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had then cursed her, and wished that she might 

 never be hearty again : and from that very time 

 her complaint had declared itself; and her poor 

 pickaninies had all died away, one after another ; 

 and she was sure that it was Adam who had done 

 all this mischief by Obeah." Upon this, I put my- 

 self in a great rage, and asked her " how she could 

 believe that God would suffer a low wicked fellow 

 like Adam to make good people die, merely be- 

 cause he wished them dead?" "She did not 

 know ; she knew nothing about God ; had never 

 heard of any such Being, nor of any other world/' 

 I told her, that God was a great personage, " who 

 lived up yonder above the blue, in a place full of 

 pleasures and free from pains, where Adam and 

 wicked people could not come ; that her picka- 

 ninies were not dead for ever, but were only gone 

 up to live with God, who was good, and would 

 take care of them for her ; and that if she were 

 good, when she died, she too would go up to God 

 above the blue, and see all her four pickaninies 

 again." The idea seemed so new and so agreeable 

 to the poor creature, that she clapped her hands 

 together, and began laughing for joy ; so I said to 

 her every thing that I could imagine likely to re- 

 move her prejudice ; told her that I should make 

 it a crime even so much as to mention the word 

 Obeah on the estate ; and that, if any negro from 

 that time forward should be proved to have accused 

 another of Obeahing him, or of telling another that 



