Henry Koster

“ I have represented slavery in what I conceive to be the state in which it usually exists upon the plantations; but any comforts which the human beings who are so circumstanced enjoy, and any respite from severe labour is so entirely at the will of the master, that the instances in which the fate of the slave is hard almost beyond endurance, are dreadfully too frequent. ”

“ An estate contains in general much more land than its owner can manage or in any way employ, even under the present extravagant system of changing from one piece of ground to another. I call it extravagant, because it requires so much space for its operations, and performs these with more labour than is necessary. This overplus of land gives room for the habitations of free people in the lower ranks of life, who live upon the produce which they raise by their own labour. ”

“ Bento negro do all in his power to be able to act for himself; for very probably he may be obliged to labour with more diligence to obtain his living as a free man than as a slave. The emancipated negro oftentimes becomes an excellent member of society, for he contracts habits of industry, in which he continues; but again, if he has been hardly treated by a rigorous master, he becomes disgusted with, and indifferent to life, is rendered callous to shame, and drags on an idle, miserable existence. ”

“ The master might indeed deprive the slave of the fruits of his own labour, but this is never thought of, because the slave preserves his money in a secret place, or has entrusted it to some person upon whom he can depend, and would suffer any punishment rather than disclose the spot in which his wealth lies concealed. A still more forcible reason than any other, for the forbearance of the master, is to be found in the dread of acting against public opinion ”

“ The general tendency which is produced by slavery, taken in every point of view, is to rouse all the bad qualities of him who rules and of him who endures; by this system, a government permits the demoralization of its people, and that the property of its subjects be laid out in a most disadvantageous manner; a great number of individuals must be supported whose benefit to the state is much decreased by the situation in which they are placed, and another class in society is prevented from taking its due share in the general advancement of the country. ”

“ The pride of the slave, who is obliged to appear abroad with his back covered with scars, is at first much hurt; but the shame of being seen in this state soon wears off, and then all hopes of reform may be given up; he will continue in his faults, and be indifferent to the stripes which he must occasionally undergo for committing them. I have been requested by slaves, who had been often so treated, to punish them with the whip, and not to make them endure the misery of sitting in the stocks in solitary confinement. ”

“ A hovel is erected at a distance from any habitation, and the miserable patient is removed to it, and is shunned by every one, even receiving his food without the bearer approaching the hovel. I can conceive no situation more wretched than this,—to be in a weak and helpless state, and to be forsaken,—to be doomed to solitude, and to have, perhaps for years, no thoughts but those of death; nothing to relieve the mind, and to divert the attention. ”

“ I had great pleasure in witnessing the most excellent arrangements of this plantation; the negroes are as happy as persons in a state of slavery can be; but although the tasks are, comparatively speaking, easy, and corporal punishments are only resorted to for children, still the great object at which they aim is to be free, and to purchase the freedom of their children [89] . One man, who was a fisherman by trade, had obtained the manumission of his wife, though he was still a slave himself, with the intent that if she should still have any more children, they might be free ”

“ This is an undoubted and indisputable fact, to which every person assents, owing to the self-evidence of its truth; and which must be still more strongly imprinted on the mind of every one who has been in the habit of seeing the manner in which slaves perform their daily labour. Their indifference, and the extreme slowness of every movement, plainly point out the trifling interest which they have in the advancement of the work. I have watched two parties labouring in the same field, one of free persons, and the other of slaves, which occasionally, though very seldom, occurs. ”

“ But it is on these occasions that tyranny has its full sway, that caprice and pique have their full vent; that the most shameful partiality prevails, that the most intolerable oppression is experienced; in fact now it is, that the whole country is seen in arms against itself, and that every means of entrapping each other are used by the nearest neighbours. ”

“ The negroes were coming home straggling from their work, fatigued and dirty; the church-bell tolled dismally at intervals, that all Catholics should count their beads; the sea looked black, and the foliage of the trees became rapidly darker and darker as the sun sank behind the hills. There is scarcely any twilight in those regions; the light is in a few minutes changed into darkness, unless the moon has risen. Her light is not afforded gradually, but her power is perceived very shortly after the setting of the sun. ”

“ Does Great Britain interfere in the police of Brazil? Would Great Britain take the trouble of negotiating respecting any regulations which Brazil might enact for the better preserving of internal good order, and for providing with more ease for the apprehension of improper persons? The truth is that Brazil does not require any thing of the kind, and Great Britain does, consequently each Power acts according to its situation. ”

“ The magnificent prospect which may be enjoyed from the clumsy wooden balcony of the town-hall, compensates in some degree for the dismal state of the place in which it stands. In front is an extensive view of the sea, which is always enlivened by numerous jangadas and canoes sailing to and fro, and occasionally by the large craft that trade between Maranham and Recife, and by ships arriving from Europe or returning thither. ”

“ It is quite hopeless to expect a rapid change of system among men who had not even heard that there existed other agriculturists besides themselves; who were astonished to learn that Brazil was not the only country in which sugar was made; who know not, or at least did not know until very lately, that there was any other nation than their own; who imagined that Portugal had possession of every thing worth having in this world ”

“ In some parts of the country which I have visited, the free people preponderate considerably, and in none of those districts which I saw, do I conceive that the slaves outnumber the free people in a greater proportion than three to one. It will have been seen from foregoing chapters, that the sugar plantations are not largely stocked with slaves, and that no estate is without some portion of its lands which are occupied by families who are in a state of freedom. The villages too contain free persons almost exclusively, and even in the large towns, the major part of the mechanics are free. ”

“ It is at Bahia that the slave-dealers and planters have shewn themselves most violent in favour of the slave-trade; it is from that place that the most extensive traffic is carried on to the coast of Africa. In the province of Bahia there are great estates, possessing two, three, and four hundred slaves; the owners of these are consequently rich, and they possess power over the free population as well as over their own immediate dependents. It is in that quarter that the greatest inclination to resist whatever its people does not relish, has been experienced. ”

“ The next morning we continued our journey over the sand hills to Natal, travelling at about two miles within the hour. The distance from Goiana to Natal is fifty-five leagues. The sand hills are perpetually changing their situations and forms; the high winds blow the sand in clouds, which renders it dangerous to travellers; it is white, and very fine, so that our horses sunk up to the knees at every step,—painful to a very great degree, when the sun has had full power upon it. Poor Julio had mounted upon the haunches of one of the loaded horses, and occasioned our travelling still slower. ”

“ The Indian slavery has been for many years abolished in Brazil, and the individuals who are now in bondage in that country are Africans, and their descendants on both sides, or individuals whose mothers are of African origin; and no line is drawn at which the near approach to the colour and blood of the whites entitles the child, whose mother is a slave, to freedom. I have seen several persons who were to all appearance of white origin, still doomed to slavery.
Slaves, however, in Brazil, have many advantages over their brethren in the British colonies. ”

“ He is affable, and hears the complaint of a peasant or a rich merchant with the same patience; he is just, seldom exercising the power which he possesses of punishing without appeal to the civil magistrate; and when he does enforce it, the crime must be very glaring indeed. He acts upon a system, and from principle; and if it is the fate of Brazil to be in the hands of a despotic government, happy, compared to its present state, would it in general be, if all its rulers resembled him. ”

“ I have not a doubt in saying that the government of Brazil is a gainer by lowering the duties upon goods which are imported in British vessels to the standard of those which are imported in vessels that are owned by its subjects. Under existing regulations all parties come into the market upon an equal footing, and although some persons will attempt to evade the payment of any duty, still it is not necessary that a whole body of men should resort to smuggling for the purpose of bringing their commodities into the market with any prospect of a successful sale. ”

“ Few masters are inclined to restrain the right of their [404] slaves to dispose of these days as they think fit, or at any rate few dare, whatever their inclinations may be, to brave public opinion in depriving them of the intervals from work which the law has set apart as their own, that their lives may be rendered less irksome. The time which is thus afforded enables the slave, who is so inclined, to accumulate a sum of money; however this is by law his master’s property, from the incapability under which a slave labours of possessing any thing which he can by right call his own. ”

“ The slave trade is impolitic with regard to Brazil on the broad principle, that a man in a state of bondage will not be so serviceable to the community as one who acts for himself, and whose whole exertions are directed to the advancement of his own fortune, the increase of which, by regular means, adds to the general prosperity of the society to which he belongs. ”

“ Nor can we be accounted as more than residents for a time, we cannot be considered as an established community, who are thus without any common bond of union, who have not any general place of meeting, who have not any one point to which all are directed; we have no appearance of belonging to one nation, as if we were brethren meeting in a foreign land. ”

“ Her sea-ports might no doubt be much injured by attacks from a maritime enemy; but the country is impregnable, it possesses far stronger fortresses than any which can be raised by man; in its extent, in its woods, and in a hardy population, who are accustomed to live on very little food, and that of a poor kind. However, any ideas of conquest in South America by Europeans, against the wishes of the people, experience has proved to be fallacious; the Dutch war with Pernambuco, and our own errors at Buenos Ayres bear witness to this fact. ”

“ The city is, as I have already observed, situated upon a hill, very steep in front of the sea, and declining gradually on the land side. Its first appearance, on arriving upon the coast, is so beautiful, that the disappointment experienced on entering it is great; but still Olinda has many beauties, and the view from it is magnificent. The streets are paved, but are much out of repair; many of the houses are small, low, and neglected, and the gardens very little cultivated; indeed the place has been deserted for the Recife. However, one of the regiments of the line is stationed here [11] ”

“ The Indian seems to be without energy or exertion; devoid of great good or great evil. Much may at the same time be said in their favour; they have been unjustly dealt with, they have been trampled upon, and afterwards treated as children; they have been always subjected to those who consider themselves their superiors, and this desire to govern them has even been carried to the direction of their domestic arrangements. But no,—if they are a race of acute beings, capable of energy, of being deeply interested upon any subject, they would do more than they have done. ”

“ I have seen upon these plantations many light-coloured mulatto slaves; but when the approximation to white blood becomes considerable, a marriage is projected for the individual with a person of a darker tint. No compulsion is made use of to oblige any one to marry, and therefore many of the slaves, contrary to the wishes of their masters, remain single. The monks allow their female slaves to marry free men, but the male slaves are not permitted to marry free women. ”

“ The state of the British courts of law is the pride of every Englishman; a doubt of the impartiality of their decisions never strikes the mind of any reasonable man. Although one party in the State constantly opposes the measures of government, and seeks out any abuses which may have crept into its proceedings, still the courts of law continue to act, year after year, without any suspicion of misconduct,—without any idea of unfairness in their determinations being entertained. ”