SLAVERY. 465 



periors. Again, when we contrast the slave with the free 

 man, we think of the last as his own master; whereas, very 

 generally, surrounding conditions exercise over him a mas 

 tery more severe and unpitying than that exercised over the 

 slave by his owner: nature s coercion is often worse than 

 man s coercion. There is constantly made the erroneous as 

 sumption that there may exist in early stages the same sys 

 tem of free labour as that which we have; whereas, before 

 money comes into existence, payment of wages is generally 

 impracticable : nothing but food, clothing, and shelter, can 

 be given to the worker. Once more, it is taken for granted 

 that as among ourselves free labour is conducive to social 

 welfare, it is everywhere and at all times conducive to it; 

 but in early stages the undisciplined primitive man will not 

 labour continuously, and it is only under a regime of com 

 pulsion that there is acquired the power of application which 

 has made civilization possible. 



Carrying with us the qualifications of belief here indi 

 cated as needful, we must abandon the point of view to which 

 our form of social life has accustomed us, and look at the 

 facts from other points of view proper to other forms of 

 social life. 



795. In its beginnings slavery commonly implies some 

 kind of inferiority, especially physical inferiority. In un 

 civilized tribes and in ancient societies, this is shown by the 

 slavery of the child and the slavery of the captive. The 

 power to treat children as slaves, and to sell them into 

 slavery, of course accompanied the power of life and death 

 a power exercised by many savage and semi-civilized people : 

 in old times by the Jews, who sometimes sold children to 

 pay creditors, and in modern days by the Circassians, who 

 sell their daughters. This power in some cases extends over 

 others than children the cases of persons whose feebleness 

 makes them relatively defenceless. Concerning the negroes 

 of Blantyre, Duff MacDonald says : 



