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+Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Fugitive Blacksmith
+       or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington
+
+Author: James W. C. Pennington
+
+Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15130]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH;
+OR,
+EVENTS IN THE HISTORY
+OF
+JAMES W.C. PENNINGTON,
+PASTOR OF A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK,
+FORMERLY A SLAVE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, UNITED STATES.
+
+    "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert
+    to them from the face of the spoiler."--ISAIAH xvi. 4.
+
+Second Edition.
+
+LONDON:
+CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.
+
+1849
+
+[_Transcriber's Note: This project was transcribed from a contemporary
+printing of the work, not from the 1849 edition. Certain spellings may
+have been modernized and typographic and printer's errors changed from the
+original._]
+
+
+
+
+  MR. CHARLES GILPIN,
+
+  MY DEAR SIR,
+
+  The information just communicated to me by you, that another edition of
+  my little book, "The Fugitive Blacksmith," is called for, has agreeably
+  surprised me. The British public has laid me under renewed obligations
+  by this mark of liberality, which I hasten to acknowledge. I would avail
+  myself of this moment also, to acknowledge the kindness of the gentlemen
+  of the newspaper press for the many favourable reviews which my little
+  book has received. It is to them I am indebted, in no small degree, for
+  the success with which I have been favoured in getting the book before
+  the notice of the public.
+
+  Yours truly,
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  _Hoxton, Oct. 15th, 1849._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The brief narrative I here introduce to the public, consists of outline
+notes originally thrown together to guide my memory when lecturing on this
+part of the subject of slavery. This will account for its style, and will
+also show that the work is not full.
+
+The question may be asked, Why I have published anything so long after my
+escape from slavery? I answer I have been induced to do so on account of
+the increasing disposition to overlook the fact, that THE SIN of slavery
+lies in the chattel principle, or relation. Especially have I felt anxious
+to save professing Christians, and my brethren in the ministry, from
+falling into a great mistake. My feelings are always outraged when I hear
+them speak of "kind masters,"--"Christian masters,"--"the mildest form of
+slavery,"--"well fed and clothed slaves," as extenuations of slavery; I am
+satisfied they either mean to pervert the truth, or they do not know what
+they say. The being of slavery, its soul and body, lives and moves in the
+chattel principle, the property principle, the bill of sale principle; the
+cart-whip, starvation, and nakedness, are its inevitable consequences to
+a greater or less extent, warring with the dispositions of men.
+
+There lies a skein of silk upon a lady's work-table. How smooth and
+handsome are the threads. But while that lady goes out to make a call, a
+party of children enter the apartment, and in amusing themselves, tangle
+the skein of silk, and now who can untangle it? The relation between
+master and slave is even as delicate as a skein of silk: it is liable to
+be entangled at any moment.
+
+The mildest form of slavery, if there be such a form, looking at the
+chattel principle as the definition of slavery, is comparatively the worst
+form. For it not only keeps the slave in the most unpleasant apprehension,
+like a prisoner in chains awaiting his trial; but it actually, in a great
+majority of cases, where kind masters do exist, trains him under the most
+favourable circumstances the system admits of, and then plunges him into
+the worst of which it is capable.
+
+It is under the mildest form of slavery, as it exists in Maryland,
+Virginia, and Kentucky, that the finest specimens of coloured females are
+reared. There are no mothers who rear, and educate in the natural graces,
+finer daughters than the Ethiopian women, who have the least chance to
+give scope to their maternal affections. But what is generally the fate of
+such female slaves? When they are not raised for the express purpose of
+supplying the market of a class of economical Louisian and Mississippi
+gentlemen, who do not wish to incur the expense of rearing legitimate
+families, they are, nevertheless, on account of their attractions, exposed
+to the most shameful degradation, by the young masters in the families
+where it is claimed they are so well off. My master once owned a beautiful
+girl about twenty-four. She had been raised in a family where her mother
+was a great favourite. She was her mother's darling child. Her master was
+a lawyer of eminent abilities and great fame, but owing to habits of
+intemperance, he failed in business, and my master purchased this girl for
+a nurse. After he had owned her about a year, one of his sons became
+attached to her, for no honourable purposes; a fact which was not only
+well-known among all of the slaves, but which became a source of
+unhappiness to his mother and sisters.
+
+The result was, that poor Rachel had to be sold to "Georgia." Never shall
+I forget the heart-rending scene, when one day one of the men was ordered
+to get "the one-horse cart ready to go into town;" Rachel, with her few
+articles of clothing, was placed in it, and taken into the very town where
+her parents lived, and there sold to the traders before their weeping
+eyes. That same son who had degraded her, and who was the cause of her
+being sold, acted as salesman, and bill of saleman. While this cruel
+business was being transacted, my master stood aside, and the girl's
+father, a pious member and exhorter in the Methodist Church, a venerable
+grey-headed man, with his hat off, besought that he might be allowed to
+get some one in the place to purchase his child. But no; my master was
+invincible. His reply was, "She has offended in my family, and I can only
+restore confidence by sending her out of hearing." After lying in prison a
+short time, her new owner took her with others to the far South, where her
+parents heard no more of her.
+
+Here was a girl born and reared under the mildest form of slavery. Her
+original master was reputed to be even indulgent. He lived in a town, and
+was a high-bred gentleman, and a lawyer. He had but a few slaves, and had
+no occasion for an overseer, those negro leeches, to watch and drive them;
+but when he became embarrassed by his own folly, the chattel principle
+doomed this girl to be sold at the same sale with his books, house, and
+horses. With my master she found herself under far more stringent
+discipline than she had been accustomed to, and finally degraded, and sold
+where her condition could not be worse, and where she had not the least
+hope of ever bettering it.
+
+This case presents the legitimate working of the great chattel principle.
+It is no accidental result--it is the fruit of the tree. You cannot
+constitute slavery without the chattel principle--and with the chattel
+principle you cannot save it from these results. Talk not then about kind
+and christian masters. They are not masters of the system. The system is
+master of them; and the slaves are their vassals.
+
+These storms rise on the bosom of the calmed waters of the system. You are
+a slave, a being in whom another owns property. Then you may rise with his
+pride, but remember the day is at hand when you must also fall with his
+folly. To-day you may be pampered by his meekness; but to-morrow you will
+suffer in the storm of his passions.
+
+In the month of September, 1848, there appeared in my study, one morning,
+in New York City, an aged coloured man of tall and slender form. I saw
+depicted on his countenance anxiety bordering on despair, still I was
+confident that he was a man whose mind was accustomed to faith. When I
+learned that he was a native of my own state, Maryland, having been born
+in the county of Montgomery, I at once became much interested in him. He
+had been sent to me by my friend, William Harned, Esq., of the
+Anti-Slavery Office, 61, John Street. He put into my hand the following
+bill of distress:--
+
+  "Alexander, Virginia, _September 5th, 1848._
+
+  "The bearer, Paul Edmondson, is the father of two girls, Mary Jane and
+  Emily Catherine Edmondson. These girls have been purchased by us, and
+  once sent to the South; and upon the positive assurance that the money
+  for them would be raised if they were brought back, they were returned.
+  Nothing, it appears, has as yet been done in this respect by those who
+  promised, and we are on the very eve of sending them south a second
+  time; and we are candid in saying, that if they go again, we will not
+  regard any promises made in relation to them.
+
+  "The father wishes to raise money to pay for them, and intends to appeal
+  to the liberality of the humane and the good to aid him, and has
+  requested us to state in writing the _conditions upon which we will
+  sell his daughters_.
+
+  "We expect to start our servants to the South in a few days; if the sum
+  of twelve hundred dollars be raised and paid us in fifteen days, or we
+  be assured of that sum, then we will retain them for twenty-five days
+  more, to give an opportunity for raising the other thousand and fifty
+  dollars, otherwise we shall be compelled to send them along with our
+  other servants.
+
+  (Signed) "BRUIN AND HILL."
+
+The old man also showed me letters from other individuals, and one from
+the Rev. Matthew A. Turner, pastor of Asbury Chapel, where himself and his
+daughters were members. He was himself free, but his wife was a slave.
+Those two daughters were two out of fifteen children he had raised for the
+owner of his wife. These two girls had been sold, along with four
+brothers, to the traders, for an attempt to escape to the North, and gain
+their freedom.
+
+On the next Sabbath evening, I threw the case before my people, and the
+first fifty dollars of the sum was raised to restore the old man his
+daughters. Subsequently the case was taken up under the management of a
+committee of ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, consisting of
+the Rev. Gr. Peck, D.D., Rev. E.E. Griswold, and Rev. D. Curry, and the
+entire sum of 2,250 dollars, (£450.) was raised for two girls, fourteen
+and sixteen years of age!
+
+But why this enormous sum for two mere children? Ah, reader, they were
+reared under the mildest form of slavery known to the laws of Maryland!
+The mother is an invalid, and allowed to live with her free husband; but
+she is a woman of excellent mind, and has bestowed great pains upon her
+daughters. If you would know, then, why these girls were held at such a
+price, even to their own father, read the following extract of a letter
+from one who was actively engaged in behalf of them, and who had several
+interviews with the traders to induce them to reduce the price, but
+without success. Writing from Washington, D.C., September 12th, 1848, this
+gentleman says to William Harned, "The truth is, _and is confessed to be,
+that their destination is prostitution_; of this you would be satisfied on
+seeing them: they are of elegant form, and fine faces."
+
+And such, dear reader, is the sad fate of hundreds of my young
+countrywomen, natives of my native state. Such is the fate of many who are
+not only reared under the mildest form of slavery, but of those who have
+been made acquainted with the milder system of the Prince of Peace.
+
+When Christians, and Christian ministers, then, talk about the "mildest
+form of slavery,"--"Christian masters," &c., I say my feelings are
+outraged. It is a great mistake to offer these as an extenuation of the
+system. It is calculated to mislead the public mind. The opinion seems to
+prevail, that the negro, after having toiled as a slave for centuries to
+enrich his white brother, to lay the foundation of his proud institutions,
+after having been sunk as low as slavery can sink him, needs now only a
+second-rate civilization, a lower standard of civil and religious
+privileges than the whites claim for themselves.
+
+During the last year or two, we have heard of nothing but revolutions, and
+the enlargements of the eras of freedom, on both sides of the Atlantic.
+Our white brethren everywhere are reaching out their hands to grasp more
+freedom. In the place of absolute monarchies they have limited monarchies,
+and in the place of limited monarchies they have republics: so tenacious
+are they of their own liberties.
+
+But when we speak of slavery, and complain of the wrong it is doing us,
+and ask to have the yoke removed, we are told, "O, you must not be
+impatient, you must not create undue excitement. You are not so badly off,
+for many of your masters are kind Christian masters." Yes, sirs, many of
+our masters are professed Christians; and what advantage is that to us?
+The grey heads of our fathers are brought down by scores to the grave in
+sorrow, on account of their young and tender sons, who are sold to the far
+South, where they have to toil without requite to supply the world's
+market with _cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, &c_. Our venerable mothers are
+borne down with poignant grief at the fate of their children. Our sisters,
+if not by the law, are by common consent made the prey of vile men, who
+can bid the highest.
+
+In all the bright achievements we have obtained in the great work of
+emancipation, if we have not settled the fact that the chattel principle
+is wrong, and cannot be maintained upon Christian ground, then we have
+wrought and triumphed to little purpose, and we shall have to do our first
+work over again.
+
+It is this that has done all the mischief connected with slavery; it is
+this that threatens still further mischief. Whatever may be the ill or
+favoured condition of the slave in the matter of mere personal treatment,
+it is the chattel relation that robs him of his manhood, and transfers his
+ownership in himself to another. It is this that transfers the
+proprietorship of his wife and children to another. It is this that throws
+his family history into utter confusion, and leaves him without a single
+record to which he may appeal in vindication of his character, or honour.
+And has a man no sense of honour because he was born a slave? Has he no
+need of character?
+
+Suppose insult, reproach, or slander, should render it necessary for him
+to appeal to the history of his family in vindication of his character,
+where will he find that history? He goes to his native state, to his
+native county, to his native town; but no where does he find any record of
+himself _as a man_. On looking at the family record of his old, kind,
+Christian, master, there he finds his name on a catalogue with the horses,
+cows, hogs and dogs. However humiliating and degrading it may be to his
+feelings to find his name written down among the beasts of the field,
+_that_ is just the place, and the _only_ place assigned to it by the
+chattel relation. I beg our Anglo-Saxon brethren to accustom themselves to
+think that we need something more than mere kindness. We ask for justice,
+truth and honour as other men do.
+
+My coloured brethren are now widely awake to the degradation which they
+suffer in having property vested in their persons, and they are also
+conscious of the deep and corrupting disgrace of having our wives and
+children owned by other men--men, who have shown to the world that their
+own virtue is not infallible, and who have given us no flattering
+encouragement to entrust that of our wives and daughters to them.
+
+I have great pleasure in stating that my dear friend W.W., spoken of in
+this narrative, to whom I am so deeply indebted, is still living. I have
+been twice to see him within four years, and have regular correspondence
+with him. In one of the last letters I had from him, he authorises me to
+use his name in connection with this narrative in these words,--"As for
+using my name, by reference or otherwise, in thy narrative, it is at thy
+service. I know thee so well James, that I am not afraid of thy making a
+bad use of it, nor am I afraid or ashamed to have it known that I took
+thee in and gave thee aid, when I found thee travelling alone and in
+want.--W.W."
+
+On the second page of the same sheet I have a few lines from his excellent
+lady, in which she says, "James, I hope thee will not attribute my long
+silence in writing to indifference. No such feeling can ever exist towards
+thee in our family. Thy name is mentioned almost every day. Each of the
+children claims the next letter from thee. It will be for thee to decide
+which shall have it.--P.W."
+
+In a postscript following this, W.W. says again:--"Understand me, James,
+that thee is at full liberty to use my name in any way thee wishes in thy
+narrative. We have a man here from the eastern shore of thy state. He is
+trying to learn as fast as thee did when here.--W.W."
+
+I hope the reader will pardon me for introducing these extracts. My only
+apology is, the high gratification I feel in knowing that this family has
+not only been greatly prospered in health and happiness, but that I am
+upon the most intimate and pleasant terms with all its members, and that
+they all still feel a deep and cordial interest in my welfare.
+
+There is another distinguished individual whose sympathy has proved very
+gratifying to me in my situation--I mean that true friend of the negro,
+_Gerrit Smith, Esq._ I was well acquainted with the family in which Mr.
+Smith married in Maryland. My attention has been fixed upon him for the
+last ten years, for I have felt confident that God had set him apart for
+some great good to the negro. In a letter dated Peterborough, November
+7th, 1848, he says:--
+
+  "J.W.C. PENNINGTON,
+
+  "Slight as is my _personal_ acquaintance with you, I nevertheless am
+  well acquainted with you. I am familiar with many passages in your
+  history--all that part of your history extending from the time when, a
+  sturdy blacksmith, you were running away from Maryland oppression, down
+  to the present, when you are the successor of my lamented friend,
+  Theodore S. Wright. Let me add that my acquaintance with you has
+  inspired me with a high regard for your wisdom and integrity."
+
+  Give us a few more such men in America, and slavery will soon be
+  numbered among the things that were. A few men who will not only have
+  the moral courage to aim the severing blow at the chattel relation
+  between master and slave, without parley, palliation or compromise; but
+  who have also the christian fidelity to brave public scorn and
+  contumely, to seize a coloured man by the hand, and elevate him to the
+  position from whence the avarice and oppression of the whites have
+  degraded him. These men have the right view of the subject. They see
+  that in every case where the relation between master and slave is
+  broken, slavery is weakened, and that every coloured man elevated,
+  becomes a step in the ladder upon which his whole people are to ascend.
+  They would not have us accept of some modified form of liberty, while
+  the old mischief working chattel relation remains unbroken, untouched
+  and unabrogated.
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  _13, Princes Square, London, August 15th_, 1849.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  My birth and parentage--The treatment of Slaves generally in Maryland 1
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  The flight 14
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  A dreary night in the woods--Critical situation the next day 31
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  The good woman of the toll-gate directs me to W.W.--My cordial reception
+  by him 40
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  Seven months' residence in the family of J.K., a member of the Society
+  of Friends in Chester County, Pennsylvania--Removal to New York--Becomes
+  a convert to religion--Becomes a teacher 49
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Some account of the family I left in slavery--Proposal to purchase
+  myself and parents--How met by my old master 58
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  The feeding, clothing, and religious instruction of the slaves in the
+  part of Maryland where I lived 65
+
+  APPENDIX 74
+
+
+
+
+THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+MY BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.--THE TREATMENT OF SLAVES GENERALLY IN MARYLAND.
+
+
+I was born in the state of Maryland, which is one of the smallest and most
+northern of the slave-holding states; the products of this state are
+wheat, rye, Indian corn, tobacco, with some hemp, flax, &c. By looking at
+the map, it will be seen that Maryland, like Virginia her neighbour, is
+divided by the Chesapeake Bay into eastern and western shores. My
+birthplace was on the eastern shore, where there are seven or eight small
+counties; the farms are small, and tobacco is mostly raised.
+
+At an early period in the history of Maryland, her lands began to be
+exhausted by the bad cultivation peculiar to slave states; and hence she
+soon commenced the business of breeding slaves for the more southern
+states. This has given an enormity to slavery, in Maryland, differing from
+that which attaches to the system in Louisiana, and equalled by none of
+the kind, except Virginia and Kentucky, and not by either of these in
+extent.
+
+My parents did not both belong to the same owner: my father belonged to a
+man named ----; my mother belonged to a man named ----. This not only made
+me a slave, but made me the slave of him to whom my mother belonged; as
+the primary law of slavery is, that the child shall follow the condition
+of the mother.
+
+When I was about four years of age, my mother, an older brother and
+myself, were given to a son of my master, who had studied for the medical
+profession, but who had now married wealthy, and was about to settle as a
+wheat planter in Washington County, on the western shore. This began the
+first of our family troubles that I knew anything about, as it occasioned
+a separation between my mother and the only two children she then had, and
+my father, to a distance of about two hundred miles. But this separation
+did not continue long; my father being a valuable slave, my master was
+glad to purchase him.
+
+About this time, I began to feel another evil of slavery--I mean the want
+of parental care and attention. My parents were not able to give any
+attention to their children during the day. I often suffered much from
+_hunger_ and other similar causes. To estimate the sad state of a slave
+child, you must look at it as a helpless human being thrown upon the world
+without the benefit of its natural guardians. It is thrown into the world
+without a social circle to flee to for hope, shelter, comfort, or
+instruction. The social circle, with all its heaven-ordained blessings, is
+of the utmost importance to the _tender child_; but of this, the slave
+child, however tender and delicate, is robbed.
+
+There is another source of evil to slave children, which I cannot forbear
+to mention here, as one which early embittered my life,--I mean the
+tyranny of the master's children. My master had two sons, about the ages
+and sizes of my older brother and myself. We were not only required to
+recognise these young sirs as our young masters, but _they_ felt
+themselves to be such; and, in consequence of this feeling, they sought to
+treat us with the same air of authority that their father did the older
+slaves.
+
+Another evil of slavery that I felt severely about this time, was the
+tyranny and abuse of the overseers. These men seem to look with an evil
+eye upon children. I was once visiting a menagerie, and being struck with
+the fact, that the lion was comparatively indifferent to every one around
+his cage, while he eyed with peculiar keenness a little boy I had; the
+keeper informed me that such was always the case. Such is true of those
+human beings in the slave states, called overseers. They seem to take
+pleasure in torturing the children of slaves, long before they are large
+enough to be put at the hoe, and consequently under the whip.
+
+We had an overseer, named Blackstone; he was an extremely cruel man to the
+working hands. He always carried a long hickory whip, a kind of pole. He
+kept three or four of these in order, that he might not at any time be
+without one.
+
+I once found one of these hickories lying in the yard, and supposing that
+he had thrown it away, I picked it up, and boy-like, was using it for a
+horse; he came along from the field, and seeing me with it, fell upon me
+with the one he then had in his hand, and flogged me most cruelly. From
+that, I lived in constant dread of that man; and he would show how much he
+delighted in cruelty by chasing me from my play with threats and
+imprecations. I have lain for hours in a wood, or behind a fence, to hide
+from his eye.
+
+At this time my days were extremely dreary. When I was nine years of age,
+myself and my brother were hired out from home; my brother was placed with
+a pump-maker, and I was placed with a stonemason. We were both in a town
+some six miles from home. As the men with whom we lived were not
+slaveholders, we enjoyed some relief from the peculiar evils of slavery.
+Each of us lived in a family where there was no other negro.
+
+The slaveholders in that state often hire the children of their slaves out
+to non-slaveholders, not only because they save themselves the expense of
+taking care of them, but in this way they get among their slaves useful
+trades. They put a bright slave-boy with a tradesman, until he gets such a
+knowledge of the trade as to be able to do his own work, and then he takes
+him home. I remained with the stonemason until I was eleven years of age:
+at this time I was taken home. This was another serious period in my
+childhood; I was separated from my older brother, to whom I was much
+attached; he continued at his place, and not only learned the trade to
+great perfection, but finally became the property of the man with whom he
+lived, so that our separation was permanent, as we never lived nearer
+after, than six miles. My master owned an excellent blacksmith, who had
+obtained his trade in the way I have mentioned above. When I returned home
+at the age of eleven, I was set about assisting to do the mason-work of a
+new smith's shop. This being done, I was placed at the business, which I
+soon learned, so as to be called a "first-rate blacksmith." I continued to
+work at this business for nine years, or until I was twenty-one, with the
+exception of the last seven months.
+
+In the spring of 1828, my master sold me to a Methodist man, named ----,
+for the sum of seven hundred dollars. It soon proved that he had not work
+enough to keep me employed as a smith, and he offered me for sale again.
+On hearing of this, my old master re-purchased me, and proposed to me to
+undertake the carpentering business. I had been working at this trade six
+months with a white workman, who was building a large barn when I left. I
+will now relate the abuses which occasioned me to fly.
+
+Three or four of our farm hands had their wives and families on other
+plantations. In such cases, it is the custom in Maryland to allow the men
+to go on Saturday evening to see their families, stay over the Sabbath,
+and return on Monday morning, not later than "half-an-hour by sun." To
+overstay their time is a grave fault, for which, especially at busy
+seasons, they are punished.
+
+One Monday morning, two of these men had not been so fortunate as to get
+home at the required time: one of them was an uncle of mine. Besides
+these, two young men who had no families, and for whom no such provision
+of time was made, having gone somewhere to spend the Sabbath, were absent.
+My master was greatly irritated, and had resolved to have, as he said, "a
+general whipping-match among them."
+
+Preparatory to this, he had a rope in his pocket, and a cowhide in his
+hand, walking about the premises, and speaking to every one he met in a
+very insolent manner, and finding fault with some without just cause. My
+father, among other numerous and responsible duties, discharged that of
+shepherd to a large and valuable flock of Merino sheep. This morning he
+was engaged in the tenderest of a shepherd's duties;--a little lamb, not
+able to go alone, lost its mother; he was feeding it by hand. He had been
+keeping it in the house for several days. As he stooped over it in the
+yard, with a vessel of new milk he had obtained, with which to feed it, my
+master came along, and without the least provocation, began by asking,
+"Bazil, have you fed the flock?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Were you away yesterday?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Do you know why these boys have not got home this morning yet?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not seen any of them since Saturday night."
+
+"By the Eternal, I'll make them know their hour. The fact is, I have too
+many of you; my people are getting to be the most careless, lazy, and
+worthless in the country."
+
+"Master," said my father, "I am always at my post; Monday morning never
+finds me off the plantation."
+
+"Hush, Bazil! I shall have to sell some of you; and then the rest will
+have enough to do; I have not work enough to keep you all tightly
+employed; I have too many of you."
+
+All this was said in an angry, threatening, and exceedingly insulting
+tone. My father was a high-spirited man, and feeling deeply the insult,
+replied to the last expression,--"If I am one too many, sir, give me a
+chance to get a purchaser, and I am willing to be sold when it may suit
+you."
+
+"Bazil, I told you to hush!" and suiting the action to the word, he drew
+forth the "cowhide" from under his arm, fell upon him with most savage
+cruelty, and inflicted fifteen or twenty severe stripes with all his
+strength, over his shoulders and the small of his back. As he raised
+himself upon his toes, and gave the last stripe, he said, "By the * * * I
+will make you know that I am master of your tongue as well as of your
+time!"
+
+Being a tradesman, and just at that time getting my breakfast, I was near
+enough to hear the insolent words that were spoken to my father, and to
+hear, see, and even count the savage stripes inflicted upon him.
+
+Let me ask any one of Anglo-Saxon blood and spirit, how would you expect a
+_son_ to feel at such a sight?
+
+This act created an open rupture with our family--each member felt the
+deep insult that had been inflicted upon our head; the spirit of the whole
+family was roused; we talked of it in our nightly gatherings, and showed
+it in our daily melancholy aspect. The oppressor saw this, and with the
+heartlessness that was in perfect keeping with the first insult, commenced
+a series of tauntings, threatenings, and insinuations, with a view to
+crush the spirit of the whole family.
+
+Although it was sometime after this event before I took the decisive step,
+yet in my mind and spirit, I never was a _Slave_ after it.
+
+Whenever I thought of the great contrast between my father's employment on
+that memorable Monday morning, (feeding the little lamb,) and the
+barbarous conduct of my master, I could not help cordially despising the
+proud abuser of my sire; and I believe he discovered it, for he seemed to
+have diligently sought an occasion against me. Many incidents occurred to
+convince me of this, too tedious to mention; but there is one I will
+mention, because it will serve to show the state of feeling that existed
+between us, and how it served to widen the already open breach.
+
+I was one day shoeing a horse in the shop yard. I had been stooping for
+some time under the weight of the horse, which was large, and was very
+tired; meanwhile, my master had taken his position on a little hill just
+in front of me, and stood leaning back on his cane, with his hat drawn
+ever his eyes. I put down the horse's foot, and straightened myself up to
+rest a moment, and without knowing that he was there, my eye caught his.
+This threw him into a panic of rage; he would have it that I was watching
+him. "What are you rolling your white eyes at me for, you lazy rascal?" He
+came down upon me with his cane, and laid on over my shoulders, arms, and
+legs, about a dozen severe blows, so that my limbs and flesh were sore for
+several weeks; and then after several other offensive epithets, left me.
+
+This affair my mother saw from her cottage, which was near; I being one of
+the oldest sons of my parents, our family was now mortified to the lowest
+degree. I had always aimed to be trustworthy; and feeling a high degree of
+mechanical pride, I had aimed to do my work with dispatch and skill, my
+blacksmith's pride and taste was one thing that had reconciled me so long
+to remain a slave. I sought to distinguish myself in the finer branches of
+the business by invention and finish; I frequently tried my hand at making
+guns and pistols, putting blades in penknives, making fancy hammers,
+hatchets, sword-canes, &c., &c. Besides I used to assist my father at
+night in making straw-hats and willow-baskets, by which means we supplied
+our family with little articles of food, clothing and luxury, which slaves
+in the mildest form of the system never get from the master; but after
+this, I found that my mechanic's pleasure and pride were gone. I thought
+of nothing but the family disgrace under which we were smarting, and how
+to get out of it.
+
+Perhaps I may as well extend this note a little. The reader will observe
+that I have not said much about my master's cruel treatment; I have aimed
+rather to shew the cruelties incident to the system. I have no disposition
+to attempt to convict him of having been one of the most cruel
+masters--that would not be true--his prevailing temper was kind, but he
+was a perpetualist. He was opposed to emancipation; thought free negroes a
+great nuisance, and was, as respects discipline, a thorough slaveholder.
+He would not tolerate a look or a word from a slave like insubordination.
+He would suppress it at once, and at any risk. When he thought it
+necessary to secure unqualified obedience, he would strike a slave with
+any weapon, flog him on the bare back, and sell. And this was the kind of
+discipline he also empowered his overseers and sons to use.
+
+I have seen children go from our plantations to join the chained-gang on
+its way from Washington to Louisiana; and I have seen men and women
+flogged--I have seen the overseers strike a man with a hay-fork--nay more,
+men have been maimed by shooting! Some dispute arose one morning between
+the overseer and one of the farm hands, when the former made at the slave
+with a hickory club; the slave taking to his heels, started for the woods;
+as he was crossing the yard, the overseer turned, snatched his gun which
+was near, and fired at the flying slave, lodging several shots in the
+calf of one leg. The poor fellow continued his flight, and got into the
+woods; but he was in so much pain that he was compelled to come out in the
+evening, and give himself up to his master, thinking he would not allow
+him to be punished as he had been shot. He was locked up that night; the
+next morning the overseer was allowed to tie him up and flog him; his
+master then took his instruments and picked the shot out of his leg, and
+told him, it served him just right.
+
+My master had a deeply pious and exemplary slave, an elderly man, who one
+day had a misunderstanding with the overseer, when the latter attempted to
+flog him. He fled to the woods; it was noon; at evening he came home
+orderly. The next morning, my master, taking one of his sons with him, a
+rope and cowhide in his hand, led the poor old man away into the stable;
+tied him up, and ordered the son to lay on thirty-nine lashes, which he
+did, making the keen end of the cowhide lap around and strike him in the
+tenderest part of his side, till the blood sped out, as if a lance had
+been used.
+
+While my master's son was thus engaged, the sufferer's little daughter, a
+child six years of age, stood at the door, weeping in agony for the fate
+of her father. I heard the old man articulating in a low tone of voice; I
+listened at the intervals between the stripes, and lo! he was praying!
+
+When the last lash was laid on, he was let down; and leaving him to put on
+his clothes, they passed out of the door, and drove the man's weeping
+child away! I was mending a hinge to one of the barn doors; I saw and
+heard what I have stated. Six months after, this same man's eldest
+daughter, a girl fifteen years old, was sold to slave-traders, where he
+never saw her more.
+
+This poor slave and his wife were both Methodists, so was the wife of the
+young master who flogged him. My old master was an Episcopalian.
+
+These are only a few of the instances which came under my own notice
+during my childhood and youth on our plantations; as to those which
+occurred on other plantations in the neighbourhood, I could state any
+number.
+
+I have stated that my master was watching the movements of our family very
+closely. Sometime after the difficulties began, we found that he also had
+a confidential slave assisting him in the business. This wretched fellow,
+who was nearly white, and of Irish descent, informed our master of the
+movements of each member of the family by day and by night, and on
+Sundays. This stirred the spirit of my mother, who spoke to our
+fellow-slave, and told him he ought to be ashamed to be engaged in such
+low business.
+
+Master hearing of this, called my father, mother, and myself before him,
+and accused us of an attempt to resist and intimidate his "confidential
+servant." Finding that only my mother had spoken to him, he swore that if
+she ever spoke another word to him, he would flog her.
+
+I knew my mother's spirit and my master's temper as well. Our social state
+was now perfectly intolerable. We were on the eve of a general fracas.
+This last scene occurred on Tuesday; and on Saturday evening following,
+without counsel or advice from any one, I determined to fly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE FLIGHT.
+
+
+It was the Sabbath: the holy day which God in his infinite wisdom gave for
+the rest of both man and beast. In the state of Maryland, the slaves
+generally have the Sabbath, except in those districts where the evil weed,
+tobacco, is cultivated; and then, when it is the season for setting the
+plant, they are liable to be robbed of this only rest.
+
+It was in the month of November, somewhat past the middle of the month. It
+was a bright day, and all was quiet. Most of the slaves were resting about
+their quarters; others had leave to visit their friends on other
+plantations, and were absent. The evening previous I had arranged my
+little bundle of clothing, and had secreted it at some distance from the
+house. I had spent most of the forenoon in my workshop, engaged in deep
+and solemn thought.
+
+It is impossible for me now to recollect all the perplexing thoughts that
+passed through my mind during that forenoon; it was a day of heartaching
+to me. But I distinctly remember the two great difficulties that stood in
+the way of my flight: I had a father and mother whom I dearly loved,--I
+had also six sisters and four brothers on the plantation. The question
+was, shall I hide my purpose from them? moreover, how will my flight
+affect them when I am gone? Will they not be suspected? Will not the whole
+family be sold off as a disaffected family, as is generally the case when
+one of its members flies? But a still more trying question was, how can I
+expect to succeed, I have no knowledge of distance or direction. I know
+that Pennsylvania is a free state, but I know not where its soil begins,
+or where that of Maryland ends? Indeed, at this time there was no safety
+in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York, for a fugitive, except in
+lurking-places, or under the care of judicious friends, who could be
+entrusted not only with liberty, but also with life itself.
+
+With such difficulties before my mind, the day had rapidly worn away; and
+it was just past noon. One of my perplexing questions I had settled--I had
+resolved to let no one into my secret; but the other difficulty was now to
+be met. It was to be met without the least knowledge of its magnitude,
+except by imagination. Yet of one thing there could be no mistake, that
+the consequences of a failure would be most serious. Within my
+recollection no one had attempted to escape from my master; but I had many
+cases in my mind's eye, of slaves of other planters who had failed, and
+who had been made examples of the most cruel treatment, by flogging and
+selling to the far South, where they were never to see their friends more.
+I was not without serious apprehension that such would be my fate. The
+bare possibility was impressively solemn; but the hour was now come, and
+the man must act and be free, or remain a slave for ever. How the
+impression came to be upon my mind I cannot tell; but there was a strange
+and horrifying belief, that if I did not meet the crisis that day, I
+should be self-doomed--that my ear would be nailed to the door-post for
+ever. The emotions of that moment I cannot fully depict. Hope, fear,
+dread, terror, love, sorrow, and deep melancholy were mingled in my mind
+together; my mental state was one of most painful distraction. When I
+looked at my numerous family--a beloved father and mother, eleven brothers
+and sisters, &c.; but when I looked at slavery as such; when I looked at
+it in its mildest form, with all its annoyances; and above all, when I
+remembered that one of the chief annoyances of slavery, in the most mild
+form, is the liability of being at any moment sold into the worst form; it
+seemed that no consideration, not even that of life itself, could tempt me
+to give up the thought of flight. And then when I considered the
+difficulties of the way--the reward that would be offered--the human
+blood-hounds that would be set upon my track--the weariness--the
+hunger--the gloomy thought, of not only losing all one's friends in one
+day, but of having to seek and to make new friends in a strange world.
+But, as I have said, the hour was come, and the man must act, or for ever
+be a slave.
+
+It was now two o'clock. I stepped into the quarter; there was a strange
+and melancholy silence mingled with the destitution that was apparent in
+every part of the house. The only morsel I could see in the shape of food,
+was a piece of Indian flour bread, it might be half-a-pound in weight.
+This I placed in my pocket, and giving a last look at the aspect of the
+house, and at a few small children who were playing at the door, I sallied
+forth thoughtfully and melancholy, and after crossing the barn-yard, a few
+moments' walk brought me to a small cave, near the mouth of which lay a
+pile of stones, and into which I had deposited my clothes. From this, my
+course lay through thick and heavy woods and back lands to ---- town,
+where my brother lived. This town was six miles distance. It was now near
+three o'clock, but my object was neither to be seen on the road, or to
+approach the town by daylight, as I was well-known there, and as any
+intelligence of my having been seen there would at once put the pursuers
+on my track. This first six miles of my flight, I not only travelled very
+slowly, therefore, so as to avoid carrying any daylight to this town; but
+during this walk another very perplexing question was agitating my mind.
+Shall I call on my brother as I pass through, and shew him what I am
+about? My brother was older than I, we were much attached; I had been in
+the habit of looking to him for counsel.
+
+I entered the town about dark, resolved, all things in view, _not_ to shew
+myself to my brother. Having passed through the town without being
+recognised, I now found myself under cover of night, a solitary wanderer
+from home and friends; my only guide was the _north star_, by this I knew
+my general course northward, but at what point I should strike Penn, or
+when and where I should find a friend, I knew not. Another feeling now
+occupied my mind,--I felt like a mariner who has gotten his ship outside
+of the harbour and has spread his sails to the breeze. The cargo is on
+board--the ship is cleared--and the voyage I must make; besides, this
+being my first night, almost every thing will depend upon my clearing the
+coast before the day dawns. In order to do this my flight must be rapid. I
+therefore set forth in sorrowful earnest, only now and then I was cheered
+by the _wild_ hope, that I should somewhere and at sometime be free.
+
+The night was fine for the season, and passed on with little interruption
+for want of strength, until, about three o'clock in the morning, I began
+to feel the chilling effects of the dew.
+
+At this moment, gloom and melancholy again spread through my whole soul.
+The prospect of utter destitution which threatened me was more than I
+could bear, and my heart began to melt. What substance is there in a piece
+of dry Indian bread; what nourishment is there in it to warm the nerves of
+one already chilled to the heart? Will this afford a sufficient sustenance
+after the toil of the night? But while these thoughts were agitating my
+mind, the day dawned upon me, in the midst of an open extent of country,
+where the only shelter I could find, without risking my travel by
+daylight, was a corn shock, but a few hundred yards from the road, and
+here I must pass my first day out. The day was an unhappy one; my
+hiding-place was extremely precarious. I had to sit in a squatting
+position the whole day, without the least chance to rest. But, besides
+this, my scanty pittance did not afford me that nourishment which my hard
+night's travel needed. Night came again to my relief, and I sallied forth
+to pursue my journey. By this time, not a crumb of my crust remained, and
+I was hungry and began to feel the desperation of distress.
+
+As I travelled I felt my strength failing and my spirits wavered; my mind
+was in a deep and melancholy dream. It was cloudy; I could not see my
+star, and had serious misgivings about my course.
+
+In this way the night passed away, and just at the dawn of day I found a
+few sour apples, and took my shelter under the arch of a small bridge that
+crossed the road. Here I passed the second day in ambush.
+
+This day would have been more pleasant than the previous, but the sour
+apples, and a draught of cold water, had produced anything but a
+favourable effect; indeed, I suffered most of the day with severe symptoms
+of cramp. The day passed away again without any further incident, and as I
+set out at nightfall, I felt quite satisfied that I could not pass another
+twenty-four hours without nourishment. I made but little progress during
+the night, and often sat down, and slept frequently fifteen or twenty
+minutes. At the dawn of the third day I continued my travel. As I had
+found my way to a public turnpike road during the night, I came very early
+in the morning to a toll-gate, where the only person I saw, was a lad
+about twelve years of age. I inquired of him where the road led to. He
+informed me it led to Baltimore. I asked him the distance, he said it was
+eighteen miles.
+
+This intelligence was perfectly astounding to me. My master lived eighty
+miles from Baltimore. I was now sixty-two miles from home. That distance
+in the right direction, would have placed me several miles across Mason
+and Dixon's line, but I was evidently yet in the state of Maryland.
+
+I ventured to ask the lad at the gate another question--Which is the best
+way to Philadelphia? Said he, you can take a road which turns off about
+half-a-mile below this, and goes to Getsburgh, or you can go on to
+Baltimore and take the packet.
+
+I made no reply, but my thought was, that I was as near Baltimore and
+Baltimore-packets as would answer my purpose.
+
+In a few moments I came to the road to which the lad had referred, and
+felt some relief when I had gotten out of that great public highway, "The
+National Turnpike," which I found it to be.
+
+When I had walked a mile on this road, and when it had now gotten to be
+about nine o'clock, I met a young man with a load of hay. He drew up his
+horses, and addressed me in a very kind tone, when the following dialogue
+took place between us.
+
+"Are you travelling any distance, my friend?"
+
+"I am on my way to Philadelphia."
+
+"Are you free?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I suppose, then, you are provided with free papers?"
+
+"No, sir. I have no papers."
+
+"Well, my friend, you should not travel on this road: you will be taken up
+before you have gone three miles. There are men living on this road who
+are constantly on the look-out for your people; and it is seldom that one
+escapes them who attempts to pass by day."
+
+He then very kindly gave me advice where to turn off the road at a certain
+point, and how to find my way to a certain house, where I would meet with
+an old gentleman who would further advise me whether I had better remain
+till night, or go on.
+
+I left this interesting young man; and such was my surprise and chagrin at
+the thought of having so widely missed my way, and my alarm at being in
+such a dangerous position, that in ten minutes I had so far forgotten his
+directions as to deem it unwise to attempt to follow them, lest I should
+miss my way, and get into evil hands.
+
+I, however, left the road, and went into a small piece of wood, but not
+finding a sufficient hiding-place, and it being a busy part of the day,
+when persons were at work about the fields, I thought I should excite less
+suspicion by keeping in the road, so I returned to the road; but the
+events of the next few moments proved that I committed a serious mistake.
+
+I went about a mile, making in all two miles from the spot where I met my
+young friend, and about five miles from the toll-gate to which I have
+referred, and I found myself at the twenty-four miles' stone from
+Baltimore. It was now about ten o'clock in the forenoon; my strength was
+greatly exhausted by reason of the want of suitable food; but the
+excitement that was then going on in my mind, left me little time to think
+of my _need_ of food. Under ordinary circumstances as a traveller, I
+should have been glad to see the "Tavern," which was near the mile-stone;
+but as the case stood with me, I deemed it a dangerous place to pass, much
+less to stop at. I was therefore passing it as quietly and as rapidly as
+possible, when from the lot just opposite the house, or sign-post, I heard
+a coarse stern voice cry, "Halloo!"
+
+I turned my face to the left, the direction from which the voice came, and
+observed that it proceeded from a man who was digging potatoes. I answered
+him politely; when the following occurred:--
+
+"Who do _you_ belong to?"
+
+"I am free, sir."
+
+"Have you got papers?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Well, you must stop here."
+
+By this time he had got astride the fence, making his way into the road. I
+said,
+
+"My business is onward, sir, and I do not wish to stop."
+
+"I will see then if you don't stop, you black rascal."
+
+He was now in the middle of the road, making after me in a brisk walk.
+
+I saw that a crisis was at hand; I had no weapons of any kind, not even a
+pocket-knife; but I asked myself, shall I surrender without a struggle.
+The instinctive answer was "No." What will you do? continue to walk; if he
+runs after you, run; get him as far from the house as you can, then turn
+suddenly and smite him on the knee with a stone; that will render him, at
+least, unable to pursue you.
+
+This was a desperate scheme, but I could think of no other, and my habits
+as a blacksmith had given my eye and hand such mechanical skill, that I
+felt quite sure that if I could only get a stone in my hand, and have time
+to wield it, I should not miss his knee-pan.
+
+He began to breathe short. He was evidently vexed because I did not halt,
+and I felt more and more provoked at the idea of being thus pursued by a
+man to whom I had not done the least injury. I had just began to glance my
+eye about for a stone to grasp, when he made a tiger-like leap at me. This
+of course brought us to running. At this moment he yelled out "Jake
+Shouster!" and at the next moment the door of a small house standing to
+the left was opened, and out jumped a shoemaker girded up in his leather
+apron, with his knife in hand. He sprang forward and seized me by the
+collar, while the other seized my arms behind. I was now in the grasp of
+two men, either of whom were larger bodied than myself, and one of whom
+was armed with a dangerous weapon.
+
+Standing in the door of the shoemaker's shop, was a third man; and in the
+potatoe lot I had passed, was still a fourth man. Thus surrounded by
+superior physical force, the fortune of the day it seemed to me was gone.
+
+My heart melted away, I sunk resistlessly into the hands of my captors,
+who dragged me immediately into the tavern which was near. I ask my reader
+to go in with me, and see how the case goes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+GREAT MORAL DILEMMA.
+
+A few moments after I was taken into the bar-room, the news having gone as
+by electricity, the house and yard were crowded with gossippers, who had
+left their business to come and see "the runaway nigger." This hastily
+assembled congregation consisted of men, women, and children, each one had
+a look to give at, and a word to say about, the "nigger."
+
+But among the whole, there stood one whose name I have never known, but
+who evidently wore the garb of a man whose profession bound him to speak
+for the dumb, but he, standing head and shoulders above all that were
+round about, spoke the first hard sentence against me. Said he, "That
+fellow is a runaway I know; put him in jail a few days, and you will soon
+hear where he came from." And then fixing a fiend-like gaze upon me, he
+continued, "if I lived on this road, _you_ fellows would not find such
+clear running as you do, I'd trap more of you."
+
+But now comes the pinch of the case, the case of conscience to me even at
+this moment. Emboldened by the cruel speech just recited, my captors
+enclosed me, and said, "Come now, this matter may easily be settled
+without you going to jail; who do you belong to, and where did you come
+from?"
+
+The facts here demanded were in my breast. I knew according to the law of
+slavery, who I belonged to and where I came from, and I must now do one of
+three things--I must refuse to speak at all, or I must communicate the
+fact, or I must tell an untruth. How would an untutored slave, who had
+never heard of such a writer as Archdeacon Paley, be likely to act in such
+a dilemma? The first point decided, was, the facts in this case are my
+private property. These men have no more right to them than a highway
+robber has to my purse. What will be the consequence if I put them in
+possession of the facts. In forty-eight hours, I shall have received
+perhaps one hundred lashes, and be on my way to the Louisiana cotton
+fields. Of what service will it be to them. They will get a paltry sum of
+two hundred dollars. Is not my liberty worth more to me than two hundred
+dollars are to them?
+
+I resolved therefore, to insist that I was free. This not being
+satisfactory without other evidence, they tied my hands and set out, and
+went to a magistrate who lived about half a mile distant. It so happened,
+that when we arrived at his house he was not at home. This was to them a
+disappointment, but to me it was a relief; but I soon learned by their
+conversation, that there was still another magistrate in the
+neighbourhood, and that they would go to him. In about twenty minutes, and
+after climbing fences and jumping ditches, we, captors and captive, stood
+before his door, but it was after the same manner as before--he was not at
+home. By this time the day had worn away to one or two o'clock, and my
+captors evidently began to feel somewhat impatient of the loss of time. We
+were about a mile and a quarter from the tavern. As we set out on our
+return, they began to parley. Finding it was difficult for me to get over
+fences with, my hands tied, they untied me, and said, "Now John," that
+being the name they had given me, "if you have run away from any one, it
+would be much better for you to tell us!" but I continued to affirm that I
+was free. I knew, however, that my situation was very critical, owing to
+the shortness of the distance I must be from home: my advertisement might
+overtake me at any moment.
+
+On our way back to the tavern, we passed through a small skirt of wood,
+where I resolved to make an effort to escape again. One of my captors was
+walking on either side of me; I made a sudden turn, with my left arm
+sweeping the legs of one of my captors from under him; I left him nearly
+standing on his head, and took to my heels. As soon as they could recover
+they both took after me. We had to mount a fence. This I did most
+successfully, and making across an open field towards another wood; one of
+my captors being a long-legged man, was in advance of the other, and
+consequently nearing me. We had a hill to rise, and during the ascent he
+gained on me. Once more I thought of self-defence. I am trying to escape
+peaceably, but this man is determined that I shall not.
+
+My case was now desperate; and I took this desperate thought: "I will run
+him a little farther from his coadjutor; I will then suddenly catch a
+stone, and wound him in the breast." This was my fixed purpose, and I had
+arrived near the point on the top of the hill, where I expected to do the
+act, when to my surprise and dismay, I saw the other side of the hill was
+not only all ploughed up, but we came suddenly upon a man ploughing, who
+as suddenly left his plough and cut off my flight, by seizing me by the
+collar, when at the same moment my pursuer seized my arms behind. Here I
+was again in a sad fix. By this time the other pursuer had come up; I was
+most savagely thrown down on the ploughed ground with my face downward,
+the ploughman placed his knee upon my shoulders, one of my captors put his
+upon my legs, while the other tied my arms behind me. I was then dragged
+up, and marched off with kicks, punches and imprecations.
+
+We got to the tavern at three o'clock. Here they again cooled down, and
+made an appeal to me to make a disclosure. I saw that my attempt to escape
+strengthened their belief that I was a fugitive. I said to them, "If you
+will not put me in jail, I will now tell you where I am from." They
+promised. "Well," said I, "a few weeks ago, I was sold from the eastern
+shore to a slave-trader, who had a large gang, and set out for Georgia,
+but when he got to a town in Virginia, he was taken sick, and died with
+the small-pox. Several of his gang also died with, it, so that the people
+in the town became alarmed, and did not wish the gang to remain among
+them. No one claimed us, or wished to have anything to do with us; I left
+the rest, and thought I would go somewhere and get work."
+
+When I said this, it was evidently believed by those who were present, and
+notwithstanding the unkind feeling that had existed, there was a murmur of
+approbation. At the same time I perceived that a panic began to seize
+some, at the idea that I was one of a small-pox gang. Several who had
+clustered near me, moved off to a respectful distance. One or two left
+the bar-room, and murmured, "better let the small-pox nigger go."
+
+I was then asked what was the name of the slave-trader. Without
+premeditation, I said, "John Henderson."
+
+"John Henderson!" said one of my captors, "I knew him; I took up a yaller
+boy for him about two years ago, and got fifty dollars. He passed out with
+a gang about that time, and the boy ran away from him at Frederickstown.
+What kind of a man was he?"
+
+At a venture, I gave a description of him. "Yes," said he, "that is the
+man." By this time, all the gossippers had cleared the coast; our friend,
+"Jake Shouster," had also gone back to his bench to finish his custom
+work, after having "lost nearly the whole day, trotting about with a
+nigger tied," as I heard his wife say as she called him home to his
+dinner. I was now left alone with the man who first called to me in the
+morning. In a sober manner, he made this proposal to me: "John, I have a
+brother living in Risterstown, four miles off, who keeps a tavern; I think
+you had better go and live with him, till we see what will turn up. He
+wants an ostler." I at once assented to this. "Well," said he, "take
+something to eat, and I will go with you."
+
+Although I had so completely frustrated their designs for the moment, I
+knew that it would by no means answer for me to go into that town, where
+there were prisons, handbills, newspapers, and travellers. My intention
+was, to start with him, but not to enter the town alive.
+
+I sat down to eat; it was Wednesday, four o'clock, and this was the first
+regular meal I had since Sunday morning. This over, we set out, and to my
+surprise, he proposed to walk. We had gone about a mile and a-half, and
+were approaching a wood through which the road passed with a bend. I fixed
+upon that as the spot where I would either free myself from this man, or
+die in his arms. I had resolved upon a plan of operation--it was this: to
+stop short, face about, and commence action; and neither ask or give
+quarters, until I was free or dead!
+
+We had got within six rods of the spot, when a gentleman turned the
+corner, meeting us on horseback. He came up, and entered into conversation
+with my captor, both of them speaking in Dutch, so that I knew not what
+they said. After a few moments, this gentleman addressed himself to me in
+English, and I then learned that he was one of the magistrates on whom we
+had called in the morning; I felt that another crisis was at hand. Using
+his saddle as his bench, he put on an extremely stern and magisterial-like
+face, holding up his horse not unlike a field-marshal in the act of
+reviewing troops, and carried me through a most rigid examination in
+reference to the statement I had made. I repeated carefully all I had
+said; at the close, he said, "Well, you had better stay among us a few
+months, until we see what is to be done with you." It was then agreed that
+we should go back to the tavern, and there settle upon some further plan.
+When we arrived at the tavern, the magistrate alighted from his horse, and
+went into the bar-room. He took another close glance at me, and went over
+some points of the former examination. He seemed quite satisfied of the
+correctness of my statement, and made the following proposition: that I
+should go and live with him for a short time, stating that he had a few
+acres of corn and potatoes to get in, and that he would give me
+twenty-five cents per day. I most cheerfully assented to this proposal. It
+was also agreed that I should remain at the tavern with my captor that
+night, and that he would accompany me in the morning. This part of the
+arrangement I did not like, but of course I could not say so. Things being
+thus arranged, the magistrate mounted his horse, and went on his way home.
+
+It had been cloudy and rainy during the afternoon, but the western sky
+having partially cleared at this moment, I perceived that it was near the
+setting of the sun.
+
+My captor had left his hired man most of the day to dig potatoes alone;
+but the waggon being now loaded, it being time to convey the potatoes into
+the barn, and the horses being all ready for that purpose, he was obliged
+to go into the potatoe field and give assistance.
+
+I should say here, that his wife had been driven away by the small-pox
+panic about three o'clock, and had not yet returned; this left no one in
+the house, but a boy, about nine years of age.
+
+As he went out, he spoke to the boy in Dutch, which I supposed, from the
+little fellow's conduct, to be instructions to watch me closely, which he
+certainly did.
+
+The potatoe lot was across the public road, directly in front of the
+house; at the back of the house, and about 300 yards distant, there was a
+thick wood. The circumstances of the case would not allow me to think for
+one moment of remaining there for the night--the time had come for another
+effort--but there were two serious difficulties. One was, that I must
+either deceive or dispatch this boy who is watching me with intense
+vigilance. I am glad to say, that the latter did not for a moment
+seriously enter my mind. To deceive him effectually, I left my coat and
+went to the back door, from which my course would be direct to the wood.
+When I got to the door, I found that the barn, to which the waggon, must
+soon come, lay just to the right, and overlooking the path I must take to
+the wood. In front of me lay a garden surrounded by a picket fence, to the
+left of me was a small gate, and that by passing through that gate would
+throw me into an open field, and give me clear running to the wood; but on
+looking through the gate, I saw that my captor, being with the team, would
+see me if I attempted to start before he moved from the position he then
+occupied. To add to my difficulty the horses had baulked; while waiting
+for the decisive moment, the boy came to the door and asked me why I did
+not come in. I told him I felt unwell, and wished him to be so kind as to
+hand me a glass of water; expecting while he was gone to get it, the team
+would clear, so that I could start. While he was gone, another attempt was
+made to start the team but failed; he came with the water and I quickly
+used it up by gargling my throat and by drinking a part. I asked him to
+serve me by giving me another glass: he gave me a look of close scrutiny,
+but went in for the water. I heard him fill the glass, and start to return
+with it; when the hind end of the waggon cleared the corner of the house,
+which stood in a range with the fence along which I was to pass in getting
+to the wood. As I passed out the gate, I "squared my main yard," and laid
+my course up the line of fence, I cast a last glance over my right
+shoulder, and saw the boy just perch his head above the garden picket to
+look after me; I heard at the same time great confusion with the team, the
+rain having made the ground slippery, and the horses having to cross the
+road with a slant and rise to get into the barn, it required great effort
+after they started to prevent their baulking. I felt some assurance that
+although the boy might give the alarm, my captor could not leave the team
+until it was in the barn. I heard the horses' feet on the barn-floor, just
+as I leaped the fence, and darted into the wood.
+
+The sun was now quite down behind the western horizon, and just at this
+time a heavy dark curtain of clouds was let down, which seemed to usher in
+haste the night shade. I have never before or since seen anything which
+seemed to me to compare in sublimity with the spreading of the night
+shades at the close of that day. My reflections upon the events of that
+day, and upon the close of it, since I became acquainted with the Bible,
+have frequently brought to my mind that beautiful passage in the Book of
+Job, "He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth a cloud before
+it."
+
+Before I proceed to the critical events and final deliverance of the next
+chapter, I cannot forbear to pause a moment here for reflection. The
+reader may well imagine how the events of the past day affected my mind.
+You have seen what was done to me; you have heard what was said to me--you
+have also seen what I have done, and heard what I have said. If you ask me
+whether I had expected before I left home, to gain my liberty by shedding
+men's blood, or breaking their limbs? I answer, no! and as evidence of
+this, I had provided no weapon whatever; not so much as a penknife--it
+never once entered my mind. I cannot say that I expected to have the ill
+fortune of meeting with any human being who would attempt to impede my
+flight.
+
+If you ask me if I expected when I left home to gain my liberty by
+fabrications and untruths? I answer, no! my parents, slaves as they were,
+had always taught me, when they could, that "truth may be blamed but
+cannot be shamed;" so far as their example was concerned, I had no habits
+of untruth. I was arrested, and the demand made upon me, "Who do you
+belong to?" knowing the fatal use these men would make of _my_ truth, I at
+once concluded that they had no more right to it than a highwayman has to
+a traveller's purse.
+
+If you ask me whether I now really believe that I gained my liberty by
+those lies? I answer, no! I now believe that I should be free, had I told
+the truth; but, at that moment, I could not see any other way to baffle my
+enemies, and escape their clutches.
+
+The history of that day has never ceased to inspire me with a deeper
+hatred of slavery; I never recur to it but with the most intense horror at
+a system which can put a man not only in peril of liberty, limb, and life
+itself, but which may even send him in haste to the bar of God with a lie
+upon his lips.
+
+Whatever my readers may think, therefore, of the history of events of the
+day, do not admire in it the fabrications; but _see_ in it the impediments
+that often fall into the pathway of the flying bondman. _See_ how human
+bloodhounds gratuitously chase, catch, and tempt him to shed blood and
+lie; how, when he would do good, evil is thrust upon him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A DREARY NIGHT IN THE WOODS--CRITICAL SITUATION THE NEXT DAY.
+
+
+Almost immediately on entering the wood, I not only found myself embosomed
+in the darkness of the night, but I also found myself entangled in a thick
+forest of undergrowth, which had been quite thoroughly wetted by the
+afternoon rain.
+
+I penetrated through the wood, thick and thin, and more or less wet, to
+the distance I should think of three miles. By this time my clothes were
+all thoroughly soaked through, and I felt once more a gloom and
+wretchedness; the recollection of which makes me shudder at this distant
+day. My young friends in this highly favoured Christian country,
+surrounded with all the comforts of home and parental care, visited by
+pastors and Sabbath-school teachers, think of the dreary condition of the
+blacksmith boy in the dark wood that night; and then consider that
+thousands of his brethren have had to undergo much greater hardships in
+their flight from slavery.
+
+I was now out of the hands of those who had so cruelly teased me during
+the day; but a number of fearful thoughts rushed into my mind to alarm me.
+It was dark and cloudy, so that I could not see the _north star_. How do I
+know what ravenous beasts are in this wood? How do I know what precipices
+may be within its bounds? I cannot rest in this wood to-morrow, for it
+will be searched by those men from whom I have escaped; but how shall I
+regain the road? How shall I know when I am on the right road again?
+
+These are some of the thoughts that filled my mind with gloom and alarm.
+
+At a venture I struck an angle northward in search of the road. After
+several hours of zigzag and laborious travel, dragging through briars,
+thorns and running vines, I emerged from the wood and found myself wading
+marshy ground and over ditches.
+
+I can form no correct idea of the distance I travelled, but I came to a
+road, I should think about three o'clock in the morning. It so happened
+that I came out near where there was a fork in the road of three prongs.
+
+Now arose a serious query--which is the right prong for me? I was reminded
+by the circumstance of a superstitious proverb among the slaves, that "the
+left-hand turning was unlucky," but as I had never been in the habit of
+placing faith in this or any similar superstition, I am not aware that it
+had the least weight upon my mind, as I had the same difficulty with
+reference to the right-hand turning. After a few moments parley with
+myself, I took the central prong of the road and pushed on with all my
+speed.
+
+It had not cleared off, but a fresh wind had sprung up; it was chilly and
+searching. This with my wet clothing made me very uncomfortable; my nerves
+began to quiver before the searching wind. The barking of mastiffs, the
+crowing of fowls, and the distant rattling of market waggons, warned me
+that the day was approaching.
+
+My British reader must remember that in the region where I was, we know
+nothing of the long hours of twilight you enjoy here. With us the day is
+measured more by the immediate presence of the sun, and the night by the
+prevalence of actual darkness.
+
+The day dawned upon me when I was near a small house and barn, situate
+close to the road side. The barn was too near the road, and too small to
+afford secure shelter for the day; but as I cast my eye around by the dim
+light, I could see no wood, and no larger barn. It seemed to be an open
+country to a wide extent. The sun was travelling so rapidly from his
+eastern chamber, that ten or fifteen minutes would spread broad daylight
+over my track. Whether _my_ deed was evil, _you_ may judge, but I freely
+confess that I did _then_ prefer darkness rather than light; I therefore
+took to the mow of the little barn at a great risk, as the events of the
+day will show. It so happened that the barn was filled with corn fodder,
+newly cured and lately gotten in. You are aware that however quietly one
+may crawl into such a bed, he is compelled to make much more noise than if
+it were a feather-bed; and also considerably more than if it were hay or
+straw. Besides inflicting upon my own excited imagination the belief that
+I made noise enough to be heard by the inmates of the house who were
+likely to be rising at the time, I had the misfortune to attract the
+notice of a little house-dog, such as we call in that part of the world a
+"fice," on account of its being not only the smallest species of the
+canine race, but also, because it is the most saucy, noisy, and teasing
+of all dogs. This little creature commenced a fierce barking. I had at
+once great fears that the mischievous little thing would betray me; I
+fully apprehended that as soon as the man of the house arose, he would
+come and make search in the barn. It now being entirely daylight, it was
+too late to retreat from this shelter, even if I could have found another;
+I, therefore, bedded myself down into the fodder as best I could, and
+entered upon the annoyances of the day, with the frail hope to sustain my
+mind.
+
+It was Thursday morning; the clouds that had veiled the sky during the
+latter part of the previous day and the previous night were gone. It was
+not until about an hour after the sun rose that I heard any out-door
+movements about the house. As soon as I heard those movements, I was
+satisfied there was but one man about the house, and that he was preparing
+to go some distance to work for the day. This was fortunate for me; the
+busy movements about the yard, and especially the active preparations in
+the house for breakfast, silenced my unwelcome little annoyer, the fice,
+until after the man had gone, when he commenced afresh, and continued with
+occasional intermissions through the day. He made regular sallies from the
+house to the barn, and after smelling about, would fly back to the house,
+barking furiously; thus he strove most skilfully throughout the entire day
+to raise an alarm. There seemed to be no one about the house but one or
+two small children and the mother, after the man was gone. About ten
+o'clock my attention was gravely directed to another trial: how I could
+pass the day without food. The reader will remember it is Thursday, and
+the only regular meal I have taken since Sunday, was yesterday, in the
+midst of great agitation, about four o'clock; that since that I have
+performed my arduous night's travel. At one moment, I had nearly concluded
+to go and present myself at the door, and ask the woman of the house to
+have compassion and give me food; but then I feared the consequences might
+be fatal, and I resolved to suffer the day out. The wind sprang up fresh
+and cool; the barn being small and the crevices large, my wet clothes were
+dried by it, and chilled me through and through.
+
+I cannot now, with pen or tongue, give a correct idea of the feeling of
+wretchedness I experienced; every nerve in my system quivered, so that not
+a particle of my flesh was at rest. In this way I passed the day till
+about the middle of the afternoon, when there seemed to be an unusual stir
+about the public road, which passed close by the barn. Men seemed to be
+passing in parties on horseback, and talking anxiously. From a word which
+I now and then overheard, I had not a shadow of doubt that they were in
+search of me. One I heard say, "I ought to catch such a fellow, the only
+liberty he should have for one fortnight, would be ten feet of rope."
+Another I heard say, "I reckon he is in that wood now." Another said, "Who
+would have thought that rascal was so 'cute?" All this while the little
+fice was mingling his voice with those of the horsemen, and the noise of
+the horses' feet. I listened and trembled.
+
+Just before the setting of the sun, the labouring man of the house
+returned, and commenced his evening duties about the house and barn;
+chopping wood, getting up his cow, feeding his pigs, &c, attended by the
+little brute, who continued barking at short intervals. He came several
+times into the barn below. While matters were passing thus, I heard the
+approach of horses again, and as they came up nearer, I was led to believe
+that all I had heard pass, were returning in one party. They passed the
+barn and halted at the house, when I recognised the voice of my old
+captor; addressing the labourer, he asked, "Have you seen a runaway nigger
+pass here to-day?"
+
+LABOURER.--"No; I have not been at home since early this morning. Where
+did he come from?"
+
+CAPTOR.--"I caught him down below here yesterday morning. I had him all
+day, and just at night he fooled me and got away. A party of us have been
+after him all day; we have been up to the line, but can't hear or see
+anything of him. I heard this morning where he came from. He is a
+blacksmith, and a stiff reward is out for him, two hundred dollars."
+
+LAB.--"He is worth looking for."
+
+CAP.--"I reckon so. If I get my clutches on him again, I'll mosey[A] him
+down to ---- before I eat or sleep."
+
+[Footnote A: An expression which signifies to drive in a hurry.]
+
+Reader, you may if you can, imagine what the state of my mind was at this
+moment. I shall make no attempt to describe it to you; to my great relief,
+however, the party rode off, and the labourer after finishing his work
+went into the house. Hope seemed now to dawn for me once more; darkness
+was rapidly approaching, but the moments of twilight seemed much longer
+than they did the evening before. At length the sable covering had spread
+itself over the earth. About eight o'clock, I ventured to descend from the
+mow of the barn into the road. The little dog the while began a furious
+fit of barking, so much so, that I was sure that with what his master had
+learned about me, he could not fail to believe I was about his premises. I
+quickly crossed the road, and got into an open field opposite. After
+stepping lightly about two hundred yards, I halted, and on listening, I
+heard the door open. Feeling about on the ground, I picked up two stones,
+and one in each hand I made off as fast as I could, but I heard nothing
+more that indicated pursuit, and after going some distance I discharged my
+encumbrance, as from the reduced state of my bodily strength, I could not
+afford to carry ballast.
+
+This incident had the effect to start me under great disadvantage to make
+a good night's journey, as it threw me at once off the road, and compelled
+me to encounter at once the tedious and laborious task of beating my way
+across marshy fields, and to drag through woods and thickets where there
+were no paths.
+
+After several hours I found my way back to the road, but the hope of
+making anything like clever speed was out of the question. All I could do
+was to keep my legs in motion, and this I continued to do with the utmost
+difficulty. The latter part of the night I suffered extremely from cold.
+There came a heavy frost; I expected at every moment to fall on the road
+and perish. I came to a corn-field covered with heavy shocks of Indian
+corn that had been cut; I went into this and got an ear, and then crept
+into one of the shocks; eat as much of it as I could, and thought I would
+rest a little and start again, but weary nature could not sustain the
+operation of grinding hard corn for its own nourishment, and I sunk to
+sleep.
+
+When I awoke, the sun was shining around; I started with alarm, but it
+was too late to think of seeking any other shelter; I therefore nestled
+myself down, and concealed myself as best I could from the light of day.
+After recovering a little from my fright, I commenced again eating my
+whole corn. Grain by grain I worked away at it; when my jaws grew tired,
+as they often did, I would rest, and then begin afresh. Thus, although I
+began an early breakfast, I was nearly the whole of the forenoon before I
+had done.
+
+Nothing of importance occurred during the day, until about the middle of
+the afternoon, when I was thrown into a panic by the appearance of a party
+of gunners, who passed near me with their dogs. After shooting one or two
+birds, however, and passing within a few rods of my frail covering, they
+went on, and left me once more in hope. Friday night came without any
+other incident worth naming. As I sallied out, I felt evident benefit from
+the ear of corn I had nibbled away. My strength was considerably renewed;
+though I was far from being nourished, I felt that my life was at least
+safe from death by hunger. Thus encouraged, I set out with better speed
+than I had made since Sunday and Monday night. I had a presentiment, too,
+that I must be near free soil. I had not yet the least idea where I should
+find a home or a friend, still my spirits were so highly elated, that I
+took the whole of the road to myself; I ran, hopped, skipped, jumped,
+clapped my hands, and talked to myself. But to the old slaveholder I had
+left, I said, "Ah! ha! old fellow, I told you I'd fix you."
+
+After an hour or two of such freaks of joy, a gloom would come over me in
+connexion with these questions, "But where are you going? What are you
+going to do? What will you do with freedom without father, mother,
+sisters, and brothers? What will you say when you are asked where you were
+born? You know nothing of the world; how will you explain the fact of your
+ignorance?"
+
+These questions made me feel deeply the magnitude of the difficulties yet
+before me.
+
+Saturday morning dawned upon me; and although my strength seemed yet
+considerably fresh, I began to feel a hunger somewhat more destructive and
+pinching, if possible, than I had before. I resolved, at all risk, to
+continue my travel by day-light, and to ask information of the first
+person I met.
+
+The events of the next chapter will shew what fortune followed this
+resolve.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE GOOD WOMAN OF THE TOLL-GATE DIRECTS ME TO W.W.--MY RECEPTION BY HIM.
+
+
+The resolution of which I informed the reader at the close of the last
+chapter, being put into practice, I continued my flight on the public
+road; and a little after the sun rose, I came in sight of a toll-gate
+again. For a moment all the events which followed my passing a toll-gate
+on Wednesday morning, came fresh to my recollection, and produced some
+hesitation; but at all events, said I, I will try again.
+
+On arriving at the gate, I found it attended by an elderly woman, whom I
+afterwards learned was a widow, and an excellent Christian woman. I asked
+her if I was in Pennsylvania. On being informed that I was, I asked her if
+she knew where I could get employ? She said she did not; but advised me to
+go to W.W., a Quaker, who lived about three miles from her, whom I would
+find to take an interest in me. She gave me directions which way to take;
+I thanked her, and bade her good morning, and was very careful to follow
+her directions.
+
+In about half an hour I stood trembling at the door of W.W. After
+knocking, the door opened upon a comfortably spread table; the sight of
+which seemed at once to increase my hunger sevenfold. Not daring to enter,
+I said I had been sent to him in search of employ. "Well," said he, "Come
+in and take thy breakfast, and get warm, and we will talk about it; thee
+must be cold without any coat." "_Come in and take thy breakfast, and get
+warm!_" These words spoken by a stranger, but with such an air of simple
+sincerity and fatherly kindness, made an overwhelming impression upon my
+mind. They made me feel, spite of all my fear and timidity, that I had, in
+the providence of God, found a friend and a home. He at once gained my
+confidence; and I felt that I might confide to him a fact which I had, as
+yet, confided to no one.
+
+From that day to this, whenever I discover the least disposition in my
+heart to disregard the wretched condition of any poor or distressed
+persons with whom I meet, I call to mind these words--"_Come in and take
+thy breakfast, and get warm_." They invariably remind me of what I was at
+that time; my condition was as wretched as that of any human being can
+possibly be, with the exception of the loss of health or reason. I had but
+four pieces of clothing about my person, having left all the rest in the
+hands of my captors. I was a starving fugitive, without home or friends--a
+reward offered for my person in the public papers--pursued by cruel
+manhunters, and no claim upon him to whose door I went. Had he turned me
+away, I must have perished. Nay, he took me in, and gave me of his food,
+and shared with me his own garments. Such treatment I had never before
+received at the hands of any white man.
+
+A few such men in slaveholding America, have stood, and even now stand,
+like Abrahams and Lots, to stay its forthcoming and well-earned and just
+judgment.
+
+The limits of this work compel me to pass over many interesting incidents
+which occurred during my six months' concealment in that family. I must
+confine myself only to those which will show the striking providence of
+God, in directing my steps to the door of W.W., and how great an influence
+the incidents of that six months has had upon all my subsequent history.
+My friend kindly gave me employ to saw and split a number of cords of
+wood, then lying in his yard, for which he agreed with me for liberal pay
+and board. This inspired me with great encouragement. The idea of
+beginning to earn something was very pleasant. Next; we confidentially
+agreed upon the way and means of avoiding surprise, in case any one should
+come to the house as a spy, or with intention to arrest me. This afforded
+still further relief, as it convinced me that the whole family would now
+be on the look out for such persons.
+
+The next theme of conversation was with reference to my education.
+
+"Can thee read or write any, James?" was the question put to me the
+morning after my arrival, by W.W.
+
+"No, sir, I cannot; my duties as a blacksmith have made me acquainted with
+the figures on the common mechanics' square. There was a day-book kept in
+the shop, in which the overseer usually charged the smithwork we did for
+the neighbours. I have spent entire Sabbaths looking over the pages of
+that book; knowing the names of persons to whom certain pieces of work
+were charged, together with their prices, I strove anxiously to learn to
+write in this way. I got paper, and picked up feathers about the yard, and
+made ink of ---- berries. My quills being too soft, and my skill in making
+a pen so poor, that I undertook some years ago to make a steel pen.[A] In
+this way I have learnt to make a few of the letters, but I cannot write my
+own name, nor do I know the letters of the alphabet."
+
+[Footnote A: This attempt was as early as 1822.]
+
+_W.W., (handing a slate and pencil.)_--"Let me see how thee makes letters;
+try such as thou hast been able to make easily."
+
+A.B.C.L.G.
+
+_P.W., (wife of W.W.)_--"Why, those are better than I can make."
+
+_W.W._--"Oh, we can soon get thee in the way, James."
+
+Arithmetic and astronomy became my favourite studies. W.W. was an
+accomplished scholar; he had been a teacher for some years, and was
+cultivating a small farm on account of ill-health, which had compelled him
+to leave teaching. He is one of the most far-sighted and practical men I
+ever met with. He taught me by familiar conversations, illustrating his
+themes by diagrams on the slate, so that I caught his ideas with ease and
+rapidity.
+
+I now began to see, for the first time, the extent of the mischief slavery
+had done to me. Twenty-one years of my life were gone, never again to
+return, and I was as profoundly ignorant, comparatively, as a child five
+years old. This was painful, annoying, and humiliating in the extreme. Up
+to this time, I recollected to have seen one copy of the New Testament,
+but the entire Bible I had never seen, and had never heard of the
+Patriarchs, or of the Lord Jesus Christ. I recollected to have heard two
+sermons, but had heard no mention in them of Christ, or the way of life
+by Him. It is quite easy to imagine, then, what was the state of my mind,
+having been reared in total moral midnight; it was a sad picture of mental
+and spiritual darkness.
+
+As my friend poured light into my mind, I saw the darkness; it amazed and
+grieved me beyond description. Sometimes I sank down under the load, and
+became discouraged, and dared not hope that I could ever succeed in
+acquiring knowledge enough, to make me happy, or useful to my
+fellow-beings.
+
+My dear friend, W.W., however, had a happy tact to inspire me with
+confidence; and he, perceiving my state of mind, exerted himself, not
+without success, to encourage me. He cited to me various instances of
+coloured persons, of whom I had not heard before, and who had
+distinguished themselves for learning, such as Bannicker, Wheatley, and
+Francis Williams.
+
+How often have I regretted that the six months I spent in the family of
+W.W., could not have been six years. The danger of recapture, however,
+rendered it utterly imprudent that I should remain longer; and early in
+the month of March, while the ground was covered with the winter's snow, I
+left the bosom of this excellent family, and went forth once more to try
+my fortune among strangers.
+
+My dear reader, if I could describe to you the emotions I felt when I left
+the threshold of W.W.'s door, you could not fail to see how deplorable is
+the condition of the fugitive slave, often for months and years after he
+has escaped the immediate grasp of the tyrant. When I left my parents, the
+trial was great, but I had now to leave a friend who had done more for me
+than parents could have done as slaves; and hence I felt an endearment to
+that friend which was heightened by a sense of the important relief he had
+afforded me in the greatest need, and hours of pleasant and highly
+profitable intercourse.
+
+About a month previous to leaving the house of W.W., a small circumstance
+occurred one evening, which I only name to shew the harassing fears and
+dread in which I lived during most of the time I was there. He had a
+brother-in-law living some ten miles distant--he was a friend to the
+slave; he often came unexpectedly and spent a few hours--sometimes a day
+and a night. I had not, however, ever known him to come at night. One
+night about nine o'clock, after I had gone to bed, (my lodging being just
+over the room in which W.W. and his wife were sitting,) I heard the door
+open and a voice ask, "Where is the boy?" The voice sounded to me like the
+voice of my master; I was sure it must be his. I sprang and listened for a
+moment--it seemed to be silent; I heard nothing, and then it seemed to me
+there was a confusion. There was a window at the head of my bed, which I
+could reach without getting upon the floor: it was a single sash and
+opened upon hinges. I quickly opened this window and waited in a perfect
+tremour of dread for further development. There was a door at the foot of
+the stairs; as I heard that door open, I sprang for the window, and my
+head was just out, when the gentle voice of my friend W.W. said,
+"James?"[A] "Here," said I, "---- has come, and he would like to have thee
+put up his horse." I drew a breath of relief, but my strength and presence
+of mind did not return for some hours, I slept none that night; for a
+moment I could doze away, but the voice would sound in my ears, "Where is
+that boy?" and it would seem to me it must be the tyrant in quest of his
+weary prey, and would find myself starting again.
+
+[Footnote A: If W.W. had ascended the stairs without calling, I should
+certainly have jumped out of the window.]
+
+From that time the agitation of my mind became so great that I could not
+feel myself safe. Every day seemed to increase my fear, till I was unfit
+for work, study or rest. My friend endeavoured, but in vain, to get me to
+stay a week longer.
+
+The events of the spring proved that I had not left too soon. As soon as
+the season for travelling fairly opened, active search was made, and my
+master was seen in a town, twenty miles in advance of where I had spent my
+six months.
+
+The following curious fact also came out. That same brother-in-law who
+frightened me, was putting up one evening at a hotel some miles off, and
+while sitting quietly by himself in one part of the room, he overheard a
+conversation between a travelling pedler and several gossippers of the
+neighbourhood, who were lounging away the evening at the hotel.
+
+PEDLER.--"Do you know one W.W. somewhere about here?"
+
+GOSSIPER.--"Yes, he lives ---- miles off."
+
+PED.--"I understand he had a black boy with him last winter, I wonder if
+he is there yet?"
+
+GOS.--"I don't know, he most always has a runaway nigger with him."
+
+PED.--"I should like to find out whether that fellow is there yet."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW, (turning about.)--"What does thee know about that boy?"
+
+PED.--"Well he is a runaway."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Who did he run away from?"
+
+PED.--"From Col ---- in ----."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"How did thee find out that fact?"
+
+PED.--"Well, I have been over there peddling."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Where art thou from?"
+
+PED.--"I belong in Conn."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Did thee see the boy's master?"
+
+PED.--"Yes."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"What did he offer thee to find the boy?"
+
+PED.--"I agreed to find out where he was, and let him know, and if he got
+him, I was to receive ----."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"How didst thou hear the boy had been with W.W."
+
+PED.--"Oh, he is known to be a notorious rascal for enticing away, and
+concealing slaves; he'll get himself into trouble yet, the slaveholders
+are on the look out for him."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"W.W. is my brother-in-law; the boy of whom thou speakest
+is not with him, and to save thee the trouble of abusing him, I can
+moreover say, he is no rascal."
+
+PED.--"He may not be there now, but it is because he has sent him off. His
+master heard of him, and from the description, he is sure it must have
+been his boy. He could tell me pretty nigh where he was; he said he was a
+fine healthy boy, twenty-one, a first-rate blacksmith; he would not have
+taken a thousand dollars for him."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"I know not where the boy is, but I have no doubt he is
+worth more to himself than he ever was to his master, high as he fixes
+the price on him; and I have no doubt thee will do better to pursue thy
+peddling honestly, than to neglect it for the sake of serving
+negro-hunters at a venture."
+
+All this happened within a month or two after I left my friend. One fact
+which makes this part of the story deeply interesting to my own mind, is,
+that some years elapsed before it came to my knowledge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SEVEN MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE FAMILY OF J.K. A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF
+FRIENDS, IN CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.--REMOVAL TO NEW YORK--BECOMES A
+CONVERT TO RELIGION--BECOMES A TEACHER.
+
+
+On leaving W.W., I wended my way in deep sorrow and melancholy, onward
+towards Philadelphia, and after travelling two days and a night, I found
+shelter and employ in the family of J.K., another member of the Society of
+Friends, a farmer.
+
+The religious atmosphere in this family was excellent. Mrs. K. gave me the
+first copy of the Holy Scriptures I ever possessed, she also gave me much
+excellent counsel. She was a preacher in the Society of Friends; this
+occasioned her with her husband to be much of their time from home. This
+left the charge of the farm upon me, and besides put it out of their power
+to render me that aid in my studies which my former friend had. I,
+however, kept myself closely concealed, by confining myself to the limits
+of the farm, and using all my leisure time in study. This place was more
+secluded, and I felt less of dread and fear of discovery than I had
+before, and although seriously embarrassed for want of an instructor, I
+realized some pleasure and profit in my studies. I often employed myself
+in drawing rude maps of the solar system, and diagrams illustrating the
+theory of solar eclipses. I felt also a fondness for reading the Bible,
+and committing chapters, and verses of hymns to memory. Often on the
+Sabbath when alone in the barn, I would break the monotony of the hours by
+endeavouring to speak, as if I was addressing an audience. My mind was
+constantly struggling for thoughts, and I was still more grieved and
+alarmed at its barrenness; I found it gradually freed from the darkness
+entailed by slavery, but I was deeply and anxiously concerned how I should
+fill it with useful knowledge. I had a few books, and no tutor.
+
+In this way I spent seven months with J.K., and should have continued
+longer, agreeably to his urgent solicitation, but I felt that life was
+fast wearing, and that as I was now free, I must adventure in search of
+knowledge. On leaving J.K., he kindly gave me the following certificate,--
+
+  "East Nautmeal, Chester County, Pennsylvania, _Tenth Month 5th, 1828._
+
+  "I hereby certify, that the bearer, J.W.C. Pennington, has been in my
+  employ seven months, during most of which time I have been from home,
+  leaving my entire business in his trust, and that he has proved a highly
+  trustworthy and industrious young man. He leaves with the sincere regret
+  of myself and family; but as he feels it to be his duty to go where he
+  can obtain education, so as to fit him to be more useful, I cordially
+  commend him to the warm sympathy of the friends of humanity wherever a
+  wise providence may appoint him a home.
+
+  Signed,
+
+  "J.K."
+
+Passing through Philadelphia, I went to New York, and in a short time
+found employ on Long Island, near the city. At this time, the state of
+things was extremely critical in New York. It was just two years after the
+general emancipation in that state. In the city it was a daily occurrence
+for slaveholders from the southern states to catch their slaves, and by
+certificate from Recorder Riker take them back. I often felt serious
+apprehensions of danger, and yet I felt also that I must begin the world
+somewhere.
+
+I was earning respectable wages, and by means of evening schools and
+private tuition, was making encouraging progress in my studies.
+
+Up to this time, it had never occurred to me that I was a slave in another
+and a more serious sense. All my serious impressions of mind had been with
+reference to the slavery from which I had escaped. Slavery had been my
+theme of thought day and night.
+
+In the spring of 1829, I found my mind unusually perplexed about the state
+of the slave. I was enjoying rare privileges in attending a Sabbath
+school; the great value of Christian knowledge began to be impressed upon
+my mind to an extent I had not been conscious of before. I began to
+contrast my condition with that of ten brothers and sisters I had left in
+slavery, and the condition of children I saw sitting around me on the
+Sabbath, with their pious teachers, with that of 700,000, now 800,440
+slave children, who had no means of Christian instruction.
+
+The theme was more powerful than any my mind had ever encountered before.
+It entered into the deep chambers of my soul, and stirred the most
+agitating emotions I had ever felt. The question was, what can I do for
+that vast body of suffering brotherhood I have left behind. To add to the
+weight and magnitude of the theme, I learnt for the first time, how many
+slaves there were. The question completely staggered my mind; and finding
+myself more and more borne down with it, until I was in an agony; I
+thought I would make it a subject of prayer to God, although prayer had
+not been my habit, having never attempted it but once.
+
+I not only prayed, but also fasted. It was while engaged thus, that my
+attention was seriously drawn to the fact that I was a lost sinner, and a
+slave to Satan; and soon I saw that I must make another escape from
+another tyrant. I did not by any means forget my fellow-bondmen, of whom I
+had been sorrowing so deeply, and travailing in spirit so earnestly; but I
+now saw that while man had been injuring me, I had been offending God; and
+that unless I ceased to offend him, I could not expect to have his
+sympathy in my wrongs; and moreover, that I could not be instrumental in
+eliciting his powerful aid in behalf of those for whom I mourned so
+deeply.
+
+This may provoke a smile from some who profess to be the friends of the
+slave, but who have a lower estimate of experimental Christianity than I
+believe is due to it; but I am not the less confident that sincere prayer
+to God, proceeding from a few hearts deeply imbued with experimental
+Christianity about _that time_, has had much to do with subsequent happy
+results. At that time the 800,000 bondmen in the British Isles had not
+seen the beginning of the end of their sufferings--at that time, 20,000
+who are now free in Canada, were in bonds--at that time, there was no
+Vigilance Committee to aid the flying slave--at that time, the two
+powerful Anti-Slavery Societies of America had no being.
+
+I distinctly remember that I felt the need of enlisting the sympathy of
+God, in behalf of my enslaved brethren; but when I attempted it day after
+day, and night after night, I was made to feel, that whatever else I might
+do, I was not qualified to do that, as I was myself alienated from him by
+wicked works. In short, I felt that I needed the powerful aid of some in
+my behalf with God, just as much as I did that of my dear friend in
+Pennsylvania, when flying from man. "If one man sin against another, the
+judge shall judge him, but if a man sin against God, who shall entreat for
+him?"
+
+Day after day, for about two weeks, I found myself more deeply convicted
+of personal guilt before God. My heart, soul and body were in the greatest
+distress; I thought of neither food, drink or rest, for days and nights
+together. Burning with a recollection of the wrongs man had done
+me--mourning for the injuries my brethren were still enduring, and deeply
+convicted of the guilt of my own sins against God. One evening, in the
+third week of the struggle, while alone in my chamber, and after solemn
+reflection for several hours, I concluded that I could never be happy or
+useful in that state of mind, and resolved that I would try to become
+reconciled to God. I was then living in the family of an Elder of the
+Presbyterian Church. I had not made known my feelings to any one, either
+in the family or out of it; and I did not suppose that any one had
+discovered my feelings. To my surprise, however, I found that the family
+had not only been aware of my state for several days, but were deeply
+anxious on my behalf. The following Sabbath, Dr. Cox was on a visit in
+Brooklyn to preach, and was a guest in the family; hearing of my case, he
+expressed a wish to converse with me, and without knowing the plan, I was
+invited into a room and left alone with him. He entered skilfully and
+kindly into my feelings, and after considerable conversation he invited me
+to attend his service that afternoon. I did so, and was deeply interested.
+
+Without detaining the reader with too many particulars, I will only state
+that I heard the doctor once or twice after this, at his own place of
+worship in New York City, and had several personal interviews with him, as
+the result of which, I hope, I was brought to a saving acquaintance with
+Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write; and soon
+connected myself with the church under his pastoral care.
+
+I now returned with all my renewed powers to the great theme--slavery. It
+seemed now as I looked at it, to be more hideous than ever. I saw it now
+as an evil under the moral government of God--as a sin not only against
+man, but also against God. The great and engrossing thought with me was,
+how shall I now employ my time and my talents so as to tell most
+effectually upon this system of wrong! As I have stated, there was no
+Anti-Slavery Society then--there was no Vigilance Committee. I had,
+therefore, to select a course of action, without counsel or advice from
+any one who professed to sympathize with the slave. Many, many lonely
+hours of deep meditation have I passed during the years 1828 and 1829,
+before the great anti-slavery movement. On the questions, What shall I do
+for the slave? How shall I act so that he will reap the benefit of my time
+and talents? At one time I had resolved to go to Africa, and to react from
+there; but without bias or advice from any mortal, I soon gave up that, as
+looking too much like feeding a hungry man with a long spoon.
+
+At length, finding that the misery, ignorance, and wretchedness of the
+free coloured people was by the whites tortured into an argument for
+slavery; finding myself now among the free people of colour in New York,
+where slavery was so recently abolished; and finding much to do for their
+elevation, I resolved to give my strength in that direction. And well do I
+remember the great movement which commenced among us about this time, for
+the holding of General Conventions, to devise ways and means for their
+elevation, which continued with happy influence up to 1834, when we gave
+way to anti-slavery friends, who had then taken up the labouring oar. And
+well do I remember that the first time I ever saw those tried friends,
+Garrison, Jocelyn, and Tappan, was in one of those Conventions, where they
+came to make our acquaintance, and to secure our confidence in some of
+their preliminary labours.
+
+My particular mode of labour was still a subject of deep reflection; and
+from time to time I carried it to the Throne of Grace. Eventually my mind
+fixed upon the ministry as the desire of my whole heart. I had mastered
+the preliminary branches of English education, and was engaged in studying
+logic, rhetoric, and the Greek Testament, without a master. While thus
+struggling in my laudable work, an opening presented itself which was not
+less surprising than gratifying. Walking on the street one day, I met a
+friend, who said to me, "I have just had an application to supply a
+teacher for a school, and I have recommended you." I said, "My dear
+friend, I am obliged to you for the kindness; but I fear I cannot sustain
+an examination for that station." "Oh," said he, "try." I said, "I will,"
+and we separated. Two weeks afterwards, I met the trustees of the school,
+was examined, accepted, and agreed with them for a salary of two hundred
+dollars per annum; commenced my school, and succeeded. This was five
+years, three months, and thirteen days after I came from the South.
+
+As the events of my life since that have been of a public professional
+nature, I will say no more about it. My object in writing this tract is
+now completed. It has been to shew the reader the hand of God with a
+slave; and to elicit your sympathy in behalf of the fugitive slave, by
+shewing some of the untold dangers and hardships through which he has to
+pass to gain liberty, and how much he needs friends on free soil; and that
+men who have felt the yoke of slavery, even in its mildest form, cannot be
+expected to speak of the system otherwise than in terms of the most
+unqualified condemnation.
+
+There is one sin that slavery committed against me, which I never can
+forgive. It robbed me of my education; the injury is irreparable; I feel
+the embarrassment more seriously now than I ever did before. It cost me
+two years' hard labour, after I fled, to unshackle my mind; it was three
+years before I had purged my language of slavery's idioms; it was four
+years before I had thrown off the crouching aspect of slavery; and now the
+evil that besets me is a great lack of that general information, the
+foundation of which is most effectually laid in that part of life which I
+served as a slave. When I consider how much now, more than ever, depends
+upon sound and thorough education among coloured men, I am grievously
+overwhelmed with a sense of my deficiency, and more especially as I can
+never hope now to make it up. If I know my own heart, I have no ambition
+but to serve the cause of suffering humanity; all that I have desired or
+sought, has been to make me more efficient for good. So far I have some
+consciousness that I have done my utmost; and should my future days be few
+or many, I am reconciled to meet the last account, hoping to be acquitted
+of any wilful neglect of duty; but I shall have to go to my last account
+with this charge against the system of slavery, "_Vile monster! thou hast
+hindered my usefulness, by robbing me of my early education._"
+
+Oh! what might I have been now, but for this robbery perpetrated upon me
+as soon as I saw the light. When the monster heard that a man child was
+born, he laughed, and said, "It is mine." When I was laid in the cradle,
+he came and looked on my face, and wrote down my name upon his barbarous
+list of chattels personal, on the same list where he registered his
+horses, hogs, cows, sheep, and even his _dogs!_ Gracious Heaven, is there
+no repentance for the misguided men who do these things!
+
+The only harm I wish to slaveholders is, that they may be speedily
+delivered from the guilt of a sin, which, if not repented of, must bring
+down the judgment of Almighty God upon their devoted heads. The least I
+desire for the slave is, that he may be speedily released from the pain of
+drinking a cup whose bitterness I have sufficiently tasted, to know that
+it is insufferable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SOME ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY I LEFT IN SLAVERY--PROPOSAL TO PURCHASE MYSELF
+AND PARENTS--HOW MET BY MY OLD MASTER.
+
+
+It is but natural that the reader should wish to hear a word about the
+family I left behind.
+
+There are frequently large slave families with whom God seems to deal in a
+remarkable manner. I believe my family is an instance.
+
+I have already stated that when I fled, I left a father, mother, and
+eleven brothers and sisters. These were all, except my oldest brother,
+owned by the man from whom I fled. It will be seen at once then how the
+fear of implicating them embarrassed me in the outset. They suffered
+nothing, however, but a strong suspicion, until about six months after I
+had left; when the following circumstance took place:--
+
+When I left my friend W.W. in Pennsylvania to go on north, I ventured to
+write a letter back to one of my brothers, informing him how I was; and
+this letter was directed to the care of a white man who was hired on the
+plantation, who worked in the garden with my father, and who professed a
+warm friendship to our family; but instead of acting in good faith, he
+handed the letter to my master. I am sorry that truth compels me to say
+that that man was an Englishman.
+
+From that day the family were handled most strangely. The history begins
+thus: they were all sold into Virginia, the adjoining state. This was done
+lest I should have some plan to get them off; but God so ordered that they
+fell into kinder hands. After a few years, however, their master became
+much embarrassed, so that he was obliged to pass them into other hands,
+at least for a term of years. By this change the family was divided, and
+my parents, with the greater part of their children, were taken to New
+Orleans. After remaining there several years at hard labour,--my father
+being in a situation of considerable trust, they were again taken back to
+Virginia; and by this means became entitled by the laws of that state to
+their freedom. Before justice, however, could take its course, their old
+master in Maryland, as if intent to doom them for ever to bondage,
+repurchased them; and in order to defeat a similar law in Maryland, by
+which they would have been entitled to liberty, he obtained from the
+General Assembly of that state the following special act. This will show
+not only something of his character as a slaveholder, but also his
+political influence in the state. It is often urged in the behalf of
+slaveholders, that the law interposes an obstacle in the way of
+emancipating their slaves when they wish to do so, but here is an instance
+which lays open the real philosophy of the whole case. They make the law
+themselves, and when they find the laws operate more in favour of the
+slaves than themselves, they can easily evade or change it. Maryland being
+a slave-exporting state, you will see why they need a law to prohibit the
+importation of slaves; it is a protection to that sort of trade. This law
+he wished to evade.
+
+  "_An act for the Relief of ---- of ---- County. Passed January 17th,
+  1842._
+
+  "Whereas it is represented to this General Assembly that ---- of ----
+  county, brought into this state from the state of Virginia, sometime in
+  the month of March last, two negro slaves, to wit, ---- and ---- his
+  wife, who are slaves for life, and who were acquired by the said ---- by
+  purchase, and whereas, the said ---- is desirous of retaining said
+  slaves in this state. THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, _by the General
+  Assembly_ of Maryland, that the said ---- be, and he is hereby
+  authorized to retain said negroes as slaves for life within this state,
+  provided that the said ---- shall within thirty days after the passage
+  of this act, file with the clerk of the ---- county court, a list of
+  said slaves so brought into this state, stating their ages, with an
+  affidavit thereto attached, that the same is a true and faithful list of
+  the slaves so removed, and that they were not brought into this state
+  for the purpose of sale, and that they are slaves for life. And
+  _provided also_, that the sum of fifteen dollars for each slave, between
+  the ages of twelve and forty-five years, and the sum of five dollars for
+  each slave above the age of forty-five years and under twelve years of
+  age, so brought into this state, shall be paid to the said clerk of ----
+  county court: to be paid over by him to the treasurer of the western
+  shore, for the use and benefit of the Colonization Society of this
+  state.
+
+  _State of Connecticut.
+
+  Office of Secretary of State_.
+
+  "I hereby certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of an act passed by
+  the General Assembly of Maryland, January 17th, 1842, as it appears in
+  the printed acts of the said Maryland, in the Library of the state.
+
+  In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of said
+  state, at Hartford, this 17th day of August, 1846.
+
+  CHARLES W. BEADLEY,
+
+  (SEAL.)
+
+  Secretary of State."
+
+Thus, the whole family after being twice fairly entitled to their
+liberty, even by the laws of two slave states, had the mortification of
+finding themselves again, not only recorded as slaves for life, but also a
+premium paid upon them, professedly to aid in establishing others of their
+fellow-beings in a free republic on the coast of Africa; but the hand of
+God seems to have been heavy upon the man who could plan such a stratagem
+to wrong his fellows.
+
+The immense fortune he possessed when I left him, (bating one thousand
+dollars I brought with me in my own body,) and which he seems to have
+retained till that time, began to fly, and in a few years he was
+insolvent, so that he was unable to hold the family, and was compelled to
+think of selling them again. About this time I heard of their state by an
+underground railroad passenger, who came from that neighbourhood, and
+resolved to make an effort to obtain the freedom of my parents, and to
+relieve myself from liability. For this purpose, after arranging for the
+means to purchase, I employed counsel to make a definite offer for my
+parents and myself. To his proposal, the following evasive and offensive
+answer was returned.
+
+  _January 12th_, 1846. J. H----, Esq.
+
+  "Sir,--Your letter is before me. The ungrateful servant in whose behalf
+  you write, merits no clemency from me. He was guilty of theft when he
+  departed, for which I hope he has made due amends. I have heard he was a
+  respectable man, and calculated to do some good to his fellow-beings.
+  Servants are selling from five hundred and fifty to seven hundred
+  dollars. I will take five hundred and fifty dollars, and liberate him.
+  If my proposition is acceded to, and the money lodged in Baltimore, I
+  will execute the necessary instrument, and deliver it in Baltimore, to
+  be given up on payment being made.
+
+  "Yours, &c,
+
+  "----."
+
+  "Jim was a first-rate mechanic, (blacksmith) and was worth to me one
+  thousand dollars."
+
+Here he not only refuses to account for my parents, by including them in
+his return and proposition, but he at the same time attempts to intimidate
+me by mooting the charge of theft.
+
+I confess I was not only surprised, but mortified, at this result. The
+hope of being once more united to parents whom I had not seen for sixteen
+years, and whom I still loved dearly, had so excited my mind, that I
+disarranged my business relations, disposed of a valuable library of four
+hundred volumes, and by additional aid obtained among the liberal people
+of Jamaica, I was prepared to give the extravagant sum of five hundred
+dollars each for myself, and my father and mother. This I was willing to
+do, not because I approve of the principle involved as a general rule. But
+supposing that, as my former master was now an old man not far from his
+grave, (about which I was not mistaken) and as he knew, by his own
+shewing, that I was able to do some good, he would be inclined, whatever
+might have been our former relations and misunderstandings, to meet my
+reasonable desire to see my parents, and to part this world in
+reconciliation with each other, as well as with God. I should have
+rejoiced had his temper permitted him to accede to any offer. But I
+thought it too bad, a free man of Jesus Christ, living on "free soil," to
+give a man five hundred dollars for the privilege of being let alone, and
+to be branded as a thief into the bargain, and that too after I had served
+him twenty prime years, without the benefit of being taught so much as the
+alphabet.
+
+I wrote him with my own hand, sometime after this, stating that no
+proposition would be acceded to by me, which did not include my parents;
+and likewise fix the sum for myself more reasonable, and also retract the
+offensive charge; to this he maintained a dignified silence. The means I
+had acquired by the contributions of kind friends to redeem myself, I laid
+by, in case the worst should come; and that designed for the purchase of
+my parents, I used in another kind of operation, as the result of which,
+my father and two brothers are now in Canada. My mother was sold a second
+time, south, but she was eventually found. Several of my sisters married
+free men, who purchased their liberty; and three brothers are owned, by
+what may be called conscience slaveholders, who hold slaves only for a
+term of years. My old master has since died; my mother and he are now in
+the other world together, she is at rest from him. Sometime after his
+death, I received information from a gentleman, intimate with his heirs,
+(who are principally females) that the reduced state of the family,
+afforded not only a good opportunity to obtain a release upon reasonable
+terms, but also to render the children of my oppressor some pecuniary aid;
+and much as I had suffered, I must confess this latter was the stronger
+motive with me, for acceding to their offer made by him.
+
+I have many other deeply interesting particulars touching our family
+history, but I have detailed as many as prudence will permit, on account
+of those members who are yet south of Mason and Dixon's line.
+
+I have faith in the hand that has dealt with us so strangely, that all our
+remaining members will in time be brought together; and then the case may
+merit a reviewed and enlarged edition of this tract, when other important
+matter will be inserted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE FEEDING AND CLOTHING OF THE SLAVES IN THE PART OF MARYLAND WHERE I
+LIVED, &C.
+
+
+The slaves are generally fed upon salt pork, herrings and Indian corn.
+
+The manner of dealing it out to them is as follows:--Each working man, on
+Monday morning, goes to the cellar of the master where the provisions are
+kept, and where the overseer takes his stand with some one to assist him,
+when he, with a pair of steel-yards, weighs out to every man the amount of
+three-and-a-half pounds, to last him till the ensuing Monday--allowing him
+just half-a-pound per day. Once in a few weeks there is a change made, by
+which, instead of the three-and-a-half pounds of pork, each man receives
+twelve herrings, allowing two a-day. The only bread kind the slaves have
+is that made of Indian meal. In some of the lower counties, the masters
+usually give their slaves the corn in the ear; and they have to grind it
+for themselves by night at hand-mills. But my master had a quantity sent
+to the grist mill at a time, to be ground into coarse meal, and kept it in
+a large chest in his cellar, where the woman who cooked for the boys could
+get it daily. This was baked in large loaves, called "steel poun bread."
+Sometimes as a change it was made into "Johnny Cake," and then at others
+into mush.
+
+The slaves had no butter, coffee, tea, or sugar; occasionally they were
+allowed milk, but not statedly; the only exception to this statement was
+the "harvest provisions." In harvest, when cutting the grain, which lasted
+from two to three weeks in the heat of summer, they were allowed some
+fresh meat, rice, sugar, and coffee; and also their allowance of whiskey.
+
+At the beginning of winter, each slave had one pair of coarse shoes and
+stockings, one pair of pantaloons, and a jacket.
+
+At the beginning of summer, he had two pair of coarse linen pantaloons and
+two shirts.
+
+Once in a number of years, each slave, or each man and his wife, had one
+coarse blanket and enough coarse linen for a "bed-tick." He never had any
+bedstead or other furniture kind. The men had no hats, waistcoats or
+handkerchiefs given them, or the women any bonnets. These they had to
+contrive for themselves. Each labouring man had a small "patch" of ground
+allowed him; from this he was expected to furnish himself and his boys
+hats, &c. These patches they had to work by night; from these, also, they
+had to raise their own provisions, as no potatoes, cabbage, &c., were
+allowed them from the plantation. Years ago the slaves were in the habit
+of raising broom-corn, and making brooms to supply the market in the
+towns; but now of later years great quantities of these and other
+articles, such as scrubbing-brushes, wooden trays, mats, baskets, and
+straw hats which the slaves made, are furnished by the shakers and other
+small manufacturers, from the free states of the north.
+
+Neither my master or any other master, within my acquaintance, made any
+provisions for the religious instruction of his slaves. They were not
+worked on the Sabbath. One of the "boys" was required to stay at home and
+"feed," that is, take care of the stock, every Sabbath; the rest went to
+see their friends. Those men whose families were on other plantations
+usually spent the Sabbath with them; some would lie about at home and rest
+themselves.
+
+When it was pleasant weather my master would ride "into town" to church,
+but I never knew him to say a word to one of us about going to church, or
+about our obligations to God, or a future state. But there were a number
+of pious slaves in our neighbourhood, and several of these my master
+owned; one of these was an exhorter. He was not connected with a religious
+body, but used to speak every Sabbath in some part of the neighbourhood.
+When slaves died, their remains were usually consigned to the grave
+without any ceremony; but this old gentleman, wherever he heard of a slave
+having been buried in that way, would send notice from plantation to
+plantation, calling the slaves together at the grave on the Sabbath, where
+he'd sing, pray, and exhort. I have known him to go ten or fifteen miles
+voluntarily to attend these services. He could not read, and I never heard
+him refer to any Scripture, and state and discourse upon any fundamental
+doctrine of the gospel; but he knew a number of "spiritual songs by
+heart," of these he would give two lines at a time very exact, set and
+lead the tune himself; he would pray with great fervour, and his
+exhortations were amongst the most impressive I have heard.
+
+The Methodists at one time attempted to evangelize the slaves in our
+neighbourhod, but the effort was sternly resisted by the masters. They
+held a Camp Meeting in the neighbourhood, where many of the slaves
+attended. But one of their preachers for addressing words of comfort to
+the slaves, was arrested and tried for his life.
+
+My master was very active in this disgraceful affair, but the excellent
+man, Rev. Mr. G., was acquitted and escaped out of their hands. Still, it
+was deemed by his brethren to be imprudent for him to preach any more in
+the place, as some of the more reckless masters swore violence against
+him. This good man's name is remembered dearly, till this day, by slaves
+in that county. I met with a fugitive about a year ago, who remembered
+distinctly the words spoken by Mr. G., and by which his own mind was
+awakened to a sense of the value of his soul. He said, in the course of
+his preaching, addressing himself to the slaves, "You have precious
+immortal souls, that are worth far more to you than your bodies are to
+your masters;" or words to that effect. But while these words interested
+many slaves, they also made many masters exceedingly angry, and they
+tortured his words into an attempt to excite the slaves to rebellion.
+
+Some of my master's slaves who had families, were regularly married, and
+others were not; the law makes no provision for such marriages, and the
+only provision made by the master was, that they should obtain his leave.
+In some cases, after obtaining leave to take his wife, the slave would ask
+further leave to go to a minister and be married. I never knew him to deny
+such a request, and yet, in those cases where the slave did not ask it, he
+never required him to be married by a minister. Of course, no Bibles,
+Tracts, or religious books of any kind, were ever given to the slaves; and
+no ministers or religious instructors were ever known to visit our
+plantation at any time, either in sickness or in health. When a slave was
+sick, my master being himself a physician, sometimes attended, and
+sometimes he called other physicians. Slaves frequently sickened and died,
+but I never knew any provision made to administer to them the comforts, or
+to offer to them the hopes of the gospel, or to their friends after their
+death.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_There is no one feature of slavery to which the mind recurs with more
+gloomy impressions, than to its disastrous influence upon the families of
+the masters, physically, pecuniarily, and mentally._
+
+It seems to destroy families as by a powerful blight, large and opulent
+slave-holding families, often vanish like a group of shadows at the third
+or fourth generation. This fact arrested my attention some years before I
+escaped from slavery, and of course before I had any enlightened views of
+the moral character of the system. As far back as I can recollect, indeed,
+it was a remark among slaves, that every generation of slaveholders are
+more and more inferior. There were several large and powerful families in
+our county, including that of my master, which affords to my mind a
+melancholy illustration of this remark. One of the wealthiest slaveholders
+in the county, was General R., a brother-in-law to my master. This man
+owned a large and highly valuable tract of land, called R.'s Manor. I do
+not know how many slaves he owned, but the number was large. He lived in a
+splendid mansion, and drove his coach and four. He was for some years a
+member of Congress. He had a numerous family of children.
+
+The family showed no particular signs of decay until he had married a
+second time, and had considerably increased his number of children. It
+then became evident that his older children were not educated for active
+business, and were only destined to be a charge. Of sons, (seven or
+eight,) not one of them reached the eminence once occupied by the father.
+The only one that approached to it, was the eldest, who became an officer
+in the navy, and obtained the doubtful glory of being killed in the
+Mexican war.
+
+General R. himself ran through his vast estate, died intemperate, and left
+a widow and large number of daughters, some minors, destitute, and none of
+his sons fitted for any employment but in the army and navy.
+
+Slaves have a superstitious dread of passing the dilapidated dwelling of a
+man who has been guilty of great cruelties to his slaves, and who is dead,
+or moved away. I never felt this dread deeply but once, and that was one
+Sabbath about sunset, as I crossed the yard of General R.'s residence,
+which was about two miles from us, after he had been compelled to leave
+it.
+
+To see the once fine smooth gravel walks, overgrown with grass--the
+redundances of the shrubbery neglected--the once finely painted pricket
+fences, rusted and fallen down--a fine garden in splendid ruins--the lofty
+ceiling of the mansion thickly curtained with cobwebs--the spacious
+apartments abandoned, while the only music heard within as a substitute
+for the voices of family glee that once filled it, was the crying cricket
+and cockroaches! Ignorant slave as I was at that time, I could but pause
+for a moment, and recur in silent horror to the fact that, a strange
+reverse of fortune, had lately driven from that proud mansion, a large
+and once opulent family. What advantage was it now to the members of that
+family, that the father and head had for near half a century stood high in
+the counsels of the state, and had the benefit of the unrequited toil of
+hundreds of his fellowmen, when they were already grappling with the
+annoyances of that poverty, which he had entailed upon others.
+
+My master's family, in wealth and influence, was not inferior to General
+R.'s originally. His father was a member of the convention that framed the
+present constitution of the state; he was, also, for some years chief
+justice of the state.
+
+My master was never equal to his father, although he stood high at one
+time. He once lacked but a few votes of being elected Governor of the
+state: he once sat in the Assembly, and was generally a leading man in his
+own county. His influence was found to be greatest when exerted in favour
+of any measure in regard to the control of slaves. He was the first mover
+in several cruel and rigid municipal regulations in the county, which
+prohibited slaves from going over a certain number of miles from their
+master's places on the Sabbath, and from being seen about the town. He
+once instigated the authorities of the town where he attended service, to
+break up a Sabbath-school some humane members of the Methodist and
+Lutheran denominations had set up to teach the free negroes, lest the
+slaves should get some benefit of it.
+
+But there was a still wider contrast between my master and his own
+children, eight in number, when I left him. His eldest daughter, the
+flower of the family, married a miserable and reckless gambler. His
+eldest son was kind-hearted, and rather a favourite with the slaves on
+that account; but he had no strength of mind or weight of character. His
+education was limited, and he had no disposition or tact for business of
+any kind. He died at thirty-six, intestate; leaving his second-wife (a
+sister to his father's second wife) with several orphan children, a widow
+with a small estate deeply embarrassed. The second son was once sent to
+West Point to fit for an officer. After being there a short time, however,
+he became unsteady, and commenced the study of medicine, but he soon gave
+that up and preferred to live at home and flog the slaves; and by them was
+cordially dreaded and disliked, and among themselves he was vulgarly
+nicknamed on account of his cruel and filthy habits.
+
+These two families will afford a fair illustration of the gloomy history
+of many others that I could name. This decline of slaveholding families is
+a subject of observation and daily remark among slaves; they are led to
+observe every change in the pecuniary, moral, and social state of the
+families they belong to, from the fact, that as the old master declines,
+or as his children are married off, they are expecting to fall into their
+hands, or in case of insolvency on the part of the old master, they expect
+to be sold; in either case, it involves a change of master--a subject to
+which they cannot be indifferent. And it is very rarely the case that a
+slave's condition is benefited by passing from the old master into the
+hands of one of his children. Owing to the causes I have mentioned, the
+decline is so rapid and marked, in almost every point of view, that the
+children of slaveholders are universally inferior to themselves, mentally,
+morally, physically, as well as pecuniarily, especially so in the latter
+point of view; and this is a matter of most vital concern to the slaves.
+The young master not being able to own as many slaves as his father,
+usually works what he has more severely, and being more liable to
+embarrassment, the slaves' liability to be sold at an early day is much
+greater. For the same reason, slaves have a deep interest, generally, in
+the marriage of a young mistress. Very generally the daughters of
+slaveholders marry inferior men; men who seek to better their own
+condition by a wealthy connection. The slaves who pass into the hands of
+the young master has had some chance to become acquainted with his
+character, bad as it may be; but the young mistress brings her slaves a
+new, and sometimes an unknown master. Sometimes these are the sons of
+already broken down slaveholders. In other cases they are adventurers from
+the north who remove to the south, and who readily become the most cruel
+masters.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+These two letters are simply introduced to show what the state of my
+feelings was with reference to slavery at the time they were written. I
+had just heard several facts with regard to my parents, which had awakened
+my mind to great excitement.
+
+  TO MY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS.
+
+  _The following was written in 1844:_
+
+  DEARLY BELOVED IN BONDS,
+
+  About seventeen long years have now rolled away, since in the Providence
+  of Almighty God, I left your embraces, and set out upon a daring
+  adventure in search of freedom. Since that time, I have felt most
+  severely the loss of the sun and moon and eleven stars from my social
+  sky. Many, many a thick cloud of anguish has pressed my brow and sent
+  deep down into my soul the bitter waters of sorrow in consequence. And
+  you have doubtless had your troubles and anxious seasons also about your
+  fugitive star.
+
+  I have learned that some of you have been sold, and again taken back by
+  Colonel ----. How many of you are living and together, I cannot tell. My
+  great grief is, lest you should have suffered this or some additional
+  punishment on account of my _Exodus_.
+
+  I indulge the hope that it will afford you some consolation to know that
+  your son and brother is yet alive. That God has dealt wonderfully and
+  kindly with me in all my way. He has made me a Christian, and a
+  Christian Minister, and thus I have drawn my support and comfort from
+  that blessed Saviour, who came _to preach good tidings unto the meek, to
+  bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
+  opening of the prison to them, that are bound. To proclaim the
+  acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to
+  comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
+  unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
+  praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of
+  righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified._
+
+  If the course I took in leaving a condition which had become intolerable
+  to me, has been made the occasion of making that condition worse to you
+  in any way, I do most heartily regret such a change for the worse on
+  your part. As I have no means, however, of knowing if such be the fact,
+  so I have no means of making atonement, but by sincere prayer to
+  Almighty God in your behalf, and also by taking this method of offering
+  to you these consolations of the gospel to which I have just referred,
+  and which I have found to be pre-eminently my own stay and support. My
+  dear father and mother; I have very often wished, while administering
+  the Holy Ordinance of Baptism to some scores of children brought forward
+  by doting parents, that I could see you with yours among the number. And
+  you, my brothers and sisters, while teaching hundreds of children and
+  youths in schools over which I have been placed, what unspeakable
+  delight I should have had in having you among the number; you may all
+  judge of my feeling for these past years, when while preaching from
+  Sabbath to Sabbath to congregations, I have not been so fortunate as
+  even to see father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew,
+  niece, or cousin in my congregations. While visiting the sick, going to
+  the house of mourning, and burying the dead, I have been a constant
+  mourner for you. My sorrow has been that I know you are not in
+  possession of those hallowed means of grace. I am thankful to you for
+  those mild and gentle traits of character which you took such care to
+  enforce upon me in my youthful days. As an evidence that I prize both
+  you and them, I may say that at the age of thirty-seven, I find them as
+  valuable as any lessons I have learned, nor am I ashamed to let it be
+  known to the world, that I am the son of a bond man and a bond woman.
+
+  Let me urge upon you the fundamental truths of the Gospel of the Son of
+  God. Let repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ have
+  their perfect work in you, I beseech you. Do not be prejudiced against
+  the gospel because it may be seemingly twisted into a support of
+  slavery. The gospel rightly understood, taught, received, felt and
+  practised, is anti-slavery as it is anti-sin. Just so far and so fast as
+  the true spirit of the gospel obtains in the land, and especially in the
+  lives of the oppressed, will the spirit of slavery sicken and become
+  powerless like the serpent with his head pressed beneath the fresh
+  leaves of the prickly ash of the forest.
+
+  There is not a solitary decree of the immaculate God that has been
+  concerned in the ordination of slavery, nor does any possible
+  development of his holy will sanctify it.
+
+  He has permitted us to be enslaved according to the invention of wicked
+  men, instigated by the devil, with intention to bring good out of the
+  evil, but He does not, He cannot approve of it. He has no need to
+  approve of it, even on account of the good which He will bring out of
+  it, for He could have brought about that very good in some other way.
+
+  God is never straitened; He is never at a loss for means to work. Could
+  He not have made this a great and wealthy nation without making its
+  riches to consist in our blood, bones, and souls? And could He not also
+  have given the gospel to us without making us slaves?
+
+  My friends, let us then, in our afflictions, embrace and hold fast the
+  gospel. The gospel is the fulness of God. We have the glorious and total
+  weight of God's moral character in our side of the scale.
+
+  The wonderful purple stream which flowed for the healing of the nations,
+  has a branch for us. Nay, is Christ divided? "The grace of God that
+  bringeth salvation hath appeared to (for) all men, teaching us that
+  denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly,
+  righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed
+  hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
+  Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all
+  iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
+  works."--Titus ii. 11-14.
+
+  But you say you have not the privilege of hearing of this gospel of
+  which I speak. I know it; and this is my great grief. But you shall have
+  it; I will send it to you by my humble prayer; I can do it; I will beg
+  our heavenly Father, and he will preach this gospel to you in his holy
+  providence.
+
+  You, dear father and mother cannot have much longer to live in this
+  troublesome and oppressive world; you cannot bear the yoke much longer.
+  And as you approach another world, how desirable it is that you should
+  have the prospect of a different destiny from what you have been called
+  to endure in this world during a long life.
+
+  But it is the gospel that sets before you the hope of such a blessed
+  rest as is spoken of in the word of God, Job iii. 17, 19. "There the
+  wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest; there the
+  prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressors. The
+  small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master."
+
+  Father, I know thy eyes are dim with age and weary with weeping, but
+  look, dear father, yet a little while toward that haven. Look unto
+  Jesus, "the author and finisher of thy faith," for the moment of thy
+  happy deliverance is at hand.
+
+  Mother, dear mother, I know, I feel, mother, the pangs of thy bleeding
+  heart, that thou hast endured, during so many years of vexation. Thy
+  agonies are by a genuine son-like sympathy mine; I will, I must, I do
+  share daily in those agonies of thine. But I sincerely hope that with me
+  you bear your agonies to Christ who carries our sorrows.
+
+  O come then with me, my beloved family, of weary heart-broken and
+  care-worn ones, to Jesus Christ, "casting all your care upon him, for he
+  careth for you."--2 Peter v. 7.
+
+  With these words of earnest exhortation, joined with fervent prayer to
+  God that He may smooth your rugged way, lighten your burden, and give a
+  happy issue out of all your troubles, I must bid you adieu.
+
+  Your son and brother,
+
+  JAS. P.
+
+  _Alias_ J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  TO COLONEL F---- T----, OF H----, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD. 1844.
+
+
+  DEAR SIR,
+
+  It is now, as you are aware, about seventeen years since I left your
+  house and service, at the age of twenty. Up to that time, I was,
+  according to your rule and claim, your slave. Till the age of seven
+  years, I was, of course, of little or no service to you. At that age,
+  however, you hired me out, and for three years I earned my support; at
+  the age of ten years, you took me to your place again, and in a short
+  time after you put me to work at the blacksmith's trade, at which,
+  together with the carpentering trade, &c, I served you peaceably until
+  the day I left you, with exception of the short time you had sold me to
+  S---- H----, Esq., for seven hundred dollars. It is important for me to
+  say to you, that I have no consciousness of having done you any wrong. I
+  called you master when I was with you from the mere force of
+  circumstances; but I never regarded you as my master. The nature which
+  God gave me did not allow me to believe that you had any more right to
+  me than I had to you, and that was just none at all. And from an early
+  age, I had intentions to free myself from your claim. I never consulted
+  any one about it; I had no advisers or instigators; I kept my own
+  counsel entirely concealed in my own bosom. I never meditated any evil
+  to your person or property, but I regarded you as my oppressor, and I
+  deemed it my duty to get out of your hands by peaceable means.
+
+  I was always obedient to your commands. I laboured for you diligently at
+  all times. I acted with fidelity in any matter which you entrusted me.
+  As you sometimes saw fit to entrust me with considerable money, to buy
+  tools or materials, not a cent was ever coveted or kept.
+
+  During the time I served you in the capacity of blacksmith, your
+  materials were used economically, your work was done expeditiously, and
+  in the very best style, a style second to no smith in your
+  neighbourhood. In short, sir, you well know that my habits from early
+  life were advantageous to you. Drinking, gambling, fighting, &c., were
+  not my habits. On Sabbaths, holidays, &c., I was frequently at your
+  service, when not even your body-servant was at home.
+
+  Times and times again, I have gone on Sunday afternoon to H----, six
+  miles, after your letters and papers, when it was as much my privilege
+  to be _"out of the way,"_ as it was C----.
+
+  But what treatment did you see fit to return me for all this? You, in
+  the most unfeeling manner, abused my father for no cause but speaking a
+  word to you, as a man would speak to his fellow-man, for the sake simply
+  of a better understanding.
+
+  You vexed my mother, and because she, as a tender mother would do,
+  showed solicitude for the virtue of her daughters, you threatened her in
+  an insulting brutal manner.
+
+  You abused my brother and sister without cause, and in like manner you
+  did to myself; you surmised evil against me. You struck me with your
+  walking-cane, called me insulting names, threatened me, swore at me, and
+  became more and more wrathy in your conduct, and at the time I quitted
+  your place, I had good reason to believe that you were meditating
+  serious evil against me.
+
+  Since I have been out of your hands, I have been signally favoured of
+  God, whence I infer that in leaving you, I acted strictly in accordance
+  with his holy will. I have a conscience void of offence towards God and
+  towards all men, yourself not excepted. And I verily believe that I have
+  performed a sacred duty to God and myself, and a kindness to you, in
+  taking the blood of my soul peaceably off your soul. And now, dear sir,
+  having spoken somewhat pointedly, I would, to convince you of my perfect
+  good will towards you, in the most kind and respectful terms, remind you
+  of your coming destiny. You are now over seventy years of age, pressing
+  on to eternity with the weight of these seventy years upon you. Is not
+  this enough without the blood of some half-score of souls?
+
+  You are aware that your right to property in man is now disputed by the
+  civilized world. You are fully aware, also, that the question, whether
+  the Bible sanctions slavery, has distinctly divided this nation in
+  sentiment. On the side of Biblical Anti-slavery, we have many of the
+  most learned, wise and holy men in the land. If the Bible affords no
+  sanction to slavery, (and I claim that it cannot,) then it must be a sin
+  of the deepest dye; and can you, sir, think to go to God in hope with a
+  sin of such magnitude upon your soul?
+
+  But admitting that the question is yet doubtful, (which I do only for
+  the sake of argument,) still, sir, you will have the critical hazard of
+  this doubt pressing, in no very doubtful way, upon your declining years,
+  as you descend the long and tedious hill of life.
+
+  Would it not seem to be exceedingly undesirable to close an eventful
+  probation of seventy or eighty years, and leave your reputation among
+  posterity suspended upon so doubtful an issue? But what, my dear sir,
+  is a reputation among posterity, who are but worms, compared with a
+  destiny in the world of spirits? And it is in light of that destiny that
+  I would now have you look at this subject. You and I, and all that you
+  claim as your slaves, are in a state of probation; our great business is
+  to serve God under His righteous moral government. Master and slave are
+  the subjects of that government, bound by its immutable requirements,
+  and liable to its sanctions in the next world, though enjoying its
+  forbearance in this. You will pardon me then for pressing this point in
+  earnest good faith. You should, at this stage, review your life without
+  political bias, or adherence to long cherished prejudices, and remember
+  that you are soon to meet those whom you have held, and do hold in
+  slavery, at the awful bar of the impartial Judge of all who doeth right.
+  Then what will become of your own doubtful claims? What will be done
+  with those doubts that agitated your mind years ago; will you answer for
+  threatening, swearing, and using the cowhide among your slaves?
+
+  What will become of those long groans and unsatisfied complaints of your
+  slaves, for vexing them with insulting words, placing them in the power
+  of dogish and abusive overseers, or under your stripling, misguided,
+  hot-headed son, to drive and whip at pleasure, and for selling parts or
+  whole families to Georgia? They will all meet you at that bar. Uncle
+  James True, Charles Cooper, Aunt Jenny, and the native Africans;
+  Jeremiah, London, and Donmore, have already gone a-head, and only wait
+  your arrival--Sir, I shall meet you there. The account between us for
+  the first twenty years of my life, will have a definite character upon
+  which one or the other will be able to make out a case.
+
+  Upon such a review as this, sir, you will, I am quite sure, see the need
+  of seriousness. I assure you that the thought of meeting you in
+  eternity, and before the dread tribunal of God, with a complaint in my
+  mouth against you, is to me of most weighty and solemn character. And
+  you will see that the circumstances from which this thought arises are
+  of equal moment to yourself. Can the pride of leaving your children
+  possessed of long slave states, or the policy of sustaining in the state
+  the institution of slavery, justify you in overlooking a point of moment
+  to your future happiness?
+
+  What excuse could you offer at the bar of God, favoured as you have been
+  with the benefits of a refined education, and through a long life with
+  the gospel of love, should you, when arraigned there, find that you
+  have, all your life long, laboured under a great mistake in regard to
+  slavery, and that in this mistake you had died, and only lifted up your
+  eyes in the light of eternity to be corrected, when it was too late to
+  be corrected in any other way.
+
+  _I could wish to address you_ (being bred, born, and raised in your
+  family) _as a father in Israel, or as an elder brother in Christ, but I
+  cannot; mockery is a sin._ I can only say then, dear sir, farewell, till
+  I meet you at the bar of God, where Jesus, who died for us, will judge
+  between us. Now his blood can wash out our stain, break down the middle
+  wall of partition, and reconcile us not only to God but to each other,
+  then the word of his mouth, the sentence will set us at one. As for
+  myself, I am quite ready to meet you face to face at the bar of God. I
+  have done you no wrong; I have nothing to fear when we both fall into
+  the hands of the just God.
+
+  I beseech you, dear sir, to look well and consider this matter soundly.
+  In yonder world you can have no slaves--you can be no man's master--you
+  can neither sell, buy, or whip, or drive. Are you then, by sustaining
+  the relation of a slaveholder, forming a character to dwell with God in
+  peace?
+
+  With kind regards,
+
+  I am, sir, yours respectfully,
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+LIBERTY'S CHAMPION.
+
+BY A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S.
+
+
+    On the wings of the wind he comes, he comes!
+      With the rolling billow's speed;
+    On his breast are the signs of peace and love,
+    And his soul is nerved with strength from above:
+        While his eyes flash fire,
+        He burns with desire
+      To achieve the noble deed.
+
+    To the shores of the free he goes, he goes!
+      And smiles as he passes on;
+    He hears the glad notes of Liberty's song,
+    And bids the brave sons of freedom be strong.
+        While his heart bounds high
+        To his crown in the sky,
+      He triumphs o'er conquests won.
+
+    To the homes of the slave he flies, he flies!
+      Where manacled mourners cry;
+    The bursting groan of the mind's o'erflow,
+    Transfixed on the dark and speaking brow:
+        With a murmuring sound,
+        Ascends from the ground,
+    To the God that reigns on high.
+
+    To his loved Father's throne he hastes, he hastes!
+      And pours forth his soul in grief:
+    Uprising he finds his strength renewed,
+    And his heart with fervent love is imbued;
+        While the heaving sigh,
+        And the deep-toned cry,
+    Appeal for instant relief.
+
+    To the hard oppressor he cries, he cries,
+      And points to the bleeding slave;
+    He tells of the rights of the human soul,
+    And his eyes with full indignation roll:
+        While his heart is moved,
+        And the truth is proved,
+      He seeks the captive to save.
+
+    Again to the foeman he speaks, he speaks,
+      But utters his cry in vain;
+    He breathes no curse, no vengeance seeks,--
+    For the broken hearts or the anguished shrieks,
+        For the mother's pains,
+        Or the father's gains,--
+      Upon the oppressor's name.
+
+    To nations of freemen once more he comes,
+      To raise Liberty's banner high;
+    He tells of the wrongs of the bonded slave,
+    And cries aloud, 'mid throngs of the brave,
+        "O freemen, arise!
+        Be faithful and wise,
+      And answer the mourner's cry.
+
+    In melting strains of love he calls, he calls,
+      To the great and good from afar;
+    Till sympathy wakes to the truthful tale,
+    And the prayer of the faith, which cannot fail,
+        Ascends to heaven,
+        And grace is given,
+      To nerve for the bloodless war.
+
+    The truth with a magic power prevails:
+      All hearts are moved to the strife;
+    In a holy phalanx, and with deathless aim,
+      They seek a peaceful triumph to gain
+        O'er the tyrant's sway,
+        In his onward way,
+      To raise the fallen to life.
+
+    At the mighty voice of the glorious free
+      The chain of the oppressor breaks;
+    The slave from his bondage springs forth to love,
+    And, standing erect, his eye fixed above,
+        He honours his race,
+        And in the world's face,
+      The language of liberty speaks.
+
+    The oppressor no longer owns a right,
+      Or property claims in the slave,
+    But the world, in the glory of freedom's light,
+    Beams out from the darkness of wide-spread night;
+        Throughout its length,
+        In greatness and strength,
+      The honour of the free and brave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Printed for CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopgate Street Without.
+
+The Fugitive Blacksmith, or Events in the History of JAMES W.C.
+PENNINGTON, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York. Foolscap 8vo.,
+sewed, price 1s.
+
+"This entrancing narrative * * * We trust that thousands of our readers
+will procure the volume, which is published by Mr. Gilpin at a mere
+trifle--much too cheap to accomplish the purpose for which, in part or
+mainly, it has been published--the raising a fund to remove the pecuniary
+burdens which press on the author's flock. NOTHING SHORT OF THE SALE OF
+FIFTY THOUSAND OR SIXTY THOUSAND COPIES could be at all availing for this
+object. * * * We very cordially recommend him and his narrative to the
+kind consideration of our readers. Let them load him with English
+hospitality, fill his purse, and send him back as fast as possible to the
+land of his early bondage, of his matured freedom, and to the people to
+whose character and capabilities he does so much honour."--_Christian
+Witness_, October, 1849.
+
+"The principal portion of the 'Tract,' as Mr. Pennington modestly styles
+his book, consists of an autobiography of his early life as a slave, and
+of his escape from bondage, and final settlement in New York as a
+Presbyterian Minister. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes invest the
+narrative with startling interest, and excite the deepest sympathies of
+the reader."--_Nonconformist_, September, 26th, 1849.
+
+"Believing that by the purchase of this little book our readers will
+confer a benefit on the writer, at the same time that they become
+possessed of a narrative of deep interest, we give it our most cordial
+recommendation."--_Teetotal Times_, October, 1849.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+London: CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
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+Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Fugitive Blacksmith
+       or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington
+
+Author: James W. C. Pennington
+
+Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15130]
+
+Language: English
+
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH ***
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+
+
+<hr style="width: 75%;" />
+<h2>THE</h2>
+<h1>FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH;</h1>
+<h2>OR,</h2>
+<h1>EVENTS IN THE HISTORY</h1>
+<h2>OF</h2>
+<h1>JAMES W.C. PENNINGTON,</h1>
+<h1>PASTOR OF A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK,</h1>
+<h1>FORMERLY A SLAVE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, UNITED STATES.</h1>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center">
+&quot;Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert
+to them from the face of the spoiler.&quot;&mdash;ISAIAH xvi. 4.
+</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center">
+Second Edition.<br />
+<br />
+LONDON:<br />
+CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.<br />
+<br />
+1849<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">
+<p class="center">[<i>Transcriber's Note: This project was transcribed from a contemporary
+printing of the work, not from the 1849 edition. Certain spellings may
+have been modernized and typographic and printer's errors changed from the
+original.</i>]</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<blockquote><p>MR. CHARLES GILPIN,</p>
+
+<p>  MY DEAR SIR,</p>
+
+<p>  The information just communicated to me by you, that another edition of
+  my little book, &quot;The Fugitive Blacksmith,&quot; is called for, has agreeably
+  surprised me. The British public has laid me under renewed obligations
+  by this mark of liberality, which I hasten to acknowledge. I would avail
+  myself of this moment also, to acknowledge the kindness of the gentlemen
+  of the newspaper press for the many favourable reviews which my little
+  book has received. It is to them I am indebted, in no small degree, for
+  the success with which I have been favoured in getting the book before
+  the notice of the public.</p>
+
+<p>  Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p>  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>Hoxton, Oct. 15th, 1849.</i></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE" />PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The brief narrative I here introduce to the public, consists of outline
+notes originally thrown together to guide my memory when lecturing on this
+part of the subject of slavery. This will account for its style, and will
+also show that the work is not full.</p>
+
+<p>The question may be asked, Why I have published anything so long after my
+escape from slavery? I answer I have been induced to do so on account of
+the increasing disposition to overlook the fact, that THE SIN of slavery
+lies in the chattel principle, or relation. Especially have I felt anxious
+to save professing Christians, and my brethren in the ministry, from
+falling into a great mistake. My feelings are always outraged when I hear
+them speak of &quot;kind masters,&quot;&mdash;&quot;Christian masters,&quot;&mdash;&quot;the mildest form of
+slavery,&quot;&mdash;&quot;well fed and clothed slaves,&quot; as extenuations of slavery; I am
+satisfied they either mean to pervert the truth, or they do not know what
+they say. The being of slavery, its soul and body, lives and moves in the
+chattel principle, the property principle, the bill of sale principle; the
+cart-whip, starvation, and nakedness, are its inevitable consequences to
+a greater or less extent, warring with the dispositions of men.</p>
+
+<p>There lies a skein of silk upon a lady's work-table. How smooth and
+handsome are the threads. But while that lady goes out to make a call, a
+party of children enter the apartment, and in amusing themselves, tangle
+the skein of silk, and now who can untangle it? The relation between
+master and slave is even as delicate as a skein of silk: it is liable to
+be entangled at any moment.</p>
+
+<p>The mildest form of slavery, if there be such a form, looking at the
+chattel principle as the definition of slavery, is comparatively the worst
+form. For it not only keeps the slave in the most unpleasant apprehension,
+like a prisoner in chains awaiting his trial; but it actually, in a great
+majority of cases, where kind masters do exist, trains him under the most
+favourable circumstances the system admits of, and then plunges him into
+the worst of which it is capable.</p>
+
+<p>It is under the mildest form of slavery, as it exists in Maryland,
+Virginia, and Kentucky, that the finest specimens of coloured females are
+reared. There are no mothers who rear, and educate in the natural graces,
+finer daughters than the Ethiopian women, who have the least chance to
+give scope to their maternal affections. But what is generally the fate of
+such female slaves? When they are not raised for the express purpose of
+supplying the market of a class of economical Louisian and Mississippi
+gentlemen, who do not wish to incur the expense of rearing legitimate
+families, they are, nevertheless, on account of their attractions, exposed
+to the most shameful degradation, by the young masters in the families
+where it is claimed they are so well off. My master once owned a beautiful
+girl about twenty-four. She had been raised in a family where her mother
+was a great favourite. She was her mother's darling child. Her master was
+a lawyer of eminent abilities and great fame, but owing to habits of
+intemperance, he failed in business, and my master purchased this girl for
+a nurse. After he had owned her about a year, one of his sons became
+attached to her, for no honourable purposes; a fact which was not only
+well-known among all of the slaves, but which became a source of
+unhappiness to his mother and sisters.</p>
+
+<p>The result was, that poor Rachel had to be sold to &quot;Georgia.&quot; Never shall
+I forget the heart-rending scene, when one day one of the men was ordered
+to get &quot;the one-horse cart ready to go into town;&quot; Rachel, with her few
+articles of clothing, was placed in it, and taken into the very town where
+her parents lived, and there sold to the traders before their weeping
+eyes. That same son who had degraded her, and who was the cause of her
+being sold, acted as salesman, and bill of saleman. While this cruel
+business was being transacted, my master stood aside, and the girl's
+father, a pious member and exhorter in the Methodist Church, a venerable
+grey-headed man, with his hat off, besought that he might be allowed to
+get some one in the place to purchase his child. But no; my master was
+invincible. His reply was, &quot;She has offended in my family, and I can only
+restore confidence by sending her out of hearing.&quot; After lying in prison a
+short time, her new owner took her with others to the far South, where her
+parents heard no more of her.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a girl born and reared under the mildest form of slavery. Her
+original master was reputed to be even indulgent. He lived in a town, and
+was a high-bred gentleman, and a lawyer. He had but a few slaves, and had
+no occasion for an overseer, those negro leeches, to watch and drive them;
+but when he became embarrassed by his own folly, the chattel principle
+doomed this girl to be sold at the same sale with his books, house, and
+horses. With my master she found herself under far more stringent
+discipline than she had been accustomed to, and finally degraded, and sold
+where her condition could not be worse, and where she had not the least
+hope of ever bettering it.</p>
+
+<p>This case presents the legitimate working of the great chattel principle.
+It is no accidental result&mdash;it is the fruit of the tree. You cannot
+constitute slavery without the chattel principle&mdash;and with the chattel
+principle you cannot save it from these results. Talk not then about kind
+and christian masters. They are not masters of the system. The system is
+master of them; and the slaves are their vassals.</p>
+
+<p>These storms rise on the bosom of the calmed waters of the system. You are
+a slave, a being in whom another owns property. Then you may rise with his
+pride, but remember the day is at hand when you must also fall with his
+folly. To-day you may be pampered by his meekness; but to-morrow you will
+suffer in the storm of his passions.</p>
+
+<p>In the month of September, 1848, there appeared in my study, one morning,
+in New York City, an aged coloured man of tall and slender form. I saw
+depicted on his countenance anxiety bordering on despair, still I was
+confident that he was a man whose mind was accustomed to faith. When I
+learned that he was a native of my own state, Maryland, having been born
+in the county of Montgomery, I at once became much interested in him. He
+had been sent to me by my friend, William Harned, Esq., of the
+Anti-Slavery Office, 61, John Street. He put into my hand the following
+bill of distress:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&quot;Alexander, Virginia, <i>September 5th, 1848.</i></p>
+
+<p>  &quot;The bearer, Paul Edmondson, is the father of two girls, Mary Jane and
+  Emily Catherine Edmondson. These girls have been purchased by us, and
+  once sent to the South; and upon the positive assurance that the money
+  for them would be raised if they were brought back, they were returned.
+  Nothing, it appears, has as yet been done in this respect by those who
+  promised, and we are on the very eve of sending them south a second
+  time; and we are candid in saying, that if they go again, we will not
+  regard any promises made in relation to them.</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;The father wishes to raise money to pay for them, and intends to appeal
+  to the liberality of the humane and the good to aid him, and has
+  requested us to state in writing the <i>conditions upon which we will
+  sell his daughters</i>.</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;We expect to start our servants to the South in a few days; if the sum
+  of twelve hundred dollars be raised and paid us in fifteen days, or we
+  be assured of that sum, then we will retain them for twenty-five days
+  more, to give an opportunity for raising the other thousand and fifty
+  dollars, otherwise we shall be compelled to send them along with our
+  other servants.</p>
+
+<p>  (Signed) &quot;BRUIN AND HILL.&quot;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The old man also showed me letters from other individuals, and one from
+the Rev. Matthew A. Turner, pastor of Asbury Chapel, where himself and his
+daughters were members. He was himself free, but his wife was a slave.
+Those two daughters were two out of fifteen children he had raised for the
+owner of his wife. These two girls had been sold, along with four
+brothers, to the traders, for an attempt to escape to the North, and gain
+their freedom.</p>
+
+<p>On the next Sabbath evening, I threw the case before my people, and the
+first fifty dollars of the sum was raised to restore the old man his
+daughters. Subsequently the case was taken up under the management of a
+committee of ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, consisting of
+the Rev. Gr. Peck, D.D., Rev. E.E. Griswold, and Rev. D. Curry, and the
+entire sum of 2,250 dollars, (&pound;450.) was raised for two girls, fourteen
+and sixteen years of age!</p>
+
+<p>But why this enormous sum for two mere children? Ah, reader, they were
+reared under the mildest form of slavery known to the laws of Maryland!
+The mother is an invalid, and allowed to live with her free husband; but
+she is a woman of excellent mind, and has bestowed great pains upon her
+daughters. If you would know, then, why these girls were held at such a
+price, even to their own father, read the following extract of a letter
+from one who was actively engaged in behalf of them, and who had several
+interviews with the traders to induce them to reduce the price, but
+without success. Writing from Washington, D.C., September 12th, 1848, this
+gentleman says to William Harned, &quot;The truth is, <i>and is confessed to be,
+that their destination is prostitution</i>; of this you would be satisfied on
+seeing them: they are of elegant form, and fine faces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And such, dear reader, is the sad fate of hundreds of my young
+countrywomen, natives of my native state. Such is the fate of many who are
+not only reared under the mildest form of slavery, but of those who have
+been made acquainted with the milder system of the Prince of Peace.</p>
+
+<p>When Christians, and Christian ministers, then, talk about the &quot;mildest
+form of slavery,&quot;&mdash;&quot;Christian masters,&quot; &amp;c., I say my feelings are
+outraged. It is a great mistake to offer these as an extenuation of the
+system. It is calculated to mislead the public mind. The opinion seems to
+prevail, that the negro, after having toiled as a slave for centuries to
+enrich his white brother, to lay the foundation of his proud institutions,
+after having been sunk as low as slavery can sink him, needs now only a
+second-rate civilization, a lower standard of civil and religious
+privileges than the whites claim for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>During the last year or two, we have heard of nothing but revolutions, and
+the enlargements of the eras of freedom, on both sides of the Atlantic.
+Our white brethren everywhere are reaching out their hands to grasp more
+freedom. In the place of absolute monarchies they have limited monarchies,
+and in the place of limited monarchies they have republics: so tenacious
+are they of their own liberties.</p>
+
+<p>But when we speak of slavery, and complain of the wrong it is doing us,
+and ask to have the yoke removed, we are told, &quot;O, you must not be
+impatient, you must not create undue excitement. You are not so badly off,
+for many of your masters are kind Christian masters.&quot; Yes, sirs, many of
+our masters are professed Christians; and what advantage is that to us?
+The grey heads of our fathers are brought down by scores to the grave in
+sorrow, on account of their young and tender sons, who are sold to the far
+South, where they have to toil without requite to supply the world's
+market with <i>cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, &amp;c</i>. Our venerable mothers are
+borne down with poignant grief at the fate of their children. Our sisters,
+if not by the law, are by common consent made the prey of vile men, who
+can bid the highest.</p>
+
+<p>In all the bright achievements we have obtained in the great work of
+emancipation, if we have not settled the fact that the chattel principle
+is wrong, and cannot be maintained upon Christian ground, then we have
+wrought and triumphed to little purpose, and we shall have to do our first
+work over again.</p>
+
+<p>It is this that has done all the mischief connected with slavery; it is
+this that threatens still further mischief. Whatever may be the ill or
+favoured condition of the slave in the matter of mere personal treatment,
+it is the chattel relation that robs him of his manhood, and transfers his
+ownership in himself to another. It is this that transfers the
+proprietorship of his wife and children to another. It is this that throws
+his family history into utter confusion, and leaves him without a single
+record to which he may appeal in vindication of his character, or honour.
+And has a man no sense of honour because he was born a slave? Has he no
+need of character?</p>
+
+<p>Suppose insult, reproach, or slander, should render it necessary for him
+to appeal to the history of his family in vindication of his character,
+where will he find that history? He goes to his native state, to his
+native county, to his native town; but no where does he find any record of
+himself <i>as a man</i>. On looking at the family record of his old, kind,
+Christian, master, there he finds his name on a catalogue with the horses,
+cows, hogs and dogs. However humiliating and degrading it may be to his
+feelings to find his name written down among the beasts of the field,
+<i>that</i> is just the place, and the <i>only</i> place assigned to it by the
+chattel relation. I beg our Anglo-Saxon brethren to accustom themselves to
+think that we need something more than mere kindness. We ask for justice,
+truth and honour as other men do.</p>
+
+<p>My coloured brethren are now widely awake to the degradation which they
+suffer in having property vested in their persons, and they are also
+conscious of the deep and corrupting disgrace of having our wives and
+children owned by other men&mdash;men, who have shown to the world that their
+own virtue is not infallible, and who have given us no flattering
+encouragement to entrust that of our wives and daughters to them.</p>
+
+<p>I have great pleasure in stating that my dear friend W.W., spoken of in
+this narrative, to whom I am so deeply indebted, is still living. I have
+been twice to see him within four years, and have regular correspondence
+with him. In one of the last letters I had from him, he authorises me to
+use his name in connection with this narrative in these words,&mdash;&quot;As for
+using my name, by reference or otherwise, in thy narrative, it is at thy
+service. I know thee so well James, that I am not afraid of thy making a
+bad use of it, nor am I afraid or ashamed to have it known that I took
+thee in and gave thee aid, when I found thee travelling alone and in
+want.&mdash;W.W.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On the second page of the same sheet I have a few lines from his excellent
+lady, in which she says, &quot;James, I hope thee will not attribute my long
+silence in writing to indifference. No such feeling can ever exist towards
+thee in our family. Thy name is mentioned almost every day. Each of the
+children claims the next letter from thee. It will be for thee to decide
+which shall have it.&mdash;P.W.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a postscript following this, W.W. says again:&mdash;&quot;Understand me, James,
+that thee is at full liberty to use my name in any way thee wishes in thy
+narrative. We have a man here from the eastern shore of thy state. He is
+trying to learn as fast as thee did when here.&mdash;W.W.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I hope the reader will pardon me for introducing these extracts. My only
+apology is, the high gratification I feel in knowing that this family has
+not only been greatly prospered in health and happiness, but that I am
+upon the most intimate and pleasant terms with all its members, and that
+they all still feel a deep and cordial interest in my welfare.</p>
+
+<p>There is another distinguished individual whose sympathy has proved very
+gratifying to me in my situation&mdash;I mean that true friend of the negro,
+<i>Gerrit Smith, Esq.</i> I was well acquainted with the family in which Mr.
+Smith married in Maryland. My attention has been fixed upon him for the
+last ten years, for I have felt confident that God had set him apart for
+some great good to the negro. In a letter dated Peterborough, November
+7th, 1848, he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&quot;J.W.C. PENNINGTON,</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;Slight as is my <i>personal</i> acquaintance with you, I nevertheless am
+  well acquainted with you. I am familiar with many passages in your
+  history&mdash;all that part of your history extending from the time when, a
+  sturdy blacksmith, you were running away from Maryland oppression, down
+  to the present, when you are the successor of my lamented friend,
+  Theodore S. Wright. Let me add that my acquaintance with you has
+  inspired me with a high regard for your wisdom and integrity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>  Give us a few more such men in America, and slavery will soon be
+  numbered among the things that were. A few men who will not only have
+  the moral courage to aim the severing blow at the chattel relation
+  between master and slave, without parley, palliation or compromise; but
+  who have also the christian fidelity to brave public scorn and
+  contumely, to seize a coloured man by the hand, and elevate him to the
+  position from whence the avarice and oppression of the whites have
+  degraded him. These men have the right view of the subject. They see
+  that in every case where the relation between master and slave is
+  broken, slavery is weakened, and that every coloured man elevated,
+  becomes a step in the ladder upon which his whole people are to ascend.
+  They would not have us accept of some modified form of liberty, while
+  the old mischief working chattel relation remains unbroken, untouched
+  and unabrogated.</p>
+
+<p>  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>13, Princes Square, London, August 15th</i>, 1849.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>My birth and parentage&mdash;The treatment of Slaves generally in Maryland</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>The flight</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>A dreary night in the woods&mdash;Critical situation the next day</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>The good woman of the toll-gate directs me to W.W.&mdash;My cordial reception by him</td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>Seven months' residence in the family of J.K., a member of the Society of Friends in Chester County, Pennsylvania&mdash;Removal to New York&mdash;Becomes a convert to religion&mdash;Becomes a teacher</td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>Some account of the family I left in slavery&mdash;Proposal to purchase myself and parents&mdash;How met by my old master</td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>The feeding, clothing, and religious instruction of the slaves in the part of Maryland where I lived</td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left'><a href="#LIBERTYS_CHAMPION">LIBERTY'S CHAMPION</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h2>MY BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.&mdash;THE TREATMENT OF SLAVES GENERALLY IN MARYLAND.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I was born in the state of Maryland, which is one of the smallest and most
+northern of the slave-holding states; the products of this state are
+wheat, rye, Indian corn, tobacco, with some hemp, flax, &amp;c. By looking at
+the map, it will be seen that Maryland, like Virginia her neighbour, is
+divided by the Chesapeake Bay into eastern and western shores. My
+birthplace was on the eastern shore, where there are seven or eight small
+counties; the farms are small, and tobacco is mostly raised.</p>
+
+<p>At an early period in the history of Maryland, her lands began to be
+exhausted by the bad cultivation peculiar to slave states; and hence she
+soon commenced the business of breeding slaves for the more southern
+states. This has given an enormity to slavery, in Maryland, differing from
+that which attaches to the system in Louisiana, and equalled by none of
+the kind, except Virginia and Kentucky, and not by either of these in
+extent.</p>
+
+<p>My parents did not both belong to the same owner: my father belonged to a
+man named &mdash;&mdash;; my mother belonged to a man named &mdash;&mdash;. This not only made
+me a slave, but made me the slave of him to whom my mother belonged; as
+the primary law of slavery is, that the child shall follow the condition
+of the mother.</p>
+
+<p>When I was about four years of age, my mother, an older brother and
+myself, were given to a son of my master, who had studied for the medical
+profession, but who had now married wealthy, and was about to settle as a
+wheat planter in Washington County, on the western shore. This began the
+first of our family troubles that I knew anything about, as it occasioned
+a separation between my mother and the only two children she then had, and
+my father, to a distance of about two hundred miles. But this separation
+did not continue long; my father being a valuable slave, my master was
+glad to purchase him.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, I began to feel another evil of slavery&mdash;I mean the want
+of parental care and attention. My parents were not able to give any
+attention to their children during the day. I often suffered much from
+<i>hunger</i> and other similar causes. To estimate the sad state of a slave
+child, you must look at it as a helpless human being thrown upon the world
+without the benefit of its natural guardians. It is thrown into the world
+without a social circle to flee to for hope, shelter, comfort, or
+instruction. The social circle, with all its heaven-ordained blessings, is
+of the utmost importance to the <i>tender child</i>; but of this, the slave
+child, however tender and delicate, is robbed.</p>
+
+<p>There is another source of evil to slave children, which I cannot forbear
+to mention here, as one which early embittered my life,&mdash;I mean the
+tyranny of the master's children. My master had two sons, about the ages
+and sizes of my older brother and myself. We were not only required to
+recognise these young sirs as our young masters, but <i>they</i> felt
+themselves to be such; and, in consequence of this feeling, they sought to
+treat us with the same air of authority that their father did the older
+slaves.</p>
+
+<p>Another evil of slavery that I felt severely about this time, was the
+tyranny and abuse of the overseers. These men seem to look with an evil
+eye upon children. I was once visiting a menagerie, and being struck with
+the fact, that the lion was comparatively indifferent to every one around
+his cage, while he eyed with peculiar keenness a little boy I had; the
+keeper informed me that such was always the case. Such is true of those
+human beings in the slave states, called overseers. They seem to take
+pleasure in torturing the children of slaves, long before they are large
+enough to be put at the hoe, and consequently under the whip.</p>
+
+<p>We had an overseer, named Blackstone; he was an extremely cruel man to the
+working hands. He always carried a long hickory whip, a kind of pole. He
+kept three or four of these in order, that he might not at any time be
+without one.</p>
+
+<p>I once found one of these hickories lying in the yard, and supposing that
+he had thrown it away, I picked it up, and boy-like, was using it for a
+horse; he came along from the field, and seeing me with it, fell upon me
+with the one he then had in his hand, and flogged me most cruelly. From
+that, I lived in constant dread of that man; and he would show how much he
+delighted in cruelty by chasing me from my play with threats and
+imprecations. I have lain for hours in a wood, or behind a fence, to hide
+from his eye.</p>
+
+<p>At this time my days were extremely dreary. When I was nine years of age,
+myself and my brother were hired out from home; my brother was placed with
+a pump-maker, and I was placed with a stonemason. We were both in a town
+some six miles from home. As the men with whom we lived were not
+slaveholders, we enjoyed some relief from the peculiar evils of slavery.
+Each of us lived in a family where there was no other negro.</p>
+
+<p>The slaveholders in that state often hire the children of their slaves out
+to non-slaveholders, not only because they save themselves the expense of
+taking care of them, but in this way they get among their slaves useful
+trades. They put a bright slave-boy with a tradesman, until he gets such a
+knowledge of the trade as to be able to do his own work, and then he takes
+him home. I remained with the stonemason until I was eleven years of age:
+at this time I was taken home. This was another serious period in my
+childhood; I was separated from my older brother, to whom I was much
+attached; he continued at his place, and not only learned the trade to
+great perfection, but finally became the property of the man with whom he
+lived, so that our separation was permanent, as we never lived nearer
+after, than six miles. My master owned an excellent blacksmith, who had
+obtained his trade in the way I have mentioned above. When I returned home
+at the age of eleven, I was set about assisting to do the mason-work of a
+new smith's shop. This being done, I was placed at the business, which I
+soon learned, so as to be called a &quot;first-rate blacksmith.&quot; I continued to
+work at this business for nine years, or until I was twenty-one, with the
+exception of the last seven months.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1828, my master sold me to a Methodist man, named &mdash;&mdash;,
+for the sum of seven hundred dollars. It soon proved that he had not work
+enough to keep me employed as a smith, and he offered me for sale again.
+On hearing of this, my old master re-purchased me, and proposed to me to
+undertake the carpentering business. I had been working at this trade six
+months with a white workman, who was building a large barn when I left. I
+will now relate the abuses which occasioned me to fly.</p>
+
+<p>Three or four of our farm hands had their wives and families on other
+plantations. In such cases, it is the custom in Maryland to allow the men
+to go on Saturday evening to see their families, stay over the Sabbath,
+and return on Monday morning, not later than &quot;half-an-hour by sun.&quot; To
+overstay their time is a grave fault, for which, especially at busy
+seasons, they are punished.</p>
+
+<p>One Monday morning, two of these men had not been so fortunate as to get
+home at the required time: one of them was an uncle of mine. Besides
+these, two young men who had no families, and for whom no such provision
+of time was made, having gone somewhere to spend the Sabbath, were absent.
+My master was greatly irritated, and had resolved to have, as he said, &quot;a
+general whipping-match among them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Preparatory to this, he had a rope in his pocket, and a cowhide in his
+hand, walking about the premises, and speaking to every one he met in a
+very insolent manner, and finding fault with some without just cause. My
+father, among other numerous and responsible duties, discharged that of
+shepherd to a large and valuable flock of Merino sheep. This morning he
+was engaged in the tenderest of a shepherd's duties;&mdash;a little lamb, not
+able to go alone, lost its mother; he was feeding it by hand. He had been
+keeping it in the house for several days. As he stooped over it in the
+yard, with a vessel of new milk he had obtained, with which to feed it, my
+master came along, and without the least provocation, began by asking,
+&quot;Bazil, have you fed the flock?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Were you away yesterday?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know why these boys have not got home this morning yet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I have not seen any of them since Saturday night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By the Eternal, I'll make them know their hour. The fact is, I have too
+many of you; my people are getting to be the most careless, lazy, and
+worthless in the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Master,&quot; said my father, &quot;I am always at my post; Monday morning never
+finds me off the plantation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hush, Bazil! I shall have to sell some of you; and then the rest will
+have enough to do; I have not work enough to keep you all tightly
+employed; I have too many of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All this was said in an angry, threatening, and exceedingly insulting
+tone. My father was a high-spirited man, and feeling deeply the insult,
+replied to the last expression,&mdash;&quot;If I am one too many, sir, give me a
+chance to get a purchaser, and I am willing to be sold when it may suit
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bazil, I told you to hush!&quot; and suiting the action to the word, he drew
+forth the &quot;cowhide&quot; from under his arm, fell upon him with most savage
+cruelty, and inflicted fifteen or twenty severe stripes with all his
+strength, over his shoulders and the small of his back. As he raised
+himself upon his toes, and gave the last stripe, he said, &quot;By the * * * I
+will make you know that I am master of your tongue as well as of your
+time!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Being a tradesman, and just at that time getting my breakfast, I was near
+enough to hear the insolent words that were spoken to my father, and to
+hear, see, and even count the savage stripes inflicted upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Let me ask any one of Anglo-Saxon blood and spirit, how would you expect a
+<i>son</i> to feel at such a sight?</p>
+
+<p>This act created an open rupture with our family&mdash;each member felt the
+deep insult that had been inflicted upon our head; the spirit of the whole
+family was roused; we talked of it in our nightly gatherings, and showed
+it in our daily melancholy aspect. The oppressor saw this, and with the
+heartlessness that was in perfect keeping with the first insult, commenced
+a series of tauntings, threatenings, and insinuations, with a view to
+crush the spirit of the whole family.</p>
+
+<p>Although it was sometime after this event before I took the decisive step,
+yet in my mind and spirit, I never was a <i>Slave</i> after it.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever I thought of the great contrast between my father's employment on
+that memorable Monday morning, (feeding the little lamb,) and the
+barbarous conduct of my master, I could not help cordially despising the
+proud abuser of my sire; and I believe he discovered it, for he seemed to
+have diligently sought an occasion against me. Many incidents occurred to
+convince me of this, too tedious to mention; but there is one I will
+mention, because it will serve to show the state of feeling that existed
+between us, and how it served to widen the already open breach.</p>
+
+<p>I was one day shoeing a horse in the shop yard. I had been stooping for
+some time under the weight of the horse, which was large, and was very
+tired; meanwhile, my master had taken his position on a little hill just
+in front of me, and stood leaning back on his cane, with his hat drawn
+ever his eyes. I put down the horse's foot, and straightened myself up to
+rest a moment, and without knowing that he was there, my eye caught his.
+This threw him into a panic of rage; he would have it that I was watching
+him. &quot;What are you rolling your white eyes at me for, you lazy rascal?&quot; He
+came down upon me with his cane, and laid on over my shoulders, arms, and
+legs, about a dozen severe blows, so that my limbs and flesh were sore for
+several weeks; and then after several other offensive epithets, left me.</p>
+
+<p>This affair my mother saw from her cottage, which was near; I being one of
+the oldest sons of my parents, our family was now mortified to the lowest
+degree. I had always aimed to be trustworthy; and feeling a high degree of
+mechanical pride, I had aimed to do my work with dispatch and skill, my
+blacksmith's pride and taste was one thing that had reconciled me so long
+to remain a slave. I sought to distinguish myself in the finer branches of
+the business by invention and finish; I frequently tried my hand at making
+guns and pistols, putting blades in penknives, making fancy hammers,
+hatchets, sword-canes, &amp;c., &amp;c. Besides I used to assist my father at
+night in making straw-hats and willow-baskets, by which means we supplied
+our family with little articles of food, clothing and luxury, which slaves
+in the mildest form of the system never get from the master; but after
+this, I found that my mechanic's pleasure and pride were gone. I thought
+of nothing but the family disgrace under which we were smarting, and how
+to get out of it.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I may as well extend this note a little. The reader will observe
+that I have not said much about my master's cruel treatment; I have aimed
+rather to shew the cruelties incident to the system. I have no disposition
+to attempt to convict him of having been one of the most cruel
+masters&mdash;that would not be true&mdash;his prevailing temper was kind, but he
+was a perpetualist. He was opposed to emancipation; thought free negroes a
+great nuisance, and was, as respects discipline, a thorough slaveholder.
+He would not tolerate a look or a word from a slave like insubordination.
+He would suppress it at once, and at any risk. When he thought it
+necessary to secure unqualified obedience, he would strike a slave with
+any weapon, flog him on the bare back, and sell. And this was the kind of
+discipline he also empowered his overseers and sons to use.</p>
+
+<p>I have seen children go from our plantations to join the chained-gang on
+its way from Washington to Louisiana; and I have seen men and women
+flogged&mdash;I have seen the overseers strike a man with a hay-fork&mdash;nay more,
+men have been maimed by shooting! Some dispute arose one morning between
+the overseer and one of the farm hands, when the former made at the slave
+with a hickory club; the slave taking to his heels, started for the woods;
+as he was crossing the yard, the overseer turned, snatched his gun which
+was near, and fired at the flying slave, lodging several shots in the
+calf of one leg. The poor fellow continued his flight, and got into the
+woods; but he was in so much pain that he was compelled to come out in the
+evening, and give himself up to his master, thinking he would not allow
+him to be punished as he had been shot. He was locked up that night; the
+next morning the overseer was allowed to tie him up and flog him; his
+master then took his instruments and picked the shot out of his leg, and
+told him, it served him just right.</p>
+
+<p>My master had a deeply pious and exemplary slave, an elderly man, who one
+day had a misunderstanding with the overseer, when the latter attempted to
+flog him. He fled to the woods; it was noon; at evening he came home
+orderly. The next morning, my master, taking one of his sons with him, a
+rope and cowhide in his hand, led the poor old man away into the stable;
+tied him up, and ordered the son to lay on thirty-nine lashes, which he
+did, making the keen end of the cowhide lap around and strike him in the
+tenderest part of his side, till the blood sped out, as if a lance had
+been used.</p>
+
+<p>While my master's son was thus engaged, the sufferer's little daughter, a
+child six years of age, stood at the door, weeping in agony for the fate
+of her father. I heard the old man articulating in a low tone of voice; I
+listened at the intervals between the stripes, and lo! he was praying!</p>
+
+<p>When the last lash was laid on, he was let down; and leaving him to put on
+his clothes, they passed out of the door, and drove the man's weeping
+child away! I was mending a hinge to one of the barn doors; I saw and
+heard what I have stated. Six months after, this same man's eldest
+daughter, a girl fifteen years old, was sold to slave-traders, where he
+never saw her more.</p>
+
+<p>This poor slave and his wife were both Methodists, so was the wife of the
+young master who flogged him. My old master was an Episcopalian.</p>
+
+<p>These are only a few of the instances which came under my own notice
+during my childhood and youth on our plantations; as to those which
+occurred on other plantations in the neighbourhood, I could state any
+number.</p>
+
+<p>I have stated that my master was watching the movements of our family very
+closely. Sometime after the difficulties began, we found that he also had
+a confidential slave assisting him in the business. This wretched fellow,
+who was nearly white, and of Irish descent, informed our master of the
+movements of each member of the family by day and by night, and on
+Sundays. This stirred the spirit of my mother, who spoke to our
+fellow-slave, and told him he ought to be ashamed to be engaged in such
+low business.</p>
+
+<p>Master hearing of this, called my father, mother, and myself before him,
+and accused us of an attempt to resist and intimidate his &quot;confidential
+servant.&quot; Finding that only my mother had spoken to him, he swore that if
+she ever spoke another word to him, he would flog her.</p>
+
+<p>I knew my mother's spirit and my master's temper as well. Our social state
+was now perfectly intolerable. We were on the eve of a general fracas.
+This last scene occurred on Tuesday; and on Saturday evening following,
+without counsel or advice from any one, I determined to fly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" />CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FLIGHT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was the Sabbath: the holy day which God in his infinite wisdom gave for
+the rest of both man and beast. In the state of Maryland, the slaves
+generally have the Sabbath, except in those districts where the evil weed,
+tobacco, is cultivated; and then, when it is the season for setting the
+plant, they are liable to be robbed of this only rest.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the month of November, somewhat past the middle of the month. It
+was a bright day, and all was quiet. Most of the slaves were resting about
+their quarters; others had leave to visit their friends on other
+plantations, and were absent. The evening previous I had arranged my
+little bundle of clothing, and had secreted it at some distance from the
+house. I had spent most of the forenoon in my workshop, engaged in deep
+and solemn thought.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible for me now to recollect all the perplexing thoughts that
+passed through my mind during that forenoon; it was a day of heartaching
+to me. But I distinctly remember the two great difficulties that stood in
+the way of my flight: I had a father and mother whom I dearly loved,&mdash;I
+had also six sisters and four brothers on the plantation. The question
+was, shall I hide my purpose from them? moreover, how will my flight
+affect them when I am gone? Will they not be suspected? Will not the whole
+family be sold off as a disaffected family, as is generally the case when
+one of its members flies? But a still more trying question was, how can I
+expect to succeed, I have no knowledge of distance or direction. I know
+that Pennsylvania is a free state, but I know not where its soil begins,
+or where that of Maryland ends? Indeed, at this time there was no safety
+in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York, for a fugitive, except in
+lurking-places, or under the care of judicious friends, who could be
+entrusted not only with liberty, but also with life itself.</p>
+
+<p>With such difficulties before my mind, the day had rapidly worn away; and
+it was just past noon. One of my perplexing questions I had settled&mdash;I had
+resolved to let no one into my secret; but the other difficulty was now to
+be met. It was to be met without the least knowledge of its magnitude,
+except by imagination. Yet of one thing there could be no mistake, that
+the consequences of a failure would be most serious. Within my
+recollection no one had attempted to escape from my master; but I had many
+cases in my mind's eye, of slaves of other planters who had failed, and
+who had been made examples of the most cruel treatment, by flogging and
+selling to the far South, where they were never to see their friends more.
+I was not without serious apprehension that such would be my fate. The
+bare possibility was impressively solemn; but the hour was now come, and
+the man must act and be free, or remain a slave for ever. How the
+impression came to be upon my mind I cannot tell; but there was a strange
+and horrifying belief, that if I did not meet the crisis that day, I
+should be self-doomed&mdash;that my ear would be nailed to the door-post for
+ever. The emotions of that moment I cannot fully depict. Hope, fear,
+dread, terror, love, sorrow, and deep melancholy were mingled in my mind
+together; my mental state was one of most painful distraction. When I
+looked at my numerous family&mdash;a beloved father and mother, eleven brothers
+and sisters, &amp;c.; but when I looked at slavery as such; when I looked at
+it in its mildest form, with all its annoyances; and above all, when I
+remembered that one of the chief annoyances of slavery, in the most mild
+form, is the liability of being at any moment sold into the worst form; it
+seemed that no consideration, not even that of life itself, could tempt me
+to give up the thought of flight. And then when I considered the
+difficulties of the way&mdash;the reward that would be offered&mdash;the human
+blood-hounds that would be set upon my track&mdash;the weariness&mdash;the
+hunger&mdash;the gloomy thought, of not only losing all one's friends in one
+day, but of having to seek and to make new friends in a strange world.
+But, as I have said, the hour was come, and the man must act, or for ever
+be a slave.</p>
+
+<p>It was now two o'clock. I stepped into the quarter; there was a strange
+and melancholy silence mingled with the destitution that was apparent in
+every part of the house. The only morsel I could see in the shape of food,
+was a piece of Indian flour bread, it might be half-a-pound in weight.
+This I placed in my pocket, and giving a last look at the aspect of the
+house, and at a few small children who were playing at the door, I sallied
+forth thoughtfully and melancholy, and after crossing the barn-yard, a few
+moments' walk brought me to a small cave, near the mouth of which lay a
+pile of stones, and into which I had deposited my clothes. From this, my
+course lay through thick and heavy woods and back lands to &mdash;&mdash; town,
+where my brother lived. This town was six miles distance. It was now near
+three o'clock, but my object was neither to be seen on the road, or to
+approach the town by daylight, as I was well-known there, and as any
+intelligence of my having been seen there would at once put the pursuers
+on my track. This first six miles of my flight, I not only travelled very
+slowly, therefore, so as to avoid carrying any daylight to this town; but
+during this walk another very perplexing question was agitating my mind.
+Shall I call on my brother as I pass through, and shew him what I am
+about? My brother was older than I, we were much attached; I had been in
+the habit of looking to him for counsel.</p>
+
+<p>I entered the town about dark, resolved, all things in view, <i>not</i> to shew
+myself to my brother. Having passed through the town without being
+recognised, I now found myself under cover of night, a solitary wanderer
+from home and friends; my only guide was the <i>north star</i>, by this I knew
+my general course northward, but at what point I should strike Penn, or
+when and where I should find a friend, I knew not. Another feeling now
+occupied my mind,&mdash;I felt like a mariner who has gotten his ship outside
+of the harbour and has spread his sails to the breeze. The cargo is on
+board&mdash;the ship is cleared&mdash;and the voyage I must make; besides, this
+being my first night, almost every thing will depend upon my clearing the
+coast before the day dawns. In order to do this my flight must be rapid. I
+therefore set forth in sorrowful earnest, only now and then I was cheered
+by the <i>wild</i> hope, that I should somewhere and at sometime be free.</p>
+
+<p>The night was fine for the season, and passed on with little interruption
+for want of strength, until, about three o'clock in the morning, I began
+to feel the chilling effects of the dew.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment, gloom and melancholy again spread through my whole soul.
+The prospect of utter destitution which threatened me was more than I
+could bear, and my heart began to melt. What substance is there in a piece
+of dry Indian bread; what nourishment is there in it to warm the nerves of
+one already chilled to the heart? Will this afford a sufficient sustenance
+after the toil of the night? But while these thoughts were agitating my
+mind, the day dawned upon me, in the midst of an open extent of country,
+where the only shelter I could find, without risking my travel by
+daylight, was a corn shock, but a few hundred yards from the road, and
+here I must pass my first day out. The day was an unhappy one; my
+hiding-place was extremely precarious. I had to sit in a squatting
+position the whole day, without the least chance to rest. But, besides
+this, my scanty pittance did not afford me that nourishment which my hard
+night's travel needed. Night came again to my relief, and I sallied forth
+to pursue my journey. By this time, not a crumb of my crust remained, and
+I was hungry and began to feel the desperation of distress.</p>
+
+<p>As I travelled I felt my strength failing and my spirits wavered; my mind
+was in a deep and melancholy dream. It was cloudy; I could not see my
+star, and had serious misgivings about my course.</p>
+
+<p>In this way the night passed away, and just at the dawn of day I found a
+few sour apples, and took my shelter under the arch of a small bridge that
+crossed the road. Here I passed the second day in ambush.</p>
+
+<p>This day would have been more pleasant than the previous, but the sour
+apples, and a draught of cold water, had produced anything but a
+favourable effect; indeed, I suffered most of the day with severe symptoms
+of cramp. The day passed away again without any further incident, and as I
+set out at nightfall, I felt quite satisfied that I could not pass another
+twenty-four hours without nourishment. I made but little progress during
+the night, and often sat down, and slept frequently fifteen or twenty
+minutes. At the dawn of the third day I continued my travel. As I had
+found my way to a public turnpike road during the night, I came very early
+in the morning to a toll-gate, where the only person I saw, was a lad
+about twelve years of age. I inquired of him where the road led to. He
+informed me it led to Baltimore. I asked him the distance, he said it was
+eighteen miles.</p>
+
+<p>This intelligence was perfectly astounding to me. My master lived eighty
+miles from Baltimore. I was now sixty-two miles from home. That distance
+in the right direction, would have placed me several miles across Mason
+and Dixon's line, but I was evidently yet in the state of Maryland.</p>
+
+<p>I ventured to ask the lad at the gate another question&mdash;Which is the best
+way to Philadelphia? Said he, you can take a road which turns off about
+half-a-mile below this, and goes to Getsburgh, or you can go on to
+Baltimore and take the packet.</p>
+
+<p>I made no reply, but my thought was, that I was as near Baltimore and
+Baltimore-packets as would answer my purpose.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments I came to the road to which the lad had referred, and
+felt some relief when I had gotten out of that great public highway, &quot;The
+National Turnpike,&quot; which I found it to be.</p>
+
+<p>When I had walked a mile on this road, and when it had now gotten to be
+about nine o'clock, I met a young man with a load of hay. He drew up his
+horses, and addressed me in a very kind tone, when the following dialogue
+took place between us.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you travelling any distance, my friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am on my way to Philadelphia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you free?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose, then, you are provided with free papers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir. I have no papers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my friend, you should not travel on this road: you will be taken up
+before you have gone three miles. There are men living on this road who
+are constantly on the look-out for your people; and it is seldom that one
+escapes them who attempts to pass by day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He then very kindly gave me advice where to turn off the road at a certain
+point, and how to find my way to a certain house, where I would meet with
+an old gentleman who would further advise me whether I had better remain
+till night, or go on.</p>
+
+<p>I left this interesting young man; and such was my surprise and chagrin at
+the thought of having so widely missed my way, and my alarm at being in
+such a dangerous position, that in ten minutes I had so far forgotten his
+directions as to deem it unwise to attempt to follow them, lest I should
+miss my way, and get into evil hands.</p>
+
+<p>I, however, left the road, and went into a small piece of wood, but not
+finding a sufficient hiding-place, and it being a busy part of the day,
+when persons were at work about the fields, I thought I should excite less
+suspicion by keeping in the road, so I returned to the road; but the
+events of the next few moments proved that I committed a serious mistake.</p>
+
+<p>I went about a mile, making in all two miles from the spot where I met my
+young friend, and about five miles from the toll-gate to which I have
+referred, and I found myself at the twenty-four miles' stone from
+Baltimore. It was now about ten o'clock in the forenoon; my strength was
+greatly exhausted by reason of the want of suitable food; but the
+excitement that was then going on in my mind, left me little time to think
+of my <i>need</i> of food. Under ordinary circumstances as a traveller, I
+should have been glad to see the &quot;Tavern,&quot; which was near the mile-stone;
+but as the case stood with me, I deemed it a dangerous place to pass, much
+less to stop at. I was therefore passing it as quietly and as rapidly as
+possible, when from the lot just opposite the house, or sign-post, I heard
+a coarse stern voice cry, &quot;Halloo!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I turned my face to the left, the direction from which the voice came, and
+observed that it proceeded from a man who was digging potatoes. I answered
+him politely; when the following occurred:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who do <i>you</i> belong to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am free, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you got papers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you must stop here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By this time he had got astride the fence, making his way into the road. I
+said,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My business is onward, sir, and I do not wish to stop.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will see then if you don't stop, you black rascal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was now in the middle of the road, making after me in a brisk walk.</p>
+
+<p>I saw that a crisis was at hand; I had no weapons of any kind, not even a
+pocket-knife; but I asked myself, shall I surrender without a struggle.
+The instinctive answer was &quot;No.&quot; What will you do? continue to walk; if he
+runs after you, run; get him as far from the house as you can, then turn
+suddenly and smite him on the knee with a stone; that will render him, at
+least, unable to pursue you.</p>
+
+<p>This was a desperate scheme, but I could think of no other, and my habits
+as a blacksmith had given my eye and hand such mechanical skill, that I
+felt quite sure that if I could only get a stone in my hand, and have time
+to wield it, I should not miss his knee-pan.</p>
+
+<p>He began to breathe short. He was evidently vexed because I did not halt,
+and I felt more and more provoked at the idea of being thus pursued by a
+man to whom I had not done the least injury. I had just began to glance my
+eye about for a stone to grasp, when he made a tiger-like leap at me. This
+of course brought us to running. At this moment he yelled out &quot;Jake
+Shouster!&quot; and at the next moment the door of a small house standing to
+the left was opened, and out jumped a shoemaker girded up in his leather
+apron, with his knife in hand. He sprang forward and seized me by the
+collar, while the other seized my arms behind. I was now in the grasp of
+two men, either of whom were larger bodied than myself, and one of whom
+was armed with a dangerous weapon.</p>
+
+<p>Standing in the door of the shoemaker's shop, was a third man; and in the
+potatoe lot I had passed, was still a fourth man. Thus surrounded by
+superior physical force, the fortune of the day it seemed to me was gone.</p>
+
+<p>My heart melted away, I sunk resistlessly into the hands of my captors,
+who dragged me immediately into the tavern which was near. I ask my reader
+to go in with me, and see how the case goes.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>GREAT MORAL DILEMMA.</b></p>
+
+<p>A few moments after I was taken into the bar-room, the news having gone as
+by electricity, the house and yard were crowded with gossippers, who had
+left their business to come and see &quot;the runaway nigger.&quot; This hastily
+assembled congregation consisted of men, women, and children, each one had
+a look to give at, and a word to say about, the &quot;nigger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But among the whole, there stood one whose name I have never known, but
+who evidently wore the garb of a man whose profession bound him to speak
+for the dumb, but he, standing head and shoulders above all that were
+round about, spoke the first hard sentence against me. Said he, &quot;That
+fellow is a runaway I know; put him in jail a few days, and you will soon
+hear where he came from.&quot; And then fixing a fiend-like gaze upon me, he
+continued, &quot;if I lived on this road, <i>you</i> fellows would not find such
+clear running as you do, I'd trap more of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But now comes the pinch of the case, the case of conscience to me even at
+this moment. Emboldened by the cruel speech just recited, my captors
+enclosed me, and said, &quot;Come now, this matter may easily be settled
+without you going to jail; who do you belong to, and where did you come
+from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The facts here demanded were in my breast. I knew according to the law of
+slavery, who I belonged to and where I came from, and I must now do one of
+three things&mdash;I must refuse to speak at all, or I must communicate the
+fact, or I must tell an untruth. How would an untutored slave, who had
+never heard of such a writer as Archdeacon Paley, be likely to act in such
+a dilemma? The first point decided, was, the facts in this case are my
+private property. These men have no more right to them than a highway
+robber has to my purse. What will be the consequence if I put them in
+possession of the facts. In forty-eight hours, I shall have received
+perhaps one hundred lashes, and be on my way to the Louisiana cotton
+fields. Of what service will it be to them. They will get a paltry sum of
+two hundred dollars. Is not my liberty worth more to me than two hundred
+dollars are to them?</p>
+
+<p>I resolved therefore, to insist that I was free. This not being
+satisfactory without other evidence, they tied my hands and set out, and
+went to a magistrate who lived about half a mile distant. It so happened,
+that when we arrived at his house he was not at home. This was to them a
+disappointment, but to me it was a relief; but I soon learned by their
+conversation, that there was still another magistrate in the
+neighbourhood, and that they would go to him. In about twenty minutes, and
+after climbing fences and jumping ditches, we, captors and captive, stood
+before his door, but it was after the same manner as before&mdash;he was not at
+home. By this time the day had worn away to one or two o'clock, and my
+captors evidently began to feel somewhat impatient of the loss of time. We
+were about a mile and a quarter from the tavern. As we set out on our
+return, they began to parley. Finding it was difficult for me to get over
+fences with, my hands tied, they untied me, and said, &quot;Now John,&quot; that
+being the name they had given me, &quot;if you have run away from any one, it
+would be much better for you to tell us!&quot; but I continued to affirm that I
+was free. I knew, however, that my situation was very critical, owing to
+the shortness of the distance I must be from home: my advertisement might
+overtake me at any moment.</p>
+
+<p>On our way back to the tavern, we passed through a small skirt of wood,
+where I resolved to make an effort to escape again. One of my captors was
+walking on either side of me; I made a sudden turn, with my left arm
+sweeping the legs of one of my captors from under him; I left him nearly
+standing on his head, and took to my heels. As soon as they could recover
+they both took after me. We had to mount a fence. This I did most
+successfully, and making across an open field towards another wood; one of
+my captors being a long-legged man, was in advance of the other, and
+consequently nearing me. We had a hill to rise, and during the ascent he
+gained on me. Once more I thought of self-defence. I am trying to escape
+peaceably, but this man is determined that I shall not.</p>
+
+<p>My case was now desperate; and I took this desperate thought: &quot;I will run
+him a little farther from his coadjutor; I will then suddenly catch a
+stone, and wound him in the breast.&quot; This was my fixed purpose, and I had
+arrived near the point on the top of the hill, where I expected to do the
+act, when to my surprise and dismay, I saw the other side of the hill was
+not only all ploughed up, but we came suddenly upon a man ploughing, who
+as suddenly left his plough and cut off my flight, by seizing me by the
+collar, when at the same moment my pursuer seized my arms behind. Here I
+was again in a sad fix. By this time the other pursuer had come up; I was
+most savagely thrown down on the ploughed ground with my face downward,
+the ploughman placed his knee upon my shoulders, one of my captors put his
+upon my legs, while the other tied my arms behind me. I was then dragged
+up, and marched off with kicks, punches and imprecations.</p>
+
+<p>We got to the tavern at three o'clock. Here they again cooled down, and
+made an appeal to me to make a disclosure. I saw that my attempt to escape
+strengthened their belief that I was a fugitive. I said to them, &quot;If you
+will not put me in jail, I will now tell you where I am from.&quot; They
+promised. &quot;Well,&quot; said I, &quot;a few weeks ago, I was sold from the eastern
+shore to a slave-trader, who had a large gang, and set out for Georgia,
+but when he got to a town in Virginia, he was taken sick, and died with
+the small-pox. Several of his gang also died with, it, so that the people
+in the town became alarmed, and did not wish the gang to remain among
+them. No one claimed us, or wished to have anything to do with us; I left
+the rest, and thought I would go somewhere and get work.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When I said this, it was evidently believed by those who were present, and
+notwithstanding the unkind feeling that had existed, there was a murmur of
+approbation. At the same time I perceived that a panic began to seize
+some, at the idea that I was one of a small-pox gang. Several who had
+clustered near me, moved off to a respectful distance. One or two left
+the bar-room, and murmured, &quot;better let the small-pox nigger go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I was then asked what was the name of the slave-trader. Without
+premeditation, I said, &quot;John Henderson.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;John Henderson!&quot; said one of my captors, &quot;I knew him; I took up a yaller
+boy for him about two years ago, and got fifty dollars. He passed out with
+a gang about that time, and the boy ran away from him at Frederickstown.
+What kind of a man was he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At a venture, I gave a description of him. &quot;Yes,&quot; said he, &quot;that is the
+man.&quot; By this time, all the gossippers had cleared the coast; our friend,
+&quot;Jake Shouster,&quot; had also gone back to his bench to finish his custom
+work, after having &quot;lost nearly the whole day, trotting about with a
+nigger tied,&quot; as I heard his wife say as she called him home to his
+dinner. I was now left alone with the man who first called to me in the
+morning. In a sober manner, he made this proposal to me: &quot;John, I have a
+brother living in Risterstown, four miles off, who keeps a tavern; I think
+you had better go and live with him, till we see what will turn up. He
+wants an ostler.&quot; I at once assented to this. &quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;take
+something to eat, and I will go with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Although I had so completely frustrated their designs for the moment, I
+knew that it would by no means answer for me to go into that town, where
+there were prisons, handbills, newspapers, and travellers. My intention
+was, to start with him, but not to enter the town alive.</p>
+
+<p>I sat down to eat; it was Wednesday, four o'clock, and this was the first
+regular meal I had since Sunday morning. This over, we set out, and to my
+surprise, he proposed to walk. We had gone about a mile and a-half, and
+were approaching a wood through which the road passed with a bend. I fixed
+upon that as the spot where I would either free myself from this man, or
+die in his arms. I had resolved upon a plan of operation&mdash;it was this: to
+stop short, face about, and commence action; and neither ask or give
+quarters, until I was free or dead!</p>
+
+<p>We had got within six rods of the spot, when a gentleman turned the
+corner, meeting us on horseback. He came up, and entered into conversation
+with my captor, both of them speaking in Dutch, so that I knew not what
+they said. After a few moments, this gentleman addressed himself to me in
+English, and I then learned that he was one of the magistrates on whom we
+had called in the morning; I felt that another crisis was at hand. Using
+his saddle as his bench, he put on an extremely stern and magisterial-like
+face, holding up his horse not unlike a field-marshal in the act of
+reviewing troops, and carried me through a most rigid examination in
+reference to the statement I had made. I repeated carefully all I had
+said; at the close, he said, &quot;Well, you had better stay among us a few
+months, until we see what is to be done with you.&quot; It was then agreed that
+we should go back to the tavern, and there settle upon some further plan.
+When we arrived at the tavern, the magistrate alighted from his horse, and
+went into the bar-room. He took another close glance at me, and went over
+some points of the former examination. He seemed quite satisfied of the
+correctness of my statement, and made the following proposition: that I
+should go and live with him for a short time, stating that he had a few
+acres of corn and potatoes to get in, and that he would give me
+twenty-five cents per day. I most cheerfully assented to this proposal. It
+was also agreed that I should remain at the tavern with my captor that
+night, and that he would accompany me in the morning. This part of the
+arrangement I did not like, but of course I could not say so. Things being
+thus arranged, the magistrate mounted his horse, and went on his way home.</p>
+
+<p>It had been cloudy and rainy during the afternoon, but the western sky
+having partially cleared at this moment, I perceived that it was near the
+setting of the sun.</p>
+
+<p>My captor had left his hired man most of the day to dig potatoes alone;
+but the waggon being now loaded, it being time to convey the potatoes into
+the barn, and the horses being all ready for that purpose, he was obliged
+to go into the potatoe field and give assistance.</p>
+
+<p>I should say here, that his wife had been driven away by the small-pox
+panic about three o'clock, and had not yet returned; this left no one in
+the house, but a boy, about nine years of age.</p>
+
+<p>As he went out, he spoke to the boy in Dutch, which I supposed, from the
+little fellow's conduct, to be instructions to watch me closely, which he
+certainly did.</p>
+
+<p>The potatoe lot was across the public road, directly in front of the
+house; at the back of the house, and about 300 yards distant, there was a
+thick wood. The circumstances of the case would not allow me to think for
+one moment of remaining there for the night&mdash;the time had come for another
+effort&mdash;but there were two serious difficulties. One was, that I must
+either deceive or dispatch this boy who is watching me with intense
+vigilance. I am glad to say, that the latter did not for a moment
+seriously enter my mind. To deceive him effectually, I left my coat and
+went to the back door, from which my course would be direct to the wood.
+When I got to the door, I found that the barn, to which the waggon, must
+soon come, lay just to the right, and overlooking the path I must take to
+the wood. In front of me lay a garden surrounded by a picket fence, to the
+left of me was a small gate, and that by passing through that gate would
+throw me into an open field, and give me clear running to the wood; but on
+looking through the gate, I saw that my captor, being with the team, would
+see me if I attempted to start before he moved from the position he then
+occupied. To add to my difficulty the horses had baulked; while waiting
+for the decisive moment, the boy came to the door and asked me why I did
+not come in. I told him I felt unwell, and wished him to be so kind as to
+hand me a glass of water; expecting while he was gone to get it, the team
+would clear, so that I could start. While he was gone, another attempt was
+made to start the team but failed; he came with the water and I quickly
+used it up by gargling my throat and by drinking a part. I asked him to
+serve me by giving me another glass: he gave me a look of close scrutiny,
+but went in for the water. I heard him fill the glass, and start to return
+with it; when the hind end of the waggon cleared the corner of the house,
+which stood in a range with the fence along which I was to pass in getting
+to the wood. As I passed out the gate, I &quot;squared my main yard,&quot; and laid
+my course up the line of fence, I cast a last glance over my right
+shoulder, and saw the boy just perch his head above the garden picket to
+look after me; I heard at the same time great confusion with the team, the
+rain having made the ground slippery, and the horses having to cross the
+road with a slant and rise to get into the barn, it required great effort
+after they started to prevent their baulking. I felt some assurance that
+although the boy might give the alarm, my captor could not leave the team
+until it was in the barn. I heard the horses' feet on the barn-floor, just
+as I leaped the fence, and darted into the wood.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was now quite down behind the western horizon, and just at this
+time a heavy dark curtain of clouds was let down, which seemed to usher in
+haste the night shade. I have never before or since seen anything which
+seemed to me to compare in sublimity with the spreading of the night
+shades at the close of that day. My reflections upon the events of that
+day, and upon the close of it, since I became acquainted with the Bible,
+have frequently brought to my mind that beautiful passage in the Book of
+Job, &quot;He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth a cloud before
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Before I proceed to the critical events and final deliverance of the next
+chapter, I cannot forbear to pause a moment here for reflection. The
+reader may well imagine how the events of the past day affected my mind.
+You have seen what was done to me; you have heard what was said to me&mdash;you
+have also seen what I have done, and heard what I have said. If you ask me
+whether I had expected before I left home, to gain my liberty by shedding
+men's blood, or breaking their limbs? I answer, no! and as evidence of
+this, I had provided no weapon whatever; not so much as a penknife&mdash;it
+never once entered my mind. I cannot say that I expected to have the ill
+fortune of meeting with any human being who would attempt to impede my
+flight.</p>
+
+<p>If you ask me if I expected when I left home to gain my liberty by
+fabrications and untruths? I answer, no! my parents, slaves as they were,
+had always taught me, when they could, that &quot;truth may be blamed but
+cannot be shamed;&quot; so far as their example was concerned, I had no habits
+of untruth. I was arrested, and the demand made upon me, &quot;Who do you
+belong to?&quot; knowing the fatal use these men would make of <i>my</i> truth, I at
+once concluded that they had no more right to it than a highwayman has to
+a traveller's purse.</p>
+
+<p>If you ask me whether I now really believe that I gained my liberty by
+those lies? I answer, no! I now believe that I should be free, had I told
+the truth; but, at that moment, I could not see any other way to baffle my
+enemies, and escape their clutches.</p>
+
+<p>The history of that day has never ceased to inspire me with a deeper
+hatred of slavery; I never recur to it but with the most intense horror at
+a system which can put a man not only in peril of liberty, limb, and life
+itself, but which may even send him in haste to the bar of God with a lie
+upon his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever my readers may think, therefore, of the history of events of the
+day, do not admire in it the fabrications; but <i>see</i> in it the impediments
+that often fall into the pathway of the flying bondman. <i>See</i> how human
+bloodhounds gratuitously chase, catch, and tempt him to shed blood and
+lie; how, when he would do good, evil is thrust upon him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h2>A DREARY NIGHT IN THE WOODS&mdash;CRITICAL SITUATION THE NEXT DAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Almost immediately on entering the wood, I not only found myself embosomed
+in the darkness of the night, but I also found myself entangled in a thick
+forest of undergrowth, which had been quite thoroughly wetted by the
+afternoon rain.</p>
+
+<p>I penetrated through the wood, thick and thin, and more or less wet, to
+the distance I should think of three miles. By this time my clothes were
+all thoroughly soaked through, and I felt once more a gloom and
+wretchedness; the recollection of which makes me shudder at this distant
+day. My young friends in this highly favoured Christian country,
+surrounded with all the comforts of home and parental care, visited by
+pastors and Sabbath-school teachers, think of the dreary condition of the
+blacksmith boy in the dark wood that night; and then consider that
+thousands of his brethren have had to undergo much greater hardships in
+their flight from slavery.</p>
+
+<p>I was now out of the hands of those who had so cruelly teased me during
+the day; but a number of fearful thoughts rushed into my mind to alarm me.
+It was dark and cloudy, so that I could not see the <i>north star</i>. How do I
+know what ravenous beasts are in this wood? How do I know what precipices
+may be within its bounds? I cannot rest in this wood to-morrow, for it
+will be searched by those men from whom I have escaped; but how shall I
+regain the road? How shall I know when I am on the right road again?</p>
+
+<p>These are some of the thoughts that filled my mind with gloom and alarm.</p>
+
+<p>At a venture I struck an angle northward in search of the road. After
+several hours of zigzag and laborious travel, dragging through briars,
+thorns and running vines, I emerged from the wood and found myself wading
+marshy ground and over ditches.</p>
+
+<p>I can form no correct idea of the distance I travelled, but I came to a
+road, I should think about three o'clock in the morning. It so happened
+that I came out near where there was a fork in the road of three prongs.</p>
+
+<p>Now arose a serious query&mdash;which is the right prong for me? I was reminded
+by the circumstance of a superstitious proverb among the slaves, that &quot;the
+left-hand turning was unlucky,&quot; but as I had never been in the habit of
+placing faith in this or any similar superstition, I am not aware that it
+had the least weight upon my mind, as I had the same difficulty with
+reference to the right-hand turning. After a few moments parley with
+myself, I took the central prong of the road and pushed on with all my
+speed.</p>
+
+<p>It had not cleared off, but a fresh wind had sprung up; it was chilly and
+searching. This with my wet clothing made me very uncomfortable; my nerves
+began to quiver before the searching wind. The barking of mastiffs, the
+crowing of fowls, and the distant rattling of market waggons, warned me
+that the day was approaching.</p>
+
+<p>My British reader must remember that in the region where I was, we know
+nothing of the long hours of twilight you enjoy here. With us the day is
+measured more by the immediate presence of the sun, and the night by the
+prevalence of actual darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The day dawned upon me when I was near a small house and barn, situate
+close to the road side. The barn was too near the road, and too small to
+afford secure shelter for the day; but as I cast my eye around by the dim
+light, I could see no wood, and no larger barn. It seemed to be an open
+country to a wide extent. The sun was travelling so rapidly from his
+eastern chamber, that ten or fifteen minutes would spread broad daylight
+over my track. Whether <i>my</i> deed was evil, <i>you</i> may judge, but I freely
+confess that I did <i>then</i> prefer darkness rather than light; I therefore
+took to the mow of the little barn at a great risk, as the events of the
+day will show. It so happened that the barn was filled with corn fodder,
+newly cured and lately gotten in. You are aware that however quietly one
+may crawl into such a bed, he is compelled to make much more noise than if
+it were a feather-bed; and also considerably more than if it were hay or
+straw. Besides inflicting upon my own excited imagination the belief that
+I made noise enough to be heard by the inmates of the house who were
+likely to be rising at the time, I had the misfortune to attract the
+notice of a little house-dog, such as we call in that part of the world a
+&quot;fice,&quot; on account of its being not only the smallest species of the
+canine race, but also, because it is the most saucy, noisy, and teasing
+of all dogs. This little creature commenced a fierce barking. I had at
+once great fears that the mischievous little thing would betray me; I
+fully apprehended that as soon as the man of the house arose, he would
+come and make search in the barn. It now being entirely daylight, it was
+too late to retreat from this shelter, even if I could have found another;
+I, therefore, bedded myself down into the fodder as best I could, and
+entered upon the annoyances of the day, with the frail hope to sustain my
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>It was Thursday morning; the clouds that had veiled the sky during the
+latter part of the previous day and the previous night were gone. It was
+not until about an hour after the sun rose that I heard any out-door
+movements about the house. As soon as I heard those movements, I was
+satisfied there was but one man about the house, and that he was preparing
+to go some distance to work for the day. This was fortunate for me; the
+busy movements about the yard, and especially the active preparations in
+the house for breakfast, silenced my unwelcome little annoyer, the fice,
+until after the man had gone, when he commenced afresh, and continued with
+occasional intermissions through the day. He made regular sallies from the
+house to the barn, and after smelling about, would fly back to the house,
+barking furiously; thus he strove most skilfully throughout the entire day
+to raise an alarm. There seemed to be no one about the house but one or
+two small children and the mother, after the man was gone. About ten
+o'clock my attention was gravely directed to another trial: how I could
+pass the day without food. The reader will remember it is Thursday, and
+the only regular meal I have taken since Sunday, was yesterday, in the
+midst of great agitation, about four o'clock; that since that I have
+performed my arduous night's travel. At one moment, I had nearly concluded
+to go and present myself at the door, and ask the woman of the house to
+have compassion and give me food; but then I feared the consequences might
+be fatal, and I resolved to suffer the day out. The wind sprang up fresh
+and cool; the barn being small and the crevices large, my wet clothes were
+dried by it, and chilled me through and through.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot now, with pen or tongue, give a correct idea of the feeling of
+wretchedness I experienced; every nerve in my system quivered, so that not
+a particle of my flesh was at rest. In this way I passed the day till
+about the middle of the afternoon, when there seemed to be an unusual stir
+about the public road, which passed close by the barn. Men seemed to be
+passing in parties on horseback, and talking anxiously. From a word which
+I now and then overheard, I had not a shadow of doubt that they were in
+search of me. One I heard say, &quot;I ought to catch such a fellow, the only
+liberty he should have for one fortnight, would be ten feet of rope.&quot;
+Another I heard say, &quot;I reckon he is in that wood now.&quot; Another said, &quot;Who
+would have thought that rascal was so 'cute?&quot; All this while the little
+fice was mingling his voice with those of the horsemen, and the noise of
+the horses' feet. I listened and trembled.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the setting of the sun, the labouring man of the house
+returned, and commenced his evening duties about the house and barn;
+chopping wood, getting up his cow, feeding his pigs, &amp;c, attended by the
+little brute, who continued barking at short intervals. He came several
+times into the barn below. While matters were passing thus, I heard the
+approach of horses again, and as they came up nearer, I was led to believe
+that all I had heard pass, were returning in one party. They passed the
+barn and halted at the house, when I recognised the voice of my old
+captor; addressing the labourer, he asked, &quot;Have you seen a runaway nigger
+pass here to-day?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>LABOURER.&mdash;&quot;No; I have not been at home since early this morning. Where
+did he come from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>CAPTOR.&mdash;&quot;I caught him down below here yesterday morning. I had him all
+day, and just at night he fooled me and got away. A party of us have been
+after him all day; we have been up to the line, but can't hear or see
+anything of him. I heard this morning where he came from. He is a
+blacksmith, and a stiff reward is out for him, two hundred dollars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>LAB.&mdash;&quot;He is worth looking for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>CAP.&mdash;&quot;I reckon so. If I get my clutches on him again, I'll mosey<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1" /><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> him
+down to &mdash;&mdash; before I eat or sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1" /><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> An expression which signifies to drive in a hurry.</p></div>
+
+<p>Reader, you may if you can, imagine what the state of my mind was at this
+moment. I shall make no attempt to describe it to you; to my great relief,
+however, the party rode off, and the labourer after finishing his work
+went into the house. Hope seemed now to dawn for me once more; darkness
+was rapidly approaching, but the moments of twilight seemed much longer
+than they did the evening before. At length the sable covering had spread
+itself over the earth. About eight o'clock, I ventured to descend from the
+mow of the barn into the road. The little dog the while began a furious
+fit of barking, so much so, that I was sure that with what his master had
+learned about me, he could not fail to believe I was about his premises. I
+quickly crossed the road, and got into an open field opposite. After
+stepping lightly about two hundred yards, I halted, and on listening, I
+heard the door open. Feeling about on the ground, I picked up two stones,
+and one in each hand I made off as fast as I could, but I heard nothing
+more that indicated pursuit, and after going some distance I discharged my
+encumbrance, as from the reduced state of my bodily strength, I could not
+afford to carry ballast.</p>
+
+<p>This incident had the effect to start me under great disadvantage to make
+a good night's journey, as it threw me at once off the road, and compelled
+me to encounter at once the tedious and laborious task of beating my way
+across marshy fields, and to drag through woods and thickets where there
+were no paths.</p>
+
+<p>After several hours I found my way back to the road, but the hope of
+making anything like clever speed was out of the question. All I could do
+was to keep my legs in motion, and this I continued to do with the utmost
+difficulty. The latter part of the night I suffered extremely from cold.
+There came a heavy frost; I expected at every moment to fall on the road
+and perish. I came to a corn-field covered with heavy shocks of Indian
+corn that had been cut; I went into this and got an ear, and then crept
+into one of the shocks; eat as much of it as I could, and thought I would
+rest a little and start again, but weary nature could not sustain the
+operation of grinding hard corn for its own nourishment, and I sunk to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>When I awoke, the sun was shining around; I started with alarm, but it
+was too late to think of seeking any other shelter; I therefore nestled
+myself down, and concealed myself as best I could from the light of day.
+After recovering a little from my fright, I commenced again eating my
+whole corn. Grain by grain I worked away at it; when my jaws grew tired,
+as they often did, I would rest, and then begin afresh. Thus, although I
+began an early breakfast, I was nearly the whole of the forenoon before I
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing of importance occurred during the day, until about the middle of
+the afternoon, when I was thrown into a panic by the appearance of a party
+of gunners, who passed near me with their dogs. After shooting one or two
+birds, however, and passing within a few rods of my frail covering, they
+went on, and left me once more in hope. Friday night came without any
+other incident worth naming. As I sallied out, I felt evident benefit from
+the ear of corn I had nibbled away. My strength was considerably renewed;
+though I was far from being nourished, I felt that my life was at least
+safe from death by hunger. Thus encouraged, I set out with better speed
+than I had made since Sunday and Monday night. I had a presentiment, too,
+that I must be near free soil. I had not yet the least idea where I should
+find a home or a friend, still my spirits were so highly elated, that I
+took the whole of the road to myself; I ran, hopped, skipped, jumped,
+clapped my hands, and talked to myself. But to the old slaveholder I had
+left, I said, &quot;Ah! ha! old fellow, I told you I'd fix you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After an hour or two of such freaks of joy, a gloom would come over me in
+connexion with these questions, &quot;But where are you going? What are you
+going to do? What will you do with freedom without father, mother,
+sisters, and brothers? What will you say when you are asked where you were
+born? You know nothing of the world; how will you explain the fact of your
+ignorance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These questions made me feel deeply the magnitude of the difficulties yet
+before me.</p>
+
+<p>Saturday morning dawned upon me; and although my strength seemed yet
+considerably fresh, I began to feel a hunger somewhat more destructive and
+pinching, if possible, than I had before. I resolved, at all risk, to
+continue my travel by day-light, and to ask information of the first
+person I met.</p>
+
+<p>The events of the next chapter will shew what fortune followed this
+resolve.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" />CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE GOOD WOMAN OF THE TOLL-GATE DIRECTS ME TO W.W.&mdash;MY RECEPTION BY HIM.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The resolution of which I informed the reader at the close of the last
+chapter, being put into practice, I continued my flight on the public
+road; and a little after the sun rose, I came in sight of a toll-gate
+again. For a moment all the events which followed my passing a toll-gate
+on Wednesday morning, came fresh to my recollection, and produced some
+hesitation; but at all events, said I, I will try again.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at the gate, I found it attended by an elderly woman, whom I
+afterwards learned was a widow, and an excellent Christian woman. I asked
+her if I was in Pennsylvania. On being informed that I was, I asked her if
+she knew where I could get employ? She said she did not; but advised me to
+go to W.W., a Quaker, who lived about three miles from her, whom I would
+find to take an interest in me. She gave me directions which way to take;
+I thanked her, and bade her good morning, and was very careful to follow
+her directions.</p>
+
+<p>In about half an hour I stood trembling at the door of W.W. After
+knocking, the door opened upon a comfortably spread table; the sight of
+which seemed at once to increase my hunger sevenfold. Not daring to enter,
+I said I had been sent to him in search of employ. &quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;Come
+in and take thy breakfast, and get warm, and we will talk about it; thee
+must be cold without any coat.&quot; &quot;<i>Come in and take thy breakfast, and get
+warm!</i>&quot; These words spoken by a stranger, but with such an air of simple
+sincerity and fatherly kindness, made an overwhelming impression upon my
+mind. They made me feel, spite of all my fear and timidity, that I had, in
+the providence of God, found a friend and a home. He at once gained my
+confidence; and I felt that I might confide to him a fact which I had, as
+yet, confided to no one.</p>
+
+<p>From that day to this, whenever I discover the least disposition in my
+heart to disregard the wretched condition of any poor or distressed
+persons with whom I meet, I call to mind these words&mdash;&quot;<i>Come in and take
+thy breakfast, and get warm</i>.&quot; They invariably remind me of what I was at
+that time; my condition was as wretched as that of any human being can
+possibly be, with the exception of the loss of health or reason. I had but
+four pieces of clothing about my person, having left all the rest in the
+hands of my captors. I was a starving fugitive, without home or friends&mdash;a
+reward offered for my person in the public papers&mdash;pursued by cruel
+manhunters, and no claim upon him to whose door I went. Had he turned me
+away, I must have perished. Nay, he took me in, and gave me of his food,
+and shared with me his own garments. Such treatment I had never before
+received at the hands of any white man.</p>
+
+<p>A few such men in slaveholding America, have stood, and even now stand,
+like Abrahams and Lots, to stay its forthcoming and well-earned and just
+judgment.</p>
+
+<p>The limits of this work compel me to pass over many interesting incidents
+which occurred during my six months' concealment in that family. I must
+confine myself only to those which will show the striking providence of
+God, in directing my steps to the door of W.W., and how great an influence
+the incidents of that six months has had upon all my subsequent history.
+My friend kindly gave me employ to saw and split a number of cords of
+wood, then lying in his yard, for which he agreed with me for liberal pay
+and board. This inspired me with great encouragement. The idea of
+beginning to earn something was very pleasant. Next; we confidentially
+agreed upon the way and means of avoiding surprise, in case any one should
+come to the house as a spy, or with intention to arrest me. This afforded
+still further relief, as it convinced me that the whole family would now
+be on the look out for such persons.</p>
+
+<p>The next theme of conversation was with reference to my education.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can thee read or write any, James?&quot; was the question put to me the
+morning after my arrival, by W.W.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I cannot; my duties as a blacksmith have made me acquainted with
+the figures on the common mechanics' square. There was a day-book kept in
+the shop, in which the overseer usually charged the smithwork we did for
+the neighbours. I have spent entire Sabbaths looking over the pages of
+that book; knowing the names of persons to whom certain pieces of work
+were charged, together with their prices, I strove anxiously to learn to
+write in this way. I got paper, and picked up feathers about the yard, and
+made ink of &mdash;&mdash; berries. My quills being too soft, and my skill in making
+a pen so poor, that I undertook some years ago to make a steel pen.<a name="FNanchor_A_2" id="FNanchor_A_2" /><a href="#Footnote_A_2" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> In
+this way I have learnt to make a few of the letters, but I cannot write my
+own name, nor do I know the letters of the alphabet.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_2" id="Footnote_A_2" /><a href="#FNanchor_A_2"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> This attempt was as early as 1822.</p></div>
+
+<p><i>W.W., (handing a slate and pencil.)</i>&mdash;&quot;Let me see how thee makes letters;
+try such as thou hast been able to make easily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A.B.C.L.G.</p>
+
+<p><i>P.W., (wife of W.W.)</i>&mdash;&quot;Why, those are better than I can make.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><i>W.W.</i>&mdash;&quot;Oh, we can soon get thee in the way, James.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Arithmetic and astronomy became my favourite studies. W.W. was an
+accomplished scholar; he had been a teacher for some years, and was
+cultivating a small farm on account of ill-health, which had compelled him
+to leave teaching. He is one of the most far-sighted and practical men I
+ever met with. He taught me by familiar conversations, illustrating his
+themes by diagrams on the slate, so that I caught his ideas with ease and
+rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>I now began to see, for the first time, the extent of the mischief slavery
+had done to me. Twenty-one years of my life were gone, never again to
+return, and I was as profoundly ignorant, comparatively, as a child five
+years old. This was painful, annoying, and humiliating in the extreme. Up
+to this time, I recollected to have seen one copy of the New Testament,
+but the entire Bible I had never seen, and had never heard of the
+Patriarchs, or of the Lord Jesus Christ. I recollected to have heard two
+sermons, but had heard no mention in them of Christ, or the way of life
+by Him. It is quite easy to imagine, then, what was the state of my mind,
+having been reared in total moral midnight; it was a sad picture of mental
+and spiritual darkness.</p>
+
+<p>As my friend poured light into my mind, I saw the darkness; it amazed and
+grieved me beyond description. Sometimes I sank down under the load, and
+became discouraged, and dared not hope that I could ever succeed in
+acquiring knowledge enough, to make me happy, or useful to my
+fellow-beings.</p>
+
+<p>My dear friend, W.W., however, had a happy tact to inspire me with
+confidence; and he, perceiving my state of mind, exerted himself, not
+without success, to encourage me. He cited to me various instances of
+coloured persons, of whom I had not heard before, and who had
+distinguished themselves for learning, such as Bannicker, Wheatley, and
+Francis Williams.</p>
+
+<p>How often have I regretted that the six months I spent in the family of
+W.W., could not have been six years. The danger of recapture, however,
+rendered it utterly imprudent that I should remain longer; and early in
+the month of March, while the ground was covered with the winter's snow, I
+left the bosom of this excellent family, and went forth once more to try
+my fortune among strangers.</p>
+
+<p>My dear reader, if I could describe to you the emotions I felt when I left
+the threshold of W.W.'s door, you could not fail to see how deplorable is
+the condition of the fugitive slave, often for months and years after he
+has escaped the immediate grasp of the tyrant. When I left my parents, the
+trial was great, but I had now to leave a friend who had done more for me
+than parents could have done as slaves; and hence I felt an endearment to
+that friend which was heightened by a sense of the important relief he had
+afforded me in the greatest need, and hours of pleasant and highly
+profitable intercourse.</p>
+
+<p>About a month previous to leaving the house of W.W., a small circumstance
+occurred one evening, which I only name to shew the harassing fears and
+dread in which I lived during most of the time I was there. He had a
+brother-in-law living some ten miles distant&mdash;he was a friend to the
+slave; he often came unexpectedly and spent a few hours&mdash;sometimes a day
+and a night. I had not, however, ever known him to come at night. One
+night about nine o'clock, after I had gone to bed, (my lodging being just
+over the room in which W.W. and his wife were sitting,) I heard the door
+open and a voice ask, &quot;Where is the boy?&quot; The voice sounded to me like the
+voice of my master; I was sure it must be his. I sprang and listened for a
+moment&mdash;it seemed to be silent; I heard nothing, and then it seemed to me
+there was a confusion. There was a window at the head of my bed, which I
+could reach without getting upon the floor: it was a single sash and
+opened upon hinges. I quickly opened this window and waited in a perfect
+tremour of dread for further development. There was a door at the foot of
+the stairs; as I heard that door open, I sprang for the window, and my
+head was just out, when the gentle voice of my friend W.W. said,
+&quot;James?&quot;<a name="FNanchor_A_3" id="FNanchor_A_3" /><a href="#Footnote_A_3" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> &quot;Here,&quot; said I, &quot;&mdash;&mdash; has come, and he would like to have thee
+put up his horse.&quot; I drew a breath of relief, but my strength and presence
+of mind did not return for some hours, I slept none that night; for a
+moment I could doze away, but the voice would sound in my ears, &quot;Where is
+that boy?&quot; and it would seem to me it must be the tyrant in quest of his
+weary prey, and would find myself starting again.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_3" id="Footnote_A_3" /><a href="#FNanchor_A_3"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> If W.W. had ascended the stairs without calling, I should
+certainly have jumped out of the window.</p></div>
+
+<p>From that time the agitation of my mind became so great that I could not
+feel myself safe. Every day seemed to increase my fear, till I was unfit
+for work, study or rest. My friend endeavoured, but in vain, to get me to
+stay a week longer.</p>
+
+<p>The events of the spring proved that I had not left too soon. As soon as
+the season for travelling fairly opened, active search was made, and my
+master was seen in a town, twenty miles in advance of where I had spent my
+six months.</p>
+
+<p>The following curious fact also came out. That same brother-in-law who
+frightened me, was putting up one evening at a hotel some miles off, and
+while sitting quietly by himself in one part of the room, he overheard a
+conversation between a travelling pedler and several gossippers of the
+neighbourhood, who were lounging away the evening at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>PEDLER.&mdash;&quot;Do you know one W.W. somewhere about here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>GOSSIPER.&mdash;&quot;Yes, he lives &mdash;&mdash; miles off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;I understand he had a black boy with him last winter, I wonder if
+he is there yet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>GOS.&mdash;&quot;I don't know, he most always has a runaway nigger with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;I should like to find out whether that fellow is there yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW, (turning about.)&mdash;&quot;What does thee know about that boy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;Well he is a runaway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;Who did he run away from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;From Col &mdash;&mdash; in &mdash;&mdash;.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;How did thee find out that fact?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;Well, I have been over there peddling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;Where art thou from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;I belong in Conn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;Did thee see the boy's master?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;What did he offer thee to find the boy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;I agreed to find out where he was, and let him know, and if he got
+him, I was to receive &mdash;&mdash;.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;How didst thou hear the boy had been with W.W.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;Oh, he is known to be a notorious rascal for enticing away, and
+concealing slaves; he'll get himself into trouble yet, the slaveholders
+are on the look out for him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;W.W. is my brother-in-law; the boy of whom thou speakest
+is not with him, and to save thee the trouble of abusing him, I can
+moreover say, he is no rascal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PED.&mdash;&quot;He may not be there now, but it is because he has sent him off. His
+master heard of him, and from the description, he is sure it must have
+been his boy. He could tell me pretty nigh where he was; he said he was a
+fine healthy boy, twenty-one, a first-rate blacksmith; he would not have
+taken a thousand dollars for him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>BROTHER-IN-LAW.&mdash;&quot;I know not where the boy is, but I have no doubt he is
+worth more to himself than he ever was to his master, high as he fixes
+the price on him; and I have no doubt thee will do better to pursue thy
+peddling honestly, than to neglect it for the sake of serving
+negro-hunters at a venture.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All this happened within a month or two after I left my friend. One fact
+which makes this part of the story deeply interesting to my own mind, is,
+that some years elapsed before it came to my knowledge.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" />CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h2>SEVEN MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE FAMILY OF J.K. A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF
+FRIENDS, IN CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.&mdash;REMOVAL TO NEW YORK&mdash;BECOMES A
+CONVERT TO RELIGION&mdash;BECOMES A TEACHER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On leaving W.W., I wended my way in deep sorrow and melancholy, onward
+towards Philadelphia, and after travelling two days and a night, I found
+shelter and employ in the family of J.K., another member of the Society of
+Friends, a farmer.</p>
+
+<p>The religious atmosphere in this family was excellent. Mrs. K. gave me the
+first copy of the Holy Scriptures I ever possessed, she also gave me much
+excellent counsel. She was a preacher in the Society of Friends; this
+occasioned her with her husband to be much of their time from home. This
+left the charge of the farm upon me, and besides put it out of their power
+to render me that aid in my studies which my former friend had. I,
+however, kept myself closely concealed, by confining myself to the limits
+of the farm, and using all my leisure time in study. This place was more
+secluded, and I felt less of dread and fear of discovery than I had
+before, and although seriously embarrassed for want of an instructor, I
+realized some pleasure and profit in my studies. I often employed myself
+in drawing rude maps of the solar system, and diagrams illustrating the
+theory of solar eclipses. I felt also a fondness for reading the Bible,
+and committing chapters, and verses of hymns to memory. Often on the
+Sabbath when alone in the barn, I would break the monotony of the hours by
+endeavouring to speak, as if I was addressing an audience. My mind was
+constantly struggling for thoughts, and I was still more grieved and
+alarmed at its barrenness; I found it gradually freed from the darkness
+entailed by slavery, but I was deeply and anxiously concerned how I should
+fill it with useful knowledge. I had a few books, and no tutor.</p>
+
+<p>In this way I spent seven months with J.K., and should have continued
+longer, agreeably to his urgent solicitation, but I felt that life was
+fast wearing, and that as I was now free, I must adventure in search of
+knowledge. On leaving J.K., he kindly gave me the following certificate,&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&quot;East Nautmeal, Chester County, Pennsylvania, <i>Tenth Month 5th, 1828.</i></p>
+
+<p>  &quot;I hereby certify, that the bearer, J.W.C. Pennington, has been in my
+  employ seven months, during most of which time I have been from home,
+  leaving my entire business in his trust, and that he has proved a highly
+  trustworthy and industrious young man. He leaves with the sincere regret
+  of myself and family; but as he feels it to be his duty to go where he
+  can obtain education, so as to fit him to be more useful, I cordially
+  commend him to the warm sympathy of the friends of humanity wherever a
+  wise providence may appoint him a home.</p>
+
+<p>  Signed,</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;J.K.&quot;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Passing through Philadelphia, I went to New York, and in a short time
+found employ on Long Island, near the city. At this time, the state of
+things was extremely critical in New York. It was just two years after the
+general emancipation in that state. In the city it was a daily occurrence
+for slaveholders from the southern states to catch their slaves, and by
+certificate from Recorder Riker take them back. I often felt serious
+apprehensions of danger, and yet I felt also that I must begin the world
+somewhere.</p>
+
+<p>I was earning respectable wages, and by means of evening schools and
+private tuition, was making encouraging progress in my studies.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time, it had never occurred to me that I was a slave in another
+and a more serious sense. All my serious impressions of mind had been with
+reference to the slavery from which I had escaped. Slavery had been my
+theme of thought day and night.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1829, I found my mind unusually perplexed about the state
+of the slave. I was enjoying rare privileges in attending a Sabbath
+school; the great value of Christian knowledge began to be impressed upon
+my mind to an extent I had not been conscious of before. I began to
+contrast my condition with that of ten brothers and sisters I had left in
+slavery, and the condition of children I saw sitting around me on the
+Sabbath, with their pious teachers, with that of 700,000, now 800,440
+slave children, who had no means of Christian instruction.</p>
+
+<p>The theme was more powerful than any my mind had ever encountered before.
+It entered into the deep chambers of my soul, and stirred the most
+agitating emotions I had ever felt. The question was, what can I do for
+that vast body of suffering brotherhood I have left behind. To add to the
+weight and magnitude of the theme, I learnt for the first time, how many
+slaves there were. The question completely staggered my mind; and finding
+myself more and more borne down with it, until I was in an agony; I
+thought I would make it a subject of prayer to God, although prayer had
+not been my habit, having never attempted it but once.</p>
+
+<p>I not only prayed, but also fasted. It was while engaged thus, that my
+attention was seriously drawn to the fact that I was a lost sinner, and a
+slave to Satan; and soon I saw that I must make another escape from
+another tyrant. I did not by any means forget my fellow-bondmen, of whom I
+had been sorrowing so deeply, and travailing in spirit so earnestly; but I
+now saw that while man had been injuring me, I had been offending God; and
+that unless I ceased to offend him, I could not expect to have his
+sympathy in my wrongs; and moreover, that I could not be instrumental in
+eliciting his powerful aid in behalf of those for whom I mourned so
+deeply.</p>
+
+<p>This may provoke a smile from some who profess to be the friends of the
+slave, but who have a lower estimate of experimental Christianity than I
+believe is due to it; but I am not the less confident that sincere prayer
+to God, proceeding from a few hearts deeply imbued with experimental
+Christianity about <i>that time</i>, has had much to do with subsequent happy
+results. At that time the 800,000 bondmen in the British Isles had not
+seen the beginning of the end of their sufferings&mdash;at that time, 20,000
+who are now free in Canada, were in bonds&mdash;at that time, there was no
+Vigilance Committee to aid the flying slave&mdash;at that time, the two
+powerful Anti-Slavery Societies of America had no being.</p>
+
+<p>I distinctly remember that I felt the need of enlisting the sympathy of
+God, in behalf of my enslaved brethren; but when I attempted it day after
+day, and night after night, I was made to feel, that whatever else I might
+do, I was not qualified to do that, as I was myself alienated from him by
+wicked works. In short, I felt that I needed the powerful aid of some in
+my behalf with God, just as much as I did that of my dear friend in
+Pennsylvania, when flying from man. &quot;If one man sin against another, the
+judge shall judge him, but if a man sin against God, who shall entreat for
+him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Day after day, for about two weeks, I found myself more deeply convicted
+of personal guilt before God. My heart, soul and body were in the greatest
+distress; I thought of neither food, drink or rest, for days and nights
+together. Burning with a recollection of the wrongs man had done
+me&mdash;mourning for the injuries my brethren were still enduring, and deeply
+convicted of the guilt of my own sins against God. One evening, in the
+third week of the struggle, while alone in my chamber, and after solemn
+reflection for several hours, I concluded that I could never be happy or
+useful in that state of mind, and resolved that I would try to become
+reconciled to God. I was then living in the family of an Elder of the
+Presbyterian Church. I had not made known my feelings to any one, either
+in the family or out of it; and I did not suppose that any one had
+discovered my feelings. To my surprise, however, I found that the family
+had not only been aware of my state for several days, but were deeply
+anxious on my behalf. The following Sabbath, Dr. Cox was on a visit in
+Brooklyn to preach, and was a guest in the family; hearing of my case, he
+expressed a wish to converse with me, and without knowing the plan, I was
+invited into a room and left alone with him. He entered skilfully and
+kindly into my feelings, and after considerable conversation he invited me
+to attend his service that afternoon. I did so, and was deeply interested.</p>
+
+<p>Without detaining the reader with too many particulars, I will only state
+that I heard the doctor once or twice after this, at his own place of
+worship in New York City, and had several personal interviews with him, as
+the result of which, I hope, I was brought to a saving acquaintance with
+Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write; and soon
+connected myself with the church under his pastoral care.</p>
+
+<p>I now returned with all my renewed powers to the great theme&mdash;slavery. It
+seemed now as I looked at it, to be more hideous than ever. I saw it now
+as an evil under the moral government of God&mdash;as a sin not only against
+man, but also against God. The great and engrossing thought with me was,
+how shall I now employ my time and my talents so as to tell most
+effectually upon this system of wrong! As I have stated, there was no
+Anti-Slavery Society then&mdash;there was no Vigilance Committee. I had,
+therefore, to select a course of action, without counsel or advice from
+any one who professed to sympathize with the slave. Many, many lonely
+hours of deep meditation have I passed during the years 1828 and 1829,
+before the great anti-slavery movement. On the questions, What shall I do
+for the slave? How shall I act so that he will reap the benefit of my time
+and talents? At one time I had resolved to go to Africa, and to react from
+there; but without bias or advice from any mortal, I soon gave up that, as
+looking too much like feeding a hungry man with a long spoon.</p>
+
+<p>At length, finding that the misery, ignorance, and wretchedness of the
+free coloured people was by the whites tortured into an argument for
+slavery; finding myself now among the free people of colour in New York,
+where slavery was so recently abolished; and finding much to do for their
+elevation, I resolved to give my strength in that direction. And well do I
+remember the great movement which commenced among us about this time, for
+the holding of General Conventions, to devise ways and means for their
+elevation, which continued with happy influence up to 1834, when we gave
+way to anti-slavery friends, who had then taken up the labouring oar. And
+well do I remember that the first time I ever saw those tried friends,
+Garrison, Jocelyn, and Tappan, was in one of those Conventions, where they
+came to make our acquaintance, and to secure our confidence in some of
+their preliminary labours.</p>
+
+<p>My particular mode of labour was still a subject of deep reflection; and
+from time to time I carried it to the Throne of Grace. Eventually my mind
+fixed upon the ministry as the desire of my whole heart. I had mastered
+the preliminary branches of English education, and was engaged in studying
+logic, rhetoric, and the Greek Testament, without a master. While thus
+struggling in my laudable work, an opening presented itself which was not
+less surprising than gratifying. Walking on the street one day, I met a
+friend, who said to me, &quot;I have just had an application to supply a
+teacher for a school, and I have recommended you.&quot; I said, &quot;My dear
+friend, I am obliged to you for the kindness; but I fear I cannot sustain
+an examination for that station.&quot; &quot;Oh,&quot; said he, &quot;try.&quot; I said, &quot;I will,&quot;
+and we separated. Two weeks afterwards, I met the trustees of the school,
+was examined, accepted, and agreed with them for a salary of two hundred
+dollars per annum; commenced my school, and succeeded. This was five
+years, three months, and thirteen days after I came from the South.</p>
+
+<p>As the events of my life since that have been of a public professional
+nature, I will say no more about it. My object in writing this tract is
+now completed. It has been to shew the reader the hand of God with a
+slave; and to elicit your sympathy in behalf of the fugitive slave, by
+shewing some of the untold dangers and hardships through which he has to
+pass to gain liberty, and how much he needs friends on free soil; and that
+men who have felt the yoke of slavery, even in its mildest form, cannot be
+expected to speak of the system otherwise than in terms of the most
+unqualified condemnation.</p>
+
+<p>There is one sin that slavery committed against me, which I never can
+forgive. It robbed me of my education; the injury is irreparable; I feel
+the embarrassment more seriously now than I ever did before. It cost me
+two years' hard labour, after I fled, to unshackle my mind; it was three
+years before I had purged my language of slavery's idioms; it was four
+years before I had thrown off the crouching aspect of slavery; and now the
+evil that besets me is a great lack of that general information, the
+foundation of which is most effectually laid in that part of life which I
+served as a slave. When I consider how much now, more than ever, depends
+upon sound and thorough education among coloured men, I am grievously
+overwhelmed with a sense of my deficiency, and more especially as I can
+never hope now to make it up. If I know my own heart, I have no ambition
+but to serve the cause of suffering humanity; all that I have desired or
+sought, has been to make me more efficient for good. So far I have some
+consciousness that I have done my utmost; and should my future days be few
+or many, I am reconciled to meet the last account, hoping to be acquitted
+of any wilful neglect of duty; but I shall have to go to my last account
+with this charge against the system of slavery, &quot;<i>Vile monster! thou hast
+hindered my usefulness, by robbing me of my early education.</i>&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Oh! what might I have been now, but for this robbery perpetrated upon me
+as soon as I saw the light. When the monster heard that a man child was
+born, he laughed, and said, &quot;It is mine.&quot; When I was laid in the cradle,
+he came and looked on my face, and wrote down my name upon his barbarous
+list of chattels personal, on the same list where he registered his
+horses, hogs, cows, sheep, and even his <i>dogs!</i> Gracious Heaven, is there
+no repentance for the misguided men who do these things!</p>
+
+<p>The only harm I wish to slaveholders is, that they may be speedily
+delivered from the guilt of a sin, which, if not repented of, must bring
+down the judgment of Almighty God upon their devoted heads. The least I
+desire for the slave is, that he may be speedily released from the pain of
+drinking a cup whose bitterness I have sufficiently tasted, to know that
+it is insufferable.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" />CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h2>SOME ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY I LEFT IN SLAVERY&mdash;PROPOSAL TO PURCHASE MYSELF
+AND PARENTS&mdash;HOW MET BY MY OLD MASTER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is but natural that the reader should wish to hear a word about the
+family I left behind.</p>
+
+<p>There are frequently large slave families with whom God seems to deal in a
+remarkable manner. I believe my family is an instance.</p>
+
+<p>I have already stated that when I fled, I left a father, mother, and
+eleven brothers and sisters. These were all, except my oldest brother,
+owned by the man from whom I fled. It will be seen at once then how the
+fear of implicating them embarrassed me in the outset. They suffered
+nothing, however, but a strong suspicion, until about six months after I
+had left; when the following circumstance took place:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>When I left my friend W.W. in Pennsylvania to go on north, I ventured to
+write a letter back to one of my brothers, informing him how I was; and
+this letter was directed to the care of a white man who was hired on the
+plantation, who worked in the garden with my father, and who professed a
+warm friendship to our family; but instead of acting in good faith, he
+handed the letter to my master. I am sorry that truth compels me to say
+that that man was an Englishman.</p>
+
+<p>From that day the family were handled most strangely. The history begins
+thus: they were all sold into Virginia, the adjoining state. This was done
+lest I should have some plan to get them off; but God so ordered that they
+fell into kinder hands. After a few years, however, their master became
+much embarrassed, so that he was obliged to pass them into other hands,
+at least for a term of years. By this change the family was divided, and
+my parents, with the greater part of their children, were taken to New
+Orleans. After remaining there several years at hard labour,&mdash;my father
+being in a situation of considerable trust, they were again taken back to
+Virginia; and by this means became entitled by the laws of that state to
+their freedom. Before justice, however, could take its course, their old
+master in Maryland, as if intent to doom them for ever to bondage,
+repurchased them; and in order to defeat a similar law in Maryland, by
+which they would have been entitled to liberty, he obtained from the
+General Assembly of that state the following special act. This will show
+not only something of his character as a slaveholder, but also his
+political influence in the state. It is often urged in the behalf of
+slaveholders, that the law interposes an obstacle in the way of
+emancipating their slaves when they wish to do so, but here is an instance
+which lays open the real philosophy of the whole case. They make the law
+themselves, and when they find the laws operate more in favour of the
+slaves than themselves, they can easily evade or change it. Maryland being
+a slave-exporting state, you will see why they need a law to prohibit the
+importation of slaves; it is a protection to that sort of trade. This law
+he wished to evade.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&quot;<i>An act for the Relief of &mdash;&mdash; of &mdash;&mdash; County. Passed January 17th,
+  1842.</i></p>
+
+<p>  &quot;Whereas it is represented to this General Assembly that &mdash;&mdash; of &mdash;&mdash;
+  county, brought into this state from the state of Virginia, sometime in
+  the month of March last, two negro slaves, to wit, &mdash;&mdash; and &mdash;&mdash; his
+  wife, who are slaves for life, and who were acquired by the said &mdash;&mdash; by
+  purchase, and whereas, the said &mdash;&mdash; is desirous of retaining said
+  slaves in this state. THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, <i>by the General
+  Assembly</i> of Maryland, that the said &mdash;&mdash; be, and he is hereby
+  authorized to retain said negroes as slaves for life within this state,
+  provided that the said &mdash;&mdash; shall within thirty days after the passage
+  of this act, file with the clerk of the &mdash;&mdash; county court, a list of
+  said slaves so brought into this state, stating their ages, with an
+  affidavit thereto attached, that the same is a true and faithful list of
+  the slaves so removed, and that they were not brought into this state
+  for the purpose of sale, and that they are slaves for life. And
+  <i>provided also</i>, that the sum of fifteen dollars for each slave, between
+  the ages of twelve and forty-five years, and the sum of five dollars for
+  each slave above the age of forty-five years and under twelve years of
+  age, so brought into this state, shall be paid to the said clerk of &mdash;&mdash;
+  county court: to be paid over by him to the treasurer of the western
+  shore, for the use and benefit of the Colonization Society of this
+  state.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>State of Connecticut.
+Office of Secretary of State</i>.</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;I hereby certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of an act passed by
+  the General Assembly of Maryland, January 17th, 1842, as it appears in
+  the printed acts of the said Maryland, in the Library of the state.</p>
+
+<p>  In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of said
+  state, at Hartford, this 17th day of August, 1846.</p>
+
+<p>  CHARLES W. BEADLEY,</p>
+
+<p>  (SEAL.)</p>
+
+<p>  Secretary of State.&quot;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Thus, the whole family after being twice fairly entitled to their
+liberty, even by the laws of two slave states, had the mortification of
+finding themselves again, not only recorded as slaves for life, but also a
+premium paid upon them, professedly to aid in establishing others of their
+fellow-beings in a free republic on the coast of Africa; but the hand of
+God seems to have been heavy upon the man who could plan such a stratagem
+to wrong his fellows.</p>
+
+<p>The immense fortune he possessed when I left him, (bating one thousand
+dollars I brought with me in my own body,) and which he seems to have
+retained till that time, began to fly, and in a few years he was
+insolvent, so that he was unable to hold the family, and was compelled to
+think of selling them again. About this time I heard of their state by an
+underground railroad passenger, who came from that neighbourhood, and
+resolved to make an effort to obtain the freedom of my parents, and to
+relieve myself from liability. For this purpose, after arranging for the
+means to purchase, I employed counsel to make a definite offer for my
+parents and myself. To his proposal, the following evasive and offensive
+answer was returned.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><i>January 12th</i>, 1846. J. H&mdash;&mdash;, Esq.</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;Sir,&mdash;Your letter is before me. The ungrateful servant in whose behalf
+  you write, merits no clemency from me. He was guilty of theft when he
+  departed, for which I hope he has made due amends. I have heard he was a
+  respectable man, and calculated to do some good to his fellow-beings.
+  Servants are selling from five hundred and fifty to seven hundred
+  dollars. I will take five hundred and fifty dollars, and liberate him.
+  If my proposition is acceded to, and the money lodged in Baltimore, I
+  will execute the necessary instrument, and deliver it in Baltimore, to
+  be given up on payment being made.</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;Yours, &amp;c,</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;&mdash;&mdash;.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>  &quot;Jim was a first-rate mechanic, (blacksmith) and was worth to me one
+  thousand dollars.&quot;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Here he not only refuses to account for my parents, by including them in
+his return and proposition, but he at the same time attempts to intimidate
+me by mooting the charge of theft.</p>
+
+<p>I confess I was not only surprised, but mortified, at this result. The
+hope of being once more united to parents whom I had not seen for sixteen
+years, and whom I still loved dearly, had so excited my mind, that I
+disarranged my business relations, disposed of a valuable library of four
+hundred volumes, and by additional aid obtained among the liberal people
+of Jamaica, I was prepared to give the extravagant sum of five hundred
+dollars each for myself, and my father and mother. This I was willing to
+do, not because I approve of the principle involved as a general rule. But
+supposing that, as my former master was now an old man not far from his
+grave, (about which I was not mistaken) and as he knew, by his own
+shewing, that I was able to do some good, he would be inclined, whatever
+might have been our former relations and misunderstandings, to meet my
+reasonable desire to see my parents, and to part this world in
+reconciliation with each other, as well as with God. I should have
+rejoiced had his temper permitted him to accede to any offer. But I
+thought it too bad, a free man of Jesus Christ, living on &quot;free soil,&quot; to
+give a man five hundred dollars for the privilege of being let alone, and
+to be branded as a thief into the bargain, and that too after I had served
+him twenty prime years, without the benefit of being taught so much as the
+alphabet.</p>
+
+<p>I wrote him with my own hand, sometime after this, stating that no
+proposition would be acceded to by me, which did not include my parents;
+and likewise fix the sum for myself more reasonable, and also retract the
+offensive charge; to this he maintained a dignified silence. The means I
+had acquired by the contributions of kind friends to redeem myself, I laid
+by, in case the worst should come; and that designed for the purchase of
+my parents, I used in another kind of operation, as the result of which,
+my father and two brothers are now in Canada. My mother was sold a second
+time, south, but she was eventually found. Several of my sisters married
+free men, who purchased their liberty; and three brothers are owned, by
+what may be called conscience slaveholders, who hold slaves only for a
+term of years. My old master has since died; my mother and he are now in
+the other world together, she is at rest from him. Sometime after his
+death, I received information from a gentleman, intimate with his heirs,
+(who are principally females) that the reduced state of the family,
+afforded not only a good opportunity to obtain a release upon reasonable
+terms, but also to render the children of my oppressor some pecuniary aid;
+and much as I had suffered, I must confess this latter was the stronger
+motive with me, for acceding to their offer made by him.</p>
+
+<p>I have many other deeply interesting particulars touching our family
+history, but I have detailed as many as prudence will permit, on account
+of those members who are yet south of Mason and Dixon's line.</p>
+
+<p>I have faith in the hand that has dealt with us so strangely, that all our
+remaining members will in time be brought together; and then the case may
+merit a reviewed and enlarged edition of this tract, when other important
+matter will be inserted.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" />CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FEEDING AND CLOTHING OF THE SLAVES IN THE PART OF MARYLAND WHERE I
+LIVED, &amp;C.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The slaves are generally fed upon salt pork, herrings and Indian corn.</p>
+
+<p>The manner of dealing it out to them is as follows:&mdash;Each working man, on
+Monday morning, goes to the cellar of the master where the provisions are
+kept, and where the overseer takes his stand with some one to assist him,
+when he, with a pair of steel-yards, weighs out to every man the amount of
+three-and-a-half pounds, to last him till the ensuing Monday&mdash;allowing him
+just half-a-pound per day. Once in a few weeks there is a change made, by
+which, instead of the three-and-a-half pounds of pork, each man receives
+twelve herrings, allowing two a-day. The only bread kind the slaves have
+is that made of Indian meal. In some of the lower counties, the masters
+usually give their slaves the corn in the ear; and they have to grind it
+for themselves by night at hand-mills. But my master had a quantity sent
+to the grist mill at a time, to be ground into coarse meal, and kept it in
+a large chest in his cellar, where the woman who cooked for the boys could
+get it daily. This was baked in large loaves, called &quot;steel poun bread.&quot;
+Sometimes as a change it was made into &quot;Johnny Cake,&quot; and then at others
+into mush.</p>
+
+<p>The slaves had no butter, coffee, tea, or sugar; occasionally they were
+allowed milk, but not statedly; the only exception to this statement was
+the &quot;harvest provisions.&quot; In harvest, when cutting the grain, which lasted
+from two to three weeks in the heat of summer, they were allowed some
+fresh meat, rice, sugar, and coffee; and also their allowance of whiskey.</p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of winter, each slave had one pair of coarse shoes and
+stockings, one pair of pantaloons, and a jacket.</p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of summer, he had two pair of coarse linen pantaloons and
+two shirts.</p>
+
+<p>Once in a number of years, each slave, or each man and his wife, had one
+coarse blanket and enough coarse linen for a &quot;bed-tick.&quot; He never had any
+bedstead or other furniture kind. The men had no hats, waistcoats or
+handkerchiefs given them, or the women any bonnets. These they had to
+contrive for themselves. Each labouring man had a small &quot;patch&quot; of ground
+allowed him; from this he was expected to furnish himself and his boys
+hats, &amp;c. These patches they had to work by night; from these, also, they
+had to raise their own provisions, as no potatoes, cabbage, &amp;c., were
+allowed them from the plantation. Years ago the slaves were in the habit
+of raising broom-corn, and making brooms to supply the market in the
+towns; but now of later years great quantities of these and other
+articles, such as scrubbing-brushes, wooden trays, mats, baskets, and
+straw hats which the slaves made, are furnished by the shakers and other
+small manufacturers, from the free states of the north.</p>
+
+<p>Neither my master or any other master, within my acquaintance, made any
+provisions for the religious instruction of his slaves. They were not
+worked on the Sabbath. One of the &quot;boys&quot; was required to stay at home and
+&quot;feed,&quot; that is, take care of the stock, every Sabbath; the rest went to
+see their friends. Those men whose families were on other plantations
+usually spent the Sabbath with them; some would lie about at home and rest
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>When it was pleasant weather my master would ride &quot;into town&quot; to church,
+but I never knew him to say a word to one of us about going to church, or
+about our obligations to God, or a future state. But there were a number
+of pious slaves in our neighbourhood, and several of these my master
+owned; one of these was an exhorter. He was not connected with a religious
+body, but used to speak every Sabbath in some part of the neighbourhood.
+When slaves died, their remains were usually consigned to the grave
+without any ceremony; but this old gentleman, wherever he heard of a slave
+having been buried in that way, would send notice from plantation to
+plantation, calling the slaves together at the grave on the Sabbath, where
+he'd sing, pray, and exhort. I have known him to go ten or fifteen miles
+voluntarily to attend these services. He could not read, and I never heard
+him refer to any Scripture, and state and discourse upon any fundamental
+doctrine of the gospel; but he knew a number of &quot;spiritual songs by
+heart,&quot; of these he would give two lines at a time very exact, set and
+lead the tune himself; he would pray with great fervour, and his
+exhortations were amongst the most impressive I have heard.</p>
+
+<p>The Methodists at one time attempted to evangelize the slaves in our
+neighbourhod, but the effort was sternly resisted by the masters. They
+held a Camp Meeting in the neighbourhood, where many of the slaves
+attended. But one of their preachers for addressing words of comfort to
+the slaves, was arrested and tried for his life.</p>
+
+<p>My master was very active in this disgraceful affair, but the excellent
+man, Rev. Mr. G., was acquitted and escaped out of their hands. Still, it
+was deemed by his brethren to be imprudent for him to preach any more in
+the place, as some of the more reckless masters swore violence against
+him. This good man's name is remembered dearly, till this day, by slaves
+in that county. I met with a fugitive about a year ago, who remembered
+distinctly the words spoken by Mr. G., and by which his own mind was
+awakened to a sense of the value of his soul. He said, in the course of
+his preaching, addressing himself to the slaves, &quot;You have precious
+immortal souls, that are worth far more to you than your bodies are to
+your masters;&quot; or words to that effect. But while these words interested
+many slaves, they also made many masters exceedingly angry, and they
+tortured his words into an attempt to excite the slaves to rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>Some of my master's slaves who had families, were regularly married, and
+others were not; the law makes no provision for such marriages, and the
+only provision made by the master was, that they should obtain his leave.
+In some cases, after obtaining leave to take his wife, the slave would ask
+further leave to go to a minister and be married. I never knew him to deny
+such a request, and yet, in those cases where the slave did not ask it, he
+never required him to be married by a minister. Of course, no Bibles,
+Tracts, or religious books of any kind, were ever given to the slaves; and
+no ministers or religious instructors were ever known to visit our
+plantation at any time, either in sickness or in health. When a slave was
+sick, my master being himself a physician, sometimes attended, and
+sometimes he called other physicians. Slaves frequently sickened and died,
+but I never knew any provision made to administer to them the comforts, or
+to offer to them the hopes of the gospel, or to their friends after their
+death.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p><i>There is no one feature of slavery to which the mind recurs with more
+gloomy impressions, than to its disastrous influence upon the families of
+the masters, physically, pecuniarily, and mentally.</i></p>
+
+<p>It seems to destroy families as by a powerful blight, large and opulent
+slave-holding families, often vanish like a group of shadows at the third
+or fourth generation. This fact arrested my attention some years before I
+escaped from slavery, and of course before I had any enlightened views of
+the moral character of the system. As far back as I can recollect, indeed,
+it was a remark among slaves, that every generation of slaveholders are
+more and more inferior. There were several large and powerful families in
+our county, including that of my master, which affords to my mind a
+melancholy illustration of this remark. One of the wealthiest slaveholders
+in the county, was General R., a brother-in-law to my master. This man
+owned a large and highly valuable tract of land, called R.'s Manor. I do
+not know how many slaves he owned, but the number was large. He lived in a
+splendid mansion, and drove his coach and four. He was for some years a
+member of Congress. He had a numerous family of children.</p>
+
+<p>The family showed no particular signs of decay until he had married a
+second time, and had considerably increased his number of children. It
+then became evident that his older children were not educated for active
+business, and were only destined to be a charge. Of sons, (seven or
+eight,) not one of them reached the eminence once occupied by the father.
+The only one that approached to it, was the eldest, who became an officer
+in the navy, and obtained the doubtful glory of being killed in the
+Mexican war.</p>
+
+<p>General R. himself ran through his vast estate, died intemperate, and left
+a widow and large number of daughters, some minors, destitute, and none of
+his sons fitted for any employment but in the army and navy.</p>
+
+<p>Slaves have a superstitious dread of passing the dilapidated dwelling of a
+man who has been guilty of great cruelties to his slaves, and who is dead,
+or moved away. I never felt this dread deeply but once, and that was one
+Sabbath about sunset, as I crossed the yard of General R.'s residence,
+which was about two miles from us, after he had been compelled to leave
+it.</p>
+
+<p>To see the once fine smooth gravel walks, overgrown with grass&mdash;the
+redundances of the shrubbery neglected&mdash;the once finely painted pricket
+fences, rusted and fallen down&mdash;a fine garden in splendid ruins&mdash;the lofty
+ceiling of the mansion thickly curtained with cobwebs&mdash;the spacious
+apartments abandoned, while the only music heard within as a substitute
+for the voices of family glee that once filled it, was the crying cricket
+and cockroaches! Ignorant slave as I was at that time, I could but pause
+for a moment, and recur in silent horror to the fact that, a strange
+reverse of fortune, had lately driven from that proud mansion, a large
+and once opulent family. What advantage was it now to the members of that
+family, that the father and head had for near half a century stood high in
+the counsels of the state, and had the benefit of the unrequited toil of
+hundreds of his fellowmen, when they were already grappling with the
+annoyances of that poverty, which he had entailed upon others.</p>
+
+<p>My master's family, in wealth and influence, was not inferior to General
+R.'s originally. His father was a member of the convention that framed the
+present constitution of the state; he was, also, for some years chief
+justice of the state.</p>
+
+<p>My master was never equal to his father, although he stood high at one
+time. He once lacked but a few votes of being elected Governor of the
+state: he once sat in the Assembly, and was generally a leading man in his
+own county. His influence was found to be greatest when exerted in favour
+of any measure in regard to the control of slaves. He was the first mover
+in several cruel and rigid municipal regulations in the county, which
+prohibited slaves from going over a certain number of miles from their
+master's places on the Sabbath, and from being seen about the town. He
+once instigated the authorities of the town where he attended service, to
+break up a Sabbath-school some humane members of the Methodist and
+Lutheran denominations had set up to teach the free negroes, lest the
+slaves should get some benefit of it.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a still wider contrast between my master and his own
+children, eight in number, when I left him. His eldest daughter, the
+flower of the family, married a miserable and reckless gambler. His
+eldest son was kind-hearted, and rather a favourite with the slaves on
+that account; but he had no strength of mind or weight of character. His
+education was limited, and he had no disposition or tact for business of
+any kind. He died at thirty-six, intestate; leaving his second-wife (a
+sister to his father's second wife) with several orphan children, a widow
+with a small estate deeply embarrassed. The second son was once sent to
+West Point to fit for an officer. After being there a short time, however,
+he became unsteady, and commenced the study of medicine, but he soon gave
+that up and preferred to live at home and flog the slaves; and by them was
+cordially dreaded and disliked, and among themselves he was vulgarly
+nicknamed on account of his cruel and filthy habits.</p>
+
+<p>These two families will afford a fair illustration of the gloomy history
+of many others that I could name. This decline of slaveholding families is
+a subject of observation and daily remark among slaves; they are led to
+observe every change in the pecuniary, moral, and social state of the
+families they belong to, from the fact, that as the old master declines,
+or as his children are married off, they are expecting to fall into their
+hands, or in case of insolvency on the part of the old master, they expect
+to be sold; in either case, it involves a change of master&mdash;a subject to
+which they cannot be indifferent. And it is very rarely the case that a
+slave's condition is benefited by passing from the old master into the
+hands of one of his children. Owing to the causes I have mentioned, the
+decline is so rapid and marked, in almost every point of view, that the
+children of slaveholders are universally inferior to themselves, mentally,
+morally, physically, as well as pecuniarily, especially so in the latter
+point of view; and this is a matter of most vital concern to the slaves.
+The young master not being able to own as many slaves as his father,
+usually works what he has more severely, and being more liable to
+embarrassment, the slaves' liability to be sold at an early day is much
+greater. For the same reason, slaves have a deep interest, generally, in
+the marriage of a young mistress. Very generally the daughters of
+slaveholders marry inferior men; men who seek to better their own
+condition by a wealthy connection. The slaves who pass into the hands of
+the young master has had some chance to become acquainted with his
+character, bad as it may be; but the young mistress brings her slaves a
+new, and sometimes an unknown master. Sometimes these are the sons of
+already broken down slaveholders. In other cases they are adventurers from
+the north who remove to the south, and who readily become the most cruel
+masters.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX" />APPENDIX.</h2>
+
+
+<p>These two letters are simply introduced to show what the state of my
+feelings was with reference to slavery at the time they were written. I
+had just heard several facts with regard to my parents, which had awakened
+my mind to great excitement.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>TO MY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>The following was written in 1844:</i></p>
+
+<p>  DEARLY BELOVED IN BONDS,</p>
+
+<p>  About seventeen long years have now rolled away, since in the Providence
+  of Almighty God, I left your embraces, and set out upon a daring
+  adventure in search of freedom. Since that time, I have felt most
+  severely the loss of the sun and moon and eleven stars from my social
+  sky. Many, many a thick cloud of anguish has pressed my brow and sent
+  deep down into my soul the bitter waters of sorrow in consequence. And
+  you have doubtless had your troubles and anxious seasons also about your
+  fugitive star.</p>
+
+<p>  I have learned that some of you have been sold, and again taken back by
+  Colonel &mdash;&mdash;. How many of you are living and together, I cannot tell. My
+  great grief is, lest you should have suffered this or some additional
+  punishment on account of my <i>Exodus</i>.</p>
+
+<p>  I indulge the hope that it will afford you some consolation to know that
+  your son and brother is yet alive. That God has dealt wonderfully and
+  kindly with me in all my way. He has made me a Christian, and a
+  Christian Minister, and thus I have drawn my support and comfort from
+  that blessed Saviour, who came <i>to preach good tidings unto the meek, to
+  bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
+  opening of the prison to them, that are bound. To proclaim the
+  acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to
+  comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
+  unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
+  praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of
+  righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified.</i></p>
+
+<p>  If the course I took in leaving a condition which had become intolerable
+  to me, has been made the occasion of making that condition worse to you
+  in any way, I do most heartily regret such a change for the worse on
+  your part. As I have no means, however, of knowing if such be the fact,
+  so I have no means of making atonement, but by sincere prayer to
+  Almighty God in your behalf, and also by taking this method of offering
+  to you these consolations of the gospel to which I have just referred,
+  and which I have found to be pre-eminently my own stay and support. My
+  dear father and mother; I have very often wished, while administering
+  the Holy Ordinance of Baptism to some scores of children brought forward
+  by doting parents, that I could see you with yours among the number. And
+  you, my brothers and sisters, while teaching hundreds of children and
+  youths in schools over which I have been placed, what unspeakable
+  delight I should have had in having you among the number; you may all
+  judge of my feeling for these past years, when while preaching from
+  Sabbath to Sabbath to congregations, I have not been so fortunate as
+  even to see father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew,
+  niece, or cousin in my congregations. While visiting the sick, going to
+  the house of mourning, and burying the dead, I have been a constant
+  mourner for you. My sorrow has been that I know you are not in
+  possession of those hallowed means of grace. I am thankful to you for
+  those mild and gentle traits of character which you took such care to
+  enforce upon me in my youthful days. As an evidence that I prize both
+  you and them, I may say that at the age of thirty-seven, I find them as
+  valuable as any lessons I have learned, nor am I ashamed to let it be
+  known to the world, that I am the son of a bond man and a bond woman.</p>
+
+<p>  Let me urge upon you the fundamental truths of the Gospel of the Son of
+  God. Let repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ have
+  their perfect work in you, I beseech you. Do not be prejudiced against
+  the gospel because it may be seemingly twisted into a support of
+  slavery. The gospel rightly understood, taught, received, felt and
+  practised, is anti-slavery as it is anti-sin. Just so far and so fast as
+  the true spirit of the gospel obtains in the land, and especially in the
+  lives of the oppressed, will the spirit of slavery sicken and become
+  powerless like the serpent with his head pressed beneath the fresh
+  leaves of the prickly ash of the forest.</p>
+
+<p>  There is not a solitary decree of the immaculate God that has been
+  concerned in the ordination of slavery, nor does any possible
+  development of his holy will sanctify it.</p>
+
+<p>  He has permitted us to be enslaved according to the invention of wicked
+  men, instigated by the devil, with intention to bring good out of the
+  evil, but He does not, He cannot approve of it. He has no need to
+  approve of it, even on account of the good which He will bring out of
+  it, for He could have brought about that very good in some other way.</p>
+
+<p>  God is never straitened; He is never at a loss for means to work. Could
+  He not have made this a great and wealthy nation without making its
+  riches to consist in our blood, bones, and souls? And could He not also
+  have given the gospel to us without making us slaves?</p>
+
+<p>  My friends, let us then, in our afflictions, embrace and hold fast the
+  gospel. The gospel is the fulness of God. We have the glorious and total
+  weight of God's moral character in our side of the scale.</p>
+
+<p>  The wonderful purple stream which flowed for the healing of the nations,
+  has a branch for us. Nay, is Christ divided? &quot;The grace of God that
+  bringeth salvation hath appeared to (for) all men, teaching us that
+  denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly,
+  righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed
+  hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
+  Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all
+  iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
+  works.&quot;&mdash;Titus ii. 11-14.</p>
+
+<p>  But you say you have not the privilege of hearing of this gospel of
+  which I speak. I know it; and this is my great grief. But you shall have
+  it; I will send it to you by my humble prayer; I can do it; I will beg
+  our heavenly Father, and he will preach this gospel to you in his holy
+  providence.</p>
+
+<p>  You, dear father and mother cannot have much longer to live in this
+  troublesome and oppressive world; you cannot bear the yoke much longer.
+  And as you approach another world, how desirable it is that you should
+  have the prospect of a different destiny from what you have been called
+  to endure in this world during a long life.</p>
+
+<p>  But it is the gospel that sets before you the hope of such a blessed
+  rest as is spoken of in the word of God, Job iii. 17, 19. &quot;There the
+  wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest; there the
+  prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressors. The
+  small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>  Father, I know thy eyes are dim with age and weary with weeping, but
+  look, dear father, yet a little while toward that haven. Look unto
+  Jesus, &quot;the author and finisher of thy faith,&quot; for the moment of thy
+  happy deliverance is at hand.</p>
+
+<p>  Mother, dear mother, I know, I feel, mother, the pangs of thy bleeding
+  heart, that thou hast endured, during so many years of vexation. Thy
+  agonies are by a genuine son-like sympathy mine; I will, I must, I do
+  share daily in those agonies of thine. But I sincerely hope that with me
+  you bear your agonies to Christ who carries our sorrows.</p>
+
+<p>  O come then with me, my beloved family, of weary heart-broken and
+  care-worn ones, to Jesus Christ, &quot;casting all your care upon him, for he
+  careth for you.&quot;&mdash;2 Peter v. 7.</p>
+
+<p>  With these words of earnest exhortation, joined with fervent prayer to
+  God that He may smooth your rugged way, lighten your burden, and give a
+  happy issue out of all your troubles, I must bid you adieu.</p>
+
+<p>  Your son and brother,</p>
+
+<p>  JAS. P.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>Alias</i> J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+</p>
+
+</blockquote>
+
+
+
+<blockquote><p>TO COLONEL F&mdash;&mdash; T&mdash;&mdash;, OF H&mdash;&mdash;, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD. 1844.</p>
+
+
+<p>  DEAR SIR,</p>
+
+<p>  It is now, as you are aware, about seventeen years since I left your
+  house and service, at the age of twenty. Up to that time, I was,
+  according to your rule and claim, your slave. Till the age of seven
+  years, I was, of course, of little or no service to you. At that age,
+  however, you hired me out, and for three years I earned my support; at
+  the age of ten years, you took me to your place again, and in a short
+  time after you put me to work at the blacksmith's trade, at which,
+  together with the carpentering trade, &amp;c, I served you peaceably until
+  the day I left you, with exception of the short time you had sold me to
+  S&mdash;&mdash; H&mdash;&mdash;, Esq., for seven hundred dollars. It is important for me to
+  say to you, that I have no consciousness of having done you any wrong. I
+  called you master when I was with you from the mere force of
+  circumstances; but I never regarded you as my master. The nature which
+  God gave me did not allow me to believe that you had any more right to
+  me than I had to you, and that was just none at all. And from an early
+  age, I had intentions to free myself from your claim. I never consulted
+  any one about it; I had no advisers or instigators; I kept my own
+  counsel entirely concealed in my own bosom. I never meditated any evil
+  to your person or property, but I regarded you as my oppressor, and I
+  deemed it my duty to get out of your hands by peaceable means.</p>
+
+<p>  I was always obedient to your commands. I laboured for you diligently at
+  all times. I acted with fidelity in any matter which you entrusted me.
+  As you sometimes saw fit to entrust me with considerable money, to buy
+  tools or materials, not a cent was ever coveted or kept.</p>
+
+<p>  During the time I served you in the capacity of blacksmith, your
+  materials were used economically, your work was done expeditiously, and
+  in the very best style, a style second to no smith in your
+  neighbourhood. In short, sir, you well know that my habits from early
+  life were advantageous to you. Drinking, gambling, fighting, &amp;c., were
+  not my habits. On Sabbaths, holidays, &amp;c., I was frequently at your
+  service, when not even your body-servant was at home.</p>
+
+<p>  Times and times again, I have gone on Sunday afternoon to H&mdash;&mdash;, six
+  miles, after your letters and papers, when it was as much my privilege
+  to be <i>&quot;out of the way,&quot;</i> as it was C&mdash;&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p>  But what treatment did you see fit to return me for all this? You, in
+  the most unfeeling manner, abused my father for no cause but speaking a
+  word to you, as a man would speak to his fellow-man, for the sake simply
+  of a better understanding.</p>
+
+<p>  You vexed my mother, and because she, as a tender mother would do,
+  showed solicitude for the virtue of her daughters, you threatened her in
+  an insulting brutal manner.</p>
+
+<p>  You abused my brother and sister without cause, and in like manner you
+  did to myself; you surmised evil against me. You struck me with your
+  walking-cane, called me insulting names, threatened me, swore at me, and
+  became more and more wrathy in your conduct, and at the time I quitted
+  your place, I had good reason to believe that you were meditating
+  serious evil against me.</p>
+
+<p>  Since I have been out of your hands, I have been signally favoured of
+  God, whence I infer that in leaving you, I acted strictly in accordance
+  with his holy will. I have a conscience void of offence towards God and
+  towards all men, yourself not excepted. And I verily believe that I have
+  performed a sacred duty to God and myself, and a kindness to you, in
+  taking the blood of my soul peaceably off your soul. And now, dear sir,
+  having spoken somewhat pointedly, I would, to convince you of my perfect
+  good will towards you, in the most kind and respectful terms, remind you
+  of your coming destiny. You are now over seventy years of age, pressing
+  on to eternity with the weight of these seventy years upon you. Is not
+  this enough without the blood of some half-score of souls?</p>
+
+<p>  You are aware that your right to property in man is now disputed by the
+  civilized world. You are fully aware, also, that the question, whether
+  the Bible sanctions slavery, has distinctly divided this nation in
+  sentiment. On the side of Biblical Anti-slavery, we have many of the
+  most learned, wise and holy men in the land. If the Bible affords no
+  sanction to slavery, (and I claim that it cannot,) then it must be a sin
+  of the deepest dye; and can you, sir, think to go to God in hope with a
+  sin of such magnitude upon your soul?</p>
+
+<p>  But admitting that the question is yet doubtful, (which I do only for
+  the sake of argument,) still, sir, you will have the critical hazard of
+  this doubt pressing, in no very doubtful way, upon your declining years,
+  as you descend the long and tedious hill of life.</p>
+
+<p>  Would it not seem to be exceedingly undesirable to close an eventful
+  probation of seventy or eighty years, and leave your reputation among
+  posterity suspended upon so doubtful an issue? But what, my dear sir,
+  is a reputation among posterity, who are but worms, compared with a
+  destiny in the world of spirits? And it is in light of that destiny that
+  I would now have you look at this subject. You and I, and all that you
+  claim as your slaves, are in a state of probation; our great business is
+  to serve God under His righteous moral government. Master and slave are
+  the subjects of that government, bound by its immutable requirements,
+  and liable to its sanctions in the next world, though enjoying its
+  forbearance in this. You will pardon me then for pressing this point in
+  earnest good faith. You should, at this stage, review your life without
+  political bias, or adherence to long cherished prejudices, and remember
+  that you are soon to meet those whom you have held, and do hold in
+  slavery, at the awful bar of the impartial Judge of all who doeth right.
+  Then what will become of your own doubtful claims? What will be done
+  with those doubts that agitated your mind years ago; will you answer for
+  threatening, swearing, and using the cowhide among your slaves?</p>
+
+<p>  What will become of those long groans and unsatisfied complaints of your
+  slaves, for vexing them with insulting words, placing them in the power
+  of dogish and abusive overseers, or under your stripling, misguided,
+  hot-headed son, to drive and whip at pleasure, and for selling parts or
+  whole families to Georgia? They will all meet you at that bar. Uncle
+  James True, Charles Cooper, Aunt Jenny, and the native Africans;
+  Jeremiah, London, and Donmore, have already gone a-head, and only wait
+  your arrival&mdash;Sir, I shall meet you there. The account between us for
+  the first twenty years of my life, will have a definite character upon
+  which one or the other will be able to make out a case.</p>
+
+<p>  Upon such a review as this, sir, you will, I am quite sure, see the need
+  of seriousness. I assure you that the thought of meeting you in
+  eternity, and before the dread tribunal of God, with a complaint in my
+  mouth against you, is to me of most weighty and solemn character. And
+  you will see that the circumstances from which this thought arises are
+  of equal moment to yourself. Can the pride of leaving your children
+  possessed of long slave states, or the policy of sustaining in the state
+  the institution of slavery, justify you in overlooking a point of moment
+  to your future happiness?</p>
+
+<p>  What excuse could you offer at the bar of God, favoured as you have been
+  with the benefits of a refined education, and through a long life with
+  the gospel of love, should you, when arraigned there, find that you
+  have, all your life long, laboured under a great mistake in regard to
+  slavery, and that in this mistake you had died, and only lifted up your
+  eyes in the light of eternity to be corrected, when it was too late to
+  be corrected in any other way.</p>
+
+<p>  <i>I could wish to address you</i> (being bred, born, and raised in your
+  family) <i>as a father in Israel, or as an elder brother in Christ, but I
+  cannot; mockery is a sin.</i> I can only say then, dear sir, farewell, till
+  I meet you at the bar of God, where Jesus, who died for us, will judge
+  between us. Now his blood can wash out our stain, break down the middle
+  wall of partition, and reconcile us not only to God but to each other,
+  then the word of his mouth, the sentence will set us at one. As for
+  myself, I am quite ready to meet you face to face at the bar of God. I
+  have done you no wrong; I have nothing to fear when we both fall into
+  the hands of the just God.</p>
+
+<p>  I beseech you, dear sir, to look well and consider this matter soundly.
+  In yonder world you can have no slaves&mdash;you can be no man's master&mdash;you
+  can neither sell, buy, or whip, or drive. Are you then, by sustaining
+  the relation of a slaveholder, forming a character to dwell with God in
+  peace?</p>
+
+<p>  With kind regards,</p>
+
+<p>  I am, sir, yours respectfully,</p>
+
+<p>  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LIBERTYS_CHAMPION" id="LIBERTYS_CHAMPION" />LIBERTY'S CHAMPION.</h2>
+
+<h3>BY A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S.</h3>
+
+<div style="margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 15%;">
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>On the wings of the wind he comes, he comes!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With the rolling billow's speed;<br /></span>
+<span>On his breast are the signs of peace and love,<br /></span>
+<span>And his soul is nerved with strength from above:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While his eyes flash fire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He burns with desire<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To achieve the noble deed.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>To the shores of the free he goes, he goes!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And smiles as he passes on;<br /></span>
+<span>He hears the glad notes of Liberty's song,<br /></span>
+<span>And bids the brave sons of freedom be strong.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While his heart bounds high<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To his crown in the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He triumphs o'er conquests won.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>To the homes of the slave he flies, he flies!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where manacled mourners cry;<br /></span>
+<span>The bursting groan of the mind's o'erflow,<br /></span>
+<span>Transfixed on the dark and speaking brow:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With a murmuring sound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Ascends from the ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To the God that reigns on high.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>To his loved Father's throne he hastes, he hastes!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And pours forth his soul in grief:<br /></span>
+<span>Uprising he finds his strength renewed,<br /></span>
+<span>And his heart with fervent love is imbued;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While the heaving sigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And the deep-toned cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Appeal for instant relief.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>To the hard oppressor he cries, he cries,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And points to the bleeding slave;<br /></span>
+<span>He tells of the rights of the human soul,<br /></span>
+<span>And his eyes with full indignation roll:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While his heart is moved,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And the truth is proved,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He seeks the captive to save.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>Again to the foeman he speaks, he speaks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But utters his cry in vain;<br /></span>
+<span>He breathes no curse, no vengeance seeks,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span>For the broken hearts or the anguished shrieks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For the mother's pains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or the father's gains,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon the oppressor's name.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>To nations of freemen once more he comes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To raise Liberty's banner high;<br /></span>
+<span>He tells of the wrongs of the bonded slave,<br /></span>
+<span>And cries aloud, 'mid throngs of the brave,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">&quot;O freemen, arise!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Be faithful and wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And answer the mourner's cry.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>In melting strains of love he calls, he calls,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To the great and good from afar;<br /></span>
+<span>Till sympathy wakes to the truthful tale,<br /></span>
+<span>And the prayer of the faith, which cannot fail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Ascends to heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And grace is given,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To nerve for the bloodless war.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>The truth with a magic power prevails:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All hearts are moved to the strife;<br /></span>
+<span>In a holy phalanx, and with deathless aim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They seek a peaceful triumph to gain<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">O'er the tyrant's sway,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In his onward way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To raise the fallen to life.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>At the mighty voice of the glorious free<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The chain of the oppressor breaks;<br /></span>
+<span>The slave from his bondage springs forth to love,<br /></span>
+<span>And, standing erect, his eye fixed above,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He honours his race,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And in the world's face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The language of liberty speaks.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span>The oppressor no longer owns a right,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or property claims in the slave,<br /></span>
+<span>But the world, in the glory of freedom's light,<br /></span>
+<span>Beams out from the darkness of wide-spread night;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Throughout its length,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In greatness and strength,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The honour of the free and brave.<br /></span>
+</div></div></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+<div style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">
+<p>Printed for CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopgate Street Without.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Fugitive Blacksmith</b>, or Events in the History of JAMES W.C.
+PENNINGTON, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York. Foolscap 8vo.,
+sewed, price 1s.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This entrancing narrative * * * We trust that thousands of our readers
+will procure the volume, which is published by Mr. Gilpin at a mere
+trifle&mdash;much too cheap to accomplish the purpose for which, in part or
+mainly, it has been published&mdash;the raising a fund to remove the pecuniary
+burdens which press on the author's flock. NOTHING SHORT OF THE SALE OF
+FIFTY THOUSAND OR SIXTY THOUSAND COPIES could be at all availing for this
+object. * * * We very cordially recommend him and his narrative to the
+kind consideration of our readers. Let them load him with English
+hospitality, fill his purse, and send him back as fast as possible to the
+land of his early bondage, of his matured freedom, and to the people to
+whose character and capabilities he does so much honour.&quot;&mdash;<i>Christian
+Witness</i>, October, 1849.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The principal portion of the 'Tract,' as Mr. Pennington modestly styles
+his book, consists of an autobiography of his early life as a slave, and
+of his escape from bondage, and final settlement in New York as a
+Presbyterian Minister. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes invest the
+narrative with startling interest, and excite the deepest sympathies of
+the reader.&quot;&mdash;<i>Nonconformist</i>, September, 26th, 1849.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Believing that by the purchase of this little book our readers will
+confer a benefit on the writer, at the same time that they become
+possessed of a narrative of deep interest, we give it our most cordial
+recommendation.&quot;&mdash;<i>Teetotal Times</i>, October, 1849.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>London: CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 75%;' />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
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+Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Fugitive Blacksmith
+       or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington
+
+Author: James W. C. Pennington
+
+Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15130]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH;
+OR,
+EVENTS IN THE HISTORY
+OF
+JAMES W.C. PENNINGTON,
+PASTOR OF A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK,
+FORMERLY A SLAVE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, UNITED STATES.
+
+    "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert
+    to them from the face of the spoiler."--ISAIAH xvi. 4.
+
+Second Edition.
+
+LONDON:
+CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.
+
+1849
+
+[_Transcriber's Note: This project was transcribed from a contemporary
+printing of the work, not from the 1849 edition. Certain spellings may
+have been modernized and typographic and printer's errors changed from the
+original._]
+
+
+
+
+  MR. CHARLES GILPIN,
+
+  MY DEAR SIR,
+
+  The information just communicated to me by you, that another edition of
+  my little book, "The Fugitive Blacksmith," is called for, has agreeably
+  surprised me. The British public has laid me under renewed obligations
+  by this mark of liberality, which I hasten to acknowledge. I would avail
+  myself of this moment also, to acknowledge the kindness of the gentlemen
+  of the newspaper press for the many favourable reviews which my little
+  book has received. It is to them I am indebted, in no small degree, for
+  the success with which I have been favoured in getting the book before
+  the notice of the public.
+
+  Yours truly,
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  _Hoxton, Oct. 15th, 1849._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The brief narrative I here introduce to the public, consists of outline
+notes originally thrown together to guide my memory when lecturing on this
+part of the subject of slavery. This will account for its style, and will
+also show that the work is not full.
+
+The question may be asked, Why I have published anything so long after my
+escape from slavery? I answer I have been induced to do so on account of
+the increasing disposition to overlook the fact, that THE SIN of slavery
+lies in the chattel principle, or relation. Especially have I felt anxious
+to save professing Christians, and my brethren in the ministry, from
+falling into a great mistake. My feelings are always outraged when I hear
+them speak of "kind masters,"--"Christian masters,"--"the mildest form of
+slavery,"--"well fed and clothed slaves," as extenuations of slavery; I am
+satisfied they either mean to pervert the truth, or they do not know what
+they say. The being of slavery, its soul and body, lives and moves in the
+chattel principle, the property principle, the bill of sale principle; the
+cart-whip, starvation, and nakedness, are its inevitable consequences to
+a greater or less extent, warring with the dispositions of men.
+
+There lies a skein of silk upon a lady's work-table. How smooth and
+handsome are the threads. But while that lady goes out to make a call, a
+party of children enter the apartment, and in amusing themselves, tangle
+the skein of silk, and now who can untangle it? The relation between
+master and slave is even as delicate as a skein of silk: it is liable to
+be entangled at any moment.
+
+The mildest form of slavery, if there be such a form, looking at the
+chattel principle as the definition of slavery, is comparatively the worst
+form. For it not only keeps the slave in the most unpleasant apprehension,
+like a prisoner in chains awaiting his trial; but it actually, in a great
+majority of cases, where kind masters do exist, trains him under the most
+favourable circumstances the system admits of, and then plunges him into
+the worst of which it is capable.
+
+It is under the mildest form of slavery, as it exists in Maryland,
+Virginia, and Kentucky, that the finest specimens of coloured females are
+reared. There are no mothers who rear, and educate in the natural graces,
+finer daughters than the Ethiopian women, who have the least chance to
+give scope to their maternal affections. But what is generally the fate of
+such female slaves? When they are not raised for the express purpose of
+supplying the market of a class of economical Louisian and Mississippi
+gentlemen, who do not wish to incur the expense of rearing legitimate
+families, they are, nevertheless, on account of their attractions, exposed
+to the most shameful degradation, by the young masters in the families
+where it is claimed they are so well off. My master once owned a beautiful
+girl about twenty-four. She had been raised in a family where her mother
+was a great favourite. She was her mother's darling child. Her master was
+a lawyer of eminent abilities and great fame, but owing to habits of
+intemperance, he failed in business, and my master purchased this girl for
+a nurse. After he had owned her about a year, one of his sons became
+attached to her, for no honourable purposes; a fact which was not only
+well-known among all of the slaves, but which became a source of
+unhappiness to his mother and sisters.
+
+The result was, that poor Rachel had to be sold to "Georgia." Never shall
+I forget the heart-rending scene, when one day one of the men was ordered
+to get "the one-horse cart ready to go into town;" Rachel, with her few
+articles of clothing, was placed in it, and taken into the very town where
+her parents lived, and there sold to the traders before their weeping
+eyes. That same son who had degraded her, and who was the cause of her
+being sold, acted as salesman, and bill of saleman. While this cruel
+business was being transacted, my master stood aside, and the girl's
+father, a pious member and exhorter in the Methodist Church, a venerable
+grey-headed man, with his hat off, besought that he might be allowed to
+get some one in the place to purchase his child. But no; my master was
+invincible. His reply was, "She has offended in my family, and I can only
+restore confidence by sending her out of hearing." After lying in prison a
+short time, her new owner took her with others to the far South, where her
+parents heard no more of her.
+
+Here was a girl born and reared under the mildest form of slavery. Her
+original master was reputed to be even indulgent. He lived in a town, and
+was a high-bred gentleman, and a lawyer. He had but a few slaves, and had
+no occasion for an overseer, those negro leeches, to watch and drive them;
+but when he became embarrassed by his own folly, the chattel principle
+doomed this girl to be sold at the same sale with his books, house, and
+horses. With my master she found herself under far more stringent
+discipline than she had been accustomed to, and finally degraded, and sold
+where her condition could not be worse, and where she had not the least
+hope of ever bettering it.
+
+This case presents the legitimate working of the great chattel principle.
+It is no accidental result--it is the fruit of the tree. You cannot
+constitute slavery without the chattel principle--and with the chattel
+principle you cannot save it from these results. Talk not then about kind
+and christian masters. They are not masters of the system. The system is
+master of them; and the slaves are their vassals.
+
+These storms rise on the bosom of the calmed waters of the system. You are
+a slave, a being in whom another owns property. Then you may rise with his
+pride, but remember the day is at hand when you must also fall with his
+folly. To-day you may be pampered by his meekness; but to-morrow you will
+suffer in the storm of his passions.
+
+In the month of September, 1848, there appeared in my study, one morning,
+in New York City, an aged coloured man of tall and slender form. I saw
+depicted on his countenance anxiety bordering on despair, still I was
+confident that he was a man whose mind was accustomed to faith. When I
+learned that he was a native of my own state, Maryland, having been born
+in the county of Montgomery, I at once became much interested in him. He
+had been sent to me by my friend, William Harned, Esq., of the
+Anti-Slavery Office, 61, John Street. He put into my hand the following
+bill of distress:--
+
+  "Alexander, Virginia, _September 5th, 1848._
+
+  "The bearer, Paul Edmondson, is the father of two girls, Mary Jane and
+  Emily Catherine Edmondson. These girls have been purchased by us, and
+  once sent to the South; and upon the positive assurance that the money
+  for them would be raised if they were brought back, they were returned.
+  Nothing, it appears, has as yet been done in this respect by those who
+  promised, and we are on the very eve of sending them south a second
+  time; and we are candid in saying, that if they go again, we will not
+  regard any promises made in relation to them.
+
+  "The father wishes to raise money to pay for them, and intends to appeal
+  to the liberality of the humane and the good to aid him, and has
+  requested us to state in writing the _conditions upon which we will
+  sell his daughters_.
+
+  "We expect to start our servants to the South in a few days; if the sum
+  of twelve hundred dollars be raised and paid us in fifteen days, or we
+  be assured of that sum, then we will retain them for twenty-five days
+  more, to give an opportunity for raising the other thousand and fifty
+  dollars, otherwise we shall be compelled to send them along with our
+  other servants.
+
+  (Signed) "BRUIN AND HILL."
+
+The old man also showed me letters from other individuals, and one from
+the Rev. Matthew A. Turner, pastor of Asbury Chapel, where himself and his
+daughters were members. He was himself free, but his wife was a slave.
+Those two daughters were two out of fifteen children he had raised for the
+owner of his wife. These two girls had been sold, along with four
+brothers, to the traders, for an attempt to escape to the North, and gain
+their freedom.
+
+On the next Sabbath evening, I threw the case before my people, and the
+first fifty dollars of the sum was raised to restore the old man his
+daughters. Subsequently the case was taken up under the management of a
+committee of ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, consisting of
+the Rev. Gr. Peck, D.D., Rev. E.E. Griswold, and Rev. D. Curry, and the
+entire sum of 2,250 dollars, (L450.) was raised for two girls, fourteen
+and sixteen years of age!
+
+But why this enormous sum for two mere children? Ah, reader, they were
+reared under the mildest form of slavery known to the laws of Maryland!
+The mother is an invalid, and allowed to live with her free husband; but
+she is a woman of excellent mind, and has bestowed great pains upon her
+daughters. If you would know, then, why these girls were held at such a
+price, even to their own father, read the following extract of a letter
+from one who was actively engaged in behalf of them, and who had several
+interviews with the traders to induce them to reduce the price, but
+without success. Writing from Washington, D.C., September 12th, 1848, this
+gentleman says to William Harned, "The truth is, _and is confessed to be,
+that their destination is prostitution_; of this you would be satisfied on
+seeing them: they are of elegant form, and fine faces."
+
+And such, dear reader, is the sad fate of hundreds of my young
+countrywomen, natives of my native state. Such is the fate of many who are
+not only reared under the mildest form of slavery, but of those who have
+been made acquainted with the milder system of the Prince of Peace.
+
+When Christians, and Christian ministers, then, talk about the "mildest
+form of slavery,"--"Christian masters," &c., I say my feelings are
+outraged. It is a great mistake to offer these as an extenuation of the
+system. It is calculated to mislead the public mind. The opinion seems to
+prevail, that the negro, after having toiled as a slave for centuries to
+enrich his white brother, to lay the foundation of his proud institutions,
+after having been sunk as low as slavery can sink him, needs now only a
+second-rate civilization, a lower standard of civil and religious
+privileges than the whites claim for themselves.
+
+During the last year or two, we have heard of nothing but revolutions, and
+the enlargements of the eras of freedom, on both sides of the Atlantic.
+Our white brethren everywhere are reaching out their hands to grasp more
+freedom. In the place of absolute monarchies they have limited monarchies,
+and in the place of limited monarchies they have republics: so tenacious
+are they of their own liberties.
+
+But when we speak of slavery, and complain of the wrong it is doing us,
+and ask to have the yoke removed, we are told, "O, you must not be
+impatient, you must not create undue excitement. You are not so badly off,
+for many of your masters are kind Christian masters." Yes, sirs, many of
+our masters are professed Christians; and what advantage is that to us?
+The grey heads of our fathers are brought down by scores to the grave in
+sorrow, on account of their young and tender sons, who are sold to the far
+South, where they have to toil without requite to supply the world's
+market with _cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, &c_. Our venerable mothers are
+borne down with poignant grief at the fate of their children. Our sisters,
+if not by the law, are by common consent made the prey of vile men, who
+can bid the highest.
+
+In all the bright achievements we have obtained in the great work of
+emancipation, if we have not settled the fact that the chattel principle
+is wrong, and cannot be maintained upon Christian ground, then we have
+wrought and triumphed to little purpose, and we shall have to do our first
+work over again.
+
+It is this that has done all the mischief connected with slavery; it is
+this that threatens still further mischief. Whatever may be the ill or
+favoured condition of the slave in the matter of mere personal treatment,
+it is the chattel relation that robs him of his manhood, and transfers his
+ownership in himself to another. It is this that transfers the
+proprietorship of his wife and children to another. It is this that throws
+his family history into utter confusion, and leaves him without a single
+record to which he may appeal in vindication of his character, or honour.
+And has a man no sense of honour because he was born a slave? Has he no
+need of character?
+
+Suppose insult, reproach, or slander, should render it necessary for him
+to appeal to the history of his family in vindication of his character,
+where will he find that history? He goes to his native state, to his
+native county, to his native town; but no where does he find any record of
+himself _as a man_. On looking at the family record of his old, kind,
+Christian, master, there he finds his name on a catalogue with the horses,
+cows, hogs and dogs. However humiliating and degrading it may be to his
+feelings to find his name written down among the beasts of the field,
+_that_ is just the place, and the _only_ place assigned to it by the
+chattel relation. I beg our Anglo-Saxon brethren to accustom themselves to
+think that we need something more than mere kindness. We ask for justice,
+truth and honour as other men do.
+
+My coloured brethren are now widely awake to the degradation which they
+suffer in having property vested in their persons, and they are also
+conscious of the deep and corrupting disgrace of having our wives and
+children owned by other men--men, who have shown to the world that their
+own virtue is not infallible, and who have given us no flattering
+encouragement to entrust that of our wives and daughters to them.
+
+I have great pleasure in stating that my dear friend W.W., spoken of in
+this narrative, to whom I am so deeply indebted, is still living. I have
+been twice to see him within four years, and have regular correspondence
+with him. In one of the last letters I had from him, he authorises me to
+use his name in connection with this narrative in these words,--"As for
+using my name, by reference or otherwise, in thy narrative, it is at thy
+service. I know thee so well James, that I am not afraid of thy making a
+bad use of it, nor am I afraid or ashamed to have it known that I took
+thee in and gave thee aid, when I found thee travelling alone and in
+want.--W.W."
+
+On the second page of the same sheet I have a few lines from his excellent
+lady, in which she says, "James, I hope thee will not attribute my long
+silence in writing to indifference. No such feeling can ever exist towards
+thee in our family. Thy name is mentioned almost every day. Each of the
+children claims the next letter from thee. It will be for thee to decide
+which shall have it.--P.W."
+
+In a postscript following this, W.W. says again:--"Understand me, James,
+that thee is at full liberty to use my name in any way thee wishes in thy
+narrative. We have a man here from the eastern shore of thy state. He is
+trying to learn as fast as thee did when here.--W.W."
+
+I hope the reader will pardon me for introducing these extracts. My only
+apology is, the high gratification I feel in knowing that this family has
+not only been greatly prospered in health and happiness, but that I am
+upon the most intimate and pleasant terms with all its members, and that
+they all still feel a deep and cordial interest in my welfare.
+
+There is another distinguished individual whose sympathy has proved very
+gratifying to me in my situation--I mean that true friend of the negro,
+_Gerrit Smith, Esq._ I was well acquainted with the family in which Mr.
+Smith married in Maryland. My attention has been fixed upon him for the
+last ten years, for I have felt confident that God had set him apart for
+some great good to the negro. In a letter dated Peterborough, November
+7th, 1848, he says:--
+
+  "J.W.C. PENNINGTON,
+
+  "Slight as is my _personal_ acquaintance with you, I nevertheless am
+  well acquainted with you. I am familiar with many passages in your
+  history--all that part of your history extending from the time when, a
+  sturdy blacksmith, you were running away from Maryland oppression, down
+  to the present, when you are the successor of my lamented friend,
+  Theodore S. Wright. Let me add that my acquaintance with you has
+  inspired me with a high regard for your wisdom and integrity."
+
+  Give us a few more such men in America, and slavery will soon be
+  numbered among the things that were. A few men who will not only have
+  the moral courage to aim the severing blow at the chattel relation
+  between master and slave, without parley, palliation or compromise; but
+  who have also the christian fidelity to brave public scorn and
+  contumely, to seize a coloured man by the hand, and elevate him to the
+  position from whence the avarice and oppression of the whites have
+  degraded him. These men have the right view of the subject. They see
+  that in every case where the relation between master and slave is
+  broken, slavery is weakened, and that every coloured man elevated,
+  becomes a step in the ladder upon which his whole people are to ascend.
+  They would not have us accept of some modified form of liberty, while
+  the old mischief working chattel relation remains unbroken, untouched
+  and unabrogated.
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  _13, Princes Square, London, August 15th_, 1849.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  My birth and parentage--The treatment of Slaves generally in Maryland 1
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  The flight 14
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  A dreary night in the woods--Critical situation the next day 31
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  The good woman of the toll-gate directs me to W.W.--My cordial reception
+  by him 40
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  Seven months' residence in the family of J.K., a member of the Society
+  of Friends in Chester County, Pennsylvania--Removal to New York--Becomes
+  a convert to religion--Becomes a teacher 49
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Some account of the family I left in slavery--Proposal to purchase
+  myself and parents--How met by my old master 58
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  The feeding, clothing, and religious instruction of the slaves in the
+  part of Maryland where I lived 65
+
+  APPENDIX 74
+
+
+
+
+THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+MY BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.--THE TREATMENT OF SLAVES GENERALLY IN MARYLAND.
+
+
+I was born in the state of Maryland, which is one of the smallest and most
+northern of the slave-holding states; the products of this state are
+wheat, rye, Indian corn, tobacco, with some hemp, flax, &c. By looking at
+the map, it will be seen that Maryland, like Virginia her neighbour, is
+divided by the Chesapeake Bay into eastern and western shores. My
+birthplace was on the eastern shore, where there are seven or eight small
+counties; the farms are small, and tobacco is mostly raised.
+
+At an early period in the history of Maryland, her lands began to be
+exhausted by the bad cultivation peculiar to slave states; and hence she
+soon commenced the business of breeding slaves for the more southern
+states. This has given an enormity to slavery, in Maryland, differing from
+that which attaches to the system in Louisiana, and equalled by none of
+the kind, except Virginia and Kentucky, and not by either of these in
+extent.
+
+My parents did not both belong to the same owner: my father belonged to a
+man named ----; my mother belonged to a man named ----. This not only made
+me a slave, but made me the slave of him to whom my mother belonged; as
+the primary law of slavery is, that the child shall follow the condition
+of the mother.
+
+When I was about four years of age, my mother, an older brother and
+myself, were given to a son of my master, who had studied for the medical
+profession, but who had now married wealthy, and was about to settle as a
+wheat planter in Washington County, on the western shore. This began the
+first of our family troubles that I knew anything about, as it occasioned
+a separation between my mother and the only two children she then had, and
+my father, to a distance of about two hundred miles. But this separation
+did not continue long; my father being a valuable slave, my master was
+glad to purchase him.
+
+About this time, I began to feel another evil of slavery--I mean the want
+of parental care and attention. My parents were not able to give any
+attention to their children during the day. I often suffered much from
+_hunger_ and other similar causes. To estimate the sad state of a slave
+child, you must look at it as a helpless human being thrown upon the world
+without the benefit of its natural guardians. It is thrown into the world
+without a social circle to flee to for hope, shelter, comfort, or
+instruction. The social circle, with all its heaven-ordained blessings, is
+of the utmost importance to the _tender child_; but of this, the slave
+child, however tender and delicate, is robbed.
+
+There is another source of evil to slave children, which I cannot forbear
+to mention here, as one which early embittered my life,--I mean the
+tyranny of the master's children. My master had two sons, about the ages
+and sizes of my older brother and myself. We were not only required to
+recognise these young sirs as our young masters, but _they_ felt
+themselves to be such; and, in consequence of this feeling, they sought to
+treat us with the same air of authority that their father did the older
+slaves.
+
+Another evil of slavery that I felt severely about this time, was the
+tyranny and abuse of the overseers. These men seem to look with an evil
+eye upon children. I was once visiting a menagerie, and being struck with
+the fact, that the lion was comparatively indifferent to every one around
+his cage, while he eyed with peculiar keenness a little boy I had; the
+keeper informed me that such was always the case. Such is true of those
+human beings in the slave states, called overseers. They seem to take
+pleasure in torturing the children of slaves, long before they are large
+enough to be put at the hoe, and consequently under the whip.
+
+We had an overseer, named Blackstone; he was an extremely cruel man to the
+working hands. He always carried a long hickory whip, a kind of pole. He
+kept three or four of these in order, that he might not at any time be
+without one.
+
+I once found one of these hickories lying in the yard, and supposing that
+he had thrown it away, I picked it up, and boy-like, was using it for a
+horse; he came along from the field, and seeing me with it, fell upon me
+with the one he then had in his hand, and flogged me most cruelly. From
+that, I lived in constant dread of that man; and he would show how much he
+delighted in cruelty by chasing me from my play with threats and
+imprecations. I have lain for hours in a wood, or behind a fence, to hide
+from his eye.
+
+At this time my days were extremely dreary. When I was nine years of age,
+myself and my brother were hired out from home; my brother was placed with
+a pump-maker, and I was placed with a stonemason. We were both in a town
+some six miles from home. As the men with whom we lived were not
+slaveholders, we enjoyed some relief from the peculiar evils of slavery.
+Each of us lived in a family where there was no other negro.
+
+The slaveholders in that state often hire the children of their slaves out
+to non-slaveholders, not only because they save themselves the expense of
+taking care of them, but in this way they get among their slaves useful
+trades. They put a bright slave-boy with a tradesman, until he gets such a
+knowledge of the trade as to be able to do his own work, and then he takes
+him home. I remained with the stonemason until I was eleven years of age:
+at this time I was taken home. This was another serious period in my
+childhood; I was separated from my older brother, to whom I was much
+attached; he continued at his place, and not only learned the trade to
+great perfection, but finally became the property of the man with whom he
+lived, so that our separation was permanent, as we never lived nearer
+after, than six miles. My master owned an excellent blacksmith, who had
+obtained his trade in the way I have mentioned above. When I returned home
+at the age of eleven, I was set about assisting to do the mason-work of a
+new smith's shop. This being done, I was placed at the business, which I
+soon learned, so as to be called a "first-rate blacksmith." I continued to
+work at this business for nine years, or until I was twenty-one, with the
+exception of the last seven months.
+
+In the spring of 1828, my master sold me to a Methodist man, named ----,
+for the sum of seven hundred dollars. It soon proved that he had not work
+enough to keep me employed as a smith, and he offered me for sale again.
+On hearing of this, my old master re-purchased me, and proposed to me to
+undertake the carpentering business. I had been working at this trade six
+months with a white workman, who was building a large barn when I left. I
+will now relate the abuses which occasioned me to fly.
+
+Three or four of our farm hands had their wives and families on other
+plantations. In such cases, it is the custom in Maryland to allow the men
+to go on Saturday evening to see their families, stay over the Sabbath,
+and return on Monday morning, not later than "half-an-hour by sun." To
+overstay their time is a grave fault, for which, especially at busy
+seasons, they are punished.
+
+One Monday morning, two of these men had not been so fortunate as to get
+home at the required time: one of them was an uncle of mine. Besides
+these, two young men who had no families, and for whom no such provision
+of time was made, having gone somewhere to spend the Sabbath, were absent.
+My master was greatly irritated, and had resolved to have, as he said, "a
+general whipping-match among them."
+
+Preparatory to this, he had a rope in his pocket, and a cowhide in his
+hand, walking about the premises, and speaking to every one he met in a
+very insolent manner, and finding fault with some without just cause. My
+father, among other numerous and responsible duties, discharged that of
+shepherd to a large and valuable flock of Merino sheep. This morning he
+was engaged in the tenderest of a shepherd's duties;--a little lamb, not
+able to go alone, lost its mother; he was feeding it by hand. He had been
+keeping it in the house for several days. As he stooped over it in the
+yard, with a vessel of new milk he had obtained, with which to feed it, my
+master came along, and without the least provocation, began by asking,
+"Bazil, have you fed the flock?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Were you away yesterday?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Do you know why these boys have not got home this morning yet?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not seen any of them since Saturday night."
+
+"By the Eternal, I'll make them know their hour. The fact is, I have too
+many of you; my people are getting to be the most careless, lazy, and
+worthless in the country."
+
+"Master," said my father, "I am always at my post; Monday morning never
+finds me off the plantation."
+
+"Hush, Bazil! I shall have to sell some of you; and then the rest will
+have enough to do; I have not work enough to keep you all tightly
+employed; I have too many of you."
+
+All this was said in an angry, threatening, and exceedingly insulting
+tone. My father was a high-spirited man, and feeling deeply the insult,
+replied to the last expression,--"If I am one too many, sir, give me a
+chance to get a purchaser, and I am willing to be sold when it may suit
+you."
+
+"Bazil, I told you to hush!" and suiting the action to the word, he drew
+forth the "cowhide" from under his arm, fell upon him with most savage
+cruelty, and inflicted fifteen or twenty severe stripes with all his
+strength, over his shoulders and the small of his back. As he raised
+himself upon his toes, and gave the last stripe, he said, "By the * * * I
+will make you know that I am master of your tongue as well as of your
+time!"
+
+Being a tradesman, and just at that time getting my breakfast, I was near
+enough to hear the insolent words that were spoken to my father, and to
+hear, see, and even count the savage stripes inflicted upon him.
+
+Let me ask any one of Anglo-Saxon blood and spirit, how would you expect a
+_son_ to feel at such a sight?
+
+This act created an open rupture with our family--each member felt the
+deep insult that had been inflicted upon our head; the spirit of the whole
+family was roused; we talked of it in our nightly gatherings, and showed
+it in our daily melancholy aspect. The oppressor saw this, and with the
+heartlessness that was in perfect keeping with the first insult, commenced
+a series of tauntings, threatenings, and insinuations, with a view to
+crush the spirit of the whole family.
+
+Although it was sometime after this event before I took the decisive step,
+yet in my mind and spirit, I never was a _Slave_ after it.
+
+Whenever I thought of the great contrast between my father's employment on
+that memorable Monday morning, (feeding the little lamb,) and the
+barbarous conduct of my master, I could not help cordially despising the
+proud abuser of my sire; and I believe he discovered it, for he seemed to
+have diligently sought an occasion against me. Many incidents occurred to
+convince me of this, too tedious to mention; but there is one I will
+mention, because it will serve to show the state of feeling that existed
+between us, and how it served to widen the already open breach.
+
+I was one day shoeing a horse in the shop yard. I had been stooping for
+some time under the weight of the horse, which was large, and was very
+tired; meanwhile, my master had taken his position on a little hill just
+in front of me, and stood leaning back on his cane, with his hat drawn
+ever his eyes. I put down the horse's foot, and straightened myself up to
+rest a moment, and without knowing that he was there, my eye caught his.
+This threw him into a panic of rage; he would have it that I was watching
+him. "What are you rolling your white eyes at me for, you lazy rascal?" He
+came down upon me with his cane, and laid on over my shoulders, arms, and
+legs, about a dozen severe blows, so that my limbs and flesh were sore for
+several weeks; and then after several other offensive epithets, left me.
+
+This affair my mother saw from her cottage, which was near; I being one of
+the oldest sons of my parents, our family was now mortified to the lowest
+degree. I had always aimed to be trustworthy; and feeling a high degree of
+mechanical pride, I had aimed to do my work with dispatch and skill, my
+blacksmith's pride and taste was one thing that had reconciled me so long
+to remain a slave. I sought to distinguish myself in the finer branches of
+the business by invention and finish; I frequently tried my hand at making
+guns and pistols, putting blades in penknives, making fancy hammers,
+hatchets, sword-canes, &c., &c. Besides I used to assist my father at
+night in making straw-hats and willow-baskets, by which means we supplied
+our family with little articles of food, clothing and luxury, which slaves
+in the mildest form of the system never get from the master; but after
+this, I found that my mechanic's pleasure and pride were gone. I thought
+of nothing but the family disgrace under which we were smarting, and how
+to get out of it.
+
+Perhaps I may as well extend this note a little. The reader will observe
+that I have not said much about my master's cruel treatment; I have aimed
+rather to shew the cruelties incident to the system. I have no disposition
+to attempt to convict him of having been one of the most cruel
+masters--that would not be true--his prevailing temper was kind, but he
+was a perpetualist. He was opposed to emancipation; thought free negroes a
+great nuisance, and was, as respects discipline, a thorough slaveholder.
+He would not tolerate a look or a word from a slave like insubordination.
+He would suppress it at once, and at any risk. When he thought it
+necessary to secure unqualified obedience, he would strike a slave with
+any weapon, flog him on the bare back, and sell. And this was the kind of
+discipline he also empowered his overseers and sons to use.
+
+I have seen children go from our plantations to join the chained-gang on
+its way from Washington to Louisiana; and I have seen men and women
+flogged--I have seen the overseers strike a man with a hay-fork--nay more,
+men have been maimed by shooting! Some dispute arose one morning between
+the overseer and one of the farm hands, when the former made at the slave
+with a hickory club; the slave taking to his heels, started for the woods;
+as he was crossing the yard, the overseer turned, snatched his gun which
+was near, and fired at the flying slave, lodging several shots in the
+calf of one leg. The poor fellow continued his flight, and got into the
+woods; but he was in so much pain that he was compelled to come out in the
+evening, and give himself up to his master, thinking he would not allow
+him to be punished as he had been shot. He was locked up that night; the
+next morning the overseer was allowed to tie him up and flog him; his
+master then took his instruments and picked the shot out of his leg, and
+told him, it served him just right.
+
+My master had a deeply pious and exemplary slave, an elderly man, who one
+day had a misunderstanding with the overseer, when the latter attempted to
+flog him. He fled to the woods; it was noon; at evening he came home
+orderly. The next morning, my master, taking one of his sons with him, a
+rope and cowhide in his hand, led the poor old man away into the stable;
+tied him up, and ordered the son to lay on thirty-nine lashes, which he
+did, making the keen end of the cowhide lap around and strike him in the
+tenderest part of his side, till the blood sped out, as if a lance had
+been used.
+
+While my master's son was thus engaged, the sufferer's little daughter, a
+child six years of age, stood at the door, weeping in agony for the fate
+of her father. I heard the old man articulating in a low tone of voice; I
+listened at the intervals between the stripes, and lo! he was praying!
+
+When the last lash was laid on, he was let down; and leaving him to put on
+his clothes, they passed out of the door, and drove the man's weeping
+child away! I was mending a hinge to one of the barn doors; I saw and
+heard what I have stated. Six months after, this same man's eldest
+daughter, a girl fifteen years old, was sold to slave-traders, where he
+never saw her more.
+
+This poor slave and his wife were both Methodists, so was the wife of the
+young master who flogged him. My old master was an Episcopalian.
+
+These are only a few of the instances which came under my own notice
+during my childhood and youth on our plantations; as to those which
+occurred on other plantations in the neighbourhood, I could state any
+number.
+
+I have stated that my master was watching the movements of our family very
+closely. Sometime after the difficulties began, we found that he also had
+a confidential slave assisting him in the business. This wretched fellow,
+who was nearly white, and of Irish descent, informed our master of the
+movements of each member of the family by day and by night, and on
+Sundays. This stirred the spirit of my mother, who spoke to our
+fellow-slave, and told him he ought to be ashamed to be engaged in such
+low business.
+
+Master hearing of this, called my father, mother, and myself before him,
+and accused us of an attempt to resist and intimidate his "confidential
+servant." Finding that only my mother had spoken to him, he swore that if
+she ever spoke another word to him, he would flog her.
+
+I knew my mother's spirit and my master's temper as well. Our social state
+was now perfectly intolerable. We were on the eve of a general fracas.
+This last scene occurred on Tuesday; and on Saturday evening following,
+without counsel or advice from any one, I determined to fly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE FLIGHT.
+
+
+It was the Sabbath: the holy day which God in his infinite wisdom gave for
+the rest of both man and beast. In the state of Maryland, the slaves
+generally have the Sabbath, except in those districts where the evil weed,
+tobacco, is cultivated; and then, when it is the season for setting the
+plant, they are liable to be robbed of this only rest.
+
+It was in the month of November, somewhat past the middle of the month. It
+was a bright day, and all was quiet. Most of the slaves were resting about
+their quarters; others had leave to visit their friends on other
+plantations, and were absent. The evening previous I had arranged my
+little bundle of clothing, and had secreted it at some distance from the
+house. I had spent most of the forenoon in my workshop, engaged in deep
+and solemn thought.
+
+It is impossible for me now to recollect all the perplexing thoughts that
+passed through my mind during that forenoon; it was a day of heartaching
+to me. But I distinctly remember the two great difficulties that stood in
+the way of my flight: I had a father and mother whom I dearly loved,--I
+had also six sisters and four brothers on the plantation. The question
+was, shall I hide my purpose from them? moreover, how will my flight
+affect them when I am gone? Will they not be suspected? Will not the whole
+family be sold off as a disaffected family, as is generally the case when
+one of its members flies? But a still more trying question was, how can I
+expect to succeed, I have no knowledge of distance or direction. I know
+that Pennsylvania is a free state, but I know not where its soil begins,
+or where that of Maryland ends? Indeed, at this time there was no safety
+in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York, for a fugitive, except in
+lurking-places, or under the care of judicious friends, who could be
+entrusted not only with liberty, but also with life itself.
+
+With such difficulties before my mind, the day had rapidly worn away; and
+it was just past noon. One of my perplexing questions I had settled--I had
+resolved to let no one into my secret; but the other difficulty was now to
+be met. It was to be met without the least knowledge of its magnitude,
+except by imagination. Yet of one thing there could be no mistake, that
+the consequences of a failure would be most serious. Within my
+recollection no one had attempted to escape from my master; but I had many
+cases in my mind's eye, of slaves of other planters who had failed, and
+who had been made examples of the most cruel treatment, by flogging and
+selling to the far South, where they were never to see their friends more.
+I was not without serious apprehension that such would be my fate. The
+bare possibility was impressively solemn; but the hour was now come, and
+the man must act and be free, or remain a slave for ever. How the
+impression came to be upon my mind I cannot tell; but there was a strange
+and horrifying belief, that if I did not meet the crisis that day, I
+should be self-doomed--that my ear would be nailed to the door-post for
+ever. The emotions of that moment I cannot fully depict. Hope, fear,
+dread, terror, love, sorrow, and deep melancholy were mingled in my mind
+together; my mental state was one of most painful distraction. When I
+looked at my numerous family--a beloved father and mother, eleven brothers
+and sisters, &c.; but when I looked at slavery as such; when I looked at
+it in its mildest form, with all its annoyances; and above all, when I
+remembered that one of the chief annoyances of slavery, in the most mild
+form, is the liability of being at any moment sold into the worst form; it
+seemed that no consideration, not even that of life itself, could tempt me
+to give up the thought of flight. And then when I considered the
+difficulties of the way--the reward that would be offered--the human
+blood-hounds that would be set upon my track--the weariness--the
+hunger--the gloomy thought, of not only losing all one's friends in one
+day, but of having to seek and to make new friends in a strange world.
+But, as I have said, the hour was come, and the man must act, or for ever
+be a slave.
+
+It was now two o'clock. I stepped into the quarter; there was a strange
+and melancholy silence mingled with the destitution that was apparent in
+every part of the house. The only morsel I could see in the shape of food,
+was a piece of Indian flour bread, it might be half-a-pound in weight.
+This I placed in my pocket, and giving a last look at the aspect of the
+house, and at a few small children who were playing at the door, I sallied
+forth thoughtfully and melancholy, and after crossing the barn-yard, a few
+moments' walk brought me to a small cave, near the mouth of which lay a
+pile of stones, and into which I had deposited my clothes. From this, my
+course lay through thick and heavy woods and back lands to ---- town,
+where my brother lived. This town was six miles distance. It was now near
+three o'clock, but my object was neither to be seen on the road, or to
+approach the town by daylight, as I was well-known there, and as any
+intelligence of my having been seen there would at once put the pursuers
+on my track. This first six miles of my flight, I not only travelled very
+slowly, therefore, so as to avoid carrying any daylight to this town; but
+during this walk another very perplexing question was agitating my mind.
+Shall I call on my brother as I pass through, and shew him what I am
+about? My brother was older than I, we were much attached; I had been in
+the habit of looking to him for counsel.
+
+I entered the town about dark, resolved, all things in view, _not_ to shew
+myself to my brother. Having passed through the town without being
+recognised, I now found myself under cover of night, a solitary wanderer
+from home and friends; my only guide was the _north star_, by this I knew
+my general course northward, but at what point I should strike Penn, or
+when and where I should find a friend, I knew not. Another feeling now
+occupied my mind,--I felt like a mariner who has gotten his ship outside
+of the harbour and has spread his sails to the breeze. The cargo is on
+board--the ship is cleared--and the voyage I must make; besides, this
+being my first night, almost every thing will depend upon my clearing the
+coast before the day dawns. In order to do this my flight must be rapid. I
+therefore set forth in sorrowful earnest, only now and then I was cheered
+by the _wild_ hope, that I should somewhere and at sometime be free.
+
+The night was fine for the season, and passed on with little interruption
+for want of strength, until, about three o'clock in the morning, I began
+to feel the chilling effects of the dew.
+
+At this moment, gloom and melancholy again spread through my whole soul.
+The prospect of utter destitution which threatened me was more than I
+could bear, and my heart began to melt. What substance is there in a piece
+of dry Indian bread; what nourishment is there in it to warm the nerves of
+one already chilled to the heart? Will this afford a sufficient sustenance
+after the toil of the night? But while these thoughts were agitating my
+mind, the day dawned upon me, in the midst of an open extent of country,
+where the only shelter I could find, without risking my travel by
+daylight, was a corn shock, but a few hundred yards from the road, and
+here I must pass my first day out. The day was an unhappy one; my
+hiding-place was extremely precarious. I had to sit in a squatting
+position the whole day, without the least chance to rest. But, besides
+this, my scanty pittance did not afford me that nourishment which my hard
+night's travel needed. Night came again to my relief, and I sallied forth
+to pursue my journey. By this time, not a crumb of my crust remained, and
+I was hungry and began to feel the desperation of distress.
+
+As I travelled I felt my strength failing and my spirits wavered; my mind
+was in a deep and melancholy dream. It was cloudy; I could not see my
+star, and had serious misgivings about my course.
+
+In this way the night passed away, and just at the dawn of day I found a
+few sour apples, and took my shelter under the arch of a small bridge that
+crossed the road. Here I passed the second day in ambush.
+
+This day would have been more pleasant than the previous, but the sour
+apples, and a draught of cold water, had produced anything but a
+favourable effect; indeed, I suffered most of the day with severe symptoms
+of cramp. The day passed away again without any further incident, and as I
+set out at nightfall, I felt quite satisfied that I could not pass another
+twenty-four hours without nourishment. I made but little progress during
+the night, and often sat down, and slept frequently fifteen or twenty
+minutes. At the dawn of the third day I continued my travel. As I had
+found my way to a public turnpike road during the night, I came very early
+in the morning to a toll-gate, where the only person I saw, was a lad
+about twelve years of age. I inquired of him where the road led to. He
+informed me it led to Baltimore. I asked him the distance, he said it was
+eighteen miles.
+
+This intelligence was perfectly astounding to me. My master lived eighty
+miles from Baltimore. I was now sixty-two miles from home. That distance
+in the right direction, would have placed me several miles across Mason
+and Dixon's line, but I was evidently yet in the state of Maryland.
+
+I ventured to ask the lad at the gate another question--Which is the best
+way to Philadelphia? Said he, you can take a road which turns off about
+half-a-mile below this, and goes to Getsburgh, or you can go on to
+Baltimore and take the packet.
+
+I made no reply, but my thought was, that I was as near Baltimore and
+Baltimore-packets as would answer my purpose.
+
+In a few moments I came to the road to which the lad had referred, and
+felt some relief when I had gotten out of that great public highway, "The
+National Turnpike," which I found it to be.
+
+When I had walked a mile on this road, and when it had now gotten to be
+about nine o'clock, I met a young man with a load of hay. He drew up his
+horses, and addressed me in a very kind tone, when the following dialogue
+took place between us.
+
+"Are you travelling any distance, my friend?"
+
+"I am on my way to Philadelphia."
+
+"Are you free?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I suppose, then, you are provided with free papers?"
+
+"No, sir. I have no papers."
+
+"Well, my friend, you should not travel on this road: you will be taken up
+before you have gone three miles. There are men living on this road who
+are constantly on the look-out for your people; and it is seldom that one
+escapes them who attempts to pass by day."
+
+He then very kindly gave me advice where to turn off the road at a certain
+point, and how to find my way to a certain house, where I would meet with
+an old gentleman who would further advise me whether I had better remain
+till night, or go on.
+
+I left this interesting young man; and such was my surprise and chagrin at
+the thought of having so widely missed my way, and my alarm at being in
+such a dangerous position, that in ten minutes I had so far forgotten his
+directions as to deem it unwise to attempt to follow them, lest I should
+miss my way, and get into evil hands.
+
+I, however, left the road, and went into a small piece of wood, but not
+finding a sufficient hiding-place, and it being a busy part of the day,
+when persons were at work about the fields, I thought I should excite less
+suspicion by keeping in the road, so I returned to the road; but the
+events of the next few moments proved that I committed a serious mistake.
+
+I went about a mile, making in all two miles from the spot where I met my
+young friend, and about five miles from the toll-gate to which I have
+referred, and I found myself at the twenty-four miles' stone from
+Baltimore. It was now about ten o'clock in the forenoon; my strength was
+greatly exhausted by reason of the want of suitable food; but the
+excitement that was then going on in my mind, left me little time to think
+of my _need_ of food. Under ordinary circumstances as a traveller, I
+should have been glad to see the "Tavern," which was near the mile-stone;
+but as the case stood with me, I deemed it a dangerous place to pass, much
+less to stop at. I was therefore passing it as quietly and as rapidly as
+possible, when from the lot just opposite the house, or sign-post, I heard
+a coarse stern voice cry, "Halloo!"
+
+I turned my face to the left, the direction from which the voice came, and
+observed that it proceeded from a man who was digging potatoes. I answered
+him politely; when the following occurred:--
+
+"Who do _you_ belong to?"
+
+"I am free, sir."
+
+"Have you got papers?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Well, you must stop here."
+
+By this time he had got astride the fence, making his way into the road. I
+said,
+
+"My business is onward, sir, and I do not wish to stop."
+
+"I will see then if you don't stop, you black rascal."
+
+He was now in the middle of the road, making after me in a brisk walk.
+
+I saw that a crisis was at hand; I had no weapons of any kind, not even a
+pocket-knife; but I asked myself, shall I surrender without a struggle.
+The instinctive answer was "No." What will you do? continue to walk; if he
+runs after you, run; get him as far from the house as you can, then turn
+suddenly and smite him on the knee with a stone; that will render him, at
+least, unable to pursue you.
+
+This was a desperate scheme, but I could think of no other, and my habits
+as a blacksmith had given my eye and hand such mechanical skill, that I
+felt quite sure that if I could only get a stone in my hand, and have time
+to wield it, I should not miss his knee-pan.
+
+He began to breathe short. He was evidently vexed because I did not halt,
+and I felt more and more provoked at the idea of being thus pursued by a
+man to whom I had not done the least injury. I had just began to glance my
+eye about for a stone to grasp, when he made a tiger-like leap at me. This
+of course brought us to running. At this moment he yelled out "Jake
+Shouster!" and at the next moment the door of a small house standing to
+the left was opened, and out jumped a shoemaker girded up in his leather
+apron, with his knife in hand. He sprang forward and seized me by the
+collar, while the other seized my arms behind. I was now in the grasp of
+two men, either of whom were larger bodied than myself, and one of whom
+was armed with a dangerous weapon.
+
+Standing in the door of the shoemaker's shop, was a third man; and in the
+potatoe lot I had passed, was still a fourth man. Thus surrounded by
+superior physical force, the fortune of the day it seemed to me was gone.
+
+My heart melted away, I sunk resistlessly into the hands of my captors,
+who dragged me immediately into the tavern which was near. I ask my reader
+to go in with me, and see how the case goes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+GREAT MORAL DILEMMA.
+
+A few moments after I was taken into the bar-room, the news having gone as
+by electricity, the house and yard were crowded with gossippers, who had
+left their business to come and see "the runaway nigger." This hastily
+assembled congregation consisted of men, women, and children, each one had
+a look to give at, and a word to say about, the "nigger."
+
+But among the whole, there stood one whose name I have never known, but
+who evidently wore the garb of a man whose profession bound him to speak
+for the dumb, but he, standing head and shoulders above all that were
+round about, spoke the first hard sentence against me. Said he, "That
+fellow is a runaway I know; put him in jail a few days, and you will soon
+hear where he came from." And then fixing a fiend-like gaze upon me, he
+continued, "if I lived on this road, _you_ fellows would not find such
+clear running as you do, I'd trap more of you."
+
+But now comes the pinch of the case, the case of conscience to me even at
+this moment. Emboldened by the cruel speech just recited, my captors
+enclosed me, and said, "Come now, this matter may easily be settled
+without you going to jail; who do you belong to, and where did you come
+from?"
+
+The facts here demanded were in my breast. I knew according to the law of
+slavery, who I belonged to and where I came from, and I must now do one of
+three things--I must refuse to speak at all, or I must communicate the
+fact, or I must tell an untruth. How would an untutored slave, who had
+never heard of such a writer as Archdeacon Paley, be likely to act in such
+a dilemma? The first point decided, was, the facts in this case are my
+private property. These men have no more right to them than a highway
+robber has to my purse. What will be the consequence if I put them in
+possession of the facts. In forty-eight hours, I shall have received
+perhaps one hundred lashes, and be on my way to the Louisiana cotton
+fields. Of what service will it be to them. They will get a paltry sum of
+two hundred dollars. Is not my liberty worth more to me than two hundred
+dollars are to them?
+
+I resolved therefore, to insist that I was free. This not being
+satisfactory without other evidence, they tied my hands and set out, and
+went to a magistrate who lived about half a mile distant. It so happened,
+that when we arrived at his house he was not at home. This was to them a
+disappointment, but to me it was a relief; but I soon learned by their
+conversation, that there was still another magistrate in the
+neighbourhood, and that they would go to him. In about twenty minutes, and
+after climbing fences and jumping ditches, we, captors and captive, stood
+before his door, but it was after the same manner as before--he was not at
+home. By this time the day had worn away to one or two o'clock, and my
+captors evidently began to feel somewhat impatient of the loss of time. We
+were about a mile and a quarter from the tavern. As we set out on our
+return, they began to parley. Finding it was difficult for me to get over
+fences with, my hands tied, they untied me, and said, "Now John," that
+being the name they had given me, "if you have run away from any one, it
+would be much better for you to tell us!" but I continued to affirm that I
+was free. I knew, however, that my situation was very critical, owing to
+the shortness of the distance I must be from home: my advertisement might
+overtake me at any moment.
+
+On our way back to the tavern, we passed through a small skirt of wood,
+where I resolved to make an effort to escape again. One of my captors was
+walking on either side of me; I made a sudden turn, with my left arm
+sweeping the legs of one of my captors from under him; I left him nearly
+standing on his head, and took to my heels. As soon as they could recover
+they both took after me. We had to mount a fence. This I did most
+successfully, and making across an open field towards another wood; one of
+my captors being a long-legged man, was in advance of the other, and
+consequently nearing me. We had a hill to rise, and during the ascent he
+gained on me. Once more I thought of self-defence. I am trying to escape
+peaceably, but this man is determined that I shall not.
+
+My case was now desperate; and I took this desperate thought: "I will run
+him a little farther from his coadjutor; I will then suddenly catch a
+stone, and wound him in the breast." This was my fixed purpose, and I had
+arrived near the point on the top of the hill, where I expected to do the
+act, when to my surprise and dismay, I saw the other side of the hill was
+not only all ploughed up, but we came suddenly upon a man ploughing, who
+as suddenly left his plough and cut off my flight, by seizing me by the
+collar, when at the same moment my pursuer seized my arms behind. Here I
+was again in a sad fix. By this time the other pursuer had come up; I was
+most savagely thrown down on the ploughed ground with my face downward,
+the ploughman placed his knee upon my shoulders, one of my captors put his
+upon my legs, while the other tied my arms behind me. I was then dragged
+up, and marched off with kicks, punches and imprecations.
+
+We got to the tavern at three o'clock. Here they again cooled down, and
+made an appeal to me to make a disclosure. I saw that my attempt to escape
+strengthened their belief that I was a fugitive. I said to them, "If you
+will not put me in jail, I will now tell you where I am from." They
+promised. "Well," said I, "a few weeks ago, I was sold from the eastern
+shore to a slave-trader, who had a large gang, and set out for Georgia,
+but when he got to a town in Virginia, he was taken sick, and died with
+the small-pox. Several of his gang also died with, it, so that the people
+in the town became alarmed, and did not wish the gang to remain among
+them. No one claimed us, or wished to have anything to do with us; I left
+the rest, and thought I would go somewhere and get work."
+
+When I said this, it was evidently believed by those who were present, and
+notwithstanding the unkind feeling that had existed, there was a murmur of
+approbation. At the same time I perceived that a panic began to seize
+some, at the idea that I was one of a small-pox gang. Several who had
+clustered near me, moved off to a respectful distance. One or two left
+the bar-room, and murmured, "better let the small-pox nigger go."
+
+I was then asked what was the name of the slave-trader. Without
+premeditation, I said, "John Henderson."
+
+"John Henderson!" said one of my captors, "I knew him; I took up a yaller
+boy for him about two years ago, and got fifty dollars. He passed out with
+a gang about that time, and the boy ran away from him at Frederickstown.
+What kind of a man was he?"
+
+At a venture, I gave a description of him. "Yes," said he, "that is the
+man." By this time, all the gossippers had cleared the coast; our friend,
+"Jake Shouster," had also gone back to his bench to finish his custom
+work, after having "lost nearly the whole day, trotting about with a
+nigger tied," as I heard his wife say as she called him home to his
+dinner. I was now left alone with the man who first called to me in the
+morning. In a sober manner, he made this proposal to me: "John, I have a
+brother living in Risterstown, four miles off, who keeps a tavern; I think
+you had better go and live with him, till we see what will turn up. He
+wants an ostler." I at once assented to this. "Well," said he, "take
+something to eat, and I will go with you."
+
+Although I had so completely frustrated their designs for the moment, I
+knew that it would by no means answer for me to go into that town, where
+there were prisons, handbills, newspapers, and travellers. My intention
+was, to start with him, but not to enter the town alive.
+
+I sat down to eat; it was Wednesday, four o'clock, and this was the first
+regular meal I had since Sunday morning. This over, we set out, and to my
+surprise, he proposed to walk. We had gone about a mile and a-half, and
+were approaching a wood through which the road passed with a bend. I fixed
+upon that as the spot where I would either free myself from this man, or
+die in his arms. I had resolved upon a plan of operation--it was this: to
+stop short, face about, and commence action; and neither ask or give
+quarters, until I was free or dead!
+
+We had got within six rods of the spot, when a gentleman turned the
+corner, meeting us on horseback. He came up, and entered into conversation
+with my captor, both of them speaking in Dutch, so that I knew not what
+they said. After a few moments, this gentleman addressed himself to me in
+English, and I then learned that he was one of the magistrates on whom we
+had called in the morning; I felt that another crisis was at hand. Using
+his saddle as his bench, he put on an extremely stern and magisterial-like
+face, holding up his horse not unlike a field-marshal in the act of
+reviewing troops, and carried me through a most rigid examination in
+reference to the statement I had made. I repeated carefully all I had
+said; at the close, he said, "Well, you had better stay among us a few
+months, until we see what is to be done with you." It was then agreed that
+we should go back to the tavern, and there settle upon some further plan.
+When we arrived at the tavern, the magistrate alighted from his horse, and
+went into the bar-room. He took another close glance at me, and went over
+some points of the former examination. He seemed quite satisfied of the
+correctness of my statement, and made the following proposition: that I
+should go and live with him for a short time, stating that he had a few
+acres of corn and potatoes to get in, and that he would give me
+twenty-five cents per day. I most cheerfully assented to this proposal. It
+was also agreed that I should remain at the tavern with my captor that
+night, and that he would accompany me in the morning. This part of the
+arrangement I did not like, but of course I could not say so. Things being
+thus arranged, the magistrate mounted his horse, and went on his way home.
+
+It had been cloudy and rainy during the afternoon, but the western sky
+having partially cleared at this moment, I perceived that it was near the
+setting of the sun.
+
+My captor had left his hired man most of the day to dig potatoes alone;
+but the waggon being now loaded, it being time to convey the potatoes into
+the barn, and the horses being all ready for that purpose, he was obliged
+to go into the potatoe field and give assistance.
+
+I should say here, that his wife had been driven away by the small-pox
+panic about three o'clock, and had not yet returned; this left no one in
+the house, but a boy, about nine years of age.
+
+As he went out, he spoke to the boy in Dutch, which I supposed, from the
+little fellow's conduct, to be instructions to watch me closely, which he
+certainly did.
+
+The potatoe lot was across the public road, directly in front of the
+house; at the back of the house, and about 300 yards distant, there was a
+thick wood. The circumstances of the case would not allow me to think for
+one moment of remaining there for the night--the time had come for another
+effort--but there were two serious difficulties. One was, that I must
+either deceive or dispatch this boy who is watching me with intense
+vigilance. I am glad to say, that the latter did not for a moment
+seriously enter my mind. To deceive him effectually, I left my coat and
+went to the back door, from which my course would be direct to the wood.
+When I got to the door, I found that the barn, to which the waggon, must
+soon come, lay just to the right, and overlooking the path I must take to
+the wood. In front of me lay a garden surrounded by a picket fence, to the
+left of me was a small gate, and that by passing through that gate would
+throw me into an open field, and give me clear running to the wood; but on
+looking through the gate, I saw that my captor, being with the team, would
+see me if I attempted to start before he moved from the position he then
+occupied. To add to my difficulty the horses had baulked; while waiting
+for the decisive moment, the boy came to the door and asked me why I did
+not come in. I told him I felt unwell, and wished him to be so kind as to
+hand me a glass of water; expecting while he was gone to get it, the team
+would clear, so that I could start. While he was gone, another attempt was
+made to start the team but failed; he came with the water and I quickly
+used it up by gargling my throat and by drinking a part. I asked him to
+serve me by giving me another glass: he gave me a look of close scrutiny,
+but went in for the water. I heard him fill the glass, and start to return
+with it; when the hind end of the waggon cleared the corner of the house,
+which stood in a range with the fence along which I was to pass in getting
+to the wood. As I passed out the gate, I "squared my main yard," and laid
+my course up the line of fence, I cast a last glance over my right
+shoulder, and saw the boy just perch his head above the garden picket to
+look after me; I heard at the same time great confusion with the team, the
+rain having made the ground slippery, and the horses having to cross the
+road with a slant and rise to get into the barn, it required great effort
+after they started to prevent their baulking. I felt some assurance that
+although the boy might give the alarm, my captor could not leave the team
+until it was in the barn. I heard the horses' feet on the barn-floor, just
+as I leaped the fence, and darted into the wood.
+
+The sun was now quite down behind the western horizon, and just at this
+time a heavy dark curtain of clouds was let down, which seemed to usher in
+haste the night shade. I have never before or since seen anything which
+seemed to me to compare in sublimity with the spreading of the night
+shades at the close of that day. My reflections upon the events of that
+day, and upon the close of it, since I became acquainted with the Bible,
+have frequently brought to my mind that beautiful passage in the Book of
+Job, "He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth a cloud before
+it."
+
+Before I proceed to the critical events and final deliverance of the next
+chapter, I cannot forbear to pause a moment here for reflection. The
+reader may well imagine how the events of the past day affected my mind.
+You have seen what was done to me; you have heard what was said to me--you
+have also seen what I have done, and heard what I have said. If you ask me
+whether I had expected before I left home, to gain my liberty by shedding
+men's blood, or breaking their limbs? I answer, no! and as evidence of
+this, I had provided no weapon whatever; not so much as a penknife--it
+never once entered my mind. I cannot say that I expected to have the ill
+fortune of meeting with any human being who would attempt to impede my
+flight.
+
+If you ask me if I expected when I left home to gain my liberty by
+fabrications and untruths? I answer, no! my parents, slaves as they were,
+had always taught me, when they could, that "truth may be blamed but
+cannot be shamed;" so far as their example was concerned, I had no habits
+of untruth. I was arrested, and the demand made upon me, "Who do you
+belong to?" knowing the fatal use these men would make of _my_ truth, I at
+once concluded that they had no more right to it than a highwayman has to
+a traveller's purse.
+
+If you ask me whether I now really believe that I gained my liberty by
+those lies? I answer, no! I now believe that I should be free, had I told
+the truth; but, at that moment, I could not see any other way to baffle my
+enemies, and escape their clutches.
+
+The history of that day has never ceased to inspire me with a deeper
+hatred of slavery; I never recur to it but with the most intense horror at
+a system which can put a man not only in peril of liberty, limb, and life
+itself, but which may even send him in haste to the bar of God with a lie
+upon his lips.
+
+Whatever my readers may think, therefore, of the history of events of the
+day, do not admire in it the fabrications; but _see_ in it the impediments
+that often fall into the pathway of the flying bondman. _See_ how human
+bloodhounds gratuitously chase, catch, and tempt him to shed blood and
+lie; how, when he would do good, evil is thrust upon him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A DREARY NIGHT IN THE WOODS--CRITICAL SITUATION THE NEXT DAY.
+
+
+Almost immediately on entering the wood, I not only found myself embosomed
+in the darkness of the night, but I also found myself entangled in a thick
+forest of undergrowth, which had been quite thoroughly wetted by the
+afternoon rain.
+
+I penetrated through the wood, thick and thin, and more or less wet, to
+the distance I should think of three miles. By this time my clothes were
+all thoroughly soaked through, and I felt once more a gloom and
+wretchedness; the recollection of which makes me shudder at this distant
+day. My young friends in this highly favoured Christian country,
+surrounded with all the comforts of home and parental care, visited by
+pastors and Sabbath-school teachers, think of the dreary condition of the
+blacksmith boy in the dark wood that night; and then consider that
+thousands of his brethren have had to undergo much greater hardships in
+their flight from slavery.
+
+I was now out of the hands of those who had so cruelly teased me during
+the day; but a number of fearful thoughts rushed into my mind to alarm me.
+It was dark and cloudy, so that I could not see the _north star_. How do I
+know what ravenous beasts are in this wood? How do I know what precipices
+may be within its bounds? I cannot rest in this wood to-morrow, for it
+will be searched by those men from whom I have escaped; but how shall I
+regain the road? How shall I know when I am on the right road again?
+
+These are some of the thoughts that filled my mind with gloom and alarm.
+
+At a venture I struck an angle northward in search of the road. After
+several hours of zigzag and laborious travel, dragging through briars,
+thorns and running vines, I emerged from the wood and found myself wading
+marshy ground and over ditches.
+
+I can form no correct idea of the distance I travelled, but I came to a
+road, I should think about three o'clock in the morning. It so happened
+that I came out near where there was a fork in the road of three prongs.
+
+Now arose a serious query--which is the right prong for me? I was reminded
+by the circumstance of a superstitious proverb among the slaves, that "the
+left-hand turning was unlucky," but as I had never been in the habit of
+placing faith in this or any similar superstition, I am not aware that it
+had the least weight upon my mind, as I had the same difficulty with
+reference to the right-hand turning. After a few moments parley with
+myself, I took the central prong of the road and pushed on with all my
+speed.
+
+It had not cleared off, but a fresh wind had sprung up; it was chilly and
+searching. This with my wet clothing made me very uncomfortable; my nerves
+began to quiver before the searching wind. The barking of mastiffs, the
+crowing of fowls, and the distant rattling of market waggons, warned me
+that the day was approaching.
+
+My British reader must remember that in the region where I was, we know
+nothing of the long hours of twilight you enjoy here. With us the day is
+measured more by the immediate presence of the sun, and the night by the
+prevalence of actual darkness.
+
+The day dawned upon me when I was near a small house and barn, situate
+close to the road side. The barn was too near the road, and too small to
+afford secure shelter for the day; but as I cast my eye around by the dim
+light, I could see no wood, and no larger barn. It seemed to be an open
+country to a wide extent. The sun was travelling so rapidly from his
+eastern chamber, that ten or fifteen minutes would spread broad daylight
+over my track. Whether _my_ deed was evil, _you_ may judge, but I freely
+confess that I did _then_ prefer darkness rather than light; I therefore
+took to the mow of the little barn at a great risk, as the events of the
+day will show. It so happened that the barn was filled with corn fodder,
+newly cured and lately gotten in. You are aware that however quietly one
+may crawl into such a bed, he is compelled to make much more noise than if
+it were a feather-bed; and also considerably more than if it were hay or
+straw. Besides inflicting upon my own excited imagination the belief that
+I made noise enough to be heard by the inmates of the house who were
+likely to be rising at the time, I had the misfortune to attract the
+notice of a little house-dog, such as we call in that part of the world a
+"fice," on account of its being not only the smallest species of the
+canine race, but also, because it is the most saucy, noisy, and teasing
+of all dogs. This little creature commenced a fierce barking. I had at
+once great fears that the mischievous little thing would betray me; I
+fully apprehended that as soon as the man of the house arose, he would
+come and make search in the barn. It now being entirely daylight, it was
+too late to retreat from this shelter, even if I could have found another;
+I, therefore, bedded myself down into the fodder as best I could, and
+entered upon the annoyances of the day, with the frail hope to sustain my
+mind.
+
+It was Thursday morning; the clouds that had veiled the sky during the
+latter part of the previous day and the previous night were gone. It was
+not until about an hour after the sun rose that I heard any out-door
+movements about the house. As soon as I heard those movements, I was
+satisfied there was but one man about the house, and that he was preparing
+to go some distance to work for the day. This was fortunate for me; the
+busy movements about the yard, and especially the active preparations in
+the house for breakfast, silenced my unwelcome little annoyer, the fice,
+until after the man had gone, when he commenced afresh, and continued with
+occasional intermissions through the day. He made regular sallies from the
+house to the barn, and after smelling about, would fly back to the house,
+barking furiously; thus he strove most skilfully throughout the entire day
+to raise an alarm. There seemed to be no one about the house but one or
+two small children and the mother, after the man was gone. About ten
+o'clock my attention was gravely directed to another trial: how I could
+pass the day without food. The reader will remember it is Thursday, and
+the only regular meal I have taken since Sunday, was yesterday, in the
+midst of great agitation, about four o'clock; that since that I have
+performed my arduous night's travel. At one moment, I had nearly concluded
+to go and present myself at the door, and ask the woman of the house to
+have compassion and give me food; but then I feared the consequences might
+be fatal, and I resolved to suffer the day out. The wind sprang up fresh
+and cool; the barn being small and the crevices large, my wet clothes were
+dried by it, and chilled me through and through.
+
+I cannot now, with pen or tongue, give a correct idea of the feeling of
+wretchedness I experienced; every nerve in my system quivered, so that not
+a particle of my flesh was at rest. In this way I passed the day till
+about the middle of the afternoon, when there seemed to be an unusual stir
+about the public road, which passed close by the barn. Men seemed to be
+passing in parties on horseback, and talking anxiously. From a word which
+I now and then overheard, I had not a shadow of doubt that they were in
+search of me. One I heard say, "I ought to catch such a fellow, the only
+liberty he should have for one fortnight, would be ten feet of rope."
+Another I heard say, "I reckon he is in that wood now." Another said, "Who
+would have thought that rascal was so 'cute?" All this while the little
+fice was mingling his voice with those of the horsemen, and the noise of
+the horses' feet. I listened and trembled.
+
+Just before the setting of the sun, the labouring man of the house
+returned, and commenced his evening duties about the house and barn;
+chopping wood, getting up his cow, feeding his pigs, &c, attended by the
+little brute, who continued barking at short intervals. He came several
+times into the barn below. While matters were passing thus, I heard the
+approach of horses again, and as they came up nearer, I was led to believe
+that all I had heard pass, were returning in one party. They passed the
+barn and halted at the house, when I recognised the voice of my old
+captor; addressing the labourer, he asked, "Have you seen a runaway nigger
+pass here to-day?"
+
+LABOURER.--"No; I have not been at home since early this morning. Where
+did he come from?"
+
+CAPTOR.--"I caught him down below here yesterday morning. I had him all
+day, and just at night he fooled me and got away. A party of us have been
+after him all day; we have been up to the line, but can't hear or see
+anything of him. I heard this morning where he came from. He is a
+blacksmith, and a stiff reward is out for him, two hundred dollars."
+
+LAB.--"He is worth looking for."
+
+CAP.--"I reckon so. If I get my clutches on him again, I'll mosey[A] him
+down to ---- before I eat or sleep."
+
+[Footnote A: An expression which signifies to drive in a hurry.]
+
+Reader, you may if you can, imagine what the state of my mind was at this
+moment. I shall make no attempt to describe it to you; to my great relief,
+however, the party rode off, and the labourer after finishing his work
+went into the house. Hope seemed now to dawn for me once more; darkness
+was rapidly approaching, but the moments of twilight seemed much longer
+than they did the evening before. At length the sable covering had spread
+itself over the earth. About eight o'clock, I ventured to descend from the
+mow of the barn into the road. The little dog the while began a furious
+fit of barking, so much so, that I was sure that with what his master had
+learned about me, he could not fail to believe I was about his premises. I
+quickly crossed the road, and got into an open field opposite. After
+stepping lightly about two hundred yards, I halted, and on listening, I
+heard the door open. Feeling about on the ground, I picked up two stones,
+and one in each hand I made off as fast as I could, but I heard nothing
+more that indicated pursuit, and after going some distance I discharged my
+encumbrance, as from the reduced state of my bodily strength, I could not
+afford to carry ballast.
+
+This incident had the effect to start me under great disadvantage to make
+a good night's journey, as it threw me at once off the road, and compelled
+me to encounter at once the tedious and laborious task of beating my way
+across marshy fields, and to drag through woods and thickets where there
+were no paths.
+
+After several hours I found my way back to the road, but the hope of
+making anything like clever speed was out of the question. All I could do
+was to keep my legs in motion, and this I continued to do with the utmost
+difficulty. The latter part of the night I suffered extremely from cold.
+There came a heavy frost; I expected at every moment to fall on the road
+and perish. I came to a corn-field covered with heavy shocks of Indian
+corn that had been cut; I went into this and got an ear, and then crept
+into one of the shocks; eat as much of it as I could, and thought I would
+rest a little and start again, but weary nature could not sustain the
+operation of grinding hard corn for its own nourishment, and I sunk to
+sleep.
+
+When I awoke, the sun was shining around; I started with alarm, but it
+was too late to think of seeking any other shelter; I therefore nestled
+myself down, and concealed myself as best I could from the light of day.
+After recovering a little from my fright, I commenced again eating my
+whole corn. Grain by grain I worked away at it; when my jaws grew tired,
+as they often did, I would rest, and then begin afresh. Thus, although I
+began an early breakfast, I was nearly the whole of the forenoon before I
+had done.
+
+Nothing of importance occurred during the day, until about the middle of
+the afternoon, when I was thrown into a panic by the appearance of a party
+of gunners, who passed near me with their dogs. After shooting one or two
+birds, however, and passing within a few rods of my frail covering, they
+went on, and left me once more in hope. Friday night came without any
+other incident worth naming. As I sallied out, I felt evident benefit from
+the ear of corn I had nibbled away. My strength was considerably renewed;
+though I was far from being nourished, I felt that my life was at least
+safe from death by hunger. Thus encouraged, I set out with better speed
+than I had made since Sunday and Monday night. I had a presentiment, too,
+that I must be near free soil. I had not yet the least idea where I should
+find a home or a friend, still my spirits were so highly elated, that I
+took the whole of the road to myself; I ran, hopped, skipped, jumped,
+clapped my hands, and talked to myself. But to the old slaveholder I had
+left, I said, "Ah! ha! old fellow, I told you I'd fix you."
+
+After an hour or two of such freaks of joy, a gloom would come over me in
+connexion with these questions, "But where are you going? What are you
+going to do? What will you do with freedom without father, mother,
+sisters, and brothers? What will you say when you are asked where you were
+born? You know nothing of the world; how will you explain the fact of your
+ignorance?"
+
+These questions made me feel deeply the magnitude of the difficulties yet
+before me.
+
+Saturday morning dawned upon me; and although my strength seemed yet
+considerably fresh, I began to feel a hunger somewhat more destructive and
+pinching, if possible, than I had before. I resolved, at all risk, to
+continue my travel by day-light, and to ask information of the first
+person I met.
+
+The events of the next chapter will shew what fortune followed this
+resolve.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE GOOD WOMAN OF THE TOLL-GATE DIRECTS ME TO W.W.--MY RECEPTION BY HIM.
+
+
+The resolution of which I informed the reader at the close of the last
+chapter, being put into practice, I continued my flight on the public
+road; and a little after the sun rose, I came in sight of a toll-gate
+again. For a moment all the events which followed my passing a toll-gate
+on Wednesday morning, came fresh to my recollection, and produced some
+hesitation; but at all events, said I, I will try again.
+
+On arriving at the gate, I found it attended by an elderly woman, whom I
+afterwards learned was a widow, and an excellent Christian woman. I asked
+her if I was in Pennsylvania. On being informed that I was, I asked her if
+she knew where I could get employ? She said she did not; but advised me to
+go to W.W., a Quaker, who lived about three miles from her, whom I would
+find to take an interest in me. She gave me directions which way to take;
+I thanked her, and bade her good morning, and was very careful to follow
+her directions.
+
+In about half an hour I stood trembling at the door of W.W. After
+knocking, the door opened upon a comfortably spread table; the sight of
+which seemed at once to increase my hunger sevenfold. Not daring to enter,
+I said I had been sent to him in search of employ. "Well," said he, "Come
+in and take thy breakfast, and get warm, and we will talk about it; thee
+must be cold without any coat." "_Come in and take thy breakfast, and get
+warm!_" These words spoken by a stranger, but with such an air of simple
+sincerity and fatherly kindness, made an overwhelming impression upon my
+mind. They made me feel, spite of all my fear and timidity, that I had, in
+the providence of God, found a friend and a home. He at once gained my
+confidence; and I felt that I might confide to him a fact which I had, as
+yet, confided to no one.
+
+From that day to this, whenever I discover the least disposition in my
+heart to disregard the wretched condition of any poor or distressed
+persons with whom I meet, I call to mind these words--"_Come in and take
+thy breakfast, and get warm_." They invariably remind me of what I was at
+that time; my condition was as wretched as that of any human being can
+possibly be, with the exception of the loss of health or reason. I had but
+four pieces of clothing about my person, having left all the rest in the
+hands of my captors. I was a starving fugitive, without home or friends--a
+reward offered for my person in the public papers--pursued by cruel
+manhunters, and no claim upon him to whose door I went. Had he turned me
+away, I must have perished. Nay, he took me in, and gave me of his food,
+and shared with me his own garments. Such treatment I had never before
+received at the hands of any white man.
+
+A few such men in slaveholding America, have stood, and even now stand,
+like Abrahams and Lots, to stay its forthcoming and well-earned and just
+judgment.
+
+The limits of this work compel me to pass over many interesting incidents
+which occurred during my six months' concealment in that family. I must
+confine myself only to those which will show the striking providence of
+God, in directing my steps to the door of W.W., and how great an influence
+the incidents of that six months has had upon all my subsequent history.
+My friend kindly gave me employ to saw and split a number of cords of
+wood, then lying in his yard, for which he agreed with me for liberal pay
+and board. This inspired me with great encouragement. The idea of
+beginning to earn something was very pleasant. Next; we confidentially
+agreed upon the way and means of avoiding surprise, in case any one should
+come to the house as a spy, or with intention to arrest me. This afforded
+still further relief, as it convinced me that the whole family would now
+be on the look out for such persons.
+
+The next theme of conversation was with reference to my education.
+
+"Can thee read or write any, James?" was the question put to me the
+morning after my arrival, by W.W.
+
+"No, sir, I cannot; my duties as a blacksmith have made me acquainted with
+the figures on the common mechanics' square. There was a day-book kept in
+the shop, in which the overseer usually charged the smithwork we did for
+the neighbours. I have spent entire Sabbaths looking over the pages of
+that book; knowing the names of persons to whom certain pieces of work
+were charged, together with their prices, I strove anxiously to learn to
+write in this way. I got paper, and picked up feathers about the yard, and
+made ink of ---- berries. My quills being too soft, and my skill in making
+a pen so poor, that I undertook some years ago to make a steel pen.[A] In
+this way I have learnt to make a few of the letters, but I cannot write my
+own name, nor do I know the letters of the alphabet."
+
+[Footnote A: This attempt was as early as 1822.]
+
+_W.W., (handing a slate and pencil.)_--"Let me see how thee makes letters;
+try such as thou hast been able to make easily."
+
+A.B.C.L.G.
+
+_P.W., (wife of W.W.)_--"Why, those are better than I can make."
+
+_W.W._--"Oh, we can soon get thee in the way, James."
+
+Arithmetic and astronomy became my favourite studies. W.W. was an
+accomplished scholar; he had been a teacher for some years, and was
+cultivating a small farm on account of ill-health, which had compelled him
+to leave teaching. He is one of the most far-sighted and practical men I
+ever met with. He taught me by familiar conversations, illustrating his
+themes by diagrams on the slate, so that I caught his ideas with ease and
+rapidity.
+
+I now began to see, for the first time, the extent of the mischief slavery
+had done to me. Twenty-one years of my life were gone, never again to
+return, and I was as profoundly ignorant, comparatively, as a child five
+years old. This was painful, annoying, and humiliating in the extreme. Up
+to this time, I recollected to have seen one copy of the New Testament,
+but the entire Bible I had never seen, and had never heard of the
+Patriarchs, or of the Lord Jesus Christ. I recollected to have heard two
+sermons, but had heard no mention in them of Christ, or the way of life
+by Him. It is quite easy to imagine, then, what was the state of my mind,
+having been reared in total moral midnight; it was a sad picture of mental
+and spiritual darkness.
+
+As my friend poured light into my mind, I saw the darkness; it amazed and
+grieved me beyond description. Sometimes I sank down under the load, and
+became discouraged, and dared not hope that I could ever succeed in
+acquiring knowledge enough, to make me happy, or useful to my
+fellow-beings.
+
+My dear friend, W.W., however, had a happy tact to inspire me with
+confidence; and he, perceiving my state of mind, exerted himself, not
+without success, to encourage me. He cited to me various instances of
+coloured persons, of whom I had not heard before, and who had
+distinguished themselves for learning, such as Bannicker, Wheatley, and
+Francis Williams.
+
+How often have I regretted that the six months I spent in the family of
+W.W., could not have been six years. The danger of recapture, however,
+rendered it utterly imprudent that I should remain longer; and early in
+the month of March, while the ground was covered with the winter's snow, I
+left the bosom of this excellent family, and went forth once more to try
+my fortune among strangers.
+
+My dear reader, if I could describe to you the emotions I felt when I left
+the threshold of W.W.'s door, you could not fail to see how deplorable is
+the condition of the fugitive slave, often for months and years after he
+has escaped the immediate grasp of the tyrant. When I left my parents, the
+trial was great, but I had now to leave a friend who had done more for me
+than parents could have done as slaves; and hence I felt an endearment to
+that friend which was heightened by a sense of the important relief he had
+afforded me in the greatest need, and hours of pleasant and highly
+profitable intercourse.
+
+About a month previous to leaving the house of W.W., a small circumstance
+occurred one evening, which I only name to shew the harassing fears and
+dread in which I lived during most of the time I was there. He had a
+brother-in-law living some ten miles distant--he was a friend to the
+slave; he often came unexpectedly and spent a few hours--sometimes a day
+and a night. I had not, however, ever known him to come at night. One
+night about nine o'clock, after I had gone to bed, (my lodging being just
+over the room in which W.W. and his wife were sitting,) I heard the door
+open and a voice ask, "Where is the boy?" The voice sounded to me like the
+voice of my master; I was sure it must be his. I sprang and listened for a
+moment--it seemed to be silent; I heard nothing, and then it seemed to me
+there was a confusion. There was a window at the head of my bed, which I
+could reach without getting upon the floor: it was a single sash and
+opened upon hinges. I quickly opened this window and waited in a perfect
+tremour of dread for further development. There was a door at the foot of
+the stairs; as I heard that door open, I sprang for the window, and my
+head was just out, when the gentle voice of my friend W.W. said,
+"James?"[A] "Here," said I, "---- has come, and he would like to have thee
+put up his horse." I drew a breath of relief, but my strength and presence
+of mind did not return for some hours, I slept none that night; for a
+moment I could doze away, but the voice would sound in my ears, "Where is
+that boy?" and it would seem to me it must be the tyrant in quest of his
+weary prey, and would find myself starting again.
+
+[Footnote A: If W.W. had ascended the stairs without calling, I should
+certainly have jumped out of the window.]
+
+From that time the agitation of my mind became so great that I could not
+feel myself safe. Every day seemed to increase my fear, till I was unfit
+for work, study or rest. My friend endeavoured, but in vain, to get me to
+stay a week longer.
+
+The events of the spring proved that I had not left too soon. As soon as
+the season for travelling fairly opened, active search was made, and my
+master was seen in a town, twenty miles in advance of where I had spent my
+six months.
+
+The following curious fact also came out. That same brother-in-law who
+frightened me, was putting up one evening at a hotel some miles off, and
+while sitting quietly by himself in one part of the room, he overheard a
+conversation between a travelling pedler and several gossippers of the
+neighbourhood, who were lounging away the evening at the hotel.
+
+PEDLER.--"Do you know one W.W. somewhere about here?"
+
+GOSSIPER.--"Yes, he lives ---- miles off."
+
+PED.--"I understand he had a black boy with him last winter, I wonder if
+he is there yet?"
+
+GOS.--"I don't know, he most always has a runaway nigger with him."
+
+PED.--"I should like to find out whether that fellow is there yet."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW, (turning about.)--"What does thee know about that boy?"
+
+PED.--"Well he is a runaway."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Who did he run away from?"
+
+PED.--"From Col ---- in ----."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"How did thee find out that fact?"
+
+PED.--"Well, I have been over there peddling."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Where art thou from?"
+
+PED.--"I belong in Conn."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"Did thee see the boy's master?"
+
+PED.--"Yes."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"What did he offer thee to find the boy?"
+
+PED.--"I agreed to find out where he was, and let him know, and if he got
+him, I was to receive ----."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"How didst thou hear the boy had been with W.W."
+
+PED.--"Oh, he is known to be a notorious rascal for enticing away, and
+concealing slaves; he'll get himself into trouble yet, the slaveholders
+are on the look out for him."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"W.W. is my brother-in-law; the boy of whom thou speakest
+is not with him, and to save thee the trouble of abusing him, I can
+moreover say, he is no rascal."
+
+PED.--"He may not be there now, but it is because he has sent him off. His
+master heard of him, and from the description, he is sure it must have
+been his boy. He could tell me pretty nigh where he was; he said he was a
+fine healthy boy, twenty-one, a first-rate blacksmith; he would not have
+taken a thousand dollars for him."
+
+BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"I know not where the boy is, but I have no doubt he is
+worth more to himself than he ever was to his master, high as he fixes
+the price on him; and I have no doubt thee will do better to pursue thy
+peddling honestly, than to neglect it for the sake of serving
+negro-hunters at a venture."
+
+All this happened within a month or two after I left my friend. One fact
+which makes this part of the story deeply interesting to my own mind, is,
+that some years elapsed before it came to my knowledge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SEVEN MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE FAMILY OF J.K. A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF
+FRIENDS, IN CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.--REMOVAL TO NEW YORK--BECOMES A
+CONVERT TO RELIGION--BECOMES A TEACHER.
+
+
+On leaving W.W., I wended my way in deep sorrow and melancholy, onward
+towards Philadelphia, and after travelling two days and a night, I found
+shelter and employ in the family of J.K., another member of the Society of
+Friends, a farmer.
+
+The religious atmosphere in this family was excellent. Mrs. K. gave me the
+first copy of the Holy Scriptures I ever possessed, she also gave me much
+excellent counsel. She was a preacher in the Society of Friends; this
+occasioned her with her husband to be much of their time from home. This
+left the charge of the farm upon me, and besides put it out of their power
+to render me that aid in my studies which my former friend had. I,
+however, kept myself closely concealed, by confining myself to the limits
+of the farm, and using all my leisure time in study. This place was more
+secluded, and I felt less of dread and fear of discovery than I had
+before, and although seriously embarrassed for want of an instructor, I
+realized some pleasure and profit in my studies. I often employed myself
+in drawing rude maps of the solar system, and diagrams illustrating the
+theory of solar eclipses. I felt also a fondness for reading the Bible,
+and committing chapters, and verses of hymns to memory. Often on the
+Sabbath when alone in the barn, I would break the monotony of the hours by
+endeavouring to speak, as if I was addressing an audience. My mind was
+constantly struggling for thoughts, and I was still more grieved and
+alarmed at its barrenness; I found it gradually freed from the darkness
+entailed by slavery, but I was deeply and anxiously concerned how I should
+fill it with useful knowledge. I had a few books, and no tutor.
+
+In this way I spent seven months with J.K., and should have continued
+longer, agreeably to his urgent solicitation, but I felt that life was
+fast wearing, and that as I was now free, I must adventure in search of
+knowledge. On leaving J.K., he kindly gave me the following certificate,--
+
+  "East Nautmeal, Chester County, Pennsylvania, _Tenth Month 5th, 1828._
+
+  "I hereby certify, that the bearer, J.W.C. Pennington, has been in my
+  employ seven months, during most of which time I have been from home,
+  leaving my entire business in his trust, and that he has proved a highly
+  trustworthy and industrious young man. He leaves with the sincere regret
+  of myself and family; but as he feels it to be his duty to go where he
+  can obtain education, so as to fit him to be more useful, I cordially
+  commend him to the warm sympathy of the friends of humanity wherever a
+  wise providence may appoint him a home.
+
+  Signed,
+
+  "J.K."
+
+Passing through Philadelphia, I went to New York, and in a short time
+found employ on Long Island, near the city. At this time, the state of
+things was extremely critical in New York. It was just two years after the
+general emancipation in that state. In the city it was a daily occurrence
+for slaveholders from the southern states to catch their slaves, and by
+certificate from Recorder Riker take them back. I often felt serious
+apprehensions of danger, and yet I felt also that I must begin the world
+somewhere.
+
+I was earning respectable wages, and by means of evening schools and
+private tuition, was making encouraging progress in my studies.
+
+Up to this time, it had never occurred to me that I was a slave in another
+and a more serious sense. All my serious impressions of mind had been with
+reference to the slavery from which I had escaped. Slavery had been my
+theme of thought day and night.
+
+In the spring of 1829, I found my mind unusually perplexed about the state
+of the slave. I was enjoying rare privileges in attending a Sabbath
+school; the great value of Christian knowledge began to be impressed upon
+my mind to an extent I had not been conscious of before. I began to
+contrast my condition with that of ten brothers and sisters I had left in
+slavery, and the condition of children I saw sitting around me on the
+Sabbath, with their pious teachers, with that of 700,000, now 800,440
+slave children, who had no means of Christian instruction.
+
+The theme was more powerful than any my mind had ever encountered before.
+It entered into the deep chambers of my soul, and stirred the most
+agitating emotions I had ever felt. The question was, what can I do for
+that vast body of suffering brotherhood I have left behind. To add to the
+weight and magnitude of the theme, I learnt for the first time, how many
+slaves there were. The question completely staggered my mind; and finding
+myself more and more borne down with it, until I was in an agony; I
+thought I would make it a subject of prayer to God, although prayer had
+not been my habit, having never attempted it but once.
+
+I not only prayed, but also fasted. It was while engaged thus, that my
+attention was seriously drawn to the fact that I was a lost sinner, and a
+slave to Satan; and soon I saw that I must make another escape from
+another tyrant. I did not by any means forget my fellow-bondmen, of whom I
+had been sorrowing so deeply, and travailing in spirit so earnestly; but I
+now saw that while man had been injuring me, I had been offending God; and
+that unless I ceased to offend him, I could not expect to have his
+sympathy in my wrongs; and moreover, that I could not be instrumental in
+eliciting his powerful aid in behalf of those for whom I mourned so
+deeply.
+
+This may provoke a smile from some who profess to be the friends of the
+slave, but who have a lower estimate of experimental Christianity than I
+believe is due to it; but I am not the less confident that sincere prayer
+to God, proceeding from a few hearts deeply imbued with experimental
+Christianity about _that time_, has had much to do with subsequent happy
+results. At that time the 800,000 bondmen in the British Isles had not
+seen the beginning of the end of their sufferings--at that time, 20,000
+who are now free in Canada, were in bonds--at that time, there was no
+Vigilance Committee to aid the flying slave--at that time, the two
+powerful Anti-Slavery Societies of America had no being.
+
+I distinctly remember that I felt the need of enlisting the sympathy of
+God, in behalf of my enslaved brethren; but when I attempted it day after
+day, and night after night, I was made to feel, that whatever else I might
+do, I was not qualified to do that, as I was myself alienated from him by
+wicked works. In short, I felt that I needed the powerful aid of some in
+my behalf with God, just as much as I did that of my dear friend in
+Pennsylvania, when flying from man. "If one man sin against another, the
+judge shall judge him, but if a man sin against God, who shall entreat for
+him?"
+
+Day after day, for about two weeks, I found myself more deeply convicted
+of personal guilt before God. My heart, soul and body were in the greatest
+distress; I thought of neither food, drink or rest, for days and nights
+together. Burning with a recollection of the wrongs man had done
+me--mourning for the injuries my brethren were still enduring, and deeply
+convicted of the guilt of my own sins against God. One evening, in the
+third week of the struggle, while alone in my chamber, and after solemn
+reflection for several hours, I concluded that I could never be happy or
+useful in that state of mind, and resolved that I would try to become
+reconciled to God. I was then living in the family of an Elder of the
+Presbyterian Church. I had not made known my feelings to any one, either
+in the family or out of it; and I did not suppose that any one had
+discovered my feelings. To my surprise, however, I found that the family
+had not only been aware of my state for several days, but were deeply
+anxious on my behalf. The following Sabbath, Dr. Cox was on a visit in
+Brooklyn to preach, and was a guest in the family; hearing of my case, he
+expressed a wish to converse with me, and without knowing the plan, I was
+invited into a room and left alone with him. He entered skilfully and
+kindly into my feelings, and after considerable conversation he invited me
+to attend his service that afternoon. I did so, and was deeply interested.
+
+Without detaining the reader with too many particulars, I will only state
+that I heard the doctor once or twice after this, at his own place of
+worship in New York City, and had several personal interviews with him, as
+the result of which, I hope, I was brought to a saving acquaintance with
+Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write; and soon
+connected myself with the church under his pastoral care.
+
+I now returned with all my renewed powers to the great theme--slavery. It
+seemed now as I looked at it, to be more hideous than ever. I saw it now
+as an evil under the moral government of God--as a sin not only against
+man, but also against God. The great and engrossing thought with me was,
+how shall I now employ my time and my talents so as to tell most
+effectually upon this system of wrong! As I have stated, there was no
+Anti-Slavery Society then--there was no Vigilance Committee. I had,
+therefore, to select a course of action, without counsel or advice from
+any one who professed to sympathize with the slave. Many, many lonely
+hours of deep meditation have I passed during the years 1828 and 1829,
+before the great anti-slavery movement. On the questions, What shall I do
+for the slave? How shall I act so that he will reap the benefit of my time
+and talents? At one time I had resolved to go to Africa, and to react from
+there; but without bias or advice from any mortal, I soon gave up that, as
+looking too much like feeding a hungry man with a long spoon.
+
+At length, finding that the misery, ignorance, and wretchedness of the
+free coloured people was by the whites tortured into an argument for
+slavery; finding myself now among the free people of colour in New York,
+where slavery was so recently abolished; and finding much to do for their
+elevation, I resolved to give my strength in that direction. And well do I
+remember the great movement which commenced among us about this time, for
+the holding of General Conventions, to devise ways and means for their
+elevation, which continued with happy influence up to 1834, when we gave
+way to anti-slavery friends, who had then taken up the labouring oar. And
+well do I remember that the first time I ever saw those tried friends,
+Garrison, Jocelyn, and Tappan, was in one of those Conventions, where they
+came to make our acquaintance, and to secure our confidence in some of
+their preliminary labours.
+
+My particular mode of labour was still a subject of deep reflection; and
+from time to time I carried it to the Throne of Grace. Eventually my mind
+fixed upon the ministry as the desire of my whole heart. I had mastered
+the preliminary branches of English education, and was engaged in studying
+logic, rhetoric, and the Greek Testament, without a master. While thus
+struggling in my laudable work, an opening presented itself which was not
+less surprising than gratifying. Walking on the street one day, I met a
+friend, who said to me, "I have just had an application to supply a
+teacher for a school, and I have recommended you." I said, "My dear
+friend, I am obliged to you for the kindness; but I fear I cannot sustain
+an examination for that station." "Oh," said he, "try." I said, "I will,"
+and we separated. Two weeks afterwards, I met the trustees of the school,
+was examined, accepted, and agreed with them for a salary of two hundred
+dollars per annum; commenced my school, and succeeded. This was five
+years, three months, and thirteen days after I came from the South.
+
+As the events of my life since that have been of a public professional
+nature, I will say no more about it. My object in writing this tract is
+now completed. It has been to shew the reader the hand of God with a
+slave; and to elicit your sympathy in behalf of the fugitive slave, by
+shewing some of the untold dangers and hardships through which he has to
+pass to gain liberty, and how much he needs friends on free soil; and that
+men who have felt the yoke of slavery, even in its mildest form, cannot be
+expected to speak of the system otherwise than in terms of the most
+unqualified condemnation.
+
+There is one sin that slavery committed against me, which I never can
+forgive. It robbed me of my education; the injury is irreparable; I feel
+the embarrassment more seriously now than I ever did before. It cost me
+two years' hard labour, after I fled, to unshackle my mind; it was three
+years before I had purged my language of slavery's idioms; it was four
+years before I had thrown off the crouching aspect of slavery; and now the
+evil that besets me is a great lack of that general information, the
+foundation of which is most effectually laid in that part of life which I
+served as a slave. When I consider how much now, more than ever, depends
+upon sound and thorough education among coloured men, I am grievously
+overwhelmed with a sense of my deficiency, and more especially as I can
+never hope now to make it up. If I know my own heart, I have no ambition
+but to serve the cause of suffering humanity; all that I have desired or
+sought, has been to make me more efficient for good. So far I have some
+consciousness that I have done my utmost; and should my future days be few
+or many, I am reconciled to meet the last account, hoping to be acquitted
+of any wilful neglect of duty; but I shall have to go to my last account
+with this charge against the system of slavery, "_Vile monster! thou hast
+hindered my usefulness, by robbing me of my early education._"
+
+Oh! what might I have been now, but for this robbery perpetrated upon me
+as soon as I saw the light. When the monster heard that a man child was
+born, he laughed, and said, "It is mine." When I was laid in the cradle,
+he came and looked on my face, and wrote down my name upon his barbarous
+list of chattels personal, on the same list where he registered his
+horses, hogs, cows, sheep, and even his _dogs!_ Gracious Heaven, is there
+no repentance for the misguided men who do these things!
+
+The only harm I wish to slaveholders is, that they may be speedily
+delivered from the guilt of a sin, which, if not repented of, must bring
+down the judgment of Almighty God upon their devoted heads. The least I
+desire for the slave is, that he may be speedily released from the pain of
+drinking a cup whose bitterness I have sufficiently tasted, to know that
+it is insufferable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SOME ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY I LEFT IN SLAVERY--PROPOSAL TO PURCHASE MYSELF
+AND PARENTS--HOW MET BY MY OLD MASTER.
+
+
+It is but natural that the reader should wish to hear a word about the
+family I left behind.
+
+There are frequently large slave families with whom God seems to deal in a
+remarkable manner. I believe my family is an instance.
+
+I have already stated that when I fled, I left a father, mother, and
+eleven brothers and sisters. These were all, except my oldest brother,
+owned by the man from whom I fled. It will be seen at once then how the
+fear of implicating them embarrassed me in the outset. They suffered
+nothing, however, but a strong suspicion, until about six months after I
+had left; when the following circumstance took place:--
+
+When I left my friend W.W. in Pennsylvania to go on north, I ventured to
+write a letter back to one of my brothers, informing him how I was; and
+this letter was directed to the care of a white man who was hired on the
+plantation, who worked in the garden with my father, and who professed a
+warm friendship to our family; but instead of acting in good faith, he
+handed the letter to my master. I am sorry that truth compels me to say
+that that man was an Englishman.
+
+From that day the family were handled most strangely. The history begins
+thus: they were all sold into Virginia, the adjoining state. This was done
+lest I should have some plan to get them off; but God so ordered that they
+fell into kinder hands. After a few years, however, their master became
+much embarrassed, so that he was obliged to pass them into other hands,
+at least for a term of years. By this change the family was divided, and
+my parents, with the greater part of their children, were taken to New
+Orleans. After remaining there several years at hard labour,--my father
+being in a situation of considerable trust, they were again taken back to
+Virginia; and by this means became entitled by the laws of that state to
+their freedom. Before justice, however, could take its course, their old
+master in Maryland, as if intent to doom them for ever to bondage,
+repurchased them; and in order to defeat a similar law in Maryland, by
+which they would have been entitled to liberty, he obtained from the
+General Assembly of that state the following special act. This will show
+not only something of his character as a slaveholder, but also his
+political influence in the state. It is often urged in the behalf of
+slaveholders, that the law interposes an obstacle in the way of
+emancipating their slaves when they wish to do so, but here is an instance
+which lays open the real philosophy of the whole case. They make the law
+themselves, and when they find the laws operate more in favour of the
+slaves than themselves, they can easily evade or change it. Maryland being
+a slave-exporting state, you will see why they need a law to prohibit the
+importation of slaves; it is a protection to that sort of trade. This law
+he wished to evade.
+
+  "_An act for the Relief of ---- of ---- County. Passed January 17th,
+  1842._
+
+  "Whereas it is represented to this General Assembly that ---- of ----
+  county, brought into this state from the state of Virginia, sometime in
+  the month of March last, two negro slaves, to wit, ---- and ---- his
+  wife, who are slaves for life, and who were acquired by the said ---- by
+  purchase, and whereas, the said ---- is desirous of retaining said
+  slaves in this state. THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, _by the General
+  Assembly_ of Maryland, that the said ---- be, and he is hereby
+  authorized to retain said negroes as slaves for life within this state,
+  provided that the said ---- shall within thirty days after the passage
+  of this act, file with the clerk of the ---- county court, a list of
+  said slaves so brought into this state, stating their ages, with an
+  affidavit thereto attached, that the same is a true and faithful list of
+  the slaves so removed, and that they were not brought into this state
+  for the purpose of sale, and that they are slaves for life. And
+  _provided also_, that the sum of fifteen dollars for each slave, between
+  the ages of twelve and forty-five years, and the sum of five dollars for
+  each slave above the age of forty-five years and under twelve years of
+  age, so brought into this state, shall be paid to the said clerk of ----
+  county court: to be paid over by him to the treasurer of the western
+  shore, for the use and benefit of the Colonization Society of this
+  state.
+
+  _State of Connecticut.
+
+  Office of Secretary of State_.
+
+  "I hereby certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of an act passed by
+  the General Assembly of Maryland, January 17th, 1842, as it appears in
+  the printed acts of the said Maryland, in the Library of the state.
+
+  In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of said
+  state, at Hartford, this 17th day of August, 1846.
+
+  CHARLES W. BEADLEY,
+
+  (SEAL.)
+
+  Secretary of State."
+
+Thus, the whole family after being twice fairly entitled to their
+liberty, even by the laws of two slave states, had the mortification of
+finding themselves again, not only recorded as slaves for life, but also a
+premium paid upon them, professedly to aid in establishing others of their
+fellow-beings in a free republic on the coast of Africa; but the hand of
+God seems to have been heavy upon the man who could plan such a stratagem
+to wrong his fellows.
+
+The immense fortune he possessed when I left him, (bating one thousand
+dollars I brought with me in my own body,) and which he seems to have
+retained till that time, began to fly, and in a few years he was
+insolvent, so that he was unable to hold the family, and was compelled to
+think of selling them again. About this time I heard of their state by an
+underground railroad passenger, who came from that neighbourhood, and
+resolved to make an effort to obtain the freedom of my parents, and to
+relieve myself from liability. For this purpose, after arranging for the
+means to purchase, I employed counsel to make a definite offer for my
+parents and myself. To his proposal, the following evasive and offensive
+answer was returned.
+
+  _January 12th_, 1846. J. H----, Esq.
+
+  "Sir,--Your letter is before me. The ungrateful servant in whose behalf
+  you write, merits no clemency from me. He was guilty of theft when he
+  departed, for which I hope he has made due amends. I have heard he was a
+  respectable man, and calculated to do some good to his fellow-beings.
+  Servants are selling from five hundred and fifty to seven hundred
+  dollars. I will take five hundred and fifty dollars, and liberate him.
+  If my proposition is acceded to, and the money lodged in Baltimore, I
+  will execute the necessary instrument, and deliver it in Baltimore, to
+  be given up on payment being made.
+
+  "Yours, &c,
+
+  "----."
+
+  "Jim was a first-rate mechanic, (blacksmith) and was worth to me one
+  thousand dollars."
+
+Here he not only refuses to account for my parents, by including them in
+his return and proposition, but he at the same time attempts to intimidate
+me by mooting the charge of theft.
+
+I confess I was not only surprised, but mortified, at this result. The
+hope of being once more united to parents whom I had not seen for sixteen
+years, and whom I still loved dearly, had so excited my mind, that I
+disarranged my business relations, disposed of a valuable library of four
+hundred volumes, and by additional aid obtained among the liberal people
+of Jamaica, I was prepared to give the extravagant sum of five hundred
+dollars each for myself, and my father and mother. This I was willing to
+do, not because I approve of the principle involved as a general rule. But
+supposing that, as my former master was now an old man not far from his
+grave, (about which I was not mistaken) and as he knew, by his own
+shewing, that I was able to do some good, he would be inclined, whatever
+might have been our former relations and misunderstandings, to meet my
+reasonable desire to see my parents, and to part this world in
+reconciliation with each other, as well as with God. I should have
+rejoiced had his temper permitted him to accede to any offer. But I
+thought it too bad, a free man of Jesus Christ, living on "free soil," to
+give a man five hundred dollars for the privilege of being let alone, and
+to be branded as a thief into the bargain, and that too after I had served
+him twenty prime years, without the benefit of being taught so much as the
+alphabet.
+
+I wrote him with my own hand, sometime after this, stating that no
+proposition would be acceded to by me, which did not include my parents;
+and likewise fix the sum for myself more reasonable, and also retract the
+offensive charge; to this he maintained a dignified silence. The means I
+had acquired by the contributions of kind friends to redeem myself, I laid
+by, in case the worst should come; and that designed for the purchase of
+my parents, I used in another kind of operation, as the result of which,
+my father and two brothers are now in Canada. My mother was sold a second
+time, south, but she was eventually found. Several of my sisters married
+free men, who purchased their liberty; and three brothers are owned, by
+what may be called conscience slaveholders, who hold slaves only for a
+term of years. My old master has since died; my mother and he are now in
+the other world together, she is at rest from him. Sometime after his
+death, I received information from a gentleman, intimate with his heirs,
+(who are principally females) that the reduced state of the family,
+afforded not only a good opportunity to obtain a release upon reasonable
+terms, but also to render the children of my oppressor some pecuniary aid;
+and much as I had suffered, I must confess this latter was the stronger
+motive with me, for acceding to their offer made by him.
+
+I have many other deeply interesting particulars touching our family
+history, but I have detailed as many as prudence will permit, on account
+of those members who are yet south of Mason and Dixon's line.
+
+I have faith in the hand that has dealt with us so strangely, that all our
+remaining members will in time be brought together; and then the case may
+merit a reviewed and enlarged edition of this tract, when other important
+matter will be inserted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE FEEDING AND CLOTHING OF THE SLAVES IN THE PART OF MARYLAND WHERE I
+LIVED, &C.
+
+
+The slaves are generally fed upon salt pork, herrings and Indian corn.
+
+The manner of dealing it out to them is as follows:--Each working man, on
+Monday morning, goes to the cellar of the master where the provisions are
+kept, and where the overseer takes his stand with some one to assist him,
+when he, with a pair of steel-yards, weighs out to every man the amount of
+three-and-a-half pounds, to last him till the ensuing Monday--allowing him
+just half-a-pound per day. Once in a few weeks there is a change made, by
+which, instead of the three-and-a-half pounds of pork, each man receives
+twelve herrings, allowing two a-day. The only bread kind the slaves have
+is that made of Indian meal. In some of the lower counties, the masters
+usually give their slaves the corn in the ear; and they have to grind it
+for themselves by night at hand-mills. But my master had a quantity sent
+to the grist mill at a time, to be ground into coarse meal, and kept it in
+a large chest in his cellar, where the woman who cooked for the boys could
+get it daily. This was baked in large loaves, called "steel poun bread."
+Sometimes as a change it was made into "Johnny Cake," and then at others
+into mush.
+
+The slaves had no butter, coffee, tea, or sugar; occasionally they were
+allowed milk, but not statedly; the only exception to this statement was
+the "harvest provisions." In harvest, when cutting the grain, which lasted
+from two to three weeks in the heat of summer, they were allowed some
+fresh meat, rice, sugar, and coffee; and also their allowance of whiskey.
+
+At the beginning of winter, each slave had one pair of coarse shoes and
+stockings, one pair of pantaloons, and a jacket.
+
+At the beginning of summer, he had two pair of coarse linen pantaloons and
+two shirts.
+
+Once in a number of years, each slave, or each man and his wife, had one
+coarse blanket and enough coarse linen for a "bed-tick." He never had any
+bedstead or other furniture kind. The men had no hats, waistcoats or
+handkerchiefs given them, or the women any bonnets. These they had to
+contrive for themselves. Each labouring man had a small "patch" of ground
+allowed him; from this he was expected to furnish himself and his boys
+hats, &c. These patches they had to work by night; from these, also, they
+had to raise their own provisions, as no potatoes, cabbage, &c., were
+allowed them from the plantation. Years ago the slaves were in the habit
+of raising broom-corn, and making brooms to supply the market in the
+towns; but now of later years great quantities of these and other
+articles, such as scrubbing-brushes, wooden trays, mats, baskets, and
+straw hats which the slaves made, are furnished by the shakers and other
+small manufacturers, from the free states of the north.
+
+Neither my master or any other master, within my acquaintance, made any
+provisions for the religious instruction of his slaves. They were not
+worked on the Sabbath. One of the "boys" was required to stay at home and
+"feed," that is, take care of the stock, every Sabbath; the rest went to
+see their friends. Those men whose families were on other plantations
+usually spent the Sabbath with them; some would lie about at home and rest
+themselves.
+
+When it was pleasant weather my master would ride "into town" to church,
+but I never knew him to say a word to one of us about going to church, or
+about our obligations to God, or a future state. But there were a number
+of pious slaves in our neighbourhood, and several of these my master
+owned; one of these was an exhorter. He was not connected with a religious
+body, but used to speak every Sabbath in some part of the neighbourhood.
+When slaves died, their remains were usually consigned to the grave
+without any ceremony; but this old gentleman, wherever he heard of a slave
+having been buried in that way, would send notice from plantation to
+plantation, calling the slaves together at the grave on the Sabbath, where
+he'd sing, pray, and exhort. I have known him to go ten or fifteen miles
+voluntarily to attend these services. He could not read, and I never heard
+him refer to any Scripture, and state and discourse upon any fundamental
+doctrine of the gospel; but he knew a number of "spiritual songs by
+heart," of these he would give two lines at a time very exact, set and
+lead the tune himself; he would pray with great fervour, and his
+exhortations were amongst the most impressive I have heard.
+
+The Methodists at one time attempted to evangelize the slaves in our
+neighbourhod, but the effort was sternly resisted by the masters. They
+held a Camp Meeting in the neighbourhood, where many of the slaves
+attended. But one of their preachers for addressing words of comfort to
+the slaves, was arrested and tried for his life.
+
+My master was very active in this disgraceful affair, but the excellent
+man, Rev. Mr. G., was acquitted and escaped out of their hands. Still, it
+was deemed by his brethren to be imprudent for him to preach any more in
+the place, as some of the more reckless masters swore violence against
+him. This good man's name is remembered dearly, till this day, by slaves
+in that county. I met with a fugitive about a year ago, who remembered
+distinctly the words spoken by Mr. G., and by which his own mind was
+awakened to a sense of the value of his soul. He said, in the course of
+his preaching, addressing himself to the slaves, "You have precious
+immortal souls, that are worth far more to you than your bodies are to
+your masters;" or words to that effect. But while these words interested
+many slaves, they also made many masters exceedingly angry, and they
+tortured his words into an attempt to excite the slaves to rebellion.
+
+Some of my master's slaves who had families, were regularly married, and
+others were not; the law makes no provision for such marriages, and the
+only provision made by the master was, that they should obtain his leave.
+In some cases, after obtaining leave to take his wife, the slave would ask
+further leave to go to a minister and be married. I never knew him to deny
+such a request, and yet, in those cases where the slave did not ask it, he
+never required him to be married by a minister. Of course, no Bibles,
+Tracts, or religious books of any kind, were ever given to the slaves; and
+no ministers or religious instructors were ever known to visit our
+plantation at any time, either in sickness or in health. When a slave was
+sick, my master being himself a physician, sometimes attended, and
+sometimes he called other physicians. Slaves frequently sickened and died,
+but I never knew any provision made to administer to them the comforts, or
+to offer to them the hopes of the gospel, or to their friends after their
+death.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_There is no one feature of slavery to which the mind recurs with more
+gloomy impressions, than to its disastrous influence upon the families of
+the masters, physically, pecuniarily, and mentally._
+
+It seems to destroy families as by a powerful blight, large and opulent
+slave-holding families, often vanish like a group of shadows at the third
+or fourth generation. This fact arrested my attention some years before I
+escaped from slavery, and of course before I had any enlightened views of
+the moral character of the system. As far back as I can recollect, indeed,
+it was a remark among slaves, that every generation of slaveholders are
+more and more inferior. There were several large and powerful families in
+our county, including that of my master, which affords to my mind a
+melancholy illustration of this remark. One of the wealthiest slaveholders
+in the county, was General R., a brother-in-law to my master. This man
+owned a large and highly valuable tract of land, called R.'s Manor. I do
+not know how many slaves he owned, but the number was large. He lived in a
+splendid mansion, and drove his coach and four. He was for some years a
+member of Congress. He had a numerous family of children.
+
+The family showed no particular signs of decay until he had married a
+second time, and had considerably increased his number of children. It
+then became evident that his older children were not educated for active
+business, and were only destined to be a charge. Of sons, (seven or
+eight,) not one of them reached the eminence once occupied by the father.
+The only one that approached to it, was the eldest, who became an officer
+in the navy, and obtained the doubtful glory of being killed in the
+Mexican war.
+
+General R. himself ran through his vast estate, died intemperate, and left
+a widow and large number of daughters, some minors, destitute, and none of
+his sons fitted for any employment but in the army and navy.
+
+Slaves have a superstitious dread of passing the dilapidated dwelling of a
+man who has been guilty of great cruelties to his slaves, and who is dead,
+or moved away. I never felt this dread deeply but once, and that was one
+Sabbath about sunset, as I crossed the yard of General R.'s residence,
+which was about two miles from us, after he had been compelled to leave
+it.
+
+To see the once fine smooth gravel walks, overgrown with grass--the
+redundances of the shrubbery neglected--the once finely painted pricket
+fences, rusted and fallen down--a fine garden in splendid ruins--the lofty
+ceiling of the mansion thickly curtained with cobwebs--the spacious
+apartments abandoned, while the only music heard within as a substitute
+for the voices of family glee that once filled it, was the crying cricket
+and cockroaches! Ignorant slave as I was at that time, I could but pause
+for a moment, and recur in silent horror to the fact that, a strange
+reverse of fortune, had lately driven from that proud mansion, a large
+and once opulent family. What advantage was it now to the members of that
+family, that the father and head had for near half a century stood high in
+the counsels of the state, and had the benefit of the unrequited toil of
+hundreds of his fellowmen, when they were already grappling with the
+annoyances of that poverty, which he had entailed upon others.
+
+My master's family, in wealth and influence, was not inferior to General
+R.'s originally. His father was a member of the convention that framed the
+present constitution of the state; he was, also, for some years chief
+justice of the state.
+
+My master was never equal to his father, although he stood high at one
+time. He once lacked but a few votes of being elected Governor of the
+state: he once sat in the Assembly, and was generally a leading man in his
+own county. His influence was found to be greatest when exerted in favour
+of any measure in regard to the control of slaves. He was the first mover
+in several cruel and rigid municipal regulations in the county, which
+prohibited slaves from going over a certain number of miles from their
+master's places on the Sabbath, and from being seen about the town. He
+once instigated the authorities of the town where he attended service, to
+break up a Sabbath-school some humane members of the Methodist and
+Lutheran denominations had set up to teach the free negroes, lest the
+slaves should get some benefit of it.
+
+But there was a still wider contrast between my master and his own
+children, eight in number, when I left him. His eldest daughter, the
+flower of the family, married a miserable and reckless gambler. His
+eldest son was kind-hearted, and rather a favourite with the slaves on
+that account; but he had no strength of mind or weight of character. His
+education was limited, and he had no disposition or tact for business of
+any kind. He died at thirty-six, intestate; leaving his second-wife (a
+sister to his father's second wife) with several orphan children, a widow
+with a small estate deeply embarrassed. The second son was once sent to
+West Point to fit for an officer. After being there a short time, however,
+he became unsteady, and commenced the study of medicine, but he soon gave
+that up and preferred to live at home and flog the slaves; and by them was
+cordially dreaded and disliked, and among themselves he was vulgarly
+nicknamed on account of his cruel and filthy habits.
+
+These two families will afford a fair illustration of the gloomy history
+of many others that I could name. This decline of slaveholding families is
+a subject of observation and daily remark among slaves; they are led to
+observe every change in the pecuniary, moral, and social state of the
+families they belong to, from the fact, that as the old master declines,
+or as his children are married off, they are expecting to fall into their
+hands, or in case of insolvency on the part of the old master, they expect
+to be sold; in either case, it involves a change of master--a subject to
+which they cannot be indifferent. And it is very rarely the case that a
+slave's condition is benefited by passing from the old master into the
+hands of one of his children. Owing to the causes I have mentioned, the
+decline is so rapid and marked, in almost every point of view, that the
+children of slaveholders are universally inferior to themselves, mentally,
+morally, physically, as well as pecuniarily, especially so in the latter
+point of view; and this is a matter of most vital concern to the slaves.
+The young master not being able to own as many slaves as his father,
+usually works what he has more severely, and being more liable to
+embarrassment, the slaves' liability to be sold at an early day is much
+greater. For the same reason, slaves have a deep interest, generally, in
+the marriage of a young mistress. Very generally the daughters of
+slaveholders marry inferior men; men who seek to better their own
+condition by a wealthy connection. The slaves who pass into the hands of
+the young master has had some chance to become acquainted with his
+character, bad as it may be; but the young mistress brings her slaves a
+new, and sometimes an unknown master. Sometimes these are the sons of
+already broken down slaveholders. In other cases they are adventurers from
+the north who remove to the south, and who readily become the most cruel
+masters.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+These two letters are simply introduced to show what the state of my
+feelings was with reference to slavery at the time they were written. I
+had just heard several facts with regard to my parents, which had awakened
+my mind to great excitement.
+
+  TO MY FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS.
+
+  _The following was written in 1844:_
+
+  DEARLY BELOVED IN BONDS,
+
+  About seventeen long years have now rolled away, since in the Providence
+  of Almighty God, I left your embraces, and set out upon a daring
+  adventure in search of freedom. Since that time, I have felt most
+  severely the loss of the sun and moon and eleven stars from my social
+  sky. Many, many a thick cloud of anguish has pressed my brow and sent
+  deep down into my soul the bitter waters of sorrow in consequence. And
+  you have doubtless had your troubles and anxious seasons also about your
+  fugitive star.
+
+  I have learned that some of you have been sold, and again taken back by
+  Colonel ----. How many of you are living and together, I cannot tell. My
+  great grief is, lest you should have suffered this or some additional
+  punishment on account of my _Exodus_.
+
+  I indulge the hope that it will afford you some consolation to know that
+  your son and brother is yet alive. That God has dealt wonderfully and
+  kindly with me in all my way. He has made me a Christian, and a
+  Christian Minister, and thus I have drawn my support and comfort from
+  that blessed Saviour, who came _to preach good tidings unto the meek, to
+  bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
+  opening of the prison to them, that are bound. To proclaim the
+  acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to
+  comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
+  unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
+  praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of
+  righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified._
+
+  If the course I took in leaving a condition which had become intolerable
+  to me, has been made the occasion of making that condition worse to you
+  in any way, I do most heartily regret such a change for the worse on
+  your part. As I have no means, however, of knowing if such be the fact,
+  so I have no means of making atonement, but by sincere prayer to
+  Almighty God in your behalf, and also by taking this method of offering
+  to you these consolations of the gospel to which I have just referred,
+  and which I have found to be pre-eminently my own stay and support. My
+  dear father and mother; I have very often wished, while administering
+  the Holy Ordinance of Baptism to some scores of children brought forward
+  by doting parents, that I could see you with yours among the number. And
+  you, my brothers and sisters, while teaching hundreds of children and
+  youths in schools over which I have been placed, what unspeakable
+  delight I should have had in having you among the number; you may all
+  judge of my feeling for these past years, when while preaching from
+  Sabbath to Sabbath to congregations, I have not been so fortunate as
+  even to see father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew,
+  niece, or cousin in my congregations. While visiting the sick, going to
+  the house of mourning, and burying the dead, I have been a constant
+  mourner for you. My sorrow has been that I know you are not in
+  possession of those hallowed means of grace. I am thankful to you for
+  those mild and gentle traits of character which you took such care to
+  enforce upon me in my youthful days. As an evidence that I prize both
+  you and them, I may say that at the age of thirty-seven, I find them as
+  valuable as any lessons I have learned, nor am I ashamed to let it be
+  known to the world, that I am the son of a bond man and a bond woman.
+
+  Let me urge upon you the fundamental truths of the Gospel of the Son of
+  God. Let repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ have
+  their perfect work in you, I beseech you. Do not be prejudiced against
+  the gospel because it may be seemingly twisted into a support of
+  slavery. The gospel rightly understood, taught, received, felt and
+  practised, is anti-slavery as it is anti-sin. Just so far and so fast as
+  the true spirit of the gospel obtains in the land, and especially in the
+  lives of the oppressed, will the spirit of slavery sicken and become
+  powerless like the serpent with his head pressed beneath the fresh
+  leaves of the prickly ash of the forest.
+
+  There is not a solitary decree of the immaculate God that has been
+  concerned in the ordination of slavery, nor does any possible
+  development of his holy will sanctify it.
+
+  He has permitted us to be enslaved according to the invention of wicked
+  men, instigated by the devil, with intention to bring good out of the
+  evil, but He does not, He cannot approve of it. He has no need to
+  approve of it, even on account of the good which He will bring out of
+  it, for He could have brought about that very good in some other way.
+
+  God is never straitened; He is never at a loss for means to work. Could
+  He not have made this a great and wealthy nation without making its
+  riches to consist in our blood, bones, and souls? And could He not also
+  have given the gospel to us without making us slaves?
+
+  My friends, let us then, in our afflictions, embrace and hold fast the
+  gospel. The gospel is the fulness of God. We have the glorious and total
+  weight of God's moral character in our side of the scale.
+
+  The wonderful purple stream which flowed for the healing of the nations,
+  has a branch for us. Nay, is Christ divided? "The grace of God that
+  bringeth salvation hath appeared to (for) all men, teaching us that
+  denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly,
+  righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed
+  hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
+  Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all
+  iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
+  works."--Titus ii. 11-14.
+
+  But you say you have not the privilege of hearing of this gospel of
+  which I speak. I know it; and this is my great grief. But you shall have
+  it; I will send it to you by my humble prayer; I can do it; I will beg
+  our heavenly Father, and he will preach this gospel to you in his holy
+  providence.
+
+  You, dear father and mother cannot have much longer to live in this
+  troublesome and oppressive world; you cannot bear the yoke much longer.
+  And as you approach another world, how desirable it is that you should
+  have the prospect of a different destiny from what you have been called
+  to endure in this world during a long life.
+
+  But it is the gospel that sets before you the hope of such a blessed
+  rest as is spoken of in the word of God, Job iii. 17, 19. "There the
+  wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest; there the
+  prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressors. The
+  small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master."
+
+  Father, I know thy eyes are dim with age and weary with weeping, but
+  look, dear father, yet a little while toward that haven. Look unto
+  Jesus, "the author and finisher of thy faith," for the moment of thy
+  happy deliverance is at hand.
+
+  Mother, dear mother, I know, I feel, mother, the pangs of thy bleeding
+  heart, that thou hast endured, during so many years of vexation. Thy
+  agonies are by a genuine son-like sympathy mine; I will, I must, I do
+  share daily in those agonies of thine. But I sincerely hope that with me
+  you bear your agonies to Christ who carries our sorrows.
+
+  O come then with me, my beloved family, of weary heart-broken and
+  care-worn ones, to Jesus Christ, "casting all your care upon him, for he
+  careth for you."--2 Peter v. 7.
+
+  With these words of earnest exhortation, joined with fervent prayer to
+  God that He may smooth your rugged way, lighten your burden, and give a
+  happy issue out of all your troubles, I must bid you adieu.
+
+  Your son and brother,
+
+  JAS. P.
+
+  _Alias_ J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+  TO COLONEL F---- T----, OF H----, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD. 1844.
+
+
+  DEAR SIR,
+
+  It is now, as you are aware, about seventeen years since I left your
+  house and service, at the age of twenty. Up to that time, I was,
+  according to your rule and claim, your slave. Till the age of seven
+  years, I was, of course, of little or no service to you. At that age,
+  however, you hired me out, and for three years I earned my support; at
+  the age of ten years, you took me to your place again, and in a short
+  time after you put me to work at the blacksmith's trade, at which,
+  together with the carpentering trade, &c, I served you peaceably until
+  the day I left you, with exception of the short time you had sold me to
+  S---- H----, Esq., for seven hundred dollars. It is important for me to
+  say to you, that I have no consciousness of having done you any wrong. I
+  called you master when I was with you from the mere force of
+  circumstances; but I never regarded you as my master. The nature which
+  God gave me did not allow me to believe that you had any more right to
+  me than I had to you, and that was just none at all. And from an early
+  age, I had intentions to free myself from your claim. I never consulted
+  any one about it; I had no advisers or instigators; I kept my own
+  counsel entirely concealed in my own bosom. I never meditated any evil
+  to your person or property, but I regarded you as my oppressor, and I
+  deemed it my duty to get out of your hands by peaceable means.
+
+  I was always obedient to your commands. I laboured for you diligently at
+  all times. I acted with fidelity in any matter which you entrusted me.
+  As you sometimes saw fit to entrust me with considerable money, to buy
+  tools or materials, not a cent was ever coveted or kept.
+
+  During the time I served you in the capacity of blacksmith, your
+  materials were used economically, your work was done expeditiously, and
+  in the very best style, a style second to no smith in your
+  neighbourhood. In short, sir, you well know that my habits from early
+  life were advantageous to you. Drinking, gambling, fighting, &c., were
+  not my habits. On Sabbaths, holidays, &c., I was frequently at your
+  service, when not even your body-servant was at home.
+
+  Times and times again, I have gone on Sunday afternoon to H----, six
+  miles, after your letters and papers, when it was as much my privilege
+  to be _"out of the way,"_ as it was C----.
+
+  But what treatment did you see fit to return me for all this? You, in
+  the most unfeeling manner, abused my father for no cause but speaking a
+  word to you, as a man would speak to his fellow-man, for the sake simply
+  of a better understanding.
+
+  You vexed my mother, and because she, as a tender mother would do,
+  showed solicitude for the virtue of her daughters, you threatened her in
+  an insulting brutal manner.
+
+  You abused my brother and sister without cause, and in like manner you
+  did to myself; you surmised evil against me. You struck me with your
+  walking-cane, called me insulting names, threatened me, swore at me, and
+  became more and more wrathy in your conduct, and at the time I quitted
+  your place, I had good reason to believe that you were meditating
+  serious evil against me.
+
+  Since I have been out of your hands, I have been signally favoured of
+  God, whence I infer that in leaving you, I acted strictly in accordance
+  with his holy will. I have a conscience void of offence towards God and
+  towards all men, yourself not excepted. And I verily believe that I have
+  performed a sacred duty to God and myself, and a kindness to you, in
+  taking the blood of my soul peaceably off your soul. And now, dear sir,
+  having spoken somewhat pointedly, I would, to convince you of my perfect
+  good will towards you, in the most kind and respectful terms, remind you
+  of your coming destiny. You are now over seventy years of age, pressing
+  on to eternity with the weight of these seventy years upon you. Is not
+  this enough without the blood of some half-score of souls?
+
+  You are aware that your right to property in man is now disputed by the
+  civilized world. You are fully aware, also, that the question, whether
+  the Bible sanctions slavery, has distinctly divided this nation in
+  sentiment. On the side of Biblical Anti-slavery, we have many of the
+  most learned, wise and holy men in the land. If the Bible affords no
+  sanction to slavery, (and I claim that it cannot,) then it must be a sin
+  of the deepest dye; and can you, sir, think to go to God in hope with a
+  sin of such magnitude upon your soul?
+
+  But admitting that the question is yet doubtful, (which I do only for
+  the sake of argument,) still, sir, you will have the critical hazard of
+  this doubt pressing, in no very doubtful way, upon your declining years,
+  as you descend the long and tedious hill of life.
+
+  Would it not seem to be exceedingly undesirable to close an eventful
+  probation of seventy or eighty years, and leave your reputation among
+  posterity suspended upon so doubtful an issue? But what, my dear sir,
+  is a reputation among posterity, who are but worms, compared with a
+  destiny in the world of spirits? And it is in light of that destiny that
+  I would now have you look at this subject. You and I, and all that you
+  claim as your slaves, are in a state of probation; our great business is
+  to serve God under His righteous moral government. Master and slave are
+  the subjects of that government, bound by its immutable requirements,
+  and liable to its sanctions in the next world, though enjoying its
+  forbearance in this. You will pardon me then for pressing this point in
+  earnest good faith. You should, at this stage, review your life without
+  political bias, or adherence to long cherished prejudices, and remember
+  that you are soon to meet those whom you have held, and do hold in
+  slavery, at the awful bar of the impartial Judge of all who doeth right.
+  Then what will become of your own doubtful claims? What will be done
+  with those doubts that agitated your mind years ago; will you answer for
+  threatening, swearing, and using the cowhide among your slaves?
+
+  What will become of those long groans and unsatisfied complaints of your
+  slaves, for vexing them with insulting words, placing them in the power
+  of dogish and abusive overseers, or under your stripling, misguided,
+  hot-headed son, to drive and whip at pleasure, and for selling parts or
+  whole families to Georgia? They will all meet you at that bar. Uncle
+  James True, Charles Cooper, Aunt Jenny, and the native Africans;
+  Jeremiah, London, and Donmore, have already gone a-head, and only wait
+  your arrival--Sir, I shall meet you there. The account between us for
+  the first twenty years of my life, will have a definite character upon
+  which one or the other will be able to make out a case.
+
+  Upon such a review as this, sir, you will, I am quite sure, see the need
+  of seriousness. I assure you that the thought of meeting you in
+  eternity, and before the dread tribunal of God, with a complaint in my
+  mouth against you, is to me of most weighty and solemn character. And
+  you will see that the circumstances from which this thought arises are
+  of equal moment to yourself. Can the pride of leaving your children
+  possessed of long slave states, or the policy of sustaining in the state
+  the institution of slavery, justify you in overlooking a point of moment
+  to your future happiness?
+
+  What excuse could you offer at the bar of God, favoured as you have been
+  with the benefits of a refined education, and through a long life with
+  the gospel of love, should you, when arraigned there, find that you
+  have, all your life long, laboured under a great mistake in regard to
+  slavery, and that in this mistake you had died, and only lifted up your
+  eyes in the light of eternity to be corrected, when it was too late to
+  be corrected in any other way.
+
+  _I could wish to address you_ (being bred, born, and raised in your
+  family) _as a father in Israel, or as an elder brother in Christ, but I
+  cannot; mockery is a sin._ I can only say then, dear sir, farewell, till
+  I meet you at the bar of God, where Jesus, who died for us, will judge
+  between us. Now his blood can wash out our stain, break down the middle
+  wall of partition, and reconcile us not only to God but to each other,
+  then the word of his mouth, the sentence will set us at one. As for
+  myself, I am quite ready to meet you face to face at the bar of God. I
+  have done you no wrong; I have nothing to fear when we both fall into
+  the hands of the just God.
+
+  I beseech you, dear sir, to look well and consider this matter soundly.
+  In yonder world you can have no slaves--you can be no man's master--you
+  can neither sell, buy, or whip, or drive. Are you then, by sustaining
+  the relation of a slaveholder, forming a character to dwell with God in
+  peace?
+
+  With kind regards,
+
+  I am, sir, yours respectfully,
+
+  J.W.C. PENNINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+LIBERTY'S CHAMPION.
+
+BY A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S.
+
+
+    On the wings of the wind he comes, he comes!
+      With the rolling billow's speed;
+    On his breast are the signs of peace and love,
+    And his soul is nerved with strength from above:
+        While his eyes flash fire,
+        He burns with desire
+      To achieve the noble deed.
+
+    To the shores of the free he goes, he goes!
+      And smiles as he passes on;
+    He hears the glad notes of Liberty's song,
+    And bids the brave sons of freedom be strong.
+        While his heart bounds high
+        To his crown in the sky,
+      He triumphs o'er conquests won.
+
+    To the homes of the slave he flies, he flies!
+      Where manacled mourners cry;
+    The bursting groan of the mind's o'erflow,
+    Transfixed on the dark and speaking brow:
+        With a murmuring sound,
+        Ascends from the ground,
+    To the God that reigns on high.
+
+    To his loved Father's throne he hastes, he hastes!
+      And pours forth his soul in grief:
+    Uprising he finds his strength renewed,
+    And his heart with fervent love is imbued;
+        While the heaving sigh,
+        And the deep-toned cry,
+    Appeal for instant relief.
+
+    To the hard oppressor he cries, he cries,
+      And points to the bleeding slave;
+    He tells of the rights of the human soul,
+    And his eyes with full indignation roll:
+        While his heart is moved,
+        And the truth is proved,
+      He seeks the captive to save.
+
+    Again to the foeman he speaks, he speaks,
+      But utters his cry in vain;
+    He breathes no curse, no vengeance seeks,--
+    For the broken hearts or the anguished shrieks,
+        For the mother's pains,
+        Or the father's gains,--
+      Upon the oppressor's name.
+
+    To nations of freemen once more he comes,
+      To raise Liberty's banner high;
+    He tells of the wrongs of the bonded slave,
+    And cries aloud, 'mid throngs of the brave,
+        "O freemen, arise!
+        Be faithful and wise,
+      And answer the mourner's cry.
+
+    In melting strains of love he calls, he calls,
+      To the great and good from afar;
+    Till sympathy wakes to the truthful tale,
+    And the prayer of the faith, which cannot fail,
+        Ascends to heaven,
+        And grace is given,
+      To nerve for the bloodless war.
+
+    The truth with a magic power prevails:
+      All hearts are moved to the strife;
+    In a holy phalanx, and with deathless aim,
+      They seek a peaceful triumph to gain
+        O'er the tyrant's sway,
+        In his onward way,
+      To raise the fallen to life.
+
+    At the mighty voice of the glorious free
+      The chain of the oppressor breaks;
+    The slave from his bondage springs forth to love,
+    And, standing erect, his eye fixed above,
+        He honours his race,
+        And in the world's face,
+      The language of liberty speaks.
+
+    The oppressor no longer owns a right,
+      Or property claims in the slave,
+    But the world, in the glory of freedom's light,
+    Beams out from the darkness of wide-spread night;
+        Throughout its length,
+        In greatness and strength,
+      The honour of the free and brave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Printed for CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopgate Street Without.
+
+The Fugitive Blacksmith, or Events in the History of JAMES W.C.
+PENNINGTON, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York. Foolscap 8vo.,
+sewed, price 1s.
+
+"This entrancing narrative * * * We trust that thousands of our readers
+will procure the volume, which is published by Mr. Gilpin at a mere
+trifle--much too cheap to accomplish the purpose for which, in part or
+mainly, it has been published--the raising a fund to remove the pecuniary
+burdens which press on the author's flock. NOTHING SHORT OF THE SALE OF
+FIFTY THOUSAND OR SIXTY THOUSAND COPIES could be at all availing for this
+object. * * * We very cordially recommend him and his narrative to the
+kind consideration of our readers. Let them load him with English
+hospitality, fill his purse, and send him back as fast as possible to the
+land of his early bondage, of his matured freedom, and to the people to
+whose character and capabilities he does so much honour."--_Christian
+Witness_, October, 1849.
+
+"The principal portion of the 'Tract,' as Mr. Pennington modestly styles
+his book, consists of an autobiography of his early life as a slave, and
+of his escape from bondage, and final settlement in New York as a
+Presbyterian Minister. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes invest the
+narrative with startling interest, and excite the deepest sympathies of
+the reader."--_Nonconformist_, September, 26th, 1849.
+
+"Believing that by the purchase of this little book our readers will
+confer a benefit on the writer, at the same time that they become
+possessed of a narrative of deep interest, we give it our most cordial
+recommendation."--_Teetotal Times_, October, 1849.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+London: CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Fugitive Blacksmith, by James W. C. Pennington
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