Part 6

Another connection of this kind, was a man who bought a beautiful girl from Kentucky, for a bed companion, and paid for her eleven hundred dollars. He lived with her about sixteen years and had five children. In the fall of 1837 he determined to remove from the city, and take up his residence in the Island of Barbadoes. Before leaving he sold this woman and _his_ five children for thirty-three hundred dollars. I was informed that this family was the most interesting and lovely group of children ever witnessed, and in only one of them could be traced the least shade of African blood. Instances of this kind often occur, and yet men who do it are regarded as _human_, and those who make laws to legalize such acts are _christian_ in their _tendencies_ and _education_, and those who support them are a proud and chivalrous people, and claim to be _civilized_!! Alliances of this nature have been continued so long between slave women and white men, that there are a great many slaves in whom cannot be traced the least shade, either in form or feature, of the Ethiopian; and they are also of all complexions, from the light flaxen hair and bright blue eye, and the sandy and freckled countenance, and the keen black piercing eye, and clear beautiful white skin with rosy cheeks, making the very perfection of loveliness and beauty. Yet they are forbidden by the rules of society to hold rank above the blackest slave, and the common civilities of the social circle are never extended to them. The life of a mulatto girl, or Quadroon, as they are called at the South, is as strictly marked out, and the path which she is to take has been so long beaten, that she is as much confined to it as if it was a fixed law in the slave code.

SLAVE GIRLS HIRED AS BED COMPANIONS.

And this class of girls also claim the privilege, as a matter of right, when one arrives at the age of puberty, from twelve to fourteen, if not previously engaged by the master, to look for a man such as she may fancy, and engage herself to be his bed companion. And in this relation she remains with him for a specified sum per month, which she pays to her master. The amount paid these girls is usually from twelve to twenty dollars a month. If they are genteel and beautiful, and combine all the perfections in form and features that can be presented in a female, they will command a price accordingly. And thus in proportion as their qualities and charms are regarded, will they be considered valuable, and their price in market is in that proportion. They have their points of ambition, and pride of situation, and assume an air of aristocracy according to the rank and station of the man with whom they live, as much as any other class in society. To be the paramour and bed companion of some man of great wealth, or lawyer, or professional man, or some popular and distinguished _gentleman_, gives them a condition and standing that is enviable indeed to those of the same class, who are living with men of less means and lower standing in society. And this makes a circle of the “upper ten thousand,” as clearly marked as among the white aristocracy. These girls are usually educated and instructed by their masters in a certain way, for the express purpose of producing all the attractions and charms that can be presented in a female, whose value is much increased by a greater combination of all that is beautiful and lovely in woman. It is very frequent that these girls are engaged while children for bed companions, as soon as they shall arrive at the age of puberty, by some wealthy man, and not unfrequently will some disgusting drunken old bloat meet with a beautiful Quadroon child, and engage her of her master for a bed companion, as soon as she becomes of proper age, and the price which he agrees to pay is of no consideration with him. Her loveliness and charms, even in the purity and simplicity of innocent childhood, have aroused the impulses of his beastly nature, and have her he will at any price. And this outrage is too horrid for contemplation, for they are thus forced into a situation where they pass their days in the greatest misery and grief that can be imagined. Girls of this class also are often purchased by men expressly for bed companions; not only when they are children, but when they are of mature age.

QUADROON GIRLS BOUGHT FOR BED COMPANIONS.

The price paid for a healthy Quadroon girl, from the age of twelve to fourteen, ranges from one thousand to two thousand dollars, according as the purchaser may fancy them, and as they are regarded to present the beauty and charms of a Quadroon. Connections of this kind, not only between those who purchase them, but those who hire them, often continue for years, and frequently become such, that an attachment and even an affection grows up, as strong and as enduring as was ever witnessed between man and wife. And many instances of these connections have been known, where a man, after living with a girl for a number of years, will turn her off for the purpose of being married; and yet when he is so, and has a family around him, his attachment still continues to the being in whom he has so long confided, and whose heart he knows to be as warm and as devoted to him as is her love of life. In view of this, he drags out a miserable and disconsolate existence; and the discarded and broken hearted Quadroon, on whose brow is a tinge of yellow shade that will forever doom her to unending disgrace, sinks away into a lone and premature grave, a poor forgotten and wretched slave, and never more to be remembered only by him whose heart has melted into hers, in the true spirit of unending affection. Not only such scenes as these are frequently witnessed, but instances often occur, when a man has discarded one of these girls and has been married, he is forced to purchase her for the purpose of selling her again, and binding the one to whom he sells her, that he will take her away from the city, so that he may never meet her and that she shall never return. He is obliged to do this, in consequence of her affection for him, and also his attachment to her. When these girls, while being kept as mistresses, have children, they are usually sent back to their master, who either hires them boarded with some negro woman, or “turns them into the _yard_” with his other slaves, until the child is old enough to be left from its mother. Thus the father of this child--the _lawyer_, the _gentleman_, or the _merchant_, or whatever he may be--has the pleasure as well as the _gratifying reflection_ that his _kindred_ will not become extinct, and that his blood will continue to course in the veins of another human being through the next generation, and also he can remember with the _pride_ of a father, that when the mother of his child has lost her charms, there is another beautiful _Quadroon girl_ to take her place who has been cast off as a worthless and useless _thing_. And this is, almost without exception, the course that is forced upon them by a long established custom. When they are of no account in this way, they usually hire their time, at a low rate, from three to five dollars a month, and resort to various means to support themselves. Some will keep houses of assignation, and others will rent a house, with rooms furnished, and rent them to men who keep a bed companion, and board them. While others will rent a house, and hire negro girls, slaves of the lowest class, who will steal away from their pens, and come in and spend the night. They will also agree with “negro traders” to send in a number of girls from their slave pens. These are the lowest grade of brothels in New Orleans, and there are hundreds of them scattered through every street and lane in the city. And yet with these women are a large number of men, boarding and lodging, who are seen in the morning, creeping out through some back lane or alley. And follow these same men, and you will meet them in the Saloon of the “St. Charles;” and in all the rounds of dissipation and pleasure, they appear as well dressed and as intelligent and accomplished in their manners and conversation, as any person you meet with in the city. Many, and doubtless most of these persons are here from necessity, in not being able to meet expenses that would accrue in any other boarding place; and also, a large portion of these men who are found in these dens are those who come in from the North to “seek their fortunes,” and as I have before said of them, when failing to obtain employment, join in some catch-penny concern, in the way of “Peter Funks,” or gambling on a small scale, and borrowing of some acquaintance on account of respectable connections, succeed in obtaining a small pittance to pay for board and accommodations at a negro brothel. And I repeat again, young man, keep away from this city. Banish every idea that may come up, of the great advantages and facilities that you may think are found here for making money and soon a fortune, for they are no part nor beginning of things in New Orleans.

DISREGARD OF THE SABBATH.

There is in this city so much to be met with of a demoralizing tendency, and the tone of moral sense is so clearly out-spoken, that a person is not aware of what surrounds him, until he pauses and contemplates the scene in which he is moving, and the complete prostration of any thing like a controlling influence of public opinion. And it is a truth recognized in every civilized country, that good order and even common decency cannot be promoted or maintained, unless it is by the concentrated force of the opinion of good men against the overt acts of the vicious. And when we see, as we do in this city, the _best men_, public officers, the mayor and common council, giving countenance and sanction to outrages and desecrations, it is evident that the most wholesome regulations cannot sustain a healthy tone of moral feeling. And there is also a total disregard of an institution, that all good men revere and respect, as of divine origin; and if not as such, hold it to be, in its observance, the great conservator of the best interests of society, and that no people or community can preserve its character for morality and good order, without a due observance in christian form of its requirements. But here the civil authorities, together with all _good_ men, by official acts and personal example, desecrate this day to every purpose that the baser passions may demand. And these official acts are, in granting licenses for horse racing, bull fighting, theatres and exhibitions of all kinds, and even brothel balls, on the Sabbath. As evidence of the countenance given to these things, and of the state of public feeling, the following notices will give some evidence how the Sabbath is regarded by the mayor and common council, and the _good people_ of New Orleans. These announcements are made in the city papers, and also in large attractive bills, put up in every part of the city.

“Washington Society Balls.

“At a meeting of the subscribers, the following gentlemen were elected managers:

A. D. Crossman, _Mayor of the city_, Joshua Baldwin, _Recorder_, I. E. Caldwell, W. P. Converse, A. B. Bien, H. G. Stetson, J. B. Byrn, Maj. Gen. J. L. Lewis, Col. J. B. Walton, Capt. Jordy, E. A. Tyler, J. W. Behan, Dr. Luzenberg, Wm. Emerson, Wm. Freret, J. Stroud, J. L. Poulk, W. F. Flowers, W. J. Earthman, A. H. Way, N. C. Judson, J. S. Wallis, R. C. Faulkner, H. S. Hatch.

“At the same time, it was Resolved, that the series should consist of ten Balls, which will be all MASKED.

“The managers will meet every SUNDAY! during the season, at 1 o’clock. Office hours, from 9 in the morning until 9 in the evening.”

Now here are the Mayor and Recorder, and twenty-two of the best citizens of a civilized and _christian_ city of over one hundred thousand inhabitants, meeting every Sabbath to make arrangements for a MASKED BALL! and in view of such examples from such men, what else but a perfect Sodom could be expected of New Orleans?

“Grand Balloon Ascension.

“The seventh ascension of Madame Emma V., of Bordeaux, will take place on SUNDAY next, between the hours of 1 and 2 o’clock, from the corner of St. Charles and Poydras streets. Madame E. V. returns her thanks to the public for the patronage bestowed upon her last SUNDAY, having proved to the citizens of New Orleans that nothing has been exaggerated in her previous advertisement. A special stand is reserved for the Ladies!”

This is done by permit of license from the Mayor.

“Pontchartrain Ball Room.

“The proprietors of this well known establishment respectfully inform their friends and the public generally, that it will be opened on SUNDAY next for the season, and that nothing on their part has been left undone to render this house one of the most _agreeable_ in all respects. The DRESS AND MASKED BALLS will be given in the following order.

“For White persons--SUNDAYS, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

“For Quadroons--Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“The Orchestra is without doubt, the best in the city. The BAR is furnished with the choicest LIQUORS, and the tables supplied with every delicacy that the market affords.”

Now with such attractions, who could refuse to attend such a place even on the _Sabbath_!! provided that _license_ is given by the authorities. And yet the _attractions_ and _entertainment_ are not _all_ advertised in the bill.

But the matter of astonishment in these things is, that in this enlightened age, and in a civilized community, and in this country too, public officers in a city could be found, who would, under the sanction and seal of their office, grant a license for a regular _brothel_ Ball Room. The assemblage of prostitutes and lewd women at these rooms, is without exception, taking all the circumstances into account under which they meet, the most wanton, debasing and licentious exhibition of human passion ever witnessed. There are three of these Ball Rooms licensed in the city, open every night and filled to overflowing. The prostitutes all appear with MASKS on their faces, and so well concealed that it is impossible to recognize them. The excessive drinking and carousing practiced at these places, enables the girls to induce men under such circumstances to accompany them home.

Women are admitted free of charge, and men pay one dollar for admission. The Bar and the eating tables are the principal sources of revenue, and that is immense. It is at these places where many rich scenes are exhibited in the detection by some confiding and much abused mistress, who has long been haunted by the green-eyed monster with visions of unfaithfulness on the part of her paramour. She becomes confirmed in the belief, that he is playing “fond dalliance” with some beautiful Quadroon, or some other bright-eyed “Donna,” and to be sure of a capture under circumstances that will allow of no escape, she goes in MASK to the Ball Room, and there she beholds all that her imagination has conceived of inconstancy, of treachery, of false hearts and _love_ unrequited. And here she watches, with more than argus eyes, and follows their every step, and listens until she hears the outpourings of the soft words of honeyed love, and then, with more than a tiger’s rage, she rushes upon the unsuspecting girl with whom “_her man_” is so devotedly playing the agreeable, and with the jerk of a whirlwind, the mask is torn from her face, her dress flies in shreds, and what is left of the poor torn and tattered creature, is a miraculous escape from annihilation. After thus accomplishing all that she desires in making this public demonstration of their long continued intimacy, she leaves the room in triumph, and returns to her house and settles the affair with “_her man_,” by a course of “curtain lectures,” usually being satisfied in settling the play as an even game. And there too, in mask, will many a confiding and devoted wife look for her husband, and witness the realities of all the forebodings of her imagination, through long nights of lone watching. She has found him here, and follows his footsteps while, arm in arm, he joins in the whirl of the giddy dance, with the wild and polluted being who is holding her loved and cherished one by charms as fatal and deadly as the serpent’s steady gaze. It will be seen by the announcement in the bill that three nights in the week balls are given to Quadroons, or mulattoes; and on these evenings the attendance of men is nearly double that of the white balls. And this affords a confirmation of the truth of the old saying, “there is no accounting for tastes;” and also of the truth of what is asserted of the _gentlemen_ of the South that they will seek for companions among the yellow and even black women, and discard the white ladies. Notwithstanding these things, Southern men regard the act of eating at the table with a colored person as a disgrace, and an outrage and an insult too great to be submitted to. And yet they will have colored girls and colored men for their bed companions, for body servants, for cooks; and in fact, every thing they eat, drink or wear, they will see pass through their hands without the least shudder or repugnance, or sickness of stomach.

The following notice presents still further the tone of _moral sense_ of the authorities and the people of this city. It was displayed in large bills for twelve successive Sundays in the winter of 1847-8.

“Bull Fight.

“_On_ SUNDAY, _Dec. 12, on Washington Square, Third Municipality._”

“The proprietor respectfully begs to inform the public, that a splendid BULL FIGHT will take place as above. Four of the finest and largest Attakapas Bulls will be brought into the ring, two of which will be slain by the Matadores, and the other two teased by the Banderilleros and Capeadores.

“The company is composed of the following persons: Gregorio Camerenas, chief, and first swordman; Juan Gonzales, Lancer; Mondragon, Camerena and Jacome, Banderilleros, or arrowmen and M. Rocha, P. Gomes and A. Blancas, Capeadores or teasers. Performance to commence at 4 o’clock P. M. Admittance one dollar.”

This announcement gives the reader a programme of the interesting performance of bull fighting. Yet sports of this kind are very little understood in this country, and are not what it is generally supposed they are. The idea of them has arisen from the expression used when speaking of such scenes as _bull fights_, giving the same understanding as those of kindred performances, as “cock fights,” or “dog fights,” which every one knows to be contests between two animals, usually trained for the purpose, and the same impression prevails almost, universally in regard to “_bull fights_;” supposed to be a contest between two fierce bulls. But such is not this SPORT! and that the public may not be misled, and to correct a general false impression, such sports should be announced as “bull murdering.”

The arrangements for such displays are in a circular inclosure, about six rods in diameter, with a very strong fence. Around this circle are seats in amphitheatre form, capable of holding five or six thousand persons. Into this ring a single bull is admitted. At the same time in the ring are usually eight men, trained to the _civilized_ and _christian_ sport of bull-_murdering_. Those who performed in New Orleans were native Mexicans, and came from Matamoras for the express gratification of the _Mayor_, _Common Council_, and _good_ people of the city. When they appear in the ring, they are dressed in fantastic style, and each one wearing a small crimson cloak. And this is his main protection, and used mostly, in “teasing” the bull; for when in the fierceness of his rage he fixes his eye upon his victim, and plunges at him with tremendous velocity, and death seems almost inevitable, the man adroitly slips the cloak from his shoulders and steps one side, and holds it precisely where he stood, and on this point the blow of the animal is sure to strike.--Hence the cloak receives the full force of the goad of the bull’s horns. It is evident from the actions of the animal, that the bright and dazzling color of the cloak charms his eye so that he is unable to turn his attention from it; for he will often strike the cloak down, and turn round and examine it with great minuteness in search of the man, and seems astonished that he has not caught him. When the bull is cut loose and passes into the ring, a man sits over the gate-way and drives into his back a barbed dart. It is prepared and put in a stick about eighteen inches long, and when driven into the animal it remains there to tear and lacerate the flesh, for the purpose of exciting his rage and making him more furious. And this it does, for when the dart strikes him, with a roar of vengeance, he rushes in with tremendous fury, and often clears the ring in a moment of every man in it. There appear to be paroxysms of terrible rage in the expression of the eyes of the animal, that strikes a fearful awe in the men; and they will throw themselves out of the ring in an instant, although the bull is standing perfectly still. The performers with the cloaks are Capeadores, or “teasers.” After this part of the “_sport_” has continued for a sufficient time, four other performers come in, each having four bearded darts, the body of which is a stick about six inches long, and beautifully trimmed with colored tissue paper representing rosettes. There are the Banderillas or arrow-men. The great feat and climax in this part of the “_fight_” is to fasten, by a stroke with the hand, one of these rosettes in the curl between the eyes of the bull, and escape the goad of his horns. To do this, is a triumph that is greeted with stamping and rounds of applause, which convinces the daring one that the audience is fully alive to the great feat that he has performed in decorating a bull’s face with a _beautiful rosette_! There are but few performers who have the courage to attempt this act, as a failure is always treated with hisses and cries of “turn him out”--“turn him out.”