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34 bettered the condition of the slave, nor has it really elevated any portion of the negro race; it has sent no missionary, no Bible, no cup of cold water even, to the poor wretches over whom they shed their crocodile tears, but on the contrary, this satanic faction has exasperated many a benevolent master, who was inclined to emancipate his slaves, and thus secured their perpetual bondage; it has taken the Bible and all other books out of the hands of the slave, by causing laws to be passed, in self-defence, which forbids him to learn to read; has forced the master to tighten the rein and watch his servant with a cold and jealous eye, has curtailed his legal liberty in all respects, and at the same time, has made the poor bondsman restless and wretched from the vague hope of emancipation; has caused countless murders and many insurrections, in which the negro always was the greater sufferer without gaining the slightest advantage; has led to many attempts at escape which ended in the negro's punishment and worse enslavement; has kept many innocent hearts in the most distressing state of alarm. It has curtailed, indeed, almost annihilated free discussion of the subject in the South; it has rallied thousands to the support of slavery, who else would have been labouring for its extermination, indeed, it is clearly responsible for the present existence of slavery in Maryland, Kentucky, and Virginia: it has inspired the free black population with hopes never to be realized, (as Mr. Birney himself is now forced to admit) and made them more despised by the