Page:Copley 1844 A History of Slavery and its Abolition 2nd Ed.djvu/181

Rh asked who had punished him so dreadfully, he replied, his master had done it, and then, as he could not work, had turned him out to starve or beg.

A slave, under hard usage, had run away; to prevent a repetition of the offence, his owner sent for his surgeon and directed him to cut off the man's leg. The surgeon refused. The owner then broke the man's leg, and said to the surgeon, "Now you must cut it off, or the man will die."

A gentleman hearing the most piercing shrieks proceeding from an out-house, went to see what was going on; there he perceived a young female, entirely naked, tied up to a beam by her wrists, and involuntarily writhing and swinging, while the author of her torment stood below with a lighted torch, which he applied to all the parts of her body as it approached him. What was the crime of this wretched creature he did not know, but the worst that could be conceived would not justify such treatment. The owner of a female slave beat her in the most cruel manner, only because, being desirous of selling her, he could not find a purchaser.

The manager of a plantation laid a negro on the ground, with two drivers over him, who gave him fifty lashes. It was afterwards proved that he was innocent of the crime laid to his charge, and he applied to the manager for redress; the reply was, "If you do not hold your tongue I will put you in the stocks." He, however, appealed to his owner, who answered, "I cannot help it; it is not my fault; the punishment you had was the manager's fault." Thus, disappointed of obtaining redress either from the manager or master, he next applied to the fiscal, or magistrate, appointed for the