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schools.  She was a faithful and assiduous student, and al-
ways had her lessons perfect.  Her mistress no longer re-
garded her as a servant, but as a companion; and some of
the best educated people of Boston took her as an associate.
She was always an important figure in the drawing-room
and at dinner parties.
    She steadily advanced in the public favor, and her
ripening womanhood fulfilled the promises of her child-
hood.  She made herself proficient in the Latin language,
and translated one of Ovid's tales.  It was published in
Boston, and met a large sale.  In the same year it was
issued in London, receiving the highest encomiums of the
British reviews.
    She published a neat volume of her poems, containing
thirty-nine pieces, in 1773, in London. It was dedicated
to the Countess of Huntingdon, and on the first pages
of the volume was a document, signed by the Governor
and Lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, her owner, and
fifteen of the most influential and literary persons of Bos-
ton. The volume had a rapid and extensive sale. Mr.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet, once told me him-
self that she sent one of her poems to General Washington,
which called forth a letter from the old soldier, speaking in
terms of highest praise.  Mr. Longfellow told me that he
looked upon her as a person of admirable culture.
    She was manumitted when twenty-one years of age,
and immediately sailed for England.  On her arrival in
London, she was received with pomp and ceremony; was
welcomed into the best English society, and was much
sought after by the savants of Europe. Her poems were
now collected and published, with a portrait and memoir of
the poetess. After spending nearly five years in England,
she returned to this country, and married Dr. Peters, of
Philadelphia, a colored gentleman of reputation and culture.




			

OHS Archives/Library Pamphlet Collection

Centennial: The American Negro from 1776-1876; Oration Delivered at Avondale, Ohio, 1876

W.