“Lallcheen,” said the young king, “why do you appear thus dissatisfied? My conduct, since my accession to the throne of my father, seems to have diffused general content, and why should you be an exception?” “Slaves have no great cause for satisfaction under any condition of bondage; but when faithful servants are not rewarded, they have just grounds for complaint.” “They can have none whatever, so long as the master is not unjust. Slaves cannot expect to be treated like princes.” “But they can expect to be treated like men who have minds to appreciate, and hearts to feel the difference between justice and tyranny.” “But I think it an act of injustice to place a slave upon a level with a free man. By the condition of his destiny, the fetters of slavery have been cast upon him, and he must wear them. I do not approve of elevating bondmen to posts of honour.” “Has the sovereign forgotten that the queen-mother was originally one of that degraded class which the king thinks it unjust to dignify?” “No woman is degraded by her condition, because she is the mere instrument in the Deity’s hands for perpetuating the human race. The son derives neither rank nor degradation from the mother;--it therefore matters not whether she be a slave or a princess.” “The king reasons like a profound casuist,” said Lallcheen, with an ill-disguised sneer; “and I feel how utterly impossible it is for a slave to beat down the lofty fences of royal logic.” “You do not, however, seem very heartily convinced by it; but of this I would have you in future assured--that it will be one of the principles of my government not to place my bondmen upon a level with free men.” Lallcheen had been a favourite with the late king, whose memory his son held in great reverence; he therefore bore with the liberty of the servitor who during the last reign had received a sort of licence to express his thoughts without reserve, being a person of considerable intelligence and of an active inquisitive mind.