American Scenes, and Christian Slavery Part 6

These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands.

Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a flat boat, do not appear to the pa.s.ser-by. As you cut along by the power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or care. One of the hands sc.r.a.pes a violin, while the others dance.

Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or proffers of love to the girls on sh.o.r.e, or saucy messages pa.s.s between them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet, knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr.

Watts:--

"Your streams were floating me along Down to the gulf of black despair; And, whilst I listened to your song, Your streams had e'en conveyed me there."

These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently, at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards evening a large number of them a.s.sembled. They have come from regions thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard.

The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in miniature.

LETTER XIII.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and n.i.g.g.e.rs"--Character of Fellow-Pa.s.sengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience.

We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary "bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_ to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution, for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the "_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife!

The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles.

Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from "racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from 30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quant.i.ty of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12 feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water that they can be pa.s.sed over with safety; at other times, however, they are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed, immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, pa.s.sengers, and all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has cleared off.

May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and circ.u.mstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance.

On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber, waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars.

He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling in order to "own himself!" Land of liberty, forsooth!

In the evening we reached Vicksburg. This place, like nearly all other places in this region, is deeply stained with deeds of violence and blood. A few years ago, a set of thieves and gamblers were here put to death by Lynch law. "Gentlemen of property and standing laughed the law (the const.i.tutional law) to scorn, rushed to the gamblers' house, put ropes round their necks, dragged them through the streets, hanged them in the public square, and thus saved the sum they had not yet paid.

Thousands witnessed this wholesale murder; yet of the scores of legal officers present, not a soul raised a finger to prevent it: the whole city consented to it, and thus aided and abetted it. How many hundreds of them helped to commit the murders with their own hands does not appear; but not one of them has been indicted for it, and no one made the least effort to bring them to trial. Thus, up to the present hour, the blood of those murdered men rests on that whole city; and it will continue to be a CITY OF MURDERERS so long as its citizens agree together to shield those felons from punishment."

Darkness had covered the city of blood when we arrived, and therefore we could not see it. One of the pa.s.sengers, in stepping on a plank to go ash.o.r.e, fell into the water. It was a frightful sight to see the dark figure of a fellow-man splattering and holloing in so perilous a position. Seldom can a person be saved who falls into the Mississippi, so rapid is the current; and, moreover, the banks are so steep that, though he be a good swimmer, he cannot get up. The knowledge of these facts generally destroys in the person who falls in all hope and self-command. Fortunately, however, in the present instance a rope was instantly thrown out, and the individual was saved. He a.s.sured us, afterwards, that some one had designedly pushed him from the plank into the water.

On the 13th of February we breasted a small settlement on our left, called Providence, in Louisiana. We observed on the river's bank what a man at my elbow (a professor of religion, who had discovered a great propensity to talk about his religious experience before gamblers) coolly designated "a drove of horses, mules, and n.i.g.g.e.rs." Observe the order of his enumeration! Of the "n.i.g.g.e.rs" there were about 100, small and great, young and old, and of both s.e.xes. The whole "drove" were waiting to be shipped for the New Orleans market, and were jealously guarded by several large dogs. From individual instances like this, one may form a clearer notion of the internal slave-trade of America.

Thousands every year are thus brought down the Mississippi to supply the Natchez and New Orleans markets. "Those who are transported down the Mississippi," says a manual of American slavery, "are stowed away on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young, usually chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the pa.s.sengers and navigators, and often by bribes or threats, or by the lash, made subject to abominations not to be named." On the same deck, you may see horses and human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to supply the same market. The _dumb_ beasts, being less manageable, are allowed the first place; while the _human_ are forced into spare corners and vacant places. My informant saw one trader who was taking down to New Orleans 100 horses, some sheep, and between fifty and sixty slaves. The sheep and the slaves occupied the same deck. Many interesting and intelligent women were of the number. I could relate facts concerning the brutal treatment of these defenceless females, while on the downward pa.s.sage, which would kindle the hot indignation of every mother, and daughter, and sister in Old England. The slaves are carried down in companies, varying in number from 20 to 500. Men of considerable capital are engaged in the traffic. Go into the princ.i.p.al towns on the Mississippi, and you will find these negro traders in the bar-rooms boasting of their adroitness in driving human flesh, and describing the process by which they succeed in "_taming down_ the spirit of a _refractory_ negro." Here, then, were human beings, children of our common Father, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, cla.s.sed with the brutes that perish,--nay, degraded below them, and placed under the surveillance of dogs. The horrors of such a system it is impossible to exaggerate.

The majority of our fellow-pa.s.sengers did nothing but gamble, eat, drink, smoke, and spit, from morning till night. In the afternoon a dispute arose between two of them about ten dollars, which the one maintained he had won from the other. One of the two quickly drew out his Bowie knife, and would certainly have stabbed the other but for the intervention of the boat's officers. When the whites have so little hesitation in shedding each other's blood, we cannot be surprised at the indifference with which negro life is put an end to. "A rencontre took place last week," says the _New Orleans Delta_, "between the overseer of Mr. A. Collins (a planter in our vicinity) and one of the negroes. It seems the overseer wished to chastise the negro for some offence, and the negro resisted and struck the overseer with a spade.

The overseer grappled with him, and called some of the negroes to his a.s.sistance; but, perceiving that the negroes were not willing to a.s.sist him, he drew his knife, and stabbed the negro to the heart. A coroner's inquest has been held, and a verdict given in accordance with the circ.u.mstances, declaring the overseer justifiable."

The 14th of February was Sunday. My Baptist friend, when engaging his pa.s.sage, had given the captain a hint that, when the Sabbath came, he should like to have divine service on board. Nothing, however, was now said about it. Not, I think, that the officers of the boat would have disliked it; but, considering the general character of their pa.s.sengers, they perhaps thought it would have been only "casting pearls before swine." One pa.s.senger indeed, who _said_ he was a Congregationalist, expressed to my friend a wish to have worship; but he was playing at cards every day, and was in other respects no great credit to Congregationalism. The Baptist a.s.sured me that his countrymen too generally, when they travel, leave their religion behind!

The Baptist related to me an awful story respecting a captain with whom he had sailed from New England to Guadaloupe, and thence to New Orleans. This man belonged to my friend's congregation, and professed to have been "converted" under his ministry. His pastor had frequent occasion to reprove him for his disregard of the Sabbath at sea. In New Orleans he engaged to take a cargo of Government stores to Tampico, for the supply of the army. He had to sign a bond to take in the cargo, and sail before a certain day, or forfeit the sum of 500 dollars. The Sabbath came. The pastor was at that time absent, on his visit to "Elder Wright" before mentioned, on the Red River. An agent of the "Bethel Union," who was going round to invite seamen to the "Bethel"

worship, invited the said captain and his men. He excused himself and his crew on the plea that they had no time--were under contract--had signed a bond--and might forfeit 500 dollars, &c. "What!" said the agent, "not afford time to attend the worship of G.o.d" on his own day!

"No, I really cannot--very sorry--what I have never done before--should like to go"--was the faltering reply. "Well," replied the agent with great solemnity, "G.o.d will soon call you to account for this." "I know He will," rejoined the captain with a downcast eye. The interview ended. The agent proceeded on his pious mission, and the captain to take in his cargo. The next morning, as he was looking over the side of the vessel to see how deep she was in the water, he fell overboard. His body was never found. His watch, which had been left in the cabin, and a few other personal articles, the pastor was now taking with him to the afflicted widow and family.

LETTER XIV.

Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--The Arkansas--Treatment of the Indians--M. de Tocqueville--"Napoleon" and Lynch Law--Memphis, and its Advertis.e.m.e.nts--A Scene witnessed there--The Ohio--Nashville, and Amos Dresser.

At 4 o'clock P.M. of February the 14th, we reached the mouth of the Arkansas. This is a n.o.ble river, navigable for 2,000 miles! Not twenty years ago, the remnants of the four great Indian nations of the southern part of what is now the United States, amounting to about 75,000 souls, were urged to remove to the banks of this river, with an a.s.surance of an undisturbed and permanent home. These four nations were the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees. They were established upon a territory, which they occupied before the settlement of any Europeans in their vicinity, and which had been confirmed to them by solemn treaties again and again. The Anglo-Americans of the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were however annoyed at their proximity, because it was unfavourable to the "peculiar inst.i.tution" of America. Slaves occasionally made their escape to these children of the forest, and found sympathy and succour. This would not do. The Indians must be removed. But how was it to be accomplished?

Annoy them; hara.s.s them; wrong them in every possible way, so that they may be sickened with the place. Georgia, accordingly, first attempted to establish a division line for the purpose of limiting the boundaries of the Cherokees. Then, in 1829, the State of Alabama divided the Creek territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to the power of white magistrates. And, in 1830, the State of Mississippi a.s.similated the Chocktaws and Chickasaws to the white population, and declared that any one who should take the t.i.tle of Chief should be punished with a fine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. Under these acc.u.mulated annoyances, the Cherokees, on the 18th of December, 1829, addressed to Congress the following powerful and touching appeal:--

"By the will of our Father in heaven, the Governor of the whole world, the red man of America has become small, and the white man great and renowned. When the ancestors of the people of the United States first came to the sh.o.r.es of America, they found the red man strong, though he was ignorant and savage; yet he received them kindly, and gave them dry land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in token of friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the Indian, the latter willingly gave. At that time the Indian was the lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the scene has changed.

The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbours increased in numbers, his power became less and less; and now, of the many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few are to be seen,--a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who are remnants, share the same fate?"

"Oh, no!" was the response. "Beyond the great river Mississippi," said the President to them in 1829, "where a part of your nation has gone, your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you; and he advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble you: they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you and your children, as long as the gra.s.s grows or the water runs, in peace and plenty. _It will be yours for ever_."

With this a.s.surance, many left the land of their birth and the homes of their childhood, travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the Mississippi, and settled on the banks of the Arkansas. M. de Tocqueville was "a.s.sured, towards the end of the year 1831, that 10,000 Indians had already gone to the sh.o.r.es of the Arkansas, and fresh detachments were constantly following them." Many, however, were unwilling to be thus expatriated. "The Indians readily discover," says M. de Tocqueville, "that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely a temporary expedient. Who can a.s.sure them that they will at length be allowed to dwell in peace in their new retreat? The United States pledge themselves to the observance of the obligation; but the territory which they at present occupy was formerly secured to them by the most solemn oaths of Anglo-American faith. The American Government does not, indeed, rob them of their land, but it allows perpetual incursions to be made upon them. In a few years the same white population which now flocks around them, will track them to the solitudes of the Arkansas: they will then be exposed to the same evils, without the same remedies; and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only refuge is the grave."

The views of this keen French philosopher were prophetic. In vain did I strain my eyes, as we pa.s.sed along, to discover any trace of these Indians. Not one representative of those n.o.ble aborigines was to be seen. In 1836 Arkansas was const.i.tuted a State, and admitted into the Union; and, if you look at a recent map of the United States, you will see the "location" of these Indians marked, not in the State of Arkansas at all, but far--far beyond, towards the setting sun, in what is called the "Western Territory," where, indeed, the river Arkansas has its source. Nor will ten years pa.s.s away before they will be again disturbed, and pushed further back.

At the mouth of the Arkansas is a village called Napoleon, of which I received, on authority not to be disputed, the following horrible account. A few years ago it was the head quarters of lawless and b.l.o.o.d.y men. They fabricated base coin, gambled, robbed, murdered. To such a pitch of wickedness had they arrived, and such a terror were they to the whole country, that a party of men from Memphis (a city on the eastern side of the Mississippi, 180 miles up) took the law into their own hands, armed themselves with deadly weapons, came down, scoured the country around, caught about fifty of the ringleaders, and put them to death. Some they shot,--some they hanged,--and some they threw, tied hand and foot, into the river. Of this dreadful tragedy no judicial notice was ever taken!

February 15.--I had an attack of intermittent fever, and consequently saw nothing of the scenery around. At night the fog was so dense that the officers deemed it prudent to "lie to."

February 16.--At 9 A.M. we were abreast of the city of Memphis, on the Tennessee side of the river. Higher up there is Cairo. These slave-holders, who retain their fellow-men in worse than Egyptian bondage, seem to have a great partiality for Egyptian names. Memphis is pleasantly situated on high "bluffs," and is a great point for the shipping of cotton. It does not, however, thrive by _honest_ industry.

I obtained a copy of the _Daily Inquirer_ of that day, where--among advertis.e.m.e.nts of pianos, music, bonnets, shawls, &c., for the ladies--I found the following:--

"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, on the 20th of October last, two Negro Fellows of the following description.--To wit,--Evan, 25 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high, complexion black, thick bristly beard, low soft voice, and apt to look down when spoken to; has a large scar on the calf of one of his legs, caused by the bite of a dog when he was 8 or 10 years old; some of his jaw-teeth missing or decayed. Ellis, 22 years of age, about 5 feet 11 inches high; complexion dark mulatto, tinged with Indian blood; beard thin and light. From information derived from a brother of these boys, who was caught in Washington County, Miss., it appears they intended to apply for employment as wood-choppers in the upper part of this State, until they could raise money enough to dress fine, then set off for the State of Illinois. It is highly probable they will resort to fict.i.tious names, for the purpose of baffling pursuit.

"The above reward will be paid to any person confining them in any jail, so that I can get them again; or fifty dollars for either of them.

"DUNCAN M'ALPIN."

"SLAVE MARKET.--The subscribers have now, and will continue to keep on hand throughout the season, a large supply of choice Negroes, suited to every capacity, which they offer at the lowest market rates. They have agents abroad engaged in purchasing for them, which enables them to bid defiance to compet.i.tion.

"Depot on Adams-street, between Main and Second Streets.

"BOLTON & d.i.c.kINS."

"JAILOR'S NOTICE.--Was committed to the jail of Shelby County, on 25th January, a Negro Boy named Silas. He says he belongs to William Wise, of Fayette, County Tenne. He is about 30 years old, black complexion, about 5 feet 11 inches high; weighs about 165 lbs. The owner of said Negro is requested to come and prove property, and pay charges, or he will be dealt with according to law.

"E. W. HARREL,

"_Jailor_."

"Feb. 13.--3tW."

In connection with Memphis, M. de Tocqueville narrates the following touching incident, relative to the expatriation of the Indians, to which I have already referred. "At the end of the year 1831, while I was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a place named by Europeans Memphis, there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws. These _savages_ [so his American translator renders it] had left their country, and were endeavouring to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they hoped to find an asylum which had been promised them by the American Government. It was the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually severe: the snow had frozen hard upon the ground, and the river was drifting huge ma.s.ses of ice. The Indians had their families with them; and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither tents nor waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them embark to pa.s.s the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle fade from my remembrance! No cry, no sob was heard among the a.s.sembled crowd: all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark that was to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank.

As soon as these animals perceived that their masters were finally leaving the sh.o.r.e, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all together into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the boat." So much for Memphis and its a.s.sociations!

February 18th, at 5 A.M., we entered the Ohio River, and at 1 P.M. the mouth of the Tennessee; coming shortly afterwards to Smithland, at the mouth of the c.u.mberland River, which runs parallel with the Tennessee, and communicates directly with Nashville, the capital of that State.

This city also has its a.s.sociation of ideas. I cannot think of it without at the same time thinking of Amos Dresser. He was a student at Lane Seminary (Dr. Beecher's), and subsequently a missionary to Jamaica. In the vacation of 1835 he undertook to sell Bibles in the State of Tennessee, with a view to raise the means of continuing his studies for the ministry. Under suspicion of being an Abolitionist, he was arrested by the "Vigilance Committee" (a Lynch-law inst.i.tution), while attending a religious meeting in the neighbourhood of Nashville.

After an afternoon and evening's inquisition, he was condemned to receive twenty lashes with the cow-hide on his naked body. Between 11 and 12 on Sat.u.r.day night the sentence was executed upon him, in the presence of most of the committee, and of an infuriated and blaspheming mob. The Vigilance Committee consisted of sixty persons. Of these, twenty-seven were members of churches: one was a religious teacher, and others were _elders_ of the Presbyterian Church,--one of whom had a few days before offered Mr. Dresser the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper. But let Amos Dresser himself describe the scene and the circ.u.mstances.