he
will henceforth induce industry on his estate by the payment of honest
wages, instead of coercing his laborers by menaces and stripes; and
after carefully considering the whole ground, he estimates, as fairly
and faithfully as he can, what proportion of the whole avails of his
culture properly belong to the labor performed by his men, and what to
the capital, skill, and supervision, furnished and exercised by
himself,--and then fixes upon a rate of wages, graduating the scale
fairly and honestly according to the strength, the diligence, and the
fidelity of the various laborers. Suppose, also, that some suitable
arrangement is made on the plantation or in the vicinity, by which the
servants can expend what they earn, in such comforts, ornaments, or
luxuries as are adapted to their condition and their ideas. Suppose
that, in consequence of the operation of this system, the laborers,
instead of desiring, as now, to make their escape from the scene of
labor, should each prize and value his place in it, and fear
dismission from it as a punishment. Suppose that through the change
which this new state of things should produce, it should become an
agreeable and honorable duty to superintend and manage the system, as
it is now agreeable and honorable to superintend the operations of a
manufactory, or the construction or working of a railway, or the
building of a fortress, or any other organized system of industry
where the workmen are paid, and that consequently, instead of rude and
degraded overseers, intemperate and profane, extorting labor by
threats and severity, there should be found a class of intelligent,
humane, and honest men, to direct and superintend the industry of the
estate,--men whom the proprietor would not be ashamed to associate
with, or to admit to his parlor or table. In a word, suppose that the
general contentment and happiness which the new system would induce in
all concerned in it, were such that peace of mind should return to
the master's breast, now,--especially in hours of sickness and
suffering, and at the approach of death,--so often disturbed, and a
sense of safety be restored to his family, so that it should no longer
be necessary to keep the pistols or the rifle always at hand, and that
the wife and children could lie down and sleep at night, without
starting at unusual or sudden sounds, or apprehending insurrection
when they hear the cry of fire. Suppose that such a change as this
were possibl