USA > Rhode Island > History of Rhode Island > Part 9
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John Brown, who was an eminent merchant of Newport, died October, 1753. He married a daughter of the Rev. James Honyman. He was extensively engaged in privateering, in com- pany with Godfrey Malborn and George Wanton.
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The enterprise which characterized the inhabitants of New- port, at that period, prove them to have been a superior class of men. There was a stimulus to action-for success crowned their efforts-and they were induced to push on, and to make Newport what she once was-the pride and admiration of the Colonies.
We have not alluded to the Slave Trade, from whence she reaped a golden harvest. The large exportation of New Eng- land rum to Africa, which in return brought slaves, increased the wealth of the place to an astonishing degree. There were but few of her merchants that were not directly, or indirectly interested in the traffic. Some forty or fifty sail of vessels were in this em- ployment, and it was thought a necessary appendage to have one or more slaves, to act as domestics in their families.
Many an amusing anecdote is related of the slaves, which show them to have been rather more apt than what is usually the case. In imitation of the whites, the negroes held an annual election on the third Saturday in June, when they elected their Governor. This annual festivity was looked for with great anxiety. Party spirit was as violent and acrimonious with them as with the whites. The slaves assumed the power and pride, and took the relative rank of their masters; and it was degrading to the reputation of the owner, if his slaves appeared in inferior apparel, or with less money, than the slave of another master of equal wealth. At dinner, the Governor was seated at the head of the long table, under trees, or an arbor, with the unsuccessful candidate at his right, and his lady on the left. The afternoon was spent in dancing, games of quoits, athletic exercises, &c. They have for many years ceased the obser- vance of this election.
The owners of slaves in Newport, as a general thing, were indulgent masters, so much so that the blacks were not con- scious of being in bondage, but were treated with every mark of kindness befitting their station. Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, late Professor in Harvard University, &c., in speaking on this subject, says :
In Newport there was a worthy, opulent man, and very re- spectable member of the Society of Friends, named Joseph Jacobs, advanced in life, who had four or five neat and well- behaved negro domestics, bound together by duty, respect, and
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gratitude ; a pleasant picture of patriarchal government, with- out fear and without reproach. But being all blacks, it left the master and his wife alone in the parlor and garden ; when he invited Mary Callender, daughter of Rev. Mr. Callender, to be- come their parlor companion ; and she did so, to mutual satis- faction, waited on by black female slaves, who wore the plain garb of Quakers. The family was singular, and everything very decorous ; relatively respectable, and marked by humble wisdom. To see the negro women, with their black hoods and blue aprons, walking at a respectful distance behind their mas- ter, to meeting, was not an unpleasant sight on those days. Friend Jacobs himself was somewhat unique in his habits and manners. Easy in his circumstances, and intellectual in taste, he filled up his leisure hours in watching the wind, his clock, and his weather-glasses. At that day, he was the only person on Rhode Island who owned a thermometer."
Newport was not alone in the slave trade; other places con- tributed their full share, and reaped the profits. It was at that period thought to be just and equitable, and none entertained conscientious scruples against it. It is unbecoming in the North, who have been the means of entailing slavery on the South, to turn round and denounce them as a class of unprin- cipled men, and deny to them the right which properly belongs to them, to manage their own domestic institutions as they please.
The course which has been pursued, so far from hastening the extinction of slavery, has retarded the event to an indefinito period. If we could be satisfied that immediate emancipation would better the condition of the slave, we would heartily acquiesce in the measure. But what has been the result in the British West Indies ? Has the physical and moral condi- tion of the slaves been improved, by granting to them their free- dom ? We believe it to be susceptible of proof, that it has not been the case ; for the value of estates has declined, and both planter and negro, have become infinitely worse off by the pre- mature and hasty measure. The results which have since fol- lowed, were not at the time anticipated. Great Britain has no great occasion to glory in the measure, but rather to lament it. In corroboration, heed and hearken to the voice that comes up to us from the ponderous columns of the London Times ; that journal
حسب
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which of all others, perhaps, speaks most accurately the feelings and opinions of the British people on this, as on most other sub- jects of public concern :--
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" Our legislation has been dictated by the presumed neces -. sities of the African slave. After the Emancipation Act, a large charge was assessed upon the Colony, in aid of civil and religious institutions for the benefit of the enfranchised negro, and it was hoped that these colored subjects of the British Crown, . would soon be assimilated to their fellow-citizens. From all the information which reaches us, no less than from the visible pro- babilities of the case, we are constrained to believe that these hopes have been falsified. The negro has not acquired with his freedom, any habits of industry or morality. His independence is little better than that of an uncaptured brute. Having accepted few of the restraints of civilization, he is amenable to few of its necessities ; and the wants of his nature are so easily satisfied, that at the current rate of wages he is called upon for nothing but fitful or desultory exertion. The blacks, therefore, instead of becoming intelligent husbandmen, havebecome vagrants and squatters, and it is now apprehended that with the failure of cultivation in the island, will come the failure of its resources for instructing or controlling its population. So imminent does this consummation appear, that memorials have been signed by classes of colonial society hitherto standing aloof from politics, and not only the bench and the bar, but the bishop, clergy, and ministers of all denominations in the island, without exception, have recorded their conviction, that, in the absence of timely relief, the religious and educational institutions of the island must be abandoned, and the masses of the population retrograde to barbarism !"
The New- York Express adds some very sensible remarks, which we here subjoin :
" Would that those in our own country, who profess to be the only real friends of the African, would study these painful truths, and lay them to heart. Would that they abandon their wild chi- meras of immediate, compulsory emancipation, to benefit the Afri- can, and betake themselves to the more humane, enlightened, and practical cause of Colonization, now seemingly the only door left open for the regeneration of the race. The bitter experience
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· of Great Britain should teach us wisdom. The mistaken phi- lanthropy which gave to the West India negroes the boon of . freedom, which they neither knew nor cared how to value, has been fruitful of evils which, for the true welfare of the slave population in our own country, it were prudence and wisdom to guard against. English emancipation has done for the slave population of the West Indies, just what Abolitionism at home seeks to do for the same class of population in our Southern States, (only in a more aggravated form,) the bestowing upon them of an independence but 'little better than that of an uncaptured brute,' and a condition which, so far from enabling them to become intelligent, comfortable, and happy, will as in- evitably reduce them to ' mere squatters and vagrants' among the rest of mankind."
Could the Abolitionists succeed in carrying out their plans, in giving freedom to the slaves, what, we inquire, would be the moral and physical condition of the North ? Already, the popu- lation has become so dense in our cities and larger towns, and such the competition in labor, with the low prices paid, that the poor man can hardly sustain himself and family. This incendiary measure would flood the North with emancipated negroes, and the collision would be painful to contemplate.
But the Abolitionists say, in reply : " Let the masters employ them and compensate, them for their labor, and this would obviate the difficulty." This is mere theory. They having heard so much of the sympathy expressed for them by their Anti-Slavery friends of the North-who, bye-the-bye, would not contribute one dollar to ameliorate their condition-would, how- ever, be induced to come among them and enjoy their hospital- ity, and that liberty of which they have heard so much ; but which, alas ! would only be imaginary in its nature, for their condition, instead of being improved, would be infinitely worse by the change.
There are certain laws in the physical and moral world, which we can never change, and it is not for us to arraign Omnipo- tence, and attempt to impeach his divine character. His wis- dom is infinite, and out of these discordant materials good will ultimately arise. Our Saviour illustrates the kingdom of heaven, by " a woman's putting a piece of leaven into a measure of meal, until the whole was leavened." This implied the process
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of fermentation, and it required time. To have attempted to change the order of nature would only have effectually de- stroyed the article and rendered it useless. So in the moral elements, they are at work, and operating to the final consum- mation and overthrow of all evil in the world. But we cannot successfully hasten the time, by our own plans and purposes, but must leave it to Infinite Wisdom, at the same time employ- ing the means which his Word and teaching furnish.
While the North held slaves, she took her own time to free them, and this was not done until she had become con- vinced that they were no longer profitable. It was a mere matter of dollars and cents, and not a conviction of its moral wrong, which urged them to the measure. No one attempted to coerce the North, which they were then satisfied they had no moral or political right to do. Let the North, then, leave the South to manage her domestic institutions in a manner most agreeable to her wishes, and hence put an end to agitation, which has already caused the temple of liberty to tremble to its very base. The union of these States should be dear to every American, and the individual who would put forth a sui- cidal hand to destroy the work of ages, should be denounced as a traitor of the " first water," far beyond Benedict Arnold in infamy and crime. Colonization is the only feasible plan devised, to ultimately free the country from slavery. And we believe it to be God's plan, for in no other possible way, can we conceive of the civilization and Christianizing of the dark Continent of Africa.
It should be borne in mind by the reader, that Slavery was entailed upon us while we were Colonies to Great Britain; and her interference with our institutions-now that we are free and independent-is an assumption of power which should not for a moment be countenanced by these United States. Her emissa- ries sent forth to stir up strife and sedition between the men- bers of this Confederacy, should be told to go back instanter, and reform the abuses which exist in their own country, and which are most revolting in their nature-infinitely surpassing Southern slavery, which their imagination has conjured up as the greatest evil existing in the world.
Nations are very much like individuals; their own wrongs are not seen, while the wrongs and errors of others are magnified
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to the utmost stretch of a morbid mind. Let Great Britain survey the deep and damning misery which is to be found among the underground subjects of the realm, laboring and toiling in those hells, the coal-mines, shut out from the light of heaven, and crouching under their burden, until their limbs be- coming contracted, premature old age follows, and death is their only hope of relief from the wretchedness of their condition.
This is the nation which it was once said was " the bulwark of the Christian religion !" When Great Britain will make some effec- tual effort to free her white slaves, we of this nation may feel more inclined to receive council and instruction from her, in re- lation to real or imaginary wrongs, which are to be found in this country. With her present policy, we have reason to believe that her aim and object is, to divide, if possible, these United States, regardless, entirely, of the state and condition of the slaves, which, if they had the control, would still be found in the cotton-fields, laboring to keep in successful opera- tion their extensive manufacturing establishments.
The writer to whom we are to refer as evidence of the truth of the above remarks, is the Rev. William Sewell, B. D., Author of " Christian Politics," and late Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Oxford :-
" We sigh over the imprisonment of the canary-bird, ex- claim against the cruelty of its oppressor, unbar the doors of its cage without a moment's delay, and the poor bird claps its wings with joy, flutters into open air, regains its liberty, its blessed liberty,-and the next day is found dead of cold and hunger. It is not for a Christian to argue in favor of slavery ; still less to speak of it, except with abhorrence, when the master abuses his power, and the slave, instead of being raised by him by degrees, to the capability and enjoyment of his freedom, is riveted in his chains forever. But a Christian may indeed ask, whether the total exclusion of all restraint, of all fear, of all positive external obligation from the relation of master and servant, has not ended in reducing the servant in this country to a condition far worse, far more abject and degraded, far more hopeless, far more vitiated, than that of any slave in any period or country of the world ? Our mines, our factories, our common workshops,-even our farms and agricultural cottages, full of crippled children and deformed women, of famine and
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fever, of drunkenness and vice,-of depraved, miserable, hope- less beings, doorned by their own free act, the free act of a being in the agony of starvation,-to the severest toil in dark- ness, at midnight ; deprived of rest, stinted in food, selling their children to the same misery with their own for a few shillings, or sickening over hours of toil to earn their pence,-all the horrible scenes revealed by late inquiries into the state of our lower classes,-what is there in the records of slavery to be found more heart breaking or more appalling, to those who believe that nations, like individuals, are visited by curses from the Almighty,-and that the first curse denounced in His commandments is uttered against those who depart, even in the slightest degree, from His positive, external, revealed truth, and shape out ideas of the divine nature after their own fancy." -pp. 313-328.
In the year 1768, March 21st, it being the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, the day was celebrated with public exhibitions of joy. A flag was displayed on the top of the noble wide spreading tree of liberty, and a copper-plate affixed to its venerable trunk, in the room of that which was infamously taken from it on the 25th of August preceding. A flag was hoisted at Fort George, at Liberty Mast, on the Point ; and the shipping in the harbor displayed their colors. The bells rung a merry peal, and every thing wore a joyous aspect. In the evening, rockets were discharged from the tree of liberty, at Liberty Mast ; and at the house of John Madsly, Esq., a number of gentlemen were politely entertained, and the glass circulated in honor to the British and American patriots. Many other gentlemen assembled, in different parts of the town, to commemorate the glorious event, and the whole day was spent in decent festivity.
John Madsly owned and occupied the house, now in the possession of Dr. Watson, at the head of King-street. He is said to have been a polished gentleman, and distinguished for his benevolence, ever ready to confer favors on those who stood in need. The French fleet, in firing on the British batteries," threw several shot unintentionally into the town ; Mr. Madsly had apprehended such an event, and had fitted up his oil-house cellar, adjoining his mansion, and invited the neighbors to take shelter there. A bullet entered the building, and lodged, with-
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out causing damage to any person in the cellar. It remained where it lodged, until the building was repaired and fitted up as a dancing hall for Carpentiere.
We find, as a matter of record, that " many persons were determined to use their influence in putting a stop to the destructive and pernicious effects attending the immense con- sumption of foreign teas, which must, otherwise, soon render us a poor, weak, debilitated people. The Hyperion, or Labra- dor tea, is much esteemed, and by great numbers vastly pre- ferred to the poisonous Bohea."
Newport, in 1767, passed resolutions to discourage, as much as possible, further importations of European manufactures.
" We have heard of many gentlemen in town, of figure and fortune, who are determined to clothe themselves and families for the future, with the manufactures of this country. These * resolutions were responded to by other sections of the country."
The New York Journal, May 30, 1768, says, " What a glo- rious example Newport has set us. Rouse, O my countrymen ! We are well informed that one married lady and her daughter, of about sixteen, have spun full sixty yards of good fine linen cloth, nearly a yard wide, since the first of March, beside taking care of a large family. The linen manufacture is promoted and carried on, with so much spirit and assiduity, among all ranks, that we are assured there is scarcely flax enough to be had in town, to supply the continued consumption of that article."
King Lemuel says, Prov. 31 : 28, " Her children arise up, and call her blessed." v. 19, " She layeth her hand to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff," &c.
Spinning and weaving was for ages an art of distinguished life, and was considered in the same light as needle-work now is with us. Accordingly, it was customary to represent those most distinguished, as excelling in the art of spinning, and poets sang of the distaff and loom. Homer alluded to it in the address of Alcondra to Helen ; so also Theocritus, in present- ing a distaff to his friend's wife, says,
" O distaff; friend to warp and woof, Minerva's friend in man's behoof."
It is said that Augustus, at the height of his regal splendor, appeared among his nobles in a robe, made for him by the queen.
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Dr. Bushnell has wisely remarked, in his centennial address, that " the age has been called a homespun age :" and we would add, one of simplicity, and of comparative happiness, when those artificial distinctions, the result of mere wealth, was then in a great degree unknown." The homespun age pro- duced economy in every member of the family, and they were contented with small things.
The expense of living, prior to the revolution, was far less than now, and what would then have been considered a suffi- cient sum to have rendered a man independent, would be looked upon at the present time as quite insignificant. Simon Pease, of Newport, one of the " upper ten thousand" at that day, who lived in a state of elegance befitting his station, was ac- costed by a William Hookey, a silversmith, who had witnessed the expensive living of Mr. Pease : " It must cost you a great deal to support your family." Mr. Pease replied, " that it cost- him the enormous sum of $500 per annum " A person then worth ten thousand dollars, was considered a rich man, and. even at this day of extravagance in the price of living, perhaps there is no maritime town, where the income arising from ten thousand dollars, would go as far in supporting a family, as it would in Newport.
EXTRACT FROM A SERMON
Preached in Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island, on MONDAY, June 3rd, 1771, at the Funeral of Mrs. ABIGAIL WANTON, late Consort of the Hon. JOSEPH WANTON, Jun., Esq., who departed this life on Friday, May 31st, 1771, in the 36th year of her age.
BY GEORGE BISSET, M.A.
" St. Luke xii. 40 .-- ' BE YE THEREFORE READY ALSO.'
" IT is to be remembered to her honor, that in the day of prosperity, and in an age noted for its thoughtlessness and
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dissipation, her heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord, to keep his commandments. It was a practical maxim with her, that as God is our chief benefactor, and can alone be our ex- ceeding joy, so he is justly entitled to our highest veneration and regard ; and that, consequently, it is surely good for us on every occasion, to draw near to him, both in his word and in his sacraments. Constant and regular was her attendance here, where her behaviour was remarkably composed and serious, equally distant from the indecent levity of those who come hither solely to comply with custom, not having God in all their thoughts, and from that constraining stiffness of the gloomy and superstitious, who imagine the object of their worship to be altogether such a one as themselves.
" She carefully and steadily observed the precept of the wise man, ' Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God ;' and the whole of her deportment here always discovered that happy mixture of religious awe and filial confidence, which necessarily arises from just and worthy conceptions of the greatest and best of Beings, who is greatly to be feared in the meeting of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all that are about him.
" But her sense of religion was not confined to the Church, nor to the closet, but as she set God always before her, so that great Being, who honoreth those who honor him, kindly con- ducted her, with dignity and applause, through the several connections and relations of life. She was a grateful and dutiful daughter, a prudent and affectionate wife, a tender and indulgent parent, a mild and gentle mistress, a sincere and con- stant friend. She was a safe and easy companion, and pos- sessed, in an eminent degree, the happy art of pleasing and entertaining in conversation, without ever having recourse to the fashionable topics of slander and defamation. Her most intimate friends knew not, indeed, whether to admire more her sweet and engaging compliance towards those who were present, or her tender regard for the character of the absent. Being highly sensible of the value of a good name, she always looked upon it as base and ungenerous meanness to hurt any one in that respect, either through malice, or a vain and un- meaning spirit of censoriousness ; and if wit and good nature be incompatible, it must be honestly acknowledged, that she
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had no pretensions to the former, as she was never able in the least to relish the horrid pleasure of exposing the mangled reputation of a neighbor for the amusement of the company ; on the contrary, it was her constant study and endeavor, to promote the interest of good will and friendship, by giving to merit its due praises, by endeavoring to remove all causes of dissentions, by hiding the faults of those with whom she con- versed, and by putting the best construction upon their words and actions, which they could possibly admit of ; and thus her excellent accomplishments, constantly employed in the cause of virtue, were really a blessing to herself and to society ; being agreeably recommended and set off by the still more valuable
ornament of a meek, a candid, and a quiet spirit. Those who moved in the higher spheres admired, and were charmed with that elegant simplicity, and unaffected gracefulness of manners, with that solidity of judgment, and benevolence of heart, and with those thousand inexpressible decencies, which uniformly appeared in all her words and actions; and the poor, encouraged by her condescensions, and refreshed and cherished by her extensive charity, rose up and called her blessed, and with heart-felt gratitude, almost adored the liberal hand which was so ready to supply their wants ; of which that universal gloom and dejection, which has now so remarkably overspread their faces, give a much more ample and noble testimony, than any encomiums from this place.
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