The story of my life ; or, The sunshine and shadow of seventy years / by Mary A. Livermore ... with hitherto unrecorded incidents and recollections of three years' experience as an army nurse in the great Civil War, and reminiscences of twenty-five years' experiences on the lecture platform ... to which is added six of her most popular lectures ... with portraits and one hundred and twenty engravings from designs by eminent artists ...

xxiv

CONTENTS.

the Order of School - Arrival of the Weekly Mail - A Great EventMore Commotion--Breaking up the School-My Pupils Scamper
after the Mail-Boy, and Fail to Return - My Disgust and Anger--I
Decline to Remain as Teacher unless a Change is Made,.. 189
CHAPTER XII.
NEGRO MATT, THE COOPER-SAVAGE BRYSON, THE NEGRO
OVERSEER-AN AGONIZING BUT UNAVAILING PLEA FOR
MERCY -A SLAVE-WHIPPING AND A TRAGEDY
"A Quiet Talk with Mr. and Mrs. Henderson --My Grievances- " Your
Plans are those of a Yankee"- Christmas Guests and Revelry- Burlesque Performances at the " Quarters "-A Severe Winter's Work -
Loud and Angry Voices - Savage Threats - I am Petrified with Terror
- The Brutal Whipping of Matt, the Cooper - He Pleads for Mercy in
Agonizing Appeals - Savage Bryson, the Overseer-" Oh, Massa! fo'
de Lawd's Sake doan whip me! " - Tied by the Hands - Jerked up by
a Rope Thrown across a Beam - A Never-to-be-forgotten Scene - The
Swish of a Long Whip Flashed through the Air - Blow after Blow on
Matt's Ensanguined Body -The Cruel Lash- Shrieks that Died into
Moans - A Dreadful Spectacle - Matt's Limp and Lifeless Body--I
am Dazed by the Awful Tragedy--Confined to my Room a Week -
An Ever Present Vision--Why Matt was Whipped,.. 208
CHAPTER XIII.
"A STORMY INTERVIEW - THE WHIPPING OF MATT DISCUSSED - MY VISIT TO MATT'S HOUSE - " RUN AWAY,
MATT; I WILL HELP YOU!"
Convalescent- The Children Welcome -me - What Happened during
my Illness -A Dinner Party and a Ball at the Blackstock's - A
Plain Question - We Discuss Matt's Whipping - Mrs. Henderson
sides with Bryson - " Matt Needed to be taken down " - A Family
Jar--My Visit to the "Negro Quarters"--Black Pickaninnies
Herded Together in " Ole Betty's Yard "--Repulsive Quarters--
Finding my Way to Matt's Cabin - His Home and Surroundings--
My Interview with him- Results- I Urge him to run away-" Get
out of this Hell as quick as you can " "- Matt's Sufferings - His
Fate - Found Dead Two Years Later - Preparations for the Blackstock Visit - Great Anticipations - Cordial Hospitality,.. 223