The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-06-19


the subject, that most nasa have been somewhat
at a loss what To say Or what TO believe. We
have had, in Consequences much Of esnggeration
on one side, and as much Of extenuasiOn on the
other. The time has eone, we trust, when the
whole truth may be disclosed. and all parties
benefited thereby. -
The first general remark we make is, that the
condition of the siag% has becn materially i'm
proved within the las fifteen years all over the
South nd
II is not necessary, perhaps, to go.intO con-
sideratiOn Of the canses which have produced
this result. They are various, and spring from
influences arising wshin and without the slave
States. The fact Of tAis beneficial change must
be self-evident TO every candid observer who
may have lived in, OF visited tie South within
the last fifteen yeana Go TOY louisiana or to
Alabama, and we shsn find. both ON sugar and
cotton plantations, asa general rule, far greater
attention paid to tn comforts Okxhe Negro
Their houses are "a better order they are
allowed to keep and work patches of ground
whereOn they nnay mise articles Of their own,
for home use or fsrsale- In consequence the
negroes are better ca and clad, and are making,
imPercePtIbly. gresieF progress in various kinds
OF useful knOwledgs All social progress attest
the fact, that physical Improvement must pre-
cede spiritual attsinIneni, and that the mind
cannot be well improved antn the body is well
cared for. In thIsAspset we cannot easily ex-
sggerate the iniPszahhc0rrf h~-isg the bodily
condition of the slsve improved. But in addi-
ton to this ehaage, there has been, and is,
growing disposition on the part Of the religious
portion of the South, to increase in every way
the lgious'opPortunities Of the slaves True,
this disposition does not manifest itself always
in the right way, or in the truest forms T; but il
exists, thereby acknowledging on the part of
the South-not only that the negro is made by
the snne common father, but that he is capable
of living the life which common Saviour died
to reach Hence missionaries, and presck<rs,
aud sabbath-schools have been multiplied fifty
fsld throughout the plantations s,:fhin the last
hfteen years - --.>. :.;..sssssssSasesss
The second general rersark we1Save to make
Is that Kentucky is i9<.dvaneeci all the South
ern States on this sgoecL>
Slavery exists hees&n Its mildest form. There
are those, unquestionably, who maltreet their
negroes. But, a. general rule. they are better
fsd. belier eleted, and in every way better
treated, 80 s.-sssxe have been able to Judge,
than in any q The planting States of the South
Hard driving, cruelty, scanty feeding, are evils.
comparatiyelysPeaking, unknown in Kentucky;
and that man would be outawed by public opin-
ion who shopld venture thus to outrage the
common dictates Of humanity. The physical
condition, indeed, Of the negroes of Kentucky, is
SO far advanced that if they were set free they
would be better able 20 take care of themselves
in state of freedom than any body of bonds
men have ever known. And what is better
still, is, that their religious instruction has kept
pace with their physical improvement. In
South Carolina the law forbids the emancipation
may give freedom 10 his bond, and large num-
bers daily giving them their liberty. In
South Carolina no free negro Is permitted 10
enter the State except under penalty of for
is allowed to add TO the number Of slaves here
Thy bringfug"tsrm-from other SUstss. 10 South
Carolina no eaiizen in or cut Of the pulpit, dare
declare. whatever may be his opinion, that the
Il. sho.,lA L. rood sha II -
in Kentucky able diyines and scores Of worthy
citizens assert openly, that ia no other way
can we perform our duty truly TO ourselves or
the black man, or to the common Father Of
both. And the casual observer, panied though
he NAV be by the terrible evils which flow from
slavery in its best estate cannot fail TO observe
that there is, in Kentucky generally, determin-
alton on the part of masters to extend rather
than cur,dil the privileges Of the slave, and an
unwavering resolution on the part of the
public cverywhere TO enforce such humanity.
The first conclusion we draw from this state
of things is, that the public mind all over the
South is being gradually drawn towards eman-
cipation. so long as the negro was regarded as
a mere Slave chattel-and nothing more,
there could be but lit'e hope for master or man.
In this state af things it was not murder in
south Carolina for a white citizen TO kill
negro the Lac doomed him simply TO pay his
value in dollars, as though he were bullock
that fed on grass. But society advanced, and
even in that Stern pro-slavery region, the slave
is now held to be man, and he who kills him
murderer. In the former stage, emancipation
could not be dreamed of it would be an impos-
sibiity in the very nature of things In the
latter it will be thought 9f; for the moment the
mind recognizes the negro as arnan, endowed
with like faculties ourselves, and destined
hereafter, to live, like us, forever, that moment
new responsibilities arise and are felt in the
masters bosom, and in the public mind until
another alvarez is made, when freedom shall
be talked Of alike essential to white and black
And be il remembered that this progress has
been made, while Carolina perpetualists have
been exerting themselves to tighten every pro-
slavery prejudice, and strengthen every pro-
slavery INTEREST," How well and forcibly does
this prove 70 eloquent declarations made BY.
HENRY CLAY, in his speech delivered before the
Colonization Society AT Washington, January
20, 1927, whea replying to these same Perpet-
ualists:--
+" II they would repress all tendencies towards
liberty and Ultimate emancipation, they must do
more than put down the benevolent efforts Of
this society. They must go back to the era of
our liberty and Independence, and muzzle the
cannon which thunders its annual return. They