The Anti-Slavery Examiner Volume III Part 64

The last three fights all occurred, if we mistake not, in the short s.p.a.ce of one month. The fisticuffs between Messrs. Bynum and Wise occurred at the previous session of Congress. At the same session Messrs. Peyton of Tenn. and Wise of Virginia, went armed with pistols and dirks to the meeting of a committee of Congress, and threatened to shoot a witness while giving his testimony.

We begin with the first on the list. Who are Messrs. Wise and Bynum?

Both slaveholders. Who are Messrs. Campbell and Maury? Both slaveholders. Who are Messrs. Bell and Turney? Both slaveholders. Who is Mr. Downing, who seized a weapon and rushed upon Mr. Biddle? A slaveholder. Who is Mr. Peyton who drew his pistol on a witness before a committee of Congress? A slaveholder of course. All these bullies were slaveholders, and they magnified their office, and slaveholding was justified of her children. We might fill a volume with similar chronicles of slaveholding brutality. But time would fail us. Suffice it to say, that since the organization of the government, a majority of the most distinguished men in the slaveholding states have gloried in strutting over the stage in the character of murderers. Look at the men whom the people delight to honor. President Jackson, Senator Benton, the late Gen. Coffee,--it is but a few years since these slaveholders shot at, and stabbed, and stamped upon each other in a tavern broil. General Jackson had previously killed Mr. d.i.c.kenson.

Senator Clay of Kentucky has immortalized himself by shooting at a near relative of Chief Justice Marshall, and being wounded by him; and not long after by shooting at John Randolph of Virginia. Governor M'Duffie of South Carolina has signalized himself also, both by shooting and being shot,--so has Governor Poindexter, and Governor Rowan, and Judge M'Kinley of the U.S. Supreme Court, late senator in Congress from Alabama,--but we desist; a full catalogue would fill pages. We will only add, that a few months since, in the city of London, Governor Hamilton, of South Carolina, went armed with pistols, to the lodgings of Daniel O'Connell, 'to stop his wind' in the bullying slang of his own published boast. During the last session of Congress Messrs. Dromgoole and Wise[41] of Virginia, W. Cost Johnson and Jenifer of Maryland, Pickens and Campbell of South Carolina, and we know not how many more slaveholding members of Congress have been engaged, either as princ.i.p.als or seconds, in that species of murder dignified with the name of duelling. But enough; we are heart-sick.

What meaneth all this? Are slaveholders worse than other men? No! but arbitrary power has wrought in them its mystery of iniquity, and poisoned their better nature with its infuriating sorcery.

Their savage ferocity toward each other when their pa.s.sions are up, is the natural result of their habit of daily plundering and oppressing the slave.

The North Carolina Standard of August 30, 1837, contains the following ill.u.s.tration of this ferocity exhibited by two southern lawyers in settling the preliminaries of a duel.

"The following conditions were proposed by Alexander K. McClung, of Raymond, in the State of Mississippi, to H.C. Stewart, as the laws to govern a duel they were to fight near Vicksburg:

"Article 1st. The parties shall meet opposite Vicksburg, in the State of Louisiana, on Thursday the 29th inst. precisely at 4 o'clock, P.M.

Agreed to.

"2d. The weapons to be used by each shall weigh one pound two and a half ounces, measuring sixteen inches and a half in length, including the handle, and one inch and three-eighths in breadth. Agreed to.

"3d. Both knives shall be sharp on one edge, and on the back shall be sharp only one inch at the point. Agreed to.

"4th. Each party shall stand at the distance of eight feet from the other, until the word is given. Agreed to.

"5th. The second of each party shall throw up, with a silver dollar, on the ground, for the word, and two best out of three shall win the word. Agreed to.

"6th. After the word is given, either party may take what advantage he can with his knife, but on throwing his knife at the other, shall be shot down by the second of his opponent. Agreed to.

"7th. Each party shall be stripped entirely naked, except one pair of linen pantaloons; one pair of socks, and boots or pumps as the party please. Acceded to.

"8th. The wrist of the left arm of each party shall be tied tight to his left thigh, and a strong cord shall be fastened around his left arm at the elbow, and then around his body. Rejected.

"9th. After the word is given, each party shall be allowed to advance or recede as he pleases, over the s.p.a.ce of twenty acres of ground, until death ensues to one of the parties. Agreed to--the parties to be placed in the centre of the s.p.a.ce.

"10th. The word shall be given by the winner of the same, in the following manner, viz: "Gentlemen are you ready?" Each party shall then answer, "I am!" The second giving the word shall then distinctly command--_strike_. Agreed to.

"If either party shall violate these rules, upon being notified by the second of either party, he may be liable to be shot down instantly. As established usage points out the duty of both parties, therefore notification is considered unnecessary."

The FAVORITE AMUs.e.m.e.nTS of slaveholders, like the gladiatorial shows of Rome and the Bull Fights of Spain, reveal a public feeling insensible to suffering, and a depth of brutality in the highest degree revolting to every truly n.o.ble mind. One of their most common amus.e.m.e.nts is c.o.c.k fighting. Mains of c.o.c.ks, with twenty, thirty, and fifty c.o.c.ks on each side, are fought for hundreds of dollars aside.

The fowls are armed with steel spurs or '_gafts_,' about two inches long. These 'gafts' are fastened upon the legs by sawing off the _natural_ 'spur,' leaving only enough of it to answer the purpose of a _stock_ for the tube of the "gafts," which are so sharp that at a stroke the fowls thrust them through each other's necks and heads, and tear each other's bodies till one or both dies, then two others are brought forward for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the mult.i.tude a.s.sembled, and this barbarous pastime is often kept up for days in succession, hundreds and thousands gathering from a distance to witness it. The following advertis.e.m.e.nts from the Raleigh Register, June 18, 1838, edited by Messrs. Gales and Son, the father and brother of Mr. Gales, editor of the National Intelligencer, and late Mayor of Was.h.i.+ngton City, reveal the public sentiment of North Carolina.

"CHATHAM AGAINST NASH, or any other county in the State. I am authorized to take a bet of any amount that may be offered, to FIGHT A MAIN OF c.o.c.kS, at any place that may be agreed upon by the parties--to be fought the ensuing spring. GIDEON ALSTON. Chatham county, June 7, 1838."

Two weeks after, this challenge was answered as follows:

"TO MR. GIDEON ALSTON, of Chatham county, N.C.

"SIR: In looking over the North Carolina Standard of the 20th inst. I discover a challenge over your signature, headed 'Chatham against Nash,' in which you state: that you are 'authorized to take a bet of any amount that may be offered, to fight a main of c.o.c.ks, at any place that may be agreed upon by the parties, to be fought the ensuing spring' which challenge I ACCEPT: and do propose to meet you at Rolesville, in Wake county, N.C. on the last Wednesday in May next, the parties to show thirty-one c.o.c.ks each--fight four days, and be governed by the rules as laid down in Turner's c.o.c.k Laws--which, if you think proper to accede to, you will signify through this or any other medium you may select, and then I will name the sum for which we shall fight, as that privilege was surrendered by you in your challenge.

"I am, sir, very respectfully, &c. NICHOLAS W. ARRINGTON, near Hilliardston, Nash co. North Carolina June 22nd, 1838"

The following advertis.e.m.e.nt in the Richmond Whig, of July 12, 1837, exhibits the public sentiment of Virginia.

"MAIN OF c.o.c.kS.--A large 'MAIN OF c.o.c.kS,' 21 a side, for $25 'the fight', and $500 'the odd,' will be fought between the County of Dinwiddie on one part, and the Counties of Hanover and Henrico on the other.

"The 'regular' fighting will be continued _three days_, and from the large number of 'game uns' on both sides and in the adjacent country, will be prolonged no doubt a _fourth_. To prevent confusion and promote 'sport,' the Pit will be enclosed and furnished with _seats_; so that those having a curiosity to witness a species of diversion originating in a better day (for they had no rag money then,) can have _that_ very _natural_ feeling gratified.

"The Petersburg Constellation is requested to copy."

_Horse-racing_ too, as every body knows, is a favorite amus.e.m.e.nt of slaveholders. Every slave state has its race course, and in the older states almost every county has one on a small scale. There is hardly a day in the year, the weather permitting, in which crowds do not a.s.semble at the south to witness this barbarous sport. Horrible cruelty is absolutely inseparable from it. Hardly a race occurs of any celebrity in which some one of the coursers is not lamed, 'broken down,' or in some way seriously injured, often for life, and not unfrequently they are killed by the rupture of some vital part in the struggle. When the heats are closely contested, the blood of the tortured animal drips from the lash and flies at every leap from the stroke of the rowel. From the breaking of girths and other accidents, their riders (mostly slaves) are often thrown and maimed or killed.

Yet these amus.e.m.e.nts are attended by thousands in every part of the slave states. The wealth and fas.h.i.+on, the gentlemen and _ladies_ of the 'highest circles' at the south, throng the race course.

That those who can fasten steel spurs upon the legs of dunghill fowls, and goad the poor birds to worry and tear each other to death--and those who can crowd by thousands to _witness_ such barbarity--that those who can throng the race-course and with keen relish witness the hot pantings of the life-struggle, the lacerations and fitful spasms of the muscles, swelling through the crimsoned foam, as the tortured steeds rush in blood-welterings to the goal--that such, should look upon the sufferings of their slaves with, indifference is certainly small wonder.

Perhaps we shall be told that there are thronged race-courses at the North. True, there are a few, and they are thronged chiefly by _Southerners_, and 'Northern men with _Southern_ principles,' and supported mainly by the patronage of slaveholders who summer at the North. c.o.c.k-fighting and horse-racing are "_Southern_ inst.i.tutions."

The idleness, contempt of labor, dissipation, sensuality, brutality, cruelty, and meanness, engendered by the habit of making men and women work without pay, and flogging them if they demur at it, const.i.tutes a congenial soil out of which c.o.c.k-fighting and horse-racing are the spontaneous growth.

Again,--The kind treatment of the slaves is often argued from the liberal education and enlarged views of slaveholders. The facts and reasonings of the preceding pages have shown, that 'liberal education,' despotic habits and ungoverned pa.s.sions work together with slight friction. And every day's observation shows that the former is often a stimulant to the latter.

But the notion so common at the north that the majority of the slaveholders are persons of education, is entirely erroneous. A _very few_ slaveholders in each of the slave states have been men of _ripe_ education, to whom our national literature is much indebted. A larger number may be called _well_ educated--these reside mostly in the cities and large villages, but a majority of the slaveholders are ignorant men, thousands of them notoriously so, _mere boors_ unable to write their names or to read the alphabet.

No one of the slave states has probably so much general education as Virginia. It is the oldest of them--has furnished one half of the presidents of the United States--has expended more upon her university than any state in the Union has done during the same time upon its colleges--sent to Europe nearly twenty years since for her most learned professors, and in fine, has far surpa.s.sed every other slave state in her efforts to disseminate education among her citizens, and yet, the Governor of Virginia in his message to the legislature (Jan.

7, 1839) says, that of four thousand six hundred and fourteen adult males in that state, who applied to the county clerks for marriage licenses in the year 1837, 'ONE THOUSAND AND FORTY SEVEN _were unable to write their names_.' The governor adds, 'These statements, it will be remembered, are confined to one s.e.x: the education of females it is to be feared, is in a condition of _much greater neglect_.'

The Editor of the Virginia Times, published at Wheeling, in his paper of Jan. 23, 1839, says,--

"We have every reason to suppose that one-fourth of the people of the state cannot write their names, and they have not, of course, any other species of education."

Kentucky is the child of Virginia; her first settlers were some of the most distinguished citizens of the mother state; in the general diffusion of intelligence amongst her citizens Kentucky is probably in advance of all the slave states except Virginia and South Carolina; and yet Governor Clark, in his last message to the Kentucky Legislature, (Dec 5, 1838) makes the following declaration: "From the computation of those most familiar with the subject, it appears that AT LEAST ONE THIRD OF THE ADULT POPULATION OF THE STATE ARE UNABLE TO WRITE THEIR NAMES."

The following advertis.e.m.e.nt in the "Milledgeville (Geo.) Journal,"

Dec. 26, 1837, is another specimen from one of the 'old thirteen.'

"NOTICE.--I, Pleasant Webb, of the State of Georgia, Oglethorpe county, being an _illiterate man, and not able to write my own name_, and whereas it hath been represented to me that there is a certain promissory note or notes out against me that I know nothing of, and further that some man in this State holds a bill of sale for _a certain negro woman named Ailsey and her increase, a part of which is now in my possession_, which I also know nothing of. Now do hereby certify and declare, that I have no knowledge whatsoever of any such papers existing in my name as above stated and I hereby require all or any person or persons whatsoever holding or pretending to hold any such papers, to produce them to me within thirty days from the date hereof, shewing their authority for holding the same, or they will be considered fict.i.tious and fraudulently obtained or raised, by some person or persons for base purposes after my death.

"Given under my hand this 2nd day of December, 1837. PLEASANT WEBB.

his mark X."

FINALLY, THAT SLAVES MUST HABITUALLY SUFFER GREAT CRUELTIES, FOLLOWS INEVITABLY FROM THE BRUTAL OUTRAGES WHICH THEIR MASTERS INFLICT ON EACH OTHER.

Slaveholders, exercising from childhood irresponsible power over human beings, and in the language of President Jefferson, "giving loose to the worst of pa.s.sions" in the treatment of their slaves, become in a great measure unfitted for self control in their intercourse with each other. Tempers accustomed to riot with loose reins, spurn restraints, and pa.s.sions inflamed by indulgence, take fire on the least friction.

We repeat it, the state of society in the slave states, the duels, and daily deadly affrays of slaveholders with each other--the fact that the most deliberate and cold-blooded murders are committed at noon day, in the presence of thousands, and the perpetrators eulogized by the community as "honorable men," reveals such a prostration of law, as gives impunity to crime--a state of society, an omnipresent public sentiment reckless of human life, taking b.l.o.o.d.y vengeance on the spot for every imaginary affront, glorying in such a.s.sa.s.sinations as the only true honor and chivalry, successfully defying the civil arm, and laughing its impotency to scorn.

When such things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry? When slaveholders are in the habit of caning, stabbing, and shooting _each other_ at every supposed insult, the unspeakable enormities perpetrated by such men, with such pa.s.sions, upon their defenceless slaves, _must_ be beyond computation. To furnish the reader with an ill.u.s.tration of slaveholding civilization and morality, as exhibited in the unbridled fury, rage, malignant hate, jealousy, diabolical revenge, and all those infernal pa.s.sions that shoot up rank in the hot-bed of arbitrary power, we will insert here a ma.s.s of testimony, detailing a large number of affrays, lynchings, a.s.sa.s.sinations, &c., &c., which have taken place in various parts of the slave states within a brief period--and to leave no room for cavil on the subject, these extracts will be made exclusively from newspapers published in the slave states, and generally in the immediate vicinity of the tragedies described. They will not be made second hand from _northern_ papers, but from the original _southern_ papers, which now lie on our table.

Before proceeding to furnish details of certain cla.s.ses of crimes in the slave states, we advertise the reader--1st. That _we shall not_ include in the list those crimes which are ordinarily committed in the free, as well as in the slave states. 2d. We shall not include any of the crimes perpetrated by whites upon slaves and free colored persons, who const.i.tute a majority of the population in Mississippi and Louisiana, a large majority in South Carolina, and, on an average, two-fifths in the other slave states. 3d. Fist fights, canings, beatings, biting off noses and ears, gougings, knockings down, &c., unless they result in _death_, will not be included in the list, nor will _ordinary_ murders, unless connected with circ.u.mstances that serve as a special index of public sentiment. 4th. Neither will _ordinary, formal duels_ be included, except in such cases as just specified. 5th. The only crimes which, as the general rule, will be specified, will be deadly affrays with bowie knives, dirks, pistols.

rifles, guns, or other death weapons, and _lynchings_. 6th. The crimes enumerated will, for the most part, be only those perpetrated _openly_, without _attempt at concealment_. 7th. We shall not attempt to give a full list of the affrays, &c., that took place in the respective states during the period selected, as the only files of southern papers to which we have access are very imperfect.

The reader will perceive, from these preliminaries, that only a _small_ proportion of the crimes actually perpetrated in the respective slave states during the period selected, will be entered upon this list. He will also perceive, that the crimes which will be presented are of a cla.s.s rarely perpetrated in the free states; and if perpetrated there at all, they are, with scarcely an exception, committed either by slaveholders, temporarily resident in them, or by persons whose pa.s.sions have been inflamed by the poison of a southern contact--whose habits and characters have become perverted by living among slaveholders, and adopting the code of slaveholding morality.

We now proceed to the details, commencing with the new state of Arkansas.