Chapter 13

The Secretary of the Vigilance Committee, an association existing in several of the Northern cities, formed to aid runaway slaves in escaping to a place of safety, as well as to protect the free colored people from kidnappers, informed me that the number of slaves who applied for assistance was constantly on the increase. He said that, only a few days before, a man, who was a preacher of the gospel, who was escaping to Canada, called upon him; and on being asked why he was fleeing from slavery, he exposed his naked back, lacerated with a recent flogging, and said that he had received that punishment for going to his place of worship.

On the evening of the 24th I went up the river Hudson to Sing Sing, in company with Lewis Tappan. Our object was to spend the next day, which was the first day of the week, in this celebrated state prison. We lodged at a quiet hotel, on an eminence above the village; and next morning, about eight o'clock, we went to the prison, where we were very kindly received by the superintendent, J.G. Seymour, and by the chaplain. Soon afterwards, we had the opportunity of seeing all the male prisoners, about seven hundred and fifty, in the chapel, when they were addressed by a minister of the Presbyterian persuasion, whom we had met on board the steamer, and whom Lewis Tappan had invited to be there. We were informed that about one-third of the prisoners were colored: these did not sit separate, but were intermixed with the rest. In general, however, the striking language of De Beaumont, a late French traveller in the United States, will be found true. "The prejudice against color haunts its victim wherever he goes,--in the hospitals where humanity suffers,--in the churches where it kneels to God,--_in the prisons where it expiates its offences_,--in the grave-yards where it sleeps the last sleep."

From hence we proceeded to the female department, where about eighty were assembled, some of whom seemed much affected by an address from my friend, Lewis Tappan. He told them he saw at least one present who had been a scholar in his colored Sabbath School at New York. The white women were placed in the front seats, and the colored behind them. We next went to the Sabbath School for the male prisoners, held in the chapel, where the attendance is general, though perfectly voluntary. Twenty-five of the best educated and most orderly prisoners are allowed to teach classes: the other teachers were officers of the prison, and other persons attracted hither by benevolent motives; and I was told the teachers selected among the convicts had not once been detected in the abuse of this privilege, by entering into conversation on other topics. On the breaking up of the school, Lewis Tappan addressed them, and I added a few words. We were kindly invited to dine with the matron. She mentioned one instance of complete reformation in a female, which was to be attributed she believed, under the Divine blessing, to the ministry of Joseph J. Gurney, who visited Sing Sing, in the course of his religious labors in the United States.

After dinner we were permitted to visit the male prisoners at their cells, list shoes being provided for us that we might walk along the galleries without noise. Those who wished to do so, were suffered to speak to us through their grated doors, in a low voice. A number embraced this opportunity; of the sincere repentance and reformation of some of whom, I could scarcely doubt. One prisoner, a man of color, appeared to enjoy a state of perfect happiness, under a sense of being at peace with his Maker. Another manifested such a feeling of his spiritual blessings, and especially of that change of heart he had been favored to experience, as scarcely to have a desire for his liberation, though his health was visibly sinking under the confinement, and there appeared little other prospect but that of his dying in the prison, as he had been condemned for ten years, of which three yet remained. Several were Englishmen, who were mostly under feigned names, keeping their real names secret, from a natural unwillingness to disgrace their families. Some of these were men of education, and communicated to me in confidence their family names. One referred to gentlemen standing deservedly high in the estimation of the British public, as well knowing him. Two or three of this class wept much, when speaking of their situation, and of the offences that had brought them there.

I gathered from the prisoners themselves that a great change had been introduced, both in the affairs and in the management of the prison, within the last eighteen months, by the present excellent superintendent and chaplain and their coadjutors, and with the happiest effects. The former system was one of brutal severity; now, without any relaxation of discipline, needless severity is discarded, and the floggings have been reduced nine-tenths, the great object being the reformation of the prisoners. One of these, speaking of the superintendent and chaplain, said: "there was not a prisoner in the jail, but rejoiced to hear the sound of their feet."

J.G. Seymour mentioned one of the English prisoners to me, whose heart had been softened, and his reformation commenced, through the kindness of his prosecutor, who had spent both time and money in endeavoring to procure his release. This statement was fully confirmed in an interesting conversation I had with the individual himself, who was subsequently permitted, as well as another Englishman, to send letters by me to their relations in this country.

An extract from the correspondence of one of my unfortunate fellow-countrymen, which I am permitted to make, will afford an interesting view of the internal administration of the Sing Sing prison, by one of its inmates. After alluding to the absolute monotony of prison life, he gives one day as a specimen of every day. "Monday morning, the large prison bell rings at five o'clock, when we all rise; half an hour after, we all go out to work, to our respective shops, till breakfast, the keepers all the time seated upon a high seat, overlooking--seeing that everything is ordered and going on in a proper manner: no talking allowed upon any occasion, or under any pretence whatever. When the breakfast-bell rings, we all go in to breakfast, each one to a separate room, (which are all numbered, one thousand in all;) every man's breakfast is ready for him in his room,--one pint of coffee, with plenty of meat, potatoes, and rye bread. After one hour, the prison opens again, and we work in a similar manner till twelve--dinner hour--when we go in again. Dinner is set ready as before,--an ample quantity of meat, potatoes, and bread, with a cup of water, (the best beverage in the world--would to God I had never drank any thing else, and I should not have been here;) one hour allowed for dinner, when we go out and work again till six o'clock, when we come in and are locked up for the night, with a large bowl of mush, (hasty pudding with molasses,) the finest food in the world, made from Indian meal. Thus passes each day of the week. Sundays we rise at the same hour; each man has a clean shirt given him in his room, then goes to the kitchen, brings his breakfast in with him, the same as before, and is locked up till eight, when Divine service is performed by a most worthy and able chaplain. After service, through the pious and benevolent efforts of Mr. Seymour, we have an excellent Sabbath School. Bible classes, where from three to four hundred attend, about half to learn to read, and the others to receive instruction in the way to attain everlasting life, under the immediate inspection of Mr. Seymour; and I am happy to say, that the greatest attention is paid by scholars of both classes: many, very many, know how to appreciate the value of these privileges, and benefit by them accordingly. Mr. Seymour has obtained a large library for us, and one of the prisoners is librarian. At eleven o'clock we are locked up for the day, with an extra allowance of food and water sufficient. The librarian and an assistant are left open, to distribute the books; that is to go to each man's cell, get the book he had the previous Sunday, and give him another in exchange, generally supplying them with a small tract, of which we mostly have a great plenty."

A large proportion of the prisoners work in a stone quarry without the walls; and the most painful sight I saw at Sing Sing were the sentinels placed on prominent points commanding the prison, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, who have orders at once to shoot a convict who may attempt to escape, if he does not obey the order to return. I was told, however, an occurrence of the kind had not happened for years.

A number of the female domestics in different families in the village of Sing Sing, have been prisoners, and are now reformed and generally conducting themselves to the entire satisfaction of their employers.

There are few subjects more interesting to a civilized and Christian community, than that of prison discipline. It will scarcely, at the present day, be denied that the only motives on which, in such a government, criminal law can be administered, are the public safety, and the reformation of the criminal himself. Vengeance has not been delegated to man under the Christian dispensation. It is too evident, nevertheless, that the principle of retaliatory punishment, irrespective of any considerations of public safety, or the benefit of the offender, pervades our criminal jurisprudence, both in theory and practice, and just so far as this is the case, is the last great object defeated, for his feelings are deadened, and his heart hardened by it. The most depraved wretch has that within him which testifies that his fellow worm has no right to inflict pain upon him solely as a _punishment_, and his heart rebels against what he feels to be oppression. On the more enlightened, the effect is equally unfavorable, for he contrasts the practice of his persecutors with their profession, and is perhaps conducted thereby to infidelity and despair. One of the prisoners at Sing Sing, while contrasting the former with the present management, said, "We used to hear the gospel preached to us on the Sabbath, but see its doctrines trampled upon in all the conduct pursued towards us the whole week besides." How different the result where the law of love reigns! At Sing Sing there are numerous recent instances where conviction on the minds of the prisoners that the authorities of the prison have no other object than their temporal and spiritual benefit, has softened their hearts, and thereby disposed them to the reception of that consoling faith in a crucified Saviour, which is the only foundation of true amendment of life. How important is it that all the offices in a prison should be filled by persons of true piety; and where can such be more usefully employed?

In a former part of this work, I have expressed a somewhat unfavorable opinion on "the separate system," adopted in the Philadelphia Penitentiary. One of my objections to this system is this, that to deprive man so entirely of human society, is to do violence to the strongest instinct of his nature, and thereby to inflict suffering far more severe than corporeal pain or privation. If the severity of this system does not obviously tend to carry out the legitimate objects of prison discipline, it cannot be defended. The small number of recommittals is no proof of the efficacy of this system; since, in a country like the United States, a liberated felon may very easily choose another locality for his sphere of action. In favor of the "separate system," it is occasionally pleaded that the prisoner is under a veil of secresy; and that when he goes forth, neither the censorious public, nor his fellow-prisoners, can point him out; and thus, his character being comparatively unblemished, he can, with less difficulty, procure employment. It is obvious that this would induce, in many cases, a degree of dishonest concealment from an employer, and encourage dissimulation. It would be much better that the prisoner should depend for a situation on the good character which the superintendent would give him if reformed; and I was glad to find at Sing Sing guarded situations had been procured, in numerous instances, for the liberated prisoners, and that their employers, with very little exception, represented them to be most valuable servants. I could hear of no case, in either of the prisons I visited, of any permanent injury to the health of a prisoner from the entire disuse of intoxicating drinks, however intemperate their previous habits might have been. The same remark is true with regard to tobacco. I will only add, that it is notorious that the prison discipline of Great Britain, notwithstanding all its recent improvements, is yet lamentably deficient; and that though the United States justly claim precedence of us in this respect, they have, by no means reached perfection. The greatest deficiency of all, however, in each nation, is that of institutions like the Philadelphia Refuge, co-extensive with the wants of the community, for the reformation of juvenile delinquency; thus suppressing crime in its small beginnings. So long as this want is unsupplied, and the juvenile offender is contaminated by contact with the hardened criminal, the statesmen and those who control the legislatures of both countries, dishonor their profession of Christianity.

On the 26th, I accompanied my friends, J. and M. Candler, to the steamer which was to convey them on board the "Roscius" packet, to sail for Liverpool this afternoon. I afterwards called upon Charles Collins, who, for many years past, has dealt exclusively in articles of free labor produce, and for which he said he had found the demand to increase of late. I am more and more convinced that this branch of the abolition question has not received the attention it deserves from the friends of the cause. Before leaving New York, I ought not to omit to record a visit that was on a previous occasion paid us at our hotel, by William Cullen Bryant, whose name on this side of the water is associated with some of the most beautiful productions of American literature. He is the editor of the _New York Evening Post_, a leading democratic paper, and, to his credit be it said, he has always advocated the rights of the abolitionists. He has a thin, pale, thought-worn countenance, and his manner is quiet and unassuming. I also formed an agreeable acquaintance with Lydia Maria Child, known in both hemispheres as one of the most pleasing of American writers. She is editor of the _National Anti-Slavery Standard_. Her services in the cause of the slave have been of great value, and have been given at the risk of destroying her interests and popularity as an author.

I finally quitted this city, in the steamer, for Boston, on the 24th, accompanied by John G. Whittier.

I remained in Boston till the first of the Eighth Month, (August) when I embarked on board the "Caledonia" steamer for England.--During the interval, I made a number of calls upon the abolitionists in Boston; and, among others, saw Henry and Maria Chapman and Wendell Phillips; the former of whom had just returned from a visit to Hayti, and the latter from Europe. I had several interviews with Martha V. and Lucy M. Ball, secretaries of the Boston Female Emancipation Society, who have long been faithful and laborious abolitionists. I also met, as at New York, a number of the friends of the cause, again to consider the best time for calling a second general Convention, to whom I read the London minutes on that subject. A resolution was unanimously passed, of the same tenor as those of New York, lately noticed. While in this city, I had not only the pleasure of renewing my intimacy with my friend, Nathaniel Colver, who is known to many of the English abolitionists as their valuable and cordial coadjutor at the great Convention in London, but of becoming acquainted with many zealous and able friends of the slave. One of these was Amos A. Phelps, one of those who signed the original declaration issued by the American Anti-Slavery Society, on its foundation at Philadelphia, in 1833.

We also went to Salem, and met a number of "Friends" who were abolitionists, and who appeared desirous to embrace every suitable opportunity of promoting the cause.

Salem is a city of about fourteen thousand inhabitants, and I was told that the number of its population who went and returned to and from Boston, a distance of fourteen miles, weekly, was about five hundred--a striking proof of the locomotive energy of the Americans. Their gratification, in this respect, has been much facilitated of late by the rapid extension of railways. These, with few exceptions, are by no means so completely constructed as in England; but, owing to the cheapness of land, timber, et cet., and by making the lines generally single, and, on the average, the speed of travelling being about one-fourth less than is common in England, they answer the purpose of rapid transit, while the outlay is about as many dollars per mile as it is sovereigns with us. On this railway, and some others in New England, the lines are double, and the construction and speed are nearly equal to ours.

I was informed, the proportion of severe accidents is not larger than in Great Britain. The carriages are generally built to hold sixty or seventy persons, who are seated two by two, one behind another, on double rows of seats, ranged across the carriage, with room to walk between, along the centre. The carriage in which we returned from Salem had twenty-two seats on each side, to contain two each, or, in the whole, eighty-eight passengers. Yet the weight of this machine would be little more than that of an English first-class carriage, to hold eighteen persons, and it cost probably less. Their carriages are well ventilated in summer, and warmed by a stove in winter. Locomotive engines approach Boston near enough to prevent the use of horses; but, on arriving at the distance of a mile or two from New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, the carriages and passengers are drawn in by horses. One carriage is often specially reserved for the ladies on the principal lines, into which gentlemen do not usually intrude, unless they have ladies under their care. It is common, however, for the latter to take their seats in any of the carriages. There is no distinction of price, and none of accommodation, except that an inferior and more exposed carriage, at the same fare, is purposely provided for persons of color; but this disgraceful relic of past times cannot survive long. The principal disadvantage that I observed on the American, as compared with the English railways, was the delay on meeting other trains, and on stopping for them at places where they could pass, and also the sparks from the wood, used for fuel instead of coke. On one occasion, my coat was set on fire in this way, though I was seated in a covered carriage. Very efficient locomotive engines are made in the United States. I visited a celebrated manufactory at Philadelphia, which has sent ten to England, for the use of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. At the time of my visit, they had many orders unexecuted from several European governments. As far as my inquiries went, the cost of making them is, upon the whole, about the same as in England.

Having been, for several years, a director on the Birmingham and London Railway, I felt some interest in these inquiries, and came to the conclusion, that there are several arrangements of economy, and some of convenience, in the construction and working of railways, which the English might borrow with advantage from the United States.

On the 29th instant, the secretary of the Peace Society convened a meeting of the members of that society, and of other influential gentlemen, including Alden Bradford, late secretary of the State of Massachusetts; Robert Rantoul, an eloquent and prominent member of the legislature, and S.E. Coues, of New Hampshire,[A] to take into consideration the best means of securing permanent international peace. A very harmonious and satisfactory discussion took place, and the following statement of the proceedings was subsequently handed to me by the gentleman who officiated as secretary to the meeting:

[Footnote A: Since elected President of the American Peace Society.]

"A meeting of the friends of peace was held in the city of Boston, on the evening of the 29th day of July, 1841.

"The meeting was called for the purpose of meeting Mr. Joseph Sturge, from England, and there were present most of the active members of the American Peace Society.

"Amasa Walker, Esq., was chosen chairman; and J.P. Blanchard, secretary.

"Mr. Sturge addressed the meeting, and suggested the expediency of calling, at some future time, a Convention of the friends of peace, of different nations, to deliberate upon the best method of adjusting international disputes; and, offered, for the consideration of the meeting, a plan proposed by Judge Jay, in which all the friends of peace could unite.

"The meeting was then addressed by several gentlemen, who cordially approved the plan proposed, and, subsequently, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted.

"Resolved,--That this meeting receives with great pleasure the suggestion of our friend Joseph Sturge, of England, of a general conference of the friends of peace, at the earliest practical opportunity, at London, to consult on the measures which are best adapted to promote universal peace among the nations of the earth; and they respectfully refer the subject to the executive committee of the American Peace Society, for their decision, on correspondence and consultation with the friends of the cause in this and other countries.

"Resolved,--That the suggestion by Judge Jay, of the insertion of a clause in all conventional treaties between nations, mutually binding the parties to submit all international disputes, during the continuance of such treaties, to the arbitration of some one or more friendly powers, presents a definite and practicable object of effort, worthy of the serious attention of the friends of peace. And this meeting recommends to the friends of the cause, in different countries, to petition their respective Governments in favor of the measure."

On the 30th, in company with John G. Whittier and C. Stewart Renshaw, I went over to Lowell, the chief seat of the woollen and cotton manufacture in America. Less than twenty years ago, there were not more than forty or fifty houses on the site of this flourishing city, which now contains upwards of twenty thousand inhabitants. Its numerous mills are all worked by water power, and belong to incorporated joint-stock companies. We were obligingly shown over two of the largest woollen and cotton factories, where every stage of the manufacture was in process, from the cotton, or sheep's wool, to the finished fabric. We also visited works, where the printing of cottons is executed in a superior style, besides a new process for dyeing cotton in the thread, invented by an Englishman, now in the establishment. The following abstract of the manufacturing statistics of Lowell, on the first of January, 1841, will show the great importance to which this new branch of industry has attained with such unprecedented rapidity.