is not at variance with the religion we profess. That it has existed
from the earliest times, you need only refer to the book of Genesis; and
that it is not at variance with our religion, I must refer to the fourth
Commandment. How can that part of the commandment be construed, 'and the
stranger that is within thy gates'? To whom can this possibly apply but
to the slave? After directing that the labour of all the household,
'man-servant and maid-servant,' should cease, it then proceeds to the ox
and the ass, and the stranger that is within thy gates. Now, gentlemen,
this cannot be applied to the stranger in the literal sense of the word,
the hospitality of the age forbidding that labour should be required of
him. At that time slaves were brought from foreign lands, and were a
source of traffic, as may be inferred by the readiness with which the
Ishmaelites purchased Joseph of his brethren, and resold him in Egypt.

"Nay, that slavery was permitted by the _Almighty_ is fully proved by
the state of the Jewish nation, until _He_ thought proper to bring
them out of the house of bondage.

"If, then, the laws of God provided against the ill-treatment of the
slave, slavery is virtually acknowledged as not being contrary to His
Divine will. We have a further proof, _subsequent to the mission of our
Saviour_, that the apostles considered slavery as lawful."

"I remember it: you refer to Paul sending back the runaway slave
Onesimus. Well, I'll admit all this," replied Mr Berecroft, who had a
great dislike to points of Scripture being canvassed after dinner; "and
I wish to know what inference you would draw from it."

"That I was just coming to: I assert that my property in slaves is
therefore as legally mine as my property in land or money; and that any
attempt to deprive me of either is equally a _robbery_, whether it be
made by the nation or by an individual. But now, sir, allow me to ask
you a question, show me where liberty is?--Run over all the classes of
society, and point out one man who is free?"

Mr Berecroft, who perceived the effect of the arrack punch, could not
refrain from laughing, as he replied, "Well, your friend Mr Kingston, is
he not free?"

"Free! Not half so free as that slave boy who stands behind your chair.
Why, he is a merchant; and whether he lives upon a scale of princely
expenditure, whether wholesale or retail, banker, or proprietor of a
chandler's shop, he is a speculator. Anxious days and sleep