But, still, this leaves them slaves. My reply to myself, when
I say this, is, They were so in their own land; or, they were in a
condition of fearful degradation and misery. Their God is their judge;
we have not increased their degradation; woe to us if we add needless
sorrows to their lot. But as for thrusting them up to an ideal state of
elevation, before their time and ours has come, I am not disposed to aid
in it. Moreover, Southern Christians are doing all that we would do if
in their place; I will not affect to be more humane or just than they;
this is our great error.
"Here," said I, "is another view of the subject":
"In the sale of slaves (in America) nothing but labor is
transferred. It passes from master to master, as it passes, in
countries of hired labor, from employer to employer. The mode in
which the transfer is made differs in the two systems of labor. The
slave-laborer is never compelled to hunt for work and starve till he
finds it. Is this an evil to the laborer? Would it be thought an
evil, by the hired man in Europe, that his employer should be
obliged, by-law, to find him another employer before dismissing him
from service?
"But, it is said, the slave is too much exposed to the master's
abuse of power; he is liable to wrongs without a remedy; and, so
far, his condition is below that of the hired laborer.
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