I 
 
 ADYERTISEMEiJTS. )U 
 
 JUST OUT— THIRTIETH THOUSAND. " 
 Crown 8vo, Fancy Bds., Is. 6d. ; Handsome Embossed Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d, 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S LIFE. 
 
 REV. JOSIAH HENSON, MRS. STOWE'S "DNCLE TOM." 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S now m his mh 
 
 Vftar 
 
 STORY OF 
 
 From 1789 to 1876. HIS LIFE . 
 
 With a Preface by Mrs. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 
 
 AND AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY G. STURGE & S. MORLEY, Esq., M.P,; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 Registered Portrai ts of "Uncle Tom " and Mrs. Stowe. 
 
 His Forty-two Year.s' Slave Life — Escajie into Canada — Carrying on his Back 
 two of his Children 600 Miles through the Woods — Also, an Account of the 
 Characters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" : Legreo, who maimed "Uncle Tom" for 
 Life — George Harris — Eliza, his Wife, who crossed the Ice with her Child — Little 
 Eva — Why Mrs. Stowe made her hero die, &c. ; ^ . . 
 
 Edited by JOHN LOBB, Managing Editor of the " Christian Age." 
 
 The only Authorised and Copyright Edition. 
 London: "CHRLSTIAN AGE" OFFICE, 89, FARRINGDON STREET, E.C., 
 
 ^ ' Or any BOOKSELLKJt. 
 
 ■>-."f:* . 
 
 OPINIO NS OF THE PBESS. 
 
 " This is the ' Life ' of one of God's true heroes, nnd what a * Life ' ! Those 
 who want a ' sensation ' will find it in this book. If their blood docs not boil, 
 and their nerves tingle, and their souls thrill, thoy must be stones, and not men 
 and women with human brain and heart. And wliat a witness to the righteous 
 judgment of God in the world ! What a witness also is this ' Life ' for the 
 Providential care of God over His children ! We rejoice that Uncle Tom's 
 mission to this country has been successful, and we also rejoice that by thi;« 
 beputifui volume the ' Story of his Life' will be rend in thonsauds of British 
 homes, oven long after the brave old man shall have passed into the Home where 
 no enemy ever puters, and from which no friend ever gocth away.''— j^'d-iHioii's 
 Theological Quarterly. ^. 
 
 1 " [rUKN OVER. 
 
 * 
 
 .^ ■ ■ '*■ 
 
iv ADVERTISBMENTS. 
 
 "Our first feeling on reading this 'Story' would have been one of amaze- 
 ment that human beings could become such incarnate fiends as some of the 
 slave-holders and overseers are here represented to be, were it not that recent 
 history has brought to light yet blacker deeds of cruelty and shame. Our secoml 
 feeling was one of thankfulness to God that in America at least siich experiences 
 as those of 'Uncle Tom' can never be repeated. Mr. Henson tells the story of 
 his life—his ups and downs, his sufferings, his escape, his subsec^ueut career— in 
 short the sorrows of his race — with a pathos and dramatic force that are perfectly 
 astounding when his early training is considered. We wish this book (which 
 is well got up and adorned with photographs of the autlior and Mrs. Stowe) a 
 large circulation. " — The Christian. 
 
 "To those who remember the intense interest excited by the appearance of 
 ' Uncle Tom's Cabin,' the autobiography of the hero will revive and deepen the 
 eld feeling of sympathy with the oppressed slaves. The story can never fail to 
 .stir the hearts of young people, and to the objection that it is overdrawn, we 
 have here the Kev. Josiali llensou (himself the fugitive slave) saying, ' Mrs. 
 Stowe's book is not an exaggerated account of the evils of slavery. The truth 
 has never been half .told ; the story would be too horrible to hear.' But quite 
 apart from all fiction, the life of ' llncle Tom ' for more than eighty years is one 
 of 'stirring incident' whicli is condensed into this attractive volume, which wo 
 heartily commend to the notice of our readers." — Tlic Sunday School Chronicle. 
 
 " In this book we have a remarkable exemplification of the truth of the adage, 
 that 'fact is stranger than iiction.' If any one had written a romance with a 
 negro for its hero, and had represented him as remaining in si; ^ry until he 
 was nearly forty years of age, and then escaping to Canada, crippled and 
 penniless, yet nevertheless making such wonderful progress as to become an 
 exhibitor at the Great Exhibition of 1851, his exhibits specially attracting the 
 attention of Her Majesty the Queen ; if he had further represented him as being 
 entertained as an honoured guest by English noblemen, and as being asked by 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury at what university he graduated, the author would 
 have been laughed at an the most extravagant dreamer who ever exposed his 
 foolishness by printing it in a book. Yet in this book all these and other 
 things equally astonishing are relatod as facts. Let all our readers read this 
 marvellous story for themselves." — The Fountain. 
 
 "Thank God, slavery is dead so far as the United States of America is con- 
 cerned ! One of the most important agencies employed by Providence to bring 
 this accursed system to an end was the wondrous book called ' Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin.' The hero of that story is an old Christian negro who escaped from 
 slavery, carrying with him his wife and little children into Canada, where he 
 found a home and friends, and where he proved to the satisfaction of all 
 observant minds that the black man was endowed equally with the white with 
 mental power. ' Uncle Tom,' though now in his eighty-eighth year, is again 
 a visitor to this city. Mr. John Lobb, the industrious and indefatigable manager 
 of the ' Christian Age,' has been his chief companion and guide during the past 
 i&v: months, and to him * Uncle Tom ' has told his story in the book now 
 before us. It is a book of enchanting interest, the most I'omantic fiction sesms 
 contained in each short chapter ; but when we remember that every word is true, 
 that we have seen and heard, shaken hands with, and spoken to the venerable 
 hero, its pages become even more fascinating. The book deserves a place in 
 every household, and we are glad to find it is selling by thousands. VTe heartily 
 recommend it, '—r/i^* Trrnj.ermcc Star. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 ** This is the life-story of a very romarkahlc man. Born a slave in Maryland, 
 and himself sulTering the miseries of slave-life for forty-two years ; his conversion 
 — becomes a Methodist preacher while still a slave — his escape — his sufferings — 
 and his career to the present time, when at eighty-seven years of age he visits 
 this country to raise means to clear off a mortgage. Mr. Honson tells the story 
 in language that Tiiay be termed amazing when his early training is considered — 
 so graphic and so iull of deep pathos." — Weekly Review. 
 
 "A wonderful lif.-', modestly told. The book is full of most interesting proofs 
 of the practical power of Christianity, and it contains some scenes that remind 
 U8 as much as anything else we have read of the prison songs of Paul and Silas 
 in the dungeon of Philippi. The whole of the first edition of the book was sold 
 on the day of its publication." — The Preacher's Budget. 
 
 " Tlie work comprises the history of the hero of Mrs. Stowe's immortal story, 
 from 1789 to 1876. Mr. John Lobb has performed the duties of editor. As 
 indicated above, the subject of this notice is eighty-eight years of age ; and yet 
 is comparatively strong and hearty, and the grip of his horny hand has vigour 
 in it yet. There is still brightness in his eye, and a considerable amount of 
 self-command,commingled with the sensitiveness brought about by his wonderful 
 life. 'Uncle Tom,' too, tells his story with all the simplicity and yet earnest- 
 ness which he possesses, and the relation of it lays hold of the interest and 
 inquisitive faculties of the reader as powerfully as the oral does those of the 
 hearer. The interest of the history seems to increase as it goes on, and the 
 remarkable ' story, ' written in the first person, must find its way into every home 
 where Mrs. Stowe's book has been. We are glad to hear that a second edition 
 has already been called for. The price is low, tliough the edition before us is as 
 hardsome as one can wish, ami contains the portraits of 'Uncle Tom' and Mrs. 
 Stowc." — The South London Chronicle. 
 
 "This aiitobiofvaphy is illustrated by capital portraits of its subject, th(! lie v. 
 Josiah Honson, and of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, as is most befitting such a 
 volimie. Most of our readers well know that the veritable ' Uncle Tom ' is at 
 this moment in England, and in London. This day (Tuesday) the writer of this 
 notice met him at the bottom of Fleet Street, looking hyle and hearty, and self- 
 possessed, though now in his eighty-eighth year. One could not help wishing 
 such a fine old man might live till he was a hundred years old, if it please God 
 to spare his life so long. At his present advanced age there is manliness in his 
 bearing, calmness in the expression of his countenance, and firmness in his ste]). 
 His w jiole demeanour indicates that he is no common man. Though he has lost 
 much of the suppleness and briglitiiess of his race, and a good deal of the elasticity 
 and fire of his best days, he is evidently ' all there ' yet. Thougli he is now ' Uncle 
 Tom ' the aged, ho is still every bit a man. Large numbers in the metropolis 
 will hear his voice, but vastly larger numbers will read the story of his life. It 
 matters not where one opens the book, one cannot lay it down again. It opens 
 the fountains of one's heart and eyes, and one cannot help thanking God that 
 such a son of Ham ever endured the lash, o : trod the swamps of America. His 
 trials were hard for flesh and blood to bear ;• but God had a work for him to do, and 
 he has faithfully borne witness to the grand truths of the Gospel. Before we give 
 an extract from this thrilling narrative— and we scarcely know where to select, or 
 rather where not to select — we may mention that within the first twenty-four 
 hours of its publication two thousand copies of the book were sold. His account 
 of the .lale of his mother and her six children (his father had already been sold 
 and sent down South) is very touching." — The Mefhodist. 
 
VI ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 " Uncle Tom's hair-breadth escapes by ' field and flood' are told so graphically 
 that if ho had not been the hero of Mrs. Stowe's most popular work, his auto- 
 l;iogra])hy would have deservedly obtained a large circulation."-— 5i6Z« Christian 
 Magazine. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Binney, Minister of the Weigh House Chapel, in February, 
 1851, wrote — "I invited Mr, Henson to attend the week-evening meeting of 
 my congregation, and to give a sketch of his history. His address, of nearly 
 two hours, was listened to with the most lively attention ; his power over the 
 feelings of his auditors was complete ; his descriptions were among the most 
 vivid and dramatic I huve ever heard ; while his flashes of wit, gushings of sensi- 
 bility, masculine good sense, moral and religious feeling, every now and then 
 made you wonder at the strange condition of a world in which a being, so 
 thoroughly A man, could be treated as a chattel to be bought and sold, or as a 
 beast of burden, to be kept in by • bit and bridle,' or urged only by the goad 
 and the whip ! " 
 
 A DUTCH TRANSLATION 
 
 OF 
 
 "UNCLE TOM'S STORY OF HIS LIFE." 
 
 We have the pleasure to f nnouncc that arrangements are completed with the 
 well-known house of A. Vvin Oostebzke, in Amsterdam, giving them full powers 
 for the translation of " Uncle Tom's Story of his Life " into the Dutch Language. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN AGE, 
 
 PRICE ONE PENNY, 
 
 (Circulation between 70,000 and 80,000 Weekly,) 
 
 IS 
 
 THE BEST RE LI GIO US PAPER IN ENGLAND. 
 
 UNSECTARIAN, EVANGELICAL, 
 
 IT LS THE PAPER 
 
 FOR MINISTERS, 
 FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOL 
 TEACHERS, 
 
 FOR FAMILIES, 
 FOR YOUNG FOLKS, 
 FOR ALL CLASSES. 
 
 No Christian Home should be without it. 
 The ''CHRISTIAN AGE'' first introduced DR. TALMAGE to 
 
 the BHtish Puhlic in September, 1871. 
 THE TEN VOLUMES PUBLISHED OF THE "CHRISTIAN AGE" 
 
 CONTAIN 
 
 SIX HUNDRED OF DR. TALMAGE'S SERMONS AND ARTICLES 
 
 Revised by Himself. 
 Order <^f ca'u Booksdlcr ; or directs from " Christian Age" Ofio% 89, Farringdon, 
 
 .Sireet, E.C. 
 
At)VEliTlt5fcMENT3. 
 
 I h.:mtiia^ *i.i 
 
 JUST OUT. 
 
 Order of any Bookseller or direct from the Office, 89, FARRINGDON 
 
 STUEKT, LONDON, K C. 
 
 I A VOLUME OF THRILLING INTEREST. 
 
 D. L. MOODY'S 
 
 In Ilandnoiiic Umboi 
 AND ?is. tJd. 
 
 oards, 
 Is. Oil. 
 
 ii \ T3 T) /^"\^7'Q1 ^'"' ^^^"^^^O'/ic Eiahossed Cloth,' Gilt Edges, 
 
 Crmn 2>vo, Fancij Boards, A'N'T^(^T)OT^T^S " 
 
 Managing Editor of the " Christian Age." 
 
 We gratefully record the hearty reception of this volume by the Christian 
 Public, and the flattering notices of our tvork by the Press, tohich have rendered 
 inew edition necessary vjithin one month. JVc select the following 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "Some of these illustrations are original, and others have hcen borrowed from 
 well known sources and niodilied, we had almost sjiid Moody-fied. Mr. Moody 
 never scrupled to declare that whatever he found that was good he appropriated, 
 and he was quite light in so doing. Now that Mr. Lobb has picked out the 
 plums Irom the pudding we see some of our own among them, and are glad 
 they Avcre so well used ; but we see a great many of Mr. Moody's own growth, 
 which the ministers of the gospel must take care to preserve for future use. 
 This is a wise selection of pithy bits and live stories, such as wake men up, and 
 keep them awake too. God be thanked that Moody and Sankey ever camo 
 among our churches ; it is well to gather up the fragments which remain after the 
 feast." — C. H. Spurgeon in Sword and I'rowel, November, 1876. 
 
 "Most of the 'Anecdotes' in this volume undoubtedly bear the impress of 
 the evangelist who was lately amongst us. Any one familiar with his style will 
 recognise at a glance the short pointed sentences of concrete Saxon, with his 
 peculiarly natural and picturesque colouring. And in the light of all the 
 Bpurious counterfeits of Mr. Moody's style which have been published, one feels 
 grateful to the present editor for preserving the aroma of the original. If the 
 work was to be done, it was right that it should be done well, and, on the whole, 
 this is certainly well done. It would have been difficult to have done the work 
 much better than Mr. Lobb, to whom it has evidently been a labour of love." — 
 Tfie Christian. 
 
 "' The religious movement conducted by Messrs. Moody and Sankey in the 
 chief cities of Great Britain and Ireland, during the years 1873 — 1875, in many 
 respects stands unparalleled in the history of revivals, and their visit will long 
 be held in grateful and loving remembrance by thousands.' The object in this 
 volume has been to collect tlio anecdotes and pointed sayings of Mr. Moody's, 
 so as to stimulate Christian workers, and to assist in bringing home to those 
 with whom they come in contact the truths of the Gospel. The story of tiw 
 
AfeVfiRttSEMENtS. 
 
 revival, in which Mr. Sankey bore no unimportant part, is also told in graphic 
 colours. The Editor has wisely added a concise index of subjects, which adds 
 considerably to the usefulness of the book." — Weekly Review, 
 
 "Some of the most efli^ctive of Mr. Moody's illustrations have been gathered 
 up by Mr. Lobb. I'he book is well f,'ot up, and will prove both acceptable and 
 useful." — Bock. 
 
 "Undor the title of * Arrows and Anecdotes,' Mr. J. Lobb, of the Christian 
 j4(jc office, has appended to a brief, neatly-written rcsumJ of Messrs. Moody and 
 Sankey and their . revival work in Great Britain and Ireland, a larger collection 
 tliau has hitherto appeared of the sharp sayings and telling anecdotes which 
 formed the .specialty of the American missionary's addresses. To the legions 
 who took a lively interest in the llevival movement at tlie time the volume 
 needs no other commendation. — The Graphic. 
 
 " This volume, which is beautifully got up, contains the most telling 
 anecdotes which are to be found in sermons by Mr. D. Jj. Moody. Its extracts 
 aic wisely selected and carefully indexed, and the work is highly appreciated by 
 many families known to us. It is already in the fourth thousand. — The Study. 
 
 "Both in matter and manner, this volume is highly creditable to Mr. Lobb. 
 It has been prepared with great caro and good sense. The subjects are we' 1 
 chosen and well arranged ; it is handsomely got uj), and has one of the most 
 complete indices we have ever seen. No point of interest is left untouched. 
 The ' JBiography ' and ' Narrative of the Kevival ' are simply a condensation of 
 tlie more important events in the life and labours of the two evangelists. 
 To the tens of thousands who heard ^Ir. M-^ody during his late visit to this 
 countrj'', this book will be an acceptable and welcome souvenir.. It is in 
 gathering i;p these illustrations and giving them in all their homely simplicity — 
 serving them up, so to speak, with their * native flavour ' on them — that 
 Mr. Lobb has done so well. We thank him, and hope his book will obtain an 
 extensive circulation, lor it is eminently adapted to usefulness." — Dickinson's 
 Theological Quarterly. 
 
 "The friends of Moody and Sankey are here provided with a great treat. 
 Almost everything known of tlie men and their work of special interest is 
 here bound up in a handsome volume, and ofl'ered at a moderate price. Nothing 
 need be said to recommend this book. By the reading of it, the multitudes who 
 hung with delight upon the lips of Moody and of his tuneful colleague will 
 have many happy memories revived." — Primitive Methodist, Sivpenny Magazine. 
 
 "Mr. Lobb has aimed, in these pages, to aid Christian workers in the pulpit, 
 platform, school, or class-room, in bringing home to the hearts of their charge 
 the graud truths of Christianity, and a glance at the list of contents, or the 
 opening of the book anywhere, is sufficient to show that he has accomplished his 
 purpose." — Bible Christian Magazine. 
 
 "We have been waiting for some such work as this for sometime. The 
 anecdotes are so good that we would gladly have spared the space devoted to 
 the biography and the account of the revival for more of them. — The Sunday 
 School Chronicle. 
 
 " Mr. Lobb has done good service in collecting and arranging them in this 
 really beautiful book." — Temperance Star. 
 
 " The editor has done well in reproducing these anecdotes and the story of 
 the life of the great evan^'elist." — fFord and Work. 
 
 Order of any Bookseller or direct from the Office, 69, FARRINQDON 
 
 STREET, LONDON, E.a 
 

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 i^UTOBIOGR AI'HV 
 
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 <!V[RS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWES ' UliC.i: TOM '), 
 From 17^9 /<> iJ>7''' 
 
 WIT If A PUEFACK 
 
 By MRS. HAHRIET BEECH ER STOWE, 
 
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 THlRTlErH IirOUSAND. 
 
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 *m:HRI.STIAN Af.F. ' OfMcE, &'?. FARIUNGDON STREET, 
 
 1876. 
 
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 AN 
 
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 lUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. JOSIAH HENSON 
 
 (MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S "UNCLE TOM"). 
 From 1789 to 1876. 
 
 WITH A PREFACE 
 
 By MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, 
 
 AND AN 
 
 liitrotiiictorn |lcitc 
 
 By GEORGE STURGE, and S. MORLEY, Esq., M.r. 
 
 EDITED BY JOHN LOBB, 
 
 Managing Editor of the "Christian Age," F.ditor of D. L. Moody s " Arro^vs 
 and Anecdotes" and " The Story of the Great Kevi-jal. 
 
 THIRTIETH THOUSAND. 
 
 LONDON : 
 "CHRISTIAN AGE" OFFICE, 89, FARRINGDOx^ STREET. 
 
 1876. 
 
 {Only Authorised Edition, and Copyright.) , 
 
E.'^i 
 
 MA(;LtAM 
 
 * 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 I-' 
 
 DEC 1 1949 
 
»4 '. 
 
 MRS, HARRIET BEECIIER STOWE. 
 
 See page 212. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 THE numerous friends of the author of this work 
 will need no greater recommendation than 
 his name to make it welcome. Among all the 
 singular and interesting records to which the insti- 
 tution of American slavery has given rise, we know 
 of none more striking, more characteristic and in- 
 structive, than that of Josiah Henson. 
 
 Born a slave— a slave in effect in a heathen 
 land— and under a heathen master, he grew up 
 without Christian light or knowledge, and like the 
 Gentiles spoken of by St. Paul, " without the law 
 did by nature the things that are written in the 
 law." One sermon, one offer of salvation by Christ, 
 was sufficient for him, as for the Ethiopian eunuch, 
 to make him at once a believer from the heart and 
 a preacher of Jesus. 
 
 To the great Christian doctrine of forgiveness of 
 enemies and the returning of good for evil, he was 
 by God's grace made a faithful witness, under cir- 
 cumstances that try men's souls and make us all who 
 read it say, "Lead us not into such temptation." 
 We earnestly commend this portion of his narrative 
 to those who, under much smaller temptations, think 
 themselves entitled to render evil for evil. • 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 The African race appear as yet to have been com- 
 panions only of the sufferings of Christ. In the 
 melancholj'' scene of His death — while Europe in the 
 person of the Roman delivered Tlim unto death, and 
 Asia in the person of the Jew clamoured for His 
 execution — Africa was represented in the person of 
 Simon the Cyrenean, who came patiently bearing 
 after Him the load of the cross ; and ever since then 
 poor Africa has been toiling on, bearing the weary 
 cross of contempt and oppression after Jesus. But 
 tliey who suffer with Him shall also reign ; and when, 
 the unwritten annals of slavery shall appear in the 
 judgment, many Simons who have gone meekly 
 bearing their cross after Jesus to unknown graves, 
 shall rise to thrones and crowns ! Yerily a, day 
 shall come when He shall appear for these His 
 hidden ones, and then " many that aie last shall be 
 first, and the first shall be last." ^ 
 
 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 
 
 Aiidover, Mass. 
 
 INTRODUCTOUY M)TE. 
 
 By George Sturge, and S. Morley, Esq., M.P. 
 
 ON Rev. J. Henson's visit to England, Samuel 
 Morley, Esq., M.P., and George Sturge, 
 kindly undertook to be the treasurers of the 
 fund to liquidate the claims of his mortgagees. 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 In response to our request for a few words intro- 
 ductory to *' Uiicle Tom's Life," we have the follow- 
 ing from George Sturge. "My knowledge of 
 Josiah Ilenson dates from his visit to this country 
 twenty-five years ago, when my late brother Thomas 
 Sturge, with other friends of the negro race, helped 
 to establish 'The Dar.n Institute for the Education 
 of Coloured People in Canada.* I regard Josiah 
 Henson in mp>iy respects as a remarkable man. 
 "When I contemplate his unselfish efforts (at great 
 risk to himself) to rescue his brethren in slavery, 
 after he had obtained his own liberty, and his 
 labours as a free man to educate and enlighten them, 
 T consider that there are few men now living who 
 have done so much for the neorro race. When 
 
 O 
 
 it is remembered, too, that he was a slave for 
 forty-two years, his life affords an encouraging 
 cmmjjk of what may be done, even by one who has 
 laboured under the greatest disadvantages, who 
 is earnestly desirous to benefit his race. His 
 Christian simplicit}'-, and the absence of all bitter 
 feeling towards those who have oppressed him, will 
 have commended him to all who have made hia 
 acquaintance. The life of 'Uncle Tom,' now ex- 
 tended in its records to the present date, will be 
 found by its readers to possess deep interest, and 
 will doubtless be favourably received. On submitting 
 these observations to Samuel Morley, his remark 
 
 was, ' I THOROUGHLY AGREE WITH THEM. 
 
 * Sydenham, Oct. 1876. 
 
 > i) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MY BIRTH AND CHILDHOOn. 
 
 Earliest memories. — Born in Maryland. — My father's fight 
 with an overseer. — One hundred strijies and his ear cut off . 13 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 MY FIRST GREAT TRIAL. 
 
 Origin of my name. — A kind master. — He is drowned. — ^ly 
 mother's prayers. — A slave-auction. — Torn from my mother. 
 — Severe sickness. — A cruel master .... .17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 
 
 Early employment. — Slave-life. — Food, lodging, clothing. — 
 Amusements. — Gleams of sunshine. — My knight-errantry . 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 -f My praying mother, — A good man. — Hear a seraion for the 
 i'b4\> ^ first time. — Its efi'ect upon me 28 
 
 --, ^ CHAPTER V. 
 
 MAIMED FOR LIFE. 
 
 Taking care of my drunken master. — His fight with an over- 
 seer. — Rescue him. — Am terribly beaten by the overseer . 34 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A RESrONSIIiLE JOURNEY. 
 
 My marriage. — Mariiage of my master. — His ruin. — Comes to 
 me for aid. — A great enterprise undertaken. — Long and suc- 
 cessful journey. — Incidents by the way . . . .41 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A NEW HOJIE. 
 
 Become a Methodist preacher. — My poor companions sold. — 
 My agony. — Sent for again 49 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 KETUEN TO MARYLAND. 
 
 Reception from my old master. — A slave again. — Appeal . §6 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TAKEN SOUTH, AWAY FROM WIFE AND CHILDREN. 
 
 Start for New Orleans.— Study navigation on the Mississippi . 64 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Sigh for death. — A murder in my heart. — The axe raised . 68 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 
 
 Offered for sale. — Examined by purchasers. — Plead with my 
 young master in vain. — Man's extremity, God's opportunity 72 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 
 
 Solitary musings. — Preparations for llight. —A long good-night 
 to master. — A dark night on the river. — Night-journeys . 78 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 .TOURNEY T<J CANADA. 
 
 Good Samaritans. — Alone in the wilderness. — Meet some 
 Indians. — Reach Sandusky. — Another friend. — All aboard . 86 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 NEW SCENES AND A NEW HOME. 
 
 A poor man in a strange land. — Begin to acquire property. — 
 Resume preaching. — Boys go to school. — What gave me a 
 desire to learn to read. — A day of prayer . i the woods , 96 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LIFE IN CANADA. 
 
 Condition of the blacks in Canada. — A tour of exploration . 103 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CONDUCTING SLAVES TO CANADA. 
 
 Sympathy for the slaves. — James Lightfoot. — ]\Iy first mission 
 to the South. — A Kentucky company of fugitives. — Safe at 
 home 107 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SECOND JOURNEY ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 
 
 A shower of stars.- -Kentuckians. — A stratagem. — A provi- 
 dence. — Conducted across the Miami River by a cow. — 
 Arrival at Cincinnati. — One of the party taken ill. — We 
 leave him to die. — Meet a " Friend." — A i>oor white man . Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HOJIE AT DAWN. 
 
 Condition in Canada. — Efforts in behalf of my people. — Rev. 
 Mr. "Wilson. — A convention of blacks.— Manual-labour 
 school 121 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LUMBERING OPERATIONS. 
 
 Industrial project.— Find some able friends in Boston.— Pro- 
 cm-e funds and construct a sawmill. — Sales of lumber in 
 Boston. — Incident in the Custom House . . . .127 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Debt on the institution. —A new pecuniary enterimse. — Letters 
 of recommendation to England.— Personal difficulties . . 131 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXr, 
 
 THE world's fair IX LONHOK. 
 
 My contribution to tlie great exliibitiou. — Difficulty with tho i 
 American suiierinteudent. — Ha])py release. — The great 
 crowd. — A call from the Queen. — Medal awarded to me . 136 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 VISITS TO TIIR RAGGED SCHOOLS. 
 
 Speech at Sunday-school anniversary. — Interview with Lord 
 Grey. — Interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 dinner with Lord John Russell, the great events of ray life . 141 
 CHAPTER XXIII. • , 
 
 CLOSIXG UP 51 Y LONDON AGENCY. 
 
 My narrative published. — Letter from home apprising me of 
 the sickness of my wife. — Departure from London. — Arrival 
 
 at home. — Meeting with my fomily 147 
 
 CHAPTER XXiy. 
 
 MY brother's FREEDOM. 
 
 Am I my brother's keeper ? — Ettbrts to secure his freedom . 151 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MRS. STcnVE's CHARACTERS. 
 
 My visit to Mrs. Stowe. — Why I am called "Uncle Tom." — 
 Her interest in my life-story.— Her famous book. — Is it an 
 exaggeration? — Mrs. Stowe's Key ..... 156 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE JIANUAL LABOUR SCHOOL AT DAWN. 
 
 Troubles. — Misplaced confidence. — Eyes opened. — Lawsuit. — 
 AVilberforce University 164 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 IDOLS SHATTERED. 
 
 The fate of the sawmill. — How the grist-mill vanished in the 
 night 173 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 
 
 Taking up arras for my country. — Civil war in America. — Risk 
 of imprisonment for seven vea"3. — Special providence saves 
 
 me . . . . *. 176 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 EAKLY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 
 
 Desire to learn to spell nipped in the bud.— Superstition . 187 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 MY FAMILY. 
 
 A new light in my desolate home. — My children. —My third 
 visit to England. — Mr. Hughes ...... 197 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MY THIRD AND LAST VISIT TO LONDON. 
 
 Meeting old friends and making new ones. — Ghristian Age. — 
 Prof. Fowler's description 204 
 
MRS. H. BEECHEH STOWE'S 
 "UNCLE TOM." 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 MY BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 
 
 EaBLIEST memories. — BOUN IN MARYLAND. — MY FATHEE's FIGHT 
 WITH AN OVERSEER. — ONE HUNDRED STRIPES AND HIS EAR CUT 
 OFF. —THROWS AWAY HIS BANJO AND BECOMES MOROSE. — SOU> 
 SOUTH. 
 
 f^l^HE story of my life, which I am about to record, 
 J_ is one full of striking incident. Keener pangs, 
 deeper joys, more singular vicissitudes, few have 
 been led in God's providence to experience. x\s 1 
 look back on it through the vista of more than 
 eighty years, and scene after scene rises before me, 
 an ever fresh wonder fills my mind. I delight to , 
 recall it. I dwell on it as did the Jews on the mar- 
 vellous history of their rescue from the bondage of 
 Egypt. Time has touched with its mellowing fin- 
 gers its sterner features. The sufferings of the past 
 are now like a dream, and the enduring lessons left 
 behind, make me to praise God that my soul has been 
 
 B 
 
14 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 tempered by Him in so fiery a furnace and under 
 such heavy blows. 
 
 I was born June 15th, 1789, in Charles county, 
 Maryland, on a farm belonging to Mr. Francis 
 Newman, about a mile from Port Tobacco. My 
 mother was a slave of Dr. Josiah McPherson, but 
 hired to Mr. Newman, to whom my father be- 
 longed. The only incident I can remember whicli 
 occurred while my mother continued on Mr. New- 
 man's farm, was the appearance one day of my 
 father with his head bloody and his back lacerat«,'d. 
 He was beside himself with mingled rage and suffer- 
 ing. The overseer had brutally assaulted my mot^ier, 
 when my father sprang upon him like a tiger. In 
 a moment the overseer was down, and, mastered by 
 rage, my father would have killed him but for the 
 entreaties of my mother, and the overseer's own 
 promise that nothing should ever be said of the 
 matter. The promise was kept — like most promises 
 of the cowardly and debased — as long as the danger 
 lasted. 
 
 The laws of slave states provi/ie means and oppor- 
 tunities for revenge so ample, that miscreants like 
 him never fail to improve them. "A )iigger has 
 struck a white man ;" that is> enough to set a whole 
 county on fire ; no question is asked about the pro- 
 vocation. The authorities were soon in pursuit of 
 my father. The penalty was one hundred lashes on 
 the bare back, and to have the right ear nailed to 
 the whipping-post, and then severed from the body. 
 For a time my father kept out of the way, hiding in 
 the woods, and at night venturiog into some cabin 
 
 •r 
 
MY BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD, 15 
 
 in searcli of food. But at length the strict watch 
 Ret baflled all his eflforts. His supplies cut off, he 
 was fairly starved out, and compelled by hunger to 
 come back and give himself up. 
 
 The day for the execution, of the penalty was 
 appointed. The negroes from the neighbouring 
 $ plantations were summoned to witness the scene. 
 A powerful blacksmith named Hewes laid on the 
 stripes. Fifty were given, during which the cries 
 j|of my father might be heard a mile, and then a 
 pause ensued. True, ho had struck a white man, 
 but as valuable property he must not be damaged. 
 Judicious men felt his pulse. Oh ! he could stand 
 the whole. Again and again the thong fell on his 
 lacerated back. His cries grew fainter and fainter, 
 till a feeble groan was the only response to the final 
 blows. His head was then thrust against the post, 
 and his right ear fastened to it with a tack ; a swift 
 pass of a knife, and the bleeding member was left 
 sticking to the place. Then came a hurra from the 
 degraded crowd, and the exclamation, " That's what 
 he's got for striking a white man." 
 
 In the estimation of the illiterate, besotted poor 
 whites who constituted the witnesses of such scenes 
 in Charles county, Maryland, the man who did not 
 feel rage enough at hearing of "a nigger" striking 
 a white, to be ready to burn him alive, was only fit 
 to be lynched out of the neighbourhood. ' . ■. 
 
 Previous to this affair, my father, from all I can 
 learn, had been a good-humoured and light-hearted 
 man, the ringleader in all fun at corn-husk in gs and 
 Christmas buffoonery. His banjo was the lii'e of the 
 
16 
 
 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 farm, and all night long at a merry-making would 
 he play on it while the other negroes danced. But 
 from this hour he became utterly changed. Sullen, 
 morose, and dogged, nothing could be done with 
 him. The milk of human kindness in his heart was 
 turned to gall. He brooded over his wrongs. No 
 fear or threats of being sold to the far south — the 
 greatest of all terrors to the Maryland slave — would 
 render him tractable. So off he was sent to Ala- 
 bama. What was his after-fate neither my mother * 
 nor I have ever learned ; the great day will reveal 
 all. This was the first chapter in my history. 
 
 ^r»mt 
 
 i. . . /, . 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 MY FIEST GEEAT TEIAL. 
 
 OEIOIN OP MY NAME. — A KIND MASTER. — HZ TS BROWNED. — 
 MY mother's prayers. — A SLAVE AUCTION. — TORN FROM MT 
 MOTHER.— SEVERE SICKNESS. — A CRUEL MASTER. — SOLD AGAIN 
 AND RESTORED TO MY MOTHER. 
 
 A^ 
 
 FTER the sale of my father by Newman, Dr. 
 L McPherson would no longer hire out my 
 mother to hira. She returned, accordingly, to his 
 estate. He was far kinder to his slaves than the 
 planters generally were, never suffering them to be 
 struck by any one. He was a man of good, kind 
 impulses, liberal, jovial, hearty. No degree of arbi- 
 trary power could ever lead him to cruelty. Aa 
 the first negro child ever born to him, I was his 
 especial pet. He gave me his own Christian name, 
 Josiah, and with that he also gave me my last name, 
 Henson, after an uncle of his, who was an officer in 
 the revolutionary war. A bright spot in my child- 
 hood was my residence with him — bright, but, alas I 
 fleeting. Events were rapidly maturing which were 
 to change thb whole aspect of my life. The kind 
 doctor was not exempt from that failing which too 
 often besets easy, social natures in a dissipated 
 community. He could not restrain his convivial 
 propensities. Although he maintained a high repu- 
 
18 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 tation for goodness of heart and r.n almost saint- 
 like benevolence, the habit of intemperance steadily 
 gained ground, and finally occasioned his death. 
 Two negroes on the plantation found him one morn- 
 ing lying dead in the middle of a narrow stream, 
 not a foot in depth. He had been away the night 
 previous at a social party, and when returning home 
 had fallen from his horse, probably, and being too 
 intoxicated to stagger through the stream, fell and 
 was drowned. " There's the place where massa 
 got drownded at; " how well I remember having 
 it pointed out to me in those very words. 
 
 For two or three yeais my mother and her young 
 family of six children had resided on the doctor's 
 estate, and we had been in the main very happy. 
 She wus a good mother to us, a woman of deep piety, 
 anxious above all things to touch our hearts with a 
 sense of religion. How or where she acquired her 
 knowledge of God, or ner acquaintance with the 
 Lord's Prayer, which she so frequently taught us to 
 repeat, I am unable to say. I remember seeing her 
 often on her knees, and hearing her pray by repeat- 
 ing constant ejaculations, and short phrases which 
 were within my infant comprehension, and have re- 
 mained in my memory to this hour. 
 
 Our term of happy union as one family was now, 
 alas ! at an end. The doctor's death was a great 
 calamity to us, for the estate and the slaves were to 
 be sold and the proceeds divided among the heirs. 
 The first sad announcement that the sale was to be ; 
 the knowledge that all ties of the past were to be 
 Bundered ; the frantic terror at the idea of being sent 
 
' MY FIRST GREAT TRIAL. 19 
 
 ** down south ; " the almost certainty that one mem- 
 ber of a family will be torn from another ; the anxious 
 scanning of purchasers' faces ; the agony at parting, 
 often ibr ever, with husband, wife, child — these must 
 be seen and felt to be fully understood. Young as I 
 was then, the iron entered into my souL The re- 
 membrance of the breaking up of McPherson's estate 
 is photographed in its minutest features in my mind. 
 The crowd collected round the stand, the huddling 
 group of negroes, the examination of muscle, teeth, 
 the exhibition of agility, the look of the auctioneer, 
 the agony of my mother — I can shut my eyes and 
 see them all. 
 
 My brothers and sisters were bid off first, and one 
 by one, while my mother, paralysed by grief, held 
 me by the hand. Her turn came, and she was 
 bought by Isaac Riley, of Montgomery county. 
 Then I was offered to the assembled purchasers. 
 My mother, half- distracted with the thought of 
 parting for ever from all her children, pushed 
 through the crowd, while the bidding for me was 
 going on, to the spot where Riley was standing. 
 She fell at his feet, and clung to his knees, entreat- 
 ing him in tones that a mother only could command, 
 to buy her hahy as well as herself, and spare to her 
 one, at least, of her little ones. Will it, can it be 
 believed that this man, thus appealed to, was capable 
 not merely of turning a deaf ear to her supplication, 
 but of disengaging himself from her with such 
 violent blows and kicks, as to reduce he^ to the 
 necessity of creeping out of his reach, and mingling 
 the groan of bodily suffering with the sob of a break- 
 
20 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 ing heart ? As she crawled away from the brutal 
 man, I heard her sob out, "Oh, Lord Jesus, how 
 long, how long shall I suffer this way ? " I must 
 have been then between five and six years old. 
 
 I was bought by a stranger named Robb, and 
 truly a robber he was to me. He took me to his 
 home, about forty miles distant, and put me into his 
 negro quarters with about forty others, of all ages, 
 colours, and conditions, all strangers to me. Of 
 course nobody cared for me. The slaves were 
 brutalised by this degradation, and had no sympathy 
 for me. I soon fell sick, and lay for some days 
 almost dead on the ground. Sometimes a slave 
 would give me a piece of corn-bread, or a bit of 
 lierring. Finally I became so feeble that I could 
 not move. This, however, was fortunate for me ; for 
 in the course of a few weeks, Robb met Riiey, who 
 had bought my mother, and offered to sell me to him 
 cheap. Riley said he was afraid " the little nigger 
 would die;" but he agreed, finally, to pay a small 
 sum for me in horse- shoeing if I lived, and nothing 
 if I died. Robb was a tavern-keeper, and owned a 
 line of stages with the horses, and lived near Mont- 
 gomery Court House ; Riley carried on blaclcsmithing 
 about five miles from that place. This clenched the 
 bargain, and T was soon sent to my mother. A 
 blessed change it was. I had been lying on a lot of 
 rags, thrown on a dirt floor. All day long I had 
 been left alone, crying for water, crying for mother ; 
 the slaves, who left at daylight, when they returned 
 cared nothing for me. Now, I was once more with 
 my best friend on earth, and under her care ; desti- 
 
MY /IRST GREAT TRIAL. 
 
 21 
 
 tute as she was of the proper means of nursing me, I 
 recovered my health, and grew to be an uncommonly 
 vigorous boy and man. 
 
 I faithfully served Eiley for many years. He was 
 coarse and vulgar in his habits, and unprincipled 
 and cruel in his general deportment. His slaves had 
 little opportunity for relaxation from wearying 
 labour, were supplied with the scantiest means of 
 sustaining their toil by necessary food, and had no 
 security for personal rights. When such a master 
 is a tyrant, the slaves often become cringing, 
 treacherous, false, and thieving. Riley and his 
 slaves were no exception to the general rule, but 
 might be cited as apt illustrations of the nature of 
 the relation. 
 
 ■«*>•■■ 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 
 
 EARLY EMPLOYMENT. — SLAVE-LIFE. — FOOD, LODGING, CLOTHING. — 
 AMUSEMENTS.— GLEAMS OF SUNSHINE. — MY KNIGHT-ERRANTKY. 
 — BECOME AN OVERSEER AND GENKRAL SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 MY earliest employments were, to carry buckets of 
 water to the men at work, and to hold a horse- 
 plough, used for weeding between the rows of corn. 
 As I grew older and taller, I was entrusted with the 
 care of master's saddle-horse. Then a hoe was put 
 into my hands, and I was soon required to do the 
 day's work of a man ; and it was not long before I 
 could do it, at least as well as my associates in 
 misery. 
 
 A description of the everyday life of a slave on 
 a southern plantation illustrates the character and 
 habits of the slave and the slaveholder, created and 
 perpetuated by their relative position. The prin- 
 cipal food of those upon my master's plantation con- 
 sisted of corn-meal, and salt herrings ; to which was 
 added in summer a little buttermilk, and the few 
 vegetables which each might raise for himself and 
 his family, on the little piece of ground which was 
 assigned to him for the purpose, called a truck- 
 patch. 7 7" 
 
 In ordinary times we had two regular meals in a 
 
MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 23 
 
 day: breakfast at twelve o'clock, after labouring 
 from daylight, and supper when the work of the 
 remainder of the day was over. In harvest season 
 we had three. Our dress was of tow-cloth ; for the 
 children, nothing but a shirt ; for the older ones a 
 pair of pantaloons or a gown in addition, according 
 to the sex. Besides these, in the winter a round 
 jacket or overcoat, a wool-hat once in two or three 
 years, for the males, and a pair of coarse shoes once 
 a year. 
 
 We lodged in log huts, and on the bare ground. 
 Wooden floors were an unknown luxury. In a 
 single room were huddled, like cattle, ten or a dozen 
 persons, men, women, and children. All ideas of 
 refinement and decency were, of course, out of the 
 question. We had neither bedsteads, nor furniture 
 of any description. Our beds were collections of 
 straw and old rags, thrown down in the corners and 
 boxed in with boards; a single blanket the only 
 covering. Our favourite way of sleeping, however, 
 was on a plank, our heads raised on an old jacket 
 and our feet toasting before the smouldering fire. 
 The wind whistled and the rain and snow blew in 
 through the cracks, and the damp earth soaked in 
 the moisture till the floor was miry as a pig-sty. 
 Such were our houses. In these wretched hovels 
 were we penned at night, and fed by day ; here were 
 the children born and the sick — neglected. 
 
 Notwithstanding this system of management I 
 grew to be a robust and vigorous lad. At fifteen 
 years of age there were few who could compete 
 with me in work or sport. I was as lively as a 
 
24 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 young buck, and running over with animal spirits. 
 I could run faster, wrestle better, and jump higher 
 than anybody about me, and at an evening shake- 
 down in our own or a neighbour's kitchen, my feet 
 became absolutely invisible from the rate at which 
 they moved. All this caused my master and my 
 fellow-slaves to look upon me as a wonderfully smart 
 fellow, and prophecy the great things I should do 
 when I became a man. My vanity became vastly 
 inflamed, and 1 fully coincided in their opinion. 
 Julius Caesar never aspired and plotted for the im- 
 perial crown more ambitiously than did I to out-hoe, 
 out-reap, out-husk, out-dance, out-strip every com- 
 petitor ; and from all I can learn he never enjoyed 
 his triumph half as much. One word of commen- 
 dation from the petty despot who ruled over us 
 would set me up for a month. 
 
 God be praised, that, however hedged In by cir- 
 cumstances, the joyful exuberance of youth will 
 bound at times over them all. Ours is a light- 
 hearted race. The sternest and most covetous 
 master cannot frighten or whip the fun out of us ; 
 certainly old Rilov never did out of me. In those 
 days I had many a merry time, and would have had, 
 had I lived with nothing but moccasins and rattle- 
 snakes in Okafenoke swam^\ Slavery did its best to 
 make me wretched, but, along with memories of miry 
 cabins, frosted feet, weary toil under the blazing 
 sun, curses and blows, there flock in others, of 
 jolly Christmas times, dances before old massa's door 
 for the first drink of egg-nog, extra meat at holiday 
 times, midnight- visits to apple-orchards, broiling 
 
MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. £5 
 
 stray chickens, and first-rate tricks to dodge work. 
 The God who makes the lambs gambol, the kittens 
 play, the birds sing, and the fish leap, gave me a 
 light, merry, and joyous heart. True it was, that 
 the fun and freedom of Christmas, at which time my 
 master relaxed his front, was generally followed up 
 by a portentous back-action, under which he drove 
 and cursed worse than ever ; still the fun and free- 
 dom were fixed facts ; we had had them and he could 
 not help it. 
 
 Besides these pleasant memories I have others of 
 a deeper and richer kind. I early learned to employ 
 my spirit of adventure for the benefit of my fellow- 
 sufferers. The condition of the male slave is bad 
 enough ; but that of the female, often compelled to 
 perform severe labour, sick or well, unpitied and 
 unaided, is one that arouses the spirit of sympathy 
 in every heart not dead to all feeling. The miseries 
 which I saw many of the women suffer, often 
 oppressed me with a load of sorrow. No tvhite 
 knight, rescuing a white fair ladv from cruel oppres- 
 sion, ever felt the throbbing of a chivalrous heart more 
 intensely than T, a black knight, did, when running 
 down a chicken to hide it in an out-of-the-way place 
 till dark, that I might be able then to carry it to 
 some poor overworked black fair one, to whom it was 
 at once food, luxury, and medicine. No Scotch 
 borderer, levying black mail or sweeping off a drove 
 of cattle, ever felt more assured of the justice of 
 his act than I of mine, when I was driving a pig or 
 a sheep a mile or two into the woods, to slaughter 
 
 \.''Vv 
 
26 MRS. H. BEECHER 8T0WE S " UKCLE TOM. * 
 
 for the good of those whom Riley was starving. I 
 felt good, moral, heroic. 
 
 "Was this wrong ? I can only say in reply, that, 
 at this distance of time, my conscience does not 
 reproach me for it. Then I esteemed it among the 
 best of my deeds. It was my training in the luxury 
 of doing good, in the divinity of a sympathetic heart, 
 in the righteousness of indignation against the cruel 
 and oppressive. There and then was my soul made 
 conscious of all the chivalry of which my circum- 
 stances and condition in life admitted. I love the 
 sentiment in its splendid environment of castles, 
 and tilts, and gallantry ; but having fallen on other 
 times, I loved it also in the homely guise of Sambo 
 as Paladin, Dinah as an oppressed maiden, and old 
 Riley as grim oppressor. 
 
 By means of the influence thus acquired, the great 
 amount of work I performed upon the farm, and by 
 the detection of the knavery of the overseer, who 
 plundered his employer for more selfish ends, was 
 caught in the act and dismissed, I was promoted to 
 be superintendent of the farm -work, and managed 
 to raise more than double the crops, with more 
 cheerful and willing labour, than was ever seen on 
 the estate before. - 
 
 I was now, practically, overseer. My pride and 
 ambition had made me master of every kind of farm- 
 work. But, like all ambition, its reward was in- 
 crease of burdens. The crops of wheat, oats, barley, 
 potatoes, corn, tobacco, all had to be cared for by 
 me. I was often compelled to start at midnight 
 with the waggon for the distant market, to drive on 
 
MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 27 
 
 through mud and rain till morning, sell the produce, 
 retich home hungry and tired, and nine times out of 
 ten, reap my sole reward in curses for not getting 
 higher prices. My master was a fearful blasphemer. 
 Clearly as he saw my profitableness to him, he was 
 too much of a brute to reward me with kindness or 
 even decent treatment. Previous to my attaining 
 this important station, however, an incident occurred 
 which produced so powerful an influence on my in- 
 tellectual development, my character, condition, 
 my religious culture, and in short, on my whole 
 nature, body and soul, that it deserves especial 
 notice and commemoration. This, however, requires 
 another chapter. 
 
 >^*>' 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 MY CONVERSION". 
 
 MY PUAYINO MOTHER, — A GOOD MAN. — HEAR A SERMON FOR THR 
 FIRST TIME.— ITS EFFECT UPON MB. — PRAYER AND COMMUNION. 
 — ITS FIRST FRUITS. 
 
 I REMEMBER being torn from a dear and affec- 
 tionate mother ; I saw her tears and heard her 
 groans ; I remember all the particulars. From a 
 little boy up I have remembered my mother ; I re- 
 member what the prayers of my dear mother were ; 
 I have heard her pray for me ; for she was a good 
 Christian woman before I was born ; and I thank 
 God that I wa3 born of a good Christian mother, a 
 mother whose prayers fell on my ear. Of all earthly 
 blessings there is none can approach to a good 
 mother. I remember her entreaties; I remember 
 her prayers to God for mc. Blessed is the child, 
 the son or daughter, that has the prayers of a 
 mother. I remember well the feeling that those 
 prayers wrought upon my heart, though I was but 
 a boy. 
 
 My heart exults with gratitude when I mention the 
 name of a good man who first taught me the blessed- 
 ness of religion. His name was John McKenny. 
 He lived at Georgetown, a few miles only from 
 Kiley's plantation ; his business was that of a baker, 
 
MY CONVERSION. 29 
 
 and his character was that of an upright, benevolent 
 Christian. He was noted especially for his detesta- 
 tion of slavery, and his resolute avoidance of the em- 
 ployment of slave-labour in his business. Ho would 
 not even hire a slave, the price of whose toil must bo 
 paid to his master, but contented himself with the 
 work of his own hands, and with such free labour as 
 he could procure. His reputation was high, not only 
 for this almost singular abstinence from what no one 
 about him thought wrong, but for his general probity 
 and excellence. This man occasionally served as a 
 minister of the Gospel, and preached in a neighbour- 
 hood where preachers were somewhat rare at that 
 period. One Sunday when he was to officiate in this 
 way, at a place three or four miles di&'tant, my mother 
 urged me to ask master's permission to go and hear 
 him. I had so often been beaten for making such a 
 request that I refused to make it. My mother came 
 to me and said : " Now, my son, I want you to go 
 and ask master to let you go down and hear Mr. 
 McKenny preach." I said to my mother: "I do 
 not want to go ; I am afraid he will beat me." She 
 said : " Go and ask him." I turned round, like 
 many other boys, and said I would not go. She 
 was standing against a rail; she dropped her head 
 down and shed a tear. I stood and looked at her 
 and was touched at her sorrow. I said : " I will 
 go, mother." She said : " That is right." I weni 
 up to the house, and just before I got to the door, 
 master saw my shadow. He turned round and asked 
 what I wanted. I said ; " I want to ask you if I 
 
 
30 MRS. H. BEECHEK STOWe's " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 can go to the meeting." "Where?" " Down at New* 
 port Mill." " Who is going to preach ? " " Mr. 
 McKenny." " What do you want to hear him 
 preach for ? " Here I was in a difhculty ; I did 
 not know what I wanted to go for, and I told him 
 80. " What good will it do for you ? " Here I 
 was at another point. " Who put that into your 
 head ? " There was another thing ; I did not want 
 to get my poor old mother into trouble. But she 
 had always told me to tell the truth. So I answered : 
 " My mother." ** Ah," said he, "I thought it was 
 your mother. I suppose she wants to have you 
 spoilt. When will you come back ? " " As soon 
 as meeting is over." Well. I went to the meet- 
 ing, I heard the preacher, hut I could not see him. 
 They would not let niggers go into the meeting. I 
 went all round the house ; I could hear him, and at 
 last I got in front of the door. I saw him with his 
 hands raised, looking up to heaven, and he said, with 
 emphasis : " Jesus Christ, the Son of God, tasted 
 death for every man ; for the high, for the low, for 
 the rich, for the poor, the bond, the free, the negro 
 in his chains, the man in gold and diamonds." His 
 heart was filled with the love of Christ, and by the 
 power of the Spirit of God he preached a universal 
 salvation through Jesus Christ. I stood and heard it. 
 It touched my heart, and I cried out : " I wonder if 
 Jesus Christ died for me." And then I wondered 
 what could have induced Him to die for me. I was 
 then eighteen years old, I had never heard a sermon, 
 nor any conversation whatever, upon religious topics, 
 
MY CONVERSION. 31 
 
 except what 1 had heard from my mother, on the 
 responsibility of all to a Supreme Being. This was 
 Heb. ii. 9, the first text of the Bible to which I had 
 ever listened, knowing it to be such. I have never 
 forgotten it, and scarcely a day has passed since, in 
 which I have not recalled it, and the sermon that 
 was preached from it. 
 
 The divine character of Jesus Christ, His tender 
 love for mankind, His forgiving spirit. His compas- 
 sion for the outcast and despised. His cruel cruci- 
 fixion and glorious ascension, were all depicted, and 
 some of the points were dwelt on with great power ; 
 ^reat, at least, to me, who then heard of these things 
 for the first time in my life. Again and again did 
 the preacher reiterate the words **/or every man." 
 These glad tidings, this salvation, were not for the 
 benefit of a select few only. They were for the slave 
 as well as the master, the poor as «rell as the rich, 
 for the persecuted, the distressed, the heavy-laden, 
 the captive; even for me among the rest, a poor, 
 despised, abused creature, deemed by others fit for 
 nothing but unrequited toil — but mental and bodily 
 degradation. Oh, the blessedness and sweetness of 
 feeling that I was loved ! I would have died that 
 moment with joy, and I kept repeating to myself, 
 *• The compassionate Saviour about whom I have heard 
 ' loves me,' * He looks down in compassion from 
 heaven on me,' 'He died to eavo my soul,' and 
 ' He'll welcoipc me to the skies.'" I was transported 
 with delicious joy. I seemed to see a glorious being, 
 in a cloud of splendour, smiling down from on high 
 
32 MRS. H. BEEOHER STOWE's '* UNCLE TOM." 
 
 In sharp contrast with the experience I had felt of 
 the contempt and brutality of my earthly master, 
 I basked, as it were, in tho benign smiles of this 
 Heavenly Being. I thought, *' He*ll be my dear refuge 
 — He'll wipe away all tears from my eyes." " Now 
 I can bear all things ; nothing will seem hard after 
 this." I felt sure that if " Massa Riley " only knew 
 Him, he would not live such a coarse, wicked, cruel 
 life. Swallowed up in the beauty of the divine love, 
 I " loved my enemies, and prayed for them that did 
 despitefully use and entreat me.'* 
 
 Kevolving the things which I had heard in my 
 mind as I went home. I became so excited that I 
 turned aside from the road into the woods, and 
 prayed to God for light and for aid with an earnest- 
 ness, which, however unenlightened, was at least 
 sincere and heartfelt ; and which the subsequent 
 course of my life has led me to imagine was accept- 
 able to Him who heareth prayer. At all events, I 
 date my conversion, and my awakening to a new 
 life — a consciousness of power and a destiny superior 
 to anything I had before conceived of — from this 
 day, so memorable to me. I used every means and 
 opportunity of inquiry into religious matters ; and 
 so deep was my conviction of their superior import- 
 ance to everything else, so clear my perception of 
 my own faults, and so undoubting my observation 
 of the darkness and sin that surrounded me, that I 
 could not help talking much on these subjects with 
 those about me ; and it was not long before I began 
 to pray with them, exhort them, and impart to the 
 
MY CONVERSION. 83 
 
 poor slaves those little glimmerings of light from 
 another world, which had reached my own eye. In 
 a few years 1 became quite an esteemed preacher 
 among them, and I believe that, through the grace 
 of God, I was useful to many. 
 
 I must return, however, for the present, to the 
 course of my life in secular affairs, th« ftw»<^* f^f which 
 Lt is my principal object to relate. 
 
 !■ ■•■ 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 MAIMED FOR LIFE. 
 
 TAKINO CAnE OP MY DRUNKEN MASTER.— HIS FIGHT WITH AN 
 OVKRSEEIl. — RESCUE HIM. — AM TERRIBLY BEATEN BY THE OVER- 
 SVr.R. — MY MASTER SEEKS REDRESS AT LAW, BUT FAILS. — 
 SUFFKUIXGS THEN AND SINCE. — RETAIN MY POST AS SUPERIN- 
 TENDENT. 
 
 THE difference between the manner in which it 
 was designed that all men should repaid one 
 another as children of the same Father, and the 
 manner in which men of different colour actually 
 treated each other, is well exemplified by an incident 
 that happened to me within a year or two from this 
 period ; that is, when I was nineteen or twenty years 
 old. My master's habits were such as were common 
 enough among the dissipated planters of the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and one of their frequent practices was 
 to assemble on Satrrday or Sunday, which were 
 their holidays, and gamble, run horses, or fight 
 game-cocks, discuss politics, and drink whisky and 
 brandy-and-water all day long. Perfectly aware 
 that they would not be able to find their own way 
 homo at night, each one ordered his body-servant 
 to come after him and help him home. I was chosen 
 for this confidential duty by my master ; and many 
 were the times I have held him on his horse, when he 
 
' i .' MAIMED FOR LIFE. S6; 
 
 could not lioIJ himself in the saddle, and walked 
 by his side in darkness and mud from the tavern 
 to his house. Quarrels and brawls of the most 
 violent description were frequent consequences of 
 these meetings ; and whenever they became espe- 
 cially dangerous, and glasses were thrown, dirks 
 drawn, and pistols fired, it was the duty of tho 
 slaves to rush in, and each one drag liis master 
 from the fight, and cany hira home. To tell the 
 truth, this was a part of my business for which I 
 felt no reluctance. I was young, remarkably athletio 
 and self-relying, and in such affrays I carried it 
 with a high hand, and would elbow my way among 
 the vfhites, — whom it would have been almost death 
 for me to strike, — seize my master and drag him 
 out, mount him on his horse, or crowd him into his 
 buggy, with the ease with which I would handle a 
 bag of corn. I knew that I was doing for him what 
 he could not do for himself, showing my superiority 
 to others, and acquiring their respect in some degree, 
 at the same time. 
 
 On one of these occasions my master got into a 
 quarrel with his brother's overseer, Bryce Litton. 
 All present sided with Litton against him, and soon 
 there was a general row. I was sitting, at the time, 
 out on the front steps of the tavern, and, hearing 
 the scuffle, rushed in to look after my charge. My 
 master, a stout man and a terrible bruiser, could 
 generally hold his own in an ordinary general fight, 
 and clear a handsome space around him ; but now ho 
 was cornered, and a dozen were striking at him with 
 fists, crockery, chairs, an I anything that came bandy. 
 
36 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE*S " 0NCLE TOM." 
 
 The moment ho saw me, ho hallooed, "That's it, 
 Sie ! pitch in ! show me fair play." It was a rough 
 business, and I went in roughly, shoving, tripping, 
 and doing my best for the rcocue. With infinite 
 tiouble, and many a bruise on my own head and 
 shoulders, I at length got him out of the room. He 
 was crazy with drink and rage, and struggled hard 
 with me to get back and renew the fight. But I 
 managed to force him into his waggon, jump in, 
 and drive olf. 
 
 By ill-luck, in the heigbt of the scuffle, Bryce 
 Litton got a severe fall. Whether the whisky he 
 had drunk, or a chance- shove from me, was the 
 cause, I am unable to say. He, however, attributed 
 it to me, and treasured up his vengeance for the 
 first favourable opportunity. The opportunity soon 
 came. 
 
 About a week afterwards, I was sent by my master 
 to a place a few miles distant, on horseback, with some 
 letters. I took a short cut through a lane, separated 
 by gates from the high road, and bounded by a fence 
 on each side. This lane passed through a part of the 
 farm owned by mv master's brother, and his over- 
 seer was in the a , )ining field, with three negroes, 
 when I went by. On my return, half an hour after- 
 wards, the overseer was sitting on the fence, but I 
 could see nothing of the black fellows. I rode 
 on, utterly unsuspicious of any trouble ; but as I 
 approached, he jumped off the fence, and at the same 
 moment two of the negroes sprang up from under 
 the bushes where they had been concealed, and 
 stood with him immediately in front of me, while 
 
 esa? 
 
MAIMED FOR LIFE. 37 
 
 the third sprang over the fence just behind me. I 
 was thus enclosed batween what I could no loiiger 
 doubt were hostile forces. The overseer seized my 
 horse's bridle and ordered me to alight, in the usual 
 elegant phraseology addressed by such men to slaves. 
 I asked what I was to alight for. "To take the 
 worst flogging you ever had in your life, you black 
 scoundrel." He added many oaths that I will not 
 repeat. " But what am I to be flogged for, Mr. 
 L. ? " I asked. " Not a word,';, said he, ♦' but 'light 
 at once, and take off your jacket." I saw there was 
 nothing else to be done, and slipped off the horse on 
 the opposite side from him. "Now take off your 
 shirt," cried he ; and as I dem'^rred at this he lifted 
 a stick he had in his hand to strike me, but so sud- 
 denly and violently that he frightened the horse, 
 which broke away from him and ran home. I was 
 thus left without means of escape to sustain the 
 attacks of four men as well as I might. In avoiding 
 Mr. L.'s blow, I had accidentally got into a corner 
 of the fence where I could not be approached except 
 in front. The overseer called upon the negroes to 
 seize me ; but they, knowing something of my 
 physical power, were slow to obey. At length they 
 did their best, and as they brought themselves 
 within my reach I knocked them down successively ; 
 and I gave one of them, who tried to trip up my 
 feet, when he was down, a kick with my heavy shoe, 
 which knocked out several teeth, and sent him howl- 
 ing away. 
 
 Meanwhile Bryce Litton beat my head with a 
 stick, not heavy enough to knock me down, but 
 
38 MRS. 11. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 it drew blood freely. lie shouted all the while, 
 " Won't you give up ! won't you give up ! " adding 
 oath after oath. Exasperated at my defence, he sud- 
 denly seized a heavy fence-rail and rushed at m© 
 with rage. Thp ponderous blow fell ; I lifted my 
 arm to ward it off, the bono cracked like a pipb-stem, 
 and I fell headlong to the ground, licpeated blows 
 then rained on rav back till both shoulder-blades 
 were broken, and the blood gushed copiously from 
 my mouth. In vain the negroes interposed. " Didn't 
 you see the nigger strike me ?" Of course they must 
 say " Yes," although the lying coward had avoided 
 close quarters, and fought with his stick alone. At 
 length, his vengeance satisfied, he desisted, telling me 
 ** to remember what it was to strike a white man." 
 
 Meanwhile an alarm had been raised at the house 
 by the return of the horse without his rider, and my 
 master started off with a small party to learn what 
 the trouble was. "When he first saw me he swore 
 with rage. ** You've been fighting, you mean 
 nigger !" I told him Bryce Litton had been beating 
 me, because he said I shoved him the other night at 
 the tavern, when they had a fuss. Seeing how muc 
 I was injured, he became still more fearfully mad; 
 and after having me carried home, mounted his liorSe 
 and rode over to Montgomery Court House to enter 
 a complaint. Little good came of it. Litton swore 
 that when he spoke to me in the lane I " sassed " 
 him, jumped off my horse, attacked him, and would 
 have killed him but for the help of his negroes. Of 
 course no negro's testimony was admitted against a 
 white man, and he was acquitted. My master was 
 obliged to pay all the costs of court ; and although 
 
MAIMED FOR I IFE. 89 
 
 he had the satisfaction of calling Litton a liar and 
 scoundrel, and giving him a tremendous bruising, 
 still even this partial compensation was rendered los3 
 gratifying by what followed, which was a suit for 
 damages and a heavy fine. 
 
 My suiFerings after this cruel treatment were 
 Intense. Besides my broken arm and the wounds 
 on my head, I could feel and hear the pieces of my 
 shoulder-blades grate against each other with every 
 breath. No physician or surgeon was called to dress 
 my wounds, and I never knew one to be called on 
 Ptiley's estate on any occasion whatever. *' A nigger 
 will get well anyway," was a fixed principle of faith, 
 and facts seemed to justify it. The robust, physical 
 health produced by a life of outdoor labour, made 
 our wounds heal with as little Inflammation as they 
 do in the case of cattle. I was attended by my 
 master's sister, Miss Patty, as we called her, the 
 Esculaplus of the plantation. She was a powerful, 
 big-boned woman, who flinched at no responsibility, 
 from wrenching out teeth to setting bones. I have 
 seen her go Into the house and get a rifle to shoot a 
 furious ox that the negroes were in vain trying to 
 butcher. She splintered my arm and bound up my 
 back as well as she knew how. Alas ! it was but 
 cobbler's work. From that day to this I have been 
 unable to raise my hands as high as my head. It 
 was five months before I could work at all, and tlie 
 first time I tried to plough, a hard knock of the 
 coulter against a stone shattered my shoulder-blades 
 again, and gave me even greater agony than at 
 first. And so I have gone through life' maimed and 
 mutilated. Practice in time enabled me to perform 
 
40 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 many of the farm labours with considerable effi- 
 ciency ; but the free, vigorous play of the muscles of 
 my arm was gone for ever. 
 
 I retained my situation as overseer, together with 
 the especial favour of my master, who was pleased 
 with saving the expense of a large salary for a white 
 superintendent, and with the superior crops I was 
 able to raise for him. I will not deny that I used 
 his property more freely than he would have done 
 himself, in supplying his people with better food ; 
 but if I cheated him in this way, in small matters, 
 it was unequivocally for his own benefit in more 
 important ones ; and I accounted, with the strictest 
 honesty, for every dollar I received in the sale of the 
 property entrusted to me. Gradually the disposal of 
 everything raised on the farm, — the wheat, oats, 
 hay, fruit, butter, and whatever else there might be, 
 — was confided to me, as it was quite evident that I 
 could and did sell for better prices than any one else 
 he could employ, and he was quite incompetent to 
 attend to the business himself. For many years I 
 was his factotum, and supplied him with all his 
 means for all his purposes, whether they were good 
 or bad. I had no reason to think highly of his 
 moral character ; but it was my duty to be faithful 
 to him in the position in which he placed mo ; and I 
 can boldly declare, before God and man, that I was 
 so. I forgave him the causeless blows and injuries 
 he had inflicted on me in childhood and youth, and 
 was proud of the favour he now showed me, and of 
 the character and reputation I had earned by strenu- 
 ous and persevering efforts. 
 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 A RESPONSIBLE JOUENEY. 
 
 MY MARRIAGE.— MABBIAGB OF MY MASTER.— HIS RUIN.— COMES TO 
 ME FOR AID. — A GREAT ENTERPRISE UNDERTAKEN. — LONG AND 
 SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY. — INCIDENTS BY THE WAY.— STRUGGLE 
 BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY. — DUTY TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 WHEN I was about twenty-two years of age, I 
 married a very eflB.cient, and, for a slave, a 
 very well-taught girl, belonging to a neighbouring 
 family reputed to be pious and kind. I first met her 
 at the religious meetings which I attended. She has 
 borne me twelve children, seven of whom still survive 
 and promise to be the comfort of my declining 
 years. 
 
 For a considerable period, my occupations were to 
 superintend the farming operations, and to sell the 
 produce in the neighbouring markets of Washington 
 and Georgetown. Many respectable people, yet 
 living there, may possibly have some recollection of 
 " Siah," or " Sie," (as they used to call me,) as their 
 market-man ; but if they have forgotten me, I re- 
 member them with an honest satisfaction. 
 
 At length my master, at the age of forty-five, 
 married a young woman of eighteen, who had some 
 little property, and more thrift. Her economy was 
 remarkable, and she added no comfort to the estab- 
 
42 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM.*' 
 
 lishment. She had a younger brother, Francis, to 
 whom miey was appointed guardian, and who used 
 to complain of the meanness of the provision made 
 for the household ; he would often come to me, with 
 tears in his eyes, to tell me he could not get enough 
 to eat. I made him my friend for life, by sympa- 
 thising with him and satisfying his appetite, by 
 sharing with him the food I took care to provide for 
 my own family. He is still living, and, I under- 
 stand, one of the wealthiest men in Washington 
 city. 
 
 After a time, however, continual dissipation was 
 more than a match for domestic saving. My master 
 fell into difficulty, and from difficulty into a lawsuit 
 with a brother-in-law, who charged him with dis- 
 honesty in the management of property confided to 
 him in trust. The lawsuit was protracted enough 
 to causG his ruin of itself. 
 
 Harsh and tyrannical as my master had been, I 
 really pitied him in his present distress. At times 
 he was dreadfully dejected, at others, crazy with 
 drink and rage. Day after day would he ride over 
 to Montgomery Court House about his business, and 
 every day his affairs grew more desperate. He 
 would come into my cabin to tell me how things 
 were going, but spent the time chiefly in lamenting 
 his misfortunes and cursing his brother-in-law. I 
 tried to comfort him as best I could. He had con- 
 fidence in my fidelity and judgment, and partly 
 through pride, partly through that divine spirit of 
 love I had learned to worship in Jesus, I entered 
 with interest into all his perplexities. The poor, 
 
A RESPONSIBLE JOURNEY. 43 
 
 drinking, furious, shiftless, moaning creature was 
 utterly incapable of managing his affairs. 
 
 One night in the month of January, long after I 
 had fallen asleep, he came into my cabin and waked 
 me up. I thought it strange, but for a time he said 
 nothing, and sat moodily warming himself at the 
 fire. Then he began to groan and .vring his hands. 
 •* Sick, massa ? " said I. lie made no reply, but 
 kept on moaning. "Can't I help you any way> 
 massa ? " I spoke tenderly, for my heart was full 
 of compassion at his wretched appearance. At last, 
 collecting himself, he cried, " Oh, Sie ! I'm ruined, 
 ruined, ruined!" "How so, massa?" "They've 
 got j udgment against me, and in less than two weeks 
 every nigger I've got will be put up and sold." 
 Then he burst into a storm of curses at his brother- 
 in-law. I sat silent, powerless to utter a word. Pity 
 for him and terror at the anticipation of my own 
 family's future fate filled my heart. "And now, 
 Sie," he continued, " there's only one way I can 
 save anything. You can do it ; won't you, won't 
 you ? " In his distress he rose and actually threw 
 his arms around me. Misery had levelled all dis- 
 tinctions. " If I can do it, massa, I will. What is 
 it?" Without replying he went on, "Won't you, 
 won't you ? I raised you, Sie ; I made you over- 
 seer ; I know I have abused you, Sie, but I didn't 
 mean it." Still he avoided telling me what he wanted. 
 " Promise me you'll do it, boy." He seemed reso« 
 lately bent on having my promise first, well know- 
 ing from past experience, that what I agreed to do I 
 spared no pains to accomplish. Solicited in this way, 
 
44 MRS. H. BEECHBR ST0WE*8 " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 with urgency and tears, by the man whom I had so 
 zealously served for over thirty years, and who now 
 seemed absolutely dependent upon his slave; im- 
 pelled, too, by the fear which he skilfully awakened, 
 that the sheriff would seize every one who belonged 
 to him, and that all would be separated, or perhaps 
 sold to go to Georgia, or Louisiana — an object of 
 perpetual dread to the slave of the more northern 
 States — I consented, and promised faithfully to do 
 all I could to save him from the fate impending over 
 him. 
 
 At last the proposition came. " I want you to 
 run away, Sie, to my brother Amos in Kentucky, 
 and take all the servants along with you." I could 
 not have been more startled had he asked me to go 
 to the moon. " Kentucky, massa ? Kentucky ? I 
 don't know the way.** " Ob, it's easy enough for a 
 smart fellow like you to find it ; I'll give you a pass 
 and tell you just what to do." Perceiving that I 
 hesitated, he endeavoured to frighten me by again 
 referring to the terrors of being sold and taken to 
 Georgia. 
 
 For two "- three hours he continued to urge the 
 undertaking,, appealing to my pride, my sympathies, 
 and my fears, and at last, appalling as it seemed, I 
 told him I would do my best. There were eighteen 
 negroes, besides my wife, two children, and myself 
 to transport nearly a thousand miles, through a 
 country about which I knew nothing, and in mid- 
 winter, for it was the month of February, 1825. 
 My master proposed to follow me in a few months, 
 and establish himself in Kentucky, 
 
A RESPONSIBLE JOUKNET. 45 
 
 My mind once made up, I sot earnestly about tlie 
 needful preparations. They were few and easily 
 made. A one-horse waggon, well-stocked with oats, 
 meal, and bacon, for our own and the horse's sup- 
 port, was soon made ready. My pride was aroused 
 in view of the importance of ray responsibility, and 
 heart and soul I became identified with ray master's 
 project of running off his negroes. The second 
 night after the scheme was formed, we were under 
 way. Fortunately for the success of the undertak- 
 ing, these people had long been under my direction, 
 and were devotedly attached to rae in return for the 
 many alleviations I had afforded to their miserable 
 condition, the comforts I had procured them, and 
 the consideration I had always manifested for them. 
 Under these circumstances, no difficulty arose from 
 want of submission to my authority. The dread ot 
 being separated, and sold away down south, should 
 they remain on the old estate, united them as one 
 man, and kept them patient and alert. 
 
 We started from home about eleven o'clock at 
 night, and till the following noon made no permanent 
 halt. The men trudged on foot, the children were 
 put into the waggon, and now and then my wife 
 rode for a while. On we went through Alexandria, 
 Culpepper, Fauquier, Harper's Ferry, Cumberland, 
 over the mountains on the National Turnpike to 
 Wheeling. In all the taverns along the road there 
 were regular places for the droves of nc«:roe8 who 
 were continually passing through the country 
 under the care of overseers. In iheso we lodged, 
 and our lodging constituted our only expense, for our 
 
46 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 food we carried with us. To p,11 who asked questions 
 I showed my master's pass, authorising me to con- 
 duct his negroes to Kentucky, and often was the 
 encomium of " smart nigger " bestowed on me, to 
 my immense gratification. 
 
 At the places where we stopped for the night, we 
 often met negro-drivers with their droves, who were 
 almost uniformly kept chained to pr;jvent them from 
 running away. The inquiry was often propounded 
 to me by the drivers, "Whose niggers are those?" 
 On being informed, the next inquiry usually was,^ 
 ** Where are they going?" " To Kentucky." "Who 
 drives them?" "Well, I have charge of them," 
 was my reply. "What a smart nigger!" was the 
 usual exclamation, with an oath. " Will your master 
 sell you ? Come in and stop with us." In this way 
 I was ofton invited to pass the evening with them in 
 the bar-room ; their negroes, in the meantime, lying 
 chained in the pen, while mine were scattered around 
 at liberty. 
 
 Arriving at Wheeling, in pursuance of the plan 
 laid down by my master, I sold the horse and 
 waggon, and purchased a large boat, called in that 
 region, a yawl. Our mode of locomotion was now 
 decidedly more agreeable than tramping along da}'' 
 after day at the rate we had kept up over since 
 leaving home. Very little labour at the oars was 
 necessary. The tide floated us steadily along, and we 
 had ample leisure to sleep and recruit our strength. 
 
 A nc'.v and unexpected trouble now assailed me. 
 On paboing along the Ohio shore, wo were repeatedly 
 told by persons conversing with us that we were no 
 longer slaves but free men, jf we chose to be so. At 
 
A RESPONSIBLE JOURNEY. >47 
 
 Cincmnati, especially, crowds of coloured people 
 gathered round us, and insisted on our remaining 
 with them. They told us we were fools to think of 
 going on and surrendering ourselves up to a new- 
 owner ; that now we could be our own masters, and 
 put ourselves out of all reach of pursuit. I saw that 
 the people under me were getting much excited. 
 "Divided counsels and signs of insubordination began 
 to manifest themselves. I began, too, to feel my 
 own resolution giving way. Freedom had ever been 
 an object of my ambition, though no other means of 
 obtaining it had occurred to me but purchasing 
 myself. I had never dreamed of running away. I 
 had a sentiment of honour on the subject. The 
 duties of the slave to his master as appointed over 
 him in the Lord, I had ever heard urged by ministers 
 and religious men. Entrancing as the ideas were, 
 that the coast was clear for a run for freedom, that 
 I might liberate my companions, might carry off my 
 wife and children, and some day own a house and 
 land, Lnd be no longer despised and abused, still my 
 notions of right were against it. I had promised my 
 master to take his property to Kentucky, and deposit 
 it with his brother Amos. Pride, too, came in to 
 confirm me. I had undertaken a great thing ; my 
 vanity had been flattered all along the road by hear- 
 ing myself praised ; I thought it would be a feather 
 in my cap to carry it through thoroughly, and had 
 often painted the scene in my imagination of the 
 final surrender of my charge to Master Amos, and 
 the immense admiration and respect with which he 
 would regard me. 
 
 Under the influence of these impressions, and 
 
48 MllS. II. BEECIIER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 seeing that the allurements of the crowd were pro- 
 ducing a manifest effect, I sternly assumed the 
 captain, and ordered the boat to be pushed off into the 
 stream. A shower of curses followed me from the 
 shore; but the negroes under me, accustomed to^ 
 obey, and, alas! too degraded and ignorant of the 
 advantages of liberty to know what they were for- 
 feiting, offered no resistance to my command. 
 
 Often since that day has my soul been pierced 
 with bitter anguish, at the thought of having been 
 thus instrumental in consigning to the infernal 
 bondage of slavery, so many of my fellow-beings. I 
 have wrestled in prayer with God for forgiveness. 
 Having experienced myself the sweetness of liberty, 
 and knowing too well the after-misery of a number 
 of these slaves, my infatuation has often seemed to 
 me to have been the unpardonable sin. But I con- 
 sole myself with the thought that I acted according 
 to my best light, though the light that was in me was 
 darkness. Those were my days of ignorance. I 
 knew not then the glory of free manhood, or that the 
 title-deed of the slave-owner is robbery and outrage. 
 
 What advantages I may have personally lost by 
 thus throwing away an opportunity of obtaining 
 freedom ! But the perception of my own strength of 
 character, the feeling of integrity, the sentiment of 
 high honour, I thus gained by obedience to what I 
 believed right, are advantages which I prize. Ho 
 that is faithful over a little, will be faithful over 
 much. Before God I tried to do my best, and the 
 error of judgment lies at the door of the degrading 
 system under which I had been nurtured. 
 
CHAPTER VIL > 
 
 i 
 
 A NEW HOME. y 
 
 flECOME A METHODIST PREACHER.— MY POOR COMPANIONS SOLD. - 
 MY AGONY.— SENT FOR AGAIN.— INTERVIEW WITH A KIND 
 METHODIST PREACHER. — VISIT FREE SOIL AND BEGIN MY 
 STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 I ARRIVED at Davis county, .Kentucky, about the 
 middle of April, 1825, and delivered myself and 
 my companions to my owner's brother, Mr. Amos 
 Eiley, who had a large plantation with from eighty 
 to one hundred negroes. His house was situated about 
 five miles south of the Ohio River, and fifteen miles 
 above the Yellow Banks, on Big Blackfords Creek. 
 There I remained three years, and was employed 
 meantime on the farm, of which I had the general 
 management, in consequence of the recommendation 
 for ability and honesty which I brought with me 
 from Maryland. The situation was, in many re- 
 spects, more comfortable than the one I had left. 
 The farm was larger and more fertile, and there was 
 a greater abundance of food, which is, of course, 
 one of the principal sources of the comfort of a slave, 
 debarred as he is from so many enjoyments which 
 other men can obtain. Sufficiency of food is an im- 
 portant item in any man's account of life ; it is 
 tenfold more so in that of the slave, whose appetite 
 
« TTXTnr x- rrrwf ** 
 
 50 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 is always stimulated by his arduous labour, and whoso 
 mind is little occupied by thought on subjects of 
 deeper interest. My post of superintendent gaye me 
 some advantages, of which I did not fail to avail 
 myself, particularly with regard to those religious 
 privileges, which, since I first heard of Christ and 
 Christianity, had greatly occupied my mind. In 
 Kentucky the opportunities of attending the preach- 
 ing of whites, as well as of blacks, were moro 
 numerous ; and partly by attending them, and the 
 camp-meetings which occurred from time to time, 
 and partly from studying carefully my own heart, 
 and observing the developments of character around 
 me, in all the stations of life which I could watch, I 
 became better acquainted with those religious feel- 
 ings which are deeply implanted in the breast of 
 every human being, and learned by practice how 
 best to arouse them, and keep them excited, how to 
 stir up the callous and indifferent, and, in general, 
 to produce some good religious impressions on the 
 ignorant and thoughtless community by which I was 
 surrounded. 
 
 No great amount of theological knowledge is re- 
 quisite for the purpose. If it had been, it is manifest 
 enough that preaching never could have been my 
 vocation ; but I am persuaded that, speaking from 
 the fulnes3 of a heart deeply impressed with its own 
 sinfulness and imperfection, and with the mercy of 
 God, in Christ Jesus, my humble ministrations have 
 not been entirely useless to those who have had less 
 opportunity than myself to reflect upon these all- 
 iir portant subjects. It is certain that I could not 
 
A NEW HOME. 51 
 
 refrain from the endeavour to do what I saw others 
 doing in this field ; and I laboured at once to improve 
 mvself and those about me in the cultivation of the 
 harvests which ripen only in eternity. I cannot but 
 derive some satisfaction, too, from the proofs I have 
 had that my services have been acceptable to those 
 to whom they have been rendered. In the course of 
 three years, from 1825 to 1828, I availed myself of 
 all the opportunities of improvement which occurred, 
 and was admitted as a preacher by a Quarterly Con- 
 ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1828, news arrived from 
 my master that he was unable to induce his wife to 
 accompany him to Kentucky, and that he must there- 
 fore remain where he was. He sent out an agent to 
 sell all his slaves, except me and my family, and to 
 carry back the proceeds to him. And now another 
 of those heartrending scenes was to be witnessed, 
 which had impressed itself so deeply on my childish 
 soul. Husbands and wives, parents and children, 
 were to be separated for ever. Affections, which are 
 as strong in the African as in the European, were to 
 be cruelly disregarded ; and the iron selfishness 
 generated by the hateful *' institution," was to be 
 exhibited in its most odious and naked deformity. I 
 was exempted from a personal share in the dreadful 
 calamity ; but I could not see without the deepest 
 grief, the agony of my associates. It was like that 
 my own mother had once manifested, when I was 
 separated from her for a time. I could not refrain 
 from feeling the bitterest hatred of the sj^stem, and 
 of those who sustained it. What else, indeed, could be 
 
'o (( TTx -r.r T7 frnxr " 
 
 62 MRS. II. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 the feeling of a slave, liable at every moment of his 
 life to these frightful and unnecessary calamitieSj 
 which might be caused by the caprice, or the supposed 
 necessities of the slaveholders, and inflicted upon 
 him without sympathy or redress, under the sanction 
 of the laws which upheld the institution ? 
 
 As I surveyed this scene, and listened to the 
 groans and outcries of my afflicted companions, my 
 eyes were opened, and I lamented that I had pre- 
 vented them from availing themselves of the oppor- 
 tunity for acquiring freedom which offered itself at 
 Cincinnati. I had only thought of being faithful to 
 my master's interests, and nothing of the welfare of 
 the slaves. Oh ! what would I not have given to 
 have had the chance offered once more ! But now, 
 through me, were they doomed to wear out life 
 miserably in the hot and pestilential climate of the 
 far south. Death would have been welcome to me 
 in my agony. From that hour I saw through, 
 hated, and cursed the whole system of slavery. One 
 absorbing purpose occupied my soul — to gain free- 
 dom, self-assertion, and deliverance from the cruel 
 caprices and fortunes of dissolute tyrants. Once to 
 get away, with ray wife and children, to some spot 
 where I could feel that they were indeed mine — 
 where no grasping master could stand between me 
 and them, as arbiter of their destiny — was a heaven 
 j^earned after with insatiable longing. For it I stood 
 ready to pray, toll, dissemble, plot like a fox, and 
 fight like a tiger. All the noble instincts of my 
 soul, and all the ferocious passions of my animal 
 nature, were aroused and quickened into vigorous 
 action. 
 
A NEW HOME. 53' 
 
 The object of my old master Kiley in directing 
 that I and my family should be exempted from the 
 sale, was a desire on his part to get me back to 
 Maryland, and employ me in his own service. His 
 best farms had been taken away from him, and but a 
 few tracts of poor land remained, which he cultivated 
 with hired labour after I took his slaves, and month, 
 by month he grew poorer and more desperate. He 
 had written to his brother Amos to give me a pass 
 and let me travel back ; but this his brother was re- 
 luctant to do, as I saved him the expense of an over- 
 seer, and he moreover was aware that no legal steps 
 could be taken to force him to comply. I knew of 
 all this, but dared not seem anxious to return, for 
 fear of exciting suspicion. 
 
 In the course of the summer of 1828, a Methodist 
 preacher, a most excellent white man, visited our 
 neighbourhood, and I became acquainted with him. 
 He was soon interested in me, and visited me fre- 
 quently, and one day talked to me in a confidential 
 manner about my position. He said, " You ought to 
 be free. You have too much capacity to be confined 
 to the limited and comparatively useless sphere of 
 a slave, and though it must not be known that I have 
 spoken to you on this subject, yet, if you will obtain 
 Mr. Amos's consent to go to see your old master in 
 Maryland, I will try and put you in a way by which 
 I think you may succeed in buying yourself." He 
 said this to me more than once ; and as it was in 
 harmony with all my aspirations and wishes, was 
 flattering to my self-esteem, and gratified my im- 
 patience to bring matters to a direct issue, I now 
 Tesolved to make the attempt to get the necessary 
 
 » 
 
64 MRS. II. BEECUER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM."^ 
 
 leave. The autumn work was over, I was no longer 
 needtd in the fields, and a better chance would never 
 ofi'er itself. Still I dreaded to make the proposal. 
 So much hung on it, such fond hopes were bound up 
 with it, that I trembled for the result. 
 
 I opened the subject one Sunday morning while 
 shaving Mr. Amos, and adroitly managed, by bring- 
 ing the shaving brush close into his mouth whenever 
 he was disposed to interrupt me, to " get a good say '*^ 
 first. Of course, I made no allusion to my plan of 
 buying myself, but urged my request on the sole 
 ground of a desire to see my old master. To mj' 
 surprise, he made little objection. I had been faith- 
 ful to him, and gained, in his rude way of showing 
 it, his regard. Long before spring I would be back 
 again. He even told me I had earned such a privi- 
 lege. 
 
 The certificate he gave me, allowed me to pass and 
 repass between Kentucky and ]\Iaryland as servant 
 of Amos Riley. Furnished with this, and with a 
 letter of recommendation from my Methodist friend 
 to a brother preacher in Cincinnati, I started about 
 the middle of September, 1828, for the cast. 
 
 A new era in my history now opened upon me. 
 A letter I carried with me to a kind-hearted man in 
 Cincinnati, procured me a number of invaluable 
 friends, who entered heart and soul into my plans. 
 They procured me an opportunity to preach in two 
 or three of the pulpits of the city, and I made my 
 appeal with that eloquence which spontaneously 
 breaks forth from a breast all alive and fanned into 
 a glow by an inspiring project. Contact with those 
 who were free themselves, and a proud sense of 
 
A NEW HOME. 65 
 
 ' exultation In taking my destiny into my own hands, 
 gave mo the sacred " gift of tongues." I was plead- 
 ing an issue of life and death, of heaven and hell, and 
 such as heard me felt this in their hearts. In three or 
 four days I left the city with no less a sum than on© 
 hundred and sixty dollars in my pockets, and with a 
 soul jubilant with thanksgiving, and high in hope, 
 directed my steps towards Chillicothe, to attend the 
 session of the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. My kind friend accompanied me, 
 and, by his influence and exertions, still further suc- 
 cess attended me. 
 
 Ey his advice, I then purchased a decent suit oi 
 clothes and an excellent horse, and travelled from 
 town to town, preaching as I went. Everywhere I 
 met with kindness. The contrast between the respect 
 with which I was treated and the ordinary abuse of 
 plantation life, gratified me in the extreme, as it 
 must any one who has within him one spark of per- 
 sonal dignity as a man. The sweet enjoyment of 
 sympathy, moreover, and the hearty '* God speed 
 you, brother ! " which accompanied every dollar I 
 received, were to my long-starved heart a celestial 
 repast, and angels' food. Liberty was a glorious- 
 hope in my mind ; not as an escape from toil, for I 
 rejoiced in toil when my heart was in it, but as the 
 avenue to a sense of self-respect, to ennobling occu- 
 pation, £,nd to association with superior minds. Still,, 
 dear as vas the thought of liberty, I still clung to 
 my determination to gain it in one way only — by 
 purchase. The cup of my affliction was not yet full 
 enough to lead me to disregard all terms with my 
 master. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 RETUEN TO MARYLAND. 
 
 RECF.rTION FnOM MY OLD MASTEU. — A SLAVE AGAIN. — APPEAL TO 
 AN OLD FRIEND. — BUY MY FREEDOM. — CHEATED AND BETRAYED. 
 — BACK TO KENTUCKY, AND A SLAVE AGAIN. 
 
 BEFORE I left Ohio and set my face towards Mont- 
 gomery county, I was master of two hundred 
 and seventy-five dollars, besides my horse and clothes. 
 Proud of ray success, I enjoyed the thought of show- 
 ing myself once more in the place where I had been 
 known simply as ** Riley's head-nigger ; " and it was 
 with no little satisfaction that about Christmas I 
 rode up to the old house. 
 
 My master gave me a boisterous reception, and 
 expressed great delight at seeing me. "What have 
 you been doing, Sie? you've turned into a regular 
 black gentleman.*' My horse and dress sorely 
 puzzled him, and I soon saw they irritated him. 
 The clothes I wore were certainly better than his. 
 Very soon the workings of that tyrannical hate with 
 which tlie coarse and brutal, who have no inherent 
 superiority, ever regard the least sign of equality in 
 their dependents, were visible in his manner. His 
 face seemed to say, ** I'll take the gentleman out of 
 you pretty soon." I gave him an account of my 
 preaching which was consistent with the truth, and 
 
RETURN TO MARYLAND. 67 
 
 explained my appearance, but did not betray to liim 
 my principal purpose. Ho soon asked to see my 
 pass, and when he found it authorised me to return 
 to Kentucky, handed it to his wife, and desired her 
 to put it into his desk. The manoeuvre was cool and 
 startling. I heard the old prison-gate clang, and 
 the bolt shoot into the socket once more. Dut I said 
 nothing, and resolved to manoeuvre also. 
 
 After putting my horse in the stable I retired to- 
 the kitchen, where my master told me I was to sleep 
 for the night. Oh, how different from my accommo- 
 dations in the free States, for the last three months, 
 was that crowded room, with its earth- floor, its filtli 
 and stench ! I looked around me with a sensation of 
 disgust. The negroes present were strangers to me. 
 I found my mother had died during my absence, and 
 every tie which had ever connected me with the place 
 was broken. Full of gloomy reflections at my loneli- 
 ness, and the poverty-stricken aspect of the whole- 
 farm,! sat down, and while my companions were snor- 
 ing in unconsciousness, I kept awake, thinking how I 
 could escape from the accursed spot. I knew of but 
 one friend to whom I could appeal — " Master Frank," 
 the brother of Riley's wife, before mentioned, who 
 was now of age, and had established himself in busi- 
 ness in Washington. I thought he would take an 
 interest in me, for I had done much to lighten hi» 
 sorrows when he was an abused and harshly-treated 
 boy in the house. To him I resolved to go, and as 
 soon as I thought it time to start, I saddled my 
 horse and rode up to the house. It was early in the 
 morning, and my master had already gone to tho 
 
^8 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 tavern on his usual business, when Mrs. Biley came 
 out to look at my horse and equipments. " Where 
 are you going, 'Siah ? " was the natural question. I 
 replied, " I am going to Washington, mistress, 
 to sec Mr. Frank, and I must take my pass with 
 me, if you please." " Oh, everybody knows you 
 here ; you won't need your pass." " But I can't 
 go to Washington without it. I may be met by 
 some surly stranger, who will stop me and plague 
 me, if he can't do anything worse." ''Well, I'll 
 get it for you," she answered ; and glad I was to see 
 her return with it in her hand, and to have her give 
 it to me, while she little imagined its importance to 
 my plan. 
 
 My reception by Master Frank was all I expected, 
 as kind and hearty as possible. He was delighted at 
 my appearance, and I immediately told him all my 
 plans and hopes. He entered cordially into them, 
 and expressed a strong sympathy for me. I found 
 that he thoroughly detested Pcilcy, whom he charged 
 with having defrauded him of a large projportion of 
 his property which he had held as guardian, though, 
 as he was not at warfare with him, he readily agreed 
 to negotiate for my freedom, and bring him to the 
 most favourable terms. Accordinglj% in a few days 
 he rode over to the house, and had a long conversa- 
 tion with him on the subject of my emancipation. 
 He disclosed to him the i'acts that I had got somo 
 money and mi/ pass, and urged that I was a smart 
 fellow, who was bent upon getting his freedom, and 
 iiaa served the family faithfully for many years ; 
 that I har' ^eally paid for myself a hundred times 
 
RETURN TO MARYLAND. 59 
 
 over, in the increased amount of produce I had raised 
 by my skill and influence ; and that if he did not 
 take care, and accept a fair offer when I made it to 
 him, he would find some day that I had the means 
 to do without his help, and that he would see neither 
 me nor my money ; that with my horse and my 
 pass I was pretty independent of him already, and 
 he had better make up his mind to do what was 
 really inevitable, and do it with a good grace. By 
 ■such arguments as these, Mr. Frank not only induced 
 him to think of the thing, but before long brought 
 him to an actual bargain, by which he agreed to 
 give me my manumission-papers for four hundred 
 and fifty dollars, of which three hundred and fifty 
 dollars were to be in cash, and the remainder in my 
 note. My money and my horse enabled me to pay 
 the cash at once, and thus my great hope seemed in 
 ■a fair way of being realised. 
 
 Some time was spent in the negotiation of this 
 affair, and it was not until the 9th of March, 1829, 
 that I received my manumission-papers in due form 
 of law. I prepared to start at once on my return to 
 Kentucky ; and on the 10th, as I was getting ready, 
 in the morning, for my journey, my master accosted 
 me in the most friendly manner, and entered into 
 conversation with me about my plans. He asked mo 
 what I was going to do with my certificate of free- 
 dom ; whether I was going to show it, if questioned 
 on the road. I told him, "Yes." " You'll be a fool 
 if you do," he rejoined. "Some slave-trader will 
 get hold of it, and tear it up, and you'll bo thrown 
 into prison, sold for your jail-fees, and be in his 
 
60 MRS. 11. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 possession before any of your friends can help you. 
 Don't show it at all. Your pass is enough. Let 
 me enclose your papers for you under cover to my 
 brother. Nobody will dare to break a seal, for that 
 is a state-jirison matter ; and when you arriyu in 
 Kentucky you will have it with you all safe and 
 sound." 
 
 For this friendly advice, as I thought it, I felt 
 extremely grateful. Secure in my happiness, I 
 cherished no suspicion of others. I accordingly 
 permitted him to enclose my precious papers in an 
 envelope composed of several wrappers, and after ho 
 had sealed it with three seals, and directed it to his 
 brother in Davies county, Kentucky, he gave it to 
 me, and I carefully stowed it in my carpet-bag. 
 Leaving immediately for Wheeling, to which place 
 I was obliged to travel on foot, I there took boat,, 
 and in due time reached my destination. I was 
 arrested repeatedly on the way ; but by insisting 
 always on being carried before a magistrate, I suc- 
 ceeded in escaping all serious impediments by means 
 of my pass, which was quite regular, and could not 
 be set aside by any responsible authority. 
 
 The boat which took me down from Louisville, 
 landed me about dark, and my walk of five miles 
 brought me to tho plantation at bedtime, I went 
 directly to my o./n cabin, and. found my wife and 
 little ones well. Of course we had enough to com- 
 municate to each other. I soon found that I had 
 something to learn as well as t? tell. Letters hud 
 reached the "great house," — as th3 master's was 
 always called, — long before I arrived, telling them 
 
RETURN TO MARYLAND. 
 
 61 
 
 wliat I had been doing. Tiie children ox the family 
 had eagerly communicated the good news to my wife 
 — how I had been preaching, and raising money, 
 and making a bargain for my freedom. It was not 
 long before Charlotte began to question me, with 
 much excitement, huw I had raised the money. She 
 evidently thought I had stolen it. Her opinion of 
 my powers as a preacher was not exalted enough to 
 permit her to believe I had gained it as I really 
 did. 1 contrived, howerer, to quiet her fears on 
 thia score. " But how are you going to raise enough 
 lo pay the remainder of th« thousand dollars?" 
 " What thousand dollars ? " " The thousand dollars 
 you are to give for your freedom." Oh, how those 
 words smote me ! At once I suspected treachery. 
 Again and again I questioned her as to what she 
 had heard. She persisted in repeating the same 
 story as the substance of my master's letters. Master 
 Amos said I had paid three hundred and fifty dollars 
 down, and when I had made up six hundred and 
 fifty more I was to hare my free papers. I now 
 began to perceive the trick that had been played 
 upon me, and to see the management by which Riley 
 had contrived that the only evidence of my freedom 
 should be kept from every eye but that of his brother 
 Amos, who was requested to retain it until I had 
 made up the balance I was reported to have agreed 
 CO pay. Indignation is a faint word to express my 
 deep sense of such villainy. I was alternately beside 
 myself with rage, and paralysed with despair. My 
 dream of bliss was over. What could I do to set 
 myself right ? The only witness to the truth, 
 
 8 
 
62 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 Master Frank, was a thousand miles away. I coul(Ji 
 neitlier write to him, nor get any one else to write. 
 Every man about me who could write was a slave- 
 holder. I dared not go before a magistrate with my 
 papers, for fear I should be seized and sold down tho 
 river before anything could be done. I felt that 
 every white man's hand was against me. " My God ? 
 my God ! why hast Thou forsaken me ? " was my 
 bitter cry. One thing only seemed clear. My 
 papers must never be surrendered to Master Amos.. 
 I told my wife I had not seen them since I left 
 Louisville. They might be in my bag, or they 
 mighc be lost. At all events I did not wish to look 
 myself. If she found them there, and hid them 
 away, out of my knowledge, it would be the best 
 disposition to make of them. 
 
 The next morning, at the blowing of the horn, I 
 went out to find Master Amos. I found him sitting 
 on a stile, and as I drew near enough for him to- 
 recogniso me, he shouted out a hearty welcome in 
 his usual style. "Why, halloa, Sie ! is that you?' 
 Got back, eh ! I'm glad to see you ! why, you're a 
 regular black gentleman ! " And he survej'ed my 
 dress with an appreciative grin. " Well> boy, how's 
 your master ? Isaac says you want to be free. 
 Want to be free, eh ! I think your master treats 
 you pretty hard, though. Six hundred and fifty 
 dollars don't come so easy in old Kentuck. How 
 does he ever expect you to raise all that ? It's too. 
 much, boy, it's too much." In the conversation that 
 followed I found my wife was right. Riley had no 
 idea of lettinpf me ofi", and supposed I could never 
 
RETUHN to MAllYLAND, 63 
 
 raise the six hundred and fifty dollars if his brother 
 obtained possession of me. 
 
 Master Amos soon asked me if I had not a paper 
 for him. I told him I had had one, but the last I saw 
 of it was at Louisville, and now it was not in my 
 bag, and I did not know what had become of it. He 
 sent me back to the landing to see if it had been 
 dropped on the way. Of course I did not find it. 
 He made, however, little stir about it, for he had 
 intentions of his own to keep me working for him, 
 and regarded the whole as a trick of his brother's 
 to get money out of me. All he said about the loss 
 was, "Well, boy, bad luck happens to everybody, 
 sometimes." ' 
 
 All this was very smooth and pleasant to a man 
 who was in a frenzy of grief at the base and ap- 
 parently irremediable trick that had been played 
 upon him. I had supposed that I Should soon be 
 free to start out and gain the hundred dollars which 
 would discharge my obligation to my master. But 
 I perceived that I was to begin again with ray old 
 labours. It was useless to give expression to my 
 feelings, and I went about my work with as quiet 
 a mind as I could, resolved to trust in God, and 
 never despair. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TAKEN SOUTH, AWAY FROM WIFE AND 
 CHILDKEN. 
 
 START FOR NEW OllLEANS.— STUDY KAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 — THE CAPTAIN STRUCK BLIND. — FIND SOME OF MY OLD COM- 
 PANIONS. — THE LOWER DEPTHS. 
 
 THINGS went on fn this way about a year. From 
 time to time Master Amos joked me about the 
 six hundred and fifty dollars, and said his brother 
 kept writing to know why I did not send something. 
 It was "diamond cut diamond" with the two 
 brothers. Mr. Amos had no desire to play into the 
 hands of Mr. Isaac. lie was glad enough to secure 
 my services to take care of his stock and his people. 
 
 One day my master ciuddenly informed me that 
 his son Araos, a young man about twenty-one years 
 of age, wrs going down the river to New Orleans, 
 with a flat-boat loaded with produce from the farm, 
 and that I was to go with him. He was to start the 
 next day, and I was to accompany him and help him 
 dispose of his cargo to the best advantage. 
 
 This intimation was enough. Though it was not 
 distinctly stated, yet I well knew what was in- 
 tended, and my heart sunk within me at the pros- 
 pect of this fatal blight to all my long-cherished 
 hopes. There was no alternative but death itself; 
 
TAKEN SOUTH, AWAY FROM WIFE AND CHILDREN. 65 
 
 still I thought that there was hope as long as there 
 was life, and I would not despair even yet. The ex- 
 pectation of my fate, however, produced the degree 
 of misery nearest to that of despair, and it is in vain 
 for me to attempt to describe the wretchedness I ex- 
 perienced as I made ready to go on board the flat- 
 boat. I had little preparation to make, to be sure ; 
 but there was one thing that seemed to me im- 
 portant. I asked my wife to sew my manumission- 
 paper securely in a piece of cloth, and to sew that 
 again round my person. I thought that its posses- 
 sion might be the means of saving me yet, and I 
 would not neglect anything that offered the smallest 
 chance of escape from the frightful servitude with 
 which I was threatened. 
 
 The immediate cause of this movement on the 
 part of Master Amos I never fully understood. It 
 grew out of a frequent exchange of letters, which 
 had been kept up between him and his brother in 
 Maryland. Whether as a compromise between their 
 rival claims it was agreed to sell me and divide the 
 proceeds, or that Master Amos, in fear of my run- 
 ning away, had resolved to turn me into riches 
 w. thout wings, for his own profit, I never knew. 
 The fact of his intention, however, was clear enough ; 
 and God knows it was a fearful blow. 
 
 My wife and children accompanied me to the 
 landing, where I bade them an adieu which might 
 be for life, and then stepped into the boat, manned 
 by three white men, who had been hired for the trip. 
 Mr. Amos and myself were the only other persona 
 on board. The load consisted of beef-cattle, pigs, 
 
66 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 poultry, corn, whisky, and other articles which were to 
 be sold as we dropped down the river, wherever they 
 could be disposed of to the greatest advantage. It 
 was a common trading-voyage to New Orleans, the 
 interest of which consisted not in the incidents that 
 occurred, not in storms, shipwreck, or external 
 disaster of any sort ; but in the storm of passions 
 contending within me, and the imminent risk of the 
 shipwreck of my soul, which was impending over 
 me nearly the whole period of the voyage. OixO 
 circumstance, only, I will mention, illustrating, as 
 other events in my life have often done, the counsel 
 of the Saviour, " lie that will be chief among you^ 
 let him be your servant." 
 
 We were all bound to take our tarn at the helm, 
 sometimes under direction of the captain, and some- 
 times on our own responsibility, as he could not be 
 always awake. In the daytime there was less diffi- 
 culty than at night, when it required some one who 
 knew how to avoid sandbars and snags in the river ; 
 the captain was the only person on board who had 
 this knowledge. But whether by day or by night, 
 as I was the only negro in the boat, I was compelled 
 to stand at least three turns at the helm to any other 
 person's one ; so that, from being much with the 
 captain, and frequently thrown upon my own exer- 
 tions, I learned the art of steering and managing 
 the boat far better than the rest. I watched the 
 mana3uvres necessary to shoot by a "sawyer," to 
 land on a bank, avoid a snag, or a steamboat, in the 
 rapid current of the Mississippi, till I could do it as 
 well as the captain. After a while, he was attacked 
 
TAKEN SOUTH, AWAY FROM WIFE AND CHILDREN. 67 
 
 hy a disease of the eyes ; tHey became very much 
 inflamed and swollen. He was soon rendered totally 
 blind, and unable to perform his share of duty. I 
 was the person who could best take his place, and I 
 was in fact master of the boat from that time till 
 our arrival at New Orleans. 
 
 After the captain became blind, we were obliged 
 to lie by at night, as none of the rest of us had 
 been down the river before ; and it was necessary to 
 keep watch all night, to prevent depredations by the 
 negroes on shore, who used frequently to attack such 
 boats as ours, for the sake of the provisions on board. 
 
 On our way down the river we stopped at Vicks- 
 burg, and I got permission to visit a plantation a 
 few miles from the town, where some of my old 
 -companions whom I had brought from Kentucky 
 were living. It was the saddest visit I ever made. 
 Four years in an unhealthy climate and under a hard 
 master had done the ordinary work of twenty. Their 
 cheeks were literally caved in with starvation and 
 disease. They described their daily life, which was to 
 toil half- naked in malarious marshes, under a burning, 
 maddening sun, exposed to poison of mosquitoes and 
 black gnats, and they said they looked forward to 
 death as their only deliverance. Some of them 
 fairly cried at seeing me there, and at the thought 
 of the fate which they felt awaited me. Their worst 
 fears of being sold down South had been more than 
 realised. I went away sick at heart, and to this day 
 the remembrance of that wretched group haunts me 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 A TEREIBLE TEMrTATIOX. 
 
 BIGH FOn DEATH. — A MUUDEIl IX MY IIEAUT. — THE AXE RAISED. — 
 CONSCIEXCE SPEAKS AXD I AM SAVED.— GOD BE I'liAISED I 
 
 ALL outward nature seemed to feed my gloomy 
 thoughts. I know not what most men see in 
 voyaging down the Mississippi. If gay and hopeful, 
 probably much of beauty and interest. If eager 
 merchants, probably a golden river, freighted with 
 the wealth of nations. I saw nothing but portents 
 of woe and despair. "Wretched slave-pens ; a smell 
 of stagnant waters ; half-putrid carcases of horses 
 or oxen floating along, covered with turkey-buzzards 
 and swarms of green flies, — these are the images 
 with which memory crowds my mind. My faith in 
 God utterly gave way. I could no longer pray or 
 trust. I thought He had abandoned me and cast me 
 ofi* for ever. I looked not to Him for help. I saw 
 only the foul miasmas, the emaciated frames of my 
 negro companions ; and in them saw the sure, swift, 
 loving intervention of the one unfailing friend of the 
 wretched, — death ! Yes ; death and the grave ! 
 "There the wicked cease from troubling, and the 
 weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together ; 
 they hear not the voice of the oppressor." Two 
 years of this would kill me. I dwelt on the thought 
 
A TERRIRLE TEMPTATION. €9 
 
 with melancholy yet 8s\'cet satisfaction. T\\'o years ! 
 and then I should be free. Free ! ever my cherished 
 hope, though not as I had thought it would come. 
 
 As I paced backwards and forwards on the deck, 
 during my watch, I revolved in my mind many a 
 painful and passionate thought. After all that I had 
 done for Isaac and Amos Riley, after all the regard 
 they had professed for me, such a return as this for 
 my services, such an evidence of their utter disregard 
 of my claims u])on them, and the intense selfishness 
 with which they were ready to sacrifice me, at any 
 moment, to their supposed interest, turned my blood 
 to gall, and changed me from a lively, and, I will 
 say, a pleasant-tempered fellow, into a savage, 
 morose, dangerous slave. I was going not at all as 
 a lamb to the slaughter ; but I felt myself becoming 
 more ferocious every day ; and as we approached the 
 place where this iniquity was to be consummated, I 
 became more and more agitated with an almost un- 
 controllable fury. I said to myself, " If this is to be 
 my lot, I cannot survive it long, I am not so young 
 as those whose wretched condition I have but just 
 seen, and if it has brought them to such a condition, 
 it will soon kill me. I am to be taken to a place and 
 a condition where my life is to be shortened, as well 
 as made more wretched. Why should I not prevent 
 this wrong if I can, by shortening the lives of those 
 who intend to accomplish such injustice ? I can do 
 the last easily enough. They have no suspicion of 
 me, and they are at this moment under my control, 
 and in my power. There are many ways in which I 
 can dispatch them and escape j and I feel that I 
 
70 MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWE*S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 should bo justified in availing myself of tlie first 
 good opportunity." These thoughts did not flit 
 across my mind's e3''o and then disappear, but they 
 fashioned themselves into shapes which grew larger 
 and seemed firmer every time they presented them- 
 selves ; at length my mind was made up to convert 
 the piiantom-shadows into a positive reality, 
 
 I resolved to kill my four companions, take what 
 money there was in the boat, scuttle the craft, and 
 escape to the north. It was a poor plan, maybe, and 
 would very likely have failed ; but it was as well 
 contrived, under the circumstances, as the plans of 
 murderers usually are. Blinded by passion, and stung 
 to madness as I was, I could not see any difficulty 
 about it. One dark, rainy night, within a few days* 
 sail of New Orleans, my hour seemed to have come. 
 I was alone on the deck. Master Amos and the 
 hands were all asleep below, and I crept down noise- 
 lessly, got hold of an axe, entered tho cabin, and 
 locking by the aid of the dim light there for my 
 victims, my eyes fell upon Master Amos, who was 
 nearest to me, my hand slid along the axe-handle, 
 I raised it to strike tho fatal blow, — when suddenly 
 the thought came to me, " AVhat ! commit murder ! 
 and you a Christian ?" I had not called it murder 
 before, but self-defence, to prevent others from 
 murdering me. I thought it was justifiable, and 
 even praiseworthy. All at once the truth burst 
 iipon me that it was a crime. I was going to kill a 
 young man who had done nothing to injure me, but 
 was only obeying the commands of his father. I 
 was about to lose the fruit of all my efforts at self- 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 4 1 
 
 improvement, tlie character I had acquired, and the 
 peace of mind that had never deserted me. All this 
 came upon mo with a distinctness which almost 
 made me think I heard it whispered in my ear ; and 
 I believe I even turned my head to listen. I shrunk 
 back, laid down the axe, and thanked God, as I have 
 done every day since, that I did not commit that 
 murder. 
 
 My feelings were still agitated, but they were 
 changed. I was filled with shame and remorse for 
 the design I had entertained, and fearing that my" 
 companions would detect it in my face, or that a 
 careless word would betray my guilty thoughts, I 
 remained on deck all night, instead of rousing one 
 of the men to relieve the watch, and nothing brought 
 composure to my mind but the solemn resolution I 
 then made, to resign myself to the will of God, and 
 take with thankfulness, if I could, but with sub- 
 mission, at all events, whatever He might decide 
 should be my lot. I reflected that if my life were 
 reduced to a brief terra, I should have less to suffer ; 
 that it was better to die with a Christian's hope, and 
 a quiet conscience, than to live with the incessant 
 recollection of a crime that would destroy the value 
 of life, and under the weight of a secret that would 
 crush out the satisfaction that might be expected 
 from freedom and every other blessing. 
 
 It was long before I recovered my self-control and 
 serenity. Yet I believe that no one but those to 
 whom I have told the story myself, ever suspected 
 me of having entertained such thoughts for a 
 moment. 
 
OHAPTEPt XL 
 PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 
 
 OFFERED FOR SALE. — EXAMIXI:D EY PURCnASERS. — PLEAD WITII 
 MY YOUKG MASTER IK VAIN.— MAN's EXTREMITY, GOD's OITOR- 
 TUNITY. — GOOD FOIl EVIL. — RETURN NORTH. — MY INCREASED 
 VALUE. — RESOLVE TO BE A SLAVE NO LONGER. 
 
 IN a few daj's after this trying crisis in my life, we 
 arrived at Kew Orleans. The little that re- 
 mained of our cargo was soon sold, the men were 
 discharged, and nothing was left but to dispose of 
 me, and break up the boat, and then Master Amos, 
 intended to take passage on a steamboat, and go 
 home. There was no longer any disguise about the 
 disposition which was to be made of me. Master 
 Amos acknowledged that such were his instructions, 
 and he set about fulfilling them. Several planter& 
 came to the boat to look at me ; I was sent on some 
 hasty errand that they might see how I could ran ; 
 my points were canvassed as those of a horse would 
 have been ; and, doubtless, some account of my 
 various faculties entered into the discussion of the 
 bargain, that my value as a domestic animal might 
 be enhanced. Mp,ster Amos had talked, with ap- 
 parent kindness, about getting me a good master who 
 would employ me as t coachman, or as a house- 
 
PROVIDENTIAL ^ELIVERA^XE. t6 
 
 servant ; but as time passed on I could discern no 
 particular effort of the kind. 
 
 In our intervals of leisure I tried every possible 
 means to move his heart. With tears and groans I 
 besought him not to sell me away from my wife and 
 children. I dwelt on my past services to his father, 
 and called to his remembrance a thousand tilings I 
 had done for him personally. I told him about the 
 wretched condition of the slaves I had seen near 
 Vicksburg. Sometimes he would shed tears himself, 
 and say he was sorry for me. But still I saw his 
 purpose was unchanged. He now kept out of my 
 way as much as possible, and forestalled every effort 
 I made u talk with him. His conscience evident! v 
 troubled him. He knew he was doing a cruel and 
 wicked thing, and wanted to escape from thinking 
 about it. I followed him up hard, for I wab suppli- 
 er ng for my life. I fell down and clung to his 
 kn es in entreaties. Sometimes when too closely 
 pressed, he would curse and strike me. May God 
 forgive him ! And yet it was not all his fault ; he 
 was made so by the accursed relation of slave-master 
 and slave. I was property, — not a man, not a father, 
 not a ausband. And the laws of property and self- 
 interest, not of humanity and love, bore sway. 
 
 At length everything was w^ound up but this 
 single affair. I was to be sold the next day, and 
 Master Amos was to set off on his return in a steam- 
 boat at dix o'clock in the afternoon. I could not 
 sleep that night; its hours seemed interminably 
 long, though it was one of the shortest of the year. 
 The slow way in which we had come down had 
 
'.a <f TTX'or-n. r^./^■»^ '» 
 
 74; MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 brouglit IS to the long days and heats of June ; and 
 cvcrj'body knows what the climate of New Orleans 
 is at that period of the year. 
 
 And now occurred one of those sudden, marked 
 interpositions of Providence, by which in a moment, 
 the whole current of a human being's life is changed ; 
 one of those slight and, at first, unappreciated con- 
 tingencies, by which the faith f hat man's extremity 
 is God's opportunity is kept alive. Little did I 
 think, when just before daylight Master Amos called 
 me and told me ho felt sick, how much my future 
 was bound up in those few words. His stomach was 
 disordered, and I advised him to lir' down again, 
 thinking it would soon pass off'. Before long he felt 
 worse, and it was soon evident that the river- fever 
 was upon him. He became rapidly ill, and by eight 
 o'clock in the morning was utterly prostrate. The 
 tables were now turned. I wr3 no longer property, 
 no longer a brute-beast to be bought and sold, but 
 liis only friend in the midst of strangers. Oh, how 
 different was his tone from what it had been the day 
 before ! He was now the supplicant, a poor, terrified 
 object, afraid of death;, and writhing with pain ; there 
 lay the late arbiter of my destiny. How he besought 
 me to forgive him ! " Stick to me, Sie ! Stick to me, 
 Sie ! Don't leave me, don't Jeave me. I'm sorry I was 
 going to sell you." Sometimes he would say he had 
 only been joking, and never intended to part with me. 
 Yes, the tables were utterly turned. He entreated 
 me to dispatch matters, sell the flat-boat in which 
 we had been living, and get him and his trunk con- 
 taining the proceeds of the trip, on board the steamer 
 
PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 75 
 
 as quickly as possible. I attended to all his requests, 
 and by twelve o'clock tbat day, be was in one of 
 the cabins of the steamer appropriated to sick 
 passengers. 
 
 my God ! how my heart sang jubilees of praise 
 to TJice, as the steamboat swung loose from the levee 
 and breasted the mighty tide of the Mississippi ! 
 Away from this land of bondage and death ! Away 
 from misery and despair ! Once more exulting hope 
 possessed me, and I thought, if I do not now find my 
 way to freedom, may God never give me a chance 
 again ! 
 
 Before we had proceeded many hours on our 
 voj-age, my young master appeared to be, better. 
 The change of air in a measure revived him ; and 
 well it was for him that such was the case. Short 
 as his illness had been, the fever had raged like a 
 fire, and he was already near death. I watched and 
 nursed him like a mother ; for all remembrance of 
 personal wrong was obliterated at the sight of his 
 peril. His eyes followed me in entreaty wherever I 
 went. His strength was so entirely gone, that he 
 could neither speak nor move a limb, and could only 
 indicate his wish for a teaspoonful of gruel, or some- 
 thing to moisten his throat, by a feeble motion of 
 his lips. I nursed him carefully and constantly. 
 Nothing else could have saved his life. It hung by 
 a thread for a long time. "We were twelve days in 
 reaching home, for the water was low at that season, 
 particularly in the Ohio River ; and when we arrived 
 at our landing, he was still unable to speak, and 
 could only be moved on a litter. Something of this 
 
76 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 sort was fixed up at the landing, on wtich he could 
 be carried to the house, which was five miles off; 
 .and I got a party of the slaves belonging to the 
 estate to form relays for the purpose. As we ap- 
 proached the house, the surprise at seeing me back 
 again, and the perplexity to imagine what I was 
 l)ringing along, with such a party, were extreme ; 
 but the discovery was soon made which explained 
 the strange appearance ; and the grief of father and 
 mother, brothers and sisters, made itself seen and 
 heard. Loud and long were the lamentations over 
 poor Amos ; and when the family came a little to 
 themselves, great were the commendations bestowed 
 upon me for my care of him and of the property. 
 
 Although we reached home by the 10th of July, 
 it was not until the middle of August that Master 
 Amos was well enough to leave his chamber. To do 
 him justice, he manifested strong gratitude towards 
 me. Almost his first words after recovering his 
 strength sufficiently to talk, were in commendation 
 of my conduct. " If I had sold him I should have 
 died." On the rest of the family no permanent im- 
 pression seemed to have been made. The first few 
 words of praise were all I ever received. I was set 
 Jit my old work. My merits, whatever they were, 
 instead of exciting sympathy or any feeling of at- 
 tachment to me, seemed only to enhance my market- 
 value in their eyes. I saw that my master's only 
 thought was to render me profitable to himself. 
 From him I hud nothing to hope, and I turned my 
 thoughts to myself and my own energies. 
 
 Before long I felt assured another attempt would 
 
PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 77 
 
 be made to dispose of me. Providence seemed to 
 have interfered once to defeat the scheme, but I 
 could not expect such extraordinary circumstances to 
 be repeated ; and I was bound to do everything in 
 my power to secure myself and my family from the 
 wicked conspiracy of Isaac and Amos Riley against 
 my life, as well as against my natural rights, and 
 those which I had acquired, even under the bar- 
 barous laws of slavery, by the money I had paid for 
 myself. If Isaac had only been honest enough to 
 adhere to his bargain, I would have adhered to mine, 
 and paid him all I had promised. But his attempt 
 to kidnap me again, after having pocketed three- 
 fourths of my market value, in my opinion, absolved 
 me from all obligation to pay him any more, or to 
 continue in a position which exposed me to his 
 machinations. 
 
 ■ *•! 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 
 
 ■OLITART MITSINOS. — PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT, — A LONG GOOD 
 NIGHT TO MASTER. — A DARK NIGHT ON THE RIVER. — NIGHT 
 JOURNEYS IN INDIANA. — ON IHE BRINK OF STARVATION. — A 
 KIND WOMAN. — ^A NEW STYLE OF DRINKING CUP. — REACH 
 CINOINN vTI. 
 
 DURING the briglit and hopeful days I spent in 
 Ohio, while away on nj preaching tour, I had 
 heard much of the course pursued by fugitives from 
 slavery, and became acquainted with a number of 
 benevolent men engaged in helping them on their 
 way. Canada was often spoken of as the only sure 
 refv'ge from pursuit, and that blessed land was now 
 the desire of my longing heart. Infinite toils and 
 perils lay between me and that haven of promise, 
 enough to daunt the stoutest heart ; but the fire 
 behind me was too aor. and fierce to let me pause to 
 consider them. I knew the North Star — blessed be 
 God for setting it in the heavens I Like the Star of 
 Bethlehem, it announced where my salvation lay. 
 Could I follow it through forest, and stream, and 
 field, it would guide my feet in the way of hope. I 
 thought of it as my God-given guide to the land of 
 promise lar away beneath its light. I knew that it 
 had led thousands of my poor, hunted brethren to 
 
ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 79 
 
 freedom and blessedness. I felt energy enough in 
 my own breast to contend with privation and 
 danger ; and had I been a free, untrammelled man, 
 knowing no tie of father or husband, and concerned 
 for my own safety only, I would have felt all difficul- 
 ties light in view of the hope that was set before me. 
 But, alas ! I had a wife and four dear children ; how 
 should I provide for them ? Abandon them I could 
 not ; no 1 not even for the blessed boon of freedom. 
 They, too, must go. They, too, must share with me 
 the life of liberty. 
 
 It was not without long thought upon the subject 
 that I devised a plan of escape. But at last I 
 matured it. My mind fully made up, I communi- 
 cated the intention to my wife. She was over- 
 whelmed with terror. With a woman's instinct she 
 clung to hearth and home. She knew nothing of 
 the wide world beyond, and her imagination peopled 
 it with unseen horrors. She said, " We shall die in 
 the wilderness, we shall be hunted down with blood- 
 hounds ; we shall be brought back and whipped to 
 death." With tears and supplications she besought 
 me to remain at home, contented. In vain I ex- 
 plained to her our liability to be torn asunder at any 
 moment ; the horrors of the slavery I had lately 
 seen ; the happiness we should enjoy together in a 
 land of freedom, safe from all pursuing harm. She 
 had not suffered the bitterness of my lot, nor felt the 
 same longing for deliverance. She was a poor, 
 timid, unreasoning slave-woman. 
 
 I argued the matter with her at various times, till 
 I was satisfied that argument alone would not pre- 
 
»0 it TTXTriT ™ m/^KC >» 
 
 80 MRS. II. BEECHER STOWE 8 " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 vail. I then told her ('deliberately, that though it 
 would be a cruel trial for me to part with her, I 
 would nevertheless do it, and take all the children 
 with me except the youngest, rather than remain at 
 home, only to be forcibly torn from her, and sent 
 down to linger out a wretched existence in the dens I 
 had lately visited. Again she wept and entreated, 
 but I was sternly resolute. The whole night long 
 she fruitlessly urged me to relent; exhausted and 
 maddened, I left her, in the morning, to go to my 
 work for the day. Before I had gone far, I heard 
 her voice calling me, and waiting till I came up, she 
 said, at last, she would go with me. Blessed relief ! 
 my tears of joy flowed faster than had hers of grief. 
 
 Our cabin, at this time, was near the landing. 
 The plantation itself extended the whole five miles 
 from the house to the river. There were several 
 distinct farms, all of which I was overseeing, and 
 therefore I was riding about from one to another 
 every day. Our oldest boy was at the house with 
 Master Amos ; the rest of the children were with my 
 wife. 
 
 The chief practical diflSculty that had weighed 
 upon my mind, was connected with the youngest two 
 of the children. They were of three and two years 
 respectively, and of course would have to be carried. 
 Both stout and healthy, they were a heavy burden, 
 and my wife had declared that I should break down 
 under it before I had got five miles from home. 
 Sometime previously I had directed her to make me 
 a large knapsack of tow-cloth, large enough to hold 
 them both, and arranged with strong straps to go 
 
\ 
 
 ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 81 
 
 round my shoulders. This done, I had practised 
 carrying thera night after night, both to test my 
 own strength and accustom them to submit to it. 
 To them it was fine fun, and to my great joy I 
 found I could manage them successfully. My wife's 
 consent was given on Thursday morning, and I 
 resolved to start on the night of the following 
 Saturday. Sunday was a holiday ; on Monday and 
 Tuesday I was to be away on farms distant from the 
 house ; thus several days would elapse before I should 
 be missed, and by that time I should have got a 
 good start. 
 
 At length the eventful night arrived. All things 
 were ready, with the single exception that I had not 
 yet obtained my master's permission for little Tom 
 to visit his mother. About sundown I went up to 
 the great house to report my work, and after talking 
 for a time, started off, as usual, for home ; when, 
 suddenly appearing to recollect something I had 
 forgotten, I turned carelessly back, and said, " Oh, 
 Master Amos, I most forgot. Tom's mother wants 
 to know if you won't let him come down a few days; 
 she wants to mend his clothes and fix him up a 
 little." "Yes, boy, yes; he can go." "Thankee, 
 Master Amos ; good night, good night. The Lord 
 bless you ! " In spite of myself I threw a good 
 deal of emphasis into my farewell. I could not i efrain 
 from an inward chuckle at the thought — how long a 
 good night that will be ! The coast was all clear 
 now, and, as I trudged along home, I took an affec- 
 tionate look at the well-known objects on my way. 
 
 trange to say, sorrow mingled with my joy ; but 
 
82 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM.*' 
 
 no man can live long anywhere without feeling some 
 attachment to the soil on which he labours. 
 
 It was about the middle of September, and by nine 
 o'clock all was ready. It was a dark, moonless night, 
 ■when we got into the little skiff, in which I had 
 induced a fellow-slave to set us across the river. It 
 was an anxious moment. AVe sat still as death. In 
 the middle of the stream the good fellow said to me, 
 *' It will be t )i end of me if this is ever found out ; 
 but you won't be brought back alive, Sie, will you?" 
 " Not if I can help it," I replied ; and I thought of 
 the pistols and knife I had bought some time before 
 of a poor white. " And if they're too many for you, 
 and you get seized, j'ou'll never tell my part in this 
 business ? " " Not if I'm shot through like a sieve." 
 ** That's all," said he, " and God help you." Heaven 
 reward him. He, too, has since followed in my steps; 
 and many a time in a land of freedom have we talked 
 over that dark night on the river. 
 
 In due time we landed on the Indiana shore. A 
 hearty, grateful farewell was spoken, such as none 
 but companions in danger can utter, and I heard the 
 oars of the skiff propelling him home. There I 
 stood in the darkness, my dear ones with me, and 
 the dim unknown future before us. But there was 
 little time for reflection. Before daylight should 
 come on, we must put as many miles behind us as 
 possible, and be safely hidden in the woods. We 
 had no friends to look to for assistance, for the 
 population in that section of the country was then 
 bitterly hostile to the fugitive. If discovered, we 
 should be seized and lodged in jail. In God was our 
 
ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 83 
 
 only hope. Fervently did I pray to IHm as we 
 trudged on cautiously and stealthily, as fast as the 
 darkness and the feebleness of my wife and boys 
 would allow. To her, indeed, I was compelled to 
 talk sternly ; she trembled like a leaf, and even then 
 implored me to return. 
 
 For a fortnight we pressed steadily on, keeping to 
 the road during the night, hiding whenever a chance 
 vehicle or horseman was heard, and during the day 
 burying ourselves in the woods. Our provisions 
 were rapidly giving out. Two days before reaching 
 Cincinnati they were utterly exhausted. All night 
 long the children cried with hunger, and my poor 
 wife loaded me with reproaches for bringing them 
 into such misery. It was a bitter thing to hear 
 them cry, and God knows I needed encouragement 
 myself. My limbs were weary, and my back and 
 shoulders raw with the burden I carried. A fearful 
 dread of detection ever pursued me, and I would 
 start out of my sleep in terror, my heart beating 
 against my ribs, expecting to find the dogs and 
 slave-hunters after me. Had I been alone, I would 
 have borne starvation, even to exhaustion, before I 
 would have ventured in sight of a house in quest of 
 food. But now something must be done ; it was 
 necessary to run the risk of exposure by daylight 
 upon the road. 
 
 The only way to proceed was to adopt a bold 
 course. Accordingly, I left our hiding-place, took 
 to the road, and turned towards the south, to lull 
 any suspicion that might be aroused were I to be 
 seen going the other way. Before long I came to a 
 
84 MRS. H. BBECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 house. A furious dog rushed out at me, and his 
 master following to quiet him, I asked if he would 
 sell me a little bread aad meat. He was a surly- 
 fellow. " No, I have nothing for niggers ! " At 
 the next, I succeeded no better, at first. The man 
 of the house met me in the same style ; but his wife, 
 hearing our conversation, said to her husband, 
 " How can you treat any human being so ? If a dog 
 was hungry I would give him something to eat.'* 
 She then added, " We have children, and who knows 
 but they may some day need the help of a friend." 
 The man laughed and told her that if she took care 
 of niggers, he wouldn't. She asked me to come in, 
 loaded a plate with venison and bread, and, when I 
 laid it into my handkerchief, and put a quarter of a 
 dollar on the table, she quietly took it up and put it 
 in my handkerchief, with an additional quantity of 
 venison. I felt the hot tears roll down my cheeks as 
 she said, " God bless you ; " and I hurried away to 
 bless my starving wife and little ones. 
 
 A little while after eating the venison, which was 
 quite salt, the children became very thirsty, and 
 groaned and sighed so that I went off stealthily, 
 breaking the bushes to keep my path, to find water. 
 I found a little rill, and drank a large draught. 
 Then I tried to carry some in my hat ; but, alas ! it 
 leaked. Finally, I took off both shoes, which luckily 
 had no holes in them, rinsed them out, filled them 
 with water, and carried it to my family. They drank 
 it with great delight. I have since then sat at 
 splendidly-furnished tables in Canada, the United 
 
ESCAPE FROM BONDAGE. 85 
 
 States, and England ; but never did I see any human 
 beings relisb anything more than my poor famishing 
 little ones did that refreshing draught out of their 
 father's shoes. That night we made a long run, and 
 two days afterwards we reached CincinnatL 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 JOURNEY TO CANADA. 
 
 OOOD SAMARITANS. — ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS. — MEET BOMB 
 INDIANS. — REACH SANDUSKV. — ANOTHER FRIEND. — ALL ABOARL. 
 — BUFFALO. — A "FliEE NIGGER." — FRENZY Of JOY ON REACHING 
 CANADA. 
 
 I NOW felt comparatively at home. Before entering 
 the town I hid my wife and children in the 
 woods, and then walked on alone in search of my 
 friends. They welcomed me warmly, and just after 
 dusk my wife and children were brought in, and we 
 found ourselves hospitably cheered and refreshed. 
 Two weeks of exposure to incessant fatigue, anxiety, 
 rain, and chill, made it indescribably sweet to enjoy 
 once more the comfort of rest and shelter. 
 
 I have sometimes heard harsh and bitter words 
 spoken of those devoted men who were banded 
 together to succour and bid God speed to the hunted 
 fugitive ; men who, through pity for the suffering, 
 voluntarily exposed themselves to hatred, fines, and 
 imprisonment. If there be a God who \,ill have 
 mercy on the merciful, great will be their reward. 
 In the great day when men shall stand in judgment 
 before the Divine Master, crowds of the outcast and 
 forsaken of earth, will gather around them, and in 
 joyful tones bear witness, *' We were hungry and ye 
 
JOURNEY TO CANADA. 87 
 
 gave us meat, thirsty and ye gave us drink, naked 
 and ye clotned us, sick and ye visited us." And He 
 Who has declared that, " inasmuch as ve have done 
 it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done 
 it unto Me," will accept the attestation, and hail 
 them with His welcome, " Come ye blessed of My 
 Father." Their glory shall yet be proclaimed from 
 the house-tops, and may that " peace of God which 
 the world can neither give nor take away " dwell 
 richly in their hearts ! 
 
 Among such as those — good Samaritans, of whom 
 the Lord would say, " Go ye and do likewise," — our 
 lot was now cast. Carefully they provided for our 
 welfare until our strength was recruited, and then 
 they set us thirty miles on our way by waggon. 
 
 We followed the same course as before — travelling 
 by night and resting by day — till we arrived at the 
 Scioto, where we had been told we should strike the 
 military road of General Hull, made in the last war 
 with Great Britain, and might then safely travel by 
 day. We found the road, accordingly, by the large 
 sycamore and elms which marked its beginning, and 
 entered upon it with fresh spirits early in the day. 
 Nobody had told us that it was cut through the 
 wilderness, and I had neglected to provide any food, 
 thinking we should soon come to some habitation, 
 where we could be supplied. But we travelled on 
 all day without seeing one, and lay down at night, 
 hungry and weary enough. The wolves were howling 
 around us, and though too cowardly to approach, 
 their noise terrified my poor wile and children. 
 Nothing remained to us in the murning but a little 
 
88 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 piece of dried beef, too little, indeed, to satisfy our 
 cravings, but enough to afflict us with intolerable 
 thirst. I divided most of this amongst us, and then 
 we started for a second day's tramp in the wilder- 
 ness. A painful day it was to us. The road was 
 rough, the underbrush tore our clothes and exhausted 
 our strength ; trees that had been blown down, 
 blocked the way ; we were faint with hunger, and no 
 prospect of relief opened up before us. We spoke 
 little, but steadily struggled along ; I with my babes 
 on my back, my wife aiding the two other children 
 to climb over the fallen trunks and force themselves 
 through the briers. Suddenly, as I was plodding 
 along a little ahead of my wife and the boys, I heard 
 them call me, and turning round saw my wife pros- 
 trate on the ground. ** Mother 's dying,'* cried Tom ; 
 and when I reached her, it seemed really so. From 
 sheer exhaustion she had fallen in surmounting a 
 log. Distracted with anxiety, I feared she was gone. 
 For some minutes no sign of life was manifest ; but 
 after a time she opened her eyes, and finally recover- 
 ing enough to take a few mouthfuls of the beef, her 
 strength returned, and we once more went bravely 
 on our way. I cheered the sad group with hopes I 
 was far from sharing myself. For the first time I 
 was nearly ready to abandon myself to despair. 
 Starvation in the wilderness was the doom that stared 
 me and mine in the face. But again, "man's 
 extremity was God's opportunity." 
 
 We had not gone far, and I suppose it was about 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, when we discerned 
 some persons approaching us at no great distance. 
 
JOURNEY To CANADA. 89 
 
 We were instpntly on the alert, aa we could hardly 
 expect them to be friends. The advance of a few 
 paces showed me they were Indians, with packs on 
 their shoulders ; and they were so near that if they 
 were hostile it would be useless to try to escape. So 
 I walked along boldly, till we came close upon them. 
 They were bent down with their burdens, and had 
 not raised their eyes till now ; and when they did so, 
 and saw me coming towards them, they looked at me 
 in a frightened sort of a way for a moment, and then, 
 setting up a peculiar howl, turned round, and ran as 
 fast as they could. There were three or four of 
 them, and what they were afraid of I could not 
 imagine. There was no doubt they were frightened, 
 and we heard their wild and prolonged howl, as they 
 ran, for a mile or more. My wife was alarmed, too, 
 and thought they were merely running back to 
 collect more of a party, and then would come and 
 murdei aa; and she wanted to turn back. I told 
 her they were numerous enough to do that, if they 
 wanted to, without help ; and that as for turning 
 back, I had had quite too much of the road behind 
 us, and that it would be a ridiculous thing that both 
 parties should run away. If they were disposed to 
 run, I would follow. We did follow, and the noise 
 soon ceased. As we advanced, we could discover 
 Indians peeping at us from behind the trees, and 
 dodging out of sight if they thought we were looking 
 at them. Presently we came upon their wigwams, 
 and saw a fine-looking, stately Indian, with his arms 
 folded, waiting for us to approach. He was, ap- 
 parently, the chief ; and, saluting us civilly, he soon 
 
90 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE*S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 discovered we were human beings, and spoke to his 
 young men, who were scattered about, and made 
 them come in and give up their foolish fears. And 
 now curiosity seemed to prevail. Each one wanted 
 to touch the children, who were as shy as partridges 
 with their long life in the woods ; and as they shrunk 
 awav, and uttered a little cry of alarm, the Indian 
 would jump back too, as if he thought they would 
 bite him. However, a little while sufficed to make 
 them understand whither we were going, and what 
 we needed ; and then they supplied our wants, fed 
 us bountiMly, and gave us a comfortable wigwam 
 fcr our night's rest. The next day we resumed our 
 march, having ascertained from the Indians that we 
 were only about twenty-five miles from the lake. 
 They sent some of their young men to point out the 
 place where we were to turn off, and parted from us 
 with as much kindness as possible. 
 
 In passing over the part of Ohio near the lake, 
 where such an extensive plain is found, we came to 
 a spot overflowed by a stream, across which the road 
 passed. I forded it first, with the help of a sounding- 
 pole, and then taking the children on my back, first 
 the two little ones, and then the others, one at a 
 time, and, lastly, my wife, I succeeded in getting 
 them safely across. At this time the skin was worn 
 from my back to an extent almost equal to the size 
 of the knapsack. 
 
 One night more was passed in the woods, and in 
 the course of the next forenoon, we came out upon 
 the wide, treeless plain which lies south and west of 
 Sandusky city. The houses of the village were in 
 
JOURNEY TO CANADA. 91 
 
 plain sight. About a mile from the lake I hid my 
 wife and children in the bushes, and pushed forward. 
 I was attracted by a house on tho left,, between 
 which and a small coasting vessel, a number of men 
 were passing and repassing with great activity. 
 Promptly deciding to approach them, I drew near, 
 and scarcely had I come within hailing distance, 
 when the captain of the schooner cried out, " Hollo 
 there, man I you want to work ? " " Yes, sir ! *' 
 shouted I. " Come along, come along ; Til give 
 you a shilling an hour. Must get off with thia 
 wind." As I came near, he said, " Oh, you can't 
 work ; you're crippled." " Can't I ? " said I ; and 
 in a minute I had hold of a bag of corn, and fol- 
 lowed the gang in emptying it into the hold. I 
 took my place in the line of labourers next to a 
 coloured man, and soon got into conversation with 
 him. " How far is it to Canada ? '* He gave me a 
 peculiar look, and in a minute I saw he knew all. 
 "Want to go to Canada? Come along with us, 
 then. Our captain's a fine fellow. We're going to 
 Buffalo." " Buffalo ; how far is that from Canada ? " 
 "Don't you know, man? Just across the river." 
 I now opened my mind frankly to him, and told 
 him about my wife and children. " I'll speak to the 
 captain," said he. He did so, and in a moment the 
 captain took me aside, and said, " The Doctor saya 
 you want to go to Buffalo with your family." " Yes, 
 sir." " Well, why not go with me ! " was his frank 
 reply. " Doctor says you've got a family." " Yes, 
 sir." "Where do you stop?" "About a mile 
 back" " How long have you been here ? " " No 
 
*a U rt-Krm -o fr^n%r ** 
 
 92 MRS. H. BEBCHER 8T0WE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 time," I answered, after a moment's hesitation. 
 " Come, ray good fellow, tell us all about it. You're 
 running away, ain't you ? " I saw lie was a friend, 
 and opened my heart to him. "'How long will it 
 take you to get ready P " " Be here in half an hour, 
 sir." "Well, go along and get ther;,.'* Off I 
 started; but, before I had run fifty feei, he called 
 me back. " Stop," said he ; " you go on getting 
 the grain in. When we get off, I'll lay to over 
 opposite that island, and send a boat back. There's a 
 lot of regular nigger-catchers in the town below, and 
 they might suspect if you brought your party out of 
 the bush b^ daylight." I worked away with a will. 
 Soon the two or three hundred bushels of corn were 
 aboard, the hatches fastened down, the anchor raised, 
 and the sails hoisted. 
 
 I watched the vessel with intense interest as she 
 left her moorings. Away she went before the free 
 breeze. Already she seemed beyond the spot at 
 which the captain agreed to lay to, and still she 
 flew along. My heart sank within me ; so near de- 
 liverance, and again to have my hopes blasted, again 
 to be cast on my own resources ! I felt that they 
 had been making sport of my misery. The sun 
 had sunk to rest, and the purple and gold of the 
 west were fading away into grey. Suddenly, how- 
 ever, as I gazed with a weary heart, the vessel swung 
 round into the wind, the sails flapped, and she etood 
 motionless. A moment more, and a boat was low(?red 
 from her stern, and with a steady stroke made for 
 the point at which I stood. I felt that my hour of 
 
JOURNEY TO CANADA. 93 
 
 release had come. On she came, and in ten minutes 
 she rode up handsomely on to the beach. 
 
 My black friend and two sailors jumped out, and 
 we started off at ones for my wife and children. To 
 my horror, -they were gone from the place where I 
 left them^ Overpowered with fear, I suiDposed they 
 had been found and carried off. There was no time to 
 lose, and the men told me I would have to go alone. 
 Just at the point of despair, however, I stumbled 
 on one of the children. My wife, it seemed, alarmed 
 at my long absence, had given up all for lost, and 
 supposed I had fallen into the hands of the enemy. 
 "When sh*^ heard my voice, mingled with those of 
 the others, she thought my captors were leading me 
 back to make me discover my family, and in the 
 extremity of her terror she had tried to hide herself. 
 I had hard work to satisfy her. Our long habits of 
 concealment and anxiety had rendered her suspicious 
 of every one ; and her agitation was so great that 
 for a time she was incapable of understanding what 
 I said, and went on in a sort of paroxysm of distress 
 and fear. This, however, was soon over, and the 
 kindness of my corapanionF" did much to facilitate 
 the matter. 
 
 And now we were off for the boat. It required 
 little time to embark our baggage — one convenience, 
 at least, of having nothing. The men bent their 
 backs with a will, and headed steadily for a light 
 hung from the vessel's mast. I was praising God in 
 my soul. Three hearty cheers welcomed us as we 
 reached the schooner, and never till my dying day 
 shall I forget the shout of the captain — he was a 
 
 o 
 
94 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 Scotchman — " Coom up on deck, and clop your 
 wings and craw like a rooster ; you're a free nigger 
 as sure as you're a live inon." Round went the vessel, 
 the wind plunged into her sails as though innocu- 
 lated with the common feeling — the water seethed 
 and hissed past her sides. Man and nature, and, 
 more than all, I felt the God of man and nature, 
 who breathes love into the heart and maketh the 
 winds His ministers, were with us. My happiness 
 that night rose at times to positive pain. Unnerved 
 by so sudden a change from destitution and danger 
 to such kindness and blessed security, I wept like a 
 child. 
 
 The next evening we reached Bufiulo, but it was 
 too late to cross the river that night. " You see 
 those trees," said the noble-hearted captain, next 
 morning, pointing to a group in the distance ; " they 
 grow on free soil, and as soon as your feet touch 
 that, you're a mon. I want to see you go and be a 
 freeman. I'm poor myself, and have nothing to 
 give you ; I only sail the boat for wages ; but I'll 
 see you across. Here, Green," said ho to a ferryman, 
 " what will you take this man and his family over 
 for — he's got no money ? " ** Three shillings." He 
 then took a dollar out of his pocket and gave it to 
 me. Never shall I forget the spirit in which he 
 spoke. He put his hand on my head and said, " Be 
 a good fellow, won't you ? " I felt streams of emo- 
 tion running down in electric courses from head to 
 foot. " Yes," said I ; " I'll use my freedom well ; 
 I'll give my soul to God." He stood waving hia 
 
JOURNEY TO CANADA. 95 
 
 hat as we pushed off for the opposite shore. God 
 bless him I God bless him eternally I Amen ! 
 
 It was the 28th of October, 1830, in the morning, 
 when my feet first touched the Canada shore. I 
 threw myself on the ground, rolled in the sand, 
 seized handfuls of it and kissed them, and danced 
 around, till, in the eyes of several who were present, 
 I passed for a madman. " He's some crazy fellow," 
 said a Colonel Warren, who happened to be there. 
 " Oh no, master ! don't you know ? I'm free ! " 
 lie burst into a shout of laughter. " "Well, I never 
 knew freedom make a man roll in the sand in such 
 a fashion." Still I could not control myself. I 
 hugged and kissed my wife and children, and, until 
 the first exuberant burst of feeling was over, went 
 on as before. 
 
 m^ 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 NEW SCENES AND A NEW HOME. 
 
 A POOB MAN IN A STRANGE LAND. — BEGIN TO ACQUIRE PROPEBTT. 
 — RESXTME PREACHING. — BOYS GO TO SCHOOL. — WHAT GAVE ME A 
 DESIRE TO LEARN TO READ. — A DAT OF PRAYER IN THE WOODS. 
 
 f 
 
 THERE was not much, time to be lost, though, in 
 frolic even, at this extraordinary moment. I 
 was a stranger in a strange land, and had to look 
 about pae at once for refuge and resource. I found 
 a lodging for the night, and the next morning set 
 about exploring the interior for the means of sup- 
 port. I knew nothing about the country or the 
 people, but kept my eyes and ears open, and made 
 such inquiries as opportunity afforded. I heard, in the 
 course of the day, of a Mr. Hibbard, who lived some 
 six or seven miles off. He was a rich man, as riches 
 were counted there, had a large farm, and several 
 small teiicments on it, which he was in the habit of 
 letting to his labourers. To him I went immediately, 
 though the character given him by his neighbours 
 was not, by any means, unexceptionably good. But 
 I thought he was not, probably, any worse than those 
 I had been accustomed to serve, and that I could get 
 aloni:: with him, if honest and faithful work would 
 satisfy him. In the afternoon I found him, and soon 
 struck a bargain with him for employment. I asked 
 
NEW SCENES AND A NEW HOME. 97 
 
 him If there was any house where he would let me 
 live. He said, "Yes," and led the way to an old 
 two-story sort of shanty, into the lower story of 
 which the pigs had broken, and had apparently 
 made it their resting-place for some time. Still, it 
 was a house, and I forthwith expelled the pigs, and 
 set about cleaning it for the occupancy of a better 
 sort of tenants. With the aid of hoe and shovel, 
 hot water and a mop, I got the floor into a tolerablo 
 condition by midnight, and only then did I rest from 
 my labour. The next day I brought the rest of the 
 Hensons, the only furniture I had, to my house, ind. 
 though there was nothing there but baro wall'^ ^nu 
 floors, we were all in a state of great delight, and 
 my wife laughed and acknowledged that it was 
 better than a log cabin with an earth- floor. I begged 
 some straw of Mr. Hibbard, and confining it by loga 
 in the corners of the room, I made beds of it three 
 feet thick, upon which we reposed luxuriously after 
 our long fatigues. 
 
 Another trial awaited me which I had not anti- 
 cipated. In consequence of the great exposures 
 we had been through, my wife and all the children 
 fell sick ; and it was not without extreme peril that 
 they escaped with their lives. 
 
 My employer soon found that my labour was of 
 more value to him than that of those he was accus- 
 tomed to hire; and as I consequently gained his 
 favour, and his wife took quite a fancy to mine, we 
 soon procured some of the comforts of life, while the 
 necessaries of life, food and fuel, were abundant. I 
 remained with Mr. Hibbard three years, sometimes 
 
*a tt TTwriT 11 m/Mir »» 
 
 98 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 working on shares, and sometimes for wages ; and I 
 managed in that time to procure some pigs, a cow, 
 and a horse. Thus my condition gradually improved, 
 and I felt that my toils and sacrifices for freedom 
 had not been in vain. Nor were my labours for the 
 improvement of myself and others, in more important 
 things than food and clothing, without efiect. It so 
 happened that one of my Maryland friends arrived 
 in this neighbourhood, and hearing of my being here, 
 inquired if I ever preached now, and spread the 
 reputation I had acquired elsewhere for my gifts in 
 the pulpit. I had said nothing myself, and had not 
 intended to say anything of my having ever officiated 
 in that way. I went to meeting with others, when I 
 had an opportunity, and enjoyed the quiet of the 
 Sabbath when there was no assembly, I could not 
 refuse to labour in this field, however, when after- 
 wards desired to do so ; and I was from this time 
 frequently called upon, not by blacks alone, but by 
 all classes in my vicinity — the comparatively edu- 
 cated, as well as the lamentably ignorant — to speak 
 to them on their duty, responsibility, and immor- 
 tality, on their obligations to themselves, •their 
 Saviour, and their Maker. 
 
 I am aware it must seem strange to many that a 
 man so ignorant, unable to read, and having heard 
 80 little as I had of religion, natural or revealed, 
 should be able to preach acceptably to persons who 
 had enjoyed greater advantages than myself. I can 
 explain it only by reference to our Saviour's com- 
 parison of the kingdom of heaven to a plant which 
 may spring from a seed no bigger than a mustard- 
 
NEW SCENES AND A NEW HOME. 99 
 
 seed, and may yet reach such a size, that the birds 
 of the air may take shelter therein. Religion is not 
 80 much knowledge as wisdom ; and observation 
 upon what passes without, and reflection upon what 
 passes within a man's heart, will give him a larger 
 growth in grace than is imagined by the devoted 
 adherents of creeds, or the confident followers of 
 Christ, who call Him " Lord, Lord," but do not the 
 things which He says. 
 
 Mr. Hibbard was good enough to give my eldest 
 boy, Tom, two quarters* schooling, to which the 
 schoolmaster added more, of his own kindness, so 
 that my boy learned to read fluently and well. It 
 was a great advantage, not only to him, but to me ; 
 for I used to get him to read much to me in the 
 Bible, especially on Sunday mornings, when I was 
 going to preach ; and I could easily commit to 
 memory a few verses, or a chapter, from hearing 
 him read it over. 
 
 One beautiful summer Sabbath I rose early, and 
 called him to come and read to me. ** Where shall 
 I read, father?'' "Anywhere, my son," I answered, 
 for I knew not how to direct him. He opened upon 
 Psalm ciii., " Bless the Lord, my soul : and all 
 that is within me, bless His holy name ; " and as he 
 read this beautiful outpouring of gratitude, which I 
 now first heard, my heart melted within me. I 
 recalled, with all the rapidity of which thought is 
 capable, the whole current of my life ; and, as I 
 remembered the dangers and afflictions from which 
 the Lord had delivered me, and compared my pre- 
 sent condition with what it had been, not only my 
 
'o «-TXTr,TT5. fTrtUr " 
 
 100 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 heart but my eyes overflowed, and I could neither 
 check nor conceal the emotion which overpowered 
 me. The words, "Bless the Lord, my soul," with 
 which the Psalm begins and ends, were all I needed, 
 or could use, to express the fulness of my thankful 
 heart. "When he had finished, Tom turned to me 
 and asked, "Father, who was David?" He had 
 observed my excitement, and added, " He writes 
 pretty, don't he?" and then repeated his question. 
 It was a question I was utterly unable to answer. I 
 had never heard of David, but could not bear to 
 acknowledge my ignorance to my own child. So I 
 answered, evasively, " He was a man of God, my 
 son." " I suppose so," said he, " btil I want to 
 know something more about him. \Vhere did he 
 live? What did he do ?" As he went on question- 
 ing me, I saw it was in vain to attempt to escape, 
 and so I told him frankly I did not know. " Why, 
 father,'' said he, "can't you read?" This was a 
 worse question than the other, and, if I had any 
 pride in me at the moment, it took it all out of me 
 pretty quick. It was a direct question, and must 
 have a direct answer ; so I told him at once I could 
 not. " "Why not ?" said he. " Because I never had 
 an opportunity to learn, nor anybody to teach me.** 
 " "Well, you can learn now, father.'* " No, my son, 
 I am too old, and have not time enough. I must 
 work all day, or you would not have enough to eat." 
 " Then you might do it at night." " But still there 
 is nobody to teach me. I can't afford to pay anybody 
 for it, and, of course, no one can do it for nothing." 
 " "Why, father, I'll teach you, I can do it, I know. 
 
NEW SCENES AND A. NEW HOME. 101 
 
 And then you'll know so much more that you will 
 be able to talk better, and preach better." The 
 little fellow was so earnest, there was no resisting 
 him ; but it is hard to describe the conflicting feel- 
 ings within me at such a proposition from such a 
 quarter. I was delighted with the conviction that 
 my children would have advantages I had never 
 enjoyed ; but it was no slight mortification to think 
 of being instructed by my young son. Yet ann- 
 bition, and a true desire to learn, for the good it 
 would do my own mind, conquered the shame, and 
 I agreed to try. But I did not reach this state of 
 mind instantly. 
 
 I was greatly moved by the conversation I had 
 with Tom, so much so, that I could not undertake 
 to preach that day. The congregation were disap- 
 pointed, and I passed the Sunday in solitary reflec- 
 tion in the woods. I was too much engrossed with 
 the multitude of my thoughts to return home to 
 dinner, and spent the whole day in secret meditation 
 and prayer, trying to compose myself, and ascertain 
 my true position. It was not difficult to see that 
 my predicament was one of profound ignorance, and 
 that I ought to use every opportunity of enlighten- 
 ing it. I began to take lessons of Tom, therefore, 
 immediately, and followed it up every evening, by 
 the light of a pine knot, or some hickory bark, 
 which was the only light I could afford. Weeks 
 passed, and my progress was so slow that poor Tom 
 was almost discouraged, and used to drop asleep 
 sometimes, and whine a little over my dulness, and 
 talk to me very much as a schoolmaster talks to a 
 
102 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 Btupid boy, till I began to be afraid that my age, 
 nearly fifty, my want of practice in looking at such 
 little scratches, the daily fatigue, and the dim light, 
 would be effectual preventives of my over acquiring 
 the art of reading. But Tom's perseverance and 
 mine conquered at last, and in the course of the 
 winter I did really learn to read a little. 
 
 It was, and b as been ever since, a great comfort 
 to me to have made this acquisition ; though it has 
 made me comprehend better the terrible abyss of 
 ignorance into which I had been plunged all my 
 previous life. It made me also feel more deeply 
 and bitterly the oppression under which I had toiled 
 and groaned, the crushing and cruel nature of which 
 I had not appreciated, till J found out, in some 
 slight degree, from what I had been debarred. At 
 the same time it made me more anxious than efore, 
 to do something for the rescue and the elevation of 
 those who were suffering the same evils I had 
 endured, and who did not know how degraded and 
 ignorant thrj really were. 
 
 f »■ 
 
CHAPTER Xy. 
 LIFE IN CANADA. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE BLACKS IN CANADA. — A TOUR OF EXfLORATIOW. 
 — APPEAL TO TUE LEGISLATURE. — IMPUOVEMENTS. 
 
 AFTER about three years had passed, I improved 
 my condition again by taking service with a 
 gentleman by the name of Riseley, whose residence 
 was only a few miles distant. He was a man of 
 more elevation of mind than Mr. Hibbard, and of 
 superior abilities. At his place I began to reflect, 
 more and more, upon the circumstances of the 
 blacks, who were already somewhat numerous in 
 this region. I was not the only one who had 
 escaped from the States, and had settled on the first 
 spot in Canada which they had reached. Several 
 hundreds of coloured persons were in the neighbour- 
 hood, and, in the first joy of their deliverance, they 
 were living in a way, which, I could see, led to little 
 or no progress in improvement. They were content 
 to have the proceeds of their labcur at their own 
 command, and had not the ambition foi, or the per- 
 ception of what was within their easy reach, if they 
 did but know it. They were generally working for 
 hire upon the lands of others, and had not yet 
 dreamed of becoming independent proprietors them- 
 selves. It soon became my great object to awaken 
 
104 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE*S " UNOLE TOM." 
 
 them to a sense of the advantages which were 
 within their grasp ; and Mr. Riseley, seeing clearly 
 the justness of my views, and willing to co-operate 
 with me in the attempt to make them generally 
 known among the blacks, permitted me to call 
 meetings at his house of those who were known to 
 be amongst the most intelligent and successful of our 
 class. At these meetings we considered and dis- 
 cussed the subject, till we were all of one mind ; and 
 it was agreed, among the ten or twelve of us who 
 assembled at them, that we would invest our earnings 
 in land, and undertake the task — which, though no 
 light one certainly, would yet soon reward us for our 
 effort — of settling upon wild lands, which we could 
 call our own, and where every tree which we felled, 
 and every bushel of corn we raised, would be for 
 ourselves ; in other words, where we could secure all 
 the profits of our own labour. 
 
 The advantages of such a course of procedure 
 have been exemplified for two hundred years and 
 more, by the people who have thereby acquired an 
 indestructible character for energy, enterprise, and 
 self-reliance. It was precisely this energetic spirit 
 which I wished to instil into my fellow-slaves, if 
 possible ; and I was not deterred from the task by 
 the perception of the immense contrast in all their 
 habits and character generated by long ages of free- 
 dom and servitude, activity and sloth, independence 
 and subjection. My associates agreed with me, and 
 we resolved to select some spot among the many 
 offered to ou • choice, where we could colonize, and 
 ruise our own crops, eat our own bread, and be, in 
 
LIFE IN CANADA. 105 
 
 short, our own masters. I was deputed to explore 
 the country, and find a place to which I would be 
 willing to migrate myself ; and they all said they 
 would go with me, whenever such a one should bo 
 found. I set out accordingly in the autumn of 1834, 
 and travelled on foot all over the extensive region 
 between lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron. When I 
 came to the territory east of Lake St. Clair and 
 Detroit River, I was strongly impressed with its 
 fertility and its superiority, for all our purposes, to 
 any other spot I had s ^n. I determined this should 
 be the place ; and so reported, on my return, to my 
 future companions. They were wisely cautious, 
 however, and sent me off again in the summer, that 
 I might see it at the opposite seasons of the year, 
 and be better able to judge of its advantages. I 
 found no reason to change my opinion, but upon 
 going farther towards the head of Lake Erie, I 
 discovered an extensive tract of government-land, 
 which, for some years, had been granted to a Mr. 
 McCormick upon certain conditions, and which he 
 had rented out to settlers upon such terms as ho 
 could obtain. This Irnd being already cleared, 
 offered some advantages for the immediate raising 
 of crops, which were not to be overlooked by per- 
 sons whose resources wer? so limited as ours. We 
 determined to go there fi:rst, for a time, and with. 
 the proceeds of what wo could earn there, to make 
 our purchases in Dawn afterwards. This plan was 
 followed, and some dozen or more of us settled upon 
 those lands the following spring, and accumulated 
 something by the crops of wheat and tobacco we 
 were able to raise. 
 
106 MRS. H. BEECHER 8T0WE S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 I discovered, before long, that McCormick had 
 not complied with the conditions of his grant, and 
 was not, therefore, entitled to the rent he exacted 
 from the settlers. I was advised by Sir John Cock- 
 burn, to whom I applied on the subject, to appeal to 
 the legislature for relief. "Wo did so ; and though 
 McCormick was able, by the aid of his friends, to 
 defeat us for one year, yet we succeeded the next, 
 upon a second appeal, and were freed from all rent 
 thereafter, so long as we remained. Still, this was 
 not our own land. The government, though it de- 
 manded no rent, might set up the land for sale at 
 any time, and then we should, probably, be driven 
 off by wealthier purchasers, with the entire loss of 
 all our improvements, and with no retreat provided. 
 It was manifest that it was altogether better for us 
 to purchase before competition was invited; and we 
 kept this fully in mind during the time we stayed 
 there. We remained in this position six or seven 
 years; and all this while the coloured population 
 was increasing rapidly around us, and spreading 
 very fast into the interior settlements and the large 
 towns. The immigration from the United States 
 was incessant, and some, I am willing to admit, 
 were brought hither with my knowledge and con- 
 nivance ; and I will now proceed to give a short 
 account of the plans and operations I had arranged 
 for the liberation of some of my brethren, which I 
 hope may prove interesting to the reader. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 CONDUCTING SLAVES TO CANADA. 
 
 erMPATHY FOR THE SLAVES. — JAMES LIGHTFOOT. — MY FIT.Bt 
 MISSION TO THE SOUTH, — A KENTUCKY COMPANY OF FUGITIVES. 
 —SAFE AT HOME. 
 
 THE degraded and hopeless condition of a slave 
 can never be properly felt by him while he 
 remains in such a position. After I had tasted the 
 blessings of freedom, my mind reverted to those 
 whom I knew were groaning in captivity, and I at 
 once proceeded to take measures to free as many as 
 I could. I thought that, by using exertion, num- 
 bers might make their escape as I did, if they had 
 some practical advice how to proceed. 
 
 I was once attending a very large meeting at Fort 
 Erie, at which a great many coloured people were 
 present. In the course of my preaching, I tried to 
 impress upon them the importance of the obliga- 
 tions they were under ; first, to God, for their de- 
 liverance ; and then, secondly, to their fellow-men, 
 to do all that was in their power to bring others out 
 of bondage. In the congregation was a man named 
 James Lightfoot, who was of a very active tempera- 
 ment, and had obtained his freedom by fleeing to 
 Canada, but had never thought of his family and 
 friends whom he had left behind, until the time he 
 
108 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 heard me speaking-, although he himself had been 
 free for some five years. However, that Ciy the 
 cause was brought home to his heart. When the 
 service was concluded, he begged to have an inter- 
 view with me, to which I gladly acceded, and an 
 arrangement was made for further conversation on 
 the same subject one week from that time. He then 
 informed mo where he came from, also to whom he 
 belonged, and that he had left behind a dear father 
 and mother, three sisters and four brothers ; and 
 that they lived on the Ohio River, not far from the 
 city of Maysville. He said that he never saw his 
 duty towards them to be so clear and unmistakable 
 as he did at that time, and professed himself ready 
 to co-operate in any measures that might be devised 
 for their release. During the short period of his 
 freedom he had accumulated some little property, 
 the whole of which, he stated, he would cheerfully 
 devote to carrying out those measures ; for he had 
 no rest, night nor day, since the meeting above 
 mentioned. 
 
 I was not able at that time to propose what was 
 best to bo done, and thus we parted ; but in a few 
 days he came to see me again on the same errand. 
 Seeing the agony of his heart in behalf of his 
 kindred, I consented to commence the painful and 
 dangerous task of endeavouring to free those whom 
 he so much loved. I left my own family in the 
 hands of no other save God, and commenced the 
 journey alone, on foot, and travelled thus about four 
 hundred miles. But the Lord furnished me with 
 strength sufficie^it for the undertaking. I passed 
 
CONDUCTING SLAVES TO CANADA. 109 
 
 through the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and 
 Ohio — free States, so called — crossed the Ohio River 
 into Kentucky, and ultimately found his friends in 
 the place he had described. 
 
 I was an entire stranger to them, but I took with 
 rae a small token of their brother who was gone, 
 which they at once recognised ; and this was to let 
 them know that he had gone to Canada, the land of 
 freedom, and had now sent a friend to assist them in 
 making their escape. This created no little excite- 
 ment. Bat his parents had become so far advanced 
 in years that they could not undertake the fatigue ; 
 his sisters had a number of children, and they could 
 not travel ; his four brothers and a nephew were 
 young men, and sufficiently able for the journey, 
 but the thought of leaving their father, and mother, 
 and sisters, was too painful ; and they also considered 
 it unsafe to make the attempt then, for fear that the 
 excitement and grief of their friends might betray 
 them ; so they declined going at that time, but prom- 
 ised that they would go in a year if I would return 
 for them. 
 
 To this I assented, and then went between forty 
 and fifty miles into the interior of Kentucky, having 
 heard that there was a large party ready to attempt 
 their escape if they had a leader to direct their 
 movements. I travelled by night, resting by day, 
 and at length reached Bourbon county, the place 
 whore I expected to find these people. After a delay 
 of about a week, spent in discussing plans, making 
 arrangements, and other matters, I found that there 
 were about thirty collected from difierent States, who 
 
110 MRS. H. BBECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 were disposed to mnke the attempt. At Icngtli, on a 
 Saturday night, we started. The agony of parting 
 can be better conceived than described ; as, in their 
 case, husbands were leaving their wives, mothers 
 their children, and children their parents. This, at 
 first sight, will appear strange, and even incredible ; 
 but, when we take into consideration the fact, that 
 at any time they were liable to be separated, by 
 being sold to what are termed "nigger traders,'* 
 and the probability that such an event would tako 
 place, it will, I think, cease to excite any surprise. 
 
 We succeeded in crossing the Ohio River in safety, 
 and arrived in Cincinnati the third night after our 
 departure. Here we procured assistance ; and, after 
 stopping a short time to rest, we started for Rich- 
 mond, Indiana. This is a town which had been 
 settled by Quakers, and there we found friends in- 
 deed, who at once helped us on our way, without) 
 loss of time ; and after a difficult journey of two 
 weeks, through the wilderness, we reached Toledo, 
 Ohio, a town on the south-western shore of Lake 
 Erie, md there we took passage for Canada, which 
 "we reached in safety. I then went homo to mv 
 family, taking with me a part of this large party, 
 the rest finding their friends scattered in other 
 towns, perfectly satisfied with my conduct in thtv 
 matter, in being permitted to be the instrument of 
 freeing such a number of my fellow-creatures. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SECOND JOUKNEY ON THE UNDERGROUND 
 RAILROAD. 
 
 A SHOWEft OP STARS. — KENTUCKIANS. — A STRATAGEM. — A PEOVI- 
 DENCR. — CONDUCTED ACROSS THE MIAMI lUVEU BY A OOW. — 
 ARRIVAL AT CINCINNAII. — ONE OF JIIE PARTX TAKEN ILL. — WB 
 LEAVE UIM TO DIE.— MEET A "FRIEND." — A POOR WUJTE M iN. 
 — A STRANGE IMPRESSION. — ONCE MORE IN CANADA. 
 
 I REMAINED at home, working on Tiy farm, until 
 the next autumn, about the time I had pro- 
 mised to assist in the restoring to liberty the friends 
 of James Lightfoot, the individual who had excited 
 my sympathy at the meeting at Fort Erie. In pur- 
 suance of this promise, I again started on my long 
 journey into Kentucky. 
 
 On my way, that strange occurrence happened, 
 called the great meteoric shower. The heavena 
 seemed broken up into streaks of liglit and falling 
 stars. I reached Lancaster, Ohio, at tlireo o'clock 
 in the morning, found the village aroused, tho bells 
 ringing, and the people exclaiming, "Tho day of 
 judgment is come I " I thought it was probably so; 
 but felt that I was in the right business, and walked 
 , on through the village, leaving the terrified people 
 behind. The stars continued to fall till tho light of 
 the sun appeared. 
 
 On arriving at Portsmouth, in the State of OhiO| 
 
112 MRS. H. BEECHEll STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 I had a very narrow escape from being detected. 
 The place was frequented by a number of Kentuckians, 
 who were quite ready to suspect a coloured man, if 
 they saw anything unusual about him. I reached 
 Pjrtsmouth in the morning, and waited until two 
 in the afternoon for the steamboat, so that I might 
 not arrive in Maysville till after dark. While in 
 the town I was obliged to resort to a stratagem, in 
 order to avoid being questioned by the Kentuckians 
 I saw in the place. To this end I procured some 
 dried leaves, put them into a cloth and bound it all 
 round my face, reaching nearly to my eyes, and 
 pretended to be so seriously aflfected in my head and 
 teeth as not to be able to speak. I then hung 
 around the village till the time for the evening boat, 
 so as to arrive at Maysville in the night. I was 
 accosted by several during my short stay in Ports- 
 mouth, who a^jpeared very anxious to get some 
 particulars from me as to who I was, where I was 
 going, and to whom I belonged. To all their 
 numerous inquiries I merely shook my head, 
 mumbled out indistinct answers, and acted so that 
 they could not get anything out of me ; and, by this 
 artifice, I t cceeded in avoiding any unpleasant 
 consequences. I got on board the boat and reached 
 Maysville, Kentucky, in the evening, about a fort- 
 night from the time I had left Canada. 
 
 On landing, a wonderful providence happened to 
 me. The second person I met in the street was 
 Jefferson Lightfoot, brother of the James Lightfoot 
 previously mentioned, and one of the party who had 
 promised to escape if I would assist them. He stated 
 
JOURNEY ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 113 
 
 that they were still determined to make the attempt, 
 decided to put it into execution the following Satur- 
 day night, and preparations for the journey were at 
 once commenced. The reason why Saturday night 
 was chosen on this and the previous occasion was, 
 that from not having to labour the next day, and 
 being allowed to visit their families, they would not 
 be missed until the time came for their usual appear- 
 ance in the field, at which x^eriod they would be 
 some eighty or a hundred miles awaj'. During the 
 interval I had to keep myself concealed by day, and 
 used to meet them by night to make the necessary 
 arrangements. 
 
 From fear of being detected, they started of with- 
 out bidding their father or mother farewell, and 
 then, in order to, prevent the bloodhounds from fol- 
 lowing on our trail, we seized a skiff, a little below 
 the city, and made our way down the river. It was 
 not the shortest way, but it was the surest. 
 
 It was sixty- five miles from Mays vi lie to Cin- 
 cinnati, and we thought we could reach that city 
 before daylight, and then take the stage for Sandusky. 
 Our boat sprung a leak before we had got half way, 
 and we narrowly escaped being drowned ; provi- 
 dentially, however, we got to the shore before the 
 boat sunk. We then took another boat, but this 
 detention prevented us from arriving at Cincinnati 
 in time ibr the stage. Day broke upon us when wo 
 were about ten miles above the city, and wo were 
 compelled to leave our boat from fear of being 
 apprehended. This was an anxious time. However, 
 we had got so far away that we knew there was no 
 
114 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 danger of being discovered by the hounds, and we 
 thought we would go on foot. When we got within 
 seven miles of Cincinnati, we came to the Miami 
 River, and we could not reach the city without 
 crossing it. 
 
 This was a great barrier to us, for the water ap- 
 peared to be deep, and we were afraid to ask the 
 loan of a boat, being apprehensive it might lead to 
 our detection. We went first up and then down the 
 river, trying to find a convenient crossing-place, but 
 .iailcd. I then said to my company, '* Boys, let us 
 JO up the river and try again." Wc started, and 
 after going about a mile we saw a cow coming out of 
 a wood, and going to the river as though she in- 
 tended to drink. Then said I, " Boys, let us go 
 and see what the cow is about, it may be that she 
 will tell us some news." I said this in order to 
 cheer them up. One of them replied, in rather a 
 peevish way, " Oh, that cow can't talk ; " but I 
 again urged them to come on. The cow remained 
 until we approaclied her within a rod or two ; she 
 then walked into the river, and went straight across 
 without swimming, which caused mo to remark, 
 " The Lord sent that cow to show us where to cross 
 the river ! " This has always seemed to me to be a 
 very wonderful event. 
 
 Having urged our way with considerable haste, we 
 were literally saturat^ed with perspiration, though it 
 was snowing at the f'me, and my companions thought 
 that it would be highly dangerous for us to proceed 
 through the water, especially as there was a large 
 quantity of ice in the river. But as it was a ques- 
 
JOURNEY ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 115 
 
 tion of life or death with us, there was no time left 
 for reasoning ; I therefore advanced — they reluctantly 
 following. The youngest of the Lightfoots, ere we 
 reached halfway over the river, was seized with 
 violent contraction of the limbs, which prevented 
 I'arther self-exertion on his part ; he was, therefore, 
 <'arried the remainder of the distance. After resort- 
 ing to continued friction, he partially recovered, and 
 we proceeded on our journey. 
 
 We reached Cincinnati about eleven on Sunday 
 morning, too late for the stage that day ; but having 
 found some friends, we hid ourselves until Monday 
 evening, when we recommenced our long and toil- 
 some journey, through mud, rain, and snow, towards 
 Canada. "Wo had increased our distance about one 
 hundred miles, by going out of our road to get 
 jimong the Quakers. During our passage through 
 the woods, the boy before referred to was taken 
 alarmingly ill, and we were compelled to proceed 
 with him on our backs ; but finding this mode of 
 <;onveying him exceedingly irksome, wo constructed 
 u kind of litter with our shirts and handkerchiefs 
 laid across poles. By this time we got into the State 
 of Indiana, so that we could travel by day as long as 
 wo kept to the woods. Our patient continued to get 
 worse, and it appeared, both to himself and to us, 
 that death would soon release him from his suffer- 
 ings, lie therefore begged to be loft in some 
 secluded spot, to die alone, as he feared that the 
 delay occasioned by his having to bo carried through 
 the bush, might lead to the capture of the whole 
 company. With very considerable reluctance we 
 
IIG MRS. 11. BEECIIER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM.'* 
 
 acceded to his request, and laid him in a sheltered 
 place, with a full expectation that death would booh 
 put an end to his sufferings. The poor fellow ex- 
 pressed* his readiness to meet the last struggle in 
 hope of eternal life. Sad, indeed, was the parting ; 
 and it was with difficulty we tore ourselves away. 
 
 We had not, however, proceeded more than two 
 miles on our journey, when one of the brothers of the 
 dying man made a sudden stop, and expressed his in- 
 ability to proceed whilst ho had the consciousness 
 that he had left his brother to perish, in all pro- 
 bability, a prey to the devouring wolves. Ilis grief 
 was so great that we determined to return, and at 
 length reached the spot, where we found the poor 
 fellow apparently dying, moaning out with every 
 breath a prayer to heaven. Words cannot describe 
 the joyousness experienced by the Lightfoots when 
 they saw their poor afflicted brother once more ; they 
 literally danced for joy. We at once prepared to 
 resume our journey as we best could, and once more 
 penetrated the bush. After making some progress, 
 we saw, at a little distance on the road, a waggon 
 approaching, and I immediately determined to ascer- 
 tain whether some assistance could not be obtained. 
 
 I at length circumvented the road, so as to make 
 it appear that I had been journeying in an opposite 
 direction to that which the waggon was taking. 
 When I came up with the driver, I bade him good 
 day. He said, " Where is thee going ?" " To 
 Canada." I saw his coat, heard his thee and thoUy 
 and set him down for a Quaker. I therefore plainly 
 told him our circumstances. He at once stopped hia 
 
JOURNEY ON THE UXDERGUOUND RAILROAD. 117 
 
 horses, and expressed his willingness to assist us. I. 
 returned to the place where my companions were in 
 waiting for me, and soon had them in the presence 
 of the Quaker. Immediately on viewing the sufferer 
 he was moved to tears, and without delay turned his 
 horses* heads, to proceed in th^* direction of his home, 
 although he had intended to go to a distant market 
 with a load of produce for sale. The reception we 
 met with from the Quaker's i'amily overjoyed our 
 hearts, and the transports with which the poor men. 
 looked upon their brother, now so favourably circum- 
 stanced, cannot be described. 
 
 We remained with this happy family for the night,, 
 and received from them every kindness. It was 
 arranged that the boy should remain behind, until, 
 through the blessing of God, he should recover. We 
 were kindly provided by them with a sack of biscuit, 
 and a joint of meat, and once more set our faces in 
 the direction of Lake Eric. 
 
 After proceeding some distance on our road, we 
 perceived a v^hite man approachinfj, but as he wa«. 
 travelling alone, and on foot, we were not alarmed at 
 his presence. It turned out that ho had been re- 
 siding for some time in the South, and although a 
 free white man, his employers had attempted to 
 castigate him ; in return for which he had used 
 violence, which made it necessary that he should at 
 once escape. We travelled in company, and found 
 that his presence was of signal service to us in de- 
 livering us out of the hands of the slave-hunters who 
 were now on our track, and eagerly grasping after 
 their prey. Wo had resolved on reaching the lake, 
 
118 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM 
 
 1) 
 
 a distance of forty miles, by the following morning ; 
 we, therefore, walked all night. 
 
 Just as the day was breaking, we reached a way- 
 side tavern, immediately contiguous to the lake, and 
 our white companion having knocked up the land- 
 land, ordered breakfast for six. Whilst our breakfast 
 was in course of preparation, we dosed off into slum- 
 ber, wearied with our long- continued exertion. 
 
 Just as our breakfast was ready, whilst half-asleep 
 and half-awake, an impression came forcibly upon 
 me that danger was nigh, and that I must at once 
 leave the house. I immediately urged my com- 
 panions to follow me out, which they were exceed- 
 ingly unwilling to do ; but as they had promised me 
 submission, they at length yielded to my request. 
 We retired to the yard at the side of the house, and 
 commenced washing ourselves with the snow, which 
 was now up to our knees. Presently we heard the 
 tramping of horses, and were at once warned of tho 
 necessity of secreting ourselves. We crept beneatli 
 a pile of bushes, close at hand, which permitted u 
 full view of the road. The horsemen came to a dead 
 stop at the door of tho house, and commenced their 
 inquiries ; my companions at once recognised tho 
 parties on horseback, and whispered their names to 
 me. This was a critical moment, and the loud beat- 
 ings of their hearts testified the dreadful alarm with 
 which they viewed the scene. Had wo been within 
 doors, we should have been inevitably sacrificed. 
 Our white friend proceeded to the door in advance oi 
 the landlord, and maintained his position. lie was at 
 once interrogated by the slave-hunters whether he 
 
JOURNEY ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 119 
 
 had seen any negroes pass that way. He said, yes, 
 he thought he had. Their number was demanded, 
 and they were told about six, and that they were 
 proceeding in the direction of Detroit ; and that they 
 might bo some few miles on the road. They at once 
 rpigned their horses, which were greatly fatigued, 
 through having been ridden all night, and were soon 
 out of sight. We at length ventured into the house, 
 and devoured breakfast in an incredibly short space 
 of time. After what had transpired, the landlord 
 became acquainted with our circumstances, and at 
 once offered to sail us in his boat across to Canada. 
 We were happy enough to have such an offer, and 
 soon the white sail of our little bark was laying to 
 the wind, and we were gliding along on our way, 
 with the land of liberty in full view. Words can- 
 not describe the feelings experienced by my com- 
 panions as they neared the shore — their bosoms woro 
 swelling with inexpressible joy as they mounted the 
 seats of the boat, ready, eagerly, to spring forward, 
 that they might touch the soil of the freeman. And 
 when they reached the shore, they danced and wept 
 ibr joy, and kissed the earth on which they firat 
 stepped, no longer the slave — but tlie free. 
 
 After the lapse of a few months, on one joyous 
 vSabbath morning, I had the happiness of clasping 
 the poor boy we had left in the kind care of the 
 Quaker, no longer attenuated in frame, but robust 
 and healthy, and surrounded by his family. Thus 
 my joy was consummated, and superadded were the 
 blessings of those who were ready to perish, which 
 came upon me. It is one of the greatest fjources of 
 
120 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 my happiness to know, that by similar means to 
 those above narrated, I have been instrumental in 
 delivering one hundred and eighteen human being* 
 out of the cruel and merciless grasp of tlio slave- 
 holder. 
 
 Mr. Frank Taylor, the owner of the Lightfoots, 
 whose escape I have just narrated, soon aftdr he 
 missed his slaves, fell ill, and became quite deranged ; 
 on recovering, he was persuaded by his friends to 
 free the remainder of the family of the Lightfoots, 
 which he at length did, and after a short lapse of 
 time, they all met each other in Canada, where they 
 are now living. 
 
 *'»^>- 
 
 ,-«v • ' 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 HOME AT DAWN. 
 
 CONDITION IN CANADA,— EFKOnrS IN BEHALF OP MT PEOPLE. — 
 REV. MR. WILSON. — A CONVENTION OF BLACKS. — MANUAL-LABOUtt 
 BCnOOL. 
 
 I DID not find that our prosperity increased with 
 our numbers. The mere delight the slaves 
 took in their freedom, rendered them, at first, con- 
 tented with a lot far inferior to that to which they 
 might have attained. Their ignorance often led 
 them to make unprofitable bargains, and they would 
 often hire wild land on short terms, and bind them- 
 selves to clear a certain number of acres. But by 
 the time they were cleared and fitted for cultivation, 
 and the lease was out, the landlords would take posses- 
 sion of the cleared land and raise a splendid crop on 
 it. The tenants would, very likely, start again on 
 just such another bargain, and be no better ofi" at 
 the end of ten years than at the beginning. Another 
 way in which they lost the profits of their labour 
 was by raising nothing but tobacco, the high price 
 of which was very tempting, and the cultivation of 
 which was a monopoly in their hands, as no white 
 man understood it, or could compete with them at 
 all. The consequence was, however, that the had 
 
122 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's '* UNCLE TOM." 
 
 nothing but tobacco to sell, and soon there was 
 rather too much of it in the market, and the price of 
 wheat rose, while their commodity was depressed ; 
 hence they lost all they should have saved, in the 
 profit they gave the trader for his corn and stores. 
 
 I saw the effect of these things so clearly, that I 
 could not help trying to make my friends and neigh- 
 bours see it too ; and I set seriously about the 
 business of lecturing upon the subject of crops, 
 wages, and profit, just as if I had been brought up 
 to it. I insisted on the necessity of their raising 
 their own crops, saving their own wages, and 
 securing the profits of their own labour, using such 
 plain arguments as occurred to me, and were as 
 clear to their comprehension as to mine. I did this 
 very openly ; and, frequently, my audience con- 
 sisted in part of the very traders whose inordinate 
 profits upon individuals I was trying to diminish, 
 but whose balance of profit would not be ultimately 
 lessened, because they would have so many more 
 persons to trade with, who would be able to pay 
 them a reasonable advance in cash, or its equivalent, 
 on all their purchases. The purse is a tender part of 
 th( system ; but I handled it so gently, that the 
 sensible portion of my natural opponents were not, I 
 believe, offended ; while those whom I wished to 
 benefit, saw, for the most part, the propriety of my 
 advice, and took it. At least, there are now great 
 numbers of coloured fugitives, in this region of 
 Canada, who own their farms, are training up their 
 children in true independence, and giving them a 
 good elementary education, who had not taken a 
 
HOME AT DAWN. 123 
 
 Binglc step towards such a result before I began to 
 talk to them. 
 
 While I remained at Colchester, I became ac- 
 quainted with a Congregational missionary from 
 Massachusetts, by the name of Hiram Wilson, who 
 took an interest in our people, and was disposed to 
 do what he could to promote the cause of improve- 
 ment which I had so much at heart. Ho co- 
 operated with me in many efibrts, and I have been 
 associated with him for over thirty years. He has 
 been a faithful friend, and still continues his im- 
 portant labours of love in our behalf. Among other 
 things, he wrote to a Quaker friend of his, an 
 Englishman, by the name of James C. Fuller,, 
 residing at Skeneateles, New York, and endeavoured 
 to interest him in the welfare of our struggling 
 population. 
 
 He succeeded so far, that Mr. Fuller, who was 
 going on a visit to England, promised to interest his 
 friends there, to induce them to aid us. He came 
 back with fifteen hundred dollars which had been 
 subscribed for our benefit. It was a great ques- 
 tion how this sum, which sounded vast to many 
 of my brethren, should be appropriated. I had my 
 own decided opinion as to what it was best for us all 
 to do with it. But, in order to come to a satisfac- 
 tory conclusion, it was thought expedient to call a 
 convention of delegates from every settlement of 
 blacks that was within reach ; that all might see 
 that the ultimate decision was sanctioned by the 
 disinterested votes of those who were thought by 
 their companions best able to judge what would meet 
 
124 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE*S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 the wants of our community. Mr. "Wil°on and 
 myself, therefore, called such a convention, to meet 
 in London, Upper Canada, and it was held in June, 
 1838. 
 
 I urged the appiopriation of the money to the 
 establishment of a manual-labour school, at which 
 our children could gain those elements of knowledge 
 which are usually taught in a grammar-school. I 
 urged that the boys should be taught, in addition, 
 the practice of some mechanical art, and the girls 
 should be instructed in those domestic arts which 
 are the proper occupation and ornament of their sex ; 
 and that such an establishment would not only train 
 •up those who would afterwards instruct others, but 
 that it would gradually enable us to beoome inde- 
 pendent of the white man for our intellectual 
 progress, as we could be for our physical prosperity. 
 'It was the more necessary, as in many districts, 
 owing to the insurmountable prejudices of the in- 
 habitants, the children of the blacks were not allowed 
 •to share the advantages of the common school. 
 There was some opposition to this plan in the con- 
 vention ; but in the course of the discussion, which 
 continued for three days, it appeared so obviously 
 for the advantage of all to husband this donation, so 
 as to preserve it for a purpose of permanent utility, 
 ■that the proposal was, at last, unanimously adopted ; 
 and a committee of three was appointed to select 
 and purchase a site for the establishment. Mr. 
 Wilson and myself were the active members of this 
 committee, and after traversing the country for 
 eeveral months, we could find no place more suitable 
 
HOME AT DAWN. 125 
 
 than tliat upon which I had had my eye for three or 
 four years, for a permanent settlement, in the town 
 of Dawn. 
 
 Wo therefore bought two hundred acres of fine 
 rich land, on the River Sydenham, covered with a 
 heavy growth of black walnut and white wood, at 
 four dollars the acre. I had made a bargain for two 
 hundred acres adjoining this lot, on my own ac ^>ount ; 
 and circumstances favoured me so, that the man of 
 whom I purchased, was glad to let me have them at 
 a large discount from the price I had agreed to pay, 
 if I would give him cash for the balance I owed him. 
 I transferred a portion of the advantage of this 
 bargain to the institution, by selling to it one 
 hundred acres more, at the low price at which I 
 obtained them. 
 
 In 1842 I removed with my family to Dawn, and 
 as a considerable number of my friends were soon 
 there about me, and the school was permanently 
 fixed there, as we thought, the future importance of 
 this settlement seemed to be decided. There are 
 many other settlements which are prosperous ; in- 
 deed, the coloured population is scattered over a 
 territory which does not fall far short of three 
 hundred miles in extent, in each direction, and pro- 
 bably numbers not less than twenty thousand 
 persons in all. We looked to the school, and the 
 possession of landed property by individuals, as two 
 great means by which our oppressed and degraded 
 race could be elevated to enjoy a participation in 
 the blessings of civilisation, whereas they had hitherto 
 been permitted to share only its miseries and vices. 
 
 X 
 
126 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 My efforts to aid them, in every way in my power, 
 and to procure tb.e aid of others for them, have been 
 constant. I have made many journeys into New 
 York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, in all 
 of which States I have found or made many friends 
 to the cause, as well as personal friends. T have 
 received many liberal gifts for my people, and ex- 
 perienced much kindness of treatment ; but I must 
 be allowed to allude particularly to the donations 
 received from Boston — by which we were enabled to 
 erect a sawmill, and thus to begin in good earnest 
 the clearing of our lands, and to secure a profitable 
 return for the support of our school — as among those 
 which have been most welcome and valuable to us. 
 
 Some of the trips I have made, have led to some 
 incidents and observations which must be the theme 
 of a future chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XIX.' . 
 LUMBEEING OPEEATIONS. • 
 
 CNDTJSTRIAL PROJECT. — FIND SOME ABLE FRIENDS IN BOSTON. — 
 PROCURE FUNDS AND CONSTRUCT A SAWMILL. — SALES OF LUMBER 
 IN BOSTON. — INCIDENT IN THE CUSTOM UOUSE. 
 
 THE land on which we settled in Canada was 
 covered with a beautiful forest of noble trees 
 of various kinds. Our people were accustomed to 
 <jut them down and burn them on the ground, simply 
 to get rid of them. Often as I roamed through the 
 forest, I was afflicted at seeing such waste, and 
 longed to devise some means of converting this 
 abundant natural wealth into money, so as to im- 
 prove the condition of the people. 
 
 Full of this subject, I left my home on a journey 
 of observation through the State of New York, and 
 New England. I kept my purposes to myself^ not 
 breathing a word of my intentions to any mortal. I 
 found in New York, mills where precisely such logs 
 as those in Canada were sawed into lumber, which I 
 learned commanded large prices. In New England 
 I found a ready market for the black walnut, white 
 wood, and other lumber, such as abounded and was 
 wasted in Canada. 
 
 On reaching Boston, Mass., I made known thes© 
 
128 MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 facts and my feelings to some philanthropic gentle^ 
 men with whom I had become acquainted. It can- 
 not be improper for me to mention the names of these 
 gentlemen, who lent so ready an ear to my repre- 
 sentations, and placed so much confidence in my 
 judgment, that they furnished me with the means 
 of starting what has since proved a very profitable 
 enterprise. 
 
 Rev. Ephraim Peabody introduced me to Samuel 
 Elliot, Esq., who was kind enough to examine care- 
 fully into all my representations, and to draw up a 
 sketch of them, which was afterwards presented to 
 Amos Lawrence, Esq., and others. By means ot- 
 this, many of the leading gentlemen of Boston con- 
 tributed about fourteen hundred dollars, to aid mc in- 
 this enterprise. 
 
 With this money I returned to Canada, and im- 
 mediately set myself about building a sawmill in 
 Camden (then Dawn). The improvement in the sur- 
 rounding section was astonishing. The people began 
 to labour in earnest, and the progress in clearing and 
 cultivating the land was cheering. 
 
 But after the framework of my mill was com- 
 pleted and covered, my scanty funds were exhausted. 
 This was a trying time. I had begun the work in 
 faith, I had expended the money honestly, and to- 
 the best of my judgment, and now should the wholo 
 enterprise fail ? I immediately returned to my 
 Boston friends. Amos Lawrence, H. Ingersoll Bow- 
 ditch, and Samuel A. Elliot, Esqs., listened to mc 
 again, and gave me to understand that they deemed 
 me an honest man. They encouraged me in my 
 
LUMBERING OPERATIONS. 129 
 
 business-enterprise, and the approval of such men 
 was like balm to my soul. They endorsed a note for 
 me and put it into the bank, by which I was enabled 
 to borrow, on my own responsibility, about eighteen 
 hundred dollars more. With this I soon completeu 
 the mill, stocked it with machinery, and had the ' 
 pleasure of seeing it in successful operation. I ought 
 here to add, that the mill was not to be my own ' 
 private property, but to belong to the association, 
 which established an excellent manual- labour school, 
 where many children and youth of both sexes have 
 been educated. The school was well-attended by 
 ■coloured children, whites, and some Indians. 
 
 This enterprise having been completed to a great 
 ■extent by my own labour and the labour of my own 
 sons, who took charge of the mill, I immediately 
 began to consider how I could discharge my pecu- 
 niary obligations. I chartered a vessel, and loaded 
 it with eighty thousand feet of good prime l^lack 
 walnut-lumber, sawed in our mill, and contracted 
 with the captain to deliver it for me at Oswego, 
 N. Y. I entered into a contract there with a party 
 lo have it delivered at Boston, but the party having 
 forwarded it to New York, failed to carry it any 
 farther. There great eflforts were made to cheat me 
 out of the lumber, but, by the good friendship of 
 Mr. Lawrence, of Boston, who furnished me the 
 means of having it reshipped, I succeeded in 
 bringing the whole eighty thousand feet safely to 
 Boston, where I sold it to Mr. Jonas Chickering for 
 fort; five dollars per thousand feet. The proceeds 
 paid all expenses, and would have cancelled all the 
 
130 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's "UNCLE TOM." 
 
 debts I had incurred ; but my friends insisted tliat 
 I should retain a part of the funds for future use. 
 After that I brought another large load of lumber by 
 the same route. 
 
 The next season I brought a large cargo oy the 
 River St. Lawrence, which came direct to Boston, 
 where, without the aid of any agent or third party 
 whatever, I paid my own duties, got the lumber 
 through the Custom House, and sold it at a hand- 
 some profit. A little incident occurred when paying 
 the duties, which has often since afforded me a great 
 deal of amusement. The Fugitive Slave Law had 
 just been passed in the United States, which made 
 it quite an offence to harbour or render aid to a 
 fugitive slave. When the Custom House officer pre- 
 sented his bill to me for the duties on my lumber, I 
 jokingly remarked to him that perhaps he would 
 render himself liable to trouble if he should have 
 dealings with a fugitive slave, and if so, I would 
 relieve him of the trouble of taking my money. 
 " Are you a fugitive slave, sir ? " " Yes, sir," said 
 T; "and perhaps you had better not have any 
 u^alings with me." "I have nothing to do with 
 tLat," said the official ; " there is your bill. You 
 have acted like a man, and I deal with you as a 
 man." I enjoyed the scene, and the bystanders 
 ecfimed to relish it, and I paid him the money. 
 
 I look back upon the enterprise related in this 
 chapter with a great deal of pleasure, for the mill 
 which was then built, introduced an entire change 
 in the appearance of that section of the country, and 
 in the habits of the people. 
 
3 
 
 CHAPTER XX. < 
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND. 
 
 DEBT ON THE INSTITUTION. — A NEW PECUNIAUT ENTEUPKISE.— 
 LETTERS OF liECOMMENDATION TO ENGLAND.— PERSONAL DIFFI- 
 CULTIES.— CALLED AN IMPOSTOR. — ^TRIUMPHANT VICTORY OVER 
 THESE TROURLES. 
 
 MY interest in the Manual Labour School in 
 Dawn, was the means of my visiting Eng- 
 land. Those who have never engaged in such 
 business, can have no idea of the many difficulties 
 connected with so great an enterprise. In spite of 
 all the efforts of the association, a debt of about 
 seven thousand five hundred dollars rested upon it. 
 A meeting of its trustees and friends, in the year 
 1849, was called to consider its cond'tion, and to 
 devise, if possible, some means for its relief. After 
 a long discussion of the matter, it was finally deter- 
 mined to separate the concern into two departments, 
 and put it under the charge of two parties, the onq 
 to take the mill and a certain portion of the land foi 
 four years, and to pay all the debts of the institution 
 in that time ; and the other party to take the other 
 buildings and land, and to conduct the school. 
 
 A certain party was found willing to assume the 
 school. But it was more difficult to find one who 
 
^•*- 
 
 132 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 ■would be enterprising enough to take the mill for 
 four years encumbered with a debt of seven thousand 
 five hundred dollars. 
 
 At length I concluded to do it, provided that Mr. 
 Peter B. Smith would assume an equal share of the 
 responsibilit}', and attend to the business of the mill. 
 He readily consented. 
 
 I decided to go to England, carry with me some 
 of the best specimens of black walnut-boards our 
 farm would produce and exhibit them in the world's 
 great Industrial Exhibition, then in session at Lon- 
 don, and perhaps negotiate there for the sale of 
 lumber. I accordingly left for England, being readily 
 furnished with very complimentary letters of intro- 
 duction to such men as Thomas Binney, Samuel 
 Gurney, Lord Brougham, Hon. Abbot Lawrence, 
 then American Minister to England, from Rev. John 
 Rolfe, of Toronto, Chief Justice Robinson, Sir Allen 
 McNab, Col. John Prince, Rev. Dr. Duffield, of 
 Detroit, Michigan ; Judge Conant, of the same city ; 
 Hon. Ross Wilkinson, U. S. Judge, residing also 
 in Detroit ; Hon. Charles Sumner and Amos Law- 
 rence, Esq., of Massachusetts. From the gentlemen 
 above mentioned, I had in England a most cordial 
 reception, and was immediately introduced to the 
 very best society in the kingdom. 
 
 I regret exceedingly to make any allusions to per- 
 sonal difficulties, or to individuals who have pursued 
 an imjust and unchristian course towards me or 
 others, but I cannot give anything like a correct 
 view of this part of my history, without, at least, a 
 brief allusion to these difficulties. 
 
VISIT TO ENGLAKU. 133 
 
 It was undoubtedly the plan of certain individuals 
 of the party who assumed the care of the school, 
 probably from unworthy sectarian feelings, to obtain 
 entire possession of the property of the association, 
 or certainly, completely to destroy my influence over 
 it and connection with it. 
 
 Much to my astonishment, therefore, when I had 
 arrived in England, and had been cordially received 
 by the men above mentioned, and had preached in 
 the pulpits of Rev. Thomas Binney, Baptist Noel, 
 William Brock, James Sherman, George Smith, and 
 Dr. Burns, in London, and had already introduced my 
 enterprise before a portion of the British public, I 
 was confronted by a printed circular, to the following 
 effect : " That one styling himself Rev. Josiah Hen- 
 son was an impostor, obtaining money under false 
 pretences ; that he could exhibit no good credentials ; 
 that whatever money he might obtain would not bo 
 appropriated according to the wish of the donors, 
 and that the said Josiah Henson was an artful, skil- 
 ful, and eloquent man, and would probably deceive 
 the public." This was a severe blow, but fortunately 
 I had already requested my friends to appoint a 
 committee of twelve persons to examine carefully into 
 the merits of my enterprise, and particularly desired 
 that this committee should appoint a sub-committee 
 of three, and a treasurer, to receive every farthing 
 contributed to me by the public, and to appropriate 
 it only as they should deem proper. This committee 
 had been appointed, and consisted of Samuel Gurney, 
 Samuel Gurney, Junior, Samuel Morley, Esq., George 
 Hitchcock, Esq., Rev. James Sherman, Rev. Thomas 
 
134 MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM.'* 
 
 Binney, Hev. John Branch, Eusebius Smith, Esq., 
 John Scobell, Secretary of the British and Foreign 
 Anti- Slavery Society, Lord Ashley (now Earl of 
 Shaftesbury), George Sturgo, and Thomas Sturge. 
 The sub-committee of three were, John Scobell, Rev. 
 John Branch, and Eusebius Smith, who appointed 
 Samuel Gurncy, Junior, treasurer. Many of the 
 above names arc known throughout the world. 
 
 "When the above attack was made upon me, a 
 meeting of those interested in my cause was called, 
 and my accuser, who was in tlic country, was re- 
 quested to meet me face to face. 
 
 I believe all the difficulty arose from little petty 
 jealousies, fostered, perhaps, by the unworthy influ- 
 ences of slaver}', over the misguided people who 
 were for a time misled by false representations. 
 
 "We met before a company of English gentlemen, 
 who heard all that my accuser had to say. They 
 asked me for a reply. I simply restated to them 
 the facts I had previously made known. I reminded 
 them that a man who devotes himself to doing good, 
 must and will be misunderstood and have enemies. 
 I called their attention to the misinterpretation of 
 their own motives made by their enemies. I related 
 to them the parable of Christ about the wheat and 
 the tares. Mj recommendatory letters were re-read 
 — a sufficient reply to the allegation that I was an 
 impostor. 
 
 They assured me of their entire confidence and 
 satisfaction ; but to be able to clear every aspersion 
 on my character they determined, at their own 
 expense, to send an agent to Canada, to make a fuU 
 
X. 
 
 X 
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND. 135 ,' 
 
 inquiry into the matter, and advised mc to accom- 
 pany him. Accordingly, their agent and myself 
 started for Canada immediately. I had already 
 collected nearly seventeen hundred dollars, which, of 
 course, remained in the hands of the treasurer. 
 
 A mass meeting, of all interested in the matter,, 
 was called in the institution on the premises. A 
 large assemblage met, and Rev. John Rolfe, of 
 Toronto, presided. A thorough examination into- 
 the records of the institution was made. The origi- 
 nator of the slander against mc, denied having made 
 it ; it was proved upon him, and the whole conven- 
 tion unanimously repudiated the false charges. The- 
 agent remained in Canada about three months, and 
 before leaving, sent me a letter, informing me that 
 whenever I should see fit to return to England, I 
 should find in the hands of Amos Lawrence, Esq., of 
 Boston, a draft to defray the expenses of the journey. 
 Accordingly, in the latter part of 1851, I returned. 
 
 The ground was now prepared for me, and I 
 reaped an abundant harvest. The whole debt of the 
 institution was cancelled in a 'few months, when I 
 was recalled to Canada by the fatal illness of my 
 wife. Several very interesting occurrences happened 
 during my stay in England, which I must relate in 
 another chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 THE WORLD'S FAIR IN LONDON. 
 
 MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE GREAT EXHIBITION. — DIFFICULTY WITH 
 THE AMERICAN SUPERINTENDENT. — HAPPY RELEASE. — THE GREAT 
 CROWD.— A CALL FROM THE QUEEN. — MEDAL AWARDED TO ME. 
 
 1HAVE already mentioned tliat the first idea which, 
 suggested to me the plan of going to England, 
 was to exhibit, at the "World's Great Fair, in Lon- 
 don, some of the best specimens of our black walnut- 
 lumber, in the hope that it might lead to sales in 
 England. For this purpose, I selected some of the 
 best boards out of the cargo which I had brought to 
 Boston, which Mr. Chickering was kind enough to 
 have properly packed in boxes, and sent to England 
 m the American ship which carried the American 
 products for exhibition. The boards which I selected 
 were four in number, excellent specimens, about 
 seven feet in length and four feet in width, of 
 beautiful grain and texture. On their arrival in 
 England, I had them planed and perfectly polished, 
 in French style, so that they actually shone like a 
 mirror. 
 
 The history of my connection with the AVorld's 
 Fair 13 a little amusing. Because my boards hap- 
 pened to be carried over in the American ship, the 
 
THE world's fair IN LONDOX. 137 
 
 Buperintendent of the American Department, who 
 was from Boston, insisted that my lumber should be 
 exhibited in the American department. To this I 
 objected. I was a citizen of Canada, my boards 
 were from Canada, and there was an apartment of 
 the building appropriated to Canadian products. I 
 therefore insisted that my boards should be removed 
 from the American department to the Canadian. 
 But, said the American, " You cannot do io. All 
 these things are under my control. You can exhibit 
 what belongs to you if you please, but not a single 
 thing here must be moved an inch without my 
 consent." 
 
 This was quite a damper to me. I thought his 
 position was rather absurd, and for the time it seemed 
 impossible to move him or my boards. 
 
 A happy suggestion, however, occurred to me. 
 Thought I, if this Yankee wants to retain my furni- 
 ture, the world shall know who owns it. I accord- 
 ingly hired a painter to paint in large white letters 
 on the tops of my boards : " This is the product 
 
 OF THE INDUSTRY OF A FUGITIVE SlAVE FROM THE 
 
 United States, whose residence is Dawn, 
 Canada." This was done early in the morning. 
 In due time, the American superintendent came 
 around, and found me at my post. The gaze of 
 astonishment with which he read my inscription, 
 was laughable to witness. His face was as black as 
 a thunder- cloud. " Look here, sir," said he. "What, 
 under heaven, have you got up there ?" — " Oh, that is 
 only a little information to let the people know who 
 I am.'' — "But don't you know better than that? 
 
138 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE^S " UNCLE TOM.** 
 
 Do you suppose I am going to have that insult up 
 •there ? " The English gentlemen began to gather 
 around, chuckling with half- suppressed delight, to 
 see the wrath of the Yankee. This only added fuel 
 to the fire. " Well, sir," said he, " do you suppose I 
 brought that stufi* across the Atlantic for nothing ?** 
 — " I never asked you to bring it for nothing. I 
 am ready to pay you, and have been from the 
 beginning." — " Well, sir, you may take it away, 
 and carry it where you please." — "Oh," said I, "I 
 think, as you wanted it very much, I will not dis- 
 turb it. You can have it now." — "No, sir; take it 
 away!" — "I beg your pardon, sir," said I, "when 
 I wanted to remove it, you would not allow it, and 
 now, for all me, it shall remain." In the meantime 
 the crowd enjoyed it and so did I. The result was, 
 that by the next day, the boards were removed to 
 their proper place at no expense to me, and no bill 
 was ever presented to me for carrying the lumber 
 across the Atlantic. 
 
 Ta that immense exhibition, my humble contribu- 
 tion received its due share of attention. I had 
 many interesting conversations with individuals 
 among that almost innumerable multitude from every 
 nation under heaven. Perhaps my complexion at- 
 tracted attention, but nearly all who passed, paused 
 to look at me, and at themselves, as reflected in my 
 large black walnut mirrors. 
 
 Among others, the Queen of England, Yictoria, 
 preceded by her guide, and attended by her cortege, 
 paused to view me and my property. I ULCOvered 
 my head and saluted her as respectfully as I could, 
 
THE world's fair IN LONDOX. 139 
 
 and she was pleased with perfect grace to return my 
 salutation. "Is he indeed a fugitive slave?" I 
 heard her inquire ; and the answer was, " He is 
 indeed, and that is his work.'* 
 
 But notwithstanding such pleasant occurrences, 
 the time wore heavily away. The immense crowd, 
 kept in as perfect order as a sino;le family, became 
 wearisome to me, and I was not sorry, as lelated in 
 a preceding chapter, to go back to- Canada, leaving 
 my boards on exhibition. 
 
 On returning to England the exhibition was still 
 in progress. There seemed no diminution of the 
 crowd. Like the waters of the great Mississippi, 
 the channel was still full, though the individuals 
 were changed. 
 
 But among all the exhibitors from every nation in 
 Europe, and from Asia, America, and the Isles of the 
 Sea, there was not a single black man but myself. 
 There were negroes there from Africa, brought to 
 be exhibited, but no ncgro-cxhibitors but myself. 
 Though my condition was wonderfully changed from 
 what it was in my childhood and youth, yet it was a 
 little saddening to reflect that my people were not 
 more largely represented there. The time will yet 
 come, I trust, when such a state of things wilj no 
 longer exist. 
 
 At the close of tho exhibition, on my return to 
 Oanada, I received from England a large quarto 
 bound volume containing a full description of all the 
 objects presented at; the exhibition, the names of 
 the officers of all the committees, juries, exhibitors, 
 prizes, &c., &c. Among others, I found my own 
 
140 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 name recordod ; and in addition a bronze medal was 
 awarded to me. I also received a beautiful picture 
 of the Queen and royal family, of the size of life, and 
 several other objects of interest. 
 
 These testimonials of honour I greatly prize. I 
 fully succeeded in my mission to England, and re- 
 leased myself from the voluntarily-assumed debt in 
 behalf of the manual-labour school. While in Eng- 
 land, I was permitted to enjoy some excellent oppor- 
 tunities to witness its best society, which I propose 
 to relate in the following chapter. 
 
 i»»M»» " 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 VISITS TO THE BAGGED SCHOOLS. 
 
 SPEECH AT SUNDAY-SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY. — INTERVIEW WITH LORD 
 GREY. — INTERA'^IEW "WITH THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AND 
 DINNER AVITH LORD JOHN RUSSELL, THE GREAT EVENTS OF MY 
 LIFE. 
 
 WHILE in England I was frequently called upon 
 to speak at public meetings of various kinds. 
 I was deeply interested in the Hagged School enter- 
 prise, and frequently addressed the schools, and also 
 public meetings held in their behalf. I attended most 
 of the great anniversaries held in May, and was called 
 upon to speak at many of them. On several occasions 
 I did what I could, to make known the true condition 
 of slaves, in Exeter Hall and other places. On one 
 occasion, I recollect, an eminent man from Pennsyl- 
 vania was addressing the anniversary of a Sabbath 
 School Union. He boasted of the great benefits of 
 Sunday schools in the United States, and asserted 
 that all classes indiscriminately enjoyed their bless- 
 ings. I felt bound to contradict him, and after 
 putting to the speaker a few questions, which ho 
 stammeriiigly answered, I told the immense meeting 
 that in the Southern States, the great body of the 
 coloured people were almost entirely neglected, and 
 in many places they were excluded altogether ; and 
 
 K 
 
142 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE^S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 that in the majority of the Northern States, the 
 great mass of the coloured children were not sought 
 out and gathered into Sunday schools. This created 
 some little storm, but my own personal observation 
 and experience carried conviction to the people. 
 
 Being thus introduced to the public, I became well 
 acquainted with many of the leading men of Eng- 
 land. Lord Grey made a proposition to me, which, 
 if circumstances had permitted, I should have been 
 glad to have accepted. It was to go to India, and 
 there superintend some great efforts made by the 
 government to introduce the culture of cotton on the 
 American plan. He promised to appoint me to an 
 office, with a good salary. Had it not been for my 
 warm interest in my Canadian enterprise, I should 
 have accepted his proposal. 
 
 One of the most pleasing incidents for me now to 
 look back upon, was a long interview which I war 
 permitted to enjoy with the Archbishop of Canter 
 bury. The elevated social position of this man, thv 
 highest beneath the crown, is well known to all those 
 acquainted with English society. Samuel Gurney, 
 the noted philanthropist, introduced mc, by a aote 
 and his family-card, to his grace the archbishop. 
 The latter received me kindly in his palace. I 
 immediately entered into a conversation with him 
 upon the condition of my people, and the plana I 
 had in \ie\y. He expressed the strongest interest in 
 me, and after about a half-hour's conversation, he 
 inquired, "At what university, sir, did you gradu- 
 ate ?" "I graduated, your grace," said I, in reply, 
 " at the university of adversity." " The university 
 
VISITS TO THE RAGGED SCHOOLS. 143 
 
 of adversity," said lie, looking up with, astonish- 
 ment ; "where is that?" I saw his surprise, and 
 explained. "It was my lot, your grace," said I, 
 " to be born a slave, and to pass my boyhood and all 
 the former part of my life as a slave. I never 
 entered a school, never read the Bible in my youth, 
 and received all of my training under the most 
 adverse circumstances. This is what I mean by 
 graduating in the university of adversity.'* " I 
 understand you, sir," said he. "But is it possible 
 that you are not a scholar?" " I am not," said I. 
 "But I should never have suspected that you were 
 not a liberally educated man. I have heard many 
 negroes talk, but have never seen one that could use 
 such language as you. Will you tell me, sir, how 
 you learned our language ?" I then explained to 
 him, as well as I could, my early life ; that it had 
 always been my custom to observe good speakers, 
 and to imitate only those who seemed to speak most 
 correctly. " It is astonishing," said the archbishop. 
 " And is it possible that you were brought up ignorant 
 of religion ? How did you attain to the knowledge 
 of Christ?" I explained to him, in reply, "that a 
 poor ignorant slave mother had taught me to say the 
 Lord's Prayer, though I did not then know how, 
 truly, to pray." " And how were you led to a better 
 knowledge of the Saviour ? " I answered that it was 
 by the hearing of the Gospel preached. He then 
 asked me to repeat the text, and to explain all the cir- 
 cumstances. I told him the text of the first sermon 
 I had heard, was, " He, by the grace of God, tasted 
 death for every man." " A beautiful text was that," 
 
144 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 said the archbisliop, and so affected was he by my 
 simple story, that he shed tears freely. 
 
 I had been told by Samuel Gurney that perhaps 
 the archbishop would give me an interview of a 
 quarter of an hour ; I glanced at the clock and found 
 that I had already been there an hour and a half, 
 and arose to depart. He followed me to the door, 
 and begged of me if ever I came to England to call 
 and see him again ; and shaking hands affectionately 
 with me, while the tears trembled in his eyes, he 
 graciously put into my hands a bank-note for £50, 
 and bade me adieu. I have always esteemed him as 
 a waim-hearted Christian. 
 
 Thus ended the interview with the venerable Arch- 
 bishop Sumner, of England. On my second visit to 
 England, I had an invitation, in company with a 
 large number of Sabbath School teachers, to spend 
 a day in the beautiful grounds of Lord John Russell, 
 then Prime Minister of England. His magnificent 
 park, filled with deer, of varied colours, from all 
 climes, and sleek hares, which the poet Cowper 
 would have envied, with numberless birds, whose 
 plumage rivalled the rainbow in gorgeous colours, 
 together with the choicest specimens of the finny 
 tribe, sporting in their native element, drew from 
 me the involi iitary exclamation: "Oh, how dif- 
 ferent the condition of these happy, sportive, joy- 
 ful creatures, from what was once my own condition, 
 and what is now the lot of millions of my coloured 
 brethren in America ! " This occupancy of the 
 elegant grounds of England's Prime Minister, for 
 the day, by a party of Sabbath School teachers, 
 
VISITS TO THE RAGGED SCHOOLS. 145 
 
 was a picnic, with this difference, that, instead of 
 each teacher providing his own cakes, and pies, and 
 fruit, they were furnished by men and women, who 
 were allowed to come on to the grounds, with every 
 variety of choice eatables for sale. After strolling 
 over these charming grounds, enjoying the beautiful 
 scenery, the happy gambols of the brute creation, 
 and the conversation of the many intelligent men 
 and women with whom we came in contact, we 
 were most unexpectedly, at five o'clock, sent for to 
 visit the elegant mansion of the proprietor. There 
 we found what I will call a surprise-party, or at 
 any rate, we were taken by surprise, for three 
 hundred of us were ushered into a spacious dining 
 hall, whose dimensions could not have been less 
 than one hundred feet by sixty, and here were 
 tables, groaning under every article of luxury for 
 the palate, which England could supply, and to 
 this bountiful repast we were all made welcome. 
 I was invited to take the head of the table; I 
 never felt so highly honoured. The blessing was 
 invoked by singing the following verse : 
 
 •* Be present at our table, Lord, 
 Be here and everywhere adored ! 
 These creatures bless, 
 And grant that we may feast 
 In Paradise with Thee ! " 
 
 After dinner, various toasts were proposed, on 
 several subjects, and in my humble way I offered 
 the following: 
 
 " First to England. Honour to the brave, freedom to the Slave, 
 success to British emancipation. God bless the Queen ! " 
 
146 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 Cheers and laughter followed the reading of this 
 toast, succeeded by the usual English exclamations, 
 •' XTp, up, tip again ! " I again arose and gave, To 
 our most Sovereign Lady, the Queen : 
 
 "May she have a long life, and a happy death. May she reign 
 in righteousness, and rule in love 1 " 
 
 And to her illustrious consort, Prince Albert : 
 
 " May he have peace at home, pleasure abroad, love hia Queen, 
 and serve the Lord ! " 
 
 Among the distinguished persons who made 
 speeches on this joyous occasion, were Rev. William 
 Brock, Hon. Samuel M. Peto, and the brother-in- 
 law of Mr. Peto, with his accomplished and beautiful 
 lady. Thus ended one of the pleasantest days of 
 my life. 
 
« 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 CLOSING UP MY LONDON" AGENCY. 
 
 MT KAERATIVE PUBLISHED. — LETTER FROM HOME APPRI'^TVO MB 
 OF THE SICKNESS OF MY WIFE. — DEPARTTTRE FROM LONDON. — 
 ARRIVAL AT HOME. — MEETING WITH MY FAMILY. — THE GREAT 
 SORROW OF MY LIFE, THE DEATH OF MY WIFE. 
 
 THE dinner at Lord John Russell's, as detailed in 
 the previous chapter, was in the month of June, 
 1852 ; from that time to the 1st of August, I was 
 busily employed in finishing up all matters connected 
 with my agency, in which I was very successful, 
 having accomplished the objects of my mission. 
 During the month of August, I was engaged in 
 publishing a narrative of incidents in my slave-life, 
 which I had been urgently requested to do by some 
 of the noblest men and women in England. Just as 
 I had completed the work, I received, on the 3rd 
 of September, a letter from my family in Canada, 
 stating that my beloved wife, the companion of my 
 life,, the sharer of my joys and sorrows, was at the 
 point of death, and that she earnestly desired me to 
 return immediately, that she might see me once 
 more before she bade adieu to earth. This was a 
 trying hour for me. I was in England, four thou- 
 sand miles from my home. 7 was not long in de- 
 ciding to go home. On the morning of the 4tli 
 
148 MRS. n. BEECHER STOWE's "uncle TOM 
 
 ff 
 
 of September, having? received the letter from homo 
 at four o'clock on the afternoon of the 3rd, I was 
 on my way from London to Liverpool, and embarked 
 from Liverpool on the 5th, in the steamer Canada, 
 bound for Boston. On the 20th of the same 
 month I arrived at my own Canadian home. Those 
 who have beer placed in similar situations, can 
 realise what must have been my feelings as I drew 
 near my humblo dwelling. I had heard nothing 
 since the information contained in the letter which 
 reached me at Liverpool. I knew not whether my 
 dear wife, the mother of my children, she who had 
 travelled with me, sad, solitary, and footsore, from~ 
 the land of bondage, who had been to me a kind, 
 affectionate, and dutiful wife for forty years, was 
 still alive, or whether she had entered into her rest. 
 
 A merciful Father had, however, kindly prolonged 
 her life, and we were permitted once more to meet. 
 And oh ! such a meeting ! I was met in the yard 
 by four of my daughters, who rushed to my arras, 
 delighted at my unexpected return. They begged 
 me not to go in to see mother, until they should 
 first go and prepare her for it, thinking very wisely 
 that the shock would be too great for her poor 
 shattered nerves to bear. I consented that they 
 should precede me. They gradually prepared her 
 mind for our meeting. When I went to her bed- 
 side, she received and embraced me with the calm- 
 ness and fortitude of a Christian, and even chided 
 me for the strong emotions of sorrow which I found 
 it utterly impossible to suppress. I found her per- 
 fectly calm and resigned to the will of God, awaiting 
 
CliOSlNG UP MY LONDON AGENCY. 149 
 
 with Christian firmness the hour for her summons. 
 She was rejoiced to see me once more, while at the 
 same time she said that perhaps she had done wrong 
 in allowing me to leave England when my business- 
 prospects were so flattering. I told her that I was 
 more than satisfied, that I was truly thankful to 
 ray Heavenly Father for granting us this interview, 
 no matter what the pecuniary sacrifice might be. 
 We talked over our whole past life as far as her 
 strength would permit, reviewing the many scenes 
 of sorrow and trouble, as well as the many bright 
 and happy days of our pilgrimage, until exhausted 
 nature sought repose, and she sunk into a quiet 
 sleep. 
 
 The day following she revived ; my return seemed 
 to inspire her with the hope that possibly she might 
 again be restored to health. It was not, however, 
 so to be ; but God in His mercy granted her a 
 reprieve, and her life was prolonged a few weeks. 
 I thus had the melancholy satisfaction of watching 
 day and night by her bed of languishing and pain, 
 and was permitted to close her eyes when the final 
 summons came. She blessed me, and blessed her 
 children, commending us to the ever- watchful care 
 of that Saviour who had sustained her in so many 
 hours of trial; and finally, after kissing me and 
 each one of the children, she passed from earth to 
 heaven without a pang or a groan, as gently as the 
 falling to sleep of an infant on its mother's breast. 
 
 *' Who would not wisli to die like those 
 Whom God's own Spirit deigns to bless f 
 To sink into that soft repose, 
 Then wake to perfect happiness ? " 
 
150 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 I can truly and from an overflowing heart say, 
 that she was a sincere and devoted Christian, a 
 faithful and kind wife to me, even to the day of 
 her death arranging all our domestic matters, in 
 such a manner as to contribute as largely as possible 
 tf my comfort and happiness. 
 
 i^i^ 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MY BROTHER'S FREEDOM. 
 
 AM I MY brother's KEEPER? — EFFORTS TO 8ECTTRB HIS FREE« 
 DOM. — ATTEMPTS TO EAISB THE MONEY. — UNION OF HIS FAMILY. 
 
 I RECEIVED numerous tokens of regard from many 
 philanthropic gentlemen while I was in Lon- 
 don, which I shall never forget ; but I was particu- 
 larly touched by the special kindness of Samuel 
 Morley, Esq., and George Hitchcock, Esq., of St. 
 Paul's Churchyard. These two gentlemen invited 
 me to dine with them every day at half-past one. 
 I gratefully accepted their invitation, and dined 
 alternately with these gentlemen, always receiving 
 a very warm welcome from them. The spirit of 
 manhood, one of the strongest elements of my mind, 
 was in no instance wounded, for I was invariably 
 received aad entertained as a respected guest. One 
 day I was sitting at Mr. Morley's table, and was 
 about to partake of his bountiful supply of nourish- 
 ing food, when suddenly my mind reverted to the 
 past. I remembered the trying scenes of my event- 
 ful life, and that my only brother was still bound in 
 the iron chains of slavery, deprived of all the com- 
 forts of life, dragging out an abject, miserable ex- 
 istence, while I was surrounded with luxuries, and 
 
152 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 sitting at the sumptuous table of one of the first men 
 in the kingdom. I could almost hear the clanking 
 of his chains, and, in my mind's eye, see him with 
 scarcely a crust of bread to satisfy his hunger, or a 
 glass of water to quench his thirst. I was so forcibly 
 impressed with my vision, that I rose from the table 
 without eating a mouthful of food. 
 
 Struck with my unusual appearance, for I had 
 always been cheerful and happy, Mr. Morle^ said, 
 " What is the matter, Josiah ? Has anything 
 occurred to disturb your peace of mind ? " 
 
 At first I could not control my emotions suffi- 
 ciently, to reply. Tie added, " Come, come, Josiah, 
 do help yourself and make yourself at home." 
 
 Soon I summoned the courage to tell him the 
 cause of my agitation, and asked him " to excuse 
 me from eating my dinner on that day, for I had 
 no appetite." 
 
 I then and there resolved in my own mind, that 
 as soon as I returned to America, I would make 
 every possible efibrt to secure to my brother the 
 blessed freedom I enjoyed. 
 
 Slavery had no power to eradicate the social ties 
 that bound the different members of a family to- 
 gether, and though families were often torn asunder, 
 yet memory generally kept the afiections warm 
 and abiding. 
 
 I had made several efforts to induce my brother to 
 run away previous to my going to England. Mr. 
 William L. Chaplain, of New York, saw him in his 
 southern home, and tried to induce him to take the 
 underground railroad — that is, to run away. But he 
 
MY brother's freedom. 153 
 
 found my brother's mind so demoralised or stultified 
 by slavery, that he would not risk his life in the 
 attempt to gain his freedom, and he informed me 
 of this fact. Still I could not rest contented, and 
 Mr. Chaplain promised to make another effort, as 
 he intended to visit the neighbourhood again. He 
 laboured with my brother the second time, with no 
 good result, and then he endeavoured to assist Mr. 
 Toomb's slaves, who had resolved to escape from 
 Georgia to Canada. Mr, Chaplain was detected, 
 and thrown into prison to await a trial. He was 
 released on bail, three times the amount of the value 
 of the slaves. The Hathaways, benevolent Quakers of 
 Farmington, New York, AsaB. Smith, and William 
 R. Smith, his son, of the same town, paid the bail, 
 which they desired Mr. Chaplain to forfeit, as they 
 knew that the result of a trial would be that he 
 would be hung. I will here add that the Smiths 
 had to sell their farms, and were pecuniarily ruined 
 for the time, and it is with pleasure that I make 
 this record of their generosity in the Anti- Slavery 
 cause. 
 
 On my return to Canada, the release of my 
 brother was my uppermost thought. Whenever 
 I ha"^e adopted the language of the prodigal son, 
 who said, "I will arise, and go to my father," 
 — that is, when I have uttered in my heart the 
 words, ** God helping me, I will," — I have some- 
 how had the ability to accomplish my undertaking. 
 Though I may have been obliged to change my 
 plans and course of action, and pursue others more 
 feasible, yet, ultimately, the end has been most 
 
154 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 marvellously attained. All my previous plans to 
 rescue my brother had failed, but I was not at all 
 disposed to relinquish the project. By the aid of 
 friends, I learned that the mistr'^ss to whom my 
 brother belonged would give him his freedom-papers 
 for 400 dollars, and I concluded that I must raise 
 550 dollars, or about iJllO, so that I should be able 
 to take him to my home in Canada. I consulted 
 some of the Anti-Slavery friends in Boston, particu- 
 larly Amos Lawrence, Esq., and they agreed to pub- 
 lish the story of my life, as I had suggested to them, 
 that I might be able, from its sale, to raiso a suffi- 
 cient sum of money to buy my brother's freedom. I 
 took a package of the books on my back and travelled 
 in the New England States, and succeeded in interest- 
 ing the people, so that I was enabled to raise the 
 money I required. Then, through the negotiation 
 of Mr. Charles C. Berry, cashier of the City Bank 
 in Boston, x^Iassachusetts, who had friends at the 
 South, I joyfully sent the ransom. Soon my brother 
 came from Maryland to Baltimore ; thence by sea to 
 Boston, where I met him and took him to my home 
 in Canada, and kept him there for fifteen years. 
 "When President Lincoln's Proclamation of Eman- 
 cipation gave freedom to all the slaves in America, 
 my brother's eldest son came to Canada to see his 
 father, and the meeting would have done President 
 Lincoln's heart good if he had witnessed it. 
 
 The son went back and remained with his mother 
 and brothers for three j ^ars. Then he came to 
 Canada to take my brother to rejoin his wife and 
 family in New Jersey; for after the Emancipation 
 
MY brother's freedom. 155 
 
 Act was enforced, my brother's mistress removed 
 from Maryland to New Jersey, where her husband 
 bought a large dairy-farm. She had in vain en- 
 deavoured to suit herself with ordinary white ser- 
 vants. Then she persuaded my brother to b^ing his 
 family to her farm, and they have remained with 
 her to this day as hired servants, receiving excellent 
 wages fc '' their faithful services. My brother's eldest 
 son superintends her dairy, and is the head-man, in 
 whom great confidence is placed. My brother is 
 now ninety-one years of age, and is the only living 
 relative I have, excepting my wife and children. 
 
 ■w" 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MRS. STOWE'S CHAEACTERS. 
 
 MY VISIT TO MRS. STOWE. — WHY I AM CALLED "UN'CLE TOM." 
 — HER INTEREST IN MY LIFE-STORY. — HER FAMOUS BOOK. — IS 
 IT AN EXAGGERATION? — MRS. STOWE'S KEY. 
 
 A FTER my successful visit to England, I travelled 
 Xjlk_ in Canada, and in Maine, JNew Hampshire, 
 Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode 
 Island. In all these states I was cordially welcomed 
 as a speaker in the pulpits of the Congregationalists, 
 Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and Universal- 
 ists. I held many meetings, and discussed the 
 subject of slavery in all its bearings on society. At 
 that time, slavery was considered to be a permanent 
 institution of the South, and it was supposed that 
 nothing but an earthquake would have the power to 
 break up the foundations of the system. It is a 
 mistaken idea that the majority of the slaveholders 
 would have sold their slaves if the government had 
 offered to buy them. They liked the system, had 
 grown up with it, and were not disposed to part 
 with it without a struggle. Anti-slavery ideas were 
 not popular at the South, nor generally at the North. 
 On this account, those who had sufficient moral 
 courage to discuss the merits and demerits of the 
 
MRS. stowe's characters. 157 
 
 Bystcm, were accustomed to hold meetings and con- 
 vention"^ for this purpose. I was constantly travel- 
 ling and doing all I could to help to change tho 
 public sentiment at the North. I was in the vicinity 
 of Andov^er, Mass., where Mrs. Harriet Beechtr 
 Stowe resided. She sent for me and my travelling 
 companion, Mr. George Clark, a white gentleman, 
 who had a fine voice for singing, and usually sang 
 at my meetings to add to their interest. We went 
 to Mrs. Stowe's house, and she was deeply interested 
 in the story of my life and misfortunes, and had me 
 narrate its details to her. She said she was glad it 
 had been published, and hoped it would be of great 
 service, and would open the eyes of the people to the 
 enormity of the crime of holding men in bondage. 
 She manifested so much interest in me, that I told 
 her about the peculiarities of many slaveholders, and 
 the slaves in the region where I had lived for forty- 
 two years. My experiences had been more varied 
 than those of the majority of slaves, for I was not 
 only my master's overseer, but a market-man xor 
 twenty-five years in the market at Washington, 
 going there to sell the produce from my master's 
 plantation. 
 
 Soon after, ]\Irs. Stowe's remarkable book, " Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin," was published, and circulated in all 
 parts of America, and read openly at the North, 
 stealthily at the South. Many thought that her state- 
 ments were exaggerations. She then published the 
 key to the book to prove that it was impossible to 
 exaggerate the enormities of slavery, and she therein 
 gave many parallel cases, and referred to my pub- 
 
158 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE*S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 lished life-story, as an exemplification of the truth 
 of the character of her Uncle Tom. From that time 
 to the present, I have been called " Uncle Tom," and 
 I feel proud of the title. If my humble words in any 
 way inspired that gifted lady to write such a plain- 
 tive story that the whole community has been 
 touched with pity for the sufierings of the poor 
 slave, I have not lived in vain ; for I believe that 
 her book was the beginning of the glorious end. It 
 was a wedge that finally rent asunder that gigantic 
 fabric with a fearful crash. 
 
 Though she made her hero die, it was fit that she 
 did this to complete her story ; and if God had not 
 given to me a giant^s constitution, I should have 
 died over and over again long before I reached 
 Canada. I regard it as ono of the most remarkable 
 features of my life that I have rallied after so many 
 exposures to all kinds of hardships. I am grateful 
 to God for His abundant mercies to me in bringing 
 me out of Egypt into the promised land, and I hope 
 to be His faithful servant to my dying hour. 
 
 The white slaves, George Harris, and his wife 
 Eliza, were my particular friends. George Harris, 
 whose real name is Lewis Clark, is about three parts 
 white. He has travelled and lectured with me in 
 the New England States. He is a very ingenious 
 and intelligent man, as Mrs. Stowe represented him. 
 He and his wife lived in Canada for a long time 
 after their escape from slavery, and finally moved to 
 Oberlin, Ohio, to educate their children, for there 
 is still a great prejudice, in certain localities of 
 Canada, with regard to admitting children who 
 
MRS. stovve's characters. 159 
 
 have one drop of black blood in their veins, into 
 the schools where white children are taught; yet 
 the coloured people of those districts pay their pro- 
 portion of taxes and school-rates. 
 
 Many people thought that Mrs. Stowe's interest- 
 ing description of Eliza was a great exaggeration, 
 and that it was impossible for a slave woman to 
 escape in such a manner. That Mrs. Stowe had a 
 real incident for her character will be evident from 
 the following quotation from the published " Re- 
 miniscences of Levi Coffin," in which he gives the 
 truthful version of this thrilling incident, as told 
 him by the woman herself : 
 
 "She said she was a slave from Kentucky, the 
 property of a man who lived a few miles back 
 from the Ohio River, below Ripley, Ohio. Her 
 master and mistress were kind to her, and she had 
 a comfortable home, but her master got into some 
 pecuniary difficulty, and she found that she and her 
 only child were to be separated. She had buried 
 two children, and was doubly attached to the one 
 she had left, a bright, promising child, over two 
 years old. AVhen she found that it was to be taken 
 from her, she was filled with grief and dismay, and 
 resolved to make her escape that night, if possible. 
 She watched her opportunity, and when darkness 
 had settled down, and all the family had retired 
 to sleep, she started with her child in her arms and 
 walked straight toward the Ohio River. She knew 
 that it was frozen over at that season of tiie year, 
 and hoped to cross without difficulty on the ice ; 
 but when she reached its banks at daylight she found 
 
160 MRS. 11. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 that the ice had broken up and was slowly drifting 
 in larn^e cakes. She ventured to go to a house near 
 by, where she was kindly received and permitted to 
 remain through the day. She hoped to find some 
 way to cross the river the next night, but there 
 seemed little prospect of any one being able to cross 
 in safety, for during the day the ice became more 
 broken and dangerous to cross. In the evening she 
 discovered that pursuers were n* r the house, and with 
 desperate courage she determined to cross the river 
 or perish in the attempt. Clasping her child in 
 her arras, she darted out of the back door and ran 
 toward the river, followed by her pursuers, who had 
 just dismounted from their horses when they caught 
 sight of her. No fear or thought of personal danjjer 
 entered Eliza's mind, for she felt that she would 
 rather be drowned than be captured and separated 
 from hcT child. Clasping her babe to her bosom 
 with her left arm, she sprang on to the first cake 
 of ice, then from that to another and another. 
 Sometimes the cake she was on would sink beneath 
 her weight, then she would slide her child on to 
 the next cake, pull herself on with her hands, and 
 so continue her hazardous journey. She became 
 wet to the waist with ice-water, and her hands 
 were benumbed with cold, but as she made her 
 way from one cake of ice to another, she felt that 
 surely the Lord was preserving and upholding her, 
 and that nothing could harm her. 
 
 "When she reached the Ohio side near Ripley, 
 she was completely exhausted and almost breath- 
 less. A man who had been standing on the bank 
 
MRS. STOWe's CIlAUACTiaiS. IGl 
 
 watching her progress with amazement, and expect- 
 ing every moment to see her go down, assisted her 
 up the bunk. After she had recovered her strength 
 a little, he directed her to a house on the hill iu 
 the outskirts of the town. She made her way to 
 the place, and was kindly received and cared for. 
 It was not considered safe for her to remain there 
 during the night, so, after resting awhile, and being 
 provided with food and dry clothing, she was con- 
 ducted to a station on the underground railroad, 
 a few miles farther from the river. The next 
 night she was forwarded on from station to station 
 to our house in Newport, where she arrived safely 
 and remained several days. 
 
 " Other fugitives arrived in the meantime, and 
 Eliza and her child were sent with them by the 
 Greenville branch of the underground railroad to 
 Sandusky, Ohio. They reached that place in safety, 
 and crossed the lake to Canada, locating finally at 
 Chatham, Canada West."' 
 
 Eliza died in Oberlin this year, but her husband 
 is still ai active, enterprising man. Ilis brother's 
 complex .'on is so nearly white, that it is almost im- 
 possible for any one, who is not acquainted with his 
 history, to perceive that he has any coloured blood, 
 lie is in the Custom House in Boston, Mass. 
 
 There was on our plantation a negro girl, Dinah, 
 who was as near like Mrs. Stowe's Topsy as two peas 
 iu a pod. Dinah was clear-witted, as sharp and 
 cunning as a fox, but she purposely acted like a 
 fool, or ifliot, in order to take advantage of her mis- 
 tress. When the latter said, "Dinah, go and do 
 
102 MRS. If. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 your work," she would reply with a laugh, " Yes, 
 yes; when I get ready;" or, *' Go, do it yourself," 
 Sometimes she would scream out, " I won't ; that 's 
 a lie — catch me if you can ; " and then she would 
 take to her heels and run away. She was so queer 
 and funny in her ways, that she was constantly 
 doing all kinds of odd things, but escaped the 
 whipping that other slaves, who did not behave half 
 80 badly, had received daily, because her mistress 
 thought she was an idiot. 
 
 There was a gentleman, Mr. St. Clair Young, who 
 lived in the neighbourhood of my old home. He 
 was as kind-hearted as Mrs. Stowe's St. Clair. Soon 
 after I left the district, I learned that he became a 
 converted man, gave his slaves their freedom, sold 
 his land, moved into Indiana, and preached as a 
 Methodist minister. 
 
 It is a fact, that as soon as the conscience of a 
 slaveholder was aroused, he was obliged to give up 
 his slaves or his religious convictions ; for these 
 were so antagonistic they could not agree. Mr. St. 
 Clair Young had a sweet little girl who could easily 
 have been the original of precious little Eva. The 
 children of slaveholders were often kind-hearted, 
 good-tempered, and were genial companions during 
 their childhood, before they were old enough to ex- 
 ercise authority. Then, under the influence of their 
 circumstances, slaverv would often turn the mildest 
 disposition into a cross one, the same as thunder will 
 turn sweet milk. 
 
 Bryce Litton, who broke my arms and maimed me 
 for life, would stand very well for Mrs. Stowe'a 
 
MRS. STOWE'8 CHARACTERS. 163 
 
 cruel Legree. Litton was the most tyrannical, bar- 
 barous man I ever saw, and I have good reason to 
 know that his revengeful and malicious spirit would 
 have led him to perform the most cruel acts. He 
 lived a miserable life, like a hog, and died like a dog 
 a few years after I left that part of the country. He 
 was universally detested even among slaveholders, 
 for when an overseer far exceeded the bounds of 
 what they termed humanity, he was a marked man, 
 his society was avoided, and his career was by no 
 means a pleasant one. Even slaveholders, like thieves, 
 had a certain creed of honour. 
 
 Mrs. Stowe's book is not an exaggerated account 
 of the evils of society. The truth has never been 
 half-told ; the story would be too horrible to hear. 
 I could fill this book with cases that have come 
 under my own experience and observation, by which 
 I could prove that the slaveholder could and did 
 break every one of the ten commandments with im- 
 punity. A slave was not allowed to testify against 
 a white man in a court of justice, hence he had to bear 
 all the cruelties his master was pleased to inflict. I 
 could give statements of facts that would appal a 
 generous and kind-hearted soul. 
 
 ■»**• 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 THE MANUAL LABOUR SCHOOL AT DAT\N. 
 
 TROUBLES. — MISPLACED CONFIDENCK. — EYES OPENED. — LAWSUIT. — 
 WILBEKFOUCE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES had arisen in the management of 
 the Manual Labour Institution at Dawn, 
 before I visited England in 1851. Debts had ac- 
 cumulated, and I had pledged myself to take the saw- 
 mill and part of the land, and clear off the debts as 
 I have before explained. The school was established 
 with the express idea that it was not to promulgate 
 sectarianism. But those who had obtained control 
 over it, were inclined to drift it into a particular sect. 
 I opposed this, and hence incurred their disapproba- 
 tion. Soon after I visited England, and began to 
 raise a fund for the benefit of the school ; but, as I 
 before stated, the dominant party attempted to 
 counteract my efforts by slandering me. My com- 
 mittee in London proposed that a gentleman should 
 visit Canada, and ascertain the facts respecting my 
 personal character. Mr. Samuel Morley suggested 
 that I should go to Canada with the gentleman. 
 He said, " If things are as you say, Josiah, we will 
 provide a way for j'ou to return, and you can then 
 finish your work here. But if you are an impostor, 
 
THE MANUAL LAUOUB iSCHOOL AT DAWN. 165 
 
 as vour enemies have represented, you will then be 
 at home with your family; you will not want to 
 come back, and we shall not want to see you. If it 
 were proved you were hero getting money on false 
 pretences, nothing would save you from being sent 
 to Van Diemen's Land." 
 
 When we reached Canada, there was a convention 
 called on the premises where the school was located ; 
 careful inquiries were made, and no charges were 
 found against me. After this English gentleman 
 had ascertained all the particulars, he returned to 
 England, made a favourable report to my committee, 
 and remained in England for a year or two. 
 
 Before he left America, he arranged with Amos 
 Lawrence, Esq., of Boston, that 1 was to go to Eng- 
 land when I was ready, and deposited the money 
 with him for my passage. Accordingly, in the 
 winter of 1851, the same year, I was back in Eng- 
 land ; I finished my work, raised about £1,000 for 
 the school, and left this money, which was sufficient to 
 defray all the debts of the school, in the hands of the 
 treasurer, Mr. Gurney, of London. The English 
 gentleman told the trustees of the school at Dawn, 
 *' that the spot could be made the brightest spot in 
 the garden of the Lord, if there were only an 
 efficient manager at its head to control it." All but 
 one of the trustees agreed to assign the institution to 
 him to manage. lie promised to clear it from debt, 
 and represented to the trustees " that the committee 
 in London whom I had selected, would be responsible 
 for him, or would aid him in placing the school on a 
 permanent foundation, and in making it a glorious 
 
166 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 moral lighthouse, a beacon whose illumination should 
 be perpetual." 
 
 This looked reasonable, and I agreed with the 
 trustees when they conferred upon him the assign- 
 ment, for I knew that he was respected in London, 
 had been sent to the West Indies to inquire into the 
 condition of slavery there, and that his reports had 
 helped to secure the emancipation of the slaves in 
 the West Indies. 
 
 He presented the case to the committee in London, 
 and when he told them he expected they would 
 endorse him, Samuel Morley said, " We did not 
 authorise you to represent that we would shoulder 
 the responsibility of the school, and we cannot do 
 it." It was decided that the committee would be 
 interested in the welfare of the school, but that they 
 would not incur any pecuniary risks for it. 
 
 In about two years the gentleman returned to 
 Canada, and took with him the funds I had raised 
 for the school debts. He bought up the debts, giving 
 to some 62 cents in the dollar, to others the full 
 amount. Then, his family being with him, he took 
 possession of the premises, and the charge of the 
 institution in earnest. He said, "I am ^oing to 
 renovate this place, * de novo.' " I shall never 
 forget those words, they sounded so grandly to my 
 ears. 
 
 I soon found he intended to commence at the 
 beginning. I had great faith in his integrity, and 
 believed every word he uttered, and at that time 
 would have pledged myself to carry out his ideas to 
 the uttermost. As the land was in splendid con- 
 
THE MANUAL LABOUR SCHOOL AT DAWN. 167 
 
 dition, he probably anticipated having by-and-by a 
 model farm, which would bring a large annuity. 
 
 It is my candid opinion that, in the beginning, 
 he intended to benefit the coloured race, and to have 
 a splendid school which should be the pride of the 
 neighbourhood. If he had been a practical instead 
 of a theoretical farmer, he doubtless would have 
 accomplished those blessed results. He soon began 
 to buy the most expensive cattle in the market, at 
 fancy prices, and without any reference to the fact 
 that he had not sufficient fodder to feed them after 
 he had them in his stables. lie also bought ex- 
 pensive farming utensils to work the fnrrr scientific- 
 ally, ard then pulled down the school-buildings, as 
 they were too primitive to suit his magnificent ideas, 
 and he promised to erect more substantial and com- 
 modious buildings. I upheld him in all these sugges- 
 tions, for I had a kind of respect for the man that 
 almost amounted to veneration. 
 
 At his request, I often went to market with him, 
 and he generally asked my judgment about the fine 
 cattle that he was constantly adding to his stock. 
 I sometimes ventured to suggest that they would 
 require a great amount of grain during the long 
 Canadian winter. But he invariabl}' declined to 
 take my advice in this respect, and I concluded he 
 knew wh£;t hr was doing, and must have had ex- 
 perience, or he would not have pursued such a reck- 
 less course. 
 
 One year passed away, and there were no school 
 buildings and no school. Our people said, "Surely 
 lie will commence building next year." The second 
 
168 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 year passed away, and again I silenced the question- 
 ings and raurraurings ; for I still had confidence in 
 his integrity of purpose. The third year passed, and 
 then the coloured people began to tell me " I Avas in 
 league with him, and that in some way he and I 
 were gaining pecuniary advantages from the cultiva- 
 tion of that splendid tract of three hundred acres of 
 land on the Sydenham River." 
 
 13y-and-by his finances became involved, and he 
 borrowed of rao several hundred dollars to meet his 
 bills, and the fourth year passed ; still there was no 
 school. lie supported his family and his brother-in- 
 law's family from tiie farm that belonged to our 
 coloured people. True, the family of his brother-in- 
 law, from their straitened circumstances, frequently 
 came to my house for food, and my wife gave them 
 the best we had. The fiftli, sixth, seventh, eighth, 
 and ninth year passed, and we had no school, and not 
 an individual could make any change. He had no 
 title to the land, so he had no power to sell this, and 
 it was a most fortunave thing. I had repeatedly said 
 to him, ** The people are growling." He replied, 
 " Let thcra growl." He invariably refused to dis- 
 cuss the question. At length, when nine years had 
 passed, I began to doubt the man's intentions, and I 
 thought I w^ould have a serious conversation with 
 him on the subject, and ascertain what he proposed 
 doing. I said to him as politely as I could, '* The 
 people about here are beginning to talk very hard 
 about you and ?nyself, and I do not want to let them 
 have any cause to tliink ill of us. If you will be so 
 kind as to give me some intimation when you propose 
 
THE MANUAL LABOUR SCHOOL AT DAWN. 169 
 
 to coramenco the school-buildings I can satisfy them." 
 He curtly replied, " When I get ready ; when I 
 please." I said, meekly, * It is quite unfortunate for 
 me, for ray honour is impeached, as I have always 
 defended you." 
 
 " What's your honour to me P I don't care what 
 they say." lie added, in a very dignified manner, 
 " I did not come here for the coloured people to 
 dictate to me." 
 
 I replied, " If you really do not intend to build us 
 a school, you ought to leave the farm, and let U3 
 manage for ourselves." 
 
 With some excitement he said, " Pay me what I 
 have expended during the many j'ears I have tried 
 to make this place meet its expenses, and I will go 
 at once." 
 
 The scales fell from my eyes ; I saw through the 
 man's motives. I went to the coloured people and 
 told them, sadly, " that I had been greatly deceived, 
 that we should never have a school until we gained 
 possession of the property, and that if I had a power 
 of attorney to act for them I would consult an able 
 lawyer, and ascertain what could be done." A con- 
 vention of the coloured people of the region was 
 called. I was given by them the power of attorney 
 to examine the subject and act for them. I went 
 immediately to London, Canada, and laid the case 
 before Lawyer Wilson, since made a judge, and 
 Lawyer McKenzie, two eminent lawyers. They 
 promised to weigh the matter very carefully, and to 
 let me know the result. In about three months they 
 sent mo word " that if I could find two substantial 
 
170 MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 men, one coloured and one white, wlio owned free- 
 hold property unencumbered, and were willing to 
 pledge themselves to pay the costs, that th . ■ would 
 undertake the case." They said " I must keep in the 
 background, while the two men should be the osten- 
 sible * relators.'," I found the men that same night, 
 and pledged myself to them "that I would pay the 
 costs if they would allow their names to be used." 
 The attorney- general brought the suit for non-fulfil- 
 ment of trusts and for maladministration of the affairs 
 of the school. A clever lawyer of Toronto defended 
 the gentleman, and the war commenced in earnest. 
 In the beginning I paid two hundred dollars, and 
 borrowed money from time to time by mortgaging, 
 first one house and lot, then three houses and 
 lots, then re-mortgagod them, then sold several lots 
 to pay the mortgages, then re-mortgaged, and was 
 constantly called upon to pay disbursements to the 
 lawyers. It was an anxious, perplexing period, for 
 the case was taken from court to court, till seven 
 years had elapsed, when at last, wearied and ex- 
 hausted, the lawyer offered to give it up as a non- 
 suit if his expenses during these seven years could be 
 paid. To this we all agreed, and the important case 
 Was decided in our favour. Then the Court of 
 Chancery appointed a new board of trustees, granted 
 a bill to incorporate the institution as the Wilber- 
 force University, also the power to sell the land, 
 which brought about 30,000 dollars, £6,000, in cash, 
 with a stipulation that the University should be 
 erected on a plot of ground in the same county. The 
 town of Chatham, Canada, was selected, and for four 
 
THE MANUAIi LABOUR SCHOOL AT DAWN. 171 
 
 years the school has been self- sustaining, and has 
 been attended by many pupils. 
 
 Thus ended seven years of perplexity and excite- 
 ment. During them I learned many practical lessons. 
 
 In the beginning of the contest the gentleman 
 left the premises, but installed his son as master 
 over them. I had leased a plot of ground on the 
 school-farm, and had ploughed it for several years. 
 When this young gentleman heard that my men 
 were ploughing the ground, he sent word to them 
 " to be off his premises." I said to my men, " Go to 
 your ploughing to-morrow morning, and I will be 
 there to sustain you." 
 
 The next morning my men began their work. 
 Soon the young gentleman appeared on the spot 
 with several of his men. He commanded mine " to 
 leave at once." I was at hand, and said, " I leased 
 this land from your father, and as long as he retains 
 the possession of the whole farm I have a legal right 
 to work this plot, and I shall defend that right." 
 
 He mildly said, " Why, Mr. Henson, is that you ? 
 I thought you were a jDraying man, not a fighting 
 man?" 
 
 I replied, " AYhen it is necessary I can fight, as I 
 have done for Canada when she was in trouble. I 
 intend to respect the rights of others, and they 
 must respect mine." He soon became angry ; first 
 came words, then blows. I could not prevent him 
 from bruising his head several times against my 
 heavy walking-stick, which I hciJ before me to ward 
 off the blows he attempted to level at me. When 
 he was tired of that kind of play, he went off 
 
172 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 muttering a threat, " that he would have a writ 
 served upon mo immediately/* I at once had my 
 fastest horse harnessed to my waggon, and rode oif 
 to the nearest magistrate accompanied by a constable. 
 The magistrate readily gave rje a writ for the young 
 gentleman. "When we were returning we met him 
 within a mile from the railroad-station. He had 
 intended to go and see his father, and then have a 
 summons out for me. The constable alighted, 
 touched him on. the shoulder, and said, ** You are 
 my prisoner, in the name of the Queen, for assault 
 and battery on Josiah Henson on his own premises." 
 He was crestfallen and V3ry angry, especially 
 when he was obliged to walk between ten and 
 fifteen miles to Dresden to the court to have his 
 trial. His lawyer removed the trial from one court 
 to another, dll at London, Canada, he was compelled 
 to pay costs and a bonus to end the suit. He gave 
 me no further trouble, for he perceived that I had a 
 practical knowledge of the common laws of the 
 country. This incident shows how important it was 
 for the coloured people to be able to defend their 
 natural and inalienable rights after they became 
 freemen and citizens of Canada. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 IDOLS SHATTERED. 
 
 THB FATE OF THE SAWMILL, — HOW THE GRLST-MILL VANISHEB 
 
 IN TUE NIGHT. 
 
 A s 80 many of my friends have been interested la 
 JLA. the history of the sawmill that was erected 'on 
 our school-premises, a few words about its fate may 
 be appreciated. It was a great undertaking to 
 secure the money necessary to purchase the materials 
 for the mill, and the building of it, and a great 
 responsibility to work it successfully. It would 
 have continued to have been a very profitable in- 
 vestment, as it was at first, had it been properly 
 managed ; for the Eiver Sydenham is navigable for 
 vessels, and we could send the lumber by water to 
 Detroit, or to almost any part of the United States. 
 
 Though there was no school on the premises, the 
 mill was leased to a man who employed forty or 
 fifty men, and they worked faithfully, sawed many 
 thousand feet of lumber, and the lumber was shipped 
 from time to time to different ports. After several 
 prosperous years there came a period of depression, 
 simply because the man who leased the mill did not 
 attend to his business carefully. At length he had 
 a lot of timber sawed, filled three vessels with it, 
 and these sailed for some unknown port. The man 
 
174 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 disappeared and left his workmen in a starving con- 
 dition, with their wages in arrears. He gave out 
 the word that he was going off to lay in supplies for 
 the future. The men had no money and could not 
 procure the necessaries of life. They waited till 
 they were convinced their master did not intend 
 to return; then they vented their angry and re- 
 vengeful feelings on the mill itself, and tore up 
 even its foundations. Thus they ruthlessly destroyed 
 this valuable building, the establishment of "v^'hich 
 had cost me so many anxious hours, and had proved 
 to be such a valuable piece of property in my hands. 
 When it was gone, I felt as if I had parted with an 
 old idolised friend. 
 
 Though Canada was the land of freedom to the 
 fugitive slaves, yet they met with so much prejudice 
 at first, on account of their colour, that it was 
 with difficulty they could procure the common com- 
 forts of life. When they endeavoured to have thei-r 
 corn ground they found it no easy matter. A man 
 would often walk three and four miles with two or 
 three bushels on his shoulders, through paths in 
 which the mud was knee-de^p, leave his corn at the 
 mill, and then go repeatedly after it in vain ; he 
 would be put off with a variety of excuses till he was 
 quite discouraged, and would conclude that it was 
 almost useless for him to raise any grain ; and yet 
 there was no other way for him to have a bit of 
 bread or corn-cake. I was tired of hearing these 
 complaints, which became real grievances, and with- 
 out having a spare dollar in my pocket, I determined 
 that, as the only remedy was to have a grist-mill, 
 independently of any already established, I would 
 
IDOLS SHATTERED. 175 
 
 erect one and help the coloured people out of their 
 difficulties. 
 
 Accordingly I went to Boston, Mass., among my 
 •devoted friends, and told them of the necessities of 
 the case, and by their generous help, which, thank 
 Ood, has never failed me in an hour of need, I soon 
 collected 5,000 dollars, or £1,000, obtained a plan, 
 arranged for its building, introduced steam-power to 
 work it, and in a short time we ground the corn for 
 the entire neighbourhood, and this venture was a 
 ■decided success. 
 
 When the lawsuit commenced, I did not wish to 
 have any trouble with the young gentleman who 
 was placed on the school-premises, about the grist- 
 mill, which I had rented to a man. A short time 
 previously I, therefore, proposed to sell the mill, as it 
 belonged to me pertionally ; but I agreed to move it 
 from the grounds of the institution, as I had no 
 lease of the land on which it was built, so I was 
 obliged to resort to stratagem to accomplish my 
 purpose. My son-in-law was the miller, and acceded 
 to my proposition, which was that twenty men 
 should be secreted in the mill one Sunday night, 
 and as soon as the hour of midnight had struck, 
 these men should carefully take down the mill and 
 remove every vestige, foundation, engine, and timber, 
 a short distance on to the road, which was the 
 common highway. By ten o'clock on Monday morn- 
 ing the mill had vanished, as if by magic, from its 
 old resting-place, and by noon it was carried off, in 
 ten or twelve teams that were in readineas, to Dres- 
 den. It was erected speedily, and it remains there 
 to this day, in splendid working order. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 
 
 TAKING UP AKMS FOU MY COUNTRY.— CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. — 
 BISK OF IMPRISONMENT FOR SEVEN YEARS.— SPECIAL PROVI- 
 DENCE SAVES MB. 
 
 DURING tte Canadian rebellion I was appointed 
 a captain to the 2nd Essex Company of 
 Coloured Volunteers. Though I could not shoulder 
 a musket, I could carry a sword. My company held 
 Fort Maldon from Christmas till the following 
 May, and also took the schooner Ann and cap- 
 tured all it carried, which were three hundred 
 arms, two cannons, musketry, and provisions for the 
 rebel troops. This was a fierce and gallant action, 
 and it did much towards breaking up the rebel party,, 
 for they could not obtain provisions while we held 
 the fort, which we continued to do till we were re- 
 lieved by the colonel of the 44th Begiment from 
 England. The coloured men were wiU ag to help 
 defend the government that had given ^lien? a home 
 when they had fled from slavery. 
 
 My sword had been turned into a ploughshare.. 
 When the civil war in America broke out, somehow 
 the coloured people in Canada had an idea that the 
 result of it would be the abolition of slavery. If I 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 177 
 
 could have carried a gun, I would have gone per- 
 sonally, but I thought it wa3 my duty to talk to the 
 people. I told them " that the young and able- 
 bodied ought to go into the '^^eld like men, that they 
 should stand up to the rack, and help the govern- 
 ment." My oldest son, Tom, who was in California, 
 enlisted on a man-of-war in San Francisco, and I 
 suppose ho must have been killed, as I have not 
 heard from him since that time. 
 
 My son-in-law, "Wheeler, enlisted in Detroit. I 
 advised the people, in general terms, to do the same, 
 and said that if any of them wished to go to enlist 
 early, so as to secure the bounty offered, I would 
 provide for their families till they could send the 
 bounty-money to them. A number went, and some 
 lost their bounty-money through " sharpers " lying 
 in wait for them. So I proposed to go with a 
 second lot, that they need not be annoyed in this 
 way. There was one man, named John Alexander, 
 who had decided to be of this second company. I 
 therefore sent some pork and clothing from the 
 stores to his wife and family, as they were poor. At 
 the last he gave ms the slip, and during my absence 
 he traitorously and untruthfully declared " that I 
 had tried to induce him and others to enlist." Ho 
 even testified to this statement before a magistrate, 
 and my wife telegraphed to me " to remain in Boston 
 and not return, for a writ was ready to take mo as 
 soon as I appeared in Dresden, and if the charge 
 was proved, the penalty, by the Foreign Enlistment 
 Act, would be seven years' imprisonment." At first I 
 thought I would remain away till the excitement 
 
178 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 had subsided. Then I reflected that what I had' 
 done was for the cause of Christ, and with good 
 motives ; that the war was a righteous war ; that 
 the coloured people ought to take some part in it, 
 I said to one of my companions, " God helping racj^. 
 I will not run away when I have done no wrong." 
 
 I soon returned to Dresden, and rode in a waggon 
 to my own door in the most public manner ; for I. 
 yraa not ashamed to be seen. This \vas on a Thurs- 
 day afternoon about four o'clock. My family were- 
 highly excited, and, with tears in their eyes, begged 
 me to go away ; but I said, " I must remain and 
 have this slander cleared up publicly, as the wholo 
 community had been discussing it." The next 
 morning, Friday, before seven o'clock, the con- 
 stable, an old friend, came to my home. I was 
 sitting on the fence talking to my son-in-law. Tb© 
 constable said, pleasantly, " Good morning, Mr. 
 Henson ; have you any potatoes to sell ? " ** Good 
 morning," I answered. "Yes, sir, I have some.'* 
 " I should like to buy a few if you can spare any.'* 
 " How many do you want ? " " Ten or fifteea 
 bushels." " I can spare one hundred bushels." 
 " Oh, I do not want so many." " Very well ; I 
 suppose it is jnly one good black potato about my 
 size that you want, and you can have it if you 
 will come and get it," 
 
 He at once came forward, put his hand on my 
 shoulder, and said, "Mr. Henson, you are my 
 prisoner in the name of the Queen. Here is a writ 
 for you." 
 
 "All right. Bill." His name was William Nellis. 
 
FDulTlVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 179 
 
 ** Let me have a bit of breakfast, and tben you can 
 have me." "We went into the house, where my wife 
 and children were crying. I invited the constable 
 to eat, but he declined, saying he had eaten his 
 breakfast. We talked for half an hour. Then I 
 took my hat and said to him, " I am ready ; how 
 are we going ? The writ si-ys yov.. must take me." 
 
 The constable said, " If you will have your horso 
 and waggon prepared, I'll pay for it." ** I will do 
 no such a thing ; you must take me, and if you have 
 no other way, go get a wheelbarrow, for I will not 
 walk with you." He argued with me for an hour 
 or two, till it was nearly noon. Then I said, " You 
 can go your way when you like, and you may tell 
 the squire I will soon be there." 
 
 I found that two clever magistrates had arranged 
 everything before I came home. I was not allowed to 
 make a defence or to have a lawyer to plead my case. 
 One of the magistrates was prejudiced against me on 
 account of the interest I had taken in the suit against 
 the school-trustees ; the other, Squire Terrace, was 
 my friend. But both were obliged to decide legally, 
 and if they had agreed as to the interpretation of the 
 law, there would have been no opportunity for me to 
 appeal from the magistrate's court. They did not 
 agree, and the case was referred to the next magis- 
 trate. When he had heard the statements, he could 
 not decide, and it was proposed to consult the county 
 attorney, Mr. McLean, of Chatham, who was a friend 
 of mine. I had worked faithfully for his grandfather, 
 and was esteemed by the family as a man who con- 
 scientiously kept his word, and tried to discharge 
 
180 MRS. H. BEECIIER STOWe's " UKCLE TOM. 
 
 every known duty. Mr. McLean said, " I am sur- 
 prised to find these charges against Mr. Henson. 
 He is a common-sense man, and knows the laws 
 better than the majority of the people. There must 
 be a screw loose somewhere in this affair. If what 
 John Alexander has declared on oath be true, nothing 
 will prevent Mr. Henson from seven years' imprison- 
 ment in Kingston under the Foreign Enlistment Act, 
 which does not allow a man to entice or persuade 
 another to enlist in the army. Mr. Henson, give me 
 your version of the case." 
 
 I then iold the whole truth, word for word, and 
 did not dodge a single hair. I admitted that I had 
 given John Alexander's wife provisions, and said 
 " I \. ould give them to any one, white or black, if 
 1 had them to give, and the individual needed them ; 
 but I did not suppose the man would turn my gene- 
 rosity against me in this base manner." I perceived 
 that this was the only proof they had, and the man 
 called it bribery on my part to get him to enlist. 
 
 Squire McLean s.'^id, "We all know Mr. Henson's 
 character, that he is an honest, upright, Christian 
 man. Now what is the character of his accuser ? To- 
 day is Saturday ; I will defer my decision till Mon- 
 day morning, and in the meantime inquiries can bo 
 made respecting the veracity of John Alexander." 
 
 How I should get released from the legal net that 
 was spread over me I did not know, but I trusted in 
 God ; I knew He had delivered me many, many 
 times before from the lions' den, and, like Daniel of 
 olden times, I now put my faith in Him. In my 
 heart I cried out, *' Lord, deliver me, but in 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 181 
 
 prison, or under the free air of heaven, I will praise 
 Thy great and holy name." 
 
 Still in the custody of the constable, I was allowed 
 to go home on Saturday afternoon. A man called 
 that night at my house and said to me, ** There is a 
 man loading his boat up the river, a bit ; he comes 
 from the same district where John Alrxander lived 
 before he prowled about Dresden. This Smith says 
 Alexander is a thief, that he stole a lot of clothes 
 from a line in a yard there, and other things, and a 
 writ was taken out to apprehend him, but he ran 
 away, and is now trying to send an innocent man 
 to prison by telling a lot of lies, and he ought to be 
 stopped." 
 
 As soon as this man left my house the constable 
 gave me permission to call on Squire Terrace. This 
 was Saturday evening. I gave him the drift of what 
 the man had told me of Smith's knowledge of John 
 Alexander. The squire said, " Go home and be 
 quiet over Sunday, for Monday morning before the 
 sun riscii I will be at the river, and if I can find 
 that Smith, and he testify as you have represented, 
 .1 will have him in court on Monday morning by 
 nine o'clock." 
 
 I remained quiet during Sunday, and mv soul 
 was full of joy and rejoicing, for this unlooked-for 
 providence of God which I was sure would deliver me. 
 
 "Suppose he should not be found?" said one of 
 my family. I answered, " But he will, I am cer- 
 tain." Though my fate hung upon a thread that 
 might easily be cut, I anticipated no evil results. 
 
 Early on Monday morning Squire Terrace was at 
 
182 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " TJNCLE TOM." 
 
 the river's bank; he saw the boat half a mile off; he 
 hailed it, and said, " Is there a man named Smith on 
 that boat?" "I'm the man, sir." "Come ashore, 
 I want to speak to you." This Smith then told the 
 Liagistrate that he had worked with Alexander, and 
 that "he was a mean, lying thief, and he could 
 prove it." "Enough; I subpoena you to appear at 
 the court this morning by nine o'clock to testif} in 
 this v'jase," Squire Terrace answered. 
 
 Tho time came. It was understood at court that 
 a witness would testify to the character of John 
 Alexander, who was present in an exultant frame of 
 mind. The witness was called. The attorney said,. 
 " You have worked with John Alexander ; is he 
 a trustworthy man ? Has he a good, reliable 'cha- 
 racter?" Smith said, "He is one of the greatest 
 rogues out of prison." Alexander was about ta 
 interrupt him ; but Smith looked him square in the 
 face, and sa;d, " You know if you stepped your 
 foot where you used to work with me, you'd be 
 hustled off to prison, where you ought to go if you 
 got your deseits." Squire McDonald exclaimed, 
 " What do you say ? Is the man a rogue — has he 
 no character?" 
 
 " Ho has none, sir ; but was obliged to * cut 
 sticks,' as we say up in the country — that is, he gave 
 * leg bail ' and ran away." 
 
 " Well," said Squire McDonald, " if John Alex- 
 ander has no character, Mr. Henson has his 
 acquittal." He was as much astounded at the 
 appearance of the witness as my accuser was. It 
 is needless to say that my friends and family re- 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 183^ 
 
 joiced with me at this signal deliverance. I sent 
 John Alexander word " that the world, or that part 
 of it where I lived, was too small for him and me ; 
 that if he crossed my path I was afraid I should be 
 tempted to shoot him." Ho was in terror, for he 
 knew he deserved shooting, or a severe castigation. 
 At last he sent by a couple of friends a humble 
 request for me to forgive him ; I told them he must 
 come to me personally and acknowledge his con- 
 temptible meanness in the presence of three of my 
 friends, whom I named. He came at an appointed 
 time, and on his knees he confessed his sin and 
 ingratitude to me for my kindness to his family, and 
 in the name of the Lord begged my forgiveness. 
 
 I said, " It was about the meanest thing you could 
 do to defame me in my absence, when my character 
 was one of the most precious things I had to cherish. 
 You ought to be hung, and I have been tempted to 
 dispatch you ; but I leave you in the hands of the 
 Lord ; vengeance belongeth to Him, and not to mc. 
 I forgive you. Go and sin no more." 
 
 Not very long after, there was another peculiar 
 incident, connected with the civil war, which 
 threatened to give me some trouble. Many 
 in the States, both white and coloured, enlisted 
 merely to receive the bounty, and then they "jumped 
 the bounty," as.it was termed — that is, they took 
 the money and did not go into the army. A friend 
 of mine, Alexander Pool, a coloured man of my 
 neighbourhood, told me " that his son and wife's- 
 brother were talking about running away to join the 
 army, but he thought ho ought to get a bounty for 
 
184 MRS. n. BEECIIER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 them, and lie wished I would take them to Detroit 
 and advise them what to do." I replied, " I do not 
 intend to subject myself to another trial on that 
 score. I don't care whether they enlist or not ; still, 
 if they are going to the war, you ought to get some 
 of their bounty, and it would enable you to pay for 
 your land, but I can't enlist them." 
 
 He repeatedly asked my advice about the way to 
 get to Detroit, and at length solicited me to accom- 
 pany them there, and he offered to pay my expenses 
 and for the time I lost. I said to the lads, " It is 
 not my wish that you should enl'.st, but for your 
 father's sake I will go to Detroit with you to pro- 
 tect you from the sharpers." We went, and they 
 Wintered their names as Martin Pool and Basil Pool, 
 and represented themselves as two brothers. I 
 thought by this that probably their idea had been 
 to run away, but the officer took possession of them 
 and handed me a packet of money in an envelope 
 directed to their father. I took from this package 
 one hundred dollars and sent to the two lads. I 
 took the remainder, eleven hundred dollars, to their 
 father. He gave me four hundred for my expenses 
 and trouble. The father had never seen so much 
 money as ho now had in his possession, but instead 
 of using it for a good purpose he squandered it in. 
 dissipation. These lads went to the war, were in 
 several battles, came back, and got their discharge. 
 They demanded some of their bounty-money from 
 their father. He pretended he had not received any. 
 They said, " I must have kept it," and were very 
 angry. They demanded it of me ; but I indignantly 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES ENLISTING IN THE STATES. 185^ 
 
 told them " that they might go back to their father 
 and ask him for it." They consulted a lawyer, who 
 sent them to Squire McDonald, the same magistrate 
 who conducted my case with John Alexander. He 
 said, " I am surprised that Mr. Henson should have 
 had anything to do with enlisting men, for he knows 
 the law in such a case. I would advise you to make 
 no stir in the matter, but to go with me to see him. 
 Perhaps I can induce him to pay you something 
 down, and then by instalments in the future to make 
 up the difference." He called upon me with these 
 lads, and said, " I am amazed to find that you have 
 enlisted these young men and appropriated their 
 bounty. I have called to suggest to you, Mr. 
 Henson, to pay them something to-day, and then 
 you can arrange to make up the balance at a more 
 convenient time." 
 
 I replied, " Squire McDonald, I know nothing 
 of what you refer to. I have not done what these 
 men say." I turned to them and said, " I suppose 
 you have your discharge-papers with you?" "Oh, 
 yes," Basil Davis answered, eagerly, not suspecting 
 in the lease my purpose in wishing to see them. He 
 pulled his out of his pocket. I turned to Squire 
 McDonald and said, " You had better look after 
 this man, he enlisted and was discharged under a 
 false pretence ; why didn't he use his right name, 
 unless it was to enable him to run off and 'jump 
 the bounty?* and now, because ho could not succeed 
 in escaping, but had to serve In the war, he must 
 come back and vilify my name; you had better 
 look after him." 
 
186 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 The squire and his clients soon left me in peace. 
 As their shadows were retreating I could not help 
 laughing out loud and exclaiming, "Though there 
 are more ways to kill a dog than feeding him on 
 sweet cake, it will take cleverer lads to get the 
 better of Father Henson than those who have just 
 paid me a visit." I, however, learned another lesson, 
 and thought that in the future I had better let 
 coloured volunteers gain wisdom and experience for 
 themselves, without giving them either advice or 
 personal assistance. 
 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 EAELY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 
 
 ©Eer'>,E TO LEAEN TO SPELL NIPPED IN THE BUD. — SUPERSTITION. 
 — INSURRECTION. — PREACHINa AND ITS PENALTY. — NEGRO 
 SONGS. 
 
 SHARP flashes of lightning come from black clouds, 
 sprightly words of wit come from those who 
 live in dark hovels, and bright gleams of intelligence 
 •come from children brought up in the most abject 
 ignorance of books. It has often been a mystery to 
 me how I gained a practical knowledge of figures, 
 enough to sell all the produce of four farms during 
 twenty-five years in the market at "Washington, for 
 I had to compute fractions f ,nd make great estimates, 
 and yet I never studied arfthmetic. I came in con- 
 tact with many of the most intelligent gentlemen ia 
 Washington, for I used to take great pride in 
 selecting the best butter for some of the best families, 
 and was delighted to take it to their houses. They 
 manifested a great interest in me, and when they 
 •conversed I listened attentively and remembered 
 their phrases and sentences, and in this way I learned 
 to speak more correctly than the majority of the 
 slaves, or even the poor whites of the district. I 
 never said " go dar," or " gib me," and other negro 
 phrases, for I was anxious to imitate those whom I 
 
188 MRS. H. bEECHER STOWB*S " UNCr.E TOM." 
 
 respected as gentlemen. I also gained a very good 
 practical knowledge of law from hearing clover 
 lawyers talk and explain their cases. If I had been, 
 a white boy and been blessed with the opportunities 
 to study law in my youth, I think I should have been 
 delighted with its study and practice. The know- 
 ledge I " picked up " has enabled me in several in- 
 stances to protect my own rights and those of my 
 people. 
 
 I shall never forget my first attempts to learn to> 
 spell. I was about thirteec years of age, when I 
 nearly lost my life because I made an effort to gain 
 this kind of knowledge. The schools for the white 
 children were generally four or five miles apart, and 
 a negro boy was accustomed to drive his master'a 
 children in a waggon to school in the morning, and 
 to go for them in the afternoon. A negro boy,. 
 William, belonging to Lewis Bell, was a bright, 
 clever lad. He learned to read and to spell by 
 hearing his master's boys talk about their lesson* 
 while they were riding to and from school. I was 
 so pleased to hear William read, that he told me if I 
 would buy a Webster's spelling-book in the store at 
 Washington he would soon teach me. I had already 
 made some ink out of charcoal, and had cut a goose 
 quill so that it looked like my master's pen, and I 
 had begun to make scratches on odd bits of paper I 
 had picked up in the market. I had noticed that 
 all the butter I sold was stamped with two letters, 
 "I. E.," and after awhile I learned that those 
 letters stood for my master, Isaac Riley, and I tried 
 and tried to imitate those marks, and they were 
 reallv the first letters I ever wrote. 
 
EARLY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 189 
 
 It seemed to me if I took some of the apples that 
 fell from the trees in the orchard and sold them I 
 should be able to get the money for the spelling- 
 book. I did this. Early the next morning I was 
 about to harness the horse for my master ; the horse 
 was frisky and ran, and I ran to catch him, when 
 my hat fell off and the book in it dropped on to the 
 ground. After I had harnessed the horse my master 
 exclaimed, ** What's that?" "A spelling-book." 
 "Whose is it?" "Mine." "Where did you get 
 it?" "Bought it, sir, when I went to market." 
 "How much was it?" "Eleven cents." "Where 
 did you get the money ?" "I sold some apples out 
 of our orchard." " Our orchard ! " he exclaimed, in 
 a passion. "I'll teach you to get apples from our 
 orchard for such a vile purpose, so you'll remember 
 it. Give me that book." I stooped to pick it up, 
 and as I saw his big cane coming down I dodged. 
 "Pick up that book," he cried, using an awful oath. 
 At last I was obliged to do it, when he beat me 
 across the head and back till my eyes were swollen 
 and I became unconscious. My poor mother found 
 me in this state, and it was some time before I m as 
 able to be about my work again. When my master 
 saw me after I recovered, he said, sneeringly, " So 
 you want to be a fine gentleman ? llemember if 
 you meddle with a book again I'll knock y«'Ur 
 brains out." The wonder to me is, why I have uny 
 brains left. I shall carry to my grave a scar my 
 master made that day on my head. I did not ojjon 
 a book again till after I was forty-two years of ago 
 and out of the land of slavery. There was so much 
 
 TX 
 
190 MTIS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 excitement wlieii It was understood bv the masters- 
 
 that Lewis Bell's slave, William, was intending to 
 
 teach their slaves, that William was sent to Georgia. 
 
 and sold, for the masters in our neighbourhood said,. 
 
 •*We will not have our niggers spoiled by that 
 
 rascal.'^ 
 
 Many a time, when I was a young man, I havo 
 
 driven chickens and pigs into the woods and killed 
 
 them in the night, and then taken them to the cabins 
 
 of the feeble, sickly women, who had to work during 
 
 the day under a hot sun, without having sufficient 
 
 food to nourish them and their little babies. 
 
 I used to reason that the slaves were the property 
 
 of their masters, and so were the pigs, and if acci- 
 dentally the pigs got a sore throat, and I induced 
 them to wander away, it was only taking a part of 
 master's property, the pigs, to make the other part 
 of his property, the women, more valuable. For 
 the same reason, when I had a row to hoe between 
 the rows of two women, I have often made them 
 sit down and rest while I would hoe all three rows, 
 and would give them a loud warning to get up if I 
 perceived master was coming ; in this way I have 
 saved many women from beatings with the lash. 
 
 It is a singula^ fact that the law did not recognise 
 it as stealing if a slave took any food from his master. 
 If he stole a chicken from another plantation he 
 could receive by law sixteen stripes at the public 
 whipping-post, twenty stripes for a i.'rkey, twenty- 
 five or thirty for a pig, thirty-nine for a sheep; which 
 was the highest. It is not surprising that slaves took 
 all the food they could find, for their life was one of 
 
EAKLY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 191 
 
 incessant toil, and they were scantily supplied with 
 the poorest fare, which could not possibly give them 
 strength. When removed from the debasing influ- 
 ences of slavery, the fugitives, as a general thing, 
 had as keen perceptions of the sense of property as 
 the white population. It has been an cxceptionai 
 thing for a coloured man to steal after he reached 
 Canada ; and stealing is regarded by him as a dis- 
 graceful sin. He knows he can enjoy the proceeds 
 of his own labour in the land of freedom, and all the 
 fugitives in Canada can earn their own livelihood if 
 they will exert themselves. At first they had to live 
 on roots and herbs; but after a few years they began 
 to own their own farms, to raise all kinds of grain 
 and vegetables, and to cultivate a great variety of 
 fruit-trees. All may now sit under their own vine 
 and fig-tree. Some have asked me " if those who 
 have been accustomed to a hot climate at the south, 
 do not find the cold Canadian winters long and un- 
 pleasant ? " I have only one reply to niuk'^ to that 
 query, "that cool freedom is far better than hot oppres- 
 sion.'* It is easy to protect ourselves against the 
 inclemency of the weather, but we could not ward 
 off the blows of a cruel master, who was well aware 
 that it was necessary to orv.sh the manhood of the 
 slave, to make him subservient to his master's selfish 
 interests. 
 
 Superstition and ignorance are generally found in 
 company together. Sixty years ago the whites in 
 Maryland and Virginia were very ignorant. With 
 the exception of the few who were educated at the 
 north and the professional gentlemen, liot J^ne man 
 
192 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 in 600 could write his name decently. There can 
 be seen at the present day many state-records and 
 documents in which the people have signed their 
 names by making a cross or a mark. It is not 
 strange that among such people many were exceed- 
 ingly superstitious. It is well known that the blacks 
 as a class were very superstitious, and believed in all 
 kinds of conjurations. 
 
 As a lad I was useful, very clever, and was often 
 called my master's "Man Friday," after Robinson 
 Crusoe's faithful servant. I soon perceived the weak 
 points in the character of my mistress, and that she 
 was very timid. She would sometimes complain if I 
 did not get as good prices for the provisions as she 
 desired, and I would hear of this through some of 
 the servants, or by putting my ear down to the door- 
 sill of the room where she was fretting to my master. 
 The next morning I would talk to a little ball I had 
 suspended to a delicate string which I held in my 
 fingers. A short distance off no one could see the 
 string, and as I talked to the ball it appeared to 
 bound up and then go down again without being 
 touched. "So Missis Riley thinks I didn't get 
 enough for her butter ? " Up would come the ball. 
 " I got all it was worth ? " Down the little ball 
 would go. It was astonishing what a reputation for 
 cleverness that ball obtained in my hands. " Why, 
 it knows everything," I once heard my mistress say. 
 If a dog howled, or a hen made an unusual noise, 
 there was some meaning attached to it, and an inter* 
 pretation made. The negroes often imagined they 
 had frogs in their ankles or spiders in their throats, 
 
f' 
 
 EARLY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 193 
 
 and the spell had to be broken by some doctor who 
 understood how to take advantage of this peculiar 
 feature of the negro's mind. Education soon clear? 
 away all this belief in witchcraft. 
 
 In many districts the blacks far outnumbered the 
 whites. Sometimes one planter had 400 negroes on 
 an extensive plantation. The year before Nat Tur- 
 ner's insurrection, for which he lost his life, there 
 was an extensive organisation among the blacks who 
 represented a district of fifty miles in extent, in the 
 neighbourhood where I lived. The plans were well- 
 laid, every detail had been v/ell- considered, even the 
 time when the blow was to be struck had been 
 appointed. 
 
 It was to be at eleven o'clock at night, when the 
 moon was full at that time. Certain slaves were to 
 fire the barns and stables in all the different planta- 
 tions comprised within the area, at the same hour. 
 Then others were to be stationed at the houses, and 
 as the masters rushed out to ascertain what the 
 matter was, the slaves were to kill them and then 
 kill the entire families, and burn up their houses. 
 "Not one white shall be left to tell the tale!" ex- 
 claimed an excited slave, I could not agree with the 
 leaders, and yet I felt that the evils of slavery could 
 not be exaggerated, and that we had a right to our 
 freedom. Little by little the light came to my 
 soul, till I was convinced that it was not a feasible 
 or Christian plan of procedure ; so I began to raise 
 doubts and queries, to discuss the subject, and finally, 
 I had the moral courage to speak my mind plainly. 
 I said, " Suppose we should kill one thousand of tb» 
 
194 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 white population, we should surely lose our own 
 lives, and make the chains of those in bondage 
 heavier and more securely riveted. No, let its 
 suffer in God's name, and wait His time for Ethiopia 
 to stretch forth her hands and be free." At last I 
 prevailed on them to abandon the project. It is 
 certain that the slaves had provocation enough to 
 rise and take the places of their masters. I saw at 
 one time, a faithful fellow-workman receive 500 
 lashes on his bare back, simply because, when he 
 was a little tardy, he resisted being beaten by a cane 
 over the head. He was nearly dead when he was 
 given into my care for me to look after his condition. 
 After I began to preach, I just escaped receiving 
 thirty-nine lashes at the public whipping-post in 
 Alexandria, near Washington, simply for asking the 
 Mayor to give me permission to comply with a re- 
 quest to preach there. He indignantly ordered me 
 to be taken to prison on the Saturday, and to receive 
 the whipping on the Monday or to pay a fine of 25 
 dollars. I had no money, apd I prayed to God to 
 show me what to do. At last I found some one to 
 send to my master's young brother. He came to see 
 me in jail, and by giving him my watch, worth 45 
 dollars, he paid the fine and I was released. Before 
 we left the city, however, the blacks collected around 
 me, and the Lord opened my mouth, and I had the 
 moral courage to give them such a sermon as they 
 had not heard for a long time. As soon as I had 
 Snished my sermon, my young master, who was ready 
 with his waggon, hurried me into it, and we rode 
 out of the city in great haste, for, as he told me, the 
 
EARLY ASPIRATIONS CHECKED. 195 
 
 Saw would not allow me to preach, openly to a number 
 of slaves in that district. 
 
 Under very different influences, I was talking or 
 preaching to a very large audience of intelligent 
 white ladies and gentlemen in Tremont Temple, 
 Boston, Mass., after I had escaped from slavery. I 
 had nearly finished my discourse, when, wrought up 
 to the highest pitch of excitement, I exclaimed, " I 
 wisk I had the entire control of the southern slave- 
 holders for twenty-four hours!" A man at the 
 extreme end of that large hall jumped up, and said, 
 excitedly, " Mr. Chairman, may I ask the speaker 
 one question?" The gentleman who presided, fear- 
 ing that the man intended to raise a row, said, 
 mildly, " Mr. Henson has the platform, and no one 
 must interrupt him without his permission." I said, 
 "' The gentleman at the back of the house may ask 
 me the question." He rose, and, in an excited 
 manner, rather sneeringly asked, " And pray, what 
 would you do with them ?" 
 
 There was a breathless silence, and all my friends 
 were anxious, not knowing how much. I might be 
 agitated by my past memories of the cruelty of slave- 
 holders, and that I had cause for revengeful feelings, 
 if I did not mnnifest them. I said, in as loud and 
 deep a voice as T could command, " First, I would 
 have them all thoroughly converted to God ; and 
 •secondly, I would send them immediately to heaven, 
 before they had one minute's time to backslide." I 
 then sat down, and there was such an uproar of cheers 
 and hurrahs as I had never heard at any meeting. 
 
 I may as well close this chapter by giving a 
 
196 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " HmCLE TOM." 
 
 Bample of the songs the slaves sing when the- 
 family is about to separate bece.use some of the 
 members have been sold to new ni asters. Some- 
 times they sing these plaintive melodies, clanking 
 their chains to keep time with their voices. 
 
 When I was down in Egypt's land. 
 Close by the river, 
 
 I heard one tell of the promised laaii, 
 Down by the river side. 
 
 Chortis. "We'll end this strife, 
 Down by the river, 
 We'll end this strife, 
 Down by the river side. 
 
 I never shall forget this day, 
 Down by the river, "^ 
 
 WTien Jesus washed m/ sins away, 
 Down by the river side. 
 Chorus. 
 
 'Twaa just before the break of day, 
 Down by the river, 
 When Jesus washed my sins away, 
 Down by the river side. 
 Chorus. 
 
 Cheer up, cheer up, we're gaining ground 
 Down by the river. 
 Old Satan's kingdom we'll pull down, 
 Down by the river side. 
 Chorus. 
 
 Shout, dear children, for you are free, 
 Down by the river, • *. 
 
 Christ has brought to you, liberty, 
 Down by the river side. 
 Chorus. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 MY FAMILY. 
 
 A NEW LIGHT IN MY DESOLATE IIOME.-MY CIIILDIIEN.-MY iniRD- 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND. — MR. HUGUKS. 
 
 MY heart and home were desolate after I lost the 
 wife who had been my faithful companion in 
 slavery, and had escaped with mo to Canada. For 
 four years it seemed to me her place could not be 
 filled. I kept company with no one; I neve? 
 walked out with any woman, and I thought it would 
 be so to the end ; but I was so lonely, so utterly 
 miserable, that at last I decided that I would try tu 
 find another companion. I had travelled exten- 
 sively, and had made many acquaintances, but I 
 knew of but one woman whom I cared to have for a 
 wife She was a widow, an estimable woman, one 
 who' had been a Mthful teacher in the Sunday 
 school, and quite a mother in the church to which 
 she belonged. She had been brought mp by a 
 Quaker lady in Baltimore, and had received a good 
 education in the ordinary branches. Her mother 
 had been a slave, but was such a superior laundress, 
 that she earned enough to buy her freedom of her 
 mistress, and then she earned enough to buy her 
 
* 
 
 J' 
 
 198 MRS. H. BEECKER ST0WE*8 " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 husband's freedom. One of her daughters has lived 
 for many years with a family, and she has travelled 
 with, them around the world. 
 
 I went to Boston and called upon the pleasant 
 widow several times before I could summon the 
 courage to ask her if she would be my wife. It was 
 about two years before we were married in Boston 
 by our bishop, who was holding a series of meetings 
 at the time in the city. She has made me an excel- 
 lent wife, and my cup has indeed run over with 
 God's mercies. She had one son and two daughters. 
 I have now seven living children. My eldest son, 
 Tom, went to California, and I think was killed in 
 the civil war, for I have not heard from him since 
 he enlisted. Isaac, my second son, was a clever and 
 godly lad. He was educated in a school in London 
 for many years through the kindness of my London 
 friends. He married, was ordained as a Wesleyan 
 minister, and preached for about fifteen years. He 
 ^ied when only thirty-seven, and was universally be- 
 loved. My third son, Josiah, was very anxious to 
 learn the shoemaker's trade, but I persuaded him to 
 help me on my farm. At twenty-two he married 
 a very capable young woman, and then he said, " I 
 am determined now to have my own way, father ; 
 I've tried to stick to the farm, but I can't do so any 
 longer ; I know I can make my way." He left 
 Oanada, and went to Jackson, Michigan, where there 
 was a great prejudice against employing coloured 
 young men in the shoe-business. He fouad an 
 English boot and shoe-maker there who agreed to 
 teach him. He was bound to him for two years. 
 
MY FAMILY. 199 
 
 His young wife was a good washer and ironer, and 
 she went out to work by the day, and obtained ex- 
 cellent wages, and the young people were very 
 happy. At the end of the two years his master 
 said to me, " Young Josiah Henson is a clever fellow. 
 He can make as good a boot as his master." My 
 son then went to Adrian, where there was an anti- 
 slavery college. He bought a couple of lots of 
 ground in time. He worked at his trade during the 
 winter, and in the spring went out to do lathing, 
 plastering, and hanging paper in the houses of some 
 of the best people. He was very fond of horticul- 
 ture, and has cultivated a great variety of fruit 
 trees. He has continued to do well, and now has 
 property worth several thousand dollars. My fourth 
 son, Peter, is a farmer, looks after my farm, and 
 stays with me. 
 
 My four daughters are married ; all of them can 
 read and write very well, and one of them has been 
 educated for two years in Oberlin. There has been 
 a great change in the condition of the coloured 
 people since I first went to Canada. Then, there 
 was not a Bible or a hymn-book for a coloured indi- 
 vidual to use for several hundred miles ; and none of 
 us could have read the Bible if we had possessed 
 one; but now there are in every cabin the elements 
 of education. When it was known I had preached 
 at the South, I had urgent requests to labour in this 
 way in Canada, and as a Methodist episcopal elder I 
 have had a district of three hundred miles, over 
 which I have travelled, held meetings, attended 
 conferences, have established churches, and been 
 
200 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 interested in every movement that has been started 
 for the improvement of our people. 
 
 "Wo have had great assistance from the late Rev. 
 Mr. Hughes, the Secretary of the Colonial and Con- 
 tinental Alissionary Church Society in Canada (who 
 died April 11th, 1876). For sixteen or seventeen 
 years he worked most zealously as a missionary. 
 in Canada ; he was always ray devoted friend ; he 
 knew all ray troubles with regard to the school, that 
 my finances had been crippled by my mortgaging 
 my, property to pay the expenses of that lawsuit 
 during seven years, and he proposed that I should 
 again visit London in ray old age, and he assured 
 me that my old friends would rally to ray assistance^ 
 It was a sad day to me when, only three months 
 before I left Canada, I was sumraoned to his dying 
 bedside. His last moments were peaceful, and his. 
 faith to the last was triumphant. He died as he 
 had lived, a genuine Christian. In the last annual 
 report of the Colonial and Continental Church 
 Society, which has reached me since I came to- 
 London, he has kindly referred to my mission in 
 London as follows : *' Josiah Henson (Mrs. Stowe's 
 * Uncle Tom *), who, I think you are aware, resides 
 near Dresden, proposes starting in a week or two for 
 England. His principal object will be to try to raiso 
 money to clear off a heavy mortgage he had to give 
 on his farm in order to meet the costs of the long 
 lawsuit over the Dawn Institute property, and 
 which but for him would have been entirely lost. 
 Mr. Henson bore the whole expense of that suit, 
 and when the case was settled it was found that the. 
 
MY FAMILY. 201 
 
 trustees, appointed by the Court of Chancery, had 
 no power to refund him out of the estate. The 
 proceeds of the sale of the Dawn property, nearly 
 30,000 dollars, constitute the greater part of the 
 endowment of the Wilberforce Educational Insti- 
 tute. You will be pleased to learn that this insti- 
 tute is now in active operation, and if only wisely 
 managed in the future will be a great blessing, in 
 an educational point of view, to the coloured people 
 of Canada. A voyage to England is no light under- 
 taking for a man of Henson's extreme age, he being 
 now eighty-seven. Though he is not by any means 
 the man he was when in England twenty-tive years 
 ttgo, yet he still possesses extraordinary energy both 
 of body and mind, and knowing, as I do, his circum- 
 stances, and the hardship of his case, I sincerely hope 
 he may be successful." 
 
 It may be well to add a few of many testimonials 
 I received, when it was known I intended to visit 
 England : — 
 
 " We, the undersigned, beg to certify that we 
 have known the Reverend Josiah Ilensou for a 
 number of years ; that he has resided, as we be- 
 lieve, in the County of Kent, Ontario, for the last 
 forty-five years ; that he has ever borne the highest 
 character in this community, and is worthy of the 
 confidence of the public. — Wm. Bryant Wells, Judge 
 C. C. Co. Kent, Ontario ; John Mercer, Sheriff, 
 Kent ; Wm. Douglas, Clerk of the Peace, Kent ; 
 H. Smythe, Mayor, Town of Chatham ; Francis W, 
 Sandys, A.M., Archdeacon of Kent, Ontario. — Chat- 
 ham, 25th April, 1876." 
 
'o " wT^rriT T,. m^M ** 
 
 202 MR . H. BEECHER STOWE S " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 "Memorial Church Eectory, London, Ontario, 
 May 10, 1876. — To the Secretaries of the Colonial 
 and Continental Church Society. — Dear Sirs, — In 
 the last report to the Society, our lamented friend 
 Mr. Hughes speaks of a proposed visit to England 
 of the Rev. Josiah Henson (Mrs. Stowe's * Uncle 
 Tom') for the purpose of raising funds to clear 
 off a mortgage which Mr. Henson had to give on 
 his farm in order to meet the costs of a lawsuit 
 over the Dawn Institute. The object of this note is 
 to introduce him to you, hoping that you may be 
 able to further his cause in England. He was well 
 known to the friends of the coloured race twenty 
 years ago, but the changes make it essential that he 
 should have some who can recommend him in his 
 present effort. You are already acquainted with the 
 work of the Wilberforce Institute, which has been 
 sustained at great personal expense by Mr. Henson. 
 His experience as a slave, and as a preacher among 
 the fugitives in Canada, makes his story extremely 
 interesting. Mrs. Stowe, in her *Key to Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin,' gives a sketch of his life to confirm 
 the character she has painted. On the authority of 
 Mr. Hughes, who knew Mr. Henson for many years, 
 and thought most highly of his work and character, 
 I beg to introduce to you one who has been a great 
 blessing to his coloured brethren in Canada. If you 
 can give him any letters, or further his cause in any 
 way, it will assist the movement with which the 
 Colonial and Continental Church Society has been 
 connected for many years. — Yours very sincerely, 
 W. Harrison Tilley, Clerical Secretary to Corre- 
 
MY FAMILY. 203 
 
 spending Committee, Colonial and Continental 
 Church Society." 
 
 "Dresden, Ontario, Canada, March 10, 187G. — 
 Mr. Josiah Henson being about to proceed to Eng- 
 land, has requested me to give him a letter testi- 
 monial. Mr. Henson is so highly respected 
 throughout Western Canada, and also so well known 
 to many influential persons, both in the United 
 States and in England, that he scarcely needs any- 
 thing of the kind from anj' individual. I have 
 known Mr. Henson for more than sixteen years, and 
 have great pleasure in bearing my testimony to his 
 sterling Christian character. Mr. Henson's life has 
 been an unusually active and eventful one. For 
 many years he was a slave, and was most cruelly 
 treated ; and since his escape to Canada, now more 
 than forty years ago, he has occupied a foremost 
 place in all movements for the advancement of his 
 people. Through his efforts for their good he has, 
 unfortunately, suffered considerable pecuniary loss, 
 and has been compelled in consequence to mortgage 
 his farm. It is with the view of lifting this in- 
 cumbrance that he has, in his extreme old age, 
 resolved, in response to a cordial invitation given 
 him, to visit England. I heartily commend him 
 and his cause to the British public, and hope that 
 he may have, in every respect, a 'prosperous journey 
 by the will of God.' — Thos. Hughes, Missionary of 
 the Church of England, Dresden." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MY THIED AND LAST VISIT TO LONDON. 
 
 MEETING OLD FRIENDS AND MAKING NEW ONES. — "CIIUISTIAN 
 AGE." — PROF. FOWLEK's DEKOaiPTION. — MY MISSION ACUOM- 
 PLISHED. 
 
 AFTER the lapse of twenty-five years I was 
 delighted to be in London again. Many of 
 the friends whom I had known during my former 
 visit have passed away. I found that Samuel Morley, 
 Esq., and George Sturge, Esq., remembered me 
 most kindly, and that they were disposed to be my 
 staunch, steadfast friends ; they have been genuine 
 friends to me during all these long years that have 
 passed, and I hope to greet them when we have all 
 passed over the River Jordan. They at once pro- 
 mised to aid me in removing the weight that was 
 pressing down my spirits and embarrassing my de- 
 clining years when I could not labour as formerly. 
 They staised a fund, and generously headed it, not 
 only with their influential names, but each gave 
 £50 towards it. May God bless them for their 
 generosity, and for their abiding friendship to me. 
 {Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart., and R. C. L. 
 Bevan, added £25 each to the fund, and many 
 belonging to the Society of Friends added their 
 subscriptions. I should like to record that I have 
 
MY THIRD AND LAST VISIT TO LONDON. 205 
 
 always received the most generous treatment, both 
 in America and England, from the members of 
 the Friends' Society, and specially from George 
 Sturgc, Esq., who has interested himself to the 
 extent of assuring me he would send me back to 
 my Canadian home with a light heart. I am cer- 
 tain my heart will be heav?/ with gratitude, for it 
 will be full of that emotion, and I shall pray to my 
 dying day for blessings to rest upon one who has 
 afforded me so much relief. 
 
 Among the new friends I have made are Pro- 
 fessor and Mrs. Fowler, formerly of New York, now 
 residing in London, and I have always felt at home 
 in their pleasant office. 
 
 Professor Fowler, with his remarkable skill, gave 
 7ne an analysis of my character from my head. I 
 told him ** I should have supposed my old master 
 had beaten out all my brains," but he humorously 
 remarked " that perhaps my skull was so thick, the 
 blows did not penetrate." 
 
 The description he gave of me w^as published, with 
 my portrait, in the Christian Age, a weekly paper, 
 and notwithstanding there were 80,000 copies of 
 this number circulated, a third edition had to be 
 printed to meet the demand. I am sure Professor 
 Fowler's description will be of interest, and there- 
 fore give it insertion here. 
 
 " The organisation of 'Uncle Tom' is as remarkable 
 as his life and labours have been. His father was 
 six feet in height, and was a very powerful, muscu- 
 lar man. He had a strong sense of justice and 
 virtue, and an unflinching will. His son. Uncle 
 Tom, is five foot seven inches in height. 
 
 o 
 
206 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM. 
 
 »> 
 
 "From his father he inherited a very strong osseous, 
 muscular system, and a powerful constitution, as his 
 physiology indicates and his most laborious life has 
 proved. He has a large brain, twenty -three inches 
 in circumference, with a predominance of brain in 
 the superior coronal region, indicating great mental 
 vigour, compass of mind, and availability of talent. 
 His head is narrow, long, and high. The strength 
 of his social nature centres in love to his wife and 
 children, especially the latter, which he has proved 
 to be intense, by his carrying two of his children on 
 his back 600 miles, travelling on foot during the 
 night, while fleeing from slavery" and seeking his 
 freedom on British soil in Canada. His head is very 
 liigh in the crown and above the ears. No white 
 man has a greater sense of liberty, love of freedom, 
 manliness of feeling, and independence of mind, 
 joined to a degree of firmness, persevern,nce, and 
 determination of mind, not exceeded by a Cromwell 
 or a "Wellington, than Uncle Tom. His sense of 
 moral obligations and love of truth are very strong. 
 
 " He is scrupulously honest, and his mind is as 
 transparent as daylight. He is not inclined to 
 double dealing, deception, and hypocrisy, undue 
 selfishness or greed in his disposition, but he is 
 cautious, looks ahead, and prepares for the future. 
 
 " He has by organisation, as well as by grace, a 
 strong feeling of devotion, worship, and sense of 
 dependence. As a Christian, some of his strongest 
 religious feelings are his love of prayer and thank- 
 fiilness, and his disposition to seek aid and consola- 
 tion from a higher source than man in the hour of 
 trouble. The exercise of his vcnerafiou was his otr- 
 
MY THIRD AND LAST VTSfr TO LONDON. 207 
 
 fort wlien a slave, and it has been a comfort to him 
 through all the vicissitudes of life. Benevolence is 
 also very large ; he is full of the missionary- 
 element, delights to do good, and many years 
 of his life have been spent in labours of love. He 
 is liable to forget his own interests when he can 
 make himself useful to others. In his mind, * faith 
 without works is dead.' He does not expect an 
 answer to his prayers without he makes an effort in 
 the right direction. He is active, industrious, and 
 delights to be occupied ; is always busy in one way 
 or another ; and is not afraid of hard work if neces- 
 sary. His mind works slowly but quite safely. 
 When he has an object he holds on to it till his end 
 is accomplished. He is one of the real plodding 
 kind. He has not the qualities to render him showy 
 and imaginative, but he has good powers of imitation, 
 and can easily adapt himself to a change of situation 
 and circumstances. He has a vast amount of dry 
 humour, and is very direct, practical, natural, and 
 truthful in his style of talking. His intellectual 
 faculties are of the most practical and common-sense 
 kind. 
 
 "He has superior powers to draw correct conclusions 
 and inferences, as he understands them. He deals 
 mostly in facts, conditions, qualities, and bearings 
 of things, and turns all his knowledge into useful 
 channels. He has a remarkable gift for observing 
 everything that is transpiring around him; has a 
 superior memory of persons he sees, facts he hears, 
 of places, events, and anecdotes ; and his mind is 
 like a great storehouse, in which he has collected a 
 vast amount of interesting incidents. He has a good 
 
208 MRS. H. BEECHER STOWe's " UNCLE TOM." 
 
 capacity to arrange, systematise, organise, and plan, 
 with reference to definite results. 
 
 "He is a great lover of simple truths ; acts and 
 speaks just as he feels, and thinks instinctively ; 
 cannot assume a character and appear differently 
 from what he really feels, and has a thorough abhor- 
 rence of hypocrisy or falsehood. He has great 
 courage in times of danger, also great presence of 
 mind and great self-control in the midst of excite- 
 ment and opposition. 
 
 " He is not revengeful, but has any amount of con- 
 temptuous feeling towards those who act meanly. 
 He is more direct in his style of talking than copious 
 or wordy; yet, having but little restraint from 
 sccretiveness, and so much varied knowledge and ex- 
 perience, he finds it easy to talk when he has atten- 
 tive listeners. 
 
 " Though in his eighty-eighth year, he appears to 
 be at least fifteen years younger, for he is firm in 
 step, erect in form, disposed to wait on himself, and 
 prefers to walk rather than ride ; is positive in his 
 manner of speaking, social in his disposition, 
 emotional in his feelings, tender in his sympathies, 
 distinct in his intellectual operations, humorous in 
 his conversation, and apt in his illustrations. While 
 many at fifty years of age consider that there is no 
 opportunity left for them to improve their condition, 
 Uncle Tom, at eighty-eight, is buoyant, elastic, and 
 still anxious to make improvements, 
 
 " I have been much gratified in making the ac- 
 quaintance of * Uncle Tom,* and hope the friends of 
 the coloured race in England will send him back to 
 
\ 
 
 MY THIRD AND LAST VISIT TO LONDON. 209 
 
 Canada with sufficient means to enable him to live 
 in comfort the remainder of his days." 
 
 Another of my new friends is Mr. John Lobb (the 
 managing editor of the ChHstian Age). He has an 
 extensive acquaintance with most of the evangelical 
 ministers in Tjondon. He has arranged all my 
 engagements, assisted me in addressing, at their 
 request, very large audiences in public buildings, 
 chapels, and places of worship. Indeed, he has on. 
 every public occasion rendered me material assist- 
 ance as my Chairman. Under such obligations, I 
 felt it to be a pleasant duty to make some acceptable 
 acknowledgment, which I trust it will prove to be. 
 I have therefore assigned the sole copyright of this 
 work to Mr. John Lobb. 
 
 On rtyy visit to London in 1851, I had made 
 acquaintance with the family of Mr.' Thomas Church, 
 author of " Gospel Victories," and was glad to renew 
 our friendship and love in 1876. I thank him for 
 so ably assisting in my correspondence while in 
 London. 
 
 I cannot omit to acknowledge my obligations to 
 Dr. Macaulay, of the Eeligious Tract Society, and 
 the able editor of a widely prized monthly, called 
 the Sunday at Home. To other remembrances of 
 kindness, I feel thankful for his excellent article in 
 the October' part for 1876, headed " Fncle Tom," 
 and his confirmatory observations in favour of my 
 history, and the object of my present visit to London. 
 
 Invitations have come from all parts of England, 
 Ireland, and Scotland, for me to speak to the people, 
 but my strength was not sufficient to undertake all. 
 1 copy from the Christian Age, the following 
 
210 MY THIRD AND LAST VISIT TO LONDON. 
 
 " SIJMMAEY OF ' UNCLE TOM'S ' PUBLIC 
 
 SERVICES. 
 
 In August, 1876, on Sunday, at Victoria Park Tabernacle, to a 
 congi-egation exceeding 2,000 persons. 
 
 At Wood Gr^n, on Thursday, in the "Tent" erected for evan- 
 jjelistic services by T. B. Smithies, Es<j^., editor of the " British 
 Workman." In the unavoidable absence of Baroness Coutts, she 
 kindly deputed Rev. Mr. Sinclair to take her carriage and place it 
 at " Uncle Tom's" service at the close of the proceedings. 
 
 In September, 1876, again at Wood Green, in the Wesleyan 
 chapel, which accommodated over 1,000 persons. 
 
 Little Wild Street Baptist Chapel, Drury Lane. — Crowded beyond 
 the capacity of the place, 
 
 Epsom. — This neighbourhood has been rarely moved with an 
 excitement like that which followed "Uncle Tom's" visit here, 
 
 Brixton. — On Friday, at the Congregational Church, to a large 
 and appreciative audience. 
 
 Mildvmy Park. — On Sunday, in this large and beautiful Con- 
 ference Hall; although it seats 2,500 persons, the building was 
 crowded in every part, and hundreds failed to gain admission. 
 
 Stoke Newimjton. — On Sunday evening, in the Congregational 
 Church, Walford Road. 
 
 Wallington. — On Wednesday the place of meeting was thronged. 
 Rev. Dr. Whittemore, and Rev. J. Williams, of the vicarage, ^aking 
 part in the proceedings. 
 
 Neio North lload Congregational Cluirch, though capacious, 
 was overcrowded on Thursday ; and a second meeting in the large 
 schoolroom was conducted at the same time, "Uncle Tom," after 
 the chapel address, adjourning to supplement the other meeting, 
 to the intense delight of all. 
 
 Milton Road Congregational Church, in Stoke Newington, was 
 also crowded in every part by a largo company. 
 
 Mayfield Terrace \Ve8leyan Chapel on Sunday was, though lai-ge 
 and commodious, iilled to overflowing. 
 
 Mile End. — On Sunday, the great tent belonging to F. N. 
 Charrington, Esq., was filled, "Uncle Tom" also delivering a 
 lecture on the Monday evening. 
 
 Tlic South Coast. — During the week "Uncle Toni" addressed 
 large audiences in Poitsmouth, Southampton, and in the Town 
 Hall at Ryde, Isle of Wight. 
 
 Ifcr Majesty's Ship *' Victory." — "Uncle Tom" visited this 
 famous vessel, which boi-e Nelson's flag, and on the deck of which 
 he received his death-wound in the moment of triumph over the 
 combined fleets of France and Spain, off Cape Trafalgar. By com- 
 mand, the whole of the ship's officers and crew were collected to 
 receive an address from "Uncle Tom," Tc each of the company 
 a copy was presented of the Christian Age, containing "Uncle 
 Tom s " portrait. 
 
MRS. H. BEECHER STOWE's " UNCLE TOM." 211 
 
 Penicl Tabernacle, Ilavcrstock Rocul. — This l>aptist chapel was 
 tlironged on Sunday to hear a sermon from " Uncle Tom." 
 
 Victoria Park Tabernacle. — On Sunday evening this capacious 
 iron church, the largest in England, accommodating 2,000 persons, 
 was again crammed in every part. 
 
 South Ilackncy. — On Wednesday, by invite of Lady Seymour, at 
 Wilton House " Uncle Tom" delivered an etfective address to the 
 members of tliat lady's classes. All present were deeply affected, 
 and three resolved to give their hearts to God. " Uncle Tom" will 
 never forget this meeting. 
 
 Winchmorc Hill (JowjregatioRal Qhurcli. — An interesting meet- 
 ing thronged this place of worship, and " Uncle Tom" spoke with 
 good effect. 
 
 In October, 1S76. — On Sunday, at Putney Congregational Church, 
 Oxford Road, "Uncle Tom" delivered telling addresses in the after- 
 noon and evening, under a gracious influence. 
 
 IVcslci/s Chapel, City Iloaxl. — On Tuesday, by tlic kind invite 
 of J. W. Gabriel, Es([. (brother of the Alderman, and late Lord 
 Mayor), Rev. J. Heiison and !Mr. Lobb met a select party of friends 
 to tea, and afterwards repaired to this sanctuary, so sacredly 
 memorable to ^lethodists everywhere, for its history and associa- 
 tions. It was properly felt by the brethren, Henson and Lobb, to 
 bo the most acceptable incident of their lives, and a powerful re- 
 minder of the sainted Wesley's ministry, from the very pulpit, 
 wliich they occupied for about two hours ! The occasion was 
 Radnor Street school anniversary, and Rev. J. Honson announced to 
 preach on its behalf. City Road Chapel was full, and overflowing 
 by hundreds. 
 
 Bromlcii, Kent. — The residence of ^I. H. Hodder, Esq., was visited 
 Ly "Uncle Tom," and an address given at this, the third anni- 
 versary of an evangelical mission, promoted in tliis locality by 
 Mr. lioddei and his estimable wife, G. Williams, Esq., of the 
 Young Men's Christian Association, taking i>art in the proceedings. 
 
 T'oickcnham. — "Uncle Tom's" meeting was held here in the 
 Old Chapel Royal, and Rev. F. J. C. Moran, B.D., Secretary of the 
 "Colcnial and Continental Church Society," which is under the 
 patronage of Her jMajesty the Queen, took part in the proceedings, 
 Avliich ■vv^ere successful. 
 
 Ilavcrstock Road. — Peniel Tabernacde had a second visit from 
 " Uncle Tom," with much suc(!ess, 
 
 Ilindc Street Chapel, Manchester S(|uare, was the scene of a 
 successful niectuig. 
 
 Wehjh House Chapel, London Bridge— Thh was the famous 
 centre of induence under Rev. Thomas liinney's ministry, and is 
 succeeded by a worth j'^ successor, Rev. W. J3raden, " Uncle Tom" 
 attended a deeply interesting service here. 
 
 IVhitJield Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road.— An interesting 
 gathering. 
 
 Sloanc Street Chapel, Chelsea, a celebrated Wesleyan chapel, 
 was the scent; of a delightful " Uncle Tom" meeting. 
 
212 APPENDIX. 
 
 <( 
 
 Messrs. Ililchcock and Williams', St. raul's Churchyard. — 
 Uncle Tom " gave an address here to the emidoj'ees, Ueorge 
 "Williams, Esq., foimder of "The Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion," i)residing. Mr. John Lobb, on introducing "Uncle Tom," 
 said, "Here is the hero of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle 
 Tom's abin;" the "Uncle Tom" who rescued Eva from a 
 watery grave ; the "Uncle Tom" who accompanied George Hairis 
 to Mrs. J I. B. Stowe's residence, whoso united history furnished 
 her with such interesting records as appear in " Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin," of world-wide fame; the "Uncle Tom," too, so maimed 
 for lift hy Lcfp'cc, but whose real name is Bryco Litton, as re- 
 corded in Mr. Henson's "Life," and conlhnied in pages 34 to 57 of 
 Mrs. Stowe's Key to " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 
 
 Victoria Park Tal)crnoxle. — Over 2,000 persons were present, 
 when a handsomely composed testimonial, duly framed, was pre- 
 sented to ' Uncle Tom.' "' « 
 
 FINI.S. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 A SKETCH OF MES. H. BEECHEE STOWE. 
 
 ALTiiouoii this esteemed lady, of a noble family, enjoys a 
 world-wide fame, there may probabl be many to wliom 
 the succeeding lines, descriptive of her ciiaracter and history, 
 will be of interest. Her father was Lyman Beecher, D.D., boru in 
 1771, and, until of mature age, he was brought up to the trade of 
 his father, a blacksmith. After leaving it for a course of study at 
 Yale College, New Haven, he entered upon the work of the ministry. 
 For some time Dr. Lyman Beecher was pastor of a church at Lich- 
 field, and here ILarrict Beecher was born, A.n. 1812. Ultimately 
 he removed to Boston ; and in 1832 quitted it for Lane, in Cincin- 
 nati. Hero Lyman Beecher took charge of the seminary, and sought 
 to establish collegiate studies in connection with self-supporting 
 labour. Li this enterprise Professor Calvin Stowe took part, and 
 for a time their work prospered. The slavery then existing in the 
 United States led to its overthrow. The year 1830 hud witnessed 
 the French revolution. An agitation had sprung up in England 
 
APPENDIX. • 213 
 
 against Colonial Slavery. American judicial courts had imprisoned 
 and fined many who had spoken against slavery. All these historic 
 facts called the attention of philanthropists in the United States to 
 the evils and crime of slavery ; Dr. lieecher's seminary could not 
 resist the rising discussion of that crowned iniquity ! The mob 
 threatened, and Kentucky slaveholders went over to urge it on to 
 violence. To save the property, the trustees interfered, and calmed 
 the mob by the assurance that slavery should not further T)e dis- 
 cussed in the seminary. Another rebellion came from within, for 
 the students refusal to obey the order of the trustees, and left the 
 seminary in a body. For years Beecher and Stowe sought in vain 
 to restore the jjrosperity of that seminaiy. In 1850 they returned 
 to the Eastern States — Stowo to the Professor's chair of Biblical 
 literature in vVndover Theological Seminary, and lij-man lieecher 
 to the work of the ministry in Cincinnati. 
 
 Harriet Beecher spent eighteen years in this L:.ne Seminary ; 
 having previously assisted her sister Catharine, in the conduct of a 
 training school for female teachers. Cincinnati is a city situated 
 on the northern bank of the Ohio ; and upon the high hill, whose 
 point, crowned with an observatory, overhanging the city on the 
 west, was Lane Seminary. The village nearest to it was called 
 the \Valnut Hills and one of the i>rettiest in the environs. It was 
 here, therefore, that Harriet Beecher lived, and helped her sister 
 in teaching, until her marriage, at the age of twenty-five, with 
 I'rofessor Calvin E. Stowe, of the Seminary, over which her father 
 then was president. lUit few of LIrs. H. Beecher-Stowe's numerous 
 olVspring have survived. Mrs, Stowe says : — 
 
 "Charlie, the most beautiful of my children, and the most be- 
 loved, lies buried near my Cincinnati residence. It was at his 
 dying bed and at his grave that I learnt what a poor slave- mother 
 may feel when her child is torn from her. In the depths of my 
 sorrow, which seemed to me immeasurable, it was my only prayer to 
 (lod that such anguish might not be sufibred in vain. 
 
 " There were circumstances connected with this child's death of 
 such peculiar bitterness— of what might seem almost cruel suffering 
 — that I felt I could never be consoled for it, miless it should a])pear 
 that the ciushing of my own heart might enable me to work out 
 some great good to others. 
 
 " His death cook place during the cholera-summer, when in a 
 circle of live miles around me, 1),000 were buried— a mortality 
 which I have never heard exceeded anywhere. 
 
 "My husband, in feeble health, was obliged to be absent the 
 whole time, and I had sole charge of a family of fifteen persons. 
 He did not return to me, because I would not permit it ; for in 
 many instances where parents had returned from a distance to their 
 families, and to the inlected atmosphere, the result had been sudden 
 death, and the physicians warned me that if he returned, it would 
 only be to die. My poor Charlie died for want of timely medical 
 iiid ; for in the universal confusion and despair that prevailed, it 
 was often impossible! to obtain assistance till it was too late." 
 
214 APPENDIX. 
 
 Between 1835 ami 1847, Cincinnati became the prominent battle- 
 gronnd of freedom and slavery. It will now be dear to the reader 
 how painfully familiar Mrs. H. B. Stowe became with the horrors 
 of slavery. The road which ran through Walnut Hills, only a few 
 feet from iMrs. Stowe's door, was ultimately a favourite route of 
 "The Underground Railway," so called, and so familiar in the 
 ])agcs of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The "railway" consisted of a 
 noble line of Quakers and other anti-slavery friends, who lived at 
 intervals, say, of fifteen or twenty miles, between the Ohio Rivcir 
 and the Northern Lakes. These friends had combined to hel]) 
 fugitive slaves forward in their escape to Canada. A fugitive would 
 be taken at night, on horseback or in a covered waggon, from 
 station to station, as described, until he stood on a free soil, and 
 found the British banner iloating o'er his head. Or, 
 
 " Thus when her form flits wildly b)', 
 With bloodless cheek and fearless eye, 
 Kesolved to free her child or die, 
 
 We still our very breath- 
 Till, safely on the farther shore 
 She stands, the desperate journey o'er 
 
 So fraught with life and death." 
 
 Eeferring once more to the " Underground Railway,'' we may 
 remind our readers that the iirst station north of Cincinnati was a 
 few miles up Mill Creek, at the house of the pious and lion-hearted 
 Vanzant, otherwise called Van Trompe in " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 
 Such being the roadway, jMrs. Stowe would inevitably be roused, 
 and frequently, by the rapid rattle of the covered waggons, and 
 the noisy galloping of the horses ridden by the constables and slave- 
 catchers, who would be in hot pursuit as they madly passed her 
 door. Vanzant (the "Honest John," as he was called) was always 
 leady to turn out with his team, and the hunters were rarely clever 
 enough to come up Avith him. He has long since filled a martyr's 
 gi'ave. Mrs. Stowe, therefore, during her long residence on the 
 frontier of the slave states, by several visits to them, would natu- 
 rally become familiar in observations of them, and furnish herself 
 with ample material for her masterpiece on slavery. We cannot 
 refuse one of Mrs. Stow 's sketches in 1840. " The slave-catchers, 
 backed by the riff-raff ul' the population, and urged on by certain 
 politicians and merchants, attacked the (piarters in which the 
 negroes reside. Some of the houses were battered down by cannon. 
 For .several days the city was abandoned to violence and crime. 
 The negro-quarters were pillaged and sacked. Negroes attempting 
 to dftfend their property were killed, and their bodies thrown into 
 the streets. Women cruelly injured by ruffians, some afterwards 
 dying of their injuries. Houses were burnt, and men, women, and 
 children were betrayed in the confusion, and hurried into slavery. 
 From the brow of the hill on Avhich I lived, I could hear the cries 
 of the victims, the shouts of the mob, the reports of guns and 
 cannon, and could see the flames of the conflagration. To more 
 than one of the trembling fugitives I have given shelter, and wept 
 bitter tears with them. After the fury of the mob was spent 
 
APPENDIX. 215 
 
 many of the coloured people gathered together the little loft them 
 of worldly goods and started for Canada. Hundreds ])asscd in front 
 of my house. Home of them were in little waggons. Some trudging 
 along on foot after their household stuff. Some leading their 
 children hy the hand. And there were even motliiirs who walked 
 on sucklinf' their infints, and weeinng for the dead, or kidnapped 
 husbands they had left behind." Before concluding this sketcli we 
 would observe that, by Mie verdict of England's people, "'Uncle 
 Tom's ('al)in ' takes its ]il voe as a standard work amongst the beauties 
 of English literature.'" As Earl Cai-lisle said : "Its genius, pathos, 
 and humour, commend vhemselves. " As tlie Eev. .I.unes Sherman 
 said : " It is as irresistibly attractive to the learned and unlearned 
 as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress." It has been translated in France, 
 Holland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Itassia, and Spain. The 
 su])reme joy, however, to Mrs. Stowe must have been that Provi- 
 dence has prolonged her valuable life to witness the consummation 
 of her prayers and toils — the iholition of slavery ! A more recent 
 pleasure is, that the hero of her " Cabin," " Uncle Tom," has paid 
 his third visit to England, even in his eighty-eighth year ! Kev. 
 J. Henson (who supplied the principal facts of his life to Mrs. 
 Stowe, and upon which she built her inimitable work of "Uncle 
 Tom ") has been received in town and country with great interest, 
 and by many thousands of people. Among other objects of 
 interest in his travels, he has addressed the officers and crew of 
 Lord Nelson's line-of-battle ship — the old "Trafalgar." 
 
 May the closing years of Mrs. Stowe and Josiah Henson be happy 
 and triumphant ! May the fruits of their spiritual life-work swell 
 the "multitude of the redeemed ! " The night is short, and the 
 morning will soon dawn ! 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 "A LOST CONTINENT." 
 
 •SLAVKUY AND THE .SLAVE-TRAPE IX AFKICA AS IT NOW IS. 
 
 [By the kind permission of the author, Joseph Cooper, Esq., we 
 earnestly enlist the attention and syinpathy of our readers to the 
 following extracts which we have taken from his mournfully in- 
 teresting work, entitled, "A Lost Continent," published by 
 Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co.] 
 
 " When the events of the present age pass into history, probably 
 no gi-eater ano^naly will be observed than the state of the vast con- 
 tinent of Africa during this part of the present century. The 
 slave-trade at the present time extends over the greater part of thi 
 northern, southern, and central regions, and covers an area nearlj 
 equal to that of the whole of Europe. " 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Notwithstiinding all that has been done, the African slave, 
 trade as a wholo, is, at this moment, probably as great as it has 
 been at any previous time." 
 
 " The slave-trade has now existed more than three centuries, 
 and within that ])('riod, according to a careful French writer, 
 more than fifty millions of slaves have been taken from Africa." 
 
 "The tralfic mostly now cai*ried on by the overland routes east- 
 ward has enormously increased. The principal countries on behalf 
 of which the present African slave-trade is carried on are Turkey, 
 Egypt, Persia, Tunis, Morocco, and Madagascar. On thorn the 
 responsibility for the present state of Africa now mainly rests. " 
 
 "Sir Bartlo Frere, in the Blue Book presented to the Houses of 
 Parliament in 1873, states that, ' The correspondence of the Central 
 African Vicariate Apostolic extends over countries roughly esti- 
 mated at having a population of 8*^,000,000 of negroes, between 
 the lied and Arabian Sead on the east, and the Atlantic on the 
 west ; and the annual dmin consequent on slavery is estimated 
 by the Superior of the iMission at 1,000,000.' Dr. Livingstone 
 calculated that not more than one.slavi^ in live arrived at liis desti- 
 nation, and on some routes not one in niuf. This does not include 
 the loss of life caused by the torture of boys for the markets of 
 Egypt and Turkey, under which two out of every three perish." 
 
 " In all the expeditions it should be borne in mind that the 
 cause of the natives is never heard. We only hear the statements 
 of the Europeans who enter into these engagements, and they go so 
 equipped and armed tliat, it has been forciljly remarked, their lives 
 are insured. When any great amount of slaughter has been com- 
 mitted the aggressors congratulate one another on their bravery and 
 gallant bearing, and the world applauds." 
 
 "At the present moment England, France, and America may, 
 in a certain sense, be said to patronise slavery in the East. Their 
 Consuls in those countries appoint agents in the principal towns 
 and centres who are supporters of slavery and owners of slaves. 
 Over the roofs of their houses wave the flags of Christian nations, 
 and under them are the slaves of these Consular Agents." 
 
 "The following remarks are taken from a very important pajier 
 written in Egypt, by Sir'Bartle Frere, on his route to Zanzibar : — 
 * It can hardly escape so enlightened a ruL . as His Highness that 
 slavery is in itself a canker which must eat into tl ■■ vitals of a 
 country like Egypt, whose prosperity depends in so large a degree 
 on the industry of the agricultural class. . . . His Highness 
 expressed a hope that the stoppage of the supply of slaves from the 
 interior would ultimately tend towards a gradual diminution and 
 final extinction of slavery in E;jy]it. J fed that all experience is 
 agaitist this expectation. JFhilst the demand contimies I believe it 
 to he practically impossible to cut off the sup>pJy. This is especially 
 the case where the sources of supply are so many and spread over 
 so l".rge an area that ages would hardly suffice to reach them all by 
 separate measures of repression. But if the demand is extinguished 
 the object is at once effected and the trade must cease." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 TACK 
 
 A coasting vessel !)1 
 
 Acquits mc, Squire McDonald 182 
 
 Across the rivi" by niffht ... 82 
 
 *' Adversity university " 142 
 
 A fortnight's journey 83 
 
 Alarm at Lancaster, Ohio Ill 
 
 Alexander gave me the slip ... 177 
 
 's guilt discovered 181 
 
 Alone in the wilderness 87 
 
 American department, super- 
 intendent of 137 
 
 Amos Riley and his estate 49 
 
 when I shaved 54 
 
 gives me a pass 54 
 
 reception by 62 
 
 an iippeal to 73 
 
 fallssick 74 
 
 pitiable appeals of 74 
 
 reaches liome 74 
 
 Andover, Massachusetts, visit 
 
 to 157 
 
 A new home for three years ... 49 
 Anniversary of Sunday School 
 
 Union 141 
 
 A painful day 88 
 
 Appeal to the Legislature, an 106 
 
 success on a second 106 
 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 
 visit to 142 
 
 A retrospect of past life 13 
 
 Arguments with wife failed ... 79 
 
 Arrival in Kentucky, our 49 
 
 in New Orleans, our 72 
 
 on the Indiana shore 82 
 
 of a Maryland friend 98 
 
 A smart young fellow, con- 
 sidered 24 
 
 Alcoruey - General conducted 
 
 my suit 170 
 
 PAQK 
 
 Auction, the slave 19 
 
 B. 
 
 " Pa 1 luck happens to every- 
 
 iM.ly" 63 
 
 l>ai], the iinmcs of my 153 
 
 Pmptist NotI, I pnachforllon. 132 
 Heny, Es([., mv negotiator ... 154 
 
 Bill of daily fare, a slave's 23 
 
 Binney, I call on Rev. Thomas 132 
 
 Birthday, my 14 
 
 Black-kniglit, "Uncle Tom" a 25 
 Blacks ift Canada, condition of 103 
 
 a convention of 123 
 
 Blind, our captain becomes ... 67 
 
 Boyhood and youth 23 
 
 Bondage, escape from 78 
 
 Boy left behind, recovery of 
 
 the 119 
 
 Book, in New England with 
 
 my 154 
 
 Bourbon county, journey to ... 109 
 
 Boston, my visit to 127 
 
 contributes 1 , 400 dollars 128 
 
 custom-house officer at .. 130 
 
 more cargoes to 133 
 
 collected £1,000 i-n 175 
 
 Brock, Rev. Wm., preached 
 
 for 132, 146 
 
 Brother's freedom, my ... 151, 154 
 
 eldest son, my 155 
 
 Brother is now ninety-one, my 155 
 
 Brougham, I call on Lord 132 
 
 Bryce Litton and my master 35 
 
 has an accident 36 
 
 maims me for life 37 
 
 is well thrashed 39 
 
 wins a lawsuit 39 
 
 Buffalo captain, the 91 
 
 arrival at 94 
 
218 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 I'AGK 
 
 Burns, preached for Eev. Jabez 132 
 JJuxtou, SirT. F., and II, C. 
 
 Bevan 204 
 
 Buy my freedom 59 
 
 C. 
 Camden (Dawn), a sawmill 
 
 built in 128 
 
 Canada and the North Star ... 78 
 
 journey to 86 
 
 how far is it to ?. 90 
 
 when we landed in 95 
 
 11 ow I behaved on land- 
 ing 95 
 
 our new home in 97 
 
 commenced preaching in 98 
 
 condition of blacks in ... 103 
 
 life in ;.... 103 
 
 my company on reaching 119 
 
 travelled in 156 
 
 Canadian testimonial to my 
 
 character 201 
 
 Capital and labour, I lecture on 122 
 
 Captain, become a temporary . 66 
 
 my converse with the ... 91 
 
 offers work, a 91 
 
 parting gift by the 94 
 
 to the Second Essex 
 
 Company, I was 176 
 
 Cargo, character of on v 65 
 
 Chaplain, of New York, Mr. 
 
 V. L 152 
 
 Characters, Mrs. H. B. Stowe's 156 
 
 Cheated and betrayed 60 
 
 Chickeriug packs my boxes, Mr. 136 
 Children, preparation for carry- 
 ing my 80 
 
 Chillicothe, M. E. Conference 
 
 in 55 
 
 Chivalric sentiment, I loved the 26 
 
 Chivalrous heart of Tom, the ... 25 
 Church, my acquaintance with 
 
 Mr. Thomas 209 
 
 Cincinnati, strong temptation 
 
 at 47 
 
 preaching in 55 
 
 wereaoh 85,110,115 
 
 Clark, Mrs. Stowe sends for me 
 
 and Mr. G 157 
 
 I'AOE 
 
 Closing up my London agency 147 
 
 Clothing of slaves 23 
 
 Cockburn, Sir John, advice of . 106 
 Colchester, met Rev. Hiram 
 
 Wilson in 123 
 
 Committee of inquiry ap- 
 pointed, a 133 
 
 Complimentary letters of intro- 
 duction 132 
 
 Condition of freed slaves 121 
 
 Conducting slaves to Canada... 109 
 
 Confronted with a slander 133 
 
 Congregation disappointed, a . 101 
 
 Connecticut, travelled in 156 
 
 Conscience, stopped by 70 
 
 Conspiracy of Isaac and Amos 
 
 Riley 77 
 
 Constable arrests me, a 178 
 
 Convention of blacks, a 123 
 
 Conversion, my, and effects ... 32 
 Cool ireedom and hot oppi'es- 
 
 sion 191 
 
 Copyright to ]\Ir. John Lobb, 
 
 I present my 209 
 
 Cow leads us across the river, a 114 
 
 Cow will tell us some news, the 114 
 
 Cruel nature of slavery 102 
 
 Culpepper, through 45 
 
 Cumberland, through 45 
 
 Clip for water, a strange 84 
 
 Customs officer, scene with the 130 
 
 D. 
 
 Dawn, home at 121 
 
 I remove with my family 
 
 to 125 
 
 on the River Sydenham . 125 
 
 selected for the settle- 
 ment 125 
 
 settlement, extent of the 125 
 
 trustees, meeting of 130 
 
 a mass meeting in the 
 
 institution 135 
 
 Day of secret meditation, a ... 101 
 
 of judgment come, the .. Ill 
 
 Debt on the sawmill, heavy ... 132 
 
 Description of escape, the 83 
 
 Desire to learn to spell, my ... 187 
 Diamond cut diamond 64 
 
INDEX. 
 
 219 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Difficulties in learning, my ... 101 
 
 Dinah and Top^y described ... 161 
 
 DisapiJointed congregation, a . 101 
 
 Dollar, the captain's last di 
 
 E. 
 
 Early aspirations checked 187 
 
 Early breakfast for six, an 118 
 
 Early memories 13 
 
 Earthquake to break up slavery, 
 
 only an 156 
 
 Education and property, value 
 
 of 125 
 
 my felt need of 98 
 
 of my son Tom ... 99 
 
 Eflbrts in Bo.ston, a sawmill 
 
 raised by 126 
 
 made in many of the 
 
 States 126 
 
 Eighteen hundred dollars in 
 
 bank 129 
 
 Eliza, about 158 
 
 died at Oberlin in 1876 161 
 
 Eliza's husband .still active ... 161 
 Elliot, Samuel, Esq., a friend 128 
 Emancipation, proclamation of 154 
 End, our happy union at an ... 18 
 
 England, visit to 131 
 
 Enterprise undertaken, a great 45 
 
 Erie, the lake 105 
 
 a large meeting at Fort ... 107 
 
 Escape from bondage 78 
 
 Escaping slaves, a scene of ... 110 
 
 a frer white man 117 
 
 Esculapius, Miss Patty the ... 39 
 Establishment of a manual la- 
 bour school 124 
 
 Eulogium on my wife 150 
 
 Eva, Mr. St. Clair Young's 
 
 daughter like 162 
 
 Eventful night arrived, the... 81 
 Exhibits in 1851 London ... 
 
 hibition 132 
 
 Exploration, i^ tour of 104 
 
 Extent of coloured people set- 
 tlements 125 
 
 r. 
 
 Factotimi, 1 was master's 40 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Family, public sale of our 19 
 
 disposal of my brother's 154 
 
 Family's reception of Amos, the 76 
 Farewell to Aiaos, my last ... 81 
 
 Fate of the sawmill 174 
 
 Father, character of my 15 
 
 fate of my 16 
 
 Fauquier, through 45 
 
 Feny, Harper's 45 
 
 Fifteen hundred dollars sub- 
 scribed 123 
 
 Fifty, 1 learn to read at about 102 
 
 First great trial 17 
 
 Foot, 400 miles travelled on ... 108 
 
 Fording a stream, our 90 
 
 Forgave my master's cruelty... 40 
 Fourteen hundred dollars from 
 
 Boston 128 
 
 Fowler, L. N., a .sketch of me 
 
 by Professor 205 
 
 Frank, interview with 58 
 
 Freedom, buy my 59 
 
 my brother's 151 
 
 Freight a vessel Avith walnut, 1 129 
 
 Friend, appeal to an old 58 
 
 Frightened horse, the, runs ... 37 
 
 Fugitive slave act, the 130 
 
 a scene in Boston 130 
 
 Fugitive slaves. Canadian pre- 
 judice to 174 
 
 grievances of 174 
 
 enli.sting in the States ... 176 
 
 Fulkr, James C, of Skenea- 
 
 teles. New York 123 
 
 vi.sits England and ob- 
 tains help 123 
 
 Funds exhausted 128 
 
 G. 
 
 Gallant action, account of a ... 176 
 
 George Harris, about 158 
 
 God, if there be a 86 
 
 Good Samaritans 86 
 
 " Got for striking a white 
 
 man '' 15 
 
 Grey, proposition from Lord... 142 
 
 Gurney, 1 call on Samuel 132 
 
 H. 
 
 Harper's ferry, through 45 
 
220 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hatliaways.ljcnevok'ut Quakers 1 53 
 Helm, 1 take my turn at the... 66 
 Hensou and Wilson, travelling 
 
 secretaries 124 
 
 I Tewes, the blacksmith 15 
 
 Hibbard, character of Mr 96 
 
 I offer to work for 96 
 
 three years' service with 
 
 Mr 97 
 
 Hiding from the horsemen ... 118 
 Hiram "Wilson, I co-operated 
 
 with him thirty years 123 
 
 Home, wife's laugh at our new 97 
 
 safe at 110 
 
 at Dawn 121 
 
 Hughes, great assistance from 
 
 Rev. Mr 200 
 
 gives me a reference 200 
 
 I. 
 
 Idols shattered 173 
 
 Indians, a startling meeting of 89 
 
 a chief of the 90 
 
 kindness from the 90 
 
 I ndustrial projects 1 27 
 
 Insurrection, Nat Turner's ... 193 
 
 I nterview with Frank 58 
 
 1 ntroductory letters to England 132 
 
 Impression, a providential 118 
 
 Improved circumstances 56, 98, 102 
 
 J. 
 
 Jolly times for the slaves, some 24 
 
 Journey, a responsible 41 
 
 of a thousand miles 44 
 
 to Kentucky 44 
 
 the route of my 45 
 
 to Canada 86 
 
 K. 
 
 Kentucky, 1 conduct eighteen 
 
 negroes to 44 
 
 journey to 44 
 
 our arrival in 49 
 
 backto 60 
 
 second journey to Ill 
 
 Kcntuckians, narrow escape 
 from 112 
 
 rAGK 
 
 L. 
 
 Lad, my character wlien a 192 
 
 Lakes of Ontario, Erie, and 
 
 Huron 105 
 
 Lake St. Clair, and Detroitlliver lO.'i 
 
 Erie 105 
 
 Lancaster, Ohio Ill 
 
 Land in Canada, our 127 
 
 Large party of slaves waiting 
 
 to escape .. 109 
 
 Lawrence, Amos, Esq., a friend 128 
 Lawrence, I call on Hon. A,... 132 
 
 Laws of slave states 14 
 
 Leak, our boat sprung a 113 
 
 Lecture on capital and labour, I 122 
 Legree and Bryce Litton com- 
 pared l']2 
 
 Lessons from Tom, I take ... 101 
 Levi Coflin's reminiscences ... 159 
 
 story of Eliza 159 
 
 Lewis Clark, the George Harris 158 
 
 residence of his family ... 158 
 
 Liberty, value of 55 
 
 Life in Canada 102 
 
 Lightfoot, family of left behind 107 
 
 James, about 107 
 
 Jefferson, unexpected 
 
 meeting of 112 
 
 the family of, all meet 
 
 in Canada 120 
 
 Lightfoot's relations, in search of 108 
 
 discovery of 109 
 
 token for his family 109 
 
 Lincoln's proclamation 154 
 
 Litton and my master 35 
 
 has an accident 36 
 
 is well thrashed 39 
 
 maims me for life 37 
 
 wins Uk lawsuit 39 
 
 Lobb, my acquaintance witli 
 
 Mr. John 209 
 
 I give my copyriglit to 
 
 John 209 
 
 services rendered me by 
 
 John 209 
 
 Lodgings of slaves 23 
 
 London, Upper Canada, a con- 
 vention in 124 
 
 Lord J. Russell's estate, visit to 144 
 
INDEX. 
 
 22T 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Lost Continent" 215 
 
 Louisville 60 
 
 Lumbering operations 127 
 
 M. 
 
 Macaulay, Dr., my thanks to... 209 
 
 Mackenzie, lawyer, quoted ... 169 
 
 Maimed for life 34 
 
 Maine, travelled in 156 
 
 Man-of-war, my son enlists on a 177 
 
 Manual labour school, a 124 
 
 Manual labour school at Dawn 164 
 Manumission papers, I secured 
 
 my 69 
 
 when I received 65 
 
 Markets, Washington and 
 
 Georgetown 41 
 
 Maryland 14 
 
 returning to 56 
 
 Maryland and Virginia sixty 
 
 years ago 197 
 
 Massachusetts, travelled in ... 156 
 
 Matured plan of escape 79 
 
 Maysville, city of 108 
 
 arrival at 112 
 
 ■ to Cincinnati, distance ... 112 
 
 McCormick, Mr 105 
 
 not entitiiid to rent 105 
 
 defeated by 106 
 
 McKenny, John 28 
 
 character of 29 
 
 hear him prcacli 29 
 
 te.xt by, the first 1 heard 31 
 
 's sermon, doctrine of 31 
 
 McLean, of Chatham, attorney 179 
 
 's testimony of me 180 
 
 McPherson, Dr. J. 14 
 
 character of 17 
 
 theendofDr 18 
 
 's estate, sale of 18 
 
 Meditation, a day of secret ... 101 
 
 Mercy, 400 miles, a journey of 108 
 Methodist Episcopal Church 
 
 preacher, am a 51 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Conference 65 
 Methodist preacher's sugges- 
 tion of freedom 63 
 
 Miami river, the 114 
 
 Mill removed by stratagem ... 175 
 
 PAOR 
 
 Mill removed to Dresden 175 
 
 Misplaced confidence 16G 
 
 Mississippi, voyaging down the 68 
 Montgomery county, bound for 56 
 More ways to kill a dog than 
 
 feeding 186 
 
 Morley's table, when sitting at 
 
 Samuel 151 
 
 Mother, who was my 14 
 
 character of my 18 
 
 Mother's family sold off 19 
 
 Miu'der in my heart, a 69 
 
 Musings, solitary 78 
 
 My companions, sale of 51 
 
 reflections on sale of... 51 
 
 My conversion 28 
 
 — difficulties at Dawn 165 
 
 — family, a full account of ... 199 
 
 — father and his overseer 14 
 
 — marriage 41 
 
 — master comes to nic for aid.. . 43 
 
 — name, how I got 17 
 
 — praying mother 28 
 
 My master's guard, I. was 34 
 
 habits 34 
 
 quarrels and character 35 
 
 marriage 41 
 
 ruin 43 
 
 N. 
 Narrow escape from Ken- 
 
 tuckians 112 
 
 National turnpike to Wheeling, 
 
 on the. 45 
 
 Nature of slavery, the cruel ... 102 
 Nellis the constable, William . 178 
 New England a market for 
 
 our lumber 127 
 
 New Hampshire, travelled in . 156 
 
 New Orleans, arrival at 72 
 
 • trading voyage to 66 
 
 New scenes and a now home... 96 
 
 New home in Canada, our 97 
 
 Newman's farm, Francis 14 
 
 Night across the river, the 82 
 
 Nursing Amos Riley 75 
 
 0. 
 
 Objects of the manual labour 
 
 school 124 
 
 P 
 
222 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Offer of a boat to Canada 119 
 
 Okafenoke swamp 24 
 
 One hundred and eighteen 
 
 slaves rescued 120 
 
 One of our party loft to die ... 115 
 On reaching Canada, my com- 
 panions 119 
 
 Operations, lumbering 127 
 
 Oswego, I charter a vessel to... 129 
 Uur return to the perishing 
 brother 116 
 
 «%^. 
 
 Q. 
 
 PA.OE 
 
 Papers might have been lost, my 62 
 Parting scene with her family, 
 
 wife's 149 
 
 Pass, Mrs. Riley returns me my 58 
 Patty, Miss, the Esculapius ... 39 
 
 character of Miss 39 
 
 Peabody, Ilev. Ephraim, a 
 
 friend 128 
 
 Pennsylvania, a speaker from... 141 
 Peto, Hon, Samueh referred to 146 
 
 Plans for liberating slaves 106 
 
 Pool, story of Alexander 183 
 
 Martin and Basil defeated 185 
 
 Portsmouth, Ohio Ill 
 
 Practically I was an overseer... 26 
 
 Preacher, Tom becomes a 33 
 
 Preacher, when admitted as a . 51 
 
 Preaching, requisites of 50 
 
 Present condition of coloured 
 
 fugitives 122 
 
 President Lincoln's proclama- 
 tion 154 
 
 Prison, and whipping, ordered 
 
 to 194 
 
 Promotion to be a superin- 
 tendent 26 
 
 Property inspected by Queen 
 
 Victoria, my ..... 139 
 
 Ih'oposition from Lord Grej', a 142 
 
 Providence, a wonderful 112 
 
 Providential deliverance 72 
 
 • impression, a 118 
 
 Purchase, my liberty shall only 
 
 beby 55 
 
 — — of a decent suit and a 
 
 horse 55 
 
 Quaker, meeting a friendly ... 116 
 
 sign " thee" and "thou " 116 
 
 's family, reception by the 117 
 
 Qualifications for preaching, on 98 
 
 QuaiTels, slave-masters' 35 
 
 Quarrel with the English agent 169 
 Queen Victoria visits me, 1851 138 
 Questions, my son Tom's 99^ 
 
 E. 
 
 Railroad, second journey on 
 
 the underground Ill 
 
 Read, my son teaches mo to . . . 99' 
 
 Reception by Master Frank ... 58 
 
 Reception by my master Riley 56 
 Recovering of the boy left 
 
 behind 119' 
 
 Reflections on the Rileys' 
 
 treatment 69 
 
 Regular taverns for droves of 
 
 negroes 45 
 
 Rescues his master, Tom 36 
 
 Resignation to the will of God 71 
 Resolve to kill four com- 
 panions 70 
 
 Resort to a stratagem 112 
 
 Richmond, Indiana 110 
 
 Riley, Lsaac, of Montgomery co. 19 
 
 a blacksmith 20 
 
 character of 21 
 
 reception by my master 56 
 
 my nursing of Amos 75 
 
 Riseley, took service imder Mr. 103 
 
 meetings in the house 
 
 ofMr 104 
 
 River, the night across the ... 82 
 
 Robb, I was bought by 20 
 
 a tavern-keeper 20 
 
 Ruined, two of my bail nearly 153 
 
 S. 
 
 Sad visit in Vicksburg, a C7 
 
 Safeathome ... 110 
 
 Sails hoisted for Canada 90 
 
 Sale of the flat-boat, the ... 74 
 
 Sample song the slaves sing ... 196 
 Samuel Morley and G. Sturge 
 start a fund 204 
 
INDEX. 
 
 223 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sandusky, city of * 90 
 
 Ohio, Eliza and cliild to 161 
 
 Saw-mill raised by Bostou 
 
 donations 126 
 
 School, a site for tlie new 124 
 
 Scioto, arrival at 87 
 
 Scotch borderer, comimrison 
 
 with a 25 
 
 Search for wife and children, 
 
 our 93 
 
 Second journey on the under- 
 ground railroad Ill 
 
 Second wife, my 197 
 
 September 20, 1852, reached 
 
 Canada 148 
 
 Service under RIseley, a new... 103 
 Settlers for seven years, be- 
 came 106 
 
 Seventeen hundred dollars 
 
 raised 135 
 
 Seven years' perplexity, after. . . 171 
 
 Shaving Amos Riley 54 
 
 Sherman, preached for Rev. 
 
 James 132 
 
 Shouting as we reached the 
 
 deck 93 
 
 Shower of stars Ill 
 
 Sickness of Amos Riley, the ... 74 
 Sick, wife and children all fall 97 
 
 Skeneateles, New York . 123 
 
 Skin worn from my back 90 
 
 Slander, triumphant reply to a 135 
 
 Slavery, cruel nature of 102 
 
 does not eradicnte memory 152 
 
 Slave states, laws of 14 
 
 auction, the 19 
 
 again, a 53 
 
 condition of freed 121 
 
 Slaves, lodgings of 23 
 
 to Canada, conducting... 109 
 
 a scene of escaping 110 
 
 rescued one himdred and 
 
 eighteen 120 
 
 Smith, Mr. Peter 1^., referred to 132 
 
 preached for Dr. George ... 132 
 
 Sold the next day, I wns to bo 73 
 
 Solitary musings 78 
 
 Son-in-law enlisted in Detroit, 
 my 177 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Son Tom reads to me, my 99 
 
 two quarters' schooling 
 
 ofmy 99 
 
 offers to teach me 99 
 
 South, I was taken 64 
 
 Southern Italy, coloured people 
 
 in 141 
 
 Southern slaveholders for 
 
 twenty-four hours ! 195 
 
 Spell, my first attempts to ... 188 
 
 Stars, a shower of Ill 
 
 Startling meeting of Indians. . . 89 
 
 Starvation, near 84 
 
 Starvation, threatened 88 
 
 Stealing, the law on 1 90 
 
 Steaming off on the Mississippi 74 
 
 Stopped i)y conscience 70 
 
 Story of my life, when com- 
 pleted ■ 147 
 
 Stowe, a sketch of Mrs. H. B. 212 
 
 I visit Mrs. H. B 157 
 
 Stowe's characters, Mrs. H . B. 1 56, 21 2 
 
 book, how and where read 157 
 
 book, the wedge that rent 
 
 slavery 158 
 
 " Uncle Tom's Cabin " ... 157 
 
 Stream, our fording a ... 90 
 
 Striking a white man, on 15 
 
 Sufferings from Litton's bru- 
 tality 39 
 
 Suit ended, how my 172 
 
 Summ.ary of "Uncle Tom's" 
 
 meetings 210 
 
 " Sunday at Home " Magazine 209 
 
 T. 
 Table, sitting at Samuel 
 
 Morley's 151 
 
 Taken south, I was 64 
 
 Taylor, Frank, Lightfoot's 
 
 owner 120 
 
 becomes deranged .. 120 
 
 frees the rest of the 
 
 Lightfoots 120 
 
 misses his slaves 120 
 
 Terrace was my friend. Squire 179 
 Third and "ist visit to London 204 
 Thoughts on the Mississippi ... 68 
 Thousand dollars, the price of 61 
 
224 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Thousand pounds I raised (in 
 
 1851) 165 
 
 Time past, recollections of 13 
 
 Toasts I offered, the various ... 145 
 
 Toledo, Ohio, arrival at 110 
 
 Topsy and Dinah described ... 161 
 
 Tour of exploration, a 104 
 
 Trading trip to New Orleans... 66 
 Travelled over Canadian lakes 104 
 
 Treachery 61 
 
 Trotted for a new master 72 
 
 Trouble at Dawn Institute... 166-8 
 Troubled conscience of Amos. . . 73 
 Trustees, meeting of the Dawn 131 
 Truth of slavery not half told 163 
 
 U. 
 "Uncle Tom," when first called 158 
 "Uncle Tom's Cabin" no ex- 
 aggeration 159 
 
 Uncle Tom's death explained 158 
 Underground railway, second 
 
 journey Ill 
 
 Union at an end, our happy ... 18 
 
 V. 
 
 Vicksburg, we stop at 67 
 
 Victoria, present of a picture of 140 
 
 Visit to Boston, my 127 
 
 to England 131, 139 
 
 to the ragged schools ... 141 
 
 W. 
 
 Warren's .speech. Colonel 95 
 
 Water, a strange cup for 84 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Wheeling, a walk to 46, 60 
 
 Wife, sees me off south 65 
 
 and children, our search 
 
 for 93 
 
 Wife at the point of death 1 47 
 
 Wife, I seek a second 197 
 
 Wife's anxious inquiries, my 61 
 terror on hearing my 
 
 plans 79 
 
 consent to accompany me 80 
 
 Wilderness, alone in the 87 
 
 Wilson, lawyer, noticed 169 
 
 Rev. Hiram, met with ... 123 
 
 and Henson, travelling 
 
 secretaries 124 
 
 Wolves were howling round 
 
 us 87 
 
 Work, character of my 26 
 
 a captain offers me 91 
 
 World's fair in London, the ... 136 
 
 my contribution to the 136 
 
 a difficulty at the 137 
 
 a humorous scene in the 138 
 
 1 receive a medal and 
 
 an Exhibition catalogue 
 
 from the 140 
 
 Writ for assault threatened me 1 72 
 
 I issue a counter 172 
 
 issued against me 177 
 
 Young, ^''r. St. Clair, described 162 
 
 libt 1 ates his slaves 162 
 
 's daughter like Eva 162 
 
 lONDON: B. K. BURT AND CO., WINE OFFICK COURT, FI.KKT STRKBT. 
 
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ADVEIlTISEMEN'tS. 225 
 
 FRIENDLESS AND FALLEN. 
 
 f nntrniT Jfi:mn:lc ^rcbxntibc ^ ^leformatarg 
 
 President— SIR WILLIAM ROSE, K.C.B. 
 
 Dear Eoade)*, 
 
 I am assured of j'our deep heartfelt synipatliy witli siifTcring 
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 Ai)Vii;tiTtsRMEktS. 
 
 THE COLONIAL AND CONTINENTAL CHURCH SOCIETY, 
 
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 THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY aro to send forth Clerfrymcn, Catechists, and 
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 The Society also sends Chaplaius to minister to the wants of Uritieh Pallors in foreign 
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 The Agents Employed are : — Clergymen, 131 ; Catechists and BchoolmasteiSjCO; Female 
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 WEST INDIES. 
 
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