Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/303

 CHAPTER XXXV.

THE CURSE OF SLAVERY.

The demoralization which the institution entailed upon all classes in the community in which it existed, was indeed fearful to contemplate; and we may well say that slavery is the curse of curses. While it made the victim a mere chattel, taking from him every characteristic of manhood, it degraded the mind of the master, brutalized his feelings, seared his conscience, and destroyed his moral sense.

Immorality to a great extent, pervaded every slave-*holding city, town, village, and dwelling in the South. Morality and virtue were always the exceptions. The Southern clergy, backed by the churches, defended their right to hold slaves to the last. Houses of religious worship and the negro pen were often in sight of each other.

The Southern newspapers teemed with advertisements, which were a fair index to this monstrous social evil.

Now that slavery is swept away, it may be interesting to see some of these newspaper notices, in the light of the new dispensation of freedom.