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Show 50 DESPOTISJ\1 one side 1 Is it so terrible and atroc.ious a thing •• that my enemy dares to struggle in my gr~sp1 What though l have him on the ground,. my knee upon his breast, and a dagger at his thro~t, IS 1t so ~trange that even in that position, still he resists, and stnves to push his weapon to my heart? Slavery being in its nature, a permanent state of war, although the overwhelming force of the masters restrains the slaves for the most part to an apparent snbmission, vet occasional outbreaks must from time to time be ~xpected. 'The ignorance in wl~i~h the slaves are kept, makes them incapable of perceivmg the utter hopelessness of success ; and tP..ere are some hot tempers, ahd enthusiastic minds, which, though they did perceive it, would still be ready to risk any thing and every thing, for the most trifling chance of freedom andrevenge. The danger from these outbreaks is extremely small. They will cost the masters now and then a few lives; but that is the fortune of war, and those brave soldiers who can slaughter the enemy with such perfect indifference, if not with absolute gusto, ought to be able to lose a few of their own number, without being so wholly carried away with panic terror. An intended rising requires preparations, means, and an extended combination, which generally lead to its detection before the conspirators are ready to act. Besides, it is only under peculiar circumstances, that any thing of the kind can be attempted. The slaves arc so much in the power, and at the mercy of their masters, that they seldom venture upon any thing like vio· lent opposition; they content themselves, for the most part, with a passive resistance. rrhe master claims, and endeavors to possess him· self of the whole time, capacity and labor of the slave. ':f:lhe slave does not venture openly to resist this rob· bery; but he attempts, by all the silent and qniet means in his power, to evade it, to escape the exactions, and to diminish the plunoor of his master. He yields his time from day-light, until dark; or rather he seems to yield it; for if he be not constantly TN Al\lEnTCA, 51 '~a.~ched, he contrives to regain hours and moments, :vl~Ich as he can apply .them to no bcltcr use, he spends midlcness or sleep .. H1s capacity is a thing more in his own power. 1t IS m general, only certain simple acts ofmanual labor that can be extorted by force. The mmd IS free. A master cannot force his slave lO rcason, to remember, or except in certain cases to hear or sec. If l~c is sent "~ith a message, he forge;s it. H~ ne.vcr considers that If the fence is broken, the cattle w11l get among the corn; and if they do, he neither sees nor hears them. The thing he is commanded to do that single thing h~ docs, and nothing else. The mas~ te.r would go lmntmg, and he sends his slave to bring ~us powder-flask .. The slave. sees there is no powder m 'it;-but what IS that to h1m ?-he docs as he was bid, and. carries the flask. \Vhen the gun is to be loaded, Jt appears then there is no ~mmunition . "Go home," says the master. ''in the closet on the upper shelf there is a canister' of powder: fill the flask and bring it t.o me." As it lwppcns, th'crc arc two c'anisters, one good, the other damaged. The slave takes down. the_ damaged canister first, a11d without fnrtl1er exam mat Ion fills the flask with powdrr that cannot be ~1scd, and carries it to his rnastt'r. llc is set to plantmg corn. The seed, it. chances, is worm-eaten and decaye~. 'Vh.at is that t~ him ? 11? goes on planting. I~ IS J~lst so m .every thmg else. lie neglects to exerCISe Ins reasor~mg facnltics at all. He becomes a ppare_ ntly as stnp1d and thoughtless as the mule he drives. '~ hat~vcr .rapa~ity or.undcrstanding he may have, he smks It, hides It, ::mmhilatPS it, rather than its fruits shonld be filched from him hy his owner. lie is compelled to !abo\· so many hours; bnt he t~kes. care. to labor ~o tbc lrast po:-:.siblc advan tage. liothmg stunnlates hun hnt the fear of the whip· aud under the sbow of diligence be proceeds with the greatest poS>ible dawdling and deliberation. Is he a brJck-l~yer? lle selects a brick with raution and solcrnmty; he tnrns it over a dozen times; lle looks as carefully at every side of it as if iJ were covered |