OF SLAVEHOLDING ON MY DEAR AND GOOD MISTRESS—HOW SHE COMMENCED TEACHING
SLAVERY—CITY SLAVES—PLANTATION SLAVES—THE CONTRAST—EXCEPTIONS—MR.
HAMILTON’S TWO SLAVES, HENRIETTA AND MARY—MRS. HAMILTON’S CRUEL
TREATMENT OF THEM—THE PITEOUS ASPECT THEY PRESENTED—NO POWER MUST COME
BETWEEN THE SLAVE AND THE SLAVEHOLDER.
Once in Baltimore, with hard brick pavements under my feet, which almost raised blisters6, by their very heat, for it was in the height of summer; walled in on all sides by towering brick buildings; with troops of hostile boys ready to pounce7 upon me at every street corner; with new and strange objects glaring upon me at every step, and with startling sounds reaching my ears from all directions, I for a time thought that, after all, the home plantation was a more desirable place of residence than my home on Alliciana street, in Baltimore. My country eyes and ears were confused and bewildered here; but the boys were my chief trouble. They chased me, and called me “Eastern Shore man,” till really I almost wished myself back on the Eastern Shore. I had to undergo a sort of moral acclimation8, and when that was over, I did much better. My new mistress happily proved to be all she seemed to be, when, with her husband, she met me at[111] the door, with a most beaming, benignant countenance9. She was, naturally, of an excellent disposition10, kind, gentle and cheerful. The supercilious11 contempt for the rights and feelings of the slave, and the petulance12 and bad humor which generally characterize slaveholding ladies, were all quite absent from kind “Miss” Sophia’s manner and bearing toward me. She had, in truth, never been a slaveholder, but had—a thing quite unusual in the south—depended almost entirely13 upon her own industry for a living. To this fact the dear lady, no doubt, owed the excellent preservation14 of her natural goodness of heart, for slavery can change a saint into a sinner, and an angel into a demon15. I hardly knew how to behave toward “Miss Sopha,” as I used to call Mrs. Hugh Auld. I had been treated as a pig on the plantation; I was treated as a child now. I could not even approach her as I had formerly16 approached Mrs. Thomas Auld. How could I hang down my head, and speak with bated breath, when there was no pride to scorn me, no coldness to repel17 me, and no hatred18 to inspire me with fear? I therefore soon learned to regard her as something more akin19 to a mother, than a slaveholding mistress. The crouching20 servility of a slave, usually so acceptable a quality to the haughty21 slaveholder, was not understood nor desired by this gentle woman. So far from deeming it impudent22 in a slave to look her straight in the face, as some slaveholding ladies do, she seemed ever to say, “look up, child; don’t be afraid; see, I am full of kindness and good will toward you.” The hands belonging to Col. Lloyd’s sloop23, esteemed24 it a great privilege to be the bearers of parcels or messages to my new mistress; for whenever they came, they were sure of a most kind and pleasant reception. If little Thomas was her son, and her most dearly beloved child, she, for a time, at least, made me something like his half-brother in her affections. If dear Tommy was exalted25 to a place on his mother’s knee, “Feddy” was honored by a place at his mother’s side. Nor did he lack the caressing26 strokes of her gentle hand, to convince him that, though motherless, he was not friendless. Mrs. Auld[112] was not only a kind-hearted woman, but she was remarkably27 pious28; frequent in her attendance of public worship, much given to reading the bible, and to chanting hymns29 of praise, when alone. Mr. Hugh Auld was altogether a different character. He cared very little about religion, knew more of the world, and was more of the world, than his wife. He set out, doubtless to be—as the world goes—a respectable man, and to get on by becoming a successful ship builder, in that city of ship building. This was his ambition, and it fully30 occupied him. I was, of course, of very little consequence to him, compared with what I was to good Mrs. Auld; and, when he smiled upon me, as he sometimes did, the smile was borrowed from his lovely wife, and, like all borrowed light, was transient, and vanished with the source whence it was derived31. While I must characterize Master Hugh as being a very sour man, and of forbidding appearance, it is due to him to acknowledge, that he was never very cruel to me, according to the notion of cruelty in Maryland. The first year or two which I spent in his house, he left me almost exclusively to the management of his wife. She was my law-giver. In hands so tender as hers, and in the absence of the cruelties of the plantation, I became, both physically32 and mentally, much more sensitive to good and ill treatment; and, perhaps, suffered more from a frown from my mistress, than I formerly did from a cuff33 at the hands of Aunt Katy. Instead of the cold, damp floor of my old master’s kitchen, I found myself on carpets; for the corn bag in winter, I now had a good straw bed, well furnished with covers; for the coarse corn-meal in the morning, I now had good bread, and mush occasionally; for my poor tow-lien shirt, reaching to my knees, I had good, clean clothes. I was really well off. My employment was to run errands, and to take care of Tommy; to prevent his getting in the way of carriages, and to keep him out of harm’s way generally. Tommy, and I, and his mother, got on swimmingly together, for a time. I say for a time, because the fatal poison of irresponsible power, and the natural influence[113] of slavery customs, were not long in making a suitable impression on the gentle and loving disposition of my excellent mistress. At first, Mrs. Auld evidently regarded me simply as a child, like any other child; she had not come to regard me as property. This latter thought was a thing of conventional growth. The first was natural and spontaneous. A noble nature, like hers, could not, instantly, be wholly perverted34; and it took several years to change the natural sweetness of her temper into fretful bitterness. In her worst estate, however, there were, during the first seven years I lived with her, occasional returns of her former kindly35 disposition.
The frequent hearing of my mistress reading the bible for she often read aloud when her husband was absent soon awakened36 my curiosity in respect to this mystery of reading, and roused in me the desire to learn. Having no fear of my kind mistress before my eyes, (she had then given me no reason to fear,) I frankly37 asked her to teach me to read; and, without hesitation38, the dear woman began the task, and very soon, by her assistance, I was master of the alphabet, and could spell words of three or four letters. My mistress seemed almost as proud of my progress, as if I had been her own child; and, supposing that her husband would be as well pleased, she made no secret of what she was doing for me. Indeed, she exultingly39 told him of the aptness of her pupil, of her intention to persevere40 in teaching me, and of the duty which she felt it to teach me, at least to read the bible. Here arose the first cloud over my Baltimore prospects, the precursor41 of drenching42 rains and chilling blasts.
Master Hugh was amazed at the simplicity43 of his spouse44, and, probably for the first time, he unfolded to her the true philosophy of slavery, and the peculiar45 rules necessary to be observed by masters and mistresses, in the management of their human chattels47. Mr. Auld promptly48 forbade continuance of her instruction; telling her, in the first place, that the thing itself was unlawful; that it was also unsafe, and could only lead to mischief49. To use[114] his own words, further, he said, “if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell;” “he should know nothing but the will of his master, and learn to obey it.” “if you teach that nigger—speaking of myself—how to read the bible, there will be no keeping him;” “it would forever unfit him for the duties of a slave;” and “as to himself, learning would do him no good, but probably, a great deal of harm—making him disconsolate50 and unhappy.” “If you learn him now to read, he’ll want to know how to write; and, this accomplished51, he’ll be running away with himself.” Such was the tenor52 of Master Hugh’s oracular exposition of the true philosophy of training a human chattel46; and it must be confessed that he very clearly comprehended the nature and the requirements of the relation of master and slave. His discourse53 was the first decidedly anti-slavery lecture to which it had been my lot to listen. Mrs. Auld evidently felt the force of his remarks; and, like an obedient wife, began to shape her course in the direction indicated by her husband. The effect of his words, on me, was neither slight nor transitory. His iron sentences—cold and harsh—sunk deep into my heart, and stirred up not only my feelings into a sort of rebellion, but awakened within me a slumbering54 train of vital thought. It was a new and special revelation, dispelling55 a painful mystery, against which my youthful understanding had struggled, and struggled in vain, to wit: the white man’s power to perpetuate56 the enslavement of the black man. “Very well,” thought I; “knowledge unfits a child to be a slave.” I instinctively57 assented58 to the proposition; and from that moment I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom. This was just what I needed; and I got it at a time, and from a source, whence I least expected it. I was saddened at the thought of losing the assistance of my kind mistress; but the information, so instantly derived, to some extent compensated59 me for the loss I had sustained in this direction. Wise as Mr. Auld was, he evidently underrated my comprehension, and had little idea of the use to which I was capable of putting[115] the impressive lesson he was giving to his wife. He wanted me to be a slave; I had already voted against that on the home plantation of Col. Lloyd. That which he most loved I most hated; and the very determination which he expressed to keep me in ignorance, only rendered me the more resolute60 in seeking intelligence. In learning to read, therefore, I am not sure that I do not owe quite as much to the opposition61 of my master, as to the kindly assistance of my amiable62 mistress. I acknowledge the benefit rendered me by the one, and by the other; believing, that but for my mistress, I might have grown up in ignorance.
I had resided but a short time in Baltimore, before I observed a marked difference in the manner of treating slaves, generally, from which I had witnessed in that isolated63 and out-of-the-way part of the country where I began life. A city slave is almost a free citizen, in Baltimore, compared with a slave on Col. Lloyd’s plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, is less dejected in his appearance, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the whip-driven slave on the plantation. Slavery dislikes a dense64 population, in which there is a majority of non-slaveholders. The general sense of decency65 that must pervade66 such a population, does much to check and prevent those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty, and those dark crimes without a name, almost openly perpetrated on the plantation. He is a desperate slaveholder who will shock the humanity of his non-slaveholding neighbors, by the cries of the lacerated slaves; and very few in the city are willing to incur67 the odium of being cruel masters. I found, in Baltimore, that no man was more odious68 to the white, as well as to the colored people, than he, who had the reputation of starving his slaves. Work them, flog them, if need be, but don’t starve them. These are, however, some painful exceptions to this rule. While it is quite true that most of the slaveholders in Baltimore feed and clothe their slaves well, there are others who keep up their country cruelties in the city.
An instance of this sort is furnished in the case of a family[116] who lived directly opposite to our house, and were named Hamilton. Mrs. Hamilton owned two slaves. Their names were Henrietta and Mary. They had always been house slaves. One was aged69 about twenty-two, and the other about fourteen. They were a fragile couple by nature, and the treatment they received was enough to break down the constitution of a horse. Of all the dejected, emaciated70, mangled71 and excoriated72 creatures I ever saw, those two girls—in the refined, church going and Christian73 city of Baltimore were the most deplorable. Of stone must that heart be made, that could look upon Henrietta and Mary, without being sickened to the core with sadness. Especially was Mary a heart-sickening object. Her head, neck and shoulders, were literally74 cut to pieces. I have frequently felt her head, and found it nearly covered over with festering sores, caused by the lash75 of her cruel mistress. I do not know that her master ever whipped her, but I have often been an eye witness of the revolting and brutal76 inflictions by Mrs. Hamilton; and what lends a deeper shade to this woman’s conduct, is the fact, that, almost in the very moments of her shocking outrages77 of humanity and decency, she would charm you by the sweetness of her voice and her seeming piety78. She used to sit in a large rocking chair, near the middle of the room, with a heavy cowskin, such as I have elsewhere described; and I speak within the truth when I say, that these girls seldom passed that chair, during the day, without a blow from that cowskin, either upon their bare arms, or upon their shoulders. As they passed her, she would draw her cowskin and give them a blow, saying, “move faster, you black jip!” and, again, “take that, you black jip!” continuing, “if you don’t move faster, I will give you more.” Then the lady would go on, singing her sweet hymns, as though her righteous soul were sighing for the holy realms of paradise.
Added to the cruel lashings to which these poor slave-girls were subjected—enough in themselves to crush the spirit of men—they were, really, kept nearly half starved; they seldom knew[117] what it was to eat a full meal, except when they got it in the kitchens of neighbors, less mean and stingy than the psalm-singing Mrs. Hamilton. I have seen poor Mary contending for the offal, with the pigs in the street. So much was the poor girl pinched, kicked, cut and pecked to pieces, that the boys in the street knew her only by the name of “pecked,” a name derived from the scars and blotches79 on her neck, head and shoulders.
It is some relief to this picture of slavery in Baltimore, to say—what is but the simple truth—that Mrs. Hamilton’s treatment of her slaves was generally condemned80, as disgraceful and shocking; but while I say this, it must also be remembered, that the very parties who censured81 the cruelty of Mrs. Hamilton, would have condemned and promptly punished any attempt to interfere82 with Mrs. Hamilton’s right to cut and slash83 her slaves to pieces. There must be no force between the slave and the slaveholder, to restrain the power of the one, and protect the weakness of the other; and the cruelty of Mrs. Hamilton is as justly chargeable to the upholders of the slave system, as drunkenness is chargeable on those who, by precept84 and example, or by indifference85, uphold the drinking system.
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1
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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blisters
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| n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡 | |
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pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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acclimation
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| n.服水土，顺应，适应环境；服习；驯化 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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petulance
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| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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exultingly
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| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
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persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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precursor
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| n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆 | |
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drenching
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| n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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46
chattel
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| n.动产；奴隶 | |
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chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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54
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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dispelling
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的现在分词 ) | |
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perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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excoriated
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| v.擦伤( excoriate的过去式和过去分词 )；擦破（皮肤）；剥（皮）；严厉指责 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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75
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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77
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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79
blotches
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| n.（皮肤上的）红斑，疹块( blotch的名词复数 )；大滴 [大片]（墨水或颜色的）污渍 | |
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80
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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81
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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82
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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83
slash
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| vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩 | |
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84
precept
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| n.戒律；格言 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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