[Gutenberg 45341] • Wager of Battle: A Tale of Saxon Slavery in Sherwood Forest

Excerpt from Wager of Battle: A Tale of Saxon Slavery in Sherwood Forest

I will here merely observe that, while the gist of my tale lies in the adventures and escape of a fugitive Saxon Slave from the tyranny of his Norman Lord, my work contains no reference to the peculiar institution of any portion of this coun try, nor conceals any oblique insinuation against, or covert at tack upon, any part of the inhabitants of the Continent, or any interest guaranteed to them by the Constitution. Nevertheless, I would recommend no person to open a page of this volume, who is prepared to deny that slavery per 86 is an evil and a wrong, and its effects deteriorating to all who are in uenced by its contact, governors alike and governed, since they will find nothing agreeable, but much adverse to their way of thinking.

That it is an evil and a wrong, in itself, and a source of serious detriment to all parties concerned, I can not but believe; and that, like all other wrongs and evils, it will in the end, by God's wisdom, be provided for and pass away, without violence or greater indirect wrong and evil, I both believe and hope.