was going on in there.  He stood in the entry for a moment, and found the Englishman, Thompson, was holding forth.  The fellow was speaking of the treatment of slaves; and he said it was no uncommon thing for masters, when exasperated with the slave, to hang him up by the two thumbs, and flog him.  I knew the fellow lied there,’ said the judge, ’for I had traveled through the south, from Georgia north, and I never saw a single instance of the kind.  The fellow said it was a common thing.’  ’Did you see any exasperated masters, Judge,’ said I, ‘in your journey?’ ‘No sir,’ said he, ’not an individual instance.’  ’You hardly are able to convict Mr. Thompson of falsehood, then, Judge,’ said I, ’if I understood you right.  He spoke, as I understood you, of exasperated masters—­and you say you did not see any.  Mr. Thompson did not say it was common for masters in good humor to hang up their slaves.’  The Judge did not perceive the materiality of the distinction.  ’Oh, they misrepresent and lie about this treatment of the niggers,’ he continued.  ’In going through all the states I visited, I do not now remember a single instance of cruel treatment.  Indeed, I remember of seeing but one nigger struck, during my whole journey.  There was one instance.  We were riding in the stage, pretty early one morning, and we met a black fellow, driving a span of horses, and a load (I think he said) of hay.  The fellow turned out before we got to him, clean down into the ditch, as far as he could get.  He knew, you see, what to depend on, if he did not give the road.  Our driver, as we passed the fellow, fetched him a smart crack with his whip across the chops.  He did not make any noise, though I guess it hurt him some—­he grinned.—­Oh, no! these fellows exaggerate.  The niggers, as a general thing, are kindly treated.  There may be exceptions, but I saw nothing of it.’ (By the way, the Judge did not know there were any abolitionists present.) ’What did you do to the driver, Judge,’ said I, ‘for striking that man?’ ‘Do,’ said he, ’I did nothing to him, to be sure.’  ‘What did you say to him, sir?’ said I.  ‘Nothing,’ he replied:  ‘I said nothing to him.’  ’What did the other passengers do?’ said I.  ‘Nothing, sir,’ said the Judge.  ’The fellow turned out the white of his eye, but he did not make any noise.’  ’Did the driver say any thing, Judge, when he struck the man?’ ‘Nothing,’ said the Judge, ’only he damned him, and told him he’d learn him to keep out of the reach of his whip.’  ‘Sir,’ said I, ’if George Thompson had told this story, in the warmth of an anti-slavery speech, I should scarcely have credited it.  I have attended many anti-slavery meetings, and I never heard an instance of such cold-blooded, wanton, insolent, DIABOLICAL cruelty as this; and, sir, if I live to attend another meeting, I shall relate this, and give Judge Durell’s name as the witness of it.’  An infliction of the most insolent character, entirely unprovoked, on a