The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-09-16

ded Shall the power Of the oppressor new
= or be broken Slavery, thou art accuraed,
= and by the memory Of my yenoratel grand
: father and by the love [ bear my parents
boy as | am, l will do what | can to destroy
it,
The lad had always been a favorite with
the slaves, for young 'Nlassa Ieary' had ever
pleasant look and a kind word for them
From this time, he interested himself more
in their affairs, and entirely gained their con-
lidencc.-Of the one hundred and seventy
on the estate, many did not hesitate to ex-
press to him thei deep adherence of slave
ry and their intense desire for liberty. On
one occasion, five strong and stalwart men
made known to him their determination to
seek q land Of fire. dom, in case he thought it
could be done without rccapture. lie gave
assurance that he would aid them, and though
the attempt would be hazardous to both them
and him, yet he advised them, by allmcans,t to
try it. lie promised to write passes and
when suitable opportunity offered, to give
them all necessary instruction. A fitting
time soon arrived His uncle and aunt had
gone on visit from which he had been cx-
cused on plea Of sickness. lie hadtravclled
extensively through the Southern States,and
was possessed Of much valuable knowledge
which he could apply for the fugitiyc's ben
eft. As pass would not serve for more
than twenty-five Or thirty miles, he wrote
five for each, deeming that number sufficient
to take them to free State. After the Ia
bors Of the day were ended, he repaired to
the negro quarters. Here a difficulty met
him. None OF the slaves could read and how
could they distinguish one pass from another?
If the wrong one was shown, it would bring
all the parties concerned into great difficulty
and DANGER This was soon arranged, how
ever. Henry thought that with a little drill
ling, there would be no danger of mistakes.
"Now boys said he, "bo sure and remcm-
Der that the pass you have in your hand will
carry you to A., then destroy it, and
show the one have pinned on the inside Of
the right breast Of your roundabout which
will take You to B.. Then use that
in the rightlcg Of your trowsers, then the one
in the left leg, and lastly this on the left side
Of your roundabout, which will answer un-
til you get into free State Having made
them fully understand his instructions, he held
them ont & said, Good bye boys, & may God
bless you In reply, one of the slaves cast
pteoUs glance upon him and said, 'Nlassa
Henry, are you gwine to send us away with
OUT shoes p THIS caused the expedition to
be deferred until the next night-he retain
ing the passes for safe keeping. The follow
ing day his uncle aud aunt rcturncd-wcrc
rcjo!ccd to find their nephew so much better,
and gladly assented to his request to have the
coachman drive him over to p, as
he thought little ride would do him good
When they reached the town, he sent the
servant some distance on an crrand, and du-
ring his absence purchased five par of shoes
on which he expended nearly all his peck
et-moaoy-and concealed them in the car
r.aac box.
When night came there we're anxious
hearts in the negro quarters. The five slaves
assembled in the appointed place, The light
Of tic fire before which their hoc-cake was
baking, was scarcely reflected by the dark
and gigantic forms that assembled around it..
Hardly a word was spokcn-ther hatred Of
slavery had arisen to its highest pitch-thcir
intense love Of freedom, and the danger con-
sequent upon an attempt to win ii was too big
for utterance. Perhaps, TOO, they had some
misgivngs of the faith or courage Of the lad
who had promised to berncnd them. How
could they be otherwise than anxious? Five
strong and ablc-hodicd men, worth perchancc
as many thousand dollars, had railcd their
chance for liberty and for happiness upon the
determination and humanity Of one upon
whom the suns of thirteen summers had
scarcely shonc and who had been brought
up in all the indulgence of Shareholders
heir, Might he not tultor in his purpose ?
Might he not even 5ctray them? Or at least
might not WEAKNESS overcome him 50 that he
would sleep long past the hour when their
eyes should be fixed on the North star, and
their feet pressing forward ? Should they
be detected, they would probably be sold to
the far South, there tob be consumed under the
lingering torments Of oppression far worse
even than that which they were then endu-
| ring.
But Henry failed them not-he was scarce
| ly less anxious than they, He retired to bed,
but not to sleep His mind was dwelling up
on the suilGrings and degradation Of the bond
men and with the thought of their wretchcd
condition came the cheering recollection Of
all that his father and grandfather had done
for their reiemption and in the silence of
his own heart he again heard repeated Hen
~, grandfather hopes thee will be good
boy, and always try to do right The youth
had been placed amid sore temptation, but
the impression made upon him BY those he
loved, was as deep and us fresh upon his
heart as when he listened to their counsel ;
and he came forth from the furnace Of trial,
purified by It's fires, and his young spirit glow
ing with intense desire to give freedom to the
captive. AS soon as all was still, he left
his chamber, glidcd steathiIy down
stairs, entered the carrage-house, obtained
the shoes, and fastened to the nc
gro hut, where he was joyfully but silently
welcomed by the half doubtful, half expoc-
tant slaves. lie gave them their shoes and
their passcs-driiicd them in the use of the
latter bestowed on the company his last dol
lar, and then babe them farewell forever.
Although their cagorness to 90 was very
great, and they had already INDUCED in Wis
ions OF freedom and happiness far away, yet
that farewell forever recalled their wander
ing minds, and the thought of leaving him,
their gcncrous-hcartol bcnelactor, caused
them to liu&oron the threshold Of their mis-
II Il ] / ! i l IL