on an African.  But the slave is ignorant and degraded; and consequently he lacks moral stamina.  He lacks that firmness and stability of character which result from mental culture.  And moreover, his views of the Divine Being, of his attributes and his works are erroneous.  He knows but little of his Creator or his works; but little about himself and his relations to his fellow creatures.  He desires to do right, but he is too often unable to distinguish between right and wrong.  But this is not all; for slaves are, to a great extent, devoid of what, (in ordinary parlance,) is called a sense of honor and shame; and too many white Christians, as well as black ones, require all the restraining motives and influences, that can be brought to bear on them, to keep them in the paths of rectitude.  What is called the moral sense alone, would fail in a large majority of cases.  The above remarks are as applicable to an ignorant, depraved and vicious class of white persons, which may be found every where, as they are to the Southern slaves and free negroes.  I will here remark that all that is indispensably necessary to enable an individual to cultivate his mind, is a tolerable knowledge of his mother tongue, so far at least, as to be able to read and write it; and a few well selected books.  It is neither necessary nor advisable to read many books; for most of reading men have read too many books, and have studied none.  It is a little remarkable that Christians know so little about the Bible.  I do not suppose that there is one in a hundred among them who ever read the sacred volume through; and a large majority of them know very little about it, except some very incorrect notions which they have gathered from sermons.  It seems that some people imagine that attending church, and hearing sermons comprises the “whole duty of man.”  This is all very well so far as it goes; but I beg leave to remind such persons that our Saviour preached a sermon on the mount, near two thousand years ago, which is far superior to any sermon that has been preached from that day to the present time; and that they would do well to read it at least once a month.

It is but an act of justice to slaveholders for me to state, that the education of slaves in most of the slave States is barred by prohibitory laws.  This is one of the fruits of abolition interference with slavery.  I have remarked in Chapter 3, of this volume, that the abolition excitement in the North, about thirty-five years ago, cut off discussion in the South on the subject of slavery; and that the legislatures of the slave States in self-defence, or otherwise, in obedience to the imperious demands of self-preservation, enacted stringent laws in reference to the slave population, &c.; and that among them will be found enactments making the education of slaves a penal offense.  It was the circulation of abolition tracts and papers among the slaves by Northern men, that first suggested this idea to the Southern legislatures.  Previous to that time, many Christian slaveholders were educating their slaves.  These laws are inoperative in many places in the South; and it affords me pleasure here to record the fact, that most of the slaves in Knoxville, Tennessee, the city in which I last resided while a citizen of the South, are able to read, and many of them can write.  Well done, ye noble and generous sons and daughters of Knoxville.