SLAVERY. 



213 



The position of the free negroes in Cuba is much 

 better than it is elsewhere, even among those nations 

 which have for ages flattered themselves as being 

 most advanced in civilization. We find there no 

 such barbarous laws as have been invoked, even in 

 our own days, by which free negroes are prohibited 

 from receiving donations from the whites, and can be 

 deprived of their liberty, and sold for the benefit of 

 the State, should they be convicted of affording an 

 asylum to escaped slaves. 1 



Until the closing years of the eighteenth century, 

 the number of slaves on the sugar plantations in Cuba 

 was extremely small, and what most surprises us is, 

 that a prejudice founded on " religious scruples," op- 

 posed the introduction there of females (they costing 

 in Havana one-third less than males), thus forcing 



selves excepting the sum of $50 or $100 ; and on this pay a rent to 

 the master for the rest of their lives, no matter how much wealth 

 they may acquire. A careful study of individual reasons, among 

 the blacks in Cuba, for adopting this course, might perhaps develop 

 some unobserved peculiarities of the negro mind. It may sometimes 

 arise from ties of affection, sometimes from interests, and it may be 

 found to result, in some cases, from an intuitive desire, or an idiosyn- 

 crasy on the part of the negro to have some immediate and tangible 

 superior, to whose opinion he can look with respect, and from whom 

 he can claim protection in calamity. 



1 Decision of the Supreme Council of Martinique of 4th July, 

 1720.— " Decree of 1st March, 1766, § 7.— H. 



