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him before he surrendered. He was sent to Brooklyn, where he had good employment and good wages; but, in a short time, he was missing. After the lapse of a year, a letter was received from him, dated on board a whale-ship, in the Pacific Ocean, saying, "I fled from Brooklyn, because I could not sleep, as I was so near the Slaveholding country. I thought I could not be safe until I had got to the other side of the globe." It is absurd to talk of the contentment of the Slaves. Even if they were, Slavery would still be a crime; to make a human being property is wrong,—malum in se.
The Slaves are fond of mirth and singing! So they are, but by this they only prove they are men. But it is not always an evidence of a contented and happy mind. The prisoner, under the dread sentence of death, drags his chains across the dark and gloomy dungeon, hanging to his ancles, waiting his execution, humming some favourite tune to dissipate the awful realization of eternity, from his much agitated mind. None would for a moment, say he had rather be a prisoner than a free man. The same rule holds good with the Slave. If they were, it only shows, very conspicuously, the wickedness of such a system; thus, like a crucible, crushing out of man the very element that constitutes him man; and reduces him to a beast, with only carnal appetites to gratify.
