I wish mine could be raised in the indigence and simplicity that you and I were. You may feel very happy that you are not in a slave state with your fine Boys, for it is a wretched country to destroy the morals of youth. Even with these misgivings, Elijah remained in the South, reaping the benefits and profits of the slave system. Elijah does not appear to have anticipated or encouraged his own change in values, but rather to have stumbled into a time and place where owning slaves provided the status and power he desired. For much of his life, however, he expressed misgivings about the institution of slavery while enjoying its benefits.
Slavery is rather a rrisfortune than a crime.
The present holders of slaves are not censurable for their father's crimes of introducing them. They're only censurable for not treating those they possess well. We have some free negroes here, and it is a general remark that the slaves who have good masters are in a better situation. To emancipate them at once would be the height of folly and danger. You must not think too badly of slaveholders for your son is one.