cident or two will suffice to show
the reader as to how the mystery gradually vanished before me.

My first afternoon, on reaching New Bedford, was spent in visiting the
wharves and viewing the shipping. The sight of the broad brim and the
plain, Quaker dress, which met me at every turn, greatly increased my
sense of freedom and security. "I am among the Quakers," thought I,
"and am safe." Lying at the wharves and riding in the stream, were
full-rigged ships of finest model, ready to start on whaling voyages.
Upon the right and the left, I was walled in by large granite-fronted
warehouses, crowded with the good things of this world. On the wharves,
I saw industry without bustle, labor without noise, and heavy toil
without the whip. There was no loud singing, as in southern ports, where
ships are loading or unloading--no loud cursing or{269} swearing--but
everything went on as smoothly as the works of a well adjusted machine.
How different was all this from the nosily fierce and clumsily absurd
manner of labor-life in Baltimore and St. Michael's! One of the first
incidents which illustrated the superior mental character of northern
labor over that of the south, was the manner of unloading a ship's
cargo of oil. In a southern port, twenty or thirty hands would have been
employed to do what five or six did here, with the aid of a single ox
attached to the end of a fall. Main strength, unassisted by skill, is
slavery's method of labor. An old ox, worth eighty dollars, was doing,
in New Bedford, what would have required fifteen thousand dollars worth
of human bones and muscles to have performed in a southern port. I found
that everything was done here with a scrupulous regard to economy,
both in regard to men and things, time and strength. The maid servant,
instead of spending at least a tenth part of her time in bringing and
carrying water, as in Baltimore, had the pump at her elbow. The wood was
dry, and snugly piled away for winter. Woodhouses, in-door pumps, sinks,
drains, self-shutting gates, washing machines, pounding barrels, were
all new things, and told me that I was among a thoughtful and sensible
people. To the ship-repairing dock I went, and saw the same wise
prudence. The carpenters struck where they aimed, and the calkers wasted
no blows in idle flourishes of the mallet. I learned that men went from
New Bedford to Baltimore, and bought old ships, and brought them here
to repair, and made them better and more val