"
"Oh, well," said Mr. North, "all this may be true, but this does not
reconcile me to slavery. Our horses here at the North will all be
comfortably provided for, notwithstanding any money pressure. But I
would rather be a human being and fail, every winter, than be a horse."
"Husband," said Mrs. North, "do you consider that a parallel case? Mr.
C. is not arguing, as I understand him, that slavery is better than
freedom. He is not persuading us to be slaves rather than free. He takes
these four millions of blacks as he finds them, in bondage, and he asks,
What shall we do with them? You say, Set them free. He says, They are
better off, as a race, in their present bondage, than they would be if
made free, to remain here. Not that they are better off than four
millions of colored people, who had never been slaves, would be in a
commonwealth by themselves."
"I thank you, Mrs. North," said I, "for your clear and correct statement
of my position. And now I will take up Mr. North's parable about the
horses, and apply it justly. Let hay and grass be exceedingly scarce,
and I had rather take my chance with an owner and be a horse, in a
stable, and at work, than a horse roaming in search of food, chased away
everywhere.
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