EXPERIENCE—YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM—A BRAND NEW FACT—MATTER OF MY AUTHOR’S
SETTLE ALL DOUBT I WRITE MY EXPERIENCE OF SLAVERY—DANGER OF RECAPTURE
INCREASED.
In the summer of 1841, a grand anti-slavery convention was held in Nantucket, under the auspices3 of Mr. Garrison and his friends. Until now, I had taken no holiday since my escape from slavery. Having worked very hard that spring and summer, in Richmond’s brass4 foundery—sometimes working all night as well as all day—and needing a day or two of rest, I attended this convention, never supposing that I should take part in the proceedings5. Indeed, I was not aware that any one connected with the convention even so much as knew my name. I was, however, quite mistaken. Mr. William C. Coffin6, a prominent abolitionst(sic) in those days of trial, had heard me speaking to my colored friends, in the little school house on Second street, New Bedford, where we worshiped. He sought me out in the crowd, and invited me to say a few words to the convention. Thus sought out, and thus invited, I was induced to speak out the feelings inspired by the occasion, and the fresh recollection of the scenes through which I had passed as a slave. My speech on this occasion is about the only one I ever made, of which I do not remember a single connected sentence. It was[279] with the utmost difficulty that I could stand erect8, or that I could command and articulate two words without hesitation9 and stammering10. I trembled in every limb. I am not sure that my embarrassment11 was not the most effective part of my speech, if speech it could be called. At any rate, this is about the only part of my performance that I now distinctly remember. But excited and convulsed as I was, the audience, though remarkably12 quiet before, became as much excited as myself. Mr. Garrison followed me, taking me as his text; and now, whether I had made an eloquent13 speech in behalf of freedom or not, his was one never to be forgotten by those who heard it. Those who had heard Mr. Garrison oftenest, and had known him longest, were astonished. It was an effort of unequaled power, sweeping14 down, like a very tornado15, every opposing barrier, whether of sentiment or opinion. For a moment, he possessed16 that almost fabulous17 inspiration, often referred to but seldom attained19, in which a public meeting is transformed, as it were, into a single individuality—the orator20 wielding21 a thousand heads and hearts at once, and by the simple majesty22 of his all controlling thought, converting his hearers into the express image of his own soul. That night there were at least one thousand Garrisonians in Nantucket! A(sic) the close of this great meeting, I was duly waited on by Mr. John A. Collins—then the general agent of the Massachusetts anti-slavery society—and urgently solicited23 by him to become an agent of that society, and to publicly advocate its anti-slavery principles. I was reluctant to take the proffered24 position. I had not been quite three years from slavery—was honestly distrustful of my ability—wished to be excused; publicity25 exposed me to discovery and arrest by my master; and other objections came up, but Mr. Collins was not to be put off, and I finally consented to go out for three months, for I supposed that I should have got to the end of my story and my usefulness, in that length of time.
Here opened upon me a new life a life for which I had had no preparation. I was a “graduate from the peculiar26 institution,"[280] Mr. Collins used to say, when introducing me, “with my diploma written on my back!” The three years of my freedom had been spent in the hard school of adversity. My hands had been furnished by nature with something like a solid leather coating, and I had bravely marked out for myself a life of rough labor27, suited to the hardness of my hands, as a means of supporting myself and rearing my children.
Now what shall I say of this fourteen years’ experience as a public advocate of the cause of my enslaved brothers and sisters? The time is but as a speck28, yet large enough to justify29 a pause for retrospection—and a pause it must only be.
Young, ardent30, and hopeful, I entered upon this new life in the full gush31 of unsuspecting enthusiasm. The cause was good; the men engaged in it were good; the means to attain18 its triumph, good; Heaven’s blessing32 must attend all, and freedom must soon be given to the pining millions under a ruthless bondage33. My whole heart went with the holy cause, and my most fervent34 prayer to the Almighty35 Disposer of the hearts of men, were continually offered for its early triumph. “Who or what,” thought I, “can withstand a cause so good, so holy, so indescribably glorious. The God of Israel is with us. The might of the Eternal is on our side. Now let but the truth be spoken, and a nation will start forth37 at the sound!” In this enthusiastic spirit, I dropped into the ranks of freedom’s friends, and went forth to the battle. For a time I was made to forget that my skin was dark and my hair crisped. For a time I regretted that I could not have shared the hardships and dangers endured by the earlier workers for the slave’s release. I soon, however, found that my enthusiasm had been extravagant38; that hardships and dangers were not yet passed; and that the life now before me, had shadows as well as sunbeams.
Among the first duties assigned me, on entering the ranks, was to travel, in company with Mr. George Foster, to secure subscribers to the Anti-slavery Standard and the Liberator39. With[281] him I traveled and lectured through the eastern counties of Massachusetts. Much interest was awakened—large meetings assembled. Many came, no doubt, from curiosity to hear what a Negro could say in his own cause. I was generally introduced as a “chattel”—a“thing”—a piece of southern “property”—the chairman assuring the audience that it could speak. Fugitive slaves, at that time, were not so plentiful40 as now; and as a fugitive slave lecturer, I had the advantage of being a “brand new fact”—the first one out. Up to that time, a colored man was deemed a fool who confessed himself a runaway41 slave, not only because of the danger to which he exposed himself of being retaken, but because it was a confession42 of a very low origin! Some of my colored friends in New Bedford thought very badly of my wisdom for thus exposing and degrading myself. The only precaution I took, at the beginning, to prevent Master Thomas from knowing where I was, and what I was about, was the withholding43 my former name, my master’s name, and the name of the state and county from which I came. During the first three or four months, my speeches were almost exclusively made up of narrations44 of my own personal experience as a slave. “Let us have the facts,” said the people. So also said Friend George Foster, who always wished to pin me down to my simple narrative45. “Give us the facts,” said Collins, “we will take care of the philosophy.” Just here arose some embarrassment. It was impossible for me to repeat the same old story month after month, and to keep up my interest in it. It was new to the people, it is true, but it was an old story to me; and to go through with it night after night, was a task altogether too mechanical for my nature. “Tell your story, Frederick,” would whisper my then revered46 friend, William Lloyd Garrison, as I stepped upon the platform. I could not always obey, for I was now reading and thinking. New views of the subject were presented to my mind. It did not entirely47 satisfy me to narrate48 wrongs; I felt like denouncing them. I could not always curb49 my moral indignation[282] for the perpetrators of slaveholding villainy, long enough for a circumstantial statement of the facts which I felt almost everybody must know. Besides, I was growing, and needed room. “People won’t believe you ever was a slave, Frederick, if you keep on this way,” said Friend Foster. “Be yourself,” said Collins, “and tell your story.” It was said to me, “Better have a little of the plantation50 manner of speech than not; ‘tis not best that you seem too learned.” These excellent friends were actuated by the best of motives52, and were not altogether wrong in their advice; and still I must speak just the word that seemed to me the word to be spoken by me.
At last the apprehended53 trouble came. People doubted if I had ever been a slave. They said I did not talk like a slave, look like a slave, nor act like a slave, and that they believed I had never been south of Mason and Dixon’s line. “He don’t tell us where he came from—what his master’s name was—how he got away—nor the story of his experience. Besides, he is educated, and is, in this, a contradiction of all the facts we have concerning the ignorance of the slaves.” Thus, I was in a pretty fair way to be denounced as an impostor. The committee of the Massachusetts anti-slavery society knew all the facts in my case, and agreed with me in the prudence54 of keeping them private. They, therefore, never doubted my being a genuine fugitive; but going down the aisles55 of the churches in which I spoke36, and hearing the free spoken Yankees saying, repeatedly, “He’s never been a slave, I’ll warrant ye,” I resolved to dispel56 all doubt, at no distant day, by such a revelation of facts as could not be made by any other than a genuine fugitive.
In a little less than four years, therefore, after becoming a public lecturer, I was induced to write out the leading facts connected with my experience in slavery, giving names of persons, places, and dates—thus putting it in the power of any who doubted, to ascertain57 the truth or falsehood of my story of being a fugitive slave. This statement soon became known in Maryland,[283] and I had reason to believe that an effort would be made to recapture me.
It is not probable that any open attempt to secure me as a slave could have succeeded, further than the obtainment, by my master, of the money value of my bones and sinews. Fortunately for me, in the four years of my labors58 in the abolition7 cause, I had gained many friends, who would have suffered themselves to be taxed to almost any extent to save me from slavery. It was felt that I had committed the double offense59 of running away, and exposing the secrets and crimes of slavery and slaveholders. There was a double motive51 for seeking my reenslavement—avarice and vengeance60; and while, as I have said, there was little probability of successful recapture, if attempted openly, I was constantly in danger of being spirited away, at a moment when my friends could render me no assistance. In traveling about from place to place—often alone I was much exposed to this sort of attack. Any one cherishing the design to betray me, could easily do so, by simply tracing my whereabouts through the anti-slavery journals, for my meetings and movements were promptly61 made known in advance. My true friends, Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips, had no faith in the power of Massachusetts to protect me in my right to liberty. Public sentiment and the law, in their opinion, would hand me over to the tormentors. Mr. Phillips, especially, considered me in danger, and said, when I showed him the manuscript of my story, if in my place, he would throw it into the fire. Thus, the reader will observe, the settling of one difficulty only opened the way for another; and that though I had reached a free state, and had attained position for public usefulness, I ws(sic) still tormented62 with the liability of losing my liberty. How this liability was dispelled63, will be related, with other incidents, in the next chapter.
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1
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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6
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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7
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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8
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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9
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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10
stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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11
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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12
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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13
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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14
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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15
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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16
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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18
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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20
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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21
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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22
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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23
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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24
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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26
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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27
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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28
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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29
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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30
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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31
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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32
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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35
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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38
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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39
liberator
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| 解放者 | |
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40
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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41
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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42
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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43
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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44
narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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45
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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46
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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48
narrate
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| v.讲，叙述 | |
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49
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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50
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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51
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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52
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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53
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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54
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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55
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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56
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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57
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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58
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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59
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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60
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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61
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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62
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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63
dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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