Two of the expressions of sentiment of the day, by reason of their deep yearning and philosophic calm, somehow stand apart from others.  Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia wrote:  “The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submission on the other....  The man must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances....  I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice can not sleep forever; that considering numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by supernatural interference!  The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest."[1] Henry Laurens, that fine patriot whose business sense was excelled only by his idealism, was harassed by the problem and wrote to his son, Colonel John Laurens, as follows:  “You know, my dear son, I abhor slavery.  I was born in a country where slavery had been established by British kings and parliaments, as well as by the laws of that country ages before my existence.  I found the Christian religion and slavery growing under the same authority and cultivation.  I nevertheless disliked it.  In former days there was no combating the prejudices of men supported by interest; the day I hope is approaching when, from principles of gratitude as well as justice, every man will strive to be foremost in showing his readiness to comply with the golden rule.  Not less than twenty thousand pounds sterling would all my Negroes produce if sold at public auction to-morrow.  I am not the man who enslaved them; they are indebted to Englishmen for that favor; nevertheless I am devising means for manumitting many of them, and for cutting off the entail of slavery.  Great powers oppose me—­the laws and customs of my country, my own and the avarice of my countrymen.  What will my children say if I deprive them of so much estate?  These are difficulties, but not insuperable.  I will do as much as I can in my time, and leave the rest to a better hand."[2] Stronger than all else, however, were the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident:  That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Within the years to come these words were to be denied and assailed as perhaps no others in the language; but in spite of all they were to stand firm and justify the faith of 1776 before Jefferson himself and others had become submerged in a gilded opportunism.

[Footnote 1:  “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, issued under the auspices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association,” 20 vols., Washington, 1903, II, 226-227.]

[Footnote 2:  “A South Carolina Protest against Slavery (being a letter written from Henry Laurens, second president of the Continental Congress, to his son, Colonel John Laurens; dated Charleston, S.C., August 14th, 1776).”  Reprinted by G.P.  Putnam, New York, 1861.]