much time, and that he was going to give him some medicine which would cure him. The poor trembling man made no reply, when the pious Mr. Allen, for no crime except that of sickness, inflicted 200 lashes upon the quivering flesh of the invalid, and-le would have continued his "apostolic blows," if the emaciated form of the languishing man, had not sunken under their heavy weight, and Mr. Allen was obliged to desist.[1] I witnessed this transaction with my own eyes; bat what could I do, for I was a slave, and any interference on my part would only have brought the same punishment upon me, "This man was sick a month afterwards, during which time the weekly allowance: of seventy-five cents for the hands to board themselves with, was withheld from him, and his wife was obliged to support him by washing for others; and yet Northern people tell me that a slave is better off than a free man, because when he is sick his master provides for him! Master knew all the circumstances of this case, but never uttered one word of reproof to the overseer, that I could learn; at any rate, he did not interfere at all with this cruel treatment of him, as his motto was, "Mr, Allen is always right."
Mr. Allen, although a church member, was much addicted to the habit of profane swearing, a vice which church members there, indulged in as frequently as non-professors did. He used particularly to expend his swearing breath, in denunciation of the whole race
- ↑ While in Kentucky I knew of a case where preacher punished a female slave in this way, and his wife stood by, throwing cold water into the slave's face, in keep her from fainting. In endeavoring to escape afterwords, the poor creature became faint from loss of blood, and her body was found partly devoured by the buzzards.C. S.
