The Republican journal., 1875-11-11
John RandoIph's Remedy for Laziness

1t IS well known that Nr. Randolph
owned more than 300 slaves, and was eX-
ceedingly lenient toward them he would
not allow his oyerseers to treat them with
amy degree Of harshness; they Were eye
servants, and would only work when
closely watched, or when Mr.. Randolph
was ut home, from their love for him and
fear OF his anger.
Once when the public dut es kept him
from home most OF the time for several
years, his negroes became idle and worth
less, and not halt crops We're raised, and
carts and wagons, and all the farming
utensils were lett in the fields, and with
out shelter went to ruin the fences were
down and dilapidated, and the cattle and
stock of every kind We're much crippled
up by the negroes in their efforts to chase
them out Of the fields More than halt of
the negroes were 'playing possum," " that
is, pretending to be Sick, in order to avoid
work
While things We're in this condition,
Nh Randolph came home from Washing
ton to spend the Christmas holidays. Look
ing over his plantation accounts with his
oyerseer, ne discovered that his plantation
was not only not selt-sustaining. but actu-
ally bringing him in debt After a tho
rough examination of everything on the
plantation, he saw at once what was the
matter and that his rigid Instructions to
his oyerseer to be lenient to the negroes
had been the cause of the trouble, and
they would not work unless under fear of
punishment. and he determined upon II
plan for correction
The slaves in old Virginia, and all the
South, had always Il weeks holiday from
Christmas to New Year. and these days
were days Of general jubilee and .ollifca-
ton. Egg-nog was kept at the big house
or mansion for everybody and all hands :;
there was.t terrible slaughter among the
negroes pet pigs and fat poultry, and
many possm caught weeks before and
lattened in barrels, and .'coons' smoked
in the big cabin chimney, were served up
with pound-calle, puddings, chicken-pie,
''store tea and locust and persimmon
beer, at the holiday ieasts night and day
II vas then that the fiddle, the banjo, the
tamboune and the cleNis and clovtspin
kept up perpetual music for the never
ceasing dance.
Mi Randolph waited tor the termina-
ton of these Christmas holidays, and
promptly on the first day Of January he
ordered his Oyerseer to have all the farm
inc utensils brought to the barn-yard. 1T
took all day to search for them and get
them together from where they had been
left lying about III the fields, far and near
The next morning there was Il grand in
specton of the ploWs, harroWs, hoes and
rakes, and all that were broken or serious
lv injured Were thrown into pile. Mr.
Randolph then said, in his shrill voice:
set them on fire, Mr.. Chumley and
burn them up The oyersecr remon-
strated, and urged that many Of them
might be repaired
"No, sir! No, sir! want them burned
up. They would always be old, rickety
and good for nothing. | want no good
for nothing articles on this place
And burned they were. Orders We're
then given to have all the wagons, carts,
slides, Lizards, scythes, cradles, harness
and gears brought up, and after due in
fire was made Of all those rejected, and
immediate orders issued to have all the
sheep, goats and hogs gathered together
On the ensuing morning those were in
spected and many were found feeble with
age and want Of food; others were Grip
pied ana injured, and all such, in spite of
the oyerseer's pleading, were remorseless-
ly knocked on the head ard buried.
All the horses, mules and horned stock
were brought up for the fourth day. and
under Mr. Randolph's rigid inspection
many were declared worthless, and al
though Mr.. Chumley beg@ed that some
of them might be spared, as they could be
fattencd and put to good use, Mr.. Ran
doIph was unrelentmg, and all the con-
demned, including the blind, lame, SPAWN
ed, tistulated and wind-broken, We're mer-
cilessly shot and buried.
As the weather had been quite cold dur
ing these days of inspection, many of the
negroes, and especially the old, had con-
tinued TO "play possum," and had never
turned out of their cabins to aid in getting
together the live stock CT farming uten-
sils Mr. Randolph now gave orders that
all the negroes, old and young, should be
brought to the house next day for inspec-
ton and in the meantime he had a good
many plain collins of all sizes made, and
suitable graves dug near the chapel.
The news of these fearful preparations
soon penetrated every cabin in The negro
quarter, and things began to look serious
in the mind of Mr.. Cutlee Black. The
negroes knew that Mr. Randolph was
member OF Congress and Il big man In the
country; they knew he was accustomed
to have his way, and that nobody attempt
ed to interfere with him, and they fully
believed that he had full power of life and
death over them They knew he was a
good, Kind master, man, and nelghbor,
but then they said he had "such quare
ways that there was no telling what he
would do if the notion took him. They
had seen how he had burned up all the
damaged farm implements; had caused
all the injured and worthless sheep, goats,
and horses to be knocked on the head,
and how he had shot all the old broken
down stock without any pity, and now
what did he mean to do with them, and
with all these collins and graves? This
was exactly the train of reflection and
comment that Mr.. Randolph had calculat
ed upon, and, accordingly, on his arrival
on the ground. he found an anxious, terri
lied crowd of negroes, and not one miss
ing,-all were there. He entered and
took his seat beside the overseer at a
table. Juba, his servant, placed on the
table before him his dueling case, open.
containing pair OF pistols and plenty OF
ammunition
''Are they all here?" asked Mr.. Ran
dolph of the overseer.
Up spoke hundred voices: "Oh, yes,
Marst John, we's all here" Chumley was
ordered to call the list containing the
names of all those who had been old
enough to work during the rear, but had
not worked. They were placed in row,
in which stood more than half of all the
grown negroes.
The old shirks and sinners were not