OCR Text |
Show Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. . d .cc t' 011 for a 111an ·who had rcsolYcd to rcqtute aucc 1 . . 1 £ l tl Il1 the cour ·e of Lt 1110 a r1c 1 uncle marry or wca 1. . of hers d1. 0d • IIe left sj.x.. thousand dollar. to lu. · tw.o sons b y a co1 o 1 · cd won1ca. n ' and tho rc1nauHlcr of lns ropcrty to this orphan n ieee. Tho Inct~l soon at~ Ptr act c d tl "gllCt The la]v an(1 her \\re tghty purse 10 mu. · J • b l . 8 110 offcrccl to 1nanunut her slnsc ·-tell~ eca1nc ns. ino· thmn that her lnarriagc lnight In~ kc nncx~>cct ed l c 1oa ngcs · their de tiny anc1 she \Vlshcd to llt.·ure 111 ' • tl 1cn· · 1u tppu· l 0·~ · They rcfu eel to ta. ke then~ . frccclom, saying that she had alway· been thea· best ~n nd., and tl1 cy could not be so happy any ·where as ''1th .h er. .I was not surprised. I had often soon them 111 tlwn· con1for tablo hon1c, and thought that tho ·whole town did not contain a happier ffuni.ly. ~'hoy hac1ncYcr felt slaYery ; antl, when it was too late, they \YOre cou-vincccl of its reality. \Vhcn tho now n1astor · claitncd this fan1ily as hi property, the father bccatnc fnriou.·, and :vent to his mistress for protection. " I can do notlnng for you now, IIarry," said she. " I no longer haYc the power I had a week ago. I haYc succccucd jn obtaining the freedo1n of your wife ; but I cannot obtain it for yonr children.' ' The unhappy father S\Yore that nobody should take his chiluren fro1n hin1. lie concealed thcn1 in the woods for so1nc days ; but they "~ere dis~ covered and taken. The father \Yas put in jail, and the two oldc_,t boys sold to Georgia. One little girl, too young to be of service to her 1na~te r, \va.· left "\Yith the wretchcu n1othcr. Tho other throe \VOrv carriru to their 1na tor's plantation. The chlest soon l>ccamo a mother ; and, when tho slavoholucr s wife lookcu at ' f Sketches of Neighboring Slaveholders. 79 the babe, she ·wept l>ittcrly. She knew that h r own hu band had violated the purity f;h had so ·arcfnlly inculcated. Rho had a sccon d child Ly her n1:.L:ter, and then he sold her and hi off~pring to his broth 'r. She bore two children to tho brother, and \vas ~old again. 'rlle next si,tor \Vent crazy. Tho life ·he was co1npcll eel to load droYc her 1nac1. ':rho th ircl one bccan1e tho 1nother of fi ve daughter . Before tho birth of the fourth tho pion n1i ·tre s died. To tho last, he rcnclcrcd eYcry kinclno ·s to the lave · that her unfortunate circun1 tanco ponnitted. She pa.·. eel away peacefully, glad to clo c her eyes on a life \vhich had been 1nado o \Vrctchod by the 1nan he loved. This n1an squandered tho fortune he had received and sought to retrieve hi · affairs by a ocond 1uarriarro '· b ' but, haYing retired after a night of drunken debauch, he was found dead in tho 1norning. lie ·was called a good 1nastcr; for he feel and clothe<l hi ,'laYe. better than 1110 t 1nastors, and tho la h \Vas not heard on his plantation so frequently as on 1nany other·. IIacl it not been for slavery, he woulu have been a bctte1· n1an and his wife a happier won1an. ' No pen can give an adequate description of the allpervading corruption produced by slavery. 'rllc slasc girl is roared in an atn1ospbcrc of licentionsncs · and fear. The lash and tho foul talk of her 1nastcr and his son arc her teachers. When she is fourteen or fifteen, her o·wner, or his sons, or the overseer, or perhaps all of thetn, begin to bribe her ·with presents. If these fail to aeco1npli ·h their purpo. ·e, she is " rhi ppc<l or starved into snbn1is ·ion to th ir -will. ~he 1nay have had religious principles inculcated by so1nc pious |