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V 216 THE ANGLO-AFRICAN MAGAZINE. conduct of these worthy men and their white co-laborers, they deserve and shall receive our hearty thanks and lasting gratitude. Upon the conduct of the Court before which Buslmell and Langston have been tried, and before which the rest of the indicted are to be tried —-upon the behavior of the Pro - secutor, who lias shown himself so anxious and determined' to convict these men—upon the character of the Jurors called in the cases already tried, and upon the testimo - ny of the witnesses on the part of the Government, it is needless to say a single word. The Court, the Prosecutor, the Jurors, and the witnesses, with one or two exceptions, are Pro-Slavery and Democrat - ic iu their connections and associations It is well known, then, what we may expect. And, so far, we have not been disap - pointed. But the object of this prosecution can never be accomplished. The free spirit of the Western Reserve cannot be " crushed nut." Our deep love of liberty, our intel - ligent veneration for the precepts of Christianity, and our abiding deterrnina - ;ion to obey Cod rather than man, no pros - ;cution, however oppressive, no irksome •^nfinement in gloomy dungeons, no ille - gal and unjust confiscation of our property, an ever overthrow and destroy. And this irosecution, so far, lias only tended to leepen and strengthen this conviction.. % f r i c - % m f r i t a u \ c i n r i § a 1111 j?. F I F T H P A P E R BY ETHIOT Home again, and in fine spirits. " Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife ; To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name." So felt I, after my visit to the Black Forest, which has been among the most re - markable of my meandering life. A faithful recital of what I heard and what I saw, lengthened out in a dozen carefully collated and closely written vol - umes, would scarcely do justice to my three days' stay in that place of mysteries. But, as the pressure of other engagements called me from those never-to-be-forgotten scenes, so now, also, do the events of the passing hour require at my hands some - thing else for my readers, reserving for another occasion a further chat about the famous Grotto Home of Old Ber - nice, one of Nature's noblemen and one of her noblest artists. Home again, and in the Afric-American [Picture Gallery, and Seated in my big arm - chair. Dear old arm-chair ! seated in thee I survey with renewed and increasing sat - isfaction this extraordinary Gallery. My feelings are fresh and my eye clear, so that I can, perhaps, better take iu the beauties and excellencies of a picture than give out anything like an accurate descrip - tion of one. Notwithstanding this, I cannot resist the temptation of a sketch offered by a pair of pictures just beneath my eye. on the south side of the Gallery. They are marked Pictures Kos. XIX and XX. PREACHING AND AFTER PREACHING. The first represents the interior of a church—a negro church. Locality—sunny South. The particular spot, I conclude from its surroundings, is among the best of the good old planta - tions. The church is filled to overflowing with

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Page 1: c i n r i § a 1111 j?

V —

216 THE ANGLO-AFRICAN MAGAZINE.

conduct of these worthy men and theirwhite co-laborers, they deserve and shallreceive our hearty thanks and lastinggratitude.

Upon the conduct of the Court beforewhich Buslmell and Langston have beentried, and before which the rest of the indictedare to be tried —-upon the behavior of the Pro-secutor, who lias shown himself so anxiousand determined' to convict these men—uponthe character of the Jurors called in thecases already tried, and upon the testimo-ny of the witnesses on the part of theGovernment, it is needless to say a singleword. The Court, the Prosecutor, theJurors, and the witnesses, with one or twoexceptions, are Pro-Slavery and Democrat-

ic iu their connections and associations Itis well known, then, what we may expect.And, so far, we have not been disap-pointed.

But the object of this prosecution cannever be accomplished. The free spirit ofthe Western Reserve cannot be " crushednut." Our deep love of liberty, our intel-ligent veneration for the precepts ofChristianity, and our abiding deterrnina-;ion to obey Cod rather than man, no pros-;cution, however oppressive, no irksome•^nfinement in gloomy dungeons, no ille-gal and unjust confiscation of our property,an ever overthrow and destroy. And thisirosecution, so far, lias only tended toleepen and strengthen this conviction..

% f r i c - % m f r i t a u \ c i n r i § a 1111 j?.

F I F T H P A P E R

BY ETHIOT

Home again, and in fine spirits." Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife ;To all the sensual world proclaim,One crowded hour of glorious lifeIs worth an age without a name."

So felt I, after my visit to the BlackForest, which has been among the most re-markable of my meandering life.

A faithful recital of what I heard andwhat I saw, lengthened out in a dozencarefully collated and closely written vol-umes, would scarcely do justice to mythree days' stay in that place of mysteries.But, as the pressure of other engagementscalled me from those never-to-be-forgottenscenes, so now, also, do the events of thepassing hour require at my hands some-thing else for my readers, reservingfor another occasion a further chatabout the famous Grotto Home of Old Ber-nice, one of Nature's noblemen and one ofher noblest artists.

Home again, and in the Afric-American

[Picture Gallery, and Seated in my big arm-chair. Dear old arm-chair ! seated in theeI survey with renewed and increasing sat-isfaction this extraordinary Gallery.

My feelings are fresh and my eye clear,so that I can, perhaps, better take iu thebeauties and excellencies of a picture thangive out anything like an accurate descrip-tion of one.

Notwithstanding this, I cannot resist thetemptation of a sketch offered by a pair ofpictures just beneath my eye. on the southside of the Gallery.

They are markedPictures Kos. XIX and XX.

PREACHING AND AFTER PREACHING.The first represents the interior of a

church—a negro church.Locality—sunny South. The particular

spot, I conclude from its surroundings, isamong the best of the good old planta-tions.

The church is filled to overflowing with

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AFR1C-AMERICAN PICTURE GALLERY. 217

devout worshippers, and is being discoursedto, affectionately, of course, by a double-fisted, burly, white-faced old SouthernPreacher—a genuine Hard Shell.

The artist has caught him just in thenick of time.

The Preacher is just in the act of ex-torting his sable hearers to obey theirmasters—their kind, good masters.

" He that knowetli his master's will anddoeth it not shall be beaten with manystripes." These are his words. In catch-ing the artist's conception, you feel them,you hear them—you put yourself in hisaudience, and then they are graciouswords to you. They are unctious. Onthem your parson is feeling ; he looks fullof feeling ; he looks unctious all over.Unction pours out of his mouth ; it beamsout of his eyes ; it sticks out of his out-spread lingers ; it runs down his broadface in greater profusion than did the oildown the venerable beard of Aaron.

Just at this unctious point is our goodman taken, and I heartily thank the artistfor having done him such justice. A fair-er exhibit of a Southern preacher is cer-tainly nowhere else on canvass.

Nor has the artist lost any of his inspi-ration in the other details of his picture.The preacher's sable hearers, with eyes di-lated, mouths agape, nostrils distended andears alert, are intently leaning forward,that they may lose no word of the goodadmonition, while here a moody brow, andthere a skeptical face, or yonder a defiantlook, combine to form an admirable back-ground.

The 6econd of this pair of pictures, en-titled After Preaching, represents the con-gregation standing about outside thechurch in groups around the faithful lead-ers, who, being men carefully selected bythe white piety of the sunny South, are ofcourse, all of the Uncle Tom school.

By another masterly stroke of the artist'sconception,they are taken just at the pointof the extreme of their extacies about thegreat and good sermon they have justheard, while the leaders are in earnest ex-hortation on submission and willing obe-dience to masters as the height of Chris-tian duty.

In the back-ground may also be seen afew young, determined-looking faces, onwhich are expressed disbelief in, and de-testation of, the whole affair. They are

the same noticed in the back-ground of theformer piece.

These young spirit-faces possess such astrong look of meaning that none needmistake it. A look so strong, so bold, sotowering, that, like Monadnoc among thegranite hills, it peers far above the scraw-ny frowns, and puny smiles, and jeers, andgibes, and sneers, and hates of the vulgar,the mean, the base; a look that will go upthrough all time, and, as light before thecoming sun, so as surely will it be theforerunner of the great deliverance of lor.g-'pressed humanity. The look and themeaning do actually exist, and the soonerthe World knows it the better.

These faces, in contrast with the othersof the congregation, give a most strikingeffect to the picture. They are the unro-ly, the skeptical, the worthless of the flock—the wicked ones, who would rather ruathe risk than be bound up in the religiouslove so feelingly and so faithfully pro-claimed to them—the religious love of theland.

It is of this class comes our Nat Turn-ers, who laid a scheme for redemption, andthe man in Georgia who received ninehundred and ninety-nine lashes by way ofgentle [compulsion, and then would not somuch as reveal one particle of the plan laidby and for the uprising of his oppressedbrethren. It is of this class come the Margaret Garners, who rather than their babeseven shall clank a chain, prefer to sendthem up to their God who gave them. Itis ofthis class comes our Douglasses and ourBrowns, anda host of other spirits now castupon the regions of the North, as a Southerner once expressed it, " to wailin the miseryof their sins, and lament in the wretched-ness of their misunderstood liberty."

These are good views, and may be stu-died with profit by any Southern Preach-er, master or monster who will take thetrouble to visit the Afric-AmericanPictureGallery.

Picture No. XXI. is

A HEAD OF PHILLIS WHEATLY.

It hangs in the north-east corner of theGallery, and in good light, and is so de-cidedly one of the finest in the collection,whether viewed in an artistic light or inpoint of fact, that it is both a constantcharm and study for me. The features,though indicative of a delicate organiza-

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218 TEEANGLO-AFRICAN MAGAZINE.

tion, are of the most pleasing cast. Thelacial angle contains full ninety degrees ;the forehead is finely formed, and the brainlarge ; the nose is long, and the nostrilsthin, while the eyes, though not large, arewell set. To this may be added a smallmouth, with lips prettily turned, and achin—that perfection of beauty in the fe-male face—delicately tapered from a throatand neck that are of themselves perfection.The whole make-up of this face is an in-dex of healthy intellectual powers, com-bined with an active temperament, overwhich has fallen a slight tinge of religiouspensiveness. Thus hangs Phillis Wheat-ly before you in the Afric-American Pic-ture Gallery, and if we scrutinize her moreclosely through her career and her works,we shall find her truly an extraordinaryperson. Stolen at the tender age of sevenyears from the fond embraces of a motherwhose image never once faded from hermemory, and ferried over in the vile slavesfiip from Afric's sunny clime to the coldshores of America, and sold under thehammer to a Boston merchant—a delicatechild, a girl, alone, desolate ; a chilly,dreary world before her, a chain on herfeet and a thorn in her bosom, and an ironmask on her head, what chance, what op-portunity was there for her to make physi-cal, moral, or mental progress ? In theserespects, how get up to, or keep pace with,other and more favored people ?—how getin the advance ?—how ascend, at last, with-out a single competitor, the highest scaleof human eminence 1 Phillis Wheatly didall and more than this. A sold thing, abought chattel, at seven years she mas-tered, notwithstanding, the English lan-guage in sixteen months. She carried onwith her friends and acquaintances an ex-tensive and elegant epistolary correspond-ence at twelve years of age, composed herfirst poem at fourteen, became a proficientLatin scholar at seventeen, and publishedin England her book of poems dedicated tothe Countess of Huntington at nineteen ;and with the mantle of just fame upon hershoulders, sailed from America to Englandto receive the meed due to her learning,her talents, and her virtues at twenty-two.What one of America's paler daughters co-temporary with her, with all the advan-tages that home, fortune, friends and favorbring—what one ascended so far up thehill of just fame at any age. I have searched

in vain to find the name upon the literarypage of our country's record.

Oh ! Wheatly!What degradinghand, what slavish chain.What earthly power could link thy nobler soulTo baser things, and check its eagle flight tAngel of purity, child of beauteous song.Thy harp still hangs within our sightTo cheer though thou art gone.

The lady visitors to the Gallery woulddo well to make the head of Phillis Wheat-ly a study.

I have never read a treatise on the artof pleasing, nor have I otherwise acquiredit, and hence my imperfection in so im-portant a matter. 1 never could wellplease ; a lady friend says I have nevertried. Be this as it may, permit me toobserve that since my three days' visit tothe Black Forest and three weeks' barri-cading of the doors of the Afric-AmericanPicture Gallery against its many friendswho have sought it out, there has beenbrought upon me such a storm of choloric •

feeling as will serve for all of life to come.I had just finished the last sketch, andwrapped myself up in the happy con-sciousness of its justness, my old moodstealing over me, my mind traversing backto the days when Banneker lived and toldof the stars and of the rising suns, andWheatly sung their praise to listeningworlds, when a loud rap at the door broughtme to a sense of the present moment andto my feet. Wondering who the intrudermight be that dared to thus disturb me, 1bade him enter. It was Tom—yes, Tom,with a package of letters in his hand. Thelittle rogue's smile was as fresh and sunnyas ever, and it was a pleasure to see him ;but, somehow or other, there was a wickedtwinkle playing about the corners of hisusually wicked little eyes, that told mesomething in my absence had gone amiss.I concealed this discovery, however, andmerely said : " Well, Tom, my good fel-low, what has turned up since my ab-sence ?" " Oh ! nothing much, only aplenty of calls, sir,'' said he. " Calls ?"said I, rising, " I hope you have not per-mitted, sir, any one to enter the Afric-American Gallery during my absence ??''* Why no, sir," said he, provokingly, " b«ithen there has .been such a knocking atthe door !"

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THOUGHTS ON HAYTI. 219

I perceived how it was in an instant.The little rogue had been operating on hisown hook, and pointing out the Gallery tothe various magnates around for his ownspecial amusement.

" The doctor has been here," he added,without paying any heed to the embarrass-ment in which he had placed me ; " andthe Professor has been here, and the Phi-losopher with him ; and a little lady inblack, and a tall lady, and a fat lady, anda strange nice lady from abroad have beenhere ; and a number of other ladies, andsome queer ones, too, have been here ; Snda crusty old gentleman, (white,) with acane, has been here, too ; and two coloredgentlemen, in white cravats and long blackcoats all buttoned down before.''

Tom's odd description of so strange agroup really put me in good humor. Itook the package from his hand, andthrowing it on the table, wheeled round

before the stature of Benjamin Bnnneker,for the purpose of a few notes for the read-ers of the Anglo-African Magazine, whenrather a loud and unusual noise in the out-er hall interrupted me. In looking'up, lo !and behold, advancing and bowing, hats inhand, who should my eyes meet but theDoctor, the Professor, and the Philosopher,closely followed by the little lady in black,and the tall lady, and the fat lady, andthe lady from abroad, and the two gentle-men in white cravats and long black coatsall buttoned down before, fetching up therear. Dumbfounded at so many and suchimposing visitors, I could only rise andmake my hest bow, which was awkwardenough at best. Of course I was cheatedout of my reflections on Banneker, and soare my readers.

The conversation of my visitors, whichwas free, characteristic, and remarkable, Imust reserve for my next, reader.

(To be Continued.)

&10rgjits 0 n

NUMBER II.

BY J. THEODORE HOLLY.

The Disabilities under which that Country. Labor

I n the preceding article I have claimedfor the Haytian people a solitary pre-emi-nence, in their Revolutionary indepen-dence, as the political prodigy of univer-sal history. In this article I propose tospeak of the disabilities under which theylabor, notwithstanding their unexampledposition in this respect. In fact, I willshow that these disabilities are inherent in,and grow out of, the wonderful phenome-non that her national sovereignty displaysamid the galaxy of nations. But beforeentering on this subject, I desire to bringmy previous thoughts to a close by show-ing, that during the half-century and morethat Hayti has preserved her national in-

dependence, she has not degenerated awhit from the proud political position sheassumed when she bounded from a con-dition of chattel slavery into a commu-nity of independent, self-respecting free-men. The leaven of despotism soon man-ifested itself in the infant nation as it haseverywhere raised its hydra-head amongthe nations of the Earth in every age ofthe world. But were these sable freemenless efficient than other lovers of libertyto crush out the monster in their midst ?Did they permit the lustre of great namesor the splendor of heroic deeds to lullthem into a passive sleep while the gildedchains of a tyrant were clasped around

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Anglo-African Magazine (New York, NY). .July 1, 1859. Page: 216-219 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=h9k&AN=55444939&site=ehost-live&ppid=divp24