I knew it. For I had written to my
father once to beg his leave to establish schools, where the
people on the plantation might be taught to read and write. He
had sent a very kind answer, saying it was just like his
little Daisy to wish such a thing, and that his wish was not
against it, if it could be done; but that the laws of the
State, and for wise reasons, forbade it. Greatly puzzled by
this, I one day carried my puzzle to Preston. He laughed at me
as usual, but at the same time explained that it would not be
safe; for that if the slaves were allowed books and knowledge,
they would soon not be content with their condition, and would
be banding together to make themselves free. I knew all this,
and I had been brooding over it; and now when the powerful
hand of the overseer came in to hinder the little bit of good
and comfort I was trying to give the people, my heart was set
on fire with a sense of sorrow and wrong that, as I said, no
child ought ever to know.
I think it made me ill. I could not eat.
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