420 
THE SLAVE QUESTION. 
We will not moot the question of the capabilities 
of the African race; but this much is clear and 
incontrovertible, that the Great Arbiter of the des- 
tinies of man having placed the whites and the 
negroes in opposite regios, has given to each, feelings, 
desires, and energies, as diverse as their climates. 
We are compelled to exertion, to protect ourselves 
from the inclemency of the seasons, — to force abundance 
from the reluctant soil. Success in supplying real wants 
creates and stimulates the gratification of others of 
artificial gxowth. The powers which are given to us 
for this end remain and impel us irresistibly onwards. 
The essence of being in cold latitudes is necessarily 
action — a horror of inertion. The watchword is “ on- 
wards.” With the negro, on the contrary, his climate 
superinduces a repugnance to exertion ; he places his 
whole happiness in the idea of repose : — Ilis necessities 
are few, and nature hardly requires solicitation to 
supply them, but heaps her treasures around in abun- 
dance, Like trees in the Mahomedan Paradise, that 
require not the trouble of stretching forth the hand to 
pluck fruit from the bending branches. The reward 
of labour in a very small portion of the year, is enjoy- 
ment of repose for the remainder. The only volun- 
tary display of energy is that which compels the humble 
to serve the proud, and has given rise to the ancient 
and universal system of domestic slavery. The negro 
may therefore be characterised as having means of 
gratification exceeding his wants, and the white man 
