 Chapter 48 of Dread, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dread. Chapter 48. Lynch Flaw. The rays of the afternoon sun were shining through the fringing needles of the pines. The sound of the woodpecker reverberated through the stillness of the forest, answering two thousand woodland notes. Suddenly, along the distant path, the voices heard singing, and the sound came strangely on the air through the dreamy stillness. Jesus Christ has lived and died. What is all the world beside? This to know is all I need. This to know is life indeed. Other wisdom seek I none. Teach me this and this alone. Christ for me has lived and died. Christ for me was crucified. And as the last lines fall upon the ear of the figure riding slowly on horseback, comes round the bend of the forest path. It is Father Dixon. It was the habit of this good man, much of whose life was spent in solitary journeys, to use the forest arches for that purpose for which they seemed so well designed, as a great cathedral of prayer and praise. He was riding with the reins loose over the horse's neck and a pocket Bible in his hand, occasionally broke out into snatches of song, like the one which we heard him singing a few moments ago. As he rides along now, he seems absorbed in mental prayer. Father Dixon, in truth, has caused to pray the plainness of speech which he felt bound to use had drawn down upon him opposition and opprobrium and alienated some of his best friends. The support which many had been willing to contribute to his poverty was entirely withdrawn. His wife and feeble health was toiling daily beyond her strength, and hunger had looked in at the door. But each day prayer had driven it away. Petition, give us this day our daily bread, had not yet failed to bring an answer, but there was no bread for tomorrow. Many friendly advisors had told him that if he would relinquish a futile and useless undertaking, he should have enough and despair. He had been conferred with by the elders in a vacant church in the town of E, who said to him, we enjoy your preaching when you let alone controversial topics, and if you will agree to confine yourself solely to the gospel and say nothing on any of the delicate and exciting subjects of the day, we shall rejoice in your administrations. They pleaded with him his poverty and the poor health of his wife and the necessities of his children, but he answered, man shall not live by bread alone. God is able to feed me, and he will do it. They went away saying that he was a fool, but he was crazy. He was not the first whose brethren had said he is beside himself. As he rode along through the forest pass, he talked of his wants to his master. Thou knowest, he said, how I suffer. Thou knowest how feeble my poor wife is and how it distresses us both to have our children grow up without education. We cast ourselves on thee. Let us not deny thee. Let us not betray thee. Thou hast not where to lay thy head. Let us not murmur. The discipline is not above his master nor the servant above his lord. And then he sang, Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee. Naked, poor, despised, forsaken. Thou my all henceforth shall be. Let the world despise and lead me. They have left my savior too. Human looks and words deceive me. Thou art not like them untrue. And while thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, power and might, foes my hate and friends disown me, show thy face and all his bright. And as he sang and prayed, that strange joy arose within him, like the sweetness of nightflowers is born of darkness and tribulation, the soul hath in it somewhat of the divine in that it can have joy and endurance beyond the joy of indulgence. They mistake who suppose that the highest happiness lies in wishes accomplished, in prosperity, wealth, favor and success. There has been a joy in dungeons and on racks passing the joy of harvest, a joy strange in solemn, mysterious even to its possessor. A white stone dropped from that signet ring, peace, which a dying savior took from his own bosom and bequeathed to those who endure the cross, despising the shame. As Father Dixon rode on, he lifted his voice in solemn exultation, soul then know thy full salvation, rise or fear, doubt and care, joy to find in every station, something still to do or bear. Think what spirit dwells within thee, think what father's smiles are thine, think that Jesus died to win thee, child of heaven, wilt thou repine. At this moment Dr. Cushing in the abundant comforts of his home might have envied Father Dixon in his desertion and poverty. For that peace seldom visited him. He struggled wearily along the ways of duty, never fulfilling his highest ideal. Worried by confusing accusations of conscience and deeming himself happy only because having never lived in any other state, he knew not what happiness was like. He alternately condemned his brother's rashness and sighed as he thought of his uncompromising spirituality. And once or twice he had written him a friendly letter of caution and closing him a $5 bill, wishing that he might secede, begging that he would be careful and ending with a pious wish that we might all be guided or right. Which supplication in many cases answers the purpose in a man's inner legislation of laying troublesome propositions on the table. Meanwhile the shades of evening drew on and Father Dixon approached the rude church which stood deep in the shadow of the wood. In external appearance it had not the pretensions even of a New England barn, but still it echoed prayers and praises from humble sincere worshipers. As Father Dixon rode up to the door he was surprised to find quite a throng of men armed with bludgeons and pistols waiting before it. One of these now stepped forward and handing him a letter said, Here I have a letter for you to read. Father Dixon put it calmly in his pocket. I will read it after services, said he. The man then laid hold of his bridle. Come out here, he said. I want to talk to you. Thank you, friend. I will talk with you after meeting, said he. Thank you, friend, service. The fact is, said a surly wolfish looking fellow who came behind the first speaker. The fact is, we aren't going to have any of your D blank D abolition meetings here. If he can't get it out, I can. Friends, said Father Dixon, mildly, by what right do you presume to stop me? We think, said the first man that you were doing harm, violating the laws. Have you any warrant to stop me? No, sir, said the first speaker. But the second one, ejecting a large quid of tobacco from his mouth, took up the explanation in the style and taste peculiarly his own. Now, O'cock, you may as well know first as last that we don't care cuss for the civil authorities, as you call them, because we's going to do what we don't please. And we don't please have you yelp and abolitionism put in devil-tree in the heads of our niggers. Now that ours plain talk. This speech was chorused by a group of men on the steps, who now began to gather round and shout, Give it to him, that's in to him. Make the wolf fly. Father Dixon, who was perfectly calm, now remarked in the shadow of the wood, at no great distance, three or four young men mounted on horses who laughed brutally and called out to the speaker, give him some more. My friends said, Father Dixon, I came here to perform a duty at the call of my heavenly master, and you have no right to stop me. Well, how will you help yourself, old bird, supposing we haven't? Remember, my friends, that we shall all stand side by side at the judgment seat to give an account for this night's transactions. How will you answer for it to God? A loud sneering laugh came from the man, and a voice which we recognize as Tom Gordon's calls out, he is coming to solemn dodge on you boys, get on your long faces. Come, said the roughest of the speakers, this here don't go down with us, we don't know nothing about no judgments, and as to God we, none of us seen him lately. We expect he don't travel round these parts. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good, said him. Here one of the mob mewed like a cat, another bark like a dog, and the spectators under the tree laugh more loudly than ever. I say, said the first speaker, shan't go to getting up rat traps and calling them meetings. This here preach in the yarn is a cuss at sell, and we won't stand it no longer. We shall have an insurrection among our niggers, pretty business getting up churches where you won't have slaveholders niggers myself, and I know I's bigger slave than they be, and I wish I was shet of them. But I ain't going to have no d-blank d-old parson dictating to me about my affairs, and we won't, none of the rest of us will we, because them that ain't got any niggers now means to have, don't we boys? Aye, aye, that we do. Give it to them, we'll shout it from the party. It's our right to have niggers, and we will have them niggers. Who gave you the right, said Father Dixon? Who gave it, why the Constitution of the United States, to be sure, man? Who did you suppose? And we got the freest government in the world? Is we going to be shut out of communion, because we hold niggers? Don't care cuss for your old communion, but it's the principal I's going for. Now I tell you what, old fella, we've got you, and you have got to promise right off the real end. You won't say another word on this year's subject. Friend, I shall make no such promise, said Father Dixon, in the tone so mild and steadfast that there was a momentary pause. You better sit a man in the crowd if you know what's good for you. A voice now spoke from the circle of the young men. Never cave in, boys. No fear of us respond to the man who had taken the most prominent part in the dialogue hitherto. We'll talk to him. Now you see, old fella, you're treed, and may as well come down, as the Coon said to Davie. You can't help yourself because we are ten to one, and if you don't promise peaceable, we'll make you. My friend, said Father Dixon, I want you to think what you are doing. Your good sense must teach you the impropriety of your course. You know that you are doing wrong. You know that it isn't right to trample on all law, both human and divine, out of profess love to it. You must see that your course will lead to perfect anarchy and confusion. The time may come when your opinions will be as unpopular as mine. Well, what then? Why, if your course prevails, you must be lynched, stoned, tarred and feathered. This is a two-edged sword you are using. And someday you may find the edge turned towards you. You may be seized, just as you are seizing me. You know the men that threw Daniel into the den-gut thrown in themselves. Daniel who, shout at one of the company, and the young men under the tree laughed insultingly. Why are you afraid to let me preach this evening, said Father Dixon? Why can't you hear me, and if I say anything false, why can't you show me the falsehood of it? It seems to me it's a weak cause that can only get along by stopping men's mouths. No, no, we aren't going to have it, so the man who had taken the most active part. And now you've got to sign a solemn promise this night that you won't ever open your mouth again about this year's subject, or we'll make it worse for you. I shall never make such a promise. You need not think to terrify me into it, for I am not afraid. You must kill me before you can stop me. Deblank and you then, old man, said one of the young men, lighting up by the side of him, I'll tell you what you shall do. You shall sign a pledge to leave North Carolina in three days and never come back again, and take your whole spawn and litter with you, or you shall be chastised for your impudence. Now look out, sir, for you are speaking to your betters. Your insolence is intolerable. What business have you passing strictures reflecting on the conduct of gentlemen of family? Think yourself happy that we let you go out of the state without the punishment that your impudence deserves. Mr. Gordon, I am sorry to hear you speaking in that way, Sir Father Dixon, composedly. By right of your family you certainly ought to know how to speak as a gentleman. You are holding language to me that you have no right to hold, and uttering threats that you have no means of enforcing. You'll see if I hadn't yelled the other with an oath. Here, boys, there were two of the leaders to his side and spoke with them in a low voice. One of them seemed inclined to remonstrate. No, no, it's too bad, he said. But the others said, yes, it serves him right. We'll do it. Hurrah, boys, we'll help on the parson home and help him kindle his fire. There was a general shout as the whole party, striking up a rivaled song, sees Father Dixon's horse, turned him round and began marching in the direction of his companion, who rode foremost, filled the air with blasphemous and obscene songs, which entirely drowned out the voice of Father Dixon whenever he attempted to make himself heard. Before they started, Tom Gordon had distributed freely a whisky among them, so that what little manliness there might have been within seemed to be set on fire of hell. It was one of those moments that tried men's souls. Father Dixon as he was hurried along, thought of that other one, who was led by an infuriate mob through the streets of Jerusalem, and he lifted his heart and prayer to the apostle and high priest of his profession, the God and Jesus. When they arrived before his little cabin, he made one more effort to arrest their attention. My brethren, he said, none of your brethren, stop that can't said Tom Gordon. Hear me one word, said Father Dixon. My wife is quite feeble. I'm sure you wouldn't wish to hurt a sick woman who never did harm to any mortal creature. Well then, said Tom Gordon, facing around him, if you care so much about your wife, you can very easily save her any further trouble. Just give us the promise we want and we'll go away peacefully and leave you. But if you won't, as true as there is a God in heaven, we'll pull down every stick of timber in your old kennel. I'll tell you what, old man, you've got to deal with now. I cannot promise not to preach upon this subject. Well then, you must promise to take yourself out of the state. You can go among your northern brethren and howl and maul around there, but we are not going to have you here. I have as much respect for respectable ministers of the gospel as anyone when they can find themselves to the duties of their calling. But when they come down to be intriguing in our worldly affairs, we'll treat it as we treat other folks that do that. Their black coats shan't protect them. We are not going to be priest-ridden, are we, boys? The loud whoop of inflamed and drunken merriment chorus this question. Just at this moment the door of the cottage was opened and a pale, sickly-looking woman came gliding out to the gate. My dear, she said, and her voice was perfectly calm. Don't yield a hair's breath on it. I can bear as well as you. I'm not afraid. I'm ready to die for conscience's sake. Gentlemen, she said, there is not much in this house of any value except two sick children. If it is agreeable to you to pull it down, you can do it. Our goods are hardly worth spoiling, but you can spoil them. My husband be firm. Don't yield an inch. It is one of the worst curses of slavery that it faces from the family feeling with regard to woman. Everyone remembers the story how the frail and delicate wife of lovejoy placed her weakness as a shield before the chamber door where her husband was secreted and was fought with brutal oaths and abuse by the drunken gang who were determined to pass over her body if necessary to his heart. They who were trained to whip women in a servile position of course can have none of the skills for woman as woman. They respect the sex when they see it enshrined by fashion, wealth and power, but they tread it in the dust when in poverty and helplessness it stands in the path of their purposes. Woman said, Tom Gordon, you are a fool. You needn't think to come at round us with any of that talk. You needn't think we are going to stop on your account for we shan't. We know what we are going to do. God said the woman fixing her eye on him with one of the sudden looks of power with which a noble sentiment sometimes lights up for a moment the weakest form. There was a momentary pause and then Tom broke out in oaths and curses. I'll tell you what boys he said we better bring matters to a point. Here tie him up to this tree and give him six and thirty. He is dreadful fond of the wild oaths out of him. The tiger was now fully awake in the crowd. Wild oaths and cries of give it to him, give it to him. G blank D, D blank N him arose. Father Dixon stood calm and beholding him they saw his face as if it had been that of an angel and they gnashed on him with their teeth. A few moments more and he was divested of his outer garments and bound to a tree. He said, taking out his watch I'll give you five minutes. The children now aroused were looking out crying from the door. His wife walked out and took her place before him. Stand out of the way old woman said Tom Gordon I will not stand out of the way she said throwing her arms round her husband. You shall not get to him but over my body. Ben Hyatt take her away said Tom Gordon treat her decently as long as she behaves herself. Ben Hyatt forced her away. She fell fainting on his shoulder. Lay her down said Tom Gordon now sir your five minutes are up what have you got to say? I have to say that I shall not comply with your demands. Very well said Tom it's best to be explicit. He drew his horse a little back and said to a man who was holding a slave whip behind give it to him. The blows descended he uttered no sound meanwhile tauntingly insulted him. How do you like it what do you think of it preach us a sermon now can't you come where's your text. He's getting stars and stripes now said one I reckon he'll see stars said another stop said Tom Gordon well my friend he said you see we are an earnest and we shall carry this through to the bitter end you may rely on it you won't get any sympathy you won't get any support from a minister in the state that will stand by you they all have sense enough to let our affairs alone they had any of them hold a candle here as the good elder did when they thrashed dresser down at Nashville come now will you cave in but at this moment the conversation was interrupted by the riding up of four or five gentlemen on horseback the head most of whom was Clayton what's this he exclaimed hurriedly what Mr. Gordon father Dixon what what am I what am I to understand by this who the devil cares what you understand it's no business of yours said Tom Gordon so stand out of my way I shall make it some of my business said Clayton turning around to one of his companions Mr. Brown you are a magistrate Mr. Brown a florid puffy looking old gentleman now rode forward bless my soul but this is shocking Mr. Gordon don't how can you my boys you ought to consider Clayton meanwhile had thrown himself off his horse and cut the cords which bound father Dixon to the tree the sudden reaction of feeling overcame him he fell fainting are you not ashamed of yourself Clayton indignantly glancing round isn't this pretty business for great strong men like you abusing ministers that you know won't fight and women and children that you know can't do you mean to apply that language Tom Gordon yes sir I do mean just that said Clayton looking at him while he stretches tall figure to its utmost height sir that remarked a man satisfaction you're welcome to all the satisfaction you can get said Clayton Cooley you shall meet me said Tom Gordon where you shall answer for that remark I'm not a fighting man said Clayton but if I were I should never consent to meet anyone that equals when a man stoop to do the work of a rowdy and a bully he falls out of the sphere of gentlemen as for you said Clayton turning to the rest of the company there's more apology for you you have not been brought up to know better take my advice disperse yourselves now or I shall take means to have this outrage brought to justice there's often a magnetic force in the appearance amid an excited mob of presence which seems perfectly calm and decided the mob stood irresolute come Tom said kite pulling him by the sleeve we've given him enough at any rate yes yes said Mr. Brown Mr. Gordon I advise you to go home we must all keep the peace you know come boys you've done enough for one night I should hope go home now and let the old man be and there's something to buy you a treat come do the handsome now Tom Gordon sullenly rode away with his two associates each side but before he went he said to Clayton you shall hear of me again one of these days as you please said Clayton the party now set themselves about recovering and comforting the frightened family the wife was carried in and laid down on the bed father Dixon was soon restored so as to be able to sit up and being generally known and respected by the company receive many expressions of sympathy and condolence one of the men was an elder in the church which had desired his ministerial services he thought this a good opportunity of enforcing some of his formerly expressed opinions now father Dixon he said this just shows you the truth of what I was telling you this course of yours won't do it won't now now if you agree not to say anything of these troublesome matters and just confine yourself to the preaching of the gospel you see you wouldn't get into any more trouble and after all it's the gospel that's the root of the matter the gospel will gradually correct all these evils you don't say anything about them you see the state of the community is peculiar they won't bear it we feel the evils of slavery just our souls are burdened under it he said complacently wiping his face with his handkerchief but Providence doesn't appear to open any door here for us to do anything I think you ought to abide on the patient waiting on the Lord who in his own good time will bring light out of darkness in order out of confusion the last phrase being a part of a stereotype exhortation with which the good elder was want to indulge in church prayer meetings he delivered it in a sleepy draw which he reserved for such occasions well said Father Dixon I must say that I don't see that the preaching of the gospel and the way we have preached it hitherto has done anything to rectify the evil it's a bad sign if our preaching doesn't make a conflict when the apostles came to a place they said these men that turn the world upside down or come hither but said Mr. Brown you must consider our institutions are peculiar our negroes are ignorant and inflammable easily wrought upon and the most frightful consequences may result that's the reason why there is so much sensation when any discussion is begun which relates to them now I was in Nashville when the dresser affair took place he hadn't said a word he hadn't opened his mouth even but he was abolitionist and so they searched his trunks and papers and there they found documents expressing abolition sentiments sure enough well everybody ministers and elders joined in that affair and stood by to see him whipped I thought myself they went too far but this is just where it is people are not reasonable and they won't be reasonable in such cases it's too much to ask of them and so everybody ought now I wish for my part that ministers would confine themselves to their appropriate duties Christ's kingdom is not of this world and then you don't know Tom Gordon he is a terrible fellow I never want to come in conflict with him I thought I'd put the best face on it and persuade him away I didn't want to make Tom Gordon my enemy and I think Mr. Dixon if you must preach these doctrines I think it would be easy for you to leave the state of course we don't want to restrict any man's conscience but when any kind of preaching excites brawls and confusion and inflames the public mind it seems to be a duty to give it up yes said Cornette the elder we ought to follow the things which make for peace such things whereby one may edify another don't you see gentlemen said Mr. Clayton that such a course is surrendering our speech into the hands of a mob if Tom Gordon may dictate what is to be said on one subject he may on another and the rod which has been held over our friends head tonight may be held over ours independent of the right or wrong of Father Dixon's principles he ought to maintain his position for the sake of maintaining the right of free opinion in the state why said Mr. Cornette the scripture saith if they persecute you in this city flee ye into another that was said said Clayton to a people that lived under despotism and had no rights of liberty given them to a maintain but if we give way before mob law we make ourselves slaves of the worst despotism on earth but Clayton spoke to men whose ears were stopped by the cotton of slothfulness and love of ease they rose up and said was time for them to be going Clayton expressed his intention of remaining over the night to afford encouragement and assistance to his friends in case of any further emergency end of Chapter 48 Lynch Law Cabins in the Woods Cough Cough Cabins in Chapter 49 of Dread a tale of the great dismal swamp by Harriet Beecher Stowe this is a LibriVox recording during the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Dread Chapter 49 More Violets Clayton rose the next morning and found his friends much better than he'd expected after the agitation and abuse of the night before they seemed composed and cheerful I'm surprised he said to see that your wife is able to be up this morning they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength said Father Dixon how often I have found it so we have seen times when I and my wife have both been so ill that we scarcely thought we had strength to help ourselves and a child has been taken ill or some other emergency has occurred that called for immediate exertion and we have been to the Lord and found strength our way has been hedged up many a time the sea before us there are no options behind us but the sea has always opened when we have stretched our hands to the Lord I've never sought the Lord in vain He has allowed great troubles to come upon us but He always delivers us Clayton recalled the sneering, faithless, brilliant Frank Russell and compared him in his own mind with the simple honest man before him No, he said to himself human nature is not a humbug after all there are some real men some who will not acquiesce in what is successful if it be wrong Clayton was in need of such living examples for in regard to religion he was in that position which is occupied by too many young men of high moral sentiment in this country what he had seen of the worldly policy and time-serving spirit of most of the organized bodies professing to represent great faith in life had deepened the shadow of doubt and distrust which persons of strong individuality and discriminating minds are apt to feel in certain stages of their spiritual development great afflictions those which tear up the roots of the soul are often seceded in the course of the man's history by a period of skepticism the fact is such afflictions are inciting powers they give to the soul an earnestness and a power of discrimination which no illusion can withstand they teach us what we need what we must have to rest upon and in consequence thousands of little formalities and empty shows and dry religious conventionalities are scattered by it like chaff the soul rejects them in her indignant anguish in finding so much that is insincere and untrue and unreliable she is sometimes ours of doubting all things Clayton saw again in the minister what he had seen in Naina the soul swayed by an attachment to an invisible person whose power over it was the power of a personal attachment and who swayed it not by dogmas or commands merely but by the force of a sympathetic emotion the divine image of his heavenly friend insensibly to himself the minister was changing into the same image the good and the beautiful to him was an embodied person even Jesus is Lord what may be your future course said Clayton with anxiety will you discontinue your labors in this state I may do so if I find positively that there is no gaining a bearing I think we owe it to our state not to give up the point without a trial there are those who are willing to hear me willing to make a beginning with me it is true they are poor and unfashionable but still it is my duty not to desert them till I have tried at least whether the laws can't protect me in the exercise of my duty the hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord he turneth them as the rivers of water turn this evil is a great and a trying one it is gradually lowering the standards of morals in our churches till men know not what spirit they are of I held it my duty not to yield to the violence of the tyrant and bind myself to a promise to leave till I had considered what the will of my master would be I should be sorry said Clayton to think that North Carolina couldn't protect you I'm sure when the particulars of this are known there will be a general reprobation from all parts of the country you might remove to some other part of the state not cursed by the residents of a man like Tom Gordon I will confer with my uncle your friend Dr. Cushing see if some more eligible situation cannot be found where you could prosecute your labors he is at this very time visiting his wife's father and he and I will ride over with him today meanwhile said Clayton as he rose to depart allow me to leave you with a little contribution to help because of religious freedom in which you are engaged and Clayton as he shook hands with his friend and his wife left an amount of money with them such as had not crossed their palms for many a day bidding them adieu a ride of a few hours carried him to E where he communicated to Dr. Cushing the night before why it's perfectly shocking abominable said Dr. Cushing why what are we coming to my dear young friend this shows the necessity of prayer when the enemy cometh in like a flood the spirit of the lord must lift up a standard against him my dear uncle said Clayton rather impatiently it seems to me the lord has lifted up a standard in the person of this very man and people are too cowardly to rally around it well my dear nephew it strikes me you are rather excited said Dr. Cushing good naturedly excited said Clayton I ought to be excited you ought to be excited too here's a good man beginning what you think a necessary reform and who does it in a way perfectly peaceable and lawful who is cloven down under the hoof of a mob and all you can think of doing is pray to the lord to raise up a standard what would you think of a man's house were on fire and he should sit praying the lord that in his mysterious province he would put it out oh the cases are not parallel said Dr. Cushing I think they are said Clayton our house is the state and our house is on fire by mob law and instead of praying the lord to put it out you ought to go to work and put it out yourself ministers would make a stand against this uncle and do all you can to influence those to whom you were preaching it wouldn't be done again I'm sure I should be glad to do something poor father Dixon such a good man as he is but then I think Clayton he was rather imprudent he don't do this unadvised way of proceeding we ought to watch against rashness I think we are too apt to be precipitated and not await the leadings of providence poor Dixon I tried to caution him the last time I wrote to him to be sure it's no excuse for them but then I'll write to brother Barker on this subject and we'll see if we can't get an article in the Christian witness I don't think it would be best to allude to these particular circumstances or to mention any names but there might be a general article on the importance of maintaining the right of free speech and of course people can apply to those of themselves you remind me said Clayton of a man who proposed commencing an attack on a shark by throwing a sponge at him but now really uncle I am concerned for the safety of this good man isn't there any church near you to which he can be called I heard him at the camp meeting and I think he is an excellent preacher there are a good many churches said Dr. Cushing which would be glad of him if it were not for the course on that subject and I really can't feel that he does right to throw away his influence so he might be the means of converting souls if he would only be quiet about this be quiet about fashionable sins said Clayton in order to get a chance to convert souls what sort of converts are those who are not willing to hear the truth on every subject I should doubt conversions that can only be accomplished by practical immoralities but said Dr. Cushing Christ and the Apostles didn't preach on the abuses of slavery and they alluded to it as an existing institution nor did they preach on the gladiatorial shows said Clayton and Paul draws many illustrations from them will you take the principle that everything is to be let alone now about which the Apostles didn't preach directly I don't want to enter into that discussion now said Dr. Cushing I believe I'll ride over and see Brother Dixon after all he is a dear good man and I love him I'd like to do something for him if I were not afraid it might be misunderstood toward evening however Clayton becoming uneasy at the lonely situation of his clerical friend resolved to ride over and pass the night with him for the sake of protecting him himself with a brace of pistols he proceeded on his ride as the day had been warm he put off his purpose rather late and the darkness overtook him before he had quite accomplished his journey riding deliberately through the woodland path in the vicinity of the swamp he was startled by hearing the trap of horses hoofs behind him three men mounted on horseback were coming up the head most of them riding up quickly behind and struck him so heavy a blow with a gut a perch he came as to fell him to the earth in an instant however he was on his feet again and had seized the bridle of his horse who are you city for by the dim light that remained of the twilight he could perceive that they all wore mass we are men said one of them whose voice Clayton did not recognize that know how to deal with fellows who insult gentlemen and then refuse to give them honorable satisfaction and said the second speaker we know how to deal with renegade abolitionists who are covertly undermining our institutions and said Clayton Cooley you understand how to be cowards for none but cowards would come three to one and strike a man from behind shame on you well gentlemen act your pleasure your first blow has disabled my right arm if you wish my watch and my purse you may help yourselves as cutthroats generally do the stinging contempt which was expressed in these last words seemed to enrage the third man who had not spoken with a brutal oath he raised his cane again and struck at him strike a wounded man who cannot help himself do said Clayton show yourself the coward you are you were brave in attacking defenseless women and children and ministers of the gospel this time the blow fell Clayton to the earth and Tom Gordon precipitating himself from the saddle proved his eligibility for congress by beating his defenseless acquaintance on the head after the fashion of the chivalry of South Carolina but at this moment the violent blow from an unseen hand struck his right arm and it fell broken at his side mad with pain he poured forth volumes of votes such as our readers have never heard in the paper refuses to receive and a deep voice said from the woods woe to the bloody and deceitful man look for that fellow where is he said Tom Gordon the crack of a rifle and a bullet which passed right over his head answered from the swamp in the voice which he knew was Harry's called from within the thicket Tom Gordon beware remember Hark at the same time another rifle shot came over their heads come come said the other two there's a gang of them we better be off you can't do anything with that broken arm there and helping Tom into the saddle the three rode away precipitately soon as they were gone Harry and dread emerged from the thicket the latter was reported among the people to have some medical or surgical skill he raised Clayton up and examined him carefully is not dead he said what shall we do for him said Harry shall we take him along to the minister's cabin no no said dread that would only bring the Philistines upon him it's full three miles to he said Harry it wouldn't do to risk going there no indeed said dread we must take him to our stronghold of Ingeti even as Sampson bore the gates of Gaza our women shall attend him and when he is recovered we will set him on his journey end of chapter 49 more violence chapter 50 of dread a tale of the great dismal swamp by Harriet Beecher Stowe this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Greg Giordano dread chapter 51 Ingeti the question may occur to our readers why a retreat which appeared so easily accessible to the negroes of the vicinity in which our story is laid should escape the vigilance of hunters in all despotic countries however it will be found that the oppressed party become expert in the means of secrecy it is also a fact that the portion of the community who are trained to labor enjoy all that advantage over the more indolent portion of it which can be given by a vigorous physical system and great capabilities of endurance without a doubt the balance of the physical strength of the south now lies in the subject race usage familiarizes the dwellers with the swamp with the peculiarities of their location and gives them the advantage in it that a mountaineer has in his own mountains besides they who take their life in their hand exercise their faculties with more vigor and clearness than they who have only money at stake in this advantage the negroes had over the hunters dreads stronghold of Ingeti as we have said from the rest of the swamp by some twenty yards of deep morass in which it was necessary to wait almost to the waste the shore presented to the eye only the appearance of an impervious jungle of catbriar and grapevine rising out of the water there was but one spot in which there was a clear space to set foot on and that was the place where dread crept up on the night when we first introduced the locality to our reader's attention the hunters generally satisfied themselves with exploring more apparently accessible portions and unless betrayed by those to whom dread had communicated the clue there was very little chance that any accident would ever disclose the retreat dread himself appeared to be gifted with that peculiar faculty of discernment of spirits which belonged to his father Denmark Vessie and into a pre-natural intensity by the habits of his wild and dangerous life the men he selected for trust were men as impenetrable as himself the most vigorous in mind and body on all the plantations the perfectness of his own religious enthusiasm his absolute certainty that he was inspired of God as a leader and deliverer gave him an ascendancy over the minds of those who followed him which nothing but religious enthusiasm ever can give and this was further confirmed by the rigid austerity of his life for all animal comforts he appeared to entertain a profound contempt he never tasted strong liquors in any form and was extremely sparing in his eating often fasting for days in succession particularly when he had any movement of importance in contemplation it is difficult to fathom the dark recesses of a mind so powerful and active as his placed under a pressure of ignorance and social disability so tremendous and those desolate regions which he had made his habitation it is said that trees often from the singularly unnatural and wildly stimulating properties of the slimy depths from which they spring assume a guile-blend growth in its natural habit all sorts of vegetable monsters stretch their weird fantastic forms among its shadows there is no principle so awful through all nature as the principle of growth it is a mysterious and dread condition of existence which place it under what impediment or disadvantage you will is constantly forcing on and when the natural pressure hinders it develops and forms portentious and astonishing the wild dreary belt of swamp land which girds in these states scathed by the fires of despotism is an apt emblem in its rampant and we might say delirious exuberance of vegetation of that darkly struggling wildly vegetating swamp of human souls cut off like it from the usages and improvements of cultivated life beneath that fearful pressure souls whose energy well directed might have blessed mankind start out in preternatural and fearful developments whose strength is only a portent of dread the night after the meeting which we have described was one to the singular being of agonizing conflict his psychological condition as near as we can define it seemed to be that of a human being possessed and possessed after the manner related in ancient fables by the wrath of an avenging god that part of the moral constitution which exists in some degree in us all which leads us to feel pain at the sight of injustice and to desire retribution for cruelty and crime seemed in him to have become an absorbing sentiment as if he had been chosen by some higher power as the instrument of doom since the idea of the crimes and oppressions which had overwhelmed his race rolled in upon him with a burning pain which caused him to cry out like the faded and enslaved Cassandra at the threshold of the dark house of tyranny and blood this sentiment of justice this agony and view of cruelty and crime is in many strong attribute of the highest natures for he who is destitute of the element of moral indignation is effeminate and tame but there is in nature and in the human heart a pleading interceding element which comes in constantly to temper and soften the spirit in this element in the divine mind which the scriptures represent by the sublime image of an eternally interceding high priest who, having experienced every temptation of humanity constantly urges all that can be thought of justice as a spotless and high-toned mother bears in her bosom the anguish of the impurity and vileness of her child so the eternally suffering eternally interceding love of Christ bears the sin of our race but the scriptures tell us that the mysterious person who thus stands before all worlds as the image in impersonation of divine tenderness has yet in reserve the mystery of wrath the oppressors in the last dread day are represented as calling to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the lamb this idea had dimly loomed up before the mind of dread as he read and pondered the mysteries of the sacred oracles and was expressed by him in the form of language so frequent in his mouth that the lamb was bearing deeply affected by the presentation which Milly had made in their night meeting of the eternal principle of intercession and atonement the sense of it was blindly struggling with the habitual and over-mastering sense of oppression and wrong when his associates had all dispersed to their dwellings he threw himself on his face and prayed O Lamb of God that bearest the yoke why hast thou filled me with wrath behold these graves behold the graves of my brothers slain without mercy and lord they do not repent the art of pure eyes and to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devour the man that is more righteous than he they make men as fishes in the sea as creeping things that have no ruler over them they take them up with the angle they catch them in their net and gather them in their drag therefore they rejoice and are glad therefore they sacrifice unto their net and burn incense unto their drag because by them their portion is fat and their meat plentious shall they therefore empty their net and not spare continually to slay the nations did not he that made them in the womb make us did not the same god fashion us in the womb doubtless thou art our father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledges us not thou our god art our father our redeemer wherefore forget us thou us forever and forsakest us so long a time but thou not judge between us and our enemies behold there is none among them there earth himself up to call upon thee and he that departed from evil maketh himself a prey they lie in wait they set traps they catch men they are wax and fat they shine they overpass the deeds of the wicked they judge not the cause of the fatherless yet they prosper in the right of the needy do they not judge but they'll not visit for these things oh lord shall not thy soul be avenged on such a nation as this how long wilt thou endure behold under the altar the souls of those they have slain they cry unto thee continually how long oh lord does thou not judge in avenge is there any that stirreth himself up for justice is there any that regardeth our blood we are sold for silver the price of our blood is in thy treasury our blood is on thine altars behold they build their churches with the price of our hire behold the stone doth cry out of the wall and the timber doth answer it because they build their towns with blood and establish their cities by iniquity they have all gone one way there is none that careth for the spoilings of the poor art thou a just god when wilt thou arise to shake terribly the earth that the desire of all nations may come overturn, overturn and overturn till he whose right it is shall come such were the words not uttered continuously but poured forth in intervals with sobbing groanings and moanings from the recesses of that wild forest it was but a part of that incessant prayer with which oppressed humanity has besieged the throne of justice in all ages we who live in sealed houses would do well to give heed to that sound lest it be to us that inarticulate moaning which goes before the earthquake if we would estimate the force of almighty justice let us ask ourselves what a mother might feel for the abuse of her helpless child and multiply that by infinity but the night wore on and the stars looked down serene and solemn as if no prayer had gone to the calm eternal gloom and the morning broke into east resplendent Harry too had passed a sleepless night the death of Hark weighed like a mountain upon his heart he had known him for a whole, souled, true-hearted fellow he had been his counselor and friend for many years and torture for him how stinging is it at such a moment to view the whole respectability of civilized society upholding and glorifying the murderer calling his sin by soft names and using for his defense every artifice of legal injustice some in our own nation have had bitter occasion to know this for we have begun to drink the cup of trembling which for so many ages has been drank alone by the slave that the associates of Brown asked themselves if they could not understand the midnight anguish of Harry his own impulses would have urged to an immediate insurrection in which he was careless about his own life so the fearful craving of his soul for justice was assuaged to him the morning seemed to break red with the blood of his friend he would have urged to immediate and precipitated action but dread, true to the enthusiastic impulses which guided him persisted in waiting for that sign from heaven which was to indicate when the day of grace was closed and the day of judgment to begin this expectation he founded on his own version of certain passages in the prophets such as these I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke the sun shall be turned into darkness in the moon into blood before that great and audible day of the lord shall come meanwhile his associates were to be preparing the minds of the people and he was traversing the swamps in different directions holding nightly meetings in which he read and expounded the prophecies to excited ears the laborious arguments in which northern and southern doctors of divinity have deduced from the Old Testament the divine institution of slavery were to subtle and fine spun to reach his ear amid the denunciations of prophecies all turning on the sin of oppression his instinctive understanding of the spirit of the Bible justify the sagacity which makes the supporter of slavery to this day careful not to allow the slave the power of judging it for himself and we leave it to any modern proslavery divine whether in dread circumstances his own judgment might not have been the same after daylight Harry saw dread standing with a dejected countenance outside of his hut I have wrestled he said for thee but the time is not yet let us abide certain days for the thing is secret unto me I cannot do less nor more till the Lord giveth commandment when the Lord delivereth them into our hands one shall chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight after all said Harry our case is utterly hopeless a few poor outcast wretches without a place to lay our heads and they are reveling in their splendor and their powers they are in this great nation that is not pledged against us who would not cry amen if we were dragged out and hung like dogs that north is as bad as the south they kill us and the north can sense and justifies and all their wealth power and religion are used against us we are the ones that all sides are willing to give up any party in church our homes is a make-weight and think nothing of it and when I see them riding out in their splendid equipages their house is full of everything that is elegant they so cultivated and refined and are people so miserable poor and downtrodden I haven't any faith that there is a God stop said dread laying his hand on his arm their land also is full of silver and gold neither is there any end of their treasures their land also is full of horses neither is there any end of their chariots their land also is full of idols they worship the work of their own hands enter into the rock and hide there in the dust for fear of the lord and for the glory of his majesty lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down and the lord alone shall be exalted in that day for the day of the lord of hosts shall be on everyone that is proud and lofty and upon everyone that is lifted up and he shall be brought low and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the oaks of Bashan and upon all the high mountains and upon all the hills that are lifted up and upon every high tower and upon every fenced wall and upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all pleasant pictures and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down the haughtiness of man shall be made low and they shall go in the holes of the rocks and in the caves of the earth for fear of the lord and for his majesty when he arises to shake terribly the tall pines and whispering oaks as they stood waving in purple freshness at the dawn seemed like broad-winged attesting angels bearing witness in their serene and solemn majesty to the sublime words heaven and earth shall not pass away till these words have been fulfilled after a few moments a troubled expression came over the face of dread Harry, he said he said verily, he is a god that hided himself he giveth none account to any of these matters it may be that I shall not lead the tribes over this Jordan that I shall lay my bones in the wilderness but the day shall surely come and the sign of the son of man shall appear in the air and all tribes of the earth shall wail because of him behold, I saw white spirits and black spirits that contended in the air and the thunder rolled and the blood flowed and the voice said come rough, come smooth such is the decree you must surely bear it but as yet the prayers of the saints have power for there be angels having golden censors which be the prayers of saints and the lord by reason thereof delayeth behold, I have born the burden of the lord even for many years he hath covered me with a cloud in the day of his anger and filled me with his wrath and his word has been like a consuming fire shut in my bones he hath held mine eyes waking and my bones have waxed old with my roaring all day long then I have said oh, that thou wouldst hide me in the dust that thou wouldst keep me secret till thy wrath be passed at this moment soaring upward through the blue sky rose the fair form of a wood pigeon wheeling and curving in the morning sunlight cutting the ether with airy flight so smooth even and clear as if it had learnt motion from the music of angels dread's eye faded and haggard with his long night watchings followed it for a moment with an air of softened pleasure in which was bled somewhat of weariness and longing oh, that I had wings like a dove he said then would I flee away and be at rest I would hasten from the windy storm in tempest lo, then I would wander far off and remain in the wilderness there was something peculiar in the power and energy which this man's nature had drawing others into the tide of its own sympathies as a strong ship walking through the water draws all the smaller craft into its current Harry, melancholy and disheartened as he was thought himself born out with him in that impassioned prayer I know said dread, that the new heavens and the new earth shall come and the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in it to me I am a man of unclean lips and the Lord laid on me the oppressions of the people but though the violent man prevail against me it shall surely come to pass Harry turned away and walked slowly to the other side of the clearing where old Tiff, with Fanny Teddy and Lisette having kindled a fire on the ground was busy in preparing their breakfast dread, instead of going into his house disappeared in the thicket Millie had gone home with the man who came from Canema the next day as Harry and dread made a hunting excursion through the swamp returning home in the edge of the night they happened to be passing near the scene of lawless violence which we have already described end of Chapter 50 and Goddy Recording by Greg Giordano New Port Richie, Florida Chapter 51 The Slave Hunt Tom Gordon for the next two or three days after his injury was about as comfortable to manage as a wounded hyena he had a thousand varying caprices every hour and moment and now one and now another prevailed the miserable girls who were held by him as his particular attendants were tormented by every species of annoyance which a restless and passionate man in his impatience could devise the recent death of Millie's mistress by the cholera had reduced her under Tom's authority and she was summoned now from her work every hour to give directions and advice which the minute they were given were repudiated with curses I declare said and Katie the housekeeper Tom ain't enough to use a body off their feet, it's just four times I got grewl ready for him this last two hours doing all I could to suit him and he swears at it and flings it round real undecent while he's got a fever and does he expect to make things taste good to him when he's got fever well of course I can't and no need of him calling me a devil and all that that air is very unnecessary I think I don't believe in those such the Gordon's always used to have some sense to him even if they was cross but he ain't got a grain I should think you assessed with old Sam for my part bringing grace on us all the way he cuts up we really don't know how to hold up our head none of us the Gordon's have always been such a dintile family laws we don't know what privileges we had when we had Miss Nina they have new girls dressed up in all their flounces and furblows guess they has to take it in time however even in spite of his chafing and fretfulness and contempt of a physician's prescriptions Tom seemed to recover by the same kind of fatality which makes ill weeds thrive apace meanwhile he employed his leisure hours in laying plans of revenge to be executed as soon as he should be able to take to his horse again among other things he vowed deep vengeance on Abidja skinflint who he said he knew must have sold the powder and ammunition to the Negroes in the swamp this may have been true or may not but in cases of lynch law such questions are indifferent matter a man is accused condemned and judged at the will of his more powerful neighbor he was sufficient to Tom that he thought so and being sick and cross thought so just now with more particular intensity Jim Stokes he knew cherished an animosity of long standing toward Abidja which he could make use of in enlisting him in the cause one of the first uses therefore which Tom made of his recovered liberty after he was able to ride out was to head a raid on Abidja's shop the shop was without ceremony dismantled and plundered and a mob having helped themselves to his whiskey next amused themselves by tarrying and feathering him and having insulted him to their satisfaction and exactly the promise from him to leave the state within three days they returned home glorious in their own eyes and the next week a brilliant account of the affair appeared in the trumpet of liberty headed summary justice nobody pitied Abidja of course and as he would probably have been quite willing to join in the same sort of treatment for anyone else we know not that we are particularly concerned for his doom the respectable people in their neighborhood first remarked that they didn't approve of mobs in general and then dilated with visible satisfaction on this in particular after a fashion of that stupid class that are called respectable people generally the foolish mob gloried and exalted not considering that any day the same weapons would be turned against them the mob being now somewhat drilled and animated Tom proposed while their spirit was up to get up a hunting in the swamp which should more fully satisfy his own private vengeance there is a sleeping tiger in the human breast that delights in violence and blood and this tiger Tom resolved to unchain the act of outlawing already publicly set up Harry as a mark for whatever cruelty, drunken ingenuity might choose to perpetrate as our readers may have a curiosity in this kind of literature we will indulge them with a copy of this State of North Carolina Chowan County whereas complained upon oath hath this day been made to us two of the justices of the peace for the said county and state of Forsed by Thomas Gordon that a certain male slave belonging to him named Harry a carpenter by trade about 35 years old 5 feet 4 inches are thereabouts dark complexion stout build blue eyes deep sunk in his head forehead very square tolerable loud voice hath absented himself nervous and is supposed to be lurking about in this swamp committing acts of felony or other misdeeds these are therefore in the name of the state of Forsed to commend said slave forthwith to surrender himself and return home to his said master and we do hereby by virtue of the act of assembly in such case made and provided intimate and declare that if the said slave Harry doth not surrender himself and return home immediately after the publication of these presence that any person or persons may kill and destroy the said slave by means as he or they might think fit without accusation or impeachment of any crime or offense for so doing and without incurring any penalty or forfeiture thereby given under our hands and seal James T. Muller T. Buttercourt footnote the original document from which this is taken can be seen in the appendix it appeared in the Wilmington Journal December 18th 1850 in the footnote one can scarcely contemplate without pity the condition of a population which grows up under the influence of such laws and customs as these that the lowest brutality and the most fiendish cruelty should be remorselessly practiced by those whose ferocity thus receives the sanction of law cannot be wondered at Tom Gordon convened at his house an assembly of those whom he used as the tools and ministers of his vengeance Harry had been secretly hated by them all in his prosperous ways because though a slave he was better dressed, better educated and on the whole treated with more consideration by the Gordon family and their guests than they were and at times he had occasion to rebuke some of them for receiving from the slaves goods taken from the plantation to be sure while he was prosperous they were outwardly subservient to him as the great man of a great family while he was down as the amiable fashion of the world generally is they resolve to make up for their former subservience by redoubled insolence Jim Stokes in particular bore Harry a grudge for having once expressed himself with indignation concerning the meanness and brutality of his calling and he was therefore the more willing to be made use of on the present occasion accordingly on the morning we speak of there was gathered before the door of the mansion at Canema a confused melange of men of that general style of appearance which in our times we called border ruffians half drunken profane obscene as the harbors which descended on the feast of Anias Tom Gordon had only this advantage among them that superior education and position had given him the power when he chose of assuming the appearance and using the language of a gentleman but he had enough of grossness within to enable him at will to become one of them Tom's arm was still worn in a sling but as lack of energy never was one of his faults he was about to take the saddle with his troop at present they were drawn up before the door laughing swearing and drinking whiskey which flowed in abundance the dogs the better mannered brutes of the two by Halaz were struggling in their leashes with impatience and excitement Tom Gordon stood forth on the veranda after the fashion of a great generals of old who harangued their troops on the eve of battle anyone who has read the speeches of the leaders who presided over the sacking will get an idea of some features in this style of elegance which our pen cannot present now boys said Tom you are getting your names up you've done some good work already you've given that old sniveling priest a taste of true orthodox doctrine that will enlighten him for the future you've given that long no skin flint light enough to see the error of his ways a general laugh here arose and voices repeated ha ha that we did didn't we though I reckon you did said Tom Gordon I reckon he didn't need candles to see his sins by that night didn't we make it candle of his old dog kennel didn't he have light to see his way out of the state by and didn't we give him a suit to keep him warm on the road ah boys that was a warm suit no mistake it was a suit that will stick to him too he won't trade that off for rum in a hurry I'm thinking will he boys burst of crazy half drunken applause here interrupted the orator pity we hadn't put a match to it shouted one ah well boys you did enough for that time wait till you catch these sneaking varmins in the swap you shall do what you like with them nobody shall hinder you that's law and order these foxes have troubled us long enough stealing at our Henry's when we were asleep we shall make it hot for them if we catch them and we are going to catch them there are no two ways about it this old swamp is like Davies Coon it's got to come down and it will come down boys when it sees us coming no mistake about that now boys mind catch them alive if you can but shoot them if you can't remember I'll give a hundred and fifty dollars for his head a loud shout chorus this last announcement and Tom descended in glory to take his place in a saddle once we suppose this history would not have been believed had it been told but of late our own sons and others have been hounded and hunted by just such men with such means the fire which began in the dry trees has spread to the green long live the great christianizing institution end of chapter fifty one the slave hunt chapter fifty two of dread a tale of the great dismal swamp by Harriet Beeser by William Jones this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by William Jones Benita Springs Florida dread chapter fifty two all over Clayton at the time of the violent assault which we have described received an injury upon the head rendered him insensible when he came to himself he was conscious at first only of a fanning of summer breezes he opened his eyes and looked listlessly up into the blue sky that appeared through the thousand leafy howls of weaving bows voices of birds warbling and calling like answering echoes to each other fell dreamily on his ear some gentle hand was placing images around his head and figures of women he did not recognize move whisperingly around him tending and watching he dropped to sleep again and thus for many hours lay in a kind of heavy trance Harry and Lisette had vacated for his use their hut but as it was now the splendid weather of October when earth and sky become a temple of beauty and serenity they tended him during the hours of the day in the open air and it would seem as if there were no art of healing like to this as air and heat and water all have benevolent tendency to enter and fill up a vacuum so we might fancy the failing vitality of the human system to receive accessions of vigor by being placed in the vicinity of powerful growths of nature all the trees which John saw around the river of life and heaven bore healing leaves and there may be a sense in which the trees of our world bear leaves that are healing both through body and soul he who hath gone out of the city sick disgusted and worried and lain himself down in the forest under the fogly shadow of an oak this whispered to him in the leafy rustlings of a thousand tons see said dread to Harry as they were watching over the yet insensible form of Clayton how the word of the Lord is fulfilled on these people he shall deliver them every man into the hand of his neighbor and he that departed from evil maketh himself a prey yes said Harry but this is a good man he stands up for our rights if he had his way we should soon have justice done us yes said dread but it is even as it was of old behold I send unto you prophets and wise men and some of them shall he slay for this people's heart is waxed gross and their ears have they closed therefore the Lord shall bring upon this generation the blood of old slain from the blood of righteous evil to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barakaius whom they slew between the temple and the altar after a day or two spent in a kind of listless dreaming Clayton was so far recovered as to be able to sit up and look about him the serene tranquility of the lovely October skies seemed to fall like a spell upon his soul amid the wild and desolate swamp here was an island of security for nature took men to her sheltering bosom a thousand birds speaking with thousand airy voices were calling from breezy treetops and from swinging cradles of vine leaves white clouds sailed in in changing and varying islands over the heavy green battlements of the woods the wavering slumberous sounds of thousand leaves through which the autumn air walked to and fro consoled him life began to look to him like a troubled dream forever past his own sufferings of agony and death which he had never dared to remember seemed now to a new and glorified form such is the divine power in which God still reveals himself through the lovely and incorruptible forms of nature Clayton became interested in dread as a psychological study at first he was silent and reserved but attended to the wants of his guest with evident respect and kindness gradually however the love of expression which lies hidden in almost every soul began to unfold itself in him and he seemed to find pleasure in a sympathetic listener his wild jargon of hebraistic phrases names and illusions had for Clayton in his enfeebled state of quaint and poetic interest he compared him in his own mind to one of those old rude gothic doorways so frequent in European cathedrals where sculptural images carved in rough granite meagled themselves with a thousand wayward fantastic freaks of architecture and sometimes he thought with a sigh how much might have been accomplished by a soul ardent and a frame so energetic had they been enlightened and guided dread would sometimes come in the shady part of the afternoon and lie on the grass beside him and talk for hours in a quaint rambling dreamy style through which there were occasional flashes of practical ability and shrewdness he had been a great traveler a traveler through regions generally held inaccessible to human foot and eye he had explored not only the vast swamp girdle of the Atlantic but the everglades of Florida with all their strange and tropical luxuriance of growth he had wandered along the dreary and perilous belt of sand which skirts the southern Atlantic shores full of quicksands and of dangers and there he had mused of the eternal secret tides with whose restless never ceasing rise and fall the soul of man has a mysterious sympathy destitute of the light of philosophy in science he had revolved in the twilight of his ardent and struggling thoughts the causes of a natural phenomena and settled these questions for himself by theories of his own sometimes his residence for weeks had been a stranded hulk cast on one of those inhospitable shores where he fasted and prayed and fancied that answering voices came to him in the moaning of the wind and the sullen swell of the sea our readers behold him now stretched on the grass beside the hut of Harry and Lisette in one of his calmest and most communicative moods the children with Lisette and the women were searching for grapes in a distant part of the enclosure and Harry with the other fugitive man had gone to bring in certain provisions which were to have been deposited for them in a distant part of the swamp by some of their confederates on one of the plantations old Tiff was hoeing potatoes diligently in a spot not very far distant and evidently listening to the conversation with an ear of shrewd attention yes said Dredd with that misty light in his eye which one may often have remarked in the eye of enthusiasts the glory holds off but it is coming now is the groaning time that was revealed to me when I was down at Ochochoke when I slept three weeks in the hulk of a ship out of which all souls had perished rather a dismal abode my friend said Clayton by way of drawing him onto conversation the spirit drove me there said Dredd for I had besought the Lord to show unto me the knowledge of things to come and the Lord made me to go from the habitations of men and to seek out the desolate places of the sea and well in the wreck of a ship that was forsaken for a sign of desolation unto this people so I went in the wealth there and the Lord called me Amrafal because hidden things of judgment were made known unto me and the Lord showed unto me that even as a ship which is forsaken of the waters wherein all flesh have died so shall it be with the nation of the oppressor and how did the Lord show you this said Clayton bent upon pursuing his inquiry my near received it in the night season said Dredd and I heard how the whole creation groaneth and travaileth waiting for the adoption and because of this he hath appointed the tide I don't see the connection said Clayton because said Dredd every day is full of labour but the labour goes back again into the seas so that travail of all generations hath gone back to the desire of all nations shall come and he shall come with burning and with judgment and with great shakings but in the end thereof shall be peace wherefore it is written that in the new heavens and the new earth there shall be no more sea these words were uttered with an air of solemn assured confidence that impressed Clayton strangely something in his inner nature seemed to recognise in them a shadow of things hoped for he was in that mood into which the mind of him who strives with the evils of his world must often fall a mood of weariness and longing and heard within him the cry of the human soul tempest-tossed and not comforted for rest and assurance of the state where there shall be no more sea so then he said unto Dredd so then you believe that these heavens and earth shall be made new assuredly said Dredd shall reign in righteousness he shall deliver the needy when he cryeth the poor in him that hath no helper he shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence he shall sit upon a white cloud and the rainbow shall be round about his head and the elect of the Lord shall be kings and priests on the earth and do you think you shall be one of them? said Clayton Dredd gave a kind of inward groan not everyone that prophesieth in his name shall be found worthy he said I have prayed the Lord but he hath not granted me the assurance I am the rod of his wrath to execute vengeance on his enemies shall the axe magnify itself against him that left of it the conversation here was interrupted by Harry who suddenly springing from the tree came up in a hurried and agitated manner the devil is broke loose he said Tom Gordon is out with his whole crew at his heels beating a swamp a more drunken swearing ferocious set I never saw they have got on to the trail of Jim and are tracking him without mercy a dark light flashed from Dredd's eye as he spring upon his feet the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness yea the williness of the cadets I will go forth and deliver him he seized his rifle and shot bag and in a few moments was gone it was Harry's instinct to have followed him but Lisette herself weeping on his neck don't go don't she said what shall we all do without you stay with us you'll certainly be killed and you can do no good consider said Clayton that you have not the familiarity with these swamps nor the wonderful physical power of this man it would only be throwing away your life the hours of that day passed in gloomily sometimes the brutal sound of the hunt seemed to sweep near them the crack of rifles the bane of dogs, the sound of oaths and then again all went off into silence and nothing was heard but the innocent patter of leaf upon leaf and the warbling birds singing cheerly ignorant of the abyss of cruelty and crime over which they sang toward sunset a rustling was heard in the branches of the oak and Dredd dropped down into the enclosure wet and soil and weary all gathered around him in a moment where is Jim? asked Harry slain said Dredd the archers pressed him soar and he had fallen in a wilderness there was a general exclamation of horror Dredd made a movement to sit down on the earth he lost his balance and fell and they all saw now what they at first had not noticed a wound in his breast from which the blood was welling his wife fell by his side with wild moans of sorrow he lifted his hand and motioned her from him peace he said peace it is enough behold I go into the witnesses who cry day and night the circle stood around him in mute horror and surprise Clayton was the first who had the presence of mind to kneel and staunch the blood Dredd looked at him his calm large eyes filled with supernatural light all over he said he put his hand calmly to his side and felt the gushing blood he took some in his hand and threw it upward crying out with wild energy in the words of an ancient prophet oh earth earth earth cover thou not my blood behind the dark berry of the woods the sun was setting gloriously piles of loose floating clouds which all day long had been moving through the sky in white and silvery stillness now one after another took up the rosy flush and became each one a light bear filled with ethereal radiance and the birds sang on as they ever sang unterrified by the great wail of human sorrow it was evident to the little circle that he who is mightier than the kings of earth was there and that splendid frame which had so long rejoiced in the exuberance of health and strength was now to be resolved again into the eternal elements Harry he said lay me beneath the heap of witness let the god of their fathers judge between us in the dread chapter 52 all over chapter 53 of Dread a tale of the great dismal swamp by Harriet Beecher Stowe this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by John Brandon chapter 53 the burial the death of Dread fell like a night of despair on the hearts of the little fugitive circle in the swamps on the hearts of multitudes in the surrounding plantations who had regarded him as a prophet and a deliverer he in whom they trusted was dead the splendid athletic form so full of wild vitality the powerful arm remained in keen seeing eye all struck down at once the grand and solemn voice hushed and all the splendid poetry of olden time the inspiring symbols and prophetic dreams which had so wrought upon his own soul and with which he had wrought upon the souls of others seemed to pass away with him and to recede into the distance and become unsubstantial like the remembered sounds of mighty winds or solemn visions of evening clouds in times long departed on that night when the woods had ceased to reverberate the brutal sounds of baying dogs and the more brutal profanity of drunken men when the leaves stood still on the trees and the forest lay piled up in the darkness like black clouds and the morning star was standing like a calm angelic presence above them there might have been heard in the little clearing a muffled sound of footsteps treading heavily and voices of those that wept with a repressed and quiet weeping as they bore the wild chieftain to his grave beneath the blasted tree of the undaunted circle who had met there at the same hour many evenings before some had dared to be present tonight for hearing the report of the hunt they had left their huts on the plantations by stealth when all were asleep and eluding the vigilance of the patrols the night watch which commonly guards plantations had come to the forest to learn the fate of their friends and bitter was the dismay and anguish which filled their souls when they learned the result it is melancholy to reflect that among the children of one father an event which excites in one class bitterness and lamentation should in another because of exultation and triumph but the world has been thousands of years and not yet learned the first two words of the Lord's prayer and not until all tribes and nations have learned these will his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven among those who stood around the grave none seemed more bowed down and despairing than one whom we have before introduced to the reader under the name of Hannibal he was a tall and splendidly formed negro whose large head, high forehead and marked features indicated resolution and intellectual ability he had been all his life held as the property of an uneducated man of very mean and parsimonious character who was singularly divided in his treatment of him by a desire to make the most of his energies and capabilities as a slave and a fear less they should develop so fast as to render him unfit for the condition of slavery Hannibal had taught himself to read and write but the secret of the acquisition was guarded in his own bosom as vigilantly as the traveler among thieves would conceal in his breast an inestimable diamond for he well knew that were these acquisitions discovered his master's fears would be so excited as to lead him to realize at once a present psalm upon him by selling him a more hopeless prison house of the far south thus separating him from his wife and family Hannibal was generally employed as the keeper of the ferry boat by his master and during the hours when he was waiting for passengers found many opportunities for gratifying in an imperfect manner his thirst for knowledge those who have always had books about them more than would read know nothing of the passionate eagerness with which a repressed and starved intellect devours in secret its stolen food in a little chink between the logs of his ferry house there was secreted a Bible a copy of Robinson Crusoe and an odd number of a northern newspaper which had been dropped from the pocket of a passenger and when the door was shut and barred at night not lighted he would take these out and read them hour by hour there he yearned after the wild freedom of the desolate island he placed his wife and children in imagination in the little barricaded a boat of Robinson he hunted and made coats of skin and gathered strange fruits from trees with unknown names and felt himself a free man over a soul so strong and so repressed it is not to be wondered at that dread should have acquired a peculiar power the study of the Bible had awakened in his mind that vague two multivaspirations and hopes which had ever excites in the human breast and he was prompt to believe that the Lord who visited Israel in Egypt had listened to the signs of their captivity and sent to a prophet and a deliverer to his people like a torch carried in a stormy night this hope had blazed up within him but the cold blast of death had whistled by and it was extinguished forever among the small band that stood around the dead on the edge of the grave he stood looking fixedly on the face of the departed in the quaint and shaggy mound to which dread had attached that strange rugged oriental appellation jigger say haditha or the heap of witness there was wildly flaring a huge pine knot torch whose light fell with a red distinct glare on the prostrate form that lay there like a kingly cedar uprooted no more to wave its branches in air as if mighty in its fall with all the shaggy majesty of its branches around whatever might have been the strife and struggle of the soul once imprisoned in that form there was stamped upon the somber face an expression of majestic and mournful tranquility as if that long suffering and gracious god to whose judgment he had made his last appeal had rendered that judgment in mercy when the statesmen and mighty men of our race die though they had the weaknesses and sins of humanity they want not orators in the church to draw the veil gently to speak softly of their errors and loudly of their good and to predict for them if not an abundant entrance yet at least a safe asylum among the blessed and something not to be rebuked in our common nature we will join in a hopeful amen it is not easy for us to believe that a great and powerful soul can be lost to God in itself forever but he who lies here so still and mournfully in this flickering torchlight had struggling within him the energies which make the patriot and the prophet crushed beneath a mountain of ignorance they rose blind yet had knowledge enlightened and success crowned them his name might have been with that of Toussaint celebrated in mournful sonnet by the deepest thinking poet of the age thou has left behind powers that will work for thee air, earth and skies there's not a breathing of the common wind that will forget thee thou hast great allies thy friends are exultations agonies and love and man's uncockerable mind the weight of so great an affliction seem to have repressed the usual vivacity with which the Negroes want to indulge the expression of grief when the body was laid down by the side of the grave there was for a time a silence so deep that the rustling of the leaves and the wild doleful clamor of the frogs and turtles in the swamps and the surge of the winds in the pine treetops were all that met the ear even the wife of the dead stood with her shawl wrapped tightly about her rocking to and fro as if in the extremity of grief an old man in the company who had officiated sometimes as preacher among the Negroes began to sing a well-known hymn very commonly used at Negro funerals possibly because its wild and gloomy imagery has something exciting to their quick imaginations the words rose on the night air Hark from the tombs a doleful sound my ears and the cry ye living men come view the ground where you must shortly lie during the singing of this verse Hannibal stood silent with his arms gloomily folded his eyes fixed on the lifeless face gradually the sentiment seemed to inspire his soul with a kind of serene triumph he lifted his head and joined his deep bass voice in the singing of the second verse princess this clay must be your bed in spite of all your towers the tall the wise the reverend head must lie as low as ours yes brethren that will be the way of it they triumph and lord it over us now but their pomp will be brought down to the grave and the noise of their vials the worm shall be spread under them and the worm shall cover them and when we come to stand together at the judgment seat our testimony will be took there if it never was before and the lord will judge between us and our oppressors that's one comfort now brethren let's just lay him in the grave and he that's a better man or would have done better in his place let him judge him if he dares they lifted him up and laid him into the grave and in a few moments all the mortal signs that had been known on earth had vanished to appear no more till the great day of judgment and decision end of chapter 53 recording by John Brandon