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LETTER IV

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2010

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Summary

Think of a Sabbath in New Orleans! Curious to know how people did really pray and preach, with slavery and slave-trading in their vilest forms around them, I set off in search of the “First Presbyterian Church.” It is a beautiful building: seldom, if ever, had I seen a place of worship the exterior of which I liked so much. Being a quarter of an hour too soon, I had opportunity for some preliminary researches. Wishing to see whether there was a “Negro Pew” I went into the gallery, and took a seat on the left side of the organ. The “church” I found as beautiful inside as out. Instead of a pulpit, there was a kind of platform lined with crimson, which looked very nice. Most of the pews below, and some above, were lined with the same material. A splendid chandelier, having many circles of glass brilliants, was suspended from the ceiling. Altogether, the “church” was a very neat and graceful structure,—capable, as I learned, of accommodating about 1,500 people. But the floor—the floor! What a drawback! It was stained all over with tobacco juice! Faugh! Those Southern men are the most filthy people in that respect I ever met with. They are a great “spitting” community. To make it still more revolting to luckless travellers, this nasty habit is generally attended with noises in the throat resembling the united growling of a dozen mastiffs.

Type
Chapter
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American Scenes and Christian Slavery
A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States
, pp. 26 - 34
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009
First published in: 1849

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  • LETTER IV
  • Ebenezer Davies
  • Book: American Scenes and Christian Slavery
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511703140.005
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  • LETTER IV
  • Ebenezer Davies
  • Book: American Scenes and Christian Slavery
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511703140.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • LETTER IV
  • Ebenezer Davies
  • Book: American Scenes and Christian Slavery
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511703140.005
Available formats
×