CHAPTER XLIII
Results part2
On maturedeliberation, it was decided that the whole family should go, for some years,to France; whither they sailed, carrying Emmeline with them.
The good looks ofthe latter won the affection of the first mate of the vessel; and, shortly afterentering the port, she became his wife.
George remainedfour years at a French university, and, applying himself with an unintermittedzeal, obtained a very thorough education.
Political troublesin France, at last, led the family again to seek an asylum in this country.
George's feelingsand views, as an educated man, may be best expressed in a letter to one of hisfriends.
"I feelsomewhat at a loss, as to my future course. True, as you have said to me, Imight mingle in the circles of the whites, in this country, my shade of coloris so slight, and that of my wife and family scarce perceptible. Well, perhaps,on sufferance, I might. But, to tell you the truth, I have no wish to.
"My sympathiesare not for my father's race, but for my mother's. To him I was no more than afine dog or horse: to my poor heart-broken mother I was a child ;and, though I never saw her, after the cruel sale that separated us, till shedied, yet I know she always loved me dearly. I know it by myown heart. When I think of all she suffered, of my own early sufferings, of thedistresses and struggles of my heroic wife, of my sister, sold in the NewOrleans slave-market,—thoughI hope to have no unchristian sentiments, yet I may be excused for saying, Ihave no wish to pass for an American, or to identify myself with them.
"It is withthe oppressed, enslaved African race that I cast in my lot; and, if I wishedanything, I would wish myself two shades darker, rather than one lighter.
"The desireand yearning of my soul is for an African nationality . I wanta people that shall have a tangible, separate existence of its own; and wheream I to look for it? Not in Hayti; for in Hayti they had nothing to start with.A stream cannot rise above its fountain. The race that formed the character ofthe Haytiens was a worn-out, effeminate one; and, of course, the subject racewill be centuries in rising to anything.
"Where, then,shall I look? On the shores of Africa I see a republic,—a republic formed ofpicked men, who, by energy and self-educating force, have, in many cases,individually, raised themselves above a condition of slavery. Having gonethrough a preparatory stage of feebleness, this republic has, at last, becomean acknowledged nation on the face of the earth,—acknowledgedby both France and England. There it is my wish to go, and find myself apeople.
"I am aware,now, that I shall have you all against me; but, before you strike, hear me.During my stay in France, I have followed up, with intense interest, thehistory of my people in America. I have noted the struggle between abolitionistand colonizationist, and have received some impressions, as a distantspectator, which could never have occurred to me as a participator.
"I grant thatthis Liberia may have subserved all sorts of purposes, by being played off, inthe hands of our oppressors, against us. Doubtless the scheme may have beenused, in unjustifiable ways, as a means of retarding our emancipation. But thequestion to me is, Is there not a God above all man's schemes? May He not haveover-ruled their designs, and founded for us a nation by them?
"In thesedays, a nation is born in a day. A nation starts, now, with all the greatproblems of republican life and civilization wrought out to its hand;—it has not todiscover, but only to apply. Let us, then, all take hold together, with all ourmight, and see what we can do with this new enterprise, and the whole splendidcontinent of Africa opens before us and our children. Our nation shallroll the tide of civilization and Christianity along its shores, and plantthere mighty republics, that, growing with the rapidity of tropical vegetation,shall be for all coming ages.
"Do you saythat I am deserting my enslaved brethren? I think not. If I forget them onehour, one moment of my life, so may God forget me! But, what can I do for them,here? Can I break their chains? No, not as an individual; but, let me go andform part of a nation, which shall have a voice in the councils of nations, andthen we can speak. A nation has a right to argue, remonstrate, implore, andpresent the cause of its race,—which an individual has not.
"If Europeever becomes a grand council of free nations,—as I trust in God it will,—if, there, serfdom, and all unjust and oppressive socialinequalities, are done away; and if they, as France and England have done,acknowledge our position,—then, in the great congressof nations, we will make our appeal, and present the cause of our enslaved andsuffering race; and it cannot be that free, enlightened America will not thendesire to wipe from her escutcheon that bar sinister which disgraces her amongnations, and is as truly a curse to her as to the enslaved.
"But, you willtell me, our race have equal rights to mingle in the American republic as theIrishman, the German, the Swede. Granted, they have. We ought tobe free to meet and mingle,—to rise by our individual worth, without any consideration of casteor color; and they who deny us this right are false to their own professedprinciples of human equality. We ought, in particular, to be allowed here .We have more than the rights of common men;—we have the claim of an injured race for reparation. But,then, I do not want it ; I want a country, a nation, of myown. I think that the African race has peculiarities, yet to be unfolded in thelight of civilization and Christianity, which, if not the same with those ofthe Anglo-Saxon, may prove to be, morally, of even a higher type.
"To theAnglo-Saxon race has been intrusted the destinies of the world, during itspioneer period of struggle and conflict. To that mission its stern, inflexible,energetic elements, were well adapted; but, as a Christian, I look for anotherera to arise. On its borders I trust we stand; and the throes that now convulsethe nations are, to my hope, but the birth-pangs of an hour of universal peaceand brotherhood.
"I trust thatthe development of Africa is to be essentially a Christian one. If not adominant and commanding race, they are, at least, an affectionate, magnanimous,and forgiving one. Having been called in the furnace of injustice andoppression, they have need to bind closer to their hearts that sublime doctrineof love and forgiveness, through which alone they are to conquer, which it isto be their mission to spread over the continent of Africa.
"In myself, Iconfess, I am feeble for this,—full half the blood in my veins is the hot and hasty Saxon; but Ihave an eloquent preacher of the Gospel ever by my side, in the person of mybeautiful wife. When I wander, her gentler spirit ever restores me, and keepsbefore my eyes the Christian calling and mission of our race. As a Christianpatriot, as a teacher of Christianity, I go to my country ,—my chosen, my glorious Africa!—and to her,in my heart, I sometimes apply those splendid words of prophecy: 'Whereas thouhast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee; I willmake thee an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations!'
"You will callme an enthusiast: you will tell me that I have not well considered what I amundertaking. But I have considered, and counted the cost. I go to Liberia ,not as an Elysium of romance, but as to a field of work . Iexpect to work with both hands,—to work hard ; to work against all sorts ofdifficulties and discouragements; and to work till I die. This is what I gofor; and in this I am quite sure I shall not be disappointed.
"Whatever youmay think of my determination, do not divorce me from your confidence; andthink that, in whatever I do, I act with a heart wholly given to my people.
"GEORGEHARRIS."
George, with hiswife, children, sister and mother, embarked for Africa, some few weeks after.If we are not mistaken, the world will yet hear from him there.
Of our othercharacters we have nothing very particular to write, except a word relating toMiss Ophelia and Topsy, and a farewell chapter, which we shall dedicate toGeorge Shelby.
Miss Ophelia tookTopsy home to Vermont with her, much to the surprise of the grave deliberativebody whom a New Englander recognizes under the term "Our folks .""Our folks," at first, thought it an odd and unnecessary addition totheir well-trained domestic establishment; but, so thoroughly efficient wasMiss Ophelia in her conscientious endeavor to do her duty by her élève , that the child rapidly grew in grace and in favor with the familyand neighborhood. At the age of womanhood, she was, by her own request,baptized, and became a member of the Christian church in the place; and showedso much intelligence, activity and zeal, and desire to do good in the world,that she was at last recommended, and approved as a missionary to one of thestations in Africa; and we have heard that the same activity and ingenuitywhich, when a child, made her so multiform and restless in her developments, isnow employed, in a safer and wholesomer manner, in teaching the children of herown country.
P.S.—It will be asatisfaction to some mother, also, to state, that some inquiries, which wereset on foot by Madame de Thoux, have resulted recently in the discovery ofCassy's son. Being a young man of energy, he had escaped, some years before hismother, and been received and educated by friends of the oppressed in thenorth. He will soon follow his family to Africa.
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