<\/p>\n
by Rev. Hosea Easton<\/p>\n
It was not expected at the time, by the Author of this work, that he should be solicited for a copy for publication; but by the ardent request of a Committee chosen for that purpose, by the Coloured Population of Providence, he was influenced to yield to their solicitation. Under such circumstances, and the short space of time he had to prepare it for the Press, he hopes, should the wise and learned find anything in it, strenuously represented, they will make all due allowances; as the Author has experienced the heart-rending deprivations of Liberty, as described in the following pages-both in his private, as well as public course of life.<\/em><\/p>\n MEN AND BRETHEREN -This is a day set apart by our Rulers as a day of rejoicing for the many blessings enjoyed, while greater prospects of plenty and happiness are continually heaving in view. We, as a nation, have great reason to rejoice, that by the great wheel of Providence, prosperity has graced our train while marching up the hill of popularity & honour. Let the expanding mind reflect for a moment, the rapid growth of this Nation, from the time a little handful held their council upon Plymouth Beach, until the present time. And if their hearts are not under the influence of a sordid disposition, they will to day tune them in anthems of praise and thanksgiving to God, for thus rearing us from nothing, to a great and mighty nation.<\/p>\n I repeat again, that prosperity has graced our train. Prosperity has opened the door of the forest for the reception of our forefathers; granting them an opportunity to display their superior knowledge in the use of fire arms above that of the natives: by which means the latter were drove out before them, being slain by thousands, thus, leaving them in peaceable possession of the soil. Again, Prosperity did attend their endeavours to introduce agriculture, the mechanic arts, and scientific knowledge. Prosperity did also aid their labours while propagating religious principles through our Republic, insomuch, that there is not a city, town, or hardly a neighborhood, but in which you will find a temple of worship, said to be erected to the worship of God. In a word, whatever course we have taken, the wheel of providence has led us into a field of prosperity. The memorable fourth of July, brings into our view, that important era of our country, when her liberties were threatened by England’s pride. But methinks, I hear, a brave Washington, standing on his dignified eminence, exclaiming! Liberty! Liberty! Liberty! Or death. His valiant confederates rejoin’d the theme, and ere long, every heart burned with the fire of Liberty. The Ensign of Liberty was hoisted, and manfully defended. A Constitution was wisely framed, declaring all men to be free and equal. Who can say that our constitution is not founded on the principles of liberty and equality! We are indebted, then to divine providence for thus prospering our march as a nation. Many other blessings that we en-joy, might be brought into notice. But time will not permit us even to contemplate one out of ten thousand of the blessings we enjoy daily. How animating then is the celubrious sound of Liberty. The voice of Liberty calls the energies of the human soul to emerge out of nature’s darkness, and to explore divine spiritual principles; from thence to angelic. How admirable it is, that the higher the soul arises by being expanded by intelligent perception, the more it breathes forth praise and thanksgiving to God, still beholding momentarily new delights in the vast field of Liberty, which God has given it for an inheritance, it bursts forth in the inspired language of the Psalmist. “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises to thy name, 0, most high. For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work. I will triumph in the work of thy hands.” Again-If we follow the same train of reflection in natural intelligence, we shall find that liberty has proportionably the same effect and proffers the same reward. In this, our country, how soon do we see the infant grow to a stature which qualifies him to fill the highest seat of honour among our rulers? And thus be able to rejoice to see the expanded wings of Liberty, brooding over her votaries, sheltering them from slavery and oppression. But while I have endeavored to inspire your hearts with thankfulness to God, there has reflections forced themselves into my mind which has caused me to tremble for the fate of this country. 0, America! Listen to your subjects. Allied to you by birth and blood. Shut out from all slavery which you have rivetted on their necks. Look at Virginia! Look at Washington! See droves of your subjects coupled together by pairs, while others are administering the laws of Liberty. And to fill out the file, we see those, who have received the dignified appellation of “Negro Drivers,” inflicting merciless stripes upon their fellow subjects; drawing forth that sacred blood which God has forbidden to be shed; forcing their march, some from wives, some from parents, some from children, others from all that is near and dear to them. And for what? To gratify the avarice of proud America. 0, Liberty, where art thou! Is this all? No! We will pass on. Leaving behind thought the barbarous cruelty imposed upon the natives, & as to the hellish practice of importing a foreign nation to a country of liberty, to be sold in slavery; it were better to be buried in oblivion and remembered no more forever. There are about 500,000 of the above named degraded sufferers, who are said to be free, which assertion I deny. It is true, we live under a milder State Administration at present. It is also true, that we are in some respects exalted to heaven, in point of Liberty, above that of our fellow subjects, who are under the immediate scourge of avarice. Their awful situation, doubtless, many of you have experienced, who compose this respectable auditory-while others of you have been eye witnesses to the bloody scenes of cruelty and murder. Bretheren, what was the sensation of your minds, when you beheld many of the female sex, pregnant with their young, tied to a tree or stake, and whipt by their masters, until nature gave way, and both mother and infant yielded up the ghost, while bearing the hellish scourge of these candidates for hell? What were they, when you saw your bretheren shot or beat with clubs? When you saw their master vent his rage, by murdering them by degrees, either, by roasting them alive, dissecting them limb by limb, or starving them to death for not complying with their unjust requirements? What were they, when you beheld the youth massacred for the smallest misdemeanor, and their affection ate parents not daring to make the least resistance for fear of falling victims to the same fate? What were they, when you saw the disciples of Christ, denied the privilege of meeting in groves and by-lots, to worship their God as guided by his spirit? What were they, I would ask, when you saw these things and many more, in the very heart of our country-A country of Liberty-Near the very seat of Government? Did not the spirit of Liberty cry within you, for vengeance to fall upon this country, which has so falsified the principles of Liberty, and trampled justice under foot. Now as we compose a part of the number who are said to be free, of course it becomes our duty to consider how far our liberty extends. The first enquiry is, Are we eligible to an office? No.-Are we considered subjects of the government? No.-Are we initiated into free schools for mental improvement? No.-Are we patronised as salary men in any public business whatever? No.-Are we taken into social compact with Society at large? No.-Are we patronised in any branch of business which is sufficiently lucrative to raise us to any material state of honour and respectability among men, and this, qualify us to demand respect from the higher order of society? No.-But to the contrary. Everything is withheld from us that is calculated to promote the aggrandizement and popularity of that part of the community who are said to be the descendants of Africa. I am sensible the white population will deny the fact above stated. But to confirm the fact, let us notice our ordinary course since the Ameri-can Independence.<\/p>\n We will notice, first, our march in religious improvement. God has raised up some able ambassadors of truth among our population; and though they are held in contempt among the whites, yet God has caused his light to shine through them, to the great shame of our oppressors; and has decided the question, respecting the natural intelligence of the sable race, which has so long employed the pen of learned interrogators. But where are their privileges? Where even they can embody a little handful of coloured people together, there they can display their respective talents, as long as the means of subsistence is left them, but when that is exhausted, they are compelled to appeal to day labour for support. Or should they obey the heavenly command to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” they would often be treated with contempt by those that ought to be their patrons. Should one enter a town or city, with his credentials, and offer them to the minister of the church, it is more than probable, that the best appointments the minister would make for him, to discharge his duty, would be at a private house on a week day. Should he stop over the Sabbath, he would be introduced into the most remote part of the house of God, that is too demeaning to have the beasts for its occupants. How does he fare on his journey from place to place? I am bold to say that he cannot purchase a seat in the public stage, only by sufferance. I have known men of that profession, to be detained in towns and cities, not far distant from this place, ten days, before they could prosecute their journey; and then be under the necessity of getting some white man as an intercessor to the driver or owners for a passage on the outside of the carriage, by paying full price for fare. I know of an occurrence which took place in a stage passing from New Bedford to Fall River. It appears that two coloured men paid their passage upon the above named rout, they being the only passengers, occupied the back seat. When they arrived at West-port village, there was a white sailor of low grade, and a young girl that worked in the Factory, that made application for a passage to Fall River. They were immediately gallanted to the stage, the door was thrown open, and orders given by the driver, for the colored men to take the forward seats, which were complied with; when the two genteels got into the carriage and took the highest seat. One of these coloured gentlemen, was a minister of the gospel, of no mean standing; and what must have been his feelings, God only knows.<\/p>\n We will now notice our means of acquiring literary information. It is true, that in our northern States, the laws have made provisions for us without distinction. But though we claim our right lawfully, yet, like all our other rights, we are denied enjoyment of them. We send our children to primary schools among white children; and if there is any demeaning place of contempt, to be found in any part of the School Room, there is the place for our children to get their information; while the little flax-headed boys and girls, are learnt by their parents to place a reproach upon them, by calling them Negroes, and the place where they are destined to sit, negro seats. Thus, our poor youth are discouraged, disheartened, and grow up in ignorance; fitted only to be an object of ridicule and contempt through life, by the higher order of Society. Some, doubtless, will be ready to say, that our liberty is above this. In answer to whom I will acknowledge that there is an exception in States and Cities. In New York and Connecticut, the coloured population are brought more into public notice, as well as in the cities of New York and Boston; also, in many other places, public support for schools is set apart for the coloured population. In those schools, we have youths well qualified for the common business of life; but when they have obtained their education, they know enough only to feel sensible of their misery. Their minds being expanded, their perception brightened, their zeal ardent for promotion; they look around for business, they find that custom cuts them off from all advantages. They apply to merchants to patronise them as Clerks, they are rejected. They apply to attornies at law to receive them into their office, they are rejected. They apply to the mariner, they are rejected, except, to go before the mast, cook, or steward. They apply to Mechanics of different occupations, here, too, they are rejected. And for what? Because it is customary. Leaving law, justice, and equity altogether out if the question. And should it become customary to cut off a black man’s head, (as it is already at the south.} then of course we must lose our head, if custom says it is right. We see then the situation of our youth, turned out of doors without the least encouragement whatever. Now let us notice the consequence. Those bright minds enlarged by education, being under the necessity of taking up some low calling, which is not calculated to satisfy the extention of them, they become like the starving man, who, for the want of whole-some food, partakes of that which is poisonous and destructive. So it is with our youth, for the want of those encouragements set up before them, that is calculated to draw their attention to the pursuits of honour, respectability, virtue and industry, their expanded minds re-lapse into sordid dissipation, and fall victim to all the vices and folly incident to discouraged minds; and thus, the more education they have, under such circumstances, the more artful they are in following the haunt of dissipated principles. 0, shocking! Is America to answer for all this? When then does justice sleep? It is true, that many of our population survive the struggle, so far as to arise to a degree of respectability. But with what respect are they treated? Let the man of business travel through the northern states. And I am ready to prove to you, that he will not pass ten miles, without meeting with insults almost sufficient to enrage a saint. If he hires his passage in the stage, he must be posted up with the driver to suffer the severity of the weather. When the passengers stop to dine, he must take his fare in the cook room, with the cook. And for a sitting parlour, he must take the barroom; to have his feelings injured by tavern haunters and drunkards. If you look for his lodging chamber, you will find it in the garret, or back clutter chamber. These are fine places for men of business. Under these, and other disadvantages, we see the man is not calculated to do business, for the want of society. Society is the very mother who supplies men of business with useful knowledge; for the want of which, the poor man lays out his money at 75 per cent, disadvantage; and to discourage and depress his mind still further, the question is asked by the whites: Why is it that Negroes cannot do business like other people? Again-Should any one become religious, and feel desirous to follow the precepts of his Lord and Master, by having his name enrolled in the Church Militant, he is there treated more like a beast than in any other course of life. How say you? I answer-The coloured “brother,” however able to provide for him-self, must have a place provided for him. And where is it? In some remote part of the Meeting-House, or in a box built above the gallery. When the Church is called to partake of the sacred elements, the black communicants must come down, stand or sit in some remote part of the lower floor, until the white bretheren have eat what they want of the Lord’s body, and drank what they want of his blood; then cries the minister, “Come coloured bretheren, now come and partake of the broken body of Christ. It is free for all without any distinction.” And it is a chance if he does not, while thus officiating, offer an insult to their feelings, by saluting them as Africans or Ethiopians. While in fact they are Americans, and perhaps distantly related to some of the white members, by reason of the brutal conduct of their fathers. Now these are facts. There is not a church in the circle of my knowledge but what, must bear the character above asserted. And can rational beings, believe that God is a fool, that he is well pleased with such idolatry? We will follow this subject a little further, and see if we cannot find other things that gives character to a Christian nation. It is an obvious fact, that the white population are alarmed at the rapid growth of the coloured people; insomuch, that there is not a soul, that has any forecast, but that is troubled; and I would to God, that they might be confounded in their own craft, until, brought to experience true repentance, and are willing to deal justly with their neighbors.<\/p>\n The Colonizing Craft is a diabolical pursuit, which a great part of our Christian community are engaged in. Now bretheren, I need not enlarge on this point. You that have been observing, have already seen the trap under the bait; and although some of our population, have been foolish enough to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, yet I doubt, whether the Colonization Society will entrap many more. It is too barefaced, and contrary to all reason, to suppose, that there is any good design in this project. If they are willing to restore four-fold for what they have been taken by false accusation, they can do it to better advantage in the bosom of our country, than at several thousand miles off. How would you do, bretheren, if your object was really to benefit the poor? Would you send them into a neighboring forest, and there deal out that food which they were famishing for? Now we stand different from beggars. Our ancestors were stolen property, and property which belonged to God. This is well known by our religious community; and they find that the owner is about to detect them. Now if they can slip away these stolen goods, by smuggling all those out of the country, which God would be likely to make an instrument of, in bringing them to justice, and keeping the rest in ignorance; by such means, things would go on well with them, and they would appease their consciences by telling what great things they are doing for the coloured population and God’s cause. But we understand better how it is. The deception is not so well practised, but that we can discover the mark of the beast. They will steal the sons of Africa, bring them to America, keep them and their posterity in bondage for centuries, letting them have what education they can pick up of them-selves; then transport them back to Africa; by which means America gets all her drudgery done at little expense, and endeavor to flatter [the] Deity, by making him a sacrifice of good works of this kind. But to the awful disappointment of all such blasphemers, they will meet the justice of God, which will be to them a devouring sword.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TO CONCLUDE.<\/p>\n BRETHEREN-My heart is filled with sorrow for this nation. I am far from being envious, and I would caution you against any revengeful or malignant passions; but stand still and see the salvation of God. Stand still did I say? Yes, so far as it respects the providence of God; we are to stand still, look, wonder, and adore. But as it respects the great labour and ardent zeal which involves upon us at the present day; there is no time to stand still. The time has come, when our necessities calls aloud for our exertions, to prepare ourselves for the great events which are about heaving in view. Bretheren, the dreary night of darkness, which our fathers passed through, is about to disperse. And notwithstanding we are a divided people, tossed to and fro, and hunted like the partridge upon the mountain, yet the glorious rays of rational intelligence and literary acquirements, are beginning to backen the chaos darkness, which has so long pervaded the minds of our population. Yes, bretheren, let a theme of praise and thanksgiving to God, thrill through every heart, in silent accents; for the sun-beams of Liberty are casting forth their glorious rays through the eastern atmosphere; and we may rationally entertain the hope, that God, in his wise Providence, will cause this glorious sun to arise to its meridian, and burst those fetters with which we are bound, and un-lock the prison doors of prejudice; granting us Liberty to enjoy the blessings of life like other men. But we must not suppose that we shall obtain those blessings without our co-operation with divine order; for, inasmuch as mankind are created intelligent beings, and recipient forms. it follows, that every principle, whether natural or spiritual, is obtained by the rational principle which is always found with man; that turning itself toward divine order, they join hands as companions, co-operate with each other, and thus, they become the parents which begets understanding to recipient man. What I wish to be understood by divine order, are those principles or attributes of light, which, in the order of providence flow to man. Now all persons that have arrived to the years of discretion, have already a degree of understanding, which enables them to perceive the duty that is set before them. Then as it respects our community, it is plain to see, by the foregoing statements, respecting our oppresst community, what is necessary. It is evident that we ought to turn our attention to moral improvement. A principle of jealousy one towards another, has become almost hereditary; which prevents any combined operation among us. The first thing necessary, is, to cultivate the principles of concord and unanimity among ourselves, that we may become aids to each other; for the prosecution of which, we ought to introduce operations that is accordant with the object in pursuit. In all cases of improvement, there must be an object set up with way-marks, that are calculated to attract the mind from a low state to higher attainments. If then, we can combine our ability, and bend it this course, it will open a field of labour for the reception of our youth, who are coming upon the stage of action, and give them an opportunity of displaying their intellectual talents; which will give a character to our community, and take away our reproach. When our operations become united, that the voice of our community, may be heard as the voice of one man; then shall we be able to control the principles of indolence and im-morality of every species, and inculcate those of industry and virtue, with all qualifications necessary to enable us to control the effects of our own labour, and make it subservient to the benefit of our own community. We may look abroad and see sufficient to induce us to become active in our own interest. You, that are the fathers of our community, ought to use your feeble efforts to the establishment of the temple of Liberty; and when your sun shall hide itself beyond the western region, it shall leave a principle enstampt upon rising generations, which will embellish our bright prospects, and entail honours to your name while time shall last. Mothers, you have something to do with this important undertaking. Your virtuous council to your daughters, will qualify them to become useful in their circles. By which means, the haunt of the dancehall will be broken. Bretheren, the time has come, when you, that are in the meridian of life, ought to raise the voice of Liberty and equality: truth and justice: virtue and industry, both by example and precept. I would also encourage the female part of our community, in the language of the people of Israel to Boaz, “The Lord make the woman that is come into thy house, like Rachel and Leah; which two, did build the house of lsrael; and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem. And let thy house, be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.” So let it be concerning you. The Lord make you to our community, like Rachel and Leah; which two, did build the house of Israel; and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem. And let thy house, be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. But my dear youth what shall I say to you? Can I make use of any language that will detach your minds from delusive pleasures, and cause you to look to the great object of your interest. Remember, my young friends, that your fathers were deprived the opportunity you now enjoy; and while I am addressing you, methinks I hear a voice from the graves of our fathers! And what is the language? It calls on you to forsake those foolish practices, which are so common amongst us; and apply your hearts to wisdom.<\/p>\n It is no time, my young friends, to spend your time in the dancehall. It is no time to exercise your ability in gambling. But you must lay aside all unnecessary diversion, and alter your courses; Come out of this degrading course of life; Distinguish yourselves as pious, industrious, and intelligent men and women. This will demand respect from those who exalt themselves above you. I must now leave this subject with you, hoping that this day’s labour will not be in vain; for I assure you my heart mourns daily, while beholding the clouds of evil thickening over this Republic. The awful consequences are plain to be seen, by the aid of both ancient and modern history. Let him that readeth understand. But, 0, for a Gideon, with his three hundred men, chosen of God, to go up against the towering walls of evil, and cause them to fall, forever fall, to rise no more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n AN ADDRESS: Delivered before the COLOURED POPULATION, of Providence, Rhode Island, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1828 by Rev. Hosea Easton It was not expected at the time, by the Author of this work, that he should be solicited for a copy for publication; but by the ardent request of a Committee chosen for … Continue reading Thanksgiving Day Address<\/span> Public domain.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"