he numerous family of
Johnsons) rose from his knees, deliberately surveyed his audience, and
then said, in a tone of solemn resolution, _"Well, friends, we have got
him here, and I would now_{271} _recommend that you young men should
just take him outside the door and kill him."_ With this, a large body
of the congregation, who well understood the business they had come
there to transact, made a rush at the villain, and doubtless would have
killed him, had he not availed himself of an open sash, and made good
his escape. He has never shown his head in New Bedford since that time.
This little incident is perfectly characteristic of the spirit of the
colored people in New Bedford. A slave could not be taken from that town
seventeen years ago, any more than he could be so taken away now. The
reason is, that the colored people in that city are educated up to the
point of fighting for their freedom, as well as speaking for it.

Once assured of my safety in New Bedford, I put on the habiliments of a
common laborer, and went on the wharf in search of work. I had no notion
of living on the honest and generous sympathy of my colored brother,
Johnson, or that of the abolitionists. My cry was like that of Hood's
laborer, "Oh! only give me work." Happily for me, I was not long in
searching. I found employment, the third day after my arrival in New
Bedford, in stowing a sloop with a load of oil for the New York market.
It was new, hard, and dirty work, even for a calker, but I went at
it with a glad heart and a willing hand. I was now my own master--a
tremendous fact--and the rapturous excitement with which I seized the
job, may not easily be understood, except by some one with an experience
like mine. The thoughts--"I can work! I can work for a living; I am not
afraid of work; I have no Master Hugh to rob me of my earnings"--placed
me in a state of independence, beyond seeking friendship or support
of any man. That day's work I considered the real starting point of
something like a new existence. Having finished this job and got my pay
for the same, I went next in pursuit of a job at calking. It so happened
that Mr. Rodney French, late mayor of the city of New Bedford, had a
ship fitting out for sea, and to which there was a large job of calking
and coppering to be done. I applied to that{272} noblehearted man for
employment, and he promptly told me to go to work; but going on the
float-stage for the purpose, I was informed that eve