He wittnessed his aunt get beat. And said "I wish I could commit to the feeling with which I beheld it"
Douglass had two masters, the first being Anthony (called "Captain Anthony"). Anthony only had a few slaves on a small farm. The overseer, Plummer, looked after the slaves. Plummer was an awful man, given to drinking, swearing, and intense violence. His exceedingly cruel behavior was barely restrained by Anthony, who did not much seem to care how his slaves were treated. He also occasionally delighted in viciously beating his slaves. No amount of tears or supplication or streaming blood would cause him to cease his whipping.
Douglass recalls how his own aunt was often prey to these whippings. The first time he witnessed this outrage, it "struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it."
