descriptions of runaway men and women, and their
disfigured persons, which could not be published
elsewhere, of so much stock upon a farm, or at a show
of beasts:- do we not know that that man, whenever
his wrath is kindled up, will be a brutal savage?
Do we not know that as he is a coward in his domestic
life, stalking among his shrinking men and women
slaves armed with his heavy whip, so he will be a coward
out of doors, and carrying cowards’ weapons
hidden in his breast, will shoot men down and stab
them when he quarrels? And if our reason did
not teach us this and much beyond; if we were such
idiots as to close our eyes to that fine mode of
training which rears up such men; should we not know
that they who among their equals stab and pistol
in the legislative halls, and in the counting-house,
and on the marketplace, and in all the elsewhere
peaceful pursuits of life, must be to their dependants,
even though they were free servants, so many merciless
and unrelenting tyrants?
What! shall we declaim against the ignorant peasantry
of Ireland, and mince the matter when these American
taskmasters are in question? Shall we cry shame
on the brutality of those who hamstring cattle:
and spare the lights of Freedom upon earth who notch
the ears of men and women, cut pleasant posies in the
shrinking flesh, learn to write with pens of red-hot
iron on the human face, rack their poetic fancies
for liveries of mutilation which their slaves shall
wear for life and carry to the grave, breaking living
limbs as did the soldiery who mocked and slew the
Saviour of the world, and set defenceless creatures
up for targets! Shall we whimper over legends
of the tortures practised on each other by the Pagan
Indians, and smile upon the cruelties of Christian
men! Shall we, so long as these things last,
exult above the scattered remnants of that race,
and triumph in the white enjoyment of their possessions?
Rather, for me, restore the forest and the Indian
village; in lieu of stars and stripes, let some poor
feather flutter in the breeze; replace the streets
and squares by wigwams; and though the death-song
of a hundred haughty warriors fill the air, it will
be music to the shriek of one unhappy slave.
On one theme, which is commonly before our eyes, and
in respect of which our national character is changing
fast, let the plain Truth be spoken, and let us not,
like dastards, beat about the bush by hinting at
the Spaniard and the fierce Italian. When knives
are drawn by Englishmen in conflict let it be said
and known: ’We owe this change to Republican
Slavery. These are the weapons of Freedom.
With sharp points and edges such as these, Liberty
in America hews and hacks her slaves; or, failing
that pursuit, her sons devote them to a better use,
and turn them on each other.’
CHAPTER XVIII — CONCLUDING REMARKS
There are many passages in this book, where I have
been at some pains to resist the temptation of troubling
my readers with my own deductions and conclusions:
preferring that they should judge for themselves,
from such premises as I have laid before them.
My only object in the outset, was, to carry them
with me faithfully wheresoever I went: and
that task I have discharged.
Copyrights
American Notes from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
