though the law of kindness could, in such
circumstances, possibly prevail and mitigate the sorrows of the bondman!
The direct influence of slavery is to debase, to make barbarous, to
petrify; I know as well as though I saw it that the South must be full
of neglected, perishing objects, cast out to perish in their sicknesses.
You doubtless are acquainted, dear Aunty, with the great change in the
mode of reasoning introduced by Lord Bacon. We reason now from facts to
conclusion; this is called the inductive method, to collect facts, then
draw inferences. The facts which I have collected on the subject of
slavery, in my reading and hearing, lead me to a perfect theory on the
subject, and my confidence in that theory is all which it could be if,
like you, I were now seeing it verified with my own eyes.

I reason on this subject of slavery, just as our philosophers reason
about the moon. You have learned, dear Aunt, ere this, that there is no
water in the moon. Certain things are observed by our telescopes, in the
moon, from which we are sure that there is no water there. Now there are
certain given facts in slavery. Slavery is Barbarism. It consists in
holding men to compulsory servitude. The human heart is avaricious; it
gets all it can, and keeps all it gets. Give it complete power over a
human being, and there are no limits to its cupidity and wrong-doing,
but the finite nature of the thing itself. Hence, does it not follow
that there can be no disinterestedness, no tender mercies in slavery?
Yes, dear Aunt, as we are perfectly sure that there can be no water in
the moon, so are we sure, by the same unerring rule of reasoning
according to the inductive philosophy, that there is not one drop of
water in slavery for the parched lips of a dying slave. I stated this to
a member of our Junior Class who is a wonderful metaphysician. He was
kind enough to say that he could discover no flaw in the logic. Your
letter, which, I trust, is now on its way to me, I know will fully
confirm my theory and conclusion.

This lady had probably been reading some miserable cant about Southern
humanity, for there are people everywhere who take the wrong side of
every subject, from sheer obstinacy. What can disprove the laws of human
nature? They require that things should be at the South as our theories
lay them down.

In our Institution I mourn to say there is much opposition to the
principles of freedom. Not only so, but the students, many