It is human to be attached to
whatever it protects and controls; out of this feeling grows the spirit
of true chivalry and of lofty intent--that magnanimity, manliness, and
ennobling pride which has so long characterized the gentlemen of the
Southern States.
Caste, in society, may degrade, but, at the same time, it elevates.
Where this caste was distinguished by master and slave, the distinction
was most marked, because there was no intermediate gradation. It was
the highest and the lowest. It was between the highest and purest of
the races of the human family, and the lowest and most degraded; and
this relation was free from the debasing influences of caste in the
same race. An improper appreciation of this fact has gone far to create
with those unacquainted with negro character the prejudices against the
institution of African slavery, and which have culminated in its
abolition in the Southern States.
The negro is incapacitated by nature from acquiring the high
intelligence of the Caucasian. His sensibilities are extremely dull,
his perceptive faculties dim, and the entire organization of his brain
forbids and rejects the cultivation necessary to the elimination of
mind.
Pages:
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244