great insecurity and loneliness. I was yet liable
to be taken back, and subjected to all the tortures
of slavery. This in itself was enough to damp
the ardor of my enthusiasm. But the loneliness
overcame me. There I was in the midst of thousands,
and yet a perfect stranger; without home and without
friends, in the midst of thousands of my own brethren—children
of a common Father, and yet I dared not to unfold
to any one of them my sad condition. I was afraid
to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong
one, and thereby falling into the hands of money-loving
kidnappers, whose business it was to lie in wait for
the panting fugitive, as the ferocious beasts of the
forest lie in wait for their prey. The motto
which I adopted when I started from slavery was this—“Trust
no man!” I saw in every white man an enemy, and
in almost every colored man cause for distrust.
It was a most painful situation; and, to understand
it, one must needs experience it, or imagine himself
in similar circumstances. Let him be a fugitive
slave in a strange land—a land given up
to be the hunting-ground for slaveholders—whose
inhabitants are legalized kidnappers—where
he is every moment subjected to the terrible liability
of being seized upon by his fellowmen, as the hideous
crocodile seizes upon his prey!—I say,
let him place himself in my situation—without
home or friends—without money or credit—wanting
shelter, and no one to give it—wanting bread,
and no money to buy it,—and at the same
time let him feel that he is pursued by merciless
men-hunters, and in total darkness as to what to do,
where to go, or where to stay,—perfectly
helpless both as to the means of defence and means
of escape,—in the midst of plenty, yet
suffering the terrible gnawings of hunger,—in
the midst of houses, yet having no home,—among
fellow-men, yet feeling as if in the midst of wild
beasts, whose greediness to swallow up the trembling
and half-famished fugitive is only equalled by that
with which the monsters of the deep swallow up the
helpless fish upon which they subsist,—I
say, let him be placed in this most trying situation,—the
situation in which I was placed,—then,
and not till then, will he fully appreciate the hardships
of, and know how to sympathize with, the toil-worn
and whip-scarred fugitive slave.
Thank Heaven, I remained but a short time in this
distressed situation. I was relieved from it
by the humane hand of Mr. DAVID RUGGLES, whose vigilance,
kindness, and perseverance, I shall never forget.
I am glad of an opportunity to express, as far as
words can, the love and gratitude I bear him.
Mr. Ruggles is now afflicted with blindness, and is
himself in need of the same kind offices which he was
once so forward in the performance of toward others.
I had been in New York but a few days, when Mr. Ruggles
sought me out, and very kindly took me to his boarding-house
at the corner of Church and Lespenard Streets.
Mr. Ruggles was then very deeply engaged in the memorable
Darg case, as well as attending to a number
of other fugitive slaves, devising ways and means
for their successful escape; and, though watched and
hemmed in on almost every side, he seemed to be more
than a match for his enemies.