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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58d9782 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64992 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64992) diff --git a/old/64992-0.txt b/old/64992-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a1ea798..0000000 --- a/old/64992-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2817 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Narrative of Henry Box Brown, by Henry Box -Brown - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Narrative of Henry Box Brown - Who Escaped from Slavery Enclosed in a Box 3 Feet Long and 2 Wide - -Author: Henry Box Brown - -Contributor: Charles Stearns - -Release Date: April 05, 2021 [eBook #64992] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF HENRY BOX BROWN *** - - - - - [Illustration] - - - - - NARRATIVE - - OF - - HENRY BOX BROWN, - - WHO ESCAPED FROM SLAVERY - ENCLOSED IN A BOX 3 FEET LONG AND 2 WIDE. - - - WRITTEN FROM A - - STATEMENT OF FACTS MADE BY HIMSELF. - - WITH REMARKS UPON THE REMEDY FOR SLAVERY. - - BY CHARLES STEARNS. - - - BOSTON: - PUBLISHED BY BROWN & STEARNS. - - FOR SALE BY BELA MARSH, 25 CORNHILL. - - - ABNER FORBES, PRINTER, - 37 Cornhill. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Not for the purpose of administering to a prurient desire to “hear and -see some new thing,” nor to gratify any inclination on the part of the -hero of the following story to be honored by man, is this simple and -touching narrative of the perils of a seeker after the “boon of -liberty,” introduced to the public eye; but that the people of this -country may be made acquainted with the horrid sufferings endured by one -as, in a _portable prison_, shut out from the light of heaven, and -nearly deprived of its balmy air, he pursued his fearful journey -directly through the heart of a country making its boasts of liberty and -freedom to all, and that thereby a chord of human sympathy may be -touched in the hearts of those who listen to his plaintive tale, which -may be the means of furthering the spread of those principles, which -under God, shall yet prove “mighty to the pulling down of the -strong-holds” of slavery. - -O reader, as you peruse this heart-rending tale, let the tear of -sympathy roll freely from your eyes, and let the deep fountains of human -feeling, which God has implanted in the breast of every son and daughter -of Adam, burst forth from their enclosure, until a stream shall flow -therefrom on to the surrounding world, of so invigorating and purifying -a nature, as to arouse from the “death of the sin” of slavery, and -cleanse from the pollutions thereof, all with whom you may be connected. -As Henry Box Brown’s thrilling escape is portrayed before you, let it -not be perused by you as an idle tale, while you go away “forgetting -what manner of persons you are;” but let truth find an avenue through -your sensibilities, by which it can reach the citadel of your soul, and -there dwell in all its life-giving power, expelling the whole -brotherhood of pro-slavery errors, which politicians, priests, and -selfish avarice, have introduced to the acquaintance of your -intellectual faculties. These faculties are oftener blinded by -selfishness, than are imbecile of themselves, as the powerful intellect -of a Webster is led captive to the inclinations of a not unselfish -heart; so that that which should be the ruling power of every man’s -nature, is held in degrading submission to the inferior feelings of his -heart. If man is blinded to the appreciation of the good, by a mass of -selfish sensibilities, may he not be induced to surrender his will to -the influence of truth, by _benevolent_ feelings being caused to spring -forth in his heart? That this may be the case with all whose eyes gaze -upon the picture here drawn of misery, and of endurance, worthy of a -Spartan, and such as a hero of olden times might be proud of, and -transmit to posterity, along with the armorial emblazonry of his -ancestors, is the ardent desire of all connected with the publication of -this work. A word in regard to the literary character of the tale before -you. The narrator is freshly from a land where books and schools are -forbidden under severe penalties, to all in his former condition, and of -course knoweth not letters, having never learned them; but of his -capabilities otherwise, no one can doubt, when they recollect that if -the records of all nations, from the time when Adam and Eve first placed -their free feet upon the soil of Eden, until the conclusion of the -scenes depicted by Hildreth and Macaulay, should be diligently searched, -a parallel instance of heroism, in behalf of personal liberty, could not -be found. Instances of fortitude for the defence of religious freedom, -and in cases of a violation of conscience being required; and for the -sake of offspring, of friends and of one’s country are not uncommon; but -whose heroism and ability to contrive, united, have equalled our -friend’s whose story is now before you?[1] - -A William and an Ellen Craft, indeed performed an almost equally -hazardous undertaking, and one which, as a devoted admirer of human -daring has said, far exceeded any thing recorded by Macaulay, and will -yet be made the ground-work for a future Scott to build a more intensely -interesting tale upon than “the author of Waverly” ever put forth, but -they had the benefit of their eyes and ears--they were not entirely -helpless; enclosed in a moving tomb, and as utterly destitute of power -to control your movements as if death had fastened its icy arm upon you, -and yet possessing all the full tide of gushing sensibilities, and a -complete knowledge of your existence, as was the case with our friend. -We read with horror of the burial of persons before life has entirely -fled from them, but here is a man who voluntarily assumed a condition in -which he well knew all the chances were against him, and when his head -seemed well-nigh severed from his body, on account of the concussion -occasioned by the rough handling to which he was subject, see the -Spartan firmness of his soul. Not a groan escaped from his agonized -heart, as the realities of his condition were so vividly presented -before him. Death stared him in the face, but like Patrick Henry, only -when the alternative was more a matter of fact than it was to that -patriot, he exclaims, “Give me liberty or give me death;” and death -seemed to say, as quickly as the lion seizes the kid cast into its den, -“You are already mine,” and was about to wrap its sable mantle around -the form of our self-martyred hero--bound fast upon the altars of -freedom, as the Hindoo widow is bound upon the altar of a husband’s -love; when the bright angel of liberty, whose dazzling form he had so -long and so anxiously watched, as he pored over the scheme hid in the -recesses of his own fearless brain, while yet a slave, and whose shining -eyes had bewitched his soul, until he had said in the language of one of -old to Jesus, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest;” when this -blessed goddess stood at his side, and, as Jesus said to one lying cold -in death’s embrace, “I say unto thee, arise,” said to him, as she took -him by the hand and lifted him from his travelling tomb, “thy warfare is -over, thy work is accomplished, a free man art thou, my guidance has -availed thee, arise and breathe the air of freedom.” - -Did Lazarus astonish his weeping sisters, and the surrounding multitude, -as he emerged from his house of clay, clad in the habiliments of the -grave, and did joy unfeigned spread throughout that gazing throng? How -much more astonishing seemed the birth of Mr. Brown, as he “came forth” -from a box, clothed not in the habiliments of the grave, but in those of -slavery, worse than the “silent house of death,” as his acts had -testified; and what greater joy thrilled through the wondering -witnesses, as the lid was removed from the travelling carriage of our -friend’s electing, and straightway arose therefrom a living man, a being -made in God’s own image, a son of Jehovah, whom the piety and -republicanism of this nation had doomed to pass through this terrible -ordeal, before the wand of the goddess of liberty could complete his -transformation from a slave to a free man! But we will desist from -further comments. Here is the plain narrative of our friend, and is it -asking too much of you, whose sympathies may be aroused by the recital -which follows, to continue to peruse these pages until the cause of all -his sufferings is depicted before you, and your duty under the -circumstances is clearly pointed out? - -Here are the identical words uttered by him as soon as he inhaled the -fresh air of freedom, after the faintness occasioned by his sojourn in -his temporary tomb had passed away. - - HYMN OF THANKSGIVING, - - SUNG BY HENRY BOX BROWN, - -_After being released from his confinement in the Box, at Philadelphia_. - - I waited patiently, I waited patiently for the Lord, for the Lord, - And he inclined unto me, and heard my calling; - I waited patiently, I waited patiently for the Lord, - And he inclined unto me, and heard my calling; - And he hath put a new song in my mouth, - Ev’n a thanksgiving, Ev’n a thanksgiving, Ev’n a thanksgiving - unto our God. - - Blessed, Blessed, Blessed, Blessed is the man, Blessed is the man, - Blessed is the man that hath set his hope, his hope in the Lord; - O Lord my God, Great, Great, Great, - Great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, - Great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, which thou hast done, - Great are the wondrous works, - Great are the wondrous works, - Great are the wondrous works, which thou hast done. - - If I should declare them and speak of them, they should - be more, more, more than I am able to express. - I have not kept back thy loving kindness and truth from the - great congregation, - I have not kept back thy loving kindness and truth from the - great congregation. - - Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, - Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, O Lord; - Let thy loving kindness and thy truth always preserve me, - Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad, - Let all those that seek thee, be joyful and glad, be joyful, - be glad, be joyful and glad, be joyful, be joyful, be joyful, - be joyful, be joyful and glad, be glad in thee. - - And let such as love thy salvation, - And let such as love thy salvation, say always, - The Lord be praised, - The Lord be praised: - Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad, - And let such as love thy salvation, say always, - The Lord be praised, - The Lord be praised, - The Lord be praised. - - _Boston, Sept. 1, 1849._ - - - - -NARRATIVE. - - -I am not about to harrow the feelings of my readers by a terrific -representation of the untold horrors of that fearful system of -oppression, which for thirty-three long years entwined its snaky folds -about my soul, as the serpent of South America coils itself around the -form of its unfortunate victim. It is not my purpose to descend deeply -into the dark and noisome caverns of the hell of slavery, and drag from -their frightful abode those lost spirits who haunt the souls of the poor -slaves, daily and nightly with their frightful presence, and with the -fearful sound of their terrific instruments of torture; for other pens -far abler than mine have effectually performed that portion of the labor -of an exposer of the enormities of slavery. Slavery, like the shield -discovered by the knights of olden time, has two diverse sides to it; -the one, on which is fearfully written in letters of blood, the -character of the mass who carry on that dreadful system of unhallowed -bondage; the other, touched with the pencil of a gentler delineator, and -telling the looker on, a tale of comparative freedom, from the terrible -deprivations so vividly portrayed on its opposite side. - -My book will present, if possible, the beautiful side of the picture of -slavery; will entertain you with stories of partial kindness on the part -of my master, and of comparative enjoyment on my own part, as I grew up -under the benign influence of the blessed system so closely connected -with our “republican institutions,” as Southern politicians tell us. - -From the time I first breathed the air of human existence, until the -hour of my escape from bondage, I did not receive but one whipping. I -never suffered from lack of food, or on account of too extreme labor; -nor for want of sufficient clothing to cover my person. My tale is not, -therefore, one of horrid inflictions of the lash upon my naked body; of -cruel starvings and of insolent treatment; but is the very best -representation of slavery which can be given; therefore, reader, allow -me to inform you, as you, for aught I know, may be one of those degraded -mortals who fancy that if no blows are inflicted upon the slave’s body, -and a plenty of “bread and bacon” is dealed out to him, he is therefore -no sufferer, and slavery is not a cruel institution; allow me to inform -you, that I did not escape from such deprivations. It was not for fear -of the lash’s dreaded infliction, that I endured that fearful -imprisonment, which you are waiting to read concerning; nor because of -destitution of the necessaries of life, did I enclose myself in my -travelling prison, and traverse your boasted land of freedom, a portion -of the time with my head in an inverted position, as if it were a -terrible crime for me to endeavor to escape from slavery. - -Far beyond, in terrible suffering, all outward cruelties of the foul -system, are those inner pangs which rend the heart of fond affection, -when the “bone of your bone, and the flesh of your flesh” is separated -from your embrace, by the ruthless hand of the merciless tyrant, as he -plucks from your heart of love, the one whom God hath given you for a -“help-meet” through the journey of life; and more fearful by far than -all the blows of the bloody lash, or the pangs of cruel hunger are those -lashings of the _heart_, which the best of slaveholders inflict upon -their happy and “well off” slaves, as they tear from their grasp the -pledges of love, smiling at the side of devoted attachment. Tell me not -of kind masters under slavery’s hateful rule! There is no such thing as -a person of that description; for, as you will see, my master, one of -the most distinguished of this uncommon class of slaveholders, hesitated -not to allow the wife of my love to be torn from my fond embrace, and -the darling idols of my heart, my little children, to be snatched from -my arms, and thus to doom them to a separation from me, more dreadful to -all of us than a large number of lashes, inflicted on us daily. And yet -to this fate I was continually subject, during a large portion of the -time, when heaven _seemed_ to smile propitiously above me; and no black -clouds of fearful character lowered over my head. Heaven save me from -kind masters, as well as from those called more cruel; for even their -“tender mercies are cruel,” and what no freeman could endure for a -moment. My tale necessarily lacks that thrilling interest which is -attached to the more than romantic, although perfectly true descriptions -of a life in slavery, given by my numerous forerunners in the work of -sketching a slave’s personal experience; but I shall endeavor to -intermingle with it other scenes which came under my own observation, -which will serve to convince you, that if I was spared a worse fate -than actually fell to my lot, yet my comrades around me were not so -fortunate; but were the victims of the ungovernable rage of those men, -of whose characters one cannot be informed, without experiencing within -his soul, a rushing of overflowing emotions of pity, indignation and -horror. - -I first drew the breath of life in Louisa County, Va., forty-five miles -from the city of Richmond, in the year 1816. I was born a slave. Not -because at the moment of my birth an angel stood by, and declared that -such was the will of God concerning me; although in a country whose most -honored writings declare that all men have a right to liberty, given -them by their Creator, it seems strange that I, or any of my brethren, -could have been born without this inalienable right, unless God had thus -signified his departure from his usual rule, as described by our -fathers. Not, I say, on account of God’s willing it to be so, was I born -a slave, but for the reason that nearly all the people of this country -are united in legislating against heaven, and have contrived to vote -down our heavenly father’s rules, and to substitute for them, that cruel -law which binds the chains of slavery upon one sixth part of the -inhabitants of this land. I was born a slave! and wherefore? Tyrants, -remorseless, destitute of religion and principle, stood by the couch of -my mother, as heaven placed a pure soul, in the infantile form, there -lying in her arms--a new being, never having breathed earth’s atmosphere -before; and fearlessly, with no compunctions of remorse, stretched forth -their bloody arms and pressed the life of God from me, baptizing my soul -and body as their own property; goods and chattels in their hands! Yes, -they robbed me of myself, before I could know the nature of their wicked -acts; and for ever afterwards, until I took possession of my own soul -and body, did they retain their stolen property. This was why I was born -a slave. Reader, can you understand the horrors of that fearful name? -Listen, and I will assist you in this difficult work. My father, and my -_mother_ of course, were slaves before me; but both of them are now -enjoying the invaluable boon of liberty, having purchased themselves, in -this land of freedom! At an early age, my mother would take me on her -knee, and pointing to the forest trees adjacent, now being stripped of -their thick foliage by autumnal winds, would say to me, “my son, as -yonder leaves are stripped from off the trees of the forest, so are the -children of slaves swept away from them by the hands of cruel tyrants;” -and her voice would tremble, and she would seem almost choked with her -deep emotions, while the big tears would find their way down her -saddened cheeks, as she fondly pressed me to her heaving bosom, as if to -save me from so dreaded a calamity. I was young then, but I well -recollect the sadness of her countenance, and the mournfulness of her -words, and they made a deep impression upon my youthful mind. Mothers of -the North, as you gaze upon the free forms of your idolized little ones, -as they playfully and confidently move around you, O if you knew that -the lapse of a few years would infallibly remove them from your -affectionate care, not to be laid in the silent grave, “where the wicked -cease from troubling,” but to be the sport of cruel men, and the victims -of barbarous tyrants, who would snatch them from your side, as the -robber seizes upon the bag of gold in the traveller’s hand; O, would -not your life then be rendered a miserable one indeed? Who can trace the -workings of a slave mother’s soul, as she counts over the hours, the -departure of which, she almost knows, will rob her of her darling -children, and consign them to a fate more horrible than death’s cold -embrace! O, who can hear of these cruel deprivations, and not be aroused -to action in the slave’s behalf? - -My mother used to instruct me in the principles of morality, as much as -she was able; but I was deplorably ignorant on religious subjects, for -what ideas can a slave have of religion, when those who profess it -around him, are demons in human shape oftentimes, as you will presently -see was the case with my master’s overseer? My mother used to tell me -not to steal, and not to lie, and to behave myself properly in other -respects. She took a great deal of pains with me and my brother; which -resulted in our endeavors to conduct ourselves with propriety. As a -specimen of the religious knowledge of the slaves, I will state here my -ideas in regard to my master; assuring the reader that I am not joking, -but stating what was the opinion of all the slave children on my -master’s plantation; and I have often talked it over with my early -associates, and my mother, and enjoyed hearty laughs at the absurdity of -our youthful ideas. - -I really believed my old master was Almighty God, and that his son, my -young master, was Jesus Christ.[2] One reason I had for this belief -was, that when it was about to thunder, my old master would approach us, -if we were in the yard, and say, “All you children run into the house -now, for it is going to thunder,” and after the shower was over, we -would go out again, and he would approach us smilingly, and say, “What a -fine shower we have had,” and bidding us look at the flowers in the -garden, would say, “how pretty the flowers look now.” We thought that -_he_ thundered, and caused the rain to fall; and not until I was eight -years of age, did I get rid of this childish superstition. Our master -was uncommonly kind, and as he moved about in his dignity, he seemed -like a god to us, and probably he did not dislike our reverential -feelings towards him. All the slaves called his son, our Saviour, and -the way I was enlightened on this point was as follows. One day after -returning from church, my mother told father of a woman who wished to -join the church. She told the preacher she had been baptized by one of -the slaves, who was called from his office, “John the Baptist;” and on -being asked by the minister if she believed “that our Saviour came into -the world, and had died for the sins of man,” she replied, that she -“knew he had come into the world,” but she “had not heard he was dead, -as she lived so far from the road, she did not learn much that was going -on in the world.” I then asked mother, if young master was dead. She -said it was not him they were talking about; it was “our Saviour in -heaven.” I then asked her if there were two Saviours, when she told me -that young master was not “our Saviour,” which filled me with -astonishment, and I could not understand it at first. Not long after -this, my sister became anxious to have her soul converted, and shaved -the hair from her head, as many of the slaves thought they could not be -converted without doing this. My mother reproved her, and began to tell -her of God who dwelt in heaven, and that she must pray to him to convert -her. This surprised me still more, and I asked her if old master was not -God; to which she replied that he was not, and began to instruct me a -little in reference to the God of heaven. After this, I believed there -was a God who ruled the world, but I did not previously, have the least -idea of any such being. And why should not my childish fancy be correct, -according to the blasphemous teachings of the heathen system of slavery? -Does not every slaveholder assume exclusive control over all the actions -of his unfortunate victims? Most assuredly he does, as this extract from -the laws of a slaveholding State will show you. “A slave is one who is -in the power of his master, to whom he belongs. A slave owes to his -master and all his family, _respect without bounds and absolute -obedience_.” How tallies this with the unalterable law of Jehovah, “Thou -shalt have no other gods before me?” Does not the system of slavery -effectually shut out from the slave’s heart, all true knowledge of the -eternal God, and doom him to grope his perilous way, amid the thick -darkness of unenlightened heathenism, although he dwells in a land -professing much religion, and an entire freedom from the superstitions -of paganism? - -Let me tell you my opinion of the slaveholding religion of this land. I -believe in a hell, where the wicked will forever dwell, and knowing the -character of slaveholders and slavery, it is my settled belief, as it -was while I was a slave, even though I was treated kindly, that _every_ -slaveholder will infallibly go to that hell, unless he repents. I do not -believe in the religion of the Southern churches, nor do I perceive any -great difference between them, and those at the North, which uphold -them. - -While a young lad, my principal employment was waiting upon my master -and mistress, and at intervals taking lessons in what is the destiny of -most of the slaves, the cultivation of the plantation. O how often as -the hot sun sent forth its scorching rays upon my tender head, did I -look forward with dismay, to the time, when I, like my fellow slaves, -should be driven by the task-master’s cruel lash, to the performance of -unrequited toil upon the plantation of my master. To this expectation is -the slave trained. Like the criminal under sentence of death, he notches -upon his wooden stick, as Sterne’s captive did, the days, after the -lapse of which he must be introduced to his dreaded fate; in the case of -the criminal, merely death--a cessation from the pains and toils of -life; but in our cases, the commencement of a living death; a death -never ending, second in horror only to the eternal torment of the wicked -in a future state. Yea, even worse than that, for there, a God of love -and mercy holds the rod of punishment in his own hand; but in our case, -it is held by men from whom almost the last vestige of goodness has -departed, and in whose hearts there dwells hardly a spark of humanity, -certainly not enough to keep them from the practice of the most inhuman -crimes. Imagine, reader, a fearful cloud, gathering blackness as it -advances towards you, and increasing in size constantly; hovering in the -deep blue vault of the firmament above you, which cloud seems loaded -with the elements of destruction, and from the contents of which you are -certain you cannot escape. You are sailing upon the now calm waters of -the broad and placid deep, spreading its “unadorned bosom” before you, -as far as your eye can reach, - - “Calm as a slumbering babe, - Tremendous Ocean lays;” - -and on its “burnished waves,” gracefully rides your little vessel, -without fear or dismay troubling your heart. But this fearful cloud is -pointed out to you, and as it gathers darkness, and rushes to the point -of the firmament overhanging your fated vessel, O what terror then -seizes upon your soul, as hourly you expect your little bark to be -deluged by the contents of the cloud, and riven by the fierce lightnings -enclosed in that mass of angry elements. So with the slave, only that he -knows his chances of escape are exceedingly small, while you may very -likely outlive the storm. - -To this terrible apprehension we are all constantly subject. To-day, -master may smile lovingly upon us, and the sound of the cracking whip -may be hushed, but the dread uncertainty of our future fate still hangs -over us, and to-morrow may witness a return of all the elements of -fearful strife, as we emphatically “know not what a day may bring -forth.” The sweet songsters of the air, as it were, may warble their -musical notes ever so melodiously, harmonizing with the soft-blowing of -the western winds which invigorates our frames, and the genial warmth of -the early sun may fill us with pleasurable emotions; but we know that -ere long, this sweet singing must be silenced by the fierce cracking of -the bloody lash, falling on our own shoulders, and that the cool -breezes and the gentle heat of early morn, must be succeeded by the hot -winds and fiery rays of Slavery’s meridian day. The slave has _no -certainty_ of the enjoyment of _any privilege whatever_! All his fancied -blessings, without a moment’s warning being granted to him, may be swept -forever from his trembling grasp. Who will then say that “disguise -itself” as Slavery will, it is not “a bitter cup,” the mixture whereof -is gall and wormwood? - -My brother and myself, were in the practice of carrying grain to mill, a -few times a year, which was the means of furnishing us with some -information respecting other slaves. We often went twenty miles, to a -mill owned by a Col. Ambler, in Yansinville county, and used to improve -our opportunities for gaining information. Especially desirous were we, -of learning the condition of slaves around us, for we knew not how long -we should remain in as favorable hands as we were then. On one occasion, -while waiting for our grain, we entered a house in the neighborhood, and -while resting ourselves there, we saw a number of forlorn-looking beings -pass the door, and as they passed, we noticed that they turned and gazed -earnestly upon us. Afterwards, about fifty performed the same act, which -excited our minds somewhat, as we overheard some of them say, “Look -there, and see those two colored men with shoes, vests and hats on,” and -we determined to obtain an interview with them. Accordingly, after -receiving some bread and meat from our hosts, we followed these abject -beings to their quarters;--and such a sight we had never witnessed -before, as we had always lived on our master’s plantation, and this was -about the first of our journeys to the mill. They were dressed with -shirts made of coarse bagging, such as coffee-sacks are made from, and -some kind of light substance for pantaloons, and _no other clothing -whatever_. They had on no shoes, hats, vests, or coats, and when my -brother asked them why they spoke of our being dressed with those -articles of clothing, they said they had “never seen negroes dressed in -that way before.” They looked very hungry, and we divided our bread and -meat among them, which furnished them only a mouthful each. They never -had any meat, they said, given them by their masters. My brother put -various questions to them, such as, “if they had wives?” “did they go to -church?” “had they any sisters?” &c. The one who gave us the -information, said they had wives, but were obliged to marry on their own -plantation. Master would not allow them to go away from home to marry, -consequently he said they were all related to each other, and master -made them marry, _whether related or not_. My brother asked this man to -show him his sisters; he said he could not tell them from the rest, -_they were all his sisters_; and here let me state, what is well known -by many people, that no such thing as real marriage is allowed to exist -among the slaves. Talk of marriage under such a system! Why, the owner -of a Turkish harem, or the keeper of a house of ill-fame, might as well -allow the inmates of their establishments to marry as for a Southern -slaveholder to do the same. Marriage, as is well known, is the voluntary -and perfect union of one man with one woman, without depending upon the -will of a third party. This never can take place under slavery, for the -moment a slave is allowed to form such a connection as he chooses, the -spell of slavery is dissolved. The slave’s wife is his, only at the -will of her master, who may violate her chastity with impunity. It is my -candid opinion that one of the strongest motives which operate upon the -slaveholders, and induce them to retain their iron grasp upon the -unfortunate slave, is because it gives them such unlimited control in -this respect over the female slaves. The greater part of slaveholders -are licentious men, and the most respectable and the kindest of masters, -keep some of their slaves as mistresses. It is for their pecuniary -interest to do so in several respects. Their progeny is so many dollars -and cents in their pockets, instead of being a bill of expense to them, -as would be the case if their slaves were free; and mulatto slaves -command a higher price than dark colored ones; but it is too horrid a -subject to describe. Suffice it to say, that no slave has the least -certainty of being able to retain his wife or her husband a single hour; -so that the slave is placed under strong inducements not to form a union -of _love_, for he knows not how soon the chords wound around his heart -would be snapped asunder, by the hand of the brutal slave-dealer. -Northern people sustain slavery, knowing that it is a system of perfect -licentiousness, and yet go to church and boast of their purity and -holiness! - -On this plantation, the slaves were never allowed to attend church, but -managed their religious affairs in their own way. An old slave, whom -they called Uncle John, decided upon their piety, and would baptize them -during the silent watches of the night, while their master was “taking -his rest in sleep.” Thus is the slave under the necessity of even -“saving his soul” in the hours when the eye of his master, who usurps -the place of God over him, is turned from him. Think of it, ye who -contend for the necessity of these rites, to constitute a man a -Christian! By night must the poor slave steal away from his bed of -straw, and leaving his miserable hovel, must drag his weary limbs to -some adjacent stream of water, where a fellow slave, as ignorant as -himself, proceeds to administer the ordinance of baptism; and as he -plunges his comrades into the water, in imitation of the Baptist of old, -how he trembles, lest the footsteps of his master should be heard, -advancing to their Bethesda,--knowing that if such should be the case, -the severe punishment that awaits them all. Baptists, are ye striking -hands with Southern churches, which thus exclude so many slaves from the -“waters of salvation?” - -But we were obliged to cut short our conversation with these slaves, by -beholding the approach of the overseer, who was directing his steps -towards us, like a bear seeking its prey. We had only time to ask this -man, “if they were often whipped?” to which he replied, “that not a day -passed over their heads, without some of their number being brutally -punished; and,” said he, “we shall have to suffer for this talk with -you.” He then told us, that many of them had been severely whipped that -very morning, for having been baptized the night before. After we left -them, we looked back, and heard the screams of these poor creatures, -suffering under the blows of the hard-hearted overseer, for the crime of -talking with us;--which screams sounded in our ears for some time. We -felt thankful that we were exempted from such terrible treatment; but -still, we knew not how soon we should be subject to the same cruel fate. -By this time we had returned to the mill, where we met a young man, (a -relation of the owner of this plantation,) who for some time appeared to -be eyeing us quite attentively. At length he asked me if I had “ever -been whipped,” and when I told him I had not, he replied, “Well, you -will neither of you ever be of any value, then;” so true is it that -whipping is considered a necessary part of slavery. Without this -practice, it could not stand a single day. He expressed a good deal of -surprise that we were allowed to wear hats and shoes,--supposing that a -slave had no business to wear such clothing as his master wore. We had -brought our fishing-lines with us, and requested the privilege to fish -in his stream, which he roughly denied us, saying, “we do not allow -niggers to fish.” Nothing daunted, however, by this rebuff, my brother -went to another place, and was quite successful in his undertaking, -obtaining a plentiful supply of the finny tribe; but as soon as this -youngster perceived his good luck, he ordered him to throw them back -into the stream, which he was obliged to do, and we returned home -without them. - -We finally abandoned visiting this mill, and carried our grain to -another, a Mr. Bullock’s, only ten miles distant from our plantation. -This man was very kind to us, took us into his house and put us to bed, -took charge of our horses, and carried the grain himself into the mill, -and in the morning furnished us with a good breakfast. I asked my -brother why this man treated us so differently from our old miller. -“Oh,” said he, “this man is not a slaveholder!” Ah, that explained the -difference; for there is nothing in the southern character averse to -gentleness. On the contrary, if it were not for slavery’s withering -touch, the Southerners would be the kindest people in the land. Slavery -possesses the power attributed to one of old, of changing the nature of -all who drink of its vicious cup. - - “---- ---- ---- Which, as they taste, - Soon as the potion works, their _human_ countenance, - The express resemblance of the gods, is changed - Into some brutish form of wolf, or bear, - Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat; - And they, so perfect is their misery, - Not once perceive their foul disfigurement, - But boast themselves more comely than before.” - -Under the influence of slavery’s polluting power, the most gentle women -become the fiercest viragos, and the most benevolent men are changed -into inhuman monsters. It is true of the northern man who goes South -also. - - “_Whoever_ tastes, loses his upright shape, - And downward falls, into a _grovelling swine_.” - -This non-slaveholder also allowed us to catch as many fish as we -pleased, and even furnished us with fishing implements. While at this -mill, we became acquainted with a colored man from another part of the -country; and as our desire was strong to learn how our brethren fared in -other places, we questioned him respecting his treatment. He complained -much of his hard fate,--said he had a wife and one child, and begged for -some of our fish to carry to his wife; which my brother gladly gave him. -He said he was expecting to have some money in a few days, which would -be “_the first he ever had in his life_!” He had sent a thousand -hickory-nuts to market, for which he afterwards informed us he had -received thirty-six cents, which he gave to his wife, to furnish her -with some little article of comfort. This was the sum total of all the -money he had ever been the possessor of! Ye northern pro-slavery men, do -you regard this as robbery, or not? The whole of this man’s earnings had -been robbed from him during his entire life, except simply his coarse -food and miserable clothing, the whole expense of which, for a -plantation slave, does not exceed twenty dollars a year. This is one -reason why I think every slaveholder will go to hell; for my Bible -teaches me that no _thief_ shall enter heaven; and I know every -slaveholder is a thief; and I rather think you would all be of my -opinion if you had ever been a slave. But now, assisting these thieves, -and being made rich by them, you say they are not robbers; just as -wicked men generally shield their abettors. - -On our return from this place, we met a colored man and woman, who were -very cross to each other. We inquired as to the cause of their trouble, -and the man told us, that “women had such tongues!” that some of them -had stolen a sheep, and this woman, after eating of it, went and told -their master, and they all had to receive a severe whipping. And here -follows a specimen of slaveholding morality, which will show you how -much many of the masters care for their slaves’ stealing. This man -enjoined upon his slaves never to steal from him again, but to _steal -from his neighbors_, and he would keep them from punishment, if they -would furnish him with a portion of the meat! And why not? For is it any -worse for the slaveholders to steal from one another, than it is to -steal from their helpless slaves? Not long after, these slaves availed -themselves of their master’s assistance, and stole an animal from a -neighboring plantation, and according to agreement, furnished their -master with his share. Soon the owner of the missing animal came rushing -into the man’s house, who had just eaten of the stolen food, and, in a -very excited manner, demanded reparation from him, for the beast stolen, -as he said, by this man’s slaves. The villain, hardly able to stand -after eating so bountifully of his neighbor’s pork, exclaimed loudly, -“my servants know no more about your hogs than I do!” which was strictly -true; and the loser of the swine went away satisfied. This man told his -slaves that it was a sin to steal from him, but none to steal from his -neighbors! My brother told the slave we were conversing with, that it -was as much of a sin in God’s sight, for him to steal from one, as from -the other. “Oh,” said the slave, “master says _negroes have nothing to -do with God_!” He further informed us that his master and mistress lived -very unhappily together, on account of the maid who waited upon them. -She had no husband, but had several yellow children. After we left them, -they went to a fodder-stack, and took out a jug, and drank of its -contents. My brother’s curiosity was excited to learn the nature of -their drink; and watching his opportunity, unobserved by them, he -slipped up to the stack, and ascertained that the jug was nearly full of -Irish whiskey. He carried it home with him, and the next time we visited -the mill, he returned the jug to its former place, filled with molasses, -purchased with his own money, instead of the fiery drink which it -formerly contained. Some time after this, the master of this man -discovered a great falling off in the supply of stolen meat furnished -him by the slaves, and questioned this man in reference to the cause of -such a lamentable diminution in the supply of hog-meat in particular. -The slave told him the story of the jug, and that he had ceased -drinking, which was sad news for the pork-loving gentleman. - -I will now return to my master’s affairs. My young master’s brother was -a very benevolent man, and soon became convinced that it was wrong to -hold men in bondage; which belief he carried into practice by -emancipating forty slaves at one time, and paying the expenses of their -transportation to a free state. But old master, although naturally more -kind-hearted than his neighbors, could not always remain as impervious -to the assaults of the pro-slavery demon; and as stated previously, that -all who drank of this hateful cup were transformed into some vile -animal, so he became a perfect brute in his treatment of his slaves. I -cannot account for this change, only on the supposition, that experience -had convinced him that kind treatment was not as well adapted to the -production of crops, as a severer kind of discipline. Under the elating -influence of freedom’s inspiring sound, men will labor much harder, than -when forced to perform unpleasant tasks, the accomplishment of which -will be of no value to themselves; but while the slave is held as such, -it is difficult for him to feel as he would feel, if he was a free man, -however light may be his tasks, and however kind may be his master. The -lash is still held above his head, and _may_ fall upon him, even if its -blows are for a long time withheld. This the slave realizes; and hence -no kind treatment can destroy the depressing influence of a -consciousness of his being a slave,--no matter how lightly the yoke of -slavery may rest upon his shoulders. He knows the yoke is there; and -that at any time its weight may be made heavier, and his form almost -sink under its weary burden; but give him his liberty, and new life -enters into him immediately. The iron yoke falls from his chafed -shoulders; the collar, even if it was a silken one, is removed from his -enslaved person; and the chains, although made of gold, fall from his -bound limbs, and he walks forth with an elastic step, to enjoy the -realities of his new existence. Now he is ready to perform irksome -tasks; for the avails of his labor will be of value to himself, and with -them he can administer comfort to those near and dear to him, and to the -world at large, as well as provide for his own intellectual welfare; -whereas before, however kind his treatment, all his earnings more than -his expenses went to enrich his master. It is on this account, probably, -that those who have undertaken to carry out some principles of humanity -in their treatment of their slaves, have been generally frowned upon by -their neighbors; and they have been forced either to emancipate their -slaves, or to return to the cruel practices of those around them. My -young master preferred the former alternative; my old master adopted the -latter. We now began to taste a little of the horrors of slavery; so -that many of the slaves ran away, which had not been the case before. My -master employed an overseer also, about this time, which he always -refused to do previously, preferring to take charge of us himself; but -the clamor of the neighbors was so great at his mild treatment of his -slaves, that he at length yielded to the popular will around him, and -went “with the multitude to do evil,” and hired an overseer. This was an -end of our favorable treatment; and there is no telling what would have -been the result of this new method among slaves so unused to the whip as -we were, if in the midst of this experiment, old master had not been -called upon to pay “the debt of nature,” and to “go the way of all the -earth.” As he was about to expire, he sent for me and my brother, to -come to his bedside. We ran with beating hearts, and highly elated -feelings, not doubting that he was about to confer upon us the boon of -freedom, as we expected to be set free when he died; but imagine my deep -disappointment, when the old man called me to his side and said to me, -“Henry, you will make a good plough-boy, or a good gardener; now you -must be an honest boy, and never tell an untruth. I have given you to my -son William, and you must obey him.” Thus did this old gentleman deceive -us by his former kind treatment, and raise expectations in our youthful -minds, which were thus doomed to be fatally overthrown. Poor man! he has -gone to a higher tribunal than man’s, and doubtless ere this, earnestly -laments that he did not give us all our liberty at this favorable -moment; but sad as was our disappointment, we were constrained to submit -to it, as we best were able. One old negro openly expressed his wish -that master would die, because he had not released him from his bondage. - -If there is any one thing which operates as an impetus to the slave in -his toilsome labors and buoys him up, under all the hardships of his -severe lot, it is this hope of future freedom, which lights up his soul -and cheers his desolate heart in the midst of all the fearful agonies of -the varied scenes of his slave life, as the soul of the tempest-tossed -mariner is stayed from complete despair, by the faint glimmering of the -far-distant light which the kindness of man has placed in a lighthouse, -so as to be perceived by him at a long distance. Old ocean’s tempestuous -waves beat and roar against his frail bark, and the briny deep seems -ready to enclose him in its wide open mouth, but “ever and anon” he -perceives the glimmering of this feeble light in the distance, which -keeps alive the spark of hope in his bosom, which kind heaven has placed -within every man’s breast. So with the slave. Freedom’s fires are dimly -burning in the far distant future, and ever and anon a fresh flame -appears to arise in the direction of this sacred altar, until at times -it seems to approach so near, that he can feel its melting power -dissolving his chains, and causing him to emerge from his darkened -prison, into the full light of freedom’s glorious liberty. O the fond -anticipations of the slave in this respect! I cannot correctly describe -them to you, but I can recollect the thrills of exulting joy which the -name of freedom caused to flow through my soul. - - Freedom, the dear and joyful sound, - ’Tis music in the sad slave’s ear. - -How often this hope is destined to fade away, as the early dew before -the rising sun! Not unseldom, does the slave labor intensely to obtain -the means to purchase his freedom, and after having paid the required -sum, is still held a slave, while the master retains the money! This -_very often_ transpires under the slave system. A good many slaves have -in this way paid for themselves several times, and not received their -freedom then! And masters often hold out this inducement to their -slaves, to labor more than they otherwise would, when they have no -intention of fulfilling their promise. O the ineffable meanness of the -slave system! Instead of our being set free, a far different fate -awaited us; and here you behold, reader, the closing scene of the -kindest treatment which a man can bestow upon his slaves. - -It mattered not how benign might have been our master’s conduct to us, -it was to be succeeded by a harrowing scene, the inevitable consequence -of our being left slaves. We must now be separated and divided into -different lots, as we were inherited by the four sons of my master. It -is no easy matter to amicably divide even the old furniture and worn-out -implements of husbandry, and sometimes the very clothing of a deceased -person, and oftentimes a scene of shame ensues at the opening of the -will of a departed parent, which is enough to cause humanity to blush at -the meanness of man. What then must be the sufferings of those persons, -who are to be the objects of this division and strife? See the heirs of -a departed slaveholder, disputing as to the rightful possession of human -beings, many of them their old nurses, and their playmates in their -younger days! The scene which took place at the division of my master’s -human property, baffles all description. I was then only thirteen years -of age, but it is as fresh in my mind as if but yesterday’s sun had -shone upon the dreadful exhibition. My mother was separated from her -youngest child, and not until she had begged and pleaded most piteously -for its restoration to her, was it again placed in her hands. Turning -her eyes fondly upon me, who was now to be carried from her presence, -she said, “You now see, my son, the fulfilment of what I told you a -great while ago, when I used to take you on my knee, and show you the -leaves blown from the trees by the fearful winds.” Yes, I now saw that -one after another were the slave mother’s children torn from her -embrace, and John was given to one brother, Sarah to another, and Jane -to a third, while Samuel fell into the hands of the fourth. It is a -difficult matter to satisfactorily divide the slaves on a plantation, -for no person wishes for _all_ children, or for all old people; while -both old, young, and middle aged ones are to be divided. There is no -equitable way of dividing them, but by allowing each one to take his -portion of both children, middle aged and old people; which necessarily -causes heart-rending separations; but “slaves have no feelings,” I am -sometimes told. “You get used to these things; it would not do for us to -experience them, but you are not constituted as we are;” to which I -reply, that a slave’s friends are _all_ he possesses that is of value to -him. He cannot read, he has no property, he cannot be a teacher of -truth, or a politician; he cannot be very religious, and all that -remains to him, aside from the hope of freedom, that ever present deity, -forever inspiring him in his most terrible hours of despair, is the -society of his friends. We love our friends more than white people love -theirs, for we risk more to save them from suffering. Many of our number -who have escaped from bondage ourselves, have jeopardized our own -liberty, in order to release our friends, and sometimes we have been -retaken and made slaves of again, while endeavoring to rescue our -friends from slavery’s iron jaws. - -But does not the slave love his friends! What mean then those frantic -screams, which every slave-auction witnesses, where the scalding tears -rush in agonizing torrents down the sorrow-stricken cheeks of the -bereaved slave mother; and where clubs are sometimes used to drive apart -two fond friends who cling to each other, as the merciless slave-trader -is to separate them forever. O, to talk of our not having feelings for -our friends, is to mock that Being who has created us in his own image, -and implanted deep in every human bosom, a gushing fount of tender -sensibilities, which no life of sin can ever fully erase. Talk of our -not having feelings, and then calmly look on the scene described as -taking place when my master died! Have you any feeling? Does this -recital arouse those sympathetic feelings in your bosom which you make -your boast of? How can white people have hearts _of tenderness_, and -allow such scenes to daily transpire at the South? All over the -blackened and marred surface of the whole slave territory do these -heart-rending transactions continually occur. Not a day inscribes its -departing hours upon the dial of human existence, but it marks the -overthrow of more than one family altar, and the sundering of numerous -family ties; and yet the hot blood of Southern oppression is allowed to -find its way into the hearts of the Northern people, who politically and -religiously are doing their utmost to sustain the dreadful system; yea, -competing with the South in their devotion to the evil genius of their -country’s choice. Slavery reigns and rules the councils of this nation, -as Satan presides over Pandemonium, and the loud and clear cry of the -anti-slavery host, calling upon the people of the land to cease their -connection with the tyrannical system, is universally unheeded. It falls -upon the closed ears of the people of this nation like the noise of the -random shots of a vessel at sea, upon the ears of the captain of the -opposing squadron, but to arouse them to action in _opposition_ to the -utterance of the voice of warning. - -What though the plaintive cries of three millions of heart-broken and -dejected captives, are wafted on every Southern gale to the ears of our -Northern brethren, and the hot winds of the South reach our fastnesses -amid the mountains and hills of our rugged land, loaded with the stifled -cries and choking sobs of poor desolate woman, as her babes are torn one -by one from her embrace; yet no Northern voice is heard to sound loudly -enough among our hills and dales, to startle from their sleep of -indifference, those who have it in their power to break the chains of -the suffering bondmen _to-day_, saying to all who hear its clear -sounding voice, “Come out from all connection with this terrible system -of cruelty and blood, and form a government and a union free from this -hateful curse.” The Northern people have it in their power to-day, to -cause all this suffering of which I have been speaking to cease, and to -cause one loud and triumphant anthem of praise to ascend from the -millions of panting, bleeding slaves, now stretched upon the plains of -Southern oppression; and yet they talk of our being destitute of -feeling. “O shame, where is thy blush!” - -My father and mother were left on the plantation, and I was taken to the -city of Richmond, to work in a tobacco manufactory, owned by my master’s -son William, who now became my only master. Old master, although he did -not give me my freedom, yet left an especial charge with his son to take -good care of me, and not to whip me, which charge my master endeavored -to act in accordance with. He told me if I would behave well he would -take good care of me, and would give me money to spend, &c. He talked so -kindly to me that I determined I would exert myself to the utmost to -please him, and would endeavor to do just what he wished me to, in every -respect. He furnished me with a new suit of clothes, and gave me money -to buy things with, to send to my mother. One day I overheard him -telling the overseer that his father had raised me, and that I was a -smart boy, and he must never whip me. I tried extremely hard to perform -what I thought was my duty, and escaped the lash almost entirely; -although the overseer would oftentimes have liked to have given me a -severe whipping; but fear of both me and my master deterred him from so -doing. It is true, my lot was still comparatively easy; but reader, -imagine not that others were so fortunate as myself, as I will presently -describe to you the character of our overseer; and you can judge what -kind of treatment, persons wholly in his power might expect from such a -man. But it was some time before I became reconciled to my fate, for -after being so constantly with my mother, to be torn from her side, and -she on a distant plantation, where I could not see or but seldom hear -from her, was exceedingly trying to my youthful feelings, slave though I -was. I missed her smiling look when her eye rested upon my form; and -when I returned from my daily toil, weary and dejected, no fond mother’s -arms were extended to meet me, no one appeared to sympathize with me, -and I felt I was indeed alone in the world. After the lapse of about a -year and a half from the time I commenced living in Richmond, a strange -series of events transpired. I did not then know precisely what was the -cause of these scenes, for I could not get any very satisfactory -information concerning the matter from my master, only that some of the -slaves had undertaken to kill their owners; but I have since learned -that it was the famous Nat Turner’s insurrection that caused all the -excitement I witnessed. Slaves were whipped, hung, and cut down with -swords in the streets, if found away from their quarters after dark. The -whole city was in the utmost confusion and dismay; and a dark cloud of -terrific blackness, seemed to hang over the heads of the whites. So true -is it, that “the wicked flee when no man pursueth.” Great numbers of the -slaves were locked in the prison, and many were “half hung,” as it was -termed; that is, they were suspended to some limb of a tree, with a rope -about their necks, so adjusted as not to quite strangle them, and then -they were pelted by the men and boys with rotten eggs. This half-hanging -is a refined species of cruelty, peculiar to slavery, I believe. - -Among the cruelties occasioned by this insurrection, which was however -some distance from Richmond, was the forbidding of as many as five -slaves to meet together, except they were at work, and the silencing of -all colored preachers. One of that class in our city, refused to obey -the imperial mandate, and was severely whipped; but his religion was too -deeply rooted to be thus driven from him, and no promise could be -extorted from his resolute soul, that he would not proclaim what he -considered the glad tidings of the gospel. (Query. How many white -preachers would continue their employment, if they were served in the -same way?) It is strange that more insurrections do not take place -among the slaves; but their masters have impressed upon their minds so -forcibly the fact, that the United States Government is pledged to put -them down, in case they should attempt any such movement, that they have -no heart to contend against such fearful odds; and yet the slaveholder -lives in constant dread of such an event.[3] - -The rustling of - - “---- ---- ---- the lightest leaf, - That quivers to the passing breeze,” - -fills his timid soul with visions of flowing blood and burning -dwellings; and as the loud thunder of heaven rolls over his head, and -the vivid lightning flashes across his pale face, straightway his -imagination conjures up terrible scenes of the loud roaring of an -enemy’s cannon, and the fierce yells of an infuriated slave population, -rushing to vengeance.[4] There is no doubt but this would be the case, -if it were not for the Northern people, who are ready, as I have been -often told, to shoot us down, if we attempt to rise and obtain our -freedom. I believe that if the slaves could do as they wish, they would -throw off their heavy yoke immediately, by rising against their masters; -but ten millions of Northern people stand with their feet on their -necks, and how can they arise? How was Nat Turner’s insurrection -suppressed, but by a company of United States troops, furnished the -governor of Virginia at his request, according to your Constitution? - -About this time, I began to grow alarmed respecting my future welfare, -as a great eclipse of the sun had recently taken place; and the cholera -reaching the country not long after, I thought that perhaps the day of -judgment was not far distant, and I must prepare for that dreaded event. -After praying for about three months, it pleased Almighty God, as I -believe, to pardon my sins, and I was received into the Baptist Church, -by a minister who thought it was wicked to hold slaves. I was obliged to -obtain permission from my master, however, before I could join. He gave -me a note to carry to the preacher, saying that I had _his permission_ -to join the church! - -I shall now make you acquainted with the manner in which affairs were -conducted in my master’s tobacco manufactory, after which I shall -introduce you to the heart-rending scenes which give the principal -interest to my narrative. - -My master carried on a large tobacco manufacturing establishment in -Richmond, which was almost wholly under the supervision of one of those -low, miserable, cruel, barbarous, and sometimes religious beings, known -under the name of overseers, with which the South abounds. These men -hardly deserve the name of men, for they are lost to all regard for -decency, truth, justice and humanity, and are so far gone in human -depravity, that before they can be saved, Jesus Christ, or some other -Saviour, will have to die a second time. I pity them sincerely, but as -my mind recurs to the wicked conduct I so often witnessed on the part -of this one, I cannot prevent these indignant feelings from arising in -my soul. O reader, if you had seen the perfect recklessness of conduct -so often exhibited by this man, as I witnessed it, you would not blame -me for expressing myself so strongly. I know that even this man is my -brother, but he is a very wicked brother, whose soul I commend to -Almighty God, hoping that his sovereign grace may find its way, if it is -a possible thing, to his sin-hardened soul; _and yet he was a pious -man_. His name was _John F. Allen_, and I suppose he still lives in -Richmond. After reading about his character, I apprehend your judgment -of him will coincide with mine. The other overseers, however, were very -different men, for hell could hardly spare more than one such man, for -one tobacco manufactory; as it is not overstocked with such vile -reprobates. - -But before proceeding to speak farther of him, I will inform you a -little respecting our business--as not many of you have ever seen the -inside of a tobacco manufactory. The building I worked in was about 300 -feet in length, and three stories high, and afforded room for 200 people -to work in, but only 150 persons were employed, 120 of whom were slaves, -and the remainder free colored people. We were obliged to work -_fourteen_ hours a day, in the summer, and _sixteen_ in the winter. - -This work consisted in removing the stems from the leaves of tobacco, -which was performed by women and boys, after which the tobacco was -moistened with a liquor made from liquorice and sugar, which gives the -tobacco that sweetish taste which renders it not perfectly abhorrent to -those who chew it. After being thus moistened, the tobacco was taken by -the men and twisted into hands, and pressed into lumps, when it was sent -to the machine-house, and pressed into boxes and casks. After remaining -in what was called the “sweat-house” about thirty days, it was shipped -for the market. - -Mr. Allen was a thorough going Yankee in his mode of doing business. He -was by no means one of your indolent, do-nothing Southerners, so -effeminate as to be hardly able to wield his hands to administer to his -own necessities, but he was a savage-looking, dare-devil sort of a man, -ready apparently for any emergency to which Beelzebub might call him, a -real servant of the bottomless pit. He understood how to turn a penny as -well as any Yankee pedlar who ever visited our city. Whether he derived -his skill from associating with that class of individuals, or whether it -was the natural production of his own cunning mind, I know not. He used -often to boast, that by his shrewdness in managing the negroes, he made -enough to support his family, which cost him $1000, without touching a -farthing of his salary, which was $1500 per annum. Of the probability of -this assertion, I can bear witness; for I know he was very skilful in -another department of cunning and cheatery. Like many other servants of -the evil one, he was an early riser; not for the purpose of improving -his health, or that he might enjoy sweet communion with his heavenly -Father, at his morning orisons, but that “while the master slept” he -might more easily transact his nefarious business. At whatever hour of -the morning I might arrive at the factory, I seldom anticipated the -seemingly industrious steps of Mr. Allen, who by his punctuality in -this respect, obtained a good reputation as a faithful and devoted -overseer. But mark the conduct of the pious gentleman, for he was a -member of an Episcopalian church. One would have supposed from observing -the transactions around him, that Mr. Allen took time by the forelock, -emphatically, for long before the early rays of the rising sun had -gilded the eastern horizon, was this man busily engaged in loading a -wagon with coal, oil, sugar, wood, &c., &c., which always found a place -of deposit at _his own door_, entirely unknown to my master. This -practice Mr. Allen carried on during my stay there, and yet he was a -very pious man. - -This man enjoyed the unlimited confidence of my master, so that he would -never listen to a word of complaint on the part of any of the workmen. -No matter how cruel or how _unjust_ might be the punishment inflicted -upon any of the hands, master would never listen to their complaints; so -that this barbarous man was our master in reality. At one time a colored -man, who had been in the habit of singing religious songs quite often, -was taken sick and did not make his appearance at the factory. For two -or three days no notice whatever was taken of him, no medicine provided -for him, and no physician sent to heal him. At the end of that time, Mr. -Allen ordered three strong men to go to the man’s house, and bring him -to the factory. This order being obeyed, the man, pale and hardly able -to stand, was stripped to his waist, his hands tied together, and the -rope fastened to a large post. The overseer then questioned him about -his singing, told him that it consumed too much time, and that he was -going to give him some medicine which would cure him. The poor trembling -man made no reply, when the pious Mr. Allen, for no crime except that of -sickness, inflicted 200 lashes upon the quivering flesh of the invalid, -and he would have continued his “apostolic blows,” if the emaciated form -of the languishing man, had not sunken under their heavy weight, and Mr. -Allen was obliged to desist.[5] I witnessed this transaction with my own -eyes; but what could I do, for I was a slave, and any interference on my -part would only have brought the same punishment upon me. This man was -sick a month afterwards, during which time the weekly allowance of -seventy-five cents for the hands to board themselves with, was withheld -from him, and his wife was obliged to support him by washing for others; -and yet Northern people tell me that a slave is better off than a free -man, because when he is sick his master provides for him! Master knew -all the circumstances of this case, but never uttered one word of -reproof to the overseer, that I could learn; at any rate, he did not -interfere at all with this cruel treatment of him, as his motto was, -“Mr. Allen is always right.” - -Mr. Allen, although a church member, was much addicted to the habit of -_profane swearing_, a vice which church members there, indulged in as -frequently as non-professors did. He used particularly to expend his -swearing breath, in denunciation of the whole race of negroes, calling -us “d----d hogs, dogs, pigs,” &c. At one time, he was busily engaged in -reading in _the Bible_, when a slave came in who had absented himself -from work the enormous length of ten minutes! The overseer had been -cheated out of ten minutes’ precious time; and as he depended upon the -punctuality of the slave to support his family in the manner mentioned -previously, his desire perhaps not to violate that precept, “he that -provideth not for his family is worse than an infidel,” led him to -indulge in quite an outbreak of boisterous anger. “What are you so late -for, you black scamp?” said he to the delinquent. “I am only ten minutes -behind the time, sir,” quietly responded the slave, when Mr. Allen -exclaimed, “You are a d----d liar,” and remembering, for aught that I -can say to the contrary, that “he that converteth a _sinner_ from the -error of his ways, shall save a soul from death,” he proceeded to try -the effect of the Bible upon the body of the “liar,” striking him a -heavy blow in the face, with the sacred book. But that not answering his -purpose, and the man remaining incorrigible, he caught up a stick and -beat him with that. The slave complained to master, but he would take no -notice of him, and directed him back to the overseer. - -Mr. Allen, although a superintendent of the Sabbath school, and very -fervid in his exhortations to the slave children, whom he endeavored to -instruct in reference to their duties to their masters, that they must -never disobey them, or lie, or steal, and if they did they would -assuredly “go to hell,” yet was not wholly destitute of “that fear which -hath torment,” for always when a heavy thunder storm came up, would he -shut himself up in a little room where he supposed the lightning would -not harm him; and I frequently overheard him praying earnestly to God to -spare his life. He evidently had not that “perfect _love_ which casteth -out fear.” The same day on which he had beaten the poor sick man, did -such a scene transpire; but generally after the storm had abated he -would laugh at his own conduct, and say he did not believe the Lord had -any thing to do with the thunder and lightning. - -As I have stated, Mr. A. was a devout attendant upon public worship, and -prayed much with the pupils in the Sabbath school, and was indefatigable -in teaching them to repeat the catechism after him, although he was very -particular never to allow them to hold the book in their hands. But let -not my readers suppose on this account, that he desired the salvation of -these slaves. No, far from that; for very soon after thus exhorting -them, he would tell his visiters, that it was “a d----d lie that -colored people were ever converted,” and that they could “not go to -heaven,” for they had no souls; but that it was his duty to talk to them -as he did. The reader can learn from this account of how much value the -religious teaching of the slaves is, when such men are its -administerers; and also for what purpose this instruction is given them. - -This man’s liberality to white people, was coextensive with his -denunciation of the colored race. A white man, he said, could not be -lost, let him do what he pleased--rob the slaves, which he said was not -wrong, lie, swear, or any thing else, provided he _read the Bible and -joined the Church_.[6] - -One word concerning the religion of the South. I regard it as all -delusion, and that there is not a particle of religion in their -slaveholding churches. The great end to which religion is there made to -minister, is to keep the slaves in a docile and submissive frame of -mind, by instilling into them the idea that if they do not obey their -masters, they will infallibly “go to hell;” and yet some of the -miserable wretches who teach this doctrine, do not themselves believe -it. Of course the slave prefers obedience to his master, to an abode in -the “lake of fire and brimstone.” It is true in more senses than one, -that slavery rests upon hell! I once heard a minister declare in public, -that he had preached six years before he was converted; and that he was -then in the habit of taking a glass of “mint julep” directly after -prayers, which wonderfully refreshed him, soul and body. This dram he -would repeat three or four times during the day; but at length an old -slave persuaded him to abstain a while from his potations, the following -of which advice, resulted in his conversion. I believe his second -conversion, was nearer a true one, than his first, because he said his -conscience reproved him for having sold slaves; and he finally left that -part of the country, on account of slavery, and went to the North. - -But as time passed along, I began to think seriously of entering into -the matrimonial state, as much as a person can, who can “make no -contract whatever,” and whose wife is not his, only so far as her master -allows her to be. I formed an acquaintance with a young woman by the -name of Nancy--belonging to a Mr. Lee, a clerk in the bank, and a pious -man; and our friendship having ripened into mutual love, we concluded -to make application to the powers that ruled us, for _permission_ to be -married, as I had previously applied for permission to join the church. -I went to Mr. Lee, and made known to him my wishes, when he told me, he -never meant to sell Nancy, and if my master would agree never to sell -me, then I might marry her. This man was a member of a Presbyterian -church in Richmond, and pretended to me, to believe it wrong to separate -families; but after I had been married to my wife one year, his -conscientious scruples vanished, and she was sold to a saddler living in -Richmond, who was one of Dr. Plummer’s church members. Mr. Lee gave me a -note to my master, and they afterwards discussed the matter over, and I -was allowed to marry the chosen one of my heart. Mr. Lee, as I have -said, soon sold my wife, contrary to his promise, and she fell into the -hands of a very cruel mistress, the wife of the saddler above mentioned, -by whom she was much abused. This woman used to wish for some great -calamity to happen to my wife, because she stayed so long when she _went -to nurse her child_; which calamity came very near happening afterwards -to herself. My wife was finally sold, on account of the solicitations of -this woman; but four months had hardly elapsed, before she insisted upon -her being purchased back again. - -During all this time, my mind was in a continual agitation, for I knew -not one day, who would be the owner of my wife the next. O reader, have -you no heart to sympathize with the injured slave, as he thus lives in a -state of perpetual torment, the dread uncertainty of his wife’s fate, -continually hanging over his head, and poisoning all his joys, as the -naked sword hung by a _hair_, over the head of an ancient king’s guest, -as he was seated at a table loaded with all the luxuries of an epicure’s -devising? This sword, unlike the one alluded to, did often pierce my -breast, and when I had recovered from the wound, it was again hung up, -to torture me. This is slavery, a natural and concomitant part of the -accursed system! - -The saddler who owned my wife, whose name I suppress for particular -reasons, was at one time taken sick, but when _his minister_, the Rev. -(so called) Dr. Plummer came to pray with him, he would not allow him to -perform that rite, which strengthened me in the opinion I entertained of -Dr. Plummer, that he was _as wicked a man_ as this saddler, and you will -presently see, how bad a man he was. The saddler sent for _his slaves to -pray_ for him, and afterwards for me, and when I repaired to his -bed-side, he beseeched me to pray for him, saying that he would live a -much better life than he had done, if the Lord would only spare him. I -and the other slaves prayed _three nights_ for him, after our work was -over, and we needed rest in sleep; but the earnest desire of this man, -induced us to forego our necessary rest; and yet one of the first things -he did after his recovery, was to _sell my wife_. When he was reminded -of my praying for his restoration to health, he angrily exclaimed, that -it was “all d----d lies” about the Lord restoring him to health in -consequence of the negroes praying for him,--and that if any of them -mentioned that they had prayed for him, he “would _whip them for it_.” - -The last purchaser of my wife, was Mr. Samuel S. Cartrell, also a member -of Dr. Plummer’s church.[7] He induced me to pay him $50,00 in order to -assist him in purchasing my companion, so as to prevent her being sold -away from me. I also paid him $50 a year, for her time, although she -would have been of but little value to him, for she had young children -and could not earn much for him,--and rented a house for which I paid -$72, and she took in washing, which with the remainder of my earnings, -after deducting master’s “lion’s share,” supported our family. Our -bliss, as far as the term bliss applies to a slave’s situation, was now -complete in this respect, for a season; for never had we been so -pleasantly situated before; but, reader, behold its cruel termination. O -the harrowing remembrance of those terrible, terrible scenes! May God -spare you from ever enduring what I then endured. - -It was on a pleasant morning, in the month of August, 1848, that I left -my wife and three children safely at our little home, and proceeded to -my allotted labor. The sun shone brightly as he commenced his daily -task, and as I gazed upon his early rays, emitting their golden light -upon the rich fields adjacent to the city, and glancing across the abode -of my wife and family, and as I beheld the numerous companies of slaves, -hieing their way to their daily labors, and reflected upon the -difference between their lot and mine, I felt that, although I was a -slave, there were many alleviations to my cup of sorrow. It was true, -that the greater portion of my earnings was taken from me, by the -unscrupulous hands of my dishonest master,--that I was entirely at his -mercy, and might at any hour be snatched from what sources of joy were -open to me--that he might, if he chose, extend his robber hand, and -demand a still larger portion of my earnings,--and above all, that -intellectual privileges were entirely denied me; but as I imprinted a -parting kiss upon the lips of my faithful wife, and pressed to my bosom -the little darling cherubs, who followed me saying, in their childish -accents, “Father, come back soon,” I felt that life was not all a blank -to me; that there were some pure joys yet my portion. O, how my heart -would have been riven with unutterable anguish, if I had then realized -the awful calamity which was about to burst upon my unprotected head! -Reader, are you a husband, and can you listen to my sad story, without -being moved to cease all your connection with that stern power, which -stretched out its piratical arm, and basely robbed me of all dear to me -on earth! - -The sun had traced his way to mid-heaven, and the hour for the laborers -to turn from their tasks, and to seek refreshment for their toil-worn -frames,--and when I should take my prattling children on my knee,--was -fast approaching; but there burst upon me a sound so dreadful, and so -sudden, that the shock well nigh overwhelmed me. It was as if the -heavens themselves had fallen upon me, and the everlasting hills of -God’s erecting, like an avalanche, had come rolling over my head! And -what was it? “Your wife and smiling babes are gone; in prison they are -locked, and to-morrow’s sun will see them far away from you, on their -way to the distant South!” Pardon the utterance of my feelings here, -reader, for surely a man may feel, when all that he prizes on earth is, -at one fell stroke, swept from his reach! O God, if there is a moment -when vengeance from thy righteous throne should be hurled upon guilty -man, and hot thunderbolts of wrath, should burst upon his wicked head, -it surely is at such a time as this! And this is Slavery; its certain, -necessary and constituent part. Without this terrific pillar to its -demon walls, it falls to the ground, as a bridge sinks, when its -buttresses are swept from under it by the rushing floods. This is -Slavery. No kind master’s indulgent care can guard his chosen slave, his -petted chattel, however fond he may profess to be of such a piece of -property, from so fearful a calamity. My master treated me as kindly as -he could, and retain me in slavery; but did that keep me from -experiencing this terrible deprivation? The sequel will show you even -his care for me. What could I do? I had left my fond wife and prattling -children, as happy as slaves could expect to be; as I was not -anticipating their loss, for the pious man who bought them last, had, as -you recollect, received a sum of money from me, under the promise of not -selling them. My first impulse, of course, was to rush to the jail, and -behold my family once more, before our final separation. I started for -this infernal place, but had not proceeded a great distance, before I -met a gentleman, who stopped me, and beholding my anguish of heart, as -depicted on my countenance, inquired of me what the trouble was with me. -I told him as I best could, when he advised me not to go to the jail, -for the man who had sold my wife, had told my master some falsehoods -about me, and had induced him to give orders to the jailor to seize me, -and confine me in prison, if I should appear there. He said I would -undoubtedly be sold separate from my wife, and he thought I had better -not go there. I then persuaded a young man of my acquaintance to go to -the prison, and sent by him, to my wife, some money and a message in -reference to the cause of my failure to visit her. It seems that it -would have been useless for me to have ventured there, for as soon as -this young man arrived, and inquired for my wife, he was seized and put -in prison,--the jailor mistaking him for me; but when he discovered his -mistake, he was very angry, and vented his rage upon the innocent youth, -by kicking him out of prison. I then repaired to my Christian master, -and there several times, during the ensuing twenty-four hours, did I -beseech and entreat him to purchase my wife; but no tears of mine made -the least impression upon his obdurate heart. I laid my case before him, -and reminded him of the faithfulness with which I had served him, and of -my utmost endeavors to please him, but this _kind_ master--recollect -reader--utterly refused to advance a small portion of the $5,000 I had -paid him, in order to relieve my sufferings; and he was a member, in -good and regular standing, of an Episcopal church in Richmond! His reply -to me was worthy of the morality of Slavery, and shows just how much -religion, the kindest and most pious of Southern slaveholders have. -“_You can get another wife_,” said he; but I told him the Bible said, -“What God has joined together, let not man put asunder,” and that I did -not want any other wife but my own lawful one, whom I loved so much. At -the mention of this passage of Scripture, he drove me from his house, -saying, he did not wish to hear that! - -I now endeavored to persuade two gentlemen of my acquaintance, to buy my -wife; but they told me they did not think it was right to hold slaves, -or else they would gladly assist me, for they sincerely pitied me, and -advised me to go to my master again; but I knew this would be useless. -My agony was now complete. She with whom I had travelled the journey of -life, for the space of twelve years, with three little pledges of -domestic affection, must now be forever separated from me--I must remain -alone and desolate. O God, shall my wife and children never more greet -my sight, with their cheerful looks and happy smiles? Far, far away, in -Carolina’s swamps are they now, toiling beneath the scorching rays of -the hot sun, with no husband’s voice to soothe the hardships of my -wife’s lot, and no father’s kind look to gladden the heart of my -disconsolate little ones.[8] - -I call upon you, Sons of the North, if your blood has not lost its -bright color of liberty, and is not turned to the blackened gore which -surrounds the slaveholder’s polluted hearts, to arise in your might, and -demand the liberation of the slaves. If you do not, at the day of final -account, I shall bear witness against you, as well as against the -slaveholders themselves, as the cause of my and my brethren’s -bereavement. Think you, at that dread hour, you can escape the -scrutinizing look of the Judge of all the earth, as he “maketh -inquisition for the blood of the innocents?” Oh, no; but equally with -the Southern slaveholders, will your character be condemned by the Ruler -of the universe. - -The next day, I stationed myself by the side of the road, along which -the slaves, amounting to three hundred and fifty, were to pass. The -purchaser of my wife was a _Methodist_ minister, who was about starting -for North Carolina. Pretty soon five waggonloads of little children -passed, and looking at the foremost one, what should I see but a little -child, pointing its tiny hand towards me, exclaiming, “There’s my -father; I knew he would come and bid me good-bye.” It was my eldest -child! Soon the gang approached in which my wife was chained. I looked, -and beheld her familiar face; but O, reader, that glance of agony! may -God spare me ever again enduring the excruciating horror of that moment! -She passed, and came near to where I stood. I seized hold of her hand, -_intending_ to bid her farewell; but words failed me; the gift of -utterance had fled, and I remained speechless. I followed her for some -distance, with her hand grasped in mine, as if to save her from her -fate, but I could not speak, and I was obliged to turn away in silence. - -This is not an imaginary scene, reader; it is not a fiction, but an -every-day reality at the South; and all I can say more to you, in -reference to it is, that if you will not, after being made acquainted -with these facts, consecrate your all to the slaves’ release from -bondage, you are utterly unworthy the name of a man, and should go and -hide yourself, in some impenetrable cave, where no eye can behold your -demon form. - -One more scene occurs in the tragical history of my life, before the -curtain drops, and I retire from the stage of observation, as far as -past events are concerned; not, however, to shrink from public gaze, as -if ashamed of my perilous adventures, or to retire into private life, -lest the bloodhounds of the South should scent my steps, and start in -pursuit of their missing property. No, reader, for as long as three -millions of my countrymen pine in cruel bondage, on Virginia’s exhausted -soil, and in Carolina’s pestilential rice swamps; in the cane-breaks of -Georgia, and on the cotton fields of Louisiana and Mississippi, and in -the insalubrious climate of Texas; as well as suffer under the -slave-driver’s cruel lash, all over the almost God-forsaken South; I -shall never refuse to advocate their claims to your sympathy, whenever a -fitting occasion occurs to speak in their behalf. - -But you are eager to learn the particulars of my journey from freedom to -liberty. The first thing that occurred to me, after the cruel separation -of my wife and children from me, and I had recovered my senses, so as to -know how to act, was, thoughts of freeing myself from slavery’s iron -yoke. I had suffered enough under its heavy weight, and I determined I -would endure it no longer; and those reasons which often deter the slave -from attempting to escape, no longer existed in reference to me, for my -family were gone, and slavery now had no mitigating circumstances, to -lessen the bitterness of its cup of woe. It is true, as my master had -told me, that I could “get another wife;” but no man, excepting a brute -below the human species, would have proposed such a step to a person in -my circumstances; and as I was not such a degraded being, I did not -dream of so conducting. Marriage was not a thing of personal convenience -with me, to be cast aside as a worthless garment, whenever the -slaveholder’s will required it; but it was a sacred institution binding -upon me, as long as the God who had “joined us together,” refrained from -untying the nuptial knot. What! leave the wife of my bosom for another! -and while my heart was leaping from its abode, to pour its strong -affections upon the kindred soul of my devoted partner, could I receive -a stranger, another person to my embrace, as if the ties of love existed -only in the presence of the object loved! Then, indeed, should I have -been a traitor to that God, who had linked our hearts together in fond -affection, and cemented our union, by so many additional cords, twining -around our hearts; as a tree and an arbor are held together by the -clinging of the tendrils of the adhering vine, which winds itself about -them so closely. Slavery, and slavery abettors, seize hold of these -tender scions, and cut and prune them away from both tree and arbor, as -remorselessly as a gardener cuts down the briars and thorns which -disturb the growth of his fair plants; but all humane, and every -virtuous man, must instinctively recoil from such transactions, as they -would from soul murder, or from the commission of some enormous deed of -villany. - -Reader, in the light of these scenes you may behold, as in a glass, your -true character. Refined and delicate you may pretend to be, and may pass -yourself off as a pure and virtuous person; but if you refuse to exert -yourself for the overthrow of a system, which thus tramples human -affection under its bloody feet, and demands of its crushed victims, the -sacrifice of all that is noble, virtuous and pure, upon its smoking -altars; you may rest assured, that if the balances of _purity_ were -extended before you, He who “searcheth the hearts, and trieth the -reins,” would say to you, as your character underwent his searching -scrutiny, “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.” - -I went to Mr. Allen, and requested of him permission to refrain from -labor for a short time, in consequence of a disabled finger; but he -refused to grant me this permission, on the ground that my hand was not -lame enough to justify him in so doing. Nothing daunted by this rebuff, -I took some oil of vitriol, intending to pour a few drops upon my -finger, to make it sufficiently sore, to disable me from work, which I -succeeded in, beyond my wishes; for in my hurry, a larger quantity than -it was my purpose to apply to my finger, found its way there, and my -finger was soon eaten through to the bone. The overseer then was obliged -to allow me to absent myself from business, for it was impossible for me -to work in that situation. But I did not waste my precious furlough in -idle mourning over my fate. I armed myself with determined energy, for -action, and in the words of one of old, in the name of God, “I leaped -over a wall, and run through a troop” of difficulties. After searching -for assistance for some time, I at length was so fortunate as to find a -friend, who promised to assist me, for one half the money I had about -me, which was one hundred and sixty-six dollars. I gave him eighty-six, -and he was to do his best in forwarding my scheme. Long did we remain -together, attempting to devise ways and means to carry me away from the -land of separation of families, of whips and thumbscrews, and auction -blocks; but as often as a plan was suggested by my friend, there would -appear some difficulty in the way of its accomplishment. Perhaps it may -not be best to mention what these plans were, as some unfortunate slaves -may thereby be prevented from availing themselves of these methods of -escape. - -At length, after praying earnestly to Him, who seeth afar off, for -assistance, in my difficulty, suddenly, as if from above, there darted -into my mind these words, “Go and get a box, and put yourself in it.” I -pondered the words over in my mind. “Get a box?” thought I; “what can -this mean?” But I was “not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,” and I -determined to put into practice this direction, as I considered it, from -my heavenly Father.[9] I went to the depot, and there noticed the size -of the largest boxes, which commonly were sent by the cars, and returned -with their dimensions. I then repaired to a carpenter, and induced him -to make me a box of such a description as I wished, informing him of the -use I intended to make of it. He assured me I could not live in it; but -as it was dear liberty I was in pursuit of, I thought it best to make -the trial. - -When the box was finished, I carried it, and placed it before my friend, -who had promised to assist me, who asked me if that was to “put my -clothes in?” I replied that it was not, but to “_put Henry Brown in!_” -He was astonished at my temerity; but I insisted upon his placing me in -it, and nailing me up, and he finally consented. - -After corresponding with a friend in Philadelphia, arrangements were -made for my departure, and I took my place in this narrow prison, with a -mind full of uncertainty as to the result. It was a critical period of -my life, I can assure you, reader; but if you have never been deprived -of your liberty, as I was, you cannot realize the power of that hope of -freedom, which was to me indeed, “an anchor to the soul, both sure and -steadfast.” - -I laid me down in my darkened home of three feet by two, and like one -about to be guillotined, resigned myself to my fate. My friend was to -accompany me, but he failed to do so; and contented himself with sending -a telegraph message to his correspondent in Philadelphia, that such a -box was on its way to his care. - -I took with me a bladder filled with water to bathe my neck with, in -case of too great heat; and with no access to the fresh air, excepting -three small gimblet holes, I started on my perilous cruise. I was first -carried to the express office, the box being placed on its end, so that -I started with my head downwards, although the box was directed, “this -side up with care.” From the express office, I was carried to the depot, -and from thence tumbled roughly into the baggage car, where I _happened_ -to fall “right side up,” but no thanks to my transporters. But after a -while the cars stopped, and I was put aboard a steamboat, _and placed on -my head_. In this dreadful position, I remained the space of an hour and -a half, it seemed to me, when I began to feel of my eyes and head, and -found to my dismay, that my eyes were almost swollen out of their -sockets, and the veins on my temple seemed ready to burst. I made no -noise however, determining to obtain “_victory or death_,” but endured -the terrible pain, as well as I could, sustained under the whole by the -thoughts of sweet liberty. About half an hour afterwards, I attempted -again to lift my hands to my face, but I found I was not able to move -them. A cold sweat now covered me from head to foot. Death seemed my -inevitable fate, and every moment I expected to feel the blood flowing -over me, which had burst from my veins. One half hour longer and my -sufferings would have ended in that fate, which I preferred to slavery; -but I lifted up my heart to God in prayer, believing that he would yet -deliver me, when to my joy, I overheard two men say, “We have been here -_two_ hours and have travelled twenty miles, now let us sit down, and -rest ourselves.” They suited the action to the word, and turned the box -over, containing my soul and body, thus delivering me from the power of -the grim messenger of death, who a few moments previously, had aimed his -fatal shaft at my head, and had placed his icy hands on my throbbing -heart. One of these men inquired of the other, what he supposed that box -contained, to which his comrade replied, that he guessed it was the -mail. “Yes,” thought I, “it is a _male_, indeed, although not the _mail_ -of the United States.” - -Soon after this fortunate event, we arrived at Washington, where I was -thrown from the wagon, and again as my luck would have it, fell on my -head. I was then rolled down a declivity, until I reached the platform -from which the cars were to start. During this short but rapid journey, -my neck came very near being dislocated, as I felt it crack, as if it -had snapped asunder. Pretty soon, I heard some one say, “there is no -room for this box, it will have to remain behind.” I then again applied -to the Lord, my help in all my difficulties, and in a few minutes I -heard a gentleman direct the hands to place it aboard, as “it came with -the mail and must go on with it.” I was then tumbled into the car, my -head downwards again, as I seemed to be destined to escape on my head; a -sign probably, of the opinion of American people respecting such bold -adventurers as myself; that our heads should be held downwards, whenever -we attempt to benefit ourselves. Not the only instance of this -propensity, on the part of the American people, towards the colored -race. We had not proceeded far, however, before more baggage was placed -in the car, at a stopping place, and I was again turned to my proper -position. No farther difficulty occurred until my arrival at -Philadelphia. I reached this place at three o’clock in the morning, and -remained in the depot until six o’clock, A. M., at which time, a waggon -drove up, and a person inquired for a box directed to such a place, -“right side up.” I was soon placed on this waggon, and carried to the -house of my friend’s correspondent, where quite a number of persons were -waiting to receive me. They appeared to be some afraid to open the box -at first, but at length one of them rapped upon it, and with a trembling -voice, asked, “Is all right within?” to which I replied, “All right.” -The joy of these friends was excessive, and like the ancient Jews, who -repaired to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, each one seized hold of some -tool, and commenced opening my grave. At length the cover was removed, -and I arose, and shook myself from the lethargy into which I had fallen; -but exhausted nature proved too much for my frame, and I swooned away. - -After my recovery from this fainting fit, the first impulse of my soul, -as I looked around, and beheld my friends, and was told that I was safe, -was to break out in a song of deliverance, and praise to the most high -God, whose arm had been so signally manifest in my escape. Great God, -was I a freeman! Had I indeed succeeded in effecting my escape from the -human wolves of Slavery? O what extastic joy thrilled through every -nerve and fibre of my system! My labor was accomplished, my warfare was -ended, and I stood erect before my equal fellow men;[10] no longer a -crouching slave, forever at the look and nod of a whimsical and -tyrannical slave-owner. Long had seemed my journey, and terribly -hazardous had been my attempt to gain my birth-right; but it all seemed -a comparatively light price to pay for the precious boon of _Liberty_. O -ye, who know not the value of this “pearl of great price,” by having -been all your life shut out from its life-giving presence; learn of how -much importance its possession is regarded, by the panting fugitive, as -he traces his way through the labyrinths of snares, placed between him -and the object of his fond desires! Sympathize with the three millions -of crushed and mangled ones who this day pine in cruel bondage, and -arouse yourself to action in their behalf! This you will do, if you are -not traitors to your God and to humanity. Aid not in placing in high -offices, _baby-stealers and women-whippers_; and if these wicked men, -all covered with the clotted gore of their mangled victims, come among -you, scorn the idea of bowing in homage to them, whatever may be the -character of their claims to your regard. No matter, if they are called -presidents of your nation, still utterly refuse to honor them; which -_you will most certainly do_, if you are true to the Slave! - -After remaining a short time in Philadelphia, it was thought expedient -that I should proceed to Massachusetts, and accordingly funds sufficient -to carry me there, were raised by some anti-slavery friends, and I -proceeded to Boston. After remaining a short time in that city, I -concluded to go to New Bedford, in which place I remained a few weeks, -under the care of Mr. Joseph Rickerston of that place, who treated me -very kindly. At length hearing of a large anti-slavery meeting to be -held in Boston, I left New Bedford, and found myself again in that city, -so famous for its devotion to liberty in the days of the American -revolution; and here, in the presence of several thousand people, did I -first relate in public, the story of my sufferings, since which time I -have repeated my simple tale in different parts of Massachusetts, and in -the State of Maine. - -I now stand before you as a free man, but since my arrival among you, I -have been informed that your laws require that I should still be held as -a slave; and that if my master should espy me in any nook or corner of -the free states, according to the constitution of the United States, he -could secure me and carry me back into Slavery; so that I am confident I -am not safe, even here, if what I have heard concerning your laws is -true. I cannot imagine why you should uphold such strange laws. I have -been told that every time a man goes to the polls and votes, he -virtually swears to sustain them, frightful as they are. It seems to me -to be a hard case, for a man to endure what I have endured in effecting -my escape, and then to be continually exposed to be seized by my master, -and carried back into that horrid pit from which I have escaped. I have -been told, however, that the people here would not allow me to be thus -returned, that they would break their own laws in my behalf, which seems -quite curious to me; for why should you make laws, and swear to uphold -them, and then break them? I do not understand much about laws, to be -sure, as the law of my master is the one I have been subject to all my -life, but some how, it looks a little singular to me, that wise people -should be obliged to break their own laws, or else do a very wicked act. -I have been told that there are twice as many voters at the North as -there are at the South, and much more wealth, as well as other things of -importance, which makes me study much, why the Northern people live -under such laws. If I was one of them, and had any influence among them, -it appears to me, I should advocate the overthrow of such laws, and the -establishment of better ones in their room. Many people tell me besides, -that if the slaves should rise up, and do as they did in Nat Turner’s -time, endeavor to fight their way to freedom, that the Northern people -are pledged to shoot them down, and keep them in subjection to their -masters. Now I cannot understand this, for almost all the people tell -me, that they “are opposed to Slavery,” and yet they swear to prevent -the slaves from obtaining their liberty! If these things could be made -clear to my mind, I should be glad; but a fog hangs over my eyes at -present in reference to this matter. - -I now wish to introduce to your hearing, a friend of mine, who will -tell you more about these things than I can, until I have had more time -to examine this curious subject. What he shall have to say to you, may -not be as interesting as the account of my sufferings, but if you really -wish to help my brethren in bondage, you will not be unwilling to hear -what he may say to you, in reference to the way to abolish slavery, as -you cannot be opposed to my sufferings, unless you are willing to exert -yourselves for the overthrow of the cruel system which caused them. - - - - -CURE FOR THE EVIL OF SLAVERY. - - -Dear Friends,--You have listened with eager ears, and with tearful eyes, -to the recital of Mr. Brown. He has alluded to the laws which many of -you uphold, when you go to the polls and vote, but he has not informed -you of your duty at the present crisis. What I have to say at this time, -will be mainly directed to the remedy for this terrible evil, so -strikingly portrayed in his eventful life. As one of those who desire -the abolition of Slavery, it is my earnest desire to be made acquainted -with a true and proper remedy for this dreadful disease. I apprehend -that no moral evil exists, for the cure of which there cannot be found -some specific, the application of which, will effectually eradicate the -disorder. I am not a politician, and cannot write as politicians do. -Still I may be pardoned for entering a little into their sphere of -action, for the purpose of plucking some choice fruit from the -overhanging boughs of that fruitful arena. I am not _afraid_ of -politics, for I do not regard them as too sacred, or as too profane, -for me to handle. I believe that the people of this country are not -ready for a truly Christian government; therefore, although I cannot -unite myself with any other, yet I should be rejoiced, at beholding the -faintest resemblance to such an one, in opposition to our present -pro-slavery government. - -I would like to see all men perfect Christians, but as I do not expect -to witness this sight very soon, I am gratified at their becoming -anti-slavery, or even temperance men. Any advance from the old -corruptions of the past, is hailed with delight by me. - -The point I would now urge upon your attention is, the immediate -formation of a _new government at the North_, at all events, and at all -hazards! I do not say, “Down with this Union” merely, but I do say, up -with an Anti-Slavery government, in the free States. Our object should -be the establishment of a form of government, directly in opposition to -the one we at present live under. The stars and stripes of our country’s -flag, should be trodden into the dust, and a white banner, with the -words, “Emancipation to the Slaves” inscribed upon it, should be -unfurled to the breeze, in the room of the old emblem of despotic -servitude. Too long have we been dilatory upon this point; but the -period I believe has now arrived, for us to strike for freedom, in -earnest. Let us see first, what we have to accomplish; and then the -means whereby we can bring about the desired end; our capabilities for -such a work; and the reasons why we should adopt this plan; and what -will be the consequences of such a course of action. First. What have we -to accomplish? A great and an important end truly, which is nothing -less, than the establishment of a new government, right in the midst of -our present pro-slavery one. - -A government, is a system of authority sustained by either the rulers, -or the ruled, or by both conjointly. If it depends on the will of the -rulers, then they can change it at pleasure; but if the people are -connected with it, their consent must be gained, before its character -can be altered. If, as is the case with our government, it is the -_people_ who “ordain and establish” laws, then it lies with them to -change those laws, and to remodel that government. Let this fact be -distinctly understood; for the majority of the people of this land, seem -to labor under the delusion, that our government is sustained by some -other power than their own; and are very much in the situation of those -heathen nations, condemned by one of the ancient prophets, who -manufactured their deities, and then fell down and worshipped the work -of their own hands. The people make laws for their own guidance, and -then offer as an excuse for their bad conduct, that the _laws_ require -them to do so! The government appears to be yet surrounded with a halo -of glory, as it was in the days of kingly authority, when “the powers -that be” were supposed to have been approvingly “ordained of God,” and -men fear to touch the sacred structure of their own erecting, as if -God’s throne would be endangered thereby. This is not the only -manifestation of self-esteem connected with their movements. - -The people also fancy, that what their fathers created is divine, when -their fathers have departed, and left them to do as they elect, without -any obligation resting upon them to follow in their steps; but so great -is the self-esteem of the people, as manifested in their pride of -ancestry, that they seem to suppose, that God would cast them off -forever, if they should cease to be children, and become men, casting -from them, the doctrines and political creeds of their fathers; and yet -they boast of their spirit of progress! They fear to act for themselves, -lest they should mar the reputation of their ancestors, and be deprived -of their feeling of self-adulation, in consequence of the perfection of -their worthy sires. But we must humble our pride, and cease worshipping, -either our own, or our father’s handiwork,--in reference to the laws, of -which we are speaking. What we want is, a very simple thing. Our fathers -proclaimed themselves free and independent of the British government, -and proceeded to establish a new one, in its room. They threw off the -British yoke! We can do the same, in reference to the United States -government! We can put forth _our_ “declaration of independence,” and -issue our manifesto of grievances; and as our fathers did, can pledge to -one another, “our lives, our property and our sacred honor,” in -promoting the accomplishment of this end. We can _immediately organize_ -a new government, independent of the present one under which we live. We -may be deemed traitors for so doing; but were not Samuel Adams and John -Hancock traitors? and did not our forefathers inscribe on their banners, -“resistance to tyrants is obedience to God?” Are we more faint-hearted -than they were? Are not our and the slave’s grievances more unendurable -than were their wrongs? A new government is what we want; and the sound -should go forth from all these free hills, echoing across the plains of -the far distant West, that New England and the whole North, are ready -to do battle with the myrmidons of the slave power, not with the sword -of steel, but with the spirit of patient submission to robbery and -death, in defence of our principles. We are not obliged to muster our -squadrons in “hot haste,” to the “sound of the cannon’s deafening roar,” -nor to arm ourselves for physical combat; for there is more power in -suffering death, for truth’s sake, than in fighting with swords of -steel, and with cannon balls. A new government we must have; and now let -us consider, Secondly, how we shall bring this end about, and some -reasons why we should adopt this course. - -Step by step, do we progress in all improvements designed for man’s well -being. At first the people in a semi-barbarous state, are satisfied with -a rude code of laws, similar to that given by a military commander, to -the rough bandits under his direction; but as science unfolds its -truthful wings, and spreads over the minds of the race, a mantle of -wisdom, which covers their rude imperfections, and shuts out from the -eye of man, their inelegant barbarities, a regard for the good opinion -of others more civilized than they, induces such a people to demand the -overthrow of their savage code, which they have become ashamed of -acknowledging. The ancient Jews were supposed to stand in need of laws -of this character; which hung over their heads, threatening the most -severe punishments for the commission of, sometimes, very light crimes; -as Sinai’s burning mountain flashed its fierce lightnings in their -awe-stricken faces, and sent forth its terrible thunders, sounding in -their superstitious ears, like the voice of Deity. This people had just -emerged from the depths of Egyptian slavery, and might have stood in -need of such severe and terrible laws, so Draconic in their nature; but -the refined inhabitants of polished Greece and Rome, needed not such -barbarous enactments. The advancing spirit of civilization had swept -along in its effacing train, all the necessity for such brutal ferocity, -by destroying the ferocious character of the people; as it opened to -them more refined sources of enjoyment, in the erection of works of art, -and in mental cultivation. The muses too, had purified and rendered -delicate their tastes, so that outward barbarity seemed no longer -attractive; although their ancestors had indulged in such scenes with -great gusto. Our Druidical, Saxon and Norman ancestry, might have needed -as cruel laws as those we now live under. At least such laws would have -been more appropriate to their semi-barbarous condition, than they are -to our improved state; but surely, we of the nineteenth century, having -outlived the errors of the past, and having reached a point, from which -we can cast our eyes far back into the distant past, and behold with -utter astonishment, the absurd practices of our cruel and ignorant -ancestors; are not obliged, out of regard for the memory of those not so -far removed from us, in point of time, as those whose memories we do not -hesitate to execrate, to retain as objectionable laws as ever disgraced -the statute book of England, in the days of the bloody Jeffreys, or when -the unalterable “Star chamber” decisions, were the law of the land. For -a country to make its boast of civilization, and to call itself a -refined nation, while it tenaciously grasps the worst errors of its -ancestors, and plunges into a fit of madness, at the least allusion to -an alteration of its cannibal laws, seems somewhat astonishing. It -makes one think of a man, who should propose joining a church, and when -asked to give up dram-drinking and gambling, should break forth in a -torrent of abuse, against those who made the proposition to him; for -those practices are no more contrary to the sweet spirit of heavenly -religion, than is slaveholding in opposition to true civilization, and -perfect refinement. It is a remnant of that spirit of barbarity, which -formerly induced men to fight for conquest and territory, in the -palmiest days of the ancient Eastern empires, when the fields of the -earth, fair mother of our existence, were made fertile by the rich -streams of blood, flowing from the mangled corpses, strewn upon its -surface, by the fiendish barbarity of a Sennacherib, a Cyrus, a Xerxes, -and an Alexander. - -An alteration of our present laws is demanded; but who will agitate this -subject, where it must be agitated, in order to accomplish the end so -ardently desired? It is well known, that a simple majority of votes in -Congress, can never affect the alteration proposed,--that three fourths -of the States of this Union must be penetrated with the spirit of -repentance, in reference to slavery, and bring forth the legitimate -fruit thereof, by consenting to this alteration, before it can be -accomplished; and who will go to the South, that “valley of the shadow -of death,” in regard to all subjects having reference to man’s -improvement, and urge this course upon its darkened inhabitants? But -this step must be taken, before the Constitution can be altered, or its -meaning rendered unequivocal, so as not to be misunderstood by the -authorities of this nation; for it is not to be expected that the South -will ever repent of their own accord, and change the laws of the Union, -because we demand it, unless the alternative is presented them, of such -change, or disunion on our part. - -But the time expended in converting the people of the _North_ to a -willingness to alter the Constitution, would amply suffice to persuade -them to organize a new government; for the Northern people are as ready -to go for a dissolution of the Union, as they are for an alteration of -the Constitution; for much advance has already been made in -indoctrinating them in reference to the former idea, and thousands and -tens of thousands are probably converts to this doctrine, while but -little or nothing has been said in reference to the latter alternative. -No party has yet proposed this step; but a large and increasing one, -embodying a great portion of the talent of the nation, is now earnestly -engaged in advocating the former. Which would be the easiest of -accomplishment then, the conversion of the North to disunion principles, -or to a willingness to alter the Constitution? Every one at all versed -in political affairs, must be aware, that an alteration of the -Constitution, without the consent of the South, would be a virtual -dissolution of the Union, even if such a step were possible; so that -converting the Northern people to the doctrine of an alteration of the -Constitution, would be, in fact, only another phase of conversion to -disunion; for, of course, the South will never consent to such an -alteration, only as an alternative, in opposition to dissolution. To be -sure, if the Northern people would act as a body, and boldly say to the -South, “give us an alteration of the ‘three-fifths representation’ -clause of the Constitution; a change of that in reference to ‘domestic -insurrection;’ and an entire destruction of the one requiring ‘persons -held to service, under the laws of a state,’ to be given up to ‘those to -whom _such_ service or labor may be due,’ or we will break away from -your polluting embrace;” there would probably be no need of our ever -dissolving the Union, if the South believed the North was speaking -truly; for, a petted and indulged child, rendered effeminate by parental -fondness and neglect of all discipline, would be in no more danger of -leaving forever its parent’s abode, without a farthing in its pocket, or -the ability to walk a single step alone, because of its parents’ refusal -to gratify its whims any longer; than would the “spoiled child” of the -South, who has been fed on the richest viands our Northern pantry could -supply, and drank of the costliest wines our free cellars could furnish, -be in danger of leaving its well-supplied table of Northern spreading, -and spring from the soft lap of Northern indulgence, to go forth to its -own poverty-stricken lands, obliged to earn its coarse bread and clear -water, by the hard toil of its own delicate hands. - -But will the Northern people ever be ready to say this to the South? Not -until years of patient toil in cultivating the pro-slavery soil of their -hearts, have been expended by those whose office it seems to be to labor -for the slaves’ release; and even then, it is questionable whether, -after having been supported by the North so long, and so patiently, the -South would believe all our affirmations; and we after all might be -obliged to withdraw from her. But if the plan we propose, should be -adopted, it would save all this uncertainty, for the South would then -know we meant what we said, and would be frightened at our movements; -as a woman is filled with dismay, when her only protector, talks of -leaving her and her helpless babes, to the cold charities of an -unfeeling world. - -It is certain the South never would consent to an alteration of the -Constitution, unless she was driven to it by the North, which object has -not yet been proposed by any Northern party; and before any great -progress could be made in the reception of such a doctrine, a little -knot of patriots, armed with the invincible resolution of him, whose -narrative has been presented to you, or with that of our revolutionary -fathers; could have erected the standard of revolt, and have formed the -basis of a new and powerful government. It is not a reform in our -government that we need, but _a revolution--an overthrow of the present -one_, and the establishment of a new one. Supposing a few individuals -should be hung as traitors, would not that create a sympathy for us -among the governments of the old world? and would not the universal -voice of all civilized nations cry out against our immolation? Let but -as many individuals unite, as signed the famous manifesto of our -fathers, and armed with their Spartan spirit, _pledge our lives and -fortunes_ to the accomplishment of this end! Let our _declaration of -independence_ be sent forth to all the world, and our grievances be -stated in the hearing of mankind! Let a new Continental Congress meet, -at some favorable point, draft a new Constitution, and all who drink of -the spirit of liberty, which flowed into the hearts of our fathers, be -requested to annex their names to the document! Let it go forth to the -whole land as _our_ Constitution! Let immediate measures be taken for an -active and efficient agitation of the whole subject; our orators to go -forth, and in the streets and lanes of our cities and villages, proclaim -the object we have in view; or, if a more silent way of proceeding shall -be deemed the most expedient, let committees visit every house and shop -in our land, and see who will gird on this armor, and resolve to perish -in an attempt to rescue the bleeding slave, from the hands of his cruel -master, by refusing all support to this government, even to the -deprivation of the necessaries of life. - -And now comes the period of our proposed bloodless revolution, which -will try men’s souls. Let us do as our fathers did, and _refuse to pay -taxes to the general government_. “Millions for defence, but not one -cent for tribute,” cried our ancestors, in order to save their -descendants from the oppressive spirit of England’s grasping avarice. -They at first were ridiculed, and it is stated that when John Warren, -one of the aristocracy of Boston, made an inflammatory speech, at a -rebel meeting, that he was denounced by the leading citizens of this -place, and a copy of a letter is still preserved, written by some of -them in reference to the transaction, in which they state, that “one Dr. -Warren, had indeed made a rebellious speech, but he was applauded only -by _a few rowdies_.” Shall not we be as willing to sacrifice our -property and lives, as were our ancestors? Did not John Hancock hand the -keys of his stores and dwelling to the authorities of the city, saying -to them, “this is all of my property, but if the good of Boston requires -its destruction, I freely yield it to you?” To pay taxes is to support -the government, under which we live, for without this support it could -not exist. These taxes are not paid of course directly, but still we -eat, drink, and wear those things, on which a duty is paid, which gives -the general government all its power. For instance. The Mexican War has -left a large debt resting on our shoulders. The only way in which it -will be paid probably is, by an increased tariff on particular articles -of consumption. Now if an entire cessation of such consumption should -take place, would not the government be left destitute of the means to -pay this debt? Who pays the salaries of the officers of this government, -but the consumer of the articles taxed by it? If the consumption of all -such articles can be prevented, would not our government be obliged to -cease operations, for want of oil to grease its machinery with? It moves -only as money is furnished it. Our navy and army, the protectors of the -South, can only be supported by large sums of money, derived from the -revenue of the nation, which revenue we help to create by our -consumption of these things. If sugar pays a large duty, or tea and -coffee, or silks and satins, broadcloths and cassimeres, by refusing to -use those articles, and inducing others to do the same, would not the -revenue of the nation be affected? and when the actual tax-gatherer in -the shape of the merchant, holds out his seductive wares for our -purchase, could we not exhibit to him our pledge to “totally abstain” -from the use of such articles; as the temperance man shows his ticket, -as a reason why he should not partake of the intoxicating cup? - -Another step could also be taken. A president could be chosen by us, and -other necessary officers, and we could go on with our government, just -as if no other existed, “beating for recruits” all the while, and -offering no physical resistance to those who molest us. _Have we not a -right so to do?_ - - “Children of the glorious dead! - Who for freedom fought and bled,” - -have you become bond slaves to a power fully as oppressive of you, as -that of Britain’s tyrannical king, against whom your ancestors lifted -their stout arms in rebellion, and unfurled their banner of revolt, on -which was gloriously inscribed, “victory or death?” Have you forever -lost all that portion of your ancestral fire, which armed three millions -of poor and feeble men to engage in deadly combat with the richest and -most powerful nation in Christendom? Ah, has God forsaken you so -entirely, that no pulse of gladness beats in your frame, as you listen -to the stirring notes of the wild, clarion sound of freedom, coming over -these hills, and echoing from the far-distant prairies of the wide West? -Oh is there not, friends, any deep fountain of sorrow gushing up from -the inmost depths of your secret souls, for the sufferings and woes of -the three millions of your Southern brethren? Ah, is there not any -remnant of the spark of divinity which our Father in heaven has placed -in every human heart, left to warm up your frigid souls? Say, breathes -there not a particle of indignant life in your moral nature, as you -listen to the mad agonies of shrieking mothers, the victims of -remorseless tyrants who now stand defacing God’s image and stamping in -the dust the lineaments of their Creator? Oh, is there none of manhood -left in you, that the shrieks of trampled upon and bleeding innocence, -should not move you to contend with Slavery’s cruel power? But is not -your own safety a reason why you should cease to doff your beavers to -the South, and should refuse to pay homage to her any longer? Listen a -moment while I exhibit to you some more personal and selfish arguments. -At the last election, the Southern States were allowed one electoral -vote for every 7,500 voters, while at the North, it took 12,000 voters -to entitle us to _one_ elector. The number of electors, of which we were -thus deprived, was about 100, which was the same as excluding from the -privilege of the elective franchise, 750,000 voters, about the number in -all New England and Pennsylvania! Now are not these persons taxed -equally with those who have the privilege of voting? Do not all the -citizens of the North pay taxes? Yes, and much more than their true -proportion, for by far the greater portion of duty-paying goods, are -consumed at the North. Then, is not the principle which our fathers died -to oppose, fully carried out by our government, _taxation without -representation_? and yet we tamely submit to this plucking our substance -from us, by the fierce beak of our country’s eagle; while our fathers -would not so much as listen to the slight growling of the English lion, -as he shook his shaggy mane in their faces, and touched them with but -the extremities of his bloody paw! Robbery, if committed by a bird of -prey, the American eagle, is to be patiently submitted to, and indeed we -call it but the tickling of an affectionate friend or child; but let the -valiant lion of Old England take the value of a pin’s point, or a few -old pine trees and worthless rocks from us, and how the welkin rings -with the sound of our abhorrence of such depredations. We are like the -slaveholder, spoken of in our friend’s narrative, who told the slaves it -was a crime to steal from him, but none to rob his neighbors, because -he reaped the benefits of the theft. So with us. We are _rewarded_ for -our submission to this robbery, by the paltry trade of the South, and as -long as a few of us can make more money than we lose otherwise by our -connection with the South, we care not for our principles, although -every fourth of July we laud our fathers for fighting in behalf of them; -or for the losses of the mass of the people. _Taxation without -representation!_ This practice deluged the fields of our country, with -our ancestor’s and Briton’s son’s blood; and caused our prosperity, as a -nation, to be stricken to the ground, and we magnify our fathers for -their boldness, in reference to it; yet we cherish the same principle, -and press it to our bosoms as a part of our religion! - -Great Britain _tried_ our fathers, accused of crime, away from their -homes, across the waters of the ocean, and we call it a great -oppression; but let one of our sons be guilty of an act in violation of -Southern law, or be even suspected of it, and there is _no_ law by which -he can be tried. All law is trampled under foot, and he is doomed to -waste away his life, in a gloomy prison, or to be whipped almost to -death. Which is the worst, being tried across the sea, by an impartial -court, or being strung up by Lynch law between the heavens and the -earth, and left dangling on the limb of a tree, or else doomed to wear -out a miserable existence in some foul dungeon? - -But to make the case still more parallel. Great Britain, our fathers -complained, quartered soldiers upon them in times of peace, who eat out -their substance and corrupted the people. For what other earthly -purpose is the army of the United States continued in existence, but to -watch the bidding of the monster Slavery, and be ready to fly at a -moment’s warning to her assistance, in case the least attempt should be -made by their victims to regain their freedom? That this is a true -statement, may be seen from the fact, that all our wars for the last -thirty-five years, have been waged in behalf of Slavery, and even our -last war with Great Britain, is attributed by many persons to the -demands of the slave power. It is certain, that no war will ever be -allowed by the South, except in behalf of Slavery, for it would be -detrimental to their interests; and it is well known that she rules over -the destinies of this country, and guides its affairs of state, as -effectually as Alexander or Napoleon ruled the countries they had -conquered. Slavery rules this nation, did we say? It can hardly be -called ruling, for we are so submissive to the faintest manifestation of -her will, that she has but to glance her glowing eye towards our craven -souls, and we will prostrate our abject forms lowly on the ground, with -our faces hid in the dust, which we are truly unworthy to touch; as -submissively and reverentially, as the devout Mussulman kisses the -ground when the hour of prayer arrives, crying, “God is great.” Our God -is emphatically Slavery. To him we address our early matins, and in his -ear are uttered our evening orisons. More devoutly do we render homage -to our god, Slavery, than the most pious of us adore the God of heaven, -which proves that we are a very religious people, worshipping, not -crocodiles, leeks and onions, snakes, and images of wood and stone, but -a god, whose service is infinitely more disgusting than that of any -heathen idol, but one who _pays_ us well, for our obeisance, as we -imagine. - -In this matter of a standing army, we go beyond our fathers in suffering -oppression. They were not obliged to fight for England, when the object -of the war was to enslave themselves; but it is well known that the -great object the South has in view, in all her wars, is the -aggrandizement of herself and the subjection of the North to her -complete dictation; and we are called upon to engage in these wars, and -after they are fought, we are compelled to foot the heavy bills. - -But when our fathers were oppressed, they could plead in their own -behalf. If they placed their feet on England’s shores, no harm could -befal them, as long as they were guilty of no crime. They could defend -their own cause; and the thunders of a Burke’s eloquence, shook the -walls of Parliament to their foundation, and made the tyrants of England -tremble and quake with fear, as he poured forth the fervor of his -vehement eloquence in strong condemnation of the oppression of the -colonies. A William Pitt too, could frighten the British minister from -his unhallowed security, amid the multitude of fawning sycophants -surrounding him, in the height of his political power, by the thunders -of his voice, uttered in faithful rebuke of the war measures of the -government. This noble Earl, was allowed to plead in behalf of American -freedom, until his earnest spirit was claimed by the grim messenger -death, as he arose in his place in the House of Lords, to speak in our -behalf. But suffer what we may, is there any redress for us at the hands -of our government? Our property may be injured by spoliations on our -commerce, such as imprisoning our seamen, as well as by the crime of -seizing our free citizens and depriving them of their liberty; and can -we obtain the least redress? O the ignominy of our puerile connection -with the South! - -It is well known that under the system of Slavery, the three great -blessings of republicanism are denied to a large portion of our -citizens. These are, freedom of the press, of speech and of locomotion. -And will we allow ourselves to be deprived of what even Europe’s -despotic kings have been bestowing upon their subjects? Are we more base -and abject in our submission to the South, than are the oppressed -millions of the old world, in their subjection to their kingly -oppressors? O what falsifiers of our own professions, and truants to our -own dearly prized principles, we are! Can an abolitionist travel -unexposed at the South? I have had some little experience in the matter, -and know that such is not the case. Men have pursued me with relentless -hate, and implements of death have been brought into requisition against -me, for no crime, only for exposing Slavery, in its own dominions. Can -we send to any part of the South those newspapers we may wish to send -there? While at the South, I was advised by a friend to conceal a paper -I had received, because of its being opposed to Slavery; and it is in -only particular portions of that ill-fated country, that anti-slavery -publications, can be introduced. It is not many years, since a man was -publicly whipped, for having an anti-slavery newspaper wrapped around a -bible, which he was offering for sale. As to liberty of speech, not half -the freedom is allowed the opponents of Slavery on the floors of -Congress, that the British Parliament allowed the opposers of the -American War. In Boston, on the day which ushered the famous _stamp act_ -into existence, the bells were tolled, and a funeral procession passed -through the streets, bearing a coffin, on which the word _Liberty_ was -inscribed. “During the movement of the procession, minute guns were -fired, and an oration was pronounced in favor of the _deceased_. Similar -expressions of grief and indignation occurred in many parts of the -land;” but, friends, no funeral procession passed through our streets -when Liberty died the second time--no muffled bells sounded their -melancholy peals in the ears of a mourning people; no liberty-loving -orator was found to pronounce a requiem for the departed goddess; and -yet she was slain--and slain too, not by foreign hands, nor by the -natural allies of human oppressors, but, shall I tell the sad and dismal -tale? by those, who twenty-five years before, had shrouded their faces -in mantles of mourning, and rent the air with their expressions of -grief, at the destruction of one of liberty’s little fingers, by the -passage of the stamp act; but when Liberty lay a full length corpse, on -the floors of that Congress, which sold her to the South, as Judas -betrayed the Son of God, and for almost as small a boon, viz.: “the -carrying trade” of the South; not only were there _no_ lamentations made -over her complete departure, but she was taken by night and buried -hastily; while - - “Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note,” - -as her corse was deposited without a “winding sheet,” or even “a -soldier’s cloak” to wrap around her bleeding form. Clandestinely was she -hurried out of the sight of the men who murdered her; and instead of -songs of sorrow, being heard throughout the land, pæans of praise -ascended from its every corner, and honors were heaped on the heads of -her murderers. But Liberty as truly died then, as if loud lamentations -had been made in her behalf, and the descendants of those very men, who -in 1765 followed the coffin of liberty to its place of deposit, because -no business was deemed lawful unless the records of it were made on -_stamped paper_; the descendants of these very mourners of liberty, now, -do what is infinitely worse than to use the stamped paper of a British -king; they swear to support that sacrifice of Liberty upon the altar of -Southern slavery, whenever they are admitted to any offices of trust and -renown. Is not this oppressive, when we may not administer justice to -our fellow men, or exercise the most common authority, without renewing -the thrust at the departed spirit of liberty, as our fathers actually -slew her fair form? - - O Liberty! didst thou draw thy keen sword - For those, whom av’rice sought to rob, and slay, - And sent its minions far, to seek its prey, - That glittering gold might its coffers fill; - While they their foes should crush, and seek to kill, - That England’s lords, their gold could steal, and hoard? - - Goddess celestial, and divine, and pure, - Wert thou, the champion brave, the soldier true, - Who fought with youthful vigor, with the few, - Of Columbia’s sons, who stood, a sturdy band, - And bade their country’s foes to leave their land, - While they, to thee didst vow allegiance sure? - - Insulted nymph! thy fair form shone so bright, - That kings, as thee they saw, could not reject - That face, alive with claims to their respect; - E’en they, besotted with the lust of power, - Could not refuse to yield to thee thy dower, - But ceased at thy command, their foes to fight. - - But ah! the men who thee so loud did call, - The souls, whom thou hadst saved from bondage dread, - O fearful tale! _themselves on thee did tread_; - And thy fair robe was pierced with traitorous thrusts. - As Cæsar groaning fell and kissed the dust, - When ingrate Brutus’ blows on him did fall. - -On the 5th of March, 1775, the Boston massacre occurred--the fearful -tragedy of State Street! All Boston was aroused, murders dreadful had -been committed by the British troops, and it was a difficult task to -allay the excitement occasioned thereby. What was the amount of this -terrible massacre? Why, three Boston citizens had been shot in the heat -of an affray with the British soldiery! What horror seemed to seize upon -the hearts of the people! Why, “our brothers are being shot down in the -face of open day, and our turn may come next.” Terrible was the -indignation of our fathers! And yet we, their descendants, calmly allow -the South to slay our citizens at their leisure. The blood of a murdered -Lovejoy, still cries out from the ground for vengeance! A Baltimore -prison, still contains the impress of a departed spirit’s feet, which -left an impression on its gloomy pavement, as he fled from an earthly -prison-house to the mansions of the blest. A C. C. Torrey still calls -for redress for his wrongs at the hands of Southern tyrants. The jail of -our own capital if it could speak, would tell of him who pined away -within its noisome walls, as he lay in that republican enclosure, a -victim to Southern tyranny. Yes, Dr. Crandall’s blood has not yet been -atoned for, by the wicked South. Here are, at least three victims who -have been slain, at the cruel dictation of Slavery’s dreadful power. But -time would fail me, to tell of a Van Zandt, of a Fairbanks, and of -numerous others, whose lives have been forfeited to the South. And yet -we submit to her dictation. Our own citizens slain, imprisoned, and -cruelly beaten, but yet we have no heart to break away from this -degrading alliance with our Southern man-stealing brethren. - -But, I must bring this expostulation to a close, and proceed to show the -_consequences_ of this event, the formation of a new government. Of -these it may be said; they could not be more disastrous to the North -than Slavery has been; for like the “horse-leech’s two daughters,” she -continually cries “give, give,” and never seems to have enough. Hardly -through with the digestion of the tremendous morsel just administered to -her gormandizing appetite, she commences to lick her lips, and daintily -ask for a dessert, with which to finish the full meal which she has -already made of California and New Mexico, and as her mother deems it -her duty, never to deny any of her darling daughter’s reasonable -requests, probably the Island of Cuba, will soon be placed at her side, -for her to nibble upon at leisure. - -Many persons deprecate our plan, for fear of a civil war; and terrific -ideas of rivers of blood rolling across our fields, and piles of bones -heaped on our shores, startle them in their slumbers, as the rustling of -a leaf fills the slaveholder’s heart with fear. In the first place, how -very absurd is this idea of a civil war being the result of disunion. -Can any one seriously urge it, as an objection to this movement? Look at -the vast extent of territory open to the incursions of an enemy, if the -North should withdraw from the South. There are the Islands of the West -Indies, filled with emancipated slaves, ready, some of them to join in -an effort to redeem the Southern slaves from bondage. Then there is the -long line of sea-board, entirely unprotected, which even in the last war -was devastated in part by the British army, and the capital of our -country reduced to ashes. On the Northern frontier, runs that talismanic -line, over which a slave has but to place his foot, and glorious liberty -becomes his possession. Here stand, twelve millions of freemen, ready to -fight in behalf of the panting fugitive, while nearly 20,000 sturdy -hearts beat quick to the sound of the trumpet of freedom, and are ready -to leave their homes in _Canada_, to assist their brethren. Then, there -is ill-treated and insulted Mexico, burning under a sense of the wrongs -inflicted upon her, and watching an opportunity to redress those wrongs. -Last of all, are the numerous Indian tribes, smarting under a deep sense -of the wrongs they have received at our hands. Now will any sensible -person assert that five millions of Southerners, allowing all her white -population to be in favor of Slavery, with an intestine foe, ready to -spring upon her, as soon as the last chance of freedom presents itself, -will be in danger of fighting twelve millions of free Northerners, who -can call to their aid all these, and numerous other allies? Why, the -idea is preposterous, and none but an insane man, can seriously -entertain it. Who would fight the North, if war should be declared? At -the first sound of the trumpet of war, every slave would be instantly -free; for never could the Southerners leave their homes exposed to the -fury of an insurgent population, as they would be obliged to, if an army -should be organized to fight the North. - -But who are those persons who cry out “civil war, and bloodshed?” Are -they not mostly those who believe the revolutionary war to have been -right? If Slavery is wrong, to be consistent, they ought to hail any -movement which will hasten an insurrection among the Slaves. What is a -civil war of a few years’ continuance, in comparison to the seven years’ -war we waged with Great Britain? _Then_ our resources were limited, our -treasury light, and we were only three millions strong. But _now_, we -abound in resources, have become plethoric on account of our riches, and -are twelve millions strong, while our enemy is less than half that -number. We coped with twenty millions of British subjects, when we -numbered but three millions, can we not now with twelve millions cope -with five? Then has our glory departed indeed, and we are the veriest -slaves in existence. But would our trade be endangered? Ah, that is -_the_ question. Said a person to me not long since, “I acknowledge there -would be benefits in a dissolution of the Union, but there are also -disadvantages.” And what are they? we inquired. “Why, our trade would be -injured.” Let it perish then! Every mother’s son of us, had better pack -up and on board our numerous vessels go on a begging expedition to -England or France, or we had better “tie millstones about our necks, and -drown ourselves in the depths of the sea;” or, we had better lay down in -the streets and perish with hunger, than to allow Slavery to continue -its existence. - -The moment it is granted that a dissolution of the Union would abolish -Slavery quicker than any other course, then I think our point is gained, -and there is no necessity of proving that we shall not lose the sale of -a few hats and boots, or _slave whips_. It seems almost an insult to the -character of the Northern people to answer such an argument as this, and -yet I fear that it is the “strong reason” why this question meets with -so much opposition. - -If slavery is abolished, no one can deny that our _trade_, so important -to Northern men, and for which they are ready to barter the welfare of -three millions of human beings, would be materially increased; but for -one I care not, whether this will be the case or not. I cannot, I will -not argue this question. It is a sin against the Holy Ghost, to dream of -balancing the matter in this way. Northern men, you are too much -actuated by this spirit of Avarice! You must be converted from this -accursed love for gold; for it will sink you into the lowest degradation -of a life afar from Deity. You cannot be the friends of God, while it -reigns in your hearts! You must arise, and cast it from you! You must be -converted from your selfishness, and then you will have no objections to -offer against a dissolution of the Union! If your eyes can only be -anointed with the eye-salve of humanity, and be washed in the waters of -benevolence, you will see the folly of all your objections, and will be -ready to sink all your ships with their rich cargoes, into the depths of -the sea, and to burn your well-filled stores, rather than to cause -Slavery to continue another day! O, men of the North, can ye not be -aroused to action in the slave’s behalf? Shall the purple streams of the -slave’s blood, flow ceaselessly and rapidly o’er our land, gushing forth -from every hill-side of the South, and coloring all the fair fields of -Southern industry, on account of your sustaining power? O that I could -utter some word in your ear, which would quicken your dormant -sensibilities and arouse you to action in the slave’s cause! Shall I -tell you of God, of heaven, and of hell? There is a God, and as he -descends from his abode among the stars, and essays to find an entrance -into your soul, by which he may make you “a joint heir with Christ to an -inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and which fadeth not away,” -depend upon it, that he will be frustrated in his benevolent purpose, if -the demon of pro-slavery, lies coiled up in your heart. Whatever may be -said of religion, it is true that God can never approve of any person, -in league with slaveholders; for a just God is forever opposed to all -forms of robbery and oppression. If God’s favor then is of any value, -flee, I beseech thee, to the arms of liberty, and be encircled by her -protecting power; so that all approach to Slavery may be dreaded by -thee, as an angel dreads the polluting touch of sin. - - - - -_EXTRACT of an Address of Sam’l J. May, Unitarian Clergyman, in -Syracuse, N. Y., delivered in Faneuil Hall_. - - -Never will the story be forgotten in our country, or throughout the -world, of the man--whom I trust you will all be permitted to see--who, -that he might escape from Southern oppression, consented to a living -entombment. He entered the box with the determination to be free or die: -and as he heard the nails driven in, his fear was that death was to be -his portion; yet, said he, let death come in preference to slavery! I -happened to be in the City of Philadelphia--I have told the story to the -convention already, but I will tell it again--in the midst of an -excitement that was caused by the arrival of a man in a box. I measured -it myself; _three feet one inch long, two feet wide, and two feet six -inches deep_. IN THAT BOX A MAN WAS ENTOMBED FOR TWENTY SEVEN HOURS. - -The box was placed in the express car in Richmond, Va., and subjected to -all the rough treatment ordinarily given to boxes of merchandise; for, -notwithstanding the admonition of “_this side up with care_,” the box -was tumbled over, so that he was sometimes on his head; yes, at one -time, for nearly two hours, as it seemed to him, _on his head_, and -momentarily expecting that life would become extinct, from the terrible -pressure of blood that poured upon his brain. Twenty-seven hours was -this man subjected to this imminent peril, that he might, for one -moment, at least, breathe the air of liberty. Does not such a man -deserve to be free? Is there a heart here, that does not bid him -welcome? Is there a heart here, that can doubt that there must be in him -not merely the heart and soul of a deteriorated man--a degraded, -inferior man--but the heart and soul of a noble man? Not a _nobleman_, -sir, but a NOBLE MAN? Who can doubt it? - - * * * * * - - REPRESENTATION OF THE BOX, - - -In which a fellow mortal travelled a long journey, in quest of those -rights which the piety and republicanism of this country denied to him, -the right to possess. - -[Illustration: - -_Philadelphia -Pa. -Right side up with care_ - -3 feet 1 inch long, 2 feet wide, 2 feet 6 inches high.] - -As long as the temples of humanity contain a single worshipper, whose -heart beats in unison with that of the God of the universe; must a -religion and a government which could inflict such misery upon a human -being, be execrated and fled from, as a bright angel, abhors and flees -from the touch of hideous sin. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] HUGO GROTIUS was, in the year 1620, sent from prison, -confined in a small chest of drawers, by the affectionate hands of a -faithful wife, but he was taken by _friends_ on horseback and carried -to the house of a friend, without undergoing much suffering or running -the terrible risk which our friend ran. - -[2] The reader may be disposed to doubt the truth of the above -assertion, but I once asked a girl in Ky., whose mistress was a -Methodist church member, if she could tell me “who Jesus Christ was?” -“Yes,” said she, “he is the bad man.” - - C. S. - - -[3] In proof of this, I would state that during my residence at the -South, a whole town was once thrown into an uproar by my entering a -slave hut, about Christmas time, and talking and praying with the -inmates about an hour. I was told that it would not be safe for me to -remain in the town over night. - - C. S. - - -[4] While at the South, a gentleman came one day to a friend of mine, -and in a very excited manner said to him, “Why, are you not afraid -to have that man about you? Do you not fear that your house will be -burned? I cannot sleep nights lest the slaves should rise and burn, all -before them.” - - C. S. - - -[5] While in Kentucky I knew of a case where a preacher punished a -female slave in this way, and his wife stood by, throwing cold water -into the slave’s face, to keep her from fainting. In endeavoring to -escape afterwards, the poor creature became faint from loss of blood, -and her body was found partly devoured by the buzzards. - - C. S. - - -[6] Will not this be considered a sufficient exhibition of that -_charity_, which pro-slavery divines exhort abolitionists to practise? - - C. S. - - -[7] Reader, do you wonder at abolitionists calling such churches the -brotherhood of thieves? - - C. S. - - -[8] I would here state, that Mr. Brown is endeavoring to raise money to -purchase his family. Twelve hundred dollars being the sum demanded for -them. Any person wishing to assist him in this laudable purpose, can -enclose donations to him, directing No. 21 Cornhill, Boston. - -[9] Reader, smile not at the above idea, for if there is a God of love, -we must believe that he suggests steps to those who apply to him in -times of trouble, by which they can be delivered from their difficulty. -I firmly believe this doctrine, and know it to be true from frequent -experience. - - C. S. - - -[10] For a corroboration of this part of Mr. Brown’s narrative, the -reader is referred to the close of this book. - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF HENRY BOX BROWN *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<table style='min-width:0; padding:0; margin-left:0; border-collapse:collapse'> - <tr><td>Title:</td><td>Narrative of Henry Box Brown</td></tr> - <tr><td></td><td>Who Escaped from Slavery Enclosed in a Box 3 Feet Long and 2 Wide</td></tr> -</table> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Henry Box Brown</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Contributor: Charles Stearns</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 05, 2021 [eBook #64992]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF HENRY BOX BROWN ***</div> -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/cover.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" height="550" alt="" /></a> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ii" id="page_ii">{ii}</a></span> </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iii" id="page_iii">{iii}</a></span> </p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/frontispiece.jpg"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" height="500" alt="[Image of -the frontispiece is unavailable.]" /></a> -</div> - -<h1><small>N A R R A T I V E</small><br /><br /> -<small><small>OF</small></small><br /><br /> -HENRY BOX BROWN,</h1> - -<p class="c">WHO ESCAPED FROM SLAVERY<br /> -ENCLOSED IN A BOX 3 FEET LONG AND 2 WIDE.<br /> -<br /><small>WRITTEN FROM A</small><br /><br /> - -STATEMENT OF FACTS MADE BY HIMSELF.<br /><br /> -WITH REMARKS UPON THE REMEDY FOR SLAVERY.<br /><br /> -BY CHARLES STEARNS.<br /><br /> - -BOSTON:<br /> -PUBLISHED BY BROWN & STEARNS.<br /> -FOR SALE BY BELA MARSH, 25 CORNHILL.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iv" id="page_iv">{iv}</a></span> </p> - -<p class="c"><small>ABNER FORBES, PRINTER, -37 Cornhill.</small> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_v" id="page_v">{v}</a></span> </p> - -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Not</span> for the purpose of administering to a prurient desire to “hear and -see some new thing,” nor to gratify any inclination on the part of the -hero of the following story to be honored by man, is this simple and -touching narrative of the perils of a seeker after the “boon of -liberty,” introduced to the public eye; but that the people of this -country may be made acquainted with the horrid sufferings endured by one -as, in a <i>portable prison</i>, shut out from the light of heaven, and -nearly deprived of its balmy air, he pursued his fearful journey -directly through the heart of a country making its boasts of liberty and -freedom to all, and that thereby a chord of human sympathy may be -touched in the hearts of those who listen to his plaintive tale, which -may be the means of furthering the spread of those principles, which -under God, shall yet prove “mighty to the pulling down of the -strong-holds” of slavery.</p> - -<p>O reader, as you peruse this heart-rending tale, let the tear of -sympathy roll freely from your eyes, and let the deep fountains of human -feeling, which God has implanted in the breast of every son and daughter -of Adam, burst forth from their enclosure, until a stream shall flow -therefrom on to the surrounding world, of so invigorating and purifying -a nature, as to arouse from the “death of the sin” of slavery, and -cleanse from the pollutions thereof, all with whom you may be connected. -As Henry Box Brown’s thrilling escape is portrayed before you, let<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vi" id="page_vi">{vi}</a></span> it -not be perused by you as an idle tale, while you go away “forgetting -what manner of persons you are;” but let truth find an avenue through -your sensibilities, by which it can reach the citadel of your soul, and -there dwell in all its life-giving power, expelling the whole -brotherhood of pro-slavery errors, which politicians, priests, and -selfish avarice, have introduced to the acquaintance of your -intellectual faculties. These faculties are oftener blinded by -selfishness, than are imbecile of themselves, as the powerful intellect -of a Webster is led captive to the inclinations of a not unselfish -heart; so that that which should be the ruling power of every man’s -nature, is held in degrading submission to the inferior feelings of his -heart. If man is blinded to the appreciation of the good, by a mass of -selfish sensibilities, may he not be induced to surrender his will to -the influence of truth, by <i>benevolent</i> feelings being caused to spring -forth in his heart? That this may be the case with all whose eyes gaze -upon the picture here drawn of misery, and of endurance, worthy of a -Spartan, and such as a hero of olden times might be proud of, and -transmit to posterity, along with the armorial emblazonry of his -ancestors, is the ardent desire of all connected with the publication of -this work. A word in regard to the literary character of the tale before -you. The narrator is freshly from a land where books and schools are -forbidden under severe penalties, to all in his former condition, and of -course knoweth not letters, having never learned them; but of his -capabilities otherwise, no one can doubt, when they recollect that if -the records of all nations, from the time when Adam and Eve first placed -their free feet upon the soil of Eden, until the conclusion of the -scenes depicted by Hildreth and Macaulay, should be diligently searched, -a parallel instance of heroism, in behalf of personal liberty, could not -be found. Instances of fortitude for the defence of religious freedom, -and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vii" id="page_vii">{vii}</a></span> cases of a violation of conscience being required; and for the -sake of offspring, of friends and of one’s country are not uncommon; but -whose heroism and ability to contrive, united, have equalled our -friend’s whose story is now before you?<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>A William and an Ellen Craft, indeed performed an almost equally -hazardous undertaking, and one which, as a devoted admirer of human -daring has said, far exceeded any thing recorded by Macaulay, and will -yet be made the ground-work for a future Scott to build a more intensely -interesting tale upon than “the author of Waverly” ever put forth, but -they had the benefit of their eyes and ears—they were not entirely -helpless; enclosed in a moving tomb, and as utterly destitute of power -to control your movements as if death had fastened its icy arm upon you, -and yet possessing all the full tide of gushing sensibilities, and a -complete knowledge of your existence, as was the case with our friend. -We read with horror of the burial of persons before life has entirely -fled from them, but here is a man who voluntarily assumed a condition in -which he well knew all the chances were against him, and when his head -seemed well-nigh severed from his body, on account of the concussion -occasioned by the rough handling to which he was subject, see the -Spartan firmness of his soul. Not a groan escaped from his agonized -heart, as the realities of his condition were so vividly presented -before him. Death stared him in the face, but like Patrick Henry, only -when the alternative was more a matter of fact than it was to that -patriot, he exclaims, “Give me liberty or give me death;” and death -seemed to say, as quickly as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_viii" id="page_viii">{viii}</a></span> the lion seizes the kid cast into its den, -“You are already mine,” and was about to wrap its sable mantle around -the form of our self-martyred hero—bound fast upon the altars of -freedom, as the Hindoo widow is bound upon the altar of a husband’s -love; when the bright angel of liberty, whose dazzling form he had so -long and so anxiously watched, as he pored over the scheme hid in the -recesses of his own fearless brain, while yet a slave, and whose shining -eyes had bewitched his soul, until he had said in the language of one of -old to Jesus, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest;” when this -blessed goddess stood at his side, and, as Jesus said to one lying cold -in death’s embrace, “I say unto thee, arise,” said to him, as she took -him by the hand and lifted him from his travelling tomb, “thy warfare is -over, thy work is accomplished, a free man art thou, my guidance has -availed thee, arise and breathe the air of freedom.”</p> - -<p>Did Lazarus astonish his weeping sisters, and the surrounding multitude, -as he emerged from his house of clay, clad in the habiliments of the -grave, and did joy unfeigned spread throughout that gazing throng? How -much more astonishing seemed the birth of Mr. Brown, as he “came forth” -from a box, clothed not in the habiliments of the grave, but in those of -slavery, worse than the “silent house of death,” as his acts had -testified; and what greater joy thrilled through the wondering -witnesses, as the lid was removed from the travelling carriage of our -friend’s electing, and straightway arose therefrom a living man, a being -made in God’s own image, a son of Jehovah, whom the piety and -republicanism of this nation had doomed to pass through this terrible -ordeal, before the wand of the goddess of liberty could complete his -transformation from a slave to a free man! But we will desist from -further comments. Here is the plain narrative of our friend, and is it -asking too much of you, whose sympathies may be aroused by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ix" id="page_ix">{ix}</a></span> the recital -which follows, to continue to peruse these pages until the cause of all -his sufferings is depicted before you, and your duty under the -circumstances is clearly pointed out?</p> - -<p>Here are the identical words uttered by him as soon as he inhaled the -fresh air of freedom, after the faintness occasioned by his sojourn in -his temporary tomb had passed away.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="c"> -HYMN OF THANKSGIVING,<br /> -<br /><small> -SUNG BY HENRY BOX BROWN,</small><br /> -<br /> -<i>After being released from his confinement in the Box, at Philadelphia</i>.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="poetry" style="margin:auto auto;max-width:60%;"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I waited patiently, I waited patiently for the Lord, for the Lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he inclined unto me, and heard my calling;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I waited patiently, I waited patiently for the Lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he inclined unto me, and heard my calling;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And he hath put a new song in my mouth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ev’n a thanksgiving, Ev’n a thanksgiving, Ev’n a thanksgiving unto our God.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Blessed, Blessed, Blessed, Blessed is the man, Blessed is the man,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blessed is the man that hath set his hope, his hope in the Lord;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O Lord my God, Great, Great, Great,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great are the wondrous works which thou hast done,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, which thou hast done,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great are the wondrous works,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great are the wondrous works,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great are the wondrous works, which thou hast done.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">If I should declare them and speak of them, they should be more,<br /> -more, more than I am able to express.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have not kept back thy loving kindness and truth from the great congregation,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have not kept back thy loving kindness and truth from the great congregation.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, O Lord;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_x" id="page_x">{x}</a></span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let thy loving kindness and thy truth always preserve me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let all those that seek thee, be joyful and glad, -be joyful, be glad, be joyful and glad, be joyful, be joyful, be joyful, -be joyful, be joyful and glad, be glad in thee.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And let such as love thy salvation,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let such as love thy salvation, say always,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord be praised,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord be praised:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let such as love thy salvation, say always,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord be praised,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord be praised,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord be praised.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2"><i>Boston, Sept. 1, 1849.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11">{11}</a></span><br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<h2><a name="NARRATIVE" id="NARRATIVE"></a>NARRATIVE.</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">I am</span> not about to harrow the feelings of my readers by a terrific -representation of the untold horrors of that fearful system of -oppression, which for thirty-three long years entwined its snaky folds -about my soul, as the serpent of South America coils itself around the -form of its unfortunate victim. It is not my purpose to descend deeply -into the dark and noisome caverns of the hell of slavery, and drag from -their frightful abode those lost spirits who haunt the souls of the poor -slaves, daily and nightly with their frightful presence, and with the -fearful sound of their terrific instruments of torture; for other pens -far abler than mine have effectually performed that portion of the labor -of an exposer of the enormities of slavery. Slavery, like the shield -discovered by the knights of olden time, has two diverse sides to it; -the one, on which is fearfully written in letters of blood, the -character of the mass who carry on that dreadful system of unhallowed -bondage; the other, touched with the pencil of a gentler delineator, and -telling the looker on, a tale of comparative freedom, from the terrible -deprivations so vividly portrayed on its opposite side.</p> - -<p>My book will present, if possible, the beautiful side<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12">{12}</a></span> of the picture of -slavery; will entertain you with stories of partial kindness on the part -of my master, and of comparative enjoyment on my own part, as I grew up -under the benign influence of the blessed system so closely connected -with our “republican institutions,” as Southern politicians tell us.</p> - -<p>From the time I first breathed the air of human existence, until the -hour of my escape from bondage, I did not receive but one whipping. I -never suffered from lack of food, or on account of too extreme labor; -nor for want of sufficient clothing to cover my person. My tale is not, -therefore, one of horrid inflictions of the lash upon my naked body; of -cruel starvings and of insolent treatment; but is the very best -representation of slavery which can be given; therefore, reader, allow -me to inform you, as you, for aught I know, may be one of those degraded -mortals who fancy that if no blows are inflicted upon the slave’s body, -and a plenty of “bread and bacon” is dealed out to him, he is therefore -no sufferer, and slavery is not a cruel institution; allow me to inform -you, that I did not escape from such deprivations. It was not for fear -of the lash’s dreaded infliction, that I endured that fearful -imprisonment, which you are waiting to read concerning; nor because of -destitution of the necessaries of life, did I enclose myself in my -travelling prison, and traverse your boasted land of freedom, a portion -of the time with my head in an inverted position, as if it were a -terrible crime for me to endeavor to escape from slavery.</p> - -<p>Far beyond, in terrible suffering, all outward cruelties of the foul -system, are those inner pangs which rend the heart of fond affection, -when the “bone of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13">{13}</a></span> your bone, and the flesh of your flesh” is separated -from your embrace, by the ruthless hand of the merciless tyrant, as he -plucks from your heart of love, the one whom God hath given you for a -“help-meet” through the journey of life; and more fearful by far than -all the blows of the bloody lash, or the pangs of cruel hunger are those -lashings of the <i>heart</i>, which the best of slaveholders inflict upon -their happy and “well off” slaves, as they tear from their grasp the -pledges of love, smiling at the side of devoted attachment. Tell me not -of kind masters under slavery’s hateful rule! There is no such thing as -a person of that description; for, as you will see, my master, one of -the most distinguished of this uncommon class of slaveholders, hesitated -not to allow the wife of my love to be torn from my fond embrace, and -the darling idols of my heart, my little children, to be snatched from -my arms, and thus to doom them to a separation from me, more dreadful to -all of us than a large number of lashes, inflicted on us daily. And yet -to this fate I was continually subject, during a large portion of the -time, when heaven <i>seemed</i> to smile propitiously above me; and no black -clouds of fearful character lowered over my head. Heaven save me from -kind masters, as well as from those called more cruel; for even their -“tender mercies are cruel,” and what no freeman could endure for a -moment. My tale necessarily lacks that thrilling interest which is -attached to the more than romantic, although perfectly true descriptions -of a life in slavery, given by my numerous forerunners in the work of -sketching a slave’s personal experience; but I shall endeavor to -intermingle with it other scenes which came under my own observation, -which will<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14">{14}</a></span> serve to convince you, that if I was spared a worse fate -than actually fell to my lot, yet my comrades around me were not so -fortunate; but were the victims of the ungovernable rage of those men, -of whose characters one cannot be informed, without experiencing within -his soul, a rushing of overflowing emotions of pity, indignation and -horror.</p> - -<p>I first drew the breath of life in Louisa County, Va., forty-five miles -from the city of Richmond, in the year 1816. I was born a slave. Not -because at the moment of my birth an angel stood by, and declared that -such was the will of God concerning me; although in a country whose most -honored writings declare that all men have a right to liberty, given -them by their Creator, it seems strange that I, or any of my brethren, -could have been born without this inalienable right, unless God had thus -signified his departure from his usual rule, as described by our -fathers. Not, I say, on account of God’s willing it to be so, was I born -a slave, but for the reason that nearly all the people of this country -are united in legislating against heaven, and have contrived to vote -down our heavenly father’s rules, and to substitute for them, that cruel -law which binds the chains of slavery upon one sixth part of the -inhabitants of this land. I was born a slave! and wherefore? Tyrants, -remorseless, destitute of religion and principle, stood by the couch of -my mother, as heaven placed a pure soul, in the infantile form, there -lying in her arms—a new being, never having breathed earth’s atmosphere -before; and fearlessly, with no compunctions of remorse, stretched forth -their bloody arms and pressed the life of God from me, baptizing my soul -and body as their own property; goods and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15">{15}</a></span> chattels in their hands! Yes, -they robbed me of myself, before I could know the nature of their wicked -acts; and for ever afterwards, until I took possession of my own soul -and body, did they retain their stolen property. This was why I was born -a slave. Reader, can you understand the horrors of that fearful name? -Listen, and I will assist you in this difficult work. My father, and my -<i>mother</i> of course, were slaves before me; but both of them are now -enjoying the invaluable boon of liberty, having purchased themselves, in -this land of freedom! At an early age, my mother would take me on her -knee, and pointing to the forest trees adjacent, now being stripped of -their thick foliage by autumnal winds, would say to me, “my son, as -yonder leaves are stripped from off the trees of the forest, so are the -children of slaves swept away from them by the hands of cruel tyrants;” -and her voice would tremble, and she would seem almost choked with her -deep emotions, while the big tears would find their way down her -saddened cheeks, as she fondly pressed me to her heaving bosom, as if to -save me from so dreaded a calamity. I was young then, but I well -recollect the sadness of her countenance, and the mournfulness of her -words, and they made a deep impression upon my youthful mind. Mothers of -the North, as you gaze upon the free forms of your idolized little ones, -as they playfully and confidently move around you, O if you knew that -the lapse of a few years would infallibly remove them from your -affectionate care, not to be laid in the silent grave, “where the wicked -cease from troubling,” but to be the sport of cruel men, and the victims -of barbarous tyrants, who would snatch them from your side, as the -robber seizes<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16">{16}</a></span> upon the bag of gold in the traveller’s hand; O, would -not your life then be rendered a miserable one indeed? Who can trace the -workings of a slave mother’s soul, as she counts over the hours, the -departure of which, she almost knows, will rob her of her darling -children, and consign them to a fate more horrible than death’s cold -embrace! O, who can hear of these cruel deprivations, and not be aroused -to action in the slave’s behalf?</p> - -<p>My mother used to instruct me in the principles of morality, as much as -she was able; but I was deplorably ignorant on religious subjects, for -what ideas can a slave have of religion, when those who profess it -around him, are demons in human shape oftentimes, as you will presently -see was the case with my master’s overseer? My mother used to tell me -not to steal, and not to lie, and to behave myself properly in other -respects. She took a great deal of pains with me and my brother; which -resulted in our endeavors to conduct ourselves with propriety. As a -specimen of the religious knowledge of the slaves, I will state here my -ideas in regard to my master; assuring the reader that I am not joking, -but stating what was the opinion of all the slave children on my -master’s plantation; and I have often talked it over with my early -associates, and my mother, and enjoyed hearty laughs at the absurdity of -our youthful ideas.</p> - -<p>I really believed my old master was Almighty God, and that his son, my -young master, was Jesus Christ.<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_17" id="page_17">{17}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind">One reason I had for this belief -was, that when it was about to thunder, my old master would approach us, -if we were in the yard, and say, “All you children run into the house -now, for it is going to thunder,” and after the shower was over, we -would go out again, and he would approach us smilingly, and say, “What a -fine shower we have had,” and bidding us look at the flowers in the -garden, would say, “how pretty the flowers look now.” We thought that -<i>he</i> thundered, and caused the rain to fall; and not until I was eight -years of age, did I get rid of this childish superstition. Our master -was uncommonly kind, and as he moved about in his dignity, he seemed -like a god to us, and probably he did not dislike our reverential -feelings towards him. All the slaves called his son, our Saviour, and -the way I was enlightened on this point was as follows. One day after -returning from church, my mother told father of a woman who wished to -join the church. She told the preacher she had been baptized by one of -the slaves, who was called from his office, “John the Baptist;” and on -being asked by the minister if she believed “that our Saviour came into -the world, and had died for the sins of man,” she replied, that she -“knew he had come into the world,” but she “had not heard he was dead, -as she lived so far from the road, she did not learn much that was going -on in the world.” I then asked mother, if young master was dead. She -said it was not him they were talking about; it was “our Saviour in -heaven.” I then asked her if there were two Saviours, when she told me -that young master was not “our Saviour,” which filled me with -astonishment, and I could not understand it at first. Not long after -this, my sister became anxious to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18">{18}</a></span> have her soul converted, and shaved -the hair from her head, as many of the slaves thought they could not be -converted without doing this. My mother reproved her, and began to tell -her of God who dwelt in heaven, and that she must pray to him to convert -her. This surprised me still more, and I asked her if old master was not -God; to which she replied that he was not, and began to instruct me a -little in reference to the God of heaven. After this, I believed there -was a God who ruled the world, but I did not previously, have the least -idea of any such being. And why should not my childish fancy be correct, -according to the blasphemous teachings of the heathen system of slavery? -Does not every slaveholder assume exclusive control over all the actions -of his unfortunate victims? Most assuredly he does, as this extract from -the laws of a slaveholding State will show you. “A slave is one who is -in the power of his master, to whom he belongs. A slave owes to his -master and all his family, <i>respect without bounds and absolute -obedience</i>.” How tallies this with the unalterable law of Jehovah, “Thou -shalt have no other gods before me?” Does not the system of slavery -effectually shut out from the slave’s heart, all true knowledge of the -eternal God, and doom him to grope his perilous way, amid the thick -darkness of unenlightened heathenism, although he dwells in a land -professing much religion, and an entire freedom from the superstitions -of paganism?</p> - -<p>Let me tell you my opinion of the slaveholding religion of this land. I -believe in a hell, where the wicked will forever dwell, and knowing the -character of slaveholders and slavery, it is my settled belief, as it -was while I was a slave, even though I was treated<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19">{19}</a></span> kindly, that <i>every</i> -slaveholder will infallibly go to that hell, unless he repents. I do not -believe in the religion of the Southern churches, nor do I perceive any -great difference between them, and those at the North, which uphold -them.</p> - -<p>While a young lad, my principal employment was waiting upon my master -and mistress, and at intervals taking lessons in what is the destiny of -most of the slaves, the cultivation of the plantation. O how often as -the hot sun sent forth its scorching rays upon my tender head, did I -look forward with dismay, to the time, when I, like my fellow slaves, -should be driven by the task-master’s cruel lash, to the performance of -unrequited toil upon the plantation of my master. To this expectation is -the slave trained. Like the criminal under sentence of death, he notches -upon his wooden stick, as Sterne’s captive did, the days, after the -lapse of which he must be introduced to his dreaded fate; in the case of -the criminal, merely death—a cessation from the pains and toils of -life; but in our cases, the commencement of a living death; a death -never ending, second in horror only to the eternal torment of the wicked -in a future state. Yea, even worse than that, for there, a God of love -and mercy holds the rod of punishment in his own hand; but in our case, -it is held by men from whom almost the last vestige of goodness has -departed, and in whose hearts there dwells hardly a spark of humanity, -certainly not enough to keep them from the practice of the most inhuman -crimes. Imagine, reader, a fearful cloud, gathering blackness as it -advances towards you, and increasing in size constantly; hovering in the -deep blue vault of the firmament above you, which cloud seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20">{20}</a></span> loaded -with the elements of destruction, and from the contents of which you are -certain you cannot escape. You are sailing upon the now calm waters of -the broad and placid deep, spreading its “unadorned bosom” before you, -as far as your eye can reach,</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Calm as a slumbering babe,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Tremendous Ocean lays;”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="nind">and on its “burnished waves,” gracefully rides your little vessel, -without fear or dismay troubling your heart. But this fearful cloud is -pointed out to you, and as it gathers darkness, and rushes to the point -of the firmament overhanging your fated vessel, O what terror then -seizes upon your soul, as hourly you expect your little bark to be -deluged by the contents of the cloud, and riven by the fierce lightnings -enclosed in that mass of angry elements. So with the slave, only that he -knows his chances of escape are exceedingly small, while you may very -likely outlive the storm.</p> - -<p>To this terrible apprehension we are all constantly subject. To-day, -master may smile lovingly upon us, and the sound of the cracking whip -may be hushed, but the dread uncertainty of our future fate still hangs -over us, and to-morrow may witness a return of all the elements of -fearful strife, as we emphatically “know not what a day may bring -forth.” The sweet songsters of the air, as it were, may warble their -musical notes ever so melodiously, harmonizing with the soft-blowing of -the western winds which invigorates our frames, and the genial warmth of -the early sun may fill us with pleasurable emotions; but we know that -ere long, this sweet singing must be silenced by the fierce cracking of -the bloody lash, falling on our own<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21">{21}</a></span> shoulders, and that the cool -breezes and the gentle heat of early morn, must be succeeded by the hot -winds and fiery rays of Slavery’s meridian day. The slave has <i>no -certainty</i> of the enjoyment of <i>any privilege whatever</i>! All his fancied -blessings, without a moment’s warning being granted to him, may be swept -forever from his trembling grasp. Who will then say that “disguise -itself” as Slavery will, it is not “a bitter cup,” the mixture whereof -is gall and wormwood?</p> - -<p>My brother and myself, were in the practice of carrying grain to mill, a -few times a year, which was the means of furnishing us with some -information respecting other slaves. We often went twenty miles, to a -mill owned by a Col. Ambler, in Yansinville county, and used to improve -our opportunities for gaining information. Especially desirous were we, -of learning the condition of slaves around us, for we knew not how long -we should remain in as favorable hands as we were then. On one occasion, -while waiting for our grain, we entered a house in the neighborhood, and -while resting ourselves there, we saw a number of forlorn-looking beings -pass the door, and as they passed, we noticed that they turned and gazed -earnestly upon us. Afterwards, about fifty performed the same act, which -excited our minds somewhat, as we overheard some of them say, “Look -there, and see those two colored men with shoes, vests and hats on,” and -we determined to obtain an interview with them. Accordingly, after -receiving some bread and meat from our hosts, we followed these abject -beings to their quarters;—and such a sight we had never witnessed -before, as we had always lived on our master’s plantation, and this was -about the first of our journeys to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22">{22}</a></span> mill. They were dressed with -shirts made of coarse bagging, such as coffee-sacks are made from, and -some kind of light substance for pantaloons, and <i>no other clothing -whatever</i>. They had on no shoes, hats, vests, or coats, and when my -brother asked them why they spoke of our being dressed with those -articles of clothing, they said they had “never seen negroes dressed in -that way before.” They looked very hungry, and we divided our bread and -meat among them, which furnished them only a mouthful each. They never -had any meat, they said, given them by their masters. My brother put -various questions to them, such as, “if they had wives?” “did they go to -church?” “had they any sisters?” &c. The one who gave us the -information, said they had wives, but were obliged to marry on their own -plantation. Master would not allow them to go away from home to marry, -consequently he said they were all related to each other, and master -made them marry, <i>whether related or not</i>. My brother asked this man to -show him his sisters; he said he could not tell them from the rest, -<i>they were all his sisters</i>; and here let me state, what is well known -by many people, that no such thing as real marriage is allowed to exist -among the slaves. Talk of marriage under such a system! Why, the owner -of a Turkish harem, or the keeper of a house of ill-fame, might as well -allow the inmates of their establishments to marry as for a Southern -slaveholder to do the same. Marriage, as is well known, is the voluntary -and perfect union of one man with one woman, without depending upon the -will of a third party. This never can take place under slavery, for the -moment a slave is allowed to form such a connection as he chooses, the -spell of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23">{23}</a></span> slavery is dissolved. The slave’s wife is his, only at the -will of her master, who may violate her chastity with impunity. It is my -candid opinion that one of the strongest motives which operate upon the -slaveholders, and induce them to retain their iron grasp upon the -unfortunate slave, is because it gives them such unlimited control in -this respect over the female slaves. The greater part of slaveholders -are licentious men, and the most respectable and the kindest of masters, -keep some of their slaves as mistresses. It is for their pecuniary -interest to do so in several respects. Their progeny is so many dollars -and cents in their pockets, instead of being a bill of expense to them, -as would be the case if their slaves were free; and mulatto slaves -command a higher price than dark colored ones; but it is too horrid a -subject to describe. Suffice it to say, that no slave has the least -certainty of being able to retain his wife or her husband a single hour; -so that the slave is placed under strong inducements not to form a union -of <i>love</i>, for he knows not how soon the chords wound around his heart -would be snapped asunder, by the hand of the brutal slave-dealer. -Northern people sustain slavery, knowing that it is a system of perfect -licentiousness, and yet go to church and boast of their purity and -holiness!</p> - -<p>On this plantation, the slaves were never allowed to attend church, but -managed their religious affairs in their own way. An old slave, whom -they called Uncle John, decided upon their piety, and would baptize them -during the silent watches of the night, while their master was “taking -his rest in sleep.” Thus is the slave under the necessity of even -“saving his soul” in the hours when the eye of his master, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24">{24}</a></span> usurps -the place of God over him, is turned from him. Think of it, ye who -contend for the necessity of these rites, to constitute a man a -Christian! By night must the poor slave steal away from his bed of -straw, and leaving his miserable hovel, must drag his weary limbs to -some adjacent stream of water, where a fellow slave, as ignorant as -himself, proceeds to administer the ordinance of baptism; and as he -plunges his comrades into the water, in imitation of the Baptist of old, -how he trembles, lest the footsteps of his master should be heard, -advancing to their Bethesda,—knowing that if such should be the case, -the severe punishment that awaits them all. Baptists, are ye striking -hands with Southern churches, which thus exclude so many slaves from the -“waters of salvation?”</p> - -<p>But we were obliged to cut short our conversation with these slaves, by -beholding the approach of the overseer, who was directing his steps -towards us, like a bear seeking its prey. We had only time to ask this -man, “if they were often whipped?” to which he replied, “that not a day -passed over their heads, without some of their number being brutally -punished; and,” said he, “we shall have to suffer for this talk with -you.” He then told us, that many of them had been severely whipped that -very morning, for having been baptized the night before. After we left -them, we looked back, and heard the screams of these poor creatures, -suffering under the blows of the hard-hearted overseer, for the crime of -talking with us;—which screams sounded in our ears for some time. We -felt thankful that we were exempted from such terrible treatment; but -still, we knew not how soon we should be subject to the same cruel fate. -By this time we<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25">{25}</a></span> had returned to the mill, where we met a young man, (a -relation of the owner of this plantation,) who for some time appeared to -be eyeing us quite attentively. At length he asked me if I had “ever -been whipped,” and when I told him I had not, he replied, “Well, you -will neither of you ever be of any value, then;” so true is it that -whipping is considered a necessary part of slavery. Without this -practice, it could not stand a single day. He expressed a good deal of -surprise that we were allowed to wear hats and shoes,—supposing that a -slave had no business to wear such clothing as his master wore. We had -brought our fishing-lines with us, and requested the privilege to fish -in his stream, which he roughly denied us, saying, “we do not allow -niggers to fish.” Nothing daunted, however, by this rebuff, my brother -went to another place, and was quite successful in his undertaking, -obtaining a plentiful supply of the finny tribe; but as soon as this -youngster perceived his good luck, he ordered him to throw them back -into the stream, which he was obliged to do, and we returned home -without them.</p> - -<p>We finally abandoned visiting this mill, and carried our grain to -another, a Mr. Bullock’s, only ten miles distant from our plantation. -This man was very kind to us, took us into his house and put us to bed, -took charge of our horses, and carried the grain himself into the mill, -and in the morning furnished us with a good breakfast. I asked my -brother why this man treated us so differently from our old miller. -“Oh,” said he, “this man is not a slaveholder!” Ah, that explained the -difference; for there is nothing in the southern character averse to -gentleness. On the contrary, if it were not for slavery’s withering -touch, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26">{26}</a></span> Southerners would be the kindest people in the land. Slavery -possesses the power attributed to one of old, of changing the nature of -all who drink of its vicious cup.</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“—— —— —— Which, as they taste,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon as the potion works, their <i>human</i> countenance,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The express resemblance of the gods, is changed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into some brutish form of wolf, or bear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And they, so perfect is their misery,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not once perceive their foul disfigurement,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But boast themselves more comely than before.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>Under the influence of slavery’s polluting power, the most gentle women -become the fiercest viragos, and the most benevolent men are changed -into inhuman monsters. It is true of the northern man who goes South -also.</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“<i>Whoever</i> tastes, loses his upright shape,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">And downward falls, into a <i>grovelling swine</i>.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>This non-slaveholder also allowed us to catch as many fish as we -pleased, and even furnished us with fishing implements. While at this -mill, we became acquainted with a colored man from another part of the -country; and as our desire was strong to learn how our brethren fared in -other places, we questioned him respecting his treatment. He complained -much of his hard fate,—said he had a wife and one child, and begged for -some of our fish to carry to his wife; which my brother gladly gave him. -He said he was expecting to have some money in a few days, which would -be “<i>the first he ever had in his life</i>!” He had sent a thousand -hickory-nuts to market, for which he afterwards informed us he had -received thirty-six<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27">{27}</a></span> cents, which he gave to his wife, to furnish her -with some little article of comfort. This was the sum total of all the -money he had ever been the possessor of! Ye northern pro-slavery men, do -you regard this as robbery, or not? The whole of this man’s earnings had -been robbed from him during his entire life, except simply his coarse -food and miserable clothing, the whole expense of which, for a -plantation slave, does not exceed twenty dollars a year. This is one -reason why I think every slaveholder will go to hell; for my Bible -teaches me that no <i>thief</i> shall enter heaven; and I know every -slaveholder is a thief; and I rather think you would all be of my -opinion if you had ever been a slave. But now, assisting these thieves, -and being made rich by them, you say they are not robbers; just as -wicked men generally shield their abettors.</p> - -<p>On our return from this place, we met a colored man and woman, who were -very cross to each other. We inquired as to the cause of their trouble, -and the man told us, that “women had such tongues!” that some of them -had stolen a sheep, and this woman, after eating of it, went and told -their master, and they all had to receive a severe whipping. And here -follows a specimen of slaveholding morality, which will show you how -much many of the masters care for their slaves’ stealing. This man -enjoined upon his slaves never to steal from him again, but to <i>steal -from his neighbors</i>, and he would keep them from punishment, if they -would furnish him with a portion of the meat! And why not? For is it any -worse for the slaveholders to steal from one another, than it is to -steal from their helpless slaves? Not long after, these slaves availed -themselves of their master’s assistance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28">{28}</a></span> and stole an animal from a -neighboring plantation, and according to agreement, furnished their -master with his share. Soon the owner of the missing animal came rushing -into the man’s house, who had just eaten of the stolen food, and, in a -very excited manner, demanded reparation from him, for the beast stolen, -as he said, by this man’s slaves. The villain, hardly able to stand -after eating so bountifully of his neighbor’s pork, exclaimed loudly, -“my servants know no more about your hogs than I do!” which was strictly -true; and the loser of the swine went away satisfied. This man told his -slaves that it was a sin to steal from him, but none to steal from his -neighbors! My brother told the slave we were conversing with, that it -was as much of a sin in God’s sight, for him to steal from one, as from -the other. “Oh,” said the slave, “master says <i>negroes have nothing to -do with God</i>!” He further informed us that his master and mistress lived -very unhappily together, on account of the maid who waited upon them. -She had no husband, but had several yellow children. After we left them, -they went to a fodder-stack, and took out a jug, and drank of its -contents. My brother’s curiosity was excited to learn the nature of -their drink; and watching his opportunity, unobserved by them, he -slipped up to the stack, and ascertained that the jug was nearly full of -Irish whiskey. He carried it home with him, and the next time we visited -the mill, he returned the jug to its former place, filled with molasses, -purchased with his own money, instead of the fiery drink which it -formerly contained. Some time after this, the master of this man -discovered a great falling off in the supply of stolen meat furnished -him by the slaves, and question<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29">{29}</a></span>ed this man in reference to the cause of -such a lamentable diminution in the supply of hog-meat in particular. -The slave told him the story of the jug, and that he had ceased -drinking, which was sad news for the pork-loving gentleman.</p> - -<p>I will now return to my master’s affairs. My young master’s brother was -a very benevolent man, and soon became convinced that it was wrong to -hold men in bondage; which belief he carried into practice by -emancipating forty slaves at one time, and paying the expenses of their -transportation to a free state. But old master, although naturally more -kind-hearted than his neighbors, could not always remain as impervious -to the assaults of the pro-slavery demon; and as stated previously, that -all who drank of this hateful cup were transformed into some vile -animal, so he became a perfect brute in his treatment of his slaves. I -cannot account for this change, only on the supposition, that experience -had convinced him that kind treatment was not as well adapted to the -production of crops, as a severer kind of discipline. Under the elating -influence of freedom’s inspiring sound, men will labor much harder, than -when forced to perform unpleasant tasks, the accomplishment of which -will be of no value to themselves; but while the slave is held as such, -it is difficult for him to feel as he would feel, if he was a free man, -however light may be his tasks, and however kind may be his master. The -lash is still held above his head, and <i>may</i> fall upon him, even if its -blows are for a long time withheld. This the slave realizes; and hence -no kind treatment can destroy the depressing influence of a -consciousness of his being a slave,—no matter how lightly the yoke of -slavery<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30">{30}</a></span> may rest upon his shoulders. He knows the yoke is there; and -that at any time its weight may be made heavier, and his form almost -sink under its weary burden; but give him his liberty, and new life -enters into him immediately. The iron yoke falls from his chafed -shoulders; the collar, even if it was a silken one, is removed from his -enslaved person; and the chains, although made of gold, fall from his -bound limbs, and he walks forth with an elastic step, to enjoy the -realities of his new existence. Now he is ready to perform irksome -tasks; for the avails of his labor will be of value to himself, and with -them he can administer comfort to those near and dear to him, and to the -world at large, as well as provide for his own intellectual welfare; -whereas before, however kind his treatment, all his earnings more than -his expenses went to enrich his master. It is on this account, probably, -that those who have undertaken to carry out some principles of humanity -in their treatment of their slaves, have been generally frowned upon by -their neighbors; and they have been forced either to emancipate their -slaves, or to return to the cruel practices of those around them. My -young master preferred the former alternative; my old master adopted the -latter. We now began to taste a little of the horrors of slavery; so -that many of the slaves ran away, which had not been the case before. My -master employed an overseer also, about this time, which he always -refused to do previously, preferring to take charge of us himself; but -the clamor of the neighbors was so great at his mild treatment of his -slaves, that he at length yielded to the popular will around him, and -went “with the multitude to do evil,” and hired an overseer. This was an -end of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31">{31}</a></span> favorable treatment; and there is no telling what would have -been the result of this new method among slaves so unused to the whip as -we were, if in the midst of this experiment, old master had not been -called upon to pay “the debt of nature,” and to “go the way of all the -earth.” As he was about to expire, he sent for me and my brother, to -come to his bedside. We ran with beating hearts, and highly elated -feelings, not doubting that he was about to confer upon us the boon of -freedom, as we expected to be set free when he died; but imagine my deep -disappointment, when the old man called me to his side and said to me, -“Henry, you will make a good plough-boy, or a good gardener; now you -must be an honest boy, and never tell an untruth. I have given you to my -son William, and you must obey him.” Thus did this old gentleman deceive -us by his former kind treatment, and raise expectations in our youthful -minds, which were thus doomed to be fatally overthrown. Poor man! he has -gone to a higher tribunal than man’s, and doubtless ere this, earnestly -laments that he did not give us all our liberty at this favorable -moment; but sad as was our disappointment, we were constrained to submit -to it, as we best were able. One old negro openly expressed his wish -that master would die, because he had not released him from his bondage.</p> - -<p>If there is any one thing which operates as an impetus to the slave in -his toilsome labors and buoys him up, under all the hardships of his -severe lot, it is this hope of future freedom, which lights up his soul -and cheers his desolate heart in the midst of all the fearful agonies of -the varied scenes of his slave life, as the soul of the tempest-tossed -mariner is stayed from com<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32">{32}</a></span>plete despair, by the faint glimmering of the -far-distant light which the kindness of man has placed in a lighthouse, -so as to be perceived by him at a long distance. Old ocean’s tempestuous -waves beat and roar against his frail bark, and the briny deep seems -ready to enclose him in its wide open mouth, but “ever and anon” he -perceives the glimmering of this feeble light in the distance, which -keeps alive the spark of hope in his bosom, which kind heaven has placed -within every man’s breast. So with the slave. Freedom’s fires are dimly -burning in the far distant future, and ever and anon a fresh flame -appears to arise in the direction of this sacred altar, until at times -it seems to approach so near, that he can feel its melting power -dissolving his chains, and causing him to emerge from his darkened -prison, into the full light of freedom’s glorious liberty. O the fond -anticipations of the slave in this respect! I cannot correctly describe -them to you, but I can recollect the thrills of exulting joy which the -name of freedom caused to flow through my soul.</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Freedom, the dear and joyful sound,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">’Tis music in the sad slave’s ear.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>How often this hope is destined to fade away, as the early dew before -the rising sun! Not unseldom, does the slave labor intensely to obtain -the means to purchase his freedom, and after having paid the required -sum, is still held a slave, while the master retains the money! This -<i>very often</i> transpires under the slave system. A good many slaves have -in this way paid for themselves several times, and not received their -freedom then! And masters often hold out this inducement to their -slaves, to labor more than they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33">{33}</a></span> otherwise would, when they have no -intention of fulfilling their promise. O the ineffable meanness of the -slave system! Instead of our being set free, a far different fate -awaited us; and here you behold, reader, the closing scene of the -kindest treatment which a man can bestow upon his slaves.</p> - -<p>It mattered not how benign might have been our master’s conduct to us, -it was to be succeeded by a harrowing scene, the inevitable consequence -of our being left slaves. We must now be separated and divided into -different lots, as we were inherited by the four sons of my master. It -is no easy matter to amicably divide even the old furniture and worn-out -implements of husbandry, and sometimes the very clothing of a deceased -person, and oftentimes a scene of shame ensues at the opening of the -will of a departed parent, which is enough to cause humanity to blush at -the meanness of man. What then must be the sufferings of those persons, -who are to be the objects of this division and strife? See the heirs of -a departed slaveholder, disputing as to the rightful possession of human -beings, many of them their old nurses, and their playmates in their -younger days! The scene which took place at the division of my master’s -human property, baffles all description. I was then only thirteen years -of age, but it is as fresh in my mind as if but yesterday’s sun had -shone upon the dreadful exhibition. My mother was separated from her -youngest child, and not until she had begged and pleaded most piteously -for its restoration to her, was it again placed in her hands. Turning -her eyes fondly upon me, who was now to be carried from her presence, -she said, “You now see, my son, the fulfilment of what I told<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34">{34}</a></span> you a -great while ago, when I used to take you on my knee, and show you the -leaves blown from the trees by the fearful winds.” Yes, I now saw that -one after another were the slave mother’s children torn from her -embrace, and John was given to one brother, Sarah to another, and Jane -to a third, while Samuel fell into the hands of the fourth. It is a -difficult matter to satisfactorily divide the slaves on a plantation, -for no person wishes for <i>all</i> children, or for all old people; while -both old, young, and middle aged ones are to be divided. There is no -equitable way of dividing them, but by allowing each one to take his -portion of both children, middle aged and old people; which necessarily -causes heart-rending separations; but “slaves have no feelings,” I am -sometimes told. “You get used to these things; it would not do for us to -experience them, but you are not constituted as we are;” to which I -reply, that a slave’s friends are <i>all</i> he possesses that is of value to -him. He cannot read, he has no property, he cannot be a teacher of -truth, or a politician; he cannot be very religious, and all that -remains to him, aside from the hope of freedom, that ever present deity, -forever inspiring him in his most terrible hours of despair, is the -society of his friends. We love our friends more than white people love -theirs, for we risk more to save them from suffering. Many of our number -who have escaped from bondage ourselves, have jeopardized our own -liberty, in order to release our friends, and sometimes we have been -retaken and made slaves of again, while endeavoring to rescue our -friends from slavery’s iron jaws.</p> - -<p>But does not the slave love his friends! What mean then those frantic -screams, which every slave-<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35">{35}</a></span>auction witnesses, where the scalding tears -rush in agonizing torrents down the sorrow-stricken cheeks of the -bereaved slave mother; and where clubs are sometimes used to drive apart -two fond friends who cling to each other, as the merciless slave-trader -is to separate them forever. O, to talk of our not having feelings for -our friends, is to mock that Being who has created us in his own image, -and implanted deep in every human bosom, a gushing fount of tender -sensibilities, which no life of sin can ever fully erase. Talk of our -not having feelings, and then calmly look on the scene described as -taking place when my master died! Have you any feeling? Does this -recital arouse those sympathetic feelings in your bosom which you make -your boast of? How can white people have hearts <i>of tenderness</i>, and -allow such scenes to daily transpire at the South? All over the -blackened and marred surface of the whole slave territory do these -heart-rending transactions continually occur. Not a day inscribes its -departing hours upon the dial of human existence, but it marks the -overthrow of more than one family altar, and the sundering of numerous -family ties; and yet the hot blood of Southern oppression is allowed to -find its way into the hearts of the Northern people, who politically and -religiously are doing their utmost to sustain the dreadful system; yea, -competing with the South in their devotion to the evil genius of their -country’s choice. Slavery reigns and rules the councils of this nation, -as Satan presides over Pandemonium, and the loud and clear cry of the -anti-slavery host, calling upon the people of the land to cease their -connection with the tyrannical system, is universally unheeded. It falls -upon the closed ears of the people of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36">{36}</a></span> this nation like the noise of the -random shots of a vessel at sea, upon the ears of the captain of the -opposing squadron, but to arouse them to action in <i>opposition</i> to the -utterance of the voice of warning.</p> - -<p>What though the plaintive cries of three millions of heart-broken and -dejected captives, are wafted on every Southern gale to the ears of our -Northern brethren, and the hot winds of the South reach our fastnesses -amid the mountains and hills of our rugged land, loaded with the stifled -cries and choking sobs of poor desolate woman, as her babes are torn one -by one from her embrace; yet no Northern voice is heard to sound loudly -enough among our hills and dales, to startle from their sleep of -indifference, those who have it in their power to break the chains of -the suffering bondmen <i>to-day</i>, saying to all who hear its clear -sounding voice, “Come out from all connection with this terrible system -of cruelty and blood, and form a government and a union free from this -hateful curse.” The Northern people have it in their power to-day, to -cause all this suffering of which I have been speaking to cease, and to -cause one loud and triumphant anthem of praise to ascend from the -millions of panting, bleeding slaves, now stretched upon the plains of -Southern oppression; and yet they talk of our being destitute of -feeling. “O shame, where is thy blush!”</p> - -<p>My father and mother were left on the plantation, and I was taken to the -city of Richmond, to work in a tobacco manufactory, owned by my master’s -son William, who now became my only master. Old master, although he did -not give me my freedom, yet left an especial charge with his son to take -good care of me, and not to whip me, which charge my master<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37">{37}</a></span> endeavored -to act in accordance with. He told me if I would behave well he would -take good care of me, and would give me money to spend, &c. He talked so -kindly to me that I determined I would exert myself to the utmost to -please him, and would endeavor to do just what he wished me to, in every -respect. He furnished me with a new suit of clothes, and gave me money -to buy things with, to send to my mother. One day I overheard him -telling the overseer that his father had raised me, and that I was a -smart boy, and he must never whip me. I tried extremely hard to perform -what I thought was my duty, and escaped the lash almost entirely; -although the overseer would oftentimes have liked to have given me a -severe whipping; but fear of both me and my master deterred him from so -doing. It is true, my lot was still comparatively easy; but reader, -imagine not that others were so fortunate as myself, as I will presently -describe to you the character of our overseer; and you can judge what -kind of treatment, persons wholly in his power might expect from such a -man. But it was some time before I became reconciled to my fate, for -after being so constantly with my mother, to be torn from her side, and -she on a distant plantation, where I could not see or but seldom hear -from her, was exceedingly trying to my youthful feelings, slave though I -was. I missed her smiling look when her eye rested upon my form; and -when I returned from my daily toil, weary and dejected, no fond mother’s -arms were extended to meet me, no one appeared to sympathize with me, -and I felt I was indeed alone in the world. After the lapse of about a -year and a half from the time I commenced living in Richmond, a strange -series of events trans<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38">{38}</a></span>pired. I did not then know precisely what was the -cause of these scenes, for I could not get any very satisfactory -information concerning the matter from my master, only that some of the -slaves had undertaken to kill their owners; but I have since learned -that it was the famous Nat Turner’s insurrection that caused all the -excitement I witnessed. Slaves were whipped, hung, and cut down with -swords in the streets, if found away from their quarters after dark. The -whole city was in the utmost confusion and dismay; and a dark cloud of -terrific blackness, seemed to hang over the heads of the whites. So true -is it, that “the wicked flee when no man pursueth.” Great numbers of the -slaves were locked in the prison, and many were “half hung,” as it was -termed; that is, they were suspended to some limb of a tree, with a rope -about their necks, so adjusted as not to quite strangle them, and then -they were pelted by the men and boys with rotten eggs. This half-hanging -is a refined species of cruelty, peculiar to slavery, I believe.</p> - -<p>Among the cruelties occasioned by this insurrection, which was however -some distance from Richmond, was the forbidding of as many as five -slaves to meet together, except they were at work, and the silencing of -all colored preachers. One of that class in our city, refused to obey -the imperial mandate, and was severely whipped; but his religion was too -deeply rooted to be thus driven from him, and no promise could be -extorted from his resolute soul, that he would not proclaim what he -considered the glad tidings of the gospel. (Query. How many white -preachers would continue their employment, if they were served in the -same way?) It is strange that more insurrections do<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39">{39}</a></span> not take place -among the slaves; but their masters have impressed upon their minds so -forcibly the fact, that the United States Government is pledged to put -them down, in case they should attempt any such movement, that they have -no heart to contend against such fearful odds; and yet the slaveholder -lives in constant dread of such an event.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>The rustling of</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“—— —— —— the lightest leaf,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That quivers to the passing breeze,”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="nind">fills his timid soul with visions of flowing blood and burning -dwellings; and as the loud thunder of heaven rolls over his head, and -the vivid lightning flashes across his pale face, straightway his -imagination conjures up terrible scenes of the loud roaring of an -enemy’s cannon, and the fierce yells of an infuriated slave population, -rushing to vengeance.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> There is no doubt but this would be the case, -if it were not for the Northern people, who are ready, as I have been -often told, to shoot us down, if we attempt to rise and obtain our -freedom. I believe that if the slaves could do as they wish, they would -throw off their heavy yoke immediately, by rising against their masters; -but ten millions of Northern people stand with their feet on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40">{40}</a></span> their -necks, and how can they arise? How was Nat Turner’s insurrection -suppressed, but by a company of United States troops, furnished the -governor of Virginia at his request, according to your Constitution?</p> - -<p>About this time, I began to grow alarmed respecting my future welfare, -as a great eclipse of the sun had recently taken place; and the cholera -reaching the country not long after, I thought that perhaps the day of -judgment was not far distant, and I must prepare for that dreaded event. -After praying for about three months, it pleased Almighty God, as I -believe, to pardon my sins, and I was received into the Baptist Church, -by a minister who thought it was wicked to hold slaves. I was obliged to -obtain permission from my master, however, before I could join. He gave -me a note to carry to the preacher, saying that I had <i>his permission</i> -to join the church!</p> - -<p>I shall now make you acquainted with the manner in which affairs were -conducted in my master’s tobacco manufactory, after which I shall -introduce you to the heart-rending scenes which give the principal -interest to my narrative.</p> - -<p>My master carried on a large tobacco manufacturing establishment in -Richmond, which was almost wholly under the supervision of one of those -low, miserable, cruel, barbarous, and sometimes religious beings, known -under the name of overseers, with which the South abounds. These men -hardly deserve the name of men, for they are lost to all regard for -decency, truth, justice and humanity, and are so far gone in human -depravity, that before they can be saved, Jesus Christ, or some other -Saviour, will have to die a second time. I pity them sincerely, but as -my mind recurs to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41">{41}</a></span> wicked conduct I so often witnessed on the part -of this one, I cannot prevent these indignant feelings from arising in -my soul. O reader, if you had seen the perfect recklessness of conduct -so often exhibited by this man, as I witnessed it, you would not blame -me for expressing myself so strongly. I know that even this man is my -brother, but he is a very wicked brother, whose soul I commend to -Almighty God, hoping that his sovereign grace may find its way, if it is -a possible thing, to his sin-hardened soul; <i>and yet he was a pious -man</i>. His name was <i>John F. Allen</i>, and I suppose he still lives in -Richmond. After reading about his character, I apprehend your judgment -of him will coincide with mine. The other overseers, however, were very -different men, for hell could hardly spare more than one such man, for -one tobacco manufactory; as it is not overstocked with such vile -reprobates.</p> - -<p>But before proceeding to speak farther of him, I will inform you a -little respecting our business—as not many of you have ever seen the -inside of a tobacco manufactory. The building I worked in was about 300 -feet in length, and three stories high, and afforded room for 200 people -to work in, but only 150 persons were employed, 120 of whom were slaves, -and the remainder free colored people. We were obliged to work -<i>fourteen</i> hours a day, in the summer, and <i>sixteen</i> in the winter.</p> - -<p>This work consisted in removing the stems from the leaves of tobacco, -which was performed by women and boys, after which the tobacco was -moistened with a liquor made from liquorice and sugar, which gives the -tobacco that sweetish taste which renders it not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42">{42}</a></span> perfectly abhorrent to -those who chew it. After being thus moistened, the tobacco was taken by -the men and twisted into hands, and pressed into lumps, when it was sent -to the machine-house, and pressed into boxes and casks. After remaining -in what was called the “sweat-house” about thirty days, it was shipped -for the market.</p> - -<p>Mr. Allen was a thorough going Yankee in his mode of doing business. He -was by no means one of your indolent, do-nothing Southerners, so -effeminate as to be hardly able to wield his hands to administer to his -own necessities, but he was a savage-looking, dare-devil sort of a man, -ready apparently for any emergency to which Beelzebub might call him, a -real servant of the bottomless pit. He understood how to turn a penny as -well as any Yankee pedlar who ever visited our city. Whether he derived -his skill from associating with that class of individuals, or whether it -was the natural production of his own cunning mind, I know not. He used -often to boast, that by his shrewdness in managing the negroes, he made -enough to support his family, which cost him $1000, without touching a -farthing of his salary, which was $1500 per annum. Of the probability of -this assertion, I can bear witness; for I know he was very skilful in -another department of cunning and cheatery. Like many other servants of -the evil one, he was an early riser; not for the purpose of improving -his health, or that he might enjoy sweet communion with his heavenly -Father, at his morning orisons, but that “while the master slept” he -might more easily transact his nefarious business. At whatever hour of -the morning I might arrive at the factory, I seldom anticipated the -seemingly industrious<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43">{43}</a></span> steps of Mr. Allen, who by his punctuality in -this respect, obtained a good reputation as a faithful and devoted -overseer. But mark the conduct of the pious gentleman, for he was a -member of an Episcopalian church. One would have supposed from observing -the transactions around him, that Mr. Allen took time by the forelock, -emphatically, for long before the early rays of the rising sun had -gilded the eastern horizon, was this man busily engaged in loading a -wagon with coal, oil, sugar, wood, &c., &c., which always found a place -of deposit at <i>his own door</i>, entirely unknown to my master. This -practice Mr. Allen carried on during my stay there, and yet he was a -very pious man.</p> - -<p>This man enjoyed the unlimited confidence of my master, so that he would -never listen to a word of complaint on the part of any of the workmen. -No matter how cruel or how <i>unjust</i> might be the punishment inflicted -upon any of the hands, master would never listen to their complaints; so -that this barbarous man was our master in reality. At one time a colored -man, who had been in the habit of singing religious songs quite often, -was taken sick and did not make his appearance at the factory. For two -or three days no notice whatever was taken of him, no medicine provided -for him, and no physician sent to heal him. At the end of that time, Mr. -Allen ordered three strong men to go to the man’s house, and bring him -to the factory. This order being obeyed, the man, pale and hardly able -to stand, was stripped to his waist, his hands tied together, and the -rope fastened to a large post. The overseer then questioned him about -his singing, told him that it consumed too<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44">{44}</a></span> much time, and that he was -going to give him some medicine which would cure him. The poor trembling -man made no reply, when the pious Mr. Allen, for no crime except that of -sickness, inflicted 200 lashes upon the quivering flesh of the invalid, -and he would have continued his “apostolic blows,” if the emaciated form -of the languishing man, had not sunken under their heavy weight, and Mr. -Allen was obliged to desist.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> I witnessed this transaction with my own -eyes; but what could I do, for I was a slave, and any interference on my -part would only have brought the same punishment upon me. This man was -sick a month afterwards, during which time the weekly allowance of -seventy-five cents for the hands to board themselves with, was withheld -from him, and his wife was obliged to support him by washing for others; -and yet Northern people tell me that a slave is better off than a free -man, because when he is sick his master provides for him! Master knew -all the circumstances of this case, but never uttered one word of -reproof to the overseer, that I could learn; at any rate, he did not -interfere at all with this cruel treatment of him, as his motto was, -“Mr. Allen is always right.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Allen, although a church member, was much addicted to the habit of -<i>profane swearing</i>, a vice which church members there, indulged in as -frequently as non-professors did. He used particularly to expend his -swearing breath, in denunciation of the whole race<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45">{45}</a></span> of negroes, calling -us “d——d hogs, dogs, pigs,” &c. At one time, he was busily engaged in -reading in <i>the Bible</i>, when a slave came in who had absented himself -from work the enormous length of ten minutes! The overseer had been -cheated out of ten minutes’ precious time; and as he depended upon the -punctuality of the slave to support his family in the manner mentioned -previously, his desire perhaps not to violate that precept, “he that -provideth not for his family is worse than an infidel,” led him to -indulge in quite an outbreak of boisterous anger. “What are you so late -for, you black scamp?” said he to the delinquent. “I am only ten minutes -behind the time, sir,” quietly responded the slave, when Mr. Allen -exclaimed, “You are a d——d liar,” and remembering, for aught that I -can say to the contrary, that “he that converteth a <i>sinner</i> from the -error of his ways, shall save a soul from death,” he proceeded to try -the effect of the Bible upon the body of the “liar,” striking him a -heavy blow in the face, with the sacred book. But that not answering his -purpose, and the man remaining incorrigible, he caught up a stick and -beat him with that. The slave complained to master, but he would take no -notice of him, and directed him back to the overseer.</p> - -<p>Mr. Allen, although a superintendent of the Sabbath school, and very -fervid in his exhortations to the slave children, whom he endeavored to -instruct in reference to their duties to their masters, that they must -never disobey them, or lie, or steal, and if they did they would -assuredly “go to hell,” yet was not wholly destitute of “that fear which -hath torment,” for always when a heavy thunder storm came up, would he -shut himself up in a little room where he supposed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46">{46}</a></span> lightning would -not harm him; and I frequently overheard him praying earnestly to God to -spare his life. He evidently had not that “perfect <i>love</i> which casteth -out fear.” The same day on which he had beaten the poor sick man, did -such a scene transpire; but generally after the storm had abated he -would laugh at his own conduct, and say he did not believe the Lord had -any thing to do with the thunder and lightning.</p> - -<p>As I have stated, Mr. A. was a devout attendant upon public worship, and -prayed much with the pupils in the Sabbath school, and was indefatigable -in teaching them to repeat the catechism after him, although he was very -particular never to allow them to hold the book in their hands. But let -not my readers suppose on this account, that he desired the salvation of -these slaves. No, far from that; for very soon after thus exhorting -them, he would tell his visiters, that it was “a d——d lie that -colored people were ever converted,” and that they could “not go to -heaven,” for they had no souls; but that it was his duty to talk to them -as he did. The reader can learn from this account of how much value the -religious teaching of the slaves is, when such men are its -administerers; and also for what purpose this instruction is given them.</p> - -<p>This man’s liberality to white people, was coextensive with his -denunciation of the colored race. A white man, he said, could not be -lost, let him do what he pleased—rob the slaves, which he said was not -wrong, lie, swear, or any thing else, provided he <i>read the Bible and -joined the Church</i>.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47">{47}</a></span></p> - -<p>One word concerning the religion of the South. I regard it as all -delusion, and that there is not a particle of religion in their -slaveholding churches. The great end to which religion is there made to -minister, is to keep the slaves in a docile and submissive frame of -mind, by instilling into them the idea that if they do not obey their -masters, they will infallibly “go to hell;” and yet some of the -miserable wretches who teach this doctrine, do not themselves believe -it. Of course the slave prefers obedience to his master, to an abode in -the “lake of fire and brimstone.” It is true in more senses than one, -that slavery rests upon hell! I once heard a minister declare in public, -that he had preached six years before he was converted; and that he was -then in the habit of taking a glass of “mint julep” directly after -prayers, which wonderfully refreshed him, soul and body. This dram he -would repeat three or four times during the day; but at length an old -slave persuaded him to abstain a while from his potations, the following -of which advice, resulted in his conversion. I believe his second -conversion, was nearer a true one, than his first, because he said his -conscience reproved him for having sold slaves; and he finally left that -part of the country, on account of slavery, and went to the North.</p> - -<p>But as time passed along, I began to think seriously of entering into -the matrimonial state, as much as a person can, who can “make no -contract whatever,” and whose wife is not his, only so far as her master -allows her to be. I formed an acquaintance with a young woman by the -name of Nancy—belonging to a Mr. Lee, a clerk in the bank, and a pious -man; and our friendship having ripened into mutual love, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48">{48}</a></span> concluded -to make application to the powers that ruled us, for <i>permission</i> to be -married, as I had previously applied for permission to join the church. -I went to Mr. Lee, and made known to him my wishes, when he told me, he -never meant to sell Nancy, and if my master would agree never to sell -me, then I might marry her. This man was a member of a Presbyterian -church in Richmond, and pretended to me, to believe it wrong to separate -families; but after I had been married to my wife one year, his -conscientious scruples vanished, and she was sold to a saddler living in -Richmond, who was one of Dr. Plummer’s church members. Mr. Lee gave me a -note to my master, and they afterwards discussed the matter over, and I -was allowed to marry the chosen one of my heart. Mr. Lee, as I have -said, soon sold my wife, contrary to his promise, and she fell into the -hands of a very cruel mistress, the wife of the saddler above mentioned, -by whom she was much abused. This woman used to wish for some great -calamity to happen to my wife, because she stayed so long when she <i>went -to nurse her child</i>; which calamity came very near happening afterwards -to herself. My wife was finally sold, on account of the solicitations of -this woman; but four months had hardly elapsed, before she insisted upon -her being purchased back again.</p> - -<p>During all this time, my mind was in a continual agitation, for I knew -not one day, who would be the owner of my wife the next. O reader, have -you no heart to sympathize with the injured slave, as he thus lives in a -state of perpetual torment, the dread uncertainty of his wife’s fate, -continually hanging over his head, and poisoning all his joys, as the -naked sword hung by a <i>hair</i>, over the head of an ancient kin<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49">{49}</a></span>g’s guest, -as he was seated at a table loaded with all the luxuries of an epicure’s -devising? This sword, unlike the one alluded to, did often pierce my -breast, and when I had recovered from the wound, it was again hung up, -to torture me. This is slavery, a natural and concomitant part of the -accursed system!</p> - -<p>The saddler who owned my wife, whose name I suppress for particular -reasons, was at one time taken sick, but when <i>his minister</i>, the Rev. -(so called) Dr. Plummer came to pray with him, he would not allow him to -perform that rite, which strengthened me in the opinion I entertained of -Dr. Plummer, that he was <i>as wicked a man</i> as this saddler, and you will -presently see, how bad a man he was. The saddler sent for <i>his slaves to -pray</i> for him, and afterwards for me, and when I repaired to his -bed-side, he beseeched me to pray for him, saying that he would live a -much better life than he had done, if the Lord would only spare him. I -and the other slaves prayed <i>three nights</i> for him, after our work was -over, and we needed rest in sleep; but the earnest desire of this man, -induced us to forego our necessary rest; and yet one of the first things -he did after his recovery, was to <i>sell my wife</i>. When he was reminded -of my praying for his restoration to health, he angrily exclaimed, that -it was “all d——d lies” about the Lord restoring him to health in -consequence of the negroes praying for him,—and that if any of them -mentioned that they had prayed for him, he “would <i>whip them for it</i>.”</p> - -<p>The last purchaser of my wife, was Mr. Samuel S. Cartrell, also a member -of Dr. Plummer’s church.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50">{50}</a></span> He induced me to pay him $50,00 in order to -assist him in purchasing my companion, so as to prevent her being sold -away from me. I also paid him $50 a year, for her time, although she -would have been of but little value to him, for she had young children -and could not earn much for him,—and rented a house for which I paid -$72, and she took in washing, which with the remainder of my earnings, -after deducting master’s “lion’s share,” supported our family. Our -bliss, as far as the term bliss applies to a slave’s situation, was now -complete in this respect, for a season; for never had we been so -pleasantly situated before; but, reader, behold its cruel termination. O -the harrowing remembrance of those terrible, terrible scenes! May God -spare you from ever enduring what I then endured.</p> - -<p>It was on a pleasant morning, in the month of August, 1848, that I left -my wife and three children safely at our little home, and proceeded to -my allotted labor. The sun shone brightly as he commenced his daily -task, and as I gazed upon his early rays, emitting their golden light -upon the rich fields adjacent to the city, and glancing across the abode -of my wife and family, and as I beheld the numerous companies of slaves, -hieing their way to their daily labors, and reflected upon the -difference between their lot and mine, I felt that, although I was a -slave, there were many alleviations to my cup of sorrow. It was true, -that the greater portion of my earnings was taken from me, by the -unscrupulous hands of my dishonest master,—that I was entirely at his -mercy, and might at any hour be snatched from what sources of joy were -open to me—that he might, if he chose, extend his robber<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51">{51}</a></span> hand, and -demand a still larger portion of my earnings,—and above all, that -intellectual privileges were entirely denied me; but as I imprinted a -parting kiss upon the lips of my faithful wife, and pressed to my bosom -the little darling cherubs, who followed me saying, in their childish -accents, “Father, come back soon,” I felt that life was not all a blank -to me; that there were some pure joys yet my portion. O, how my heart -would have been riven with unutterable anguish, if I had then realized -the awful calamity which was about to burst upon my unprotected head! -Reader, are you a husband, and can you listen to my sad story, without -being moved to cease all your connection with that stern power, which -stretched out its piratical arm, and basely robbed me of all dear to me -on earth!</p> - -<p>The sun had traced his way to mid-heaven, and the hour for the laborers -to turn from their tasks, and to seek refreshment for their toil-worn -frames,—and when I should take my prattling children on my knee,—was -fast approaching; but there burst upon me a sound so dreadful, and so -sudden, that the shock well nigh overwhelmed me. It was as if the -heavens themselves had fallen upon me, and the everlasting hills of -God’s erecting, like an avalanche, had come rolling over my head! And -what was it? “Your wife and smiling babes are gone; in prison they are -locked, and to-morrow’s sun will see them far away from you, on their -way to the distant South!” Pardon the utterance of my feelings here, -reader, for surely a man may feel, when all that he prizes on earth is, -at one fell stroke, swept from his reach! O God, if there is a moment -when vengeance from thy righteous throne<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52">{52}</a></span> should be hurled upon guilty -man, and hot thunderbolts of wrath, should burst upon his wicked head, -it surely is at such a time as this! And this is Slavery; its certain, -necessary and constituent part. Without this terrific pillar to its -demon walls, it falls to the ground, as a bridge sinks, when its -buttresses are swept from under it by the rushing floods. This is -Slavery. No kind master’s indulgent care can guard his chosen slave, his -petted chattel, however fond he may profess to be of such a piece of -property, from so fearful a calamity. My master treated me as kindly as -he could, and retain me in slavery; but did that keep me from -experiencing this terrible deprivation? The sequel will show you even -his care for me. What could I do? I had left my fond wife and prattling -children, as happy as slaves could expect to be; as I was not -anticipating their loss, for the pious man who bought them last, had, as -you recollect, received a sum of money from me, under the promise of not -selling them. My first impulse, of course, was to rush to the jail, and -behold my family once more, before our final separation. I started for -this infernal place, but had not proceeded a great distance, before I -met a gentleman, who stopped me, and beholding my anguish of heart, as -depicted on my countenance, inquired of me what the trouble was with me. -I told him as I best could, when he advised me not to go to the jail, -for the man who had sold my wife, had told my master some falsehoods -about me, and had induced him to give orders to the jailor to seize me, -and confine me in prison, if I should appear there. He said I would -undoubtedly be sold separate from my wife, and he thought I had better -not go there. I then persuaded<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53">{53}</a></span> a young man of my acquaintance to go to -the prison, and sent by him, to my wife, some money and a message in -reference to the cause of my failure to visit her. It seems that it -would have been useless for me to have ventured there, for as soon as -this young man arrived, and inquired for my wife, he was seized and put -in prison,—the jailor mistaking him for me; but when he discovered his -mistake, he was very angry, and vented his rage upon the innocent youth, -by kicking him out of prison. I then repaired to my Christian master, -and there several times, during the ensuing twenty-four hours, did I -beseech and entreat him to purchase my wife; but no tears of mine made -the least impression upon his obdurate heart. I laid my case before him, -and reminded him of the faithfulness with which I had served him, and of -my utmost endeavors to please him, but this <i>kind</i> master—recollect -reader—utterly refused to advance a small portion of the $5,000 I had -paid him, in order to relieve my sufferings; and he was a member, in -good and regular standing, of an Episcopal church in Richmond! His reply -to me was worthy of the morality of Slavery, and shows just how much -religion, the kindest and most pious of Southern slaveholders have. -“<i>You can get another wife</i>,” said he; but I told him the Bible said, -“What God has joined together, let not man put asunder,” and that I did -not want any other wife but my own lawful one, whom I loved so much. At -the mention of this passage of Scripture, he drove me from his house, -saying, he did not wish to hear that!</p> - -<p>I now endeavored to persuade two gentlemen of my acquaintance, to buy my -wife; but they told me they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54">{54}</a></span> did not think it was right to hold slaves, -or else they would gladly assist me, for they sincerely pitied me, and -advised me to go to my master again; but I knew this would be useless. -My agony was now complete. She with whom I had travelled the journey of -life, for the space of twelve years, with three little pledges of -domestic affection, must now be forever separated from me—I must remain -alone and desolate. O God, shall my wife and children never more greet -my sight, with their cheerful looks and happy smiles? Far, far away, in -Carolina’s swamps are they now, toiling beneath the scorching rays of -the hot sun, with no husband’s voice to soothe the hardships of my -wife’s lot, and no father’s kind look to gladden the heart of my -disconsolate little ones.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>I call upon you, Sons of the North, if your blood has not lost its -bright color of liberty, and is not turned to the blackened gore which -surrounds the slaveholder’s polluted hearts, to arise in your might, and -demand the liberation of the slaves. If you do not, at the day of final -account, I shall bear witness against you, as well as against the -slaveholders themselves, as the cause of my and my brethren’s -bereavement. Think you, at that dread hour, you can escape the -scrutinizing look of the Judge of all the earth, as he “maketh -inquisition for the blood of the innocents?” Oh, no; but equally with -the Southern slaveholders, will your character be condemned by the Ruler -of the universe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55">{55}</a></span></p> - -<p>The next day, I stationed myself by the side of the road, along which -the slaves, amounting to three hundred and fifty, were to pass. The -purchaser of my wife was a <i>Methodist</i> minister, who was about starting -for North Carolina. Pretty soon five waggonloads of little children -passed, and looking at the foremost one, what should I see but a little -child, pointing its tiny hand towards me, exclaiming, “There’s my -father; I knew he would come and bid me good-bye.” It was my eldest -child! Soon the gang approached in which my wife was chained. I looked, -and beheld her familiar face; but O, reader, that glance of agony! may -God spare me ever again enduring the excruciating horror of that moment! -She passed, and came near to where I stood. I seized hold of her hand, -<i>intending</i> to bid her farewell; but words failed me; the gift of -utterance had fled, and I remained speechless. I followed her for some -distance, with her hand grasped in mine, as if to save her from her -fate, but I could not speak, and I was obliged to turn away in silence.</p> - -<p>This is not an imaginary scene, reader; it is not a fiction, but an -every-day reality at the South; and all I can say more to you, in -reference to it is, that if you will not, after being made acquainted -with these facts, consecrate your all to the slaves’ release from -bondage, you are utterly unworthy the name of a man, and should go and -hide yourself, in some impenetrable cave, where no eye can behold your -demon form.</p> - -<p>One more scene occurs in the tragical history of my life, before the -curtain drops, and I retire from the stage of observation, as far as -past events are concerned; not, however, to shrink from public gaze, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56">{56}</a></span> -if ashamed of my perilous adventures, or to retire into private life, -lest the bloodhounds of the South should scent my steps, and start in -pursuit of their missing property. No, reader, for as long as three -millions of my countrymen pine in cruel bondage, on Virginia’s exhausted -soil, and in Carolina’s pestilential rice swamps; in the cane-breaks of -Georgia, and on the cotton fields of Louisiana and Mississippi, and in -the insalubrious climate of Texas; as well as suffer under the -slave-driver’s cruel lash, all over the almost God-forsaken South; I -shall never refuse to advocate their claims to your sympathy, whenever a -fitting occasion occurs to speak in their behalf.</p> - -<p>But you are eager to learn the particulars of my journey from freedom to -liberty. The first thing that occurred to me, after the cruel separation -of my wife and children from me, and I had recovered my senses, so as to -know how to act, was, thoughts of freeing myself from slavery’s iron -yoke. I had suffered enough under its heavy weight, and I determined I -would endure it no longer; and those reasons which often deter the slave -from attempting to escape, no longer existed in reference to me, for my -family were gone, and slavery now had no mitigating circumstances, to -lessen the bitterness of its cup of woe. It is true, as my master had -told me, that I could “get another wife;” but no man, excepting a brute -below the human species, would have proposed such a step to a person in -my circumstances; and as I was not such a degraded being, I did not -dream of so conducting. Marriage was not a thing of personal convenience -with me, to be cast aside as a worthless garment, whenever the -slaveholder’s will required it; but it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57">{57}</a></span> was a sacred institution binding -upon me, as long as the God who had “joined us together,” refrained from -untying the nuptial knot. What! leave the wife of my bosom for another! -and while my heart was leaping from its abode, to pour its strong -affections upon the kindred soul of my devoted partner, could I receive -a stranger, another person to my embrace, as if the ties of love existed -only in the presence of the object loved! Then, indeed, should I have -been a traitor to that God, who had linked our hearts together in fond -affection, and cemented our union, by so many additional cords, twining -around our hearts; as a tree and an arbor are held together by the -clinging of the tendrils of the adhering vine, which winds itself about -them so closely. Slavery, and slavery abettors, seize hold of these -tender scions, and cut and prune them away from both tree and arbor, as -remorselessly as a gardener cuts down the briars and thorns which -disturb the growth of his fair plants; but all humane, and every -virtuous man, must instinctively recoil from such transactions, as they -would from soul murder, or from the commission of some enormous deed of -villany.</p> - -<p>Reader, in the light of these scenes you may behold, as in a glass, your -true character. Refined and delicate you may pretend to be, and may pass -yourself off as a pure and virtuous person; but if you refuse to exert -yourself for the overthrow of a system, which thus tramples human -affection under its bloody feet, and demands of its crushed victims, the -sacrifice of all that is noble, virtuous and pure, upon its smoking -altars; you may rest assured, that if the balances of <i>purity</i> were -extended before you, He who “search<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58">{58}</a></span>eth the hearts, and trieth the -reins,” would say to you, as your character underwent his searching -scrutiny, “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.”</p> - -<p>I went to Mr. Allen, and requested of him permission to refrain from -labor for a short time, in consequence of a disabled finger; but he -refused to grant me this permission, on the ground that my hand was not -lame enough to justify him in so doing. Nothing daunted by this rebuff, -I took some oil of vitriol, intending to pour a few drops upon my -finger, to make it sufficiently sore, to disable me from work, which I -succeeded in, beyond my wishes; for in my hurry, a larger quantity than -it was my purpose to apply to my finger, found its way there, and my -finger was soon eaten through to the bone. The overseer then was obliged -to allow me to absent myself from business, for it was impossible for me -to work in that situation. But I did not waste my precious furlough in -idle mourning over my fate. I armed myself with determined energy, for -action, and in the words of one of old, in the name of God, “I leaped -over a wall, and run through a troop” of difficulties. After searching -for assistance for some time, I at length was so fortunate as to find a -friend, who promised to assist me, for one half the money I had about -me, which was one hundred and sixty-six dollars. I gave him eighty-six, -and he was to do his best in forwarding my scheme. Long did we remain -together, attempting to devise ways and means to carry me away from the -land of separation of families, of whips and thumbscrews, and auction -blocks; but as often as a plan was suggested by my friend, there would -appear some<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59">{59}</a></span> difficulty in the way of its accomplishment. Perhaps it may -not be best to mention what these plans were, as some unfortunate slaves -may thereby be prevented from availing themselves of these methods of -escape.</p> - -<p>At length, after praying earnestly to Him, who seeth afar off, for -assistance, in my difficulty, suddenly, as if from above, there darted -into my mind these words, “Go and get a box, and put yourself in it.” I -pondered the words over in my mind. “Get a box?” thought I; “what can -this mean?” But I was “not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,” and I -determined to put into practice this direction, as I considered it, from -my heavenly Father.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> I went to the depot, and there noticed the size -of the largest boxes, which commonly were sent by the cars, and returned -with their dimensions. I then repaired to a carpenter, and induced him -to make me a box of such a description as I wished, informing him of the -use I intended to make of it. He assured me I could not live in it; but -as it was dear liberty I was in pursuit of, I thought it best to make -the trial.</p> - -<p>When the box was finished, I carried it, and placed it before my friend, -who had promised to assist me, who asked me if that was to “put my -clothes in?” I replied that it was not, but to “<i>put Henry Brown in!</i>” -He was astonished at my temerity; but I insisted upon his placing me in -it, and nailing me up, and he finally consented.</p> - -<p>After corresponding with a friend in Philadelphia,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60">{60}</a></span> arrangements were -made for my departure, and I took my place in this narrow prison, with a -mind full of uncertainty as to the result. It was a critical period of -my life, I can assure you, reader; but if you have never been deprived -of your liberty, as I was, you cannot realize the power of that hope of -freedom, which was to me indeed, “an anchor to the soul, both sure and -steadfast.”</p> - -<p>I laid me down in my darkened home of three feet by two, and like one -about to be guillotined, resigned myself to my fate. My friend was to -accompany me, but he failed to do so; and contented himself with sending -a telegraph message to his correspondent in Philadelphia, that such a -box was on its way to his care.</p> - -<p>I took with me a bladder filled with water to bathe my neck with, in -case of too great heat; and with no access to the fresh air, excepting -three small gimblet holes, I started on my perilous cruise. I was first -carried to the express office, the box being placed on its end, so that -I started with my head downwards, although the box was directed, “this -side up with care.” From the express office, I was carried to the depot, -and from thence tumbled roughly into the baggage car, where I <i>happened</i> -to fall “right side up,” but no thanks to my transporters. But after a -while the cars stopped, and I was put aboard a steamboat, <i>and placed on -my head</i>. In this dreadful position, I remained the space of an hour and -a half, it seemed to me, when I began to feel of my eyes and head, and -found to my dismay, that my eyes were almost swollen out of their -sockets, and the veins on my temple seemed ready to burst. I made no -noise however, determining to ob<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61">{61}</a></span>tain “<i>victory or death</i>,” but endured -the terrible pain, as well as I could, sustained under the whole by the -thoughts of sweet liberty. About half an hour afterwards, I attempted -again to lift my hands to my face, but I found I was not able to move -them. A cold sweat now covered me from head to foot. Death seemed my -inevitable fate, and every moment I expected to feel the blood flowing -over me, which had burst from my veins. One half hour longer and my -sufferings would have ended in that fate, which I preferred to slavery; -but I lifted up my heart to God in prayer, believing that he would yet -deliver me, when to my joy, I overheard two men say, “We have been here -<i>two</i> hours and have travelled twenty miles, now let us sit down, and -rest ourselves.” They suited the action to the word, and turned the box -over, containing my soul and body, thus delivering me from the power of -the grim messenger of death, who a few moments previously, had aimed his -fatal shaft at my head, and had placed his icy hands on my throbbing -heart. One of these men inquired of the other, what he supposed that box -contained, to which his comrade replied, that he guessed it was the -mail. “Yes,” thought I, “it is a <i>male</i>, indeed, although not the <i>mail</i> -of the United States.”</p> - -<p>Soon after this fortunate event, we arrived at Washington, where I was -thrown from the wagon, and again as my luck would have it, fell on my -head. I was then rolled down a declivity, until I reached the platform -from which the cars were to start. During this short but rapid journey, -my neck came very near being dislocated, as I felt it crack, as if it -had snapped asunder. Pretty soon, I heard some one say, “there is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62">{62}</a></span> -room for this box, it will have to remain behind.” I then again applied -to the Lord, my help in all my difficulties, and in a few minutes I -heard a gentleman direct the hands to place it aboard, as “it came with -the mail and must go on with it.” I was then tumbled into the car, my -head downwards again, as I seemed to be destined to escape on my head; a -sign probably, of the opinion of American people respecting such bold -adventurers as myself; that our heads should be held downwards, whenever -we attempt to benefit ourselves. Not the only instance of this -propensity, on the part of the American people, towards the colored -race. We had not proceeded far, however, before more baggage was placed -in the car, at a stopping place, and I was again turned to my proper -position. No farther difficulty occurred until my arrival at -Philadelphia. I reached this place at three o’clock in the morning, and -remained in the depot until six o’clock, A. M., at which time, a waggon -drove up, and a person inquired for a box directed to such a place, -“right side up.” I was soon placed on this waggon, and carried to the -house of my friend’s correspondent, where quite a number of persons were -waiting to receive me. They appeared to be some afraid to open the box -at first, but at length one of them rapped upon it, and with a trembling -voice, asked, “Is all right within?” to which I replied, “All right.” -The joy of these friends was excessive, and like the ancient Jews, who -repaired to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, each one seized hold of some -tool, and commenced opening my grave. At length the cover was removed, -and I arose, and shook myself from the lethargy into which I had fallen; -but exhausted nature proved too much for my frame, and I swooned away.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63">{63}</a></span></p> - -<p>After my recovery from this fainting fit, the first impulse of my soul, -as I looked around, and beheld my friends, and was told that I was safe, -was to break out in a song of deliverance, and praise to the most high -God, whose arm had been so signally manifest in my escape. Great God, -was I a freeman! Had I indeed succeeded in effecting my escape from the -human wolves of Slavery? O what extastic joy thrilled through every -nerve and fibre of my system! My labor was accomplished, my warfare was -ended, and I stood erect before my equal fellow men;<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> no longer a -crouching slave, forever at the look and nod of a whimsical and -tyrannical slave-owner. Long had seemed my journey, and terribly -hazardous had been my attempt to gain my birth-right; but it all seemed -a comparatively light price to pay for the precious boon of <i>Liberty</i>. O -ye, who know not the value of this “pearl of great price,” by having -been all your life shut out from its life-giving presence; learn of how -much importance its possession is regarded, by the panting fugitive, as -he traces his way through the labyrinths of snares, placed between him -and the object of his fond desires! Sympathize with the three millions -of crushed and mangled ones who this day pine in cruel bondage, and -arouse yourself to action in their behalf! This you will do, if you are -not traitors to your God and to humanity. Aid not in placing in high -offices, <i>baby-stealers and women-whippers</i>; and if these wicked men, -all covered with the clotted gore of their mangled victims, come among -you, scorn the idea of bowing in homage to them, whatever may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64">{64}</a></span> the -character of their claims to your regard. No matter, if they are called -presidents of your nation, still utterly refuse to honor them; which -<i>you will most certainly do</i>, if you are true to the Slave!</p> - -<p>After remaining a short time in Philadelphia, it was thought expedient -that I should proceed to Massachusetts, and accordingly funds sufficient -to carry me there, were raised by some anti-slavery friends, and I -proceeded to Boston. After remaining a short time in that city, I -concluded to go to New Bedford, in which place I remained a few weeks, -under the care of Mr. Joseph Rickerston of that place, who treated me -very kindly. At length hearing of a large anti-slavery meeting to be -held in Boston, I left New Bedford, and found myself again in that city, -so famous for its devotion to liberty in the days of the American -revolution; and here, in the presence of several thousand people, did I -first relate in public, the story of my sufferings, since which time I -have repeated my simple tale in different parts of Massachusetts, and in -the State of Maine.</p> - -<p>I now stand before you as a free man, but since my arrival among you, I -have been informed that your laws require that I should still be held as -a slave; and that if my master should espy me in any nook or corner of -the free states, according to the constitution of the United States, he -could secure me and carry me back into Slavery; so that I am confident I -am not safe, even here, if what I have heard concerning your laws is -true. I cannot imagine why you should uphold such strange laws. I have -been told that every time a man goes to the polls and votes, he -virtually swears to sustain them, frightful as they are. It seems to me -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65">{65}</a></span> be a hard case, for a man to endure what I have endured in effecting -my escape, and then to be continually exposed to be seized by my master, -and carried back into that horrid pit from which I have escaped. I have -been told, however, that the people here would not allow me to be thus -returned, that they would break their own laws in my behalf, which seems -quite curious to me; for why should you make laws, and swear to uphold -them, and then break them? I do not understand much about laws, to be -sure, as the law of my master is the one I have been subject to all my -life, but some how, it looks a little singular to me, that wise people -should be obliged to break their own laws, or else do a very wicked act. -I have been told that there are twice as many voters at the North as -there are at the South, and much more wealth, as well as other things of -importance, which makes me study much, why the Northern people live -under such laws. If I was one of them, and had any influence among them, -it appears to me, I should advocate the overthrow of such laws, and the -establishment of better ones in their room. Many people tell me besides, -that if the slaves should rise up, and do as they did in Nat Turner’s -time, endeavor to fight their way to freedom, that the Northern people -are pledged to shoot them down, and keep them in subjection to their -masters. Now I cannot understand this, for almost all the people tell -me, that they “are opposed to Slavery,” and yet they swear to prevent -the slaves from obtaining their liberty! If these things could be made -clear to my mind, I should be glad; but a fog hangs over my eyes at -present in reference to this matter.</p> - -<p>I now wish to introduce to your hearing, a friend of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66">{66}</a></span> mine, who will -tell you more about these things than I can, until I have had more time -to examine this curious subject. What he shall have to say to you, may -not be as interesting as the account of my sufferings, but if you really -wish to help my brethren in bondage, you will not be unwilling to hear -what he may say to you, in reference to the way to abolish slavery, as -you cannot be opposed to my sufferings, unless you are willing to exert -yourselves for the overthrow of the cruel system which caused them.</p> - -<h2><a name="CURE_FOR_THE_EVIL_OF_SLAVERY" id="CURE_FOR_THE_EVIL_OF_SLAVERY"></a>CURE FOR THE EVIL OF SLAVERY.</h2> - -<p>Dear Friends,—You have listened with eager ears, and with tearful eyes, -to the recital of Mr. Brown. He has alluded to the laws which many of -you uphold, when you go to the polls and vote, but he has not informed -you of your duty at the present crisis. What I have to say at this time, -will be mainly directed to the remedy for this terrible evil, so -strikingly portrayed in his eventful life. As one of those who desire -the abolition of Slavery, it is my earnest desire to be made acquainted -with a true and proper remedy for this dreadful disease. I apprehend -that no moral evil exists, for the cure of which there cannot be found -some specific, the application of which, will effectually eradicate the -disorder. I am not a politician, and cannot write as politicians do. -Still I may be pardoned for entering a little into their sphere of -action, for the purpose of plucking some choice fruit from the -overhanging boughs of that fruitful arena. I am not <i>afraid</i> of -politics, for I do not regard them as too sacred, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67">{67}</a></span> as too profane, -for me to handle. I believe that the people of this country are not -ready for a truly Christian government; therefore, although I cannot -unite myself with any other, yet I should be rejoiced, at beholding the -faintest resemblance to such an one, in opposition to our present -pro-slavery government.</p> - -<p>I would like to see all men perfect Christians, but as I do not expect -to witness this sight very soon, I am gratified at their becoming -anti-slavery, or even temperance men. Any advance from the old -corruptions of the past, is hailed with delight by me.</p> - -<p>The point I would now urge upon your attention is, the immediate -formation of a <i>new government at the North</i>, at all events, and at all -hazards! I do not say, “Down with this Union” merely, but I do say, up -with an Anti-Slavery government, in the free States. Our object should -be the establishment of a form of government, directly in opposition to -the one we at present live under. The stars and stripes of our country’s -flag, should be trodden into the dust, and a white banner, with the -words, “Emancipation to the Slaves” inscribed upon it, should be -unfurled to the breeze, in the room of the old emblem of despotic -servitude. Too long have we been dilatory upon this point; but the -period I believe has now arrived, for us to strike for freedom, in -earnest. Let us see first, what we have to accomplish; and then the -means whereby we can bring about the desired end; our capabilities for -such a work; and the reasons why we should adopt this plan; and what -will be the consequences of such a course of action. First. What have we -to accomplish? A great and an important end truly, which is nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68">{68}</a></span> -less, than the establishment of a new government, right in the midst of -our present pro-slavery one.</p> - -<p>A government, is a system of authority sustained by either the rulers, -or the ruled, or by both conjointly. If it depends on the will of the -rulers, then they can change it at pleasure; but if the people are -connected with it, their consent must be gained, before its character -can be altered. If, as is the case with our government, it is the -<i>people</i> who “ordain and establish” laws, then it lies with them to -change those laws, and to remodel that government. Let this fact be -distinctly understood; for the majority of the people of this land, seem -to labor under the delusion, that our government is sustained by some -other power than their own; and are very much in the situation of those -heathen nations, condemned by one of the ancient prophets, who -manufactured their deities, and then fell down and worshipped the work -of their own hands. The people make laws for their own guidance, and -then offer as an excuse for their bad conduct, that the <i>laws</i> require -them to do so! The government appears to be yet surrounded with a halo -of glory, as it was in the days of kingly authority, when “the powers -that be” were supposed to have been approvingly “ordained of God,” and -men fear to touch the sacred structure of their own erecting, as if -God’s throne would be endangered thereby. This is not the only -manifestation of self-esteem connected with their movements.</p> - -<p>The people also fancy, that what their fathers created is divine, when -their fathers have departed, and left them to do as they elect, without -any obligation resting upon them to follow in their steps; but so great -is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69">{69}</a></span> self-esteem of the people, as manifested in their pride of -ancestry, that they seem to suppose, that God would cast them off -forever, if they should cease to be children, and become men, casting -from them, the doctrines and political creeds of their fathers; and yet -they boast of their spirit of progress! They fear to act for themselves, -lest they should mar the reputation of their ancestors, and be deprived -of their feeling of self-adulation, in consequence of the perfection of -their worthy sires. But we must humble our pride, and cease worshipping, -either our own, or our father’s handiwork,—in reference to the laws, of -which we are speaking. What we want is, a very simple thing. Our fathers -proclaimed themselves free and independent of the British government, -and proceeded to establish a new one, in its room. They threw off the -British yoke! We can do the same, in reference to the United States -government! We can put forth <i>our</i> “declaration of independence,” and -issue our manifesto of grievances; and as our fathers did, can pledge to -one another, “our lives, our property and our sacred honor,” in -promoting the accomplishment of this end. We can <i>immediately organize</i> -a new government, independent of the present one under which we live. We -may be deemed traitors for so doing; but were not Samuel Adams and John -Hancock traitors? and did not our forefathers inscribe on their banners, -“resistance to tyrants is obedience to God?” Are we more faint-hearted -than they were? Are not our and the slave’s grievances more unendurable -than were their wrongs? A new government is what we want; and the sound -should go forth from all these free hills, echoing across the plains of -the far distant West, that New<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70">{70}</a></span> England and the whole North, are ready -to do battle with the myrmidons of the slave power, not with the sword -of steel, but with the spirit of patient submission to robbery and -death, in defence of our principles. We are not obliged to muster our -squadrons in “hot haste,” to the “sound of the cannon’s deafening roar,” -nor to arm ourselves for physical combat; for there is more power in -suffering death, for truth’s sake, than in fighting with swords of -steel, and with cannon balls. A new government we must have; and now let -us consider, Secondly, how we shall bring this end about, and some -reasons why we should adopt this course.</p> - -<p>Step by step, do we progress in all improvements designed for man’s well -being. At first the people in a semi-barbarous state, are satisfied with -a rude code of laws, similar to that given by a military commander, to -the rough bandits under his direction; but as science unfolds its -truthful wings, and spreads over the minds of the race, a mantle of -wisdom, which covers their rude imperfections, and shuts out from the -eye of man, their inelegant barbarities, a regard for the good opinion -of others more civilized than they, induces such a people to demand the -overthrow of their savage code, which they have become ashamed of -acknowledging. The ancient Jews were supposed to stand in need of laws -of this character; which hung over their heads, threatening the most -severe punishments for the commission of, sometimes, very light crimes; -as Sinai’s burning mountain flashed its fierce lightnings in their -awe-stricken faces, and sent forth its terrible thunders, sounding in -their superstitious ears, like the voice of Deity. This people had just -emerged from the depths of Egyptian slavery, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71">{71}</a></span> might have stood in -need of such severe and terrible laws, so Draconic in their nature; but -the refined inhabitants of polished Greece and Rome, needed not such -barbarous enactments. The advancing spirit of civilization had swept -along in its effacing train, all the necessity for such brutal ferocity, -by destroying the ferocious character of the people; as it opened to -them more refined sources of enjoyment, in the erection of works of art, -and in mental cultivation. The muses too, had purified and rendered -delicate their tastes, so that outward barbarity seemed no longer -attractive; although their ancestors had indulged in such scenes with -great gusto. Our Druidical, Saxon and Norman ancestry, might have needed -as cruel laws as those we now live under. At least such laws would have -been more appropriate to their semi-barbarous condition, than they are -to our improved state; but surely, we of the nineteenth century, having -outlived the errors of the past, and having reached a point, from which -we can cast our eyes far back into the distant past, and behold with -utter astonishment, the absurd practices of our cruel and ignorant -ancestors; are not obliged, out of regard for the memory of those not so -far removed from us, in point of time, as those whose memories we do not -hesitate to execrate, to retain as objectionable laws as ever disgraced -the statute book of England, in the days of the bloody Jeffreys, or when -the unalterable “Star chamber” decisions, were the law of the land. For -a country to make its boast of civilization, and to call itself a -refined nation, while it tenaciously grasps the worst errors of its -ancestors, and plunges into a fit of madness, at the least allusion to -an alteration of its cannibal laws, seems somewhat astonishing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72">{72}</a></span> It -makes one think of a man, who should propose joining a church, and when -asked to give up dram-drinking and gambling, should break forth in a -torrent of abuse, against those who made the proposition to him; for -those practices are no more contrary to the sweet spirit of heavenly -religion, than is slaveholding in opposition to true civilization, and -perfect refinement. It is a remnant of that spirit of barbarity, which -formerly induced men to fight for conquest and territory, in the -palmiest days of the ancient Eastern empires, when the fields of the -earth, fair mother of our existence, were made fertile by the rich -streams of blood, flowing from the mangled corpses, strewn upon its -surface, by the fiendish barbarity of a Sennacherib, a Cyrus, a Xerxes, -and an Alexander.</p> - -<p>An alteration of our present laws is demanded; but who will agitate this -subject, where it must be agitated, in order to accomplish the end so -ardently desired? It is well known, that a simple majority of votes in -Congress, can never affect the alteration proposed,—that three fourths -of the States of this Union must be penetrated with the spirit of -repentance, in reference to slavery, and bring forth the legitimate -fruit thereof, by consenting to this alteration, before it can be -accomplished; and who will go to the South, that “valley of the shadow -of death,” in regard to all subjects having reference to man’s -improvement, and urge this course upon its darkened inhabitants? But -this step must be taken, before the Constitution can be altered, or its -meaning rendered unequivocal, so as not to be misunderstood by the -authorities of this nation; for it is not to be expected that the South -will ever repent of their own accord, and change the laws<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73">{73}</a></span> of the Union, -because we demand it, unless the alternative is presented them, of such -change, or disunion on our part.</p> - -<p>But the time expended in converting the people of the <i>North</i> to a -willingness to alter the Constitution, would amply suffice to persuade -them to organize a new government; for the Northern people are as ready -to go for a dissolution of the Union, as they are for an alteration of -the Constitution; for much advance has already been made in -indoctrinating them in reference to the former idea, and thousands and -tens of thousands are probably converts to this doctrine, while but -little or nothing has been said in reference to the latter alternative. -No party has yet proposed this step; but a large and increasing one, -embodying a great portion of the talent of the nation, is now earnestly -engaged in advocating the former. Which would be the easiest of -accomplishment then, the conversion of the North to disunion principles, -or to a willingness to alter the Constitution? Every one at all versed -in political affairs, must be aware, that an alteration of the -Constitution, without the consent of the South, would be a virtual -dissolution of the Union, even if such a step were possible; so that -converting the Northern people to the doctrine of an alteration of the -Constitution, would be, in fact, only another phase of conversion to -disunion; for, of course, the South will never consent to such an -alteration, only as an alternative, in opposition to dissolution. To be -sure, if the Northern people would act as a body, and boldly say to the -South, “give us an alteration of the ‘three-fifths representation’ -clause of the Constitution; a change of that in reference to ‘domestic -insurrection;’ and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74">{74}</a></span> an entire destruction of the one requiring ‘persons -held to service, under the laws of a state,’ to be given up to ‘those to -whom <i>such</i> service or labor may be due,’ or we will break away from -your polluting embrace;” there would probably be no need of our ever -dissolving the Union, if the South believed the North was speaking -truly; for, a petted and indulged child, rendered effeminate by parental -fondness and neglect of all discipline, would be in no more danger of -leaving forever its parent’s abode, without a farthing in its pocket, or -the ability to walk a single step alone, because of its parents’ refusal -to gratify its whims any longer; than would the “spoiled child” of the -South, who has been fed on the richest viands our Northern pantry could -supply, and drank of the costliest wines our free cellars could furnish, -be in danger of leaving its well-supplied table of Northern spreading, -and spring from the soft lap of Northern indulgence, to go forth to its -own poverty-stricken lands, obliged to earn its coarse bread and clear -water, by the hard toil of its own delicate hands.</p> - -<p>But will the Northern people ever be ready to say this to the South? Not -until years of patient toil in cultivating the pro-slavery soil of their -hearts, have been expended by those whose office it seems to be to labor -for the slaves’ release; and even then, it is questionable whether, -after having been supported by the North so long, and so patiently, the -South would believe all our affirmations; and we after all might be -obliged to withdraw from her. But if the plan we propose, should be -adopted, it would save all this uncertainty, for the South would then -know we meant what we said, and would be frightened at our move<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_75" id="page_75">{75}</a></span>ments; -as a woman is filled with dismay, when her only protector, talks of -leaving her and her helpless babes, to the cold charities of an -unfeeling world.</p> - -<p>It is certain the South never would consent to an alteration of the -Constitution, unless she was driven to it by the North, which object has -not yet been proposed by any Northern party; and before any great -progress could be made in the reception of such a doctrine, a little -knot of patriots, armed with the invincible resolution of him, whose -narrative has been presented to you, or with that of our revolutionary -fathers; could have erected the standard of revolt, and have formed the -basis of a new and powerful government. It is not a reform in our -government that we need, but <i>a revolution—an overthrow of the present -one</i>, and the establishment of a new one. Supposing a few individuals -should be hung as traitors, would not that create a sympathy for us -among the governments of the old world? and would not the universal -voice of all civilized nations cry out against our immolation? Let but -as many individuals unite, as signed the famous manifesto of our -fathers, and armed with their Spartan spirit, <i>pledge our lives and -fortunes</i> to the accomplishment of this end! Let our <i>declaration of -independence</i> be sent forth to all the world, and our grievances be -stated in the hearing of mankind! Let a new Continental Congress meet, -at some favorable point, draft a new Constitution, and all who drink of -the spirit of liberty, which flowed into the hearts of our fathers, be -requested to annex their names to the document! Let it go forth to the -whole land as <i>our</i> Constitution! Let immediate measures be taken for an -active and efficient agitation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_76" id="page_76">{76}</a></span> whole subject; our orators to go -forth, and in the streets and lanes of our cities and villages, proclaim -the object we have in view; or, if a more silent way of proceeding shall -be deemed the most expedient, let committees visit every house and shop -in our land, and see who will gird on this armor, and resolve to perish -in an attempt to rescue the bleeding slave, from the hands of his cruel -master, by refusing all support to this government, even to the -deprivation of the necessaries of life.</p> - -<p>And now comes the period of our proposed bloodless revolution, which -will try men’s souls. Let us do as our fathers did, and <i>refuse to pay -taxes to the general government</i>. “Millions for defence, but not one -cent for tribute,” cried our ancestors, in order to save their -descendants from the oppressive spirit of England’s grasping avarice. -They at first were ridiculed, and it is stated that when John Warren, -one of the aristocracy of Boston, made an inflammatory speech, at a -rebel meeting, that he was denounced by the leading citizens of this -place, and a copy of a letter is still preserved, written by some of -them in reference to the transaction, in which they state, that “one Dr. -Warren, had indeed made a rebellious speech, but he was applauded only -by <i>a few rowdies</i>.” Shall not we be as willing to sacrifice our -property and lives, as were our ancestors? Did not John Hancock hand the -keys of his stores and dwelling to the authorities of the city, saying -to them, “this is all of my property, but if the good of Boston requires -its destruction, I freely yield it to you?” To pay taxes is to support -the government, under which we live, for without this support it could -not exist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_77" id="page_77">{77}</a></span> These taxes are not paid of course directly, but still we -eat, drink, and wear those things, on which a duty is paid, which gives -the general government all its power. For instance. The Mexican War has -left a large debt resting on our shoulders. The only way in which it -will be paid probably is, by an increased tariff on particular articles -of consumption. Now if an entire cessation of such consumption should -take place, would not the government be left destitute of the means to -pay this debt? Who pays the salaries of the officers of this government, -but the consumer of the articles taxed by it? If the consumption of all -such articles can be prevented, would not our government be obliged to -cease operations, for want of oil to grease its machinery with? It moves -only as money is furnished it. Our navy and army, the protectors of the -South, can only be supported by large sums of money, derived from the -revenue of the nation, which revenue we help to create by our -consumption of these things. If sugar pays a large duty, or tea and -coffee, or silks and satins, broadcloths and cassimeres, by refusing to -use those articles, and inducing others to do the same, would not the -revenue of the nation be affected? and when the actual tax-gatherer in -the shape of the merchant, holds out his seductive wares for our -purchase, could we not exhibit to him our pledge to “totally abstain” -from the use of such articles; as the temperance man shows his ticket, -as a reason why he should not partake of the intoxicating cup?</p> - -<p>Another step could also be taken. A president could be chosen by us, and -other necessary officers, and we could go on with our government, just -as if no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_78" id="page_78">{78}</a></span> other existed, “beating for recruits” all the while, and -offering no physical resistance to those who molest us. <i>Have we not a -right so to do?</i></p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Children of the glorious dead!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who for freedom fought and bled,”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="nind">have you become bond slaves to a power fully as oppressive of you, as -that of Britain’s tyrannical king, against whom your ancestors lifted -their stout arms in rebellion, and unfurled their banner of revolt, on -which was gloriously inscribed, “victory or death?” Have you forever -lost all that portion of your ancestral fire, which armed three millions -of poor and feeble men to engage in deadly combat with the richest and -most powerful nation in Christendom? Ah, has God forsaken you so -entirely, that no pulse of gladness beats in your frame, as you listen -to the stirring notes of the wild, clarion sound of freedom, coming over -these hills, and echoing from the far-distant prairies of the wide West? -Oh is there not, friends, any deep fountain of sorrow gushing up from -the inmost depths of your secret souls, for the sufferings and woes of -the three millions of your Southern brethren? Ah, is there not any -remnant of the spark of divinity which our Father in heaven has placed -in every human heart, left to warm up your frigid souls? Say, breathes -there not a particle of indignant life in your moral nature, as you -listen to the mad agonies of shrieking mothers, the victims of -remorseless tyrants who now stand defacing God’s image and stamping in -the dust the lineaments of their Creator? Oh, is there none of manhood -left in you, that the shrieks of trampled upon and bleeding innocence, -should not move you to contend with Slavery’s cruel power? But is not -your own safety a reason<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_79" id="page_79">{79}</a></span> why you should cease to doff your beavers to -the South, and should refuse to pay homage to her any longer? Listen a -moment while I exhibit to you some more personal and selfish arguments. -At the last election, the Southern States were allowed one electoral -vote for every 7,500 voters, while at the North, it took 12,000 voters -to entitle us to <i>one</i> elector. The number of electors, of which we were -thus deprived, was about 100, which was the same as excluding from the -privilege of the elective franchise, 750,000 voters, about the number in -all New England and Pennsylvania! Now are not these persons taxed -equally with those who have the privilege of voting? Do not all the -citizens of the North pay taxes? Yes, and much more than their true -proportion, for by far the greater portion of duty-paying goods, are -consumed at the North. Then, is not the principle which our fathers died -to oppose, fully carried out by our government, <i>taxation without -representation</i>? and yet we tamely submit to this plucking our substance -from us, by the fierce beak of our country’s eagle; while our fathers -would not so much as listen to the slight growling of the English lion, -as he shook his shaggy mane in their faces, and touched them with but -the extremities of his bloody paw! Robbery, if committed by a bird of -prey, the American eagle, is to be patiently submitted to, and indeed we -call it but the tickling of an affectionate friend or child; but let the -valiant lion of Old England take the value of a pin’s point, or a few -old pine trees and worthless rocks from us, and how the welkin rings -with the sound of our abhorrence of such depredations. We are like the -slaveholder, spoken of in our friend’s narrative, who told the slaves it -was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_80" id="page_80">{80}</a></span> crime to steal from him, but none to rob his neighbors, because -he reaped the benefits of the theft. So with us. We are <i>rewarded</i> for -our submission to this robbery, by the paltry trade of the South, and as -long as a few of us can make more money than we lose otherwise by our -connection with the South, we care not for our principles, although -every fourth of July we laud our fathers for fighting in behalf of them; -or for the losses of the mass of the people. <i>Taxation without -representation!</i> This practice deluged the fields of our country, with -our ancestor’s and Briton’s son’s blood; and caused our prosperity, as a -nation, to be stricken to the ground, and we magnify our fathers for -their boldness, in reference to it; yet we cherish the same principle, -and press it to our bosoms as a part of our religion!</p> - -<p>Great Britain <i>tried</i> our fathers, accused of crime, away from their -homes, across the waters of the ocean, and we call it a great -oppression; but let one of our sons be guilty of an act in violation of -Southern law, or be even suspected of it, and there is <i>no</i> law by which -he can be tried. All law is trampled under foot, and he is doomed to -waste away his life, in a gloomy prison, or to be whipped almost to -death. Which is the worst, being tried across the sea, by an impartial -court, or being strung up by Lynch law between the heavens and the -earth, and left dangling on the limb of a tree, or else doomed to wear -out a miserable existence in some foul dungeon?</p> - -<p>But to make the case still more parallel. Great Britain, our fathers -complained, quartered soldiers upon them in times of peace, who eat out -their substance and corrupted the people. For what other<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_81" id="page_81">{81}</a></span> earthly -purpose is the army of the United States continued in existence, but to -watch the bidding of the monster Slavery, and be ready to fly at a -moment’s warning to her assistance, in case the least attempt should be -made by their victims to regain their freedom? That this is a true -statement, may be seen from the fact, that all our wars for the last -thirty-five years, have been waged in behalf of Slavery, and even our -last war with Great Britain, is attributed by many persons to the -demands of the slave power. It is certain, that no war will ever be -allowed by the South, except in behalf of Slavery, for it would be -detrimental to their interests; and it is well known that she rules over -the destinies of this country, and guides its affairs of state, as -effectually as Alexander or Napoleon ruled the countries they had -conquered. Slavery rules this nation, did we say? It can hardly be -called ruling, for we are so submissive to the faintest manifestation of -her will, that she has but to glance her glowing eye towards our craven -souls, and we will prostrate our abject forms lowly on the ground, with -our faces hid in the dust, which we are truly unworthy to touch; as -submissively and reverentially, as the devout Mussulman kisses the -ground when the hour of prayer arrives, crying, “God is great.” Our God -is emphatically Slavery. To him we address our early matins, and in his -ear are uttered our evening orisons. More devoutly do we render homage -to our god, Slavery, than the most pious of us adore the God of heaven, -which proves that we are a very religious people, worshipping, not -crocodiles, leeks and onions, snakes, and images of wood and stone, but -a god, whose service is infinitely<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_82" id="page_82">{82}</a></span> more disgusting than that of any -heathen idol, but one who <i>pays</i> us well, for our obeisance, as we -imagine.</p> - -<p>In this matter of a standing army, we go beyond our fathers in suffering -oppression. They were not obliged to fight for England, when the object -of the war was to enslave themselves; but it is well known that the -great object the South has in view, in all her wars, is the -aggrandizement of herself and the subjection of the North to her -complete dictation; and we are called upon to engage in these wars, and -after they are fought, we are compelled to foot the heavy bills.</p> - -<p>But when our fathers were oppressed, they could plead in their own -behalf. If they placed their feet on England’s shores, no harm could -befal them, as long as they were guilty of no crime. They could defend -their own cause; and the thunders of a Burke’s eloquence, shook the -walls of Parliament to their foundation, and made the tyrants of England -tremble and quake with fear, as he poured forth the fervor of his -vehement eloquence in strong condemnation of the oppression of the -colonies. A William Pitt too, could frighten the British minister from -his unhallowed security, amid the multitude of fawning sycophants -surrounding him, in the height of his political power, by the thunders -of his voice, uttered in faithful rebuke of the war measures of the -government. This noble Earl, was allowed to plead in behalf of American -freedom, until his earnest spirit was claimed by the grim messenger -death, as he arose in his place in the House of Lords, to speak in our -behalf. But suffer what we may, is there any redress for us at the hands -of our government? Our property may be injured by spolia<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_83" id="page_83">{83}</a></span>tions on our -commerce, such as imprisoning our seamen, as well as by the crime of -seizing our free citizens and depriving them of their liberty; and can -we obtain the least redress? O the ignominy of our puerile connection -with the South!</p> - -<p>It is well known that under the system of Slavery, the three great -blessings of republicanism are denied to a large portion of our -citizens. These are, freedom of the press, of speech and of locomotion. -And will we allow ourselves to be deprived of what even Europe’s -despotic kings have been bestowing upon their subjects? Are we more base -and abject in our submission to the South, than are the oppressed -millions of the old world, in their subjection to their kingly -oppressors? O what falsifiers of our own professions, and truants to our -own dearly prized principles, we are! Can an abolitionist travel -unexposed at the South? I have had some little experience in the matter, -and know that such is not the case. Men have pursued me with relentless -hate, and implements of death have been brought into requisition against -me, for no crime, only for exposing Slavery, in its own dominions. Can -we send to any part of the South those newspapers we may wish to send -there? While at the South, I was advised by a friend to conceal a paper -I had received, because of its being opposed to Slavery; and it is in -only particular portions of that ill-fated country, that anti-slavery -publications, can be introduced. It is not many years, since a man was -publicly whipped, for having an anti-slavery newspaper wrapped around a -bible, which he was offering for sale. As to liberty of speech, not half -the freedom is allowed the opponents of Slavery on the floors of -Congress, that the British<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_84" id="page_84">{84}</a></span> Parliament allowed the opposers of the -American War. In Boston, on the day which ushered the famous <i>stamp act</i> -into existence, the bells were tolled, and a funeral procession passed -through the streets, bearing a coffin, on which the word <i>Liberty</i> was -inscribed. “During the movement of the procession, minute guns were -fired, and an oration was pronounced in favor of the <i>deceased</i>. Similar -expressions of grief and indignation occurred in many parts of the -land;” but, friends, no funeral procession passed through our streets -when Liberty died the second time—no muffled bells sounded their -melancholy peals in the ears of a mourning people; no liberty-loving -orator was found to pronounce a requiem for the departed goddess; and -yet she was slain—and slain too, not by foreign hands, nor by the -natural allies of human oppressors, but, shall I tell the sad and dismal -tale? by those, who twenty-five years before, had shrouded their faces -in mantles of mourning, and rent the air with their expressions of -grief, at the destruction of one of liberty’s little fingers, by the -passage of the stamp act; but when Liberty lay a full length corpse, on -the floors of that Congress, which sold her to the South, as Judas -betrayed the Son of God, and for almost as small a boon, viz.: “the -carrying trade” of the South; not only were there <i>no</i> lamentations made -over her complete departure, but she was taken by night and buried -hastily; while</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note,”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="nind">as her corse was deposited without a “winding sheet,” or even “a -soldier’s cloak” to wrap around her bleeding form. Clandestinely was she -hurried out of the sight of the men who murdered her; and instead of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_85" id="page_85">{85}</a></span> -songs of sorrow, being heard throughout the land, pæans of praise -ascended from its every corner, and honors were heaped on the heads of -her murderers. But Liberty as truly died then, as if loud lamentations -had been made in her behalf, and the descendants of those very men, who -in 1765 followed the coffin of liberty to its place of deposit, because -no business was deemed lawful unless the records of it were made on -<i>stamped paper</i>; the descendants of these very mourners of liberty, now, -do what is infinitely worse than to use the stamped paper of a British -king; they swear to support that sacrifice of Liberty upon the altar of -Southern slavery, whenever they are admitted to any offices of trust and -renown. Is not this oppressive, when we may not administer justice to -our fellow men, or exercise the most common authority, without renewing -the thrust at the departed spirit of liberty, as our fathers actually -slew her fair form?</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O Liberty! didst thou draw thy keen sword<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For those, whom av’rice sought to rob, and slay,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And sent its minions far, to seek its prey,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That glittering gold might its coffers fill;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">While they their foes should crush, and seek to kill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That England’s lords, their gold could steal, and hoard?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Goddess celestial, and divine, and pure,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Wert thou, the champion brave, the soldier true,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Who fought with youthful vigor, with the few,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of Columbia’s sons, who stood, a sturdy band,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And bade their country’s foes to leave their land,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While they, to thee didst vow allegiance sure?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Insulted nymph! thy fair form shone so bright,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That kings, as thee they saw, could not reject<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That face, alive with claims to their respect;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">E’en they, besotted with the lust of power,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Could not refuse to yield to thee thy dower,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But ceased at thy command, their foes to fight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_86" id="page_86">{86}</a></span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">But ah! the men who thee so loud did call,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The souls, whom thou hadst saved from bondage dread,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">O fearful tale! <i>themselves on thee did tread</i>;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And thy fair robe was pierced with traitorous thrusts.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">As Cæsar groaning fell and kissed the dust,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When ingrate Brutus’ blows on him did fall.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>On the 5th of March, 1775, the Boston massacre occurred—the fearful -tragedy of State Street! All Boston was aroused, murders dreadful had -been committed by the British troops, and it was a difficult task to -allay the excitement occasioned thereby. What was the amount of this -terrible massacre? Why, three Boston citizens had been shot in the heat -of an affray with the British soldiery! What horror seemed to seize upon -the hearts of the people! Why, “our brothers are being shot down in the -face of open day, and our turn may come next.” Terrible was the -indignation of our fathers! And yet we, their descendants, calmly allow -the South to slay our citizens at their leisure. The blood of a murdered -Lovejoy, still cries out from the ground for vengeance! A Baltimore -prison, still contains the impress of a departed spirit’s feet, which -left an impression on its gloomy pavement, as he fled from an earthly -prison-house to the mansions of the blest. A C. C. Torrey still calls -for redress for his wrongs at the hands of Southern tyrants. The jail of -our own capital if it could speak, would tell of him who pined away -within its noisome walls, as he lay in that republican enclosure, a -victim to Southern tyranny. Yes, Dr. Crandall’s blood has not yet been -atoned for, by the wicked South. Here are, at least three victims who -have been slain, at the cruel dictation of Slavery’s dreadful power. But -time would fail me, to tell of a Van Zandt, of a Fairbanks,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_87" id="page_87">{87}</a></span> and of -numerous others, whose lives have been forfeited to the South. And yet -we submit to her dictation. Our own citizens slain, imprisoned, and -cruelly beaten, but yet we have no heart to break away from this -degrading alliance with our Southern man-stealing brethren.</p> - -<p>But, I must bring this expostulation to a close, and proceed to show the -<i>consequences</i> of this event, the formation of a new government. Of -these it may be said; they could not be more disastrous to the North -than Slavery has been; for like the “horse-leech’s two daughters,” she -continually cries “give, give,” and never seems to have enough. Hardly -through with the digestion of the tremendous morsel just administered to -her gormandizing appetite, she commences to lick her lips, and daintily -ask for a dessert, with which to finish the full meal which she has -already made of California and New Mexico, and as her mother deems it -her duty, never to deny any of her darling daughter’s reasonable -requests, probably the Island of Cuba, will soon be placed at her side, -for her to nibble upon at leisure.</p> - -<p>Many persons deprecate our plan, for fear of a civil war; and terrific -ideas of rivers of blood rolling across our fields, and piles of bones -heaped on our shores, startle them in their slumbers, as the rustling of -a leaf fills the slaveholder’s heart with fear. In the first place, how -very absurd is this idea of a civil war being the result of disunion. -Can any one seriously urge it, as an objection to this movement? Look at -the vast extent of territory open to the incursions of an enemy, if the -North should withdraw from the South. There are the Islands of the West -Indies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_88" id="page_88">{88}</a></span> filled with emancipated slaves, ready, some of them to join in -an effort to redeem the Southern slaves from bondage. Then there is the -long line of sea-board, entirely unprotected, which even in the last war -was devastated in part by the British army, and the capital of our -country reduced to ashes. On the Northern frontier, runs that talismanic -line, over which a slave has but to place his foot, and glorious liberty -becomes his possession. Here stand, twelve millions of freemen, ready to -fight in behalf of the panting fugitive, while nearly 20,000 sturdy -hearts beat quick to the sound of the trumpet of freedom, and are ready -to leave their homes in <i>Canada</i>, to assist their brethren. Then, there -is ill-treated and insulted Mexico, burning under a sense of the wrongs -inflicted upon her, and watching an opportunity to redress those wrongs. -Last of all, are the numerous Indian tribes, smarting under a deep sense -of the wrongs they have received at our hands. Now will any sensible -person assert that five millions of Southerners, allowing all her white -population to be in favor of Slavery, with an intestine foe, ready to -spring upon her, as soon as the last chance of freedom presents itself, -will be in danger of fighting twelve millions of free Northerners, who -can call to their aid all these, and numerous other allies? Why, the -idea is preposterous, and none but an insane man, can seriously -entertain it. Who would fight the North, if war should be declared? At -the first sound of the trumpet of war, every slave would be instantly -free; for never could the Southerners leave their homes exposed to the -fury of an insurgent population, as they would be obliged to, if an army -should be organized to fight the North.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_89" id="page_89">{89}</a></span></p> - -<p>But who are those persons who cry out “civil war, and bloodshed?” Are -they not mostly those who believe the revolutionary war to have been -right? If Slavery is wrong, to be consistent, they ought to hail any -movement which will hasten an insurrection among the Slaves. What is a -civil war of a few years’ continuance, in comparison to the seven years’ -war we waged with Great Britain? <i>Then</i> our resources were limited, our -treasury light, and we were only three millions strong. But <i>now</i>, we -abound in resources, have become plethoric on account of our riches, and -are twelve millions strong, while our enemy is less than half that -number. We coped with twenty millions of British subjects, when we -numbered but three millions, can we not now with twelve millions cope -with five? Then has our glory departed indeed, and we are the veriest -slaves in existence. But would our trade be endangered? Ah, that is -<i>the</i> question. Said a person to me not long since, “I acknowledge there -would be benefits in a dissolution of the Union, but there are also -disadvantages.” And what are they? we inquired. “Why, our trade would be -injured.” Let it perish then! Every mother’s son of us, had better pack -up and on board our numerous vessels go on a begging expedition to -England or France, or we had better “tie millstones about our necks, and -drown ourselves in the depths of the sea;” or, we had better lay down in -the streets and perish with hunger, than to allow Slavery to continue -its existence.</p> - -<p>The moment it is granted that a dissolution of the Union would abolish -Slavery quicker than any other course, then I think our point is gained, -and there is no necessity of proving that we shall not lose the sale<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_90" id="page_90">{90}</a></span> of -a few hats and boots, or <i>slave whips</i>. It seems almost an insult to the -character of the Northern people to answer such an argument as this, and -yet I fear that it is the “strong reason” why this question meets with -so much opposition.</p> - -<p>If slavery is abolished, no one can deny that our <i>trade</i>, so important -to Northern men, and for which they are ready to barter the welfare of -three millions of human beings, would be materially increased; but for -one I care not, whether this will be the case or not. I cannot, I will -not argue this question. It is a sin against the Holy Ghost, to dream of -balancing the matter in this way. Northern men, you are too much -actuated by this spirit of Avarice! You must be converted from this -accursed love for gold; for it will sink you into the lowest degradation -of a life afar from Deity. You cannot be the friends of God, while it -reigns in your hearts! You must arise, and cast it from you! You must be -converted from your selfishness, and then you will have no objections to -offer against a dissolution of the Union! If your eyes can only be -anointed with the eye-salve of humanity, and be washed in the waters of -benevolence, you will see the folly of all your objections, and will be -ready to sink all your ships with their rich cargoes, into the depths of -the sea, and to burn your well-filled stores, rather than to cause -Slavery to continue another day! O, men of the North, can ye not be -aroused to action in the slave’s behalf? Shall the purple streams of the -slave’s blood, flow ceaselessly and rapidly o’er our land, gushing forth -from every hill-side of the South, and coloring all the fair fields of -Southern industry, on account of your sustaining power? O that I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_91" id="page_91">{91}</a></span> -utter some word in your ear, which would quicken your dormant -sensibilities and arouse you to action in the slave’s cause! Shall I -tell you of God, of heaven, and of hell? There is a God, and as he -descends from his abode among the stars, and essays to find an entrance -into your soul, by which he may make you “a joint heir with Christ to an -inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and which fadeth not away,” -depend upon it, that he will be frustrated in his benevolent purpose, if -the demon of pro-slavery, lies coiled up in your heart. Whatever may be -said of religion, it is true that God can never approve of any person, -in league with slaveholders; for a just God is forever opposed to all -forms of robbery and oppression. If God’s favor then is of any value, -flee, I beseech thee, to the arms of liberty, and be encircled by her -protecting power; so that all approach to Slavery may be dreaded by -thee, as an angel dreads the polluting touch of sin.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="blk"> -<h2><a name="EXTRACT_of_an_Address_of_Saml_J_May_Unitarian_Clergyman_in" -id="EXTRACT_of_an_Address_of_Saml_J_May_Unitarian_Clergyman_in"></a><i>EXTRACT of an Address of Sam’l J. May, Unitarian Clergyman, in -Syracuse, N. Y., delivered in Faneuil Hall</i>.</h2> - -<p>Never will the story be forgotten in our country, or throughout the -world, of the man—whom I trust you will all be permitted to see—who, -that he might escape from Southern oppression, consented to a living -entombment. He entered the box with the determination to be free or die: -and as he heard the nails driven in, his fear was that death was to be -his portion; yet, said he, let death come in preference to slavery! I -happened to be in the City of Philadelphia—I have told the story to the -convention already, but I will tell it again—in the midst of an -excitement that was caused by the arrival of a man in a box. I measured -it myself; <i>three feet one inch long, two feet wide, and two feet six -inches deep</i>. <span class="smcap">In that box a man was entombed for twenty seven hours.</span></p> - -<p>The box was placed in the express car in Richmond, Va., and subjected to -all the rough treatment ordinarily given to boxes of merchandise; for, -notwithstanding the admonition of “<i>this side up with care</i>,” the box -was tumbled over, so that he was sometimes on his head; yes, at one -time, for nearly two hours, as it seemed to him, <i>on his head</i>, and -momentarily expecting that life would become extinct, from the terrible -pressure of blood that poured upon his brain. Twenty-seven hours was -this man subjected to this imminent peril, that he might, for one -moment, at least, breathe the air of liberty. Does not such a man -deserve to be free? Is there a heart here, that does not bid him -welcome? Is there a heart here, that can doubt that there must be in him -not merely the heart and soul of a deteriorated man—a degraded, -inferior man—but the heart and soul of a noble man? Not a <i>nobleman</i>, -sir, but a <small>NOBLE MAN</small>? Who can doubt it?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_92" id="page_92">{92}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="c">REPRESENTATION OF THE BOX,</p> - -<p>In which a fellow mortal travelled a long journey, in quest of those -rights which the piety and republicanism of this country denied to him, -the right to possess.</p> - -<p class="c"> -<a href="images/box.jpg"> -<img src="images/box.jpg" -height="550" -alt="[Image of the box unavailable.]" -/></a> -</p> - -<p class="c"> -<i>Philadelphia<br /> -Pa.<br /> -Right side up with care</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="c">3 feet 1 inch long, 2 feet wide, 2 feet 6 inches high.</p> - -<p>As long as the temples of humanity contain a single worshipper, whose -heart beats in unison with that of the God of the universe; must a -religion and a government which could inflict such misery upon a human -being, be execrated and fled from, as a bright angel, abhors and flees -from the touch of hideous sin.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<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> <span class="smcap">Hugo Grotius</span> was, in the year 1620, sent from prison, -confined in a small chest of drawers, by the affectionate hands of a -faithful wife, but he was taken by <i>friends</i> on horseback and carried to -the house of a friend, without undergoing much suffering or running the -terrible risk which our friend ran.</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> The reader may be disposed to doubt the truth of the above -assertion, but I once asked a girl in Ky., whose mistress was a -Methodist church member, if she could tell me “who Jesus Christ was?” -“Yes,” said she, “he is the bad man.” -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> In proof of this, I would state that during my residence at -the South, a whole town was once thrown into an uproar by my entering a -slave hut, about Christmas time, and talking and praying with the -inmates about an hour. I was told that it would not be safe for me to -remain in the town over night. -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> While at the South, a gentleman came one day to a friend of -mine, and in a very excited manner said to him, “Why, are you not afraid -to have that man about you? Do you not fear that your house will be -burned? I cannot sleep nights lest the slaves should rise and burn, all -before them.” -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> While in Kentucky I knew of a case where a preacher -punished a female slave in this way, and his wife stood by, throwing -cold water into the slave’s face, to keep her from fainting. In -endeavoring to escape afterwards, the poor creature became faint from -loss of blood, and her body was found partly devoured by the buzzards. -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> Will not this be considered a sufficient exhibition of that -<i>charity</i>, which pro-slavery divines exhort abolitionists to practise? -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> Reader, do you wonder at abolitionists calling such -churches the brotherhood of thieves? -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> I would here state, that Mr. Brown is endeavoring to raise -money to purchase his family. Twelve hundred dollars being the sum -demanded for them. Any person wishing to assist him in this laudable -purpose, can enclose donations to him, directing No. 21 Cornhill, -Boston.</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> Reader, smile not at the above idea, for if there is a God -of love, we must believe that he suggests steps to those who apply to -him in times of trouble, by which they can be delivered from their -difficulty. I firmly believe this doctrine, and know it to be true from -frequent experience. -</p><p class="rt"> -C. S.</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> For a corroboration of this part of Mr. Brown’s narrative, -the reader is referred to the close of this book.</p></div> - -</div> -<hr class="full" /> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF HENRY BOX BROWN ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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