The Fugitive Blacksmith | Page 4

the great work of
emancipation, if we have not settled the fact that the chattel principle is
wrong, and cannot be maintained upon Christian ground, then we have
wrought and triumphed to little purpose, and we shall have to do our
first work over again.
It is this that has done all the mischief connected with slavery; it is this
that threatens still further mischief. Whatever may be the ill or favoured
condition of the slave in the matter of mere personal treatment, it is the
chattel relation that robs him of his manhood, and transfers his
ownership in himself to another. It is this that transfers the
proprietorship of his wife and children to another. It is this that throws
his family history into utter confusion, and leaves him without a single
record to which he may appeal in vindication of his character, or
honour. And has a man no sense of honour because he was born a slave?
Has he no need of character?
Suppose insult, reproach, or slander, should render it necessary for him
to appeal to the history of his family in vindication of his character,
where will he find that history? He goes to his native state, to his native
county, to his native town; but no where does he find any record of
himself as a man. On looking at the family record of his old, kind,
Christian, master, there he finds his name on a catalogue with the
horses, cows, hogs and dogs. However humiliating and degrading it
may be to his feelings to find his name written down among the beasts
of the field, that is just the place, and the only place assigned to it by
the chattel relation. I beg our Anglo-Saxon brethren to accustom

themselves to think that we need something more than mere kindness.
We ask for justice, truth and honour as other men do.
My coloured brethren are now widely awake to the degradation which
they suffer in having property vested in their persons, and they are also
conscious of the deep and corrupting disgrace of having our wives and
children owned by other men--men, who have shown to the world that
their own virtue is not infallible, and who have given us no flattering
encouragement to entrust that of our wives and daughters to them.
I have great pleasure in stating that my dear friend W.W., spoken of in
this narrative, to whom I am so deeply indebted, is still living. I have
been twice to see him within four years, and have regular
correspondence with him. In one of the last letters I had from him, he
authorises me to use his name in connection with this narrative in these
words,--"As for using my name, by reference or otherwise, in thy
narrative, it is at thy service. I know thee so well James, that I am not
afraid of thy making a bad use of it, nor am I afraid or ashamed to have
it known that I took thee in and gave thee aid, when I found thee
travelling alone and in want.--W.W."
On the second page of the same sheet I have a few lines from his
excellent lady, in which she says, "James, I hope thee will not attribute
my long silence in writing to indifference. No such feeling can ever
exist towards thee in our family. Thy name is mentioned almost every
day. Each of the children claims the next letter from thee. It will be for
thee to decide which shall have it.--P.W."
In a postscript following this, W.W. says again:--"Understand me,
James, that thee is at full liberty to use my name in any way thee
wishes in thy narrative. We have a man here from the eastern shore of
thy state. He is trying to learn as fast as thee did when here.--W.W."
I hope the reader will pardon me for introducing these extracts. My
only apology is, the high gratification I feel in knowing that this family
has not only been greatly prospered in health and happiness, but that I
am upon the most intimate and pleasant terms with all its members, and
that they all still feel a deep and cordial interest in my welfare.
There is another distinguished individual whose sympathy has proved
very gratifying to me in my situation--I mean that true friend of the
negro, _Gerrit Smith, Esq._ I was well acquainted with the family in
which Mr. Smith married in Maryland. My attention has been fixed

upon him for the last ten years, for I have felt confident that God had
set him apart for some great good to the negro. In a letter dated
Peterborough, November 7th, 1848, he says:--
"J.W.C. PENNINGTON,
"Slight as is my personal acquaintance with you, I nevertheless am