I am of mixed blood. My mother was an African slave. My father (the master) was a white man. He had promised her he would give me free papers when I grew up,.I was a beautiful child and unusually bright for my age. My father.always seemed very fond of me, and as a special favor, I was allowed to study with his other children. But when my father died in an accident all hope was gone. my mother and I were sold to a low planter,and this low, degraded brute had determined to compel me to become his mistress, and when I turned upon him in scorn, he ordered me tied to the whipping post and given three hundred lashes. The pain of the lash was more than I could endure and I passed out. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a pool of my own blood. I was so sore I could not move but with the most excruciating pain. I tried for hours to drag myself to the river bank, distant only a few yards. By degrees I gradually dragged myself along, and just as the day began to dawn, I rolled off the bank into the water. Oh, the blessed waters! Here, at last, was a panacea for all my troubles. I could feel myself sinking deeper and deeper, and the cool waters gently kissed my fever-flushed cheeks. I did not struggle, and my death was painless. . .