advertisement contained in the same number of the paper, and you have the true "North Carolina STANDARD," by which to measure the protection extended to slaves by the public opinion' of that state. 2.. 66 Ranaway, a negro girl called Mary, has a small scar over her eye, a good many teeth missing, the letter A. is branded on her cheek and forehead." shackles, all parts of their persons scarred with the lash, and branded with hot irons, and torn with rifle bullets, pistol balls and buck shot, and gashed with knives, their eyes out, their ears cut off, their teeth drawn out, and their bones broken. J. P. Ashford advertises as follows in the He is referred also to the cool and shocking indif"Natchez Courier," August 24, 1838. ference with which these slaveholders, gentlemen' and ladies,' Reverends, and Honorables, and Excellencies, write and print, and publish and pay, and take money for, and read and circulate, and sanction, such infernal barbarity. Let the reader ponder all this, and then lay it to heart, that this is that public opinion' of the slaveholder, which protects their slaves from all injury, and is an effectual guarantee of personal security. A. B. Metcalf thus advertises a woman in the same paper, June 15, 1838. "Ranaway, Mary, a black woman, has a scar on her back and right arm near the shoulder, caused by a rifle ball.” John Henderson, in the "Grand Gulf Advertiser," August 29, 1838, advertises Betsey. Ranaway, a black woman Betsey, has an iron bar on her right leg." Robert Nicoll, whose residence is in Mobile, in Dauphin street, between Emmanuel and Conception streets, thus advertises a woman in the "Mobile Commercial Advertiser." "TEN DOLLARS REWARD will be given for my negro woman Liby. The said Liby is about 30 years old, and VERY MUCH SCAR. RED ABOUT THE NECK AND EARS, occasioned by whipping, had on a handkerchief tied round her ears, as she COMMONLY wears it to HIDE THE SCARS." To show that slaveholding brutality now is the same that it was the eighth of a century ago, we publish the following advertisement from the "Charleston (S. C.) Courier," of 1825. "TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD.-Ranaway from the subscriber, on the 14th instant, a negro girl named Molly. The said girl was sold by Messrs. Wm. Payne & Sons, as the property of an estate of a Mr. Gearrall, and purchased by a Mr. Moses, and sold by him to a Thomas Prisley, of Edgefield District, of whom I bought her on the 17th of April, 1819. She is 16 or 17 years of age, slim made, LATELY BRANDED ON THE LEFT CHEEK, THUS, R, AND A PIECE TAKEN OFF OF HER EAR ON THE SAME SIDE; THE SAME LETTER ON THE INSIDE OF BOTH HER LEGS. "ABNER ROSS, Fairfield District." But instead of filling pages with similar advertisements, illustrating the horrible brutality of slaveholders towards their slaves, the reader is referred to the preceding pages of this work, to the scores of advertisements written by slave. holders, printed by slaveholders, published by slaveholders, in newspapers edited by slaveholders, and patronized by slaveholders; advertisements describing not only men and boys, but women, aged and middle-aged, matrons and girls of tender years, their necks chafed with iron collars with prongs, their limbs galled with iron rings, and chains, and bars of iron, iron hobbles and However far gone a community may be in brutality, something of protection may yet be hoped for from its 'public opinion,' if respect for woman survives the general wreck; that gone, protection perishes; public opinion becomes universal rapine; outrages, once occasional, become habitual; the torture, which was before inflicted only by passion, becomes the constant product of a system, and, instead of being the index of sudden and fierce impulses, is coolly plied as the permanent means to an end. When women are branded with hot irons on their faces; when iron collars, with prongs, are riveted about their necks; when iron rings are fastened upon their limbs, and they are forced to drag after them chains and fetters; when their flesh is torn with whips, and mangled with bullets and shot, and laccrated with knives; and when those who do such things, are regarded in the community, and associated with as 'gentlemen' and 'ladies;' to say that the 'public opin ion' of such a community is a protection to its victims, is to blaspheme God, whose creatures they are, cast in his own sacred image, and dear to him as the apple of his eye. But we are not yet quite ready to dismiss this protector, Public Opinion. To illustrate the hardened brutality with which slaveholders regard their slaves, the shameless and apparently unconscious indecency with which they speak of their female slaves, examine their persons, and describe them, under their own signatures, in newspapers, hand-bills, &c. just as they would describe the marks of cattle and swine, on all parts of their bodies; we will make a few extracts from southern papers. Reader, as we proceed to these extracts, remember our motto 'Truc humanity consists not in a squeamish ear.' Mr. P. ABDIE, of New Orleans, advertises in the New Orleans Bee, of January 29, 1838, for one of his female slaves, as follows; "Ranaway, the negro wench named Betsey, aged about 22 years, handsome-faced, and good countenance; having the marks of the whip behind her neck, and SEVERAL OTHERS ON HER RUMP. The above reward, ($10,) will be given to who- Advertiser, August 11, 1837, offers a reward for ever will bring that wench to P. ABDIE." his slave Jane, and says "she is far advanced in pregnancy." The New Orleans Bee, in which the advertisement of this Vandal appears, is the 'Official Gazette of the State of the General Council-and of the first and third Municipalities of New Orleans.' It is the largest, and the most influential paper in the south-western states, and perhaps the most ably edited-and has undoubtedly a larger circulation than any other. It is a daily paper, of $12 a year, and its circulation being mainly among the larger merchants, planters, and professional men, it is a fair index of the public opinion' of Louisiana, so far as represented by those classes of persons. Advertisements equally gross, indecent, and abominable, or nearly so, can be found in almost every number of that pa per. The New Orleans Bulletin, August 18, 1838, advertises "the negress Mary, aged nineteen, has a scar on her face, walks parrot-toed, and is pregnant." 66 Mr. J. G. MUIR, of Grand Gulf, Mississippi, thus advertises a woman in the Vicksburg Regis ter, December 5, 1838. Ranaway a negro girl-has a number of black lumps on her breasts, and is in a state of pregnancy." Mr. JACOB BESSON, Donaldsonville, Louisiana, advertises in the New Orleans Bee, August 7, 1838, "the negro woman Victorine—she is advanced in pregnancy." Mr. J. H. LEVERICH & Co. No. 10, Old Levee, New Orleans, advertises in the Bulletin,' Janua Mr. WILLIAM ROBINSON, Georgetown, District of Columbia, advertised for his slave in the Nary 22, 1839, as follows. tional Intelligencer, of Washington City, Oct. 2, 1837, as follows: Eloped from my residence a young negress, 22 years old, of a chesnut, or brown color. She has a very singular mark—this mark, to the best of my RECOLLECTION, Covers a part of her breasts, body, and limbs; and when her neck and arms are uncovered, is very perceptible; she has been frequently seen east and south of the Capitol Square, and is harbored by ill-disposed persons, of every complexion, for her services." Mr. JOHN C. BEASLEY, near Huntsville, Alabama, thus advertises a young girl of eighteen, in the Huntsville Democrat, of August 1st, 1837. "Ranaway Maria, about 18 years old, very far advanced with child." He then offers a reward to any one who will commit this young girl, in this condition, to jail. Mr. JAMES T. DE JARNETT, Vernon, Antauga co. Alabama, thus advertises a woman in the Pensacola Gazette, July 14, 1838. "Celia is a bright copper-colored negress, fine figure and very smart. On EXAMINING HER BACK, you will find marks caused by the whip." He closes the advertisement, by offering a reward of five hundred dollars to any person who will lodge her in jail, so that he can get her. $50 REWARD.-Ranaway a negro girl named Caroline about 18 years of age, is far advanced in child-bearing. The above reward will be paid for her delivery at either of the jails of the city." Mr. JOHN DUGGAN, thus advertises a woman in the New Orleans Bee, of Sept. 7. "Ranaway from the subscriber a mulatto woman, named Esther, about thirty years of age, large stomach, wants her upper front teeth, and walks pigeon-toed-supposed to be about the lower fauxbourg. Mr. FRANCIS FOSTER, of Troup co. Georgia, advertises in the Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer of June 22, 1837—“ My negro woman Patsey, has a stoop in her walking, occasioned by a severe burn on her abdomen." The above are a few specimens of the gross details, in describing the persons of females, of all ages, and the marks upon all parts of their bodies; proving incontestably, that slaveholders are in the habit not only of stripping their female slaves of their clothing, and inflicting punishment upon their 'shrinking flesh,' but of subjecting their naked persons to the most minute and revolting inspection, and then of publishing to the world the results of their examination, as well as the scars left by their own inflictions upon them, their length, size, and exact position on the body; and all this without impairing in the least, the standing in the community of the shameless wretches who thus proclaim their own abominations. That such things should not at all affect the standing of such persons in society, is cer A person who lives at 124 Chartres street, New Orleans, advertises in the Bee,' of May 31, for the negress Patience, about 28 years old, has large hips, and is bow-legged." A Mr. T.CUGGY, in the same paper, thus describes "the negress Caroline." "She has awkward feet, clumsy ankles, turns out her toes greatly in walk-tainly no marvel: how could they affect it, when ing, and has a sore on her left shin." In another, of June 22, Mr. P. BAHI advertises "Maria, with a clear white complexion, and double nipple on her right breast." Mr. CHARLES CRAIGE, of Federal Point, New Hanover co. North Carolina, in the Wilmington the same communities enact laws requiring their own legal officers to inspect minutely the persons and bodily marks of all slaves taken up as runaways, and to publish in the newspapers a particular description of all such marks and peculiarities of their persons, their size, appearance, position on the body, &c. Yea, verily, when the 'public opinion' of the community, in the solemn form of law, commands jailors, sheriffs, captains of police, &c. to divest of their clothing aged matrons and young girls, minutely examine their naked persons, and publish the results of their examination—who can marvel, that the same 'public opinion' should tolerate the slaveholders themselves, in doing the same things to their own property, which they have appointed legal officers to do as their proxies.* The zeal with which slaveholding 'public opinion' protects the LIVES of the slaves, may be illustrated by the following advertisements, taken from a multitude of similar ones in southern pa. pers. To show that slaveholding 'public opinion' is the same now, that it was half a century ago, we will insert, in the first place, an advertisement published in a North Carolina newspaper, Oct. 29, 1785, by W. SKINNER, the Clerk of the County of Perquimous, North Carolina. ap "Ten silver dollars reward will be paid for prehending and delivering to me my man Moses, who ran away this morning; or I will give five times the sum to any person who will make due proof of his being killed, and never ask a question to know by whom it was done." W. SKINNER. Perquimons County, N. C. Oct. 29, 1785. The late JOHN PARRISH, of Philadelphia, an eminent minister of the religious society of Friends, who traveled through the slave states about thirty-five years since, on a religious mis. sion, published on his return a pamphlet of forty pages, entitled 'Remarks on the Slavery of the Black People. From this work we extract the following illustrations of 'public opinion' in North and South Carolina and Virginia at that period. "When I was traveling through North Carolina, a black man, who was outlawed, being shot by one of his pursuers, and left wounded in the woods, they came to an ordinary where I had stopped, to feed my horse, in order to procure a cart to bring the poor wretched object in. Another, I was credibly informed, was shot, his head cut off, and carried in a bag by the perpetrators of the murder, who received the reward, * As a sample of these laws, we give the following extract from one of the laws of Maryland, where slaveholding 'public opinion' exists in its mildest form. which was said to be $200, continental currency, and that his head was stuck on a coal house at an iron works in Virginia-and this for going to visit his wife at a distance. Crawford gives an account of a man being gibbetted alive in South Carolina, and the buzzards came and picked out his eyes. Another was burnt to death at a stake in Charleston, surrounded by a multitude of spectators, some of whom were people of the first rank;..... the poor object was heard to cry, as long as he could breathe, 'not guilty-not guilty.' The following is an illustration of the 'public opinion' of South Carolina about fifty years ago. It is taken from Judge Stroud's Sketch of the Slave Laws, page 39. Bay's Reports, 164, it is said incidentally by "I find in the case of the State vs. M'Gee,' 1 Messrs. Pinckney and Ford, counsel for the state (of S. C.), 'that the frequency of the offence (wilful murder of a slave) was owing to the nature of the punishment,' &c. . . . This remark was made in 1791, when the above trial took place. It was made in a public place-a court-house-and by men of great personal respectability. There can be, therefore, no question as to its truth, and as little of its notoriety." In 1791 the Grand Jury for the district of Cheraw, S. C. made a presentment, from which the following is an extract. 66 We, the Grand Jurors of and for the district of Cheraw, do present the INEFFICACY of the present punishment for killing negroes, as a great defect in the legal system of this state: and we do earnestly recommend to the attention of the lefines the penalty for killing slaves to fine and imgislature, that clause of the negro act, which conprisonment only: in full confidence, that they will provide some other more effectual measures to prevent the FREQUENCY of crimes of this nature."-Matthew Carey's American Museum, for Feb. 1791.-Appendix, p. 10. The following is a specimen of the 'public opinion' of Georgia twelve years since. We give it in the strong words of COLONEL STONE, Editor of the New-York Commercial Advertiser. We take it from that paper of June 8, 1827. HUNTING MEN WITH DOGS. -A negro who had absconded from his master, and for whom a reward of $100 was offered, has been apprehended and committed to prison in Savannah. The edi. tor, who states the fact, adds, with as much coolness as though there were no barbarity in the mat. ter, that he did not surrender till he was consider"It shall be the duty of the sheriff's of the several coun-ably MAIMED BY THE DOGS that had been set on ties of this state, upon any runaway servant or slave being committed to his custody, to cause the same to be adver- him-desperately fighting them-one of which he tised, &c. and to make particular and minute descriptions of badly cut with a sword." the person and bodily marks of such runaway."--Laws of Maryland of 1802, Chap. 96, Sec. 1 and 2. That the sheriffs, jailors, &c. do not neglect this part of their official duty,' is plain from the minute description which they give in the advertisements of marks upon all parts of the persons of females, as well as males; and also from the occasional declaration, 'no scars discoverable on Twelve days after the publication of the preceding fact, the following horrible transaction took place in Perry county, Alabama. We extract it from the African Observer, a monthly periodical, published in Philadelphia, by the society of See No. for August, 1827. any part,' or 'no marks discoverable about her;" which Friends. Inst is taken from an advertisement in the Milledgeville (Gro.) Journal, June 26, 1838, signed 'T. S. Densler, Jailor." "Tuscaloosa, Ala. June 20, 1827. "Some time during the last week a Mr. M'Neil ly having lost some clothing, or other property of, man named SAMPSON. Fifty dollars reward no great value, the slave of a neighboring planter was charged with the theft. M'Neilly, in company with his brother, found the negro driving his master's wagon; they seized him, and either did, or were about to chastise him, when the negro stabbed M'Neilly, so that he died in an hour afterwards. The negro was taken before a justice of the peace, who waved his authority, perhaps through fear, as a crowd of persons had collected to the number of seventy or eighty, near Mr. People's (the justice) house. He acted as presi. dent of the mob, and put the vote, when it was decided he should be immediately executed by being burnt to death. The sable culprit was led to a trec, and tied to it, and a large quantity of pine knots collected and placed around him, and the fatal torch applied to the pile, even against the remonstrances of several gentlemen who were present; and the miserable being was in a short time will be given for the delivery of him to me, or "Jones County, N. C." From the "Macon (Ga.) Messenger," June 14, 1838. TO THE OWNERS OF RUNAWAY NEGROES. A large mulatto Negro man, between thirty-five and forty years old, about six feet in height, having a high forehead, and hair slightly grey, was KILLED, near my plantation, on the 9th inst. He would not surrender, but assaulted Mr. Bowen, who killed him in self-defence. If the owner desires further information relative to the death of his negro, he can obtain it by letter, or by calling on the subscriber ten miles south of Perry, EDM'D. JAS. McGEHEE." Houston county. From the Charleston (S. C.) Courier,' Feb. 20, 1836. "$300 REWARD. Ranaway from the subscriber, in November last, his two negro men, named Billy and Pompey. The following advertisements, testimony, &c. will show that the slaveholders of to-day are the children of those who shot, and hunted with bloodhounds, and burned over slow fires, the Billy is 25 years old, and is known as the patroon of my boat for many years; in all pro. slaves of half a century ago; the worthy inherit-bability he may resist; in that event 50 dollars ors of their civilization, chivalry, and tender will be paid for his HEAD." mercies. The "Wilmington (North Carolina) Advertiser" of July 13, 1838, contains the following advertisement. "$100 will be paid to any person who may apprehend and safely confine in any jail in this state, a certain negro man, named ALFRED. And the same reward will be paid, if satisfactory evidence is given of his having been KILLED. He has one or more scars on one of his hands, caused by his having been shot. "THE CITIZENS OF ONSlow. "Richlands, Onslow co. May 16th, 1838." In the same column with the above and directly under it is the following : A re "RANAWAY my negro man RICHARD. ward of $25 will be paid for his apprehension DEAD or ALIVE. Satisfactory proof will only be required of his being KILLED. He has with him, in all probability, his wife ELIZA, who ran away from Col. Thompson, now a resident of Al. abama, about the time he commenced his journey to that state. DURANT H. RHODES." From the Newbern (N. C.) Spectator,' Dec. 2. 1836. "$200 REWARD. Ranaway from the subscriber, about three years ago, a certain negro man named Ben, commonly known by the name of Ben Fox. He had but one eye. Also, one other negro, by the name of Rigdon, who ranaway on the 8th of this month. "I will give the reward of one hundred dollars for each of the above negroes, to be delivered to me or confined in the jail of Lenoir or Jones county, or FOR THE KILLING OF THEM, SO THAT I W. D. COBB." CAN SEE THEM. "In the same number of the Spectator two Justices of the Peace advertise the same runaways, and give notice that if they do not immediately return to W. D. Cobb, their master, they will be considered as outlaws, and any body may kill them. The following is an extract from the proclamation of the JUSTICES. 66 And we do hereby, by virtue of an act of the assembly of this state, concerning servants and slaves, intimate and declare, if the said slaves do not surrender themselves and return home to their master immediately after the publication of stroy said slaves by such means as he or they these presents, that any person may kill and dethink fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or offence for so doing, or without incurring any penalty or forfeiture thereby. "Given under our hands and seals, this 12th November, 1836. "B. COLEMAN, J. P. [Seal.] JAS. JONES, J. P. [Seal.]" On the 28th, of April 1836, in the city of St. "RANAWAY, from the subscriber, a negro Louis, Missouri, a black man, named McIntosh, who had stabbed an officer, that had arrested him, | furnished us with an extract of a letter written by was seized by the multitude, fastened to a tree a gentleman in Mississippi to his brother in that in the midst of the city, wood piled around him, and in open day and in the presence of an immense throng of citizens, he was burned to death. The Alton (Ill.) Telegraph, in its account of the scene says; village, detailing the particulars of the preceding This is a fine place immediately on the banks of the G "All was silent as death while the executioners were piling wood around their victim. He said not a word, until feeling that the flames had seized upon him. He then uttered an awful howl, attempting to sing and pray, then hung his head, and suffered in silence, except in the following instance :-After the flames had surrounded their prey, his eyes burnt out of his head, and his mouth scemingly parched to a cinder, some one in the crowd, more compassion-of ate than the rest, proposed to put an end to his misery by shooting him, when it was replied, "that would be of no use, since he was already out of pain. No, no,' said the wretch, I am not, I am suffering as much as ever; shoot me, shoot me.' 'No, no,' said one of the fiends who was standing about the sacrifice they were roasting, 'he shall not be shot. I would sooner slacken the fire, if that would increase his misery; and the man who said this was, as we understand, an OFFICER OF JUSTICE !" The St. Louis correspondent of a New York paper adds, "The shrieks and groans of the victim were loud and piercing, and to observe one limb after another drop into the fire was awful indeed. He was about fifteen minutes in dying. I visited the place this morning, and saw his body, or the remains of it, at the place of execution. He was burnt to a crump. His legs and arms were gone, and only a part of his head and body were left." Lest this demonstration of public opinion' should be regarded as a sudden impulse merely, not an index of the settled tone of feeling in that community, it is important to add, that the Hon. Luke E. Lawless, Judge of the Circuit Court of Missouri, at a session of that Court in the city of St. Louis, some months after the burning of this man, decided officially that since the burning of McIntosh was the act, either directly or by countenance of a majority of the citizens, it is a case which transcends the jurisdiction,' of the Grand Jury! Thus the state of Missouri has proclaimed to the world, that the wretches who perpetrated that unspeakably diabolical murder, and the thousands that stood by consenting to it, were her representatives, and the Bench sanctifies it with the solemnity of a judicial decision. 66 led the horse under a tree, put a rope around his They took the negro, mounted him on a horse, neck, raised him up by throwing the rope over a limb; they then got into a quarrel among themselves; some swore that he should be burnt alive; the rope was cut and the negro dropped to the ground. He immediately jumped to his feet; they then made him walk a short distance to a tree; he was then tied fast and a fire kindled, when another quarrel took place; the fire was pulled away from him when about half dead, and manner he should be disposed of. They brought in a committee of twelve appointed to say in what that he should then be cut down, his head cut off, his body burned, and his head stuck on a pole at the corner of the road in the edge of the town. That was done and all parties satisfied! habit of sleeping with her! The negro said he "G-owned the negro's wife, and was in the had killed him, and he believed he should be re. warded in heaven for it. "This is but one instance among many of a similar nature. S. S." We have received a more detailed account of this transaction from Mr. William Armstrong, of Putnam, Ohio, through Maj. Horace Nye, of that place. Mr. A. who has been for some years cmployed as captain and supercargo of boats detime of the tragedy, and witnessed it. It was on the scending the river, was at Grand Gulf at the Sabbath. From Mr. Armstrong's statement, it ap pears that the slave was a man of uncommon intelligence; had the over-sight of a large business -superintended the purchase of supplies for his of his master with his wife, he was upbraiding master, &c.-that exasperated by the intercourse him, went out to quell him, was attacked by the her one evening, when his master overhearing "We understand, that a negro man was infuriated man and killed on the spot. The name lately condemned, by the mob, to be BURNED of the master was Green; he was a native of AuOVER A SLOW FIRE, which was put into execu- | burn, New York, and had been at the south but tion at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, for murdering a black woman, and her master." The New Orleans Post,' of June 7, 1836, publishes the following; a few years. Mr. EZEKIEL BIRDSEYE, of Cornwall, Conn., a Mr. HENRY BRADLEY, of Pennyan, N. Y., has gentleman well known and highly respected in |