I Would Rather Drudge Out My Life

The Beautiful Spring Came; And When Nature Resumes Her Loveliness, The Human Soul Is Apt To Revive Also.

When I Was Nearly Twelve Years Old, My Kind Mistress Sickened And Died.

Notwithstanding My Grandmother's Long And Faithful Service To Her Owners, Not One Of Her Children Escaped The Auction Block. These God-breathing Machines Are No More, In The Sight Of Their Masters, Than The Cotton They Plant, Or The Horses They Tend.

Could You Have Seen That Mother Clinging To Her Child, When They Fastened The Irons Upon His Wrists; Could You Have Heard Her Heart-rending Groans, And Seen Her Bloodshot Eyes Wander Wildly From Face To Face, Vainly Pleading For Mercy; Could You Have Witnessed That Scene As I Saw It, You Would Exclaim, Slavery Is Damnable!

Dr. Flint Had Sworn That He Would Make Me Suffer, To My Last Day, For This New Crime Against Him, As He Called It; And As Long As He Had Me In His Power He Kept His Word