They think and reason and wonder about
things which they see and hear; and, in many cases, feel an eager
desire to be instructed. This desire can not be gratified,
because it would unfit them for their servile condition;
therefore all teaching is rigidly denied them. The treasures
of knowledge are bolted and barred to their approach, and they are
kept in the utmost darkness and ignorance. Oh, to starve the mind!--
Is it not far worse than to starve the body?
There is yet another process of famishing to which the slaves
are subjected. They are not, as a general thing, taught by their
masters about God, the salvation of Jesus Christ or the way to heaven.
The SOUL is starved. To be sure, they pick up, here and there, a few
crumbs of religious truth, and make the most of their scanty supply.
Many of them truly love the Lord; and his unseen presence and joyful
anticipations of heaven make them submissive to their hardships,
and cheerful and faithful in their duties. But they can not thank
their masters for what religious light and knowledge they get.
And who are these that hold their fellow-creatures in such cruel bondage,
starving body, mind, and soul with such indifference and inhumanity?
We blush to tell you.
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