ent of colored seamen belonging to the ships of Great Britain
in that port. The seaman was imprisoned, consequently deprived of his
liberty; but there was no suffering attendant beyond the loss of liberty
during the stay of the vessel; for the imprisonment itself was a nominal
thing; the imprisoned was well cared for; he had good, comfortable
apartments, cleanly and well ordered, away from the criminals, and
plenty of good, wholesome food to eat. There was even a satisfaction in
this, for the man got what he paid for, and was treated as if he were
really a human being. Thus, with the exception of the restriction on the
man's liberty, and that evil, which those interested in commerce would
reflect upon as a tax upon the marine interests of the port to support a
municipal police, because it imposes a tax and burdensome annoyance upon
owners for that which they have no interest in and can derive no benefit
from, the observance of the law had more penalty in mental anxiety than
bodily suffering. We have sometimes been at a loss to account for the
restriction, even as it existed in Georgia, and especially when
we consider the character of those controlling and developing the
enterprising commercial affairs of Savannah.

But we must return to South Carolina. If we view this law as a police
regulation, it only gives us broader latitude. If a community has that
within itself which is dangerous to its well-being, it becomes pertinent
to inquire whether there is not an imperfect state of society existing,
and whether this policy is not injurious to the well-being of the State.
The evil, though it be a mortifying fact, we are bound to say, arises
from a strange notion of caste and color, which measures sympathy
according to complexion. There is no proof that can possibly be adduced,
showing that colored seamen have made any infections among the slaves,
or sought to increase the dangers of her peculiar institution.

CHAPTER XVI. PLEA OF JUST CONSIDERATION AND MISTAKEN CONSTANCY OF THE
LAWS.

THE consul's office opened at nine o'clock,--the Captain, with his
register-case and shipping papers under his arm, presented himself to
Mr. Mathew, handed him his papers, and reported his condition. That
gentleman immediately set about rendering every facility to relieve his
immediate wants and further his business. The consul was a man of plain,
unassuming manners, frank in his expressions, and strongly imbued with
a sense of his