No man, I sometimes think, ought
to be allowed to hold slaves till he has submitted to examination as to
character, or brings certificates of a good disposition. I know that
man. His father was from ---- [a New England State.] He is what we call
a torn-down character. His neighbors all"--but the signal was given for
starting, and the conversation was broken off.
My first thought was, How glad I would be to set that man free from such
bondage! The next thought was, Where would I send him to be free from
"the power of the dog?" I had been reading, in a Boston paper, a lecture
delivered in Boston, by a distinguished "friend of the slave," against
Mr. Webster and Mr. Choate, before an "immense audience." I thought, How
much better it is to be a Christian slave, even to this master, than to
sit in the seat of the scornful, applauding such a lecture!
The poor slave was having his probation and discipline, as we all have
ours, and he was suffering, as we all do in our turns, from an impudent
tongue. Little did he think that a fellow-creature, looking at him at
that moment, was reminded, by his meekness under insult, of Him, our
example, who, under such provocation, opened not his mouth, and that I
was made to remember, as I stood there and received instruction from
him, that the best alleviation and cure of anguished sensibility under
ill-treatment is in this same silence, and in thoughts of Jesus.
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