These brave Negro sailors served faithfully through all the battles on the Lakes, and in the battle of Lake Erie rendered most effective service. Once more the artist has rescued from oblivion the heroism of the Negroes; for in the East Senate stairway of the Capitol at Washington, and in the rotunda of the Capitol at Columbus, in the celebrated picture of Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, a Negro sailor has a place among the immortalized crew. The following testimony to the bravery of Colored sailors is of the highest character. "EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM NATHANIEL SHALER, COMMANDER OF THE PRIVATE-ARMED SCHOONER 'GOV. TOMPKINS,' TO HIS AGENT IN NEW YORK, DATED-- "AT SEA, Jan. 1, 1813. * * * * * "Before I could get our light sails in, and almost before I could turn round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, but of a large _frigate_! and not more than a quarter of a mile from her.... Her first broadside killed two men, and wounded six others.... My officers conducted themselves in a way that would have done honor to a more permanent service.... The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with reverence, as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was a black man, by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four-pound shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates: '_Fire away, my boys; no haul a color down._' The other was also a black man, by the name of John Davis, and was struck in much the same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others. "When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean."[9] After praise of such a nature and from such a source, eulogy is superfluous. FOOTNOTES: [5] Livermore, pp. 159, 160. [6] Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 165, 166. [7] Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 186, 187. [8] Analectic Magazine, vol. iii. p. 255. [9] Niles's Weekly Register, Saturday, Feb. 26, 1814. PART 5. _ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION._ CHAPTER IV. RETROSPECTION AND REFLECTION. 1825-1850. THE SECURITY OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY AT THE SOUTH.--THE RIGHT TO HOLD SLAVES QUESTIONED.--RAPID INCREASE OF THE SLAVE POPULATION.--ANTI-SLAVERY SPEECHES IN THE LEGISLATURE OF VIRGINIA.--THE QUAKERS OF MARYLAND AND DELAWARE EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES.--THE EVIL EFFECT OF SLAVERY UPON SOCIETY.--THE CONSCIENCE AND HEART OF THE SOUTH DID NOT RESPOND TO THE VOICE OF REASON OR DICTATES OF HUMANITY.