The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-06-22
The new Orleans Negro Plot.

The New Orleans Negro Plot.
The New Orleans Picasune Of the i4th instant
tevenihg edition) contains the following particu
lars OF the disclosures and discoveries i'd relation
to reputed negro plot, of which we have had some
accounts by telegraph.
.'About II o'clock last night free colored man,
whnse hame we suppress for sufficient reasons.
came to the police Office OF the first district and
made communication to Lieutenant Petrie, to the
effect that the slaves of this city and the neighbor-
ing parishes going to rise III instruction in
a few hours. The chief of police came in shortly
after, and at fret treated the communication with
increduilty, but the negro offered to lead him to
one of the ringleaders, and struck with the earn
estness of the man, the chief consented to accom-
pany him. The negro partially armed himself to
strengthen the belief that be ready to join,
and taking cab, proceeded to the house where he
stated that the alleged ringleader was to be found
The chief and bis lieutenant followed, completely
armed. Two negroes from the house entered the
cab and the cabman, Who had received his instruc.
tons, drove them to designated spot, where they
were met by the chief and lieutenant, who arrest.
ed the negro.
"Ther measures were So taken that he could
make no efectual resistance; although he attempt.
ed to draw an enormous knife, in which he was
prevented, and surrendered at once. He was taken
to the police office, where he was searched, and
found to be loaded with Weapons moving arse
nal. Besides the knife, he had cavalry sabre,
six barreled revolver, loaded and capped bag of
bullets, about pound ofpowder, and two boxes of
percussion caps. He had also two silver watches,
and about eighty six dollars in money-the mill
tary chest OF the grand army. we suppose.
s'He was thoroughly cowed, and began making
confessions. They came, reluctantly indeed, but
after he commenced, it seems that there was
hardly any amount of extravagances that he could
not bring forth. He said there were twenty five
hundred negroes sworn together to rise upon their
masters; that they had plan of instruction pre-
pared and regularly drawn out on paper; that the
city was to be attacked this morning at three diff
ferent points,
she himself was to proceed to Carrollton to Join
the party who were to rendezvous there. Another
division was to meet below the city, and a third
somewhere between the city and the lake, about
the Metaire or GENTLY ridges. They were to
take the powder ma gazine the other side of the
river, to alta OK the United States barracks take all
the arsenals to seize the gunsmith shops the mint
the banks, &c. In short, according to the pro-
gramme, which sounds like the dream of some
crackbrained white man who had been reading of
buccaneering expeditions in the South Seas till he
was crazed few imaginary thousands of these
poor wretches were about to seize the whole CITY,
and murder, plumber. and riot at will!
tThe firing of the city to be the signal for
rising on the plantations in the neighborhood
s'The chief of police, however increduous of
these monstrosities thought it was proper to take
all necessary precautions to guard against any at
tempt at disturbance which these rawlings might
armed and stationed at different points. A force
was in readiness to act if required, and patrols
were sent out to take up all struggling negroes.
"About twenty were brought in, but the night
passed off quietly, and no signs are discoverabIe
this morning that there was any thing serious in
these dreadful disclosures. Nothing is heard of
any unusual collection of negroes, or any signs
of gathering for the purposes named, or any other
'The informer and the reputed ringleader, who
is named Albert, slave of Mr. Rushton, consti-
tutp II that ia known of the cOnsnjracv
'There probably some mischievous whites
about, who have been putting wild notions into
the heads of some of the blacks, and the ina gina
ton, brooding over such ncendiary hints, has
created this fancy picture of impossible things
That there be any thing real in the pretended
plot is impossible, but there may be in the cir
cumstances attending the affair good grounds for
counselling vigilance in discountenancing the in
tercourse OF the negroes with dangerous informed
dlers.
cit would hardly be worth while to state these
details with SO much particularly, but that the
telegraph affords rapid mode of sending
abroad exaggerated stories on the most slender
and unauthenticated rumors, that we have thought
it best to notice the whole affair exactly as it
transpired.''
The Bulletin says the merest allusion to the in
cidents caused broad grin to spread itself over
the countenances of every acquaintance it met on
the day after the disclosures. After relating them
substantially the same the Picay,ine, the B,lle
tin proceeds to say:
"From these wild stories, altogether destitute of
probability and possibility, vast amount Of gas
will be expended; and we do not think much popu-
larity will be acquired. In the first place, the
whole affair bears on its face unmistakabie marks
of absurditY, utter and unmitigated: In the Sc
cond, there are only sixteen eighteen thousand
slaves in New Orleans, out of a population of one
hundred and fifty thousand souls. In the third, it
is an insult to our people to suppose that much less
o,o-c of
quer, and plumber city like ours. In the fourth
place, where would be the United States soldiers
when the negroes were taking the barracks and
arsenals, with bowie knife, sabre, revolver, a
pound of powder, bag of bullets, two silver
watches, and two boxes of percussion caps? Where
would be the citizens when they were firing the
city, and plundering the mint and the banks?
There not three thousand able bodied negro
slaves in the city-seven eighths of whom would
die by their masters and mistresses before they
would harm befall them-not one in twenty
has the sill gh> ct knowledge of the of arms-and
yet these were to plumber city, and massacre its
citizens, who in such an emergency could in two
hours, raise twelve thousand armed men. more
preposterous idea never entered the minds of gran
MES, either of the masculine or feminine gender.
"There was no danger, there has been no dan
ger, there will be danger, can there be any
danger. The slaves of New Orleans too well
off, happy and contented, to think of any other
CHOW mark 'how plain tale shall put all this
humbuggery down. The negro man, over whose
terrific declarations much fuss has been made,
was undoubtedly uspicious character deserved
arresting, and most exemplary fogging. That's
all Like all petted and INDUCED negroes, he be-
came spoiled, took to drinking, gambling, and all
other vices disobeyed his master, pilfered from
him, and has been for some time Iaborng under
mania potu; and, as drunken negroes always do,
he became a black Bobadil, overlooking with pot
valor, and great a liar and coward. 1t ia the
emphatic opinion of those who know the negro
well that his statements at the police office were
the mere ebulEtions of drunken deliriurn.''
ATTEMPT TO STOP PERSON HIS LEGITIMATE
BusINEss:-Durng the temporary absence CT W.
A. Arnold from his stove store, situated near the
courthouse, in Northampton, on Thursday, the
Judge (Wells) of the court of common pleas sent a
sheriff to notify the persons in Mr.. A.'s employ
that they must stop the noise which they made in
working, when they stopped work. On Mr.. A. s
return be inquired why his men were not at work;
they informed him of the cause, and he set them
at work again Soon after the high sheriff and
one of his deputies were sent in and arrested the
wor kmen, who, accompanied by Mr. Arnold, ap-
peared in court, when, after swearing the work
men, and ascertainng that Mr.. A ordered them