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 of the trade. The interest of Mississippi, not of the African, dictates my conclusion." He thought to open the trade immediately would flood Mississippi with negroes by bringing in more than could be profitably and safely handled, but "this conclusion, in relation to Mississippi, is based upon my view of her present condition, not upon any general theory. It is not supposed to be applicable to Texas, to New Mexico, or to any future acquisitions to be made south of the Rio Grande."

But the rising tide of the power of those who believed in human slavery had reached its highest level. While slave-holders were holding conventions in which to advocate the reopening of the slave-trade, the abolitionists were in a thousand ways proclaiming the right of every human being to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A few were even proclaiming the strange doctrine that the superior race, instead of having, by virtue of its superiority, the right to oppress the weak, was, by the example and command of Almighty God, bound to uplift and carry the burden of the weak. <A river of Jordan running bankful of blood lay before us, and we were about to bathe in it and be healed.