35/43 One of these was known as Caesar, the author of a collection of poems, which, when published in that State, attained a popularity equal to that of Bloomfield's.[1] Those who had the pleasure of reading the poems stated that they were characterized by "simplicity, purity, and natural grace."[2] The other noted Negro of North Carolina was mentioned in 1799 by Buchan in his _Domestic Medicine_ as the discoverer of a remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake. Buchan learned from Dr.Brooks that, in view of the benefits resulting from the discovery of this slave, the General Assembly of North Carolina purchased his freedom and settled upon him a hundred pounds per annum.[3] [Footnote 1: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 21.] [Footnote 3: Smyth, _A Tour in the U.S._, p. 109; and Baldwin, _Observations_, p. |