Complete Works of Harriet Beecher Stowe

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  “Harry,” said he, “these things are written for our learning. We will go up and take away her battlements, for they are not the Lord’s!”

  The gloomy fervor with which Dred read these words of Scripture, selecting, as his eye glanced down the prophetic pages, passages whose images most affected his own mind, carried with it an overpowering mesmeric force. Who shall say that, in this world, where all things are symbolic, bound together by mystical resemblances, and where one event is the archetype of thousands, that there is not an eternal significance in these old prophecies? Do they not bring with them “springing and germinant fulfillments” wherever there is a haughty and oppressive nation, and a “flock of the slaughter”?

  “Harry,” said Dred, “I have fasted and prayed before the Lord, lying all night on my face, yet the token cometh not! Behold, there are prayers that resist me! The Lamb yet beareth, and the opening of the second seal delayeth! Yet the Lord had shown unto me that we should be up and doing, to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord! The Lord hath said unto me, ‘Speak to the elders, and to the prudent men, and prepare their hearts.’”

  “One thing,” said Harry, “fills me with apprehension. Hark, that brought me this letter, was delayed in getting back; and I’m afraid that he’ll get into trouble. Tom Gordon is raging like a fury over the people of our plantation. They have always been held under a very mild rule, and every one knows that a plantation so managed is not so immediately profitable as it can be made for a short time by forcing everything up to the highest notch. He has got a man there for overseer — Old Hokum — that has been famous for his hardness and meanness; and he has delivered the people unreservedly into his hands. He drinks and frolics, and has his oyster suppers, and swears he’ll shoot any one that brings him a complaint. Hokum is to pay him so much yearly, and have to himself all that he makes over. Tom Gordon keeps two girls there, that he bought for himself and his fellows, just as he wanted to keep my wife!”

  “Be patient, Harry! This is a great christianizing institution!” said Dred, with a tone of grave irony.

  “I am afraid for Hark,” said Harry. “He is the bravest of brave fellows. He is ready to do anything for us. But if he is taken, there will be no mercy.”

  Dred looked on the ground gloomily. “Hark was to be here to-night,” he said.

  “Yes,” said Harry, “I wish we may see him.”

  “Harry,” said Dred, “when they come to-night, read them the Declaration of Independence of these United States, and then let each one judge of our afflictions, and the afflictions of our fathers, and the Lord shall be judge between us. I must go and seek counsel of the Lord.” Dred rose, and, giving a leap from the ground, caught on the branch of the oak which overhung their head, and, swinging himself on the limb, climbed in the thickness of the branches, and disappeared from view. Harry walked to the other side of the clearing, where his lodge had been erected. He found Lisette busy within. She ran to meet him, and threw her arms around his neck.

  “I am so glad you’ve come back, Harry! It is so dreadful to think what may happen to you while you are gone! Harry, I think we could be very happy here. See what a nice bed I have made in this corner, out of leaves and moss! The women are both very kind, and I am glad we have got Old Tiff and the children here. It makes it seem more natural. See, I went out with them this afternoon, and how many grapes I have got! What have you been talking to that dreadful man about? Do you know, Harry, he makes me afraid? They say he is a prophet. Do you think he is?”

  “I don’t know, child,” said Harry abstractedly.

  “Don’t stay with him too much!” said Lisette. “He’ll make you as gloomy as he is.”

  “Do I need any one to make me gloomy?” said Harry. “Am I not gloomy enough? Am I not an outcast? And you, too, Lisette?”

  “It isn’t so very dreadful to be an outcast,” said Lisette. “God makes wild grapes for us, if we are outcasts.”

  “Yes, child,” said Harry, “you are right.”

  “And the sun shines so pleasant this afternoon!” said Lisette.

  “Yes,” said Harry; “but by and by cold storms and rain will come, and frosty weather!”

  “Well,” said Lisette, “then we will think what to do next. But don’t let us lose this afternoon, and these grapes, at any rate.”

  CHAPTER XLV

  JEGAR SAHADUTHA

  At twelve o’clock, that night, Harry rose from the side of his sleeping wife and looked out into the darkness. The belt of forest which surrounded them seemed a girdle of impenetrable blackness. But above, where the treetops fringed out against the sky, the heavens were seen of a deep, transparent violet, blazing with stars. He opened the door and came out. All was so intensely still that even the rustle of a leaf could be heard. He stood listening. A low whistle seemed to come from a distant part of the underwood. He answered it. Soon a crackling was heard, and a sound of cautious, suppressed conversation. In a few moments a rustling was heard in the boughs overhead. Harry stepped under.

  “Who is there?” he said.

  “The camp of the Lord’s judgment!” was the answer, and a dark form dropped on the ground.

  “Hannibal?” said Harry.

  “Yes, Hannibal!” said the voice.

  “Thank God!” said Harry.

  But now the boughs of the tree were continually rustling, and one after another sprang down to the ground, each one of whom pronounced his name as he came.

  “Where is the prophet?” said one.

  “He is not here,” said Harry. “Fear not, he will be with us.”

  The party now proceeded to walk, talking in low voices.

  “There’s nobody from the Gordon place yet,” said Harry uneasily.

  “They’ll be along,” said one of them. “Perhaps Hokum was wakeful to-night. They’ll give him the slip, though.”

  The company had now arrived at the lower portion of the clearing, where stood the blasted tree, which we formerly described, with its funeral wreaths of moss. Over the grave which had recently been formed there Dred had piled a rude and ragged monument of stumps of trees, and tufts of moss, and leaves. In the top of one of the highest stumps was stuck a pine-knot, to which Harry now applied a light. It kindled, and rose with a broad, red, fuliginous glare, casting a sombre light on the circle of dark faces around. There were a dozen men, mulatto, quadroon, and negro. Their countenances all wore an expression of stern gravity and considerate solemnity.

  Their first act was to clasp their hands in a circle, and join in a solemn oath never to betray each other. The moment this was done, Dred emerged mysteriously from the darkness and stood among them.

  “Brethren,” he said, “this is the grave of your brother, whose wife they would take for a prey! Therefore he fled to the wilderness. But the assembly of the wicked compassed him about, and the dogs tore him, and licked up his blood, and here I buried him! Wherefore this heap is called Jegar Sahadutha! For the God of Abraham and Nahor, the God of their fathers, shall judge betwixt us. He that regardeth not the oath of brethren, and betrayeth counsel, let his arm fall from his shoulder-blade! Let his arm be broken from the bone! Behold, this heap shall be a witness unto you; for it hath heard all the words that ye have spoken!”

  A deep-murmured “Amen” rose solemnly among them.

  “Brethren,” said Dred, laying his hand upon Harry, “the Lord caused Moses to become the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, that he might become learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, to lead forth his people from the house of bondage. And when he slew an Egyptian, he fled into the wilderness, where he abode certain days, till the time of the Lord was come. In like manner hath the Lord dealt with our brother. He shall expound unto you the laws of the Egyptians; and for me, I will show you what I have received from the Lord.” The circle now sat down on the graves which were scattered around, and Harry thus spoke: —

  “Brothers, how many of you have been at Fourth of July celebrations?”

  “I have! I have! All of us
!” was the deep response, uttered not eagerly, but in low and earnest tones.

  “Brethren, I wish to explain to you to-night the story that they celebrate. It was years ago that this people was small, and poor, and despised, and governed by men sent by the King of England, who, they say, oppressed them. Then they resolved that they would be free, and govern themselves in their own way and make their own laws. For this they were called rebels and conspirators; and if they had failed, every one of their leaders would have been hung, and nothing more said about it. When they were agreeing to do this, they met together and signed a paper, which was to show to all the world the reason why. You have heard this read by them when the drums were beating and the banners flying. Now hear it here, while you sit on the graves of men they have murdered!”

  And standing by the light of the flaring torch, Harry read that document which has been fraught with so much seed for all time. What words were those to fall on the ears of thoughtful bondmen!

  “Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed.”

  “When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a determination to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right and their duty to throw off such government.”

  “Brothers,” said Harry, “yon have heard the grievances which our masters thought sufficient to make it right for them to shed blood. They rose up against their king, and when he sent his armies into the country, they fired at them from the windows of the houses, and from behind the barns, and from out of the trees, and wherever they passed, till they were strong enough to get together an army and fight them openly.”

  “Yes,” said Hannibal, “I heard my master’s father tell of it. He was one of them.”

  “Now,” said Harry, “the Lord judge between us and them, if the laws that they put upon us be not worse than any that lay upon them. They complained that they could not get justice done to them in the courts. But how stands it with us, who cannot even come into a court to plead?” Harry then, in earnest and vehement language, narrated the abuse which had been inflicted upon Milly; and then recited, in a clear and solemn voice, that judicial decision which had burned itself into his memory, and which had confirmed and given full license to that despotic power. He related the fate of his own contract, — of his services for years to the family for which he had labored, all ending in worse than nothing. And then he told his sister’s history, till his voice was broken by sobs. The audience who sat around were profoundly solemn; only occasionally a deep, smothered groan seemed to rise from them involuntarily.

  Hannibal rose. “I had a master in Virginny. He was a Methodist preacher. He sold my wife and two children to Orleans, and then sold me. My next wife was took for debt, and she’s gone.”

  A quadroon young man rose. “My mother was held by a minister in Kentucky. My father was a good, hardworking man. There was a man set his eye on her and wanted her, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Then she told her master, and begged him to protect her; but he sold her. Her hair turned all white in that year, and she went crazy. She was crazy till she died!”

  “I’s got a story to tell, on that,” said a middle-aged negro man, of low stature, broad shoulders, and a countenance indicative of great resolution, who now rose. “I’s got a story to tell.”

  “Go on, Monday,” said Harry.

  “You spoke ‘bout de laws. I’s seen ‘bout dem ar. Now, my brother Sam, he worked with me on de great Morton place, in Virginny. And dere was going to be a wedding dere, and dey wanted money, and so some of de colored people was sold to Tom Parker, ‘cause Tom Parker he was a-buying up round, dat ar fall; and he sold him to Souther, and he was one o’ yer drefful mean white trash, dat lived down to de bush. Well, Sam was nigh ‘bout starved, and so he had to help hisself de best way he could; and he used fur to trade off one ting and ‘nother fur meal to Stone’s store, and Souther he told him I dat he’d give him hell if he caught him.’ So one day, when he missed something off de place, he come home and he brought Stone with him, and a man named Hearvy. He told him dat he was going to cotch it.

  I reckon dey was all three drunk. Anyhow, dey tied him up, and Souther he never stopped to cut him, and to slash him, and to hack him; and dey burned him with chunks from de fire, and dey scalded him with boiling water. He was strong man, but dey worked on him dat way all day, and at last he died. Dey hearn his screeches on all de places round. Now, brethren, you jest see what was done ‘bout it. Why, mas’r and some of de gen’lemen round said dat Souther ‘wasn’t fit to live,’ and it should be brought in de courts; and sure ‘nough it was; and, ‘cause he is my own brother, I listened for what dey would say. Well, fust dey begun with saying dat it wa’n’t no murder at all, ‘cause slaves, dey said, wa’n’t people, and dey couldn’t be murdered. But den de man on t’oder side he read heaps o’ tings to show dat dey was people, — dat dey was human critturs. Den de lawyer said dat dere wa’n’t no evidence dat Souther meant fur to kill him, anyhow. Dat it was de right of de master to punish his slave any way he thought fit. And how was he going to know dat it would kill him? Well, so dey had it back and forth, and finally de jury said ‘it was murder in de second degree.’ Lor! if dat ar’s being murdered in de second degree, I like to know what de fust is! You see, dey said he must go to de penitentiary for five years. But, laws, he didn’t, ‘cause dere’s ways enough o’ getting out of dese yer tings; ‘cause he took it up to de upper court, and dey said ‘dat it had been settled dat dere couldn’t be noting done agin a mas’r fur no kind of beating or ‘busing of der own slaves. Dat de master must be protected, even if’t was ever so cruel.”

  “So now, brethren, what do you think of dat ar?”

  At this moment another person entered the circle. There was a general start of surprise and apprehension, which immediately gave place to a movement of satisfaction and congratulation.

  “You have come, have you, Henry?” said Harry.

  But at this moment the other turned his face full to the torchlight, and Harry was struck with its ghastly expression.

  “For God’s sake, what’s the matter, Henry? Where’s Hark?”

  “Dead!” said the other.

  As one struck with a pistol-shot leaps in the air, Harry bounded, with a cry, from the ground.

  “Dead?” he echoed.

  “Yes, dead at last! Dey’s all last night a-killing of him.”

  “I thought so! Oh, I was afraid of it!” said Harry. “Oh, Hark! Hark! Hark! God do so to me, and more also, if I forget this!”

  The thrill of a present interest drew every one around the narrator, who proceeded to tell how “Hark, having been too late on his return to the plantation, had incurred the suspicion of being in communication with Harry. How Hokum, Tom Gordon, and two of his drunken associates had gathered together to examine him by scourging. How his shrieks the night before had chased sleep from every hut of the plantation. How he died, and gave no sign.” When he was through, there was dead and awful silence.

  Dred, who had been sitting, during most of these narrations, bowed, with his head between his knees, groaning within himself, like one who is wrestling with repressed feeling, now rose, and, solemnly laying his hand on the mound, said: —

  “Jegar Sahadutha! The God of their fathers judge between us! If they had a right to rise up for their oppressions, shall they condemn us? For judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off! Truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter! Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey! They are not ashamed, neither can they blush! They declare their sin as Sodom, and hide it not! The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself! Therefore forgive them not, saith the Lord!”

  Dred paused a moment, and stood with his hands uplifted. As a thunder-cloud trembles and rolls, shaking with gathering electric fire, so his dark figure seemed to dilate and quiver with the force of mighty emotions. He seemed, at the moment, some a
wful form, framed to symbolize to human eye the energy of that avenging justice which all nature shudderingly declares. He trembled, his hands quivered, drops of perspiration rolled down his face, his gloomy eyes dilated with an unutterable volume of emotion. At last the words heaved themselves up in deep chest-tones, resembling the wild, hollow wail of a wounded lion, finding vent in language to him so familiar that it rolled from his tongue in a spontaneous torrent, as if he had received their first inspiration.

  “Hear ye the word of the Lord against this people! The harvest groweth ripe! The press is full! The vats overflow! Behold, saith the Lord — behold, saith the Lord, I will gather all nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them for my people, whom they have scattered among the nations! Woe unto them, for they have cast lots for my people, and given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink! For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, saith the Lord! Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes! They pant after the dust on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek! And a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name! Behold, saith the Lord, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed full of sheaves!

  “The burden of the beasts of the South! The land of trouble and anguish, from whence cometh the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery, flying serpent! Go write it upon a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for time to come, for ever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, — children that will not hear the law of the Lord! Which say to the seers, See not! Prophesy not unto us right things! Speak unto us smooth things! Prophesy deceits! Wherefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise his word, and trust in oppression, and perverseness, and stay thereon; therefore, this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant! And he shall break it as the breaking of a potter’s vessel!”