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Washington

Washington image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
December
Year
1841
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

I went to Washington by cteamboat nnd rail-road, 140 miles. The moment I crossed Masón and Dixon'a lino into Mary Iand, thc downcasf, thc ragged slavc fipnearcc!; íhc poor slave woman, with a keeler loaded with cloihcs or water on her headjoiling on a9 the child of sorrow, often arrested my altention. Icould not .buttremble, as well as Thomas Jefierson, whon 1 remembercd thut God "was jusl and íhat lii? justice cou'd not slcen for ev er. ílis justice does not sleep; t'ic fielcls of Maryland aro cursed vf'iúx barrenncs?, the white man with poverty and idioness, and this miserable Síato is on the evs of bank" ruptcy, by a Sfa'e debí cf fifteen milüons of dollars - a grèfttér sum for Maryland than two hundred thousr.nd dolKirs would be for the State of N. Y.Washington, with llio exccpíion of the Capítol, President' house and the pupüc ofiicos, présenla (he tnwciry look of the pretRnd'fg and gay stattern, wi;h her un. combed locks, and süpshod. Tho slave, with liis sorrowful, vacant and s'.olid coun tenance meets you at evc'ry turn. I visitcd the market, and saw the varietie3 of that heterogenous popuiation, of all sharics color?, and conditions, hut ths red npse nnd cyes, (rimmeil vvüh ílcsh-red velve!, with a soi-t of bcautiful blont of the face, scemed in fact charaniorislir, I mightsuy fashionable. It is said that temperance gentlemen are trylng to induce capitalista whohave invested large portions oí thnir ëstatc3 in ornamenting their nyseSjCiieeUs, and eyes with a dark vermilüon, and in cultivating cropa of carbunclcs, for domestic use, to tmosfer thcir capital to some other employmeni ; believing, (however -unornamentul it nv.iy ha,) tul it 13 notas Srofitable as most other branciip.s of busiess. At the house whero I boarded I íound n true Anti-Slavery gentleman from Arkansas; who assured me, as did others, that there werc many more ! litionistsat the South than I imagined. - ! Three other Southern ger.tlemeu at the house where 1 was at, were in favor of emancipation, except that otio wished cempensa!iun.A young marricd lady of great wcalih, who had been raised in Washington, boardi'.á at the house I did, and related ihc fact, thata week ortwobefore, shft had visitcd a lady of her acquaintance al B'udensburgh bx or sevon miles north of Washington, fimi th.u the Bladensburgh Itfdy was offender] al d femaie slave of her3, who was the mother of an unwcancd nfant, seven or eigiu months oíd, jind for a putiishment had sont the infanl half a :ni!ft from the house, to the caro ofanother s!avé at lbo oíd mil!, and to!] the mother thut if she VElJl near the child that day she snóüfd bo whipped. filaternalaffection triumphed nnd '.hroe times did the Washington lady eay she heard at difTerent titnca ihe sobs and screatns of the poor tnolhcr, on being whipped for ths ncble action. The President has lwo sfavès of his own wit tí him, and hirea besides eighieen colored peop'.e, under the charge of Mr.! Wilkins, a colored man, who disburses ■ all the expenses of the palace j and young Mr. Wilkin8 a son of the íormer, and a gontlemanly man, introduces the strangers to the President. Mr. Wilkins, the elder,ha8 an office and keeps the accounts, etnploys and discharges whomsoever he pleases; hissulary and perquisites amount to aboul 1700 doUarji - his son's ealary and perquisites amounts to abovit 1000 dollars -and a sister of ihe latter has a salary of 3Q0. President Tyler though a wickd elaveholder, has trealed the Wiiliin's family of color with great cgnfidence and generosily in submitting the whole expeti" tea of tbc house, nnd tbc hiring andJchargingofservanis to ihe colured futhor (and sun; officera heretofore given to white ■men. This isa r.cw era for the cnnnecjting linie beureen n man nnd amonkey. jl npprehendjfed thorc would bo no dangor in speaking Jone's seniiinents fearlessly in Washington on tha-.jlj-ct of s]avcry.