Helm demand it? Whatever may
have been his opinion, I cannot think it did. Can it be for the best
interest or good of the enslaved? Certainly not; for there is no real
inducement for the slaveholder to make beasts of burden of his fellow men,
but that which was frankly acknowledged by Gibbs and other pirates: "we
have the power,"--the power to rob and murder on the high seas!--which
they will undoubtedly continue to hold, until overtaken by justice; which
will certainly come some time, just as sure as that a righteous God reigns
over the earth or rules in heaven.
Some have attempted to apologize for the enslaving of the Negro, by saying
that they are inferior to the Anglo-Saxon race in every respect. This
charge I deny; it is utterly false. Does not the Bible inform us that
"God hath created of one blood all the nations of the earth?" And
certainly in stature and physical force the colored man is quite equal to
his white brother, and in many instances his superior; but were it
otherwise, I can not see why the more favored class should enslave the
other. True, God has given to the African a darker complexion than to his
white brother; still, each have the same desires and aspirations. The
food required for the sustenance of one is equally necessary for the
other. Naturally or physically, they alike require to be warmed by the
cheerful fire, when chilled by our northern winter's breath; and alike
they welcome the cool spring and the delightful shade of summer.
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