PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 



55 



labor of his slaves, does not make him a tyrant, but 

 rather does it give him a feeling of stronger affinity 

 with them, apart from that of interest, and creates in 

 his breast those friendly ties which every human 

 bosom experiences for its dependents. 



The moral condition of the slave is also benefited 

 by his relation with his master. Every individual 

 is brought into an intimate connection with a better 

 society, and example, than is afforded him by his 

 own class exclusively, and the faculty of imitation, 

 which is much stronger in the negro than that of 

 origination, stimulates him to imitate his superior, 

 rather than his equal. At the same time the exer- 

 cise of the control of a superior intelligence over his 

 social intercourse, and moral deportment, are pro- 

 ductive of a state of morals which will compare 

 most favorably with that of the lower classes under 

 a different social organization. A respect for the 

 laws, and for the rights of others is thereby incul- 

 cated, and the religious sentiment is developed to a 

 degree never found in the free negro, and seldom in 

 the same relative class in other communities. Pau- 

 perism never exists among slaves, and great crimes 

 are much more rare among them than among the 

 lower classes in free States. 



It is under this social organization, that Cuba has 

 risen to that condition of material prosperity which 



