Life and opinions of Julius Melbourn; with sketches of the lives and characters of Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, John Randolph, and several other eminent American statesmen

Front matter

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FROM THE CHARLOTTE HARRIS FUND cM

FRINTSS BT W^BED AND PABSONa.

Preface

BY THE EDITOR

Independent of the merits or demerits of the style of the following work, or the talents or defect of talents which the writer may have displayed, the publishers may with great propriety ask themselves who they can reasonably hope will patronise this book 1

It is quite certain they cannot expect the approbation of either of the two great political parties in the nation ; for the errors and faults of both parties in the course of the work are pointed out without reserve and animadverted upon with freedom. Nor can the publishers hope for the general support of the people inhabiting any particular part of the United States ; because the author upbraids the northern and western sections of the Union with pursuing a cold and selfish policy from mercenary motives, and with -a political subserviency to the South caused by a love of office and its emoluments ; while at the same time he charges the slaveholding states with sustaining unjust and tyrannical laws, and grossly violating human rights. Even the Christian Church in America, and its clergy, with some honorable exceptions, the author does not hesitate to accuse of pursuing the expedient rather than the right course, and of being greatly influenced by sinister motives. But as a very slight examination of the book will show that the author is opposed to slavery in all its forms, may not the publishers, it will be asked, flatter themselves that it will receive the support and patronage of the Abolition party 1 Alas for the Trade ! they must not lay even " this flattering unction to their souls," for the author charges the Abolitionists with narrow and selfish views ; and as a

4 " PREFACE.

party, be disapproves of many of their schemes and condemns their policy.

This view of the general tenor of the book and of the state of public feeling, it must be confessed, presents an unpromising and cheerless prospect to the publishers. But are there not many individuals in all the various sects in religion, and in all the political parties, who will read with patience and consider with candor, facts and arguments, notwithstanding those facts and arguments may militate against their own particular sect or party 1 It is believed there are, and that they are considerable in numbers, and we know that many of them are highly and deservedly distinguished for their merits, their talents, and their patriotism. It is to that portion of the American public that we appeal.

It may be said, and said truly, that in the story of Mr. Melbourn, as related by himself, there is nothing mysterious or remarkable, inasmuch as all the incidents which happened to him, though they may not all have occurred to one man alone, have frequently occurred, some to one and some to another individual. But conceding that Mr. Melbourn's narrative may not gratify curiosity or afford amusement, because it contains nothing mysterious or improbable, it is, in the opinion of the editor, for that very reason the more interesting. Have the events recorded in Mr. Melbourn's autobiography frequently occurred, and are they still daily occurring in our country— a country which boasts of its zeal for freedom and its dev6- tion to civil liberty — a country whose political parties proudly inscribe on their banners " Equal Rights" as their motto — and shall not the occurrence of such events " excite our special wonder r'

The remarks and reflections of Mr. Melbourn during the space of twenty years, the greater part of which he spent in the northern cities of the Union, are, it is true, extremely desultory, and some of the conclusions to which he arrived may be considered by the mere business man, or the busy and zealous politician struggling for place and power, as unjust ; but it ought to be remembered that Melbourn belonged neither to the European nor African race ; that his African blood excluded him from a familiar intercourse with good society ; that he nevertheless possessed a cultivated and highly sensitive mind ; that he was independent in his pecuniary cir-

PREFACE. 5

cumstances ; and yet that in reality he had no associates. His position was like that which it may be supposed would be the position of a being who was a native of one of the planets of the solar system other than the earth, and who should visit this world and remain here for twenty years, and devote his time to making critical observations on what should be passing among its inhabitants.

Thus situated, it is not wonderful that Melhourn sliould occasionally have taken rather sombre views of men and things around him.

His sketches of the lives and characters of several eminent American statesmen, though very brief, will, it is believed, be found strictly correct. Indeed the accuracy and truthfulness with which he paints, proves that his portraits were drawn from personal knowledge and observation. His account of the proceedings in Congress when the State of Missouri was admitted into the Union, and of the Presidential elections in 1817 and 1824, will be admitted, by many persons now living, to be sober and veritable history.

But it is to be feared that Mr. Melbourn has in one respect, if none other, committed a sin altogether unpardonable. He has dared to applaud Great Britain for its toleration of independent individual opinion, and the free expression and advocacy of them, and also for the stern and unyielding protection its government aflords to the personal rights and the personal liberty of each human being who places his foot on British soil.

There is a certain class of American reviewers and editors of newspapers, who seem to regard it as the most conclusive evidence of patriotism to condemn every thing British, and to applaud every thing American. In fact, it cannot be denied that many enlightened, and in other respects liberal-minded men, either from early prejudice or from a secret desire to pander to the morbid appetites of the less-informed portion of the American people, denounce with great severity and bitterness any thing said in favor of the state of society, the institutions, or even of the philanthropic efforts which have been or are being made by either the government or people of England. This habit of thinking and acting is unquestionably wrong. A man or a people of true magnanimity will always do justice even to an enemy. Why, then, should we be unwilling to

6 PREFACE.

render justice to a nation with whom we are at peace, with whom we have much intercourse, from whom we derive a large portion of our literature, and from whom we are descended 1

It may, however, be true, that from the treatment which Mr. Melbourn received in this his native country, when compared with the position in society he and his family were permitted to occupy upon their arrival in England, his mind may have become unreasonably biased and prejudiced against the country of his birth, and in favor of the one he has adopted. It is, therefore, hoped, that the candid reader will make due allowance for the circumstances under which Mr. Melbourn wrote.

LIFE OF JULIUS MELBOURN.

I WAS born a slave, ori a small plantation about ten miles from Raleigh in North Carolina, on the fourth day of July, 1790. It is probable that the accidental circumstance of my coming into the world on the great day which is the anniversary of American Independence, occasioned the day of my birth to be remembered in my master's family, and the mention of the fact in my presence, after I arrived at a sufficient degree of maturity to understand what was passing, has enabled me to be certain of my age. In this I differed from many, perhaps the majority of field-slaves, who are quite ignorant of their age.

My master, Major Johnson, whose Christian name I am unable to give, I have been told was a sutler in the army when Lord Cornwallis, during the Revolutionary war, overran the Southern states ; and occasionally performed some service in the quartermaster department in the American army. He saved a considerable sum of money, which he accumulated during the war, and when it terminated, he invested the most of it in public securities of North Carolina and other states, for two shillings and sixpence and three shillings on the pound, which securities, after the. adoption of the federal constitution, were funded, and became a part of the national debt. These securities immediately rose to their par value, and shortly afterwards above it, so that what Major Johnson paid two shillings and sixpence for, while in his hands came to be worth twenty shillings, and eventually twenty-two and twenty-four shillings. He claimed that he had been a revolutionary patriot who had fought and bled for his country, and was an ardent lover of liberty, and a great enemy to British tyranny ; and, from his real or pretended military services, he was known as Major Johnson. I have, it is true, heard it asserted by those who were politically opposed to him, that he carried on an illicit trade with the enemy during the war, and in return for their favors to him, that he occasionally furnished them with information respecting the movements and strength of the American army, and, that by such means he was enabled to purchase goods, which he sold at a most exorbitant price to his American brethren. But these outgivings were probably slanders emanating from personal envy and party malice ; for he obtained a pension under "the law of the United States passed during the administration of Mr. Monroe, which he enjoyed till his death.

My mother was the daughter of a slave of Major Johnson, and was born a year or two before the war broke out between Great Britain and her colonies. She was a mulatto, and as her mother was entirely black, her father must of course have been a white man. Major Johnson sold my grandmother before I was born, but kept my mother. I am utterly ignorant of my father, but am certain he was a white man, because, although my mother, as I have stated, was a mulatto, I am as white as most men, and indeed whiter than the Spaniards and Portuguese; and what is remarkable, and almost unaccountable, I have blue eyes, and my complexion is what would generally be denominated light. The only evidence afforded by my appearance that I am allied to the negro race is, my hair is curly, or rather a little woolly, and my nose is more flattened than is generally the case with the nose of a pure-blooded European.

It is, however, certain, that I am one quarter African, and although this portion of negro blood has subjected me to much distress and suffering, strange as it may appear, that blood is much dearer to me than all the Saxon blood that runs in my veins. I shall not attempt to account for this in any other way than by referring to the known and acknowledged fact, that mothers always feel the most ardent affection for that child who has been the most unfortunate, and who has given them the greatest pain and anxiety.

My recollection of my mother is very indistinct. She could not have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old when I was born. She was kept by my master as a field-slave, and bearing a child when she was so young, the fatigue incident to her employment, and the scantiness and coarseness of her fare, rendered her so feeble that she was incapable of performing as much field labor as was required of her ; for this reason, and as Major Johnson possessed as many house-slaves as he needed, he determined to sell her to a negro-buyer who was purchasing a stock of slaves to send to Georgia, a considerable part of which state was then uncultivated, but which at that time was rapidly settling. This created a great demand for slaves in that quarter, and raised the price of them in the Carolinas. Virginia, and Maryland. The day my mother was separated from me is among my earliest and most painful recollections. I was then about three years old, yet I remember the dreadful sensations I experienced, when she wildly, for the last time, pressed me to her bosom ; and can almost now feel her scalding tears as they fell upon my face. In a moment she was forced from me, shrieking *and in the madness of her grief tearing her hair; but forthwith her master ordered her manacled. I can never forget the chill of horror that thrilled through my veins when I heard the clink of the hammer used in riveting the rings which enclosed her wrists and fastened them to a bar of iron. My poor mother was soon marched off with agang of slaves, and I have never seen or heard of her since. Such was the feebleness of her constitution, that I solace myself with the reflection that, in all human probability, she must soon have perished in the damp and chilly rice-fields of Georgia.

I lived in Mr. Johnson's family till I was five years old, when Mrs. Melbourn, a widow lady who resided in Raleigh, purchased me ; and to her I am indebted for my education and liberty, and every thing that is valuable in life.

Mrs. Melbourn was the widow of Lieut. Melbourn, of the British navy, who was killed in the great battle between Admiral Graves and Count de Grasse, which occurred shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Melbourn before her marriage had a small estate, which was secured to her in the English funds, amounting to £3000 sterling ; and after her husband's death she received a pension, during her life, of £200. She was an educated woman, and very pious, being a zealous member of the Methodist Society ; and there is reason to believe that the illiberal treatment which that sect, in common with other dissenters, received from the government, induced her to turn her attention to America, and produced in her mind a train of reflection upon the civil and religious rights of man. Mrs. Melbourn had but one child, and that was a son, who, at the death of his father, was about seven years old ; and she was so pleased with the sentiments put forth on the subject of the rights of man by the American orators and statesmen, at the commencement and during the American revolution, that she determined to remove to America, and educate her son in the United States. She therefore, within a few years after the death of Lieut. Melbourn, made such arrangements of her pecuniary affairs in England, as enabled her to put in execution her scheme. There were few persons in America to whom she was known. She had, however, a slight acquaintance with Mr. Gale, a printer, who emigrated from England, and who then had recently commenced the publication of a newspaper in North Carolina.* This circumstance probably induced her to go to North Carolina, and take up her residence at Raleigh.

On a visit to Mrs. Johnson, when I was, as I have stated, about five years old, Mrs. Melbourn saw me, and was so pleased with me that she purchased me of Major Johnson. Her religious and political principles rendered her zealously opposed to slavery, and she purchased me with the intention of causing me to be educated and giving me my freedom. Under her charge I was well provided for, and received a good English education. She brought with her from England Lieut. Melbourn's private library, which was remarkably well selected. It contained, among other valuable books, all the British classics, an excellent collection of Ancient and Modern History, and the best works of fiction then extant. To this library I had free access, and from it I derived much amusement, and I hope some profit.

When I was ten years old, Mrs. Melbourn sent me to a select school in the vicinity of Raleigh ; but, on account of the African blood in my veins, I was not permitted by the managers of the school to remain there long ; so that the education I afterwards acquired, was obtained from the instructions of a Methodist preacher, who was an almost constant inmate of our family, and from Lieut. Melbourn's library.

Mrs. Melbourn's son, whose name was Edward, when I was little more than twelve years old, was sent to finish his education at Princeton College, in New Jersey ; artd as Mrs. M. kept an English man-servant, I had abundance of leisure to pursue my studies ; and the boys of my age declining to associate with me on such terms of equality as I thought 1 was entitled to, it is probable I spent less time in the pursuit

* Joseph Gale, Esq., who has so long, and with such distinguished ability, been the senior editor of the National Intelligencer, is probably the son of this gentleman. — Editor.

of amusement, and more hours in study, than I should have done had I been treated by those white children of my own age in such a manner as to render my association with them agreeable.

There resided near Raleigh a gentleman by the name of Boyd, then somewhat advanced in years, who was the owner of a considerable estate, and who, during the first part of the existence of the state government, had been an active and influential politician, but had, for several years before the time of which I speak, retired from all public employment.* His wealth, his public services, and, more than all, the excellent qualities of his head and heart, caused him to be universally respected and beloved.

Col. Boyd's wife had died many years before, and had left him an only child, a daughter, who was now about fifteen years of age, and a most lovely girl. I have no talent at describing the persons of individuals ; and if I had, beautiful females have been so often described by writers, (and really, as they appear in books, they all seem to me to look very much alike,) that if I could describe well, I would not take up the time of the reader in an attempt to draw the portrait of Laura Boyd. It must suffice to say, that she was beautiful, and that the elegance and purity of her mind increased the interest which was excited in her favor by her personal charms.

Edward Melbourn, when at home during his college vacations, spent much of his time in hunting and fishing with Col. Boyd, and' soon became with him a great favorite. The lively conversation and fascinating address of Edward gradually inspired the old gentleman with that fondness for him which is not unfrequently produced in the minds of elderly men for young men who happen to please them. In the

* During the revolutionary war he commanded a regiment of militia, and on several occasions distinguished himself for his bravery, and as a judicious military officer.

LIFE OF JULILS MELBOURN. 13

mean time an attachment grew up between Edward and Laura Boyd, which resulted in a matrimonial engagement, which Col. Boyd consented should be consummated as soon as Edward should complete his collegiate studies and be admitted to practice in one of the learned professions. In one year from that time he graduated at Princeton College, and was gratified by having conferred on him the highest honors of his class. Upon leaving college he returned to Raleigh, and lingered there nearly the whole of the following year, enjoying the society of his mother and Col. Boyd, and fascinated by the charms of the lovely daughter. Roused, at length, by the consideration that his time was wasting away, and that before he could settle in life he must acquire a knowledge of a profession, he tore himself from these interesting and beloved friends, and went to Charleston in South Carolina, where he commenced the study of law, in the office and under the direction of Mr. Desausseaur, an eminent lawyer, who has since held, with distinguished reputation, a high judicial station in that state.

Young Melbourn remained in Mr. Desausseaur's office until he completed his professional studies ; but on the day of his examination, at a convivial dinner-party, an altercation between him and a fellow-student occurred, which resulted in a challenge to a duel, and in the combat which ensued Edward was unfortunately slain. The news of this sad catastrophe reached Mrs. Melbourn on the very day he was expected home.

He had written to his mother that he should arrive at home on the first day of November. The evening of that day Colonel Boyd and his daughter called on Mrs. Melbourn ; he was in high spirits, and felicitated himself on the agreeable surprise Edward would experience on seeing the improvements he had made the preceding summer, in his mansion-house, his garden, dsc, and the addition he had made to his pack of hounds. Laura was silent, but her fine blue eyes i

spoke hope and joy. It was one of the fine moonlight evenings of a Southern autumn. I do not believe the celebrated blue skies of Italy excel in beauty that of the Carolinas. Mrs. Melbourn invited her visiters to take a walk on the lawn connected with the garden. She seemed almost gay, and as she viewed the scene before her, she repeated in a low voice to Laura, those beautiful lines of Milton —

" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good ! Almighty, This thine universal frame, thus wondrous fair, Thyself how wondrous then — unspeakable !"

While the party were thus happy on the green, I heard a knock at the front door, and hastened to open it. A stranger was standing there who inquired for Mrs. Melbourn. I answered she was at home and I would call her. With evident marks of agitation he inquired if she had company. I replied a neighboring gentleman and his daughter were with her. " I pray you," said the stranger, " not to think me impertinent, but for particular reasons beg you to tell me the name of the gentleman." I was surprised at his request, but more at his manner, which was embarrassed and confused. Upon learning that it was Colonel Boyd, he requested that the colonel might be informed a gentleman wished to speak with him. The colonel, on receiving the message, immediately came into the house, and saluted the gentleman, who was still standing at the door. They stepped a few paces aside, and conversed together in a low voice for the space of two or three minutes. Colonel Boyd then turned, with a face pale as death, and I heard him say : " I cannot ; upon my soul I cannot tell her this dreadful news." The thought like a flash of lightning came into my mind that Edward was dead. Colonel Boyd, however, in a moment seemed to be more calm and collected, and walked into the garden with the stranger, whom he introduced to Mrs. Melbourn. " Mr. Warren," said he, in a solemn voice, " brings sad news from

Edward." "Merciful God!" said my mistress, " what of my son?" The stranger hesitated, and Colonel Boyd stood silent and immoveable as a block of marble. Mrs. Melbourn clasped her hands in deep agony. " He is dead," said she, " and you dare not tell me !" They continued silent. My mistress fell back on a seat which was near her. In the mean time, Laura, of whom no notice had been taken, fell prostrate on the ground ; her father sprang to her and raised her up in his arms. She was apparently lifeless. I ran for water and gave it to her father, but it was some time before she manifested any signs of life. My mistress was still seated, but she seemed like a statue ; her eyes appeared glazed and immoveable. I knelt before her, took one of her hands, and implored her to speak to me. I reminded her that afflictions were ordered by a kind Providence for wise purposes, and entreated her, in this sudden and unspeakable calamity, to look to Him, who, I had often heard her say, would never leave nor forsake us. A flood of tears came to her relief. I said, •" My dear mistress, your grief and the cause of it is great, but do not despair. God is just. There must be consolation, there must be good days yet in store for so good, so benevolent, so holy a being as you are." " Never — never on earth," said she, " my last prop, my only earthly hope is gone, and I must look for quiet in the grave, and comfort only in heaven."

I was myself deeply affected by the distress of this amiable and excellent woman. Besides, the death of Edward was to me like the untimely loss of an elder brother tenderly beloved ; and my own private grief was rendered more poignant when I afterwards learned that the cause of the fatal encounter was, that Edward's antagonist reproached him with the conduct of his mother, for bringing me up and educating me as a gentleman, who was born a slave.

Mrs. Melbourn for a long time after the death of her son seemed prostrated by the affliction. Her grief, though silent, was profound, and her health seemed sinking under her distress of mind. I much feared that her corporeal powers were too feeble to resist the shock ; indeed I think she would have sunk under it, had it not been for the consolations of religion, and her firm, unshaken faith that her heavenlv Father would in the end order all things for the best and for the greatest good. Her faith and resignation to the will of God were greatly assisted by the advice and exhortations of Mr. Smith, a methodist preacher, a native of Virginia, who spent much of his time at our house, and who was not only a zealous Christian but a very judicious and discreet man.

Colonel Boyd felt the death of Edward as an affliction the most painful. This young man had become connected with all his plans for the future enjoyment of life. His untimely death had disconcerted all those schemes, and had left the old veteran depressed with a feeling of utter and gloomy solitude. He often said he felt that he resembled a dry tree standing alone in the field, exposed to be prostrated by every gust of wind. The deep and corroding melancholy of Laura added to the Colonel's depression of spirits, and his anxiety was increased by the apprehension that her constitution was incapable of sustaining her against the sea of troubles with which she was overwhelmed. Laura perceived the anxiety of her father, and became alarmed at his condition. She justly suspected that much of his depression was owing to his solicitude for her, and, with the hope of saving the life of her father, she endeavored to appear to forget the death of her lover. Time and these laudable efforts gradually mellowed the grief of the one, and diminished the gloom and despondency of the other.

In the mean while I pursued my studies of general literature ; and three years more passed away without the occurrence of any incident worth relating.

In the winter of 1806, the good Mrs. Melbourn procured the consent of the proper authorities, and the deed for my emancipation was duly executed by her. She did this, as I afterwards learned, to guard against any legal objection which might be raised, after her death, against the provisions contained in her will for my emancipation ; and because Mr. Smith had suggested to her, that by the law of North Carolina I was, while a slave, personal property — that is to say, a mere thing — and would be adjudged incapable of taking by bequest or devise any property she might think proper to bequeath to me.

During the three years last mentioned, Mrs. Melbourn sent me frequently with messages to Laura Boyd and her father. In the course of these visits I became acquainted with a mulatto girl by the name of Maria, a slave of Colonel Boyd, whom he had given to his daughter as a dressing-maid. Maria was born the property of Colonel Boyd, and in his house. Her mother was a favorite house-slave ; she did not live long after the birth of Maria, who was her only child. Maria had been tenderly brought up, and taught to read and write, and the use of the needle.

Her mother, though a slave, was a quadroon, and her father was a white man. Maria therefore was allied to the African race only in the eighth degree. I hardly need mention that the difference in appearance between her and those of pure Saxon blood was so slight as to be almost imperceptible. Indeed it was quite so to an ordinary observer. Yet she was a slave — a thing — an article of merchandise ! — by the laws of the free, democratic state of North Carolina! ! She was about fifteen years old when I first became acquainted with her.

I am aware that many persons in America, some of whom perhaps may honor me with a perusal of this history of my life, may feel disgusted and indignant at an attempt to describe a female who was tainted with African blood, as beautifal. But nevertheless I am sure there are those, both in England and the United States, who claim to be competent judges, who admit that the most beautiful human forms they ever saw were mulatto girls, and especially those of Richmond, Va. That Maria was one of this description, all who ever saw her admitted. Her tall, erect figure, her sparkling eye, her polished high forehead, the intellectual, the kind and affectionate expression of her countenance, her graceful movements, and enchanting smile, were to me irresistibly fascinating. I first admired her for the charms of her person, but as my acquaintance and my intimacy with her advanced, I loved her for the qualities of her heart and the superiority of her mind. Maria could not, and indeed did not, have any consciousness of her condition as a slave. She knew, it is true, that she belonged to Laura Boyd, but her situation with that young lady was the precise situation she would have chosen, if the whole world had been open to her choice. She was, practically, as free as the mountain deer. Laura required no more of her than she would have done had her actions depended entirely on her own volition, and indeed she was wholly unconscious of doing any thing or remaining anywhere by compulsion. In the fall of 1807, I communicated my feelings and wishes to Maria, who, being a slave, of course had no acquaintance with educated and well-bred men, and her own education and taste prevented her from the least association with the slaves or the free colored young men in the neighborhood. The manners of this latter class were rude and vulgar, and most of them were licentious and vicious in their habits. I was the only civil male person, except the venerable Colonel Boyd, with whom Maria had ever conversed, and therefore she was pleased with me.