ANarrativeoftheLifeandTravelsofMrsNancyPrince 10105412

NAR R A T IVE
OF T HE
L I FE AN D T R A VE LS ,
MR S N A N C Y P R I N C E
. .
BO STON
P ! B L I S HE D B Y T HE A ! T HO R .
1 8 50 .
E n t er e d i
a c co r d ng t o a c t of C o n g r ess, in the yea r 1850 ,
B Y N A N C Y P R IN C E ,
In t h e C lerk
’
s o ffi c e o f t h e D i st r i c t c ou r t of M a ssa c h u se tts .
C ON T E N T S .
A S k et c h of th e E arly L i fe ofNan c y P r i nce ,
M a rri a ge a nd V oy a g e to R uss i a ,
Mr P r i nce ,
.
Ma nners and C u sto m s

th e R uss i a ns of ,
T h e E v ents t h a t t oo k P l a c e D u ri n g N i ne Y e ars
res i den c e i n S t P e t ers b urg . 20 ,
H er V oy a g e Ho m e , . 34
H er V oy a ge a n d B u s i ness t o t h e W es t I n di es 38 , . .
H er E rra n d Ho m e a n d S u c c ess
,
49 ,
H er R e t u rn B a c k a n d S t a te o f thi n gs a t t h a t T i m e 5 1
, ,
D es c rip t i o n o f t h e C o untry 58,

!
E mb a rk m ent a g a i n H o m e a n d D e c e p t i o n of t h e ,
C apt ai n , 68
C a s t a w a y a t K e y Wes t , 69
A rr i v l a t N e
a w O rl e a ns —S c enes w i t nesse d w hil e
,
th ere , 70
D e p arture fro m N e w O rle a ns , a nd arr iv a l at N ew

Y or k , o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 0 0 0 o o o o o o
N A R R A T IV E .
As my unpro fi tabl e life has bee n spare d a nd ,
i have bee n by t h e provide nce o f God wonder

, . ,
fully prese rved it is wi th grati t ude to my Heavenly

,
Fa t her a n d duty to myself that I atte mpt to give

, ,
to the p ublic a s hort narrative of my life and

travels .
I w a s bo rn in Newburyport i n 1 7 99 My,
.
m other wa s t he daughter o f Tobia s Wo r n t o n w h o ,
was s t ole n fro m Africa wh e n a lad and was a

, ,
s lave of Capt Winthrop Sargent ;

. and al t hough ,
a slave he fough t for liberty and wa s in the

, ,
R evo l utionary army at the battle of Bu nke r Hill .
My grand mo t her was an Indian My fa ther .

,
Thomas Gard e ne r was born on Nantucket ; his

,
parents were of African descent and he die d ,
of bleeding at the lu ngs leavin g m y m other a

,
wido w the second time wi t h an infant in h e r

,
a rms. She the n returned to Gloucester her ,
native place My m other soon married again

.
i
her third husb a nd by whom sh e had six chil

,
6 NA R R AT I V E or
dren My step father wa s stolen from Africa

.
-
,
and While the vessel was at anchor in one of the

E astern ports he succeeded in making his escape
,
from his cap tors by swimm i n g ashore Aft er a .
l apse of t wo years he came to Gloucester and ,
followed the se a and was twelve y ears wit h ,
Capt E lias Davis in the e mploy of Capt Fi t z

.
, .
W Sargent D u ring the war he wa s t aken by a

. .
British Privateer and pressed into t heir service

,
.
He was sick wi t h t he dropsy a long While and ,
died in 1 8 1 3 My m other was again left a

.
widow with an infant s ix weeks old When sh e

, .
“
heard of her h usban d s death s h e replied I ’
, ,
thought it what shall I do with the se children P

Her grief poverty and responsibili t ies were t oo
, , ,
m uch for her s h e never was the mother that she

had been before I w a s a t t his time in Capt . .
Sargen t s family I sh a l l ne v er forget t he feel

’
.
ings I experienced on hearing of t he decease of

my fa t her in law ; he was never very kind to the
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first s e t of children But by indus t ry a humble .

,
home was provide d for my mother an d you n ger

children Dea t h had twice visited our family
.
within three m on t hs my father having buried my ,
grandfather before he sailed I t hought I woul d .
go home a l ittle while and try t o comfort my ,
m other The three ol dest childre n were put into

.
fa milie s My b r other a nd myself went out of

.
M RS P R I N C E
. . 7
to wn in one fam ily where we staid u ntil the w a r

, ,
was over We oft e n went home wi t h our wages

.
,
and all the comforts we could get b ut we coul d

n o t approach ou r mo t her as we wished God in .
mercy t ook one lit t le brother of seven years who ,
had pined in consu mption ; thu s our fam ily was

sca t tered I determined to get more for m y
.
labor and I left E ssex an d went to Salem in

, ,
1 8 14 to service i n a family
, I had always e u .
joyed t he happy privilege of religious instruc t ion .
My dear grandfather was a member of a Congre

a t io n a l Church and a good man he always
g ,
at tended church in the morning a n d too k us with ,
hi m ; and in the aft ernoon he took care of the

smaller children while my m other attended with
,
her l ittle group He thou ght it wrong for us to

.
go to a school where the teacher was not devoted

to God for I early kne w the di fference bet wee n
,
right and wrong They had family prayers

.
morni ng and evenin g I often looked at the m.

,
and thought to myself Is this y our religion ,
I did not wonde r that the girl who had lived there
previous to mysel f went home to die There
, .
were seven in the fam ily ; t wo of the m being

sick one wit h a fever a n d the o t her i n a con
,
sum ption of course the work m ust have bee n

,
very severe especially the washing Sabbath

, .
e vening I h a d t o prep a re for the wash I wa s .

8 N A R R A T I VE on
then bu tfourteen y ears of age and a stra n ge r , .
I w a s called up at two o clock in the morning

’
,
a nd what embittered m y heavy t a sk I was n o t ,
spoken kin dly t o bu t w a s blame d for bein g slo w

, ,
and for no t performing my work well Hard .
l abor an d u nkin dness were too m uch fo r m e a n d f
in th ree months m y health and strength were

g o ne I we n t ho me t o Gl o uc e ster i n t hei r chaise
. .
I fou nd m y m o ther in p o o r h e a l t h bu t t hrough t h e ,
m er c y o f God and the attentio n and skill of Dr

, .
Dal e an d the kindness o f friend s I was restored

, , ,
so that in a fe w m onths I was abl e again to go t o
work al t hou gh my side a fflicted m e which I

, ,
a ttribut e d t o over worki n g mysel f

-
.
In 1 8 15 I return ed to Salem acco m panied by ,
m y eld e st sister and o bt ained good places

, S he .
aft erwar ds ret u rn e d t o Bos ton as a n u rse ry girl ,
where s h e l ived a fe w mo nths and was delude d ,
away on February 7 t h of 1 8 1 5 A friend cam e .
t o Sale m an d informe d me of it Her deat h .
woul d n ot have be en so painful to m e We .
l o v e d each other very m uch and mo re p a r t ic u

,
l a r l y as our step fa t he r w a s not very kin d to us

-
w e u s e d to s a y as so o n as we w e re large enoug h
we woul d go away as we did It was very col d
,
.
,
but notwi t hs t an d i n g I was s o distresse d a b out m y

,
sister t hat I s t arted on foot t he next mornin g

,
a fter I he a rd of it At Lynn Hotel we r efreshe d

.
MRS . P RI NC E . 9
ou r selves a nd all seemed m uch interested about

,
me . Two women took m e aside an d inquire d ,
how it was I was with tha t woman I told m y .
reason My companion had a little so n of hers

.
in her arms By the tim e we were seven m iles

.
from Salem col d and fatigued I could walk no

, ,
farth e r and we hired a horse and sleigh an d a

, ,
m an to drive us to Boston where we arrived a t ,
seve n in the evening I p ut u p with a friend of .
m ine who l ived in Bedford street who receive d

, ,
m e very kindly My feet hands an d ears were.

, , ,
all fr os t bitten I neede d all the hospitali t y th a t

-
.
was extended to me I was young and in e x p e r i

.
e n c e d but my object was h a llowed

, God chooses .
in his wisdom the we a k things of earth without

his aid h o w coul d I e ver have rescued my l ost
sister ! Mr Brown when he learned my errand
.
, ,
kindly o ffered to assist me He found where m y .
sis t er resided and taking with him a l arge cane

, ,
he ac companie d me to t he h ouse My s is t e r I .
found seated wi t h a nu mber of o t hers round a

, ,
fire the mother of harlots at the head My

, .
sister did n o t se e m e until I claspe d her rou nd the

neck The ol d woman ! e w at me a n d bid m e
.
,
take my hands o ff of her Mr Brown defe nde d . .
m e wit h his cane fro m her attacks There were .
m any men as well as girls the r e and al l wa s ,
confusion V h e n my siste r c a m e to he r self sh e

.
Z ,
18 NA RR A TI V E or
l ooked pon m e
u I said Sylvia my dea r
.
, ,
sister , what a r e you here for ? Will you go wi t h

me ? The en r age d ol d woman cried o u t No , ,
“
sh e
”
cannot go Sylvia replied
. I will go ,
.
”
Then followed a scen e The ol d w o man seize d .
her to drag her down into t h e ki t chen I hel d o n

to her while Mr Brown at my s ide so use d
, .
, ,
his great can e and so threatened h e r t hat s h e

, ,
was obliged to let her go ; and aft er c o llectin g ,
h e r t hings she le ft the hou s e wi t h Mr Brown an d

, .
mysel f .
T h e next day we starte d fo r Sale m and went ,
t o t h e stage o th e e we e xpected Mr Low t h e

-
.
,
driver o f the Gl o ucester stage who knew u s a s ,
his town s pe o ple would l e t n s take passage with

-
,
i
him wi t hout a n y difiic u l t y ; b ut he r efused u nles s ,
we would ride u p o n t he top It was ve ry cold .

,
a nd we had never rode in that way ; h is in h u o
m anity grie ves m e eve n n o w I had se nt my .
m other my wages the week before and W ha t ,
m oney I had I had taken in adv a nce of my em

,
p l oy e r s . We were greatly emb a rrassed whe n ,
a colored man unknown to us , penetrated our ,
di ffi cul t ies and a ske d u s if we had two dollars ;

,
we told hi m we had ; h e very kindly took us t o

ano t her s tage o ffi c e a nd we bargained for a horse
-
,
and slei g h t o take us t o Salem where we arr i ve d ,
s a fely in a b o ut two hou r s a nd a h a l f ; a nd we a v

g e
MRS . P RI NC E . 11
!
! pou r conveyance to t h e sam e owne r s with ten ,
thousand thanks to our colored friend a nd to our ,
Heavenly Father ; fo r had we attempted to walk ,
we m ust have frozen by t he way The l a dy I .
lived with (Mr s John Deland ) received u s very

.
,
kindly and p e rmi t te d my sister to re main wit h

,
m e awhile ; the n she returned to Gloucester to ,
the fam ily who brought her ! p and I thought we ,
had gained a great victory .
My brother George an d m y sel f were ve r y

desirous of m aking our mo t he r comfortable ; he
went to s e a for that purpose The next April I .
came to Boston to get a higher price for m y

,
l abor for we had agreed to maintain our mother

, ,
an d we hoped she woul d take our lit t le bro t her ,
who was supported by the town a n d take care ,
of him George came home and saile d agai n i n

.
,
t he sam e vessel l eavin g her a d ra w bil l of hal f

,
of his wages My sister returned to Boston to

.
find me and wished to p rocure a place to work

,
out She tried m e much I t h o u gh t it a needy

. .
time for I had not yielded my heart to the w il l

.
of God though I had many impressions and

, ,
formed many resol utions but the si t uation t hat I

had been place d in having left my m other s
,
’
home at the age of eight had n ot p erm i t ted m e

,
to do as I w ishe d t hough t he kind counsels of my

,
de a r gra ndfathe r a nd p iou s te a che r s followed m e

12 NA R R A T I V E or
whe r e ver I went Care aft er ca r e opp r esse d

.
m e my mother wandered about like a J e w ; t h e

young childre n who were in fam ilies were dis
sa t isfie d ; all hope but in God was lost I th a n .
r esolved in my mind to seek an interest in my

Saviou r and put my trust in him For that
, .
p urpose I change d my place for one more retired ,
got my sister wi t h m e and t he n G o d blessed m y

,
soul bein g j us t ified by fai t h I found peace wi t h

,
God eve n t he forgiveness of sins th rough Jesus

, ,
Christ After l ivin g sixteen years and five mon t hs

.
wi thout any hope mysel f and seven others were

,
baptized in obedience to th e great com mand

,
.
My brother George re t urned home and we ,
again provided a home for mo t her and the little

ones he went to s e a a n d affairs now seemed t o
,
promise comfort an d respectability But mo t her .
chose to marry again t his was l ike death to us

all George r eturned home but was s o d isa p
.
,
pointed t hat he shippe d again to come no more

, .
Although a boy of six t een ye a rs he was as steady ,
and capable as m ost men at twen ty My care s .
were consequently increased having no one to ,
share the m with me My next brother who .

,
lived in S E ssex came to Sale m to his m other

.
, ,
but was drive n away by her husband and cam e ,
to me I carrie d him to Gloucester and left h im

.
,
in the h a nds of the tow n but he staye d but

MRS . P R I NCE . 13
three weeks and returned to m e again I t h e n

,
.
b oarded hi m for one d ollar a week un t il I coul d ,
procure sui t able em ployment .
Whe n win t er came poor m o t her s health w a s

,
’
declining ; lit t le Samuel coul d do but lit t l e ; my

father ih l a w was very cross for he expected t o
- -
,
be supported by my bro t her George I coul d .
not se e my m other su ffer ; I t h e r e fo r e left m y

place and went to Salem to watch o v er her an d ,
’
Samuel an d lived wi t h the R e v Dr B o l e s s
,
. .
family I n the spring I return ed to Boston and

.
,
took my brother wi t h me Soon aft er my sister .

,
Lucy left her place and went to her m other but ,
was not permitted to stay My mo t her wrote to .
m e requesting me to take care of her

, I t he n .
determined in my m ind to bri n g her to Boston ,
and if possible procure a place for her ; an d o n

, ,
her arrival I obtained board for her and Sam uel

,
at a frien d s for one d ollar a week My brother

’
, .
John ; that I had boarded at last got a place ,
where he had wages ; soon th e Lord opened a .
way for l ittle Sam uel Dr Phelps took hi m to

. .
bring u p s o that I was left wit h one only to s u s

,
tain Soon my hopes were blaste d Joh n left

. .
his place an d was several months on m y hand s

,
again finally he made ! p his mind t o go to sea

,
I w a s so thank ful that he had concl uded to do

somethi n g that I took two m onth s w a ges in
,
’
14 NA RR AT I V E or
advance to fit h im out for Liverpool In fi v e .
m onths he returned wi t hout a single thing but ,
what he s t ood in ; his wages were small not ,
enoug h to render h im comfor t able ; had not a

friend given him a hom e he would have b ee n ,
a gain dependent on my exertions Ano t her .
frie nd took Lucy with whom sh e staid eleven ,
m on t hs ; sh e continue d in di fferent famili e s for !
some time till sh e was about twelve I left her

, .
at the R ev Mr Mann s family at Westminster

. .
’
, ,
fo r a certain time thinking it would be best for

,
her and Joh n I left to fight his own ba t tles My

,
.
sis t er Sylvia was one of my greatest trials .
Knowing s h e was i n Boston my mother in on e , ,
of her spells of insanity got away fro m her ,

!
home and travelled here aft er her She cam e

, .
where I l ived My e mployers were very kind t o

.
her Aft er tarryi n g a fe w d a ys with me I hire d

.
,
a horse a n d C haise and took them bo t h bac k t o

,
Sale m ; an d returned b ack to my place in 1 8 2 2 !
w i t h a de t ermination to do some t hing for mysel f .
I l e ft my place aft er thre e months and went t o ,
lear n a trade ; and aft er seven years of anxiety ,
an d toil I made u p my mind to leave this

,
coun t ry .
Sep t ember 1 s t 1 8 2 3 Mr Prince arri v ed fro m

, ,
.
R ussia ; February 1 5 t h I was married ; April ,
1 4 th emb a rked in brig R omul us a rrived a t

, ,
E lsino r e May 2 4 t h le ft the s a m e day for Copen

,
hagen where we remained t welve days We

,
.
visited the Kin g s Palace an d se v eral other

’
,
e xtensive an d beautiful buildings We atten d ed .
a nu mber of entertainments amo n g the Danes

and E nglish which were religiously observed
,
their manners an d customs are similar ; t hey are

v ery attentive to s t rangers ; t he Sabbath is stric t ly
o bserved ; the principal religion is the Luthera n
and Calvinistic but all persuasions are tolerated

, .
The languages of that people a r e Dutch French , ,
E nglish & c T he Danes are very m odest an d

, .
kind bu t like a l l other na t ions t hey well know

, , ,
how to take the advan t age I left t here the .
7t h of June and arrived at C r o ns t r a d t on the

”
,
1 9t h ; left there the 2 1 s t for St Petersburg an d .

,
in a fe w hours were happy to fi nd ourselves at

o ur place of des t ina t ion through the blessin g ,
o f God in good he al t h and soo n m ade welcome

, ,
from all quarters We took l odgi n gs wit h a

“
Mrs R obinson a native of our coun t ry who was

.
, ,
Pa t ience Mott of Providence who left there i n

, ,
the ye a r 1 8 1 3 in the family of Alexander G a

,
briel t he man who was taken for Mr Prince

, . .
There I spent s ix weeks v ery ple a san tly v isitin g ,
a n d receiving friends aft er t he manner of the

,
c ountry We the n com menced housekeep in g

. .
While the re I attende d two of their p ar ties ;

16 N A RR AT I VE or
t he r e were v a rious amusements i n which I did

n o t par t icipate whic h caused them muc h d isa
,
p
pointment I told the m m y religion did not allo w
.
of d ancing or dice playin g which formed part ,
o f the am usements A s they were very strict in

.
t heir religion they indulged me in the same

,
privilege .By the hel p of God I wa s ever

e nabled to maintain my stand .
Mr Prince was born in Marlborou gh an d l i v ed

.
,
in families in this city I n 1 8 1 0 he went t o .
Gloucester and sailed with Cap t ain Theodore

,
S t anwood for R ussia he returned wi t h h im a n d ,
remained in his fami l y and at this time visited ,
m y mo t her s fam ily He again sailed with him

’
.
,
in 18 12 for the last time Captain Stanwood

,
.
took with h im his so n Theodore for t he purpose ,
of a t te nding school in the city of St Petersburg . .
Mr Prince went to serve Princess P u r to ssoz o f

.
,
one of t he noble ladies of Court It is wel l .
known tha t the color of one s skin does not ’
prohibit fro m any place or statio n t hat he or sh e

m ay be capable of occu p y ing .
The Palace where the E m peror res ides is

, ,
called t he Court the seat of government This

'
, .
magnificent buil din g is adorned wi t h al l the orna

m en t s t hat possibly can be explained there are
hundreds of people that inhabit it besides the ,
so ldiers th a t gu a rd There a re severa l of these

.
splendid edifices in the city an d vicinity The one .
that I was presented in was in a V illage t h ree , ,
m iles fro m the ci ty Aft er leaving the carriage

.
,
we entered the first ward the usu a l sal utation by

guards w a s performed As we passed through .
t h e beautiful hall a d oor was opene d by two

,
colored men in o fficial dress and t here stood the

, ,
E mperor Alexander on his throne i n royal ,
appa r el The t hrone is circular elevate d two

.
,
steps from the floor and covered wi t h scarlet

,
velve t tasseled with gold As I entered t he .

,
E m peror stepped forward wi t h great politeness

and condescension and welcomed an d aske d me
,
several questions ; he the n accompanied u s to

the E mpress El izabeth she stood i n her digni t y ,
and received m e i n t he same manner They .
presented m e with a gol d watch and fifty dollars ,
i n gold .
The n umber of colore d m en that fill ed this

'
s t a t io n w a s twenty ; whe n one dies the n umber ,
is i m mediately made u p Mr Prince filled t he . .
place of o ne that had died T hey serve in turns .

,
four at a ti m e except on some great occasions

, ,
whe n all are em ployed Provision is made for .
the families wi t hin or wi t hout the Palace Those .
without go t o Court at 8 o clock in the m ornin g ’
aft er breakfastin g t hey take t heir station in th e

,
halls for th e purpose of openi n g the doors a t

, ,
2
18 NA RR A T I V E or
signal given whe n the E mperor a nd E m press

,
pass .
Firs t of August we visited the burying grou nd -

,
where t he peopl e m eet as t hey say t o pay , ,
respect t o their dead I t is a great holi day t hey

.
d rink and feast on t he gra v e s t ones or as near ,
t h e gra v e as t hey can come ; som e groan and
pray and some have music an d dancing At a

, .
funeral n o one atten d s excep t t he invi t ed ; aft er

the friends arrive a d ish of rice boiled hard with
, ,
raisins is handed round all are to t ake a spoon

,
ful wi t h the same spoon and out of the sam e

, ,
d ish in the m eanwhile t he priest wi t h his clerk , ,
performs t h e ceremony perfumin g t he room wi t h

,
incense T h e lid is not pu t on t o t he co ffin t he ,
corpse bein g lai d out in his or her bes t dress .
The t orch men (who are dressed in blac k gar

-
men t s ma d e to slope down to their feet wi t h

, ,
broad brimmed ha t s t ha t cover their shoulders ) ,
for m a procession wi th ligh t e d t orches in t heir

,
han ds bo w ing t heir heads as t hey pass along very

,
gra v ely ; then comes one more wi t h the l id on ,
his head t hen the hearse wi t h t he corpse d raw n ,
by four horses covered Wi t h black gowns down

,
t o th eir feet ; t hey al l move alon g wi t h great

solem ni t y Before enterin g t h e grave yard t he
.
-
,
processio n goes t o an adjoin ing church where ,
there a re many ladies placed on benches side , ,

MR S . P R I NCE . 19
by side accordin g to their ages ; the l adie s

,
dresse d as if t hey were going to a ball room d is -

,
pl aying a mos t dreadful appearance Each one .
has her hands crosse d an d hol ding in one o f ,
them a pass t o gi v e t o Peter t hat they may enter ,
into Heaven A t this place t hey ligh t their

.
candles and receive t heir rice in the manner

,
before mentioned The top is then put o n to the

.
co ffi n a nd t he processio n forms and repairs to

,
the grave ; t h e priest s a n c t ifi e s the grave t he n ,
casts i n dust and t he co ffin is consigned to its

,
narrow house ; t hen com mence the y ells ; they

-
drink eat cake black bread and finish their

, , ,
r ice whe n the party return back to dinner where

, ,
every t hing has been prepared d uring their a h

sence This is the Gree k mode o f burying their
.
dead On the bir t h of a chil d t he babe is not

.
,
dressed un t il it is baptized ; it is i m mersed all over

in wa t er ; a stan d wi t h an oval basin is brought
, ,
for t he purpose by t he clerk The mo t her is pre .
sented wi t h gift s which are placed u nder her

,
pillow S h ould the babe die before this rite is

.
performed it is not placed wit h t he o t hers but

,
shoul d I t die having been baptized al t hough n o t ,
more t han two hours old i t is dressed an d place d ,
on t he b ench a t ch urch wi t h t he res t I n this .
man ner t he com mon people bury their dead .
When any of th e I mperial fa mily dies they ,

a re laid i n state forty days and every thing ,
a ccordingly T h ere is a building b uilt expressly

.
for the I mperial families where t heir remains are

,
d eposited In t he front part of it the criminals

.
,
tha t have rebelled against t he I mperial family are

place d in cells thus combining the prison and the
,
tomb ; and i n sailing by, t hese m iserabl e crea

tures are exposed to t he careless gaze of unfeelin g
.
observers .
St Pe t ersburg was inundated October 9t h 18 24

.
,
.
The water rose sixteen feet in most parts of the

city ; many of the inhabi t ants were drowned .
An I sland between t h e city an d C r o n st r a dt con ,
tainin g five hu ndred inha b itants was inundated , ,
and all were drowned and great damage was ,
done at C r on s r ta dt The morning of t his day was

.
fair ; t here was a high wind Mr Prince went

. .
early to t he Palace as it was his turn to serve

,
our childre n boarders were gone to school ; our

servant had gone of an errand I h e a r d a cry .
,
and to my astonishment when I looked out to se e

,
what was the ma tt er t h e waters covered t he

,
ear t h I had not t hen learned the language but

.
,
I beckone d to the people t o come in the waters

con t inue d to rise un t il 1 0 o clo c k A M The ’
, . .
waters were the n w i t hin two inches o f my win

d o w when t hey e b bed and went out as fas t as
,
they had come in leaving to our V iew a dre a dfu l

,
MRS . P RI NCE . 21
sight The peopl e who cam e into my house for

.
their safe t y re t ired and I was left alone At

,
.
four o clock i n t he aft ern o on t here was darkness

’
,
that might be felt such as I had never e x p e r i

,
e n c e d b efore My situa t ion was t he m ore painful

.
being alone and n o t bein g able to speak I

,
.
wai t ed u n t il t en in the evening ; I t h e n took a

’
l antern and star t ed t o go to a neighbor s whose
, ,
children went t o t he same school wi t h my board

ers I made my way t hroug h a lon g yard over
.
,
the bodies of m en and beasts and when opposite ,
their ga t e I sunk ; I made one grasp an d t he ,
earth gave away ; I graspe d again an d fo r tu ,
ma t ely got hold of the leg of a horse that had ,
been drowned I d r e w mysel f u p covered wi t h

.
m ire and made my way a li tt le furt her when I

, ,
was knocked down by s t riking against a boat ,
that had bee n washed u p and left by the retirin g

wa t ers ; and as I had lost my lan t ern I was ,
oblige d to grope my way as I could and feelin g ,
along the wa l k I at las t found t he d oor t h a t I

,
aimed at My family were safe and the y a e co m

.
,
p a n ie d me ho m e A t 1 2 o clock
. M r Prince ’
, .
came home as no one was permi tt ed to leave the

,
Palace t il l his Majesty had viewed the city I n .
the morning t he children and t he girl re t urned ,
and I wen t t o V iew t h e pi t into which I had sunk .
It w a s l a rge ( n o u gh to hold a dozen like mysel f

2 i ,
1
when the earth h a d caved in Had not that ho r se

.
been there I shoul d n ever again seen t he light

,
of da y and no one would have known my fa t e

,
.
Thus through the providence of God I escape d

, ,
from the fl ood an d the p it .
My h el p er, G o d, I bl e ss t hy e;
n am
T h e s a m e t hy p o w e r thy gra c e th e s a m e ;
.
I m i ds t t en th o u s a n d d a n g e r s s t a n d ,
S u pp or t e d by t hy g u a r d i a n h a n d .
”
Shoul d ! attempt to give an account of all the

holidays it woul d fi l l vol umes The next to
, .
notice is Christmas an d N e w Year The first .
da y of January a gran d masquerade is given by

his Majesty at t he win t er Palace ; for t y t housand
,
tickets are dis t ribu t ed ; every thin g is done in

order ; every ge n tleman wears a mask and
cloak and carries a la dy W i t h him T h ey are
, .
forme d in a procession and enter at the west

,
gate ; as they pass t hrough all t he golden vessel s

,
and ornaments are displaye d ; these were back

of a counter which extends two hundred feet ;
,
there the com pany receive a cup of hot chocolate ,
and a paper of c o m fi t s a n d a bun ; a great many

,
'
are in attendance as a vast many persons are

,
per mi t ted to pass in and V ie w the Palace and go ,
out at th e eas t ga t e .
The 6 t h of Jan u ary is a still greater day for ,
then the w a ter is christened ; a ch urch is built on

the ice ornamented with gol d and evergreens

, ,
and a r o w of spruce trees extending from t he ,
door of t he Palace to the church A t this time .
a l l the nobles of di fferent n ations m ake thei r

, ,
appearance i n their n a t ive costu me The P a .
triarch Archbishops an d other dignitaries of the

, ,
Court have a ser v ice ; t hen they pass throu gh

,
an d C hristen t he wa t er an d make it holy ; the n ,
there is a gre a t rush of t he people for th is holy

water On the plane an ice hill is buil t eighty
.
,
feet hi gh where the E mperor an d his Cour t

,
exercise the mselves .
February l 0 t h is anothe r hol iday B uildi n gs .
are constructed on t he plane for the occasion .
All kinds of amusemen t s m ay be foun d here an d ,
all kinds of animal s see n ; m uch tim e and money

are spent The b u ildings are buil t in rota t ion
. .
All t he children of t he di fferent seminaries and

ins t itut i ons of education are dri v en round in ,
gilded carriages to witness the perfo rmances

'
Aft er this is t h e great Fas t previous to the ,

!
crucifixio n of ou r Saviour Then Christ is rep .
resen t e d as riding into Jerusale m ; branches of

trees are placed in the ice and s t rewed throu gh ,
the streets and e v ery performance is carrie d

,
out T h e Sav i our is m ade of whi t e marble ; he

.
is cruci fi ed and buried and on the third day he ,
rises a cco r ding to the Sc r iptu r es ; then the

,
ca n n ons a re fired At the close of this forty

.
d ay s Fast they have a great Feast and Fair ; all

’
,
business is suspended and the fes t ivi ty and frolic ,
continue for one week .
The first o f May is another great holiday .
The merchan t s daughters a r e arranged on each

’
side of a l ong m all in t he beau t iful gardens and

, ,
arra yed in t heir best clo t hes under t he care of an ,
old woman known i n th eir fam ilies ; t he gentle

me n wal k rou nd and o b ser v e t he m an d if th ey ,
s e e one they fancy they speak t o the old woman

,
s h e takes him to t he paren t s and in t roduces him ;
if t he par t ies agree t hey prepare for the be ,
t rothal . I t is their cus t om t o marry one of t heir

own s t ation All these h oli days a re accounte d
.
sacred The first year I noted t he m all as I was

.
,
accustomed t o a t te n d t hem .
Ma y 18 2 5 I spent som e time visi t in g the

, ,
di ffere n t towns i n t h e v ic in it y of S t Pe t ersburg

'
. .
I n t he fall of the same year t h e E m peror retire d ,
to a warmer clima t e for t he he a l t h o f t he E mpress

E l iza be t h Jan uary 1 8 2 6 the corpse of Alex
.
, ,
ander was brought in s t ate and was met three ,
m iles from the ci t y by the n obles of the Cour t ;

an d t hey formed a procession an d the body was ,
brou ght i n s t ate in t o the b u ildi n g w here t he

I m perial family were deposi t ed March of t he .
,
Sa me y ea r the corps e of El iz a beth was brought

,
in the same manner Constantine was then k in g

.
o f Poland he was next heir to t he throne a n d was

, ,
unanimously voted b y the peop l e but refused , ,
and resigned t he crown in favor of his bro t her

Nicholas The day appointe d the peopl e were
.
ordered to assemble as usual at the ringi n g of the

,
bells ; they rejected Nicholas a sign was give n ,
by the leaders that was well u nderstood and the ,
people great and smal l rushed to the square an d

,
cried with one voice for Constantine The E m .
e r o r with his prime m inister and city governor

p , ,
rode in t o t he m idst of the m entreatin g them to

retire wi thout avail they were oblige d to order
, ,
the can nons fi red upon the mob ; it was not known
whe n they discharged the m that the E m pe ror
and h is ministers were in the crowd He was .
wonderfu lly preser v ed while bo t h his friends and

their horses were killed There was a general
.
seizin g of a l l classes who were take n into

,
custo d y The scene cannot be described ; t h e

.
bodies of the killed and mangled were cast into

the river an d the sno w and ice were stained
,
wi t h the blood of hu ma n victims as t h ey were

obliged to drive the cannon to an d fro i n the
mids t of t he cro w d The bones of these wounded
.
who migh t h a v e been cured were crushed The .
can no n are very large d ra w n by eight horses

,
train ed fo r the purpose The scene was awful ;

.
al l business w a s stopped This deep plot origi .
nated 1 8 1 4 in Germany wi t h t he R ussian n o bil

, , ,
i t y and Germ an u nder t he pre t ence o f t he Free

,
Mason s lodge When t hey returned home they

’
.
i ncrease d their numbers an d presented their chart

to the E mperor fo r perm ission which was grant
ed In the year 18 22 t he E m peror being s u s p i
.
,
c io u s that all was n o t right took t heir chart fro m
the m They carried it on i n small parties rap

.
,
i dly increasing believing t he y woul d soon be

,
able to destroy all the I mperial branches and ,
have a republican govern ment Had not t his .
taken place undoubtedly they woul d have at last

succeeded So deep was t he foundatio n of this
.
plo t laid both m ales an d females were engage d

,
i n i t The prison houses were filled an d t hirty

.
-
,
of the l eading men were p u t into soli t ary c o n fi n e

m en t and twenty S ix of t he n umber die d four
,
-
,
were burned A sta ge was erec t ed an d faggots

.
w ere place d undernea t h each prisoner was s e ,
cu re d by iron chains presen t ing a mos t appallin g ,
sight to an eye witness A priest was in a t tend

-
.
ance to cheer t heir last dying moments then fire ,
was s e t to the faggots and t hese b ra v e men were

consu med O thers rece ived t he knout and even
.
,
the princesses a n d la d ies of rank were imprisoned

and flogged in their o wn habi t ations Those t ha t .
sur v ived their punish ment were banished to Sibe

ria The mode of banishment is ve r y imposing

.
and very heart rendin g severing the m from a l l

-
,
dear rela t i v es and friends for they are never per

,
m it t e d to take their chi l dren When t hey ar r i v e

.
at t he ga t e of t he ci t y their first sigh t is a guard

,
of soldiers t h en wagons wi t h provisions t hen t he

, ,
noble men in t heir banished ap p arel guarded t he n ,
each side conveyances for t he females then la ,
dies in order guarde d by sol diers .
P reparations were now bein g made fo r the

corona t ion of t he new E mperor and E m press .
This took place Septem b er 18 2 6 in Moscow , , ,
5 5 5 miles south east from S t Petersburg

-
All. .
persons enga ged in the cour t were sent before

hand in orde r to prepare for the coming event
, .
After his majesty s laws were read as usual o n

’
such occasions t hose who wishe d to rem ain i n

,
his service did s o and t hose who did not were

,
discharged .
Aft er t he coronation the E m peror an d his court

returned to St Pe t ersburg June 1 8 2 7 war was
. .
, ,
dec l ared be t ween R ussia and Turkey They had .
several bat t les wi t h varied success The R us .
sians surrounded and laid siege t o Constan t inople .
The Sul tan of Turkey sued for peace and a ,
trea t y was at last signed and peace was pro

claimed in 1 8 2 9 I n March of the sam e year
.
, ,
war was decl ared with Pol a nd 18 3 1 the chol .

,
e ra , th a t m a l ignant disease mad e its a ppe a ra nce ,
in Austria from thence to little R ussia making

, ,
great ravages thousands of peopl e falling a prey

, .
It the n b egan t o rage in S t Petersburg carryin g .

,
o ff 92 5 5 This disease first appeared in Mada

.
gase ar 1 8 14 there most of the inhabitants died

, , .
I t is called the plague that God sen t amon g the

people of I srael an d other na t ions for centurie s
back Much might be sai d of this dreadful dis
.
ease an d others t hat are but litt le known in this

country God oft e n visits nations families and
.
, ,
p ersons wi t h j udgmen t s as well as mercies

, .
The present E mperor an d E mpress are cour

t e o u s and a ffable The E mpress woul d oft en
.
sen d fo r the ladies of the c our t at 8 o clock in t he ’
e v enin g to s u p wi t h her when they arrive at ,
court t hey form a procession and s h e takes t he

lead On enterin g t he hall the band strikes u p
.
,
t here are two long t a bles on each side and in t he ,
m idst circular t a b les for the I mperial family The .
tab les are spread apparen t ly wi t h every variety

of eatable and deser t s but every t hing is ar t ificial, ,
presenting a novel appearance When the com .
pany are seated t he E m peror and E mpress walk

,
aroun d t he ta b les a n d shake han ds wi t h each in

d ividual as t hey pass The prisoners of war who .
are nobles are seated b y the mselves wit h their

,
faces v eiled T h ere is a tender or waiter to each

.
MR S . P R IN C E . 29
person with two pl a te s one with sou p a nd the

, ,
o t her with some thin g e l se Aft er a varie ty of .
courses in one hour they are dismisse d by t he

,
hand . They t hen retire to ano ther part of the

palace to atten d a ball or theatrical amusements .
At the E m p ress s command t hey are dismissed

’
.
She carries power and dignity in her c o u n t e

nance well a dapted to her station And afte r .
her late am usements at night she wo u l d be out at

an early hour in the m orn ing visit in g the abodes
of the distressed dressed in as com mon apparel
,
as any one here ei t her walking or ridi n g in a

,
com mon sleig h At her retu rn s h e woul d cal l

.
for her ch ildren take the m in h er arms and tal k

,
to them .She rise t h while it is yet night a n d

give t h meat to her household and a por t ion to h e r
m aidens s h e s t retche t h out her hands to the
,
poor y e a s h e reache t h o u t her hands to the

, ,
needy s h e is n o t afraid of the snow for al l her

household are clo t hed i n scarlet The n sh e .
”
would go to the cabinet of h is Majesty ; ther e

sh e would write and advise with him .
The R ussian l adies follow the fashions o f

the French and E ngl ish Their religion is a f .
ter the Greek church There a re no seats .
in their churches ; they stan d bo w and kneel , , ,
during t he service The principal church is o n

.
the M a in street There a re the st a tues of the

.
30 NAR R AT I V E or
g reat comm a nders th a t have conquered i n b a tt l e .
They are clad in brass wi t h flags in thei r hands

, ,
a n d all t heir ancient i m plem ents of war are d e
p osi t ed t here The al t ar is surrounded bv s t a t ues

.
o f t he V irgi n Mary and the t w e l ve apostles .
Whe n R ussia is at war and her a r mies are about

to engage in battle it is here that the E mperor
,
a n d his family and cour t come to pray for v ic,
tory over the enemy The day they engaged in

.
battle against the Poles the E m press Dowager

,
took her death ; she was e mbal med and laid in

s tate s ix weeks in t he hal l of t he winter palace .
I went a nu mber of t imes to see her and the peo ,
ple pay her homage and kiss t he hands o f t hat

,
l um p of clay A l l rel igio n is t olera t ed but the

.
,
n a t ive R ussians are subject to t he Greek Church .
There are a n umber of insti tu t ion i n St Pe t ers .
burg where children o f all classes have the privi

lege of ins t ruc t ion The sailors and soldiers boys
.
’ ’
e nter the corps at the age of seven and are edu ,
c a t e d for t hat purpose The girls re main in t he

.
barracks with their paren t s or go to some insti ,
t u t io n s where they are instructed in all the branch
e s o f fe male education There are other estab

.
l ish m e n t s where the higher classes send their

,
children .
There is another spacious b u ilding called the

Ma r ket h a lf a mile squ a re whe r e a l l kinds of ar
, ,
t ic l e s may be bought Between the Market a n d .
the church t here is a block of buildi n gs wher e

sil v er articles of all kinds are to be purchased .
These stores present a very superb ap pearanc e

and are visited by every foreigner that come s
in t o the place Besides t hese buildin gs Main
.
,
S t reet is lined with elegant buildings with pro

j e c t in
g windows t o the
, extent of twelve mile s .
N early at t he t ermina t i o n of t he street there is a

spacious buil d ing of stone which encloses t h e
T a be r is e y Garden so called from i t s having every
,
kind of tree shrub flower and fruit of t he known

, , ,
world which flourish alike in winter as in s u m

,
mer . There is an extensive Froze n Market

which forms a square as large as Boston Com
mon . This space of ground is covered wi t h
counters on which may be purchased every varie
,
t y of e a t a bl e s u c h as froze n fi s h fowl an d meat s

, , ,
of every descrip t ion besides every other ar t icl e

,
of com merce which will bear the extreme cold o f

a St Petersburg winter This city was founded
. .
by Peter the Great and bu il t upon a h o g whic h

,
was occupied by a fe w fi s h e r m e n s huts an d be ’

,
l onged to t he Finns It is situated at the extrem

.
ity of t he Gul f of Finland and is built partly o n ,
the mai n lan d and par tly on several smal l islands .
The founda t ion of t he ci t y is extre mely marshy ,
w hich subjects it to frequent inund a tions For .

this re ason there are ca nals which a r e cut through

the streets ve ry bea u t ifully laid out faced wi t h
, ,
grani t e railed with iron C hains n ubbed wi t h brass

, ,
wi t h bridges to cross fro m one street to the o t her .
The city houses are buil t of s t one and brick a n d ,
twice t he thickness of America nhouses They .
are heated by Peaches of si m ilar con struction to ,
our fu rnaces ; the outside of which is faced with

Chin a t iles pre senting a very be a utiful appearance
, .
T h e V illage ho u ses are built of logs corke d with

oaku m wh e re t he pe a sants reside This cl a ss of
, .
people till the land m os t of the m a re Slaves and

,
are ve ry degraded The rich o wn t he poor but

.
,
they a re n o t su ffered to se parate fa m ilies or sel l

the m of the soil A l l are su bject to the E mpe
.
ror an d no n oble man can leave without his per

,
m ission The mode of travelling is principally

.
by stages which are built someth ing like our om

n ibu s se s with settees upon the t op raile d and
,
guarded by soldiers for the purpose of protectin g,
the travellers from t he a ttacks of wi l d beas t s .
The com mon l a nguage is a mixture of S c l a v o

nian and Polish The nobili t y make use of t he
.
m ode r n Greek French and E ngl is h I learne d

, ,
.
the languages in six mon t hs s o as to be able to ,
a tt en d t o my bu is in e ss and also made some pro ,
fi c ie n c y in t he Fr ench My t ime was taken up .
in domestic a ffairs ; I t ook two children to board

MR S . P R I NC E .
the thi r d week afte r com mencing housek eepi n g;

and increase d their numbers The baby line n .
m aking an d children s garments were in great de

’
mand I s t ar t ed a business in these articles an d

.
t ook a j o u rneywoman and apprentices T he .
presen t E mpress is a very ac t ive one and in ,
quired of me respecting my business and gave

m e m uch encouragement by purchasin g of m e
g a rmen t s for h erself an d children handsomely ,
wrou gh t in French and English styles and many ,
of the n obility also followed her exampl e I t .
was to me a great bl e ss m g that we had the m eans

of Grace a fforded u s The R ev R ichard K e n e l l
. .
,
was t he Protestant pastor We had service twic e

.
every Sabbath and evening prayer meetings also ,
a female society s o that I was occupied at all

,
times .
At the t ime of the inundation the Bibles an d ,
other books belonging to the society were inj ured .
But Mr K e me l l took the l iberty t o p urchase at

.
fu ll pr i ce and sell at an advance In order that .
t he poor might ha v e t hem we al l agreed t o ,
labor for that purpose I oft en V isited the matro n

o f t he E mpress children and encouraged by he r
’
,
I took some to the Palace and by this me a ns dis

,
posed o f many at head quarters Other friends .
w ithout t he court contin u ed to labor u ntil hun

dreds a nd t h sa n ds were dispo sed of The old
gp
.
34 N A R R AT I V E or
B ishop fi nding his religion was in dan ge r sent a

petitio n to t he E mperor t hat all who were found
d istributin g Bibles and Tracts should be pu nishe d
s everely . Many were take n and imprisoned ,
t wo devoted you n g me n were b a ni s he d ; t hus t he
r ighteous we r e p u nished while evil practices

,
were not forbid den for there the s in of licen t ious

, i
ne ss is very common .
1 have men t ioned t hat the C l imate did not agree

with me in win t er my lungs were much affected ;
it was t he advi c e of t he bes t physicians that I h a d
better not re main in R ussia during ano t her col d
s eason . How e ver painful it wa s to me to return
wi t hout my h u sband yet l ife seemed desirable
, ,
and he flattered me and himself tha t he shoul d

s oo n follo w I t is di fficult fo r any one in the
.
E mpero r s e mployment to leave when they please

’
.
Mr Prince though t it best for me to re t urn to my

.
native count r y while he remained two y ears

longer to accu mulate a lit t le prope r ty and the n
r eturn — b u t dea t h took him away I left St P e . .
¢
t e r s b u r g A ugu s t 14 t h 1 8 33 having been absen t

, , ,
about nine years and s ix m onths On the 1 7 t h .
I sailed fro m C r o n s t r a dt for N e w York Arrive d .
at E lsinore th e 2 5 t h Tue sday 2 9 left Sep

.
, .
tembe r the 2 n d laid to in a gale Septembe r

.
,
.
1 8 th made Plymouth Old Engla n d 1 9t h sailed

, ,
. .
A r r ive d in New York Oct l 0 t h le ft th e re Tues . ,

MRS . PR I N C E . 35
d ay 1 8 t h , arrived in Boston the 2 3d Sabba th .
N o v the 9t h I had the privilege of attending ser

.
,
v ice in the old place of wo r ship On this day I .
a lso had t h e pleasure of me e ting with an old
friend of my g r an dfathe r ne a rly one hu n d re d ,
y ears of age .I fou nd things m uch changed ;

m y m other and s iste r Silvia d ied in 1 8 2 7 (th at ,
I wa s a w a re o f ) The R ev T Paul wa s de a d
. . .
a n d many of my o l d frie n ds we re go ne to the ir
lon g home T he old chu rch a n d society was in

.
m uch confusion ; I a ttem pte d to worship with

them but it was I n vain The voyage w as of .
.
g reat ben e fit to me By the advice

. of frie nds I
a pplie d to a Mr s Mott a female h iS IC I a n in t h e
.
p ,
c ity that hel p e d me m uch

, I a m indebted to .
G o d for h is great goo dne ss in guiding my youth

ful steps ; my mind was directed to my fello w
brethre n whose ci r cu mstances we re similar to m y
o wn . I found many a poor little orphan desti
tute a nd a fflicted and on account of color S h u t
,
o u t from all the as lums for poo r children

y A t .
t his m y hea rt w a s move d and propose d t o m y ,
friends the n ecessity of a home fo r such where ,
t hey m ight be shelte r ed fro m the contamina tin g
e vils that be set thei r path For this purp o se I .
called a mee ting of the people a nd laid be fore

t he m my plan ; a s I had h ad the privileg e of as !
s is ti n
g in fo r mi ng a n A sylu m fo r s u c h a pu r pos e
36 NA R R A T I V E or
'
in St Petersbu r g I thought it woul d be we l l t o

.
,
establish one on the same principles not knowin g ,
that any person had had a though t of any thing

of t he kind We com menced wi t h eight children
. .
I gave t hree m onths of my time A board w a s .
forme d of seve n females with a commi tt ee o f ,
t wel v e gen t lemen o f standing to S uperintend A t , .
t he end of three mon t hs the comm ittee was dis
e n s e d wi t h and for wan t of fu nds our socie t y

p ,
soo n fell through .
I passed my time in di fferent o ccupations a n d

m aking arrangements for t he return o f m y hus ~
band b ut dea t h took him from me I made my
, .
home at the R ev J W H ol man s a Free Will

. . .
’
,
Baptist until I sai l ed for Jamaica T here had !
.
,
be e n a n Anti Slav e ry Socie t y established by W

-
.
L Garris o n Knapp and o t her phil a nthropists of

.
, ,
the day Their design was the ameliora t ion o f

.
the nominally fre e colored people of t hese States ,
and t he e m ancipation of the sla v es in o t her States .
These meetings I a t tended wi t h much pleasur e

u ntil a con t en t ion broke out amo n g themselves
there has been a great change in some things ,
but much remains to be done ; possibly ! may

not see s o clearly as some for the weight o f ,
prejudice has again oppressed me and were it ,
not for the promises of God ones heart woul d

!
fail for He made m a n in his own image in t h e

, ,
image of God c r eated he him m a le and female

, , ,
tha t t hey shoul d have dominion o v er the fish of

th e s e a the fowl of t he air a n d t he beast of t he
, ,
field & c T his powe r did God gi v e man t hat thus

, .
,
fa r shoul d he go and no far t her ; but man has

d isobeyed his maker and become vain in his im
a in a t io n a nd their foolish hearts are darkened
g .
We gather fro m this that Go d h a s in all ages o f

,
the world p unishe d e very nation and people for

t heir sins The sins of my be love d cou ntry a re
.
n o t hid from h is notice ; his a l l se ein g eye sees
a n d knows the sec rets of all h e ar t s ; t he angels
that kept not the ir first e state but l e ft their own .
habitations he hath rese rved in everlast in g ch a i ns

,
u nto the great day .
My m ind afte r t he e m a nc rp a t io n in t he Wes t

,
Indies w a s bent upon going to Jama ic a A field

,
.
o f use fulness seemed s pread o u t before me .
Wh ile I was thi nking a bo ut it t he R ev Mr I n ,

. .
g raha m who ,had spe nt seven

y ears t here a r ,
rived in the ci ty He l ec ture d in t he city at the

.
Marlboro Cha pe l on the resul ts arising fro m

’
,
the emancipation at t he British Islands He .
knew much abou t the m he ha d a station at a ,
m ountai n near King ton and w a s very desirous s

,
to have persons go t here to labor He wished .
s ome one to go wi t h him to his sta t ion He .
c alled on me with the R e v Mr C ol er to p e r

y . .
,
38 N A RR AT I V E or
suade me t o go I tol d h im it was my inten t io n

.
to go if I coul d make mys e lf u seful bu t t ha t I ,
was s e nsibl e t ha t I was very limi t ed in

He t ol d me that the moral condi t ion of the p e o
ple wa s very bad and need e d l abor aside fro m
,
any t h i ng else .
I le ft Am e rica Novem ber l 6t h 1 8 4 0 in t h e

, , ,
s hip S c io n C a t a in Ma n sfield bound fo r Jamaica

, p , ,
freigh t e d wi t h ic e a n d machinery fo r t he silk fa c v
to r y T here were on board a n u mber of handi

.
c r aft s m e n and other passenge r s We sailed o n

-
.
Monday aft ernoon fr o m Charl estown Ma ss a c h u

, ,
~
setts It rain e d con t inually until S aturday Su n

. .
day t he 2 3d was a fine day Mr De Grass a

, . .
,
youn g colored clergyman was invi t e d t o perfor m

,
di v ine ser v ice which he did wi t h m uch proprie ty ;

he spoke of t he d angers we had escap e d a n d t h e
i mportance of b e ing p r epared to mee t our God ,
( he died o f fever abou t t h ree weeks aft er arriv
ing a t Ja m aica ) some who were a b l e t o a tt en d!

,
came o n deck and lis t ened t o him wi t h r e spec t ,
whil e o t hers seeme d to look o n in derision t hes e

spent t he aft erno o n and e vening in card p layin g -
.
About twelve at night a stor m co m menc e d ; o n

Monday were in great per i l the sto r m continue d
u n t i l Fri day th e 2 7 t h On t h a t da y a sail w a s
.
see n at some dis t anc e making t owards us t h e ,
captai n j u dging h e r t o be a p iratic a l vesse l o r ! .

d e red the women and childre n below a nd the ,
m e n to prepare for action T he pirates w e re .
not inclined to ha zard an e n gagement ; whe n

t hey sa w t he dec k fil l ed wi t h ar m e d men they
left us Thus we re we preserved from the stor m
.
a n d from the e ne my Sabba t h 2 9t h d i v ine s e r

.
, ,
v ice ou r attentio n was di r ecte d to the good n ess

,
o f God in S paring u s
,
.
Monday and we m ortal s a re still al ive Tues

,
.
d a y thus far t he Lo rd ha s l e d us on
,
We d n e s .
day thus far his power prolongs our days

, .
Thu r sday Dece mbe r 3 d, t o day made Turks

,
Island Frid ay t his d a y had a V ie w of Ha yti

.
, ,
its lo fty mountains presented a s ublime pro spect .
Saturday we had a glance at Cuba Sund ay

,
.
,
December 6 t h at six o clo ck i n t he eve ni n g

,
’
,
droppe d anc hor at S t An ne Harbor Jamaica .

, .
We blessed the Lord for h is goo dnes s in spa r in g

u s to see the place of our destination and he re
I will me ntio n my o bject in vis iting Jamaica I .
hoped t hat I might aid in some smal l degree to , ,
raise u p and encourage t he e mancipated in h a bi

tants and te ach the young child ren to read and
,
work to fe ar God and put t heir t rust in the

, ,
Sa viour Mr Whitm a rsh an d his friend came o n

. .
board and welcomed u s On Tuesday we went .
o n S hore to s e e the place and the people my ih

te ntion h a d be en to go directly to Ki n gston but ,
the people u r ged me to stay with them a n d I

thought it my d uty to comply and wrote to Mr , .
Ingraha m to that e ffec t I went first to s e e the

.
m inis t er Mr Abbott I thought as he was out I

,
.
, ,
h a d better wait his return The people promised

.
to pay me for my services or sen d me to King ,
ston When Mr Abbot returne d he made m e

. .
a n o ffer which I readily accepted As I l odged

, .
i n t he house of one of the class leaders I attende d -
her class a fe w t imes an d whe n I lear ned the

,
m ethod I stopped
, .She then com menced her
authority and gave m e to unde rstand if I d id not
com ply I shoul d not have any pay fro m that so
c ie t y . I s p o k e to her of the necessity of bein g
born of the spirit of God before we become mem
bers of t he church of Christ an d tol d her I was ,
sorry to s e e t he people blinded in such a way .
She was very angry wi t h me an d soo n a e com

l is h e d her end by complaining of me to the min
p
ister ; an d I soon found I was to be dismissed
u nless I would y ield obed ience to this class lead -
er I tol d the m i n i ster that I did not com e there

.
to be guided by a p oor foolish woman He the n .
t old me t h a t I had spoken some t hing about t he

necessity of moral conduct in church members .
I told him I had and in my opi n ion I was sorry

, ,
t o s e e it s o m uch neglec t ed He replied that he

.
,
hoped I would n ot e xp r ess myself so except to

h im ; they h a ve the gospel he c o ntinued an d , ,
l e t the m into the ch u rch I d o n ot ap prove o f

.
wome n soc ieties ; they destroy the world s con ’
v e n t ion the American wome n have too many of

them I talked wi t h him an hour He pa id m e
. .
for the ti m e I had bee n there I c on t in u e d with .
t h e same O pinion that something m ust be don e
for the ele vatio n o f the childre n an d it is for that ,
I labor I a m sorry to s a y the m e eting house is

,
more like a play hous e t han a place o f worship .
The p ul pi t stands about t he mid dle of the buil d

ing be hin d a re abo u t s ix hun d red chil d re n that
,
belong t o the so ciety ; the re t hey are place d for

S abba t h School and there t h ey re mai n u ntil ser
,
v ice is ove r p la ying most o f the time

, The .
house is crowde d with t h e aged a n d the youn g ,
t he grea te r par t of t he m bare foo t ed So m e have .
o n bonnets but most of the wom e n wear straw

,
hats such as our cou n t ryme n wear .
I ga Ve several Bi b les away n o t knowi n g that ,
I was hurting the m inister s sale the people buy ’

,
them of h im at a great advance I gave u p m y .
s choo l at St Ann the 1 8 t h of March, I took the '

.
fever and was obliged t o re mai n u ntil the 7 t h o f

April The people of St An n fulfille d their
. .
promise which they made to induce me to stop

wi t h them On the 1 1 t h of Apri l I arri v ed at
.
Kingston and w a s conduc te d to the Mico In s t it u

,
tion where Mr Ingraham directed m e t o fin d

, .
him ; he had lost his pul pi t and his school but ,
Mr Venning the teacher kindly received me

.
, ,
.
I re mained there longer than I expected ; the

next m ornin g he kindly sent one of the young
men with m e to the packet for my baggage I .
then calle d on t he American Consul he told m e ,
he was very glad to see me fo r such a p urpose

as I had in V ie w in visiting Jamaica but he said ,
it was a folly for the Americans to come to the

I sland to better t heir condition ; he said they
came to hi m every day praying hi m to send
the m home .
He likewise men t ioned to m e the great mor

tality amon g the emigrants The sam e d a y I .
s a w t he R ev Mr J . S B e a dsl e e one of our m is

. . .
,
s io na r ie s
, who wished m e to accompany h im
forty miles into the interior of the country .
O n Ma y t he 1 8 t h I attended the Baptist Mis

,
s io n a r
y m eetin g in ! uee,n Street Chapel ; the
house was crowded Several m inisters spoke of
.
t he importance of sending the gospel t o Africa ;

they co mplimented t he congrega t ion on their lib
o rali t y t he last year ha v ing gi v e n one hu ndre d
,
pou nds sterling ; t hey hoped t his year they would

gi v e fi v e hundred pound s as t h ere were five ,
thousand members at t he presen t time There .
was but one colored minister on the platform I t .

is generally the pol icy of these missionaries to

ha v e t he sanctio n of colored minis t e r s to al l t heir ,
assessmen t s and taxes The colore d people gi v e

.
more readily a n d are less suspicious of i m posi

,
t ion if one from themselves recom me nds the

,
m easure ; th is the m issionaries understan d very

well and know h o w t o t ake advantage of it
,
.
O n the 2 2 d and 2 3 d of June the colored Bap ,
t is t s held their missionary meetin g the n umber ,
o f minis t ers colored an d m ulattoes was 1 8 the ,
colore d magis t ra t es were present T h e resol u .
tions that were o ffered were unanimously accept

e d and every t hin g was done in love an d har
,
m ony After takin g ! p a contribution they con

.
cluded wi t h song and prayer an d returned home ,
sayin g jocosely they would t u rn m acroon hu nt

'
ers .
”
Mack is the name of a small coi n in circula

tion at Jamaica I called on my return at the
.
, ,
m arket an d cou nte d the di fferent stalls For .
vegetables and poultry 1 9 6 a l l n umbered an d ,
un der co v er ; beside 7 0 on the groun d ; these

are all atte nded by colored women The m arket .
is convenien t ly arranged as they can close t he

,
ga t es and leave a l l safe There are ninetee n .
s t alls for fresh fish eighteen for pork t hirty for

, ,
b eef eightee n for turtle These are all regular

, .
built markets and are k ept by colore d m en a n d

,
women These are all i n one plac e Oth e rs

. .
also may be fou nd as with us all over the ci t y

, , .
Thus it may be hoped th e y are n o t the stupid s e t

o f beings th e y ha v e been calle d ; here su r e l y we
see in d us t r y ; they are e nterp ri s in g and q u ick in
thei r p erceptions d e te r m ine d t o p o sses s the m

,
selves and t o p oss ess p r operty bes ides and qui t e

, ,
a bl e t o take care of the m selves They wishe d .
to know why I was so inquisi t i v e abo ut them I

r
,
tol d the m w e had heard i n A m e rica that you a r e

lazy and that e m ancipation has bee n of n o be n e
,
o
fit to y o u ; I wis h t o infor m m ysel f o f the tru th

.
r espec t i n g you an d give a tr u e account on my

,
re turn A m I right ?
. More t han t wo h un d re d
p eople were ar o und m e l is tening t o what I said .
They t hanked m e h e artily I gave the m som e, ,
tracts an d t o l d t he m if it so pleased God I woul d

,
com e ba ck to them a n d b ring the m s ome more

books and try what c o uld be d o ne with some o f
,
the po o r children t o make the m better I the n .
l eft the m a n d went t o t h e Ea s t Market wher e ,
there are m any of a l l nation s The Jews an d .
Spanish l o oked at m e v ery bl ack T h e c o lore d .
eople gathe r ed arou n d m e I ga ve the m l it t l e

p ,
b ooks and tracts and t o ld

,
the m I hoped to s e e
t he m again .
There are in this stre e t upwar d s o f a thousan d

o n wo m e n a nd c h il dr e n l iv m g I n 8 111 o f ever y
y u g ,
kind From thence I went to the jail where

.
,
t here were seventeen men but no women There ,

.
were in t he House of Correc t ion three hun d red

culpri t s ; they are taken from there to work o n ,
’
planta t ions . I we nt t o t he Ad miral s house ,
where t he e migrants find a shelter un t il they c a n

fin d employm ent then t he y work an d pay for
,
t heir passage Many leave their ho mes a n d come

.
t o Jamaica u nder the impression that they are t o

have their passage free and o n reaching t he ,
Is land are to be found u n t i l they can provide for

,
t he mselves .
Ho w the mistake origina t ed I a m not able to ,
say b u t o n arriving here strangers poor an d u n

, ,
acclimated find the debt for passage money hard

,
and unexpected It is remarka b le that whe t her

.
fresh from Africa or fro m other I slands from t he

,
Sou t h or fro m N e w E ngland they a l l feel de ,
c e iv e d on t his point I calle d o n m any Ameri

.
cans an d found the m poor and discontented ,
ruein g the d a y they left their countr y where , ,
n otwi t hs t andin g many obstacles t heir parents ,
l ived and died whic h they helped to conquer

,
wi t h their toi l an d blood ; now shal l their chi l

dre n stray abroad an d starve in foreign lands .
There I s I n Jamaica an insti t u tion established ,
in 1 8 3 6 called t he Mico I ns t itution It is name d

, .
after its fou n d r Mad a me Mico who left a large

4 f , ,
su m of m o n e y t o purcha s e (or r athe r t o ranso m ,

.
,
t h e one being a Christian act the other a s in ,
a g a inst the H o ly Ghost who expressly forbid s ,
s uc h tra ffi c
) Mada m e
. Mico l eft thi s m oney t o
r ansom the E ngli s h who were in b ondage to t h e
Algerines ; if t he re w a s any l e ft it was to be de ,

o
v ote d t o t h e instructi o n of the col o red pe o ple in
t h e Briti s h Isles .
Beside the Mic o establish m ent there a re I n ,
Jamaica twenty seven churc h missio nary schools

-
,
where c hildren are ta u gh t grati s Whole nu m .
be r ta u ght 9 52 , London Missi o na r y Society

.
Schools S ixtee n ; the n umbe r taught n ot a sc e r

,
t a in e d . Nati o nal Sch o ols t hirty eight Ther e ,

-
.
a r e also the W e sl eyan P res by terian a n d Mora ,
v ian Schools it is s upposed there are priva t e

sc hools where thre e or four thousan d are edu
,
c a t e d in the city of K in gs t o n a n d t wice the nu m ,
ber in the stre et without the means of instruc t ion .
Al l t he children an d ad ults taught in t he abov e

n a m ed sch ools are taxed a? 1 a year except t h e
,
t
,
E n glish Church School this is the most liberal , .
The R ev Mr Horton a Bapti s t minister in Kings

. .
,
s ton told m e he had sent ninety children away

,
from the Baptis t school because they did not

bring their money It is su fficient to sa y they .
h a d it not to bri n g !
Mo st of the pe o ple of J a m a ic a ar e em a ncipa te d
M RS PRI NCE
. .
sl a ves many of th em are ol d wo r n out a n d de

, ,
graded Those who are abl e to work have yet

.
,
m any obstacles to conten d with an d very l ittle to ,
encourage the m ; every adv a ntage is take n of

the ir ignorance ; the sam e spirit of cruelty is o p
posed to them as hel d the m for centu ries in bon d
a e
g even religious teachin g is bartered for t heir
hard earnin gs while they are al lowed but thir ty
,
three cents a day and are told if they will n o t

,
work for th a t they shall not work at all ; an ex

t r a o r d in a r y price is asked of them for every t hin g
they may wish to purchase even their Bibles are ,
sold to them a t a large advance on the first p ur

chase Where are their apologists if they are
.
,
foun d wantin g in t he strict m orals t hat Christians

ought to p ractice !
Who kin dly says forgive ,
t he m when they err ? Forgive the m this is the ,
bitter fruit o f slavery Who has integrity su ffi

.
”
cient t o hold the balance whe n these poor peopl e

are to be weighe d ? Yet their present state is
blissful com pared with s l a v ery
, .
Many of the farmers brin g t heir produce twe n ~

t y or thir t y m iles Some have horses or ponys
.
,
but most of the m brin g their burde ns on their.
head A s I returned from St A n dr e ws s Moun

. .
’
tain where I had been sent for by a Mr R ose I

, .
,
was overtake n by a respectable looking m a n o n

horseback ; we rode about ten m iles in com pany .
48 NA RRAT I V E or
The sto ry he tol d me of the wrongs he a nd his

wife had endured while in slavery are too borri ,
bl e to narrate My heart sickens when I think

.
of it He asked me m any ques t ions such a s

.
,
where I came from ? why I came to tha t I sle

where had I l ived & c ? I tol d h im I was sent ,
for by one of t he m issionaries to hel p him i n his

school I ndeed said he our color need t he in
.
, ,
struc t ion I aske d him why t he colored peopl e

.
did no t hire for t hemsel v es ? We woul d be very

glad to he replied bu t ou r money is taken from
, ,
u s s o fas t we cannot Sometimes t hey s a y we .
m us t a l l brin g £ 1 to raise t his we h a ve t o sel l ,
at a loss or to borro w so that we have no t hin g ,
left for oursel ves ; the Macroon h u n ters t ake all

t his is a nickname t hey give the m i s s m n a r ie s
l —
and t he c ass leaders a cu tt ing sarcasm t his !
-
A rr ived at a t avern about a mile fro m Kings ,
t o n I bade t he man adieu and stopped for my

, ,
g u ide The inn keeper kindly in v i t e d m e in ;

.
-
he asked me severa l ques t ions and I asked h im ,
as many Ho w do t h e people ge t along said I

.
, ,
since the e m ancipa t ion ? The negroes he r e ,
pl ied wil l have the I sland in s p ite of t he d

,
Do not yo u s e e h o w t hey live and h o w muc h

x
,
they can bear ? We canno t do s o This m a n .
was a n E ngl ishman wi t h a large fam ily of m u ,
l a tto children I returned with my mind fully

.
M R S P R IN C E
. . 49
made ! p what to do Spent three weeks at the

.
Mico es t ablish ment and t hree with my col ored

,
friends from America We thought somethin g .
o u ght to be done for t he poor girls that were d e s

t it u t e t hey consulted with their friends called a ,
m eeting and formed a society of forty ; each

agreed t o pay three dollars a year an d collect ,
and provide a house while I came back to Amer

,
ica t o raise the money for a l l needful articles for

t h e school Here I met Mr Ingraham for the
. .
first time ; he had com e from t he m ountain s ,

an d his health had rapidly decline d ; wishin g to
get h is fam ily home be fore t h e L o r d took h im '
away he e m barked for Baltim ore in t h e Orb

, , ,
and I sail e d for Phil a delphia July 2 0 t h 1 8 4 1 , , ,
twenty one days from Jam aica in good health I

-
, .
found t here Fitz W Sargent s fam ily from G l o u

, .
’
,
c e s t e r who I l ived wi t h when a li t tle girl

,
they
received m e very kindly an d gave donations of ,
bo o k s a n d m oney for that object .
I met the Anti Slavery Society a t Mrs Lucre .
tia Motts who took great interest in the cause I

, .
v isited amon g the friends and spe nt my time ,
very pleasantly Au gust 5 t h I start e d for N e w

.
,
York ; arrived safely and staid with a n ol d ,
friend ; ascertained t hat Mr Ingraham s fam ily .

’
were at Newark at T heodore We l ls He died

, .
four days after his a rrival I w a s invited to Mr s . .

I ng raham s (his cousin s widow ) to spend a week

’ ’
.
There I me t wi t h muc h encouragement to labor

in t he cause Missionaries wer e coming and go
.
ing and all seeme d t o be in t erested in my o bject

, .
Sa t ur day e venin g I went to the ba t h room where ,
I l e ft my neck ribbo n ! returnin g aft er it I h a d ,
the m isfortune to fall throu gh an open trap door ,
down fifteen feet on hard coal I had no ligh t

,
.
wi t h me I dislocate d my le ft shoulder and was

.
,
generally very much bruised my screams

brought the girl to my assis t ance and by t he ,
help of God s h e brought m e out of the cellar it

was some time be fore a surgeon could be pro
cured ; a t last Dr J o s sl e y n came to my relief
.
,
he s e t my shoulder I was obliged to re main at

.
Mrs I ngraham s t hree weeks ; as soon as I w a s

.
’
able I left t here for Boston I intended to have

.
gone b y the western boat but by m istake got o n

,
board Cap t ain Comstoc k s and was exposed on

’
,
deck a l l nigh t in a dam p east win d and when I ,
arrived at t he landing I could not assis t mysel f ;

a sailor who s a w an d pi t ie d my si t uation kindly ,
took care of me and my baggage and on my ar ,
rival in Boston procured a carriage for me I f .
it had not bee n for his ki n dness I kno w not h o w

I s h oul d ha v e got alon g .
As soon a s I w a s a b le I com mence d my ta sk

of collecting funds for m v Free L a bor School in
M R S P RIN CE
. . 51
Jamaica I collected in Boston and vicinity in

.
,
N ew York and Philade l phia bu t not su ffi cient to ,
m ake u p the requ ired s u m and I was oblige d to

,
take fift y dollars fro m my own pu rse th i nkin g ,
t hat when I returne d to Jamaica they would r e
fund the mo n ey to me April 1 5 t h embarke d

.
,
on b oard the Brig Norma o f N ew York for I a , ,
m aica I arri v ed at Kingston Ma y 6 t h an d

.
,
foun d e v ery t hi n g di fferent from what it was

when I left ; the peopl e were in a state of agita
tion several were hange d an d the insurrection
, ,
was s o great t hat it was fou n d necessary to in

crease the army to quell it Several had bee n .
hanged On t he very day I a r rived a man was

.
han ged for shootin g a m an as he passe d t hroug h

the s t reet Such w a s t he state of thin gs that it
.
was n o t sa fe to be there .
A fe w young people met to celebrate their

freedom on an open plain where t hey hold their
,
m ark et ; t heir former m a sters and mistresses e n

v io u s of their happiness conspire d against them
,
and t hought to put the m down by violence This .
o nly served to increase t heir numbers ; but the
oppressors were powerfu l and succeeded i n a c

c om p lishing their revenge al t h ou gh m any o f ,
t hem were relations There was a rul e amo n g

.
the sla v e holders t o t ake care o f t he childre n

,
-
t hey h a ve by thei r slaves ; they selec t the m out

52 N A R R AT I V E o r
and pl ace t he m in asyl u ms Those who lived .
wi t h their whi t e fathers were allowed great power

over their S lave mothers an d her slave children ;
my heart was oft en grieved to s e e their conduct
to their poo r ol d g rand parents Those over .
t w enty one were free d in 1 8 34 all u nder twenty

-
,
one were to serve their masters till twenty one

,
-
.
It is well known that at that time t he children ,
alike with others receive d t w enty fi v e dollars a

,
-
head for their relatives Were I to tel l al l m y

.
eyes have see n among that peopl e it woul d no t

be credited It is well known that those that
.
were freed knowin g t heir childre n were still in

,
bondage were not satisfied I n the y ear 1 8 38

,
.
,
general freedom throughout the British Islands

gave t he death blo w to t he power of t h e master ,
and mothers received with j oy t heir e m a ncipated

children ; t hey no longer looked the picture of de
spair fearing to see their m ulatto so n or daugh t er
, ,
h e a t in g or abusing their younger bro t hers a nd

sisters of a darker skin On t his occasion t here
.
was an outrage com mitted by t hose who were in

p o w er Wha. t little t h e poor colored people had
gathered during their four years of freedom was ,
destroye d by violence their fences were b roke n

down and their horses and hogs taken from them
,
.
Most of the m ulattoes an d mas ters are educated ,
many of the m a re ve r y poo r som e a re ve r y rich ,

MR S PRI NCE
. . 53
the property is left to the oldest d a u ghter sh e ,
d ivides it wi t h her brothers a n d sisters ; since

sla v ery ended many of t hem have married those
who are poor and mean to live i n sin make fo r
, ,
N e w Orleans and o t her sla v e S t ates ; m any of

t he pla n ters left th e I sland when slavery was abol
ish a d I n June 1 8 4 1 a nu mber of people ar
.
, ,
r ived fro m Si e rra Leone at Jamaica ; these were

Maroons who were banished from the Isla n d .
They were some of the original n at ives who inbah

it e d t he m ou n t ains and were determin e d to d e
,
stroy t he whi t es These Maroons woul d secrete

.
the mselves i n t rees and arrest the whi t es as t hey

,
passed alon g t hey would pre t end to guide the m

, ,
whe n t hey would beat and abuse the m as the

whites did the ir sl aves t he E nglish finding
themselves defeate d in al l their plans to subdue
t hem proposed to take t hem by craft They
, .
made a feast in a large t avern in Kinston and in ,
v it e d t hem to com e ; aft er they had ea t en they ,
were i nvi t ed on board three ships of war that ,
were al l ready to s e t sail for Sierra Leone they

were many of them i nfan t s in their mother s arm s ’
,
they were well t aken care of by the E n glish and

instruc t ed ; t hey were removed about the year
1 7 96 — t hey are bright and intelligent I saw a n d
,
con v erse d wi t h the m ; whe n t hey heard of t he

abolition of ,they sent a petition to ! ueen
5sl a very
54 NA R RA T I V E or
V ictoria that they might return to Jamaica which ,
was granted Se v eral of t he m were v ery ol d

.
whe n t hey re t urned t hey were men and wome n

w hen t hey left t he I sland t hey had not forgo t t he ,
inj uries th ey had rece ived fro m t he hands of man ,
nor t he m ercies of God t o t hem nor his ju d g ,
m ents to t heir enem ies Their n u mbers were

.
fe w but t heir power was grea t ; th ey sa y the

I slan d of rig h t b elongs t o t h e m Had their been
, , .
a vessel in readiness I should ha v e come back

i m media t ely i t seemed useless to attempt t o e S
,
t a bl is h a Manual Labor School as t he go v ern ,
m en t w a s so u nse tt led that I c o u l d not be pro

t e c te d
. Some of my former friends were gone
as t eachers to A frica a n d some t o o t her par t s of
,
t he I sland I calle d on t he Am erican Cons u l to

.
consul t with him he sai d t ha t al t hough such a

,
school was m uch wan t ed ye t every t h in g see med ,
s o unset t led t hat I h a d no courage t o procee d I .
t ol d h im t here was so m uc h exci t emen t t hat I

w ished to leave th e I sland as soon a s he could
fi nd me a passage it seemed useless to spend my
,
t ime t h e re As soon as i t was k n own th a t I in

t e nded t o return a move men t was m a de t o in duce
,
m e t o remai n I was persuaded t o t ry the ex

.
e r im e n t for th ree m on th s no t t hinking th eir m o

p ,
t ive was b ad Before I left t h e ! ni t ed S t a t es I

.
,
got al l that was needed wi t hin fift y dollars The

,
.
MR S PRI NCE
. . 55
fift y dollars I su pplied from my own purse ex ,
e c t in g t hey wo u ld pay me It cost me t en dol

p .
lars for freigh t and t wenty fi v e for passage

,
-
money these people t ha t I had hoped to serve ,
were muc h t aken ! p wi t h t he t h in gs I had brought ,
they t hough t th at I had money and I was con t in

u a l l y surrou nde d ; th e though t of color was no
where exhi b ited much n o t ice was take n of me

, .
I was invi t ed to breakfast in one place and t o ,
dine in ano t her &c A society was organized

, .
l
,
In a de u p of me n and wome n bf au t hori t y A .
constitu t ion was draft ed by my consent by those ,
who were a p poin t ed to meet at my rooms B e .
tween t he time o f t he a dj o u rn men t they altered it

to suit t he mselves At t he t ime ap poin t ed we
.
came toge t he r wi t h a spirit apparen t ly becoming

any b o dy of Chris t ians mos t of t he m were m e m
bers of Chris t ian churches ; the mee t in g was
opened wi t h reading t he Scriptures and prayer .
Then Sa id t he leader since ou r dear sister has

,
left her na t ive land and her friends t o com e t o

us we welcome her wi t h our hearts and hands
, .
She will d w el l am ong us and we will t ake care

,
—
of her Bret h ren t h i nk of i t 1 a ft er which he sa t
down and t he cons t i t u t ion was called for T h e
, .
Preamble hel d ou t al l t h e flattery that a fool

could de s ire ; aft er which t hey com mence d t he
articles supposing that they coul d do as they
,
thought best The fourth a r ticl e u nveiled their

.
d esign . As we ha v e d esigned to take care of

ou r sister we t h e u n d er s ig n ed w il l t a ke c h a r g e of
,
a l l s h e h a s br o u h t ; t h e vo t e was calle d every

g ,
person rose in a momen t except myself ! every

e e was u pon me one asked m e why I did n ot
y
—
vote I made n o ans wer t hey p ut t he vote aga i n
,
and a ga in I remained seated well said t he Pres

,
ident we can do nothing w ithout her vote they

,
re maine d so me time S ilent and then broke u p the ,
meetin g The next day the Deacon called t o

.
s e e what the state of m y m in d was and some of ,
the women proposed that we should have another

m eeting I told the m n o I should do no more
.
,
for the m As soon as they found they coul d not

.
get the things in t he way they intended they ,
s t arte d to plunder m e ; but I d e t e c t e d their de
s ign and was on my guard I disposed of t he ar

, ,
t ic l e s and made rea d y to leave when an O p p o r

,
t u n it y presented A more skilful plan than t his

.
Satan never designed but the power of God was ,
a bove it I t is not surprisin g that this people are

.
full of deceit and lies this is the fruits of slavery

, ,
it m akes master and slaves knaves It is the .
rul e where slavery exists to swell the C h urches

with nu mbers and hold ou t such doctrines as
, ,
o bed i en c e t o t y r a n t s is a du t y t o God
,
I went .
with a Baptist woman to the house of a minister

MRS . P R I N CE . 57
of the Church of E ngland to have her gran d ,
child chris t ened be fore it die d ; she to l d m e if

s h e did not have i t chris t ened it would rise up in ,
j udgme n t again s t her This poor del ude d crea

.
ture was a class leade r in t he Ba p t is t Church ,

'
and s u ch is t h e con d i t ion of most o f t he people
they seeme d b linded t o e v ery th in g but m o n e v .
T hey are great for t rade and are uni t ed in t he i r

,
de t erm ina t ion for proc urin g p roper t y of whic h ,
they ha v e amassed a v ast amoun t N o t w it h .
standing I had made over various ar t icles to one

of t he American Missionaries a Mr J S Bea ds ,
. . .
lee of Claren don Mo u n t a in s I also ga v e to o t hers

, ,
where t h ey were n ee de d which receipts an d

,
le tt ers I ha v e in my possession Notwi t hs t andin g .
al l t his t h ey m ade ano t her a tt em p t to rob m e

, ,
and as a passage could not be ob t aine d for m e t o

re t urn home I was obliged to go t o t he Mico e s
,
t a bl is h m e n t again for safe t y such was the out ,
rage Houses were broken open an d robbed

.
every nigh t I came ver y near being shot there

.
was a cer t ai n place w here we placed ourselves

the firs t of t he e v e ning A frien d came t o brin g
.
us some refresh men t s I had j ust left t he windo w

,
w h en a gun w a s fired t hrough i t by one t hat ,
oft en s a t wi t h us ; t his was com mon in the time of

slavery Previous t o v essels arriving passages
.
,
were e n ga g
g
g
.I disposed of my ar t icles an d
58 N A R R AT I V E or
furnitu r e a t a very s mal l pr ofit On the 1s t of .
A u gu st C a p t A Miner arrived and adver t ised for

, . .
,
p a ssengers The American Consul procured m e

.
a passage and on the 18 th of Au gust m y sel f and

,
nine o t her passengers e mbarke d for New York .
I m ight have diversified my book with m ore

exten ded descriptions of Jamaica with its tropi ,
c a l climate and productions and contraste d it ,
with Northern R ussia I hope my readers wil l .
not think that I was u nmoved by all the wonders

an d beauties of nature t hat were presented to ,
m e in various cl imes Before givin g an account .
of the voyage from Jamaica it m ay pro v e inter ,
esting to so m e readers to have a brief descriptio n ,
o f t he country Wi t h her l i berty secure d to her

.
,
may s h e n o w rise in prosperity morali ty an d rel i ,
gion an d becom e a happy peop l e whose God is

,
the Lord .
W E S T I N DI E S .
A denomination u nder which is com prehended

a large chain of islands extending i n a curve ,
from the Florida shore on t he nor t hern peninsul a

of America to the Gul f of Venezuel a on t he
,
southern These islan d s belong to five E uropean

.
powers v iz ! Great Britain Spain France Hol

, , , ,
la n d and Denmark An inhabitant of N e w

, .
E nglan d can form no ide a o f t he clima t e an d

the p roductions of these isl ands Many of the .
MRS . PR I NCE . 59
pa r ticul a r s that a r e here mentioned are peculia r ,
to the m all .
The climate in all the West India Islands is

n early the same allowin g for those accidental
,
d i fferences which t he several S ituations an d quali

ties of the lands themselves produce as they l ie
wi t hin the tropic of Cancer and t h e s u n is ofte n
,
al most at t he m eridian o v er their heads they are ,
con t inually subjected to a heat that would be

intolerable but for t he trade winds which are s o ,
refreshing as to enable the inhabi t ants to atten d

to their v a rious occupations eve n u nder a n oon
,
day s u n as t he night advances a breeze begins ,
to be perceived which blows smartly from t he

,
land as it were from the centre towar ds the se a

, ,
to all poin t s of the compass a t once The rains .
m ake the only distinc t ion of seasons on these

isl ands The t rees are gree n the year rou nd ;
.
they have no cold or frost ; ou r heaviest rains are

but dews co mparatively ; wi t h the m floods of
water are poured from the cl ouds About May .
,
the periodical r a ins from the Sou t h may be

expected The n the tropical sum mer in all its
.
,
S plendor makes i t s appearance The nigh t s are

, .
cal m and serene the moon shines more brigh t ly

,
tha n in N e w E ngland as do the planets and the

,
beautiful galaxy Fro m the middle of August to

.
the end of Septe mber the he a t is most oppressiv e ,

60 NA R R ATI VE or
the se a breeze I s I nterrupted and calms war n the

,
inhabitan t s of t he pe r iodical rains which fall in ,
torren t s a b out t he firs t of Oc t ober .
The m ost considerable and val uable of the

Bri t ish Wes t I ndia I slan d s lies be t ween the 7 5 t h
,
and t he 7 9t h degrees of west longi t ude fro m

London and betwee n 1 7 and 1 8 nor t h la t i t ude
,
i t is of an o v al figure 1 5 0 miles long from east

,
to west six t y miles b road i n t he middle

, ,
containing acres An ele v ate d ri d ge

.
,
c alled the Blue Moun t ains runs lengt hwise ,
from east to wes t whence numerous ri v ers

,
take their rise on bo t h S ides The year is d i v i .
d e d in t o t wo seasons we t and dry

, The m on t hs .
o f July Au gus t and Sep t em b er

, ,
are called t he ,
hurricane mon t hs T h e best houses are gene

.
rally buil t l o w on account of t he hurricanes and

,
ear t hq u a k es Ho we v er pleasa n t t he s u n may

.
rise in a moment t he scene may be changed ; a

,
v iolen t s t orm will sud denly arise a t ten ded w i t h ,
thunder and ligh t ning ; t he rain falls in torren t s ,
an d t he seas and ri v ers rise wi t h t erri b le destru o

tion I witnessed this awful scene in June las t
.
,
a t Kingston t he capital o f Jamaica ; t he fo u n da

,
t ions of many houses were destroy ed t he wa t ers ,
as th ey rushed from t he mountains brought wi t h ,
t hem t he pro d uce of t he ear th large branches ,
of trees toge t her with their fruit ; man y persons

,
M R S PR I N C E. . 61
we r e drowned endeavorin g to reach their homes

,
those who su c ceeded were oft e n obliged to travel

,
many m iles out of their usual way Many youn g .
children wi t hout a parent s care were a t th is

,
’
,
time destroyed A poor ol d woman speaki n g

.
,
of these calamities to the me thus expressed ,
“
herself ! Not so bad n o w as i n the tim e of
slavery ; the n God spoke very lou d to B a cker ,
(the white people ) to let,us g o Thank God .

,
ever since that they give u s u p we go pray and , ,
we have it not so bad like as before I woul d .

”
recommend this poor wom an s remark to the fair ’
sons and dau ghters of America the lan d of the ,
“
pilgrims , Then G o d spoke very loud May .
”
these words be en graved on the post of every

door in this l and o f N e w E ngland God speaks .
very loud a n d while his j udgments are on the

,
earth may the inhabitants learn righteousness !

,
The m ou ntains that intersect this island see m ,
com p osed of rocks t hrown u p by frequent earth

,
.
quakes or volcanoes These rocks though hav

.
,
ing little soil a re a dorned wi t h a great varie t y

,
of beautiful trees growing from the fissures

, ,
w hich are nourished by frequent rai n s and ,
flourish in p e rp etual spring From these m oun .
tains ! o w a vast n um ber of small rivers of p ure

water which sometimes fall in cataracts from
, ,
stupe ndous heights ; these with the brilliant v e r

,
62 N A R RAT I VE OF
dure of the tree s form a mo st d elightfu l land

,
scape R idges o f smaller moun t ains are on each

.
si d e of th is grea t c hain ; on t hese co ffee grows ,
in great abu ndance t he valleys or plains b etwee n

t hese ri d ges are level beyon d what is usually
,
foun d I n S i m i lar situatio ns T he highe s t land i n .
the island is Bl u e Mou n t ain Peak 7 1 50 fe et above ,
the sea The most ex t ensive plain is thirty miles

.
long and fi v e broa d Blac k ri v er in t he Parish.

,
of S t Eliza b eth is t he only one navigable ; fla t

.
,
boats bring do w n prod u ce from plan t a t ions about

thirty miles up the ri v er Along t he coast an d .
,
on the plains the wea t her is very ho t ; but in t he

,
mountains the air is p u re and wholesome ; the

longes t da ys in s u m mer are a b out t hir t ee n hours ,
a n d the shor t est in win t er abo u t ele v en In t he .
plains are foun d se v eral sal t fou ntains and in t he ,
moun t ains n o t far from Spanish Town is a hot

, ,
ba t h of grea t me d icinal vir t ues t his gives relief

in t he complain t calle d t he d r y bowels mala dy ,
which exceptin g t h e b ilious a n d yello w fe v ers is

, ,
one of the m ost terri b le distem pers of Jamaica .
The general produce o f t his island is sugar rum , ,
m olasses ginger cotton in d i go pimen to cocoa

, , , , , ,
co ffees se v eral kinds of woo ds a n d m e d icinal

, ,
drugs Frui t s are in great plen t y a s oranges

.
, ,
le mons s h a d d o k s ci t rons pomegrana t es pine

, , , ,
a p les melon s pompions guavas and many

p , , , ,
MR S . P R I N CE . 63
others Here are trees whose wood when d r y

.
, ,
is incorruptible ; here is found the wild cinnam on

tree the m a h ogany the cabbage the pal m
, , , ,
yiel d ing an oil m uch esteemed for food and

m edicine Here t oo is the soap tree whose
.
, , ,
berries are use ful in was h in g The plantai n is .
p roduced i n Jamaica in abun da nce and is one ,
of the most agreeable and nutri t ious vegetables

i n the world it grows about fou r feet i n height ,
and the fruit grows in clusters which is filled ,
wi t h a l uscious sweet pulp T he B anana is very .
similar t o t he plan t ain but not so sweet T he , .
whole island is d iv ided into three cou n t ies Mid ,
dl e s e x S urry an d Cornwall and these into six

, , ,
t o w n s t w e n t y parishes and t wen t y se v e n V il lages

, ,
-
.
T his island w a s originally part of the Spanish

E mpire in America but it was t aken by t he ,
E ngl ish in 1 6 5 6 Cromwell had fitted out a

.
squadron u nder Pen n and V enables to reduce ,
th e Spani sh I slan d of H ispaniola ; b ut t here t his

squadron was u nsuccessful and t he com manders , ,
of t heir o w n accord t o atone for t his m isfortune

, ,
m ade a descent on Jamaica and having arr i ved ,
a t S t Jago soon compel le d t he who l e island to

.
,
surren der .
E ver since i t has been subject t o the English

, ,
and t he go vernmen t nex t t o t hat o f I reland i s

, ,
t h e richest in the d isposa l of t he crown Por t .

64 NA R R A T I VE or
R oyal w a s form erly the capital of Jam a ica ; it

s tood upon t he poin t of a narrow nec k of land ,
which towards the s e a forms par t of t he borde r

, ,
o f a very fine harbor of i t s o w n name The con .
v e n ie n c e s of t his harbor which wa s ca p abl e ,
of con t aining a t housand sail of large ships and ,
of such dept h as to allo w the m to load a n d unload

wi t h t he greatest ease weighed s o m uch wi th the,
inha b i t an t s t hat t h ey chose t o build their capital

,
on t his spot al t hough t he place was a hot dry

, ,
sand and produced none of t he necessaries of

,
l ife , not even fresh wa t e r About the beginning .
of t he year 1 692 no place for its size coul d be

,
compared t o t his to w n for trade weal t h and an , ,
en t ire corru p t ion of manners I n t he m on t h .
of June in t his y ear an ear t hquake which shook

,
t he whole island t o t he founda t ion to t ally o v er ,
whelmed t his ci ty s o as to lea v e i n one quar t er ,

, ,
no t even t he smalles t ves t ige re maining In t wo .
m inu t es t he ear t h opened and swallowe d u p nine

t enths of t he houses and t wo t housand people , .
The wa t ers gushe d ou t from t he openi n gs of t he

ear t h and t he people lay as it were in heaps some
,
of t he m had t he good for t une t o ca t ch hold

of beams an d raft ers of houses and were aft er ,
wards sa v ed b y b o a t s Se v eral ships were cas t

.
away in t he harbor and t he S wan F r igate whic h

, ,
l a y in the Dock was carried over the tops of

,
MRS. PRINCE . 65
s inking hou ses a n d did not ove rset but afforde d

, ,
a retreat to some hundreds of people who save d ,
their lives u pon her A n o fli c e r who was in t he

.
to wn at that t ime says the earth opened and shu t

,
very quick in some pl aces and he s a w several ,
people sink down to t he m iddle and o t hers a p ,
pe e red wi t h their heads j ust above grou nd an d ,
were choked to death At S avannah above a .
tho u s a nd a cres were sunk with t he houses a n d ,
peopl e in them the place a ppearin g for some

, ,
t ime like a lake ; t his wa s aft er wards dried u p

, ,
bu t no houses were see n I n some part s mou n

.
t ains w ere split an d a t one p l ace a pl a n tat io n

,
was re moved t o t he dista n ce of a m ile T h e .
inhabi t ants again rebu ilt t he ci ty but it was a ,
second t ime t en years aft er des t royed by a great

, ,
fire The e xtraordinary con v enience of t he har

.
bor tempted t he m to build it once more and in ,
1 7 2 2 i t was laid in ruins by a hurric a ne t he most ,
t errib le on record .
Such repeated calamities s eem ed to m a rk out

t his spot as a devot e d place ; t he i nhabitants ,
t herefore resolved t o forsake i t forever and to

, ,
reside at t he op p osite bay whe re t hey buil t ,
Kingston which is n o w t he capi t al of th e island

, .
In going u p t o Kings t on we pass o v er a pa r t,
of and between Por t R oyal , leaving t he moun

t a ins on the left a nd a small town o n the r ight
, .
66 N A R R AT I VE or
There are m a ny handsome houses built there one ,
s t ory high wi t h por t icos and every con v enience

, ,
for t hose who inha b i t t he m N o t far from King.
s to n s t ands Span i sh To wn w h ich t hough a t , ,
present far in ferior to Kingston was o n ce t he ,
c a pi t al of Jamaica and is s t i l l t he sea t o f go v

,
e rn m e n t .
On the 3 d of October 1 7 8 0 t here was a , ,
d readful h u rricane which overwhel med t he littl e

,
S eaport town of Sava n nah in Jamaica and par t , ,
of t he adjacent country ; V ery few houses were

left standing and a great nu mber of l ives were
,
lost ; m uch damage was do ne also and many ,
l i v es l ost i n o t her parts of t he island

,
.
I n January 1 8 2 3 a society was forme d in

, ,
London for m i t iga t ing a n d gradually a b ol ishin g

S lavery t hrou ghout the Bri t ish dominions called
, ,
t he An t i Sla v ery Society His R oyal Highness

-
.
t he Duke of G l oucester was President of the ,
Society ; in t he list of V ice Presi de n t s are th e

names of many of th e m ost distinguished phi
l a n t h r o p ists of the day an d among t hem tha t
,
of the never to be forgotte n Mr Wilberforce as .
a bold champion we s e e him going forwar d

, ,
pleading the cause of our down trodde n brethren -

.
I n t he year 1 8 3 4 it pleased God t o brea k th e

,
chains from hu man beings t h a t h a d ,
been held in a state of person a l s l avery ; and

MRS PRIN CE
. . 67
this great event was e ffected through the in st r u

m en t ali t y o f Clarkson Wilberforce and o ther
, ,
p h ilan t hropis t s o f t he day .
The popula t ion o f Jamaica is nearly

t hat of Kingston the capi t al ,
There are ,
m any p l aces o f worship of various denomin a

t ions n amely Church of E ngland and of Sco t
, , ,
lan d Wesleyan the Baptist an d R om an Cath

, , ,
'
o l ic s besides a J e w is h
, Synagogue These a l l .
d i ffer fro m what I have seen i n New E n gland ,
and from those I have see n elsewhere The

Baptist hol d w hat t hey cal l class meetings They -
.
h ave men and women deacons and deaconesse s ,
in these churches ; t hese hol d separate class

mee t ings ; some of t hese can read an d som e ,
cannot Suc h are t he persons who hol d the

.
o ffice of j udges an d go rou nd an d u rge the

,
people t o come t o the class and aft er they com e ,
in t wice or three t imes t hey are considere d can ,
dida t es for bap t ism Some pay fift y cen t s an d

.
,
some more for bein g baptized ; they receive a

,
t icket as a passport in t o t he ch urch payi n g one ,
m ark a quart er or more and som e less bu t

.
, , ,
n o t h ing shor t of ten pence that is two E n glis h , ,
S hillings a year They m ust atten d their class

.
once a week and pay three pence a week t o t al

, ,
t welve E ngl ish shillings a year besides t he sum s ,
they pay once a month at com mu nio n aft e r ,

s e r vi c e in the m orning On those occasions the .
m inister re t ires and the deacons examine the

,
people to ascer tain if each one has brou ght a

,
t icke t ; if not t hey cannot com m u ne ; aft er t his

,
the m i n ister returns and performs the ceremony

, ,
then they gi v e their money and depart The .
churches a re ve ry large hol d in g from four to six ,
thousan d ; many brin g wood and other presents

to their class leader a s a token of their at t ach
-
,
ment ; where there are so m any com m unicants ,
these presents and t he money exacted greatly

, ,
enrich these establish ments Com m unicants are .
s o ignorant of the ordinanc e tha t they j o i n the ,
churc h merely to have a decent burial ; for if

they are not members none will follo w the m to ,
the grave and no prayers will be said over the m

,
these are h o m e through the streets by four men ,
t he co ffi n a rough box ; not s o if they are church

m embers as soon as the news is spread that one
is dying a l l t he class wi t h their leader wil l
, , ,
assem ble at the place and j oin in singing hym ns ,
this they sa y is to hel p the spirit up to glory

, ,
t his exercise so me t imes continues all night i n s o ,
loud a strain that it is seldom t h a t any of the

,
people in the n eighborhood are los t i n S leep .
Aft er leaving Jamaica the vessel was tacked ,
to a sou t h west course I asked t he Cap t ain

-
.
wh at this me a nt He said he m ust take the cur

.
M R S PRI N CE
. . 69
re nt as there wa s no wind Wi t hout any cere

, .
m o n y l to l d him it was n o t the case and t old t he

, ,
passengers that he had deceived us There .
were two E nglish m e n that were born on t he

island that had n ever bee n on t he water ; before
,
th e t hird day passed they asked the C aptain ,
why t hey had no t seen Hay t i He tol d the m .
they passed when they were asleep I told t he m .
it was not true he was steering south south west

,
-
.
The passengers in t he steerage got alarmed an d ,
every on e was askin g the Cap t ain what this

“
meant The nin t h day we m ade land
. By .
“
said the Captain this is Key West ; ,
come passengers let u s have a vote to ru n over

, ,
t he neck and I will go ashore a n d b r ing aboard

,
fruit an d t ur t le They al l agreed but myself

.
”
.
He soon dropped anchor T h e o ffi cers from the .
shore came on board and congra t ulated him on

keepin g his appoin t men t thus pro v i n g that m y ,
suspicions wer e well fou nded The Captain went .
ashore wi t h the se men an d soo n came back , ,
called for t he passe n gers and asked for their ,
v ote for him to remain u n t il t he next day sayin g ,
t hat he could by t his delay make five or six

, ,
hu ndred dollars as t here had bee n a vessel

,
wrecked there la t ely They all agree d b ut .
myself The vessel was soon at t h e s ide of t he

'
wharf In o ne 0 u r t h ere were twenty slaves a t

2
.
6
work to unlo a d her ; every inducement was mad e

t o persuade me to g o asho re or s e t m y feet on ,
the wharf A law had j ust been pass ed there t hat

.
e very free colored person coming there should ,
be p ut in custo dy on their going ashore ; there

were five colore d persons on board none dared
to go ashore ho w ever uncomfortable we might
,
be in t h e vessel o r however we m ight desire to

,
refresh oursel ves by a chan g e of scene We .
re mained at Key West four days .
Sep t e m ber 3 d we se t sai l for N e w York at 3 ,
o clock in the aft ernoon At 1 0 o clock a gale

’
.
’
too k u s that con t inued thirty S ix hours my

,
-
s tate room w a s filled wi t h water and my baggage

-
,
a l l upset ; a woman wi t h her little boy and

, ,
myself were seated on a trun k thirty s ix hours

, ,
-
,
wit h our feet p ressed again s t a barre l to preve nt

falling ; the water pouring over us at every
breaker We dnesday the 9t h the s u n shone
.
, ,
out s o t hat the Captai n could t ake an observa t ion

,
.
He found h imself in great peril near t he co ast ,
of Texas All hands were em ployed in pu mpin g

.
and bailing On the eleventh the N e w Orleans

.
,
st eamer came to ou r assistance ; as we passed up

the river I was made to forget my own condition
, ,
as I looke d wi t h p ity on the poor slaves who ,
were laboring and toiling o n either S ide as far , ,
a s c oul d be seen wit h a gl a ss We soon r e ache d .

MR S . P RI N C E . 71
t he d e ck e n d we we r e th er e on t he ol d wr e c k a
,
'
s pectacle for obse rvation ; t he whites we nt o n
s h o re and made the mselve s com fortable whil e ,
we poor bl ac ks were obliged to r e main on t hat

broken wet vessel T he pe ople we re very busy
,
.
a bout m e ; o ne man aske d me wh o I be longe d
t o and ma ny othe r ru d e que stio ns

, he aske d m e
w here I wa s born ; I told h im Ne w buryport .
“ ’
What we re your p a re nts names ? I tol d h im
my fathe r s name was Thomas Garde ner ; h is
’
“
c ounte na nce cha nge d ; said he I kne w h im ,
well ; and he proved frie n d ly to m e He a p .
pe e re d ve ry kind and o ffere d to a rran ge m y

,
a ffairs s o that I might return to N e w York

through the Sta tes I though t it be st to decli n e
.
his pro posa l knowing my spiri t would not su ffe r

,
m e t o pass on and se e m y fellow creatu re s s u f

,
-
fe r in g without a re buke We remained fo ur d ays

.
o n t he w r ec k ; the boxes that containe d the suga r
were take n out ; the t wo bottom tie rs were

washed out c le an There were a g r eat many
.
people that came to se e the ve ssel ; they were

ast onished that s h e d id no t S ink ; they watched
m e very closely I a ske d the m what they
.
wished In the mean time there came along a

.
,
d rove of colo re d people fettered together in pairs

,
by the wrist ; some had weights with lo n g chains ,
a t thei r a nkles , m e n a nd women young an d old , .

72 N AR RATIVE or
I them what that mea n t They a ll w e re

a sk e d .
“
r eady to answer Said they . these n egroe s ,
have bee n impudent and have stolen ; som e ,
of the m are free n eg r oes from the n or t hern

ships ; and what I as ked
”
are t hey there
,
”
,
for ? ”
For be ing on shore som e of t h em at ,
”
n ight .I asked them who made t he m Lord over
God s inheritance They t ol d m e I was very
’
.
foolish ; they S hould think I had su ffered eno u g h

to t hink of my self I looke d pretty ba d it is
.
,
t rue I was seated on a box but po o rly dressed ; ,
the m ate had taken my clo t hes to a washer

w o man ; w h v he took this care he was afraid to ,
sen d the cook or steward on shore as they wer e ,
colored people I kept s t ill ; but the other

.
woman seem ed t o b e in perfect despair running ,
up and down t he deck ringing her hands and ,
crying at the though t of all her clothes being

,
destroyed ; then her mind dwelt ! pon other

things an d sh e seemed as if s h e were d erange d
,
s h e took t heir atten t ion for a fe w minu t es as s h e ,
was white Soon t he washer woman came wi t h

.
-
my clo t hes ; t hey spoke to her as if s h e had bee n

a dog I looke d at t he m with as m uch astonish
.
ment as if I had never heard of such a thing I .
asked them if the y believed there was a God .
O f course we do t hey replied

,
”
Then why .
“
not obey him ? We do
” ”
You do no t ; !
.
MR S . PRINCE . 73
pe rmit me to sa y there is a God and a just one , ,
t hat will bring you all to account For what ? ”

.
For su ffering these m e n that have j ust c ome i n

to be take n out of the se vessels an d that awfu l ,
s ight I se e in the s tree ts O that is nothing ; I ”

.
s hould think you would be con c erned about your
“
t he Lord wil l
“
s elf I am sure I replie d
” ”
.
, ,
take care of me you cannot har m me No .

,
we do n o t wish to ; we do not w a nt y o u here .
E very s hip that co m es in the c olo red m e n a r e ,
d ragge d t o priso n I found it ne cessary to be

.
s te m with the m the y we re ve ry rude ; if I h a d

n o t be e n s o I k n o w not what would have bee n
,
the consequences They we nt o ff for th a t day ;

.
t h e next da y s ome of the m came a gain Goo d .
m orning s a id the y ; we shall watch you like

,
”
the d u ntil you go away ;

y o u m ust not sa
y
”
an
y thing to th e se n e g ro e s whilst you are here .
“
Why t he n do you tal k to me if you do n o t!
“
, , ,
want m e to say any thing to you

. If you wil l l e t
m e a l o ne I will y o u Let m e s e e your pro
”
, .
t e c t io n the y re plie d
”
, they s a y it is u nde r t h e
,
R ussia n go ve rnment I poin te d them to the

.
”
e ighte enth chapte r of R evelations a n d fift eent h
v erse ! T he m erc hants of the se things which

w ere made ric h by h e r S ha l l stand afar o ff fo r , ,
t h e fear of her torment weeping and wailing ,

.
Fo r s tro ng is t he Lo rd God w ho j udgeth he r .

74 N A R RAT I V E or
They mad e no ans wer but asked t h e C a p ta in ,
how so on he S hould ge t away .
On t he 1 7 t h t he Cap t ain put eight of us o n

,
boar d t he bark H W Tyler fo r N ew York w e

. .
,
h a d about a mile to walk ; t h e Ca p t ai n was in

honor bo und t o r et u rn us ou r passage mo n ey ,
w hich w e had paid him at Jamaica ; he cam e

wi t hout i t t o s e e if we were t here and w e n t awa y ,
sayin g he woul d soon re t urn wi th i t ; but we sa w

no mor e o f him or our money ! O u r b ark a n d a ,
v essel loaded wi t h slaves wer e towe d down t h e ,
r iver b y t he same steamer ; we droppe d ancho r
at th e b o tt om of t he b ay as a s t orm was rising

, .
The 1 8 t h on S a bba t h it rained all day Captai n

, , .
Tyler knocke d a t my door wishi n g m e t o com e ,
ou t ; it rained hard the bu l w o r k of t he ba rk w a s

so high I coul d n o t look over it ; he pla c ed some
t hing for m e to s t and on t hat I migh t s e e t h e ,
awfu l sight which was t h e vessel o f sla v es layin g

,
—
at the si d e of ou r ship the deck was fu ll o f youn g
m en girls a n children bound t o T xas o r sale
,
d e ,
f I
Monday the 1 9t h Cap t ain Tyler de m ande d o f u s

, ,
to pay him fo r our passage I had bu t t e n .
d ollars and was deter m in e d not t o gi v e it ; h e

,
was very se v ere wi t h all I t ol d him t here wer e

.
ar t icles eno u gh t o pay hi m b el ongi n g to m e .
Those who h a d no t hi n g were o b lige d to go b ac k

, .
in the steamer Tue da y t he 2 0 t h we s e t sa il ;

.
s
, ,
M R S P R I NC E
. . 75
t he st orm was not over The 2 2 d the gal e took

.
u s ; we were dismasted and to s a ve sinking

, ,
S ixty casks of molasses were stove in a n d holes ,
c u t in the bu l w o r k s to let it o ff ; all the fowls ,
pigs and fresh provisions we re lost We were

, ,
.
c arrie d seventy fi ve m iles u p the bay of Mexico

- .
The Captain was d etermined no t to pay the

s t eamer for carryin g him back to New Orleans ,
and made his way the best he could .
The 3 d of October we arri v ed agai n at Key

West The Cap t ai n got t he bark repaired and
.
,
t ook on board a nu mber of turtles and a plenty ,
o f bran d y Friday the 7 t h s e t sail for N e w

.
, ,
York ; t he Captain aske d m e w h y I did not go

”
as h ore whe n t here in the Come t ; had you ,
said he t hey in te n de d to bea t you Joh n a n d

,
!
Lucy Da v enport of Sale m laid down t he firs t

, ,
ten dollars towards a hundre d for t ha t perso n

who S ho u ld ge t y o u t here T he Florida laws .
”
a re a bout t he same a s tho s e at New Orleans .
He was very talkati v e ; wished to kno w if I s a w

any thi n g of the Creole s cre w while at Jamaica
’
.
I t old him they were all safe a fine s e t of youn g ,
men and women ; one dear l i t tle girl t ha t was ,
ta ken fro m her m other in V irginia I should have ,
t a ken wi t h me if I had had t he money

,
He said .
his bro t her owned t he Cre ole a n d so me of t he ,
“
s la ves were his I never owned any ; I ha v e
76 N A RR AT I V E o r
followed the se a a ll my li fe and can tell e ve r y

,
port and tow n in your State .

”
October 1 9t h 1 8 4 2 arrive d at New York a nd

, , ,
thankfu l w as I to se t my feet on l and al most ,
famished for the want of food ; we lost all of our

provisions nothin g wa s left but sailors beef and ’
,
that was tainted before it was salted I went at .
once to those who professe d to be friends but ,
found myself m istaken I hardly kne w what

.
w a s best . I had put u p at Mr s R a w e s e s ; s h e .
did all S he coul d to raise the twenty fi v e dollars -
t hat I must pay before I coul d take my baggage
from t he vessel This seemed hard to obtain ;

.
I t r a v e l l e d from one to another for three days ;

at last I called at the Secon d Advent o fli c e ; Mr .
N a t h l Sou t hard l eft his business at once an d t ook

’
,
m e to Mr Lewis Tappan and o t hers ; t hey raised

.
t h e m oney and went with me to t he S hip aft er

,
my baggage It was three o clock on Saturday

.
’
afternoon w hen I called on Mr Southard ; t he .
vessel and Captain belonged to V irginia wa s al l ,
r eady for s e a waiting for a wind ; they had

,
r ansacked my things I took from Jama ic a forty

.
dollar s worth of preserved fruits part were l o st

’
when we were cast away in t he Comet and some ,

’
they had stolen At eight o clock on Saturday
.
evening I made out to have my things l anded on

,
the wharf ; it was ve r y da r k a s it rained hard , .

MR S . PRINCE . 77
My kind friend did n ot le a ve me until they were

a l l safely l odge d at my residence I boarded .
t here three weeks thinki n g to com e home ; but

,
it was thought best for m e to wa it a n d see if ,
Ca p tai n Miner came or not h Op in g that I m ight

,
r ecover my l o ss thro ugh him I to o k a roo m an d

.
went to se w in g and found the people ve ry kind

, .
February 1 8 4 3 t he colore d me n tha t went

, ,
back to N e w Orleans for the want of passage

,
m oney arrive d at N e w York wearied out

, A ll , .
t h e whi t e pe ople re maine d t here I waited i n .
New York u ntil the last o f July whe n I starte d ,
fo r Boston . August 1 s t 1 8 4 3 arrive d poor in

, , ,
health and poor in purse havin g sacrificed both

, ,
h oping to be nefit my fe llow cre atures I trust it

-
.
wa s acceptable to God who in his providence,
p reserve d me in pe rils by land an d pe rils by se a .
G o d m oves i n a m y s t er i o us w ay
Hi s w on ders t o p erfo rm ;
H e pl a n t s hi s fo o t s t e p s o n th e s e a ,
A n d r i des u p o n th e s t orm .
“
D e e p in un fa t h o m abl e m i nes
Of ne v er fa ili n g Skill ,
-
He t re a s u re s u p hi s b ri g h t d e s i g ns ,
A n d work s hi s s o v ere i g n w ill ”
.
Having lost a l l I determine d by the help of

, ,
G o d to leave the event ; some of my frie nds in

,
t his city symp a thize d with m e a nd others took ,
t h e a dv a ntage to r epro a ch me But in the hands .
7
78 NA R RAT I VE or
of the Lord there is a cup ; the S a viour dra nk it

to the dregs T hey gather themselves together ;
.
they hi d e t h emselves they mark my steps they

waited for my soul but the Lord is my de fence ,
the Holy One of I srael is my Saviour I ll trust .

’
him for strength and defence What things were .
gain to m e I counted loss for Christ for W hom I

, ,
have su ffered a l l things ; and do coun t them

nothing that I may win Christ and be found i n
,
him not having m ine own righteousness which

, ,
is of the Lord but that whic h is through the faith

,
of Christ that which is of God by faith that I

, ,
m a y know him and the power of his r e s u r r e c

,
tion an d the fellowship of h is su fferings being

, ,
made conformable u nto his death strengthened ,
with all m ight a ccording to his glorious power

, ,
u nto all patience and long su fferi n g wi t h joyful

-
,
ness t hinking it not strange concerning the fiery

,
trials as t hough some s t range thing happened ;

,
for sai th the apos t le it is better if t he will of God

,
s o be that ye su ffer for well doing t han fo r evil ; ,
they think it strange that ye ru n not with the m

to t he same excess of riot S peaking evil of you , .
I f the y do these things in a green tree wh a t S hal l ,
be done in a dry
I h a t e t o w a lk I h a t e t o s it
,
W ith m e n of v a n ity a n d li es ;
T h e s c offer an d t h e hyp oc ri t e
A re t h e abh orren c e of m y eye s .
M RS PRINCE
. . 79
k n ow s t h e i r i m pi ous t h ou g h t s ar e va i n
G od ,
A n d th e y s h a ll fe e l hi s p o w e r ;
His w ra th s h a ll pi e rc e th e i r s o u l s w i t h p a i n ,
I n s o m e s u rp ri s i n g h our
”
.
The first t wenty months aft er my arrival in the

C i ty
,
not withstanding my often in fi r m it ie s I ,
labored with m uch success until I hired with a n d ,
fro m those whom I mostly sympathized with a n d ,
share d in com mon t he disadva n tages and stigm a

that is heaped upon us in this our professed ,
C hristian land But my lot Wa s like the man

.
that went down from Jerusalem and fel l a mong

thieves which stripped h im of his raiment a n d
, ,
wounding him departed leavi ng him hal f dead ,

’
.
What I did not lose whe n cast away has bee n ,
t aken from m y roo m where I hired Three times .
I had been broke n up in business e mbarrassed ,
an d obliged to move when not able to wait o n

,
myself This has been my lot In the m id st

. .
of my a fflictions sometimes I have thought my

,
case l ike that of Paul s when cast among wil d

’
,
“
beasts . Had not the Lord been on my sid e ,
t hey woul d have swallowed me up ; but blesse d

be the Lor d who hath not given me a prey to
their tee t h .
”
I n 1 8 4 8 a n d 4 9 the Lord was please d to lay

’
,
his hand u pon me Some of my friends came

.
to my relief ; but the prom ises of God w e re

n eithe r few nor s m all he knows them th a t t r ust
80 NA R R A T I VE or
and fear h im ,
a nd in his providence had re se rv e d
t h e good Samaritan On e of my u nr e t i red friend s
.
m ade my case known to the R ev Dr Bigelo w . .
and wife wh o s o u ght m e ou t in m y di stress I

, .
s hall not so o n forget the mo r ning s h e cam e t o
m e with a n express ion of love and kin dness

, ,
wishing to know my case Mr s Bigelow was t h e . .
daughter of C aptain The odore Stanwood o f ,
Gl o uceste r wh o m Mr Prince sailed with as stewar d

, .
t h e firs t time he went t o R ussia Mr s B is o n e . . .
of the kind friends I speak of when c arried t o ,
Gloucester sick i n 18 1 4 ; S h e was the n a l ittl e

,
m is s . A frien d o f mine li v ed wit h h e r m other ;

S he use d to say tha t Amelia would n o t rest whe n ,
S he came from sch oo l til l sh e had so m ething t o

,
br in g to my mother and m e Mr s Bigelow a n d . .
family were very kind doing all in t hei r power t o

,
make m e c o mfortable and even mo ved m e fro m

,
the hous e o f the tyrant that I then hi r e d from and ,
r aised m e u p o t her kind fri e nds ; and wi t h t h e ,
bl es si n g of God and the coun s el of Dr Grey my .

,
health is m uch i m proved I a m as a wonde r

.
unto m any bu t the Lord is m y st r o n g r e fuge

, .
”
! ndern eath him is the everlas t ing a r m of mercy

m isfortun e is n e ver mourn fu l fo r the s o u l t ha t
accepts it for such do always s e e that every
,
C loud is an angel s face ; sorro w conne c ts t h e

’
s ou l w ith the invisibl e .

MRS . P RI N C E . 81
0 Fa the r fe a rful indeed is this wor l d s p il

,
’
grimage when the soul h a s le a rned that all it s

,
sounds are echos all its sights are shadows B u t

, .
10 ! a c l oud opens a face serene a nd hopefu l

,
looks for t h a n d saith , B e thou a s a little child ,
and thus shalt thou become a seraph a nd bo w ,
thyself in S ilent humility and pray not th at ,
a ffl ictions might not visit but be willing to be

,
”
p urified th r ough fi r e a
, n d a c c ept it m eekly .
82 N A RR A T I V E or
DI V I N E C O NT E NT ME NT .
A dv a n cem en t f
o Fa i t h is N ecessa r y .
All our disq u it n e ss do issue immediately fro m

unbel ie f I t is this that raise t h the storm of dis
.
content in the heart Oh set fai t h at work ! It .

,
is the property of fai t h to silence our doubtings ,
t o scatter our fears to still the heart when the

,
p assions a re up Faith works

. the heart to a
s weet se re ne compos u re ! it is not having food
a n d raiment b u t ha v ing faith which will make
, ,
u s con t ent Fai t h chides dow n passion ; when

.
R eason begins to swim let Fai t h swim ,

.
! u es t .H o w doth Fait h wor k contentment ?

A n sw 1 Faith shows t h e soul that whate v er
. .
its trials a re yet it is from t he hand of a kind

,
Fa t her ! it is indee d a bitter cup ; but S h a l l I

n o t dri n k the c u p whic h my Fa t her hath give n
m e to drink ? (John xviii t love to

”
I is .
my soul ; God cor r ect s with t he same lo v e that

he cr own s me God is n e w t raining me u p for
.
heaven ; he carve s m e to make me a polished ,
pillar fit to stand in the heavenly mansion

, .
These su fferings bring fort h pa t ience humili t y , ,
e v e n the peaceable fr u its of righteousness Heb , .
xii 1 1 And if God c a n bring such swee t fruit

. .
MR S . P RI N C E . 83
o ut of a sou r stock let h im graft me where he

,
p lease Thus. faith brings the heart to holy

c ontentment .
2 Faith s u cks the honey of contentment out of

.
“
the hive of the Pr o m is e fi Christ is the V in e t h e ,
promises are the cl usters of grape s tha t grow

u pon this Vine ; and Faith presse t h the swee t
v ine of contentment out of t hese spiri t ual clusters
of the promises I will show y o u but one clus

.
ter ,
—The Lord will give grace and glory and ,
n o good thing will he withhol d fro m the m that
walk uprightly (Psa l lxxxiv here is enough

. .
fo r fai t h to live upon The Promise is t he flowe r

.
o u t of whic h Fait h distils the spirits and quintes
s ence of di v ine contentme nt In a word Fai t h .

,
c arries up the soul and makes it aspire aft e r

,
m ore noble and generous del ights than earth

'
a fi o r ds and to live in the world above the world

,
.
Would you le a d contented l ives live u p t o the ,
height of your fai t h .
!
T is
’
rtabl e t h ou gh t t h a t t h e p rom i s e s of
a c o m fo
G o d a r e a l l g iv en fo r th e ex p ress p urp ose t h a t w e ,
m ay h a v e gre a t a n d s tro n g c o ns o l a ti o ns w h o m a k e ,
o u r d u ty a n d o u r p r ivil e e t o b e fo u n d pl e a d i n th e m
g g
a t t h e t h rone o f r e
g a c ;
0 th en b e e arnes t t ak e n o n ay
, ,
H e ll a ns w er e v ery g oo d d e s i re
’
G i ve h im y our h e a r t s t h ou g h c o l d a s c l a y ,
,
T h ey ll m el t lik e wax b efore t h e fi r e

’
.
N A R R AT I V E O F
B r ea t he f
a t er A ssu r a n ce.
Oh let us get the interest cleared betwe en

,
'
God an d our own so uls ! In t erest is a wor d

m uch in u se a pleasing word interest in great
friends interest money
,
Oh if there be an inter
-
.
,
e s t worth looki ng aft er it is a n interest betwee n ,

'
God and t he soul Labor to sa y wi t h Thomas ,

.
m y Lord and my G o d To be W ithout mone y .
a n d with o ut friends and without God too (E p h

, ,
s
ii
. is sa id ; but he whose faith doth flourish
in to assurance that c a n s a y wi t h St Paul I
,
— ,
.
k now in whom I h a ve believed (2 Tim i ,

. .
Be assured that m a n hath eno u gh to give h is

h eart contentment When a man s debts a r e
.
’
paid an d he c a n go a broad wi t hout fear o f

,
a rresting what contentment is th is ! O h l e t

, ,
your title be cleared ! if God be o u rs whateve r ,

'
we want in the creature is infini t ely made u p in

him Do I want bread ? I have C hrist t h e
.
,
Bread of Life Am I under d e fi l e m e n t ? His

.
blood is like the trees o f the sanctuary ; not only

fo r meat but me dicine E zek xlvii 12
, I f any
, . . .
t hing in the world is worth laboring for it is t o ,

'
get so u nd e v idences that God is o ur s I f this be .
o nce cleared what can come amiss ? No matte r !

,
what storms I m ee t with so that I know Where t o ,

,
p u t in for h a r bo r He th a t h
. a th God to be h is
G od is so well c o n t e n te d wit h h is co n d it ion t ha t!

, ,
M R S P RI N C E
. . 85
he doth not much c a re whether he h ath any

thing else To rest in a condition w here a
.
C hristian cannot s a y God is his God is a matte r ,
of fea r and if he can s a y so truly and yet is ,
not con t ented is matter of s ha me David e n

,
.
c o u r a e d himself in the Lord his God

g A l t ho u gh .
it was s a d with him (1 Sam x xx Z iklag

, . .
was burnt his wives taken captive he lost all

, , ,
’
and had l ike to have lost his soldiers hearts
too for t hey spake of stoni n g him—yet he had
—
the ground of contentment within him v iz an , .
,
interest in God and this was a pillar of s u pport

m ent to his spiri t He that knows G od is his
.
,
and t hat all that is i n God is for his good if this

doth n ot satisfy I know n othin g w ill
,
.
P r ay f or an Hu m bl e Sp ir i t .
The hu mble m an is the contented m a n ! if h is

estate be low his hear t is lower than h is est a te ;
,
ther efore he is contented If his estee m is t h e .
worl d belo w he that is little i n his own eyes wil l

, ,
n o t be much troubled to be l ittle in the eyes o f
others He hath a meaner O pinion of himsel f

.
,
than others can have of hi m The humble m a n .
studies his own unworthiness he looks u pon

himsel f as less t han the least of God s mercies ’
,
(Gen x
. xxii .and then a lit t le will content
him He cries out with P a ul th a t h e is the c hi e f
.
,
86 N A RR AT I V E O F
of sinners (1 Tim i , the r efore doth not

. .
m urmur but admire,

he doth not sa y his com
forts are small bu t his si n s are great He
,
.
thinks it a mercy he is out of hell t herefore is ,
con t ented He doth not go to carve out a more

.
happy condi t ion to himself ; he knows the worst

piece God cuts h im is better than he deserves .
A proud man is never contented ; he is one that

ha t h an high opinion o f himself ; t herefore under ,
smal l blessings is disdainful under small crosses ,
impa t ient The humble spirit is t he contente d

.
sp irit ; if his cross be light he reckons it in t he ,
in v e n t or y o f his mercies ; if it be heavy y e t ,
takes it u po n his knees knowi n g t ha t whe n his,
estate is ba d it is t o make him the be t ter Where

, .
you lay humi l i ty for the founda t ion contentment ,
wil l be the superstructure an d C hrist the t opstone , .
K eep a c l ea r C on s ci en ce . 1 Tim iii . . 9 .
Contentment is the m a n n a that is laid u p in the

ark of a good conscience Oh take heed of .
,
i nd ul ging any s in ! I t is as n atural for guil t to

breed disquietude as for the earth to bree d
,
worms S in lies like Jonah in t he sh ip it raises a

.
,
tem pest I f dust or motes be gotten in t o the eye

.
,
they make the eye water and cause a soreness ,
in it ; if t he eye be clear the n it is free from t hat,
soreness If s in be gotten into the conscience

.
,
MR S . PRI NCE . 87
which is as the eye of the soul then grief a n d ,
disquie t breed there ! but keep the eye of con

science clear and all is well What Solomon,
.
sai t h of a good stomach I m a y s a y of a good ,
conscience (Prov xxvii To the hungry sou l. .
every bitter thing is sweet ; s o to a good con

science e very bi tt er thing is sweet ; it can pick
c ontentment out of t he Cross A good con .
science turns the w aters of Marah into wine .
Woul d y o u have a quie t heart ? Get a smilin g ,
conscience ! wonder not to hear Paul say h e

.
,
was in every state content when he could m ake

that triu mph— I have l ived in all good conscience
u nto t his day A c t s x x iii 1 Whe n once a man s ’
.
, , .
reckonings are clear it m ust needs let in a bu n d ,
a nce of contentment into th e heart A good .
conscience can suck con t entment out of the bit

t e r e s t drug ! under slanders — This is our r ej oiC '
ing the testimony of our conscience 2 Cor i

, ,
. .
12 . In case o f imprison ment Paul had h is ,
prison so n gs and could play the sweet lesson of

-
,
con t entment when his fee t were i n the stocks ,
Acts xvi 2 4 Augus t ine calls it t he paradise of a

. .
good conscience When t he t imes are trouble .
some a good conscience makes a cal m ! if con

,
science be C lear what though t h e days be cloudy ?

,
Oh k eep conscience cle a r a nd you shal l

, ,
neve r w a nt contentment !
T HE H ID I N G P LA C E .
A m i d t hi s w o r l d s t u m u l t u ou s n oi se,
’
F o r p e a c e m y s o u l t o J e su s ! i e s ;
I f I v e a n i n t e r est i n h is g r a c e ,
’
I wa n t n o o t h er hi d i n g pl a ce .
T h e w o r l d w i t h a l l i t s c h a r m s is v ain ,
I t s w ea l t h a n d h o n o r s I d i s d a i n ;
A ll it s e x t e n siv e a i m s em br a c e ,
C a n n e e r a ffo r d a hi d i n g pl a c e
’
.
A gu il t y si n fu l h e a r t is m i n e ,
J e s u s, u n b o u n d e d l o v e is t hi n e !
W h en I b eh ol d t h y sm ili n g fa c e,
T is t h en I see m y hi d i n g pl a c e .
T o sa v e , if on c e m y L or d en g a g e ,
T h e w o r l d m a y l a u gh , a n d S a t a n r a g e
T h e p o w e r s o f h e ll c a n n e e r e r a se
’
M y n a m e fr o m God s o wn hi d i n g pl ac e
’
.
I m in a Wil d er n ess b el ow ,
’
L o r d , g u i d e m e a l l m y j o u r n ey t h r o u gh ,
P l a i n ly l e t m e t h y fo o t s t ep s tr a c e ,
Whi c h l e a d t o h ea v en m y hi d in g pl a c e .
S h o u l d d a n g e r s thi ck i m p ed e m y co u rse ,
.
0 l e t m y s o u l s u s t a i n n o l o ss ;
Help m e t o r u n t h e C hr i s t i a n r a c e,
A n d en t er s a fe m y hi d i n g p l a c e .
T h e n w i t h en l a r g e d p o w e r s ,
I ll t r i u m ph in r e d ee m i n g l o v e
’
,
E t e r n a l a g es w ill I p r a i se
My L ord for su ch a hi d i n g pl a c e .

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NAR R A T IVE

A S k et c h of th e E arly L i fe ofNan c y P r i nce ,

Ma nners and C u sto m s

D es c rip t i o n o f t h e C o untry 58,

D e p arture fro m N e w O rle a ns , a nd arr iv a l at N ew

As my unpro ﬁ tabl e life has bee n spare d a nd ,

i have bee n by t h e provide nce o f God wonder

fully prese rved it is wi th grati t ude to my Heavenly

Fa t her a n d duty to myself that I atte mpt to give

to the p ublic a s hort narrative of my life and

m other wa s t he daughter o f Tobia s Wo r n t o n w h o ,

was s t ole n fro m Africa wh e n a lad and was a

s lave of Capt Winthrop Sargent ;

a slave he fough t for liberty and wa s in the

R evo l utionary army at the battle of Bu nke r Hill .

My grand mo t her was an Indian My fa ther .

Thomas Gard e ne r was born on Nantucket ; his

parents were of African descent and he die d ,

of bleeding at the lu ngs leavin g m y m other a

wido w the second time wi t h an infant in h e r

a rms. She the n returned to Gloucester her ,

native place My m other soon married again

her third husb a nd by whom sh e had six chil

dren My step father wa s stolen from Africa

and While the vessel was at anchor in one of the

from his cap tors by swimm i n g ashore Aft er a .

l apse of t wo years he came to Gloucester and ,

followed the se a and was twelve y ears wit h ,

Capt E lias Davis in the e mploy of Capt Fi t z

W Sargent D u ring the war he wa s t aken by a

British Privateer and pressed into t heir service

He was sick wi t h t he dropsy a long While and ,

died in 1 8 1 3 My m other was again left a

widow with an infant s ix weeks old When sh e

thought it what shall I do with the se children P

m uch for her s h e never was the mother that she

Sargen t s family I sh a l l ne v er forget t he feel

ings I experienced on hearing of t he decease of

ﬁrst s e t of children But by indus t ry a humble .

home was provide d for my mother an d you n ger

within three m on t hs my father having buried my ,

grandfather before he sailed I t hought I woul d .

go home a l ittle while and try t o comfort my ,

m other The three ol dest childre n were put into

fa milie s My b r other a nd myself went out of

to wn in one fam ily where we staid u ntil the w a r

was over We oft e n went home wi t h our wages

and all the comforts we could get b ut we coul d

mercy t ook one lit t le brother of seven years who ,

had pined in consu mption ; thu s our fam ily was

labor and I left E ssex an d went to Salem in

joyed t he happy privilege of religious instruc t ion .

My dear grandfather was a member of a Congre

at tended church in the morning a n d too k us with ,

hi m ; and in the aft ernoon he took care of the

her l ittle group He thou ght it wrong for us to

go to a school where the teacher was not devoted

right and wrong They had family prayers

morni ng and evenin g I often looked at the m.

and thought to myself Is this y our religion ,

were seven in the fam ily ; t wo of the m being

sum ption of course the work m ust have bee n

very severe especially the washing Sabbath