The Liberator

(From the Alton, (Ill.) Observer.)
A NOBLE EXAMPLE.

David A. Smith, Esq. late of Huntsville, Ala. arrived in this place on Friday, with twelve colored persons, to whom he had lately given their freedom. Mr. S. was once the owner, (so called) of twenty-one slaves. But he has liberated them all. Nine of them remain for the present in Alabama, where, by the law, they may stay one year after their liberation. They will, Providence permitting, emigrate to this State the following spring. Meanwhile, as Mr. S. distinctly informed us, they are FREE; no longer property, but MEN. Mr. S. is an elder in the Presbyterian church, and was a member of the last General Assembly, in which we had the pleasure of forming his acquaintance. He told us then of the purpose he had formed of giving liberty to his slaves; and that he was then making those arrangements which he has now so happily completed.

We welcome such a man to our state—in the midst of so many church members and elders and ministers who connive at, or approve, or, worst of all, practice the abominations of slavery, for the sake of ease or gain, it refreshes the soul to meet with a man whose Christian principles are strong enough to enable him to do RIGHT at the expense of his purse. By the deed of emancipation, in this case, on the day in which it was executed, Mr. Smith lay down at night a poorer man by $2,000 than when he rose, since, for so much, these human beings might have been sold. But we venture to say, his sleep was none the less sweet; nor will his reflections, upon a dying bed, be the less soothing, nor his situation at the judgment bar of Him who is no 'respecter of persons,' the less enviable, because he refused to consign his fellow creatures to hopeless bondage, that he might put the price of their bodies and souls in his pocket.

We have received the following communication on this subject, which we cheerfully insert.

'Our town for a few days past has been gladdened with the bright smiles and joyous countenances of a few of the liberated sons of that dark, ill-fated, benighted race, so long oppressed and enslaved by those who are proud to call themselves the children of the champions of liberty, and the firm defenders of universal freedom. My heart is almost daily cheered and elated by the bright prospects that are continually spread before it. New light seems to break upon the minds of men as time advances, and the day will soon dawn when every shackle shall be broken, and all the 'oppressed go free.' Then shall the earth be glad, the rivers rejoice, the stars sing together for joy, and the hills clap their hands.

A Mr. Smith of Alabama, having last fall purchased a quantity of land in this State, recently arrived here with twelve slaves, and gave them that land and their precious liberty. How noble! how generous!

'I had considerable conversation with these, now freemen, and was delighted. Among many other questions, I asked one of them, if liberty was as pleasant as slavery? his answer was, 'yes master, oh yes, yes.' I again asked him if he felt like destroying his master for his having set him at liberty? he said, oh no master, I'd do any thing for master, I'd suffer any thing for him, I'd die for him. I asked him if the slaves in general at the South, understood the nature of liberty, and desired its restraints? he said yes master, they all want liberty, and their expecting it, was the only safety their masters had: but they dare not speak of liberty, for fear of being whipped or shot. Are they punished much, I asked; 'we were not' said he: but some of the slaves on the cotton patches, close to us, were whipped every day; sometimes their masters tied their hands and feet together—what they call bucking down—and then beat them with a flat board and then took the lash to prick the blisters. Are any of them instructed in Sabbath schools or other ways, I asked; he said that he had heard that some in Kentucky had Sabbath schools, but added, with a fallen countenance. In Alabama they raise too much cotton. I asked what were the feelings of the slaveholders in regard to their being liberated: he said that some of them cursed his master, and said, I'd give them liberty in a cotton patch, if I owned them.' I asked him if he knew any thing respecting the Sabbath? he said he had been told they must not work on the Sabbath? but, added he, slaves in Alabama, master, do work all Sunday, and their masters, perhaps, go to church.

Thus by these few simple answers, the spirit of the slaveholders and the enslaved is discovered. Unchain the dog, and see if he does not manifest gratitude for his liberty. Is the black man less worthy of trust than the brute? Much might be said of the evil consequences and sin of slavery; but I only give these few facts to the public, that they may judge for themselves, trusting that all will soon hear the voice of God and 'let the oppressed go FREE.'