they do prove beyond a doubt, that the sentiment prevails very extensively throughout this nation, among professors of religion, ministers of the Gospel, presidents of colleges, &c. &c., that, the act of slaveholding is, not in itself, sinful; and consequently it follows, that a great change must take place in the views of this nation before slavery will ever be abolished.

CHAPTER XI.

PRACTICAL SLAVERY.

What is slavery in practice? Many suppose that it often exists under some peculiar "circumstances" which, some how or other, "free the slaveholder from the just charge and guilt of immorality." What those "peculiar circumstances" are, however, we are not told.

We have had many fine spun theories on "slavery in the abstract;" but it matters but little to the poor slave what slavery is in the abstract, its practice, however, is every thing to him. Hence, we think it proper to give a few facts like the following, as a work of this kind might be justly considered incomplete without them. In reading the following items, let it be remembered, that they describe such cases, precisely, as are occurring in the midst of slavery, every day; slavery never did, and never will exist in any country, without perpetrating crimes like the following. We do not mean by this, that there are no enslavers who do not inflict corporeal cruelties upon the persons of their slaves, but we mean to say, that slavery cannot and never did exist without its evils, such as are here describ. ed.

The following items are selected from a most interesting work entitled, "Narrative of Charles Ball, who was forty years a slave in Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia." In reading these extracts, it should be remembered, that the story this slave tells of himself, is true to the life, and similar narratives might be given by thousands of others in this land who are now in chains, and not suffered to speak for themselves.

Separation of parents and children.

At the time I was sold I was quite naked, having never had any clothing in my life; but my new master had brought with him a child's frock, or wrapper, belonging to one of his own children—and after he purchased me, he dressed me in this garment, took me before him on his horse, and started home; but my poor mother, when she saw me leaving her for the last time, ran after me, took me down from the horse, clasped me in her arms, and wept loudly and bitterly over me. My master seemed to pity her, and endeavored to soothe her distress by telling her that he would be a good master to me, and that I should not want any thing. She then, still holding me in her arms, walked along the road beside the horse, as he moved slowly, and earnestly and imploringly besought my master to buy her and the rest of her children, and not permit them to be carried away by the negro buyers; but whilst thus entreating him to save her and her family, the slave-driver who had first bought her, came running in pursuit of her with a raw hide in his hand. When he overtook us, he told her he was her master now, and ordered her to give that little negro to its owner, and come back with him.

My mother then turned to him and cried-'Oh, master, do not take me from my child!' Without making any reply, he gave her two or three heavy blows on the shoulders with his raw hide, snatched me from her arms, handed me to my master, and seizing her by one arm, dragged her back towards the place of sale. My master then quickened the pace of his horse; and as we advanced, the cries of my poor parent became more and

more indistinct. At length, they died away in the distance, and I never again heard the voice of my poor mother. Young as I was, the horrors of that day sank deeply into my heart-and even at this time, though half a century has elapsed, the terrors of the scene return with painful vividness upon my memory. Frightened at the sight of the cruelties inflicted upon my poor mother, I forgot my own sorrows at parting from her, and clung to my new master as an angel and saviour, when compared with the hardened fiend into whose power she had fallen.-She had been a kind and good mother to me-had warmed me in her bosom in the cold nights of winter, and had often divided the scanty pittance of food allowed her by her mistress between my brothers, and sisters, and me, and gone supperless to bed herself. Whatever victuals she could obtain beyond the coarse food, salt fish, and corn bread allowed to slaves on the Patuxent and Potomac rivers, she carefully distributed among her children, and treated us with all the tenderness which her own miserable condition would permit. I have no doubt that she was chained and driven to Carolina, and toiled out the residue of a forlorn and famished existence in the rice swamps or indigo fields of the South.

My father never recovered from the effects of the shock which this sudden and overwhelming ruin of his family gave him. He had formerly been of a gay, social temper; and when he came to see us on a Saturday night, he always brought us a little present, such as the means of a poor slave would allow-apples, melons, sweet potatoes, or, if he could procure nothing else, a little parched corn, which tasted better in our cabin, because he had brought it.

Separation of Families.

My master kept a store at a small village on the bank of the Patuxent river, called B-, although he resided at some distance on a farm. One morning he rose early, and ordered me to take a yoke of oxen and go to the village, to bring home a cart which was there, saying he would follow me. He arrived at the village soon after I did, and took his breakfast with his store-keeper. He

then told me to come into the house and get my breakfast. Whilst I was eating in the kitchen, I observed him talking earnestly, but lowly, to a stranger near the kitchen door. I soon after went out, and hitched my oxen to the cart, and was about to drive off, when several men came round about me, and amongst them the stranger whom I had seen speaking with my master.-This man came up to me, and, seizing me by the collar, shook me violently, saying I was his property and must go with him to Georgia. At the sound of these words, the thoughts of my wife and children rushed across my mind-and my heart died away within me. I saw and knew that my case was hopeless, and that resistance was vain, as there were near twenty persons present, all of whom were ready to assist the man by whom I was kidnapped. I felt incapable of weeping or speaking, and in my despair I laughed loudly. My purchaser ordered me to cross my hands behind, which were quickly bound with a strong cord; and he then told me that we must set out that very day for the South. I asked if I could not be allowed to go to see my wife and children, or if this could not be permitted, if they might not have leave to come and see me-but was told that I would be able to get another wife in Georgia.

My new master, whose name I did not hear, took me that same day across the Patuxent, where I joined fiftyone other slaves, whom he had bought in Maryland. Thirty-two of these were men, and nineteen were women. The women were merely tied together with a rope about the size of a bed cord,which was tied like a halter round the neck of each; but the men, of whom I was the stoutest and strongest, were very differently caparisoned. A strong iron collar was strongly fitted by means of a padlock, round each of our necks. A chain of iron, about a hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of each padlock, except at the two ends, where the hasps of the padlocks passed through a link of the chain. In addition to this, we were handcuffed in pairs, with iron staples and bolts, with a short chain, about a foot long, uniting the handcuffs and their wearers in pairs. In this manner we were chained alternately by the right and left hand; and the poor man to whom I was thus

ironed, wept like an infant when the blacksmith, with his heavy hammer, fastened the ends of the bolts that kept the staples from slipping from our arms. For my own part, I felt indifferent to my fate. It appeared to me, that the worst had come, that could come, and that no change of fortune could harm me.

Feelings of a father.

Long after the subject of this narrative had been parted from his wife and children in Maryland, and had passed from one master to another, he was taken to a plantation in South Carolina, and directed to lodge in a cabin, which is thus described :

I followed my new friend to his cabin, which I found to be the habitation of himself, his wife, and five children. The only furniture in this cabin consisted of a few blocks of wood for seats; a short bench, made of pine boards, which served as a table; and a small bed in one corner, composed of a mat, made of common rushes, spread upon some corn husks, pulled and split into fine pieces, and kept together by a narrow slip of wood, confined to the floor by wooden pins. There was a common iron pot standing beside the chimney, and several wooden spoons and dishes hung against the wall. Several blankets also hung against the wall upon wooden pins. An old box, made of pine boards, without either lock or hinges, occupied one corner.

At the time I endered this humble abode, the mistress was not at home. She had not yet returned from the field-having been sent, as the husband informed me, with some other people, late in the evening, to do some work in a field about two miles distant. I found a child about a year old, lying on the mat bed, and a little girl about four years old sitting beside it.

These children were entirely naked, and when we came to the door, the elder rose from its place and ran to its father, and clasping him around one of his knees, said, Now we shall get good supper.' The father laid his hand upon the head of his naked child, and stood silently looking in its face-which was turned upwards to