Chapter 3
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|  Colonel Lloyd kept a large and finely cultivated | |
| | garden, which afforded almost constant employment | |
| | for four men, besides the chief gardener, (Mr. | |
| | M'Durmond.) This garden was probably the great- | |
| | est attraction of the place. During the summer | |
| | months, people came from far and near—from | |
| | Baltimore, Easton, and Annapolis—to see it. It | |
| | abounded in fruits of almost every description, from | |
| | the hardy apple of the north to the delicate orange | |
| | of the south. This garden was not the least source | |
| | of trouble on the plantation. Its excellent fruit was | |
| | quite a temptation to the hungry swarms of boys, | |
| | as well as the older slaves, belonging to the colonel, | |
| | few of whom had the virtue or the vice to resist | |
| | it. Scarcely a day passed, during the summer, but | |
| | that some slave had to take the lash for stealing fruit. | |
| | The colonel had to resort to all kinds of stratagems | |
| | to keep his slaves out of the garden. The last and | |
| | most successful one was that of tarring his fence | |
| | all around; after which, if a slave was caught with | |
| | any tar upon his person, it was deemed sufficient | |
| | proof that he had either been into the garden, or had | |
| | tried to get in. In either case, he was severely whip- | |
| | ped by the chief gardener. This plan worked well; | |
| | the slaves became as fearful of tar as of the lash. | |
| | They seemed to realize the impossibility of touching | |
| | TAR without being defiled. | |
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| | The colonel also kept a splendid riding equipage. | |
| | His stable and carriage-house presented the appear- | |
| | ance of some of our large city livery establishments. | |
| | His horses were of the finest form and noblest blood. | |
| | His carriage-house contained three splendid coaches, | |
| | three or four gigs, besides dearborns and barouches | |
| | of the most fashionable style. | |
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| | This establishment was under the care of two | |
| | slaves—old Barney and young Barney—father and son. | |
| | To attend to this establishment was their sole work. | |
| | But it was by no means an easy employment; for in | |
| | nothing was Colonel Lloyd more particular than in | |
| | the management of his horses. The slightest inat- | |
| | tention to these was unpardonable, and was visited | |
| | upon those, under whose care they were placed, with | |
| | the severest punishment; no excuse could shield | |
| | them, if the colonel only suspected any want of | |
| | attention to his horses—a supposition which he fre- | |
| | quently indulged, and one which, of course, made | |
| | the office of old and young Barney a very trying one. | |
| | They never knew when they were safe from punish- | |
| | ment. They were frequently whipped when least | |
| | deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserv- | |
| | ing it. Every thing depended upon the looks of the | |
| | horses, and the state of Colonel Lloyd's own mind | |
| | when his horses were brought to him for use. If a | |
| | horse did not move fast enough, or hold his head | |
| | high enough, it was owing to some fault of his keep- | |
| | ers. It was painful to stand near the stable-door, | |
| | and hear the various complaints against the keepers | |
| | when a horse was taken out for use. "This horse has | |
| | not had proper attention. He has not been suffi- | |
| | ciently rubbed and curried, or he has not been prop- | |
| | erly fed; his food was too wet or too dry; he got it | |
| | too soon or too late; he was too hot or too cold; he | |
| | had too much hay, and not enough of grain; or he | |
| | had too much grain, and not enough of hay; instead | |
| | of old Barney's attending to the horse, he had very | |
| | improperly left it to his son." To all these com- | |
| | plaints, no matter how unjust, the slave must an- | |
| | swer never a word. Colonel Lloyd could not brook | |
| | any contradiction from a slave. When he spoke, a | |
| | slave must stand, listen, and tremble; and such was | |
| | literally the case. I have seen Colonel Lloyd make | |
| | old Barney, a man between fifty and sixty years of | |
| | age, uncover his bald head, kneel down upon the | |
| | cold, damp ground, and receive upon his naked and | |
| | toil-worn shoulders more than thirty lashes at the | |
| | time. Colonel Lloyd had three sons—Edward, Mur- | |
| | ray, and Daniel,—and three sons-in-law, Mr. Winder, | |
| | Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Lowndes. All of these lived | |
| | at the Great House Farm, and enjoyed the luxury of | |
| | whipping the servants when they pleased, from old | |
| | Barney down to William Wilkes, the coach-driver. | |
| | I have seen Winder make one of the house-servants | |
| | stand off from him a suitable distance to be touched | |
| | with the end of his whip, and at every stroke raise | |
| | great ridges upon his back. | |
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| | To describe the wealth of Colonel Lloyd would | |
| | be almost equal to describing the riches of Job. He | |
| | kept from ten to fifteen house-servants. He was said | |
| | to own a thousand slaves, and I think this estimate | |
| | quite within the truth. Colonel Lloyd owned so | |
| | many that he did not know them when he saw them; | |
| | nor did all the slaves of the out-farms know him. It | |
| | is reported of him, that, while riding along the road | |
| | one day, he met a colored man, and addressed him | |
| | in the usual manner of speaking to colored people | |
| | on the public highways of the south: "Well, boy, | |
| | whom do you belong to?" "To Colonel Lloyd," re- | |
| | plied the slave. "Well, does the colonel treat you | |
| | well?" "No, sir," was the ready reply. "What, does | |
| | he work you too hard?" "Yes, sir." "Well, don't he | |
| | give you enough to eat?" "Yes, sir, he gives me | |
| | enough, such as it is." | |
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| | The colonel, after ascertaining where the slave | |
| | belonged, rode on; the man also went on about his | |
| | business, not dreaming that he had been conversing | |
| | with his master. He thought, said, and heard noth- | |
| | ing more of the matter, until two or three weeks | |
| | afterwards. The poor man was then informed by his | |
| | overseer that, for having found fault with his master, | |
| | he was now to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was | |
| | immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, | |
| | without a moment's warning, he was snatched away, | |
| | and forever sundered, from his family and friends, | |
| | by a hand more unrelenting than death. This is the | |
| | penalty of telling the truth, of telling the simple | |
| | truth, in answer to a series of plain questions. | |
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| | It is partly in consequence of such facts, that | |
| | slaves, when inquired of as to their condition and | |
| | the character of their masters, almost universally say | |
| | they are contented, and that their masters are kind. | |
| | The slaveholders have been known to send in spies | |
| | among their slaves, to ascertain their views and feel- | |
| | ings in regard to their condition. The frequency of | |
| | this has had the effect to establish among the slaves | |
| | the maxim, that a still tongue makes a wise head. | |
| | They suppress the truth rather than take the con- | |
| | sequences of telling it, and in so doing prove them- | |
| | selves a part of the human family. If they have any | |
| | thing to say of their masters, it is generally in their | |
| | masters' favor, especially when speaking to an un- | |
| | tried man. I have been frequently asked, when a | |
| | slave, if I had a kind master, and do not remember | |
| | ever to have given a negative answer; nor did I, in | |
| | pursuing this course, consider myself as uttering what | |
| | was absolutely false; for I always measured the kind- | |
| | ness of my master by the standard of kindness set | |
| | up among slaveholders around us. Moreover, slaves | |
| | are like other people, and imbibe prejudices quite | |
| | common to others. They think their own better than | |
| | that of others. Many, under the influence of this | |
| | prejudice, think their own masters are better than | |
| | the masters of other slaves; and this, too, in some | |
| | cases, when the very reverse is true. Indeed, it is | |
| | not uncommon for slaves even to fall out and quar- | |
| | rel among themselves about the relative goodness of | |
| | their masters, each contending for the superior good- | |
| | ness of his own over that of the others. At the very | |
| | same time, they mutually execrate their masters | |
| | when viewed separately. It was so on our plantation. | |
| | When Colonel Lloyd's slaves met the slaves of Jacob | |
| | Jepson, they seldom parted without a quarrel about | |
| | their masters; Colonel Lloyd's slaves contending that | |
| | he was the richest, and Mr. Jepson's slaves that he | |
| | was the smartest, and most of a man. Colonel Lloyd's | |
| | slaves would boast his ability to buy and sell Jacob | |
| | Jepson. Mr. Jepson's slaves would boast his ability | |
| | to whip Colonel Lloyd. These quarrels would almost | |
| | always end in a fight between the parties, and those | |
| | that whipped were supposed to have gained the | |
| | point at issue. They seemed to think that the great- | |
| | ness of their masters was transferable to themselves. | |
| | It was considered as being bad enough to be a | |
| | slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a | |
| | disgrace indeed! | |
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