Part 3

39. My conviction, that the existence of Europeans, (or white men) under the blaze of a torrid sun, is dependent on African industry, (or on the labour of such inhabitants of the earth, as are adapted by nature to the equatorial regions,) must not be mistaken for an assent to the perpetual duration of involuntary servitude and unconditional vassalage. This is a circumstance, resulting from the wisdom of Providence, which ought to fill the hearts of the proprietors of rice and cotton plantations, with gratitude and kindness towards their _black benefactors_. Let the magnificent work of progressive and ultimate emancipation, concomitant with mental improvement, be kept steadily in view;--but let not the total depopulation of an immense tract of valuable _improved_ country, be held forth as essential to its accomplishment.

40. But as there is, probably at this moment, in many parts of the United States, and will continue to be, an increasing excess of free black and mulatto population, and also of slaves, who might be released if they could be disposed of; humanity as well as policy, strongly recommends the institution of some asylum, to which this description of _strangers in a foreign land_, may resort if they please, and enjoy the blessings of knowledge, _social happiness_, and the products of their own industry; and perhaps be protected, at the same time, from the sacrilegious talons of the numerous hordes of men-stealers, with which our reputed free soil has long been infested and polluted. And as the Congress of the United States have hitherto declined patronising this object, (to which their attention has been frequently invited,) its accomplishment will devolve, probably, on beneficent societies, and individuals. The most eligible and practicable plan, perhaps, that could be devised for this purpose, would be to open subscriptions throughout the United States, for raising a fund, to be applied to the purchase of an extensive tract or territory of United States' land, in some proper district, (which probably might be obtained on a liberal credit,) where such coloured people, as now are, or may become free, might be invited to settle as tenants, or eventual purchasers. The settlement might be committed to the care of proper agents, and if the profits should ultimately exceed a sufficient amount to remunerate the original advances with the interest, the surplus might be appropriated to the education and general benefit of the African race in this country.[11]

41. Having now (as I hope,) shewn the practicability and mutual advantages, of the melioration and ultimate freedom of the American slave population, I shall proceed to communicate some facts and remarks on the interior traffic in slaves, and on the practice of kidnapping coloured persons, legally free.

42. To those who may object to the propriety of exposing to public view such deeds as are likely to shock the feelings and sympathy of the friends of humanity, I reply, that the object is not to excite popular execration against their authors, but commiseration towards the sufferers, and to discourage the repetition of cruelty. In supplications for redress of grievances, it is customary and necessary too, for the aggrieved party, to represent the wrongs complained of. The facts adduced, can be well substantiated:--but as it is believed that no valuable purpose will be gained, by the mention of names and specific places where they occurred, they will be omitted as far as it may be convenient.

43. In the structure of our political institutions, we have, in some respects, undoubtedly excelled the ancient republics:--and in others, we have evidently degenerated. Solon perceived that slavery was a fruitful source of moral depravity to the Athenians, and abolished it; notwithstanding it had its origin in the previous voluntary contraction of debts, by the slaves. We neglect this valuable lesson of Solon, and also a political maxim of his, which ought to form the corner-stone of every republic. Being asked what kind of government is best, he answered, "that in which an injury to the meanest member of the community is esteemed an aggression upon the whole." Our laws for the protection of the rights and liberty of free yellow and black people, must be exceedingly defective, or there could not at this moment be thousands of them illegally held in slavery.

44. Slavery, says Sterne, however disguised, _is still a bitter draught_; but it is rendered tenfold more bitter and intolerable, when the members of families are dragged asunder, never to behold each other, or their native _wonted_ country again.--And it is the _uncontrolled slave trade_, between the middle and southerly states, which gives facility to the extensive and increasing practice of kidnapping (slaves as well as freemen,) and secures it from the possibility of detection, except casually. Under the existing laws, if a free coloured man travels without passports certifying his right to his liberty, he is generally apprehended; and frequently plunged into slavery, by the operation of the laws. But after being seized and manacled by the kidnapper, the slave merchant drives him through several states, without interruption, and sells him where he seldom regains his liberty. If the wisdom of the state or general governments should not recommend the complete abolition of the internal as well as external slave trade, it believed, at least, that an acquaintance with its abuses will convince them of the necessity of so regulating it, as to confine the traffic _totally_ to legal _slaves_. This could, perhaps, be effectually accomplished by compelling every travelling slave-trader to report his slaves to a proper magistrate, in every township or county through which he passes; and to produce certificates, from some magistrate residing near the place in which they were purchased, of their being legal slaves and legally sold;--and also by compelling every purchaser of imported slaves, (by _land_ or _sea_,) to register them, and file similar certificates, in the offices of the respective county clerks.

45. The act of depriving a free man of his liberty, being a violation of the constitution of the United States, and an _overt attack_ upon the public liberty, ought to be declared treason of some sort or other, and punished by a reciprocity, in some degree, of the fate, to which the conspirator attempts to involve his victim;--imprisonment in a penitentiary, or some other secure place of industry, and moral education;--for, I do not believe there ever lived a kidnapper, who had read the whole of the New Testament, or any part of Seneca's Morals, or Paley's Principles of Moral Philosophy, or any similar books.

46. On the 4th day of December 1815, (the day on which the session of congress commenced,) being at the seat of government of the United States, I was preparing to enjoy the first opportunity that had occurred to me, of beholding the assembled representatives of the American republic. As I was about to proceed to the building where the session was opened, my agreeable reverie was suddenly interrupted by the voice of a stammering boy, who, as he was coming into the house, from the street, exclaimed, "There goes the Ge-Ge-orgy men[12] with a drove o' niggers chain'd together two and two." What's that, said I,--I must see,--and, going to the door, I just had a distant glimpse of a light covered waggon, followed by a procession of men, women and children, resembling that of a funeral. I followed them hastily; and as I approached so near as to discover that they were bound together in pairs, some with ropes, and some with iron chains (which I had hitherto seen used only for restraining beasts,) the involuntary successive heavings of my bosom became irrepressible. This was, with me, an affection perfectly peculiar to itself, which never having before experienced, gave me some surprise. I have since heard an intelligent gentleman, from Scotland, describe a similar symptom. He affirmed, that on his arrival upon the coast of the United States, (in Chesapeake Bay,) his first view of the slaves _brought his heart into his throat_. I have also been told by a gentleman, who holds a seat in the senate of the United States, that "a drove of manacled slaves was to him an insupportable spectacle, which he generally endeavoured to avoid;"--and by a representative, (since deceased,) from one of the slave states, who was himself a possessor of slaves, "that he never could bear to see slaves manacled and fettered with bolts and chains, nor families torn asunder and sold to the slave-traders, and wondered how any one could be so inhuman as to do such acts." Overtaking the caravan, just opposite to the old Capitol (then in a state of ruins from the conflagration by the British army,)[13] I inquired of one of the _drivers_ (of whom there were two) what part of the country they were taking all these people to? "To Georgia," he replied. "Have you not, said I, enough such people in that country yet?" "Not quite enough," he said. I found myself incapable of saying more, and was compelled to avert my eyes immediately from the heart-rending scene! Had Sterne been present, and surveyed (with _real_ instead of imaginary vision) this groupe of bond-men and bond-women, and _bond-children_, with their mute sad faces veiled with _black_ despair--"and heard the chains rattle, which encumbered their bodies,"--and "had seen the _iron_ enter their souls"--he would again have "_burst into tears_." I walked along some distance before them, down Pennsylvania Avenue, and, on turning round, observed that they had left that street, (as if the spirit of PENN had repelled the contact of such a tragedy with his name,) and directed their course towards the Potomac bridge. At the same moment an African passed by, driving a hack; and beholding his brethren,

"----Trembling, weeping, captive led,"

extended his arm towards them, and exclaimed, "See there! an't that right down _murder_? Don't you call that _right down murder_?" On uttering to him indistinctly, that I did not know, he renewed his request to be answered, and I replied, "I do not know but it is _murder_."----These expressions instantly reminded me of the frequency of murders and deaths, not only of slaves, but of white and free black men, resulting from despotic slavery, and particularly from the slave traffic. Several instances of this kind had very recently come to my knowledge, from unquestionable sources, and at that moment pressed themselves with peculiar force upon my excited imagination; among which I will recite the following:

47. A slave having escaped from his master, in the state of North Carolina, within two or three years past, was seized and brought back, by a being, who, when requested by the master to name the reward he should render him for returning the slave, replied, that all the compensation he desired, was the satisfaction of _flogging_ him. This being granted, the slave was bound to a log, and the "_resounding lash_" applied, until the resentment of his executioner was satiated. The infatuated master then took the ensanguined lash himself, and was about to repeat the process of flagellation, when Death, not then a _king of terrors_, but a generous benefactor, a "_friend in need_" rescued him from the intended protraction of his excruciating torment. After all, let the balm of compassion, rather than imprecations of divine wrath, be administered to these erring mortals. Their egregious mistake may be traced to the mighty force of example, and the deficiency of early, religious, and moral education. This fact having been before published, must be, to many persons, already known.

48. In the state of Pennsylvania, a considerable number of years ago, the proprietor of a furnace took up a black boy, a few years old, and in the presence of his distracted father, wantonly thrust him into the flames and melted metal, where he was instantly consumed! The information of this horrible deed was originally communicated by a respectable citizen of the city of Washington, who formerly resided in the state of Pennsylvania, and it has been further corroborated by another, of the city of Philadelphia.

49. In the state of New Jersey, a female slave, several years ago, was bound to a log, and scored with a knife, in a shocking manner across her back, and the gashes stuffed with salt! after which she was tied to a post in a cellar, where, after suffering three days, death kindly terminated her misery. This fact was communicated at Washington, by the same gentleman above mentioned.[14]

50. As two persons were returning from the _horse races_, a few miles north of the city of Washington, eight or ten years ago, they met on the road a free man of colour, who resided in the vicinity. They seized him, and bound him with ropes. His protestations that he was free, and his entreaties that they would accompany him to the house, (but about half a mile distant,) where his wife resided, and where he could satisfy them of his freedom, were in vain. Having fastened him by a rope, to the tail of one of their horses, they were seen, by a citizen, who met them on the road dragging him in this manner, and beating him to make him keep pace with the horses. He cautioned them, and begged of them not to kill the black man;--but one of the ruffians plucking a stake from the fence, and threatening with horrid oaths to knock him down, he found it necessary to retire for his own safety:--a few miles farther along, on the following morning, this poor African was found by the side of the road, dreadfully bruised, and his eyes bloodshotten,--dead![15] This distressing catastrophe strongly exemplifies the defect of the laws of the state in which it occurred, concerning free Africans, which authorise their seizure, without any specific judicial authority, if found without certificates of freedom, by the most vicious and abandoned members of the community. These two ill-starred wretches, just sallying forth from a notorious school of intemperance, were undoubtedly intoxicated, and of course, in a state of insanity at the time they committed this outrage;--and had probably been reared in the _wilderness_ of ignorance and vice. I was assured, that one of them had long been accustomed, in company with his _own father_, to the business of apprehending runaway slaves, and such free Africans as they could catch without certificates.

51. In the vicinity of the place where the above transaction occurred, a young black boy, living at a house in which there are just grounds for believing that the lives of several slaves had been destroyed, by whipping, and other severities, yet entertained such horror at the thoughts of transportation to Georgia, (with which he had often been threatened, by way of reprimand,[16]) that on seeing a stranger coming towards the house, (on a cold day,) whom he suspected to be a _Georgia-man_, he fled into the fields with the greatest precipitation, and secreted himself so effectually, that he was not discovered until the expiration of a fortnight,--when he was dead!--frozen!--and the pupils of his eyes picked out!

52. With these mournful spectra, flitting in succession before me, and the black procession still in view, the pleasant anticipations which I had been indulging but fifteen minutes previous, became totally reversed. Returning pensive towards my lodgings, and passing by the Capitol, I thought--Alas! poor Africa,--_thy cup_ is the _essence_ of bitterness!--This _solitary_, magnificent temple, _dedicated to liberty_,--opens its portals to _all_ other nations but _thee_, and bids their sons drink _freely_ of the cup of _freedom_ and happiness:----but when _thy_ unoffending, enslaved sons, clank their blood-smeared _chains_ under its towers, it sneers at their calamity, and mocks their lamentations with the echo of contempt!--

53. Blessed, infatuated Columbia! the eyes and the hopes of weeping admiring nations are upon thee! Suffer not the lamp of public liberty to be smothered and extinguished by the gloomy shroud of private slavery! Dost not thou assume a pre-eminent distinction among the nations for magnanimity and honour? Does any high-minded christian nation chain her prisoners of war, and subject them and their posterity to perpetual ignorance, and the oppressive toil of involuntary servitude without reward? In thy late contest with a powerful sister state, many of her _political slaves_, who sought the lives of thy sons, and the conflagration of their dwellings, fell into thy custody by the chances of war--I have seen fourteen hundred of these at a single depôt--Fourteen hundred large loaves of good bread, and fourteen hundred pounds of excellent beef, were daily spread before them. As many as could meet with opportunities, were permitted to labor for the neighbouring farmers and manufacturers, for which they received a pecuniary equivalent in monthly stipends.--Fourteen hundred _thousands_ of the sons and daughters of thy neighbour Africa, _breathe and mourn_ on thy expanded bosom. The privileges of a vast proportion of these forlorn victims of sorrow and woe, are reduced below the privileges of the ox, the horse, the hound, and various other domestic animals;--in respect to sustenance, toil, and severity of chastisement, if not quarters and raiment!--As an aggregate people, they, nor their ancestors, never disturbed thy repose, with fire or sword, or the cannon's deathly roar. _They are, nevertheless, virtually prisoners of war_:--not by a war in defence of human life, but generally, by _a hideous sacrilegious war_, waged (among the African kings) for the plunder of human souls, human flesh, _blood and bones_, to be exchanged as articles of merchandize, for contemptible gewgaws, implements of war, distilled spirits, tobacco, &c. The booty thus gained by the savage despots and man-hunters of Africa, had its assumed sale and exportation been impracticable, might possibly have been consigned to the same purposes there as it is now here (_slavery_) or annihilated by massacre; but most probably would have been sought with much less avidity. If these commodities were _obtained_ at the sacrifice of justice, and the natural rights of man, upon no other terms can our laws permit them to be indefinitely _retained_, by their present _possessors_, who are the substantial _successors_ and assigns of the original captors.[17]

54. To return from this lengthy excursion, I must acknowledge, (however ludicrous it may seem to those who are _hardened_ to such things by repetition,) that the tragedy of a company of men, women and children, pinioned and bound together with chains and ropes, without accusation of crime, and driven as beasts of the harness, through the metropolis of that country, of which I had hitherto indulged both pleasure and pride, in the consciousness of being a _native citizen_, and, of having commenced my life coevally with its constitutional organization; occurring at the precise hour of the convocation of the guardians of its liberties; produced a new era in my sensations. Disinclination, as well as the delay incurred, prevented my visit to the congressional hall on that day.--And I devoted several succeeding days to the purpose of delineating on paper, a faithful copy of the impressions and sentiments which involuntarily pervaded my _full_ heart and agitated mind. Those memoirs have furnished some materials for this essay.

55. One evening while writing notes concerning the occurrence just mentioned, a lad, sitting in the same room with me, was studying his lessons in Goldsmith's Abridgment of Geography; in which I noticed he read these words:--"The United States are celebrated for the excellence of their constitution, which provides for political liberty and individual security. _The inhabitants are justly famed for their ardent love of freedom._" Immediately after reading those paragraphs, he addressed me, without knowing on what subject I was occupied, thus: "Why, how can it be said that the inhabitants of the United States love LIBERTY, _while they hold almost a whole nation of people in a state of bondage and ignorance_?" I endeavoured to explain to him this puzzling problem, by replying, that "by _the inhabitants_ was meant the _white_ population of the United States, and the liberty which they ardently love is probably their _own_ liberty, which they appear to care more about than they do about the liberty of _black_ men."

56. I mention this minute circumstance more particularly, because it forms one of the links to a chain of incidents which conducted to the development of some very important facts; such as I then had no conception or suspicion of the existence of, on this side the Atlantic ocean. I then supposed the instances of the streets of the city consecrated to freedom, being paraded with people led in captivity, were rare. But I soon ascertained that they were quite frequent, that several hundred people, including not legal slaves only, but many kidnapped freemen and youth bound to service for a term of years, and unlawfully sold as slaves for life, are annually collected at Washington (as if it were an emporium of slavery,) for transportation to the slave regions. The United States' jail is frequently occupied as a storehouse for the slave merchants, and some of the rooms in a tavern devoted chiefly to that use, are occasionally so crowded that the occupants hardly have sufficient space to extend themselves upon the floor to sleep.[18]