WITH COVEY—RECKLESS UNCONCERN—MY ABHORRENCE2 OF SLAVERY—ABILITY
TO READ A CAUSE OF PREJUDICE—THE HOLIDAYS—HOW SPENT—SHARP HIT AT
SLAVERY—EFFECTS OF HOLIDAYS—A DEVICE OF SLAVERY—DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
COVEY AND FREELAND—AN IRRELIGIOUS MASTER PREFERRED TO A RELIGIOUS
USEFUL—IMPROVED CONDITION NOT FOLLOWED BY CONTENTMENT—CONGENIAL
SOCIETY AT FREELAND’S—SABBATH SCHOOL INSTITUTED—SECRECY
NECESSARY—AFFECTIONATE RELATIONS OF TUTOR AND PUPILS—CONFIDENCE
AND FRIENDSHIP AMONG SLAVES—I DECLINE PUBLISHING PARTICULARS OF
My term of actual service to Mr. Edward Covey ended on Christmas day, 1834. I gladly left the snakish Covey, although he was now as gentle as a lamb. My home for the year 1835 was already secured—my next master was already selected. There is always more or less excitement about the matter of changing hands, but I had become somewhat reckless. I cared very little into whose hands I fell—I meant to fight my way. Despite of Covey, too, the report got abroad, that I was hard to whip; that I was guilty of kicking back; that though generally a good tempered Negro, I sometimes “got the devil in me.” These sayings were rife6 in Talbot county, and they distinguished7 me among my servile brethren. Slaves, generally, will fight each other, and die at each other’s hands; but there are few who are not held in awe8 by a white man. Trained from the cradle up, to think and[194] feel that their masters are superior, and invested with a sort of sacredness, there are few who can outgrow9 or rise above the control which that sentiment exercises. I had now got free from it, and the thing was known. One bad sheep will spoil a whole flock. Among the slaves, I was a bad sheep. I hated slavery, slaveholders, and all pertaining10 to them; and I did not fail to inspire others with the same feeling, wherever and whenever opportunity was presented. This made me a marked lad among the slaves, and a suspected one among the slaveholders. A knowledge of my ability to read and write, got pretty widely spread, which was very much against me.
The days between Christmas day and New Year’s, are allowed the slaves as holidays. During these days, all regular work was suspended, and there was nothing to do but to keep fires, and look after the stock. This time was regarded as our own, by the grace of our masters, and we, therefore used it, or abused it, as we pleased. Those who had families at a distance, were now expected to visit them, and to spend with them the entire week. The younger slaves, or the unmarried ones, were expected to see to the cattle, and attend to incidental duties at home. The holidays were variously spent. The sober, thinking and industrious12 ones of our number, would employ themselves in manufacturing corn brooms, mats, horse collars and baskets, and some of these were very well made. Another class spent their time in hunting opossums, coons, rabbits, and other game. But the majority spent the holidays in sports, ball playing, wrestling, boxing, running foot races, dancing, and drinking whisky; and this latter mode of spending the time was generally most agreeable to their masters. A slave who would work during the holidays, was thought, by his master, undeserving of holidays. Such an one had rejected the favor of his master. There was, in this simple act of continued work, an accusation13 against slaves; and a slave could not help thinking, that if he made three dollars during the holidays, he might make three hundred during the year. Not to be drunk during the holidays,[195] was disgraceful; and he was esteemed14 a lazy and improvident15 man, who could not afford to drink whisky during Christmas.
The fiddling16, dancing and “jubilee beating,” was going on in all directions. This latter performance is strictly17 southern. It supplies the place of a violin, or of other musical instruments, and is played so easily, that almost every farm has its “Juba” beater. The performer improvises18 as he beats, and sings his merry songs, so ordering the words as to have them fall pat with the movement of his hands. Among a mass of nonsense and wild frolic, once in a while a sharp hit is given to the meanness of slaveholders. Take the following, for an example:
We raise de wheat,
Dey gib us de corn;
We bake de bread,
Dey gib us de cruss;
We sif de meal,
Dey gib us de huss;
Dey gib us de skin,
And dat’s de way
Dey takes us in.
We skim de pot,
Dey gib us the liquor,
And say dat’s good enough for nigger.
Walk over! walk over!
Tom butter and de fat;
Poor nigger you can’t get over dat;
Walk over!
This is not a bad summary of the palpable injustice20 and fraud of slavery, giving—as it does—to the lazy and idle, the comforts which God designed should be given solely21 to the honest laborer22. But to the holiday’s.
Judging from my own observation and experience, I believe these holidays to be among the most effective means, in the hands of slaveholders, of keeping down the spirit of insurrection among the slaves.
To enslave men, successfully and safely, it is necessary to[196] have their minds occupied with thoughts and aspirations24 short of the liberty of which they are deprived. A certain degree of attainable25 good must be kept before them. These holidays serve the purpose of keeping the minds of the slaves occupied with prospective27 pleasure, within the limits of slavery. The young man can go wooing; the married man can visit his wife; the father and mother can see their children; the industrious and money loving can make a few dollars; the great wrestler29 can win laurels30; the young people can meet, and enjoy each other’s society; the drunken man can get plenty of whisky; and the religious man can hold prayer meetings, preach, pray and exhort31 during the holidays. Before the holidays, these are pleasures in prospect26; after the holidays, they become pleasures of memory, and they serve to keep out thoughts and wishes of a more dangerous character. Were slaveholders at once to abandon the practice of allowing their slaves these liberties, periodically, and to keep them, the year round, closely confined to the narrow circle of their homes, I doubt not that the south would blaze with insurrections. These holidays are conductors or safety valves to carry off the explosive elements inseparable from the human mind, when reduced to the condition of slavery. But for these, the rigors32 of bondage33 would become too severe for endurance, and the slave would be forced up to dangerous desperation. Woe34 to the slaveholder when he undertakes to hinder or to prevent the operation of these electric conductors. A succession of earthquakes would be less destructive, than the insurrectionary fires which would be sure to burst forth35 in different parts of the south, from such interference.
Thus, the holidays, became part and parcel of the gross fraud, wrongs and inhumanity of slavery. Ostensibly, they are institutions of benevolence37, designed to mitigate38 the rigors of slave life, but, practically, they are a fraud, instituted by human selfishness, the better to secure the ends of injustice and oppression. The slave’s happiness is not the end sought, but, rather, the master’s[197] safety. It is not from a generous unconcern for the slave’s labor23 that this cessation from labor is allowed, but from a prudent39 regard to the safety of the slave system. I am strengthened in this opinion, by the fact, that most slaveholders like to have their slaves spend the holidays in such a manner as to be of no real benefit to the slaves. It is plain, that everything like rational enjoyment40 among the slaves, is frowned upon; and only those wild and low sports, peculiar41 to semi-civilized people, are encouraged. All the license42 allowed, appears to have no other object than to disgust the slaves with their temporary freedom, and to make them as glad to return to their work, as they were to leave it. By plunging43 them into exhausting depths of drunkenness and dissipation, this effect is almost certain to follow. I have known slaveholders resort to cunning tricks, with a view of getting their slaves deplorably drunk. A usual plan is, to make bets on a slave, that he can drink more whisky than any other; and so to induce a rivalry44 among them, for the mastery in this degradation45. The scenes, brought about in this way, were often scandalous and loathsome46 in the extreme. Whole multitudes might be found stretched out in brutal47 drunkenness, at once helpless and disgusting. Thus, when the slave asks for a few hours of virtuous48 freedom, his cunning master takes advantage of his ignorance, and cheers him with a dose of vicious and revolting dissipation, artfully labeled with the name of LIBERTY. We were induced to drink, I among the rest, and when the holidays were over, we all staggered up from our filth49 and wallowing, took a long breath, and went away to our various fields of work; feeling, upon the whole, rather glad to go from that which our masters artfully deceived us into the belief was freedom, back again to the arms of slavery. It was not what we had taken it to be, nor what it might have been, had it not been abused by us. It was about as well to be a slave to master, as to be a slave to rum and whisky.
I am the more induced to take this view of the holiday system,[198] adopted by slaveholders, from what I know of their treatment of slaves, in regard to other things. It is the commonest thing for them to try to disgust their slaves with what they do not want them to have, or to enjoy. A slave, for instance, likes molasses; he steals some; to cure him of the taste for it, his master, in many cases, will go away to town, and buy a large quantity of the poorest quality, and set it before his slave, and, with whip in hand, compel him to eat it, until the poor fellow is made to sicken at the very thought of molasses. The same course is often adopted to cure slaves of the disagreeable and inconvenient50 practice of asking for more food, when their allowance has failed them. The same disgusting process works well, too, in other things, but I need not cite them. When a slave is drunk, the slaveholder has no fear that he will plan an insurrection; no fear that he will escape to the north. It is the sober, thinking slave who is dangerous, and needs the vigilance of his master, to keep him a slave. But, to proceed with my narrative51.
On the first of January, 1835, I proceeded from St. Michael’s to Mr. William Freeland’s, my new home. Mr. Freeland lived only three miles from St. Michael’s, on an old worn out farm, which required much labor to restore it to anything like a self-supporting establishment.
I was not long in finding Mr. Freeland to be a very different man from Mr. Covey. Though not rich, Mr. Freeland was what may be called a well-bred southern gentleman, as different from Covey, as a well-trained and hardened Negro breaker is from the best specimen52 of the first families of the south. Though Freeland was a slaveholder, and shared many of the vices53 of his class, he seemed alive to the sentiment of honor. He had some sense of justice, and some feelings of humanity. He was fretful, impulsive54 and passionate55, but I must do him the justice to say, he was free from the mean and selfish characteristics which distinguished the creature from which I had now, happily, escaped. He was open, frank, imperative56, and practiced no concealments,[199] disdaining57 to play the spy. In all this, he was the opposite of the crafty58 Covey.
Among the many advantages gained in my change from Covey’s to Freeland’s—startling as the statement may be—was the fact that the latter gentleman made no profession of religion. I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south—as I have observed it and proved it—is a mere59 covering for the most horrid60 crimes; the justifier61 of the most appalling62 barbarity; a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds; and a secure shelter, under which the darkest, foulest63, grossest, and most infernal abominations fester and flourish. Were I again to be reduced to the condition of a slave, next to that calamity64, I should regard the fact of being the slave of a religious slaveholder, the greatest that could befall me. For all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have found them, almost invariably, the vilest65, meanest and basest of their class. Exceptions there may be, but this is true of religious slaveholders, as a class. It is not for me to explain the fact. Others may do that; I simply state it as a fact, and leave the theological, and psychological inquiry66, which it raises, to be decided67 by others more competent than myself. Religious slaveholders, like religious persecutors, are ever extreme in their malice68 and violence. Very near my new home, on an adjoining farm, there lived the Rev11. Daniel Weeden, who was both pious69 and cruel after the real Covey pattern. Mr. Weeden was a local preacher of the Protestant Methodist persuasion70, and a most zealous71 supporter of the ordinances72 of religion, generally. This Weeden owned a woman called “Ceal,” who was a standing73 proof of his mercilessness. Poor Ceal’s back, always scantily74 clothed, was kept literally75 raw, by the lash76 of this religious man and gospel minister. The most notoriously wicked man—so called in distinction from church members—could hire hands more easily than this brute77. When sent out to find a home, a slave would never enter the gates of the preacher Weeden, while a sinful sinner needed a hand. Be[200] have ill, or behave well, it was the known maxim78 of Weeden, that it is the duty of a master to use the lash. If, for no other reason, he contended that this was essential to remind a slave of his condition, and of his master’s authority. The good slave must be whipped, to be kept good, and the bad slave must be whipped, to be made good. Such was Weeden’s theory, and such was his practice. The back of his slave-woman will, in the judgment79, be the swiftest witness against him.
While I am stating particular cases, I might as well immortalize another of my neighbors, by calling him by name, and putting him in print. He did not think that a “chiel” was near, “taking notes,” and will, doubtless, feel quite angry at having his character touched off in the ragged80 style of a slave’s pen. I beg to introduce the reader to REV. RIGBY HOPKINS. Mr. Hopkins resides between Easton and St. Michael’s, in Talbot county, Maryland. The severity of this man made him a perfect terror to the slaves of his neighborhood. The peculiar feature of his government, was, his system of whipping slaves, as he said, in advance of deserving it. He always managed to have one or two slaves to whip on Monday morning, so as to start his hands to their work, under the inspiration of a new assurance on Monday, that his preaching about kindness, mercy, brotherly love, and the like, on Sunday, did not interfere36 with, or prevent him from establishing his authority, by the cowskin. He seemed to wish to assure them, that his tears over poor, lost and ruined sinners, and his pity for them, did not reach to the blacks who tilled his fields. This saintly Hopkins used to boast, that he was the best hand to manage a Negro in the county. He whipped for the smallest offenses, by way of preventing the commission of large ones.
The reader might imagine a difficulty in finding faults enough for such frequent whipping. But this is because you have no idea how easy a matter it is to offend a man who is on the look-out for offenses. The man, unaccustomed to slaveholding, would be astonished to observe how many foggable offenses there are in[201] the slaveholder’s catalogue of crimes; and how easy it is to commit any one of them, even when the slave least intends it. A slaveholder, bent81 on finding fault, will hatch up a dozen a day, if he chooses to do so, and each one of these shall be of a punishable description. A mere look, word, or motion, a mistake, accident, or want of power, are all matters for which a slave may be whipped at any time. Does a slave look dissatisfied with his condition? It is said, that he has the devil in him, and it must be whipped out. Does he answer loudly, when spoken to by his master, with an air of self-consciousness? Then, must he be taken down a button-hole lower, by the lash, well laid on. Does he forget, and omit to pull off his hat, when approaching a white person? Then, he must, or may be, whipped for his bad manners. Does he ever venture to vindicate82 his conduct, when harshly and unjustly accused? Then, he is guilty of impudence83, one of the greatest crimes in the social catalogue of southern society. To allow a slave to escape punishment, who has impudently84 attempted to exculpate85 himself from unjust charges, preferred against him by some white person, is to be guilty of great dereliction of duty. Does a slave ever venture to suggest a better way of doing a thing, no matter what? He is, altogether, too officious—wise above what is written—and he deserves, even if he does not get, a flogging for his presumption86. Does he, while plowing87, break a plow88, or while hoeing, break a hoe, or while chopping, break an ax? No matter what were the imperfections of the implement89 broken, or the natural liabilities for breaking, the slave can be whipped for carelessness. The reverend slaveholder could always find something of this sort, to justify90 him in using the lash several times during the week. Hopkins—like Covey and Weeden—were shunned91 by slaves who had the privilege (as many had) of finding their own masters at the end of each year; and yet, there was not a man in all that section of country, who made a louder profession of religion, than did MR. RIGBY HOPKINS.[202]
But, to continue the thread of my story, through my experience when at Mr. William Freeland’s.
My poor, weather-beaten bark now reached smoother water, and gentler breezes. My stormy life at Covey’s had been of service to me. The things that would have seemed very hard, had I gone direct to Mr. Freeland’s, from the home of Master Thomas, were now (after the hardships at Covey’s) “trifles light as air.” I was still a field hand, and had come to prefer the severe labor of the field, to the enervating92 duties of a house servant. I had become large and strong; and had begun to take pride in the fact, that I could do as much hard work as some of the older men. There is much rivalry among slaves, at times, as to which can do the most work, and masters generally seek to promote such rivalry. But some of us were too wise to race with each other very long. Such racing93, we had the sagacity to see, was not likely to pay. We had our times for measuring each other’s strength, but we knew too much to keep up the competition so long as to produce an extraordinary day’s work. We knew that if, by extraordinary exertion94, a large quantity of work was done in one day, the fact, becoming known to the master, might lead him to require the same amount every day. This thought was enough to bring us to a dead halt when over so much excited for the race.
At Mr. Freeland’s, my condition was every way improved. I was no longer the poor scape-goat that I was when at Covey’s, where every wrong thing done was saddled upon me, and where other slaves were whipped over my shoulders. Mr. Freeland was too just a man thus to impose upon me, or upon any one else.
It is quite usual to make one slave the object of especial abuse, and to beat him often, with a view to its effect upon others, rather than with any expectation that the slave whipped will be improved by it, but the man with whom I now was, could descend95 to no such meanness and wickedness. Every man here was held individually responsible for his own conduct.
This was a vast improvement on the rule at Covey’s. There, I[203] was the general pack horse. Bill Smith was protected, by a positive prohibition96 made by his rich master, and the command of the rich slaveholder is LAW to the poor one; Hughes was favored, because of his relationship to Covey; and the hands hired temporarily, escaped flogging, except as they got it over my poor shoulders. Of course, this comparison refers to the time when Covey could whip me.
Mr. Freeland, like Mr. Covey, gave his hands enough to eat, but, unlike Mr. Covey, he gave them time to take their meals; he worked us hard during the day, but gave us the night for rest—another advantage to be set to the credit of the sinner, as against that of the saint. We were seldom in the field after dark in the evening, or before sunrise in the morning. Our implements97 of husbandry were of the most improved pattern, and much superior to those used at Covey’s.
Nothwithstanding the improved condition which was now mine, and the many advantages I had gained by my new home, and my new master, I was still restless and discontented. I was about as hard to please by a master, as a master is by slave. The freedom from bodily torture and unceasing labor, had given my mind an increased sensibility, and imparted to it greater activity. I was not yet exactly in right relations. “How be it, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward98 that which is spiritual.” When entombed at Covey’s, shrouded99 in darkness and physical wretchedness, temporal wellbeing was the grand desideratum; but, temporal wants supplied, the spirit puts in its claims. Beat and cuff100 your slave, keep him hungry and spiritless, and he will follow the chain of his master like a dog; but, feed and clothe him well—work him moderately—surround him with physical comfort—and dreams of freedom intrude101. Give him a bad master, and he aspires102 to a good master; give him a good master, and he wishes to become his own master. Such is human nature. You may hurl103 a man so low, beneath the level of his kind, that he loses all just ideas of his natural position;[204] but elevate him a little, and the clear conception of rights arises to life and power, and leads him onward104. Thus elevated, a little, at Freeland’s, the dreams called into being by that good man, Father Lawson, when in Baltimore, began to visit me; and shoots from the tree of liberty began to put forth tender buds, and dim hopes of the future began to dawn.
I found myself in congenial society, at Mr. Freeland’s. There were Henry Harris, John Harris, Handy Caldwell, and Sandy Jenkins. 6
Henry and John were brothers, and belonged to Mr. Freeland. They were both remarkably105 bright and intelligent, though neither of them could read. Now for mischief106! I had not been long at Freeland’s before I was up to my old tricks. I early began to address my companions on the subject of education, and the advantages of intelligence over ignorance, and, as far as I dared, I tried to show the agency of ignorance in keeping men in slavery. Webster’s spelling book and the Columbian Orator107 were looked into again. As summer came on, and the long Sabbath days stretched themselves over our idleness, I became uneasy, and wanted a Sabbath school, in which to exercise my gifts, and to impart the little knowledge of letters which I possessed108, to my brother slaves. A house was hardly necessary in the summer time; I could hold my school under the shade of an old oak tree, as well as any where else. The thing was, to get the scholars, and to have them thoroughly109 imbued110 with the desire to learn. Two such boys were quickly secured, in Henry and John, and from them the contagion111 spread. I was not long bringing around me twenty or thirty young men, who enrolled112 themselves, gladly, in my Sabbath school, and were willing to meet me regularly, under the trees or elsewhere, for the purpose of learning to read. It was[205] surprising with what ease they provided themselves with spelling books. These were mostly the cast off books of their young masters or mistresses. I taught, at first, on our own farm. All were impressed with the necessity of keeping the matter as private as possible, for the fate of the St. Michael’s attempt was notorious, and fresh in the minds of all. Our pious masters, at St. Michael’s, must not know that a few of their dusky brothers were learning to read the word of God, lest they should come down upon us with the lash and chain. We might have met to drink whisky, to wrestle28, fight, and to do other unseemly things, with no fear of interruption from the saints or sinners of St. Michael’s.
But, to meet for the purpose of improving the mind and heart, by learning to read the sacred scriptures113, was esteemed a most dangerous nuisance, to be instantly stopped. The slaveholders of St. Michael’s, like slaveholders elsewhere, would always prefer to see the slaves engaged in degrading sports, rather than to see them acting114 like moral and accountable beings.
Had any one asked a religious white man, in St. Michael’s, twenty years ago, the names of three men in that town, whose lives were most after the pattern of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, the first three would have been as follows:
WRIGHT FAIRBANKS, Class Leader.
And yet, these were men who ferociously117 rushed in upon my Sabbath school, at St. Michael’s, armed with mob-like missiles, and I must say, I thought him a Christian118, until he took part in bloody119 by the lash. This same Garrison West was my class leader, and I must say, I thought him a Christian, until he took part in breaking up my school. He led me no more after that. The plea for this outrage120 was then, as it is now and at all times—the danger to good order. If the slaves learnt to read, they would learn something else, and something worse. The peace of slavery would be disturbed; slave rule would be endangered. I leave the reader to[206] characterize a system which is endangered by such causes. I do not dispute the soundness of the reasoning. It is perfectly121 sound; and, if slavery be right, Sabbath schools for teaching slaves to read the bible are wrong, and ought to be put down. These Christian class leaders were, to this extent, consistent. They had settled the question, that slavery is right, and, by that standard, they determined122 that Sabbath schools are wrong. To be sure, they were Protestant, and held to the great Protestant right of every man to “search the scriptures” for himself; but, then, to all general rules, there are exceptions. How convenient! What crimes may not be committed under the doctrine123 of the last remark. But, my dear, class leading Methodist brethren, did not condescend124 to give me a reason for breaking up the Sabbath school at St. Michael’s; it was enough that they had determined upon its destruction. I am, however, digressing.
After getting the school cleverly into operation, the second time holding it in the woods, behind the barn, and in the shade of trees—I succeeded in inducing a free colored man, who lived several miles from our house, to permit me to hold my school in a room at his house. He, very kindly125, gave me this liberty; but he incurred126 much peril127 in doing so, for the assemblage was an unlawful one. I shall not mention, here, the name of this man; for it might, even now, subject him to persecution128, although the offenses were committed more than twenty years ago. I had, at one time, more than forty scholars, all of the right sort; and many of them succeeded in learning to read. I have met several slaves from Maryland, who were once my scholars; and who obtained their freedom, I doubt not, partly in consequence of the ideas imparted to them in that school. I have had various employments during my short life; but I look back to none with more satisfaction, than to that afforded by my Sunday school. An attachment129, deep and lasting130, sprung up between me and my persecuted131 pupils, which made parting from them intensely grievous; and,[207] when I think that most of these dear souls are yet shut up in this abject132 thralldom, I am overwhelmed with grief.
Besides my Sunday school, I devoted133 three evenings a week to my fellow slaves, during the winter. Let the reader reflect upon the fact, that, in this christian country, men and women are hiding from professors of religion, in barns, in the woods and fields, in order to learn to read the holy bible. Those dear souls, who came to my Sabbath school, came not because it was popular or reputable to attend such a place, for they came under the liability of having forty stripes laid on their naked backs. Every moment they spend in my school, they were under this terrible liability; and, in this respect, I was sharer with them. Their minds had been cramped134 and starved by their cruel masters; the light of education had been completely excluded; and their hard earnings135 had been taken to educate their master’s children. I felt a delight in circumventing136 the tyrants137, and in blessing138 the victims of their curses.
The year at Mr. Freeland’s passed off very smoothly139, to outward seeming. Not a blow was given me during the whole year. To the credit of Mr. Freeland—irreligious though he was—it must be stated, that he was the best master I ever had, until I became my own master, and assumed for myself, as I had a right to do, the responsibility of my own existence and the exercise of my own powers. For much of the happiness—or absence of misery—with which I passed this year with Mr. Freeland, I am indebted to the genial4 temper and ardent140 friendship of my brother slaves. They were, every one of them, manly141, generous and brave, yes; I say they were brave, and I will add, fine looking. It is seldom the lot of mortals to have truer and better friends than were the slaves on this farm. It is not uncommon142 to charge slaves with great treachery toward each other, and to believe them incapable143 of confiding144 in each other; but I must say, that I never loved, esteemed, or confided145 in men, more than I did in these. They were as true as steel, and no band of brothers could have been more[208] loving. There were no mean advantages taken of each other, as is sometimes the case where slaves are situated146 as we were; no tattling; no giving each other bad names to Mr. Freeland; and no elevating one at the expense of the other. We never undertook to do any thing, of any importance, which was likely to affect each other, without mutual147 consultation148. We were generally a unit, and moved together. Thoughts and sentiments were exchanged between us, which might well be called very incendiary, by oppressors and tyrants; and perhaps the time has not even now come, when it is safe to unfold all the flying suggestions which arise in the minds of intelligent slaves. Several of my friends and brothers, if yet alive, are still in some part of the house of bondage; and though twenty years have passed away, the suspicious malice of slavery might punish them for even listening to my thoughts.
The slaveholder, kind or cruel, is a slaveholder still—the every hour violator of the just and inalienable rights of man; and he is, therefore, every hour silently whetting149 the knife of vengeance for his own throat. He never lisps a syllable150 in commendation of the fathers of this republic, nor denounces any attempted oppression of himself, without inviting151 the knife to his own throat, and asserting the rights of rebellion for his own slaves.
The year is ended, and we are now in the midst of the Christmas holidays, which are kept this year as last, according to the general description previously152 given.
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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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abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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outgrow
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| vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要 | |
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pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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11
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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12
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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13
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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14
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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15
improvident
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| adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的 | |
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16
fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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17
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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18
improvises
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| 临时制作，临时凑成( improvise的名词复数 )； 即兴创作（音乐、台词、演讲词等） | |
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19
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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20
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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21
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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22
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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23
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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24
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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25
attainable
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| a.可达到的，可获得的 | |
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26
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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27
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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28
wrestle
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| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
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29
wrestler
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| n.摔角选手，扭 | |
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30
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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31
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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32
rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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33
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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34
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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35
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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36
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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37
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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38
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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39
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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40
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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41
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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42
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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43
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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44
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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45
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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46
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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47
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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48
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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49
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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50
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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51
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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52
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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53
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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54
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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55
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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56
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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57
disdaining
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| 鄙视( disdain的现在分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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58
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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59
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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60
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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61
justifier
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| 辩护者，辩解者 | |
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62
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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63
foulest
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| adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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64
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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65
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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66
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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67
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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68
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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69
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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70
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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71
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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72
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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73
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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74
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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75
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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76
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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77
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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78
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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79
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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80
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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81
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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82
vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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83
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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84
impudently
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85
exculpate
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| v.开脱，使无罪 | |
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86
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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87
plowing
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| v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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88
plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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89
implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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90
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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91
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
enervating
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 ) | |
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93
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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94
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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95
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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96
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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97
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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98
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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99
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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100
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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101
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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102
aspires
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 ) | |
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103
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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104
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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105
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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106
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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107
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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108
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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109
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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110
imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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111
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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112
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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113
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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114
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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115
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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116
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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117
ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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118
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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119
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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120
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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121
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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122
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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123
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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124
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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125
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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126
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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127
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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128
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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129
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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130
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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131
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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132
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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133
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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134
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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135
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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136
circumventing
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| v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的现在分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行 | |
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137
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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138
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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139
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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140
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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141
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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142
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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143
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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144
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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145
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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146
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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147
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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148
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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149
whetting
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的现在分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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150
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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151
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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152
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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