Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-01-27

ar sins; but it is extremely dan
gerous to practice a vice that has
gone our of fashion. The very peo-
pie who in the days of its popularity
we-e most addicted to =, I:l6ho the
least allowance for it in others when il
has ceased to he modish. The case OF
the belated sinner is then very much
like that OF the last purchaser OF land
just as a boom expires; If he gives
the land back to the original owner,
together with all ,hat has been paid on
1t, he finds himself still in debt and
liable to a suit He had the land last
and thus he incurs the penalty OF being
the last fool who bought it.
This view of the sOUth's connection
with slavery came to me the other day
when l read in a Charleston, S. c., pa
per the advertisement of q slave sale
in Boston, copied from New England
paper dated about the year 1890, If
remember correctly. Our typical south
hatcr reprOacnes us not because the
south once owned slaves, but because
we had them last. That is the head and
front OF our offending.
If any one cares to examine the sub
ject the fullest and most conclusive
proofs of the justice of this .observa-
ton will be found in a book written
W IL oNtA 50 A1GAAg 4nObANs q 4ldlAhC
of New Hampshire, and long time the
librarian of the New York Historical
Society, and subsequently the librarian
OF the Lenox library in New York
city. His work entitled Notes on the
History of Slavery in Massachusetts"
contains much that Bostonians will
find very ''interestin' readin'" if not
pleasing to their pride of ancestry.
DR.. Moore gives a number of ad-
vertisements OF negro slaves for sale in
the town of Boston, that shed light up
on the kind of slavery then common
in New England, and which slow also
the reasons for its eventual disappear
ance from the home of the pious Pu-
ritan. The most common reason given
for the sale OF the negroes is want
of employ''-which being Interpreted
means it was TO longer profitable to
keep them, but it paid better to sell
them.
Here is an advertisement from The
Independent Chronicle, dated March 80,
1850:
ITO Be Sold Very Cheap for no other
reason than for want of employ an
exceedingly active Negro Boy, aged Is.
Also likely Negro Girl, aged IL
Where were the parents of that boy
and that girl? Had this advertiser sep
:
Or, was he about to do so?
In The Continental Journal Of jan
uary 4, 1871, appears the following:
ITO be sold a hearty, strong negro
wench, about % years of age. fit for
town or country"
From the same paper. November q,
1779, is taken this: ITO be sold, a likely
negro girl, 16 years of age. for no fault
bat want Of employ"
Again in the same paper, March 9,
1850. was inserted this advertisement:
ITO be sold. for want of employ
ment, an exceedingly likely negro girl,
aged sixteen"
It may have been that the advertiser
of November %. 1779, and that of
March .. 1850. were the same person.
If so, his stock had been reduced, it
seems, to one exceedingly likely
negro girl of the age of sweet six
teen," and she was rather slow sale.
He was evidently not minded to give
her to her parents, if they were free,
nor to present her to their master il
they were still slaves. The relation
of parent and child it thus appears
cut no figure in the plans of this
thrifty saint. He wanted cold cash
for warm, human flesh and blood.
If this last case seems heartless,
what shall be said of the next? 1t is
of such an extraordinary nature I
hesitate to transfer it to the columns
of a southern paper, lest 1 offend a
just sense of propriety. Certainly no
such advertisement ever appeared in
any southern paper during all the days
of slavery. I copy it with apologies.
1t is from The Independent Chronicle
of December 2s. 1850. printed during
the Christmas season, the glad key
note of which is peace on earth and
good will to men," 1t reads: "a ne
gro child, soon expected, of a good
breed. may be owned by any person
inclining to take it, and money with
it."
The mother expectant was not to be
parted with by her master; she was OF
too good breed" perhaps. But the
unborn child was not to be permitted
to divide attention with her servile'
cares. and thus subtract from her
proftableness. That there might be
as little delay as possible about rid
ding her of the incumbrance a pre-
natal advertisement was used to Sc
cure an owner Mother and child
were TO be parted with all possible
haste after it's birth; there was no
time to lose.
Slave holders in the south often
bought negroes that they did not want
and sold others that they preferred
to retain in order to preserve IN
broken families: but it may be safely
affirmed that no such brutal transac-
ton as this advertisement proposed
was ever heard Of or even dreamt OF IN
the south 1t may well be doubted II
II ever had a parallel outside OF New
England anywhere on the planet called
Earth.
These advertisements show clearly