1860] AT COOPER UNION 33
States, I do not think a general, or even a very
extensive, slave insurrection is possible. The in-
dispensable concert of action cannot be attained.
The slaves have no means of rapid communica-
tion ; nor can incendiary freemen, black or white,
supply it. The explosive materials are every-
where in parcels ; but there neither are, nor can
be supplied, the indispensable connecting trains.
Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for their masters and mis- tresses; and a part of it, at least, is true. A plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to twenty individuals before some one of them, to save the life of a favorite master or mistress, would divulge it. This is the rule; and the slave revolution in Hayti was not an ex- ception to it, but a case occurring under pecu- liar circumstances. The gunpowder plot of British history, though not connected with slaves, was more in point. In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret ; and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, be- trayed the plot to that friend, and, by conse- quence, averted the calamity. Occasional poi- sonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy assassinations in the field, and local revolts ex- tending to a score or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this country for a long time. Whoever much fears, or much hopes, for such an event, will be alike disappointed.
In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation and deportation peace- ably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil
