SLAVERY. 



243 



the masters these things are considered to be of 

 little importance, and therefore unworthy of 

 much trouble ? As long as the work is done, 

 little else is thought of. Where the interest of 

 the master is concerned, the " manners, pro- 

 pensities, and superstitions" will soon be over- 

 come. I hope that at the present day such opi- 

 nions do not generally exist. All men in the 

 same state of barbarism treat their women in the 

 same manner ; the evil lies not with the race of 

 beings, but in the dreadful situation to which 

 this one is reduced. Why, therefore, not at- 

 tempt to improve and to benefit the individuals 

 of which it is composed ? 



The slaves of Brazil are regularly married ac- 

 cording to the forms of the Catholic church j 

 the banns are published in the same manner as 

 those of free persons ; and I have seen many 

 happy couples (as happy at least as slaves can 

 be) with large families of children rising around 

 them. The masters encourage marriages among 

 their slaves, for it is from these lawful con- 

 nections that they can expect to increase the 

 number of their Creoles. A slave cannot marry 

 without the consent of his master, for the vicar 

 will not publish the banns of marriage without 

 this sanction. It is likewise permitted that 

 slaves should marry free persons ; if the woman 

 is in bondage, the children remain in the same 

 state ; but it' the man is a slave, and she is free, 



R 1 



