348 A CHRISTIAN IAND. 



in ; and they then enjoyed the advantage of dwelling 

 in a Christian land. But their temporal happiness 

 was not increased. If a lady put her cook into the 

 oven because the pie was overdone ; if a planter 

 soused a slave in the boiling sugar ; if the runaway 

 was hunted with bloodhounds, and then flogged to 

 pieces and hung alive in chains ; if the poor old worn- 

 out slave was turned adrift to die, the West Indian 

 laws did not interfere. The slave of a planter was 

 " his money ; " it was only when a man killed another 

 person's slave that he was punished ; and then only 

 by a fine. It may be said,' without exaggeration, that 

 dogs and horses now receive more protection in the 

 British dominions than negroes received in the last 

 century. 



In order to understand how so great a moral revolu- 

 tion has been wrought we must return for a moment 

 to the middle ages. We left the burgher class in 

 alliance with the kings, possessing liberal charters, 

 making their own laws, levying their own taxes, com- 

 manding their own troops. Their sons were not always 

 merchants like themselves : they invaded the intel- 

 lectual dominions of the priests : they became lawyers, 

 artists, and physicians. 



Then another change took place. Standing armies 

 were invented, and the middle class were re-enslaved. 

 Their municipal rights were taken from them ; troops 

 were stationed in their towns ; the nobles collected 

 round the king, who could now reward their loyalty 

 with lucrative and honourable posts ; the command of 

 a regiment, or the administration of a province. 

 Heavy taxes were imposed on the burghers and the 

 peasants, and these supported the nobles and clergy 

 who were exempt. Aristocracy and monarchy became 



