[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Epps' oldest son is an intelli-gent lad of ten or twelve years of age.It is pitiable, sometimes,to see him chastising, for instance, the venerable Uncle Abram.He will call the old man to account, and if in his childish judge-ment it is necessary, sentence him to a certain number oflashes, which he proceeds to inflict with much gravity and de-liberation.Mounted on his pony, he often rides into the fieldwith his whip, playing the overseer, greatly to his father's de-light.Without discrimination, at such times, he applies the raw-hide, urging the slaves forward with shouts, and occasional157 expressions of profanity, while the old man laughs, and com-mends him as a thorough-going boy."The child is father to the man," and with such training,whatever may be his natural disposition, it cannot well be oth-erwise than that, on arriving at maturity, the sufferings andmiseries of the slave will be looked upon with entire indiffer-ence.The influence of the iniquitous system necessarily fostersan unfeeling and cruel spirit, even in the bosoms of those who,among, their equals, are regarded as humane and generous.Young Master Epps possessed some noble qualities, yet noprocess of reasoning could lead him to comprehend, that in theeye of the Almighty there is no distinction of color.He lookedupon the black man simply as an animal, differing in no respectfrom any other animal, save in the gift of speech and the pos-session of somewhat higher instincts, and, therefore, the morevaluable.To work like his father's mules to be whipped andkicked and scourged through life to address the white manwith hat in hand, and eyes bent servilely on the earth, in hismind, was the natural and proper destiny of the slave.Broughtup with such ideas in the notion that we stand without thepale of humanity no wonder the oppressors of my people area pitiless and unrelenting race.158 Chapter 19IN the month of June, 1852, in pursuance of a previous con-tract, Mr.Avery, a carpenter of Bayou Rouge, commenced theerection of a house for Master Epps.It has previously beenstated that there are no cellars on Bayou Boeuf; on the otherhand, such is the low and swampy nature of the ground, thegreat houses are usually built upon spiles.Another peculiarityis, the rooms are not plastered, but the ceiling and sides arecovered with matched cypress boards, painted such color asmost pleases the owner's taste.Generally the plank and boardsare sawed by slaves with whip-saws, there being no water-power upon which mills might be built within many miles.When the planter erects for himself a dwelling, therefore, thereis plenty of extra work for his slaves.Having had some experi-ence under Tibeats as a carpenter, I was taken from the fieldaltogether, on the arrival of Avery and his hands.Among them was one to whom I owe an immeasurable debtof gratitude.Only for him, in all probability I should haveended my days in slavery.He was my deliverer a man whosetrue heart overflowed with noble and generous emotions.Tothe last moment of my existence I shall remember him withfeelings of thankfulness.His name was Bass, and at that timehe resided in Marksville.It will be difficult to convey a correctimpression of his appearance or character.He was a largeman, between forty and fifty years old, of light complexion andlight hair.He was very cool and self-possessed, fond of argu-ment, but always speaking with extreme deliberation.He wasthat kind of person whose peculiarity of manner was such thatnothing he uttered ever gave offence.What would be intoler-able, coming from the lips of another, could be said by himwith impunity.There was not a man on Red River, perhaps,that agreed with him on the subject of politics or religion, andnot a man, I venture to say, who discussed either of those159 subjects half as much.It seemed to be taken for granted thathe would espouse the unpopular side of every local question,and it always created amusement rather than displeasureamong his auditors, to listen to the ingenious and original man-ner in which he maintained the controversy.He was a bachel-or an "old bachelor," according to the true acceptation of theterm having no kindred living, as he knew of, in the world.Neither had he any permanent abiding place wandering fromone State to another, as his fancy dictated.He had lived inMarksville three or four years, and in the prosecution of hisbusiness as a carpenter; and in consequence, likewise, of hispeculiarities, was quite extensively known throughout the par-ish of Avoyelles.He was liberal to a fault; and his many acts ofkindness and transparent goodness of heart rendered him pop-ular in the community, the sentiment of which he unceasinglycombated.He was a native of Canada, from whence he had wandered inearly life, and after visiting all the principal localities in thenorthern and western States, in the course of his peregrina-tions, arrived in the unhealthy region of the Red River.His lastremoval was from Illinois.Whither he has now gone, I regret tobe obliged to say, is unknown to me.He gathered up his effectsand departed quietly from Marksville the day before I did, thesuspicions of his instrumentality in procuring my liberationrendering such a step necessary.For the commission of a justand righteous act he would undoubtedly have suffered death,had he remained within reach of the slavewhipping tribe onBayou Boeuf.One day, while working on the new house, Bass and Epps be-came engaged in a controversy, to which, as will be readilysupposed, I listened with absorbing interest.They were dis-cussing the subject of Slavery."I tell you what it is Epps," said Bass, "it's all wrong allwrong, sir there's no justice nor righteousness in it.I wouldn'town a slave if I was rich as Croesus, which I am not, as is per-fectly well understood, more particularly among my credit-ors.There's another humbug the credit system humbug, sir;no credit no debt.Credit leads a man into temptation.Cashdown is the only thing that will deliver him from evil
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
