CHAPTER II.
Apprenticed to the shoe-making--Learns housework--Intemperance--"A negro can't be trusted"-- Learning how to write and cipher.
In December, 1818, for the first time in my life, I left my parents, to go a distance from home; and I was sad at the thought of parting with those whom I loved and reverenced more than any persons on earth.

But the expectation of seeing Fredericksburg, a place which, from all I had then learned, I supposed must be the greatest place in the world, reconciled me somewhat with the necessity of saying Good-bye to the dear ones at home.

I arrived at Fredericksburg, after a day and a half's travel, in a wagon--a distance of some fifty miles.

Having arrived in town, a boy green from the country, I was astonished and delighted at what appeared to me the splendor and beauty of the place.

I spent a merry Christmas at my old master's stately mansion, along with my older brother, and for a while forgot the home on the farm.
But soon, another home was selected for me, where I might learn a trade, and as I preferred the boot and shoe-making, I was put to Mr.
Thomas Wright, a man of sterling integrity, who was considered the best workman in the whole town.