Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colville.
ejaculations for his welfare . The finer fibres of sensibility must be exquisitely affected by such a scene ; a father , his wife and daughter by his side , in the act of taking leave of a darling son—the whole grotipe in tears—the son begging his parents' blessing—the little infants of the different slaves clinging around him with all the ardour of disinterested affection . —Kindred souls ! though Nature has cast ye in her roughest mouldyet do ye often appear much more
respec-, table in her drama than characters of a whiter hue : while I have p itied the hardness of your lot , I have frequently envied the refinement of your feelings . May your race see better days , and may the memory of that man , who exerts himself in so laudable a cause , be for ever engraven on the tablet of every honest heart as the benefactor of mankind ! You , Colville , rendered their shackles as light as
the innate goodness of your heart could devise : but , worthy man , slavery is , do what you p lease , a bitter pill ; 'it is thou , Liberty , thrice sweet and gracious goddess , whom all in public or in private worship , whose taste is grateful , and ever will be so , till-Nature herself shall change ; no tint , of words can spot thy snowy mantle , or chemic power turn thy sceptre into iron V The charge of William ' s conduct during the different vacations " at
Eton was assigned to a distant relation of Mr . Colville , who resided in England , and who had frequently expressed an earnest desire of shewing attention to any branch of the family . The season now approached when property in a West-India Island requires a considerable degree of care and circumspection . Mr . Colville had , from his long residence in the island , acquired a perfect knowledge of the system of the different species of cultivationand
, had consequently been generally blessed ( as far as the weather permitted ) with abundant crops . This year seemed to insure a plentiful harvest . Frequently would he , with a domestic eye , nicely calculate his expectations ; frequently anticipate the advantages he should reap : nor did this proceed from avarice ; no—it was not the calculation of a miser , but the fond expectation of a parent—the generous
idea of rearing his family in ease and affluence gave rise to these reflections . But wayward fate was hovering over his head , and the storm that threatened the prosperity of his family was about to burst forth . Short-sighted mortals ! lulled by an ideal opiate , we grasp at happiness , and find it but a shadow . Hapless Colville 1 the sword is suspended over you with a silken thread : as you have tasted the sweets of Prosperitj - , you must now , in return , drink deep from the cup of Adversity 1
The lovely Louisa had just attained her fourteenth year . To an elegant foim was added a most bewitching countenance : nor were the graces of her person in any degree superior to the accomplishments of her mind . Her mother had inspected her education with the most scrutinizing perseverance , and had instructed her in every branch that was requisite to render her an accomplished woman . She danced gracefully , and played admirably . Nor had Mrs Colville omitted the instruction of more domestic concerns : she initiated her jn the ceconomy of a kitchen and the arrangement of a pantry , wisely
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colville.
ejaculations for his welfare . The finer fibres of sensibility must be exquisitely affected by such a scene ; a father , his wife and daughter by his side , in the act of taking leave of a darling son—the whole grotipe in tears—the son begging his parents' blessing—the little infants of the different slaves clinging around him with all the ardour of disinterested affection . —Kindred souls ! though Nature has cast ye in her roughest mouldyet do ye often appear much more
respec-, table in her drama than characters of a whiter hue : while I have p itied the hardness of your lot , I have frequently envied the refinement of your feelings . May your race see better days , and may the memory of that man , who exerts himself in so laudable a cause , be for ever engraven on the tablet of every honest heart as the benefactor of mankind ! You , Colville , rendered their shackles as light as
the innate goodness of your heart could devise : but , worthy man , slavery is , do what you p lease , a bitter pill ; 'it is thou , Liberty , thrice sweet and gracious goddess , whom all in public or in private worship , whose taste is grateful , and ever will be so , till-Nature herself shall change ; no tint , of words can spot thy snowy mantle , or chemic power turn thy sceptre into iron V The charge of William ' s conduct during the different vacations " at
Eton was assigned to a distant relation of Mr . Colville , who resided in England , and who had frequently expressed an earnest desire of shewing attention to any branch of the family . The season now approached when property in a West-India Island requires a considerable degree of care and circumspection . Mr . Colville had , from his long residence in the island , acquired a perfect knowledge of the system of the different species of cultivationand
, had consequently been generally blessed ( as far as the weather permitted ) with abundant crops . This year seemed to insure a plentiful harvest . Frequently would he , with a domestic eye , nicely calculate his expectations ; frequently anticipate the advantages he should reap : nor did this proceed from avarice ; no—it was not the calculation of a miser , but the fond expectation of a parent—the generous
idea of rearing his family in ease and affluence gave rise to these reflections . But wayward fate was hovering over his head , and the storm that threatened the prosperity of his family was about to burst forth . Short-sighted mortals ! lulled by an ideal opiate , we grasp at happiness , and find it but a shadow . Hapless Colville 1 the sword is suspended over you with a silken thread : as you have tasted the sweets of Prosperitj - , you must now , in return , drink deep from the cup of Adversity 1
The lovely Louisa had just attained her fourteenth year . To an elegant foim was added a most bewitching countenance : nor were the graces of her person in any degree superior to the accomplishments of her mind . Her mother had inspected her education with the most scrutinizing perseverance , and had instructed her in every branch that was requisite to render her an accomplished woman . She danced gracefully , and played admirably . Nor had Mrs Colville omitted the instruction of more domestic concerns : she initiated her jn the ceconomy of a kitchen and the arrangement of a pantry , wisely