[18] "Slavery, at a very early period after the flood, prevailed,
perhaps in every region of the globe. In Asia it is practised to this
day. The savage nations of Africa have at no period been exempted from
it. In Germany, and other countries of Europe, slaves were generally
attached to the soil, as in Russia and Poland at the present day. They
were generally employed in tending cattle, and in conducting the
business of agriculture."--_Tacitus de moribus Germanorum._ "Among the
ancient Germans, according to the same author, it was not uncommon for
an ardent gamester to stake his personal liberty on a throw of the dice.
The latter species of slaves were alone considered as materials of
commerce. In England, now so tenacious of the rights of man, a species
of slavery, similar to that among the ancient Germans, subsisted even to
the end of the sixteenth century, as appears from a commission issued by
Queen Elizabeth in 1574. Colliers and salters were not totally
emancipated from every vestige of slavery till about the year 1750.
Before that period the sons of colliers could follow no business but
that of their fathers, nor could they seek employment in any other mines
than in those to which they were attached by birth."
_Encyclopedia Britan._