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Show 222 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. It had never occnrrctl to 1\Irs. Flint that slaYcs could have any feclino·s. 'Vhcn n1y granchnothcr \Ya, consulted, she at once aid she ·wanted Nan 'Y to lie wilh all Lhc rc t of her fa1nily, and wh rc her own ol<l body would to buried. ~Irs. :Flint gracion,·ly con1plied. with her \Vi ·h, though she said it \Vas painful to her to l1avo Nancy buried a\vay fron1 her. She 1night haYc achlcd with touching pathos, "I \vas so long usecl to sleep wiLlt her lying ncar u1c, on the entry floor." ~fy unelc Phillip askcu pcnuission to bury hi sbtcr at hi· O\\rn expense ; and 'lavcholucr arc always ready to grant such fasors to slaYcs and. their rclatiYcs. Tho arrange1ncnt · were very plain, but perfectly respectable. he \Ya. buried on the Sabbath, and ~Irs. Plint's n1inister rca<l the funeral service. There was a largo concourse of colored people, bond and free, ancl a few white per. on. ·who had always been friendly to our fan1ily. Dr. Flint's carriage \Yns in the proces~ion; and when the body \\'US dcpof'itcd in it lnuul>h~ resting place, the 1ni..:trc s dropped a tear, ancl r turned to her carriage, probably thinking ·he hall perfonucd. her duty no1Jly. It \VUS talked of by the sla vcs as a 1nigh ty grand funeral. Northern travellers, pa. ·, ing through the place, might have described thi trilJnte of re.-pcct to tho htunblc dead us a beautiful fcn.lnrc in the " patriarchal institution ; " a touching proof of the attacln11ent bct\\reen -laveholdcrs and their servants · and tender- ' heartell1frs. Flint \vonlll have confirn1ed this inlprcs-sion, with handkerchief at her eye . We coul<l ha-re iold thc1u a diffe rent story. We couhl have giY n them a chapter of \vrongs and sufferings, that woulu lw.re ( Aunt Nancy. 223 touche<l their hearts, if they ltarl any hearts to fe 1 for the colore<l people. \V c could haYc Lold then1 how tho poor old ·lave-n1othcr had toiled, year after year to earn eight hnn<IrcJ dollars to Luy her sou Phillj p, · ri;)'ht to his O\VH earning' ; and how that a1ne Phillip p~iu the ex pen cs of the funeral, \vhich they regarucd a~ doing so 1nuch credit to the 1nastcr. \V c could a1 ·o have told then1 of a poor, blighted young creature, hut up in a living grave for years, to avoid the tortures that would be inflicted on her, if ·he Yentured to con1e out and look on the face of her dcparteu friend. . All this, and 1nuch n1orc, I thought of, a· I sat at 111y loophole, \vaiting for the farnily to return frorn the graYe ; sorneti1nes "\Yccping, so1netirnes falling a.loop, drearning strange dreams of the dead and the living. It \vas sad to witness the grief of 1ny bereaved grandmother. he had ahvays been. trong to bear, and now, as ever, religious faith supported her. Rut her dark life had bcco1ne still darker, and age and t rouble were leaving deep traces on her withered face. She had four places to knock for me to co1ne to the tra1~-:..loor, and each place had a different n1eaning. She now ca1ne oftener than she had done, and talked to n1e of her dead clanghter, while tears trickled slowly down her furro\vcd checks. I said all I could to con1fort her ; but it wa. a sad reflection, that instead of being aulc to help her, I was a constant source of anxiety anu troulJle. The poor old back was fitted to its 1Jurclen. It bent under it, but did not break. |