* * * The
more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so
cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master.
"But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization
reached the banks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had
distinguished by the name of Ohio, or Beautiful River, waters one of
the most magnificent valleys which have ever been made the abode of
man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil
affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On either bank the air
is wholesome and the climate mild; and each of those banks forms the
extreme frontier of a vast State: that which follows the numerous
windings of the Ohio on the left is Kentucky [in ascending the river it
was on our _right_]; that on the right [our left] bearing the name of
the river. These two States differ only in one respect,--Kentucky has
admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has not. * * *
"Upon the left bank of the stream the population is rare; from time to
time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert
fields; the primeval forest recurs at every turn; society seems to be
asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and
life.
Pages:
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229