The Ohio star. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1830-1854, 1853-04-20

~ o"oHoh SAiotioh VI ob1 11o otoou ob tiiO
door of his old hut. Did ke think of that last time
he stood there in the howiing of the fierce tenn
pest tame to the tumult that ragged in his breast,
and said " If am taken one door of escape is left
Il can die 7" Perhaps so-for he put up his
hand as if seeking for the knife in his bosom but
it was only for an Instant No emotion, no trace
of feeling on his face, more than on the cold rock
that lay before the door of his hut ! What had
come over him?
The new overseer spoke to him kindly, but he
only stared in the mans face and made no reply.
Even Mr.. Herbert, with his own hands, brought
him suit of decent clothing: no acknowledge
ment, or the slightest manifestation of gratitude
Constance came, and Angelique, with tears in
their eyes, to thank him for the restored darling,
but he sat mute and motionless as statue. Only
he avoided little Jamie, whose presence seemed to
pain him. What change had passed over that
stern man!
All, Ned was broken in, at last Yes, the
deed that whipping and branding, and chains, and
solitary confinement, and starvation could not ac-
complsh, scas done The eagle spirit was tanned,
yea, quenched utterly, at last, but the noble intel
lect was crushed, the great heart broken and
thou, oh Slavery! had'st sprinkled upon thine
altar the blood of one more vic;lm
And yet. Ned was not at idiot. He worked al
most we'll ever, and retained as if by instinct,
nearly the same sagacify in all that pertained to
labor; though he never now appeared interested
in what passed in the field, and never gave an
opinion unasked or in any but the fewest possible
words. And so he lived. for more than twelve
.tl, L.
went regularly to his toll in the morning and re-
turned at nighNto his cabin, and ate, and slept; !;
if this was life. Aod MIR. Herbert congratulated
himself that Wild Ned was tame and contented
as spaniel. And we'll he might; for in keeping
the slaves brutalzed to the level of the unquestion
ing cattle lies the only hope-the forlorn hope, of
the slave system. But oh, ye fathers who
rather than behold sons of yours in the thralI of
such living death, would gladly lay them down, in
the prime of their beauty and manlness. cold and
shrouded in the grave, and with your own hands
press down the green turf above them; when
God maketh requisition for souls, who shall an
swer to him for the blotting out of that kingly
mind, the destroying Of that mighty heart.
One more paragraph closes the history of Ned.
A little more than year after his return, he was
employed with a number of hands, in clearing and
repairing an out-building. sometimes used for
storing cotton. 1t was matter requiring great
expedition, and the slaves were kept at work till
late at night, and the evening being chill they had
kindleG fire for their comfort. After it was sup
posed that all had retired to rest this building was
discovered to be on fire. The overseer was soon
on the spot, and the hands rallied to put out the
flames, but high wind frustrated all their efforts.
and they were soon discontinued. Suddenly, as
the flames burst through the floor of the loft, a
man was perceived lying as if asleep, upon one of
the boxes A broad door was near him, and a
dozen voices at once called upon him to throw
himself from it, and be saved. He paid no atten-
ton their shouts nor to the roaring of the hun
cry element, threatening soon to cut off the only
hope of escape. There be lay whether tainted
| from fright, or suffocated by the smoke, no one
could tell; but when the walls and roof had fallen
and Mr.. Herbert. causing all his slaves to be
moned, discovered but one missing, he knew that
the few charred remains among those shoulder
ing ashes, were all that remained of Wild Ned
the Desperate.