ad well formed, forehead high and prominent; and he was often taken
for a white free person, by those who did not know him. This made his
condition as a slave still more intolerable; for one so white, seldom
ever receives fair treatment at the hands of his fellow slaves; and the
whites usually regard such slaves as persons, who, if not often flogged
and otherwise ill treated, to remind them of their condition, would soon
"forget" that they were slaves, and "think themselves as good as white
folks." During that year, an insurrection broke out amongst the slave
population, known as the Southampton Rebellion, or the "Nat Turner
Insurrection." Five or six hundred slaves, believing in the doctrine
that "all men are created equal," armed with such weapons as they could
get, commenced a war for freedom. Amongst these was George, the white
slave of whom we have spoken. He had been employed as a house servant,
and had heard his master and visiters speak of the down-trodden and
oppressed Poles; he heard them talk of going to Greece to fight for
Grecian liberty, and against the oppressors of that ill-fated people.
George, fired with the love of freedom, and zeal for the cause of his
enslaved countrymen, joined the insurrection. The result of that
struggle for liberty is well known. The slaves were defeated, and those
who were not taken prisoners, took refuge in the dismal swamps. These
were ordered to surrender; but instead of doing so, they challenged
their proud oppressors to take them, and immediately renewed the war. A
ferocious struggle now commenced between the parties; but not until the
United States troops were called in, did they succeed in crushing a
handful of men and women who were fighting for freedom. The negroes were
hunted with dogs, and many who were caught were burnt alive; while some
were hung, and others flogged and banished from the State.

Among those who were sentenced to be hanged, was George. He was placed
in prison to await the day of execution, which would give him ten days
to prepare for his doom. George was the son of a member of the American
Congress, his mother being a servant in the principal hotel in
Washington, where members of Congress usually put up. After the birth of
George, his mother was sold to a negro trader, and he to a Virginian,
who sent agents through the country to buy up young slaves to raise for
the market. George was only about nineteen years of age, when he
unfortunately became con