Many tears were shed on that occasion by our friends and relatives, who saw us dragged off in irons to be sold in the human flesh market.  No tongue could express the deep anguish of my soul when I saw the silent tear drops streaming down the sable cheeks of an aged slave mother, at my departure; and that too, caused by a black hearted traitor who was himself a slave: 

    “I love the man with a feeling soul. 
    Whose passions are deep and strong;
    Whose cords, when touched with a kindred power,
    Will vibrate loud and long: 

    “The man whose word is bond and law—­
    Who ne’er for gold or power,
    Would kiss the hand that would stab the heart
    In adversity’s trying hour.”

    “I love the man who delights to help
    The panting, struggling poor: 
    The man that will open his heart,
    Nor close against the fugitive at his door.

    “Oh give me a heart that will firmly stand,
    When the storm of affliction shall lower—­
    A hand that will never shrink, if grasped,
    In misfortune’s darkest hour.”

As we approached the city of Louisville, we attracted much attention, my being tied and handcuffed, and a person leading the horse upon which I rode.  The horse appeared to be much frightened at the appearance of things in the city, being young and skittish.  A carriage passing by jammed against the nag, which caused him to break from the man who was leading him, and in his fright throw me off backwards.  My hands being confined with irons, and my feet tied under the horse with a rope, I had no power to help myself.  I fell back off of the horse and could not extricate myself from this dreadful condition; the horse kicked with all his might while I was tied so close to his rump that he could only strike me with his legs by kicking.

The breath was kicked out of my body, but my bones were not broken.  No one who saw my situation would have given five dollars for me.  It was thought by all that I was dead and would never come to life again.  When the horse was caught the cords were cut from my limbs, and I was rubbed with whiskey, camphor, &c, which brought me to life again.

Many bystanders expressed sympathy for me in my deplorable condition, and contempt for the tyrant who tied me to the young horse.

I was then driven through the streets of the city with my little family on foot, to jail, wherein I was locked with handcuffs yet on.  A physician was then sent for, who doctored me several days before I was well enough to be sold in market.

The jail was one of the most disagreeable places I ever was confined in.  It was not only disagreeable on account of the filth and dirt of the most disagreeable kind; but there were bed-bugs, fleas, lice and musquitoes in abundance, to contend with.  At night we had to lie down on the floor in this filth.  Our food was very scanty, and of the most inferior quality.  No gentleman’s dog would eat what we were compelled to eat or starve.