, who read these lines, will remark that I have said
nothing about the male members of my family, and that I have even passed
over my father with the briefest possible allusion to his death.

"This curious reticence on my part, is simply attributable to pure
ignorance. Until affliction lay heavy on me, my father, my uncle, and my
grandfather were hardly better known to me, in their true characters,
than if they had been strangers passing in the street. How I contrived to
become more intimately acquainted with my ancestors, I am now to reveal.

"In the absence of any instructions to guide me, after my mother's death,
I was left to use my own discretion in examining the papers which she had
left behind her. Reading her letters carefully, before I decided what to
keep and what to destroy, I discovered a packet, protected by an unbroken
seal, and bearing an inscription, addressed abruptly to my mother in
these words:

'For fear of accidents, my dear, we will mention no names in this place.
The sight of my handwriting will remind you of my devotion to your
interests in the past, and will satisfy you that I am to be trusted in
the service that I now offer to my good sister-friend. In the fewest
words, let me tell you that I have heard of the circumstances under which
your marriage has taken place. Your origin has unfortunately become known
to the members of your husband's family; their pride has been deeply
wounded; and the women especially regard you with feelings of malignant
hatred. I have good reason for fearing that they may try to excuse their
inhuman way of speaking of you, by making public the calamity of your
slave-birth. What deplorable influence might be exercised on your
husband's mind, by such an exposure as this, I will not stop to inquire.
It will be more to the purpose to say that I am able to offer you a sure
means of protecting yourself--through information which I have
unexpectedly obtained, and the source of which I am obliged to keep
secret. If you are ever threatened by your enemies, open the packet which
I have now sealed up, and you will command the silence of the bitterest
man or woman who longs to injure you. I may add that absolute proof
accompanies every assertion which my packet contains. Keep it carefully,
as long as you live--and God grant you may never have occasion to break
the seal.'

"Such was the inscription; copied exactly, word for word.

"I cannot even guess who my mother's devoted f