Page:The rise, progress, and phases of human slavery.djvu/64

 character of the planter's or overlooker's house, near to which they stand." He says, "The young coloured children are brought up with the planter's children, and thus learn to read a little," though he admits "the planters forbid their learning to write." He says, "most of the planters encourage ministers in giving religious instruction to their slaves; for they have discovered that a good Christian is not a bad servant." He says that, as a consequence of the sort of paternal care bestowed upon the coloured children by the planters, and of their being brought up as companions and play-*mates with the planter's own children, "the slaves are deeply attached to the place of their birth and to the planter's children with whom they were raised, or whom they nursed in infancy;" and he adds, "this attachment is commonly returned by the planter, so that he will not part with the slaves so long as he lives or can retain them." These are pretty strong evidences. Yet there is a stronger still. It relates to that event in every man's life, which, next to his coming into the world and leaving it, is accounted the most important of his life; at all events, his happiness, more especially in the humbler ranks, is said to depend more upon it than upon any other event, or upon any other relation in which he may stand towards his species; we mean, of course, marriage and sexual intercourse. Now, how stands the negro-slave in this respect? Let us see whether the planter scowls at him for marrying; let us see whether he incurs the wrath of poor law guardians and commissioners, and the withering anathemas of Malthus, for fulfilling one of the ends of his being. Let us see, in short, whether he is menaced with starvation and death, like a "free-born Briton" of the proletarian order, for obeying a paramount law of his nature, enforced by scriptural injunction. Upon this vitally important point in the negro's condition Mr. Smith observes:—"They" (the planters) "uniformly encourage marriage amongst their slaves, and do not require a man and woman to marry unless they wish to do so. If the man fancy a woman on another plantation, the masters agree to the marriage, and one will sell the husband or the wife, so that one master may own them both." Compare these features and conditions of negro marriages with those which characterise marriages amongst the poor of this country. Where do we find a British or Irish landlord encouraging the "peasantry" to marriage? Where do we find an English or a Scotch cotton-lord, coal-king, or ironmaster promoting early marriages amongst their white slaves? Whoever heard of any of these gentry taking a young man or a young woman into his service, in order to facilitate their union with those they love? On the contrary, early marriages are systematically proscribed by these gentry, and, indeed, all marriages, early or late, amongst the poor. Nothing is more common, in this country, than for landlords to make it a condition, when letting a farm to a tenant, that he (the tenant-farmer) shall not, on any account, introduce a son-in-law or daughter-in-law beneath his roof as inmates of the establishment; whilst he (the landlord) takes care, at the same time, that there shall be no other habitations for young couples on his