We requested him to state briefly what were in his estimation the advantages of the free system over slavery.  He replied thus:  1st.  The diminished expense of free labor. 2d. The absence of coercion. 3d.  The greater facility in managing an estate.  Managers had not half the perplexity and trouble in watching, driving, &c.  They could leave the affairs of the estate in the hands of the people with safety. 4th. The freedom from danger.  They had now put away all fears of insurrections, robbery, and incendiarism.

There are two reflections which the perusal of these items will probably suggest to most minds:  1st.  The coincidence in the replies of different planters to the question—­What are the advantages of freedom over slavery?  These replies are almost identically the same in every case, though given by men who reside in different parts of the island, and have little communication with each other. 2d.  They all speak exclusively of the advantages to the master, and say nothing of the benefit accruing to the emancipated.  We are at some loss to decide whether this arose from indifference to the interests of the emancipated, or from a conviction that the blessings of freedom to them were self-evident and needed no specification.

While we were in the boiling-house we witnessed a scene which illustrated one of the benefits of freedom to the slave; it came quite opportunely, and supplied the deficiency in the manager’s enumeration of advantages.  The head boiler was performing the work of ‘striking off;’ i.e. of removing the liquor, after it had been sufficiently boiled, from the copper to the coolers.  The liquor had been taken out of the boiler by the skipper, and thence was being conducted to the coolers by a long open spout.  By some means the spout became choaked, and the liquor began to run over.  Mr. C. ordered the man to let down the valve, but he became confused, and instead of letting go the string which lifted the valve, he pulled on it the more.  The consequence was that the liquor poured over the sides of the spout in a torrent.  The manager screamed at the top of his voice—­“let down the valve, let it down!” But the poor man, more and more frightened, hoisted it still higher,—­and the precious liquid—­pure sugar—­spread in a thick sheet over the earthen floor.  The manager at last sprang forward, thrust aside the man, and stopped the mischief, but not until many gallons of sugar were lost.  Such an accident as this, occurring during slavery, would have cost the negro a severe flogging.  As it was, however, in the present case, although Mr. C. ‘looked daggers,’ and exclaimed by the workings of his countenance, ’a kingdom for a cat,’[A] yet the severest thing which he could say was, “You bungling fellow—­if you can’t manage better than this, I shall put some other person in your place—­that’s all.” ‘That’s ALL’ indeed, but it would not have been all, three years ago.  The negro replied to his chidings in a humble way, saying ’I couldn’t help it, sir, I couldn’t help it’ Mr. C. finally turned to us, and said in a calmer tone, “The poor fellow got confused, and was frightened half to death.”