I kiss your hand."
"Listen!" she interrupted. "There are about three and one-third
millions of them now. Say they are worth, old and young, large and
little, one thousand dollars a head--monstrous thing, to put a
price upon a human head, but suppose it. It would amount to but a
few billions of dollars. What would a war cost between these two
sections? Perhaps a million dollars a day! How much cheaper could
these slaves be purchased and deported from these shores! Their
owners regard them as property. The laws protect that belief. The
Constitution establishes the laws. There is no peaceful way to end
the turmoil, save by the purchase of these people. That is a
solution. It will prevent a war. Let them be sent away to a place
where they belong, rather than here."
"My dear Countess," said Carlisle, "you are, as usual, brilliant.
Your imagination vaults--your daring is splendid. But as usual you
are visionary and impractical. Buy them? To do this would require
the credit of a nation! It would be subversive of all peace and
all industry.
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