In the free States, a man upon 
 
 •Hunt's Magazine, May, 1852. 
 7 
 
74 mSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 fifty, eighty, and one hundred acres (■which last, perhaps, 
 is the average of all the farms in all the free States), 
 can raise, educate, and settle in life, a large family! 
 Why ? Because he has his manufacturer and merchant 
 set down along side of him. He sells everything : noth- 
 ing is lost : " many mickles make a muckle " says the 
 Scottish maxim. But here in the slave States, in conee- 
 quence of all our markets being distant markets, Charlet 
 ton, New Orleans, Cincinnati, or New York, and through 
 them the great world, we lose all the " odds and ends?' 
 which are saved in the free States. But the main losg 
 is in the main articles of production, and return con- 
 sumption. For instance, the citizen of Fayette sends 
 a pound of beef to the city of New York : there it is 
 sold for six cents ; but three cents comes off for cost 
 of transportation — the net proceeds are therefore three 
 cents a pound. But the farmer living along side of Nev 
 York, sells also for six cents ; but that is the net profit, 
 as he has no outlay in going to market. He sells, there- 
 fore, for twice as much as we. Of course if he can live 
 upon one hmidred, we must have two hundred acres. 
 Again, the articles which he gets in exchange cost him 
 near one hundred per cent less than us ; or one half of 
 our income is lost in consequence of the distance of our 
 articles of consumption. If, then, the free farmer can 
 live upon one hundred acres, we must have four hundred! 
 Any one can well see, then, that if we must have four 
 times as much land to live here, as there, we must of 
 necessity emigrate. But a home market can afford ma- 
 nures ; and high price, and personal supervision, encour- 
 
NATURAL RES0UBCE3. 75 
 
 age " high farming," and the lands are continually improv- 
 ing. Freedom gives education, education gives science 
 in cultivation, and increased product — more leisure — 
 more science — and more population. But in the slave 
 States the "shinning system" prevails, — large farms 
 are necessary in consequence of distance of markets — 
 large farms can not undergo the manuring system ; the 
 virgin soil of centuries exhausted in deposite, is worn 
 out in slovenly, ignorant cultivation. In Virginia, and 
 Maryland, and North Carolina, were good plains, and 
 fertile slopes, but slaves have turned them into barren- 
 ness. The whites emigrated — drove out the wild beasts 
 and Indians — cleared the forest; but once more the 
 tide of slaves follows on ; the result is the same. Bar- 
 renness follows in the wake of the slave. The broom 
 sedge, the muUen, and the briar, pursue ever in his foot- 
 steps I Are not those who have desolated Judea and 
 Asia Minor, and turned her cities and fertile vales into 
 the abodes of wild beasts — where "the fox looks out 
 at the window, and the long grass grows upon the walls 1 " 
 — as criminal in the eyes of Nature's God, as they who 
 stoned the prophets, and rejected him who taught justice, 
 mercy, and love ? 
 
 The towns are subject to the same laws of depression 
 as the country ; and neither in the field nor the work- 
 shop, is there any escape from the ruin of slave labor 
 competition I There are two great data upon which the 
 growth of cities depends : the number of consumers, and 
 their productive, and consequently consumptive, capacity. 
 For they are but the aggregation, for convenience of so- 
 
76 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 ciety and exchange, of all those persons, who expect to 
 give the product of their intellects or hands for the 
 fruits of the soil. A hatter sells to the twenty thousand 
 people of the county of Fayette, one hundred hats a 
 year : under the free system, when the population shaJI 
 have increased to forty thousand, he will sell two hund- 
 red hats. At the same time his real estate advances in 
 value as the increase of population. He is a thriving 
 mechanic — he can not only educate his children, but 
 set them up in the same trade with himself. The father 
 sells to the fathers of the country, and his sons to their 
 sons — and what applies to the hatter, applies to every 
 resident of a city ; so that there is no limit to the popn- 
 lation of the city or couiitry. until such time as the earth 
 shall cease to sustain the inhabitants. And by manufac- 
 tories, Massachusetts, England, and some other countries • 
 sustain a higher population than their soil by agriculture 
 could possibly support. 
 
 " Now reverse the case, let slavery be introduced, and 
 immediately, as 1 have shown, two laws begin to pre- 
 vail : the whole population, white and black, begins to 
 decrease, and the productive power of the black is only 
 half that of the white. The result is that the hatter, 
 who at first sold one hundi-ed hats, ia the course of 
 these events, now sells but fifty: he is a decaying 
 tradesman. Just at the time that he needs more money 
 for the education and settlement of his children, he has 
 less than in early life : the profits of his trade continu- 
 ally decline, whilst his real estate declines also, until at 
 last he is compelled " to pull up stakes," to use a com- 
 
NATOKAIi RESOURCES 77 
 
 mon phrase, and move to the free States, where his 
 consumers from the country have gone before him ! And 
 this reasoning is sustained by experience. Norfolk, in 
 Yirgiaia, was once the emporium of Eastern Commerce, 
 but slaves have driven out her whites ; ignorance and 
 sloth have exhausted her lands ; manufactiipes fail, and 
 commerce fails with them. Now Norfolk is forgotten, 
 and New York, and Philadelphia, and Boston, are great 
 cities, and the sails of their commerce whiten every sea. 
 The Virginia Kepublican says, " a little more than eighty 
 years ago, the imports of Virginia amounted to four 
 millions, those of New York to nine hundred thousand ; 
 in eighteen hundred and forty-nine, the imports of Vir- 
 ginia were two hundred and forty thousand, and those 
 of New York were ninety-two millions." That is, the 
 difference ia the race^ in less than a century, all the 
 natural advantages being in favor of slavery, between a 
 free and a slave State, is about sixteen hundred times 
 in favor of freedom ! Cities in slave States with the 
 first tide of white population grow to a certain extent 
 of magnificence ; when the slaves come in, they become 
 stationary, then begin to decline. Chimneys topple off, 
 and go unrepaired — underpinnings decay — houses go 
 unpainted — shutters fall to pieces — lights are broken 
 out, and old cloths and pasted paper are substituted — all 
 things indicate, that the city is constitutionally diseased 
 with slavery, and hastens to its end."* 
 
 • Clay's Speech at Lexington, Ky., 1861. 
 
yiii. 
 
 ^OUTHEEN AGEICULTUEE. 
 
 " The axe rang sharply 'mid those forest shades, 
 
 Which from creation toward the sky had spread 
 
 In mishom beauty. There, with vigorous arm, 
 
 Wrought a bold emigrant, and by his side 
 
 His little son, with question and response 
 
 Beguiled the time." MiES. Sigodenet. 
 
 This picture is rarely seen in the South, as it is dram 
 in these beautiful lines. Tlie foreign emigrant landing 
 upon our shores, tired of the despotisms of the old' 
 world, turns his back instinctively upon the South, and' 
 makes his home in the free States. There are about 
 twice the number of men of foreign birth in New York 
 that there are in all the slave States combined. 
 
 And yet the South is a place of constant emigration. 
 For, as will be seen hereafter, the Southern mode of agri- 
 
 tulturevery soon exhausts whatever soil it touches, if 
 
 we except the bottom lands, — and the planter is driven 
 by necessity to abandon' his premises and begin anew. 
 And though he plants the first seed that has ever been 
 dropped into the soil by man, the same- result follows 
 his labors, — fertility is soon succeeded by barreiH 
 ness, — and as he is driven about by this curse, he seeks 
 new fields, and becomes a wanderer for life. 
 
BOOTHERN AGEICIJLTTJBE. 
 
 79 
 
 He travels through the woods to the spot where he 
 has decided once more to " pitch his tent," with Ms fam- 
 ily in a long cart, covered with coarse cotton cloth, drawn 
 by mules. The slaves go before the family, on foot, to 
 put up a rude tent for their reception. They build a 
 log house for the master, and little log cabins, the size of 
 "Uncle Tom's," all around the master's house, and with- 
 in a few rods, for the slaves. He takes none of the 
 slave children into the new field with their parents. 
 They are not wanted there. They would rather be a 
 burden than a service to him. 
 
 The large trees are then girdled, by cutting through 
 the bark all round the tree near the ground. This pro- 
 cess destroys the life of the trees, the leaves perish and 
 fall off, after which there is little obstruction to the rays 
 of the sun as they fall upon the earth beneath them. The 
 deadened trees are allowed to remain standing in the 
 field till they faU by decay, or are blown down by winds. 
 Hence a cleared field is seldom seen in the South, as 
 these large dead trees stand until the soil is worn out by 
 constant cropping, when it is " turned out to commons," 
 and the young pines, or perhaps a different growth, spring 
 up again, and soon grow and thicken to a forest. 
 
 The small trees are feUed, and piled up, tc be burned. 
 The piling is called the "logrolling," in which whole 
 neighborhoods of masters and slaves are mutually en- 
 gaged in rolling the logs tcJgether for the burning. The 
 log rolling affords some amusement, and much hard work. 
 The whites soon become as black as " cuffee" himself, as 
 the fire has previously run over the logs and charred 
 
80 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 them. In this labor the master and man -work together. 
 They eat the " hog and hominy" from the same kettle, 
 and drink the whiskey from the same bottle, enough gen- 
 erally to place them all on a level before bed time. Af- 
 ter the burning, the plow is put in, which runs very near 
 to the trunks of the trees, as the roots do not spread 
 out near the surface, as we see them in the North, but 
 run directly down through the sand to the clay, upon' 
 which the soil and sand rest. 
 
 The field is now ready for the seed. But as rotation 
 of crops is seldom instituted in a slave labor system, I 
 will describe the process of the cultivation of the com 
 crop. The field is lightly furrowed with a plow, then 
 marked off crosswise by dragging a long rake with 
 vWooden teeth, or short chains instead of teeth, four feet 
 apart. Thus by the drilling one way, and cross marking 
 the other, the whole field is struck off into squares fonr 
 feet on each side. One kernel of corn only is dropped 
 at every corner of these squares, forming rows four feet 
 apart, running at right angles, so that the plow may be 
 run in either direction between the rows. The old 
 " Virginia" com, as the large species of Southern corn is 
 sometimes called, is still raised in most of the slave 
 States. The new fields produce from thirty to fifty 
 bushels of this corn to the acre. The same field is con- 
 stantly planted with corn, year after year, so long ia 
 some instances that it produces not more than four bush- 
 els to the acre. Some planters grow com and cotton 
 alternately, but, as the same properties of soil are re- 
 quired to produce both, this is not much relief to the 
 
SOUTHERN AQRICDLTUEE. 81 
 
 landa. The cotton plant flourishes on dry lands, but it 
 exhausts the soil more than com. 
 
 Northern farmers cannot understand how those plant- 
 ers can live ■who raise only four bushels of com to the 
 acre. But this is easily explained to all who are ac- 
 quainted with the manner of living, and the system af 
 cultivation they have adopted. 
 
 " But," says an inquirer, " why do they remain on the 
 old fields that produce only four bushels to the acre, 
 while the new fields yield thirty bushels, and can be pur- 
 chased for one dollar per acre ? " 
 
 The only answer I can make to this is, that in the old 
 worn-out districts many of them seem not to possess 
 means and energy sufficient to remove to more produc- 
 tive localities. Those who are able, or more energetic, 
 emigrate to new fields. Others remain where they are. 
 
 When the fields have been planted a few years with 
 com, the grasses all die out. The Northern grasses, 
 Buch as clover, timothy, and red-top, do not flourish well 
 south of Virginia. The indigenous grasses of the table 
 lands are the slender " spire-grass" and "crow-grass." 
 
 Southern farmers do not replenish their fields with 
 manure, and one result of this is that weeds seldom 
 spring op to choke the com. Hence in the old fields, 
 the hoe is not used after planting. No labor is required, 
 except to plow each way between the rows, until the 
 harvest. One slave and one mule can cultivate fifty 
 acres of this corn on this land. The plowing is com- 
 menced about the first of December^ and finished by the 
 middle of February, when the season for planting returns. 
 
82 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 Two or three months are spent in planting, — which 
 leaves time to plow twice between the rows before the 
 harvest commences. If four bushels to the acre are har- 
 vested from the fifty acres as the reward of the labor 
 of one man and one mule, every master who owns one 
 slave and a mule can raise enough for his support. la 
 some of the old counties, where this system has been 
 applied for a long time, and nearly all the properties of 
 the soil, adapted to the production of com, have been 
 exhausted, I have seen hundreds of acres of such com. 
 All the "first settlers" who had sufficient energy, had 
 fled, either to the cities to engage in other kinds of bus* 
 iness, or to the woods to take up new fields, — leaving 
 behind them a poor, ignorant, dispirited, shiftless popu- 
 lation, inhabiting old, black, filthy, open, cheerless log 
 huts, — exhibiting a greater degree of misery, wretched* 
 ness, poverty and crime than can probably be found in 
 any other Christian country on the face of the earth. 
 
 After the soil is entirely worn out by this process, and 
 all the dark, earthy, fertilizing properties have been ex- 
 hausted in the production of com, the white sand appears 
 on the surface again, and those old abandoned fields, as 
 you look over them, appear nearly as white with sand 
 as Northern grass fields when covered with a light fall 
 of dry snow in winter, with the long spires of grass 
 standing up through the snow. Lands thus exhausted 
 of fertility are worthless for a free labor system. There 
 is no possibility of reclaiming them by subsoiling. There 
 is therefore no prospect that a comfortable subsistence 
 ■will ever be obtained from them again. 
 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE. 83 
 
 " The middle region of Georgia," says Colton's Gaz- 
 etteer, " -was once very productire, but owing to the op- 
 pressive system of cultivation adopted by the planters, 
 it has become in many parts much impoverished. And 
 large gullies, and red, barren hUl-sides often meet the 
 eye in places where once abundant crops were produced." 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 The Cotton plant is an annual one, very vigorous, and 
 it exhausts the soil rapidly. It requires less moistm-e 
 than com, and therefore suffers less in the severe droughts 
 of a long, hot season. The seeds are planted as early" 
 in the spring as corn, as it requires a long time to grow. 
 The field is formed into beds by the double furrow, about 
 three feet apart, and the seed is sown on the top of the 
 bed, a few inches apart, like apple seeds in the nurseries. 
 The cotton plant resembles little apple trees of three 
 or four years growth, when both are seen in winter, de- 
 nuded of foliage. The capsule, or boll, which contains 
 the cotton, is an inch or more in diameter, and resembles, 
 in color and consistence, the puff remaining from a de- 
 composed apple or potatoe. 
 
 When the cotton capsule is broken by the early frosts 
 the cotton expands and unfolds, appearing at a little dis- 
 tance like the full blown white rose. Its attachment to 
 the capsule, when fully matured, is so slender that it can 
 be picked off as easily as the leaves of the rose just ready 
 to fall. The pickers take it in their baskets to the gin 
 house. This building always reminds the Yankee of 
 the old cider mill, where the horse walked around on the 
 
84 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ground, and the apples were put into the hopper in the 
 story above. 
 
 The cotton-gin is a very valuable machine, of Yankee 
 invention, for which cotton growers have expressed pe- 
 culiar gratitude. Like most useful inventions, the gin 
 is very simple in its construction. As you look upon it, 
 it appears like a cylinder made of circular saws. But it 
 is a drum of wood, about three feet in length, the size 
 of the bass-drum used by bands of music, encircled with 
 saws two feet in diameter. The saws are one-fourth of 
 an inch apart, in a horizontal position, with teeth all 
 looking forward, like the splitting saw. It is made to 
 revolve with sufficient velocity by a single horse poTver. 
 The cotton is brought in contact with this drum of sawg 
 by the receiver, which has one side covered with strong 
 parallel wires. The saws tear the cotton apart, and 
 draw it between the wires, which are too near together 
 to admit the seeds, and they fall to the ground. The 
 cotton is swept from the saws by a revolving brush, and 
 is then ready to be baled for the market. 
 
 The volatile oil and ammonia of the seed render it 
 valuable as a manure. After fermentation in the heap 
 has destroyed its power to vegetate, it is often used for 
 this purpose, being dropped in the hill with com, and 
 seeds of other annual plants. Cotton is the most cer- 
 tain and profitable production of all dry, arable lands in 
 hot climates. And they plant the old fields as long as 
 they will yield two dollars' worth to the acre. 
 
 RICE. 
 
 The " rice-fields" are principally reclaimed from lands 
 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTUKE. 85 
 
 lying on the margins of rivers, near the ocean. Dikes 
 of earth are thrown up around the fields to prevent the 
 tide-waters from overflowing them. They are then plant- 
 ed with rice, in drills about one foot apart. The iresh 
 water from the river above is then admitted through 
 gates in the dikes until the field is entirely covered. 
 The water prevents grass and weeds from growing 
 among the rice, while the rice will grow under water. 
 After the rice comes up and grows a few inches, the 
 water is drained off to afford opportunity to replant, or 
 thin out, as may be necessary. The field is then flowed 
 again with fresh water, which is allowed to remain sev- 
 eral weeks before the second draining, prior to the ma- 
 turing of the rice for the harvest. 
 
 This last draining off of the waters occurs in the hot 
 weather of August and September, which occasions so 
 much disease and death on the rice fields at that season. 
 The vegetable matter which has been decomposed by the 
 water, when exposed to a hot sun, fills the atmosphere 
 with poisonous gasses. The malaria thus generated, is 
 diffused through the surrounding country. The African, 
 constitution resists the effects of it longer than any other. 
 The absorbent vessels, whose office it is to take up what- 
 ever is unhealthy in the system and throw it off, act more 
 efficiently in systems that perspire freely. Hence the 
 ne^TO, who sweats more profusely than the white man, 
 trards off the fever much longer on the rice plantations. 
 I am fully satisfied, from this fact alone, that the grow- 
 inf of rice in those unhealthy localities would be wholly 
 8 
 
86 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 abandoned if the labor of the colored man could not be 
 obtained. 
 
 EOTATION OP CROPS. 
 
 To whatever canse it may be ascribed, the fact is too 
 well known to be denied, that a " rotation of crops," on 
 which the success of farmers in the North almost wholly 
 depends, is scarcely known in the slave States. This is 
 one reason why the soil in the South so soon becomes 
 valueless. Without entering into any speculation about 
 the matter, I will only say that where the labor is per- 
 formed for those who know nothing about the science^ 
 of agriculture, and hy those who care nothing about 
 it, — whose only problem of life is to ascertain by how 
 little labor they can escape the lash, — I do not believe., 
 that the rotation of crops, the application of manures,:, 
 or any other means of preserving or replenishing the 
 fertility of the soil will ever be found practicable. The 
 experience of a hundred years is demonstration suffi- 
 cient. 
 
 And the converse of the proposition has also been 
 fully demonstrated. Some of the old fields, worn out 
 by slave labor, have been purchased by Northern farm- 
 ers, and by free labor cultivation they have been re- 
 claimed and raised to more than their original value. 
 Lyell, in his " Travels in the United States," though he 
 has generally taken without question whatever was told 
 him by the slaveholders among whom he was so hospit- 
 ably entertained, has nevertheless recorded some im- 
 
SOUTHERN AQRICULTUBE. 87 
 
 portant facts, coming so much within the sphere of his 
 profession that he could not be deceived. In 1841 he 
 noticed some of these worn-out fields on the Potomac 
 river, where slavery had nearly finished its work. In 
 1845 he traveled down the river again, and gives the 
 following account of his observations : 
 
 *' As we sailed down the Potomac, a landed proprietor 
 of Fairfax county pointed out to me some estates in 
 Virginia, in which free had been substituted for slave 
 labor since I was here in 1841. SomS farmers came 
 from New Hampshire and Connecticut, and, having bought 
 the land at five dollars an acre, tilled it with their own 
 hands and those of their families, aided in some cases 
 by a few hired whites. To the astonishment of the 
 surrounding planters, before the end of four yeaxs they 
 had raised the value of the soil from five to forty dol- 
 lars per acre, having introduced for the first time a ro- 
 tation of coin and green crops, instead of first exhaust- 
 ing the soil, and then letting it lie fallow for years to 
 recover itself." 
 
 Not only are the sandy loams on the table-lands 
 destroyed by the Southern system of agriculture, but 
 the rich clay loams, and the high rolling lands, are ruined 
 by the same process. This fact has been well noticed 
 by Mr. Hildreth in his " Despotism in America." 
 
 " When tobacco is the crop, the fresh land is planted 
 with tobacco each successive ye£lr till its fertility is ex- 
 hausted. When it will no longer produce tobacco, it is 
 planted with corn and wheat, tiU it will not afford a crop 
 
88 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 worth gathering. It is then turned out, that is, left un^ 
 fenced and uncultivated. 
 
 " In the cotton growing States, com and cotton are 
 planted alternately, till the land is completely worn out. 
 When its original fertility is exhausted, no further at- 
 tempt is made at its cultivation. It is turned out, and 
 the labor of the plantation is applied to new fields, which 
 presently undergo a similar fate. Thus, every year, a 
 certain quantity of land is given over as worthless, and 
 new inroads are made upon the original forests. Agri- 
 culture becomes a continual process of opening new 
 fields and abandoning the old." 
 
 The alluvion carried off from the inclined plains de- 
 stroys great quantities of plowed lands lying on South- 
 em rivers. The "side hills," on the margins of tlie 
 running waters, after being flowed for many years 
 in succession, are greatly exposed to the action of the 
 heavy winter rains, and often, after the grass roots are 
 all dead, whole fields are thus destroyed. Sometimes 
 large fields of fifty acres or more which have been re- 
 cently flowed are all washed off clean to the pan in a 
 single shower. By this constant washing of the lands 
 thousands of acres are annually ruined. 
 
 Another great damage resulting from this constant 
 transportation of soUs from the country to the coast, is 
 the obstruction of navigation at the mouths of the rivers. 
 From New Orleans around to Norfolk we have frequent 
 accounts of the filling up of harbors with sand. Forty 
 thousand dollars, I think, were expended to clear out 
 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE. 89 
 
 the channel at the mouth of the Savannah in the spring 
 of 1853. So much of the red clay in the subsoil of the 
 high lands back in the country is washed off into the riv- 
 ers, that the waters are colored by it until they reach 
 the ocean. All over the South, in the old fields on the 
 banks of the rivers, impassable ravines may be seen, cut 
 through the soil as the water came down the hills, and 
 the naked barren subsoE of whole plantations' is visible 
 from the same cause. 
 
 CATTLE, SWINB, ETC. 
 
 All the domestic animals roam at large on the rang- 
 es — commons — in Georgia during the winter as well 
 as summer, except the mules, which are kept in the sta- 
 bles and used for plowing. The cattle become very 
 lean in winter, subsisting entirely on the slender " crow- 
 grass," and browse. Vast numbers of them die in the 
 spring from starvation, or perish in the rivers. All along 
 the creeks and water-courses, when the feeble old oxen 
 and cows go down to drink, their feet sink in the miry 
 clay, and they cannot get out. For miles together the 
 boggy margins of the low bottom lands are bleached 
 with their bones. 
 
 The Southern farmer derives very little benefit from 
 any kind of neat stock except sheep. In the spring the 
 young cattle grow fat, and are fit for the table for a 
 short time before the hot season comes on. But they 
 are seldom found in a suitable condition for beef, with- 
 out stall feeding, after they are more than four or five 
 years old. Gov. Troup told me that he owned oxen 
 
90 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 that had never worn the yoke, and from which he had 
 never received any profit, and all he ever expected to 
 receive was the hides when they should die, if his boys 
 should happen to find them. 
 
 Some men who cut timber for the market work their 
 oxen constantly ; and sometimes others who use mules 
 principally, when they want to draw a load too heavy for 
 the mules, send the slaves into the woods to catch the 
 wild "steers" as they call them all, no matter how 
 old, — and with great propriety^ — for they always act 
 like steers when an attempt is made to subject them to 
 labor. An incident occurred while I was there which 
 will serve to illustrate the energy and skill exhibited by 
 slaveholders in the accomplishment of their purposes, 
 with the aid of mules and oxen, when they have no 
 Yankees to assist them. 
 
 Mr. W. had contracted to deliver some heavy masts 
 for ships to a commission merchant in the city of S. 
 He sent his slaves into the forest to select and hew the 
 masts. One stick was prepared, about eighty feet in 
 length, which measured, after the sap was all taken ofi", 
 three thousand six hundred and thirty-four feet, board 
 measure. Seven pairs of mules were then harnessed, 
 and nine pairs of wild " steers" were captured in the 
 woods. Yokes were then made of straight sticks, and 
 with small bows the cattle were fastened together in 
 pairs. One end of a rope was attached to the outside 
 horn of one of each pair, and a stout negro held the oth- 
 er end, to puH back when it was necessary to stop the 
 team, — as the steers had not learned the meaning of 
 " whoa-hish." 
 
SOUTHERN AGEICULTTJRE. 9t 
 
 When the sixteen pairs of steers and mules were all 
 attached to the wheels on which the mast was loaded, 
 and everything was ready, word was given to start ! The 
 negroes halloed, and screamed, and threw chips, and 
 bark, and clubs, — and a complete melee ensued. Some 
 of the oxen pulled in one direction, some in another. 
 Sometimes the load would move a few feet, and then 
 suddenly stop. Then the " Cracker" whipped the ne- 
 groes, and the negroes whipped the mules. The angry 
 mules would spring and rend a trace. The frightened 
 steers would leap and split a yoke, or break a bow, and 
 then fly for life I The slaves seemed quite willing to 
 endure the whipping for the sake of the frolic While 
 the Yankee spectator could not help laughing at the lu- 
 dicrous picture. After working nearly three days, and 
 whipping the negroes and mules half to death, the mast 
 was drawn about one third of the distance to the river, 
 which was only a mile, and then the project was aban- 
 doned ! Four pairs of oxen, such as are owned on any 
 of the large farms at the North, could have drawn it to 
 the river in an hour. But it was left to rot upon the 
 ground, valuable as it was, for want of sufficient force to 
 move it. 
 
 The raising of wool would be very profitable in the 
 slave States, but for the destruction of the sheep by 
 dogs. This animal is the companion of the slaveholder, 
 and many of them are kept to protect him from the vio- 
 lence of injured slaves, and to pursue them when they 
 run away. The hungry dogs make horrid havoc among 
 the sheep. 
 
92 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 The wool is coarse, and is used with cotton in the 
 manufacture of homespun clothing for the Crackers. 
 Very little " factory cloth " is worn in some of the dis- 
 tricts. The old spinning wheel and loom are still in 
 operation. The Cracker seldom suffers pecuniary loss 
 from too sudden change of fashions. He is doggedly 
 opposed to innovation. The first pattern of frock coat 
 and trousers worn by the country planters in the Old 
 Dominion, is now the most modern style in central 
 Georgia and the Carolinas. Even imported dye stuffs 
 are little used, as the native barks impart the favorite 
 otter color at a less expense. 
 
 The extensive oak forests of the South afford sub- 
 sistence for large herds of swine. The pigs — like' 
 lambs — are marked in the ears, and are then permitted - 
 to run at large in the woods. The owners occasionally 
 take a bag of corn on a horse and ride out to feed 
 them, for the purpose of keeping the herds together. 
 Masters who own good acorn lands furnish bacon to their 
 slaves ; while the slaves of masters who own none but 
 pine lands, and cannot afford to fatten pork entirely on 
 corn for their hands, seldom or never have the "pound 
 of meat a week." I knew two fugitives from South 
 Carolina, one of whom said that he never tasted meat 
 until he was seventeen years of age. The other, from 
 the same county, told me that he always had meat three 
 times a day, and as much as be wanted. The former 
 was raised in the "pine woods," far from any river. 
 The latter lived near an oak forest. There was no dis- 
 rrpinanov in their testimonv. 
 
SOtTTHERN AGRICULTURE. 93 
 
 When the swine are to be slaughtered, the dogs catch 
 them, or the butchers shoot them, The old hogs become 
 very ferocious in the woods after being hunted. The 
 tusks of the males grow to a great length. I saw one 
 ■which had been taken from a wild boar, over seven 
 inches long. They are formidable weapons of defense, 
 as many a poor, luckless dog has felt, to his sorrow. 
 
 Beeves, also, are sometimes shot by the butchers in 
 the country, as they are better skilled in the use of the 
 rifle than of any other instrument of death. At Oconee, 
 two men went out to kill a cow. One of them fired, 
 and the ball struck her head, but not in " the right place," 
 as the butchers say, and it only crazed the animal. She 
 rushed through the fence into the woods. The butchers 
 saddled their horses, called the dogs, and gave chase 
 to her. After pursuing her all day, they finally killed 
 her, about dark, several miles from home, but so far 
 from any house that they abandoned the thought of sav- 
 ing the meat, and they returned home with nothing but 
 the hide. 
 
 FARMING UTENSILS. 
 
 Perhaps there is no better test of the civilization of 
 any people than can be seen in their agricultural imple- 
 ments. I had long known that nearly all the really val- 
 uable inventions and discoveries made in our country 
 had their origin in the free States. But the leading in- 
 terest in the South has been, not mechanical, but agricul- 
 tural. It was not unnatural, therefore, for the North to 
 excel in this respect. But since almost the entire inter- 
 
94 INSIDE "VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 est of the Sonth is in farming, I expected in this depart- 
 ment to find some evidences of skill, and progress. But 
 I was disappointed. 
 
 The " jiigger hoe" was first introduced into Virginia 
 as a substitute for the plow, in breaking up the soil. 
 The law fixes its weight at four pounds, — as heavy as 
 the woodman's axe ! It is still used, not only in Vir- 
 ginia, but in Georgia and the Carolinas. The planters 
 tell us, as the reason for its use, that the negroes would 
 break a Yankee hoe in pieces upon the first root, or stone 
 that might be in their way. An instructive commentary 
 on the difiference between free and slave labor ! 
 
 The " Cracker plow" has no part like the Yankee 
 plow, below the beam, except the left handle. This is 
 made of basket oak, is abont four inches square, and a 
 foot long, or deep, below the beam. The lower end of 
 this handle, which is faced with a plate of wrought iron, 
 half an inch thick, is all there is that makes it a plow. 
 The right handle is crooked, and fastened to the beam 
 at the lower end and to the left handle, by a pair of 
 rundles. It turns a furrow only four inches wide, but 
 it is made to land about a foot. It turns the four inches 
 over upon the other eight, and thus goes over the ground 
 as fast as the Yankee plow. The holder of the Cracker 
 plow has little power over the beam when the plow 
 strikes a root, or a stone, as the base of the plow is only 
 four inches square. ' Hence when the plow stops sud- 
 denly at a root or a rock, the impetus of the mule jerks 
 the forward end of the beam down, and " Cuffce" is 
 thrown up on the handles. It is a laughable sight to see 
 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTTJBE. 95 
 
 a large number of boys and girls plowing in the new 
 fields, where some of them are being constantly tossed 
 up in this manner. 
 
 The harrow is seldom used except in sowing grain, 
 and not often then. It is easily made, and more easily 
 described, as it is wholly constructed of the top of a tree, 
 dragged over the ground top foremost, having the limbs 
 upon the lower side cut off to such a length that they 
 serve as teeth in the harrow. 
 
 The ox yoke is a straight stick of hard pine, square 
 hewn, about four inches thick, six inches wide, and from 
 four to five feet long, — of equal size the whole length. 
 It is not like the Yankee yoke, crooked down between 
 the oxen, and excavated on the necks — adapted to sit 
 easy and not chafe — having sufficient strength with the 
 least possible weight, — and so constructed that the ox- 
 en can apply their necks and shoulders in the best man- 
 ner to move the heaviest load, with the least brute force, 
 and loss of muscular strength. A pair of oxen will draw 
 twice as heavy a load in the Yankee yoke as in those 
 used in Georgia. 
 
 One peculiarity in the Cracker's mode of traveling to 
 market always amuses the Yankee. Instead of seating 
 himself in his wagon, to guide the horse, the Cracker 
 rides his horse, and the wagon comes along behind, jolt- 
 ing over roots, and stumps, and stones. 1 lauglied heart- 
 ily at seeing a Cracker with two sore-footed little negro 
 boys, all on one jackass' with a wagon load of cabbage 
 attached, following after. 
 
IX. 
 
 YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER. 
 
 " Ay ! gather your reins, and crack your thong, 
 
 And bid your steeds go &8ter ; 
 They do not know, as they scramble along, 
 
 That they have a fool for a master." 
 
 0. W. Holmes. 
 
 There are no bridges over the large rivers in Geor^a, 
 except where the railroads cross. There are niunerons 
 rivers, streams, and creeks in the State, but not sufficient! 
 energy and enterprise to bridge them. Colton, in his 
 Gazetteer, says, " there is water power enough in this 
 State, with eligible sites for mills, to manufacture all 
 the cotton raised in all the world, and grind all the 
 grain raised in the United States." So the absence of 
 bridges is not because bridges are not needed, but be- 
 cause men are wanted to build them. 
 
 Large trees fall down across stage roads in the slave 
 States, and lie there for weeks, or perhaps months, be- 
 cause it is not the custom to remove them. In many 
 places the mail stage will meet half a dozen in a mile, 
 and have to drive out into the woods to pass around 
 them. . 
 
 In the winter of 1852, 1 traveled a distance of sixty 
 miles in Georgia, by stage. Half the time was con- 
 sumed in fording and swimming creeks and streams, 
 
YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER. 97 
 
 going around old trees, and through bogs. Three days 
 wore spent in traveling sixty miles. Two slaveholders 
 were in the stage, on their way from the city to their 
 plantations. 
 
 Just before dark, on the second day of our ride, we 
 came to a deep creek where we found a mule team loaded 
 with cotton, stuck fast in the middle of the creek. A 
 heavy rain was falling, and the water, running swiftly, 
 had worn a new trench through the sand in the middle 
 of the channel, about two feet deep and four feet wide. 
 When the forward wheels of Cuffee's wagon dropped 
 into the trench, his six mules could not draw them out. 
 The hind pair of mules were all under water, except 
 their heads, and Cuffee could not get to the shore him- 
 self but by swimming, which was a very uncomfortable 
 mode when the water was cold and the current swift. 
 So he concluded to retain bis seat on the highest bale of 
 cotton, hoping for providential aid. 
 
 When our stage arrived at the creek, the gentlemen 
 passengers left it and went up stream a few rods, and 
 crossed over on a pine log. Two ladies remained inside 
 the coach, — the horses swam across, — the coach filled 
 with water, and one of the ladies was nearly drowned ! 
 
 While stopping upon the other side, after " passing 
 the Rubicon," another negro drove down with a mule 
 and buggy, to cross the creek. " BiUy," said the driver, 
 who was a white man, and acquainted with the slave 
 "you can't go through the creek. It is washed out 
 deeper. You see how Cuffee's wheels sink — you had 
 better go back and wait till morning." 
 9 
 
98 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEEY. 
 
 « I must go through," replied Billy, resolutely. " Mas- 
 ter told me to go up to the academy and bring young 
 Master George home from school." 
 
 And he drove the mule into the creek. When tho 
 forward wheels of the buggy dropped into the new 
 trench, Billy's mule fell over on his side and broke both 
 of the thills. The whiffle-tree bolt was thrown out. 
 The mule righted and swam to the extent of the reins, 
 which Billy "paid out" to the end and the length of 
 his arm, still holding them firm in Hs fist, as the only 
 attachment between the buggy and mule. The mde 
 " struck bottom," where he was " hauled to." Now there 
 was Cuffee, sitting on his highest bale of cotton, in the 
 water to his knees ; and BUly, Btanding in his buggy, 
 with the water to his waist. 
 
 "Come, driver, take off a span of horses," said I, 
 Yankee-like, " and help the poor boys out." " If you 
 want to go on with me, sir, get aboard," said the driveai 
 I pitied the negroes and the mules, as it was now nearly 
 dark — the water and weather cold — with the prospect 
 of a dark, cheerless, stormy night before them, and no 
 house withia four miles. But what could a lone Yankee, 
 Avho had no horse of his own, do for them, more thatf 
 to pity them ? Fortunately, another stage, passing that 
 way that night, finding the creek. blockaded with wrecks, 
 helped Cuffee and Billy out of their trouble. We trav- 
 eled on two hours longer, but only four miles farther, 
 and reached our quarters for the night. 
 
 The next morning we started " bright and early." 1 
 had been talking freely on the way with the slaveholders 
 
YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER. 99 
 
 abont the "peculiar institution," expressing great aston- 
 ishment at seeing so wide a contrast between the North 
 and the South in everything relating to industrial mat- 
 ters. I remarked that at the creek, where we met so 
 much trouble the night previous, there were noble pine 
 trees standing by the side of the creek, long enough to 
 reach across — that two "live Yankees " would fell a 
 pair of stringers over, and cover them in a single day, — 
 that no Northern farmer would neglect to bridge such a 
 stream separating lots of tillage or pasturage, where he 
 wanted to drive herds from one to the other, for a single 
 year, while the Southern planter will ford the creek ly- 
 ing between his house and stable a whole life time. 
 While engaged pleasantly in making comparisons of this 
 kind, and extorting confessions from my slaveholding 
 companions in favor of the superior enterprise and in- 
 genuity consequent upon a free labor system, we came 
 to a slough in the road. The driver leaped from his 
 seat, and commenced pulling away the rail fence — " Vir- 
 ginia fence " — where the ends of the rails, at angles of 
 twenty degrees, lock in and rest upon each other. 
 
 " What are you doing now, driver ? " asked an outside 
 passenger. 
 
 " I am going through the oat-patcH," replied the driver. 
 " You sec the teams have balked in the slough, so we 
 must cither tote some more pine boughs and put into 
 the ruts, or go around ; and I think here is a right smart 
 chance to go around." 
 
 I looked out upon the oat stubble, and being a farmer's 
 
100 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEEY. 
 
 son, and acquainted with the appearance of surface soils 
 in the spring time, when the waters have soaked the sub- 
 soil and made it soft and yielding, I saw at a glance that 
 the slough extended across the field, and I had the Yan- 
 kee impudence to administer a caution. 
 
 " Driver, you can't go through there ! Don't you Bee 
 it is soft out there ? You are safer in the road." 
 
 " I am the driver, sir, if you please," was the caustic 
 reply, in his Cracker tone of voice, as sharp and shrill 
 as that of the overseer when he calls the " morning roll," 
 or drives the " sugar-house paddle." 
 
 "Very well, sir," said I, complacently. The fence 
 opened to the right and left, and the horses shot in. 
 Tlieir feet soon began to settle in the loam — the wheels 
 began to cut through the sward — the whip began to 
 crack — and the driver to swear and scream. The horses 
 seemed frightened, and they snorted, and stamped, and 
 pulled, and shifted legs, but not places. The wheels ciit 
 through the stubble and sank down till the bottom of 
 the coach rested on the ground, and we were anchored. 
 Still the lash fell, and the horses strove, sinking deeper 
 and deeper, till it seemed that our only chance would be 
 on the " underground railroad." 
 
 We "lightened the ship," detached the team, and after 
 a terrible shower of curses on sloughs, and oaths on the 
 fates, and gentle reproofs on the daring driver, had^ 
 fallen from the eloquent, fluent lips of the passenger 
 slaveholders, — whose dialect loses half its eloquence 
 and all its grammar without the rhetorical finish of the 
 
YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER. lOX 
 
 cursing and swearing, the practical question, — "what 
 shall be done ? " was earnestly mooted. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said I, " this is a judgment upon you, 
 for not helping the negroes out of the creek last night. 
 Now, driver, you wiU please leave my trunks here. I 
 see a house out there in the woods, and I am going 
 there to stop till the next stage comes along." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " vociferated the passengers, " that won't do 1 
 For if the Yankee leaves us, we shall never get out of 
 this fix." 
 
 " I have no expectation that you will," said I, '■' for 
 you don't know how, in the first place ; and if you did^ 
 you would think it a disgrace to do the necessary work. 
 I would willingly and cheerfully assist to get the coach 
 back into the road again, but I am confident that all your 
 plans and efforts will be fruitless ; and so I have con- 
 cluded to make the best of the calamity, and stop over 
 to-day ; although I must confess my regret at the folly 
 which has caused the delay, as I am really desirous of 
 getting through to-day, to meet a friend, by agreement, 
 on important business. But I give you my opinion 
 freely, gentlemen, that the case is hopeless, as the doc- 
 tors say." 
 
 The driver was not a little piqued at the severe re- 
 flections my remarks cast upon him, and he said in a 
 confident, swaggering, contemptuous tone, " I reckon we 
 can do as well without your company as with it, sir." 
 
 " Not so," exclaimed the passengers. " We want the 
 Yankee here to plan. If he leaves, we shall not be able 
 to get away from this place to-day ! " One asked the 
 
102 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 driver to invite me to help them, — others besought me 
 to remain and assist them. I replied that I had no faith 
 to work with them, and Yankees never looked on as 
 spectators in such emergencies. "But," said I, "if you 
 want me to stay, and the driver ■jrill consent for me to 
 be ' boss ' of the business, and you will all agree to do 
 as I tell you, I will stay ; and if we don't get out in less 
 than an hour, then you may say of the Yankee, as he 
 now does of yon, that he don't know how to do any 
 thing."' 
 
 After a little whisky persuasion, the driver reluctantly 
 assented to my proposition. 
 
 " Now understand me," — said -I, "as master of this 
 business — ^Tuhen I speak to you, I shall not say 'boys* 
 as you do to your slaves ; nor^ gentlemen,' as you are ac- 
 customed to be addressed; but I shall speak to you 
 simply as men. The ' boss,' in Yankeedom, when he 
 speaks to the operatives, calls bachelors by their chris- 
 tian names, but Tnarried men by their surnames, from 
 respect to their wives. This i&uaderstood, 1 suppose." 
 
 All bowed assent. 
 
 "Well, then, now for the work," said I. « Billy 1" 
 — the name of the bachelor driver — now as humble as 
 black Billy in the creek — "take Smith" — a wealthy 
 commission merchant — " and go and bring a large rail." 
 "Jones !" a cotton planter fiom the chivalrous kingdom of 
 South Carolina — " you run out to the house yonder and 
 borrow an axe." "Joe and John 1" you take the rails from 
 the fence and lay them down close between the stage and 
 the road, as quick as you can." "Gilman !" — a lawyer — 
 
YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER. 103 
 
 " roll that large, short pine log along here. Well done, 
 BiUy ' you and Smith have got a good pry. Run the 
 butt end in between the spokes directly over the hub. 
 Now raise the other end — higher! Roll your fulcrum 
 Bnder, Oilman! That's it; pull down, now! There 
 she rises, bravely ! hold on ! Run here, Joe, with that 
 rail ! Run it in under that hub on the ground, — farther 
 in ! that'll do. Slack the lever, men ! Now place the 
 lower end of the lever under the hub and bear down 
 again. Good ! trig up under, Joe ! Halloo ! here's Jones 
 with an axe. There Joe, you run again and help John 
 lay down rails. Come, Jones ! cut a rail up into pieces. 
 Sharpen the ends and drive them under the wheels to 
 hold them up ! Zounds ! what cutting ! Yankee boys 
 four years old cut faster than that. Give me the axe ! 
 Now, Jones, see a Yankee chop." 
 
 One, two, three clips on one side; over — one; two 
 heavy blows on the other, and a five inch rail drops in 
 two. Smith's attention was so earnestly fixed on the 
 chopping, that he let go his hold on the upper end of 
 the lever, which sprang up with Billy, who was sitting 
 on it astride — the lower end, which was under the hub 
 of the wheel, beii^ covered with oily, red clay, slipped 
 out, and down came the lever, crushing Gilman's beaver 
 hat, knocking him down, tearing the leg of Billy's trou- 
 sers, and barking his shin ! Oilman scratched his head, 
 and Billy rubbed his shin, crying out as piteously as ever 
 black Billy did after his had been kicked. 
 
 " What a piece of work ! Now the wheel has dropped 
 down lower than it was in the first place. Why didn't 
 
104 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 you hold on, Smith? If you don't act better than this, 
 nij^ht will find us in a worse pickle here in the rain than 
 we left the poor ' niggers ' in last night. 
 
 " Come, men ! raise the pry again ! Dash the fulcrum 
 under! down pry! block up! Now under the hub! 
 Push under farther, BiUy, so it won't slip again ! Down 
 again, all right. Drive under the short rails ! Eaise 
 all the wheels in like manner ! Now we are ready to 
 run her back into the road. But it will be a hard lift 
 to roll the wheels up on the rails. I will hold the pol^ 
 men ! and you take hold of the wheels." 
 
 " I will hold the pole for you, sir," said Billy, politely. 
 
 " / am driver now, sir, if you please," I replied au- 
 thoritatively. "Take hold of the wheels there, with 
 the otlier hands 1 " 
 
 The lawyer, the merchant, and the planter took hold 
 of the muddy spokes with their kid gloves on, and the 
 word was given. "All ready now! Roll it up!" But 
 « no go ! " 
 
 "As many Yankee boys eight years old would lift 
 more than you did then ! You can do nothing lifting in 
 that way, men ! You must put your shoulder down to 
 the rim, and both hands to the spokes, one on either 
 side ; and lift once, like Yankees; and the thing is done." 
 
 Smith dashed off his black broadcloth and put Ms 
 shoulder — covered with a clean, nice, linen shirt — to 
 the wheel. Jones and Gilman didn't stop to fling off 
 the broadcloth, but seized a wheel a-piece. " All hold 
 now ? " " Aye, aye, sir." "Altogether, then ! There, 
 she rises ! stick to it 1 Lift ! a little harder ! most up ! 
 
YANKEE AND SLAVEHOLDER, 105 
 
 For your life now ! Hurrah ! the trouble is all over ! 
 Now roll back, steady. — Here we are, in the road once 
 *^ore!" 
 
 "Now we will pull the coach over the bog. Driver! 
 you and Joe take the team up around through the woods, 
 and by the time you get it on the other side of the slough, 
 we wiU have the coach and baggage there, and the fence 
 up. But dear me, what looking coats and shirts for 
 gentlemen to visit their friends in ! " 
 
 "Never mind," replied the gentlemen, "we give in 
 to the Yankee." 
 
 During the remainder of the journey we talked to- 
 getber freely about slavery and its consequences. And 
 I received many polite attentions afterwards from those 
 " chivalrous Southerners," who generously acknowledged 
 that a free labor system best qualifies men for the con- 
 tingencies of life. 
 
X. 
 
 PEIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 
 
 " Windows and doors in nameless sculpture dressed. 
 
 With order, symmetry, or taste imblessedj 
 
 Forms like some bedlam statuary's dream. 
 
 The crazed creation of misguided whim." BuHNB. 
 
 In the ©ities of the slave States there are not only 
 many fine public buildings, but also many elegant private 
 dwelling houses, surrounded with beautifiil scenery, and 
 fitted up within with rich and costly furniture. It is to 
 such scenes that Northern visitors are generally intro. 
 duced. Here they receive those impressions that are 
 so widely disseminated in the North, — that slavery is 
 usually associated with refinement of manners, a culti- 
 vated taste, and a luxurious style of living. It is not 
 my purpose to question the correctness of these ideas, 
 so far as they refer to city life among slaveholders. 
 Nor do I deny that occasionally something of the kind 
 may be found on the plantations, — though the instances 
 are rare. My object in this chapter is to take the read- 
 er into the planting districts of the South, among the 
 " Crackers," and show him their manner of living, — the 
 kind of houses they occupy for private or public use, — and 
 some of the external features of their domestic life. 
 
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 107 
 
 About fifty thousand, or one tenth part of the inhab- 
 itants of Georgia reside in the cities. And the propor- 
 tion does not vary very materially in the other States. 
 Nine tenths of the population are therefore to be found 
 in the planting districts, — though only a small part of 
 these are slaveholders. The " poor whites" everywhere 
 in the country constitute a large part of the population. 
 I shall not describe their habits here so much as in some 
 of the succeeding chapters. 
 
 It will appear to some as an exaggerated state- 
 ment, — and yet an extensive observation in several of 
 the slave States convinced me that more than one half 
 of the slaveholders live in log houses. I confess that 
 this was one of the most surprising facts that came to 
 my knowledge. I was not expecting to see wealthy 
 slaveholders in the country living in the old log house 
 first built for the family when they entered the woods. 
 
 One reason why so little has been said and known of 
 their manner of living in the country, doubtless is that 
 few Northern men have traveled extensively there. 
 And another is that many who have traveled in the 
 South, have misrepresented their condition in order to 
 gratify the feelings and flatter the pride of slaveholders, 
 from whom they have received kind, generous, and polite 
 attentions. 
 
 A foreigner, whose letters have been read with much 
 interest, in describing the furniture in the house of a 
 planter whom he desired to flatter for favors he had re- 
 ceived, represented his friend as living in a large and 
 splendid mansion, fitted up with expensive articles of 
 
108 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 furniture. After speaking of many beautiful and valua- 
 ble articles about his room, he closed with a description 
 of a magnificent candlestick furnished for his use. 
 
 " 1 am now writing," said Mr. D., " by a candlestick 
 that cost seven hundred dollars." But he did not men- 
 tion of what precious material the costly candlestick was 
 wrought. A slaveholding clergyman, however, who spake 
 as knowing the fact, assured me that the wonderful can- 
 dlestick was nothiug more nor less than Cuffee, holding 
 a flambeau J I have more than once written letters in 
 slaveholders' houses when I was less favored than this 
 foreigner, — having to hold the pitch torch in my own 
 hand. 
 
 One reason why the slaveholder does not build a good 
 house is because he knows that in a few years his fields 
 will be nearly fruitless, and then he may wish to remove, 
 and pitch his tent in the woods again. Nor do they 
 take any pride in the possession of fine houses. The 
 only pride of wealth is in the possession of men. When 
 a citizen is to be selected for some public office, the 
 only question asked is, " how many niggers does he 
 own ? " If a large number, the inference is that he must 
 be a smart man, and well qualified for the office. 
 
 The most common style of building in some of the 
 slave States is to construct two log houses, about eight 
 feet apart, one story high, with one roof running over 
 both, connecting them overhead, — so that they may pass 
 from one to another in the attic, and have a cool out of 
 doors entry under the roof, between the lower rooms. 
 Most of these houses are built of round pine logs, in 
 
PRIVATE AM) PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 109 
 
 rough style, and so large spaces are often left between 
 the logs that one can look in or out, without windows. 
 Thus made, they afford little protection from the cold 
 in winter, — and the inhabitants of Georgia, during the 
 cold stormy days, or frosty nights, often suffer more from 
 cold than the people of Maine. 
 
 The roof is usually made of rafters, having ribs planed 
 on them, about three feet apart, covered with shingles 
 four feet long, which are split from the pine timber by 
 the slaves. Sometimes no nails are used in puttiag them 
 on. A small pole is laid over each course of shingles, 
 which is fastened to the ribs by wooden pins. 
 
 These houses frequently are made without any iron 
 for any purpose. Even the doors are hung on wooden 
 gudgeons, driven into the logs, and fastened with wood- 
 en latches and green hide strings. They are seldom 
 shut, however, except in the night. No matter how cold 
 the weather, or severe the storm, the door remains open 
 through the day. No tool is needed to erect abodes for 
 the Crackers except the " club-ase" and the auger. The 
 Secretary of a Fire Insurance Company in the State of 
 Georgia, — himself a slaveholder, — stated to me that 
 m his opinion two thirds of the residences of masters in 
 that State were made of logs. And in the Carolinas 
 they are, to say the least, not any more valuable. 
 
 The want of energy enough to procure an article so 
 cheap, and we should say so indispensable, as window- 
 glass, is truly astonishing to the traveler from the free 
 States. These log houses are often entirely destitute 
 of glass. They have wooden shutters to close at night. 
 10 
 
110 INSIDE VIEW OF StAVEEY. 
 
 The eje of the traveler in some parts of the country 
 will not rest on a house that has a pane of glass in it in 
 traveling fifty miles, though most of the houses may be 
 inhabited by slaveholders. In one of the best farming 
 ooimties in Georgia I found a man -who had been located 
 there a few years, who was a native of Maine. He in- 
 formed me that when he went to that town, though it 
 was the shire-town of the county, there was not a single 
 pane of window glass in any building, — not even in the 
 church, court house, or tavern. 
 
 This gentleman built for himself a house with two 
 rooms, one of which hia lady denominated her parlor? 
 and she concluded to have a window put into it. A 
 carpenter belonging to another county was accordingly 
 employed to come and put in four squares of " seven by 
 nine," for which he charged two dollars. " As soon as 
 it was known," said the lady, " that such a great curios- 
 ity was to be seen in the place, aU the children came in 
 flocks to see the glass. And they really became so great 
 an annoyance to me that I had the window taken out, 
 and a shutter put up in its place." -, 
 
 The chinmey of these houses is usually built on the 
 outside. Sometimes it is built entirely of wood, about 
 the size of common cord wood, piled up cob-house fash- 
 ion, with the interstices filled in, and the inside daubed 
 over with clay mortar. But uniformly the base of the 
 chimney is built of stones, as far up as the wooden man- 
 tlepiece, and then it is topped out safely with wood, or 
 boards, or oak bark. The fireplace is large enough to 
 take in « a mighty big heap" of lightwood, which super- 
 
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. Ill 
 
 sedes the necessity of lamps. The hearth is constructed 
 of small flag-stones, resting on looie sand, not always in 
 a neighborly proximity to each other. The oven is not 
 an appurtenance of the Cracker's chimney, as the cook- 
 ing is done in the kitchen, — which means in the negro 
 huts. These cabins are not connected with the house by 
 any building, or any covering overhead. The food is 
 brought in, and the dishes are carried back, at every 
 meal. 
 
 Court-houses constructed of logs are not uncommon 
 in the interior coimties. And though churches or school- 
 houses of any kind are not numerous, a large proportion 
 of them in the sparCely settled districts are made of logs. 
 They are frequently, found in solitary ^places, — situ- 
 ated far from any dwelling house, deep in the woods, 
 with no road passing by or leading to them, except 
 a few foot paths radiating from them in various di- 
 rections through the dark, solemn pine trees,— and a 
 carriage track describing all sorts of angles around the 
 old logs. I have worshipped in rude log churches locat- 
 ed in such spots, — having no wiadow of any kind — no 
 desk or elevation for the nunister, — nothing to sit up- 
 on except a few, narrow, rough seats, on scantling legs, 
 without any backs. And the preacher sat with the hear- 
 ers, — and in any part of the house which best suited 
 his convenience. 
 
 I am aware that an influential Journal has undertaken 
 to show from the tables in the census reports of 1850 
 that in chiurch accommodations, the South is superior to 
 the North. But these tables can be made to prove no 
 
112 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 such thing, unless by distortion. So far as I have exam- 
 ined them they do not disagree with the facts which 
 came under my own observation. The average value of 
 churches in Maine is over $2,000 — in Massachusetts 
 over $7,000, — and in the six New England States it is 
 over $4,000 each. In North Carolina the average value 
 is $500. But the value of the Methodist churches aver- 
 ages only $400, and the Baptist only $360. In South 
 Carolina the average value in these two denominations 
 is $700. In Georgia it is $500. But these estimates m- 
 clude the cities, as well as the country. If we look into 
 the interior counties the result is different. In Irwin 
 county, Georgia, the average value of all the churches is 
 $81. In Ware county it is $56. In the county of Mont- 
 gomery, the residence of Gov. Troup, an account of my 
 visit to whom is given in this chapter, the value averages 
 $40. In the old county of Tatnall it is only $6.50! 
 There are ten Methodist churches reported in this coun- 
 ty, the whole of them valued at $105, — being $10.50 
 each! 
 
 The paucity of furniture and books in the homes of 
 slaveholders is most unaccountable. Even in families 
 that possess abundant means to supply these wants I 
 have frequently seen them living without conveniences 
 of which the poorest Northern family is seldom desti- 
 tute. Sometimes you will not see furniture amounting 
 to five dollars in value in a wealthy planter's house. I 
 have seen such houses without a particle of paint on the 
 inside, or on any article of furniture. A few old oak chairs, 
 made by hand, in the rudest manner, covered with deer 
 
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 113 
 
 skins or green hides untanned, — a hard pme table, nn- 
 planed, — a wooden poker, instead of shovel and tongs, 
 in the rock chimney fire place, comprise the whole in- 
 ventory. There is no closet, nor wardrobe. All the 
 bedding is suspended on poles overhead, or placed on 
 an open shelf against the wall. The wearing apparel 
 is hung on nails or wooden pegs, all in sight. And 
 yet you will find on the premises several hundred, 
 dollars' worth of elegant saddles, and costly rifles. And 
 perhaps a thousand dollars will be expended for jew- 
 elry and ornaments to adorn the person and dress of the 
 daughter, — but not five dollars appropriated for furni- 
 ture or books. 
 
 The Crackers live almost entirely on corn-bread and 
 bacon. So uniformly does the fare include nothing else, 
 that " hog and homhiy" are everywhere descriptive 
 terms in common use to express it. And this is the 
 case not only in the States which I visited, but the fol- 
 lowing paragraph from one of a series of letters pub- 
 lished in the New York Times, written by a gentleman 
 of acknowledged integrity, shows that in other parts of 
 the South it is the same. 
 
 " At Natchadoches, Texas, an old town of ten thou- 
 sand population, we inquired at five stores for flour, but- 
 ter, and sugar, and were informed there was none of 
 either in town. At Crocket, we inquired at seven stores 
 and two Hotels for these, and for fresh meat. There 
 was none of either in town. Corn-bread, with ''pork 
 fry' and cofiee, has been placed before us at every 
 jneal, breakfast, dinner, and supperj — at every house 
 
114 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEKY. 
 
 in which we hare taken any food during the three weeks 
 we have traveled in Texas." 
 
 I was taken sick in one of the lower counties of 
 Georgia, and I feared that I should die because no suit- 
 able food could be obtained for a person laboring under 
 gastritis. Nothing was to be had except coarse corn- 
 bread, and soft, Ul-odored bacon, that no Yankee could 
 eat even when well, unless he was half starved. Scarcely 
 any two articles could be named more unfavorable to 
 the billions diseases of the climate than the only two in 
 use. But a merciful Providence, — in spite of "hog and 
 hominy" — so far restored me to healtn, that I was 
 able to ride on horseback; and I started for Gov. 
 Troup's plantation, on the Oconee river, twenty miles 
 ^bove, on the old stage road. leading from Darien to 
 Milledgevipe, — the Capital of the State. I called at 
 the first house of a planter, and inquired if they had 
 flour bread, or milk. 
 
 " We have none of either," was the reply. 
 
 I called at the next house, where the outside exhibited 
 signs of more wealth and comfort, — but found neither. 
 I asked the planter if he had no cows. 
 
 '• O yes, sir," he replied, " I have a great many cows, 
 but they all run in the woods in winter ; we don't feed 
 them now, and have no milk at this season. In the 
 spring we catch a few of the calves and confine them in a 
 yard, to toll up their mothers, and by giving the calves 
 just milk enough to keep them alive, we obtain what we 
 want to use in coffee." 
 
 I called at every white man's house — more than 
 
PRIVATE AND TUBUC BDIIDINGS. 115 
 
 twenty in number — before I reached the residence of 
 GoTemor Troup, and inquired for these articles, and I 
 was invariably informed that they had none of either. 
 
 About two o'clock P. M. I arrived at the Govemor'a 
 house, and found him eating his dinner, in a log house. 
 Having some business with him, I was cordially invited 
 to sit with him at his dinner table. In addition to corn- 
 bread and bacon, he had some dry ship bread, and corned 
 beef. But instead of coffee, he had spirits of all kinds, 
 of which he nrged me to partake, on his assurance that 
 that they were good ; but when I gave, in excuse, my 
 custom, and my feeble health, he ordered some coffee for 
 me. He apologized for the absence of flour bread. 
 He said the freshet had contiuued so long that he had 
 been unable to get in flour over the creeks and rivers. 
 
 The upper part of a pig's head — "the minister's 
 face" — was on the table. The ears had not been cut 
 off previous to baking, and they were so very long, and 
 stood up so straight, and wore a mark so singular, that 
 1 was probably eyeing it too sharply to seem respectful, 
 when the old gentleman remarked, facetiously, — 
 
 « You see I am an honest man, sir, for that is my own 
 mark in the pig's ear." 
 
 The Governor, like most of the large slaveholders, 
 had been unfortunate in his sons. He owned, as I had 
 been informed, about a thousand slaves, on different 
 plantations. He had a lai^e number on a plantation 
 twenty miles below, which 1 had visited. His brother. 
 Colonel Troup, was, as I was told, the overseer on this 
 plantation for several years. He led a dissipated life, 
 
116 INSIDK VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 and found an early grave. I was told that he confessed 
 to a minister, a few days prior to his death, that he had 
 terrible remorse of conscience in the reflection that 
 many of his own children would be left as his brother's 
 slaves. 
 
 Governor Troup's eldest son succeeded his brother as 
 the manager of the lower plantation, where he lived a few- 
 years in dissipation, and died from its effects. His 
 youngest, and now only son, was sent to take the place 
 of the first, and he followed in his footsteps. After be- 
 ing wrecked both in morals and mind, he was sent, as I 
 heard, to the Insane Hospital, — and I suppose he was 
 there at the time of my visit. 
 
 If the sons of his Excellency were as fine looking as 
 any one of the bright boys I saw about his house, he 
 surely had good reason to lament their untimely end. 
 I saw no young men on that river who appeared so in- 
 tellectual, and so highly endowed with natural qualities, 
 as some of the mulatto servants in Governor Troup's 
 family.. They seemed devoted to his happiness, — but 
 I ascertained that they folly appreciated their liability 
 to a worse fate after his death, — as he was far advanced 
 in years, and his only heirs were two maiden daughters, 
 who would not be likely to keep the slaves together long 
 after they should be left upon their hands. 
 
 Two of the whitest boys walked at my side as I rode 
 to the gate, about fifty rods from the old house, — and I 
 felt so deep an interest in their welfare that I took the 
 liberty to converse with them in relation to their situa- 
 tion. 
 
PRIVATE AKD PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 117 
 
 "You have an easy life here, boys" I remarked. 
 « You are lucky to find a home so good as this." 
 
 "0, yes, master," replied one of them sadly, — "but 
 we don't know how soon our master may die, and then 
 we - shall be sold away, and our lot may then be much 
 harder." 
 
 " Well, boys, I would not borrow trouble, but would 
 rather be thankful for so many blessings. You fare so 
 much better than the slaves generally do, that you ought 
 to be happy." 
 
 ■' I know that, master," replied one of them, " but still 
 we cannot help thinking what we may have to suffer by 
 and by." 
 
 " Well, be good boys, — don't drink whiskey, — take 
 good care of your old master, — always do right, and 
 you will be sure to fare the better for it. Good even- 
 iug!" 
 
 " Good bye, master ! good bye ! " 
 
 O, how my heart beat for these noble boys ! How I 
 longed to speak to them of the blessings of freedom ! 
 What multitudes, alas ! of these noble Douglasses, Bibbs, 
 Clarks, and Wards there are in the South, — sons of Gov- 
 ernors, Judges, and statesmen, — dragging out their weary 
 lives in bondage ! If some of " the best blood in Vir- 
 ginia" flows in the veins of the slaves, it is not less true 
 of the other slave States. 
 
XI. 
 
 THE PARTING SCENE. 
 
 «'My God! can such things be? 
 HaBt Thou not said that whatsoe'er is done 
 Unto Thy weakest and Thy humblest one, 
 
 Is ever done to Thee ? 
 
 In that sad victim, then, 
 Child of Thy pitying love, I see Thee stand— 
 Once more the jest^word of a mocking band, 
 
 Bound, sold, and scourged again. 
 
 A heathen hand might deal 
 Back on your heads the gathered wrong of years, 
 But her low, broken prayer, and nightly tears. 
 
 Ye neither heed nor feeL", 
 
 WHl'iTlKU. 
 
 The cars were coming down from the coimtry to the 
 city. I was sitting by the window, conversing with a 
 wealthy, gentlemanly slaveholder, when our train stopped. 
 Looking out, I saw a group of twenty-fonr slaves near 
 the car, — some of them crying, — some weeping silent- 
 ly, — others running to and fro, as if in the excitement 
 of incipient mania, or of approaching delirium, — while 
 otie sat mute in despair. The whole scene was so wild 
 and unnatural that I did not comprehend it, and I asked 
 the slaveholder what was going on there. 
 
THE PARTINQ SCENE. 119 
 
 " Nothing, only some of these niggers are sold, I sup- 
 pose, and the others are making a fuss about it," he 
 replied, in a cold, formal manner, as he raised up his 
 chin and gave a stoical, stupid look, and then he attempted 
 to resume conversation with me. 
 
 Now had I been riding for pledsute, or ti-avelihg on 
 business, I could not have writteK.the histoi^'of this 
 family, as I was obliged to visit! the '.jdace' again, and 
 spend several days, to obtain the facts which rendered 
 the scene at the cars intelligible. The whole ikmily, in- 
 cluding three generations of slaves, was therie. This 
 family consisted of the old grand^paifcnts, with their six 
 children, and eighteen grand children. None had been 
 lost by death ; and until now, none had been sold ; and 
 had I visited them at any former period of their lives, 
 and proposed to offer them the boon of ireedom, they 
 would probably have refused to accept it, if by so doing 
 they would have been compelled to leave their kind 
 master, whom the afliicted grand-parents said they had 
 always loved, as well as his father before him, — "in 
 whose house they were bom." But their young master 
 had become intemperate, and a gambler. After losing 
 all his money in the game, a few nights previous, he bad 
 staked six slaves — two boys and four girls — on a 
 game of billiards, and they were won by a New Orleans 
 gambler. The latter was putting them into our train 
 of cars to carry them to S., forty miles below, where 
 they were to be shipped for his own city, as I was in- 
 formed. 
 
 I first noticed the old grand-mother, seated near the 
 
120 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 car — sitting on a short, round, pine log, that had 
 been cut off for shingles. Her emaciated form, curved 
 spine, and snow white hair, gave her the appearance of 
 being a very old woman. Her head was bent forward and 
 downward, rising and falling as she inhaled the slow, full 
 breath, and breathed out the deep, long sigh, followed 
 by neither words' nor tears. I likened her at once to 
 an aged mother in a sick room, where a beloved daughter 
 was lying upon a dying bed ! 
 
 Her daughter was uttering the last words of afifection- 
 ate, fond farewell to that devoted mother, — but she did 
 not seem to hear the Fast words of her child. She was 
 beyond tears — as physicians say — mute in despair ! Or 
 in the thrilling words of Ida May — " her sorrow was 
 too stern and crushing for outward demonstration. The 
 iron hand of slavery had seized her heart, and she 
 seemed as if it were wringing the last drop of her life 
 blood." 
 
 Next in order was the grand-father, an old man, bent 
 down with toil, and bowed down with years, standii^ 
 with the left hand resting on a long staff that ran above 
 his head, and the right arm on the shoulder of one of his 
 sons who was just to be removed forever from his sight 
 It was a vivid, life-like picture of an aged father, stand- 
 ing by the death bed of an only, idol son, on whom he 
 had leaned for support and comfort in his old age, and 
 upon whom he had depended to smooth his dying pillow 1 
 
 A kind hearted slave girl in the neighborhood had 
 taken the grand-children out a little way from the cars, 
 where she was playing with them on the grass — just as 
 
THE PARTING SCENE. 
 
 121 
 
 I have seen a kind neighbor's wife visit the house of sick 
 and dying parents and take the children home, or to a 
 remote room, to soothe and caress them, and thus divert 
 their attention from the agonizing parent, and the death- 
 bed scene. 
 
 The doomed fathers and mothers were standing with 
 their arms around the necks of their wives and hus- 
 bands, from whom they were the next moment to be 
 torn! These mothers were, perhaps, to become the 
 mothers of yet more unfortunate children ia New Or- 
 leans. The wives and husbands of those that were 
 leaving belonged on other plantations, and to different 
 masters, who had kindly allowed them to come and take 
 the final leave of their bosom companions I 
 
 Slaves usually have wives on other plantations. If 
 you ask the slave the reason, he gives you this answer. 
 " K I marry one of my master's girls here at home, I 
 may never be permitted to leave the plantation while I 
 live ; but if I go off ten or fifteen miles and take a wife, 
 every Saturday night my master will let me go to see 
 her, and pass the Sabbath. In doing this, I shall pass 
 by other plantations, and become acquainted vrith other 
 slaves, — and thus there will be a little novelty, — a little 
 more variety to life." This is one very good reason, 
 and the only one the slave dare give, why he prefers not 
 to have his wife at home, where he can be constantly 
 present with her and his children, and where he can 
 sympathize with them in their afflictions and sufferings. 
 
 But the true reason for this fact, which has few excep- 
 tions, is that the masters think it unwise to have slave 
 11 
 
122 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 families live together, where they can witness the pun- 
 ishments inflicted on each other. It has a tendency to 
 make them discontented. And the same reason induces 
 the slaves to conform to this custom. Their feelings 
 are very strong, and if their relatives are to be punished, 
 they shrink from the sight. And besides, they fear that 
 if they should be present on such an occasion, they 
 might interfere, and thus expose themselves to the same 
 fate. Very few slaves can stand by, and look on pas- 
 sively, and see a mother, or wife, or davghter, or sister, 
 brutally treated, by a lawless woman-whipper ! 
 
 But the bell rings, and the slaves are ordered on 
 board the cars. They break away from their wives and 
 husbands at the sound of the whip — and start for the 
 "nigger " car. One of them — whose name was Friday ■ 
 — bounded back and gave his wife the " last kiss of af- 
 fection." Then the husband was pushed on board, and 
 the wife was left ! Friday's wife had a present tied up 
 in an old cotton handkerchief, which she designed to 
 give her husband as the last token of her love for him. 
 But in the more than mortal agony of parting she had 
 forgotten the present until the cars had started , and 
 then she ran — screaming — as she tossed the bundle 
 towards the car, " Oh, here Friday 1 I meant to give 
 you this ! " But instead of reaching the car, it fell to 
 the ground through the space between the cars, and siich 
 a shriek as that woman gave, when she saw that solitary 
 emblem of the fidelity of her early vow and constant 
 aflection for her devoted 'husband fail to reach him, I 
 never heard uttered by human voice. It thrilled my 
 
THE PARTING BCENE. 123 
 
 soul, leaving impressions that will never be effaced till 
 my dying day. Her heart was breaking ! She could no 
 longer suppress her grief, and for some distance after 
 the cars started, the air was rent with her bitter lament- 
 ations, bursting forth with the most frantic wails ever 
 nttered in despair ! 
 
 There were thirty-five passengers in that car, but no 
 sympathy was expressed for the wretched victims of the 
 billiard table. Young ladies — da,jighters of slavehold- 
 ers, well educated, connected with refined families — 
 were in that car, but they did not seem to pity the poor, 
 despairing slaves. They laughed at them, and ridiculed 
 their expressions of grief. " Look out here ! " said one of 
 the young ladies at a window, to a school mate opposite, 
 "just see those niggers ! What a rumpus they are mak- 
 ing ! Just as if niggers cared anything about their babies 1 
 See Cuffee kiss Dinah ! What a taking on! Likely as 
 not he will have another wife before another week." 
 
 These ladies were returning from one of the female 
 colleges in the interior, to their homes in the city. But 
 sympathy for the slave is not taught in those colleges. 
 I felt indignant, and so much did I pity the slaves, and 
 so highly were my feelings wrought up, that I would 
 have sacrificed my life, if that would have prevented the 
 separation of those husbands and wives, and parents 
 and children. I had remained silent for some time after 
 the cars started, when the slaveholder said to me, — 
 " What are you thinking about ? — those niggers ? " 
 
 "I will thank you not to refer to that scene," I replied 
 
124 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 « lest I may say sometMag that will endanger my own 
 
 liberty." 
 
 " O well," remarked the Major, seriously, " they don't 
 separate families when they can help it." 
 
 " Where are tlie children belonging to aU the parents 
 I saw in the droves recently ? " 
 
 " 0, 1 know," replied he, thoughtMly, " they have to 
 sell sometimes, — but I tell you, my dear sir, that kind 
 masters always avoid it as long as possible." 
 
 " Yes sir" I rejoined, sternly, " I understand now how 
 you try to avoid the necessity of tearing the parents 
 from the children — you ask for more territory to plant 
 new fields in ! Now sir, I will be most obliged if you 
 will not mention this subject again, lest I might drop a 
 word that you would deem incendiary." 
 
 We performed the remainder of the journey in silence. 
 I could not safely have given utterance to my feelings. 
 
XII. 
 
 SLAVEHOLDEES AS BUSINESS MEN. 
 
 '• These base meclianics never keep their word 
 
 In anything they promise. Tis their trade 
 
 To swear and break j — they all grow rich by breaking 
 
 More than their words j — their honesties and credits 
 
 Are still the first commodities they pass oS." 
 
 Ben Jonson. 
 
 ' That slavery has had a disastrous influence upon 
 business, and consequently upon business men, no one 
 can deny. No fact has ever been more clearly demon- 
 strated than that slave labor does not earn enough to 
 pay its cost. Impoverishment and insolvency are inher- 
 ent elements of it. And whenever we have had a gen- 
 eral bankrupt law, the tables of mutual losses by bank- 
 ruptcy, as between the North and the South, have shown 
 a ruinous balance against the latter. 
 
 I do not deny but that there are many excellent bus- 
 iness men in the South. It was my privilege to become 
 acquainted with such. Many of these went from the 
 North — but not all of them. And yet a regard for the 
 truth compels me to say that the standard of business 
 morality in the slave States is very far below what it is 
 in New England. Business men are guilty of practices. 
 
126 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 without losing reputation or credit, 'whicli in the free 
 States would prove their ruin. 
 
 As Georgia is a planting State, so the law relating to 
 contracts is made for the benefit of the planter. The 
 statute of frauds is common to most, if not all of the 
 States. And yet in New England no man would retain 
 the confidence of the community who should refuse to 
 deliver articles sold by a verbal contract merely because 
 the law would not enforce it unless it was written. The 
 statute in Georgia requires all such contracts to be in 
 writing, signed, and witnessed, — and five dollars to be 
 advanced by the purchaser. But even after the stipula- 
 tions of this law are complied with, where the party is 
 not responsible, so that no redress can be had through 
 the courts, written obligations are frequently violated 
 by the lawless Cracker. He will sell his corn for a cent 
 more per bushel, or his cotton for a mill more per pound, 
 to any man who makes the bid after the article arrives 
 in the market. So common has this perfidious practice 
 become, that, in some of the cities the merchants do not 
 send out their agents, but wait until the articles are 
 brought to market, when, by bidding higher than the 
 price at which they had been previously sold, they are 
 sure to obtain them. 
 
 While traveling in the country, I purchased two rafts 
 of lumber on a river, to be delivered in port within a 
 specified time, at a stipulated price. One of these rafts 
 contained a hundred thousand feet of ship timber, square 
 hewn, and it was purcliased of a county commissioner, 
 who enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most 
 
SLAVEHOLDERS AS BUSINESS MEN. 127 
 
 substantial men in the country. I went to the port to 
 await the rafting down of the timber. Previous to its 
 arrival, a merchant in that city showed me a written ob- 
 ligation, -jvhieh the same man had written with his own 
 hand, by which he promised to deliver that same lumber 
 to him for less than I had offered him for it. "When he 
 came with the timber I said to him that I was ready to 
 take it, if he was under no obligation to deliver it to any 
 other man. He said he was not. I then informed him 
 that I had seen his written contract, and I consented that 
 he should deliver it according to his first promise. He 
 went out, — but instead of fulfilling the first contract, he 
 found a purchaser who offered more than I was to pay 
 kim, and he sold it to him. 
 
 I purchased a thousand bushels of com of E. P. Hol- 
 etein, in Eastern Tennesee. Mr. H. wrote the obliga- 
 tion, and signed it, promising to deliver the com to my 
 employers at Savannah, within four weeks, at fifty cents 
 per bushel. I waited until I suspected that he might fail 
 to fulfill the contract, and I then wrote to him twice, re- 
 questing him to inform me why the com had not been 
 delivered. No answers were returned to my inquiries ; 
 but soon afterwards I learned that Mr. H. had been to 
 the city of S., and had sold his corn for two c^nts more 
 per bushel than I was to pay him. 
 
 I inquired of one of my employers, who was a native 
 Georgian, — and a son of a slaveholder, — why it was 
 that so little reliance could be placed upon the integrity 
 of the Crackers. 
 ■ " I know not," replied the merchant, " except that it ie 
 
128 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 the habit of the people. Any man will promise you any 
 thing you want, and engage to do any thing you desire, 
 without the least intention of fulfilling his word, unless 
 it should be for his own private interest to do so." 
 
 " A friend of mine," he added, " who was intending to 
 go into the cotton business here as a commission mer- 
 chant, -went out into the back part of Georgia, and a part 
 of Alabama, and obtained pledges from cotton planters 
 to send him eight or ten thousand bales of cotton. He 
 came back much elated at his prospects for business, 
 hired a store — went into it, and sat down to await the 
 promised consignment. But not a single bale of the 
 whole amount was ever sent to him." 
 
 I have written many obligations for the delivery of 
 cotton and hides, not only by the Crackers, but by mer> 
 chants in cities, situated in the interior, which were for- 
 feited under similar circumstances. And I now have a 
 letter from a friend — a commission merchant in one of 
 the old slave States — in which he writes to me that he 
 went into the country last season and purchased twenty- 
 five thousand pounds of wool, and that, in every purchase, 
 he paid five dollars, and secured the legal, written obli- 
 gation. But after all his precaution he lost more than 
 two thousand pounds of the wool. 
 
 I wrote to another friend — a slaveholder — residing 
 in the country, expressing my surprise at the general 
 want of integrity in the business men I had met with, 
 and telling him of my disappointments and losses occa- 
 sioned by their faithlessness. In his reply, he states, 
 " I am not at all surprised at your disappointments. I 
 
SLAVEHOLDERS AS BUSINESS MEN. 129 
 
 iiave been here nine years to-day, and am jnst fairly in- 
 itiated in taking lessons about the reliability of this 
 people. It is perfectly agonizing to be obliged to carry 
 on business vrilh the laboring classes in this country. 
 My lessons have cost me at least four thousand dollars 
 within the last four years, — which is tolerably high 
 tuition." 
 
 One great reason why business contracts arc not more 
 promptly fulfilled, is probably the fact that slaveholders 
 spend so much of their time in amusements. These, 
 more than productive labor, constitute the chief employ- 
 ment of that class, — especially in the new fields, where 
 the fertile lands afford them the means of idleness and 
 dissipation. No business is so important at any time 
 as to prevent them from attending the horserace, the 
 cock-fight, or any other kind of sport. 
 
 I am acquainted with a clergyman who took a machine 
 to a blacksmith in his parish, for repairs. While the 
 smith was at work, a shout was heard over a cock-fight 
 on the outside, and he left his iron in the fire, and ran 
 out to see how the game was going. When he returned, 
 the minister remarked that he was in a hurry for the work, 
 to send away by the next train. Soon the shout was 
 heard again, and the smith left the job a second time, 
 and was gone until the cars had left. In his absence, 
 his little son came into the shop, and took up some 
 pieces of wood belonging to the machine. 
 
 " What arc you going to do with those, Johnny ? " 
 said the minister. 
 
130 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 " I am going to take them in for my mother to bum," 
 replied the boy. 
 
 " O no," said the clergyman, " they are parts of my 
 little -wheel here." 
 
 But the boy, unnsed to any restraint, started for the 
 house with the pieces. The clergyman caught him by 
 the arm, and shook him until he dropped them, when he 
 ran to his mother, screaming, and crjdng out against « the 
 man who had pinched him." The mother carried the 
 complaint to the father, who returned to the shop, and 
 without asking any questions, knocked the minister 
 down. 
 
 As soon as the clerg3anan recovered from the blow, 
 he said, submissively, " I wish you had waited for an ex- 
 planation, sir." 
 
 " I don't want to hear any explanation from you," said 
 the smith, with a horrid oath. " I can flog my own boys." 
 
 The clergyman left the shop, with no prospect of ob- 
 taining the machine before another day. 
 
 When you complain of a slaveholder for not having a 
 job finished at the time agreed upon, he refers you, com- 
 placently, to the time unexpectedly spent in amusements. 
 A fox party came along, and he had to join that, — or 
 the military paraded, which every body must see. I was 
 employed to superintend the building of a mill, and 
 fourteen hands were engaged six days in raising it, after 
 it was framed. The dimensions of the building were 
 only 40 by 70 feet, and the same number of hands at 
 the North would have raised it in half a day ; but the 
 
SliAVEHOUDEES A3 BUSINESS MEN. 131 
 
 master vorkman took two of the hands and went off 
 fishing a part of two days. The crew rested while they 
 were absent. A squirrel ran by one day, and all the 
 men left the mill, and chased him half a mile before they 
 treed him. In this way was much of the time spent. 
 Some of the owners of the property were on the ground, 
 but I heard no complaint. 
 
 I attended the examination of an academy in Georgia. 
 While a class of young ladies were reciting In English 
 Grammar, two horses came up to the door, with a young 
 gentleman on one, and a side-saddle on the other. The 
 gallant dismounted, opened the door, and, bowing po- 
 litely, solicited the company of the daughter of Mrs. J. 
 to ride, at her mother's request. Miss J. left her reci- 
 tation class, without asking permission of the teacher, 
 and went to ride. Teachers at the South uniformly say 
 that it is impossible to confine the boys to school so 
 constantly as to teach them any solid branch thoroughly 
 because the parents allow them to leave school at any 
 time to enjoy amusements, which are so frequent that 
 they occasion almost daily interruption of their studies. 
 
 If you charge a slaveholder with want of ho7ior when 
 he violates a promise, without any excuse, he retires 
 behind the dignity of his fatal weapon, to shield his con- 
 duct. I asked the keeper of a hotel if he would furnish 
 me with a conveyance to a county-seat, twenty-five miles 
 distant, the next Monday morning, and he agreed to 
 furnish me a team, and a boy to drive. As I had been 
 frequently disappointed by this class of Southerners, I 
 remarked to him, — "it is now Saturday, and I d« net 
 
132 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ride on the Sabbath. I therefore want you to be posi^ 
 tive, sir ; for if you cannot insure me a conveyance early 
 Monday morning, I must go on farther to-night, as my 
 business is urgent." 
 
 " You may rest easy, sir," said he, " you shall have 
 the team Monday morning." 
 
 I saw his horse and buggy start off the next day, but 
 I supposed they would return in season for my service. 
 I waited patiently, therefore, until after breakfast on 
 Monday, and then I said to the host, " I am now ready 
 to be off with your team, sii\" 
 
 "Well, father sent for my carriage yesterday," he re- 
 marked, carelessly, " and I had to let him have it." 
 
 " How is this ? " said I, impetuously. " I thought there 
 was a fair agreement between us, that you should furnish 
 me with a team this morning to go to the city of D., — 
 and I told you distinctly that I had business to transact 
 there to-day which could not be delayed ?" 
 
 " I admit that," replied the landlord, indifferently, "bnt 
 when my father sends after my horse and buggy, of 
 course I have to let him take it." 
 
 " Indeed I And do you think this is treating a stranger 
 fairly and honorably ? " said I. 
 
 " Why, you talk to me like I was a nigger, sir," said 
 he, defiantly, springing to his feet and raising a hand to 
 his pistol. Being a peace man, and having no weapon 
 but a penknife, I did not utter another word of com- 
 plaint. Saucy Yankees have to be very civil in the 
 South, under such provocations. 
 
 The loose manner in which the public records are kept, 
 
SLAVEHOLDERS AS BUSINESS MEN. 1S3 
 
 whether thej refer to titles of lands, or private contracts, 
 Is a great annoyance to persons who have legal rights to 
 maintain, and are depending upon them. 
 
 A neighbor of mine in New England had a son who 
 resided several years in the flourishing city of Albany, 
 in South Western Georgia, — but he was taken sick, and 
 he died there. Soon after his decease, a merchant by 
 the name of H. wrote to his father, stating that his son, 
 who had died much lamented, had accumulated some 
 property, and among his papers were found deeds of 
 two lots of land in that city, besides other descriptions 
 of property. 
 
 While I was in Georgia, the father sent me a power 
 of attorney to settle the estate of his son. I inquired 
 for the merchant who wrote the letter, and was informed 
 that he was not living. But I found a brother of Mr. 
 H., a former partner in trade, and inquired of him 
 where those lots were located. He replied, that he was 
 not aware that Mr. Vamey — the name of my neigh- 
 bor — owned any land there. I told him that his brother 
 had so written to Mr. V.'s father, and I showed him the 
 letter. 
 
 " My brother never wrote that letter," said Mr. H., 
 " for he couldn't write his name." 
 
 I made extensive inquiries of business men residing 
 there for information relating to Vamey's property, but 
 no one professed to know anything about it. I then re- 
 paired to the county seat, to examine the registry of 
 deeds. But the name of Yamey was not upon the rec- 
 12 
 
134 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 ords. I showed the letter to the recorder, and inquired 
 what it meant. 
 
 " No doubt as it reads," was the reply. " But deeds 
 are not always recorded here," he added, " as they are 
 at the North. The State — for instance — when she 
 sells her public lands to individuals, gives deeds to A., 
 B., and C, and those deeds are recorded here. But 
 when A., B., and C, transfer their titles to D., E., and 
 F., they do not make new deeds, — but simply write 
 their names on the backs of the original deeds, thus en- 
 dorsing them as you do notes, and then pass them to the 
 hands of the new owners." 
 
 In this manner are the titles transferred many times 
 in succession, and many valuable estates pass by no bet- 
 ter evidence of sale. Having learned these facts, I re- 
 turned to the city and employed the ablest lawyer I 
 could find to assist me. But after a thorough investiga- 
 tion, he said to me, — "I have no doubt there is foul 
 play in this matter. Your deeds have been passed 
 around through the hands of men who are determined 
 to swindle your client ; and I firmly believe that if you 
 should find the lots, and should undertake to dispossess 
 the present occupants, and claimants, they would shoot 
 you." 
 
 Those lots are worth three thousand dollars, at least, 
 situated any where in the vicinity, — but they could only 
 be recovered at the risk of life. And I was obliged to 
 report to my employer that the property of his son 
 could not be recovered, and that any further attempt 
 would be useless. 
 
XIII. 
 
 SOUTHERN SPORTS. 
 
 " Then was all jollity, 
 Feasting and mirth, light wantonness and kughteTf 
 Piping and playing, minstrelsies and masking, 
 rnil life fled from them like an idle dream." 
 
 .RoWE, 
 
 The slave States are proverbial for their amusements. 
 The families of wealthy slaveholders are seldom taught 
 to labor, or to engage in any kind of business. Life is 
 to them but a play-day, and the question of every morn- 
 ing is — how to kill time ? It hangs like a dead weight 
 upon their hands. An old proverb says — "an idle 
 brain is the devil's workshop." And the most prolific 
 source of the drunkenness, licentiousness, and crime, 
 which abound in the South, is in the idleness of the 
 slaveholding class. Young men and young women have 
 nothing to do, — and the theater, the billiard table, the 
 drinking saloon, the horse race, the cock fight, are but 
 so many ways devised to banish ennui, and prevent 
 life from being a burden. 
 
 One of the most frequent amusements in some parts 
 of the South is " Gander pulling." Two important 
 branches of education in the " Peculiar Institution " — 
 
136 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEKY. 
 
 gambling and fighting — are rapidly advanced in connec- 
 tion with this amusement. More solid, perso7ial instruc- 
 tion is often practically demonstrated to students in 
 these sciences, at a single exhibition, than is obtained by 
 a whole college course in New England. And these 
 branches of education partake so much of the graceful, 
 ornamental, and indispensably useful learning in the po- 
 lite, chivalrous South, that the " Gander-pulling" is 
 patronized by all who walk in the fashionable circles. 
 
 I was at Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia. It is 
 not a city of any great note, though it contains some 
 fine residences. It is situated on the Oconee river, 
 which below this point was once navigated by small 
 steamers. The population is about 3000, and the inhab- 
 itants would consider it slanderous if I should say that 
 any more polished or refined could be found in the 
 Southern States. 
 
 Walking in the suburbs, I saw, nailed to the pine 
 trees, large notices of the time and place for a Gander- 
 pulling ; and circumstances favored my desire to witness 
 it. Word had gone into the country, and out among the 
 Crackers, far and near. At the appointed time, rude 
 whisky tents, and festive seats, and shades, were pre- 
 pared around the "pulling course;" and thousands of 
 spectators — ladies as well as gentlemen, the elite as 
 well as the vulgar — assembled to engage in or witness 
 the favorite sport. 
 
 The gander — a noble specimen of the wild goose 
 species — captured for the occasion — had a very long 
 neck, which was large as it rose above the breast, but 
 
BOUTHERN SPORTS. J37 
 
 tapered gradually for more than half the length, until it 
 became small and sei'pent-form, terminating in a long, 
 slim head, and peaked bill. The head and neck were 
 lubricated with oil. The legs were tied together by a 
 small cord, and the gander was then raised by the cord 
 about ten feet from the earth, and suspended from the 
 limb of a tree. In this position, he was for a long time 
 the hero, but at last the victim of the sport. 
 
 Tickets were issued by the proprietor of the gander, 
 at fifty cents each, to aU gentlemen present who wished 
 for them, and they entered their names as "pullers." 
 The pullers were to start about ten rods from the gan- 
 der, on horseback, riding at full speed, and as they 
 passed along under the gander, they had the privilege of 
 pulling off his head — which would entitle them to the ad- 
 ditional privilege of eating him. A " nigger," with a long 
 whip in hand, was stationed on a stump, about two rods 
 fi'om the gander, with orders to strike the horse of the 
 puller as he passed by. 
 
 Now it will be recollected that fifty cents was a fair 
 price for the gander after he was killed, and picked, and 
 ready for the cook. So that the owner could well afford 
 to sell a single chance to pull off the head for the full 
 value of the fowl. Still, "pullers" were plenty. 
 
 One entered the list — a " gentleman of property and 
 standing" — and dashed over the course. The poor 
 old gander — seeming quite resigned to his fate, or not 
 comprehending his danger, and not knowing how to 
 "dodge" — had his neck seized by the first rider; but 
 Ibeing well oiled, and his head so small, and his strength 
 
138 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 not yet exhausted, he slipped his head through the pull- 
 er's hand without suffering much from the twist. But 
 he drew up his head — as he saw the next puller coming 
 — looking wise and shrewd, as much as to say — "you 
 won't catch tliis bird napping again ! " Still, unskilled 
 in dodging, the gander's head was caught again, — but 
 he pulled it out a second time, after a terrible wrench. 
 After this he kept a sharp look out, and many pullers 
 passed by without being able to grapple his neck. The 
 game went on, and the pullers increased, till the jaded 
 gander could elude their grasp no longer. An old 
 Cracker — with a sandpaper glove on — pulled off his 
 head at last, amid the shouts of a wondering host of in- 
 toxicated competitors. 
 
 This may be called the introductory exercise. The 
 whisky kegs on the stumps — the gaming tables under 
 the shades — the cock-fights in the pens — the horse- 
 race out in the woods — will amuse the crowd to-morrow. 
 And the fox-chase, and perhaps a nigger-hunt, will close 
 the festivities. 
 
 In the morning of the second day, a luckless youth, 
 who had lost his purse at billiards, brought the winner 
 up before Judge W. for gambling. The Judge said that 
 so many prosecutions for graver offences were already 
 entered for trial before him, that he must put over that 
 case till the next morning. That evening the Judge, 
 dressed in disguise, passed through the gambling saloons, 
 and swept the stakes, pocketing all the money in the 
 crowd. The next morning he advised the unfortunate' 
 complainant to dismiss his complaint against the person 
 
BOUTHERN BPORTS. 139 
 
 charged with gambling, as he had an assurance that there 
 would be no more offences of the kmd ; and therefore 
 he thought it best to stop without farther proceedings. 
 
 That night, at two o'clock, the landlord came to my 
 door and rapped, saying that his house was full, and a 
 gentleman who had often stopped there had called to 
 lodge ; but his beds were all taken up, and he desired 
 that I would allow his old friend to take lodgings with 
 me in my bed, as otherwise he would be under the un- 
 pleasant necessity of turning him off. 
 
 " If you know him to be in reality a gentleman, sir," 
 said I, " I will consent, from a regard to your wishes and 
 feelings, that he may share the bed with me to-night, 
 hoping that the favor will not be solicited of me again 
 while I remain at your house." 
 
 " Thank you, sir," added Mr, J, " You may be as- 
 sured, sir, that I would not ask you to take in a com- 
 panion, if I were not well acquainted with him, and did 
 not know Mm in every respect to be an honorable gen- 
 tleman." 
 
 " Very well, sir," said I, " you may invite him up here 
 on your own certificate." 
 
 I unbolted the door, and the stranger walked in with 
 a very graceful bow, and a bland " good evening, sir," 
 
 " Good morning, sir," said I. 
 
 " It is too early yet for me to say morning," he re- 
 plied, " as I usually make later evenings than this." 
 
 I remained silent after this remark while my chum 
 threw off his dress, from which he detached a bowie 
 knife and pistols, — laying the knife and one pair of the 
 
140 INSIDE VIEW OF BLATEET. 
 
 pistols on the table, and placing another pair under hia 
 pillow. I shuddered — having neyer slept with pistols — 
 but I composed my nerves with the landlord's assurance 
 of a favorable acquaintance, and the historical fact that 
 Southern "gentlemen" sleep with pistols. The light 
 was extinguished, and the stranger laid himself down at 
 my side. At once he asked several familiar questions, 
 inquiring where was my residence, and what was my 
 occupation, &c., — to which full and explicit answers 
 were given ; and to be as polite in return, I inquired 
 what his profession was, — inferring from his style of 
 expression that he was a literary gentleman, who was 
 probably well read in some one of the learned profes- 
 Bions — when to my surprise he informed me that he 
 was "a gambler by profession." 
 
 Now, by the way, gambling is an open profession in 
 that locality, and is regarded as honorable and as respec- 
 table as the profession of law or medicine ; but I had a 
 different education, and was agitated a little with fear, 
 but more with indignation, when my bed-fellow told me 
 that he was a gambler. 
 
 " The landlord assured me that you were a gentleman, 
 sir," said I to him, " but had he told me of your profes- 
 sion, I would not have consented for you to share my 
 bed." 
 
 " Why not ? " asked the gambler, complacently. And 
 he entered into an elaborate argument to prove that his 
 profession was as honest and honorable as that of the' 
 physician. 
 
 It is customary in the South, after a warm day, to 
 
SOUTHERN SPORTS. 141 
 
 have speeches made in the evening under the awnings 
 and piazzas, or on the walls and in the parks in the 
 cities, and wherever men congregate at night around the 
 taverns and liquor shops in the country. 
 
 In April, 1853, 1 was stopping, with a friend of mine 
 from Massachusets, in the old city of Darien — of which 
 I shall give some account in the next chapter. It was a 
 beautiful evening, and as a crowd was standing around 
 the hotel, Capt. L., a Custom House officer in that port, 
 having some acquaintance with us, called for speeches 
 "from the Yankees." 
 
 "My friend here, Mr. W.," said I, "is an abolitionist, 
 so that it will not answer for him to make an abolition 
 speech ; but if he will make a temperance speech, I will 
 give you an abolition speech." 
 
 " Good ! " ejaculated Capt. L., " let us have them ! " 
 
 My friend made a neat, appropriate temperance speech, 
 in no respect offensive to the wine-bibbers and whisky- 
 soakers present, and then I gave them my abolition 
 speech, stating simply such facts as had come to my know- 
 ledge, mostly from personal observation. 
 
 " Gentlemen ! " said I, « the amount annually paid into 
 the post-office department by the slave States is less by 
 about half a million dollars than the cost of supporting 
 it in these States. This deficiency is principally paid 
 by the North. I understand now, gentlemen, the causes 
 which have rendered you unable to sustain your own 
 mails. I have been traveling among the Crackers, in 
 the " old fields," where I find that the people cannot 
 read and write. Of course little matter passes through 
 the mails to them. I was at the post-office at D., up 
 
142 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 here in the valley of the Altamaha, where slavery wag 
 first applied, and where it has nearly finished its work. 
 I inquired of the post-master, on the seventh day of 
 February, whether a letter would come to me at that 
 place from Jacksonville, Florida, across the country, 
 sixty-five miles, or would be carried around on the'rail- 
 road, and be brought down river by stage to that place. 
 
 ' I think,' said the post-master at D., ' that your letter 
 will come down from the railroad, — for the mail-carrier 
 from Jacksonville has not been up here since last fall." 
 
 ' Since last fall ? ' said I. 
 
 He afterwards confessed that the manner in which I 
 put the second question, left the impression on his mind 
 that the post-office department had sent me there to in- 
 quire into the particulars in regard to that mail route, 
 and he began to make explanations, and to apologize for 
 his friend, the mail-carrier. 
 
 'I remember,' said he, 'that he came up once or 
 twice without a letter or a paper. He is a very faithful, 
 honest man, sir, and you may be assured, that if there 
 was any thing to bring, he would forward it promptly.' 
 < I should like to know when he was last here,' said I. 
 ' I will inform you, sir,' he replied. 
 
 He looked at the books and showed me the record, 
 giving the last date of the receipt of mail matter by that 
 route, from Jacksonville, which was on the eleventh day 
 of the October previous ; making four months, wanting 
 four days. 
 
 ' Do yoa know what they pay him for carrying this 
 mail ? ' said I. 
 
 'Siz hundred and fifty dollars, I believe,' he answered. 
 
SOUTHERN SPORTS, 
 
 143 
 
 Again, gentlemen, I was at Emmett, on the central 
 railroad leading from Savannah to Macon, when the mail 
 was opened, and behold ! two letters only were left at 
 that ofl&ce on that day. One of these was addressed to 
 me, and the other to another Yankee, who was passing 
 that way. I had no reason to complain, as I had half 
 the mail. 
 
 They have post-offices at every station, ten miles 
 apart, on that road, but so little matter is left at those 
 offices, that the passenger train stops while the mail is as- 
 sorted. There are twenty post-offices on that road of two 
 hundred miles, but only one school house and one church 
 to be seen as you ride over it. These post-offices are 
 established for the accommodation of a few planters, 
 who send their cotton to the different stations. 
 
 A merchant belonging to South Carolina gave me an 
 account of the burning of abolition papers in the city of 
 C. Some suspicions were entertained that such docu- 
 ments were received at that post-office, and a select 
 company of merchants went to the office and demanded 
 the mail for an examination. The post-master would not 
 consent to have the mail taken out and examined for 
 that purpose. 
 
 ' If you don't give us the papers,' said one of the mer- 
 chants, ' we will bum the office down, sir.' 
 
 'I will be absent about three o'clock this evening, 
 gentlemen,' responded the postmaster, timidly. 
 
 ' We went to the office at three o'clock,' said my in- 
 formant, 'and found the post-master absent — but the 
 key was in the door, and we walked in. By a careful 
 
144 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAYEET. 
 
 looking over, we found a few abolition docmnents, and 
 one newspaper, and some two or three letters, that we 
 marked incendiary, and then we took them out into the 
 street. The pile was too smaU to make a fire worth 
 looking at when the sun was shining, and we bought a 
 bale of poor cotton — dog tail — for which we paid 
 fifteen dollars, tied the inflammatory papers to it, and 
 got up a respectable bonfire 1 ' " 
 
 I thus carried my remarks quite as far as was prudent, 
 and continued speaking until I noticed that some of my 
 auditors began to look excited and angry, — querying 
 whether I was indeed one of the fanatics, and evidently 
 surprised that I should dare to repeat such facts, with 
 BO much earnest sincerity and independence. Capt. L., 
 however, came to my relief, by diverting the attention 
 of the crowd. " Now," said he, " I will tell you of a frolic 
 we had catching an abolitionist!" And assuring the 
 listeners that it was safe to give me the facts, inasmuch 
 as they knew some of my friends in that State who 
 were true to the South, he proceeded to relate substan- 
 tially the following amusing story. 
 
 In the autumn of 1852, a gentleman from New York 
 came to Darien, and took lodgings at the same hotel 
 where we were stopping, entering his name on the reg- 
 ister as a Mr. Smith. He was a very fine looking man, 
 large, tall, handsome, and elegantly dressed in black. 
 He always appeared dignified and grave, did not drink 
 or swear, or even seem to be light minded. After he 
 liad boarded there a few days, Capt. L. asked him if he 
 was a clergyman. He replied, very politely, that he 
 
SOUTHERN SPOETS. 145 
 
 was not. The next morning he put his trunks on the 
 stage, directed to Macon, and after taking breakfast, he 
 called for his bill, paid it, and started ofiF up river on 
 foot, about an hour after the stage had left. 
 
 Capt. L. then inquired of the landlord why that gen- 
 tleman had left in that manner, when he appeared as 
 though he had the means of traveling respectably. The 
 landlord said he knew nothing about the gentleman, or 
 about his business. Then they sent the niggers all 
 around to the stores, and wharves, and lumber yards, 
 to inquire what Mr. Smith's business had been in the 
 city. But no information was obtained. They called 
 on the landlord again, and inquired if Mr. Smith had 
 brought with him any reference from any bank, or com- 
 mercial house, or testimonials from any reliable source. 
 
 " He did not show me any papers of the kind," replied 
 the landlord. " His conduct, in my house, so far as I 
 know, was perfectly correct and gentlemanly. I knew 
 nothing about him, except that he was out late at night. 
 The niggers had to be up till two or three o'clock, some- 
 times, to let him in." 
 
 Out late nights 1 What in the world could a gentle- 
 man be doing out so late at night in that city ? They 
 once had a gambling house, but it had been run down so 
 low since the cotton trade fell off, that that haunt had 
 been abandoned. This Mr. Smith, moreover, had exhib- 
 ited no characteristics of the gambler's profession in 
 his deportment or conversation. So the inference was, 
 that he must be an abolitionist. This at once explained 
 his conduct. He was out to the nigger huts in the night, 
 13 
 
146 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 either planning an insurrection, or preparing to take 
 some of them North. The alarm ran through the old 
 city like -wildfire. So much life had not been seen for 
 years. A large crowd soon gathered to commence pro. 
 ceedings in the case. The city marshal, Mr. C, who 
 was present, was ordered to pursue Smith and bring 
 him back to the city for public examination. The mar- 
 shal, however, said he would not go alone, but would go 
 if the Custom House officer would accompany him. Capt. 
 L. was ready to go, but not without more attendants 
 than the marshal, as he was small, and the abolitionist 
 was a large, stout man, with a stalwart arm, and was no 
 doubt well armed ; but if a sufficient number of gentle- 
 men would volunteer to go to make it perfectly safe, 
 they would start. Ten others at once volunteered. 
 The horses were brought out, and, all armed, booted, 
 and spurred, they dashed away in hot pursuit of the 
 mysterious stranger. They overtook Smith, who was 
 walking very fast, within one mile of Fort Barrington, 
 fourteen miles from the city. 
 
 They all rode by, dismounted, tied their horses, and 
 then formed a solid phalanx across the road. As tlio 
 abolitionist drew nigh, the marshal advanced a few steps 
 towards him, and arrested him. Smith threw up his 
 hands in consternation, and exclaimed, " what does this 
 mean ? " looking as frightened as he would, had he known 
 that he was to be shot the next instant. 
 
 " You must go back to the city," said the marshal, 
 " and you will find out there what it means." 
 
 "But what have I done in the city, sir," asked Smith, 
 
SOUTHERN SPORTS. 147 
 
 trembling in every joint, " that yoii have come out against 
 me in this manner ? " 
 
 " "We have no time to parley with you," replied the 
 marshal. " Put about, sir ! " 
 
 " Have you a warrant against me ? " inquired Smith, 
 looking as pale as death. 
 
 " No," answered the marshal, " we had not time for 
 that ; but our orders are, to take you back ; so we will 
 bandy no more words about it." 
 
 " Grant me one favor," said Smith. " I have promised 
 to be at M., — which is more than two hundred miles 
 distant, — in one week; and being about out of money, 
 I am obliged to travel on foot. And now, sir, will you 
 be so kind as to tell me what your suspicions are in 
 relation to me ? " 
 
 After much persuasion, the marshal informed him that 
 they suspected he was an abolitionist. Then, his face 
 brightening up, and the load seeming to fall from his 
 shoulders, he exclaimed, "Heaven knows, gentlemen, 
 that I am no abolitionist I I am a gambler. I was out 
 late nights, looking for some chance to follow my pro- 
 fession; but you have run down there so, that I could 
 find no gambling house, — and as my pockets were nearly 
 empty, I was obliged to leave in this manner." 
 
 " Fudge ! " rejoined the marslial, " you can't deceive us 
 in that manner. Search him, boys ! " 
 
 And the volunteers took off his hat and coat, threw 
 him down and pulled off his boots and pants, and 
 searched every part of his dress to see if they could 
 find any abolition documents on his person. But noth- 
 
148 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 ing of the kind was found. Still the marshal insisted 
 that Smith must go back to the city, for such was the 
 direction that he had received from the authorities. 
 
 "Well, I will tell you what I will do, gentlemen," 
 said Smith. " I have only nine shillings left ; but if any 
 of you will risk a game with me, I can give you ocular 
 demonstration that I am what I profess to be — a gam- 
 bler." 
 
 "Now we were all gamblers," said Capt., L., "and, 
 we thought, as shrewd as could be found any where; 
 and so we readily accepted the challenge. Down we 
 sat in the woods, and commenced the game. And in 
 less than an hour, the abolitionist got every shilling of 
 money there was in the crowd ! He was, however, a 
 noble, generous, magnanimous fellow. He took us to 
 the tavern at B., and gave us some good brandy, and a 
 good dinner, after which we came home, and let the 
 stranger go on his way rejoicing. But when we got 
 back to the city, you never saw a pack of fellows so 
 ashamed as we were, to find the whole city paraded in 
 the streets to receive us, and hear our report 1 " 
 
 While Capt. L, was relating this story, I could not 
 help thinking of my own condition at that time. My 
 note book was in my pocket, and in my trunk might 
 have been found abundant evidence of my abolitionism. 
 1 confess I was not without my fears. And since my 
 return to the North, especially when reading accounts 
 of men being mobbed in the South for their anti-slavery 
 sentiments, I have often wondered that I escaped. But 
 I have no doubt the well known fact that I had relatives 
 
SOUTHERN SPORTS. 149 
 
 who were slaveholders, was a protection to me. And I 
 think also, as strange as it may appear, that the freedom 
 with which I expressed my views allayed the suspicions 
 of those with whom I conversed. They look upon a real 
 abolitionist as a secret enemy — one who comes in dis- 
 guise, and endeavors to incite the slaves to insurrection 
 or desertion. But while I always frankly expressed my 
 opinions, there was nothing in my conduct which could 
 lead them to suspect me of any such designs. I was at 
 all times on intimate terms with slaveholders, and that 
 class of persons who do the work of mobs — who seldom 
 own slaves themselves — were respectful towards me, 
 probably for that reason. 
 
XIV. 
 
 TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 
 
 " Sad and weary — all forlorn — 
 Slaves must work from early mom ; 
 Drear the day, and dark the night, — 
 Woes of slaves find no respite. 
 Though I toil, I nothing gain, 
 Joy ne'er comes to pay for pain." 
 
 Negro Melodt. 
 
 My object in giving some account of the treatment of 
 slaves, is not to draw from it an argument against the 
 system. If slaves were always treated kindly, it would 
 by no means justify the institution of slavery; — nor 
 does the fact that they are sometimes treated cruelly, 
 necessarily prove it wrong. The child may be abused 
 by the parent, or lawful guardian, — while the kidnap- 
 per may sometimes manifest the kindest regard for the 
 physical comfort of his victim. And yet the actual con- 
 dition of the slaves, as it respects their bodily necessities, 
 and the treatment they receive from their masters and 
 overseers, is a subject on which there is much interest; 
 and the facts which came under my own observation were 
 such as are well adapted to awaken our sympathies in 
 their behalf. 
 
TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 151 
 
 In the northern slave States, where corn and bacon 
 are abundant and cheap, the slaves suffer little from 
 hunger compared with what they suffer farther South, 
 where cotton, sugar, and rice, are more profitable crops. 
 The slaves in Virginia have twelve quarts of corn a 
 week, besides a small allowance of fish, or meat. In 
 the States further South, the allowance is only eight 
 quarts a week, and no more than this is allowed to those 
 who have no meat. This is the quantity usually dealt 
 out to about one fourth part of the slaves in Georgia, so 
 far as I could ascertain. There is no regular, imiform 
 system adopted throughout the State, however. Neigh- 
 borhoods have their own conventional rules. In some 
 parts of the State several contiguous plantations may be 
 found where the slaves are not tasked or allowanced ; 
 where they fare just as well in respect to food and cloth- 
 ing as the masters. Such masters go to the field, plan 
 their own work, and, if need be, help do it, — and they 
 treat their slaves as kindly as they can safely be treated. 
 But if you pass over a creek, or a river, into another 
 neighborhood, you wiU find a difierent system. The 
 task of " one acre a day," at hoeing, must be performed. 
 The slave is put on allowance, and rigorously treated in 
 every respect. And it is sufficient to say that there is 
 the same difference among individuals and neighbor- 
 hoods, in the treatment of slaves, that there is in other 
 respects. And men, and communities, differ in the South, 
 as they do in the North, — though not in the same de- 
 gree. For while freedom is the parent of life, which 
 everywhere exhibits itself in boundless variety, — the 
 
XIV. 
 
 TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 
 
 « Sad and weary — all forlorn — 
 Slaves must work from early mom ; 
 Drear the day, and dark the night, — 
 Woes of slaves find no respite. 
 Though I toil, I nothing gain, 
 Joy ne'er comes to pay for pain," 
 
 Negro Melody. 
 
 My object in giving some account of the treatment of 
 slaves, is not to draw from it an argument against the 
 system. K slaves were always treated kindly, it would 
 by no means justify the institution of slavery; — nor 
 does the fact that they are sometimes treated cruelly, 
 necessarily prove it wrong. The child may be abused 
 by the parent, or lawful guardian, — while the kidnap- 
 per may sometimes manifest the kindest regard for the 
 physical comfort of his victim. And yet the actual con- 
 dition of the slaves, as it respects their bodily necessities, 
 and the treatment they receive from their masters and 
 overseers, is a subject on which there is much interest; 
 and the facts which came under my own observation were 
 such as are well adapted to awaken our sympathies in 
 their behalf. 
 
TREATi\rENT OP SLAVES. 153 
 
 There was very little labor done on that plantation. 
 One Northern man would perform as much as five of 
 those slaves. And yet I never saw a more miserable, 
 degraded, despairing family of human beings. Debts, 
 taxes, and expenses of all kinds were paid by the sale 
 of slaves, and the " soul driver " was an almost weekly 
 visitor. There was not an unbroken family among 
 them, — not even parents and children living together, 
 excepting the mothers who were nursing their infants. 
 
 I frequently saw those mothers take their infants and 
 their com cake, at the sound of the horn at day break, 
 and march in slow and solemn procession to the corn- 
 fields. When they reached the place where they had 
 left their hoes the evening before, a long distance 
 from the huts, — as the fields near by had been worn 
 out — they laid their infants down in the "gum cra- 
 dles" — troughs cut in logs — and each one hoed a long 
 row out and back in season to nourish the infants and 
 eat the dinner-cake at noon. Then they hoed two more 
 rows before returning to the cheerless huts, to rest 
 their weary limbs at night. ^ When they reached the huts, 
 they took one quart of com each, and putting it into a 
 mortar — made by themselves by burning a hole into the 
 end of a pine log — they pounded it into coarse meal 
 with a wooden or iron pestle. After this they put one 
 third of it into the kettle, and boiled it for supper, and 
 then kneaded the remainder into a cake, and put it into 
 the embers to be baked for breakfast and dinner the 
 next day. They then laid down on the ground, — as the 
 huts had no floors, — and slept, some on a few filthy old 
 
154 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 rags, others, on a thin layer of rice straw, until the horn 
 called them again to perform their daily round of cheer- 
 less toil. One look at those slaves — and they had a 
 kind master, if by kindness is only meant not to whip, 
 or overtask — would have been sufficient to convince 
 any Northern man that happiness is incompatible with 
 such a condition. 
 
 When provisions are very scarce the slaves suffer 
 much from hunger on some of the large plantations. " I 
 have known slaves to suffer so much from hunger," said 
 a gentleman to me residing in a place called ' Cave Run,' 
 S. Carolina, " that they were accustomed to eat unclean 
 beasts, and birds, iish, insects, and reptiles. I have 
 known them to eat alligators, crows, owls, &c., and other 
 things that nobody would eat if sufficient wholesome 
 food could be obtained to keep them from starvation I " 
 
 " The dogs," he added, " fare better than the slaves, 
 with some masters, — because whipping will not prevent 
 the dog from stealing sheep, or fowls, when he is hungry/' 
 ^ " "When I was a small boy," said a faithful slave be- 
 longing to J. R., of Cave Run, " I was set to cooking 
 alligators for master's hounds, and an old slave woman 
 frequently came to me to beg some of the cooked alliga- 
 tor to eat. She would say she was hungry — and I could 
 not refuse her some dogs' meat." 
 
 "It was quite a large business," he continued, "to 
 cook for thirty dogs ; and it had to be done in style. I 
 was often whipped for letting the dogs' dimier burn, or 
 for letting them steal their food between meals — al- 
 though I was not allowed to whip them — or for not 
 
TRILiTMENT OP SLAVES. 155 
 
 having eaough cooked ready for them -when they would 
 come home unexpectedly from a chase. And many a 
 time have I wished I had been made a dog, instead of a 
 slave, when I saw how much better the dogs fared than 
 the slaves, and felt how much more kind their masters 
 were to them than to me, and how much better they 
 were treated in every respect than I was. It may seem 
 strange to you, master, but / envied the dog his con- 
 dition ! " 
 
 I have heard much said about the time allowed to 
 slaves to work for themselves, in cultivating gardens, and 
 corn-patches, raising poultry &c. Those slaves who are 
 indulged with such privileges are left, generally, to pro- 
 vide themselves with hats, and shoes, and tobacco, or 
 any other little articles of luxury, — for which they niust 
 spend the avails of their labors on the Sabbath, or in tha 
 night, when they need to rest. But the number that are 
 permitted to labor at all for such purposes is very small. 
 Indeed I must say that very little regard is had to the 
 comfort of the great mass of the slave population. There 
 are many honorable individual, and a few neighborhood 
 exceptions. But the great object of the master is to 
 derive the greatest possible profit, at the least possible 
 expense, provided that he does not endanger the life, 
 and health, and value of his slaves. This is all that is 
 comprehended in the pecuniary idea of slave labor. 
 
 In relation to the punishments to which slaves are ex- 
 posed, and often subjected, it is not my purpose to give 
 any detailed account. Occasional instances came under 
 my notice, which I have narrated, in connection with 
 
156 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY, 
 
 other incidents. In this manner the reader may learn 
 the facts quite as correctly, and much more agreeably to 
 himself, than he could by perusing an entire chapter of 
 sufferings and tortures. It is enough for any one -who 
 understands anything of human nature to know that the 
 slave is helpless, powerless, unprotected, in the hands 
 of his master. Admitting that slaveholders are no worse 
 than other men, — it cannot be otherwise than true that 
 their slaves often suffer terribly. The same number of 
 Northern men, if they had the same power over their 
 fellow creatures, if there were no restraints in society 
 around them upon their passions — their anger, malice, 
 revenge, cupidity, lust — would exhibit a degree of de- 
 pravity of which we have now no conception. 
 
 I will, however, give a brief description of the instru- 
 ments of torture which are in common use in the South. 
 In this department the slaveholders exhibit more me- 
 chanical skill, and power of invention, than in their im- 
 plements of husbandry. 
 
 THE THUMB SCKEW. 
 
 I walked nine miles over bottom land, much of the 
 way in water ankle deep, to see a slave who was wear- 
 ing this instrument. The boy was riding a mule, in the 
 cotton field, drawing a plow which was held by his mother. 
 I inquired his age — but neither the mother nor son could 
 give it. I judged him to be about sixteen. He had 
 been wearing the screw two days. He said that it 
 caused him but little pain at first; but after the swelling 
 
TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 157 
 
 commenced in the thumb, the pain continued to increase, 
 and he was already suffering so much that he said he 
 would die before he would ever have it put on again. 
 
 The apparatus consists of a wristband of iron, with 
 an iron stud or post about three inches long standing up 
 in it opposite the thumb. A thin strap of iron passes 
 around the ball of the thumb, attached to a piece of round 
 iron, which runs back through a hole in the top of the 
 post. Upon the end of this round iron is cut a screw, 
 and behind the post a nut is put on. When this nut is 
 turned, the thumb is drawn backward. The instrument 
 is strong enough to dislocate the thumb by this retrac- 
 tion. The greatest amount of suffering which man is 
 able to endure can be inflicted upon the slave with this 
 instrument, and no scar remains to reduce his value in 
 the market. By a long application the large nerves of 
 the thumb become highly inflamed, and the most intense 
 pain ensues. 
 
 The poor boy whom I saw wearing it, perished under 
 the first application. The agony became so intense as 
 to induce the lockjaw. As soon as it was known, the 
 instrument was removed, and a physician employed ; but 
 his aid afforded no relief. Death came to release the 
 Bufferii^ slave from the tyrant's power. 
 
 THE STOCKS. 
 
 Two pine planks, about two inches in thickness, one 
 foot in width, and two feet in length, have each two semi- 
 lunar notches cut in the edges, near the middle, just large 
 14 
 
158 mSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 enough to take in half of the ankle. One of these 
 planks is applied to each side of the ankle, the edges of 
 the planks are brought together, and then wooden cleats, 
 running across the planks, are fastened on with wooden 
 pins or iron spikes. The slaves are put in these stocks 
 to prevent them from running away. They are so closely 
 fitted to the ankle that the foot cannot be drawn out, 
 made so strong that they cannot be broken, and so heavy 
 that they cannot be dragged. 
 
 THE BELL. 
 
 The name does not indicate that this is an instrument 
 of much suffering, — and yet the wearer finds it to be 
 so. An iron belt passes around the loins — fastened 
 over the spine with a lock, and a socket about half an 
 inch in diameter. An iron collar is put around the neck, 
 with an iron ring about an inch in diameter, fastened to 
 the collar behind. A rod of round iron runs down 
 through the ring at the back of the neck, and rests in 
 the socket of the belt below. Above the neck this rod 
 is split, and bent out in the shape of two horns, rising 
 about a foot above the head. A cross-piece of iron is 
 fastened to the top of the horns, and from the center of 
 the cross-piece the " bell" — a common cow-bell — is sus- 
 pended. The collar on the neck is often nearly as wide 
 as the neck is long, and the upper edge sometimes is ser- 
 rated — like a saw. Whenever the wearer turns his 
 head, the collar chafes his neck. The bell is put on 
 slaves that have been guilty of running away, so that 
 
TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 159 
 
 they may be heard as they run, if they make another at- 
 tempt. Besides, the apparatus is so heavy, and the 
 horns so high and broad, that little progress can be 
 made with it on, in the woods. 
 
 This instrument is not often applied, and I was obliged 
 to travel fourteen miles to see one in use. The slave 
 who wore it was driving a mule, in a cotton gin. When- 
 ever Cuffee raised his hand to strike the mule, the bell 
 would sound, and the animal was thus warned of the 
 impending blow. 
 
 THE GAG. 
 
 The Gag is a piece of iron, about three inches in 
 length, one inch in width at one end, half an inch at the 
 other, and about one eighth of an inch in thickness. 
 This instrument is put into the mouth, over the tongue, 
 with the narrow end inside, while the wide end is left 
 projecting through the lips. The outer end is inserted 
 into a small strap of iron that passes over the mouth, 
 the ends of which extend around to the back of the neck, 
 where they are fastened together by a rivet, or a pad- 
 lock. With this long, wide piece of iron thus confined 
 on the tongue, the slave is truly gagged, — as he is un- 
 able to utter a syllable. 
 
 I saw the gag on a slave preacher, who, contrary to 
 his orders, had left his hut in the night, and gone out in- 
 to the woods to preach to some slaves, who had also 
 left their huts without leave, to go and hear him. It 
 was dangerous to allow such liberty to slaves. But 
 
160 mSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 " Sambo" thought it his duty to preach in the night, even 
 if he became a martyr by it, as there was much religious 
 interest excited among the slaves by his preaching. He 
 had been punished severely in various ways for his night 
 preaching, — until his master's patience had been ex- 
 hausted, and he told him that if he found him out again 
 at midnight, he would shoot him. But death, if met in 
 the path of duty, had no terrors for Sambo. When the 
 appointed hour came, his flambeau blazed on the stump, 
 and words of earnest Christian counsel and consolation 
 were dropping from his lips, when Mr. B., his master, 
 drew near to the devout worshippers, with his loaded 
 rifle. With a stealthy step, he advanced slowly through 
 the dark pine woods, until nearly within gun-shot of hia 
 victim, when the crackling of some dry limbs under Ms 
 feet startled the outer guard, and the alarm ran through 
 the listening crowd, reaching Sambo's ear. Mr. B. halt- 
 ed, and leaned against a tree, while waiting for the fears 
 which his footsteps had created to pass away. Sambo 
 continued to preach. The musical tones of his voice, 
 the Christian heroism exhibited in his resignation to his 
 fate, the moral courage displayed in recognizing his 
 superior obligations to a higher power, the hearty re- 
 sponses which arose from his hearers, as he counseled 
 obedience to their masters, and a patient endurance of 
 sufferings for their Heavenly Master's sake, touched the 
 heart of Mr. B., — who was himself a professor of the 
 same faith — and changed his purpose. He decided to 
 retire silently, and wait until morning before punishing 
 the disobedient slave. In the morning Sambo was taken 
 
TREATMENT OP SLAVES. 161 
 
 to the blacksmith to be gagged. After the rough iron 
 had been thrust into his mouth, and fastened there, it 
 was useless for him to run off in the night to preach 
 again, for he could not speak a word. As I looked up- 
 on this preacher, thus compelled by his master to be 
 dumb, I could not avoid the reflection that, after all, his 
 condition was not unlike that of many of his Northern 
 brethren, — though it doubtless causes less pain to be 
 gagged with cotton, than with iron. It is but just to 
 say, however, that since the passage of the Nebraska 
 bill, the proportion of Northern ministers that are gag- 
 ged by the Slave Power is far less than it was before. 
 
 COTTON PLANTEE'S WHIP. 
 
 This is called the " Cotton planter's whip," because 
 the planters say that this whip raises the cotton. The 
 stock is covered with green hide, about four feet long, 
 and is loaded with lead at the butt. The lash is long and 
 heavily wrought into hard knots towards the end, with 
 wire. The staff is so heavy, and the lash is so long, 
 that the whipping-master is obliged to twirl it skilfully in 
 the air before he can command its full force. Hence the 
 labor of using this whip is hard, and when several hun- 
 dred lashes are ordered, the whippers take turns. 
 
 THE PADDLE. 
 
 This is made of a board, and is about three feet long, 
 and four inches wide. One end is shaved down for the 
 
162 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 handle, and the other end is bored full of half inch auger 
 holes. The paddle is sometimes applied to the back of 
 a slave until all the skin is taken off by it, so that no 
 soar will remain to reduce the value of the slave in the 
 market. 
 
 GANG CHAIN. 
 
 This is a long chain, running the whole length between 
 the pairs of slaves marching in droves to the market. 
 And the short chains between each pair are fastened to 
 the long gang chain, and to a strong iron collar, fastened 
 by a padlock around the neck of each slave. 
 
 There are other means resorted to for pimishing slaves, 
 which I need not describe. They are confined in the 
 " sugar houses," — made to walk the " tread-mill," — and 
 fastened together, or bound with " hand-cuflfs." And 
 aside from any regular instrument of torture, a master, 
 or a mistress, or an overseer, in a fit of rage, will seize 
 whatever weapon is at hand, and use it for this purpose. 
 And the occasions, or the frequency of such inflictions 
 depend on a thousand circumstances which cannot be 
 foreseen, and which it would be useless for me to specify. 
 I leave the subject, as one of the most unpleasant that 
 came mider my observation during my Southern tour. 
 
XV. 
 
 FOOTPRINTS OF SLAVEET. 
 
 •' Come ! by whatever sacred name disguised, 
 Oppression, come ! and in thy works rejoice ! 
 See natures richest plains to putrid fens 
 ; Turned by thy fury. From their cheerful bounds 
 
 See razed th' enliTening village, &rm, and seat." 
 
 Thompson. 
 
 The disastrous influence of slavery upon industrial 
 pursuits, and its destructive effects upon the prosperity 
 of communities, as well as of individuals, are seen in the 
 South in every department of life, and among all classes 
 of society. They are therefore incidentally traced in 
 all the chapters of this narrative. But my object in this 
 chapter is to group together some facts illustrating this 
 truth more particularly, and exhibiting it in a stronger 
 light. 
 
 All progress and all retrogression are perhaps relative, 
 rather than absolute, and can best be shown by compar- 
 ison or contrast. But if I indulge in this, my pictures 
 may be colored, or at least some may suppose them to 
 be, by my predilections for the North. I will, therefore, 
 put into a frame of my own, — surrounding them with 
 occasional views taken by myself during my various ex- 
 cursions, — some pencilings drawn by the slaveholders 
 
164 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 themselves. They, certainly, will not be accused of 
 prejudice against the South. And I will first copy from 
 a speech of Hon. W. C. Preston, of South Carolina, aa 
 reported in the Columbia Telescope. At the time of 
 its delivery he had represented that State in the U. S. 
 Senate for nearly six years, and he continued a member of 
 that body for more than six years afterwards. But not 
 more on account of his high position in the South, than 
 of his power of graphic and life-like delineation, are his 
 remarks worthy of our careful attention. 
 
 "No Southern man can journey, — as I have lately 
 done, — through the Northern States, and witness the 
 prosperity, the industry, the public spirit which they 
 exhibit — the sedulous cultiyation of all those arts by 
 which life is rendered comfortable and respectable — with- 
 out feelings of deep sadness and shame, as he remem- 
 bers his own neglected and desolate home. There, no 
 dwelling is to be seen abandoned, no farm uncultivated. 
 Every person, and every thing, performs a part toward 
 the grand result, and the whole land is covered with 
 fertile fields, with manufactories, and canals, and rail- 
 roads, and edifices, and towns, and cities. Along the 
 route of the great New York canal (that glorious mon- 
 ument to the memory of De Witt Clinton), a canal, a 
 railroad, and a turnpike are to be seen in the vridth 
 of perhaps a hundred yards, each of them crowded 
 with travel, or overflowing with commerce. Throughout 
 their course, lands that before their construction would 
 scarcely command five dollars the acre, now sell for fifty, 
 Beventy.five, or a hundred. Passing along it, you see 
 
FOOTPRINTS OP SLAVEET. 165 
 
 no space of three miles without a town or village, and 
 you are never out of the sound of a church bell. 
 
 " We of the South are mistaken ia the character of 
 these people, when we think of them only as peddlers 
 in horn flints and bark nutmegs. Their energy and en- 
 terprise are directed to all objects, great and small, 
 within their reach. At the fall of a scanty rivulet they 
 set up their little manufactory of wooden buttons or 
 combs — they plant a barren hill-side with broom com, 
 and make it into brooms at the bottom — and on its 
 top they erect a wind-mill. Thus at a single spot you 
 may see the air, the earth, and the water, all working 
 for them. But at the same time the ocean is whitened 
 to its extremities with the sails of their ships, and the 
 land is covered with their works of art and usefulness. 
 
 " Massachusetts is perhaps one of the most flourishing 
 of the Northern States. Yet of natural productions 
 she exports but two articles — • granite and ice. Abso- 
 lutely nothing but rock and ice! Everything else of 
 her commerce, from which she derives so much, is arti- 
 ficial — the work of her own hands. 
 
 " All this is done, in a region with a bleak climate and 
 sterile soil, by the energy and intelligence of the people. 
 Every man knows that the public good is his individual 
 advantage. The number of railroads and other modes 
 of expeditious intercommunication, knits the whole coun- 
 try into a closely compacted mass, through which the 
 productions of commerce and of the press, the comforts 
 of life and the means of knowledge, are universally 
 difiused ; while the close intcrcom-se of travel and busi- 
 
166 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY, 
 
 ness makes all neighbors, and promotes a common inter- 
 est and a common sympathy. 
 
 "In a community thus connected, a single flash of 
 thought pervades the whole land, almost as rapidly as 
 thought itself can fly. The population becomes, as it 
 were, a single set of muscles, animated by one heart, and 
 directed by a common senSorium. 
 
 " How different the condition of these things ia the 
 South 1 Here, the face of the country wears the aspect 
 of premature old age and decay. No improvement is 
 seen going on — nothing is done for posterity — no man 
 thinks of any thing beyond the present moment. Our 
 lands are yearly tasked to their utmost capacity of pro- 
 duction, and when exhausted, are abandoned for the 
 youthful West. Because nature has been prodigal to 
 us, we seem to think it unnecessary to do any thing for 
 ourselves. The industry and skill that have converted 
 the inclement and barren hiUs of New England into a 
 garden, of the climate and fertile soil of the South 
 would create almost a paradise. Our natural advan- 
 tages are among the greatest with which Providence has 
 blessed mankind, but we lack the spirit to improve and 
 enjoy them. The rich ore is beneath our feet, yet we 
 dig not for it. The golden fruit hangs from the bough, 
 and we lift not our hands to gather it. The cask of de- 
 licious liquor is before our eyes, but we are too lazy 
 even to broach it." 
 
 It is true that Senator Preston does not attribute the 
 striking contrast between the North and the South, 
 which he thus so skillfully pictures, to the existence of 
 
FOOTPRINTS OP SLAVEET. 167 
 
 slavery in the latter. Nor will I make any such asser- 
 tion, — but will rather leave it for every one to come to 
 whatever conclusion the facts will warrant. But for 
 this purpose I will ask the reader's attention to a com- 
 parison of individual States, drawn partly from my own 
 observation, and partly from the census report of 1850. 
 There are no two States in the Union so nearly equal in 
 natural resources as Kentucky and Ohio, — though if 
 there is any difference, it is in favor of the former. 
 Kentucky has about the same area, and a somewhat 
 milder climate than the northern part of Ohio, — but 
 both States have a very fertile soil. Kentucky was 
 settled fibrst, and in 1790 had a population of 60,000, 
 while Ohio was still a wilderness. In 1815 the latter 
 had overtaken the former in population, and far surpassed 
 it in wealth. In 1850 the population of Kentucky was 
 982,405, while that of Ohio was 1,980,427 1 Both are 
 agricultural States, and raise very nearly the same kinds 
 of produce — no rice or cotton of any consequence being 
 cultivated in either. And though Kentucky had a million 
 and a half acres of improved lands more than Ohio, 
 the value of farm lands in the former was % 154,330,262, 
 — iu the latter it was $358,758,603! The value of 
 farming implements and machinery in the first was 
 1 5,169,037,— in the last, $ 12,750,585 ! If this astonish- 
 ing difference in the prosperity and growth of these two 
 States, during the last fifty years, is not explained by 
 the fact that one is a slave State, and the other free, 
 how can we explain it ? What other cause can be as* 
 signed? 
 
168 INSIDB VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 As it is tlie turn of the South to give us the next pic- 
 ture, I will quote from a pamphlet published in 1840 by 
 Hon. Thomas F. Marshal, a distinguished politiciaa of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 " In 1790, Virgiaia, with 70,000 square miles of ter- 
 ritory, contained a population of 749,308. New York, 
 upon a surface of 46,000 square miles, contained a pop- 
 ulation of 344,120. This statement exhibits in favor 
 of Virginia a difference of 24,000 square miles of terri- 
 tory, and 408,108 in population, — which is double that of 
 New York and 68,000 more. In 1830, after a race of 
 forty years, Virginia is found to contain 1,211,405 souls, 
 and New York 1,918,608. Virginia has increased in 
 the ratio of 61 per cent, and New York in that of 566 
 per centl" [In 1850 the population of Virginia was 
 1,421,661, or less than double that of 1790, while that 
 of New York was 3,097,394, being nine times its 
 population in 1790 1 The value of farming lands in Vir- 
 ginia in 1850 was $216,401,441. In New York it was 
 $ 554,546,642 !] 
 
 Mr. Marshal continues : — " Statesmen may differ about 
 policy, or the means to be employed in the promotion 
 of the public good ; but surely they ought to be agreed 
 as to what prosperity means. I think there can be no 
 dispute that New York is a greater, richer, and more 
 prosperous State than Virginia. What has occasioned 
 the difference ? There is but one explanation of the 
 facts I liave shown. The clog that has staid the march 
 of her people, the incubus that has weighed down her 
 enterprise, strangled her commerce, kept sealed her ex- 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF SLAVERY. 169 
 
 haustless fotmtains of mineral wealth, and paralyzed her 
 arts, manufactures, and improvements, is negro slavery." 
 
 In confirmation of this conclusion, I noticed wher- 
 ever I traveled in the South that the old counties, which 
 were first settled, were uniformly inferior to the new 
 counties in population and wealth. I do not include in 
 this statement those counties which contain large cities 
 on the seaboard, as other causes contribute to their 
 prosperity. But wherever the influence of slavery has 
 been felt the longest, the soil is the most barren, the 
 buildings the poorest or the most dilapidated, the schools 
 and churches the fewest, and the people the most igno- 
 taat and degraded. 
 
 Virginia is the oldest of the States. In her produc- 
 tions, her harbors, and rivers, she is unequaled in heir 
 advantages for commerce, — foreign as well as domestic. 
 But her trade is small, and is mostly carried on through 
 the ports and the shipping of the North. No Northern 
 State has equal natural advantages for manufactures, 
 and yet they are almost entirely unimproved. The 
 value of her cotton manufactures in 1850 was only 
 1 1,486,384, — being a little more than half as much as 
 those of Maine, and less than one twelfth as much as 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 One of the most beautiful cities io this country is 
 Richmond, the capital of Virginia; and it might have 
 been one of the largest. Situated at the head of tide 
 water on James River, it has a fine harbor, and is admir- 
 ably located for commerce. The foreign arrivals in 
 1852 were 35, and the clearances for foreign ports 71. 
 15 
 
170 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 The foreign clearances from Boston the same year were 
 2866, and the arrivals 2974. Richmond, like ancient 
 Rome, is built on several hills. The scenery of its en- 
 virons is unsurpassed for beauty and variety. Nor are 
 its advantages limited to the beautiful. The river here 
 descends about 100 feet, constituting one of the best 
 waterpowers in the country. This, hoTrever, is but par- 
 tially improved. There are some flouring mills, and 
 a few tobacco factories. With a proper degree of en- 
 terprise, it would become one of the largest manufac- 
 turing cities in the Union. But it lies weak and powerless 
 in the hands of slavery. In 1800 its population was 
 5,737, and that of Cincinnati was 750. Now, after a 
 growth of fifty years, the population of Cincinnati is 
 160,000 — while that of Richmond is only 30,000,— 
 of whom 10,000 are slaves 1 
 
 The State of Georgia contains very nearly as much 
 territory as the whole of New England, and is divided 
 into ninety-seven counties. In this State I could see 
 more distinctly than in any other the effects of slave- 
 ry on the soil and the population. There are six coun- 
 ties on the sea coast, — the earliest settled in the State, 
 and the most fertile. If we except the city of Savannah, 
 whose prosperity depends on the interior, the whole 
 number of whites in the six counties is less than ten 
 thousand. There are also six counties bordering on 
 the northern line of the State, some three hundred miles 
 in the interior, all of them new, — and yet they contain 
 a free population of forty-five thousand. A comparison 
 of the six counties next in order, in each section of the 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF SLAVERY. 171 
 
 State, shows the same result. The new counties, far 
 back from the seaboard, contain forty-seven thousand 
 whites, while the old counties, though large in territory, 
 contain only fourteen thousand. 
 
 The city of Darien also furnishes an illustration of 
 the same truth. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia, 
 having been settled by some Scotch Highlanders in 1736. 
 It was once in a flourishing condition, and before the 
 lands in the lower counties had been exhausted, it had 
 an extensive trade in produce. But the country around 
 it has become sterile and barren, and the trade of the 
 northern part of the State has been diverted to Savan- 
 nah and Charleston by the construction of railroads. 
 The result is that Darien has become like an old, de- 
 serted castle, dilapidated and decayed. Though a port 
 of entry, its whole shipping in 1852 was 306 tons reg- 
 istered, and 859 enrolled. And during the same year 
 its foreign arrivals were only three ! 
 
 Under a free labor system this would have been a 
 large and prosperous city. It is situated at the mouth 
 of the Altamaha river, which, with its tributaries, the 
 Oconee and the Ocmulgee, furnishes more than three 
 hundred miles of inland navigation, through a country 
 all of it once, and much of it still fertile, abounding in 
 extensive forests of oak and pine. That an old city, 
 surrounded with such advantages, should be reduced to 
 a pitiable village, with only 550 inhabitants, is a prob- 
 lem that nothing but slavery can solve ! 
 
 The city of Charleston, S. C, exhibits another illus- 
 tration, of a different kind, though not less striking. 
 
172 INSIDE VIEW OF SIAVERT. 
 
 There are few cities that sm-pass this in beauty ; and it 
 has extensiye adyantages for business. Connected by 
 railroad with the principal towns in North Carolina, the 
 northern part of Georgia, and Tennessee, it has some 
 permanent sources of prosperity. It exports more rice 
 than any other city in the Union, and more cotton than 
 any other except New Orleans and Mobile. 
 
 But though Charleston has been increasing, the large 
 county of the same name, of which it is the center, con- 
 taining 1900 square miles, once one of the most fertile 
 and productive in the State, is decreasing In popula- 
 tion. In 1840 it was 82, 000, and 1850 only 72,000, 
 though the city during that time increased from 29,000 
 to 42,000. Thus it is seen that this county, exclusive 
 of the city, contained in 1840 a population of 53,000, 
 and in 1850 only 30,000. A decrease of 23,000 in ten 
 years 1 Such has always been the history of slave coun- 
 tries. Their temporary prosperity, sometimes dazzling 
 and brilliant, is but a prelude to approaching decay and 
 tuin. It soon 
 
 "Touches the highest pmnt of all its greabieES> 
 And from the full meiidiaa of its glory, 
 It hastens to its setting." 
 
XVI. 
 
 NO SYMPATHY FOR SLAVES. 
 
 "Thou art come to answer 
 A stony adversary, an inhiiman ■wretch, 
 Incapable of pity, void and empty 
 From every drachm of mercy." Shakespeaee. 
 
 The slaveholders manifest little regard for the happi- 
 ness of the slaves. It may not be evident to them aU, 
 but stni it is true, that the family training, the intellect- 
 ual discipline, the circulating intelligence of the slave 
 States, are not such as to open ia the heart and mind of 
 the master a single well-spring of generous sympathy 
 for them, — even in times of bereavement, of deep^t 
 sorrowj or when suffering the ai^uish of severe pun- 
 ishment, or even when in the agonies of death, in its 
 most terrible forms ! This is not always apparent, ex- 
 cept where none but slaveholders are present to witness 
 the death-struggle of their victims, — or where the slave 
 is made to suffer publicly, as a warning to others. 
 
 I left the hotel in M. after breakfast on a December 
 morning, and walked a few miles along the bank of the 
 Flint river. Ascending a small sand MU, I saw, after 
 
174 INSIDE "VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 "reaching the top, a negro coming up on the Other side, 
 slowly, wearily, without a particle of clothing on. When 
 he saw me, he was frightened and ran out to a willow 
 tree that lay bent down, nearly horizontally, over the 
 stream; and turning about, he leaned against a limb, 
 looking at me, and tossing up his hands, he exclaimed, 
 imploringly, " 0, Goddy, master !" 
 
 I supposed he intended fo request me not to betray 
 him ; and I said to him, " I will not betray you, Cuffee !" 
 But before I had time to inquire into his history, two 
 hounds came over another hill, half a mile distant, dis- 
 tinctly in view, on a straight road. Soon as the baying 
 of the dogs reached the ear of the fugitive, he leaped 
 from the willow into the river — swam a long distance 
 'under water towards the opposite bank, when he arose 
 to the surface. I was surprised to see how directly he 
 Bwam across, as the waters were cold, and the current 
 strong. I saw him emerge upon the opposite side, cUmb 
 an oak tree, and seat himself on a limb. The hounds 
 came on slowly, following the track, — and well they 
 might, for the blood of the slave was left in nearly every 
 footstep — keeping up a constant baying. I had heard 
 of " the baying of hounds," but I had never conceived 
 how appalling the blood-thirsty tones were, until they 
 fell on my ear, while I saw their victim, weary and help- 
 less, with no longer any hope of escape. 
 
 The dogs came up the hill where I stood, followed the 
 track out upon the willow, plunged in where the man 
 did, swam across, and ran up to the tree, baying loudly 
 in the triumph of success. I walked out to the willow 
 
NO SYMPATHY FOR SLAVES. 175 
 
 and sat down upon it in sadness of heart at what my 
 eyes had seen, and my ears heard. Soon two white men 
 came over the farther hill on horse back, and when they 
 saw the man in the tree, and heard the dogs baying be- 
 neath it, they set up a tremendous shout, and rode on at 
 full speed down to the tavern, three miles below. Think- 
 ing it might be unsafe for me to remain and watch the 
 fete of the slave, whom I had no power to assist, I re- 
 turned to the tavern. Here I found a large crowd of 
 men who had gathered around the bar to receive a " treat " 
 from the " nigger hunters," who always have that kind 
 of glorification when the man is captured aKve. It was 
 now about nine o'clock, yet they continued to drink un- 
 til four o'clock in the afternoon, before they went over 
 the river to take the man down. 
 
 And what astonished me more than any thing else, 
 was, that no man suggested that it was time to go and 
 bring the slave in. I heard no question asked as to how 
 long he had been without food, how far he had run, or 
 whether he was so famished and exhausted that he would 
 be likely to fall from the tree and be rent in pieces by 
 the dogs. But the conversation ran mainly upon the 
 feats they had performed in the negro hunts, and the pun- 
 ishments the runaways get when they are caught. Fin- 
 ally, after seven hours of rioting, they rode away. What 
 became of their poor victim I never learned. 
 
 The hound is taught to regard the slave as his natural 
 enemy. The slave is never allowed to chastize him. If 
 the dog is stealing his dinner, he may push him away 
 gently, or pull his dinner away from him, — but he must 
 
176 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVIET. 
 
 not venture to pull his ears, or scold him, or strike him, 
 on pain of being whipped himself by his master. 
 
 I saw a slaveholder near M. teaching puppies to hunt 
 slaves. He was the owner of a slave mother and her 
 little boy, Harry, who was about four years old. The 
 mother was a light quadroon, having just enough of Af- 
 rican blood to wave the long black hair, and gloss the 
 flill, black eye. There are large numbers of such slave 
 girls in the South, and a foreigner has truly said that 
 they are the most beautiful specimens of American 
 women. But her little Harry was not so light colored, 
 and he had rough, hard, features. He was a very sensi- 
 ble boyj roguish and reckless, and he acted as though the 
 bad blood of aU. his ancestors ran in his veins. His 
 " bump of destructiveness" was very large, and it very 
 often cost him a fioggiag. He killed all the kittens 
 about house, all the chickens he could catch, broke all 
 the eggs he could find, destroyed all the crockery he 
 could lay hold of, and left his mark on every piece of 
 firmiture in the house, and on every tool and carriage on 
 the premises. 
 
 He had a peculiar dislike to turkies. No turkey could 
 be raised, except in a yard with a fence so high that 
 Harry could not climb it. A close, high fence was made 
 around the turkey yard, and they were regarded as se- 
 cure from the enemy. But Harry ran a little pole up to 
 the top of the fence, climbed up, jumped in, and killed 
 thirteen turkies — a mother and twelve little ones. In 
 his haste to kiU the turkies, he forgot to run the pole 
 over on the inside, so that he could get out j and being 
 
NO SYMPATHY FOR SLAVES. 177 
 
 obliged to call for help, the " murder -was out." Sa«nbo 
 opened the door to release him, and seeing the turkies 
 killed, he ran into the house and told Ms master. Har- 
 ry had been indulged quite enough by his master, as he 
 was an idol, only son of his mother, " Hatty." And she 
 was the favorite slave of her master. Col. V., who had 
 uniformly regarded the feelings of the tender-hearted, 
 doting mother so far as not to punish Harry in her 
 presence. But this provocation threw him into a pas- 
 sion. 
 
 " Hatty ! " exclaimed the master, " go and bring the lit- 
 tle devil to me." 
 
 Hatty went out and led in Harry, who appeared quite 
 self-possessed, and without fear of punishment. But 
 his mother saw that her master was enraged, and imag- 
 ining some terrible thing was contemplated in the use of 
 the knife, which Col. V. held in one hand, while he reach- 
 ed out the other and exclaimed passionately, " hand him 
 to me I rU fix him!" she ventured to say — "don't 
 master ! don't cut him with the knife ! " 
 
 "Hold your tongue! " said the master, "and set the 
 boy on my knee, and hold him still ! " 
 
 Grasping one ankle with the left hand, he commenced 
 outing small gashes through the skin on the bottom of 
 the foot. Harry strove like a hero, kicked and squirmed ; 
 struck his master in the face, and pulled his hair ; but 
 he succeeded in cutting both feet till the blood ran freely I 
 
 Col. V. then told his son to lead Harry out around 
 the stable, by a circuitous route, to a low, pine tree, to 
 
178 INSIDE TLEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 which he pointed, about twenty rods distant. Hatty was 
 ordered to cut up a plate of raw beef in small pieces, 
 and bring it to him. ' 
 
 The Col. took the plate of meat in his hand, weat 
 to the kennel and unchained the mother of seven blood- 
 hound puppies, and led her around on the track of Harry, 
 with the puppies following after. At every few steps 
 he dropped a piece of the meat, on the blood which was 
 left in Harry's track, for the puppies' to e^t, where th^ 
 would receive the scent of the blood of the slave ! Wh^ 
 he arrived at the tree, he sent his son back with the 
 mother of the pnppies, while they remained to eat th*e 
 meat given to them under the tree. Harry was taken 
 down from the limb on which he sat, and the little hounds 
 were taught to bite his feet, around which pieces of meat 
 were thrown. Hatty, in the meantime, was wringing 
 her hands as if her heart were bursting, and as though 
 she had forgotten that she was a favorite house servant, 
 and had a kind, indulgent master. 
 
 One day while I was in the city of M., there was a 
 terrible outcry in the streets I 
 
 " What 's the matter ? " 
 
 " A negro in the creek ! " 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Out over the railroad bridge." 
 
 And all the ci1;y rushed into the street, and over the 
 bridge. I followed on with the crowd. Besides the ne- 
 gro, two hounds were in the. creok also, endeavoring to 
 catch him. He would dive and swim a long distance 
 
NO SYMPATHY FOR SLAVES. 179 
 
 under water, so deep that the dogs could not see the di- 
 rection he took; but when he raised his head above 
 water to breathe, the dogs swam towards him and seized 
 his limbs and held on till he jerked them away, leaving 
 his flesh in their teeth. Soon his pursuers were seen 
 coming from the woods, and he perceived that farther 
 attempts to elude them were vain, and he came out of 
 the creek and gave himself up to the hunters. Two of 
 them dismounted, and took him, one by either arm, to 
 lead him over the bridge into the city, in the midst of 
 the vast, exulting multitude. 
 
 A friend of mine, an intelligent New England mer- 
 chant, was present. He expressed to me his astonish- 
 ment that no sympathy was manifested for the suffering 
 slave, whose bare limbs were horridly lacerated by the 
 dogs. And what most shocked his feelings, as the men 
 were leading him, was to hear the boys teU the dogs to 
 bite him — saying, " seek him ! take him ! "— just as they' 
 would set dogs on swine in the street, and with as little 
 pity. 
 
 The negro pretended to be so weak that he could 
 hardly walk ; but when about on the center of the bridge, 
 he prostrated one of the men who were holding his 
 arms — broke away from the grasp of the other — rushed 
 through the crowd — bounded over the railing, and sank 
 in the red waters of the river, to rise no more. No 
 word of pity was heard, — no emotions of sjnnpathy 
 were witnessed, for the sufiFerings and fate of this man, 
 who had less fear of death than of his brother man ! 
 
180 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAYEST. 
 
 But the air was filled with curses on " runaway niggers," 
 sad a grand chorus of invectiTCS against abolitionists 
 concluded Hie awful tragedy 1 
 
 A WHITE MOTHER FOB SALE. 
 
 Mr. C, a dry goods merchant of Boston, was with 
 me at the little city of M., where he went to visit a part- 
 ner in trade. He had not been in a slave State before, 
 and was bitterly opposed to emancipation. Two mer- 
 chants — slaveholders — had been in our company on 
 4he way to that city. Whenever slavery was talked of^ 
 Mr. C. uniformly concurred with them. The next morn- 
 ing after we arrived, we saw a handbill in the bar-room 
 in which forty-four female slaves were advertised for 
 sale. Stepping out into the street, we found those girls 
 sitting on the sidewalks. At the farther end of the row 
 was a very beautiful girl, apparently perfectly white, and 
 neatly dressed. The moment Mr. C. looked at her, he 
 exclaimed, " What do you think that white girl is sitting 
 there with those negroes for ? " 
 
 " I presume she is a slave, sir," said I. 
 
 "That can't be!" replied Mr. C.,— "just look at 
 her ! Why I never saw a prettier girl in my life." 
 
 Now Mr. C. had heard that likely quadroons are held 
 as slaves and sold in the market ; but he had never be- 
 lieved that a young lady, so entirely American, so ele- 
 gant in form and feature, so intellectual in appearance, 
 with pure blue eyes, and the perfect red and white Cau- 
 cassian complexion, was in the same degraded condition 
 
NO SYMPATHY FOR SLATES. 181 
 
 as the African girl. And Ms fine sensibilities were 
 greatly stocked at the idea, that a white girl, so beauti- 
 ful, was doomed to such disgrace. His heart was steeled 
 against sympathy for the blacks, but it was unshielded 
 on the side towards the white race, to which his mother, 
 wife, and daughter belonged. Hence he was unprepared 
 to belicTe it, when I said to him, " she is a slave, sir ! " 
 There was the precise number, including her, adver- 
 tised in the bill. Still incredulous, Mr. C. stepped up 
 to the drover and asked, "Is that white girl a slave, 
 
 sir 
 
 9" 
 
 " That 's not a white girl ; she is a ni^er, sir," replied 
 the drover. 
 
 Mr. 0. bit his lips with suppressed indignaition, 
 paused, and then ejaculated, " Is it possible ! " 
 
 " Does she belong to you? " said he to the drover. 
 
 " Yes, sir ! " replied the drover. 
 
 " What do you ask for her ? " inquired Mr. C. 
 
 " I was offered 1800 dollars for her last night. I want 
 2000 for her." 
 
 « What do you ask for that one ? " said Mr. C, point- 
 ing to a light quadroon sitting next to the white girl. 
 
 "I will take $1,200 for her." 
 
 "Well, how much for the black ones, here at this 
 
 end of the row ? " 
 
 « I will take $800 apiece," replied the slave-dealer. 
 
 "Why can that white girl — 
 
 " That isn't a white girl ; that 's a nigger, sir, I tell 
 you," interrupted the drover, contemptuously. At the 
 same time he removed a woolen cap from her head, 
 16 
 
182 INSIDK VIKW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 which exposed the light brown hair, and added, "you 
 see her hair is waved." 
 
 This is regarded as evidence that African blood is 
 mingled with the white. Mr. C. had now become excit- 
 ed, and he exclaimed — " Well, then, can that white nig- 
 ger do more work than one of your black niggers, that 
 you ask so much more for her ? " 
 
 " Oh no ; " replied the drover, — and perceiving that 
 Mr. C. did not comprehend the superior value of female 
 beauty to physical ability in a slave, he added — "but 
 you know she is a high priced fancy girl." 
 
 "By heavens!" vociferated Mr. C, "'tis too bad!" 
 and turning to me with his clinched hands raised towards 
 the heavens, he added, " I will never say another word 
 against the abolitionists, so lon'g as God lets me live ! " 
 
 "We inquired of those mothers, how many children 
 they had left behind ; and the aggregate number — as 
 by them reported — was one hundred and twenty-four ! 
 They were all enrolled as being between the ages of 
 eighteen and twenty-five, in the advertising catalogue. 
 Forty-four young mothers severed from their husbands 
 and all their children at a single blow 1 ! ! 
 
 I became acquainted with a good slave boy, "Bill," 
 owned by A. S., ia South Carolina. He was a cruel 
 master, worked his slaves very hard, and gave them only 
 a peck of com a week. I asked Bill if he ever knew 
 a slave to get a whipping when he did not deserve it. 
 
 " Well, master," replied Bill, " I will tell you the cause 
 for which I had a terrible whipping, and I will let you 
 decide whether it was deserved. Our driver's name 
 
NO SYMPATirr FOR SLAVES. 183 
 
 was Monday, — a colored man. One day I heard Mon- 
 day say that if master S. did not treat him better, he 
 meant to run away. Now I loved Uncle Monday, — as 
 we called him — and I ran up to him and said, thought- 
 lessly, — without any more intention of running away 
 than I had of killing myself— ' if you run away, I mean 
 to run away too ! ' 
 
 " The master was listening outside the hut — as slave- 
 holders often are, to hear what is said by the slaves — and 
 he heard me. He rushed into the hut in a terrible pas- 
 sion, caught me by the throat, kicked me, and threw me 
 down, and beat me, — crying out at intervals, with ter- 
 rific oaths — ' You want to run away, do you I I '11 give 
 you enough of running away ! I '11 learn Old Monday 
 better than to spoil all my young niggers ! ' 
 
 " After he had beaten me awhile in the hut, he drag- 
 ged me out, and called a large man to come and help tie 
 me up to a timber that projected from the eaves ot the 
 house. He then tied my feet together, and thrusting a 
 rail between them to keep me from swinging, he climbed 
 up, and with a rope fastened to my wrists, he drew me 
 up until my feet were raised from the earth. Every 
 particle of my ragged garments had been stripped ffom 
 my body, — and he ordered one of the house girls to 
 bring him the whip. When the girl came with it, he 
 told her to go back and bring a quart of salt. The salt 
 was brought, and he dissolved it in water. Then he 
 took oflf his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and seized the 
 whip — the staflF of which was four or five feet longj 
 made of white oak, covered with raw hide, the butt 
 
184 INSIDE TIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 about two inches thick, loaded with lead, and the lash 
 at least six feet long, Tnth several inches of the end 
 wrought into hard knots with catgut. With this instru- 
 ment I was whipped until the master became tired, when 
 he commanded the slave to continue to flog me until 
 I had received one hundred lashes. Several times dur- 
 ing this flogging I fainted away. The whipping was sus- 
 pended, and cold water thrown upon me until I recovered, 
 when it was resumed. I should judge they were whip- 
 ping me nearly an hour. The salt and water was then 
 thrown upon me, and coals of fire would not have given 
 me more unutterable torment." 
 
 I became acquainted with another slave boy called 
 "Jack," in the State of S. Carolina, who was highly 
 spoken of by every one that knew him Jack's master, 
 J. R., was always kind when sober — but never when in- 
 toxicated. One day he whipped Jack severely for run-, 
 ning away, 
 
 " In a few days after this whipping," said Jack, as he 
 was giving me a short history of his life, " I told a slave, 
 in confidence, that I meant to run away again. He be- 
 trayed me, and informed Master of my purpose. This 
 greatly enraged him, and he sent for a neighboring 
 planter and his overseer to come and whip me. The 
 first intimation I had of it, the overseer rushed into the 
 hut, and struck me over the face with the but of his 
 whip, cutting my cheek through to the bone, — and the 
 scar is still a witness to the deed. Then they tied me, 
 and carried me into the yard, and my master and the 
 overseer both whipped me at the same time. 
 
NO SYMPATHY FOR SLAVES. 185 
 
 " When slaves are -whipped, they usually make a great 
 ado, for the purpose of mitigating the punishment. K they 
 cry out piteously, saying ' do, pray Massa, forgive me, 1 'II 
 do work better,' &c., — they usually get a less nimaber 
 of lashes. So at this time I said every thing I could 
 think of. When I cried loud for forgiveness, they would 
 tauntingly reply — ' you 've learned to halloo at the night 
 meetings, have you ? ' — meaning religious meetings. And 
 they crammed old rags into my mouth, so that I could 
 not be heard across the street. 
 
 " After the whipping was finished, the flaying paddle 
 was applied, and I was then taken to the barn-yard and 
 chained to the sill of the bam, having the chain locked 
 around my neck. They raked up some corn husks for 
 me to lie on, but my back and sides were so sore I could 
 not lie down, but was obliged to lean against the barn, 
 in which miserable position 1 passed the long, dreary, 
 suffering, sleepless night ! In the morning I was tied 
 upon a horse, and driven four miles, to be ironed. The 
 blacksmith took some old ox shoes and beat them to- 
 gether, in the shape of two half moons, and riveted them 
 at the comers, so as to fit the ankle, stood me upon the 
 anvil, and fastened them on. I was then set to hoeing 
 cotton again, and ten rows were added to my daily task." 
 
XVII. 
 
 SOUTHERN JURISPRUDENCE. 
 
 " It well becomes the judge to nod at crimes, 
 That does commit greater himsel£" 
 
 TOUENETO. 
 
 "Do not your jmies give their verdict, 
 As if they felt the cause, — not heard it? 
 And as they please, make every feet 
 Run all one side, — as they are packed ? " 
 
 BUTLEE. 
 
 That there are able lawyers in the South, no one will 
 deny. There are also some eminentjudges, whose legal 
 learning and sense of justice go hand in hand. In this 
 respect, however, there is a difference in the Southern 
 States. The northern slave States have a better system 
 of jurisprudence than the southern, — if -we except Lou- 
 isiana, which stands far better than Mississippi, Alabama, 
 and Georgia. But aside from any individual exceptions, 
 the administration of justice throughout the South is 
 far more imperfect and partial than it is in the NortL 
 The slaveholders are an aristocracy, holding the offices, 
 enacting the laws, and, as judges or sheriffs, controlling 
 their execution. And so much does the spirit of caste 
 enter into all the institutions of the slave States, that 
 
SOUTHERN JURISPRUDENCE. 187 
 
 favoritism is often a predominant principle, even ■within 
 the temples of justice. The trial and acquittal of Ward 
 in Kentucky is a prominent illustration ; and no one can 
 spend much time in the South without observing numer- 
 bus iacidents of a like character. 
 
 A Southern writer has recently boasted that there is 
 less crime in the South than in the North, — appealing 
 to the number of convictions and imprisonments reported, 
 as evidence of it. But no such inference can be drawn 
 from this fact — as I shall abundantly show. Prisons 
 in the South are indeed few and poor, compared with 
 those of the North, and the iomates less in number ; 
 but this is not because crime ia not more frequent, but 
 because it goes impunished. 
 
 The crimes of slaves are nTTt often made a matter of 
 trial and punishment in the Southern courts. The mas- 
 ter is the judge, the jury, and the executioner. That the 
 slaves are often guilty of crimes is just what we might 
 expect. Aside from the vicious examples of unbridled 
 passion and indulgence which are constantly before them, 
 and of which they are often the victims, — their igno- 
 rance and degradation, the smothering of all the better 
 feelings in their natures, the extinguishing of all those 
 hopes and aspirations which tend to elevate and purify 
 the heart, while the baser elements are left free and un- 
 checked, and often strengthened by the wrongs they 
 suffer, all contribute to brutalize and degrade them. 
 And when I have learned of their committing revolting 
 crimes, instead of being surprised, I have wondered that 
 the instances are not far more frequent. 
 
188 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The ceaseless, unremitting toil of the slaves undoubt- 
 edly tends to save them from the commission of 
 crime. While, on the other hand, the idleness and con- 
 sequent dissipation of the slaveholdiag class are the 
 source of that fearful catalogue of offences of which we 
 sometimes catch a glimpse. And lest I might seem to 
 exaggerate in the incidents which I relate, I will call the 
 reader's attention to an extract from a recent lecture of 
 Rev. James A. Lyon, pastor of the Presbyterian church 
 ia Columbus, Mississippi, published in the Eagle, a 
 newspaper of that city, June 1st, 1855. 
 
 " The reckless manner in which the sixth commandf 
 ment, which forbids murder, is disregarded in this com- 
 munity, is truly alarming, and should excite the well 
 grounded fears of every friend of morality and good 
 order. As proof that I am not exaggerating the evil, 
 I will refer you to the statistical tables on this subject 
 for the last year, [1854] In the Daily Globe for Jan- 
 uary 2d, 1855, quoted by the New York Herald, the 
 following startling facts are brought to light, viz : That 
 there have been in the United States, during the last 
 year, no less than six hundred and eighty-two murders ! 
 and only eighty-four executions ; that is, about one in 
 seven only ! Here is a little army slain every year, by 
 the hands of violence, in our country, boasting justly of 
 more general intelligence, freedom, and civilization than 
 any other upon the globe 1 But let us examine a little 
 this table of blood. We find that, of the murdered host, 
 only thirty-two fell in the six New England States, only 
 one hundred and six others in the Middle States, includ- 
 
SOUTHERN JURISPRUDENCE. 189 
 
 ing the largest States and cities in the Union. The blood 
 of all the rest,_^«e hundred and forty -four, Tras spilt in 
 the Sonth and West. But let us inspect still more 
 closely this record of crime. Of this remaining army, 
 five hundred and forty-fmir strong, that have fallen in 
 the South and West, three hundred and forty-six have 
 been slaughtered in the South alone ; that is, in the 
 Southern States proper, not including Missouri, there 
 have fallen more than one half of the whole of the orig- 
 inal army 1 The South has the unenviable distinction 
 of having slain a greater number of their fellow men 
 with murderous hands than all the other States, includ- 
 ing even California, put together I Of this number, I 
 am sorry to say that as many as thirty-two have been 
 Slat^htered in our own proud State of Mississippi ; * 
 that is, in the State of Mississippi alone, as many human 
 beings have fallen by the hand of violence, as in all the 
 six New England States put together -^ States with an 
 aggregate population five times as great as that of Mis- 
 sissippi ! K the New England States had slain as many 
 of their fellow men in proportion to their population as 
 the State of Mississippi has done, instead of murdering' 
 only thirty-two, they would have murdered five times 
 that number ! 
 
 " We have no great seaport towns as the places of 
 resort for felons of other lands ; we have no foreign 
 population amongst us, except such as belong to the 
 
 * The editor of the Eagle here says, in a note, that he a few years 
 ago heard Gov. H. S. Foote say that some person had been killed with- 
 in the State every day during his term of office of two years ! 
 
190 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 better classes of society ; we are not a new and pioneer 
 State ; and yet the annual list of our murdered is fright- 
 ful! — frightful not only on account of the compara- 
 tive number of the slain, but also on account of the 
 character and standing of the slayers. K these mur- 
 ders were committed by vagabonds and the scum of 
 society, then its prestige, its moral effect, would not be 
 so injurious to society. But what, think you, is the effect 
 upon the minds of our children and youth, when men of 
 fair standing in society, received and regarded as gen- 
 tlemen, are the perpetrators of the butcheries ! ! 
 
 "In- view of this state of things, who is safe? My 
 enemy meets me, insults me, and then shoots me down, 
 professing to believe that I was ' armed,^ as a matter of 
 course, and that his Ufe was in danger ; tells his own 
 story in a community where it is no strai^e thing for 
 men to carry about their persons deadly weapons. Each 
 one feels that he would have done the same thing under 
 similar circumstances, so that in condemning him they 
 would but condemn themselves. Consequently, the slayer 
 is justified — goes free ; and a hundred others, our sons 
 and half grown lads amongst them, resolve in their 
 hearts, that since every man may go armed, and every 
 one is therefore justifiable in slaying his enemy, they will 
 do likewise. 
 
 " I should like to deprecate the influence of money in 
 setting aside the law. It is a shameful fact that no rich 
 man can he hanged for murder in the Southwest! 
 The man, therefore, who is able to pay a few thousand' 
 dollars, may indulge Ms dire revenge with impunity. 
 
SOUTHERN JURISPBUDENCE. 191 
 
 The frequency with which slaves are killed, and the 
 little attention paid to it by the officers of the law, is a 
 crying evil, which I had intended to dwell upon as its 
 importance deserves." 
 
 In conunenting upon this lecture, the editor of the 
 Eagle says that 
 
 " The frequency of the open and violent murders com- 
 mitted in the South and Southwest, and especially with- 
 in our own State, is the most remarkable, and at the 
 same time the most disgraceful, characteristic of our 
 section of the country. And it is equally strange and 
 astonishing to us, that, instead of diminishing, as the 
 tone of our society improves and the standard of civili- 
 zation advances, this horrid and unnatural offence against 
 humanity, good order, law, and morals, seems to be on 
 the increase. 
 
 "The pulpit having led the way in the reform so 
 loudly called for in regard to this matter, and called 
 upon the press to follow in the noble and praiseworthy 
 enterprise, we, for one, hesitate not a moment, but at 
 once raise our voice and nerve our arm for the conflict 
 against the hideous crime of murder, the almost daily 
 commission of which, in some part of our State, is 
 brought to our knowledge by, and as regularly as, our 
 exchanges are received." 
 
 The fact stated by Mr. Lyon, — "that no rich man 
 can be hanged for murder in the Southwest" — may 
 appear strange ; but the manner of organizing a court 
 in the Southern States is almost sure to give impunity 
 to offenders. Juries, in such cases, are empanneled 
 
192 mSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 from the crowd of bystanders, instead of being selected 
 beforehand by the municipal authorities, as they are in 
 the North. How easy for a wealthy slaveholder to have 
 a score of dependents, from among his poor neighbors, 
 standing around the court-room, where the Judge or 
 the clerk will be likely to caU them ! This, more than 
 any thing else, makes the administration of justice in 
 the criminal courts of the South a mere farce. 
 
 I was in Baker county when Dr. Byrd, of Albany, 
 killed a man by the name of Jones. Sometimes, when 
 a free white man has become obnoxious to a neighbor- 
 hood by constantly provoking quarrels and going about 
 to do evil, priding himself on being a fighter, the slave- 
 holders will be glad of an opportunity to arraign him, 
 and either punish him or drive him off. Such a man 
 was Dr. Byrd. He and Jones had a falling out, and 
 Byrd demanded of Jones a card in the Albany Patriot, 
 acknowledging that he had slandered him. Jones took 
 the paper in which the card was published, and went to 
 the tavern where Byrd boardfed, and showed him the 
 card. Byrd called for brandy, — a custom after such 
 affairs are amicably adjusted. While sipping the liq- 
 uor — as the landlord assured me — Jones patted Byrd 
 on the shoulder and remarked, facetiously, 
 
 " The biggest lie I ever told in my life, Byrd, was 
 when I said here in this card that I lied about you ; for 
 you know every word that I had said was true." 
 
 " You are a liar and a villain 1 " said Byrd, seizing Ms 
 pistol. 
 
 Jones drew his knife, and cut Byrd severely in several 
 
SOUTEEKN JUKISPKUDENCE. 193 
 
 {places. But Byrd shot liim through the heart. He 
 made one bound from the bar-room into the street, and 
 expired. 
 
 Byrd was arrested and taken to Newton jail. It was 
 reported in the papers that he had poisoned himself in 
 the jail. But instead of that, he returned to Albany 
 the next day, and in a short time he was established in 
 the practice of his profession in Alabama. 
 
 Having business with R. K. Hines, Esq., a popular 
 lawyer in the city of Albany, I inquired of him, after 
 Byrd was carried to the jail, if he would be hung. 
 
 " Hung I my dear sir ? " said Mr. H. " We have more 
 cases on the docket in this county now, for murder, than 
 can be tried during the next ten years. So that all 
 Byrd'a lawyer would have to do, in order to postpone 
 a trial, would be to caU up former cases before this." 
 
 " Is that possible, Mr. Hines ? " said I. 
 
 "Why, let me tell you," replied Mr. H.," while we 
 were trying a man for murder at the last court at Stark- 
 ville, the next county seat above, two murders were 
 committed within gun-shot of that court house." 
 
 Soon after this, I was in the stage, passing through 
 Starkville. A young man stepped out of the coach 
 when it stopped. 
 
 " That was John Ross," remarked a passenger, as the 
 coach wheeled around to start again. 
 
 "Yes," said another, "John Ross that killed his father 
 here I " 
 
 "And was never complained of!" responded a third. 
 
 "John Ross," said Col. L., "wanted to marry one of 
 17 
 
194 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 his father's negro girls." And he proceeded to relate 
 the facts as they had occurred. 
 
 John was an only child of a rich slaveholder. His 
 father was bitterly opposed to this freak of his son, 
 and he told him that he would not consent to have the 
 blood corrupted in this manner. But John replied that 
 he loved the black girl, and intended to marry her. 
 
 Now John was not peculiar in this fancy. Slavehold. 
 ers very frequently marry the quadroon girls, — and 
 some of them select the fullblooded Africans for their 
 wives. Mr. A., the city surveyor in D., lost a white wife, 
 and he then emancipated his black female cook, and 
 married her. So that John Ross was not the first white 
 man who had desired such a connubial relation. But 
 his father was invincibly opposed to hia wishes ; and he 
 informed his son that if he persisted in his foolish pur- 
 pose to marry that " nigger," he would disown and dis. 
 inherit him. And when all arguments had failed, and 
 John finally assured the old gentleman that his purpose 
 was fixed to marry that girl, the father banished him 
 from his house. 
 
 John took lodgings in a public house, near by. His 
 mother had been dead several years, and now the father 
 sat solitary and alone, without an heir. He had great 
 possessions, and he knew he must shortly leave them. 
 And to whom ? " Poor John ! Foolish son ! " he said 
 to himself. " I will call him home, and make one more 
 attempt to bring him back to regard the honor of the 
 family, for his blessed mother's sake." And the father 
 eent his son a note, stating that he desired to have an 
 
SOUTHERN JUEISPEUDENCE. 195 
 
 interview with him, that he might, if possible, dissuade 
 him from his rash pm-pose ; but at all events to have a 
 reconciliation. 
 
 "John Ross," said Col. L., "loaded his rifle, put in 
 that kind letter, received from his father, for wadding, 
 aj\d the first time the father stepped over the threshold 
 of his own door, he was shot dead by that mmatural 
 son!" 
 
 John was a chivalrous, " dead shot " Southron. No- 
 body dared enter a complaint against him for the mur- 
 der of his father. Besides, young John, — now made sole 
 proprietor of a large estate by this heroic deed, — gave 
 valuable presents to the slaveholding neighbors, and 
 public opinion made no other or higher demand. 
 
 Throughout the slave States, a light value is set upon 
 human life. The murderer has no fear of punishment, 
 if he has wealth and rank to protect him. Slaveholders 
 risk their lives on the most fantastic whim of honor. 
 We know it to be a false notion of honor, but the South- 
 ron regards it as the highest ambition of his life to 
 maintain it. Hence the cold blooded, fatal rencounters 
 80 frequent in the South. This is illustrated by the 
 following facts, which were stated in my presence by 
 Col. L. of Alabama. 
 
 " I was sitting at a dinner table in Texas," said Col. 
 L. " when two young gentlemen came in from a hunt- 
 ing excursion. They walked up to the sideboard, took 
 a glass of whisky, and then seated themselves at the 
 table. A. sat next to me, and B. directly opposite to 
 him. A. called for some meat, but B. sat mute. I no- 
 
196 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ticed there was a malicious, designing, murderous look 
 in Ms countenance, and I suspected that there was 
 trouble near. In a few moments A. said to B., 
 
 « I now ask you, sir, in the presence of these gentle- 
 men, if you will publicly retract the malicious slanders 
 you have put in circulation, seriously affecting my repu- 
 tation as an honorable man and a gentleman ? " 
 
 " No 1 " said B. " You are a dishonest villain, and I 
 wiU never perjure myself to save your reputation 1 " 
 
 A. drew out a brace of pistols, threw them down on 
 the table, and exclaimed, 
 
 " Take your choice of them, sir ! " 
 
 B. arose, took a white handkerchief from his pocket, 
 wound one comer of it around the little finger of his 
 left hand, tossed the other end to his antagonist, who 
 rose up, wound that end around the little finger of his 
 hand, like the other, bringing their left hands within 
 six inches of each other. Then each took a pistol in 
 the right hand, pointed it directly at the other's heart, 
 and at the word ' ready ^ they commenced to count the 
 usual number in such cases. Both counted, slowly, dis- 
 tinctly, simultaneously. ' one — ^two— three,' and so on up 
 to 'ten. ' Both pronounced the last number just as plump- 
 ly and firmly as the first. When the ' ten ' was uttered, 
 the pistols were fired, and both fell ! There were about 
 sixty gentlemen at dinner, but two of them only — the 
 landlord, and another man who was brother-in-law to 
 one of the murdered men — left the table. The serv- 
 ants dragged the hunters out into the bar room ; and 
 when we went out, after dinner, they were both dead 1'* 
 
SOUTHERN JURISPRUDENCE. 197 
 
 "Xow that was pretty cool, all arouud" said the 
 Colonel to a Mississippian with whom he was talking. 
 
 No Northern man, who has never seen men who have 
 been brought up in places where they cannot read and 
 write can imagine how vacant-minded and stupid such 
 men appear. Occasionally we see a man at the North 
 who cannot read, though very seldom among the farmers. 
 But when we do find one so ignorant, he has been as- 
 sociated with men who can read, and he has consequent- 
 ly obtained a good deal of information from thfem, and 
 he seems much more intelligent than slaveholders do 
 who cannot read themselves, and who have not enjoyed 
 the society of those who can read. I can give no better 
 idea of the impression made on the mind of a Yankee 
 when looking upon a jury made up of such men, tlian by 
 describing an amusing scene that transpired in court, in 
 the city of D. 
 
 A learned physician from Massachusetts, Dr. W., and 
 a shipmaster from Maine, Capt. F., with whom 1 had a 
 favorable acquaintance during a few weeks stay at D., 
 will excuse this reference to them. 
 
 The court house at D., is divided in the center by a 
 railing, three feet high. In one end of the room the 
 court is convened, and the other end is reserved for 
 spectators. There is no seat in the half assigned to the 
 latter, except a narrow seat around the outside of the 
 area. The court was in session at the time of our visit. 
 One of the lawyers was addressing the jury. I was 
 standing near the passage-way in the railing, in the cen- 
 
198 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ter of the house, and Dr. W. stood near the door, look- 
 ing upon the court, and listening to the argument of the 
 attorney, when Capt. F. — a stout, rough, sensible, down 
 east sea captain — entered the room, and took a stand 
 by the door near to him. Perceiving there were va- 
 cant seats on the court side of the railing, and none 
 very near on our side, the Capt. said to Dr. W., 
 
 " Why can't we go inside, and take a seat ? " 
 
 " Those seats belong to the jury," replied the Dr. 
 . They were rough, long seats, without backs or desks. 
 
 "But that is not the jury," said Capt. P., pointing to 
 the pale, puny looking fellows that occupied those seats. 
 
 "Yes it is, Capt.," said Dr. W. "Don't you see? 
 The lawyer is talking to them now." 
 
 " I know better than that," said Capt. F., casting a 
 " look for breakers " over them a second time. 
 
 He saw that the jury paid little attention to what the 
 lawyer was saying to them. They were talking with 
 each other in little squads of two or three together, in 
 whispers so loud that we could sometimes distinguish 
 the half smothered oath, followed by a copious expec- 
 toration of tobacco juice. Capt. F. stepped along to 
 the place where I was standing, and said to me, 
 
 "Why can't we go in there and sit down?" pointing 
 to a chance for two on the jury seat. 
 
 "Those seats belong to the jury," I replied, "and I 
 suppose the court would object to our taking seats with 
 the jury while the trial is going on." 
 
 The Capt. was now compelled to believe that this 
 
SOTJTHEEN JURISPRUDENCE. 199 
 
 was really the jury, though he could not comprehend 
 Tfhy men who seemed so ignorant and dissipated, had 
 been selected for such an important trust. 
 
 " I would be hung or I would be shot," he exclaimed, 
 " before I would be tried for any thing great by such a 
 looking set of fellows as that ! " 
 
 This was uttered in a whisper so loud that the sheriff, 
 who was at the further end of the room, near the judge, 
 came along and said to us, "You disturb the court, gen- 
 tlemen! Please retire out there and take a seat," 
 pointing to the seat by the wall. 
 
 " Look here, Capt. 1 " said Capt. F. to the ofl&cer, with 
 a peering look, and a thrust of his finger towards the 
 face of the sheriff, " I'll tell you what I will do : I will 
 give you fifty dollars for a true daguerreotype of your 
 jury there !" The of&cer laughed, and returned to his 
 seat, while Dr. W. and myself started suddenly for the 
 outside, where a hearty laugh would not distui-b the 
 court. 
 
 I Tisited a court in L., in March, 1853. Two men 
 were on the jury by the name of Smith — George and 
 Joseph. They were brothers. George Smith was a 
 temperance man — a rare specimen in that locality — but 
 " Joe " was a notorious drunkard. One of the lawyers 
 said to the judge in the morning that Joe Smith was too 
 drunk to perform the duties of a juror, and another must 
 be called to take his place. 
 
 "Very well, I will take care of that," replied the 
 judge. 
 
 The judge calls the names of the jurors, in some of 
 
200 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEET. 
 
 the Southern courts, instead of their being called by the 
 clerk, as in the courts of New England. Now George 
 Smith had agreed with Joe to help him into the court 
 house, and Joe was not to attempt to speak when the 
 judge called his name, — as he was one of those unfor- 
 tunate inebriates who cannot speak distinctly when in- 
 toxicated, — but George was to answer for him, with 
 the hope that the judge would not suspect that Joe was 
 not responding himself. When the judge came to the 
 name of Smith, he repeated, in a low, respectful voice, 
 
 « George Smith ! " 
 
 "Here, sir," responded Geoi^ Smith, modestly. 
 
 "Joe Smith!" vociferated the judge, in a thrilling 
 tone, as if preparing for a stern rebuke. 
 
 "Here, sir," answered his proxy, George, in a firm 
 voice. 
 
 " Joe Smith," said the judge, " I understand that you 
 are drimk, and are not fit to be in the seats with the 
 jury to-day. How is it ? " 
 
 "'Tis a lie, sir /" answered George, quickly, with an 
 oath. " I haven't drunk a drop to-day 1 " 
 
 " Oh, 'tis a mistake, I suppose," said the judge, not 
 noticing that Joe did not speak for himself. " I pre- 
 sume it is a mistake, sir, and I hope you will excuse me, 
 Mr. Smith I " 
 
 Joe Smith retained his seat with the other jurors, and 
 an indictment against a Mr. W., for an assault with in- 
 tent to kill, was called up for trial. The evidence was 
 soon "all out," from which it appeared that Mr. W. had 
 for some time a standing quarrel with a neighbor of Msi 
 
SOUTHERN JUEISPETOENCE. 201 
 
 and that during the fight which had brought him into 
 court, he had knocked his neighbor down and cut hia 
 throat, though the wound did not prove fatal. 
 
 The counsel for the accused pleaded in justification 
 that his client was provoked to the deed by the com- 
 plainant, by insulting and abusive language. 
 
 "And now, gentlemen of the jury," he said, "I put 
 the question to you, as honorable, high minded men, if 
 such a rascal as this complainant had come up to you, 
 as he did to my client, and called you all sorts of insult- 
 ing names and opprobrious epithets, would you not have 
 knocked him down ? " 
 
 " Yes / yes ! " responded the jury, all around. 
 
 Satisfied with what I had seen, I went on my way, 
 without waiting for the case to be submitted to them by 
 the judge. 
 
 A citizen of Tennessee removed to Georgia, and pur- 
 chased one hundred acres of land near the residence of 
 a wealthy slaveholder. He fenced in his little farm, 
 which was surrounded on all sides by the lands of the 
 slaveholders ; and he worked in his field himself, and his 
 sons with him. Thus a free labor system was estab- 
 lished in the midst of slaveholders, for this man owned 
 
 no slaves. 
 
 The rich planter who was his neighbor, soon found 
 out that he was setting a dangerous example. A work- 
 ing free man, who sympathized with slaves, who took 
 the liberty to talk with them and ask them if they had 
 enoQgh to eat, and if not, would give them com from 
 his own crib, affording them little comforts, and express- 
 
'202 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ing grief for their afflictions, could not be endured. The 
 slaveholder became deeply enraged, and watched long 
 for an opportunity to bring some charge against him, 
 that would take away his property and drive him out of 
 the place. At length this poor man's wife was taken 
 sick with a fever, and the neighborhood physician was 
 called. 
 
 The slaveholder now conceived a plan to banish his 
 obnoxious neighbor. He went to the physician, Dr. R., 
 and persuaded him to charge the husband of the sick 
 woman several hundred dollars for each visit he should 
 make during the course of that fever, — the common con- 
 gestive fever of the climate, which usually lasts from 
 seven to ten days. Dr. R. in this way made up a bill 
 of some thirty-five hundred dollars. Payment was re- 
 fused, and Dr. R. sued the account. The case went to 
 the jury — such a jury as the slaveholders had succeeded 
 in packing — and their verdict was for the whole amount. 
 The defendant was obliged to give up his farm to pay 
 it, and leave his home, penniless, a victim of an institu- 
 tion that makes courts and juries the instruments of its 
 purposes. 
 
 The above facts are stated on the authority of two 
 native Georgians, who resided in the same county with 
 the parties, and one of them, a worthy pastor of an 
 evangelical church, attended the court. 
 
XYIII. 
 
 SIAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 
 
 " That &ce of his, the hungry caimibalii 
 
 Would not have touched, would not have stained with blood j — 
 
 But you are more inhunum, more inexorable, 
 
 Oh! ten times more than tigers of Hyrcania." 
 
 Sbaeesfeabe. 
 
 Perhaps the darkest feature, after all, in the system 
 of slavery, is its iofluence upon the slaveholder, and up- 
 on all who become familiar with it. Its sure tendency 
 to harden the heart, to dry up all the fountains of human 
 sympathy, to make one callous to the wrongs and the 
 woes of those aroimd him, is stamped upon the very sur- 
 face of society throughout the South. One can hardly 
 spend a day there — unless in the luxury of some slave- 
 holder's hospitality ho forgets every thing but his ovm 
 present ease — without beiug forced to exclaim 
 
 " There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart, — 
 It does not feel for man.'' 
 
 And yet slaveholders themselves are hardly conscious 
 of this. If they are natives of the South, they have al- 
 
204 INSIDE VIEW OF SLATERT. 
 
 ways been trained to witness the cruelties incident to tlie 
 slave system, and they seem to have no conception of any 
 better state of society. If they are emigrants from the 
 North, so gradually has the system gained its control 
 over them, — winding its fatal cords around their hearts^ 
 deadening their sensibilities, and familiarizing them to 
 deeds of wrong, and cries of distress, — that they are 
 tmconscious of its influence. Northern men who become 
 slaveholders — who once, like Hazael, would have been 
 indignant if some prophet had foretold their deeds — are 
 quite as likely to become cruel masters as those who 
 have been brought up in the slave States. 
 
 Sometimes the Northern mind is shocked by an account 
 of some horrid transaction in the South, in which the 
 actors seem more like devils than like men. The story 
 seems so incredible that those who are determined to 
 maintain a good opinion of slaveholders affect to disbe- 
 lieve it ; — while others doubt it not, because they know 
 that often, where slavery exists, 
 
 " deeds are wrought. 
 Which -well might shame extremest helL" 
 
 And yet these things are not doubted or denied in the 
 South. On the contrary they are related with a now- 
 chalance and an indifference that are surprising. The 
 slaveholders seem to glory in their shame. 
 
 An illustration of this maybe seen in the recent burn- 
 ing of a slave in Sumpter county, Alabama, and the 
 manner in which the slaveholders — even those who 
 do not justify it — relate the facts. "Dave," a slave 
 of James D. Thornton, accused of the murder of the 
 
SLAVERY HAEDEKS THE HEART. 205 
 
 dai^hter of his mistress, was arrested, and confessed 
 his guilt. Mr. Thornton and his friends assembled to 
 the number of one hundred men, •well armed, got into the 
 jail by a stratagem, seized the slave, and bore him off 
 in triumph. What followed, I will give iu the language 
 of the Sumpter Whig: 
 
 " They left in high glee with the prisoner, whom they 
 felicitated themselves they had captured by a coup d'etat, 
 and without a resort to the formidable weapons with 
 which they were armed. 
 
 " Just before leaving, some one in the crowd extended 
 an invitation to the Sheriff and the good people of Liv- 
 ingston to appear near the residence of James D. Thorn- 
 ton, (the place of the horrid murder,) at 1 o'clock P. M., 
 on Friday following, to witness the burning of the mur- 
 derer. In justice to our Sheriff, we will state here, that 
 he and one of his deputies had gone to Wetumpka, to 
 carry Robinson to the penitentiary, who had been sen- 
 tenced at our last Circuit Court. Indeed, if he had been 
 at home on the occasion, he could not have arrested this 
 unlawful procedure; for the rescue was effected so 
 quick, and with so little noise, that many of our citizens 
 living immediately on the square knew nothing of this 
 affair until next morning. Two of the Sheriff's deputies 
 afterwards demanded the prisoner, and remonstrated 
 against this proceeding, but it was like talking to the 
 winds. Some of our citizens, who went down at the ap- 
 pointed place to witness the burning of the murderer, 
 have related to us that the negro was tied to a stake, 
 with fat light wood piled around him, and that the torch 
 18 
 
206 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 was applied in the presence of two thousand persons, 
 who had met there to witness the novel scene. The ru- 
 mors which got afloat, that the negro was tortured, are 
 entirely untrue." 
 
 Not long before I visited Georgia there was a tragedy 
 very much like this in that State, though the details were 
 more shocking. I visited the place where it occurred, 
 and heard it repeated by different persons, — though the 
 story was related to me in all its particulars, as I give 
 it here, by Mrs. A., the wife of a slaveholder, who was 
 compelled by her husband to witness the scene. She 
 was an intelligent. Christian lady, — a native of Augusta, 
 in that State. Like very many Southern women, she 
 was opposed to slavery, and sympathized with the slaves 
 in their sufferings, — and for this reason her harsh, un- 
 feeling husband required her to go with him to see the 
 terrible deed. 
 
 A punisment had been inflicted upon this slave by his 
 mistress, which I will not name, or describe. In revenge 
 for it he seized a hatchet, and struck her twice upon the 
 head, inflicting wounds that he supposed would cause in- 
 stant death, — though she afterwards recovered. If 
 there were any possible justification of the law of retal- 
 iation — if revenge ever could be right — he would have 
 been justified in taking the life of his mistress. Had he 
 not been a slave, public sentiment would have pronounced 
 bim guiltless. So he felt. Instead of trying to escape, 
 he ran immediately to the court house — where the court 
 was then in session — told the officers what he had 
 done, and expressed his willingness to suffer the penalty 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 207 
 
 of the law. That, like those who take life without any 
 excuse, he would, in due course of law, suffer upon the 
 gallows, was what he anticipated. He wished not to 
 avoid the doom. He desired not to live. 
 
 But the slaveholders in that region decided that he 
 should suffer a different fate. They determined that he 
 should be burned alive f And they offered him up — a 
 sacrifice — upon the bloody altar of slavery ! 
 
 They raised money, by subscription, to pay his mis- 
 tress for her loss. Several persons admitted to me that 
 they contributed for that purpose. The slave was given 
 up to them, and for five days he received fifty lashes^ 
 each day, upon his naked back, with the heavy " cotton 
 planter's whip." So was his Heavenly Master scourged 
 before his cruel death ! 
 
 The appointed day, — which some said was Saturday, 
 others Monday, but which my informant said was the • 
 Sabbath, — at length arrived, and the multitude assem- 
 bled. There is a sparse population in that and the ad- 
 joining counties, — not over five thousand within a space 
 of thirty miles square ; — and yet the number present 
 was variously estimated at from ten to fifteen thousand. 
 All the slaves in all that region were compelled to at- 
 tend. The slave who was to be executed was the hus- 
 band of a young wife, and the father of two little daugh- 
 ters, who were also forced to be present ! The victim 
 was led out from the place of his confinement to an oaki 
 tree, near the court house, where he was surrounded by 
 a vast crowd of beholders, clamoring for the consuming 
 fire I The single garment he had on was taken off, a cord 
 
208 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 was fastened to the hands, and thns naked, he was drawn 
 up several feet from the earth, and hung suspended upon 
 a large limb. 
 
 A slow fire, made of hard pine shavings, was then 
 kindled beneath him. At first the smoke arose and en- 
 veloped him, and then the clear, bright flames quickly 
 ascended, coiling about the limbs, encircling the body, 
 scorching the nerves, crisping the fibres, charring the 
 flesh, — and, in mortal anguish, he was, (to use the lady's 
 own language,) " sweating, as it were, great drops of 
 blood J " But, before life was entirely extinguished, 
 when he was in the last convulsive agonies of death, the 
 executioners applied their knives, which they had pre- 
 pared, fastened upon poles, cutting open the thorax and 
 abdomen 1 Then one of the fiends thrust in a hook, pre- 
 pared in like manner, and dragged out the heart ! An- 
 other tore out the liver I A third wrenched out the 
 lungs I And with these vital organs, elevated above 
 their heads on the poles, they ran through the crowd 
 screaming, " So shall it be done to the slave that mur- 
 ders his mistress ! " 
 
 Then the heart was thrown upon the ground — and 
 the crowd rushed over it, forward and backward, stamp- 
 ing upon it, crushing out the life blood, treading it ia 
 the dust. Then, in like manner, the lungs, and the liver 
 were disposed of, amid the deafening shouts of the sav- 
 age throng. « Such a fiendish, devilish yell," said my 
 informant, " was never heard this side of Satan's king- 
 dom I" 
 
 I know that this story is too shocking, almost, for 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. , ■ 205 
 
 belief. And yet, after careful inquiry, on the very ground 
 where it transpired, I was fully satisfied of its truth. 
 Without any coloring of my own, " I tell it as it was told 
 to me " by one who was an imwiUing witness of it aU. 
 How terrible the lesson it teaches of the influence of 
 slavery upon those who are connected with it ! 
 
 " The slaves," says the Kentucky Synod of the Pres: 
 byterian church, "suffer aU that can be inflicted upon 
 them by insane anger." There is much meaning in this 
 expression. To fully understand the influence of slavery 
 on the slaveholder, we must see him at home — see how 
 excitable, how changeful, how impulsive, how irritable 
 he is. 
 
 I never met an individual who seemed to abhor slavery 
 more profoundly, than Mrs. A., — the lady whom I have 
 already mentioned. Nor did I become acquainted with 
 any slaveholder who hated the anti-slavery cause more 
 deeply than her proud, but generous, and high-spirited 
 husband. I passed several days with that family. As 
 soon as Mrs. A. ascertained my views of slavery, she 
 freely told me her own bitter experience. 
 
 " Slavery destroys the temper of every body connect- 
 ed with it," said this lady. " Slaveholders' children, in- 
 stead of being taught to govern their tempers, are en- 
 couraged to indulge their passions ; and, thus educated, 
 they become the slaves of passion. Those masters who 
 are the most kind and benevolent when free from the in- 
 fluence of anger, often become the most cruel and mer- 
 ciless when under its control." 
 
 This fact was forcibly exemplified in that family. I 
 
210 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 was riding ill the stage one day in company with Mr. A. 
 While passing a slave hut, which was a few rods from 
 the road, Mr. A. requested the driver to stop a few min- 
 utes. As he was descending from the carriage, I saw 
 him put a five dollar note in his vest pocket. He ran 
 towards the hut, but before he reached it, an old, grey- 
 headed negress came out and walked rapidly to meet 
 him. When they met, he threw his arms around her 
 neck, and kissed her, — and she locked her arms about 
 his neck, and kissed him I They talked together a few 
 minutes, when he gave her the five dollar bill, and hast- 
 ened back to the coach. The good, old, black slave 
 mother followed after him, invoking the blessings of 
 Heaven upon him. 
 
 " I suppose you think," said Mr. A. to me, laughing, as 
 he was resuming his seat in the coach, " that you have 
 seen something strange this time, sir ? " 
 
 " I do, indeed," I replied ; and I added, playfully, — " but 
 I have often heard of such things among slaveholders." 
 
 * Let me explain, sir," said Mr. A. " The manifesta- 
 tion of attachment you have witnessed between that good 
 woman and myself, is really the affection between a par- 
 ent and child. Not that I am her son. But my own 
 mother was an unnatural mother. She used to whip me 
 terribly, and she treated me with great cruelty in every 
 respect. This slave mother nursed me when I was an 
 infant ; and whenever she saw my own mother abuse me, 
 she would take me up in her arms, and carry me away 
 to her little hut, to soothe me, and caress me. 1 soon 
 loved her more than I did my own mother. I have always 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 211 
 
 continued to love her better than my own mother 1 And 
 she says that I have always treated her so kindly, and 
 affectionately, that she loves me as much as she does 
 either of her own sons. She says she means to kiss me 
 every time we meet as long as she lives, unless I forbid 
 it ; and I tell you, sir, that I shall never have it in my 
 heart to do so ; for I know I shall want to kiss her every 
 time I see her, as long as she lives." 
 
 A few days afterwards, I mentioned this occurrence 
 to Mrs. A., and expressed my surprise to see such signs 
 of affection between her husliand and that old slave. 
 
 " You may be assured," remarked the lady, with evident 
 delight at the fact, " that there was nothing feigned in 
 that matter. I know my husband loves that good woman 
 truly, and that she merits it justly. I have been with 
 him many a time to see her^ and he always gives her 
 money and other presents. She will never suffer for any 
 comfort while he lives. She is kindly treated where she 
 is, and she has her kindred about her." 
 
 " But these slaveholders are strange men 1 " she added, 
 mournfully — " so kind one moment — so cruel the next. 
 You would infer that my husband, judging only from 
 what you have seen, is one of the best hearted men in 
 the world, — and that he would never treat a slave cru- 
 elly, would you not, sir ? " 
 
 " Most certainly," I replied. " Is he not so ? " 
 
 " Very tender hearted and benevolent ; indulgent to 
 a fault, sir, except when his anger is excited. But then, 
 he seems to be beside himself, he is so cruel and merci- 
 less. His passions run away with him. They were nev- 
 
212 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 fer restrained -while lie was young, and now they con- 
 trol him. I will show you the proof of his inhumanity 
 'when in a passion. 
 
 She called in, from the kitchen, an old slave girl by 
 the name of " Sylva." She was so old that she recol- 
 lected scenes in the Eevolutionary war. She was the 
 cook for Mr. A.'s father, had been for his grandfather 
 before him, and was still the cook in the family of the 
 third generation. 
 
 " Take off your shoes, Sylva," said Mrs. A., " and let 
 this gentleman see your feet." 
 
 " I don't want to," said Sylva. 
 
 " But I want you to," said her mistress. 
 
 " I don't care if you do," replied Sylva, sullenly. 
 
 " You must," said the mistress, firmly. 
 
 The fear of punishment impelled her to remove the 
 shoes. Four toes on one foot, and two on the other, 
 were wanting ! 
 
 " There •! " said the mistress ; " my husband, who learned 
 the blacksmith's trade for the purpose of teaching it to 
 his slaves, to increase their market value, has, with his 
 own hands, pounded off, and wrung off all those toes, 
 when insane with passion. And it was only last week 
 that he thought Sylva was saucy to me, and he gave her 
 thirty lashes with the horse whip. She was so old that 
 I could not bear to see it, and I left the house." 
 
 " Sylva says," Mrs. A. continued, " that she has been 
 the mother of thirteen children, every one of whom she 
 destroyed with her own hands, in their infancy, rather 
 than have them suffer in slavery ! " 
 
SLAVERY HABDENS THE HEABT. 213 
 
 Jt SO happened, that before the day passed, I had an 
 OTportunitj to see the effects of the system upon the 
 "temper of Mrs. A. herself. I had a temperance lecture 
 iffionounced at the village, two miles distant, at six o'clock 
 ^at evening. Syka was the only cook, at that time, in 
 the kitchen. A little past four o'clock, Mrs. A. stepped 
 to the door and told her that I was going to the village 
 at sunset, and wanted an early supper. But Sylva was 
 " sulky," after the talk about her toes had opened her 
 .wounds afresh, and she did not feel disposed to gratify 
 Iter mistress. Mrs. A. continued to call to her more 
 frequently, and more earnestly, until the time drew near 
 for me to leave. I began to suspect that the cook was 
 intending to disappoint us, and, at a quarter before sis, 
 I said to the lady, — 
 
 " I think I will prefer to go down to the lecture, mad- 
 am, and take supper after! return." 
 
 " that will be too bad," replied Mrs. A. " You wiU 
 be famished and exhausted." 
 
 She went to the door again, and in a nervous, earnest, 
 impatient tone, she said — 
 
 " Sylva ! Wont the cake do to bring in now ? " 
 
 « Not quite done yet, mistress ! I'll bring it in by and 
 by," — was the provoking reply. 
 
 And now, even this amiable lady, with all her dignity 
 and self respect, lost the control of her temper, and 
 screamed out at the top of her voice — 
 
 " I sometimes wish thunder and lightning would come 
 down that chimney, and see if that would not stir yoa 
 up a little 1" 
 
214 mSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEEY. 
 
 I laughed immoderately. Mrs. A. turned towards me, 
 clenched her hands, the tears rolling down her cheeks, — 
 
 " O dear 1 " she exclaimed, " you don't know what prov- 
 ocations we haye ! " 
 
 " Yes I do know, madam I for I have seen them," I 
 replied ; " and I have wondered at your patience." 
 
 " So you see, now, it is as I told you," said Mrs. A., 
 sadly. "Slavery ruins the temper of eveiybody connect- 
 ed with it." 
 
 " The slaveholder's wife and daughters suffer most," 
 she continued, after becoming composed, "and if the 
 women of the North only knew what we are compelled 
 to suffer, they would all be Mrs. Stowes." 
 
 " If the women of Georgia had the privilege of de- 
 ciding the question of slavery," said Mrs. A. to me, at 
 another time, " I am certain that it would not live until 
 sunset." 
 
 " Yet I suppose, madam," said I, " that few of them 
 would dare publicly express their hatred of the sys- 
 tem?" 
 
 " By no means, sir," she answered quickly, " for we 
 scarcely venture to speak our thoughts, even to our hus- 
 bands." 
 
 She then spoke of the poverty and wretchedness of 
 the poor white people in the South. 
 
 " Are the whites so poor and destitue that they fre- 
 quently suffer from hunger ?" 1 inquired. 
 
 " No one has any idea," she replied, " of the poverty 
 of this class ; and nobody seems to care for them." 
 
 " I have always heard," said I, « that slaveholders are 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 215 
 
 proverbially benevolent and hospitable, even to stran- 
 gers ; and therefore I supposed that they would not let 
 their neighbors suffer from any want in their power to 
 supply." 
 
 " They are hospitable to each other, and to strangers," 
 said Mrs. A. " But the poor at their own doors, if not 
 slaveholders, are left unnoticed, and uncared for." 
 
 The prevailing habit of intemperance in the South is 
 another source of much cruel treatment. Men whose 
 passions, even when they are sober, are ever ready to 
 kindle to a flame, are like maniacs, when intoxicated. 
 And slaveholders, as a class, are addicted to the excess- 
 ive use of intoxicating liquors. 
 
 A slaveholder by the name of Austin — a very kind 
 man when he was sober — when in a drunken fit, killed 
 a favorite slave by the name of " Alexander." 
 
 When intoxicated, every object had, to his view, an 
 illusory aspect. He would fancy, at such times, that his 
 children were not his own. And his neighbors' slaves, 
 in his diseased imagination, took the places of his own. 
 This state of mind is peculiar to a certain class of ine- 
 briates. 
 
 His neighbor W. owned a slave boy, " Joe," who was 
 very vicious. Austin had notified Joe's master to keep 
 him at home, but he neglected to do it. Joe afterwards 
 committed a crime on Austin's plantation. Austin went 
 to the master, and informed him of it, — and he told 
 him that if he ever again found that slave on his prem- 
 ises he would shoot him. In a short time after this 
 Austin came home firom the tavern intoxicated. And' 
 
216 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 seeing his o-wn faithful slave, " Alexander," coming in at 
 his gate, he thought it was the culprit, " Joe," whom he 
 had banished from his premises. 
 
 " Joe," exclaimed Austin, " what are you in here for 
 again, you scoundrel ? " 
 
 " It is not Joe, master," replied Alexander, " it is I. 
 Don't you know ' Alick,' master ? " 
 
 " I know Alick ; he 's a good boy," said Austin ; " and 
 I know you, Joe ! you black villain ! " 
 
 " Look here, master Austin ! strange you don't know" — 
 
 " Didn't I tell you I would kill you if I found you in 
 here again ? " persisted Austin ; — and he ran towards 
 the slave, staggering as he went, and drawing his long 
 knife. The slave not daring to resist, fled to his cabin. 
 The master pursued, rushed in, and commenced cutting 
 him with the knife, until Alexander, to save his life, 
 wrenched it from his hand. Austin then went to his 
 house, seized his gun, and returning to Alexander's cab- 
 in, shot him ! 
 
 I came from Darien up to Savannah on Friday, in the 
 spring of 1853, and took lodgings at my former home, 
 the Marshall House. On Saturday I walked about the 
 city — renewing old acquaintances — visiting the mark- 
 et, the post-office, the reading rooms, stores, commission 
 houses, &c., — but I received no intimation that a mur- 
 der had been committed in that city a day or two pre- 
 vious. At the Marshall House I found many of the old 
 boarders with whom I was acquainted. I attended 
 church with them the next Sabbath, — but I heard no 
 one speak of any murder. On Monday morning I step 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 217 
 
 ped into the office of a gentleman of high standmg, who 
 went from Massachusetts, and he gave me a cordial greet- 
 ing. 
 
 "I suppose," remarked my friend, "that you have 
 heard of the murder of " Cuffee," by Wilson ? " 
 
 " I have not, sir," said I. 
 
 " Why ! When did you come into the city ? " 
 
 " Last Friday." 
 
 "Well, where have you been in the mean time, that 
 ■you have not heard of that terrible murder ? " 
 
 I informed him of my facilities to obtain news — stat- 
 ing where I had been and whom I had seen. 
 , " Now this is astonishing," said my friend, " that a man 
 can be killed in one of our public streets, in broad day- 
 light, and the fact not be known at the market, or the 
 reading rooms, or the hotels ! " 
 
 "Don't your papers publish such accounts?" I in- 
 quired. 
 
 « No sir. I looked in the daily papers Friday and 
 Saturday, and I was surprised to see no mention of it 
 there." 
 
 " Can you give me the facts, sir ? " said I. 
 
 « 0, yes," replied the merchant, promptly. And he 
 added, " I suppose you know Wilson ? " 
 
 "I do not, sir. I have merely seen him, — but have 
 no acquaintance with him." 
 
 « Did you know Cuffee ? " he asked. 
 
 " I did not." 
 
 « Cuffee -was a house carpenter, a very smart, ingenious, 
 industrious workman. He hired his time of his master, 
 19 
 
218 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 for whicli he paid him two hundred and seventy-fiye dol- 
 lars a year. He did job-work, and by constant, hard 
 labor, could earn a little more than the amount paid his 
 master, and thus have the»means of affording a few com- 
 forts to his wife and family, which they would not other- 
 wise enjoy. You see that window, sir I " — pointing to a 
 large window in his office. — " CufFee put in that window 
 a few days since. He made the sash, and the frame, and 
 put up those neat little fixtures you see at the sides." 
 
 " About six months ago," continued Mr. , " Cuffee 
 
 did some work for Wilson which was worth at least ten 
 dollars. He waited some time for his pay, but Wilson 
 neglected it. CufFee asked him two or three times for 
 it, and Wilson refused as often to pay him. Last week 
 Cuffee met him in the street and demanded payment. 
 
 ' I have been sick lately, Mr. Wilson,' said Cuffee, 'and 
 1 have not collected quite enough to pay the amount due 
 to my master ; and if you ever iutend to pay me for the 
 work I did for you I will thank you to do it now.' 
 
 'The work was not half done,' replied Wilson; 'and 
 I thought I shouldn't pay you any thing for it.' 
 
 Two gentlemen were standing on the side-walk, who 
 saw and heard it all. 
 
 ' Well,' said Cuffee, ' remember that I shall never ask 
 you for it again, so you will decide it finally this time.' 
 
 Wilson took a half dollar from his pocket, and held it 
 out towards Cuffee, in his open hand. 
 
 'Is that all you mean to pay me, Mr. WUson?' ex- 
 claimed Cuffee, contemptuously. 
 
 ' Yes,' replied Wilson, angrily, — ' take that, or nothing.' 
 
SLAVERY HAEDENS THE HEAET. 219 
 
 ' Why Mr. Wason 1 that is not half as much as I paid 
 a boy who helped me do the job.' 
 
 ' I dou't care for that,' said Wilson ; ' that is all I shall 
 pay you.' 
 
 'Mr. Wilson,' said Cuffee, much excited, 'if we were 
 a little nearer the river, I would throw this half dollar 
 into it, just to let you know that I can live without it, 
 and that I despise your meanness and dishonesty.' 
 
 Now it does not answer for a slave to call a slavehold- 
 er mean and dishonest. No matter how mean and dis- 
 honest he may be, the slave must not remind him of it. 
 Wilson commenced beating, kicking, and cursing the 
 slave. The spectators did not interfere — perhaps they 
 dared not provoke the murderer's wrath. Cufiee was 
 able to defend himself, if public opinion would have sus- 
 tained him ; — he could have run from the assassin, but 
 he feared the bullet would overtake him. 
 
 The blows continued to fall upon him so thick and 
 heavy, that, under a consciousness of his innocence, hav- 
 ing more moral courage than if he had not been making 
 his own contracts, and thinking, probably, that he could 
 fall back on his kind master for protection, he straight- 
 ened himself up, stepped back, stretched out his stalwart 
 arm, and exclaimed — 
 
 ' I tell you now, Mr. Wilson, that if I was not a slave, 
 I would not endure such treatment as this from you for 
 a moment ! ' 
 
 Behold him lifting his hand against a white man ! 
 Unpardonable offense ! Any man may kill him with 
 
220 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 impunit'ijf Wilson drew Ms double barrelled pistol, 
 and shot the noble hearted slave dead on the spot 1 
 
 The Supreme Court was in session in that city at the 
 time. Cuffee's master felt indignant that his faithful 
 servant had been stricken down mider such circumstan- 
 ces, and he entered a complaint against Wilson for the 
 murder. But on receiving a thousand dollars as a com- 
 pensation for his value, he abandoned the prosecution ; 
 and the murderer still goes abroad, unpunished ! 
 
 While I was in Georgia a shocking murder was com- 
 mitted in Clark county. The following account of it is 
 from the Savannah Morning News, of the 26th of Jan- 
 nary^, 1853. 
 
 " On Thursday last, James Clark, a well known citi- 
 zen of Clark county, made an assault upon his negro 
 woman, for a cause which we have not heard stated. He 
 then ordered her into the comer, and commenced pitch- 
 ing his knife at her, point foremost. As the knife would 
 enter her flesh, he would compel the victim to draw it 
 out, and return it to him. This demoniacal amusement 
 was continued imtil the slave was covered with about 
 fifty bleeding gashes. The same day he whipped his 
 wife, cut her all over the head with his knife, not dan- 
 gerously, we understand, but in a mass of cruel and 
 painful punctures. He also cut off her eyelids. This 
 drama wound up, on Friday last, by the commission of 
 a murder. Clark on that day ordered his wife to go 
 and call Lewis, (a negro belonging to the family.) She 
 obeyed, — but the slave refused to come, through dread 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 221 
 
 of his enraged master, we suppose. Mrs. Clark re- 
 turned, and was whipped by her husband, for not bring- 
 ing the negro ! Five times was she sent upon this ca- 
 pricious mission, five times was it fruitless, and each 
 time was she whipped for her failure. Clark then called 
 to the slave, informing him that he would shoot him the 
 next morning. The negro, it seems, did not heed the 
 warning, for while splitting rails the next day, he was 
 deliberately shot by his master. The wound was fatal ; 
 the negro ran about three hundred yards, and fell in 
 mortal agony. Thus terminated one of the most bar- 
 barous transactions that it has ever been our painful and 
 repugnant duty to record." 
 
 One day while conversing with Mr. C, the city mar- 
 shal of Darien, upon matters of this kind, he related to 
 me the- following thrilling story. The facts were within 
 his own personal knowledge. 
 
 Charles Pelot owned a slave — "Cato,"- — the best 
 pilot in that port. Every shipmaster who visited Dari- 
 en, felt perfectly safe in entering the harbor, however 
 thick the fog, or violent the storm, if Cato was at the 
 helm. He was remarkably intelligent, and faithful ; and 
 of course he was valuable to his master for that reason. 
 Everybody knew him, and had perfect confidence in him. 
 His master owned no other slave, — and he indulged 
 Cato, giving him privileges which were not granted to 
 : other slaves. Though it was not allowed by law, Cato 
 was permitted to take a gun, and go out among the 
 islands in pursuit of game. His services as pilot were 
 often in demand, at a high price, — so that he almost or 
 quite supported his master's family. 
 
222 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Cato's family belonged to a master residing in that 
 city, who neglected properly to supply their wants. He 
 was, therefore, generously permitted to visit them often, 
 carry them food, and clothing, and take care of them in 
 sickness. 
 
 It so happened that Mr. Pelot sold his property in 
 Darien, with the intention of removing to Jacksonville, 
 in Florida. Slaveholders never consult their slaves in 
 business matters, no matter how intelligent they may be. 
 Cato, therefore, remained in ignorance of his master's 
 purpose, until the evening before he was expecting to 
 leave the city. 
 
 Mr. C. told me that he happened to be present when 
 Cato's master informed him of his centemplated re- 
 moval. 
 
 " Cato ! " said he, " I have sold my property here, and 
 am going down to Jacksonville." 
 
 " When are you going, master ? " inquired the slave, 
 his voice trembling, as if all the fears of a lifetime were 
 crowding upon him in this single moment. 
 
 " I am going to-morrow," replied Mr. P. 
 
 "Do you want me to go with you, master ? " inquired 
 the already wretched slave. 
 
 ^' Yes, Cato ! " said the master. " Tou know I depend 
 upon your labor for the support of my family. I want 
 you for a pilot at Jacksonville." 
 
 *' Are you going to buy my wife and children, mas- 
 ter?" 
 
 Cato's emotions were so strong, and his anxiety so in- 
 tense, that he could hardly ask the question. A moment 
 of awful silence passed — the master could not speak, 
 
SLAVERY HAEDENS THE HEAKT. 223 
 
 and the slave, as if encouraged by his delay to reply, 
 added — 
 
 " Now if you mil buy Nelly and the children, master 
 Pelot, I should like to go with you ; for you have always 
 been good to me, and I don't want to leave you 1 " 
 
 " I wish for your sake, Cato, that I could buy Nelly 
 and the little girls, — but I am not able," replied Pelot, 
 sadly, and with evident sorrow of heart for the wretch- 
 ed family. 
 
 " Well, then, I can't go with you, master," said Cato. 
 
 " You must go, Cato," replied the master ; " you are 
 all my dependence for a living." 
 
 " I tell you I can't go, master, and leave my wife and 
 children in the hands of that man I You know, master I " 
 said Cato, pointing towards the defenceless hut where 
 his unprotected family lived. 
 
 "I do know, Cato," said the sympathizing master, 
 "and I pity you 1 But I cannot buy your family, and I 
 cannot part with you. You must be ready to start with 
 us in the morning." — The slave folded his arms upon his 
 breast, raised his eyes to Heaven, as if imploring Divine 
 • assistance, and then he said to his master, firmly, — . 
 
 " You have always been kind to me, master Pelot. I 
 love you, and would like to go with you, — but I will nev- 
 er go away from Darien, and leave my wife and children 
 in the hands of that man ! / have resolved to die first ! " 
 
 This seeming defiance of his authority enraged the 
 master, and anger took the place of pity. 
 
 " You will go with me, to-morrow morning ! " he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
224 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Cato loaded his old rusty rifle, and fled that night to 
 the woods. In the morning, Mr. C, the city marshal, 
 was ordered to pursue him. He told me that he kept 
 hounds for that purpose. He went out behind the court 
 house, — which stands outside of the city, near the pine 
 woods, — and Cato called to him from the top of a 
 tree — 
 
 " Don't you come to take me, Mr. C. 1 You know I 
 told master Pelot that I would die before I would leave 
 Darien, and let my wife and children suffer as they 
 would. I knew it was no use to run away, for the dogs 
 would catch me ; and I don't want to hurt you, Mr. 
 C. ; but I will shoot the first man that comes to take 
 mel" 
 
 Mr. C. returned, and told Pelot that he would have 
 nothing to do with taking Cato, — not even if he should 
 be removed from his office for this decision. But there 
 were two desperados in that city, who volimteered to go 
 and take him. The name of one of them was Sam. 
 Blunt. 
 
 " Bring him in, dead or alive 1 " said Pelot, when they 
 started. 
 
 Blunt had a longer rifle than Cato had. The two 
 man-hunters went out around the court house, when Ca- 
 to admonished them of their danger if they advanced 
 farther. Blunt raised his rifle, and fired! Cato fell 
 to the ground. They took him up, — but he was 
 dead 1 ! 1 
 
 B. S., of F. H., in South Carolina, owned a giant slave 
 whose name was Dread. This slave was represented to 
 
SLAVERY HAHDENS THE HEAKT, 225 
 
 mc by one of the neighbors as a man of superior strength, 
 both of body and mind, being nearly seven feet in height. 
 There were forty slaves at work on the plantation of 
 B. S., before Dread was added to the nimiber ; and this 
 name was given him by the new master on account of his 
 uncommon physical strength. 
 
 The next year Dread was made overseer of the gang, 
 and the management of the plantation was wholly left 
 to his care. The farm was well conducted under his 
 supervision, and every thing went on smoothly and pros- 
 perously for several years. The task of every hand 
 was always well and seasonably performed, without 
 whipping. K a feeble woman was sick, or miable to 
 accomplish her task alone, her husband or brother was 
 allowed to assist her. Or if a weak, feeble man could 
 not keep up with the gang, his friend was permitted to 
 help him. This is a privilege not customarily granted 
 to slaves. 
 
 The fields of B. S. were now so much more produc- 
 tive than those of others around him, that the neighbor- 
 ing planters frequently sought advice of his colored 
 overseer, in relation to the management of their farms ; 
 thus deferring to his opinion, and admitting that he pos- 
 sessed more practical knowledge of agricultural matters 
 than either themselves or their white overseers. 
 
 A gentleman, well acquainted with Dread, told me 
 that he regarded him not only as much the stoutest, but 
 the most intellectual man he ever saw. 
 
 « Dread had the largest head," he remarked, " I have 
 ever seen, — and I have seen Daniel Webster ; and his 
 
226 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 natural abilities were not inferior to those of that states- 
 man." 
 
 Placed in a condition less humble than most slaves, 
 he had never appeared so menial and timid. He felt 
 and acted more like a free man. He did not always 
 take off his cap and put it under his arm whenever he 
 met a white man in the street, or entered his dwelling. 
 
 It was natifral that the white overseers on the sur- 
 rounding plantations should be jealous of his success. 
 And soon it began to be whispered around the neighbor- 
 hood that, if Dread were so disposed, he might become 
 a leader in an insurrection. 
 
 The slaveholders held a conference, and decided that 
 it was necessary for B. S. to make an experiment that 
 would test the manhood of the giant slave, and ascer- 
 tain whether he could be made as submissive as all 
 slaves should be made, to insure the safety of the mas- 
 ters. Among the plans that were suggested to B. S., 
 one was to obtain another overseer, and put Dread to 
 work under him in the gang ; and if he expressed the 
 least objection to the change, to whip him severely, and 
 " break him in." 
 
 A large, tall, stout Yankee was secured for a driver, 
 and Dread was ordered to take his hoe, and perform 
 his task with the other hands. Without expressing the 
 least surprise or regret at the loss of his place, or even 
 presuming to inquire why he was to be no longer over- 
 seer, he went to work with as much apparent cheerful- 
 ness as usual. 
 
 This was so unexpected, that the masters were greatly 
 
SLA\'ERY HAKDENS THE HEAUT 227 
 
 perplexed. They could really find no fault in the slave 
 OD which to predicate a charge and inflict a punishment. 
 His noble, fearless bearing, and stately step, were un- 
 mistakeable signs that he felt altogether too manly and 
 independent for a humble slave; but how to develope 
 his feelings and prove the fact, was the difiBicult question. 
 There was nothing in his character or conduct that de- 
 served the slightest reproof, much less a punishment 
 sufficiently severe to crush his manhood and break his 
 invincible spirit. StUl all agreed that something must 
 be done. 
 
 Finally, they concluded to prefer false charges against 
 him, and punish him if he complained of suffering wrong- 
 fully. The master treated him with unusual severity. 
 One, among numerous complaints brought against him, 
 was that he did not hoe his corn so well as the other 
 hands. To remove this, Dread performed a double 
 task, — hoeing two rows to each of the others one. 
 Tom, who hoed next to Dread, told me that Dread re- 
 moved every weed, hoed it as neat as a garden, deter- 
 mined to remove every cause for complaint ; for he saw 
 that a tei-rible storm was arising upon him. 
 
 Dread and Tom occupied the same hut after the now 
 overseer had come ; and they had always been mutual 
 Iriends. 
 
 "Master S.," said Tom, who related the story to me, 
 " came into our hut one evening, soon after we had fin, 
 ished work, looking so pale that he frightened me ; and 
 he said, 
 
 « ' Dread ! I say you don't hoe your corn so well as 
 the other hands.' 
 
228 INSIDE "VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 'How do you know that, master ! ' "replied the in- 
 trepid slave, rising np respectfully from his low stool, 
 and looking the master calmly in the eye." 
 
 " Now I knew," said Tom, « that master S. had not 
 been into the field that day. Nor had he seen the over- 
 seer, as his quarters were beyond our hut, and further 
 from the house. Besides, had he consulted the overseer, 
 he would have been informed that, instead of not doing 
 his work ' as well,' Dread had done his work better, and 
 twice as much, as either of the other hands. But the 
 moment he questioned his master's knowledge, he had 
 exceeded the prerogative of a slave, and this threw his 
 master into a violent fit of anger." 
 
 ' Ah ! you have got above yourself, boy,' he vocifera- 
 ted, raging and foaming with passion. ' I must have you 
 taken down a notch ! You shall be flogged, you impu- 
 dent, black rascal 1 ' 
 
 ' / shall not receive a flogging, sir ! ' " replied the in- 
 dignant slave, firmly and fearlessly." 
 
 " Mr. S. then ran out to the overseer, and told him to 
 call out all the hands." 
 
 ' Now take him and tie him,' " said Mr. S., when the 
 whole gang had assembled in front of Dread's hut, and 
 he was standing in the door. This," said Tom, " they 
 attempted to do, in a scuflBe which lasted nearly an hour ; 
 but they were not able for a moment to confine one of 
 his limbs ; for with his hands and feet he flui^ them on the 
 ground as fast as they came near him. He evidently 
 avoided injuring the slaves more than was absolutely 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 229 
 
 necessary, in defending himself; for he knew they all 
 loved him." 
 
 Soon after this fruitless effort to subdue Dread, the 
 master and overseer of another plantation were employed 
 to come and help bind and whip him. In the mean time, 
 Dread furnished himself with a long butcher-knife, with 
 which he felt secure. When he saw them coming into 
 the field to take him, he dropped his hoe, drew the rude 
 weapon from his side, advanced a few steps towards 
 them, and brandished the knife, as he stood in an atti- 
 tude of conscious innocence, moral courage, physical 
 strength, and bold defiance of his foes 1 
 
 " No man," said Tom, " dared lay a finger on him 1 " 
 
 Now a crisis had come. — A slave had successfully 
 resisted his master. This must not be tolerated. 
 Such an insurrectionary spirit must be crushed — cost 
 what it may. The deadly purpose was formed in the 
 heart of the master. 
 
 " The gun was loaded," said Tom, " and I was ordered 
 to take the ammunition, and accompany my master." 
 
 ' What are you going to do now ? ' " said Mrs. S. to 
 her husband, as he was passing out of the house." 
 
 ' I am going out on a squirrel hunt,' " replied Mr. S., 
 with apparent composure." 
 
 " Had mistress known his intention to kill Dread," 
 said Tom, " I thiok she would have dissuaded him from 
 his bloody purpose, — for she was a Christian woman. 
 But we started off before she had time to say more- 
 Passing around behind the house, we came in sight of 
 20 
 
230 INSIDE TIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the slaves at work in a plum orchard, in the valley be- 
 hind the hill. Master raised his gun — held it steady 
 to his eye, until the victim was selected from the other 
 hands, — and then he fired ! " 
 
 A heavy charge of buck shot was lodged in the thigh 
 of the great-hearted, imconquerable Dread. The large 
 artery was divided. The blood poured from the wound. 
 Dread ran out a few rods to the hill side, crying to 
 Heaven for vengeance on his murderer, and uttering, in 
 deep, thunder tones, that seemed to make the earth trem- 
 ble beneath him, 
 
 "I'm kUled! I'm kiUedl I I'm kiUed! ! 1" 
 
 His devoted wife, who, a moment before, stood labor- 
 ing faithfully at his side, was the first to reach him, cry- 
 ing in a wild, frantic voice — 
 
 " Dread is dead ! Dkead is dead 1 1 DEEAD IS 
 DEAD ! ! ! 
 
 " Hold your tongue ! " commanded the murderer. 
 
 " Stni she screamed," said Tom, " louder than I ever 
 before heard from woman — 'Dread is dead! — Dread 
 is dead ! ' 
 
 " The master ran up to the fence, pulled off a rail, and 
 struck that woman with it on the head, repeating — with 
 a horrid oath — 
 
 ' Hold your tongue, I say ! ' " 
 
 This is the " moderate correction " which the laws of 
 
 the slave States allow! So does slavery harden the 
 
 heart, until the man is made — not a brute, but — a fiend ! 
 
 J So has many a moral hero in the South fallen a victim 
 
 to its cruel, insatiable spirit ! 
 
SLAVERY HARDENS THE HEART. 231 
 
 The body of Dread was carried to its rest, by Ms 
 mourning companions. The darkness of night could not 
 cover their sorrow. His heart-stricken wife, broken 
 down with grief which no tongue can describe, was sold 
 a few days afterwards to a " soul-driTer " from Kentucky ! 
 
XIX. 
 
 SLAVEET AND EDUCATION. 
 
 "And such is man — a sofl which breeds 
 Or sweetest flowers, or -vilest weeds; 
 Flowers lovely as the morning's light,— 
 Weeds deadly as an aconite ; 
 Just as the heart is trained to bear 
 The poisonous weed or floweret feir." 
 
 BOWEKG, 
 
 In tte census report of 1850 the disastrous influencea 
 of slavery are visible on almost every page. It is true 
 that there are many features not to be found there. 
 The relative amount of manufactures and of commerce 
 have to be sought for from other sources, and, when 
 found, show that the South, with far greater resources, 
 is vastly inferior to the North. But the statistics of the 
 last census exhibit evidence enough to convince any 
 candid mind of the dangers that impend over our nation. 
 From the general fact that the slave States, with much 
 the larger territory, far surpassing the North in fertility 
 of soil, in mildness of climate, with abundance of har- 
 bors, and rivers, and waterfalls, for commerce, naviga- 
 tion, and manufactures, has not half so great a free white 
 population as the free States, down to the minutest details 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 233 
 
 of educational institutions, the premature decay of the 
 one, and the rapid growth and prosperity of the other, 
 are written in lines that cannot be overlooked. 
 
 In the 15 free States, excluding California, there were 
 4,742,000 white cliildren between 5 and 20 years of age. 
 Of these, 3,111,000 were returned as scholars attending 
 the various primary schools. In the slave States the 
 number of free white children between 5 and 20 years 
 of age was 2,450,000, and only 974,000 of these were 
 reported as scholars attending any of the schools. 
 There were more scholars in Massachusetts, than in 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. There 
 were more in Maine, than in Virginia, South Carolina, 
 and Mississippi. There were more in either two of 
 New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, than in all the slave 
 ,, States put together. 
 
 Compare Maine with Georgia and North Carolina. 
 In Mame, the white population in 1850 was 581,813. 
 Of these, 31,695 were foreigners. The adult popula- 
 .tion, over 20 years old, was 293,422. Of these, only 
 6,282 were unable to read and write, and 4,148 of these 
 were foreigners, only 2,134 being native born. 
 
 In Georgia, the free white population was 521,572, 
 of which only 6,452 were foreigners. There were 
 217,774 over 20 years old, of whom 41,667 were not 
 able to read or write ; and only 406 of these were for- 
 eigners, 41,261 being native bom. 
 
 In North Carolina the free white population was 
 553,028, only 2,565 of whom were foreigners. The 
 
234 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 number over 20 years old was 241,022, of whom 80,423 
 could neither read nor write. And of these only 340 
 were foreigners, 80,83 being .native born. 
 
 Compare Massachusetts and Virginia. In Massa- 
 chusetts the white population was 985,450. Foreign- 
 ers, 165,598. The number of adults over 20 years of 
 age, 568,533. Of these, the number not able to read 
 and write was 28,345, of whom 26,484 were foreigners, 
 only 1,861 being native born ! 
 
 While in Virginia the free white population was 
 894,800, with only 22,593 foreigners. The number over 
 20 years old was 413,418, of whom 88,520 could not 
 read or write. And of these only 1,137 were foreign- 
 ers, 87,383, being native born ! 
 
 The number of daily newspapers returned, not includ- 
 ing the District of Columbia or California, was 245. 
 Of these, 173 were published in the free States, and 72 
 in the slave States. The number of weekly newspapers 
 was 1,888, — in the North 1,351, in the South 53 7 1 The 
 number in Massachusetts was 126, in Virginia bb. 
 The number in New York was 308, and in Pennsyl- 
 vania 261, being 32 more in these two States, than m 
 all the slave States. 
 
 The annual income of the public schools in the thirty 
 States, excluding California and the District of Colum- 
 bia, from taxation and all other sources, was $9,561,859. 
 Of this, $ 6,840,488 is put to the credit of the free 
 States, and only $ 2,721,371 to the slave States. The 
 amount in Massachusetts was f 1,006,795, in Virginia 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 235 
 
 $314,625. In New York it tos $1,472,657, and in 
 Pennsylvania $ 1,414,530, being $ 165,816 more in these 
 two States than in all the slave States 1 1 1 
 
 Before relating any of my own personal observations, 
 I will allude to some of the reasons that have been 
 given for this disparity between the North and the South. 
 It has been said that they cannot sustain schools in the 
 slave States, on account of the "sparseness of the pop- 
 ulation." But Maine stands ahead of every other State 
 in the proportion of her children attending school, and 
 only one other State equals it in the proportion of her 
 . |>opulation who can read and write. But there are a 
 less number of inhabitants to the square mile in this 
 State than in Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 or either of the Carolinas. And a comparison of either 
 of these States with Vermont or New Hampshire shows 
 the same result. 
 
 And though, as I shall show, the sparsely settled dis- 
 tricts in the South are generally the most noted for the 
 ignorance of the people, it is far otherwise in the North, 
 la the rural districts of New England, among the farm- 
 ers, the schools are uniformly the best, and the number 
 of ignorant men less than in the cities and the large 
 seaboard towns. I believe the conviction at the North 
 is, that slaveholders themselves are generally educated ; 
 and that those who cannot read and write are found 
 among the poor non-slaveholding whites and blacks. But 
 it is not so. The non-slaveholders are ignorant and 
 degraded, but not more so than the Crackers. So far 
 as I observed, the slaveholders in the planting districts 
 
236 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 are quite as destitute of learning as the poor whites ; 
 and I have seen a private letter from a colporteur, in 
 
 ■which he affirms that he traveled 20 miles in county, 
 
 called on 21 families of slaveholders, and found only 
 two — a man and his wife— who could read. 
 
 The slave States are divided into counties only, and 
 not into towns like the free States. Near the center 
 of each county, usually, is the " county seat," where are 
 the court house, jail, church, and school. When other 
 Tillages spring up, in other parts of the county, they 
 receive adventitious names, until they add a few hundred 
 inhabitants, to enable them to maintain a municipal gov- 
 enmient, and they then become cities. Some of these 
 cities have less than five hundred inhabitants. 
 
 At most of the county seats, schools — called acade- 
 mies — have been established. The standard of educa- 
 tion in these academies has always been far below that 
 of the common schools in the New England States. I 
 visited several academies, and in none of them were 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic so thoroughly taught as 
 they are in the common schools of Maine and New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Within a few years the slaveholders themselves, es- 
 pecially those who went from the North, have lost all 
 confidence in the old academy as a suitable school for 
 their children ; and hence the recent establishment of 
 four male and eight female colleges, in the cities of 
 Georgia, which are mainly sustained by these Northern 
 men, and instructed by teachers from the North. The 
 Standard of education in these colleges is about the same 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 237 
 
 as in the common schools in New England. The ornoi- 
 mental branches are better taught, but the solid, not so 
 well. 
 
 The slaveholders are evidently discouraged by the 
 tmsuccessful efforts to educate their sons. Hence the 
 number of female colleges is double that of male. 
 Three of these colleges are under the auspices of the 
 Baptist, three of the Methodist, and two of the Presby- 
 terian denomination. There are from one to two hund- 
 red young ladies in these schools. Some of them are 
 from the Nortli, but a large proportion of them are 
 Southern ladies, though the daughters of parents who 
 went from the free States. Most of these young ladies, 
 as well as their teachers, a large proportion of whom 
 are directly from the free States, become the wives of 
 the most wealthy and the best educated slaveholders. 
 The class of literary slaveholders is very small; but 
 they often seek Northern ladies for wives, appreciating 
 their superior literary and intellectual endowments, and 
 their domestic qualifications. 
 
 The young men who go South to teach, or to engage 
 in the practice of any literary profession, often become 
 connected by marriage with the families of wealthy 
 slaveholders, and then they are generally advocates of 
 slavery^ 
 
 It is impossible to maintain as good government in 
 the schools in the slave States as we have in the free 
 States. There is not that substantial family discipline 
 maintained, and the salutary home influence in the South, 
 that are every where seen in New England. The slave- 
 
238 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 holder doea not return home from his haunts of dissipa. 
 tion or his amusements, and gather his family around 
 the fireside, to converse with them about their welfare, 
 and the interests of society, like the Northern farmer, 
 merchant, or mechanic, when the labors of the day are 
 finished. 
 
 It is a proverb in New England, that where the chil- 
 dren are not governed at home, they cannot, without 
 trouble, be made to mind in school. This is lamentably 
 verified in the schools of the South. The child of the 
 slaveholder is taught to resist every insult, every ag- 
 gression upon his rights, with physical force, and, if need 
 be, with a fatal weapon. He is instructed to regard a 
 " coward " as the meanest, most odious character in the 
 world, and he shuns no danger to avoid such an oppro- 
 brious epithet. Thus the son is often first sent to the 
 pistol gallery, before he is taught to read. 
 
 I was in company with a learned physician from Mass- 
 achusetts, sitting under a tree near an academy in 
 Georgia, when five boys, just dismissed from school, 
 commenced pitching knives at a tree. Two of these 
 boys, whose names were George and John, had a falling 
 out. George took up a piece of limestone, as large as 
 his fist, and threw it with great violence towards John, 
 who was standing near a large oak tree. When John 
 saw the stone coming directly towards him, he sprang 
 behind the tree. 
 
 "There John! you mean coward !" said George, con- 
 temptuously; "dodge behind a tree, ehl You mean 
 dog I I'll have nothing more to say to you I " 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 239 
 
 George turned and walked off the play ground, with 
 that air peculiar to a slaveholder, as though the earth 
 vere too mean for such a hero to tread. The other 
 three boys repeated George's words, exclaiming simut 
 taneously, 
 
 "You are a mean coward, John! Dodge behind a 
 tree 1 Afraid of a little stone, are you ? We'll never 
 play with you again." 
 
 And they all started off after the hero George, and 
 left poor disconsolate Johnny standing behind the tree, 
 speechless, motionless, disgraced. 
 
 Let that scene be repeated the next day, and Johnny 
 would not dodge the stone. He would not endure 
 another frown of public opinion like that, and thus lose 
 Bie confidence and companionship of all his little com- 
 rades. He will " stand his ground " the next time — and 
 then, as he advances in years, he will take the knife, 
 and, at last, the bullet, preferring death to the name and 
 disgrace of a coward. ' 
 
 These habits of resistance are carried into the schools, 
 and oppose wholesome restraint there. One of the 
 female teachers in a slave State informed me that she 
 had a boy in her school only eight years of age, who 
 had transgressed an important rule of the school, and 
 she ordered him to come up to the desk. The little 
 fellow drew his knife, and defied her to punish him. 
 She waited sometime, until the boy was off his guard, 
 when she caught him by the arm, dragged him out of his 
 seat, and inflicted the punishment. 
 
 Immediately after this, a brother of this lad, only ten 
 
240 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 years of age, openly violated the same law, and she 
 oommanded him to come forward. She said that she 
 did not suspect there was a pistol in her school, mitil 
 this boy thrust his hand over behind his head, and pulled 
 out a pistol from under the neck of his jacket, cocked 
 it, pointed it towards her, and exclaimed, 
 
 " Now ferule me, if you dare ! " 
 
 In the evening this teacher visited the family, and in- 
 quired of the father of those boys how he wished her 
 to manage them. 
 
 " I can beat my boys enough at home, madam," was 
 his insulting reply. 
 
 A friend of mine from Maine — a graduate of Bowdoin 
 College — is teaching in Tennessee. I recently saw a 
 letter which this young gentleman v/rote to his father, in 
 which he stated that twice during the last term, when he 
 attempted to punish boys belonging to his academy, 
 they had drawn pistols upon him, and he was unable to 
 inflict the punishment. 
 
 The murder of Mr. Butler, in Kentucky, by Ward, 
 whose acquittal I have already alluded to as illustrating 
 the administration of justice in the South, shows how 
 difficult it is for a teacher, in the slave States, to main- 
 tain that discipline without which no school is of much 
 value. The facts are so well known that 1 need not re- 
 peat them. A similar case has lately occurred in another 
 slave State, an account of which I copy from the Nash' 
 ville Whig of June 18th. 
 
 " We learn, from a gentleman who was an eye-witness, 
 the following particulars of a most horrible and tragical 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 241 
 
 affair that occurred at Pontotoc, Miss., on Monday last. 
 It appears that Mr. Brown, the principal of the male 
 academy at Pontotoc, had punished one of his pupils 
 about a week since. A brother of the boy that -vras 
 whipped, by the name of Wray, made threats against Mr. 
 Brown for the aforesaid punishment, to which but little 
 attention was paid. On Monday, young Wray, a youth 
 some seventeen or eighteen years old, took a position 
 where Mr. Brown would pass on his way home from 
 jchool, and waited until he came along, when Wray at- 
 tacked him. 
 
 The two clinched, Brown only acting in self defense, 
 and those who saw it thought it only to be a scuffle be- 
 tween them, until they saw Brown run a few yards, his 
 hands upon his abdomen, and fall down lifeless. While 
 they were clinched, Wray had inflicted two wounds upon 
 Qrown with a large bowie knife, which killed him almost 
 Iptantly." 
 
 . Will the murderer be punished for his crime ? We 
 shall see. 
 
 I have already spoken of my surprise to find the 
 houses of slaveholders so generally destitute of books. 
 Even wealthy men of this class, who can read themselves, 
 are frequently found without more than half a dozen 
 books in their families. In conversation upon this sub- 
 ject with a slaveholder, who was a native of New Eng- 
 land, — a gentleman of fine talents and great learning, 
 and for many years devoted to improvements in systems 
 of education, — he confessed his astonishment at finding 
 21 
 
242 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 SO few literaiy men and so great a paucity of books in 
 the South. He said he had been in every State in the 
 Union, except California, on business that gave him an 
 acquaintance with educated men — that he was well ac- 
 quainted in Maine — and that he had no doubt there 
 were more books, and more men of liberal education, and 
 more business talent in the city of Portland, with its 
 twenty-five thousand inhabitants, than in the whole State 
 of Georgia, — and more in the State of Maine, with her 
 half a million inhabitants, than in all the slave States I 
 No gentleman in the country was better qualified to 
 make the comparison, as he had no motive to make 
 one unfavorable to the South, being identified with all 
 its interests and institutions. 
 
 I visited the academy in the city of D., Georgia. 
 Sixteen pupils only were present on examination day. 
 Long seats, without backs or writing desks, and a small 
 black-board, composed the whole inventory of accom- 
 modations, fixtures, and apparatus. This school was in 
 operation only during the winter term. 
 
 While the teacher was demonstrating a sum on the 
 board, two lads had a misunderstanding, and one of 
 them knocked the other down. The noise attracted the 
 attention of the teacher, who looked around before the 
 boy had time to get up ; but he took no notice of it. 
 The recitations in reading and arithmetic — writing was 
 inadmissible for want of writing desks — were far infe- 
 rior to those in the common schools of New England. 
 
 I visited a school in M. county, where there were four* 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 243 
 
 teen scholars, and only six books. The teacher was a 
 native of that county, and the only native teacher in all 
 the Oconee valley. 
 
 In the academy located in the county of L., I found 
 a good teacher from New Hampshire. He assured me 
 that he could not confine the boys at school long enough, 
 •without interruption, to teach them any thing thoroughly. 
 ' "There," said he, pointing to a lad ten years of age, 
 who appeared to be bright, " is a boy that has been here 
 the most of a whole term, — but he has not learned all 
 Ms letters. His father will permit no restraint upon 
 him when he wishes for any amusement, — such as gam- 
 ing and fishing, — and it is useless for me to try to teach 
 him to read." 
 
 I spent the night with a slaveholder in one of the 
 planting districts, and I inquired if he could read. He 
 said he could not, nor could any of his family, except 
 his son Henry. A Yankee schoolmaster had visited 
 that place, and imposed upon the ignorant parents by 
 assuring them that he could teach their children to read 
 in a few days, on an improved method of teaching that 
 art, for which he charged a high price, as it was " a great 
 saving of time." Henry and several other boys in the 
 place were sent to the Yankee's "patent " school, where 
 they were simply taught to repeat two of Watts' hymns, 
 while looking on the hymn book. This fact had pre- 
 vidusly come to my knowledge, and I remarked to the 
 father that I would like to hear Henry read. 
 
 The old psalm book, the only book in the house, 
 was brought out, and Henry opened at the right place, 
 
244 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 and read his two hymns. But I noticed the absence of 
 the tone and emphasis peculiar to an intelligent reader. 
 I opened at another place, and requested Henry to read 
 there. 
 
 " I have not learned to read that hymn, sir," he re- 
 plied. 
 
 His father was wealthy, owned much land, and large 
 flocks and herds ; but neither he, nor his wife, nor either 
 of his six children, could read the alphabet. 
 
 A slaveholder in the interior, who owned forty slaves, 
 and a large landed property, went to the market with 
 ship timber. I purchased a raft of pine timber of him, 
 and when I took a receipt for it, he made his mark. He 
 had nine sons — all men grown — neither of whom could 
 write his name. I said to the father, — 
 
 " "Why in the world have you not expended a few thou- 
 sand dollars of your property, to have your sons taught 
 to read and write ? " 
 
 The old gentleman had no idea that any advantage 
 whatever was derived from such knowledge, except that 
 it qualified its possessor to cheat his neighbor. For, 
 said he, — 
 
 " I have always been cheated most by men who could 
 write. Send my sons to school to learn to read and 
 write ? Not 1 1 It would make just such devils of them 
 as you Yankees are 1 
 
 " I never make my mark, when I can help it," he add- 
 ed. " I bought a clock once of a man from Connecticut, 
 warranted to last ninety-nine years. The price agreed 
 upon was ten dollars. I had no money by me, and I 
 
SLAVERY AND EDTJCATIOK. 245 
 
 gave the pedler an order on a merchant for that amount, 
 as I supposed. But when the order came back, forty 
 dollars were demanded of me. I refused to pay more 
 than ten, and was sued. I went into court, and told the 
 judge that the order was just ten dollars, and all my 
 family were ready to swear to it. But the judge said 
 that the writing was forty : and I, and all my boys 
 couldn't swear a dollar off from that. 
 
 ' Well judge,' said I, ' if there is so much deviltry in 
 writing as that, I don't want my boys to learn to write. 
 But look here, judge 1 there is a warrant the rascal gave 
 me to keep the clock going. He was to pay back the 
 ten dollars if it stopped in ninety-nine years, — and it 
 stopped within a week.' 
 
 " The judge took the paper, and looked at it, and then 
 laughed, as he read it aloud — ' warranted to last ninety- 
 nine yearsJ And all the lawyers laughed right smart. 
 The judge then said to me, 
 
 ' This writing, Capt. B., does not warrant the clock 
 to keep time, but only to last ninety-nine years ; — which 
 means, I suppose, that if you keep your house well shin- 
 gled, the clock will not rot during all that time.' 
 
 " Now do you suppose I am fool enough, since that," 
 said Capt. B., with a significant turn of the head, " to 
 believe there is any benefit in learning to write ? " 
 
 A description of the guide-posts, now in use in some 
 districts of the South may be of some interest. There 
 is a general trail through the woods, and across the old 
 plantations, from one county seat to another, which en- 
 ables the traveler to keep the right direction. But rmle- 
 
246 INSIDE VIE^V OP SLAYERT, 
 
 posts are erected, having as many notches cut in them 
 as there are miles between each post and the next coun- 
 ty seat. These posts are hard pine, hewn six inches 
 square, and standing several feet out of the ground. 
 Four grooves are cut half way across the post, for the 
 first four numerals; then one entirely across for the 
 fifth, — then four more half lines for the next four num- 
 bers, and another whole line for the tenth. 
 
 I was much amused while riding with a slaveholder in 
 an old mule-cart one very dark, rainy evening, with his 
 slave, " Pompey," for a driver. The master discovered 
 the top of a mile-post, on a hill ; and he told Pompey to 
 jump out and see how far they were from home. Pom- 
 pey alighted, and counted up, " one, two, three, four ; " 
 but when his finger reached the fifth groove, in tracing 
 it out, he found it was no longer than either of the first 
 four, and he was perplexed ; for he had no idea of "fiive," 
 except that it was twice as long as cither of the other 
 numerals. 
 
 As I returned the next day, I perceived what had 
 bothered him. Some roguish boy had cut oEf the long 
 end of the five, making it equal in length to all above 
 and below it — as the distance was nine miles. 
 
 After fumbling over the notches awhile, and stuttering 
 in loud whispers, with the rain pelting his bare head 
 severely, he exclaimed, — 
 
 « Master, what devilish fool made this guide-post ! No 
 five here! All one, two, three, four — one, two three, 
 four I " 
 
 Following the line of these guide-posts, I was dropped 
 
SLAVEET AND EDUCATION. 247 
 
 down at a log-house tavern. After supper, I inquired 
 of the landlord, whose father was from New England, if 
 there was any thing going on in that village of a literary 
 nature, to interest a stranger. 
 
 ■ "Nothing, sir," said he, " except a Singing school. We 
 have a very good singing school this winter. They are 
 singing now, right out there at the school house." 
 
 I stai-ted at once for the school house, wondering how 
 music could be taught, where so many of the people could 
 not read. When I arrived at the building, I saw it was 
 m old, black, log house, built by the pioneers. There 
 ▼as a large opening in one end, too wide to be closed 
 by a door ; and as the music was in progress, and others 
 vere passing in, I mingled with the crowd, and entering 
 in, took a stand in the comer. There was no light in 
 the room except what came from the pitch-wood in the 
 rock fireplace. There was no book in the school. All 
 were taught by rote. Sixty pupils, three of whom were 
 colored, were singing all on one part — the treble. Oc- 
 casionally the colored boys — who have better ears, put 
 in the harmony. 
 
 Soon as the choir came to a period, I said to the teach- 
 er that I hoped he would excuse my intrusion there, as 
 I was fond of good music. He was very polite, and 
 said that " no apology was necessary, as he was gratified 
 to have me present." He seemed conscious of ability 
 to teach music, and asked me if they did not sing well. 
 
 " Remarkably well," I replied, — for I was indeed sur- 
 prised to hear them sing so well. " But do you not use 
 books, sir, in teaching music ? " I asked, with a little 
 curiosity. 
 
248 INSIDE YIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 " 0, no, sir," he replied quickly, in a tone of decided 
 prejudice against book knowledge. " We don't believe 
 in this blind note-singing, here." 
 
 The next morning a member of that school, a young man 
 twenty-two years of age, the son of a slaveholder, came 
 to the tavern and desired me to inform him " what kind 
 of a thing a singing book was," — assuring me that he 
 had never seen one. 
 
 Ex-Governor Gilmer, of Georgia, in an address be- 
 fore the members of the legislature of that State, on the 
 subject of temperance, is reported to have said — 
 
 " I hope the time is rapidly passing away, when the 
 old may lead the young to dram shops ; when daily fights 
 between neighbors, in cups, make delightful amusement 
 for the crowd; — and when members of the legislature 
 cannot read the laws they help to pass ! " 
 
 In the early history of our country, when books were 
 scarce and expensive, otu- fathers were in the habit of 
 singing at church without hymn books, — the minister 
 reading aloud one line at a time, and then the congrega- 
 tion joiuing to sing it. Since the multiplication of books, 
 this practice is discontinued. But it still prevails in the 
 South. I noticed it in five different counties in Georgia. 
 In such cases there are no books except the one used by 
 the clergyman. And in one case, a Presbyterian minis- 
 ter, preaching in the city where I spent the Sabbath, tind- 
 inoj no hymn book in the church, was obliged to wait un- 
 til a boy went out to hunt one up. 
 
 About five thousand, of the nearly four hundred thou- 
 sand slaves in Georgia, have been taught to read and 
 
SLA\'ERT AND EDUCATION. 249 
 
 write. These are generally owned by wealthy slave- 
 holders, who have them taught in spite of the laws for- 
 bidding it, when it will better serve their own interest 
 and convenience. It is a fine of thirty dollars and thirty- 
 nine lashes to teach a slave to read in the city of Savan- 
 nah. But wealthy slaveholders are above all. law, ex- 
 
 'oept the conventional code of their own caste , and when 
 they want servants to go to market to transact business, 
 to pass letters and papers from family to family, they 
 
 xlearn them to read names, and to write simple direc- 
 tions, and reckon small sums. 
 
 Sometimes also, the children of clergymen are encour- 
 
 liaged to instruct young slaves, and it is winked at, — as 
 
 *an indulgence to the clerical oflSce. But the poor slave- 
 holders — and the mass are poor — never venture to 
 learn their slaves to read. They are opposed to such 
 instruction. And only a few slaves, therefore, — the fa- 
 vored house servants of the wealthy, — are taught to 
 read. Though, occasionally, an intelligent slave, thirst- 
 ing for knowledge, secretly learns the art without any 
 assistance. 
 
 It is a fact often overlooked, that the free colored 
 people of this country nearly all remain in the South. 
 This is not because they have any privileges there which 
 they prize, — but mainly on account of the climate. In 
 the four States of Virginia, Georgia, and the two Caro- 
 linas, in 1850 the free colored population was 93,000. 
 If any Northern men have icared that the slaves, in case 
 of emancipation, would emigrate in large numbers to the 
 free States, a glance at the census tables will show them 
 
250 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 how groundless are their fears. The slares, if set free, 
 will always be wanted in the South. All the difference 
 emancipation will make, will be the restoration of their 
 rights, and free, voluntary labor, for a just compensa- 
 tion, instead of compulsory, unpaid toil. The fact tliat 
 the great body of free colored men now prefer to live 
 in the South, where they are denied all rights as citi- 
 zens, — where it is a criminal offense to teach them the 
 alphabet, is sufficient proof that the South is their natu- 
 ral home. My present inquiry, however, is how far this 
 large class of the population of this country enjoy the 
 blessings of education. In this respect the laws of the 
 slave States rank them with the slaves. All instroctiou 
 is forbidden under heavy penalties. 
 
 I have frequently alluded to the fact that slavery, in 
 Virginia, is divested of many of its harshest features. 
 In that State there is a free colored population of some 
 sixty thousand. The Governor has for several years 
 gravely recommended that they all be driven from the 
 State 1 This inhuman and barbarous scheme has been 
 discussed in the legislature, but has so far failed. Still, 
 in Virginia, as in other slave States, the laws prohibit 
 any instruction of these persons. The following narra- 
 tive will show the state of public opinion there, and in 
 the light of it we may see the condition of the free col- 
 ored population of the South. 
 
 About two years ago, a Mrs. Douglas, of Norfolk, and 
 her daughter, were arrested, and she was imprisoned in 
 that city, for teaching colored children to read. After 
 she had suffered the penalty provided by law, and was 
 
SLAVERt AJSD EDUCATION. 251 
 
 set at liberty, she published a little volume, giving aa 
 ^count of the circumstances. Her story is one of 
 much interest. She is a native of the South, having 
 been born in the city of Washington. She states that 
 in 1845 she removed to Norfolk, where, -with an only 
 daughter, she lived a quiet and imobtrusive life, imtil 
 Dec, 1853. She supported herself and child by vest 
 making, and was at last induced, by the force of circum- 
 stances, to engage in the religious and moral instruction 
 of a few free colored children. Her first pupils were 
 three girls and two boys, the children of a barber, all 
 of whose family were free. The circumstances of the 
 arrest are thus stated : 
 
 "All was going on as peaceable as usual, and I had 
 taken my seat to commence my daily toil, when a loud 
 knock was made at my front door. I answered it my- 
 pelf, when the face of an officer presented itself, who in- 
 quired who lived up stairs. I replied that I alone 
 occupied the house. He then asked if Mrs. Douglas 
 lived there. I told him that I was Mrs. Douglas. 
 
 He said, " You keep a school ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," was my reply. 
 
 "A school for colored children ? " 
 
 I answered, " yes." 
 
 "I must see those children," said he. 
 
 I then demanded what business he had with them, or 
 anything in my house. He replied, that he had bee^ 
 sent by the mayor. 
 
 "Very good," said I; "walk in, and you shall see 
 them." And, without giving my daughter or the uhil- 
 
252 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 dren any notice, I invited him up into the school room. 
 Never will I forget the frightened state of those chil- 
 dren, and the countenance of their yonng teacher. My 
 daughter sat paralyzed, covering her face with her hands ; 
 and it was some time before I could restore order in 
 the room. Some were crying, some exclaiming, "Oh 
 my ! oh my 1 " and some clinging around me in their ter- 
 ror ; but during the excitement I never lost my presence 
 of mind. 
 
 As soon as I had restored quiet in the room, I in- 
 quired of Mr. Cherry, the city constable, what he 
 wanted with those children. He replied that he must 
 take them before the mayor. 
 
 "Very well," said I, "my daughter and myself will 
 accompany them." 
 
 To my astonishment, he went to the head of the stairs 
 and gave a loud rap with his club, when another officer 
 made his appearance, entering from the back door. For 
 a moment I thought my house was surrounded by officers, 
 who perhaps fancied they had found a nest of thieves. 
 They then noted down the names of all the children, as 
 well as those of their parents. When they had finished, 
 I politely informed Mr. Cherry that they were all free 
 children, and all, or nearly all, members of the Chiist's 
 Chiu-ch Sunday School. 
 
 " It makes no diffisrence, madam," replied he ; " it is a 
 violation of the law to teach any person of color to 
 read or write, slave or free ; and an act punishable by 
 imprisonment in the penitentiary." 
 
 ''Very well," I replied, "if they send me to the pen. 
 
SLAVERY AND EDUCATION. 253 
 
 itetftiary, it will be in a good cause, and not a disgrace- 
 ful one." 
 
 " Even this information, which was the most profomid 
 news to me, did not unnerve me at all ; for I remem- 
 bered that our Savior was persecuted for doing good, 
 and why should I not be ? This thought strengthened 
 me to bear my own persecution for ten long months 
 afterwards." 
 
 22 
 
XX. 
 
 SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 
 
 " Oh ! welcome to the wearied Earth 
 
 The Sabbath resting comes. 
 
 Gathering the sons of toil and care 
 
 Back to their peaceful homes ; 
 
 And, like a portal to the skies, 
 
 Opens the House of God, 
 
 Where all who seek may come and learn 
 
 The way the Savior trod." Mks. Hale. 
 
 One of the strangest sights to a New England man, 
 on visiting the Southern States, is the desecration of the 
 Sabbath. In some of the cities, especially if a good 
 number of the business men are from the North, the 
 churches are tolerably ■well attended, — there being but 
 one service for the day. But even here the afternoon 
 and evening are much devoted to amusements. And, in 
 fact, throughout the entire South, with not very numer- 
 ous exceptions, the Sabbath, instead of being a day of 
 rest, or of worship, is a holiday — occupied mainly in 
 pleasure and sport. 
 
 The first sounds that salute the ear, not only in the 
 country, but in many of the cities of the South, on Sab- 
 bath morning, are the firing of guns, the beating of drums, 
 
SLAVERY AND TEE SABBATH. 255 
 
 and the noise of the hunting horn. They have boat par- 
 ties, riding parties, hunting parties, fishing parties, drink- 
 ing parties, gaming parties, and dancing parties. And 
 the Sabbath is almost invariably the day for horse races, 
 and military parades. A colporteur of the American 
 Tract Society, writing to the Maine Christian Mirror, 
 under date of May 9, 1854, says — 
 
 " In Mississippi, where I am laboring, drinking, gam- 
 ing, and horse racing are common on the Sabbath — and 
 the Sabbath is distinguished from other days by the firing 
 of guns." 
 
 There is more travel in the South on the Sabbath, than 
 on any other day of the week. To ascertain this fact I 
 examined the registers at the boat offices, hotels, and 
 public boarding houses ; and I uniformly found that a 
 larger number of names was entered by travelers on the 
 Sabbath than on any other day. The Sabbath is spent 
 by travelers not only in visiting friends, but in traveling 
 long distances on business. The passenger trains on 
 the railroads run for this purpose. The boats on the 
 rivers are employed in this service. And clergymen, 
 except when their duties confine them at home, are quite 
 as likely to travel on the Sabbath as others. I was told 
 by a delegate from a New England Conference to the 
 Presbyterian General Assembly, that a large part of the 
 Southern ministers who were there, traveled on the Sab- 
 bath before that body convened. 
 
 Sabbath evening in the South is a time of unusual dis- 
 sipation. Theaters and other like places of amusement 
 are open, and thronged more than any other evening ; 
 
256 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEKT. 
 
 whUe the drinting saloons, billiard rooms, and other 
 dens of infamy, are frequented by the riotous and noisy 
 crowd. 
 
 A large majority of the slaves labor on the Sabbath, 
 almost from necessity. In some of the cities most of 
 them rest ; but in the planting districts many of them 
 labor more or less — not usually at the daily task — but 
 they wash and iron, make and mend their garments, cut 
 wood, and work in their gardens. 
 
 But the slaves do not labor for themselves alone. In 
 the planting districts, especially during the busy season 
 of the year, the slaves are not permitted to make the Sab- 
 bath even a holiday. Instances are by no means rare, 
 even among masters professing to be Christians, in which 
 the slaves are compelled to labor on the Sabbath as on 
 other days. 
 
 Rev. H. B. Abbott, pastor of the M. E. Church at 
 Augusta, Me., was formerly a counselor at law in Mis- 
 sissippi. In a letter to me dated April 10, 1854, he 
 
 " I am acquainted with a Baptist preacher in Missis- 
 sippi who compelled his slaves to labor on the Sabbath, 
 and justified himself under the plea that, if they were 
 not at work, they would be sporting, and roving about 
 the fields and woods, thereby desecrating the Sabbath 
 more than by laboring under an overseer." 
 
 I was spending a Sabbath in the city of A. Early in 
 the day I noticed the planters from the surrounding 
 country, coming in to attend the morning service. Many 
 of them were members of the city churches. They re- 
 
SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 257 
 
 mained in the city after the meetinga were closed, and 
 about noon, or a little later, their slaves began to arrive, 
 with mule teams, loaded with cotton, and other kinds of 
 produce. In the afternoon the stores were opened, and 
 these Christian slaveholders exchanged their produce 
 for groceries, and other commodities, with which they 
 sent their slaves home, while they remained, drinking 
 whisky and cracking jokes, until the cool of the even- 
 ing. 
 
 The Sabbath before the State election, is denominated 
 "/ree liquor day," in Georgia, — a strange title for that 
 day, in a Christian land. It is so called, from the cus- 
 tom of those who are candidates for office to invite aU 
 who propose to vote for them to their " head quarters," 
 on that day, to partake of spirituous liquors at their ex- 
 pense. 
 
 In the old city of Augusta, Georgia, it seemed more 
 like home to me on the Sabbath, than at any place I vis- 
 ited in the South. The people generally attended church, 
 and refrained from labor, and from amusements. 
 
 At Savannah the Independent Presbyterian church 
 was well filled. The Episcopal church also, in that city, 
 had no vacant seats. But few were present at the Pres 
 byterian and Unitarian churches. In the latter, Rev, 
 Mr. Pierpont, the pastor, was honored with only forty 
 two auditors, on a pleasant Sabbath. I heard a clergy- 
 man state at a temperance meeting in Savannah, that 
 there were fourteen hundred members of evangelical 
 churches in that city, and the average attendance upon 
 divine worship was not more than sixteen hundred. The 
 
258 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 free population was about fifteen thousand. One reason 
 he gave for this, was, that many of the people were ac- 
 customed to be intoxicated Saturday night, and there- 
 fore, were unable to attend church on the Sabbath. 
 
 A respectable number were present at some of the 
 churches in Macon, Lagrange, and other places where 
 schools are kept in operation. But in the planting dis- 
 tricts, — where nine-tenths of the white population re- 
 side, — there is seldom a congregation of more than 
 fifty persons collected in a church, and these are few and 
 far between. 
 
 I passed a beautiful Christmas Sabbath at Albany, the 
 county seat of Baker county. This city contains some 
 twenty stores, and exports annually about 12,000 bales 
 of cotton. The Baptist clergyman was sick, — the Pres- 
 byterian clergyman had gone away discouraged, — and 
 the Methodist church was the only one opened on that 
 day. Thirty-nine persons only were present at that 
 church, three of whom were colored. There were three 
 thousand souls within sound of a church-going bell, had 
 there been one. Where were they ? 
 
 At Oglethorpe, a smart young city at the termination 
 of the South-western railroad, where there was a pop- 
 ulation of over three thousand, there was no church set- 
 vice during the Sabbath I spent there. 
 
 At Dublin, an old city, Rev. Mr. Parsons, Presbyteri- 
 an, preached to a congregation of forty-eight, — two of 
 whom were slaves, — on a pleasant Sabbath. There 
 was no other church in that city. The population was 
 two thousand. 
 
SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 259 
 
 All over the planting districts, as I have before said, 
 very few attend church, and very few of the churches 
 have constant preaching. There was not a settled min- 
 ister of the gospel, of any denomination, who preached 
 constantly at the same place, for more than two hundred 
 miles, on the stage road leading from the coast to the 
 capital ; and yet, in each of those counties, from six to 
 thirteen churches are returned in the census. Traveling 
 ministers preach at several different stations, and the 
 number of sermons delivered at each church will not 
 average more than one a month. 
 
 A colporteur of the American Tract Society, in 1854, 
 reports of one of the counties of North Carolina, that 
 atkree-fourths of the people are destitute of public ser- 
 vices on the Sabbath ; and that about one-third of the 
 parents can read and write, cast accounts, and guage a 
 barrel of brandy." 
 
 Another says, " I visited 60 families, numbering 221 
 souls over ten years of age; only 23 could read, and 17 
 write ; 41 were destitute of the Bible ; the average of 
 their going to church was once in 7 years. Several be- 
 tween 30 and 45 years old had heard but one or two 
 sermons in their lives. Some grown up youths had nev- 
 er heard a sermon or a prayer until my visit, and did not 
 know of such a being as a Savior ; and girls and boys 
 from ten to fifteen did not know who made them. All 
 of one family rushed away when I knelt to pray, to a 
 neighbor's, begging them to tell what I meant by it." 
 
 I have already given a brief description of the church- 
 es in the planting districts of the South, Like the abodes 
 
260 INSIDE YCEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 of the planters, they are rough, and rude, throughout. 
 They are often made of logs, are destitute of windows, 
 without pews, or pulpita. Instead of these, there are 
 rough seats, without backs or benches, where the preach- 
 er and the "crowd" sit together on a common level. 
 These rude buildiogs are not kept sacred as temples of 
 worship. The wild, uncultivated habits of the people 
 are inconsistent with such an idea. Hence the church 
 is free for any other exercise, or for any kind of amuse- 
 ments. 
 
 I attended church in M county, one Sabbath, 
 
 where more than half the young men who came to attend 
 the meeting, remained out of doors. They kept pass- 
 ing in and out in little squads of two or three at a time, 
 and very little attention was paid to the services. It was 
 a log church, with no windows, and only one narrow 
 door, which was kept open; and from my seat I noticed 
 some young men drinking on the outside. A little dis- 
 tance beyond were some gaming tables, — and further 
 out into the woods they were trotting horses. 
 
 in another county I attended church where both the 
 house and the people were equally coarse and repulsive. 
 Being invited, with the clergyman, after the close of ser- 
 vice, to pass the evening and night in the family of a 
 Christian slaveholder, I accepted the invitation. I had 
 previously been informed by the clergyman that our host, 
 Mr. D., was one of the best men in the world, — always 
 looking up objects of charity, — giving bread to the hun- 
 gry, bestowing kind attentions upon the sick, the bereaved, 
 and the distressed. 
 
SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 261 
 
 Mr. D. was one of three members, in a church of forty, 
 who had embraced temperance principles. He had 
 heartily espoused the cause, was fully convinced that 
 total abstiaence was the only remedy for intemperance, 
 and nothing could induce him to take a drop of any 
 thing containing alcohol, unless he believed it absolutely 
 necessary for his health. I had previously addressed a 
 temperance meeting in that place, and Mr. D. had ex- 
 pressed much gratitude for the apparently good impres- 
 sion made, and a hope that it might influence church 
 members, at least, to become sober men, 
 
 Mr. D. owned a large real estate, numerous flocks, 
 and herds, and swine, all roaming at large in the forests. 
 He and his excellent wife were about fifty years of age. 
 They had both sons and daughters of age, and they 
 l»wned one slave girl — Nelly — a bright, smart quad- 
 roon. But Mrs. D. and her daughters worked in the 
 kitchen with Nelly, and the sons labored with Mr. D. on 
 the farm. 
 
 When we arrived at their house, after the morning 
 exercises at the church, I noticed that the sons and 
 daughters did not come home ; and I asked the father 
 where his children were. 
 
 « 0, they have stopped at the meeting house, I sup- 
 pose," replied he. 
 
 « For what purpose ? " I asked. " There is no meet- 
 ing this afternoon." 
 
 " I know that," said he ; "but the young folks always 
 stop to have a talk, or a frolic, after meeting is out." 
 
 « What kind of a frolic ? " 
 
262 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 "Why, they sometimes dance, and sing, and do any« 
 thing they please." 
 
 "I want to know, Mr. D.," said I, "if you have danc- 
 ing in your church on the Sabbath ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes," he answered, sadly, " and we always shall 
 have, as long as church members drink whisky." 
 
 "Do you know of any other church, Mr. D., where 
 they have such amusements on the Sabbath ? " 
 
 "I know of none where they do not," he answered. 
 
 " Do you know this because you have seen it ? Or 
 have you only heard it was so ? " 
 
 " Well," said he, " I will tell you what I lately saw 
 myself. I was down to the county seat at the last court. 
 We had a murder case there from this neighboThood, 
 and nearly all the people went down, some on foot, 
 some on horseback. We started to come home Satur- 
 day evening, and just as we came to the Methodist 
 church, about dark, a terrible thunder shower came down 
 upon us. One of them, a lawyer, said we had better go 
 into the meeting-house, and stay all night, as there was 
 no other house near the church. Soon after we entered 
 the church, they sent a nigger off after a iiddler, and 
 some whisky. When the fiddler and the whisky came, 
 I told the lawyer — the only man who had a watch — that 
 I would thank him to let me know when midnight had 
 come. He did so ; and I went out into the woods and 
 lay there until daylight. I had little sleep, for the noise 
 and dancing in the church kept me awake ; but I would 
 not stay in the House of God, when there was drinking 
 and dancing there on the Sabbath day." 
 
SLAVEKY AND THE SABBATH 263 
 
 After I had secured the confidence of Mr. D., as he 
 certainly had secured mine, I informed him that I was 
 as much opposed to slavery as he possibly could be to 
 intemperance ; that it was no part of my mission in 
 that place to talk, as I had done, on the subject of tem- 
 perance ; but that I was traveling to obtain facts in rela- 
 tion to the treatment of slaves, and the effects of slavery 
 on the masters and their families, and upon the interests 
 and institutions of the South. 
 
 "What good do you think that will do you2" he 
 asked. 
 
 " It will enable me to inform the people of the North 
 what slavery is," I replied; "for we wish to have it 
 abolished." 
 
 " What for ? " he inquired, with a look and tone indi. 
 eating great surprise, as if he knew not what it meant. 
 « Can you read, Mr. D. ? " I inquired. 
 "No, sir." 
 
 « Can Mrs. D. read ? " 
 
 " She cannot. None of my family can read, except 
 Henry." 
 
 These inquiries may seem abrupt and impertinent to 
 Northern minds ; but such questions are often asked in 
 the South. And it is truly astonishing that such men as 
 Mr. D., who had the means to educate himself and family, 
 should neglect it. 
 
 " Don't your ministers say anything about slavery, in 
 the pulpit, Mr. D. ? " I asked. 
 
 « Not very often," he replied. " I never heard any of 
 them say anything against it." 
 
264 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEEY 
 
 '■■ Have you never heard a minister say it was wrong ? " 
 
 " I have heard them say it was wicked to abiise the 
 slaves, — but nothing more." 
 
 " Have you never heard a minister say that the slaves 
 ought to have their liberty ? " 
 
 " I never have, sir I Why should the ministers say 
 the niggers ought to be free, when most of them own 
 some themselves ? " 
 
 " You own one slave, do you not, Mr. D. ? " 
 
 " Yes ! I have one here — NeUy — that you have seen 
 come in from the kitchen." 
 
 " May I ask you, then," said I, " if you have ever 
 thought whether it was wrong for you to hold that girl 
 as a slave ? " 
 
 " No 1 If I thought it was wrong, I would give her 
 her liberty at once." 
 
 " Why did not Nelly go to meeting ? And why don't 
 she come in to prayers ? I notice all your children do," 
 I remarked. 
 
 " We don't think it of much consequence for niggers 
 to go to meeting," he replied. 
 
 "Why not?" Tasked. 
 
 " Why not ? Because the ministers say there is some 
 doubt about niggers having souls ! " 
 
 " No souls ! " I exclaimed. " Why ! What kind of be- 
 ings do you think they are, Mr. D. ? " 
 
 " Oh, I have heard folks say they are a kind of crea- 
 ture between men and monkies, connecting men with 
 other animals." 
 
 Nelly, I have said, was a quadroon, -^ a bright, sensi- 
 
SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 265 
 
 ble girl of seventeen. She possessed more kno-wledge, 
 and had, apparently, more good common sense than the 
 whole family of her new master. 
 
 " Where did you get that slave, Mr. D. ? " 
 
 " I bought her out of a drove." 
 
 " How long have you owned her ? " 
 
 "Four years." 
 
 " Where was she raised ? " 
 
 " She came from Virginia, I believe," he replied. 
 
 " Do you know who was her former owner ? " 
 
 « I do not, exactly ; but I heard her say, when I first 
 bought her, that her mother told her he was a minister." 
 
 " Was she living with her mother ? " 
 
 " Yes, I believe she was." 
 
 " Do you know whether she had a father, or any broth- 
 ers and sisters, living at that time ? " 
 
 "No, sir," he replied; "we never ask these niggers 
 anything about their folks." 
 
 I had previously learned that purchasers of slaves sel- 
 dom, if ever, inquire of them whether they have left 
 friends behind them. It would keep alive sympathies in 
 the heart of the slave that the masters wish to smother. 
 
 Hence I asked the question. And it did not surprise 
 me that neither Mr. D., nor his wife, nor either of his 
 daughters had ever inquired of Nelly, during the four 
 years she had resided in the family, whether she had any 
 relatives living. 
 
 " Are you willing, Mr. D.," said I, " to have Nelly called 
 in, and let me inquire of her about her friends in Vir- 
 ginia?" 
 
 23 
 
266 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 He did not wait to answer me, but stepped to the 
 door and called the girl, who was at work in the kitchen, 
 about forty yards from the house. Nelly ran through 
 the yard, and entering the house, inquired what her mas- 
 ter wanted. 
 
 " Here is a friend of mine from the North, Nelly," 
 said Mr. D., " who wants to talk with you about your 
 folks up in Virginia." 
 
 I can assure the reader that Nelly appeared entirely 
 free from embarrassment ia the presence of her master. 
 She knew him to be an upright, truthful man, — that 
 what he promised he would perform, — and she believed 
 and trusted him. 
 
 " Will you tell me, Nelly," said I, " where you were 
 raised ? " 
 
 She darted towards Mr. D., and whispered anxiously, 
 " Does the gentleman wish to buy me, master ? " 
 
 " Oh no, Nelly," replied the master, " I will not sell 
 you to anybody as long as I live." 
 
 " No, BO, Nelly 1 " said I. " You need not be afraid 
 of that ; for I wouldn't take you as a gift, unless your 
 master wanted to send you to the North, where you 
 could be free." 
 
 " Well, I don't want to go anywhere to be free I " 
 
 " So I suppose, Nelly. But we have no slaves where 
 I live. I don't want to buy you, nor take you away. I 
 am your friend, and o^y asked your master to call you 
 in, that I might ask^u about the slaves where you was 
 raised. 
 
 "Very well^ master," she replied. 
 
SLAVERY AND THE SABBATH. 267 
 
 « "Where was you raised, Nelly ? " 
 
 " I was bom in Richmond ; but our family moved out 
 into a place in the coimtry, on James river." 
 
 " Was your master a minister ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " How do you know that ? Did you go to meeting ? " 
 
 " No, sir ! But my mother told me he was a minis- 
 ter ; and besides, I used to put his books in place, and 
 clean up his room when he was gone to church." 
 
 " Then you had a mother living ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir! My mother was living when I was 
 sold." 
 
 " And was your father living, Nelly ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir 1 My father was alive too, and I had one 
 
 little brother, and " 
 
 " Here she paused, as if struck with the thought that 
 she was exceeding the bounds of her liberty, by speak- 
 ing of a brother or sisters before she was inquired of 
 - respecting them. 
 
 ' "One brother, you say, Nelly; and how many sis- 
 ters?" 
 
 " I had, five sisters, master ; and one little brother, 
 just beginning to run about the kitchen, and to speak 
 little words." 
 
 " Were any of them sold before you, Nelly ? " 
 
 " No, sir ! I was the first one that had to be sold." 
 
 " How came you to be sold ? " 
 
 " WeU, just before I was sold, my mistress died, 
 
 and master had his rooms dressed in mourning. He 
 had crape hung all around in the parlor, and the sitting- 
 
268 INSIDE VIEW or slavery. 
 
 room, and even in his office ; and when the merchant 
 sent in the bill for the crape, my mother told me " 
 
 Here the words choked her utterance. The word 
 mother revived ia her memory the old home affec- 
 tions, the family sympathies, the instinctive attach- 
 ments, — strongest in the African race, — and they all 
 came thronging back upon her mind, and she could not 
 speak. 
 
 " Why don't you tell him, and be done with it ? " said 
 her master, not seeming to comprehend the load of an- 
 guish that was crushing her heart. After waiting until 
 a flood of tears had brought a little relief, she contin- 
 ued — 
 
 " My mother told me — that — the merchant's bill — for 
 the crape — was several hundred dollars, — and — that 
 I — was sold to pay it ! " 
 
 And she sank down on the floor, as exhausted, and 
 helpless as though she had been stricken down with 
 paralysis ! Her master went to the back part of the 
 room, sat down, and wept like a child ! 1 / 
 
XXL 
 
 SLAVERY AND CHEISTIAOTTY. 
 
 " The theme divine at cards she '11 not forgef^ 
 But takes in texts of scripture at piquet ; 
 In those licentious meetings acts the prude, 
 And thanks her Maker that her cards are good." 
 
 Young. 
 
 The type of morality, in any country, is seldom much 
 higher in the church than it is in respectable society out 
 of it. It is not within the range of my design to explain 
 this, — though, to my miud, it shows the great influence 
 and the corresponding responsibility of the churches. 
 In no civilized countries do men of good standing in 
 society justify themselves in any practices which are not 
 countenanced by professors of Christianity. This was 
 true in the most corrupt days of the Romish Church. 
 It is no less true now. It was, therefore, no mere rhe- 
 torical flourish, but the utterance of a great truth, founded 
 in the natui-e of man, and based on the power of the 
 ■Christian faith, when Rev. Albert Barnes declared that 
 slavery could not live an hour out of the church, if it 
 were not sustained within it. 
 
270* INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEET.' 
 
 "With thia principle in view, we may know, without 
 visiting the South, how the Christian churches have been 
 corrupted. We need riot expect to find a higher stand- 
 ard of morality within, than without. K men of high 
 social position out of the church own slaves, so wiU 
 church members. And so is the fact. There are more 
 than six hundred thousand slaves held in bondage in the 
 South by men professing to be Christians. Is it a com- 
 mon practice in the South, among respectable men, to 
 visit theaters and horse-races on the Sabbath, — to 
 drink intoxicating liquors to excess, — -to play cards, 
 and gamble, — to make the Sabbath a day of sport and 
 pleasure seeking? These practices obtain as well in 
 the churches, as out of them. And just as a slaveholder 
 who is known to own, and buy, and sell his own children 
 as slaves, suffers nothing at aU4ii his reputation on that 
 accouat,— so, if such a slaveholder belongs to the church, 
 these facts do not affect his standing there. The thing 
 is so common throughout the South, — among men call- 
 ing themselves Christians, as well as others, — as hardly 
 to attract attention. 
 
 I have already alluded to the slajming extent to 
 which intemperance- prevails in the South. There are 
 m^e noble men there, who see this evil, and are using 
 all the influence in their power to provide a proper 
 reiae^. , But not in our day can we hope for the Maine 
 Law to triuHjph in the slave States. 
 
 Some of the clergymen in Georgia are true temper- 
 ance men, and they are persecuted as bitterly as were 
 the early anti-slavery ministers in New England. Hence 
 
SLAVERY AND CHEISTIAOTir. 271 
 
 they seldom speak of the subject except at temper- 
 ance meetings, and there cautiously and timidly. The 
 churches will not tolerate it in the pulpit, 
 
 1 was pleased to hear Mr. K., one of the speakers in 
 a temperance meeting at Savannah, — a gentleman who 
 was afterwards President of the Georgia State Tem- 
 perance ConTention, — speak of the Constitution of the 
 United States in a manner that showed his manly ilide- 
 pendence. Slaveholders are not afraid to speak I There 
 are no cringing doughfaces in the South. And no men 
 more heartily despise such creatures than do the slave- 
 holders, — even when using them for their purposes. 
 
 ''We are told," said Mr. K., "that the Constitution 
 of these States so guarantees and guards the commerce 
 of the country that it legalizes the trade in spirits ; and 
 that a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks 
 would be unconstitutional. If such be the fact, let the 
 people get together again and amend it. Qr if we find 
 it cannot be amended so as to stop rumselling, let ua 
 tear it in pieces, and make a new and better one ! " 
 
 In the city of Savannah the slaves are allowed a free 
 indulgence in the use of wine at the communion table, as 
 an inducement, probably, for them to enter the church, 
 and to make them better contented with their condition 
 as slaves. A gentleman of the first respectability, re- 
 siding in that city, informed me that he saw a ten gallon 
 demijohn filled with wine in a store on Sabbath morning, 
 and he followed the man who took it to the colored 
 chutch, where there was a meeting of the colored churches 
 for the communion. And he said that they drank nearly 
 the whole of it. 
 
272 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVIIRT. 
 
 " Did they drink more," I asked, " than is generally 
 used for that purpose by other churches ? " 
 
 " O yes," he replied. " I never saw such drinking 
 wine in my life ! " 
 
 The number that partook at that time was estimated 
 to be about eighty, which would afford them about a 
 pint each. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that this is the church where 
 the author of the "South Side View of Slavery" saw 
 such remarkable evidences of piety while he was wor- 
 shipping there. And the old slave preacher, the pastor 
 of that church, to whom Dr. Adams alludes, is notori- 
 ously dishonest, as I was informed by a merchant of that 
 city. But he succeeded so well in preaching, that a few 
 prayerless slaveholders aided him to purchase some 
 slaves — three in number, I believe — so that he might 
 be able to give, in his own person, an example of a 
 slaveholding minister of the gospel preaching that gos- 
 pel to his own race ! 
 
 The subject of intemperance in the colored churches 
 •was a topic of conversation in a store at Darien ; and I 
 stated some facts which had come to my knowledge, 
 showing the intemperate habits of members in those 
 churches in the cities. And I freely expressed my opin- 
 ion, that slaveholders encouraged their slaves to unite 
 with the churches mainly to enhance their market value. 
 A clergyman present, who participated in the discussion, 
 attempted to defend these churches. 
 
 " You must have been misinformed," said he ; " for I 
 know the slaves to be as good christians as the masters 
 who are members of churches." 
 
SLAVERY Am> CHRISTIANITT. 273 
 
 "I have no desire to dra-w a comparison between the 
 slaves and their masters," I replied ; " but I believe, of 
 course, what I have seen myself." 
 
 There was in that store a gentleman formerly from 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., where, for several years, he attended 
 the ministry of Rev. H. W. Beecher. He was a firm 
 friend of free principles, and he exhibited an indepen- 
 dence of thought and speech in maintaining them. He 
 was at that time connected with a business firm in that 
 city. \ 
 
 " You are correctly informed, sir," said he, addressing 
 himself to me. "This business of getting slaves into 
 the church is all a humbug. And now I will tell you 
 what took place here last autumn. 
 
 " The overseer from Butler's Island," — on which there 
 are several hundred slaves, on a beautiful rice plantation, 
 out in the arms of the Altamaha, all in sight, and within 
 fifty rods of the store in which we stood, — "came over 
 here one Satui-day night, and inquired of a minister if 
 he would baptize some slaves belonging to that island 
 the next day. The clergyman replied that he would, if 
 they seemed to be worthy subjects of baptism. Sabbath 
 afternoon, a large number of the slaves came down to 
 the bank of the river. The preacher asked those who 
 were proposed for baptism a few questions, such as, 
 whether they believed in a God ? a state of future hap, 
 piness and misery? the necessity of repentance and 
 faith ? to every one of which they all answered, ' yes, 
 master,' ' yes, master.' Not a question was put to them 
 that required a negative answer. The ordinance had 
 
274 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 been administered to about forty, when the minister said 
 the waters were so cold, and he was so tired, that they 
 would adjourn to the next day. Monday afternoon the 
 exercises were resumed, and the solemn ceremonies 
 went on until some seventy-five were baptized. 
 
 « Now I have never heard that a gospel sermon was 
 ever preached on Butler's Island. I have been all over 
 it, and I never saw a Bible there. Those slaves had, 
 evidently, no more idea of the solemn obligations they 
 were taking upon them in making a religious profession 
 than the brutes. And as proof of this, after the solemn 
 farce was ended some of those slaves who had been 
 baptized came over here and staid a long time that after- 
 noon, drinking whisky to intoxication. One of them 
 absolutely stole a bundle of wet clothes that a brother 
 had just been baptized in. I saw him, detected him, 
 challenged him with it, and he confessed it ! And yet I 
 think an account of this baptism was published in some 
 Northern papers as a great revival of religion on But- 
 ler's Island ! " 
 
 The colored churches in the South, of course, have no 
 pastors, in any proper sense of that term. Sometimes 
 the pastor of the church to which their masters belong 
 condescends to address them. But their meetings, if 
 they have any speaker at all, are usually addressed by 
 colored preachers. The tenor of their sermons has 
 been so often described, that I will not repeat any of 
 them. If these preachers are honest, they counsel obe- 
 dience and submission, because otherwise they would 
 not be permitted to speak. If they are dishonest, as 
 
SLAVERY AND CHEISTIAMTY. 275 
 
 some of them are, they preach to please the masters, 
 just as time-serving ministers do in the North. 
 Dr. Nelson — author of the able work on infidelity 
 ^ published by the American Tract Society— after a resi- 
 dence of more than forty years in North Carolina, and 
 an intimate acquaintance with slavery, says, 
 
 "I say what I know when I speak in relation to thia 
 matter. I have been intimately acquainted with the re- 
 ligious opportunities of the slaves, — in the constant 
 habit of hearing the sermons which are preached to 
 . them. And I solemnly aflSrm that, during the forty 
 years of my residence and observation in this line, I 
 never heard a single one of these sermons but what was 
 taken up with the obligations and duties of slaves to 
 their masters. Indeed, I never heard a sermon to slaves 
 but what made obedience to masters by the slaves the 
 fundamental and supreme law of religion. Any candid 
 and intelligent man can decide whether such preaching 
 is not, as to religious purposes, worse than none at all." 
 It is not strange, therefore, that the slaves are de- 
 graded. The Synod of South Carolina and Georgia 
 only declared what was the natural, inevitable result of 
 the slave system, when they said that the slaves were 
 "in the condition of heathen, — and in some respects, a 
 worse condition. Their moral and religious conditi-^n 
 is such, that they may justly be considered the heath ■>. 
 
 of this Christian country ! " ^ 
 
 And yet I should be doing the slaves injustice to deny 
 that there are many sincere Christians among them. 
 "With all their darkness and ignorance, there are doubt- 
 
276 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 less many devout worshipers, living up to the dim 
 light they have. I became acquainted with many such, 
 who, like " Uncle Tom," and " Aunt Chloe," wlule they 
 suffer all things for Christ's sake here, and seem to us 
 so benighted, in the sight of Him who looketh on the 
 heart, are, it may be, far in advance of many Christiana 
 who now assume to look down on them with as much 
 of contempt as of pity. Many of us, perhaps, who think 
 we are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. 
 
 I have just read, with much interest, a letter from a 
 lady who is spending the present summer (1855) in the 
 South, published in the Hartford Republican. 
 
 " I have just been to visit a plantation, ' Botten Garden' 
 is the name of it. The owner is a very rich man and 
 resides in the town. His plantation consists of sixteen 
 hundred acres of black prairie land. Six hundred acres 
 were in cotton in one field, and three hundred in com. 
 The fields look beautifully at this season of the year. 
 Not a weed is to be seen, and the rows are very straight 
 and extend as far as the eye can reach. Mr. R. let the 
 slaves leave their work for the remainder of the day, 
 that we might see them together. I should think there 
 were fifty children too young to work at all, playing in 
 the yard. I called them all together and they sung for 
 me ; — all sing. They took hold of hands, forming a 
 circle, and went round a tree, singing, ' I'm gwine away 
 up yonder,' ' See God, feedin on de lambs ! ' and ' When 
 I get ober Jordan, I'll be a hero den.' 
 
 " I asked the woman to sing. There has been a great 
 revival on the plantation, and all are very pious. They 
 
SLAVERT AND CHEISTIANITT. 277 
 
 sing nothing but hymns. They 8ung a very long hyirin. 
 This was the chorus : ' Oh sister, watch dat heart, dat 
 'ceitful, 'ceitful heart, for I'm gwine home.' 1 could 
 hardly keep back the tears, they seemed so solemn, and 
 looked up so earnestly in my face. I went round to 
 their houses alone and made calls. They all talked 
 constantly upon religion, and I could not get in a word. 
 Indeed I had rather listen, for I knew that the Spirit 
 takes of the things of Jesus, and shows it unto them, 
 and the way of salvation is made clear to them in this 
 way, though they are denied the privilege of reading 
 God's blessed word. 
 
 " I know but little of the horrors of slavery. / see 
 hut the best side, and that is none too good. Some 
 slaves are just as white as I am. The other day I met 
 a little slave girl. She certainly was the most beautiful 
 child I ever saw. She was wading in a muddy creek 
 and as I passed by, she looked up through her beautiful 
 brown curls and said, ' I love the beautiful fishes.' I 
 want to buy her, and make her a free and noble woman. 
 I told a gentleman so. He said she could not be bought. 
 It seems dreadful that one so beautiful should be so de- 
 graded. And what a life is before her ! Her beauty 
 will only make her more miserable. I cannot bear to 
 think of it." 
 
 •Slavery is inherently in direct antagonism to Chris- 
 tianity, — not only in matters of practice, but of doc- 
 trine. In its very nature it denies the authority of God 
 to command the obedience and the worship of his crea- 
 tures. The slave must, at his peril, obey his master 
 24 
 
278 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 in all things. Deny the master this claim, and you 
 strike at the very foundation of the system. The slave 
 has no power to protect or provide for his family. If 
 his wife is sold away, he must cohabit with a stranger, 
 to raise up children for the market.^/ God requires him 
 to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. But the 
 master claims the right, and often exercises it, to abro- 
 gate God's law, and compel him to labor on the Sabbath. 
 Slavery, therefore, not only denies the inalienable rights 
 of man, — but it usurps the place of the Creator, and 
 denies to the Almighty the right to rule over his crea- 
 tures ! And yet, religious bodies that have always had 
 as keen a scent for heresy as the bloodhound has for 
 his victim, have not yet found out whether it is heretical 
 to deny the supremacy of God, and the manhood of 
 those whom He has created in his own image ! 
 
 "A few days since," says a late writer in the Boston 
 Congregationalist, " a most affecting fact was stated to 
 
 * The Savannah Eiver Baptist Association, in reply to the question, 
 " "Whether, in a case of involuntary separation, of such a character as 
 to preclude all prospect of fiiture intercourse, the parties ought to be 
 allowed to marry again ? " returned the following answer : " That such 
 separation among persons situated as our slaves are, is dvdly a separa- 
 tion by dujUi, and they believe that, in the sight of God, it would be so 
 viewed. To forbid second marriages in such cases, would be to expose 
 the parties, not only to stronger hardships and strong temptation, but 
 to church censure, for acting in obedience to their masters, who cannot 
 be expected to acquiesce in a regulation at variance with justice to 
 the slaves, and to the spirit of that command which regulates marriage 
 among Christians. The slaves are not free agents, and a dissolution by 
 death is not more entirely without their consent, and beyond their con- 
 trol, than by such separation." 
 
SLAVERY ANB CHRISTIANITT. 279 
 
 US by the Rev. Mr. Alvord. During a residence of sev- 
 eral months in Florida, for his health, he was often wont 
 to take exercise by working with the slaves on the 
 plantation where he was ; and having gained their con- 
 fidence thus, they freely opened their hearts to him as 
 a friend, — a thing which slaves do not do to every man, 
 and especially to chance visitors, whom they judge to be 
 in the interest of their masters. 
 
 " In one case he called to see a slave who was in con- 
 finement for endeavoring to follow his conscience, in 
 keeping holy the Sabbath day in the worship of God. 
 By working nights, he actually performed the labor as- 
 signed for seven days, and then spent the Sabbath in 
 worship. His master discovered it, and imprisoned 
 him, and cut and mangled his body with scourges, to 
 subdue his will, and compel him to work on the Sabbath. 
 After the wounds began to heal, he cut them open from 
 time to time by repeated scourgingSc Mr. Alvord saw 
 his wounds, and gazed with painful sympathy upon his 
 honest face, wet with tears, as he told the severity 
 of his trial. At last, after repeated scourgings, his 
 spirit failed, and he submitted to his master's impious 
 will." 
 
 Church discipline is almost unknown in the Southern 
 churches, especially for anything relating to slaves. No 
 matter how cruelly a master treats his servants, or how 
 severely he punishes them — even unto death; if he 
 does not violate the law — which it is hardly possible 
 for him to do — the church will not censure him. I 
 
280 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY, 
 
 could relate many facts illustrating this subject, but one 
 or two incidents will be sufficient. 
 
 The following story was related to me by Mr. D., the 
 owner of Nelly, of whom I have given some account in 
 the preceding chapter. 
 
 Mr. D. had a neighbor, — a member of the same 
 church, — by the name of M. He was a wealthy, though 
 an ignorant man, owning many slaves ; and besides a 
 plantation, with cattle, and mules, and sheep, he owned 
 mills in that neighborhood. Among his slaves there 
 was a house servant by the name of Nancy. One even- 
 ing her master told her to go up to Mr. D.'s on some 
 errand. It was a bright moonlight evening, but Nancy 
 was afraid to go. Mr. D.'s son, Henry, had been bitten 
 by a rattlesnake, though the wound was not fatal. He 
 had not fully recovered,when I was there. These snakes 
 are supposed to be out in the moonlight evenings, and 
 as they cannot be seen so distinctly as in the day time, 
 they are the more dreaded. Under these circumstances, 
 Nancy's fears were not strange. She therefore told her 
 master that she was afraid to go. But he was enraged 
 at her unwillingness to obey, and he commanded her to 
 start at once. She still refused to go saying that the 
 snakes would kill her, and that she would rather be 
 whipped to death than go. 
 
 Mr. M. then commenced whipping her and he applied 
 the lash again and again, until he saw that it was in 
 vain. He was filled with rage, and taking a quart dish, 
 he filled it full of filthy liquid from the bam yard, and 
 
SLAYERT AND CHEISTIANITY. 281 
 
 put it to her lips ; and after compelling her to drink a 
 part of it, he asked her if she would then go. 
 
 " No, master ; I will die first ! I cannot go. I know 
 the snakes will kill me if I go ! " 
 
 And he whipped her until he made her drink it all. 
 The next morning the poor girl was dead ! 
 
 "Did you see the body after her death, Mr. D.?" I 
 asked him. 
 
 " Yes, I went down to see her, and I never saw such 
 a sight ! " 
 
 " Was Nancy a Christian, Mr, D. ? " 
 
 " She was a right good girl," he replied, with a deep 
 sigh ; and he added, "She was a member of owr church .'" 
 
 " Did your church discipline your brother M. for kill- 
 ing her ? " 
 
 "Discipline ! What do you mean by that 7 " inquired 
 Mr. D., not knowing the meaning of the word. 
 
 " Did you call him to account ? " 
 
 " Oh no I How could we ? He had not violated the 
 law." 
 
 I became acquainted with a young lady from Maine, 
 Who had been teaching school in the South a few years. 
 She belongs to a family of the highest respectability in 
 
 the city of , and at the time of her first going 
 
 South, none of the family had any sympathy with the 
 anti-slarery movement. The following incident was re- 
 lated to me by her, all the facts being within her own 
 personal knowledge. 
 
 Mrs. C, — where this teacher was boarding, — owned 
 a mulatto girl named " Chloe," who was expecting soon 
 
282 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 to be married to a slave boy named " Jok," who lived 
 about five miles distant. I ought, perhaps, to have men- 
 tioned before this, that slaves, no matter how old, are 
 always boys and girls. They never become men or 
 •women. 
 
 Jok went to his master on Saturday night, to obtain 
 a pass to visit Chloe. His master was intoxicated, and 
 therefore he could not write a pass. No other person 
 in the neighborhood could write; and Jok's mistress 
 told him it would not be safe for him to go without a 
 pass, as it was contrary to law. Jok waited until 
 morning. Chloe sat up all night, watching for him with 
 deep anxiety, lest some evil had befallen him, fearing 
 that he had been whipped, or sold away. Slaves are 
 very faithful in fulfilling promises to visit friends, in or- 
 der to remove such fears. 
 
 In the morning Jok's mistress told him that his mas- 
 ter was still sick, and not able to write ; but that he had 
 been up to Mrs. C.'s so many times, she would run the 
 risk to let him go without a pass. 
 
 " You tell Mrs. C," said she, " that your master is 
 sick, and that I sent you up there without a pass ; and 
 she will excuse it." 
 
 "When Jok came up to the gate, the overseer went 
 out, as his custom was, and demanded his pass. The 
 slave informed him that his master was so sick he could 
 not write one, that he waited all night for it, and his mis- 
 tress told him to come without one. 
 
 " Go home, you scoundrel ! " said the overseer, " and 
 get your pass 1 " 
 
SLAVERY AND CHRISTIANITT. 283 
 
 Jok started back towards his home. Chloe, 'who had 
 overheard the conversation, ran into the room of her 
 mistress, and informed her that the overseer had driven 
 Jok home after his pass, and she supposed, as it vras 
 early in the morning, that he came away before break- 
 fast. Mrs. C. stepped to the back door and called 
 Jim, — a young slave boy belonging to her, — and told 
 him to run and overtake Jok and tell him to come 
 back and see her before he went home to get his pass ; 
 not intending to countermand the order of the overseer. 
 Jim ran to bring back Jok. In the meantime, the over- 
 seer went out to the stable. Just as the boys returned 
 to the gate, he came in from the stable, and demanded 
 of Jok again "why he was there without a pass ? " 
 
 "Mrs. C. sent for me to come back," answered Jok. 
 
 "I don't care if she did," said the overseer j "you 
 shan't go in." 
 
 " I tell you I must," urged Jok. 
 
 "Not a step ! " forbade the overseer. 
 
 Now what should the poor boy do ? Two slavehold- 
 ers, equal in authority, commanding him to go in oppo- 
 site directions. He thought he would press his way 
 through the gate, by the overseer, and run to the door 
 and ascertain what Mrs. C. wanted, and then go home 
 for his pass. In attempting to do this, the overseer 
 clinched him ; but Jok proved to be the stronger man, 
 atii he threw him down. The overseer tried to choke 
 hiiTi and strike him in the face. Mrs. C. ran out, and 
 taking hold of Jok's arm, she exclaimed, 
 
 " "Why, Jok, you don't know what you are doing ! I 
 am afraid they will kill you I Now you give right up, 
 
284 msiDE VIEW of slavery. 
 
 Jok, and take a little whipping, and then go for your 
 pass 1 " 
 
 Jok arose instantly, at the request of Mrs. C. As 
 soon as the overseer was ahie to do so, he sprang up, 
 rushed into the house, and seized a gun which he had 
 loaded with shot the night previous. My informant, 
 who was present, screamed out, " he is going to shoot 
 Jok! " Mrs. C. caught hold of the gun, as he was leav- 
 ing the house, exclaiming, 
 
 "You shan't killJok!" 
 
 " Yes I will shoot the nigger ! " 
 
 "Remember my command, sir I Don't you kill that 
 slave I You may whip him." 
 
 " May I whip him, madam, as much as I please ?" 
 
 " You may whip him severely, but spare his life," re- 
 plied Mrs. C, sternly. 
 
 "Do you give up, Jok ? " said the overseer. 
 
 "Yes, master," was the submissive reply. 
 
 His coarse frock, which was all his clothing, was taken 
 off; his thumbs tied together with a line ; and the over- 
 seer, with a heavy green hide in his hand, led him out 
 to the gin-house to flog him. Chloe went out around 
 the stable, and came up behind the gin-house, where she 
 could look in through the spaces between the logs, and 
 see the punishment inflicted. The overseer was angry 
 with the slave, and he whipped him with terrible sever- 
 ity, until, from suffering and loss of blood, he fainted 
 and fell, Chloe ran to the house, and screamed, 
 
 " Mistress ! I wish you would go out, for I believe the 
 overseer has killed Jok I " 
 
 Mrs. C. hastened out, and finding him cut up shock, 
 
SLAVHJY AKD CHEISTIANITY. 285 
 
 ingly, she told the overseer to desist. She called some 
 other slaves to convey Jok into the house, and then sent 
 for a physician. 
 
 When the physician came, he said the slave could not 
 live. He remained with him several hours, during which 
 time he was constantly spitting blood, and uttering 
 groans, as if in the agonies of death. Towards evening, 
 however, his sufferings abated, and he finally recovered. 
 
 That mistress, and the overseer, and that slave boy 
 and girl, were all members of the same church. And 
 the overseer was superintendent of the Sabbath School 
 connected with that church. 
 
 " He came into the house," said the lady who related 
 the facts to me, "after whipping Jok, and washed his 
 hands with as much composure as though nothing had 
 occurred, and went off to church to take charge of the 
 Sabbath School that Sabbath morning." 
 
 "Did the church discipline him for that act?" 1 in- 
 quired. 
 
 "This question was asked that mistress," said the 
 .teacher to me, " and she replied that the church could 
 not do anything with the overseer, as he had not violated 
 
 the law." 
 "She was also asked, how she could commune with 
 
 that overseer ? " 
 
 'How can I refuse to do it," she replied, "unless the 
 church censure him? And that I know they will not 
 dot'" ^ 
 
XXII. 
 
 WAYSIDE NOTES. 
 
 " Rest, darlings, rest! 
 NeTer more with toil oppfest 
 Shall we watch the western light 
 Slowly wane o'er fields of white.— ' 
 Daughter ! upon limb of thine 
 Gilded chains shall never shine. 
 All thy mother's wrong and woe, 
 Dearest ones ! ye ne'er shall know. 
 To my heart, exulting, pressed, 
 
 Rest, darlings, rest." 
 
 My note-book still contains a variety of incidents that 
 can hardly be arranged into any particular class. The 
 most of them I shall omit. But I have gathered up a 
 few of them, that illustrate different phases of the slave 
 system, and have thrown them together in this chapter. 
 
 THE SLAVE WIPE. 
 
 In the city of , there was a lumber merchant, who 
 
 had several partners residing in Massachusetts. Mr. 
 
 L for that was his name — went to a slave broker to 
 
 hire a cook. It is not easy in the South to hire domes- 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 287 
 
 tic help without hiriag slaves. The broker informed 
 Mr. L. that he had no slaves to let, — but that he had a 
 fine quadroon girl that he would like to sell. 
 
 " I do not wish to buy, sir," replied Mr. L., « for my 
 partners in Boston would not consent to purchase 
 slaves." 
 
 " "Well, I want you to look at her," said he. « She is 
 a good girl, and will keep your boys straight at the mill; 
 and I offer her so low that you had better buy than 
 hire." 
 
 " Oh, I can't buy a slave ; but I will look at her," said 
 Mr. L., " if you desire it." 
 
 " Nancy ! " said the broker, as h« opened the door 
 of a back room, into which no ray of light was admitted 
 when the door was closed. 
 
 " When Nancy stepped into the room/' said Mr. L., as 
 he related the story to me, " I was never so shocked in 
 my life ; for I never saw a more beautiful female, ap- 
 parently perfectly white, elegant, and, as I afterwards 
 learned, highly accomplished. 
 
 " I wish you would buy me, sir," she exclaimed, with 
 deep emotion; — for she saw at once that he would 
 be a kind master. No one can read the countenance at 
 a glance better than slaves. More than in the heavens, 
 sunshine and storm are seen approaching in the glance 
 of the master's eye. They study the human face as the 
 sailors do the sky. No Northern man has failed to be 
 surprised to see how his wants are often known by an 
 intelligent slave before he has time to express them. 
 But Mr. L. had no idea of buying a slave. He hardly 
 
288 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 knew why he had consented to look at this one. And 
 when, in her beauty as well as sorrow, she stood before 
 him, pleading for him to buy her, to save her from a 
 worse fate, he hardly knew what to do. It is at this 
 point that many a generous hearted man from the North 
 has yielded, and become a slaveholder. But men who 
 buy their first slave from motives of benevolence, per- 
 haps with the intention of giving the boon of freedom 
 at some future time, soon become familiarized to the 
 system, — they forget the purpose to give their slaves 
 their liberty, and finally they wiU buy and sell their fel- 
 lowmen with as little compunction as those who have 
 been educated under the influences of slavery. The 
 only safe rule for any Northern man who may become a 
 resident in the slave States is, never to buy a slave, un- 
 der any circumstances, unless he can make the slave free 
 at once. So thought Mr. L ; and therefore, as much as 
 he pitied Nancy, and as indignant as he was that such a 
 woman, in this Christian land, should be ofiered for sale, 
 like the brutes, — he turned away^ sorrowful, and left 
 her to her fate. 
 
 The next day, — while Mr. L. was walking over one 
 of the public malls, — Nancy, who had determined, if 
 possible, to have an interview with him, and had obtained 
 a pass for that purpose, ran up to him quickly, and ex- 
 claimed — 
 
 " I wish you would buy me, kind sir ! " 
 
 " don't say anything to me about that, here ! " said 
 Mr. L., thinking it was not safe for him to be seen talk- 
 ing with a slave, where so many were passing. But the 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 289 
 
 second thought was that she was so white no one would 
 suspect she was a slaTe, and he said to her — 
 " I pity you, Nancy, but I cannot buy you ! " 
 " WUl you stay, then, and listen to me ? " implored 
 the girl. 
 
 "A moment," replied Mr. L. " But say on, quickly." 
 "I was raised over here in South Carolina," said 
 Nancy, pointing over the river. "My master was my 
 father. It was always known in his family, and I lived 
 as one of its members. He promised me, often, that he 
 would give me free papers before he died. But he neg- 
 lected to do it, and he was taken away suddenly. Two 
 of his sons were dissipated, and the property had been 
 so much diminished that they refused to give me my 
 freedom. But they consented to let me have six years 
 time, and if I could pay six hundred dollars to the 
 administrator, then I should be free. I -worked four 
 years, at various kinds of sewing, and duriag that time 
 I paid four hundred dollars. I was acquainted with 
 a youi^ slaveholder who was brought up in the same 
 neighborhood where I was, in whom I had great confi- 
 deuce. He came forward and proposed to pay the other 
 two hundred dollars, and make me his wife. I accepted 
 the offer. He went to the administrator, paid over the 
 money, and took a deed of me in his own name. I did 
 not inquire how the matter was adjusted, as I had no 
 suspicion that any future trouble would arise from it. 
 
 "After we had lived together several years, and I had 
 become the mother of two beautiful daughters — now 
 five and six years of age — a family quarrel arose be- 
 25 
 
290' INSIDE VIEW OF SLATEBT. 
 
 tween us, for which no virtuous wife and mother could 
 blame me ; and, as the result, my cruel husband has 
 sent me here to be sold. Oh ! can you not save me and 
 my little children from such a fate ? " 
 
 Mr. L. made further inquiries, and found that her 
 story was true. Her happiness was but a dream, and 
 it had vanished. Her home was desolate. Under that 
 inexorable law of slavery — fartus sequiter ventrem — ^her 
 darling daughters, like herself, were liable to all the 
 terrible contingencies of the slave's lot. And as human 
 affection, and plighted faith, had failed to save her, so it 
 might be with them. For them, as well as for herself, 
 was she in agony and despair. 
 
 I will not prolong the story, except to say that by the 
 noble efforts of Mr. L. this family were rescued from a 
 fate worse than death. I met her afterwards in the cars, 
 on her way to a city in the interior, to reside in the 
 family of a clergyman. She had received her free papers, 
 and the cup of her joy was full. A shade of sorrow 
 would occasionally flit across her countenance, — for ties 
 sacred to her had been severed, — but in the greatness 
 of her deliverance she forgot all things besides. It was 
 meet that such a flood of joy should sweep away, for a 
 time, at least, all the traces of her sorrow. How many 
 like her are there stiU in bondage, upon whose cheer- 
 less, weary lives no ray of hope has ever shone I He, 
 only, who knoweth all things, can tell I 
 
 HEADING UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 
 
 I had the pleasure of hearing Uncle Tom's Cabin 
 read to a company in one of the planting districts. It 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 291 
 
 was reported in the place that a man was coming to 
 fiinish reading that "wonderful novel" to all — "ex- 
 cept slaves" — who would assemble at K. N.'s long 
 mule stable on a certain night. After the crowd had 
 gathered, and the reading had commenced, I entered the 
 room silently, to witness the scene. The reader was 
 seated on a stack of corn in the middle of the long, nar- 
 row stable, reading by a small oil lamp. There was 
 no other light in the room, and I felt very happy to en 
 joy the privilege of a seat on the sill, in a corner so 
 dark that I was not seen. I counted nearly sixty heads 
 between me and the light. How many there were on 
 the other side, I could not see. But the noisy cheers 
 gave me the impression that the ship was well balanced. 
 I remained until one o'clock in the morning, and then 
 left before any others came away. I had previously 
 read the book, and therefore concluded to retire and 
 sleep a little ; but I was subsequently informed that no 
 others left until the volume was finished. 
 
 The reader was frequently interrupted by remarks 
 from Ms auditors, who took the liberty, as he went 
 along, to compare the characters described in the book 
 with their own acquaintances. There was. a slaveholder 
 in the place by the name of Yopp, who owned a slave 
 girl called Nancy. It seemed that Nancy answered 
 most accurately the description of Topsy ; for when the 
 reading had fully developed Topsy's peculiar character- 
 istics, a slaveholder's wife cried out, 
 
 « Now wasn't that girl just like old Yopp's Nancy ? " 
 And they had their St. Clares, and Legrees, and all 
 
292 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the other persons and things of which the " Cabin " was 
 constructed. There was no intimation from any one 
 present that the picture was overwrought. 
 
 While I was at Athens, Georgia, I learned that sev- 
 eral boxes of the " Cabin " were destroyed in that city, 
 while on their way to Alabama. But the merchant who 
 ordered them, whom I afterwards met, told me that all 
 the masters gained by that bonfire, was the sale of as 
 many more ; for he was determined that his family and 
 his neighbors should read it. 
 
 " If there was not a syllable of truth in it," said he, 
 " stUl I would have it read, as it is the best novel that 
 was ever written ! " 
 
 BLAVEET AND CASTE. 
 
 While I was spending a few days at G., where several 
 young men were employed in hewing timber, one of them 
 cut his foot badly. I sewed up and dressed the wound, 
 and gave him a pair of stockings and a pair of rubbers, 
 as he had none of his own. His name was William 
 Hardison. He expressed much gratitude for my kind- 
 ness, and afterwards he gave me a full history of his fam- 
 ily. He was a steady, industrious, intelligent young man. 
 
 "My father," said he, "was a Northern man. My 
 mother was a native of this State, and owned slaves 
 when my father married her. Once we were wealthy, 
 and our family moved in the best circles. But my father 
 became dissipated, wasted all the property, and sold all 
 the slaves except one, an old man, who ran away. Two 
 hounds followed him. One of them was an old dog, 
 
■WAYSIDE NOTES. 293 
 
 that had caught a great many negroes; but the slave 
 killed him with a club. The other dog forced him into 
 a tree. 
 
 " When my father came up, and found the slave had 
 killed his favorite dog, he ordered him to come down 
 from the tree. After he had come down, he pointed 
 his rifle towards the slave, and commanded him to cut 
 up a hind quarter of the old dog, and eat it raw, with 
 the hide and hair. Pompey was forced to obey, but he 
 died before the next morning. By this fatal calamity, 
 our family were cut loose from the society of slavehold- 
 ers, with whom we had always associated on terms of 
 equality. My miserable father died soon after, and left 
 us iu a truly deplorable condition, without food, with- 
 out friends ! I went to a slaveholder one day, — a 
 neighbor who was always kind and obliging, while we 
 were slaveholders, — and informed him that we had 
 nothing to eat ; and I asked him if he would give my 
 mother and the children some bread. 
 
 ' No,' said he, ' I don't want you around here, troubling 
 me ; I have niggers enot^h to eat my com.' 
 
 " I then asked, with great importunity, if he would 
 permit me to go to the corn crib, and take home a few 
 ears of corn to boil for supper. This favor also was 
 denied me. This family always exchanged visits with 
 us in our prosperous days, and nothing ever occurred to 
 create the least disaffection, or occasion the slightest 
 neglect, until we lost caste by becoming poor and losing 
 our slaves." 
 
 « Instead of showing favor to non-slaveholding whites," 
 
294 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERT. 
 
 said Mr. H., " the slaveholders oppress them in every 
 possible manner, without regard to their legal rights. 
 If they want to drive a poor man out of the neighbor- 
 hood, they will buy the land on which his shanty sets, 
 and then burn it. Sometimes, poor people build log 
 houses on lands of which no owner can be found at the 
 time, and thus these houses are left at the mercy of who- 
 ever may subsequently obtain possession of the lands." 
 
 " Is there no law in this State against such things, Mr. 
 H. ? And will not public opinion prevent a man from 
 burning his neighbor's house ? " I inquired. 
 
 " I know not what the law is," answered Mr. H. j " but 
 I know that slaveholders do as they please with the 
 property of nonslaveholders, who have, in any way, dis- 
 pleased them. And I state the fact, as within my own 
 knowledge, that the poor are sometimes compelled to 
 leave a neighborhood after their dwellings have thus been 
 destroyed by fire. And often, even when the poor man 
 has a good claim to the land on which his house stands, 
 a slaveholder will set up a false claim to it, and drive 
 him away. The fact is so generally understood that the 
 courts favor the slaveholders, and there is so little hope 
 of obtaining redress by law, that the nonslaveholders 
 usually submit rather than contend with them." 
 
 The degradation of women is a mark of heathenism 
 the world over. It is one of the boasted triumphs of 
 Christianity — justly so— that it has always tended to 
 elevate and improve the condition of women. And 
 though there is a kind of refinement and elegance among 
 the females of slaveholding families,— the tendency of 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 295 
 
 the system is to degrade them. Especially is this the 
 case among the slaves, and the nonslaveholders. 
 
 Of the former I hardly need to speak. The female 
 slaves cannot be otherwise than degraded. Subjected 
 at all times to the passions of the whites, chastity and 
 refinement are out of the question. They are stripped 
 entirely naked to be punished, not only on the planta- 
 tions, but by the city marshals in the cities, to whom 
 the masters send them for this purpose. And often they 
 are exposed in public for sale, in the same condition. 
 Let the Northern tourist visit the slave market, or the 
 ■whipping post, and he will frequently b^old scenes at 
 which the most degraded African, just imported, would 
 hang his head in shame ! A slave woman, entirely na- 
 ked, surrotmded by a profane and vulgar crowd, while 
 she vn'ithes mider the lash, or is offered, for purposes of 
 prostitution, to the highest bidder I Such is the " Chris- 
 tianizing influence" of whieh the advocates of the slave 
 trade so loudly boast ! 
 
 Nor do the slave women suffer alone in this respect. 
 Among the poor, ignorant, degraded, intemperate non- 
 slaveholders, the condition of the females is wretched 
 beyond description. Especially is this the case in those 
 families that have been owners of slaves. The father 
 and the sons are either so dissipated that they make no 
 provision for their families, or they are already in drunk- 
 ards' graves. Often have I seen women who have been 
 brought up in luxury, all unused to labor, thus compelled 
 by reverse of fortune to work in the field. Their for- 
 
296 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 mer acquaintances, among slaveholders, neither know 
 nor care any thing about their condition. 
 
 In Wilkinson county, Ga., I saw two young ladies at 
 •work in the field. They told me that the year before, 
 1 852, they performed all the labor, — plowing, planting, 
 hoeing, &c., and raised three bales of cotton. They lived 
 in Emmet, near the Central railroad. This cotton was 
 worth there about forty dollars a bale. They had a 
 widowed mother, and this was their only means of sup- 
 port. 
 
 In another county on the Oconee river I saw an aged 
 grand-mother, a daughter, and three grand-daughters, all 
 at work in the same field, hoeing cotton. They had been 
 slaveholders ; but the father of the three youngest had 
 squandered his property in dissipation, and dying in 
 poverty, the family were compelled to labor in this way 
 to keep themselves from starvation. Such instances are 
 common throughout the whole South. 
 
 PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR. 
 
 The anti-slavery cause has encountered no greater ob- 
 stacle in the free States, than prejudice against color. 
 As absurd and wicked as it is, it has been almost uni- 
 versal, — excluding the colored race not only from so- 
 cial position, but from churches and schools, — from 
 hotels, steamboats, and railroad cars. This unchristian 
 prejudice is wearing away, — and yet, during the present 
 year, one of the most accomplished ladies in the country 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 297 
 
 has often been put to serious inconvenience, even in 
 New England, by certain brainless puppets of fashion, 
 ■who aflfected to look down upon her with contempt, — un- 
 conscious that they thus exposed themselves to the con- 
 tempt of all those whose good opinion is of any conse- 
 quence. 
 
 This prejudice against color has not only had a ten- 
 dency to check all sympathy for the slaves, — but it has 
 been the source of many foolish objections to emancipa- 
 tion. Men and women who carry on their bodies the 
 imwashed filth of years — covered, perhaps, with purple 
 and iine linen — turnup their noses with horror at the 
 idea of having a " nigger " around them. And at the 
 thought of emancipation they picture to themselves an 
 imnunerable company of slaves, " turned loose " to over- 
 run the North, as terrible as the locusts of Egypt I 
 
 It is somewhat surprising to a Northern man to find 
 none of this prejudice in the South. If the slaves could 
 be set at liberty to-day, there would be nothing of this 
 kind to exclude them from genteel society. The whites 
 are accustomed now to associate with them as intimately, 
 though not on the same terms of equality, as with each 
 other. You find none of that exquisite, rose-water sen- 
 sitiveness in the South which some men, and I am sorry 
 to say, some women, even, in the free States, are so fond 
 of exhibiting. If a colored man owns slaves, — and I 
 regret to say that there are a few such in the South, — he 
 is treated as courteously, and with as much respect, 
 wherever he travels, as any thin skinned white dandy 
 who may chance to be in his company. I have always 
 
298 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 regarded the Northern apologist for slavery as infinitely 
 more worthy of condemnation than the slaveholder him- 
 self, trained up from Ms youth vrith Southern views and 
 feelings. So this prejudice against color is a type of 
 meanness beyond anything which the South can produce. 
 The Southron would scorn it, in any such sense as it 
 prevails in the free States. 
 
 We had in our company of passengers, on the way 
 from Georgia to Pennsylvania, a middle aged slaveholder, 
 with a black woman and her infant child. This gentle- 
 man uniformly occupied the same seat in the cars with 
 the colored lady, whom he treated with constant atten- 
 tion. He conversed with her freely and politely, — dan- 
 dled her baby on his knee, and for ought that I knew, 
 was her husband. Nor did I hear any intimation, from 
 any one in the company, that it was in the least degree 
 improper or offensive to have a colored person in the 
 car or coach, until we reached Philadelphia. 
 
 Soon after the train left that city for the North, a great 
 stir was made in the car in which I was seated, because 
 a colored gentleman had taken a seat there. This gen- 
 tleman was a Mr. Moore, formerly a slave. He had re- 
 sided a few years in Philadelphia, where he had married 
 an intelligent colored lady, and had accumulated a proper- 
 ty worth some two thousand dollars. The fugitave slave 
 bill had passed, and his master had come to that city to 
 arrest him. He had only time to fly, after notice of his 
 danger, without taking any measures to secure his prop- 
 erty. He was a fine looking, gentlemanly man ; and when 
 he came into the cars, he was neatly dressed. 
 
WAYSIDE NOTES. 299 
 
 I was sitting on the front seat, facing the passengers, 
 when the conductor went to Mr. Moore, and informed 
 him that the passengers objected to his occupying a seat 
 in that car, and that he must therefore take a seat in one 
 of another class. Mr. M. followed the conductor for- 
 ward to the door. I rose up, and said to the conductor 
 that I had just traveled hundreds of miles in the slave 
 States, — that I had heard no one complain because col- 
 ored persons were allowed to sit in the same cars with 
 iig^ — and that I felt indignant and ashamed to see a 
 distinction made as soon as we came into a free State. 
 And I told him that if any individual must leave that 
 car on that account, I would give up my seat to the col- 
 ored passenger, and leave, myself. Dr. Bailey, of the 
 National Era, who was sitting near, also interceded ; and 
 Mr. Moore was allowed to remain. How long will the 
 people of the North cherish a feeling so repugnant to all 
 the dictates not only of humanity, but of common sense ? 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE GIANT SLAVE. 
 
 "But slaves who once conceive the glowing thought 
 
 Of freedom, in that hope itself possess 
 
 All that the contest calb" for — spirit, strength, 
 
 The scorn of danger, the undjing hope, 
 
 The surest presage of the good they seek." 
 
 COWPEE. 
 
 M0CH has been said of the equality of races. The 
 discussion generally is profitless. Races, like iadiYidu- 
 als, are unlike ; and therefore the question of equality 
 can never be settled. Each, in some qualities, excels 
 the others. With all the boasting of our Anglo-Saxon 
 stock, it is undeniable that the African race, under equal 
 advantages, would excel us in music and poetry. And 
 who shall say that the fine arts are not quite as impor- 
 tant as the more solid endovnnents ■which, perhaps, the 
 Creator has given in greater measure to us ? The rights 
 of man are dependent on neither. These God has given 
 alike to all, of every nation, of every degree of culture. 
 
 It is a curious fact that, even among barbarous tribes 
 of men, we find occasionally one whom, the All-wise has 
 rarely endowed, — one who possesses powers and abil- 
 ities far above his fellows. Such was Black Hawk 
 
THE QIANX SLAVE. 301 
 
 among the Indians. And in the South there may be 
 found here and there a slave of remarkable strength 
 both of body and mind. They appear to be exceptions 
 to the general rule, standing forth among their oppressed 
 and degraded brethren, 
 
 " above the rest 
 In shape and gesture proudly emminent." 
 
 Such, undoubtedly, was "Dread," whose terrible death 
 I have already recorded. It was not my fortune to see 
 him, —as he fell a sacrifice to the slave system before I 
 visited the neighborhood where he lived, and suffered, 
 and died. B ut I gathered up what little could be learned 
 of his history, and leave it in this volume, a feeble trib- 
 ute to his memory. 
 
 " The best temperance lecturer I ever heard," said a 
 Southern merchant to me, " was a giant negro up river, 
 Whom I once heard speak on that subject." This was 
 "Hannibal," the subject of this sketch. 
 
 I had occasion to cross the river. It was a 
 
 dark, stormy day, and the waters were swollen by the 
 freshet. The river was deep, and wide, and the ferry 
 boat was drawn across by means of a rope, fastened to 
 a tree on either side. I noticed, as I entered the boat, 
 that the ferryman — a slave — was a man of giant stat- 
 ure, and prodigious muscular development. He was 
 about six and a half feet high, of admirable proportions, 
 and though not by any means corpulent, he weighed, as I 
 afterwards learned, over three hundred pounds. Though 
 the current was strong, he held the boat steady by the 
 rope, and rapidly drew it across the river. Like all 
 26 
 
302 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 slaves -who mingle in good society, he was afiable and 
 polite in his manners ; but unlike most slaves, instead 
 of that cringing look which nothing but a consciousness 
 of degradation can produce, there was a native dignity 
 and manlmesa in his bearing, which even his condition 
 could not conceal ; — a divinity that not even slavery 
 could tarnish or degrade. As he assisted me to the 
 shore, he asked, 
 
 "Are you not from the North, sir ? " 
 
 " "Why do you think so ? " I asked, with some surprise. 
 
 "0," said he, " I have been across the river with so 
 many persons, not only from all parts of this country, 
 but from foreign countries, that I can generally tell 
 where any one is from." 
 
 "Well," said I, "you have guessed right in my case. 
 I am from the North." 
 
 I then left the ferryman alone, and walked to the 
 village, half a mile distant. During the night, a large 
 cypress tree, which the waters had brought down from 
 its native bank, was carried against Hannibal's ferry 
 rope, uprooting the trees to which it was fastened on 
 either side. The next morning I came down to the 
 river, intending to recross. The fact was known in the 
 village that the rope had been carried away, and that no 
 one could cross until the waters had abated so that 
 another guide rope could be stretched over. Hence no 
 one, — except myself, who had not heard that the rope 
 was gone, — came down to the ferry house. This was 
 a little log hut, of which Hannibal was the only occu- 
 pant ; although he had had a wife and two children, nine 
 
THE GIANT SLAVE. 303 
 
 miles above, on the river, until -witliin a few -weeks. As 
 I stepped into his lowly cabin, which had neither win- 
 dow nor door, Hannibal arose, and repeating my name, 
 he addressed me freely and cordially, as if I had been 
 an old school mate. He said that he desired me to ex- 
 cuse this familiarity, as he had been up to the tavern, 
 and had learned my name ; and he earnestly requested 
 me to inform him how the free colored people were get- 
 ting along in my State. 
 
 I saw, at a glance, that I was in the presence of no 
 ordinary man. He had a broad, high forehead, a very 
 large head, containing a massive brain, active and power- 
 ful ; and, although apparently sincere and friendly, yet 
 he looked so metaphysical, dark, and mysterious withal, 
 that I feared to express any sympathy for him or for 
 Lis race, lest he should betray me to his master. 
 
 " I know but little about the colored people," I replied. 
 " I never saw a negro in the town where I. was brought 
 up ; and I advise a slave who has a kind master to be 
 contented where he is." 
 
 Hannibal looked sad and dejected at my reply, but I 
 was afraid to trust him. I left him abruptly, and strolled 
 up the river a mile or twO; looking at the magnificent 
 forests of oak and pine that covered the banks. A few 
 hours passed, and I came back again. When I walked 
 softly and slowly up to Hannibal's hut, and looked in 
 upon him, I just had a glimpse of a smaU, dingy book, 
 as it was flung from his hand under a board, by the side 
 of the rock chimney. 
 
 « Hannibal ! can you read ? " said I. 
 
304 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 He sat motionless so long before speakings that I be- 
 gan to fear I had either troubled Mm, or that he was 
 intending to trouble me, when he sprang up from his 
 stool, looked me firmly in the face, and asked, earnestly, 
 
 " Wont yon betray me, master ? " 
 
 "Betray yon? Hannibal ! No ; I am your friend." 
 
 " My friend ? " said he, with deep emotion. " What 
 am I to understand by that ? " 
 
 " Why, that I am not only your friend, but the friend 
 of your race," said I. 
 
 " Indeed, sir ! " ejaculated the slave. "And in what 
 way are you the friend of my race ? " 
 
 I now saw plainly that he wanted a friend, and I re- 
 plied, " 1 wish that you aU enjoyed the same liberty that 
 'I enjoy." 
 
 He turned to the chimney, raised the board, and took 
 out the book. It was Robinson Crusoe 1 This was the 
 first time he had read it ; and he was so deeply absorbed 
 in the story, — not expecting any one down from the 
 village to cross the river, — that I had surprised him. 
 
 " There, " said he, handing me the book with a trem- 
 bling hand, " is what I was reading. Did you ever read 
 that book, master ? " 
 
 • " Oh, yes, Hannibal ! That was one of the first books 
 I ever read when I was a little boy. It is a beautiful 
 story, too." 
 
 "A story, master 1 I thought it was real. I am sorry 
 it was made up; for I was thinking how happy I should 
 be on such an island, where I could be master awhile." 
 
 "But how came yon to be able to read it, Hannibal ? " 
 
THE GIANT SLATE 305 
 
 He went to the hiding place, and took out Garrison's 
 work on colonization, two copies of Leavitt's Emanci- 
 pator, and a mutilated copy of the New Testament, 
 saying, 
 
 "I have begged these of Northern men, — promising 
 them that after they were gone, I would drop them 
 where the slaveholders would find them. Now, master, 
 I will tell you ; only one man in the world, besides you, 
 has ever known that I can read a word. That was my 
 young master John. My mother nursed him at the same 
 time she nursed me. We were just about the same age. 
 When master John was sent to the academy here, and 
 learned his letters, he taught them to me. As soon as 
 my old master found out that John was teaching me, 
 he forbade it. But I loved John, and he loved me also. 
 I always had considerable influence over him, and could 
 persuade or hire him to do anytMng for me. I told him 
 that I would never reveal the fact, if he would teach 
 me all that he learned himself. John had confidence in 
 me, and whatever he was taught at school, he taught 
 me. When he began to read Latin, he called me mas- 
 ter; for he left his grammar with me nights, and I 
 learned faster than he did by day. Sometimes he came 
 to our hut Sundays, and he said I gave him better in- 
 struction than he got at the academy. 
 
 "And now, master, I will tell you why I asked you 
 about the free colored people at the North. My young 
 master used to tell me that he meant to make me free ; 
 but he died suddenly, and nothing was done about it. 
 My old master has always been kind to me, and I have 
 
306 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVEKT, 
 
 always tried to be contented with my fate, although my 
 labors have been very hard, and my comforts few. / 
 had a wife, but she was taken from me two weeks ago! 
 She belonged to another man, nine miles above here. 
 I never let her know that I could read ; for I knew that 
 she was liable at any time to be sold, and in many ways 
 the fact would become known. She had a cruel master, 
 and did not have enough corn to eat. I used to carry 
 food and other things to her and to my two little boys. 
 My master knew it, and did not forbid it. I complained 
 of the treatment which my wife received from her mas- 
 ter ; for I loved Nelly, and always shall ! Her master 
 hated me, after he found out that I talked about his be- 
 ing a hard master to my wife ; and to punish me, he sold 
 her to be carried off two hundred miles up river. My 
 master offered seven hundred dollars more for Nelly 
 than she was sold for ; but her master would not have 
 me gratified so much as to have her live with me. An- 
 other man, — whose wife lives in this place, — was sold 
 by Nelly's master at the same time, and taken to the 
 same plantation where she is. He ran away and came 
 back here to see his wife, and he told me that Nelly 
 wanted him to let me know where she was. 
 
 " Now," he continued, " I am resolved to run away. 
 I have three hundred dollars by me that my master has 
 no knowledge of; and I shall either go up to the neigh- 
 borhood where Nelly is, find a hiding place in the woods, 
 get her with me, hire the slaves to bring us provisions, 
 and so live together as long as we can, and suffer what- 
 ever may come upon us ; — or I will make the attempt 
 
TUE (ilANT SLAVE. 307 
 
 to reach the North, where I can be free. I am now forty 
 years old. I have often cursed God for my fate I Death, 
 to me, -would always have been a welcome relief I I pre- 
 fer it now to the prospect of living longer in my present 
 condition. And while I have the strength, and the will, 
 I am resolved on one effort for a change, come what may ! 
 Can I get to a free State ? " 
 
 "How ? " said I. "Across the country ? " 
 
 "0, no!"he replied, quickly. "It is a long wayj 
 and I am so much larger than most slaves, every one 
 Who sees me would demand a pass. All the hounds, 
 and half the devils who own them, would chase me. I 
 should probably be taken, or killed, in a short time ; 
 both if either, I tell you ! But can't I go down river in 
 a light bateau, in the night, and find some friend in the 
 city, who will help me on board a vessel bound North, 
 and so escape ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said I. " There would not be one chance 
 in a thousand for you to reach a free State in that way. 
 But I can plan to make you free in a single day, after I 
 arrive at New York." • 
 
 " How ? How ? " he asked, with great earnestness. 
 
 " I can raise the money," I replied, " to purchase your 
 freedom." 
 
 "Ah, sir ! " said the despairing slave, " the man would 
 be shot, who should come here, with any sura of money, 
 proposing to buy me and carry me North. The slave- 
 holders here know that I know all about slavery, and 
 that I could tell what I know ; and never shall I be al- 
 lowed to go to a free State with their consent. " 
 
308 INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 " I used to talk on the subject of temperance. The 
 slaves were very intemperate here, and my master told 
 me that I might hold meetings, and talk to them. Soon 
 after I commenced talking publicly, the slaves began to 
 quit drinking. They came a great distance to hear me. 
 Not only the slaves, but their masters also came in 
 crowds. The latter expressed great astonishment that 
 I could use so good language, and they said it must be 
 inspiration, — not knowing that I went to the academy 
 with John, and that he taught me much of what little he 
 learned at college, after he came home from the North." 
 
 I suggested several plans for his escape, but no one 
 that was feasible, in his opinion. I asked him if it was a 
 common thing in that neighborhood, where there were 
 five hundred slaves, for them to separate husband and 
 wife. He said, 
 
 " I and Scipio, my half brother, whose wife has just 
 been sold, were reckoning up last night, how many we 
 know who have been separated since we were married, 
 six years ago ; and we reckoned up thirty 1 " 
 
 I remained there sevgral days, and during that time 
 had several interviews with this remarkable slave. And 
 the more I saw him, the more strongly was I impressed 
 with his natural greatness and power, — not, indeed, en- 
 tirely destitute of cultivation. What would I not have 
 given to deliver him from the terrible load that pressed 
 him down 1 We often conversed on the subject of his 
 escape, and I left him, not without some hope of soon 
 meeting him in a land where "the slave would be a man." 
 
 About the time I was ready to start, the waters of the 
 
THE GIAKT SLAVE. 309 
 
 river had partially subsided, and Hannibal's master, 
 vith Scipio, came down to stretch across another rope. 
 I concluded to take the same boat with them. The cur- 
 rent was still strong, as the river had not yet settled 
 within its banks ; and it was therefore necessary to row 
 up stream farther than usual before crossing, or the cur- 
 rent would carry us down below the landing on the op- 
 posite shore. Below this landing there was an alder 
 swamp, through which we must wade if we fell below 
 the wharf. Before we had gone up far enough to insure 
 a safe landing, the master ordered the boat to be headed 
 across. Hannibal remonstrated, and said that we should 
 certainly fall below the wharf. But the master said, 
 — "head her about," — not regarding the opinion of the 
 slave, who had a life-long acquaintance with the river. 
 
 He soon perceived, however, that the current was 
 stronger than he had anticipated, and that we were in 
 danger of being carried below the wharf; and he said 
 to Hannibal, "you don't pull, boy." The next dip, the 
 oar fell deep in the waters, and the " boy " pulled so 
 hard that he shivered it in pieces I It was made of 
 sound hard pine, and was about four inches in diameter. 
 I expected to hear the master scold when he heard tlfe 
 crash of the oar, and saw that we should fail to reach 
 the wharf; but he laughed, and exclaimed, 
 
 " It is a gone case with us now, boys ! We have got 
 to wade." 
 
 And so it was. Instead of being landed at the wharf, 
 ^e were run into the swamp below. The master 
 jumped out where the cold water — for it was win- 
 
310 INSIDK VEEW OF SLAVEET. 
 
 ter — was up to his waist. But the boys said the pas- 
 senger was not to blame, and they pulled the boat over 
 and through the alders, about forty rods, where I stepped 
 out in water so shallow as not to run over my boots. 
 
 Here I left Hannibal — receiving in sadness his 
 parting blessing. And his last words to me were, — 
 * / shall start within a fortnight.'' 
 
XXIV. 
 
 THE ETHIOPIAN SOCRATES- 
 
 "Yes, dark-souled chieftain! — if the %ht 
 
 Of mild Religion's heavenly ray 
 Unveiled not to thy mental sight 
 
 The lowlier and the purer way, — 
 Let not the &Tored white man name 
 Thy stem appeal, with words of blame." 
 
 WHimER. 
 
 Pew Northern men, probably, have ever had a better 
 Tiew of slavery than I had. It may seem to those who 
 have read the preceding pages that I have portrayed 
 only its darker features. To some extent this is true. 
 An inside view of slavery could not be othermse. What- 
 ever fairer and better aspects it presents, they are all 
 external, and have so often been presented to the pub- 
 lic that it has been no part of my purpose to reproduce 
 them. And while I do not deny the truth of such rep- 
 resentations, as exhibiting simply the outside of the sys- 
 tem, I claim for that which is less exposed, and less 
 noticed, at least an equal importance, in order fully to 
 understand the subject. 
 
 I cannot bring this volume to a close more appropri- 
 ately than with the following story, from a recent number 
 
312 INSIDE YIEW OF SLAVERY. 
 
 of the N. Y. Independent. It is from the pen oi that 
 beautiful and popular writer, who, I believe, is only 
 /known to the public by her nomme de plume, " Minnie 
 Myrtle." She assures me that the narrative may be relied 
 upon as correct in every particular, even in the language 
 used by the poor slave. It was related to her by a citi- 
 zen of Baltimore, a distinguished member of the Society 
 of Friends, who received it from the Judge who presided 
 at the trial. No one can read it without feeling that 
 there are powers and capacities, both of doing and suf- 
 fering, in the African race, far above what he has been 
 accustomed to believe. And if, in view of such facts, 
 there are any who are willing to volmiteer with their 
 apologies for slaveholders, to debauch the public heart 
 with " South-Side Views," and Scriptural defenses, I am 
 fully pursuaded that the only way such men could be 
 convinced of the enormities of slavery would be to ap- 
 ply the iron to their own Umbs, and the lash to their 
 own backs, until they could " remember those in bonds as 
 bound with them." 
 
 Many years ago, said an aged gentleman to me, I 
 was traveling among the monntains of Virgiuia, when 
 one of those terrible storms arose which are known only 
 among the mountains ; when the rain falls in sheets, and 
 the thunder roars in one continuous crash and peal, seem- 
 ing as if the hills would be shaken from their founda- 
 tions, and the heavens gleam like a mass of fire which 
 the drenching waters cannot quench. We were a long 
 distance from any village, and for a long time looked in 
 vain for a, temporary shelter, but at length came in sight 
 
THE ETHIOPIAN SOCRATES. 313 
 
 of a small inn, wluch our little party filled to overflow- 
 ing. Soon another party arrived, which the pitiless 
 storm had driven to the same shelter. But the landlord 
 was more pitiless still, and rudely told them that he had 
 no room for more. But as we were all of one family, 
 we offered to share with our new comers half our own 
 accommodations, and were soon on such terms of ac- 
 quaintanceship with a cultivated gentleman and his intel- 
 Jigeat^daughters, as a storm and the close proximity of 
 a country inn know best how to produce. 
 
 Before dark the storm had ceased, and the moon arose 
 in all her queenly beauty, inviting us to sit upon the 
 broad piazza and enjoy the evening air. Our new friends 
 were from a more southern clime, and commenced con- 
 versation by asking if we had heard of a sad instance 
 of wrong and crime which occurred not long ago in a 
 neighboring county. As things of that kind did not then 
 so frequently find their way into the public prints as in 
 these days, we had seen no allusion to the matter, and 
 listened with unspeakable emotion whilst the gentleman 
 related to us the following story : 
 
 " A Southern trader had been commissioned to pur- 
 chase a blacksmith, and to pay any price for one of su- 
 perior skill and qualifications, wherever he might be 
 found. In his roamings about the country he heard of 
 one belonging to a rich lady, but doubted about being 
 able to obtain him, as necessity would not compel her to 
 part with him, and he had been long a faithful servant 
 in her family- She was sick, too, and would not, as a 
 21 
 
314 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVERY. 
 
 dying act, wish to sell from his wife and children one 
 ■vrho had proved of such invaluable service to her. 
 
 " But a thousand dollars proved a temptation which 
 even a dying woman could not resist, and the bargain 
 was finished, and the soul and body of a noble man con- 
 signed as property to a heartless trader, without a word 
 of consultation with him on the subject. On being called 
 and informed of the transfer, he exclaimed in bitter ag- 
 ony, ' What have I done to deserve this ? Have I not 
 been a faithful servant, laboring night and day for my 
 mistress, without ever in a single instance refusing to 
 obey her orders ? ' Here his voice choked so that he 
 could not speak, as he seemed overwhelmed with a sense 
 of the wrong which had been done him, and of his help- 
 lessness ; but he soon added, ' Well, I know I am a poor 
 slave, and must submit to my fate, but it is hard.' 
 
 " The trader was neither moved to compassion nor 
 kindness, and he approached to place upon his limbs the 
 galling fetters, which were only the symbols of a more 
 galling servitude, when the negro ventured again to 
 remonstrate. He did not ask for freedom, or to be re- 
 turned to his mistress. Alas I the thought of her must 
 have been bittemeas indeed to him now — but he asked 
 the one little boon of being permitted to see his wife 
 and children before he was separated from them for- 
 ever. 
 
 " ' I know,' he said, ' I am your slave. You have 
 bought me and paid for me, and I am bound to obey you 
 This I will not refuse to do But I have a wife and lit- 
 
THE ETmOPIAN SOCRATES- 315 
 
 tie children two miles from here, with whom I have lived 
 very happy. Will you not permit me to see them once 
 more before I go ? I promise solemnly I will return 
 to-morrow morning, and go with you and do your bid- 
 ding without a murmur.' 
 
 " ' No,' said the trader, 'you cannot go.' 
 
 " ' But oh, it is very hard that I cannot see my wife 
 and children before I go, and bid them &rewell. I am 
 a man of truth, and I promise faithfully to return to- 
 morrow morning if you will let me go.' 
 
 " ' No,' was the indignant answer ; ' you cannot go ; 
 and you may as well come along without any more fuss.' 
 _ " ' Well,' answered the honest and injured husband 
 and father, ' I must submit. I cannot help myself. But 
 I tell you plainly I will never serve you ; I will never 
 perform a single act for your benefit.' 
 
 " ' Oh, I am not troubled about that,' said the trader ; 
 ' I know how to deal with such as yon, and have no fears 
 about your obeying my commands.' And he placed the 
 manacles upon his wrists and ankles, gave him a blow 
 from his whip, and he was driven away. 
 
 " How the proud spirit chafed and writhed in the fet- 
 ters I But, as he said, there was no help. For several 
 days he was detained at a station-house, till a large gang 
 was collected, when they were marched off towards their 
 Southern destination. There was no further remon- 
 strance, and no attempt at escape ; till with feet sore 
 and bleeding from days and nights of constant tramping 
 upon thorny paths and burning sands, they encamped 
 upon the borders of a running stream for a little rest. 
 
316 INSIDE VIEW OP SLAVEKT, 
 
 The men reclined in their chains upon the ground, and 
 the women were strewed in heaps among the baggage 
 of the wagons. The moon shone clear and bright, and 
 scarcely a breath of air stirred the leaves of the trees 
 above their heads, and aU were asleep. It was not a 
 night to favor crime ; yet revenge burned so hotly in the 
 bosom of the outraged negro that he could not longer 
 delay. His trade had made him familiar with iron links, 
 and with a little application of his skill his bonds were 
 loosened, and he was free. But he did not attempt to 
 fly. He crept stealthily to the tent of the trader, and 
 with one blow of the axe severed his head from his 
 body! — then returned to his resting place and slept 
 soundly till morning I 
 
 " The break of day revealed the terrible deed, and 
 the excitement soon spread from the negro camp to the 
 neighboring settlements, and crowds gathered in eager 
 curiosity to learn the particulars of the crime. Several 
 were put to the torture in attempts to make them con- 
 fess, but the guilty one not wishing others to suffer for 
 what he had done, came forward and gave himself up to 
 justice. Double manacles were put upon his limbs, and 
 he was confined in jail until the day of trial. On being 
 told by the judge that he would have the benefit of coun- 
 sel and every advantage which the law -could give, not- 
 withstanding his confession, he again disclaimed all pre- 
 tensions to innocence, and expressed no desire to live. 
 ' I killed the man,' said he, ' and I did it after deliberate 
 reflection, and still think his hard-hearted cruelty justified 
 the act. I am not sorry.' 
 
THE ETHIOPIAN SOCRATES. 317 
 
 " There was a sort of mock trial, at the end of which 
 the verdict of ' Guilty,' was solemnly rendered, and the 
 accused was asked if he had anything to say to the court. 
 With great dignity, and no visible emotion he arose and 
 said: 
 
 « ' I am grateful for your kindness, and for the oppor- 
 tunity you gave me of escaping death ; but I have no 
 wish to live. I am cruelly separated from all that is 
 most dear to me, and life is no longer of any value. 1 
 do not wish to live, and I am not afraid to die, and I 
 have only one favor to ask of earthly friends. I would 
 like to know that the day of my execution is fixed on 
 the 4th of July, which will soon be here. It is the day 
 you celebrate as the anniversary of your emancipation 
 from the slavery of a foreign despotism. If you grant 
 me this request, the day will be the anniversary of my 
 emancipation from a bondage much more galling than 
 was ever inflicted upon you. From that day I shall be 
 as free as you ! ' 
 
 " He who spoke was of Ethiop blackness, but his 
 manner was as calm as that of the Athenian philosopher 
 when the hemlock was presented to his lips, and his 
 whole demeanor as dignified and respectful. Among the 
 audience there was a breathless stillness, which for a 
 long time was not interrupted, and all departed under 
 the influence of deep and impressive solemnity. 
 
 " Neither in the prison nor on the scafibld was there 
 any change in the guilty man, and nothing could wring 
 from him anything like a confession that he had sinned 
 in taking the life of one so inhuman. He had rid the 
 
318 mSlDE VIEW OF SIAVERY. 
 
 eartli of a monster, and was willing to die for the deed. 
 
 " His mind was in the darkness of heathenism, and we 
 leave him for God to judge. And we also leave Him to 
 judge those who keep in darkness millions of immortal 
 souls, and so imbrutalize and degrade them that con- 
 science is without life, and deliberate crime without hor- 
 ror. 
 
 " But it is pleasant to add that there were accounts 
 immediately of the liberation of many who had been 
 kept in bondage in that region, proving that the dying 
 words of a negro could affect the heart." 
 
 "Oh, Where's the man so lowly, 
 Condemned to things unholy, 
 
 Who, could he burst 
 
 His chains at first, 
 Would pine beneath them slowly ? 
 
 What soul whose wrongs degrade it, 
 Would wait till time decayed it, 
 
 When thus its wing 
 
 At once may spring 
 To the throne of Him who made it ? 
 
it •! 
 
 .!,,-*H ,f