ate of Virginia, was to us a
contemplation of sorrowful interest. Those who remained, thought us the
most unfortunate of human beings to be taken away off into the State of
New York, and, as they believed, beyond the bounds of civilization, where
we should in all probability be destroyed by wild beasts, devoured by
cannibals, or scalped by the Indians. We never expected to meet again in
this life, hence our parting interviews were as solemn as though we were
committing our friends to the grave. But He whose tender mercies are over
all his creatures, knew best what was for our good.

Little did Capt. Helm think when bringing his slaves to New York that in a
few short years, they would be singing the song of deliverance from
Slavery's thralldom; and as little thought he of the great and painful
change, to be brought about in his own circumstances. Could any one have
looked into futurity and traced the difficult path, my master was to
tread,--could any one have foreseen the end to which he must soon come,
and related it to him in the days of his greatness and prosperity, he
would, I am certain, have turned from such a narrator of misfortune in a
greater rage than did Namaan when the man of God told him "to go and dip
seven times in the Jordan."

He could not have believed, nor could I, that in a few years the powerful,
wealthy slaveholder, living in luxury and extravagance, would be so
reduced that the _necessaries_ of life even, were beyond his means, and
that he must be supported by the town!

But I anticipate. Let us return to the old plantation which seems dearer
than ever, now that we are about to leave it forever.

We thought Capt. Helm's prospects pretty fair, and yet we shuddered when
we realized our condition as slaves. This change in our circumstances was
calculated to awaken all our fears that had been slumbering, and bring all
the perilous changes to which we might be subjected most vividly to mind.

We were about to leave the land of our birth, the home of our childhood,
and we felt that untried scenes were before us. We were slaves, it is
true, but we had heart-felt emotions to suppress, when we thought
of leaving all that was so familiar to us, and chose rather to "bear the
ills we had, than to fly to those we knew not of." And oh, the terrible
uncertainty of the future, that ever rests on the slave, even the most
favored, was now felt with a crushing weight. To-day, they are in the old
familiar cabin su