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Show 70 DESPO'l'!Si\1 allies in the numerous class of freedmen. ~he emancipations constantly goin.g_ on would ~oon, m fact, have put an end to the condition o~ servitude, had .not _the numbers of the enslaved been kept good by f1csh ~mportations and purchases. ~Vhcn at length _tl_lC~C~ unportations ceased, slavery m towns and Cities soon came to an end; the slavery of the country w~s changed into villauage, and villanage ended at last, Ill liberty. . To a certain extent, many of t~ese obs.erv~twns apply to slavery as i~ exists in Brazil and Span.Jsh Am~rica. However disastrous may be t~1c social con?Ition of those countries, it is not dcstitntc of alleviat: ons. 'I'hc slave is at least regarded as a man, and is always cheered by the prospect and the hope offrccdom. His efforts to obtam1t by purchase, by gammg the good- will of his master, or by other peaceable 1neans, are encouraged by the la_ws ~nd b¥ public opinion; and if he attempt to quahfy htmsclf for the more advantageous possesswn of 1t, so laudable an amhition is approved and applauded. In the United States, w1th aH tlJelr democracy, there prevails a totally different system. It is laid down, as an indisptttable maxim, that the freedom, t~e equality, the moral and social elevation o~ the s~rvdc cla_s~, or any of its members, arc total_ly mconststcnt WJt,l the dignity, the interest, the existence cyen of the privileged order. 'fhat contempt1 ~hat ant1p~thy, that disgust which the degraded condttion of scrvttudc naturally inspires, is sedu lously aggravated by ~he whole conrse of education, and is artfully, though lmpcrccptibly, transferred from condition to :ace; a~1d to ~rown the whole the idea is earnest! y and mdustnously 1!1cul~ cated th~t these suggestions of prejudice and Igno~ ranee', arc the very innate promptings o_f nature. In consequence, the natural sympn:thJC~ of ltun;t~nity arc first smothered and then cxtmgmshed. 1 he privileged C(~ase to cons ide~ the s~rvilc class as be\?1~3- ing to the same scale ofbcmg w1th themselves. I he slaves in the estimate of their masters, lose all the at- IN Al\lERICA. 71 tributes of humanity. The kindest, the most tenderhearted, _the most ph.ilanthrop_ic of ~he privileged order, learn to be perfectly satisfied when the animal wauts of the servile class are tolerably provided for. 'ro make any account of their mental wants.-that is to entertain the idea that they arc men,-is consid~ ered an absurd, a misplaced and a fanatical tenderness,. certain, i~ persevered in, to uproot the foundations of society, and to end in results indeterminate, but terri blc. For th~ slaves. are regarded not merely as animals, but as ammals of the wtldcst and most ferocious character. 'They arc thought to be like tigers, trained to draw the plough, whom nothing but fear, the whip, and constant watchfulness, keep at a ll in subjection; wlto would take advantage of the sl ightest relaxation of the discipline that restrains them, to break away from their unwilling labors; and who if left to themselves, would quickly recover their savage nature, and find no enjoyment except to riot in blood. "\-Vhether or not there is any thing of reason and truth in these ideas, is not now the qncstion. SuHice it to say, that they arc universally prevalent throughout the southern states. They are tlic received, I he authorized, the established creed. They arc interwoven iuto t!1e very frame· work of society; laws, customs, c!taritJes, morals, and religion, all arc modified by them. Doubtless there arc meu of reflection and discernment and men in whom a warm benevolence snpplies th~ place of reflection and discenlffiCllt, who perceive more or less clearly, the monstrous and extravagant absurdity of these popular ideas. But for their lives tl .. ·y dare not whisper the suspicion of a doubt. To Jo so w?u_ld be high treason against the authority of' the pnvJ_Ic_gcd order,-an order as jealous, fretful and suspiCwns as ever was the aristocracy of Veni~e; nnd a~ apt to punish too, on vague suspicion, wi thout a tnal, _or a responsible accuser. It IS plain that emancipation can form no part of such a system. In South Carolina, Georgia, Alaba- |