Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998

Languages Used:

• English

LC Subject Headings:

• Slavery -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
• Slavery -- Moral and ethical aspects.
• Slavery and the church -- Methodist Episcopal Church.
• Antislavery movements -- United States -- History -- 19th century.

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[Title Page Image]

[Title Page Verso Image]

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.--(LEV. 25: 10th verse.)

BY ORDER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR THE STATE HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA, 1753.

         The above is the inscription on the time-honored bell which now stands in Independence Hall--the most sacred political spot in the world. It is surely significant that the bell which, for more than twenty years, had borne so prophetic a motto, should be the first, in all the American colonies, to ring out the joyous news of the immortal Declaration of Independence!

PICTURES OF SLAVERY
IN
CHURCH AND STATE;
INCLUDING
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, ETC. ETC.
WITH AN
APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE VIEWS OF JOHN WESLEY AND
RICHARD WATSON ON SLAVERY.

BY

REV. JOHN DIXON LONG.
A Superannuated Minister of the Philadelphia Annual Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.

SECOND EDITION.

        But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.--I COR. vii. 21

PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.
1857.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1857,
BY REV. JOHN DIXON LONG,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA:
STEREOTYPED BY GEORGE CHARLES.
PRINTED By T. K. & P. G. COLLINS.

INTRODUCTION.

         I WAS born in New Town, Worcester County, Maryland, on the 26th day of September, 1817. My mother's name was Sally Laws Henderson. She was a devout member of the M. E. Church, and died in June, 1828. From her lips I received my first antislavery lesson. Could she have had her way, no slave would ever have been held by any member of her family. My father, John W. Long, was a native of Maryland, and a slaveholder. In the early part of his life he was a sea-captain, with all the generosity of the sailor, but with few of the faults common to him. During the war of 1812 he abandoned the sea, and commenced the mercantile business in New Town. In 1824 he removed to the Ferry on the Somerset side of the Pocomoke River, nearly a mile from New Town. He died in 1834, leaving my two sisters and brother under my protection.

         I was received into the M. E. Church in 1835, by the Rev. John A. Roche, of the Philadelphia Conference, who is an accomplished Christian gentleman and eloquent preacher. I commenced my ministerial career in 1839, and was received into full connection in the Philadelphia Conference in 1842. In 1848 my health failed; and since at time the Conference has permitted me to labor when and where I have pleased, according to the state of my health.

         I am an ardent lover of Methodism, and consider that man its greatest enemy who strives, directly or indirectly, to fasten to it the dead and putrid body of chattel slavery. I trust I am no bigot; for I love those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, of whatever church, race, or color.

         Fifteen months ago it was my expectation to live and die in my native State--in private to bear my testimony to masters against slavery, and in public to labor for the salvation of slaves. I had resolved to bear the reproaches of those who would regard me as an abolitionist, and to endure the slang to which I would necessarily be subjected from fellows of the "baser sort." But I had four boys, and, as a Christian father, I wished to train them to honorable labor; and was desirous that they should regard all mankind as members of one universal family. They were beginning to imbibe the common prejudices of slave society-- hatred of work and of slaves. Accordingly, I determined to remove to a free State. A Southern gentleman remarked to me that, if he had sons, and held my views on slavery, he would act precisely as I have acted.

         In October, 1856, I removed to Philadelphia, the "city of brotherly love;" in which, to my astonishment, I found prevailing a vast deal of pro-slavery sentiment. At this discovery all my latent antislavery feeling awoke into activity. A Southern antislavery man can listen with some patience to one who obtains his bread and butter by the institution; but the justification of slavery by a Northern man is almost intolerable. A conviction that I ought to bear my testimony against the system by writing now took possession of my mind. But difficulties loomed up before me. I should lose my friends, and would doubtless have to encounter persecution. Again, save a few scraps and obituary notices, I had never written

a line for publication. But, in view of the responsibilities of the great future, the path of duty seemed plain. Accordingly, last Christmas I commenced to write my book, which, justice to myself requires me to state, has been written in a small room with my family around me, subject to the interruptions of visitors, and to all the depressing influences of feeble health, and the discouraging advice of friends. When my manuscript was ready, no publisher in Philadelphia that I approached would undertake its publication. I have but little money to lose; yet I have published it at my own risk. It goes forth on my own responsibility. Its glory or its shame will fall on my own head. No minister or layman in the Philadelphia Conference is accountable for it. If any of either class shall approve it after reading it, I shall be gratified. I most devoutly believe what I have written. I have no misgivings that the principles I have advocated will be found unsound in the Great Day. I regret that I have not been able to present my thoughts and facts in a more attractive form. Like a plate of strawberries, or a quiver full of arrows, they have association, but little arrangement. I fear that the repetition of my thoughts, and the egotism almost inseparable from such a work, will be offensive. All criticisms aimed at the literary execution of the book will be unheeded. If I have misstated facts, I am open to conviction. I have not written for the learned; yet even to these some of my thoughts may prove suggestive. I am from the masses, and have lived and labored with them. I love and sympathize with the oppressed of all classes and colors. Yet I honor the rich, the wise, the learned, and those high in authority. My design is not to array the poor against the rich, or the colored against the white; but to array all classes against slavery as it exists in the Southern States of this Union.

         Slavery will be found, on close examination, to be the common foe of church and state; of master and slave; of rich and poor. I have added my mite of facts and observations against it. I believe that all truth is profitable, sooner or later. I have done what I conceive to be my duty to the church and to my country. May the blessing of Christ rest on the antislavery cause!

PHILADELPHIA, May 1, 1857.

CONTENTS.

• CHAPTER I.
  Southern slavery, and who are slaves--Free colored people of the South--The negro race . . . . . 13
• CHAPTER II.
  Methodist Episcopal Church and slavery--The testimony . . . . . 27
• CHAPTER III.
  The Conference Report--Slavery in the Philadelphia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church . . . . . 41
• CHAPTER IV.
  The mischievous colt--The model mistress--Physicians and slavery--The true theory, or successful experiment--Slave-droves--Uncle Levi . . . . . 58
• CHAPTER V.
  Abolitionist--Tattling--The church trial--Church discipline over slaves--Cease to do evil . . . . . 73
• CHAPTER VI.
  Love of military titles--Common schools and school-houses --Missionary speeches--The pastorate--A dangerous maxim--Selling negroes by the pound--Hog thief--Freedom of speech--Washington and Patrick Henry--Martyrs-- The bee-hive--Border troubles--Cease agitating slavery--The white crow--Slavery and popery . . . . . 88
• CHAPTER VII.
  Going in debt--The fright--"Uncle Tom's Cabin" --Negro-buyers--The fate of Nancy--The conversion--The threatened lawsuit--Joseph Smithers --Slavery and infidelity . . . . . 107
• CHAPTER VIII.
  Aunt Phillis--Letter to the young ministers of the M. E. Church--Charles Clayton--Slavery no respecter of persons--Slavery once profitable--The internal slave-trade--A letter to General Tench Tilghman . . . . . 130
• CHAPTER IX.
  Popular preachers in the South--Gambling--Church and State--Camp-meetings--Love-feasts--Georgia Baptists--The sin of slavery--The free negroes of Maryland--Cambridge, Maryland . . . . . 152
• CHAPTER X.
  Rum and slavery--Southern literature--Going to school --A plea for the slave--A prayer of Christian slaves . . . . . 172

  ---

  Page 12

• CHAPTER XI.
  The wicked slave--The execution--William Otterbein-- Rev. John Nicholson--Rev. David Shields--Slavery and health; white ladies--Complaints--Slave literature --The monkey theory . . . . . 183
• CHAPTER XII.
  The foreign slave trade--Slavery and its remedy, Liberia-- Slavery and marriage . . . . . 201
• CHAPTER XIII.
  The Great American Republic--Personal incidents--Slavery and revivals--Moral and religious education of children and youth--Negro insurrections--The rich colored man . . . . . 212
• CHAPTER XIV.
  Tobacco and slavery--Revivals among our colored friends-- The young Presbyterian preacher--The kidnapper--Slavery, and horses and cows--Mob law-- Law and lawyers . . . . . 237
• CHAPTER XV.
  Slavery and novels--Slavery and Mormonism--Uncle Stephen--The parting--Courtship and marriage--The lecture--Who is the true gentleman?-- To the white women of the free States--The great Southern aristocracy . . . . . 257
• CHAPTER XVI.
  The Baltimore Conference--Colored class-meetings-- Delaware--Slavery and free territory--The free colored people of Philadelphia--Baltimore--The Supreme Court . . . . . 279
• CHAPTER XVII.
  Slavery and white labor--Familiarity--Index expurgatorius--Exhortation by a colored preacher--The Sabbath and slavery--The warning-- The old vessel--Pocomoke Swamp . . . . . 306
• CHAPTER XVIII.
  Maryland hospitality--A Southern man with Northern principles--The wild woman--The king-bird . . . . . 324
• CHAPTER XIX.
  Personal incidents--The Discipline of the M. E. Church-- The contrast--Pro-slavery arguments and apologies refuted . . . . . 332
• CHAPTER XX.
  The Fourth of July--The poor whites of the South--The effect of slavery on the higher classes in the slave States--The privateer and the heretics--Impudence--The sailor--Miss Margaret Darrah-- The murderer--The drunkard . . . . . 351
• CHAPTER XXI.
  A dying babe in jail--The African M. E. Church--Covetousness-- Degrading epithets--Negro prayer-meetings--Have you made your will?--The fugitive slave--The infidel--County newspapers in the slave States--A preacher of the Gospel belonging to the M. E. Church in a Maryland penitentiary--The slave trade among members of the M. E. Church in Maryland--A colored brother of the M. E. Church robbed of an adopted child with impunity by a rich white brother of the same church . . . . . 373

CHAPTER I.

WHAT IS SOUTHERN SLAVERY, AND WHO ARE SLAVES.

         "Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be chattels personal in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever." "A slave is one doomed, in his own person and his posterity, to live without knowledge, and without the capacity to make any thing his own; and toil that another may reap the fruits."

         My observations of Slavery have been confined, in the main, to the States of Delaware and Maryland, where it exists in its mildest form: if, therefore, it shall be found to be a great crime against God and humanity in those States, what must it be in its most aggravated manifestations? I shall endeavor to draw truthful pictures of what I have seen and heard. I shall do justice to master and slave. In treating of slaves, I shall group them into three

classes. First, there are the slaves owned by large planters and farmers, and governed by overseers or "nigger-drivers," as they are called. This class being excluded from all contact and association with the families of their wealthy owners, are, as a general rule, as degraded as their ancestors were before they were stolen from the west coast of Africa. Their language is shockingly barbarous; they say "dis" for this, "dat" for that, and "tudder" for the other.

         They are great believers in charms, spells, witches, wizards, and ghosts; if they are sick, they are "in misery." They do not say that they have the headache or pain in the side, but "misery" in the head or side, as the case may be. Their food and clothing are of the coarsest kind; one suit of coarse cloth for winter, and of cotton cloth for summer. Their allowance of food is one peck of Indian corn meal and three pounds of fat pork per week. This they cook as best they can. Among this class there is no respect paid to sex: the females work in the field, cut wood, drive the ox-cart, make fences. Indeed, I have often seen them in situations, where, if the pecuniary

value of their offspring had been consulted, they should have been removed to the "quarters" till after a certain time. Chastity is out of the question. There is a certain attachment between male and female, but the horrible slave laws allow it to be little more than the promiscuous commerce of beasts. There is, however, a genuine love between mother and child. The slave can truly say, "I have no father, but I know my mother." The males, like the dogs of their masters, are frequently called after the celebrated philosophers and generals of Greece and Rome. Almost every plantation has a Plato, Cato, Pompey, and Cæsar. This seems like a retribution. The great men of Rome were slaveholders on a magnificent scale, and their names are now borne by slaves more abject than theirs.

         The cowhide is their only coat of arms. They seldom hear a kind word spoken to them on the part of their overseers. With them there is neither digression nor progression. The plantation slave is but little better informed than those of the same class fifty years ago; and one hundred years hence will

find them the same, if slavery continues as it is. Their principal amusements are hunting and dancing. They are very fond of hunting the raccoon and opossum, which they call "varmint." Reader, did you ever see a genuine negro dog? There is as much difference between such a cur and a gentleman's dog, as there is between an oyster cart-horse and an Arabian charger.

         See that poor slave. He is just returning from the lordly mansion of his master, with his week's allowance of meal and pork. Over his left shoulder is suspended a wallet, with meal in one end and pork in the other. His left hand presses against it. In his right hand he holds his stick (he never says cane). He is trudging along to the adjoining plantation, where he belongs. He has a downcast look, and a gentle, forward stoop. His dog alternately trots and walks behind him. His tail is cut midway, and his ears are cropped. Look: yonder comes his young master on his fine horse, with his glossy spaniel bounding before him. He approaches; the negro makes a low bow, and says, "Sarvent, massa." His dog

skulks to one side: if the spaniel attacks him, he makes no resistance; he falls flat on the ground, turns on his back, curves his cut tail between his legs, and appeals to the magnanimity of his master's dog, and says by actions, "Oh don't! I am but a poor slave of a slave!" The slave loves his dog. They are constant companions. He talks with him by day and hunts with him at night, and shares with him his scanty meals. His dog is the only thing under the sun that he can call his own; for the master claims the woman that is called his wife, his offspring, his hut, his pig, his own body--and his very soul.

         The master despises "nigger dogs." If he is given to profanity, he swears at them whenever he sees them, accusing them of killing sheep and his fat young pigs.

         The plantation slaves often suffer with hunger. Despite the common boasts of the slaveholder, the Allwise only knows how much penury and starvation wear out the lives of the slaves. Dancing is one of their favorite amusements. I have often looked at their dances during their different holidays. The

banjo is of all instruments the best adapted to the lowest class of slaves. It is the very symbol of their savage degradation. They talk to it, and a skillful performer can excite the most diverse passions among the dancers. Generally, however, they have no instruments, but dance to the tunes and words of a leader, keeping time by striking their hands against the thighs, and patting the right foot, to the words of

                         " 'Juber,' 'Cesar boy,'
                         Ash-cake in de fire,
                         'Possum up de gum tree,
                         Raccoon in de holler."
I have seen males and females dancing, rapidly whirling round, whooping and yelling with brutal delight, alike unmindful of the past and future. I have never known, in a single instance, of a colored man of any moral tone who was fond of the banjo or common dance.

         The "quarters" of the large slaveholders are generally mere shells; very few are plastered; and no arrangement is made for the separation of male and female. The men generally have no beds, but sleep in their clothes on benches

made of wide plank, with their feet to the fire. The plantation slaves are remarkable for their fine teeth. The slave is never supposed to be sick, unless he is very ill. The ignorant overseer takes for granted that, if the slave complains, he is "acting the 'possum," and frequently, before the master or physician knows it, the slave dies. The death of a slave is considered a mere money loss. Neighbor A says that "neighbor B has lost a fine slave worth one thousand dollars."

         The humble body is buried in the negro graveyard, in some obscure part of the plantation. For the slave there is no tombstone. The flowers of memory and affection never bloom over the lonely hillock that marks his resting-place. The wild rose and dewberry mat his grave; and the lark builds there her lowly nest, and sings at morn his only requiem. Many an undeveloped poet, orator, and artist lies entombed in such obscure cemeteries throughout the South. A slave-burying is one of the saddest sights I ever saw. They do not cry and weep like freemen; they are sad and stupid. They have no religious services at the

grave, and could not have them if they wished. The negro preacher on the adjoining plantation must not leave his hoe. The white minister is either too grand to bury the slave, or is not called on. I have never known of more than one white minister of the gospel who has performed religious service at the burial of the slave.

         A negro funeral is different from the "burying," and is a unique affair. Several weeks after burial the funeral is preached; and never was there more frolic at an Irish wake than at these funerals, held frequently in the woods; and sometimes as many as three funerals are preached at once. Unless a colored person's funeral is preached, whether he be saint or sinner, there is no peace of mind to his friends.

         There are 3,000,000 of these slaves in these United States.

         The second class of slaves embraces such as owned by the less extensive slaveholders and farmers. These have no overseer, live in the kitchen, mingle with the master's family, eat the same kind of food as the other members of the family, are not generally overworked, use good language for slaves, and are

attended to when sick. Their children are raised with their master's children, play with them, and nurse them. In mind and body they are greatly superior to the plantation slaves. A strong attachment frequently exists between them and their masters and mistresses. From this class we derive most of our church members. After they arrive at the age of 45, many of them become truly chaste and pious, according to the light they have, and receive the honorable appellations of "aunt" and "uncle;" until that age, they are usually called "girls" and "boys."

         Notwithstanding the superior physical condition of this class of slaves, they are generally more unhappy and restless than the more degraded classes. Their superior advantages only serve as a lamp to show them their degradation. They are just as liable as any other class of chattels to be sold by the master or his creditors. Take an illustration. Beaufort owns a young negro man, brought up in his own house. Beaufort becomes security for neighbor Miflin. Miflin fails; the creditors resort to Beaufort. The boy must be sold. His master and negro

buyer fix on the price. The boy is to be delivered at a certain place where I happen to be. The poor fellow comes on an errand, as he supposes, little dreaming of the trap that is set for him. The master is there. The "Georgia trader" presently arrives. This worthy orders the boy to cross his hands; the concealed rope is produced, and the boy is tied. The poor slave is stunned, and turns ashy pale. The dealer in human souls hurries him off to the county town to await transportation. Beaufort weeps and trembles, and mutters, "He was a good boy; I never ate him or drank him; I shall never be happy again." Unhappy master! if he had set him free before going in debt, he would have escaped thorns that will be planted in his dying pillow; and if he should ever read these lines, he will attest the faithfulness of this narration. Colored people love to sing, "The judgment day is rolling around, is rolling around," &c.

         The third class constitute the Aristocracy and chivalry of the slave population of the South. They are the household servants of our Congressmen, judges, doctors, naval officers,

wealthy merchants, clergymen, planters, and farmers. Very few of them are jet black; nearly all are more or less white. The men are fine looking. The women are beautiful, and many of them even opulent in charms. Nor is this a wonder. The best blood of the Saxon courses through their veins; the intellect of that race gleams in their eye. They have the health and beautiful form of the African, with the polish and gracefulness of the Caucasian race. They seldom mix with the common slave, and feel great contempt for poor white people. Many of them can read; and many of the female servants are brought up virtuously, sleeping in the same room with their young mistresses. Notwithstanding their accomplishments, they are often sold with mules, horses, and hogs. The females bring the highest prices in the South. For them there is no virtue after a certain age, unless they die the martyr's death. They never can say "this man is my husband;" "that woman is my wife;" "this is my child." From this class, as fugitives, have arisen such men as Frederick Douglass, Wm. Wells, Brown, and, I presume,

Dr. Pennington. I have seen them so white that a stranger could not have told that they were slaves or even negroes.

         O chattel slavery, if I had no other name by which to call thee, "I would call thee Devil!"

FREE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH.

         The free colored people of the South constitute a distinct class of colored persons in that section of the Union. They labor under many civil and religious disabilities, and are the most slandered and persecuted class of men in the United States. The early Methodists in England and America were not more so. They are not permitted to educate their children, unless they reside in the cities, notwithstanding they pay taxes. They have to take the raking fires from three batteries. The slave envies them. The poor white man is jealous of them lest they encroach upon his assumed rights and privileges; and the large slaveholder hates them, as their very presence puts notions of freedom in the minds of his slaves. They are expected to please every body, which is a very difficult matter. They are the scape-goats of

southern society. If any crime is committed, and the perpetrator is not discovered, it is laid to the free negro. If he commits a crime, and it is proved on him, he is sure to get the full penalty of the law. If he steals from the white man, he goes to the penitentiary; which is right. If the white man steals from him, he goes clear; which is wrong. If he is lazy, he is a nuisance; if industrious, and lays up money, he is accused of dealing with slaves; if he conducts himself properly, he is proud and wants taking down a little. His wife and daughter may be insulted by rowdies, and he must hold his tongue. Yet for intelligence, industry, economy, and morality, he is far superior to the third class of slaves. His wife and children are his; his body is his own. He can remove to a free State or go to Africa. Partial liberty is better than pampered slavery. Considering his antecedents and circumstances, he has met the expectations of all reasonable men. Many of them are lazy, but it must be remembered that laziness is a contagious disease in the South. My advice to all young enterprising free colored people of the Southern States is, to leave for the free States, Canada, or Liberia.

THE NEGRO RACE.

         I consider the Negro race inferior in mental endowment only to the great European or white race. The negro is as full of music as an egg is full of meat; and music is allied to poetry and eloquence. No people have the religious element more deeply grounded in their nature. As a race, they are proverbial for kindness and affection, and respect for authority and age. In their religious meetings they exhibit more reverence in their devotion than the whites. We defy any set of atheists to make many converts among them in theory. In drollery they are unequalled and are only inferior to the Irish in wit; even rivalling the French in politeness. If properly trained, they would make first-class orators and musicians. I have seen an exceedingly fine portrait executed by a colored artist of Baltimore. They are great aristocrats; and pay much respect to those above them in intellect and authority. Hence our great Southern aristocracy, by emancipating their negroes, could retain them by affection and their own choice; and thus reap all the benefits of slavery without its crime and consequences.

CHAPTER II.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND
SLAVERY.

         THE M. E. Church was organized in 1784, in the city of Baltimore. What did the fathers of the church think of slavery at that time? We will quote their own language, taken from the first Discipline of the church, compared with the Large Minutes. See the History of the Discipline by Rev. Robert Emory, former President of Dickinson College. Published at the Book-room, New York, for the M. E. Church: p. 43.

         "Question 42. What methods can we take to extirpate slavery? Ans. We are deeply conscious of the impropriety of making new terms of communion for a religious society already established, excepting on the most pressing occasion: and such we esteem the practice of holding our fellow-creatures in slavery. We view it as contrary to the golden law of God, on which hang all the law and the prophets, and the alienable rights of mankind, as well as every principle of the Revolution, to hold in the deepest debasement, in a

more abject slavery than is perhaps to be found in any part of the world except America, so many souls that are capable of the image of God. We therefore think it our most bounden duty to take immediately some effective method to extirpate this abomination from among us; and for that purpose we add the following to the rules of our society--viz.

         1st. Every member of our society who has slaves in his possession shall, within twelve months after notice given him by the assistant (which notice the assistants are required immediately, and without any delay, to give in their respective circuits), legally execute and record an instrument, whereby he emancipates and sets free every slave in his possession who is between the ages of forty and forty-five immediately, or at furthest when they arrive at the age of forty-five.

         And every slave who is between the ages of twenty-five and forty immediately, or at furthest at the expiration of five years from the date of the said instrument.

         And every slave who is between the ages of twenty and twenty-five immediately, or at furthest when they arrive at the age of thirty.

         And every slave under the age of twenty, as soon as they arrive at the age of twenty-five at furthest.

         And every infant born in slavery after the above mentioned rules are complied with, immediately on its birth.

         2d. Every assistant shall keep a journal, in which he shall regularly minute down the names and ages of all the slaves belonging to all the masters in his respective circuit, and also the date of every instrument executed and recorded for the manumission of the slaves, with the name of

the court, book, and folio, in which said instrument respectively shall have been recorded; which journal shall be handed down in each circuit to the succeeding assistants.

         3d. In consideration that these rules form a new term of communion, every person concerned who will not comply with them, shall have liberty quietly to withdraw himself from our society within the twelve months succeeding the notice given as aforesaid; otherwise the assistants shall exclude him from the society.

         4th. No person holding slaves shall in future be admitted into society or the Lord's Supper, till he previously complies with these rules concerning slavery.

         N. B. These rules are to affect the members of our society no further than as they are consistent with the laws of the States in which they reside.

         Question 43. What shall be done with those who buy sell slaves, or give them away? Ans. They are immediately to be expelled; unless they buy them on purpose to free them."

         1. It will be seen, by the above, that our preachers, in 1784, viewed the holding of slaves, or the sustaining voluntarily the relation of master and slave, as contrary to the golden law of God. Hence, not only official members, but private members, were to break that relation by manumission according to the conditions laid down.

         2. They regarded slavery in America the most abject of any perhaps in the known world.

         3. They considered that holding a fellow-creature in bondage was a sin sufficient to exclude any one from the Supper of the Lord, and was an abomination which they sought to extirpate from the church. These fathers then were a band of Christian abolitionists, and contended for emancipation. For "extirpation" means, according to Webster, to "destroy, to pull up by the roots;" which is all we mean by abolition.

         4. We have painfully to admit that the church did afterward fall from her noble and New Testament position on the subject of slavery; and many of these fathers tried to undo with their own hands what they had so nobly accomplished. So that in 1808 was stricken out of the Discipline all that related to private members; and slaveholding was only considered an official impediment. Private members could hold for life their fellow-creatures in bondage, give them away to their children during their lifetime, and leave them in perpetual slavery. So the whole ground was in effect conceded to slavery. What a fearful history the

M. E. Church has read to the world by this concession--a history written with the blood and tears of oppressed thousands! Private members holding slaves, soon involved class-leaders, exhorters, local preachers, and travelling preachers, and finally debauched the moral sentiments of the whole church, so that in 1836 the General Conference was in direct antagonism to the Conference of 1784. The year 1836 was the darkest hour in the history of the M. E. Church. Rum and slavery were both triumphant in her at this time. At that period private members could manufacture and sell rum, but an ordained elder could not. The church has seen the folly of such a distinction, and has since decreed that rumselling for gain is sin in any man; and she will arrive at the same conclusion with regard to slavery.

         Had it not been for New England and Western Methodism, in 1844, we should have had some slaveholding bishops to preside over our conferences at this time. I thank my Divine Master for New England Methodism!

         What was the final result of the concession of 1808? The organization and development of

the M. E. Church South; whose only peculiar and distinctive feature is that she upholds, defends, and sustains her entire membership, including travelling preachers and bishops, in holding, buying, selling, and giving away slaves, as goods personal, to all intents and purposes. She defends slavery as a good, and appeals to the religion of Christ to sustain it. She can take but one other step; and that is, to recommend the reopening of the slave trade on the coast of Africa, which is certainly no worse than the internal slave-trade. And all these consequences flow necessarily from the premise that private members are not sinners by holding, breeding and working, giving away, or willing human beings as things and chattels. Once grant this in church or state, and all other things will be added, including the slave-trade. They are all parts of one great whole. While we detest the principles of the M. E. Church South on the subject of slavery, we admire her honesty in avowing that slavery is not a sin in private members or bishops; and the only holy and logical weapons by which we can subdue her is to affirm that slavery is sin by

whomsoever committed, be he saint or sinner, layman or bishop. To this point the Discipline of the M. E. Church will come, as it ought to have come in 1856, at the General Conference at Indianapolis.

         We lament that this talented and venerable body of Christian ministers and divines should have hesitated a moment to declare that slaveholding is a sin in the laity as well as in the ministry. It is true that the members of the General Conference of 1856 took higher ground against slavery, in their speeches at the Conference, than has been taken since 1784; and much progress has been made in the right direction. Nevertheless, we occupy an anomalous position. While three-fourths of the ministry and laity are decidedly antislavery, we have a pro-slavery Discipline, which allows our private members in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia to hold for gain, to give away, and transmit by will to their heirs, as chattels personal, souls for whom Christ died. The slave can be sold for their debts at any time. They can give them away to relatives, who can sell them to the negro buyer at pleasure; and do all this according

to the Discipline of the church; and they cannot be expelled for it. At one small country appointment, in the fall of '55 and winter of '56, I knew two members of the M. E. Church who died, and left from twenty-five to thirty slaves in bondage for life; thereby depriving these poor creatures of rights natural and divine. Slaveholding and slave-breeding can never be broken up in the church by merely keeping it out of the ministry. Suppose we were to send missionaries to Utah to convert the Mormons, and they were to profess to be converted and offer to join the M. E. Church, but request to retain polygamy, and the preachers were to say that they might do it, but were determined to keep it out of the ministry: would we ever break up polygamy among the Mormons? Never! never! For my part, I believe it just as much a sin in a private member to deprive a fellow-creature of his just wages, to separate him like a brute from friends, as it would be in a bishop. The antislavery principles of our holy religion, and the M. E. Church South, will drive us, on the Border, from this untenable ground. Let us get on the rock of eternal truth and righteousness, and

then we shall have the sympathy of the good of all nations. And what is still better, we shall have the sympathy of the man Christ Jesus, who was sold like a slave for thirty pieces of silver. I believe that the blessed Jesus is an antislavery Redeemer. When he forgave me my sins, he whispered to my inmost soul that the holding of slaves was sin.

THE TESTIMONY.

         I consider American slavery to be the great question now before the American people in church and state. Its importance surpasses the political separation from Great Britain, which agitated the minds of our fathers from 1770 to 1776. I believe that it will eventually come in contact with every association, whether literary, scientific, benevolent, social, political, or religious. With regard to this question, whatever appearances may indicate to the contrary, in reality there is no neutral ground. In health, I am as a reed shaken by the wind. As a preacher in the M. E. Church, I am not distinguished for wealth, high office, learning, family, or intellect. I shall soon fall from the

tree of this natural life as a leaf, to be forgotten among my fellow leaves: yet I have a little influence among men. It may survive me a little while after death. For that influence, God, the judge of all, will hold me accountable. I feel I must bear my testimony as an honest man against chattel slavery in this nation. Whether living or dying, I wish to be quoted as conscientiously opposed to it, in all its shapes, forms, and modifications. I wish to wound no man's feelings; yet, in the discharge of a sacred duty, I may have to do it. I believe that the only way to remedy any evil is to proclaim the truth, clearly and distinctly, concerning that evil. The man, and especially the Christian minister, who is silent on the subject of slavery, who never whispers to his friend or foe a word of opposition to it, is giving his example and influence in its favor. A prophet of God who can stand by, and see those for whom Christ died held in bondage, deprived of legal claim to wife, child, or to his own body, deprived of freely worshiping Almighty God, and yet give no alarm of danger, nor utter a cry of warning, need not be envied when he stands at the judgment-seat

of Christ to render up his account. Next to the love and approbation of Christ and my own family, there is nothing that I so highly appreciate as the love and good opinion of my ministerial brethren, especially those of the Philadelphia Conference. From the day that I became associated with them to this hour, I honored them for their office' sake, and loved them (with few exceptions) for their great moral worth and purity. When they have honored me, in the darkest hour of my bodily afflictions, with visits to my humble abode, they always gave me more pleasure than they received. I have not seen the hour, when not confined to my sick room, that I would not go through wind and rain to bathe their brows or wash their burning feet, if that would alleviate their sufferings. I expect my brethren to condemn this book, and severely blame me for writing it; yet I trust I shall have grace to bear up under the castigation. I must express the painful conviction that the fathers of the Philadelphia Conference have been too silent in their testimony against slavery. I have been among them for seventeen years, and have

never listened to a sermon against slavery. I never heard a presiding elder, in a quarterly conference, public congregation, or love-feast, throw out a hint that it was wrong to hold slaves for life. Our membership must conclude, from our silence upon the subject, that slavery is no sin. Now and then a brother in Maryland sets his negroes free, feeling it a sin to hold them in slavery; but he arrives at these conclusions from his natural sense of justice; or, perhaps, from reading the life of Freeborn Garretson, and yielding to the silent operations of the Holy Spirit.

         There are good men in Virginia, Kentucky, and other Slave States, who, while the pulpit has either been quiet upon the subject, or taught the doctrine that slavery is of Divine origin, have searched the Scriptures and reasoned for themselves; and, in the name of justice and in the fear of God, they have emancipated their slaves, and sent them to Liberia or the free States of this Union. Why will not the watchmen on the walls of Zion sound the alarm, when they see slavery desolating our beautiful Southern States, crushing the intellect, and

poisoning the morals of nearly all beneath its influence?

         Brethren, I would that ye were as strongly antislavery as I am, except these bonds. My feelings have been lacerated a hundred times on account of my opposition to slavery. Soon after I joined the church, I became leader of a colored class. This brought persecution; and from that day to this I have been bound in spirit with Christ's down-trodden people. This book will banish me from my relatives, from the graves of my honored parents, and from my native State. If I were to visit my former places of residence, I might not receive personal violence; but the man who should entertain me would be marked, and would have to suffer on my account; and I would not knowingly be the cause of bringing trouble upon my friends. Henceforward I shall be an exile among strangers, and shall seek a home and a grave among them. Many who once thought of my name with affection will associate it with disgrace. Some will even believe that they will be doing God service to abuse me. Any man who dares to utter a word against slavery is branded by

the Southerners as a fanatic. I communicated to a friend my intention of writing against slavery. "Well, sir," said he, "you may prepare yourself to have showers of lies heaped upon you." Henceforward, by all Christian and lawful means, I expect to urge an uncompromising warfare against the sin of slavery. To those who may persecute me, I trust I shall be enabled by Divine assistance to pray, "Father, forgive them, for the know not what they do."

CHAPTER III.

THE CONFERENCE REPORT.

         THE following extract is made from an address of the Philadelphia Annual Conference to the Societies under its care, dated Wilmington, Del., April 7, 1847:

         "If the plan of separation gives us the pastoral care of you, it remains to inquire whether we have done any thing, as a Conference, or as men, to forfeit your confidence and affection. We are not advised that, even in the great excitement which has distressed you for some months past, any one has impeached our moral conduct, or charged us with unsoundness in doctrine, or corruption or tyranny in the administration of Discipline. But we learn that the simple cause of the unhappy excitement among you is, that some suspect us, or affect to suspect us, of being abolitionists. Yet no particular act of the Conference, or any particular member thereof, is adduced as the ground of the erroneous and injurious suspicion. We would ask you, brethren, whether the conduct of our ministry among you for sixty years past ought not to be sufficient to protect us from this charge? Whether the question we have been accustomed,

for a few years past, to put to candidates for admission among us, namely, Are you an abolitionist? and, without each one answered in the negative, he was not received, ought not to protect us from the charge? Whether the action of the last Conference on this particular matter ought not to satisfy any fair and candid mind that we are not, and do not desire to be, abolitionists? * * * We cannot see how we can be regarded as abolitionists, without the ministers of the M. E. Church South being considered in the same light. * * * * * * *

         Wishing you all heavenly benedictions, we are, dear brethren, yours, in Christ Jesus,

J. P. DURBIN,

J. KENNADAY,

IGNATIUS T. COOPER,

WILLIAM H. GILDER,

JOSEPH CASTLE. Comm."

         The above extract, I presume, is correctly copied from the original Report made by the Committee to the Philadelphia Conference of the M. E. Church, at its annual session in Wilmington, Delaware, in April, 1847, and adopted by the Conference. The extract has been published in Mrs. Stowe's "Dred" and "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," which circulated throughout Europe and America. This Report did not profess to speak the sentiments of the New England and Western Conferences of the M. E.

Church, but simply those of the Philadelphia Conference. I was often confined to my room during that session of Conference, and did not know the contents of the Report till I read it in the Wilmington papers after the close of the session. After the division of the M. E. Church in 1844, there were troubles among our members in Accomac and Northampton Counties, Va. Many went off to the M. E. Church South, and wished all others to go with them; but many determined to remain in the M. E. Church. One or two of our preachers were mobbed. And for what? For teaching that holding slaves for gain was sin? No. For insisting that masters should teach slaves to read as a preparation for freedom? No. For getting up Sabbath-schools among colored people? No. What then caused the commotion? Simply this: that some said that they would continue to belong to the M. E. Church, and others said that all should join the M. E. Church South. It was a quarrel about mere names. There was no moral issue concerning slavery between the laity of the two denominations. In proof of this, I appeal to the Report of the

Committee of five of the most gifted and distinguished brethren of the Conference. The Report says that "some suspect us of being abolitionists;" but the Committee deny it, and say they are not "abolitionists," and do not intend or desire to be. What did the Committee mean by "abolitionist?" Simply one who believes and teaches that it is a sin in the private members of the M. E. Church to hold slaves, and that non-slaveholding should be a condition of membership. The Committee meant to say to the Virginia Methodists who remained with us, about as follows: "Does the M. E. Church South allow her private members, and class-leaders, and local preachers, to hold slaves for gain, and for life, and then leave them in bondage? So do we. We are not more opposed to slavery than the ministers of the M. E. Church South. If any person accuses us of being 'abolitionists,' they can with the same propriety accuse the ministers of the M. E. Church South of the same grievous offence."

         Now the whole country knows that the Church South is pro-slavery, that it glories in being so. This Report suggests to my mind these

inevitable reflections: 1st. It is unequivocally a pro-slavery document. 2d. Its doctrines are still held by a majority of the Philadelphia Conference, for the Conference has not repudiated them, but continues to send preachers to Virginia, with the understanding that they are to act in accordance with the Report. 3d. The right of the laity to breed and hold slaves is guaranteed to them by the present Discipline. 4th. The Committee, at that time, held the doctrine of the Discipline as their private views. 5th. If in the last ten years they have not changed their views, we must sorrowfully place them and their great talents and influence among the ranks and resources of the pro-slavery party. 6th. I repudiate the doctrine of the Report, and believe that slaveholding is a sin in all men. 7th. The Discipline of the M. E. Church ought to be altered so as to exclude slaveholders from the church. 8th. I believe three-fourths of all the ministry and laity of the M. E. Church are Christian abolitionists; that is, they are antislavery in sentiment.

SLAVERY IN THE PHILADELPHIA ANNUAL
CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL
CHURCH.

         I profess to know as much about slavery in the Philadelphia Conference as any member of the Conference of my age. I have travelled some of the most laborious circuits lying in the slave portions of its territory.

         In pursuing my pastoral duties, I have visited the abject slaves in their huts or cabins, the free negroes in their little houses, and baptized their children.

         I have seen slavery in the quarter, in the kitchen, and in the parlor; at the church, at the funeral, at the marriage, under the eye of the overseer in the fields, and on holiday occasions. I have seen it in its most disgusting forms, and amid circumstances so mild as to veil from the stranger its real character.

         I have witnessed its effects on the owners and employers, in the relations of master, mistress, and overseer. I have studied it with a painful and prayerful interest. From the year 1835, in which I confessed Christ, to this hour, I have

never wavered in my conviction that to hold a human being in bondage, as a chattel, would be a sin. For one human being has no right to force another to work for him, or take his labor without paying for it. One man has no right to own another; therefore, chattel slavery is a gross violation of right. It is sin and a crime. I always felt, too, that, if I treated a slave well, my death, or failure in business, might nevertheless consign him to chains and to the lash of the merciless slave-trader.

         Of the few hundred dollars received from my father's estate, one-fourth of the whole was in the person of a valuable and honest slave. I immediately filed a deed of manumission; and had I owned five hundred slaves, and had every cent I was worth been invested in them, I should have set them free. Believing slavery to be a sin, why should I have hesitated? "For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Nevertheless, I have patiently listened to every vulgar and obscene argument advanced in its favor, and read all the arguments in its defence from Dr. Fuller to Taylor Bledsoe. Dr. Fuller is the ablest advocate that has yet

taken the field in support of chattel slavery; and should he ever attempt to prove from the Bible that we ought not to eat with our teeth, or see with our eyes, he will be just as successful as in his defence of slavery. From all these antecedents, I think I am prepared to give a tolerably good idea of the state of things in the slaveholding portions of our Conference. As regards the supposed number of actual slave-holders immediately under the jurisdiction of our Conference, I have a word to say. By actual slaveholders, I mean those who hold them for gain, just as the utterly irreligious hold them; without any reference to brethren who have manumitted their slaves, to be free at twenty-five, thirty, or thirty-five years of age.

         According to the Minutes of the Conference for 1856, there were upward of 15,000 white members and probationers in the slave portion of the Conference. Of this number there are at least 1000 mercenary slaveholders; these thousand slaveholders own at least 3000 slaves. Numbers own from five to ten. I know one individual who owns 20. Intelligent laymen, in that section of the country, will not think

this a large estimate, but quite within the bounds of truth.

         I cannot speak for the Baltimore Conference, though it is certain it has a vastly larger slaveholding territory than the Philadelphia Conference. If that Conference has jurisdiction over one thousand mercenary slaveholders, and these own 3000 slaves, then we have 6000 slaves owned by 2000 members of the M. E. Church, all sheltered by the Discipline of our church.

         It is my opinion that 8000 of our Philadelphia Conference members, who are not actual slaveholders, are yet advocates of slavery; and would rejoice to inherit slaves, or otherwise obtain them. If these 3000 or 6000 slaves, doomed in their persons and posterity to toil that others may reap, could have appeared before the General Conference of 1856, that noble and generous body of Christian ministers would have been moved to tears. Indeed, the poor slave cannot go to conventions and Conference to plead his own cause. He cannot know his benefactors. His mind is doomed to eternal barrenness. He who advocates his cause, in the public estimation, partakes in some degree of his degradation.

I will advance another opinion. I do it with caution. I know it will be called in question, if not positively denied; but I court investigation; and if the statement can be proved false, I will rejoice.

         I make bold to declare that there are more slaves owned now by members of the M. E. Church than in 1845. There has been a vast increase of wealth in our church in the last fifteen years, especially among farmers. Wheat and corn have brought enormous prices. Luxury is on the increase, and slaves are very valuable. The pecuniary temptation to hold them is greater now than ever. Slaves have been better fed and clothed for the last twenty years than ever before in Maryland. The people of the free States scarcely know how fast slaves multiply. A brother who had two young girls in 1844 may now have twelve or fifteen young slaves as the product.

         "Why, you astonish me!" says one; "I thought that antislavery principles were on the increase since the division of the church."

         But the fact is, that our members don't care one cent how much the preachers slap each

other and the bishops about holding slaves; nor how much they talk against slavery in the abstract, and advocate colonization, if they will but abuse abolitionists without defining the term, and never hint, even in private conversation, that it is a sin in private members to hold slaves, and get rich upon their labor. When you strike that key-note, you will find out that there is very little difference between the laity of the M. E. Church and the laity of the M. E. Church South, in theory or practice, on the subject of slavery. Do the members of the church South hold slaves for life? So do ours. Do their slaves live in promiscuous intercourse? So do ours. Do they refuse to nominate and vote for men who will advocate State laws prohibiting masters from separating mother from children? So do our members. On one point there is entire unanimity among the laity in the slaveholding portion of our Conference, and that is, opposition to the free colored people having day schools, in which to teach their children to read the Word of God. I know numbers of free colored people who are able and willing to educate their children, but no person dare teach them;

and they must look on and see their children grow up in ignorance. A free negro can send his children to the grogshop with a black jug; he can get drunk, and no one interferes.

         Tell it not in old papal Rome that Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, in the nineteenth century, in the United States of America, are contending that a part of the human race should be kept in ignorance, gross and hopeless ignorance; that ignorance in slaves is the mother of devotion and State security; that the grog-shop is better than the schoolhouse; and rum better than education.

         A free colored man of property petitioned the Legislature of Maryland to pass a law to exempt his property from school-tax, as he could not educate his own children. Some of its members were in favor of the exemption; but the delegate from the county of the petitioner, who was a prominent member of the M. E. Church, opposed it, on the ground that the petitioner was exempt from military duty! But it is contended that the members of the Church South can sell negroes to the traders in flesh and blood, when they please, but that our members can be expelled

for such traffic. We will grant that this is the theory; but in practice there is very little difference, as far as my knowledge goes. There are many ways to avoid this rule and expulsion. Take an example.

         Bro. Hardshell wants money; perhaps he has an extravagant family. He has made up his mind to sell a negro man; and as he must have an excuse, he charges him with impudence. His conscience goads him; and he is ashamed to tie him, and ride with him to the county town, and be caught bargaining with the negro buyer. So he goes to Mr. Skinflint, who represents a class of men in the South that, for fifty cents, will give a woman stripped to her waist thirty-nine lashes, and offers him 25 dollars if he will come at night and take him to the negro buyer: and this is done, according to contract. Perhaps weeks elapse before the preacher hears it, and then it is "nigger news." It is considered beneath the dignity of a gentleman to be prowling around negro quarters to see if any slaves are missing. But should the preacher in charge call on Bro. Hardshell, he demands proof that he ever sold a slave. There is no proof at

hand. If he admits it, he charges the negro with being a thief, or being saucy, or with some other fault.

         This is about the end of the affair. And the preacher must not show too much zeal in the matter. If he does, the cry of "abolitionist" will soon ring about his ears. Mr. Skinflint can procure among his associates plenty of tar and feathers. It is sometimes the case that slaves under age commit crimes for which the courts order them to be sold. In such cases, Christian masters should not use that money for the support of their families, but use it for the good of the colored race.

         It is urged that, if we pronounce slaveholding a sin, we shall drive our slaveholding members into the Methodist Protestant, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches, and into the M. E. Church South, where a man can do what he pleases with his slaves without molestation. But we should "deal justly" and "love mercy," though the pillars of heaven fall.

         It is further contended that, if the General Conference should make slaveholding a test of membership, the preachers will not attempt to

carry it out in slaveholding territory. Very well. Then the responsibility will rest on the preachers and members of that particular locality. The church at large and the Discipline would be free from slaveholding taint; and brethren at the North and West would no longer have their cheeks mantled with shame, when infidels point to the Discipline as it is, and prove that it allows men to hold human beings in ignorance and slavery, and will them at death to ungodly relatives, who may sell them as oxen. Let no man in the ministry or laity of the M. E. Church leave her communion because her Discipline is not yet perfect; but let him pray and labor, and lift up his voice against the abominations of chattel slavery, till a sound public opinion shall blow it away like chaff before the whirlwind.

         Some fifteen years ago, the roll of the Philadelphia Conference was called, and each member, as his name was announced, was required to answer the following question: "Are you a slaveholder?" When my name was called, I made my first and nearly my last speech before the Conference. In my remarks I used this expression,

that I would lose my right arm sooner than be a voluntary slaveholder. When I sat down, the Rev. Robert Emory, whom I had never seen before, made his way toward me, and putting his arm affectionately around me, inquired if this was Bro. Long. I answered in the affirmative, when he introduced himself very good-humoredly. Whether he was pleased with the sentiments I had expressed, I cannot say. This was the first and last time I ever spoke to him.

         Since that time, the question has never been put, "Are you a slaveholder?" but another one has been substituted, and put to young preachers about to be received into the Conference: "Are you an abolitionist?" Is it not time to recur to the old question, "Are you a slaveholder?" I feel in my inmost soul that an awful storm cloud is gathering over the Philadelphia Conference. The feeling may be from earth--a morbid apprehension. It may be from Heaven. Nevertheless, I have the impression. Preachers brought up in Pennsylvania, who may be anti-slavery in their principles, are trammeled when they go into slave territory. They must own or

deny Christ with regard to slavery pretty soon; for things have come to that point that slaveholders want to know your sentiments soon after you arrive on the circuit. If the preacher denies his antislavery principles, he is a self-disgraced man at the bar of his own conscience. If he confesses them, he must leave, or be annoyed all the time. If he sells his principles for a wife or good salary, he becomes the worst of pro-slavery preachers. All apostates pursue this course. The fact is, the Philadelphia Conference has humored and compromised with slavery in Delaware and Maryland so long, that it is now unmanageable. The cry is stronger than ever, "The Discipline as it is!" And if the General Conference should ever make non-slaveholding and non-slave-breeding a test of membership, the Eastern Shore of Maryland will go to the Church South. And this after all the indulgence the North has shown toward the Border brethren; and after losing thousands of members in the free States, every year perhaps, because the Discipline allows private members to hold their fellow-creatures as chattels. And if a separation takes place, it will engender more bad feeling than it would have done in 1844.

CHAPTER IV.

THE MISCHIEVOUS COLT.

         THE colored people are remarkable for their reverence and respect for the public worship of God, notwithstanding their keen sense of the mirthful and ridiculous. On one occasion, however, I saw them lose their gravity, and show their white teeth in spite of themselves. In the second year of my ministry, in the month of May or June, in a beautiful grove of woods, I attempted to preach for my colored brethren, according to previous engagement. I had recently become the owner of a new hat, and had determined to take good care of it; for in these days I only received $100 per annum, finding my own horse, books, clothes, and traveling expenses. I had placed it immediately behind me. While singing the first hymn, a gentleman, who was a cripple, came riding by in his carriage, and seeing the congregation, concluded to stop and

listen to the sermon. His mare had a young colt, and a saucy fellow he was too. He soon made his way around the outskirts of the assembly; and when we knelt in prayer, he took the opportunity to steal up behind me, and with his mouth grabbed my new hat. The noise attracted my attention, and when I saw the danger my poor hat was in, I confess to the weakness of bringing my prayer to an abrupt close. I made at the colt, who, refusing to drop my hat, ran off to the woods, and I after him. After chasing him some distance, he let it fall, and ran for the carriage. The master, I suppose, shook his sides with laughter. The colored friends could not command their risibles. I made a few remarks in great confusion, and departed, hoping never again to encounter a frolicsome colt under similar circumstances.

THE MODEL MISTRESS.

         In one of the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, lying immediately on the road to the county town, are the beautiful farm and mansion of Mr. Willard. A spacious lawn leads from the road-gate to the house, with a row of poplars

on both sides. To the right is a large apple orchard, and in the month of May I have seen the ground literally covered with blossoms, the air redolent with their perfume; the bluebird, cat-bird, robin-redbreast, and wren, pouring forth sweetest music; while the mockingbird seemed to take pleasure in tantalizing the whole feathered company. I spent ten pleasant months under the hospitable roof of Mr. Willard, who was a member of the M. E. Church, having joined it in those days when it was considered wrong to hold slaves for life. He made it a rule to manumit all his slaves at a certain age, and he had already set free quite a number of them. Mrs. Willard was a member of the Presbyterian Church; and as she has passed away, in the hope of a glorious immortality, I feel at liberty to speak of her many virtues. "'Tis distance that lends enchantment" to the admiration we feel for many professors of religion; while close intimacy and observation are destructive of all respect for their character. Not so with Mrs. Willard. As time rolled on, some new and lovely trait would show itself, as a star appears in the heavens when darkness

comes on. To her, Christ was all and in all. She had dignity without stiffness, humility without weakness, and cheerfulness without levity. She had the most profound reverence for the name of God, and his holy Sabbath. She dressed plainly, and despised show and pretense. It gave her pleasure to impart happiness to others. As the mistress of her house, she ate not the bread of idleness. From garret to cellar, from parlor to kitchen, every thing passed under her notice. She did not encourage her servants in tattling and tale-bearing, and meddling with their neighbors' affairs. Nor did she indulge them one day, and have them cowhided the next. She neither scolded nor fretted. She was not a saint in the parlor, and a termagant in the kitchen. She cared for the temporal and spiritual interests of those over whom the Lord had made her mistress. Her female servants had rooms to themselves. Her kitchen was not a place where licentiousness called down the judgments of heaven. Her servants loved her, and treated her with great respect. She treated me as a son, and I loved her as a mother. She was a fine specimen of a true Maryland

lady; and as a mistress and a Christian wife and mother, I have never known her superior.

PHYSICIANS AND SLAVERY.

         Physicians, as a class, are equal to any profession in intellectual culture, humanity, and accomplished manners. The Christian ministry are greatly indebted to them for their professional services to themselves and families, and for the kindness and cheerfulness with which their labors are bestowed, and always free of charge. The Doctors of Medicine of the United States give away annually to the clergy not less, perhaps, than $100,000 in professional services, besides contributing in money, for charitable purposes, as much as any other class according to their wealth. Personally, I am specially indebted to them for their kindness to me in various sections of the country, having for years suffered from bilious affections and bleeding of the lungs. Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist physicians have treated me with equal attention and Christian kindness. Had they charged me for their services the same rates paid by those unconnected with the

ministry, I could not have supported my family. A braver set of men have never lived. The hero meets death with sword and plume. The presence of brave comrades and the soul-stirring strains of martial music, nerve him for the contest. The approving smile of his government rests upon him, and the pen of the historian is ready to embalm his name on the pages of his country's history. Who could not die thus? The physician coolly meets the pestilence at the midnight hour, in the lone cabin, or in the alleys of crowded cities, while the darts of death are flying thick around him. If he survives, it is regarded as a mere business transaction, and his noblest sacrifices and impulses are set down to the account of dollars and cents. If he dies, the grave too often covers his fame and name among men. In the South, colored people, free or slave, are treated kindly by physicians in their professional capacity. No hut is too lowly for them to enter. In this respect, they put to shame many preachers, and Bible and Tract agents, who avoid the hut of the negro, but visit the white man next door. What preacher ever thinks, in his pastoral visits

among his flock, of calling and praying with his despised sheep? Yet surely they need his pastoral attention more than any other class committed to his care.

THE TRUE THEORY, OR SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT.

         An educated farmer, who was a native of one of the Southern States, and a member of the M. E. Church, related to me his experience with regard to slavery and emancipation, in substance as follows: He owned several valuable slaves when he began his farming, and treated them with great kindness; but soon his troubles commenced. One slave would come to him with charges against another. He did not know which to believe. Things would be stolen. His slaves would idle away their time when they could. The farmer would often find meat and potatoes secreted about the premises in a decayed condition; an evidence that they were not wanted by the thief, when stolen. He at last detected one of the thieves, and threatened to sell him; but his wife interceded, and he forgave him. Yet theft was as common as ever. He

was worried and perplexed, yet did not despair. He looked into his own bosom, and found that Hope was the motive-power of his actions; that his labors were stimulated by the prospect of reward, of something that he could call his own. Applying this to the slave, he said to himself: "He is a man of like passions with myself. He works under the influence of despair and force. He has no motive to be honest or to labor." It then occurred to him that the system must be wrong; contrary to the whole nature of man. He determined to set his slaves free at a certain age. He called them all together, and told them what he had determined to do; and proposed to them that, at the commencement of the New Year, he wished them all to become partners with him in farming. He was to have so much for his part of the produce of the farm, and the balance was to be divided equally among themselves; and he knew, if they would be industrious, they might lay up money, so that, when they were free, they would have something to commence business with for themselves.

         They cheerfully agreed to the proposition.

He said that he never saw such a change as that which followed. There was no more stealing; and if one commenced to idle his time, the others would tell him that it was not fair for them to do the work, while he shared the produce equally with themselves. So to work he would go.

         The master began to experience what happiness was, and made more money than he did before. Several of his slaves became men of property and usefulness among the free colored community. Said a gentleman of Alabama to me: "You may imagine our fears, on our large plantations of 300 or 400 negroes, where frequently there are not more than ten or twelve white persons." Had that gentleman set them free, and given them a certain portion of the cotton crop, he might have slept sweetly, without any fear of the midnight assassin.

SLAVE DROVES.

         In all our county towns are located negro-traders or their agents. If any one doubts this fact, let him read their advertisements in the county papers. Thursdays and Saturdays are

the public days in the towns. A great deal of property is sold from various parts of the county at Court House doors, at sheriff's sale. At these auctions, numbers of slaves are sold. The trader or his agent is always present. He also attends the public vendues of deceased persons, where hogs, mules, horses, and negroes are sold. He is also very attentive to private calls from men at their houses. When he has collected a drove of negroes, he starts for the South. Such are the facilities for travel now, that he does not collect so great a number at a time as formerly.

         If the reader will take a good map of Maryland, he will find that the Pocomoke River divides Worcester from Somerset County, for more than twenty miles above its mouth. A traveler wishing to go to Norfolk, Va., from Princess Anne, the county town of Somerset, would have to cross this river at the Ferry about a mile above New Town, through which he must pass to Eastville, Va., and thence to Norfolk. To the Ferry my father removed in 1824, where he had bought property. It was here that I spent several years of my life. It was here that I witnessed some of the scenes

which I will now attempt to describe, and which are so deeply pictured on my memory as to cast a gloom over the associations of my youthful home.

         Picture the following scene, which I have often witnessed: One or two negro-buyers, mounted on horses, with pistols peeping from their pockets, with large loaded whips in their hands, and cursing the slaves with deep oaths. A large two or four-horse wagon, laden with women and children. Negro men walking, handcuffed and chained around the ankle, two and two; and when the two men were not of the same height, the chains were very painful; or, if the negro was very large, the foot-cuff too small for his ankle, he suffered great agony. I have seen them, at the Ferry, under the necessity of violating the decencies of nature before the women, not being permitted to retire. The first drove I saw, after the love of Christ was shed abroad in my heart, caused me to wring my hands in deep agony. It cast a gloom over me for several days. Slaves from Somerset County could follow their friends as far as the Ferry; here they had to part. Here I have

seen mothers part with their children, and brothers with their sisters. Here I have heard them bid adieu thus: "Farewell, mother;" "farewell, child;" "farewell, John;" "farewell, Bill;" and then rend the air with their cries and lamentations. Dear reader, is it unreasonable that I should feel deeply on this subject? This infamous traffic is still carried on in every part of Maryland, but not in so vulgar a manner. The slaves are conveyed in close carriages to the steamboats, via Baltimore. It is a shameful fact that, in the South, church-members are constantly selling church-members, professed saints selling real ones, and infidels selling the members of Christ's body. Barter and traffic in temples of the Holy Ghost are carried on. Native Americans sell Native Americans; white Whigs and Democrats sell black Whigs and Democrats (for slaves generally profess the politics of their masters); and all this is done in the "land of the free, and the home of the brave." What is the fountain that feeds all these streams of negro-droves, outrages, indecencies, handcuffs and blighting separations of the dearest relations of life? The relation of owner and slave. Who furnishes

the material for these slave factories? The man who breeds them, lets them be sold for his debts, wills them to his children, or gives them away during his lifetime, that they may be sold.

UNCLE LEVI.

         In a dense pine woods were a small lot of cleared ground, and a hut built of pine logs with clay chimney. The earthen floor was often sprinkled with clean white sand. A few peach-trees surrounded the cabin. Near by was a spring of sweet water. Here the mocking-bird sang his wild notes, and the owl woke the slumbering echoes of the night. Every thing in the inclosure seemed contented. The pig ate, grunted, and slept. The cow lay chewing her cud. The watch-dog whined in his daydreams outside the hut in a sunny corner; and puss lay stretched in the fire-place within. In summer time, after morning class and preaching, might have been seen an aged couple, sitting at the door of their tent--Uncle Levi and his wife. Levi was a slave in law, but never in spirit. The master who owned him in his old age,

treated him with great kindness and respect. He was the patriarch of the great home plantation. He was converted under the first Methodist preacher that visited Maryland.

         Levi has now passed into the heavens. When I saw him last, his form was erect; his white hair gave him a venerable appearance. He was a remarkable man in his moral tone. He was rigidly honest and truthful. He had not tasted liquor since his conversion. He would not go in debt. He spent all his leisure time in cultivating his lot; and, enjoying remarkable health, he was regular at church. He related to me substantially the following incident in his history. When he joined the Methodist Society, he was taught that to drink spirituous liquor was a sin, except in cases of necessity. Harvest time came. All the hands drank but himself. His master observed that he refused to drink. He wanted to know the reason. Uncle Levi informed him that he was a Methodist, and it was wrong for him to drink. He told his master that he "did more work now than when he drank." His master said "he should drink." He refused. His master got into a rage and

ordered the hands to tie him. His master had a glass of liquor pressed to his mouth, but Levi closed his lips. Sending to the house for his gun, his master loaded it in his presence. He had the bosom of his slave laid bare, and gave him a short time to decide whether he would obey. If he did not, he told him he would shoot him on the spot, for rebellion. Levi replied that he could not sin against Christ, and that he was willing to be shot. He was convinced that his master would do what he said; but, just at the critical moment, a friend rode up, and inquired what was the matter; took the gun from the infuriated man; and, finding that Levi did not mean to disobey his master in things lawful, soon brought about a reconciliation. Ever afterward his master loved and respected him.

         Here was a noble instance of the martyr spirit. Such was Uncle Levi. There was no power in chattel slavery to make him do a thing that he thought was contrary to the will of heaven. And to be a Christian, every slave must be ready to die at any time.

CHAPTER V.

ABOLITIONIST.

         WHAT a mad dog is on the crowded thoroughfare--what a heretic is in Spain--what a Republican is in Russia, the abolitionist is in the Slave States.

         Many good but timid men fear and tremble at the very thought of being branded as an abolitionist. This one word of twelve letters has done more to kill off the antislavery feeling of the South, in church and state, than any other in the English language. The slaveholder will not stop to define it. That would defeat his object. The term is now applied to men of the purest Christian faith and morals.

         Let it be known that you believe slavery to be a sin; that you mean what you say, then take care. Once let a negro-catcher, or a grog-shop politician, point you out, and say, as you walk the streets "There goes an abolitionist!"

you are at the mercy of the mob, unless your wealth and political influence shield you. A Methodist slaveholder, who was defending his right to hold slaves, said to me, "I hear that you are an abolitionist." "Sir," I replied, "if you mean by abolitionist one that would persuade a slave to run a way from his master, or cut his master's throat, then I am not an abolitionist; but, if you mean one who believes it a sin to hold one's fellow-beings in bondage, then I am an abolitionist."

         I could relate a bitter experience on this subject, giving dates and places; but I forbear. Ofttimes has the lip of contempt and the eye of vengeance met my glance, the vulgar jest and obscene allusion saluted my ears, as the "negro preacher" passed along. I have known good men, who would not hold slaves, when questioned upon the subject, say, "I am no abolitionist." There is one thing that gives me pleasure, in view of a dying hour and the judgment-seat of Christ,--that I have not quailed before the oppressors of the African race. I believe that, on the subject of slavery and religion, there is no neutral ground. Opposition to slavery

"in the abstract" will not do before Heaven, and will not do much longer before men. The conservatives will have to quit blowing hot and cold, and must take a decided position one way or the other.

TATTLING.

         Slavery produces laziness, and laziness begets tale-bearing and tattling. This is natural. If people will not labor either with their hands or head, or both, in useful employment, they will use their tongues about other people's business. The masses of the South are not readers. Yet they have all the natural talent and inquisitiveness of the people of New England, without their industry, books, and periodicals to supply the demand for intellectual stimulus. Hence there is necessarily more "small talk" in the South than in the North. Many of the slaves are perfect adepts in it; yet they are wholly irresponsible. It is considered dishonorable for persons to break friendship on what is called "nigger news." Yet it is done; and the difficulty is that you cannot reconcile the parties, for the one that believes the negro testimony is

ashamed to avow the authorship of the mischief, and the other party remains in ignorance of the cause of the altered conduct of his friend. This is a feature of Southern society, arising out of slavery, which I have not seen alluded to by any writer on the subject. But experience as a pastor has taught me the lesson. Neighbors often get to know the family secrets of one another through their servants, to the great annoyance and mortification of high-minded gentlemen and ladies, who abominate and detest tattling in all persons and classes. Masters and mistresses are frequently not careful in talking before some half-grown negro girl, who pretends to be snoring fast asleep in the chimney corner; and some servants, finding that tattling pleases their mistresses, become quite skillful in manufacturing stories about their neighbors, in order to minister to this morbid curiosity.

         Example--Scene first and last.

• MRS. SLOUCHY and her slave girl NELL.
• MRS. TWADDLE.
• Mr. SODAWATER; his slaves NANCE, BOB, and BILL.
• MISS TRUTHFUL.

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Nell, run right quick and

tell Mrs. Twaddle to come over and spend the afternoon with me; tell her she must be sure and come, and bring her snuff-box with her."

         Nell goes, running with all speed. Mrs. Twaddle comes immediately.

         Mrs. Slouchy. "How are you, Mrs. Twaddle? I am so glad to see you. I have been thinking about you the whole blessed day. Right smart and cold to-day, Mrs. Twaddle; take a seat by the fire. Nell, you can go after your cow, and cut some wood for the night. Nell, get the spittoon before you go. Mrs. Twaddle, did you bring your snuff-box?"

         Mrs. Twaddle. "O yes, Mrs. Slouchy; I never go without it."

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Tush! now, let's have a rub of snuff."

         The box is passed round. The gums and jaw-teeth are carefully plastered with it by the insertion of the right fore-finger; and then the salivating and spitting commence.

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Mrs. Twaddle, have you heard the report about Mr. Sodawater?"

         Mrs. Twaddle. "No; what is it?"

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Now, if you be sure and not

let it be known, even to your husband, I will tell you."

         Mrs. Twaddle. "O, do tell me; I will never whisper it."

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Well, it's 'nigger news;' yet I believe niggers can tell the truth sometimes, as well as any person else. Well, my Nell ran over last night to see Mr. Sodawater's Nance, and Bob and Bill live there. Now, I told Nell not to stay long; but she came poking home about one o'clock, and I told her if she did so again, I would cowskin her. You know, Mrs. Twaddle, that it is hard to keep negro girls from running about at night; but 'niggers will be niggers;' but I would not care about it if it was not that I don't want to be bothered with her brats crying and squalling in the kitchen. She has as much as she can do to attend to the family.

         "Lah me, Mrs. Twaddle! give me some more snuff. I liked to have forgot what I was talking about. Now I remember. Mr. Sodawater's Nance told my Nell that her master came home drunk last night, and his face was bloody where he fell down, and his wife had a great time with him."

         Mrs. Twaddle. "Dear me, what is the world coming to! Why, he is my class-leader. Well, well, I always thought he was a hypocrite, and I have said that he would come to some bad end."

         Enter MISS TRUTHFUL.

         Miss Truthful. "How are you, ladies? I thought I would step in a moment and give you a good religious tract. I have just called on Bro. Sodawater, and I suppose you have heard of his misfortune."

         Mrs. Slouchy. "What is it?"

         Miss Truthful. "In returning from his office last night, he attempted to part two drunken rowdies that were fighting, and they turned on him and beat him very badly."

         Exit Miss Truthful.

         Twaddle hastily gets her bonnet, and goes home.

         MRS. SLOUCHY AND NELL.

         Mrs. Slouchy. "Nell, how came you to tell that story on Mr. Sodawater?"

         Nell. "Why, missis, Nance told me so; indeed she did."

THE CHURCH TRIAL.

         I was appointed preacher in charge on--Circuit. Soon after my arrival on the circuit, I was informed that Brother A., one of the most talented and influential men in that part of the country, had sold one or two of his negroes. It was also stated that there was no proof against him, though the negroes were missing; and that the church was suffering in consequence of the report, as it was believed to be true. I was also informed that, if I attempted to investigate the charge, trouble might be expected; that the transgressor was a "rough man to handle;" and that he had never been defeated in any trial.

         I was told that, some years previously, he had sold a young negro-man. He sent the poor fellow to the negro buyer alone, with a letter. The letter was to inform the trader that the bearer was the boy sold; and when the unfeeling savage attempted to tie him, he fought bravely, supposing that the purchaser was a kidnapper, exclaiming, "My master don't know that you are taking me away!" And such was his confidence in his master's word, it

was impossible to convince him that he had been thus meanly sold; and he went South under the impression that he was kidnapped, and that his master did not know what had become of him. For this act he had been tried before the church, when, by his overbearing temper, he frightened preacher and committee, and was acquitted.

         Now, what was to be done? I was a stranger, so debilitated with chills and fever that all excitement had a tendency to prostrate me. And, since my arrival on the circuit, this gentleman had shown me the utmost kindness. My wife was sick, and I was pressed down with care. But conscience asserted her rights; and when I thought of the oppressed ones, I determined to investigate the affair. I knew, if I did any thing at all, I must do it quickly. No member of the church would stand responsible for any thing. Determined to assume the responsibility, I drew up a charge specifying the offence, and sent it to him in a letter, over my own name, requesting him to meet me, before a Committee of seven, the next week. He promised to comply. The appointed time came. It was the day my chills came on,

and I rode to the place of meeting with enfeebled body and heavy heart. The Committee met at the time agreed upon, and Mr. A. was there also. Knowing the Committee to be ignorant men, he felt certain of an easy victory. He received me with great kindness; but I could detect a lurking smile of contempt for the sick preacher and the ignorant Committee. He evidently anticipated a complete triumph, and was preparing to rejoice. We opened the business with prayer; and before I had time to state the object of the meeting, he arose, opened the letter I had sent him containing the charge, and with the most contemptuous scowl I ever witnessed, commenced a speech. He addressed himself to me substantially as follows:

         "May it please your Reverence: You have preferred a charge against me, and summoned me to appear before this Committee, on mere report, without any proof whatever; and I here let you know that you cannot compel me to testify against myself. Now prove to this Committee, if you can, that I sold the woman and child. I ask for proof, and defy you to do any thing without it." He took his seat.

         The Committee were alarmed, and commenced to speak one to another, saying, "There is no proof; we will have to acquit him:" &c. &c.

         I arose and addressed him thus: "Bro. A.: I am aware that you are not required to confirm yourself before a civil tribunal; but you are now before a Committee of your brethren, who cannot allow the truth to be suppressed and our church injured by technicalities of law. Report says you are guilty of the crime specified. Your reputation is suffering; the Church of Christ is suffering; and we have brought the matter here for a fair and full investigation, and for the good of all concerned. Now, if you will say that you have not sold her, and that she is at home, then the matter will drop, and we will go out into the community and defend you; but if you have sold her, then don't stand here quibbling about proof. As an honest Christian man, you ought to affirm or deny the charge."

         He immediately arose and said: "I sold her; more than I designed to admit when I came here; and I shall not tell you any thing about the circumstances under which I sold her."

         He contended that he had not broken the

Discipline in selling her. He explained the rule, which reads thus, "the buying and selling of men, women, and children, with an intention to enslave them," to mean, "trading in negroes."

         I differed from him. The Committee brought in a verdict of guilty on his own admission, and I expelled him. He refused to appeal to the Quarterly Conference. I expected that he would be exceedingly angry; but he was calm after hearing the decision, and continued to hear me preach till his death. I had the satisfaction to know that he entertained no unkind feelings, for he remarked to a friend that I had done my duty. If he had refused to acknowledge the fact of the sale, he could have remained in the church.

         Now, I say, from my observation and experience, that a member of the church can evade the rule about buying and selling in numerous ways; and that the only true course is to strike at negro-breeding in the church. Let no slaveholder into the church. Let him not be sheltered by the Discipline. It is impossible, in this wicked world, that any church or society should have all good men in it. Some persons

belonging to every Christian church may swear and get drunk; but they cannot do it, and appeal to their church manuals as guaranteeing them the right to do so.

         If we had a rule excluding slaveholders, we might still have members who would advocate slavery as something right and just, and vote for men that will sustain it; yet they could not appeal to the Church Discipline, and say, "This book gives me the right to do so; and you cannot put me out for holding in bondage my fellow-beings." As the Discipline now is, men can breed slaves for their children and grand-children; and, when no white person is present, sell them with impunity. I could give facts of recent occurrence; but I forbear. This thing is done in all the churches in slave territory that I am acquainted with, except among the Friends or Quakers.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE OVER SLAVES.

         We find it impossible, from the nature of their condition, to exercise church-discipline over slaves for fornication or adultery. We have to leave them to the judgment of the All-seeing

Eye. White members cannot be expelled from the church unless tried by a committee of lay brethren. But slaves are taken in and expelled at the will of their class-leaders; and this is the best that can be done under the circumstances. Pastors have no right to summon a slave to trial, or as a witness, from the work of his master. And as many slaves are guilty of the crime, they will not inform against each other. If they do inform, they get no credit from their master, and are sure to be hated by their fellow-slaves. Masters have the power to drive from her house the husband of his slave woman, and compel her to take any colored man they please. Their power overrides all church authority. Pastors cannot visit a dying or sick slave, no matter how much the slave desires it, unless the master gives permission. A slave boy may disobey his father, and yet that father dare not correct him if the master forbids it. Chattel slavery and licentiousness are inseparable; and he who defends the one must defend the other.

CEASE TO DO EVIL.

         Methodist preachers teach that men ought

to cease from evil at once. "Behold, now is the accepted time! To-morrow may be too late!" When should we set our slaves free? Now? All under forty or forty-five years? Immediately. A brother preacher related to me the following anecdote.

         At a camp-meeting, a brother was leading in prayer, and among other petitions he prayed the Lord to curtail the power of the Devil. A poor African, behind the pulpit, who perhaps had seen pictures of the devil with a long tail and hoofs, misapprehended the meaning of the word curtail, and responded, "Amen! may it be cut right, smack, smooth, short off." The poor colored man was opposed to cutting a piece off at a time. He wanted short work made of it, and smooth at that.

CHAPTER VI.

LOVE OF MILITARY TITLES.

         A TRAVELER from the North will be struck with the number of captains, colonels, majors, and generals in the South, in proportion to the white population. We should honor those to whom honor is due. The soldier by education and profession, or who has suffered and fought for his country, is worthy of his titles; but it is unfair and absurd for men in civil life, farmers, merchants, mechanics and lawyers, who have never smelt gunpowder, except when shooting crows, blackbirds and partridges, to claim and share the titles of regular military officers. Doctors are generally satisfied with the title which their profession confers. Unless a lawyer becomes a judge, he has no title, and remains a simple "Esquire." Some lawyers are very fond of being "coloneled," by way of breaking the monotony of their life. Perhaps there

is one advantage in having so many colonels: it may keep the poor whites in awe of their superiors, and serve to scare the negroes.

COMMON SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-HOUSES.

         There are several colleges in the South, but many of them are no better than first-class academies in the North. Almost every county town of 1000 inhabitants has an academy, principally for the sons of the rich. Very little provision is made for the education of the poor. The school-houses are lonely, desolate, wretched-looking, one-story buildings, situated with no regard to shade, convenience, or play-grounds. What windows! what doors! what benches without backs! what fine places to give the boys and girls spinal diseases and consumption! There is not much difficulty in raising money in the South for a barbecue, or to procure pine and hickory poles and flags, or to buy whisky, for political purposes; but when funds are wanted for a library, to build a school-house, or to increase the salary of a school-teacher--that is quite another question.

         A common-school teacher does not occupy a

very high social position in public estimation. A "gentleman horse-jockey" stands head and shoulders above him. The rich generally educate their children at home, until old enough to send to college or boarding-school. The instructors of youth should occupy as honorable a position in society as any other class of men. Until this is the case, our progress in civilization and useful learning will not be rapid.

MISSIONARY SPEECHES.

         I confess that I have felt trammeled in the South while making missionary speeches. If I described Africa without the knowledge of letters and the Bible, and urged the importance of sending the living teacher, I saw in the galleries before me men who had grown up in our families, and under the shadow of our school-houses and churches, without any effort having been made to open to their immortal minds the more than golden treasure of the words of Jesus. I knew these men had equal claims upon the church with their brethren in Africa. Frequently the offerings of their masters were the product of their own involuntary earnings.

A sense of shame has come over me for these inconsistencies, and paralyzed my efforts. If a minister devotes much of his time to them, and manifests much interest in their welfare, he may get the name of "negro preacher;" and as he passes by a crowd of miserable loafers, he will hear one say. "That man's got the nigger mania; he's just fit to preach to niggers!" and even his superiors in office may give him a few cold, discouraging hints. Forsaken by the church, persecuted by the world, and disliked by the immoral negroes themselves, the man of God can look only to Heaven for support and encouragement. But let a man go to Africa, and his labors for the negro are lauded to the skies by young orators at our missionary anniversaries. I am not opposing foreign missions[.] I am trying to rebuke that sickly religious zeal that can cry over the condition of the negro in Africa, and yet have no sympathy for the unfortunate condition of those in America.

THE PASTORATE.

         I had rather be the pastor of a congregation in a free State than be a presiding elder or a

bishop. For this reason. The office of an elder or bishop would deprive me of the duties and pleasures of the pastorate. To be surrounded with a kind flock, to weep when they weep, to rejoice when they rejoice, to build up when tempted, to console in distress, is to my mind the acme of human felicity. The weakest and most obscure of the flock should have access to their best earthly friend, and pour into his ear, if they desire it, their troubles, their doubts, and their temptations. But chattel slavery raises barriers between the pastors and the slave that are seldom, if ever, crossed. If the slaves are maltreated by their masters, they fear to go to their preachers with their trouble. If the masters were to know of their servants making complaints, both preacher and slave would fare badly, for both are in the hands of the master. Slaveholders, united, can starve the preacher and sell the slaves. The whole truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as the pastorate in the South between the white preacher and slaves, and never can be, from the nature of slave society and its consequences. If the preacher is pro-slavery, the slaves will never come to him,

for they look upon him as an ally of the master; consequently, have no faith in his religion.

A DANGEROUS MAXIM.

         "My country, right or wrong," said a brother preacher in my presence. I pronounce this a bad maxim, full of the poison of evil. My country and my church, when right. When wrong, I will pray for their reformation; and, if need be, cry aloud and show them their sins and abominations. Suppose a father were to say to his sons that he intended to stand by them, right or wrong; suppose a pastor were say to his congregation, "I will justify you, no matter what sins you commit" --what would be thought of such a father and such a minister? This dangerous American maxim is too much acted out by individuals and States.

SELLING NEGROES BY THE POUND.

         This idea was suggested to me by a gentleman who stated that he was present when a slave was sold to the traders. A pair of scales being in the house, some of the party weighed the body of the slave, and made a calculation

of the price of the slave per pound. A young colored man will bring from seven to eight dollars per pound at this time, and bright mulatto girls a little more. Beef cattle from seven to eight cents per pound.

HOG THIEF.

         In the days of my youthful inexperience, I concluded that those who shed the most tears, and used the best language while relating their religious experience, had most piety. My views were modified from the following painful incident: One of the most eloquent men I ever heard speak in class-meeting was a colored man. He would relate his experience with great force and power, while large tears would roll down his cheeks. But he fell from his high estate. He stole a hog, confessed it, and was sentenced to the penitentiary. Gifts and grace are not always found together in black or white.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

         I was discussing, with an acquaintance who was a slaveholder, that feature of Popery which forbids freedom of speech where it has the

power to do it, and referred to Italy, where a man is not allowed to preach against Popery publicly. "Very true," said he; "but you know, very well, that there is no freedom of speech in Maryland. You know that we would not permit you to preach against slavery publicly. A man can do it in Massachusetts, but not here." He closed my mouth effectually. I felt that it was true. I said no more to him about Popery. Slavery and popery are twin sisters.

WASHINGTON AND PATRICK HENRY.

         Of late years, the question of slavery meets you everywhere; and the time is very near when woe be unto that man who shall attempt to occupy neutral ground upon the subject. Discussing the question of slavery with a distinguished son of Virginia, he defended the entire system, even the separation of parents and children. I suggested that his views were in opposition to those expressed by Washington and Henry. He admitted the fact, and added that "any well-instructed Virginia lad was better informed upon that subject than they were." As a matter of course, the conversation then

ceased. The immortal Washington emancipated all his negroes at his death; and if all the great slaveholders of Virginia had followed his example, the Old Dominion would not now be the fourth State in the Union. Virginia is remarkable for having given birth to more Presidents than any other State. She gave the first President to this great Republic. Ex-president Roberts, the first President of the Republic of Liberia, on the west coast of Africa, is also a native of Virginia. Maryland has given birth to but one president, and he is a "Black Republican;" we allude to President Benson, the present chief-magistrate of Liberia.

MARTYRS.

         It has ever been the practice of the world, and worldly churches, to extol the martyrs of the past, to build tombs and monuments to their memory, and to despise and persecute the martyrs of the present. I have no doubt that those who burned John Rogers at the stake at Smithfield, were great admirers of St. Stephen. It has forcibly struck me, in reading the lives of martyrs, ancient and modern, that they were

never put to death by their persecutors for doing good works, or for loving their Creator with all their hearts, and their neighbors as themselves, but for meddling with politics, for violating the laws of the land, or for speaking against the customs and prejudices of their country! Our Divine Saviour was crucified on the charge of treason--of trying to overthrow the government of Cæsar. When Stephen was stoned to death, his enemies did not admit that it was for his goodness, but for speaking against the law of Moses and the custom of the Jews. The Jews despised the Gentiles as much as an American does a negro. And in these last days the test of martyrdom is opposition to slavery.

THE BEE-HIVE.

         My father took great pleasure in raising bees. He had one swarm that no kindness and attention could tame or conciliate. There was a very self-conceited colored man in his employ, who boasted that he could rob them without being stung. He insisted that it was one's clothes that irritated bees, and that he would rob them for a given price. The bargain was made, and

Arnold commenced, with his shirt off, in good earnest. He took the hive down, knocked off the head, and in a moment the bees swarmed on his neck and head, putting hundreds of stings in his black skin. As he had boasted so much of his skill, he endured it for some time, while I--then a boy--was rolling over in the garden, convulsed with laughter. Finally, nature could endure the agony no longer. Arnold gave a groan of despair, dropped his tub, sprang like a deer over the railing of the garden and plunged into the river to drown his tormentors.

         The spirit of slavery, like that hive of bees, cannot be tamed. You may take your hat off to it, and your shirt also; but it will not do. It will sting its best friends as well as its deadliest enemies. It must be drowned in the river of life and in the ocean of righteousness.

BORDER TROUBLES.

         I was brought up only a few miles from Accomac County, Virginia. There was considerable trouble there some years ago, upon the slavery question. It is reported that peace reigns again on the Border. I trust it has a good basis. I

would not augment the trouble of any real anti-slavery man, if such there be. But I have my fears. I was conversing with a brother on the troubles of the church. He stood by the M. E. Church through all her difficulties. At the close of the conversation, said I, "Brother, are you a slaveholder?" He replied that he was. "Do you intend to free yourself from slavery?" He answered that he did not intend so to do.

         I believe that, as a church, we offer the same facilities to our members for negro-breeding, for the holding of slaves for life, and for devising them to relatives, as the M. E. Church South does. We leave it with our members to decide for themselves. But, says a preacher on the Border: "If I were to hint to my class-leaders and stewards that holding slaves as chattels for life was a sin, they would run me off, and the M. E. Church South would get our members. It is only by allowing our members the privileges enjoyed by our Southern brethren, we can maintain our ground." If these are the conditions upon which we are to maintain our ground, the sooner we give it up the better. We can go to China and Turkey, and preach salvation

to all persons without being molested. If you are persecuted in one city, you can flee to another. I suppose we cannot preach the Gospel in Rome or Spain; and, until we can preach the truth there, we had better wait till God in his providence opens our way. No real antislavery preacher can be wholly silent on this subject. If he is silent, his own manhood begins to sink in slavery. One who is thoroughly pro-slavery in sentiment is not fit to preach to any people. One or two years ago I was visiting near the Border, and I remarked to an acquaintance that, if I resided there, I would get up a Sabbath-school among the negroes. He answered that it would not be allowed; "he should mark me as an abolitionist." I told him, if I had the opportunity the effort would be made.

CEASE AGITATING SLAVERY.

         The American nation may be compared to a building or temple on fire. Chattel slavery is the fire consuming the building. The antislavery men are running with engine and hose to arrest the flames, and, if possible, to save the

building. Here comes a Southern pro-slavery man, as hoarse as if he had wool in his throat, and exclaims, "What is the matter here? Let the fire alone; it's none of your business! So clear yourselves!" "But it is our business," reply the antislavery men. "The fire will not only consume the southern portion of the building, but will spread to the northern part, and burn us all out of house and home." "No danger of this," says a northern pro-slavery man, choked up with cotton. "Let it alone, and slavery will die out of itself; agitation only makes it worse; the more water you pour on it, the fiercer it burns, because it is like no other kind of fire in the universe." Other kinds of fire may be quenched with water, all other subjects may be agitated, but this must not be disturbed. If you wish to put down swearing, you must preach against it. If you wish to put down drunkenness, you must hold up the evil effects of intoxication. If a merchant wants to sell goods, he must advertise in the newspapers. Every thing must be agitated but slavery. Just let it alone, and it will increase at the rate of 100,000 slaves yearly, or 1,000,000

every ten years, and die out of itself, especially in Texas; and when the slave-trade is reopened in Africa, and the Southern newspapers, books and pulpits are teeming with arguments in its defense, it will die out. O yes, it will die out of itself!

THE WHITE CROW.

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