Page:Copley 1844 A History of Slavery and its Abolition 2nd Ed.djvu/22

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, in its widest sense, is the absolute subjection of one human being to the will of another. The slave is considered as the absolute property of the master, who feels himself entitled to do what he will with his own. The slave is constrained to labour, whether he will or not; and that for the benefit of his master, not his own; the master alone having authority to appoint the nature of work on which the slave shall be employed, the time when he shall be constrained to labour or permitted to rest, and the amount of work that he shall be required to perform. The master, also, fixes the subsistence, or means of obtaining a subsistence, which shall be given in return. It is also in the power of the master to inflict on the slave any severity he may think necessary, in order to make him perform the task required, or any sort or degree of punishment for failing to -perform it, or otherwise incurring the displeasure of his master. The master, also, claims as his property the children of his slaves, and is at liberty to send them where, and employ them how he pleases; and to give, sell, or bequeath them to other persons, the slave having no power of appeal, and government no power of interference. This is slavery. It may be better or worse according to the customs of different places, or according to the dispositions of masters, whether more or less humane and considerate, or