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Article CHARACTER OF THE AFRICAN BLACK. ← Page 2 of 2
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Character Of The African Black.
brings them back again to a state of nature , where all things arc iij common , we know not—but soitis , that the greatest part ofthe ne . ' groes are thieves . _ Like all men whose religion is confined to a few superstitious prac tices , they have no idea of a conventional morality . Whatever good qualities a negro has , he derives from nature . The culpable negliof the inhabitants in
gence giving them some insight into the simple and fundamental principles ' of Christianity , allows them to live , " grow old , and die in their native ignorance . When a sufficient number of them are collected , they are led to church , without knowing whither they are going ; baptized , without comprehending what has been done to them and behold , they are Christians ! The only circumstance they
can collect from the ceremony , is that they have changed their name . You will easily conceive , that the negro troubles himself very little about the future . What advantage could he derive from it ? Hence his foresight rarely extends beyond the present moment : it is onl y by dint of time and perseverance , that he can be brought to believe it is for his interest'to cultivate his garden ; and to preserve ; for the night , the covering which he fling-s aside dui'msr the dav .
What appears singular , and indeed contradictory is , that , sensible to pleasure , ev . en to madness , he supports with a degree of calmness , bordering ou insensibility , the most excruciating pains . The preparations for chastising him seem to affect him more than the chastisement itself . The negro sings while he dances—while at work—while dying . We brave deathbe laughs at it . When his companion
ex-, pires , he does not say , he is dead : such a phrase would convey no meaning to his mind ; but , be is gone away , be is departed . This mannerof expressing himself , seems to indicate a persuasion , that after death he returns into his own country ; a prejudice which has determined more than one negro to destroy himself , that he might arrive there the sooner What would this man be , if to his indifference for
_ life he joined the virtues which a contempt of death usually supposes ! After having passed a certain age , the negroes appear to pay no great attention to the ties of consanguinit }' . Some time since , it happened that a father , after a long separation , discovered his son in a workshop under the writer ' s inspedtion . This unforeseen interview did not produce on either side the'smallest surprize or emotion : the father md the son met like two travellers who recollected they had somewhere seen each other before .
vVennd , among the negroes , good and bad . Dispositions more ot less favourable , render them more or less proper to receive a certain degree of polish and instrtidtion . The example ofthe Creole negro , capable of acquiring every talent , every virtue , when he finds in his master a proper . model to follow , proves that the inferiority of the Africans is , in many respects , the fault of their education . It is then carrying the principle too far ; to say with Aristotlethat slavery
ex-, cludes every kind of virtue ; and ' tis surely an abuse of the faculty of reasoning , to pretend to discover in the sli ght physical difference ' between the negro and the white , an obstacle that must for ever prevent the former from attaining the degree of intelligence and perfection ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Character Of The African Black.
brings them back again to a state of nature , where all things arc iij common , we know not—but soitis , that the greatest part ofthe ne . ' groes are thieves . _ Like all men whose religion is confined to a few superstitious prac tices , they have no idea of a conventional morality . Whatever good qualities a negro has , he derives from nature . The culpable negliof the inhabitants in
gence giving them some insight into the simple and fundamental principles ' of Christianity , allows them to live , " grow old , and die in their native ignorance . When a sufficient number of them are collected , they are led to church , without knowing whither they are going ; baptized , without comprehending what has been done to them and behold , they are Christians ! The only circumstance they
can collect from the ceremony , is that they have changed their name . You will easily conceive , that the negro troubles himself very little about the future . What advantage could he derive from it ? Hence his foresight rarely extends beyond the present moment : it is onl y by dint of time and perseverance , that he can be brought to believe it is for his interest'to cultivate his garden ; and to preserve ; for the night , the covering which he fling-s aside dui'msr the dav .
What appears singular , and indeed contradictory is , that , sensible to pleasure , ev . en to madness , he supports with a degree of calmness , bordering ou insensibility , the most excruciating pains . The preparations for chastising him seem to affect him more than the chastisement itself . The negro sings while he dances—while at work—while dying . We brave deathbe laughs at it . When his companion
ex-, pires , he does not say , he is dead : such a phrase would convey no meaning to his mind ; but , be is gone away , be is departed . This mannerof expressing himself , seems to indicate a persuasion , that after death he returns into his own country ; a prejudice which has determined more than one negro to destroy himself , that he might arrive there the sooner What would this man be , if to his indifference for
_ life he joined the virtues which a contempt of death usually supposes ! After having passed a certain age , the negroes appear to pay no great attention to the ties of consanguinit }' . Some time since , it happened that a father , after a long separation , discovered his son in a workshop under the writer ' s inspedtion . This unforeseen interview did not produce on either side the'smallest surprize or emotion : the father md the son met like two travellers who recollected they had somewhere seen each other before .
vVennd , among the negroes , good and bad . Dispositions more ot less favourable , render them more or less proper to receive a certain degree of polish and instrtidtion . The example ofthe Creole negro , capable of acquiring every talent , every virtue , when he finds in his master a proper . model to follow , proves that the inferiority of the Africans is , in many respects , the fault of their education . It is then carrying the principle too far ; to say with Aristotlethat slavery
ex-, cludes every kind of virtue ; and ' tis surely an abuse of the faculty of reasoning , to pretend to discover in the sli ght physical difference ' between the negro and the white , an obstacle that must for ever prevent the former from attaining the degree of intelligence and perfection ,