In sickness, the slave looks for support to a master who is interested to maintain and cherish him, and who, for the most part, knows and loves him. What is the freeman's equivalent? Hear Mr. Blackstone:--"There is no man so wretched or indigent, but he may demand a supply sufficient for all the necessities of life, from the more opulent part of the community, by means of the several statutes enacted for the relief of the poor. _A humane provision;_ yet, though dictated by the principles of society, discountenanced by the Roman laws. For the edicts of the Emperor Constantine, commanding the public to maintain the children of those who were unable to provide for them, _in order to prevent the murder and exposure of infants_, were rejected in Justinian's collection." Who ever heard of infanticide by a slave? It is here; on this very point, of the necessity of forcing those to labor who are unable to live honestly without labor, that we base the defence of our system. That such compulsion is often necessary, all reason and experience prove. But to a people jealous of freedom, it is a delicate question whether such a power over the citizen can be safely trusted to the municipal authority. To make it effectual it must be a power dangerous to liberty. It could never be carried into effect, but by a degree of rigor which must bow the spirit of the laborer and effectually disqualify him for the political functions of a sovereign citizen. It might be too much to say, that this consideration alone would warrant the _introduction_ of domestic slavery. _Lycurgus thought so._ But we, _finding it among us_, think we follow the example of that wisdom which _used_ to characterize our English ancestors, in turning it to use, as a safeguard of our political freedom. We have learned too, from a great master in political science, himself an enemy to slavery in all its forms, that in every country where domestic slavery exists, "those who are free, are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. Freedom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank and privilege. Not seeing that freedom, as in countries where it is a common blessing, and as broad and general as the air, may be united with _much abject toil, with great misery, with all the exterior of servitude_, liberty looks, amongst them, like something that is _more noble and liberal_.... Such were all the ancient Commonwealths; such were our Gothic ancestors; such, in our days, were the Poles; _and such will be all masters of slaves who are not slaves themselves_. In such a people, the haughtiness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, fortifies it, and renders it invincible."