A Visit To The United States In 1841
by
Joseph Sturge
Part 5 out of 6
"'No, they were gagged, and that made me think they were
kidnapped.'
"'Was any body with them?'
"'Nobody but the driver, and he was black.'
"'Did thee direct him as he requested?' asked Mr. Tyson.
"'Yes.'
"'And they arrived accordingly?'
"'Yes.'
"'Did thee follow them?'
"'No sir, not immediately--but I went this morning, and inquired
whether a hack with two boys and a black driver, had not arrived
late last night, and they said there had.'
"'What o'clock last night was it when thee saw the carriage?'
"'About ten, sir.'
"'Was the hack close, or were the curtains down?'
"'The curtains were down, and that increased my suspicion.'
"Mr. Tyson had now heard enough to convince him that if there
was any kidnapping in this case, the trader who stood before him
had a much nearer connection with it than that of a mere
spectator.
"He had said in the first place that he obtained his knowledge
from a trader who had been partner with the party implicated. He
then stated that he derived it from seeing the kidnapped persons
in a hack. And though it was ten o'clock at night, (at a time,
too, as Mr. Tyson knew, when there was no moon,) yet he could
not only see that these two persons were in the hack, but that
they were gagged. He could not have done this by the light of a
candle or the moon, because 'the hack was tight, and the
curtains were down.'
"Fearing lest the suspicions of the trader might be excited as
to the sentiments of Mr. Tyson towards him, an end was put to
the part of the dialogue which related to the kidnapping, by
saying, 'Well, I am much obliged to thee for thy information;
we'll see this ----, and settle the matter with him;' and then
turned the tide of conversation into a different direction.
"The same day Mr. Tyson sent for the person who was first
mentioned as the person communicating the knowledge of the
transaction, and asked him as to the fact of such communication.
It was positively denied. He had 'not seen the informer for six
weeks, except the last evening, when he brought a hack load of
negroes to the tavern where he and his partner were lodgers.'
"'Were two boys among the number?'
"'Yes.'
"'Were they gagged?'
"'Yes.'
"The moment this man left his house, Mr. Tyson went in search of
bailiffs and civil process. With these he proceeded to the place
where the two boys were confined, and had them and all three of
the traders taken into custody.
"It turned out afterwards, in the further prosecution of this
investigation, (by what testimony we do not distinctly
recollect,) that the informer who first came to Mr. Tyson had
himself kidnapped the two boys. He sold them to the person upon
whom he had endeavored, in the manner we have detailed, to affix
the whole crime; who, refusing afterward to pay their price, and
yet determined to retain them, exasperated the seller to such a
degree that he resolved to sacrifice him; in attempting which he
sacrificed himself, for he was afterward convicted and sentenced
to the penitentiary.
"During the progress of any investigation originated by Mr.
Tyson in behalf of individual freedom, his anxiety about the
final issue, though concealed from the world, burned with
intensity. His days were restless, his nights were sleepless,
and himself, except when in company, which he avoided at those
times, lost in the abstractions of hope or of despondency.
"When he succeeded, his joy was strong, but invisible or
inaudible, save to the Father of all mercies. To him he never
failed 'to pour out his soul' in pious thanksgivings for that he
made him a humble instrument in the restoration of a fellow
being to light and liberty.
"When he failed, which was seldom, after he had seriously
undertaken a case, his sorrow was equally great, and as
inscrutable to human observation, excepting that of the
unfortunate objects of his care, who saw him mingling tears of
sympathy with theirs of suffering.
"Though Mr. Tyson seldom failed in those cases which he had
commenced in legal form, yet very many persons were turned
hopelessly away whose cases were too groundless for
adjudication; and often those who knew they had no cause for
hope,--condemned to be torn from their connections and sold, as
if to death, never to be heard of more,--would call merely to
obtain his sympathies, as if the universe had no other friend
for them.
"A man who lived with his master, in Anne Arundel county, came
late one evening to Mr. Tyson, and begged that he would listen
to his case. His master had promised him his freedom, provided
he would raise and pay him the sum of five hundred dollars in
six years; and he had earned half of the money, which he had
given his master. The six years were not expired, yet he was
about to be sold to Georgia. Mr. Tyson asked if 'there was any
receipt for the money.' 'No.' 'Was there any witness who could
prove its payment?' 'Nobody but his master's wife.' 'Then,' said
Mr. Tyson, 'the law is against thee, and thou must submit. I can
do nothing for thee.' Never, said Mr. Tyson, when relating this
story, shall I forget the desperate resolution which showed
itself in the countenance and manner of this man when he said,
with clenched fist, his eyes raised to Heaven, his whole frame
bursting with the purpose of his soul, while a smile of triumph
played around his lips, 'I will die before the Georgia man shall
have me.' And then suddenly melting into a flood of tears, he
said, 'I cannot live away from my wife and children.' After this
poor fellow had left me, said Mr. Tyson, I said to a person
present, 'That is no common man; he will do what he has
resolved.'
"A short time afterwards, the remains of a colored person who
had been drowned in the basin at Baltimore were discovered. The
fact coming to the knowledge of Mr. Tyson, he went to see the
body, and recognized in its features and from its dress, the
remains of the unfortunate man who, a short time before, had
breathed the dreadful resolution in his presence."
Such are a few of the memorials which this friend of the human race has
left behind him. He was not less persevering, and scarcely less
successful in his endeavors to obtain the mitigation of the slave laws
in Maryland. Some of the most repulsive of these were repealed or
altered, particularly those restricting manumissions. Thus the condition
and the prospects of the whole body of slaves was improved, in addition
to _more than two thousand_ delivered by his immediate instrumentality
from illegal bondage. Hundreds of free and happy families have cause at
this day to bless the memory of "Father Tyson."
He also deeply interested himself on behalf of the Indian tribes; and
once in company with another individual, as a deputation from the
Society of Friends in Baltimore, undertook a dangerous journey to visit
several tribes 1000 miles distant, to the north-west of the Ohio. The
main object of the mission was to induce the Indians to refrain from the
use of ardent spirits--of whose destructive effects the chiefs were
themselves fully sensible. The following affecting address was made to
an assembly of "Friends" in Baltimore, by Little Turtle, a chief famous
for courage, sagacity and eloquence:
"Brothers and Friends:--When our forefathers first met on this
great Island, your red brethren were very numerous! But since
the introduction among us of what you call spirituous liquors,
and what we think may justly be called poison, our numbers are
greatly diminished. It has destroyed a great part of your red
brethren.
"My Brothers and Friends:--We plainly perceive, that you see the
very evil which destroyed your red brethren; it is not an evil
of our own making; we have not placed it among ourselves; it is
an evil placed among us by the white people; we look to them to
remove it out of our country. We tell them, 'Brethren, bring us
useful things; bring goods that will clothe us, our women and
our children; and not this evil liquor, that destroys our
reason, that destroys our health, and destroys our lives.' But
all we can say on this subject is of no service, nor gives
relief to your red brethren.
"My Brother and Friends:--I rejoice to find that you agree in
opinion with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of
service to us, in removing this great evil out of our country;
an evil which has had so much room in it; and has destroyed so
many of our lives, that it causes our young men to say, 'we had
better be at war with the white people.' This liquor, which they
introduce into our country, is more to be feared than the gun
and the tomahawk. There are more of us dead, since the treaty of
Greenville, than we lost by the six years war before. It is all
owing to the introduction of this liquor amongst us.
"Brothers:--When our young men have been out hunting, and are
returning home, loaded with skins and furs, on their way if it
happens that they come along where some of this whiskey is
deposited, the white man who sells it, tells them to take a
little drink; some of them will say 'no, I do not want it;' they
go on till they come to another house, where they find more of
the same kind of drink; it is there offered again; they refuse;
and again the third time. But finally, the fourth or fifth time,
one accepts of it and takes a drink; and getting one, he wants
another; and then a third, and a fourth, till his senses have
left him. After his reason comes back to him again, when he gets
up and finds where he is, he asks for his peltry. The answer is,
'You have drank them,' 'Where is my gun?' 'It is gone?' 'Where
is my blanket?' 'It is gone.' 'Where is my shirt?' 'You have
sold it for whiskey!!' Now, Brothers, figure to yourselves, the
condition of this man. He has a family at home; a wife and
children, who stand in need of the profits of his hunting. What
must be their wants, when he himself is even without a shirt?"
The journey of Elisha Tyson and his companion, James Gillingham,
occurred a few years subsequent to the interview at which the preceding
speech was made. They met a council of the Indians at Fort Wayne, whom
Elisha Tyson addressed to the following effect:
"He painted in glowing colors the dreadful effects of
intemperance--both upon civilized and savage life--told them
that they must resolve to abstain entirely from it. If they
admitted it at all among them, it would soon conquer them, and
reduce them to a condition worse than that of the brute
creation. That not until they abandoned altogether the use of
ardent spirits would they be fit subjects for civilization. If
they were ready to do this he would then unfold to them the
blessings of civilization--the superiority of such a condition
over the one in which they then subsisted. He traced their
history from the earliest period to the present time--shewed
them how, as the white population had expanded itself, they had
retreated into the western wilderness--that if they did not
remain, but continued to retreat, in a few years they would have
no territory upon this continent. In order, therefore, to their
permanent establishment, he recommended to them the practice of
agriculture, as a substitute for hunting. He advised them to
mark out their lands, and ask advice of the agents established
by the Society of Friends among them, with respect to their
cultivation. They stood ready, not only with their advice, but
with their assistance; they were furnished for their use with
all the necessary implements of husbandry, with beasts of the
plough also, and beasts of burden.
"They had come a great distance, endured much privation and
fatigue in order to see them, and must endure a great deal more
before they could again behold their wives and their children.
But they could bear it all with patience, nay with joy, if they
could only have the satisfaction of seeing them adopt the
disinterested advice which he had thus given them."
The following is one of the speeches made in reply, by White Loon, an
influential chief:
"Brothers:--Ever since your great father Onas, (William Penn,)
came upon this great island, the Quakers have been the friends
of red men. They have proved themselves worthy of being the
descendants of their great father. And now, when all the whites
have forgotten that they owe any thing to us, the Quakers of
Baltimore, though so far distant from us, have remembered the
distressed condition of their red brethren, and interceded with
the Great Spirit in our behalf.
"Brothers:--You have travelled very far to see us--you have
climbed over mountains--you have swam over deep and rapid
torrents--you have endured cold, and hunger, and fatigue, in
order that you might have an opportunity of seeing your red
brethren. For this, so long as life exists within us, we shall
be very grateful.
"Brothers:--That wide region of country over which you have
passed, was once filled with red men. Then was there a plenty of
deer and buffalo, and all kinds of game. But the white people
came from beyond the great water; they landed in multitudes on
our shores; they cut down our forests; they drove our warriors
before them, and frightened the wild herds, so that they sought
security in the deep shades of the west.
"Brothers:--These white men were not your grandfathers; for, as
I said before, the sons of Onas were always the friends of red
men.
"Brothers:--The whites are still advancing upon us. They have
reached our territory, and have built their wigwams within our
very hunting grounds. Our game is vanishing away.
"Brothers:--Formerly our hunters pursued the wild deer, and the
buffalo, and the bear; and when they killed them they ate their
flesh for food, and used their skins as covering for themselves,
their old men, their women, and their children. But now, they
kill them that they may have plenty of skins and furs to sell to
the white men. The consequence of this is, the game is destroyed
wantonly, and faster than our necessities require.
"Brothers:--We would not mind all this, provided these skins and
furs were exchanged for useful articles--for implements of
husbandry, or clothes for our old men, our women, and our
children. But they are too often bartered away for whiskey, that
vile poison, which has sunk even Wapakee into the dust.
"Brothers:--We shall soon be under the necessity either of
leaving our hunting grounds or of converting them into pastures
and fields of corn. Under the kind assistance of our brothers,
the Quakers, we have already proceeded a great way. You have
witnessed, as you have passed among us, the good effects of the
kindness of our brothers. We are disposed to go on as we have
begun, until our habits and manners, as well as the face of our
country, shall be changed and look like those of the white
people.
"Brothers:--Accept from us this belt of wampum and pipe of
peace. And may the Great Sasteretsy, who conducted you here in
safety, still go with you and restore you in peace and happiness
to the arms of your women and children."
After this, with ceremonies such as those already described, but, if
possible, accompanied with more solemnity, the chiefs dissolved the
council.
It is a melancholy reflection, that soon such memorials as these will be
the only remains of that noble but unfortunate race who once peopled the
continent of North America. _War_ has slain its thousands, but _alcohol_
its tens of thousands; and the fortitude which could bear without
shrinking the most cruel inflictions of torture, has proved powerless to
resist the seductions of strong drink. It is to be feared a heavy
retribution awaits the white man, the pitiless author of their
extermination.
The biographer of E. Tyson has taken great pains to represent him as a
friend to the Colonization Society, but in this respect I am informed,
by one who well knew him, he has done him great injustice. It is
confessed, indeed, that for a long period E. Tyson viewed this scheme
with great jealousy. "When we saw," remarks this writer, "domestic
tyrants, and men who had actually, in the southern slave-trade,
speculated in the flesh and blood of their fellow creatures, united with
their betters in a society, the professed object of which was the
peopling of a continent with freemen by the depopulation of a continent
of slaves, he argued, as he had a right to argue, mischief to the
cause." No evidence is adduced to show that this same distrust of the
Colonization Society was ever removed, beyond the fact that, having been
the means of liberating eleven native Africans from a slave-ship, he
cooperated with Gen. Harper, an influential colonizationist, in
restoring them to their native country, which bordered upon the colony
of Liberia. This was the last public act of his life.
"The great concern in which he had spent his life was the
constant topic of his conversation; and he continued with his
latest breath to enforce the claims of the unhappy sons of
slavery upon the humanity of their brethren. It was natural that
he should feel a strong anxiety about the fate of those who,
through his exertions, had been restored to their friends in
Africa. He was on the alert to hear intelligence of their
fate--his spirit seemed to follow them across the mighty waters.
On one occasion he was heard to say, 'If I could only hear of
their safe arrival I should die content;' and on another, that
he 'had prayed to the Father of Mercies that he would be pleased
to spare his life until he could receive the pleasing
intelligence.' His prayer was heard. The news reached his ears
amid the last lingerings of life. He shed tears of joy on the
occasion; and when he had sufficiently yielded to the first
burst of feeling, exclaimed, like one satiated with earthly
happiness, 'Now I am ready to die; my work is done.' His
expressions were prophetic; for in the short space of
forty-eight hours, on the 16th of February, 1824, at the age of
75 years, he breathed his soul into the hands of God Almighty."
The following are some notices of his personal appearance and mental
characteristics:
"The person of Mr. Tyson was about six feet in height, though
the habit of leaning forward as he walked, gave a less
appearance to his stature. The rest of his frame was suited to
his height.
"The features of his countenance were strong. His forehead was
high; his nose large, and of the Roman order; his eyes were dark
and piercing; his lips so singularly expressive, that even in
their stillest mood they would almost seem to be uttering the
purposes of his mind. Indeed his whole face was indicative, to a
striking degree, of the passions and feelings of his soul.
"The mind of Mr. Tyson was strong, rather than brilliant. With
scarcely any imagination, he possessed a judgment almost
infallible in its decisions; great powers of reason, which were
more conspicuous for the certainty of its conclusions than
remarkable for displaying the train of inferences by which it
arrived at them. He possessed wonderful acuteness of
understanding, quickness of perception, and readiness of reply.
"For these qualities he was indebted more to nature than to art.
He was not educated for the exalted station of a philanthropist,
but for the business of the world; and yet he seemed fitted
exactly for the part he acted. He possessed not the refinements
of education; he had not learned to soar into the regions of
fancy, his destiny was upon the earth; and he knew no flight but
that which bears the soul to heaven."
APPENDIX E. P. 68.
THE "AMISTAD CAPTIVES."
The following statements are drawn from a "History of the Amistad
Captives, &c., by John W. Barber, member of the Connecticut Historical
Society;" from the authentic reports of the proceedings in the courts of
law, and from a letter of my friend, Lewis Tappan, to the public papers.
"During the month of August, 1839, the public attention was somewhat
excited by several reports stating that a vessel of suspicious and
piratical character had been seen near the coast of the United States,
in the vicinity of New York. This vessel was represented as a 'long,
low, black schooner,' and manned by blacks. The United States steamer
Fulton and several revenue cutters were despatched after her, and notice
was given to the collectors at various sea ports."
This suspicious looking schooner proved to be the "Amistad," which was
eventually captured off Culloden Point, by Lieut. Gedney, of the U.S.
brig "Washington." At this time, however, the Africans, who were in
possession of the vessel, were in communication with the shore, and
peaceably trafficking with the inhabitants for a supply of water for
their intended voyage to their own country. They had spontaneously
submitted to the command of one of their number, Cinque, a man of
extraordinary natural capacity. When they were taken, he was separated
from his companions and conveyed on board the brig.
"Cinque having been put on board of the 'Washington,' displayed much
uneasiness, and seemed so very anxious to get on board the schooner that
his keepers allowed him to return. Once more on the deck of the
'Amistad,' the blacks clustered around him, laughing, screaming, and
making other extravagant demonstrations of joy. When the noise had
subsided, he made an address, which raised their excitement to such a
pitch, that the officer in command had Cinque led away by force. He was
returned to the 'Washington,' and was manacled to prevent his leaping
overboard. On Wednesday, he signified by motions that if they would take
him on board the schooner again, he would show them a handkerchief full
of doubloons. He was accordingly sent on board. His fetters were taken
off, and he once more went below, where he was received by the Africans
in a still more wild and enthusiastic manner than he was the day
previous. Instead of finding the doubloons, he again made an address to
the blacks, by which they were very much excited. Dangerous consequences
were apprehended. Cinque was seized, taken from the hold, and again
fettered. While making his speech, his eye was often turned to the
sailors in charge: the blacks yelled, leapt about, and seemed to be
animated with the same spirit and determination of their leader. Cinque,
when taken back to the 'Washington,' evinced little or no emotion, but
kept his eye steadily fixed on the schooner."
An event so extraordinary and unprecedented as the capture of the
"Amistad," excited the most lively interest among all classes. The
Africans, forty-four in number, were brought to New Haven and secured in
the county jail. A number of gentlemen formed themselves into a
committee to watch over their interests, and immediately there was begun
a long and complicated series of judicial proceedings, to determine how
they should be disposed of. Ruiz and Montez, the two white men, late the
prisoners, but claiming to be the owners of the Africans, caused them to
be indicted for piracy and murder. This was almost immediately disposed
of, on the ground that the charges, if true, were not cognizable in the
American courts, the alleged offences having been perpetrated on board a
Spanish vessel. The Africans therefore were in no immediate danger of
capital punishment. Ruiz and Montez on their part seem to have met with
sympathy and kindness, and to testify their gratitude caused the
following to be inserted in the New York papers:
"A CARD.
"NEW LONDON, AUGUST 29, 1839.
"The subscribers, Don Jose Ruiz, and Don Pedro Montez, in
gratitude for their most unhoped for and providential rescue
from the hands of a ruthless gang of African bucaneers and an
awful death, would take this means of expressing, in some slight
degree, their thankfulness and obligation to Lieut. Com. T.R.
Gedney, and the officers and crew of the U.S. surveying brig
Washington, for their decision in seizing the Amistad, and their
unremitting kindness and hospitality in providing for their
comfort on board their vessel, as well as the means they have
taken for the protection of their property.
"We also must express our indebtedness to that nation whose flag
they so worthily bear, with an assurance that this act will be
duly appreciated by our most gracious sovereign, her Majesty the
Queen of Spain.
DON JOSE, RUIZ,
DON PEDRO MONTEZ."
Ruiz and Montez are thus described by a correspondent of the New London
Gazette, who visited the Amistad immediately after its capture:
"Jose Ruiz, is a very gentlemanly and intelligent young man, and
speaks English fluently. He was the owner of most of the slaves
and cargo, which he was conveying to his estate on the Island of
Cuba. The other, Pedro Montez, is about fifty years of age, and
is the owner of three of the slaves. He was formerly a ship
master, and has navigated the vessel since her seizure by the
blacks. Both of them, as may be naturally supposed, are most
unfeignedly thankful for their deliverance. Pedro is the most
striking instance of complacency and unalloyed delight we have
ever witnessed, and it is not strange, since only yesterday his
sentence was pronounced by the chief of the bucaneers, and his
death song chanted by the grim crew, who gathered with uplifted
sabres around his devoted head, which, as well as his arms, bear
the scars of several wounds inflicted at the time of the murder
of the ill-fated captain and crew. He sat smoking his Havana on
the deck, and to judge from the martyr-like serenity of his
countenance, his emotions are such as rarely stir the heart of
man. When Mr. Porter, the prize master, assured him of his
safety, he threw his arms around his neck, while gushing tears
coursing down his furrowed cheek, bespoke the overflowing
transport of his soul. Every now and then he clasped his hands,
and with uplifted eyes, gave thanks to 'the Holy Virgin' who had
led him out of his troubles."
It will be necessary to contrast the deeds of these "gentlemanly and
intelligent" _Christians_ with that of the "ruthless gang of African
bucaneers," from whose grasp they were so providentially rescued. In
giving the subsequent detail, I would not be understood as compromising
for a single instant my belief in the inviolability of human life,
though it must I think be confessed that in the instance related below,
the heathen and barbarous negroes contrast very favorably with the
civilized and Christian Spaniards.
"The following communication from Mr. Day, of New Haven, gives a
summary account of the African captives, as stated by
themselves, from the time they left Africa, till the time they
obtained possession of the Amistad:
"NEW HAVEN, OCT. 8, 1839.
[To the Editor of the Journal of Commerce.]
"Gentlemen--The following short and plain narrative of one or
two of the African captives, in whose history and prospects such
anxious interest is felt, has been taken at the earliest
opportunity possible, consistently with more important
examinations. It may be stated in general terms, as the result
of the investigations thus far made, that the Africans all
testify that they left Africa about six months since; were
landed under cover of the night at a small village or hamlet
near Havana, and after ten or twelve days were taken through
Havana by night by the man who had bought them, named Pipi, who
has since been satisfactorily proved to be Ruiz; were cruelly
treated on the passage, being beaten and flogged, and in some
instances having vinegar and gunpowder rubbed into their wounds;
and that they suffered intensely from hunger and thirst. The
perfect coincidence in the testimony of the prisoners, examined
as they have been separately, is felt by all who are acquainted
with the minutes of the examination, to carry with it
overwhelming evidence of the truth of their story.
Yours respectfully,
"GEORGE E. DAY."
"MONDAY, OCT. 7.
"This afternoon, almost the first time in which the two
interpreters, Covey and Pratt, have not been engaged with
special reference to the trial to take place in November, one of
the captives named Grabeau, was requested to give a narrative of
himself since leaving Africa, for publication in the papers. The
interpreters, who are considerably exhausted by the examinations
which have already taken place, only gave the substance of what
he said, without going into details, and it was not thought
advisable to press the matter. Grabeau first gave an account of
the passage from Africa to Havana. On board the vessel there was
a large number of men, but the women and children were far the
most numerous. They were fastened together in couples by the
wrists and legs, and kept in that situation day and night. Here
Grabeau and another of the Africans named Kimbo, lay down upon
the floor, to show the painful position in which they were
obliged to sleep. By day it was no better. The space between
decks was so small,--according to their account not exceeding
four feet,--that they were obliged, if they attempted to stand,
to keep a crouching posture. The decks fore and aft were crowded
to overflowing. They suffered (Grabeau said) terribly. They had
rice enough to eat, but had very little to drink. If they left
any of the rice that was given to them uneaten, either from
sickness or any other cause, they were whipped. It was a common
thing for them to be forced to eat so much as to vomit. Many of
the men, women, and children died on the passage.
"They were landed by night at a small village near Havana. Soon
several white men came to buy them, and among them was the one
claiming to be their master, whom they call Pipi, said to be a
Spanish nick-name for Jose. Pipi, or Ruiz, selected such as he
liked, and made them stand in a row. He then felt each of them
in every part of the body; made them open their mouths to see if
their teeth were sound, and carried the examinations to a degree
of minuteness of which only a slave dealer would be guilty.
"When they were separated from their companions who had come
with them from Africa, there was weeping among the women and
children, but Grabeau did not weep, 'because he is a man.'
Kimbo, who sat by, said that he also shed no tears--but he
thought of his home in Africa, and of friends left there whom he
should never see again.
"The men bought by Ruiz were taken on foot through Havana in the
night, and put on board a vessel. During the night they were
kept in irons, placed about the hands, feet and neck. They were
treated during the day in a somewhat milder manner, though all
the irons were never taken off at once. Their allowance of food
was very scant, and of water still more so. They were very
hungry, and suffered much in the hot days and nights from
thirst. In addition to this there was much whipping, and the
cook told them that when they reached land they would all be
eaten. This 'made their hearts burn.' To avoid being eaten, and
to escape the bad treatment they experienced, they rose upon the
crew with the design of returning to Africa.
"Such is the substance of Grabeau's story, confirmed by Kimbo,
who was present most of the time. He says he likes the people of
this country, because, to use his own expression, 'they are good
people--they believe in God, and there is no slavery here.'
"The story of Grabeau was then read and interpreted to Cinque,
while a number of the other Africans were standing about, and
confirmed by all of them in every particular. When the part
relating to the crowded state of the vessel from Africa to
Havana was read, Cinque added that there was scarcely room
enough to sit or lie down. Another showed the marks of the irons
on his wrists, which must at the time have been terribly
lacerated. On their separation at Havana, Cinque remarked that
almost all of them were in tears, and himself among the rest,
'because they had come from the same country, and were now to be
parted for ever.' To the question, how it was possible for the
Africans when chained in the manner he described, to rise upon
the crew, he replied that the chain which connected the iron
collars about their necks was fastened at the end by a padlock,
and that this was first broken, and afterwards the other irons.
Their object, he said, in the affray, was to make themselves
free. He then requested it to be added to the above, that 'if he
tells a lie, God sees him by day and by night.'"
The interpreters alluded to in the preceding extract were two Africans
belonging to the crew of the British brig of war Buzzard, which
providentially arrived at New York, from a cruise on the coast of
Africa. They were found to speak the same language as the prisoners, and
with the consent of Captain Fitzgerald, their services were immediately
secured by the indefatigable committee for the African captives. By
their aid much information was elicited respecting the native country
and previous history of these negroes, with many incidental particulars
of great interest, some of which will appear in the following account.
The criminal proceedings against the Mendians being quashed, there
remained the claim of Ruiz and Montez to have the negroes returned to
them as their property. To sustain this claim they produced the license,
signed by the proper authorities at Havana, permitting the removal of
these negroes from that port to Principe, in the same island. This
document is signed by General Espelata, Captain-General of Cuba, and
countersigned by Martinez, one of the most extensive slave-traders in
the known world. This pass or license described the negroes as
_ladinos_, a term used to designate Africans who have been long settled
in Cuba. It was proved, however, that they were _Bozal_ negroes, that
is, such as had been very lately introduced, and the testimony on both
sides, on this point, established a fact that is but too notorious, that
the slave trade to Cuba is openly carried on with the connivance, and
even with the corrupt participation of the authorities. One of the
witnesses, D. Francis Bacon, gives the following account of the slave
trade:--
"Mr. Bacon stated that he left the coast of Africa on the 13th
of July, 1839. He knew a place called Dumbokoro [Lomboko] by the
Spaniards: it was an island in the river or lagoon of Gallinas.
There is a large slave factory or depot at this place, which is
said to belong to the house of Martinez in Havana; there are
also different establishments on different islands. Mr. Bacon
stated that he had seen American, Russian, Spanish, and
Portuguese vessels at Gallinas. The American flag was a complete
shelter; no man-of-war daring to capture an American vessel. The
slave trade on that part of the coast is the universal business
of the country, and by far the most profitable, and all engaged
in it who could raise the means. Extensive wars take place in
Africa, for obtaining slaves from the vanquished. Different
towns and villages make war upon each other for this purpose.
Some are sold on account of their crimes, others for debts. The
slaves are all brought on to the coast by other blacks, and sold
at the slave factories, as no white man dare penetrate into the
interior. Some of the blacks who have been educated at Sierra
Leone, have been principal dealers in the slave trade."
The decision of the District Court of Connecticut on this question of
property, was to the effect that since their original introduction into
Cuba was plainly illegal, they were free by the law of Spain, and of
course could not be the property of Spanish subjects.
The subsequent proceedings were undertaken on behalf of the United
States' Government. "The District Attorney, Mr. Holabird, filed his
claim under Lieut. Gedney's libel, on two distinct grounds; one that
these Africans had been claimed by the Government of Spain, and ought to
be retained till the pleasure of the Executive might be known, as to
that demand; and the other, that they should be held subject to the
disposition of the President, to be re-transported to Africa, under the
act of 1819." The Court finally decreed that the Africans should be
delivered to the President of the United States, to be transported to
Africa, there to be delivered to an agent appointed to receive and
conduct them home. Against this decision, though it is what he had asked
for, Holabird appealed on behalf of the United States' Government, and
through a protracted series of law proceedings, it was finally carried
before the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest tribunal in
the nation. The counsel employed on both sides, in the different stages,
were of the highest reputation; and finally the venerable John Quincy
Adams, after an absence from the Courts of nearly forty years, during
which interval he had filled the highest offices of state, at home and
abroad, in the service of his country, did not think it beneath him to
defend the Mendians before the Supreme Court, against the _conspiracies_
of Forsyth, the Secretary of State, and the Spanish Ambassador. In his
first communication to the latter, Forsyth says:
"All the proceedings in the matter, on the part of both the
executive and judicial branches of the government, have had
their foundation in the assumption that Montez and Ruiz alone
were the parties aggrieved; and that their claim to the
surrender of the property was founded in fact and in justice."
The Spanish minister and his successor, complained bitterly, in the
course of a long correspondence, of the delay in giving up the Africans,
on the ground, as emphatically stated in one of their letters to the
Department of State, that "the public vengeance had not been satisfied;
for be it recollected that the legation of Spain does not demand the
delivery of slaves, but of assassins." In a previous communication it
was intimated that "the infliction of capital punishment in this case
(in the United States,) would not be attended with the salutary effects
had in view by the law, when it resorts to this painful and terrible
alternative, namely, to prevent the commission of similar offences."
Notwithstanding these dreadful intimations of the fate awaiting the
Africans in Cuba, the American Government deliberately adopted the
design of delivering them up, either as _property_ or as assassins. That
Government found willing agents in the United States' Marshal, and the
District Attorney of Connecticut. The following extracts from the
argument of John Quincy Adams, will explain these disgraceful
transactions:
"On the 7th of January, the Secretary of State writes to the
Secretary of the Navy, acknowledging the receipt of his letter
of the 3d, informing him that the schooner Grampus would receive
the negroes of the Amistad, 'for the purpose of conveying them
to Cuba, in the event of their delivery being adjudged by the
Circuit Court, before whom the case is pending.' This singular
blunder, in naming the Court, shows in what manner and with how
little care the Department of State allowed itself to conduct an
affair, involving no less than the liberties and lives of every
one of my clients. This letter enclosed the order of the
President to the Marshal of Connecticut for the delivery of the
negroes to Lieut. Paine. Although disposing of the lives of
forty human beings, it has not the form or solemnity of a
warrant, and is not even signed by the President in his official
capacity. It is a mere order.
"'The Marshal of the United States for the District of
Connecticut will deliver over to Lieut. John S. Paine,
of the United States Navy, and aid in conveying on board
the schooner Grampus, under his command, all the
negroes, late of the Spanish schooner Amistad, in his
custody, under process now pending before the Circuit
Court of the United States for the District of
Connecticut. For so doing, this order will be his
warrant.
"'Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this
7th day of January, A.D. 1840.
"'M. VAN BUREN.
"'By the President:
"'JOHN FORSYTH, Sec. of State.'
"That order is good for nothing at all. It did not even describe
the Court correctly, under whose protection those unfortunate
people were. And on the 11th of January, the District Attorney
had to send a special messenger, who came, it appears, all the
way to Washington in one day, to inform the Secretary that the
negroes were not holden under the order of the Circuit Court,
but of the District Court. And he says, 'Should the pretended
friends of the negroes'--the pretended friends!--'obtain a writ
of Habeas Corpus, the Marshal could not justify under that
warrant.' And he says, 'the Marshal wishes me to inquire'--a
most amiable and benevolent inquiry--'whether in the event of a
decree requiring him to release the negroes, or in case of an
appeal by the adverse party, it is expected the Executive
warrant will be executed'--that is, whether he is to carry the
negroes on board of the Grampus in the face of a decree of the
Court. And he requests instructions on the point."
On the 12th of January, the very next day after the letter of the
District Attorney was written at New Haven, the Secretary of State
replies in a despatch which is marked 'confidential.'
"'[CONFIDENTIAL.]
"'DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Jan. 12,1840.
"'SIR,--Your letter of the 11th inst. has just been received.
The order for the delivery of the negroes of the Amistad is
herewith returned, corrected agreeably to your suggestion. With
reference to the inquiry from the Marshal, to which you allude,
I have to state, by direction of the President, that if the
decision of the Court is such as is anticipated, the order of
the President is to be carried into execution, unless an appeal
shall actually have been interposed. YOU ARE NOT TO TAKE IT FOR
GRANTED THAT IT WILL BE INTERPOSED. And if, on the contrary, the
decision of the Court is different, you are to take out an
appeal, and allow things to remain as they are until the appeal
shall have been decided.
I am, sir, your obedient servant
"'JOHN FORSYTH.
"'W.S. HOLABIRD, Esq.,
"'_Attorney U.S. for District of Conn._'
"But after all the order did not avail. The District Judge,
contrary to all these anticipations of the Executive, decided
that the thirty-six negroes taken by Lieut. Gedney and brought
before the Court on the certificate of the Governor-General of
Cuba, were FREEMEN; that they had been kidnapped in Africa; that
they did not own these Spanish names; that they were not
_ladinos_; and were not correctly described in the passport, but
were new negroes bought by Ruiz in the depot of Havana, and
fully entitled to their liberty."
At a public meeting held subsequent to their liberation, the teacher of
the Africans made a statement as follows:--Their ruling passion was a
love for home; and their desire to return thither was constantly
manifesting itself. One day, a short time ago, Fohlee came to his
teacher, with his cap in his hand, and said, "If Merican men offer me as
much gold as fill this cap full up, and give me houses, land and every
ting, so dat I stay in dis country, I say no! Is dat like my father? Is
dat like my mother? Is dat like my sister? Is dat like my brother? No! I
want to see my father, my mother, my brother and sister." This feeling
manifested itself in many ways; and they expressed themselves willing to
undergo any thing short of losing their lives, if by so doing they could
be at liberty to return to the Mendi country.
I now introduce the lively narrative of my friend Lewis Tappan:
"EXCURSION WITH THE AMISTAD AFRICANS.
"_On board Steam Boat, L.I. Sound, Nov_. 15, 1841.
"BROTHER LEAVITT:--As the committee had chartered a ship to take
the Mendians to Sierra Leone about the middle of this month, and
as the funds contributed by a benevolent public were about all
expended, it appeared necessary, in addition to an appeal
published in the newspapers, to take some prompt and efficient
measures to procure funds sufficient to pay for their outfit and
passages, and, if possible, something to sustain the
contemplated mission in Mendi. One of the committee being sick
and another absent, it devolved upon me to perform the
excursion. I was assisted essentially by Mr. Samuel Deming, one
of the committee at Farmington, and by Mr. William Raymond and
Mr. Needham. On arriving at Hartford, the third instant, I
learned that Mr. Deming had proceeded to Boston, accompanied by
ten of the Mendians, viz., Cinque, Banna, Si-si, Su-ma, Fu-li,
Ya-bo-i, So-ko-ma, Kin-na, Ka-li and Mar-gru. These were
selected not on account of being the best scholars, but with
reference to their being the best singers, although some of them
are among the best scholars. None of them, however, have had
instruction in music. Arriving in Boston, the city was, as I
anticipated, full of excitement, on account of the approaching
election,--a circumstance unknown to the committee at
Farmington, who had sent off the Mendians sooner than we had
calculated,--and it seemed almost impossible to procure a
suitable place in which to hold meetings, or to arrest the
attention of the people, as the whole--democrats, whigs and
abolitionists--had every nerve strained for the political
contest. However, preparation had been made for a meeting at the
Melodeon, late Lion Theatre, on Thursday evening. A few hundreds
assembled, and appeared to be highly gratified with the
performances. It seemed to them marvellous that these men and
children, who, less than three years since, were almost naked
savages in the interior of Africa, should, under the untoward
circumstances in which they have been placed for the largest
part of the time since they have been in a civilized and
Christian country, appear so far advanced in civilization and
knowledge. Only forty-six dollars were received, the proceeds of
tickets and a collection, but a strong desire was expressed that
there should be another meeting.
"Saturday evening was the only evening we could have Marlboro'
Chapel, the largest church in the city. Preliminary to this
meeting, a private meeting of invited gentlemen was held during
the afternoon, at the Marlboro' Hotel, the Mendians being
present. The meeting was well attended and a good impression was
made. In the evening there was a large meeting in the Chapel;
Rev. Dr. Anderson opened it with prayer, concluding with the
Lord's prayer, each sentence being repeated in our language by
the Mendians. A statement was then made of their past and
present condition, of their good conduct, their proficiency, of
their ardent desire to return to Mendi, and the favorable
prospects of establishing a mission in their country. Three or
four of the best readers were then called upon to read a passage
in the New Testament. They then read and spelled a passage named
by the audience. One of the Africans next related, in 'Merica
language,' their condition in their own country, their being
kidnapped, the sufferings of the middle passage, their stay at
Havana, the transactions on board the Amistad, &c. The story was
intelligible to the audience, with occasional explanations. They
were next requested to sing two or three of their native songs.
The performance afforded great delight to the audience. As a
pleasing contrast, however, they sang immediately after, one of
the songs of Zion:
"'When I can read my title clear
To mansions in. the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.'
"This produced a deep impression upon the audience; and while
these late pagans were singing so correctly and impressively a
hymn in a Christian church, many 'weeping eyes,' bore testimony
that the act and its associations touched a chord that vibrated
in many hearts. Cinque was then introduced to the audience, and
addressed them in his native tongue. It is impossible to
describe the novel and deeply interesting manner in which he
acquitted himself. The subject of his speech was similar to that
of his countryman who had addressed the audience in English, but
he related more minutely and graphically the occurrences on
board the Amistad. The easy manner of Cinque, his natural,
graceful and energetic action, the rapidity of his utterance,
and the remarkable and various expressions of his countenance,
excited the admiration and applause of the audience. He was
pronounced a powerful natural orator, and one born to sway the
minds of his fellow men. Should he be converted and become a
preacher of the cross in Africa, what delightful results may be
anticipated!
"The amount of the statements made by Kin-na, Fu-li and Cinque,
and the facts in the case, are as follows:--These Mendians
belong to six different tribes, although their dialects are not
so dissimilar as to prevent them from conversing together very
readily. Most of them belong to a country which they call Mendi,
but which is known to geographers and travellers as Kos-sa, and
lies south-east of Sierra Leone; as we suppose, from sixty to
one hundred and twenty miles. With one or two exceptions, these
Mendians are not related to each other; nor did they know each
other until they met at the slave factory of Pedro Blanco, the
wholesale trafficker in men, at Lomboko, on the coast of Africa.
They were stolen separately, many of them by black men, some of
whom were accompanied by Spaniards, as they were going from one
village to another, or were at a distance from their abodes. The
whole came to Havana in the same ship, a Portuguese vessel named
Tecora, except the four children, whom they saw, for the first
time, on board the Amistad. It seems that they remained at
Lomboko several weeks, until six or seven hundred were
collected, when they were put in irons and placed in the hold of
a ship, which soon put to sea. Being chased by a British
cruiser, she returned, landed the cargo of human beings, and the
vessel was seized and taken to Sierra Leone for adjudication.
After some time, the Africans were put on board the Tecora.
After suffering the horrors of the middle passage, they arrived
at Havana. Here they were put into a barracoon, one of the
oblong enclosures, without a roof, where human beings are kept,
as they keep sheep and oxen near the cattle markets, in the
vicinity of our large cities, until purchasers are found, for
ten days, when they were sold to Jose Ruiz, and shipped on board
the Amistad, together with the three girls and a little boy who
came on board with Pedro Montez. The Amistad was a coaster,
bound to Principe, in Cuba, distant some two or three hundred
miles. The Africans were kept in chains and fetters, and were
supplied with but a small quantity of food or water. A single
banana, they say, was served out as food for a day or two, and
only a small cup of water for each daily. When any of them took
a little water from the cask, they were severely flogged. The
Spaniards took Antonio, the cabin-boy and slave to Captain
Ferrer, and stamped him on the shoulder with a hot iron; then
put powder, palm oil, &c. upon the wound, so that they 'could
know him for their slave.' The cook, a colored Spaniard, told
them that on their arrival at Principe, in three days, they
would have their throats cut, be chopped in pieces, and salted
down for meat for the Spaniards. He pointed to some barrels of
beef on the deck, then to an empty barrel, and by significant
gestures,--as the Mendians say, by 'talking with his
fingers,'--he made them understand that they were to be slain,
&c. At four o'clock that day, when they were called on deck to
eat, Cinque found a nail, which he secreted under his arm. In
the night they held a counsel as to what was best to be done.
'We feel bad,' said Kin-na, 'and we ask Cinque what we had best
do. Cinque say, "Me think, and by and by I tell you."' He then
said, 'If we do nothing, we be killed. We may as well die in
trying to be free as to be killed and eaten.' Cinque afterwards
told them what he would do. With the aid of the nail and the
assistance of Grabeau, he freed himself from the irons on his
wrists and ancles, and from the chain on his neck. He then, with
his own hands, wrested the irons from the limbs and necks of his
countrymen. It is not in my power to give an adequate
description of Cinque when he showed how he did this and led his
comrades to the conflict and achieved their freedom. In my
younger years I saw Kemble and Siddons, and the representation
of Othello, at Covent Garden, but no acting that I ever
witnessed came near that to which I allude. When delivered from
their irons, the Mendians, with the exception of the children,
who were asleep, about four or five o'clock in the morning,
armed with cane-knives, some boxes of which they found in the
hold, leaped upon the deck. Cinque killed the cook. The captain
fought desperately. He inflicted wounds on two of the Africans,
who soon after died, and cut severely one or two of those who
now survive. Two sailors leaped over the side of the vessel. The
Mendians say 'they could not catch land--they must have swum to
the bottom of the sea,' but Ruiz and Montez supposed they
reached the island in a boat. Cinque now took command of the
vessel; placed Si-si at the helm; gave his people plenty to eat
and drink. Ruiz and Montez had fled to the hold. They were
dragged out, and Cinque ordered them to be put in irons. They
cried and begged not to be put in chains, but Cinque replied,
'You say fetters good for negro--if good for negro good for
Spanish man too: you try them two days, and see how you feel.'
The Spaniards asked for water, and it was dealt out to them in
the same little cup with which they had dealt it out to the
Africans. They complained bitterly of being thirsty. Cinque
said, 'You say little water enough for nigger. If little water
do for him, a little do for you too.' Cinque said the Spaniards
cried a great deal; he felt very sorry; only meant to let them
see how good it was to be treated like the poor slaves. In two
days the irons were removed; and then, said Cinque, we give them
plenty water and food, and treat them very well. Kin-na stated
that as the water fell short, Cinque would not drink any, nor
allow any of the rest to drink any thing but salt water, but
dealt out daily a little to each of the four children, and the
same quantity to each of the two Spaniards! In a day or two Ruiz
and Montez wrote a letter, and told Cinque that when they spoke
a vessel, if he would give it to them, the people would take
them to Sierra Leone. Cinque took the letter and said, 'Very
well;' but afterwards told his brethren, 'We have no letter in
Mendi. I don't know what is in that letter--there may be death
in it. So we will take some iron and a string, bind them about
the letter, and send it to the bottom of the sea.'
"When any vessel came in sight, the Spaniards were shut down in
the hold, and forbidden to come on deck on pain of death. One of
the Africans, who could talk a little English, answered
questions when they were hailed from other vessels.
"It is unnecessary to narrate here subsequent facts, as they
have been published throughout the country. After Cinque's
address a collection was taken, and the services were concluded
by the Mendians singing Bishop Heber's missionary hymn:
"'From Greenland's icy mountains.'
"At the conclusion of the meeting some linen and cotton table
cloths and napkins, manufactured by the Africans, were
exhibited, and eagerly purchased of them by persons present, at
liberal prices. They are in the habit of purchasing linen and
cotton at the shops, unravelling the edges about six to ten
inches, and making, with their fingers, neat fringes, in
imitation, they say, of 'Mendi fashion.' Large numbers of the
audience advanced, and took Cinque and the rest by the hand. The
transactions of this meeting have thus been stated at length,
and the account will serve to show how the subsequent meetings
were conducted, as the services in other places were similar.
"These Africans, while in prison, (which was the largest part of
the time they have been in this country) learned but little
comparatively, but since they have been liberated, they have
been anxious to learn, as they said 'it would be good for us in
our own country.' Many of them write well, read, spell and sing
well, and have attended to arithmetic. The younger ones have
made great progress in study. Most of them have much fondness
for arithmetic. They have also cultivated as a garden fifteen
acres of land, and have raised a large quantity of corn,
potatoes, onions, beets, et cet., which will be useful to them
at sea. In some places we visited, the audience were astonished
at the performance of Kali, who is only eleven years of age. He
would not only spell any word in either of the Gospels, but
spell sentences, without any mistake, such sentences as 'Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,' naming each
letter and syllable, and recapitulating as he went along, until
he pronounced the whole sentence. Two hundred and seven dollars
were received at this meeting.
"'On Sabbath evening a meeting was attended in Rev. Mr. Beman's
Church, (colored.) It was impossible for all to gain
admittance--collected sixteen dollars and fifty-one cents. The
same evening a meeting was held at Elder N. Colver's. A very
warm interest was manifested by this congregation, and the sum
of ninety dollars was contributed. The next morning a
respectable mechanic, a member of this church, offered to go to
Mendi with his wife and child, to take up their permanent abode
there. On Monday we proceeded to Haverhill. It was a rainy day,
and town meeting was held at the same hour. The audience was
small, but a deep interest was felt, and fifty-six dollars
contributed. Rev. Charles Fitch opened the meeting with prayer.
The Mendians and their friends will long remember the
hospitality and generosity of their friends in this place. After
a stay of two hours, we proceeded to Lowell. The heavy rain
prevented a general attendance. Only thirty-one dollars was
collected, beside some private donations. Mr. John Levi, a
colored citizen, rendered important services to us, and several
of the clergymen and other inhabitants rendered efficient aid.
On Tuesday we went to Nashua, N.H., and remained two hours.
Owing to some untoward circumstances, the inhabitants generally
had not been notified of the meeting. A small number only
attended. The collection was twenty-seven dollars. In the
evening at Lowell, the large Methodist Church, St. Paul's, was
crowded, one thousand five hundred people being present, it was
said, and many hundreds unable to get admission. The meeting was
opened with an appropriate prayer by Rev. Luther Lee. In order
to give an opportunity to the audience to see and hear Cinque,
he was invited into the pulpit, where he made an energetic
address. One hundred and six dollars were collected. At the
close of the services, nearly the whole congregation came
forward and took the Mendians by the hand, with kind words and
many presents. The ministers of all denominations attended the
meeting, with many of the most respectable citizens. During the
day the Africans were invited to visit the 'Boott Corporation,'
and were conducted over the whole establishment (cotton mills,)
by the agent, Mr. French. As might be supposed, they were
astonished beyond measure. After inspecting the machinery, the
fabrics, and the great wheel, one of them turned to me and said,
'Did man make this?' On receiving a reply, he said, 'He no live
now--he live a great while ago.' Afterwards they visited the
carpet factory, and expressed great delight at the beauty and
excellence of the carpets and rugs. Cinque wished to purchase a
miniature hearth rug, but the agent allowed him to select one of
the large and beautiful rugs to take to Mendi, which he
generously presented to him. The workmen here--chiefly
Englishmen--made a collection of fifty-eight dollars and fifty
cents on the spot, and presented it to the Mendi Fund.
"In pursuance of previous arrangements, we turned aside,
Wednesday, November 12, to attend a meeting in the large South
Church in Andover, at 9 o'clock, A.M. The house was crowded in
every part. Dr. Edwards led in prayer, and Dr. Woods
interrogated some of the Mendians. After a stay of two hours we
returned to the cars, followed by a large multitude. Collected
eighty-four dollars. It was remarked at the meeting here, as in
other places, that the contemplated mission to Mendi was to be
an anti-slavery mission; that no money would be solicited or
received of slave holders; that the committee were not connected
with any other missionary associations, and would not assume a
hostile attitude towards any. A young gentleman here offered to
go to Mendi as a teacher.
"In the afternoon a meeting was held in Boston, at the Marlboro'
Chapel. The scholars in the Sabbath and week-day schools had
been notified of it and attended in large numbers, together with
several respectable inhabitants of Boston and the neighboring
towns. The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. W.B. Tappan.
The collection was one hundred and ten dollars. In the evening a
meeting was held at the Melodeon, and was attended by a large
number of persons. Collection one hundred and thirty-three
dollars. The next day, Thursday the 11th, we left for
Springfield. The meeting was held in the evening, at the Town
Hall, as some of the Parish committee objected to its being held
in the church, fearing it would desecrate the place. The Hall
was crowded, and many could not gain admittance. Dr. Osgood
opened the meeting with prayer, took several of the Mendians to
his own house, and manifested a deep interest on their behalf,
as did many of the other inhabitants. The Mendians were all
hospitably entertained in this place without expense. Some
'fellows of the baser sort' insulted Kin-na and others as they
went to the Hall; and in the introduction of his speech, Kin-na
spoke of the treatment he had received. But there are many
warm-hearted and generous friends of the colored race in this
town. 'We said nothing to them,' said Kin-na; 'why did they
treat us so? What can we do? We are few and feeble. What can the
dog do when the lion attacks him; or what can be done when the
cat and the mouse come together!' Collection seventy-three
dollars. The Mendians were invited by Mr. Burleigh to see a
large picture exhibiting here--'The Descent of Christ from the
Cross,' copied from Rubens--and were highly gratified.
"Here we received a cordial invitation from two of the ministers
of Northampton and several of their people to visit that place,
with the assurance that the First Church, the largest in the
county, should be opened for the Mendians. On the 12th we rode
to N. in the rain. Mount Tom and the Connecticut River were
pointed out to Cinque, who said, 'In my country we have very
great mountain--much bigger than that--and river about so wide,
but very deep.' The weather cleared away towards night, and the
church was nearly filled. Rev. Mr. Pennington, colored minister
of Hartford, opened the meeting with prayer. Collection
seventy-five dollars, in addition to seventeen dollars from the
Female Abolition Society; fifty-three dollars collected before
we arrived, and eighty-five contributed by 'a friend,' a short
time since. The reception here was warm-hearted. Mr. Warner,
keeper of the principal hotel in that place, furnished the
Mendians with one of his best rooms, seated them at the table
with his family and boarders, and, on being asked for his bill
the next day, he replied, 'There is nothing to pay!' The agents
of the Nashua and Andover rail roads also declined taking pay
for the passages of the Mendians. On Saturday, we rose at 3
o'clock, P.M., and returned to Springfield. Here we took the
steam boat for Hartford. On arriving, application was made to
Mr. Colton, keeper of the Temperance Hotel, to accommodate the
Mendians. He demurred. Mr. Warner's noble treatment of them was
mentioned. Mr. C. said he could not place them at his table. He
was told that this was not insisted upon; that if he would
furnish me a room they could eat there, and sleep wherever it
was convenient to Mr. C. But he absolutely refused to entertain
them any how. As this house has been patronized by
abolitionists, they ought to know this fact. After remaining in
the cold on the wharf about an hour, the Mendians were received
and hospitably entertained by several families without charge.
"On the Sabbath, November 14, they attended public worship in
Rev. Mr. Pennington's church. In the afternoon the church was
filled. An address was made by the writer, and the Mendians read
in the Testament and sang a hymn. Collection eight dollars. In
the evening a meeting was held in the Centre Church, Rev. Dr.
Hawes's. Notices were read in the other churches, and handbills
had been posted the previous day. The church, in every part, was
crowded, and large numbers were unable to obtain admittance. Dr.
Hawes opened the meeting with prayer. The services were of an
interesting character. Collection eighty dollars. Dr. Hawes
interrogated Kin-na. He said, 'The Mendi people believe in a
Great Spirit, although they do not worship him. They know they
have souls. We think,' said Kin-na, 'we make clothes. Dog can't
do this. He no soul, but we have.' He said on another occasion,
when asked if his people believed in a future state, 'The Mendi
people all Sadducees.' Kin-na said that they 'owe every thing to
God. He keep them alive, and give them free. When he go home to
Mendi, they tell their brethren about God, Jesus Christ, and
heaven.' Fu-li, on a former evening, being asked, 'What is
faith?' replied, 'Believing in Jesus Christ, and trusting in
him.' Their answers to questions show that they have read and
that they understand the Scriptures, and hopes are entertained
that one or two at least know experimentally the value of
religion. The fact that there is no system of idolatry in Mendi
for missionaries to oppose and the natives technically to adhere
to, is an encouraging fact with regard to the contemplated
mission. Another pleasing and remarkable fact exists: labor is
suspended every seventh day, and has been from time immemorial.
They do not engage in any religious services, but dress in their
best apparel, feast on that day,--as some do here,--visit, &c.
This day, 15th, Rev. Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Brigham have invited
the Mendians to visit the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Insane
Institution. On a person's giving, by signs, the deaf and dumb
alphabet to Mar-gru, one of the girls, she, in a few minutes,
repeated nearly the whole. They told Mr. Brigham that there were
insane people and idiots in Mendi, and described their actions
and the treatment of them. Two of the Mendians will be detained
as witnesses in Hartford this day, in a cause appealed from a
lower court. Some of the Mendians were grossly assaulted at
Farmington some time since, on a training day; and those who
committed the assault and battery were convicted and fined. An
appeal was taken. When thus assailed, the Mendians, as usual,
exhibited their peaceful disposition, and said, 'We no fight.'
On Wednesday there is to be a large fare meeting at
Farmington--on which occasion Dr. Hawes is to preach. In a few
days the Mendians will embark from New York. May the Lord
preserve them, and carry them safely to their native land, to
their kindred and homes. Su-ma, the eldest, has a wife and five
children. Cinque has a wife and three children. They all have
parents or wives, or brothers and sisters. What a meeting it
will be with these relations and friends, when they are descried
on the hills of Mendi! We were invited to visit other places,
but time did not allow of longer absence. I must not forget to
mention that the whole band of these Mendi are teetotallers. At
a tavern where we stopped, Ban-na took me aside, and with a
sorrowful countenance, said, 'This bad house--bar house--no
good.' But the steam boat is at the wharf, and I must close. The
collections in money, on this excursion of twelve days, is about
one thousand dollars, after deducting travelling expenses. More
money is needed to defray the expenses of the Mendians to their
native land, and to sustain their religious teachers. Very truly
yours,
"LEWIS TAPPAN."
But to conclude the narrative of these interesting Africans. After all
the trickery on the part of the U.S. government, it was finally decreed
by the Supreme Court, that the Mendians were free persons, and might go
whither they pleased. They were unanimous for returning to their native
country. The Mendian negroes, thirty-five in number, embarked from New
York for Sierra Leone, on the 27th of the 11th month, (November,) 1841,
on board the barque Gentleman, Captain Morris, accompanied by five
missionaries and teachers. The British government has manifested a
praiseworthy interest in their welfare, and will assist them to reach
their own country from Sierra Leone. Their stay in the United States has
been of immense service to the anti-slavery cause, and there is reason
to hope that under their auspices, Christianity and civilization may be
introduced into their native country.
APPENDIX F. P. 76.
EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY BY WILLIAM JAY, "_On the Folly and Evils of War,
and the Means of Preserving Peace._"
"But, after all that can be said against war, and after the
fullest admission of its folly, cruelty, and wickedness, still
the question recurs, how can it be prevented? It would be an
impeachment of the Divine economy to suppose that an evil so
dreadful was inseparably and inevitably connected with human
society. We are informed, by Divine authority, that wars proceed
from our lusts; but our lusts, although natural to us, are not
invincible. He who admits the free agency of man, will not
readily allow that either individuals or nations are compelled
to do evil. The universal prevalence of Christian principles
must, of necessity, exterminate wars; and hence we are informed,
by revelation, that when righteousness shall cover the earth,
'the nations shall learn war no more.'
"And are we to wait, it will be inquired, till this distant and
uncertain period for the extinction of war? We answer, that
revelation affords us no ground to expect that all mankind will
previously be governed by the precepts of justice and humanity;
but that experience, reason, and revelation, all unite in
leading us to believe that the regeneration of the world will be
a gradual and progressive work. Civilization and Christianity
are diffusing their influence throughout the globe, mitigating
the sufferings and multiplying the enjoyments of the human
family. Free institutions are taking the place of feudal
oppressions--education is pouring its light on minds hitherto
enveloped in all the darkness of ignorance--the whole system of
slavery, both personal and political, is undermined by public
opinion, and must soon be prostrated; and the signs of the times
assure us that the enormous mass of crime and wretchedness,
which is the fruit of drunkenness, will, at no very remote
period, disappear from the earth.
"And can it be possible, that, of all the evils under which
humanity groans, war is the only one which religion and
civilization, and the active philanthropy of the present day,
can neither remove nor mitigate? Such an opinion, if general,
would be most disastrous to the world, and it will now be our
endeavor to prove that it is utterly groundless. * *
* *
"We have often seen extensive national alliances for the
prosecution of war, and no sufficient reason can be assigned why
such alliances might not be formed for the preservation of
peace. It is obvious that war might instantly be banished from
Europe, would its nations regard themselves as members of one
great Society, and erect a court for the trial and decision of
their respective differences.
"But we are told that such an agreement among the nations is
impossible. It is unquestionably so at present, for the obvious
reason, that time is necessary to enlighten and direct public
opinion, and produce a general acquiescence in the plan, as well
as to arrange the various stipulations and guaranties that would
be requisite. It is certainly not surprising, that those who
suppose a congress of nations for the maintenance of peace, can
only be brought about by a simultaneous movement of the various
states and kingdoms of the earth, who are to continue to battle
with each other till the signal is given for universal peace and
harmony, should be startled at the boldness and absurdity of the
project. But this boldness and absurdity belong not to the
project we advocate. We have no expectation whatever of any
general, much less simultaneous effort of mankind in behalf of
peace. A congress for the decision of national differences,
instead of arising in the midst of the present military policy
of Europe, must be preceded by an extensive, although partial
abandonment of war, and will be the _effect_ and not the cause
of the general diffusion of pacific sentiments.
"Hence it is in vain to look for a sudden and universal
cessation of war, even among civilized and Christian nations.
But reason and experience warrant the hope that some one State
may be led to adopt a pacific policy, and thus set an example
which through the blessing of Providence, and the prevalence of
Christian principles, may usher in the reign of universal peace.
"But by whom, and in what way it will be asked, is this example
to be set? It may be a feeling of national vanity, and it may be
a reference to the peculiarities of our local, social, and
political condition, that inspires the hope, that to the United
States is to be reserved the glory of teaching to mankind the
blessings of peace, and the means of preserving them. *
*
"But in _what way_ are we to make the experiment? Certainly in
the way least likely to excite alarm and opposition. In every
effort to promote the temporal or spiritual welfare of others,
we should consider things as they really are, and not merely as
they ought to be, and we should consult expediency as far as we
can do so, without compromising principle. * * *
"Of all the nations with whom we have relations, none probably
enjoy in an equal degree our good will, as France. No spirit of
rivalry in commerce or manufactures exists between us, no
adjacent territory furnishes occasion for border aggressions and
mutual criminations, while our past relations afford subjects of
pleasing and grateful recollection, and at present we see no
prospect of the interruption of that harmony which has so long
subsisted between the two nations.
"Let us suppose that under these propitious circumstances, a
convention should now be concluded between the two governments,
by which it should be agreed, that if unhappily any difference
should hereafter arise between us, that could not be adjusted by
negociation, neither party should resort to arms, but that they
should agree on some friendly power, to whom the matter in
difference should be referred, and whose decision should be
final; or that if it should so happen that the parties could not
concur in selecting an umpire, that then each party should
select a friendly power, and that the sovereigns or states thus
selected, should, if necessary, call to their aid the assistance
of a third.
"To what well founded objections would such a treaty be subject?
It is true that treaties of this kind have been of rare
occurrence, but all experience is in their favor. Vattel remarks
(Law of Nations, book II., chap. 18,) 'Arbitration is a method
very reasonable, very conformable to the law of nature, in
determining differences that do not directly interest the safety
of the nation. Though the strict right may be mistaken by the
arbitrator, _it is still more to be feared that it will be
overwhelmed by the fate of arms_. The Swiss have had the
precaution in all their alliances among themselves, and even in
those they have contracted with the neighboring powers, to agree
beforehand on the manner in which their disputes were to be
submitted to arbitrators, in case they could not adjust them in
an amicable manner. _This wise precaution has not a little
contributed to maintain the Helvetic Republic in that
flourishing state which secures its liberty, and renders it
respectable throughout Europe_.'
"But it may be said, a nation ought not to permit others to
decide on her rights and claims. Why not? Will the decision be
less consistent with justice, from being impartial and
disinterested? It is a maxim confirmed by universal experience,
that no man should be judge in his own cause; and are nations
less under the influence of interest and of passion than
individuals? Are they not, in fact, still less under the control
of moral obligation? Treaties have often been violated by
statesmen and senators, who would have shrunk from being equally
faithless in their private contracts. Is it to be supposed that
the government of a friendly power, in a controversy between us
and France, in which it had no interest, and with the
observation of the civilized world directed to its decision,
would be less likely to pronounce a fair and impartial judgment
than either France or ourselves?
"But we can decide our own controversies for ourselves, it is
said; that is, we can go to war and take our chance for the
result. Alas, 'it is an error,' says Vattel, 'no less absurd
than pernicious, to say that war is to _decide_ controversies
between those who, as in the case of nations, acknowledge no
judge. It is _power_ or _prudence_ rather than right that
victory usually declares for.'--Book III. Chap. 3.
"The United States chose to decide for themselves the
controversy about impressment, by appealing to the sword. In
this appeal they of course placed no reliance on the propriety
and justice of their claims, since such considerations could
have no influence on the fate of battle; but they depended
solely on their capacity to inflict more injury than they would
receive themselves, and this difference in the amount of injury
was to turn the scale in our favor. Our expectations, however,
were disappointed. Our commerce was annihilated, our frontier
towns were laid in ashes, our capital taken, our attempts upon
Canada were repulsed, with loss and disgrace; our people became
burthened with taxes, and we were at last glad to accept a
treaty of peace which, instead of containing, as we had fondly
hoped, a formal surrender on the part of Great Britain of the
right of impressment, made not the slightest allusion to the
subject.
"Let us now suppose that a treaty similar to the one we have
proposed with France had, in 1812, existed between Great Britain
and the United States; the question of impressment would then
have been submitted to one or more friendly powers.
"It is scarcely possible that the umpires could have given any
decision of this question that would have been as injurious to
either party as was the prosecution of the war. Had the claims
of Great Britain been sanctioned, some American seamen would, no
doubt, have been occasionally compelled to serve in the British
navy; but how very small would have been their number compared
with the thousands who perished in the war; and how utterly
insignificant would have been their sufferings resulting from
serving on board a British instead of an American vessel, when
weighed against the burdens, the slaughters, the conflagrations,
inflicted on their country in the contest? If, on the other
hand, the decision had been in our favor, Great Britain would
have lost a few seamen from her navy, but she would have saved
the lives of a far greater number, and she would have been
spared an amount of treasure which would have commanded the
services of ten times as many sailors as she could ever hope to
recover by impressment.
"It is not, however, probable, that the umpires, anxious to do
right, and having no motive to do wrong, would have sanctioned,
without qualification, the claims of either party.
"We can scarcely anticipate any future national difference which
it would not be more prudent and expedient to submit to
arbitration than to the chance of war. However just may be our
cause, however united our people, we cannot foresee the issue of
the contest, nor tell what new enemies we may be called to
encounter, what sacrifices to bear, what concessions to make.
"We have already partially commenced the experiment of
arbitrament, by referring no less than three of our disputes to
the determination of as many friendly powers. A difference as to
the meaning of an article, in our last treaty of peace with
Great Britain, was referred to the Emperor of Russia, who
decided it in our favor. The question of our northern boundary
was referred to the King of the Netherlands; and although the
line he assigned was not the one claimed by either party, it was
vastly less injurious to each, than would have been one month's
hostility on account of it. Our disputes with Mexico were
verging rapidly to open war, when they were happily submitted to
the King of Prussia, and are now in the course of satisfactory
adjustment.
"A treaty with France of the character proposed, would greatly
increase our importance in the estimation of all Europe--as it
would permanently secure us from her hostility. It would be seen
and felt, that whatever other nation might enter into collision
with us, it could not expect the aid of France, but that under
all circumstances we should enjoy the friendship and commerce of
our ancient ally. These considerations would not be without
their influence on England. She has colonies near us which we
may capture, or essentially injure, and which cannot be defended
by her, but at very inconvenient expense. A war with us must
ever be undesired by her, for the obvious reason that in such a
contest she has little to gain and much to lose. Our treaty also
with France would deprive England of the aid of the only nation
that could afford her effectual assistance in a war against us.
She would therefore, find it her interest to avail herself of a
similar treaty, and thus to secure herself from hostilities
which on many accounts she must wish to avoid. Once assured by
such treaties of permanent peace with France and England, we
should find our alliance courted by the other powers of Europe,
who would not readily consent that those two nations should have
exclusively the uninterrupted enjoyment of our great and growing
commerce. They would think it a matter of prudence also, to
avoid the risk of collision with a powerful republic, that had
already secured the permanent friendship of France and England;
and they would hasten to contract similar treaties. Under such
circumstances, every consideration of policy would prompt our
South American neighbors to desire that their amicable relations
with us might remain uninterrupted; and to them we might offer
the same stipulations with full confidence of their cordial
acceptance.
"And will it be said that all this is visionary and impossible?
The plan we propose rests on no supposed reformation in the
passions and propensities of mankind; but upon obvious
principles of national interest, deduced from reason and
experience, and susceptible of the plainest demonstration. It is
a plan adapted to the existing state of civilized society, and
accommodated to the passions and prejudices by which that
society is influenced. It is indeed perfectly consistent with
the precepts of Christianity, but it is also in accordance with
the selfish dictates of worldly policy.
"To this plan we can imagine only one plausible objection, which
is, that the treaties would not be observed. It is readily
admitted that if the only guaranty for the faithful observance
of these treaties consisted in the virtue and integrity of those
who signed them, the confidence to be reposed in them would be
faint indeed. Happily, however, we have a far stronger guaranty
in national interest and in public opinion. * * *
"Dismissing then all idle fears that these treaties, honestly
contracted and obviously conducive to the highest interests of
the parties, would not be observed, let us contemplate the rich
and splendid blessings they would confer on our country.
Protected from hostile violence and invasion by a moral defence,
more powerful than armies and navies, we might indeed beat our
swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. The
millions now expended in our military establishments could be
applied to objects directly ministering to human convenience and
happiness. Our whole militia system, with its long train of
vices and its vexatious interruptions of labor, would be swept
away. The arts of peace would alone be cultivated, and would
yield comforts and enjoyments in a profusion and perfection of
which mankind have witnessed no example. In the expressive
language of Scripture, our citizens would each 'sit under his
own vine and under his own fig tree, with none to make him
afraid,' and our peaceful and happy republic would be the praise
and glory of all lands. * * * * *
"It is impossible that a scene so bright and lovely should not
attract the admiration and attention of the world. The extension
of education in Europe, and the growing freedom of her
institutions, are leading her population to think, and to
express their thoughts. The governments of the eastern
continent, whatever may be their form, are daily becoming more
and more sensitive to public opinion. The people already restive
under their burdens, would soon discover that those burdens
would be greatly diminished by the adoption of the American
policy. Before long, some state would commence the experiment on
a small scale, and its example would be followed by others. In
time these conventions would give way to more extended pacific
alliances, and a greater number of umpires would be selected;
nor is it the vain hope of idle credulity, that at last a union
might be formed, embracing every Christian nation, for
guarantying the peace of Christendom, by establishing a tribunal
for the adjustment of national differences, and by preventing
all forcible resistance to its decrees.
"It is unnecessary to discuss, at this time, the character and
powers with which such a tribunal should be invested. Whenever
it shall be desired, little difficulty will be experienced in
devising for it a satisfactory organization; that it is possible
to form such a court, and that next to Christianity it would be
the richest gift ever bestowed by Heaven upon our suffering
world, will be doubted by few who have patiently and candidly
investigated the subject.
"But many who admit the advantages and practicability of the
plan we have proposed, will be tempted to despair of success, by
the apparent difficulty of inducing an effort for its
accomplishment. Similar difficulties, however, have been
experienced and overcome. The abolition of the slave trade, and
the suppression of intemperance were once as apparently hopeless
as the cessation of war. Let us again recur for instruction and
encouragement to the course pursued by the friends of freedom
and temperance. Had the British abolitionists employed
themselves in addressing memorials to the various courts of
Europe, soliciting them to unite in a general agreement to
abandon the traffic, they would unquestionably have labored in
vain, and spent their strength for nought. They adopted another
and a wiser course. They labored to awaken the consciences of
their own countrymen, and to persuade them to do justice and to
love mercy; and thus to set an example to the rest of Europe,
infinitely more efficacious than all the arguments and
remonstrances which reason and eloquence could dictate.
"In vain might moralists and philanthropists have declaimed for
ages on the evils of drunkenness, had no temperance society been
formed till all mankind were ready to adopt a pledge of total
abstinence. The authors of the temperance reformation did not
lavish their strength and resources in attempting to convince
the world of the blessings of temperance, but forming themselves
into a temperance society, gave a visible and tangible proof
that the principle they recommended was not merely expedient but
practicable. And surely if we desire to persuade mankind that
war is an unnecessary evil, it is indispensable that we should
be able to point them to some instance in which it has been
safely dispensed with; nor can we hope to effect a change in the
opinion of Europe, while our own people remain unaffected by our
assertions and arguments.
"Here then must be the field of our labors; and let those labors
be quickened by the reflection, that while they are aimed at the
happiness of the human race, they are calculated to confer on
our beloved country a moral sublimity which no worldly glory can
approach.
"But what are the means we shall use? The same by which the
commerce in human beings was destroyed, and which are now
driving intemperance from the earth--_voluntary associations and
the press_.
"Let the friends of peace concentrate their exertions in Peace
Societies; and let the press proclaim throughout our land, in
all its length and breadth, the folly, the wickedness, and the
horrors of war; and call on our rulers to provide for the
amicable adjustment of national differences. In the first treaty
that shall be formed for this purpose we shall behold the dawn
of that glorious day, the theme of prophets and the aspirations
of saints, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
"The present age is propitious to the enterprise. It is an age
of energy and of freedom. All the powers of mind are in full
activity, and every eye and every ear is open to the reception
of new truths. Science and philanthropy are daily achieving
triumphs which the past century dared not imagine. The world is
no longer governed by princes and senates, but by public
opinion, and at the fiat of this mighty potentate, ancient
institutions are levelled in the dust. Let this despot wield
only a delegated authority, and each individual, however humble,
can enhance or diminish his power. Who, then, will refuse to
lend his assistance to enable public opinion to say to the
troubled nations, 'peace--be still;' and to compel the rulers of
the earth to refer their disputes to another tribunal than the
sword.
"In this cause every man can labor, and it is a cause in which
every man is called to labor, by interest and by duty. But it is
a cause that peculiarly claims the zeal and devotion of
Christians. They are the servants of Him who is not only the
mighty God and the everlasting Father, but the Prince of Peace.
They know that war is opposed to all his attributes, and
contradicts the precepts of his word. Conscience gives her
sanction to the means we have proposed, and prophecy assures us
of the accomplishment of the object to which they are directed.
Why, then, will not Christians use the talents and influence
given them from above to effect this consummation? Let them not
plead, in excuse for listlessness and indifference, that it is
God alone who 'maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth.' In
the moral government of the world, the purposes of its Almighty
Ruler are accomplished by his blessing upon human means. He has
promised that righteousness shall cover the whole earth; and in
reliance on this promise, his servants are now bearing the
everlasting Gospel to every nation and kindred, and tongue and
people. He has also promised that nations shall learn war no
more, and in his faithfulness we have all the incentive which
certainty of ultimate success can give to human exertion. And in
what cause can the energies of Christian benevolence be more
appropriately exercised? To prevent war is to avoid the effusion
of human blood, and the commission of innumerable crimes and
atrocities;--it is to diffuse peace, and comfort, and happiness,
through the great family of man,--it is to foster the arts and
sciences which minister to the wants of society,--it is to check
the progress of vice,--to speed the advance of the gospel,--to
rescue immortal souls from endless misery,--and to secure to
them a felicity as durable as it is inconceivable.
"To him who in faith and zeal labors in this great and holy
cause a rich reward is secured. While doing good to others, he
is himself a sharer in the blessing he bestows. The very
exercise of his benevolent affections affords a pure and
exquisite delight, and when he enters the world of peace and
love, he shall experience the full import of those cheering, but
mysterious words--Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall
be called the children of God."'
APPENDIX G. P. 89.
OPIUM WAR WITH CHINA.
"TO THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC OF GREAT BRITAIN.
"In again appealing to you in reference to the opium war in China, I
will begin by quoting the following extracts from a letter which I
addressed to you on the 19th of the Third Month, 1840.
"'It is now too notorious to render needful entering at large
into the subject, that the guilty traffic in opium, grown by the
East India Company, to be smuggled into China, at length
compelled the Chinese Government to vindicate the laws of the
Empire, which prohibit its introduction, and to take decisive
measures for the suppression of the traffic, by the arrest of
the parties concerned in it at Canton, and the seizure and
destruction of the opium found in the Chinese waters.[A] It is
also well known that the superintendent of the British trade,
(Capt. Elliott) so far compromised his official character and
duty, as to take under his protection one of the most extensive
opium smugglers, and thus rendered himself justly liable to the
penalties to which they were obnoxious; and at the same time
gave, as far as was in his power, the sanction of the British
nation to this unrighteous violation of the Chinese laws.
[Footnote A: "See 'Thelwall's Iniquities of the Opium Trade,'
and 'King's Opium Crisis,'"]
"'The following fact is, however, not so generally known. An
individual,[B] now in this country, who has acquired immense
wealth by this unlawful trade, has been in communication with
the Government, and his advice, it is presumed, has in no small
degree influenced the measures they have adopted; though a
leading partner in a firm to which a large proportion of the
opium that was destroyed belonged; and at the very time he was
claiming compensation, or urging a war with China, his house in
India was sending armed vessels loaded with opium, along the
coast of China, and selling it in open defiance of the laws of
that Empire. This information, with the names of the vessels and
the parties concerned, the number of chests of opium on board,
the enormous profits they were realizing, et cet., was some time
ago communicated to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
on authority which he did not and could not dispute.'
[Footnote B: "This individual is in the new House of Commons,
professedly as a reformer, and represents a borough which
formerly sent to that House one of its most upright members, who
has now retired from public life.]
"On the 7th of April, Sir James Graham brought forward a motion
in the House of Commons, in reference to this subject, but in a
manner which gave it so much of a party character, that our
cruel injustice to the Chinese, and the disgraceful conduct of
our Government in attacking them, was lost sight of by many,
whose professed principles ought to have made them foremost in
condemning these proceedings. The Whig Ministry having intimated
they would resign if Sir J. Graham carried his motion, every
other consideration was forgotten in anxiety lest a political
party should be injured or lose office.
"This feeling not only pervaded the supporters of the Government
in the House of Commons, but also extended to many leading
religious professors of various denominations; and thus no
public feeling sufficiently strong could be raised to counteract
in Downing-street, the combined and powerful influence of the
East India Company and the wealthy opium smugglers; though
public meetings were held in London and many places in the
country, and petitions forwarded justly deprecating this war, as
one of almost unparalleled iniquity. At the meeting in the
metropolis, which was held at Freemason's Hall, and at which the
Earl of Stanhope presided, the following resolutions were
passed:--
"'1. That this meeting, whilst it most distinctly
disavows any party or political objects, and deprecates
most strongly any such construction being put upon its
efforts, deeply laments that the moral and religious
feeling of the country should be outraged--the character
of Christianity disgraced in the eyes of the world--and
this kingdom involved in war with upwards of three
hundred and fifty millions of people, in consequence of
British subjects introducing Opium into China, in direct
and known violation of the laws of that Empire.
"'2. That, although the Chinese have not been heard in
their defence, the statements adduced by the advocates
of the war, clearly establish the fact, that the East
India Company, the growers of and traffickers in opium,
and British subjects who received the protection of the
laws of China, have been, throughout, the wrong doers;
therefore this meeting (without reference to the
conviction of many, that all war is opposed to the
spirit and precepts of the gospel,) holds it to be the
bounden duty of the government immediately to effect an
equitable and pacific settlement of the existing
differences with China.
"'3. That all traffic in opium with the Chinese being
contraband, the opium which was surrendered to their
government was justly confiscated; and that to demand
payment from the Chinese, to make reprisals upon them,
or, for this country to give compensation to the British
merchants thus engaged in smuggling, would be to
sanction and even grant a premium on crime.
"'4. That the petition now read be adopted by this
meeting, and presented to both Houses of Parliament; and
that the Right Honorable Earl Stanhope be requested to
present the same to the House of Lords, and Lord Sandon
to the House of Commons.
"'5. That the resolutions of this meeting be published
at the discretion of the Committee; and that a copy of
them in the Chinese language be transmitted, through the
High Commissioner Lin, to the Emperor of China.'
"Since this period, I have been in company with several
Englishmen who were at Canton at the time of the seizure of the
opium; and though some of them were concerned in the trade
themselves, and were naturally biassed in favor of their own
country, they all agreed in condemning the proceedings of the
English. I have recently spent some time in the United States,
whose intercourse with China is extensive and frequent, and
where the merits of this case are clearly understood by many of
the most intelligent and candid-minded citizens; and these,
without any exception, considered the acts of the British
government in this matter as some of the most flagrant that ever
disgraced a civilized, much less a Christian people.
"On my return to this country I found a new administration
entering upon office; the members of which have, for the most
part, condemned the conduct of their predecessors in relation to
this war; and I again, therefore, venture to appeal to the
_Christian_ public of my country that they may, without delay,
forward petitions, or memorials, strongly urging a reference of
the existing differences with China to commissioners mutually
appointed, who shall be authorized to adjust them, and also to
determine upon the best means of entirely suppressing the guilty
traffic in opium. The present government are not yet committed
to this cruel war; and may no difference of political views
deter you from the faithful discharge of this Christian duty!
Even should you not succeed in inducing our rulers to adopt this
course, or the overtures of this country be rejected by the
Chinese, you will have satisfaction in having made the attempt.
"One-third of the human race are now receiving their impressions
of the Christian religion, by its professors waging a murderous
war to compel them to make restitution to the contraband opium
dealers, for the destruction of this deadly poison, which
continues to be grown by the East India Company, and poured into
China in defiance of all laws, human and divine. Besides the
loss of life sustained by the Chinese, and the fearful mortality
amongst the British troops, from the unhealthiness of the
climate, it is probable that little short of ten millions
sterling has already been expended in naval and military
armaments, and the enhanced price of tea and sugar,[A] in the
monstrous attempt to force the Chinese to pay about two millions
to those opium smugglers. All this, be it remembered, is added
to the burdens upon the industry of our own oppressed
population.
[Footnote A: It is well known that the high rate of freights
from Calcutta, in consequence of the shipping required for the
Chinese expedition, greatly contributed to the late extravagant
price of sugar.]
"Earnestly desiring that you may be induced to discharge your
duty as Christians, and whatever may be the result, acquit
yourselves of your share of the national guilt, I conclude with
the words of a friend: 'For my own part, I think the present
distress of the nation may be the retributive chastisement of
our recent atrocious war in China and the East. * *
* All history, and the daily march of events, demonstrate
the perpetual retributive interference of an overruling
providence. Yet this doctrine, proclaimed as loudly by
experience as by revelation, and as legibly written on the page
of history as in the Bible, appears to have not the smallest
practical influence on the most enlightened statesmen, and the
most Christian and enlightened nation in the world.'
"Very respectfully,
"JOSEPH STURGE.
"_Birmingham, 9th Month 30th_, 1841."
"_10th Month 9th_, 1841.
"Since writing the foregoing, the intelligence has arrived that
Canton has been seized; that 'Gen. Sir Hugh Gough calculates the
loss of the Chinese, in the different attacks, at one thousand
killed and three thousand wounded;' that the British have
extracted six millions of dollars as a ransom for evacuating the
city, which the Chinese call 'opium compensation;' and it is but
too evident that the work of the wholesale murder of this
unoffending people has but begun, for Capt. Elliot, who appears
to have been too tender of shedding human blood to please his
employers, is recalled, and is succeeded by Sir H. Pottenger,
who, it is reported, has instructions from Lord Palmerston to
demand _fifteen millions_ of dollars for the opium smugglers,
and the whole of the expenses of the war, and to secure the
right to the British of planting armed factories in the
different Chinese ports.
"Shall history record that no voice was raised by the Christians
of Britain against the employment of their money, and that of
their starving countrymen, in deeds like these!!"
APPENDIX H. P. 119.
LETTER OF A.L. PENNOCK.
The following letter was addressed by Abraham L. Pennock, conveying his
resignation of the office of Vice President of the American Anti-Slavery
Society, (old organization,) after the occurrence of the painful
divisions in the anti-slavery body, which have been already noticed.
This letter is written in an excellent spirit, and clearly developes the
cause of the separation.
"TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY
SOCIETY.
"Other reasons than those which will be presented in this
letter, made it desirable to me to be released from any official
connection with the Anti-Slavery Society. I thought those
reasons so well known to some of the delegates from the
Pennsylvania Society, and withal they were deemed by me of so
much value, that I felt both surprise and regret at
understanding that my name was continued as one of the vice
presidents of the Parent Society. Thus saying, I am,
nevertheless, bound to express my indebtedness for the kind
feeling toward me, and confidence in my love for the slave,
which, doubtless, induced the appointment.
"By an accident to my anti-slavery newspapers, I have just
received the proceedings of the society at the above meeting. I
am sorry to find in them superadded reasons for regret at my
appointment, as that appointment seems to place me in the false
position of appearing to be in favor of its leading measures;
some of which, denunciatory of co-laborers in the abolition
cause, have not my unity.
"In the heavy responsibilities of the former Executive
Committee, I find a sufficient reason for their transfer of the
'Emancipator' and other property for which they stood personally
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