Page:The White Slave, or Memoirs of a Fugitive.djvu/329

 me sufficient assurance of, that upon the subject of the evils or wrongs of slavery, he was perfectly impenetrable. Remembering, therefore, the evangelical injunction of not casting pearls before swine's feet, I contented myself with letting him understand that, however it might be in America, which I freely admitted to be a great country, the practices of slave hunts and negro burning were wholly incompatible with my English ideas of civilization or Christianity. This statement of my sentiment was received by my host with a gracious smile, a condescending wave of the hand, and the observation — evidently intended to be apologetical for my heresies, and exculpatory of them — that the prejudices of John Bull, upon some points, were unaccountable.

These mutual explanations occurred very soon after reaching the planter's house. As hopeless, apparently, of convicting me, as I was of making any impression upon him, he allowed the subject to drop; and during the remainder of my stay with him, we conversed upon indifferent matters only. As soon as I felt able to ride, I hastened to resume my journey — not without a friendly warning from my host to be cautious how I gave utterance to my English prejudices. When travelling in Turkey, — so he remarked, without seeming to be aware how little creditable the comparison was to his state of South Carolina, — it was best to do as they did in Turkey, or, at least, to let the Turks do as they chose, without interference or observation.





after arriving at Charleston, which I reached without any further adventure worthy of note, I waited upon the mercantile gentlemen to whom I had letters of credit. Upon entering the counting room, I found another stranger there, whom,