“I can't, I won't let her go! she's a dear good girl!” replied Mrs. Franks. “Thechildren are attached to her, and so am I; let Minny or any other of them go—but do not, for Heaven's sake, tear Maggie from me!”

She was a dark mulatto of a rich, yellow, autumnlike complexion,with a matchless, cushionlike head of hair, neither straight nor curly, buthandsomer than either

Poor old Mammy Judy sat at the kitchen door with elbows resting upon herknee, side of the face resting in the palm of the hand, tears streaming down,with a rocking motion, noticing nothing about her, but in sorrow moaning justdistinctly enough to be understood: “Po' me! Po' me! Po' me!”

do this for the sake of my sisters in bondage, who are suffering wrongs so foul, that our ears are too delicate to listen to them

Only by experience can any one realize how deep, and dark, and foul is that pit of abominations. May the blessing of God rest on this imperfect effort in behalf of my persecuted people!

hen I first arrived in Philadelphia, Bishop Paine advised me to publish a sketch of my life, but I told him I was altogether incompetent to such an undertaking. Though I have improved my mind somewhat since that time, I still remain of the same opinion; but I trust my motives will excuse what might otherwise seem presumptuous.

hedonegoopherdegrapevimes,ena'eraniggerw'ateatdemgrapesudbeshoterdieinside'ntwel'mont's

butashisembarrassmentworeoff,hislanguageflowedmorefreely,andthestoryacquiredperspectiveandcoherence

Atfirstthecurrentofhismemory—orimagination—seemedsomewhatsluggish;

     He showed me the note which the jailer had given him, telling him to give it to his master. I told him I would give him fifty cents for it -- that being all the money I had. He gave it to me and took his money. He had received twenty lashes on his bare back, with the negro-whip.

a girl whose master resided in the country. Her name was Patsey. Mr. Colburn tied her up one evening, and whipped her until several of the boarders came out and begged him to desist.

tall, gaunt black woman, in a gray dress and white turban, sur-mounted by an uncouth sun-bonnet, march deliberately into the church, walk with the air of a queen up the aisle, and take her seat upon the pulpit steps.

When Lazarus died, Mary and Martha came to him with faith and love and besought him to raise their brother.1 And Jesus wept and Lazarus came forth.

I am a woman's rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that?

Thus this woman, for havmg been too vutuous, . d h ·1 · · I

'Don't worry, master, they'll have to walk o~er my ho Y e ore t ey get to you,' said the slave with a calm and resigned air.

Expensive?' replied the auctioneer, with an air of surprise. 'But surely you see how pretty she is; how clear her skin is, how firm her flesh is. She's eigh-teen years old at the most .... ' Even as he spoke, he ran his shameless hands all over the ample and half-naked form of the beautiful African.

The fact that the hymnal ran into two editions within a year suggests not only its popularity among Allen's people but also that more copies might have been published to accomodate the needs of Zoar, the other black Methodist congregation in Philadelphia at that tim

e distinctions cannot be drawn between the hymn and the spiritual song in this period.

bviously the black folk composers culled lines and phrases from their favorite hymns and Scriptural passages, and adapted motifs, images, and themes from such sources to compose the texts of their spirituals, to which they then added verses of their own invention. S

Books became the meeting places for texts with disparate origins, but the texts in their collected form also created literally embodied meeting places, authorizing con-gregations to worship with spirit and understanding and to build com-munities through canons.

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,”

Several scholars have identified this book as among the first to include a type of folk hymn known as “re-vival songs” or “gospel hymns.”

Haytiens

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

Christians, Negroes

Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die."

Eunice Allen see the Indians coming, And hopes to save herself by running, And had not her petticoats stopped her, The awful creatures had not catched her,

John Sadler fled across the water, And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.

The names of whom I'll not leave out.

greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we lay clasped in each other's arms. It was in vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually; and for several days I did not Page 51 eat any thing but what they forced into my mouth.

Adultery, however, was sometimes punished with slavery or death; a punishment which I believe is inflicted on it throughout most of the nations of Africa*:

My father was one of those elders or chiefs I have spoken of, and was styled Embrenche; a term, as I remember, importing the highest distinction, and Page 6 signifying in our language a mark of grandeur.

and has since his freedom purchased a negro woman, called Meg, to whom he was previously married,

I answered him I crossed the waters to come here, and I am willing to cross them to return.

She left me at the house of a very rich farmer. I was then, as I should judge, not less than one hundred and forty miles from my native place, separated from all my relations and acquaintance. At this place my mother took her farewel of me, and set out for her own country.

As a captivity narrative, Hammon's text is conventional; as a slave narrative, Hammon's text is exceptional, and his descriptions of the eighteenth-century transatlantic world are at once familiar and foreign.