which by some singular fatality has obtained more circulation than all
the true accounts put together. I can trace it no farther back than Nat
Turner's time, when it was published in the Albany _Evening Journal_;
thence transferred to the _Liberator_ of Sept. 17, 1831, and many other
newspapers; then refuted in detail by the _Richmond Enquirer_ of Oct. 21;
then resuscitated in the John-Brown epoch by the Philadelphia _Press_,
and extensively copied. It is fresh, spirited, and full of graphic and
interesting details, nearly every one of which is altogether false.

Gabriel in this narrative becomes a rather mythical being, of vast
abilities and life-long preparations. He bought his freedom, it is
stated, at the age of twenty-one, and then travelled all over the
Southern States, enlisting confederates and forming stores of arms. At
length his plot was discovered, in consequence of three negroes having
been seen riding out of a stable-yard together; and the Governor offered
a reward of ten thousand dollars for further information, to which a
Richmond gentleman added as much more. Gabriel concealed himself on board
the "Sally Ann," a vessel just sailing for San Domingo, and was revealed
by his little nephew, whom he had sent for a jug of rum. Finally, the
narrative puts an eloquent dying speech into Gabriel's mouth, and, to
give a properly tragic consummation, causes him to be torn to death by
four wild horses. The last item is, however, omitted in the more recent
reprints of the story.

Every one of these statements appears to be absolutely erroneous. Gabriel
lived and died a slave, and was probably never out of Virginia. His plot
was voluntarily revealed by accomplices. The rewards offered for his
arrest amounted to three hundred dollars only. He concealed himself on
board the schooner "Mary," bound to Norfolk, and was discovered by the
police. He died on the gallows, with ten associates, having made no