Dr. Patton's Negro Pew

Extract froni a letter addressed to the editor of the Guiana Congregalional Record, fi-om New York, by the Rev. Ebenezer Davh. " Did I not promise to write you a letter from the 'Negro Pew' in Dr. Patton's Church ? I promised to do so io somebody in Guiana. Wel!, last Sunday rnorning, being at liberty, I set off in search of said church, and found it. As to the geographical position of the said Negro Pew, I was guided by the languaga used in the published letter of apology, that 'they treuted the coloree! people wel] ; that ihey were c!evated above the rest of the congregation, and nearer heaven; that they occupied a position of honor.being on the right hand of the miokter, as Jesus Christ was on the right hand of God.' Now, thought I to myself, we must nnke for the minister's right hand in the gallery. Two old colered people were sïltin in the front n of the g:illeiy,c!ose to the minister's right hand ; ihat must be the place, that section ofpews there, at the end wal!, must be the one alloted to Ihe colored people, and i in common parlance called the 'Negro ! Pew.' We went and entered the pe immediately behind the old couple I l:a mentioned. At this the old lady wa dreadfully alarmed, and beckoned us wit ihe grentost, earnestncss to sit elsewhere Remonstrance was vain, there e wou] be. By and by they brought the children of' ihe Sunday-school to occupy the neighboring pews, and one of the teachers, a lady, made signs for me to come nwny fromllie degradingpoistion in whieli I was placed, hoving coloree! people bolh before and behind; but 1 nodded that all was right, nnd I was very comfortable. A few moment elapsed, and another poltie and compassionote lady actually got up, and carne to the pew-door to remonstrate witli us. In a very earnest and yet coaxing tone, shc said, 'Won't you take n seat here on tliis side of the aisle?' 'No thank j ou, madam, we are very comfortable,' was my reply. 'But,' she continued, in a tone of deep commiseration, 'this is the place allotted to the colored people." 'Thank you,' I said, 'we have made no mistake.' ' Wel], just as you picase, sir,' and with that she retreated. But the eyes of all in the synagngue was upon us. The little poople whis.iered, and the big people stared, and all the people marvelled. "With regard to writing a letter in the pew, I did not feel justified in emplo) ing any pari of the time of service in such an engagement, and I thought the object ivould be accomplished by my taking notes there, andgiving yuu the substance of those notes. I feit gntified in occupying for once in my life that celebratsd 'place of honor,' and in bearing my silent testimony ngainst the impiousnes of such a distinction and separalion in the house of God. But the 'Negro Pew' is universal, here. Few are without it. But I can teil more about the treatment of the colored in this 'Church.' At the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the colored people ore not even allowed to come dotvn to the body of the chape!, but have to rémain ' nearer heaven, ' till tlieir whiie breihren have first partnken; and tfieh the elders fit is a Prrsbyierian ChurchJ take up tlie elements to them This is the pnictico, unless it has been altered lately. My informant, a literary lady of sorae celebriïy, wns a member ofihe church until recent!y, and she witnesscd an instance in which the colored pcople were quite forgotten. Is t not monstrous? " The lengths to which tlie Americans cnn-y their prejudice ngainst color ís perfectly ïidiculous and contemptible. Last week, at the Baltimore Railway Station, whilst 1 was looking after my bnggiige beforo setting off, about half-adozen well dressed and respectable looking colored ladies carne up, and made for the luggnge van, as a matter ofcourse! It is thus, however respectable, clean.anc! intelligent, they are obliged to travel, wluLst paying the same money as the whites. I have conversed with a repectable minister of the gospel, wlio had o(ten been put in the luggnge van, and on steamers had to take his lood in the pantry. And by whom are they thus treated? Ry a nation whose habits are proverbially low and ñlthy. On this head I used to think that Dickens and olhers exaggerated and cnricatured in their decriptions, but the half was not