Latest / Twelve Years a Slave / 14 - Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Transcript

14 - Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup · Twelve Years a Slave

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen of Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
0:04
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The first
0:08
Speaker 1: year of EPP's residence on the Bayou eighteen forty five,
0:12
Speaker 1: the caterpillars almost totally destroyed the cotton crop throughout the region.
0:17
Speaker 1: There was little to be done, so that the slaves
0:19
Speaker 1: were necessarily idle. Half the time. However, there came a
0:24
Speaker 1: rumour to Bayou Birth that wages were high and labourers
0:28
Speaker 1: in great demand on the sugar plantations in Saint Mary's Parish.
0:33
Speaker 1: This parish is situated on the coast of the Gulf
0:35
Speaker 1: of Mexico, about one hundred and forty miles from Avoyel.
0:40
Speaker 1: The Rio Tece, a considerable stream flows through Saint Mary's
0:44
Speaker 1: to the Gulf. It was determined by the planters, on
0:48
Speaker 1: the receipt of this intelligence, to make up a drove
0:51
Speaker 1: of slaves to be sent down to tuck a pow
0:54
Speaker 1: in Saint Mary's for the purpose of hiring them out
0:57
Speaker 1: in the canefields. Accordingly, in the mouth of September there
1:01
Speaker 1: were one hundred and forty seven collected at Holmesville. Abram
1:05
Speaker 1: Bob and myself among the number Of these, about one
1:09
Speaker 1: half were women. Epps, a lonesome peas. Henry Toller and
1:14
Speaker 1: Addison Roberts were the white men selected to accompany and
1:18
Speaker 1: take charge of the drove. They had a two horse
1:21
Speaker 1: carriage and two saddle horses for their use. A large
1:25
Speaker 1: wagon drawn by four horses and driven by John, a
1:29
Speaker 1: boy belonging to mister Roberts, carried the blankets and provisions
1:34
Speaker 1: about two o'clock in the afternoon. Having been fed, preparations
1:38
Speaker 1: were made to depart. The duty assigned me was to
1:42
Speaker 1: take charge of the blankets and provisions and see that
1:45
Speaker 1: none were lost by the way. The carriage proceeded in advance,
1:49
Speaker 1: the wagon following behind this, the slaves were arranged while
1:53
Speaker 1: the two horsemen brought up the rear, and in this
1:56
Speaker 1: order the procession moved out of Holmesville. That night we
2:00
Speaker 1: reached a mister m Crow's plantation, a distance of ten
2:04
Speaker 1: or fifteen miles, when we were ordered to halt. Large
2:08
Speaker 1: fires were built, and each one spreading his blanket on
2:11
Speaker 1: the ground. The white men lodged in the great hoouse.
2:15
Speaker 1: An hour before day we were aroused by the drivers
2:18
Speaker 1: coming among us, cracking their whips and ordering us to arise.
2:22
Speaker 1: Then the blankets were rolled up and being severally delivered
2:26
Speaker 1: to me and deposited in the wagon. The procession set
2:29
Speaker 1: forth again. The following night, it rained violently. We were
2:33
Speaker 1: all drenched, our clothes saturated with mud and water. Reaching
2:38
Speaker 1: an open shed formerly a gin house, we found beneath
2:42
Speaker 1: it such shelter as it afforded, there was not room
2:45
Speaker 1: for all of us to lay down there. We remained
2:49
Speaker 1: huddled together through the night, continuing our march as usual
2:53
Speaker 1: in the morning. During the journey we were fed twice
2:56
Speaker 1: a day, boiling our bacon and baking our corn cake
2:59
Speaker 1: at the fires in the same manner as in our huts.
3:03
Speaker 1: We passed through Lafayetteville, Mountsville, Newtown to Centreville, where Bob
3:08
Speaker 1: and Uncle Abram were hired. Our number decreased as we
3:12
Speaker 1: advanced nearly every sugar plantation requiring the services of one
3:17
Speaker 1: or more. On our route, we passed the Grand Koto
3:21
Speaker 1: or Prairie, a vast space of level, monotonous country without
3:26
Speaker 1: a tree except an occasional one which had been transplanted
3:29
Speaker 1: near some dilapidated building. It was once thickly populated and
3:34
Speaker 1: under cultivation, but for some cause had been abandoned. The
3:38
Speaker 1: business of the scattered inhabitants that now dwell upon it
3:42
Speaker 1: is principally raising cattle. Immense herds were feeding upon it.
3:46
Speaker 1: As we passed in the center of the Grand Kottau,
3:50
Speaker 1: one feels as if he were on the ocean, out
3:52
Speaker 1: of sight of land. As far as the eye can
3:56
Speaker 1: see in all directions, it is but a ruined and
3:59
Speaker 1: deserted way. I was hired to Judge Turner, a distinguished
4:04
Speaker 1: man and extensive planter, whose large estate is situated on
4:08
Speaker 1: Bayou Sal, within a few miles of the Gulf. Bay
4:12
Speaker 1: O Sal is a small stream flowing into the Bay
4:15
Speaker 1: of Atchafalaya. For some days I was employed at Turner's
4:19
Speaker 1: in repairing his sugar house. When a cane knife was
4:22
Speaker 1: put into my hand, and with thirty or forty others,
4:26
Speaker 1: I was sent into the field. I found no such
4:29
Speaker 1: difficulty in learning the art of cutting cane that I
4:33
Speaker 1: had in picking cotton. It came to me naturally and intuitively,
4:37
Speaker 1: and in a short time I was able to keep
4:39
Speaker 1: up with the fastest knife. Before the cutting was over, However,
4:44
Speaker 1: Judge Tanner transferred me from the field to the sugar
4:47
Speaker 1: house to act there in the capacity of driver, from
4:50
Speaker 1: the time of the commencement of sugar making to the clothes.
4:53
Speaker 1: The grinding and boiling does not cease day or night.
4:57
Speaker 1: The whip was given me with directions to use it
5:00
Speaker 1: upon anyone who was caught standing idle. If I failed
5:04
Speaker 1: to obey them to the letter, there was another one
5:06
Speaker 1: for my own back. In addition to this, my duty
5:10
Speaker 1: was to call on and off the different gangs at
5:12
Speaker 1: the proper time. I had no regular periods of rest,
5:16
Speaker 1: and could never snatch but a few moments of sleep
5:19
Speaker 1: at a time. It is the custom in Louisiana, as
5:22
Speaker 1: I presume it is in other slave states, to allow
5:26
Speaker 1: the slave to retain whatever compensation he may obtain for
5:29
Speaker 1: services performed on Sundays. In this way only are they
5:34
Speaker 1: able to provide themselves with any luxury or convenience whatever.
5:38
Speaker 1: When a slave purchased or kidnapped in the North is
5:42
Speaker 1: transported to a cabin on Bayou birth, he is furnished
5:46
Speaker 1: with neither knife nor fork, nor dish, nor cattle, nor
5:50
Speaker 1: any other thing in the shape of crockery or furniture
5:54
Speaker 1: of any nature or description. He is furnished with a
5:57
Speaker 1: blanket before he reaches there, and reapping that around him.
6:01
Speaker 1: He can either stand up or lie down upon the
6:03
Speaker 1: ground or on a board, if his master has no
6:06
Speaker 1: use for it. He is at liberty to find a
6:09
Speaker 1: gourd in which to keep his meal, or he can
6:11
Speaker 1: eat his corn from the cob. Just as he pleases.
6:14
Speaker 1: To ask the master for a knife or skillet, or
6:18
Speaker 1: any small convenience of the kind would be answered with
6:21
Speaker 1: a kick or laughed at as a joke. Whatever necessary
6:25
Speaker 1: article of this nature is found in a cabin has
6:28
Speaker 1: been purchased with Sunday money. However, injurious to the morals,
6:32
Speaker 1: it is certainly a blessing to the physical condition of
6:35
Speaker 1: the slave to be permitted to break the sabbath. Otherwise
6:39
Speaker 1: there would be no way to provide himself with any
6:42
Speaker 1: utensils which seem to be indispensable to him who is
6:46
Speaker 1: compelled to be his own cook. On cane plantations in
6:50
Speaker 1: sugar time, there is no distinction as to the days
6:53
Speaker 1: of the week. It is well understood that all hands
6:56
Speaker 1: must labour on the sabbath, and it is equally well
6:59
Speaker 1: under stood that those especially who are hired, as I
7:03
Speaker 1: was to judge Turner and others in succeeding years shall
7:07
Speaker 1: receive remuneration for it. It is usual, also in the
7:11
Speaker 1: most hurrying time of cotton picking, to require the same
7:15
Speaker 1: extra service from this source. Slaves generally are afforded an
7:19
Speaker 1: opportunity of earning sufficient to purchase a knife, a kettle, tobacco,
7:24
Speaker 1: and so forth. The females, discarding the latter luxury, are
7:29
Speaker 1: apt to expend their little revenue in the purchase of
7:32
Speaker 1: gaudy ribbons, wherewithal to deck their hair in the merry
7:36
Speaker 1: season of the holidays. I remained in Saint Mary's until
7:40
Speaker 1: the first of January, during which time my Sunday money
7:43
Speaker 1: amounted to ten dollars. I met with other good fortune,
7:47
Speaker 1: for which I was indebted to my violin, my constant companion,
7:51
Speaker 1: the source of profit, and soother of my sorrows. During
7:55
Speaker 1: years of servitude. There was a grand party of whites
7:59
Speaker 1: assembled at miss the Yarnees in Centreville, a hamlet in
8:02
Speaker 1: the vicinity of Turner's plantation. I was employed to play
8:06
Speaker 1: for them, and so well pleased were the merrymakers with
8:10
Speaker 1: my performance that a contribution was taken for my benefit,
8:13
Speaker 1: which amounted to seventeen dollars. With this sum in possession,
8:18
Speaker 1: I was looked upon by my fellows as a millionaire.
8:21
Speaker 1: It afforded me great pleasure to look at it, to
8:24
Speaker 1: count it over and over again, day after day. Visions
8:28
Speaker 1: of cabin furniture, of water, pails of pocket knives, new shoes,
8:33
Speaker 1: and coats and hats floated through my fancy, and up
8:37
Speaker 1: through all rose the triumphant contemplation that I was the
8:41
Speaker 1: wealthiest nigger unbuy u birth. Vessels run up the Rio
8:46
Speaker 1: Tech to Centreville. While there, I was bold enough one
8:49
Speaker 1: day to present myself before the captain of a steamer
8:52
Speaker 1: and beg permission to hide myself among the freight. I
8:57
Speaker 1: was emboldened to risk the hazard of such a step
8:59
Speaker 1: from overhearing a conversation in the course of which I
9:03
Speaker 1: ascertained he was a native of the North. I did
9:05
Speaker 1: not relate to him the particulars of my history, but
9:08
Speaker 1: only expressed an ardent desire to escape from slavery to
9:12
Speaker 1: a free state. He pitied me, but said it would
9:15
Speaker 1: be impossible to avoid the vigilant custom house officers in
9:19
Speaker 1: New Orleans, and that detection would subject him to punishment
9:23
Speaker 1: and his vessel to confiscation. My earnest entreaties evidently excited
9:28
Speaker 1: his sympathies, and doubtless he would have yielded to them,
9:32
Speaker 1: could he have done so with any kind of safety.
9:35
Speaker 1: I was compelled to smother the sudden flame that lighted
9:38
Speaker 1: up in my bosom with sweet hopes of liberation, and
9:41
Speaker 1: turned my steps once more towards the increasing darkness of despair.
9:46
Speaker 1: Immediately after this event, the drove assembled at Centreville, and
9:50
Speaker 1: several of the owners, having arrived and collected the moneies
9:53
Speaker 1: due for our services, we were driven back to buy
9:56
Speaker 1: U Birth. It was on our return, while passing through
10:00
Speaker 1: a small village, that I caught sight of Tibbets seated
10:04
Speaker 1: in the door of a dirty grocery, looking somewhat seedy
10:07
Speaker 1: and out of repair. Passion and poor whiskey, I doubt
10:11
Speaker 1: not have ere this laid him on the shelf. During
10:15
Speaker 1: our absence, I learned from Aunt Phoebe and Patsy that
10:19
Speaker 1: the latter had been getting deeper and deeper into trouble.
10:23
Speaker 1: The poor girl was truly an object of pity. Old Hogjaw,
10:27
Speaker 1: the name by which Epps was called, when the slaves
10:30
Speaker 1: were by themselves had beaten her more severely and frequently
10:34
Speaker 1: than ever, as surely as he came from Holmesville elated
10:39
Speaker 1: with liquor, and it was often in those days he
10:42
Speaker 1: would whip her merely to gratify the Mistress, would punish
10:45
Speaker 1: her to an extent almost beyond endurance, for an offense
10:49
Speaker 1: of which he himself was the sole and irresistible cause.
10:53
Speaker 1: In his sober moments, he could not always be prevailed
10:56
Speaker 1: upon to indulge his wife's insatiable thirst for vengeance. To
11:00
Speaker 1: be rid of Patsy, to place her beyond sight or
11:04
Speaker 1: reach by sale or death, or in any other manner.
11:08
Speaker 1: Of late years, seemed to be the ruling thought and
11:10
Speaker 1: passion of my Mistress. Patsy had been a favorite when
11:14
Speaker 1: a child, even in the Great House. She had been
11:17
Speaker 1: petted and admired for her uncommon sprightliness and pleasant disposition.
11:22
Speaker 1: She had been fed many a time, so Uncle Abram said,
11:26
Speaker 1: even on biscuit and milk, when the Madam in her
11:29
Speaker 1: younger days was wont to call her to the piazza
11:32
Speaker 1: and fondle her as she would a playful kitten. But
11:35
Speaker 1: a sad change had come over the spirit of the woman,
11:38
Speaker 1: now only black and angry fiends, ministered in the temple
11:42
Speaker 1: of her heart until she could look on Patsy, but
11:45
Speaker 1: with concentrated venom. Mistress Epps was not naturally such an
11:50
Speaker 1: evil woman. After all, she was possessed of the devil jealousy,
11:54
Speaker 1: it is true, But aside from that, there was much
11:57
Speaker 1: in her character to admire. Her father, mister Roberts, resided
12:01
Speaker 1: in Shaneyville, an influential and honorable man, and as much
12:06
Speaker 1: respected throughout the parish as any other citizen. She had
12:10
Speaker 1: been well educated at some institution this side the Mississippi,
12:14
Speaker 1: was beautiful, accomplished, and usually good humored. She was kind
12:19
Speaker 1: to all of us, but Patsy frequently in the absence
12:22
Speaker 1: of her husband, sending out to us some little dainty
12:25
Speaker 1: from her own table. In other situations, in a different
12:29
Speaker 1: society from that which exists on the shores of Bayou Birth,
12:33
Speaker 1: she would have been pronounced an elegant and fascinating woman.
12:37
Speaker 1: An ill wind it was that blew her into the
12:39
Speaker 1: arms of Epps. He respected and loved his wife as
12:43
Speaker 1: much as a coarse nature like his is capable of loving,
12:46
Speaker 1: but supreme selfishness always overmastered conjugal affection. He loved as
12:52
Speaker 1: well as baser natures can, but a mean heart and
12:55
Speaker 1: soul were in that man. He was ready to gratify
12:59
Speaker 1: any whim, to grant any request she made, provided it
13:03
Speaker 1: did not cost too much. Patsy was equal to any
13:06
Speaker 1: two of his slaves in the cotton field. He could
13:09
Speaker 1: not replace her with the same money she would bring.
13:12
Speaker 1: The idea of disposing of her therefore could not be entertained.
13:16
Speaker 1: The Mistress did not regard her at all in that light.
13:19
Speaker 1: The pride of the haughty woman was aroused. The blood
13:22
Speaker 1: of the fiery Southern boiled at the sight of Patsy,
13:25
Speaker 1: and nothing less than trampling out the life of the
13:28
Speaker 1: helpless bond woman would satisfy her. Sometimes the current of
13:33
Speaker 1: her wrath turned upon him, whom she had just cause
13:36
Speaker 1: to hate, but the storm of angry words would pass
13:39
Speaker 1: over at length, and there would be a season of
13:41
Speaker 1: calm again. At such times, Patsy trembled with fear and
13:46
Speaker 1: cried as if her heart would break, For she knew
13:49
Speaker 1: from painful experience that if Mistress should work herself to
13:53
Speaker 1: the red hot pitch of rage, Epps would quiet her
13:56
Speaker 1: at last with a promise that Patsy should be flogged,
13:59
Speaker 1: a promise he was sure to keep. Thus did pride
14:03
Speaker 1: and jealousy and vengeance war with avarice and brute passion
14:07
Speaker 1: in the mansion of my master, filling it with daily
14:10
Speaker 1: tumult and contention. Thus upon the head of Patsy, the
14:14
Speaker 1: simple minded slave in whose heart God had implanted the
14:17
Speaker 1: seeds of virtue, the force of all these domestic tempests
14:21
Speaker 1: spent itself at last, during the summer, succeeding my return
14:26
Speaker 1: from Saint Mary's Parish, I conceived a plan of providing
14:29
Speaker 1: myself with food, which, though simple, succeeded beyond expectation. It
14:35
Speaker 1: has been followed by many others in my condition, up
14:38
Speaker 1: and down the Bayou, and of such benefit as it
14:40
Speaker 1: become that I am almost persuaded to look upon myself
14:44
Speaker 1: as a benefactor. That summer the worms got into the bacon.
14:47
Speaker 1: Nothing but ravenous hunger could induce us to swallow it.
14:51
Speaker 1: The weekly allowance of meal scarcely sufficed to satisfy us.
14:55
Speaker 1: It was customary with us, as it is withal in
14:58
Speaker 1: that region where the allow allowance is exhausted before Saturday night,
15:02
Speaker 1: or is in such a state as to render it
15:04
Speaker 1: nauseous and disgusting to hunt in the swamps for coon
15:08
Speaker 1: and a possum. This, however, must be done at night,
15:12
Speaker 1: after the day's work is accomplished. There are planters whose slaves,
15:17
Speaker 1: for months at a time, have no other meat than
15:20
Speaker 1: such as obtained in this manner. No objections are made
15:23
Speaker 1: to hunting inasmuch as it dispenses with drafts upon the smokehouse,
15:28
Speaker 1: and because every marauding coon that is killed is so
15:31
Speaker 1: much saved from the standing corn. They are hunted with
15:35
Speaker 1: dogs and clubs, slaves not being allowed the use of firearms.
15:39
Speaker 1: The flesh of the coon is palatable, but verily there
15:43
Speaker 1: is nothing in all butcher dump so delicious as a
15:46
Speaker 1: roasted possum. They are around, rather long bodied little animal
15:51
Speaker 1: of a whitish colour, with nose like a pig and
15:54
Speaker 1: caudal extremity like a rat. They burrow among the roots
15:58
Speaker 1: and in the hollows of the gum tree, and are
16:00
Speaker 1: clumsy and slow of motion. They are deceitful and cunning creatures.
16:05
Speaker 1: On receiving the slightest tap of a stick, they will
16:08
Speaker 1: roll over on the ground and feign death if the
16:11
Speaker 1: hunter leaves him in pursuit of another without first taking
16:15
Speaker 1: particular pains to break his neck. The chances are on
16:18
Speaker 1: his return he is not to be found. The little
16:21
Speaker 1: animal has outwitted the enemy, has played possum, and is off.
16:26
Speaker 1: But after a long and hard day's work, the weary
16:29
Speaker 1: slave feels little like going to the swamp for his supper,
16:33
Speaker 1: and half the time prefers throwing himself on the cabin
16:36
Speaker 1: floor without it. It is for the interest of the
16:39
Speaker 1: master that the servant should not suffer in health from starvation,
16:43
Speaker 1: and it is also for his interest that he should
16:46
Speaker 1: not become gross from over feeding. In the estimation of
16:50
Speaker 1: the owner, a slave is the most serviceable when in
16:53
Speaker 1: rather a lean and lank condition, such a condition as
16:57
Speaker 1: the race horse is in when fitted for the course,
17:00
Speaker 1: And in that condition they are generally to be found
17:02
Speaker 1: on the sugar and cotton plantations along Red River. My
17:07
Speaker 1: cabin was within a few rods of the Bayou bank,
17:10
Speaker 1: and necessity being indeed the mother of invention, I resolved
17:14
Speaker 1: upon a mode of obtaining the requisite amount of food
17:17
Speaker 1: without the trouble of resorting nightly to the woods. This
17:21
Speaker 1: was to construct a fish trap, having in my mind
17:24
Speaker 1: conceived the manner in which it could be done. The
17:27
Speaker 1: next sunday I set about putting it into practical execution.
17:31
Speaker 1: It may be impossible for me to convey to the
17:33
Speaker 1: reader a full and correct idea of its construction, but
17:37
Speaker 1: the following will serve as a general description. A frame
17:41
Speaker 1: between two and three feet square is made, and of
17:44
Speaker 1: a greater or less height according to the depth of water.
17:47
Speaker 1: Boards or slats are nailed on three sides of this frame,
17:51
Speaker 1: not so closely, however, as to prevent the water circulating
17:55
Speaker 1: freely through it. A door is fitted into the fourth
17:58
Speaker 1: side in such a manner that but it will slide
18:00
Speaker 1: easily up and down in the grooves cut in the
18:03
Speaker 1: two posts. A movable bottom is then so fitted that
18:07
Speaker 1: it can be raised to the top of the frame
18:09
Speaker 1: without difficulty. In the center of the movable bottom, an
18:13
Speaker 1: auger hole is bored, and into this one end of
18:16
Speaker 1: a handle or round stick is fastened on the underside
18:20
Speaker 1: so loosely that it will turn. The handle ascends from
18:23
Speaker 1: the center of the movable bottom to the top of
18:26
Speaker 1: the frame, or as much higher as is desirable, up
18:29
Speaker 1: and down this handle. In a great many places are
18:32
Speaker 1: gimlet holes through which small sticks are inserted, extending to
18:37
Speaker 1: opposite sides of the frame. So many of these small
18:41
Speaker 1: sticks are running out from the handle in all directions
18:44
Speaker 1: that a fish of any considerable dimensions cannot pass through
18:47
Speaker 1: without hitting one of them. The frame is then placed
18:50
Speaker 1: in the water and made stationary. The trap is set
18:55
Speaker 1: by sliding or drawing up the door, and kept in
18:58
Speaker 1: that position by another, one end of which rests in
19:02
Speaker 1: a notch on the inner side, the other end in
19:04
Speaker 1: a notch made in the handle running up from the
19:07
Speaker 1: center of the movable bottom. The trap is baited by
19:11
Speaker 1: rolling a handful of wet meal and cotton together until
19:15
Speaker 1: it becomes hard, and depositing it in the back part
19:18
Speaker 1: of the frame. A fish swimming through the up raised
19:21
Speaker 1: door towards the bait necessarily strikes one of the small sticks,
19:26
Speaker 1: turning the handle, which displacing the stick supporting the door.
19:30
Speaker 1: The latter falls, securing the fish within the frame, taking
19:34
Speaker 1: hold of the top of the handle. The movable bottom
19:37
Speaker 1: is then drawn up to the surface of the water
19:40
Speaker 1: and the fish taken out. There may have been other
19:43
Speaker 1: such traps in use before mine was constructed, but if
19:47
Speaker 1: there were, I had never happened to see one. By
19:50
Speaker 1: u birth abounds in fish of large size and excellent quality,
19:54
Speaker 1: and after this time I was very rarely in want
19:57
Speaker 1: of one for myself or for my comrade. Thus a
20:01
Speaker 1: mine was opened, a new resource was developed, hitherto unthought
20:05
Speaker 1: of by the enslaved children of Africa, who toil and
20:09
Speaker 1: hunger along the shores of that sluggish but prolific stream.
20:14
Speaker 1: About the time of which I am now writing, an
20:16
Speaker 1: event occurred in our immediate neighbourhood which made a deep
20:20
Speaker 1: impression upon me, and which shows the state of society
20:23
Speaker 1: existing there and the manner in which affronts are oftentimes avenged.
20:29
Speaker 1: Directly opposite our quarters, on the other side of the
20:32
Speaker 1: Bayou was situated the plantation of mister Marshall. He belonged
20:36
Speaker 1: to a family among the most wealthy and aristocratic in
20:39
Speaker 1: the country. A gentleman from the vicinity of Natchez had
20:43
Speaker 1: been negotiating with him for the purchase of the estate.
20:47
Speaker 1: One day a messenger came in great haste to our plantation,
20:50
Speaker 1: saying that a bloody and fearful battle was going on
20:53
Speaker 1: at Marshals, that blood had been spilled, and unless the
20:57
Speaker 1: combatants were forthwith separated, the result would be disastrous. On
21:03
Speaker 1: repairing to Marshall's house, a scene presented itself that Beggar's description.
21:08
Speaker 1: On the floor of one of the rooms lay the
21:10
Speaker 1: ghastly corpse of the man from Natchez, while Marshal, enraged
21:14
Speaker 1: and covered with wounds and blood, was stalking back and
21:18
Speaker 1: forth breathing out threatenings and slaughter. A difficulty had arisen
21:23
Speaker 1: in the course of their negotiation. High words ensued when
21:27
Speaker 1: drawing their weapons, the deadly strife began that ended so
21:31
Speaker 1: unfortunately Marshall was never placed in confinement. A sort of
21:35
Speaker 1: trial or investigation was had at Marksville when he was
21:39
Speaker 1: acquitted and returned to his plantation, rather more respected, as
21:43
Speaker 1: I thought, than ever from the fact that the blood
21:46
Speaker 1: of a fellow being was on his soul. Epps interested
21:50
Speaker 1: himself in his behalf, accompanying him to Marksville and on
21:54
Speaker 1: all occasions loudly justifying him. But his services in this
21:58
Speaker 1: respect did not afterward ward to ter a kinsman of
22:01
Speaker 1: this same Marshal from seeking his life. Also, a brawl
22:05
Speaker 1: occurred between them over a gambling table, which terminated in
22:09
Speaker 1: a deadly feud. Riding up on horseback in front of
22:12
Speaker 1: the house one day, armed with pistols and bowie knife.
22:15
Speaker 1: Marshall challenged him to come forth and make a final
22:18
Speaker 1: settlement of the quarrel, or he would brand him a
22:21
Speaker 1: coward and shoot him like a dog. The first opportunity,
22:25
Speaker 1: not through cowardice, nor from any conscientious scruples, in my opinion,
22:30
Speaker 1: but through the influence of his wife, he was restrained
22:33
Speaker 1: from accepting the challenge of his enemy. A reconciliation, however,
22:38
Speaker 1: was affected afterward, since which time they have been on
22:41
Speaker 1: terms of the closest intimacy. Such occurrences which would bring
22:46
Speaker 1: upon the parties concerned in them merited and condinne punishment
22:50
Speaker 1: in the Northern States are frequent on the bayou, and
22:53
Speaker 1: pass without notice and almost without comment. Every man carries
22:58
Speaker 1: his bowie knife, and when two fall out, they set
23:01
Speaker 1: to work, hacking and thrusting at each other, more like
23:04
Speaker 1: savages than civilized and enlightened beings. The existence of slavery
23:09
Speaker 1: in its most cruel form among them has a tendency
23:12
Speaker 1: to brutalize the humane and finer feelings of their nature.
23:16
Speaker 1: Daily witnesses of human suffering, listening to the agonizing screeches
23:21
Speaker 1: of the slave beholding him writhing beneath the merciless lash,
23:25
Speaker 1: bitten and torn by dogs, dying without attention, and buried
23:30
Speaker 1: without shroud or coffin. It cannot otherwise be expected that
23:35
Speaker 1: they should become brutified and reckless of human life. It
23:39
Speaker 1: is true there are many kind hearted and good men
23:42
Speaker 1: in the parish of Avoyel, such men as William Ford,
23:45
Speaker 1: who can look with pity upon the sufferings of a slave,
23:49
Speaker 1: just as there are all over the world sensitive and
23:52
Speaker 1: sympathetic spirits who cannot look with indifference upon the sufferings
23:56
Speaker 1: of any creature which the Almighty has endowed with life.
24:00
Speaker 1: It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he
24:02
Speaker 1: is cruel, so much as it is the fault of
24:04
Speaker 1: the system under which he lives. He cannot withstand the
24:08
Speaker 1: influence of habit and associations that surround him. Taught from
24:12
Speaker 1: earliest childhood by all that he sees and hears that
24:15
Speaker 1: the rod is for the slave's back, he will not
24:18
Speaker 1: be apt to change his opinions in maturer years. There
24:22
Speaker 1: may be humane masters, as there certainly are in human ones.
24:27
Speaker 1: There may be slaves well clothed, well fed, and happy,
24:31
Speaker 1: as there surely are those half clad half starved and miserable. Nevertheless,
24:36
Speaker 1: the institution that tolerates such wrong and in humanity as
24:40
Speaker 1: I have witnessed, is a cruel, unjust, and barbarous one.
24:45
Speaker 1: Men may write fictions portraying lowly life as it is
24:49
Speaker 1: or as it is not. May expatiate with owlish gravity
24:53
Speaker 1: upon the bliss of ignorance, discourse flippantly from armchairs of
24:57
Speaker 1: the pleasures of slave life. But let them toil with
25:01
Speaker 1: him in the field, sleep with him in the cabin,
25:04
Speaker 1: feed with him on husks, let him behold him scourged, hunted,
25:09
Speaker 1: trampled on, and they will come back with another story
25:12
Speaker 1: in their mouths. Let them know the heart of the
25:14
Speaker 1: poor slave, learn his secret thoughts, thoughts he dare not
25:19
Speaker 1: utter in the hearing of the white man. Let them
25:21
Speaker 1: sit by him in the silent watches of the night,
25:24
Speaker 1: converse with him in trustful confidence of life, liberty, and
25:28
Speaker 1: the pursuit of happiness. And they will find that ninety
25:32
Speaker 1: nine out of every hundred are intelligent enough to understand
25:36
Speaker 1: their situation and to cherish in their bosoms the love
25:39
Speaker 1: of freedom as passionately as themselves. End of Chapter fourteen.