OCR Text |
Show Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. sions he would a~. ume the air of a Yery inj nrcd indiYidual, and reproach 1ne for 1ny ingratitude. " Did I not take you into the house, ancl 1nake you the con1panion of 1ny own children?" he -would say. " Jin;ve I ever treated you like a nrgro ? I have never allowed you to be puui ·hed, not even to please your mistre s. .And this is the reco1npcnsc I get, you ungrateful girl! '' I answered tha~ he had reasons of his own for screening 1ne from punishment, and that the course he pursued 1nade my mi tress bate me and persecute Inc. If I wept, he ·would say, " Poor child ! ) Don't cry! don't cry! I will make peace for you with ~~~~:F~~ your 1nistrcss. Only let 1nc arrange 1nattcr in n1y own way. Poor, foolish girl ! you don't kno\v ·what is for your own good. I would" cheri~h you. I ·would make a lady of you. Now go, and think of all I haYo promi cd you." I did think of it. Reader, I draw no imaginary pictures of southern ho1nes. I an1 telling you the plain truth. Y ct when vicii1ns 1nakc their escape fron1 this ·wild beast of Slavery, northerners consent to act the part of bloodhounds, and hunt the poor fugitive back into his den, "full of dead 1nen's bones, and all unclean no -.'' Nay, 1nore, they arc not only \vi1lino·, but proud, to giYe their daughters in marriage to sla \~eholcl cr. . 'l:'he poor girls have ron1antic notions of a sunny clin1e, and of the flowering vines that all the year round shade a happy hotnc. 1'o what ditiappointnlcnts arc they de·tined! The young wife soon learns that the hu ·band in who e haucl · she has placed her h appiness pay · no regard Lo his n1urriuge vows. Uhil<.lren of every ~hauo The J calous Mistrcfs. 57 of cmnplcxion play ·with her own fair lm1Jics, and too well she knows that they arc born unto hin1 of his own household. Jealousy and hatred enter the flowery home, and it is ravaged of it loveliness. Southern wo1nen often 1narry a 1nan knowing that he is the father of 1nany little slave·. They do not trouble then1ficlvcs about it. 'l'hcy regard such ehilclren as property, as marketable a· the pigs on the plantation; and it is clclon1 that they do not 1nakc thmn aware of this by pa · ·ing thc1n into the slavetrader's hands a oon as pos··ible, and thus get tin a th01n out of their sight. I an1 glad to say there ar~ some honorable exceptions. I have 1ny.·clf kno\vn two southern \Vives who exhorted their h nsbancls to free tho~c ·ln. Yes towards \rhonl they stood in a " parental relation; " and their request was grantcJ. 'l:'hc~c lru:::;bands bln heel before the superior noblCllCf;.' of their \Vives' natures. rrhongh they had. only counselled thcn1 to do that ·which it \vas their duty to do, it connnandccl. their respect, and rendered their conduct n1ore excn1plary. Oonccahnent was at an end., and confidence took tho place of distnt t. Though this bacl institution deadens the n1ora1 sense ' even in \vhite \VOlncn, to a fearful extent, it is not alto-gether extinct. I have heard outhcrn la<lics ·ay of :Mr. Suc~1 a one, '' IIo not only think· it no c1i~grace to bo the father of those little ni()'(ror but he is 11ot b b ' as harned to call hi1nsclf their n1a , ter. 1 declare, such Ll.1ings ought not to be tolerated in any duceu t soewLy ! " |