













CLOTELLE: A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN STATES


by

William Wells Brown




CONTENTS

       I  THE SLAVE'S SOCIAL CIRCLE.
      II  THE <DW64> SALE.
     III  THE SLAVE SPECULATOR.
      IV  THE BOAT-RACE.
       V  THE YOUNG MOTHER.
      VI  THE SLAVE-MARKET.
     VII  THE SLAVE-HOLDING PARSON.
    VIII  A NIGHT IN THE PARSON'S KITCHEN.
      IX  THE MAN OF HONOR.
       X  THE QUADROON'S HOME
      XI  TO-DAY A MISTRESS, TO-MORROW A SLAVE
     XII  THE MOTHER-IN-LAW.
    XIII  A HARD-HEARTED WOMAN.
     XIV  THE PRISON.
      XV  THE ARREST.
     XVI  DEATH IS FREEDOM.
    XVII  CLOTELLE.
   XVIII  A SLAVE-HUNTING PARSON.
     XIX  THE TRUE HEROINE.
      XX  THE HERO OF MANY ADVENTURES.
     XXI  SELF-SACRIFICE.
    XXII  LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT AND WHAT FOLLOWED.
   XXIII  MEETING OF THE COUSINS.
    XXIV  THE LAW AND ITS VICTIM.
     XXV  THE FLIGHT.
    XXVI  THE HERO OF A NIGHT.
   XXVII  TRUE FREEDOM.
  XXVIII  FAREWELL TO AMERICA.
    XXIX  A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
     XXX  NEW FRIENDS.
    XXXI  THE MYSTERIOUS MEETING.
   XXXII  THE HAPPY MEETING.
  XXXIII  THE HAPPY DAY.
   XXXIV  CLOTELLE MEETS HER FATHER.
    XXXV  THE FATHER'S RESOLVE.




CHAPTER I

THE SLAVE'S SOCIAL CIRCLE.

With the growing population in the Southern States, the increase of
mulattoes has been very great. Society does not frown upon the man who
sits with his half-white child upon his knee whilst the mother stands,
a slave, behind his chair. In nearly all the cities and towns of the
Slave States, the real <DW64>, or clear black, does not amount to more
than one in four of the slave population. This fact is of itself the
best evidence of the degraded and immoral condition of the relation of
master and slave. Throughout the Southern States, there is a class of
slaves who, in most of the towns, are permitted to hire their time from
their owners, and who are always expected to pay a high price. This
class is the mulatto women, distinguished for their fascinating beauty.
The handsomest of these usually pay the greatest amount for their time.
Many of these women are the favorites of men of property and standing,
who furnish them with the means of compensating their owners, and not a
few are dressed in the most extravagant manner.

When we take into consideration the fact that no safeguard is thrown
around virtue, and no inducement held out to slave-women to be pure and
chaste, we will not be surprised when told that immorality and vice
pervade the cities and towns of the South to an extent unknown in the
Northern States. Indeed, many of the slave-women have no higher
aspiration than that of becoming the finely-dressed mistress of some
white man. At <DW64> balls and parties, this class of women usually make
the most splendid appearance, and are eagerly sought after in the
dance, or to entertain in the drawing-room or at the table.

A few years ago, among the many slave-women in Richmond, Virginia, who
hired their time of their masters, was Agnes, a mulatto owned by John
Graves, Esq., and who might be heard boasting that she was the
daughter of an American Senator. Although nearly forty years of age at
the time of which we write, Agnes was still exceedingly handsome. More
than half white, with long black hair and deep blue eyes, no one felt
like disputing with her when she urged her claim to her relationship
with the Anglo-Saxon.

In her younger days, Agnes had been a housekeeper for a young
slaveholder, and in sustaining this relation had become the mother of
two daughters. After being cast aside by this young man, the
slave-woman betook herself to the business of a laundress, and was
considered to be the most tasteful woman in Richmond at her vocation.

Isabella and Marion, the two daughters of Agnes, resided with their
mother, and gave her what aid they could in her business. The mother,
however, was very choice of her daughters, and would allow them to
perform no labor that would militate against their lady-like
appearance. Agnes early resolved to bring up her daughters as ladies,
as she termed it.

As the girls grew older, the mother had to pay a stipulated price for
them per month. Her notoriety as a laundress of the first class enabled
her to put an extra charge upon the linen that passed through her
hands; and although she imposed little or no work upon her daughters,
she was enabled to live in comparative luxury and have her daughters
dressed to attract