Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-06-26
THE TENDER MERCIES OF THE
STAKEHOLDER ARE CRUEL.
No. H.,

No. III.
Tho first thing which induced mo seriously
70 examine the sin Of slavery, was the unceas-
ing effort Of the oppressor to keep his victim in
submission. Often have | asked myself the
question, what mean those hand-cu1s-those
branding irons-aye, that CORY cow-skin-
those riies-those well-fed hounds which
are ever ready and waiting their masters
CALI ] needed not the wisdom of a a
philosopher, or the holy junction. of a DR.. Of
Divinity 10 enable me to solve the question,
for the whispering Of that still, small voice
proclaimed within the secret chambers of my
soul, that slarery was Of the deri2, that it
was conceived in sin and brought forth in in
Equity. | saw that among the slaves there
were noble spirits, and that whenever such a
one struggled to be free, whenever he stroye
TO shake from his fettcred limbs. the chains
which bound them, whenever he endeavored
to stand erect in the dignity OF manhood as
his Creator, whose image and likeness he
bore intended he should stand, that no means
were left untried to break his spirit, that his
chains were made heavier and the fettors
more CALLING with which his limbs were
bound, and his manhood tramplcd still lower
beneath the iron heel Of his oppressor. | saw
that whenever some daring soul among them
had chosen liberty for his motto, the north
star for his guide, and British laws for pro-
lection, that those human hyenas, with their
guns and blood-hounds, followed in hot-haste,
yelping and bowling upon the track of the
flying fugitive like so many dcris who had
Just broken through the confines of hell
In a few hours they returned with their VIC
tim, his flesh torn and lacerated by the fangs
Of the blood-thirsty hounds, his limbs man
gled and shattered by the contents of the
slave-hunter's gun. But cruelty here ceased
not its work Of woe. The miserable victim
was then taken to the house of correction
his back literally flayed with the cow-skin-
his noble forehead scored and ~disligured with
the branding-iron, which ceased not to burn
till his masters name could be read upon the
bare skull! In this miserable condition, he
would be put into the stocks, and perhaps
there remain until manumitted by death.
Surely it is nothing wonderful, after hav-
ing brought the great command "love thy
neighbor as thyself' to bear against such
facts and considerations as these, that | should
conclude, without even the aid Of a d. D..
that slavery was the Legitimate offspring Of
the deUiI, the browning work of HE'LL!
But the band-culfs, the branding-iron, the
rifle and bloodhound, are not the only means
employed in torturing the hapless slave. In
deed, | do verify believe, that the slavehold-
ers, in many instances, eagerly vie with each
other in devising new modes of inhicting
outrage upon their unfortunate and unofIend-
ing victims and not unfrequcntly, when they
themselves lack sufficient physical strength
to put into execution their hell-wrought in
v%entions, do they compel one slave to punish
another, and that too with
"Stripes that Mercy, with a bleeding heart,
Weeps VIXEN she sees inflicted on a beast"
As an illustrator of this statement, | will
relate one incident.
One afternoon, while visiting at the house
of a friend, (if, indeed, a man-stealer and pi-
rate can be called a friend) | was the specta-
tor of a scene such as l hope never to wit
ness again. Among the numerous slaves that
stocked his plantation was a young woman,
twenty years old, who, to all human appear
ance, was destined to an early grave. The
ravages Of disease were already too plainly
visible in her countenance. The cruel treat
ment, beneath which her agonized soul sunk
in despair, was fast hurryjng her to =" that
bourne whence no traveller returns"
In the yard of the Great House stood a
large, richly ladened pear tree. Thilher
would this poor woman frequently resort to
procure some Of the fruit that had fallen from
its over laden boughs. But alas 4! this stint
ed privilege, though not small TO her, likethc
baseless fabric Of q dream, soon passed away,
For her unfeeling master strictly forbade heI
10 frequent the tree. But on the afternoon Of
which speak, when her body seemed tolter.
ing as it were upon the brink of the grave