Read it through once

Here is a fact which is not understood in the free States. Slaves are happy and content under circumstances in which a white man would be miserable. They are satisfied and content with food, on which the better portion of the white race can hardly subsist. Nor would soft beds and fine houses conduce to their comfort. There are many of them, who, if they were provided with downy beds, would prefer to repose on the hearth or the floor. They are by nature a happier people than the Anglo-Saxon race, and of course, less will suffice for their happiness and comfort. All that I contend for is, that the health, comfort and convenience of the slave, should be amply provided for by the master; or at least as far as practicable. I wish here, as well as elsewhere, to avoid the error of asking too much, for I have generally observed through life, that those who ask too much are likely to get nothing. I shall, therefore, contend for nothing more than the clear, obvious, and indisputable duty of slaveholders.