“They most likely would have done so,” replied his papa; “if they had known how they would be treated; but the sailors said they would take them to a fine country, where they would get plenty of food without any trouble, and live much better than they did in their own country; so the simple negroes believed them, and went on board their ships; but they soon found out how wrong they had been to trust these wicked men; for when they came to the place where they expected to be so happy, they were all sold as if they had been beasts, instead of men, and sent to work in the mines; where they led a very miserable life indeed, for the cruel masters who had bought them, did not care what they suffered, so long as they got plenty of gold.

“This was the beginning of what is called the slave trade, and a dreadful trade it has been ever since; for when the captains of ships found how much money the Spaniards would give for negroes, they went again to Africa; and when the black men refused to go with them, they took them by force, and carried them on board the ships, where they tied them together, so that it was impossible for them to escape.  You would think it a very hard case, Charles, if you were walking by the sea shore, and two or three men were to come and carry you away by force to a distant land, and sell you to somebody who would make you work hard for him all the rest of your life, and consider you as much his property, as if he had bought a horse or a dog.”

“But they would have no right to sell me,” said Charles, “I do not belong to them.”

“Neither do those poor Africans belong to the men who sell them; they have as much right to be free and happy, as you or I have.”

“Then how is it, papa, that Peter’s father has slaves? he is an Englishman.”

“Yes, Charles, I am sorry to say, that Englishmen, as well as Spaniards, have traded in slaves, for when some of the West-India islands came into the possession of the English, they found the negroes so useful, and made so much money by their labour, that they forgot how unjust it was to keep them in slavery.  However, I am happy to say, that a law is now in operation which will soon set all the slaves free.  In a very short time, the negroes will be at liberty like other working men; and the masters, instead of buying them, must hire them like servants, and pay them wages; and they will be able to leave their master if he does not treat them well, and get another place, as our servants do.”

“Ah, how glad I am,” said Charles, “that will be a good thing for the poor blacks.  I do not wish to have a slave now, papa; I would not have one for the world.  But Peter’s father’s slaves do not work in the gold mines, they make sugar:  why is that?”

“Because there are no gold mines now in the West-Indies worth working,” said Mr. Barker; “the Spaniards took care to get all the gold there was, but people still make large fortunes there, by growing sugar; and there are still gold mines in other parts of America, where negro slaves work.”