n to the
lust of brutal men; and it shuts millions out from the knowledge of
their duty and their destiny. A good and just God could not have
designed it; and it must come to an end.'

If lightning had struck in the room I could not have been more startled
than I was by the abrupt utterance of such language in a planter's
house, in his very presence, and _by his slave_. The Colonel, however,
expressed no surprise and no disapprobation. It was evidently no new
thing to him.

'It is rare, madam,' I said, 'to hear such sentiments from a Southern
lady--one reared among slaves.'

Before she could reply, the Colonel laughingly said,--

'Bless you, Mr. K----, madam is an out-and-out abolitionist, worse by
fifty per cent. than Garrison or Wendell Phillips. If she were at the
North she would take to pantaloons, and "stump" the entire Free States;
wouldn't you, Alice?'

'I've no doubt of it,' rejoined the lady, smiling. 'But I fear I should
have poor success. I've tried for ten years to convert _you_, and Mr.
K---- can see the result.'

It had grown late; and, with my head full of working niggers and white
slave-women, I went to my apartment.

The next day was Sunday. It was near the close of December, yet the air
was as mild and the sun as warm as in our Northern October. It was
arranged at the breakfast-table that we all should attend service at
'the meeting-house,' a church of the Methodist persuasion, located some
eight miles away; but as it wanted some hours of the time for religious
exercises to commence, I strolled out after breakfast, with the Colonel,
to inspect the stables of the plantation. 'Massa Tommy' accompanied us,
without invitation; and in the Colonel's intercourse with him I observed
as much freedom and familiarity as he would have shown to an
acknowledged son. The youth's manners and conversation showed that great
attention had been given to his education and training, and made it
evident that the mother whose influence was forming his character,
whatever a false system of society had made her life, possessed some of
the best traits of her sex.

The stables, a collection of one-story framed buildings, about a hundred
rods from the house, were well lighted and ventilated, and contained all
'the modern improvements.' They were better built, warmer, more
commodious, and in every way more comfortable than the shanties occupied
by the human cattle of the plantation. I remarked as much to the
Colonel, add