d these sections of their bodies, never designed them for such
barbarous purposes! Let the "resounding lash," and the savage arts of
torture and cruelty; be laid aside. The adoption of a discipline,
founded on justice and reciprocal equity, will render these unnecessary.
It is a very important fact, in human nature, that men, in all
conditions, perform their duty with far greater alacrity and pleasure,
when prompted by the exhilarating anticipation of reward and advantage,
than by coercion, and the paralyzing menace of penalties and pain.[8]
29. Philosophy cries, "Brethren, be just--be beneficent, and you will
prosper.--Eternal slavery must be an eternal source of crimes;--divest
it at least of the epithet eternal, for anguish that knows no bounds
can only produce despair." "With a pure heart, one is never unhappy."
Let the possessor of slaves consult the oracles of his own
conscience--the spontaneous counsels of his own heart, and the sublime
parable of the beneficent founder of the Christian religion, and act
accordingly. Did not the slave, (or his ancestors in Africa,) "fall
among thieves, which stripped him" of liberty and happiness;--and are
purchasers or retainers of known stolen property, (or liberty) entirely
absolved, either by the laws of God or man, from a degree of
participation in the original transgression? Let every individual, then,
who finds a slave in his hands, whether by traffic or inheritance, 'take
compassion on him,' like the good Samaritan, _and bind up the old and
painful wounds_, which have been inflicted on his "unalienable rights,"
given him by his Creator and _sole_ Proprietor;
Which no man, for gold, can buy or sell!
30. Intellectual and moral improvement is the safe and permanent basis,
on which the arch of eventual freedom to the enslaved Africans may be
gradually erected. Let the glorious work be commenced by instructing
such of the holders and overseers of slaves and their sons and
daughters, as have hitherto been deprived of the blessings of
education. Let every slave, less than thirty years of age, of either
sex, be taught the art of reading, sufficiently for receiving moral and
religious instruction, from books in the English language. For this
purpose, the Lancasterian mode of instruction would be admirably well
adapted. A well selected economical library of such books as are
calculated to inculcate the love of knowledge and virtue, ought to form
an essential appurtenance to
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