same time they brought with them an unusual amount of the
soil of Delaware; their persons and old worn-out clothing being full of
it. Their appearance called loudly for immediate cleansing. A room--free
water--free soap, and such other assistance as was necessary was
tendered them in order to render the work as thorough as possible. This
healthy process over, clean and comfortable clothing were furnished, and
the change in their appearance was so marked, that they might have
passed as strangers, if not in the immediate corn-fields of their
masters, certainly among many of their old acquaintances, unless
subjected to the most careful inspection. Raised in the country and on
farms, their masters and mistresses had never dreamed of encouraging
them to conform to habits of cleanliness; washing their persons and
changing their garments were not common occurrences. The coarse garment
once on would be clung to without change as long as it would hold
together. The filthy cabins allotted for their habitations were in
themselves incentives to personal uncleanliness. In some districts this
was more apparent than in others. From some portions of Maryland and
Delaware, in particular, passengers brought lamentable evidence of a
want of knowledge and improvement in this direction. But the master, not
the slave, was blameworthy. The master, as has been intimated, found but
one suit for working (and sometimes none for Sunday), consequently if
Tom was set to ditching one day and became muddy and dirty, and the next
day he was required to haul manure, his ditching suit had to be used,
and if the next day he was called into the harvest-field, he was still
obliged to wear his barn-yard suit, and so on to the end. Frequently
have such passengers been thoroughly cleansed for the first time in
their lives at the Philadelphia station. Some needed practical lessons
before they understood the thoroughness necessary to cleansing. Before
undertaking the operation, therefore, in order that they might be made
to feel the benefit to be derived therefrom, they would need to have the
matter brought home to them in a very gentle way, lest they might feign
to fear taking cold, not having been used to it, etc.

It was customary to say to them: "We want to give you some clean
clothing, but you need washing before putting them on. It will make you
feel like a new man to have the dirt of slavery all washed off. Nothing
that could be done for you would make you