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Show .;[rirnus~iB for tgc ~laue Is !ricnu.sgiv for * ~1azter. JT is a mistake on the part of the people of the south to suppose that those who desire the extinction of slavery, whether residing in America or England, arc actuated by unfriendly feelings toward them personally, or by any hostility to the pecuniary or social interests of their section of country. rrhe most important and influential classes of the population, both of England and of the northern States of this Union, have a direct and strong pecuniary interest at stake, in the prosperity and welfare of the south. If the people of Massachusetts or those of Lancashire were employed in raising cotton and sugar, and if the prices which they obtained for their produce were kept down by southern competition, then there might perhaps be some ground for suspecting a covert hostility in any action or influence which they might attempt to exert on such a question. But the contrary FRIENDSIIIP FOR THE SLAVE. 135 is the fact. New England and Old England manufacture and consume the cotton and sugar which the south produces. They arc directly and deeply interested in having the production of these articles go on in the most advantageous manner possible~ 1'be southern planter is not their competitor and rival. lie is their partner. IIis work is to them and to their pursuits one of co-operation and aid. Consequently his prosperity is their prosperity, and his ruin would be an irretrievable d isoster, not a benefit, to them. They arc thus naturally bis friends, and, consequently, when in desiring a change in the relation which sub· sists between him and his laborers, they declare that they are not actuated by any unfriendly feeling toward him, but honestly think tl1at the change would be beneficial to all concerned, there is every reason why -they should be believed. There was a time when the laboring population of England occupied a position in respect to the proprietors of the soil there, very analogous to that now held by African slaves in our country. But the system has been clmnged. From being serfs, compelled to toil for masters, under the influence of compulsion or fear, they have become a free peasantry, working |
