temperance of his paffions towards his flave, the prefence of his child fhould always be 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 slaves, gives a loose to his worft 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, muft excufe me for obferving, that their knowledge refpecting the treatment, usage, and mode of living, of the hard-working field-negroes on the plantations, must neceffarily be much confined. The most that these men of high rank have an opportunity of obferving is among the household, or domestick, negroes, where our opinions may partly coalesce. But, admitting that, out of curiofity, they may have visited many, and fome of the worst, of the (maltreated) negro-plantations, is it not evident to common fenfe, that the owners, or managers, of such plantations would take the greatest care that every thing should appear in its best during fuch vifits? Of course, 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 amufe himself. Nay, if thefe vifitors condescended to inquire of the poor devils themselves, 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 ftation to attract the notice of their mafters,) could obferve their cuftomary daily treatment, with their hard, fcanty, fubfiftence. And, while employed, in the long-boat of the ship 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 information on the subject, free from partiality or prejudice, admitting the obferver to have any human affections remaining; and, where a person 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 tranfporting fresh flaves from Africa ought, in common juftice, to ccafe immediately; as it cannot be juftified 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 Mammon are out of the queftion: for they, whether in the femblance of merchants, ship-owners, or planters, will endeavour to juftify it under fanction of their religion, felf-interest !

"The great and almoft only difficulty, I conceive, is in forming and adopting such a plan, for their gradual emancipation, as will beft anfwer 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 so to themselves 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 fuggefted; 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 states 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 intereft, whatever their principles might be.

Under their prefent owners, they have not the most dif tant profpect of gaining their liberty: to purchase such flaves, 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 mafter, 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 induftry 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 fo 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 eafily earn half-a-crown a day, most of them twice as much; a flave is found in the necessaries of life and cloathing by his master. We will suppose, 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

pence,

pence, one other year will purchase him another day of li berty; and the heaviest half of his tafk is then accomplished.

He is now half free, beginning to feel a proportionate confequence, and may probably increase his own enjoyments a little more. Admitting this, in two years, or two years and a half, more, he may compleat the full purchase of his freedom; but if, instead of fix years, it fhould even take them feven, eight, or nine, years, it would be far better for them than if they had their full liberty and freedom at once; and, being the work of their own hands, by favour of their master, it inculcates two good principles: induftry, with a true knowledge of its value, from which it is likely to become habitual; and gratitude to their mafter, whofe work they will then be happy to do as free fervants. Nor have I much doubt but that the pleafing hope of fuch liberation, while they are gaining it by degrees, will afford them nearly, if not quite, as much comfort as the final attainment of it. At any rate, the gradual acquirement of it will be the best means to prevent their being madly intoxicated at the completion. They will know the value better, and will have gained fach habits of industry and frugality as to infure their future welfare. The owner receives the full value, with an ample intereft, from the work done for him, and will also enjoy the high mental gratification of liberating a fellow-creature from slavery.

In the account of my farm in the ftate of New-York, I have mentioned the mode I adopted there for liberating those I purchased, which was as fimilar to the foregoing as the difference of climate and country would permit ; and the gentlemen, with whom I left them upon the farm, engaged to fulfil and pursue the fame plan.

I allow that the bulk of the flaves employed in the WestIndia plantations have the appearance of being but a few degrees above the brute creation; but it is their fituation

which makes them fo. Teach them better by good usage, and stimulate them to induftry by fweetening their bitter cup with a cheering prospect of obtaining their liberty; and they will foon exhibit sufficient proof of their capacity to deferve and enjoy it. At our family-devotions on Sundays, my negroes, whom I called-in to attend likewife, could fcarcely conceive what was propofed; yet in a fhort time, from receiving the beft inftructions in my power, and perceiving, in my address to the one Almighty God, that they were confidered as equal in his eye, according to their deferts, they attended, with earnestness and gratitude, to be better informed of their dependence on his Providence for the comforts of this life, with the hope of a better hereafter. These were circumftances, concerning which their former owners had never given them the smallest inftruction.

:

I must acknowledge there was one thing refpecting the negroes in fome parts of America, which aftonished me much; nor was I ever able to account for it to my own fatisfaction but truth requires it to be mentioned. On the subject of flavery, every feeling heart will naturally fympathize for the parent whofe mind, we fuppofe, must be tortured with agony when he confiders his children born to perpetual flavery; yet how shall we account for the very common practise, among the free negroes in America, of preferring to marry flave-wenches, by which they make all their children flaves? The fact is fo; and the only reason I could learn, or can affign, for it, is "that they value not their liberty at the price of their maintenance." But poffibly this may arife from the long degradation of their minds, which a more liberal treatment and enlightening education might correct and bring-back to a natural fenfe of parental duties.

END OF MR. HARRIOTT'S CHAPTER ON NEGRO-SLAVERY.