stop to the importation of slaves, but to inaugurate measures for the final abolition of slavery. The obstinate King, influenced by those who were reaping a rich harvest, would not listen to the appeal of the Virginians, and thus it came about that slavery was forced upon the people. The legislature of Massachusetts, in 1771, and again in 1774, appealed to the crown to put a stop to the slave-trade without avail. It was British greed which planted slavery in America.

With the coming of the Revolution slavery ceased in the New England States, and Virginia, in 1778, prohibited the further introduction of slaves. Societies were organized in the Southern States to bring about its gradual abolition, and people looked forward to the time when it would become extinct. When the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1787, and the Union established, each State surrendered some rights before exercised, that the good of all might be secured. It was agreed that Representatives to Congress should be apportioned according to population. The South demanded that in apportionment for representation a slave should be reckoned as three-fifths of a white man. The slaves were citizens, but not voters. The North assented. It was the thistle seed of all future trouble. It was agreed that the African slave-trade might be continued till 1808, when it should cease altogether. This agreement was regarded as a compromise between the diverse interests of the States. Each State claimed the right to manage its own institutions in its own way, and to make its own laws in regard to slaves. Slavery was an institution belonging to the several States, and not to the nation. Under the Constitution the States were no longer a Federation but a Union, a Government of the people, with a Constitution which was to be the supreme law of the land. In 1787 an ordinance was passed for the government of the north-west territory, the great region of country now covered by the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which prohibited slavery, but which declared that slaves escaping into the territory should be given up. This last provision was a seed which was to bring about a great crop of thistles sixty years later.

In the Southern States agriculture was the only occupation-carried on almost wholly by the slaves, except in the mountain region, where slavery could not be made profitable, and where it degraded white labor. There was a class which lived solely upon the labor of the slaves. In the North there was a great diversity of occupations-agricultural, commercial, industrial, and mechanical. All men were regarded as laborers. The result was, as the years rolled on, a springing up of bustling towns and thriving cities in the North, while in the South there was only the shire

town of the county or the house of the planter with negro huts around it. New Orleans was the only city of magnitude in the South.

Though the people of the entire country, when the Constitution was adopted, looked forward to the time when slavery would be gradually extinguished, the progress of events wholly unforeseen changed the aspect of affairs.

When we study the history of the human race, the development of nations and their character, we see that climate-heat and cold, currents in the sea and air, rivers and mountains as well as the fertility and productions of the soil, have had much to do with the moulding of nations. With the earth turning on its axis from west to east, there is ever a current flowing westward along the equator in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. That in the Atlantic strikes against the coast of Brazil, and sends a large portion of its flood, together with the mighty volume of water coming down the Amazon and Orinoco, northward into the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and having no outflow except between Florida and Cuba, there must of necessity be a great rush of water at that point, which is the beginning of the Gulf Stream. The warm currents of air rising above the waters, laden with moisture drifting landward, give to the southern tier of States the climate which surpasses all others for the cultivation of cotton. Up to the close of the Revolutionary War, people in temperate climes wore clothing manufactured almost wholly from wool or flax, but it was discovered that the fibres of the cotton-plant could be used for the manufacture of clothing. The first cotton used in England was grown in India, but some seeds were brought to South Carolina, where the plants grew luxuriantly. Its cultivation began immediately after the close of the Revolutionary War. In 1784 eight bags of cotton were shipped to England, and in 1788, the year after the adoption of the Constitution, two hundred and eighty-two bags were shipped, and more called for. James Hargreaves, in England, had invented a spinningmachine, by which one person could do the work of several hands, thus cheapening the price of cloth and giving great impetus to the manufacturing industries, and increasing the demand for cotton. It was slow work to pick the cotton seeds from the fibres, but this difficulty was overcome by Eli Whitney, of Massachusetts, who invented the machine called the cotton-gin.

We have seen that from the first settlement of the country there were two distinct and diverse civilizations-two forms of society-one based on free, and the other on slave, labor. The demand of the world for cotton, the invention of the spinning-frame and of the cotton-gin, brought about

a state of affairs entirely different from what had been anticipated by those who expected the gradual dying out of slavery. These inventions had a tendency to perpetuate the two distinct forms of society. Manufacturing began in New England at the close of the last century, increased the demand for cotton, and in turn there was a call for more slaves in the cotton-growing States. The cessation of the African slave-trade in 1808, together with the demand for slaves, made it profitable for the slave

holders of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri to raise slaves for the southern market. Thus it came about that the commercial and industrial pursuits of the Northern and Middle States were intimately related to the one great industry of the South. Slavery, instead of dying out, became a great source of wealth and political power. From its nature it must be aggressive upon free labor, and must have new States and territories to maintain its political position.

There are few things so slow of growth as an idea. Down to 1798 the people did not comprehend that the United States were a nation. The course of the French government towards the United States awakened resentment throughout the country. During that year Mr. Nichols, of Kentucky, offered a series of resolutions setting forth the rights of the States as superior to those of the nation. The insolence and arrogance of the Governor of Algiers in 1800 brought on the war with that country, which awakened in some slight degree an enthusiasm for the Stars and Stripes. Up to that time there had been no background of history, of sacrifice and devotion, except that of the Revolution.

The question was arising as to who owned the ocean. Great Britain claimed to be mistress of the seas. The merchants of England wanted to do all the carrying of the world, and they looked with jealous eyes across the Atlantic to the United States, whose merchant-ships were spreading their white wings on every sea. England and France were at war. Bonaparte was sweeping Europe with his armies, while England with her navy was asserting her power upon the ocean. England not only destroyed the war-ships but the merchant-vessels of France. The United States was England's only competitor for the carrying trade of the world. France and England both began to seize American ships, and England began to seize American sailors for her navy. The United States was powerless to protect American merchant-vessels. Members of Congress thought that if all trade between the United States and foreign countries were stopped, the necessities of England and France would compel them to come to terms, and a law was passed laying an embargo, or prohibition, on trade. The result was far different from what they expected it would be, for in a very short time the vessels were rotting at the wharves, shipmasters and sailors, ship - carpenters, calkers, and sail-makers, were roaming the streets of the seaport towns with nothing to do. In the country, on the other hand, the spinning-wheels and looms were never so busywomen and girls at work from morning till night. Instead of depending upon England for cloth, they were manufacturing it. The people in the seaports were suffering, while those in the country were prospering under

the law. The natural result was a divided opinion as to the benefits of the Constitution and the Union. England and France, the while, went on seizing American vessels. England had taken nine hundred and seventeen, and France five hundred and fifty-eight, valued at more than seventy million dollars. England had also forced nearly twelve thousand Ameri

can sailors into her navy. The people of the United States became very angry, but were divided in opinion, some desiring to go to war with both England and France, others with England only. On June 19, 1812, Congress, in secret session, passed a bill declaring war with England. The United States had twenty vessels in the navy, the largest carrying fortyfour guns, while Great Britain had one thousand and sixty vessels, many