144 Anti-Slavery Society at New-Haven.—Death of Mr. Wilberforce.-Poetry. [From the London Times of July 29.] DEATH OF WM. WILBERFORCE, ESQ. It is this day our melancholy duty to announce the death of William Wilberforce, a name with which there is probably associated more of love and veneration than ever fell to the lot of any single individual throughout the civilized globe. At one period the sad event would have been felt as a grievous national calamity, and even now the tidings of his departure will be heard with the deepest sorrow through every part of the empire. But he worked while it was called day, remembering that the night was coming wherein no man may work. And he was not permitted to leave the scene of his labors till he beheld the great cause to which he had dedicated all the energies of his soul triumphant, and the fetters of the negro about to be struck off for ever. [From the Weekly Recorder.] THE COLORED MOTHER OF NEW-ENG- Thou hast not learned enough of earth Thy sparkling eye is full of light, Thy heart beats high with joy, Yes, yes my child-that soul of thine, Than that the white man wears, And for this cause, thy early dew Of joy must change for tears! Oh! I have borne this shame about, And till sweet peace a Saviour brought, A little girl, to school I went, Into a corner, all alone, My place was there assigned, A mate I could not find. At play, upon my lonely state, At night I reached my mother's cot, She said 't was cruel prejudice, That dwelt their breasts within, My hopes were crushed, my heart appalled, Must thou, my child-my only one- For cause beyond thy weak control, No scriptures say, that of one blood, Has God created all The nations He has spread abroad, 'Tis man, proud man, makes this decree Who says 'he must a negro be,' And cries, unclean, unclean!' Great Father! who created all, Hear Thou, the negro's prayer. That they may practice what they preach, Again, the gospel precepts give, That this, my child, my only one- VOL. I.] THE ABOLITIONIST. OCTOBER, 1833. SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE IN [NO. X. the whole nation. Slavery exists in this District by the permission of the government of The existence of slavery in any part of the the United States. The sin and disgrace of United States, is probably a subject of frequent tolerating the institution there is national, and and bitter reflection to every patriot and phishared by the inhabitants of the northern lanthropist. The citizens of the northern sec-states, equally with those of the southern. tion of the country, however, though they see If a citizen of New-York or Pennsylvania and lament the extent of the evil in the south-felt himself under a moral obligation to exert ern states, have their feelings perpetually himself to put an end to slavery in his own chilled, by the consciousness that all their State, why should he not feel the same obliefforts to remove or alleviate the disease which gation to abolish it in the District of Columbia? oppresses that quarter of our land, must be in- Is there any difference in the cases? direct and operate slowly. Many too of our most respectable citizens think that any discussion in the northern states, of the subject of slavery as it exists in the southern states, is an improper interference with their institutions. Though we consider this opinion as false and absurd, yet as a matter of fact we are compelled to admit its existence. Its effects are most pernicious. By denying the liberty of the press, of speech, and almost of thought, in regard to a subject upon which our remonstrances should be loud and unceasing, it 'prevents to a great extent the moral influence of the north from acting upon the south. But there is one part of the country where slavery is allowed, in regard to which the citizens of the north have not only a right to indicate and complain of the evil, but a great duty to perform of active exertion for its suppression. We refer to the District of Columbia. This District now is, and probably long will remain, under the exclusive jurisdiction of the general government. We dispute the assertion that slavery in this district, is the business of the southern states more than of the northern. It is the common concern of *This piece contains the substance of an article upon 'An Extract from a Speech delivered by CHARLES MINER, in the House of Representatives of the United States, in 1829, on the subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia: with Notes;' -which appeared in the American Quarterly Review, in September last, with some alterations and additions by the writer of the article. VOL. I. A little attention to the history and present condition of this district, will, we believe, convince any candid mind that slavery ought to be abolished there. This conclusion does not rest solely upon arguments which will apply to slavery in the southern states, but upon others also which apply specially to the District. By the Constitution of the United States, Congress had power 'to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatever over such district, not exceeding ten miles square, as might by cession of particular states and the acceptance of congress, become the seat of government of the United States.' Under this provision, Maryland and Virginia, shortly after the adoption of the constitution, ceded to the United States those portions of their territory which now form the District of Columbia. After congress had assumed the jurisdiction of the District, a law was passed dated February 27, 1800, which provided that the laws of Virginia and Maryland, as they then existed, should continue in force in the parts of the District by those states respectively ceded to the United States. Those laws therefore are still the laws of the District of Columbia, except in those particulars in which they have been altered by acts of congress. Under this exclusive jurisdiction, granted by the constitution, congress has power to abolish slavery and the slave trade in the District. It would hardly be necessary to state this as a distinct proposition, had it not been 19 146 Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia. occasionally questioned. The truth of the assertion, however, is too obvious to admit of argument, and, we believe, has never been disputed by persons who are familiar with the constitution. The situation of the District in regard to slavery, is peculiarly unfortunate. Congress has done scarcely any thing on the subject; so that one part of the District is governed by the old slave code of Virginia, as it was thirty years ago, with no material improvement, and the other by that of Maryland as it was at the same period. The slave is compelled to labor for his master, but is entitled to no wages for his services, and only receives such food, clothing, and lodging as his master pleases to bestow upon him. These it is scarcely necessary to add, are often shamefully insufficient. The slave can be beaten and otherwise abused at the arbitrary will of his master or his deputy, and the law gives him no redress. A slave cannot be a party to a suit. How injured, he can bring no action for redress. If he sells any thing, he can bring no action for the price. If he works for wages, as he may by his master's consent, he can maintain no suit, if they are not paid. The number of slaves in the District of Co-ever grievously his person or property may be lumbia, was in 1830 only 6050, being little more than one seventh part of the whole population, which was 39,834. This class, therefore, in the District, is absolutely very small. It is also small when compared with the whole population of the District; and when compared with the whole population of the country, it sinks into insignificance. We advert to the small number of slaves, not as a reason for neglecting them, but as one of the strongest arguments for enfranchisement. Where, in a The moral effects of the institution ought population of one hundred thousand, ninety also to be borne in mind, in judging of the nethousand are slaves, or of five hundred thous-cessity of abolishing it in the District of Coand, two hundred and fifty thousand are slaves,lumbia. there is plausibility in the plea that immediate In addition to these and other intolerable burdens which the law imposes on the slave, his offences are in many cases more severely punished than the same acts when committed by a white man. abolition would be attended with danger of intellectual, moral, and religious instrucSlavery deprives the slave almost entirely But it is idle to talk of danger from the en-tion; and thus brutalizes and degrades all his franchisement of the six thousand slaves in the District, when there are thirty-four thousand freemen to protect themselves, to say nothing of the support of a nation comprising eleven millions of freemen. faculties. It encourages prostitution and promiscuous intercourse among the negroes, and discourages lawful marriage. In considering the propriety of abolishing While it produces these evils among the slavery in the District of Columbia, we scarce-slaves, by a severe and necessary retribution, ly need advert to the general arguments slavery corruptsthe morals of the whites, renagainst the system. These are familiar to dering them indolent, licentious, intemperate, every general reader. We shall merely al-violent, revengeful, and unfeeling. lude to some of them. Of the political and economical evils of slavery we refrain from speaking, not because they are not great, but because they are ob The system has its foundation in injustice. This we shall not attempt to prove, since even the advocates of slavery often admit theoreti-vious and admitted. Every one who knows cally that the slave has a perfect and inalienable right to his personal liberty. any thing of the comparative situation of the northern and southern sections of our country, or even of Ohio and Kentucky, must acknowledge them. The system being thus founded in injustice the laws which regulate the relation of master and slave, are to the latter cruel and oppressive. There are many considerations in a great The master of a slave has the legal right to measure peculiar to the District of Columbia, sell him, and in so doing may separate him which render the abolition of slavery there an from his wife and children, and send him to a imperative duty upon the nation. Mr. Miner, distant region where he may never see these in a preamble to resolutions offered by him to dear objects of his affection till he meets them the house of representatives, January 9, 1829, Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia. 147 presents in a condensed form some of the im- (unanimous vote, expressed the opinion, 'that portant facts which lead to this conclusion. "The public prisons have been extensively used, (perverted from the purposes for which they were erected,) for carrying on the domestic slave trade. 'Officers of the federal government have been employed, and derive emoluments from carrying on the domestic slave trade. 'Private and secret prisons exist in the district for carrying on the traffic in human beings. "The trade is not confined to those who are slaves for life; but persons having a limited time to serve, are bought by the slave-dealers, and sent where redress is hopeless. 'Others are kidnapped and hurried away before they can be rescued. 'Instances of death, from the anguish of despair, exhibited in the District, mark the cruelty of this traffic. 'Instances of maiming and suicide, executed or attempted, have been exhibited, growing out of this traffic within the District. Free persons of color coming into the District, are liable to arrest, imprisonment, and sold into slavery for life, for jail fees, if unable, from ignorance, misfortune, or fraud, to prove their freedom. 'Advertisements beginning, 'We will give cash for one hundred likely young negroes of both sexes, from eight to twenty-five years old,' contained in the public prints of the city, under the notice of congress, indicate the openness and extent of the traffic. 'Scenes of human beings exposed at public vendue are exhibited here, permitted by the laws of the general government. 'A grand jury of the district has presented the slave trade as a grievance. 'A writer in a public print in the District has set forth that to those who have never seen a spectacle of the kind (exhibited by the slave trade) no description can give an adequate idea of its horrors.' "To such an extent had this trade been carried in 1816, that a member of congress from Virginia introduced a resolution in the House, "That a committee be appointed to inquire into the existence of an inhuman and illegal traffic in slaves carried on in and through the District of Columbia, and report whether any, and what measures are necessary for putting a stop to the same.' slavery within the District of Columbia ought to be abolished.' the Union have been presented to congress, 'Numerous petitions from various parts of praying for the revision of the laws in respect to slavery, and the gradual abolition of slavery within the District. sion of congress, signed by more than one 'A petition was presented at the last sesthousand inhabitants of the District, praying for the gradual abolition of slavery therein.' The statements made by Mr. Miner in this preamble, we believe, are abundantly proved by facts. Most of them are fully substantiated in his speech. As, probably, the greater part of the citizens of our country, though favorable to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, are ignorant of the extent and enormity of the traffic in slaves carried on there, the subject deserves a more particular notice. The States of Virginia and Maryland having for some time found the cultivation of the soil by slaves less profitable than it was formerly, now raise slaves for sale and exportation to the southern markets. Six thousand slaves are computed to be sold every year to go out of Virginia alone. The District of Columbia, probably in consequence of the neglect of congress, has been found a very convenient place for collecting together and shipping cargoes of living bodies to the south. The manner in which this business is carried on, is inhuman and disgraceful to the country which endures it. Regular slave traders reside at the very seat of government. We copy one of their advertisements from Mr. Miner's speech. "WE WILL GIVE CASH For one hundred likely young negroes of both sexes, between the ages of eight and twenty-five years. Persons who wish to sell would do well to give us a call, as the negroes are wanted immediately. We will give more than any other purchasers that are in market, or may hereafter come into market. Any letters addressed to the subscribers, through the post office at Alexandria, will be promptly attended to. For information, inquire at the subscribers', west end of Duke Street, Alexandria, D. C. FRANKLIN & ARMFIELD.' Besides Franklin & Armfield, whose names are signed to this advertisement, several other regular slave-traders reside in the District. The House of Representatives of Penn-Among these may be named Washington sylvania, at their last session, by an almost Roby, one Simpson, and Gilson Dove of Wash 148 Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia. ington. One M'Candlass, we are informed, ton, recently told us, that he should think from keeps a tavern for negro traders at George- fifty to a hundred persons were sold yearly in town; and many negro dealers from the south, that place to pay jail fees. are in the habit of resorting to the District. We have thought it a duty to mention the names of these cannibals, in the same manner that we should those of a gang of thieves or counterfeiters, er. The slaves are brought into the district in droves, handcuffed and chained together, and driven like beasts. These wretched victims are then cast into public and private jails, where they are kept till they are sent to the South. Mr. Miner, in his speech, read the following extract of a letter from Alexandria. 'Almost every week droves are brought into town of ten or twelve, all chained togethSome time since a person observed twenty-two or three come out of a cellar of a small house, where they had been stowed for some time. He thought it must surely be contrary to the law, that so many should be placed in so small an apartment, and inquired of one of the civil officers, how many slaves it was lawful to place in a damp cellar. The officer replied as many as it will hold.' The same thing exists with regard to shipping them: they may place as many in a vessel as it will hold.' A private jail used solely in the slave business, is kept by Washington Roby, in Washington. Franklin and Armfield have a similar establishment in Alexandria. These places are well provided with cells, dungeons, irons, and other conveniences for the trade. Besides these jails, there are other places of confinement in houses which are often used for the same purposes. Franklin and Armfield, the principal dealers in this District, have vessels constantly running to New Orleans with cargoes of human beings. Slave-drivers reside at Washington who make it a business to drive droves of slaves further south by land. The children are carried in wagons, but the rest are forced to walk. The wretches who conduct this branch of the business, are provided with thumbscrews, as instruments of torture to be applied to refractory slaves. These droves, as we may well imagine, present melancholy spectacles. The blacks move in pairs, the right hand of one handcuffed to the left hand of his neighbor. A chain passing through the whole length of the drove, connects the pairs together. The citizens of Washington were so shocked by the sight of these sad processions, and the hearing of their cries and groans, that it is now the practice for them to leave the city late on Saturday nights. It is not easy to ascertain the precise extent to which the slave trade is carried on in the District of Columbia, though it may be in some degree judged of from the facts which we have stated. A branch of business in which so large an amount of capital is invested, in ships, jails, and bodies, and in which so many principal and subordinate agents are regularly employed, is obviously extensive. 'Debtors and persons charged with criminal offences, of course, are not included in the statement, so that it would appear, in the last five years, more than four hundred and fifty persons had been confined in the public prison of the city-a prison under the control of congress, and regulated by its laws-for sale in the process of the slave trade. Such, said The enormity of the slave-trade of which Mr M., is not the intention for which the pris- the District of Columbia has been made the on was erected. Pennsylvania, so far as she is concerned, and her means are appropriated seat, has not only excited the attention of to repair and keep up the prison, I am confi- strangers, but has roused the indignation of dent in saying, does not and never has intend-the inhabitants of the District themselves. ed that it should be used for this purpose.' We have information from other sources confirming the representations made by Mr Miner, as to the extent and atrocity of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Mr. Miner, in the course of his remarks, read a presentment made by a grand jury at Alexandria, in 1802. 'January Term, 1802. 'We, the grand jury for the body of the A gentleman well acquainted in Washing-county of Alexandria, in the District of Col |