ffred's
nearly-forgotten treasuresSuch is the effect of slavery, and in some respects of all oppression; it brutalizes and debases, and then gives rise to the beautiful theory that nothing but the system which has produced it can practically suit such brutality and debasement!
———
"Think what it is to have speech free, when those around you dare not listen, or if they heard dared even less repeat. Think what it is to feel, when full of burning thoughts and glowing words, and daring, that might brave the martyrdom of persecution for one draught of immortality, to feel that one cannot give them the birth of publicity, even if contented that they should recoil and crush their author. No, there the censor sits inexorable as fate, and strangles them in child-birth."
As with Sixty Years Hence, I first encountered a reference to this novel by Charles Frederick Henningsen in William North's essay "National Humor." While Sixty Years Hence is primarily a political parody, The White Slave offers a varied yet carefully researched feast of observation, wit, and compassion. It is also one of the earliest English novels set in contemporary Russia, a distinction not unlike that of Anastasius with its setting in the Ottoman Empire.
One of the notable characters is the English groom Bob Bridle, who serves as a comic relief much as Teague O'Regan in Modern Chivalry (albeit considerably more sensible). The White Slave is worth reading if only for Chapter II of Volume II. And yet, the character that truly steals the show is Prince Isaakoff, an arch-villain so gleefully malicious that he would bring down the house every time he appeared on stage.
The text is taken from these scans of volumes I, II, and III of the 1846 second edition, backed up by this scan of the 1860 edition and these scans of the 1845 first edition. Aside from obvious typographical errors, most spelling and punctuation was preserved, although some obsolete or inconsistent instances have been updated.
So here it is: the master HTML version, the home-brew Kindle version, and the actual Amazon publication.
March 7, 2025