and nobody thinks of mentioning the matter. I believe there are
twenty negroes killed by white men, where there is one white man killed
by a black. If you believe this to be mere conjecture, I pray you
examine the Judicial Reports of the Southern States. The voice of
_humanity_, concerning this subject, is weak and stifled; and when a
master kills his own slave we are not likely to hear the tidings--but
the voice of _avarice_ is loud and strong; and it sometimes happens that
negroes, "die under a moderate punishment" administered by other hands:
then prosecutions ensue, in order to recover the price of the slave; and
in _this_ way we are enabled to form a tolerable conjecture concerning
the frequency of such crimes.

I have said that we seldom hear of the grievous wrongs which provoke
the vengeance of the slave; I will tell an anecdote, which I know to
be true, as a proof in point. Within the last two years, a gentleman
residing in Boston, was summoned to the West Indies in consequence of
troubles on his plantation. His overseer had been killed by the slaves.
This fact was soon made public; and more than one exclaimed, "what
diabolical passions these negroes have!" To which I replied, that I only
wondered they were half as good as they were. It was not long, however,
before I discovered the particulars of the case: and I took some pains
that the public should likewise be informed of them. The overseer was a
bad, licentious man. How long and how much the slaves endured under his
power I know not, but at last, he took a fancy to two of the negroes'
wives, ordered them to be brought to his house, and in spite of their
entreaties and resistance, compelled them to remain as long as he
thought proper. The husbands found their little huts deserted, and knew
very well where the blame rested. In such a case, you would have gone
to law; but the law does not recognise a negro's rights--he is the
_property_ of his master, and subject to the will of his agent. If a
slave should talk of being protected in his domestic relations, it would
cause great merriment in a slaveholding State; the proposition would be
deemed equally inconvenient and absurd. Under such circumstances, the
negro husbands took justice into their own hands. They murdered the
overseer. Four innocent slaves were taken up, and upon very slight
circumstantial evidence were condemned to be shot; but the real actors
in this scene passed unsuspected. When the unhappy men