Many people have said to her, “I knew an Uncle Tom in such and such a Southern State.” All the histories of this kind which have thus been related to her would of themselves, if collected, make a small volume. The author will relate a few of them.
While visiting in an obscure town in Maine, in the family of a friend, the conversation happened to turn upon this subject, and the gentleman with whose family she was staying related the following. He said that, when on a visit to his brother, in New Orleans, some years before, he found in his possession a most valuable negro man, of such remarkable2 probity3 and honesty that his brother literally4 trusted him with all he had. He had frequently seen him take out a handful of bills, without looking at them, and hand them to this servant, bidding him go and provide what was necessary for the family, and bring him the change. He remonstrated5 with his brother on this imprudence; but the latter replied that he had had such proof of this servant’s impregnable conscientiousness7 that he felt it safe to trust him to any extent.
The history of the servant was this. He had belonged to a man in Baltimore, who, having a general prejudice against all the religious exercises of slaves, did all that he could to prevent his having any time for devotional duties, and strictly9 forbade him to read the Bible and pray, either by himself, or with the other servants; and because, like a certain man of old, named Daniel, he constantly disobeyed this unchristian edict, his master inflicted11 upon him that punishment which a master always has in his power to inflict,—he sold him into perpetual exile from his wife and children, down to New Orleans.
The gentleman who gave the writer this information says that, although not himself a religious man at the time, he was so struck with the man’s piety12 that he said to his brother, “I hope you will never do anything to deprive this man of his religious privileges, for I think a judgment13 will come upon you if you do.” To this his brother replied that he should be very foolish to do it, since 24he had made up his mind that the man’s religion was the root of his extraordinary excellences14.
Some time since, there was sent to the writer from the South, through the mail, a little book, entitled, “Sketches16 of Old Virginia Family Servants,” with a preface by Bishop17 Meade. The book contains an account of the following servants: African Bella, Old Milly, Blind Lucy, Aunt Betty, Springfield Bob, Mammy Chris, Diana Washington, Aunt Margaret, Rachel Parker, Nelly Jackson, My Own Mammy, Aunt Beck.
The following extract from Bishop Meade’s preface may not be uninteresting.
The following sketches were placed in my hands with a request that I would examine them with a view to publication.
After reading them I could not but think that they would be both pleasing and edifying19.
Very many such examples of fidelity20 and piety might be added from the old Virginia families. These will suffice as specimens21, and will serve to show how interesting the relation between master and servant often is.
Many will doubtless be surprised to find that there was so much intelligence, as well as piety, in some of the old servants of Virginia, and that they had learned to read the Sacred Scriptures23, so as to be useful in this way among their fellow-servants. It is, and always has been true, in regard to the servants of the Southern States, that although public schools may have been prohibited, yet no interference has been attempted, where the owners have chosen to teach their servants, or permit them to learn in a private way, how to read God’s word. Accordingly, there always have been some who were thus taught. In the more southern states the number of these has most abounded26. Of this fact I became well assured, about thirty years since, when visiting the Atlantic states, with a view to the formation of auxiliary27 colonization28 societies, and the selection of the first colonists29 for Africa. In the city of Charleston, South Carolina, I found more intelligence and character among the free colored population than anywhere else. The same was true of some of those in bondage30. A respectable number might be seen in certain parts of the Episcopal churches which I attended using their prayer-books, and joining in the responses of the church.
Many purposes of convenience and hospitality were subserved by this encouragement of cultivation31 in some of the servants, on the part of the owners.
When travelling many years since with a sick wife, and two female relatives, from Charleston to Virginia, at a period of the year when many of the families from the country resort to the town for health, we were kindly32 urged to call at the seat of one of the first families in South Carolina, and a letter from the mistress, then in the city, was given us, to her servant, who had charge of the house in the absence of the family. On reaching there and delivering the letter to a most respectable-looking female servant, who immediately read it, we were kindly welcomed, and entertained, during a part of two days, as sumptuously34 as though the owner had been present. We understood that it was no uncommon35 thing in South Carolina for travellers to be thus entertained by the servants in the absence of the owners, on receiving letters from the same.
Instances of confidential36 and affectionate relationship between servants and their masters and mistresses, such as are set forth37 in the following Sketches, are still to be found in all the slaveholding states. I mention one, which has come under my own observation. The late Judge Upshur, of Virginia, had a faithful house-servant (by his will now set free), with whom he used to correspond on matters of business, when he was absent on his circuit. I was dining at his house, some years since, with a number of persons, himself being absent, when the conversation turned on the subject of the presidential election, then going on through the United States, and about which there was an intense interest; when his servant informed us that he had that day received a letter from his master, then on the western shore, in which he stated that the friends of General Harrison might be relieved from all uneasiness, as the returns already received made his election quite certain.
Of course it is not to be supposed that we design to convey the impression that such instances are numerous, the nature of the relationship forbidding it; but we do mean emphatically to affirm that there is far more of kindly and Christian10 intercourse38 than many at a distance are apt to believe. That there is a great and sad want of Christian instruction, notwithstanding the more recent efforts put forth to impart it, we most sorrowfully acknowledge.
Bishop Meade adds that these sketches are published with the hope that they might have the effect of turning the attention of ministers and heads of families more seriously to the duty of caring for the souls of their servants.
With regard to the servant of Judge Upshur, spoken of in this communication of Bishop Meade, his master has left, in his last will, the following remarkable tribute to his worth and excellence15 of character:
I emancipate40 and set free my servant, David Rice, and direct my executors to give him one hundred dollars. I recommend him in the strongest manner to the respect, esteem41 and confidence, of any community in which he may happen to live. He has been my slave for twenty-four years, during all which time he has been trusted to every extent, and in every respect; my confidence in him has been unbounded; his relation to myself and family has always been such as to afford him daily opportunities to deceive and injure us, yet he has never been detected in any serious fault, nor even in an unintentional breach42 of the decorum of his station. His intelligence is of a high order, his integrity above all suspicion, and his sense of right and propriety43 correct, and even refined. I feel that he is justly entitled to carry this certificate from me in the new relations which he must now form; it is due to his long and most faithful services, and to the sincere and steady friendship which I bear to him. In the uninterrupted 25confidential intercourse of twenty-four years, I have never given him, nor had occasion to give him, one unpleasant word. I know no man who has fewer faults or more excellences than he.
In the free states there have been a few instances of such extraordinary piety among negroes, that their biography and sayings have been collected in religious tracts44, and published for the instruction of the community.
One of these was, before his conversion45, a convict in a state-prison in New York, and there received what was, perhaps, the first religious instruction that had ever been imparted to him. He became so eminent46 an example of humility47, faith, and, above all, fervent48 love, that his presence in the neighborhood was esteemed49 a blessing50 to the church. A lady has described to the writer the manner in which he would stand up and exhort51 in the church-meetings for prayer, when, with streaming eyes and the deepest abasement52, humbly53 addressing them as his masters and misses, he would nevertheless pour forth religious exhortations54 which were edifying to the most cultivated and refined.
In the town of Brunswick, Maine, where the writer lived when writing “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” may now be seen the grave of an aged55 colored woman, named Phebe, who was so eminent for her piety and loveliness of character, that the writer has never heard her name mentioned except with that degree of awe56 and respect which one would imagine due to a saint. The small cottage where she resided is still visited and looked upon as a sort of shrine57, as the spot where old Phebe lived and prayed. Her prayers and pious58 exhortations were supposed to have been the cause of the conversion of many young people in the place. Notwithstanding that the unchristian feeling of caste prevails as strongly in Maine as anywhere else in New England, and the negro, commonly speaking, is an object of aversion and contempt, yet, so great was the influence of her piety and loveliness of character, that she was uniformly treated with the utmost respect and attention by all classes of people. The most cultivated and intelligent ladies of the place esteemed it a privilege to visit her cottage; and when she was old and helpless, her wants were most tenderly provided for. When the news of her death was spread abroad in the place, it excited a general and very tender sensation of regret. “We have lost Phebe’s prayers,” was the remark frequently made afterwards by members of the church, as they met one another. At her funeral the ex-governor of the state and the professors of the college officiated as pall-bearers, and a sermon was preached in which the many excellences of her Christian character were held up as an example to the community. A small religious tract18, containing an account of her life, was published by the American Tract Society, prepared by a lady of Brunswick. The writer recollects59 that on reading the tract, when she first went to Brunswick, a doubt arose in her mind whether it was not somewhat exaggerated. Some time afterwards she overheard some young persons conversing60 together about the tract, and saying that they did not think it gave exactly the right idea of Phebe. “Why, is it too highly colored?” was the inquiry61 of the author. “O, no, no, indeed,” was the earnest response; “it doesn’t begin to give an idea of how good she was.”
Such instances as these serve to illustrate62 the words of the apostle, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty63.”
John Bunyan says that although the valley of humiliation64 be unattractive in the eyes of the men of this world, yet the very sweetest flowers grow there. So it is with the condition of the lowly and poor in this world. God has often, indeed always, shown a particular regard for it, in selecting from that class the recipients65 of his grace. It is to be remembered that Jesus Christ, when he came to found the Christian dispensation, did not choose his apostles from the chief priests and the scribes, learned in the law, and high in the church; nor did he choose them from philosophers and poets, whose educated and comprehensive minds might be supposed best able to appreciate his great designs; but he chose twelve plain, poor fishermen, who were ignorant, and felt that they were ignorant, and who, therefore, were willing to give themselves up with all simplicity66 to his guidance. What God asks of the soul more than anything else is faith and simplicity, the affection and reliance of the little child. Even these twelve fancied too much that they were wise, and Jesus was obliged to set a little child in the midst of them, as a more perfect teacher.
The negro race is confessedly more simple, docile67, childlike and affectionate, than other races; and hence the divine graces of love and faith, when in-breathed by the Holy Spirit, find in their natural temperament68 a more congenial atmosphere.
26A last instance parallel with that of Uncle Tom is to be found in the published memoirs69 of the venerable Josiah Henson, now, as we have said, a clergyman in Canada. He was “raised” in the State of Maryland. His first recollections were of seeing his father mutilated and covered with blood, suffering the penalty of the law for the crime of raising his hand against a white man,—that white man being the overseer, who had attempted a brutal70 assault upon his mother. This punishment made his father surly and dangerous, and he was subsequently sold south, and thus parted forever from his wife and children. Henson grew up in a state of heathenism, without any religious instruction, till, in a camp-meeting, he first heard of Jesus Christ, and was electrified71 by the great and thrilling news that He had tasted death for every man, the bond as well as the free. This story produced an immediate33 conversion, such as we read of in the Acts of the Apostles, where the Ethiopian eunuch, from one interview, hearing the story of the cross, at once believes and is baptized. Henson forthwith not only became a Christian, but began to declare the news to those about him; and, being a man of great natural force of mind and strength of character, his earnest endeavors to enlighten his fellow-heathen were so successful that he was gradually led to assume the station of a negro preacher; and though he could not read a word of the Bible or hymn72-book, his labors73 in this line were much prospered74. He became immediately a very valuable slave to his master, and was intrusted by the latter with the oversight75 of his whole estate, which he managed with great judgment and prudence6. His master appears to have been a very ordinary man in every respect,—to have been entirely76 incapable77 of estimating him in any other light then as exceedingly valuable property, and to have had no other feeling excited by his extraordinary faithfulness than the desire to make the most of him. When his affairs became embarrassed, he formed the design of removing all his negroes into Kentucky, and intrusted the operation entirely to his overseer. Henson was to take them alone, without any other attendant, from Maryland to Kentucky, a distance of some thousands of miles, giving only his promise as a Christian that he would faithfully perform this undertaking78. On the way thither79 they passed through a portion of Ohio, and there Henson was informed that he could now secure his own freedom and that of all his fellows, and he was strongly urged to do it. He was exceedingly tempted25 and tried, but his Christian principle was invulnerable. No inducements could lead him to feel that it was right for a Christian to violate a pledge solemnly given, and his influence over the whole band was so great that he took them all with him into Kentucky. Those casuists among us who lately seem to think and teach that it is right for us to violate the plain commands of God whenever some great national good can be secured by it, would do well to contemplate80 the inflexible81 principle of this poor slave, who, without being able to read a letter of the Bible, was yet enabled to perform this most sublime82 act of self-renunciation in obedience83 its commands. Subsequently to this his master, in a relenting moment, was induced by a friend to sell him his freedom for four hundred dollars; but, when the excitement of the importunity84 had passed off, he regretted that he had suffered so valuable a piece of property to leave his hands for so slight a remuneration. By an unworthy artifice86, therefore, he got possession of his servant’s free papers, and condemned87 him still to hopeless slavery. Subsequently, his affairs becoming still more involved, he sent his son down the river with a flat-boat loaded with cattle and produce for the New Orleans market, directing him to take Henson along, and sell him after they had sold the cattle and the boat. All the depths of the negro’s soul were torn up and thrown into convulsion by this horrible piece of ingratitude88, cruelty and injustice89; and, while outwardly calm, he was struggling with most bitter temptations from within, which, as he could not read the Bible, he could repel90 only by a recollection of its sacred truths, and by earnest prayer. As he neared the New Orleans market, he says that these convulsions of soul increased, especially when he met some of his old companions from Kentucky, whose despairing countenances91 and emaciated92 forms told of hard work and insufficient93 food, and confirmed all his worst fears of the lower country. In the transports of his despair, the temptation was more urgently presented to him to murder his young master and the other hand on the flat-boat in their sleep, to seize upon the boat, and make his escape. He thus relates the scene where he was almost brought to the perpetration of this deed:
One dark, rainy night, within a few days of New Orleans, my hour seemed to have come. I was alone on the deck; Mr. Amos and the hands were all asleep below, and I crept down noiselessly, got hold of an axe94, entered the cabin, and 27looking by the aid of the dim light there for my victims, my eye fell upon Master Amos, who was nearest to me; my hand slid along the axe-handle, I raised it to strike the fatal blow,—when suddenly the thought came to me, “What! commit murder! and you a Christian?” I had not called it murder before. It was self-defence,—it was preventing others from murdering me,—it was justifiable95, it was even praiseworthy. But now, all at once, the truth burst upon me that it was a crime. I was going to kill a young man, who had done nothing to injure me, but obey commands which he could not resist; I was about to lose the fruit of all my efforts at self-improvement, the character I had acquired, and the peace of mind which had never deserted96 me. All this came upon me instantly, and with a distinctness which made me almost think I heard it whispered in my ear; and I believe I even turned my head to listen. I shrunk back, laid down the axe, crept up on deck again, and thanked God, as I have done every day since, that I had not committed murder.
My feelings were still agitated97, but they were changed. I was filled with shame and remorse98 for the design I had entertained, and with the fear that my companions would detect it in my face, or that a careless word would betray my guilty thoughts. I remained on deck all night, instead of rousing one of the men to relieve me; and nothing brought composure to my mind, but the solemn resolution I then made to resign myself to the will of God, and take with thankfulness, if I could, but with submission99, at all events, whatever he might decide should be my lot. I reflected that if my life were reduced to a brief term I should have less to suffer, and that it was better to die with a Christian’s hope, and a quiet conscience, than to live with the incessant100 recollection of a crime that would destroy the value of life, and under the weight of a secret that would crush out the satisfaction that might be expected from freedom, and every other blessing.
Subsequently to this, his young master was taken violently down with the river fever, and became as helpless as a child. He passionately102 entreated103 Henson not to desert him, but to attend to the selling of the boat and produce, and put him on board the steamboat, and not to leave him, dead or alive, till he had carried him back to his father.
The young master was borne in the arms of his faithful servant to the steamboat, and there nursed by him with unremitting attention during the journey up the river; nor did he leave him till he had placed him in his father’s arms.
Our love for human nature would lead us to add, with sorrow, that all this disinterestedness104 and kindness was rewarded only by empty praises, such as would be bestowed105 upon a very fine dog; and Henson indignantly resolved no longer to submit to the injustice. With a degree of prudence, courage and address, which can scarcely find a parallel in any history, he managed, with his wife and two children, to escape into Canada. Here he learned to read, and, by his superior talent and capacity for management, laid the foundation for the fugitive106 settlement of Dawn, which is understood to be one of the most flourishing in Canada.
It would be well for the most cultivated of us to ask, whether our ten talents in the way of religious knowledge have enabled us to bring forth as much fruit to the glory of God, to withstand temptation as patiently, to return good for evil as disinterestedly107, as this poor, ignorant slave. A writer in England has sneeringly108 remarked that such a man as Uncle Tom might be imported as a missionary110 to teach the most cultivated in England or America the true nature of religion. These instances show that what has been said with a sneer109 is in truth a sober verity111; and it should never be forgotten that out of this race whom man despiseth have often been chosen of God true messengers of his grace, and temples for the indwelling of his Spirit.
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity112, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite113 and humble114 spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
The vision attributed to Uncle Tom introduces quite a curious chapter of psychology115 with regard to the negro race, and indicates a peculiarity117 which goes far to show how very different they are from the white race. They are possessed118 of a nervous organization peculiarly susceptible119 and impressible. Their sensations and impressions are very vivid, and their fancy and imagination lively. In this respect the race has an oriental character, and betrays its tropical origin. Like the Hebrews of old and the oriental nations of the present, they give vent8 to their emotions with the utmost vivacity120 of expression, and their whole bodily system sympathizes with the movements of their minds. When in distress121, they actually lift up their voices to weep, and “cry with an exceeding bitter cry.” When alarmed, they are often paralyzed, and rendered entirely helpless. Their religious exercises are all colored by this sensitive and exceedingly vivacious122 temperament. Like oriental nations, they incline much to outward expressions, violent gesticulations, and agitating123 movements of the body. Sometimes, in their religious meetings, they will spring from the floor many times in succession, with a violence and rapidity which is perfectly124 astonishing. 28They will laugh, weep, embrace each other convulsively, and sometimes become entirely paralyzed and cataleptic. A clergyman from the North once remonstrated with a Southern clergyman for permitting such extravagances among his flock. The reply of the Southern minister was, in effect, this: “Sir, I am satisfied that the races are so essentially125 different that they cannot be regulated by the same rules. I, at first, felt as you do; and, though I saw that genuine conversions126 did take place, with all this outward manifestation127, I was still so much annoyed by it as to forbid it among my negroes, till I was satisfied that the repression128 of it was a serious hindrance129 to real religious feeling; and then I became certain that all men cannot be regulated in their religious exercises by one model. I am assured that conversions produced with these accessories are quite as apt to be genuine, and to be as influential130 over the heart and life, as those produced in any other way.” The fact is, that the Anglo-Saxon race—cool, logical and practical—have yet to learn the doctrine131 of toleration for the peculiarities132 of other races; and perhaps it was with a foresight133 of their peculiar116 character, and dominant134 position in the earth, that God gave the Bible to them in the fervent language and with the glowing imagery of the more susceptible and passionate101 oriental races.
Mesmerists have found that the negroes are singularly susceptible to all that class of influences which produce catalepsy, mesmeric sleep, and partial clairvoyant135 phenomena136.
The African race, in their own climate, are believers in spells, in “fetish and obi,” in “the evil eye,” and other singular influences, for which, probably, there is an origin in this peculiarity of constitution. The magicians in scriptural history were Africans; and the so-called magical arts are still practised in Egypt, and other parts of Africa, with a degree of skill and success which can only be accounted for by supposing peculiarities of nervous constitution quite different from those of the whites. Considering those distinctive137 traits of the race, it is no matter of surprise to find in their religious histories, when acted upon by the powerful stimulant138 of the Christian religion, very peculiar features. We are not surprised to find almost constantly, in the narrations139 of their religious histories, accounts of visions, of heavenly voices, of mysterious sympathies and transmissions of knowledge from heart to heart without the intervention140 of the senses, or what the Quakers call being “baptized into the spirit” of those who are distant.
Cases of this kind are constantly recurring141 in their histories. The young man whose story was related to the Boston lady, and introduced above in the chapter on George Harris, stated this incident concerning the recovery of his liberty: That, after the departure of his wife and sister, he, for a long time, and very earnestly, sought some opportunity of escape, but that every avenue appeared to be closed to him. At length, in despair, he retreated to his room, and threw himself upon his bed, resolving to give up the undertaking, when, just as he was sinking to sleep, he was roused by a voice saying in his ear, “Why do you sleep now? Rise up, if you ever mean to be free!” He sprang up, went immediately out, and, in the course of two hours, discovered the means of escape which he used.
A lady whose history is known to the writer resided for some time on a Southern plantation142, and was in the habit of imparting religious instruction to the slaves. One day, a woman from a distant plantation called at her residence, and inquired for her. The lady asked, in surprise, “How did you know about me?” The old woman’s reply was, that she had long been distressed143 about her soul; but that, several nights before, some one had appeared to her in a dream, told her to go to this plantation and inquire for the strange lady there, and that she would teach her the way to heaven.
Another specimen22 of the same kind was related to the writer by a slave-woman who had been through the whole painful experience of a slave’s life. She was originally a young girl of pleasing exterior144 and gentle nature, carefully reared as a seamstress and nurse to the children of a family in Virginia, and attached, with all the warmth of her susceptible nature, to these children. Although one of the tenderest of mothers when the writer knew her, yet she assured the writer that she had never loved a child of her own as she loved the dear little young mistress who was her particular charge. Owing, probably, to some pecuniary145 difficulty in the family, this girl, whom we will call Louisa, was sold, to go on to a Southern plantation. She has often described the scene when she was forced into a carriage, and saw her dear young mistress leaning from the window, stretching her arms towards her, screaming, and calling her 29name, with all the vehemence146 of childish grief. She was carried in a coffle, and sold as cook on a Southern plantation. With the utmost earnestness of language she has described to the writer her utter loneliness, and the distress and despair of her heart, in this situation, parted forever from all she held dear on earth, without even the possibility of writing letters or sending messages, surrounded by those who felt no kind of interest in her, and forced to a toil147 for which her more delicate education had entirely unfitted her. Under these circumstances, she began to believe that it was for some dreadful sin she had thus been afflicted148. The course of her mind after this may be best told in her own simple words:
“After that, I began to feel awful wicked,—O, so wicked, you’ve no idea! I felt so wicked that my sins seemed like a load on me, and I went so heavy all the day! I felt so wicked that I didn’t feel worthy85 to pray in the house, and I used to go way off in the lot and pray. At last, one day, when I was praying, the Lord he came and spoke39 to me.”
“The Lord spoke to you?” said the writer; “what do you mean, Louisa?”
With a face of the utmost earnestness, she answered, “Why, ma’am, the Lord Jesus he came and spoke to me, you know; and I never, till the last day of my life, shall forget what he said to me.”
“What was it?” said the writer.
“He said, ‘Fear not, my little one; thy sins are forgiven thee;’” and she added to this some verses, which the writer recognized as those of a Methodist hymn.
Being curious to examine more closely this phenomenon, the author said,
“You mean that you dreamed this, Louisa.”
With an air of wounded feeling, and much earnestness, she answered,
“O no, Mrs. Stowe; that never was a dream; you’ll never make me believe that.”
The thought at once arose in the writer’s mind, If the Lord Jesus is indeed everywhere present, and if he is as tender-hearted and compassionate149 as he was on earth,—and we know he is,—must he not sometimes long to speak to the poor, desolate150 slave, when he knows that no voice but His can carry comfort and healing to his soul?
This instance of Louisa is so exactly parallel to another case, which the author received from an authentic151 source, that she is tempted to place the two side by side.
Among the slaves who were brought into the New England States, at the time when slavery was prevalent, was one woman, who, immediately on being told the history of the love of Jesus Christ, exclaimed, “He is the one; this is what I wanted.”
This language causing surprise, her history was inquired into. It was briefly152 this: While living in her simple hut in Africa, the kidnappers153 one day rushed upon her family, and carried her husband and children off to the slave-ship, she escaping into the woods. On returning to her desolate home, she mourned with the bitterness of “Rachel weeping for her children.” For many days her heart was oppressed with a heavy weight of sorrow; and, refusing all sustenance154, she wandered up and down the desolate forest.
At last, she says, a strong impulse came over her to kneel down and pour out her sorrows into the ear of some unknown Being whom she fancied to be above her, in the sky.
She did so; and, to her surprise, found an inexpressible sensation of relief. After this, it was her custom daily to go out to this same spot, and supplicate155 this unknown Friend. Subsequently, she was herself taken, and brought over to America; and, when the story of Jesus and his love was related to her, she immediately felt in her soul that this Jesus was the very friend who had spoken comfort to her yearning156 spirit in the distant forest of Africa.
Compare now these experiences with the earnest and beautiful language of Paul: “He hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined157 the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, that THEY SHOULD seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though he be not far from every one of us.”
Is not this truly “feeling after God and finding Him”? And may we not hope that the yearning, troubled, helpless heart of man, pressed by the insufferable anguish158 of this short life, or wearied by its utter vanity, never extends its ignorant, pleading hand to God in vain? Is not the veil which divides us from an almighty159 and most merciful Father much thinner than we, in the pride of our philosophy, are apt to imagine? and is it not the most worthy conception of Him to suppose that the more utterly160 helpless and ignorant the human being is that seeks His aid, the more tender and the more condescending161 will be His communication with that soul?
If a mother has among her children one whom sickness has made blind, or deaf, or dumb, incapable of acquiring knowledge through the usual channels of communication, does she not seek to reach its darkened mind by modes of communication tenderer and more intimate than those which she uses with the stronger and more favored ones? But can the love of any mother be compared with the infinite love of Jesus? Has He not described himself as that good Shepherd who leaves the whole flock of secure and well-instructed ones, to follow over the mountains of sin and ignorance the one lost sheep; and, when He hath found it, rejoicing more over that one than over the ninety and nine that went not astray? Has He not told us that each of these little ones has a guardian162 angel that doth always behold163 the face of his Father which is in heaven? And is it not comforting to us to think that His love and care will be in proportion to the ignorance and the wants of His chosen ones?
Since the above was prepared for the press the author has received the following extract from a letter written by a gentleman in Missouri to the editor of the Oberlin (Ohio) Evangelist:
I really thought, while reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” that the authoress, when describing the character of Tom, had in her mind’s eye a slave whose acquaintance I made some years since, in the State of Mississippi, called “Uncle Jacob.” I was staying a day or two with a planter, and in the evening, when out in the yard, I heard a well-known hymn and tune164 sung in one of the “quarters,” and then the voice of prayer; and O, such a prayer! what fervor165, what unction,—nay, the man “prayed right up;” and when I read of Uncle Tom, how “nothing could exceed the touching166 simplicity, the childlike earnestness, of his prayer, enriched with the language of Scripture24, which seemed so entirely to have wrought167 itself into his being as to have become a part of himself,” the recollections of that evening prayer were strangely vivid. On entering the house and referring to what I had heard, his master replied, “Ah, sir, if I covet168 anything in this world, it is Uncle Jacob’s religion. If there is a good man on earth, he certainly is one.” He said Uncle Jacob was a regulator on the plantation; that a word or a look from him, addressed to younger slaves, had more efficacy than a blow from the overseer.
The next morning Uncle Jacob informed me he was from Kentucky, opposite Cincinnati; that his opportunities for attending religious worship had been frequent; that at about the age of forty he was sold south, was set to picking cotton; could not, when doing his best, pick the task assigned him; was whipped and whipped, he could not possibly tell how often; was of the opinion that the overseer came to the conclusion that whipping could not bring one more pound out of him, for he set him to driving a team. At this and other work he could “make a hand;” had changed owners three or four times. He expressed himself as well pleased with his present situation as he expected to be in the South, but was yearning to return to his former associations in Kentucky.
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| 证实( confirmation的名词复数 )； 证据； 确认； （基督教中的）坚信礼 | |
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2
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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3
probity
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| n.刚直；廉洁，正直 | |
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4
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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5
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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6
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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7
conscientiousness
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| 责任心 | |
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8
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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9
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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10
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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11
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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13
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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14
excellences
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| n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的 | |
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15
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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16
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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17
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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18
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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19
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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20
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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21
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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22
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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23
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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24
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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25
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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26
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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28
colonization
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| 殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖 | |
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29
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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30
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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31
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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32
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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33
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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34
sumptuously
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| 奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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35
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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36
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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37
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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38
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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39
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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40
emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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41
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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42
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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43
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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44
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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45
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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46
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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47
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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48
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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49
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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50
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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51
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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52
abasement
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| n.滥用 | |
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53
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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54
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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55
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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56
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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57
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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58
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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59
recollects
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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61
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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62
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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63
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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64
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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65
recipients
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| adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器 | |
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66
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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67
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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68
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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69
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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70
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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71
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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72
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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73
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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74
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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76
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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77
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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78
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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79
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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80
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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81
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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82
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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83
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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84
importunity
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| n.硬要，强求 | |
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85
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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86
artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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87
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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88
ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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89
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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90
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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91
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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92
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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93
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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94
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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95
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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96
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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97
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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98
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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99
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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100
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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101
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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102
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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103
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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104
disinterestedness
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105
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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107
disinterestedly
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108
sneeringly
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| 嘲笑地，轻蔑地 | |
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109
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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110
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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111
verity
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| n.真实性 | |
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112
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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113
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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114
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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115
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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116
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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117
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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118
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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119
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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120
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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121
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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122
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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123
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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124
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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125
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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126
conversions
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| 变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分 | |
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127
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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128
repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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129
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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130
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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131
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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132
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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clairvoyant
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| adj.有预见的；n.有预见的人 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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139
narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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153
kidnappers
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| n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 ) | |
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sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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supplicate
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| v.恳求；adv.祈求地，哀求地，恳求地 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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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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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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