SLEEPING IN CHURCH AND THE LATE RIOT IN NEW YORK

 

Sleeping Congregation by William Hogarth.

Cortland County Express, Thursday, May 23, 1850.

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

Sleeping in Church.

   It is not a very becoming habit—this sleeping in meeting—is it? And yet no mortal who understands the philosophy of breathing, should ever make the least objection to a man's taking a nap during divine service, so long as the doors and windows of the edifice in which he is seated are closed, and the audience is large. We admit that it is not very pleasant for a speaker to address a sleepy assembly, but he must submit to it, patiently, till they are made to believe that a material change in the atmosphere is followed by a corresponding change in the sensations of human beings. We have often wished that our ministers would take this subject in hand—for they are capable of doing it—and show the people the importance of affording themselves an abundance of pure air at church.

   But perhaps they feel just as we do about it—they don't like to meddle with people's breathing, they may be regarded as busybodies; and besides, it is so difficult to make the subject clear to the minds of all—some never would believe that so light an agent as air could have anything to do with sleeping in meeting. If it were a visible substance—if it could be seen to change in color as it changes in properties, people might be made to believe that air is of some importance. If, like water, it could be taken up by the pailful, and handed out for each one to imbibe, and one should take a mouthful and [spurt] it back, and another, and so on, till it had become impregnated with the juices of all the mouths in the congregation, it might then be thought unfit for use—people might see its impurities; but, since this element is invisible, people will endure its impurities with constancy and fortitude becoming moral heroes. They will even sleep and dream, and snore, and breathe, in an atmosphere rendered more unwholesome to the system than the water which has been ejected from the mouths of the auditory into a common receptacle.

   A polluted atmosphere does not affect all persons alike. While it produces in those of one temperament, drowsiness, or stupor, (it never yields refreshing, natural sleep) in others it occasions restlessness; and thus, while one half of a congregation may be manifesting symptoms of apoplexy, the others may be enduring a course of the nervous fever.

   It would be worthy of a protracted effort to get this one thought into the heads of a congregation, viz: that the air we breathe comes into immediate contact with the blood. Yes, only get this thought fairly before the people, and they would not sit quietly together in church, several hundreds at a time, with the doors and windows closed, and use and re-use, and use again the breath of their associates; they would as willingly drink of water that had been subjected to the process above described.

   Time was, when we thought it betokened ill-breeding in any one to find him sleeping in meeting; and many a time have we thought to save our credit, as a respectful listener, by pinching the hand or pulling the hair, and usually to no purpose; but "a change has come over the spirit of our dreams"—we now consider it no mark of disrespect or willing indifference to find a neighbor asleep, or to sleep ourself—it steals upon us as imperceptibly, and as certainly as the stupor induced by the fumes of burning charcoal—it comes, too, as the result of neglect in ventilation. So sure as we enter a well-filled church— especially in the afternoon—with the ordinarily scanty ventilation, so sure are we to sleep, sleep, sleep! We may sit ever so straight, look the minister in the eye, and exert the will, but all to no purpose; sleep, unbidden, unwelcome, comes! And what can this be attributed to but to the deadening influence of an impure atmosphere? We may sit out door in the shade of a tree in the most sultry weather, and seldom or never sleep; and who ever saw a sleepy congregation in the open air? But just let the "outsiders" into the churches, shut the doors upon them, imprison them, and how soon they are transformed into snoozers—sleepy-heads.

   But how shall this uncomely habit be remedied? Teach the people to allow as much of out-door in the house as can well be got into it; let every minister, who stands up in the name of his sacred Master, teach his congregation the nature and influence of the unseen and wondrous element by which they are surrounded; let him in persuasive eloquence urge them to throw open both doors and windows, and allow the free, fresh currents of God's atmosphere to pour in upon the people! Then will they be the better prepared for the reception of God's truth—there will then be no sleep to their eyes nor slumber to their eyelids.

 

Jenny Lind.

   ◘ THE SYRACUSE STAR is about to build a Rail Road from the saline city to Binghamton. It is hoped it may be successful. We believe the matter has been talked over before. When the work shall have been constructed, and the cars are in readiness—steam up, &c, our readers shall be duly apprised thereof.

   ◘ GRAHAM'S MAGAZINE.—The June number of this elegant monthly has reached us, embellished with Queen of the Woods; The Jolly Ride; The Smoker; Fashion Plate; Gold Fish; and Jenny Lind. This last mentioned adornment is one of the most beautiful specimens of art we have ever seen. If the likeness be faithful, then, indeed, we do not wonder that thousands are enraptured with the ''Swedish Nightingale." The charms of her person must be equal to the reputed sweetness of her voice. The reading matter of this number is of a high order. Graham promises us some rich things in future.

   ◘ SARTAIN'S UNION MAGAZINE.—The June number of this work is greatly admired by its fair patrons. Affection of the Indians for Las Casas; The Mother's Blessing; Jenny Lind; Coast of the Red Sea; Stoddard's Castle in the Air; and Toilett De Ville are all fine engravings. The reading is equal to that of any former issue of this magazine. The editor promises us a brilliant number for July—among other embellishments some fifteen engraving illustrating the life of Wm. Penn. The interest of this work is admirably sustained.

   ◘ GLORIOUS NEWS FOR SHAD EATERS.—The southerly winds and rain storms, which are now visiting us, have proved of extraordinary benefit to the Fishermen in the North and East rivers. Last Monday night no less than 1,600 shad were caught in the North river opposite the Hoboken shore—N. Y. Globe.

 

Frederick Douglass.

Rev. Samuel Ward.

Captain Isaiah Rynders.

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Late Riot in New York.

   We copy from an exchange a single act in the great drama which came off recently in the Tabernacle; and which will serve to amuse our readers—especially will that part of the performance in which Ward figured be interesting. Our extract commences at the most exciting and amusing part.—ED. EXPRESS.

   Captain RYNDERS—Having now had a long conference with the devil, we want to hear the right side in its turn.

   Mr. GRANT.—Ladies and gentlemen, I do not wish to disturb this meeting. I do not wish to interfere in any way with the rights of individuals. (Cheers.) The gentleman has said it has been appointed in the program that Mr. Furness should next speak. I wish only to give utterance to a few simple facts, and urge a little sound reason, which seems to have left this meeting. (Cheers.) Rather than interrupt, I should prefer that Mr. Furness speak first; but I want him to limit himself to fifteen or twenty minutes, so that we may know when he will stop.

   (Mr. Furness then continued his speech with occasional interruptions from Captain Rynders, but as we give a full report of it elsewhere, we omit that of the Herald.—ED. Standard.

   The Chairman hereupon said: "Mr. Grant can now address the meeting without interruption."

   Mr. Grant then came forward and said—The assertions made about the colored race being equal to the white man, were an outrage upon our heaven-born institution—an imposition upon the refined promptings of our inner nature, which exemplify the voice of God in the laws of man. It had been assumed that the black was a man in the full sense of the word. This he respectfully begged leave to deny. It was a ridiculous pretension, which had been tolerated too long. The speaker then entered into proofs, drawn from nature and reason, to show the inferiority of the negro race, and that the Creator had designed the negroes to be inferior in their original formation. In conclusion he said, I repudiate this most obnoxious abolition gathering and movement, as unworthy the age in which we live, and that goodly land where we were born. And I entreat you all to leave your wild speculations in view of transcendental negro elevation, and confine your efforts to the elevation of those capable of being elevated; and as sure as the sun shall rise, will success then crown your efforts; while, as certainly as he sets at night, will defeat, degradation, and ruin overwhelm those who, in their insane course, violate their own glorious instincts, and the laws of nature and of "nature's God." [sic.]

   The above speech of Mr. Grant produced a curious sensation. It was listened to with deep attention and great good humor. The learned array of philosophical words and expressions caused hearty bursts of laughter, and there were hearty shouts of "Oh, don't give us a medical lecture." Every strange word operated like a comedy to produce uncontrollable laughter; at one passage, as the speaker mentioned the color and shades of hair, a loud voice from the extreme gallery cried out, "Well vot [what] of it?" which raised again an immense laughter. The speaker then came off better, and acquitted himself better than was to have been expected in such an assembly with such a topic for a discourse.

   Loud cries for Douglass were now raised. Frederick Douglass came forward to speak to Captain Rynders, and a crowd behind him stood close by at his elbow. Some talking took place, sotto voce. As Douglass was about to begin, Captain Rynders was heard to say, "Don't speak disrespectfully—if you do, I'll knock you down."

   Douglass replied, "No I won't," which at first we thought was, "No you won't." We understand Captain R. said that if he spoke disrespectfully of the South, or Washington or Patrick Henry, or the President, then he would knock him down.

   F. Douglass then, with Captain Rynders at his elbow, began as follows:—There is not much danger of this meeting being disturbed by a monkey—it would be quite discreditable for so large an assembly as this if it could be disturbed by a monkey. I am here, one of the representatives of an enslaved and of a slandered people.

   Captain Rynders.—That's a lie. You are not slandered—you may be enslaved, but you are not slandered.

   F. Douglass proceeded—I belong to that enslaved people; a people so low, that the lowest of men would not insult a black man. In the community at Rochester there is not a white man would insult a black man; a negro is too low for their dignity. I make this remark in order that you may see in what light I regard the man who would insult a negro. I, who have endured the whip, who bears the marks of the lash upon my back, who have been driven to the slave market in Talbot county, Maryland, and put up for sale to the highest bidder, like the brute beasts—I cannot well appreciate an insult! Therefore let no man hope for success if he tries to insult me. You have heard a person call upon you to examine if we are men—I invite you to the examination, and ask the audience to be a judge whether I am a man or not.

   Captain Rynders—you are not a black man, you are a half brother; you are only half a negro.

   F. DOUGLASS—He is correct. I am indeed only half a negro, and am half a white man, a half-brother to Mr. Rynders. (Loud laughter.)  Now, here I would call for your special attention: stick a pin here, make a mark here. I was not bred among Abolitionists, but among slaveholders. Yes, the son of a slaveholder stands before you, by a colored mother, a mother as dearly beloved as if she had been white as snow. I am the son of a Southern slaveholder. To whom do the remarks apply which are made in relation to amalgamation in this country? Not to the North but to the South. The whole country south of Mason's and Dixon's line is given up to amalgamation. The Southerners hold to it, and have so contrived it by their laws, to uphold and support it, that if a black woman was to lift up her hand in defense of her virtue, the Southerner would be permitted by the law to strike her dead. (Sensation.)

   Captain RYNDERS.—There is no such law in the South.

   F. DOUGLASS.—Yes, in Virginia, if a black should raise the hand to strike a white man, the white man might strike the black dead. We are not only an enslaved, but we are a slandered people; we are said to be incapable of improvement. The press in this city, as in other cities, comes down upon us. The reason why we are degraded in the North, is because of the prejudices which press upon us wherever we go, in the school-house, in the highways, in the by-ways, in the church, in every place depressing and degrading us. I should presume too much upon the ignorance of Mr. Greeley, the editor of the Tribune, who asks why we do not leave the country and prove that we are men, if I thought he did not know the reason why we are degraded. I say to those who taunt us, remove the obstacles; I say it not in disrespect to any man. When I was a slave in the South, belonging to Captain Stanners, I earned nine dollars a week for him as a caulker; but the moment I landed in New Bedford eleven years ago and asked to go to work, I was told by a ship-builder there, that he dared not employ me, for if he did, all the white men would quit the work, and he said he would not be able to finish the job. This is the case in the North with hundreds of fugitives. Yes, I am a fugitive. I glory in the name. Kossuth is a fugitive. There is prejudice, however, against fugitives, even against Daniel Webster, another half-brother of mine.

   Captain RYNDERS.—He's a three quarter brother of; he's as black as you are.

   F. DOUGLASS, in continuation—Excluded as we are by prejudice, it is a marvel to me that we are as respectable as we are. The Irish laborer, when just landed, has more privileges than we have, who are born in the country. (A voice—What! compare a nigger to an Irishman?) The black man's blood was the first spouted at Bunker's Hill. (Cry—what color was it?) A little darker than yourself. If the North is not indebted to the South, to whom is it indebted? Whose labor raises the cotton for the shirts on your backs? Whose labor raises the sugar to sweeten your coffee? The negro's, and you know it. And if we had a chance, we would do more for you. (A voice—Yes, you'd cut our throats.) No, indeed, we would cut your hair for you. (Great laughter.) The idea of cutting your throats is out of the question; for we have been handling the razor for half a century, The negro is not disdained to be in the company of the whites, when he appears in livery as a servant; then our offensiveness all disappears, when we are decorated as servants. That shows that the condition, not the man, is regarded, and that labor is dishonored. As to Mr. Grant's theory, he says we are doomed to die out. How can that be? In the war of the revolution we were only 600,000,and now we are over three millions. (A voice, "mongrels and all.") Oh yes, you mix us up terribly, all the mongrels belong to us. You lash us, you make us toil that others may reap, you sell our wives and children in the market, yet we live, we do not die out. (Captain Rynders here spoke something to Douglass.) He says I am mistaken, that we decrease in the North, it is only in the South we are increased. I do not know if that is true; but what of it, it makes no real difference; we do not die out as Mr. Grant says, and by the blessing of God, we mean to stay, not to hurt any man, but to do our part as good citizens. But, if what Mr. Grant says is true, why trouble us? Why urge us to leave the country? Let us die out without cuffing and kicking us about. As to what Mr. Grant says about our descent and our powers, our lengthened jaws, our curved spine, our powers of procreation, &c—

   Captain RYNDERS.—I advise you to address yourself to the ladies on that subject, as they understand, and can appreciate your powers in that line.

   F. D., in continuation—I don't care if I am a monkey; I have eyes; I see; therefore God has given me to see; I have a head to think, therefore I have a right to think as long as I have language to speak and a heart to feel; and so long as God enables me, I will exercise my thoughts, my tongue, and all my powers on the behalf of freedom and justice for every man. (Cheers.)

   Sam Brown [Ward], deep glossy jet black negro the darkest hue, a man of gigantic stature and a fine commanding countenance, quand meme, came forward upon repeated calls, and  addressed the assemblage as follows: My friends, hear me for my cause, and be silent that ye may hear me. I have read medicine and studied dead men's bones, as well as Mr. Grant. I have often heard of the magnanimity of Captain Rynders, but the half has not been told me. I agree with F. Douglass; it makes no odds if the chin protrudes or the forehead retires. I don't come here to find fault with Capt. Rynders; but he is a Democrat; a friend of Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and says that every man is born free and equal and has the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All I ask of Americans is that they should stick to that, to their own doctrine. As to the learned theory we have heard, I think Mr. Grant once discussed his doctrine with one John Smith. I made up my opinion at the time about both speakers. Euclid was a black man, [with] the elliptical head, the protruding jaw, and if he was not a man, then there are no men, white or black (applause.) I might quote Mr. Everett, who says we derive our knowledge from the Romans, they from the Greeks, they from the Jews, and lastly, they from the Egyptians. Now the Egyptians were blacks. Herodotus, the father of history, says so, and he would not lie. He knew black from white. I am but a poor specimen of a negro. I ran about the streets of New York a little boy, fifteen years ago; they often told me I was a nigger, and tried to make me believe it, but I would not believe it. I kept school in New York and New Jersey, and had all complexions among my scholars, from the unmistakable jet black down to the nicest dissolving views, and I have found white men as niggerish as black men; and men that if you knocked at the door of their heads—as a writer says—there was nobody at home (Laughter.) One word about natural instinct, because the Herald speaks about spirits black, white, and grey, as if he saw them. 1 never pretended to see or to speak to them, if they were contrary to instinct; but have you a Bible here? In Acts, chapter 13, verse—you will find whites and blacks in close propinquity. There were a number of prophets in the church at Antioch, and one of them was Simon, who was called Niger—and that is the Latin for a black man. If that which they have told us is instinct, tell me why such an instinct is only known in America? It is an instinct of American origin; a Yankee invention, something like pinewood hams and wooden nutmegs. I am going to speak this evening to colored people on their rights and duties; and if they don't behave better than some white men, why it will be time for me to give up my argument.

   The hour of adjournment having now arrived, and other societies waiting for admission, the chairman adjourned the meeting, which dispersed in great quietness and order.