Viewing page 13 of 16

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

AUGUST, 1861.     DOUGLASS' MONTHLY.     509
[[line across page]]
[[3 ruled columns]]

[[column 1]]
rules seem to concede that a slave's life has no sort of value to himself, but only to his master.  His master, not he himself, must choose whether it be worth while to employ counsel.  His master, not his mother or his wife, must be present at the trial.  So far is this carried, that the provision to exclude 'persons who had no particular interest in the slaves accused' seems to have excluded every acknowledged relative they had in the world, and admitted only those who had invested in them so many dollars.  And yet the very first section of that part of the statute under which they were tried lays down an explicit recognition of their humanity.  'And whereas natural justice forbids that any [[italicized]] person [[/italicized]], of what condition soever, should be condemned unheard.'  So thoroughly, in the whole report, are the ideas of person and chattel intermingled, that, when Governor Bennett petitions for mitigation of sentence in the case of his slave Batteau, and closes, 'I ask this, gentlemen, as an individual incurring a severe and distressing loss,' it is really impossible to decide whether the predominant emotion be affectional or financial.

It is a matter of painful necessity to acknowledge that the proceedings of all slave-tribunals justify the honest admission of Governor Adams of South Carolina, in his legislative message of 1855:--'The administration of our laws, in relation to our colored population, by our courts of magistrates and freeholders, as these courts are at present constituted, calls loudly for reform.  Their decisions are rarely in conformity with justice or humanity.'  This trial, as reported by the justices themselves, seems to have been no worse than the average--perhaps better.  In all, thirty-five were sentenced to death, thirty-four to transportation, twenty-seven acquitted by the Court, and twenty-five discharged without trial, by the Committee of Vigilance, making in all one hundred and twenty-one.

The sentences pronounced by Judge Kennedy upon the leading rebels, while paying a high tribute to their previous character, of course bring all law and all Scripture to prove the magnitude of their crime.  'It is a melancholy fact,' he says, 'that those servants in whom we reposed the most unlimited confidence have been the principal actors in this wicked scheme.'  Then he rises into earnest appeals.  'Are you incapable of the heavenly influence of that gospel all whose paths are peace?  It was to reconcile us to our destiny on earth, and to enable us to discharge with fidelity all our duties, whether as master or servant, that those inspired precepts were imparted by Heaven to fallen man.'  And so on.

To these reasonings the prisoners had, of course, nothing to say; but the official reports bear the strongest testimony to their fortitude.  'Rolla, when arraigned, affected not to understand the charge against him, and when it was at his request further explained to him, assumed, with wonderful adroitness, astonishment and surprise.  He was remarkable, throughout his trial, for great presence and composure of mind.  When he was informed he was convicted, and was advised to prepare for death, though he had previously (but after his trial) confessed his guilt, he appeared perfectly confounded, but exhibited no signs of fear.  In Ned's behavior there was nothing remarkable; but his countenance was stern and immovable, even whilst he was receiving the sentence of death: from his looks it was impossible to discover or conjecture what were his feelings.  Not so with Peter; for in his countenance was strongly marked disappointed ambition, revenge, indignation, and an anxiety to know how far the discoveries had extended; and the same emotions were exhibited in his conduct.  He did not appear to fear personal consequences, for his whole behavior indicated the reverse; but exhibited an evident anxiety for the success of their plan, in which his whole soul was embarked.  His countenance and behavior were the same when he received his sentence, and his only words were, on retiring, "I suppose you'll let me see my wife and family before I
[[\column 1]]

[[column 2]]
die?" and that not in a supplicating tone.--When he was asked, a day or two after, if it was possible he could wish to see his master and family murdered, who had treated him so kindly, he only replied to the question by a smile.  Monday's behavior was not peculiar.  When he was before the Court, his arms were folded; he heard the testimony given against him, and received his sentence with the utmost firmness and composure.  But no description can accurately convey to others the impression which the trial, defence, and appearance of Gullah Jack made on those who witnessed the workings of his cunning and rude address.--When arrested and brought before the Court, in company with another African named Jack, the property of the estate of Pritchard, he assumed so much ignorance, and looked and acted the fool so well, that some of the Court could not believe that this was the necromancer who was sought after.  This conduct he continued when on his trial, until he saw the witnesses and heard the testimony as it progressed against him, when, in an instant, his countenance was lighted up as if by lightning, and his wildness and vehemence of gesture, and the malignant glance with which he eyed the witnesses who appeared against him, all indicated the savage who, indeed, had been [[italicized]] caught, [[\italicized]] but not [[italicized]] tamed [[\italicized]].  His courage, however, soon forsook him.  When he received sentence of death, he earnestly implored that a fortnight longer might be allowed him, and then a week longer, which he continued earnestly to solicit until he was taken from the court-room to his cell; and when he was carried to execution, he gave up his spirit without firmness or composure.'

Not so with Denmark Vesey.  The plans of years were frustrated; his own life and liberty were thrown away; many others were sacrificed through his leadership; and one more added to the list of unsuccessful insurrections.  All these disastrous certainties he faced calmly, and gave his whole mind composedly to the conducting of his defence.--With his arms tightly folded, and his eyes fixed on the floor, he attentively followed every item of the testimony.  He heard the witnesses examined by the Court, and cross-examined by his own counsel, and it is evident from the narrative of the presiding judge, that he showed no small skill and policy in the searching cross-examination which he then applied.  The fears, the feelings, the consciences of those who had betrayed him, all were in turn appealed to; but the facts were too overpowering, and it was too late to aid his comrades or himself.  Then turning to the Court, he skillfully availed himself of the point which had so much impressed the community, the intrinsic improbability that a man in his position of freedom and prosperity should sacrifice everything to free other people.  If they thought it so incredible, why not give him the benefit of the incredibility?--The act being, as they stated, one of infatuation, why convict him of it on the bare word of men who, by their own showing, had not only shared the infatuation, but proved traitors to it?  An ingenious defence--indeed, the only one which could by any possibility be suggested, anterior to the days of Choate and somnambulism; but in vain.  He was sentenced, and it was not, apparently, till the judge reproached him for the destruction he had brought on his followers that he showed any sign of emotion.  Then the tears came into his eyes.  But he said not another word.

The executions took place on five different days, and, bad as they were, they might have been worse.  After the imaginary Negro Plot of New York, in 1741, thirteen negroes had been judicially burned alive; two had suffered the same sentence at Charleston in 1808; and it was undoubtedly some mark of progress that in this case the gallows took the place of the flames.  Six were hanged on July 2d, upon Blake's lands, near Charleston--Denmark Vesey, Peter Poyas, Jesse, Ned, Rolla and Batteau--the last three being slaves of the Governor himself.  Gullah Jack and John were executed 'on the Lines,' near Charleston, on July 12th, and twenty-two more on
[[\column 2]]

[[column 3]]
July 26th.  Four others suffered their fate on July 30th; and one more, William Garner, effected a temporary escape, was captured, and tried by a different court, and was finally executed on August 9th.

The self control of these men did not desert them at their execution.  When the six leaders suffered death, the report says, Peter Poyas repeated his charge of secrecy.  'Do not open your lips; die silent, as you shall see me do:' and all obeyed.  And though afterwards, as the particulars of the plot became better known, there was less inducement to conceal, yet every one of the thirty-five seems to have met his fate bravely, except the conjurer.  Governor Bennett, in his letter, expresses much dissatisfaction at the small amount learned from the participators.  'To the last hour of the existence of several who appeared to be conspicuous actors in the drama, they were pressingly importuned to make further confessions,'--this 'importuning' being more clearly defined in a letter of Mr. Ferguson, owner of two of the slaves, as 'having them severely corrected.'  Yet so little was obtained, that the Governor was compelled to admit at last that the really essential features of the plot were not known to any of the informers.

It is to be remembered that the plot failed because a man unauthorized and incompetent, William Paul, undertook to make enlistments on his own account.  He blundered on one of precisely that class of men--favored house-servants--whom his leaders had expressly reserved for more skillful manipulations.  He being thus detected, one would have supposed that the discovery of many accomplices would at once have followed.  The number enlisted was counted by thousands; yet for twenty-nine days after the first treachery, and during twenty days of official examination, only fifteen of the conspirators were ferreted out.  Meanwhile the informers' names had to be concealed with the utmost secrecy--they were in peril of their lives from the slaves--William Paul scarcely dared to go beyond the door-step--and the names of important witnesses examined in June were still suppressed in the official report published in October.  That a conspiracy on so large a scale should have existed in embryo during four years, and in an active form for several months, and yet have been so well managed, that, after actual betrayal, the authorities were again thrown off their guard and the plot nearly brought to a head again--this certainly shows extraordinary ability in the leaders, and a talent for concerted action on the part of slaves generally with which they have hardly been credited.

And it is also to be noted, that the range of the conspiracy extended far beyond Charleston.  It was proved that Frank, slave of Mr. Ferguson, living nearly forty miles from the city, had boasted of having enlisted four plantations in his immediate neighborhood.--It was in evidence that the insurgents 'were trying all round the country, from Georgetown and Santee round about to Combahee, to get people;' and after the trials, it was satisfactorily established that Vesey 'had been in the country as far north as South Santee, and southwardly as far as the Euhaws, which is between seventy and eighty miles from the city.'  Mr. Ferguson himself testified that the good order of any gang was no evidence of their ignorance of the plot, since the behavior of his own initiated slaves had been unexceptional, in accordance with Vesey's directions.

With such an organization and such materials, there was nothing in the plan which could be pronounced incredible or impracticable.  There is no reason why they should not have taken the city.  After all the Governor's entreaties as to moderate language, the authorities were obliged to admit that South Carolina had been saved from a 'horrible catastrophe.'  'For although success could not possibly have attended the conspirators, yet, before their suppression, Charleston would probably have been wrapped in flames, many valuable lives would have been sacri-
[[\column 3]]

Transcription Notes:
excellent transciption here. VERY FEW edits.