The Freedmen's Book

O dark, sad millions,--patiently and dumb Waiting for God,--your hour, at last, has come, And Freedom's song Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong.

JOHN G. WHITTIER.

[Illustration]

BOSTON: TICKNOR AND FIELDS. 1865.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by L. MARIA CHILD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & CO., CAMBRIDGE.

TO

THE LOYAL AND BRAVE

CAPTAIN ROBERT SMALL,

Hero of the Steamboat Planter,

THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY

L. MARIA CHILD.

TO THE FREEDMEN.

I have prepared this book expressly for you, with the hope that those of you who can read will read it aloud to others, and that all of you will derive fresh strength and courage from this true record of what colored men have accomplished, under great disadvantages.

I have written all the biographies over again, in order to give you as much information as possible in the fewest words. I take nothing for my services; and the book is sold to you at the cost of paper, printing, and binding. Whatever money you pay for any of the volumes will be immediately invested in other volumes to be sent to freedmen in various parts of the country, on the same terms; and whatever money remains in my hands, when the book ceases to sell, will be given to the Freedmen's Aid Association, to be expended in schools for you and your children.

Your old friend, L. MARIA CHILD.

CONTENTS.

AUTHOR. PAGE

IGNATIUS SANCHO L. Maria Child 1

EXTRACT FROM THE TENTH PSALM 12

PREJUDICE REPROVED Lydia H. Sigourney 13

BENJAMIN BANNEKER L. Maria Child 14

ETHIOPIA Frances E. W. Harper* 24

THE HOUR OF FREEDOM William Lloyd Garrison 25

WILLIAM BOEN L. Maria Child 26

ANECDOTE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON 31

PRAYER OF THE SLAVE Bernard Barton 32

TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE L. Maria Child 33

THE ASPIRATIONS OF MINGO Mingo, a Slave* 84

BURY ME IN A FREE LAND Frances E. W. Harper* 85

PHILLIS WHEATLEY L. Maria Child 86

A PERTINENT QUESTION Frederick Douglass* 93

THE WORKS OF PROVIDENCE Phillis Wheatley* 94

THE DYING CHRISTIAN Frances E. W. Harper* 96

KINDNESS TO ANIMALS L. Maria Child 97

JAMES FORTEN L. Maria Child 101

THE MEETING IN THE SWAMP L. Maria Child 104

A REASONABLE REQUEST Peter Williams* 110

THE SLAVE POET George Horton, a Slave* 111

RATIE Mattie Griffith 114

THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST James Montgomery 123

PROGRESS OF EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES L. Maria Child 124

THE LAST NIGHT OF SLAVERY James Montgomery 146

MADISON WASHINGTON L. Maria Child 147

EXTRACT FROM THE VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS 154

PRAISE OF CREATION George Horton* 155

FREDERICK DOUGLASS L. Maria Child 156

HOW THE GOOD WORK GOES ON 176

DEDICATION HYMN J. M. Whitefield* 177

A PRAYER John G. Whittier 178

WILLIAM AND ELLEN CRAFTS L. Maria Child 179

SPRING George Horton* 205

THE GOOD GRANDMOTHER Harriet Jacobs* 206

THE COLORED MOTHER'S PRAYER 219

WILLIAM COSTIN 220

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN L. Maria Child 221

THANK GOD FOR LITTLE CHILDREN Frances E. W. Harper* 226

SAM AND ANDY Harriet Beecher Stowe 227

JOHN BROWN L. Maria Child 241

THE AIR OF FREEDOM Frances E. W. Harper* 243

EMANCIPATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA James Madison Bell* 244

THE LAWS OF HEALTH L. Maria Child 246

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION Frances E. W. Harper* 250

NEW-YEAR'S DAY ON THE ISLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA Charlotte L. Forten* 251

SONG OF THE NEGRO BOATMEN AT PORT ROYAL, S. C. John G. Whittier 257

EXTRACT FROM SPEECH TO COLORED PEOPLE IN CHARLESTON Hon. Henry Wilson 259

EXTRACT FROM SPEECH TO COLORED PEOPLE IN CHARLESTON Hon. Judge Kelly 261

BLACK TOM A Yankee Soldier 263

LETTER FROM A FREEDMAN Jourdon Anderson* 265

COLONEL ROBERT G. SHAW Eliza B. Sedgwick 268