to the
whole law of God, which includes the golden rule. I do not mean by it
that a man owns the body of a man in such a sense that he can maim it at
will, or in any way abuse it. Ownership in men is power to use their
services and to dispose of them, at will."

"Now," said he, "who gives you a right to go to Africa or to a slave
auction and to say to a human being, 'I propose to own you.' How would
you like to have a black man come to you in a solitary place and say,
'My dear Sir, I propose to own you. Henceforth your services are
subject to my will.'?"

"As to Africa," said I, "and making slaves of those who are now free, we
cannot differ. As to the other part of your question, I will carry the
illustration a little further, and in doing so, will answer you in part.
How would you like to have some Michael O'Connor come to you and say,
'Mr. North, I propose to hire you and pay you wages as my body-servant,
or my ostler.' Why should you not consent? If you do not, why should you
hire Mike himself to serve you in either of those capacities? What has
become of the golden rule, if you hire a man to do work for you which
you would not be hired to do?

"You are feasting with a company of friends; and your domestics, below,
hear your cheerful talk, and feel the wide difference between your state
and theirs. Why do you not go down and say, 'Dear fellow-creatures, go
up and take our places at table, and let us be servants'? Does the
golden rule require that? Inequalities in human conditions are a wise
and benevolent provision for human happiness, so long as men are
dependent on one another, as they are and ever must be. Some are so
constituted by an all-wise God that they are happier to be in
subordinate situations. Mind is lord; and they, seeing and feeling the
superiority of others, gladly attach themselves to them as helpers, to
be thought for and protected, and to enjoy their approbation. There is
nothing cruel in this, unless it be cruel not to have made all men
equal. There are important influences growing out of these relationships
of superiors and inferiors,--gentleness, kindness, benevolence, in all
its forms, on the one hand, and on the other, respect, deference, love,
strong attachments and identification of interests.

"As to the remaining part of your question, let me ask, What nation or
tribes are capable of such bondage as the Africans at home inflict and
bear? We never had a right to go and steal them, nor t