Selections: Slaveholding Cruelty

The following exlract i's taken frnm tlie 'Narrativo of tlie Sutierings of Lewia Clarke, during a Cnptivity of more thr.n Twenly-Five Years among tho Algorines of Kendicky.' - It is only a single specimen of the cruellius of the slave system. - Libera tor. During the ten ycars thot I lived wilh Mrs. B.nton, I do not ihink ihere were ts many (hys, when she was t home, tl;at I, or some otlier slavc, did not receivesome kind of bealing or abuse at her hands. It seemed as though she could not liva nor sleep, unless sotne poor back was smarting, some head benling witii pain, or some eye filled vith lears, around her, When about nino years o!d, I wis sent in ihe evening to catcii and kili a turkey. They were 6tcuieiy sleeping in a tree - their accustomcd reeting place for ihe night. I approcched as cautiouply as possiblr, solecled ihe victim I xvnsdirected to catch, but just as I grasped him in my hand, tny foot slbped. and lie mode his escape from the tree ond fled I eyond my reaci). I returned witli a heavy hemt to my mistress, with the story of my misfortune. She determined at once tliat J should have a winpping of the worst kind, and she was bent upon adding n 11 ihe uggravations possible. Mnster had gone to bed drunk, and was now as fitst afileep ns drunkards ever are. Al nny rate he was filling the house with the noise óf his noring nnd with the perfume of his brearh. I was ordered to go oud cali him - wnke him up - and ask him to he kind enougli to pie me fif'ty good smart ltishes. To be uhippcd is bad enough - to ask for it is worse - lo aek a drunken man to wliip you is Uo bad. I v uld oooner have gone to a ne&t of raülenakes, t!;an lo the bd of this drunkard. But go 1 muet. Soflly I crept along, and gently shnking his arm, said with a trembliug voice. 'Master, Mnster, Mistress wants yoi; to wake up.' This did not go lo the -extern of lier command, and in n great fury shecnlled out - 'What, you wont ask him to whipyou, will you? I llien added. .'Mistress wants you to giveme fifty lasheí.' A bear ut the smell of a lamb, wfijp never roused quicker. kYet, ypp, thall will; I'll give you sucli a whipping as you never will want ogain.' And eurc enou:h so he did. - lío prang from ihe bed, seize_d me by llie hair, lasiied :ne wiih a handful of switches, threvv me by my whole length upon ilie floor, kicked nnd cufled riie worse thnn he von!d a dfg, and tneh threw mr, wiih uil his strength, ou'l of the door, more deacl thnn alive. Tiiere f lay for a long time, sacrcoJy iible, and not daring to move, till I could heac no sound of the ftiiies wiilnn, ond i fien crept to my couch, longing fur dea'.li '.o put an endto my misery. ! l had no friend in the world to whom I could j ui ter one word ofcompla:!]!, or lo whoi ] could look ibr pioteciion. 'ftlr. fianlon owned a bl.ickrn:th sh p in whieh lic f pent simis of his time, tbough he was Dot a very efficiënt hand at the forge. - t)no day Alistress told me to go over to iho shopj Biid let Moster gne :ne a íloging. I knew the mode of punishing there too wèli. I won ld ratíiur die than go. The poor fellow wlio worked in ihe shop, a very skillful woi liman, iieglecied one day to pay over a half dol lur tliat hc received of a cuetomcr for a job of work. This was quite nn nnpardoiViblc oiFencc. No right is more strictly n:arut;iined by slaveholders, than the right they have to every cent of the slavc's woges. The eluve kept fifty contn of lus owit wages in his pocket one night. This came to the knowledge of his Master. lic callcd for the money, und it wns not spent - it was handed to him; but theie os the horrid intcnlion oí kceping it. Theenraged Master put a handful nfnnilrüds into the fire, and whrn they were red hol look ihem out, and coulcd one after nnolhrr of thfm iri tlie blood and fleèh of the poor slave's back. I knew this ras iho shop mode of punishment; I would not go, and Mr. Banton came home, and his nruiable lady told him the story of my refusal. He broke forlh in : great rage, and gave me a most unir.erciful boating, addmy ihat if I had come, he wonld have burncd the hot uail-rods into my back. Mrs. Banton, as is commou among slaveholding wonien, seemed to bate and abuse mu all the rnore, because I had some of the blood of her futher in my veins. There are no tlaves thnt are so badly ab'jsod, as thoae that are refated to 6ome oftho wonien - or the children of their owo husband; it seems a ihough they never could hato theso quite bad euough. My sisters were as white and good looking as nny of the young lidies in Ken iucky. It happened once of a linie, that a young man called i.t the house of Mr. Campbell, to see a sister of Mrs. Bunion., Sioing one of my sisters in the house and prctiy weil dretsed, with a strong family look, he thought it aas Miss Cumpbtll, and wiih that aupposition adtliesbed soine conversaiio lo her which he had intended i"or the private ear of Miss C. The mistake waa noised abroad and occasion some amusement to young pcople. Mrs. Cantón heard, it made her tauldron of wrath sizzling hot - every thing mal diverted and nmused other people beoincd to enrage her. There are hot springs in Kentucky; elio was just lila1 one of them, only chuck full ofpoiton. She must wreak her vengeancc for this- "- - '■■■■ ■. ■lili I ■! !■ ■ - ■- C- - C.Titf ■ - mm íoctiit mistake ot" tlie yoong mau, upon me. She would lix me so tlmt nobody shouM ever thiok I was white." Accordingty, in q buni ng Dot diiy, she made me take off evcry rag of clolhts, go out mto the garden and piek lerbsfor hours - in order to burn me black. - VVIien I wert out, pIjo threw co!d water on me sotliai Ine sun might take efl'ect on nie: vhen I came in, t-ho gave me a severo bentng m iny blistcreJ back. Af:er I had livcd wilh Mr. B. three or four cnrf, I wns put to spinning hemp, fiix nnd ow, on an old (a6hioned fuotwhcel. 'l'liero veré fonr or five s8vea nt ibis business n good part of thetifne. We kopt at our woik ironi nylight to darle in the summer, froin long be fore dny to 9 or 10 c'clock in the evening in vinter. Mrs. B. for the most part was near r kept coatinunlly pnsaing in and out toste bat ench of 'is perfortned as much work as he ihouglit wo ought to do. B'ing joung nd sick at heart all Uie timr, it wasvery hard vork to 'o tliroiijrh Ihe day aiid cvening, and not suffer exceedingly for want of more leep. Very often too, I wns compelled to work bevond the ordmary liour to finish the ppoinled insk of the day. Sometimes I found t impossible not to #et asleep at the heel. Uu these occasions Mrs. B. haó her pecutar conlrivances for kcep.ng tis awako. She would sometimes mi by the hour witli a dipper of vinegar nnd shIc, and throw . in my eyes o keep them oprn. My hair was pulled til! here was no loi:ger ony pain from that "■onree. Jlnd I can now suffer mysclj to he littd hy the huir oj my head, u-ithovl experiencing the least pain. Slie very ofien kept me from water to sntis'y my thirst, and in one instnnce kopt me fur two enlire days witiiout a partiële of rood. But all my severe lubor, bitter and cruel punishments for thebe ten years of captivity. with this worse than Arab family, alltheke were nothing to the eufierings experienced by being sepnrated from my rr.other, brullicr and i-isters. The same things, with them near to sympothize with me, to hear my story of sorrow, would have been cotnpamiively tolerable.Tiiey were distartt only about thirty milos, vet in ten long-, lonely years of childhood, l was only permilted to sec them but three 'ime. My mother ocensionally fonnd nn opporuinity to fronil me scuio token or' remembrance nnd affection, n stiar plum, or nn npple, but I scarcely ever ate them - ttiey wure laid np and handled and wept over till they wasted awny in my hand. My thoufflits contimmlly by day and my drcams by niht were of mother and home, and the liorror e.xperienced in the morning, when Í awoke and bëfield'it wnsa drcam, is boyond the power of langune to dopcribe.