Three Years in Europe by William Wells Brown

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Although universal suffrage is enjoyed by the whites in the State of New
York, a property-qualification is imposed on coloured men; and this act
of Mr. Smith's not only made three thousand men the owners of land, but
created also three thousand voters. The ability to give, and the
willingness to do so, is not by any means the greatest quality of this
gentleman. As a public speaker, Mr. Smith has few equals; and certainly
no man in his State has done more to forward the cause of Negro
Emancipation than he.

We have already swelled the pages of this chapter beyond what we
intended when we commenced, but yet we have called attention to only one
branch of American Reformers. The Temperance Reformers are next to be
considered. This cause has many champions, and yet none who occupy a
very prominent position before the world. The first temperance newspaper
published in the United States, was edited by William Lloyd Garrison.
Gerrit Smith has also done much in promulgating temperance views. But
the most noted man in the movement at the present time, and the one best
known to the British public, is John B. Gough. This gentleman was at one
time an actor on the stage, and subsequently became an inebriate of the
most degraded kind. He was, however, reclaimed through the great
Washingtonian movement that swept over the United States a few years
since. In stature, Mr. Gough is tall and slim, with black hair, which he
usually wears too long. As an orator, he is considered among the first
in the United States. Having once been an actor, he throws all his
dramatic powers into his addresses. He has a facility of telling strange
and marvellous stories which can scarcely be surpassed; and what makes
them still more interesting, he always happens to be an eyewitness.
While speaking, he acts the drunkard, and does it in a style which could
not be equalled on the boards of the Lyceum or Adelphi. No man has
obtained more signatures to the temperance pledge than he. After all, it
is a question whether he has ever been of any permanent service to this
reform or not. Mr. Gough has more than once fallen from his position as
a teetotaler; more than once he has broken his pledge, and when found by
his friends, was in houses of a questionable character. However, some
are of opinion that these defects have been of use to him; for when he
has made his appearance after one of these debaucheries, the people
appear to sympathize more with him, and some thought he spoke better. If
we believe that a person could enjoy good health with water upon the
brain, we would be of opinion that Mr. Gough's cranium contained a
greater quantity than that of any other living man. When speaking before
an audience, he can weep when he pleases; and the tears shed on these
occasions are none of your make-believe kind--none of your small drops
trickling down the cheeks one at a time;--but they come in great
showers, so as even to sprinkle upon the paper which he holds in his
hand. Of course, he is not alone in shedding tears in his meetings,
many of his hearers usually join him; especially the ladies, as these
showers are intended for them. However, no one can sit for an hour and
hear John. B. Gough, without coming to the conclusion that he is nothing
more than a theatrical mountebank.

The ablest speaker on the subject of Peace, is Charles Sumner. Standing
more than six feet in height, and well proportioned, Mr. Sumner makes a
most splendid and commanding appearance before an assembly. It is not
his looks alone that attract attention--his very countenance indicates a
superior mind. Born in the upper circle, educated in the first College
in the country, and finally becoming a member of the Bar, he is well
qualified to take the highest possible position as a public speaker. As
an orator, Charles Sumner has but one superior in the United States, and
that is Wendell Phillips. Mr. Sumner is an able advocate for the
liberation of the American Slaves as well as of the cause of Peace, and
has rendered great aid to the abolition movement.

The name of Elihu Burritt, for many reasons, should be placed at the
head of the Peace Movement. No man was ever more devoted to one idea
than he is to that of peace. If he is an advocate of Temperance, it is
because it will promote peace. If he opposes Slavery, it is upon the
grounds of peace. Ask him why he wants an "Ocean Penny Postage," he will
tell you to engender the principles of peace. Everything with him hinges
upon the doctrine of peace. As a speaker, Mr. Burritt does not rank
amongst the first. However, his speeches are of a high order, some think
them too high, and complain that he is too much of a cloud-traveller,
and when he descends from these aerial flights and cloudy thrones, they
are unwilling to admit that he can be practical. If Mr. Burritt should
prove as good a statesman as a theorist, he would be an exception to
most who belong to the aerial school. As a writer he stands deservedly
high. In his "Sparks from the Anvil," and "Voice from the Forge," are to
be found as fine pieces as have been produced by any writer of the day.
His "Drunkard's Wife" is the most splendid thing of the kind in the
language. His stature is of the middle size, head well developed, with
eyes deeply set, and a prepossessing countenance, though not handsome;
he wears an exterior of remarkable austerity, and everything about him
is grave, even to his smile. Being well versed in the languages, ancient
and modern, he does not lack variety or imagination, either in his
public addresses or private conversation; yet it would be difficult to
find a man with a better heart, or sweeter spirit, than Elihu Burritt.

LETTER XXII.

_A Narrative of American Slavery._

Although the first slaves, introduced into the American Colonies from
the coast of Africa, were negroes of a very dark complexion with woolly
hair, and it was thought that slavery would be confined to the blacks,
yet the present slave population of America is far from being black.
This change in colour, is attributable, solely to the unlimited power
which the slave owner exercises over his victim. There being no lawful
marriage amongst slaves, and no encouragement to slave women to be
virtuous and chaste, there seems to be no limits to the system of
amalgamation carried on between master and slave. This accounts for the
fact, that most persons who go from Europe, or from the Free States,
into Carolina or Virginia, are struck with the different shades of
colour amongst the slaves. On a plantation employing fifty slaves, it is
not uncommon to see one third of them mulattoes, and some of these
nearly white.

In the year 1831, there resided in the state of Virginia, a slave who
was so white, that no one would suppose for a moment that a drop of
African blood coursed through his veins. His skin was fair, hair soft,
straight, fine and white; his eyes blue, nose prominent, lips thin; his
head well formed, forehead high and prominent; and he was often taken
for a white free person, by those who did not know him. This made his
condition as a slave still more intolerable; for one so white, seldom
ever receives fair treatment at the hands of his fellow slaves; and the
whites usually regard such slaves as persons, who, if not often flogged
and otherwise ill treated, to remind them of their condition, would soon
"forget" that they were slaves, and "think themselves as good as white
folks." During that year, an insurrection broke out amongst the slave
population, known as the Southampton Rebellion, or the "Nat Turner
Insurrection." Five or six hundred slaves, believing in the doctrine
that "all men are created equal," armed with such weapons as they could
get, commenced a war for freedom. Amongst these was George, the white
slave of whom we have spoken. He had been employed as a house servant,
and had heard his master and visiters speak of the down-trodden and
oppressed Poles; he heard them talk of going to Greece to fight for
Grecian liberty, and against the oppressors of that ill-fated people.
George, fired with the love of freedom, and zeal for the cause of his
enslaved countrymen, joined the insurrection. The result of that
struggle for liberty is well known. The slaves were defeated, and those
who were not taken prisoners, took refuge in the dismal swamps. These
were ordered to surrender; but instead of doing so, they challenged
their proud oppressors to take them, and immediately renewed the war. A
ferocious struggle now commenced between the parties; but not until the
United States troops were called in, did they succeed in crushing a
handful of men and women who were fighting for freedom. The negroes were
hunted with dogs, and many who were caught were burnt alive; while some
were hung, and others flogged and banished from the State.

Among those who were sentenced to be hanged, was George. He was placed
in prison to await the day of execution, which would give him ten days
to prepare for his doom. George was the son of a member of the American
Congress, his mother being a servant in the principal hotel in
Washington, where members of Congress usually put up. After the birth of
George, his mother was sold to a negro trader, and he to a Virginian,
who sent agents through the country to buy up young slaves to raise for
the market. George was only about nineteen years of age, when he
unfortunately became connected with the insurrection. Mr. Green, who
owned George, was a comparatively good master, and prided himself on
treating his slaves better than most men. This gentleman was also the
owner of a girl who was perfectly white, with straight hair and
prominent features. This girl was said to be the daughter of her own
master. A feeling of attachment sprang up between Mary and George, which
proved to be more than mere friendship, and upon which we base the
burden of this narrative.

After poor George had been sentenced to death and cast into prison, Mary
begged and obtained leave to visit George, and administer to him the
comforts of religion, as she was a member of a religious body, while
George was not. As George had been a considerable favourite with Mrs.
Green, Mary had no difficulty in obtaining permission to pay a daily
visit to him, to whom she had pledged her heart and hand. At one of
these meetings, and only four days from the time fixed for the
execution, while Mary was seated in George's cell, it occurred to her
that she might yet save him from a felon's doom. She revealed to him
the secret that was then occupying her thoughts, viz., that George
should exchange clothes with her, and thus attempt his escape in
disguise. But he would not for a single moment listen to the
proposition. Not that he feared detection; but he would not consent to
place an innocent and affectionate girl in a position where she might
have to suffer for him. Mary pleaded, but in vain--George was
inflexible. The poor girl left her lover with a heavy heart, regretting
that her scheme had proved unsuccessful.

Towards the close of the next day, Mary again appeared at the prison
door for admission, and was soon by the side of him whom she so ardently
loved. While there, the clouds which had overhung the city for some
hours, broke, and the rain fell in torrents amid the most terrific
thunder and lightning. In the most persuasive manner possible, Mary
again importuned George to avail himself of her assistance to escape
from an ignominious death. After assuring him that she not being the
person condemned, would not receive any injury, he at last consented,
and they began to exchange apparel. As George was of small stature, and
both were white, there was no difficulty in his passing out without
detection: and as she usually left the cell weeping, with handkerchief
in hand, and sometimes at her face, he had only to adopt this mode and
his escape was safe. They had kissed each other, and Mary had told
George where he would find a small parcel of provisions which she had
placed in a secluded spot, when the prison-keeper opened the door, and
said, "Come, girl, it is time for you to go." George again embraced
Mary, and passed out of the gaol. It was already dark and the street
lamps were lighted, so that our hero in his new dress had no dread of
detection. The provisions were sought out and found, and poor George was
soon on the road towards Canada. But neither of them had once thought of
a change of dress for George when he should have escaped, and he had
walked but a short distance before he felt that a change of his apparel
would facilitate his progress. But he dared not go amongst even his
coloured associates for fear of being betrayed. However, he made the
best of his way on towards Canada, hiding in the woods during the day,
and travelling by the guidance of the North Star at night.

One morning, George arrived on the banks of the Ohio river, and found
his journey had terminated, unless he could get some one to take him
across the river in a secret manner, for he would not be permitted to
cross in any of the ferry boats; it being a penalty for crossing a
slave, besides the value of the slave. He concealed himself in the tall
grass and weeds near the river, to see if he could embrace an
opportunity to cross. He had been in his hiding-place but a short time,
when he observed a man in a small boat, floating near the shore,
evidently fishing. His first impulse was to call out to the man and ask
him to take him over to the Ohio side, but the fear that the man was a
slaveholder, or one who might possibly arrest him, deterred him from it.
The man after rowing and floating about for some time fastened the boat
to the root of a tree, and started to a neighbouring farm-house. This
was George's moment, and he seized it. Running down the bank, he
unfastened the boat, jumped in, and with all the expertness of one
accustomed to a boat, rowed across the river and landed on the Ohio
side.

Being now in a free state, he thought he might with perfect safety
travel on towards Canada. He had, however, gone but a few miles, when he
discovered two men on horseback coming behind him. He felt sure that
they could not be in pursuit of him, yet he did not wish to be seen by
them, so he turned into another road, leading to a house near by. The
men followed, and were but a short distance from George, when he ran up
to a farm house, before which was standing a farmer-looking man, in a
broad-brimmed hat and straight collared coat, whom he implored to save
him from the "slave-catchers." The farmer told him to go into the barn
near by; he entered by the front door, the farmer following, and closing
the door behind George, but remaining outside, and gave directions to
his hired man as to what should be done with George. The slaveholders by
this time had dismounted, and were in the front of the barn demanding
admittance, and charging the farmer with secreting their slave woman,
for George was still in the dress of a woman. The Friend, for the farmer
proved to be a member of the Society of Friends, told the slave-owners
that if they wished to search his barn, they must first get an officer
and a search warrant. While the parties were disputing, the farmer began
nailing up the front door, and the hired man served the back door in the
same way. The slaveholders, finding that they could not prevail on the
Friend to allow them to get the slave, determined to go in search of an
officer. One was left to see that the slave did not escape from the
barn, while the other went off at full speed to Mount Pleasant, the
nearest town. George was not the slave of either of these men, nor were
they in pursuit of him, but they had lost a woman who had been seen in
that vicinity, and when they saw poor George in the disguise of a
female, and attempting to elude pursuit, they felt sure they were close
upon their victim. However, if they had caught him, although he was not
their slave, they would have taken him back and placed him in goal, and
there he would have remained until his owner arrived.

After an absence of nearly two hours, the slave owner returned with an
officer and found the Friend still driving large nails into the door. In
a triumphant tone, and with a corresponding gesture, he handed the
search-warrant to the Friend, and said, "There, Sir, now I will see if I
can't get my Nigger." "Well," said the Friend, "thou hast gone to work
according to law, and thou can now go into my barn." "Lend me your
hammer that I may get the door open," said the slaveholder. "Let me see
the warrant again." And after reading it over once more, he said, "I see
nothing in this paper which says I must supply thee with tools to open
my door; if thou wishes to go in, thou must get a hammer elsewhere." The
sheriff said, "I will go to a neighbouring farm and borrow something
which will introduce us to Miss Dinah;" and he immediately went in
search of tools. In a short time the officer returned, and they
commenced an assault and battery upon the barn door, which soon yielded;
and in went the slaveholder and officer, and began turning up the hay
and using all other means to find the lost property; but, to their
astonishment, the slave was not there. After all hope of getting Dinah
was gone, the slave-owner in a rage, said to the Friend, "My Nigger is
not here." "I did not tell thee there was any one here." "Yes, but I saw
her go in, and you shut the door behind her, and if she was not in the
barn, what did you nail the door for?" "Can't I do what I please with my
own barn door? Now I will tell thee; thou need trouble thyself no more,
for the person thou art after entered the front door and went out at the
back door, and is a long way from here by this time. Thou and thy friend
must be somewhat fatigued by this time, wont thou go in and take a
little dinner with me?" We need not say that this cool invitation of the
good Quaker was not accepted by the slaveholders. George, in the
meantime, had been taken to a Friend's dwelling some miles away, where,
after laying aside his female attire, and being snugly dressed up in a
straight collared coat, and pantaloons to match, was again put on the
right road towards Canada. Two weeks after this found him in the town
of St. Catharines, working on the farm of Colonel Strut, and attending a
night school.

George, however, did not forget his promise to use all means in his
power to get Mary out of slavery. He, therefore, laboured with all his
might, to obtain money with which to employ some one to go back to
Virginia for Mary. After nearly six months' labour at St. Catharines, he
employed an English missionary to go and see if the girl could be
purchased, and at what price. The missionary went accordingly, but
returned with the sad intelligence that on account of Mary's aiding
George to escape, the court had compelled Mr. Green to sell her out of
the State, and she had been sold to a Negro trader and taken to the New
Orleans market. As all hope of getting the girl was now gone, George
resolved to quit the American continent for ever. He immediately took
passage in a vessel laden with timber, bound for Liverpool, and in five
weeks from that time he was standing on the quay of the great English
seaport. With little or no education, he found many difficulties in the
way of getting a respectable living. However, he obtained a situation
as porter in a large house in Manchester, where he worked during the
day, and took private lessons at night. In this way he laboured for
three years, and was then raised to the situation of a clerk. George was
so white as easily to pass for a white man, and being somewhat ashamed
of his African descent, he never once mentioned the fact of his having
been a slave. He soon became a partner in the firm that employed him,
and was now on the road to wealth.

In the year 1842, just ten years after George Green (for he adopted his
master's name) arrived in England, he visited France, and spent some
days at Dunkirk. It was towards sunset, on a warm day in the month of
October, that Mr. Green, after strolling some distance from the Hotel de
Leon, entered a burial ground and wandered long alone among the silent
dead, gazing upon the many green graves and marble tombstones of those
who once moved on the theatre of busy life, and whose sounds of gaiety
once fell upon the ear of man. All nature around was hushed in silence,
and seemed to partake of the general melancholy which hung over the
quiet resting place of departed mortals. After tracing the varied
inscriptions which told the characters or conditions of the departed,
and viewing the mounds 'neath which the dust of mortality slumbered, he
had now reached a secluded spot, near to where an aged weeping willow
bowed its thick foliage to the ground, as though anxious to hide from
the scrutinizing gaze of curiosity the grave beneath it. Mr. Green
seated himself upon a marble tomb, and began to read Roscoe's Leo X., a
copy of which he had under his arm. It was then about twilight, and he
had scarcely gone through half a page, when he observed a lady in black,
leading a boy some five years old up one of the paths; and as the lady's
black veil was over her face, he felt somewhat at liberty to eye her
more closely. While looking at her, the lady gave a scream and appeared
to be in a fainting position, when Mr. Green sprang from his seat in
time to save her from falling to the ground. At this moment, an elderly
gentleman was seen approaching with a rapid step, who from his
appearance was evidently the lady's father, or one intimately connected
with her. He came up, and in a confused manner, asked what was the
matter. Mr. Green explained as well as he could. After taking up the
smelling bottle which had fallen from her hand, and holding it a short
time to her face, she soon began to revive. During all this time, the
lady's veil had so covered her face, that Mr. Green had not seen it.
When she had so far recovered as to be able to raise her head, she again
screamed, and fell back into the arms of the old man. It now appeared
quite certain, that either the countenance of George Green, or some
other object, was the cause of these fits of fainting; and the old
gentleman, thinking it was the former, in rather a petulant tone said,
"I will thank you, Sir, if you will leave us alone." The child whom the
lady was leading had now set up a squall; and amid the death-like
appearance of the lady, the harsh look of the old man, and the cries of
the boy, Mr. Green left the grounds and returned to his hotel.

Whilst seated by the window, and looking out upon the crowded street,
with every now and then the strange scene in the grave-yard vividly
before him, Mr. Green thought of the book he had been reading, and,
remembering that he had left it on the tomb, where he had suddenly
dropped it when called to the assistance of the lady, he immediately
determined to return in search of it. After a walk of some twenty
minutes, he was again over the spot where he had been an hour before,
and from which he had been so unceremoniously expelled by the old man.
He looked in vain for the book; it was no where to be found: nothing
save a bouquet which the lady had dropped, and which lay half-buried in
the grass from having been trodden upon, indicated that any one had been
there that evening. Mr. Green took up the bunch of flowers, and again
returned to the hotel.

After passing a sleepless night, and hearing the clock strike six, he
dropped into a sweet sleep, from which he did not awake until roused by
the rap of a servant, who, entering his room, handed him a note which
ran as follows:--"Sir,--I owe you an apology for the inconveniences to
which you were subjected last evening, and if you will honour us with
your presence to dinner to-day at four o'clock, I shall be most happy to
give you due satisfaction. My servant will be in waiting for you at
half-past three. I am, sir, your obedt. servant, J. Devenant. October
23, to George Green, Esq."

The servant who handed this note to Mr. Green, informed him that the
bearer was waiting for a reply. He immediately resolved to accept the
invitation, and replied accordingly. Who this person was, and how his
name and the hotel where he was stopping had been found out, was indeed
a mystery. However, he waited impatiently for the hour when he was to
see this new acquaintance, and get the mysterious meeting in the
grave-yard solved.

The clock on a neighbouring church had scarcely ceased striking three,
when the servant announced that a carriage had called for Mr. Green. In
less than half an hour, he was seated in a most sumptuous barouch, drawn
by two beautiful iron greys, and rolling along over a splendid gravel
road, completely shaded by large trees which appeared to have been the
accumulating growth of many centuries. The carriage soon stopped in
front of a low villa, and this too was imbedded in magnificent trees
covered with moss. Mr. Green alighted and was shown into a superb
drawing room, the walls of which were hung with fine specimens from the
hands of the great Italian painters, and one by a German artist
representing a beautiful monkish legend connected with "The Holy
Catherine," and illustrious lady of Alexandria. The furniture had an
antique and dignified appearance. High backed chairs stood around the
room; a venerable mirror stood on the mantle-shelf; rich curtains of
crimson damask hung in folds at either side of the large windows; and a
rich Turkey carpet covered the floor. In the centre stood a table
covered with books, in the midst of which was an old fashioned vase
filled with fresh flowers, whose fragrance was exceedingly pleasant. A
faint light, together with the quietness of the hour gave beauty beyond
description to the whole scene.

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