Extravagant strangers, p.2
Extravagant Strangers, page 2
I thought the best method that I could take now was to go to London, and find out Mr Whitfield, who was the only living soul that I knew in England, and get him to direct me how to procure a living without being troublesome to any person. I took leave of my Christian friends at Portsmouth, and went in the stage to London. A creditable tradesman in the city, who went up with me in the stage, offered to show me the way to Mr Whitfield’s tabernacle, knowing that I was a perfect stranger. I thought it very kind, and accepted his offer; but he obliged me to give him half-a-crown for going with me, and likewise insisted on my giving him five shillings more for conducting me to Dr Gifford’s meeting.
I began now to entertain a very different idea of the inhabitants of England to what I had figured to myself before I came among them. Mr Whitfield received me very friendly, was heartily glad to see me, and directed me to a proper place to board and lodge, in Petticoat-lane, till he could think of some way to settle me in, and paid for my lodging, and all my expenses. The morning after I came to my new lodgings, as I was at breakfast with the gentlewoman of the house, I heard the noise of some looms over our heads, and upon inquiring what it was, she told me that a person was weaving silk. I expressed a great desire to see it, and asked if I might. She told me that she would go up with me, for she was sure that I should be very welcome; and she was as good as her word. As soon as we entered the room, the person that was weaving looked about and smiled upon us, and I loved her from that moment. She asked me many questions, and I, in return, talked a great deal to her. I found that she was a member of Mr Allen’s meeting, and I began to entertain a good opinion of her, though I was almost afraid to indulge this inclination, lest she should prove like the rest that I had met with, at Portsmouth, &c., and which had almost given me a dislike to all white women. But after a short acquaintance, I had the happiness to find that she was very different, and quite sincere, and I was not without hopes that she entertained some esteem for me. We often went together to hear Dr Gifford. As I had always a propensity to relieve every object in distress as far as I was able, I used to give to all that complained to me, sometimes half a guinea at a time, as I did not understand the real value of it. But this good woman took great pains to correct and advise me in that and many other respects.
After I had been in London about six weeks, I was recommended to the notice of some acquaintances of my late master, Mr Freeland-house, who had heard him speak frequently of me. I was much persuaded by them to go to Holland, as my master lived there before he bought me, and he used to speak of me so respectfully among his friends there that it raised in them a curiosity to see me, particularly the gentlemen engaged in the ministry, who expressed a desire to hear my experience and to examine me. I found that it was my good old master’s design that I should have gone if he had lived, for which reason I resolved upon going to Holland, and informed my dear friend Mr Whitfield of my intention. He was much averse to my going at first; but after I gave him my reasons he appeared very well satisfied. I likewise informed my Betty (the good woman that I have just named) of my determination to go to Holland, and told her I believed she was to be my wife; and if it was the Lord’s will I desired it, but not else. She made me very little answer, but has since told me that she did not think it at that time.
Ignatius Sancho
[1729–80]
Ignatius Sancho was born on board a slave ship sailing from the Guinea coast to the West Indies. During the voyage, both his parents died. At the age of two he was brought to England from the West Indies and passed into the hands of three maiden sisters in Greenwich, south London. The women, as Sancho later wrote in a letter to the novelist Laurence Sterne, ‘judged Ignorance the best and only security for obedience’. By chance, at the age of twenty, Sancho met the Duke of Montagu in the Greenwich area. The Duke, well known for his views against slavery and racism, was attracted to Sancho’s spirit, as yet unbroken by servitude, and he decided to make him his protégé. He allowed him to borrow books and secured for him the education that Sancho’s mistresses had wilfully denied him.
When the Duke died in 1749, Sancho unlawfully fled from the three sisters and took service with the Duchess of Montagu. Two years later, the Duchess died, leaving Sancho a considerable amount of money. However, this he soon squandered on gambling and women, and he returned to service with the Montagu family. During the years that Sancho served them, he gained the admiration of many people, such as Samuel Johnson, Laurence Sterne and the actor David Garrick. It was through these friendships that Sancho developed his passion for the theatre and the arts. Respected for his solid judgement in these fields, he befriended musicians, painters and sculptors, attempted acting and wrote music, some of which still survives. Gainsborough made him the subject of a portrait, and it is thought that he is depicted in one of Hogarth’s paintings. Sancho married Anne, a West Indian woman, and had six children. By 1773, overweight and suffering from gout, he was no longer physically able to work as a servant and so he opened a grocery business in London’s Mayfair.
Having spent most of his life in a relatively secure middle-class environment, Sancho’s letters (published as Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, 1782) show him to be the most integrated of the black British writers in England at that time. His near contemporaries such as Equiano had begun their lives in Africa, but Sancho had no direct memories of his homeland, nor had he suffered to the same extent under slavery. While these writers had obtained their inspiration and unique style through personal suffering, Sancho owed much of his style to the fashion of the circles he moved in. The sentimentality of a writer such as Sterne was well suited to Sancho’s favourite subject, domestic life. However, when writing on topics such as British politics and the abolition of slavery, Sancho’s ‘Britishness’ becomes mixed with an ironic sense of his own detachment. In one instance, he describes himself as ‘only a lodger [in England] – and hardly that’; clearly he is always aware of himself as an African in England. Nevertheless, Sancho remains the most urbane and mannered of those of African descent who were writing in Britain in the eighteenth century.
Sancho’s letters, while never descending to protestation, are often mildy critical of his adopted country. At the same time, they exhibit a desperate need to belong. Such a need is clearly displayed in the following letter to Laurence Sterne, which, while praising Sterne as a novelist in general and as somebody who has spoken out against slavery in particular, begs him to do more to help Sancho’s ‘miserable black brethren’.
To Mr Sterne
July, 1776
REVEREND SIR,
It would be an insult on your humanity (or perhaps look like it) to apologize for the liberty I am taking. – I am one of those people whom the vulgar and illiberal call ‘Negurs’ – The first part of my life was rather unlucky, as I was placed in a family who judged ignorance the best and only security for obedience. – A little reading and writing I got by unwearied application. – The latter part of my life has been – thro’ God’s blessing, truly fortunate, having spent it in the service of one of the best families in the kingdom. – My chief pleasure has been books. – Philanthropy I adore. – How very much, good Sir, am I (amongst millions) indebted to you for the character of your amiable uncle Toby! – I declare, I would walk ten miles in the dog-days, to shake hands with the honest corporal. – Your Sermons have touch’d me to the heart, and I hope have amended it, which brings me to the point. – In your tenth discourse, page seventy-eight, in the second volume – is the very affecting passage – ‘Consider how great a part of our species – in all ages down to this – have been trod under the feet of cruel and capricious tyrants, who would neither hear their cries, nor pity their distresses, – Consider slavery – what it is – how bitter a draught and how many millions are made to drink it!’ – Of all my favourite authors, not one has drawn a tear in favour of my miserable black brethren – excepting yourself, and the humane author of Sir George Ellison. – I think you will forgive me; – I am sure you will applaud me for beseeching you to give one half-hour’s attention to slavery, as it is at this day practised in our West Indies. – That subject, handled in your striking manner, would ease the yoke (perhaps) of many – but if only of one – Gracious God! – what a feast to a benevolent heart! – and, sure I am, you are an epicurean in acts of charity. – You, who are universally read, and as universally admired – you could not fail – Dear Sir, think in me you behold the uplifted hands of thousands of my brother Moors. – Grief you pathetically observe is eloquent; – figure to yourself their attitudes; – hear their supplicating addresses! – alas! – you cannot refuse. – Humanity must comply – in which hope I beg permission to subscribe myself,
Reverend Sir, &c.
IGN. SANCHO
Olaudah Equiano
[1745–97]
Olaudah Equiano was born in an Igbo village, Essaka, probably the present-day Iseke in Nigeria. Kidnapped at the age of eleven by Africans, he was sold to white slave traders. He travelled to Barbados, then to Virginia, where he was purchased by an English naval officer, Michael Pascal. In 1759, he was baptized and renamed Gustavus Vasa. He served Pascal for many years, mixing with British families and benefiting from an education both on and off the ship. Equiano was therefore bitterly disappointed when Pascal unexpectedly sold him back into American slavery. Stirred by this move, and now working on the merchant ships of his new owner, Equiano began trading for himself, gradually earning enough money to buy back his freedom.
As a free man, his voyages continued: to the Arctic as an assistant to a surgeon, to the Mediterranean as a manservant to an English traveller and to Central America, where he spent six months among the Miskito Indians. Eventually he settled in England, where he became a leading spokesman for the black population in London, contributing greatly to the fight for abolition. In 1787, he was appointed commissary for stores to the expedition that was to return many freed slaves to a new settlement at Freetown in Sierra Leone, but he was dismissed after disagreements with the organizers before the expedition left England. He was now free to complete his autobiography, already several years in the making.
Published in London in 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vasa the African, written by himself was a bestseller. It went into eight British editions, as well as an American edition (1791), and was translated into Dutch (1790), German (1792) and Russian (1794). It continued to be read after his death, going into many more editions in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although Ukawsaw Gronniosaw’s Narrative had already been published, Equiano’s work, being written in the author’s own hand, was thus the first authentic account in English of the life of an African slave.
In 1792, after the publication of his book, Equiano married Susannah Cullen of Soham, Cambridge. He then travelled widely throughout Britain, selling copies of the book and speaking publicly against slavery. He also became a regular contributor of letters and reviews to the Public Advertiser.
By the time of his death in 1797, Equiano had become a relatively prosperous moneylender. The fruits of his estate went to his sole surviving daughter, Johanna. His wife had died two years earlier and his four-year-old second daughter, Anna Maria, died just months after Equiano himself.
Equiano came of age at a time when the lobby for the abolition of slavery in British possessions was becoming increasingly powerful. He not only had a platform from which to speak but also displayed outstanding skills as a writer. He was able to help his contemporaries understand what it meant to be culturally an outsider from British society, and in the extract from his autobiography that follows he offers some insight into the difficulties faced by a newcomer who does not fully understand the English language.
Voyage to England
I stayed in this island for a few days; I believe it could not be above a fortnight; when I and some few more slaves, that were not saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting, were shipped off in a sloop for North America. On the passage we were better treated than when we were coming from Africa, and we had plenty of rice and fat pork. We were landed up a river a good way from the sea, about Virginia county, where we saw few or none of our native Africans, and not one soul who could talk to me. I was a few weeks weeding grass, and gathering stones in a plantation; and at last all my companions were distributed different ways, and only myself was left. I was now exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of the rest of my companions; for they could talk to each other, but I had no person to speak to that I could understand. In this state I was constantly grieving and pining, and wishing for death rather than any thing else. While I was in this plantation the gentleman, to whom I suppose the estate belonged, being unwell, I was one day sent for to his dwelling house to fan him; when I came into the room where he was I was very much affrighted at some things I saw, and the more so as I had seen a black woman slave as I came through the house, who was cooking the dinner, and the poor creature was cruelly loaded with various kinds of iron machines; she had one particularly on her head, which locked her mouth so fast that she could scarcely speak; and could not eat nor drink. I was much astonished and shocked at this contrivance, which I afterwards learned was called the iron muzzle. Soon after I had a fan put into my hand, to fan the gentleman while he slept; and so I did indeed with great fear. While he was fast asleep I indulged myself a great deal in looking about the room, which to me appeared very fine and curious. The first object that engaged my attention was a watch which hung on the chimney, and was going. I was quite surprised at the noise it made, and was afraid it would tell the gentleman any thing I might do amiss; and when I immediately after observed a picture hanging in the room, which appeared constantly to look at me, I was still more affrighted, having never seen such things as these before. At one time I thought it was something relative to magic; and not seeing it move I thought it might be some way the whites had to keep their great men when they died, and offer them libation as we used to do to our friendly spirits. In this state of anxiety I remained till my master awoke, when I was dismissed out of the room, to my no small satisfaction and relief; for I thought that these people were all made up of wonders. In this place I was called Jacob; but on board the African ship I was called Michael. I had been some time in this miserable, forlorn, and much dejected state, without having any one to talk to, which made my life a burden, when the kind and unknown hand of the Creator (who in very deed leads the blind in a way they know not) now began to appear, to my comfort; for one day the captain of a merchant ship, called the Industrious Bee, came on some business to my master’s house. This gentleman, whose name was Michael Henry Pascal, was a lieutenant in the royal navy, but now commanded this trading ship, which was somewhere in the confines of the county many miles off. While he was at my master’s house it happened that he saw me, and liked me so well that he made a purchase of me. I think I have often heard him say he gave thirty or forty pounds sterling for me; but I do not now remember which. However, he meant me for a present to some of his friends in England: and I was sent accordingly from the house of my then master, one Mr Campbell, to the place where the ship lay; I was conducted on horseback by an elderly black man, (a mode of travelling which appeared very odd to me). When I arrived I was carried on board a fine large ship, loaded with tobacco, &c. and just ready to sail for England. I now thought my condition much mended; I had sails to lie on, and plenty of good victuals to eat; and every body on board used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had seen of any white people before; I therefore began to think that they were not all of the same disposition. A few days after I was on board we sailed for England. I was still at a loss to conjecture my destiny. By this time, however, I could smarter a little imperfect English; and I wanted to know as well as I could where we were going. Some of the people of the ship used to tell me they were going to carry me back to my own country, and this made me very happy. I was quite rejoiced at the sound of going back; and thought if I should get home what wonders I should have to tell. But I was reserved for another fate, and was soon undeceived when we came within sight of the English coast. While I was on board this ship, my captain and master named me Gustavus Vasa. I at that time began to understand him a little, and refused to be called so, and told him as well as I could that I would be called Jacob; but he said I should not, and still called me Gustavus; and when I refused to answer to my new name, which at first I did, it gained me many a cuff; so at length I submitted, and was obliged to bear the present name, by which I have been known ever since. The ship had a very long passage; and on that account we had very short allowance of provisions. Towards the last we had only one pound and a half of bread per week, and about the same quantity of meat, and one quart of water a day. We spoke with only one vessel the whole time we were at sea, and but once we caught a few fishes. In our extremities the captain and people told me in jest they would kill and eat me; but I thought them in earnest, and was depressed beyond measure, expecting every moment to be my last. While I was in this situation one evening they caught, with a good deal of trouble, a large shark, and got it on board. This gladdened my poor heart exceedingly, as I thought it would serve the people to eat instead of their eating me; but very soon, to my astonishment, they cut off a small part of the tail, and tossed the rest over the side. This renewed my consternation; and I did not know what to think of these white people, though I very much feared they would kill and eat me. There was on board the ship a young lad who had never been at sea before, about four or five years older than myself: his name was Richard Baker. He was a native of America, had received an excellent education, and was of a most amiable temper. Soon after I went on board he shewed me a great deal of partiality and attention, and in return I grew extremely fond of him. We at length became inseparable; and, for the space of two years, he was of very great use to me, and was my constant companion and instructor. Although this dear youth had many slaves of his own, yet he and I have gone through many sufferings together on shipboard; and we have many nights lain in each other’s bosoms when we were in great distress. Thus such a friendship was cemented between us as we cherished till his death, which, to my very great sorrow, happened in the year 1759, when he was up the Archipelago, on board his majesty’s ship the Preston: an event which I have never ceased to regret, as I lost at once a kind interpreter, an agreeable companion, and a faithful friend; who, at the age of fifteen, discovered a mind superior to prejudice; and who was not ashamed to notice, to associate with, and to be the friend and instructor of one who was ignorant, a stranger, of a different complexion, and a slave! My master had lodged in his mother’s house in America: he respected him very much, and made him always eat with him in the cabin. He used often to tell him jocularly that he would kill me to eat. Sometimes he would say to me – the black people were not good to eat, and would ask me if we did not eat people in my country. I said, No: then he said he would kill Dick (as he always called him) first, and afterwards me. Though this hearing relieved my mind a little as to myself, I was alarmed for Dick and whenever he was called I used to be very much afraid he was to be killed; and I would peep and watch to see if they were going to kill him: nor was I free from this consternation till we made the land. One night we lost a man overboard; and the cries and noise were so great and confused, in stopping the ship, that I, who did not know what was the matter, began, as usual, to be very much afraid, and to think they were going to make an offering with me, and perform some magic; which I still believed they dealt in. As the waves were very high I thought the Ruler of the seas was angry, and I expected to be offered up to appease him. This filled my mind with agony, and I could not any more that night close my eyes again to rest. However, when daylight appeared I was a little eased in my mind; but still every time I was called I used to think it was to be killed. Some time after this we saw some very large fish, which I afterwards found were called grampusses. They looked to me extremely terrible, and made their appearance just at dusk; and were so near as to blow the water on the ship’s deck. I believed them to be the rulers of the sea; and, as the white people did not make any offerings at any time, I thought they were angry with them: and, at last, what confirmed my belief was, the wind just then died away, and a calm ensued, and in consequence of it the ship stopped going. I supposed that the fish had performed this, and I hid myself in the fore part of the ship, through fear of being offered up to appease them, every minute peeping and quaking: but my good friend Dick came shortly towards me, and I took an opportunity to ask him, as well as I could, what these fish were. Not being able to talk much English, I could but just make him understand my question; and not at all, when I asked him if any offerings were to be made to them: however, he told me these fish would swallow any body; which sufficiently alarmed me. Here he was called away by the captain, who was leaning over the quarterdeck railing and looking at the fish; and most of the people were busied in getting a barrel of pitch to light, for them to play with. The captain now called me to him, having learned some of my apprehensions from Dick; and having diverted himself and others for some time with my fears, which appeared ludicrous enough in my crying and trembling, he dismissed me. The barrel of pitch was now lighted and put over the side into the water: by this time it was just dark, and the fish went after it; and, to my great joy, I saw them no more.
