ce our former cargo was
obtained, and seizing the self-same men whom we had formerly robbed, we
bore them off, bodily, to the soil of Texas. They resisted sturdily, it
is true, but we mastered them. We touched none of the fruits of their
previous labors. Their cotton we left in the fields, to be drenched by
the rains or drifted by the winds; because, to have brought it into your
markets would have subjected us, anew, to a place in your dungeons. In
Texas, we brought our prisoners under the control of the laws, which
there give us power to hold them as slaves. Stimulated to labor, under
the lash of the overseer, they have produced a crop of cotton, which is
now offered in your markets as a lawful article of commerce. We are not
subjects of your Government, and, therefore, not indictable under your
laws against slave trading. Your honor, will perceive, then, that our
moral relations are changed. We come now to your shores, not as dealers
in stolen property, but as slaveholders, with the products of slave
labor. We are aware that _bunkum_ speakers, at your public assemblies,
denounce the slaveholder as a thief, and his appropriation of the fruits
of the labor of his slaves, as robbery. We comprehend the motives
prompting such utterances. We come not to attend meetings of
Ecclesiastical Conventions, representing the republican principles of
America, to unsettle the doctrines upon which the throne of your kingdom
is based. But we come as cotton planters, to supply your looms with
cotton, that British commerce may not be abridged, and England, the
great civilizer of the world, may not be forced to slack her pace in the
performance of her mission. This is our character and position; and your
honor will at once see that it is your duty, and the interest of your
Government, to treat us as gentlemen and your most faithful allies." The
judge at once admits the justice of their plea, rebukes the police,
apologizes to the prisoners, assures them that they have violated no law
of the realm; and that, though the public sentiment of the nation
denounces the slaveholder as a thief, yet the public necessity demands a
full supply of cotton from the planter. He then orders their immediate
discharge, and invites them to partake of the hospitalities of his house
during their stay in London.

This is a fair example of British consistency, on the subject of
slavery, so far as the supply of cotton is concerned. The English
manufacturers are und