"You know," the genial doctor continued, "you know that I am an old time abolitionist, and one of the straightest kind."
I replied, I had often regretted the fact. Scarcely noticing my remark he went on:
"I have received a revelation, Mr. Jamison, and one that God willing! will make me a more charitable—a braver, perhaps a better man. Think of it sir: I went to see this black woman, expecting to find her in charge of some other ignorant woman of her color. But instead of that, there was an elegant gentleman sitting at her bed side; his hand was upon her hot forehead, and every now and then he whispered, "Don't be afraid Mammy, little John is by you, and he will take care of you." The poor creature was delirious. She thought herself on a southern plantation, and that some one was trying to do her bodily harm.
"When I stepped forward, he motioned me to be still. I am generally an autocrat in a sick room, but that man's look and gesture made me a regular sucking babe."
I laughed at the thought.
"You needn't laugh, sir. I am telling God's truth. Well! when he had quieted her, he took me into an adjoining room, and gave me his diagnosis of the case. It was the opinion of a man of science, absolutely correct. I left my prescription, promising to be on hand as early as possible the next morning. Would you believe it, sir, I was there before day-light? I wanted to see that man. I found him seated as he had been the night before, and learned he had been there ever since I left. She was still out of her head.
Something she said caused the gentleman to say, "She must be saved. She and her husband are all that are left to me of a great plantation and five hundred negroes."
"Instead of feeling disgust for the owner of five hundred human beings, I felt they had lost a friend when they lost their master. For a whole week, that man never took off his clothes, and as far as I could see, never left that lowly bed side. I never saw such devotion. It pulled her through; my drugs were a humbug, sir. That Christian gentleman saved her life."
The doctor took off his hat and mopped his brow. It was wet from the energy of his speech.
"It was a revelation to me, sir. Think of it! A man can own human beings, and still be a Christian. If our Saviour has a true follower on this earth, that born slave owner is of his chosen ones."