UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

"
a
they
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN. 221
true in certain states and districts ; setting aside and
allquestions of treatment,exceptsuch as refer to
mightitdo with free institutions'}
the body. And yet, while the " majority of slaveholders"
in a certain section may be kind,the
majority of slaves in that section will be treated lover of the "
South 1
with cruelty. This is the truth in many such with all these faultsand
cases, that while there may be thirtymen who may
have but one slave apiece, and that a house-servant,
a single man in their neighborhood may
have a hundred "
slaves, all field-hands,half-fed,
faults are no proper part of her 1 Is it true
worked excessively, and whipped most cruelly. love to a friend to accept the ravings of
This is what I have often seen. To give a case,
insanity
to show the awful influence of slaveryupon the
specimenof his mind 1
master, I will mention a Presbyterianelder,who
was esteemed one of the best men in the of
region,
sickness as a specimen of his best condition
very
kind master. I was called to his deathbed
to write his will. He had what was considered
a favoritehouse-servant,a female. After
of,the elder paused,
as if in doubt what to do with " Su." I entertained
pleasingexpectations of hearingthe word
but who can tell
my
'
'" What shall be done with Su ? I am afraid she
will never be under a master severe enough for
her." Shall.I say that both the dyingelder and
his " Su" were members of the same church,the
the emblems of a Saviour's
latter statedly receiving
dyinglove from the former !
All
this temporizing and
concession has
been excused on the plea of brotherly love.
to be so 1 If the church of Christ had begun
itright țhese so-calledfanaticswould
"
not have begun it wrong. In a deadly
What a pleafor us Northern freemen ! Do pestilence, if the rightphysicians do not
we think tl\eslave-system such a happy, prescribe, everybodywill prescribe. men,
desirablething for our brothers and sisters women and children, will prescribe," because
at the South 1 'Can we look at our common
somethingmust be done. ' If the
schools,our neat,'thriving towns and villages,
Presbyterian Church in 1818 had pursued
our dignified, intelligent, self-respecting
the course the Quakers did,there never
farmers and mechanics,all concomitants would have been any fanaticism. The Quakers
of free labor,and think slavery any blessing did allby brotherly love.
"
They melted
to our Southern brethren ? That system the chainsof Mammon only in the firesof a
which beggars all the lower class of whites, divine charity.When Christ came into
which curses the very soil,which eats up
everything beforeit,like the palmer-worm, he had done,while all the so-called better
canker and locust, which makes common classeswere non-committal or opposed, the
impossibility, and the preaching multitude cut down branches, of palm-trees
us to help the Seuth preserve it')
Consider the educational influencesunder
which such children as Eva and Henrique
must grow up there! We are speaking of
what many a Southern mother feels,of
what makes many
a Southern father'sheart'
sore. Slaveryhas been spokenof in its
influence on the familyof the slave. There
are those,who never speak, who could tell,
is fascinating even
in its faults, what
Who isthe real,who is the true and noble
who love her
incumbrances, or
theywho fix their eyes
on the bright ideal
of what she mightbe, and say that these
Is it true love to accept the disfigurement
1 Is it not truer love to say, " This
curse is no
part of our brother ; itdishonors
him ; it does him
all other things were disposed
injustice ; it misrepresents
him in the eyes of all nations. We love his
better self,and we will have no fellowship
"liberty" fall from his lips; with his betrayer Ṭhis is the part
surprise when I heard the master exclaim,
of true,
generous, Christianlove."
But willit be said. " The abolitionenterprise
was begun in a
wrong spirit, by reckless,
meddling,
supposing
Well,
impudentfanatics" ?
that this were true, how came it
Jerusalem, after all the mightyworks that
schoolsan
of the gospelalmost as much so," this system
and cried Hosanna ! There was a most
a
indecorous tumult. The very children caught
Hosannas in
if theywould,itsinfluence on the familyof
the master. It makes one's heart ache to Supposea fireburstsout in the streets of
see generation after generation of lovely, Boston,while the regularconservators of
noble children exposedto such influences. the city, who have the keysof the fireengines,
and theregulation
What a country the South mightbe, could
she developherselfwithout this curse ! If are sittingtogether in some distant part of
the Southern character, even under all these the city,consulting for the publicgood.
disadvantages, retains so much thatis noble, The cry of firereaches them,but theythink
all
blessing ! Does brotherly loverequire
the enthusiasm, and were crying
the temple. This was contradictory to
ecclesiasticalrules. It was a highly improper
The Chief Priests
state of things.
and Scribes said unto Jesus, " Master,
speakunto these that they hold their peace."
That gentleeye flashed as he answered. " I
TELL YOU,
IF THESE SHOULD HOLD THEIR
PEACE, THE VERY STOKES WOULD CRY
OUT."
of fire-companies,