He feels very anxious, I can assure you, for the
conversion of the slaves." "And do those coloured preachers ever occupy
your pulpit?" "Oh, dear me, no!" with evident alarm. "Why not? You say
they are good men, and sound in doctrine." "Oh! they would not be
tolerated. Besides, they are accustomed to speak in broken English, and
in very familiar language; otherwise the slaves could not understand
them. The slaves, you know, cannot read, and are not allowed to learn."
This he said in a tone of voice which indicated an entire acquiescence
in that state of things, as if he thought the arrangement perfectly
right. But what iniquity! To come between the Word of God and his
rational creature! To interpose between the light of Heaven and the
soul of man! To withhold the lamp of life from one-sixth of the entire
population! Of all the damning features of American slavery, this is
the most damning!
"I suppose," continued I, "if any of the black people come to your
churches, they have to sit by themselves?"
_Young Man._--"Of course: I have never seen it otherwise."
_Myself._--"And I have never before seen it so.
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