home to live in flavery under people fo much their fuperiors; adding, withal, it was likewife necessary, or they (their lords and masters) could not otherwife enjoy quite fo many fuperfluities; and, I fear, that nothing fhort of fo forcible an argument could, or would, convince them. For, as Mifs Hannah Maria Williams obferves in one of her letters from France, (only I fubstitute the abolition of flavery for the demolition of the Baftille,)" Thofe, who have contemplated on slavery without rejoicing at the prospect of an Abolition, may, for aught I know, be very refpectable perfons, and very agreeable companions in the hour of profperity; but, if my heart were finking in anguish, I fhould not fly to them for consolation." I believe it is Sterne who fays, that a inan is incapable of loving one woman as he ought, who has not a fort of an affection for the whole fex. I am of the fame opinion; and as little should I look for particular sympathy from those who have no feelings of general philanthropy.

"To return; the poor Africans, thus cruelly carried-over to the Weft-Indies, are exposed at a publick market, frequently at a vendue, (or fale by auction,) and fold, like beafts of burden, to the highest bidder. A fmall proportion are selected for domestick uses; and I am willing to allow fome of thefe to be ranked with the flaves in the northern parts of the continent of America, for comfort and even for pleafures, except in cafe of mifconduct, when they are fub. ject to be turned-out as field-negroes, which is often the cafe; under which term, we may comprehend the large bulk of negro-flaves. Thefe may truely be called miserable Slaves; for, although it may be allowed that in some of the plantations they are treated with humanity, yet those who are treated the very beft, among the working fieldnegroes, it is a cruel lot to fuppofe any fellow-creature to be born-to, or to be fubjected-to by theiron hand of power, without having committed an offence. What, then, must be the

de

deplorable fate of thofe unhappy wretches who are the property of mafters, (I am forry to fay miftreffes, too), whofe hearts are callous to every feeling of humanity towards them? Impreffed from their cradles with the idea that their flaves. are little, or nothing, fuperior to the brute creation; they treat them accordingly.

"In my youthful days I remember to have feen at Savannah-la.Mar, in Jamaica, a Creole lady (as fhe was called) ftand by while one of her negro-wenches was fo feverely flogged, in the publick place, by one of her negro men. flaves, that, if a drayman were fo to flog his horfe in the ftreets of London, I am perfuaded the populace would wrest the whip from his hands, and retaliate upon him the injuries of the animal. Yet, fo accustomed to these fights and fcreamings of the poor wretches were the people at Savannah, that they paft along unconcerned, until attracted by the greater novelty of a youth, like myfelf, interfering, by afking the miftrefs if he was not ashamed of herself. The good lady then poured-forth such a torrent of abuse, plentifully decorated with oaths, as to provoke a retort fimilar ; until, foaming at the mouth like a mad creature, fhe retreated into her houfe, curfing me for a "dom torry orse, impudent failor-fellow."

"What Mr. Jefferson remarks, of the conduct of the mafter to the flave in Virginia, is equally, if not more, applica ble to the Weft-India islands. The whole commerce between master and flave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous paffions, the most unremitting haughtiness, on the one part, and degrading fubmiffion on the other. The chil dren fee this, and learn to imitate it, man being an imitative snimal. This difpofition to imitate is the germ of all education in him; from his cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he fees others do. If a parent could find no motive, either in his philanthropy or his felf-love, for reftraining the in

temperance

temperance of his paffions towards his flave, the prefence of his child fhould always he a fufficient one. The parent ftorms; the child looks-on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts-on the fame airs in the circle of smaller flaves, gives a loose to his worst paffions; and, thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised, in tyranny, cannot but be ftamped by it with odious peculiarities.

"God bless the Duke of C! I truft he speaks honeftly, as far as he knows. But his royal highness, as well as fome other refpectable characters, must excuse me for observing, that their knowledge refpecting the treatment, usage, and mode of living, of the hard-working field-negroes on the plantations, muft neceffarily be much confined. The most that these men of high rank have an opportunity of observing is among the household, or domeftick, negroes, where our opinions may partly coalesce. But, admitting that, out of curiofity, they may have vifited many, and fome of the worst, of the (maltreated) negro-plantations, is it not evident to common sense, that the owners, or managers, of fuch plantations would take the greatest care that every thing fhould appear in its best during such vifits? Of courfe, they fee no negro-driver flourishing and cracking his whip over the negroes at work, to try his dexterity in cutting a musquito off any of their backs, merely to amuse himself. Nay, if these vifitors condescended to inquire of the poor devils themfelves, the wretched beings too well know they dare not pour their forrows into the ear of any but fuch as, like myself, (being, at the time I allude to, in too humble a station to attract the notice of their mafters,) could obferve their cuftomary daily treatment, with their hard, feanty, fubfiftence. And, while employed, in the long-boat of the fhip I belonged-to, to fetch-off fugars, rums, &c. from various distant plantations, I have frequently entered their huts with familiarity, at night, to give them a spare piece of salt-beef or pork, I believe

I believe it was a fituation as likely as any to obtain inform ation on the fubject, free from partiality or prejudice, ad mitting the obferver to have any human affections remaining; and, where a perfon has had frequent opportunities of obfervation, it requires no very great abilities to form a tolerable judgement on the fubject.

"I do not hesitate, therefore, in faying that the traffick of transporting fresh flaves from Africa ought, in common juftice, to ceafe immediately; as it cannot be justified on any principle of humanity, expediency, or neceffity. So far, then, I again exprefs my furprize that there fhould be two opinions on the fubject, among men who are not interested in it. The fons of Maminon are out of the question: for they, whether in the semblance of merchants, ship-owners, or planters, will endeavour to justify it under fanction of their religion, felf-intereft!

"The great and almost only difficulty, I conceive, is in forming and adopting such a plan, for their gradual emancipation, as will beft answer the humane intention of releafing fo many thousands of our fellow-creatures from bondage. To do this haftily, to fay to them, "Ye are all free from this inftant," would be nearly as cruel as the first enslaving them. If there were only a few hundreds, or thousands, thinly fcattered over the islands, it mattered not how foon it was done; but the liberation of fuch a multitude, whofe numbers far exceed the Europeans, from whom they muft (whether freemen or flaves) expect a maintenance for a confiderable time to come, would not only be productive of the worst confequences to thofe Europeans, but equally fo to themfelves: the exceffes, fo fudden an intoxication would plunge them into, would be dreadful.

"Probably, much better plans than I have to offer, for accomplishing this defirable end, may have been fuggested; and I hope they will be adopted. But the following was

what

what I propofed to carry into execution, if I'had settled on any of the fouthern ftates of America, where flaves alone at prefent perform the work; and from this I had promised myself no small gratification, in the good I might have done as an individual, and a hope that the example might induce others to do the fame, when they found it their interest, whatever their principles might be.

Under their prefent owners, they have not the most diftant profpect of gaining their liberty: to purchase fuch slaves, with a view to afford them an opportunity of working-out their own redemption, I believe is juftifiable. Supposing, then, I had purchased a number of flaves, worth on an average fifty pounds each; on becoming their master, to encourage them in diligence and good behaviour, I would have allowed them one day in each week to work for them. felves, allotting a piece of ground to each to work upon; affuring them, that whoever, by their industry and frugality, faved a fifth part of their prime coft, (fay ten pounds,) should then be entitled to purchase, with that money, another day to work upon their own account, and so on until they cleared the whole of their time. Poffibly, it will adpear to fome people that a long time would be required for a flave in this manner to emancipate himself compleatly: but it is far from being so. Afreenegro can easily earn half-a-crown a day, most of them twice as much; a flave is found in the neceffaries of life and cloathing by his master. We will fuppofe, then, that he earns no more than half-a-crown on the day first given to him, calling it Saturday, and that he expends one shilling on himself; he then lays-by eighteen pence a week. Trifling as this may appear, at first view, to the accomplishment of fo great an end, it will enable him to make his first purchase, of another day of freedom in the week, in little more than two years and a half. Should he then apply the whole additional earnings to the former eighteen