flections in my mind, as to the situation of
slaves, and caused me to contrast the condition of a white boy with mine,
which the following occurrence will more vividly pourtray. One morning
after my mother was sold, a white boy was stealing corn out of my master's
barn, and I said for this act we black boys will be whipped until one of
us confesses to have done that we are all innocent of, as such is the case
in every instance; and I thought, Oh, that master was here, or the
overseer, I would then let them see what becomes of the corn. But, I saw
he was off with the corn to the extent of half a bushel, and I will say
nothing about it until they miss it, and if I tell them they wont believe
me if he denies it, because he is white and I am black. Oh! how dreadful
it is to be black! Why was I born black? It would have been better had I
not been born at all. Only yesterday, my mother was sold to go to, not one
of us knows were, and I am left alone, and I have no hope of seeing her
again. At this moment a raven alighted on a tree over my head, and I
cried, "Oh, Raven! if I had wings like you, I would soon find my mother
and be happy again." Before parting she advised me to be a good boy, and
she would pray for me, and I must pray for her, and hoped we might meet
again in heaven, and I at once commenced to pray, to the best of my
knowledge, "Our Father art in Heaven, be Thy name, kingdom come.--Amen."
But, at this time, words of my master obtruded into my mind that God did
not care for black folks, as he did not make them, but the d---l did. Then
I thought of the old saying amongst us, as stated by our master, that,
when God was making man, He made white man out of the best clay, as
potters make china, and the d---l was watching, and he immediately took up
some black mud and made a black man, and called him a nigger. My master
was continually impressing upon me the necessity of being a good boy, and
used to say, that if I was good, and behaved as well to him as my mother
had done, I should go to Heaven without a question being asked. My mother
having often said the same, I determined from that day to be a good boy,
and constantly frequented the Meeting-house attended by the blacks where I
learned from the minister, Mr. Cobb, how much the Lord had done for the
blacks and for their salvation; and he was in the habit of reminding us
what advantages he had given us for our benefit, for when we were in our
native country, Africa, we