419 



them, they will not do without harsh treat-^ 

 ment. Only take General Washington for 

 an example : I have not the least reason to 

 think it was his desire, but the necessity of 

 the case : but it was the sense of all his 

 neighbours that he treated them with more 

 severity than any ether man. He regular- 

 ly delivered weekly to every working ne- 

 gro tv/o or three pounds of pork, and some 

 salt herrings, often badly cured, and a small 

 portion of Indian corn. They are so lazy 

 by nature, that they would do little or 

 nothing, but take pleasure in fine weather, 

 cook victuals, and play on music and 

 dance all winter, if they had no master. I 

 think them as unfit to conduct themselves 

 as a child — thoughtless in the extreme, and 

 therefore requiring a severe master : and a 

 man unused to them, and who is of a 

 humane disposition, is unfit to employ ne- 

 groes. I had much rather do the work 

 myself, than have continually to force 

 others to do it. During the time I have 

 been in America, I have had experience 



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