Mr. Graves had long been considered not only an excellent
and upright citizen of the first standing among the whites,
but even the slaves regarded him as one of the kindest of masters.
Having inherited his slaves with the rest of his property,
he became possessed of them without any consultation
or wish of his own. He would neither buy nor sell slaves,
and was exceedingly careful, in letting them out,
that they did not find oppressive and tyrannical masters.
No slave speculator ever dared to cross the threshold of this
planter of the Old Dominion. He was a constant attendant upon
religious worship, and was noted for his general benevolence.
The American Bible Society, the American Tract Society, and the
cause of the Foreign Missions, found in him a liberal friend.
He was always anxious that his slaves should appear well on
the Sabbath, and have an opportunity of hearing the word of God.




CHAPTER II

THE NEGRO SALE


AS might have been expected, the day of sale brought an unusually
large number together to compete for the property to be sold.
Farmers, who make a business of raising slaves for the market,
were there, and slave-traders, who make a business of buying human
beings in the slave-raising States and taking them to the far South,
were also in attendance. Men and women, too, who wished to purchase