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|
 As to my own treatment while I lived on Colonel |
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| Lloyd's plantation, it was very similar to that of the |
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| other slave children. I was not old enough to work in |
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| the field, and there being little else than field work |
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| to do, I had a great deal of leisure time. The most |
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| I had to do was to drive up the cows at evening, |
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| keep the fowls out of the garden, keep the front |
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| yard clean, and run of errands for my old master's |
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| daughter, Mrs. Lucretia Auld. The most of my lei- |
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| sure time I spent in helping Master Daniel Lloyd |
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| in finding his birds, after he had shot them. My |
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| connection with Master Daniel was of some advan- |
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| tage to me. He became quite attached to me, and |
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| was a sort of protector of me. He would not allow |
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| the older boys to impose upon me, and would divide |
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| his cakes with me. |
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| I was seldom whipped by my old master, and suf- |
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| fered little from any thing else than hunger and |
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| cold. I suffered much from hunger, but much more |
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| from cold. In hottest summer and coldest winter, I |
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| was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no |
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| jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen |
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| shirt, reaching only to my knees. I had no bed. I |
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| must have perished with cold, but that, the coldest |
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| nights, I used to steal a bag which was used for carry- |
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| ing corn to the mill. I would crawl into this bag, |
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| and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with |
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| my head in and feet out. My feet have been so |
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| cracked with the frost, that the pen with which I |
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| am writing might be laid in the gashes. |
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| We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was |
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| coarse corn meal boiled. This was called MUSH. It |
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| was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set |
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| down upon the ground. The children were then |
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| called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they |
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| would come and devour the mush; some with oyster- |
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| shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked |
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| hands, and none with spoons. He that ate fastest |
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| got most; he that was strongest secured the best |
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| place; and few left the trough satisfied. |
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| I was probably between seven and eight years old |
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| when I left Colonel Lloyd's plantation. I left it with |
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| joy. I shall never forget the ecstasy with which I |
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| received the intelligence that my old master (An- |
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| thony) had determined to let me go to Baltimore, |
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| to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, brother to my old |
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| master's son-in-law, Captain Thomas Auld. I re- |
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| ceived this information about three days before my |
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| departure. They were three of the happiest days |
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| I ever enjoyed. I spent the most part of all these |
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| three days in the creek, washing off the plantation |
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| scurf, and preparing myself for my departure. |
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| The pride of appearance which this would indicate |
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| was not my own. I spent the time in washing, not so |
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| much because I wished to, but because Mrs. |
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| Lucretia had told me I must get all the dead skin |
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| off my feet and knees before I could go to Balti- |
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| more; for the people in Baltimore were very cleanly, |
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| and would laugh at me if I looked dirty. Besides, |
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| she was going to give me a pair of trousers, which I |
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| should not put on unless I got all the dirt off me. |
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| The thought of owning a pair of trousers was great |
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| indeed! It was almost a sufficient motive, not only |
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| to make me take off what would be called by pig- |
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| drovers the mange, but the skin itself. I went at it |
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| in good earnest, working for the first time with the |
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| hope of reward. |
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| The ties that ordinarily bind children to their |
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| homes were all suspended in my case. I found no |
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| severe trial in my departure. My home was charm- |
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| less; it was not home to me; on parting from it, I |
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| could not feel that I was leaving any thing which I |
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| could have enjoyed by staying. My mother was dead, |
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| my grandmother lived far off, so that I seldom saw |
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| her. I had two sisters and one brother, that lived in |
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| the same house with me; but the early separation of |
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| us from our mother had well nigh blotted the fact |
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| of our relationship from our memories. I looked for |
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| home elsewhere, and was confident of finding none |
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| which I should relish less than the one which I was |
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| leaving. If, however, I found in my new home hard- |
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| ship, hunger, whipping, and nakedness, I had the |
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| consolation that I should not have escaped any one |
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| of them by staying. Having already had more than |
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| a taste of them in the house of my old master, and |
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| having endured them there, I very naturally inferred |
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| my ability to endure them elsewhere, and especially |
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| at Baltimore; for I had something of the feeling |
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| about Baltimore that is expressed in the proverb, |
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| that "being hanged in England is preferable to |
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| dying a natural death in Ireland." I had the strongest |
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| desire to see Baltimore. Cousin Tom, though not |
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| fluent in speech, had inspired me with that desire |
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| by his eloquent description of the place. I could |
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| never point out any thing at the Great House, no |
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| matter how beautiful or powerful, but that he had |
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| seen something at Baltimore far exceeding, both in |
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| beauty and strength, the object which I pointed out |
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| to him. Even the Great House itself, with all its |
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| pictures, was far inferior to many buildings in Bal- |
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| timore. So strong was my desire, that I thought a |
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| gratification of it would fully compensate for what- |
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| ever loss of comforts I should sustain by the ex- |
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| change. I left without a regret, and with the highest |
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| hopes of future happiness. |
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| We sailed out of Miles River for Baltimore on a |
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| Saturday morning. I remember only the day of the |
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| week, for at that time I had no knowledge of the |
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| days of the month, nor the months of the year. On |
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| setting sail, I walked aft, and gave to Colonel Lloyd's |
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| plantation what I hoped would be the last look. I |
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| then placed myself in the bows of the sloop, and |
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| there spent the remainder of the day in looking |
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| ahead, interesting myself in what was in the distance |
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| rather than in things near by or behind. |
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| In the afternoon of that day, we reached Annap- |
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| olis, the capital of the State. We stopped but a |
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| few moments, so that I had no time to go on shore. |
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| It was the first large town that I had ever seen, and |
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| though it would look small compared with some of |
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| our New England factory villages, I thought it a |
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| wonderful place for its size—more imposing even |
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| than the Great House Farm! |
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| We arrived at Baltimore early on Sunday morn- |
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| ing, landing at Smith's Wharf, not far from Bow- |
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| ley's Wharf. We had on board the sloop a large |
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| flock of sheep; and after aiding in driving them to |
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| the slaughterhouse of Mr. Curtis on Louden Slater's |
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| Hill, I was conducted by Rich, one of the hands |
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| belonging on board of the sloop, to my new home |
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| in Alliciana Street, near Mr. Gardner's ship-yard, on |
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| Fells Point. |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Auld were both at home, and met |
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| me at the door with their little son Thomas, to take |
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| care of whom I had been given. And here I saw what |
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| I had never seen before; it was a white face beaming |
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| with the most kindly emotions; it was the face of |
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| my new mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I could de- |
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| scribe the rapture that flashed through my soul as I |
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| beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me, |
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| brightening up my pathway with the light of happi- |
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| ness. Little Thomas was told, there was his Freddy, |
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| —and I was told to take care of little Thomas; and |
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| thus I entered upon the duties of my new home with |
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| the most cheering prospect ahead. |
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| I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's |
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| plantation as one of the most interesting events of |
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| my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that |
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| but for the mere circumstance of being removed |
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| from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have |
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| to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, |
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| in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of |
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| home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the |
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| galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore |
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| laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all |
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| my subsequent prosperity. I have ever regarded it |
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| as the first plain manifestation of that kind provi- |
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| dence which has ever since attended me, and marked |
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| my life with so many favors. I regarded the selection |
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| of myself as being somewhat remarkable. There were |
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| a number of slave children that might have been |
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| sent from the plantation to Baltimore. There were |
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| those younger, those older, and those of the same |
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| age. I was chosen from among them all, and was |
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| the first, last, and only choice. |
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| I may be deemed superstitious, and even egotisti- |
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| cal, in regarding this event as a special interposition |
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| of divine Providence in my favor. But I should be |
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| false to the earliest sentiments of my soul, if I sup- |
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| pressed the opinion. I prefer to be true to myself, |
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| even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, |
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| rather than to be false, and incur my own abhor- |
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| rence. From my earliest recollection, I date the en- |
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| tertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would |
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| not always be able to hold me within its foul em- |
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| brace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slav- |
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| ery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope de- |
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| parted not from me, but remained like ministering |
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| angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good |
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| spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving |
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| and praise. |
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|
