Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/152

 I remarked in her the desire for learning peculiar to the white race.

“How is it,” said some one in company to the negro, “that the assertions of the anti-slavery party regarding the treatment of the slaves, that they are often flogged and severely beaten, are declared to be false? Travellers come to the north who have long resided among the plantations of the south, and have never seen anything of the kind.”

William smiled, and said with a keen expression; “Nor are children whipped in the presence of strangers; this is done when they do not see.”

Neither of these escaped slaves complained of their masters. And though like every other thinking Christian, I must condemn slavery as a system and institution, I wait to pass judgment on American slave-holders and slavery in America—until—I have seen it nearer. I am, from experience, suspicious of party-spirit and its blindness, and whenever I see this in activity I cannot accede to it, but on the contrary feel myself inclined to opposition. I will, at all events, see and hear for and against the question before I join either party. Justice and moderation before everything!

I was two evenings at the theatre, and saw Miss Charlotte Cushman—the principal actress in the United States—in two characters, in which she produced a great effect, both here and in England, namely, Meg Merrilies and Lady Macbeth. Miss Cushman, immediately on my arrival in New York, had written very kindly to me, offering to be any use to me in her power. Here, in Boston, she placed a box at the theatre at my service, which was very agreeable to me, as I could thus invite my friends to accompany me. Miss Cushman is a powerful actress; she possesses great energy, but is deficient in feminine grace, and wants more colour in her acting, especially of the softer tone. This has reference