ry much to the safety of individuals, as well as the
general comfort of society, as will hereafter appear.--"_Memoirs of An
American Lady with Sketches of Manners and Customs In America as they
existed previous to the Revolution_," Chapter VII, pp. 26-32, by Mrs. Anne
Grant.

IMPRESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH TRAVELER

"As I observed before, at least two thirds of the inhabitants are
negroes....

"It is fortunate for humanity that these poor creatures possess such a fund
of contentment and resignation in their minds; for they indeed seem to be
the happiest inhabitants in America, notwithstanding the hardness of their
fare, the severity of their labour, and the unkindness, ignominy, and often
barbarity of their treatment."--J.F.D., "_A Tour in the United States of
America, containing an account of the present situation of that country_";
London, 1784, p. 39.

ABBE ROBIN ON CONDITIONS IN VIRGINIA

"The population of Virginia is computed at one hundred fifty thousand
whites and five hundred thousand negroes. There is a still greater
disproportion between the whites and blacks in Maryland, where there are
not more than twenty thousand whites and at least two hundred thousand
negroes. The English imported into these two provinces between seven and
eight thousand yearly. Perhaps the lot of these slaves is not quite so hard
as that of the negroes in the islands; their liberty, it is true, is
irreparably lost in both places, but here they are treated with more
mildness, and are supported upon the same kind of food with their masters;
and if the earth which they cultivate, is moistened with their sweat, it
has never been known to blush with their blood. The American, not at all
industrious by nature, is considerate enough not to expect too much from
his slave, who in such circumstances, has fewer motives to be laborious for
himself."--Abbe Robin, "_New Travels through North America in a series of
letters_," Boston, 1784, p. 48.

OBSERVATIONS OF ST. JOHN DE CREVECOEUR

"There, arranged like horses at a fair, they are branded like cattle, and
then driven to toil, to starve and to languish for a few years on the
different plantations of those citizens.

"If negroes are permitted to become fathers, this fatal indulgence only
tends to increase their misery.... How many have I seen cursing the
irresistible propensity, and regretting that by having tasted of those
joys, they had become the authors of double misery to