"Here," said I, taking a newspaper-slip from my wallet, "is something
which fairly made me weep. It is a picture of one of our poor, virtuous,
honest New England homes, in which I would rather dwell and suffer, than
be an 'oppressor' with my hundreds of slaves, and wealth counted by
hundreds of thousands. A slave-holder, blessed be God, is not a synonyme
of 'oppressor;' nor are the slaves as a matter of course 'oppressed.'
Our people to a great extent think otherwise, and it is useful to see
how we appear to others when this error leads us into folly. This little
picture in the newspaper-slip gives us a transient look into an abode
whose honest poverty and want are made more painful by evil-doing under
the influence of fanaticism."
I then read to my friends the following from a Southern paper;--I here
omit the names which are given in full:--
"The touching letter which was found on the body of ---- ----, one of
the insurgents, from his sister in ----, ----, has been published. The
following paragraph in that letter is a suggestive one:
"'Would you come home if you had the money to come with? Tell me what
it would cost. Oh! I would be unspeakably happy if it were in my power
to send you money, but we have been very poor this winter.
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