UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

doctorin'on
"
which
now
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN.
the account. He also says that the "And make the nightjointlaborer with the
gentleman
day ;"
who managed so benevolently told him. though, to lightenthe burden as much as possible,
the gang is divided into two watches, one
"I do not make much money out of my
slaves."
It will be easy to show that such is the
nature of slavery, and the temptations of
masters, that such well-regulated
If even the religious and benevolentmaster
feels the difficulty of unitingany great
consideration for the comfort of the slave
women, compelled day and night,
under the lash of a driver,for a period of
with prudence and economy, how readilythree months.
must the moral question by minds Possibly, ifthe gentlemanwho wrote this
of the coarse style of thoughtwhich we have account were employed, with his wife and
supposedin Legree!
family, in this "cheerful scene" of labor,
"I used to,when I fust begun,have considerable
trouble fussin' with 'em, and tryingto make
'em hold "
out, 'em up when they's
soul, forced on in the generalgang, in this
sick,and givin' on 'em clothes,and blankets,and toilwhich
what not, trying to keep 'em all sort o' decent
"
and comfortable. Law, 'twant no sort o' use ; I Does not divide the Sabbath from the week,
lost money
on 'em, and 'twas heaps o' trouble. And makes the nightjointlaborer with the day,"
Now, you see, I justput 'em straighthrough,
"
sick or well. When one nigger'sdead, I buy possibly, ifhe saw all this,he might have
another ; and I find it comes cheaperand easier another opinion of its cheerfulness ; and it
every way."
"When
has once commenced, there
cessation of labor tillit is completed.From
is no
the grinding
beginning to end a busy
work
The
negroes,
"
WTiose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week,"
from eighteen to twentyhours,
and cheerful scene continues.
takingthe firstand the other the last part of the
night;and,notwithstanding this continued labor,
the negroes improvein appearance, and appear
fat and flourishingṪhey drink freely of canejuice,and
the sickly among them revive,and
"
"
"
plantations
are and must be infinitely
the
become robust and
minority,
healthy.
After the
and grinding
exceptional
finished, the
cases.
negroes have
several holidays, when theyare quite
The Rev. Charles C. Jones,a man of the
liberty dance and frolicas much as
finest feelings humanity, and for theyplease; and the
many cane-song
is improvisedby one of the
years an assiduous laborer for the benefitof gang, the rest all joining
prolongedand unin
the slave,himself the owner of a plantation,
telligible chorus breaks,night and day,
and qualified, therefore, to judge, both upon
by
ear, in notes "
most musical,most melancholy."
experience and observation, says, after speaking
of the greatimprovidence of the
The above is inserted as a
negroes,
specimen of the
engendered by slavery
facility with which the most horriblefacts
:
may be told in the genteelest phrase. In a
And, indeed,once for all,I will here say
that
work entitled "Travels in Louisiana in
the wastes of the system are so great, as well as
1802" is the
the fluctuationin prices of the staple articles for
following extract (seeWeld's
"
market, that it is difficult, nay, impossible, to indulge
Slaveryas It Is," p. 134), from which it
in largeexpenditureson plantations, and
appears that this cheerfulprocess of laboring
make them savinglyprofitable. Religious night and daylaststhree months
p. 11C.
!
Now, let any
one learn the privatehistory
of seven hundred blacks, men and
if he saw the woman that he loved,the
daughter who was dear to him as his own
might be an eminentlysalutarythingif
Added to thisțhe peculiar mode of labor every apologist for slaverywere to enjoy
on the sugar plantation is such that the
some
master,
such privilege for a season, particularly
at a certain season of the as Mr. year, must Ingrahamis careful to tell us that
over-work his slaves, unless he is itseffect
willing to
upon the general health isso excellent
incur
'
greatpecuniary loss. In that that the
very
negroes improve in appearance,
gracefully written apology for slavery, Professor
and appear
fat and flourishing, and that the
Ingraham's "Travels in the Southwest,"
sicklyamong them revive,and become
the following description of
robust and sugarmakingis
given.We quote from him in surprising fact,if working slaves night and
healthy. One would think it a
preference to any one else,because he speaksday, and giving them cane-juice to drink,
as an apologist, and describes the thingwith reallyproduce such salutaryresults, that
the grace of a Mr. the
Skimpole.
practice should not be continued the
whole year round ; though,perhaps, in this
case, the negroes would become so fat as to
be unable to labor. Possibly, it is because
this healthful process is not longer continued
thatthe agricultural societiesof Louisiana
are obliged to set down an annual loss of
slaves on
sugar plantations to the amount