allow his orders to be disobeyed, but to insure this the more effectually, and to preserve his authority, he should never command his Slaves to do what is unreasonable. His orders should be reasonable but rigidly executed. Slaves will become much attached to a Master that governs in this manner.

5th. Masters are required to attend to the moral condition of their Slaves. Duty and interest both dictate this; a moral upright Slave is much more valuable than an immoral one. Slaves should be kept from the use of intoxicating drinks; at least, they should always be corrected when they indulge to excess. But this is a point that Masters are not backward in attending to; they generally keep a strict watch over their Slaves in this particular, for they are well aware that a drunken Slave is almost worthless. I have known a few drunken Slaves, and only a few; and they were almost worthless to their Masters.

But Masters are bound not only to keep their Slaves from drink, but from all other vices that could injure them intellectually, morally, or physi cally. This they are bound to do, as a matter of duty, but they will find likewise, their interest greatly subserved thereby.

But heads of families should not only keep their Slaves from vicious indulgences, but they should

impart to them such moral instruction as they are capable of receiving. Reading is not the only method of gaining knowledge. Much useful knowledge is acquired by listening to oral instruction, either in the form of public lectures or in private conversation. These methods may, therefore, be adopted to impart useful moral instruction to the Negroes.

I do not wish to be understood as maintaining that our Slaves are more immoral than such people generally are; far from it, I believe on the contrary, that taken as a body, they are the most moral peasantry in the world. From all the accounts we have of the peasantry of England, their moral condition is greatly below that of our Slaves. One reason of this is, that their Masters enjoy the bene fits of Slavery, without its responsibilities, and its humanities. They take no care of the morals of the laborers, for labor being abundant they have no direct interest in so doing. The peasantry, therefore, almost run wild, become intemperate, and indulge in a thousand other vices that our Negroes, owing to our strict family discipline, growing out of interest and duty, have not the right to indulge in.

6th. Masters are required to attend to the religious condition of their Slaves. By this I mean,

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that they should allow them every facility for attending Divine service. I know of no Master that neglects this duty; our Negroes all enjoy ample privileges in this particular, as far as my knowledge extends. Most of our Negroes have the privilege of attending preaching once or twice a week; and besides, they hold religious meetings of their own as often as they wish. Among the 3,000,000 of Negroes at the South there are probably not less than 600,000 communicants. Most of these are orderly, correct members of the Church, and have in reality, more earnestness and zeal than the whites themselves. I know several Negroes that possess a degree of piety that but few white people can ever expect to equal.