But We Dare Not Hope That
Such Men Are Rare, Though Circumstances Of Self-Interest Combine To Form A
Class Of Slave-Owners Of A Higher Grade.
These are men who look upon their
slaves as we do upon our cows and horses - as mere animal property, of
greater or less value according to the care which is taken of them.
The
slaves of these persons are well clothed, lodged, and fed; they are not
overworked, and dancing, singing, and other amusements, which increase
health and cheerfulness, are actively promoted. But the system is one
which has for its object the transformation of reason into instinct the
lowering of a rational being into a machine scarcely more intelligent in
appearance than some of our own ingeniously-contrived steam-engines.
Religious teaching is withheld, reading is forbidden, and the instruction
of a slave in it punished as a crime, lest he should learn that freedom is
his birthright.
A third and very large class of slave-owners is to be found, who, having
inherited their property in slaves, want the means of judiciously
emancipating them. The negroes are not in a condition to receive freedom
in the reckless way in which some abolitionists propose to bestow it upon
them. They must be prepared for it by instruction in the precepts of
religion, by education, and by the reception of those principles of self-
reliance, without which they have not the moral perception requisite to
enable them to appreciate the blessings of freedom; and this very
ignorance and obtuseness is one of the most telling arguments against the
system which produces it. The want of this previous preparation has been
frequently shown, particularly in Kentucky, where whole bodies of
emancipated slaves, after a few days' experience of their new condition,
have entreated for a return to servitude. These slave-owners of whom I now
speak deeply deplore the circumstances under which they are placed, and,
while wanting the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the moral courage, which
would lead them, by manumitting their slaves, to enter into a novel
competition with slave-labour on other estates, do their best to
ameliorate the condition in which the Africans are placed, encouraging
them, by the sale of little articles of their own manufacture, to purchase
their freedom, which is granted at a very reduced rate. I had
opportunities of conversing with several of these freed negroes, and they
all expressed attachment to their late owners, and spoke of the mildness
with which they were treated, saying that the great threat made use of was
to send them "down south."
The slaves in the northern slave States are a thoughtless, happy set,
spending their evenings in dancing or singing to the banjo; and 'Oh, carry
me back to Old Virginny,' or 'Susannah, don't you cry for me,' may be
heard on summer evenings rising from the maize and tobacco grounds of
Kentucky. Yet, whether naturally humane instincts may lead to merciful
treatment of the slave, or the same result be accomplished by the rigorous
censorship of public opinion in the border States, apart from the abstract
question of slavery, that system is greatly to be reprobated which gives
power without responsibility, and permits the temporal, yes, the eternal
well-being of another to depend upon the will and caprice of a man, when
the victim of his injustice is deprived of the power of appeal to an
earthly tribunal.
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