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"Black Jacob," a monument of grace the life of Jacob Hodges, an African Negro, who died in Canandaigua, N.Y., February 1842 , an annotated digital edition

Page 18

p. 18

10
JACOB HODGES.
shrunk back from the bloody deed. He
asked her, " if it would be right ?" She
replied, "Yes, for if the old man is not put
out of the way, he will ruin my husband
and brother. They are entitled to the
property which he has taken from them,
and only by his death can they get it
back." But neither hei persuasions, nor
the repeated promises of reward, fully
satisfied the mind of Jacob. He still
hesitated as to his final decision.
To overcome his remaining difficulties,
recourse was had to the use of ardent spirits,
that fearful agent, which most effectually
perverts the conscience and destroys the
soul. From Jacob's long-established ha¬
bits of intemperance, this course soon
drowned all remaining sense of moral
rectitude, and left him the complete victim
of his seducers.
The wretched woman, alternately rea¬
soning with Jacob and ministering to his
vicious appetite, prepared him to engage
in the work of death. He was furnished
by one of the men with a musket, powde?