That this is the true reason of this change, I think is evident from the fact, that our northern men, after they become familiar with slavery, can calmly indulge themselves in that kind of treatment of slaves, which would previously have made them shudder. In this connexion I will mention a _fact_, which for the credit of New-England, and the honour of religion, I would gladly conceal to the judgment day, if the circumstances of the case had not been publicly displayed through this region of country. Two years ago a native of Vermont, and a minister of the gospel too, who has resided some years at the South, passed with his family, through this town and put up for the night within the sound of my voice where I now stand. They were attended by a servant-girl, who was not permitted to eat at a table or sleep on a bed, though in the true spirit of northern feeling, both were kindly proffered by the landlady. She spent her night on the naked floor, with no other pillow than her bundle of clothes; and set out in the morning in an open waggon, to endure the heat of a summer’s sun, with no other covering for her head than the woolly fleece which nature gave. Such kind of treatment, for aught I know, may be deemed necessary at the south, as I understood, it was then alleged, to keep the blacks from being “_exalted above measure_;” yet surely it cannot be witnessed, without sentiments of indignation, in a northern clime. And for the honour of humanity, to say nothing of the gospel ministry, I pray God, that my own eyes may never again witness a similar scene. But let the plea be reiterated as often as it may, that the slavery which exists in our country is not so appalling as northern men suppose; it is still an evil, that exists contrary to the law of nature and nature’s God, and in the face too, of American rights and privileges. And beyond this, it stands necessarily connected with other evils, which are more shocking to the feelings of humanity, than slavery itself. Take for example, these simple facts. By the laws of some of the slave-holding states, no man can emancipate his own slaves; and any person is liable to the barbarous and disgraceful punishment of being _whipped_ on the naked back, if convicted of _teaching a slave to read_. Thus the poor Africans are not only deprived of their liberty, but are completely cut off from almost the only means of information, with respect to their duty to God and their fellow men, and of preparation for the eternal world; of the only means that can alleviate their sorrows and enliven their solitude. By these laws, a pious and benevolent master, who has inherited a hundred slaves, and who would gladly deliver them from bondage, or, at least, alleviate, by every means in his power, the miseries of their condition, is compelled, against every feeling of his heart, not only to hold them in servitude, but to keep them in absolute ignorance.