CHAPTER XII.GENERAL SUMMARY.
In the several preceding chapters, those outward characteristics that specifically distinguish the negro have been briefly considered. It has been shown that color, the hair, the figure, the brain, etc., are simply facts out of many millions of facts that separate the races; that each and all of them are original, invariable, and everlasting, and the exception, or the absence of any of them, or of any of the associated facts not enumerated, at any time, in the case of a single individual or any generation, or under any possible circumstances of time, climate, or external agencies whatever, is, or would be, necessarily impossible. Nature is always true to herself, and even in those abnormal specimens sometimes presented to our observation—those so-called monstrosities—there is, properly speaking, no departure from her original designs, or from those fixed and eternal laws that govern organic life. We sometimes see Albinos, but except a certain tinge to the color, itself totally unlike any color in other races, the absolute negro, that is the millions of facts that constitute the negro being, are untouched. We witness all kinds of abnormal development in our own race, in animals, in the vegetable world, in all the innumerable beings and things that surround us. For example—let any one spend an autumn day in the forest, and turn his attention to the strange and often ludicrous sights that surround him. It often seems as if nature delighted herself in creating odd and uncouth shapes, as if intended for relaxationand relief from her graver and grander labors. But even here there is no violation of the higher law—the order of nature though very often interrupted by accident, is never contradicted—the abnormal development, the most uncouth and monstrous consequences are still pervaded by the eternal decree stamped upon the whole universe, that forbids forever any change in the minutest atom of this mighty mass of life. The Albino, the deformed or monstrous Negro, the seemingly wide departure from the normal standard, still obeys the higher law. All the peculiarities that distinguish him from his race aresui generis, without any approximation or resemblance to the white man. So, too, with the latter, and so, too, with all monstrosities in the lower animals. The things that constitute the monstrosity, that separate the creature, or seem to do so, from his own kind, separate him also from other species, whether of men or animals. The eternal gulf, the impassable barrier, the decreed limits fixed by the Creator himself, are never passed. A negro, with the color, or the hair, or the language, or the brain, or the sense of touch, or taste, or sight of the Caucasian, would not be a monstrosity but an impossibility. He might differ very widely from his own race in any one of these things, as we actually witness in the case of Albinos, in fact might retain scarcely any outward resemblance to his kind, and yet exist; but none has ever had, or ever will have, an existence that has any thing in common with the white man, for that would contradict the universal order of God himself.
Such being the fact, all that is external or tangible to the sense being thus widely, immeasurably, and indestructibly different from the Caucasian or white man, it is obvious that, in all beyond the outer surface, the same relative differences must exist. It was originally intended to demonstrate this in detail—to show the actual anatomical facts and structural differencesin the organs, the tissues, the systems, down to the minutest atom of the bodily structure. It was designed to present the reader with numerous plates, showing all this—the minutest particle, the single globule of blood, even, painted after the employment of the microscope, being sufficiently palpable to the sense, to show that the primordial atoms of the negro structure are as specifically, and relatively as widely, different from the white man’s as the color, the hair, or any of those outward qualities that confront us daily in the streets. But this would have added so much to the expense of the work, as to often place it out of the reach of the day laborer and working man, those who alone, or mainly, need to understand the great “anti-slavery” imposture of our times, and the world-wide conspiracy against their freedom, manhood and happiness, which has so long held them in abject submission to its clamorous pretences of philanthropy and humanity. Nor is it at all essential. A moment’s reflection or consideration is quite sufficient to convince any rational mind that the outward differences must have their counterpart in the entire structure. Of course any thing exceptional—a blemish, a congenital deformity on the surface—has no corresponding relation with the interior, but that which is specific, uniform, and invariable, as the color, the hair, the features, etc., must of necessity pervade thetout ensembleof being, whether human, animal, or vegetable. The apple, pear, peach, etc., have their own specific features externally, and their corresponding qualities internally. The shad differs from the salmon in its absolute structure equally with its outward appearance. The whole anatomical arrangement of the horse differs as widely from that of the ass as the outward features vary. And the entire bodily structure of the negro, down to the minutest atom of elementary matter, differs just as widely, of course, as the color of the skin or other external qualities, fromthose of the white man. It is equally palpable to the reason that the nature of the negro, his instincts, all the faculties of his mind, and all the functions of his body, are pervaded by the same or by relative differences from those of the Caucasian. To suppose otherwise is not to suppose a monstrosity, for, as has been remarked, monstrosities, however wide the departure from the normal standard, aresui generis, without any approximation to different beings—but such things are simply impossible. As it is plainly impossible that any being could exist half like or half unlike any other creature, so, too, it is obvious that beings with different structures could not possess the same qualities or manifest the same nature. Can any one imagine an apple with the qualities of the pear or peach, or even of another apple that differed from it in its material structure? Can it be supposed that a lion could ever have the nature of the tiger, or panther, or cat, or of any of the felinæ? Can it be believed that a bull-dog ever manifested the nature of a hound, or that the mastiff or spaniel could be made to exhibit the specific qualities of either? No, indeed. Nature makes no mistakes, nor does the Almighty Master of life permit His creatures to violate or transcend His eternal decrees.
It being, therefore, an invariable, indestructible, and eternal law, that the outward qualities are exactly harmonized with the interior structure down to the minutest atom of elementary particles and equally invariable and everlasting that the organism is in harmonious correspondence with the functions, the instincts, in a word, the nature, we are able to understand, with absolute certainty, thespecificqualities, and to approach with tolerable certainty the relative differences and actual interval that separate the white and black races. The figures of the plate in the opening of this work indicate these vital and all-important truths.
The first figure exhibits the typical Caucasian, not the cultivatedman of our time, but the “barbarian,” the Oriental—the cotemporary with David, Solomon, Cyrus, and others of remote antiquity. The second figure is the Negro of the same period, as found on the monuments, and, at the present time, in all those portions of Africa where the negro is isolated, and there are nodébrisof other races existing among them. By himself he never changes in his outward manifestations. One generation is as a million of generations, and therefore the thousands now annually imported into Cuba are seen to be just as this figure represents him four thousand years ago.
Nor is the figure of the Caucasian changed, for though the American of to-day is at an immeasurable distance in knowledge, the actual physical and intellectual man remains the same as this figure represents him four thousand years ago. Both figures have the same color, and yet thespecificdifferences are none the less palpable—the Caucasian and Negro type being equally distinct and widely different.
The third figure is an American—a white man of to-day—whose intellectual development, refinement of mind and manners, costume and habitudes are widely different; nevertheless, the physical qualities and specific capabilities are the same as those of his Oriental ancestors of by-gone generations.
The fourth figure is an American Negro, but a typical Negro without taint or admixture with other races. His features, moulded and softened by juxtaposition with the Caucasian, present a great improvement, certainly, over the isolated or African type, but the organism, the actual physical and mental nature remains the same.
The white man is least and the negro most affected by external agents, such as climate, time, systems of government, etc. The fourth figure in contrast with the isolated negro of Africa, exhibits a certain degree of improvement, progress, or advance that illustrates the actual capabilities of the race when placedunder circumstances favorable to its development. The size of the brain, the actual organism and absolute nature, of course, remains unaltered, just as all these things remain unchanged and unchangeable in the uneducated white laborer of our own times; but the negro, in juxtaposition with the superior race, becomes educated, and all his latent capabilities fully developed. Thus, while the color, the hair, the entire organism is just what it was thousands of years ago, and what it must be forever, or as long as the present order of creation continues, there is a certain modification in the features and still greater changes in the expression. The uncouth and uneducated European laborer contrasted with the educated classes, or with the generality of Americans, exhibits a wide difference, not so much in the features as in the expression; and though the negro in Africa is in a far more natural position, relatively considered, than the European laborer, the negro in our midst exhibits, perhaps, even a greater difference over his isolated brother. And if we suppose, for a moment, that the masses of English laborers were educated, fed on the same fare, and subject to the same circumstances as the English nobles, then we may form a reasonable estimate of the relative advance of the American over the African negro. The former would differ in no respect whatever from the privileged and educated class, and if all the negroes of Africa were brought here or were placed in juxtaposition and natural relation with the superior race, they would exhibit the same characteristics common to our so-called slaves, and the fourth figure in this plate would doubtless present a typical illustration of them. A good many people, ignorant of the laws of organism, suppose that our negro population have made a great advance over the wild and barbarous tribes of Africa, and, as shown by the second and fourth figures in the plate, this is so, but it is only in the outward expression, while the essential nature is everthe same. The negro infant, for example, brought from Africa and placed under existing circumstances in Mississippi, would be represented by the fourth figure, while the infant born here and carried to Africa to grow up with the wild tribes of the interior, would, on the contrary, be illustrated by the second figure of the plate.
There are a multitude of moral considerations involved, of course, and that cannot be measured or tested by material illustrations, but we may form a reasonable estimate of the superiority of condition and of the greater happiness of the negro over his African brethren, by a simple comparison of these figures. As has been observed, it corresponds with the difference between the educated and non-educated white man, but it is greater, for the negro is more affected by external circumstances, and therefore while the actual size and relations of the negro brain and the specific nature of the negro are unalterable, the outward form of his head as well as the expression of his face is strikingly improved over that of the typical African.
In general terms, it may be said, that the “American slave” is educated and the isolated African negro is not; that the former is civilized and the latter a barbarian; that, though in a sense in a natural position (for he multiplies in Africa), he is in his normal condition only when in juxtaposition and natural relation to the superior white man. It is sometimes supposed that the negro is incapable of progress, and so, of course, he is when isolated from the superior race, but when placed in his normal condition, and his imitative capacities called into action, he is capable of progress to a certain extent. God, while endowing him with widely different and vastly inferior faculties, has gifted him with imitative capacities so admirable, that those who are ignorant of his real nature mistake them for those of the white man. Like children, like the inferioranimals, and like all other inferior races, he naturally imitates the superior being; but beyond this general tendency common to all subordinate creatures, there is a peculiar capacity in the negro in this respect, which, more than anything else, warrants us in terming it thespecificfeature of the race. Placed in his normal condition, he becomes intelligent, civilized, pious, industrious, and if his master is a man of refined mind and dainty habits, the negro becomes so, even more than children who imitate the habitudes of their parents. Thus, it will be seen on Southern plantations generally, that they correspond with their masters, and if the habits and practices of the former are moral and Christian-like, the negroes approximate to the same standard. On the contrary, if they are under the guidance of coarse and brutal masters, or are left with nothing to imitate but the habits of a gross and tyrannical overseer, then they become idle, vicious, and thieving; and take every chance that offers to run away from their homes.
In speaking of negro education, of course no such meaning as that applied to white people is intended. Reading, writing, arithmetic, etc., have no relation or connection with the development of the negro powers. He simply needs to be in a position where the imitative capacity with which God has so beneficently endowed him is most completely called into action, and, as has been observed, he then becomes an industrious, moral, and well-behaved creature, or he is idle, sensual, vicious and worthless, just as the master or overseer pleases to make him. There are doubtless exceptional instances, but with all the wide-spread and boundless effort of the ignorant and deluded people in England and America to seduce them from their homes, there are probably but few negroes—real negroes—who ever abandoned their masters, unless their education had been neglected. The instinct of the negro is obedience to his master, and the strongest affection of his nature—far abovethat for his wife or offspring—is for the master who feeds, guides, and cares for him, indeed is his Providence; and his utter horror of migration, unless it be with his master, these qualities, so dominant in the negro, would be or might be made a barrier of protection against outside seductions, were they properly understood and appreciated by those having them in charge. This negro education, civilization, progress in fact, which the negro is capable of when in his normal condition, and his imitative capacities are permitted a healthy development, of course is rapidly lost when isolated from the white man. If the four millions now in our midst were suddenly left to themselves, but a few years—probably within fifty—everything that now distinguishes them—that is, all that they have imitated from the superior race—would become extinct.
Leaving out of the consideration mulattoes and mongrels, and taking into view simply the negro—the four millions of negroes of untainted blood which now exist in our midst—it is reasonable to say that, fifty years hence, there would not be one that would speak his present language, that would be a Christian, that would retain his name, or any other thing whatever which he now possesses and has imitated from his masters. This may seem a startling declaration to many who live in daily contact with these people, while by those ignorant and deplorably deluded parties who fancy that they are engaged in a work of humanity when seeking to undo the work of the Almighty Creator, by turning black into white and the negro into a Caucasian, it will scarcely be understood; but it involves a truth that may be easily and plainly illustrated. A very large portion of our negroes are the children and grandchildren of those brought from Africa, and not a few, perhaps, were themselves brought in by the “slave trade,” which it will be remembered was continued down to 1808.
Now of all these there probably is not one that can speak the language of his progenitors, not one that retains his African religion or the slightest relic of African history or tradition, not one with even an African name, and if they have thus rapidly lost all that they possessed of their own, that was original and specific, of course, if isolated from their masters, they would still more rapidly lose that which they have imitated from a superior race.
Such, then, is the negro—the lowest in the scale as the Caucasian is the most elevated in the human creation—a creature not degraded—for none of God’s creatures are degraded—but that is widely different and vastly subordinate to the elaborately organized and highly endowed white man. Thespecificqualities are not matters of opinion but of fact, that appeal to our senses at every step, but the specific differences and actual intervals that separate races, though often susceptible of successful illustrations, must to a great extent be determined by experience. The author has attempted to define these differences in some essential respects, and believes he has succeeded with sufficient exactitude to warrant correct conclusions in respect to the almost innumerable things that could not be discussed nor even alluded to in a work of this kind. We have this race among us—they or their descendants must remain an element of our population forever. It is doubtless the design of the Almighty that the Caucasian and negro, under certain circumstances which will be considered elsewhere, should exist in juxtaposition, and therefore a specific knowledge of this race, and its true relations to our own, is the most vital and indeed transcendent question or consideration that was ever presented to a civilized and Christian people. Nor can this be delayed or pushed aside, for even now the nation is rapidly drifting into serious difficulties and possibly terrible calamities, in consequence of that wide-spread ignorance andmisconception prevalent in regard to the negro’s nature and his true relations to the white man. The blind and stupid warfare waged so long upon the domestic institutions of the South, has doubtless thus far injured the negro most, and it may be demonstrated with ease that the worst and most brutal master ever known could not inflict so much misery on the negro as the so-called friend of freedom, who, in utter ignorance of the negro nature, would force him to live out the life of a widely different being. But the time has come when this ignorance and delusion threatens to involve the whole framework of American society, and nothing but the simple truth—the recognition of the actual and unchangeable facts fixed eternally by the hand of God, can save the nation from dire calamities.