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.Its power and apparent candor evoke a fascination that hasbrought William Styron a Pulitzer Prize and has generated a catalogue ofplays, poetry, documentaries, novels, and historical studies.It remains thesingle most reliable source of information relating to the revolt.But it is 74 stories of the rebellionthe complex motives and attitudes of both Nat and Gray that are, orshould be, at issue.Gray s pamphlet reveals much about both himself andhis subject.Those who would know Nat must also know his amanuensis.Gray opens with a preamble expressive of his contempt for the captive, a gloomy fanatic with a dark, bewildered, and overwrought mind seek-ing to grapple with things beyond its reach. Nat was bewildered andconfounded by portents that appeared to him, and surrendered igno-miniously without a struggle.91 This was the Nat of popular whiteperception.Gray s postscript, however, offers this astonishing and eloquently un-grammatical passage: The calm, deliberate composure with which hespoke of his late deeds, the expression of his fiend-like face when excitedby enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of blood and helpless innocenceabout him; clothed with rags and covered with chains, with a spirit soaringabove the attributes of man: I looked upon him and my blood curdled inmy veins. 92The ignorant and depraved Nat of the preamble is reborn in the post-script as one who, for natural intelligence and quickness of apprehen-sion, is surpassed by few men I have ever seen and possessed of a mindcapable of attaining any thing. In response to reports that Nat s motivewas money, Gray responds that he was never known to have a dollar inhis life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. The cowardly Nat ofthe preamble disappears and the rebel is extolled as admirable for thedecision of his character, a view that comports with Nat s conduct at thegallows.93The postscript thus transforms the lurid early depiction of Nat into thatof a nuanced and impassioned man, his cause a holy crusade.Clearly,Gray s preamble was composed before the interviews, the rest after somehours in Nat s presence.As a result, Nat may have died recognizing thathe had won in a jail cell the victory that eluded him on the battlefield.Gray appears, in fact, to have fallen under Nat s spell; something in theslave s testimony must have resonated strongly in the interrogator.Some suspected this at once.On reading Nat s confession, Bostonemancipationist William Lloyd Garrison called dryly on southern legisla-tures to offer a large reward for the arrest of Gray and his printers. Thepamphlet, he prophesied, would serve to rouse up other leaders andcause other insurrections, by creating among the blacks admiration forthe character of Nat and appreciation for his cause. 94Gray s motives in offering the world a valiant martyr, rather than aderanged murderer, are worthy of inquiry.For this purpose, it is impor-tant to consider Gray s relationship with his own father.The elder Gray swill, dated 6 September 1831, left his son, lately admitted to the South-ampton bar, nothing of his large estate.Rather, it directed that, shouldthe son try in any way to interfere with its provisions, it is my desire thatthe portion.bequeathed to my Grand Daughter Ellen Douglas Gray Covenant in Jerusalem 75[Thomas R. s daughter] may be equally divided between my son Edwinand my Daughter Ann Gray. 95 This willingness to cut off his grandchildto spite her father betrays a profound rift between Thomas Gray and hisson.The elder Gray s animus may have been cause or result of his son sprecipitate fall from respectability.In 1829 Thomas R., who lived on asubstantial farm ten miles north of Jerusalem, owned 21 slaves and 800acres of land; in 1830, 16 slaves; and in 1832, one slave and 400 acres.After selling a house and lot in Jerusalem in 1833, he had neither landnor slaves and was taxed only for a horse.96The circumstances suggest the existence of a common filial pathologyof rebellion by son against father and, by extension, against the manaclesof authority at large.In addition, the son had lately lost his wife, Mary,possibly in childbirth, leaving him with a daughter he could not support.The county court in 1832 placed her in the custody of Gray s wealthierand more responsible colleague, William C.Parker.97But this was not all.By 1831 Gray had resigned the respected office ofjustice of the peace, though remaining a commissioner of Indian landsand overseer of the poor, minor county offices awarded before his collapsein 1830 and 1831.At the September trials, which provided a chance forat least short-term financial recovery, he represented just five slave rebels,earning 50 dollars, less expenses, from the heaviest county court docketon record.Not long afterward, Gray moved to Portsmouth, where he practicedlaw.It does not appear that he ever sought or received a share of hisdaughter s legacy.In accounting for Gray s attitude toward Nat, one can-not rule out a sense of indebtedness, conscious or not, toward Nat forridding him of a despised father who had, in his view, effected his downfallby denying him his inheritance, and hence his position in society, at acritical moment in his career.98The younger Gray was left with no gods and no pretensions.A scofferat religion, he had what his parson, eulogizing him in 1845, graciouslycalled an independence and fearlessness of mind. He disdained alikeconcealment and restraint what he tho t on any subject, as of any indi-vidual, that he said in or out of his presence. This trait was borne eveninto church, Gray having invaded it with unhallowed lips evidentlymeaning that he debated doctrine openly with the pulpit.Both Nat andGray, then, were acknowledged rebels, one against slavery and white so-ciety, the other against his God, his father, and his community.99 Two suchmen, unconsciously or consciously recognizing their mutual mind-set,might find themselves bonded, even in the dismal shadows of a jail cell.This portrait of Gray is that of a deeply conflicted man, one whose onlyknown published work, The Confessions, may be read as a rebuke to theShepherd for leading His lambs astray.It was Nat s good fortune that heencountered in Southampton s jail a white man who may have identified 76 stories of the rebellionwith his sense of oppression [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Its power and apparent candor evoke a fascination that hasbrought William Styron a Pulitzer Prize and has generated a catalogue ofplays, poetry, documentaries, novels, and historical studies.It remains thesingle most reliable source of information relating to the revolt.But it is 74 stories of the rebellionthe complex motives and attitudes of both Nat and Gray that are, orshould be, at issue.Gray s pamphlet reveals much about both himself andhis subject.Those who would know Nat must also know his amanuensis.Gray opens with a preamble expressive of his contempt for the captive, a gloomy fanatic with a dark, bewildered, and overwrought mind seek-ing to grapple with things beyond its reach. Nat was bewildered andconfounded by portents that appeared to him, and surrendered igno-miniously without a struggle.91 This was the Nat of popular whiteperception.Gray s postscript, however, offers this astonishing and eloquently un-grammatical passage: The calm, deliberate composure with which hespoke of his late deeds, the expression of his fiend-like face when excitedby enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of blood and helpless innocenceabout him; clothed with rags and covered with chains, with a spirit soaringabove the attributes of man: I looked upon him and my blood curdled inmy veins. 92The ignorant and depraved Nat of the preamble is reborn in the post-script as one who, for natural intelligence and quickness of apprehen-sion, is surpassed by few men I have ever seen and possessed of a mindcapable of attaining any thing. In response to reports that Nat s motivewas money, Gray responds that he was never known to have a dollar inhis life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. The cowardly Nat ofthe preamble disappears and the rebel is extolled as admirable for thedecision of his character, a view that comports with Nat s conduct at thegallows.93The postscript thus transforms the lurid early depiction of Nat into thatof a nuanced and impassioned man, his cause a holy crusade.Clearly,Gray s preamble was composed before the interviews, the rest after somehours in Nat s presence.As a result, Nat may have died recognizing thathe had won in a jail cell the victory that eluded him on the battlefield.Gray appears, in fact, to have fallen under Nat s spell; something in theslave s testimony must have resonated strongly in the interrogator.Some suspected this at once.On reading Nat s confession, Bostonemancipationist William Lloyd Garrison called dryly on southern legisla-tures to offer a large reward for the arrest of Gray and his printers. Thepamphlet, he prophesied, would serve to rouse up other leaders andcause other insurrections, by creating among the blacks admiration forthe character of Nat and appreciation for his cause. 94Gray s motives in offering the world a valiant martyr, rather than aderanged murderer, are worthy of inquiry.For this purpose, it is impor-tant to consider Gray s relationship with his own father.The elder Gray swill, dated 6 September 1831, left his son, lately admitted to the South-ampton bar, nothing of his large estate.Rather, it directed that, shouldthe son try in any way to interfere with its provisions, it is my desire thatthe portion.bequeathed to my Grand Daughter Ellen Douglas Gray Covenant in Jerusalem 75[Thomas R. s daughter] may be equally divided between my son Edwinand my Daughter Ann Gray. 95 This willingness to cut off his grandchildto spite her father betrays a profound rift between Thomas Gray and hisson.The elder Gray s animus may have been cause or result of his son sprecipitate fall from respectability.In 1829 Thomas R., who lived on asubstantial farm ten miles north of Jerusalem, owned 21 slaves and 800acres of land; in 1830, 16 slaves; and in 1832, one slave and 400 acres.After selling a house and lot in Jerusalem in 1833, he had neither landnor slaves and was taxed only for a horse.96The circumstances suggest the existence of a common filial pathologyof rebellion by son against father and, by extension, against the manaclesof authority at large.In addition, the son had lately lost his wife, Mary,possibly in childbirth, leaving him with a daughter he could not support.The county court in 1832 placed her in the custody of Gray s wealthierand more responsible colleague, William C.Parker.97But this was not all.By 1831 Gray had resigned the respected office ofjustice of the peace, though remaining a commissioner of Indian landsand overseer of the poor, minor county offices awarded before his collapsein 1830 and 1831.At the September trials, which provided a chance forat least short-term financial recovery, he represented just five slave rebels,earning 50 dollars, less expenses, from the heaviest county court docketon record.Not long afterward, Gray moved to Portsmouth, where he practicedlaw.It does not appear that he ever sought or received a share of hisdaughter s legacy.In accounting for Gray s attitude toward Nat, one can-not rule out a sense of indebtedness, conscious or not, toward Nat forridding him of a despised father who had, in his view, effected his downfallby denying him his inheritance, and hence his position in society, at acritical moment in his career.98The younger Gray was left with no gods and no pretensions.A scofferat religion, he had what his parson, eulogizing him in 1845, graciouslycalled an independence and fearlessness of mind. He disdained alikeconcealment and restraint what he tho t on any subject, as of any indi-vidual, that he said in or out of his presence. This trait was borne eveninto church, Gray having invaded it with unhallowed lips evidentlymeaning that he debated doctrine openly with the pulpit.Both Nat andGray, then, were acknowledged rebels, one against slavery and white so-ciety, the other against his God, his father, and his community.99 Two suchmen, unconsciously or consciously recognizing their mutual mind-set,might find themselves bonded, even in the dismal shadows of a jail cell.This portrait of Gray is that of a deeply conflicted man, one whose onlyknown published work, The Confessions, may be read as a rebuke to theShepherd for leading His lambs astray.It was Nat s good fortune that heencountered in Southampton s jail a white man who may have identified 76 stories of the rebellionwith his sense of oppression [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]