Under these circumstances, the apprentices very naturally refused to work. They said, "We are worse off than when we were slaves; for they have taken away privileges to which we were accustomed in bondage, without paying us the wages of freemen." Still under all these provocations, they offered merely passive resistance. The worst enemies of the cause have not been able to discover that a single life has been lost in the West Indies, or a single plantation destroyed in consequence of emancipation! It is a lamentable proof of the corrupt state of the American press, on the subject of slavery, that the irritating conduct of the West Indian planters has been passed over in total silence, while every effort has been made to represent the passive resistance of the apprentices as some great "raw-head and bloody-bones story."
While the good work was in progress in England, it was for a long time called by every odious name. It was even urged that the abolition of the slave trade would encourage the massacre of white men. Clarkson, who seems to have been the meekest and most patient of men, was stigmatized as an insurrectionist. It was said he wanted to bring all the horrors of the French Revolution into England, merely because he wanted to abolish the slave trade. It was said Liverpool and Bristol would sink, never to rise again, if that traffic were destroyed.
The insurrection at Barbadoes, in 1816, was ascribed to the influence of missionaries infected with the wicked philanthropy of the age; but it was discovered that there was no missionary on the island at the time of that event, nor for a long time previous to it. The insurrection at Demerara, several years after, was publicly and angrily ascribed to the Methodist missionaries; they were taken up and imprisoned; and it was lucky for these innocent men, that out of
their twelve hundred black converts, only two had joined the rebellion.
Ridicule and reproach has been abundantly heaped upon the laborers in this righteous cause. Power, wealth, talent, pride, and sophistry, are all in arms against them; but God and truth is on their side. The cause of anti-slavery is rapidly gaining ground. Wise heads as well as warm hearts, are joining in its support. In a few years I believe the opinion of New-England will be unanimous in its favor. Maine, which enjoys the enviable distinction of never having had a slave upon her soil, has formed an Anti-Slavery Society composed of her best and most distinguished men. Those who are determined to be on the popular side, should be cautious how they move just now: It is a trying time for such characters, when public opinion is on the verge of a great change.
Men who think upon the subject, are fast coming to the conclusion that slavery can never be much ameliorated, while it is allowed to exist. What Mr. Fox said of the trade is true of the system—"you may as well try to regulate murder." It is a disease as deadly as the cancer; and while one particle of it remains in the constitution, no cure can be effected. The relation is unnatural in itself, and therefore it reverses all the rules which are applied to other human relations. Thus a free government which in every other point of view is a blessing, is a curse to the slave. The liberty around him is contagious, and therefore the laws must be endowed with a tenfold crushing power, or the captive will break his chains. A despotic monarch can follow the impulses of humanity without scruple. When Vidius Pollio ordered one of his slaves to be cut to pieces and thrown into his fish-pond, the Emperor Augustus commanded him to emancipate immediately, not only that slave, but all his slaves. In a free State there is no such power; and there would be none needed, if the laws were equal,—but the slave-owners are legislators, and make the laws, in which the negro has no voice—the master influences public opinion, but the slave cannot.
Miss Martineau very wisely says; "To attempt to combine freedom and slavery is to put new wine into old skins. Soon may the old skins burst? for we shall never want for better wine than they have ever held."
A work has been lately published, written by Jonathan Dymond,
who was a member of the Society of Friends, in England; it is entitled "Essays on the Principles of Morality"—and most excellent Essays they are. Every sentence recognises the principle of sacrificing all selfish considerations to our inward perceptions of duty; and therefore every page shines with the mild but powerful light of true Christian philosophy. I rejoice to hear that the book is likely to be republished in this country. In his remarks on slavery the author says: "The supporters of the system will hereafter be regarded with the same public feelings, as he who was an advocate of the slave trade now is. How is it that legislators and public men are so indifferent to their fame? Who would now be willing that biography should record of him,—This man defended the slave trade? The time will come when the record,—This man opposed the abolition of slavery, will occasion a great deduction from the public estimate of weight of character."