But setting aside what this proverb reveals,
The Slaveholder breeds what the Kidnapper steals?
Distinction there is, and a difference too—
But which, if you chose, would be chosen by you?
To buy, or to sell, involves profit or waste—
To breed, or to steal, is a question of taste;
And whoso does either, a business may claim
That perfects in meanness the sin and the shame!
What odds to the buyer whether the chattel has been kidnapped or bought by the Trader? In one sense, there is something manly (because risk of life is incurred) in taking prisoners in war and making slaves of them; but kidnapping is unmitigated villainy. How then can we sufficiently express abhorrence of the men who make a business of breeding slaves for the market? Doubtless, they are all, all honorable men, and, worthily accounted the chivalry of the land!