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Show 62 when I cons'lder that Christianity is declared to be a spirit of charity , "which seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil and enduretll all things," and is also declared to be " the wisdom from above, which is first pme, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits ; " can I hesitate in deciding, to which of the races in that land Christianity is most adapted, and in which its noblest disciples are most likely to be reared ? It may be said, indeed, of all the European nations, that they are distinguished by qualities opposed to the spirit of Christianity; and it is one of the most remarkable events of history, that the religion of Jesus should have struck root among them. As yet it has not subdued them. The "law of honor," the strongest of all laws in the European race, is, to this day, directly hostile to the character and word of Christ. The African carries within him, much more than we, the germs of a meek, long-suffering, loving virtue. A short residence among the negroes in the West Indies impressed me with their capacity of improvement. On all sides I heard of their religious tendencies, the noblest in human nature. I saw, too, on the plantation where I resided, a gracefulness and dignity of form and motion, rare in my own native New England. And tbis is the race which has been selected to be trodden down and confounded with 63 the brutes! Undoubtedly the negroes are debased ; for were slavery not debasing, I should have little quarrel with it. But let not their degradation be alleged in proof of peculiar incapacity of moral elevation. T hey are given to theft; but there is no peculiar aggravaterl guilt, in stealing from those by whom they are robbed of all their rights and their very persons. T hey are given to falsehood· but this is the very effect produced by oppression 0~ the Irish peasantry. They are undoubtedly sensual; and yet the African countenance seldom shows that coarse, brutal sensuality, which is so common in the face of the white man. I should expect from the African race, if civilized, less energy, less courage, less intellectual originality than in our race, but more amiableness, tranquillity, gentleness, and content. They might not rise to an equality in outward condition, but would probably be a much happier race. There is no reason for holdin" such • b a race m chains ; they need no chain to make them harmless.* In the remarks now made I have aimed only to express my sympathy with the wronged. As to the white population of the South, I have no intention to disparage it. I have no undue partiality to the North ; for I believe, that were northern men * See note at the end. |