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Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878

"The Sable Cloud A Southern Tale With Northern Comments (1861)"

Kentucky's soil would be
exhausted just as fast under free labor, so long as she cultivated her
present crops."
I long to see some clear running water. Our streams and brooks in New
England are not appreciated till one comes to this part of the land. I
long to see some good grass. I yearn for some hills. I would sail again
along our rock-bound coast; Oh for a walk on its beaches, to see the
tunnellings of the sea in the rocks, and the spouting-horns. But what a
relief it is to be in a section where the Christian religion is so
generally accepted, and the swarms of errorists and sectarians which
abound elsewhere are comparatively unknown. Here, the lowest class, in
which error would be prolific, is under instruction, to a great degree.
I see now why it is that false views about slavery are a great stimulant
to heretical views and feelings;--they are a convenient substitute for
the love and zeal which true Christianity supplies. The human mind,
where it is accustomed to act freely, must be impelled by some
master-passion; and when true religion does not supply it, error stands
ready to satisfy the demand.
On the whole, I am persuaded that our Northern people behave full as
well under the anti-slavery excitement as Southerners would if their
consciences were perverted like ours, and we were the objects of their
opposition.


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