The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-08-18

Next came young, sturdy, mulatto fsl
flow-s'fisalthv and sound. gentlemen, ane
title good-ws'ii warrant him ourselves
a good farm hand. See how be 10 bull.
will you there's good leg, and there,
an arm for ron. Look ai hi. hand, gentle.
men," And be had, cure enough. the horn,
hand aat the hoaest face Of ..goo1 farm
hand" There was soon a spirited eouies,
among the bidders. l saw a, once hv bi.
eye. tthe only feature that was expressive
a. the moment, 70: he assumed 70 be indif-
/ ferent.I that there was one Of the bidders
into whose hands he hoped 10 fall. This
xas clever. good hnnored looking planter.
ant the bidding goin. up By ten. and fves,
inally narrowed down between him and a
rather iil-favored professional trader. The
boys eye would twinkle With pleasure when
I the planter wonli 90 Eve dollars more on
him, and when he was called up TO him, be
stated that be was "a good boy. massa.r-
The bidding vas doubtful, and became
deeply interested, and WIS sincerely graft
lied when the auctisneer announced that be
was ..goue three times, which is the ciinch-
ing phrase. to the man he wanted fer mas
ter 20 whom he had so beseeehiugg said
be was "a good boy,' and the poor fellow
jumped do fram thu block with aIacrisy.
picked up his shoes, and made his way to
the back room 10 high spirits. | could go
on with report of the sale, but de not wish
10 give too much space 10 u description Of
the slave market, though | am aware it
would interest Il large class of your readers
more than anything else. There were half
Il dozen other sales gong on at the same
time, and the auctioneers all telling the best
stories they could OF their wares. | will
take leave Of the suhjec by observing that
al the negroes exposed for sale were dressed
not only with deeeney. bat IN many cases
with decided nicely. noticed particularly,
one company Of little negro children, who
reminded me Of the country Sabbath
Schools. ihe little boys wore red vests
with 2 as buttons, and had on q an white
shirts with black ribbons for crasats, jockey
jackets, high-be-led shoes and striped socks.
The little girls were more fantastic
than SUNDAY School c;:!s in tho rural dis
lric,s. One, not ten years old, bad on
low necked dress and hoopcd skirt. and her
white stockings were tight and tidy about
the ancle, while her shoes were Of patent
leather.
Thi. negro selling business is, as gentle
men here who talked with me on the sub
l@tt abi4. biS VI Nic Must GBE4cdHdnt--iL
most unp easant feature of the peculiar in
sIltution.' But gentleman remarked
that it was '.lneYtabIe''-apd that the
chances were that negro who was sold
would gsta better master than he parted
wifh-for the better class Of masters were
no, in the habit Of selling. Still the negro
has very strong o;nl attachments, and the
Virginia negro sold South sings forever in
his heart If not with his lips. the piantive
meiody. 80 carry me back to Old Virginia"
They think being sold TO Georgia il about
equivalent to being sent straightwny to hell.
But the activity Of the slave market means,
that the farming Siave States are rapidly
in process. of becoming Free States. 1t is
the nfaIIibc index that the slave power is
giving way before free labor that freedom
Is cncroaehing surely upon sIavery-that
free labor il conquering in the irreprnsSihe
conflict. Necr es ON Delaware and Mar,
land are streaming down through Virginia
to the cotton States. The next census will
show a decided decrease in the slave popu-
iatjou Of tho border slave states all along
the line, and in few years more they will
be free stttes--no doubt about this. Ii is
a PLAIN ,ase. The negroes sold here on the
block are the involuntary emigrants to the
tropical regions of the continent-whete e
they Join the destincs of their race-which
are to be worked out, not to-day nor to-
morrow, nor in single or even several gen.
eratous us-hut through ages.