Address to the Non-Slaveholders of the South Part 3

No society is free from vices and crime, and we well know that human depravity springs from another source than slavery. It will not, however, be denied that circ.u.mstances and inst.i.tutions may check those evil propensities to which we are all p.r.o.ne; and it will, we presume, be admitted that in forming an opinion of the moral condition and advancement of any community, we are to be guided in our judgment, not by insulated facts, but by the _tone of public opinion_. Atrocities occur in the best regulated and most virtuous States, but in such they excite indignation and are visited with punishment; while in vicious communities they are treated with levity and impunity.

In a country where suffrage is universal, the representatives will but reflect the general character of their const.i.tuents. If we are permitted to apply this rule in testing the moral condition of the South, the result will not be favorable.

In noticing the public conduct of public men, we are not sensible of violating any principle of courtesy or delicacy; we touch not their private character or their private acts; we refer to their language and sentiments, merely as one indication of the standard of morals among their const.i.tuents, not as conclusive proof apart from other evidence.

On the 15th February, 1837, R. M. Whitney was arraigned before the House of Representatives for contempt in refusing to attend when required before a Committee. His apology was that he was afraid of his life, and he called, as a witness in his behalf, one of the Committee, Mr.

Fairfield, since Governor of the State of Maine. It appeared that in the Committee, Mr. Peyton of Virginia had put some interrogatory to Whitney, who had returned a written answer which was deemed offensive. On this, as Mr. Fairfield testified, Peyton addressed the Chairman in these terms, "Mr. Chairman, I wish you to inform this witness, that he is not to insult me in his answers: if he does, G.o.d d.a.m.n him! I will take his life on the spot!" Whitney rose and said he claimed the protection of the Committee, on which Peyton exclaimed, "G.o.d d.a.m.n you, you shan't speak, you shan't say one word while you are in this room, if you do I will put you to death!" Soon after, Peyton observing that Whitney was looking at him, cried out, "d.a.m.n him, his eyes are on me--G.o.d d.a.m.n him, he is looking at me--he shan't do it--d.a.m.n him, he shan't look at me!"

The newspaper reports of the proceedings of Congress, a few years since, informed us that Mr. Dawson, a member from Louisiana, went up to Mr.

Arnold, another member, and said to him, "If you attempt to speak, or rise from your seat, sir, by G.o.d I'll cut your throat!"

In a debate on the Florida war, Mr. Cooper having taken offence at Mr.

Giddings of Ohio, for some remarks relative to slavery, said in his reply, "If the gentleman from Ohio will come among my const.i.tuents and promulgate his doctrines there, he will find that Lynch law will be inflicted, and that the gentleman will reach an elevation which he little dreams of."

In the session of 1841, Mr. Payne, of Alabama, in debate, alluding to the abolitionists, among whom he insisted the Postmaster-General ought to be included, declared that he would proscribe all abolitionists, he "would put the brand of Cain upon them--yes, the mark of h.e.l.l, and if they came to the South he would HANG THEM LIKE DOGS!"

Mr. Hammond, of South Carolina, at an earlier period thus expressed himself in the House: "I warn the abolitionists, ignorant, infatuated barbarians as they are, that if chance shall throw any of them into our hands, they may expect a FELON'S DEATH!"

In 1848, Mr. Hale, a Senator from New Hampshire, introduced a bill for the protection of property in the District of Columbia, attempts having been made to destroy an anti-Slavery press. Mr. Foote, a Senator from Mississippi, thus expressed himself in reply: "I invite him (Mr. H.) to the State of Mississippi, and will tell him before-hand, in all honesty, that he could not go ten miles into the interior, before he would grace one of the tallest trees of the forest, with a rope around his neck, with the approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen, and that, if necessary, I SHOULD MYSELF a.s.sIST IN THE OPERATION."

And now, fellow-citizens, do these men, with all their profanity and vulgarity, breathing out threatenings and slaughter, represent the feelings, and manners, and morals of the slaveholding community? We have seen no evidence that they have lost a particle of popular favor in consequence of their ferocious violence. Alas! their language has been re-echoed again and again by public meetings in the slave States; and we proceed to lay before you overwhelming proof that in the expression of their murderous feelings towards the abolitionists, they have faithfully represented the sentiments of their const.i.tuents.

VII. DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE.

We have already seen that one of the blessings which the slaveholders attribute to their favorite inst.i.tution, is exemption from popular tumults, and from encroachments by the democracy upon the rights of property. Their argument is, that political power in the hands of the poor and laboring cla.s.ses is always attended with danger, and that this danger is averted when these cla.s.ses are kept in bondage. With these gentlemen, life and liberty seem to be accounted as the small dust of the balance, when weighed against slavery and plantations; hence, to preserve the latter they are ever ready to sacrifice the former, in utter defiance of laws and const.i.tutions.

We have already noticed the murderous proposition in relation to abolitionists, made by Governor M'Duffie to the South Carolina Legislature in 1835: "It is my deliberate opinion that the _laws_ of every community should punish this species of interference, by DEATH without benefit of clergy." In an address to a legislative a.s.sembly, Governor M'Duffie refrained from the indecency of recommending _illegal_ murder; but we will soon find that the public sentiment of the South by no means requires that abolitionists shall be put to death with legal formalities; but on the contrary, the slaveholders are ready, in the language of Mr. Payne, to "hang them like dogs."

We hazard little in the a.s.sertion, that in no civilized Christian community on earth is human life less protected by law, or more frequently taken with impunity, than in the slave States of the Federal Union. We wish to impress upon you the danger and corruption to which you and your children are exposed from the inst.i.tution, which, as we have shown you, exists by your sufferance. But you have been taught to respect this inst.i.tution; and hence it becomes necessary to enter into details, however painful, and to present you with authorities which you cannot reject. What we have just said of the insecurity of human life, will probably be deemed by you and others as abolition slander. Listen, then, to slaveholders themselves.

"We long to see the day," said the Governor of Kentucky in his message to the Legislature, 1837, "when the law will a.s.sert its majesty, and stop the wanton destruction of life which almost _daily_ occurs within the jurisdiction of this commonwealth. MEN SLAUGHTER EACH OTHER WITH ALMOST PERFECT IMPUNITY. A species of common law has grown up in Kentucky, which, were it written down, would, in all civilized countries, cause her to be re-christened, in derision, THE LAND OF BLOOD."

The present Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Kentucky[10] a few years since, published an article on the murders in that State. He states that some with whom he had conversed, estimated them at 80 per annum; but that he had rated them at about 30; and that he had ascertained that for the last three years, there had not been "an instance of capital punishment in any _white_ offender." "It is believed," says he, "there are more homicides on an average of two years in _any_ of our more populous _counties_, than in the whole of several of our _States_ of equal, or nearly equal, population to Kentucky."

[10] It is believed this gentleman is _not_ a slaveholder.

Governor McVay, of Alabama, in his message to the Legislature, November 15, 1837, thus speaks, "We hear of homicides in different parts of the State continually, and yet have few convictions and still fewer executions! Why do we hear of stabbings and shootings almost _daily_ in some part or other of our State?"

"DEATH BY VIOLENCE.--The moral atmosphere in our State appears to be in a deleterious and sanguinary condition. Almost every exchange paper which reaches us, contains some inhuman and revolting case of murder, or death by violence. _Not less than_ FIFTEEN deaths by violence have occurred, to our certain knowledge, within the past three months."--_Grand Gulf Miss.

Advertiser, 27th June, 1837._

CONTEMPT OF HUMAN LIFE.--In view of the crimes which are daily committed, we are led to inquire whether it is owing to the inefficiency of our laws, or to the manner in which these laws are administered, that this FRIGHTFUL DELUGE OF HUMAN BLOOD FLOWS THROUGH OUR STREETS AND OUR PLACES OF PUBLIC RESORT.--_New Orleans Bee, 23d May, 1838._

At the opening of the Criminal Court in New Orleans, November 4th, 1837, Judge Lansuque delivered an address, in which, speaking of the prevalence of violence, he used the following language:

"As a Louisiana parent, I reflect with terror, that our beloved children, reared to become one day honorable and useful citizens, may be the victims of these votaries of vice and licentiousness. Without some powerful and certain remedy, our streets will become BUTCHERIES, OVERFLOWING WITH THE BLOOD OF OUR CITIZENS!"

While the slaveholders are terrified at the idea of the "great democratic rabble," and rejoice in human bondage as superseding the necessity of an "order of n.o.bility, and all the appendages of a hereditary government," they have established a reign of terror, as insurrectionary and as sanguinary in principle, as that created by the sans culottes of the French revolution. We indulge in no idle declamation, but speak the words of truth and soberness.

A public meeting, convened in the _church_!! in the town of Clinton, Mississippi, 5th September, 1835--

Resolved, "That it is our decided opinion, that any individual who dares to circulate, with a view to effectuate the designs of the abolitionists, any of the incendiary tracts or newspapers now in the course of transmission to this country, is justly worthy, in the sight of G.o.d and man, of immediate death; and we doubt not that such would be the punishment of any such offender, in any part of the State of Mississippi where he may be found."

It would be tedious to copy the numerous resolutions of similar import, pa.s.sed by public meetings in almost every slave State. You well know that the promoters of those lawless and sanguinary proceedings, did not belong to the "rabble"--they were not "mean whites," but rich, influential slaveholders. A meeting was held in 1835 at Williamsburgh, Virginia, which was harangued by no less a personage than JOHN TYLER, once Governor of the State, and since _President of the United States_: under this gentleman's auspices, and after his address, the meeting resolved--

"That we regard the printing and circulating within our limits, of incendiary publications, tending to excite our slaves to insurrection and rebellion, as treasonable acts of the most alarming character, and that when we detect offenders in the act, we will inflict upon them condign punishment, without resorting to any other tribunal."

The profligacy of this resolution needs no comment. Mr. Tyler well knew that the laws of Virginia, and every other State were abundantly sufficient to punish crime: but he and his fellow lynchers wished to deter the people from receiving and reading anything adverse to slavery; and hence, with their usual audacity, they determined to usurp the prerogative of courts and juries, and throw down all the bulwarks which the law has erected for the protection of innocence.

Newspapers are regarded as the mirrors of public opinion. Let us see what opinions are reflected in those of the South.

The _Charleston Courier_, 11th August, 1835, declared that "the _gallows and the stake_" awaited the abolitionists who should dare to "appear in person among us."

"The cry of the whole South should be death, instant death to the abolitionist, wherever he is caught."--_Augusta (Geo.) Chronicle._

"Let us declare through the public journals of our country, that the question of slavery is not and shall not be open to discussion; that the system is too deep-rooted among us, and must remain for ever; that the very moment any private individual attempts to lecture us upon its evils and immorality, and the necessity of putting means in operation to secure us from them, in the same moment his tongue shall be cut out and cast upon the dunghill."--_Columbia (S.C.) Telescope._

This, it will be noticed, is a threat addressed, not to the Northern abolitionists, but to _you_, fellow-citizens, to the great majority of the white inhabitants of the South; and _you_ are warned not to express _an opinion_ offensive to your aristocracy.

"AWFUL BUT JUST PUNISHMENT.--We learn, by the arrival of the steamboat Kentucky last evening from Richmond, that Robinson, the Englishman mentioned in the _Beacon_ of Sat.u.r.day, as being in the vicinity of Lynchburg, was taken about fifteen miles from that town, and HANGED on the spot, for exciting the slaves to insurrection."--_Norfolk (Va.) Beacon, 10th August, 1835._

"We can a.s.sure the Bostonians, one and all, who have embarked in the nefarious scheme of abolishing slavery at the South, that lashes will hereafter be spared the backs of their emissaries.

Let them send out their men to Louisiana; they will never return to tell their sufferings, but they shall expiate the crime of interfering with our domestic inst.i.tutions, by being BURNED AT THE STAKE."--_New-Orleans True American._

"Abolition editors in slave States will not dare to avow their opinions. It would be instant DEATH to them."--_Missouri Argus._

Here, again, is a threat directed against any of _you_, who may happen to have the command of types and printer's ink.

Now, we ask what must be the state of society, where the public journals thus justify and stimulate the public thirst for blood? The very idea of _trial_ is scouted, and the mob, or rather the slaveholders themselves, are acknowledged to be the arbiters of life and death. The question we put to you as to the _state of society_, has been already answered by the official declarations of the Governors of Kentucky and Alabama, and of Judge Lansuque, of New Orleans; as well as by the extracts we have given you from some of the southern journals, relative to the frequency of murders among them. We could farther answer it, by filling sheets with accounts of fearful atrocities. But we purposely refrain from referring to a.s.sa.s.sinations and private crimes; for such, as already remarked, occur in a greater or less degree in every community, and do not necessarily form a test of the standard of morals. But we ask your attention to a test which cannot be questioned. We will present for your consideration a series of atrocities, perpetrated, not by individuals in secret, but in open day by the _slaveholding populace_.

We have seen that two of the Southern papers we have quoted, threaten abolitionists with THE STAKE. This awful and horrible punishment has been banished, by the progress of civilization, from the whole of Christendom, with the single exception of the American Slave States. It is scarcely necessary to say, that even in them, it is unknown to the laws, although familiar to the people. It is also deserving of remark, that the two journals which have made this atrocious threat were published, not among the rude borderers of our frontier settlements, but in the populous cities of Charleston and New-Orleans, the very centres of Southern refinement.

"TUSCALOOSA (Alab.) June 20, 1827. The negro [one who had killed a Mr. M^cNeilly was taken before a Justice of the Peace, who _waived his authority_, perhaps through fear, as a crowd of persons had collected, to the number of seventy or eighty, near Mr. People's [the Justice] house. He acted as President of the mob, and put the vote, when it was decided that he should be immediately executed by being _burned to death_. The sable culprit was led to a tree and tied to it, and a large quant.i.ty of pine knots collected and placed around him, and the fatal torch applied to the pile, even against the remonstrances of several gentlemen who were present, and the miserable being was in a short time burned to ashes. This is the _second_ negro who has been _thus_ put to death, without judge or jury in this country."

On the 28th of April, 1836, a free negro was arrested in St. Louis (Missouri) and committed to jail on a charge of murder. A mob a.s.sembled and demanded him of the jailor, who surrendered him. The negro was then chained to a tree _a short distance from the Court House_, and burned to death.

"After the flames had surrounded their prey, and when his clothes were in a blaze all over him, his eyes burnt out of his head, and his mouth seemingly parched to a cinder, some one in the _crowd_, more compa.s.sionate than the rest, proposed to put an end to his misery by shooting him, when it was replied that it would be of no use, since he was already out of his pain.

'No,' said the wretch, 'I am not, I am suffering as much as ever; shoot me, shoot me.' 'No, no,' said one of the fiends who was standing about the sacrifice they were roasting, 'he shall not be shot, I would sooner slacken the fire, if that would increase his misery;' and the man who said this was, we understand, an _officer of justice_."--_Alton Telegraph._

"We have been informed that the slave William, who murdered his master (Huskey) some weeks since, was taken by a party a few days since _from the Sheriff_ of Hot Spring, and _burned alive_!

yes, tied up to the limb of a tree and a fire built under him, and consumed in a slow lingering torture."--_Arkansas Gazette, Oct._ 29. 1836.

The _Natchez Free Trader, 16th June, 1842_, gives a horrible account of the execution of the negro, Joseph, on the 5th of that month for murder.