Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/466

Rh in the present uncultivated condition of the negroes do without the whip on the plantations) as a punishment for theft and quarrels; but for driving them to their work it is not at all necessary.

“I am convinced that slaves might become free servants, and as such would work very well. All those dangers which are predicted in emancipation are, in my opinion, mere dreams. If emancipation were to take place gradually and wisely, it would then proceed without danger or difficulty. The experiments which some persons, and among these Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Henderson, have tried with their slaves, have proved this.

“Education, accompanied by a prospect of emancipation, would be the right means.

“But a great many things must be changed here before such an idea as this becomes general. I know men of high religious professions who have been the most cruel of slave-owners.

“And if I were to divulge all that I have seen, and that I know has taken place, and still takes place in these States, it would be enough to make the hair stand on end on the head of every right-minded person.

“The histories of fugitive slaves, some of which I have read, are not always to be relied upon. I often see that they fabulate, and there is no need of fabulation to make the condition of the slave horrible. The reality is worse than any fiction. And if I were a slave, I should—oh, I should certainly—leap into the river, and put an end to my life!”

These words, and the narratives with which they were interspersed of fearful things which have occurred, and are still of daily occurrence on these shores, mingled themselves like a poisoned wind with the summer breezes which still caressed me. I beheld the old slave hunted to death because he dared to visit his wife,—beheld him