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|
 My new mistress proved to be all she appeared |
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| when I first met her at the door,—a woman of the |
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| kindest heart and finest feelings. She had never had |
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| a slave under her control previously to myself, and |
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| prior to her marriage she had been dependent upon |
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| her own industry for a living. She was by trade a |
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| weaver; and by constant application to her business, |
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| she had been in a good degree preserved from the |
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| blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery. I was |
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| utterly astonished at her goodness. I scarcely knew |
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| how to behave towards her. She was entirely unlike |
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| any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not |
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| approach her as I was accustomed to approach other |
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| white ladies. My early instruction was all out of |
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| place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable |
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| a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested |
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| toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she |
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| seemed to be disturbed by it. She did not deem it |
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| impudent or unmannerly for a slave to look her in |
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| the face. The meanest slave was put fully at ease |
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| in her presence, and none left without feeling bet- |
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| ter for having seen her. Her face was made of heav- |
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| enly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music. |
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| Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. |
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| Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the |
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| A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in |
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| learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just |
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| at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out |
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| what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld |
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| to instruct me further, telling her, among other |
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| things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to |
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| teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, |
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| he said, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take |
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| an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey |
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| his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would |
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| ~spoil~ the best nigger in the world. Now," said he, "if |
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| you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to |
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| read, there would be no keeping him. It would for- |
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| ever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once be- |
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| come unmanageable, and of no value to his master. |
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| As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great |
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| deal of harm. It would make him discontented and |
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| unhappy." These words sank deep into my heart, |
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| stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, |
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| and called into existence an entirely new train of |
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| thought. It was a new and special revelation, ex- |
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| plaining dark and mysterious things, with which my |
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| youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled |
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| in vain. I now understood what had been to me a |
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| most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man's |
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| power to enslave the black man. It was a grand |
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| achievement, and I prized it highly. From that mo- |
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| ment, I understood the pathway from slavery to free- |
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| dom. It was just what I wanted, and I got it at a |
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| time when I the least expected it. Whilst I was sad- |
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| dened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind |
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| mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruc- |
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| tion which, by the merest accident, I had gained |
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| from my master. Though conscious of the difficulty |
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| of learning without a teacher, I set out with high |
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| hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trou- |
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| ble, to learn how to read. The very decided manner |
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| with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife |
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| with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, |
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| served to convince me that he was deeply sensible |
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| of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best |
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| assurance that I might rely with the utmost confi- |
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| dence on the results which, he said, would flow from |
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| teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that |
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| I most desired. What he most loved, that I most |
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| hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be |
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| carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be |
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| diligently sought; and the argument which he so |
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| warmly urged, against my learning to read, only |
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| served to inspire me with a desire and determina- |
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| tion to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as |
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| much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to |
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| the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the |
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| benefit of both. |
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| I had resided but a short time in Baltimore before |
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| I observed a marked difference, in the treatment of |
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| slaves, from that which I had witnessed in the coun- |
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| try. A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with |
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| a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and |
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|
| clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown |
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|
| to the slave on the plantation. There is a vestige of |
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| decency, a sense of shame, that does much to curb |
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|
| and check those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so |
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| commonly enacted upon the plantation. He is a des- |
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| perate slaveholder, who will shock the humanity of |
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| his non-slaveholding neighbors with the cries of his |
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| lacerated slave. Few are willing to incur the odium |
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| attaching to the reputation of being a cruel master; |
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|
| and above all things, they would not be known as |
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| not giving a slave enough to eat. Every city slave- |
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| holder is anxious to have it known of him, that he |
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| feeds his slaves well; and it is due to them to say, |
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| that most of them do give their slaves enough to eat. |
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|
| There are, however, some painful exceptions to this |
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| rule. Directly opposite to us, on Philpot Street, lived |
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|
| Mr. Thomas Hamilton. He owned two slaves. Their |
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| names were Henrietta and Mary. Henrietta was |
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|
| about twenty-two years of age, Mary was about four- |
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|
| teen; and of all the mangled and emaciated creatures |
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| I ever looked upon, these two were the most so. His |
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| heart must be harder than stone, that could look |
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| upon these unmoved. The head, neck, and shoulders |
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| of Mary were literally cut to pieces. I have fre- |
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| quently felt her head, and found it nearly covered |
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| with festering sores, caused by the lash of her cruel |
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| mistress. I do not know that her master ever whipped |
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| her, but I have been an eye-witness to the cruelty of |
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|
| Mrs. Hamilton. I used to be in Mr. Hamilton's house |
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|
| nearly every day. Mrs. Hamilton used to sit in a large |
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|
| chair in the middle of the room, with a heavy cow- |
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|
| skin always by her side, and scarce an hour passed |
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|
| during the day but was marked by the blood of one |
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|
| of these slaves. The girls seldom passed her without |
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|
| her saying, "Move faster, you ~black gip!~" at the same |
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|
| time giving them a blow with the cowskin over the |
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|
| head or shoulders, often drawing the blood. She |
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|
| would then say, "Take that, you ~black gip!~" con- |
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|
| tinuing, "If you don't move faster, I'll move you!" |
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|
| Added to the cruel lashings to which these slaves |
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|
| were subjected, they were kept nearly half-starved. |
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|
| They seldom knew what it was to eat a full meal. |
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|
| I have seen Mary contending with the pigs for the |
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|
| offal thrown into the street. So much was Mary |
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|
| kicked and cut to pieces, that she was oftener called |
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|
| "~pecked~" than by her name. |
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|
