for saying, that so long as the present iniquitous slave-laws, and the
distinction of colour, should exist, it would be imprudent to go
further. I reply again, That the partisans of emancipation would be
happy indeed, if they could see the day when our West Indian slaves
should arrive at the rank and condition of the copyholders of Mr.
Steele. They wish for no other freedom than that which is _compatible
with the joint interest of the master and the slave_. At the same time
they must maintain, that the copyholders of Mr. Steele had been brought
so near to the condition of free men, that a removal from one into the
other, after a certain time, seemed more like a thing of course than a
matter to be attended either with difficulty or danger: for
unquestionably their moral character must have been improved. If they
had ceased for seven years to feel themselves degraded by arbitrary
punishment, they must have acquired some little independence of mind. If
they had been paid for their labour, they must have acquired something
like a spirit of industry. If they had been made to pay rent for their
cottage and land, and to maintain themselves, they must have been made
to _look beforehand_, to _think for themselves and families from day to
day_, and to _provide against the future_, all which operations of the
mind are the characteristics only of free men. The case, therefore, of
Mr. Steele is most important and precious: for it shows us, first, that
the emancipation, which we seek, is a thing which _may be effected_. The
plan of Mr. Steele was put in force in _a British_ Island, and that,
which was done in one British Island, may under similar circumstances
_be done again in the same, as well as in another_. It shows us, again,
_how_ this emancipation may be brought about. The process is so clearly
detailed, that any one may follow it. It is also a case for
encouragement, inasmuch as it was attended with success.

I have now considered no less than six cases of slaves emancipated in