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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
+
+
+This book is put on-line as part of the BUILD-A-BOOK Initiative
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+The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
+
+Dictated by Sojourner Truth (ca.1797-1883);
+Edited by Olive Gilbert
+
+March, 1999  [Etext #1674]
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
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+This book is put on-line as part of the BUILD-A-BOOK Initiative
+at the Celebration of Women Writers through the combined work of
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+www.cs.cmu.edu/~mmbt/women/truth/1850/1850.html
+
+
+
+
+
+The Narrative of Sojourner Truth (1850)
+Dictated by Sojourner Truth (ca.1797-1883);
+Edited by Olive Gilbert
+
+
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH
+
+Written by Olive Gilbert, based on information
+provided by Sojourner Truth.
+
+1850
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+HER BIRTH AND PARENTAGE
+ACCOMMODATIONS
+HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS
+HER RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
+THE AUCTION
+DEATH OF MAU-MAU BETT
+LAST DAYS OF BOMEFREE
+DEATH OF BOMEFREE
+COMMENCEMENT OF ISABELLA'S TRIALS IN LIFE
+TRIALS CONTINUED
+HER STANDING WITH HER NEW MASTER AND MISTRESS
+ISABELLA'S MARRIAGE
+ISABELLA AS A MOTHER
+SLAVEHOLDER'S PROMISES
+HER ESCAPE
+ILLEGAL SALE OF HER SON
+IT IS OFTEN DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAWN
+DEATH OF MRS. ELIZA FOWLER
+ISABELLA'S RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
+NEW TRIALS
+FINDING A BROTHER AND SISTER
+GLEANINGS
+THE MATTHIAS DELUSION
+FASTING
+THE CAUSE OF HER LEAVING THE CITY
+THE CONSEQUENCES OF REFUSING A TRAVELLER A NIGHT'S LODGING
+SOME OF HER VIEWS AND REASONINGS
+THE SECOND ADVENT DOCTRINES
+ANOTHER CAMP-MEETING
+LAST INTERVIEW WITH HER MASTER
+
+CERTIFICATES OF CHARACTER
+
+
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH
+
+
+
+
+HER BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.
+
+
+THE subject of this biography, SOJOURNER TRUTH, as she now calls
+herself-but whose name, originally, was Isabella-was born, as near as
+she can now calculate, between the years 1797 and 1800.  She was the
+daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of one Colonel Ardinburgh, Hurley,
+Ulster County, New York.
+
+Colonel  Ardinburgh belonged to that class of people called Low Dutch.
+
+
+Of her first master, she can give no account, as she must have been a
+mere infant when he died; and she, with her parents and some ten or
+twelve other fellow human chattels, became the legal property of his
+son, Charles Ardinburgh.  She distinctly remembers hearing her father
+and mother say, that their lot was a fortunate one, as Master Charles
+was the best of the family,-being, comparatively speaking, a kind
+master to his slaves.
+
+
+James and Betsey having, by their faithfulness, docility, and
+respectful behavior, won his particular regard, received from him
+particular favors-among which was a lot of land, lying back on the
+slope of a mountain, where, by improving the pleasant evenings and
+Sundays, they managed to raise a little tobacco, corn, or flax; which
+they exchanged for extras, in the articles of food or clothing for
+themselves and children.  She has no remembrance that Saturday
+afternoon was ever added to their own time, as it is by some masters in
+the Southern States.
+
+
+
+
+ACCOMMODATIONS.
+
+
+Among Isabella's earliest recollections was the removal of her master,
+Charles Ardinburgh, into his new house, which he had built for a hotel,
+soon after the decease of his father.  A cellar, under this hotel, was
+assigned to his slaves, as their sleeping apartment,-all the slaves he
+possessed, of both sexes, sleeping (as is quite common in a state of
+slavery) in the same room.  She carries in her mind, to this day, a
+vivid picture of this dismal chamber; its only lights consisting of a
+few panes of glass, through which she thinks the sun never shone, but
+with thrice reflected rays; and the space between the loose boards of
+the floor, and the uneven earth below, was often filled with mud and
+water, the uncomfortable splashings of which were as annoying as its
+noxious vapors must have been chilling and fatal to health.  She
+shudders, even now, as she goes back in memory, and revisits this
+cellar, and sees its inmates, of both sexes and all ages, sleeping on
+those damp boards, like the horse, with a little straw and a blanket;
+and she wonders not at the rheumatisms, and fever-sores, and palsies,
+that distorted the limbs and racked the bodies of those fellow-slaves
+in after-life.  Still, she does not attribute this cruelty-for cruelty
+it certainly is, to be so unmindful of the health and comfort of any
+being, leaving entirely out of sight his more important part, his
+everlasting interests,-so much to any innate or constitutional cruelty
+of the master, as to that gigantic inconsistency, that inherited habit
+among slaveholders, of expecting a willing and intelligent obedience
+from the slave, because he is a MAN-at the same time every thing
+belonging to the soul-harrowing system does its best to crush the last
+vestige of a man within him; and when it is crushed, and often before,
+he is denied the comforts of life, on the plea that he knows neither
+the want nor the use of them, and because he is considered to be little
+more or little less than a beast.
+
+
+
+
+HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
+
+
+
+Isabella's father was very tall and straight, when young, which gave
+him the name of 'Bomefree'-low Dutch for tree-at least, this is
+SOJOURNER's pronunciation of it-and by this name he usually went.  The
+most familiar appellation of her mother was 'Mau-mau Bett.'  She was
+the mother of some ten or twelve children; though Sojourner is far from
+knowing the exact number of her brothers and sisters; she being the
+youngest, save one, and all older than herself having been sold before
+her remembrance.  She was privileged to behold six of them while she
+remained a slave.
+
+
+Of the two that immediately preceded her in age, a boy of five years,
+and a girl of three, who were sold when she was an infant, she heard
+much; and she wishes that all who would fain believe that slave parents
+have not natural affection for their offspring could have listened as
+she did, while Bomefree and Mau-mau Bett,-their dark cellar lighted by
+a blazing pine-knot,-would sit for hours, recalling and recounting
+every endearing, as well as harrowing circumstance that taxed memory
+could supply, from the histories of those dear departed ones, of whom
+they had been robbed, and for whom their hearts still bled.  Among the
+rest, they would relate how the little boy, on the last morning he was
+with them, arose with the birds, kindled a fire, calling for his
+Mau-mau to 'come, for all was now ready for her'-little dreaming of the
+dreadful separation which was so near at hand, but of which his parents
+had an uncertain, but all the more cruel foreboding.  There was snow on
+the ground, at the time of which we are speaking; and a large
+old-fashioned sleigh was seen to drive up to the door of the late Col.
+Ardinburgh.  This event was noticed with childish pleasure by the
+unsuspicious boy; but when he was taken and put into the sleigh, and
+saw his little sister actually shut and locked into the sleigh box, his
+eyes were at once opened to their intentions; and, like a frightened
+deer he sprang from the sleigh, and running into the house, concealed
+himself under a bed.  But this availed him little. He was re-conveyed
+to the sleigh, and separated for ever from those whom God had
+constituted his natural guardians and protectors, and who should have
+found him, in return, a stay and a staff to them in their declining
+years.  But I make no comments on facts like these, knowing that the
+heart of every slave parent will make its own comments, involuntarily
+and correctly, as soon as each heart shall make the case its own.
+Those who are not parents will draw their conclusions from the
+promptings of humanity and philanthropy:-these, enlightened by reason
+and revelation, are also unerring.
+
+
+
+
+HER RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
+
+
+
+Isabella and Peter, her youngest brother, remained, with their parents,
+the legal property of Charles Ardinburgh till his decease, which took
+place when Isabella was near nine years old.
+
+
+After this event, she was often surprised to find her mother in tears;
+and when, in her simplicity, she inquired, 'Mau-mau, what makes you
+cry?' she would answer, 'Oh, my child, I am thinking of your brothers
+and sisters that have been sold away from me.'  And she would proceed
+to detail many circumstances respecting them.  But Isabella long since
+concluded that it was the impending fate of her only remaining
+children, which her mother but too well understood, even then, that
+called up those memories from the past, and made them crucify her heart
+afresh.
+
+
+In the evening, when her mother's work was done, she would sit down
+under the sparkling vault of heaven, and calling her children to her,
+would talk to them of the only Being that could effectually aid or
+protect them.  Her teachings were delivered in Low Dutch, her only
+language, and, translated into English, ran nearly as follows:-
+
+
+'My children, there is a God, who hears and sees you.' 'A God, mau-mau!
+Where does he live?' asked the children.  'He lives in the sky,' she
+replied; 'and when you are beaten, or cruelly treated, or fall into any
+trouble, you must ask help of him, and he will always hear and help
+you.'  She taught them to kneel and say the Lord's Prayer.  She
+entreated them to refrain from lying and stealing, and to strive to
+obey their masters.
+
+
+At times, a groan would escape her, and she would break out in the
+language of the Psalmist-'Oh Lord, how long?' 'Oh Lord, how long?' And
+in reply to Isabella's question-'What ails you, mau-mau?' her only
+answer was, 'Oh, a good deal ails me'-'Enough ails me.'  Then again,
+she would point them to the stars, and say, in her peculiar language,
+'Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down
+upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to
+them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.'
+
+
+Thus, in her humble way, did she endeavor to show them their Heavenly
+Father, as the only being who could protect them in their perilous
+condition; at the same time, she would strengthen and brighten the
+chain of family affection, which she trusted extended itself
+sufficiently to connect the widely scattered members of her precious
+flock.  These instructions of the mother were treasured up and held
+sacred by Isabella, as our future narrative will show.
+
+
+
+
+THE AUCTION.
+
+
+At length, the never-to-be-forgotten day of the terrible auction
+arrived, when the 'slaves, horses, and other cattle' of Charles
+Ardinburgh, deceased, were to be put under the hammer, and again change
+masters.  Not only Isabella and Peter, but their mother, were now
+destined to the auction block, and would have been struck off with the
+rest to the highest bidder, but for the following circumstance: A
+question arose among the heirs, 'Who shall be burdened with Bomefree,
+when we have sent away his faithful Mau-mau Bett?'  He was becoming
+weak and infirm; his limbs were painfully rheumatic and distorted-more
+from exposure and hardship than from old age, though he was several
+years older than Mau-mau Bett: he was no longer considered of value,
+but must soon be a burden and care to some one.  After some contention
+on the point at issue, none being willing to be burdened with him, it
+was finally agreed, as most expedient for the heirs, that the price of
+Mau-mau Bett should be sacrificed, and she receive her freedom, on
+condition that she take care of and support her faithful James,-
+faithful, not only to her as a husband, but proverbially faithful as a
+slave to those who would not willingly sacrifice a dollar for his
+comfort, now that he had commenced his descent into the dark vale of
+decrepitude and suffering.  This important decision was received as
+joyful news indeed to our ancient couple, who were the objects of it,
+and who were trying to prepare their hearts for a severe struggle, and
+one altogether new to them, as they had never before been separated;
+for, though ignorant, helpless, crushed in spirit, and weighed down
+with hardship and cruel bereavement, they were still human, and their
+human hearts beat within them with as true an affection as ever caused
+a human heart to beat.  And their anticipated separation now, in the
+decline of life, after the last child had been torn from them, must
+have been truly appalling.  Another privilege was granted them-that of
+remaining occupants of the same dark, humid cellar I have before
+described: otherwise, they were to support themselves as they best
+could.  And as her mother was still able to do considerable work, and
+her father a little, they got on for some time very comfortably.  The
+strangers who rented the house were humane people, and very kind to
+them; they were not rich, and owned  no slaves.  How long this state of
+things continued, we are unable to say, as Isabella had not then
+sufficiently cultivated her organ of time to calculate years, or even
+weeks or hours.  But she thinks her mother must have lived several
+years after the death of Master Charles.  She remembers going to visit
+her parents some three or four times before the death of her mother,
+and a good deal of time seemed to her to intervene between each visit.
+
+
+At length her mother's health began to decline-a fever-sore made its
+ravages on one of her limbs, and the palsy began to shake her frame;
+still, she and James tottered about, picking up a little here and
+there, which, added to the mites contributed by their kind neighbors,
+sufficed to sustain life, and drive famine from the door.
+
+
+
+
+DEATH OF MAU-MAU BETT.
+
+
+
+One morning, in early autumn, (from the reason above mentioned, we
+cannot tell what year,) Mau-mau Bett told James she would make him a
+loaf of rye-bread, and get Mrs. Simmons, their kind neighbor, to bake
+it for them, as she would bake that forenoon.  James told her he had
+engaged to rake after the cart for his neighbors that morning; but
+before he commenced, he would pole off some apples from a tree near,
+which they were allowed to gather; and if she could get some of them
+baked with the bread, it would give a nice relish for their dinner.  He
+beat off the apples, and soon after, saw Mau-mau Bett come out and
+gather them up.
+
+
+At the blowing of the horn for dinner, he groped his way into his
+cellar, anticipating his humble, but warm and nourishing meal; when,
+lo! instead of being cheered by the sight and odor of fresh-baked bread
+and the savory apples, his cellar seemed more cheerless than usual, and
+at first neither sight nor sound met eye or ear.  But, on groping his
+way through the room, his staff, which he used as a pioneer to go
+before, and warn him of danger, seemed to be impeded in its progress,
+and a low, gurgling, choking sound proceeded from the object before
+him, giving him the first intimation of the truth as it was, that
+Mau-mau Bett, his bosom companion, the only remaining member of his
+large family, had fallen in a fit of the palsy, and lay helpless and
+senseless on the earth!  Who among us, located in pleasant homes,
+surrounded with every comfort, and so many kind and sympathizing
+friends, can picture to ourselves the dark and desolate state of poor
+old James-penniless, weak, lame, and nearly blind, as he was at the
+moment he found his companion was removed from him, and he was left
+alone in the world, with no one to aid, comfort, or console him? for
+she never revived again, and lived only a few hours after being
+discovered senseless by her poor bereaved James.
+
+
+
+
+
+LAST DAYS OF BOMEFREE.
+
+
+
+Isabella and Peter were permitted to see the remains of their mother
+laid in their last narrow dwelling, and to make their bereaved father a
+little visit, ere they returned to their servitude.  And most piteous
+were the lamentations of the poor old man, when, at last, they also
+were obliged to bid him "Farewell!"  Juan Fernandes, on his desolate
+island, was not so pitiable an object as this poor lame man.  Blind and
+crippled, he was too superannuated to think for a moment of taking care
+of himself, and he greatly feared no persons would interest themselves
+in his behalf. 'Oh,' he would exclaim, 'I had thought God would take me
+first,-Mau-mau was so much smarter than I, and could get about and take
+care of herself;-and I am so old, and so helpless.  What is to become
+of me?  I can't do anything any more-my children are all gone, and here
+I am left helpless and alone.'  'And then, as I was taking leave of
+him,' said his daughter, in relating it, 'he raised his voice, and
+cried aloud like a child-Oh, how he DID cry!  I HEAR it now -and
+remember it as well as if it were but yesterday-poor old man!!!  He
+thought God had done it all-and my heart bled within me at the sight of
+his misery.  He begged me to get permission to come and see him
+sometimes, which I readily and heartily promised him.'  But when all
+had left him, the Ardinburghs, having some feeling left for their
+faithful and favorite slave, 'took turns about' in keeping him-
+permitting him to stay a few weeks at one house, and then a while at
+another, and so around.  If, when he made a removal, the place where he
+was going was not too far off, he took up his line of march, staff in
+hand, and asked for no assistance.  If it was twelve or twenty miles,
+they gave him a ride.  While he was living in this way, Isabella was
+twice permitted to visit him.  Another time she walked twelve miles,
+and carried her infant in her arms to see him, but when she reached
+the place where she hoped to find him, he had just left for a place
+some twenty miles distant, and she never saw him more.  The last time
+she did see him, she found him seated on a rock, by the road side,
+alone, and far from any house.  He was then migrating from the house of
+one Ardinburgh to that of another, several miles distant.  His hair was
+white like wool-he was almost blind-and his gait was more a creep than
+a walk-but the weather was warm and pleasant, and he did not dislike
+the journey.  When Isabella addressed him, he recognized her voice, and
+was exceeding glad to see her.  He was assisted to mount the wagon, was
+carried back to the famous cellar of which we have spoken, and there
+they held their last earthly conversation.  He again, as usual,
+bewailed his loneliness,-spoke in tones of anguish of his many
+children, saying, "They are all taken away from me!  I have now not
+one to give me a cup of cold water-why should I live and not die?"
+Isabella, whose heart yearned over her father, and who would have made
+any sacrifice to have been able to be with, and take care of him, tried
+to comfort, by telling him that 'she had heard the white folks say,
+that all the slaves in the State would be freed in ten years, and that
+then she would come and take care of him.'  'I would take just as good
+care of you as Mau-mau would, if she was here'-continued Isabel.  'Oh,
+my child,' replied he, 'I cannot live that long.'  'Oh, do, daddy, do
+live, and I will take such good care of you,' was her rejoinder.  She
+now says, 'Why, I thought then, in my ignorance, that he could live, if
+he would.  I just as much thought so, as I ever thought any thing in my
+life-and I insisted on his living: but he shook his head, and insisted
+he could not.'
+
+
+But before Bomefree's good constitution would yield either to age,
+exposure, or a strong desire to die, the Ardinburghs again tired of
+him, and offered freedom to two old slaves-Caesar, brother of Mau-mau
+Bett, and his wife Betsy-on condition that they should take care of
+James. (I was about to say, 'their brother-in-law'-but as slaves are
+neither husbands nor wives in law, the idea of their being
+brothers-in-law is truly ludicrous.)  And although they were too old
+and infirm to take care of themselves, (Caesar having been afflicted
+for a long time with fever-sores, and his wife with the jaundice), they
+eagerly accepted the boon of freedom, which had been the life-long
+desire of their souls-though at a time when emancipation was to them
+little more than destitution, and was a freedom more to be desired by
+the master than the slave.  Sojourner declares of the slaves in their
+ignorance, that 'their thoughts are no longer than her finger.'
+
+
+
+
+
+DEATH OF BOMEFREE.
+
+
+
+A rude cabin, in a lone wood, far from any neighbors, was granted to
+our freed friends, as the only assistance they were now to expect.
+Bomefree, from this time, found his poor needs hardly supplied, as his
+new providers were scarce able to administer to their own wants.
+However, the time drew near when things were to be decidedly worse
+rather than better; for they had not been together long, before Betty
+died, and shortly after, Caesar followed her to 'that bourne from
+whence no traveller returns'-leaving poor James again desolate, and
+more helpless than ever before; as, this time, there was no kind family
+in the house, and the Ardinburghs no longer invited him to their homes.
+Yet, lone, blind and helpless as he was, James for a time lived on.
+One day, an aged colored woman, named Soan, called at his shanty, and
+James besought her, in the most moving manner, even with tears, to
+tarry awhile and wash and mend him up, so that he might once more be
+decent and comfortable; for he was suffering dreadfully with the filth
+and vermin that had collected upon him.
+
+
+Soan was herself an emancipated slave, old and weak, with no one to
+care for her; and she lacked the courage to undertake a job of such
+seeming magnitude, fearing she might herself get sick, and perish there
+without assistance; and with great reluctance, and a heart swelling
+with pity, as she afterwards declared, she felt obliged to leave him in
+his wretchedness and filth.  And shortly after her visit, this faithful
+slave, this deserted wreck of humanity, was found on his miserable
+pallet, frozen and stiff in death.  The kind angel had come at last,
+and relieved him of the many miseries that his fellow-man had heaped
+upon him.  Yes, he had died, chilled and starved, with none to speak a
+kindly word, or do a kindly deed for him, in that last dread of hour of
+need!
+
+
+The news of his death reached the ears of John Ardinburgh, a grandson
+of the old Colonel; and he declared that 'Bomefree, who had ever been a
+kind and faithful slave, should now have a good funeral.'  And now,
+gentle reader, what think you constituted a good funeral?  Answer-some
+black paint for the coffin, and-a jug of ardent spirits!  What a
+compensation for a life of toil, of patient submission to repeated
+robberies of the most aggravated kind, and, also, far more than
+murderous neglect!!  Mankind often vainly attempts to atone for
+unkindness or cruelty to the living, by honoring the same after death;
+but John Ardinburgh undoubtably meant his pot of paint and jug of
+whisky should act as an opiate on his slaves, rather than on his own
+seared conscience.
+
+
+
+
+COMMENCEMENT OF ISABELLA'S TRIALS IN LIFE.
+
+
+Having seen the sad end of her parents, so far as it relates to this
+earthly life, we will return with Isabella to that memorable auction
+which threatened to separate her father and mother.  A slave auction is
+a terrible affair to its victims, and its incidents and consequences
+are graven on their hearts as with a pen of burning steel.
+
+
+At this memorable time, Isabella was struck off, for the sum of one
+hundred dollars, to one John Nealy, of Ulster County, New York; and she
+has an impression that in this sale she was connected with a lot of
+sheep.  She was now nine years of age, and her trials in life may be
+dated from this period.  She says, with emphasis, 'Now the war begun. '
+She could only talk Dutch-and the Nealys could only talk English.  Mr.
+Nealy could understand Dutch, but Isabel and her mistress could neither
+of them understand the language of the other-and this, of itself, was a
+formidable obstacle in the way of a good understanding between them,
+and for some time was a fruitful source of dissatisfaction to the
+mistress, and of punishment and suffering to Isabella.  She says, 'If
+they sent me for a frying-pan, not knowing what they meant, perhaps I
+carried them pot-hooks and trammels.  Then, oh! how angry mistress
+would be with me!'  Then she suffered 'terribly-terribly ', with the
+cold.  During the winter her feet were badly frozen, for want of
+proper covering.  They gave her a plenty to eat, and also a plenty of
+whippings.  One Sunday morning, in particular, she was told to go to
+the barn; on going there, she found her master with a bundle of rods,
+prepared in the embers, and bound together with cords.   When he had
+tied her hands together before her, he gave her the most cruel whipping
+she was ever tortured with.  He whipped her till the flesh was deeply
+lacerated, and the blood streamed from her wounds-and the scars remain
+to the present day, to testify to the fact.  'And now,' she says, 'when
+I hear 'em tell of whipping women on the bare flesh, it makes my flesh
+crawl, and my very hair rise on my head!  Oh! my God!' she continues,
+'what a way is this of treating human beings?'  In those hours of her
+extremity, she did not forget the instructions of her mother, to go to
+God in all her trials, and every affliction; and she not only
+remembered, but obeyed: going to him, 'and telling him all-and asking
+Him if He thought it was right,' and begging him to protect and shield
+her from her persecutors.
+
+
+She always asked with an unwavering faith that she should receive just
+what she pleaded for,-'And now,' she says, 'though it seems curious, I
+do not remember ever asking for any thing but what I got it.  And I
+always received it as an answer to my prayers.  When I got beaten, I
+never knew it long enough to go beforehand to pray; and I always
+thought that if I only had had time to pray to God for help, I should
+have escaped the beating.'  She had no idea God had any knowledge of
+her thoughts, save what she told him; or heard her prayers, unless they
+were spoken audibly.  And consequently, she could not pray unless she
+had time and opportunity to go by herself, where she could talk to God
+without being overheard.
+
+
+
+
+
+TRIALS CONTINUED.
+
+
+When she had been at Mr. Nealy's several months, she began to beg God
+most earnestly to send her father to her, and as soon as she commenced
+to pray, she began as confidently to look for his coming, and, ere it
+was long, to her great joy, he came.  She had no opportunity to speak
+to him of the troubles that weighed so heavily on her spirit, while he
+remained; but when he left, she followed him to the gate, and
+unburdened her heart to him, inquiring if he could not do something to
+get her a new and better place.  In this way the slaves often assist
+each other, by ascertaining who are kind to their slaves,
+comparatively; and then using their influence to get such an one to
+hire or buy their friends; and masters, often from policy, as well as
+from latent humanity, allow those they are about to sell or let, to
+choose their own places, if the persons they happen to select for
+masters are considered safe pay.  He promised to do all he could, and
+they parted.  But, every day, as long as the snow lasted, (for there
+was snow on the ground at the time,) she returned to the spot where
+they separated, and walking in the tracks her father had made in the
+snow, repeated her prayer that 'God would help her father get her a new
+and better place.'
+
+
+A long time had not elapsed, when a fisherman by the name of Scriver
+appeared at Mr. Nealy's, and inquired of Isabel 'if she would like to
+go and live with him.'  She eagerly answered  'Yes,' and nothing
+doubting but he was sent in answer to her prayer; and she soon started
+off with him, walking while he rode; for he had bought her at the
+suggestion of her father, paying one hundred and five dollars for her.
+He also lived in Ulster County, but some five or six miles from Mr.
+Nealy's.
+
+
+Scriver, besides being a fisherman, kept a tavern for the
+accommodation of people of his own class-for his was a rude,
+uneducated family, exceedingly profane in their language, but, on the
+whole, an honest, kind and well-disposed people.
+
+
+They owned a large farm, but left it wholly unimproved; attending
+mainly to their vocations of fishing and inn-keeping.  Isabella
+declares she can ill describe the kind of life she led with them.  It
+was a wild, out-of-door kind of lief.  She was expected to carry fish,
+to hoe corn, to bring roots and herbs from the woods for beers, go to
+the Strand for a gallon of molasses or liquor as the case might
+require, and 'browse around,' as she expresses it.  It was a life that
+suited her well for the time-being as devoid of hardship or terror as
+it was of improvement; a need which had not yet become a want.  Instead
+of improving at this place, morally, she retrograded, as their example
+taught her to curse; and it was here that she took her first oath.
+After living with them for about a year and a half, she was sold to one
+John J. Dumont, for the sum of seventy pounds.  This was in 1810.  Mr.
+Dumont lived in the same county as her former masters, in the town of
+New Paltz, and she remained with him till a short time previous to her
+emancipation by the State, in 1828.
+
+
+
+
+HER STANDING WITH HER NEW MASTER AND MISTRESS.
+
+
+Had Mrs. Dumont possessed that vein of kindness and consideration for
+the slaves, so perceptible in her husband's character, Isabella would
+have been as comfortable here, as one had best be, if one  must be a
+slave.  Mr. Dumont had been nursed in the very lap of slavery, and
+being naturally a man of kind feelings, treated his slaves with all the
+consideration he did his other animals, and more, perhaps.  But Mrs.
+Dumont, who had been born and educated in a non-slaveholding family,
+and, like many others, used only to work-people, who, under the most
+stimulating of human motives, were willing to put forth their every
+energy, could not have patience with the creeping gait, the dull
+understanding, or see any cause for the listless manners and careless,
+slovenly habits of the poor down-trodden outcast-entirely forgetting
+that every high and efficient motive had been removed far from him; and
+that, had not his very intellect been crushed out of him, the slave
+would find little ground for aught but hopeless despondency.  From this
+source arose a long series of trials in the life of our heroine, which
+we must pass over in silence; some from motives of delicacy, and
+others, because the relation of them might inflict undeserved pain on
+some now living, whom Isabel remembers only with esteem and love;
+therefore, the reader will not be surprised if our narrative appears
+somewhat tame at this point, and may rest assured that it is not for
+want of facts, as the most thrilling incidents of this portion of her
+life are from various motives suppressed.
+
+
+One comparatively trifling incident she wishes related, as it made a
+deep impression on her mind at the time-showing, as she thinks, how God
+shields the innocent, and causes them to triumph over their enemies,
+and also how she stood between master and mistress.  In her family,
+Mrs. Dumont employed two white girls, one of whom, named Kate, evinced
+a disposition to 'lord it over' Isabel, and, in her emphatic language,
+'to grind her down '.  Her master often shielded her from the attacks
+and accusations of others, praising her for her readiness and ability
+to work, and these praises seemed to foster a spirit of hostility to
+her, in the minds of Mrs. Dumont and her white servant, the latter of
+whom took every opportunity to cry up her faults, lessen her in the
+esteem of her master and increase against her the displeasure of her
+mistress, which was already more than sufficient for Isabel's comfort.
+Her master insisted that she could do as much work as half a dozen
+common people, and do it well, too; whilst her mistress insisted that
+the
+
+
+first was true, only
+because it ever came from her hand but half performed. A good
+deal of feeling arose from this difference of opinion, which was
+getting to rather an uncomfortable height, when, all at once, the
+potatoes that Isabel cooked for breakfast assumed a dingy, dirty
+look. Her mistress blamed her severely, asking her master to
+observe 'a fine specimen of Bell's work!'-adding, 'it is the
+way all her work is done.' Her master scolded also this time, and
+commanded her to be more careful in future. Kate joined with
+zest in the censures, and was very hard upon her. Isabella
+thought that she had done all she well could to have them nice;
+and became quite distressed at their appearances, and wondered
+what she should do to avoid them. In this dilemma, Gertrude
+Dumont (Mr. D.'s eldest child, a good, kind-hearted girl of ten
+years, who pitied Isabel sincerely), when she heard them all
+blame her so unsparingly, came forward, offering her sympathy
+and assistance; and when about to retire to bed, on the night of
+Isabella's humiliation, she advanced to Isabel, and told her, if she
+would wake her early next morning, she would get up and
+attend to her potatoes for her, while she (Isabella) went to
+milking, and they would see if they could not have them nice,
+and not have 'Poppee,' her word for father, and 'Matty,' her
+word for mother, and all of 'em, scolding so terribly.
+
+Isabella gladly availed herself of this kindness, which touched
+her to the heart, amid so much of an opposite spirit. When
+Isabella had put the potatoes over to boil, Getty told her she
+would herself tend the fire, while Isabel milked. She had not
+long been seated by the fire, in performance of her promise,
+when Kate entered, and requested Gertrude to go out of the
+room and do something for her, which she refused, still keeping
+her place in the corner. While there, Kate came sweeping about
+the fire, caught up a chip, lifted some ashes with it, and dashed
+them into the kettle. Now the mystery was solved, the plot
+discovered! Kate was working a little too fast at making her
+mistress's words good, at showing that Mrs. Dumont and herself
+were on the right side of the dispute, and consequently at gaining
+power over Isabella. Yes, she was quite too fast, inasmuch as
+she had overlooked the little figure of justice, which sat in the
+comer, with scales nicely balanced, waiting to give all their dues.
+
+But the time had come when she was to be overlooked no
+longer. It was Getty's turn to speak now. 'Oh Poppee! oh
+Poppee!' said she, 'Kate has been putting ashes in among the
+potatoes! I saw her do it! Look at those that fell on the outside
+of the kettle! You can now see what made the potatoes so dingy
+every morning, though Bell washed them clean!' And she repeated
+her story to every new comer, till the fraud was made as
+public as the censure of Isabella had been. Her mistress looked
+blank, and remained dumb-her master muttered something
+which sounded very like an oath-and poor Kate was so chop-fallen, she
+looked like a convicted criminal, who would gladly
+have hid herself, (now that the baseness was out,) to conceal her
+mortified pride and deep chagrin.
+
+It was a fine triumph for Isabella and her master, and she
+became more ambitious than ever to please him; and he stimulated
+her ambition by his commendation, and by boasting of her
+to his friends, telling them that 'that wench' (pointing to Isabel)
+'is better to me than a man-for she will do a good family's
+washing in the night, and be ready in the morning to go into the
+field, where she will do as much at raking and binding as my best
+hands.' Her ambition and desire to please were so great, that she
+often worked several nights in succession, sleeping only short
+snatches, as she sat in her chair; and some nights she would not
+allow herself to take any sleep, save what she could get resting
+herself against the wall, fearing that if she sat down, she would
+sleep too long. These extra exertions to please, and the praises
+consequent upon them, brought upon her head the envy of her
+fellow-slaves, and they taunted her with being the 'white folks'
+nigger.'  On the other hand, she received the larger share of the
+confidence of her master, and many small favors that were by
+them unattainable. I asked her if her master, Dumont, ever
+whipped her? She answered, 'Oh yes, he sometimes whipped
+me soundly, though never cruelly. And the most severe whipping
+he ever give me was because I was cruel to a cat.' At this
+time she looked upon her master as a God; and believed that he
+knew of and could see her at all times, even as God himself. And
+she used sometimes to confess her delinquencies, from the conviction
+that he already knew them, and that she should fare
+better if she confessed voluntarily: and if any one talked to her
+of the injustice of her being a slave, she answered them with
+contempt, and immediately told her master. She then firmly
+believed that slavery was right and honorable. Yet she now sees
+very clearly the false position they were all in, both masters and
+slaves; and she looks back, with utter astonishment, at the absurdity
+of the claims so arrogantly set up by the masters, over
+beings designed by God to be as free as kings; and at the perfect
+stupidity of the slave, in admitting for one moment the validity
+of these claims.
+
+In obedience to her mother's instructions, she had educated
+herself to such a sense of honesty, that, when she had become a
+mother, she would sometimes whip her child when it cried to
+her for bread, rather than give it a piece secretly, lest it should
+learn to take what was not its own! And the writer of this knows,
+from personal observation, that the slaveholders of the South feel
+it to be a religious duty to teach their slaves to be honest, and
+never to take what is not their own! Oh consistency, art thou not
+a jewel? Yet Isabella glories in the fact that she was faithful and
+true to her master; she says, 'It made me true to my God'-meaning,
+that it helped to form in her a character that loved
+truth, and hated a lie, and had saved her from the bitter pains
+and fears that are sure to follow in the wake of insincerity and
+hypocrisy.
+
+As she advanced in years, an attachment sprung up between
+herself and a slave named Robert. But his master, an Englishman
+by the name of Catlin, anxious that no one's property but his
+own should be enhanced by the increase of his slaves, forbade
+Robert's visits to Isabella, and commanded him to take a wife
+among his fellow-servants. Notwithstanding this interdiction,
+Robert, following the bent of his inclinations, continued his
+visits to Isabel, though very stealthily, and, as he believed, without
+exciting the suspicion of his master; but one Saturday afternoon,
+hearing that Bell was ill, he took the liberty to go and see
+her. The first intimation she had of his visit was the appearance
+of her master, inquiring 'if she had seen Bob.' On her answering
+in the negative, he said to her, 'If you see him, tell him to
+take care of himself, for the Catlins are after him.' Almost at that
+instant, Bob made his appearance; and the first people he met
+were his old and his young masters. They were terribly enraged
+at finding him there, and the eldest began cursing, and calling
+upon his son to 'Knock down the d-d black rascal'; at the
+same time, they both fell upon him like tigers, beating him with
+the heavy ends of their canes, bruising and mangling his head
+and face in the most awful manner, and causing the blood, which
+streamed from his wounds, to cover him like a slaughtered beast,
+constituting him a most shocking spectacle. Mr. Dumont interposed
+at this point, telling the ruffians they could no longer thus
+spill human blood on his premises-he would have 'no niggers
+killed there.' The Catlins then took a rope they had taken with
+them for the purpose, and tied Bob's hands behind him in such
+a manner, that Mr. Dumont insisted on loosening the cord,
+declaring that no brute should be tied in that manner, where he
+was. And as they led him away, like the greatest of criminals, the
+more humane Dumont followed them to their homes, as Robert's
+protector; and when he returned, he kindly went to Bell,
+as he called her, telling her he did not think they would strike
+him any more, as their wrath had greatly cooled before he left
+them. Isabella had witnessed this scene from her window, and
+was greatly shocked at the murderous treatment of poor Robert,
+whom she truly loved, and whose only crime, in the eye of his
+persecutors, was his affection for her. This beating, and we know
+not what after treatment, completely subdued the spirit of its
+victim, for Robert ventured no more to visit Isabella, but like an
+obedient and faithful chattel, took himself a wife from the house
+of his master. Robert did not live many years after his last visit
+to Isabel, but took his departure to that country, where 'they
+neither marry nor are given in marriage,' and where the oppressor
+cannot molest.
+
+
+
+
+ISABELLA'S MARRIAGE.
+
+
+Subsequently, Isabella was married to a fellow-slave, named
+Thomas, who had previously had two wives, one of whom, if
+not both, had been torn from him and sold far away. And it is
+more than probable, that he was not only allowed but encouraged
+to take another at each successive sale. I say it is probable,
+because the writer of this knows from personal observation, that
+such is the custom among slaveholders at the present day; and
+that in a twenty months' residence among them, we never knew
+any one to open the lip against the practice; and when we
+severely censured it, the slaveholder had nothing to say; and the
+slave pleaded that, under existing circumstances, he could do no
+better.
+
+Such an abominable state of things is silently tolerated, to say
+the least, by slaveholders-deny it who may. And what is that
+religion that sanctions, even by its silence, all that is embraced in
+the 'Peculiar Institution? ' If there can be any thing more
+diametrically opposed to the religion of Jesus, than the working of
+this
+soul-killing system-which is as truly sanctioned by the religion
+of America as are her ministers and churches-we wish to be
+shown where it can be found.
+
+We have said, Isabella was married to Thomas-she was,
+after the fashion of slavery, one of the slaves performing the
+ceremony for them; as no true minister of Christ can perform, as
+in the presence of God, what he knows to be a mere farce, a mock
+marriage, unrecognised by any civil law, and liable to be annulled
+any moment, when the interest or caprice of the master
+should dictate.
+
+With what feelings must slaveholders expect us to listen to
+their horror of amalgamation in prospect, while they are well
+aware that we know how calmly and quietly they contemplate
+the present state of licentiousness their own wicked laws have
+created, not only as it regards the slave, but as it regards the more
+privileged portion of the population of the South?
+
+Slaveholders appear to me to take the same notice of the vices
+of the slave, as one does of the vicious disposition of his horse.
+They are often an inconvenience; further than that, they care
+not to trouble themselves about the matter.
+
+
+
+
+ISABELLA AS A MOTHER.
+
+
+In process of time, Isabella found herself the mother of five
+children, and she rejoiced in being permitted to be the instrument
+of increasing the property of her oppressors! Think, dear
+reader, without a blush, if you can, for one moment, of a mother
+thus willingly, and with pride, laying her own children, the 'flesh
+of her flesh,' on the altar of slavery-a sacrifice to the bloody
+Moloch! But we must remember that beings capable of such
+sacrifices are not mothers; they are only 'things,'
+'chattels,' 'property.'
+
+But since that time, the subject of this narrative has made
+some advances from a state of chattelism towards that of a
+woman and a mother; and she now looks back upon her
+thoughts and feelings there, in her state of ignorance and
+degradation,
+as one does on the dark imagery of a fitful dream. One
+moment it seems but a frightful illusion; again it appears a terrible
+reality. I would to God it were but a dreamy myth, and not, as
+it now stands, a horrid reality to some three millions of chattelized
+human beings.
+
+I have already alluded to her care not to teach her children
+to steal, by her example; and she says, with groanings that cannot
+be written, 'The Lord only knows how many times I let my
+children go hungry, rather than take secretly the bread I liked
+not to ask for.' All parents who annul their preceptive teachings
+by their daily practices would do well to profit by her example.
+
+Another proof of her master's kindness of heart is found in
+the following fact. If her master came into the house and found
+her infant crying, (as she could not always attend to its wants and
+the commands of her mistress at the same time,) he would turn
+to his wife with a look of reproof, and ask her why she did not
+see the child taken care of; saying, most earnestly, 'I will not
+hear this crying; I can't bear it, and I will not hear any child cry
+so. Here, Bell, take care of this child, if no more work is done
+for a week.' And he would linger to see if his orders were
+obeyed, and not countermanded.
+
+When Isabella went to the field to work, she used to put her
+infant in a basket, tying a rope to each handle, and suspending
+the basket to a branch of a tree, set another small child to swing
+it. It was thus secure from reptiles and was easily administered to,
+and even lulled to sleep, by a child too young for other labors.
+I was quite struck with the ingenuity of such a baby-tender, as
+I have sometimes been with the swinging hammock the native
+mother prepares for her sick infant-apparently so much easier
+than aught we have in our more civilized homes; easier for the
+child, because it gets the motion without the least jar; and easier
+for the nurse, because the hammock is strung so high as to
+supersede the necessity of stooping.
+
+
+
+
+SLAVEHOLDER'S PROMISES.
+
+
+After emancipation had been decreed by the State, some years
+before the time fixed for its consummation, Isabella's master told
+her if she would do well, and be faithful, he would give her 'free
+papers,' one year before she was legally free by statute. In the
+year 1826, she had a badly diseased hand, which greatly diminished
+her usefulness; but on the arrival of July 4, 1827, the time
+specified for her receiving her 'free papers,' she claimed the
+fulfilment of her master's promise; but he refused granting it, on
+account (as he alleged) of the loss he had sustained by her hand.
+She plead that she had worked all the time, and done many
+things she was not wholly able to do, although she knew she had
+been less useful than formerly; but her master remained inflexible.
+Her very faithfulness probably operated against her now,
+and he found it less easy than he thought to give up the profits
+of his faithful Bell, who had so long done him efficient service.
+
+But Isabella inwardly determined that she would remain quietly
+with him only until she had spun his wool-about one
+hundred pounds-and then she would leave him, taking the rest
+of the time to herself. 'Ah!' she says, with emphasis that cannot
+be written, 'the slaveholders are TERRIBLE for promising to give
+you this or that, or such and such a privilege, if you will do thus
+and so; and when the time of fulfilment comes, and one claims
+the promise, they, forsooth, recollect nothing of the kind: and
+you are, like as not, taunted with being a LIAR; or, at best, the
+slave is accused of not having performed his part or condition of
+the contract.' 'Oh!' said she, 'I have felt as if I could not live
+through the operation sometimes. Just think of us! so eager for our
+pleasures, and just foolish enough to keep feeding and feeding
+ourselves up with the idea that we should get what had been thus
+fairly promised; and when we think it is almost in our hands, find
+ourselves flatly denied! Just think! how could we bear it? Why,
+there was Charles Brodhead promised his slave Ned, that when
+harvesting was over, he might go and see his wife, who lived
+some twenty or thirty miles off. So Ned worked early and late,
+and as soon as the harvest was all in, he claimed the promised
+boon. His master said, he had merely told him he 'would see if
+he could go, when the harvest was over; but now he saw that
+he could not go.' But Ned, who still claimed a positive promise,
+on which he had fully depended, went on cleaning his shoes. His
+master asked him if he intended going, and on his replying 'yes,'
+took up a sled-stick that lay near him, and gave him such a blow
+on the head as broke his skull, killing him dead on the spot. The
+poor colored people all felt struck down by the blow.' Ah! and
+well they might. Yet it was but one of a long series of bloody,
+and other most effectual blows, struck against their liberty and
+their lives. * But to return from our digression.
+
+The subject of this narrative was to have been free July 4,
+1827, but she continued with her master till the wool was spun,
+and the heaviest of the 'fall's work' closed up, when she concluded
+to take her freedom into her own hands, and seek her
+fortune in some other place.
+
+
+Note:
+*Yet no official notice was taken of his more than brutal murder.
+
+
+
+
+HER ESCAPE.
+
+
+The question in her mind, and one not easily solved, now was,
+'How can I get away?' So, as was her usual custom, she 'told
+God she was afraid to go in the night, and in the day every body
+would see her.' At length, the thought came to her that she
+could leave just before the day dawned, and get out of the
+neighborhood where she was known before the people were
+much astir. 'Yes,' said she, fervently, 'that's a good thought!
+Thank you, God, for that thought!' So, receiving it as coming
+direct from God, she acted upon it, and one fine morning, a little
+before day-break, she might have been seen stepping stealthily
+away from the rear of Master Dumont's house, her infant on one
+arm and her wardrobe on the other; the bulk and weight of
+which, probably, she never found so convenient as on the present
+occasion, a cotton handkerchief containing both her clothes
+and her provisions.
+
+As she gained the summit of a high hill, a considerable distance
+from her master's, the sun offended her by coming forth
+in all his pristine splendor. She thought it never was so light
+before; indeed, she thought it much too light. She stopped to
+look about her, and ascertain if her pursuers were yet in sight.
+No one appeared, and, for the first time, the question came up
+for settlement, 'Where, and to whom, shall I go?' In all her
+thoughts of getting away, she had not once asked herself whither
+she should direct her steps. She sat down, fed her infant, and
+again turning her thoughts to God, her only help, she prayed
+him to direct her to some safe asylum. And soon it occurred
+to her, that there was a man living somewhere in the direction
+she had been pursuing, by the name of Levi Rowe, whom she
+had known, and who, she thought, would be likely to befriend
+her. She accordingly pursued her way to his house, where she
+found him ready to entertain and assist her, though he was then
+on his death-bed. He bade her partake of the hospitalities of his
+house, said he knew of two good places where she might get in,
+and requested his wife to show her where they were to be found.
+As soon as she came in sight of the first house, she recollected
+having seen it and its inhabitants before, and instantly exclaimed,
+'That's the place for me; I shall stop there.' She went there, and
+found the good people of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Van Wagener,
+absent, but was kindly received and hospitably entertained
+by their excellent mother, till the return of her children.
+When they arrived, she made her case known to them. They
+listened to her story, assuring her they never turned the needy
+away, and willingly gave her employment.
+
+She had not been there long before her old master, Dumont,
+appeared, as she had anticipated; for when she took French leave
+of him, she resolved not to go too far from him, and not put him
+to as much trouble in looking her up-for the latter he was sure
+to do-as Tom and Jack had done when they ran away from
+him, a short time before. This was very considerate in her, to say
+the least, and a proof that 'like begets like.' He had often
+considered her feelings, though not always, and she was equally
+considerate.
+
+When her master saw her, he said, 'Well, Bell, so you've run
+away from me.' 'No, I did not run away; I walked away by
+day-light, and all because you had promised me a year of my
+time.' His reply was, 'You must go back with me.' Her decisive
+answer was, 'No, I won't go back with you.' He said, 'Well,
+I shall take the child.' This also was as stoutly negatived.
+
+Mr. Isaac S. Van Wagener then interposed, saying, he had
+never been in the practice of buying and selling slaves; he did not
+believe in slavery; but, rather than have Isabella taken back by
+force, he would buy her services for the balance of the year-for
+which her master charged twenty dollars, and five in addition for
+the child. The sum was paid, and her master Dumont departed;
+but not till he had heard Mr. Van Wagener tell her not to call
+him master-adding, 'there is but one master; and he who is your
+master is my master.' Isabella inquired what she should call him?
+He answered, 'call me Isaac Van Wagener, and my wife is Maria
+Van Wagener.' Isabella could not understand this, and thought
+it a mighty change, as it most truly was from a master whose word
+was law, to simple Isaac S. Van Wagener, who was master to no
+one. With these noble people, who, though they could not be
+the masters of slaves, were undoubtedly a portion of God's
+nobility, she resided one year, and from them she derived the
+name of Van Wagener; he being her last master in the eye of the
+law, and a slave's surname is ever the same as his master; that is,
+if he is allowed to have any other name than Tom, Jack, or
+Guffin. Slaves have sometimes been severely punished for adding
+their master's name to their own. But when they have no
+particular title to it, it is no particular offence.
+
+
+
+ILLEGAL SALE OF HER SON.
+
+
+A little previous to Isabel's leaving her old master, he had sold
+her child, a boy of five years, to a Dr. Gedney, who took him
+with him as far as New York city, on his way to England; but
+finding the boy too small for his service, he sent him back to his
+brother, Solomon Gedney. This man disposed of him to his
+sister's husband, a wealthy planter, by the name of Fowler, who
+took him to his own home in Alabama.
+
+This illegal and fraudulent transaction had been perpetrated
+some months before Isabella knew of it, as she was now living
+at Mr. Van Wagener's. The law expressly prohibited the sale of
+any slave out of the State,-and all minors were to be free at
+twenty-one years of age; and Mr. Dumont had sold Peter with
+the express understanding, that he was soon to return to the State
+of New York, and be emancipated at the specified time.
+
+When Isabel heard that her son had been sold South, she
+immediately started on foot and alone, to find the man who had
+thus dared, in the face of all law, human and divine, to sell her
+child out of the State; and if possible, to bring him to account
+for the deed.
+
+Arriving at New Paltz, she went directly to her former mistress,
+Dumont, complaining bitterly of the removal of her son.
+Her mistress heard her through, and then replied-'Ugh! a fine
+fuss to make about a little nigger! Why, haven't you as many of
+'em left as you can see to, and take care of? A pity 'tis, the niggers
+are not all in Guinea!! Making such a halloo-balloo about the
+neighborhood; and all for a paltry nigger!!!' Isabella heard her
+through, and after a moment's hesitation, answered, in tones of
+deep determination-'I'll have my child again.' 'Have your child
+again!' repeated her mistress-her tones big with contempt, and
+scorning the absurd idea of her getting him. 'How can you get
+him? And what have you to support him with, if you could?
+Have you any money?' 'No,' answered Bell, 'I have no
+money, but God has enough, or what's better! And I'll have my
+child again.' These words were pronounced in the most slow,
+solemn, and determined measure and manner. And in speaking
+of it, she says, 'Oh my God! I know'd I'd have him agin. I was
+sure God would help me to get him. Why, I felt so tall within-I
+felt as if the power of a nation was with me!'
+
+The impressions made by Isabella on her auditors, when
+moved by lofty or deep feeling, can never be transmitted to
+paper, (to use the words of another,) till by some Daguerrian act,
+we are enabled to transfer the look, the gesture, the tones of
+voice, in connection with the quaint, yet fit expressions used,
+and the spirit-stirring animation that, at such a time, pervades all
+she says.
+
+After leaving her mistress, she called on Mrs. Gedney, mother
+of him who had sold her boy; who, after listening to her lamentations,
+her grief being mingled with indignation at the sale of
+her son, and her declaration that she would have him again-said,
+'Dear me! What a disturbance to make about your child!
+What, is your child, better than my child? My child is gone out
+there, and yours is gone to live with her, to have enough of
+every thing, and be treated like a gentleman!' And here she
+laughed at Isabel's absurd fears, as she would represent them to
+be. 'Yes,' said Isabel, 'your child has gone there, but she is
+married, and my boy has gone as a slave, and he is too little to go
+so far from his mother. Oh, I must have my child.' And here the
+continued laugh of Mrs. G. seemed to Isabel, in this time of
+anguish and distress, almost demoniacal. And well it was for Mrs.
+Gedney, that, at that time, she could not even dream of the
+awful fate awaiting her own beloved daughter, at the hands of
+him whom she had chosen as worthy the wealth of her love
+and confidence, and in whose society her young heart had
+calculated on a happiness, purer and more elevated than was ever
+conferred by a kingly crown. But, alas! she was doomed to
+disappointment, as we shall relate by and by. At this point,
+Isabella earnestly begged of God that he would show to those
+about her that He was her helper; and she adds, in narrating,
+'And He did; or, if He did not show them, he did me.'
+
+
+
+IT IS OFTEN DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAWN.
+
+
+This homely proverb was illustrated in the case of our sufferer;
+for, at the period at which we have arrived in our narrative, to
+her the darkness seemed palpable, and the waters of affliction
+covered her soul; yet light was about to break in upon her.
+
+Soon after the scenes related in our last chapter, which had
+harrowed up her very soul to agony, she met a man, (we would
+like to tell you who, dear reader, but it would be doing him no
+kindness, even at the present day, to do so,) who evidently
+sympathized with her, and counselled her to go to the Quakers,
+telling her they were already feeling very indignant at the fraudulent
+sale of her son, and assuring her that they would readily
+assist her, and direct her what to do. He pointed out to her two
+houses, where lived some of those people, who formerly, more
+than any other sect, perhaps, lived out the principles of the
+gospel of Christ. She wended her way to their dwellings, was
+listened to, unknown as she personally was to them, with patience,
+and soon gained their sympathies and active co-operation.
+
+They gave her lodgings for the night; and it is very amusing
+to hear her tell of the 'nice, high, clean, white, beautiful bed'
+assigned her to sleep in, which contrasted so strangely with her
+former pallets, that she sat down and contemplated it, perfectly
+absorbed in wonder that such a bed should have been appropriated
+to one like herself. For some time she thought that she
+would lie down beneath it, on her usual bedstead, the floor. 'I
+did, indeed,' says she, laughing heartily at her former self. However,
+she finally concluded to make use of the bed, for fear that
+not to do so might injure the feelings of her good hostess. In the
+morning, the Quaker saw that she was taken and set down near
+Kingston, with directions to go to the Court House, and enter
+complaint to the Grand Jury.
+
+By a little inquiry, she found which was the building she
+sought, went into the door, and taking the first man she saw of
+imposing appearance for the grand jury, she commenced her
+complaint. But he very civilly informed her there was no Grand
+Jury there; she must go up stairs. When she had with some
+difficulty ascended the flight through the crowd that filled them,
+she again turned to the 'grandest ' looking man she could select,
+telling him she had come to enter a complaint to the Grand Jury.
+For his own amusement, he inquired what her complaint was;
+but, when he saw it was a serious matter, he said to her, 'This
+is no place to enter a complaint-go in there,' pointing in a
+particular direction.
+
+She then went in, where she found the Grand Jurors indeed
+sitting, and again commenced to relate her injuries. After holding
+some conversation among themselves, one of them rose, and
+bidding her follow him, led the way to a side office, where he
+heard her story, and asked her 'if she could swear that the child
+she spoke of was her son?' 'Yes,' she answered, 'I swear it's my
+son.' 'Stop, stop!' said the lawyer, 'you must swear by this
+book'-giving her a book, which she thinks must have been the
+Bible. She took it, and putting it to her lips, began again to swear
+it was her child. The clerks, unable to preserve their gravity any
+longer, burst into an uproarious laugh; and one of them inquired
+of lawyer Chip of what use it could be to make her swear. 'It
+will answer the law,' replied the officer. He then made her
+comprehend just what he wished her to do, and she took a
+lawful oath, as far as the outward ceremony could make it one.
+All can judge how far she understood its spirit and meaning.
+
+He now gave her a writ, directing her to take it to the
+constable at New Paltz, and have him serve it on Solomon
+Gedney. She obeyed, walking, or rather trotting, in her haste,
+some eight or nine miles.
+
+But while the constable, through mistake, served the writ on
+a brother of the real culprit, Solomon Gedney slipped into a
+boat, and was nearly across the North River, on whose banks
+they were standing, before the dull Dutch constable was aware
+of his mistake. Solomon Gedney, meanwhile, consulted a lawyer,
+who advised him to go to Alabama and bring back the boy,
+otherwise it might cost him fourteen years' imprisonment, and
+a thousand dollars in cash. By this time, it is hoped he began to
+feel that selling slaves unlawfully was not so good a business as
+he had wished to find it. He secreted himself till due preparations
+could be made, and soon set sail for Alabama. Steamboats and
+railroads had not then annihilated distance to the extent they
+now have, and although he left in the fall of the year, spring
+came ere he returned, bringing the boy with him-but holding
+on to him as his property. It had ever been Isabella's prayer, not
+only that her son might be returned, but that he should be
+delivered from bondage, and into her own hands, lest he should
+be punished out of mere spite to her, who was so greatly annoying
+and irritating to her oppressors; and if her suit was gained,
+her very triumph would add vastly to their irritation.
+
+She again sought advice of Esquire Chip, whose counsel was,
+that the aforesaid constable serve the before-mentioned writ
+upon the right person. This being done, soon brought Solomon
+Gedney up to Kingston, where he gave bonds for his appearance
+at court, in the sum of $600.
+
+Esquire Chip next informed his client, that her case must
+now lie over till the next session of the court, some months in
+the future. 'The law must take its course,' said he.
+
+'What! wait another court! wait months?' said the persevering
+mother. 'Why, long before that time, he can go clear off,
+and take my child with him-no one knows where. I cannot
+wait; I must have him now, whilst he is to be had.' 'Well,' said
+the lawyer, very coolly, 'if he puts the boy out of the way, he
+must pay the $600-one half of which will be yours'; supposing,
+perhaps, that $300 would pay for a 'heap of children,' in
+the eye of a slave who never, in all her life, called a dollar her
+own. But in this instance, he was mistaken in his reckoning. She
+assured him, that she had not been seeking money, neither
+would money satisfy her; it was her son, and her son alone she
+wanted, and her son she must have. Neither could she wait
+court, not she. The lawyer used his every argument to convince
+her, that she ought to be very thankful for what they had done
+for her; that it was a great deal, and it was but reasonable that she
+should now wait patiently the time of the court.
+
+Yet she never felt, for a moment, like being influenced by
+these suggestions. She felt confident she was to receive a full and
+literal answer to her prayer, the burden of which had been-'O
+Lord, give my son into my hands, and that speedily! Let not the
+spoilers have him any longer.' Notwithstanding, she very distinctly
+saw that those who had thus far helped her on so kindly
+were wearied of her, and she feared God was wearied also. She had
+a short time previous learned that Jesus was a Saviour, and an
+intercessor; and she thought that if Jesus could but be induced to
+plead
+for her in the present trial, God would listen to him, though he
+were wearied of her importunities. To him, of course, she applied.
+As she was walking about, scarcely knowing whither she went,
+asking within herself, 'Who will show me any good, and lend a
+helping hand in this matter,' she was accosted by a perfect
+stranger, and one whose name she has never learned, in the
+following terms: 'Halloo, there; how do you get along with your
+boy? do they give him up to you?' She told him all, adding that
+now every body was tired, and she had none to help her. He said,
+'Look here! I'll tell you what you'd better do. Do you see that
+stone house yonder?' pointing in a particular direction. 'Well,
+lawyer Demain lives there, and do you go to him, and lay your
+case before him; I think he'll help you. Stick to him. Don't give him
+peace till he does. I feel sure if you press him, he'll do it for you.'
+She needed no further urging, but trotted off at her peculiar gait in
+the direction of his house, as fast as possible,-and she was not
+encumbered with stockings, shoes, or any other heavy article of
+dress. When she had told him her story, in her impassioned
+manner, he looked at her a few moments, as if to ascertain if he
+were contemplating a new variety of the genus homo, and then
+told her, if she would give him five dollars, he would get her son
+for her, in twenty-four hours. 'Why,' she replied, 'I have no
+money, and never had a dollar in my life!' Said he, 'If you will go
+to those Quakers in Poppletown, who carried you to court, they
+will help you to five dollars in cash, I have no doubt; and you shall
+have your son in twenty-four hours, from the time you bring me
+that sum.' She performed the journey to Poppletown, a distance
+of some ten miles, very expeditiously; collected considerable
+more than the sum specified by the barrister; then, shutting the
+money tightly in her hand, she trotted back, and paid the lawyer a
+larger fee than he had demanded. When inquired of by people
+what she had done with the overplus, she answered, 'Oh, I got it
+for lawyer Demain, and I gave it to him. ' They assured her she was
+a fool to do so; that she should have kept all over five dollars, and
+purchased herself shoes with it. 'Oh, I do not want money or
+clothes now, I only want my son; and if five dollars will get him,
+more will surely get him. ' And if the lawyer had returned it to her,
+she avers she would not have accepted it. She was perfectly willing
+he should have every coin she could raise, if he would but restore
+her lost son to her. Moreover, the five dollars he required were for
+the remuneration of him who should go after her son and his
+master, and not for his own services.
+
+The lawyer now renewed his promise, that she should have
+her son in twenty-four hours. But Isabella, having no idea of this
+space of time, went several times in a day, to ascertain if her son
+had come. Once, when the servant opened the door and saw
+her, she said, in a tone expressive of much surprise, 'Why, this
+woman's come again!' She then wondered if she went too
+often. When the lawyer appeared, he told her the twenty-four
+hours would not expire till the next morning; if she would call
+then, she would see her son. The next morning saw Isabel at the
+lawyer's door, while he was yet in his bed. He now assured her
+it was morning till noon; and that before noon her son would
+be there, for he had sent the famous 'Matty Styles' after him,
+who would not fail to have the boy and his master on hand in
+due season, either dead or alive; of that he was sure. Telling her
+she need not come again; he would himself inform her of their
+arrival.
+
+After dinner, he appeared at Mr. Rutzer's, (a place the lawyer
+had procured for her, while she awaited the arrival of her boy,)
+assuring her, her son had come; but that he stoutly denied having
+any mother, or any relatives in that place; and said, 'she must go
+over and identify him.' She went to the office, but at sight of
+her the boy cried aloud, and regarded her as some terrible being,
+who was about to take him away from a kind and loving friend.
+He knelt, even, and begged them, with tears, not to take him
+away from his dear master, who had brought him from the
+dreadful South, and been so kind to him.
+
+When he was questioned relative to the bad scar on his
+forehead, he said, 'Fowler's horse hove him.' And of the one
+on his cheek, 'That was done by running against the carriage.'
+In answering these questions, he looked imploringly at his master,
+as much as to say, 'If they are falsehoods, you bade me say
+them; may they be satisfactory to you, at least.'
+
+The justice, noting his appearance, bade him forget his master
+and attend only to him. But the boy persisted in denying his
+mother, and clinging to his master, saying his mother did not live
+in such a place as that. However, they allowed the mother to
+identify her son; and Esquire Demain pleaded that he claimed
+the boy for her, on the ground that he had been sold out of the
+State, contrary to the laws in such cases made and provided-spoke of
+the penalties annexed to said crime, and of the sum of
+money the delinquent was to pay, in case any one chose to
+prosecute him for the offence he had committed. Isabella, who
+was sitting in a corner, scarcely daring to breathe, thought within
+herself, 'If I can but get the boy, the $200 may remain for
+whoever else chooses to prosecute-I have done enough to
+make myself enemies already'-and she trembled at the thought
+of the formidable enemies she had probably arrayed against
+herself-helpless and despised as she was. When the pleading
+was at an end, Isabella understood the Judge to declare, as the
+sentence of the Court, that the 'boy be delivered into the hands
+of the mother-having no other master, no other controller, no
+other conductor, but his mother.' This sentence was obeyed; he
+was delivered into her hands, the boy meanwhile begging, most
+piteously, not to be taken from his dear master, saying she was
+not his mother, and that his mother did not live in such a place
+as that. And it was some time before lawyer Demain, the clerks,
+and Isabella, could collectively succeed in calming the child's
+fears, and in convincing him that Isabella was not some terrible
+monster, as he had for the last months, probably, been trained to
+believe; and who, in taking him away from his master, was
+taking him from all good, and consigning him to all evil.
+
+When at last kind words and bon-bons had quieted his fears,
+and he could listen to their explanations, he said to Isabella-
+'Well, you do look like my mother used to'; and she was soon
+able to make him comprehend some of the obligations he was
+under, and the relation he stood in, both to herself and his
+master. She commenced as soon as practicable to examine the
+boy, and found, to her utter astonishment, that from the crown
+of his head to the sole of his foot, the callosities and indurations
+on his entire body were most frightful to behold. His back she
+described as being like her fingers, as she laid them side by side.
+
+'Heavens! what is all this? ' said Isabel. He answered, 'It is
+where Fowler whipped, kicked, and beat me.' She exclaimed,
+'Oh, Lord Jesus, look! see my poor child! Oh Lord, "render
+unto them double" for all this! Oh my God! Pete, how did you
+bear it?'
+
+'Oh, this is nothing, mammy-if you should see Phillis, I
+guess you'd scare! She had a little baby, and Fowler cut her till
+the milk as well as blood ran down her body. You would scare
+to see Phillis, mammy.'
+
+When Isabella inquired, 'What did Miss Eliza * say, Pete,
+when you were treated so badly?' he replied, 'Oh, mammy, she
+said she wished I was with Bell. Sometimes I crawled under the
+stoop, mammy, the blood running all about me, and my back
+would stick to the boards; and sometimes Miss Eliza would
+come and grease my sores, when all were abed and asleep.'
+
+
+Note:
+*Meaning Mrs. Eliza Fowler.
+
+
+
+DEATH OF MRS. ELIZA FOWLER.
+
+
+As soon as possible she procured a place for Peter, as tender of
+locks, at a place called Wahkendall, near Greenkills. After he
+was thus disposed of, she visited her sister Sophia, who resided
+at Newberg, and spent the winter in several different families
+where she was acquainted. She remained some time in the family
+of a Mr. Latin, who was a relative of Solomon Gedney; and
+the latter, when he found Isabel with his cousin, used all his
+influence to persuade him she was a great mischief-maker and a
+very troublesome person,-that she had put him to some hundreds
+of dollars expense, by fabricating lies about him, and
+especially his sister and her family, concerning her boy, when the
+latter was living so like a gentleman with them; and, for his part,
+he would not advise his friends to harbor or encourage her.
+However, his cousins, the Latins, could not see with the eyes of
+his feelings, and consequently his words fell powerless on them,
+and they retained her in their service as long as they had aught
+for her to do.
+
+She then went to visit her former master, Dumont. She had
+scarcely arrived there, when Mr. Fred. Waring entered, and
+seeing Isabel, pleasantly accosted her, and asked her 'what she
+was driving at now-a-days.' On her answering 'nothing particular,'
+he requested her to go over to his place, and assist his folks,
+as some of them were sick, and they needed an extra hand. She
+very gladly assented. When Mr. W. retired, her master wanted
+to know why she wished to help people, that called her the
+'worst of devils,' as Mr. Waring had done in the courthouse-for he was
+the uncle of Solomon Gedney, and attended the trial
+we have described-and declared 'that she was a fool to; he
+wouldn't do it.' 'Oh,' she told him, 'she would not mind that,
+but was very glad to have people forget their anger towards her.'
+She went over, but too happy to feel that their resentment was
+passed, and commenced her work with a light heart and a strong
+will. She had not worked long in this frame of mind, before a
+young daughter of Mr. Waring rushed into the rooms exclaiming,
+with uplifted hands-'Heavens and earth, Isabella! Fowler's
+murdered Cousin Eliza!' 'Ho,' said Isabel, 'that's nothing-he
+liked to have killed my child; nothing saved him but God.'
+Meaning, that she was not at all surprised at it, for a man whose
+heart was sufficiently hardened to treat a mere child as hers had
+been treated, was, in her opinion, more fiend than human, and
+prepared for the commission of any crime that his passions might
+prompt him to. The child further informed her that a letter had
+arrived by mail bringing the news.
+
+Immediately after this announcement, Solomon Gedney and
+his mother came in, going direct to Mrs. Waring's room, where
+she soon heard tones as of some one reading. She thought
+something said to her inwardly, 'Go up stairs and hear.' At first
+she hesitated, but it seemed to press her the more-'Go up and
+hear!' She went up, unusual as it is for slaves to leave their work
+and enter unbidden their mistress's room, for the sole purpose of
+seeing or hearing what may be seen or heard there. But on this
+occasion, Isabella says, she walked in at the door, shut it, placed
+her back against it, and listened. She saw them and heard them
+read-'He knocked her down with his fist, jumped on her with
+his knees, broke her collar-bone, and tore out her wind-pipe!
+He then attempted his escape, but was pursued and arrested, and
+put in an iron bank for safe-keeping!' And the friends were
+requested to go down and take away the poor innocent children
+who had thus been made in one short day more than orphans.
+
+If this narrative should ever meet the eye of those innocent
+sufferers for another's guilt, let them not be too deeply affected
+by the relation; but, placing their confidence in Him who sees
+the end from the beginning, and controls the results, rest secure
+in the faith, that, although they may physically suffer for the sins
+of others, if they remain but true to themselves, their highest and
+more enduring interests can never suffer from such a cause. This
+relation should be suppressed for their sakes, were it not even
+now so often denied, that slavery is fast undermining all true
+regard for human life. We know this one instance is not a
+demonstration to the contrary; but, adding this to the lists of
+tragedies that weekly come up to us through the Southern mails,
+may we not admit them as proofs irrefragable? The newspapers
+confirmed this account of the terrible affair.
+
+When Isabella had heard the letter, all being too much absorbed
+in their own feelings to take note of her, she returned to
+her work, her heart swelling with conflicting emotions. She was
+awed at the dreadful deed; she mourned the fate of the loved
+Eliza, who had in such an undeserved and barbarous manner
+been put away from her labors and watchings as a tender mother;
+and, 'last though not least,' in the development of her character
+and spirit, her heart bled for the afflicted relatives; even those of
+them who 'laughed at her calamity, and mocked when her fear
+came.' Her thoughts dwelt long and intently on the subject, and
+the wonderful chain of events that had conspired to bring her
+that day to that house, to listen to that piece of intelligence-to that
+house, where she never was before or afterwards in her
+life, and invited there by people who had so lately been hotly
+incensed against her. It all seemed very remarkable to her, and
+she viewed it as flowing from a special providence of God. She
+thought she saw clearly, that their unnatural bereavement was a
+blow dealt in retributive justice; but she found it not in her heart
+to exult or rejoice over them. She felt as if God had more than
+answered her petition, when she ejaculated, in her anguish of
+mind, 'Oh, Lord, render unto them double!' She said, 'I dared
+not find fault with God, exactly; but the language of my heart
+was, 'Oh, my God! that's too much-I did not mean quite so
+much, God!' It was a terrible blow to the friends of the deceased;
+and her selfish mother (who, said Isabella, made such a
+'to-do about her boy, not from affection, but to have her own
+will and way') went deranged, and walking to and fro in her
+delirium, called aloud for her poor murdered daughter-'Eliza!
+Eliza! '
+
+The derangement of Mrs. G. was a matter of hearsay, as
+Isabella saw her not after the trial; but she has no reason to doubt
+the truth of what she heard. Isabel could never learn the subsequent
+fate of Fowler, but heard, in the spring of '49, that his
+children had been seen in Kingston-one of whom was spoken
+of as a fine, interesting girl, albeit a halo of sadness fell like a
+veil
+about her.
+
+
+
+ISABELLA'S RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+We will now turn from the outward and temporal to the inward
+and spiritual life of our subject. It is ever both interesting and
+instructive to trace the exercises of a human mind, through the
+trials and mysteries of life; and especially a naturally powerful
+mind, left as hers was almost entirely to its own workings, and
+the chance influences it met on its way; and especially to note
+its reception of that divine 'light, that lighteth every man that
+cometh into the world.'
+
+We see, as knowledge dawns upon it, truth and error
+strangely commingled; here, a bright spot illuminated by truth-and
+there, one darkened and distorted by error; and the state of
+such a soul may be compared to a landscape at early dawn, where
+the sun is seen superbly gilding some objects, and causing others
+to send forth their lengthened, distorted, and sometimes hideous
+shadows.
+
+Her mother, as we have already said, talked to her of God.
+From these conversations, her incipient mind drew the conclusion,
+that God was 'a great man'; greatly superior to other men
+in power; and being located 'high in the sky,' could see all that
+transpired on the earth. She believed he not only saw, but noted
+down all her actions in a great book, even as her master kept a
+record of whatever he wished not to forget. But she had no idea
+that God knew a thought of hers till she had uttered it aloud.
+
+As we have before mentioned, she had ever been mindful of
+her mother's injunctions, spreading out in detail all her troubles
+before God, imploring and firmly trusting him to send her
+deliverance from them. Whilst yet a child, she listened to a story
+of a wounded soldier, left alone in the trail of a flying army,
+helpless and starving, who hardened the very ground about him
+with kneeling in his supplications to God for relief, until it
+arrived. From this narrative, she was deeply impressed with the
+idea, that if she also were to present her petitions under the open
+canopy of heaven, speaking very loud, she should the more
+readily be heard; consequently, she sought a fitting spot for this,
+her rural sanctuary. The place she selected, in which to offer up
+her daily orisons, was a small island in a small stream, covered
+with large willow shrubbery, beneath which the sheep had made
+their pleasant winding paths; and sheltering themselves from the
+scorching rays of a noon-tide sun, luxuriated in the cool shadows
+of the graceful willows, as they listened to the tiny falls of the
+silver waters. It was a lonely spot, and chosen by her for its
+beauty, its retirement, and because she thought that there, in the
+noise of those waters, she could speak louder to God, without
+being overheard by any who might pass that way. When she had
+made choice of her sanctum, at a point of the island where the
+stream met, after having been separated, she improved it by
+pulling away the branches of the shrubs from the centre, and
+weaving them together for a wall on the outside, forming a
+circular arched alcove, made entirely of the graceful willow. To
+this place she resorted daily, and in pressing times much more
+frequently.
+
+At this time, her prayers, or, more appropriately, 'talks with
+God,' were perfectly original and unique, and would be well
+worth preserving, were it possible to give the tones and manner
+with the words; but no adequate idea of them can be written
+while the tones and manner remain inexpressible.
+
+She would sometimes repeat, 'Our Father in heaven,' in her
+Low Dutch, as taught her by her mother; after that, all was from
+the suggestions of her own rude mind. She related to God, in
+minute detail, all her troubles and sufferings, inquiring, as she
+proceeded, 'Do you think that's right, God?' and closed by
+begging to be delivered from the evil, whatever it might be.
+
+She talked to God as familiarly as if he had been a creature
+like herself; and a thousand times more so, than if she had been
+in the presence of some earthly potentate. She demanded, with
+little expenditure of reverence or fear, a supply of all her more
+pressing wants, and at times her demands approached very near
+to commands. She felt as if God was under obligation to her,
+much more than she was to him. He seemed to her benighted
+vision in some manner bound to do her bidding.
+
+Her heart recoils now, with very dread, when she recalls
+those shocking, almost blasphemous conversations with great
+Jehovah. And well for herself did she deem it, that, unlike earthly
+potentates, his infinite character combined the tender father
+with the omniscient and omnipotent Creator of the universe.
+
+She at first commenced promising God, that if he would help
+her out of all her difficulties, she would pay him by being very
+good; and this goodness she intended as a remuneration to God.
+She could think of no benefit that was to accrue to herself or her
+fellow-creatures, from her leading a life of purity and generous
+self-sacrifice for the good of others; as far as any but God was
+concerned, she saw nothing in it but heart-trying penance, sustained
+by the sternest exertion; and this she soon found much
+more easily promised than performed.
+
+Days wore away-new trials came-God's aid was invoked,
+and the same promises repeated; and every successive night
+found her part of the contract unfulfilled. She now began to
+excuse herself, by telling God she could not be good in her
+present circumstances; but if he would give her a new place, and
+a good master and mistress, she could and would be good; and
+she expressly stipulated, that she would be good one day to show
+God how good she would be all of the time, when he should
+surround her with the right influences, and she should be delivered
+from the temptations that then so sorely beset her. But, alas!
+when night came, and she became conscious that she had yielded
+to all her temptations, and entirely failed of keeping her word
+with God, having prayed and promised one hour, and fallen into
+the sins of anger and profanity the next, the mortifying reflection
+weighed on her mind, and blunted her enjoyment. Still, she did
+not lay it deeply to heart, but continued to repeat her demands
+for aid, and her promises of pay, with full purpose of heart, at
+each particular time, that that day she would not fail to keep her
+plighted word.
+
+Thus perished the inward spark, like a flame just igniting,
+when one waits to see whether it will burn on or die out, till the
+long desired change came, and she found herself in a new place,
+with a good mistress, and one who never instigated an otherwise
+kind master to be unkind to her; in short, a place where she had
+literally nothing to complain of, and where, for a time, she was
+more happy than she could well express. 'Oh, every thing there
+was so pleasant, and kind, and good, and all so comfortable;
+enough of every thing; indeed, it was beautiful!' she exclaimed.
+
+Here, at Mr. Van Wagener's,-as the reader will readily
+perceive she must have been,-she was so happy and satisfied,
+that God was entirely forgotten. Why should her thoughts turn
+to him, who was only known to her as a help in trouble? She had
+no trouble now; her every prayer had been answered in every
+minute particular. She had been delivered from her persecutors
+and temptations, her youngest child had been given her, and the
+others she knew she had no means of sustaining if she had them
+with her, and was content to leave them behind. Their father,
+who was much older than Isabel, and who preferred serving his
+time out in slavery, to the trouble and dangers of the course she
+pursued, remained with and could keep an eye on them-though it is
+comparatively little that they can do for each other
+while they remain in slavery; and this little the slave, like persons
+in every other situation of life, is not always disposed to perform.
+There are slaves, who, copying the selfishness of their superiors
+in power, in their conduct towards their fellows who may be
+thrown upon their mercy, by infirmity or illness, allow them to
+suffer for want of that kindness and care which it is fully in their
+power to render them.
+
+The slaves in this country have ever been allowed to celebrate
+the principal, if not some of the lesser festivals observed by
+the Catholics and Church of England;-many of them not being
+required to do the least service for several days, and at Christmas
+they have almost universally an entire week to themselves, except,
+perhaps, the attending to a few duties, which are absolutely
+required for the comfort of the families they belong to. If much
+service is desired, they are hired to do it, and paid for it as if they
+were free. The more sober portion of them spend these holidays
+in earning a little money. Most of them visit and attend parties
+and balls, and not a few of them spend it in the lowest dissipation.
+This respite from toil is granted them by all religionists, of
+whatever persuasion, and probably originated from the fact that
+many of the first slaveholders were members of the Church of
+England.
+
+Frederick Douglass, who has devoted his great heart and
+noble talents entirely to the furtherance of the cause of his
+down-trodden race, has said-'From what I know of the effect
+of their holidays upon the slave, I believe them to be among the
+most effective means, in the hands of the slaveholder, in keeping
+down the spirit of insurrection. Were the slaveholders at once to
+abandon this practice, I have not the slightest doubt it would
+lead to an immediate insurrection among the slaves. These holidays
+serve as conductors, or safety-valves, to carry off the rebellious
+spirit of enslaved humanity. But for these, the slave would
+be forced up to the wildest desperation; and woe betide the
+slaveholder, the day he ventures to remove or hinder the operation
+of those conductors! I warn him that, in such an event, a
+spirit will go forth in their midst, more to be dreaded than the
+most appalling earthquake.'
+
+When Isabella had been at Mr. Van Wagener's a few months,
+she saw in prospect one of the festivals approaching. She knows
+it by none but the Dutch name, Pingster, as she calls it-but
+I think it must have been Whitsuntide, in English. She says she
+'looked back into Egypt,' and every thing looked 'so pleasant
+there,' as she saw retrospectively all her former companions
+enjoying their freedom for at least a little space, as well as their
+wonted convivialities, and in her heart she longed to be with
+them. With this picture before her mind's eye, she contrasted the
+quiet, peaceful life she was living with the excellent people of
+Wahkendall, and it seemed so dull and void of incident, that the
+very contrast served but to heighten her desire to return, that, at
+least, she might enjoy with them, once more, the coming festivities.
+These feelings had occupied a secret corner of her breast for
+some time, when, one morning, she told Mrs. Van Wagener that
+her old master Dumont would come that day, and that she
+should go home with him on his return. They expressed some
+surprise, and asked her where she obtained her information. She
+replied, that no one had told her, but she felt that he would
+come.
+
+It seemed to have been one of those 'events that cast their
+shadows before'; for, before night, Mr. Dumont made his appearance.
+She informed him of her intention to accompany him
+home. He answered, with a smile, 'I shall not take you back
+again; you ran away from me.' Thinking his manner contradicted
+his words, she did not feel repulsed, but made herself and
+child ready; and when her former master had seated himself in
+the open dearborn, she walked towards it, intending to place
+herself and child in the rear, and go with him. But, ere she
+reached the vehicle, she says that God revealed himself to her,
+with all the suddenness of a flash of lightning, showing her, 'in
+the twinkling of an eye, that he was all over'-that he pervaded
+the universe-'and that there was no place where God was
+not.' She became instantly conscious of her great sin in forgetting
+her almighty Friend and 'ever-present help in time of
+trouble.' All her unfulfilled promises arose before her, like a
+vexed sea whose waves run mountains high; and her soul, which
+seemed but one mass of lies, shrunk back aghast from the 'awful
+look' of him whom she had formerly talked to, as if he had been
+a being like herself; and she would now fain have hid herself in
+the bowels of the earth, to have escaped his dread presence. But
+she plainly saw there was no place, not even in hell, where he
+was not; and where could she flee? Another such 'a look,' as she
+expressed it, and she felt that she must be extinguished forever,
+even as one, with the breath of his mouth, 'blows out a lamp,'
+so that no spark remains.
+
+A dire dread of annihilation now seized her, and she waited
+to see if, by 'another look,' she was to be stricken from
+existence,-swallowed
+up, even as the fire licketh up the oil with
+which it comes in contact.
+
+When at last the second look came not, and her attention was
+once more called to outward things, she observed her master had
+left, and exclaiming aloud, 'Oh, God, I did not know you were
+so big,' walked into the house, and made an effort to resume her
+work. But the workings of the inward man were too absorbing
+to admit of much attention to her avocations. She desired to
+talk to God, but her vileness utterly forbade it, and she was not
+able to prefer a petition. 'What!' said she, 'shall I lie again to
+God? I have told him nothing but lies; and shall I speak again,
+and tell another lie to God?' She could not; and now she began
+to wish for some one to speak to God for her. Then a space
+seemed opening between her and God, and she felt that if some
+one, who was worthy in the sight of heaven, would but plead
+for her in their own name, and not let God know it came from
+her, who was so unworthy, God might grant it. At length a
+friend appeared to stand between herself and an insulted Deity;
+and she felt as sensibly refreshed as when, on a hot day, an
+umbrella had been interposed between her scorching head and
+a burning sun. But who was this friend? became the next inquiry.
+Was it Deencia, who had so often befriended her? She
+looked at her, with her new power of sight-and, lo! she, too,
+seemed all 'bruises and putrifying sores,' like herself. No, it was
+some one very different from Deencia.
+
+'Who are you?' she exclaimed, as the vision brightened into
+a form distinct, beaming with the beauty of holiness, and radiant
+with love. She then said, audibly addressing the mysterious visitant-'I
+
+know you, and I don't know you.' Meaning, 'You
+seem perfectly familiar; I feel that you not only love me, but that
+you always have loved me-yet I know you not-I cannot call
+you by name.' When she said, 'I know you,' the subject of the
+vision remained distinct and quiet. When she said, 'I don't
+know you,' it moved restlessly about, like agitated waters. So
+while she repeated, without intermission, 'I know you, I know
+you,' that the vision might remain-'Who are you?' was the
+cry of her heart, and her whole soul was in one deep prayer that
+this heavenly personage might be revealed to her, and remain
+with her. At length, after bending both soul and body with the
+intensity of this desire, till breath and strength seemed failing,
+and she could maintain her position no
+
+longer, an answer came to her, saying distinctly, 'It is Jesus.'
+'Yes,' she responded, 'it is Jesus.'
+
+Previous to these exercises of mind, she heard Jesus mentioned in
+reading or speaking, but had received from what she heard no impression
+that he was any other than an eminent man, like a Washington or a
+Lafayette.  Now he appeared to her delighted mental vision as so mild,
+so good, and so every way lovely, and he loved her so much!  And, how
+strange that he had always loved her, and she had never known it!  And
+how great a blessing he conferred, in that he should stand between her
+and God! And God was no longer a terror and a dread to her.
+
+She stopped not to argue the point, even in her own mind, whether he
+had reconciled her to God, or God to herself, (though she thinks the
+former now,) being but
+
+too happy that God was no longer to her as a consuming fire, and Jesus
+was 'altogether lovely.'  Her heart was now full of joy and gladness,
+as it had been of terror, and at one time of despair.  In the light of
+her great happiness, the world was clad in new beauty, the very air
+sparkled as with diamonds, and was redolent of heaven.  She
+contemplated the unapproachable barriers that existed between herself
+and the great of this world, as the world calls greatness, and made
+surprising comparisons between them, and the union existing between
+herself and Jesus-Jesus, the transcendently lovely as well as great and
+powerful; for so he appeared to her, though he seemed but human; and
+she watched for his bodily appearance, feeling that she should know
+him, if she saw him; and when he came, she would go and dwell with him,
+as with a dear friend.
+
+It was not given to her to see that he loved any other; and she thought
+if others came to know and love him, as she did, she should be thrust
+aside and forgotten, being herself but a poor ignorant slave, with
+little to recommend her to his notice.  And when she heard him spoken
+off, she said mentally-'What! others know Jesus!  I thought no one knew
+Jesus but me!' and she felt a sort of jealousy, lest she should be
+robbed of her newly found treasure.
+
+She conceived, one day, as she listened to reading, that she heard an
+intimation that Jesus was married, and hastily inquired if Jesus had a
+wife.  'What!' said the reader, 'God have a wife?'  'Is Jesus God? '
+inquired Isabella.  'Yes, to be sure he is,' was the answer returned.
+From this time, her conceptions of Jesus became more elevated and
+spiritual; and she sometimes spoke of him as God, in accordance with
+the teaching she had received.
+
+But when she was simply told, that the Christian world was much divided
+on the subject of Christ's nature-some believing him to be coequal with
+the Father-to be God in and of himself, 'very God, of very God;'-some,
+that he is the 'well-beloved,' 'only begotten Son of God;'-and others,
+that he is, or was, rather, but a mere man-she said, 'Of that I only
+know as I saw.  I did not see him to be God; else, how could he stand
+between me and God?  I saw him as a friend, standing between me and
+God, through whom, love flowed as from a fountain.'  Now, so far from
+expressing her views of Christ's character and office in accordance
+with any system of theology extant, she says she believes Jesus is the
+same spirit that was in our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the
+beginning, when they came from the hand of their Creator.  When they
+sinned through disobedience, this pure spirit forsook them, and fled to
+heaven; that there it remained, until it returned again in the person
+of Jesus; and that, previous to a personal union with him, man is but a
+brute, possessing only the spirit of an animal.
+
+She avers that, in her darkest hours, she had no fear of any worse hell
+than the one she then carried in her bosom; though it had ever been
+pictured to her in its deepest colors, and threatened her as a reward
+for all her misdemeanors.  Her vileness and God's holiness and
+all-pervading presence, which filled immensity, and threatened her with
+constant annihilation, composed the burden of her vision of terror.
+Her faith in prayer is equal to her faith in the love of Jesus. Her
+language is, 'Let others say what they will of the efficacy of prayer,
+I believe in it, and I shall pray.  Thank God!  Yes, I shall always
+pray,' she exclaims, putting her hands together with the greatest
+enthusiasm.
+
+For some time subsequent to the happy change we
+have spoken off, Isabella's prayers partook largely of their former
+character; and while, in deep affliction, she labored for the recovery
+of her son, she prayed with constancy and fervor; and the following may
+be taken as a specimen:-'Oh,
+God, you know how much I am distressed, for I have told you again and
+again.  Now, God, help me get my son.  If you were in trouble, as I am,
+and I could help you, as you can me, think I would n't do it?  Yes,
+God, you know I would do it.'
+'Oh, God, you know I have no money, but you can make the people do for
+me, and you must make the people do for me.  I will never give you
+peace till you do, God.'
+'Oh, God, make the people hear me-don't let them turn me off, without
+hearing and helping me.'
+And she has not a particle of doubt, that God heard her, and especially
+disposed the hearts of thoughtless clerks, eminent lawyers, and grave
+judges and others-between whom and herself there seemed to her almost
+an infinite remove-to listen to her suit with patient and respectful
+attention, backing it up with all needed aid.  The sense of her
+nothingness in the eyes of those with whom she contended for her
+rights, sometimes fell on her like a heavy weight, which nothing but
+her unwavering confidence in an arm which she believed to be stronger
+than all others combined could have raised from her sinking spirit.
+'Oh! how little did I feel,' she repeated, with a powerful emphasis.
+'Neither would you wonder, if you could have seen me, in my ignorance
+and destitution, trotting about the streets, meanly clad, bare-headed,
+and bare-footed!  Oh, God only could have made such people hear me; and
+he did it in answer to my prayers.'  And this perfect trust, based on
+the rock of Deity, was a soul-protecting fortress, which, raising her
+above the battlements of fear, and shielding her from the machinations
+of the enemy, impelled her onward in the struggle, till the foe was
+vanquished, and the victory gained.
+
+We have now seen Isabella, her youngest daughter, and her only son, in
+possession of, at least, their nominal freedom.  It has been said that
+the freedom of the most free of the colored people of this country is
+but nominal; but stinted and limited as it is, at best, it is an
+immense remove from chattel slavery.  This fact is disputed, I know;
+but I have no confidence in the honesty of such questionings.  If they
+are made in sincerity, I honor not the judgment that thus decides.
+
+Her husband, quite advanced in age, and infirm of health, was
+emancipated, with the balance of the adult slaves of the State,
+according to law, the following summer, July 4, 1828.
+
+For a few years after this event, he was able to earn a scanty living,
+and when he failed to do that, he was dependent on the 'world's cold
+charity,' and died in a poorhouse.  Isabella had herself and two
+children to provide for; her wages were trifling, for at that time the
+wages of females were at a small advance from nothing; and she
+doubtless had to learn the first elements of economy-for what slaves,
+that were never allowed to make any stipulations or calculations for
+themselves, ever possessed an adequate idea of the true value of time,
+or, in fact, of any material thing in the universe?  To such, 'prudent
+using' is meanness-and 'saving' is a word to be sneered at.  Of course,
+it was not in her power to make to herself a home, around whose sacred
+hearth-stone she could collect her family, as they gradually emerged
+from their prison-house of bondage; a home, where she could cultivate
+their affection, administer to
+their wants, and instil into the opening minds of her children those
+principles of virtue, and that love of purity, truth and benevolence,
+which must for ever form the foundation of a life of usefulness and
+happiness.  No-all this was far beyond her power or means, in more
+senses than one; and it should be taken into the account, whenever a
+comparison is instituted between the progress made by her children in
+virtue and goodness, and the progress of those who have been nurtured
+in the genial warmth of a sunny home, where good influences cluster,
+and bad ones are carefully excluded-where 'line upon line, and precept
+upon precept,' are daily brought to their quotidian tasks-and where, in
+short, every appliance is brought in requisition, that self-denying
+parents can bring to bear on one of the dearest objects of a parent's
+life, the promotion of the welfare of their children.  But God forbid
+that this suggestion should be wrested from its original intent, and
+made to shield any one from merited rebuke!  Isabella's children are
+now of an age to know good from evil, and may easily inform themselves
+on any point where they may yet be in doubt; and if they now suffer
+themselves to be drawn by temptation into the paths of the destroyer,
+or forget what is due to the mother who has done and suffered so much
+for them, and who, now that she is descending into the vale of years,
+and feels her health and strength declining, will turn her expecting
+eyes to them for aid and comfort, just as instinctively as the child
+turns its confiding eye to its fond parent, when it seeks for succor or
+sympathy-(for it is now their turn to do the work, and bear the burdens
+of life, so all must bear them in turn, as the wheel of life rolls on)-
+if, I say, they forget this, their duty and their happiness, and pursue
+an opposite course of sin and folly, they must lose the respect of the
+wise and good, and find, when too late, that 'the way of the
+transgressor is hard.'
+
+
+
+NEW TRIALS.
+
+
+The reader will pardon this passing homily, while we return to our
+narrative.
+
+We were saying that the day-dreams of Isabella and her husband-the plan
+they drew of what they would do, and the comforts they thought to have,
+when they should obtain their freedom, and a little home of their own-
+had all turned to 'thin air,' by the postponement of their freedom to
+so late a day.  These delusive hopes were never to be realized, and a
+new set of trials was gradually to open before her.  These were the
+heart-wasting trials of watching over her children, scattered, and
+imminently exposed to the temptations of the adversary, with few, if
+any, fixed principles to sustain them.
+
+'Oh,' she says, 'how little did I know myself of the best way to
+instruct and counsel them!  Yet I did the best I then knew, when with
+them.  I took them to the religious meetings; I talked to, and prayed
+for and with them; when they did wrong, I scolded at and whipped them.'
+
+Isabella and her son had been free about a year, when they went to
+reside in the city of New York; a place which she would doubtless have
+avoided, could she have foreseen what was there in store for her; for
+this view into the future would have taught her what she only learned
+by bitter experience, that the baneful influences going up from such a
+city were not the best helps to education, commenced as the education
+of her children had been.
+
+Her son Peter was, at the time of which we are speaking, just at that
+age when no lad should be subjected to the temptations of such a place,
+unprotected as he was, save by the feeble arm of a mother, herself a
+servant there.  He was growing up to be a tall, well-formed, active
+lad, of quick perceptions, mild and cheerful in his disposition, with
+much that was open, generous and winning about him, but with little
+power to withstand temptation, and a ready ingenuity to provide himself
+with ways and means to carry out his plans, and conceal from his mother
+and her friends, all such as he knew would not meet their approbation.
+As will be readily believed, he was soon drawn into a circle of
+associates who did not improve either his habits or his morals.
+
+Two years passed before Isabella knew what character Peter was
+establishing for himself among his low and worthless comrades-passing
+under the assumed name of Peter Williams; and she began to feel a
+parent's pride in the promising appearance of her only son.  But, alas!
+this pride and pleasure were shortly dissipated, as distressing facts
+relative to him came one by one to her astonished ear.  A friend of
+Isabella's, a lady, who was much pleased with the good humor,
+ingenuity, and open confessions of Peter, when driven into a corner,
+and who, she said, 'was so smart, he ought to have an education, if any
+one ought,'-paid ten dollars, as tuition fee, for him to attend a
+navigation school.  But Peter, little inclined to spend his leisure
+hours in study, when he might be enjoying himself in the dance, or
+otherwise, with his boon companions, went regularly and made some
+plausible excuses to the teacher, who received them as genuine, along
+with the ten dollars of Mrs -, and while his mother and her friend
+believed him improving at school, he was, to their latent sorrow,
+improving in a very different place or places, and on entirely opposite
+principles.  They also procured him an excellent place as a coachman.
+But, wanting money, he sold his livery, and other things belonging to
+his master; who, having conceived a kind regard for him, considered his
+youth, and prevented the law from falling, with all its rigor, upon his
+head.  Still he continued to abuse his privileges, and to involve
+himself in repeated difficulties, from which his mother as often
+extricated him.   At each time, she talked much, and reasoned and
+remonstrated with him; and he would, with such perfect frankness, lay
+open his whole soul to her, telling her he had never intended doing
+harm,-how he had been led along, little by little, till, before he was
+aware, he found himself in trouble-how he had tried to be good-and how,
+when he would have been so, 'evil was present with him,'-indeed he knew
+not how it was.
+
+His mother, beginning to feel that the city was no place for him, urged
+his going to sea, and would have shipped him on board a man-of-war; but
+Peter was not disposed to consent to that proposition, while the city
+and its pleasures were accessible to him.  Isabella now became a prey
+to distressing fears, dreading lest the next day or hour come fraught
+with the report of some dreadful crime, committed or abetted by her
+son.  She thanks the Lord for sparing her that giant sorrow, as all his
+wrong doings never ranked higher, in the eye of the law, than
+misdemeanors.  But as she could see no improvement in Peter, as a last
+resort, she resolved to leave him, for a time, unassisted, to bear the
+penalty of his conduct, and see what effect that would have on him.  In
+the trial hour, she remained firm in her resolution.  Peter again fell
+into the hands of the police, and sent for his mother, as usual; but
+she went not to his relief.  In his extremity, he sent for Peter
+Williams, a respectable colored barber, whose name he had been
+wearing, and who sometimes helped young culprits out of their troubles,
+and sent them from city dangers, by shipping them on board of whaling
+vessels.
+
+The curiosity of this man was awakened by the culprit's bearing his own
+name.  He went to the Tombs and inquired into his case, but could not
+believe what Peter told him respecting his mother and family.  Yet he
+redeemed him, and Peter promised to leave New York in a vessel that was
+to sail in the course of a week.  He went to see his mother, and
+informed her of what had happened to him.  She listened incredulously,
+as to an idle tale.  He asked her to go with him and see for herself.
+She went, giving no credence to his story till she found herself in the
+presence of Mr. Williams, and heard him saying to her, 'I am very glad
+I have assisted your son; he stood in great need of sympathy and
+assistance; but I could not think he had such a mother here, although
+he assured me he had.'
+
+Isabella's great trouble now was, a fear lest her son should deceive
+his benefactor, and be missing when the vessel sailed; but he begged
+her earnestly to trust him, for he said he had resolved to do better,
+and meant to abide by the resolve.  Isabella's heart gave her no peace
+till the time of sailing, when Peter sent Mr. Williams and another
+messenger whom she knew, to tell her he had sailed.  But for a month
+afterwards, she looked to see him emerging from some by-place in the
+city, and appearing before her; so afraid was she that he was still
+unfaithful, and doing wrong.  But he did not appear, and at length she
+believed him really gone.  He left in the summer of 1839, and his
+friends heard nothing further from him till his mother received the
+following letter, dated 'October 17 1840';-
+
+
+
+MY DEAR AND BELOVED MOTHER:
+
+'I take this opportunity to write to you and inform you that I am well,
+and in hopes for to find you the same.  I am got on board the same
+unlucky ship Done, of Nantucket.  I am sorry for to say, that I have
+been punished once severely, by shoving my head in the fire for other
+folks.  We have had bad luck, but in hopes to have better.  We have
+about 230 on board, but in hopes, if do n't kave good luck, that my
+parents will receive me with thanks.  I would like to know how my
+sisters are.  Does my cousins live in New York yet?  Have you got my
+letter?  If not, inquire to Mr. Pierce Whiting's.  I wish you would
+write me an answer as soon as possible.  I am your only son, that is so
+far from your home, in the wide briny ocean.  I have seen more of the
+world than ever I expected, and if I ever should return home safe, I
+will tell you all my troubles and hardships.  Mother, I hope you do not
+forget me, your dear and only son.  I should like to know how Sophia,
+and Betsey, and Hannah, come on.  I hope you all will forgive me for
+all that I have done.
+'Your son, PETER VAN WAGENER.'
+
+
+
+Another letter reads as follows, dated 'March 22, 1841':-
+
+
+'MY DEAR MOTHER:
+
+'I take this opportunity to write to you, and inform you that I have
+been well and in good health.  I have wrote you a letter before, but
+have received no answer from you, and was very anxious to see you.  I
+hope to see you in a short time.  I have had very hard luck, but are in
+hopes to have better in time to come.  I should like if my sisters are
+well, and all the people round the neighborhood. I expect to be home in
+twenty-two months or thereabouts.  I have seen Samuel Laterett.
+Beware!  There has happened very bad news to tell you, that Peter
+Jackson is dead.  He died within two days' sail of Otaheite, one of the
+Society Islands.  The Peter Jackson that used to live at Laterett's; he
+died on board the ship Done, of Nantucket, Captain Miller, in the
+latitude 15 53, and longitude 148 30 W.  I have no more to say at
+present, but write as soon as possible.
+
+'Your only son,
+'PETER VAN WAGENER.'
+
+
+
+
+Another, containing the last intelligence she has had from her son,
+reads as follows, and was dated 'Sept.  19, 1841':-
+
+
+'DEAR MOTHER:
+
+'I take the opportunity to write to you and inform you that I am well
+and in good health, and in hopes to find you in the same.  This is the
+fifth letter that I have wrote to you, and have received no answer, and
+it makes me very uneasy.  So pray write as quick as you can, and tell
+me how all the people is about the neighborhood.  We are out from home
+twenty-three months, and in hope to be home in fifteen months.  I have
+not much to say; but tell me if you have been up home since I left or
+not.  I want to know what sort of a time is at home.  We had very bad
+luck when we first came out, but since we have had very good; so I am
+in hopes to do well yet; but if I do n't do well, you need not expect
+me home these five years.  So write as quick as you can, won't you?  So
+now I am going to put an end to my writing, at present.  Notice-when
+this you see, remember me, and place me in your mind.
+
+Get me to my home, that's in the far distant west,
+To the scenes of my childhood, that I like the best;
+There the tall cedars grow, and the bright waters flow,
+Where my parents will greet me, white man, let me go!
+Let me go to the spot where the cateract plays,
+Where oft I have sported in my boyish days;
+And there is my poor mother, whose heart ever flows,
+At the sight of her poor child, to her let me go, let me go!
+
+
+'Your only son,
+'PETER VAN WAGENER.'
+
+
+
+Since the date of the last letter, Isabella has heard no tidings from
+her long-absent son, though ardently does her mother's heart long for
+such tidings, as her thoughts follow him around the world, in his
+perilous vocation, saying within herself-'He is good now, I have no
+doubt; I feel sure that he has persevered, and kept the resolve he made
+before he left home;-he seemed so different before he went, so
+determined to do better.'  His letters are inserted here for
+preservation, in case they prove the last she ever hears from him in
+this world.
+
+
+
+FINDING A BROTHER AND SISTER.
+
+
+When Isabella had obtained the freedom of her son, she remained in
+Kingston, where she had been drawn by the judicial process, about a
+year, during which time she became a member of the Methodist Church
+there: and when she went to New York, she took a letter missive from
+that church to the Methodist Church in John street.
+Afterwards, she withdrew her connection with that church, and joined
+Zion's Church in Church street, composed entirely of colored people.
+With the latter church she remained until she went to reside with Mr.
+Pierson, after which, she was gradually drawn into the 'kingdom' set up
+by the prophet Matthias, in the name of God the Father; for he said the
+spirit of God the Father dwelt in him.
+
+While Isabella was in New York, her sister Sophia came from Newburg to
+reside in the former place.  Isabel had been favored with occasional
+interviews with this sister, although at one time she lost sight of her
+for the space of seventeen years-almost the entire period of her being
+at Mr. Dumont's-and when she appeared before her again, handsomely
+dressed, she did not recognize her, till informed who she was.  Sophia
+informed her that her brother Michael-a brother she had never seen-was
+in the city; and when she introduced him to Isabella, he informed her
+that their sister Nancy had been living in the city, and had deceased a
+few months before.  He described her features, her dress, her manner,
+and said she had for some time been a member in Zion's Church, naming
+the class she belonged to. Isabella almost instantly recognized her as
+a sister in the church, with whom she had knelt at the altar, and with
+whom she had exchanged the speaking pressure of the hand, in
+recognition of their spiritual sisterhood; little thinking, at the
+time, that they were also children of the same earthly parents-even
+Bomefree and Mau-mau Bett. As inquiries and answers rapidly passed, and
+the conviction deepened that this was their sister, the very sister
+they had heard so much of, but had never seen, (for she was the
+self-same sister that had been locked in the great old fashioned
+sleigh-box, when she was taken away, never to behold her mother's face
+again this side the spirit-land, and Michael, the narrator, was the
+brother who had shared her fate,) Isabella thought, 'D-h! here she was;
+we met; and was I not, at the time, struck with the peculiar feeling of
+her hand-the bony hardness so just like mine? and yet I could not know
+she was my sister; and now I see she looked so like my mother.'  And
+Isabella wept, and not alone; Sophia wept, and the strong man,
+Michael, mingled his tears with theirs.  'Oh Lord,' inquired Isabella,
+'what is this slavery, that it can do such dreadful things?  what evil
+can it not do?'  Well may she ask, for surely the evils it can and does
+do, daily and hourly, can never be summed up, till we can see them as
+they are recorded by him who writes no errors, and reckons without
+mistake.  This account, which now varies so widely in the estimate of
+different minds, will be viewed alike by all.
+
+Think you, dear reader, when that day comes, the most 'rapid
+abolitionist' will say-'Behold, I saw all this while on the earth?'
+Will he not rather say, 'Oh, who has conceived the breadth and depth of
+this moral malaria, this putrescent plague-spot?'  Perhaps the pioneers
+in the slave's cause will be as much surprised as any to find that with
+all their looking, there remained so much unseen.
+
+
+
+GLEANINGS.
+
+
+There are some hard things that crossed Isabella's life while in
+slavery, that she has no desire to publish, for various reasons.
+First, because the parties from whose hands she suffered them have
+rendered up their account to a higher tribunal, and their innocent
+friends alone are living, to have their feelings injured by the
+recital; secondly, because they are not all for the public ear, from
+their very nature; thirdly, and not least, because, she says, were she
+to tell all that happened to her as a slave-all that she knows is
+'God's truth'-it would seem to others, especially the uninitiated, so
+unaccountable, so unreasonable, and what is usually called so
+unnatural, (though it may be questioned whether people do not always
+act naturally,) they would not easily believe it. 'Why, no!' she says,
+'they'd call me a liar! they would, indeed! and I do not wish to say
+anything to destroy my own character for veracity, though what I say is
+strictly true.'  Some things have been omitted through forgetfulness,
+which not having been mentioned in their places, can only be briefly
+spoken of here;-such as, that her father Bomefree had had two wives
+before he took Mau mau Bett; one of whom, if not both, were torn from
+him by the iron hand of the ruthless trafficker in human flesh;-that
+her husband, Thomas, after one of his wives had been sold away from
+him, ran away to New York City, where he remained a year or two, before
+he was discovered and taken back to the prison-house of slavery;-that
+her master Dumont, when he promised Isabella one year of her time,
+before the State should make her free, made the same promise to her
+husband, and in addition to freedom, they were promised a log cabin for
+a home of their own; all of which, with the one-thousand-and-one
+day-dreams resulting therefrom, went into the repository of unfulfilled
+promises and unrealized hopes;-that she had often heard her father
+repeat a thrilling story of a little slave-child, which, because it
+annoyed the family with its cries, was caught up by a white man, who
+dashed its brains out against the wall.  An Indian (for Indians were
+plenty in that region then) passed along as the bereaved mother washed
+the bloody corpse of her murdered child, and learning the cause of its
+death, said, with characteristic vehemence, 'If I had been here, I
+would have put my tomahawk in his head!' meaning the murderer's.
+
+Of the cruelty of one Hasbrouck.-He had a sick slave-woman, who was
+lingering with a slow consumption, whom he made to spin, regardless of
+her weakness and suffering; and this woman had a child, that was unable
+to walk or talk, at the age of five years, neither could it cry like
+other children, but made a constant, piteous moaning sound.  This
+exhibition of helplessness and imbecility, instead of exciting the
+master's pity, stung his cupidity, and so enraged him, that he would
+kick the poor thing about like a foot-ball.
+
+Isabella's informant had seen this brute of a man, when the child was
+curled up under a chair, innocently amusing itself with a few sticks,
+drag it hence, that he might have the pleasure of tormenting it.  She
+had see him, with one blow of his foot, send it rolling quite across
+the room, and down the steps at the door.  Oh, how she wished it might
+instantly die!  'But,' she said, 'it seemed as tough as a moccasin.'
+Though it did die at last, and made glad the heart of its friends; and
+its persecutor, no doubt, rejoiced with them, but from very different
+motives.  But the day of his retribution was not far off-for he
+sickened, and his reason fled.  It was fearful to hear his old slave
+soon tell how, in the day of his calamity, she treated him.
+
+She was very strong, and was therefore selected to support her master,
+as he sat up in bed, by putting her arms around, while she stood behind
+him.  It was then that she
+did her best to wreak her vengeance on him.  She would clutch his
+feeble frame in her iron grasp, as in a vice; and, when her mistress
+did not see, would give him a squeeze, a shake, and lifting him up, set
+him down again, as hard as possible.  If his breathing betrayed too
+tight a grasp, and her mistress said, 'Be careful, don't hurt him,
+Soan!' her every-ready answer was, 'Oh no, Missus, no,' in her most
+pleasant tone-and then, as soon as Missus's eyes and ears were engaged
+away, another grasp-another shake-another bounce.  She was afraid the
+disease alone would let him recover,-an event she dreaded more than to
+do wrong herself.  Isabella asked her, if she were not afraid his
+spirit would haunt her.  'Oh, no,' says Soan; 'he was so wicked, the
+devil will never let him out of hell long enough for that.'
+
+Many slaveholders boast of the love of their slaves.  How would it
+freeze the blood of some of them to know what kind of love rankles in
+the bosoms of slaves for them!  Witness the attempt to poison Mrs.
+Calhoun, and hundreds of similar cases.  Most 'surprising ' to every
+body, because committed by slaves supposed to be so grateful for their
+chains.
+
+These reflections bring to mind a discussion on this point, between the
+writer and a slaveholding friend in Kentucky, on Christmas morning,
+1846.  We had asserted, that until mankind were far in advance of what
+they are now, irresponsible power over our fellow-beings would be, as
+it is, abused.  Our friend declared it was his conviction, that the
+cruelties of slavery existed chiefly in imagination, and that no person
+in D- County, where we then were, but would be above ill-treating a
+helpless slave.  We answered, that if his belief was well-founded, the
+people in Kentucky were greatly in advance of the people of New
+England-for we would not dare say as much as that of any
+school-district there, letting alone counties.  No, we would not
+answer for our own conduct even on so delicate a point.
+
+The next evening, he very magnanimously overthrew his own position and
+established ours, by informing us that, on the morning previous, and as
+near as we could learn, at the very hour in which we were earnestly
+discussing the probabilities of the case, a young woman of fine
+appearance, and high standing in society, the pride of her husband, and
+the mother of an infant daughter, only a few miles from us, ay, in D-
+County, too, was actually beating in the skull of a slave-woman called
+Tabby; and not content with that, had her tied up and whipped, after
+her skull was broken, and she died hanging to the bedstead, to which
+she had been fastened.  When informed that Tabby was
+dead, she answered, 'I am glad of it, for she has worried my life out
+of me.'  But Tabby's highest good was probably not the end proposed by
+Mrs. M-, for no one supposed she meant to kill her.  Tabby was
+considered quite lacking in good sense, and no doubt belonged to that
+class at the South, that are silly enough to 'die of moderate
+correction.'
+
+
+A mob collected around the house for an hour or two, in that manner
+expressing a momentary indignation.  But was she treated as a
+murderess?  Not at all!  She was allowed to take boat (for her
+residence was near the beautiful Ohio) that evening, to spend a few
+months with her absent friends, after which she returned and remained
+with her husband, no one to 'molest or make her afraid.'
+
+
+Had she been left to the punishment of an outraged conscience from
+right motives, I would have 'rejoiced with exceeding joy'.  But to see
+the life of one woman, and she a murderess, put in the balance against
+the lives of three millions of innocent slaves, and to contrast her
+punishment with what I felt would be the punishment of one who was
+merely suspected of being an equal friend of all mankind, regardless of
+color or condition, caused my blood to stir within me, and my heart to
+sicken at the thought.  The husband of Mrs. M- was absent from home, at
+the time alluded to; and when he arrived, some weeks afterwards,
+bringing beautiful presents to his cherished companion, he beheld his
+once happy home deserted, Tabby murdered and buried in the garden, and
+the wife of his bosom, and the mother of his child, the doer of a
+dreadful deed, a murderess!
+
+
+When Isabella went to New York City, she went in company with a Miss
+Grear, who introduced her to the family of Mr. James Latourette, a
+wealthy merchant, and a Methodist in religion; but who, the latter part
+of his life, felt that he had outgrown ordinances, and advocated free
+meetings, holding them at his own dwelling-house for several years
+previous to his death.  She worked for them, and they generously gave
+her a home while she labored for others, and in their kindness made her
+as one of their own.
+
+
+At that time, the 'moral reform' movement was awakening the attention
+of the benevolent in that city.  Many women, among whom were Mrs.
+Latourette and Miss Grear, became deeply interested in making an
+attempt to reform their fallen sisters, even the most degraded of them;
+and in this enterprise of labor and danger, they enlisted Isabella and
+others, who for a time put forth their most zealous efforts, and
+performed the work of missionaries with much apparent success.
+Isabella accompanied those ladies to the most wretched abodes of vice
+and misery, and sometimes she went where they dared not follow.  They
+even succeeded in establishing prayer-meetings in several places, where
+such a thing might least have been expected.
+
+
+But these meetings soon became the most noisy, shouting, ranting, and
+boisterous of gatherings; where they became delirious with excitement,
+and then exhausted from over-action.  Such meetings Isabel had not much
+sympathy with, at best.  But one evening she attended one of them,
+where the members of it, in a fit of ecstasy, jumped upon her cloak in
+such a manner as to drag her to the floor-and then, thinking she had
+fallen in a spiritual trance, they increased their glorifications on
+her account,-jumping, shouting, stamping, and clapping of hands;
+rejoicing so much over her spirit, and so entirely overlooking her
+body, that she suffered much, both from fear and bruises; and ever
+after refused to attend any more such meetings, doubting much whether
+God had any thing to do with such worship.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MATTHIAS DELUSION.
+
+
+We now come to an eventful period in the life of Isabella, as
+identified with one of the most extraordinary religious delusions of
+modern times; but the limits prescribed for the present work forbid a
+minute narration of all the occurrences that transpired in relation to
+it.
+
+
+After she had joined the African Church in Church street, and during
+her membership there, she frequently attended Mr. Latourette's
+meetings, at one of which, Mr. Smith invited her to go to a
+prayer-meeting, or to instruct the girls at the Magdalene Asylum,
+Bowery Hill, then under the protection of Mr. Pierson, and some other
+persons, chiefly respectable females.  To reach the Asylum, Isabella
+called on Katy, Mr. Pierson's colored servant, of whom she had some
+knowledge.  Mr. Pierson saw her there, conversed with her, asked her if
+she had been baptized, and was answered, characteristically, 'by the
+Holy Ghost.'  After this, Isabella saw Katy several times, and
+occasionally Mr. Pierson, who engaged her to keep his house while Katy
+went to Virginia to see her children.  This engagement was considered
+an answer to a prayer by Mr. Pierson, who had both fasted and prayed on
+the subject, while Katy and Isabella appeared to see in it the hand of
+God.
+
+
+Mr. Pierson was characterized by a strong devotional spirit, which
+finally became highly fanatical.  He assumed the title of Prophet,
+asserting that God had called him in an omnibus, in these words:-'Thou
+are Elijah, the Tishbite.  Gather unto me all the members of Israel at
+the foot of Mount Carmel'; which he understood as meaning the gathering
+of his friends at Bowery Hill.  Not long afterward, he became
+acquainted with the notorious Matthias, whose career was as
+extraordinary as it was brief.  Robert Matthews, or Matthias (as he was
+usually called), was of Scotch extraction, but a native of Washington
+County, New York, and at that time about forty-seven years of age.  He
+was religiously brought up, among the Anti-Burghers, a sect of
+Presbyterians; the clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Bevridge, visiting the
+family after the manner of the church, and being pleased with Robert,
+put his hand on his head, when a boy, and pronounced a blessing, and
+this blessing, with his natural qualities, determined his character;
+for he ever after thought he should be a distinguished man.  Matthias
+was brought up a farmer till nearly eighteen years of age, but
+acquired indirectly the art of a carpenter, without any regular
+apprenticeship, and showed considerable mechanical skill.  He obtained
+property from his uncle, Robert Thompson, and then he went into
+business as a store-keeper, was considered respectable, and became a
+member of the Scotch Presbyterian Church.  He married in 1813, and
+continued in business in Cambridge.  In 1816, he ruined himself by a
+building speculation, and the derangement of the currency which denied
+bank facilities, and soon after he came to New York with his family,
+and worked at his trade.  He afterwards removed to Albany, and became a
+hearer at the Dutch Reformed Church, then under Dr. Ludlow's charge.
+He was frequently much excited on religious subjects.
+
+
+In 1829, he was well known, if not for street preaching, for loud
+discussions and pavement exhortations, but he did not make set sermons.
+In the beginning of 1830, he was only considered zealous; but in the
+same year he prophesied the destruction of the Albanians and their
+capital, and while preparing to shave, with the Bible before him, he
+suddenly put down the soap and exclaimed, 'I have found it!  I have
+found a text which proves that no man who shaves his beard can be a
+true Christian;' and shortly afterwards, without shaving, he went to
+the Mission House to deliver an address which he had promised, and in
+this address, he proclaimed his new character, pronounced vengeance on
+the land, and that the law of God was the only rule of government, and
+that he was commanded to take possession of the world in the name of
+the King of kings.  His harangue was cut short by the trustees putting
+out the lights.  About this time, Matthias laid by his implements of
+industry, and in June, he advised his wife to fly with him from the
+destruction which awaited them in the city; and on her refusal, partly
+on account of Matthias calling himself a Jew, whom she was unwilling to
+retain as a husband, he left her, taking some of the children to his
+sister in Argyle, forty miles from Albany.  At Argyle he entered the
+church and interrupted the minister, declaring the congregation in
+darkness, and warning them to repentance.  He was, of course, taken out
+of the church, and as he was advertised in the Albany papers, he was
+sent back to his family.  His beard had now obtained a respectable
+length, and thus he attracted attention, and easily obtained an
+audience in the streets.  For this he was sometimes arrested, once by
+mistake for Adam Paine, who collected the crowd, and then left Matthias
+with it on the approach of the officers.  He repeatedly urged his wife
+to accompany him on a mission to convert the world, declaring that food
+could be obtained from the roots of the forest, if not administered
+otherwise.  At this time he assumed the name of Matthias, called
+himself a Jew, and set out on a mission, taking a western course, and
+visiting a brother at Rochester, a skillful mechanic, since dead.
+Leaving his brother, he proceeded on his mission over the Northern
+States, occasionally returning to Albany.
+
+
+After visiting Washington, and passing through Pennsylvania, he came to
+New York.  His appearance at that time was mean, but grotesque, and his
+sentiments were but little known.
+
+
+On May the 5th, 1832, he first called on Mr. Pierson, in Fourth street,
+in his absence.  Isabella was alone in the house, in which she had
+lived since the previous autumn.  On opening the door, she, for the
+first time, beheld Matthias, and her early impression of seeing Jesus
+in the flesh rushed to her mind.  She heard his inquiry, and invited
+him into the parlor; and being naturally curious, and much excited, and
+possessing a good deal of tact, she drew him into conversation, stated
+her own opinions, and heard his replies and explanations.  Her faith
+was at first staggered by his declaring himself a Jew; but on this
+point she was relieved by his saying, 'Do you not remember how Jesus
+prayed?' and repeated part of the Lord's Prayer, in proof that the
+Father's kingdom was to come, and not the Son's.  She then understood
+him to be a converted Jew, and in the conclusion she says she 'felt as
+if God had sent him to set up the kingdom.'  Thus Matthias at once
+secured the good will of Isabella, and we may supposed obtained from
+her some information in relation to Mr. Pierson, especially that Mrs.
+Pierson declared there was no true church, and approved of Mr.
+Pierson's preaching.  Matthias left the house, promising to return on
+Saturday evening.  Mr. P. at this time had not seen Matthias.
+
+
+Isabella, desirous of hearing the expected conversation between
+Matthias and Mr. Pierson on Saturday, hurried her work, got it
+finished, and was permitted to be present.  Indeed, the sameness of
+belief made her familiar with her employer, while her attention to her
+work, and characteristic faithfulness, increased his confidence.  This
+intimacy, the result of holding the same faith, and the principle
+afterwards adopted of having but one table, and all things in common,
+made her at once the domestic and the equal, and the depositary of very
+curious, if not valuable information.  To this object, even her color
+assisted.  Persons who have traveled in the South know the manner in
+which the colored people, and especially slaves, are treated; they are
+scarcely regarded as being present.  This trait in our American
+character has been frequently noticed by foreign travelers.  One
+English lady remarks that she discovered, in course of conversation
+with a Southern married gentleman, that a colored girl slept in his
+bedroom, in which also was his wife; and when he saw that it occasioned
+some surprise, he remarked, 'What would he do if he wanted a glass of
+water in the night?'  Other travelers have remarked that the presence
+of colored people never seemed to interrupt a conversation of any kind
+for one moment.  Isabella, then, was present at the first interview
+between Matthias and Pierson.  At this interview, Mr. Pierson asked
+Matthias if he had a family, to which he replied in the affirmative; he
+asked him about his beard, and he gave a scriptural reason, asserting
+also that the Jews did not shave, and that Adam had a beard.  Mr.
+Pierson detailed to Matthias his experience, and Matthias gave his, and
+they mutually discovered that they held the same sentiments, both
+admitting the direct influence of the Spirit, and the transmission of
+spirits from one body to another.  Matthias admitted the call of Mr.
+Pierson, in the omnibus in Wall street, which, on this occasion, he
+gave in these words:-'Thou art Elijah the Tishbite, and thou shalt go
+before me in the spirit and power of Elias, to prepare my way before
+me.'  And Mr. Pierson admitted Matthias' call, who completed his
+declaration on the 20th of June, in Argyle, which, by a curious
+coincidence, was the very day on which Pierson had received his call in
+the omnibus.  Such singular coincidences have a powerful effect on
+excited minds.  From that discovery, Pierson and Matthias rejoiced in
+each other, and became kindred spirits-Matthias, however, claiming to
+be the Father, or to possess the spirit of the Father-he was God upon
+the earth, because the spirit of God dwelt in him; while Pierson then
+understood that his mission was like that of John the Baptist, which
+the name Elias meant.  This conference ended with an invitation to
+supper, and Matthias and Pierson washing each other's feet.  Mr.
+Pierson preached on the following Sunday, but after which, he declined
+in favor of Matthias, and some of the party believed that the 'kingdom
+had then come.'
+
+
+As a specimen of Matthias' preaching and sentiments, the following is
+said to be reliable:
+
+
+'The spirit that built the Tower of Babel is now in the world-it is the
+spirit of the devil.  The spirit of man never goes upon the clouds; all
+who think so are Babylonians.  The only heaven is on earth.  All who
+are ignorant of truth are Ninevites.  The Jews did not crucify Christ-
+it was the Gentiles.  Every Jew has his guardian angel attending him in
+this world.  God don't speak through preachers; he speaks through me,
+his prophet.
+
+
+' " John the Baptist," (addressing Mr. Pierson),  "read the tenth
+chapter of Revelations." After the reading of the chapter, the prophet
+resumed speaking, as follows:-
+
+
+'Ours is the mustard-seed kingdom which is to spread all over the
+earth.  Our creed is truth, and no man can find truth unless he obeys
+John the Baptist, and comes clean into the church.
+
+
+'All real men will be saved; all mock men will be damned.  When a
+person has the Holy Ghost, then he is a man, and not till then.  They
+who teach women are of the wicked.  The communion is all nonsense; so
+is prayer.  Eating a nip of bread and drinking a little wine won't do
+any good.  All who admit members into their church, and suffer them to
+hold their lands and houses, their sentence is, "Depart, ye wicked, I
+know you not."  All females who lecture their husbands, their sentence
+is the same.  The sons of truth are to enjoy all the good things of
+this world, and must use their means to bring it about.  Every thing
+that has the smell of woman will be destroyed.  Woman is the capsheaf
+of the abomination of desolation-full of all deviltry.  In a short
+time, the world will take fire and dissolve; it is combustible
+already.  All women, not obedient, had better become so as soon as
+possible, and let the wicked spirit depart, and become temples of
+truth.  Praying is all mocking.  When you see any one wring the neck of
+a fowl, instead of cutting off its head, he has not got the Holy Ghost.
+(Cutting gives the least pain.)
+
+
+'All who eat swine's flesh are of the devil; and just as certain as he
+eats it, he will tell a lie in less than half an hour.  If you eat a
+piece of pork, it will go crooked through you, and the Holy Ghost will
+not stay in you, but one or the other must leave the house pretty soon.
+The pork will be as crooked in you as ram's horns, and as great a
+nuisance as the hogs in the street.
+
+
+'The cholera is not the right word; it is choler, which means God's
+wrath.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are now in this world; they did not
+go up in the clouds, as some believe-why should they go there?  They
+don't want to go there to box the compass from one place to another.
+The Christians now-a-days are for setting up the Son's kingdom.  It is
+not his; it is the Father's kingdom.  It puts me in mind of a man in
+the country, who took his son in business, and had his sign made,
+"Hitchcock & Son;" but the son wanted it "Hitchcock & Father"-and that
+is the way with your Christians.  They talk of the Son's kingdom
+first, and not the Father's kingdom.'
+
+
+Matthias and his disciples at this time did not believe in a
+resurrection of the body, but that the spirits of the former saints
+would enter the bodies of the present generation, and thus begin heaven
+on earth, of which he and Mr. Pierson were the first fruits.
+
+
+Matthias made the residence of Mr. Pierson his own; but the latter,
+being apprehensive of popular violence in his house, if Matthias
+remained there, proposed a monthly allowance to him, and advised him to
+occupy another dwelling.  Matthias accordingly took a house in Clarkson
+street, and then sent for his family at Albany, but they declined
+coming to the city.  However, his brother George complied with a
+similar offer, bringing his family with him, where they found very
+comfortable quarters.  Isabella was employed to do the housework.  In
+May, 1833, Matthias left his house, and placed the furniture, part of
+which was Isabella's, elsewhere, living himself at the hotel corner of
+Marketfield and West streets.   Isabella found employment at Mr.
+Whiting's, Canal street, and did the washing for Matthias by Mrs.
+Whiting's permission.
+
+
+Of the subsequent removal of Matthias to the farm and residence of Mr.
+B. Folger, at Sing Sing, where he was joined by Mr. Pierson, and others
+laboring under a similar religious delusion-the sudden, melancholy and
+somewhat suspicious death of Mr. Pierson, and the arrest of Matthias on
+the charge of his murder, ending in a verdict of not guilty-the
+criminal connection that subsisted between Matthias, Mrs. Folger, and
+other members of the 'Kingdom,' as 'match-spirits'-the final dispersion
+of this deluded company, and the voluntary exilement of Matthias in the
+far West, after his release-&c. &c., we do not deem it useful or
+necessary to give any particulars.  Those who are curious to know what
+there transpired are referred to a work published in New York in 1835,
+entitled 'Fanaticism; its Sources and Influence; illustrated by the
+simple Narrative of Isabella, in the case of Matthias, Mr. and Mrs. B.
+Folger, Mr. Pierson, Mr. Mills, Catharine, Isabella, &c. &c. By G.
+Vale, 84 Roosevelt street.'  Suffice it to say, that while Isabella was
+a member of the household at Sing Sing, doing much laborious service in
+the spirit of religious disinterestedness, and gradually getting her
+vision purged and her mind cured of its illusions, she happily escaped
+the contamination that surrounded her,-assiduously endeavoring to
+discharge all her duties in a becoming manner.
+
+
+
+
+
+FASTING.
+
+
+When Isabella resided with Mr. Pierson, he was in the habit of fasting
+every Friday; not eating or drinking anything from Thursday evening to
+six o'clock on Friday evening.
+
+
+Then, again, he would fast two nights and three days, neither eating
+nor drinking; refusing himself even a cup of cold water till the third
+day at night, when he took supper again, as usual.
+
+
+Isabella asked him why he fasted.  He answered, that fasting gave him
+great light in the things of God; which answer gave birth to the
+following train of thought in the mind of his auditor:-'Well, if
+fasting will give light inwardly and spiritually, I need it as much as
+any body,-and I'll fast too.  If Mr. Pierson needs to fast two nights
+and three days, then I, who need light more than he does, ought to fast
+more, and I will fast three nights and three days.'
+
+
+This resolution she carried out to the letter, putting not so much as a
+drop of water in her mouth for three whole days and nights.  The fourth
+morning, as she arose to her feet, not having the power to stand, she
+fell to the floor; but recovering herself sufficiently, she made her
+way to the pantry, and feeling herself quite voracious, and fearing
+that she might now offend God by her voracity, compelled herself to
+breakfast on dry bread and water-eating a large six-penny loaf before
+she felt at all stayed or satisfied.  She says she did get light, but
+it was all in her body and none in her mind-and this lightness of body
+lasted a long time.  Oh! she was so light, and felt so well, she could
+'skim around like a gull.'
+
+
+
+
+THE CAUSE OF HER LEAVING THE CITY.
+
+
+The first years spent by Isabella in the city, she accumulated more
+than enough to satisfy all her wants, and she placed all the overplus
+in the Savings' Bank.  Afterwards, while living with Mr. Pierson, he
+prevailed on her to take it all thence, and invest it in a common fund
+which he was about establishing, as a fund to be drawn from by all the
+faithful; the faithful, of course, were the handful that should
+subscribe to his peculiar creed.  This fund, commenced by Mr. Pierson,
+afterwards became part and parcel of the kingdom of which Matthias
+assumed to be head; and at the breaking up of the kingdom, her little
+property was merged in the general ruin-or went to enrich those who
+profited by the loss of others, if any such there were.  Mr. Pierson
+and others had so assured her, that the fund would supply all her
+wants, at all times, and in all emergencies, and to the end of life,
+that she became perfectly careless on the subject-asking for no
+interest when she drew her money from the bank, and taking no account
+of the sum she placed in the fund.  She recovered a few articles of the
+furniture from the wreck of the kingdom, and received a small sum of
+money from Mr. B. Folger, as the price of Mrs. Folger's attempt to
+convict her of murder.  With this to start upon, she commenced anew her
+labors, in the hope of yet being able to accumulate a sufficiency to
+make a little home for herself, in her advancing age.  With this
+stimulus before her, she toiled hard, working early and late, doing a
+great deal for a little money, and turning her hand to almost anything
+that promised good pay.  Still, she did not prosper, and somehow, could
+not contrive to lay by a single dollar for a 'rainy day.'
+
+
+When this had been the state of her affairs some time, she suddenly
+paused, and taking a retrospective view of what had passed, inquired
+within herself, why it was that, for all her unwearied labors, she had
+nothing to show; why it was that others, with much less care and labor,
+could hoard up treasures for themselves and children?  She became more
+and more convinced, as she reasoned, that every thing she had
+undertaken in the city of New York had finally proved a failure; and
+where her hopes had been raised the highest, there she felt the failure
+had been the greatest, and the disappointment most severe.
+
+
+After turning it in her mind for some time, she came to the conclusion,
+that she had been taking part in a great drama, which was, in itself,
+but one great system of robbery and wrong.  'Yes,' she said, 'the rich
+rob the poor, and the poor rob one another.'  True, she had not
+received labor from others, and stinted their pay, as she felt had been
+practised against her; but she had taken their work from them, which
+was their only means to get money, and was the same to them in the end.
+For instance-a gentleman where she lived would give her a dollar to
+hire a poor man to clear the new-fallen snow from the steps and
+side-walks.  She would arise early, and perform the labor herself,
+putting the money into her own pocket.  A poor man would come along,
+saying she ought to have let him have the job; he was poor, and needed
+the pay for his family.  She would harden her heart against him, and
+answer-'I am poor too, and I need it for mine.'  But, in her
+retrospection, she thought of all the misery she might have been adding
+to, in her selfish grasping, and it troubled her conscience sorely; and
+this insensibility to the claims of human brotherhood, and the wants of
+the destitute and wretched poor, she now saw, as she never had done
+before, to be unfeeling, selfish and wicked.  These reflections and
+convictions gave rise to a sudden revulsion of feeling in the heart of
+Isabella, and she began to look upon money and property with great
+indifference, if not contempt-being at that time unable, probably, to
+discern any difference between a miserly grasping at and hoarding of
+money and means, and a true use of the good things of this life for
+one's own comfort, and the relief of such as she might be enabled to
+befriend and assist.  One thing she was sure of-that the precepts, 'Do
+unto others as ye would that others should do unto you,' 'Love your
+neighbor as yourself,' and so forth, were maxims that had been but
+little thought of by herself, or practised by those about her.
+
+
+Her next decision was, that she must leave the city; it was no place
+for her; yea, she felt called in spirit to leave it, and to travel east
+and lecture.  She had never been further east than the city, neither
+had she any friends there of whom she had particular reason to expect
+any thing; yet to her it was plain that her mission lay in the east,
+and that she would find friends there.  She determined on leaving; but
+these determinations and convictions she kept close locked in her own
+breast, knowing that if her children and friends were aware of it, they
+would make such an ado about it as would render it very unpleasant, if
+not distressing to all parties.  Having made what preparations for
+leaving she deemed necessary,-which was, to put up a few articles of
+clothing in a pillow-case, all else being deemed an unnecessary
+incumbrance,-about an hour before she left, she informed Mrs. Whiting,
+the woman of the house where she was stopping, that her name was no
+longer Isabella, but SOJOURNER; and that she was going east.  And to
+her inquiry, 'What are you going east for?' her answer was, 'The Spirit
+calls me there, and I must go.'
+
+
+She left the city on the morning of the 1st of June, 1843, crossing
+over to Brooklyn, L.I.; and taking the rising sun for her only compass
+and guide, she 'remembered Lot's wife,' and hoping to avoid her fate,
+she resolved not to look back till she felt sure the wicked city from
+which she was fleeing was left too far behind to be visible in the
+distance; and when she first ventured to look back, she could just
+discern the blue cloud of smoke that hung over it, and she thanked the
+Lord that she was thus far removed from what seemed to her a second
+Sodom.
+
+
+She was now fairly started on her pilgrimage; her bundle in one hand,
+and a little basket of provisions in the other, and two York shillings
+in her purse-her heart strong in the faith that her true work lay
+before her, and that the Lord was her director; and she doubted not he
+would provide for and protect her, and that it would be very censurable
+in her to burden herself with any thing more than a moderate supply for
+her then present needs.  Her mission was not merely to travel east, but
+to 'lecture,' as she designated it; 'testifying of the hope that was in
+her'-exhorting the people to embrace Jesus, and refrain from sin, the
+nature and origin of which she explained to them in accordance with her
+own most curious and original views.  Through her life, and all its
+chequered changes, she has ever clung fast to her first permanent
+impressions on religious subjects.
+
+
+Wherever night overtook her, there she sought for lodgings-free, if she
+might-if not, she paid; at a tavern, if she chanced to be at one-if
+not, at a private dwelling; with the rich, if they would receive her-if
+not, with the poor.
+
+
+But she soon discovered that the largest houses were nearly always
+full; if not quite full, company was soon expected; and that it was
+much easier to find an unoccupied corner in a small house than in a
+large one; and if a person possessed but a miserable roof over his
+head, you might be sure of a welcome to part of it.
+
+
+But this, she had penetration enough to see, was quite as much the
+effect of a want of sympathy as of benevolence; and this was also very
+apparent in her religious conversations with people who were strangers
+to her.  She said, 'she never could find out that the rich had any
+religion.  If I had been rich and accomplished, I could; for the rich
+could always find religion in the rich, and I could find it among the
+poor.'
+
+
+At first, she attended such meetings as she heard of, in the vicinity
+of her travels, and spoke to the people as she found them assembled.
+Afterwards, she advertised meetings of her own, and held forth to large
+audiences, having, as she said, 'a good time.'
+
+
+When she became weary of travelling, and wished a place to stop a while
+and rest herself, she said some opening for her was always near at
+hand; and the first time she needed rest, a man accosted her as she was
+walking, inquiring if she was looking for work.  She told him that was
+not the object of her travels, but that she would willingly work a few
+days, if any one wanted.  He requested her to go to his family, who
+were sadly in want of assistance, which he had been thus far unable to
+supply.  She went to the house where she was directed, and was received
+by his family, one of whom was ill, as a 'Godsend;' and when she felt
+constrained to resume her journey, they were very sorry, and would fain
+have detained her longer; but as she urged the necessity of leaving,
+they offered her what seemed in her eyes a great deal of money as a
+remuneration for her labor, and an expression of their gratitude for
+her opportune assistance; but she would only receive a very little of
+it; enough, as she says, to enable her to pay tribute to Caesar, if it
+was demanded of her; and two or three York shillings at a time were all
+she allowed herself to take; and then, with purse replenished, and
+strength renewed, she would once more set out to perform her mission.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CONSEQUENCES OF REFUSING A TRAVELLER A NIGHT'S LODGING.
+
+
+As she drew near the center of the Island, she commenced, one evening
+at nightfall, to solicit the favor of a night's lodging.  She had
+repeated her request a great many, it seemed to her some twenty times,
+and as many times she received a negative answer.  She walked on, the
+stars and the tiny horns of the new moon shed but a dim light on her
+lonely way, when she was familiarly accosted by two Indians, who took
+her for an acquaintance.  She told them they were mistaken in the
+person; she was a stranger there, and asked them the direction to a
+tavern.  They informed her it was yet a long way-some two miles or so;
+and inquired if she were alone.  Not wishing for their protection, or
+knowing what might be the character of their kindness, she answered,
+'No, not exactly,' and passed on.  At the end of a weary way, she came
+to the tavern,-or rather, to a large building, which was occupied as a
+court-house, tavern, and jail,-and on asking for a night's lodging, was
+informed she could stay, if she would consent to be locked in.  This to
+her mind was an insuperable objection.  To have a key turned on her was
+a thing not to be thought of, at least not to be endured, and she again
+took up her line of march, preferring to walk beneath the open sky, to
+being locked up by a stranger in such a place.  She had not walked far,
+before she heard the voice of a woman under an open shed;
+
+she ventured to accost her, and inquired if she knew where she
+could get in for the night. The woman answered, that she did
+not, unless she went home with them; and turning to her 'good
+man,' asked him if the stranger could not share their home for
+the night, to which he cheerfully assented. Sojourner thought it
+evident he had been taking a drop too much, but as he was civil
+and good-natured, and she did not feel inclined to spend the
+night alone in the open air, she felt driven to the necessity of
+accepting their hospitality, whatever it might prove to be. The
+woman soon informed her that there was a ball in the place, at
+which they would like to drop in a while, before they went to
+their home.
+
+Balls being no part of Sojourner's mission, she was not desirous
+of attending; but her hostess could be satisfied with nothing
+short of a taste of it, and she was forced to go with her, or
+relinquish their company at once, in which move there might be
+more exposure than in accompanying her. She went, and soon
+found herself surrounded by an assemblage of people, collected
+from the very dregs of society, too ignorant and degraded to
+understand, much less entertain, a high or bright idea,-in a
+dirty hovel, destitute of every comfort, and where the fumes of
+whiskey were abundant and powerful.
+
+Sojourner's guide there was too much charmed with the
+combined entertainments of the place to be able to tear herself
+away, till she found her faculties for enjoyment failing her, from
+a too free use of liquor; and she betook herself to bed till she
+could recover them. Sojourner, seated in a corner, had time for
+many reflections, and refrained from lecturing them, in obedience
+to the recommendation, 'Cast not your pearls,' &c. When
+the night was far spent, the husband of the sleeping woman
+aroused the sleeper, and reminded her that she was not very
+polite to the woman she had invited to sleep at her house, and
+of the propriety of returning home. They once more emerged
+into the pure air, which to our friend Sojourner, after so long
+breathing the noisome air of the ball-room, was most refreshing
+and grateful. Just as day dawned, they reached the place they
+called their home. Sojourner now saw that she had lost nothing
+in the shape of rest by remaining so long at the ball, as their
+miserable cabin afforded but one bunk or pallet for sleeping; and
+had there been many such, she would have preferred sitting up
+all night to occupying one like it. They very politely offered her
+the bed, if she would use it; but civilly declining, she waited for
+morning with an eagerness of desire she never felt before on the
+subject, and was never more happy than when the eye of day
+shed its golden light once more over the earth. She was once
+more free, and while daylight should last, independent, and
+needed no invitation to pursue her journey. Let these facts teach
+us, that every pedestrian in the world is not a vagabond, and that
+it is a dangerous thing to compel any one to receive that hospitality
+from the vicious and abandoned which they should have
+received from us,-as thousands can testify, who have thus been
+caught in the snares of the wicked.
+
+The fourth of July, Isabella arrived at Huntingdon; from
+thence she went to Cold Springs, where she found the people
+making preparations for a mass temperance-meeting. With her
+usual alacrity, she entered into their labors, getting up dishes a la
+New York, greatly to the satisfaction of those she assisted. After
+remaining at Cold Springs some three weeks, she returned to
+Huntingdon, where she took boat for Connecticut. Landing at
+Bridgeport, she again resumed her travels towards the north-east,
+lecturing some, and working some, to get wherewith to pay
+tribute to Caesar, as she called it; and in this manner she presently
+came to the city of New Haven, where she found many meetings,
+which she attended-at some of which, she was allowed to
+express her views freely, and without reservation. She also called
+meetings expressly to give herself an opportunity to be heard;
+and found in the city many true friends of Jesus, as she judged,
+with whom she held communion of spirit, having no preference
+for one sect more than another, but being well satisfied with all
+who gave her evidence of having known or loved the Saviour.
+
+After thus delivering her testimony in this pleasant city, feeling
+she had not as yet found an abiding place, she went from
+thence to Bristol, at the request of a zealous sister, who desired
+her to go to the latter place, and hold a religious conversation
+with some friends of hers there. She went as requested, found
+the people kindly and religiously disposed, and through them
+she became acquainted with several very interesting persons.
+
+A spiritually-minded brother in Bristol, becoming interested
+in her new views and original opinions, requested as a favor that
+she would go to Hartford, to see and converse with friends of his
+there. Standing ready to perform any service in the Lord, she
+went to Hartford as desired, bearing in her hand the following
+note from this brother:-
+
+'SISTER,-I send you this living messenger, as I believe
+her to be one that God loves. Ethiopia is stretching forth
+her hands unto God. You can see by this sister, that God
+does by his Spirit alone teach his own children things to
+come. Please receive her, and she will tell you some new
+things. Let her tell her story without interrupting her, and
+give close attention, and you will see she has got the lever
+of truth, that God helps her to pry where but few can. She
+cannot read or write, but the law is in her heart.
+
+'Send her to brother -, brother -, and where she can do
+the most good.
+'From your brother, H. L. B.'
+
+
+
+
+
+SOME OF HER VIEWS AND REASONINGS.
+
+
+As soon as Isabella saw God as an all-powerful, all-pervading
+spirit, she became desirous of hearing all that had been written
+of him, and listened to the account of the creation of the world
+and its first inhabitants, as contained in the first chapters of
+Genesis, with peculiar interest. For some time she received it all
+literally, though it appeared strange to her that 'God worked by
+the day, got tired, and stopped to rest,' &c. But after a little time,
+she began to reason upon it, thus-'Why, if God works by the
+day, and one day's work tires him, and he is obliged to rest,
+either from weariness or on account of darkness, or if he waited
+for the "cool of the day to walk in the garden," because he was
+inconvenienced by the heat of the sun, why then it seems that
+God cannot do as much as I can; for I can bear the sun at noon,
+and work several days and nights in succession without being
+much tired. Or, if he rested nights because of the darkness, it is
+very queer that he should make the night so dark that he could
+not see himself. If I had been God, I would have made the night
+light enough for my own convenience, surely.' But the moment
+she placed this idea of God by the side of the impression
+she had once so suddenly received of his inconceivable greatness
+and entire spirituality, that moment she exclaimed mentally,
+'No, God does not stop to rest, for he is a spirit, and cannot tire;
+he cannot want for light, for he hath all light in himself. And if
+"God is all in all," and "worketh all in all," as I have heard them
+read, then it is impossible he should rest at all; for if he did, every
+other thing would stop and rest too; the waters would not flow,
+and the fishes could not swim; and all motion must cease. God
+could have no pauses in his work, and he needed no Sabbaths of
+rest. Man might need them, and he should take them when he
+needed them, whenever he required rest. As it regarded the
+worship of God, he was to be worshipped at all times and in all
+places; and one portion of time never seemed to her more holy
+than another.'
+
+These views, which were the results of the workings of her
+own mind, assisted solely by the light of her own experience and
+very limited knowledge, were, for a long time after their adoption,
+closely locked in her own breast, fearing lest their avowal
+might bring upon her the imputation of 'infidelity,'-the usual
+charge preferred by all religionists, against those who entertain
+religious views and feelings differing materially from their own.
+If, from their own sad experience, they are withheld from shouting
+the cry of 'infidel,' they fail not to see and to feel, ay, and
+to say, that the dissenters are not of the right spirit, and that their
+spiritual eyes have never been unsealed.
+
+While travelling in Connecticut, she met a minister, with
+whom she held a long discussion on these points, as well as on
+various other topics, such as the origin of all things, especially the
+origin of evil, at the same time bearing her testimony strongly
+against a paid ministry. He belonged to that class, and, as a matter
+of course, as strongly advocated his own side of the question.
+
+I had forgotten to mention, in its proper place, a very important
+fact, that when she was examining the Scriptures, she wished
+to hear them without comment; but if she employed adult
+persons to read them to her, and she asked them to read a passage
+over again, they invariably commenced to explain, by giving her
+their version of it; and in this way, they tried her feelings
+exceedingly.
+In consequence of this, she ceased to ask adult persons to
+read the Bible to her, and substituted children in their stead.
+Children, as soon as they could read distinctly, would re-read the
+same sentence to her, as often as she wished, and without
+comment; and in that way she was enabled to see what her own
+mind could make out of the record, and that, she said, was what
+she wanted, and not what others thought it to mean. She wished
+to compare the teachings of the Bible with the witness within
+her; and she came to the conclusion, that the spirit of truth spoke
+in those records, but that the recorders of those truths had
+intermingled with them ideas and suppositions of their own.
+This is one among the many proofs of her energy and independence
+of character.
+
+When it became known to her children, that Sojourner had
+left New York, they were filled with wonder and alarm. Where
+could she have gone, and why had she left? were questions no
+one could answer satisfactorily. Now, their imaginations painted
+her as a wandering maniac-and again they feared she had been
+left to commit suicide; and many were the tears they shed at the
+loss of her.
+
+But when she reached Berlin, Conn., she wrote to them by
+amanuensis, informing them of her whereabouts, and waiting an
+answer to her letter; thus quieting their fears, and gladdening
+their hearts once more with assurances of her continued life and
+her love.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND ADVENT DOCTRINES.
+
+
+In Hartford and vicinity, she met with several persons who
+believed in the 'Second Advent' doctrines; or, the immediate
+personal appearance of Jesus Christ. At first she thought she had
+never heard of 'Second Advent.' But when it was explained to
+her, she recollected having once attended Mr. Miller's meeting
+in New York, where she saw a great many enigmatical pictures
+hanging on the wall, which she could not understand, and
+which, being out of the reach of her understanding, failed to
+interest her. In this section of country, she attended two
+camp-meetings of the believers in these doctrines-the 'second advent'
+excitement being then at its greatest height. The last
+meeting was at Windsor Lock. The people, as a matter of course,
+eagerly inquired of her concerning her belief, as it regarded their
+most important tenet. She told them it had not been revealed to
+her; perhaps, if she could read, she might see it differently.
+Sometimes, to their eager inquiry, 'Oh, don't you believe the
+Lord is coming?' she answered, 'I believe the Lord is as near as
+he can be, and not be it.' With these evasive and non-exciting
+answers, she kept their minds calm as it respected her unbelief,
+till she could have an opportunity to hear their views fairly
+stated, in order to judge more understandingly of this matter,
+and see if, in her estimation, there was any good ground for
+expecting an event which was, in the minds of so many, as it
+were, shaking the very foundations of the universe. She was
+invited to join them in their religious exercises, and accepted the
+invitation-praying, and talking in her own peculiar style, and
+attracting many about her by her singing.
+
+When she had convinced the people that she was a lover of
+God and his cause, and had gained a good standing with them,
+so that she could get a hearing among them, she had become
+quite sure in her own mind that they were laboring under a
+delusion, and she commenced to use her influence to calm the
+fears of the people, and pour oil upon the troubled waters. In
+one part of the grounds, she found a knot of people greatly
+excited: she mounted a stump and called out, 'Hear! hear!'
+When the people had gathered around her, as they were in a
+state to listen to any thing new, she addressed them as 'children,'
+and asked them why they made such a 'To-do;-are you
+not commanded to "watch and pray?" You are neither watching
+nor praying.' And she bade them, with the tones of a kind
+mother, retire to their tents, and there watch and pray, without
+noise or tumult, for the Lord would not come to such a scene
+of confusion; 'the Lord came still and quiet.' She assured them,
+'the Lord might come, move all through the camp, and go away
+again, and they never know it,' in the state they then were.
+
+They seemed glad to seize upon any reason for being less
+agitated and distressed, and many of them suppressed their noisy
+terror, and retired to their tents to 'watch and pray;' begging
+others to do the same, and listen to the advice of the good sister.
+She felt she had done some good, and then went to listen further
+to the preachers. They appeared to her to be doing their utmost
+to agitate and excite the people, who were already too much
+excited; and when she had listened till her feelings would let her
+listen silently no longer, she arose and addressed the preachers.
+The following are specimens of her speech:-
+
+'Here you are talking about being "changed in the twinkling
+of an eye." If the Lord should come, he'd change you to nothing!
+for there is nothing to you.
+
+'You seem to be expecting to go to some parlor away up
+somewhere, and when the wicked have been burnt, you are
+coming back to walk in triumph over their ashes-this is to
+be your New Jerusalem!! Now, I can't see any thing so very
+nice in that, coming back to such a muss as that will be, a
+world covered with the ashes of the wicked! Besides, if the Lord
+comes and burns-as you say he will-I am not going away; I
+am going to stay here and stand the fire, like Shadrach, Meshach,
+and Abednego! And Jesus will walk with me through the fire,
+and keep me from harm. Nothing belonging to God can burn,
+any more than God himself; such shall have no need to go away
+to escape the fire! No, I shall remain. Do you tell me that God's
+children can't stand fire?' And her manner and tone spoke louder
+than words, saying, 'It is absurd to think so!'
+
+The ministers were taken quite aback at so unexpected an
+opposer, and one of them, in the kindest possible manner,
+commenced a discussion with her, by asking her questions, and
+quoting scripture to her; concluding, finally, that although she
+had learned nothing of the great doctrine which was so exclusively
+occupying their minds at the time, she had learned much
+that man had never taught her.
+
+At this meeting, she received the address of different persons,
+residing in various places, with an invitation to visit them. She
+promised to go soon to Cabotville, and started, shaping her
+course for that place. She arrived at Springfield one evening at
+six o'clock, and immediately began to search for a lodging for
+the night. She walked from six till past nine, and was then on the
+road from Springfield to Cabotville, before she found any one
+sufficiently hospitable to give her a night's shelter under their
+roof. Then a man gave her twenty-five cents, and bade her
+go to a tavern and stay all night. She did so, returning in the
+morning to thank him, assuring him she had put his money to
+its legitimate use. She found a number of the friends she had seen
+at Windsor when she reached the manufacturing town of Cabotville,
+(which has lately taken the name of Chicopee,) and
+with them she spent a pleasant week or more; after which, she
+left them to visit the Shaker village in Enfield. She now began
+to think of finding a resting place, at least, for a season; for she
+had performed quite a long journey, considering she had walked
+most of the way; and she had a mind to look in upon the
+Shakers, and see how things were there, and whether there was
+any opening there for her. But on her way back to Springfield,
+she called at a house and asked for a piece of bread; her request
+was granted, and she was kindly invited to tarry all night, as it
+was getting late, and she would not be able to stay at every house
+in that vicinity, which invitation she cheerfully accepted. When
+the man of the house came in, he recollected having seen her at
+the camp-meeting, and repeated some conversations, by which
+she recognized him again. He soon proposed having a meeting
+that evening, went out and notified his friends and neighbors,
+who came together, and she once more held forth to them in her
+peculiar style. Through the agency of this meeting, she became
+acquainted with several people residing in Springfield, to whose
+houses she was cordially invited, and with whom she spent some
+pleasant time.
+
+One of these friends, writing of her arrival there, speaks as
+follows. After saying that she and her people belonged to that
+class of persons who believed in the second advent doctrines; and
+that this class, believing also in freedom of speech and action,
+often found at their meetings many singular people, who did not
+agree with them in their principal doctrine; and that, being thus
+prepared to hear new and strange things, 'They listened eagerly
+to Sojourner, and drank in all she said;'-and also, that she
+'soon became a favorite among them; that when she arose to
+speak in their assemblies, her commanding figure and dignified
+manner hushed every trifler into silence, and her singular and
+sometimes uncouth modes of expression never provoked a
+laugh, but often were the whole audience melted into tears by
+her touching stories.' She also adds, 'Many were the lessons of
+wisdom and faith I have delighted to learn from her.' . . . . 'She
+continued a great favorite in our meetings, both on account of
+her remarkable gift in prayer, and still more remarkable talent for
+singing, . . . and the aptness and point of her remarks, frequently
+illustrated by figures the most original and expressive.
+
+'As we were walking the other day, she said she had often
+thought what a beautiful world this would be, when we should
+see every thing right side up. Now, we see every thing topsy-turvy, and
+all is confusion.' For a person who knows nothing of
+this fact in the science of optics, this seemed quite a remarkable
+idea.
+
+'We also loved her for her sincere and ardent piety, her
+unwavering faith in God, and her contempt of what the world
+calls fashion, and what we call folly.
+
+'She was in search of a quiet place, where a way-worn
+traveller might rest. She had heard of Fruitlands, and was
+inclined to go there; but the friends she found here thought it
+best for her to visit Northampton. She passed her time, while
+with us, working wherever her work was needed, and talking
+where work was not needed.
+
+'She would not receive money for her work, saying she
+worked for the Lord; and if her wants were supplied, she
+received it as from the Lord.
+
+'She remained with us till far into winter, when we introduced
+her at the Northampton Association.' . . . . 'She wrote to
+me from thence, that she had found the quiet resting place she
+had so long desired. And she has remained there ever since.'
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER CAMP MEETING.
+
+
+When Sojourner had been at Northampton a few months, she
+attended another camp-meeting, at which she performed a very
+important part.
+
+A party of wild young men, with no motive but that of
+entertaining themselves by annoying and injuring the feelings of
+others, had assembled at the meeting, hooting and yelling, and
+in various ways interrupting the services, and causing much
+disturbance. Those who had the charge of the meeting, having
+tried their persuasive powers in vain, grew impatient and tried
+threatening.
+
+The young men, considering themselves insulted, collected
+their friends, to the number of a hundred or more, dispersed
+themselves through the grounds, making the most frightful
+noises, and threatening to fire the tents. It was said the authorities
+of the meeting sat in grave consultation, decided to have the
+ring-leaders arrested, and sent for the constable, to the great
+displeasure of some of the company, who were opposed to such
+an appeal to force and arms. Be that as it may, Sojourner, seeing
+great consternation depicted in every countenance, caught the
+contagion, and, ere she was aware, found herself quaking with
+fear.
+
+Under the impulse of this sudden emotion, she fled to the
+most retired corner of a tent, and secreted herself behind a trunk.
+saying to herself, 'I am the only colored person here, and on me,
+probably, their wicked mischief will fall first, and perhaps fatally.'
+But feeling how great was her insecurity even there, as the
+very tent began to shake from its foundations, she began to
+soliloquise as follows:-
+
+'Shall I run away and hide from the Devil? Me, a servant of
+the living God? Have I not faith enough to go out and quell that
+mob, when I know it is written-"One shall chase a thousand,
+and two put ten thousand to flight"? I know there are not a
+thousand here; and I know I am a servant of the living God. I'll
+go to the rescue, and the Lord shall go with and protect me.
+
+'Oh,' said she, 'I felt as if I had three hearts! and that they
+were so large, my body could hardly hold them!'
+
+She now came forth from her hiding-place, and invited several
+to go with her and see what they could do to still the raging
+of the moral elements. They declined, and considered her wild
+to think of it.
+
+The meeting was in the open fields-the full moon shed its
+saddened light over all-and the woman who was that evening
+to address them was trembling on the preachers' stand. The
+noise and confusion were now terrific. Sojourner left the tent
+alone and unaided, and walking some thirty rods to the top of
+a small rise of ground, commenced to sing, in her most fervid
+manner, with all the strength of her most powerful voice, the
+hymn on the resurrection of Christ-
+
+It was early in the morning-it was early in the morning,
+  Just at the break of day-
+When he rose-when he rose-when he rose,
+  And went to heaven on a cloud.'
+
+
+All who have ever heard her sing this hymn will probably
+remember it as long as they remember her. The hymn, the tune,
+the style, are each too closely associated with to be easily
+separated from herself, and when sung in one of her most animated
+moods, in the open air, with the utmost strength of her most
+powerful voice, must have been truly thrilling.
+
+As she commenced to sing, the young men made a rush
+towards her, and she was immediately encircled by a dense body
+of the rioters, many of them armed with sticks or clubs as their
+weapons of defence, if not of attack. As the circle narrowed
+around her, she ceased singing, and after a short pause, inquired,
+in a gentle but firm tone, 'Why do you come about me with
+clubs and sticks? I am not doing harm to any one.' 'We ar'n't
+a going to hurt you, old woman; we came to hear you sing,'
+cried many voices, simultaneously. 'Sing to us, old woman,'
+cries one. 'Talk to us, old woman,' says another. 'Pray, old
+woman,' says a third. 'Tell us your experience,' says a fourth.
+'You stand and smoke so near me, I cannot sing or talk,' she
+answered.
+
+'Stand back,' said several authoritative voices, with not the
+most gentle or courteous accompaniments, raising their rude
+weapons in the air. The crowd suddenly gave back, the circle
+became larger, as many voices again called for singing, talking,
+or praying, backed by assurances that no one should be allowed
+to hurt her-the speakers declaring with an oath, that they
+would 'knock down ' any person who should offer her the
+least indignity.
+
+She looked about her, and with her usual discrimination, said
+inwardly-'Here must be many young men in all this assemblage,
+bearing within them hearts susceptible of good impressions.
+I will speak to them.' She did speak; they silently heard,
+and civilly asked her many questions. It seemed to her to be
+given her at the time to answer them with truth and wisdom
+beyond herself. Her speech had operated on the roused passions
+of the mob like oil on agitated waters; they were, as a whole,
+entirely subdued, and only clamored when she ceased to speak
+or sing. Those who stood in the back ground, after the circle was
+enlarged, cried out, 'Sing aloud, old woman, we can't hear.'
+Those who held the sceptre of power among them requested
+that she should make a pulpit of a neighboring wagon. She said,
+'If I do, they'll overthrow it.' 'No, they sha'n't-he who dares
+hurt you, we'll knock him down instantly, d-n him,' cried
+the chiefs. 'No we won't, no we won't, nobody shall hurt you,'
+answered the many voices of the mob. They kindly assisted her
+to mount the wagon, from which she spoke and sung to them
+about an hour. Of all she said to them on the occasion, she
+remembers only the following:-
+
+'Well, there are two congregations on this ground. It is
+written that there shall be a separation, and the sheep shall be
+separated from the goats. The other preachers have the sheep,
+I have the goats. And I have a few sheep among my goats, but
+they are very ragged.' This exordium produced great laughter.
+When she became wearied with talking, she began to cast about
+her to contrive some way to induce them to disperse. While she
+paused, they loudly clamored for 'more,' 'more,'-'sing,'
+'sing more.' She motioned them to be quiet, and called out to
+them: 'Children, I have talked and sung to you, as you asked
+me; and now I have a request to make of you; will you grant it?'
+'Yes, yes, yes,' resounded from every quarter. 'Well, it is this,'
+she answered; 'if I will sing one more hymn for you, will you
+then go away, and leave us this night in peace?' 'Yes, yes,'
+came faintly, feebly from a few. 'I repeat it,' says Sojourner,
+'and I want an answer from you all, as of one accord. If I will
+sing you one more, will you go away, and leave us this night in
+peace?' 'Yes, yes, yes,' shouted many voices, with hearty emphasis.
+'I repeat my request once more,' said she, 'and I want
+you all to answer.' And she reiterated the words again. This time
+a long, loud 'Yes-yes-yes,' came up, as from the multitudinous mouth
+of the entire mob. 'AMEN! it is SEALED,' repeated
+Sojourner, in the deepest and most solemn tones of her powerful
+and sonorous voice. Its effect ran through the multitude, like an
+electric shock; and the most of them considered themselves
+bound by their promise, as they might have failed to do under
+less imposing circumstances. Some of them began instantly to
+leave; others said, 'Are we not to have one more hymn?'
+'Yes,' answered their entertainer, and she commenced to sing:
+
+
+'I bless the Lord I've got my seal-to-day and to-day-
+To slay Goliath in the field-to-day and to-day;
+The good old way is a righteous way,
+I mean to take the kingdom in the good old way.'
+
+
+While singing, she heard some enforcing obedience to their
+promise, while a few seemed refusing to abide by it. But before
+she had quite concluded, she saw them turn from her, and in the
+course of a few minutes, they were running as fast as they well
+could in a solid body; and she says she can compare them to
+nothing but a swarm of bees, so dense was their phalanx, so
+straight their course, so hurried their march. As they passed with
+a rush very near the stand of the other preachers, the hearts of
+the people were smitten with fear, thinking that their entertainer
+had failed to enchain them longer with her spell, and that they
+were coming upon them with redoubled and remorseless fury.
+But they found they were mistaken, and that their fears were
+groundless; for, before they could well recover from their surprise,
+every rioter was gone, and not one was left on the
+grounds, or seen there again during the meeting. Sojourner was
+informed that as her audience reached the main road, some
+distance from the tents, a few of the rebellious spirits refused to
+go on, and proposed returning; but their leaders said, 'No-we
+have promised to leave-all promised, and we must go, all go,
+and you shall none of you return again.'
+
+She did not fall in love at first sight with the Northampton
+Association, for she arrived there at a time when appearances did
+not correspond with the ideas of associationists, as they had been
+spread out in their writings; for their phalanx was a factory, and
+they were wanting in means to carry out their ideas of beauty
+and elegance, as they would have done in different circumstances.
+But she thought she would make an effort to tarry with
+them one night, though that seemed to her no desirable affair.
+But as soon as she saw that accomplished, literary, and refined
+persons were living in that plain and simple manner, and submitting
+to the labors and privations incident to such an infant
+institution, she said, 'Well, if these can live here, I can.'
+Afterwards, she gradually became pleased with, and attached to, the
+place and the people, as well she might; for it must have been no
+small thing to have found a home in a 'Community composed
+of some of the choicest spirits of the age,' where all was
+characterized
+by an equality of feeling, a liberty of thought and speech,
+and a largeness of soul, she could not have before met with, to
+the same extent, in any of her wanderings.
+
+Our first knowledge of her was derived from a friend who
+had resided for a time in the 'Community,' and who, after
+describing her, and singing one of her hymns, wished that we
+might see her. But we little thought, at that time, that we should
+ever pen these 'simple annals' of this child of nature.
+
+When we first saw her, she was working with a hearty good
+will; saying she would not be induced to take regular wages,
+believing, as once before, that now Providence had provided her
+with a never-failing fount, from which her every want might be
+perpetually supplied through her mortal life. In this, she had
+calculated too fast. For the Associationists found, that, taking
+every thing into consideration, they would find it most expedient
+to act individually; and again, the subject of this sketch found
+her dreams unreal, and herself flung back upon her own resources
+for the supply of her needs. This she might have found
+more inconvenient at her time of life-for labor, exposure, and
+hardship had made sad inroads upon her iron constitution, by
+inducing chronic disease and premature old age-had she not
+remained under the shadow of one,* who never wearies in
+doing good, giving to the needy, and supplying the wants of the
+destitute. She has now set her heart upon having a little home
+of her own, even at this late hour of life, where she may feel a
+greater freedom than she can in the house of another, and where
+she can repose a little, after her day of action has passed by. And
+for such a 'home' she is now dependant on the charities of the
+benevolent, and to them we appeal with confidence.
+
+Through all the scenes of her eventful life may be traced the
+energy of a naturally powerful mind-the fearlessness and child-like
+simplicity of one untrammelled by education or conventional
+customs-purity of character-an unflinching adherence
+to principle-and a native enthusiasm, which, under different
+circumstances, might easily have produced another Joan of Arc.
+
+With all her fervor, and enthusiasm, and speculation, her
+religion is not tinctured in the least with gloom. No doubt, no
+hesitation, no despondency, spreads a cloud over her soul; but
+all is bright, clear, positive, and at times ecstatic. Her trust is in
+God, and from him she looks for good, and not evil. She feels
+that 'perfect love casteth out fear.'
+
+Having more than once found herself awaking from a mortifying
+delusion,-as in the case of the Sing-Sing kingdom,-and
+resolving not to be thus deluded again, she has set suspicion to
+guard the door of her heart, and allows it perhaps to be aroused
+by too slight causes, on certain subjects-her vivid imagination
+assisting to magnify the phantoms of her fears into gigantic
+proportions, much beyond their real size; instead of resolutely
+adhering to the rule we all like best, when it is to be applied to
+ourselves-that of placing every thing we see to the account of
+the best possible motive, until time and circumstance prove that
+we were wrong. Where no good motive can be assigned, it may
+become our duty to suspend our judgment till evidence can be
+had.
+
+In the application of this rule, it is an undoubted duty to
+exercise a commendable prudence, by refusing to repose any
+important trust to the keeping of persons who may be strangers
+to us, and whose trustworthiness we have never seen tried. But
+no possible good, but incalculable evil may and does arise from
+the too common practice of placing all conduct, the source of
+which we do not fully understand, to the worst of intentions.
+How often is the gentle, timid soul discouraged, and driven
+perhaps to despondency, by finding its 'good evil spoken of;'
+and a well-meant but mistaken action loaded with an evil design!
+
+If the world would but sedulously set about reforming itself
+on this one point, who can calculate the change it would
+produce-the evil it would annihilate, and the happiness it would
+confer! None but an all-seeing eye could at once embrace so vast
+a result. A result, how desirable! and one that can be brought
+about only by the most simple process-that of every individual
+seeing to it that he commit not this sin himself. For why should
+we allow in ourselves, the very fault we most dislike, when
+committed against us? Shall we not at least aim at consistency?
+
+Had she possessed less generous self-sacrifice, more knowledge of
+the world and of business matters in general, and had she
+failed to take it for granted that others were like herself, and
+would, when her turn came to need, do as she had done, and
+find it 'more blessed to give than to receive,' she might have
+laid by something for the future. For few, perhaps, have ever
+possessed the power and inclination, in the same degree, at one
+and the same time, to labor as she has done, both day and night,
+for so long a period of time. And had these energies been
+well-directed, and the proceeds well husbanded, since she has
+been her own mistress, they would have given her an independence
+during her natural life. But her constitutional biases, and
+her early training, or rather want of training, prevented this
+result; and it is too late now to remedy the great mistake. Shall
+she then be left to want? Who will not answer. 'No!'
+
+Note:
+* GEORGE W. BENSON.
+
+
+
+HER LAST INTERVIEW WITH HER MASTER.
+
+
+In the spring of 1849, Sojourner made a visit to her eldest
+daughter, Diana, who has ever suffered from ill health, and
+remained with Mr. Dumont, Isabella's humane master. She
+found him still living, though advanced in age, and reduced in
+property, (as he had been for a number of years,) but greatly
+enlightened on the subject of slavery. He said he could then see
+that 'slavery was the wickedest thing in the world, the greatest
+curse the earth had ever felt-that it was then very clear to his
+mind that it was so, though, while he was a slaveholder himself,
+he did not see it so, and thought it was as right as holding any
+other property.' Sojourner remarked to him, that it might be
+the same with those who are now slaveholders. 'O, no,'
+replied he, with warmth, 'it cannot be. For, now, the sin of
+slavery is so clearly written out, and so much talked against,-(why,
+the whole world cries out against it!)-that if any one says
+he don't know, and has not heard, he must, I think, be a liar. In
+my slaveholding days, there were few that spoke against it, and
+these few made little impression on any one. Had it been as it
+is now, think you I could have held slaves? No! I should not
+have dared to do it, but should have emancipated every one of
+them. Now, it is very different; all may hear if they will.'
+
+Yes, reader, if any one feels that the tocsin of alarm, or the
+anti-slavery trump, must sound a louder note before they can
+hear it, one would think they must be very hard of hearing,-yea, that
+they belong to that class, of whom it may be truly said,
+'they have stopped their ears that they may not hear.'
+
+She received a letter from her daughter Diana, dated Hyde
+Park, December 19, 1849, which informed her that Mr. Dumont had
+'gone West' with some of his sons-that he had
+taken along with him, probably through mistake, the few articles
+of furniture she had left with him. 'Never mind,' says Sojourner,
+'what we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord.' She
+thanked the Lord with fervor, that she had lived to hear her
+master say such blessed things! She recalled the lectures he used
+to give his slaves, on speaking the truth and being honest, and
+laughing, she says he taught us not to lie and steal, when he was
+stealing all the time himself, and did not know it! Oh! how sweet
+to my mind was this confession! And what a confession for a
+master to make to a slave! A slaveholding master turned to a
+brother! Poor old man, may the Lord bless him, and all slave-holders
+partake of his spirit!
+
+
+
+CERTIFICATES OF CHARACTER.
+
+
+HURLEY, ULSTER Co., Oct. 13th, 1834
+
+This is to certify, that I am well acquainted with Isabella,
+this colored woman; I have been acquainted with her from
+her infancy; she has been in my employ for one year, and
+she was a faithful servant, honest, and industrious; and have
+always known her to be in good report by all who employed her.
+
+
+ISAAC S. VAN WAGENEN
+
+
+
+
+NEW PALTZ, ULSTER Co., Oct. 13th, 1834
+
+This is to certify, that Isabella, this colored woman, lived
+with me since the year 1810, and that she has always been
+a good and faithful servant; and the eighteen years that she
+was with me, I always found her to be perfectly honest. I
+have always heard her well spoken of by every one that has
+employed her.
+
+JOHN J. DUMONT
+
+
+
+NORTHAMPTON, March 1850
+
+We, the undersigned having known Isabella (or Sojourner
+Truth) for several years, most cheerfully bear testimony to
+her uniform good character, her untiring industry, kind
+deportment, unwearied benevolence, and the many social
+and excellent traits which make her worthy to bear her
+adopted name.
+
+GEO. W. BENSON
+S. L. HILL
+A. W. THAYER
+
+
+
+BOSTON, March, 1850
+
+My acquaintance with the subject of the accompanying
+Narrative, Sojourner Truth, for several years past, has led
+me to form a very high appreciation of her understanding,
+moral integrity, disinterested kindness, and religious sincerity
+and enlightenment.  Any assistance or co-operation
+that she may receive in the sale of her Narrative, or in any
+other manner, I am sure will be meritoriously bestowed.
+
+WM. LLOYD GARRISON
+
+
+
+
+
+This book is put on-line as part of the BUILD-A-BOOK Initiative
+at the Celebration of Women Writers through the combined work of
+Laura LeVine, Margaret Sylvia, and Mary Mark Ockerbloom.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
+