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Show 272 APPENDIX. apprenticeship to entire free d om, 1H IS . ta. ken" place without any disturbance of public order and tranqmlhty. Under the pcc~] iar circumstances of the case, could any man reasonably ask for more? . . . I now come to the subject of compensatiOn-a subJeCt winch . c d t involve the question of abolition in greater 15 01tcn suppose o . . . . practl·c a1 d'1f !i cu It y tha~ n any other point. If mdeed, It IS true, as fi cnry Cl ay al leged ' that twelve hundred, if. not fifteen .h undred, millions of dollars must be raised, and pass mto the coffers of the slave-holders, before slavery can be rightly abolished, then the great object in view does indeed appear to recede, of. necessity, into the distance. But I can scarcely believe that the orator was serious, when he made this assertion. In the :first place, as it regards the aboliton of slavery, so far as it can be effected by Congress, ninety-nine hundredths of this enormous amount arc immediately to be deducted. When the happy era arrives, at which the independent slave states shall abolish their own slavery, they will, of course, severally settle the question of compensation, as may best suit their views and circumstances. In point of fact, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Kentucky, for example, are no more likely, at that period, to grant compensation for the slaves, than were Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, &c., do right?' Dear brother, if you or any other friend to dow~troddcn l.m· manity have any lingering fear that the blaze of light wl1ich IS Ilow.go•~g forth from the islands will ever be quenched, even for a moment, d1sm•ss that fear. The light, instead of growing dim, will continue to brighte~. Your prayers for the safe and happy introduction of freedom, upon a soil long trodden by the foot of slavery, may be turned i~t? p~aises, for the event has come to pass. 'Vhen shall we be able to reJOICC m such ~consummation in our beloved America? Ilow I long to see a deputatiOn of slavc-liOlders making the tour of these islands. It would only be necessary for them to usc their eyes and ears. Argument would be quite out of place. Even an appeal to principle-to compassion-~o the fea: of G~~ would not be needed. Self interest alone would decide them m favo immediate emancipation. Ever yours, Vl. R. IIAYJ.;s." PREE A:O:D l"RIENDLY REMARKS. 273 when tltey enacted the abolition of slavery. Undoubtedly, it will be found, in the slave states themselves, as it was in the states now cleared of slavery, that the throwing off of that burden and curse, is a public benefit, in which no parties will have more ample reason to rejoice, than the slave-holders themselves. But, as it relates to the only acts of abolition which can be effected by Congress-of the slaves in the District and in Florida- the difficulty, if there is one, is reduced to a most manageable compass. I would simply remark on the subject, that no compensation to the slave-holders would be required, as far as I can perceive, on the pure principle of justice. Here is a government, having under its immediate control and protection, two classes of persons ;-first, a certain number of American citizens, who hold what they deem to be a property in their fellow men ; secondly, a multitude of individuals, who, although strangers in the land, have a claim on tl1e same property, by an infinitely superior title-a title declared by the constitution of the North American Union, to be absolutely inalienable. Is it possible to doubt that the controlling and protecting government, in snch a case, is bound by the most sacred obligations, to restore this property to its rightful owners; and that those who hold it wrongfully must take the consequences? But let me not be misunderstood, when I use the word wrongfully. I am not accusing the slave-holders of the District and of Florida, of wrongful intentions. I am aware that long habit and custom have cast a thick veil over the wrong which they are doing. I have no doubt whatever that many' of them, as in other of the American slave states, treat their colored people with kindness; I feel nothing but christian love and good will towards the parties in question. Still the property which they claim never was, and never can be, their own. No human laws can give it to them. No custom can effect for them a prescriptive right in it. No length of tenure can secure it for them, de Jure. They are bound by the principles of justice to resign it to 'Its T |