.

_"A Change Came O'er the Spirit of My Dream"_.
HOW I LEARNED TO READ--MY MISTRESS--HER SLAVEHOLDING DUTIES--THEIR DEPLORABLE EFFECTS UPON HER ORIGINALLY NOBLE NATURE--THE CONFLICT IN HER MIND--HER FINAL OPPOSITION TO MY LEARNING TO READ--TOO LATE--SHE HAD GIVEN ME THE INCH, I WAS RESOLVED TO TAKE THE ELL--HOW I PURSUED MY EDUCATION--MY TUTORS--HOW I COMPENSATED THEM--WHAT PROGRESS I MADE--SLAVERY--WHAT I HEARD SAID ABOUT IT--THIRTEEN YEARS OLD--THE _Columbian Orator_--A RICH SCENE--A DIALOGUE--SPEECHES OF CHATHAM, SHERIDAN, PITT AND FOX--KNOWLEDGE EVER INCREASING--MY EYES OPENED--LIBERTY--HOW I PINED FOR IT--MY SADNESS--THE DISSATISFACTION OF MY POOR MISTRESS--MY HATRED OF SLAVERY--ONE UPAS TREE OVERSHADOWED US BOTH.
I lived in the family of Master Hugh, at Baltimore, seven years, during which time--as the almanac makers say of the weather--my condition was variable.

The most interesting feature of my history here, was my learning to read and write, under somewhat marked disadvantages.

In attaining this knowledge, I was compelled to resort to indirections by no means congenial to my nature, and which were really humiliating to me.

My mistress--who, as the reader has already seen, had begun to teach me was suddenly checked in her benevolent design, by the strong advice of her husband.