that the black man, and he alone, is capable of subduing the forests there. To make it clear that the people of Amazonia will have slaves—they are very near to the coast of Africa, and if they cannot get them in one way they will get them in another. The alternative is, shall Amazonia be supplied with this class from the United States or from Africa? In the former case it will be a transfer of the place of servitude, but the making of no new slaves. In the latter it will be making slaves of free men, and adding greatly to the number of slaves in the world. In the former it would be relieving our own country of the slaves, it would be hastening the time of our deliverance, and it would be putting off indefinitely the horrors of that war of races which, without an escape, is surely to come upon us. Therefore I see in the slave territory of the Amazon the safety valve of the Southern States.
I cannot be blind to what I see going on here. It is coming to be a matter of faith among leading southern men that the time is rapidly approaching when, in order to prevent this war of races and its horrors, they will, in self defence, be compelled to conquer parts of Mexico and Central America, and make slave territory of that which is now free.
Am I not right? Am I not humane when, insomuch as I see these tendencies, I try to prevent them by substituting a lesser for a greater evil? And though I cannot do all the good that I would, may I be permitted, in my humble way, to prevent harm?
How glorious is Lewis Herndon's mission into that valley in comparison with the achievements of Clive and Hastings!
I may be wrong in preaching up Amazonia; but I am, my dear cousin, as firm in my convictions of right as you are when you enter your closet and shut the door to pray, and may God help us both!
Your affectionate cousin,
