Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-08-16

that New England had no cause for blushine for
any completely In the horrible crime Of slayeRold
; ing TO the South belonged the crime and upon
it falls the condemnation and shame y Can sncb
men be convinced, and learn to speak the trutb ,
Let me add some new facts on which lately sinh.
mitted
/ MASSACHUSETTS, MINISTERS WE'RE 1AyEHo1nrps y
In the old and honorable town of Medford. half
dozen miles out of Boston, and which was char
/ tered the same year with Boston, viz : 1880, for
more than century and half there was single
church only. From 1927 to IVA Rev. Ebenezer
/ TureH was the minister, a native of Boston
graduate of Harvard, and son-in-law of President
Colman. He was an accomplished gentleman. n
fine scholar, exemplary Christian, and promi.
nent minister. A member of his church held him
in such admiration that for f0rty5f0ur VeayS he
kept an exact record of his sermons, without
single failure, Sabbath or lecture day. giving
the text the year, the month, and the day. and
stating whether the sermon preached in the
morning or afternoon. Occasional notes and the
events OF the times were also inserted. The whole
number of sermons thus registered amounts to
1852 Through the courtesy of the gentleman
into whose hands these neatly-written records
have fallen, [ have been permitted to run nv
eye over them, when it fell upon the following
entries p
Job tx H. Funeral services for Flora negro woman
of Stephen Hail. ESQ., and wife of Worcester Mr.. Tndrs
negro man."
That Worcester was veritable Slace is proved
by a clause in his WILL made near the time of his
death
Item: Ny good servant Worcester give him his free
dOns and discharge him from any demands of nv heirs
executors account OF his being sape: and order
to in his hands $50 sterling to 90 for
the of said servant if he should be unable to sup
port himself the to be given him at the discretion
| Of my executor. a -
| What can be more conclusive? One of the most
eloquent and popular ministers in Massachusetts
was stakeholder, through his long ministry of
nearly half century, and that without blush and
VIII a. pI1I lio moi npp
denim him no ecclesiastical body excluded him
Doubtless other ministers were in the same condi-
ton, both in Massachusetts and other New Eng
! land States.
Slavery is said to have been introduced into this
ancient town early as the year 1888, only EIGHT
years after the first settlement and therefore the
spirit and principle must have accompanied the
old PaY'itdnS and have led them most strangelvand
sadly, not only to tolerate slavery, but to plant
perpetuate and dltfuse it Nor it early only; in
some places it was painfully common, since in the
small town of Medford at one time there were no
less than ttcentYSecen negro slaves, saying nothing
of Indians. The record proceeds
cob tx 49, Preached on account of the awful death
OF Colonel Royals negro man, Plato, aged about 25 who
was drowned opposite my house by riding a horse in
to swim and wash him, about high water last Wednes-
day" .. ss .,g...s. = ..tI n '---F'
COL Royal was great slave-trader, and Plato,
the negro man, was of course a slave.
''Prnce, negro servant of Hon. Stephen Hail. owned
the covenant, and was baptized.'
Anthony negro was taken into the church"
" ssg5os named Sharper, was sick, and Mr. Tqrc
preached from these words My servant eth at home
sick! Sharper died just as the sermon ended"
1t is a striking fact that the modern apostle
George TVhite1ielA seems to have made the house
of the great slave trader, Col Royall his home
when he was in the town. or passing through it
in his journeyings
'April 49, 1764. Mr. Whitefeld came to Colonel Roy
als last night nom Ipswich, but well enough to
go out to-day" &
Slavery, and the slave trade, existed in
New England almost from the beginning. No one
thought them q shame or o sin. Even ministers
were shareholders, without discipline or reproach
Slavery, therefore, existed in Massachusetts
and even the slave trade, almost from the begin
ming of the colony. No one seems to have thought
it even a shame or immortality. Even minis
terS, as we see, were shareholders, without being
subjected to reproach or discipline and even the
sainted Whitetield made the house of the prince
of Massachusetts, shareholders his resort and home
Lesson Isl. The Pilgrims and Puritans had their
lofty and stern virtues but they were men, and
had their equally stern and unyielding defects
They hung men and women for withcraft they
held negro and Indian slaves, the cLaUch members
and ministers not excepted, and carried on the
slave traffic in Africa, making, in the language Of
trade, not only ga good but big and fat thing
Of it"
Lesson I'd. Let New Englanders all cherish
spirit of forgiveness and kindness toward brethren
once III the condemnation resting upon their faith
ers, but now is far removed from it as they them
selves are.