American Scenes, and Christian Slavery: A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United StatesDavies, Ebenezer
History
American Scenes, and Christian Slavery: A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States
Davies, Ebenezer
Slavery -- United States; United States -- Description and travel
March 14.--The day on which we arrived at Baltimore was the Sabbath. In
a public room in the National Hotel, at which we were stopping, was
hung up a nicely-framed announcement of the order of services in one of
the Presbyterian Churches. We wished, however, to find a Congregational
place of worship, and set off with that view. It was a beautiful day,
and Baltimore seemed to send forth its inhabitants by streets-full to
the various churches. In the _Old_ World I never saw anything like it,
nor elsewhere in the _New_, except perhaps at Boston. All secular
engagements seemed to be entirely suspended, and the whole city seemed
to enjoy a Sabbath! As we walked along, I asked a young man if he could
direct me to a Congregational church. He stared at me for a moment, and
then said, "Do you mean a church with pews in it?" I asked another,
"Can you tell me where I shall find a Congregational church in this
city?"--"What congregation do you mean, sir?" was the reply. They
evidently knew nothing at all about Congregationalism. The fact was, as
I afterwards understood, we had not yet come into its latitude; for in
America Presbyterianism and Congregationalism have hitherto been
matters of latitude and longitude rather than of earnest conviction and
firm adherence. We now inquired for a _Presbyterian_ church, and were
told that there was one not far from where we then stood, in which Mr.
Plummer--a very popular minister just come into the city--preached.
Following the directions given, we came to a certain church, in front
of which two or three grave men stood talking to each other. In answer
to the question, "What church is this?" one of these grave men said,
with a good broad Scotch accent, "It's a Presbyterian church." The
accent gave a double confirmation to the answer. "Is it Mr. Plummer's
church?" I continued. With the same accent, and in a tone of gentle
rebuke, I was told, "Yes, it is _Doctor_ Plummer's." We entered. The
congregation were assembling. We were left either to stand in the aisle
or to take a seat as we pleased. We preferred the latter. The building
was new, but built in the old Gothic style. The pews, the pulpit, the
front of the gallery, the organ, and the framework of the roof, which
was all exposed, were of oak, which had been made to resemble in colour
wood that has stood the test of 400 or 500 years. The windows also were
darkened. The whole affair was tremendously heavy, enough to mesmerize
any one. The congregation was large, respectable, and decorous. After a
few glances around, to see if there was a negro pew anywhere, I
observed several coloured faces peeping from a recess in the gallery,
on the left side of the organ,--there was the "Negro Pew," In due time
_Doctor_ Plummer ascended the pulpit. He was a fine tall man,
grey-haired, well dressed, with commanding aspect and a powerful voice.
I ceased to wonder at the emphasis with which the Scotchman called him
_Doctor_ Plummer. He was quite the _ideal_ of a _Doctor_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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