Diiiiiic; cold weather, fireplaces were a satisfactory 

 supplement. In Rcneral, early to bed and early to 

 rise was the rule, as William Byrd has shown us, and 

 artificial lii^ht was only a minor necessity. 



Nevertheless, some illumination was needed in the 

 halls and great rooms uf colonial plantation houses, 

 especially when guests were present— as they usually 

 were. The three sconce glasses which Captain Lyn- 

 don delivered to Mercer in 1 748 were doubtless 

 elegant answers to this requirement. These glasses 

 were mirrors with one or more candle branches, 

 arranged so that the light would be reflected and 

 multiplied. On special occasions, these, and perhaps 

 some candelabra and a scattering of candlesticks to 

 supplement them, provided concentrations of light; 

 for such affairs the use of ordinary tallow candles, 

 with their drippings and smoke, was out of the 

 question. A pleasant alternative is indicated by the 

 purchase in April 1749 of "11|: lib. Myrtle Wax 

 atl 5d . . . 14.4!;;" and "4 lib Beeswax 6/" from 

 Thomas Jones of the Eastern Shore. Similar pur- 

 chases also are recorded. Myrtle wax came from 

 what the \'irginians called the myrtle bush, better 

 known today as the bayberr)- bush. Its gray berries 

 yielded a fragrant aromatic wax much favored in the 

 colonies. In making candles it was usually mixed 

 with beeswax, as was evidently the case here. A 

 clean-burning, superior light source, it was nonethe- 

 less an expensive one. Burning in the brackets of the 

 sconce glasses at Marlborough, heightening the 

 shadows of the Palladian woodwork and, when 

 snufTed, emitting its faint but delicious fragrance, 

 it must have been a delight to the c>es and the 

 nostrils alike. 



NEGROES 



Negroes played an increasingly important part in 

 the life of Marlborough, particularly after the manor 

 house was built. Between 1731 and 1750 Mercer 

 purchased 89 Negroes. Most of these arc listed by 

 name in the ledger accounts. Forty-six died in this 

 period, while 2.'> were l)orn, leaving a total (if fi*') 

 Negroes on his staff in 1750. In I 74t) he Ixjught •> 

 men and 14 women at £21 10s. from Manner & 

 King in Williamsburg. The new house and the 

 expanded needs for s»-i-\-ice were perhaps the re.isons 

 for this largest single purchase of slaves. 



There is no indication that Mercer treated his 

 slaves other than well, or that they caused him any 

 serious difliculties. On the other hand, his frequent 



reference to them by name, the recording of their 

 children's names and birth dates in his ledger, and 

 the mention in his journal of new births among his 

 slave population all attest to an essentially paternalistic 

 attitude that was characteristic of most N'irginia 

 planters during the 18th century. fJood phv^iral 

 care of the Negroes was motivated p' 

 by self-interest in protecting an in\«-iin. m ..> ■,> 

 humane considerations, but, nonethelevs, we find such 

 items in the ledger as "To Cash p"* Doctor Lynn for 

 delivering Deborah." 



That discipline served for the Negroes as it usually 

 did for all colonials, whether the lawbreaker were 

 slave, bondsman, or free citizen, is indicated by an 

 entry in the Dick account: "2 thongs w"" Silk lashes 

 1,3." One must Ijear in mind that corporal punish- 

 ment was accepted universally in the 18th ccnturv-. 

 Its application to slaves, however, usually was left to 

 the discretion of the slave owner, so that the restraint 

 with which it was administered depended largely 

 upon the humanity and wisdom of the master. 



The u-sc of the lash was more often than not 

 delegated to the overseer, who was hired to run, or 

 help run, the plantation. It was the overseer who 

 had a direct interest in eliciting production from the 

 field hands; a sadistic overseer, therefore, might 

 create a hell for the slaves under him. It is clear 

 from Mercer's records that some of his overseers 

 caused problems for him and that at least one was 

 a brutal man. For October 1747 a chilling cntr>- 

 appears in the account of William G\ i over- 



seer at Bull Run (,)uariei-s: "To .Negi' .w you 



made hang himself. £35." Entered in the •'Negroes" 

 account, it reappears, somewli ' To 



William Graham for Frank (,H.! m. 



£50. 15." This is one of several instances on record 

 of Negroes driven to suicide as ' se 



to enduring cruelties.'"" In thi- ■■ .is 



fined 50 shillings and 1293 pounds of tobacco. 



We do not know, of couitic. whether other Nrvrors 

 listed as dead in .Mercer's account died of natural 

 causes or whether cruel treatment contributed to 

 their deaths. In the ca.se of a homesick .\' 'd 



)oe, who r.in away for the thiul time in 1 <r 



seems reluctantly to have resorted to an oHer uf 

 reward and an ap|>eal to the law. Even h>, he 



;.,, 107 i(ie; I 1 

 pp. 271,272. 381 



