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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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these two and selling everything. Either they must go, or all must. Haley has come into possession of a mortgage, which, if I don’t clear off with him directly, will take everything before it. I’ve raked, and scraped, and borrowed, and all but begged,- and the price of these two was needed to make up the balance, and I had to give them up. Haley fancied the child; he agreed to settle the matter that way, and no other. I was in his power, and had to do it. If you feel so to have them sold, would it be any better to have all sold?” Mrs. Shelby stood like one stricken. Finally, turning to her toilet, she rested her face in her hands, and gave a sort of groan. “This is God’s curse on slavery!- a bitter, bitter, most accursed thing!- a curse to the master and a curse to the slave! I was a fool to think I could make anything good out of such a deadly evil. It is a sin to hold a slave under laws like ours,- I al- ways felt it was,- I always thought so when I was a girl,- I thought so still more af- ter I joined the church; but I thought I could gild it over,- I thought by kindness, and care, and instruction, I could make the condition of mine better than freedom- fool that I was!” “Why, wife, you are getting to be an abolitionist, quite.” “Abolitionist! if they knew all I know about slavery, they might talk! We don’t need them to tell us; you know I never thought that slavery was right-never felt willing to own slaves.” |
