St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1853-01-06

fac; that the old rule is reversed, and the
za1gs enquiries, aye, enquiries with inso-
Ience, into the cha racter Of the rAoS'rr.
" Are you for hire ~ said the late Judge
Scott 10 a likely black. 2" am, sir
what IS your name % John Scott" said
Tie Judge. VERY WE'LL" reioined the
black, +" II! enquire into your character,
sir, and il like il I'll come and live with
you." The Judge never made another
effort 10 HRS. We could Gil pages, OF
the Planter with similar cases, many Of
them coming under orr own observation,
and sone OF them within our own expert
encc. for We too have met the scoWl Of
the hireling.
Under such circums' ances salutary
restraint becomes inlo!erable to the negro,
"a il is 10 all other men when release can
be had BY demanding il, until presently
he =, only refuses 10 choose a master,
STrfusSss ~ooert enc ~-'Srf. We
have known all the negroes belonging 10
one estate TO act in this manner, compel
ling, the disheanened and Disguised agent
10 send them 10 their master 10 be sold.
j. il within the observation OF Some vino
wilt read these remarks, that last hiring
season, about Charlottesville. masters
were compelled to pursuale, exhort, and
even pay their own negroes to 20 where
they had been hired. And not a few
who were prevailed on to go over the
mountains tn work in the Valley came
back and refused 10 Sturn in defiance Of
command and enireaty, thereby sublec-
ting their kind hearted owners 10 what
ever forfeit tho nature Of the case made
necessary. Thus, by just and neces-
sarv reaction, the owner has his share Of
Inconvenience, chagrin and humiliation,
and is made 10 feel-onlv in reveIse-
"the horrors Of slavery"
What is true Of Charlottesville is doubt
less true Of every town, village, and
hiring station cf Virginia. And is felt
everywhere 10 be a serious evil.
We are no alarmisls. We have slept
with our doors wide open when lnsurrec-
ton as talked about, and never expect
- close them from that cause. We have
no dread Of any such consequences, and
no anticipation of anything else than such
occasional and solicitasy ac's ofviolence,
rendered somewhat more frequent perhaps
by this cause. as have always occurred
in every society, only more rarely in
the slave States than in others. All our
fears in this regard are for the negro.
We do not anticipate abolition either from
the instruction of the negro or the freak
Of the fanatic. When il does come, it
will be bought about by the wor,hlessness
Of the negro. He will be liberated be-
cause bondage don't pay. And we do
not wish TO see him liberated before The
appointed time because we prefer the
Sciety ~nIcn IS ouiIt upon a
4a!1@Oasis as on the whole super ior
30 any other as al Presnt organized. We
do not wish TO see his value impaired,
his happiness diminished, his civilization
retarded nor do we wish to see the in.
dustry Of the country crippled, its pro-
ducts diminished, lis development checked,
and The migration Of the negro accelera.
ted beyond the natural aRd safe current
OF events. Yet ali these must result, if
there be not be some corrective Of the
depIorahle practices Of those who own
and are responsible for the slave.
Whence proceeds this thing2 Not
from fear IN any case, unless it be, in q
very few cases, fear that the slave may
abscond, but from an indisposition 10 use
the necessary energy, from a conviction
that the negro will bring his value from
somebody and give no trouble in the get.
ting it--from that sort Of weakness which
j. called good heartedness, the dislike 10
hurt the negro's feelings, By curling him
and making him feel the difference
between master and slave, and from the
fear Of being thought ga bad master. 4"
And the hirer, who must have the labor.
Is compelled to succumb, or lose his
money. This is the whole secret. Now
is foolish" we beg everybody's par
don," as SIR. Webster said-but il is
foolish, thus to sacrifice so many interests
50 the weakness Of The master and the
caprice Of the slave.
Wo do not mean, in remedy Of this
evil to indicate harsh discipline as need.
full TO preserve order among slaves. On
the contrary, we believe it injurious TO
their character and to their masters inter.
ests. as it is repugnant TO the feelings OF
every refined nature. But we do main.
tain, what all experienced men must
concede, that certain restrictions are
necessary, and that punishment, moder.
alta bat certain, If deserved, must be
used TO enforce them. The sensibili,v
which pleads for large liberty Scr ne.
groes, as for children, is a morbid one.
The negro is, in some respects, a child
all his life a child; he cannot be fully
operated upon through The moral sense !;