----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- David quotes Dickens: > In 1852 that author when reviewing UTC said: > > "We think, too, that it is possible to combine with the duty of > emancipation the not less important duty of undoing the evil that has > been to the slaves' mind and of doing them some good service by way > of atonement. When we have clipped men's minds and made them > slavish, it is poor compensation that their bodies should be set at large." I am reminded of the Marlon Brando movie, Burn, where Brando tells the slaveowners that the free market is to slavery what prostitution is to marriage. Marriage is so inconvenient because of the difficulty of discarding wives, while in contrast the prostitutes at the brothel where the scene takes place always remain young. Setting the slaves free was hardly a sufficient solution, as the United States experience has shown. Some sort of remedial action was necessary -- especially for aged slaves who lacked the means to care for themselves. For the most part, 40 acres and a mule was supposed to do something to level the playing field. Did Dickens say anything to imply that he meant something different from the spirit in which I read the paragraph? Michael Perelman ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]