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236 



SLAVERY. 



own exertions, by the favour of their masters', 

 and by other means, the individuals who gain 

 their freedom annually are very numerous. 



The comforts of slaves in different situations 

 are widely disproportionate ; whilst some are 

 doomed to an existence of excessive toil and 

 misery, from the nature of their occupations 

 and the characters of their masters, others lead 

 a comparatively easy life. It is true, that in 

 countries of which the workmen are free, the 

 daily labour is unequally divided, but their 

 wages are proportioned accordingly, and as each 

 man is a free agent he seeks that employment 

 to which his bodily and mental powers are be- 

 fitted. The slave is purchased for a certain 

 purpose, and is to follow the line of life which 

 his master has chalked out for him ; he is not 

 to be occupied in that which he would himself 

 prefer, or at any rate his wishes are not con- 

 sulted upon the subject. The price for which a 

 slave is to be obtained, and the convenience of the 

 purchaser, are oftener consulted than the fitness 

 of his bodily strength to the labour which it is 



mattre, qui ftoit aussi son parr ain, de vieller soigneusement sur 

 sa conduit e." — Nouveau Voyage, &c. torn. ii. p. 5-\>. 



I never heard of the master in Brazil being likewise the 

 god-father, nor do I think that this ever happens ; for such 

 is the connection between two persons which this is supposed 

 to produce, that the master would never think of ordering 

 the slave to be chastised. 



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