G. P. R. James

“ I felt, as I walked on, as if I could have routed a whole troop of those insurgent negroes. I had a double-barrelled gun, well charged; a pistol and a sword; and I thought I could answer for the lives of four at least. Besides, the conviction grew upon me that these men would be easily disheartened. The murder of women and children, I thought, could be no very exhilarating remembrance; and whatever may be said of the courage of despair, I am certain that the man who fights with a rope round his neck is sure to fight ill. ”

“ In this manner I was brought over to the house where you found me, and there locked in that miserable room by the old man Samuel, and another younger negro whom I have not seen since.
"And now, dear Richard," said Bessy, having finished her story, "don't you think me a terrible termagant? When I think of all I said and did, I feel almost ashamed of myself, and I dare say, hereafter, I shall blush whenever I think of it."
"Why, dearest Bessy," I answered, drawing her closer to me, "what could you do? The gentlest hearts are not always those most devoid of spirit." ”

“ As he lay, his face was turned a little away, and the boughs cast a deep shadow over him; but the sound of my footfall, light as it was, made him snatch up his gun, and start upon his feet in a moment; and, with a strange feeling of satisfaction, I saw Nat Turner, the leader of revolt, before me. His musket and my gun were instantly levelled, and I heard the cock of the musket click; but the next instant, the sun shining full on my face, he recognized me, and exclaimed,--
"Hold hard, Englishman, hold hard! If you fire, you will never know what you want to know." ”

“ Wheatley.
"God grant it!" cried Bessy; "for it is little enough already." And we all laughed and went in to breakfast. It is wonderful how the human mind recovers from the most severe shocks. There is an elasticity, a buoyancy, about it which no one knows or believes, till he has remarked closely what I may call the evenings of the terrible days of human life. Some dreadful event has happened--some ghastly, sweeping desolation--something which has shaken all hearts with anxiety, or chilled them with fear. ”

“ The homely but true and startling words of Billy Byles came back to my mind,--"D----n the best; it is always the worst thing a man can do;" and I was ready to pile curses upon my own head for having abandoned, even for a moment, the task of protecting the dear girl, with which Heaven seemed to have charged me. Censure on myself, however, made me feel inclined to be more lenient to others. Poor Zed, though I could not help feeling some bitterness still, had only done, according to his views and capacity, what I had done myself. ”

“ I never could make out how it is that an uninhabited house always gets its windows broken. Can it be that the persecution which always dogs misery, extends itself to inanimate objects, and that the same spirit which leads a dog to bark at a beggar on no other pretext but his rags, leads the hand of mischief to hurry on ruin wherever it sees it commenced? I marched straight up to the front door, and aunt Jenny slipped quietly off the horse, while I tried the door, and knocked with my knuckles on finding it locked. ”

“ I answered, "that the rest of the world should have some portion of the same rays; and, believe me, even were there not many bonds of kindness, friendship, and affection between my heart and many a heart here, the spot where I had met Bessy Davenport would always be dear to me, and I should visit it often to revive memories so deeply interesting."
"Pooh, pooh!" ejaculated the bluff sheriff. "When you get her across the Atlantic, you wont bring her back again in a hurry; but we can't help it; and, whatever may happen, foul fall the man who would impede Bessy's happiness for an hour." ”

“ I gave her time to recover herself a little; but as soon as she began to look up again, I said, in a gay tone,--
"And now, my dear Bessy, I have got to carry you back to Beavors. Thank Heaven, you are very light, and we are not likely to meet many people; for you having lost your hat and I mine, and both having acquired a remarkable portion of mud upon our garments, we are not the most respectable-looking couple that ever journeyed through the world together."
"For heaven's sake, do not jest at present, Richard," she answered. "You men cannot feel these things as we women do. ”

“ I answered; "that I promise you; but I think I had better not begin such a long discourse at present, for I see something very lank and very black coming this way, and, if I mistake not, its name is McGrubber."
"Oh, then, for heaven's sake, let us get out of his way," said Bessy, after having gazed for a moment in the direction in which I had been looking. "It is, it is, the great McGrubber. Let us turn into the wood, here. A path leads round in a way in which no human greyhound, if he had legs three times as long, could catch us." ”

“ Miss Davenport, I am glad to see you safe at last. Your uncle Henry, with Billy Byles, has gone on to seek you across the line; but here is matter we must look to at once. Here, you fellow, you Leary----"
"Don't call me a fellow, sir," said Leary, in an insolent tone. "I am a free American citizen, and as good as you any day." The sheriff's lip curled with a contemptuous smile.
"I should not like to be as bad as you, Master Leary," he said, "for I know I should have the penitentiary very often in my thoughts; but is your master here, dead or living?" ”

“ To call our little breakfast-party gay, would be to apply a wrong epithet. Yet it was not altogether uncheerful--far more cheerful than might be expected by those who consider nothing but the dreadful scenes gone before. They very naturally leave out of consideration all the bright reaction which takes place in the human heart when it finds itself suddenly freed from the weight of dread and horror and anxiety for the next moment; when security and peace are restored, and the spirit springs up, and rejoices in the removal of evils and terrors which once clouded the prospect all around. ”

“ Thornton, laughing; "we have plenty of leisure in Virginia, if we did but know what to do with it. But you were going to add something."
"I was merely going to remark, as a matter of history, that poetry rarely flourishes in republics. Monarchies are its congenial soil. It is a flower that requires a hot-house."
"Oh, heresy, heresy!" cried Bessy Davenport. "What! can such noble and inspiring things as freedom and independence have no power to awaken great thoughts, or even to clothe them in immortal verse?" ”

“ Were the slaves to get the mastery, imagination itself cannot picture what would be the result. They are so violent in their temper--their passions are so uncontrollable, that the very thought makes one shudder. Did you ever see a negro in a passion, cousin Richard? It is the most frightful thing you ever beheld. He looks, and acts, and speaks, and, I am sure, feels, more like a demon than a human creature. I recollect when I was living with dear Aunt Bab, there was a girl in the house who had taken a peculiar and sort of irrational fancy for one of the small ornaments on the mantelpiece. ”

“ Come, Bessy, my love, these voracious men are ravenous for their dinner." I must acknowledge that I certainly was ravenous for mine. Poor Bessy had every right to be hungry also; for we had not tasted any food since the preceding night. It is, indeed, wonderful, how agitation, alarm, or the eager activity of the mind, exercised in any way, will stay the cravings of appetite; and, at all events, it is not till a certain point is reached that hunger is at all felt when we are earnestly and vigorously employed. ”

“ There was an elder man, whom I took to be his father, from the strong personal resemblance, though the latter was thin, fox-faced, and eager-looking, with that peculiar, quick, and hungry aspect which I have never seen except in men who have spent a life and employed all their energies in a fruitless pursuit of wealth by cunning and dirty means--a look of shrewd activity, rendered almost fierce by disappointment. Behind, with handcuffs on them, were the two Irishmen whom I remembered well to have seen with Robert Thornton when he was attempting to carry off aunt Bab's servants. ”

“ Miss Bessy, you have no right to make any one's pulse gallop so, has she, Sir Richard? Squire, your very humble servant. You have all come just in the nick of time, for I want help here. All the people are out in the field, and this poor girl is hardly able to help herself."
"Oh, dear Miss Bessy, I'se so glad to see you, and with your own people too," cried the poor man. "You'se very good to come and see poor Ercles." ”

“ I declare I would a great deal rather be a slave to the hardest master I have ever seen in Virginia--and I have now been here many years--than I would be a free negro in an abolition state. But this was all rhetoric, mere rhetoric, the most cowardly and contemptible of all species of sophistry. Much better to say boldly, 'You have no right to reduce any man to slavery--you shall not do evil that good may come of it--the Declaration of Independence says, that all men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ”

“ Our hopes, our wishes, our faith, our trust, go not beyond this world. The dark chasm of the grave stops human thought and human feeling in their course, and we neither fully trust nor believe beyond." Such, at least, was the case with myself at that time. And the next hour and a half that passed, till the grey glimmer of the dawn began to appear, were amongst the most melancholy I ever endured in my life. Oh, Bessy! ”

“ Whatever may be said of man's selfishness, and by whatsoever strange cause a sort of transposition of self into another may be supposed to be brought about, certain it is that he who is the least careful, perhaps reckless, of his own life, becomes wonderfully cautious, and even timid, when one whom he loves is involved in the same peril with himself. I am fully of opinion, from the difference of my feelings that day, when Bessy was with me and when I was alone, that no military or naval man should have his wife with him in camp or on shipboard. ”

“ You shall say to me in reply,--'Bessy, be mine, though death be the consequence;' or, 'Bessy, you are right. We must not attempt to pass the barrier which God has placed between us.' But mark me, Richard, and remember, should you view the matter as I do, and see that our marriage is impossible, Bessy Davenport will be to you as another sister. Never, never, so help me God, shall my hand be given to any other! I have loved you, when I thought I could never love any man ”

“ A grim sort of smile came over Nat Turner's dark countenance as he threw the pine-knots out of the basket on the floor, and helped his companions with his own hands to the coarse bread and raw salt fish which lay beneath. He took a small portion himself also, but less than he gave them; and, looking first at me, and then at Bessy, he said,--
"You have found, I fancy, that white men can be as hard and cruel as negroes--but without the same cause." ”

“ I did not detain the gentleman long. I found Bessy in the parlour, and her consent was given at once.
"It will not hurt us, Richard, if we lose it," she said. "We shall have enough for happiness, I dare say."
"Oh, quite," I answered. "But now I am going over to see this unfortunate man, and I trust my dear girl will spend the time till I come back in pondering upon the happiness which her affection confers upon one who loves her with his whole heart. If I know my Bessy rightly, she feels no greater pleasure than in making others happy." ”

“ He will then have the opportunity of assuring himself, with his own eyes, that you are safe and well, for the poor man went about all yesterday evening mourning after you, with a voice as melancholy as a whip-poor-will."
"But, my dear sir," I answered, "you take it for granted that I am going to stay here when I have not even been asked."
"Oh that's of course," cried the sheriff. "Nobody thinks of asking his friends in this country; they always come when they like, and the invitation is understood."
"Pray do stay, Richard," said Bessy, laying her head on my arm. ”

“ Or, if she had fled at the approach of the party I had seen, was she not sure to fall into the hands of some other band of murderers?
"You are ill, Sir Richard," said Billy Byles. "Get him a glass of brandy. I can easily conceive what you feel. I know if Lou had been left in such a situation, I should be just as bad. Zed, you rascal, you ought to be licked."
"Well, perhaps I ought, Master Byles," said Zed, still upon his knees; "but I did it for the best."
"Damn the best!" exclaimed Byles; "it is always the worst thing in the world." ”

“ I heard one dark fellow say to another, as they stood about the horses, in answer to some question,--
"A going to stop Miss Bab's servants being sold to Orleens, to be sure."
"God bless 'em, Massa Thornton never let that," replied the other; "they stop 'em!" Even Bessy Davenport was there; and, after seeming to hesitate for a moment, she came up to the side of my horse just as I had mounted, and said in a low tone,--
"Had you not better take pistols with you, Cousin Richard? These men are often very violent and lawless." ”