He found the slaves idle, incompetent, lazy, although he would not have denied that the very fact of slavery caused and increased these evils.

He treated the negroes justly, but without any sentimentality.

He found them in the order in which he lived.

They were the workmen of his plantation; he provided them with food, clothing, and a lodging; in return they were expected to give him their labor.

It does not appear that the slaves on Washington's plantation endured any special hardship.