Part 2 (1/2)

Soement was made to save the master trouble In my case I was instructed to find a place to work at thirty dollars per month and board, and then to return and report to Wilson, ould then give the necessary per, which would stand as a contract between him and my employer

My first object was to find a Christian man to hire to ould allow me to pray and preach on all proper occasions, and ould rather assist me than hinder me infor the manual labor I had to do, if I could only be placed in a position to do reat Master's work His as my life-labor On this particular account I was very careful who I applied to In a day or two I applied to Mr Dansley, whose plantation was about eighteen miles fro the kind offor Mr Dansley questionedto hire out, and why my master wished me to hire out when there was plenty of work on his own place for me to do I confessed frankly that I could read and write, and knew soures, and was desirous to serve God and do his work by preaching, and in every other way in my power; that my master was afraid that I would de the to theht not do that he wanted me off the plantation; that he could not sell me because I was the property of his wife, and that she would not consent to have me sold out of the family ”If those are faults, as considered by Mr Wilson, I am very well satisfied that you will perfor; yet what Mr Wilson is pleased to consider faults in you I deeood points in your character and disposition, therefore I will hire you, hoping that your duty to God will include your duty to me under the contract of hire” I told hi of my duty to God; that it comprised, in my condition of servitude, my duty to my slave-master I informed Mr

Dansley that my master, Wilson, wanted thirty dollars per month for my services, and that I wanted five dollars perin all thirty-five dollars per avethat he would hire reed with me that he would pay ave me instructions to hire myself out at not less than thirty dollars per es for field-hands were only twenty-five dollars per month; and when I went back with Mr Dansley's letter so soon, he was somewhat surprised He would have opened his eyes onder if he had known that Dansley was to pay aveas Dansley should want me I immediately went to Dansley's, and stayed with him nine months--nine months of contented time

I found ht repose in hience in his business transactions and farm operations He was one of those kind of men some of which , industrious, Christian gentleman

For his farm-force he hired men, both white and black; and when his work pushed him he would require his cook and house-maid, the only slaves he owned, to assist in the fields At the ti to work for hi, in their habits of shi+ftless laziness than the lazy blacks These whites, whoeneral thing, the , shi+ftless, and lazy hureatest degree, and would not work so long as they could obtain food to sustain life in any other way They deero, and would fawn and truckle to the behests of any one who had the physical courage to command them Such people can be found in no place except the South

They are a result of the system of slavery and slave-laws, and slave-owners are responsible for their condition Such were the kind of le alect their work When the house-servants were at work in the field, they would insult and reat difficulty that Mr Dansley could get his work done properly and in season Knowing I had been a farm-superintendent on Wilson's plantation for a number of years, Mr Dansley immediately appointed me to the same position on his farness to pay es

This was a new kind of position for eed inwith them, so as to make their labors profitable for my employer, was no easy task The farm-as carried on soe farreat prudence and watchful care to avoid waste and save all the crops I arranged my rules of conduct, hours of labor, etc, for the hands, and submitted them to Mr Dansley for his approval Mr Dansley left the matter entirely with me; and, after trial, I found ent, and that if I expected to successfully ”carry on” that farm I would have to make rules with penalties attached, theforrules, and presented them to Mr Dansley, and requested him to make them stipulations in the contracts of hire with his men He approved the vulgar and profane language is strictly forbidden on the fared or corrected, in the discretion of the superintendent

2 Obedience to the just orders of the superintendent is essential to the profitable conduct of the farm; therefore, disobedience to the orders of the superintendent shall be followed by the discharge of the hand or hands so offending, or his or their correction, in the discretion of the superintendent

3 Each and every hand hereby binds himself to obey the just orders of the superintendent and the rules herein established, and upon the discharge of any hand or hands, by the superintendent, one ned by the hands, that is, they ” the only negro hand on the place and the only one who could write

Peace and tranquillity reigned on that farm thereafter, and better crops were not raised in the county My whole study and aiht--to be just to my hands and do my duty to my euidance in every and all difficulties and eencies, and iven when properly asked for

The men I had to deal ere norant of any but the ht fro the ignorant When I talked to them of Jesus they seemed astonished They did not even know that punishment would meet them hereafter for their sins committed in this life, and were puzzled and perplexed with the plan of salvation until after I had repeatedly explained it to theht the of our Savior, and taught theion of Jesus Better-behaved hborhood after they learned the way to Jesus, and many happy tis and social gatherings

All of us would meet at some convenient place on the farm, every Sabbath-day, and would spend the time profitably, in exhortation and prayer The master and mistress were always there, and worked with a will in the cause of Christ, and I would exhort and preach to the best of my ability Sometimes Mr Dansley would read a chapter from the Bible and comment thereon, and sometimes his ould read and comment All of us prayed, and some of the white hands became, in a short time, earnest public prayers They had found the fount of true happiness, and would drink largely therefros soon becahbors and their slaves would coations becae that Mr Dansley allowed me to take the hands and clear away a nice place in the woods, and ularly thereafter every Sunday, in the forenoon, afternoon, and at night; besides, we held a social prayer-s were productive of great good to the coht men and women to God even while in a condition of slavery, and required to labor six days in the week in the grain and cotton fields

If I, a slave, could accomplish this much, how much should the favored preachers of the country accomplish? This is a hard question to answer, however, and I shall not insist on its consideration, as every preacher can not be a Lorenzo Dow, a John S the field-hands under e of the farm were maliciously wicked toward each other, and were al just like brothers(!) Before three months had elapsed, underChristians, and re as I knew the I have been a zealous worker in the Lord's vineyard, and shall re doctrinal points of theology I knew nothing, and ical works could have been carried in a vest pocket, in the shape of one or two tracts which fell in my way, and which I read, studied, and preserved I had a Bible, and that alone served uide in uments necessary to the conversion of sinners and their redeanized into a church, and I did not attempt to receive members into the church of Christ I doubted my authority to do so, and any efforts on my part in that direction would have been immediately stopped by the preachers and members of the white churches But this did not deter

I believed firmly that God required of me the labor I performed, and I was so much interested and taken up in my work that I did not stop to consider what the consequences would be to myself My only consideration was, ”Where can I find an opportunity to do good and save souls” I asked no pay for my services as a preacher, and never received any; hence I usually found congregations awaiting me at my appointments made up of all classes, white and black, and froanized in the community My discourses were sometimes off-hand and sometimes studied It is true inal, and taken wholly from the Bible, yet they were none the less effective, because they were earnest and honest My language was that of the southern blacks and uneducated whites at the beginning ofI iained the reputation of being as correct in lish words as the majority of the white preachers I am not yet entirely free from dialectic pronunciation, and never expect to be; but I find that this very defect, if so it ives them a distinctness not otherwise attainable Therefore I ood

I had hoped to stay with Mr Dansley as long as he could find it profitable to hire reat use to hiood state of repair, and had matured and saved his crops in such a er than they ever were before in any one season I had the goodwill and confidence of the hands, both white and black, orked underthe religion of Jesus Christ in the neighborhood; consequently I was happy and contented, with plenty of all kinds of work to do But I had accomplished my mission at this place, and it pleased God to remove me to another field of labor, where the harvest was ripe and ready for the reaper I never complained; on the contrary, I rejoiced that God was not done with hly worked one field of labor, I deelad when removed where more as to be done in God's moral vineyard Of course I formed intimate associations in every locality in which I was placed, and was prone to leave them; but I was content to do the will of God in every particular, whether that as expressed through the slave-laws and James Wilson or otherwise

I was a slave, and was compelled to labor for the profit of ently and faithfully; I was a child of God, and owed him duty and obedience, which I performed earnestly and constantly

From my slave-owners I expected and received no reward or remuneration; froreat reward is yet to come I have been a depositor in God's bank, froely at the final settle--Wants o with Him to Saulsbury, Tennessee, to Help Build a House for a Grocery-Store--Takes ets Well--I make another Attempt to Escape from Slavery--What Came of it

One day James Wilson cao with hirocery, and that he wishedtherefor He infor was finished, Ias he wanted ht away All I had to do was to obey, so without further ado I bade farewell to the people of the plantation, and ith Wilson The parting rocery, as applied in the South, has a far different rocery in the South is a place where whisky and other intoxicating beverages are sold, and, as a general thing, at these places the planters and others congregate to drink, carouse, garocery Jaht of aiding even under protest and unwillingly in the establishment of one of these hells caused et relieved from this odious work, but without avail