Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1838-09-28

pint" In short, it always required six
pennyworth of lollipops and buI!seyes, a
lick OF honey, dip of trcacle, and pick
at grocer's hogshead, to sweetcn a visit
to Aunt Morbids.
TO to the truth, her own temper soured
little lnder the prohibition. She could
not persuade the Sugar-eaters that they
were V,mpyres ;-instead of practising or
even adnrlng her scf-dehial, they laughed
at it; AID one wicked wag even compared
her, in enson to her ncerbity and her mi,
walton, o crab without The nippers. She
perseveled, Notwithstanding, in her system;
and to he consistency Of martyr. added
| something Of tho wlfnness of a bipot -
indeed, it was limited by patrons and pat.
ronesses OF white charities, that European
| objects had not their fair share in her
5enevolence. She was pre-em,nen,lv The
friend of the blacks. Howbeit, for all her
sacrifices, not lash was averted from their
sable backs She had raised discon,cn, in
the kitchen. she had disguised her acquain.
lance, sickened her friends, and given her
own dear little nephews the stomach ache,
without saving Quashy from one cut of the
drivers whip, or dlverting single kick
from the shins Of Sambo. Her grocer
complained loudly of being called dealer
IN human gore, yet not one hogshead the
less was imported from the Plantations.
by an error common to all her class, she
ms,ook q negative for positive principle
and persuaded herself that by not preser-
wing darsons, she preserved the N iggcrs;
that by not sweetening her own cup, she
was dulclfying the lot of all her sable
brethren in bondage. She persevered ac-
cordlng'y, in setting her face against sugar
instead Of slavery; against the plant in.
stead OF the planter; and had actually
abstalned for six months from the forbid.
den article, when circumstance occurred
That reused her sympathes into more active
exertlous. 1t pleased an American lady to
import with her black female servant,
whom she rather abruptly dismissed, on
her arrival in England. The case was
considered by the Hampshire Telegraph
OF that day. as one of great hardship: the
paragraph went the round of the papers-
and in due time attracted the notice of Miss
Morbid. 1t wa, precisely addressed to her
senslbl'ltles, and there was a "Try War.
rem" tone about it that proved irresistible.
She read and wrote.--and in the course
OF one little week, her domestic establish
ment was maliciously, but truly described,
as consisting of 1.-TWO white Slaves and
black Companion"
The adopted protegec was, in reality. q
strapplng clumsy Negress, as ugly as sin.
and with ne other merit than that of being
OF the samt color as the crow. She was
ar,fnl. sulIen, gluttonous, and above all so
lntolerably incident, that if she had been
literally "carved in ebony" as old Fuller
says, she could scarcely have been of less
service to her prolectress. Her notion of
Free Labor seemed to translate it into laz.
ness, and taking liberties; and, as she
seriously added to the work of her fellow.
servants, without at all contributing TO
their comfort, they soon looked upon her
as complete nuisance. The housemald
dubbed her "a Divil."-the cook roundly
compared her to "mlschivus beast, as runs
out on herd o. black cattle ;"-and both
concurred in the policy Of laying all house.
hold sins upon the sooly shouders-ju Just as
sIatterns select color that hides the dirt.
1t is certain that shortly after the install
ment of the negress in the family moral
disease broke out with cons lderabIe VIC.
lence. and justly or not, the odIum was
attributed TO the new conner. Its name
was theft. First, there was n shilling
short in some loose change-next, missing
half crown from the mantle pece-rhen
there was stir with tea .spoon-nnon, o
piece of work about a thmble. Things
went, nobody knew how-the Owl" of
course excepted, The Cook couM, the
Housemaid acouid. and Diana Should and
uught to take an oath decIaratorv of limo.
cence, before the mayor; bur as Diana did
not volunteer an affidavit like the others,
there was no doubt of her guilt in the
kitchen.
Miss Morbid, however, came to very
different conclusion. She thought that
whites who could eat sugar, were capable
of any atrocily, and had not forgotten the
stand which had been made by the "pale
faces" in favor Of the obnoxious article.
The cook especially incurred suspicion
for she had been notorious aforetime for a
lavish hand in sweetening, and was accord
lngy quite equal to the double turpi,ude of
stealing and bearing false witness. In fact
the mistress had arrived at the determine,
ton of giving both her white hussies their
months warning, when Unexpectedly the
thief was taken, as the lawyers say, sin
the manner" and with the goods upon the
person. In word, the ungrateinl black |
was detected in the very act Of levying
what might be called her "Black Mail"
The horror of Emilia, on discovering
that the Moor had murdered her mistress
was scarcely greater than that of Miss
Morbid! She hardly, she said, believed
her own senses. You might have knocked
her down with feather! She did not
know whether she stood on her head or
heels. She was rooted TO the spot and
her hair, if it had been her own, would
have stood upright upon her head! There
was no doubt in the case. She saw the