The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-11 00:00:00

THE FATE OF A HANDSOME SLAVE.

(From the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin.)
Among those unfortunates guilty of loving freedom
too well, was a young quadroon girl, named Emily
Russell, whose mother is now living in New York. The
writer has seen and conversed with her. She is a pious
woman, highly esteemtd and respected, a member of a
Christian church.

By the avails of her own industry, she purchased her
freedom, and also redeemed from bondage some of her
children. Emily was a resident of Washington, D.C.,
a place which belongs not to any State, but to the United
States, and there, under the laws of the United States,
she was held as a slave. She was of a gentle disposition,
and ami&ble manrers ; she had been early touched with
a sense of religious things, and was on the point of
uniting herself to the Christian Church ; but her heart
yearned after her widowed mother, and after freedom,
and so, on the fatal night, when all the other poor vic-
tims sought escape by the Pearl, the child Emily went
also among them.

They were. taken. The sin of the poor girl was inex-
piab:e. Because she longed for her mother's arms and
for liberty, she would not be forgiven. Nothing would
do for such a sin, but to throw her into the hands of the
trader. She also was thrown into Bruin and Hill's gaol,
in Alexandria. Her poor mother in New York received
the following letter from her. Head it, Christian mo-
ther, and think what if your danghter had written it to
you ?

"Alexandria, Jan. 22, 1850.
"My dear Mother,—l take this opportunity of writing
you a few lines, to inform you that I am in Bruin's Gaol,
rnd Aunt Sally, and all of her children, and Aunt Hagar
and all her children, and grandmother is almost crazy. My
dear mother, will you please to come on as soon as you
can ? I expect to go away very shortly. 0, mother ! my
clear mother ! come now and see your distressed and heart-.
broken daughter once more ! Mother, my dear mother !
do not forsake me, for I feel desolate. Please to come
now.

"Your daughter, " EMILY RUSSELL.
"To Mrs. Nancy Cartwright, New vork.
" P.S. If you do not come as far as Alexandria, come
to Washington, and do what you can."

That letter, blotted and tear-soiled, was brought by
this poor washerwoman to some Christian friends in New
York, and shown to them. "What do you suppose they
will ask for her ?" was her question. All that she had
—her little house, her little furniture, her small earnings
—all these poor Nancy was willing to throw in ; but all
these were but as a drop in the bucket.
The first thing to be done, then, was to ascertain what
Emily could be redeemed for ; and, as it may be an in-
teresting item of American trade, we give the reply of
traders in full :

"Alexandria, Jan. 31, 1850.
" Dear sir,—When I received yourletter I had not
bought the negroes you spoke of, but since that time I have
bought them. All I have to say about the matter is, that
we paid very high for the negroes, and cannot afford to sell
the girl Emily for less than eighteen hundred dollars. This
may seem a high price to you, but, cotton being very high,
consequently slaves are high. We have two or three offers
for Emily from gentlemen from the south. She is said to
be the finest-looking woman in this country. As for
Hagar and her seven children, we will take two thousand
five hundred dollars for them. Sally and her four children,
we will take for them two thousand eight hundred dollars.
You may seem a little surprised at the difference in prices,
but the difference in the negroes makes the difference in
price. We expect to start south with the negroes on the
Bth of February, and if you intend to do anything, you had
better do it soon.—Yours, repectfully,

"BRUIN and HILL."
This letter came to New York before the case of the
Edmonsons had called the attention of the community.,
to this subject. The enormous price asked, entirely dis-
couraged effort, and, before anything of importance was
done, they heard that the coffle had departed, with
Emily in it.

Hear, 0 heavens ! and give ear, 0 earth ! Let it be
known, in all the countries of the earth, that the price
of a beautiful Christian girl in America, when she is set
up to be sold to a life of shame, is from eighteen hundred
to two thousand dollars ; and yet, judicatories in the
church of Christ have said, in solemn conclave, that
American slavery as it is'ig no evil I
From the table of the sat-trament and from the sanc-
tuary of the Church of Christ this girl was torn away,
because her beauty was a saleable article in the slave
market in New Orleans !

Perhaps some northern apologist for slavery will say
she was kindly treated here—not handcuffed by the
wrist to a chain, and forced to walk, as articles less
choice are ; that a waggon was provided, and that she
rode ; and that food abundant was given her to eat, and
that her clothing was warm and comfortable, and there-
fore no harm was done. We have heardC it told us,
again and again, that there is no harm in slavery, if one
is only warm enough, and full-fed, and comfortable. It
is true that the slave-woman has no protection from the
foulest dishonour and the utmost insult that can be
offered to womanhood—none whatever in law or gospel ;
but so long as she has enough to eat and wear, our
Christian fathers and mothers tell us it is not so bad !
Poor Emily could not think so. There was no eye to
pity, and none to help. The food of her accursed lot
did not nourish her; the warmest clothing could not
keep the chill of slavery from her heart. In the middle
of the overland passage, sick, weary, heartbroken, the
child laid down her head and died, By that lonely
pillow there was no mother, but there was one Friend,
who loveth at all times, who is closer than a brother.
Could our eyes be touched by the seal of faith, where
others see the only wilderness, arc! the dying girl, we,
perhaps, see one clothed in celestial beauty, waiting for
that short agony to be over, that He might redeem her
from all iniquity, and present her faultless before the
presence of his grace with exceeding joy ?
Even the hard-hearted trader was touched with her
sad fate, and we are credibly informed that he said he
was sorry he had taken her.
Bruin and Hill wrote to New York that the girl
Emily was dead. The Quaker, William Harped, went
with the letter to break the news to her mother. Since
she had given up all hope of redeeming her daughter
from the dreadful doom to which she had been sold, the
helpless mother had dropped like a stricken woman.
She no longer lifted up her head, or seemed to take any
interest in life.

When Mr. Harned called on her, she asked, eagerly,
"Have you heard anything from my daughter ?"
"Yes, I have," was the reply, "a letter from Bruin
and Hill."
"And what is the news ?”
He thought it best to give a direct answer,
is dead "

"Emily

The poor mother clasped her hands, and, looking up-
wards, said, " The Lord be thanked ! He has heard
my prayers at last .
,f 1
And now, will it be said this is an exceptional case--
it happens one time in a thousand ? Though we know
this is the foulest of falsehoods, and that the case is only
a specimen of what is acting every day in the American
slave trade, yet, for argument's sake, let us, for once,
admit it to be true. If only once in this nation, under
the protection of our law, a Christian girl had been torn
from the altar and the communion-table, and sold to
foulest shame and dishonour, would that have been a
light sin ?

POPTILATION.—It may be 'fairly assumed that more
than 80,000 souls from all quarters of the world have
landed on our shores during the past year. The entire
population of the colony at the present moment may be
stated at more than 200,000 souls. The principal in-
convenience felt by new-comers is the want of house ac-
commodation. The abundance of money, and the defi-
ciency in effective labour, have raised the expenses of
building far above the point at which it would be a pro-
fitable investment for capital. The number of buildings
erected in the city within the year, bears no proportion
to the increase of the population. But already we dis-
cover symptoms of re-action in this respect ; and we think
that the ensuing year will witness a revival in the building
trade, and a great extension and improvement of the city.
Meantime, the want is partially [supplied by tents and
small wooden buildings in the outskirts. On the
southern bank of the Yarra Yarra there is a population
of four or five thousand living in tents ; and all around
the boundaries of the city wooden cottages are daily
springing up. The scheme for affording temporary shel-
ter to newly-arrived immigrants has been carried for-
ward with spirit. The private subscriptions amount to
nearly 40001., to which the Government is to add 8,0001.
The Wesleyan Methodists have erected a building for
the temporary accommodation of immigrants, of their
own and other denomi nations, in want of shelter.
Despite all such efforts, however, there must be a great
amount of privation, as we have said ; but it will rarely
sink to actual destitution, and at worst is only tem-
porary. The immigrant, once landed, if he has any self-
helpfulness at all, speedily finds means to ward off actual
want, and sooner or later gains a footing from which it
its his
own fault if he does not stride rapidly forward into
competence and comfort. —Melbourne Argus.
CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES FROM THE PROTESTANT
ALLIANCES or GREAT BRITAIN.—On Friday last a meet-
ing was held at Birmingham, to which theProtemstaannt
Alliances of the following towns had been invited to
send delegates :—London, Edinburgh, Glasgow,
chester, Birmingham, Bristol, St. Helen's, Kent Ply
mouth, Newcastle, Stroud, Sheffield, -Worcester, Wol-
verhampton, Stafford, Leeds, Nottingham, York,' Chel-
tenham, South Shields, Norwich, Ryde, St° ke-11°
p n-
Trent, East London, Clerkenwell, Torquay, Leaming-
ton, "-
ton, Hull, Leicester, Shrewsbury Southampton, ,Derby,
Islington, Devonport, Bath, Newbury, Storehouse,
ehouse;
Tonbridge Wells, Gravesend, Durham, Peterborough,
Stamford, Hereford, Blackheath, Weymouth and Brad-
ford, Norwood, Carlisle, Preston, Dorset, and Weston-
super-Mare. The business of the conference was com-
menced
meeting for arrangement, held
at
and from that hour until half-past
five the delegates were engaged in discussion of the vari-
ous operations connected with the alliance. The meet-
ing -was not one of public demonstration, but solely for
private deliberation. Among the subjects which ocpu-
pied the attention of the delegates were the modes of en-
lightening the public with respect to popery, and pro-
testant truths, by meetings, lectures, sermons, the press
publications, colporteurs, missionaries, schools, contro-
versial discussions, &c., &c. From about twenty of the
more important alliances accounts were furnished of the
success attending their efforts, and the energy with
which the work was carried on in Scotland was regarded
as highly encouraging. It was intimated also that the
Protestant Alliance, with the 62 kindred associations
connected with it, was increasing in efficiency every day.
Attention was directed to the present condition of po-
pery at home, in regard to which an inquiry into the
teaching and effects of Maynooth was expected to be in-
stituted by the House of Lords, and a bill was to be in-
troduced into the House of Commons for the inspection
szil•cottrol of nunneries, while the persecuting cruelty
of popery abroad had been signally-exposed and defeated
by the exertions called forth at the instance of the Pro-
testant Alliance on behalf of the released prisoners, the