UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

The
KEY TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 101
must suffer, cannot be told us, even in our secret
chamber, it so harrows up
mediat
sent for his father,living near him, and
the soul. And yet, 0 after communicating what he had discovered,it
my country, these thingsare done under the was determined that the offenders should be punished
shadow of thy laws ! 0 Christ,thy church sees
once, and before theyshould know of the
them almost in silence!
discovery that had been made.
It is givenprecisely as preparedby Dr.
"
Lewis was punishedfirst ; and in a manner, as
G. Bailey, the was fullyshown, to precludeall risk of injuryto
very liberaland fair-minded his person, by stripes with a broad leathern strap.
editor of the National Era.
He was punishedseverely, but to an extent by no
means disproportionate to his offence ; nor was it
From the National Era, Washington, November 6, 1S51.
pretended, in any quarter, that this punishment
HOMICIDE CASE IN CLARKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. implicated either his life or health. He confessed
Some time since țhe newspapers of Virginia
contained an account of a horrible tragedy, enacted by falsekeys,furnished by the
in Clarke County, of that state. A slave of
Colonel James Castleman, it was stated, had been
chained by the neck,and whippedto death by his
master, on the charge of stealingṬhe whole
neighborhood in which the transaction occurred
was
incised ; the Virginia papers abounded in
denum^Bpns
of
the
thejj^th
jyltice
of the cruel act ; and the people
were called upon to bear witness to
which would surely be meted out in a
slave state to the master of a slave. We did not
publishthe account. The case was horrible ; it by himself,by which the theft had been effected
"
It was further
was, we
shown,on the
were confident,exceptional ; it should
trial, that Lewis
was
not be taken as evidence of the whipped
generaltreatment
in the upper room of a warehouse,
of slaves
connected with
; we chose to delay any notice of it till
StephenCastleman's store, and
near
the
the
courts should pronounce their publicroad,where he was at work at the
judgment,and
we could announce at once the crime and its time; that after he had been
punishment,
flogged, to secure
his person, whilst they went after Reuben,he was
so that the state might stand acquitted
of the foul deed.
Those who were so shocked at the transaction
will be surprised and mortified to hear that the
actors in it have been tried and acquitted;and
when they read the following account of the trial
and verdict,publishedat the instance of the
friends of the accused,their mortification will
deepeninto bitterindignation :
the offence,and admitted that it had been effected
blacksmith,Reuben.
"
The latter servant was punishedimmediately
afterwards. It was believed that he was the
principal offender, and he was found to be more
obdurate and contumacious than Lewis had been
in reference to the offence. Thus it was proved,
both by the prosecutionand the defencețhat he
was punished with greaterseverity
part, and he producedthe falsekey,
than his ac-
It resulted in a like confession on his
one fashioned
complice.
confined by a chain around his neck, which was
attached to a joistabove his head. The length of
this chain țhe breadth and thickness of the joist,
its heightfrom the floor,and the circlet of chain
on the neck, were accurately measured ; and it
was thus shown that the chain unoccupiedby the
circletand the joistwas a foot and a half longer
than the space between the shoulders of the man
and the joistabove,or to that extent the chain
From the "Spirit of Jefferson."
hung looseabove him ; that the circlet(whichM-as
"Colonel James Castleman. "
followingfastened so as to
prevent its contraction) rested
statement, understood to have been drawn
up by
counsel șince on the shoulders and breast,the chain beingsufficiently
the trial,has been placedby the
drawn onlyto preventbeingslipped
friends of this over
gentlemanin our hands for publicationhis
head,and that there was no other placein the
:
room to which he could be fastened,exceptto one
"At the Circuit SuperiorCourt of Clarke of the joists
County,commencing above. His hands were tied in front ;
on the 13th of October, a white man, who had been at work with Lewis
Judge Samuels presiding, James Castleman and duringthe day,
his son Stephen was left with him by the Messrs.
D. Castleman were indicted Castleman,the better to insurehis detention, whilst
jointly for the murder of negro Lewis,property of they
the latter. By were absent afterReuben. It advice was provedby
of their counselțhe partiesthis man (who was
elected to be tried a witness for the prosecution)
separately, and the attorneythat Lewis asked for a box to stand on, or for
for the commonwealth directed that James Castlemansomething
that he could jump offfrom ; that after
should be tried first.
the Castlemans had left him he expresseda fear
"
It was
proved, on this- trialțhat for many that when they
months came back he would be whipped
previousto the occurrence the moneydrawer
of the tavern keptby Stephen D. Castleman, one hand loose,he would cut his throat. The
again; and said,if he had a knife,and could get
and the liquorskept in largequantities in his '
cellar, witness stated that the negro stood firm on his
had been pillaged from time to time,until the thefts feet,'that he could turn freelyin whatever direction
had attained to a considerableamount. Suspicion he wished,and that he made no complaint
had, from various causes, been directed to Lewis, of the mode of his confinement. This man stated
and another negro, named Reuben (ablacksmith), that he remained with Lewis about half an hour,
the property of James Castleman ; but by the aid and then left there to
of two of the house-servants go home.
theyhad eluded "
the After punishingReuben, the Castlemans returned
most vigilant watch.
to the warehouse,bringing him with them ;
"
On the 20th of Augustlast,in the afternoon, their objectbeing to confront the two men, in the
S. D. Castleman accidentally discovered a clue, hope that by further examination of them jointly
by means of which,and throughone of the houseservants
implicated,
detected.
he was enabled fullyto detect
all their accomplicesmight be
"
They were not absent more than half an hour.
the depredators, and to ascertain the manner When they entered the room above, Lewis was
in which the theft had been committed. He im-
found hangingby the neck,his feet thrown behind