epresentatives of those numerous fortunes lost by London firms in these
colonies. The court of insolvency made that which was foreign, colonial
property. The rich freights sent from Europe, when not wasted by an
extravagant consumption, were really exchanged for land improved, and
finally disappeared from the ledger of the merchant. It remains--not as
the result of convict labor, but as the dividend of an expenditure which
shews more loss than gain.

The value of convict labor has been generally overestimated. "The day
that sees a man a slave, deprives him of half his worth." The employers,
as a class, are uniformly poor. Slave labor in America is dearer than
free, although it implies no moral degradation.[277] What then could be
expected from bondmen of the same colour as their lords; whose
resentment and indolence combined to prevent their usefulness. It may be
safely affirmed, that the employer who gained by his servants, not only
watched, but paid them.[278] Instances may be found in opposition to
this conclusion: the great employers, who reduced their men by an
unrelenting pressure, were few in number; and their advantages were of
brief duration.[279]

The ordinary settlers purchased convict labor at great sacrifices, which
they never estimated. They lived in woods, often without religious
instruction, medical attendance, and in want of those refinements which
can be realised only when the stern features of the wilderness are
softened by neighbourhood and civilisation. Who can value the toil and
time, and wear and tear of life, in bringing the stubborn, ignorant, and
vicious to drive the plough and reap the harvest. Other colonists, in
other lands, with less capital, but with free labor, have thriven
faster; and attained a prosperity far less compromised by debt, and far
more durable.

A very great quantity of property has been destroyed by crime and vice.
It is commonly said that theft merely changes ownership, and does not
detract from the aggregate of wealth; but the thief is not only idle,
his expenditure is reckless; he wastes more than he consumes.

Many colonists of former years spoke of the arrival of prisoners with
gladness, and seemed to regard the punctual supply of a certain but
increasing number as a boon. The minds of these persons usually dwelt
solely on the advantage of coercive labor, of military and prison
expenditure, and the prisoner was regarded as a "productive power."
When ashamed of sord