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Show ) 276 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. As I had constant care of tho child, I hacl little op. porLnnity to soc tho wonders of that great city; but I \Vatchcd the tide of life that flo·wcd through the .·tt·oots, and found it a strange contra ' t to the stagnati n in our Southern to\vns. ~fr. Bruce took his little daughter to spcnJ orne clay with friend in Oxford Ore cent, anJ of course it \vas necessary for 1nc to acco1npany her. I had heard n1uch of the systcn1atic 1ncthod of English education, and I was very de ·irou that 1ny dear ~fary should steer straight in the n1id ·t of so much propriety. I closely ob crvcd her li ttle play. mates and their nurses, being ready to take any les ons in the science of good 1nanagcn1cnt. ~rho children were more rosy than A.mcricau children, but I did not sec that they differed 1natcrially in other rc ·poets. They were like all children- so1ncLi tnc.· docile and s01nc· ti1ncs ·wayward. 'V e next ·went to Steven ton, in Berkshire. It was a small town, said to be the poore tin the county. I saw men workiug in tho field for ·ix ·billings, and soYon shilling., a week, and \YOlnen for sixpence, and . ovcnpcnco, a day, out of \vhich they LoardcJ thc1u.·elvcs. Of course they lived in the nto t pri1nitivc n1anner; it could not Lc otherwise, ·where a \VOlnan's \vage · for an entire day ·were not ·ufficient to buy a pound of n1ea.t. They paiJ very lo\v rent ·, and their clothes \Yore n1adc of the cheapest fabric , though n1u ch better than could have been procured in the United tatcs for the an1c money. I had hoardinuch about the opprcs ·ion of the poor in Europe. Tho people I saw around n1o wore, many of thc1n, an1ong the poorc.t poor. But when 1 visited thc1n in their little thatched cottage:, I iclt that [ ' ( A Vifit to Engl1nd. the condi Lion of CYon tho meanest and 1no ·t ignorant ~nnon g thCJn \vas vastly. npcrjor to the condition of Lhc mo ·t 1hYorod :lave.· in A1ncrica. They labored hnr<l; bnt they 'vcrc not ordcrcu ouL to toil while ihe .tars were in the .·ky, and dri \'On and sla.·hcd hy an orcrsocr, through heat and cold, till the stars shone out ao·ain. ~rhoir hon1os were very 1nunblo ; Ln t they wore b • protected by law. No insolent patrols could c01ne, in tho doa<.l of n i o·ht, and flog then1 at their plea .. ure. The fath er , \vhcn he clo.·ctl hi · cottage door, felt .·aCe with hi fa1nily aronnJ hinL Ko 1na.·ter or o\·e1-.·cer coul<l co1nc and take fro1n hin1 hi~ wift~ or hi · daughter. ~rh oy n1u t .·cparato to earn their living; but the parents kne\V \VhCrC th eir children were goi ll cr, anJ. could colnlnunicato \Vith th01n by letter . The relations of hn. Land and wife, parent and child, wore too sacred for the richc 't noLle in the land to viohtte with in1punity. ~fuch wa being clone to eulio·hten the ·c poor people. Schools \vcro c.·tal>li.·hccl mnong th01n, and bcnc\·olont societies \Vcrc active in effort to mncliorato their condition. There was no law forbidding them to learn to read and 'write; and if they hc1 peu each other in ·polling out the Dible, they were in no danger of thirty-nine la ·hes, as wa · the ca. o wilh lnysclf ancl poor, pious~ oltl uncle Fr cl. I repeat that tho mot ignorant and tho n1o. t de. titute of thc~e pea:ants was a thou. and fold better off than the n1ost pmnpered A.1ncrican slave. I do not deny that the poor arc oppre..,sod in Europe. I a1n not dispo ·eel to paint their condition so ~,~so .. colorccl as tho lion. ~fiss l\Inrray paint· tho conddwn of the slarcs in ihc lTnitcd EtaLcs. ..A. sn1all portion 2-± |