Fiat Justitia Ruat Cœlum. feeling. But when we consider woman-unpro- || the country to elude pursuit, and at the end of two tected woman, contending with misfortunes, or days, to their inexpressible joy, they found a resinking under them; when we behold youthful or fuge among the inhabitants of the Sciota settleinfant innocence subject to want, to abuse, to ne- ment. Here he settled with the remains of his glect; then the heart melts at once, and pity seeks family, whom he had rescued at the expense of no restraint. toil, of suffering, and of danger. And while we admire his energy in attaining his purpose, we must commiserate with heartfelt regret, that his Maria and his two eldest sons were lost to him forever. We have now recapitulated the principal events that in the space of about four years have overtaken this devoted family; we have seen them broken of more than half their number; one by one, have they disappeared, and happy it were if the grave had been their common refuge: the pensive survivors would then have been free from the anguish of suspense, and had known that violence was divested of power. Reader, thou hast now an outline of the history of the family of Richard Brooke. Thou hast marked their vicissitudes; thou hast perhaps dropped a tear to their misfortunes. Let it not be recalled; let not displacency divest thy heart of compassion; be not disappointed, when thou art informed that Richard was one of the thousands of his devoted countrymen, who are obliged to toil without pay, and to suffer without redress. He was excluded from the common claims of human ity-not because he was nature's outcast, but be cause his skin was not white! He was not a Eu Richard and his remaining son continued under the care of the same master as formerly: the little girl that had previously been entrusted with the mother was now bereft of the care of either parent, and retained in the same family till the death of her master, which took place the following win. ter. This occurrence seemed preparatory to the relief of the child; she was removed to a family in ropean, but a native of the gold coast; and from the neighborhood where her father resided. Casu- the day that he left his own land, to the day that al opportunities now often presented for short in. he escaped from the hunting party, it was his lot terviews between parent and child, and the privi- to be a slave. His oppressors were not the uncilege of still occasionally caressing two of his chil-vilized Indians of the forest as my narrative might dren, was a sweet and consolatory relief to his imply, but men who professed the christian name; days and nights of sorrow. The state of society men who had driven the savage from his father's in which they were detained was too precarious land, and had now made the negro their prey. It and fluctuating for safety to be expected. A slight was those called christians who kidnapped him in cross occurrence might again fall out, and then his mother's cottage, and directed his destiny by again another aggression might be made on the sea and by land; it was they who dispensed ruin little family remnant. Conscious of this liability, to his family, and who tore heart from heart; by and undiscouraged by his former attempt to esthem they were trafficked from hand to hand, and cape, he again boldly determined on a similar by them they were ultimately sold. purpose. The idea of rescuing his two children Salem, Columbiana Co. Olio. from bondage was his main incentive; all were not yet swept by the storm, and his trembling We take pleasure in transferring to our pages hopes still lingered upon what were left. Thus, the following Report, made by a committee of the after the tempest is past, and but a little scattered fruitage remains on the bough, the pensive hus-Senate of Pennsylvania, at the last session of the bandman cherishes and protects that little, not knowing but it ay be a blessing large enough. The hunting season came on: most of the men of the village, including Richard and his master, set out for that purpose. They travelled a day up the Sandy, where lay their best hunting ground; intending, when they had furnished a sufliciency of the spoils of the forest, to convey it down the river in canoes. Having arrived at the scene of action, they fell off into irregular parties, taking whatever direction their game presented. Early the second day, after they had commenced their excursions, Richard observing the different companies meeting and parting in a careless way, absented himself, without being taken notice of, bent his way towards the village, and arrived there the same evening a little after dark. Previous to his going out with the party, he obtained liberty for his little girl to lodge in the hut with her bro. ther, during his absence: here he had the good fortune to find them both. His plans had been preconcerted, and every thing so far seemed to promise a favorable issue. In an hour's time, he and his children were in a canoe that had lain by the water's edge; they set forward; every thing depended upon this night's adventure. If he should be able to reach the Ohio river, and cross before day-light, he might count upon the most reasonable prospect of success; this he realized. As the Indians had mostly abandoned this part of the Ohio territory, he had but little to fear from them; he therefore took a circuitous rout through D. W. Legislature of that state. The object of raising a special committee is sufficiently explained by the resolutions which precede the Report. The facts stated by the committee fully redeem the state from the odium cast upon her by the apparent increase of slaves within her borders since 1820. Pennsylvania was the first state in the || Union to break the yoke from the sons of Africa; and she will never suffer her fair fame to be tarnished by the addition of ONE slave to the number of that small remnant of aged bondmen who were born before the passage of the abolition law, in 1780. Mr. Breck, from the committee appointed in pursuance of the following resolution: WHEREAS, it appears by the census of 1820, that the number of slaves in Pennsylvania was 211, and by the census of 1830, the number had increased to 386: Resolved, That a select committee be appointed to investigate the cause of this increase, and report by bill or otherwise: REPORTED: An explanation of the statements returned by the marshals of the two districts of Pennsylvania, of the slave population thereof, has been sought for by us; first, by an examination of the official tables of the census of 1830; and secondly, by Fiat Justitia Ruat Colum. personal application to one of the deputy marshals, who took the census of Dauphin county. quence of the slavery of their mothers, in the case of all children born within this state from and The general census of the state shows an in- after the passing of this act, shall be, and hereby crease of slaves in Pennsylvania, in the interval || is, utterly taken away, extinguished, and forever of ten years, between 1820, and 1830, of one hun- abolished; that every negro and mulatto child, dred and seventy-five: the former period giving born within this state after the passing of this act 211, and the latter 386. So large an addition to a as aforesaid, shall be deemed to be, and shall be, class of our population, which we had every rea- by virtue of this act, the servant of such person, son to believe was nearly extinguished, has ex- or his or her assigns, who would, in such case, cited considerable attention, even beyond the li- have been entitled to the service of such child, mits of our own commonwealth, and has become, until such child shall attain unto the age of twenin some degree, a reproach to the state. Our ty-eight years." neighbors in New York, and citizens of other states, have asked, through the medium of the public prints, how it happens, that while slavery has almost ceased to exist in the states north and east of us, the land of Penn, which took the lead in emancipation, and contains so many citizens of distinguished philanthropy; so many associa tions formed expressly for the promotion of aboli. tion; so many friends of the African race, always on the watch to detect abuses, and ever eager to aid in correcting them, should exhibit an increase of slaves? In consequence of this provision for their gradual emancipation, we do not find, by the census of 1820, (forty years after the date of the act,) any person reported to be held in bondage in this commonwealth, under twenty-six, and few under forty-five years of age; and all those who take an interest in the extinguishment of slavery here, very naturally looked to the census of 1830, as the epoch that was to put a period, or nearly so, to that unhappy state of things amongst our colored population. What, then, must have been their as tonishment, when the tables of the marshals of the two districts exhibited an increase, from 211 individuals returned in 1820, to 386 returned in 1830! scattered, too, over twenty-seven counties, and of ages under twenty-six, and even under ten! By what process was this brought about? Unless founded in error, it was manifestly a gross viola This question ought to be answered satisfactorily; and it is for the purpose of doing so, and of vindicating the honor and the laws of the commonwealth, as well as the characteristic philanthropy of its citizens, that your committee has thought it right to go into such details as shall maintain, untarnished, the reputation of the go-tion of the statute of 1780. It is the principal verned, and of those who govern. Our forefathers, anxious to abolish slavery here, seized the earliest opportunity after their deliver. ance from the control of Great Britain, even in the midst of a calamitous war, to pass the act of March, 1780, by which the children of slaves, born after that date, are emancipated. The reasons set forth for that great act of justice, in the memorable preamble to that law, are given in language so beautiful-with such humane and pious feeling, that we have ventured to make a short extract: duty of your committee to explain this; and in endeavouring to do so, it will be necessary to advert to a misconstruction of that law in Washington and other counties, by which the child of a servant, until the age of twenty-eight years, was held to servitude for the same period, and on the same conditions as its mother, who was the daughter of a registered slave. This error was practised upon up to the year 1826, and was the means of wrongfully keeping in bondage many individuals, for several years beyond the legal pe riod. At length the Supreme court settled the point definitely, at Pittsburg, or the 26th September, 1826, in the case of Miller v. Dwilling, and decided that no child can be held to servitude till "It is not for us (say they) to inquire why, in the creation of mankind, the inhabitants of the several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion: it is suffi-the age of twenty-eight years, but one whose mo cient to know that all are the work of an Almigli- ther was a servant for life, or a slave at the time of ty hand; from whence we may reasonably, as well its birth. as religiously, infer, that he, who placed them in their various situations, hath extended equally his care and protection to all, and that it becometh not || us to counteract his mercies. We esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us, that we are enabled to add one more step to universal civilization, by removing, as much as possible, the sorrows of those who have lived in undeserved bondage. Weaned, by a long course of experience, from the narrow prejudicies and partialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of all conditions and nations, and we feel ourselves called upon to manifest the sincerity of our profession, and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude." The subtantial proof of that gratitude, your committee have found recorded in the third and fourth sections of the law of 1780, to which the foregoing extract forms part of the preamble. In those sections it is enacted, "that all persons, as well negroes and mulattoes as others, who shall be born within this state from and after the first day of March, 1780, shall not be deemed and con. sidered as servants for life, or slaves; and that all servitude for life, or slavery of children in conse There cannot now, then, be any pretence for keeping children, born in this commonwealth, at service beyond the age of twenty-eight, nor would any such have appeared in the columns of the census of 1830, had not the two marshals, by their injudicious instructions to their deputies, di. rected them to enter as slaves, all colored people of both sexes, who were held to service for limited periods. These deputies, as is apparent on the face of their reports, have strictly followed those instructions, and returned as slaves, even children under ten years of age, who could not legally be held to service beyond 21. As well might those officers have directed their assistants to re. gister as slaves, all white children apprenticed to trades. This irregularity on the part of the two officers, has been the cause of reporting in 27 counties: 53 Children under 10 years, 45 29 do. 319 Fiat Justitia Ruat Cœlum. Making an aggregate of 319, of whom only a very few of the last class could possibly be legally held as slaves; because the law of March, 1780, which declares all the children of slaves born in this commonwealth, after that date, free at twenty-eight, could not allow any person under fifty years of age to be held in slavery in 1830. So that very few of the class between thirty-six and fifty-five, which, in that year, contained only twenty-nine individuals, could then be legally held in bondage. The gradual decrease, at the four first periods at which the people of this nation were numbered, shows that no such ill-judged instructions were then issued by the marshals to their deputies; for, In 1790 "1800 " 1810 "1820 and had not this palpable mistake been committed in 1830, by which the return is increased one hundred and seventy-five in ten years, we should have had for the true number, sixty-seven, instead of three hundred and eighty-six; for these sixtyseven constitute the difference between the whole number returned in the census, and the number reported under fifty-five years of age. And this we find confirmed by the return made in the sep. tennial state census, in 1828, when the official computation was only seventy-six. Your committee may, therefore, safely say, that, at this day, being nearly three years after the national census was taken, there cannot be more than sixty persons held as slaves in the whole commonwealth. On this subject, your committee beg to remark, that by the last census, our colored inhabitants amounted to about 36,000; of which, 30,000 inhabit the eastern district, and only 6,000 the west. ern; and this number, so small, compared to the white population, is scattered among fifteen hundred thousand of our own color; making one black individual to forty-two white. So few of these, it is believed, by your committee, need not at present be an object of uneasiness, and would not seem to require the enactment of any restrictive laws; more especially as they are, for the greater part, industrious, peaceable, and useful people. It is enough for us to take care that the children born in our own commonwealth be protected against involuntary service, after the age of twenty-one, without preventing the humane or interested owners of slaves, born elsewhere, from manumitting them on our soil; and thus, after a short service, giving liberty to themselves, and those of their children who may be born among us; and who, did not their masters possess this facility, would be held, they and their unhappy offspring in perpetual slavery. Such a course, then, as would shut the door of philanthropic Pennsylvania to those who, from motives of humanity or interest, may wish to grant manumission to their slaves, could not but be repugnant to the feelings of every citizen within our borders. Believing this, your committee cannot recommend, for the adoption of the Senate, any measure that may tend to disturb the present usage, or that shall deprive a negro or mulatto, born a slave out of Pennsylvania, of a chance of obtaining his liberty by a commutation of his personal services during a brief period in this commonwealth, for those of perpetual bondage else where. But are there not many colored individuals, not born in Pennsylvania, and not of right classed as In drawing up this report, our object has been slaves, who are held to service for limited periods, principally directed to the means necessary for an even after the age of twenty-eight? In answer explanation of the causes which led to the erroto this question, your committee will state such neous returns of the marshals; and we have, in facts as have been communicated to them by per-making the investigation, ascertained them to be, sons well acquainted with the subject. as we think, such as are set forth in the preceding pages, and which we will, in conclusion, briefly recapitulate. Negroes of all ages are brought, in considerable numbers, into the southwestern counties, bordering on Virginia, and emancipated on condition of serving a certain number of years, seldom exceeding seven, unless they happen to be mere children. About half the usual price of a slave is paid for this limited assignment; at the expiration of which, the individual obtains entire freedom, both for himself, and such of his children as may be born in Pennsylvania. In this manner, many colored people, of both sexes, are sent from the adjoining lave-holding states, particularly from the state of Delaware, and manumitted in this commonwealth. Depri. ved of this privilege, so advantageous, both to the benevolent master, and unhappy bondsman, what alternative remains for the poor slave? None other than endless servitude, either in the place of his nativity, or among the cotton and sugar plantations of the south. Endless servitude, not only for himself, but for his children, from generation to generation. As a proof that Delaware, and even Maryland, send their slaves here, it may be stated, that in Delaware, the number of slaves has decreased, in the last ten years, 1204, and in Maryland, 4520. Nevertheless, a doubt has arisen, whether it be proper to allow this state of things to continue, or to provide by law against the introduction amongst us of that species of population? First-The illegal manner in which the grand children of the registered slaves of 1780, were held to service for twenty-eight years, in some parts of Pennsylvania, until the decision of the Supreme court put a stop to it in 1826. Secondly-The practice, along our southern borders, of buying slaves born out of the state, from persons who manumit them in Pennsylvania. Thirdly-The mode in which the census was taken, and which classes as slaves, children and others who are only held to service for a comparatively short period; after which they and their offspring born in this state, become free forever. It will be gratifying to your committee, if they shall have been at all instrumental in removing the imputation to which Pennsylvania seemed obnoxious, by the official act of the two marshals, and thus exonerate her from the stigma of fostering in her bosom, as it would appear by the census, a nursery of slaves. It is an opprobrium that nearly affects the character of the state, and is not the less injurious, because it is undeserved. The honor of our citizens, collectively and indivi dually, is concerned in having it wiped away; and your committee flatter themselves, that by adopting this their investigation, which they respectfully, and with great deference, submit to the Se Fiat Justitia Ruat Colum. nate, an official denial of the imputation may be considered as flowing from that act of approval and adoption. Laid on the table. On motion of Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Krepps, Ordered, That 700 copies in the English, and 300 in the German language, of the foregoing report be printed, for the use of the members of the Senate. SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY. will give some idea of the feeling manifested to the south of us: From the Raleigh, N. C. Register. determination of Great Britain to emancipate the The news, brought by the late arrivals, of the slaves of her West India Islands, without compensation to their owners, is replete with interest to the people of this Union. If such a measure be in contemplation, and we see no reason to doubt it, can our Government look quietly on and see it consummated? Of course, the white inhabit The editor of the Cincinnati Chronicle lately ants of these islands would be compelled to abanperformed a tour through the State of Kentucky.diate vicinity, independent Negro Sovereignties, don them, and we should then have in our immeThe following is extracted from his journal: "In travelling through no inconsiderable portion of the State of Kentucky, and mingling with both town and country population, I could not but remark the change, within the last few years, in public sentiment, upon the subject of slavery, and the use of ardent spirits. These are trite topics, I am aware, but being intimately associated with the repose and morals of society at large, may still be deemed worthy a passing notice. whose contagion would rapidly spread into the southern States. The irresistible tendency of such an event is too apparent to need illustration, and too delicate in its nature to be carried out in all its bearings. The next advices from Europe will be anxiously awaited. From the Portland (Maine) Daily Advertiser. "In the first place it may be remarked, that the THINGS IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. amelioration in the condition of the slaves of that A WOMAN FOR SALE!-I have heard much of selState which has taken place within the last ten or ling negroes at auction, but I never before this fifteen years, is highly creditable to the commu- day witnessed the spectacle. Within ten feet of nity on which the curse of slavery is entailed. the office of the Richmond Enquirer, that oracle Not only are the blacks better fed and clothed, of liberty for the whole southern country, there than in former years, but such is the general amelioration of their circumstances, that bating the vertisement: "By virtue of an order of the Hustwas on an auction flag the following amusing adabstract privilege of freedom, they need have but ings Court for the city of Richmond, pronounced little hope, by any change of condition, of betteron the 22d day of Feb. (Washington's birth-day, ing their fortunes. That a large majority of the mark ye) will be sold, in front of the High Conslaves of Kentucky, have at the present time, more stable's office, the 11th inst. one bright mulatto comforts, more respectability and less arduous du- woman, about 26 years of age; (very likely,) also, ties to perform, than their emancipated brethren throughout the west and south, there can be, I &c., to satisfy the above attachment, and all costs some empty barrels, and sundry old candle boxes, think but little doubt. There is, moreover, a grow- attending the same." This was dated March 1st, ing sentiment among the holders of slaves, that and regularly signed. As I was going by the neither the pecuniary interest, the comfort, nor crowd, and this auction flag, I was struck with the the personal safety of the white population, is en- question of the auctioneer, who seemed to have hanced by slavery. This is more particularly the his eye on me: "Do you want to buy a woman?" case among the females, who have lively fears and Buy a woman! what an idea! I shook my head, apprehensions of the dangers which may in time and shrunk back, blushing once in my life, at overtake them, from causes by which they and least, for an odd train of thought ran through my their children are hourly surrounded, and from mind, as I thought of woman in her high palmy which there seems to be no chance of escaping. state-and it was long before I understood that a Hence there is much inquiry and discussion in slave was to be sold. I then read the advertiseregard to the progress of the American Coloniza-ment, and remembered that I was in a land where tion Society, and the various other plans that have slaves and horses were commodities equally maroccasionally been suggested, as a means of rid-ketable. ding our country of a direful curse, in comparison to which, all others, looking forward to ultimate consequences, weigh but as dust in the balance. Something, it must be owned, has been gained towards the cause of general emancipation and removal of the slaves of this country, when such sentiments and such opinions, are held and openly avowed among those upon whom slavery has been entailed for generations." It would seem, from the language of Slaveites, that the prospect of the abolition of slavery in the British West India Islands, is viewed with great alarm and apprehension. It is quite natural it should be. But all their fears will not prevent the emancipation of the slave. The time is has tening—the decree has gone forth-and nothing can prevent its accomplishment. The following an interrogation pressed upon every passer-by. "Do you want to buy a woman?" was The auctioneer was loudly exclaiming, two hundred dollars, only two hundred dollars for this likely woman. Two hundred and ten, shall I say? Two hundred and ten, two hundred and ten, two hundred and ten-who bids? Two hundred and fifteen, two hundred and fifteen-a likely woman -two hundred and fifteen, only two hundred and fifteen-a good seamstress, stout, healthy-only two hundred and fifteen-two hundred and twenty-is a good cook-two hundred and thirty, only two hundred and thirty dollars bid-two hundred dred and forty-five, two hundred and fifty, two hunand thirty-five-two hundred and forty-two hun. dred and fifty, two hundred and fifty-going, a woman a going for only two hundred and fifty dollars; two hundred and sixty, only two hundred and sixfor only two hundred and sixty dollars? Two hunty, two hundred and sixty, shall I knock her off dred and sixty dollars is the only bid. Two hun Fiat Justitia Ruat Colum. dred and seventy, did you say? yes, two hundred || citement among the colored population, who flockand seventy, two hundred and seventy, two hun-ed to the Court-house, and when Judge Davis redred and seventy, as fine a woman as was ever tired, crowded around him in the street, and deunder the hammer-two hundred and seventy-five || manded if this was a land of Liberty. The Judge -two hundred and eighty-two hundred and answered, "most truly; and a land of laws also." ninety-three hundred dollars I am bid-three He then cautioned them against any attempts at hundred dollars for a woman worth five hundred a rescue. Boston paper. dollars. Three hundred and ten going, a woman going for three hundred and ten dollars-fine, I Judge Davis is mistaken. This may be a "land of laws;"-but it is not a "LAND OF LIBERTY.” A few, or even many, enjoy "liberty" among us. And so do some in all other countries. Our popularity hunters, our "democratic" brawlers, (the writer of this is a "democrat," in the general sense of the word,) together with those who hold || offices with fat salaries, may talk of "liberty," justice, and all "that sort of thing;" yet their resolves and their acts, in many cases, are no better than those of the most wicked high-way robbers. likely, stout,-three hundred and fifteen, three SLAVE CASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. Two cases of some interest have been present-ertions of all the philanthropists who have yet emed, one to the Supreme Court of the State, now sitting in Boston; the other to the United States District Court. braced the cause, seem likely to do but little, without still more earnest active labor. There is no danger of going on too fast; for very few (comparatively speaking) appear disposed to do any thing to the purpose. We are wearied and disgusted with this eternal sophistical cant, this un In the first case a hubeus corpus was issued for the release of a colored lad, named Francisco, who, it was alleged, had been held as a slave in Havana, by a Mrs. Howard; and was about to be carried there again, and kept in slavery by her. C. J. Shaw, in his decision, said "if Mrs. How-necessary caution, about the adoption of measures ard, in her return to the writ, had claimed the boy as a slave, I should have ordered him to be discharged from her custody. But it appears from her return to the writ, that she does not claim him as a slave. The boy, by the law of Massachusetts, is in fact free; and Mrs. Howard having by her return of the writ, disclaimed to hold him as a slave, has made a record of his freedom and cannot make him a slave again in the Island of Cuba. The court must act as the boy's guardian. He appears to be attached to Mrs. Howard, and to be desirous of going with her, and I think it is for his interest to be allowed to do so, if he pleases. He can therefore go with her or not, as he chooses." In the other case, a man named Worthington, from Maryland, claimed a colored man as his slave; alleging that he had run away from him. The district Judge being satisfied of the truth of the allegation, gave him a certificate to that effect. Mr. W. inquired of the Judge, how he should proceed to secure his slave, so that he might be conveyed to Maryland. The same, the Judge replied, that he would use to secure any other portion of his estate. The arrest of the black man caused some ex for the abolition of slavery. We are naturally From Le Courrier des Etats Unis. Vera Cruz, Nov. 1, 1832. |