Slaves

"My friend L___ is in town, and intends trying his fortune among us- as teacher of murder and neck-breaking, alias, fencing and riding."

"Commerce was meant by the goodness of the Deity to diffuse the various goods of the earth into every part, to unite mankind in the blessed chains of brotherly love, society, and mutual dependence: the enlightened Christian should diffuse the riches of the Gospel of peace, with the commodities of his respective land. Commerce attended with strict honesty, and with Religion for its companion, would be a blessing to every shore it touched at. In Africa, the poor wretched natives, blessed with the most fertile and luxuriant soil, are rendered so much the more miserable for what Providence meant as a blessing: the Christians' abominable traffic for slaves, and the horrid cruelty and treachery of the petty Kings- encouraged by their Christian customers- who carry them strong liquors, to enflame their national madness, and powder, and bad fire-arms, to furnish them with the hellish means of killing and kidnapping. But enough- it is a subject that sours my blood"

"..."the only intrinsic nett worth, in my possession, is Mrs. Sancho- who I can compare to nothing so properly as to a diamond in the dirt- but, my friend, that is Fortune's fault, not mine- for, had I power, I would case her in gold.""

"Poverty and Genius were coupled by the wisdom of Providence for wise and good ends, no doubt"

"Homo doctus in se semper divitias habet."

""I knew that before you were born." Let him who would instruct a wiser man consider this as said to himself."

"A fly bit the bare pate of a bald man, who in endeavouring to crush it gave himself a hard slap. Then said the fly jeeringly, "You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death; what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?""

"A mountain was in labour, sending forth dreadful groans, and there was in the region the highest expectation. After all, it brought forth a mouse."

"Once lost, Jupiter himself cannot bring back opportunity."

"Every one is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example."

"It has been related that dogs drink at the river Nile running along, that they may not be seized by the crocodiles."

"Come of it what may, as Sinon said."

"By this story [The Fox and the Raven] it is shown how much ingenuity avails, and how wisdom is always an overmatch for strength."

"Whoever has even once become notorious by base fraud, even if he speaks the truth, gains no belief."

"No one returns with good-will to the place which has done him a mischief."

"Non semper ea sunt quae videntur."

"Submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you."

"Ill have I brook’d that nobler foes Should triumph o’er my dying woes: But, scorn of nature, forced to lie And take thy taunts, is twice to die."

"He who covets what belongs to another deservedly loses his own."

"That it is unwise to be heedless ourselves while we are giving advice to others, I will show in a few lines."

"Fortes indigne tuli Mihi insultare: te, nature dedecus, Quod ferre certe cogor, bis videor mori."

"Jupiter has loaded us with a couple of wallets: the one, filled with our own vices, line he has placed at our backs; the other, lie heavy with those of others, he has hung before."

"Slave psychology and effective American slave management (which encourages a "cheerful disposition" and "initiative) combined to produce slaves which not only turned on their own liberators to protect their masters, but turned on them in "a fine spirit." Which helps explain why there were so few slave rebellions. Not only were they doomed, and not only were they without context, but so often fellow slaves either refused to participate or worse, exposed plots and defended their masters with arms. These actions further reinforce the notion that a rebellion was not only doomed, but even the idea of rebelling was somehow not normal and perhaps evil. You rally would have to be as crazy and schizophrenic as Nat Turner to not be affected; you'd have to have voices in your head louder than those around you to convince you that a slave rebellion was the right, sane response."

"Nat Turner and John Brown were political prisoners in their time. The acts for which they were charged and subsequently hanged, were the practical extensions of their profound commitment to the abolition of slavery."

"And about this time I had a vision — and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened – the thunder rolled in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams – and I heard a voice saying, "Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it come rough or smooth, you must surely bear it.""

"For as the blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth again in the form of dew - and as the leaves on the trees bore the impression of the figures I had seen in the heavens, it was plain to me that the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgement was at hand."

"Several things are interesting about Nat Turner's doomed, gory rebellion. First, Turner was clearly delusional and yet his response to the madness of slavery was, from our vantage point today, the most sane and heroic of all... The fact that Nat Turner may have been schizophrenic or delusional does not disqualify the inherent political nature of his rebellion. Rather, it suggests that sometimes only someone not mentally healthy- not normal- is capable of rising up against objectively awful injustice. A normal, healthy person finds a way to accept his condition, no matter how wretched. The second most significant feature of Turner's rebellion was the white response. As always, the blame was assigned to unspeakable evil, savage Negroes, outside influences- anything but what was considered normal or inevitable at the time, namely, slavery. An account of the insurrection, "The Banditti," published in the Richmond Enquirer on August 30, 1831, reads, "What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters. They remind one of a parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps... No black man ought to be permitted to turn a preacher in the country. The law must be enforced or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain." According to the Enquirer, Turner "was artful, impudent and vindictive, without any cause or provocation, that could be assigned.""

"Numerous American heroes-such as Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, and Henry David Thoreau-led rebellious acts to reconcile the government's actions with the country's promise of liberty for all its citizens."

"Although they confiscated horses, weapons, and brandy, they took only what was necessary to continue the struggle, and they committed no rapes. They even spared a few homesteads, one because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants "thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes.""

"What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters."

"A fanatic preacher by the name of Nat Turner (Gen. Nat Turner) who had been taught to read and write, and permitted to go about preaching in the country, was at the bottom of this infernal brigandage. He was artful, impudent and vindicative, after having witnessed the atrocities committed against slaves and himself."

"I was struck with that particular passage which says: "Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you.""

"Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer. Fasting diet"

"And my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast."

"My grand mother, who was very religious, and to whom I was much attached — my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing the singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence for a child, remarked I had too much sense to be raised – and if I was, I would never be of any service to any one – as a slave."

"The manner in which I learned to read and write, not only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with the most perfect ease, so much so, that I have no recollection whatever of learning the alphabet(ABC)"

"It is the common vice of all, in old age, to be too intent upon our interests."

"What comes from this quarter, set it down as so much gain."

"According as the man is, so must you humor him."

"It is a maxim of old that among themselves all things are common to friends."

"Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos."

"As the saying is, I have got a wolf by the ears."

"Nil est dictu facilius."

"I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself."

"I took to my heels as fast as I could."

"Many a time,… from a bad beginning great friendships have sprung up."

"I know the disposition of women: when you will, they won't; when you won't, they set their hearts upon you of their own inclination."

"Take care and say this with presence of mind."

"I only wish I may see your head stroked down with a slipper."

"It behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms."