and relation of human life, and are not the result of any one in particular. They spring from the corruptions of the human heart, like all the crimes and sufferings of this world. To abolish any custom or institution, because it may be, or is abused, would be to make war on all laws, Divine and human; for all laws have been occasionally perverted from their great objects, and made the scourges, instead of the benefactors of mankind.

On the other hand, it will be seen by a reference to the abstract of laws for the government of the slave, that in some cases the law is more favourable to him than to his master. He cannot be convicted of felony, unless by a unanimous decision of his judges, whereas a majority is sufficient to condemn the white citizen. He cannot be executed until at least thirty days after his sentence, unless in time of insurrection or rebellion; and not before the testimony for and against him is placed on record, and a copy transmitted to the governor, who is invested with the power of pardoning and reprieving. The governor is also clothed with a special authority to sell slaves under sentence of death, taking bond that the purchaser shall remove them from the United States; and in various other cases the punishment may be commuted. Those who are resolutely bent on finding selfish motives

where those of humanity alone appear, may possibly attempt to trace those humane provisions to a regard for the property of the master, rather than for the life of the slave. But whatever may be the motive, no one will deny that the result is the same, or that the slave receives the benefit of these exceptions in his favour, as well as his master. To us, these laws distinctly exhibit the operation of a humane policy, desirous, as far as may be consistent with the safety of their institutions, to alleviate the condition of bondage by every means in their power. The more severe provisions of the law must be traced to the absolute necessity of the case: the more lenient ones to the influence of humanity. If it should be retorted, that this very necessity shows that the condition of society in which it originates is radically bad, our reply will be found in the following chapter. We have already, if we do not err, shown that the slave of the South is not altogether at the mercy of his master; that he has legal rights which protect him against punishment beyond a reasonable extent, much more effectually than the soldier or sailor; that he is, like every free citizen, under the protection of the law. The next chapter will be devoted to a comparison of the relative condition of the African slave in his own native land, as well

as in the southern states, and the hireling white servants, peasants, and day-labourers of various parts of the world. In so wide a range, it must be obvious, that only great and leading points of comparison or contrast can be referred to; but sufficient it is hoped, will be exhibited to enable our readers to draw correct general conclusions.

CHAPTER IX.

Of the Domestic and Social relations between the Master and Slave in the United States, and of the relative condition of African Freemen; African Slaves in their Native Land; American Slaves; English Labourers; European Peasantry, and various Classes of White Men in the United States.

IT is only from the outward condition of men, that men can judge of the happiness of each other. There are certain physical wants common to all mankind; some special necessities, that must be supplied, and are indispensable to human existence. Of these, all are equally qualified to form an estimate. There are other sources of enjoyment and suffering, which must be left to the Great Being who alone enters into the recesses of the heart, and detects its secret workings.

The most common error of mankind is that of estimating the happiness of others by their own standard of enjoyment, not considering the old

proverb, that "One man's meat is another man's poison," and that the endless diversities of habits, character, feeling, intellect, taste, and physical organization, create similar varieties in the sources from whence happiness is derived. One thing, however, is certain, that though mankind differ in so many points, there is one on which they all think alike. They all agree that hunger, thirst, cold, and overtasked labour, are real substantial evils; that, in proportion as we are free from these, we enjoy life, and partake of happiness; and that, on the contrary, no diversity of habit, character, education, feeling, taste, or intellect, can reconcile us to either one or the other. There is not the same degree of unanimity or certainty with regard to the enjoyments and sufferings of the mind; neither is it possible to form an estimate of the happiness of any one from his station in life, the degree of knowledge or ignorance he may rise or sink into, or the wealth or power he may possess. We might be miserable in the situation of a man who is in fact happier than ourselves. In short, after all the flourishing harangues and declamations of sentimental philosophers and philanthropic Quixotes, all reasoning and all experience only bring us to the conclusion of Paley, that "All that can be said is, that there remains a presump