They seem, indeed, like their own native deserts, to be incapable of cultivation, destitute of the capacity of improvement. The dews that would seem desirous to bless them produce no verdure; the rains only descend to sink into the barren insatiable soil, that gives back nothing in return. The sun, which in happier climes warms into maturity all the benificent products of nature, here only scorches and consumes them; the breezes which are elsewhere the harbingers of health and pleasure, of coolness and refreshment, here come freighted with disease and death; the rivers, along whose borders alone man can exist, and only the black man, while they diffuse fertility, send forth exhalations fatal to all others; and the white traveler or missionary that comes hither to teach them the true religion, falls a martyr to his purpose. It may be said, indeed, with emphatic truth, that Africa is the region of desert sterility, of savage beasts and savage men, that cannot compare with the white race of Europe, or their descendants in the New World, who, under every disadvantage of situation, have attained to an elevated superiority which they now seem anxious to sacrifice in the desperate hope, that instead of sinking to the dead level of the African, they will be able to lift him to their own. Admitting, however, the theory, that the inferiority of the negro in the United States, and every other country in which he has been held in bondage, may be traced to that gradual debasement which is the natural result of successive generations of slavery, and that an equal succession of generations of freemen will bring them up to the level of equality with ourselves, it seems somewhat unreasonable to call upon the South to pay the penalty, and bear all the consequences of the experiment.
The freemen of the United States have been stigmatized as aristocrats,* (See Mr. O'Connell's rhapsodies.) because they refuse to become accomplices in this conspiracy against themselves. If they are really aristocrats, it is certainly on a noble and elevated scale. They support the great and universal aristocracy of mind. They maintain the superiority, not of birth, title, or usurpation, but of intellect and civilization. In short, they remain true to their allegiance to the dignity of their nature, and reject with an honourable disdain the loathsome idea of sacrificing the natural aristocracy of virtue and talent for the purpose of voluntarily degrading their very being by an inferior mixture. They never will consent to become traitors to themselves and their peculiar species. They cannot be persuaded or bullied into such an abandonment of their superiority; nor will all the power of the British press, backed by British emissaries, and the burly declamations of Mr. O'Connell, convince them that the law of God, or the law of nature, exacts the sacrifice of their birthright, which is nothing less than the noble distinction which nature has bestowed on the great aristocracy of the white man. This is the aristocracy to which they aspire, founded on the only legitimate basis of courage, intellect, vigour, enterprise, and perseverance. They will never prostitute that inheritance at the shrine of an abstract principle, nor be frightened from their dominion by fanatics, at home or abroad. The project of amalgamation is hopeless and impracticable.
It remains then to inquire into the precise relations which alone can subsist between equal, or nearly equal numbers of white and black men, living together; the one possessing all the property, as well as all the political power, the other, of course, destitute of both; or on the other hand without property, yet admitted to all the rights of citizens.
In thus dissenting from the doctrine of entire equality between the white and black races of men, it is far from our design to insinuate that the latter are not justly entitled to a full participation in whatever offices of benevolence may conduce to their welfare and happiness. The lower they may be in the scale of rational beings, the more they are entitled to our sympathies in their behalf. But it seems to us that these sympathies might be displayed to better purpose, in doing all we can to make them happy in their present state, than in desperate efforts to elevate them to another for which all past experience shows them to be greatly disqualified.
In making them believe themselves unhappy, we confer no benefit, unless we at the same time afford them the means of happiness. In giving them knowledge, we tempt them to that forbidden fruit, the taste of which banished our first parents from peace and content; for nothing is more certain than that knowledge, which disqualifies us for the enjoyment of the means of happiness we possess, without enabling us to obtain those we desire, is but a type of the gift of Satan in the garden of Eden. It is only when we possess a right to the exercise and enjoyment of every acquisition, that its attainment is at all desirable or salutary. A clear perception of the blessings of liberty, without the prospect of ever attaining to them, is equivalent to the tortures of Tantalus. To be chained to a rock, and hear the waters gurgling at our foot, to touch yet not be able to taste, adds tenfold to the miseries of thirst. To dream of freedom every night and awake every morning a slave, is to aggravate our impatience of all restraint; and never did inspiration give utterance to a truer axiom, than did the poet when he said—
"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."One thing, however, is practicable, and will do more to pluck the sting from the heart of the slave than all the wild schemes of fanatical reformers. It is to treat them with a patriarchal kindness, "forbearing threatening," as the greatest of the apostles enjoins; making due allowances for their ignorance, and for the peculiarity of their tempers and disposition; giving them such food, raiment, and lodging, as their habits and necessities require; permitting them the free enjoyment of their holy-days, and their hours of rest and relaxation; interchanging with them all those kind offices not incompatible with the relations that subsist between the master and slave; exacting from them nothing but a fair return for protection and maintenance; and taking special care that the sick, the children, and the aged who are past labour, are provided with everything essential to their comfort.
That such is the treatment, except in a few rare instances, of the slaves of the South, all who have resided in that quarter will bear testimony, if they speak the truth. Slavery is becoming gradually divested of all its harsh features, and is now only the bugbear of imagination. If the masters are not deterred from further concessions by the unwarrantable interference of the abolitionists, the period will soon come, if it has not already come, when the slave of the South will have little cause to envy the situation of the other labouring classes of the world. They will have nothing to desire but what is equally the object of pursuit to all mankind, namely, some fancied good beyond their reach, or which, if attained, either detracts from their happiness, or leaves them just where they were before.
It may possibly be objected to us, that these and similar sentiments scattered through this work, savour of optimism, and consequently tend to discourage all efforts in behalf of public or individual happiness. But if fairly scrutinized, such will not be found to be the case; for, though all mankind were optimists in theory, still there would be none in practice. Our abstract opinions have little, if any influence over our conduct. We are impelled to action by our wants or our passions, not by our metaphysical refinements; and the stoutest believer in the equal, unalterable happiness of all mankind, will not the less ardently labour to increase his own.
