Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-12-15
Mistellaneons.
From Rev. J. W. Loguen's Narrative of his Life
A First Lesson in Slavery.

A First Lesson in Slavery.
At a small distance from the Logues, OF
the opposite side of the Creek, lived a saw
age man by the name of Belts. He was
the proprietor of large plantation and {
number of slaves. He was also an habit
ual drunkard. and proverbial of his pas
sions and malice and cruelty; and for such
excesses, was despised, even by the slave
holders of the neighborhood.
On beautiful springs morning, (and
none more beautiful ever infolded the rays
of divine goodness, than those which pour
their blessings upon the monster growths
of nature and man in the valley of Man.
GOES Creek)-Jarm having neared the age
of ten years, was leisurely sauntering amid
the green grass and blossoming fields, and
regaling his senses with the music of birds
and insects, and the outspreading beauties
and harmonies of nature, which ever enter
a receptive spirit, and with ga still small
voiee," " announced the presence of an unseen
God-then, when all was quiet within, and
all beauty and bliss and harmony without
there arose from the opposite bank howl
of agony which thrilled his soul, and forced
him, as it were, from heaven to earth again.
Screecbes, and screams, and cries for COM
passion, followed the sounds of the unfeel-
ing instrument as it fell from the hand ol
the murdered Belts, upon his unhappy
slave. The charms of nature in moment
vanished, and the voice of God was drown.
ed BY the cries of misery.
Jarm's compassionate soul comprehend
ed the thing at once, and instead of fleeing
with terror, as small boys of that age would
covered by the brush which formed deep
fringe on the bank of the Greek, he sped
swift and noiselessy as possible, and shell
tered by the outer verge Of il, had a clear
view of the internal act on the opposite
bank, which so rudely and suddenly chang
ed a celestial picture into an image of hell.
The distance from bank to bank across
the river at this place, was about four rods.
The say was unusually clear, and Jarm had
distinct view of the whole transaction
after he arrived. The suffer was young
mau about twenty years of age, by The
name of ''Sam"-a good-feeling, kind d-heart-
ed fellow, who Jarm well knew, and who,
a few weeks before, saved him (Jarm) from
drowning in the creek when it was swelled
BY the rain.
This poor fellow was stripped quite ma
ked, hooped, aud lashed by cords to bar
rel on the steep bank of the stream. His
head almost, if not quite, touched the
ground on one side, and his feet ON the 9th
er-the fleshy part of bis body being ex-
posed abo5e, covered with gore, while the
blood dropped upon the barrel or ran down
his back and legs to the ground.
Whether the barrel was filed in whole
or in part with liquor, Jarm of course
could not know. The flesh of the poor
wretch was quivering in the sun, and pant
ing for pity with depth of feeling which
would move any heart.
Beside. the barrel stood man without a
heart-a stout, square built, burly-headed
fellow, of about forty years Of age, whose
face resenbled an intoxicated fury. He
had on neither hat, coat or vest and his
shirt, open at the collar, fallen loosely away
showed broad, sun and whisky-burnt chest
which seemed fortress of strength. His
sleeves were rolled up like a butcher, and
his right hand clenched an instrument o.
torture, known nowhere under the sun but
in the slave States, called a paddle, which
be fiercely fourished over the heads and
faces of some half dozen negroes who stood
trembling by.
Such is poor description of the mur
derer Belts, and the wretched objects
around him, when Jarm took his position
in the bushes. The villain, as he bran
dished the bloody paddle, filed the air with
his curses, and threatened the slaves will
the same and even worse vengeance thar
be was inficting on the fainting Sam.
The instrument called "a paddle" wa
the only article of southern manufactur'
that Jarm knew of-and its existenc'
might have remained secret to the rest o
the world, had not he, and Others like
him, escaped to declare'and describe it. i
is firm board, shaped like huge Yankee
pudding stick filed with small auger holes
and is considered the most savage ant
blood-iet.ing instrument employed to tor
ture the slave. Every blow the sharp woot
on the circumference of the holes cut into
the flesh, and the pain and the blood fol
low, in proportion to the number of such
holes and the force of the blows.
The monster having finished his speech L
the negroes, turned to glut his vengeanc,
on poor Sam, with rage and energy tina
seemed provoked by his cries, and the sigh
Of his own barbarity. As be grasped tn
paddle and swung it from his shoulder t
increase the force of his blow Sam beg
ged with all the strength Of nature. Th