e
well nigh doubt the justice and mercy of the Almighty, until I remembered
my narrow escape, when my doubts dissolved in grateful tears.

But why, oh why, had I been forced to flee thus from my fellow men? I was
guilty of no crime; I had committed no violence; I had broken no law of
the land; I was not charged even with a fault, except of _the love of
liberty_ and a desire to be _free_! I had claimed the right to possess my
own person, and remove it from oppression. Oh my God, thought I, can the
American People, who at this very hour are pouring out their blood in
defence of their country's liberty; offering up as a sacrifice on the
battle field their promising young men, to preserve their land and
hearthstones from English oppression; can they, will they, continue to
hunt the poor African slave from their soil because he desires that same
liberty, so dear to the heart of every American citizen? Will they not
blot out from their fair escutcheon the foul stain which Slavery has cast
upon it? Will they not remember the Southern bondman, in whom the love
of freedom is as inherent as in themselves; and will they not, when
contending for equal rights, use their mighty forces "to break _every
yoke_, and let the oppressed go free?" God grant that it may be so!

As soon as I thought it prudent, I pursued my journey, and finally came
out into the open country, near the dwelling of Mr. Dennis Comstock, who,
as I have said, was president of the Manumission Society. To him I freely
described my situation, and found him a friend indeed. He expressed his
readiness to assist me, and wrote a line for me to take to his brother,
Otis Comstock, who took me into his family at once. I hired to Mr.
Comstock for the season, and from that time onward lived with him nearly
four years.

When I arrived there I was about twenty-two years of age, and felt for the
first time in my life, that I was my own master. I cannot describe to a
free man, what a proud manly feeling came over me when I hired to Mr. C.
and made my first bargain, nor when I assumed the dignity of collecting my
own earnings. Notwithstanding I was very happy in my freedom from Slavery,
and had a good home, where for the first time in my life I was allowed to
sit at table with others, yet I found myself very deficient in almost
every thing which I should have learned when a boy.

These and other recollections of the past often saddened my spirit; but
_hope _,--cheering and brigh