Year: 1859

return She said also that she had
taught her to read aud write, gave her
moaey, AMI ofcrel her freedc4n; but
the girl would not GO. OF course not,
loved and trusted thus; and this they
take as evidence of their goodness Of
heart, which prompts them to give
back an hundred fold the favors they
have received.


This isthe phase of slavery that
travellers see, as they pass up and
down this great river, that carries the
muddy waters to- the sea: and they
tell us of "well-treated slaves"-as if
slave could be well ll-treated Were
you, reader, ied and clothed lAsc the
princes of eastern lands, loved and
petted as child, and surrounded with
every luxury. still, if you were found,
if the privileges of to-day were held
by the uncertain tenure OF law, that
through its exponents. declares. The
black man has no rights which the
white man is bound TO respect" would
you call yourself well-treated? Never


have lived for years in slave
State, and / have never seen black
man or woman struck blow But do
| not know that they are beaten?-do
l not know that they arc wronged?-
do not know that the mass Of them
are not permitted to lift themselves
above the brute that is often advertised
for sale in the same paragraph with
themselves?


| see often the well-drcsscd. gay,
dashing black girl she seems a, happy
as can be; but see behind her the slave
driver, with his manacles and his
whips. ready to march her at mo-
ment's warning. to the steamer or the
slave-pen, to pay some debt, per-
chance, of debauchee master | see
her torn from her lover, separated from
her husband, outraged and trampled
upon; and shall !, because | see her
apparently gay and happy to-day, shut
my eyes to all these horrors, and say
she is better off than the New Eng
land maiden who tolls in the factory.
or the Irish girl in the kitchen who la
bors for her own breads No amount
Of Jewels hung in the ears, no display
of cast off finery from the mistress's
wardrobe, no senseless mirth, can dis
guise the hideous form of Slavery, nor
shut my ears TO the wailing cry of the
crushed and degraded spirit that is
willing to accept these things in lieu
of the priceless boon of liberty.


But, as the great Mississippi, in its
onward sweep to the South, is contin-
ually wearing away the banks and
widening its channel, at the same time
carrying away the filth and garbage
of its banks, so is public feeling wash
ing away old prejudices and wearing
away wrongs; and as God liveth. the
time must come when these things
shall not be. There is a great gain in
moral sentiment when vice is com
pellcd to cover itself with mantle in
company, and there is a vast difference
in the sights and sounds since | trav-
eled in this region years ago. The
Legrees dare not obtrude themselves
upon the notice of the travelling public
now. Then the clustering authority,
the imperitive tone and manner, and
the display Of power, were things to
be proud of, and awed the simple ones
who looked on into silence. Then a
bold expression Of opinion would have
almost raised a mob. Now the slavo-
Gratis keep silence, and the anti-slavo-
Gratis (they arc not quite anti-slavery
yeti carry the day. And were you
here, friend Garrison, You would be
glad even to see the white man as
serting his own right to earn his own
bread by the sweat Of his own face; for
when a man comes TO that-comes to
appreciate himself-he will learn
somewhat Of the rights of others. and
at last, perchance. if lac lives long
enough. the idea may intrndc itself
upon his brain, that the negro is a
man as well as himself, and entitled
by his birthright Of humanity to all
the good in this world that he is able
honestly to obtain,


Yours. +. ID. GAGE.