How important, then, for these Southern sultans, that the objects of their criminal passions should be kept in utter ignorance and degradation. They must not read the Bible because that teaches them of the sin of their masters. They must not worship God, for the effect thereof would be to imbue them with a deeper horror of this great wickedness. They must not learn to read and write, for every mental and moral improvement only tends to bring out and improve those feelings and emotions that already repel this gross system of sensuality and licentiousness. Were the negroes instructed in their duties to themselves and to each other, their obligations to their masters and their God, and were these instructions exemplified by the consistent lives of their masters, with the natural religious tendencies of the negro race, the South would become the very garden of the Lord. Instead of becoming discontented and rebellious, the very reverse would be the case. There would be no fear of insurrections, for there would be no inducement. But when a man, black though he be, knows that, at any moment, he is compelled to hand over his wife, his sister, or his daughter, to the loathsome embraces of the man whose chains he wears, how can it be expected that he will submit without the feelings of hatred and revenge taking possession of his heart? I have no desire to pursue this subject farther, at present. I give it, as the _cause_ of the discontent and rebellion among the Southern slaves, and also as the _cause_ of the creation of that disgraceful law, which now stands like a great black blot on the code of Virginia, and under whose unjust application I have been made to suffer. The subject is one that will not be suffered to rest, for I know my Southern sisters well enough to believe that they will not much longer rest tamely under the influences of this damning curse. I have told them plainly of the _evil_--the _remedy_ is in their own hands. Transcriber’s Notes Page 6: “and, and, as she grew older,” changed to “and, as she grew older,” Page 8: “and that that they were” changed to “and that they were” Page 11: “promtly visited them” changed to “promptly visited them” Page 45: “in our commmunity” changed to “in our community” Page 47: “both by precept an example” changed to “both by precept and example” Page 62: “the act literaly” changed to “the act literally”