Its geography, climate, fertility, and products, are such as to make it a very{333} desirable abode for any man; and but for the existence of slavery there, it is not impossible that I might again take up my abode in that state.

It is not that I love Maryland less, but freedom more.
You will be surprised to learn that people at the north labor under the strange delusion that if the slaves were emancipated at the south, they would flock to the north.

So far from this being the case, in that event, you would see many old and familiar faces back again to the south.

The fact is, there are few here who would not return to the south in the event of emancipation.

We want to live in the land of our birth, and to lay our bones by the side of our fathers; and nothing short of an intense love of personal freedom keeps us from the south.