The Anti-Slavery Examiner Volume III Part 54

The 'St. Francisville (La.) Chronicle,' of Feb. 1, 1839. Gives the following account of a 'negro hunt,' in that Parish.

"Two or three days since a gentleman of this parish, in _hunting runaway negroes_, came upon a camp of them in the swamp on Cat Island.

He succeeded in arresting two of them, but the third made fight; and upon _being shot in the shoulder_, fled to a sluice, where the _dogs succeeded_ in drowning him before a.s.sistance could arrive."

"'The dogs _succeeded_ in drowning him'! Poor fellow! He tried hard for his life, plunged into the sluice, and, with a bullet in his shoulder, and the blood hounds unfles.h.i.+ng his bones, he bore up for a moment with feeble stroke as best he might, but 'public opinion,'

'_succeeded_ in drowning him,' and the same 'public opinion,' calls the man who fired and crippled him, and cheered on the dogs, 'a gentleman,' and the editor who celebrates the exploit is a 'gentleman'

also!"

A large number of extracts similar to the above, might here be inserted from Southern newspapers in our possession, but the foregoing are more than sufficient for our purpose, and we bring to a close the testimony on this point, with the following. Extract of a letter, from the Rev. Samuel J. May, of South Scituate, Ma.s.s. dated Dec. 20, 1838.

"You doubtless recollect the narrative given in the Oasis, of a slave in Georgia, who having ranaway from his master, (accounted a very hospitable and even humane gentleman,) was hunted by his master and his retainers with horses, dogs, and rifles, and having been driven into a tree by the hounds, was shot down by his more cruel pursuers.

All the facts there given, and some others equally shocking, connected with the same case, were first communicated to me in 1833, by Mr. W.

Russell, a highly respectable teacher of youth in Boston. He is doubtless ready to vouch for them. The same gentleman informed me that he was keeping school on or near the plantation of the monster who perpetrated the above outrage upon humanity, that he was even invited by him to join in the hunt, and when he expressed abhorrence at the thought, the planter holding up the rifle which he had in his hand said with an oath, 'd.a.m.n that rascal, this is the third time he has runaway, and he shall never run again. I'd rather put a ball into his side, than into the best buck in the land.'"

Mr. Russell, in the account given by him of this tragedy in the 'Oasis,' page 267, thus describes the slaveholder who made the above expression, and was the leader of the 'hunt,' and in whose family he resided at the time as an instructor he says of him--he was "an opulent planter, in whose family the evils of slaveholding were palliated by every expedient that a humane and generous disposition could suggest. He was a man of n.o.ble and elevated character, and distinguished for his generosity, and kindness of heart."

In a letter to Mr. May, dated Feb. 3, 1839, Mr. Russell, speaking of the hunting of runaways with dogs and guns, says: "Occurrences of a nature similar to the one related in the 'Oasis,' were not unfrequent in the interior of Georgia and South Carolina twenty years ago.

_Several_ such fell under my notice within the s.p.a.ce of fifteen months. In two such 'hunts,' I was solicited to join."

The following was written by a sister-in-law of Gerrit Smith, Esq., Peterboro. She is married to the son of a North Carolinian.

"In North Carolina, some years ago, several slaves were arrested for committing serious crimes and depredations, in the neighborhood of Wilmington, among other things, burning houses, and, in one or more instances, murder.

"It happened that the wife of one of these slaves resided in one of the most respectable families in W. in the capacity of nurse. Mr. J.

_the first lawyer in the place_, came into the room, where the lady of the house, was sitting, with the nurse, who held a child in her arms, and, addressing the nurse, said, Hannah! would you know your husband if you should see him?--Oh, yes, sir, she replied--When HE DREW FROM BENEATH HIS CLOAK THE HEAD OF THE SLAVE, at the sight of which the poor woman immediately fainted. The heads of the others were placed upon poles, in some part of the town, afterwards known as 'Negro Head Point.'"

We have just received the above testimony, enclosed in a letter from Mr. Smith, in which he says, "that the fact stated by my sister-in-law, actually occurred, there can be no doubt."

The following extract from the Diary of the Rev. ELIAS CORNELIUS, we insert here, having neglected to do it under a preceding head, to which it more appropriately belongs.

"New Orleans, Sabbath, February 15, 1818. Early this morning accompanied A.H. Esq. to the _hospital_, with the view of making arrangements to preach to such of the sick as could understand English. The first room we entered presented a scene of human misery, such as I had never before witnessed. A poor negro man was lying upon a couch, apparently in great distress; a more miserable object can hardly be conceived. His face was much _disfigured_, an IRON COLLAR, TWO INCHES WIDE AND HALF AN INCH THICK, WAS CLASPED ABOUT HIS NECK, while one of his feet and part of the leg were in a state of putrefaction. We inquired the cause of his being in this distressing condition, and he answered us in a faltering voice, that he was willing to tell us all the truth.

"He belonged to Mr. ---- a Frenchman, ran-away, was caught, and punished with one hundred lashes! This happened about Christmas; and during the cold weather at that time, he was confined in the _Cane-house, with a scanty portion of clothing, and without fire_. In this situation his foot had frozen, and mortified, and having been removed from place to place, he was yesterday brought here by order of his new master, who was an American. I had no time to protract my conversation with him then, but resolved to return in a few hours and pray with him.

"Having returned home, I again visited the hospital at half past eleven o'clock, and concluded first of all [he was to preach at 12,]

to pray with the poor lacerated negro. I entered the apartment in which he lay, and observed an old man sitting upon a couch; but, without saying anything went up to the bed-side of the negro, who appeared to be asleep. I spoke to him, but he gave no answer. I spoke again, and moved his head, still he said nothing. My apprehensions were immediately excited, and I felt for his pulse, but it was gone.

Said I to the old man, 'surely this negro is dead.' 'No,' he answered, 'he has fallen asleep, for he had a very restless season last night.'

I again examined and called the old gentleman to the bed, and alas, it was found true, that he was dead. Not an eye had witnessed his last struggle, and I was the first, as it should happen, to discover the fact. I called several men into the room, and without ceremony they wrapped him in a sheet, and carried him to the _dead-house_ as it is called."--Edwards' Life of Rev. Elias Cornelius, pp. 101, 2, 3.

THE PROTECTION EXTENDED BY 'PUBLIC OPINION,' TO THE HEALTH[38] OF THE SLAVES.

This may be judged of from the fact that it is perfectly notorious among slaveholders, both North and South, that of the tens of thousands of slaves sold annually in the northern slave states to be transported to the south, large numbers of them die under the severe, process of acclimation, _all_ suffer more or less, and mult.i.tudes _much_, in their health and strength, during their first years in the far south and south west. That such is the case is sufficiently proved by the care taken by all who advertise for sale or hire in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, &c. to inform the reader, that their slaves are 'Creoles,' 'southern born,' 'country born,' &c. or if they are from the north, that they are 'acclimated,' and the importance attached to their _acclimation_, is shown in the fact, that it is generally distinguished from the rest of the advertis.e.m.e.nts either by _italics_ or CAPITALS. Almost every newspaper published in the states far south contains advertis.e.m.e.nts like the following.

[Footnote 38: See pp. 37-39.]

From the "Vicksburg (Mi.) Register," Dec. 27, 1838.

"I OFFER my plantation for sale. Also seventy-five _acclimated Negroes_. O.B. COBB."

From the "Southerner," June 7, 1837.

"I WILL sell my Old-River plantation near Columbia in Arkansas;--also ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ACCLIMATED SLAVES.

BENJ. HUGHES."

_Port Gibson, Jan. 14, 1837._

From the "Planters' (La.) Intelligencer," March 22.

"Probate sale--Will be offered for sale at Public Auction, to the highest bidder, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY _acclimated_ slaves."

G.W. KEETON.

Judge of the Parish of Concordia"

From the "Arkansas Advocate," May 22, 1837.

"By virtue of a Deed of Trust, executed to me, I will sell at public auction at Fisher's Prairie, Arkansas, sixty LIKELY NEGROES, consisting of Men, Women, Boys and Girls, the most of whom are WELL ACCLIMATED.

GRANDISON D. ROYSTON, _Trustee_."

From the "New Orleans Bee," Feb. 9, 1838.

"VALUABLE ACCLIMATED NEGROES"

"Will be sold on Sat.u.r.day, 10th inst. at 12 o'clock, at the city exchange, St. Louis street."

Then follows a description of the slaves, closing with the same a.s.sertion, which forms the caption of the advertis.e.m.e.nt "ALL ACCLIMATED."

General Felix Houston, of Natchez, advertises in the "Natchez Courier," April 6, 1838, "Thirty five very fine _acclimated_ Negroes."

Without inserting more advertis.e.m.e.nts, suffice it to say, that when slaves are advertised for sale or hire, in the lower southern country, if they are _natives_, or have lived in that region long enough to become acclimated, it is _invariably_ stated.

But we are not left to _conjecture_ the amount of suffering experienced by slaves from the north in undergoing the severe process of 'seasoning' to the climate, or '_acclimation_' A writer in the New Orleans Argus, September, 1830, in an article on the culture of the sugar cane, says; 'The loss by _death_ in bringing slaves from a northern climate, which our planters are under the necessity of doing, is not less than TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT.'

Nothwithstanding the immense amount of suffering endured in the process of acclimation, and the fearful waste of life, and the _notoriety_ of this fact, still the 'public opinion' of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, &c. annually DRIVES to the far south, thousands of their slaves to undergo these sufferings, and the 'public opinion,' of the far south buys them, and forces the helpless victims to endure them.

THE 'PROTECTION' VOUCHSAFED BY 'PUBLIC OPINION,' TO LIBERTY.

This is shown by hundreds of advertis.e.m.e.nts in southern papers, like the following:

From the "Mobile Register," July 21. 1837. "WILL BE SOLD CHEAP FOR CASH, in front of the Court House of Mobile County, on the 22d day of July next, one mulatto man named HENRY HALL, WHO SAYS HE IS FREE; his owner or owners, _if any_, having failed to demand him, he is to be sold according to the statute in such cases made and provided, _to pay Jail fees._

WM. MAGEE, Sh'ff M.C."