the peculiar rules necessary to be observed by masters and
mistresses, in the management of their human chattels. Mr. Auld promptly
forbade continuance of her instruction; telling her, in the first place,
that the thing itself was unlawful; that it was also unsafe, and could
only lead to mischief. To use{114} his own words, further, he said, "if
you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell;" "he should know nothing
but the will of his master, and learn to obey it." "if you teach that
nigger--speaking of myself--how to read the bible, there will be no
keeping him;" "it would forever unfit him for the duties of a slave;"
and "as to himself, learning would do him no good, but probably, a great
deal of harm--making him disconsolate and unhappy." "If you learn him
now to read, he'll want to know how to write; and, this accomplished,
he'll be running away with himself." Such was the tenor of Master Hugh's
oracular exposition of the true philosophy of training a human chattel;
and it must be confessed that he very clearly comprehended the nature
and the requirements of the relation of master and slave. His discourse
was the first decidedly anti-slavery lecture to which it had been my lot
to listen. Mrs. Auld evidently felt the force of his remarks; and, like
an obedient wife, began to shape her course in the direction indicated
by her husband. The effect of his words, _on me_, was neither slight nor
transitory. His iron sentences--cold and harsh--sunk deep into my
heart, and stirred up not only my feelings into a sort of rebellion, but
awakened within me a slumbering train of vital thought. It was a new
and special revelation, dispelling a painful mystery, against which my
youthful understanding had struggled, and struggled in vain, to wit: the
_white_ man's power to perpetuate the enslavement of the _black_ man.
"Very well," thought I; "knowledge unfits a child to be a slave."
I instinctively assented to the proposition; and from that moment I
understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom. This was just
what I needed; and I got it at a time, and from a source, whence I least
expected it. I was saddened at the thought of losing the assistance of
my kind mistress; but the information, so instantly derived, to some
extent compensated me for the loss I had sustained in this direction.
Wise as Mr. Auld was, he evidently underrated my comprehension, and
had little idea of the use to which I was capable of putting{115} the
i