The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1869-03-21

SLAVE MAK1IA0B m MAssAoHUsBrTs-AN OIL
DOCUMENT.

published in i7ls, challenged the want 81 fiexi.
biify in the forms Of the Liturgy Of the Church Of
England as tending to introduce irreligion and
profaneness'- especisly in the use OF me Once
slaves. . In reply to Hobart, DR.. John
Beach took up this alleged source Of wickedness,
responding in substance that az slave was cspa-
BILE of being made free, and so Of having property
the mans soIemnly promising to make his wife
copsrtner with him 10 his worldly goods, ever II
should please God to bestow sn estate upon him.
Calm and Dispassionste Vindication, etc., p. 49,.
" Whatever may be thought OF the state OF the
argument between these reverend champions,
there can be no doubt that IN community like
that Of Massachusetts, during the time when
slavery prevailed there, some Thoughtful and con
siderate men must have felt the sbsurbity Of sol.
emn religious sanction for such connections, gov
masters or mistresses, the owners Of the slaves.
And in proportion to that reverence for marriage
and the sanctty OF the marriage tie which has a.
ways been credited to Puritan orthodoxy, there
must have been some repugnance to profaning
the solemn rites by which Gods first ordinance,
confirmed by Christ's first miracle has always
been guarded in all Christian countries. The
simplest forms in use for such ceremony were
profsned, when pledges OF enduring love and
fidelity were given and taken by those who were
liable 70 separaiio. At any dime At he ~i Cd shsir
while admitting that marriage in Massachusetts,.
garded as mere civil contract entered into be-
fore magistrate, Mr.. Moore contends thatit 10 no
less certain that the prayers proper for the occa
sion, which were made BY the magistrate upon
giving the covenant to the parties. were ~ sacred
to the Puritans and no more TO be lightly profsned
than the solemn ritual Of their fathers which they
had rejected as savoring Of popery and eevating
marriage into Q sacrament; and when, In the next
generation, the ministers began TO resume the
practice Of performing the marriage ceremony,
shaxa he Aoub hat ard fhair
simple service as substantially holy, and deserving
ali the reverence ever claimed for any Protestant
ceremony Of the kind. he continues; /.
How then was IL that Parson Hsbert. In l748,
could put bis Episcopal brother TO the blush for
profaning the marriage service In the manner
alleged, unless the more accommodating spirit of
his own sect enabled him TO adapt its formulas ct
discretion to the cases which came before him
The inference is obvious, and sustains the tradi-
ton that in the marriages of slaves,
while they were unquestionably more formal in
some cases than merely jumping broomstick.'
had in reality little more practical significance In
their obligations, limited as these were in extent
and duration by the necessary conditions of servi
tpde. This tradition is now corroborated BY con-
temporary documentary evidence. which proves
beyond doubt that the kind of wedlock in which
sambo and Dinah, Pompey and Chloe, became
nominally husbands and wives under Massachu-
sets lave, was very uncertain and precarious.
and its religious celebration in very truth . q SOL
emn farce. JT-.-l.. g. 49,
"One of the most accomplished historical schol.
ars in the country, Mr.. ]. Wingate Thornton, Of
Boston, has recently discovered the form of negro
marriage prepared and used by the Reverend
whose ministry there, beginning In ITO and end
ing with his death in III, was q prolonged and
eminently distinguished service Of more than half
the eighteenth century. His immediate successor
was the Reverend Jonathan French 1772-lS09)
in the family of whose son Mr.. Thornton found
the document at North Hampton, N. a., on the
3lst of December, 1868. i am indebted to his lib
eral courtesy for the opportunity to make use of
it at the present time. ~ tt
s.It Ia copied exactly from the original now be-
fore me. and the italics are as marked by the
author himself, whose work could certainly have
been none other than of the most approved and
orthodox pattern. En- uno disco onres. -.
"'A FORM FOR NEGRO MARRIAGE.
".Yeu 8: do now, In ye Presence Of God, and
these Witnesses, Take Z: to be your WJfe,: 90 r
80 Promising, that so far as shall be consistent
with ye Relation web you now Sustain, as Ser
want, you will Perform ye Part of an Husband
towards her: And In particular, you Promise.
that you will L0ue her: And that, a. you shall
have ye Opportty d Ability, you will take Q
proper Care of her in Sickness and Health, In
land that You win be True & Faithful to her,
and will Cleave to her only, so long as God in his
Providce, shall continue your and her Abode In
Such Place Cor Places) as that you can conve-
Dienty come together DO You thus
Promise? r- -. ... l. .-. M
a. You R: do now, in ye Presence of God, and
these Witnesses, Take 6 to be your Husband;
as Promising, that 90 far Is your present Rels-
ton, as Servant. shall admit, you win Perform
the Part Of Q Wife towards him. And in par.
ticular, se3E
." You Promise, that you win Loue him; And
that. as you shall have the Opportty & Ability,
you will take Q proper Care of him in Sickness
and Health; in Prosperity Adversely:
az And that you will be True q Faithful to
him, and will Cieave to him only, so long as God,
in his Providce, shall continue mis- q your Abode
in such Place Cor Places) a. that you can conve-
niently come together: DO You thus
Promise n iftu-t Tsl 1tfe
al then, agreeable to your Request, and with
ye Consent OF your Masters & Mstresses do De-
clare, that you have Lcence given you to be con-
versant and familiar together, as Husband and
Wife. 80 long ss God shall continue your Places of
Abode as aforesaid And SO long as you shall be-
have your Selves as 1t becometh Servants to doe;
"For, you must, both of you. bear in mind,
that you Remain Still, 90 really and truly Is ever,
your Masters Property, and therefore 1t will be
justly expected, both by God and Man, that you
behave and conduct your.sel as Obedient and
faithful Servants towards your respective Masters
and Mattresses for the Time being:
".And finally, exhort 4 Charge you to beware
lest You give place to the Devil, to take 0c-
casi0n from the Licence now given you, to be
lifted up with Pride, and thereby fall under the
Dbpieueufc, uot vi mhu Ouiys Uut VI Uou dlsO
for IL is written that God ressteth the Proud, but
he giveth Grace to the humble.
az j shall now Conclude with Prayer for you,
that you may become good Christians, and that
you may be enabled to conduct as such; and In
particr, that you may have Grace to behave suita-
bly, towards each Other. as also dutifully towards
vice, as Men Pieasers, bot as ye servts Of Chrt,
doing ye Will of God from ye heart, &c.
"s(Epdorsed) Negroe- Marriage
q
lures were formally in terms made subordinate TO
their relations slaves; thr personal fidelity TO
each other to depend on their respective places OF
residence for the time being and their matrimo.
NAL privilege, or license to be conversant and
familiar together, as husband and wife, was to
continue as long as they lived in the same neigh
borhood and during good behavior. Both these
conditions were Of course determined BY the
owners" t't
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