Amongst such a people the servant always considers himself as a sojourner in the dwelling of his masters. He knew nothing of their forefathers,—he will see nothing of their descendants,—he has nothing lasting to expect from their hand. Why then should he confound his life with theirs, and whence should so strange a surrender of himself proceed? The reciprocal position of the two men is changed,—their mutual relations must be so too.
I would fain illustrate all these reflections by the example of the Americans; but for this purpose the distinctions of persons and places must be accurately traced.
In the south of the Union, slavery exists; all that I have just said is consequently inapplicable there. In the north, the majority of servants are either freed-men or the children of freed-men: these persons occupy a contested position in the public estimation; by the laws they are brought up to the level of their masters,—by the manners of the country they are obstinately detruded from it. They do not themselves clearly know their proper place, and they are almost always either insolent or craven.
But in the Northern States, especially in New-England, there are a certain number of whites, who agree, for wages, to yield a temporary obedience to the will of their fellow-citizens. I have heard that these servants commonly perform the duties of their situation with punctuality and intelligence; and that, without thinking themselves naturally inferior to the person who orders them, they submit without reluctance to obey him.
They appeared to me to carry into service some of those manly habits which independence and equality engender. Having once selected a hard way of life, they do not seek to escape from it by indirect means; and they have sufficient respect for themselves, not to refuse to their masters that obedience which they have freely promised.
On their part, masters require nothing of their servants but the faithful and rigorous performance of the covenant:
