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Show 298 Incident jn the Life of a Slave Girl. co1nc ·where I \Vas ; but iu the course of the day I rcceiYcJ a note fro1n bi1n. I supposed they had not cotnc fro1n the south, in the winter, for a pleasure excursion ; and now the nature of their business was very plain. ~Irs. Bruce ca1ne to n1e and entreated n1e to leave the city the next morning. She said her house ."vas 1vatchcd, and it ·was possible that some. clew to n1e nught be obtained. I refused to take her adv1ce. She pleaded. with an earnest tenderness, that ought to have n1ovcd. me ; but I was in a bitter, disheartened 1nood. I was weary of flying from pillar to post. I ~1ad been chased during half 1ny life, and it seerncd as 1f tl:e chas~ was neYcr to end. r.I:'hcre I sat, in that great c1ty, gtuHlcss of erin1e, yet not daring to -vvorship God in any of the churches. I heard the bells ringing for afternoon ·orvice and ·with contc1nptnous sarcasn1, I said, '' \Vill the p' reach' ers take for their text, ' Proclaim 11' b c rty to the captive, and the opening of prison doors to thc1n that arc bound ' ? or will they preach fro1n the text, 'Do unto others as yo would they should do unto you'?" Oppressed Poles and Hungarians could find a s~fc refuge in that city; John ~1itchell was free to proclaun in the City IIall his desire for" a plantation well stocked with slaves ; " but there I sat, an oppre sed A.n1crican, not daring to show 1ny face. God forgive the black and bitter thoughts I indulged on that Sabbath day! The Scripture says, "Oppression makes even a wise 1nau n1ad ; '' and I was not wise. I had been told that Nir. Dodge said his ·wife had never signed away her right to 1ny children, and if he co1tld not get n1c, he \vould take them. This it \vas, n1orc Free at Lafl:. than any thing else, that roused such a tempe t in 1ny soul. Bcnjan1in was with his uncle "\Villiam in Cali· fornia, Lut n1y innocent young daughter had come to spend a vacation with 1ne. I thought of what I had suffered in slavery at her age, and my heart was like a tiger's when a hunter tries to seize her young. Dear Mrs. Bruce ! I scc1n to sec the expres ion of her face, as she turned away di ·couraged by n1y oustinate n1ood. Finding her expo "tnlations unavailing, she sent Ellen to entreat me. vVhcn ten o'clock in the evening arrived and Ellen had not returned, this \Yatchful and unwearied friend became anxious. he can10 to us in a carriage, bringing a well-fillcJ trunk for n1y journey- trusting that by this tin1c I would listen to reason. I yielded to her, as I ought to have <lone before. The next day, baby and I set ont in a heavy . now storm, bound for New England again. I recciYcu letters from the City of Iniquity, addressc<l to 1nc nn<lcr an assumed name. In a few <lays one ca1ne fron1 l\J rs. Bruce, informi11g 1nc that 1ny new n1astcr was 1'till searching for me, and that she intended to put an end to this persecution by buying n1y freedom. I felt grateful for the kindness that pro1nptcd this offer, l>ut the idea was not so pleasant to 1nc as n1ight have been expected. The more my 1nind ha<l become enlightcnml, the 1nore difficult it was for me to consider n1y ·elf an article of property ; and to pay money to tho e who had so gricvou ly oppressed n1c sccn1cd like taking fro1n 1ny sufferings the glory of t1·iumph. I wrote to 1\Irs. Bruce, thanking her, but saying that being s~ld from one owner to another sc01ncd too nnlCh hko |