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CHAP. XIX. 



SLAVERY. 



npHE general equity of the laws regarding free 

 persons of colour in the Portuguese South- 

 American possessions, has been to a certain de- 

 gree extended to that portion of the population 

 which is in a state of slavery ; and the lives of the 

 slaves of Brazil have been rendered less hard and 

 less intolerable than those of the degraded beings 

 who drag on their cheerless existence under the 

 dominion of other nations. The Brazilian slave 

 is taught the religion of his master, and hopes 

 are held out of manumission from his own 

 exertions ; but still he is a slave, and must be 

 guided by another man's will ; and this feeling 

 alone takes away much of the pleasure which 

 would be felt from the faithful discharge of his 

 duty, if it was voluntarily performed. The 

 consciousness that if the directions were not 

 willingly attended to, the arbitrary will of the 

 master would enforce their performance, re- 

 moves much of the desire to please ; obedience 

 to a command is not required with any idea that 

 refusal can possibly ensue, and therefore no 



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