Captain Mugford | Page 3

at first very indignant at hearing of proceedings
which were considered to interfere with their rights and privileges, and
he was their strenuous opponent. To enable himself still more
effectually to oppose the emancipists, he sent for all the works which
appeared on the subject of emancipation, that he might refute them, as
he believed himself fully able to do. He read and read on, and got more
and more puzzled how to contradict the statements which he saw put
forth, till at length, his mind being an honest and clear one, he came
completely round to the opinion of the emancipists. He now
conscientiously asked himself how, with his new opinions, he could
remain a slaveholder. The property was only partly his, and he acted as
manager for the rest of the proprietors. They, not seeing matters in the
light in which he had been brought to view them, would not consent to
free the slaves and, as they believed, not unnaturally, ruin the property
as he desired. Then he proposed having the negroes educated and
prepared for that state of freedom which, he assured his partners, he
was certain they would some day ere long obtain. They replied that

slaves were unfit for education, that the attempt would only set them up
to think something of themselves, and certainly spoil them, and
therefore neither to this proposition would they agree. They were
resolved that as the slaves were theirs by right of law--whatever God
might have to say in the matter--slaves they should remain. At length
my father determined, after praying earnestly for guidance, to have
nothing personally to do with the unclean thing. Had he been able to
improve the condition of the slaves, the case would have been different;
but all the attempts he made were counteracted by his partners and by
the surrounding proprietors, who looked upon him in the light of a
dangerous lunatic. He therefore offered to give up his share in the
property, provided he might be allowed to emancipate some of the
slaves. To this even they would not consent, as they were afraid he
might select the most able-bodied, and thus deprive the ground of some
of its best cultivators. He did his best for the poor blacks, but the law
was on the side of his partners, and, to do them justice, they, blinded by
their interests and the contempt in which they held the negro race,
considered they were right, and that he was wrong. All they would do
was to allow him to select ten negroes from among a certain number
whom they pointed out, and they agreed to pay him over a sum of
money for his share of the land. To this proposal he was compelled to
agree, and as West India property was at that time considered of great
value, he received a very handsome sum, yet it must be owned not half
what he might properly have claimed. With this he returned to England,
and, as he was a man who could not bear to be idle, he commenced
business as a general merchant at Bristol. Shortly after that he married,
and my brothers and sisters and I in due course came into the world.
Among the negroes he set free were Clump and his sable partner Juno,
and so attached were they to him that they entreated that he would take
them with him to England. Clump was, properly speaking, a free man;
for having in his younger days, after he had married Juno, gone a short
trip to sea, he was wrecked, and after meeting many adventures, finally
pressed on board a man-of-war. He saw a good deal of service, (about
which he was very fond of talking, by the by), and at last obtaining his
discharge, or rather taking it, I suspect, with French leave--ever mindful
of his beloved Juno, he returned voluntarily to a state of slavery, that he
might enjoy life with her. The navy in those days was not what it now

is, and he had not been in the enjoyment of any large amount of
freedom. He had, indeed, being a good-natured, simple-hearted fellow,
been sadly put upon both in the merchant service and navy. It was
always, he used to say, "Clump, you don't want to go on shore, you stay
and take care of the ship;" or, "Clump, you stay in the boat while we
just take a run along the quay for five minutes;" or, "Clump, leave is no
use to you, just let me have it instead of you;" or, "Clump, rum is a bad
thing for niggers. I'll drink your grog to-day, and if you just tip me a
wink I'll take half of it to-morrow, and let you have the rest, or