Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-07-11
from Fred Douglass Paper
10 THE POOR FUGITIVE THE BRAND.
ED CHEEK.

W near the terminus OF the Under
ground Railroad, we are often visited bv the
weary wanderers in search of Libeity.-
Inefe are living evidences of the numberless
wrongs and the diversified horrors of American
slavery. They are stubborn facts which none can
conuOvert and they often reveal tale of suffer
ing ana woe calculated to make the hot blood rush
through the veins and the heart to palpitate with
strange and wild emotions. Now, an old man.
his lead blooming for Eternity, creeps at the noon
OF ught, to our dwelling, and with falterng voice
he ttlls his pantive story. lie had a hard mas
teri has been sold halfdozen times his wife
and chlldl en-he knows not where they are scat.
tered hither and thither through the rice swamps
and dcotoD fields Of the South; and he old ard in
! hrml resolved, that God helping him. his bones
should mingle with the free soil Of Canada. Poor
old man stranger, foreigner, an outlaw, in
J thy native land! Thy blood and thy tears have
mingled with its soil but alas upon no foot OF
land in all our wide domain, canst thy grew hairs
lind shelter from the storm. HE the to that home
that is out OF the save.hunter's reach, and thou
shalt find rest for thy SOUP.
But another knocks loudly at the door, man of
stalwart form. His elastic STEP bis dark brow
wrinkled and knit together, by hardship and by
hate ais keen black eye, flashing out the burning
aspirations that glow within him. the defiant glare
OF his animated visage; all, all, speak forth the
character of the MAN.
IL am, says he, las near as can guess, about
twenty-five years old | lived in Virgipia NV
Il
wife on the next plantation, and was told by the
overseer, should not visit her | replied / icould
do so, if it cost my life The oyerseer suore at
me, but it was of 10 use. he knew he could not
whip me single handed. but he threatened to do it
IN tie mOrRing'. | went to see nv wife, bid her
good bye, and told her could stand it no longer
and as did not want to kill any body had better
leave, She cried, ami she begged, but was fixed
have been some weeks comngl will not be taken
alive; am sorry for one thing, and that is that
had to leave wife behind"
lie now the loyal subject of the Queen, and
like many others around him an enemy of this great
hesSsl'c and one 70 be depended on in the day of
! battle. s ' ''---s' 's-s's-''A- -,-ia
But occasionally hunted woman comes along.
4 On last Saturday afternoon, woman was seen
slowly vending her way through the outskirts of
our city. She was quite lame and carried on her
back dirty bundle. She ventured to call at a
house on the roadside to beg for something to eat
as she had tasted nothing for twelve hours She
was ivited to walk In, but 20 no !' she said "sbe
could not think of it, for she must be Off"
But you need not be afraid, you are a slave I
know it, and we'll take yon in, ard give YOU some.
thing to eat, and you can rest on your journey u
said the kind.hearted hostess.
20 never mind, is this the road to Canada?
it is, want to get there before | give out l can
stay with you indeed l can't"
But you must stay; you can't walk to Canada
You need not be afraid, There is Society of La
dies in the city who will give you assistance
Come in, one VIII hurt you"
After earnest solicitation, she yielded. Hel
feet were one perfect blister for she had been walk
ing for fire ceeks, with but little rest We oalled
upon her in due time and she is now in that land,
where the STAKEHOLDER SUCH cannot enter
In conversation With her, we learned that she
was 40 years old, the mother of five children,
all of whom are now in slavery. She belonged to
presbyterian in Maryland name SrEPHEN Henry
WoODFORK, who owns fifty of the human family
They treated on his plantation, by his son and
the overseer, worse than brutes. This poor wo-
mans back and shoulders had been literally hank
ed to pieces. Three months ago, her cheek was
branded by burning irons, in the hand of her
young master. She presented pitiful picture in
deed. She knew nothing of God or of the Bible
though the minister was in the habit of calling at
the house of her master every week "Aunt Nell
ly knowed something about EN-" she said, "but
don't, and all wantS to knoo is 10 get TO Canada"
O the height, the depth, the length and breadth
of this stupendous iniquity AMERICAN SLAVERY !!
Think dear reader, of this hunted ,Ooman, the
property of Presby yteran, her flesh fayed by the
twisted lash her cheek burned by branding irons
ignorant of the God who made her, and of His re-
vealed will to man only SO far as she reads it in
the volume of her SOUL and in the face of ma
ture, everywhere singing the song of freedom =
Think o? her inconsolable agony;thnk of her child
rem We can say nought OF her husband, as she
never permitted to have one. The children she
was compelled to have, as they were a marketable
commodity; and in case church was to be built
or the missionary salary obtained, why it is quite
convenient to snatch Henry Jane from the moth
er's side, and sell him or her by the pound for
these religious purposes.
But we grow sick of the contemplation of these
horrible realities. Our heart is too full of grief
70 write more, our hand trembles, and our pen re-
fuses longor to perform its wonted duty. May God
help the poor slave And let all the people say
AMEN.