40 results in American Scenes and Christian Slavery
LETTER XIII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 99-106
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We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and “Big Black River.” The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary “bluff.” Here, a few years ago, “a negro man was condemned by the mob to be burned alive over a slow fire, which was put into execution, for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of this monster.” Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the “monster,” who had seduced the wretched negro's wife!
The “Big Black River” is not so very “big” after all. It is extremely narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles.
Besides the danger of explosion—which, I apprehend, arises from “racing” and carelessness more than from any other cause — steam-boats on the “father of waters” are exposed to “snags.” These snags are trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from 30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity of water in its channel,—frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12 feet in a few hours,—these snags are sometimes so deep in the water that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they are but just covered.
LETTER XXVII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 222-230
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In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev.— —, in the — Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than 150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to showing me some of the “lions” of the city. The first place we visited was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we were introduced was John Abbott, the author of “The Mother at Home.” He is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25 years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott, the author of “The Young Christian,” “The Corner Stone,” “The Way for a Child,” &c, &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sittingrroom. I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years of age, but looks younger. He wrote both “The Young Christian” and “The Corner Stone” when he was only 25. John is two years younger than Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four.
LETTER XXXI
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 252-260
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Before I take you to “Yale,” let me show you the spot on the Green on which, in 1745, Whitfield, being refused admission to the Congregational church, preached in the open air, under a tree, to an immense congregation,—so great at that time was the dislike to a fervid evangelical ministry. But more than a century has rolled away; and how changed is the scene!
But, observe you that feeble, tottering old gentleman coming along the avenue? It is the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is a member, and, I believe, a deacon of one of the Congregational churches in this city. Twelve or thirteen years ago that very man, sitting on the judicial bench, condemned Miss Randall to be punished for — teaching a coloured child to read!
Now for Yale. The Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, the minister of the North Church, will accompany us. This institution was founded in the year 1700. It derived its name from the Hon. Elihu Yale, a gentleman, I am proud to say, descended from an ancient and respectable family in Wales. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came over with the first settlers of New Haven. His son Elihu went to England at ten years of age, and to the East Indies at thirty. In the latter country he resided about twenty years, was made Governor of Madras, acquired a large fortune, returned to England, was chosen Governor of the East India Company, and died at Wrexham in Denbighshire in 1721.
LETTER VIII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 57-63
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Finding that another slave-auction was to be held at noon next day in the St. Louis Exchange, I resolved to attend. The day was dull and dirty. “Please, sir,” said I to the first man I met, “to tell me where St. Louis Exchange is?” “Don't know, sir.” I walked on a little further, and tried again. “Please to direct me to St. Louis Exchange?” “Can't; but it's somewhere in that direction,” pointing with his finger. “Is this the way to St. Louis Exchange?” I asked a third. “I guess it is,” was the curt and characteristic reply. “How far is it?” “Three blocks further on; then turn to your right; go a little way down, and you will find it on your left.” I went as directed, and came to an immense building—a kind of hotel. There were nearly a dozen entrances, all leading into one vast saloon, where I found about 200 gentlemen,—some drinking, some eating, some smoking, some reading, some talking, and all spitting. One end of the saloon was fitted up as a refreshment place, similar to those on railway stations in England. But I could see nothing like preparations for a sale. On looking around I perceived a large door in two halves, with spring hinges, leading as it were further into the building. I pushed one half open, and found myself in a spacious circular hall,—its roof, ending in a dome, supported by a suitable number of massive columns.
LETTER III
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 18-25
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From No. 181 of the “St. Charles's,” we descended, after a good night's rest, to see some of the lions of the place. Here we are (thought I) in New Orleans—the metropolis of a great slave country,—a town in which exist many depôts for the disposal of human beings,—the very city where, a few months ago, poor Pauline was sacrificed as the victim of lust and cruelty! Unhappy girl! What a tragedy! On the 1st of August last, I told the horrid tale to my emancipated people in Berbice. Here it is, as extracted from the Essex (United States) Transcript. Read it, if you please; and then you will have a notion of the feelings with which I contemplated a city rendered infamous by such a transaction.
“Many of our readers have probably seen a paragraph stating that a young slave girl was recently hanged at New Orleans for the crime of striking and abusing her mistress. The religious press of the north has not, so far as we are aware, made any comments upon this execution. It is too busy pulling the mote out of the eye of the heathen, to notice the beam in our nominal Christianity at home. Yet this case, viewed in all its aspects, is an atrocity which has (God be thanked) no parallel in heathen lands. It is a hideous offshoot of American Republicanism and American Christianity! It seems that Pauline—a young and beautiful girl—attracted the admiration of her master, and being (to use the words of the law) his “chattel personal to all intents and purposes whatsoever,” became the victim of his lust.
PREFACE
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp iii-vi
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During his recent sojourn in the United States, the Author did not conceive the intention of writing a book on the subject. All he contemplated was the publication of a few letters in a London Journal on which he had been accustomed to rely for intelligence from Europe when residing in Berbice. So much he was disposed to attempt for several reasons.
Having entered the States by their most Southern port—that of New Orleans, and finding himself at once in the midst of Slavery, he had opportunities of observing that system not often enjoyed by a British “Abolitionist.” As the Pastor, also, of a large congregation, of whom a great number were but a few years ago held in cruel bondage, he would naturally look upon the treatment of the same race in America with keener eyes and feelings more acute than if he had not stood in that relation.
Identified, too, with those persons who represent the principles of the old Puritans and Nonconformists in England, he would survey the growth and spread of those principles in their new soil and climate with a more than common interest. New England, especially, on whose sods the foot-prints of the Pilgrims had been impressed, and on whose rocks their early altars had been reared, would be to him hallowed ground.
LETTER XXI
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 164-171
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In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B— to see an Orphan Asylum, in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and anti-colour- hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place.
Myself.—“Now, Mrs. B—, this place is very beautiful: I admire it exceedingly. Would you refuse a little coloured orphan admission into this asylum?”
The Lady (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look of horror and indignation).—“Indeed, we would!”
Myself.—“Oh, shocking! shocking!”
The Lady.—“Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children; they are not neglected.”
Myself.—“Ay, but why should they not be together?—why should there be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?”
The Lady (in a tone of triumph).—“ Why has God made such a distinction between them?”
Myself.—“And why has he made such a distinction between me and Toni Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6 inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from society on account of his stature as his colour.”
LETTER XVIII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 141-148
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The “public declamation” ended, Dr. Beecher asked me to accompany him to his house. It was about an eighth of a mile from the institution, over a very bad road, or rather over no road at all. He conducted me into a snug little sitting-room, having no grate; but a wood fire on the floor under the chimney. It looked primitive and homely. This style of fire is not uncommon in America. The logs of wood lie across two horizontal bars of iron, by which they are raised four or six inches from the floor. The Doctor's first care was to replenish the fire with a few sturdy pieces of wood. All through the States, I have observed that the task of feeding the fire generally devolves on the head of the family. In this little room I was introduced to Mrs. Beecher. She is, I believe, the third lady on whom the Doctor has conferred his name. In one corner of this apartment was a gun, and on the sofa a heap of shot. Thousands of wild pigeons were flying about. The visit of these birds made the Doc tor very uneasy. He was ever and anon snatching up his gun, and going out to have a pop at them. Though upwards of seventy years of age, he is an excellent marksman. It was to me a little odd to see a venerable D.D., a Professor of Theology, handling a fowling-piece! The Americans, have by circumstances been trained to great skill in the use of fire-arms.
LETTER IX
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 64-70
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You shall now learn how men buy and sell women in America. “Elizabeth” was the first who was made to mount the platform. She was a very genteel-looking girl, about eighteen years of age, evidently the daughter of a white man, and said to be “a good seamstress and house-servant — excellente couturière et domestique de maison.” 600 dollars was the first bid, and 810 the last, at which price (about 170l.) Elizabeth—so young and so interesting—was sold!
“Susan,” too, was a mulatto—the daughter of a white man. She was short, dumpy, and full-faced, about sixteen years of age, “a plain seamstress and house-servant.” She appeared exceedingly modest, and kept her eyes on the floor in front of the platform. On that floor, as usual, the filthy dealers in human flesh were ever and anon pouring forth immense quantities of tobacco juice. For Susan the first bid was 500 dollars, and the highest 700 (nearly 150l.), at which she was “knocked down.” But the fat old man, as before, in his peculiar drawling nasal tones, said, “The 700 dollars was my bid, and therefore Susan is not sold.” Poor Susan was very sad and gloomy.
” Betsy,” another “plain seamstress and house-servant,” about sixteen years of age, also the daughter of a white man, had a fine intelligent eye, and her effort to restrain her feelings was evidently great. The offers, however, not suiting, the auctioneer closed the exhibition, which had lasted an hour.
LETTER XXIII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 180-187
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Arriving at Pittsburg in the middle of the night of the 10th of March, we remained on board till morning. As we had been accustomed on this “Clipper No. 2” to breakfast at half-past 7, I thought they surely would not send us empty away. But no! we had to turn out at that early hour of a morning piercingly cold, and get a breakfast where we could, or remain without. This was “clipping” us rather too closely, after we had paid seven dollars each for our passage and provisions.
Pittsburg is in the State of Pennsylvania. Its progress has been rapid, and its prospects are bright. Seventy years ago the ground on which it stands was a wilderness, the abode of wild beasts and the hunting ground of Indians. Its manufactures are chiefly those of glass, iron, and cotton. It is the Birmingham of America. Indeed one part of it, across the river, is called “Birmingham,” and bids fair to rival its old namesake. Its advantages and resources are unparalleled. It occupies in reference to the United States, north and south, east and west, a perfectly central position. It is surrounded with solid mountains of coal, which—dug out, as I have intimated, with the greatest ease—is conveyed with equal ease down inclined planes to the very furnace mouths of the foundries and factories! This great workshop communicates directly, by means of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Red River, &c, with immense countries, extending to Texas, to Mexico, and to the Gulph.
LETTER XVII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 133-140
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In resuming my notice of the Democratic meeting, let me observe that the Democratic party in America is not very reputable. It is the war party, the proslavery party, the mob party, and, at present, the dominant party, —the party, in fine, of President Polk. It had just been aroused to the highest pitch of indignation, by a telling speech delivered in Congress against the Mexican War by Thomas Corwin, Esq., one of the Ohio senators. This meeting, then, was intended as a demonstration in favour of Polk and his policy; but it turned out a miserable failure.
When the blustering speaker who “had the floor” when I entered sat down, the “president” (for they do not say the chairman) rose, amidst a tremendous storm of favourite names, uttered simultaneously by all present at the top of their voices, and, as soon as he could be heard, said it had been moved and seconded that So-and-so, Esq., be requested to address the meeting: those who were in favour of that motion were to say “Ay,”—those against it, “No.” One great “Ay” was then uttered by the mass, and a few “Noes” were heard. The “Ayes” had it. But an unforeseen difficulty occurred. So-and-so, Esq., either was not there, or would not speak. Amidst deafening noise again, the president rose, and said it had been moved and seconded that John Brough, Esq., be requested to address the meeting. “Ay”—“No;” but the “Ayes” had it.
LETTER VII
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 50-56
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Yes, she was a “fine young woman,” about 23 years of age, neatly dressed, not black, but slightly coloured. The auctioneer was a sleek-looking fellow, with a face that indicated frequent and familiar intercourse with the brandy-bottle. He stood upon a platform, about four feet high. Behind him was a table, at which a clerk sat to record the sales. High above was a semicircular board, on which were written in large letters “Beard, Calhoun, and Co” In front, standing upon a chair, exposed to the gaze of a crowd of men, stood the “fine young woman.” She had an air of dignity even in that degrading position. Around were twenty or thirty more of the sable race, waiting their turn.
“440 dollars only offered,” continued the coarse and heartless auctioneer; “450, thank you; 460, 460 dollars only offered for this excellent young woman—470 only, 470—480, 480 dollars only offered—490 500 dollars offered—going for 500 dollars—once, going for 500 dollars—503 dollars—going for 503 dollars going—once—twice—gone for 503 dollars. She is yours, sir,” pointing to the highest bidder. She stepped down, and disappeared in the custody of her new proprietor.
A man and his wife, both black, were now put up. They were made to ascend the platform. “Now, how much for this man and his wife? Who makes an offer? What say you for the pair? 550 dollars offered—560 dollars only; 560 dollars,” &c, &c., till some one bidding 600 dollars—he added, “Really, gentlemen, it is throwing the people away—going for 600 dollars; going—once—twice—gone for 600 dollars.
LETTER XXXIV
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 280-292
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On Sabbath morning the 11th of April I preached for the Rev. Mr. Blagden, in the Old South Church. This is a large old-fashioned square building, having two galleries, one above the other, on three of its sides. It is rich in historical recollections. Here Whitfield preached. Here patriotic meetings were held even before Faneuil Hall was built; and here the British troops were quartered at the time of the Revolutionary War. Here, too, the lamp of truth was kept feebly burning when all around had sunk into darkness and heresy. At the commencement of this century, the ministry in all the other Congregational Churches in Boston had become Unitarian. In the Old South, however, there were a few people, eight in number, who formed a “Society for Religious Improvement.” They could not at first pray together; they only read the Scriptures and conversed on religious subjects. But they grew in wisdom, fervour, and zeal, and were eventually the means, not only of reviving religion in the Old South, but also of giving an impulse in Boston which is felt to this day. Church after church on orthodox principles has been instituted, till there are in Boston more than a dozen large and vigorous churches of the Congregational order; and the Old South, the honoured “mother of churches,” has had her “youth renewed like the eagles.”
But how came Congregationalism to be so deteriorated? It was owing to its having been made the State religion. All were at first taxed for its exclusive support. This was felt to be unjust and oppressive, and it brought the favoured system into bad repute.
LETTER X
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 71-79
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The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico, looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea. We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, “Very well indeed; and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as you please.” This led us at once in medias res. His views I found to be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery! “Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed in his day; but he turned not aside from the great object to attempt its overthrow.
LETTER XI
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 80-90
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Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February, we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our “smart” landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for sale on every side,—a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand.
Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of slaves from the “slave-breeding” States, having on board a considerable number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico. The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700 dollars, or 150l. sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this great and free country had, however, consigned these helpless young women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the excellent author of “Lectures to Children,” thus writes,—“This land is free. The mind is here free,—and the child is to be born—if indeed he ever will be born—whose powers and faculties may not be called out and cultivated.
LETTER XV
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 117-124
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The Ohio, the “beautiful river,” is a magnificent stream formed by the confluence at Pittsburg of the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers, and is 1,008 miles long, constituting the boundary of six States: Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois on the north,—all free States; and Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee on the south,— all slave States. A trip on this river, therefore, affords a fine opportunity for observing the contrast between slavery and freedom.
The Ohio is the great artery through which the inland commerce of the Eastern States flows into the valley of the Mississippi. In ascending this river, we had first on our left the State of Illinois. This territory, which contains an area of 60,000 square miles, was settled by the French in 1720, and was admitted into the Union in 1818. Its population in 1810 was 12,300; in 1840, 476,180. It is now, probably, not far short of 1,000,000!
On the 19th of February, about noon, we arrived at Evansville, on the Indiana side of the river. This was the prettiest place we had yet seen; and its charms were enhanced by the assurance that it was free from the taint of slavery. The rise of this little town has been rapid. Its population is about 3,000. Three “churches,” with their neat and graceful spires, rising above the other buildings, were conspicuous in the distance.
At 5 P.M. we passed Owensborough, on the Kentucky side of the river. This, too, is a neat little town, with a proportionate number of places of worship. Indeed, on every hand, places of worship appear to rise simultaneously with the young settlement.
LETTER XIX
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 149-156
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On the previous Friday, Professor Allen called to request me to preach in his stead at the Second Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, the 28th of February, as he had to go some twenty miles into the country to “assist at a revival” I agreed to do so. Sunday morning was excessively cold, with a heavy fall of snow. On arriving at the “church,” I found there was no vestry. Indeed, a vestry, as a private room for the minister, is seldom found in America. The places are exceedingly neat and comfortable, but they want that convenience. I had therefore to go with my hat and top-coat, covered with snow, right into the pulpit. This church outside is a noble-looking building, with massive pillars in front, and a bell-tower containing a town-clock; but the interior seemed comparatively small. It had a gallery at one end, which held only the singers and the organ. The seats below were not more than one-third full. Dr. Beecher ministered in this place for about ten years. It was now without a pastor, but was temporarily supplied by Professor Allen. The congregation was far more decorous and attentive than those in New Orleans. After the introductory service, and while the hymn before sermon was being sung, a man came trudging down the aisle, bearing an immense scuttle full of coals to supply the stoves. How easy it would have been before service to place a box of fuel in the vicinity of each stove, and thereby avoid this unseemly bustle! But in the singing of the hymn, I found something to surprise and offend me even more than the coal-scuttle.
LETTER XXVI
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 208-221
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At half-past 4 in the afternoon of March 15 we left Philadelphia by railway for New York, which we reached at 10 P.M., an average again of about 16 miles an hour. In this journey I met with a very communicative Yankee, who, though not a religious man, was proud to trace his genealogy to the “Pilgrim Fathers” and, through them, to the Normans. Intercourse, he said, had been maintained for the last two centuries between the English and American branches of the family. He also took care to inform me that the head of the English branch was a baronet. This was but one of many instances in which I found among our Transatlantic friends a deep idolatry of rank and titles. In talking of their own political institutions, he declared their last two Presidents to have been—the one a fool, and the other a knave,—Polk the fool, and Tyler the knave. He entertained an insane and cruel prejudice against those whose skin was not exactly of the same colour with his own, and “thanked God” that he had no African blood in his veins.
We passed through Trenton, celebrated as the scene of a bloody conflict between the British and the American forces. The Americans, I am sorry to say, dwell too fondly on the remembrance of those deadly struggles. They cherish the spirit of war. The influence of Elihu Burritt and his “bond of brotherhood” is indeed greatly needed on both sides of the Atlantic.
LETTER XXIV
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
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- 20 July 2009, pp 188-197
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The railway from Cumberland to Baltimore is 178 miles long, and (like most lines in the States) is single. This fact is important; for our cousins, in boasting of the hundreds or thousands of miles of railway they have constructed, forget to tell us that they are nearly all single. Here and there they have a double set of rails, like our sidings, to enable trains to pass each other.
The ground was covered with snow, otherwise the scenery would have been magnificent. For a long time the Potomac was our companion. More than once we had to cross the stream on wooden bridges; so that we had it sometimes on our right and sometimes on our left, ourselves being alternately in Virginia and in Maryland. When within 14 miles of Baltimore, and already benighted, we were told we could not proceed, on account of some accident to a luggage-train that was coming up. The engine, or (as the Americans invariably say) the “locomotive,” had got off the rail, and torn up the ground in a frightful manner; but no one was hurt. We were detained for 7 hours; and instead of getting into Baltimore at 8 P.M., making an average of about 15 miles an hour, which was the utmost we had been led to expect, we did not get there till 3 A.M., bringing our average rate per hour down to about 9½ miles. The tediousness of the delay was considerably relieved by a man sitting beside me avowing himself a thorough Abolitionist, and a hearty friend of the coloured race.
LETTER VI
- Ebenezer Davies
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- American Scenes and Christian Slavery
- Published online:
- 29 August 2010
- Print publication:
- 20 July 2009, pp 43-49
- First published in:
- 1849
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Summary
On that dreadful day, the 28th of January, on which we arrived in New Orleans, Jack Jones, a Welchman, was drowned in the Mississippi, in a generous effort to save another man from a watery grave. In that effort he succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. On the 2nd of February there was an advertisement in the papers, in which his friends offered a reward for the recovery of the body. Where was the corporation, or some one of the municipalities? for the papers make a continual reference to first, second, and third municipalities. Was there no public body, either civil or humane, to come forward on such an occasion? Had “Jack Jones” gone to the war, and butchered a score or two of harmless Mexicans, he would have been loaded with honours; but he saved a human being, close to the metropolis of the South, and his body was left to perish like that of a dog—for aught the citizens cared. I felt proud of my countryman. All honour to “Jack Jones!” May none of Cambria's sons perish in a cause less noble!
On the evening of the 4th of February I attended a public meeting for the relief of the Irish. It was held in the New Commercial Exchange, and was the first public meeting I had bad an opportunity of attending in America. The Commercial Exchange is a fine large building, supported by pillars, and containing an area on the ground floor that would accommodate about 1,500 people. It is but ill-adapted for a public meeting, having no seats or benches.
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