Leonard Black

“ Do you talk of selling a man? You might as well talk of selling immortality or sunshine! [Pg 60] You might as well talk of your right to monopolise the atmosphere, to determine how much air a man should breathe, and to retail it out to him by the jaw-full!
Again, it is said the slave has a maintenance guaranteed to him in old age, and is thus rendered free from those corroding cares in reference to his support which wear upon the poor free man. Is this provision of so high a consequence that men voluntarily submit to slavery? ”

“ For my dinner I had a pint of pot liquor, and the skin off of the pork. I must say as the colored people say at the south, when singing to cheer their hearts while under the burning sun, and the crack of the whip, remembering what is placed before them every day for food—“My old master is a hard-hearted man; he eats the meat, and gives poor nigger bones.” ”

“ Do men, I ask, realize the awful evil of slavery? Are they aware of its terrible calamities? Has it not become so familiar, from its long existence, as almost to reconcile the tender conscience to its infamous enormities? It must be so. There is no other mode of accounting for the fact, that men, good christians in other respects, quietly hold slaves at the south, while their equally guilty brethren of the [Pg 54] north assent to it, and participate in its profits.
Should we not remember them that are in bondage as bound with them? ”

“ When I landed, I inquired of a boy whether there was any boat that run to the State of Boston. I was so ignorant I knew not whether Boston was a State or city. In fact, I scarcely knew there was such a place. Slavery is as ill adapted for obtaining this kind of knowledge as all other kinds. He informed me the boat went to Providence, and showed me the way to the boat. I purchased a bosom and dickey, went on board of the boat, and stowed myself away among the bales of cotton, where I remained until we were a considerable distance from New York. ”

“ Were slavery about to commence, were we to summon the voters of this nation to the polls to decide whether two and a half millions of human beings should be subjected to this bondage, what think you, reader, would be the result? Can there be a man found who would [Pg 59] vote for the measure, unless indeed the love of money had so blunted all humanity as to render his better feelings entirely inactive?
It is in vain for apologists of slavery to defend it by such arguments as this: They will tell you that the slaves of the south are better fed and clothed than the colored people of the north. ”

“ It has been said that slaves have no intellect. I deny it. God has given them minds capable of cultivation. Uncultivated ground will not bring forth fruit. All the slave requires is cultivation, for he is possessed of all the qualities of the white man. ”

“ American mothers, do you desire that your husbands should be torn from the hearth-stone, and sold from your presence forever? Do you wish your children snatched from your cradles, knocked off at auction to the highest bidder, to go away from you forever? ”

“ My little friends—who have your liberty, and the protecting hand of parents—these are some of the fruits of slavery; let your hearts warm with gratitude to the great Giver of all good, for the blessings you enjoy. Mrs. Bradford had a son about ten years old; she used to make him beat me and spit in my face. Here I was, a poor slave boy, without father or mother to take my part. ”

“ Born, like the white man, to an individual responsibility to the Father of mercies, the treatment of the white man to the poor African, unmixed with mercy, has curtained his mind to all knowledge, aye, even to the knowledge of the God of heaven and earth, and thus removed from him [Pg 52] the accountability! But, where does this terrible accountability rest? Let the hardened slave-tyrant, when he stands quivering before the Almighty bar of retribution, answer this question! ”

“ As to those who have better knowledge, and make use of this assumed fact as a scape-goat for their lethargy, not having independence enough to confess the truth, I commend them, together with their meanness, to such particles of conscience as are yet left unscathed by the searing iron of hypocrisy. ”

“ Reader, I take my leave of you, with the fond hope, that the recuperative moral energies both of the north and the south will soon herald the dawn of that glorious day when the sweat and blood of the unfortunate African shall no longer be struck into coin for the use of the cruel, unrelenting white man. ”

“ It is very customary to magnify the evils of emancipation. It is said by very many persons that the slaves, if liberated, would become an idle, vagabond set. This remark, doubtless, is sometimes made in sincerity; but no doubt it is frequently used as a sort of salve to quiet the conscience for inaction. It is most unquestionably true that here and there a case would exist of improvidence, just as they exist among the white population ”

“ Having a full, perfect, undeniable right to stand out before God as MEN, the cruel, God-defying white man, without semblance of right, with no pretence but might, has prostituted them to the base purpose of his cupidity, and his baser beastly passions, reducing them to mere things, mere chattels, to be bought and sold like hogs and sheep! ”

“ I was born in Annarundel County, State of Maryland, about sixty miles below Baltimore, and lived a slave more than twenty years. My old master was a physician, but I think it prudent to withhold his name. No one, who has always enjoyed the right of liberty, can realize the horrors of slavery. To be at the will of another, to be owned like a cow or horse, and liable at any moment to be sold to the highest [Pg 6] bidder, to be transported to a distant part of the country, leaving the dearest relatives behind ”

“ Are the masters willing to exchange the advantages derived from the unrequited labor of the slave for a freedom from this guarantee? The slave-holders of the south cannot make us believe they are so verdant as thus to have mistaken their interest. Away, then, with the argument that a God-created MAN should be made a man-created thing! ”

“ I could do nothing; but the all-merciful Father, who regards MAN as MAN, whatever may be the injustice and oppression to which he is subjected, watched over and guided me with his parental eye through all the soul-sickening, heart-rending trials of a gloomy bondage. I can prove by the scriptures that slave-holders are worse [Pg 20] than the devil, for it is written in St. James, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you;” but if you undertake to resist the slave-holder, he will hold you the tighter. ”

“ Of course, if the health of the slave is not permanently injured, the nearer to the starvation point the master can keep the slave, the more it is for his [Pg 17] interest; and who, that casts his eye back through the dark, bloody track of slavery, does not perceive that the masters have acted up to their interest? We sometimes had cider; occasionally some meat and milk, as it might happen.
We remembered what our brothers told us—when we were able to run away, to try it on some favorable Sunday. ”

“ Persons who indulge in such remarks seem entirely unacquainted with the views and feelings of slaves, and to suppose that they are utterly incapable of appreciating, even to a small extent, the blessings and enjoyments of freedom. But this is a mistake, and operates powerfully on some minds to prevent wholesome action in favor of the liberation of the slave. It is to be [Pg 56] hoped that all true men and women who are held back from engaging in the cause of the slave by this consideration, will take pains to examine the subject with care, ere they yield to this pernicious opinion. ”

“ More than any other nation on earth we boast of our liberty, our refinement, our advancement in the arts and sciences, our railroads, our various facilities for intercommunication, and all the outward appliances to render life comfortable. ”

“ They are kept in darkness, and are borne down under a cruel, cruel oppression! All human rights are denied them as citizens! They are not recognized as men! My old master frequently said, “he did not believe a d——d nigger had any soul!” They are made to undergo everything as a beast. ”

“ The climate of the balmy south is much better adapted to the nature of the colored man, than the more rigorous one [Pg 57] of greater northern latitude. It is not the south we abhor. It is slavery we abhor. God has made the south and blessed it. ”

“ He said, “Glory in your spunk, my man;” and when I had whipped the man he started back after dogs and hounds. Said the Dutchman, “Run for your life, for there are two Georgia men in my house.” I knew them well; they were acquaintances of my master’s. Their names were Joshua and Nathan Retlidge, traders.
When I heard the dogs and hounds coming after me, I said, “My God! what shall I do!” for I knew they would put them on my track. I was about to give up, and wished I had never started. However, I climbed up a tree, and in the providence of God, the hounds scared up a rabbit. ”

“ Mr. Gardner and my old master had a long talk about me, for I was a miserable looking object with burnt feet. I bade Mr. Gardner good bye, and expect to meet him at the judgment seat, when slave and master appear before the great Judge of all, with equal rights.
My old master took me to Baltimore, where we arrived in two days. He asked me if I wanted a hat. I had never had one, and received one which cost twenty-five cents as joyfully as though it had cost eight dollars. We were then twenty-two miles from home. The old man asked me if I ever drank brandy. I said no. ”

“ I proceeded on, came to the ferry, and crossed over to New York. Near the ferry there was a stable, and a man sitting by it. We bade each other good morning, and I inquired the road to Canada. He told me I must go to New York in order to get to Canada. “Why do you wish to go to Canada?” said he. I told him I had relations there. I did not then know whether my brother who ran away before me was in Boston or Canada. Discovering he had a disposition to question me, I said, “I guessed I would go to New York, get some clothes, and go back home.” ”

“ The horse in struggling to get clear, cut my face with his foot. I was hurt so badly that my wife had to feed me with a tea-spoon. The men came up and got the horse off of me, and I was not aware my leg was broken until I started to run. It was about four o’clock in the morning. They laid me on the horse, and carried me back to the tavern; but oh! the pain, the misery I was in. It rained hard, and they were all asleep at the tavern; so that I remained exposed to the rain some time. They sent for the doctor immediately, but he did not arrive until nine o’clock, and then set my leg. ”

“ Bradford! He had been a professor of religion, a class leader in the Methodist Church, but at this time he was a backslider; yea, a [Pg 8] wanderer from God, and as cold as though he had never been warmed by the vivifying power of the religion of Jesus Christ.
I lived in this family seven and a half years, and when I left I was thirteen years old. During this time I had no hat, no pantaloons, but one pair of shoes, and wore a lindsey slip only. I was not allowed to sit down while I ate my meals. For my breakfast I had a pint of pot liquor, half a herring, and a little piece of bread. ”

“ Said he, “That I know nothing about. You must go to the office and settle your fare.” He said the fare was $3, and he could give me no ticket. I thought hard of it, but it was of no use to have any further conversation.
I got to Providence on Sunday morning. My money was all gone. There I was, without friends, victuals or money. I inquired of a man if there was such a place as Boston, and how far it was. He said 40 miles. I started, and took the rail road. I walked all day Sunday, and about nine o’clock came to a farmer’s house. ”

“ I had yet [Pg 49] no license to preach. I had a letter of recommendation from the pastor of the church to which I belonged, not only as a brother, but as a beloved brother.
When I arrived at Nantucket, I inquired for Deacon Berry, of the York street, Baptist Church, and handed him my letter of recommendation. They had no preacher. When I went to the church on Sabbath morning, the house was open for preaching. The fame went abroad that a strange minister from Providence had arrived. ”

“ The old man would let us go to meeting on Sunday at the village, but if we were not at home by sundown, the cowhide paid the debt. We were slaves yet, and the old man grew poorer and poorer the older he grew, and withal cross, much to our discomfort. ”

“ Jer. i:6-7. And I said as Moses did, “I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue;” Exod. iv:10. My call was now unto the sons of men. The time had arrived for me to leave Boston.
[Pg 41]
CHAPTER V.
I left my family in Boston, and went to Providence, R. I., to live with President Wayland. While living with Dr. Wayland, I tried to improve my mind, and it gives me pleasure to state, that that gentleman did all in his power to assist me. I connected myself with the Rev. Mr. Ashur’s Church in Providence, and had a bible class, being as active as possible in the Sabbath School. ”