Smith, and received
under date of March 12th, a reply, from which I copy as follows:
"The Governor has just returned, and I called upon him to get the permit
as you requested, but he said he had no authority by law to grant one;
and he told me to say to you, that you might in perfect safety come home
in a quiet manner, and remain twenty days without being interrupted. I
also consulted Mr. Manly [a lawyer] and he told me the same thing. * * *
_Surely you need not fear any thing under these circumstances. You had
therefore better come on just as soon as possible._"
* * * * *
I need not say, what the reader has already seen, that my life so far had
been one of joy succeeding sorrow, and sorrow following joy; of hope, of
despair; of bright prospects, of gloom; and of as many hues as ever appear
on the varied sky, from the black of midnight, or the deep brown of a
tempest, to the bright warm glow of a clear noon day. On the 11th of
April it was noon with me; I left Boston on my way for Raleigh with high
hopes, intending to pay over the money for my family and return with them
to Boston, which I intended should be my future home; for there I had
found friends and there I would find a grave.
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