People who have never been under the influence of this system, are reluctant to believe that slave-owners make no scruple of selling their own mulatto children; but those who have long resided in slave countries know perfectly well that it is a fact of frequent occurrence. One of the most singular instances of this kind occurred a few years since. Doctor W---- went into one of the south-western of the United States to settle as a physician. In one of the families where he visited in the course of his practice, he saw a girl in a humble situation, who was very handsome in her person, and modest in her manners. He became in love with her, and married her. Sometime after, a gentleman called, and announced himself as Mr. I--r--, of Mobile. “Sir,” said he, “I have a trifling affair of business to settle with you. You have married a slave of mine.” Dr. W---- was surprised and indignant; for he had supposed his wife to be perfectly white. But Mr. I--r-- brought forward proofs of his assertion, and the unrighteous laws of the land supported his claim. After considerable discussion, the young man found he must either pay eight hundred dollars, or suffer his wife to be sold at auction. He paid the money. When Mrs. W. was informed of the circumstance, she was in deep distress, and apologized to her husband for the concealment she had practised, by saying, “As Mr. I--r-- is my own father, I did hope when I had found an honorable protector he would leave me in peace.” Another great evil resulting from this system, is the tyrannical habits and impetuous passions that are unavoidably developed by early habits of despotic sway. The manner of speaking to a slave is almost universally haughty and contemptuous. Delicate, languid, and graceful ladies, who would cherish a lapdog, and shrink from harming a butterfly, will, in a moment of anger, seize the whip and chastise a slave for the slightest fault, and sometimes for errors, which in their calmer moments they discover were never committed. If all history did not prove that the possession of absolute power is apt to produce a species of insanity, it would be difficult to believe the occasional demonstrations of vindictive passions in slave countries. A young man from Missouri lately related, at a public meeting in Ohio, the following circumstance which took place in his own state. A young slave, who had been much abused, ran away, after an unusually severe whipping. She returned in a few days, and was sent into the field to work. In consequence of excessive punishment she was very ill; and when she reached the house at night, she lay down on the floor exhausted. When her mistress spoke to her, she made no reply. She again asked what was the matter, but received no answer. “I’ll see if I can’t make you speak,” exclaimed she, in a rage; and she applied red-hot tongs to her limbs and throat. The poor girl faintly whispered, “Oh, misse, don’t; I’m most gone”--and expired.