It was simply the
right which a democratic law gave men to become lawless, fierce in
the conspiracy of wrong, and where the legal excitement of
trafficking in the flesh and blood of one another sinks them
unconsciously into demons.
CHAPTER VII.
"BUCKRA-MAN VERY UNCERTAIN."
THE caption, a common saying among negroes at the south, had its
origin in a consciousness, on the part of the negro, of the many
liabilities to which his master's affairs are subject, and his own
dependence on the ulterior consequences. It carries with it a deep
significance, opens a field for reflection, comprehends the negro's
knowledge of his own uncertain state, his being a piece of property
the good or evil of which is effected by his master's caprices, the
binding force of the law that makes him merchandise. Nevertheless,
while the negro feels them in all their force, the master values
them only in an abstract light. Ask the negro whose master is kind
to him, if he would prefer his freedom and go north?-At first he
will hesitate, dilate upon his master's goodness, his affection for
him, the kindly feeling evinced for him by the family-they often
look upon him with a patriarchal tenderness-and, finally, he will
conclude by telling you he wishes master and missus would live for
ever. He tells you, in the very simplicity of his nature, that "Eve'
ting so unsartin! and mas'r don't know if he die when he gwine to."
That when he is dying he does not realise it; and though his
intention be good, death may blot out his desires, and he, the
dependent, being only a chattel, must sink into the uncertain stream
of slave-life.
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