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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17851-8.txt b/17851-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e927b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/17851-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2917 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Mary Prince, by Mary Prince + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Mary Prince + A West Indian Slave + +Author: Mary Prince + +Release Date: February 24, 2006 [EBook #17851] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE, + A WEST INDIAN SLAVE. + + RELATED BY HERSELF. + + + WITH A SUPPLEMENT BY THE EDITOR. + + + + To which is added, + + THE NARRATIVE OF ASA-ASA, + + A CAPTURED AFRICAN. + + + + "By our sufferings, since ye brought us + To the man-degrading mart,-- + All sustain'd by patience, taught us + Only by a broken heart,-- + Deem our nation brutes no longer, + Till some reason ye shall find + Worthier of regard, and stronger + Than the colour of our kind." + COWPER. + + + + LONDON: + PUBLISHED BY F. WESTLEY AND A. H. DAVIS, + STATIONERS' HALL COURT; + AND BY WAUGH & INNES, EDINBURGH. + + 1831. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The idea of writing Mary Prince's history was first suggested by herself. +She wished it to be done, she said, that good people in England might hear +from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered; and a letter of her late +master's, which will be found in the Supplement, induced me to accede to +her wish without farther delay. The more immediate object of the +publication will afterwards appear. + +The narrative was taken down from Mary's own lips by a lady who happened +to be at the time residing in my family as a visitor. It was written out +fully, with all the narrator's repetitions and prolixities, and afterwards +pruned into its present shape; retaining, as far as was practicable, +Mary's exact expressions and peculiar phraseology. No fact of importance +has been omitted, and not a single circumstance or sentiment has been +added. It is essentially her own, without any material alteration farther +than was requisite to exclude redundancies and gross grammatical errors, +so as to render it clearly intelligible. + +After it had been thus written out, I went over the whole, carefully +examining her on every fact and circumstance detailed; and in all that +relates to her residence in Antigua I had the advantage of being assisted +in this scrutiny by Mr. Joseph Phillips, who was a resident in that colony +during the same period, and had known her there. + +The names of all the persons mentioned by the narrator have been printed +in full, except those of Capt. I---- and his wife, and that of Mr. D----, +to whom conduct of peculiar atrocity is ascribed. These three individuals +are now gone to answer at a far more awful tribunal than that of public +opinion, for the deeds of which their former bondwoman accuses them; and +to hold them up more openly to human reprobation could no longer affect +themselves, while it might deeply lacerate the feelings of their surviving +and perhaps innocent relatives, without any commensurate public advantage. + +Without detaining the reader with remarks on other points which will be +adverted to more conveniently in the Supplement, I shall here merely +notice farther, that the Anti-Slavery Society have no concern whatever +with this publication, nor are they in any degree responsible for the +statements it contains. I have published the tract, not as their +Secretary, but in my private capacity; and any profits that may arise from +the sale will be exclusively appropriated to the benefit of Mary Prince +herself. + +THO. PRINGLE. + +_7, Solly Terrace, Claremont Square_, + +_January 25, 1831._ + + +P. S. Since writing the above, I have been furnished by my friend Mr. +George Stephen, with the interesting narrative of Asa-Asa, a captured +African, now under his protection; and have printed it as a suitable +appendix to this little history. + +T. P. + + + + +THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE, A WEST INDIAN SLAVE. + +(Related by herself.) + + +I was born at Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. +Charles Myners. My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name +was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at +Crow-Lane. When I was an infant, old Mr. Myners died, and there was a +division of the slaves and other property among the family. I was bought +along with my mother by old Captain Darrel, and given to his grandchild, +little Miss Betsey Williams. Captain Williams, Mr. Darrel's son-in-law, +was master of a vessel which traded to several places in America and the +West Indies, and he was seldom at home long together. + +Mrs. Williams was a kind-hearted good woman, and she treated all her +slaves well. She had only one daughter, Miss Betsey, for whom I was +purchased, and who was about my own age. I was made quite a pet of by Miss +Betsey, and loved her very much. She used to lead me about by the hand, +and call me her little nigger. This was the happiest period of my life; +for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too +thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and +sorrow. + +My mother was a household slave in the same family. I was under her own +care, and my little brothers and sisters were my play-fellows and +companions. My mother had several fine children after she came to Mrs. +Williams,--three girls and two boys. The tasks given out to us children +were light, and we used to play together with Miss Betsey, with as much +freedom almost as if she had been our sister. + +My master, however, was a very harsh, selfish man; and we always dreaded +his return from sea. His wife was herself much afraid of him; and, during +his stay at home, seldom dared to shew her usual kindness to the slaves. +He often left her, in the most distressed circumstances, to reside in +other female society, at some place in the West Indies of which I have +forgot the name. My poor mistress bore his ill-treatment with great +patience, and all her slaves loved and pitied her. I was truly attached to +her, and, next to my own mother, loved her better than any creature in the +world. My obedience to her commands was cheerfully given: it sprung +solely from the affection I felt for her, and not from fear of the power +which the white people's law had given her over me. + +I had scarcely reached my twelfth year when my mistress became too poor to +keep so many of us at home; and she hired me out to Mrs. Pruden, a lady +who lived about five miles off, in the adjoining parish, in a large house +near the sea. I cried bitterly at parting with my dear mistress and Miss +Betsey, and when I kissed my mother and brothers and sisters, I thought my +young heart would break, it pained me so. But there was no help; I was +forced to go. Good Mrs. Williams comforted me by saying that I should +still be near the home I was about to quit, and might come over and see +her and my kindred whenever I could obtain leave of absence from Mrs. +Pruden. A few hours after this I was taken to a strange house, and found +myself among strange people. This separation seemed a sore trial to me +then; but oh! 'twas light, light to the trials I have since +endured!--'twas nothing--nothing to be mentioned with them; but I was a +child then, and it was according to my strength. + +I knew that Mrs. Williams could no longer maintain me; that she was fain +to part with me for my food and clothing; and I tried to submit myself to +the change. My new mistress was a passionate woman; but yet she did not +treat me very unkindly. I do not remember her striking me but once, and +that was for going to see Mrs. Williams when I heard she was sick, and +staying longer than she had given me leave to do. All my employment at +this time was nursing a sweet baby, little Master Daniel; and I grew so +fond of my nursling that it was my greatest delight to walk out with him +by the sea-shore, accompanied by his brother and sister, Miss Fanny and +Master James.--Dear Miss Fanny! She was a sweet, kind young lady, and so +fond of me that she wished me to learn all that she knew herself; and her +method of teaching me was as follows:--Directly she had said her lessons +to her grandmamma, she used to come running to me, and make me repeat them +one by one after her; and in a few months I was able not only to say my +letters but to spell many small words. But this happy state was not to +last long. Those days were too pleasant to last. My heart always softens +when I think of them. + +At this time Mrs. Williams died. I was told suddenly of her death, and my +grief was so great that, forgetting I had the baby in my arms, I ran away +directly to my poor mistress's house; but reached it only in time to see +the corpse carried out. Oh, that was a day of sorrow,--a heavy day! All +the slaves cried. My mother cried and lamented her sore; and I (foolish +creature!) vainly entreated them to bring my dear mistress back to life. I +knew nothing rightly about death then, and it seemed a hard thing to bear. +When I thought about my mistress I felt as if the world was all gone +wrong; and for many days and weeks I could think of nothing else. I +returned to Mrs. Pruden's; but my sorrow was too great to be comforted, +for my own dear mistress was always in my mind. Whether in the house or +abroad, my thoughts were always talking to me about her. + +I staid at Mrs. Pruden's about three months after this; I was then sent +back to Mr. Williams to be sold. Oh, that was a sad sad time! I recollect +the day well. Mrs. Pruden came to me and said, "Mary, you will have to go +home directly; your master is going to be married, and he means to sell +you and two of your sisters to raise money for the wedding." Hearing this +I burst out a crying,--though I was then far from being sensible of the +full weight of my misfortune, or of the misery that waited for me. +Besides, I did not like to leave Mrs. Pruden, and the dear baby, who had +grown very fond of me. For some time I could scarcely believe that Mrs. +Pruden was in earnest, till I received orders for my immediate +return.--Dear Miss Fanny! how she cried at parting with me, whilst I +kissed and hugged the baby, thinking I should never see him again. I left +Mrs. Pruden's, and walked home with a heart full of sorrow. The idea of +being sold away from my mother and Miss Betsey was so frightful, that I +dared not trust myself to think about it. We had been bought of Mr. +Myners, as I have mentioned, by Miss Betsey's grandfather, and given to +her, so that we were by right _her_ property, and I never thought we +should be separated or sold away from her. + +When I reached the house, I went in directly to Miss Betsey. I found her +in great distress; and she cried out as soon as she saw me, "Oh, Mary! my +father is going to sell you all to raise money to marry that wicked woman. +You are _my_ slaves, and he has no right to sell you; but it is all to +please her." She then told me that my mother was living with her father's +sister at a house close by, and I went there to see her. It was a +sorrowful meeting; and we lamented with a great and sore crying our +unfortunate situation. "Here comes one of my poor picaninnies!" she said, +the moment I came in, "one of the poor slave-brood who are to be sold +to-morrow." + +Oh dear! I cannot bear to think of that day,--it is too much.--It recalls +the great grief that filled my heart, and the woeful thoughts that passed +to and fro through my mind, whilst listening to the pitiful words of my +poor mother, weeping for the loss of her children. I wish I could find +words to tell you all I then felt and suffered. The great God above alone +knows the thoughts of the poor slave's heart, and the bitter pains which +follow such separations as these. All that we love taken away from us--Oh, +it is sad, sad! and sore to be borne!--I got no sleep that night for +thinking of the morrow; and dear Miss Betsey was scarcely less distressed. +She could not bear to part with her old playmates, and she cried sore and +would not be pacified. + +The black morning at length came; it came too soon for my poor mother and +us. Whilst she was putting on us the new osnaburgs in which we were to be +sold, she said, in a sorrowful voice, (I shall never forget it!) "See, I +am _shrouding_ my poor children; what a task for a mother!"--She then +called Miss Betsey to take leave of us. "I am going to carry my little +chickens to market," (these were her very words,) "take your last look of +them; may be you will see them no more." "Oh, my poor slaves! my own +slaves!" said dear Miss Betsey, "you belong to me; and it grieves my heart +to part with you."--Miss Betsey kissed us all, and, when she left us, my +mother called the rest of the slaves to bid us good bye. One of them, a +woman named Moll, came with her infant in her arms. "Ay!" said my mother, +seeing her turn away and look at her child with the tears in her eyes, +"your turn will come next." The slaves could say nothing to comfort us; +they could only weep and lament with us. When I left my dear little +brothers and the house in which I had been brought up, I thought my heart +would burst. + +Our mother, weeping as she went, called me away with the children Hannah +and Dinah, and we took the road that led to Hamble Town, which we reached +about four o'clock in the afternoon. We followed my mother to the +market-place, where she placed us in a row against a large house, with our +backs to the wall and our arms folded across our breasts. I, as the +eldest, stood first, Hannah next to me, then Dinah; and our mother stood +beside, crying over us. My heart throbbed with grief and terror so +violently, that I pressed my hands quite tightly across my breast, but I +could not keep it still, and it continued to leap as though it would burst +out of my body. But who cared for that? Did one of the many by-standers, +who were looking at us so carelessly, think of the pain that wrung the +hearts of the negro woman and her young ones? No, no! They were not all +bad, I dare say; but slavery hardens white people's hearts towards the +blacks; and many of them were not slow to make their remarks upon us +aloud, without regard to our grief--though their light words fell like +cayenne on the fresh wounds of our hearts. Oh those white people have +small hearts who can only feel for themselves. + +At length the vendue master, who was to offer us for sale like sheep or +cattle, arrived, and asked my mother which was the eldest. She said +nothing, but pointed to me. He took me by the hand, and led me out into +the middle of the street, and, turning me slowly round, exposed me to the +view of those who attended the vendue. I was soon surrounded by strange +men, who examined and handled me in the same manner that a butcher would a +calf or a lamb he was about to purchase, and who talked about my shape and +size in like words--as if I could no more understand their meaning than +the dumb beasts. I was then put up to sale. The bidding commenced at a few +pounds, and gradually rose to fifty-seven,[1] when I was knocked down to +the highest bidder; and the people who stood by said that I had fetched a +great sum for so young a slave. + +[Footnote 1: Bermuda currency; about £38 sterling.] + +I then saw my sisters led forth, and sold to different owners; so that we +had not the sad satisfaction of being partners in bondage. When the sale +was over, my mother hugged and kissed us, and mourned over us, begging of +us to keep up a good heart, and do our duty to our new masters. It was a +sad parting; one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home +with nothing.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Let the reader compare the above affecting account, taken +down from the mouth of this negro woman, with the following description of +a vendue of slaves at the Cape of Good Hope, published by me in 1826, from +the letter of a friend,--and mark their similarity in several +characteristic circumstances. The resemblance is easily accounted for: +slavery wherever it prevails produces similar effects.--"Having heard that +there was to be a sale of cattle, farm stock, &c. by auction, at a +Veld-Cornet's in the vicinity, we halted our waggon one day for the +purpose of procuring a fresh spann of oxen. Among the stock of the farm +sold, was a female slave and her three children. The two eldest children +were girls, the one about thirteen years of age, and the other about +eleven; the youngest was a boy. The whole family were exhibited together, +but they were sold separately, and to different purchasers. The farmers +examined them as if they had been so many head of cattle. While the sale +was going on, the mother and her children were exhibited on a table, that +they might be seen by the company, which was very large. There could not +have been a finer subject for an able painter than this unhappy group. The +tears, the anxiety, the anguish of the mother, while she met the gaze of +the multitude, eyed the different countenances of the bidders, or cast a +heart-rending look upon the children; and the simplicity and touching +sorrow of the young ones, while they clung to their distracted parent, +wiping their eyes, and half concealing their faces,--contrasted with the +marked insensibility and jocular countenances of the spectators and +purchasers,--furnished a striking commentary on the miseries of slavery, +and its debasing effects upon the hearts of its abettors. While the woman +was in this distressed situation she was asked, 'Can you feed sheep?' Her +reply was so indistinct that it escaped me; but it was probably in the +negative, for her purchaser rejoined, in a loud and harsh voice, 'Then I +will teach you with the sjamboc,' (a whip made of the rhinoceros' hide.) +The mother and her three children were sold to three separate purchasers; +and they were literally torn from each other."--_Ed._] + +My new master was a Captain I----, who lived at Spanish Point. After +parting with my mother and sisters, I followed him to his store, and he +gave me into the charge of his son, a lad about my own age, Master Benjy, +who took me to my new home. I did not know where I was going, or what my +new master would do with me. My heart was quite broken with grief, and my +thoughts went back continually to those from whom I had been so suddenly +parted. "Oh, my mother! my mother!" I kept saying to myself, "Oh, my mammy +and my sisters and my brothers, shall I never see you again!" + +Oh, the trials! the trials! they make the salt water come into my eyes +when I think of the days in which I was afflicted--the times that are +gone; when I mourned and grieved with a young heart for those whom I +loved. + +It was night when I reached my new home. The house was large, and built at +the bottom of a very high hill; but I could not see much of it that night. +I saw too much of it afterwards. The stones and the timber were the best +things in it; they were not so hard as the hearts of the owners.[3] + +[Footnote 3: These strong expressions, and all of a similar character in +this little narrative, are given verbatim as uttered by Mary +Prince.--_Ed._] + +Before I entered the house, two slave women, hired from another owner, who +were at work in the yard, spoke to me, and asked who I belonged to? I +replied, "I am come to live here." "Poor child, poor child!" they both +said; "you must keep a good heart, if you are to live here."--When I went +in, I stood up crying in a corner. Mrs. I---- came and took off my hat, a +little black silk hat Miss Pruden made for me, and said in a rough voice, +"You are not come here to stand up in corners and cry, you are come here +to work." She then put a child into my arms, and, tired as I was, I was +forced instantly to take up my old occupation of a nurse.--I could not +bear to look at my mistress, her countenance was so stern. She was a stout +tall woman with a very dark complexion, and her brows were always drawn +together into a frown. I thought of the words of the two slave women when +I saw Mrs. I----, and heard the harsh sound of her voice. + +The person I took the most notice of that night was a French Black called +Hetty, whom my master took in privateering from another vessel, and made +his slave. She was the most active woman I ever saw, and she was tasked to +her utmost. A few minutes after my arrival she came in from milking the +cows, and put the sweet-potatoes on for supper. She then fetched home the +sheep, and penned them in the fold; drove home the cattle, and staked them +about the pond side;[4] fed and rubbed down my master's horse, and gave +the hog and the fed cow[5] their suppers; prepared the beds, and undressed +the children, and laid them to sleep. I liked to look at her and watch all +her doings, for hers was the only friendly face I had as yet seen, and I +felt glad that she was there. She gave me my supper of potatoes and milk, +and a blanket to sleep upon, which she spread for me in the passage before +the door of Mrs. I----'s chamber. + +[Footnote 4: The cattle on a small plantation in Bermuda are, it seems, +often thus staked or tethered, both night and day, in situations where +grass abounds.] + +[Footnote 5: A cow fed for slaughter.] + +I got a sad fright, that night. I was just going to sleep, when I heard a +noise in my mistress's room; and she presently called out to inquire if +some work was finished that she had ordered Hetty to do. "No, Ma'am, not +yet," was Hetty's answer from below. On hearing this, my master started up +from his bed, and just as he was, in his shirt, ran down stairs with a +long cow-skin[6] in his hand. I heard immediately after, the cracking of +the thong, and the house rang to the shrieks of poor Hetty, who kept +crying out, "Oh, Massa! Massa! me dead. Massa! have mercy upon me--don't +kill me outright."--This was a sad beginning for me. I sat up upon my +blanket, trembling with terror, like a frightened hound, and thinking that +my turn would come next. At length the house became still, and I forgot +for a little while all my sorrows by falling fast asleep. + +[Footnote 6: A thong of hard twisted hide, known by this name in the West +Indies.] + +The next morning my mistress set about instructing me in my tasks. She +taught me to do all sorts of household work; to wash and bake, pick cotton +and wool, and wash floors, and cook. And she taught me (how can I ever +forget it!) more things than these; she caused me to know the exact +difference between the smart of the rope, the cart-whip, and the cow-skin, +when applied to my naked body by her own cruel hand. And there was +scarcely any punishment more dreadful than the blows I received on my face +and head from her hard heavy fist. She was a fearful woman, and a savage +mistress to her slaves. + +There were two little slave boys in the house, on whom she vented her bad +temper in a special manner. One of these children was a mulatto, called +Cyrus, who had been bought while an infant in his mother's arms; the +other, Jack, was an African from the coast of Guinea, whom a sailor had +given or sold to my master. Seldom a day passed without these boys +receiving the most severe treatment, and often for no fault at all. Both +my master and mistress seemed to think that they had a right to ill-use +them at their pleasure; and very often accompanied their commands with +blows, whether the children were behaving well or ill. I have seen their +flesh ragged and raw with licks.--Lick--lick--they were never secure one +moment from a blow, and their lives were passed in continual fear. My +mistress was not contented with using the whip, but often pinched their +cheeks and arms in the most cruel manner. My pity for these poor boys was +soon transferred to myself; for I was licked, and flogged, and pinched by +her pitiless fingers in the neck and arms, exactly as they were. To strip +me naked--to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the +cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence. My +mistress often robbed me too of the hours that belong to sleep. She used +to sit up very late, frequently even until morning; and I had then to +stand at a bench and wash during the greater part of the night, or pick +wool and cotton; and often I have dropped down overcome by sleep and +fatigue, till roused from a state of stupor by the whip, and forced to +start up to my tasks. + +Poor Hetty, my fellow slave, was very kind to me, and I used to call her +my Aunt; but she led a most miserable life, and her death was hastened (at +least the slaves all believed and said so,) by the dreadful chastisement +she received from my master during her pregnancy. It happened as follows. +One of the cows had dragged the rope away from the stake to which Hetty +had fastened it, and got loose. My master flew into a terrible passion, +and ordered the poor creature to be stripped quite naked, notwithstanding +her pregnancy, and to be tied up to a tree in the yard. He then flogged +her as hard as he could lick, both with the whip and cow-skin, till she +was all over streaming with blood. He rested, and then beat her again and +again. Her shrieks were terrible. The consequence was that poor Hetty was +brought to bed before her time, and was delivered after severe labour of a +dead child. She appeared to recover after her confinement, so far that she +was repeatedly flogged by both master and mistress afterwards; but her +former strength never returned to her. Ere long her body and limbs swelled +to a great size; and she lay on a mat in the kitchen, till the water burst +out of her body and she died. All the slaves said that death was a good +thing for poor Hetty; but I cried very much for her death. The manner of +it filled me with horror. I could not bear to think about it; yet it was +always present to my mind for many a day. + +After Hetty died all her labours fell upon me, in addition to my own. I +had now to milk eleven cows every morning before sunrise, sitting among +the damp weeds; to take care of the cattle as well as the children; and to +do the work of the house. There was no end to my toils--no end to my +blows. I lay down at night and rose up in the morning in fear and sorrow; +and often wished that like poor Hetty I could escape from this cruel +bondage and be at rest in the grave. But the hand of that God whom then I +knew not, was stretched over me; and I was mercifully preserved for better +things. It was then, however, my heavy lot to weep, weep, weep, and that +for years; to pass from one misery to another, and from one cruel master +to a worse. But I must go on with the thread of my story. + +One day a heavy squall of wind and rain came on suddenly, and my mistress +sent me round the corner of the house to empty a large earthen jar. The +jar was already cracked with an old deep crack that divided it in the +middle, and in turning it upside down to empty it, it parted in my hand. I +could not help the accident, but I was dreadfully frightened, looking +forward to a severe punishment. I ran crying to my mistress, "O mistress, +the jar has come in two." "You have broken it, have you?" she replied; +"come directly here to me." I came trembling; she stripped and flogged me +long and severely with the cow-skin; as long as she had strength to use +the lash, for she did not give over till she was quite tired.--When my +master came home at night, she told him of my fault; and oh, frightful! +how he fell a swearing. After abusing me with every ill name he could +think of, (too, too bad to speak in England,) and giving me several heavy +blows with his hand, he said, "I shall come home to-morrow morning at +twelve, on purpose to give you a round hundred." He kept his word--Oh sad +for me! I cannot easily forget it. He tied me up upon a ladder, and gave +me a hundred lashes with his own hand, and master Benjy stood by to count +them for him. When he had licked me for some time he sat down to take +breath; then after resting, he beat me again and again, until he was quite +wearied, and so hot (for the weather was very sultry), that he sank back +in his chair, almost like to faint. While my mistress went to bring him +drink, there was a dreadful earthquake. Part of the roof fell down, and +every thing in the house went--clatter, clatter, clatter. Oh I thought the +end of all things near at hand; and I was so sore with the flogging, that +I scarcely cared whether I lived or died. The earth was groaning and +shaking; every thing tumbling about; and my mistress and the slaves were +shrieking and crying out, "The earthquake! the earthquake!" It was an +awful day for us all. + +During the confusion I crawled away on my hands and knees, and laid myself +down under the steps of the piazza, in front of the house. I was in a +dreadful state--my body all blood and bruises, and I could not help +moaning piteously. The other slaves, when they saw me, shook their heads +and said, "Poor child! poor child!"--I lay there till the morning, +careless of what might happen, for life was very weak in me, and I wished +more than ever to die. But when we are very young, death always seems a +great way off, and it would not come that night to me. The next morning I +was forced by my master to rise and go about my usual work, though my body +and limbs were so stiff and sore, that I could not move without the +greatest pain.--Nevertheless, even after all this severe punishment, I +never heard the last of that jar; my mistress was always throwing it in my +face. + +Some little time after this, one of the cows got loose from the stake, and +eat one of the sweet-potatoe slips. I was milking when my master found it +out. He came to me, and without any more ado, stooped down, and taking off +his heavy boot, he struck me such a severe blow in the small of my back, +that I shrieked with agony, and thought I was killed; and I feel a +weakness in that part to this day. The cow was frightened at his +violence, and kicked down the pail and spilt the milk all about. My master +knew that this accident was his own fault, but he was so enraged that he +seemed glad of an excuse to go on with his ill usage. I cannot remember +how many licks he gave me then, but he beat me till I was unable to stand, +and till he himself was weary. + +After this I ran away and went to my mother, who was living with Mr. +Richard Darrel. My poor mother was both grieved and glad to see me; +grieved because I had been so ill used, and glad because she had not seen +me for a long, long while. She dared not receive me into the house, but +she hid me up in a hole in the rocks near, and brought me food at night, +after every body was asleep. My father, who lived at Crow-Lane, over the +salt-water channel, at last heard of my being hid up in the cavern, and he +came and took me back to my master. Oh I was loth, loth to go back; but as +there was no remedy, I was obliged to submit. + +When we got home, my poor father said to Capt. I----, "Sir, I am sorry +that my child should be forced to run away from her owner; but the +treatment she has received is enough to break her heart. The sight of her +wounds has nearly broke mine.--I entreat you, for the love of God, to +forgive her for running away, and that you will be a kind master to her in +future." Capt. I---- said I was used as well as I deserved, and that I +ought to be punished for running away. I then took courage and said that I +could stand the floggings no longer; that I was weary of my life, and +therefore I had run away to my mother; but mothers could only weep and +mourn over their children, they could not save them from cruel +masters--from the whip, the rope, and the cow-skin. He told me to hold my +tongue and go about my work, or he would find a way to settle me. He did +not, however, flog me that day. + +For five years after this I remained in his house, and almost daily +received the same harsh treatment. At length he put me on board a sloop, +and to my great joy sent me away to Turk's Island. I was not permitted to +see my mother or father, or poor sisters and brothers, to say good bye, +though going away to a strange land, and might never see them again. Oh +the Buckra people who keep slaves think that black people are like cattle, +without natural affection. But my heart tells me it is far otherwise. + +We were nearly four weeks on the voyage, which was unusually long. +Sometimes we had a light breeze, sometimes a great calm, and the ship made +no way; so that our provisions and water ran very low, and we were put +upon short allowance. I should almost have been starved had it not been +for the kindness of a black man called Anthony, and his wife, who had +brought their own victuals, and shared them with me. + +When we went ashore at the Grand Quay, the captain sent me to the house of +my new master, Mr. D----, to whom Captain I----had sold me. Grand Quay is +a small town upon a sandbank; the houses low and built of wood. Such was +my new master's. The first person I saw, on my arrival, was Mr. D----, a +stout sulky looking man, who carried me through the hall to show me to his +wife and children. Next day I was put up by the vendue master to know how +much I was worth, and I was valued at one hundred pounds currency. + +My new master was one of the owners or holders of the salt ponds, and he +received a certain sum for every slave that worked upon his premises, +whether they were young or old. This sum was allowed him out of the +profits arising from the salt works. I was immediately sent to work in the +salt water with the rest of the slaves. This work was perfectly new to me. +I was given a half barrel and a shovel, and had to stand up to my knees in +the water, from four o'clock in the morning till nine, when we were given +some Indian corn boiled in water, which we were obliged to swallow as fast +as we could for fear the rain should come on and melt the salt. We were +then called again to our tasks, and worked through the heat of the day; +the sun flaming upon our heads like fire, and raising salt blisters in +those parts which were not completely covered. Our feet and legs, from +standing in the salt water for so many hours, soon became full of dreadful +boils, which eat down in some cases to the very bone, afflicting the +sufferers with great torment. We came home at twelve; ate our corn soup, +called _blawly_, as fast as we could, and went back to our employment till +dark at night. We then shovelled up the salt in large heaps, and went down +to the sea, where we washed the pickle from our limbs, and cleaned the +barrows and shovels from the salt. When we returned to the house, our +master gave us each our allowance of raw Indian corn, which we pounded in +a mortar and boiled in water for our suppers. + +We slept in a long shed, divided into narrow slips, like the stalls used +for cattle. Boards fixed upon stakes driven into the ground, without mat +or covering, were our only beds. On Sundays, after we had washed the salt +bags, and done other work required of us, we went into the bush and cut +the long soft grass, of which we made trusses for our legs and feet to +rest upon, for they were so full of the salt boils that we could get no +rest lying upon the bare boards. + +Though we worked from morning till night, there was no satisfying Mr. +D----. I hoped, when I left Capt. I----, that I should have been better +off, but I found it was but going from one butcher to another. There was +this difference between them: my former master used to beat me while +raging and foaming with passion; Mr. D---- was usually quite calm. He +would stand by and give orders for a slave to be cruelly whipped, and +assist in the punishment, without moving a muscle of his face; walking +about and taking snuff with the greatest composure. Nothing could touch +his hard heart--neither sighs, nor tears, nor prayers, nor streaming +blood; he was deaf to our cries, and careless of our sufferings. Mr. D---- +has often stripped me naked, hung me up by the wrists, and beat me with +the cow-skin, with his own hand, till my body was raw with gashes. Yet +there was nothing very remarkable in this; for it might serve as a sample +of the common usage of the slaves on that horrible island. + +Owing to the boils in my feet, I was unable to wheel the barrow fast +through the sand, which got into the sores, and made me stumble at every +step; and my master, having no pity for my sufferings from this cause, +rendered them far more intolerable, by chastising me for not being able to +move so fast as he wished me. Another of our employments was to row a +little way off from the shore in a boat, and dive for large stones to +build a wall round our master's house. This was very hard work; and the +great waves breaking over us continually, made us often so giddy that we +lost our footing, and were in danger of being drowned. + +Ah, poor me!--my tasks were never ended. Sick or well, it was +work--work--work!--After the diving season was over, we were sent to the +South Creek, with large bills, to cut up mangoes to burn lime with. Whilst +one party of slaves were thus employed, another were sent to the other +side of the island to break up coral out of the sea. + +When we were ill, let our complaint be what it might, the only medicine +given to us was a great bowl of hot salt water, with salt mixed with it, +which made us very sick. If we could not keep up with the rest of the gang +of slaves, we were put in the stocks, and severely flogged the next +morning. Yet, not the less, our master expected, after we had thus been +kept from our rest, and our limbs rendered stiff and sore with ill usage, +that we should still go through the ordinary tasks of the day all the +same.--Sometimes we had to work all night, measuring salt to load a +vessel; or turning a machine to draw water out of the sea for the +salt-making. Then we had no sleep--no rest--but were forced to work as +fast as we could, and go on again all next day the same as usual. +Work--work--work--Oh that Turk's Island was a horrible place! The people +in England, I am sure, have never found out what is carried on there. +Cruel, horrible place! + +Mr. D---- had a slave called old Daniel, whom he used to treat in the most +cruel manner. Poor Daniel was lame in the hip, and could not keep up with +the rest of the slaves; and our master would order him to be stripped and +laid down on the ground, and have him beaten with a rod of rough briar +till his skin was quite red and raw. He would then call for a bucket of +salt, and fling upon the raw flesh till the man writhed on the ground like +a worm, and screamed aloud with agony. This poor man's wounds were never +healed, and I have often seen them full of maggots, which increased his +torments to an intolerable degree. He was an object of pity and terror to +the whole gang of slaves, and in his wretched case we saw, each of us, our +own lot, if we should live to be as old. + +Oh the horrors of slavery!--How the thought of it pains my heart! But the +truth ought to be told of it; and what my eyes have seen I think it is my +duty to relate; for few people in England know what slavery is. I have +been a slave--I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave +knows; and I would have all the good people in England to know it too, +that they may break our chains, and set us free. + +Mr. D---- had another slave called Ben. He being very hungry, stole a +little rice one night after he came in from work, and cooked it for his +supper. But his master soon discovered the theft; locked him up all night; +and kept him without food till one o'clock the next day. He then hung Ben +up by his hands, and beat him from time to time till the slaves came in at +night. We found the poor creature hung up when we came home; with a pool +of blood beneath him, and our master still licking him. But this was not +the worst. My master's son was in the habit of stealing the rice and rum. +Ben had seen him do this, and thought he might do the same, and when +master found out that Ben had stolen the rice and swore to punish him, he +tried to excuse himself by saying that Master Dickey did the same thing +every night. The lad denied it to his father, and was so angry with Ben +for informing against him, that out of revenge he ran and got a bayonet, +and whilst the poor wretch was suspended by his hands and writhing under +his wounds, he run it quite through his foot. I was not by when he did it, +but I saw the wound when I came home, and heard Ben tell the manner in +which it was done. + +I must say something more about this cruel son of a cruel father.--He had +no heart--no fear of God; he had been brought up by a bad father in a bad +path, and he delighted to follow in the same steps. There was a little old +woman among the slaves called Sarah, who was nearly past work; and, Master +Dickey being the overseer of the slaves just then, this poor creature, who +was subject to several bodily infirmities, and was not quite right in her +head, did not wheel the barrow fast enough to please him. He threw her +down on the ground, and after beating her severely, he took her up in his +arms and flung her among the prickly-pear bushes, which are all covered +over with sharp venomous prickles. By this her naked flesh was so +grievously wounded, that her body swelled and festered all over, and she +died a few days after. In telling my own sorrows, I cannot pass by those +of my fellow-slaves--for when I think of my own griefs, I remember theirs. + +I think it was about ten years I had worked in the salt ponds at Turk's +Island, when my master left off business, and retired to a house he had in +Bermuda, leaving his son to succeed him in the island. He took me with him +to wait upon his daughters; and I was joyful, for I was sick, sick of +Turk's Island, and my heart yearned to see my native place again, my +mother, and my kindred. + +I had seen my poor mother during the time I was a slave in Turk's Island. +One Sunday morning I was on the beach with some of the slaves, and we saw +a sloop come in loaded with slaves to work in the salt water. We got a +boat and went aboard. When I came upon the deck I asked the black people, +"Is there any one here for me?" "Yes," they said, "your mother." I thought +they said this in jest--I could scarcely believe them for joy; but when I +saw my poor mammy my joy was turned to sorrow, for she had gone from her +senses. "Mammy," I said, "is this you?" She did not know me. "Mammy," I +said, "what's the matter?" She began to talk foolishly, and said that she +had been under the vessel's bottom. They had been overtaken by a violent +storm at sea. My poor mother had never been on the sea before, and she was +so ill, that she lost her senses, and it was long before she came quite to +herself again. She had a sweet child with her--a little sister I had never +seen, about four years of age, called Rebecca. I took her on shore with +me, for I felt I should love her directly; and I kept her with me a week. +Poor little thing! her's has been a sad life, and continues so to this +day. My mother worked for some years on the island, but was taken back to +Bermuda some time before my master carried me again thither.[7] + +[Footnote 7: Of the subsequent lot of her relatives she can tell but +little. She says, her father died while she and her mother were at Turk's +Island; and that he had been long dead and buried before any of his +children in Bermuda knew of it, they being slaves on other estates. Her +mother died after Mary went to Antigua. Of the fate of the rest of her +kindred, seven brothers and three sisters, she knows nothing further than +this--that the eldest sister, who had several children to her master, was +taken by him to Trinidad; and that the youngest, Rebecca, is still alive, +and in slavery in Bermuda. Mary herself is now about forty-three years of +age.--_Ed._] + +After I left Turk's Island, I was told by some negroes that came over from +it, that the poor slaves had built up a place with boughs and leaves, +where they might meet for prayers, but the white people pulled it down +twice, and would not allow them even a shed for prayers. A flood came down +soon after and washed away many houses, filled the place with sand, and +overflowed the ponds: and I do think that this was for their wickedness; +for the Buckra men[8] there were very wicked. I saw and heard much that +was very very bad at that place. + +[Footnote 8: Negro term for white people.] + +I was several years the slave of Mr. D---- after I returned to my native +place. Here I worked in the grounds. My work was planting and hoeing +sweet-potatoes, Indian corn, plantains, bananas, cabbages, pumpkins, +onions, &c. I did all the household work, and attended upon a horse and +cow besides,--going also upon all errands. I had to curry the horse--to +clean and feed him--and sometimes to ride him a little. I had more than +enough to do--but still it was not so very bad as Turk's Island. + +My old master often got drunk, and then he would get in a fury with his +daughter, and beat her till she was not fit to be seen. I remember on one +occasion, I had gone to fetch water, and when I Was coming up the hill I +heard a great screaming; I ran as fast as I could to the house, put down +the water, and went into the chamber, where I found my master beating Miss +D---- dreadfully. I strove with all my strength to get her away from him; +for she was all black and blue with bruises. He had beat her with his +fist, and almost killed her. The people gave me credit for getting her +away. He turned round and began to lick me. Then I said, "Sir, this is not +Turk's Island." I can't repeat his answer, the words were too wicked--too +bad to say. He wanted to treat me the same in Bermuda as he had done in +Turk's Island. + +He had an ugly fashion of stripping himself quite naked, and ordering me +then to wash him in a tub of water. This was worse to me than all the +licks. Sometimes when he called me to wash him I would not come, my eyes +were so full of shame. He would then come to beat me. One time I had +plates and knives in my hand, and I dropped both plates and knives, and +some of the plates were broken. He struck me so severely for this, that at +last I defended myself, for I thought it was high time to do so. I then +told him I would not live longer with him, for he was a very indecent +man--very spiteful, and too indecent; with no shame for his servants, no +shame for his own flesh. So I went away to a neighbouring house and sat +down and cried till the next morning, when I went home again, not knowing +what else to do. + +After that I was hired to work at Cedar Hills, and every Saturday night I +paid the money to my master. I had plenty of work to do there--plenty of +washing; but yet I made myself pretty comfortable. I earned two dollars +and a quarter a week, which is twenty pence a day. + +During the time I worked there, I heard that Mr. John Wood was going to +Antigua. I felt a great wish to go there, and I went to Mr. D----, and +asked him to let me go in Mr. Wood's service. Mr. Wood did not then want +to purchase me; it was my own fault that I came under him, I was so +anxious to go. It was ordained to be, I suppose; God led me there. The +truth is, I did not wish to be any longer the slave of my indecent master. + +Mr. Wood took me with him to Antigua, to the town of St. John's, where he +lived. This was about fifteen years ago. He did not then know whether I +was to be sold; but Mrs. Wood found that I could work, and she wanted to +buy me. Her husband then wrote to my master to inquire whether I was to be +sold? Mr. D---- wrote in reply, "that I should not be sold to any one that +would treat me ill." It was strange he should say this, when he had +treated me so ill himself. So I was purchased by Mr. Wood for 300 dollars, +(or £100 Bermuda currency.)[9] + +[Footnote 9: About £67. 10s. sterling.] + +My work there was to attend the chambers and nurse the child, and to go +down to the pond and wash clothes. But I soon fell ill of the rheumatism, +and grew so very lame that I was forced to walk with a stick. I got the +Saint Anthony's fire, also, in my left leg, and became quite a cripple. No +one cared much to come near me, and I was ill a long long time; for +several months I could not lift the limb. I had to lie in a little old +out-house, that was swarming with bugs and other vermin, which tormented +me greatly; but I had no other place to lie in. I got the rheumatism by +catching cold at the pond side, from washing in the fresh water; in the +salt water I never got cold. The person who lived in next yard, (a Mrs. +Greene,) could not bear to hear my cries and groans. She was kind, and +used to send an old slave woman to help me, who sometimes brought me a +little soup. When the doctor found I was so ill, he said I must be put +into a bath of hot water. The old slave got the bark of some bush that was +good for the pains, which she boiled in the hot water, and every night she +came and put me into the bath, and did what she could for me: I don't know +what I should have done, or what would have become of me, had it not been +for her.--My mistress, it is true, did send me a little food; but no one +from our family came near me but the cook, who used to shove my food in at +the door, and say, "Molly, Molly, there's your dinner." My mistress did not +care to take any trouble about me; and if the Lord had not put it into the +hearts of the neighbours to be kind to me, I must, I really think, have +lain and died. + +It was a long time before I got well enough to work in the house. Mrs. +Wood, in the meanwhile, hired a mulatto woman to nurse the child; but she +was such a fine lady she wanted to be mistress over me. I thought it very +hard for a coloured woman to have rule over me because I was a slave and +she was free. Her name was Martha Wilcox; she was a saucy woman, very +saucy; and she went and complained of me, without cause, to my mistress, +and made her angry with me. Mrs. Wood told me that if I did not mind what +I was about, she would get my master to strip me and give me fifty lashes: +"You have been used to the whip," she said, "and you shall have it here." +This was the first time she threatened to have me flogged; and she gave me +the threatening so strong of what she would have done to me, that I +thought I should have fallen down at her feet, I was so vexed and hurt by +her words. The mulatto woman was rejoiced to have power to keep me down. +She was constantly making mischief; there was no living for the slaves--no +peace after she came. + +I was also sent by Mrs. Wood to be put in the Cage one night, and was next +morning flogged, by the magistrate's order, at her desire; and this all +for a quarrel I had about a pig with another slave woman. I was flogged on +my naked back on this occasion: although I was in no fault after all; for +old Justice Dyett, when we came before him, said that I was in the right, +and ordered the pig to be given to me. This was about two or three years +after I came to Antigua. + +When we moved from the middle of the town to the Point, I used to be in +the house and do all the work and mind the children, though still very ill +with the rheumatism. Every week I had to wash two large bundles of +clothes, as much as a boy could help me to lift; but I could give no +satisfaction. My mistress was always abusing and fretting after me. It is +not possible to tell all her ill language.--One day she followed me foot +after foot scolding and rating me. I bore in silence a great deal of ill +words: at last my heart was quite full, and I told her that she ought not +to use me so;--that when I was ill I might have lain and died for what she +cared; and no one would then come near me to nurse me, because they were +afraid of my mistress. This was a great affront. She called her husband +and told him what I had said. He flew into a passion: but did not beat me +then; he only abused and swore at me; and then gave me a note and bade me +go and look for an owner. Not that he meant to sell me; but he did this to +please his wife and to frighten me. I went to Adam White, a cooper, a free +black, who had money, and asked him to buy me. He went directly to Mr. +Wood, but was informed that I was not to be sold. The next day my master +whipped me. + +Another time (about five years ago) my mistress got vexed with me, because +I fell sick and I could not keep on with my work. She complained to her +husband, and he sent me off again to look for an owner. I went to a Mr. +Burchell, showed him the note, and asked him to buy me for my own benefit; +for I had saved about 100 dollars, and hoped, with a little help, to +purchase my freedom. He accordingly went to my master:--"Mr. Wood," he +said, "Molly has brought me a note that she wants an owner. If you intend +to sell her, I may as well buy her as another." My master put him off and +said that he did not mean to sell me. I was very sorry at this, for I had +no comfort with Mrs. Wood, and I wished greatly to get my freedom. + +The way in which I made my money was this.--When my master and mistress +went from home, as they sometimes did, and left me to take care of the +house and premises, I had a good deal of time to myself, and made the most +of it. I took in washing, and sold coffee and yams and other provisions +to the captains of ships. I did not sit still idling during the absence of +my owners; for I wanted, by all honest means, to earn money to buy my +freedom. Sometimes I bought a hog cheap on board ship, and sold it for +double the money on shore; and I also earned a good deal by selling +coffee. By this means I by degrees acquired a little cash. A gentleman +also lent me some to help to buy my freedom--but when I could not get free +he got it back again. His name was Captain Abbot. + +My master and mistress went on one occasion into the country, to Date +Hill, for change of air, and carried me with them to take charge of the +children, and to do the work of the house. While I was in the country, I +saw how the field negroes are worked in Antigua. They are worked very hard +and fed but scantily. They are called out to work before daybreak, and +come home after dark; and then each has to heave his bundle of grass for +the cattle in the pen. Then, on Sunday morning, each slave has to go out +and gather a large bundle of grass; and, when they bring it home, they +have all to sit at the manager's door and wait till he come out: often +have they to wait there till past eleven o'clock, without any breakfast. +After that, those that have yams or potatoes, or fire-wood to sell, hasten +to market to buy a dog's worth[10] of salt fish, or pork, which is a great +treat for them. Some of them buy a little pickle out of the shad barrels, +which they call sauce, to season their yams and Indian corn. It is very +wrong, I know, to work on Sunday or go to market; but will not God call +the Buckra men to answer for this on the great day of judgment--since they +will give the slaves no other day? + +[Footnote 10: A dog is the 72nd part of a dollar.] + +While we were at Date Hill Christmas came; and the slave woman who had the +care of the place (which then belonged to Mr. Roberts the marshal), asked +me to go with her to her husband's house, to a Methodist meeting for +prayer, at a plantation called Winthorps. I went; and they were the first +prayers I ever understood. One woman prayed; and then they all sung a +hymn; then there was another prayer and another hymn; and then they all +spoke by turns of their own griefs as sinners. The husband of the woman I +went with was a black driver. His name was Henry. He confessed that he had +treated the slaves very cruelly; but said that he was compelled to obey +the orders of his master. He prayed them all to forgive him, and he prayed +that God would forgive him. He said it was a horrid thing for a ranger[11] +to have sometimes to beat his own wife or sister; but he must do so if +ordered by his master. + +[Footnote 11: The head negro of an estate--a person who has the chief +superintendence under the manager.] + +I felt sorry for my sins also. I cried the whole night, but I was too much +ashamed to speak. I prayed God to forgive me. This meeting had a great +impression on my mind, and led my spirit to the Moravian church; so that +when I got back to town, I went and prayed to have my name put down in the +Missionaries' book; and I followed the church earnestly every opportunity. +I did not then tell my mistress about it; for I knew that she would not +give me leave to go. But I felt I _must_ go. Whenever I carried the +children their lunch at school, I ran round and went to hear the teachers. + +The Moravian ladies (Mrs. Richter, Mrs. Olufsen, and Mrs. Sauter) taught +me to read in the class; and I got on very fast. In this class there were +all sorts of people, old and young, grey headed folks and children; but +most of them were free people. After we had done spelling, we tried to +read in the Bible. After the reading was over, the missionary gave out a +hymn for us to sing. I dearly loved to go to the church, it was so solemn. +I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there. When I found +out that I was a great sinner, I was very sorely grieved, and very much +frightened. I used to pray God to pardon my sins for Christ's sake, and +forgive me for every thing I had done amiss; and when I went home to my +work, I always thought about what I had heard from the missionaries, and +wished to be good that I might go to heaven. After a while I was admitted +a candidate for the holy Communion.--I had been baptized long before this, +in August 1817, by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, of the English Church, after I had +been taught to repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. I wished at that +time to attend a Sunday School taught by Mr. Curtin, but he would not +receive me without a written note from my master, granting his permission. +I did not ask my owner's permission, from the belief that it would be +refused; so that I got no farther instruction at that time from the +English Church.[12] + +[Footnote 12: She possesses a copy of Mrs. Trimmer's "Charity School +Spelling Book," presented to her by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, and dated August +30, 1817. In this book her name is written "Mary, Princess of Wales"--an +appellation which, she says, was given her by her owners. It is a common +practice with the colonists to give ridiculous names of this description +to their slaves; being, in fact, one of the numberless modes of expressing +the habitual contempt with which they regard the negro race.--In printing +this narrative we have retained Mary's paternal name of Prince.--_Ed._] + +Some time after I began to attend the Moravian Church, I met with Daniel +James, afterwards my dear husband. He was a carpenter and cooper to his +trade; an honest, hard-working, decent black man, and a widower. He had +purchased his freedom of his mistress, old Mrs. Baker, with money he had +earned whilst a slave. When he asked me to marry him, I took time to +consider the matter over with myself, and would not say yes till he went +to church with me and joined the Moravians. He was very industrious after +he bought his freedom; and he had hired a comfortable house, and had +convenient things about him. We were joined in marriage, about Christmas +1826, in the Moravian Chapel at Spring Gardens, by the Rev. Mr. Olufsen. +We could not be married in the English Church. English marriage is not +allowed to slaves; and no free man can marry a slave woman. + +When Mr. Wood heard of my marriage, he flew into a great rage, and sent +for Daniel, who was helping to build a house for his old mistress. Mr. +Wood asked him who gave him a right to marry a slave of his? My husband +said, "Sir, I am a free man, and thought I had a right to choose a wife; +but if I had known Molly was not allowed to have a husband, I should not +have asked her to marry me." Mrs. Wood was more vexed about my marriage +than her husband. She could not forgive me for getting married, but +stirred up Mr. Wood to flog me dreadfully with the horsewhip. I thought it +very hard to be whipped at my time of life for getting a husband--I told +her so. She said that she would not have nigger men about the yards and +premises, or allow a nigger man's clothes to be washed in the same tub +where hers were washed. She was fearful, I think, that I should lose her +time, in order to wash and do things for my husband: but I had then no +time to wash for myself; I was obliged to put out my own clothes, though I +was always at the wash-tub. + +I had not much happiness in my marriage, owing to my being a slave. It +made my husband sad to see me so ill-treated. Mrs. Wood was always abusing +me about him. She did not lick me herself, but she got her husband to do +it for her, whilst she fretted the flesh off my bones. Yet for all this +she would not sell me. She sold five slaves whilst I was with her; but +though she was always finding fault with me, she would not part with me. +However, Mr. Wood afterwards allowed Daniel to have a place to live in our +yard, which we were very thankful for. + +After this, I fell ill again with the rheumatism, and was sick a long +time; but whether sick or well, I had my work to do. About this time I +asked my master and mistress to let me buy my own freedom. With the help +of Mr. Burchell, I could have found the means to pay Mr. Wood; for it was +agreed that I should afterwards, serve Mr. Burchell a while, for the cash +he was to advance for me. I was earnest in the request to my owners; but +their hearts were hard--too hard to consent. Mrs. Wood was very angry--she +grew quite outrageous--she called me a black devil, and asked me who had +put freedom into my head. "To be free is very sweet," I said: but she took +good care to keep me a slave. I saw her change colour, and I left the +room. + +About this time my master and mistress were going to England to put their +son to school, and bring their daughters home; and they took me with them +to take care of the child. I was willing to come to England: I thought +that by going there I should probably get cured of my rheumatism, and +should return with my master and mistress, quite well, to my husband. My +husband was willing for me to come away, for he had heard that my master +would free me,--and I also hoped this might prove true; but it was all a +false report. + +The steward of the ship was very kind to me. He and my husband were in the +same class in the Moravian Church. I was thankful that he was so friendly, +for my mistress was not kind to me on the passage; and she told me, when +she was angry, that she did not intend to treat me any better in England +than in the West Indies--that I need not expect it. And she was as good as +her word. + +When we drew near to England, the rheumatism seized all my limbs worse +than ever, and my body was dreadfully swelled. When we landed at the +Tower, I shewed my flesh to my mistress, but she took no great notice of +it. We were obliged to stop at the tavern till my master got a house; and +a day or two after, my mistress sent me down into the wash-house to learn +to wash in the English way. In the West Indies we wash with cold water--in +England with hot. I told my mistress I was afraid that putting my hands +first into the hot water and then into the cold, would increase the pain +in my limbs. The doctor had told my mistress long before I came from the +West Indies, that I was a sickly body and the washing did not agree with +me. But Mrs. Wood would not release me from the tub, so I was forced to do +as I could. I grew worse, and could not stand to wash. I was then forced +to sit down with the tub before me, and often through pain and weakness +was reduced to kneel or to sit down on the floor, to finish my task. When +I complained to my mistress of this, she only got into a passion as usual, +and said washing in hot water could not hurt any one;--that I was lazy and +insolent, and wanted to be free of my work; but that she would make me do +it. I thought her very hard on me, and my heart rose up within me. However +I kept still at that time, and went down again to wash the child's things; +but the English washerwomen who were at work there, when they saw that I +was so ill, had pity upon me and washed them for me. + +After that, when we came up to live in Leigh Street, Mrs. Wood sorted out +five bags of clothes which we had used at sea, and also such as had been +worn since we came on shore, for me and the cook to wash. Elizabeth the +cook told her, that she did not think that I was able to stand to the tub, +and that she had better hire a woman. I also said myself, that I had come +over to nurse the child, and that I was sorry I had come from Antigua, +since mistress would work me so hard, without compassion for my +rheumatism. Mr. and Mrs. Wood, when they heard this, rose up in a passion +against me. They opened the door and bade me get out. But I was a +stranger, and did not know one door in the street from another, and was +unwilling to go away. They made a dreadful uproar, and from that day they +constantly kept cursing and abusing me. I was obliged to wash, though I +was very ill. Mrs. Wood, indeed once hired a washerwoman, but she was not +well treated, and would come no more. + +My master quarrelled with me another time, about one of our great +washings, his wife having stirred him up to do so. He said he would compel +me to do the whole of the washing given out to me, or if I again refused, +he would take a short course with me: he would either send me down to the +brig in the river, to carry me back to Antigua, or he would turn me at +once out of doors, and let me provide for myself. I said I would willingly +go back, if he would let me purchase my own freedom. But this enraged him +more than all the rest: he cursed and swore at me dreadfully, and said he +would never sell my freedom--if I wished to be free, I was free in +England, and I might go and try what freedom would do for me, and be +d----d. My heart was very sore with this treatment, but I had to go on. I +continued to do my work, and did all I could to give satisfaction, but all +would not do. + +Shortly after, the cook left them, and then matters went on ten times +worse. I always washed the child's clothes without being commanded to do +it, and any thing else that was wanted in the family; though still I was +very sick--very sick indeed. When the great washing came round, which was +every two months, my mistress got together again a great many heavy +things, such as bed-ticks, bed-coverlets, &c. for me to wash. I told her I +was too ill to wash such heavy things that day. She said, she supposed I +thought myself a free woman, but I was not; and if I did not do it +directly I should be instantly turned out of doors. I stood a long time +before I could answer, for I did not know well what to do. I knew that I +was free in England, but I did not know where to go, or how to get my +living; and therefore, I did not like to leave the house. But Mr. Wood +said he would send for a constable to thrust me out; and at last I took +courage and resolved that I would not be longer thus treated, but would go +and trust to Providence. This was the fourth time they had threatened turn +me out, and, go where I might, I was determined now to take them at their +word; though I thought it very hard, after I had lived with them for +thirteen years, and worked for them like a horse, to be driven out in this +way, like a beggar. My only fault was being sick, and therefore unable to +please my mistress, who thought she never could get work enough out of her +slaves; and I told them so: but they only abused me and drove me out. This +took place from two to three months, I think, after we came to England. + +When I came away, I went to the man (one Mash) who used to black the shoes +of the family, and asked his wife to get somebody to go with me to Hatton +Garden to the Moravian Missionaries: these were the only persons I knew in +England. The woman sent a young girl with me to the mission house, and I +saw there a gentleman called Mr. Moore. I told him my whole story, and how +my owners had treated me, and asked him to take in my trunk with what few +clothes I had. The missionaries were very kind to me--they were sorry for +my destitute situation, and gave me leave to bring my things to be placed +under their care. They were very good people, and they told me to come to +the church. + +When I went back to Mr. Wood's to get my trunk, I saw a lady, Mrs. Pell, +who was on a visit to my mistress. When Mr. and Mrs. Wood heard me come +in, they set this lady to stop me, finding that they had gone too far with +me. Mrs. Pell came out to me, and said, "Are you really going to leave, +Molly? Don't leave, but come into the country with me." I believe she said +this because she thought Mrs. Wood would easily get me back again. I +replied to her, "Ma'am, this is the fourth time my master and mistress +have driven me out, or threatened to drive me--and I will give them no +more occasion to bid me go. I was not willing to leave them, for I am a +stranger in this country, but now I must go--I can stay no longer to be so +used." Mrs. Pell then went up stairs to my mistress, and told that I would +go, and that she could not stop me. Mrs. Wood was very much hurt and +frightened when she found I was determined to go out that day. She said, +"If she goes the people will rob her, and then turn her adrift." She did +not say this to me, but she spoke it loud enough for me to hear; that it +might induce me not to go, I suppose. Mr. Wood also asked me where I was +going to. I told him where I had been, and that I should never have gone +away had I not been driven out by my owners. He had given me a written +paper some time before, which said that I had come with them to England by +my own desire; and that was true. It said also that I left them of my own +free will, because I was a free woman in England; and that I was idle and +would not do my work--which was not true. I gave this paper afterwards to +a gentleman who inquired into my case.[13] + +[Footnote 13: See page 24.] + +I went into the kitchen and got my clothes out. The nurse and the servant +girl were there, and I said to the man who was going to take out my trunk, +"Stop, before you take up this trunk, and hear what I have to say before +these people. I am going out of this house, as I was ordered; but I have +done no wrong at all to my owners, neither here nor in the West Indies. I +always worked very hard to please them, both by night and day; but there +was no giving satisfaction, for my mistress could never be satisfied with +reasonable service. I told my mistress I was sick, and yet she has ordered +me out of doors. This is the fourth time; and now I am going out." + +And so I came out, and went and carried my trunk to the Moravians. I then +returned back to Mash the shoe-black's house, and begged his wife to take +me in. I had a little West Indian money in my trunk; and they got it +changed for me. This helped to support me for a little while. The man's +wife was very kind to me. I was very sick, and she boiled nourishing +things up for me. She also sent for a doctor to see me, and he sent me +medicine, which did me good, though I was ill for a long time with the +rheumatic pains. I lived a good many months with these poor people, and +they nursed me, and did all that lay in their power to serve me. The man +was well acquainted with my situation, as he used to go to and fro to Mr. +Wood's house to clean shoes and knives; and he and his wife were sorry for +me. + +About this time, a woman of the name of Hill told me of the Anti-Slavery +Society, and went with me to their office, to inquire if they could do any +thing to get me my freedom, and send me back to the West Indies. The +gentlemen of the Society took me to a lawyer, who examined very strictly +into my case; but told me that the laws of England could do nothing to +make me free in Antigua[14]. However they did all they could for me: they +gave me a little money from time to time to keep me from want; and some of +them went to Mr. Wood to try to persuade him to let me return a free woman +to my husband; but though they offered him, as I have heard, a large sum +for my freedom, he was sulky and obstinate, and would not consent to let +me go free. + +[Footnote 14: She came first to the Anti-Slavery Office in Aldermanbury, +about the latter end of November 1828; and her case was referred to Mr. +George Stephen to be investigated. More of this hereafter.--ED.] + +This was the first winter I spent in England, and I suffered much from the +severe cold, and from the rheumatic pains, which still at times torment +me. However, Providence was very good to me, and I got many +friends--especially some Quaker ladies, who hearing of my case, came and +sought me out, and gave me good warm clothing and money. Thus I had great +cause to bless God in my affliction. + +When I got better I was anxious to get some work to do, as I was unwilling +to eat the bread of idleness. Mrs. Mash, who was a laundress, recommended +me to a lady for a charwoman. She paid me very handsomely for what work I +did, and I divided the money with Mrs. Mash; for though very poor, they +gave me food when my own money was done, and never suffered me to want. + +In the spring, I got into service with a lady, who saw me at the house +where I sometimes worked as a charwoman. This lady's name was Mrs. +Forsyth. She had been in the West Indies, and was accustomed to Blacks, +and liked them. I was with her six months, and went with her to Margate. +She treated me well, and gave me a good character when she left London.[15] + +[Footnote 15: She refers to a written certificate which will be inserted +afterwards.] + +After Mrs. Forsyth went away, I was again out of place, and went to +lodgings, for which I paid two shillings a week, and found coals and +candle. After eleven weeks, the money I had saved in service was all gone, +and I was forced to go back to the Anti-Slavery office to ask a supply, +till I could get another situation. I did not like to go back--I did not +like to be idle. I would rather work for my living than get it for +nothing. They were very good to give me a supply, but I felt shame at +being obliged to apply for relief whilst I had strength to work. + +At last I went into the service of Mr. and Mrs. Pringle, where I have been +ever since, and am as comfortable as I can be while separated from my dear +husband, and away from my own country and all old friends and connections. +My dear mistress teaches me daily to read the word of God, and takes great +pains to make me understand it. I enjoy the great privilege of being +enabled to attend church three times on the Sunday; and I have met with +many kind friends since I have been here, both clergymen and others. The +Rev. Mr. Young, who lives in the next house, has shown me much kindness, +and taken much pains to instruct me, particularly while my master and +mistress were absent in Scotland. Nor must I forget, among my friends, the +Rev. Mr. Mortimer, the good clergyman of the parish, under whose ministry +I have now sat for upwards of twelve months. I trust in God I have +profited by what I have heard from him. He never keeps back the truth, and +I think he has been the means of opening my eyes and ears much better to +understand the word of God. Mr. Mortimer tells me that he cannot open the +eyes of my heart, but that I must pray to God to change my heart, and make +me to know the truth, and the truth will make me free. + +I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty, +and give me back to my husband. I endeavour to keep down my fretting, and +to leave all to Him, for he knows what is good for me better than I know +myself. Yet, I must confess, I find it a hard and heavy task to do so. + +I am often much vexed, and I feel great sorrow when I hear some people in +this country say, that the slaves do not need better usage, and do not +want to be free.[16] They believe the foreign people,[17] who deceive them, +and say slaves are happy. I say, Not so. How can slaves be happy when they +have the halter round their neck and the whip upon their back? and are +disgraced and thought no more of than beasts?--and are separated from +their mothers, and husbands, and children, and sisters, just as cattle are +sold and separated? Is it happiness for a driver in the field to take down +his wife or sister or child, and strip them, and whip them in such a +disgraceful manner?--women that have had children exposed in the open +field to shame! There is no modesty or decency shown by the owner to his +slaves; men, women, and children are exposed alike. Since I have been here +I have often wondered how English people can go out into the West Indies +and act in such a beastly manner. But when they go to the West Indies, +they forget God and all feeling of shame, I think, since they can see and +do such things. They tie up slaves like hogs--moor[18] them up like cattle, +and they lick them, so as hogs, or cattle, or horses never were +flogged;--and yet they come home and say, and make some good people +believe, that slaves don't want to get out of slavery. But they put a +cloak about the truth. It is not so. All slaves want to be free--to be +free is very sweet. I will say the truth to English people who may read +this history that my good friend, Miss S----, is now writing down for me. +I have been a slave myself--I know what slaves feel--I can tell by myself +what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says +slaves be quite happy in slavery--that they don't want to be free--that +man is either ignorant or a lying person. I never heard a slave say so. I +never heard a Buckra man say so, till I heard tell of it in England. Such +people ought to be ashamed of themselves. They can't do without slaves, +they say. What's the reason they can't do without slaves as well as in +England? No slaves here--no whips--no stocks--no punishment, except for +wicked people. They hire servants in England; and if they don't like them, +they send them away: they can't lick them. Let them work ever so hard in +England, they are far better off than slaves. If they get a bad master, +they give warning and go hire to another. They have their liberty. That's +just what we want. We don't mind hard work, if we had proper treatment, +and proper wages like English servants, and proper time given in the week +to keep us from breaking the Sabbath. But they won't give it: they will +have work--work--work, night and day, sick or well, till we are quite done +up; and we must not speak up nor look amiss, however much we be abused. +And then when we are quite done up, who cares for us, more than for a lame +horse? This is slavery. I tell it, to let English people know the truth; +and I hope they will never leave off to pray God, and call loud to the +great King of England, till all the poor blacks be given free, and slavery +done up for evermore. + +[Footnote 16: The whole of this paragraph especially, is given as nearly as +was possible in Mary's precise words.] + +[Footnote 17: She means West Indians.] + +[Footnote 18: A West Indian phrase: to fasten or tie up.] + + + + +SUPPLEMENT + +TO THE + +HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE. + +BY THE EDITOR. + + +Leaving Mary's narrative, for the present, without comment to the reader's +reflections, I proceed to state some circumstances connected with her case +which have fallen more particularly under my own notice, and which I +consider it incumbent now to lay fully before the public. + +About the latter end of November, 1828, this poor woman found her way to +the office of the Anti-Slavery Society in Aldermanbury, by the aid of a +person who had become acquainted with her situation, and had advised her +to apply there for advice and assistance. After some preliminary +examination into the accuracy of the circumstances related by her, I went +along with her to Mr. George Stephen, solicitor, and requested him to +investigate and draw up a statement of her case, and have it submitted to +counsel, in order to ascertain whether or not, under the circumstances, +her freedom could be legally established on her return to Antigua. On this +occasion, in Mr. Stephen's presence and mine, she expressed, in very +strong terms, her anxiety to return thither if she could go as a free +person, and, at the same time, her extreme apprehensions of the fate that +would probably await her if she returned as a slave. Her words were, "I +would rather go into my grave than go back a slave to Antigua, though I +wish to go back to my husband very much--very much--very much! I am much +afraid my owners would separate me from my husband, and use me very hard, +or perhaps sell me for a field negro;--and slavery is too too bad. I would +rather go into my grave!" + +The paper which Mr. Wood had given her before she left his house, was +placed by her in Mr. Stephen's hands. It was expressed in the following +terms:-- + + "I have already told Molly, and now give it her in writing, + in order that there may be no misunderstanding on her part, + that as I brought her from Antigua at her own request and + entreaty, and that she is consequently now free, she is of + course at liberty to take her baggage and go where she + pleases. And, in consequence of her late conduct, she must + do one of two things--either quit the house, or return to + Antigua by the earliest opportunity, as she does not evince + a disposition to make herself useful. As she is a stranger + in London, I do not wish to turn her out, or would do so, + as two female servants are sufficient for my establishment. + If after this she does remain, it will be only during her + good behaviour: but on no consideration will I allow her + wages or any other remuneration for her services. + + "JOHN A. WOOD." + + "London, August 18, 1828." + +This paper, though not devoid of inconsistencies, which will be apparent +to any attentive reader, is craftily expressed; and was well devised to +serve the purpose which the writer had obviously in view, namely, to +frustrate any appeal which the friendless black woman might make to the +sympathy of strangers, and thus prevent her from obtaining an asylum, if +she left his house, from any respectable family. As she had no one to +refer to for a character in this country except himself, he doubtless +calculated securely on her being speedily driven back, as soon as the +slender fund she had in her possession was expended, to throw herself +unconditionally upon his tender mercies; and his disappointment in this +expectation appears to have exasperated his feelings of resentment towards +the poor woman, to a degree which few persons alive to the claims of +common justice, not to speak of christianity or common humanity, could +easily have anticipated. Such, at least, seems the only intelligible +inference that can be drawn from his subsequent conduct. + +The case having been submitted, by desire of the Anti-Slavery Committee, +to the consideration of Dr. Lushington and Mr. Sergeant Stephen, it was +found that there existed no legal means of compelling Mary's master to +grant her manumission; and that if she returned to Antigua, she would +inevitably fall again under his power, or that of his attorneys, as a +slave. It was, however, resolved to try what could be effected for her by +amicable negotiation; and with this view Mr. Ravenscroft, a solicitor, +(Mr. Stephen's relative,) called upon Mr. Wood, in order to ascertain +whether he would consent to Mary's manumission on any reasonable terms, +and to refer, if required, the amount of compensation for her value to +arbitration. Mr. Ravenscroft with some difficulty obtained one or two +interviews, but found Mr. Wood so full of animosity against the woman, and +so firmly bent against any arrangement having her freedom for its object, +that the negotiation was soon broken off as hopeless. The angry +slave-owner declared "that he would not move a finger about her in this +country, or grant her manumission on any terms whatever; and that if she +went back to the West Indies, she must take the consequences." + +This unreasonable conduct of Mr. Wood, induced the Anti-Slavery Committee, +after several other abortive attempts to effect a compromise, to think of +bringing the case under the notice of Parliament. The heads of Mary's +statement were accordingly engrossed in a Petition, which Dr. Lushington +offered to present, and to give notice at the same time of his intention +to bring in a Bill to provide for the entire emancipation of all slaves +brought to England with the owner's consent. But before this step was +taken, Dr. Lushington again had recourse to negotiation with the master; +and, partly through the friendly intervention of Mr. Manning, partly by +personal conference, used every persuasion in his power to induce Mr. Wood +to relent and let the bondwoman go free. Seeing the matter thus seriously +taken up, Mr. Wood became at length alarmed,--not relishing, it appears, +the idea of having the case publicly discussed in the House of Commons; +and to avert this result he submitted to temporize--assumed a demeanour of +unwonted civility, and even hinted to Mr. Manning (as I was given to +understand) that if he was not driven to utter hostility by the threatened +exposure, he would probably meet our wishes "in his own time and way." +Having gained time by these manoeuvres, he adroitly endeavoured to cool +the ardour of Mary's new friends, in her cause, by representing her as an +abandoned and worthless woman, ungrateful towards him, and undeserving of +sympathy from others; allegations which he supported by the ready +affirmation of some of his West India friends, and by one or two plausible +letters procured from Antigua. By these and like artifices he appears +completely to have imposed on Mr. Manning, the respectable West India +merchant whom Dr. Lushington had asked to negotiate with him; and he +prevailed so far as to induce Dr. Lushington himself (actuated by the +benevolent view of thereby best serving Mary's cause,) to abstain from any +remarks upon his conduct when the petition was at last presented in +Parliament. In this way he dextrously contrived to neutralize all our +efforts, until the close of the Session of 1829; soon after which he +embarked with his family for the West Indies. + +Every exertion for Mary's relief having thus failed; and being fully +convinced from a twelvemonth's observation of her conduct, that she was +really a well-disposed and respectable woman; I engaged her, in December +1829, as a domestic servant in my own family. In this capacity she has +remained ever since; and I am thus enabled to speak of her conduct and +character with a degree of confidence I could not have otherwise done. The +importance of this circumstance will appear in the sequel. + +From the time of Mr. Wood's departure to Antigua, in 1829, till June or +July last, no farther effort was attempted for Mary's relief. Some faint +hope was still cherished that this unconscionable man would at length +relent, and "in his own time and way," grant the prayer of the exiled +negro woman. After waiting, however, nearly twelve months longer, and +seeing the poor woman's spirits daily sinking under the sickening +influence of hope deferred, I resolved on a final attempt in her behalf, +through the intervention of the Moravian Missionaries, and of the Governor +of Antigua. At my request, Mr. Edward Moore, agent of the Moravian +Brethren in London, wrote to the Rev. Joseph Newby, their Missionary in +that island, empowering him to negotiate in his own name with Mr. Wood for +Mary's manumission, and to procure his consent, if possible, upon terms of +ample pecuniary compensation. At the same time the excellent and +benevolent William Allen, of the Society of Friends, wrote to Sir Patrick +Ross, the Governor of the Colony, with whom he was on terms of friendship, +soliciting him to use his influence in persuading Mr. Wood to consent: and +I confess I was sanguine enough to flatter myself that we should thus at +length prevail. The result proved, however, that I had not yet fully +appreciated the character of the man we had to deal with. + +Mr. Newby's answer arrived early in November last, mentioning that he had +done all in his power to accomplish our purpose, but in vain; and that if +Mary's manumission could not be obtained without Mr. Wood's consent, he +believed there was no prospect of its ever being effected. + +A few weeks afterwards I was informed by Mr. Allen, that he had received a +letter from Sir Patrick Ross, stating that he also had used his best +endeavours in the affair, but equally without effect. Sir Patrick at the +same time inclosed a letter, addressed by Mr. Wood to his Secretary, Mr. +Taylor, assigning his reasons for persisting in this extraordinary course. +This letter requires our special attention. Its tenor is as follows:-- + + "My dear Sir, + + "In reply to your note relative to the woman Molly, I beg + you will have the kindness to oblige me by assuring his + Excellency that I regret exceedingly my inability to comply + with his request, which under other circumstances would + afford me very great pleasure. + + "There are many and powerful reasons for inducing me to + refuse my sanction to her returning here in the way she + seems to wish. It would be to reward the worst species of + ingratitude, and subject myself to insult whenever she came + in my way. Her moral character is very bad, as the police + records will shew; and she would be a very troublesome + character should she come here without any restraint. She is + not a native of this country, and I know of no relation she + has here. I induced her to take a husband, a short time + before she left this, by providing a comfortable house in my + yard for them, and prohibiting her going out after 10 to 12 + o'clock (our bed-time) without special leave. This she + considered the greatest, and indeed the only, grievance she + ever complained of, and all my efforts could not prevent it. + In hopes of inducing her to be steady to her husband, who + was a free man, I gave him the house to occupy during our + absence; but it appears the attachment was too loose to bind + her, and he has taken another wife: so on that score I do + her no injury.--In England she made her election, and + quitted my family. This I had no right to object to; and I + should have thought no more of it, but not satisfied to + leave quietly, she gave every trouble and annoyance in her + power, and endeavoured to injure the character of my family + by the most vile and infamous falsehoods, which was embodied + in a petition to the House of Commons, and would have been + presented, had not my friends from this island, particularly + the Hon. Mr. Byam and Dr. Coull, come forward, and disproved + what she had asserted. + + "It would be beyond the limits of an ordinary letter to + detail her baseness, though I will do so should his + Excellency wish it; but you may judge of her depravity by + one circumstance, which came out before Mr. Justice Dyett, + in a quarrel with another female. + + * * * * * + + "Such a thing I could not have believed possible.[19] + + [Footnote 19: I omit the circumstance here mentioned, because + it is too indecent to appear in a publication likely to be + perused by females. It is, in all probability, a vile + calumny; but even if it were perfectly true, it would not + serve Mr. Wood's case one straw.--Any reader who wishes it, + may see the passage referred to, in the autograph letter in + my possession. T. P.] + + "Losing her value as a slave in a pecuniary point of view I + consider of no consequence; for it was our intention, had + she conducted herself properly and returned with us, to have + given her freedom. She has taken her freedom; and all I wish + is, that she would enjoy it without meddling with me. + + "Let me again repeat, if his Excellency wishes it, it will + afford me great pleasure to state such particulars of her, + and which will be incontestably proved by numbers here, that + I am sure will acquit me in his opinion of acting unkind or + ungenerous towards her. I'll say nothing of the liability I + should incur, under the Consolidated Slave Law, of dealing + with a free person as a slave. + + "My only excuse for entering so much into detail must be + that of my anxious wish to stand justified in his + Excellency's opinion. + + "I am, my dear Sir, + Yours very truly, + JOHN A. WOOD. + "_20th Oct. 1830_." + + "_Charles Taylor, Esq._ + _&c. &c. &c._ + + "I forgot to mention that it was at her own special request + that she accompanied me to England--and also that she had a + considerable sum of money with her, which she had saved in + my service. I knew of £36 to £40, at least, for I had some + trouble to recover it from a white man, to whom she had lent + it. + + "J. A. W." + +Such is Mr. Wood's justification of his conduct in thus obstinately +refusing manumission to the Negro-woman who had escaped from his "house of +bondage." + +Let us now endeavour to estimate the validity of the excuses assigned, and +the allegations advanced by him, for the information of Governor Sir +Patrick Ross, in this deliberate statement of his case. + +1. To allow the woman to return home free, would, he affirms "be to reward +the worst species of ingratitude." + +He assumes, it seems, the sovereign power of pronouncing a virtual +sentence of banishment, for the alleged crime of ingratitude. Is this then +a power which any man ought to possess over his fellow-mortal? or which +any good man would ever wish to exercise? And, besides, there is no +evidence whatever, beyond Mr. Wood's mere assertion, that Mary Prince owed +him or his family the slightest mark of gratitude. Her account of the +treatment she received in his service, _may_ be incorrect; but her simple +statement is at least supported by minute and feasible details, and, +unless rebutted by positive facts, will certainly command credence from +impartial minds more readily than his angry accusation, which has +something absurd and improbable in its very front. Moreover, is it not +absurd to term the assertion of her _natural rights_ by a slave,--even +supposing her to have been kindly dealt with by her "owners," and treated +in every respect the reverse of what Mary affirms to have been her +treatment by Mr. Wood and his wife,--"the _worst_ species of ingratitude?" +This may be West Indian ethics, but it will scarcely be received as sound +doctrine in Europe. + +2. To permit her return would be "to subject himself to insult whenever +she came in his way." + +This is a most extraordinary assertion. Are the laws of Antigua then so +favourable to the free blacks, or the colonial police so feebly +administered, that there are no sufficient restraints to protect a rich +colonist like Mr. Wood,--a man who counts among his familiar friends the +Honourable Mr. Byam, and Mr. Taylor the Government Secretary,--from being +insulted by a poor Negro-woman? It is preposterous. + +3. Her moral character is so bad, that she would prove very troublesome +should she come to the colony "without any restraint." + +"Any restraint?" Are there no restraints (supposing them necessary) short +of absolute slavery to keep "troublesome characters" in order? But this, I +suppose, is the _argumentum ad gubernatorem_--to frighten the governor. +She is such a termagant, it seems, that if she once gets back to the +colony _free_, she will not only make it too hot for poor Mr. Wood, but +the police and courts of justice will scarce be a match for her! Sir +Patrick Ross, no doubt, will take care how he intercedes farther for so +formidable a virago! How can one treat such arguments seriously? + +4. She is not a native of the colony, and he knows of no relation she has +there. + +True: But was it not her home (so far as a slave can have a home) for +thirteen or fourteen years? Were not the connexions, friendships, and +associations of her mature life formed there? Was it not there she hoped +to spend her latter years in domestic tranquillity with her husband, free +from the lash of the taskmaster? These considerations may appear light to +Mr. Wood, but they are every thing to this poor woman. + +5. He induced her, he says, to take a husband, a short time before she +left Antigua, and gave them a comfortable house in his yard, &c. &c. + +This paragraph merits attention. He "_induced her to take a husband_?" If +the fact were true, what brutality of mind and manners does it not +indicate among these slave-holders? They refuse to legalize the marriages +of their slaves, but _induce_ them to form such temporary connexions as +may suit the owner's conveniency, just as they would pair the lower +animals; and this man has the effrontery to tell us so! Mary, however, +tells a very different story, (see page 17;) and her assertion, +independently of other proof, is at least as credible as Mr. Wood's. The +reader will judge for himself as to the preponderance of internal evidence +in the conflicting statements. + +6. He alleges that she was, before marriage, licentious, and even depraved +in her conduct, and unfaithful to her husband afterwards. + +These are serious charges. But if true, or even partially true, how comes +it that a person so correct in his family hours and arrangements as Mr. +Wood professes to be, and who expresses so edifying a horror of +licentiousness, could reconcile it to his conscience to keep in the bosom +of his family so _depraved_, as well as so _troublesome_ a character for +at least thirteen years, and confide to her for long periods too the +charge of his house and the care of his children--for such I shall shew to +have been the facts? How can he account for not having rid himself with +all speed, of so disreputable an inmate--he who values her loss so little +"in a pecuniary point of view?" How can he account for having sold _five +other slaves_ in that period, and yet have retained this shocking +woman--nay, even have refused to sell her, on more than one occasion, when +offered her full value? It could not be from ignorance of her character, +for the circumstance which he adduces as a proof of her shameless +depravity, and which I have omitted on account of its indecency, occurred, +it would appear, not less than _ten years ago_. Yet, notwithstanding her +alleged ill qualities and habits of gross immorality, he has not only +constantly refused to part with her; but after thirteen long years, brings +her to England as an attendant on his wife and children, with the avowed +intention of carrying her back along with his maiden daughter, a young +lady returning from school! Such are the extraordinary facts; and until +Mr. Wood shall reconcile these singular inconsistencies between his +actions and his allegations, he must not be surprised if we in England +prefer giving credit to the former rather than the latter; although at +present it appears somewhat difficult to say which side of the alternative +is the more creditable to his own character. + +7. Her husband, he says, has taken another wife; "so that on that score," +he adds, "he does her no injury." + +Supposing this fact be true, (which I doubt, as I doubt every mere +assertion from so questionable a quarter,) I shall take leave to put a +question or two to Mr. Wood's conscience. Did he not write from England to +his friend Mr. Darrel, soon after Mary left his house, directing him to +turn her husband, Daniel James, off his premises, on account of her +offence; telling him to inform James at the same time that his wife had +_taken up_ with another man, who had robbed her of all she had--a calumny +as groundless as it was cruel? I further ask if the person who invented +this story (whoever he may be,) was not likely enough to impose similar +fabrications on the poor negro man's credulity, until he may have been +induced to prove false to his marriage vows, and to "take another wife," +as Mr. Wood coolly expresses it? But withal, I strongly doubt the fact of +Daniel James' infidelity; for there is now before me a letter from himself +to Mary, dated in April 1830, couched in strong terms of conjugal +affection; expressing his anxiety for her speedy return, and stating that +he had lately "received a grace" (a token of religious advancement) in the +Moravian church, a circumstance altogether incredible if the man were +living in open adultery, as Mr. Wood's assertion implies. + +8. Mary, he says, endeavoured to injure the character of his family by +infamous falsehoods, which were embodied in a petition to the House of +Commons, and would have been presented, had not his friends from Antigua, +the Hon. Mr. Byam, and Dr. Coull, disproved her assertions. + +I can say something on this point from my own knowledge. Mary's petition +contained simply a brief statement of her case, and, among other things, +mentioned the treatment she had received from Mr. and Mrs. Wood. Now the +principal facts are corroborated by other evidence, and Mr. Wood must +bring forward very different testimony from that of Dr. Coull before +well-informed persons will give credit to his contradiction. The value of +that person's evidence in such cases will be noticed presently. Of the +Hon. Mr. Byam I know nothing, and shall only at present remark that it is +not likely to redound greatly to his credit to appear in such company. +Furthermore, Mary's petition _was_ presented, as Mr. Wood ought to know; +though it was not discussed, nor his conduct exposed as it ought to have +been. + +9. He speaks of the liability he should incur, under the Consolidated +Slave Law, of dealing with a free person as a slave. + +Is not this pretext hypocritical in the extreme? What liability could he +possibly incur by voluntarily resigning the power, conferred on him by an +iniquitous colonial law, of re-imposing the shackles of slavery on the +bondwoman from whose limbs they had fallen when she touched the free soil +of England?--There exists no liability from which he might not have been +easily secured, or for which he would not have been fully compensated. + +He adds in a postscript that Mary had a considerable sum of money with +her,--from £36 to £40 at least, which she had saved in his service. The +fact is, that she had at one time 113 dollars in cash; but only a very +small portion of that sum appears to have been brought by her to England, +the rest having been partly advanced, as she states, to assist her +husband, and partly lost by being lodged in unfaithful custody. + +Finally, Mr. Wood repeats twice that it will afford him great pleasure to +state for the governor's satisfaction, if required, such particulars of +"the woman Molly," upon incontestable evidence, as he is sure will acquit +him in his Excellency's opinion "of acting unkind or ungenerous towards +her." + +This is well: and I now call upon Mr. Wood to redeem his pledge;--to bring +forward facts and proofs fully to elucidate the subject;--to reconcile, if +he can, the extraordinary discrepancies which I have pointed out between +his assertions and the actual facts, and especially between his account of +Mary Prince's character and his own conduct in regard to her. He has now +to produce such a statement as will acquit him not only in the opinion of +Sir Patrick Ross, but of the British public. And in this position he has +spontaneously placed himself, in attempting to destroy, by his deliberate +criminatory letter, the poor woman's fair fame and reputation,--an attempt +but for which the present publication would probably never have appeared. + + * * * * * + +Here perhaps we might safely leave the case to the judgment of the public; +but as this negro woman's character, not the less valuable to her because +her condition is so humble, has been so unscrupulously blackened by her +late master, a party so much interested and inclined to place her in the +worst point of view,--it is incumbent on me, as her advocate with the +public, to state such additional testimony in her behalf as I can fairly +and conscientiously adduce. + +My first evidence is Mr. Joseph Phillips, of Antigua. Having submitted to +his inspection Mr. Wood's letter and Mary Prince's narrative, and +requested his candid and deliberate sentiments in regard to the actual +facts of the case, I have been favoured with the following letter from him +on the subject:-- + + "London, January 18, 1831. + + "Dear Sir, + + "In giving you my opinion of Mary Prince's narrative, and of + Mr. Wood's letter respecting her, addressed to Mr. Taylor, I + shall first mention my opportunities of forming a proper + estimate of the conduct and character of both + parties. + + "I have known Mr. Wood since his first arrival in Antigua in + 1803. He was then a poor young man, who had been brought up + as a ship carpenter in Bermuda. He was afterwards raised to + be a clerk in the Commissariat department, and realised + sufficient capital to commence business as a merchant. This + last profession he has followed successfully for a good many + years, and is understood to have accumulated very + considerable wealth. After he entered into trade, I had + constant intercourse with him in the way of business; and in + 1824 and 1825, I was regularly employed on his premises as + his clerk; consequently, I had opportunities of seeing a + good deal of his character both as a merchant, and as a + master of slaves. The former topic I pass over as irrelevant + to the present subject: in reference to the latter, I shall + merely observe that he was not, in regard to ordinary + matters, more severe than the ordinary run of slave owners; + but, if seriously offended, he was not of a disposition to + be easily appeased, and would spare no cost or sacrifice to + gratify his vindictive feelings. As regards the exaction of + work from domestic slaves, his wife was probably more severe + than himself--it was almost impossible for the slaves ever + to give her entire satisfaction. + + "Of their slave Molly (or Mary) I know less than of Mr. and + Mrs. Wood; but I saw and heard enough of her, both while I + was constantly employed on Mr. Wood's premises, and while I + was there occasionally on business, to be quite certain that + she was viewed by her owners as their most respectable and + trustworthy female slave. It is within my personal knowledge + that she had usually the charge of the house in their + absence, was entrusted with the keys, &c.; and was always + considered by the neighbours and visitors as their + confidential household servant, and as a person in whose + integrity they placed unlimited confidence,--although when + Mrs. Wood was at home, she was no doubt kept pretty closely + at washing and other hard work. A decided proof of the + estimation in which she was held by her owners exists in the + fact that Mr. Wood uniformly refused to part with her, + whereas he sold five other slaves while she was with them. + Indeed, she always appeared to me to be a slave of superior + intelligence and respectability; and I always understood + such to be her general character in the place. + + "As to what Mr. Wood alleges about her being frequently + before the police, &c. I can only say I never heard of the + circumstance before; and as I lived for twenty years in the + same small town, and in the vicinity of their residence, I + think I could scarcely have failed to become acquainted with + it, had such been the fact. She might, however, have been + occasionally before the magistrate in consequence of little + disputes among the slaves, without any serious imputation on + her general respectability. She says she was twice summoned + to appear as a witness on such occasions; and that she was + once sent by her mistress to be confined in the Cage, and + was afterwards flogged by her desire. This cruel practice is + very common in Antigua; and, in my opinion, is but little + creditable to the slave owners and magistrates by whom such + arbitrary punishments are inflicted, frequently for very + trifling faults. Mr. James Scotland is the only magistrate + in the colony who invariably refuses to sanction this + reprehensible practice. + + "Of the immoral conduct ascribed to Molly by Mr. Wood, I can + say nothing further than this--that I have heard she had at + a former period (previous to her marriage) a connexion with + a white person, a Capt. ----, which I have no doubt was + broken off when she became seriously impressed with + religion. But, at any rate, such connexions are so common, I + might almost say universal, in our slave colonies, that + except by the missionaries and a few serious persons, they + are considered, if faults at all, so very venial as scarcely + to deserve the name of immorality. Mr. Wood knows this + colonial estimate of such connexions as well as I do; and, + however false such an estimate must be allowed to be, + especially When applied to their own conduct by persons of + education, pretending to adhere to the pure Christian rule + of morals,--yet when he ascribes to a negro slave, to whom + legal marriage was denied, such great criminality for laxity + of this sort, and professes to be so exceedingly shocked and + amazed at the tale he himself relates, he must, I am + confident, have had a farther object in view than the + information of Mr. Taylor or Sir Patrick Ross. He must, it + is evident, have been aware that his letter would be sent to + Mr. Allen, and accordingly adapted it, as more important + documents from the colonies are often adapted, _for effect + in England_. The tale of the slave Molly's immoralities, be + assured, was not intended for Antigua so much as for Stoke + Newington, and Peckham, and Aldermanbury. + + "In regard to Mary's narrative generally, although I cannot + speak to the accuracy of the details, except in a few recent + particulars, I can with safety declare that I see no reason + to question the truth of a single fact stated by her, or + even to suspect her in any instance of intentional + exaggeration. It bears in my judgment the genuine stamp of + truth and nature. Such is my unhesitating opinion, after a + residence of twenty-seven years in the West Indies. + + "I remain, &c. + "JOSEPH PHILLIPS." + + _To T. Pringle, Esq._ + + "P.S. As Mr. Wood refers to the evidence of Dr. T. Coull in + opposition to Mary's assertions, it may be proper to enable + you justly to estimate the worth of that person's evidence + in cases connected with the condition and treatment of + slaves. You are aware that in 1829, Mr. M'Queen of Glasgow, + in noticing a Report of the "Ladies' Society of Birmingham + for the relief of British Negro Slaves," asserted with his + characteristic audacity, that the statement which it + contained respecting distressed and deserted slaves in + Antigua was "an abominable falsehood." Not contented with + this, and with insinuating that I, as agent of the society + in the distribution of their charity in Antigua, had + fraudulently duped them out of their money by a fabricated + tale of distress, Mr. M'Queen proceeded to libel me in the + most opprobrious terms, as "a man of the most worthless and + abandoned character."[20] Now I know from good authority that + it was _upon Dr. Coull's information_ that Mr. M'Queen + founded this impudent contradiction of notorious facts, and + this audacious libel of my personal character. From this + single circumstance you may judge of the value of his + evidence in the case of Mary Prince. I can furnish further + information respecting Dr. Coull's colonial proceedings, + both private and judicial, should circumstances require it." + "J. P." + + [Footnote 20: In elucidation of the circumstances above + referred to, I subjoin the following extracts from the Report + of the Birmingham Ladies' Society for 1830:-- + + "As a portion of the funds of this association has been + appropriated to assist the benevolent efforts of a society + which has for fifteen years afforded relief to distressed + and deserted slaves in Antigua, it may not be uninteresting + to our friends to learn the manner in which the agent of + this society has been treated for simply obeying the command + of our Saviour, by ministering, like the good Samaritan, to + the distresses of the helpless and the desolate. The + society's proceedings being adverted to by a friend of + Africa, at one of the public meetings held in this country, + a West Indian planter, who was present, wrote over to his + friends in Antigua, and represented the conduct of the + distributors of this charity in such a light, that it was + deemed worthy of the cognizance of the House of Assembly. + Mr. Joseph Phillips, a resident of the island, who had most + kindly and disinterestedly exerted himself in the + distribution of the money from England among the poor + deserted slaves, was brought before the Assembly, and most + severely interrogated: on his refusing to deliver up his + private correspondence with his friends in England, he was + thrown into a loathsome jail, where he was kept for nearly + five months; while his loss of business, and the oppressive + proceedings instituted against him, were involving him in + poverty and ruin. On his discharge by the House of Assembly, + he was seized in their lobby for debt, and again + imprisoned." + + "In our report for the year 1826, we quoted a passage from + the 13th Report of the Society for the relief of deserted + Slaves in the island of Antigua, in reference to a case of + great distress. This statement fell into the hands of Mr. + M'Queen, the Editor of the Glasgow Courier. Of the + consequences resulting from this circumstance we only gained + information through the Leicester Chronicle, which had + copied an article from the Weekly Register of Antigua, dated + St. John's, September 22, 1829. We find from this that Mr. + M'Queen affirms, that 'with the exception of the fact that + the society is, as it deserves to be, duped out of its + money, the whole tale' (of the distress above referred to) + 'is an abominable falsehood.' This statement, which we are + informed has appeared in many of the public papers, is + COMPLETELY REFUTED in our Appendix, No. 4, to which + we refer our readers. Mr. M'Queen's statements, we regret to + say, would lead many to believe that there are no deserted + Negroes to assist; and that the case mentioned was a perfect + fabrication. He also distinctly avers, that the + disinterested and humane agent of the society, Mr. Joseph + Phillips, is 'a man of the most worthless and abandoned + character.' In opposition to this statement, we learn the + good character of Mr. Phillips from those who have long been + acquainted with his laudable exertions in the cause of + humanity, and from the Editor of the Weekly Register of + Antigua, who speaks, on his own knowledge, of more than + twenty years back; confidently appealing at the same time to + the inhabitants of the colony in which he resides for the + truth of his averments, and producing a testimonial to Mr. + Phillips's good character signed by two members of the + Antigua House of Assembly, and by Mr. Wyke, the collector of + his Majesty's customs, and by Antigua merchants, as + follows--'that they have been acquainted with him the last + four years and upwards, and he has always conducted himself + in an upright becoming manner--his character we know to be + unimpeached, and his morals unexceptionable.' + + (Signed) "Thomas Saunderson John D. Taylor + John A. Wood George Wyke + Samuel L. Darrel Giles S. Musson + Robert Grant." + + "St. John's, Antigua, June 28, 1825." + +In addition to the above testimonies, Mr. Phillips has brought over to +England with him others of a more recent date, from some of the most +respectable persons in Antigua--sufficient to cover with confusion all his +unprincipled calumniators. See also his account of his own case in the +Anti-Slavery Reporter, No. 74, p. 69.] + +I leave the preceding letter to be candidly weighed by the reader in +opposition to the inculpatory allegations of Mr. Wood--merely remarking +that Mr. Wood will find it somewhat difficult to impugn the evidence of +Mr. Phillips, whose "upright," "unimpeached," and "unexceptionable" +character, he has himself vouched for in unqualified terms, by affixing +his signature to the testimonial published in the Weekly Register of +Antigua in 1825. (See Note below.) + +The next testimony in Mary's behalf is that of Mrs. Forsyth, a lady in +whose service she spent the summer of 1829.--(See page 21.) This lady, on +leaving London to join her husband, voluntarily presented Mary with a +certificate, which, though it relates only to a recent and short period of +her history, is a strong corroboration of the habitual respectability of +her character. It is in the following terms:-- + + "Mrs. Forsyth states, that the bearer of this paper (Mary + James,) has been with her for the last six months; that she + has found her an excellent character, being honest, + industrious, and sober; and that she parts with her on no + other account than this--that being obliged to travel with + her husband, who has lately come from abroad in bad health, + she has no farther need of a servant. Any person Wishing to + engage her, can have her character in full from Miss Robson, + 4, Keppel Street, Russel Square, whom Mrs. Forsyth has + requested to furnish particulars to any one desiring them. + + "4, Keppel Street, 28th Sept. 1829." + +In the last place, I add my own testimony in behalf of this negro woman. +Independently of the scrutiny, which, as Secretary of the Anti-Slavery +Society, I made into her case when she first applied for assistance, at +18, Aldermanbury, and the watchful eye I kept upon her conduct for the +ensuing twelvemonths, while she was the occasional pensioner of the +Society, I have now had the opportunity of closely observing her conduct +for fourteen months, in the situation of a domestic servant in my own +family; and the following is the deliberate opinion of Mary's character, +formed not only by myself, but also by my wife and sister-in-law, after +this ample period of observation. We have found her perfectly honest and +trustworthy in all respects; so that we have no hesitation in leaving +every thing in the house at her disposal. She had the entire charge of the +house during our absence in Scotland for three months last autumn, and +conducted herself in that charge with the utmost discretion and fidelity. +She is not, it is true, a very expert housemaid, nor capable of much hard +work, (for her constitution appears to be a good deal broken,) but she is +careful, industrious, and anxious to do her duty and to give satisfaction. +She is capable of strong attachments, and feels deep, though unobtrusive, +gratitude for real kindness shown her. She possesses considerable natural +sense, and has much quickness of observation and discrimination of +character. She is remarkable for _decency_ and _propriety_ of conduct--and +her _delicacy_, even in trifling minutiæ, has been a trait of special +remark by the females of my family. This trait, which is obviously quite +unaffected, would be a most inexplicable anomaly, if her former habits had +been so indecent and depraved as Mr. Wood alleges. Her chief faults, so +far as we have discovered them, are, a somewhat violent and hasty temper, +and a considerable share of natural pride and self-importance; but these +defects have been but rarely and transiently manifested, and have scarcely +occasioned an hour's uneasiness at any time in our household. Her +religious knowledge, notwithstanding the pious care of her Moravian +instructors in Antigua, is still but very limited, and her views of +christianity indistinct; but her profession, whatever it may have of +imperfection, I am convinced, has nothing of insincerity. In short, we +consider her on the whole as respectable and well-behaved a person in her +station, as any domestic, white or black, (and we have had ample +experience of both colours,) that we have ever had in our service. + +But after all, Mary's character, important though its exculpation be to +her, is not really the point of chief practical interest in this case. +Suppose all Mr. Wood's defamatory allegations to be true--suppose him to +be able to rake up against her out of the records of the Antigua police, +or from the veracious testimony of his brother colonists, twenty stories +as bad or worse than what he insinuates--suppose the whole of her own +statement to be false, and even the whole of her conduct since she came +under our observation here to be a tissue of hypocrisy;--suppose all +this--and leave the negro woman as black in character as in +complexion,[21]--yet it would affect not the main facts--which are +these.--1. Mr. Wood, not daring in England to punish this woman +arbitrarily, as he would have done in the West Indies, drove her out of +his house, or left her, at least, only the alternative of returning +instantly to Antigua, with the certainty of severe treatment there, or +submitting in silence to what she considered intolerable usage in his +household. 2. He has since obstinately persisted in refusing her +manumission, to enable her to return home in security, though repeatedly +offered more than ample compensation for her value as a slave; and this on +various frivolous pretexts, but really, and indeed not unavowedly, in +order to _punish_ her for leaving his service in England, though he +himself had professed to give her that option. These unquestionable facts +speak volumes.[22] + +[Footnote 21: If it even were so, how strong a plea of palliation might not +the poor negro bring, by adducing the neglect of her various owners to +afford religious instruction or moral discipline, and the habitual +influence of their evil _example_ (to say the very least,) before her +eyes? What moral good could she possibly learn--what moral evil could she +easily escape, while under the uncontrolled power of such masters as she +describes Captain I---- and Mr. D---- of Turk's Island? All things +considered, it is indeed wonderful to find her such as she now is. But as +she has herself piously expressed it, "that God whom then she knew not +mercifully preserved her for better things."] + +[Footnote 22: Since the preceding pages were printed off, I have been +favoured with a communication from the Rev. J. Curtin, to whom among other +acquaintances of Mr. Wood's in this country, the entire proof sheets of +this pamphlet had been sent for inspection. Mr. Curtin corrects some +omissions and inaccuracies in Mary Prince's narrative (see page 17,) by +stating, 1. That she was baptized, not in August, but on the 6th of April, +1817; 2. That sometime before her baptism, on her being admitted a +catechumen, preparatory to that holy ordinance, she brought a note from +her owner, Mr. Wood, recommending her for religious instruction, &c.; 3. +That it was his usual practice, when any adult slaves came on _week days_ +to school, to require their owners' permission for their attendance; but +that on _Sundays_ the chapel was open indiscriminately to all.--Mary, +after a personal interview with Mr. Curtin, and after hearing his letter +read by me, still maintains that Mr. Wood's note recommended her for +baptism merely, and that she never received any religious instruction +whatever from Mr. and Mrs. Wood, or from any one else at that period +beyond what she has stated in her narrative. In regard to her +non-admission to the Sunday school without permission from her owners, she +admits that she may possibly have mistaken the clergyman's meaning on that +point, but says that such was certainly her impression at the time, and +the actual cause of her non-attendance. + +Mr. Curtin finds in his books some reference to Mary's connection with a +Captain ----, (the individual, I believe, alluded to by Mr. Phillips at +page 32); but he states that when she attended his chapel she was always +decently and becomingly dressed, and appeared to him to be in a situation +of trust in her mistress's family. + +Mr. Curtin offers no comment on any other part of Mary's statement; but he +speaks in very favourable, though general terms of the respectability of +Mr. Wood, whom he had known for many years in Antigua; and of Mrs. Wood, +though she was not personally known to him, he says, that he had "heard +her spoken of by those of her acquaintance, as a lady of very mild and +amiable manners." + +Another friend of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, a lady who had been their guest both +in Antigua and England, alleges that Mary has grossly misrepresented them +in her narrative; and says that she "can vouch for their being the most +benevolent, kind-hearted people that can possibly live." She has declined, +however, to furnish me with any written correction of the +misrepresentations she complains of, although I offered to insert her +testimony in behalf of her friends, if sent to me in time. And having +already kept back the publication a fortnight waiting for communications +of this sort, I will not delay it longer. Those who have withheld their +strictures have only themselves to blame. + +Of the general character of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, I would not designedly give +any _unfair_ impression. Without implicitly adopting either the _ex parte_ +view of Mary Prince, or the unmeasured encomiums of their friends, I am +willing to believe them to be, on the whole, fair, perhaps favourable, +specimens of colonial character. Let them even be rated, if you will, in +the very highest and most benevolent class of slave-holders; and, laying +everything else entirely out of view, let Mr. Wood's conduct in this +affair be tried exclusively by the facts established beyond dispute, and +by his own statement of the case in his letter to Mr. Taylor. But then, I +ask, if the very _best_ and _mildest_ of your slave-owners can act as Mr. +Wood is proved to have acted, what is to be expected of persons whose +mildness, or equity, or common humanity no one will dare to vouch for? If +such things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?--And +what else then can Colonial Slavery possibly be, even in its best estate, +but a system incurably evil and iniquitous?--I require no other data--I +need add no further comment.] + +The case affords a most instructive illustration of the true spirit of the +slave system, and of the pretensions of the slave-holders to assert, not +merely their claims to a "vested right" in the _labour_ of their bondmen, +but to an indefeasible property in them as their "absolute chattels." It +furnishes a striking practical comment on the assertions of the West +Indians that self-interest is a sufficient check to the indulgence of +vindictive feelings in the master; for here is a case where a man (a +_respectable_ and _benevolent_ man as his friends aver,) prefers losing +entirely the full price of the slave, for the mere satisfaction of +preventing a poor black woman from returning home to her husband! If the +pleasure of thwarting the benevolent wishes of the Anti-Slavery Society in +behalf of the deserted negro, be an additional motive with Mr. Wood, it +will not much mend his wretched plea. + + * * * * * + +I may here add a few words respecting the earlier portion of Mary Prince's +narrative. The facts there stated must necessarily rest entirely,--since +we have no collateral evidence,--upon their intrinsic claims to +probability, and upon the reliance the reader may feel disposed, after +perusing the foregoing pages, to place on her veracity. To my judgment, +the internal evidence of the truth of her narrative appears remarkably +strong. The circumstances are related in a tone of natural sincerity, and +are accompanied in almost every case with characteristic and minute +details, which must, I conceive, carry with them full conviction to every +candid mind that this negro woman has actually seen, felt, and suffered +all that she so impressively describes; and that the picture she has given +of West Indian slavery is not less true than it is revolting. + +But there may be some persons into whose hands this tract may fall, so +imperfectly acquainted with the real character of Negro Slavery, as to be +shocked into partial, if not absolute incredulity, by the acts of inhuman +oppression and brutality related of Capt. I---- and his wife, and of Mr. +D----, the salt manufacturer of Turk's Island. Here, at least, such +persons may be disposed to think, there surely must be _some_ +exaggeration; the facts are too shocking to be credible. The facts are +indeed shocking, but unhappily not the less credible on that account. +Slavery is a curse to the oppressor scarcely less than to the oppressed: +its natural tendency is to brutalize both. After a residence myself of six +years in a slave colony, I am inclined to doubt whether, as regards its +_demoralizing_ influence, the master is not even a greater object of +compassion than his bondman. Let those who are disposed to doubt the +atrocities related in this narrative, on the testimony of a sufferer, +examine the details of many cases of similar barbarity that have lately +come before the public, on unquestionable evidence. Passing over the +reports of the Fiscal of Berbice,[23] and the Mauritius horrors recently +unveiled,[24] let them consider the case of Mr. and Mrs. Moss, of the +Bahamas, and their slave Kate, so justly denounced by the Secretary for +the Colonies;[25]--the cases of Eleanor Mead,[26]--of Henry +Williams,[27]--and of the Rev. Mr. Bridges and Kitty Hylton,[28] in +Jamaica. These cases alone might suffice to demonstrate the inevitable +tendency of slavery as it exists in our colonies, to brutalize the master +to a truly frightful degree--a degree which would often cast into the +shade even the atrocities related in the narrative of Mary Prince; and +which are sufficient to prove, independently of all other evidence, that +there is nothing in the revolting character of the facts to affect their +credibility; but that on the contrary, similar deeds are at this very time +of frequent occurrence in almost every one of our slave colonies. The +system of coercive labour may vary in different places; it may be more +destructive to human life in the cane culture of Mauritius and Jamaica, +than in the predial and domestic bondage of Bermuda or the Bahamas,--but +the spirit and character of slavery are every where the same, and cannot +fail to produce similar effects. Wherever slavery prevails, there will +inevitably be found cruelty and oppression. Individuals who have preserved +humane, and amiable, and tolerant dispositions towards their black +dependents, may doubtless be found among slave-holders; but even where a +happy instance of this sort occurs, such as Mary's first mistress, the +kind-hearted Mrs. Williams, the favoured condition of the slave is still +as precarious as it is rare: it is every moment at the mercy of events; +and must always be held by a tenure so proverbially uncertain as that of +human prosperity, or human life. Such examples, like a feeble and +flickering streak of light in a gloomy picture, only serve by contrast to +exhibit the depth of the prevailing shades. Like other exceptions, they +only prove the general rule: the unquestionable tendency of the system is +to vitiate the best tempers, and to harden the most feeling hearts. "Never +be kind, nor speak kindly to a slave," said an accomplished English lady +in South Africa to my wife: "I have now," she added, "been for some time a +slave-owner, and have found, from vexatious experience in my own +household, that nothing but harshness and hauteur will do with slaves." + +[Footnote 23: See Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 5 and 16.] + +[Footnote 24: Ibid, No. 44.] + +[Footnote 25: Ibid, No. 47.] + +[Footnote 26: Ibid, No. 64, p. 345; No. 71, p. 481.] + +[Footnote 27: Ibid, No. 65, p. 356; No. 69, p. 431.] + +[Footnote 28: Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 66, 69, and 76.] + +I might perhaps not inappropriately illustrate this point more fully by +stating many cases which fell under my own personal observation, or became +known to me through authentic sources, at the Cape of Good Hope--a colony +where slavery assumes, as it is averred, a milder aspect than in any other +dependency of the empire where it exists; and I could shew, from the +judicial records of that colony, received by me within these few weeks, +cases scarcely inferior in barbarity to the worst of those to which I have +just specially referred; but to do so would lead me too far from the +immediate purpose of this pamphlet, and extend it to an inconvenient +length. I shall therefore content myself with quoting a single short +passage from the excellent work of my friend Dr. Walsh, entitled "Notices +of Brazil,"--a work which, besides its other merits, has vividly +illustrated the true spirit of Negro Slavery, as it displays itself not +merely in that country, but wherever it has been permitted to open its +Pandora's box of misery and crime. + +Let the reader ponder on the following just remarks, and compare the facts +stated by the Author in illustration of them, with the circumstances +related at pages 6 and 7 of Mary's narrative:-- + + "If then we put out of the question the injury inflicted on + others, and merely consider the deterioration of feeling and + principle with which it operates on ourselves, ought it not + to be a sufficient, and, indeed, unanswerable argument, + against the permission of Slavery? + + "The exemplary manner in which the paternal duties are + performed at home, may mark people as the most fond and + affectionate parents; but let them once go abroad, and come + within the contagion of slavery, and it seems to alter the + very nature of a man; and the father has sold, and still + sells, the mother and his children, with as little + compunction as he would a sow and her litter of pigs; and he + often disposes of them together. + + "This deterioration of feeling is conspicuous in many ways + among the Brazilians. They are naturally a people of a + humane and good-natured disposition, and much indisposed to + cruelty or severity of any kind. Indeed, the manner in which + many of them treat their slaves is a proof of this, as it is + really gentle and considerate; but the natural tendency to + cruelty and oppression in the human heart, is continually + evolved by the impunity and uncontrolled licence in which + they are exercised. I never walked through the streets of + Rio, that some house did not present to me the semblance of + a bridewell, where the moans and the cries of the sufferers, + and the sounds of whips and scourges within, announced to me + that corporal punishment was being inflicted. Whenever I + remarked this to a friend, I was always answered that the + refractory nature of the slave rendered it necessary, and no + house could properly be conducted unless it was practised. + But this is certainly not the case; and the chastisement is + constantly applied in the very wantonness of barbarity, and + would not, and dared not, be inflicted on the humblest + wretch in society, if he was not a slave, and so put out of + the pale of pity. + + "Immediately joining our house was one occupied by a + mechanic, from which the most dismal cries and moans + constantly proceeded. I entered the shop one day, and found + it was occupied by a saddler, who had two negro boys working + at his business. He was a tawny, cadaverous-looking man, + with a dark aspect; and he had cut from his leather a + scourge like a Russian knout, which he held in his hand, and + was in the act of exercising on one of the naked children in + an inner room: and this was the cause of the moans and cries + we heard every day, and almost all day long. + + "In the rear of our house was another, occupied by some + women of bad character, who kept, as usual, several negro + slaves. I was awoke early one morning by dismal cries, and + looking out of the window, I saw in the back yard of the + house, a black girl of about fourteen years old; before her + stood her mistress, a white woman, with a large stick in her + hand. She was undressed except her petticoat and chemise, + which had fallen down and left her shoulders and bosom bare. + Her hair was streaming behind, and every fierce and + malevolent passion was depicted in her face. She too, like + my hostess at Governo [another striking illustration of the + _dehumanizing_ effects of Slavery,] was the very + representation of a fury. She was striking the poor girl, + whom she had driven up into a corner, where she was on her + knees appealing for mercy. She shewed her none, but + continued to strike her on the head and thrust the stick + into her face, till she was herself exhausted, and her poor + victim covered with blood. This scene was renewed every + morning, and the cries and moans of the poor suffering + blacks, announced that they were enduring the penalty of + slavery, in being the objects on which the irritable and + malevolent passions of the whites are allowed to vent + themselves with impunity; nor could I help deeply deploring + that state of society in which the vilest characters in the + community are allowed an almost uncontrolled power of life + and death, over their innocent, and far more estimable + fellow-creatures."--(Notices of Brazil, vol. ii. p. + 354-356.) + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I may observe that the history of Mary Prince furnishes a +corollary to Lord Stowell's decision in the case of the slave Grace, and +that it is most valuable on this account. Whatever opinions may be held by +some readers on the grave question of immediately abolishing Colonial +Slavery, nothing assuredly can be more repugnant to the feelings of +Englishmen than that the system should be permitted to extend its baneful +influence to this country. Yet such is the case, when the slave landed in +England still only possesses that qualified degree of freedom, that a +change of domicile will determine it. Though born a British subject, and +resident within the shores of England, he is cut off from his dearest +natural rights by the sad alternative of regaining them at the expence of +liberty, and the certainty of severe treatment. It is true that he has the +option of returning; but it is a cruel mockery to call it a voluntary +choice, when upon his return depend his means of subsistence and his +re-union with all that makes life valuable. Here he has tasted "the sweets +of freedom," to quote the words of the unfortunate Mary Prince; but if he +desires to restore himself to his family, or to escape from suffering and +destitution, and the other evils of a climate uncongenial to his +constitution and habits, he must abandon the enjoyment of his +late-acquired liberty, and again subject himself to the arbitrary power of +a vindictive master. + +The case of Mary Prince is by no means a singular one; many of the same +kind are daily occurring: and even if the case were singular, it would +still loudly call for the interference of the legislature. In instances of +this kind no injury can possibly be done to the owner by confirming to the +slave his resumption of his natural rights. It is the master's spontaneous +act to bring him to this country; he knows when he brings him that he +divests himself of his property; and it is, in fact, a minor species of +slave trading, when he has thus enfranchised his slave, to _re-capture_ +that slave by the necessities of his condition, or by working upon the +better feelings of his heart. Abstractedly from all legal technicalities, +there is no real difference between thus compelling the return of the +enfranchised negro, and trepanning a free native of England by delusive +hopes into perpetual slavery. The most ingenious casuist could not point +out any essential distinction between the two cases. Our boasted liberty +is the dream of imagination, and no longer the characteristic of our +country, if its bulwarks can thus be thrown down by colonial special +pleading. It would well become the character of the present Government to +introduce a Bill into the Legislature making perpetual that freedom which +the slave has acquired by his passage here, and thus to declare, in the +most ample sense of the words, (what indeed we had long fondly believed to +be the fact, though it now appears that we have been mistaken,) THAT +NO SLAVE CAN EXIST WITHIN THE SHORES OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + + + +NARRATIVE OF LOUIS ASA-ASA, + +A CAPTURED AFRICAN. + + +The following interesting narrative is a convenient supplement to the +history of Mary Prince. It is given, like hers, as nearly as possible in +the narrator's words, with only so much correction as was necessary to +connect the story, and render it grammatical. The concluding passage in +inverted commas, is entirely his own. + +While Mary's narrative shews the disgusting character of colonial slavery, +this little tale explains with equal force the horrors in which it +originates. + +It is necessary to explain that Louis came to this country about five +years ago, in a French vessel called the Pearl. She had lost her +reckoning, and was driven by stress of weather into the port of St. Ives, +in Cornwall. Louis and his four companions were brought to London upon a +writ of Habeas Corpus at the instance of Mr. George Stephen; and, after +some trifling opposition on the part of the master of the vessel, were +discharged by Lord Wynford. Two of his unfortunate fellow-sufferers died +of the measles at Hampstead; the other two returned to Sierra Leone; but +poor Louis, when offered the choice of going back to Africa, replied, "Me +no father, no mother now; me stay with you." And here he has ever since +remained; conducting himself in a way to gain the good will and respect of +all who know him. He is remarkably intelligent, understands our language +perfectly, and can read and write well. The last sentences of the +following narrative will seem almost too peculiar to be his own; but it is +not the first time that in conversation with Mr. George Stephen, he has +made similar remarks. On one occasion in particular, he was heard saying +to himself in the kitchen, while sitting by the fire apparently in deep +thought, "Me think,--me think----" A fellow-servant inquired what he +meant; and he added, "Me think what a good thing I came to England! Here, +I know what God is, and read my Bible; in my country they have no God, no +Bible." + +How severe and just a reproof to the guilty wretches who visit his country +only with fire and sword! How deserved a censure upon the not less guilty +men, who dare to vindicate the state of slavery, on the lying pretext, +that its victims are of an inferior nature! And scarcely less deserving of +reprobation are those who have it in their power to prevent these crimes, +but who remain inactive from indifference, or are dissuaded from throwing +the shield of British power over the victim of oppression, by the +sophistry, and the clamour, and the avarice of the oppressor. It is the +reproach and the sin of England. May God avert from our country the ruin +which this national guilt deserves! + +We lament to add, that the Pearl which brought these negroes to our shore, +was restored to its owners at the instance of the French Government, +instead of being condemned as a prize to Lieut. Rye, who, on his own +responsibility, detained her, with all her manacles and chains and other +detestable proofs of her piratical occupation on board. We trust it is not +yet too late to demand investigation into the reasons for restoring her. + + +_The Negro Boy's Narrative._ + + +My father's name was Clashoquin; mine is Asa-Asa. He lived in a country +called Bycla, near Egie, a large town. Egie is as large as Brighton; it +was some way from the sea. I had five brothers and sisters. We all lived +together with my father and mother; he kept a horse, and was respectable, +but not one of the great men. My uncle was one of the great men at Egie: +he could make men come and work for him: his name was Otou. He had a great +deal of land and cattle. My father sometimes worked on his own land, and +used to make charcoal. I was too little to work; my eldest brother used to +work on the land; and we were all very happy. + +A great many people, whom we called Adinyés, set fire to Egie in the +morning before daybreak; there were some thousands of them. They killed a +great many, and burnt all their houses. They staid two days, and then +carried away all the people whom they did not kill. + +They came again every now and then for a month, as long as they could find +people to carry away. They used to tie them by the feet, except when they +were taking them off, and then they let them loose; but if they offered to +run away, they would shoot them. I lost a great many friends and relations +at Egie; about a dozen. They sold all they carried away, to be slaves. I +know this because I afterwards saw them as slaves on the other side of the +sea. They took away brothers, and sisters, and husbands, and wives; they +did not care about this. They were sold for cloth or gunpowder, sometimes +for salt or guns; sometimes they got four or five guns for a man: they +were English guns, made like my master's that I clean for his shooting. +The Adinyés burnt a great many places besides Egie. They burnt all the +country wherever they found villages; they used to shoot men, women, and +children, if they ran away. + +They came to us about eleven o'clock one day, and directly they came they +set our house on fire. All of us had run away. We kept together, and went +into the woods, and stopped there two days. The Adinyés then went away, +and we returned home and found every thing burnt. We tried to build a +little shed, and were beginning to get comfortable again. We found +several of our neighbours lying about wounded; they had been shot. I saw +the bodies of four or five little children whom they had killed with blows +on the head. They had carried away their fathers and mothers, but the +children were too small for slaves, so they killed them. They had killed +several others, but these were all that I saw. I saw them lying in the +street like dead dogs. + +In about a week after we got back, the Adinyés returned, and burnt all the +sheds and houses they had left standing. We all ran away again; we went to +the woods as we had done before.--They followed us the next day. We went +farther into the woods, and staid there about four days and nights; we +were half starved; we only got a few potatoes. My uncle Otou was with us. +At the end of this time, the Adinyés found us. We ran away. They called my +uncle to go to them; but he refused, and they shot him immediately: they +killed him. The rest of us ran on, and they did not get at us till the +next day. I ran up into a tree: they followed me and brought me down. They +tied my feet. I do not know if they found my father and mother, and +brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me, and were half a mile +farther when I got up into the tree: I have never seen them since.--There +was a man who ran up into the tree with me: I believe they shot him, for I +never saw him again. + +They carried away about twenty besides me. They carried us to the sea. +They did not beat us: they only killed one man, who was very ill and too +weak to carry his load: they made all of us carry chickens and meat for +our food; but this poor man could not carry his load, and they ran him +through the body with a sword.--He was a neighbour of ours. When we got to +the sea they sold all of us, but not to the same person. They sold us for +money; and I was sold six times over, sometimes for money, sometimes for +cloth, and sometimes for a gun. I was about thirteen years old. It was +about half a year from the time I was taken, before I saw the white +people. + +We were taken in a boat from place to place, and sold at every place we +stopped at. In about six months we got to a ship, in which we first saw +white people: they were French. They bought us. We found here a great many +other slaves; there were about eighty, including women and children. The +Frenchmen sent away all but five of us into another very large ship. We +five staid on board till we got to England, which was about five or six +months. The slaves we saw on board the ship were chained together by the +legs below deck, so close they could not move. They were flogged very +cruelly: I saw one of them flogged till he died; we could not tell what +for. They gave them enough to eat. The place they were confined in below +deck was so hot and nasty I could not bear to be in it. A great many of +the slaves were ill, but they were not attended to. They used to flog me +very bad on board the ship: the captain cut my head very bad one time. + +"I am very happy to be in England, as far as I am very well;--but I have +no friend belonging to me, but God, who will take care of me as he has +done already. I am very glad I have come to England, to know who God is. I +should like much to see my friends again, but I do not now wish to go back +to them: for if I go back to my own country, I might be taken as a slave +again. I would rather stay here, where I am free, than go back to my +country to be sold. I shall stay in England as long as (please God) I +shall live. I wish the King of England could know all I have told you. I +wish it that he may see how cruelly we are used. We had no king in our +country, or he would have stopt it. I think the king of England might stop +it, and this is why I wish him to know it all. I have heard say he is +good; and if he is, he will stop it if he can. I am well off myself, for I +am well taken care of, and have good bed and good clothes; but I wish my +own people to be as comfortable." + + +"LOUIS ASA-ASA." + +"_London, January 31, 1831_." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The History of Mary Prince, by Mary Prince + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17851-8.txt or 17851-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/5/17851/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Mary Prince + A West Indian Slave + +Author: Mary Prince + +Release Date: February 24, 2006 [EBook #17851] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h4>THE</h4> +<h1>HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE,</h1> + <h2>A WEST INDIAN SLAVE.</h2> +<h4>RELATED BY HERSELF.</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3 >WITH A SUPPLEMENT BY THE EDITOR.</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h4 >To which is added,</h4> +<h2 >THE NARRATIVE OF ASA-ASA,</h2> +<h3 >A CAPTURED AFRICAN.</h3> + +<hr style="width:45%" /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <span class="i9">"By our sufferings, since ye brought us</span> + <span class="i10"> To the man-degrading mart,—</span> + <span class="i9">All sustain'd by patience, taught us</span> + <span class="i10"> Only by a broken heart,—</span> + <span class="i9">Deem our nation brutes no longer,</span> + <span class="i10">Till some reason ye shall find</span> + <span class="i9">Worthier of regard, and stronger</span> + <span class="i10">Than the colour of our kind." </span> </div></div> + +<p class="sig"> <span class="smcap">Cowper.</span> +</p> +<hr style="width:45%" /> + +<h3>LONDON: </h3> + +<h3>PUBLISHED BY F. WESTLEY AND A. H. DAVIS, </h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Stationers' Hall +Court;</span> </h4> + +<h3><span class="smcap">And by</span> WAUGH & INNES, EDINBURGH.</h3> + +<h3>1831.</h3> + +<hr style="width:65%" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<p>The idea of writing Mary Prince's history was first suggested by herself. +She wished it to be done, she said, that good people in England might hear +from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered; and a letter of her late +master's, which will be found in the Supplement, induced me to accede to +her wish without farther delay. The more immediate object of the +publication will afterwards appear.</p> + +<p>The narrative was taken down from Mary's own lips by a lady who happened +to be at the time residing in my family as a visitor. It was written out +fully, with all the narrator's repetitions and prolixities, and afterwards +pruned into its present shape; retaining, as far as was practicable, +Mary's exact expressions and peculiar phraseology. No fact of importance +has been omitted, and not a single circumstance or sentiment has been +added. It is essentially her own, without any material alteration farther +than was requisite to exclude redundancies and +gross grammatical errors, so as to render it clearly intelligible.</p> + +<p>After it had been thus written out, I went over the whole, carefully +examining her on every fact and circumstance detailed; and in all that +relates to her residence in Antigua I had the advantage of being assisted +in this scrutiny by Mr. Joseph Phillips, who was a resident in that colony +during the same period, and had known her there.</p> + +<p>The names of all the persons mentioned by the narrator have been printed +in full, except those of Capt. I—— and his wife, and that of Mr. D——, +to whom conduct of peculiar atrocity is ascribed. These three individuals +are now gone to answer at a far more awful tribunal than that of public +opinion, for the deeds of which their former bondwoman accuses them; and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span>to hold them up more openly to human reprobation could no longer affect +themselves, while it might deeply lacerate the feelings of their surviving +and perhaps innocent relatives, without any commensurate public advantage.</p> + +<p>Without detaining the reader with remarks on other points which will be +adverted to more conveniently in the Supplement, I shall here merely +notice farther, that the Anti-Slavery Society have no concern whatever +with this publication, nor are they in any degree responsible for the +statements it contains. I have published the tract, not as their +Secretary, but in my private capacity; and any profits that may arise from +the sale will be exclusively appropriated to the benefit of Mary Prince +herself.</p> + +<p class="sig1">THO. PRINGLE.</p> + +<p class="sig2"><i>7, Solly Terrace, Claremont Square</i>,</p> + +<p class="sig3"><i>January 25, 1831.</i></p> + + +<p>P. S. Since writing the above, I have been furnished by my friend Mr. +George Stephen, with the interesting narrative of Asa-Asa, a captured +African, now under his protection; and have printed it as a suitable +appendix to this little history.</p> + +<p class="sig1">T. P.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_HISTORY_OF_MARY_PRINCE_A_WEST_INDIAN_SLAVE" id="THE_HISTORY_OF_MARY_PRINCE_A_WEST_INDIAN_SLAVE"></a>THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE, A WEST INDIAN SLAVE.</h2> + +<h3>(Related by herself.)</h3> +<p>I was born at Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. +Charles Myners. My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name +was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at +Crow-Lane. When I was an infant, old Mr. Myners died, and there was a +division of the slaves and other property among the family. I was bought +along with my mother by old Captain Darrel, and given to his grandchild, +little Miss Betsey Williams. Captain Williams, Mr. Darrel's son-in-law, +was master of a vessel which traded to several places in America and the +West Indies, and he was seldom at home long together.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Williams was a kind-hearted good woman, and she treated all her +slaves well. She had only one daughter, Miss Betsey, for whom I was +purchased, and who was about my own age. I was made quite a pet of by Miss +Betsey, and loved her very much. She used to lead me about by the hand, +and call me her little nigger. This was the happiest period of my life; +for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too +thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and +sorrow.</p> + +<p>My mother was a household slave in the same family. I was under her own +care, and my little brothers and sisters were my play-fellows and +companions. My mother had several fine children after she came to Mrs. +Williams,—three girls and two boys. The tasks given out to us children +were light, and we used to play together with Miss Betsey, with as much +freedom almost as if she had been our sister.</p> + +<p>My master, however, was a very harsh, selfish man; and we always dreaded +his return from sea. His wife was herself much afraid of him; and, during +his stay at home, seldom dared to shew her usual kindness to the slaves. +He often left her, in the most distressed circumstances, to reside in +other female society, at some place in the West Indies of which I have +forgot the name. My poor mistress bore his ill-treatment with great +patience, and all her slaves loved and pitied her. I was truly attached to +her, and, next to my own mother, loved her better than any creature in the +world. My obedience to her commands was cheerfully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> given: it sprung +solely from the affection I felt for her, and not from fear of the power +which the white people's law had given her over me.</p> + +<p>I had scarcely reached my twelfth year when my mistress became too poor to +keep so many of us at home; and she hired me out to Mrs. Pruden, a lady +who lived about five miles off, in the adjoining parish, in a large house +near the sea. I cried bitterly at parting with my dear mistress and Miss +Betsey, and when I kissed my mother and brothers and sisters, I thought my +young heart would break, it pained me so. But there was no help; I was +forced to go. Good Mrs. Williams comforted me by saying that I should +still be near the home I was about to quit, and might come over and see +her and my kindred whenever I could obtain leave of absence from Mrs. +Pruden. A few hours after this I was taken to a strange house, and found +myself among strange people. This separation seemed a sore trial to me +then; but oh! 'twas light, light to the trials I have since +endured!—'twas nothing—nothing to be mentioned with them; but I was a +child then, and it was according to my strength.</p> + +<p>I knew that Mrs. Williams could no longer maintain me; that she was fain +to part with me for my food and clothing; and I tried to submit myself to +the change. My new mistress was a passionate woman; but yet she did not +treat me very unkindly. I do not remember her striking me but once, and +that was for going to see Mrs. Williams when I heard she was sick, and +staying longer than she had given me leave to do. All my employment at +this time was nursing a sweet baby, little Master Daniel; and I grew so +fond of my nursling that it was my greatest delight to walk out with him +by the sea-shore, accompanied by his brother and sister, Miss Fanny and +Master James.—Dear Miss Fanny! She was a sweet, kind young lady, and so +fond of me that she wished me to learn all that she knew herself; and her +method of teaching me was as follows:—Directly she had said her lessons +to her grandmamma, she used to come running to me, and make me repeat them +one by one after her; and in a few months I was able not only to say my +letters but to spell many small words. But this happy state was not to +last long. Those days were too pleasant to last. My heart always softens +when I think of them.</p> + +<p>At this time Mrs. Williams died. I was told suddenly of her death, and my +grief was so great that, forgetting I had the baby in my arms, I ran away +directly to my poor mistress's house; but reached it only in time to see +the corpse carried out. Oh, that was a day of sorrow,—a heavy day! All +the slaves cried. My mother cried and lamented her sore; and I (foolish +creature!) vainly entreated them to bring my dear mistress back to life. I +knew nothing rightly about death then, and it seemed a hard thing to bear. +When I thought about my mistress I felt as if the world was all gone +wrong; and for many days and weeks I could think of nothing else. I +returned to Mrs. Pruden's; but my sorrow was too great to be comforted, +for my own dear mistress was always in my mind. Whether in the house or +abroad, my thoughts were always talking to me about her.</p> + +<p>I staid at Mrs. Pruden's about three months after this; I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> then sent +back to Mr. Williams to be sold. Oh, that was a sad sad time! I recollect +the day well. Mrs. Pruden came to me and said, "Mary, you will have to go +home directly; your master is going to be married, and he means to sell +you and two of your sisters to raise money for the wedding." Hearing this +I burst out a crying,—though I was then far from being sensible of the +full weight of my misfortune, or of the misery that waited for me. +Besides, I did not like to leave Mrs. Pruden, and the dear baby, who had +grown very fond of me. For some time I could scarcely believe that Mrs. +Pruden was in earnest, till I received orders for my immediate +return.—Dear Miss Fanny! how she cried at parting with me, whilst I +kissed and hugged the baby, thinking I should never see him again. I left +Mrs. Pruden's, and walked home with a heart full of sorrow. The idea of +being sold away from my mother and Miss Betsey was so frightful, that I +dared not trust myself to think about it. We had been bought of Mr. +Myners, as I have mentioned, by Miss Betsey's grandfather, and given to +her, so that we were by right <i>her</i> property, and I never thought we +should be separated or sold away from her.</p> + +<p>When I reached the house, I went in directly to Miss Betsey. I found her +in great distress; and she cried out as soon as she saw me, "Oh, Mary! my +father is going to sell you all to raise money to marry that wicked woman. +You are <i>my</i> slaves, and he has no right to sell you; but it is all to +please her." She then told me that my mother was living with her father's +sister at a house close by, and I went there to see her. It was a +sorrowful meeting; and we lamented with a great and sore crying our +unfortunate situation. "Here comes one of my poor picaninnies!" she said, +the moment I came in, "one of the poor slave-brood who are to be sold +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Oh dear! I cannot bear to think of that day,—it is too much.—It recalls +the great grief that filled my heart, and the woeful thoughts that passed +to and fro through my mind, whilst listening to the pitiful words of my +poor mother, weeping for the loss of her children. I wish I could find +words to tell you all I then felt and suffered. The great God above alone +knows the thoughts of the poor slave's heart, and the bitter pains which +follow such separations as these. All that we love taken away from us—Oh, +it is sad, sad! and sore to be borne!—I got no sleep that night for +thinking of the morrow; and dear Miss Betsey was scarcely less distressed. +She could not bear to part with her old playmates, and she cried sore and +would not be pacified.</p> + +<p>The black morning at length came; it came too soon for my poor mother and +us. Whilst she was putting on us the new osnaburgs in which we were to be +sold, she said, in a sorrowful voice, (I shall never forget it!) "See, I +am <i>shrouding</i> my poor children; what a task for a mother!"—She then +called Miss Betsey to take leave of us. "I am going to carry my little +chickens to market," (these were her very words,) "take your last look of +them; may be you will see them no more." "Oh, my poor slaves! my own +slaves!" said dear Miss Betsey, "you belong to me; and it grieves my heart +to part with you."—Miss Betsey kissed us all, and, when she left us, my +mother called the rest of the slaves to bid us good bye. One of them, a +woman named Moll,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> came with her infant in her arms. "Ay!" said my mother, +seeing her turn away and look at her child with the tears in her eyes, +"your turn will come next." The slaves could say nothing to comfort us; +they could only weep and lament with us. When I left my dear little +brothers and the house in which I had been brought up, I thought my heart +would burst.</p> + +<p>Our mother, weeping as she went, called me away with the children Hannah +and Dinah, and we took the road that led to Hamble Town, which we reached +about four o'clock in the afternoon. We followed my mother to the +market-place, where she placed us in a row against a large house, with our +backs to the wall and our arms folded across our breasts. I, as the +eldest, stood first, Hannah next to me, then Dinah; and our mother stood +beside, crying over us. My heart throbbed with grief and terror so +violently, that I pressed my hands quite tightly across my breast, but I +could not keep it still, and it continued to leap as though it would burst +out of my body. But who cared for that? Did one of the many by-standers, +who were looking at us so carelessly, think of the pain that wrung the +hearts of the negro woman and her young ones? No, no! They were not all +bad, I dare say; but slavery hardens white people's hearts towards the +blacks; and many of them were not slow to make their remarks upon us +aloud, without regard to our grief—though their light words fell like +cayenne on the fresh wounds of our hearts. Oh those white people have +small hearts who can only feel for themselves.</p> + +<p>At length the vendue master, who was to offer us for sale like sheep or +cattle, arrived, and asked my mother which was the eldest. She said +nothing, but pointed to me. He took me by the hand, and led me out into +the middle of the street, and, turning me slowly round, exposed me to the +view of those who attended the vendue. I was soon surrounded by strange +men, who examined and handled me in the same manner that a butcher would a +calf or a lamb he was about to purchase, and who talked about my shape and +size in like words—as if I could no more understand their meaning than +the dumb beasts. I was then put up to sale. The bidding commenced at a few +pounds, and gradually rose to fifty-seven,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> when I was knocked down to +the highest bidder; and the people who stood by said that I had fetched a +great sum for so young a slave.</p> + +<p>I then saw my sisters led forth, and sold to different owners; so that we +had not the sad satisfaction of being partners in bondage. When the sale +was over, my mother hugged and kissed us, and mourned over us, begging of +us to keep up a good heart, and do our duty to our new masters. It was a +sad parting; one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home +with nothing.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p><p>My new master was a Captain I——, who lived at Spanish Point. After +parting with my mother and sisters, I followed him to his store, and he +gave me into the charge of his son, a lad about my own age, Master Benjy, +who took me to my new home. I did not know where I was going, or what my +new master would do with me. My heart was quite broken with grief, and my +thoughts went back continually to those from whom I had been so suddenly +parted. "Oh, my mother! my mother!" I kept saying to myself, "Oh, my mammy +and my sisters and my brothers, shall I never see you again!"</p> + +<p>Oh, the trials! the trials! they make the salt water come into my eyes +when I think of the days in which I was afflicted—the times that are +gone; when I mourned and grieved with a young heart for those whom I +loved.</p> + +<p>It was night when I reached my new home. The house was large, and built at +the bottom of a very high hill; but I could not see much of it that night. +I saw too much of it afterwards. The stones and the timber were the best +things in it; they were not so hard as the hearts of the owners.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Before I entered the house, two slave women, hired from another owner, who +were at work in the yard, spoke to me, and asked who I belonged to? I +replied, "I am come to live here." "Poor child, poor child!" they both +said; "you must keep a good heart, if you are to live here."—When I went +in, I stood up crying in a corner. Mrs. I—— came and took off my hat, a +little black silk hat Miss Pruden made for me, and said in a rough voice, +"You are not come here to stand up in corners and cry, you are come here +to work." She then put a child into my arms, and, tired as I was, I was +forced instantly to take up my old occupation of a nurse.—I could not +bear to look at my mistress, her countenance was so stern. She was a stout +tall woman with a very dark complexion, and her brows were always drawn +together into a frown. I thought of the words of the two slave women when +I saw Mrs. I——, and heard the harsh sound of her voice.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> +<p>The person I took the most notice of that night was a French Black called +Hetty, whom my master took in privateering from another vessel, and made +his slave. She was the most active woman I ever saw, and she was tasked to +her utmost. A few minutes after my arrival she came in from milking the +cows, and put the sweet-potatoes on for supper. She then fetched home the +sheep, and penned them in the fold; drove home the cattle, and staked them +about the pond side;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> fed and rubbed down my master's horse, and gave +the hog and the fed cow<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> their suppers; prepared the beds, and undressed +the children, and laid them to sleep. I liked to look at her and watch all +her doings, for hers was the only friendly face I had as yet seen, and I +felt glad that she was there. She gave me my supper of potatoes and milk, +and a blanket to sleep upon, which she spread for me in the passage before +the door of Mrs. I——'s chamber.</p> + +<p>I got a sad fright, that night. I was just going to sleep, when I heard a +noise in my mistress's room; and she presently called out to inquire if +some work was finished that she had ordered Hetty to do. "No, Ma'am, not +yet," was Hetty's answer from below. On hearing this, my master started up +from his bed, and just as he was, in his shirt, ran down stairs with a +long cow-skin<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> in his hand. I heard immediately after, the cracking of +the thong, and the house rang to the shrieks of poor Hetty, who kept +crying out, "Oh, Massa! Massa! me dead. Massa! have mercy upon me—don't +kill me outright."—This was a sad beginning for me. I sat up upon my +blanket, trembling with terror, like a frightened hound, and thinking that +my turn would come next. At length the house became still, and I forgot +for a little while all my sorrows by falling fast asleep.</p> + +<p>The next morning my mistress set about instructing me in my tasks. She +taught me to do all sorts of household work; to wash and bake, pick cotton +and wool, and wash floors, and cook. And she taught me (how can I ever +forget it!) more things than these; she caused me to know the exact +difference between the smart of the rope, the cart-whip, and the cow-skin, +when applied to my naked body by her own cruel hand. And there was +scarcely any punishment more dreadful than the blows I received on my face +and head from her hard heavy fist. She was a fearful woman, and a savage +mistress to her slaves.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p><p>There were two little slave boys in the house, on whom she vented her bad +temper in a special manner. One of these children was a mulatto, called +Cyrus, who had been bought while an infant in his mother's arms; the +other, Jack, was an African from the coast of Guinea, whom a sailor had +given or sold to my master. Seldom a day passed without these boys +receiving the most severe treatment, and often for no fault at all. Both +my master and mistress seemed to think that they had a right to ill-use +them at their pleasure; and very often accompanied their commands with +blows, whether the children were behaving well or ill. I have seen their +flesh ragged and raw with licks.—Lick—lick—they were never secure one +moment from a blow, and their lives were passed in continual fear. My +mistress was not contented with using the whip, but often pinched their +cheeks and arms in the most cruel manner. My pity for these poor boys was +soon transferred to myself; for I was licked, and flogged, and pinched by +her pitiless fingers in the neck and arms, exactly as they were. To strip +me naked—to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the +cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence. My +mistress often robbed me too of the hours that belong to sleep. She used +to sit up very late, frequently even until morning; and I had then to +stand at a bench and wash during the greater part of the night, or pick +wool and cotton; and often I have dropped down overcome by sleep and +fatigue, till roused from a state of stupor by the whip, and forced to +start up to my tasks.</p> + +<p>Poor Hetty, my fellow slave, was very kind to me, and I used to call her +my Aunt; but she led a most miserable life, and her death was hastened (at +least the slaves all believed and said so,) by the dreadful chastisement +she received from my master during her pregnancy. It happened as follows. +One of the cows had dragged the rope away from the stake to which Hetty +had fastened it, and got loose. My master flew into a terrible passion, +and ordered the poor creature to be stripped quite naked, notwithstanding +her pregnancy, and to be tied up to a tree in the yard. He then flogged +her as hard as he could lick, both with the whip and cow-skin, till she +was all over streaming with blood. He rested, and then beat her again and +again. Her shrieks were terrible. The consequence was that poor Hetty was +brought to bed before her time, and was delivered after severe labour of a +dead child. She appeared to recover after her confinement, so far that she +was repeatedly flogged by both master and mistress afterwards; but her +former strength never returned to her. Ere long her body and limbs swelled +to a great size; and she lay on a mat in the kitchen, till the water burst +out of her body and she died. All the slaves said that death was a good +thing for poor Hetty; but I cried very much for her death. The manner of +it filled me with horror. I could not bear to think about it; yet it was +always present to my mind for many a day.</p> + +<p>After Hetty died all her labours fell upon me, in addition to my own. I +had now to milk eleven cows every morning before sunrise, sitting among +the damp weeds; to take care of the cattle as well as the children; and to +do the work of the house. There was no end to my toils—no end to my +blows. I lay down at night and rose up in the morning in fear and sorrow; +and often wished that like poor Hetty I could escape from this cruel +bondage and be at rest in the grave. But the hand of that God whom then I +knew not, was stretched over me; and I was mercifully preserved for better +things. It was then, however, my heavy lot to weep, weep, weep, and that +for years; to pass from one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> misery to another, and from one cruel master +to a worse. But I must go on with the thread of my story.</p> + +<p>One day a heavy squall of wind and rain came on suddenly, and my mistress +sent me round the corner of the house to empty a large earthen jar. The +jar was already cracked with an old deep crack that divided it in the +middle, and in turning it upside down to empty it, it parted in my hand. I +could not help the accident, but I was dreadfully frightened, looking +forward to a severe punishment. I ran crying to my mistress, "O mistress, +the jar has come in two." "You have broken it, have you?" she replied; +"come directly here to me." I came trembling; she stripped and flogged me +long and severely with the cow-skin; as long as she had strength to use +the lash, for she did not give over till she was quite tired.—When my +master came home at night, she told him of my fault; and oh, frightful! +how he fell a swearing. After abusing me with every ill name he could +think of, (too, too bad to speak in England,) and giving me several heavy +blows with his hand, he said, "I shall come home to-morrow morning at +twelve, on purpose to give you a round hundred." He kept his word—Oh sad +for me! I cannot easily forget it. He tied me up upon a ladder, and gave +me a hundred lashes with his own hand, and master Benjy stood by to count +them for him. When he had licked me for some time he sat down to take +breath; then after resting, he beat me again and again, until he was quite +wearied, and so hot (for the weather was very sultry), that he sank back +in his chair, almost like to faint. While my mistress went to bring him +drink, there was a dreadful earthquake. Part of the roof fell down, and +every thing in the house went—clatter, clatter, clatter. Oh I thought the +end of all things near at hand; and I was so sore with the flogging, that +I scarcely cared whether I lived or died. The earth was groaning and +shaking; every thing tumbling about; and my mistress and the slaves were +shrieking and crying out, "The earthquake! the earthquake!" It was an +awful day for us all.</p> + +<p>During the confusion I crawled away on my hands and knees, and laid myself +down under the steps of the piazza, in front of the house. I was in a +dreadful state—my body all blood and bruises, and I could not help +moaning piteously. The other slaves, when they saw me, shook their heads +and said, "Poor child! poor child!"—I lay there till the morning, +careless of what might happen, for life was very weak in me, and I wished +more than ever to die. But when we are very young, death always seems a +great way off, and it would not come that night to me. The next morning I +was forced by my master to rise and go about my usual work, though my body +and limbs were so stiff and sore, that I could not move without the +greatest pain.—Nevertheless, even after all this severe punishment, I +never heard the last of that jar; my mistress was always throwing it in my +face.</p> + +<p>Some little time after this, one of the cows got loose from the stake, and +eat one of the sweet-potatoe slips. I was milking when my master found it +out. He came to me, and without any more ado, stooped down, and taking off +his heavy boot, he struck me such a severe blow in the small of my back, +that I shrieked with agony, and thought I was killed; and I feel a +weakness in that part to this day. The cow was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> frightened at his +violence, and kicked down the pail and spilt the milk all about. My master +knew that this accident was his own fault, but he was so enraged that he +seemed glad of an excuse to go on with his ill usage. I cannot remember +how many licks he gave me then, but he beat me till I was unable to stand, +and till he himself was weary.</p> + +<p>After this I ran away and went to my mother, who was living with Mr. +Richard Darrel. My poor mother was both grieved and glad to see me; +grieved because I had been so ill used, and glad because she had not seen +me for a long, long while. She dared not receive me into the house, but +she hid me up in a hole in the rocks near, and brought me food at night, +after every body was asleep. My father, who lived at Crow-Lane, over the +salt-water channel, at last heard of my being hid up in the cavern, and he +came and took me back to my master. Oh I was loth, loth to go back; but as +there was no remedy, I was obliged to submit.</p> + +<p>When we got home, my poor father said to Capt. I——, "Sir, I am sorry +that my child should be forced to run away from her owner; but the +treatment she has received is enough to break her heart. The sight of her +wounds has nearly broke mine.—I entreat you, for the love of God, to +forgive her for running away, and that you will be a kind master to her in +future." Capt. I—— said I was used as well as I deserved, and that I +ought to be punished for running away. I then took courage and said that I +could stand the floggings no longer; that I was weary of my life, and +therefore I had run away to my mother; but mothers could only weep and +mourn over their children, they could not save them from cruel +masters—from the whip, the rope, and the cow-skin. He told me to hold my +tongue and go about my work, or he would find a way to settle me. He did +not, however, flog me that day.</p> + +<p>For five years after this I remained in his house, and almost daily +received the same harsh treatment. At length he put me on board a sloop, +and to my great joy sent me away to Turk's Island. I was not permitted to +see my mother or father, or poor sisters and brothers, to say good bye, +though going away to a strange land, and might never see them again. Oh +the Buckra people who keep slaves think that black people are like cattle, +without natural affection. But my heart tells me it is far otherwise.</p> + +<p>We were nearly four weeks on the voyage, which was unusually long. +Sometimes we had a light breeze, sometimes a great calm, and the ship made +no way; so that our provisions and water ran very low, and we were put +upon short allowance. I should almost have been starved had it not been +for the kindness of a black man called Anthony, and his wife, who had +brought their own victuals, and shared them with me.</p> + +<p>When we went ashore at the Grand Quay, the captain sent me to the house of +my new master, Mr. D——, to whom Captain I——had sold me. Grand Quay is +a small town upon a sandbank; the houses low and built of wood. Such was +my new master's. The first person I saw, on my arrival, was Mr. D——, a +stout sulky looking man, who carried me through the hall to show me to his +wife and children. Next day I was put up by the vendue master to know how +much I was worth, and I was valued at one hundred pounds currency.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>My new master was one of the owners or holders of the salt ponds, and he +received a certain sum for every slave that worked upon his premises, +whether they were young or old. This sum was allowed him out of the +profits arising from the salt works. I was immediately sent to work in the +salt water with the rest of the slaves. This work was perfectly new to me. +I was given a half barrel and a shovel, and had to stand up to my knees in +the water, from four o'clock in the morning till nine, when we were given +some Indian corn boiled in water, which we were obliged to swallow as fast +as we could for fear the rain should come on and melt the salt. We were +then called again to our tasks, and worked through the heat of the day; +the sun flaming upon our heads like fire, and raising salt blisters in +those parts which were not completely covered. Our feet and legs, from +standing in the salt water for so many hours, soon became full of dreadful +boils, which eat down in some cases to the very bone, afflicting the +sufferers with great torment. We came home at twelve; ate our corn soup, +called <i>blawly</i>, as fast as we could, and went back to our employment till +dark at night. We then shovelled up the salt in large heaps, and went down +to the sea, where we washed the pickle from our limbs, and cleaned the +barrows and shovels from the salt. When we returned to the house, our +master gave us each our allowance of raw Indian corn, which we pounded in +a mortar and boiled in water for our suppers.</p> + +<p>We slept in a long shed, divided into narrow slips, like the stalls used +for cattle. Boards fixed upon stakes driven into the ground, without mat +or covering, were our only beds. On Sundays, after we had washed the salt +bags, and done other work required of us, we went into the bush and cut +the long soft grass, of which we made trusses for our legs and feet to +rest upon, for they were so full of the salt boils that we could get no +rest lying upon the bare boards.</p> + +<p>Though we worked from morning till night, there was no satisfying Mr. +D——. I hoped, when I left Capt. I——, that I should have been better +off, but I found it was but going from one butcher to another. There was +this difference between them: my former master used to beat me while +raging and foaming with passion; Mr. D—— was usually quite calm. He +would stand by and give orders for a slave to be cruelly whipped, and +assist in the punishment, without moving a muscle of his face; walking +about and taking snuff with the greatest composure. Nothing could touch +his hard heart—neither sighs, nor tears, nor prayers, nor streaming +blood; he was deaf to our cries, and careless of our sufferings. Mr. D—— +has often stripped me naked, hung me up by the wrists, and beat me with +the cow-skin, with his own hand, till my body was raw with gashes. Yet +there was nothing very remarkable in this; for it might serve as a sample +of the common usage of the slaves on that horrible island.</p> + +<p>Owing to the boils in my feet, I was unable to wheel the barrow fast +through the sand, which got into the sores, and made me stumble at every +step; and my master, having no pity for my sufferings from this cause, +rendered them far more intolerable, by chastising me for not being able to +move so fast as he wished me. Another of our employments was to row a +little way off from the shore in a boat, and dive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> for large stones to +build a wall round our master's house. This was very hard work; and the +great waves breaking over us continually, made us often so giddy that we +lost our footing, and were in danger of being drowned.</p> + +<p>Ah, poor me!—my tasks were never ended. Sick or well, it was +work—work—work!—After the diving season was over, we were sent to the +South Creek, with large bills, to cut up mangoes to burn lime with. Whilst +one party of slaves were thus employed, another were sent to the other +side of the island to break up coral out of the sea.</p> + +<p>When we were ill, let our complaint be what it might, the only medicine +given to us was a great bowl of hot salt water, with salt mixed with it, +which made us very sick. If we could not keep up with the rest of the gang +of slaves, we were put in the stocks, and severely flogged the next +morning. Yet, not the less, our master expected, after we had thus been +kept from our rest, and our limbs rendered stiff and sore with ill usage, +that we should still go through the ordinary tasks of the day all the +same.—Sometimes we had to work all night, measuring salt to load a +vessel; or turning a machine to draw water out of the sea for the +salt-making. Then we had no sleep—no rest—but were forced to work as +fast as we could, and go on again all next day the same as usual. +Work—work—work—Oh that Turk's Island was a horrible place! The people +in England, I am sure, have never found out what is carried on there. +Cruel, horrible place!</p> + +<p>Mr. D—— had a slave called old Daniel, whom he used to treat in the most +cruel manner. Poor Daniel was lame in the hip, and could not keep up with +the rest of the slaves; and our master would order him to be stripped and +laid down on the ground, and have him beaten with a rod of rough briar +till his skin was quite red and raw. He would then call for a bucket of +salt, and fling upon the raw flesh till the man writhed on the ground like +a worm, and screamed aloud with agony. This poor man's wounds were never +healed, and I have often seen them full of maggots, which increased his +torments to an intolerable degree. He was an object of pity and terror to +the whole gang of slaves, and in his wretched case we saw, each of us, our +own lot, if we should live to be as old.</p> + +<p>Oh the horrors of slavery!—How the thought of it pains my heart! But the +truth ought to be told of it; and what my eyes have seen I think it is my +duty to relate; for few people in England know what slavery is. I have +been a slave—I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave +knows; and I would have all the good people in England to know it too, +that they may break our chains, and set us free.</p> + +<p>Mr. D—— had another slave called Ben. He being very hungry, stole a +little rice one night after he came in from work, and cooked it for his +supper. But his master soon discovered the theft; locked him up all night; +and kept him without food till one o'clock the next day. He then hung Ben +up by his hands, and beat him from time to time till the slaves came in at +night. We found the poor creature hung up when we came home; with a pool +of blood beneath him, and our master still licking him. But this was not +the worst. My master's son was in the habit of stealing the rice and rum. +Ben had seen him do this, and thought he might do the same, and when +master found out that Ben<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> had stolen the rice and swore to punish him, he +tried to excuse himself by saying that Master Dickey did the same thing +every night. The lad denied it to his father, and was so angry with Ben +for informing against him, that out of revenge he ran and got a bayonet, +and whilst the poor wretch was suspended by his hands and writhing under +his wounds, he run it quite through his foot. I was not by when he did it, +but I saw the wound when I came home, and heard Ben tell the manner in +which it was done.</p> + +<p>I must say something more about this cruel son of a cruel father.—He had +no heart—no fear of God; he had been brought up by a bad father in a bad +path, and he delighted to follow in the same steps. There was a little old +woman among the slaves called Sarah, who was nearly past work; and, Master +Dickey being the overseer of the slaves just then, this poor creature, who +was subject to several bodily infirmities, and was not quite right in her +head, did not wheel the barrow fast enough to please him. He threw her +down on the ground, and after beating her severely, he took her up in his +arms and flung her among the prickly-pear bushes, which are all covered +over with sharp venomous prickles. By this her naked flesh was so +grievously wounded, that her body swelled and festered all over, and she +died a few days after. In telling my own sorrows, I cannot pass by those +of my fellow-slaves—for when I think of my own griefs, I remember theirs.</p> + +<p>I think it was about ten years I had worked in the salt ponds at Turk's +Island, when my master left off business, and retired to a house he had in +Bermuda, leaving his son to succeed him in the island. He took me with him +to wait upon his daughters; and I was joyful, for I was sick, sick of +Turk's Island, and my heart yearned to see my native place again, my +mother, and my kindred.</p> + +<p>I had seen my poor mother during the time I was a slave in Turk's Island. +One Sunday morning I was on the beach with some of the slaves, and we saw +a sloop come in loaded with slaves to work in the salt water. We got a +boat and went aboard. When I came upon the deck I asked the black people, +"Is there any one here for me?" "Yes," they said, "your mother." I thought +they said this in jest—I could scarcely believe them for joy; but when I +saw my poor mammy my joy was turned to sorrow, for she had gone from her +senses. "Mammy," I said, "is this you?" She did not know me. "Mammy," I +said, "what's the matter?" She began to talk foolishly, and said that she +had been under the vessel's bottom. They had been overtaken by a violent +storm at sea. My poor mother had never been on the sea before, and she was +so ill, that she lost her senses, and it was long before she came quite to +herself again. She had a sweet child with her—a little sister I had never +seen, about four years of age, called Rebecca. I took her on shore with +me, for I felt I should love her directly; and I kept her with me a week. +Poor little thing! her's has been a sad life, and +continues so to this day. My mother worked for some years on the island, +but was taken back to Bermuda some time before my master carried me again +thither.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> +<p>After I left Turk's Island, I was told by some negroes that came over from +it, that the poor slaves had built up a place with boughs and leaves, +where they might meet for prayers, but the white people pulled it down +twice, and would not allow them even a shed for prayers. A flood came down +soon after and washed away many houses, filled the place with sand, and +overflowed the ponds: and I do think that this was for their wickedness; +for the Buckra men<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> there were very wicked. I saw and heard much that +was very very bad at that place.</p> + +<p>I was several years the slave of Mr. D—— after I returned to my native +place. Here I worked in the grounds. My work was planting and hoeing +sweet-potatoes, Indian corn, plantains, bananas, +cabbages, pumpkins, onions, &c. I did all the household work, and attended +upon a horse and cow besides,—going also upon all errands. I had to curry +the horse—to clean and feed him—and sometimes to ride him a little. I +had more than enough to do—but still it was not so very bad as Turk's +Island.</p> + +<p>My old master often got drunk, and then he would get in a fury with his +daughter, and beat her till she was not fit to be seen. I remember on one +occasion, I had gone to fetch water, and when I Was coming up the hill I +heard a great screaming; I ran as fast as I could to the house, put down +the water, and went into the chamber, where I found my master beating Miss +D—— dreadfully. I strove with all my strength to get her away from him; +for she was all black and blue with bruises. He had beat her with his +fist, and almost killed her. The people gave me credit for getting her +away. He turned round and began to lick me. Then I said, "Sir, this is not +Turk's Island." I can't repeat his answer, the words were too wicked—too +bad to say. He wanted to treat me the same in Bermuda as he had done in +Turk's Island.</p> + +<p>He had an ugly fashion of stripping himself quite naked, and ordering me +then to wash him in a tub of water. This was worse to me than all the +licks. Sometimes when he called me to wash him I would not come, my eyes +were so full of shame. He would then come to beat me. One time I had +plates and knives in my hand, and I dropped both plates and knives, and +some of the plates were broken. He struck me so severely for this, that at +last I defended myself, for I thought it was high time to do so. I then +told him I would not live longer with him, for he was a very indecent +man—very spiteful, and too indecent; with no shame for his servants, no +shame for his own flesh. So I went away to a neighbouring house and sat +down and cried till the next morning, when I went home again, not knowing +what else to do.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> +<p>After that I was hired to work at Cedar Hills, and every Saturday night I +paid the money to my master. I had plenty of work to do there—plenty of +washing; but yet I made myself pretty comfortable. I earned two dollars +and a quarter a week, which is twenty pence a day.</p> + +<p>During the time I worked there, I heard that Mr. John Wood was going to +Antigua. I felt a great wish to go there, and I went to Mr. D——, and +asked him to let me go in Mr. Wood's service. Mr. Wood did not then want +to purchase me; it was my own fault that I came under him, I was so +anxious to go. It was ordained to be, I suppose; God led me there. The +truth is, I did not wish to be any longer the slave of my indecent master.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wood took me with him to Antigua, to the town of St. John's, where he +lived. This was about fifteen years ago. He did not then know whether I +was to be sold; but Mrs. Wood found that I could work, and she wanted to +buy me. Her husband then wrote to my master to inquire whether I was to be +sold? Mr. D—— wrote in reply, "that I should not be sold to any one that +would treat me ill." It was strange he should say this, when he had +treated me so ill himself. So I was purchased by Mr. Wood for 300 dollars, +(or £100 Bermuda currency.)<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>My work there was to attend the chambers and nurse the child, and to go +down to the pond and wash clothes. But I soon fell ill of the rheumatism, +and grew so very lame that I was forced to walk with a stick. I got the +Saint Anthony's fire, also, in my left leg, and became quite a cripple. No +one cared much to come near me, and I was ill a long long time; for +several months I could not lift the limb. I had to lie in a little old +out-house, that was swarming with bugs and other vermin, which tormented +me greatly; but I had no other place to lie in. I got the rheumatism by +catching cold at the pond side, from washing in the fresh water; in the +salt water I never got cold. The person who lived in next yard, (a Mrs. +Greene,) could not bear to hear my cries and groans. She was kind, and +used to send an old slave woman to help me, who sometimes brought me a +little soup. When the doctor found I was so ill, he said I must be put +into a bath of hot water. The old slave got the bark of some bush that was +good for the pains, which she boiled in the hot water, and every night she +came and put me into the bath, and did what she could for me: I don't know +what I should have done, or what would have become of me, had it not been +for her.—My mistress, it is true, did send me a little food; but no one +from our family came near me but the cook, who used to shove my food in at +the door, and say, "Molly, Molly, there's your dinner." My mistress did not +care to take any trouble about me; and if the Lord had not put it into the +hearts of the neighbours to be kind to me, I must, I really think, have +lain and died.</p> + +<p>It was a long time before I got well enough to work in the house. Mrs. +Wood, in the meanwhile, hired a mulatto woman to nurse the child; but she +was such a fine lady she wanted to be mistress over me. I thought it very +hard for a coloured woman to have rule over me because I was a slave and +she was free. Her name was Martha Wilcox; she was a saucy woman, very +saucy; and she went and complained of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>me, without cause, to my mistress, +and made her angry with me. Mrs. Wood told me that if I did not mind what +I was about, she would get my master to strip me and give me fifty lashes: +"You have been used to the whip," she said, "and you shall have it here." +This was the first time she threatened to have me flogged; and she gave me +the threatening so strong of what she would have done to me, that I +thought I should have fallen down at her feet, I was so vexed and hurt by +her words. The mulatto woman was rejoiced to have power to keep me down. +She was constantly making mischief; there was no living for the slaves—no +peace after she came.</p> + +<p>I was also sent by Mrs. Wood to be put in the Cage one night, and was next +morning flogged, by the magistrate's order, at her desire; and this all +for a quarrel I had about a pig with another slave woman. I was flogged on +my naked back on this occasion: although I was in no fault after all; for +old Justice Dyett, when we came before him, said that I was in the right, +and ordered the pig to be given to me. This was about two or three years +after I came to Antigua.</p> + +<p>When we moved from the middle of the town to the Point, I used to be in +the house and do all the work and mind the children, though still very ill +with the rheumatism. Every week I had to wash two large bundles of +clothes, as much as a boy could help me to lift; but I could give no +satisfaction. My mistress was always abusing and fretting after me. It is +not possible to tell all her ill language.—One day she followed me foot +after foot scolding and rating me. I bore in silence a great deal of ill +words: at last my heart was quite full, and I told her that she ought not +to use me so;—that when I was ill I might have lain and died for what she +cared; and no one would then come near me to nurse me, because they were +afraid of my mistress. This was a great affront. She called her husband +and told him what I had said. He flew into a passion: but did not beat me +then; he only abused and swore at me; and then gave me a note and bade me +go and look for an owner. Not that he meant to sell me; but he did this to +please his wife and to frighten me. I went to Adam White, a cooper, a free +black, who had money, and asked him to buy me. He went directly to Mr. +Wood, but was informed that I was not to be sold. The next day my master +whipped me.</p> + +<p>Another time (about five years ago) my mistress got vexed with me, because +I fell sick and I could not keep on with my work. She complained to her +husband, and he sent me off again to look for an owner. I went to a Mr. +Burchell, showed him the note, and asked him to buy me for my own benefit; +for I had saved about 100 dollars, and hoped, with a little help, to +purchase my freedom. He accordingly went to my master:—"Mr. Wood," he +said, "Molly has brought me a note that she wants an owner. If you intend +to sell her, I may as well buy her as another." My master put him off and +said that he did not mean to sell me. I was very sorry at this, for I had +no comfort with Mrs. Wood, and I wished greatly to get my freedom.</p> + +<p>The way in which I made my money was this.—When my master and mistress +went from home, as they sometimes did, and left me to take care of the +house and premises, I had a good deal of time to myself, and made the most +of it. I took in washing, and sold coffee and yams<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> and other provisions +to the captains of ships. I did not sit still idling during the absence of +my owners; for I wanted, by all honest means, to earn money to buy my +freedom. Sometimes I bought a hog cheap on board ship, and sold it for +double the money on shore; and I also earned a good deal by selling +coffee. By this means I by degrees acquired a little cash. A gentleman +also lent me some to help to buy my freedom—but when I could not get free +he got it back again. His name was Captain Abbot.</p> + +<p>My master and mistress went on one occasion into the country, to Date +Hill, for change of air, and carried me with them to take charge of the +children, and to do the work of the house. While I was in the country, I +saw how the field negroes are worked in Antigua. They are worked very hard +and fed but scantily. They are called out to work before daybreak, and +come home after dark; and then each has to heave his bundle of grass for +the cattle in the pen. Then, on Sunday morning, each slave has to go out +and gather a large bundle of grass; and, when they bring it home, they +have all to sit at the manager's door and wait till he come out: often +have they to wait there till past eleven o'clock, without any breakfast. +After that, those that have yams or potatoes, or fire-wood to sell, hasten +to market to buy a dog's worth<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> of salt fish, or pork, which is a great +treat for them. Some of them buy a little pickle out of the shad barrels, +which they call sauce, to season their yams and Indian corn. It is very +wrong, I know, to work on Sunday or go to market; but will not God call +the Buckra men to answer for this on the great day of judgment—since they +will give the slaves no other day?</p> + +<p>While we were at Date Hill Christmas came; and the slave woman who had the +care of the place (which then belonged to Mr. Roberts the marshal), asked +me to go with her to her husband's house, to a Methodist meeting for +prayer, at a plantation called Winthorps. I went; and they were the first +prayers I ever understood. One woman prayed; and then they all sung a +hymn; then there was another prayer and another hymn; and then they all +spoke by turns of their own griefs as sinners. The husband of the woman I +went with was a black driver. His name was Henry. He confessed that he had +treated the slaves very cruelly; but said that he was compelled to obey +the orders of his master. He prayed them all to forgive him, and he prayed +that God would forgive him. He said it was a horrid thing for a ranger<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +to have sometimes to beat his own wife or sister; but he must do so if +ordered by his master.</p> + +<p>I felt sorry for my sins also. I cried the whole night, but I was too much +ashamed to speak. I prayed God to forgive me. This meeting had a great +impression on my mind, and led my spirit to the Moravian church; so that +when I got back to town, I went and prayed to have my name put down in the +Missionaries' book; and I followed the church earnestly every opportunity. +I did not then tell my mistress about it; for I knew that she would not +give me leave to go. But I felt I <i>must</i> go. Whenever I carried the +children their lunch at school, I ran round and went to hear the teachers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p><p>The Moravian ladies (Mrs. Richter, Mrs. Olufsen, and Mrs. Sauter) taught +me to read in the class; and I got on very fast. In this class there were +all sorts of people, old and young, grey headed folks and children; but +most of them were free people. After we had done spelling, we tried to +read in the Bible. After the reading was over, the missionary gave out a +hymn for us to sing. I dearly loved to go to the church, it was so solemn. +I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there. When I found +out that I was a great sinner, I was very sorely grieved, and very much +frightened. I used to pray God to pardon my sins for Christ's sake, and +forgive me for every thing I had done amiss; and when I went home to my +work, I always thought about what I had heard from the missionaries, and +wished to be good that I might go to heaven. After a while I was admitted +a candidate for the holy Communion.—I had been baptized long before this, +in August 1817, by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, of the English Church, after I had +been taught to repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. I wished at that +time to attend a Sunday School taught by Mr. Curtin, but he would not +receive me without a written note from my master, granting his permission. +I did not ask my owner's permission, from the belief that it would be +refused; so that I got no farther instruction at that time from the +English Church.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>Some time after I began to attend the Moravian Church, I met with Daniel +James, afterwards my dear husband. He was a carpenter and cooper to his +trade; an honest, hard-working, decent black man, and a widower. He had +purchased his freedom of his mistress, old Mrs. Baker, with money he had +earned whilst a slave. When he asked me to marry him, I took time to +consider the matter over with myself, and would not say yes till he went +to church with me and joined the Moravians. He was very industrious after +he bought his freedom; and he had hired a comfortable house, and had +convenient things about him. We were joined in marriage, about Christmas +1826, in the Moravian Chapel at Spring Gardens, by the Rev. Mr. Olufsen. +We could not be married in the English Church. English marriage is not +allowed to slaves; and no free man can marry a slave woman.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> +<p>When Mr. Wood heard of my marriage, he flew into a great rage, and sent +for Daniel, who was helping to build a house for his old mistress. Mr. +Wood asked him who gave him a right to marry a slave of his? My husband +said, "Sir, I am a free man, and thought I had a right to choose a wife; +but if I had known Molly was not allowed to have a husband, I should not +have asked her to marry me." Mrs. Wood was more vexed about my marriage +than her husband. She could not forgive me for getting married, but +stirred up Mr. Wood to flog me dreadfully with the horsewhip. I thought it +very hard to be whipped at my time of life for getting a husband—I told +her so. She said that she would not have nigger men about the yards and +premises, or allow a nigger man's clothes to be washed in the same tub +where hers were washed. She was fearful, I think, that I should lose her +time, in order to wash and do things for my husband: but I had then no +time to wash for myself; I was obliged to put out my own clothes, though I +was always at the wash-tub.</p> + +<p>I had not much happiness in my marriage, owing to my being a slave. It +made my husband sad to see me so ill-treated. Mrs. Wood was always abusing +me about him. She did not lick me herself, but she got her husband to do +it for her, whilst she fretted the flesh off my bones. Yet for all this +she would not sell me. She sold five slaves whilst I was with her; but +though she was always finding fault with me, she would not part with me. +However, Mr. Wood afterwards allowed Daniel to have a place to live in our +yard, which we were very thankful for.</p> + +<p>After this, I fell ill again with the rheumatism, and was sick a long +time; but whether sick or well, I had my work to do. About this time I +asked my master and mistress to let me buy my own freedom. With the help +of Mr. Burchell, I could have found the means to pay Mr. Wood; for it was +agreed that I should afterwards, serve Mr. Burchell a while, for the cash +he was to advance for me. I was earnest in the request to my owners; but +their hearts were hard—too hard to consent. Mrs. Wood was very angry—she +grew quite outrageous—she called me a black devil, and asked me who had +put freedom into my head. "To be free is very sweet," I said: but she took +good care to keep me a slave. I saw her change colour, and I left the +room.</p> + +<p>About this time my master and mistress were going to England to put their +son to school, and bring their daughters home; and they took me with them +to take care of the child. I was willing to come to England: I thought +that by going there I should probably get cured of my rheumatism, and +should return with my master and mistress, quite well, to my husband. My +husband was willing for me to come away, for he had heard that my master +would free me,—and I also hoped this might prove true; but it was all a +false report.</p> + +<p>The steward of the ship was very kind to me. He and my husband were in the +same class in the Moravian Church. I was thankful that he was so friendly, +for my mistress was not kind to me on the passage; and she told me, when +she was angry, that she did not intend to treat me any better in England +than in the West Indies—that I need not expect it. And she was as good as +her word.</p> + +<p>When we drew near to England, the rheumatism seized all my limbs worse +than ever, and my body was dreadfully swelled. When we landed at the +Tower, I shewed my flesh to my mistress, but she took no great notice of +it. We were obliged to stop at the tavern till my master got a house; and +a day or two after, my mistress sent me down into the wash-house to learn +to wash in the English way. In the West Indies we wash with cold water—in +England with hot. I told my mistress I was afraid that putting my hands +first into the hot water and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> into the cold, would increase the pain +in my limbs. The doctor had told my mistress long before I came from the +West Indies, that I was a sickly body and the washing did not agree with +me. But Mrs. Wood would not release me from the tub, so I was forced to do +as I could. I grew worse, and could not stand to wash. I was then forced +to sit down with the tub before me, and often through pain and weakness +was reduced to kneel or to sit down on the floor, to finish my task. When +I complained to my mistress of this, she only got into a passion as usual, +and said washing in hot water could not hurt any one;—that I was lazy and +insolent, and wanted to be free of my work; but that she would make me do +it. I thought her very hard on me, and my heart rose up within me. However +I kept still at that time, and went down again to wash the child's things; +but the English washerwomen who were at work there, when they saw that I +was so ill, had pity upon me and washed them for me.</p> + +<p>After that, when we came up to live in Leigh Street, Mrs. Wood sorted out +five bags of clothes which we had used at sea, and also such as had been +worn since we came on shore, for me and the cook to wash. Elizabeth the +cook told her, that she did not think that I was able to stand to the tub, +and that she had better hire a woman. I also said myself, that I had come +over to nurse the child, and that I was sorry I had come from Antigua, +since mistress would work me so hard, without compassion for my +rheumatism. Mr. and Mrs. Wood, when they heard this, rose up in a passion +against me. They opened the door and bade me get out. But I was a +stranger, and did not know one door in the street from another, and was +unwilling to go away. They made a dreadful uproar, and from that day they +constantly kept cursing and abusing me. I was obliged to wash, though I +was very ill. Mrs. Wood, indeed once hired a washerwoman, but she was not +well treated, and would come no more.</p> + +<p>My master quarrelled with me another time, about one of our great +washings, his wife having stirred him up to do so. He said he would compel +me to do the whole of the washing given out to me, or if I again refused, +he would take a short course with me: he would either send me down to the +brig in the river, to carry me back to Antigua, or he would turn me at +once out of doors, and let me provide for myself. I said I would willingly +go back, if he would let me purchase my own freedom. But this enraged him +more than all the rest: he cursed and swore at me dreadfully, and said he +would never sell my freedom—if I wished to be free, I was free in +England, and I might go and try what freedom would do for me, and be +d——d. My heart was very sore with this treatment, but I had to go on. I +continued to do my work, and did all I could to give satisfaction, but all +would not do.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, the cook left them, and then matters went on ten times +worse. I always washed the child's clothes without being commanded to do +it, and any thing else that was wanted in the family; though still I was +very sick—very sick indeed. When the great washing came round, which was +every two months, my mistress got together again a great many heavy +things, such as bed-ticks, bed-coverlets, &c. for me to wash. I told her I +was too ill to wash such heavy things that day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> She said, she supposed I +thought myself a free woman, but I was not; and if I did not do it +directly I should be instantly turned out of doors. I stood a long time +before I could answer, for I did not know well what to do. I knew that I +was free in England, but I did not know where to go, or how to get my +living; and therefore, I did not like to leave the house. But Mr. Wood +said he would send for a constable to thrust me out; and at last I took +courage and resolved that I would not be longer thus treated, but would go +and trust to Providence. This was the fourth time they had threatened turn +me out, and, go where I might, I was determined now to take them at their +word; though I thought it very hard, after I had lived with them for +thirteen years, and worked for them like a horse, to be driven out in this +way, like a beggar. My only fault was being sick, and therefore unable to +please my mistress, who thought she never could get work enough out of her +slaves; and I told them so: but they only abused me and drove me out. This +took place from two to three months, I think, after we came to England.</p> + +<p>When I came away, I went to the man (one Mash) who used to black the shoes +of the family, and asked his wife to get somebody to go with me to Hatton +Garden to the Moravian Missionaries: these were the only persons I knew in +England. The woman sent a young girl with me to the mission house, and I +saw there a gentleman called Mr. Moore. I told him my whole story, and how +my owners had treated me, and asked him to take in my trunk with what few +clothes I had. The missionaries were very kind to me—they were sorry for +my destitute situation, and gave me leave to bring my things to be placed +under their care. They were very good people, and they told me to come to +the church.</p> + +<p>When I went back to Mr. Wood's to get my trunk, I saw a lady, Mrs. Pell, +who was on a visit to my mistress. When Mr. and Mrs. Wood heard me come +in, they set this lady to stop me, finding that they had gone too far with +me. Mrs. Pell came out to me, and said, "Are you really going to leave, +Molly? Don't leave, but come into the country with me." I believe she said +this because she thought Mrs. Wood would easily get me back again. I +replied to her, "Ma'am, this is the fourth time my master and mistress +have driven me out, or threatened to drive me—and I will give them no +more occasion to bid me go. I was not willing to leave them, for I am a +stranger in this country, but now I must go—I can stay no longer to be so +used." Mrs. Pell then went up stairs to my mistress, and told that I would +go, and that she could not stop me. Mrs. Wood was very much hurt and +frightened when she found I was determined to go out that day. She said, +"If she goes the people will rob her, and then turn her adrift." She did +not say this to me, but she spoke it loud enough for me to hear; that it +might induce me not to go, I suppose. Mr. Wood also asked me where I was +going to. I told him where I had been, and that I should never have gone +away had I not been driven out by my owners. He had given me a written +paper some time before, which said that I had come with them to England by +my own desire; and that was true. It said also that I left them of my own +free will, because I was a free woman in England; and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> I was idle and +would not do my work—which was not true. I gave this paper afterwards to +a gentleman who inquired into my case.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>I went into the kitchen and got my clothes out. The nurse and the servant +girl were there, and I said to the man who was going to take out my trunk, +"Stop, before you take up this trunk, and hear what I have to say before +these people. I am going out of this house, as I was ordered; but I have +done no wrong at all to my owners, neither here nor in the West Indies. I +always worked very hard to please them, both by night and day; but there +was no giving satisfaction, for my mistress could never be satisfied with +reasonable service. I told my mistress I was sick, and yet she has ordered +me out of doors. This is the fourth time; and now I am going out."</p> + +<p>And so I came out, and went and carried my trunk to the Moravians. I then +returned back to Mash the shoe-black's house, and begged his wife to take +me in. I had a little West Indian money in my trunk; and they got it +changed for me. This helped to support me for a little while. The man's +wife was very kind to me. I was very sick, and she boiled nourishing +things up for me. She also sent for a doctor to see me, and he sent me +medicine, which did me good, though I was ill for a long time with the +rheumatic pains. I lived a good many months with these poor people, and +they nursed me, and did all that lay in their power to serve me. The man +was well acquainted with my situation, as he used to go to and fro to Mr. +Wood's house to clean shoes and knives; and he and his wife were sorry for +me.</p> + +<p>About this time, a woman of the name of Hill told me of the Anti-Slavery +Society, and went with me to their office, to inquire if they could do any +thing to get me my freedom, and send me back to the West Indies. The +gentlemen of the Society took me to a lawyer, who examined very strictly +into my case; but told me that the laws of England could do nothing to +make me free in Antigua<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>. However they did all they could for me: they +gave me a little money from time to time to keep me from want; and some of +them went to Mr. Wood to try to persuade him to let me return a free woman +to my husband; but though they offered him, as I have heard, a large sum +for my freedom, he was sulky and obstinate, and would not consent to let +me go free.</p> + +<p>This was the first winter I spent in England, and I suffered much from the +severe cold, and from the rheumatic pains, which still at times torment +me. However, Providence was very good to me, and I got many +friends—especially some Quaker ladies, who hearing of my case, came and +sought me out, and gave me good warm clothing and money. Thus I had great +cause to bless God in my affliction.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p><p>When I got better I was anxious to get some work to do, as I was unwilling +to eat the bread of idleness. Mrs. Mash, who was a laundress, recommended +me to a lady for a charwoman. She paid me very handsomely for what work I +did, and I divided the money with Mrs. Mash; for though very poor, they +gave me food when my own money was done, and never suffered me to want.</p> + +<p>In the spring, I got into service with a lady, who saw me at the house +where I sometimes worked as a charwoman. This lady's name was Mrs. +Forsyth. She had been in the West Indies, and was accustomed to Blacks, +and liked them. I was with her six months, and went with her to Margate. +She treated me well, and gave me a good character when she left London.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>After Mrs. Forsyth went away, I was again out of place, and went to +lodgings, for which I paid two shillings a week, and found coals and +candle. After eleven weeks, the money I had saved in service was all gone, +and I was forced to go back to the Anti-Slavery office to ask a supply, +till I could get another situation. I did not like to go back—I did not +like to be idle. I would rather work for my living than get it for +nothing. They were very good to give me a supply, but I felt shame at +being obliged to apply for relief whilst I had strength to work.</p> + +<p>At last I went into the service of Mr. and Mrs. Pringle, where I have been +ever since, and am as comfortable as I can be while separated from my dear +husband, and away from my own country and all old friends and connections. +My dear mistress teaches me daily to read the word of God, and takes great +pains to make me understand it. I enjoy the great privilege of being +enabled to attend church three times on the Sunday; and I have met with +many kind friends since I have been here, both clergymen and others. The +Rev. Mr. Young, who lives in the next house, has shown me much kindness, +and taken much pains to instruct me, particularly while my master and +mistress were absent in Scotland. Nor must I forget, among my friends, the +Rev. Mr. Mortimer, the good clergyman of the parish, under whose ministry +I have now sat for upwards of twelve months. I trust in God I have +profited by what I have heard from him. He never keeps back the truth, and +I think he has been the means of opening my eyes and ears much better to +understand the word of God. Mr. Mortimer tells me that he cannot open the +eyes of my heart, but that I must pray to God to change my heart, and make +me to know the truth, and the truth will make me free.</p> + +<p>I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty, +and give me back to my husband. I endeavour to keep down my fretting, and +to leave all to Him, for he knows what is good for me better than I know +myself. Yet, I must confess, I find it a hard and heavy task to do so.</p> + +<p>I am often much vexed, and I feel great sorrow when I hear some people in +this country say, that the slaves do not need better usage, and do not +want to be free.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> They believe the foreign people,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> who deceive them, +and say slaves are happy. I say, Not so. How can slaves be happy when they +have the halter round their neck and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>whip upon their back? and are +disgraced and thought no more of than beasts?—and are separated from +their mothers, and husbands, and children, and sisters, just as cattle are +sold and separated? Is it happiness for a driver in the field to take down +his wife or sister or child, and strip them, and whip them in such a +disgraceful manner?—women that have had children exposed in the open +field to shame! There is no modesty or decency shown by the owner to his +slaves; men, women, and children are exposed alike. Since I have been here +I have often wondered how English people can go out into the West Indies +and act in such a beastly manner. But when they go to the West Indies, +they forget God and all feeling of shame, I think, since they can see and +do such things. They tie up slaves like hogs—moor<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> them up like cattle, +and they lick them, so as hogs, or cattle, or horses never were +flogged;—and yet they come home and say, and make some good people +believe, that slaves don't want to get out of slavery. But they put a +cloak about the truth. It is not so. All slaves want to be free—to be +free is very sweet. I will say the truth to English people who may read +this history that my good friend, Miss S——, is now writing down for me. +I have been a slave myself—I know what slaves feel—I can tell by myself +what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says +slaves be quite happy in slavery—that they don't want to be free—that +man is either ignorant or a lying person. I never heard a slave say so. I +never heard a Buckra man say so, till I heard tell of it in England. Such +people ought to be ashamed of themselves. They can't do without slaves, +they say. What's the reason they can't do without slaves as well as in +England? No slaves here—no whips—no stocks—no punishment, except for +wicked people. They hire servants in England; and if they don't like them, +they send them away: they can't lick them. Let them work ever so hard in +England, they are far better off than slaves. If they get a bad master, +they give warning and go hire to another. They have their liberty. That's +just what we want. We don't mind hard work, if we had proper treatment, +and proper wages like English servants, and proper time given in the week +to keep us from breaking the Sabbath. But they won't give it: they will +have work—work—work, night and day, sick or well, till we are quite done +up; and we must not speak up nor look amiss, however much we be abused. +And then when we are quite done up, who cares for us, more than for a lame +horse? This is slavery. I tell it, to let English people know the truth; +and I hope they will never leave off to pray God, and call loud to the +great King of England, till all the poor blacks be given free, and slavery +done up for evermore.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> +<h2>SUPPLEMENT</h2> + +<h4>TO THE</h4> +<h2>HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE.</h2> +<h3>BY THE EDITOR.</h3> +<p>Leaving Mary's narrative, for the present, without comment to the reader's +reflections, I proceed to state some circumstances connected with her case +which have fallen more particularly under my own notice, and which I +consider it incumbent now to lay fully before the public.</p> + +<p>About the latter end of November, 1828, this poor woman found her way to +the office of the Anti-Slavery Society in Aldermanbury, by the aid of a +person who had become acquainted with her situation, and had advised her +to apply there for advice and assistance. After some preliminary +examination into the accuracy of the circumstances related by her, I went +along with her to Mr. George Stephen, solicitor, and requested him to +investigate and draw up a statement of her case, and have it submitted to +counsel, in order to ascertain whether or not, under the circumstances, +her freedom could be legally established on her return to Antigua. On this +occasion, in Mr. Stephen's presence and mine, she expressed, in very +strong terms, her anxiety to return thither if she could go as a free +person, and, at the same time, her extreme apprehensions of the fate that +would probably await her if she returned as a slave. Her words were, "I +would rather go into my grave than go back a slave to Antigua, though I +wish to go back to my husband very much—very much—very much! I am much +afraid my owners would separate me from my husband, and use me very hard, +or perhaps sell me for a field negro;—and slavery is too too bad. I would +rather go into my grave!"</p> + +<p>The paper which Mr. Wood had given her before she left his house, was +placed by her in Mr. Stephen's hands. It was expressed in the following +terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have already told Molly, and now give it her in writing, +in order that there may be no misunderstanding on her part, +that as I brought her from Antigua at her own request and +entreaty, and that she is consequently now free, she is of +course at liberty to take her baggage and go where she +pleases. And, in consequence of her late conduct, she must +do one of two things—either quit the house, or return to +Antigua by the earliest opportunity, as she does not evince +a disposition to make herself useful. As she is a stranger +in London, I do not wish to turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> her out, or would do so, +as two female servants are sufficient for my establishment. +If after this she does remain, it will be only during her +good behaviour: but on no consideration will I allow her +wages or any other remuneration for her services.</p></div> + +<p class="sig">"JOHN A. WOOD."</p> + +<p class="sig2">"London, August 18, 1828."</p> + + +<p>This paper, though not devoid of inconsistencies, which will be apparent +to any attentive reader, is craftily expressed; and was well devised to +serve the purpose which the writer had obviously in view, namely, to +frustrate any appeal which the friendless black woman might make to the +sympathy of strangers, and thus prevent her from obtaining an asylum, if +she left his house, from any respectable family. As she had no one to +refer to for a character in this country except himself, he doubtless +calculated securely on her being speedily driven back, as soon as the +slender fund she had in her possession was expended, to throw herself +unconditionally upon his tender mercies; and his disappointment in this +expectation appears to have exasperated his feelings of resentment towards +the poor woman, to a degree which few persons alive to the claims of +common justice, not to speak of christianity or common humanity, could +easily have anticipated. Such, at least, seems the only intelligible +inference that can be drawn from his subsequent conduct.</p> + +<p>The case having been submitted, by desire of the Anti-Slavery Committee, +to the consideration of Dr. Lushington and Mr. Sergeant Stephen, it was +found that there existed no legal means of compelling Mary's master to +grant her manumission; and that if she returned to Antigua, she would +inevitably fall again under his power, or that of his attorneys, as a +slave. It was, however, resolved to try what could be effected for her by +amicable negotiation; and with this view Mr. Ravenscroft, a solicitor, +(Mr. Stephen's relative,) called upon Mr. Wood, in order to ascertain +whether he would consent to Mary's manumission on any reasonable terms, +and to refer, if required, the amount of compensation for her value to +arbitration. Mr. Ravenscroft with some difficulty obtained one or two +interviews, but found Mr. Wood so full of animosity against the woman, and +so firmly bent against any arrangement having her freedom for its object, +that the negotiation was soon broken off as hopeless. The angry +slave-owner declared "that he would not move a finger about her in this +country, or grant her manumission on any terms whatever; and that if she +went back to the West Indies, she must take the consequences."</p> + +<p>This unreasonable conduct of Mr. Wood, induced the Anti-Slavery Committee, +after several other abortive attempts to effect a compromise, to think of +bringing the case under the notice of Parliament. The heads of Mary's +statement were accordingly engrossed in a Petition, which Dr. Lushington +offered to present, and to give notice at the same time of his intention +to bring in a Bill to provide for the entire emancipation of all slaves +brought to England with the owner's consent. But before this step was +taken, Dr. Lushington again had recourse to negotiation with the master; +and, partly through the friendly intervention of Mr. Manning, partly by +personal conference, used every persuasion in his power to induce Mr. Wood +to relent and let the bondwoman go free.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> Seeing the matter thus seriously +taken up, Mr. Wood became at length alarmed,—not relishing, it appears, +the idea of having the case publicly discussed in the House of Commons; +and to avert this result he submitted to temporize—assumed a demeanour of +unwonted civility, and even hinted to Mr. Manning (as I was given to +understand) that if he was not driven to utter hostility by the threatened +exposure, he would probably meet our wishes "in his own time and way." +Having gained time by these manœuvres, he adroitly endeavoured to cool +the ardour of Mary's new friends, in her cause, by representing her as an +abandoned and worthless woman, ungrateful towards him, and undeserving of +sympathy from others; allegations which he supported by the ready +affirmation of some of his West India friends, and by one or two plausible +letters procured from Antigua. By these and like artifices he appears +completely to have imposed on Mr. Manning, the respectable West India +merchant whom Dr. Lushington had asked to negotiate with him; and he +prevailed so far as to induce Dr. Lushington himself (actuated by the +benevolent view of thereby best serving Mary's cause,) to abstain from any +remarks upon his conduct when the petition was at last presented in +Parliament. In this way he dextrously contrived to neutralize all our +efforts, until the close of the Session of 1829; soon after which he +embarked with his family for the West Indies.</p> + +<p>Every exertion for Mary's relief having thus failed; and being fully +convinced from a twelvemonth's observation of her conduct, that she was +really a well-disposed and respectable woman; I engaged her, in December +1829, as a domestic servant in my own family. In this capacity she has +remained ever since; and I am thus enabled to speak of her conduct and +character with a degree of confidence I could not have otherwise done. The +importance of this circumstance will appear in the sequel.</p> + +<p>From the time of Mr. Wood's departure to Antigua, in 1829, till June or +July last, no farther effort was attempted for Mary's relief. Some faint +hope was still cherished that this unconscionable man would at length +relent, and "in his own time and way," grant the prayer of the exiled +negro woman. After waiting, however, nearly twelve months longer, and seeing the poor woman's spirits daily sinking under +the sickening influence of hope deferred, I resolved on a final attempt in +her behalf, through the intervention of the Moravian Missionaries, and of +the Governor of Antigua. At my request, Mr. Edward Moore, agent of the +Moravian Brethren in London, wrote to the Rev. Joseph Newby, their +Missionary in that island, empowering him to negotiate in his own name +with Mr. Wood for Mary's manumission, and to procure his consent, if +possible, upon terms of ample pecuniary compensation. At the same time the +excellent and benevolent William Allen, of the Society of Friends, wrote +to Sir Patrick Ross, the Governor of the Colony, with whom he was on terms +of friendship, soliciting him to use his influence in persuading Mr. Wood +to consent: and I confess I was sanguine enough to flatter myself that we +should thus at length prevail. The result proved, however, that I had not +yet fully appreciated the character of the man we had to deal with.</p> + +<p>Mr. Newby's answer arrived early in November last, mentioning that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> he had +done all in his power to accomplish our purpose, but in vain; and that if +Mary's manumission could not be obtained without Mr. Wood's consent, he +believed there was no prospect of its ever being effected.</p> + +<p>A few weeks afterwards I was informed by Mr. Allen, that he had received a +letter from Sir Patrick Ross, stating that he also had used his best +endeavours in the affair, but equally without effect. Sir Patrick at the +same time inclosed a letter, addressed by Mr. Wood to his Secretary, Mr. +Taylor, assigning his reasons for persisting in this extraordinary course. +This letter requires our special attention. Its tenor is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My dear Sir,</p> + +<p>"In reply to your note relative to the woman Molly, I beg +you will have the kindness to oblige me by assuring his +Excellency that I regret exceedingly my inability to comply +with his request, which under other circumstances would +afford me very great pleasure.</p> + +<p>"There are many and powerful reasons for inducing me to +refuse my sanction to her returning here in the way she +seems to wish. It would be to reward the worst species of +ingratitude, and subject myself to insult whenever she came +in my way. Her moral character is very bad, as the police +records will shew; and she would be a very troublesome +character should she come here without any restraint. She is +not a native of this country, and I know of no relation she +has here. I induced her to take a husband, a short time +before she left this, by providing a comfortable house in my +yard for them, and prohibiting her going out after 10 to 12 +o'clock (our bed-time) without special leave. This she +considered the greatest, and indeed the only, grievance she +ever complained of, and all my efforts could not prevent it. +In hopes of inducing her to be steady to her husband, who +was a free man, I gave him the house to occupy during our +absence; but it appears the attachment was too loose to bind +her, and he has taken another wife: so on that score I do +her no injury.—In England she made her election, and +quitted my family. This I had no right to object to; and I +should have thought no more of it, but not satisfied to +leave quietly, she gave every trouble and annoyance in her +power, and endeavoured to injure the character of my family +by the most vile and infamous falsehoods, which was embodied +in a petition to the House of Commons, and would have been +presented, had not my friends from this island, particularly +the Hon. Mr. Byam and Dr. Coull, come forward, and disproved +what she had asserted.</p> + +<p>"It would be beyond the limits of an ordinary letter to +detail her baseness, though I will do so should his +Excellency wish it; but you may judge of her depravity by +one circumstance, which came out before Mr. Justice Dyett, +in a quarrel with another female.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Such a thing I could not have believed possible.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>"Losing her value as a slave in a pecuniary point of view I +consider of no consequence; for it was our intention, had +she conducted herself properly and returned with us, to have +given her freedom. She has taken her freedom; and all I wish +is, that she would enjoy it without meddling with me.</p> + +<p>"Let me again repeat, if his Excellency wishes it, it will +afford me great pleasure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>to state such particulars of her, +and which will be incontestably proved by numbers here, that +I am sure will acquit me in his opinion of acting unkind or +ungenerous towards her. I'll say nothing of the liability I +should incur, under the Consolidated Slave Law, of dealing +with a free person as a slave.</p> + +<p>"My only excuse for entering so much into detail must be +that of my anxious wish to stand justified in his +Excellency's opinion.</p> + +<p class="sig">"I am, my dear Sir,<br /> + +Yours very truly,<br /> + +<span class="smcap"> John A. Wood</span>.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"<i>20th Oct. 1830</i>."</p></div> + + + +<p class="sig2">"<i>Charles Taylor, Esq.</i></p> + +<p class="sig3"><i>&c. &c. &c.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I forgot to mention that it was at her own special request +that she accompanied me to England—and also that she had a +considerable sum of money with her, which she had saved in +my service. I knew of £36 to £40, at least, for I had some +trouble to recover it from a white man, to whom she had lent +it.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"J. A. W."</p></div> + +<p>Such is Mr. Wood's justification of his conduct in thus obstinately +refusing manumission to the Negro-woman who had escaped from his "house of +bondage."</p> + +<p>Let us now endeavour to estimate the validity of the excuses assigned, and +the allegations advanced by him, for the information of Governor Sir +Patrick Ross, in this deliberate statement of his case.</p> + +<p>1. To allow the woman to return home free, would, he affirms "be to reward +the worst species of ingratitude."</p> + +<p>He assumes, it seems, the sovereign power of pronouncing a virtual +sentence of banishment, for the alleged crime of ingratitude. Is this then +a power which any man ought to possess over his fellow-mortal? or which +any good man would ever wish to exercise? And, besides, there is no +evidence whatever, beyond Mr. Wood's mere assertion, that Mary Prince owed +him or his family the slightest mark of gratitude. Her account of the +treatment she received in his service, <i>may</i> be incorrect; but her simple +statement is at least supported by minute and feasible details, and, +unless rebutted by positive facts, will certainly command credence from +impartial minds more readily than his angry accusation, which has +something absurd and improbable in its very front. Moreover, is it not +absurd to term the assertion of her <i>natural rights</i> by a slave,—even +supposing her to have been kindly dealt with by her "owners," and treated +in every respect the reverse of what Mary affirms to have been her +treatment by Mr. Wood and his wife,—"the <i>worst</i> species of ingratitude?" +This may be West Indian ethics, but it will scarcely be received as sound +doctrine in Europe.</p> + +<p>2. To permit her return would be "to subject himself to insult whenever +she came in his way."</p> + +<p>This is a most extraordinary assertion. Are the laws of Antigua then so +favourable to the free blacks, or the colonial police so feebly +administered, that there are no sufficient restraints to protect a rich +colonist like Mr. Wood,—a man who counts among his familiar friends the +Honourable Mr. Byam, and Mr. Taylor the Government Secretary,—from being +insulted by a poor Negro-woman? It is preposterous.</p> + +<p>3. Her moral character is so bad, that she would prove very troublesome +should she come to the colony "without any restraint."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Any restraint?" Are there no restraints (supposing them necessary) short +of absolute slavery to keep "troublesome characters" in order? But this, I +suppose, is the <i>argumentum ad gubernatorem</i>—to frighten the governor. +She is such a termagant, it seems, that if she once gets back to the +colony <i>free</i>, she will not only make it too hot for poor Mr. Wood, but +the police and courts of justice will scarce be a match for her! Sir +Patrick Ross, no doubt, will take care how he intercedes farther for so +formidable a virago! How can one treat such arguments seriously?</p> + +<p>4. She is not a native of the colony, and he knows of no relation she has +there.</p> + +<p>True: But was it not her home (so far as a slave can have a home) for +thirteen or fourteen years? Were not the connexions, friendships, and +associations of her mature life formed there? Was it not there she hoped +to spend her latter years in domestic tranquillity with her husband, free +from the lash of the taskmaster? These considerations may appear light to +Mr. Wood, but they are every thing to this poor woman.</p> + +<p>5. He induced her, he says, to take a husband, a short time before she +left Antigua, and gave them a comfortable house in his yard, &c. &c.</p> + +<p>This paragraph merits attention. He "<i>induced her to take a husband</i>?" If +the fact were true, what brutality of mind and manners does it not +indicate among these slave-holders? They refuse to legalize the marriages +of their slaves, but <i>induce</i> them to form such temporary connexions as +may suit the owner's conveniency, just as they would pair the lower +animals; and this man has the effrontery to tell us so! Mary, however, +tells a very different story, (see page 17;) and her assertion, +independently of other proof, is at least as credible as Mr. Wood's. The +reader will judge for himself as to the preponderance of internal evidence +in the conflicting statements.</p> + +<p>6. He alleges that she was, before marriage, licentious, and even depraved +in her conduct, and unfaithful to her husband afterwards.</p> + +<p>These are serious charges. But if true, or even partially true, how comes +it that a person so correct in his family hours and arrangements as Mr. +Wood professes to be, and who expresses so edifying a horror of +licentiousness, could reconcile it to his conscience to keep in the bosom +of his family so <i>depraved</i>, as well as so <i>troublesome</i> a character for +at least thirteen years, and confide to her for long periods too the +charge of his house and the care of his children—for such I shall shew to +have been the facts? How can he account for not having rid himself with +all speed, of so disreputable an inmate—he who values her loss so little +"in a pecuniary point of view?" How can he account for having sold <i>five +other slaves</i> in that period, and yet have retained this shocking +woman—nay, even have refused to sell her, on more than one occasion, when +offered her full value? It could not be from ignorance of her character, +for the circumstance which he adduces as a proof of her shameless +depravity, and which I have omitted on account of its indecency, occurred, +it would appear, not less than <i>ten years ago</i>. Yet, notwithstanding her +alleged ill qualities and habits of gross immorality, he has not only +constantly refused to part with her; but after thirteen long years, brings +her to England as an attendant on his wife and children, with the avowed +intention of carrying her back along with his maiden daughter, a young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +lady returning from school! Such are the extraordinary facts; and until +Mr. Wood shall reconcile these singular inconsistencies between his +actions and his allegations, he must not be surprised if we in England +prefer giving credit to the former rather than the latter; although at +present it appears somewhat difficult to say which side of the alternative +is the more creditable to his own character.</p> + +<p>7. Her husband, he says, has taken another wife; "so that on that score," +he adds, "he does her no injury."</p> + +<p>Supposing this fact be true, (which I doubt, as I doubt every mere +assertion from so questionable a quarter,) I shall take leave to put a +question or two to Mr. Wood's conscience. Did he not write from England to +his friend Mr. Darrel, soon after Mary left his house, directing him to +turn her husband, Daniel James, off his premises, on account of her +offence; telling him to inform James at the same time that his wife had +<i>taken up</i> with another man, who had robbed her of all she had—a calumny +as groundless as it was cruel? I further ask if the person who invented +this story (whoever he may be,) was not likely enough to impose similar +fabrications on the poor negro man's credulity, until he may have been +induced to prove false to his marriage vows, and to "take another wife," +as Mr. Wood coolly expresses it? But withal, I strongly doubt the fact of +Daniel James' infidelity; for there is now before me a letter from himself +to Mary, dated in April 1830, couched in strong terms of conjugal +affection; expressing his anxiety for her speedy return, and stating that +he had lately "received a grace" (a token of religious advancement) in the +Moravian church, a circumstance altogether incredible if the man were +living in open adultery, as Mr. Wood's assertion implies.</p> + +<p>8. Mary, he says, endeavoured to injure the character of his family by +infamous falsehoods, which were embodied in a petition to the House of +Commons, and would have been presented, had not his friends from Antigua, +the Hon. Mr. Byam, and Dr. Coull, disproved her assertions.</p> + +<p>I can say something on this point from my own knowledge. Mary's petition +contained simply a brief statement of her case, and, among other things, +mentioned the treatment she had received from Mr. and Mrs. Wood. Now the +principal facts are corroborated by other evidence, and Mr. Wood must +bring forward very different testimony from that of Dr. Coull before +well-informed persons will give credit to his contradiction. The value of +that person's evidence in such cases will be noticed presently. Of the +Hon. Mr. Byam I know nothing, and shall only at present remark that it is +not likely to redound greatly to his credit to appear in such company. +Furthermore, Mary's petition <i>was</i> presented, as Mr. Wood ought to know; +though it was not discussed, nor his conduct exposed as it ought to have +been.</p> + +<p>9. He speaks of the liability he should incur, under the Consolidated +Slave Law, of dealing with a free person as a slave.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p><p>Is not this pretext hypocritical in the extreme? What liability could he +possibly incur by voluntarily resigning the power, conferred on him by an +iniquitous colonial law, of re-imposing the shackles of slavery on the +bondwoman from whose limbs they had fallen when she touched the free soil +of England?—There exists no liability from which he might not have been +easily secured, or for which he would not have been fully compensated.</p> + +<p>He adds in a postscript that Mary had a considerable sum of money with +her,—from £36 to £40 at least, which she had saved in his service. The +fact is, that she had at one time 113 dollars in cash; but only a very +small portion of that sum appears to have been brought by her to England, +the rest having been partly advanced, as she states, to assist her +husband, and partly lost by being lodged in unfaithful custody.</p> + +<p>Finally, Mr. Wood repeats twice that it will afford him great pleasure to +state for the governor's satisfaction, if required, such particulars of +"the woman Molly," upon incontestable evidence, as he is sure will acquit +him in his Excellency's opinion "of acting unkind or ungenerous towards +her."</p> + +<p>This is well: and I now call upon Mr. Wood to redeem his pledge;—to bring +forward facts and proofs fully to elucidate the subject;—to reconcile, if +he can, the extraordinary discrepancies which I have pointed out between +his assertions and the actual facts, and especially between his account of +Mary Prince's character and his own conduct in regard to her. He has now +to produce such a statement as will acquit him not only in the opinion of +Sir Patrick Ross, but of the British public. And in this position he has +spontaneously placed himself, in attempting to destroy, by his deliberate +criminatory letter, the poor woman's fair fame and reputation,—an attempt +but for which the present publication would probably never have appeared.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Here perhaps we might safely leave the case to the judgment of the public; +but as this negro woman's character, not the less valuable to her because +her condition is so humble, has been so unscrupulously blackened by her +late master, a party so much interested and inclined to place her in the +worst point of view,—it is incumbent on me, as her advocate with the +public, to state such additional testimony in her behalf as I can fairly +and conscientiously adduce.</p> + +<p>My first evidence is Mr. Joseph Phillips, of Antigua. Having submitted to +his inspection Mr. Wood's letter and Mary Prince's narrative, and +requested his candid and deliberate sentiments in regard to the actual +facts of the case, I have been favoured with the following letter from him +on the subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="sig1">"London, January 18, 1831.</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Dear Sir,</p> + +<p>"In giving you my opinion of Mary Prince's narrative, and of +Mr. Wood's letter respecting her, addressed to Mr. Taylor, I +shall first mention my opportunities of forming a proper +estimate of the conduct and character of both +parties.</p> + +<p>"I have known Mr. Wood since his first arrival in Antigua in +1803. He was then a poor young man, who had been brought up +as a ship carpenter in Bermuda. He was afterwards raised to +be a clerk in the Commissariat department, and realised +sufficient capital to commence business as a merchant. This +last profession he has followed successfully for a good many +years, and is understood to have accumulated very +considerable wealth. After he entered into trade, I had +constant intercourse with him in the way of business; and in +1824 and 1825, I was regularly employed on his premises as +his clerk; consequently, I had opportunities of seeing a +good deal of his character both as a merchant, and as a +master of slaves. The former topic I pass over as irrelevant +to the present subject: in reference to the latter, I shall +merely observe that he was not, in regard to ordinary +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>matters, more severe than the ordinary run of slave owners; +but, if seriously offended, he was not of a disposition to +be easily appeased, and would spare no cost or sacrifice to +gratify his vindictive feelings. As regards the exaction of +work from domestic slaves, his wife was probably more severe +than himself—it was almost impossible for the slaves ever +to give her entire satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Of their slave Molly (or Mary) I know less than of Mr. and +Mrs. Wood; but I saw and heard enough of her, both while I +was constantly employed on Mr. Wood's premises, and while I +was there occasionally on business, to be quite certain that +she was viewed by her owners as their most respectable and +trustworthy female slave. It is within my personal knowledge +that she had usually the charge of the house in their +absence, was entrusted with the keys, &c.; and was always +considered by the neighbours and visitors as their +confidential household servant, and as a person in whose +integrity they placed unlimited confidence,—although when +Mrs. Wood was at home, she was no doubt kept pretty closely +at washing and other hard work. A decided proof of the +estimation in which she was held by her owners exists in the +fact that Mr. Wood uniformly refused to part with her, +whereas he sold five other slaves while she was with them. +Indeed, she always appeared to me to be a slave of superior +intelligence and respectability; and I always understood +such to be her general character in the place.</p> + +<p>"As to what Mr. Wood alleges about her being frequently +before the police, &c. I can only say I never heard of the +circumstance before; and as I lived for twenty years in the +same small town, and in the vicinity of their residence, I +think I could scarcely have failed to become acquainted with +it, had such been the fact. She might, however, have been +occasionally before the magistrate in consequence of little +disputes among the slaves, without any serious imputation on +her general respectability. She says she was twice summoned +to appear as a witness on such occasions; and that she was +once sent by her mistress to be confined in the Cage, and +was afterwards flogged by her desire. This cruel practice is +very common in Antigua; and, in my opinion, is but little +creditable to the slave owners and magistrates by whom such +arbitrary punishments are inflicted, frequently for very +trifling faults. Mr. James Scotland is the only magistrate +in the colony who invariably refuses to sanction this +reprehensible practice.</p> + +<p>"Of the immoral conduct ascribed to Molly by Mr. Wood, I can +say nothing further than this—that I have heard she had at +a former period (previous to her marriage) a connexion with +a white person, a Capt. ——, which I have no doubt was +broken off when she became seriously impressed with +religion. But, at any rate, such connexions are so common, I +might almost say universal, in our slave colonies, that +except by the missionaries and a few serious persons, they +are considered, if faults at all, so very venial as scarcely +to deserve the name of immorality. Mr. Wood knows this +colonial estimate of such connexions as well as I do; and, +however false such an estimate must be allowed to be, +especially When applied to their own conduct by persons of +education, pretending to adhere to the pure Christian rule +of morals,—yet when he ascribes to a negro slave, to whom +legal marriage was denied, such great criminality for laxity +of this sort, and professes to be so exceedingly shocked and +amazed at the tale he himself relates, he must, I am +confident, have had a farther object in view than the +information of Mr. Taylor or Sir Patrick Ross. He must, it +is evident, have been aware that his letter would be sent to +Mr. Allen, and accordingly adapted it, as more important +documents from the colonies are often adapted, <i>for effect +in England</i>. The tale of the slave Molly's immoralities, be +assured, was not intended for Antigua so much as for Stoke +Newington, and Peckham, and Aldermanbury.</p> + +<p>"In regard to Mary's narrative generally, although I cannot +speak to the accuracy of the details, except in a few recent +particulars, I can with safety declare that I see no reason +to question the truth of a single fact stated by her, or +even to suspect her in any instance of intentional +exaggeration. It bears in my judgment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>the genuine stamp of +truth and nature. Such is my unhesitating opinion, after a +residence of twenty-seven years in the West Indies.</p> +<p class="sig">"I remain, &c.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"<span class="smcap">Joseph Phillips</span>."</p> + +<p class="sig2"><i>To T. Pringle, Esq.</i></p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"P.S. As Mr. Wood refers to the evidence of Dr. T. Coull in +opposition to Mary's assertions, it may be proper to enable +you justly to estimate the worth of that person's evidence +in cases connected with the condition and treatment of +slaves. You are aware that in 1829, Mr. M'Queen of Glasgow, +in noticing a Report of the "Ladies' Society of Birmingham +for the relief of British Negro Slaves," asserted with his +characteristic audacity, that the statement which it +contained respecting distressed and deserted slaves in +Antigua was "an abominable falsehood." Not contented with +this, and with insinuating that I, as agent of the society +in the distribution of their charity in Antigua, had +fraudulently duped them out of their money by a fabricated +tale of distress, Mr. M'Queen proceeded to libel me in the +most opprobrious terms, as "a man of the most worthless and +abandoned character."<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Now I know from good authority that +it was <i>upon Dr. Coull's information</i> that Mr. M'Queen +founded this impudent contradiction of notorious facts, and +this audacious libel of my personal character. From this +single circumstance you may judge of the value of his +evidence in the case of Mary Prince. I can furnish further +information respecting Dr. Coull's colonial proceedings, +both private and judicial, should circumstances require it."</p> +<p class="sig1">"J. P."</p> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + + +<p>I leave the preceding letter to be candidly weighed by the reader in +opposition to the inculpatory allegations of Mr. Wood—merely remarking +that Mr. Wood will find it somewhat difficult to impugn the evidence of +Mr. Phillips, whose "upright," "unimpeached," and "unexceptionable" +character, he has himself vouched for in unqualified terms, by affixing +his signature to the testimonial published in the Weekly Register of +Antigua in 1825. (See Note below.)</p> + +<p>The next testimony in Mary's behalf is that of Mrs. Forsyth, a lady in +whose service she spent the summer of 1829.—(See page 21.) This lady, on +leaving London to join her husband, voluntarily presented Mary with a +certificate, which, though it relates only to a recent and short period of +her history, is a strong corroboration of the habitual respectability of +her character. It is in the following terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mrs. Forsyth states, that the bearer of this paper (Mary +James,) has been with her for the last six months; that she +has found her an excellent character, being honest, +industrious, and sober; and that she parts with her on no +other account than this—that being obliged to travel with +her husband, who has lately come from abroad in bad health, +she has no farther need of a servant. Any person Wishing to +engage her, can have her character in full from Miss Robson, +4, Keppel Street, Russel Square, whom Mrs. Forsyth has +requested to furnish particulars to any one desiring them.</p> + +<p class="sig2">"4, Keppel Street, 28th Sept. 1829."</p> +</div> + +<p>In the last place, I add my own testimony in behalf of this negro woman. +Independently of the scrutiny, which, as Secretary of the Anti-Slavery +Society, I made into her case when she first applied for assistance, at +18, Aldermanbury, and the watchful eye I kept upon her conduct for the +ensuing twelvemonths, while she was the occasional pensioner of the +Society, I have now had the opportunity of closely observing her conduct +for fourteen months, in the situation of a domestic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> servant in my own +family; and the following is the deliberate opinion of Mary's character, +formed not only by myself, but also by my wife and sister-in-law, after +this ample period of observation. We have found her perfectly honest and +trustworthy in all respects; so that we have no hesitation in leaving +every thing in the house at her disposal. She had the entire charge of the +house during our absence in Scotland for three months last autumn, and +conducted herself in that charge with the utmost discretion and fidelity. +She is not, it is true, a very expert housemaid, nor capable of much hard +work, (for her constitution appears to be a good deal broken,) but she is +careful, industrious, and anxious to do her duty and to give satisfaction. +She is capable of strong attachments, and feels deep, though unobtrusive, +gratitude for real kindness shown her. She possesses considerable natural +sense, and has much quickness of observation and discrimination of +character. She is remarkable for <i>decency</i> and <i>propriety</i> of conduct—and +her <i>delicacy</i>, even in trifling minutiæ, has been a trait of special +remark by the females of my family. This trait, which is obviously quite +unaffected, would be a most inexplicable anomaly, if her former habits had +been so indecent and depraved as Mr. Wood alleges. Her chief faults, so +far as we have discovered them, are, a somewhat violent and hasty temper, +and a considerable share of natural pride and self-importance; but these +defects have been but rarely and transiently manifested, and have scarcely +occasioned an hour's uneasiness at any time in our household. Her +religious knowledge, notwithstanding the pious care of her Moravian +instructors in Antigua, is still but very limited, and her views of +christianity indistinct; but her profession, whatever it may have of +imperfection, I am convinced, has nothing of insincerity. In short, we +consider her on the whole as respectable and well-behaved a person in her +station, as any domestic, white or black, (and we have had ample +experience of both colours,) that we have ever had in our service.</p> + +<p>But after all, Mary's character, important though its exculpation be to +her, is not really the point of chief practical interest in this case. +Suppose all Mr. Wood's defamatory allegations to be true—suppose him to +be able to rake up against her out of the records of the Antigua police, +or from the veracious testimony of his brother colonists, twenty stories +as bad or worse than what he insinuates—suppose the whole of her own +statement to be false, and even the whole of her conduct since she came +under our observation here to be a tissue of hypocrisy;—suppose all +this—and leave the negro woman as black in character as in +complexion,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>—yet it would affect not the main facts—which are +these.—1. Mr. Wood, not daring in England to punish this woman +arbitrarily, as he would have done in the West Indies, drove her out of +his house, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>left her, at least, only the alternative of returning +instantly to Antigua, with the certainty of severe treatment there, or +submitting in silence to what she considered intolerable usage in his +household. 2. He has since obstinately persisted in refusing her +manumission, to enable her to return home in security, though repeatedly +offered more than ample compensation for her value as a slave; and this on +various frivolous pretexts, but really, and indeed not unavowedly, in +order to <i>punish</i> her for leaving his service in England, though he +himself had professed to give her that option. These unquestionable facts +speak volumes.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p><p>The case affords a most instructive illustration of the true spirit of the +slave system, and of the pretensions of the slave-holders to assert, not +merely their claims to a "vested right" in the <i>labour</i> of their bondmen, +but to an indefeasible property in them as their "absolute chattels." It +furnishes a striking practical comment on the assertions of the West +Indians that self-interest is a sufficient check to the indulgence of +vindictive feelings in the master; for here is a case where a man (a +<i>respectable</i> and <i>benevolent</i> man as his friends aver,) prefers losing +entirely the full price of the slave, for the mere satisfaction of +preventing a poor black woman from returning home to her husband! If the +pleasure of thwarting the benevolent wishes of the Anti-Slavery Society in +behalf of the deserted negro, be an additional motive with Mr. Wood, it +will not much mend his wretched plea.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>I may here add a few words respecting the earlier portion of Mary Prince's +narrative. The facts there stated must necessarily rest entirely,—since +we have no collateral evidence,—upon their intrinsic claims to +probability, and upon the reliance the reader may feel disposed, after +perusing the foregoing pages, to place on her veracity. To my judgment, +the internal evidence of the truth of her narrative appears remarkably +strong. The circumstances are related in a tone of natural sincerity, and +are accompanied in almost every case with characteristic and minute +details, which must, I conceive, carry with them full conviction to every +candid mind that this negro woman has actually seen, felt, and suffered +all that she so impressively describes; and that the picture she has given +of West Indian slavery is not less true than it is revolting.</p> + +<p>But there may be some persons into whose hands this tract may fall, so +imperfectly acquainted with the real character of Negro Slavery, as to be +shocked into partial, if not absolute incredulity, by the acts of inhuman +oppression and brutality related of Capt. I—— and his wife, and of Mr. +D——, the salt manufacturer of Turk's Island. Here, at least, such +persons may be disposed to think, there surely must be <i>some</i> +exaggeration; the facts are too shocking to be credible. The facts are +indeed shocking, but unhappily not the less credible on that account. +Slavery is a curse to the oppressor scarcely less than to the oppressed: +its natural tendency is to brutalize both. After a residence myself of six +years in a slave colony, I am inclined to doubt whether, as regards its +<i>demoralizing</i> influence, the master is not even a greater object of +compassion than his bondman. Let those who are disposed to doubt the +atrocities related in this narrative, on the testimony of a sufferer, +examine the details of many cases of similar barbarity that have lately +come before the public, on unquestionable evidence. Passing over the +reports of the Fiscal of Berbice,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and the Mauritius horrors recently +unveiled,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> let them consider the case of Mr. and Mrs. Moss, of the +Bahamas, and their slave Kate, so justly denounced by the Secretary for +the Colonies;<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>—the cases of Eleanor Mead,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>—of Henry +Williams,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>—and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>of the Rev. Mr. Bridges and Kitty Hylton,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> in +Jamaica. These cases alone might suffice to demonstrate the inevitable +tendency of slavery as it exists in our colonies, to brutalize the master +to a truly frightful degree—a degree which would often cast into the +shade even the atrocities related in the narrative of Mary Prince; and +which are sufficient to prove, independently of all other evidence, that +there is nothing in the revolting character of the facts to affect their +credibility; but that on the contrary, similar deeds are at this very time +of frequent occurrence in almost every one of our slave colonies. The +system of coercive labour may vary in different places; it may be more +destructive to human life in the cane culture of Mauritius and Jamaica, +than in the predial and domestic bondage of Bermuda or the Bahamas,—but +the spirit and character of slavery are every where the same, and cannot +fail to produce similar effects. Wherever slavery prevails, there will +inevitably be found cruelty and oppression. Individuals who have preserved +humane, and amiable, and tolerant dispositions towards their black +dependents, may doubtless be found among slave-holders; but even where a +happy instance of this sort occurs, such as Mary's first mistress, the +kind-hearted Mrs. Williams, the favoured condition of the slave is still +as precarious as it is rare: it is every moment at the mercy of events; +and must always be held by a tenure so proverbially uncertain as that of +human prosperity, or human life. Such examples, like a feeble and +flickering streak of light in a gloomy picture, only serve by contrast to +exhibit the depth of the prevailing shades. Like other exceptions, they +only prove the general rule: the unquestionable tendency of the system is +to vitiate the best tempers, and to harden the most feeling hearts. "Never +be kind, nor speak kindly to a slave," said an accomplished English lady +in South Africa to my wife: "I have now," she added, "been for some time a +slave-owner, and have found, from vexatious experience in my own +household, that nothing but harshness and hauteur will do with slaves."</p> + +<p>I might perhaps not inappropriately illustrate this point more fully by +stating many cases which fell under my own personal observation, or became +known to me through authentic sources, at the Cape of Good Hope—a colony +where slavery assumes, as it is averred, a milder aspect than in any other +dependency of the empire where it exists; and I could shew, from the +judicial records of that colony, received by me within these few weeks, +cases scarcely inferior in barbarity to the worst of those to which I have +just specially referred; but to do so would lead me too far from the +immediate purpose of this pamphlet, and extend it to an inconvenient +length. I shall therefore content myself with quoting a single short +passage from the excellent work of my friend Dr. Walsh, entitled "Notices +of Brazil,"—a work which, besides its other merits, has vividly +illustrated the true spirit of Negro Slavery, as it displays itself not +merely in that country, but wherever it has been permitted to open its +Pandora's box of misery and crime.</p> + +<p>Let the reader ponder on the following just remarks, and compare the facts +stated by the Author in illustration of them, with the circumstances +related at pages 6 and 7 of Mary's narrative:—</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"If then we put out of the question the injury inflicted on +others, and merely consider the deterioration of feeling and +principle with which it operates on ourselves, ought it not +to be a sufficient, and, indeed, unanswerable argument, +against the permission of Slavery?</p> + +<p>"The exemplary manner in which the paternal duties are +performed at home, may mark people as the most fond and +affectionate parents; but let them once go abroad, and come +within the contagion of slavery, and it seems to alter the +very nature of a man; and the father has sold, and still +sells, the mother and his children, with as little +compunction as he would a sow and her litter of pigs; and he +often disposes of them together.</p> + +<p>"This deterioration of feeling is conspicuous in many ways +among the Brazilians. They are naturally a people of a +humane and good-natured disposition, and much indisposed to +cruelty or severity of any kind. Indeed, the manner in which +many of them treat their slaves is a proof of this, as it is +really gentle and considerate; but the natural tendency to +cruelty and oppression in the human heart, is continually +evolved by the impunity and uncontrolled licence in which +they are exercised. I never walked through the streets of +Rio, that some house did not present to me the semblance of +a bridewell, where the moans and the cries of the sufferers, +and the sounds of whips and scourges within, announced to me +that corporal punishment was being inflicted. Whenever I +remarked this to a friend, I was always answered that the +refractory nature of the slave rendered it necessary, and no +house could properly be conducted unless it was practised. +But this is certainly not the case; and the chastisement is +constantly applied in the very wantonness of barbarity, and +would not, and dared not, be inflicted on the humblest +wretch in society, if he was not a slave, and so put out of +the pale of pity.</p> + +<p>"Immediately joining our house was one occupied by a +mechanic, from which the most dismal cries and moans +constantly proceeded. I entered the shop one day, and found +it was occupied by a saddler, who had two negro boys working +at his business. He was a tawny, cadaverous-looking man, +with a dark aspect; and he had cut from his leather a +scourge like a Russian knout, which he held in his hand, and +was in the act of exercising on one of the naked children in +an inner room: and this was the cause of the moans and cries +we heard every day, and almost all day long.</p> + +<p>"In the rear of our house was another, occupied by some +women of bad character, who kept, as usual, several negro +slaves. I was awoke early one morning by dismal cries, and +looking out of the window, I saw in the back yard of the +house, a black girl of about fourteen years old; before her +stood her mistress, a white woman, with a large stick in her +hand. She was undressed except her petticoat and chemise, +which had fallen down and left her shoulders and bosom bare. +Her hair was streaming behind, and every fierce and +malevolent passion was depicted in her face. She too, like +my hostess at Governo [another striking illustration of the +<i>dehumanizing</i> effects of Slavery,] was the very +representation of a fury. She was striking the poor girl, +whom she had driven up into a corner, where she was on her +knees appealing for mercy. She shewed her none, but +continued to strike her on the head and thrust the stick +into her face, till she was herself exhausted, and her poor +victim covered with blood. This scene was renewed every +morning, and the cries and moans of the poor suffering +blacks, announced that they were enduring the penalty of +slavery, in being the objects on which the irritable and +malevolent passions of the whites are allowed to vent +themselves with impunity; nor could I help deeply deploring +that state of society in which the vilest characters in the +community are allowed an almost uncontrolled power of life +and death, over their innocent, and far more estimable +fellow-creatures."—(Notices of Brazil, vol. ii. p. +354-356.)</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In conclusion, I may observe that the history of Mary Prince furnishes a +corollary to Lord Stowell's decision in the case of the slave Grace, and +that it is most valuable on this account. Whatever opinions may be held by +some readers on the grave question of immediately abolishing Colonial +Slavery, nothing assuredly can be more repugnant to the feelings of +Englishmen than that the system should be permitted to extend its baneful +influence to this country. Yet such is the case, when the slave landed in +England still only possesses that qualified degree of freedom, that a +change of domicile will determine it. Though born a British subject, and +resident within the shores of England, he is cut off from his dearest +natural rights by the sad alternative of regaining them at the expence of +liberty, and the certainty of severe treatment. It is true that he has the +option of returning; but it is a cruel mockery to call it a voluntary +choice, when upon his return depend his means of subsistence and his +re-union with all that makes life valuable. Here he has tasted "the sweets +of freedom," to quote the words of the unfortunate Mary Prince; but if he +desires to restore himself to his family, or to escape from suffering and +destitution, and the other evils of a climate uncongenial to his +constitution and habits, he must abandon the enjoyment of his +late-acquired liberty, and again subject himself to the arbitrary power of +a vindictive master.</p> + +<p>The case of Mary Prince is by no means a singular one; many of the same +kind are daily occurring: and even if the case were singular, it would +still loudly call for the interference of the legislature. In instances of +this kind no injury can possibly be done to the owner by confirming to the +slave his resumption of his natural rights. It is the master's spontaneous +act to bring him to this country; he knows when he brings him that he +divests himself of his property; and it is, in fact, a minor species of +slave trading, when he has thus enfranchised his slave, to <i>re-capture</i> +that slave by the necessities of his condition, or by working upon the +better feelings of his heart. Abstractedly from all legal technicalities, +there is no real difference between thus compelling the return of the +enfranchised negro, and trepanning a free native of England by delusive +hopes into perpetual slavery. The most ingenious casuist could not point +out any essential distinction between the two cases. Our boasted liberty +is the dream of imagination, and no longer the characteristic of our +country, if its bulwarks can thus be thrown down by colonial special +pleading. It would well become the character of the present Government to +introduce a Bill into the Legislature making perpetual that freedom which +the slave has acquired by his passage here, and thus to declare, in the +most ample sense of the words, (what indeed we had long fondly believed to +be the fact, though it now appears that we have been mistaken,) <span class="smcap">that +no slave can exist within the shores of Great Britain</span>.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Bermuda currency; about £38 sterling.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Let the reader compare the above affecting account, taken +down from the mouth of this negro woman, with the following description of +a vendue of slaves at the Cape of Good Hope, published by me in 1826, from +the letter of a friend,—and mark their similarity in several +characteristic circumstances. The resemblance is easily accounted for: +slavery wherever it prevails produces similar effects.—"Having heard that +there was to be a sale of cattle, farm stock, &c. by auction, at a +Veld-Cornet's in the vicinity, we halted our waggon one day for the +purpose of procuring a fresh spann of oxen. Among the stock of the farm +sold, was a female slave and her three children. The two eldest children +were girls, the one about thirteen years of age, and the other about +eleven; the youngest was a boy. The whole family were exhibited together, +but they were sold separately, and to different purchasers. The farmers +examined them as if they had been so many head of cattle. While the sale +was going on, the mother and her children were exhibited on a table, that +they might be seen by the company, which was very large. There could not +have been a finer subject for an able painter than this unhappy group. The +tears, the anxiety, the anguish of the mother, while she met the gaze of +the multitude, eyed the different countenances of the bidders, or cast a +heart-rending look upon the children; and the simplicity and touching +sorrow of the young ones, while they clung to their distracted parent, +wiping their eyes, and half concealing their faces,—contrasted with the +marked insensibility and jocular countenances of the spectators and +purchasers,—furnished a striking commentary on the miseries of slavery, +and its debasing effects upon the hearts of its abettors. While the woman +was in this distressed situation she was asked, 'Can you feed sheep?' Her +reply was so indistinct that it escaped me; but it was probably in the +negative, for her purchaser rejoined, in a loud and harsh voice, 'Then I +will teach you with the sjamboc,' (a whip made of the rhinoceros' hide.) +The mother and her three children were sold to three separate purchasers; +and they were literally torn from each other."—<i>Ed.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> These strong expressions, and all of a similar character in +this little narrative, are given verbatim as uttered by Mary +Prince.—<i>Ed.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The cattle on a small plantation in Bermuda are, it seems, +often thus staked or tethered, both night and day, in situations where +grass abounds.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> A cow fed for slaughter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> A thong of hard twisted hide, known by this name in the West +Indies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Of the subsequent lot of her relatives she can tell but +little. She says, her father died while she and her mother were at Turk's +Island; and that he had been long dead and buried before any of his +children in Bermuda knew of it, they being slaves on other estates. Her +mother died after Mary went to Antigua. Of the fate of the rest of her +kindred, seven brothers and three sisters, she knows nothing further than +this—that the eldest sister, who had several children to her master, was +taken by him to Trinidad; and that the youngest, Rebecca, is still alive, +and in slavery in Bermuda. Mary herself is now about forty-three years of +age.—<i>Ed.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Negro term for white people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> About £67. 10s. sterling.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> A dog is the 72nd part of a dollar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The head negro of an estate—a person who has the chief +superintendence under the manager.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> She possesses a copy of Mrs. Trimmer's "Charity School +Spelling Book," presented to her by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, and dated August +30, 1817. In this book her name is written "Mary, Princess of Wales"—an +appellation which, she says, was given her by her owners. It is a common +practice with the colonists to give ridiculous names of this description +to their slaves; being, in fact, one of the numberless modes of expressing +the habitual contempt with which they regard the negro race.—In printing +this narrative we have retained Mary's paternal name of Prince.—<i>Ed.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See page <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> She came first to the Anti-Slavery Office in Aldermanbury, +about the latter end of November 1828; and her case was referred to Mr. +George Stephen to be investigated. More of this hereafter.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> She refers to a written certificate which will be inserted +afterwards.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The whole of this paragraph especially, is given as nearly as +was possible in Mary's precise words.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> She means West Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> A West Indian phrase: to fasten or tie up.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> I omit the circumstance here mentioned, because it is too +indecent to appear in a publication likely to be perused by females. It +is, in all probability, a vile calumny; but even if it were perfectly +true, it would not serve Mr. Wood's case one straw.—Any reader who wishes +it, may see the passage referred to, in the autograph letter in my +possession. T. P.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> In elucidation of the circumstances above referred to, I +subjoin the following extracts from the Report of the Birmingham Ladies' +Society for 1830:— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As a portion of the funds of this association has been +appropriated to assist the benevolent efforts of a society +which has for fifteen years afforded relief to distressed +and deserted slaves in Antigua, it may not be uninteresting +to our friends to learn the manner in which the agent of +this society has been treated for simply obeying the command +of our Saviour, by ministering, like the good Samaritan, to +the distresses of the helpless and the desolate. The +society's proceedings being adverted to by a friend of +Africa, at one of the public meetings held in this country, +a West Indian planter, who was present, wrote over to his +friends in Antigua, and represented the conduct of the +distributors of this charity in such a light, that it was +deemed worthy of the cognizance of the House of Assembly. +Mr. Joseph Phillips, a resident of the island, who had most +kindly and disinterestedly exerted himself in the +distribution of the money from England among the poor +deserted slaves, was brought before the Assembly, and most +severely interrogated: on his refusing to deliver up his +private correspondence with his friends in England, he was +thrown into a loathsome jail, where he was kept for nearly +five months; while his loss of business, and the oppressive +proceedings instituted against him, were involving him in +poverty and ruin. On his discharge by the House of Assembly, +he was seized in their lobby for debt, and again +imprisoned." +</p><p> +"In our report for the year 1826, we quoted a passage from +the 13th Report of the Society for the relief of deserted +Slaves in the island of Antigua, in reference to a case of +great distress. This statement fell into the hands of Mr. +M'Queen, the Editor of the Glasgow Courier. Of the +consequences resulting from this circumstance we only gained +information through the Leicester Chronicle, which had +copied an article from the Weekly Register of Antigua, dated +St. John's, September 22, 1829. We find from this that Mr. +M'Queen affirms, that 'with the exception of the fact that +the society is, as it deserves to be, duped out of its +money, the whole tale' (of the distress above referred to) +'is an abominable falsehood.' This statement, which we are +informed has appeared in many of the public papers, is +<span class="smcap">completely refuted</span> in our Appendix, No. 4, to which +we refer our readers. Mr. M'Queen's statements, we regret to +say, would lead many to believe that there are no deserted +Negroes to assist; and that the case mentioned was a perfect +fabrication. He also distinctly avers, that the +disinterested and humane agent of the society, Mr. Joseph +Phillips, is 'a man of the most worthless and abandoned +character.' In opposition to this statement, we learn the +good character of Mr. Phillips from those who have long been +acquainted with his laudable exertions in the cause of +humanity, and from the Editor of the Weekly Register of +Antigua, who speaks, on his own knowledge, of more than +twenty years back; confidently appealing at the same time to +the inhabitants of the colony in which he resides for the +truth of his averments, and producing a testimonial to Mr. +Phillips's good character signed by two members of the +Antigua House of Assembly, and by Mr. Wyke, the collector of +his Majesty's customs, and by Antigua merchants, as +follows—'that they have been acquainted with him the last +four years and upwards, and he has always conducted himself +in an upright becoming manner—his character we know to be +unimpeached, and his morals unexceptionable.'</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left:3em;"> +(Signed) </span><span style="margin-left:8em;">"Thomas Saunderson John D. Taylor</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:16em;">John A. Wood George Wyke</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:16em;">Samuel L. Darrel Giles S. Musson</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:16em;">Robert Grant."</span> +</p><p> +"St. John's, Antigua, June 28, 1825."<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p> +In addition to the above testimonies, Mr. Phillips has brought over to +England with him others of a more recent date, from some of the most +respectable persons in Antigua—sufficient to cover with confusion all his +unprincipled calumniators. See also his account of his own case in the +Anti-Slavery Reporter, No. 74, p. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> If it even were so, how strong a plea of palliation might not +the poor negro bring, by adducing the neglect of her various owners to +afford religious instruction or moral discipline, and the habitual +influence of their evil <i>example</i> (to say the very least,) before her +eyes? What moral good could she possibly learn—what moral evil could she +easily escape, while under the uncontrolled power of such masters as she +describes Captain I—— and Mr. D—— of Turk's Island? All things +considered, it is indeed wonderful to find her such as she now is. But as +she has herself piously expressed it, "that God whom then she knew not +mercifully preserved her for better things."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Since the preceding pages were printed off, I have been +favoured with a communication from the Rev. J. Curtin, to whom among other +acquaintances of Mr. Wood's in this country, the entire proof sheets of +this pamphlet had been sent for inspection. Mr. Curtin corrects some +omissions and inaccuracies in Mary Prince's narrative (see page 17,) by +stating, 1. That she was baptized, not in August, but on the 6th of April, +1817; 2. That sometime before her baptism, on her being admitted a +catechumen, preparatory to that holy ordinance, she brought a note from +her owner, Mr. Wood, recommending her for religious instruction, &c.; 3. +That it was his usual practice, when any adult slaves came on <i>week days</i> +to school, to require their owners' permission for their attendance; but +that on <i>Sundays</i> the chapel was open indiscriminately to all.—Mary, +after a personal interview with Mr. Curtin, and after hearing his letter +read by me, still maintains that Mr. Wood's note recommended her for +baptism merely, and that she never received any religious instruction +whatever from Mr. and Mrs. Wood, or from any one else at that period +beyond what she has stated in her narrative. In regard to her +non-admission to the Sunday school without permission from her owners, she +admits that she may possibly have mistaken the clergyman's meaning on that +point, but says that such was certainly her impression at the time, and +the actual cause of her non-attendance. +</p><p> +Mr. Curtin finds in his books some reference to Mary's connection with a +Captain ——, (the individual, I believe, alluded to by Mr. Phillips at +page 32); but he states that when she attended his chapel she was always +decently and becomingly dressed, and appeared to him to be in a situation +of trust in her mistress's family. +</p><p> +Mr. Curtin offers no comment on any other part of Mary's statement; but he +speaks in very favourable, though general terms of the respectability of +Mr. Wood, whom he had known for many years in Antigua; and of Mrs. Wood, +though she was not personally known to him, he says, that he had "heard +her spoken of by those of her acquaintance, as a lady of very mild and +amiable manners." +</p><p> +Another friend of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, a lady who had been their guest both +in Antigua and England, alleges that Mary has grossly misrepresented them +in her narrative; and says that she "can vouch for their being the most +benevolent, kind-hearted people that can possibly live." She has declined, +however, to furnish me with any written correction of the +misrepresentations she complains of, although I offered to insert her +testimony in behalf of her friends, if sent to me in time. And having +already kept back the publication a fortnight waiting for communications +of this sort, I will not delay it longer. Those who have withheld their +strictures have only themselves to blame. +</p><p> +Of the general character of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, I would not designedly give +any <i>unfair</i> impression. Without implicitly adopting either the <i>ex parte</i> +view of Mary Prince, or the unmeasured encomiums of their friends, I am +willing to believe them to be, on the whole, fair, perhaps favourable, +specimens of colonial character. Let them even be rated, if you will, in +the very highest and most benevolent class of slave-holders; and, laying +everything else entirely out of view, let Mr. Wood's conduct in this +affair be tried exclusively by the facts established beyond dispute, and +by his own statement of the case in his letter to Mr. Taylor. But then, I +ask, if the very <i>best</i> and <i>mildest</i> of your slave-owners can act as Mr. +Wood is proved to have acted, what is to be expected of persons whose +mildness, or equity, or common humanity no one will dare to vouch for? If +such things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?—And +what else then can Colonial Slavery possibly be, even in its best estate, +but a system incurably evil and iniquitous?—I require no other data—I +need add no further comment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> See Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 5 and 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Ibid, No. 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Ibid, No. 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Ibid, No. 64, p. 345; No. 71, p. 481.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Ibid, No. 65, p. 356; No. 69, p. 431.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 66, 69, and 76.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="NARRATIVE_OF_LOUIS_ASA-ASA" id="NARRATIVE_OF_LOUIS_ASA-ASA"></a>NARRATIVE OF LOUIS ASA-ASA,</h2> + +<h3>A CAPTURED AFRICAN.</h3> +<p>The following interesting narrative is a convenient supplement to the +history of Mary Prince. It is given, like hers, as nearly as possible in +the narrator's words, with only so much correction as was necessary to +connect the story, and render it grammatical. The concluding passage in +inverted commas, is entirely his own.</p> + +<p>While Mary's narrative shews the disgusting character of colonial slavery, +this little tale explains with equal force the horrors in which it +originates.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to explain that Louis came to this country about five +years ago, in a French vessel called the Pearl. She had lost her +reckoning, and was driven by stress of weather into the port of St. Ives, +in Cornwall. Louis and his four companions were brought to London upon a +writ of Habeas Corpus at the instance of Mr. George Stephen; and, after +some trifling opposition on the part of the master of the vessel, were +discharged by Lord Wynford. Two of his unfortunate fellow-sufferers died +of the measles at Hampstead; the other two returned to Sierra Leone; but +poor Louis, when offered the choice of going back to Africa, replied, "Me +no father, no mother now; me stay with you." And here he has ever since +remained; conducting himself in a way to gain the good will and respect of +all who know him. He is remarkably intelligent, understands our language +perfectly, and can read and write well. The last sentences of the +following narrative will seem almost too peculiar to be his own; but it is +not the first time that in conversation with Mr. George Stephen, he has +made similar remarks. On one occasion in particular, he was heard saying +to himself in the kitchen, while sitting by the fire apparently in deep +thought, "Me think,—me think——" A fellow-servant inquired what he +meant; and he added, "Me think what a good thing I came to England! Here, +I know what God is, and read my Bible; in my country they have no God, no +Bible."</p> + +<p>How severe and just a reproof to the guilty wretches who visit his country +only with fire and sword! How deserved a censure upon the not less guilty +men, who dare to vindicate the state of slavery, on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> lying pretext, +that its victims are of an inferior nature! And scarcely less deserving of +reprobation are those who have it in their power to prevent these crimes, +but who remain inactive from indifference, or are dissuaded from throwing +the shield of British power over the victim of oppression, by the +sophistry, and the clamour, and the avarice of the oppressor. It is the +reproach and the sin of England. May God avert from our country the ruin +which this national guilt deserves!</p> + +<p>We lament to add, that the Pearl which brought these negroes to our shore, +was restored to its owners at the instance of the French Government, +instead of being condemned as a prize to Lieut. Rye, who, on his own +responsibility, detained her, with all her manacles and chains and other +detestable proofs of her piratical occupation on board. We trust it is not +yet too late to demand investigation into the reasons for restoring her.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Negro Boy's Narrative.</i></h3> +<p>My father's name was Clashoquin; mine is Asa-Asa. He lived in a country +called Bycla, near Egie, a large town. Egie is as large as Brighton; it +was some way from the sea. I had five brothers and sisters. We all lived +together with my father and mother; he kept a horse, and was respectable, +but not one of the great men. My uncle was one of the great men at Egie: +he could make men come and work for him: his name was Otou. He had a great +deal of land and cattle. My father sometimes worked on his own land, and +used to make charcoal. I was too little to work; my eldest brother used to +work on the land; and we were all very happy.</p> + +<p>A great many people, whom we called Adinyés, set fire to Egie in the +morning before daybreak; there were some thousands of them. They killed a +great many, and burnt all their houses. They staid two days, and then +carried away all the people whom they did not kill.</p> + +<p>They came again every now and then for a month, as long as they could find +people to carry away. They used to tie them by the feet, except when they +were taking them off, and then they let them loose; but if they offered to +run away, they would shoot them. I lost a great many friends and relations +at Egie; about a dozen. They sold all they carried away, to be slaves. I +know this because I afterwards saw them as slaves on the other side of the +sea. They took away brothers, and sisters, and husbands, and wives; they +did not care about this. They were sold for cloth or gunpowder, sometimes +for salt or guns; sometimes they got four or five guns for a man: they +were English guns, made like my master's that I clean for his shooting. +The Adinyés burnt a great many places besides Egie. They burnt all the +country wherever they found villages; they used to shoot men, women, and +children, if they ran away.</p> + +<p>They came to us about eleven o'clock one day, and directly they came they +set our house on fire. All of us had run away. We kept together, and went +into the woods, and stopped there two days. The Adinyés then went away, +and we returned home and found every thing burnt. We tried to build a +little shed, and were beginning to get comfortable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> again. We found +several of our neighbours lying about wounded; they had been shot. I saw +the bodies of four or five little children whom they had killed with blows +on the head. They had carried away their fathers and mothers, but the +children were too small for slaves, so they killed them. They had killed +several others, but these were all that I saw. I saw them lying in the +street like dead dogs.</p> + +<p>In about a week after we got back, the Adinyés returned, and burnt all the +sheds and houses they had left standing. We all ran away again; we went to +the woods as we had done before.—They followed us the next day. We went +farther into the woods, and staid there about four days and nights; we +were half starved; we only got a few potatoes. My uncle Otou was with us. +At the end of this time, the Adinyés found us. We ran away. They called my +uncle to go to them; but he refused, and they shot him immediately: they +killed him. The rest of us ran on, and they did not get at us till the +next day. I ran up into a tree: they followed me and brought me down. They +tied my feet. I do not know if they found my father and mother, and +brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me, and were half a mile +farther when I got up into the tree: I have never seen them since.—There +was a man who ran up into the tree with me: I believe they shot him, for I +never saw him again.</p> + +<p>They carried away about twenty besides me. They carried us to the sea. +They did not beat us: they only killed one man, who was very ill and too +weak to carry his load: they made all of us carry chickens and meat for +our food; but this poor man could not carry his load, and they ran him +through the body with a sword.—He was a neighbour of ours. When we got to +the sea they sold all of us, but not to the same person. They sold us for +money; and I was sold six times over, sometimes for money, sometimes for +cloth, and sometimes for a gun. I was about thirteen years old. It was +about half a year from the time I was taken, before I saw the white +people.</p> + +<p>We were taken in a boat from place to place, and sold at every place we +stopped at. In about six months we got to a ship, in which we first saw +white people: they were French. They bought us. We found here a great many +other slaves; there were about eighty, including women and children. The +Frenchmen sent away all but five of us into another very large ship. We +five staid on board till we got to England, which was about five or six +months. The slaves we saw on board the ship were chained together by the +legs below deck, so close they could not move. They were flogged very +cruelly: I saw one of them flogged till he died; we could not tell what +for. They gave them enough to eat. The place they were confined in below +deck was so hot and nasty I could not bear to be in it. A great many of +the slaves were ill, but they were not attended to. They used to flog me +very bad on board the ship: the captain cut my head very bad one time.</p> + +<p>"I am very happy to be in England, as far as I am very well;—but I have +no friend belonging to me, but God, who will take care of me as he has +done already. I am very glad I have come to England, to know who God is. I +should like much to see my friends again, but I do not now wish to go back +to them: for if I go back to my own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> country, I might be taken as a slave +again. I would rather stay here, where I am free, than go back to my +country to be sold. I shall stay in England as long as (please God) I +shall live. I wish the King of England could know all I have told you. I +wish it that he may see how cruelly we are used. We had no king in our +country, or he would have stopt it. I think the king of England might stop +it, and this is why I wish him to know it all. I have heard say he is +good; and if he is, he will stop it if he can. I am well off myself, for I +am well taken care of, and have good bed and good clothes; but I wish my +own people to be as comfortable."</p> + + +<p class="sig1">"LOUIS ASA-ASA."</p> + +<p class="sig2">"<i>London, January 31, 1831</i>."</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The History of Mary Prince, by Mary Prince + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17851-h.htm or 17851-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/5/17851/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Mary Prince + A West Indian Slave + +Author: Mary Prince + +Release Date: February 24, 2006 [EBook #17851] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE, + A WEST INDIAN SLAVE. + + RELATED BY HERSELF. + + + WITH A SUPPLEMENT BY THE EDITOR. + + + + To which is added, + + THE NARRATIVE OF ASA-ASA, + + A CAPTURED AFRICAN. + + + + "By our sufferings, since ye brought us + To the man-degrading mart,-- + All sustain'd by patience, taught us + Only by a broken heart,-- + Deem our nation brutes no longer, + Till some reason ye shall find + Worthier of regard, and stronger + Than the colour of our kind." + COWPER. + + + + LONDON: + PUBLISHED BY F. WESTLEY AND A. H. DAVIS, + STATIONERS' HALL COURT; + AND BY WAUGH & INNES, EDINBURGH. + + 1831. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The idea of writing Mary Prince's history was first suggested by herself. +She wished it to be done, she said, that good people in England might hear +from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered; and a letter of her late +master's, which will be found in the Supplement, induced me to accede to +her wish without farther delay. The more immediate object of the +publication will afterwards appear. + +The narrative was taken down from Mary's own lips by a lady who happened +to be at the time residing in my family as a visitor. It was written out +fully, with all the narrator's repetitions and prolixities, and afterwards +pruned into its present shape; retaining, as far as was practicable, +Mary's exact expressions and peculiar phraseology. No fact of importance +has been omitted, and not a single circumstance or sentiment has been +added. It is essentially her own, without any material alteration farther +than was requisite to exclude redundancies and gross grammatical errors, +so as to render it clearly intelligible. + +After it had been thus written out, I went over the whole, carefully +examining her on every fact and circumstance detailed; and in all that +relates to her residence in Antigua I had the advantage of being assisted +in this scrutiny by Mr. Joseph Phillips, who was a resident in that colony +during the same period, and had known her there. + +The names of all the persons mentioned by the narrator have been printed +in full, except those of Capt. I---- and his wife, and that of Mr. D----, +to whom conduct of peculiar atrocity is ascribed. These three individuals +are now gone to answer at a far more awful tribunal than that of public +opinion, for the deeds of which their former bondwoman accuses them; and +to hold them up more openly to human reprobation could no longer affect +themselves, while it might deeply lacerate the feelings of their surviving +and perhaps innocent relatives, without any commensurate public advantage. + +Without detaining the reader with remarks on other points which will be +adverted to more conveniently in the Supplement, I shall here merely +notice farther, that the Anti-Slavery Society have no concern whatever +with this publication, nor are they in any degree responsible for the +statements it contains. I have published the tract, not as their +Secretary, but in my private capacity; and any profits that may arise from +the sale will be exclusively appropriated to the benefit of Mary Prince +herself. + +THO. PRINGLE. + +_7, Solly Terrace, Claremont Square_, + +_January 25, 1831._ + + +P. S. Since writing the above, I have been furnished by my friend Mr. +George Stephen, with the interesting narrative of Asa-Asa, a captured +African, now under his protection; and have printed it as a suitable +appendix to this little history. + +T. P. + + + + +THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE, A WEST INDIAN SLAVE. + +(Related by herself.) + + +I was born at Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. +Charles Myners. My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name +was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at +Crow-Lane. When I was an infant, old Mr. Myners died, and there was a +division of the slaves and other property among the family. I was bought +along with my mother by old Captain Darrel, and given to his grandchild, +little Miss Betsey Williams. Captain Williams, Mr. Darrel's son-in-law, +was master of a vessel which traded to several places in America and the +West Indies, and he was seldom at home long together. + +Mrs. Williams was a kind-hearted good woman, and she treated all her +slaves well. She had only one daughter, Miss Betsey, for whom I was +purchased, and who was about my own age. I was made quite a pet of by Miss +Betsey, and loved her very much. She used to lead me about by the hand, +and call me her little nigger. This was the happiest period of my life; +for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too +thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and +sorrow. + +My mother was a household slave in the same family. I was under her own +care, and my little brothers and sisters were my play-fellows and +companions. My mother had several fine children after she came to Mrs. +Williams,--three girls and two boys. The tasks given out to us children +were light, and we used to play together with Miss Betsey, with as much +freedom almost as if she had been our sister. + +My master, however, was a very harsh, selfish man; and we always dreaded +his return from sea. His wife was herself much afraid of him; and, during +his stay at home, seldom dared to shew her usual kindness to the slaves. +He often left her, in the most distressed circumstances, to reside in +other female society, at some place in the West Indies of which I have +forgot the name. My poor mistress bore his ill-treatment with great +patience, and all her slaves loved and pitied her. I was truly attached to +her, and, next to my own mother, loved her better than any creature in the +world. My obedience to her commands was cheerfully given: it sprung +solely from the affection I felt for her, and not from fear of the power +which the white people's law had given her over me. + +I had scarcely reached my twelfth year when my mistress became too poor to +keep so many of us at home; and she hired me out to Mrs. Pruden, a lady +who lived about five miles off, in the adjoining parish, in a large house +near the sea. I cried bitterly at parting with my dear mistress and Miss +Betsey, and when I kissed my mother and brothers and sisters, I thought my +young heart would break, it pained me so. But there was no help; I was +forced to go. Good Mrs. Williams comforted me by saying that I should +still be near the home I was about to quit, and might come over and see +her and my kindred whenever I could obtain leave of absence from Mrs. +Pruden. A few hours after this I was taken to a strange house, and found +myself among strange people. This separation seemed a sore trial to me +then; but oh! 'twas light, light to the trials I have since +endured!--'twas nothing--nothing to be mentioned with them; but I was a +child then, and it was according to my strength. + +I knew that Mrs. Williams could no longer maintain me; that she was fain +to part with me for my food and clothing; and I tried to submit myself to +the change. My new mistress was a passionate woman; but yet she did not +treat me very unkindly. I do not remember her striking me but once, and +that was for going to see Mrs. Williams when I heard she was sick, and +staying longer than she had given me leave to do. All my employment at +this time was nursing a sweet baby, little Master Daniel; and I grew so +fond of my nursling that it was my greatest delight to walk out with him +by the sea-shore, accompanied by his brother and sister, Miss Fanny and +Master James.--Dear Miss Fanny! She was a sweet, kind young lady, and so +fond of me that she wished me to learn all that she knew herself; and her +method of teaching me was as follows:--Directly she had said her lessons +to her grandmamma, she used to come running to me, and make me repeat them +one by one after her; and in a few months I was able not only to say my +letters but to spell many small words. But this happy state was not to +last long. Those days were too pleasant to last. My heart always softens +when I think of them. + +At this time Mrs. Williams died. I was told suddenly of her death, and my +grief was so great that, forgetting I had the baby in my arms, I ran away +directly to my poor mistress's house; but reached it only in time to see +the corpse carried out. Oh, that was a day of sorrow,--a heavy day! All +the slaves cried. My mother cried and lamented her sore; and I (foolish +creature!) vainly entreated them to bring my dear mistress back to life. I +knew nothing rightly about death then, and it seemed a hard thing to bear. +When I thought about my mistress I felt as if the world was all gone +wrong; and for many days and weeks I could think of nothing else. I +returned to Mrs. Pruden's; but my sorrow was too great to be comforted, +for my own dear mistress was always in my mind. Whether in the house or +abroad, my thoughts were always talking to me about her. + +I staid at Mrs. Pruden's about three months after this; I was then sent +back to Mr. Williams to be sold. Oh, that was a sad sad time! I recollect +the day well. Mrs. Pruden came to me and said, "Mary, you will have to go +home directly; your master is going to be married, and he means to sell +you and two of your sisters to raise money for the wedding." Hearing this +I burst out a crying,--though I was then far from being sensible of the +full weight of my misfortune, or of the misery that waited for me. +Besides, I did not like to leave Mrs. Pruden, and the dear baby, who had +grown very fond of me. For some time I could scarcely believe that Mrs. +Pruden was in earnest, till I received orders for my immediate +return.--Dear Miss Fanny! how she cried at parting with me, whilst I +kissed and hugged the baby, thinking I should never see him again. I left +Mrs. Pruden's, and walked home with a heart full of sorrow. The idea of +being sold away from my mother and Miss Betsey was so frightful, that I +dared not trust myself to think about it. We had been bought of Mr. +Myners, as I have mentioned, by Miss Betsey's grandfather, and given to +her, so that we were by right _her_ property, and I never thought we +should be separated or sold away from her. + +When I reached the house, I went in directly to Miss Betsey. I found her +in great distress; and she cried out as soon as she saw me, "Oh, Mary! my +father is going to sell you all to raise money to marry that wicked woman. +You are _my_ slaves, and he has no right to sell you; but it is all to +please her." She then told me that my mother was living with her father's +sister at a house close by, and I went there to see her. It was a +sorrowful meeting; and we lamented with a great and sore crying our +unfortunate situation. "Here comes one of my poor picaninnies!" she said, +the moment I came in, "one of the poor slave-brood who are to be sold +to-morrow." + +Oh dear! I cannot bear to think of that day,--it is too much.--It recalls +the great grief that filled my heart, and the woeful thoughts that passed +to and fro through my mind, whilst listening to the pitiful words of my +poor mother, weeping for the loss of her children. I wish I could find +words to tell you all I then felt and suffered. The great God above alone +knows the thoughts of the poor slave's heart, and the bitter pains which +follow such separations as these. All that we love taken away from us--Oh, +it is sad, sad! and sore to be borne!--I got no sleep that night for +thinking of the morrow; and dear Miss Betsey was scarcely less distressed. +She could not bear to part with her old playmates, and she cried sore and +would not be pacified. + +The black morning at length came; it came too soon for my poor mother and +us. Whilst she was putting on us the new osnaburgs in which we were to be +sold, she said, in a sorrowful voice, (I shall never forget it!) "See, I +am _shrouding_ my poor children; what a task for a mother!"--She then +called Miss Betsey to take leave of us. "I am going to carry my little +chickens to market," (these were her very words,) "take your last look of +them; may be you will see them no more." "Oh, my poor slaves! my own +slaves!" said dear Miss Betsey, "you belong to me; and it grieves my heart +to part with you."--Miss Betsey kissed us all, and, when she left us, my +mother called the rest of the slaves to bid us good bye. One of them, a +woman named Moll, came with her infant in her arms. "Ay!" said my mother, +seeing her turn away and look at her child with the tears in her eyes, +"your turn will come next." The slaves could say nothing to comfort us; +they could only weep and lament with us. When I left my dear little +brothers and the house in which I had been brought up, I thought my heart +would burst. + +Our mother, weeping as she went, called me away with the children Hannah +and Dinah, and we took the road that led to Hamble Town, which we reached +about four o'clock in the afternoon. We followed my mother to the +market-place, where she placed us in a row against a large house, with our +backs to the wall and our arms folded across our breasts. I, as the +eldest, stood first, Hannah next to me, then Dinah; and our mother stood +beside, crying over us. My heart throbbed with grief and terror so +violently, that I pressed my hands quite tightly across my breast, but I +could not keep it still, and it continued to leap as though it would burst +out of my body. But who cared for that? Did one of the many by-standers, +who were looking at us so carelessly, think of the pain that wrung the +hearts of the negro woman and her young ones? No, no! They were not all +bad, I dare say; but slavery hardens white people's hearts towards the +blacks; and many of them were not slow to make their remarks upon us +aloud, without regard to our grief--though their light words fell like +cayenne on the fresh wounds of our hearts. Oh those white people have +small hearts who can only feel for themselves. + +At length the vendue master, who was to offer us for sale like sheep or +cattle, arrived, and asked my mother which was the eldest. She said +nothing, but pointed to me. He took me by the hand, and led me out into +the middle of the street, and, turning me slowly round, exposed me to the +view of those who attended the vendue. I was soon surrounded by strange +men, who examined and handled me in the same manner that a butcher would a +calf or a lamb he was about to purchase, and who talked about my shape and +size in like words--as if I could no more understand their meaning than +the dumb beasts. I was then put up to sale. The bidding commenced at a few +pounds, and gradually rose to fifty-seven,[1] when I was knocked down to +the highest bidder; and the people who stood by said that I had fetched a +great sum for so young a slave. + +[Footnote 1: Bermuda currency; about L38 sterling.] + +I then saw my sisters led forth, and sold to different owners; so that we +had not the sad satisfaction of being partners in bondage. When the sale +was over, my mother hugged and kissed us, and mourned over us, begging of +us to keep up a good heart, and do our duty to our new masters. It was a +sad parting; one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home +with nothing.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Let the reader compare the above affecting account, taken +down from the mouth of this negro woman, with the following description of +a vendue of slaves at the Cape of Good Hope, published by me in 1826, from +the letter of a friend,--and mark their similarity in several +characteristic circumstances. The resemblance is easily accounted for: +slavery wherever it prevails produces similar effects.--"Having heard that +there was to be a sale of cattle, farm stock, &c. by auction, at a +Veld-Cornet's in the vicinity, we halted our waggon one day for the +purpose of procuring a fresh spann of oxen. Among the stock of the farm +sold, was a female slave and her three children. The two eldest children +were girls, the one about thirteen years of age, and the other about +eleven; the youngest was a boy. The whole family were exhibited together, +but they were sold separately, and to different purchasers. The farmers +examined them as if they had been so many head of cattle. While the sale +was going on, the mother and her children were exhibited on a table, that +they might be seen by the company, which was very large. There could not +have been a finer subject for an able painter than this unhappy group. The +tears, the anxiety, the anguish of the mother, while she met the gaze of +the multitude, eyed the different countenances of the bidders, or cast a +heart-rending look upon the children; and the simplicity and touching +sorrow of the young ones, while they clung to their distracted parent, +wiping their eyes, and half concealing their faces,--contrasted with the +marked insensibility and jocular countenances of the spectators and +purchasers,--furnished a striking commentary on the miseries of slavery, +and its debasing effects upon the hearts of its abettors. While the woman +was in this distressed situation she was asked, 'Can you feed sheep?' Her +reply was so indistinct that it escaped me; but it was probably in the +negative, for her purchaser rejoined, in a loud and harsh voice, 'Then I +will teach you with the sjamboc,' (a whip made of the rhinoceros' hide.) +The mother and her three children were sold to three separate purchasers; +and they were literally torn from each other."--_Ed._] + +My new master was a Captain I----, who lived at Spanish Point. After +parting with my mother and sisters, I followed him to his store, and he +gave me into the charge of his son, a lad about my own age, Master Benjy, +who took me to my new home. I did not know where I was going, or what my +new master would do with me. My heart was quite broken with grief, and my +thoughts went back continually to those from whom I had been so suddenly +parted. "Oh, my mother! my mother!" I kept saying to myself, "Oh, my mammy +and my sisters and my brothers, shall I never see you again!" + +Oh, the trials! the trials! they make the salt water come into my eyes +when I think of the days in which I was afflicted--the times that are +gone; when I mourned and grieved with a young heart for those whom I +loved. + +It was night when I reached my new home. The house was large, and built at +the bottom of a very high hill; but I could not see much of it that night. +I saw too much of it afterwards. The stones and the timber were the best +things in it; they were not so hard as the hearts of the owners.[3] + +[Footnote 3: These strong expressions, and all of a similar character in +this little narrative, are given verbatim as uttered by Mary +Prince.--_Ed._] + +Before I entered the house, two slave women, hired from another owner, who +were at work in the yard, spoke to me, and asked who I belonged to? I +replied, "I am come to live here." "Poor child, poor child!" they both +said; "you must keep a good heart, if you are to live here."--When I went +in, I stood up crying in a corner. Mrs. I---- came and took off my hat, a +little black silk hat Miss Pruden made for me, and said in a rough voice, +"You are not come here to stand up in corners and cry, you are come here +to work." She then put a child into my arms, and, tired as I was, I was +forced instantly to take up my old occupation of a nurse.--I could not +bear to look at my mistress, her countenance was so stern. She was a stout +tall woman with a very dark complexion, and her brows were always drawn +together into a frown. I thought of the words of the two slave women when +I saw Mrs. I----, and heard the harsh sound of her voice. + +The person I took the most notice of that night was a French Black called +Hetty, whom my master took in privateering from another vessel, and made +his slave. She was the most active woman I ever saw, and she was tasked to +her utmost. A few minutes after my arrival she came in from milking the +cows, and put the sweet-potatoes on for supper. She then fetched home the +sheep, and penned them in the fold; drove home the cattle, and staked them +about the pond side;[4] fed and rubbed down my master's horse, and gave +the hog and the fed cow[5] their suppers; prepared the beds, and undressed +the children, and laid them to sleep. I liked to look at her and watch all +her doings, for hers was the only friendly face I had as yet seen, and I +felt glad that she was there. She gave me my supper of potatoes and milk, +and a blanket to sleep upon, which she spread for me in the passage before +the door of Mrs. I----'s chamber. + +[Footnote 4: The cattle on a small plantation in Bermuda are, it seems, +often thus staked or tethered, both night and day, in situations where +grass abounds.] + +[Footnote 5: A cow fed for slaughter.] + +I got a sad fright, that night. I was just going to sleep, when I heard a +noise in my mistress's room; and she presently called out to inquire if +some work was finished that she had ordered Hetty to do. "No, Ma'am, not +yet," was Hetty's answer from below. On hearing this, my master started up +from his bed, and just as he was, in his shirt, ran down stairs with a +long cow-skin[6] in his hand. I heard immediately after, the cracking of +the thong, and the house rang to the shrieks of poor Hetty, who kept +crying out, "Oh, Massa! Massa! me dead. Massa! have mercy upon me--don't +kill me outright."--This was a sad beginning for me. I sat up upon my +blanket, trembling with terror, like a frightened hound, and thinking that +my turn would come next. At length the house became still, and I forgot +for a little while all my sorrows by falling fast asleep. + +[Footnote 6: A thong of hard twisted hide, known by this name in the West +Indies.] + +The next morning my mistress set about instructing me in my tasks. She +taught me to do all sorts of household work; to wash and bake, pick cotton +and wool, and wash floors, and cook. And she taught me (how can I ever +forget it!) more things than these; she caused me to know the exact +difference between the smart of the rope, the cart-whip, and the cow-skin, +when applied to my naked body by her own cruel hand. And there was +scarcely any punishment more dreadful than the blows I received on my face +and head from her hard heavy fist. She was a fearful woman, and a savage +mistress to her slaves. + +There were two little slave boys in the house, on whom she vented her bad +temper in a special manner. One of these children was a mulatto, called +Cyrus, who had been bought while an infant in his mother's arms; the +other, Jack, was an African from the coast of Guinea, whom a sailor had +given or sold to my master. Seldom a day passed without these boys +receiving the most severe treatment, and often for no fault at all. Both +my master and mistress seemed to think that they had a right to ill-use +them at their pleasure; and very often accompanied their commands with +blows, whether the children were behaving well or ill. I have seen their +flesh ragged and raw with licks.--Lick--lick--they were never secure one +moment from a blow, and their lives were passed in continual fear. My +mistress was not contented with using the whip, but often pinched their +cheeks and arms in the most cruel manner. My pity for these poor boys was +soon transferred to myself; for I was licked, and flogged, and pinched by +her pitiless fingers in the neck and arms, exactly as they were. To strip +me naked--to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the +cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence. My +mistress often robbed me too of the hours that belong to sleep. She used +to sit up very late, frequently even until morning; and I had then to +stand at a bench and wash during the greater part of the night, or pick +wool and cotton; and often I have dropped down overcome by sleep and +fatigue, till roused from a state of stupor by the whip, and forced to +start up to my tasks. + +Poor Hetty, my fellow slave, was very kind to me, and I used to call her +my Aunt; but she led a most miserable life, and her death was hastened (at +least the slaves all believed and said so,) by the dreadful chastisement +she received from my master during her pregnancy. It happened as follows. +One of the cows had dragged the rope away from the stake to which Hetty +had fastened it, and got loose. My master flew into a terrible passion, +and ordered the poor creature to be stripped quite naked, notwithstanding +her pregnancy, and to be tied up to a tree in the yard. He then flogged +her as hard as he could lick, both with the whip and cow-skin, till she +was all over streaming with blood. He rested, and then beat her again and +again. Her shrieks were terrible. The consequence was that poor Hetty was +brought to bed before her time, and was delivered after severe labour of a +dead child. She appeared to recover after her confinement, so far that she +was repeatedly flogged by both master and mistress afterwards; but her +former strength never returned to her. Ere long her body and limbs swelled +to a great size; and she lay on a mat in the kitchen, till the water burst +out of her body and she died. All the slaves said that death was a good +thing for poor Hetty; but I cried very much for her death. The manner of +it filled me with horror. I could not bear to think about it; yet it was +always present to my mind for many a day. + +After Hetty died all her labours fell upon me, in addition to my own. I +had now to milk eleven cows every morning before sunrise, sitting among +the damp weeds; to take care of the cattle as well as the children; and to +do the work of the house. There was no end to my toils--no end to my +blows. I lay down at night and rose up in the morning in fear and sorrow; +and often wished that like poor Hetty I could escape from this cruel +bondage and be at rest in the grave. But the hand of that God whom then I +knew not, was stretched over me; and I was mercifully preserved for better +things. It was then, however, my heavy lot to weep, weep, weep, and that +for years; to pass from one misery to another, and from one cruel master +to a worse. But I must go on with the thread of my story. + +One day a heavy squall of wind and rain came on suddenly, and my mistress +sent me round the corner of the house to empty a large earthen jar. The +jar was already cracked with an old deep crack that divided it in the +middle, and in turning it upside down to empty it, it parted in my hand. I +could not help the accident, but I was dreadfully frightened, looking +forward to a severe punishment. I ran crying to my mistress, "O mistress, +the jar has come in two." "You have broken it, have you?" she replied; +"come directly here to me." I came trembling; she stripped and flogged me +long and severely with the cow-skin; as long as she had strength to use +the lash, for she did not give over till she was quite tired.--When my +master came home at night, she told him of my fault; and oh, frightful! +how he fell a swearing. After abusing me with every ill name he could +think of, (too, too bad to speak in England,) and giving me several heavy +blows with his hand, he said, "I shall come home to-morrow morning at +twelve, on purpose to give you a round hundred." He kept his word--Oh sad +for me! I cannot easily forget it. He tied me up upon a ladder, and gave +me a hundred lashes with his own hand, and master Benjy stood by to count +them for him. When he had licked me for some time he sat down to take +breath; then after resting, he beat me again and again, until he was quite +wearied, and so hot (for the weather was very sultry), that he sank back +in his chair, almost like to faint. While my mistress went to bring him +drink, there was a dreadful earthquake. Part of the roof fell down, and +every thing in the house went--clatter, clatter, clatter. Oh I thought the +end of all things near at hand; and I was so sore with the flogging, that +I scarcely cared whether I lived or died. The earth was groaning and +shaking; every thing tumbling about; and my mistress and the slaves were +shrieking and crying out, "The earthquake! the earthquake!" It was an +awful day for us all. + +During the confusion I crawled away on my hands and knees, and laid myself +down under the steps of the piazza, in front of the house. I was in a +dreadful state--my body all blood and bruises, and I could not help +moaning piteously. The other slaves, when they saw me, shook their heads +and said, "Poor child! poor child!"--I lay there till the morning, +careless of what might happen, for life was very weak in me, and I wished +more than ever to die. But when we are very young, death always seems a +great way off, and it would not come that night to me. The next morning I +was forced by my master to rise and go about my usual work, though my body +and limbs were so stiff and sore, that I could not move without the +greatest pain.--Nevertheless, even after all this severe punishment, I +never heard the last of that jar; my mistress was always throwing it in my +face. + +Some little time after this, one of the cows got loose from the stake, and +eat one of the sweet-potatoe slips. I was milking when my master found it +out. He came to me, and without any more ado, stooped down, and taking off +his heavy boot, he struck me such a severe blow in the small of my back, +that I shrieked with agony, and thought I was killed; and I feel a +weakness in that part to this day. The cow was frightened at his +violence, and kicked down the pail and spilt the milk all about. My master +knew that this accident was his own fault, but he was so enraged that he +seemed glad of an excuse to go on with his ill usage. I cannot remember +how many licks he gave me then, but he beat me till I was unable to stand, +and till he himself was weary. + +After this I ran away and went to my mother, who was living with Mr. +Richard Darrel. My poor mother was both grieved and glad to see me; +grieved because I had been so ill used, and glad because she had not seen +me for a long, long while. She dared not receive me into the house, but +she hid me up in a hole in the rocks near, and brought me food at night, +after every body was asleep. My father, who lived at Crow-Lane, over the +salt-water channel, at last heard of my being hid up in the cavern, and he +came and took me back to my master. Oh I was loth, loth to go back; but as +there was no remedy, I was obliged to submit. + +When we got home, my poor father said to Capt. I----, "Sir, I am sorry +that my child should be forced to run away from her owner; but the +treatment she has received is enough to break her heart. The sight of her +wounds has nearly broke mine.--I entreat you, for the love of God, to +forgive her for running away, and that you will be a kind master to her in +future." Capt. I---- said I was used as well as I deserved, and that I +ought to be punished for running away. I then took courage and said that I +could stand the floggings no longer; that I was weary of my life, and +therefore I had run away to my mother; but mothers could only weep and +mourn over their children, they could not save them from cruel +masters--from the whip, the rope, and the cow-skin. He told me to hold my +tongue and go about my work, or he would find a way to settle me. He did +not, however, flog me that day. + +For five years after this I remained in his house, and almost daily +received the same harsh treatment. At length he put me on board a sloop, +and to my great joy sent me away to Turk's Island. I was not permitted to +see my mother or father, or poor sisters and brothers, to say good bye, +though going away to a strange land, and might never see them again. Oh +the Buckra people who keep slaves think that black people are like cattle, +without natural affection. But my heart tells me it is far otherwise. + +We were nearly four weeks on the voyage, which was unusually long. +Sometimes we had a light breeze, sometimes a great calm, and the ship made +no way; so that our provisions and water ran very low, and we were put +upon short allowance. I should almost have been starved had it not been +for the kindness of a black man called Anthony, and his wife, who had +brought their own victuals, and shared them with me. + +When we went ashore at the Grand Quay, the captain sent me to the house of +my new master, Mr. D----, to whom Captain I----had sold me. Grand Quay is +a small town upon a sandbank; the houses low and built of wood. Such was +my new master's. The first person I saw, on my arrival, was Mr. D----, a +stout sulky looking man, who carried me through the hall to show me to his +wife and children. Next day I was put up by the vendue master to know how +much I was worth, and I was valued at one hundred pounds currency. + +My new master was one of the owners or holders of the salt ponds, and he +received a certain sum for every slave that worked upon his premises, +whether they were young or old. This sum was allowed him out of the +profits arising from the salt works. I was immediately sent to work in the +salt water with the rest of the slaves. This work was perfectly new to me. +I was given a half barrel and a shovel, and had to stand up to my knees in +the water, from four o'clock in the morning till nine, when we were given +some Indian corn boiled in water, which we were obliged to swallow as fast +as we could for fear the rain should come on and melt the salt. We were +then called again to our tasks, and worked through the heat of the day; +the sun flaming upon our heads like fire, and raising salt blisters in +those parts which were not completely covered. Our feet and legs, from +standing in the salt water for so many hours, soon became full of dreadful +boils, which eat down in some cases to the very bone, afflicting the +sufferers with great torment. We came home at twelve; ate our corn soup, +called _blawly_, as fast as we could, and went back to our employment till +dark at night. We then shovelled up the salt in large heaps, and went down +to the sea, where we washed the pickle from our limbs, and cleaned the +barrows and shovels from the salt. When we returned to the house, our +master gave us each our allowance of raw Indian corn, which we pounded in +a mortar and boiled in water for our suppers. + +We slept in a long shed, divided into narrow slips, like the stalls used +for cattle. Boards fixed upon stakes driven into the ground, without mat +or covering, were our only beds. On Sundays, after we had washed the salt +bags, and done other work required of us, we went into the bush and cut +the long soft grass, of which we made trusses for our legs and feet to +rest upon, for they were so full of the salt boils that we could get no +rest lying upon the bare boards. + +Though we worked from morning till night, there was no satisfying Mr. +D----. I hoped, when I left Capt. I----, that I should have been better +off, but I found it was but going from one butcher to another. There was +this difference between them: my former master used to beat me while +raging and foaming with passion; Mr. D---- was usually quite calm. He +would stand by and give orders for a slave to be cruelly whipped, and +assist in the punishment, without moving a muscle of his face; walking +about and taking snuff with the greatest composure. Nothing could touch +his hard heart--neither sighs, nor tears, nor prayers, nor streaming +blood; he was deaf to our cries, and careless of our sufferings. Mr. D---- +has often stripped me naked, hung me up by the wrists, and beat me with +the cow-skin, with his own hand, till my body was raw with gashes. Yet +there was nothing very remarkable in this; for it might serve as a sample +of the common usage of the slaves on that horrible island. + +Owing to the boils in my feet, I was unable to wheel the barrow fast +through the sand, which got into the sores, and made me stumble at every +step; and my master, having no pity for my sufferings from this cause, +rendered them far more intolerable, by chastising me for not being able to +move so fast as he wished me. Another of our employments was to row a +little way off from the shore in a boat, and dive for large stones to +build a wall round our master's house. This was very hard work; and the +great waves breaking over us continually, made us often so giddy that we +lost our footing, and were in danger of being drowned. + +Ah, poor me!--my tasks were never ended. Sick or well, it was +work--work--work!--After the diving season was over, we were sent to the +South Creek, with large bills, to cut up mangoes to burn lime with. Whilst +one party of slaves were thus employed, another were sent to the other +side of the island to break up coral out of the sea. + +When we were ill, let our complaint be what it might, the only medicine +given to us was a great bowl of hot salt water, with salt mixed with it, +which made us very sick. If we could not keep up with the rest of the gang +of slaves, we were put in the stocks, and severely flogged the next +morning. Yet, not the less, our master expected, after we had thus been +kept from our rest, and our limbs rendered stiff and sore with ill usage, +that we should still go through the ordinary tasks of the day all the +same.--Sometimes we had to work all night, measuring salt to load a +vessel; or turning a machine to draw water out of the sea for the +salt-making. Then we had no sleep--no rest--but were forced to work as +fast as we could, and go on again all next day the same as usual. +Work--work--work--Oh that Turk's Island was a horrible place! The people +in England, I am sure, have never found out what is carried on there. +Cruel, horrible place! + +Mr. D---- had a slave called old Daniel, whom he used to treat in the most +cruel manner. Poor Daniel was lame in the hip, and could not keep up with +the rest of the slaves; and our master would order him to be stripped and +laid down on the ground, and have him beaten with a rod of rough briar +till his skin was quite red and raw. He would then call for a bucket of +salt, and fling upon the raw flesh till the man writhed on the ground like +a worm, and screamed aloud with agony. This poor man's wounds were never +healed, and I have often seen them full of maggots, which increased his +torments to an intolerable degree. He was an object of pity and terror to +the whole gang of slaves, and in his wretched case we saw, each of us, our +own lot, if we should live to be as old. + +Oh the horrors of slavery!--How the thought of it pains my heart! But the +truth ought to be told of it; and what my eyes have seen I think it is my +duty to relate; for few people in England know what slavery is. I have +been a slave--I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave +knows; and I would have all the good people in England to know it too, +that they may break our chains, and set us free. + +Mr. D---- had another slave called Ben. He being very hungry, stole a +little rice one night after he came in from work, and cooked it for his +supper. But his master soon discovered the theft; locked him up all night; +and kept him without food till one o'clock the next day. He then hung Ben +up by his hands, and beat him from time to time till the slaves came in at +night. We found the poor creature hung up when we came home; with a pool +of blood beneath him, and our master still licking him. But this was not +the worst. My master's son was in the habit of stealing the rice and rum. +Ben had seen him do this, and thought he might do the same, and when +master found out that Ben had stolen the rice and swore to punish him, he +tried to excuse himself by saying that Master Dickey did the same thing +every night. The lad denied it to his father, and was so angry with Ben +for informing against him, that out of revenge he ran and got a bayonet, +and whilst the poor wretch was suspended by his hands and writhing under +his wounds, he run it quite through his foot. I was not by when he did it, +but I saw the wound when I came home, and heard Ben tell the manner in +which it was done. + +I must say something more about this cruel son of a cruel father.--He had +no heart--no fear of God; he had been brought up by a bad father in a bad +path, and he delighted to follow in the same steps. There was a little old +woman among the slaves called Sarah, who was nearly past work; and, Master +Dickey being the overseer of the slaves just then, this poor creature, who +was subject to several bodily infirmities, and was not quite right in her +head, did not wheel the barrow fast enough to please him. He threw her +down on the ground, and after beating her severely, he took her up in his +arms and flung her among the prickly-pear bushes, which are all covered +over with sharp venomous prickles. By this her naked flesh was so +grievously wounded, that her body swelled and festered all over, and she +died a few days after. In telling my own sorrows, I cannot pass by those +of my fellow-slaves--for when I think of my own griefs, I remember theirs. + +I think it was about ten years I had worked in the salt ponds at Turk's +Island, when my master left off business, and retired to a house he had in +Bermuda, leaving his son to succeed him in the island. He took me with him +to wait upon his daughters; and I was joyful, for I was sick, sick of +Turk's Island, and my heart yearned to see my native place again, my +mother, and my kindred. + +I had seen my poor mother during the time I was a slave in Turk's Island. +One Sunday morning I was on the beach with some of the slaves, and we saw +a sloop come in loaded with slaves to work in the salt water. We got a +boat and went aboard. When I came upon the deck I asked the black people, +"Is there any one here for me?" "Yes," they said, "your mother." I thought +they said this in jest--I could scarcely believe them for joy; but when I +saw my poor mammy my joy was turned to sorrow, for she had gone from her +senses. "Mammy," I said, "is this you?" She did not know me. "Mammy," I +said, "what's the matter?" She began to talk foolishly, and said that she +had been under the vessel's bottom. They had been overtaken by a violent +storm at sea. My poor mother had never been on the sea before, and she was +so ill, that she lost her senses, and it was long before she came quite to +herself again. She had a sweet child with her--a little sister I had never +seen, about four years of age, called Rebecca. I took her on shore with +me, for I felt I should love her directly; and I kept her with me a week. +Poor little thing! her's has been a sad life, and continues so to this +day. My mother worked for some years on the island, but was taken back to +Bermuda some time before my master carried me again thither.[7] + +[Footnote 7: Of the subsequent lot of her relatives she can tell but +little. She says, her father died while she and her mother were at Turk's +Island; and that he had been long dead and buried before any of his +children in Bermuda knew of it, they being slaves on other estates. Her +mother died after Mary went to Antigua. Of the fate of the rest of her +kindred, seven brothers and three sisters, she knows nothing further than +this--that the eldest sister, who had several children to her master, was +taken by him to Trinidad; and that the youngest, Rebecca, is still alive, +and in slavery in Bermuda. Mary herself is now about forty-three years of +age.--_Ed._] + +After I left Turk's Island, I was told by some negroes that came over from +it, that the poor slaves had built up a place with boughs and leaves, +where they might meet for prayers, but the white people pulled it down +twice, and would not allow them even a shed for prayers. A flood came down +soon after and washed away many houses, filled the place with sand, and +overflowed the ponds: and I do think that this was for their wickedness; +for the Buckra men[8] there were very wicked. I saw and heard much that +was very very bad at that place. + +[Footnote 8: Negro term for white people.] + +I was several years the slave of Mr. D---- after I returned to my native +place. Here I worked in the grounds. My work was planting and hoeing +sweet-potatoes, Indian corn, plantains, bananas, cabbages, pumpkins, +onions, &c. I did all the household work, and attended upon a horse and +cow besides,--going also upon all errands. I had to curry the horse--to +clean and feed him--and sometimes to ride him a little. I had more than +enough to do--but still it was not so very bad as Turk's Island. + +My old master often got drunk, and then he would get in a fury with his +daughter, and beat her till she was not fit to be seen. I remember on one +occasion, I had gone to fetch water, and when I Was coming up the hill I +heard a great screaming; I ran as fast as I could to the house, put down +the water, and went into the chamber, where I found my master beating Miss +D---- dreadfully. I strove with all my strength to get her away from him; +for she was all black and blue with bruises. He had beat her with his +fist, and almost killed her. The people gave me credit for getting her +away. He turned round and began to lick me. Then I said, "Sir, this is not +Turk's Island." I can't repeat his answer, the words were too wicked--too +bad to say. He wanted to treat me the same in Bermuda as he had done in +Turk's Island. + +He had an ugly fashion of stripping himself quite naked, and ordering me +then to wash him in a tub of water. This was worse to me than all the +licks. Sometimes when he called me to wash him I would not come, my eyes +were so full of shame. He would then come to beat me. One time I had +plates and knives in my hand, and I dropped both plates and knives, and +some of the plates were broken. He struck me so severely for this, that at +last I defended myself, for I thought it was high time to do so. I then +told him I would not live longer with him, for he was a very indecent +man--very spiteful, and too indecent; with no shame for his servants, no +shame for his own flesh. So I went away to a neighbouring house and sat +down and cried till the next morning, when I went home again, not knowing +what else to do. + +After that I was hired to work at Cedar Hills, and every Saturday night I +paid the money to my master. I had plenty of work to do there--plenty of +washing; but yet I made myself pretty comfortable. I earned two dollars +and a quarter a week, which is twenty pence a day. + +During the time I worked there, I heard that Mr. John Wood was going to +Antigua. I felt a great wish to go there, and I went to Mr. D----, and +asked him to let me go in Mr. Wood's service. Mr. Wood did not then want +to purchase me; it was my own fault that I came under him, I was so +anxious to go. It was ordained to be, I suppose; God led me there. The +truth is, I did not wish to be any longer the slave of my indecent master. + +Mr. Wood took me with him to Antigua, to the town of St. John's, where he +lived. This was about fifteen years ago. He did not then know whether I +was to be sold; but Mrs. Wood found that I could work, and she wanted to +buy me. Her husband then wrote to my master to inquire whether I was to be +sold? Mr. D---- wrote in reply, "that I should not be sold to any one that +would treat me ill." It was strange he should say this, when he had +treated me so ill himself. So I was purchased by Mr. Wood for 300 dollars, +(or L100 Bermuda currency.)[9] + +[Footnote 9: About L67. 10s. sterling.] + +My work there was to attend the chambers and nurse the child, and to go +down to the pond and wash clothes. But I soon fell ill of the rheumatism, +and grew so very lame that I was forced to walk with a stick. I got the +Saint Anthony's fire, also, in my left leg, and became quite a cripple. No +one cared much to come near me, and I was ill a long long time; for +several months I could not lift the limb. I had to lie in a little old +out-house, that was swarming with bugs and other vermin, which tormented +me greatly; but I had no other place to lie in. I got the rheumatism by +catching cold at the pond side, from washing in the fresh water; in the +salt water I never got cold. The person who lived in next yard, (a Mrs. +Greene,) could not bear to hear my cries and groans. She was kind, and +used to send an old slave woman to help me, who sometimes brought me a +little soup. When the doctor found I was so ill, he said I must be put +into a bath of hot water. The old slave got the bark of some bush that was +good for the pains, which she boiled in the hot water, and every night she +came and put me into the bath, and did what she could for me: I don't know +what I should have done, or what would have become of me, had it not been +for her.--My mistress, it is true, did send me a little food; but no one +from our family came near me but the cook, who used to shove my food in at +the door, and say, "Molly, Molly, there's your dinner." My mistress did not +care to take any trouble about me; and if the Lord had not put it into the +hearts of the neighbours to be kind to me, I must, I really think, have +lain and died. + +It was a long time before I got well enough to work in the house. Mrs. +Wood, in the meanwhile, hired a mulatto woman to nurse the child; but she +was such a fine lady she wanted to be mistress over me. I thought it very +hard for a coloured woman to have rule over me because I was a slave and +she was free. Her name was Martha Wilcox; she was a saucy woman, very +saucy; and she went and complained of me, without cause, to my mistress, +and made her angry with me. Mrs. Wood told me that if I did not mind what +I was about, she would get my master to strip me and give me fifty lashes: +"You have been used to the whip," she said, "and you shall have it here." +This was the first time she threatened to have me flogged; and she gave me +the threatening so strong of what she would have done to me, that I +thought I should have fallen down at her feet, I was so vexed and hurt by +her words. The mulatto woman was rejoiced to have power to keep me down. +She was constantly making mischief; there was no living for the slaves--no +peace after she came. + +I was also sent by Mrs. Wood to be put in the Cage one night, and was next +morning flogged, by the magistrate's order, at her desire; and this all +for a quarrel I had about a pig with another slave woman. I was flogged on +my naked back on this occasion: although I was in no fault after all; for +old Justice Dyett, when we came before him, said that I was in the right, +and ordered the pig to be given to me. This was about two or three years +after I came to Antigua. + +When we moved from the middle of the town to the Point, I used to be in +the house and do all the work and mind the children, though still very ill +with the rheumatism. Every week I had to wash two large bundles of +clothes, as much as a boy could help me to lift; but I could give no +satisfaction. My mistress was always abusing and fretting after me. It is +not possible to tell all her ill language.--One day she followed me foot +after foot scolding and rating me. I bore in silence a great deal of ill +words: at last my heart was quite full, and I told her that she ought not +to use me so;--that when I was ill I might have lain and died for what she +cared; and no one would then come near me to nurse me, because they were +afraid of my mistress. This was a great affront. She called her husband +and told him what I had said. He flew into a passion: but did not beat me +then; he only abused and swore at me; and then gave me a note and bade me +go and look for an owner. Not that he meant to sell me; but he did this to +please his wife and to frighten me. I went to Adam White, a cooper, a free +black, who had money, and asked him to buy me. He went directly to Mr. +Wood, but was informed that I was not to be sold. The next day my master +whipped me. + +Another time (about five years ago) my mistress got vexed with me, because +I fell sick and I could not keep on with my work. She complained to her +husband, and he sent me off again to look for an owner. I went to a Mr. +Burchell, showed him the note, and asked him to buy me for my own benefit; +for I had saved about 100 dollars, and hoped, with a little help, to +purchase my freedom. He accordingly went to my master:--"Mr. Wood," he +said, "Molly has brought me a note that she wants an owner. If you intend +to sell her, I may as well buy her as another." My master put him off and +said that he did not mean to sell me. I was very sorry at this, for I had +no comfort with Mrs. Wood, and I wished greatly to get my freedom. + +The way in which I made my money was this.--When my master and mistress +went from home, as they sometimes did, and left me to take care of the +house and premises, I had a good deal of time to myself, and made the most +of it. I took in washing, and sold coffee and yams and other provisions +to the captains of ships. I did not sit still idling during the absence of +my owners; for I wanted, by all honest means, to earn money to buy my +freedom. Sometimes I bought a hog cheap on board ship, and sold it for +double the money on shore; and I also earned a good deal by selling +coffee. By this means I by degrees acquired a little cash. A gentleman +also lent me some to help to buy my freedom--but when I could not get free +he got it back again. His name was Captain Abbot. + +My master and mistress went on one occasion into the country, to Date +Hill, for change of air, and carried me with them to take charge of the +children, and to do the work of the house. While I was in the country, I +saw how the field negroes are worked in Antigua. They are worked very hard +and fed but scantily. They are called out to work before daybreak, and +come home after dark; and then each has to heave his bundle of grass for +the cattle in the pen. Then, on Sunday morning, each slave has to go out +and gather a large bundle of grass; and, when they bring it home, they +have all to sit at the manager's door and wait till he come out: often +have they to wait there till past eleven o'clock, without any breakfast. +After that, those that have yams or potatoes, or fire-wood to sell, hasten +to market to buy a dog's worth[10] of salt fish, or pork, which is a great +treat for them. Some of them buy a little pickle out of the shad barrels, +which they call sauce, to season their yams and Indian corn. It is very +wrong, I know, to work on Sunday or go to market; but will not God call +the Buckra men to answer for this on the great day of judgment--since they +will give the slaves no other day? + +[Footnote 10: A dog is the 72nd part of a dollar.] + +While we were at Date Hill Christmas came; and the slave woman who had the +care of the place (which then belonged to Mr. Roberts the marshal), asked +me to go with her to her husband's house, to a Methodist meeting for +prayer, at a plantation called Winthorps. I went; and they were the first +prayers I ever understood. One woman prayed; and then they all sung a +hymn; then there was another prayer and another hymn; and then they all +spoke by turns of their own griefs as sinners. The husband of the woman I +went with was a black driver. His name was Henry. He confessed that he had +treated the slaves very cruelly; but said that he was compelled to obey +the orders of his master. He prayed them all to forgive him, and he prayed +that God would forgive him. He said it was a horrid thing for a ranger[11] +to have sometimes to beat his own wife or sister; but he must do so if +ordered by his master. + +[Footnote 11: The head negro of an estate--a person who has the chief +superintendence under the manager.] + +I felt sorry for my sins also. I cried the whole night, but I was too much +ashamed to speak. I prayed God to forgive me. This meeting had a great +impression on my mind, and led my spirit to the Moravian church; so that +when I got back to town, I went and prayed to have my name put down in the +Missionaries' book; and I followed the church earnestly every opportunity. +I did not then tell my mistress about it; for I knew that she would not +give me leave to go. But I felt I _must_ go. Whenever I carried the +children their lunch at school, I ran round and went to hear the teachers. + +The Moravian ladies (Mrs. Richter, Mrs. Olufsen, and Mrs. Sauter) taught +me to read in the class; and I got on very fast. In this class there were +all sorts of people, old and young, grey headed folks and children; but +most of them were free people. After we had done spelling, we tried to +read in the Bible. After the reading was over, the missionary gave out a +hymn for us to sing. I dearly loved to go to the church, it was so solemn. +I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there. When I found +out that I was a great sinner, I was very sorely grieved, and very much +frightened. I used to pray God to pardon my sins for Christ's sake, and +forgive me for every thing I had done amiss; and when I went home to my +work, I always thought about what I had heard from the missionaries, and +wished to be good that I might go to heaven. After a while I was admitted +a candidate for the holy Communion.--I had been baptized long before this, +in August 1817, by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, of the English Church, after I had +been taught to repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. I wished at that +time to attend a Sunday School taught by Mr. Curtin, but he would not +receive me without a written note from my master, granting his permission. +I did not ask my owner's permission, from the belief that it would be +refused; so that I got no farther instruction at that time from the +English Church.[12] + +[Footnote 12: She possesses a copy of Mrs. Trimmer's "Charity School +Spelling Book," presented to her by the Rev. Mr. Curtin, and dated August +30, 1817. In this book her name is written "Mary, Princess of Wales"--an +appellation which, she says, was given her by her owners. It is a common +practice with the colonists to give ridiculous names of this description +to their slaves; being, in fact, one of the numberless modes of expressing +the habitual contempt with which they regard the negro race.--In printing +this narrative we have retained Mary's paternal name of Prince.--_Ed._] + +Some time after I began to attend the Moravian Church, I met with Daniel +James, afterwards my dear husband. He was a carpenter and cooper to his +trade; an honest, hard-working, decent black man, and a widower. He had +purchased his freedom of his mistress, old Mrs. Baker, with money he had +earned whilst a slave. When he asked me to marry him, I took time to +consider the matter over with myself, and would not say yes till he went +to church with me and joined the Moravians. He was very industrious after +he bought his freedom; and he had hired a comfortable house, and had +convenient things about him. We were joined in marriage, about Christmas +1826, in the Moravian Chapel at Spring Gardens, by the Rev. Mr. Olufsen. +We could not be married in the English Church. English marriage is not +allowed to slaves; and no free man can marry a slave woman. + +When Mr. Wood heard of my marriage, he flew into a great rage, and sent +for Daniel, who was helping to build a house for his old mistress. Mr. +Wood asked him who gave him a right to marry a slave of his? My husband +said, "Sir, I am a free man, and thought I had a right to choose a wife; +but if I had known Molly was not allowed to have a husband, I should not +have asked her to marry me." Mrs. Wood was more vexed about my marriage +than her husband. She could not forgive me for getting married, but +stirred up Mr. Wood to flog me dreadfully with the horsewhip. I thought it +very hard to be whipped at my time of life for getting a husband--I told +her so. She said that she would not have nigger men about the yards and +premises, or allow a nigger man's clothes to be washed in the same tub +where hers were washed. She was fearful, I think, that I should lose her +time, in order to wash and do things for my husband: but I had then no +time to wash for myself; I was obliged to put out my own clothes, though I +was always at the wash-tub. + +I had not much happiness in my marriage, owing to my being a slave. It +made my husband sad to see me so ill-treated. Mrs. Wood was always abusing +me about him. She did not lick me herself, but she got her husband to do +it for her, whilst she fretted the flesh off my bones. Yet for all this +she would not sell me. She sold five slaves whilst I was with her; but +though she was always finding fault with me, she would not part with me. +However, Mr. Wood afterwards allowed Daniel to have a place to live in our +yard, which we were very thankful for. + +After this, I fell ill again with the rheumatism, and was sick a long +time; but whether sick or well, I had my work to do. About this time I +asked my master and mistress to let me buy my own freedom. With the help +of Mr. Burchell, I could have found the means to pay Mr. Wood; for it was +agreed that I should afterwards, serve Mr. Burchell a while, for the cash +he was to advance for me. I was earnest in the request to my owners; but +their hearts were hard--too hard to consent. Mrs. Wood was very angry--she +grew quite outrageous--she called me a black devil, and asked me who had +put freedom into my head. "To be free is very sweet," I said: but she took +good care to keep me a slave. I saw her change colour, and I left the +room. + +About this time my master and mistress were going to England to put their +son to school, and bring their daughters home; and they took me with them +to take care of the child. I was willing to come to England: I thought +that by going there I should probably get cured of my rheumatism, and +should return with my master and mistress, quite well, to my husband. My +husband was willing for me to come away, for he had heard that my master +would free me,--and I also hoped this might prove true; but it was all a +false report. + +The steward of the ship was very kind to me. He and my husband were in the +same class in the Moravian Church. I was thankful that he was so friendly, +for my mistress was not kind to me on the passage; and she told me, when +she was angry, that she did not intend to treat me any better in England +than in the West Indies--that I need not expect it. And she was as good as +her word. + +When we drew near to England, the rheumatism seized all my limbs worse +than ever, and my body was dreadfully swelled. When we landed at the +Tower, I shewed my flesh to my mistress, but she took no great notice of +it. We were obliged to stop at the tavern till my master got a house; and +a day or two after, my mistress sent me down into the wash-house to learn +to wash in the English way. In the West Indies we wash with cold water--in +England with hot. I told my mistress I was afraid that putting my hands +first into the hot water and then into the cold, would increase the pain +in my limbs. The doctor had told my mistress long before I came from the +West Indies, that I was a sickly body and the washing did not agree with +me. But Mrs. Wood would not release me from the tub, so I was forced to do +as I could. I grew worse, and could not stand to wash. I was then forced +to sit down with the tub before me, and often through pain and weakness +was reduced to kneel or to sit down on the floor, to finish my task. When +I complained to my mistress of this, she only got into a passion as usual, +and said washing in hot water could not hurt any one;--that I was lazy and +insolent, and wanted to be free of my work; but that she would make me do +it. I thought her very hard on me, and my heart rose up within me. However +I kept still at that time, and went down again to wash the child's things; +but the English washerwomen who were at work there, when they saw that I +was so ill, had pity upon me and washed them for me. + +After that, when we came up to live in Leigh Street, Mrs. Wood sorted out +five bags of clothes which we had used at sea, and also such as had been +worn since we came on shore, for me and the cook to wash. Elizabeth the +cook told her, that she did not think that I was able to stand to the tub, +and that she had better hire a woman. I also said myself, that I had come +over to nurse the child, and that I was sorry I had come from Antigua, +since mistress would work me so hard, without compassion for my +rheumatism. Mr. and Mrs. Wood, when they heard this, rose up in a passion +against me. They opened the door and bade me get out. But I was a +stranger, and did not know one door in the street from another, and was +unwilling to go away. They made a dreadful uproar, and from that day they +constantly kept cursing and abusing me. I was obliged to wash, though I +was very ill. Mrs. Wood, indeed once hired a washerwoman, but she was not +well treated, and would come no more. + +My master quarrelled with me another time, about one of our great +washings, his wife having stirred him up to do so. He said he would compel +me to do the whole of the washing given out to me, or if I again refused, +he would take a short course with me: he would either send me down to the +brig in the river, to carry me back to Antigua, or he would turn me at +once out of doors, and let me provide for myself. I said I would willingly +go back, if he would let me purchase my own freedom. But this enraged him +more than all the rest: he cursed and swore at me dreadfully, and said he +would never sell my freedom--if I wished to be free, I was free in +England, and I might go and try what freedom would do for me, and be +d----d. My heart was very sore with this treatment, but I had to go on. I +continued to do my work, and did all I could to give satisfaction, but all +would not do. + +Shortly after, the cook left them, and then matters went on ten times +worse. I always washed the child's clothes without being commanded to do +it, and any thing else that was wanted in the family; though still I was +very sick--very sick indeed. When the great washing came round, which was +every two months, my mistress got together again a great many heavy +things, such as bed-ticks, bed-coverlets, &c. for me to wash. I told her I +was too ill to wash such heavy things that day. She said, she supposed I +thought myself a free woman, but I was not; and if I did not do it +directly I should be instantly turned out of doors. I stood a long time +before I could answer, for I did not know well what to do. I knew that I +was free in England, but I did not know where to go, or how to get my +living; and therefore, I did not like to leave the house. But Mr. Wood +said he would send for a constable to thrust me out; and at last I took +courage and resolved that I would not be longer thus treated, but would go +and trust to Providence. This was the fourth time they had threatened turn +me out, and, go where I might, I was determined now to take them at their +word; though I thought it very hard, after I had lived with them for +thirteen years, and worked for them like a horse, to be driven out in this +way, like a beggar. My only fault was being sick, and therefore unable to +please my mistress, who thought she never could get work enough out of her +slaves; and I told them so: but they only abused me and drove me out. This +took place from two to three months, I think, after we came to England. + +When I came away, I went to the man (one Mash) who used to black the shoes +of the family, and asked his wife to get somebody to go with me to Hatton +Garden to the Moravian Missionaries: these were the only persons I knew in +England. The woman sent a young girl with me to the mission house, and I +saw there a gentleman called Mr. Moore. I told him my whole story, and how +my owners had treated me, and asked him to take in my trunk with what few +clothes I had. The missionaries were very kind to me--they were sorry for +my destitute situation, and gave me leave to bring my things to be placed +under their care. They were very good people, and they told me to come to +the church. + +When I went back to Mr. Wood's to get my trunk, I saw a lady, Mrs. Pell, +who was on a visit to my mistress. When Mr. and Mrs. Wood heard me come +in, they set this lady to stop me, finding that they had gone too far with +me. Mrs. Pell came out to me, and said, "Are you really going to leave, +Molly? Don't leave, but come into the country with me." I believe she said +this because she thought Mrs. Wood would easily get me back again. I +replied to her, "Ma'am, this is the fourth time my master and mistress +have driven me out, or threatened to drive me--and I will give them no +more occasion to bid me go. I was not willing to leave them, for I am a +stranger in this country, but now I must go--I can stay no longer to be so +used." Mrs. Pell then went up stairs to my mistress, and told that I would +go, and that she could not stop me. Mrs. Wood was very much hurt and +frightened when she found I was determined to go out that day. She said, +"If she goes the people will rob her, and then turn her adrift." She did +not say this to me, but she spoke it loud enough for me to hear; that it +might induce me not to go, I suppose. Mr. Wood also asked me where I was +going to. I told him where I had been, and that I should never have gone +away had I not been driven out by my owners. He had given me a written +paper some time before, which said that I had come with them to England by +my own desire; and that was true. It said also that I left them of my own +free will, because I was a free woman in England; and that I was idle and +would not do my work--which was not true. I gave this paper afterwards to +a gentleman who inquired into my case.[13] + +[Footnote 13: See page 24.] + +I went into the kitchen and got my clothes out. The nurse and the servant +girl were there, and I said to the man who was going to take out my trunk, +"Stop, before you take up this trunk, and hear what I have to say before +these people. I am going out of this house, as I was ordered; but I have +done no wrong at all to my owners, neither here nor in the West Indies. I +always worked very hard to please them, both by night and day; but there +was no giving satisfaction, for my mistress could never be satisfied with +reasonable service. I told my mistress I was sick, and yet she has ordered +me out of doors. This is the fourth time; and now I am going out." + +And so I came out, and went and carried my trunk to the Moravians. I then +returned back to Mash the shoe-black's house, and begged his wife to take +me in. I had a little West Indian money in my trunk; and they got it +changed for me. This helped to support me for a little while. The man's +wife was very kind to me. I was very sick, and she boiled nourishing +things up for me. She also sent for a doctor to see me, and he sent me +medicine, which did me good, though I was ill for a long time with the +rheumatic pains. I lived a good many months with these poor people, and +they nursed me, and did all that lay in their power to serve me. The man +was well acquainted with my situation, as he used to go to and fro to Mr. +Wood's house to clean shoes and knives; and he and his wife were sorry for +me. + +About this time, a woman of the name of Hill told me of the Anti-Slavery +Society, and went with me to their office, to inquire if they could do any +thing to get me my freedom, and send me back to the West Indies. The +gentlemen of the Society took me to a lawyer, who examined very strictly +into my case; but told me that the laws of England could do nothing to +make me free in Antigua[14]. However they did all they could for me: they +gave me a little money from time to time to keep me from want; and some of +them went to Mr. Wood to try to persuade him to let me return a free woman +to my husband; but though they offered him, as I have heard, a large sum +for my freedom, he was sulky and obstinate, and would not consent to let +me go free. + +[Footnote 14: She came first to the Anti-Slavery Office in Aldermanbury, +about the latter end of November 1828; and her case was referred to Mr. +George Stephen to be investigated. More of this hereafter.--ED.] + +This was the first winter I spent in England, and I suffered much from the +severe cold, and from the rheumatic pains, which still at times torment +me. However, Providence was very good to me, and I got many +friends--especially some Quaker ladies, who hearing of my case, came and +sought me out, and gave me good warm clothing and money. Thus I had great +cause to bless God in my affliction. + +When I got better I was anxious to get some work to do, as I was unwilling +to eat the bread of idleness. Mrs. Mash, who was a laundress, recommended +me to a lady for a charwoman. She paid me very handsomely for what work I +did, and I divided the money with Mrs. Mash; for though very poor, they +gave me food when my own money was done, and never suffered me to want. + +In the spring, I got into service with a lady, who saw me at the house +where I sometimes worked as a charwoman. This lady's name was Mrs. +Forsyth. She had been in the West Indies, and was accustomed to Blacks, +and liked them. I was with her six months, and went with her to Margate. +She treated me well, and gave me a good character when she left London.[15] + +[Footnote 15: She refers to a written certificate which will be inserted +afterwards.] + +After Mrs. Forsyth went away, I was again out of place, and went to +lodgings, for which I paid two shillings a week, and found coals and +candle. After eleven weeks, the money I had saved in service was all gone, +and I was forced to go back to the Anti-Slavery office to ask a supply, +till I could get another situation. I did not like to go back--I did not +like to be idle. I would rather work for my living than get it for +nothing. They were very good to give me a supply, but I felt shame at +being obliged to apply for relief whilst I had strength to work. + +At last I went into the service of Mr. and Mrs. Pringle, where I have been +ever since, and am as comfortable as I can be while separated from my dear +husband, and away from my own country and all old friends and connections. +My dear mistress teaches me daily to read the word of God, and takes great +pains to make me understand it. I enjoy the great privilege of being +enabled to attend church three times on the Sunday; and I have met with +many kind friends since I have been here, both clergymen and others. The +Rev. Mr. Young, who lives in the next house, has shown me much kindness, +and taken much pains to instruct me, particularly while my master and +mistress were absent in Scotland. Nor must I forget, among my friends, the +Rev. Mr. Mortimer, the good clergyman of the parish, under whose ministry +I have now sat for upwards of twelve months. I trust in God I have +profited by what I have heard from him. He never keeps back the truth, and +I think he has been the means of opening my eyes and ears much better to +understand the word of God. Mr. Mortimer tells me that he cannot open the +eyes of my heart, but that I must pray to God to change my heart, and make +me to know the truth, and the truth will make me free. + +I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty, +and give me back to my husband. I endeavour to keep down my fretting, and +to leave all to Him, for he knows what is good for me better than I know +myself. Yet, I must confess, I find it a hard and heavy task to do so. + +I am often much vexed, and I feel great sorrow when I hear some people in +this country say, that the slaves do not need better usage, and do not +want to be free.[16] They believe the foreign people,[17] who deceive them, +and say slaves are happy. I say, Not so. How can slaves be happy when they +have the halter round their neck and the whip upon their back? and are +disgraced and thought no more of than beasts?--and are separated from +their mothers, and husbands, and children, and sisters, just as cattle are +sold and separated? Is it happiness for a driver in the field to take down +his wife or sister or child, and strip them, and whip them in such a +disgraceful manner?--women that have had children exposed in the open +field to shame! There is no modesty or decency shown by the owner to his +slaves; men, women, and children are exposed alike. Since I have been here +I have often wondered how English people can go out into the West Indies +and act in such a beastly manner. But when they go to the West Indies, +they forget God and all feeling of shame, I think, since they can see and +do such things. They tie up slaves like hogs--moor[18] them up like cattle, +and they lick them, so as hogs, or cattle, or horses never were +flogged;--and yet they come home and say, and make some good people +believe, that slaves don't want to get out of slavery. But they put a +cloak about the truth. It is not so. All slaves want to be free--to be +free is very sweet. I will say the truth to English people who may read +this history that my good friend, Miss S----, is now writing down for me. +I have been a slave myself--I know what slaves feel--I can tell by myself +what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says +slaves be quite happy in slavery--that they don't want to be free--that +man is either ignorant or a lying person. I never heard a slave say so. I +never heard a Buckra man say so, till I heard tell of it in England. Such +people ought to be ashamed of themselves. They can't do without slaves, +they say. What's the reason they can't do without slaves as well as in +England? No slaves here--no whips--no stocks--no punishment, except for +wicked people. They hire servants in England; and if they don't like them, +they send them away: they can't lick them. Let them work ever so hard in +England, they are far better off than slaves. If they get a bad master, +they give warning and go hire to another. They have their liberty. That's +just what we want. We don't mind hard work, if we had proper treatment, +and proper wages like English servants, and proper time given in the week +to keep us from breaking the Sabbath. But they won't give it: they will +have work--work--work, night and day, sick or well, till we are quite done +up; and we must not speak up nor look amiss, however much we be abused. +And then when we are quite done up, who cares for us, more than for a lame +horse? This is slavery. I tell it, to let English people know the truth; +and I hope they will never leave off to pray God, and call loud to the +great King of England, till all the poor blacks be given free, and slavery +done up for evermore. + +[Footnote 16: The whole of this paragraph especially, is given as nearly as +was possible in Mary's precise words.] + +[Footnote 17: She means West Indians.] + +[Footnote 18: A West Indian phrase: to fasten or tie up.] + + + + +SUPPLEMENT + +TO THE + +HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE. + +BY THE EDITOR. + + +Leaving Mary's narrative, for the present, without comment to the reader's +reflections, I proceed to state some circumstances connected with her case +which have fallen more particularly under my own notice, and which I +consider it incumbent now to lay fully before the public. + +About the latter end of November, 1828, this poor woman found her way to +the office of the Anti-Slavery Society in Aldermanbury, by the aid of a +person who had become acquainted with her situation, and had advised her +to apply there for advice and assistance. After some preliminary +examination into the accuracy of the circumstances related by her, I went +along with her to Mr. George Stephen, solicitor, and requested him to +investigate and draw up a statement of her case, and have it submitted to +counsel, in order to ascertain whether or not, under the circumstances, +her freedom could be legally established on her return to Antigua. On this +occasion, in Mr. Stephen's presence and mine, she expressed, in very +strong terms, her anxiety to return thither if she could go as a free +person, and, at the same time, her extreme apprehensions of the fate that +would probably await her if she returned as a slave. Her words were, "I +would rather go into my grave than go back a slave to Antigua, though I +wish to go back to my husband very much--very much--very much! I am much +afraid my owners would separate me from my husband, and use me very hard, +or perhaps sell me for a field negro;--and slavery is too too bad. I would +rather go into my grave!" + +The paper which Mr. Wood had given her before she left his house, was +placed by her in Mr. Stephen's hands. It was expressed in the following +terms:-- + + "I have already told Molly, and now give it her in writing, + in order that there may be no misunderstanding on her part, + that as I brought her from Antigua at her own request and + entreaty, and that she is consequently now free, she is of + course at liberty to take her baggage and go where she + pleases. And, in consequence of her late conduct, she must + do one of two things--either quit the house, or return to + Antigua by the earliest opportunity, as she does not evince + a disposition to make herself useful. As she is a stranger + in London, I do not wish to turn her out, or would do so, + as two female servants are sufficient for my establishment. + If after this she does remain, it will be only during her + good behaviour: but on no consideration will I allow her + wages or any other remuneration for her services. + + "JOHN A. WOOD." + + "London, August 18, 1828." + +This paper, though not devoid of inconsistencies, which will be apparent +to any attentive reader, is craftily expressed; and was well devised to +serve the purpose which the writer had obviously in view, namely, to +frustrate any appeal which the friendless black woman might make to the +sympathy of strangers, and thus prevent her from obtaining an asylum, if +she left his house, from any respectable family. As she had no one to +refer to for a character in this country except himself, he doubtless +calculated securely on her being speedily driven back, as soon as the +slender fund she had in her possession was expended, to throw herself +unconditionally upon his tender mercies; and his disappointment in this +expectation appears to have exasperated his feelings of resentment towards +the poor woman, to a degree which few persons alive to the claims of +common justice, not to speak of christianity or common humanity, could +easily have anticipated. Such, at least, seems the only intelligible +inference that can be drawn from his subsequent conduct. + +The case having been submitted, by desire of the Anti-Slavery Committee, +to the consideration of Dr. Lushington and Mr. Sergeant Stephen, it was +found that there existed no legal means of compelling Mary's master to +grant her manumission; and that if she returned to Antigua, she would +inevitably fall again under his power, or that of his attorneys, as a +slave. It was, however, resolved to try what could be effected for her by +amicable negotiation; and with this view Mr. Ravenscroft, a solicitor, +(Mr. Stephen's relative,) called upon Mr. Wood, in order to ascertain +whether he would consent to Mary's manumission on any reasonable terms, +and to refer, if required, the amount of compensation for her value to +arbitration. Mr. Ravenscroft with some difficulty obtained one or two +interviews, but found Mr. Wood so full of animosity against the woman, and +so firmly bent against any arrangement having her freedom for its object, +that the negotiation was soon broken off as hopeless. The angry +slave-owner declared "that he would not move a finger about her in this +country, or grant her manumission on any terms whatever; and that if she +went back to the West Indies, she must take the consequences." + +This unreasonable conduct of Mr. Wood, induced the Anti-Slavery Committee, +after several other abortive attempts to effect a compromise, to think of +bringing the case under the notice of Parliament. The heads of Mary's +statement were accordingly engrossed in a Petition, which Dr. Lushington +offered to present, and to give notice at the same time of his intention +to bring in a Bill to provide for the entire emancipation of all slaves +brought to England with the owner's consent. But before this step was +taken, Dr. Lushington again had recourse to negotiation with the master; +and, partly through the friendly intervention of Mr. Manning, partly by +personal conference, used every persuasion in his power to induce Mr. Wood +to relent and let the bondwoman go free. Seeing the matter thus seriously +taken up, Mr. Wood became at length alarmed,--not relishing, it appears, +the idea of having the case publicly discussed in the House of Commons; +and to avert this result he submitted to temporize--assumed a demeanour of +unwonted civility, and even hinted to Mr. Manning (as I was given to +understand) that if he was not driven to utter hostility by the threatened +exposure, he would probably meet our wishes "in his own time and way." +Having gained time by these manoeuvres, he adroitly endeavoured to cool +the ardour of Mary's new friends, in her cause, by representing her as an +abandoned and worthless woman, ungrateful towards him, and undeserving of +sympathy from others; allegations which he supported by the ready +affirmation of some of his West India friends, and by one or two plausible +letters procured from Antigua. By these and like artifices he appears +completely to have imposed on Mr. Manning, the respectable West India +merchant whom Dr. Lushington had asked to negotiate with him; and he +prevailed so far as to induce Dr. Lushington himself (actuated by the +benevolent view of thereby best serving Mary's cause,) to abstain from any +remarks upon his conduct when the petition was at last presented in +Parliament. In this way he dextrously contrived to neutralize all our +efforts, until the close of the Session of 1829; soon after which he +embarked with his family for the West Indies. + +Every exertion for Mary's relief having thus failed; and being fully +convinced from a twelvemonth's observation of her conduct, that she was +really a well-disposed and respectable woman; I engaged her, in December +1829, as a domestic servant in my own family. In this capacity she has +remained ever since; and I am thus enabled to speak of her conduct and +character with a degree of confidence I could not have otherwise done. The +importance of this circumstance will appear in the sequel. + +From the time of Mr. Wood's departure to Antigua, in 1829, till June or +July last, no farther effort was attempted for Mary's relief. Some faint +hope was still cherished that this unconscionable man would at length +relent, and "in his own time and way," grant the prayer of the exiled +negro woman. After waiting, however, nearly twelve months longer, and +seeing the poor woman's spirits daily sinking under the sickening +influence of hope deferred, I resolved on a final attempt in her behalf, +through the intervention of the Moravian Missionaries, and of the Governor +of Antigua. At my request, Mr. Edward Moore, agent of the Moravian +Brethren in London, wrote to the Rev. Joseph Newby, their Missionary in +that island, empowering him to negotiate in his own name with Mr. Wood for +Mary's manumission, and to procure his consent, if possible, upon terms of +ample pecuniary compensation. At the same time the excellent and +benevolent William Allen, of the Society of Friends, wrote to Sir Patrick +Ross, the Governor of the Colony, with whom he was on terms of friendship, +soliciting him to use his influence in persuading Mr. Wood to consent: and +I confess I was sanguine enough to flatter myself that we should thus at +length prevail. The result proved, however, that I had not yet fully +appreciated the character of the man we had to deal with. + +Mr. Newby's answer arrived early in November last, mentioning that he had +done all in his power to accomplish our purpose, but in vain; and that if +Mary's manumission could not be obtained without Mr. Wood's consent, he +believed there was no prospect of its ever being effected. + +A few weeks afterwards I was informed by Mr. Allen, that he had received a +letter from Sir Patrick Ross, stating that he also had used his best +endeavours in the affair, but equally without effect. Sir Patrick at the +same time inclosed a letter, addressed by Mr. Wood to his Secretary, Mr. +Taylor, assigning his reasons for persisting in this extraordinary course. +This letter requires our special attention. Its tenor is as follows:-- + + "My dear Sir, + + "In reply to your note relative to the woman Molly, I beg + you will have the kindness to oblige me by assuring his + Excellency that I regret exceedingly my inability to comply + with his request, which under other circumstances would + afford me very great pleasure. + + "There are many and powerful reasons for inducing me to + refuse my sanction to her returning here in the way she + seems to wish. It would be to reward the worst species of + ingratitude, and subject myself to insult whenever she came + in my way. Her moral character is very bad, as the police + records will shew; and she would be a very troublesome + character should she come here without any restraint. She is + not a native of this country, and I know of no relation she + has here. I induced her to take a husband, a short time + before she left this, by providing a comfortable house in my + yard for them, and prohibiting her going out after 10 to 12 + o'clock (our bed-time) without special leave. This she + considered the greatest, and indeed the only, grievance she + ever complained of, and all my efforts could not prevent it. + In hopes of inducing her to be steady to her husband, who + was a free man, I gave him the house to occupy during our + absence; but it appears the attachment was too loose to bind + her, and he has taken another wife: so on that score I do + her no injury.--In England she made her election, and + quitted my family. This I had no right to object to; and I + should have thought no more of it, but not satisfied to + leave quietly, she gave every trouble and annoyance in her + power, and endeavoured to injure the character of my family + by the most vile and infamous falsehoods, which was embodied + in a petition to the House of Commons, and would have been + presented, had not my friends from this island, particularly + the Hon. Mr. Byam and Dr. Coull, come forward, and disproved + what she had asserted. + + "It would be beyond the limits of an ordinary letter to + detail her baseness, though I will do so should his + Excellency wish it; but you may judge of her depravity by + one circumstance, which came out before Mr. Justice Dyett, + in a quarrel with another female. + + * * * * * + + "Such a thing I could not have believed possible.[19] + + [Footnote 19: I omit the circumstance here mentioned, because + it is too indecent to appear in a publication likely to be + perused by females. It is, in all probability, a vile + calumny; but even if it were perfectly true, it would not + serve Mr. Wood's case one straw.--Any reader who wishes it, + may see the passage referred to, in the autograph letter in + my possession. T. P.] + + "Losing her value as a slave in a pecuniary point of view I + consider of no consequence; for it was our intention, had + she conducted herself properly and returned with us, to have + given her freedom. She has taken her freedom; and all I wish + is, that she would enjoy it without meddling with me. + + "Let me again repeat, if his Excellency wishes it, it will + afford me great pleasure to state such particulars of her, + and which will be incontestably proved by numbers here, that + I am sure will acquit me in his opinion of acting unkind or + ungenerous towards her. I'll say nothing of the liability I + should incur, under the Consolidated Slave Law, of dealing + with a free person as a slave. + + "My only excuse for entering so much into detail must be + that of my anxious wish to stand justified in his + Excellency's opinion. + + "I am, my dear Sir, + Yours very truly, + JOHN A. WOOD. + "_20th Oct. 1830_." + + "_Charles Taylor, Esq._ + _&c. &c. &c._ + + "I forgot to mention that it was at her own special request + that she accompanied me to England--and also that she had a + considerable sum of money with her, which she had saved in + my service. I knew of L36 to L40, at least, for I had some + trouble to recover it from a white man, to whom she had lent + it. + + "J. A. W." + +Such is Mr. Wood's justification of his conduct in thus obstinately +refusing manumission to the Negro-woman who had escaped from his "house of +bondage." + +Let us now endeavour to estimate the validity of the excuses assigned, and +the allegations advanced by him, for the information of Governor Sir +Patrick Ross, in this deliberate statement of his case. + +1. To allow the woman to return home free, would, he affirms "be to reward +the worst species of ingratitude." + +He assumes, it seems, the sovereign power of pronouncing a virtual +sentence of banishment, for the alleged crime of ingratitude. Is this then +a power which any man ought to possess over his fellow-mortal? or which +any good man would ever wish to exercise? And, besides, there is no +evidence whatever, beyond Mr. Wood's mere assertion, that Mary Prince owed +him or his family the slightest mark of gratitude. Her account of the +treatment she received in his service, _may_ be incorrect; but her simple +statement is at least supported by minute and feasible details, and, +unless rebutted by positive facts, will certainly command credence from +impartial minds more readily than his angry accusation, which has +something absurd and improbable in its very front. Moreover, is it not +absurd to term the assertion of her _natural rights_ by a slave,--even +supposing her to have been kindly dealt with by her "owners," and treated +in every respect the reverse of what Mary affirms to have been her +treatment by Mr. Wood and his wife,--"the _worst_ species of ingratitude?" +This may be West Indian ethics, but it will scarcely be received as sound +doctrine in Europe. + +2. To permit her return would be "to subject himself to insult whenever +she came in his way." + +This is a most extraordinary assertion. Are the laws of Antigua then so +favourable to the free blacks, or the colonial police so feebly +administered, that there are no sufficient restraints to protect a rich +colonist like Mr. Wood,--a man who counts among his familiar friends the +Honourable Mr. Byam, and Mr. Taylor the Government Secretary,--from being +insulted by a poor Negro-woman? It is preposterous. + +3. Her moral character is so bad, that she would prove very troublesome +should she come to the colony "without any restraint." + +"Any restraint?" Are there no restraints (supposing them necessary) short +of absolute slavery to keep "troublesome characters" in order? But this, I +suppose, is the _argumentum ad gubernatorem_--to frighten the governor. +She is such a termagant, it seems, that if she once gets back to the +colony _free_, she will not only make it too hot for poor Mr. Wood, but +the police and courts of justice will scarce be a match for her! Sir +Patrick Ross, no doubt, will take care how he intercedes farther for so +formidable a virago! How can one treat such arguments seriously? + +4. She is not a native of the colony, and he knows of no relation she has +there. + +True: But was it not her home (so far as a slave can have a home) for +thirteen or fourteen years? Were not the connexions, friendships, and +associations of her mature life formed there? Was it not there she hoped +to spend her latter years in domestic tranquillity with her husband, free +from the lash of the taskmaster? These considerations may appear light to +Mr. Wood, but they are every thing to this poor woman. + +5. He induced her, he says, to take a husband, a short time before she +left Antigua, and gave them a comfortable house in his yard, &c. &c. + +This paragraph merits attention. He "_induced her to take a husband_?" If +the fact were true, what brutality of mind and manners does it not +indicate among these slave-holders? They refuse to legalize the marriages +of their slaves, but _induce_ them to form such temporary connexions as +may suit the owner's conveniency, just as they would pair the lower +animals; and this man has the effrontery to tell us so! Mary, however, +tells a very different story, (see page 17;) and her assertion, +independently of other proof, is at least as credible as Mr. Wood's. The +reader will judge for himself as to the preponderance of internal evidence +in the conflicting statements. + +6. He alleges that she was, before marriage, licentious, and even depraved +in her conduct, and unfaithful to her husband afterwards. + +These are serious charges. But if true, or even partially true, how comes +it that a person so correct in his family hours and arrangements as Mr. +Wood professes to be, and who expresses so edifying a horror of +licentiousness, could reconcile it to his conscience to keep in the bosom +of his family so _depraved_, as well as so _troublesome_ a character for +at least thirteen years, and confide to her for long periods too the +charge of his house and the care of his children--for such I shall shew to +have been the facts? How can he account for not having rid himself with +all speed, of so disreputable an inmate--he who values her loss so little +"in a pecuniary point of view?" How can he account for having sold _five +other slaves_ in that period, and yet have retained this shocking +woman--nay, even have refused to sell her, on more than one occasion, when +offered her full value? It could not be from ignorance of her character, +for the circumstance which he adduces as a proof of her shameless +depravity, and which I have omitted on account of its indecency, occurred, +it would appear, not less than _ten years ago_. Yet, notwithstanding her +alleged ill qualities and habits of gross immorality, he has not only +constantly refused to part with her; but after thirteen long years, brings +her to England as an attendant on his wife and children, with the avowed +intention of carrying her back along with his maiden daughter, a young +lady returning from school! Such are the extraordinary facts; and until +Mr. Wood shall reconcile these singular inconsistencies between his +actions and his allegations, he must not be surprised if we in England +prefer giving credit to the former rather than the latter; although at +present it appears somewhat difficult to say which side of the alternative +is the more creditable to his own character. + +7. Her husband, he says, has taken another wife; "so that on that score," +he adds, "he does her no injury." + +Supposing this fact be true, (which I doubt, as I doubt every mere +assertion from so questionable a quarter,) I shall take leave to put a +question or two to Mr. Wood's conscience. Did he not write from England to +his friend Mr. Darrel, soon after Mary left his house, directing him to +turn her husband, Daniel James, off his premises, on account of her +offence; telling him to inform James at the same time that his wife had +_taken up_ with another man, who had robbed her of all she had--a calumny +as groundless as it was cruel? I further ask if the person who invented +this story (whoever he may be,) was not likely enough to impose similar +fabrications on the poor negro man's credulity, until he may have been +induced to prove false to his marriage vows, and to "take another wife," +as Mr. Wood coolly expresses it? But withal, I strongly doubt the fact of +Daniel James' infidelity; for there is now before me a letter from himself +to Mary, dated in April 1830, couched in strong terms of conjugal +affection; expressing his anxiety for her speedy return, and stating that +he had lately "received a grace" (a token of religious advancement) in the +Moravian church, a circumstance altogether incredible if the man were +living in open adultery, as Mr. Wood's assertion implies. + +8. Mary, he says, endeavoured to injure the character of his family by +infamous falsehoods, which were embodied in a petition to the House of +Commons, and would have been presented, had not his friends from Antigua, +the Hon. Mr. Byam, and Dr. Coull, disproved her assertions. + +I can say something on this point from my own knowledge. Mary's petition +contained simply a brief statement of her case, and, among other things, +mentioned the treatment she had received from Mr. and Mrs. Wood. Now the +principal facts are corroborated by other evidence, and Mr. Wood must +bring forward very different testimony from that of Dr. Coull before +well-informed persons will give credit to his contradiction. The value of +that person's evidence in such cases will be noticed presently. Of the +Hon. Mr. Byam I know nothing, and shall only at present remark that it is +not likely to redound greatly to his credit to appear in such company. +Furthermore, Mary's petition _was_ presented, as Mr. Wood ought to know; +though it was not discussed, nor his conduct exposed as it ought to have +been. + +9. He speaks of the liability he should incur, under the Consolidated +Slave Law, of dealing with a free person as a slave. + +Is not this pretext hypocritical in the extreme? What liability could he +possibly incur by voluntarily resigning the power, conferred on him by an +iniquitous colonial law, of re-imposing the shackles of slavery on the +bondwoman from whose limbs they had fallen when she touched the free soil +of England?--There exists no liability from which he might not have been +easily secured, or for which he would not have been fully compensated. + +He adds in a postscript that Mary had a considerable sum of money with +her,--from L36 to L40 at least, which she had saved in his service. The +fact is, that she had at one time 113 dollars in cash; but only a very +small portion of that sum appears to have been brought by her to England, +the rest having been partly advanced, as she states, to assist her +husband, and partly lost by being lodged in unfaithful custody. + +Finally, Mr. Wood repeats twice that it will afford him great pleasure to +state for the governor's satisfaction, if required, such particulars of +"the woman Molly," upon incontestable evidence, as he is sure will acquit +him in his Excellency's opinion "of acting unkind or ungenerous towards +her." + +This is well: and I now call upon Mr. Wood to redeem his pledge;--to bring +forward facts and proofs fully to elucidate the subject;--to reconcile, if +he can, the extraordinary discrepancies which I have pointed out between +his assertions and the actual facts, and especially between his account of +Mary Prince's character and his own conduct in regard to her. He has now +to produce such a statement as will acquit him not only in the opinion of +Sir Patrick Ross, but of the British public. And in this position he has +spontaneously placed himself, in attempting to destroy, by his deliberate +criminatory letter, the poor woman's fair fame and reputation,--an attempt +but for which the present publication would probably never have appeared. + + * * * * * + +Here perhaps we might safely leave the case to the judgment of the public; +but as this negro woman's character, not the less valuable to her because +her condition is so humble, has been so unscrupulously blackened by her +late master, a party so much interested and inclined to place her in the +worst point of view,--it is incumbent on me, as her advocate with the +public, to state such additional testimony in her behalf as I can fairly +and conscientiously adduce. + +My first evidence is Mr. Joseph Phillips, of Antigua. Having submitted to +his inspection Mr. Wood's letter and Mary Prince's narrative, and +requested his candid and deliberate sentiments in regard to the actual +facts of the case, I have been favoured with the following letter from him +on the subject:-- + + "London, January 18, 1831. + + "Dear Sir, + + "In giving you my opinion of Mary Prince's narrative, and of + Mr. Wood's letter respecting her, addressed to Mr. Taylor, I + shall first mention my opportunities of forming a proper + estimate of the conduct and character of both + parties. + + "I have known Mr. Wood since his first arrival in Antigua in + 1803. He was then a poor young man, who had been brought up + as a ship carpenter in Bermuda. He was afterwards raised to + be a clerk in the Commissariat department, and realised + sufficient capital to commence business as a merchant. This + last profession he has followed successfully for a good many + years, and is understood to have accumulated very + considerable wealth. After he entered into trade, I had + constant intercourse with him in the way of business; and in + 1824 and 1825, I was regularly employed on his premises as + his clerk; consequently, I had opportunities of seeing a + good deal of his character both as a merchant, and as a + master of slaves. The former topic I pass over as irrelevant + to the present subject: in reference to the latter, I shall + merely observe that he was not, in regard to ordinary + matters, more severe than the ordinary run of slave owners; + but, if seriously offended, he was not of a disposition to + be easily appeased, and would spare no cost or sacrifice to + gratify his vindictive feelings. As regards the exaction of + work from domestic slaves, his wife was probably more severe + than himself--it was almost impossible for the slaves ever + to give her entire satisfaction. + + "Of their slave Molly (or Mary) I know less than of Mr. and + Mrs. Wood; but I saw and heard enough of her, both while I + was constantly employed on Mr. Wood's premises, and while I + was there occasionally on business, to be quite certain that + she was viewed by her owners as their most respectable and + trustworthy female slave. It is within my personal knowledge + that she had usually the charge of the house in their + absence, was entrusted with the keys, &c.; and was always + considered by the neighbours and visitors as their + confidential household servant, and as a person in whose + integrity they placed unlimited confidence,--although when + Mrs. Wood was at home, she was no doubt kept pretty closely + at washing and other hard work. A decided proof of the + estimation in which she was held by her owners exists in the + fact that Mr. Wood uniformly refused to part with her, + whereas he sold five other slaves while she was with them. + Indeed, she always appeared to me to be a slave of superior + intelligence and respectability; and I always understood + such to be her general character in the place. + + "As to what Mr. Wood alleges about her being frequently + before the police, &c. I can only say I never heard of the + circumstance before; and as I lived for twenty years in the + same small town, and in the vicinity of their residence, I + think I could scarcely have failed to become acquainted with + it, had such been the fact. She might, however, have been + occasionally before the magistrate in consequence of little + disputes among the slaves, without any serious imputation on + her general respectability. She says she was twice summoned + to appear as a witness on such occasions; and that she was + once sent by her mistress to be confined in the Cage, and + was afterwards flogged by her desire. This cruel practice is + very common in Antigua; and, in my opinion, is but little + creditable to the slave owners and magistrates by whom such + arbitrary punishments are inflicted, frequently for very + trifling faults. Mr. James Scotland is the only magistrate + in the colony who invariably refuses to sanction this + reprehensible practice. + + "Of the immoral conduct ascribed to Molly by Mr. Wood, I can + say nothing further than this--that I have heard she had at + a former period (previous to her marriage) a connexion with + a white person, a Capt. ----, which I have no doubt was + broken off when she became seriously impressed with + religion. But, at any rate, such connexions are so common, I + might almost say universal, in our slave colonies, that + except by the missionaries and a few serious persons, they + are considered, if faults at all, so very venial as scarcely + to deserve the name of immorality. Mr. Wood knows this + colonial estimate of such connexions as well as I do; and, + however false such an estimate must be allowed to be, + especially When applied to their own conduct by persons of + education, pretending to adhere to the pure Christian rule + of morals,--yet when he ascribes to a negro slave, to whom + legal marriage was denied, such great criminality for laxity + of this sort, and professes to be so exceedingly shocked and + amazed at the tale he himself relates, he must, I am + confident, have had a farther object in view than the + information of Mr. Taylor or Sir Patrick Ross. He must, it + is evident, have been aware that his letter would be sent to + Mr. Allen, and accordingly adapted it, as more important + documents from the colonies are often adapted, _for effect + in England_. The tale of the slave Molly's immoralities, be + assured, was not intended for Antigua so much as for Stoke + Newington, and Peckham, and Aldermanbury. + + "In regard to Mary's narrative generally, although I cannot + speak to the accuracy of the details, except in a few recent + particulars, I can with safety declare that I see no reason + to question the truth of a single fact stated by her, or + even to suspect her in any instance of intentional + exaggeration. It bears in my judgment the genuine stamp of + truth and nature. Such is my unhesitating opinion, after a + residence of twenty-seven years in the West Indies. + + "I remain, &c. + "JOSEPH PHILLIPS." + + _To T. Pringle, Esq._ + + "P.S. As Mr. Wood refers to the evidence of Dr. T. Coull in + opposition to Mary's assertions, it may be proper to enable + you justly to estimate the worth of that person's evidence + in cases connected with the condition and treatment of + slaves. You are aware that in 1829, Mr. M'Queen of Glasgow, + in noticing a Report of the "Ladies' Society of Birmingham + for the relief of British Negro Slaves," asserted with his + characteristic audacity, that the statement which it + contained respecting distressed and deserted slaves in + Antigua was "an abominable falsehood." Not contented with + this, and with insinuating that I, as agent of the society + in the distribution of their charity in Antigua, had + fraudulently duped them out of their money by a fabricated + tale of distress, Mr. M'Queen proceeded to libel me in the + most opprobrious terms, as "a man of the most worthless and + abandoned character."[20] Now I know from good authority that + it was _upon Dr. Coull's information_ that Mr. M'Queen + founded this impudent contradiction of notorious facts, and + this audacious libel of my personal character. From this + single circumstance you may judge of the value of his + evidence in the case of Mary Prince. I can furnish further + information respecting Dr. Coull's colonial proceedings, + both private and judicial, should circumstances require it." + "J. P." + + [Footnote 20: In elucidation of the circumstances above + referred to, I subjoin the following extracts from the Report + of the Birmingham Ladies' Society for 1830:-- + + "As a portion of the funds of this association has been + appropriated to assist the benevolent efforts of a society + which has for fifteen years afforded relief to distressed + and deserted slaves in Antigua, it may not be uninteresting + to our friends to learn the manner in which the agent of + this society has been treated for simply obeying the command + of our Saviour, by ministering, like the good Samaritan, to + the distresses of the helpless and the desolate. The + society's proceedings being adverted to by a friend of + Africa, at one of the public meetings held in this country, + a West Indian planter, who was present, wrote over to his + friends in Antigua, and represented the conduct of the + distributors of this charity in such a light, that it was + deemed worthy of the cognizance of the House of Assembly. + Mr. Joseph Phillips, a resident of the island, who had most + kindly and disinterestedly exerted himself in the + distribution of the money from England among the poor + deserted slaves, was brought before the Assembly, and most + severely interrogated: on his refusing to deliver up his + private correspondence with his friends in England, he was + thrown into a loathsome jail, where he was kept for nearly + five months; while his loss of business, and the oppressive + proceedings instituted against him, were involving him in + poverty and ruin. On his discharge by the House of Assembly, + he was seized in their lobby for debt, and again + imprisoned." + + "In our report for the year 1826, we quoted a passage from + the 13th Report of the Society for the relief of deserted + Slaves in the island of Antigua, in reference to a case of + great distress. This statement fell into the hands of Mr. + M'Queen, the Editor of the Glasgow Courier. Of the + consequences resulting from this circumstance we only gained + information through the Leicester Chronicle, which had + copied an article from the Weekly Register of Antigua, dated + St. John's, September 22, 1829. We find from this that Mr. + M'Queen affirms, that 'with the exception of the fact that + the society is, as it deserves to be, duped out of its + money, the whole tale' (of the distress above referred to) + 'is an abominable falsehood.' This statement, which we are + informed has appeared in many of the public papers, is + COMPLETELY REFUTED in our Appendix, No. 4, to which + we refer our readers. Mr. M'Queen's statements, we regret to + say, would lead many to believe that there are no deserted + Negroes to assist; and that the case mentioned was a perfect + fabrication. He also distinctly avers, that the + disinterested and humane agent of the society, Mr. Joseph + Phillips, is 'a man of the most worthless and abandoned + character.' In opposition to this statement, we learn the + good character of Mr. Phillips from those who have long been + acquainted with his laudable exertions in the cause of + humanity, and from the Editor of the Weekly Register of + Antigua, who speaks, on his own knowledge, of more than + twenty years back; confidently appealing at the same time to + the inhabitants of the colony in which he resides for the + truth of his averments, and producing a testimonial to Mr. + Phillips's good character signed by two members of the + Antigua House of Assembly, and by Mr. Wyke, the collector of + his Majesty's customs, and by Antigua merchants, as + follows--'that they have been acquainted with him the last + four years and upwards, and he has always conducted himself + in an upright becoming manner--his character we know to be + unimpeached, and his morals unexceptionable.' + + (Signed) "Thomas Saunderson John D. Taylor + John A. Wood George Wyke + Samuel L. Darrel Giles S. Musson + Robert Grant." + + "St. John's, Antigua, June 28, 1825." + +In addition to the above testimonies, Mr. Phillips has brought over to +England with him others of a more recent date, from some of the most +respectable persons in Antigua--sufficient to cover with confusion all his +unprincipled calumniators. See also his account of his own case in the +Anti-Slavery Reporter, No. 74, p. 69.] + +I leave the preceding letter to be candidly weighed by the reader in +opposition to the inculpatory allegations of Mr. Wood--merely remarking +that Mr. Wood will find it somewhat difficult to impugn the evidence of +Mr. Phillips, whose "upright," "unimpeached," and "unexceptionable" +character, he has himself vouched for in unqualified terms, by affixing +his signature to the testimonial published in the Weekly Register of +Antigua in 1825. (See Note below.) + +The next testimony in Mary's behalf is that of Mrs. Forsyth, a lady in +whose service she spent the summer of 1829.--(See page 21.) This lady, on +leaving London to join her husband, voluntarily presented Mary with a +certificate, which, though it relates only to a recent and short period of +her history, is a strong corroboration of the habitual respectability of +her character. It is in the following terms:-- + + "Mrs. Forsyth states, that the bearer of this paper (Mary + James,) has been with her for the last six months; that she + has found her an excellent character, being honest, + industrious, and sober; and that she parts with her on no + other account than this--that being obliged to travel with + her husband, who has lately come from abroad in bad health, + she has no farther need of a servant. Any person Wishing to + engage her, can have her character in full from Miss Robson, + 4, Keppel Street, Russel Square, whom Mrs. Forsyth has + requested to furnish particulars to any one desiring them. + + "4, Keppel Street, 28th Sept. 1829." + +In the last place, I add my own testimony in behalf of this negro woman. +Independently of the scrutiny, which, as Secretary of the Anti-Slavery +Society, I made into her case when she first applied for assistance, at +18, Aldermanbury, and the watchful eye I kept upon her conduct for the +ensuing twelvemonths, while she was the occasional pensioner of the +Society, I have now had the opportunity of closely observing her conduct +for fourteen months, in the situation of a domestic servant in my own +family; and the following is the deliberate opinion of Mary's character, +formed not only by myself, but also by my wife and sister-in-law, after +this ample period of observation. We have found her perfectly honest and +trustworthy in all respects; so that we have no hesitation in leaving +every thing in the house at her disposal. She had the entire charge of the +house during our absence in Scotland for three months last autumn, and +conducted herself in that charge with the utmost discretion and fidelity. +She is not, it is true, a very expert housemaid, nor capable of much hard +work, (for her constitution appears to be a good deal broken,) but she is +careful, industrious, and anxious to do her duty and to give satisfaction. +She is capable of strong attachments, and feels deep, though unobtrusive, +gratitude for real kindness shown her. She possesses considerable natural +sense, and has much quickness of observation and discrimination of +character. She is remarkable for _decency_ and _propriety_ of conduct--and +her _delicacy_, even in trifling minutiae, has been a trait of special +remark by the females of my family. This trait, which is obviously quite +unaffected, would be a most inexplicable anomaly, if her former habits had +been so indecent and depraved as Mr. Wood alleges. Her chief faults, so +far as we have discovered them, are, a somewhat violent and hasty temper, +and a considerable share of natural pride and self-importance; but these +defects have been but rarely and transiently manifested, and have scarcely +occasioned an hour's uneasiness at any time in our household. Her +religious knowledge, notwithstanding the pious care of her Moravian +instructors in Antigua, is still but very limited, and her views of +christianity indistinct; but her profession, whatever it may have of +imperfection, I am convinced, has nothing of insincerity. In short, we +consider her on the whole as respectable and well-behaved a person in her +station, as any domestic, white or black, (and we have had ample +experience of both colours,) that we have ever had in our service. + +But after all, Mary's character, important though its exculpation be to +her, is not really the point of chief practical interest in this case. +Suppose all Mr. Wood's defamatory allegations to be true--suppose him to +be able to rake up against her out of the records of the Antigua police, +or from the veracious testimony of his brother colonists, twenty stories +as bad or worse than what he insinuates--suppose the whole of her own +statement to be false, and even the whole of her conduct since she came +under our observation here to be a tissue of hypocrisy;--suppose all +this--and leave the negro woman as black in character as in +complexion,[21]--yet it would affect not the main facts--which are +these.--1. Mr. Wood, not daring in England to punish this woman +arbitrarily, as he would have done in the West Indies, drove her out of +his house, or left her, at least, only the alternative of returning +instantly to Antigua, with the certainty of severe treatment there, or +submitting in silence to what she considered intolerable usage in his +household. 2. He has since obstinately persisted in refusing her +manumission, to enable her to return home in security, though repeatedly +offered more than ample compensation for her value as a slave; and this on +various frivolous pretexts, but really, and indeed not unavowedly, in +order to _punish_ her for leaving his service in England, though he +himself had professed to give her that option. These unquestionable facts +speak volumes.[22] + +[Footnote 21: If it even were so, how strong a plea of palliation might not +the poor negro bring, by adducing the neglect of her various owners to +afford religious instruction or moral discipline, and the habitual +influence of their evil _example_ (to say the very least,) before her +eyes? What moral good could she possibly learn--what moral evil could she +easily escape, while under the uncontrolled power of such masters as she +describes Captain I---- and Mr. D---- of Turk's Island? All things +considered, it is indeed wonderful to find her such as she now is. But as +she has herself piously expressed it, "that God whom then she knew not +mercifully preserved her for better things."] + +[Footnote 22: Since the preceding pages were printed off, I have been +favoured with a communication from the Rev. J. Curtin, to whom among other +acquaintances of Mr. Wood's in this country, the entire proof sheets of +this pamphlet had been sent for inspection. Mr. Curtin corrects some +omissions and inaccuracies in Mary Prince's narrative (see page 17,) by +stating, 1. That she was baptized, not in August, but on the 6th of April, +1817; 2. That sometime before her baptism, on her being admitted a +catechumen, preparatory to that holy ordinance, she brought a note from +her owner, Mr. Wood, recommending her for religious instruction, &c.; 3. +That it was his usual practice, when any adult slaves came on _week days_ +to school, to require their owners' permission for their attendance; but +that on _Sundays_ the chapel was open indiscriminately to all.--Mary, +after a personal interview with Mr. Curtin, and after hearing his letter +read by me, still maintains that Mr. Wood's note recommended her for +baptism merely, and that she never received any religious instruction +whatever from Mr. and Mrs. Wood, or from any one else at that period +beyond what she has stated in her narrative. In regard to her +non-admission to the Sunday school without permission from her owners, she +admits that she may possibly have mistaken the clergyman's meaning on that +point, but says that such was certainly her impression at the time, and +the actual cause of her non-attendance. + +Mr. Curtin finds in his books some reference to Mary's connection with a +Captain ----, (the individual, I believe, alluded to by Mr. Phillips at +page 32); but he states that when she attended his chapel she was always +decently and becomingly dressed, and appeared to him to be in a situation +of trust in her mistress's family. + +Mr. Curtin offers no comment on any other part of Mary's statement; but he +speaks in very favourable, though general terms of the respectability of +Mr. Wood, whom he had known for many years in Antigua; and of Mrs. Wood, +though she was not personally known to him, he says, that he had "heard +her spoken of by those of her acquaintance, as a lady of very mild and +amiable manners." + +Another friend of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, a lady who had been their guest both +in Antigua and England, alleges that Mary has grossly misrepresented them +in her narrative; and says that she "can vouch for their being the most +benevolent, kind-hearted people that can possibly live." She has declined, +however, to furnish me with any written correction of the +misrepresentations she complains of, although I offered to insert her +testimony in behalf of her friends, if sent to me in time. And having +already kept back the publication a fortnight waiting for communications +of this sort, I will not delay it longer. Those who have withheld their +strictures have only themselves to blame. + +Of the general character of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, I would not designedly give +any _unfair_ impression. Without implicitly adopting either the _ex parte_ +view of Mary Prince, or the unmeasured encomiums of their friends, I am +willing to believe them to be, on the whole, fair, perhaps favourable, +specimens of colonial character. Let them even be rated, if you will, in +the very highest and most benevolent class of slave-holders; and, laying +everything else entirely out of view, let Mr. Wood's conduct in this +affair be tried exclusively by the facts established beyond dispute, and +by his own statement of the case in his letter to Mr. Taylor. But then, I +ask, if the very _best_ and _mildest_ of your slave-owners can act as Mr. +Wood is proved to have acted, what is to be expected of persons whose +mildness, or equity, or common humanity no one will dare to vouch for? If +such things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?--And +what else then can Colonial Slavery possibly be, even in its best estate, +but a system incurably evil and iniquitous?--I require no other data--I +need add no further comment.] + +The case affords a most instructive illustration of the true spirit of the +slave system, and of the pretensions of the slave-holders to assert, not +merely their claims to a "vested right" in the _labour_ of their bondmen, +but to an indefeasible property in them as their "absolute chattels." It +furnishes a striking practical comment on the assertions of the West +Indians that self-interest is a sufficient check to the indulgence of +vindictive feelings in the master; for here is a case where a man (a +_respectable_ and _benevolent_ man as his friends aver,) prefers losing +entirely the full price of the slave, for the mere satisfaction of +preventing a poor black woman from returning home to her husband! If the +pleasure of thwarting the benevolent wishes of the Anti-Slavery Society in +behalf of the deserted negro, be an additional motive with Mr. Wood, it +will not much mend his wretched plea. + + * * * * * + +I may here add a few words respecting the earlier portion of Mary Prince's +narrative. The facts there stated must necessarily rest entirely,--since +we have no collateral evidence,--upon their intrinsic claims to +probability, and upon the reliance the reader may feel disposed, after +perusing the foregoing pages, to place on her veracity. To my judgment, +the internal evidence of the truth of her narrative appears remarkably +strong. The circumstances are related in a tone of natural sincerity, and +are accompanied in almost every case with characteristic and minute +details, which must, I conceive, carry with them full conviction to every +candid mind that this negro woman has actually seen, felt, and suffered +all that she so impressively describes; and that the picture she has given +of West Indian slavery is not less true than it is revolting. + +But there may be some persons into whose hands this tract may fall, so +imperfectly acquainted with the real character of Negro Slavery, as to be +shocked into partial, if not absolute incredulity, by the acts of inhuman +oppression and brutality related of Capt. I---- and his wife, and of Mr. +D----, the salt manufacturer of Turk's Island. Here, at least, such +persons may be disposed to think, there surely must be _some_ +exaggeration; the facts are too shocking to be credible. The facts are +indeed shocking, but unhappily not the less credible on that account. +Slavery is a curse to the oppressor scarcely less than to the oppressed: +its natural tendency is to brutalize both. After a residence myself of six +years in a slave colony, I am inclined to doubt whether, as regards its +_demoralizing_ influence, the master is not even a greater object of +compassion than his bondman. Let those who are disposed to doubt the +atrocities related in this narrative, on the testimony of a sufferer, +examine the details of many cases of similar barbarity that have lately +come before the public, on unquestionable evidence. Passing over the +reports of the Fiscal of Berbice,[23] and the Mauritius horrors recently +unveiled,[24] let them consider the case of Mr. and Mrs. Moss, of the +Bahamas, and their slave Kate, so justly denounced by the Secretary for +the Colonies;[25]--the cases of Eleanor Mead,[26]--of Henry +Williams,[27]--and of the Rev. Mr. Bridges and Kitty Hylton,[28] in +Jamaica. These cases alone might suffice to demonstrate the inevitable +tendency of slavery as it exists in our colonies, to brutalize the master +to a truly frightful degree--a degree which would often cast into the +shade even the atrocities related in the narrative of Mary Prince; and +which are sufficient to prove, independently of all other evidence, that +there is nothing in the revolting character of the facts to affect their +credibility; but that on the contrary, similar deeds are at this very time +of frequent occurrence in almost every one of our slave colonies. The +system of coercive labour may vary in different places; it may be more +destructive to human life in the cane culture of Mauritius and Jamaica, +than in the predial and domestic bondage of Bermuda or the Bahamas,--but +the spirit and character of slavery are every where the same, and cannot +fail to produce similar effects. Wherever slavery prevails, there will +inevitably be found cruelty and oppression. Individuals who have preserved +humane, and amiable, and tolerant dispositions towards their black +dependents, may doubtless be found among slave-holders; but even where a +happy instance of this sort occurs, such as Mary's first mistress, the +kind-hearted Mrs. Williams, the favoured condition of the slave is still +as precarious as it is rare: it is every moment at the mercy of events; +and must always be held by a tenure so proverbially uncertain as that of +human prosperity, or human life. Such examples, like a feeble and +flickering streak of light in a gloomy picture, only serve by contrast to +exhibit the depth of the prevailing shades. Like other exceptions, they +only prove the general rule: the unquestionable tendency of the system is +to vitiate the best tempers, and to harden the most feeling hearts. "Never +be kind, nor speak kindly to a slave," said an accomplished English lady +in South Africa to my wife: "I have now," she added, "been for some time a +slave-owner, and have found, from vexatious experience in my own +household, that nothing but harshness and hauteur will do with slaves." + +[Footnote 23: See Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 5 and 16.] + +[Footnote 24: Ibid, No. 44.] + +[Footnote 25: Ibid, No. 47.] + +[Footnote 26: Ibid, No. 64, p. 345; No. 71, p. 481.] + +[Footnote 27: Ibid, No. 65, p. 356; No. 69, p. 431.] + +[Footnote 28: Anti-Slavery Reporter, Nos. 66, 69, and 76.] + +I might perhaps not inappropriately illustrate this point more fully by +stating many cases which fell under my own personal observation, or became +known to me through authentic sources, at the Cape of Good Hope--a colony +where slavery assumes, as it is averred, a milder aspect than in any other +dependency of the empire where it exists; and I could shew, from the +judicial records of that colony, received by me within these few weeks, +cases scarcely inferior in barbarity to the worst of those to which I have +just specially referred; but to do so would lead me too far from the +immediate purpose of this pamphlet, and extend it to an inconvenient +length. I shall therefore content myself with quoting a single short +passage from the excellent work of my friend Dr. Walsh, entitled "Notices +of Brazil,"--a work which, besides its other merits, has vividly +illustrated the true spirit of Negro Slavery, as it displays itself not +merely in that country, but wherever it has been permitted to open its +Pandora's box of misery and crime. + +Let the reader ponder on the following just remarks, and compare the facts +stated by the Author in illustration of them, with the circumstances +related at pages 6 and 7 of Mary's narrative:-- + + "If then we put out of the question the injury inflicted on + others, and merely consider the deterioration of feeling and + principle with which it operates on ourselves, ought it not + to be a sufficient, and, indeed, unanswerable argument, + against the permission of Slavery? + + "The exemplary manner in which the paternal duties are + performed at home, may mark people as the most fond and + affectionate parents; but let them once go abroad, and come + within the contagion of slavery, and it seems to alter the + very nature of a man; and the father has sold, and still + sells, the mother and his children, with as little + compunction as he would a sow and her litter of pigs; and he + often disposes of them together. + + "This deterioration of feeling is conspicuous in many ways + among the Brazilians. They are naturally a people of a + humane and good-natured disposition, and much indisposed to + cruelty or severity of any kind. Indeed, the manner in which + many of them treat their slaves is a proof of this, as it is + really gentle and considerate; but the natural tendency to + cruelty and oppression in the human heart, is continually + evolved by the impunity and uncontrolled licence in which + they are exercised. I never walked through the streets of + Rio, that some house did not present to me the semblance of + a bridewell, where the moans and the cries of the sufferers, + and the sounds of whips and scourges within, announced to me + that corporal punishment was being inflicted. Whenever I + remarked this to a friend, I was always answered that the + refractory nature of the slave rendered it necessary, and no + house could properly be conducted unless it was practised. + But this is certainly not the case; and the chastisement is + constantly applied in the very wantonness of barbarity, and + would not, and dared not, be inflicted on the humblest + wretch in society, if he was not a slave, and so put out of + the pale of pity. + + "Immediately joining our house was one occupied by a + mechanic, from which the most dismal cries and moans + constantly proceeded. I entered the shop one day, and found + it was occupied by a saddler, who had two negro boys working + at his business. He was a tawny, cadaverous-looking man, + with a dark aspect; and he had cut from his leather a + scourge like a Russian knout, which he held in his hand, and + was in the act of exercising on one of the naked children in + an inner room: and this was the cause of the moans and cries + we heard every day, and almost all day long. + + "In the rear of our house was another, occupied by some + women of bad character, who kept, as usual, several negro + slaves. I was awoke early one morning by dismal cries, and + looking out of the window, I saw in the back yard of the + house, a black girl of about fourteen years old; before her + stood her mistress, a white woman, with a large stick in her + hand. She was undressed except her petticoat and chemise, + which had fallen down and left her shoulders and bosom bare. + Her hair was streaming behind, and every fierce and + malevolent passion was depicted in her face. She too, like + my hostess at Governo [another striking illustration of the + _dehumanizing_ effects of Slavery,] was the very + representation of a fury. She was striking the poor girl, + whom she had driven up into a corner, where she was on her + knees appealing for mercy. She shewed her none, but + continued to strike her on the head and thrust the stick + into her face, till she was herself exhausted, and her poor + victim covered with blood. This scene was renewed every + morning, and the cries and moans of the poor suffering + blacks, announced that they were enduring the penalty of + slavery, in being the objects on which the irritable and + malevolent passions of the whites are allowed to vent + themselves with impunity; nor could I help deeply deploring + that state of society in which the vilest characters in the + community are allowed an almost uncontrolled power of life + and death, over their innocent, and far more estimable + fellow-creatures."--(Notices of Brazil, vol. ii. p. + 354-356.) + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I may observe that the history of Mary Prince furnishes a +corollary to Lord Stowell's decision in the case of the slave Grace, and +that it is most valuable on this account. Whatever opinions may be held by +some readers on the grave question of immediately abolishing Colonial +Slavery, nothing assuredly can be more repugnant to the feelings of +Englishmen than that the system should be permitted to extend its baneful +influence to this country. Yet such is the case, when the slave landed in +England still only possesses that qualified degree of freedom, that a +change of domicile will determine it. Though born a British subject, and +resident within the shores of England, he is cut off from his dearest +natural rights by the sad alternative of regaining them at the expence of +liberty, and the certainty of severe treatment. It is true that he has the +option of returning; but it is a cruel mockery to call it a voluntary +choice, when upon his return depend his means of subsistence and his +re-union with all that makes life valuable. Here he has tasted "the sweets +of freedom," to quote the words of the unfortunate Mary Prince; but if he +desires to restore himself to his family, or to escape from suffering and +destitution, and the other evils of a climate uncongenial to his +constitution and habits, he must abandon the enjoyment of his +late-acquired liberty, and again subject himself to the arbitrary power of +a vindictive master. + +The case of Mary Prince is by no means a singular one; many of the same +kind are daily occurring: and even if the case were singular, it would +still loudly call for the interference of the legislature. In instances of +this kind no injury can possibly be done to the owner by confirming to the +slave his resumption of his natural rights. It is the master's spontaneous +act to bring him to this country; he knows when he brings him that he +divests himself of his property; and it is, in fact, a minor species of +slave trading, when he has thus enfranchised his slave, to _re-capture_ +that slave by the necessities of his condition, or by working upon the +better feelings of his heart. Abstractedly from all legal technicalities, +there is no real difference between thus compelling the return of the +enfranchised negro, and trepanning a free native of England by delusive +hopes into perpetual slavery. The most ingenious casuist could not point +out any essential distinction between the two cases. Our boasted liberty +is the dream of imagination, and no longer the characteristic of our +country, if its bulwarks can thus be thrown down by colonial special +pleading. It would well become the character of the present Government to +introduce a Bill into the Legislature making perpetual that freedom which +the slave has acquired by his passage here, and thus to declare, in the +most ample sense of the words, (what indeed we had long fondly believed to +be the fact, though it now appears that we have been mistaken,) THAT +NO SLAVE CAN EXIST WITHIN THE SHORES OF GREAT BRITAIN. + + + + +NARRATIVE OF LOUIS ASA-ASA, + +A CAPTURED AFRICAN. + + +The following interesting narrative is a convenient supplement to the +history of Mary Prince. It is given, like hers, as nearly as possible in +the narrator's words, with only so much correction as was necessary to +connect the story, and render it grammatical. The concluding passage in +inverted commas, is entirely his own. + +While Mary's narrative shews the disgusting character of colonial slavery, +this little tale explains with equal force the horrors in which it +originates. + +It is necessary to explain that Louis came to this country about five +years ago, in a French vessel called the Pearl. She had lost her +reckoning, and was driven by stress of weather into the port of St. Ives, +in Cornwall. Louis and his four companions were brought to London upon a +writ of Habeas Corpus at the instance of Mr. George Stephen; and, after +some trifling opposition on the part of the master of the vessel, were +discharged by Lord Wynford. Two of his unfortunate fellow-sufferers died +of the measles at Hampstead; the other two returned to Sierra Leone; but +poor Louis, when offered the choice of going back to Africa, replied, "Me +no father, no mother now; me stay with you." And here he has ever since +remained; conducting himself in a way to gain the good will and respect of +all who know him. He is remarkably intelligent, understands our language +perfectly, and can read and write well. The last sentences of the +following narrative will seem almost too peculiar to be his own; but it is +not the first time that in conversation with Mr. George Stephen, he has +made similar remarks. On one occasion in particular, he was heard saying +to himself in the kitchen, while sitting by the fire apparently in deep +thought, "Me think,--me think----" A fellow-servant inquired what he +meant; and he added, "Me think what a good thing I came to England! Here, +I know what God is, and read my Bible; in my country they have no God, no +Bible." + +How severe and just a reproof to the guilty wretches who visit his country +only with fire and sword! How deserved a censure upon the not less guilty +men, who dare to vindicate the state of slavery, on the lying pretext, +that its victims are of an inferior nature! And scarcely less deserving of +reprobation are those who have it in their power to prevent these crimes, +but who remain inactive from indifference, or are dissuaded from throwing +the shield of British power over the victim of oppression, by the +sophistry, and the clamour, and the avarice of the oppressor. It is the +reproach and the sin of England. May God avert from our country the ruin +which this national guilt deserves! + +We lament to add, that the Pearl which brought these negroes to our shore, +was restored to its owners at the instance of the French Government, +instead of being condemned as a prize to Lieut. Rye, who, on his own +responsibility, detained her, with all her manacles and chains and other +detestable proofs of her piratical occupation on board. We trust it is not +yet too late to demand investigation into the reasons for restoring her. + + +_The Negro Boy's Narrative._ + + +My father's name was Clashoquin; mine is Asa-Asa. He lived in a country +called Bycla, near Egie, a large town. Egie is as large as Brighton; it +was some way from the sea. I had five brothers and sisters. We all lived +together with my father and mother; he kept a horse, and was respectable, +but not one of the great men. My uncle was one of the great men at Egie: +he could make men come and work for him: his name was Otou. He had a great +deal of land and cattle. My father sometimes worked on his own land, and +used to make charcoal. I was too little to work; my eldest brother used to +work on the land; and we were all very happy. + +A great many people, whom we called Adinyes, set fire to Egie in the +morning before daybreak; there were some thousands of them. They killed a +great many, and burnt all their houses. They staid two days, and then +carried away all the people whom they did not kill. + +They came again every now and then for a month, as long as they could find +people to carry away. They used to tie them by the feet, except when they +were taking them off, and then they let them loose; but if they offered to +run away, they would shoot them. I lost a great many friends and relations +at Egie; about a dozen. They sold all they carried away, to be slaves. I +know this because I afterwards saw them as slaves on the other side of the +sea. They took away brothers, and sisters, and husbands, and wives; they +did not care about this. They were sold for cloth or gunpowder, sometimes +for salt or guns; sometimes they got four or five guns for a man: they +were English guns, made like my master's that I clean for his shooting. +The Adinyes burnt a great many places besides Egie. They burnt all the +country wherever they found villages; they used to shoot men, women, and +children, if they ran away. + +They came to us about eleven o'clock one day, and directly they came they +set our house on fire. All of us had run away. We kept together, and went +into the woods, and stopped there two days. The Adinyes then went away, +and we returned home and found every thing burnt. We tried to build a +little shed, and were beginning to get comfortable again. We found +several of our neighbours lying about wounded; they had been shot. I saw +the bodies of four or five little children whom they had killed with blows +on the head. They had carried away their fathers and mothers, but the +children were too small for slaves, so they killed them. They had killed +several others, but these were all that I saw. I saw them lying in the +street like dead dogs. + +In about a week after we got back, the Adinyes returned, and burnt all the +sheds and houses they had left standing. We all ran away again; we went to +the woods as we had done before.--They followed us the next day. We went +farther into the woods, and staid there about four days and nights; we +were half starved; we only got a few potatoes. My uncle Otou was with us. +At the end of this time, the Adinyes found us. We ran away. They called my +uncle to go to them; but he refused, and they shot him immediately: they +killed him. The rest of us ran on, and they did not get at us till the +next day. I ran up into a tree: they followed me and brought me down. They +tied my feet. I do not know if they found my father and mother, and +brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me, and were half a mile +farther when I got up into the tree: I have never seen them since.--There +was a man who ran up into the tree with me: I believe they shot him, for I +never saw him again. + +They carried away about twenty besides me. They carried us to the sea. +They did not beat us: they only killed one man, who was very ill and too +weak to carry his load: they made all of us carry chickens and meat for +our food; but this poor man could not carry his load, and they ran him +through the body with a sword.--He was a neighbour of ours. When we got to +the sea they sold all of us, but not to the same person. They sold us for +money; and I was sold six times over, sometimes for money, sometimes for +cloth, and sometimes for a gun. I was about thirteen years old. It was +about half a year from the time I was taken, before I saw the white +people. + +We were taken in a boat from place to place, and sold at every place we +stopped at. In about six months we got to a ship, in which we first saw +white people: they were French. They bought us. We found here a great many +other slaves; there were about eighty, including women and children. The +Frenchmen sent away all but five of us into another very large ship. We +five staid on board till we got to England, which was about five or six +months. The slaves we saw on board the ship were chained together by the +legs below deck, so close they could not move. They were flogged very +cruelly: I saw one of them flogged till he died; we could not tell what +for. They gave them enough to eat. The place they were confined in below +deck was so hot and nasty I could not bear to be in it. A great many of +the slaves were ill, but they were not attended to. They used to flog me +very bad on board the ship: the captain cut my head very bad one time. + +"I am very happy to be in England, as far as I am very well;--but I have +no friend belonging to me, but God, who will take care of me as he has +done already. I am very glad I have come to England, to know who God is. I +should like much to see my friends again, but I do not now wish to go back +to them: for if I go back to my own country, I might be taken as a slave +again. I would rather stay here, where I am free, than go back to my +country to be sold. I shall stay in England as long as (please God) I +shall live. I wish the King of England could know all I have told you. I +wish it that he may see how cruelly we are used. We had no king in our +country, or he would have stopt it. I think the king of England might stop +it, and this is why I wish him to know it all. I have heard say he is +good; and if he is, he will stop it if he can. I am well off myself, for I +am well taken care of, and have good bed and good clothes; but I wish my +own people to be as comfortable." + + +"LOUIS ASA-ASA." + +"_London, January 31, 1831_." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The History of Mary Prince, by Mary Prince + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17851.txt or 17851.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/5/17851/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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