{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_65027/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_65027","id":"gutenberg_65027","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65027","summary":null,"tags":["African Americans -- Biography","Bayley, Solomon","Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Enslaved persons -- Delaware -- Biography","Enslaved persons -- United States -- Biography","Enslaved persons' writings, American -- Delaware","Fugitive slaves -- United States -- Biography","Slavery -- Delaware -- History","Slavery -- Virginia -- History"],"text":"A\n\nNARRATIVE\n\nOF SOME REMARKABLE INCIDENTS,\n\nIn the Life of\n\nSOLOMON BAYLEY,\n\nFORMERLY\n\nA SLAVE,\n\nIN THE STATE OF DELAWARE, NORTH AMERICA;\n\nWRITTEN BY HIMSELF,\n\nAND PUBLISHED FOR HIS BENEFIT;\n\nTO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, A FEW REMARKS BY\n\nROBERT HURNARD.\n\n\u201cPersecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.\u201d--II. Cor.\niv. 9.\n\nLONDON: PRINTED FOR HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET; W. BAYNES &\nSON, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND P. YOUNGMAN, WITHAM AND MALDON.\n\n1825.\n\n\n\n\nWITHAM AND MALDON:\nPRINTED BY P. YOUNGMAN.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn presenting the following fragments to the attention of the public,\nit appears necessary to state the manner in which they came into my\npossession, and to give the reader a brief account of the Author,\nSolomon Bayley.\n\nDuring the early part of my residence in America in the year 1820, I\nmet with the piece containing the account of his escape from slavery,\nwith the mental and bodily trials he underwent, resulting from that\nstep: being much interested in the perusal of this simple and unadorned\nnarrative, I was induced to make some inquiry into the character and\ncircumstances of a man, the recital of whose sufferings and wrongs had\ndeeply excited my sympathy. The information which, in consequence,\nI obtained from many respectable inhabitants of Wilmington, where\nI then resided, was in all respects gratifying, so far as related\nto his character; and was, besides, such as to induce a hope that\nhis situation in life was about to become comparatively easy and\nindependent.\n\nI learned that at one period of his life he had been instructed in the\nbusiness of a cooper, and for some time had wrought at that trade;\nbut feeling some scruples in his mind with regard to following an\noccupation which he believed had a tendency, though a remote one, to\npromote the sale and consumption of ardent spirits, he conscientiously\nforsook that employment, under the persuasion that the frequent\nand indiscriminate use of distilled spirituous liquors, had proved\nas injurious to the moral and religious growth of society, as it\nwas admitted to be subversive of health, and the bane of domestic\nhappiness. He then engaged himself as a labourer in husbandry; and\nwhile deriving his support from this employment, he one day happened to\nmeet with the Governor of the State of Delaware; and believing it to be\nhis duty to speak to him on the great responsibility of the station in\nwhich he was placed, and on the importance of a faithful occupation of\nthe talents committed to his charge, the worthy Governor was so well\npleased with his communication, that he shortly after promoted Solomon\nto the oversight of one of his farms, admitting him as a joint sharer\nwith himself in the profits. This mode of farming, which requires\ngreat confidence on one side, and skill and industry on the other, is\nnot uncommon in America; the landlord usually finding all the necessary\nimplements and stocking the farm, and the tenant, the requisite labour\nto manage the concern. But I subsequently learned that he did not long\nenjoy the above mentioned situation, as the Governor was soon after\nremoved by death. He then engaged himself in the employment of a person\nat Camden, where with his wife he now resides.--Solomon was moreover\ndescribed to be estimable as a religious character, remarkably humble,\npatient of wrong, poor as to worldly possessions, but rich in faith and\nin many other christian virtues: such was the account which was given\nme of this extraordinary man.\n\nFeeling a strong inclination to see and converse with one, whom, from\nthe description of his character, I already esteemed; I requested a\nfriend who had known him many years, and whom he sometimes visited,\nto introduce me to his acquaintance, when he should next come to\nWilmington; this he did, and on a more intimate knowledge obtained in\nsubsequent interviews, the favourable sentiments I at first conceived\nof his integrity and worth, were fully and satisfactorily confirmed,\nheightened as they were, by his solid instructive conversation, and I\nmay add, the just sense he appeared to entertain of divine things.\n\nIt was in some of these interviews, that among other circumstances of\nhis life, he related the affecting account of the sale and purchase\nof his only son, whom he afterwards lost by death; he also mentioned\nseveral particulars of his two daughters, whom he had placed out in the\nservice of respectable families, but who, on account of ill health,\nhad returned home, and died within a short period of each other.\nWhile narrating in my family the particulars of these severe domestic\nbereavements, which he did with great feeling and sensibility, it\nwas evident that he was no stranger to the source from whence true\nconsolation is derived.\n\nIn common with my brethren of the same religious profession, and\nwith many philanthropists of other persuasions, I had long felt a\nwarm interest towards the descendants of Africa generally: but the\npeculiar regard which was awakened in my mind, towards this deserving\nindividual, made me anxious to obtain more of his history, especially\nwhen I had a prospect of returning to my native country. I therefore\ndetermined to obtain from him as much of it as he should be free to\ncommunicate, and wrote to him two or three times on the subject.\nWe lived fifty miles apart, and my avocations, as well as his,\nprecluded our meeting again. I wished to possess it in his own simple,\nunvarnished style; but Solomon being a self-taught penman, and ignorant\nof orthography, though willing to oblige me if he could, made many\nobjections on the ground of his incapacity and the advanced period of\nhis life: he was, however, at length induced to comply with my request,\nand in a while forwarded me such parts as I had particularly requested.\n\nI cannot but regret that the manuscript is so disjointed and\nincomplete, being written and forwarded to me at different times; but\nimperfect as it is, it appeared too interesting and valuable, to be\nrestricted to the circle of my own acquaintance; and I offer it to a\ncandid public, presuming that every indulgence on this score will be\ngranted to a man, whose life has been chiefly spent in slavery and\nservitude.\n\nSolomon is in connexion with that body of Christians, called\nMethodists; and my last communication from him, sufficiently evinces\non what grounds he has believed himself called to the ministry. From\nthe general tenor of his writings, and from this letter in particular,\nI leave the serious reader to form his own judgment, whether he be not\nrightly called and qualified to be engaged in that important service.\n\nI wish it to be understood, that it is intended to transmit the whole\nof the profits of the publication to America, for the benefit of the\naged couple; and I hope the friends of humanity generally, will, for\nthis purpose, assist in promoting an extensive circulation of the\ntract; by so doing, they will also contribute to place SLAVERY in a new\nand appalling light.\n\nThis narrative discloses the melancholy and incontrovertible fact,\nthat the rights of Slaves are shamefully invaded in a country, where a\nman is suffered to go unpunished, who has dared to sell and transport\nthose, who are legally entitled to their freedom, by his own voluntary\nact: and if such be the case in America, notwithstanding all the\nvigilance of her abolition societies, it may be asked, what presumption\nhave the friends of this injured people to hope, that any real benefit\ncan result from the tardy and temporizing measures, which have been\nintroduced into the British West India Colonies, where no public bodies\nare organised to take cognizance of their wrongs.\n\nA period of nearly twenty years has elapsed, during which the friends\nof gradual manumission have been lulled by hope, and cheated by\ndisappointed expectation; and when it is considered, that at this\nmoment England retains nearly eight hundred thousand human beings, and\nAmerica more than fifteen hundred thousand, in this cruel state of\nbondage, it remains even now a doubt, whether the present generation\nwill witness the end of this aggravated evil, unless prompt and more\nvigorous measures be taken for its immediate extinction.\n\nR. HURNARD.\n\nKELVEDON, ESSEX,\n1ST MONTH, 1825.\n\n\n\n\nNARRATIVE, &c.\n\n\nSolomon Bayley, unto all people, and nations, and languages, grace be\nunto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nHaving lived some months in continual expectation of death, I have\nfelt uneasy in mind about leaving the world, without leaving behind\nme some account of the kindness and mercy of God towards me. But when\nI go to tell of his favours, I am struck with wonder at the exceeding\nriches Of his grace. O! that all people would come to admire him for\nhis goodness, and declare his wonders which he doth for the children\nof men. The Lord tried to teach me his fear when I was a little boy;\nbut I delighted in vanity and foolishness, and went astray. But the\nLord found out a way to overcome me, and to cause me to desire his\nfavour, and his great help; and although I thought no one could be more\nunworthy of his favour, yet he did look on me, and pitied me in my\ngreat distress.\n\nI was born a slave in the state of Delaware, and was one of those\nslaves that were carried out of Delaware into the state of Virginia;\nand the laws of Delaware did say, that slaves carried out of that state\nshould be free; whereupon I moved to recover my freedom. I employed\nlawyers, and went to court two days, to have a suit brought to obtain\nmy freedom. After court I went home to stay until the next court, which\nwas about six weeks off. But two days before the court was to sit, I\nwas taken up and put on board of a vessel out of Hunting Creek, bound\nto Richmond, on the western shore of Virginia, and there put into\nRichmond jail, and irons were put on me; and I was brought very low. In\nmy distress I was often visited with some symptoms of distraction. At\nlength I was taken out of jail, and put into one of the back country\nwaggons, to go toward the going down of the sun. Now consider, how\ngreat my distress must have been, being carried from my wife and\nchildren, and from my natural place, and from my chance for freedom.\n\nOn the third day my distress was bitter, and I cried out in my heart,\n\u2018I am past all hope:\u2019 and the moment I said I was past all hope,\nit pleased the father of all mercy to look on me, and he sent a\nstrengthening thought into my heart, which was this: that he that made\nthe heavens and the earth, was able to deliver me. I looked up to the\nsky, and then to the trees and ground, and I believed in a moment, that\nif he could make all these, he was able to deliver me. Then did that\nscripture come into my mind, which I had heard before, and that was,\n\u201cthey that trust in the Lord, shall never be confounded.\u201d I believed\nthat was a true word, and I wanted to try that word, and got out of the\nwaggon; but I thought I was not fit to lay hold of the promise: yet\nanother thought came into my mind, and that was, that I did not know\nto what bounds his mercy would extend. I then made haste and got out\nof the waggon, and went into the bushes; I squatted down to see what\nwould follow. Now there were three waggons in company, and four white\npeople; they soon missed me, and took out one of the horses and rode\nback, and were gone about three-quarters of an hour, and then returned,\nand put the horse in the waggon again, and went on their way; and that\nwas the last I ever saw or heard of them. I sat still where I was till\nnight, and then walked out into the road and looked up to the sky,\nand I felt very desolate. Oh! the bitterness of distress which I then\nfelt, for having sinned against God; whom if I had been careful to obey\nin all things, he would have spared me all my troubles. Oh! it is a\ndangerous thing to cast off fear, and to restrain prayer before God. If\nwe do that which we believe will please him, with a desire to obtain\nhis favour, it is a real prayer; but if we do, or say, that which we\nbelieve will displease him, that is to cast off fear, and to restrain\nprayer before him.\n\nWhen night came and I walked out of the bushes, I felt very awful. I\nset off to walk homewards, but soon was chased by dogs, at the same\nhouse where the man told the waggoner he had taken up a runaway three\ndays before. But it pleased the highest, to send out a dreadful wind,\nwith thunder and lightning, and rain; which was the means by which I\nescaped, as I then thought, as I travelled along that night. Next day\nI was taken with the dysentery, which came on so bad, I thought I must\ndie; but I obtained great favour, and kept on my feet, and so I got\ndown to Richmond; but had liked to have been twice taken, for twice I\nwas pursued by dogs.\n\nBut after I got to Richmond, a coloured man pretended to be my\nfriend, and then sent white people to take me up; but a little while\nbefore they came, it came expressly into my mind, that he would prove\ntreacherous and betray me. I obeyed the impression immediately, and\nleft the place I was in, and presently there came with clubs to take\nme, as it did appear, two white men and a coloured man. When I saw them\nI was in an hollow place on the ground, not far from where the coloured\nman left me: at sight of them I was struck with horror and fear, and\nthe fear that came into my soul, took such an impression on my animal\nframe, that I felt very weak: I cried to the Maker of heaven and earth\nto save me, and he did so. I lay there and prayed to the Lord, and\nbroke persimmon tree bushes, and covered myself: when night came on, I\nfelt as if the great God had heard my cry. Oh! how marvellous is his\nloving kindness toward men of every description and complexion. Though\nhe is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, and will hear the cry\nof the distressed when they call upon him, and will make known his\ngoodness and his power.\n\nI lay there till night, and then with great fear I went into the town\nof Richmond, and enquired the way over the river to go to Petersburgh,\nwhere I staid near three weeks, in which time, severe and painful were\nmy exercises: I appeared to be shut up in such a straight case, I could\nnot see which way to take. I tried to pray to the Lord for several\ndays together, that he would be pleased to open some way for me to get\nalong. And I do remember, that when I was brought to the very lowest,\nsuddenly a way appeared, and I believe it was in the ordering of a good\nprovidence.\n\nIt was so; there came a poor distressed coloured man to the same house\nwhere I had taken refuge: we both agreed to take a craft, and go down\nJames\u2019 River, which was attended with great difficulty, for we met\nwith strict examination twice, and narrowly escaped; we had like to\nhave been drowned twice, once in the river, and once in the bay. But\nhow unable were we to offer unto God that tribute of praise due to his\nname, for the miracle of grace shewn to us in our deliverance! Surely\nwisdom and might are his, and all them that walk in pride he is able to\nabase. Oh!\n\n\n     \u201cLet all the world fall down and know\n     \u201cThat none but God such power can shew.\u201d\n\n\nWe got safe over to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, where his\nwife and mine were. And now, reader, I do not tell thee how glad I was,\nbut will leave thee to judge, by supposing it had been thy own case. We\nlanded near Nandew, and then started for Hunting Creek, and we found\nboth our wives; but we found little or no satisfaction, for we were\nhunted like partridges on the mountains.\n\nMy companion got to work on board of a vessel to get clams, perhaps\nto get some money to bring suit for his freedom, (as he had been sold\nlike me, out of the state of Delaware,) if his master should come after\nhim from the back countries, who he said, lived about three hundred\nand thirty miles from the eastern shore; but poor fellow, they went on\nboard of the vessel where he had been at work, and talked of taking him\nup and putting him in jail, and of writing to his master in the back\ncountries. He was said to tell them, that he had rather die than to\nbe taken and carried away from his wife again: and it was said, they\nwent down into the cabin and drank, and then came up on deck and seized\nhim, and in the scuffle he slipped out of their hands, and jumped\noverboard, and tried to swim to an island that was not far off; but\nthey got out the tow boat and went after him, and when they overtook\nhim, he would dive to escape, and still he tried to reach the island:\nbut they watched their opportunity as he rose, when they struck him\nwith the loom of the oar, and knocked his brains out, and he died. And\nnow, reader, consider if you had been carried away from your wife and\nchildren, and had got back again, how hard it would seem to be, to be\nthus chased out of the world; but the great God, whose eyes behold the\nthings that are equal, he continues to make such repent, either in this\nworld, or in the world to come. And now, readers, you have heard of the\nend of my fellow-sufferer, but I remain as yet, a monument of mercy,\nthrown up and down on life\u2019s tempestuous sea; sometimes feeling an\nearnest desire to go away and be at rest; but I travel on, in hopes of\novercoming at my last combat.\n\nBut I will go on to tell of my difficulties. After I came over the bay,\nI went to see my wife, but was still in trouble; and it was thought\nbest to leave the state of Virginia and go to Dover, and then if my\nmaster came after me, to bring suit at Dover, and have a trial for my\nfreedom. The distance from where I then was to Dover, was about one\nhundred and twenty miles: so I started and travelled at nights, and lay\nby in the day time. I went on northwards, with great fear and anxiety\nof mind. It abode on my mind that I should meet with some difficulty\nbefore I got to Dover: however I tried to study on the promises of\nthe Almighty, and so travelled on until I came to a place called\nAnderson\u2019s Cross-Roads; and there I met with the greatest trial I ever\nmet with in all my distress. But the greater the trial, the greater the\nbenefit, if the mind be but staid on that everlasting arm of power,\nwhom the winds and the waves obey. It was so, that I called at them\ncross-roads, to enquire the way to Camden, and I thought I would go\nto the kitchen, where the black people were; but when the door was\nopened, it was a white man I saw, of a portly appearance, with a sulky\ndown look. Now the day was just a breaking: he raised up out of his\nbed, and came towards the door and began to examine me, and I did not\nknow what to say to him; so he soon entangled me in my own talk, and\nsaid, I doubt you are a lying: I said I scorn to lie; but I felt very\nweak and scared, and soon bid him farewell and started. I went some\ndistance along the road, and then went into the woods, and leaned my\nback against a tree to study, and soon fell to sleep; and when I waked,\nthe sun was up, and I said to myself, if I stand sleeping about here,\nand that man that examined me in the morning comes to look for me and\nfinds me, he may tie me before I get awake; for the poor fellow that\ncame across the bay with me told me, that he travelled all night, and\nin the morning he met a coloured man, and passed on, and went into the\nwoods and lay down, and went to sleep; and he said there came white\nmen and tied him, and waked him up to go before the justice; but so it\nwas, he got away from them and found me at Petersburgh. So considering\non what he had told me, and that man\u2019s examining me in the morning,\nmade me I did not know what to do. I concluded to look for a thick\nplace and lay down, and then another thought came into my mind, and\nthat was, to look for a thin place, and there lie down. So I concluded\nto do so; withal I thought to take a sally downwards, as I enquired of\nthe man to go upwards, I thought by going a little downwards, would\nbe a dodge, and so I should miss him: I thought this plan would do. I\nthen looked for a thin place, and lay down and slept till about nine\no\u2019clock, and then waked; and when I awoke, I felt very strange: I said\nto myself I never felt so in all my distress: I said something was\ngoing to happen to me to-day. So I studied about my feelings until\nI fell to sleep, and when I awoke, there had come two birds near to\nme; and seeing the little strange looking birds, it roused up all my\nsenses; and a thought came quick into my mind that these birds were\nsent to caution me to be away out of this naked place; that there was\ndanger at hand. And as I was about to start, it came into my mind with\ngreat energy and force, \u201cif you move out of this circle this day, you\nwill be taken;\u201d for I saw the birds went all round me: I asked myself\nwhat this meant, and the impression grew stronger, that I must stay in\nthe circle which the birds made. At the same time a sight of my faults\ncame before me, and a scanty sight of the highness and holiness of the\ngreat Creator of all things. And now, reader, I will assure thee I was\nbrought very low, and I earnestly asked what I should do: and while I\nwaited to be instructed, my mind was guided back to the back countries,\nwhere I left the waggons about sixty or seventy miles from Richmond,\ntowards the sun-setting; and a question arose in my mind, how I got\nalong all that way, and to see if I could believe that the great God\nhad helped me notwithstanding my vileness. I said in my heart, it must\nbe the Lord, or I could not have got along, and the moment I believed\nin his help, it was confirmed in my mind, if he had begun to help me,\nand if he did send those birds, he would not let anything come into\nthe circle the birds had made; I therefore tried to confirm myself in\nthe promises of God, and concluded to stay in the circle; and so being\nweary, travelling all night, I soon fell to sleep; and when I awaked,\nit was by the noise of the same man that examined me in the morning,\nand another man, an old conjuror, for so I called him. And the way they\nwaked me was by their walking in the leaves, and coming right towards\nme. I was then sitting on something about nine inches high from the\nground, and when I opened my eyes and saw them right before me, and\nI in that naked place, and the sun a shining down on me about eleven\no\u2019clock, I was struck with dread, but was afraid to move hand or foot:\nI sat there, and looked right at them; and thought I, here they come\nright towards me; and the first thought that struck my mind was, am I\na going to sit here until they come and lay hands on me? I knew not\nwhat to do; but so it was, there stood a large tree about eleven or\ntwelve yards from me, and another big tree had fallen with the top\nlimbs round it: and so it was, through divine goodness, they went the\nother side of the tree, and the tree that had fallen, was between them\nand me. Then I fell down flat upon my face, on the ground; as I raised\nup my head to look, I saw the actions of this old craftsman; he had a\nstick like a surveyor\u2019s rod; he went along following his stick very\ndiligently. The young man that examined me in the morning, had a large\nclub, with the big end downwards, and the small end in his hand; he\nlooked first one side, and then on the other: the old man kept on away\npast me about sixty yards, and then stopped; and I heard him say, \u201che\nh\u2019ant gone this way.\u201d Then he took his stick and threw it over his\nshoulder, and pointed this way and that way, until he got it right\ntowards me; and then I heard him say, \u201ccome let us go this way.\u201d Then\nhe turned his course and came right towards me: then I trembled, and\ncried in my heart to the Lord, and said, what shall I do? what shall I\ndo? and it was impressed on my mind immediately, \u201cStand still and see\nthe salvation of the Lord;\u201d the word that was spoken to the children of\nIsrael when at the Red Sea. And I said in my heart, bless the Lord, O\nmy soul; I will try the Lord this time. Here they come; and still that\nword sounded in my heart; \u201cStand still and see the salvation of the\nLord.\u201d They came not quite so near me as the circle the birds had made,\nwhen the old man sheered off, and went by me; but the young man stopped\nand looked right down on me, as I thought, and I looked right up into\nhis eyes; and then he stood and looked right into my eyes, and when he\nturned away, he ran after the old man, and I thought he saw me; but\nwhen he overtook the old man, he kept on, and then I knew he had not\nseen me. Then I said, bless the Lord, he that gave sight to man\u2019s eyes,\nhath kept him from seeing me this day: I looked up among the trees, and\nsaid, how dreadful is this place. I said, two great powers have met\nhere this day; the power of darkness, and the power of God; and the\npower of God has overthrown the power of darkness for me a sinner. I\nthought I must jump and shout, but another thought struck my mind, that\nit was not a right time to shout; I therefore refrained. But my heart\nwas overwhelmed at the sight of the goodness and power of God, and his\ngracious readiness to help the stranger in distress: though he is high,\nyet hath he respect unto the lowly. It is a solemn truth, he is nigh to\nall them that call on him, with a view to his greatness and their own\nnothingness: I felt greatly at loss to know how to adore him according\nto his excellent greatness. I said, has the maker of heaven and earth\ntook my part? I said again, what could all the world do in comparison\nwith him? I now believed if every body in the world was engaged against\nme, that he was able to deliver me out of their hands.\n\nAfter a while I moved out of that place, and went away to a small\nstream of water, and staid there a little while, and then went out of\nthat neighbourhood. But whether I did right or not, I know not; for\nin moving out of that circle so quickly, I became so bewildered as to\nbe quite lost, and did not know what course to take, or what to do;\nand I thought it was because my faith failed me so quickly. Oh! what\npains God doth take to help his otherwise helpless creatures. O that\nhis kindness and care were more considered and laid to heart, and then\nthere would not be that cause to complain that \u201cthe ox knoweth his\nowner, and the ass his master\u2019s crib, but Israel doth not know, my\npeople doth not consider.\u201d Oh! how marvellous is his loving-kindness\ntoward people of every description, both high and low, rich and poor.\nO that all people would study to please him, for his goodness and his\npower; for his wisdom is great, and he knoweth how to deliver all those\nthat look unto him, and will pass by none, no not the least of all his\nhuman creatures; and he will make them see that they are of more value\nthan many sparrows; and that they are not their own, but that they are\nbought with a price.\n\nNow unto the king immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be glory and\nhonour, dominion and power, now and for ever. Amen.\n\nAfter this, my understanding was opened to see for what purpose this\nlast trial had happened unto me; and it was impressed on my mind\nthat I had come through difficulties and troubles, in order that my\nfaith and confidence might be tried; and that I might be made strong\nin the faith to believe that so high and holy an one, who had thus\nmarvellously preserved me, would hereafter help so poor an object as\nme, out of his great mercy and condescension, and that I might be\nafraid again to sin against his majesty, who had suffered me to be thus\nsorely tried, that I might see the greatness of my past transgressions,\nand his boundless loving-kindness and mercy.\n\n\nEND OF PART I.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND PART.\n\n     [What follows, was written and communicated to me at my request,\n     but without any idea on the part of the writer, of the purpose to\n     which I designed it; the originals of which, if desired, may be\n     seen by application to me, in order to satisfy any who might feel\n     a doubt with regard to the faithfulness of the transcript. I can\n     however, assure the reader, that the alterations I have ventured\n     to make, have been almost altogether confined to the spelling.--R.\n     H.]\n\n\n7th Mo. 24, 1799, I got to Camden. I will yet go on to shew the reader\nmy uneasiness of mind after I got to Camden. I then thought I wanted\na preparation to adore the goodness of God, that had begun with me in\nthe back countries, and had brought me through so many difficulties;\nbut with shame I must confess, I sang his praise, but soon forgot his\nworks: yet the great God pitied me, and exercised a careful constant\nmind towards me, for my good: Oh! how deceitful is the heart of man.\n\nBut not long after I got to Camden, my master came from the state of\nVirginia, to Camden, Kent County, state of Delaware, where he found me;\nwhereas he had not seen me since he put me aboard of the back country\nwaggon, which, as I suppose, is near three or four hundred miles from\nCamden: upon first sight he asked me what I was a going to do? I says,\nhow, master? he asked me, how did I think I was a going to get free, by\nrunning and dodging about in that manner? I said, why, master, I have\nsuffered a great deal, and seen a great deal of trouble, I think you\nmight let me go for little or nothing: he said, I wont do that, but I\nwill give you the same chance I gave you before I sent you away; give\nme forty pounds bond and security, and you may be free: but I replied,\nI work hard at nights to get a little money to fee my lawyers, and if\nit had been right for me to be free, I ought to have been free without\nso much trouble; he asked me who I blamed for my trouble? I answered,\nI did not consider that I was to blame: Ah! said he, you can see other\npeople\u2019s faults, but cannot see your own. I said, master, you can\u2019t\nblame me for a thing I never did; Ah! said he, my wrongs don\u2019t make\nyour\u2019s right, and that word put me to silence; but I thought where\nthe laws of the land made liberty the right of any man, he could, not\nbe wrong in trying to recover it: but finally he sold me my time for\neighty dollars and I dropped the lawsuit. I went to work, and worked it\nout in a shorter time than he gave me, and then I was free from man.\n\nAnd when I came to think that the yoke was off my neck, and how it was\ntaken off, I was made to wonder, and to admire, and to adore the order\nof kind providence, which assisted me in all the way. But I found in me\na disposition to wander from the path of life, and forget the favour\nbestowed upon me, and went astray too shameful to be mentioned.\n\nBut in this lost condition there came a reasoning to me, to consider\nwhere I was a going, and where I should end; and to consider on the\nshortness of time, and the length of eternity: and a thought came into\nmy mind, assuring me that my life was in the hand of God, and that he\nwas looking for better behaviour from me; and that he was angry with me\nevery day; and that he had whetted his sword, and made ready his arrows\nto shoot at me. Then my understanding began to be enlightened, to see\nmy dreadful state by nature; and the more I considered on the nature\nand heinousness of my sin, both in thought, word, and deed, the more I\nwas distressed in mind; but I found the sentence of death was passed\nagainst me, and it pressed on my mind, if I kept on going against\nlight, I should soon feel the heat of the burning lake, or the misery\nof those that are driven to darkness at death. And when I considered\nthe power of God, and for that power to be poured out upon me to all\neternity, I began then to examine into my state and condition, and I\nfound I had a falling spirit, prone to evil as the sparks fly upward;\nthen I set myself to think how I could escape the misery that was\ncoming on me. I considered my punishment would be as bad as those that\nwent to darkness in old time: then I began to consider what God had\ndone to save mankind from that fearful condition; and while I thought\non the many ways he had taken to shew his earnest mind to save sinners,\nthis consideration moderated my distress; but when I remembered my own\nways that were not good, I felt ashamed even to lift my eyes to heaven\nto ask pardon for my sins; but the shortness of time, and the length of\nawful eternity, so arrested my mind, that I was made to realize eternal\nmisery, and to cry like Jonah, as out of the belly of hell, for mercy\nand for pardon for all my sins. Oh! the thought of being amongst that\nblack crew, when the Lord rains down snares, fire, and brimstone, and\nhorribleness, terrified me much.\n\nAnd now, reader, I will here record that God is rich in mercy, towards\nsinners of the deepest die; for when every other method failed, to shew\nhis steadfast mind to save me, he sent a little boy to me with his\nfinger at a text in a sermon book, \u201cThe wicked is driven away in his\nwickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death;\u201d the same text I\nhad heard a methodist preacher take on a funeral occasion; then that\nlittle boy coming to me with his finger pointing at the same in the\nsermon book, it was about noon, the people nearly all gone to meeting,\nand I reading very earnest in the Testament: I took the book and began\nto read, and it pleased infinite goodness to look on me from the throne\nof his highness, and being unwilling that I should perish eternally, he\nsent down his awakening power, and I was made to quake and tremble; and\nan impression abode on my mind, that God was a true, and a just, and a\nholy God, and that no unclean thing could rest in his holy habitation.\nI saw I was a sinner condemned to die, but a call reached my soul,\n\u201ctake heed that you entertain no hopes of heaven, but what are built on\na solid foundation;\u201d a question arose in my mind, what foundation I had\nto hope for heaven? I examined and found I had none but what was built\non the sand, and at death I must fall into hell; which caused a cry\nto be started from my heart to my maker, what I should do? a thought\npassed through my mind to make a resolution to amend my way, and turn\nand be good, but a second thought came powerfully into my mind, if\nI made another resolution and broke it as I had done, the door of\nmercy would be for ever shut against me. Then the good spirit brought\nto my mind the dangers and deaths from which I had been delivered,\nthrough the mercy of an indulgent God, and how I had called on him in\ntrouble and he delivered me, and had answered me in the secret place\nof thunder; and it was pressed on my mind, that it was too dangerous\nto make another fool\u2019s start: then I sensed to be in the wilderness,\nnot knowing what to do: a thought arose in my mind, you have got into\na pretty fix now, afraid even to make a resolution of amendment; then\nan enquiry again arose in my heart, from that depth of thought, what I\nshould do? at the same time the hand-writing of God appeared against\nme, and that power that once shook the earth, shook my soul and body:\nit pressed on my mind, that it was the great power of God: and that\nword came into my mind, \u201cthey that resist shall receive to themselves\ndamnation;\u201d at the same time, the spirit of truth brought all things\nto my remembrance, my sins old and new, little and big, and I saw how\nhateful they all were in the sight of a holy God. Now let the Lord be\npraised both now and for ever, for the exceeding riches of his grace\nto all who will look at their sins, and his goodness, and consider and\nthink, before it be too late, and be sorry, and turn from the evil of\ntheir ways, that they may understand the truth.\n\nAnd now, reader, attend to the word sent to me in my distress, which\nwas this: \u201cbelieve on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou\nshalt be saved.\u201d Oh! then, and not till then, did I ever desire saving\nfaith; but I could not attain to it by all the exertion I could make:\nbut Oh! reader, I found here in my distress, that faith is the gift of\nGod, and that grace is not sown in the heart, till the heart is broken\nand contrite; that is, in earnest to study and enter into the saving\nplan of life and salvation, which is: \u201cLet the wicked, forsake his\nway, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let them turn unto the\nLord, and he will have mercy upon him, and abundantly pardon all that\nis passed.\u201d But when I was put to the test to try my faith, I found\nI had none: then in the bitterness of my spirit, I desired the Lord\nto give me to feel the power of saving faith; and I struggled to lay\nhold on that word, \u201cAsk and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find;\u201d\nbut a question made me quake--which question was this: is your heart\nright? then I trembled, but could not tell whether my heart was right\nor not; and while I desired to know myself, this form passed through\nmy mind; \u201cAre you willing now to renounce the devil and all his works,\nand all the pomp and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful\nlusts of the flesh;\u201d and I was enabled in my sinking, distressed state,\nto forsake every forbidden way for the sake of peace and pardon.--Then\ndid God send down the power of saving faith; then, Oh! how terrible I\nsaw the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of God\u2019s eternal\nlaw: I also saw that heaven and earth would pass away, before one jot\nor tittle of his law should fail, or fall to the ground. Man must be\nconverted, or never enter into the kingdom of heaven. A thought came\ninto my heart, to go out to some secret place to pray; and as I walked,\nI trembled, and when I got to the place, I could only pray, \u201cLord have\nmercy upon me.\u201d I cried as if falling into black despair, and having\nconsented to forsake every wrong way, God, for Christ\u2019s sake, had mercy\non me, and pardoned my sins: Glory be to God, for ever and ever, Amen.\nOh! praise the Lord, whose mercy is over all his works, from generation\nto generation, who hath put down the mighty from their seats, and\nhath exalted them of low degree, and ever holds his servant Israel in\nremembrance of his mercy. Oh! how faithful and true he is, to all who\nwill yield to the striving of his spirit in their own hearts, before it\ntakes its everlasting flight. Oh! how careful ought we to be, for fear\nwe be left to ourselves; then blindness of mind, and hardness of heart\nwill take place, and the soul be left to stumble on the dark mountains\nof unbelief, on which many have stumbled since the world began for not\nfollowing the light that visits their mind; which appeareth in youth,\nand continueth with some shorter, and some longer, according to the\nentertainment this heavenly messenger gets in the hearts of all people.\nOh! reader, think how many are now in the road to ruin, who are still\nslighting the call of grace; and if they keep on, must overtake them\nthat are there already; and now I pray that none that sees this, may\never go another step towards the pit, from whence there is no return.\n\n\n     \u201cOh! that all may taste and see\n       \u201cThe riches of his grace:\n     \u201cThe arms of love that compass me,\n       \u201cWould all mankind embrace!\u201d\n\n\nHaving given the reader a short account of the abundant mercy bestowed\non me by a bountiful God, who is engaged to raise poor sinners from a\ndepth of sin and shame, to the height of happiness and glory; and if\nthey yield to him he will do it, for faithful is he that has called\nyou, who also will do it, if ye be willing and obedient. I now return\nto give the reader an account of the difficulties I met with, in buying\nmy wife.\n\nShe was born a slave, and continued a slave till she was about\nthirty-two years of age, and I about twenty-eight years old; and having\npaid for myself, and got a little money beforehand, I was provoked\nto purpose buying of her. Before this, she and her master had fallen\nout, and he purposed to send her, and our first daughter, about three\nmonths old, away to the back countries; and how to do I did not know:\nto go with her I knew not where, or buy her at his price, brought me\nto a stand: and while I was perplexed, there came a messenger to me,\nwho said her master had carried the negro buyer with him from court,\nin order to sell her to him; but when they were about to count out the\nmoney, his daughter broke out and cried in such a distressing manner,\nfor my little daughter, that it caused him to recant at that time; but\nhe made two more attempts, but was misput most providentially. At the\nsame time, her master and I were both on one class-paper, which made\nit very trying to me, to keep up true love and unity between him and\nme, in the sight of God: this was a cause of wrestling in my mind; but\nthat scripture abode with me, \u201cHe that loveth father or mother, wife\nor children, more than me, is not worthy of me;\u201d then I saw it became\nme to hate the sin with all my heart, but still the sinner love: but\nI should have fainted, if I had not looked to Jesus, the author of my\nfaith: but I would remark, that at the very moment I was about to give\nup, the Lord appeared for my help, to my great surprise. It pleased\nalmighty goodness, to give my wife\u2019s mistress that power which cut\nRahab and wounded the Dragon; and she spoke with such concern of mind\nand said, \u201cOh do let Solomon have her; I have been afraid to speak,\nbut I want him to have her, he appears to want to have her;\u201d and these\nwords, with a few more I omit, were attended with such force to her\nmaster\u2019s mind, that he gave up with a whining tone, and said \u201cHe may\nhave her;\u201d so I hired her, and took her away the same day. After the\nyear was out I went to pay him his money for her hire, and it being on\na meeting day, some friends there who saw me pay the money, said to me,\n\u201cyou had better buy your wife at once;\u201d her master answered, \u201cI want\nhim to buy her:\u201d then they insisted on knowing his price; he said, \u201ca\nhundred dollars, and give in all the hire;\u201d which was fifty dollars\nless than ever he had mentioned before: I then said I would undertake\nit: then they insisted we should have it in writing, and we had it so.\nThus I entered purchase of my wife, one hundred and three dollars and\na third, which is thirty one pounds Virginia money. When the articles\nwere drawn, I desired the writer to put down what was paid, and what\nwas due; and then went on working and paying, until I had paid all but\nforty dollars and four-pence.\n\nBut here I will mention a remarkable circumstance: I grew uneasy about\nmy wife and me living together without being married; and while I was\nstudying how to bring it about, a tradition arose in the methodist\nchurch, to turn out all free members, that lived together as man and\nwife without being married: at the same time, preaching being held\nat her master\u2019s house, the day came round for meeting; after public\nmeeting, the class was called, when to my great surprise, the preacher\nasked me if I was free? I answered \u201cyes:\u201d he asked \u201cif I had a wife?\u201d I\nsaid \u201cyes:\u201d he asked, \u201care you married?\u201d I answered \u201cno:\u201d he asked \u201cif\nmy wife was free?\u201d I said \u201cno, not properly so:\u201d he asked \u201cwho had any\nclaim on her?\u201d the class leader said \u201cBrother Melson:\u201d the preacher\nasked me \u201cif I was willing to be married?\u201d I answered \u201cyes,\u201d and added,\n\u201cI had been concerned about it, but did not know how to bring it to\npass:\u201d the preacher said, \u201cit is easy driving when we are willing;\u201d\nand then, before the society, added his reason as above, and said, \u201cI\nsuppose Brother Melson will have no objection.\u201d Melson, her master,\nanswered, \u201cthey may be married, and welcome, for what I care:\u201d then\nsaid the preacher, \u201cyou can just give him an instrument to the clerk\nof the court, and he can get a licence and be married, and finish your\nbusiness afterwards:\u201d he then wrote to the same effect, and I went and\ngot a licence, and we were married according to law.\n\nNow the reader may take notice, that when we bargained, her master\nagreed to free her upon my paying him his money, or give me a bill\nof sale to empower me to free her; but after I had paid him about\nsixty-three dollars, he then took pet, and said \u201che would take her\naway, without I paid him all,\u201d which was forty dollars and four-pence\ndue: now he had given me receipts for all the money I had paid him,\nbut no bill of sale or freedom. By this time my wife had one child\nafter we bargained: he said he \u201cwould have the negroes or money;\u201d but\nwe being married, according to law, it made her mine; and the Judge of\nthe court told me, \u201cthat her master could not get her, nor any more\nmoney:\u201d but I felt easiest to do according to bargain, if he would\nfulfil according to agreement: but it was with great difficulty I got\nhim to fix the business; when done, then I paid him, and then she was\nmanumitted free, and I desired rest.\n\nBut I had one child in bondage, my only son, my first-born son; and\nhaving worked through the purchase of myself and wife, I thought I\nwould give up my son, to the ordering of divine providence. So we\nworked on and got to farming, and were favoured, so that we did not\nfall through in twelve or thirteen years, renting land, and paying up,\nand keeping clear of the world.\n\nNow the reader may take notice, that as I was going on thus, my son\u2019s\nmaster died; and his property had to be sold, and my son had to be\nsold, as the other property, at public sale: the back-woods-men being\ncome over, and giving such large prices for slaves, it occasioned a\ngreat concern to come over my mind; and I began to tell my concern to\nsome friends, white and coloured, rich and poor; and they all with one\naccord persuaded me to buy him, that is, my son: I answered I could\nhave no heart, because he was appraised at the death of his master at\nfour hundred dollars; it being the latter end of the war in America,\n1813, and the times dark and dull, I was much afraid to attempt to buy\nhim: but I told my friends what was like to befal me, that when my son\nwas nine months old, then I was sent away from him, as I told the\nreader in the beginning of my journal, and then I went through a fit of\ndistress, and now he is like to be sent away from me, and then I shall\nhave to go through another fit, and it will seem like double trouble:\nbut my friends and neighbours continued pressing it on me, to meet the\nday of sale, and buy him; and finally I concluded to do it, and met the\nday of sale.\n\nThen the crier made a noise in the court yard, before the court house\ndoor, and said, \u201ca likely young negro fellow for sale,\u201d and then asked\nfor a bid; the second time he asked for a bid, I bid two hundred\ndollars, which was half what he was appraised to, at the death of\nhis master. As soon as ever I had bid two hundred dollars, the man,\nI feared would buy and sell him to the back-country men, bid three\nhundred and thirty three dollars and a third, which was thirty-three\ndollars and a third more than I had intended to bid, which beat down\nall my courage. But a thought struck me, don\u2019t give out so, so don\u2019t;\nso I bid a shilling: then the same man bid twenty dollars, which was\nthree hundred and fifty-four dollars: at that I sighed, and thought\nI must give him up, and let him go; but a thought came into my mind,\nto bid one time more, and not bid any more, if he went to the West\nIndies: so I bid a cent; but the crier said, no Solomon, not a cent,\na shilling: well says I, let it go. As soon as my bid was confirmed,\nthe same man went on, and I gave up then. My son had chosen a master,\na justice of peace in town, said to be a good master, who had promised\nme before the sale began, that if he saw me give up, he would try and\nbuy him; so he began and moved him up to three hundred and fifty-seven\ndollars, then he gave up. Then three great men, who had agreed to be\nmy securities, were standing by; one of them was a methodist preacher,\nvery rich; he looked at me as if he pitied me, and when he saw my son\nwas likely to go off the wrong way, he says, \u201cthree shillings;\u201d and\nwhen he spoke I cried, and turned off, and went and leaned against the\ncourt house, under a weight of concern; and as I was considering, that\nword came into my mind, \u201cthis is their hour and the power of darkness,\u201d\nso I gave him up then. Now it did appear, the very moment I gave him\nup, and hope left me, then help came; for it pleased the Most High, who\npitieth every sorrowful soul, in the riches of his mercy, to look on\ntwo young men that were acquainted with me, and to touch their hearts\nwith such a sense of sympathy and pity towards my case, that they could\nnot endure; and the dear young neighbour man, a great man\u2019s son, says\nto my young master, who were both standing in the ring looking on, he\nsays, \u201cI had rather give twenty dollars out of my own pocket, than\nSolomon should not get him; but if Solomon will bid once more, I will\ngive him four dollars:\u201d my young master answered, \u201cif you will give him\nfive dollars, I will give him five dollars,\u201d and says, \u201clet us go and\ntell him;\u201d so they both came to me, as I was leaning against the court\nhouse wall, and said in a moving tone, \u201cSolomon, if you will bid one\nmore bid, we will give you five dollars a piece;\u201d I turned round and\nsays, \u201ca shilling,\u201d which was a shilling upon three hundred and sixty\ndollars. Then a great man said, \u201cthere, let the old man have him, he\nis his son, he wants him, he can get security;\u201d they kept at that till\nthe switch went down; so he was knocked off to me at three hundred and\nsixty dollars and a shilling. Then the tender-hearted young man, that\nfirst proposed to my young master, went into the store, and brought\nfive round silver dollars, and gave to me in the office, where I went\nto sign the bond; then three of my securities agreed upon the spot, to\nmake me up twenty dollars at the day of payment.\n\nBy this time I got raised up from my sadness, and went out after I\nhad signed the bond, so much revived and clothed with such a spirit\nof faith and courage, believing a way would be opened for me to get\nthrough, though I could not tell how; but as I came out of the office,\nI met the executor and administrator who said to me, \u201cwell, Solomon,\nyou have got Spence after all;\u201d I said, \u201cyes, master George, but I\ngave up, and if it had not been for those men who pitied me, and who\ndid as they did, I never should have got him, and now what will you\ngive me?\u201d He put his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a round\nsilver dollar and gave me, which caused me to rejoice more for that\none dollar, than for the twenty dollars promised me just before in\nthe office: and now I will give the reader my reason why I rejoiced\nmore for the one than for the twenty dollars; because two days before\nthe sale, he, the executor and administrator, offered a challenge to\nme and to them I trusted in, touching the sale of my son; now as he\nwas the first that put me in heart to try to buy my son, I thought it\nright, two days before the sale, to go to him and hear what he had to\nsay to me; and when I got there, he says, \u201cwell Solomon, where are you\ngoing?\u201d I said, \u201cI am come down to meet the day of sale;\u201d he said,\n\u201cwell, what are you going to do?\u201d I answered, I want to buy my son if I\ncan; he says, \u201cyou do?\u201d and added, \u201cyou will have a hard time of it;\u201d I\nanswered, \u201cI have been thinking so;\u201d he says, \u201cSolomon, there are four\nmen who say they will give four hundred dollars for your son;\u201d then\nsays I \u201cthey will get him;\u201d he says, \u201cSolomon what are you willing to\ngive?\u201d I answered, \u201cnot more than two hundred and fifty dollars;\u201d he\nsays, \u201cyou will not get him for that, but I suppose you are so much in\nfavour with the people, nobody will bid against you; but if nobody\nwill bid against you, I will; you need not think you are going to get\nhim for nothing,\u201d and he seemed angry; then I was very sad at that\nsaying, and says, \u201cmaster George, you was the very first man that put\nme in heart, and now you seem to put me out of heart;\u201d then he, in an\nangry gust of manner, said, \u201cwell Solomon, try your faith, and added,\nyou remember the birds, and how you exercised faith, and was delivered;\nnow try your faith;\u201d as though he felt as if he could defy the armies\nof the living God: but when he gave me the dollar, then I thought of\nthe challenge \u201cnow try your faith.\u201d I then believed, that God could\nwork and none could hinder him: although it appeared this man had done\nwhat he could, to bring me into that difficulty, yet, when through the\ngoodness of the Highest I was encouraged, as above described, and being\nbrought down as it were to nothing before the Lord, I was enabled to\nask him in such a way that his hand and heart appeared to be opened,\nso that he gave me that dollar, for which I rejoiced more than for the\ntwenty dollars promised me just before, as above stated: then was I\nenabled to sing aloud the praises of our king in spirit and in truth,\nwho ever sits above, till all his foes submit and bow to his command,\nand fall beneath his feet: I confess the eyes of my mind appeared to\nbe dazzled, as I was let into a sight of the great goodness of the\nHighest in undertaking for me: but Oh! reader, I felt a fear, lest\nmy behaviour should not be suitable to the kindness and favour shewed\ntowards me.\n\nNow there was an impression on my mind, that the Father of Mercy\nwould do greater things for me, for his own honour and praise, and\nmy everlasting advantage, if my behaviour was right before him: it\nwas impressed on my mind, that he was unchangeable in his purposes\nand designs, which are to set the captive souls at liberty, if they\nwill follow him in the path of obedience; and no degrees of grace\nwill destroy man\u2019s capability of choosing, whether he will do right\nor wrong; doing right gives a secret satisfaction to the mind; but\ndoing wrong is followed by a secret uneasiness, because God will be\na swift witness against the wrong, and will justify what is right in\nman\u2019s words and deeds, when done with right views. Oh! that all men\nwould study the end of their creation, and act accordingly; then they\nwould walk in the light of his countenance indeed, and \u201cin his name\nthey would rejoice all the day, and in his righteousness for ever be\nexalted;\u201d\n\n\n     \u201cThen should their sun in smiles decline,\n       \u201cAnd bring a peaceful night;\u201d\n\n\nwhich, may all who read these lines, desire, seek, and obtain, through\nJesus Christ our Lord. Amen, and Amen.\n\n\n\n\nEXTRACT OF A LETTER TO R. H.;\n\n     _dated, Cambden, 1st of 2nd month, 1824_.\n\n     \u201cESTEEMED FRIEND,\n\n     \u201cI received thy[1] book and pens, with a letter unsealed,\n     yesterday, dated 1st month, 17th, 1824, requesting some account\n     of my deceased mother and daughters. Dear Robert, thy letter\n     discovered a sign of generosity, or concern, for the good of all\n     people; and this concern enables thee to be condescending to men\n     of low estate; wherefore I pray, that the condescending grace of\n     God, that has begun with thee, may continue with thee, all the\n     days of thy life; and that through the all-sufficient merits of\n     Christ, both thee and thy family, all may be brought to Sion\u2019s\n     hill; and that you may be enabled to join the blessed company, to\n     sing redeeming love, for ever and ever, Amen.\n\n     \u201cIf thou go home to England, then I shall see thee no more; but\n     I trust to see you in the land of rest, where partings are no\n     more, * * * * * the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with your\n     spirits. Amen.\n\n     \u201cSOLOMON BAYLEY.\u201d\n\n\nI now proceed to give some brief account of the nativity, life, and\ndeath, of my mother. She was born of a Guinea Woman, who was brought\nfrom Guinea about the year 1690, as near as I can guess; and said to be\nabout eleven years old when brought to America. But oh! how different\nis the situation of things, towards the coloured people since that day;\nthe Lord certainly is at work in the rising generations, to have more\npity and compassion than in ages past. My Grandmother was bought into\none of the most barbarous families of that day; and although treated\nhard, was said to have fifteen sons and daughters: she lived to a great\nage, until she appeared weary of life.\n\nMy mother had thirteen sons and daughters; she served the same cruel\nfamily, until they died. Then great distress and dispersion took place:\nour young mistress married, and brought our family, out of the state\nof Virginia, into the state of Delaware. After some years, her husband\nremoved back into Virginia: after that law took place against moving\nslaves, which entitled all of us to freedom; we made a move to recover\nit by that law, but we soon were all sold and scattered very wide\napart, some to the east, and some west, north, and south. My father and\nmother they pretended to set free, to stop a trial in court, and after\nthey had been free about eleven months, they came upon them unawares;\nmy father Abner, sister Margaret, and brother Abner, were taken in the\nnight, and carried to Long Island, one of the West India Islands, and\nsold to Abner Stephen; he has sent two letters here, or we never should\nhave known what had become of them.\n\nOn the same night as above cited, my mother being in the house, they\nmeant to take her; but she made an excuse to go out at the door,\nand ran and left her sucking child, and her two other children, and\nher husband my father: now it being winter time, the child cried;\nthey therefore left it and carried away my father and the other two\nchildren. Then some friend took the child and carried it to mother;\nthen mother took her son about eleven months old, and travelled near a\nhundred miles from the State of Virginia to Dover in Kent County, State\nof Delaware; and from thence to New Jersey.\n\nIn this time she testified she experienced great affliction both of\nbody and mind; but at length, like Hagar, she was enabled to see Him\nwho had seen her in all her affliction, and not only to see him in\nthe works of creation, but also in the works of his providence; and\nher mind was enlightened to see into the nature and largeness of her\nsins. She also testified, that the view of eternity and of eternal\nconsequences, so distressed her mind, that it swallowed up her present\ndistress, and so she was induced to give up the lesser, and attend\nto the greater; namely, to find peace and rest in the life to come:\nshe was enabled to go on in search after truth, until she experienced\npeace of mind, and evidence of pardon for all her sins, which was her\ngreatest concern till death.\n\nNow the number of years that we were parted, mother and I, was about\neighteen; except that once in a great hurry, I travelled more than a\nhundred miles to see her; at the same time I left keeping of a saw\nmill, my wife, and young child about a mouth old, and taking with me\nseventeen or eighteen dollars, which all became a sacrifice with my\ntime, to the relief of my mother; but I was favoured to find that\nsatisfaction, which I esteemed more than time or money.\n\nNow it came to pass after eighteen years, my mind was visited with a\nconcern to go to Africa, after that Paul Cuffee had been there, and\nbrought good tidings from that place;[2] therefore I thought it good\nto put out my children in good families, where they could get some\nschooling, and learn how to work, and then get my wife in with some\ngood sort of people; and being advised to wait till it should seem\nproper to recommend me to that service, I thought it right to engage in\nsome profitable business, and was hired to attend a mill; in which time\nthe case of my mother came before me, and I sent for her to the State\nof Delaware from New Jersey; and when brought together, it was indeed\nlike heaven on earth begun; we could sit and tell of the dangers and\ndifficulties we had been brought through; so my mother was favoured to\nend her days with me: she, like my grandmother lived to a great age,\nand appeared weary of affliction, and of this troublesome world; her\nmind became disordered; she desired a short illness, which was granted;\nshe died the third day after she was taken sick, with very little\ncomplaint or struggle; but was thought to have fallen asleep.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The reader will observe, that Solomon frequently makes use of the\npronoun \u201cthee,\u201d when addressing an individual; this occurs simply from\nthe circumstance, that it is a mode of speech not unusual in some parts\nof America, with people of different denominations; and does not arise\nfrom any connexion that he has ever had with the society of friends.\n\nR. H.\n\n[2] This concern was doubtless of a religious character: the death of\nthe pious and enterprising Paul Cuffee, was the probable cause of the\nvisit being relinquished.\n\nR. H.\n\n\n\n\nA BRIEF ACCOUNT\n\nOF MY\n\nELDEST DAUGHTER, MARGARET BAYLEY,\n\n_Who died in the twenty-fourth year of her age_.\n\n\nShe was a pleasant child in her manners and behaviour, yet fond of gay\ndress and new fashions; yet her mind was much inclined to her book, and\nto read good lessons.\n\nAnd it pleased the Father of mercy to open her understanding, to see\nexcellent things out of his law, and to convince her that it was his\nwill she should be holy here and happy hereafter; but custom, habit,\nand shame, seemed to chain her down, so that she appeared like one that\nwas halting between two opinions.\n\nBut about a month before she was taken for death, she went to Meeting\nunder a concern about her future state; and the Meeting appeared to\nbe favoured with the out pouring of the spirit of love, and of power:\nMargaret came home under great concern of mind, and manifested a\nwonderful change in her manners and behaviour; I believe the whole\nfamily were affected at the sight of the alteration, which indeed\nappeared like that of the prodigal son coming home to his father; for\nmy own part I felt fear and great joy; such was her delight to read\nthe Bible, and ask the meaning of certain texts of Scripture, which\nevidenced a concern to make sure work for eternity.\n\nIn this frame of mind she was taken for death; she appeared very\ndesirous to live for the first four weeks, but was very patient, and\nof a sweet temper and disposition all the time: I recollect but one\ninstance when she was known to give way to peevish fretfulness; then\nI, feeling the evil spirit striving to get the advantage of her, very\ntenderly and earnestly admonished her not to regard trifles, but to\nlook to that power which was able to save her; and from that time she\nbecame passive and resigned.\n\nThe following two weeks her pain was great, and baffled all the force\nof medicine: a few days before her departure, she was urged with much\nbrokenness of heart to make confession; when she was let into a view\nof the vanity of the world, with all its glittering snares; and said,\nshe could not rest till her hair was cut off; for she said, \u201cI was\npersuaded to plait my hair against my father\u2019s advice, and I used to\ntie up my head when father would come to see me, and hide ruffles and\ngay dress from him, and now I cannot rest till my hair is cut off.\u201d I\nsaid, \u201cno, my daughter, let it be till thee gets well:\u201d she answered,\n\u201cOh! no, cut it now:\u201d so I to pacify her took and cropped it.\n\nAfter this she appeared filled with raptures of joy, and talked of\ngoing, as if death had lost its sting; this was about three days before\nher departure; she seemed to have her senses as long as she could\nspeak: a little before her speech left her, she called us all, one by\none, held out her hand, bade us farewell, and looked as if she felt\nthat assurance and peace that destroyed the fear of death; and while\nshe held out her hands, she earnestly charged us to meet her in heaven.\n\nThus ends the account of Margaret Bayley, daughter of Solomon and\nThamar Bayley, who departed this life the 26th of the 3rd month, 1821,\naged twenty-three years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days.\n\n\nTO THE PIOUS READER.\n\n     _I desire to give the pious, a brief account of the life and death\n     of my youngest daughter, Leah Bayley, who departed this life the\n     27th of the 7th month, 1821, aged twenty-one years, six months,\n     and one day._\n\n\nShe, from a child, was more weak and sickly than her sister Margaret,\nand the thought of leaving her here in this ill-natured world caused\nme many serious moments; but the great Parent of all good, in the\ngreatness of his care, took her away, and relieved me of the care of\nher for ever.\n\nWeakness of body and mind appeared in her as she grew up; and an\ninclination to vanity and idleness; but being bound out under an\nindustrious mistress, to learn to work and to have schooling, her mind\nsoon became much inclined to her book and then to business. Her school\nmistress gave her a little book, concerning some pious young people\nthat lived happily and died happily, and were gone to heaven: namely,\n\n\n     Young Samuel, that little child,\n     Who served the Lord, liv\u2019d undefiled.\n     Like young Abijah I must be,\n     That good things may be found in me.\n     Young Timothy, that blessed youth,\n     Who sought the Lord and loved the truth.\n     I must not sin as others do\n     Lest I lie down in sorrow too.\n\n\nThese blessed examples won her heart, so as to bury every other\nenjoyment: she seemed to possess as great a deadness to the world, as\nany young woman I ever observed: she seemed not ashamed to read in\nany company, white or coloured; and she read to the sick with intense\ndesire, which appeared from her weeping, and solid manner of behaviour.\nShe seemed to desire to walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long:\nevery body that observed her, remarked her serious steady behaviour;\nshe seemed as if she was trying to imitate those good children whom she\nread about; and so continued until she was taken sick; and although\nher sickness was long and sharp, yet she bore it like a lamb.\n\nA few days before her decease, I was noticing how hard she drew her\nbreath: she looked very wistful at me, and said, \u201cO! father, how much\nI do suffer:\u201d I answered, \u201cyes, my dear, I believe thee does:\u201d then,\nafter a long pause, she said, \u201cbut I think I never shall say I suffer\ntoo much:\u201d this I apprehend was extorted from a view of the sufferings\nof Christ, and her own imperfections: this was about three days before\nher decease. The day she died, she called us all, one by one, and like\nher sister Margaret, held out her hand, and with much composure of mind\nbade us farewell, as if she was only going a short walk, and to return.\n\n\n\n\nEXTRACT OF A LETTER TO R. H.\n\n     _Dated 3rd month 26th, 1824._\n\n                  \u201cI thank thee, dear Robert, for spending a thought\n     on so poor and unworthy a thing as I am; but I especially thank\n     your God and my God, for putting it into thy heart to enquire\n     anything about the work of grace on my mind. I trust it is with\n     gratitude I now write onto thee of my call to the ministry: and\n     first I may say,\n\n\n     \u201cGod works in a mysterious way,\u201d\n       \u201cHis wonders to perform.\u201d\n\n\n     \u201cSecondly, he knows how to get himself honour and praise by the\n     most feeble; for to undertake to make such a creature as I am,\n     work in his vineyard, was amazing to me; but there was a great\n     work to do, to make me fit for anything at all; surely he called\n     me oftener than he did Samuel, when he was a child: but after I\n     was savingly converted to God, he was pleased to pour into my\n     heart a measure of his universal love; and when my heart was\n     filled with love towards God, and good will towards all mankind;\n     then a longing desire that all people might taste and see the\n     riches of his grace, continued with me day and night; then a\n     strong impression to go in the fear of the Lord and speak to men\n     of all descriptions, seemed to be required of me.\n\n     \u201cBut Oh! dear friend, after my mind was thus prepared, I had a\n     great warfare and strife; first, with man-fear, and a man-pleasing\n     spirit, then with shame, desire of praise, and a good name.\n\n     \u201cNow, dear friend, in this exercise of mind there were some\n     scriptures came into my mind, to encourage and strengthen me; such\n     as, the II. Corinthians, xii. 9--II. Kings, v. 4--I. Corinthians,\n     i. 21, 27, 28, and chapter xi. 3. also chapter ix. 16, 22--II.\n     Corinthians, xi. 29--Daniel xii. 3--Isaiah vi. 5--Jeremiah i.\n     6--John i. 15, and chapter iii. 2--Hebrews xi. 34; all these\n     scriptures mightily helped to encourage me to go forward in\n     speaking to a dying people, the words of eternal life. Oh! what\n     an affecting view of the worth of souls, came into my mind; and\n     I thought, if I could be made instrumental in the hand of the\n     Lord, in saving one soul, it would be matter of rejoining to all\n     eternity. So I went out trusting in the Lord; but I should soon\n     have fainted in mind, if it had not been for the encouragement I\n     met with, both from God and man. Now to Him that sits upon the\n     throne be honour and praise, world without end. Amen.\n\n     \u201cWith good wishes to thee and thine, I conclude, thy friend,\n\n     \u201cSOLOMON BAYLEY.\u201d\n\n\nYOUNGMAN, PRINTER, WITHAM AND MALDON.","title":"A narrative of some remarkable incidents, in the life of Solomon Bayley : $b formerly a slave, in the State of Delaware, North America","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":13082}