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Show 22 PORl.RAlTURE OF SLAVJ:RY. ceivably horrible, under the cruel lash and. uncontrolled power of a master, who is destitute of edu~h?n o_r ~trtuc; whose prompttT is avarice, and whose rchg10n IS mtemperancc, and the gratification of the most fCrociou~ passions. -It is apprehended that m?ny thousands,. if 11ot lzundreds of thousands, are thus sttuated! And 1t ts of but little avail, if the master himself be enlightened and humane, as long as he consigns his people to the hands of a cruel stony-hearted overseer. Let Jeg1slators then, both nationnl and sectional, perform their duty to their country, and its posterity ;-and. to mankind, by listening to the wise counsels of many conspicuous living sages, and pur. sue without hesitation the inestimable "parting advice" of George \Vashington, Benjamin Rush, Samuel Adams, and other departed fi·iends and pa~rons of man~ "_to p_ro~ mote, as o~jects qj' PRIMAUY tmportance, mstztutwns for the GENERAL diffusion q/ knowledge:"-and establish PUBLIC SCHOOLS in every part of the republic,..__ And, as all men are vitally interested in the universal dissemination of knowledge and virtue, let all classes combine their influence and means, in aiding the cauS<: of human happiness. I can well predict the alarm that many will sound, at the project of introducing letters among slaves. . Some win imagine that knmvlcd~e would be a dan gcr~:ms mstru~ ment in their hands. It 1s true knowledge d1sarms opprcs~ ion. But those who have experienc~d und a J~p~eciated its almost uniform tendency, wtll perce1ve that It IS a pa~ cific weapon,-an olive branch,-ac~?mpa1~ied by moderation, justice, arrd moral duty: ~.dl.JCatJOn has b~en calumniated with the charge of mst1gatmg the rebellton and shucking outrages of the slaves in St. Domingo. But the fuct is precisely the reverse. The catastrophe was produced chiefly by the haughtiness and imprudence of the white planters, in opposing decrees of the French government, which concerned only the rights of freemen. In this civil war, in which the white planters were arrayed against the laws of the national a~se_mbly, and ~J:e planters of colour in defence of them, 1t IS not surpnsmg that the siaves should t.1ke sides with their ncm·cst relations. PORTRAITURE OF SLAVERY. 25 The consequent atrocities, most unquestiom!b~v re_sulted from the remembrance of the former barbanty* of mas. ters, in -----the dark uncultur'tl so ul, Dy education unrefin'tl (Where hissing malice, vices foul, And all the hateful JIUSsions prowl,) 'l'he frightful wilderness of mind ~~ELLECK OsnonNE. As ment:1l irnprovcment advances, vengeance and ~r}mes recede. That desirable happy era, when the spmt . of peace and benevolence shall perva~e all the nauons winch inhabit the earth -when both natiOnal and personul slavery shall be an~ihilated ;-when nations and individuals ~hall cease to hunt and destroy each other's lives and pro~ perty ;-when the science and implen~ents or human pre-. servation and felicity, shall be substituted for those o( slaughter and woe; will commence, precisely _at the moment when the rays of usefUl knowledge and tuzsdom, shall have been extended to the whole hum<.m ii1mily. By usc. f'Jl knowledge, I mean, not only an acquaintanc~ wi t!~ va~ luable arts and sciences, but also an understandmg of our various moral and religious duties, in relation to our creator, to our neighbor, and to ourselves. By wisdom, I mean that kind of sagacity, w!lich influences us to regu~ late our passions and conduct, in co~1f?rmity to. the pre. cepts of knowledge, reuson and rel~gaon.. Unt1l an up. preach towards such " stale of thmgs, IS effected, the * " Give me an uniJiformed brute, said ftf~raheau, and 1 'ltill soon make him a ferocious monster. ll wru a wlnte, 1vlw_ first .1Jiun~;ed .s negro into a burning oven,-wllo da.Jhcd out the brauu oj a chdd m the presence of ilsjiJ.ther,-wl10 fed a slave n:ilh his orvn pr~per flesh. These are the monsters thai have to accou11t for the bm·banly of the revolted savages. Millions of .B.fricans have perished on this soil of blood. In thia dreadful struggle O,~ crim~a oft~e tvhilt3_ are yel ihe. most horrible :-They m·e the offipnng oj de.spofmn; rvh1l~t those oj ti1P. blacks origi11ale in the halredofslavery-lhe thirst of vengeance." [Speech of 1\f. Driasott, in the ·French National Assembly, lit DccembPr, 1791.] |