Prayer Meeting in Uncle Tom's Cabin Image

Prayer Meeting in Uncle Tom's Cabin FREE Image: March 20, 1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.

The room was soon filled with a motley assemblage, from the old grayheaded patriarch of eighty, to the young'girl and lad of fifteen. A little harmless gossip ensued on various themes, such as where old Aunt Sally got her new red headkerchief, and how "missis was a going to give Lizzy that spotted muslin gown, when she'd got her new berage made up;" and how Mas'r Shelby was thinking of buying a new sorrel colt, that was going to prove an addition to the glories of the place. A few of the worshippers belonged to families hard by, who had got permission to attend, and who brought in various choice scraps of information, about the sayings and doings at the house and on the place, which circulated as freely as the same sort of small change docs in higher circles.

After awhile the singing commenced, to the evident delight of all present. Not even all the disadvantage of nasal intonation could prevent the effect of the naturally fine voices, in airs at once wild and spirited. The words were sometimes the well-known and common hymns sung in the churches about, and sometimes of a wilder, more indefinite character, picked up at camp-meetings.

The chorus of one of them, which ran as follows, was sung with great energy and unction:—

"Die on the field of battle,
Die on the field of battle,
G lory hi my tool."

Another special favourite had oft repeated the words—

"Oh, I'm going to glory — won't you come along with me?
Don't you we the angels beck'ning, and a calling me away f
Don't you see the golden city and the everlasting day f

There were others, which made incessant mention of" Jordan's banks," and " Canaan's fields," and the "New Jerusalem;" for the negro mind, impassioned and imaginative, always attaches itself to hymns and expressions of a vivid and pictorial nature; and, as they sung, some laughed, and some cried, and some clapped hands, or shook hands rejoicingly with each other, as if they had fairly gained the other side of the river.

Various exhortations, or relations of experience, followed, and intermingled with the singing. One old grey-headed woman, long past work, but much revered as a sort of chronicle of the past, rose, and leaning on her staff, said: 4

'"Well, children! Well, I'm mighty glad to hear ye all and see ye all once more, 'cause I don't know when I'll be gone to glory; but I've done got ready, children ; 'pears like I'd got my little bundle all tied up, and my bonnet on, jest a waitin' for the stage to come along and take me.

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, in this case 1852, are now in the public domain.

This image is also in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case Charles Howland Hammatt Billings (1818–1874), and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from the last day of that year. +sookie tex

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Uncle Tom's cabin. Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe. Contributor: Harriet Beecher Stowe. Edition: braille, unabridged. Publisher: Dent, 1852. Original from the University of California. Digitized: Oct 17, 2008. Length: 442 pages. Subjects: Social Science › Slavery, Abolitionists, African Americans, African Americans--Fiction, Afro-Americans.