Our World, Or, the Slaveholder's Daughter

F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams

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• Publié par: chion
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 48
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg Etext of Our World, or, The
Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams
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Title: Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
Author: F. Colburn Adams
Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4677]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
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[This file was first posted on February 26, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
The Project Gutenberg Etext of Our World, or, The
Slaveholders Daughter
by F. Colburn Adams
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OUR WORLD:
OR, The Slaveholder's Daughter.
"An honest tale speeds best being plainly told."
NEW YORK AND AUBURN:
1855.
PREFACE.IN presenting this work to the public, we are fully
conscious of the grave charges of misrepresenting
society, and misconstruing facts, which will be
made by our friends of the South, and its very
peculiar institution; but earnestly do we enjoin all
such champions of "things as they are," to read
and well digest what is here set before them,
believing that they will find the TRUTH even
"stranger than fiction." And, as an incentive to the
noble exertions of those, either North or South,
who would rid our country of its "darkest, foulest
blot," we would say, that our attempt has been to
give a true picture of Southern society in its various
aspects, and that, in our judgment, the institution
of Slavery is directly chargeable with the various
moral, social and political evils detailed in OUR
WORLD.
THE AUTHOR.CONTENTS.
I. Marston's Plantation,
II. How a Night was spent on Marston's Plantation
III. Things not so bright as they seem
IV. An Unexpected Confession
V. The Marooning Party
VI. Another Scene in Southern Life
VII. "Buckra-Man very Uncertain,"
VIII. A Cloud of Misfortune hangs over the
Plantation
IX. Who is Safe against the Power?
X. Another Shade of the Picture,
XI. Mrs. Rosebrook's Project,
XII. Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy Changes his
Business,
XIII. A Father tries to be a Father,
XIV. In which Extremes are Presented,
XV. A Scene of Many Lights,
XVI. Another Phase of the Picture,
XVII. Pleasant Dealings with Human Property,
XVIII. A not uncommon Scene slightly changed,
XIX. They are going to be Sold,
XX. Let us follow poor Human Nature to the Man
Shambles,
XXI. A Father's Trials,
XXII. We Change with Fortune,
XXIII. The Vicissitudes of a Preacher,
XXIV. How we Manufacture Political Faith,
XXV. Mr. M'Fadden sees Shadows of the Future,XXV. Mr. M'Fadden sees Shadows of the Future,
XXVI. How they stole the Preacher,
XXVII. Competition in Human Things,
XXVIII. The Pretty Children are to be Sold,
XXIX. Nature Shames Itself,
XXX. The Vision of Death is Past,
XXXI. A Friend is Woman,
XXXII. Marston in Prison,
XXXIII. Venders of Human Property are not
Responsible for its
Mental Caprices,
XXXIV. A Common Incident shortly told,
XXXV. The Children are Improving,
XXXVI. Workings of the Slave System,
XXXVII. An Item in the Common Calendar,
XXXVIII. In which Regrets are shown of little
Worth,
XXXIX. How we should all be Forgiving,
XL. Containing Various Matters,
XLI. Nicholas's Simple Story,
XLII. He would Deliver her from Bondage,
XLIII. Other Phases of the Subject,
XLIV. How Daddy Bob Departed,
XLV. How Slaveholders Fear each other,
XLVI. Southern Administration of Justice,
XLVII. Prosperity the Result of Justice,
XLVIII. In which the Fate of Franconia is seen,
XLIX. In which is a Sad Recognition,
L. In which a Dangerous Principle is Illustrated,
LI. A Continuation of the Last Chapter,
LII. In which are Pleasures and Disappointments,
LIII. A Familiar Scene, in which Pringle Blowers has
Business,
LIV. In which are Discoveries and Pleasant
Scenes,LV. In which is a Happy Meeting, some Curious
Facts Developed,
and Clotild History Disclosed,
LVI. In which a Plot is Disclosed, and the Man-
Seller made to
Pay the Penalty of his Crimes,
OUR WORLD.
CHAPTER I
MARSTON'S PLANTATION.
ON the left bank of the Ashly River, in the State of
South Carolina, and a few miles from its principal
city, is a plantation once the property of Hugh
Marston. It was near this spot, the brave
Huguenots, fleeing religious and political
persecution, founded their first American colony-invoked Heaven to guard their liberties-sought a
refuge in a new world! And it was here the pious
Huguenot forgot his appeals to high heaven-forgot
what had driven him from his fatherland, and-unlike
the pilgrim fathers who planted their standard on
"New England's happy shore,"-became the first to
oppress. It was here, against a fierce tyranny, the
gallant Yamassee,
A tribe of faithful and heroic Indians. loyal to his
professed friend, struggled and died for his liberty.
It was here the last remnant of his tribe fought the
fierce battle of right over might! It was here, in this
domain, destined to be the great and powerful of
nations-the asylum of an old world's shelter
seeking poor, and the proud embodiment of a
people's sovereignty,-liberty was first betrayed! It
was here men deceived themselves, and freedom
proclaimers became freedom destroyers. And, too,
it was here Spanish cupidity, murderous in its
search for gold, turned a deaf ear to humanity's
cries, slaughtered the friendly Indian, and drenched
the soil with his innocent blood. And it is here, at
this moment, slavery-fierce monster, threatening
the peace of a happy people-runs riot in all its
savage vicissitudes, denying man his commonest
birthright.
If history did but record the barbarous scenes yet
enacted on the banks of this lovely stream, the
contrast with its calm surface sweeping gently
onward to mingle its waters with the great deep,
would be strange indeed. How mellowed by the
calm beauty of a summer evening, the one!-howstained with scenes of misery, torment, and death,
the other!
Let us beg the reader to follow us back to the time
when Marston is found in possession of the
plantation, and view it as it is when his friends
gather round him to enjoy his bounteous
hospitality.
We have ascended the Ashly on a bright spring
morning, and are at a jut covered with dark jungle,
where the river, about twenty rods wide, sweeps
slowly round ;-flowering brakes, waving their tops
to and fro in the breeze, bedeck the river banks,
and far in the distance, on the left, opens the broad
area of the plantation. As we near it, a beautifully
undulating slope presents itself, bounded on its
upper edge by a long line of sombre-looking pines.
Again we emerge beneath clustering foliage
overhanging the river; and from out this-sovereign
of a southern clime-the wild azalia and fair
magnolia diffuse their fragrance to perfume the air.
From the pine ridge the slope recedes till it reaches
a line of jungle, or hedge, that separates it from the
marshy bottom, extending to the river, against
which it is protected by a dyke. Most of the slope is
under a high state of cultivation, and on its upper
edge is a newly cleared patch of ground, which
negroes are preparing for the cotton-seed.
Smoking piles burn here and there, burned stumps
and trees point their black peaks upward in the
murky atmosphere, half-clad