In the year 1821, died, in the city of New York, an aged woman of
color, named Zilpah Montjoy; whose pious circumspect life rendered her
an object of peculiar interest to many of her acquaintances; to some of
these, whose friendly notice she had experienced, she more than once
related the following circumstance:--
Being a slave, inured to hard labor, she was brought up in such extreme
ignorance as to have no idea that she was an accountable being--that
there was a future state--not even that death was universal, until the
sixteenth year of her age, when a girl of her own color dying in the
neighborhood, she was permitted to attend the funeral.
The minister's text was, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days
and full of trouble: he cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he
fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not!" by which and subsequent
remarks, she understood that all were to die; that there was a state of
existence after death, a preparation for which was necessary while here.
She was much affected, and returned home in great agitation. Revolving
these things in her mind for several days, she at length asked her
mistress whether she had understood right, that all must die. The reply
was, "Go to your work." She continued thus exercised for a considerable
time, earnestly desiring to know what she had to do, but had no one to
give her instruction.
In this tried state, the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself, and
impress on her untaught mind a belief in an omnipotent and omniscient
Being, and that His law was written on the heart. Thus, gradually
becoming calm and settled, her confidence was made strong in Him, who,
hiding His counsels from the wise and prudent in their own eyes, "hath
revealed them unto babes." And it is believed she was from that time
guarded and careful in her conduct.
She married, and had two daughters, one of whom was taken at an early
age, and placed at so great a distance from her that she never saw her
after. The other died when about grown, and being also bereaved of her
husband, she was very lonely. But under these trials she appears to
have been sustained, as was David when he could say, "Thy rod and thy
staff they comfort me."
She was a member of the Methodist Church, and a diligent attender
of their meetings as long as her strength permitted. When she was
(as near as can be ascertained) about sixty-eight years old, the
Clarkson Association for teaching colored women to read and write was
established.
And when she received the information, she offered herself as a
scholar, but the teachers endeavored to dissuade her, telling her she
was too old to begin, as she did not know a letter, and her sight was
so impaired as to require two pairs of spectacles; she however urged
admittance, stating that her only motive was a desire to be able to
read the Bible, and she believed "the Lord would help her," adding, "We
are never too old to do good."
And being admitted, she was very diligent in her attendance, and by
great perseverance became able to read a little in the New Testament;
and one with large print being given her, she prized it very highly,
and would frequently open it and read one of the chapters contained in
Christ's sermon on the mount, calling it "the blessed chapter."
But notwithstanding her great desire to learn, she did not allow her
studies to interfere with her religious engagements; and the time
for meeting with her class being fixed on one of the afternoons that
the school was taught, it was inconvenient to her; but as the school
commenced at three o'clock, and the meeting at four, the hour between
she generally spent at the school, staying as long as it would do,
and then going as quickly as she could, to be punctual to the time.
Sometimes she has been seen running, when she heard the clock strike
and found herself a little too late.
She was industrious and frugal, but liberated late in life, she barely
procured a subsistence; and for the last two or three years, being
nearly past labor, she was dependent on the benevolence of others: but
at no time, however destitute and tried, did she lose her confidence in
the power of Him "who provideth for the raven his food," often saying
at such seasons, "The Lord has been my helper, and I trust in Him."
And when any favor was conferred on her, she feelingly expressed her
gratitude, yet mostly with reference to the Great Supreme, for giving
her friends so kind.
At a certain time, a friend, being unusually thoughtful about her,
went to see how she was situated, taking with her a loaf of bread. She
found her unable to go out, and without provision; and querying with
her, "Zilpah, art thou here alone?" she replied, "No, I am never alone;
my Master is with me. When I awake in the night season he talks with
me. He has promised to take care of me, and He has done it; He has now
sent me that loaf of bread." At another time, she said to a person who
visited her, "How good the Lord is; I have always something to eat, for
if I take my last morsel, some one comes and brings me more before I
want again."
Her understanding failed, so that for several weeks before her death
she knew very little; but her conversation was innocent, sometimes
saying, "If it is the Lord's will to take me, I am willing to go, but I
must wait His time." And He was pleased to release her, after a short
confinement, without any apparent disease but the decline of nature,
about the seventy-ninth year of her age.