bor, I finally concluded to do what I have from that time
to this deeply regretted,--give up the pursuit of an education, and turn
my attention wholly to business. I do not regret having desired a
competency, nor for having labored to obtain it, but I _do_ regret not
having spared myself sufficient leisure to pursue some regular system of
reading and study; to have cultivated my mind and stored it with useful
knowledge.

Truly has it been said, "knowledge is power." But it is not like the
withering curse of a tyrant's power; not like the degrading and
brutalizing power of the slave-driver's lash, chains, and thumb-screws;
not like the beastly, demonical power of rum, nor like the brazen,
shameless power of lust; but a power that elevates and refines the
intellect; directs the affections; controls unholy passions; a power so
God-like in its character, that it enables its possessor to feel for the
oppressed of every clime, and prepares him to defend the weak and
down-trodden.

What but ignorance renders the poor slave so weak and inefficient in
claiming his right to liberty, and the possession of his own being! Nor
will that God who is "no respecter of persons," hold him guiltless who
assumes unlimited control over his fellow. The chain of Slavery which
fetters every slave south of Mason and Dixon's Line, is as closely linked
around the master as the slave. The time has passed by when African blood
alone is enslaved. In Virginia as well as in some other slave States,
there is as much European blood in the veins of the enslaved as there is
African; and the increase is constantly in favor of the white population.
This fact alone speaks volumes, and should remind the slave-breeding
Southerner of that fearful retribution which must sooner or later overtake
him.

In September, 1817, I commenced business in Rochester. Having rented a
room of Mr. A. Wakely, I established a meat market, which was supplied
mostly by my former employer, Mr. Comstock, and was liberally patronized
by the citizens; but there were butchers in the village who appeared to be
unwilling that I should have any share in public patronage. Sometimes they
tore down my sign, at others painted it black, and so continued to annoy
me until after I had one of their number arrested, which put a stop to
their unmanly proceedings.

The village was now rapidly increasing, and yet the surrounding country
was mostly a wilderness. Mr. E. Stone, who then owned the land