Caesar
replied, this was the first piece of bravery that ever Banister did,
and he never spoke sense till he pronounced that word; and, if he
would keep it, he would declare, in the other world, that he was the
only man, of all the whites, that ever he heard speak truth. And
turning to the men that had bound him, he said, "My friends, am I to
die, or to be whipped?" And they cried, "Whipped! no, you shall not
escape so well." And then he replied, smiling, "A blessing on thee";
and assured them they need not tie him, for he would stand fixed
like a rock, and endure death so as should encourage them to die;
"But, if you whip me," said he, "be sure you tie me fast."
He had learned to take tobacco; and when he was assured he should
die, he desired they would give him a pipe in his mouth, ready
lighted; which they did. And the executioner came, and first cut off
his members, and threw them into the fire; after that, with an
ill-favored knife, they cut off his ears and his nose and burned them;
he still smoked on, as if nothing had touched him; then they hacked
off one of his arms, and still he bore up, and held his pipe; but at
the cutting off the other arm, his head sunk, and his pipe dropped,
and he gave up the ghost, without a groan or a reproach. My mother and
sister were by him all the while, but not suffered to save him; so
rude and wild were the rabble, and so inhuman were the justices who
stood by to see the execution, who after paid dearly enough for
their insolence.
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