Hence,
I have come to the conclusion that God created all men free and equal, and
placed them upon this earth to do good and benefit each other, and that
war and slavery should be banished from the face of the earth.
My dear reader will not understand me to say, that all nations are alike
intelligent, enterprising and industrious, for we all know that it is far
otherwise; but to man, and not to our Creator, should the fault be
charged. But, to resume our narrative,
Capt. Helm was not a very hard master; but generally was kind and
pleasant. Indulgent when in good humor, but like many of the southerners,
terrible when in a passion. He was a great sportsman, and very fond of
company. He generally kept one or two race horses, and a pack of hounds
for fox-hunting, which at that time, was a very common and fashionable
diversion in that section of country. He was not only a sportsman,
but a gamester, and was in the habit of playing cards, and sometimes
betting very high and losing accordingly.
I well remember an instance of the kind: it was when he played cards with
a Mr. W. Graham, who won from him in one sweep, two thousand and seven
hundred dollars in all, in the form of a valuable horse, prized at sixteen
hundred dollars, another saddle-horse of less value, one slave, and his
wife's gold watch.
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