A Slave Poet and His Patron
Despite the fael that coiiiparativelv fpw
people today ever heard of him. George
Moses Horton. Negro slave, was one of the
most remarkable literary figures the state*
ever has known.
QUITE the most remarkable
literary figure ever born in
North Carolina was a slave.
George Moses Horton. And the
one who taught him most carefully
and gave him most encouragement
was a novelist from Boston. Mrs.
Caroline Lee Hentz. at that time
living in the state.
Horton was born in Northhamp¬
ton County about 1797. After
moving with his master to Chat¬
ham County, he became interested
in learning to read. "On well nigh
every Sabbath during the year."
he relates in his autobiography,
"did I retire away in the summer
season to some shady and lonely
recess, where I could stammer
over the dim and promiscuous syl¬
lables in my old black and tattered
spelling book." At night he studied
too. sweating over an "incom¬
petent bark or brush light, almost
exhausted by the heat of the fire,
and almost suffocated with smoke."
His playmates tried to draw him
from his task that he might fish
and hunt with them, but he turned
his head when they called him a
"vain fool" and continued his
study.
Taught Himself to Head
From spelling Horton taught
himself to read; at first sections
from the New Testament, then
miscellaneous poetry and especial¬
ly Wesley's hymns. He began to
wonder if he could not compose
in like vein. Several pieces began
to turn in his head until they be¬
came completed verses: but as he
could not write, there was no way
of getting them on paper.
Some time afterwards he started
going to nearby Cha|>el Hill on
Sundays to sell fruit to the col¬
legians. The students had a habit
of sporting with the country
servants, who were forced into
making speeches for the pleasure
of the joke-loving young dandies.
On one occasion Horton declaimed
in original poetry, which com¬
pletely astonished and greatly
pleased the pranksters. "All eyes
were on me. and all ears were
If;/
КИПА
It D UAI SI It
open," Horton says; "hence my
fame soon circulated like a stream
throughout the college."
Contact With Mrs. Hentz.
His renown reached the cars of
Mrs. Hentz. a young New England
matron only recently settled in
Chapel Hill as the wife of the pro¬
fessor of modern languages. As
she had brought with her from
the North a curiosity about slavery,
she was very much interested in
this unusual litterateur. Once
they had met. the admiration was
mutual. In Lovell's Folly (1833),
her first novel, Mrs. Hentz ap¬
pends a note on Horton, saying
that "I have often transcribed
stanzas, which he would dictate
with quite an air of inspiration;
and have marveled at the readiness
with which he would change a
verse or sentiment, which was ob¬
jected to as erroneous in expres¬
sion or deficient in poetical har¬
mony. Though familiar with the
best classic works belonging to the
fine libraries of the university, he
had not been taught to write a
legible hand, and was obliged to
be indebted to others for embody¬
ing the dreams of his muse."
A Heal Genius
Mrs. Hentz describes him as
faithful, grateful and unpretend¬
ing. possessing the mild gravity of
the Grecian philosopher. "He
found no companionship in feeling
with his fellow-slaves, and his
spirits fluttered like the imprisoned
eagle, to be released from bond¬
age." An excerpt from one of the
poems she particularly liked is
preserved in Lovell's Folly.
Oh. Liberty! thou golden prize,
So often sought by blood.
We crave thy sacred sun to rise.
The gift of Nature's God.
Bid Slavery hide her meagre face.
And barbarism fly —
I scorn to see the sad disgrace.
In which enslaved I lie.
Dear Liberty! upon thy breast.
I languish to respire,
And like the swan unto her nest.
I'd to thy smiles retire.
Horton, on the other hand, was
gracious in recognizing his debt
to her and wrote that she was re¬
sponsible for the correction of
many of his poetical errors. "Being
a professional poetess herself, and
a lover of genius .” he says, "she
discovered my little uncultivated
talent." When her little child died,
he composed a dirge for the infant,
and from the mother received a
handsome reward. Of the occasion
he relates: "Not being able to
write myself. I dictated while she
wrote; and while thus engaged she
strove in vain to avert the inevi¬
table tear slow trickling down her
ringlet-shaded check. She was in¬
deed unequivocally anxious to an¬
nounce the deed of my recent and
astonishing fame, and sent its
blast on the gale of passage back
to the frozen plains of Massachu¬
setts.”
After five years in North Caro¬
lina. Mrs. Hentz left in 1831 for
Kentucky and Ohio, and later re¬
sided in Alabama, where she wrote
that well-known novel. The Plant¬
er's Northern Bride . a Southern
answer by a Northern-born woman
to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Though
Horton continued to receive en¬
couragement from such persons as
Dr. David Caldwell, president of
the University, as well as many
students, he never forgot the faith
Mrs. Hentz had exhibited in him.
More than a decade later, he in¬
scribed to her the following "Eu¬
logy”:
Deep on thy pillar, thou im¬
mortal dame.
Trace the inscription of eter¬
nal fame;
For bards unborn must yet
thy works adore.
And bid thee live when others
are no more.
THE STATE M*v
946
