74/154 He was satisfied that immediate emancipation was better policy than a temporary apprenticeship. The apprenticeship was a middle state--kept the negroes in suspense--vexed and harrassed them--_fed them on a starved hope_; and therefore they would not be so likely, when they ultimately obtained freedom, to feel grateful, and conduct themselves properly. The reflection that they had been cheated out of their liberty for six years would _sour their minds_. The planters in Antigua, by giving immediate freedom, had secured the attachment of their people. There had been no deficiency of labor. |