system under which the negro race has steadily increased in numbers
and advanced towards civilization, and adopting that of a nation under
whose rule there has been a steady decline of numbers, and but little,
if any, tendency toward civilization, we shall benefit the race, it
will become our duty to make the effort, however great may be the
cost. With a view to ascertain how far duty may be regarded as calling
upon us now to follow in the footsteps of that nation, it is proposed
to examine into the working of the act by which the whole negro
population of the British colonies was, almost at once and without
preparation, invested with the right to determine for whom they would
work and what should be their wages--or were, in other words, declared
to be free.




CHAPTER IV.

OF EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH COLONIES.


The harmony of the universe is the result of a contest between equal
and opposing powers. The earth is attracted to the sun and from the
sun; and were either of these forces to be diminished or destroyed,
chaos would be the inevitable result. So is it everywhere on the
earth. The apple falls toward the centre of the earth, but in its
passage it encounters resistance; and the harmony of every thing we
see around us is dependent on the equal balance of these opposing
forces. So is it among men. The man who has food to sell wishes to
have a high price for it, whereas, he who needs to buy desires to have