r E 444 LIFE AND ADVENTURES M) 7 IMGLE TOM JONES, 1 FOR FORTY YEAlkS A SLAVE ! ALSO, THi: S U R P III SING A D V E N T I' R f!S W I L D°' T (J M , OK iHi: ISLAND RI2TRBAT, A FL'GITIVE SLAVE FROM iSOUril CAROLINA SOLD "WHOLKSALK .V: RKTAIL, BV J. S, FARWELL &. CO., PRINTERS, 32 CON0RESS ST. wNova;r SiRKF.r. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDDTHaflflH? ffe"?^^ Qass E ^ '\ '( Book '-^ EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF WHO WAS FOR FORTY YEARS A SLAVE. ALSO THE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF ^ WILD T OF THE ISLAND RETREAT, A FUGITIVE NEGRO FROM SOUTK CAROLJNA, ^? J. 5 SOLD AT SKINNER'S ROOMS, No. 112 Hanover Strkkt, BOSTON. \^ 'h :h ,%' INTRODUCTION. A suffering brother would affectionately present this simple storv of deep personal wrongs to the earnest fr.ends of the Slave. He asks you to buy and read U, for, m so donig, you will help one who needs your sympathy and aid, and will re- ceive, in the perusal of this simple narrative, a more fervent conviction of the necessity and blessedness of toiling for the desolate members of the one great brotherhood who now suffer and die, ignorant and despairing, in the vast prison land of the South. -Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them." THE AUTHOR. EXPi EIEJNCE OF UNCLE TOM- I WAS boin a slave. My recollections of early life are associated with poverty, suffering and shame. I was made to feel, in my boy- hood's first experience, that I was inferior and degraded, and that 1 must pass through life in a dependent and suffering condition. The experience of forty-three years, which were passed by me in slavery, was one of dark fears and darker realities. John Havves was my first master. He lived in Hanover County, N. C, between the Black and South Rivers, and was the owner of a large plantation cal- led Hawes' Plantation. He had over fifty slaves. 1 remained with my parents nine years. They were both slaves, owned by John Havves. They had six children, Richard, Alexander, Charles, Sa- rah, myself, and John. I remember well that dear old cabin, with its clay floor and mud chimney, in which, for nine years, I enjoyed the presence and love of my wretched parents. Father and mother tried to make it a happy .place for their dear children. Thcij worked late into the night many and many a time to get a little simple furniture for their home and the home of their children ; and they spent many hours of willing toil to stop up the chinks between the logs of their poor hut, that they and their chil- dren might be protected from the storm and the cold. I can testify, from my own painful experience, to the deep and fond affection which the slave cherishes in his heart for his home and its dear ones. We have no other tie to link us to the human family, but our fervent love for those who are iinth us and of us in relations of sympathy and devotedness, in wrongs and wretchedness. My dear parents were cousclous of the desperate and incurable woe of their position and destin}' ; and of the lot of inevitable suffering in store for their beloved children. They talked about our coming misery, and they lifted up their voices and wept aloud, asthey spoke of our being torn from them and sold off to the dreaded slave trader, perhaps never to see them or hear from them a word of fond love. I am a father, and I have had the same feelings of unspeakable anguish, as 1 have looked upon my precious babes, and have thought of the ignorance, degradation and woe which they must endure as slaves. The great 8 EXPERIENCE OF God, who knowetli all the secrets of the earth, and He only, knows the bitter sorrow 1 now feel when I think of my four dear children who are slaves, torn from me and consigned to hopeless servitude by the iron hand of ruthlesss wrong. I love those children with all a fa- ther's fondness. Mr, Hawes was a very severe and cruel master. He kept no overseer, but managed his own slaves with the help of Enoch, his oldest son. To the men he gave one pair of shoes, one blanket, one bat, and five yards of coarse, home-spun cotton. To the women a corresponding outfit, and enough to make on« frock for each of the children. The slaves were obliged to make up their own clothes, after the severe labor of the plantation had been peiformed. Any other clothing, be)ond this yearly supply, which tliey might need, the slaves were compelled to get by extra work, or do w ithout. I'he supply of food given out to slaves, was one peck of corn a week, or some equivalent, and nothing besides. They must grind their own corn, after the work of the day was performed, at a mill which stood on the jjlantalation. We had to eat our coarse bread without meat, or butter, or milk. Severe labor alone gave us an ap- petite for our scanty ;md unpalatable fare. Many of the slaves were so hungry after their excessive toil, that they were compelled to steal food in addition to this allowance. During the planting and harvest season, we had to work early and late. The men and women were called at three o'clock in the morn- ing, and were worked on the plantation till it uas dark at night. Af- ter that they must prepare their food for supper and for the breakfast of the next day, and attend to other duties of iheir own dear homes. Parents would often have to work for their children at home, afier each day's protracted toil, till the middle of the night, and then snatch a few hours' sleep, to get strength for the heavy burdens of the next day. In the month of November, and through the winter season, the men and women worked in the fields, clearing up new land, chop- ping and burning bushes, burning tar kilns, and digging ditches. They worked together, poorly clad, and suftering from the bitter cold and wet of those winter months. Women, wives and mothers, daughters and sisters, on that plantation, were compelled to toil on cold, stormy days in tlie open field, while the piercing wind and driving storm be- numbed their limbs, and almost froze the tears that came forth out of their cold and desolate hearts. Little boys, and girls, too, worked and cried, toting brush to the fires, husking the corn, watching the stock, and running out errands for master and mistress, for their tliree sons, Enoch, Edward and John, and constantly receiving from them scoldings and beatings as their reward. Thus passed nine years of my life; years of sufFering, the shud- dering memory of which is deeply fixed in my heart. • UNCLE TOM. ' 9 These nine years of wretchedness passed, and a ciuinge came for me. My master sold me to Mr. Jones of Washington, N. C, dis- tant forty-five i«iles Horn Hawes' plantation. Mr. Jones sent his slave driver, a colored man, named Abraham, to conduct me to my new home in VVasliin^ton. 1 was at home with my mother when he came. He looked in at the door, and called to me, " Tom, you must go with me." His looks were ugly and his voice was savage. I was very much afraid, and began to cry, holding on to my mother's clothes and begging her to protect me, and not let the man take mo away. Mother wept bitterly, and, iu tlie midst of her loud sobbings, cried out in broken words, " I can't save you, 'I'ommy ; master has sold you, you must go." She threw hei- arms around me, and while the hot tears fell on my face, she strained me to her heart. There she held me, sobbing and mourning, till the brutal Abraham came in, snatched me away, hurried me out of the house where I was born, my only home, and tore me away from the dear mother who loved me as no other friend could do. She followed him, imploring a mo- ment's delay and weeping aloud, to the road, where he turned around, and striking at her with his heavy cowhide, fiercely ordered her to stop bawling, and go back into the house. Thus was I snatched from the presence of my loving parents, and from the true affection of the dear ones of home. For thirteen weary years did my heart turn in its yearnings to that precious home. And then, at the age of twenty-two, I was permitted to revisit my early home. I found it all desolate ; the family all broken up; Huher was sold and gone ; Richard, Alexander, Charles, Sarah, and John were sold and gone. Mother prematurely old, heart-broken, utterly deso- late, weak and dying, alone remained. I saw her, and wej)t once more on her bosom. I went back to my chains with a deeper woe in my lieart than I had ever felt before. There was but one thought of joy in my wretched consciousness, and that was, that my kind and precious mother would soon be at rest in the grave. And then, too, I remember, I mused with deep earnestness on death, as the only friend the poor slave had. And I wished that 1, too, might lie down by my mother's side, and die with her in her loving enibrace. •I should have related, that one of the earliest scenes of painful memory associated with my opening years of suffering is C(Minected with a severe whipping which my master inflicted on my sister Sarah. He tied her up, having compelled her to strip herself entirely naked in the smoke-liouse, and gave her a terrible wliipping, — at least so it seemed to my young heart, as I heard her scream, and stood by my mother, who was wringing her hands in an agony of grief at the cru- elties which her tender child was enduring. 1 do not know what my sister had done for which she was thenwhipped ; but I reme nber that her body was marked and scarred for weeks after that terrible 10 EXPERIENCE OF scourging, and that our parents always after seemed to hold iheir breath when they spoke of it. Sarah was the last of tiie family who was sold ; and my poor mother never looked up after this final act of cruehy was accomplished. I tl)ink of n)y only sister now ; and of- ten tr}- to imagine ivhere she is, and /unv she lares in this cruel land of slavery. And, Oh, my God, how dark and wretched are these pictures ! Can 1 think of that poor sister without a sorrow too great for utterance ? My journey to Wilmington with the heartless Ahraham was a very sad one. We walked all the way. I was afraid of my savage com- panion ; and yet, my heart felt so desolate, and my longings for sym- pathy so intense, that I was impelled to turn to my cruel guide for relief. He was striding along in stern gloom and silence, too fast for my young feet to keep pace ; and I began to feel that I must stop and rest. It was bitter cold, too, and I was poorly clad to bear the keen air of a January day. My limbs were weary with travel and stift'with cold. I could not go on at the rate 1 had done, and so I turned to my guide, and begged him to take me into some hut and let me rest and get warm. He cursed me, and told me to keep silence and come along, or he would warm me w ith the cow-hide. Oh, I thought how cruel and hopeless my lot ! Would that I could fall down here and die. And I did fall down. We had just passed through a soft, wet place, and it seemed then tome that 1 \sas frozen. And I fell down on my dark, cold way, unable to proceed. 1 was then carried into a slave's cabin and allowed to warm and rest. It was nearly midnight when 1 arrived with my conductor at my place of exile and suffering. And certainly no heart could be more entirely wretched than 1 was when I threw my weary, aching body on my cold hard bed. The next morning I was called into the presence of I\Ir. Jones, my new master, and my work was assigned to me. I was to take care of the old gray horse, kept for the use of the family when they wished to ride out, to fetch water from the spring to the house, to go on er- rands to ray master's store, to clean the boots and shoes belonging to the white members of the family and to the white visiters, to sweep the rooms, and to bring wood from tlie whaif on my brad for the fires at the house and store. From the fiist dawn of day till ten and eleven, and sometimes twelve at night, I could hardly (ind one moment's time for rest. And, Oh, how the memory of that yearof constant toil and weariness is imprinted on my heart, an impression of appal- ling sorrow. My dreams are still haunted with the agony of that year. I had just been torn from my home ; my yearning heart was deprived of the sweet sympathy of those to whose memory I then clung, and to whom my heart still turns with irrepressible and unut- .terable longings. I was torn from them and put into a circle of cold, UNCLE TOM. 11 selfish and cruel hearts, and put then to perform labors too ^reat for my youno strength. And yet I hved through that year, just as the slave lives on through weary years of sufiering, on which no ray oi light shines, save that which liope of a better, happier future gives even to the desolate bondman. 1 lived through it, with ail its dark- ness and sorrow. That year 1 received my first whipping. I had failed one day to finish my allotted task. It seemed to me That I had done my best ; but, somehow, that day, thoughts of home came so fresh and tenner into my mind, and, along w'itli these thoughts, a sense of my utter hopeless desolation came in and took such a strong hold of my heart, that I sank down a helpless, heart-broken child. My tasks for that day were neglected. The next morning my mas- ter made me strip otFmy shirt, and then whipped me with the cow- hide till the blood ran trickling down upon the floor. My master was very profane, and, with dreadful oaths, he assured me that there was only one way for me to avoid a repetition of this terrible disci- phne, and that was, to do my tasks every day, sick or well. And so this year went by, and my duties svere changed and my jot was made a little easier. The cook, Fanny, died, and I was put into her place. I still had to get wood and keep the fires in the house, and, after the work of cooking, setting the table, clearing away and washing the dishes, there was always something to be done for my mistress. I got but little time to rest ; but I got enough to eat, which I had not done the year before. I was by the comfortable fire, a good part of the cold winter weather, instead of being exposed to the cold and wet, without warm clothing, as I had been the year before, and my labor was not so hard the second year as it had been the fiivt. My mistress complained of me at lengtl), that I was not so obedi- ent as I ought to le, and so I was taken from the house into the the store. My business there was to open and sweep out the store m the morning, and get all the things ready for the accomtnodation of customers who tnight cotne in during the day. Then 1 had to bring oot and deliver ail heavy articles that naight be called for dur- ing the day, such as sah, krge quantities of which were sold in the store ; ship stores, grain, fee, &c. I had also to hold myself ready to ron on any errand my master or his clerk. David Cocrdell might wish to send me on. While Cogdell remained in the store, I en- joyed a gleam of hap|)iness. He was very kind to me, never giving me a cross word or a sour look ; always ready to show me how to do anything which I did not understand, and to perform little acts of * kindness to me. But his kindness and generosiiy to the poor slaves was very ofi^ensive to my master and to other slave-holders ; and so, at length, Mr. Jones turned him ofi; though he was compelled to ac- knowledge, at the san>e time, that he was the most trustwoithy and «ia]vable assistant he had ever had in his store. Iexpehience Of 12 ^ . 1 Ai r he tried to i^et along with me After my master ^'-'^^j^^^ ;; t'ok, and wait^ed upon the most alone in the store. He ^^P. j^ ^^'^^^ j, u>e rest of the wo.k. T us ger.teelofhiscuston.ers vmgme o ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ , Ut.s °eni on six months, ^^ '>^" J^'^J^^'V,, ^ svhite boy to come and en- confinement any 1-nger ' ^nd so he ^^^^^^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^,^^^ ^ ter as clerk, to stay t.U he ^^^^ « J^-^ ^^.^^^ into the store, could boY about my own age, and vv ^;" J^fJ^^ , ed a part ot each badly read o? write He was ^[-^^^\^.;^f,,,dV.ng, and asked hun Sav vvith his books and wrujn|. I - w J ^^^^^^^^^^^ to let n.e see h.s book "^^^ ^^ ,,,,,i,: ^.h him was, that h. very kind and obh-uig. 1 ''^-l , ,ium his times of good tee - fits of .11-han.or w;ere -"^^^ -^;;; ^^ ^ on good tern.s wUh hnnse f incr It h.appened, howevei, ^^-^ .'^\^;, ^ ^^ i,e let me take tt 4^*en I asked hin. to show me h.s book, and s _^^^^ ^^^^ ^ Tnd bok at it, and he answered very k'nd Y l^^^y ^ ^^,,, ,^,, a>at asked him about books and ^d-oS and e n ^^^ ^ be was trying to get learmng ^^-^^^^^l^'^^,, Jones^ He told .ne for himself after he should i^^^^^, fi,d (Viends, and get along tbat a n.an who had 7'".';^"^ ! , ../vvork hard, while those who very well in the ^«"-^^^''''°"^ ^^ r "nds and be con^pelled lo work .ad no learning won d have no ;-^^;' ,,,-3 ,,, 'all new to me, very hard for a poor l?vnig al th ^ ^^> ^^^. ^.j, alterwards and' furnished me top-cs ^^ ; ^^ f ^'^^ an intense, burnmg desne to The result of my •^^^;^'^'';^'"''' ^;' 'lesson of my mind, occnpyn.g me learn .0 read and wr.te took po - o J^^ ^^^^^^^^ ,,^y i ^vhollv in wakmg hours, «"^; ;^;,i^; .j, ,hen took hold of n.> w nole even when I slept. Ihe ^^'f ^'^'^^^^^^k to begin ? James tcld me conscousncss was how ca I get ^ ^o ^^^^.^,;, ,, getting learn.ng that a spelling-book was ' ^ ^ ^^^^ spelling-book. At length, aftet So 1 contrived how I nnghi obtan a spe. g ^^^^^^^ ^^. .^^ ^^^. jj.^. nlh study, I hit upon tins plan ^ ^ r.^.-^.^s, in Wiln.in.ton, vid Sn>ith, Jr., who --"'^^ "';^^;^J^^^'"\re had always appeared to and edited the C ape b ear ^^^c^r^^ ;^ j ,, ,,,a .et him t. a.d n,e tn „,e to be a very knu n,an. I t-u ' ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^ ,,,, g procuring a spelhng-book. So e ^^^^ ^ ,,lhng-bcok. He Lart, into his odtce, and ^f^}^"^^ ,^,,„iion, for some tune, and looked at me in sdence, and v. h cU e ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^ ^^^^^ asked me what I wanted. ..Ij"^;! ^i'^Thomas, it would not anwer mineil to peiscM-i^ rN€LE TOM. 13 me the same question that his brother David had done, and with the same searching, suspicious look. By my previous repulse I had dis- covered that I coidd not get a spelling-book, if I toJd what I wanted to do with it, and so I to!d a lie, in order to get it. I answered, that I wanted it for a white boy, naming one that lived at my master's, and that lie had given me the money to gei it with, and had asked me to call at the stort' and buy it. The hookvvas then handed out to mCj the money taken in return, and I left, feeling very rich with my long desired treasure. I got out of the store, and, looking round to see that no one observed me, I hid my book in my bosom, and hurried on to my work, conscious that a new era in my life was open- ing upon uje througli the possession of this book. That conscious- ness at once awakened new thoughls, purposes and hopes, a new life, and act, in my experience. My mind was excited. The words spoken by James Dixon of the great advantages of learning, made nie intensely anxious to learn. 1 was a slave ; and I knew that the whole community was in league to keep the poor slave in ignorance and chains. Yet I longed to be free, and to be able to move the minds ol other men by my thoughts. It seemed to me now, that, if 1 could learn to read and write, this learning might — nay, I really thought it would, point out to me the way to freedom, influence, and real, secure happiness. So I hurfied on to my master's store, and, watching my opportunity to do it safe from curious eyes, I hid my book with the utmost care, under some liquor barrels in the smoke- house. The first opportunity I improved to examine my book. 1 looked it over with the nmst intent eagerness, turned over its leaves, and tried to discover what the new and strange characters which 1 saw in its pages might mean. But 1 found it a vain endeavor. I could understan(j a picture, and from it make out a story of immediate in- terest to my mind. But I could not associate any thought or fact with these crooked letters with which my primmer was filled. So the next day I sought a favorable moment, and asked James to tell me where a scholar must begin in order to learn to read, and how. He laughed at my ignorance, and, taking his spelling-book, shewed me the alphabet in large and small letters on the same page. I asked him the name of the first letter, pointing it out, he told me A ; so of the next, an'd so on through the alphabet. I managed to re- member A and B, and I studied and looked out the same letters in many other parts of the book. And so I fixed in a tenacious mem- ory the names of the two first letters of the alphabet. But I f^und 1 couid not get on without help, and so 1 applied to James again to show me the letters and tell me their names. This time he sus- pected me of trying to learn to read myself, and he plied me with questions till he ascertained that I was, in good earnest, entering upon an effort to get knowledge. At this discovery, he manifested a good 14 EKPEUIENCE OF Heal of indi-rnation. He told ,ne, in scorn, that it was not or such as 1 o try°o mprove, that I was a slave, and that .t was not prope forTz. to le rn ti read. He threatened to teU my --^er and t en.Ui by his hard language, my anger was fully aroused and I an wetcl taunt with taunt. ^He called me a poor, '--"-l^^^'f ^ ' and I called hi.n a poor, ignorant white servant boy. Wlnle ^^e were ent' ed n loud' and an^^ry words, of mutual defiance and scorn N\eieenL,ci„cu r> j innps had never (nven me a i:t ™<,u r s U . ol dou th/col-Lkle, and gave me a seve,e vl ipZl H "old ,„e neve, ,o ,all< back to a wln.e man on pa,n ra" ',„ I «(innose lliis law or cusloni is universal al llie south. .,;::^Su,Vl.icl,>.wins.Welc.e^^^^^ V/'a 'tr, r^Vw^s Z n. he tlo,,=.ed to Mrs. KunUin. a r::r,:e:i:flfir.S.foMlie;lar,^^^ , IL treatment o< TrtX:ir^::rf Z^U fo.- no assls. .., I was now repulsed by James, so u a ^ tanee from 1"^ in learnm^ to read, liul I cou d "ot ^^^^ _^ \ '"-' f^Lnlour forbear t.;'d:""ritU='.: be^ble ,0 read :;. .'ea^t 'ab«U me to see wl.at , sb«,M do -xt ;i;-Sh.;j a kind boy at the bake-house, near my own a-,'0. "''""j ^ , .„„ ,„ help me,lnd so I went ,o ;-■ = o- ,, ^ a'nt'ent oJer the vVl.ule UNCLE TOM. 15f more of the letters, so that I could remember them afterwards when I sat down alone and tried to call them over. 1 could now pick out and name five or six of the letters in any part of the book. 1 felt then that I was getting along, and the consciousness thatl was mak- ing progress, though slow and painful, was joy and hope to my sor- rowing heart, such as I had never felt before. I could not with safety go to the bake-honse, as there I was exposed to detection by the sudden entrance of customers or idlers. I wanted to get a teacher who would give me a little aid each day, and I now set about secur- ing this object. As kind Providence would have it, I easily suc- ceeded, and on this wise: A little boy, Hiram Bricket, ten yeais old, or about that age, came along by the store one day, on his way home from school, while my master was gone home to dinner, and James was in the front part of the store. I beckoned to Hiram to come round to tlie back door; and with him I made a bargain to meet me each day at noon, when 1 was allowed a little while to get my din- ner, and to give me instruction in reading. I was to give him six cents a w^ek. 1 met him the next day at his father's stable, the place agreed upon for our daily meeting ; and, going into one of the stables, the noble little Hiram gave me a thorough lesson in the al- phabet. I learned it nearly all at that time, with what study I could give it by stealth during the day and night. And then again I felt lifted up and happy. I was permitted to enjoy these advantages, however, but a short time. A black boy, belonging to Hiram's father, one day discovered our meeting and what we were doing. He told his master of it, and Hiram was at once forbidden this employment. I had then got along so that I was reading and spelling in words of two syllables. My noble little teacher was very patient and faithful v.ith me, and my days were passing away in very great happiness under the conscious- ness that I was learning to read. I felt at night, as I went to my rest, that I was really beginning to be a man, preparing myself for a condition in life better and higher and happier than could belong to the ignorant slave. And in this blessed feeling I found, waking and sleeping, a most precious happiness. After I was deprived of my kind little teacher, I plodded on the best way I could by myself, and in this way I got into words of five syllables. I got some little tin)e to study by daylight in the morn- ing, before any of my master's family had risen. I got a moment's opportunity also at noon, and sometimes at night. During the day, I was in the back store a good deal, and whenever I thought I could have five minutes to myself, I would take my book and try to learn a 1 ttle in reading and spelling. If I heard James, or master Jones, or ainy customer coming in, I would drop my book among the barrels, and pretend to be very busy shovelling the salt or doing some other EXPERIENCE OF / ter suspected something, because INS ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^_ a number of tu.es -^^ J^/, {^Lle as to hear h,s tvead or to But at such times 1 uas al^\a>s so see his shadow on the vval in ume ^^te syllable , 1 ^vent to see a When I had got along to ''^'''^\2nmlkl^e^^r could trust. I f,-ee colored friend, ^^ .^-'-',4"^,, 'kd l.im to help me a told him I was trying to leam t" '^^c aiv j^ ^ut he liule. He said he d,d "ot dare to g e •«« y ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ .^ ^ heard me read a few -^''f '. f^^^^^^d Ine thus far. I told him x^-ould only persevere as nobly as i » ad ^^.^^^^ ^^^ ^^^_ how I had got along, and '^^^^^n^^o^^^^^^ i^-P'-ve my con- cournged me, and spoke very kmdl o .> etto ^^J ^^^ ^^^^^ dition by getting learning He to^ ^^ ' ^^^^^,,..,, .j^ ,euers, as to get another book, in whicn 1 ^^^^ J' " ^^ .^cure this book, well as to read. He told me -h ^ f "^ ^ ^^ spe n-book at Wor- 1 followed his directions, ana ob ained a c.hct p^e^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^_ cester's store, in Wilmington j.^ ^^.^ °\,,,.k3. I now got me a ina. He set me a copy, fi =l ot ^^ ^ -^ " ■ . and a bit of box, which I could hide under rny ^^ ;^ -;- ;t^ ^ ,,,' f^om under candle. So, when I --^\ °^ ''J, , ,y fiL attempt at writing, my cot, turned it up on ^"f ';"^;^\'-;^;d ^,t, and then lay down to I worked away till my candle was bmnca _^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ sleep. Jacob next set me a "'P^ ' ^ '^^^^^^^^^^ ^i^o^n my new spel- the letters of the alphabet ^he f^^/c^ions, 1 set them before tne ling-book, and according to ^^^^^^ j^^^^^^^^^^ form all the let- for\ copy, and wrote on these exercise 1 ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ .^ ters and call t^r^^y^f ^qNES Thfs I carried to Jacob, in a '^S. S:^"S'' ei?and he warmly commended me for my perseverance and diligence. morning, and, think- About this time 1 -;: t tv mli^utes, had se^^ted tnyself in ing I was safe from all da"ge' '« ^^^, -,„ rec.ous spelhng- the back store, on one ol the barrels o ^ ^.^/.^prize, my master book. While 1 was absorbed n Ins I a^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ,a„,e came in, much -vl.e.Mhjm usua , ami did i ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ .^^^^ directly into the back stoie I saw m ^^^^^^ ^^^^_^ ^^^ ^ time to throw my book /^ ^i m ano something qu.ck- see what it was, although he saw tlutiba^^ ^^.^^ that 1 had been Iv away. His suspicion ;^a^ a>oiTsea. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ scaling something out of Uie sto.e an e he c^ y ^ ^^^^^ S^^I,ffi-:;-r^aT^%.^red.ranyha^ UNCLE TOM. 17 suffering rather than give up my book and my hopes of improvement. So I replied at once to his question, that I had not thrown anything away ; that I had not stolen anything from the store ; that I did not have anything in my hands which I could throw away when he came in. My master declared, in a high passion, that I was lying, «nd ordered me to begin and roll away the barrels. This I did ; but managed to keep the book slipping along so that he could not see it, as he stood in the door-way. He charged me again with stealing and throwing something away, and I again denied the charge. In a great rage, he then got down his long, heavy cow-hide, and ordered me to strip off my jacket and shirt, saying, with an oath, " 1 will make you tell me what it was you had when I came in." I stripped myself, and came forward, according to his directions, at the same time deny- ing his charge with great earnestness of tone, and look, and manner. He cut me on my naked back, perhaps thirty times, with great sever- ity, making the blood flow freely. He then stopped, and asked me what I had thrown away as he came in. 1 answered again that I had thrown nothing away. He swore terribly ; said he was certain! was lying, and declared that he would kill me, if I did not tell him the truth. He whipped me the second time with greater severity, and at greater length than before. He then repeated his question, and I answered again as before. I was determined to die, if I could possibly bear the pain, rather than give up my dear book. He whip- ped me the third time, with th*i same result as before, and then, seiz- ing hold of my shoulders, turned me round, as though he would in- flict on my quivering flesh^still another scourging ; but he saw the deep gashes he had already made, and the blood already flowing un- der his cruel infliction ; and his stern purpose failed him. He said, " Why, Tom, I didn't think I had cut you sQs.bad," and, saying that, he stopped, and told me to put on my shirt again. I did as he bade me, although my coarse shirt touching my r^w back put me to a erne 1 pain. He then went out, and I got my book and hid it safely away before he came in again. When I went to the house, my wounds had dried, and I was in an agony of pain. My mistress told the ser- vant girl, Rachel, to help me off with my shirt, and to wash my wounds for me, and put on to them some sweet oil. The shirt was dried to my back, so that it could not be got off without tearing off some of the skin with it. The pain, upon doing this, was greater even than I had endured from my cruel whipping. After Rachel had got my shirt off, my mistress asked me what I had done for which my master had whipped me so severely. 1 told her he had accused me of stealing when I had not, and then had whipped me to make me own it. While Rachel was putting on the sweet oil, my master came in, and I could hear mistress scolding him for giving me si^ch an inhu- 2 18 EXPERIENCE OF man beating, when I had done nothing. He said in reply, that Tom was an obstinate liar, and that was the reason why he had whipped me. But I got well of my mangled back, and my book was still left. This was my best, my constant friend. With great eagerness, I snatched every moment I could get, morning, noon, and night, for study. I had begun to read ; and. Oh, how I loved to study, and to dwell on the thoughts which I gained from my reading. About this time, I read a piece in my book about God. It said that " God, who sees a.nd knows all our thoughts, loves the good and makes them hapjiy ; while he is angry with the bad, and will punish them for all their sins." This made me feel very unhappy, because I was sure that I was not good in the sight of God. I thought about this, and couldn't get it out of my mind a single hour. So I w^ent to James Galley, a colored man, who exhorted the slaves sometimes on Sunday, anil told h'.omy trouble, asking, " what shall I do ?" He told me about Jesus, and told me I must pray the Lord to forgive me and help me to be good and happy. So I went home, and went down cellar and prayed, but I found no relief, no com- fort for my unhappy mind. I felt so bad, that ] could not even study my book. My master saw that I looked very unhappy, and he asked me what ailed me. . I did not dare now to tell alia, for I wanted to be good, that I might be happy. So I told mas- ter just how it was with me ; and then he swore terribly at me, and said he would whip me if I did not give over praying. He said there was no heaven and no hell, and that Cliristians were all hypocrites, and that there was nothing after this life, and that he would not permit me to go moping roimd, praying and going to the meetings. I tokl him I could not help praying ; and then he cursed me in a great passion, and declared that he would whip me if he knew of fny going on any more in that foolish way. The next flight I was to a meeting, which was led by Jack Gam- mon, a free colored man, and a class leader in the Methodist Church. I was so much overcome by my feelings, that I staid verj late. They prayed for me, but 1 did not yet find any re- lief; I was still very unhappy. The next morning, my master came in, and asked me if 1 went the night before to the meeting. I told him the truth. He said, " didn't I tell you I would wdiip you if you went nigh these meetings, and did'nt J tell you to stop this foolis^h praying." I told him he did, and if he would, why, lie might whip me, but still I could not stop praying, because I wanted to be good, that ] might be happy and go to heaven. This reply made my master very angry. VVithmany bitter oaihs, he said he had promised me a whipping, and now he should be as good as bis word. And so he was. He whipped me, and UNCLE TOM. 19 then forbade, with bitter ihrealenings, my praying any more, and especially my going again to meeting. This was Friday morn- ing. I continued to pray for comfort and peace. The next Sun- day I went to meeting. The minister preached a sermon on be- ing born again, from the words of Jesus lo IVicodemus. All this only deepened my trouble of mind. I returned home very un- happy. Collins, a free man of color, was at the meeting, and told my master that I was there. So, on Monday morning my master whipped me again, and once more forbade my going to meetings and praying. The next Sunday there was a class meeting, led by Binuey Pennison, a colored free man. I asked my master, towards night, if I might go out. I told him I did not feel well. I wanted to go to the class meeting. Without asking me where I was going, he said I might go. I went to the class. I staid very late, and was so overcome by my feelings, that I could not go home that night. So they carried me o Joseph Jones's cabin, a slave of Mr. Jones. Joseph talked and, prayed wiih me nearly all night. In the morning I went home as soon as it was light, and, for fear of master, I asked Nancy, one of the slaves, to go up into mistress's room and get the store key for me, that I might go and open the store. My master told her to go back and tell me to come up. I obeyed with many fears. My master asked me where I had been the night before. I told him the whole truth. He cursed me again, and said he should whip me for my obstinate disobedience ; and he declared that he would kill me if I did not promise to obey him. He re- fused to listen to my mistress, who was a professor, and who tried to intercede for me. And, just as soon as he had finished threatening me with what he would do, he or(^lered me to take the key and go and open the store. When he came into the store that morning, two of his neighbors, Julius Dumbiven, and McCauslin, came in too. He called me up, and asked me again where I staid last night. T told him with his boy, Joseph. He said he knew that was a lie ; and he immediately sent off for Joseph to confirm his suspicions. He ordered me to strip ofl my clothes, and, as I did so, he took down the cow-hide heavy and stiff with' blood which he had before drawn from my body with that cruel weapon, and Avhich was congealed upon it. Dumbiven professed to be a Christian, and he now came forward and earnestly interceded for me, but to no purpose, and then he left. McCauslin asked my master, if he did not know, that a slave was worth more money after he became pious than he was before. And why then, he said, should you forbid Tom going to meetings and praying ? He replied, that religion was all a damned mockery, and he was not going to have any of his slaves 20 EXPERIENCE OF praying and whining ronnd aboat their souls. MeCaashn then left. Joseph came and told the same story about the night before that I had done ; and then he began to beg master not to whip me. He cursed him and drove him ofT. He then whipped me with great severity, inflicting terrible pain at every blow unon my quivering body, which was still very lender from recent lac- erations. My suffering was so great, ihat it seemed to me I should die. He paused at length, and asked me would I mind him and stop praying. I told him I could not promise him no! to pray any more, for I felt that I must and should pray as long as I lived. " Well, then, Tom," he said, "I swear that I will ■whip you lo death." I told him I could not help myself, if he was determined to kill me, but that I must pray while I lived. He then began to whip me the second time, but soon stopped, threw down the bloody cow-hide, and told me to go wash my- self in the river, just back of the store, and then dress myself, and if I was determined to be a fool, why, I must be one. My mistress now interceded earnestly for me with my cruel master. The next Sabbath was love feast, and I felt very anxious to join in that feast. This I could not do without a paper from my master, and so I asked mistress to help me. She advised me to be patient, and said she would help me all she could. Master refused to give any paper, and so I could not join the loveir> feast the next day. On the next Friday evening, I vvent to the prayer meeting. Jack Gammon was there, and opened the meeting with prayer. Then Binney Pennison gave out the sweet hymn, which begins in these words : ■" Come ye sinners poor and needy, Weak and woiinded, sick and sore." I felt that it all applied most sweetly to my condition, and I said in my heart, I will come now to Jesus, and trust in him. So when those who felt anxious were requested to come forward and kneel within the altar for prayer, I came and knelt down. While Jacob Gammon was prajnig for me, and for those who knelt by my side, my burden of sorrow, wh'oh had so long weighed me down, was removed. I felt the glory of God's ove warming my heart, and making me very happy. I shouted aloud for joy, and tried to tell all my poor slave brothers and sisters, who were in the house, what a dear Savior I had found, and how happy I felt in his precious love. Binney Pennison asked me if I could forgive my master. I told him 1 could, and did, and that I could pray God to forgive him, too, and make him a good man. He asked me if I could tell my master of the UNCLE TOM* 21 change in ray feelings. I told him T should tell him in the morn- ing. " And what," he asked, *' will yoa do if he whips you still for praying and going to meeting?" I said I will ask Jesus to help me to bear the pain, and to forgive my master for being so wicked. He then said, " Well, then, Brother Jones, I believe that you are a Christian,"" A good many of us went from the meeting to a brother's cab- in, where we began to express our joy in happy songs. The palace of General Dudley was only a little way off, and he soon sent over a slave with orders to stop our noise, or he would send the patrolers upon us. We then stopped our singing, and spent the remainder of the night in talking, rejoicing, and praying. It was a night of very great happiness to me. The contrast between my feelings then, and for many weeks previous, was very great. Now all was bright and joyous in my relations towards my prec- ious Savior. I felt certain that Jesus was my Savior, and, in this blessed assurance, a flood of glory and joy filled my happy soul. But this sweet night passed away, and, as the morning came, I felt that I must go home, and bear the. slave's heavy cross. I went, and told my mistress the blessed change in my feelings. She promised me what aid she could give me with my master, and enjoined upon me to be patient and very faithful to his interest, and, in this way, I should at length wear out his op- position to my praying and going to meeting, I went down to the store in a very happy state of mind. I told James my feelings. He called me a fool, and said master would be sure to whip me. I told him I hoped I should be able to bear it, and to forgive master for his cruelty to me. Master came down, talked with me a while, and told me that he should whip me because I had disobeyed him in staying out all night. He had told me he should whip me if ever I do so, and he should make every promise good. So I began to take off my clothes. He called me a crazy fool, and told me to keep my clothes on, till he told me to take them off. He whipped me over my jack- et ; but I enjoyed so much peace of mind, that I scarcely felt the cow-hide. This was the last whipping that Mr, Jones inflicted upon me^ I was then nearly eighteen years old, I waited and begged for a paper to join the Church six months before I could get it. But all this time I was cheerful, as far as a slave can be, and xivry-earnest to do all I could for my master and mistress. I was resolved to convince them that I was happier and better for be- ing a Christian ; and my master at last acknowledged that he could not find any fault with my conduct, and ihat il was im- possible to find a more faithful slave than I was to him. And 22 EXPERIENCE OF SO, at last, he gave me a paper to Ben English, the leader of the colored members, and I joined the love feast, and v.as taken in- to the Church on trial lor six months. I was put into Biliy Cochran's class. At the expiration of six months, I was receiv- ed into the Church in full fellowship, Quaker Davis' class. I remained there three years. INIy master wj-s so much kinder after this time than he had ever been before ; and I was allowed some more time to myself than I had been before. I pursued my studies as far as I could, but I soon found the utter impossi- bility of carrying on my studies as I wished to do. I was a slave, and all avenues to real improvement I found guarded with jealous care and cruel tenacity against the despised and desola- ted bondman. I still felt a longing desire to improve, to be free, but the can- viction was getting hold of my soul, that I was only struggling in vain when seeking to elevate myself into a manly and happy position. And now my mind was fast sinking into despair. I could read and \vrile, and often enjoyed much happiness in por- ing over the very few books I could obtain ; and especially, at times, 1 found great'peace in reading my old^ worn Testament.. But I wanted now that hope which had filled my mind with such joy when I first began to learn to read. I found mvich happi- ness in prayer. But here, also, my mind labored in sadness and darkness much of the time. About this time, my master was taken sick. On Sunday, he was prostrated by mortal pains ; and, on Friday the same week, he died. He left fifteen slaves, I was purchased by Owen Holmes for $435,00. I was then in my twenty-lhird year. I had just passed through the darkest season of despairing agony that 1 had yet known. This came upon me in consequence of the visit, which I have already described, to my dear old desolate home. About this time, too, 1 entered into a new and di>tinct period of life, which I will unfold in another chapter. I Avili close this period of sorrow and shame with a few lines of touching interest to my mind. Who shall avenge the slave ? I stood and cried ; The earth, the earth, the echoing sea replied. I turned me to the cean, but each wave Declined tajbc the avenger of tlie ski\'«. Who sJiuJI avenge the slave ? my species cried ; The winds, the flood, tlio lightning of the sky. I turned to these, from them one echo ran, Tlie ri/jlit avenger of the slave is man. Muii was uiy fellow ; iu Ills sight I stood, Wept ami bcsouglit him liy the voice of blood. Sternly he looked, as ])roud on earth he trod, Then said, the av«nger of the slave is Goz». I looked in prayer towartls Heaven, a while 'twas Stiiil„ And then, methought, God's voice replied, I v/ill. UNCLE TOM. CHAPTER SECOND. I enter now upon a new developement of wrongs and woes which I, as a slave, was called to undergo. 1 must go back some two or three years from the time when my master died, and I was sold to Owen Holmes. The bitterness of persecution which master Jones had kept up against me so long, because I would try to serve the Lord, had passed away. I was permitted to pray and go to our meetings without molestation. My master laid aside his terrible se- verity towards me. By his treatment of me afterwards, he seemed to feel that he had done me wrong in scourging me as he had done, because I could not obey his wicked command, to stop praying and keep away from the meetings. For, after the time of my joining the Church, he allowed me to go to all the meetings, and granted to me many other little favors, which I had never before received from him. About this time, I began to feel very lonely. I wanted a friend to whom 1 could tell ray story of sorrows, of unsatisfied long- ing, of new and fondly cherished plans. I wanted a companion whom I could love with all my warm affections, who should love me in return with a true and fervent heart, of whom I might think when toiling for a selfish, unfeeling master, who should dwell fondly on my memory when we were separated during the severe labors of the day, and with whom I might enjoy the blessed happiness of so- cial endearments after the work of each day was over. My heart yearned to have a home, if it was only the wretched home of the unprotected slave, to have a wife to love me and to love. It seem-s to me that no one can have such fondness of love, and such intensi- ty of desire for home and home affections, as the poor slave. Des- pised and trampled upon by a cruel race of unfeeling men, the bond- man must die in the prime of his wretched life, if he finds no refuge in a dear home, where love and sympathy shall meet him from hearts made sacred to him by his own irrepressible affection and tenderness for them. And so I sought to love and to win a true heart in return. I did this, too, with a full knowledge of the des- perate agony that the slave husband and father is exposed to. Had I not seen this in the anguish of my own parents ? Yea, I saw it in every public auction, where men and women and children were brought upon the block, examined, and bought. I saw it on such occasions, in the hopeless agony depicted on the countenance of husband and wife, there separated to meet no more in this crue' 24 EXPERIENCE OF world ; and in the screams of wild despair and useless entreaty which the mother, then de|)rived of her darling child, sent forth. I heard the doom which stares every slave parent in the face each waking and sleeping hour of an unhappy life. And yet I sought to become a husband and a father, becaus I felt that I could live no longer unloved and unloving. T was married to Lucilla Smith, the save of Mjs. Moore. We called it and ibe considered it a true marriage, although we knew well that marriage was not permitted to the slaves, as a sacred right of the loving heart. Lucilla was seventeen years old when we were married. I loved her with all my heart, and she gave me a return for my affections, with which I was contented. Oh, God of Love, thou knowest what happy hours we have passed in each other's society in our poor cabin. When we knelt in prayer, we never forgot to ask God to save us from the misery of cruel separation, while life and love were our portion. Oh, how we have talked of this dreaded fate, and wept in mingling sor- row, as we thought of our desolation, if we should be parted and doomed to live on weary years away from each other's dear pres- ence. We had three dear little babes. Our fondness for our pre- cious children increased the current feeling of love for each other, which filled our hearts. They were bright, precious things, those little babes ; at least, so they seemed to us. Lucilla and I were never tired of planning to improve their condition, as far as might be done for slaves. We prayed with new fervency to our Father in heaven to protect our precious babes. Lucilla was very proud o me, because I could read and write, and she often spoke of my teaching our dear little ones, and then she would say, with tears, "Who knows, Thomas, but they may yet be free and happy 1,'' Lucilla was a valuable slave to her mistress. She was a seamstress , and very expert at her needle. I had a constant dread that Mrs Moose, her mistress, would be in want of money, and sell my dear wife. We constantly dreaded a final separation. Our affections for each other was very strong, and this made us always apprehensive of a cruel parting. These fears were well founded, as our sorrow- ing hearts too soon learned. A few years of very pure and constant happiness, for slaves, passed away, and we were parted to meet but once again till we meet in Eternity. Mrs. Moore left Wilmington, and moved to Newborn. She carried with her my beloved Lucilla, and my three children, Annie, four years old ; Lizzie, two and a half years ; and our sweet little babe, Charlie. She remained there eighteen months. And, Oh, how lonely and dreary and desponding were those months of lonely life to my crushed heart ! My dear wife and my precious children were seventy-four miles distant from me, carried away from me in utter scorn of my beseeching words. I was tempted to put an end to my wretched life. I thought of my UNCLE TOM. 25 -dear family by day and by night. A deep despair was in my heart, such as no one is called Jo bear in such cruel, crushing power as the poor slave, severed forever from the objects of his love, by the ca- pacity of his brother. But that dark time of despair passed away, and I saw once more my wife and children. IMrs. Moore left New- burn for Tuscaloosa, Ala., and, passing through Wilmington, on her journey, she spent one night in her old home. That night I passed with my wife and children. Lucilla had pined away under the agony of our separation, even more than I had done. That night she wept on my bosom, and we mingled bitter tears together. Our dear children were baptized in the tears of agony that were wrung from our breaking hearts. The just God remember that night in the last award that we and our oppressors are to receive. The next morning Mrs, Moore embarked on board the packet. I followed my wife and children to the boat, and parted from them without a word of farewell. Our sobs and tears were our only adieu. Our hearts were too full of anguish for any other expression of our hopeless woe. I have never seen that dear family since, nor have I heard from them since I parted from them there. God only knows the bitterness of my agony, experienced in the separation of my wife and children from me. The memory of that great woe will find a fresh impression on my heart while that heart shall beat How will the gifted and the great meet the charge against them at the great day, as the Judge shall say to them, in stern displeasure, " I was sick, destitute, imprisoned, helpless, and ye ministered not unto me, for when ye slighted and despised these wretched, pleading, slaves, ye did these acts of scorn against me. Depart, ye workers of iniquity." After my purchase by Owen Holmes, I hired my time at ^150, per year, paid monthly. I rented a house of Dr. E. J. Derset. I worked, loading amd unloading vessels that came into Wilmington, and could earn from one dollar to a dollar and a quarter a day. While my wife and family were spared to bless my home by their presence and love, I was comparatively happy. But I found then that the agony of the terrible thought, " I am a slave, my wife is a slave, my precious children are slaves," grew bitter and insupport- able, just as the happiness in the society of my beloved home be- came more distinct and abounding. And this one cup of bitterness was ever at my lips. Hearts of kind somj)athy tender pity, did I not drain that cup of bitter woe to its very dregs, when my family were carried off into returnless exile, and I was left a heartbroken lonely man ? Can you still be enactive while thousands are drink- ing that potion of despair every year in this land of schools and Bibles ? After I parted from my family, I continued to toil on, but not as I have done before. No home was darker than the holds of 26 EXPERIENCE OF ships in wliich I worked. Its light, the bright joyous light of love and sympathy and mutual endearments, was quenched. Ah me, how dark it left my poor heart. It was colder tlian the winter wind and frost ; the warm sunshine was snatched away, and my poor heart froze in its bitter cold. Its gloom \\ as deeper ti)an prison or cave could make it. Was not there the deserted chairs and beds, once occupied by the objects of a husband's and a fluher's deep love ? Deserted ! How, and why ? The answer, is it not the un- qualified condemnation of the government and religion of this land ; 1 could not go into my cold, dark, cheerless house; the sight of its deserted room was despair to my soul. So I worked on, taking jobs whenever I could get them, and working often till nearly morn- ing, and never going to my home^for rest till 1 could toil no more. And so I passed four years, and 1 began to feel that I could not live in utter loneliness any longer. ^ly heart was still and always yearn- ing for affection and sympathy and loving communion. My wife was torn from me. I had c(?ased to hope for another meeting with her in this world of oppression and suffering; so I sat down and wrote to Lucilla, that 1 could live alone no longer, and saying to her the sad farewell, which we could not say when we were sundered. I asked Mary R. Moore to come and cheer me in my desolate home. She became my wife, and, thank God, she has been rescued from slavery by the blessing of God and my efforts to save her. She is now my wife, and she is with me to-day, and till death parts us, secure from the iron hand of slavery. Three of our dear children are with us, too, in the old Commonwealth. I cannot say they are in a free land ; for, even here, in the city of Boston, wliere, I am told, is kept the old cradle of liberty, my precious children are ex- cluded from the public schools, because their skin is black. Still, Boston is better than Wilmington, inasmuch as the rulers of this place permit me to send my children to any school at all. After my second marriage, I hired my wife of her master, and paid for her time ?<4S,00 a year, for three years. We had one child w hile INIary was a slave. That child is still in chains. The fourth year, by the aid of a white friend, I purchased my wife for ^350,00. We had before determined to try to accomplish this enterprise, in order that our dear babes might be free. Besides, I felt that I could not bear another cruel separation from wife and children. Yet, the dread of it was strong and unceasing upon my mind. So we made a box, and, through a hole in the top, we put in every piece of money, from five cents up to a dollar, that we could save from our hard earnings. This object nerved us for unceasing toil, for twenty months, or about that time. What hopes and fears beset us as those months wore away. I have been compelled to hide that box in a hole, dug for it, Avhcn I knew the patrollers were coming to search UNCLE TOM. 2T my cabin. For well did I know, if they found my box, I should be penniless again. How often have I started and turned in sudden and terrible alarm, as T have dropped a piece of money into my box, and heard its loud ring upon the coin below, lest some prowling enemy should hear it, and steal from me my hoarded treasure. And how often have I started up in my sleep, as the storm has beat aloud upon my humble home, with the cry of unspeakable agony in my heart, — " Then, O God, they have taken my box, and my wife and babes are still slaves." When my box was broken open, I still lacked a little of the ^350,00 necessary to buy my wife. The kind friend, who had promised to aid me in my contemplated purchase, made up the deficfency, and I became the owner of my wife. We had tliree children at this time, aj|^ O, how my crushed heart was uplifted in its pride and joy, as I took them in my arms and thought that they were not slaves. After I had purchased my wife, we still worked hard, and saved our earnings with great care, in order to get some property in hand for future use. As I saved my earnings, I got a white man whom I thought my friend, (his name I choose to keep for the present,) to lay it out for me. In this way I became the owner of the cabin in which I lived, and two other small houses, all of which were held in the name of this supposed friend. He held them in his own name for. me. A slave cannot hold property. I will here remark, that I was deceived by this man ; and, when I ran away from my chains, after sending on my family, I was compelled to sacrifice the whole of this property. . I left it, because I could not get my own, in his hands, and come off entirely destitute. Thank God, 1 got away, and now J have no tears to shed over the loss of my houses. During the winter of 1S48 — 9, a kind lady came and told me that some white men were plotting to enslave my wife and children again. She advised me to get them off to the free States as quick- ly and secretly as possible. A lawyer of Wilmington told me they were not safe, unless emancipated by a special act of the Legisla- ture. He was a member of the House, and tried to get through the House a bill for their emancipation. But there was so much ill feeling upon this question, that he could not do it. The Legislature threw it aside at once. He then advised me to get them off to the free States as my only course to save them. This I determined to do, if possible. I kept a good look out for a vessel. 1 found one, and made a bargain with the captain to take on board for New York, a free colored woman and her three children. A kind friend gave me a certificate of their freedom to the captain, and I brought n)y wife and children on board at night, paid the captain ,^25,00 for their fare, and staid on the wharf in torturing fear till about sunrise 29 EXPERIENCE OF when I saw the vessel under way. It was soon out of sight. When I went home, I threw myself on my knees, and poured out my soul to God, to carry that ship and its precious cargo safely and swiftly on to a free heaven, and to guard and guide me soon to a free home with my heloved family. And so I kept on, praying, working, hop- ing, pining, for nearly three weeks, when I received the happy news that my dear ones were safe with a true-hearted friend in Brooklyn. I had notified him before hand that they were coming ; and now the good and glorious news came that they were safe with Robert H. Cousins, where the slaveholder could trouble them no more. I had arranged with Mary when she left, to come on myself as soon as I could get the money for my houses and land. She was to write to me as though she had gone to ^w York on a visit, intending to come back, and she was to speak of New York as if she did not like it at all. I knew my master would be very angry when he heard she had gone unbeknown to him, and thought he would de- mand to see the letters my wife should get friends in New York to write to me for her; and so I made ready to meet and quiet his suspicions, while I was plotting my own escape. For more than three months 1 tried to get the money, or part of it, for iiouses ; but was put off and deceived till I found I must come off without a cent of the property I had tried so hard to accumulate. I was required to call and see my master every day, because he suspected me of a design to run away. He was taken suddenly sick ; and I then started for my wife and children. THE END. ILD TOM, OF THE ISLAISD RETREAT. INTRODUCTION. [Wild Tom, the hero of our story, was of unmixed African blood, and the slave of Gen. Carter. He possessed an excellent character for integrity and capability — was a devoted and faithful convert to the Methodist persuasion ; but the sufiermg he' endured, through the ty- ranical practices of slavery, served to harden his heart, and eventually to extinguish the light of religion in his soul. Ann, the wife of Thomas, was a pretty, sprightly, good-natured girl, whom he loved exceedingly. She was whipped to death by Martin, an overseer on Gen. Carter's plantation. Archy Moore, was son of Mr. Moore, his master, by a Slave mother. He was nearly white in his complexion, but^yet a crushed Slave.] JH AFTER FIRST. Since the death of his wife, a remarkable change had taken place in ray friend Thomas. He had lost bis former air of contentment and good nature, and had grown morose and sullen. Instead of be- ing the most willing and industrious laborer in the field, as he used to be, beseemed to have imbibed a strong distaste for work, and be slighted and neglected bis task as much as possible. Had he been under any other driver than myself, bis idleness and neglect would have frequently brought him into trouble. But I loved and pitied bim ; and I screened him all I could. The wrongs and injuries that bad been inflicted upon bim since bis arrival at Locsabacbee, seemed to have subverted all the princi- ples upon which he bad so long acted. It was a subject on which he did not seem inclined to converse, and upon which I was unwil- ling to press him ; but I had abundent reason to suspect that be had totally renounced the religion in which be had been so cjJfefully in- structed ; and which, for so long a time, bad exercised so powerful an influence over bim. He bad secretly returned to the practice of certain wild rites, which in bis early youth, he had learned from his mother, who had herself been kidnapped from the coast of Africa, and who bad been, as be bad often told me, zealously devoted to her country's superstitions. He would sometimes talk wildly and incoherently about having seen the spirit of his departed wife, and 30 WILD TOM, of some promise he had made to "the apparition ; and I was led to believe that he suffered under occasional fits of partial insanity. At all events, he was in most respects, an ahere