Dealings With The Dead Volume I Part 13

Beneath is the sketch--THE TREE OF LIBERTY, with an eagle feeding its young, in the topmost branches, and an angel advancing with an aegis.

The fourth side is subscribed thus: "_And has her_ LIBERTY _restored by the Royal hand of_ GEORGE _the Third_;" and is inscribed thus:

Our FAITH approv'd, our LIBERTY restor'd, Our Hearts bend grateful to our sov'reign Lord; Hail darling Monarch! by this act endear'd, Our firm affections are thy best reward-- Sh'd Britain's self against herself divide, And hostile Armies frown on either side; Sh'd hosts rebellious shake our Brunswick's Throne, And as they dar'd thy Parent dare the Son.

To this Asylum stretch thine happy Wing, And we'll contend who best shall love our KING.

Beneath is the sketch--George the Third, in armor, resembling a Dutch widow, in a long-short, introducing America to the G.o.ddess of liberty, who are, apparently, just commencing the Polka--at the bottom of the engraving are the words--_Paul Revere Sculp._ Our ancestors dealt rather in fact than fiction--they were no poets.

Gordon refers to LIBERTY TREE, i. 175.

The fame of LIBERTY TREE spread far beyond its branches. Not long before it was cut down, by the British soldiers, during the winter of 1775-6, an English gentleman, Philip Billes, residing at Backway, near Cambridge, England, died, seized of a considerable fortune, which he bequeathed to two gentlemen, not relatives, on condition, that they would faithfully execute a provision, set forth in his will, namely, that his body should be buried, under the shadow of LIBERTY TREE, in Boston, New England. This curious statement was published in England, June 3, 1774, and may be found in the Boston Evening Gazette, first page, Aug. 22, 1774, printed by Thomas & John Fleet, sign of the Heart and Crown, Cornhill.

No. XLIII.

Josiah Carter died, at the close of December, 1774. Never was there a happier occasion, for citing the _Quis desiderio_, &c., and I would cite that fine ode, were it not worn threadbare, like an old coverlet, by having been, immemorially, thrown over all manner of corpses, from the cobbler's to the king's.

If good old Dr. Charles Chauncy were within hearing, I would, indeed, apply to him a portion of its n.o.ble pa.s.sages:

Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit, Nulli flebilior quam tibi----.

For good Josiah many wept, I fancy; But none more fluently than Dr. Chauncy.

Josiah Carter was s.e.xton of the Old Brick. He died, in the prime of life--fifty only--a martyr to his profession--conscientious to a fault--standing all alone in the cold vault, after the last mourner had retired, and knocking gently upon the coffin lid, seeking for some little sign of animation, and begging the corpse, for Heaven's sake, if it were alive, to say so, in good English.

Carter was one of your real _integer vitae_ men. It is said of him, that he never actually lost his self-government, but once, in his life.

He was finishing a grave, in the Granary yard, and had come out of the pit, and was looking at his work, when a young, surgical sprig came up, and, with something of a mysterious air, shadowed forth a proposition, the substance of which was, that Carter should sell him the corpse--cover it lightly--and aid in removing it, by night. In an instant, Carter jerked the little chirurgeon into the grave--it was a deep one--and began to fill up, with all his might. The screams of the little fellow drew quite a number to the spot, and he was speedily rescued. When interrogated, years afterwards, as to his real intentions, at the time, Carter always became solemnized; and said he considered the preservation of that young doctor--a particular Providence.

Carter had a strong aversion to unburying--so have I--especially a hatchet. I have a rooted hatred of slavery; and I hope our friends, on the sunny side of Mason's and Dixon's line, will not censure me, for digging up the graves of the past, and exposing unsightly relics, while I solicit the world's attention to the following literary _bijoux_.

To be sold, a young negro fellow, fit for country or other business.--Will be sold to the highest bidder, a very good gold watch, a negro boy, &c.--Cheap, for cash, a negro man, and woman, and two children.--A very likely negro wench, about 16 years of age.--A likely negro woman, about 30, cheap for cash.--A likely negro boy, about 13.--Sold only for want of employ, a healthy, tractable negro girl, about 18 years of age.--To be sold, for want of employ, a strong, hearty negro fellow, about 25 years of age.--Ran away, a negro, named d.i.c.k, a well-looking, well-shaped fellow, right negro, little on the yellow, &c.--A likely negro woman, about 33 years old, remarkable for honesty and good temper.--Grant Webster has for sale new and second hand chaises, rum, wines, and male and female negroes.--At auction, a negro woman that is used to most sorts of house business.--A likely, healthy negro man, a good cook, and can drive a carriage.--Ran away, a negro man, named Prince, a tall, straight fellow; he is about 33 years old, talks pretty good English; his design was to get off in some vessel, so as to go to England, under the notion, if he could get there, he should be free, &c.--Ten dollars reward: ran away, negro Primus, five feet ten inches high, long limbs, very long finger nails, &c.--To be sold, for no fault, a negro man, of good temper.--A valuable negro man.--Ran away, my negro, Cromarte, commonly called Crum, &c., &c.; whoever will return said runaway to me, or secure him in some public jail, &c.--The cash will be given for a negro boy of good temper.--A fine negro male child, to be given away.--To be sold, a Spanish Indian woman, about 21 years old, also a negro child, about two years old. To be sold, a strong, hearty negro girl, and her son, about a week old.--Ran away, my negro man, Samson; when he speaks has a leering look under his eyes; whoever will return him, or secure him in any of the jails, shall receive ten dollars reward. For sale, a likely negro man; has had the smallpox.--A likely negro boy, large for his age, about 13.--To be sold, very reasonably, a likely negro woman, about 33 or '4 years of age.--To be sold or hired, for a number of years, a strong, healthy, honest, negro girl, about 16 years of age.

Ah, my dear, indignant reader, I marvel not, that you are grieved and shocked, that man should dare, directly under the eye of G.o.d, to offer his fellow for sale, as he would offer a side of mutton, or a slaughtered hog--that he should offer to sell him, from head to heel, liver and lights, and lungs, and heart, and bone, and muscle, and presume to convey over, to the buyer, the very will of the poor black man, for years, and for aye; so that the miserable creature should never draw in one single breath of freedom, but breathe the breath of a slave forever and ever.

This is very d.a.m.nable indeed--very. You read the advertis.e.m.e.nts, which I have paraded before you, with a sentiment of disgust towards the men of the South--_nimium ne crede colori_. These are northern negroes! these are northern advertis.e.m.e.nts!

--------Mutato nomine, de te Fabula narratur--------.

Every one of these slaves was owned in Boston: every one of these advertis.e.m.e.nts was published in the Boston Gazette, and the two last on December 10, 1781. They are taken from one only of the public journals, and are a very Flemish sample of the whole cloth, which may be examined by him, who has leisure to turn over the several papers, then published here.

There is one, however, so awfully ridiculous, when we consider the profession of the deceased owner, and the place of sale, and which, in these connections, presents such an example of _sacra, commixta profanis_, that I must give the advertis.e.m.e.nt without defalcation. John Moorhead, the first minister of Bury, afterwards Berry Street Church, died Dec. 2, 1773.

About a year after, his effects were sold, and the following advertis.e.m.e.nt appears, in the Boston Gazette, Jan. 2, 1775: "To be sold by Public Auction, on Thursday next, at ten o'clock in the Forenoon, all the Household Furniture, belonging to the Estate of the Rev. Mr. John Moorhead, deceased, consisting of Tables, Chairs, Looking Gla.s.ses, Feather Beds, Bedsteads and Bedding, Pewter, Bra.s.s, sundry Pieces of Plate, &c., &c. A valuable collection of Books--Also a likely Negro Lad--The sale to be at the House in Auchmuty's Lane, South End, not far from Liberty Tree."--Moses and the Prophets! _A human being to be sold as a_ SLAVE, _not far from_ LIBERTY TREE, in 1775!

Let me be clearly comprehended. Two wrongs cannot, like two negatives, neutralize each other. It is true, there was slavery in Ma.s.sachusetts, and probably more of it, than is supposed to have existed, by many of the present generation. Free negroes were not numerous, in Boston, in those years. In the Boston Gazette of Jan. 2, 1775, it is stated, that 547 whites and 52 blacks were buried in the town in 1774; and 533 whites and 62 blacks in 1773. Such was the proportion then.

The energy of our northern const.i.tution has exorcised the evil spirit of slavery. Common sense and the grace of G.o.d put it into the minds and hearts of our fathers, when the accursed _Bohun Upas_ was a sapling, to pull it up, by the roots. It follows not, therefore, that the people of the South are ent.i.tled to be treated by us, their brethren, like _outside barbarians_, because they do not cast it out from their midst, as promptly, and as easily, now that it has stricken down its roots into the bowels of the earth, and become a colossus, and overshadowed the land.

Slavery, being the abomination that it is, in the abstract, and in the relative, we may well regret, that it ever defiled our peninsula; especially that a slave market, for the sale of one slave only, ever existed, "_not far from Liberty Tree_." In sober truth, we are not quite justified, for railing at the South, as we have done. The sins of our dear, old fathers are still so comparatively recent, in regard to slavery, that I am absolutely afraid to fire canister and grape, among the group of offenders, lest I should disturb the ashes of my ancestors. Neither may we forget, that we, of the North, consented, aided and abetted, const.i.tutionally, in the confirmation of slavery. Some of the most furious of the abolitionists, in this fair city, are _descendants in the right line, from Boston slaveholders_--their fathers did not recognize the sinfulness of holding slaves!

The people of the South are ent.i.tled to civility, from the people of the North, because they are citizens of one common country; and, if there is one village, town, or city of these United States, that, more than any and all others, is under solemn obligations to cherish a sentiment of grateful and affectionate respect for the South, it is the city of Boston. I propose to refresh the reader's recollection, in my next.

No. XLIV.

_Delenda est Carthago--abolendum est servitium._--No doubt of it; slavery must be buried--decently, however. I cannot endure rudeness and violence, at a funeral. John Cades, in Charter Street, lost his place, in 1789, for letting old Goody Smith go by the run. The _naufragium_ of Erasmus, was nothing at all, compared with that of the old lady's coffin. Our Southern confederates are ent.i.tled to _civility_, because they are men and brethren; and they are ent.i.tled to _kindness and courtesy from us, of Boston_, because we owe them a debt of grat.i.tude, which it would be shameful to forget. Since we, of the North, have presumed to be _undertakers_ upon this occasion, let us do the thing "_decenter et ornate_." Besides, our friends of the South are notoriously testy and hot-headed: they are, geographically, children of the sun. John Smith's description of the Ma.s.sachusetts Indians, in 1614, Richmond ed., ii. 194, is truly applicable to the Southern people, "_very kind, but, in their fury, no less valiant_."

I am no more inclined to uphold the South, in the continued practice of a moral wrong, because they gave us bread when we were hungry, as they certainly did, than was Sir Matthew Hale, to decide favorably for the suitor, who sent him the fat buck. _Nullum simile quatuor pedibus currit_--the South, when they bestowed their kindness upon us, during the operation of the _Boston Port Bill_, had no possible favor to ask, in return.

This famous Port Bill, which operated like _guano_ upon LIBERTY TREE, and caused it to send forth a mult.i.tude of new and vigorous shoots, was an act of revenge and coercion, pa.s.sed March 31, 1774, by the British Parliament.

No government was ever so _penny wise_ and _pound foolish_, as that of Great Britain, in 1773-'4. They actually sacrificed thirteen fine, flourishing colonies for _three pence_! In 1773 the East India Company, suffering from the bad effects of the smuggling trade, in the colonies, all taxation having been withdrawn, by Great Britain, excepting on tea, proposed, for the purpose of quieting the strife, to sell their tea, free of all duties, in the Colonies, and that sixpence a pound should be retained by the Government, on exportation. But the Government insisted upon _three pence_ worth of dignity; in other words, for the honor of the Crown, they resolved, that the colonists _should pay three pence_ a pound, import duty. This was a very poor bargain--a _crown_ for _three pence_!

Well; I have no room for detail--the tea came; some of it went back again; and the balance was tossed into the sea. It was not suffered to be landed, at Philadelphia and New York. Seventeen chests, brought to New York, on private account, says Gordon, vol. i. page 333, were thrown overboard, Nov. 18, 1773, and combustibles were prepared to burn the ships, if they came up from the Hook. Dec. 16, 1773, three hundred and twenty-four chests of tea were broken open, on board the ships, in Boston, and their contents thrown into the salt water, by a "number of persons," says Gordon, vol. i.

page 341, "chiefly masters of vessels and shipbuilders from the north end of the town," dressed as Indians.

In consequence of this, the _Port Bill_ was pa.s.sed. The object of this bill was to beggar--commercially to neutralize or nullify--the town of Boston, by shutting the port, and cutting off all import and export, by sea, until full compensation should be made, for the tea destroyed, and to the officers of the revenue, and others, who had suffered, by the riots, in the years 1773 and 1774. Such was the _Port Bill_, whose destructive operation was directed, upon the port of Boston alone, under a fatal misunderstanding of the British government, in relation to the real unanimity of the American people.

It is no easy matter, to describe the effect of this act of folly and injustice. The whole country seemed to be affected, with a sort of political _neuralgia_; and the attack upon Boston, like a wound upon some princ.i.p.al nerve, convulsed the whole fabric. The colonies resembled a band of brothers--"born for affliction:" a blow was no sooner aimed at one, than the remaining twelve rushed to the rescue, each one interposing an aegis. In no part of the country, were there more dignified, or more touching, or more substantial testimonies of sympathy manifested, for the people of Boston, than in the Southern States; and especially in Virginia, Maryland, and both the Carolinas.

The _Port Bill_ came into force, June 1, 1774. The Marylanders of Annapolis, on the 25th of May preceding, a.s.sembled, and resolved, that Boston was "_suffering in the common cause of America_." On the 30th, the magistrates, and other inhabitants of Queen Anne's County resolved, in full meeting, that they would "_make known, as speedily as possible, their sentiments to their distressed brethren of Boston, and that they looked upon the cause of Boston to be the common cause of America_." The House of Burgesses, in Virginia, appointed the day, when the Boston Port Bill came into operation, as a day of fasting and prayer, throughout the ancient dominion. A published letter, from Kent County, Maryland, dated June 7, 1774, says--"The people of Boston need not be afraid of being starved into compliance; if they will only give a short notice, they may make their town the granary of America."

June 24, 1774.--Twenty-four days after the Port Bill went into operation, a public meeting was held at Charleston, S. C. The moving spirits were the Trapiers and the Elliots, the Horries and the Clarksons, the Gadsdens and the Pinkneys of that day; and resolutions were pa.s.sed, full of brotherly love and sympathy, for the inhabitants of Boston.

"Baltimore, July 16th, 1774.--A vessel hath sailed from the Eastern Sh.o.r.e of this Province, with a cargo of provisions as a free gift to our besieged brethren of Boston. The inhabitants of all the counties of Virginia and Maryland are subscribing, with great liberality, for the relief of the distressed towns of Boston and Charlestown. The inhabitants of Alexandria, we hear, in a few hours, subscribed 350, for that n.o.ble purpose. Subscriptions are opened in this town, for the support and animation of Boston, under their present great conflict, for the common freedom of us all. A vessel is now loading with provisions, as a testimony of the affection of this people towards their persecuted brethren."

"Salem, Aug. 23, 1774.--Yesterday arrived at Marblehead, Capt. Perkins, from Baltimore, with 3000 bushels of corn, 20 barrels of rye meal, and 21 barrels of bread, for the benefit of the poor of Boston, and with 1000 bushels of corn from Annapolis, for the same benevolent purpose."

"New York, Aug. 15, 1774.--Sat.u.r.day last, Capt. d.i.c.kerson arrived here, and brought 376 barrels of rye from South Carolina, to be sold, and proceeds remitted to Boston, a present to the sufferers; a still larger cargo is to be shipped for the like benevolent purpose."

"Newport, R. I.--Capt. Bull, from Wilmington, North Carolina, arrived here last Tuesday, with a load of provisions for the poor of Boston; to sail again for Salem."

These testimonies of a kind and brotherly spirit, came from all quarters of the country. These ill.u.s.trations might be multiplied to any extent. I pa.s.s by the manifestations of the most cordial sympathy from other colonies, and the contributions from the towns and villages around us--my business lies, at present with the South--and my object is to remind some of the more rampant and furious of my abolition friends, who are of yesterday, that the people of the South, however hasty they may be, living under the sun's fiercer rays, and however excited, when a Northern man, however respectable, comes to take up his quarters in their midst, and gather evidence against them, under their very noses--are not precisely _outside barbarians_.

Let the work of abolition go forward, in a dignified and decent spirit.

Let us argue; and, so far as we rightfully may, let us legislate. Let us bring the whole world's sympathy up to the work of emanc.i.p.ation. But, let us not revile and vituperate those, who are, to all intents and purposes, our brethren, as certainly as if they lived just over the Roxbury line, instead of Mason's and Dixon's. Such harsh and unmitigated scoffing and abuse, as we too often witness, are equally ungracious, ungentlemanly, and ungrateful.

There is something strangely grotesque, to be sure, in the idea of calling a state, in which there are more slaves than freemen, the _land of liberty_. Our Ma.s.sachusetts ancestors had a very good _theoretical_ conception of its inconsistency and absurdity, as early as 1773; when the first glimmerings of independence began to come over the spirit of their dreams. In that year, the Ma.s.sachusetts negroes caught the liberty fever, and presented a pet.i.tion to have their fetters knocked off. May 17, 1773, the inhabitants of Pembroke addressed a respectfully suggestive letter to their representative in the General Court, John Turner; the last paragraph of which is well worthy of republication. The entire letter may be found in the Boston Gazette of June 14, 1773--"We think the negro pet.i.tion reasonable--agreeable to natural justice and the precepts of the Gospel; and therefore advise that, in concurrence with the other worthy members of the a.s.sembly, you endeavor to find a way, in which they may be freed from slavery, without wrong to their present masters, or injury to themselves--and that a total abolition of slavery may in due time take place. Then we trust we may with humble confidence, look up to the Great Arbiter of Heaven and earth, expecting that he will in his own due time, look upon our affliction, and in the way of his Providence, deliver us from the insults, the grievances, and impositions we so justly complain of." This, as the reader will remember, had reference to slavery in Ma.s.sachusetts.

No. XLV.