A Tribute for the Legro. 103 That the various bad qualities which have been ascribed to Negroes, belong rather to their habits than to their nature, and are derived both from the low state of civilization in which nearly the whole race at present exists, as well as from their unnatural situation in Slavery, is a proposition not only consistent with the analogy of all the other races of mankind, but immediately deducible from well established facts. Moral evils are uniformly and necessarily inherent under a system of oppression. It is a state in which no class of society, the dominant or the subject, is not vitiated, -vitiated in temper, in principle, in conduct. All history is proof of this; and if history failed, the present state of things, where Slavery exists, would supply ample testimony to its truth. It may well be said, that "a debasement of all the mental and moral faculties, the destruction of every honourable principle, are the never-failing consequences of Slavery; so that even the most high-spirited and courageous Negroes become, after remaining a few years in Slavery, cunning, cowardly, and to a certain degree malevolent." "It is the fact of experience, that Slavery is essentially demoralizing, and that it compounds into the character all the faithlessness and feculence of moral turpitude. There is a class of mere human virtues, which may exist independently of the direct influence of religion; but even these cannot, except by very accidental circumstances, vegetate in this soil, nor flourish in the fog and impurities of this stifling atmosphere; they require a purer air, a brisk wafting of the nobler passions, the excitement of hope, the warmth of charity, and the mountain breeze of freedom." * Nevertheless, when a master's absolute will has been expressed in a kindly tone; when authority has been enforced with a look which told that though he had the power to command, he had not the heart to be a tyrant; when he has applied his attention to their comforts, not because they were his Slaves, but because they were children of feeling, * Richard Watson's Sermons. and members of the one family of mankind; when he has borne before them the impression that he has a Master in heaven, while he is a master to them; when the asperities of Slavery have thus been mitigated by the manner in which its powers and obligations have been carried out, many have been the virtues called into operation; many the soft, the gentle, the devoted feelings brought into steady exercise; many the good, the trustworthy, and altogether praiseworthy habits which have been formed and confirmed on the part of Slaves; and, under these circumstances, the Slave has become so much alive to his master's interests, so identified in all his feelings with his master's property, and so attached to his person and his family, that he would have regarded his emancipation as a decree of banishment, if his freedom necessarily forced him from a master, to have been whose Slave, he felt, had been his happiness. There have been such cases; and though most common with domestic Slaves, they have been found among the other classes. That this state of things has not been more generally realized, is to be ascribed to no deficiency in the dispositions of the Negroes, but from their masters not exercising that kindly influence, which always so acts upon the human heart as to bring out something of its own echo. It is to the tyranny of managers and overseers, their demoralizing conduct, and the abuse of their authority, that we may mainly trace the cunning, the dissimulation, and immoral habits of the enslaved Negro, which have so long been attributed to his inherent character. "The Negro, spoiled of all that nature gave To free-born man, soon shrinks into a Slave; A silent, secret, terrible control, That rules his sinews, presses too his soul. Where'er their grasping arms the spoilers spread, The Negro's joys, his virtues too are fled.” CHAPTER X. To form a just estimate of Negro character, we must observe him under more favourable circumstances than those of Slavery-Statements of travellers who have visited Africa, describing the natives as mild, amiable, virtuous, generous, hospitable, lively, intelligent, and industrious, &c.—Their ingenuity-Clarkson's interview with the Emperor of Russia-The Emperor's surprise at the proficiency of NegroesWadstrom's testimony before the House of Commons-Further testimonies of Major Laing, Dr. Knox, Robin, Mungo Park, Dr. Channing, J. Candler, Benezet, Barrow, Le Vaillant, Dr. Philip, Pringle, Shaw, &c., &c.—Description of a Chief—Observations of the Editor of the "Westminster Review"-Remarkable that Negroes should retain so many good qualities when labouring under great disadvantages-Testimony of H. C. Howells-Dr. Channing says "we are holding in bondage one of the best races of the human family"-His delineation of the real character of the Negroes. In order to form a just estimate of the character and capabilities of the Negro, we must observe him in a somewhat more favourable situation than in those dreadful receptacles of human misery, the crowded deck of the Slave ship, or in the less openly shocking, but constrained and extorted, and consequently painful labours of the sugar plantation or of the cotton field. Amongst the civilized tribes of Africa, as well as amongst those who remain in a more savage state, we may often meet with lofty sentiments of independence, and instances of ardent courage and devoted friendship, which would sustain a comparison with the most splendid similar examples in the more highly advanced races. Honourable and punctual fulfilment of treaties and compacts, patient endurance of toil, hunger, cold, and all kinds of hardship and privation, inflexible fortitude, and unshaken perseverance in avenging insults or injuries, according to their own peculiar customs and feelings, show that they are not destitute of the more valuable moral qualities. Many travellers, and those who have had the most frequent intercourse with Africans, assure us that the P G natural dispositions of the Negro race, are mild, gentle, and amiable in an extraordinary degree. They bear ample testimony to their being possessed of intellectual capacities of no inferior order, assuring us also, hów susceptible they are of every generous and noble feeling of the mind, abounding in benevolence, hospitality, generosity, and filial affection, thus demonstrating their capability of arriving at the highest attainments of the human understanding. Not unfrequently they are described as being conspicuous for the nobler attributes of our nature, and instead of the inhabitants of that vast continent being doomed to inevitable inferiority, many are the pleasing proofs, that they are highly capable of civilization, and that they would perhaps even excel in a moral and religious point of view. 66 66 Many of the dark races," says Dr. Lawrence in his Lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, although little civilized, display an openness of heart, a friendly and generous disposition, the greatest hospitality, and an observance of the point of honour according to their own notions, from which nations more advanced in knowledge might often take a lesson with advantage. They possess a natural goodness of heart, and warmth of affection." "I can see no reason," he adds, "to doubt that the Negro is equal to any in natural goodness of heart. It is consonant to our general experience of mankind, that the latter quality should be deadened or completely extinguished in the Slave ship." Major Denham and his followers describe the Negroes as a kind-hearted race, lively, and intelligent. That in his own country, the Negro is not that lazy, worthless, and brutified being he is frequently described to be, is clearly demonstrated by the testimony of many travellers. "The industry of the Foulahs," says Mungo Park, "in agriculture and pasturage, is everywhere remarkable." Speaking of the Negroes near one of the Sego ferries, he says, "The view of this extensive city, the numerous A Tribute for the Negro. 107 houses on the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the country, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence which I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa." The same traveller, after relating an affecting interview between a poor blind Negro widow and her son, adds, "From this interview I was fully convinced that whatever difference there is between the European and the Negro in the conformation of the nose and the colour of the skin, there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature." Of the truth of this observation he gives a striking example in the conduct of the Negro woman who found him, without food or shelter, sitting under a tree in the country of Bambarra. This pleasing circumstance will be found recorded in Park's own words in another part of the present volume. In reading Ledyard, Lucas, Mungo Park, and others, we find that the inhabitants of the interior are more virtuous and more civilized than those on the sea coast; surpass them also in the preparations of wool, leather, cotton, wood, and metals; in weaving, dyeing, and sewing. Adanson, who visited Senegal in 1754, when describing the country, says, "It recalled to me the idea of the primitive race of men. I thought I saw the world in its infancy. The Negroes are sociable, humane, obliging, and hospitable; and they have generally preserved an estimable simplicity of domestic manners. They are distinguished by their tenderness for their parents, and great respect for the aged; a patriarchal virtue, which in our day is too little known." Golberry says, that in Africa there are no beggars except the blind. Barrow gives a picture, by no means unpleasing, of the Hottentots. Their indolence he attributes to the state of subjection in which they live, as the wild Bushmen are particularly active and cheerful. "They are a mild, quiet, and timid people; perfectly harmless, honest, faithful; and, |