ts place came the reality
of 2 A.M. and the candles flickering in their sockets.

Reader, I have now done with the question of the gradual improvement and
ultimate emancipation of the slave. The public institutions of any
country are legitimate subjects of comment for the traveller, and in
proportion as his own countrymen feel an interest in them, so is it
natural he should comment on them at greater or less length. I have,
therefore, dwelt at large upon this subject, from the conviction that it
is one in which the deepest interest is felt at home; and I trust that I
have so treated it as to give no just cause of offence to any one,
whether English or American.

I hope I have impressed my own countrymen with some idea of the gigantic
obstacles that present themselves, of which I will but recapitulate
three;--the enormous pecuniary interests involved; the social difficulty
arising from the amount of negro population; and, though last not least,
the perplexing problem--if Washington's opinion, that "Slavery can only
cease by legislative authority," is received--how Congress can legislate
for independent and sovereign States beyond the limits of the
Constitution by which they are mutually bound to each other. I feel sure
that much of the rabid outcry, the ovation of Mrs. B. Stowe, and other
similar exhibitions, have arisen from an all but total ignorance of the
true facts of the case. This ignorance it has been my object to dispel;
and I unhesitatingly declare that the emancipation of the negroes
throughout the Southern States, if it took place to-morrow, would be the
greatest curse the white man could inflict upon them. I also trust that
I may have shadowed forth some useful idea, to assist my Southern
friends in overtaking a gangrene which lies at their heart's core, and
which every reflecting mind must see is eating into their vitals with
fearful rapidity. My last and not my least sincere hope is, that some
one among the many suggestions I have offered for the negro's present
benefit, may be found available to mitigate the undoubted sufferings and
cruel injustice of which those with bad masters must frequently be the
victims. Should I succeed in even one solitary instance, I shall feel
more than repaid for the many hours of thought and trouble I have spent
over the intricate problem--the best road from Slavery to Emancipation.

Since writing the foregoing, 20,000,000 freemen, by the decision of
their representatives a