242 WAR WITH ENGLAND. [CHAP. XV111. 



&quot; Every man,&quot; says Charming, in his argument against slavery, 

 &quot; has a right to exercise and invigorate his intellect, and who 

 ever obstructs or quenches the intellectual life in another, inflicts 

 a grievous and irreparable wrong.&quot;* &quot; Let not the sacredness 

 of individual man be forgotten in the feverish pursuit of property. 

 It is more important that the individual should respect himself, 

 and be respected by others, than that national wealth, which is 

 not the end of society, should be accumulated. ! &quot; He (the 

 slave) must form no plans for bettering his condition, whatever 

 be his capacities ; however equal to great improvements of his 

 lot, he is chained for life to the same unwearied toil. That he 

 should yield himself to intemperance we must expect, unused to 

 any pleasures but those of sense.&quot; &quot; We are told,&quot; says the 

 same author, &quot;that they are taught religion, that they hear the 

 voice of Christ, and read in his cross the unutterable worth of 

 their spiritual nature ; but the greater part are still buried in 

 heathen ignorance.&quot;:}: 



&quot;They may be free from care, and sure of future support, but 

 their future is not brightened by images of joy ; it stretches be 

 fore them sterile and monotonous, sending no cheering whisper of 

 a better lot.&quot; 



An inhabitant of one of the six New England States, or of 

 New York, where, in a population of five millions of souls, one 

 teacher is now supplied for every thirty children, may be en 

 titled to address this language to the southern slave owner ; 

 but does the state of the working classes, whether in Great 

 Britain or the West Indies, authorize us to assume the same 

 tone ? 



A merchant from New York told me, that in The Union,&quot; a 

 semi-official journal published at Washington, and supposed to 

 represent the views of the cabinet, an article had just appeared, 

 headed, &quot; The whole of Oregon or none,&quot; which for the first time 

 gave him some uneasiness. &quot; A war,&quot; he said, might seem too 

 absurd to be possible ; but a few months ago he had thought the 

 election of Mr. Polk equally impossible, and the President might 



* Channing s Works, vol. ii, p. 35. t Vol. ii. p. 44. 



t Vol. ii, p. 94, Vol. ii. p. 89, 



