In regard to person, it must be remembered that the half-breeds often inherit, to a great degree, the traits of their white ancestors. For this there is abundant evidence in the advertisements of the papers. Witness the following from the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Gazette, Oct. 5th, 1852:
$500 REWARD.
Runaway3 from the subscriber4, on the 25th May, a VERY BRIGHT MULATTO BOY, about 21 or 22 years old, named WASH. Said boy, without close observation, might pass himself for a white man, as he is very bright—has sandy hair, blue eyes, and a fine set of teeth. He is an excellent bricklayer; but I have no idea that he will pursue his trade, for fear of detection. Although he is like a white man in appearance, he has the disposition5 of a negro, and delights in comic songs and witty6 expressions. He is an excellent house servant, very handy about a hotel,—tall, slender, and has rather a down look, especially when spoken to, and is sometimes inclined to be sulky. I have no doubt but he has been decoyed off by some scoundrel, and I will give the above reward for the apprehension8 of the boy and thief, if delivered at Chattanooga. Or, I will give $200 for the boy alone; or $100 if confined in any jail in the United States, so that I can get him.
GEORGE O. RAGLAND.
Chattanooga, June 15, 1852.
From the Capitolian Vis-a-vis, West Baton9 Rouge10, Louisiana, Nov. 1, 1852:
$150 REWARD.
Runaway about the 15th of August last, Joe, a yellow man; small, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, and about 20 years of age. Has a Roman nose, was raised in New Orleans, and speaks French and English. He was bought last winter of Mr. Digges, Banks Arcade11, New Orleans.
In regard to general intelligence, the reader will recollect12 that the writer stated it as a fact which she learned while on a journey through Kentucky, that a young colored man invented a machine for cleaning hemp13, like that alluded14 to in her story.
Advertisements, also, occasionally propose for sale artisans of different descriptions. Slaves are often employed as pilots for vessels15, and highly valued for their skill and knowledge. The following are advertisements from recent newspapers.
From the South Carolinian (Columbia), Dec. 4th, 1852:
VALUABLE NEGROES AT AUCTION17.
BY J. & L. T. LEVIN.
WILL be sold, on MONDAY, the 6th day of December, the following valuable NEGROES:
Andrew, 24 years of age, a bricklayer and plasterer, and thorough workman.
George, 22 years of age, one of the best barbers in the State.
James, 19 years of age, an excellent painter.
These boys were raised in Columbia, and are exceptions to most of boys, and are sold for no fault whatever.
The terms of sale are one-half cash, the balance on a credit of six months, with interest, for notes payable18 at bank, with two or more approved endorsers19.
Purchasers to pay for necessary papers.
WILLIAM DOUGLASS.
November 27, 36.
From the same paper, of November 18th, 1852:
Will be sold at private sale, a LIKELY MAN, boat hand, and good pilot; is well acquainted with all the inlets between here and Savannah and Georgetown.
With regard to the incidents of George Harris’ life, that he may not be supposed a purely20 exceptional case, we propose to offer some parallel facts from the lives of slaves of our personal acquaintance.
Lewis Clark is an acquaintance of the writer. Soon after his escape from slavery, he was received into the family of a sister-in-law of the author, and there educated. His conduct during this time was such as to win for him uncommon21 affection and respect, and the author has frequently heard 14him spoken of in the highest terms by all who knew him.
The gentleman in whose family he so long resided says of him, in a recent letter to the writer, “I would trust him, as the saying is, with untold22 gold.”
Lewis is a quadroon, a fine-looking man, with European features, hair slightly wavy23, and with an intelligent, agreeable expression of countenance24.
The reader is now desired to compare the following incidents of his life, part of which he related personally to the author, with the incidents of the life of George Harris.
His mother was a handsome quadroon woman, the daughter of her master, and given by him in marriage to a free white man, a Scotchman, with the express understanding that she and her children were to be free. This engagement, if made sincerely at all, was never complied with. His mother had nine children, and, on the death of her husband, came back, with all these children, as slaves in her father’s house.
A married daughter of the family, who was the dread26 of the whole household, on account of the violence of her temper, had taken from the family, upon her marriage, a young girl. By the violence of her abuse she soon reduced the child to a state of idiocy27, and then came imperiously back to her father’s establishment, declaring that the child was good for nothing, and that she would have another; and, as poor Lewis’ evil star would have it, fixed28 her eye upon him.
To avoid one of her terrible outbreaks of temper, the family offered up this boy as a pacificatory29 sacrifice. The incident is thus described by Lewis, in a published narrative30:
Every boy was ordered in, to pass before this female sorceress, that she might select a victim for her unprovoked malice31, and on whom to pour the vials of her wrath32 for years. I was that unlucky fellow. Mr. Campbell, my grandfather, objected, because it would divide a family, and offered her Moses; * * * but objections and claims of every kind were swept away by the wild passion and shrill33-toned voice of Mrs. B. Me she would have, and none else. Mr. Campbell went out to hunt, and drive away bad thoughts; the old lady became quiet, for she was sure none of her blood run in my veins34, and, if there was any of her husband’s there, it was no fault of hers. Slave-holding women are always revengeful toward the children of slaves that have any of the blood of their husbands in them. I was too young—only seven years of age—to understand what was going on. But my poor and affectionate mother understood and appreciated it all. When she left the kitchen of the mansion-house, where she was employed as cook, and came home to her own little cottage, the tear of anguish35 was in her eye, and the image of sorrow upon every feature of her face. She knew the female Nero whose rod was now to be over me. That night sleep departed from her eyes. With the youngest child clasped firmly to her bosom36, she spent the night in walking the floor, coming ever and anon to lift up the clothes and look at me and my poor brother, who lay sleeping together. Sleeping, I said. Brother slept, but not I. I saw my mother when she first came to me, and I could not sleep. The vision of that night—its deep, ineffaceable impression—is now before my mind with all the distinctness of yesterday. In the morning I was put into the carriage with Mrs. B. and her children, and my weary pilgrimage of suffering was fairly begun.
Mrs. Banton is a character that can only exist where the laws of the land clothe with absolute power the coarsest, most brutal37 and violent-tempered, equally with the most generous and humane38.
If irresponsible power is a trial to the virtue39 of the most watchful40 and careful, how fast must it develop cruelty in those who are naturally violent and brutal!
This woman was united to a drunken husband, of a temper equally ferocious41. A recital42 of all the physical torture which this pair contrived43 to inflict44 on a hapless child, some of which have left ineffaceable marks on his person, would be too trying to humanity, and we gladly draw a veil over it.
Some incidents, however, are presented in the following extracts:
A very trivial offence was sufficient to call forth45 a great burst of indignation from this woman of ungoverned passions. In my simplicity46, I put my lips to the same vessel16, and drank out of it, from which her children were accustomed to drink. She expressed her utter abhorrence48 of such an act by throwing my head violently back, and dashing into my face two dippers of water. The shower of water was followed by a heavier shower of kicks; but the words, bitter and cutting, that followed, were like a storm of hail upon my young heart. “She would teach me better manners than that; she would let me know I was to be brought up to her hand; she would have one slave that knew his place; if I wanted water, go to the spring, and not drink there in the house.” This was new times for me; for some days I was completely benumbed with my sorrow.
If there be one so lost to all feeling as even to say that the slaves do not suffer when families are separated, let such a one go to the ragged49 quilt which was my couch and pillow, and stand there night after night, for long, weary hours, and see the bitter tears streaming down the face of that more than orphan50 boy, while with half-suppressed sighs and sobs52 he calls again and again upon his absent mother.
“Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
Hovered53 thy spirit o’er thy sorrowing son?
Wretch54 even then! life’s journey just begun.”
15He was employed till late at night in spinning flax or rocking the baby, and called at a very early hour in the morning; and if he did not start at the first summons, a cruel chastisement55 was sure to follow. He says:
Such horror has seized me, lest I might not hear the first shrill call, that I have often in dreams fancied I heard that unwelcome voice, and have leaped from my couch and walked through the house and out of it before I awoke. I have gone and called the other slaves, in my sleep, and asked them if they did not hear master call. Never, while I live, will the remembrance of those long, bitter nights of fear pass from my mind.
He adds to this words which should be deeply pondered by those who lay the flattering unction to their souls that the oppressed do not feel the sundering56 of family ties.
But all my severe labor57, and bitter and cruel punishments, for these ten years of captivity58 with this worse than Arab family, all these were as nothing to the sufferings I experienced by being separated from my mother, brothers and sisters; the same things, with them near to sympathize with me, to hear my story of sorrow, would have been comparatively tolerable.
They were distant only about thirty miles; and yet, in ten long, lonely years of childhood, I was only permitted to see them three times.
My mother occasionally found an opportunity to send me some token of remembrance and affection,—a sugar-plum or an apple; but I scarcely ever ate them; they were laid up, and handled and wept over, till they wasted away in my hand.
My thoughts continually by day, and my dreams by night, were of mother and home; and the horror experienced in the morning, when I awoke and behold59 it was a dream, is beyond the power of language to describe.
Lewis had a beautiful sister by the name of Delia, who, on the death of her grandfather, was sold, with all the other children of his mother, for the purpose of dividing the estate. She was a pious60 girl, a member of the Baptist church. She fell into the hands of a brutal, drunken man, who wished to make her his mistress. Milton Clark, a brother of Lewis, in the narrative of his life describes the scene where he, with his mother, stood at the door while this girl was brutally61 whipped before it for wishing to conform to the principles of her Christian62 profession. As her resolution was unconquerable, she was placed in a coffle and sent down to the New Orleans market. Here she was sold to a Frenchman, named Coval. He took her to Mexico, emancipated63 and married her. After residing some time in France and the West Indies with him, he died, leaving her a fortune of twenty or thirty thousand dollars. At her death she endeavored to leave this by will to purchase the freedom of her brothers; but, as a slave cannot take property, or even have it left in trust for him, they never received any of it.
The incidents of the recovery of Lewis’ freedom are thus told:
I had long thought and dreamed of Liberty. I was now determined64 to make an effort to gain it. No tongue can tell the doubt, the perplexities, the anxiety, which a slave feels, when making up his mind upon this subject. If he makes an effort, and is not successful, he must be laughed at by his fellows, he will be beaten unmercifully by the master, and then watched and used the harder for it all his life.
And then, if he gets away, who, what will he find? He is ignorant of the world. All the white part of mankind, that he has ever seen, are enemies to him and all his kindred. How can he venture where none but white faces shall greet him? The master tells him that abolitionists decoy slaves off into the free states to catch them and sell them to Louisiana or Mississippi; and, if he goes to Canada, the British will put him in a mine under ground, with both eyes put out, for life. How does he know what or whom to believe? A horror of great darkness comes upon him, as he thinks over what may befall him. Long, very long time did I think of escaping, before I made the effort.
At length, the report was started that I was to be sold for Louisiana. Then I thought it was time to act. My mind was made up.
What my feelings were when I reached the free shore can be better imagined than described. I trembled all over with deep emotion, and I could feel my hair rise up on my head. I was on what was called a free soil, among a people who had no slaves. I saw white men at work, and no slave smarting beneath the lash66. Everything was indeed new and wonderful. Not knowing where to find a friend, and being ignorant of the country, unwilling67 to inquire, lest I should betray my ignorance, it was a whole week before I reached Cincinnati. At one place where I put up, I had a great many more questions put to me than I wished to answer. At another place, I was very much annoyed by the officiousness of the landlord, who made it a point to supply every guest with newspapers. I took the copy handed me, and turned it over, in a somewhat awkward manner, I suppose. He came to me to point out a veto, or some other very important news. I thought it best to decline his assistance, and gave up the paper, saying my eyes were not in a fit condition to read much.
At another place, the neighbors, on learning that a Kentuckian was at the tavern68, came, in great earnestness, to find out what my business was. Kentuckians sometimes came there to kidnap their citizens. They were in the habit of watching them close. I at length satisfied them by assuring them that I was not, nor my father 16before me, any slave-holder at all; but, lest their suspicions should be excited in another direction, I added my grandfather was a slave-holder.
At daylight we were in Canada. When I stepped ashore69 here, I said, sure enough, I AM FREE. Good heavens! what a sensation, when it first visits the bosom of a full-grown man; one born to bondage70; one who had been taught, from early infancy71, that this was his inevitable72 lot for life! Not till then did I dare to cherish, for a moment, the feeling that one of the limbs of my body was my own. The slaves often say, when cut in the hand or foot, “Plague on the old foot” or “the old hand! It is master’s,—let him take care of it. Nigger don’t care if he never get well.” My hands, my feet, were now my own.
It will be recollected73 that George, in conversing74 with Eliza, gives an account of a scene in which he was violently beaten by his master’s young son. This incident was suggested by the following letter from John M. Nelson to Mr. Theodore Weld, given in Slavery as It Is, p. 51.
Mr. Nelson removed from Virginia to Highland75 County, Ohio, many years since, where he is extensively known and respected. The letter is dated January 3d, 1839.
I was born and raised in Augusta County, Virginia; my father was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and was “owner” of about twenty slaves; he was what was generally termed a “good master.” His slaves were generally tolerably well fed and clothed, and not over-worked; they were sometimes permitted to attend church, and called in to family worship; few of them, however, availed themselves of these privileges. On some occasions I have seen him whip them severely76, particularly for the crime of trying to obtain their liberty, or for what was called “running away.” For this they were scourged77 more severely than for anything else. After they have been retaken I have seen them stripped naked and suspended by the hands, sometimes to a tree, sometimes to a post, until their toes barely touched the ground, and whipped with a cowhide until the blood dripped from their backs. A boy named Jack78, particularly, I have seen served in this way more than once. When I was quite a child, I recollect it grieved me very much to see one tied up to be whipped, and I used to intercede79 with tears in their behalf, and mingle80 my cries with theirs, and feel almost willing to take part of the punishment; I have been severely rebuked81 by my father for this kind of sympathy. Yet, such is the hardening nature of such scenes, that from this kind of commiseration82 for the suffering slave I became so blunted that I could not only witness their stripes with composure but myself inflict them, and that without remorse83. One case I have often looked back to with sorrow and contrition84, particularly since I have been convinced that “negroes are men.” When I was perhaps fourteen or fifteen years of age, I undertook to correct a young fellow named Ned, for some supposed offence,—I think it was leaving a bridle85 out of its proper place; he, being larger and stronger than myself, took hold of my arms and held me, in order to prevent my striking him. This I considered the height of insolence86, and cried for help, when my father and mother both came running to my rescue. My father stripped and tied him, and took him into the orchard87, where switches were plenty, and directed me to whip him; when one switch wore out, he supplied me with others. After I had whipped him a while, he fell on his knees to implore88 forgiveness, and I kicked him in the face; my father said, “Don’t kick him, but whip him;” this I did until his back was literally89 covered with welts. I know I have repented90, and trust I have obtained pardon for these things.
My father owned a woman (we used to call aunt Grace); she was purchased in Old Virginia. She has told me that her old master, in his will, gave her her freedom, but at his death his sons had sold her to my father: when he bought her she manifested some unwillingness91 to go with him, when she was put in irons and taken by force. This was before I was born; but I remember to have seen the irons, and was told that was what they had been used for. Aunt Grace is still living, and must be between seventy and eighty years of age; she has, for the last forty years, been an exemplary Christian. When I was a youth I took some pains to learn her to read; this is now a great consolation92 to her. Since age and infirmity have rendered her of little value to her “owners,” she is permitted to read as much as she pleases; this she can do, with the aid of glasses, in the old family Bible, which is almost the only book she has ever looked into. This, with some little mending for the black children, is all she does; she is still held as a slave. I well remember what a heart-rending scene there was in the family when my father sold her husband; this was, I suppose, thirty-five years ago. And yet my father was considered one of the best of masters. I know of few who were better, but of many who were worse.
With regard to the intelligence of George, and his teaching himself to read and write, there is a most interesting and affecting parallel to it in the “Life of Frederick Douglass,”—a book which can be recommended to any one who has a curiosity to trace the workings of an intelligent and active mind through all the squalid misery93, degradation94 and oppression, of slavery. A few incidents will be given.
Like Clark, Douglass was the son of a white man. He was a plantation95 slave in a proud old family. His situation, probably, may be considered as an average one; that is to say, he led a life of dirt, degradation, discomfort96 of various kinds, made tolerable as a matter of daily habit, and considered as enviable in comparison with the lot of those who suffer worse abuse. An incident which Douglass relates of his mother is touching97. He states that it is customary at an early age to separate mothers from their children, for the purpose of blunting 17and deadening natural affection. When he was three years old his mother was sent to work on a plantation eight or ten miles distant, and after that he never saw her except in the night. After her day’s toil98 she would occasionally walk over to her child, lie down with him in her arms, hush99 him to sleep in her bosom, then rise up and walk back again to be ready for her field work by daylight. Now, we ask the highest-born lady in England or America, who is a mother, whether this does not show that this poor field-laborer had in her bosom, beneath her dirt and rags, a true mother’s heart?
The last and bitterest indignity100 which has been heaped on the head of the unhappy slaves has been the denial to them of those holy affections which God gives alike to all. We are told, in fine phrase, by languid ladies of fashion, that “it is not to be supposed that those creatures have the same feelings that we have,” when, perhaps, the very speaker could not endure one tithe101 of the fatigue102 and suffering which the slave-mother often bears for her child. Every mother who has a mother’s heart within her, ought to know that this is blasphemy103 against nature, and, standing25 between the cradle of her living and the grave of her dead child, should indignantly reject such a slander104 on all motherhood.
Douglass thus relates the account of his learning to read, after he had been removed to the situation of house-servant in Baltimore.
It seems that his mistress, newly married and unaccustomed to the management of slaves, was very kind to him, and, among other acts of kindness, commenced teaching him to read. His master, discovering what was going on, he says,
At once forbade Mrs. Auld105 to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now,” said he, “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.” There words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering106, and called into existence an entirely107 new train of thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.
After this, his mistress was as watchful to prevent his learning to read as she had before been to instruct him. His course after this he thus describes:
From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself. All this, however, was too late. The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell.
The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could I converted into teachers. With their kindly108 aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent of errands I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return. I used also to carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood. This bread I used to bestow109 upon the hungry little urchins110, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge. I am strongly tempted111 to give the names of two or three of those little boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude112 and affection I bear them; but prudence113 forbids;—not that it would injure me, but it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country. It is enough to say of the dear little fellows, that they lived on Philpot-street, very near Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard. I used to talk this matter of slavery over with them. I would sometimes say to them I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men. “You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?” These words used to trouble them; they would express for me the liveliest sympathy, and console me with the hope that something would occur by which I might be free.
I was now about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart. Just about this time I got hold of a book entitled “The Columbian Orator114.” Every opportunity I got I used to read this book. Among much of other interesting matter, I found in it a dialogue between a master and his slave. The slave was represented as having run away from his master three times. The dialogue represented the conversation which took place between them when the slave was retaken the third time. In this dialogue, the whole argument in behalf of slavery was brought forward by the master, all of which was disposed of by the slave. The slave was made to say some very smart as well as impressive things in reply to his master—things 18which had the desired though unexpected effect; for the conversation resulted in the voluntary emancipation115 of the slave on the part of the master.
In the same book I met with one of Sheridan’s mighty116 speeches on and in behalf of Catholic emancipation. These were choice documents to me. I read them over and over again, with unabated interest. They gave tongue to interesting thoughts of my own soul, which had frequently flashed through my mind, and died away for want of utterance117. The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slave-holder. What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication118 of human rights. The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but, while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor47 and detest119 my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery. I loathed120 them as being the meanest as well as the most wicked of men. As I read and contemplated121 the subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment122 and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. As I writhed123 under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing124. It had given me a view of my wretched condition without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile125 to my own. Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting126 thinking of my condition that tormented127 me. There was no getting rid of it. It was pressed upon me by every object within sight or hearing, animate128 or inanimate. The silver trump129 of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.
I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed. While in this state of mind I was eager to hear any one speak of slavery. I was a ready listener. Every little while I could hear something about the abolitionists. It was some time before I found what the word meant. It was always used in such connections as to make it an interesting word to me. If a slave ran away and succeeded in getting clear, or if a slave killed his master, set fire to a barn, or did anything very wrong in the mind of a slave-holder, it was spoken of as the fruit of abolition65. Hearing the word in this connection very often, I set about learning what it meant. The dictionary afforded me little or no help. I found it was “the act of abolishing;” but then I did not know what was to be abolished. Here I was perplexed130. I did not dare to ask any one about its meaning, for I was satisfied that it was something they wanted me to know very little about. After a patient waiting, I got one of our city papers, containing an account of the number of petitions from the North praying for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and of the slave-trade between the states. From this time I understood the words abolition and abolitionist, and always drew near when that word was spoken, expecting to hear something of importance to myself and fellow-slaves. The light broke in upon me by degrees. I went one day down on the wharf131 of Mr. Waters; and, seeing two Irishmen unloading a scow of stone, I went, unasked, and helped them. When we had finished, one of them came to me and asked me if I were a slave. I told him I was. He asked, “Are ye a slave for life?” I told him that I was. The good Irishman seemed to be deeply affected132 by the statement. He said to the other that it was a pity so line a little fellow as myself should be a slave for life. He said it was a shame to hold me. They both advised me to run away to the North; that I should find friends there, and that I should be free. I pretended not to be interested in what they said, and treated them as if I did not understand them; for I feared they might be treacherous133. White men have been known to encourage slaves to escape, and then, to get the reward, catch them and return them to their masters. I was afraid that these seemingly good men might use me so; but I nevertheless remembered their advice, and from that time I resolved to run away. I looked forward to a time at which it would be safe for me to escape. I was too young to think of doing so immediately; besides, I wished to learn how to write, as I might have occasion to write my own pass. I consoled myself with the hope that I should one day find a good chance. Meanwhile I would learn to write.
The idea as to how I might learn to write was suggested to me by being in Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard, and frequently seeing the ship carpenters, after hewing134 and getting a piece of timber ready for use, write on the timber the name of that part of the ship for which it was intended. When a piece of timber was intended for the larboard side it would be marked thus—“L.” When a piece was for the starboard side it would be marked thus—“S.” A piece for the larboard side forward would be marked thus—“L. F.” When a piece was for starboard side forward it would be marked thus—“S. F.” For larboard aft it would be marked thus—“L. A.” For starboard aft it would be marked thus—“S. A.” I soon learned the names of these letters, and for what they were intended when placed upon a piece of timber in the ship-yard. I immediately commenced copying them, and in a short time was able to make the four letters named. After that, when I met with any boy who I knew could write, I would tell him I could write as well as he. The next word would be, “I don’t believe you. Let me see you try it.” I would then make the letters which I had been so fortunate as to learn, and ask him to beat that. In this way I got a good many lessons in writing, which it is quite possible I should never have gotten in any other way. During this time my copy-book was the 19board fence, brick wall and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk. With these I learned mainly how to write. I then commenced and continued copying the Italics in Webster’s Spelling-book, until I could make them all without looking on the book. By this time my little Master Thomas had gone to school and learned how to write, and had written over a number of copy-books. These had been brought home, and shown to some of our near neighbors, and then laid aside. My mistress used to go to class-meeting at the Wilk-street meeting-house every Monday afternoon, and leave me to take care of the house. When left thus I used to spend the time in writing in the spaces left in Master Thomas’ copy-book, copying what he had written. I continued to do this until I could write a hand very similar to that of Master Thomas. Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write.
These few quoted incidents will show that the case of George Harris is by no means so uncommon as might be supposed.
Let the reader peruse135 the account which George Harris gives of the sale of his mother and her children, and then read the following account given by the venerable Josiah Henson, now pastor136 of the missionary137 settlement at Dawn, in Canada.
After the death of his master, he says, the slaves of the plantation were all put up at auction and sold to the highest bidder138.
My brothers and sisters were bid off one by one, while my mother, holding my hand, looked on in an agony of grief, the cause of which I but ill understood at first, but which dawned on my mind with dreadful clearness as the sale proceeded. My mother was then separated from me, and put up in her turn. She was bought by a man named Isaac R., residing in Montgomery County [Maryland], and then I was offered to the assembled purchasers. My mother, half distracted with the parting forever from all her children, pushed through the crowd, while the bidding for me was going on, to the spot where R. was standing. She fell at his feet, and clung to his knees, entreating139 him, in tones that a mother only could command, to buy her baby as well as herself, and spare to her one of her little ones at least. Will it, can it be believed, that this man, thus appealed to, was capable not merely of turning a deaf ear to her supplication140, but of disengaging himself from her with such violent blows and kicks as to reduce her to the necessity of creeping out of his reach, and mingling141 the groan142 of bodily suffering with the sob51 of a breaking heart?
Now, all these incidents that have been given are real incidents of slavery, related by those who know slavery by the best of all tests—experience; and they are given by men who have earned a character in freedom which makes their word as good as the word of any man living.
The case of Lewis Clark might be called a harder one than common. The case of Douglass is probably a very fair average specimen143.
The writer has conversed144, in her time, with a very considerable number of liberated145 slaves, many of whom stated that their own individual lot had been comparatively a mild one; but she never talked with one who did not let fall, first or last, some incident which he had observed, some scene which he had witnessed, which went to show some most horrible abuse of the system; and, what was most affecting about it, the narrator often evidently considered it so much a matter of course as to mention it incidentally, without any particular emotion.
It is supposed by many that the great outcry among those who are opposed to slavery comes from a morbid146 reading of unauthenticated accounts gotten up in abolition papers, &c. This idea is a very mistaken one. The accounts which tell against the slave-system are derived148 from the continual living testimony149 of the poor slave himself; often from that of the fugitives150 from slavery who are continually passing through our Northern cities.
As a specimen of some of the incidents thus developed, is given the following fact of recent occurrence, related to the author by a lady in Boston. This lady, who was much in the habit of visiting the poor, was sent for, a month or two since, to see a mulatto woman who had just arrived at a colored boarding-house near by, and who appeared to be in much dejection of mind. A little conversation showed her to be a fugitive151. Her history was as follows: She, with her brother, were, as is often the case, both the children and slaves of their master. At his death they were left to his legitimate152 daughter as her servants, and treated with as much consideration as very common kind of people might be expected to show to those who were entirely and in every respect at their disposal.
The wife of her brother ran away to Canada; and as there was some talk of selling her and her child, in consequence of some embarrassment153 in the family affairs, her brother, a fine-spirited young man, determined to effect her escape, also, to a land of liberty. He concealed155 her for some time in the back part of an obscure dwelling156 in the city, till he could find an opportunity to send her off. While she was in this retreat, he was indefatigable157 in his attentions to her, frequently bringing her fruit and flowers, and doing everything he could to beguile158 the weariness of her imprisonment159.
20At length, the steward160 of a vessel, whom he had obliged, offered to conceal154 him on board the ship, and give him a chance to escape. The noble-hearted fellow, though tempted by an offer which would enable him immediately to join his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, preferred to give this offer to his sister, and during the absence of the captain of the vessel she and her child were brought on board and secreted161.
The captain, when he returned and discovered what had been done, was very angry, as the thing, if detected, would have involved him in very serious difficulties. He declared, at first, that he would send the woman up into town to jail; but, by her entreaties162 and those of the steward, was induced to wait till evening, and send word to her brother to come and take her back. After dark the brother came on board, and, instead of taking his sister away, began to appeal to the humanity of the captain in the most moving terms. He told his sister’s history and his own, and pleaded eloquently163 his desire for her liberty. The captain had determined to be obdurate164, but, alas165! he was only a man. Perhaps he had himself a wife and child,—perhaps he felt that, were he in the young man’s case, he would do just so for his sister. Be it as it may, he was at last overcome. He said to the young man, “I must send you away from my ship; I’ll put off a boat and see you got into it, and you must row off, and never let me see your faces again; and if, after all, you should come back and get on board, it will be your fault, and not mine.”
So, in the rain and darkness, the young man and his sister and child were lowered over the side of the vessel, and rowed away. After a while the ship weighed anchor, but before she reached Boston it was discovered that the woman and child were on board.
The lady to whom this story was related was requested to write a letter, in certain terms, to a person in the city whence the fugitive had come, to let the brother know of her safe arrival.
The fugitive was furnished with work, by which she could support herself and child, and the lady carefully attended to her wants for a few weeks.
One morning she came in, with a good deal of agitation166, exclaiming, “O, ma’am, he’s come! George is come!” And in a few minutes the young man was introduced.
The lady who gave this relation belongs to the first circles of Boston society; she says that she never was more impressed by the personal manners of any gentleman than by those of this fugitive brother. So much did he have the air of a perfect, finished gentleman, that she felt she could not question him with regard to his escape with the familiarity with which persons of his condition are commonly approached; and it was not till he requested her to write a letter for him, because he could not write himself, that she could realize that this fine specimen of manhood had been all his life a slave.
The remainder of the history is no less romantic. The lady had a friend in Montreal, whither George’s wife had gone; and, after furnishing money to pay their expenses, she presented them with a letter to this gentleman, requesting the latter to assist the young man in finding his wife. When they landed at Montreal, George stepped on shore and presented this letter to the first man he met, asking him if he knew to whom it was directed. The gentleman proved to be the very person to whom the letter was addressed. He knew George’s wife, brought him to her without delay, so that, by return mail, the lady had the satisfaction of learning the happy termination of the adventure.
This is but a specimen of histories which are continually transpiring167; so that those who speak of slavery can say, “We speak that which we do know, and testify that we have seen.”
But we shall be told the slaves are all a lying race, and that these are lies which they tell us. There are some things, however, about these slaves, which cannot lie. Those deep lines of patient sorrow upon the face; that attitude of crouching168 and humble169 subjection; that sad, habitual170 expression of hope deferred171, in the eye,—would tell their story, if the slave never spoke7.
It is not long since the writer has seen faces such as might haunt one’s dreams for weeks.
Suppose a poor, worn-out mother, sickly, feeble and old,—her hands worn to the bone with hard, unpaid172 toil,—whose nine children have been sold to the slave-trader, and whose tenth soon is to be sold, unless by her labor as washerwoman she can raise nine hundred dollars! Such are the kind of cases constantly coming to one’s knowledge,—such are the witnesses which will not let us sleep.
Doubt has been expressed whether such a thing as an advertisement for a man, “dead or alive,” like the advertisement for George Harris, was ever published in the Southern States. The scene of the story in which that occurs is supposed to be laid a few years back, at the time when the black laws of Ohio were passed. That at this time such advertisements were common in the newspapers, there is abundant evidence. That they are less common now, is a matter of hope and gratulation.
In the year 1839, Mr. Theodore D. Weld made a systematic173 attempt to collect and arrange the statistics of slavery. A mass of facts and statistics was gathered, which were authenticated147 with the most unquestionable accuracy. Some of the “one thousand witnesses,” whom he brings upon the stand, were ministers, lawyers, merchants, and men of various other callings, who were either natives of the slave states, or had been residents there for many years of their life. Many of these were slave-holders. Others of the witnesses were, or had been, slave-drivers, or officers of coasting-vessels engaged in the slave-trade.
Another part of his evidence was gathered from public speeches in Congress, in the state legislatures, and elsewhere. But the majority of it was taken from recent newspapers.
The papers from which these facts were copied were preserved and put on file in a public place, where they remained for some years, for the information of the curious. After Mr. Weld’s book was completed, a copy of it was sent, through the mail, to every editor from whose paper such advertisements had been taken, and to every individual of whom any facts had been narrated174, with the passages which concerned them marked.
It is quite possible that this may have had some influence in rendering175 such advertisements less common. Men of sense often go on doing a thing which is very absurd, or even inhuman176, simply because it has always been done before them, and they follow general custom, without much reflection. When their attention, however, is called to it by a stranger who sees the thing from another point of view, they become immediately sensible of the impropriety of the practice, and discontinue it. The reader will, however, be pained to notice, when he comes to the legal part of the book, that even in some of the largest cities of our slave states this barbarity had not been entirely discontinued, in the year 1850.
The list of advertisements in Mr. Weld’s book is here inserted, not to weary the reader with its painful details, but that, by running his eye over the dates of the papers quoted, and the places of their publication, he may form a fair estimate of the extent to which this atrocity177 was publicly practised:
The Wilmington (North Carolina) Advertiser of July 13, 1838, contains the following advertisement:
“$100 will be paid to any person who may apprehend178 and safely confine in any jail in this state a certain negro man, named Alfred. And the same reward will be paid, if satisfactory evidence is given of his having been KILLED. He has one or more scars on one of his hands, caused by his having been shot.
The Citizens of Onslow.
“Richlands, Onslow Co., May 16, 1838.”
In the same column with the above, and directly under it, is the following:
“Ranaway, my negro man Richard. A reward of $25 will be paid for his apprehension, DEAD or ALIVE. Satisfactory proof will only be required of his being KILLED. He has with him, in all probability, his wife, Eliza, who ran away from Col. Thompson, now a resident of Alabama, about the time he commenced his journey to that state.
Durant H. Rhodes.”
In the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, May 28, is the following:
“About the 1st of March last the negro man Ransom179 left me without the least provocation180 whatever; I will give a reward of twenty dollars for said negro, if taken, DEAD OR ALIVE,—and if killed in any attempt, an advance of five dollars will be paid.
Bryant Johnson.
“Crawford Co., Georgia.”
See the Newbern (N. C.) Spectator, Jan. 5, 1838, for the following:
“RANAWAY from the subscriber, a negro man named SAMPSON. Fifty dollars reward will be given for the delivery of him to me, or his confinement181 in any jail, so that I get him; and should he resist in being taken, so that violence is necessary to arrest him, I will not hold any person liable for damages should the slave be KILLED.
Enoch Foy.
“Jones Co., N. C.”
From the Charleston (S. C.) Courier, Feb. 20, 1836:
“$300 REWARD.—Ranaway from the subscriber, in November last, his two negro men named Billy and Pompey.
“Billy is 25 years old, and is known as the patroon of my boat for many years; in all probability he may resist; in that event 50 dollars will be paid for his HEAD.”
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1
overdrawn
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| 透支( overdraw的过去分词 )； (overdraw的过去分词) | |
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afflictive
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| 带给人痛苦的，苦恼的，难受的 | |
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3
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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4
subscriber
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| n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者 | |
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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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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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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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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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rouge
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| n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红 | |
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11
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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12
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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13
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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14
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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16
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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17
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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18
payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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endorsers
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| n.背书人，转让人( endorser的名词复数 ) | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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21
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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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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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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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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idiocy
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| n.愚蠢 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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pacificatory
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| 和解的 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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43
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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44
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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45
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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47
abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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48
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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49
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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50
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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51
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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52
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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53
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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54
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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55
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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56
sundering
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| v.隔开，分开( sunder的现在分词 ) | |
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57
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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58
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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59
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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60
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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61
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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62
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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63
emancipated
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| adj.被解放的，不受约束的v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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66
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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67
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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69
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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70
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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71
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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72
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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73
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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75
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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76
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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77
scourged
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| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
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78
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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80
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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81
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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83
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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84
contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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85
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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86
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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87
orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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88
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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89
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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90
repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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92
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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93
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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94
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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95
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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96
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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97
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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98
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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99
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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100
indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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101
tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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102
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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103
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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104
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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105
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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106
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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107
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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108
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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109
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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110
urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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111
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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112
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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113
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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114
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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115
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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116
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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117
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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118
vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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119
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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120
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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121
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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122
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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123
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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125
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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126
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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127
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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128
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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129
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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130
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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131
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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132
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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133
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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134
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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135
peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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136
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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137
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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138
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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139
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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140
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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141
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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142
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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143
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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144
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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145
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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146
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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147
authenticated
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| v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效 | |
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148
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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149
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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150
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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151
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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152
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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153
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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154
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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155
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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156
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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157
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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158
beguile
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| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
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159
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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160
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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161
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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162
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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163
eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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164
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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165
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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166
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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167
transpiring
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的现在分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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168
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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169
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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170
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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171
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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172
unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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173
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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174
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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175
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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176
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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177
atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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178
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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179
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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180
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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181
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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