Belmont Chronicle

An Elegant Extract

"The value of the Yankee as a slave has not been properly estimated. How dangerous and troublesome he is in a state of freedom is too well known. Cowardly, thievish, superstitious, fanatical, destitute of a moral sense or of any fixed idea of civil polity, he possesses all the worse and none of the better traits of the negro, and stands more in need of a master. His ingenuity has made him what he will forever remain-the mechanic and craftsman of the world. Under proper command, he makes a good sailor. Nor is he unfit for higher slavish duties. His active and unscrupulous intellect finds very suitable occupation in the vulgar labors of the lawyer and editor, also in the more disgraceful pursuits of the itinerant lecturer. But for his inability to discern between right and wrong, and his tendency to atheism, he might be put to use as preacher. Whip him soundly for every political sermon, he would improve beyond what we think possible; but he will always be too hypocritical to be trusted."-Richmond (Va.) Whig