In his state of slavery the negro was compelled to work, and, through
his labour, every country prospered where he had been introduced. He was
suddenly freed; and from that moment he refused to work, and instead of
being a useful member of society, he not only became a useless burden to
the community, but a plotter and intriguer, imbued with a deadly hatred
to the white man who had generously declared him free.
Now, as the negro was originally imported as a labourer, but now refuses
to labour, it is self-evident that he is a lamentable failure. Either he
must be compelled to work, by some stringent law against vagrancy, or
those beautiful countries that prospered under the conditions of negro
forced industry must yield to ruin, under negro freedom and idle
independence. For an example of the results look to St. Domingo!
Under peculiar guidance, and subject to a certain restraint, the negro
may be an important and most useful being; but if treated as an
Englishman, he will affect the vices but none of the virtues of
civilization, and his natural good qualities will be lost in his
attempts to become a "white man."
Revenons a nos moutons noirs. It was amusing to watch the change that
took place in a slave that had been civilized (?) by the slave-traders.
Among their parties there were many blacks who had been captured, and
who enjoyed the life of slave-hunting--nothing appeared so easy as to
become professional in cattle razzias and kidnapping human beings, and
the first act of the slave was to procure a slave for himself! All the
best slave-hunters, and the boldest and most energetic scoundrels, were
the negroes who had at one time themselves been kidnapped.
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