To recall these scenes so blinds my eyes with tears that I can not write of them. Some griefs leave the heart dumb. They have no language; and are given no language, because no other heart could understand, nor could they if shared, be alleviated. CHAPTER IX. It will have been observed from these reminiscences that the mistress of a Virginia plantation was more conspicuous--although not more important--than the master. In the house she was the mainspring, and to her came all the hundred, or three hundred negroes with their various wants, and constant applications for medicine and every conceivable requirement. Attending to these, with directing her household affairs and entertaining company, occupied busily every moment of her life. While all these devolved upon her, it sometimes seemed to me that the master had nothing to do, but ride around his estate--on the most delightful horse--receive reports from overseers, see that his pack of hounds were fed and order "repairs about the mill"--the mill seemed always needing repairs! This view of the subject, however, being entirely from a feminine standpoint, may have been wholly erroneous; for doubtless his mind was burdened with financial matters too weighty to be grasped and comprehended by our sex. Nevertheless, the mistress held complete sway in her own domain; and that this fact was recognized will be shown by the following incident: A gentleman--an intelligent and successful lawyer--one day discovering a negro boy in some mischief about his house, and determining forthwith to chastise him, took him in the yard for that purpose. Breaking a small switch, and in the act of "coming down with it" upon the boy, he asked: "Do you know, sir, who is master on my place?" "Yes, sir!" quickly replied the boy. "Miss Charlotte, sir!" Throwing aside the switch, the gentleman ran in the house, laughed a half hour, and thus ended his only experiment at interfering in his wife's domain. His wife, "Miss Charlotte," as the negroes called her, was gentle and indulgent to a fault, which made the incident more amusing. It may appear singular, yet it is true, that our women, although having sufficient self-possession at home, and accustomed there to command on a large scale, became painfully timid if ever they found themselves in a promiscuous or public assemblage--shrinking from everything like publicity. Still, these women, to whom a whole plantation looked up for guidance and instruction, could not fail to feel a certain consciousness of superiority, which, although never displayed or asserted in manner, became a part of themselves. They were distinguishable everywhere--for what reason, exactly, I have never been able to find out--for their manners were too quiet to attract attention. Yet a Captain on a Mississippi steamboat said to me: "I always know a Virginia lady as soon as she steps on my boat."