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Show 64 the same time, humanity requires that the whole truth should be honeotly spoken. In treatino· of the evils of slavery, I, of course, speak of it s0 general, not uni ve rsal effects, of its natural tendencies, not unfailing results. There are the same natural difFerences among the bond as the free, and there is a great dirersity in the circumstances in 1rhich they are placed. The bouse-slave, selected for ability and faithfulness, placed amidst the habits, accommodations, and improvements of civilized life, admrtted t~. a degree of' confidence and familiarity, and requrtmg these privileges with attachment, is almost n eces~ sarily more enligh tened and res pectable than the field-sla ve, who is confined to monotonous torls, and to the society and influences of beings as degraded as himself. The mechanics in this cl~ss are sensibly benefited by occupatrons whrch grve a higher action to the mind. Among the bond, as the fi·ee, will be found those to whom nature seems partial, and who are carried almost instinctively towards what is good. I speak of the natural, general influences of slavery. Here, as every where else, there are exceptions to the rule, and exceptions which multiply with the moral impr·o1•ements of the community in which the slave is found. But these do not determine the general character of the institution. It has general tendencies founded in its very nature, and 65 which predominate vastly wherever it exists. These tendencies it is my present purpose to unfold. l. The first rank among the evils of slavery must be given to its Moral influence. This is throughout debasing. Coipmon language teaches this. We can say nothing more insulting of another, than that he is Slavish. To possess the spirit of a slave is to have sunk to the lowest depth s. We can apply to slavery no worse name than its own. Men have always shrunk instinctively from this state, as the most degraded. No punishment, save death, has been more dreaded, and to avoid it death has often been endured. In expressing the moral influence of slavery the first and most obvious remark is, that it destroys the proper consciousness and spirit of a Man. The slave regarded and treated as property, bought and sold like a brute, denied the rights of humanity, unprotected against insult, made a tool, and systematically subdued, that he may be a manageable, useful tool, how can he help regarding l•imself as fallen below his race? How must his spirit be crushed ! How can he respect himself? He becomes bound to Servility. This word, borrowed from his condition, expresses the ruin wrought by slavery within him. The idea, that he was made 5 |