Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-05-01
@ o m III unfrattons q.
THE TENDER MERCIES OF THE
SHAREHOLDER ARE CRUEL.
FRIEND ]. ELIZABETH JONES /:

If by complying with your request | can sub
serve the cause Of humanity, l shall feel it a
pleasure 10 do so.
But before l proceed to narrate any Of the
incidents which'c came under my observation,
it may be well to make a remark by way Of
explanation.
a friend Of mine having . desire to preach
TO the slaves of South Carolina and Georgia,
consented to let me accompany him. In this
journey we visited some hundreds Of negro
quarters; all Of which, with a very few ex-
ceptions, we found to be the abodes of want,
wretchedness and disease. Many and bitter
arc the cups which the poor slave is COM
PEELED 10 drink but none so bitter as those
presented in the hours of affection. Indeed
] have often wondered why those who have
written and spoken on the subject of negro
suffering, should so slightly pass by that &C.
casioned by sickness, when in fact, that is
the greatest trial which they have 10 endure.
When the poor slave is sick, he has no one
TO administer to his wants, no one to hand
him the nourishing cordial and fan his burn
ing brow: but he goes to his hut, lies down
upon a little bundle Of straw to weep, it may
be to die. Should he get well, no thanks to
human aid.
The incidents which shall first notice tran
spired in the State of Georgia. One evening
after my friend had closed his services, and
as we were about to retire, a little girl, appa-
rently about five years old, came up to me
and with tears rolling down her cheeks, and
a voice that betrayed the emotions of her
heart, asked me TO give her a few pennies
that she might buy some bread of her mas
ter for her sick and dying mother. l in
quirod of her where her mother was. She
then took me by the hand and told me that if
] would follow her she would show me. We
had not gone many PAGES before we entered
her hut, in one corner of which, upon a bum
die of straw, which barely covered the
ground, (for the cold earth forms the floor Of
most of the huts,) lay the poor woman. Her
care-worn brow-her sunken eyes-her fee
BILE voice and emaciated form indicated a
speedy release from a life of toll and opPres-
sion.
l asked her If she was very sick. She said
that she was, and was soon going to die. |
then inquired Of her what she had TO eat,
when she informed me that all she had had
for three days was one ear Of corn, which
her little daughter had parched ard pounded
and mixed with some cold water. No Won
der that the poor woman was sick and nigh
unto death, with nothing under heaven for
nourishment but a morsel of corn-no bed
but the damp earth-and no one to wait on
her but a little child five years old. After |
had inquired into her situation | went up TO
the Great House, and requested her master
10 let me have some food that she could eat.
At first he refused 10 give me any and re-
marked that such an act would only prolong
her miserable existence and that the yearn-
ings of his tender bowels of mercy told him
in words that could not be misunderstood, to
do nothing which would cause the minister
ing angel Of death to linger.
But not finding such arguments sufficient
ly weighty TO stop my entreaties, he ordered
one of the servant girls to get something for
her, for the purpose of gratifying that young
disciple" (for so he called me.) Having
obtained the food, ] quickly returned to the
hut; but the poor victim of tyranny was so
far gone that she had neither strength nor
appetite to eat. After doing all in my
power to render her comfortable, | retired to
my place of lod lying. In the morning, ! re-
quested my friend to accompany me 10 her
hut, that we might, if it were possible, do
something for her relief.
When we were within a few steps of
the door, the voice of that sweet child fell
upon our ears, crying, Oh my mother! Oh
my mother ~ We showed aside the board
that closed the entrance, and went into the
gloomy cell. Before US lay the poor woman
a cold and ~lifeless corpse-no one to clay
her out" or perform the duties due to the
departed. Her head rested upon the lap of
her little daughter, who had bathed her icy
cheeks with tears. My friend asked her if
her mother was dead, when she burst forth
into a fresh flood of grief, and it really SEEM
ed as if her little heart would break. He
then took her by the hand, and asked her
why she wept so much. go" said she, ga
short time ago, my brother and two little sis