UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

on
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN.
This condition of thingswill appear
far
more probable in the section of country
where the scene of the storyis laid. It is
in the south-western states,where no
provision
is raised on the plantations, but the
influence upon the master or overseer.
At the time Avhen it was discussed whether
By confining the slavesto the Southern States,
where crops are raised for exportation, and bread
and meat are purchased, you doom them to scarcity
and hunger. It is proposedto hem in the blacks
where they are ill fed. Slaveryas It Is, p. 28.
student,who resided near Natchez,
Miss.,in 1834-5, says
:
On almost every plantation, the hands suffer
more or less from hunger at some seasons of almost
every year. There is always a good deal ofsuffering
from hunger. On many plantations, and par-
in Louisianațhe slaves are in a condition
of almost utter famishmențduring a greatportion
of the year.
" Ibid.
Mr. Tobias Baudinot Șt. Albans,Ohio,
a member of the Methodist Church, who for
was a navigatoron the Mississippi,
some
years
says :
at a distance without touchingit, " but me prefer
ticularly muslin, if you please : muslin de fashion dis
Chrismus."
"
Very well,Jane,call to-morrow,and you shall
sunning
'
The slaves down the Mississippi are half-starved. gratuity,
The boats,when theystop at night, are constantly carpentersfor the
boarded by slaves,begging for somethingto eat.
Ibid.
On the Avhole, while itisfreely and cheerfully
do in no whit impair
admitted that many individualshave "gang" of
made most commendable advances in regard
to the provision for the physical comfort of besides children,
the slaveștillit is to be feared that the
picture of the accommodations on Legree's
plantation has as yet too many counterparts.
Lest,however,the author should be suspected
of keeping back anythingwhich
mightserve to throw lighton the subject,
she will insert in fullthe following incidents
on the other side, from the pen of the accomplished
Professor In graham.How far these
may be regardedas exceptional cases, or as
"
"
"
pictures general mode of providing
supplyfor the slaves is all purchased for slaves, may safely be left to the good
the more northern states.
sense of the reader. The professor's anecdotes
Let the reader now imaginethe various
are as follows :
temptations which might occur to retrench
"What can
the allowance of the slaves,under thesecircumstances
you do with so much tobacco'?"
; scarcity money,
financial
said a gentleman, who related the circumstance
to me, hearing a planter, whom he was visiting,
embarrassment,highprice of provisions, and give an order to his teamster to bring two
various causes of the kind,bring a greathogsheads of tobacco out to the estate from the
"
Landing."
it is a harmless
"
I purchase it for my ; negroes
the State of Missouri should be admitted as
indulgence, which it gives me pleasureto afford
them."
a slave state țhe measure, like all measures
Why are
you at the trouble and expense of
"
for the advancement of this horrible system,
havinghigh-post bedsteads for your negroes?"
was advocated on the good old pleaof humanity
said a gentlemanfrom the North, while walking
through the handsome "
quarters,"or village, to the negroes ; thus Mr. Alexander the slavesțhen in progress on a plantation Smyth, in his speechon the Natchez
slaveryquestion, addressing proprietor.
" To
Jan. 21, suspend
1820,says:
bars ' from,
not be troubled with mosquitos."
that theymay
"
Master,me would like, if you please, bit gallery front my house."
"
For what, Peter?"
"
'Cause,master,the sun too hot [an odd reason
for a negro to give] that side, and when he
rain we no able to keep de door open."
"
Well,well,when a carpentergets a littleleisure,
This is a simplerecognition of the state
of thingswe have adverted to. To the
same purport, Mr. Asa A. Stone,a theo-
you shall have one."
A few.weeks after, I was at the plantation, and
logicalridingpast quarters one Sabbath morning,
beheld Peter,his wife and children,with his old
father,all sunning themselves in the new gallery.
"
Missus, you promise me a Chrismus gif."
"Well, Jane, there is a new calicofrock for
you."
"
It werry pretty,Missus," said Jane,eying it
have a muslin."
The writer would not think of controverting
the truth of these anecdotes.
Any probable
amount of high-postbedsteads and
mosquito " bars,"of tobacco distributed as
and verandas constructed by leisurely
of fastidious
negroes, may be conceded,and they
the truth of the other
facts. When the reader remembers that the
some opulentowners amounts
to from fiveto seven hundred workinghands,
he can judge how extensively
these accommodations are likely to be
provided. Let them be safelythrown into
the account, for what they are worth.
At
all events, it is pleasing to end off so
disagreeable a chapter with some more agreeable
images. [SeeAppendix.]