lla was fit to deck
the drawing-room of the finest mansion in Virginia.

"How much, gentlemen, for this real Albino!--fit fancy-girl for any one!
She enjoys good health, and has a sweet temper. How much do you say?"

"Five hundred dollars."

"Only five hundred for such a girl as this? Gentlemen, she is worth
a deal more than that sum. You certainly do not know the value of the
article you are bidding on. Here, gentlemen, I hold in my hand a paper
certifying that she has a good moral character."

"Seven hundred."

"Ah, gentlemen, that is something life. This paper also states that she
is very intelligent."

"Eight hundred."

"She was first sprinkled, then immersed, and is now warranted to be a
devoted Christian, and perfectly trustworthy."

"Nine hundred dollars."

"Nine hundred and fifty."

"One thousand."

"Eleven hundred."

Here the bidding came to a dead stand. The auctioneer stopped, looked
around, and began in a rough manner to relate some anecdote connected
with the sale of slaves, which he said had come under his own
observation.

At this juncture the scene was indeed a most striking one. The laughing,
joking, swearing, smoking, spitting, and talking, kept up a continual
hum and confusion among the crowd, while the slave-girl stood with
tearful eyes, looking alternately at her mother and sister and toward
the young man whom she hoped would become her purchaser.

"The chastity of this girl," now continued the auctioneer, "is pure.
She has never been from under her mother's care. She is virtuous, and as
gentle as a dove."

The bids here took a fresh start, and went on until $1800 was reached.
The auctioneer once more resorted to his jokes, and concluded by
assuring the company that Isabella was not only pious, but that she
could make an excellent prayer.

"Nineteen hundred dollars."

"Two thousand."

This was the last bid, and the quadroon girl was struck off, and became
the property of Henry Linwood.

This was a Virginia slave-auction, at which the bones, sinews, blood,
and nerves of a young girl of eighteen were sold for $500; her moral
character for $200; her superior intellect for $100; the benefits
supposed to accrue from her having been sprinkled and immersed, together
with a warranty of her devoted Christianity, for $300; her ability to
make a good prayer for $200; and her chastity for $700 more. This, too,
in a city thronged with churches, whose tall spires look like so many
sign