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"The Africans." New York Morning Herald, 26 Sept., 1839.
The Africans.
[Correspondence of the Herald]
Hartford, September 24th.
The refusal of Judge Thompson, to sustain the habeas corpus, and thus discharge the
Africans from the custody of the Marshall, has created a very strong excitement here,
not only among the abolitionists, but among many humane men, who suppose them to
be entitled to their freedom, on the ground that they are not slaves according to
the laws of Spain. A new expedient to procure their liberation has been discussed
today. It was proposed to sue out another writ of habeas corpus, and bring the blacks
before one of the Judges of the State, in the expectation that he might be so operated
upon by the popular manifestations of feeling, as to order their release at all hazard.
But a little reflection, and some inquiry among men of intelligence and discernment,
who do not participate in the excitement, have caused this project to be abandoned,
and the abolitionists have found themselves constrained to submit the matter to the
decision of the District Court, the legitimate and proper tribunal. They may as well
yield quietly and patiently to the authority of the law as administered by the Circuit
Court for in the first place, no respectable judicial officer in Connecticut would
grant such a writ; and in the next place, the Marshall, who is a resolute, as well
as intelligent and discriminating officer, would pay no attention to the writ, if
it was issued.
The papers in every section of the country are constantly filled with articles in
relation to the Africans and they almost all evince gross ignorance of our treaty
stipulations with Spain and Great Britain, and the strongest misconception of the
real state of the case. In order to furnish your readers with a distinct and intelligible
view of the circumstances connected with the Africans, as they stood at the adjournment
of the Circuit and District Courts yesterday morning; and as they must stand
until the adjourned session of the District Court, to be held at Hartford on the
3d [sic] Tuesday of November next, I will present the prominent points of the case
in a brief recapitulation of the proceedings of the two courts.
The Africans (with the exception of Antonio and the four children, who were detained
as witnesses for the want of bail) were committed for trial before the Circuit Court
on a warrant from the judge of the District Court, to answer to a charge of piracy
and murder.
The criminal accusation was dismissed by judge Thompson, on the ground that the court
had no jurisdiction in the matter.
A writ of habeas corpus by which the counsel sought to release all the Africans,
was rejected by judge Thompson, and the right of the District Court to hold them
in custody affirmed.
The whole matter, therefore, is now before the District Court; and the Africans are
held to answer in that Court, to Lieut. Gedney’s libel for salvage--to the libel
of the Spaniards who claim them as property, and to the District Attorney, who claims
them in obedience to the orders of the government.
These several claims are to be litigated before the District Court in November.
If the Spaniards can show property in the negroes, they will recover them.
If they fail to do this, the Africans will be delivered to the President of the United
States, for the purpose of being sent back to their own country, agreeably to the
act of Congress of 1821.
It will be seen, therefore, that any other course than that adopted by the Court
in this case, must almost necessarily have resulted in great injustice to the Spaniards
who claim to own these negroes. They assert that they purchased and shipped them
on board L’Amistad, in conformity to the ordinance of Havana. This fact could not
be established without sending to Cuba for evidence; and if the abolitionists had
succeeded in wresting them from the hands of the Marshall, the Spaniards would have
been stripped of $25,000 or 30,000 worth of property, which they may perhaps have
legally acquired, and to which they are as much entitled as you are to your steam
printing press. By delaying the trial until November, the Court has given them an
opportunity to obtain all possible proof, and if they then fail to prove these negroes
slaves, they will have no cause to complain, and justice will be done the Africans.
It would do your heart good to see the abolitionists since the decision of Judge
Thompson. Poor devils! They are chagrined beyond measure. Their faces have increased
so much in longitude that every barber in the place charges double price for shaving
them. After suffering so much wear and tear of conscience for their falsehoods and
impositions--after collecting interpreters from far and near, in numbers sufficient
to darken and infect the atmosphere of Hartford, they are obliged to send home their
darkies and disperse--love’s labor being entirely lost.--I met several at the prison
shortly after the adjournment, and it was amusing to watch their operations, and
still more amusing to notice the result. They were endeavoring with lugubrious faces
and whining tones to inspire the “poor Africans” with apprehensions as to their fate;
but Cuffed had just swallowed a good dinner, no labor of any kind was imposed upon
him, and he was perfectly indifferent to the future. Thinking that the negroes did
not understand them, the abolitionists sent for one of their classical interpreters
in order to communicate the circumstances more fully. He presently appeared, and
by dint of some jabber, a great many signs, and grimaces that would have endangered
the maternal hopes of a decent lady pig in the family way, had she happened to have
been present; the interpreter made out to signify to them that they had got to stay
in prison. They were greatly delighted--some nodded, some winked, and all grinned.--Garrah
showed his joy by throwing a summerset; and then poising himself on his hands, he
tumbled wheelbarrow fashion, without touching his feet, the entire length of the
prison. The abolitionists were greatly enraged at this, and they directed the interpreter
to tell them that the might very possibly be sent back to Havana, and have their
heads cut off. Cinguez, the leader, and Faquorna, and Quimbo, who were most active
in assisting him in the revolt and murder, seemed to feel some fear, but the rest
heard the intelligence with entire indifference.
Antonio, the cabin boy of the L’Amistad, presents one of those beautiful instances
of fidelity and attachment, that are occasionally seen where the relation of master
and slave subsists. He is not held on any process, since the criminal prosecution
against the Africans has been dismissed, and is of course at liberty. I asked him
if he intended to remain in this country.
He shook his head and replied--”I have been treated well here, and I like this country
much, but I must go back to Havana and tell my mistress how the slaves killed master,
and all about the voyage of L’Amistad. Master and mistress always were good to me,
and I wont [sic] leave mistress now.”
But, said I, you will be a slave as long as you live, if you go back there.
“I know that,” was his reply, “but I have every thing given me that I want, and I
had rather be a slave to my mistress than live here free. Mistress is not rich, and
Antonio is worth fifty doubloons to her. I fight for master until I could fight no
more, because they tied my hands. I would have been killed to save master.”
The Marshal went to New Haven last night to order preparations for receiving the
blacks at the prison, and they are to be removed there on Saturday.--Bunks are to
be put up in the apartments, and every arrangement made to render them comfortable.
It was intended to send them to the alms house, but the keeper or the selectmen very
properly objected, and they are to be put into the prison to remain there until the
3d of November.
