saw him he was at this place, and he shewed me a paper, in which Mr. Gaston, his former master, subscribed a declaration made by himself, that he gave full and entire permission to Damon Jones to go as far north as he should wish to go. Knowing something of the circumstances, I considered it as a total and final release of Damon Jones from a state of slavery to him William Gaston *. It certainly was intended to be so understood.

"It must now be explained, that by the laws of this State, a slave cannot be thus emancipated. Other conditions and forms are required by law, that the emancipation may be legal. If Damon had taken the paper given to him by Mr. Gaston, and travelled directly northward, it would have served him as a pass, by which he might have enjoyed his freedom unmolested the remainder of his days. This, however, I suppose he did not do. I heard of him afterwards, as having gone to the south-west. Being in that part of the State, perhaps at or near Salisbury, some man, it seems, availing himself of the power given by the law of North Carolina, probably got out legal process against Damon; took him up, and sold him again into slavery:-if, indeed, it could be said that he could be free without the sanction of the law. My intelligence was, that he was conveyed away into Alabama, perhaps to Mobile. The next thing

* This document would have been no bar to a seizure for debt or to a sale by an executor.

I heard of him was by Mr. Olmstead's letter, asking for information, to know whether his right to freedom could be established against the claims of any one who had arrested him as a fugitive slave at Newhaven. These are the circumstances, so far as I am informed of them. Whether my information of the circumstances and events after he left this place is correct or not, I am unable to ascertain. Damon is well known here to all the persons he mentions in his letters:-Mr. Mitchell, Professor of Chemistry at this College; Mr. Chalmers; Judge Nash, of Hillsborough; Judge Martin, of Salisbury; Justice Ruffin, and a multitude of others whom he might name. These are most of them at some distance from this place, and I cannot see them.

Some time before Mr. Gaston gave Damon his indefinite pass, there had been an understanding between Mr. Gaston and Damon, that Damon should go abroad, make such money as he could in his profession as a barber; and, upon paying a certain sum, his master was to make him free.

this understanding for some time.

Damon acted on

Mr. Gaston had

passed a note to John Lewis of this place for about 290 dollars. Damon was expected by Mr. Gaston to pay this note; and, should he do so within a time probably understood between them, Damon was to be a free man. The note was passed by Lewis to Damon made payments to me at different times. He paid me personally twenty-eight dollars,

me.

and left with Stephen Moore, of Hillsborough, sixtyseven dollars, eighty-two cents, which I received. It was a considerable time after this that Damon shewed me permission from Mr. Gaston to travel northward as far as he should choose to go. Mr. Gaston paid the balance, and took up the note.

66

"JOS. CALDWELL.

"P.S. Damon Jones has written to me a letter on the same subject. If I write to him, I can say nothing else. Will you shew this letter to Damon? -and it will prevent the necessity of my writing to him.

"Yours, &c.

"JOS. C."

What a scene of iniquity is here opened to the view! As white men in the slave States consider labor disgraceful, wages are high:-an unprincipled master may thus avail himself of the ignorance and credulity of his slave ;-work his price out of him;and then give him an empty title of which a rascally confederate may take advantage; and the victim of their villainy has no redress. The more skilful he is as a workman, the less likely he is to obtain his freedom legally, and the more likely is he to be plundered of the fruits of his industry while he is endeavoring to gain it indirectly. Where there is no law to restrain cruelty or protect innocence, it is evident

that cases similar to that of Damon Jones must be

of frequent occurrence.

The sequel of Damon's story, as it was afterwards narrated to me by those who had watched his conduct, confirmed the good opinion they had entertained of him, and gave ample corroboration to all that he had stated of himself. He was put in possession of the valuable prize he had so often been cheated of:-he became free, and was placed in a barber's shop; where his steady habits of industry and good behaviour gave fair promise that he would continue to do well. Want of health and a bad master combined to keep him down; and he was unable to raise sufficient money for the liquidation of the debt he had contracted. He had saved a trifle; and his benevolent friends, who never intended to accept any pecuniary return for their bounty to him, were fully satisfied that he had been calumniated because he had been injured. manners were very superior to what are generally found among men of his rank in life, and his disposition was characterised by frankness and simplicity-qualities which in him so far predominated, as to render him the dupe of the designing and the prey of the unprincipled.

His

A few days after this little incident, I called at the house of a colored woman, who had been mentioned to me as a most remarkable instance of generosity and benevolence. Her name was Hester Lane; and

her age between fifty and sixty. She was at home, and received me without affectation or reserve. The object of my visit was soon explained; and the request I made as readily complied with. She informed me that she had redeemed eleven human beings from slavery, in Maryland, having purchased them at different times with the savings she had made out of her hard earnings. She had never had twenty dollars given to her, nor benefited by inheritance or bequest to the amount of a dollar. The house she lived in was her own; and the room in which we sat was well furnished. The first pur

chased by her was a girl of eleven years of age:the price was 100 dollars. She had been present when she was born, and afterwards assisted at her marriage, at the birth of her four children, and ultimately at her death and her funeral. The next she liberated was a boy of fourteen, for 200 dollars. The third a man about thirty, for 280. The fourth case was that of a man, his wife, and one child. As the parents were sickly and no longer young, she was charged but 140 dollars for the family :-the former she had in a great measure to maintain. The fifth case occurred about eight years previously, and was that of a woman and three children. For these she had to pay 550 dollars. They were bought at a public auction in Maryland, whither she went for that purpose, having received several letters on the subject. She afterwards purchased the husband for