The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-06-02

We learn from New York that DR.. BAILEY
and his lady sailed in the Baltic on Saturday,
in good health and spirits.
NEGRO INTELLECT. -ELLIs AND DOUGLASS,
AND UNCLE TOM
Chambers Journal thinks it finds, in the
| learned black blacksmith" Harrison w. FL
lis, living character and an actual history
that parallels and justifes Mrs. Stoves Uncle
Tom. We see little or nothing of correspond
ence between these respective instances of his
toric and fictitious renown. Uncle Tom is
slave of unmixad African blood, who learned,
somehow or other" to read tho Bible, re-
ceiyed its teachings in perfect simplicity of
heart, without compromise or accommodation,
put the practicablity of its precepts to the
proof of experience illustrated its divine mo-
rality in his life, and died in the strength and
for the sake of its truth The Rev H. w. Ellis
was ALEC slave, of pure African blood, This
grandfather was an imported Mandingo) of
good reputo for piety, very patient and persist
ent in spirit and purpose under such disabilities
as his condition imposed, but without any
strong marks Of the religious enthusiast or
moral hero in his history. He is prodigy of
learning but we zee none Of the points which
make Uncle Tom problem or pattern, accord.
ing as thinkers have more or less faith in his
possibility. For our own part, he is very real
parsonage to US; and, moreover, not nearly 80
uncommon as he seems to be regarded. Fic-
ton seldom presents such characters, but they
are frequent and even familiar in experience
if We had but the insight to discern them
They abound among women and slaves Thou
sands of such lives are passing unrecognised,
and their deaths are unhappily lost to the use
of which they are capable, because the Observ-
ers will not and cannot know them We do
not think it too much to say that every family
affords an example, at least once in q century
for Christianity is not an impracticable thing
When all the carly deaths which we witness
aro accounted for and our own agency in then
is understood Uncle Tom will not be 30 singu
lar AZ he is now to our stupidity of head an(
heart. 1t is in the family, where love and tn,
sense of duty hold so strong a rule, that thu
patience and faith of the saints is most mani
fest. The slave, where he has the moral ant
| physical temperament of Uncle Tom, is, in eff
} feet Of the family, and has his whole life gov
erned by its sentiment. If he had been pre-
sented as the devotee of a doctrine, the public
missionary Of Il faith, and had voluntarily dedi
Gated his life and at last sacrificed it for tn,
world, receiving his death at the hand of stran
gers, he would have been that truly wonderful
and rarcst of men, a Christian martyr We dc
not write HIM down commonplace, but it il
sad to know that he is regarded as no wonder
fu and so worthy that his possibility is gener
ally doubted. The sympathy which his story
awakcns would be still more serviceable to hu
mainly if it were applied as widely as is re
CURED, to correct the wrongs and mitigate the
suiferings of common life. The Book is making
the tour Of the world. By the time it shall b,
"known and read of oil men" somebody will
be found to explain it deeper, it may be, even
than it's own author comprehends it, We ven
|
will be demanded, before the black race shall
be redeemed from chattel slavery in this coun
try. Patient and pious endurance is not thu
sort of metal that blunts the edge of tyranny
nor is physical resistance the heroism of blood
: an allowable or promising scheme of self .eman
1 cipation for our slaves Ellis and Douglass
and their like. are moro nearly the patter
men after which the caste may he moulde
into freemen.
, The story of Mr.. Ellis as it is gathered fror
authentic documents by Chambers Journa
presents such points as these. He was born il
Pittsylvania county, Virginia, and was sold
f first into Tennessee and afterwards into Ala
bama At the age of nine years he forme
the purpose of learning to read, principally il
order that no might be able to pcruse tn
Bible. He had observed that ministers, il
preaching, always read from the Bible an
J spoke of it as being the WORD or GoD. Tn
Word of God The idea made a vivid i'm
preston upon him-such, doubtless as we re
member to have felt in our own childhood, whel
We first encountered the amazing declaration il
the Book of Job, that " God answered him on
of the wbirlwind, and said" 1t might wei
arouse a thoughtful boy to such exertion a
would open the wonders of such book to hi
eyes The lad had the matter of great man
hood in him. He had the susceptibility of geniu:
and against such there is no law and no i'm
pediment. At twenty-five he was still slave
and laboring for his master at the trade of
blacksmith. He had read several books, prin
cipally on religious subjects; something il
these readings put him upon the study of tn
Latin language He had no regular instruc
ton, but received, it is stated, some little as
sistance from one person and another, as casua
opportunities afforded it."
Except for the lack Of sufficient leisure i
does not appear that the difficulties in his wa,
were greater than have happened in the live
of many distinguished scholars whose achieve
ments are currently recorded in the history o
men of letters. He was q slave, indeed bu
the thirst Of the intellect like that Of the appe