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published the "Notes," an insurrection, engen- | a planter in Trinidad, who, having ordered a sugardered by Mr. David Turnbull, the British consul, mill and engine of the value of 20001., prior to and Placido, a creole poet, had occurred in Cuba. 1846, saw the hopelessness of erecting it, and We shall spare our readers his details of the as-wrote to his correspondents to know at what reductounding cruelty with which this (so-called) rebel- tion they would consent to take it back. They lion was suppressed and avenged. The creole answer that if he will ship it direct to Cuba, they poet died like a hero and a Christian-shot to death will allow him the cost price for it, inasmuch as in the market-place of Matanzas, asserting his inno- they have more orders than they can fulfil for new cence, which is now universally admitted, to the machinery from that island. They further state, last; and when the officials, who declared they that since November, 1846, they have received were possessed of documents inculpating Mr. David similar orders from slave colonies to the amount of Turnbull, were invited to produce them, they stated 20,000l.; their exports to our own colonies having that they had all been accidentally destroyed! Up- proportionately declined. Again, Messrs. Fawwards of a thousand of the negro population per- cett, of Liverpool, wrote thus on the 7th December, ished under the lash ;* for O'Donnell's commis- 1847 :sioners, captains and lieutenants of the Spanish "The demand for machinery from the British army, long after the fears of the planters had colonies, and more particularly from the Mauritius subsided, persisted in visiting the plantations and and the West India possessions, has almost entirely in lacerating the leading negroes, under pretence ceased. At one time there was every prospect of of collecting further evidence, but really to extort considerable extension of the manufacture of sugar money from their owners. in British India, but we consider this to have reWe have subsequently ceived a check since the admission of slave-grown been informed, on unquestionable authority, that sugar, whilst there is every appearance that the the general opinion of all parties now is, that there cultivation of the cane is greatly increasing in Branever was any combination or concerted insurrec- zil, as you will observe from our list of orders; and tion at all; indeed, the degraded and debilitated we have every expectation of a large demand from condition of the Cuban slaves, and the vigilance Cuba for steam-engines and cane-mills of large with which they are watched, render such a sup- power in the course of the coming year. It should position unworthy of credit; the fact that two ornies are extensively supplied with machinery from be borne in mind, too, that the Spanish slave colothree isolated gangs, exasperated by the intolerable the United States of America." cruelties of their administradors, rose and murdered their oppressors, having given rise to the panic which occasioned these bloody results.

doubled!

The following details with regard to the condition of the slaves in Brazil-a country which does not pretend to consider negroes as fellow-creatures, or to refrain from the slave-trade-have been furnished to the British consul at Pernambuco, by M. A. de Mornay, a gentleman, who, from his occupation as a civil engineer, enjoyed excellent opportunities of observation; and will complete the information which we are desirous of laying before the English nation at this crisis in our colonial (that is to say, in our imperial) history :

By a return just made to the house of commons, (Morning Post, December 27,) it appears that the Such was slavery in Cuba under a people provalue of the machinery exported from England to verbial for their humanity to their slaves, as de-Cuba was, in 1845, 4,8077.; in 1846, 16,2067.; scribed by a zealous advocate of the system. The in 1847, (down to October 10,) 17,6447. The high prices of last year, and the prospect of a corresponding figures as to Brazil are, in 1845. speedy admission on equal terms to the English 17,1307.; in 1846, 19,0917.; in 1847, 35,1231. markets, are not, we imagine, likely to ameliorate The value for Cuba quadrupled-for Brazil it; neither is the ruined condition of our sugarfarmers calculated to further the cause of freedom, in the eyes of slave-holding nations. The immediate influence of our free-trade measures on the African slave-trade is to be read in every packet from the coast. Prior to 1846 that traffic with the Spanish colonies had almost entirely died away -nay, the Cuban proprietors were even contemplating arrangements for the emancipation of their slaves, finding their prospects destroyed by the exclusion of their produce from our ports. Jacob Omnium graphically describes to us the reaction which occurred when the change in our policy was made known to them, and his account is, we conceive, fully corroborated by the testimony of the "American Physician," (whose volume, we hope, will be reprinted here,) and by the reports which arrive from time to time from our unfortunate cruisers, and from that disgrace to the friends of the African and the colonial ministers of England -Sierra Leone. But there is other evidence We have at this moment before us a letter from a firm of no great magnitude in Glasgow to *In his despatches to the foreign office, Mr. Kennedy, the British commissioner then resident in Cuba, estimates

too.

the number so destroyed at 3000.

"The greater number of engenhos are very deficient in slaves, and the consequence is, that much work, not of immediate necessity for the production badly done, or else the slaves are very much overof a large quantity of sugar, is left undone, or very worked. There is a spirit of emulation amongst the Senhores d'Engenho to make a large quantity of sugar with a small number of blacks; but instead of accomplishing this by the economization of labor and by good management, it is generally done by driving the slaves at their work to the very extent work they cannot resist many years; they become of their strength, and even beyond it. This forced thin and languid, their skin dry and scurvy, and of a dark slate-color, instead of the polished black of a healthy negro. During the season of the crop,

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which lasts from September till February or March, | united number was some one hundred and thirty besides their usual day-labor from 6 A. M. to 6 P. slaves. Two thirds were females, and these young M., they are divided into two gangs to work in the women or girls. There were a few children. Nemill during the night; one gang working from six cessity teaches some of the best as well as the sterntill midnight, and the other from midnight till six in est lessons. A child of three years of age rode a the morning. Half an hour is allowed them for camel alone, and without fear. The poor little breakfast, and two hours in the middle of the day to creature knew if it complained or discovered itself take rest and food, except during the months of frightened it would be obliged to walk through the grinding, when they take their food when they best desert. The slaves were fed in the morning with can. Their work at this season is very hard, and dates, and in the evening with ghusub. Female it is common to see them alternately sleeping and slaves, after the style of Aheer people, pounded the waking without interfering with their occupations. ghusub in a large wooden mortar just before cookThe boys in the manjara,' (a seat behind the ing. But they had little to eat, and were miserably horses of a cattle-mill,) fearing to be observed, get fed, except those who had the good fortune to be into the habit of sleeping for a second of time only, purchased by Haj Ibrahim; for some of these imand of rousing themselves sufficiently to whip the provident stupid merchants had actually purchased horses, when they have another nap no longer than slaves without the means of keeping them. On the first. The black who carries away the cane- arriving at the Wady, they sent jointly through trash from the mill, may often be observed taking a Haj Ibrahim to borrow a hundred dollars of the similar nap in the act of stooping to join the ends Bashaw of Mourzuk. The messenger was Mustaof the cane-leaves round his bundle; and it appears pha. His highness kindly enough handed him over that they derive rest from these continued momen- the money. All the masters carried a whip; but tary snatches of sleep during their night's labor. this was rarely used, except to drive them along During the times of sugar-making very few allow the road, when they lagged from exhaustion. Thus them Sunday. They are most insufficiently clothed, it was administered at times when it could least be and are fed upon such coarse salted meat and fish, borne, when nature was sinking from fatigue and that to this sameness of salt food, added to over- utter weariness; and therefore was cruel and inhuwork, may be attributed many of the bad diseases man. Yet only some twenty were sick, and two of the skin to which they are subject. A slight died. When very ill they were lashed upon the scratch, particularly of the legs and feet, often turns back of the camel. Some of the young women into a most inveterate sore. If there were not a that had become favorites of their masters expericonstant supply from the coast of Africa the slave-enced a little indulgence. I observed occasionally population would rapidly diminish, and many sugar love-making going on between the slaves, and some engenhos, in a very few years, be unable to continue of the boys would carry wood for the girls. My their operations." servant, Said, had one or two black beauties under innocent and correct character. Some groups of his protection. But everything was of the most slaves were aristocratic, and would not associate with the others. The young females under the care of the shereef assumed the airs and attitude of exclusives, and would not associate with the rest.

A few sentences will show that Brazil in the mean time has a fair supply. We copy part of a letter from a naval officer, dated West Coast of Africa, Oct. 9, 1847:

"I have come to the conclusion that our trying to suppress the slave-trade is all nonsense. We have now five cruisers in the Bight of Benin, and within the last three months, to my certain knowledge, 4000 slaves have been taken over to Bahia

safe and sound.

"Since the sugar-duty has been taken off, the demand for slaves in South America has been very extensive. We are keeping a large squadron for little or no purpose at all; the French cruisers are lukewarm in their exertions, and will be glad when the time arrives for their separation from England.

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The way the slave-merchants manage now as regards paying for the slaves is of course in goods, and those goods are principally English cottons, tobacco, and an inferior sort of spirit. These goods are brought over by chartered vessels, mostly under Sardinian colors, papers all right, backed by their consuls at Bahia-some French-and a few Americans, who are worse than all. Fast-sailing vessels come over, and in two hours ship their slaves and are off the coast. We have been rather lucky in taking four vessels, (one with five hundred in ;) being a steamer, it has given us the advantage; sailing vessels stand very little chance; the slavers laugh at them."

Every passion and habit of civilized is represented
in savage life. A perfect democracy, in any coun-
try and state of society, is a perfect lie, and a lev-
eller is a brainless fool. There is also an aristoc-
racy in crime and in virtue, in demons and in angels.
to give every one of his a blanket or barracan, more
The slaves are clad variously. Haj Ibrahim tried
or less large. Besides this, the females had a short
chemise, and a dark blue Soudan cotton short-
sleeved frock. Many had only this frock. The
lect of the Touaricks than the Tripoline merchants,
poor creatures suffered more from the ignorant neg-
with their former masters.
and their complaints and diseases usually begin
Yet I am assured by
Mr. Gagliuffi that the Touaricks of Aheer are in-
finitely better and kinder masters than the Tibboo
merchants of Bornou, or even many Tripolines.—
Richardson's Travels in the Sahara.

From the Public Ledger.

MESSRS. EDITORS:-The annexed (I like the word) epigram, though unsuccessful in competition for a prize cup, some time ago, may, perhaps, hit somewhere, if shot out of your "big gun." So, fire away. BLUNDERBUSS.

EPIGRAM.

Such are already the effects of Lord John s meas-I know of one Taylor who makes very short speeches, And takes very short measure, but makes very big

ures of 1846.

SOME few particulars must now be recorded of the slave-caravans which I left in the Wady. The

breaches.

He's a sharp hand at cutting, in all sorts of manner,
And he'll fit us as well as he fit Santa Anna.

1847.

From the Quarterly Review.

censure—almost without observation. The quakerMemoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry. Edited by habit and quaker-renown disarmed hostility, nay, two of her daughters. Vol. I. 8vo. London, propitiated favor; it secured the first introduction to magistrates, to nobles, to ministers, to emperors. When so much was effected, the rest was sure; her simple dignity of demeanor, her singularly musical voice, her easy, unaffected language, the fit vehicle of her unfailing good sense, her earnest piety and unmistakable disinterestedness, enchained the most reluctant; and to every cabinet and court of Europe where religion and humanity could be maintained or advanced, she obtained ready adinission as a herald of peace and charity.

We do not disguise the increasing hesitation with which we receive biographies founded on private notes and diaries that record, or seem to do so, the thoughts and struggles of the inmost heart. Any one of eminence, in the present day, who commits these things to paper, must do so under the full conviction that, like Castor and Pollux, as he himself sets, his journals will rise; and that whatever he has written in his closet will be proclaimed on the house-tops. Such a prospect of But, we must repeat, we take her as the exenvied or unenvied fame cannot but give a tinge to ception, not as the rule. The high and holy duties the sentiments and language; cause the insertion assigned to women by the decrees of Providence of some incidents and reflections, and the suppres- are essentially of a secret and retiring nature; it sion of others; bring forward art at the expense is in the privacy of the closet that the soft, yet of nature; and, in short, prompt every one to wear sterling, wisdom of the Christian mother stamps his best for the eyes of posterity. The autobiog- those impressions on the youthful heart, which, raphy included in the present work must, however, though often defaced, are seldom wholly obliterbe considered as in great measure exempt from this ated. Whatever tends to withdraw her from criticism. The larger proportion of it was written these sacred offices, or even abate their full force in early days, before journalizing had been reduced and efficacy, is high treason against the hopes of to a system, and secret cogitations forced into a nation. We do not deny that valuable services notoriety, like reluctant speakers of old into the may be safely, and indeed are safely, rendered by chair of the commons. Yet, while the stamp of many intelligent and pious ladies who devote their originality remains, we discern the traces of a hours of leisure or recreation to the Rarotongas revising hand-a hand guided by the experience and Tahitis of British Christendom-it is not to and feelings of maturer years, which apparently such that we would make allusion; our thoughts has spared in candor much that it might otherwise are directed to that total absorption which, plunghave been wished to erase, and retouched the ing women into the vortex of eccentric and selfremainder, far less in vanity than in graceful timid-imposed obligations, merges the private in the ity, so soon as Mrs. Fry had perceived beyond a doubt that, alive or dead, in true or false colors, she was destined to afford a repast to the public appetite. In truth, however, we should be loath to subject this publication to any ordinary criticism; it deals with common life, and yet soars above it; associates with man, and yet walks with God; never so elevated as when grovelling in the mire, it exhibits a career that cannot be surpassed -but which, we venture to add, ought not in all its parts to be generally followed.

public duty, confounds what is principal with that which is secondary, and withdraws them from labors which they alone can accomplish, to those in which at least they may be equalled by others. We may question whether, even here in the instance before us, the indulgence of a special and manifest superiority was not sometimes purchased by the postponement, or delegation to substitutes, of those minute and unostentatious offices which constitute the order, the preciousness, nay, the life itself of domestic discipline. Much, no doubt, was easy, and also permitted, to a lady whose notions and habits were founded on the practice of female ministration in matters ecclesiastical. It is beside our purpose to examine the scriptural legality or social expediency of such a system: we glance at it now, merely to show the very peculiar circumstances which fitted her, from her earliest years, for her public task.

That this admirable woman had a special vocation for the office she undertook is manifest in every step of her progress; her intellectual constitution was singularly adapted to the peculiar task; add to this the zeal which governed the whole, an enthusiasm regulated but never chilled by judgment; and we have a character armed at all points, ready to take up the gauntlet of every conceivable obstacle that could impede her in the Elizabeth Gurney was born of an ancient and accomplishment of her great design. Among sub- honorable race in the county of Norfolk. Her own ordinate, yet very real advantages, we cannot fail immediate family, having maintained the highest to count the succor she derived from her connec- respectability for many generations, has latterly tion with the Society of Friends. A little eccen- become conspicuous by all the gifts of talent, tricity of action was considered permissible, and munificence, and piety. To the care and undereven natural, in the member of a body already standing of their admirable mother (and is it not recognized as eccentric in opinions, eccentric in always so?) must be ascribed the development of dress, eccentric in language. Philanthropy, too, their moral and intellectual capacities; the future had been the distinguishing characteristic of this character of Elizabeth owed not a little to that parrespectable brotherhood; a devious effort for the ent's thoughtfulness and providential disciplineinterest of mankind passed in one of them without the unwearied patience, the chastened sensibility,

the habit of prayer, and expansive love to all God's works, that shone so eminently throughout her career. She piously acknowledges the filial debt in a short memoir, (p. 7,) which is well worthy of perusal, not only as illustrative of the disposition of the writer, but for the singularly sensible and appropriate remarks on the minute and considerate care required in the education of children. Much in it recalls the early history of William Cowper, and exhibits the almost inconceivable sufferings endured by youthful susceptibility and imagination, the sources of genius, but oftentimes the elements of sorrow. Here is the special province for the action of the discriminating mother; and, doubtless, had the infancy of that exquisite poet been longer blessed by the tender guidance of his own admirable parent, his spirit might have assumed in some measure the practical character of Elizabeth Fry, and preyed less fiercely and systematically on itself.

will not beguile us into a fulsome conceit of the elevating and purgative powers of Quakerism. They are men of like passions with ourselves; they may be seen in Mark Lane and on the Exchange, and pursue their wealth and enjoy it with similar zeal and relish. Nor are they fully weaned from the rougher and more stimulating diet of political ambition. With the vow of separation upon them, they have recently shaved their heads, and entered the world of parliamentary service: how far they or the public have gained by this invasion of the Nazarites is beyond our experience. One of them, however, must have imbibed the humanizing influence of "Thou and Thee;" since the friend who knew him best not long ago declared, that "If John Bright had not been born a Quaker, he would most assuredly have become a prize-fighter."

is to be embalmed in three stout octavos, or two with numerous pages and close type, we must either, excluding all the past, surrender ourselves to the study of our deceased contemporaries; or take the other extreme, and, like Parson Adams, intermeddle with "nothing since the days of Æschylus."

The second period of Mrs. Fry's history may fairly be dated from her first adventure to survey those scenes of degradation and neglect, which she Every page of her early journal exhibits the was afterwards so efficiently to rebuke. Hitherto traces of this first direction to her juvenile thoughts. her journal has presented much sameness both of The desire of personal usefulness, though for some event and observation; it was perhaps inevitable time feeble and indistinct, runs like a vein through in so limited a sphere. We are, nevertheless, of all her reflections and aspirations. She exhausts opinion that a freer use of an editorial pruningherself in conflicts, in hopes, and in fears; proves knife would have brought some advantage to the her heart like Solomon's with mirth, and finds it book, and comfort to the student. We pant amidst vanity; braves sacrifices, conjures up doubts, and the ceaseless rush of new publications-excitement finally embraces the realities of gospel truth as the and distraction are the order of the day; and if the only assurance for herself, and the exclusive in-memory of every one who has figured in the world strument for the lasting welfare of mankind. Every reader will be struck by the precocity she exhibits of mental power, and ascribe the originality of her remarks less to her experience of others than to her study of herself. It was the clear perception of her own weakness that brought her to the "one thing needful," and which gives a catholic value to the whole, as a guide and prop to those who may hereafter tread the thorny path of moral and social benevolence. We are amused, we confess, by her struggles with Quakerism, and her ultimate surrender to a pedantic system, by which her inner being could never be ruled. Though a member of a sect, she in truth was no sectarian; but, underneath the ostentatious singularity of the mob-cap and light grey mantle, bore a humble heart and a heart that could give honor to whom honor was due, whether he wore an ermine robe, sleeves of lawn, or the foulest rags. We are at a loss for her reasons; the "Concern," such is the term, is not alleged in her journal to have offered spiritual advantages unattainable elsewhere. She may have yielded to the persuasions of her many relatives, to the suggestions of convenience; but, whatever the motive, she embraces, with true self-devotion, the whole; adopts, without reserve, the Friends' ceremonial law; and finds various philosophical arguments to fortify the usage of "Thou and Thee," (pp. 56, 61.) "I considered," she observes, "there were certainly some advantages attending it; the first, that of weaning the heart from this world, by acting in some little things differently from it."-" Vain science all, and false philosophy!" Our deep respect for many Quakers

The state of Newgate at this time would have been a shame to any fifth-rate duchy, the population of which could boast but little beyond poachers and cut-throats; it was a fearful dishonor to the metropolis of the British empire, a city as rich in means as in pretensions. The heroism that conducted her steps into such scenes may be inferred from these few sentences of her amiable biographers :

"All the female prisoners were at that time confined in the part now known as the untried side. The larger portion of the quadrangle was then used as a state-prison. The partition wall was not of sufficient height to prevent the state-prisoners from overlooking the narrow yard, and the windows of the two wards and two cells, of which the women's division consisted. These four rooms comprised about 190 superficial yards, into which nearly 300

women with their numerous children were crowded; tried and untried, misdemeanants and felons; without classification, without employment, and with no other superintendance than that given by a man and his son, who had charge of them by night and by day. Destitute of sufficient clothing, for which there was no provision; in rags and dirt, without bedding, they slept on the floor, the boards of which were in part raised to supply a sort of pillow. In the same rooms they lived, cooked, and washed. With the proceeds of their clamorous begging, when

any stranger appeared amongst them, the prisoners gences myself (if I thought it right) than curtail purchased liquors from a regular tap in the prison. theirs; the lavish way in which most of their deSpirits were openly drunk, and the ear was assailed scription appear to think things ought to be used, is by the most terrible language. Beyond that necessary for safe custody, there was little restraint over their communication with the world without. Although military sentinels were posted on the leads of the prison, such was the lawlessness prevailing, that Mr. Newman, the governor, entered this por-yet if there be one little subject of sorrow or appation of it with reluctance."-pp. 205, 206.

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Her Journal contains the following entry "1813, 16th day, second month," (Anglicè February.) Yesterday we were some hours at Newgate with the poor female felons, attending to their outward necessities; we had been twice previously." "Thus simply and incidentally," continues the editor, "is recorded Elizabeth Fry's first entrance upon the scene of her future labors, evidently without any idea of the importance of its ultimate results."

a trial to me, and contrary to my best judgment; but a constant lesson to myself is the ingratitude and discontent which I think I see and feel in many, because I doubt not it is the same with myself. How bountifully am I dealt with, day by day, and

rent discontent, do I not in my heart dwell upon innumerable mercies and blessings that surround that, and not by any means sufficiently upon the me? Feeling that I am so infirm, can I wonder at the infirmities of others?"-p. 216.

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In the month of April, 1817, after several desultory visits and experiments, an association was formed for the improvement of the female prisoners in Newgate." It consisted of the wife of a clergyman, and eleven members of the Society of Friends. Aldermen, turnkeys, constables, and all Some time elapsed before Mrs. Fry set herself the rank and file of law and justice, stood aghast in good earnest to the prosecution of her great de- in the contemplation of these Christian women sign; but meanwhile "tribulation worked in her prompted, as they thought, by a silly, though genpatience; and patience, experience; and experi-erous enthusiasm, to lead the forlorn hope against ence, hope." The loss of property, of relatives this fortress of misery and sin. "You see your and friends, and, above all, the death of a dearly materials," said one incredulous sheriff—a fair beloved child, were providential instruments to specimen of those officials who did not refuse their adapt her to the work ;-to stir up and strengthen countenance to the work of these heroic ladies, but, in her heart a tender sympathy for the suffering of guided by the better part of valor, withheld their others; and convince her that in their spiritual coöperation :-" You see your materials;" and improvement alone could be found for them an truly they were such as would have revolted any effective consolation. She has recorded in some ordinary appetite for the "luxury of doing good." touching passages her grief and resignation in the We have already said something of the condition deaths of her brother John and her daughter Betsey; of the gaol; we will add a sentence from the pen and we recommend them to the perusal of all who of Mary Sanderson, (p. 261,) the friend and coadmay be tried in a similar manner, as beautiful illus-jutor of Mrs. Fry :-"The railings," she says, in trations of the extent to which religion permits describing her first visit, "were crowded with halfsorrow, and of its sole and glorious remedy.naked women, struggling together for the front (pp. 225, 237, 241.)

-

Nor was she without her minor vexations, those crosses and annoyances that dog the march of the Samaritan. It is the badge of all the tribe; and we shall extract a passage or two for those who are young in the walk, to teach them that great results must be attained through a succession of small failures. Let such watch the manner in which this modest heroine drew wisdom and courage from every disappointment :"I am low under a sense of my own infirmities, and also rather grieved by the poor. I endeavored to serve them, and have given them such broth and dumplings as we should eat ourselves; I find great fault has been found with them, and one woman seen to throw them to the pigs; still persevering to do my utmost for them, and patiently bear their reproach, which may be better for me than their praises.

situations with the most boisterous violence, and begging with the utmost vociferation. She felt as if she were going into a den of wild beasts, and she well recollects quite shuddering when the door closed upon her, and she was locked in with such a herd of novel and desperate companions." "On the second visit of Mrs. Fry," say her biographers, "she was, at her own request, left alone amongst the women for some hours." We wish that she herself had given us a detailed record of her enterprise; it must have closely resembled the achievement of Pinel. That great man, in the midst of the Reign of Terror, bringing his work of love into strange contrast with the scenes around him, demanded and obtained permission to visit the Bicêtre, and liberate as many of the supposed madmen as his judgment should determine. He entered the receptacle of degraded humanity; all was intensely "Tried by my servants appearing dissatisfied by dark; the yelling and the clanking chains struck a what I believe to be liberal things. I feel these deeper horror. Couthon, the regicide, who had things when I consider how false a view we may accompanied him, would proceed no further-" for take of each other, and how different my feelings conscience doth make cowards of us all;" but Pitowards them are from being ungenerous; which I nel, strong in his benevolence and his convictions, fear they think. I know no family who allows exactly the same indulgences, and few who give the plunged into the cells; even furious captives were assame high wages, and yet I do not know of any one tounded into tranquillity by this invasion of mercy; so often grieved by the discontents of servants as fifty were set free by his own hands—and, basking myself. I believe I had rather go without indul-in the sun or crawling at his feet, they testified the

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