Then in a complete reversal of his earlier stand he advocated freeing the slaves. Let the slaveholders be paid for them, he urged, out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands. “Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and- *Nauvoo Neighbor, April 17, 1844. tHistory of the Church, Voi. VI, p. 323. hire him to labor like other human beings, for ‘an hour of virtuous liberty on earth is worth a whole eternity of bondage.’ ” * Here he was echoing the sentiments of the Liberty Party, which since 1839 had been trying to create a third party out of the slavery issue.
