These cruelties are daily occurrences, and so degrading is the whole
practice of Slavery, that it not only crushes and brutalizes the wretched
slave, but it hardens the heart, benumbs all the fine feelings of
humanity, and deteriorates from the character of the slaveholders
themselves,--whether man or woman. Otherwise, how could a gentle, and in
other respects, amiable woman, look on such scenes of cruelty, without
a shudder of utter abhorrence? But slaveholding ladies, can not only look
on quietly, but with approbation; and what is worse, though very common,
they can and do use the lash and cowhide themselves, on the backs of their
slaves, and that too on those of their own sex! Far rather would I spend
my life in a State's Prison, than be the slave of the best slaveholder
on the earth!

When I was not employed as an errand-boy, it was my duty to stand behind
my master's chair, which was sometimes the whole day, never being allowed
to sit in his presence. Indeed, no slave is ever allowed to sit down in
the presence of their master or mistress. If a slave is addressed when
sitting, he is required to spring to his feet, and instantly remove his
hat, if he has one, and answer in the most humble manner, or lay the
foundation for a flogging, which will not be long delayed.

I slept in the same room with my master and mistress. This room was
elegantly furnished with damask curtains, mahogany bedstead of the
most expensive kind, and every thing else about it was of the most costly
kind. And while Mr. and Mrs. Helm reposed on their bed of down, with a
cloud of lace floating over them, like some Eastern Prince, with their
slaves to fan them while they slept, and to tremble when they awoke, I
always slept upon the floor, without a pillow or even a blanket, but, like
a dog, lay down anywhere I could find a place.