Much has been left out which would have been highly interesting, because
of the impossibility of substantiating by the testimony of others the
truth of Harriet’s statements. But whenever it has been possible to find
those who were cognizant with the facts stated, they have been
corroborated in every particular.

A few years hence and we seem to see a gathering where the wrongs of
earth will be righted, and Justice, long delayed, will assert itself,
and perform its office. Then not a few of those who had esteemed
themselves the wise and noble of this world, “will begin with shame to
take the lowest place;” while upon Harriet’s dark head a kind hand will
be placed, and in her ear a gentle voice will sound, saying: “Friend!
come up higher!”

S. H. B.

The following letters to the writer from those well-known and
distinguished philanthropists, Hon. Gerrit Smith and Wendell Phillips,
and one from Frederick Douglass, addressed to Harriet, will serve as the
best introduction that can be given of the subject of this memoir to its
readers:

_Letter from Hon. Gerrit Smith._

PETERBORO, June 13, 1868.

MY DEAR MADAME: I am happy to learn that you are to speak to the
public of Mrs. Harriet Tubman. Of the remarkable events of her life
I have no _personal_ knowledge, but of the truth of them as she
describes them I have no doubt.

I have often listened to her, in her visits to my family, and I am
confident that she is not only truthful, but that she has a rare
discernment, and a deep and sublime philanthropy.

With great respect your friend,

GERRIT SMITH.

_Letter from Wendell Phillips._

JUNE 16, 1868.

DEAR MADAME: The last time I ever saw John Brown was under my own
roof, as he brought Harriet Tubman to me, saying: “Mr. Phillips, I
bring you one of the best and bravest persons on this
continent–_General_ Tubman, as we call her.”

He then went on to recount her labors and sacrifices in behalf of
her race. After that, Harriet spent some time in Boston, earning
the confidence and admiration of all those who were working for
freedom. With their aid she went to the South more than once,
returning always with a squad of self-emancipated men, women, and
children, for whom her marvelous skill had opened the way of
escape. After the war broke out, she was sent with indorsements
from Governor Andrew and his friends to South Carolina, where in
the service of the Nation she rendered most important and efficient
aid to our army.

In my opinion there are few captains, perhaps few colonels, who
have done more for the loyal cause since the war began, and few men
who did before that time more for the colored race, than our
fearless and most sagacious friend, Harriet.

Faithfully yours,

WENDELL PHILLIPS.

_Letter from Frederick Douglass._

ROCHESTER, August 29, 1868.

DEAR HARRIET: I am glad to know that the story of your eventful
life has been written by a kind lady, and that the same is soon to
be published. You ask for what you do not need when you call upon
me for a word of commendation. I need such words from you far more
than you can need them from me, especially where your superior
labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of our land
are known as I know them. The difference between us is very marked.
Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has
been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every
step of the way. You on the other hand have labored in a private
way. I have wrought in the day–you in the night. I have had the
applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being
approved by the multitude, while the most that you have done has
been witnessed by a few trembling, scared, and foot-sore bondmen
and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage, and whose
heartfelt “_God bless you_” has been your only reward. The midnight
sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion
to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown–of sacred
memory–I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils
and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have. Much that
you have done would seem improbable to those who do not know you
as I know you. It is to me a great pleasure and a great privilege
to bear testimony to your character and your works, and to say to
those to whom you may come, that I regard you in every way truthful
and trustworthy.

Your friend,

FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

SOME SCENES

IN THE

LIFE OF HARRIET TUBMAN.

Harriet Tubman, known at various times, and in various places, by many
different names, such as “Moses,” in allusion to her being the leader
and guide to so many of her people in their exodus from the Land of
Bondage; “the Conductor of the Underground Railroad;” and “Moll
Pitcher,” for the energy and daring by which she delivered a fugitive
slave who was about to be dragged back to the South; was for the first
twenty-five years of her life a slave on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Her own master she represents as never unnecessarily cruel; but as was
common among slaveholders, he often hired out his slaves to others, some
of whom proved to be tyrannical and brutal to the utmost limit of their
power.

She had worked only as a field-hand for many years, following the oxen,
loading and unloading wood, and carrying heavy burdens, by which her
naturally remarkable power of muscle was so developed that her feats of
strength often called forth the wonder of strong laboring men. Thus was
she preparing for the life of hardship and endurance which lay before
her, for the deeds of daring she was to do, and of which her ignorant
and darkened mind at that time never dreamed.