[From Mr. Richard Sharpe,
of the Novanglian College of Lucidity, to Mr. Clepp Asquith,
Esquire, of the Virginia Colony.]
Canaan, Massachusetts
June 29th, 1775
Dear Mr. Asquith —
’Tis with the greatest pleasure that I report the return of the fugitive slave-boy Octavian Gitney to the fold of the Novanglian College of Lucidity, though no pleasure should be gleaned from an act so strictly necessary and, given the expertise of our body and the kind emoluments of our Trustees, so assured in its execution.
Some three days hence we heard a report from a member of the Canaan Militia encamped at Cambridge that he had witnessed a rousing performance on the fiddle by a Negro youth of considerable achievements, who displayed a familiarity not only with melodies of common truck — contra-dances and such like — but also with the work of European masters, with whose flourishes he endeavored to entertain the soldiery at the completion of their martial supper.
Hasting speedily to the scene of the encampment, I distributed agents to determine which Negro work detail employed said fiddler; being frustrated in this design, I eventually drew in one Private Evidence Goring of Kedron, cooper, reputed to profess friendship to the fiddler. His description of the youth and the dates all assured me that the matter was beyond doubt; at which, I dispatched my agents to draw Octavian away from his detail into a secluded place and clap irons on him and conduct him to my carriage, which we rode post-haste back to Canaan.
I do not believe that this Pvt. Goring colluded in obscuring Octavian’s identity for these months; legal retribution against him would, I believe, gain little and lose much, the confusion of the courts being such as it is, and the dangerously leveling sentiments of many Massachusetts jurists being so opposed to the right to own human chattel. Prudence occasions us to restrain where anger might bid us assault. The man is, in any event, by all accounts a fool: too fantastical of temperament and childish of observation to merit trust; but too trusting to merit confidence.
Octavian had no occasion to struggle. His hands and feet were bound quite quickly in a grove hard by a house seized by the Cambridge Committee of Safety; and, after initial aggression, he fell into a grave quiescence which has not lifted nor lessened. During the coach-ride back to Canaan, he several times moaned; but gave up even this paltry attempt at protest, and has since remained almost inert. It appears that his senses are disordered.
We have nonetheless restrained him with (a) shackles on his hands, (b) shackles on his feet, and also with (c) an iron mask with a bit that prevents him from biting or speaking. We maintain a constant watch over the chamber where he is held, and I have every felicitous expectation that within a week, his senses will be restored and we may resume our course of study and experimentation. It has occurred to me that, far from being a setback only, this interlude affords us a chance for reprimand and correction which might themselves be observed, with an eye to establishing general regulations for chastisement and reform, and the observation of which disciplinary actions most efficaciously bid fair to reformulate the creature and establish submissive principles.
Once again, it is with entire satisfaction that I report the issue of this episode. I might make a special mention of the gratifying compliance of several key Patriot functionaries to our inquiries despite the qualms of some whimsical officers; from our sizeable donations, they know us staunch supporters of the twin causes of (a) liberty and (b) property, and impressed thereby with our zeal, they offered every assistance which could be requested. You may find it eases the anxiety of our other Virginian trustees to inform them that even here in Massachusetts Bay, amidst revolution, the principles of property are upheld with such assiduity; officers keep strict account of which Negro soldiers are free, and which bonded; and of the bonded, who is the owner, that they may be returned upon the cessation of hostilities.
While I must own that there is a spirit antithetical to the continuation of bondage in this Province — especially among the rank-and-file of the citizens’ army — the institution is so fundamental to the health of the whole of these colonies that I foresee no contest in assuring its continuance. Our only fear at present is that the Crown seeks to stir up the Negro against his master, and that those enlisted in our ranks might employ our own firearms against us; for which reason, there is much hope that our Patriot army will disbar the African race from service soon — which, though sadly diminishing our assaultive force, will be of great relief to us all.
I present you, sir, with our compliments, and our hopes that we shall soon throw off the yoke of Tyranny and enjoy the exercise of reason and the pursuit of our interests untrammeled by the interference of kings or foreign courts. At such a time, however, as far as degree shall persist, I shall remain,
Your humble & affectionate servant,
Richard Sharpe