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Show THE CONTRAST. 190 the evident symptoms of while the slave· ba n k presents neglect and decay. . d lue of property depends h on1e va I know that t e m h tit will of course rise, when f aoses-t a 1 on a variety o c, ttled and when the popu a-the wilderness becomes sefi t'le' shores of t h e M' · ISSIS· as on the er I . tion increases, . hat the richness of an alluVIal .I also awate t . . . sippi. am in Lom.s l. ana, an d frequent ur1ga.t wn, as country, as f South Carolina, w11l long . rounds o . in the nce-gh auses wh ' ·h would otherw1se pro- IC counteract t e c . . h · vilege of a philosophical But 1t IS t e pn . . . doce decay.. his exam.m at 'J O n of the stat1st1cs of h1s statesman, m d lassify causes and effects. analyze an c ' 1 d country, to 't cannot be concea c . d I am sure 1 . . On th1s groun b . ewed in its (hstmct c\Ja. h· t slave Ia or VI . . h from thee, t '1 arated from c•1· rc umstanccs w1th wh1c racter, and sep. t d has a uniform ten· · lly connec e , it is not essentm . d lepreciation of land. It h haustwn an ( dency to t e ex . l to the order of nature; vh1ch be ongs · h is a conse!]uence I h th order of nature, IS t e ber t at e . but let us remem th a fruitful land mto G d "He turne ordinance of 0 - . d of them that dwell barrenness fio r the WICke ness therein." Nothing can be far· f h negroes.- IV Comforts o t e b on the slave· . . b han to heap a use 1 ther from my WIS ' t Those with whom holders of the southern states. . ble and benevolent · ted are anna have become acquam d' fi kindness and con· . them ere It or I men, and I gJVe f their slaves. can sideration, in the treatment :have been the faithful perfectly nnderstan(l.what ~:: own servant Charles, and affectionate feelmgs o y THE CONTRAST. 191 when in Canada he had thy full permission to take the flight of freedom, but averred that if all Canada was offered to him as a present, he would not leave his master. Had I been in your company, however, when this conversation took place, I might perhaps have addressed him in the language of Paul-" If thou mayest be made free, use it rather"-avail thyself of the opportunity-take the upward step in character and condition, which a good Providence opens before thee. And this advice would have I.Jeen founded on the conviction that it can never tend to any man's comfort, in the long run, to be the subject of unqualified and arbitrary power. I am very much mi~taken, if under these circumstances, happiness is not the exception- discomfort the general rule. Ignorance of his own nature and destiny is the only condition, as I believe, in which a slave can be permanently comfortable. But the infractions of comfort, to which the slaves of the United States are liable, are too notorious to be disputed. The treatment of them, as it regards food and raiment, must and will depend, not merely on the dispositions, but on the means of their mas' ters. The want of ready money in the slaveholder, often bears more severely on the slave, than the want of kindness. Again, we well know that masters are sometimes driven for many months from their properties, by the insalubrity of the location, and that the slaves are left under the care of overseers-persons of sufficiently low grade, to be induced to risk their lives for a pecuniary compensation. This must be a fruit-ful source of suffering. |