eless, the good resulting from such avowals,
is of a very questionable character. It may kindle an enthusiasm, very
pleasant to inhale; but that is of no practical benefit to themselves,
nor to the slaves escaping. Nothing is more evident, than that such
disclosures are a positive evil to the slaves remaining, and seeking to
escape. In publishing such accounts, the anti-slavery man addresses
the slaveholder, _not the slave;_ he stimulates the former to greater
watchfulness, and adds to his facilities for capturing his slave. We owe
something to the slaves, south of Mason and Dixon's line, as well as to
those north of it; and, in discharging the duty of aiding the latter, on
their way to freedom, we should be careful to do nothing which would be
likely to hinder the former, in making their escape from slavery.
Such is my detestation of slavery, that I would keep the merciless
slaveholder profoundly ignorant of the means of flight adopted by the
slave. He{251} should be left to imagine himself surrounded by myriads
of invisible tormentors, ever ready to snatch, from his infernal grasp,
his trembling prey. In pursuing his victim, let him be left to feel his
way in the dark; let shades of darkness, commensurate with his crime,
shut every ray of light from his pathway; and let him be made to feel,
that, at every step he takes, with the hellish purpose of reducing a
brother man to slavery, he is running the frightful risk of having his
hot brains dashed out by an invisible hand.

But, enough of this. I will now proceed to the statement of those facts,
connected with my escape, for which I am alone responsible, and for
which no one can be made to suffer but myself.

My condition in the year (1838) of my escape, was, comparatively, a free
and easy one, so far, at least, as the wants of the physical man were
concerned; but the reader will bear in mind, that my troubles from the
beginning, have been less physical than mental, and he will thus be
prepared to find, after what is narrated in the previous chapters, that
slave life was adding nothing to its charms for me, as I grew older, and
became better acquainted with it. The practice, from week to week, of
openly robbing me of all my earnings, kept the nature and character of
slavery constantly before me. I could be robbed by _indirection_, but
this was _too_ open and barefaced to be endured. I could see no reason
why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my hones