hich
it would require volumes to do; but without waiting to learn--which I
may never do--your opinion of what I have already said, I sit down to
supply some of the deficiencies of my letter of January, and, with your
circular before me, to reply to such parts of it as have not been fully
answered.

It is, I perceive, addressed, among others, to "such as have never
visited the Southern States" of this confederacy, and professes to
enlighten their ignorance of the actual "condition of the poor slave in
their own country." I can not help thinking you would have displayed
prudence in confining the circulation of your letter altogether to such
persons. You might then have indulged with impunity in giving, as you
have done, a picture of slavery, drawn from your own excited
imagination, or from those impure fountains, the Martineaus, Marryatts,
Trollopes, and Dickenses, who have profited by catering, at our expense,
to the jealous sensibilities and debauched tastes of your countrymen.
Admitting that you are familiar with the history of slavery, and the
past discussions of it, as I did, I now think rather broadly, in my
former letter, what can _you know_ of the true _condition_ of the "poor
slave" here? I am not aware that you have ever visited this country, or
even the West Indies. Can you suppose, that because you have devoted
your life to the investigation of the subject--commencing it under the
influence of an enthusiasm, so melancholy at first, and so volcanic
afterwards, as to be nothing short of hallucination--pursuing it as men
of _one idea_ do every thing, with the single purpose of establishing
your own view of it--gathering your information from discharged seamen,
disappointed speculators, factious politicians, visionary reformers and
scurrilous tourists--opening your ears to every species of complaint,
exaggeration and falsehood, that interested ingenuity could invent, and
never for a moment questioning the truth of any thing that could make
for your cause--can you suppose that all this has qualified you, living
the while in England, to form or approximate toward the formation of a
correct opinion of the condition of slaves among us? I know the power of
self-delusion. I have not the least doubt, that you think yourself the
very best informed man alive on this subject, and that many think so
likewise. So far as facts go, even after deducting from your list a
great deal that is not fact, I will not deny that, probably