Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-07-16
There is Progress.

rally, on the subject, that most men have
been somewhat at a loss what 20 saw or what
to believe. We have had, in consequence,
much OF cNaggention on one side. and as
much of cxtenuation on the other. The Time
has come, we trust, when the whole truth
may be disclosed, aud all parties benefited
thereby.
The first general remark we make is, that
the condition of the slave has been material
ly improved within the last fifteen years all
over The South.
1t is not necessary, perhaps, to 90 into a
consideration Of the causes which have pro-
duced this result. They are various, and
spring from Influences arising within and
without the slave States. The fact of this
beneficial change must be s,lfeviGent 10 ev-
cry candid observer who may have lIsed in,
or visited the South within the last fifteen
years. Go to Louisiana or TO Alabama, and
we shall find, both on sugar and cotton plan
tations, as a genera rule, far greater attention
paid to the comfJrS of the Negro. Their
houses are in better order they are allowed
TO Keep and work patches Of ground wherein
they may raise articles of their own, for
home use or for sale. In consequence the
negroes are better FED and clad. and are ma
king, imprrceptbly, greater progress in vari-
Gus kinds Of useful knowledge. Ar social
l''Ei'os hA'tNlS mt ldtls llldl Dl NslCHl I'M
provement must precede spiritual attainment,
and that the mind cannot be well improved
until the body is well cared for. ia this as
pect we cannot easily exaggcrate the impor-
lance Of having the bodily condition Of the
slave improved. But in addition to this
change, there has been, and is. a growing
disposition on tie part Of the South, TO in-
crease in every way the religious orportuni-
ties of the slaves. True, this disposition does
not manifest itself always in the right way,
or in the truest forms but it exists, thereby
acknowledging on tue part Of slave owners
in the most pro.slavery regions of the South
not only that the negro is made by the
same common Father, but that he is capable
of living the life which a common Saviour
died TO teach. Hence Missionaries and prea-
cheers, and sabbath schools have been multi
Piled fifty fold throughout the plantations
within the last fifteen years.
The second general remark we have 10
make Is, that Kentucky is in advance Of all
the Southern States on this subject.
Slavery exists here in its .mi.dest FORM
There are those, unquestionably, who NAL
treat their negroes. But, as a general rule,
they are better fed, better clothed, and in ev-
cry way better treated, so far as we have been
able 10 Judge, than in any Of The planting
States of the South. Hard driving, cruelty,
scanty feeding, are evils, comparatively spea-
king, unknown in Kentucky and that man
would be out!awed by public opinion who
should venture thus to outrage the common
dictates Of humanity. The physical condi-
tlon, indeed, of the negroes of kentucky, is
so tar advanced that if they were set free
they would be better able to take care of
themselves In a state Of freedom than any
body OF bondsmen we have ever known
A pl nhat g l.t,,- In =. II. -
glous instruction has kept pace with their
physical Improvement. In South Carolina
the law loroids the emancipation of the slave.
In Kentucky any man who chooses may give
freedom to his bond, and large numbers are
daily giving them their liberty. In South
Carolina no free negro is permitted TO enter
the State except under a penalty of a forfeit
uro OF his freedom. In Kentucky no man
is allowed to add to the number of slaves
here by bringing them from other States. In
Carolina no citizen in or out Of the pulpit,
dare declare, whatever may be his opinion,
that the slave should be taught TO read tho
word Of God. Ia Kentucky able divines
and scores of worthy citizens assert openly,
that in no other way can We perform our du-
ty truly to ourselves or the black man, or to
the common Father Of both. And the casu-
al observer, panied though he may be by the
terrible evils which flow from slavery in its
best estate, cannot fail TO observe that there
is, in Kentucky generally, a determination
on The part Of masters to extend rather than
curtail the privileges of The slave, and an I'M
wavering resolution on The part of the public
; everywhere to enforce such humanity.
l The first conclusion we draw from this
state of things is, that the public mind all
over the South is being gradually drawn to-
wards emancipation. So long as the negro
Il was regarded as a mere slave-a chattel-and
! nothing more. there could be but little hope
for master or man. la this state of things it
was not murder in South Carolina for a white
e citizen to kill a negro; The law doomed him
: simply to pay his value in dollars, as though
u he were a bullock that fed on grass. But
. society advanced, and even in that stern pro-
slavery region, the slave is now held to be a
u man, aud he who kills him a murderer. In
y the former stage, emancipation could not be
dreamed of; it would be an lmpossibility in
e the very nature of things. In the latter It
will be thought of, for the moment the mind
recognizes the negro as a man, endowed with
like faculties as ourselves, and destined here
after, to live, like US, forever, that moment
new responsibilities arise and are felt in the
masters bosom, and in the public mind, un-
al another advance is made, when freedom
shall be talked IF as alike essential to white
and black. And be it remembered that this
progress has been made, while Carolina per-
petualists have been eXerting themselves &c
tighten every pro-slavery prejudice, and
strengthen every pro-slavery interest! How
well and foTcibly does this prove the e~loquen
declaration made by HESRY CLAY, in hi
speech delivered before the Colonization So
ciety at Washington, January 90, 1897, wheI
replying to these same perpetualists -