The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  ment to enforce their heaviest penalties against offenders. If Mr. Matthews

  violated the law, he should have been tried by the law; and he would have been,

  had he committed an illegal act. No charge of the kind is made against him.

  He was, then, the victim of Lynch law, administered in a ruffianly manner, and

  without provocation; and the parties concerned in the transaction, whatever

  their position in society, were guilty of conduct as cowardly as it was brutal.

  As to the manner in which Mr. Matthews has conducted himself in Kentucky

  we know nothing. We transfer to our columns the following extract from an

  editorial in the “Journal and Messenger” of Cincinnati, a Baptist paper, and

  which, it may be presumed, speaks intelligently on the subject:

  “Mr. Matthews is likewise a Baptist minister, whose ostensible mission is one of

  love. If he has violated that mission, or any law, he is amenable to God and law,

  and not to lawless violence. His going to Kentucky is a matter of conscience

  to him, in which he has a right to indulge. Many good anti-slavery men would

  question the wisdom of such a step. None would doubt his right. Many, as a

  matter of taste and propriety, cannot admire the way in which he is reputed to do

  his work. But they believe he is conscientious, and they know that `oppression

  maketh even a wise man mad.' We do not think, in obedience to Christ's com-

  mands, he sufficiently counted the cost. For no one in his position should go to

  Kentucky to agitate the question of slavery, unless he expects to die. No

  man in this position, which Mr. Matthews occupies, can do it, without falling a

  martyr. Liberty of speech and thought is not, cannot be, enjoyed in slave States.

  Slavery could not exist for a moment, if it did. It is, doubtless, the duty of the

  Christian not to surrender his life cheaply, for the sake of being a martyr. This

  would be an unholy motive. It is his duty to preserve it until the last moment;

  so Christ enjoins. It is no mark of cowardice to flee. `When they persecute you

  in one city, flee into another,' said the Saviour. But he did not say, Give a pledge

  that you will not exercise your rights. Hence, he nor his disciples never did it.

  But it is a question, after one has deliberated, and conscientiously entered a com-

  munity in the exercise of his constitutional and religious rights, whether he should

  give a pledge, under the influence of a love of life, never to return. If he does, he

  has not counted the cost. A Christian should be as conscientious in pledging

  solemnly not to do what he has an undoubted right to do, as he is in labouring for

  the emancipation of the slave.”

  The following is from the National Era, July 10, 1851.

  Mr. McBride wished to form a church of non-slaveholders.

  This missionary, it will be remembered, was expelled lately from the State of

  North Carolina.

  We give below his letter detailing the conduct of the mob. His letter is dated

  Guilford, May 6. After writing that he is suffering from temporary illness, he

  proceeds:

  “I would have kept within doors this day, but for the fact that I mistrusted a

  mob would be out to disturb my congregation, though such a hint had not been

  given me by a human being. About six o'clock this morning I crawled into my

  carriage and drove eighteen miles, which brought me to my meeting-place,

  eight miles east of Greensboro'--the place I gave an account of a few weeks

  since--where some seven or eight persons gave their names to go into the organisa-

  tion of a Wesleyan Methodist church. Well, sure enough, just before meeting

  time (twelve o'clock), I was informed that a pack of rioters were on hand, and that

  they had sworn I should not fulfil my appointment this day. As they had

  heard nothing of this before, the news came upon some of my friends like a

  clap of thunder from a clear sky; they scarcely knew what to do. I told

  them I should go to meeting or die in the attempt, and, like `good sol-

  diers,' they followed. Just before I got to the arbour, I saw a man leave

  the crowd and approach me at the left of my path. As I was about to

  pass, he said--

  “ `Mr. McBride, here is a letter for you.'

  “I took the letter, put it into my pocket, and said, `I have not time to read

  it until after meeting.'

  “ `No, you must read it now.'

  “Seeing that I did not stop, he said, `I want to speak to you,' beckoning with

  his hand and turning, expecting me to follow.

  “ `I will talk to you after meeting,' said I, pulling out my watch; `you see I

  have no time to spare--it is just twelve.

  “As I went to go in at the door of the stand, a man who had taken his

  seat on the step rose up, placed his hand on me, and said, in a very excited

  tone--

  “ `Mr. McBride, you can't go in here!'

  “Without offering any resistance, or saying a word, I knelt down outside

  the stand, on the ground, and prayed to my `Father;' pled his promises,

  such as, `When the enemy comes in like a flood, I will rear up a standard

  against him;' `I am a present help in trouble;' I will fight all your battles for

  you; prayed for grace, victory, my enemies, &c. Rose perfectly calm. Mean-

  time my enemies cursed and swore some, but most of the time they were rather

  quiet. Mr. Hiatt, a slave-holder and merchant from Greensboro', said--

  “ `You can't preach here to-day; we have come to prevent you. We think

  you are doing harm--violating our laws,' &c.

  “ `From what authority do you thus command and prevent me from preaching?

  Are you authorised by the civil authority to prevent me?'

  “ `No, sir.'

  “ `Has God sent you, and does he enjoin it on you as a duty to stop me?'

  “ `I am unacquainted with Him.'

  “ `Well, `acquaint thyself now with Him, and be at peace,' and he will give

  you a more honourable business than stopping men from preaching his gospel.

  The judgment-day is coming on, and I summon you there, to give an account of

  this day's conduct. And now, gentlemen, if I have violated the laws of North

  Carolina, by them I am willing to be judged, condemned, and punished--to go to

  the whipping-post, pillory, or jail, or even to hug the stake. But, gentlemen,

  you are not generally a pack of ignoramuses; your good sense teaches you the

  impropriety of your course; you know that you are doing wrong; you know that

  it is not right to trample all law, both human and divine, in the dust, out of pro-

  fessed love for it. You must see that your course will lead to perfect anarchy and

  confusion. The time may come when Jacob Hiatt may be in the minority, when

  his principles may be as unpopular as Jesse McBride's are now. What then?

  Why, if your course prevails, he must be lynched--whipped, stoned, tarred and

  feathered, dragged from his own house, or his house burned over his head, and he

  perish in the ruins. The persons became food for the beasts they threw Daniel

  to: the same fire that was kindled for the `Hebrew children' consumed those who

  kindled it; Haman stretched the same rope he prepared for Mordecai. Yours is a

  dangerous course, and you must reap a retribution, either here or hereafter. We

  will sing a hymn,' said I.

&
nbsp; “ `O yes,' said H., `you may sing.'

  “ `The eongregation will please assist me, as I am quite unwell;' and I lined off

  the hymn, `Father, I stretch my hands to thee,' &c., rioters and all helping to

  sing. All seemed in good humour, and I almost forgot their errand. When we

  closed I said, `Let us pray.'

  “ `G--d d----n it, that's not singing!' said one of the company, who stood

  back pretty well.

  “While we invoked the divine blessing, I think many could say, `It is good

  for us to be here.' Before I rose from my knees, after the friends rose, I delivered

  an exhortation of some ten or fifteen minutes, in which I urged the brethren to

  stedfastness, prayer, &c., some of the mob crying `Lay hold of him!' `Drag

  him out!' `Stop him!' &c.

  “My voice being nearly drowned by the tumult, I left off. I was then called to

  have some conversation with H., who repeated some of the charges he preferred at

  first--said I was bringing on insurrection, causing disturbance, &c.; wishing me

  to leave the State; said he had some slaves, and he himself was the most of a

  slave of any of them, had harder times than they had, and he would like to be

  shut of them, and that he was my true friend.

  “ `As to your friendship, Mr. H., you have acted quite friendly, remarkably so--

  fully as much so as Judas when he kissed the Saviour. As to your having to be

  so much of a slave, I am sorry for you; you ought to be freed. As to insurrec-

  tion, I am decidedly opposed to it, have no sympathy with it whatever. As to

  raising disturbance and leaving the State, I left a little motherless daughter in

  Ohio, over whom I wished to have an oversight and care. When I left, I only

  expected to remain in North Carolina one year; but the people dragged me up

  before the Court under the charge of felony, put me in bonds, and kept me; and

  now would you have me leave my securities to suffer--have me lie and deceive the

  Court?'

  “ `O! if you will leave, your bail will not have to suffer; that can, I think, be

  settled without much trouble,' said Mr. H.

  “ `They shall not have trouble on my account,' said I.

  “After talking with Mr. H. and one or two more on personal piety, &c. I went

  to the arbour, took my seat in the door of the stand for a minute; then rose, and,

  after referring to a few texts of Scripture, to show that all those who will live

  godly shall suffer persecution, I inquired, 1st, What is persecution? 2ndly,

  noticed the fact, `shall suffer;' gave a synoptical history of persecution, by

  showing that Abel was the first martyr for the right--the Israelites' sufferings.

  The prophets were stoned, were sawn usunder, were tempted, were slain with

  the sword, had to wander in deserts, mountains, dens, and caves of the earth, were

  driven from their houses, given to ferocious beasts, lashed to the stake, and de-

  stroyed in different ways. Spoke of John the Baptist; showed how he was per-

  secuted, and what the charge. Christ was persecuted for doing what John was per-

  secuted for not doing. Spoke of the sufferings of the apostles, and their final

  death; of Luther and his coadjutors; of the Wesleys and early Methodists; of

  Fox and the early Quakers; of the early settlers in the colonies of the United

  States. Noticed why the righteous were persecuted, the advantages thereof to the

  righteous themselves, and how they should treat their persecutors--with kindness,

  &c. Spoke, I suppose, some half an hour, and dismissed. Towards the close some

  of the rioters got quite angry, and yelled, `Stop him!' `Pull him out!' `The

  righteous were never persecuted for d--d abolitionism,' &c. Some of them paid

  good attention to what I said. And thus we spent the time from twelve to three

  o'clock, and thus the meeting passed by.

  “Brother dear, I am more and more confirmed in the righteousness of our

  cause. I would rather, much rather, die for good principles, than to have ap-

  plause and honour for propagating false theories and abominations. You perhaps

  would like to know how I feel. Happy, most of the time. A religion that will

  not stand persecution will not take us to heaven. Blessed be God that I have not

  thus far been suffered to deny Him! Sometimes I have thought that I was nearly

  home. I generally feel a calmness of soul, but sometimes my enjoyments are rap-

  turous. I have had a great burden of prayer for the dear flock; help me pray for

  them. Thank God, I have not heard of one of them giving up or turning; and

  I believe, some, if not most of them, would go to the stake rather than give back.

  I forgot to say I read a part of the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles to

  the rioters, commencing at the 17th verse. I told them, if their institutions were

  of God, I could not harm them; that if our cause was of God, they could not

  stop it--that they could kill me, but they could not kill the truth. Though I

  talked plainly, I talked and felt kindly to them.

  “I have had to write in such haste, and being fatigued and unwell, my letter is

  disconnected. I meant to give you a copy of the letter of the mob. Here it is:

  “ `Mr. McBride:

  “ `We, the subscribers, very and most respectfully request you not to attempt to

  fulfil your appointment at this place. If you do, you will surely be interrupted.'

  “ `May 6, 1851.' (Signed by 32 persons.)

  “Some were professors of religion--Presbyterians, Episcopal Methodists, and

  Methodist Protestants. One of the latter was an `exhorter.' I understand some

  of the crowd were negro-traders.

  “Farewell, J. McBride.'

  * The writer is describing here a scene of recent occurrence in a slave State, of

  whose particulars she has the best means of knowledge. The work in question

  was “Uncle Tom's Cabin.”

  PART IV.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH ON SLAVERY.

  There is no country in the world where the religious in-

  fluence has a greater ascendancy than in America. There is no

  country where the clergy are more powerful. This is the more

  remarkable, because in America religion is entirely divorced

  from the State, and the clergy have none of those artificial

  means for supporting their influence which result from rank and

  wealth. Taken as a body of men, the American clergy are

  generally poor. The salaries given to them afford only a bare

  support, and yield them no means of acquiring property. Their

  style of living can be barely decent and respectable, and no

  more. The fact that, under these circumstances, the American

  clergy are probably the most powerful body of men in the

  country, is of itself a strong presumptive argument in their

  favour. It certainly argues in them, as a class, both intellectual

  and moral superiority.

  It is a well-known fact that the influence of the clergy is

  looked upon by our statesmen as a most serious element in

  making up their political combinations; and that that influence

  is so great, that no statesman would ever undertake to carry a

  measure against which all the clergy of the country should unite.

  Such a degree of power, though it be only a power of opinion,

  argument, and example, is no
t without its dangers to the purity

  of any body of men. To be courted by political partisans is

  always a dangerous thing for the integrity and spirituality of

  men who profess to be governed by principles which are not of

  this world. The possession, too, of so great a power as we

  have described, involves a most weighty responsibility; since,

  if the clergy do possess the power to rectify any great national

  immorality, the fact of its not being done seems in some sort to

  bring the sin of the omission to their door.

  We have spoken, thus far, of the clergy alone; but in Ame-

  rica, where the clergyman is, in most denominations, elected by

  the church, and supported by its voluntary contributions, the

  influence of the church and that of the clergy are, to a very great

  extent, identical. The clergyman is the very ideal and expression

  of the church. They choose him, and retain him, because he

  expresses more perfectly than any other man they can obtain

  their ideas of truth and right. The clergyman is supported, in

  all cases, by his church, or else he cannot retain his position in

  it. The fact of his remaining there is generally proof of identity

  of opinion, since, if he differed very materially from them, they

  have the power to withdraw from him, and choose another.

  The influence of a clergyman, thus retained by the free consent

  of the understanding and heart of his church, is in some respects

  greater even than that of a papal priest. The priest can control

  only by a blind spiritual authority, to which, very often, the

  reason demurs, while it yields an outward assent; but the suc-

  cessful free minister takes captive the affections of the heart by

  his affections, overrules the reasoning powers by superior strength

  of reason, and thus, availing himself of affection, reason, con-

  science, and the entire man, possesses a power, from the very

  freedom of the organisation, greater than can ever result from

  blind spiritual despotism. If a minister cannot succeed in doing

  this to some good extent in a church, he is called unsuccessful;

  and he who realises this description most perfectly has the

  highest and most perfect kind of power, and expresses the idea