ONciolas M. W alkiams IME raat Boston College Library te ON) OTE « TREATMENT and CONVERSION Oo oF AFRICAN SLAVES A A NS RRR SUT <> BRITISH SUGAR COLONIES. Bs Yi | tiggly Fuga: REVEREND JAMES RAMSAY, M.Ar” Vicar of TEston; in Kenr, a I A ND RLS TR ES God hath made of one Blood all Nations of the Earth, for to dwell on all the Face of the Earth, Acts xvii. 26. He that ftealeth a Man, and felleth him, or if he be found in his Hand, he fhall furely be put to death, Exodus xxi. 16. TO: (IN VD Oe Printed and Sold by James Puiturps, George-Yard, Lombard-Street. M.«DCC&’BMXXIV) BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. ] iii | POUR By Be AcG. &, Lettter of an ordinary length, in an- {wer to the humane one which is here fubjoined, gave beginning to this perform- ance. By frequent tranfcription, it fenfibly increafed in fize, and extended itfelf to col- lateral fubjects, till it had become fome- thing like a fyftem for the regulation and improvement of our fugar colonies, and the advancement and converfion of their flaves. On fubmitting the manufcript to thofe, who were much better judges than the au- thor could pretend to be, of the prefent pre- vailing tafté (and many perfons of rank and learning have honoured it with a perufal) the account of the treatment of flaves in our colonies engaged their fympathy, and the ae: plan iV POR ER eee CE, plan for their improvement and converfion had their hearty good wifhes. But they exhorted him, almoft all with one voice, to fupprefs every part that tended to introduce thofe political difcuffions, which muft be unavoidable in treating of the ftate of co- lonies, and their dependence on a mother country. As the author had, from the firft, no pri- vate views to gratify in the plan, and wifhed only to give it every poflible chance of fuc- cefs with the public, their decifion was final with him; and in conformity to it, every thing that related to the improvement, and better government of the colonies, has been omitted. By this alteration in the original form of the work, it has neceffarily loft fomething of that fy{tematic order, which contributes fo much to the beauty of compofitions, and leads fo pleafant- ly on from premifes to conclufion. But humanity is its object, not reputation. When the finer feelings of the foul are en- gaged, it would he a criminal trifling to aim at amufement. I will not infult the reader’s underftand- ing, by an attempt to demonftrate it to be an DSR a Pi eradicate : Teo Casa SPAR ate ance Fi, RO a ae v an object of importance, to gain to fociety, to reafon and religion, half a million of our kind, equally with us adapted for advancing themfelves in every art and {cience, that can diftinguifh man from man, equally with us made capable of looking forward to and enjoying futurity. [rather with to call in his benevolence, his confcience, his intereft, to give their aid in.carrying on the work. The people, whofe improvement is here propofed, toil for the Britifh ftate. The public, therefore, has an intereft in their advancement in fociety. And what is here claimed for them? Not bounties, or gifts from parliament, or people; but leave to become more ufeful to themfelves, their mafters, and the ftate. And furely a plan, that has fuch an end in view, needs only to be explained to procure a general prepoffeflion in its favour. While the man of feeling finds ‘every generous fentiment indulged in the profpect which it opens, the politician, the felfith, will have all their little withes of opulence, and accumulation fully realized. The defign then, muft have every man of every complexion combined in its behalf ; and there is nothing to be accounted for but aang the : sna SNE fA SIENA IE AME CLE LES Vi BR Boe A Or the author’s courage, in prefuming to offer to the public his thoughts in particular on the fubject. From the manner in which this work had its beginning, it will appear that neither vanity, nor felf-fufficiency, led the author to the attempt. It was not till after the feventh copy had been read, and its. pur- pofe approved of by many perfons of worth and judgment, that he entertained the moft diftant thoughts of publication. Even now, that it has undergone every fuggefted cor- rection, and received every improvement that three tranfcriptions in fucceffion could give it, on their opinion, rather than his own, he refts the probability of its proving acceptable to the public. Not to be guilty of ftifling what had a generous purpofe in view, and poffibly might do good, if fo it pleafed God, has_ been, from the firft, as far as refpected himéelf, the only inducement. Profit he difclaims ; and willingly would he transfer all the cre- dit that can poflibly arife from it, to him who would take on him the cenfure. Yet fhould he not forgive himfelf, were he to difcover that ill nature had fharpened a fingle expreflion ANGERS T ENTE ETL NNN vabiherdaines SATIRE BRE FA Gc Ee Vii expreffion in the Effay, or dragged an unlucky object of refentment into view. ‘To blame ‘has not been a pleafant talk. He has fuffered more from the neceffity of doing it, than the perfons affected will probably do from the application; which yet, except in one cafe, muft be the work of confcience with themfelves. In this cafe, the perfon who is the object, is of fuch an happy difpofi- tion, as to be incapable of feeling cenfure, and of that eftablithed charaéter, that noth ing can hurt him. The public, therefore, has aright to him, as to a beacon placed near a dangerous quick fand. To conclude, the reader has here the re marks of about twenty years experience in the Weft-Indies, and.above fourteen years parti- cular application to the fubje&. If it draws the attention due to its importance, the author will have the fatisfaction of reflecting, that he has not lived in vain for his country and mankind. And this confideration will fmooth before him the otherwife rugged paths of life. Should it fail in anfwering his well meant purpofe, ftill the thoughts of having made the attempt, will pleafe on reflection ; nor will the intention lofe its re- a 4 ward Ee REY SED SEW OLS PIO RTT PEt Vill BS Ey Fy A Gi Ee ward there, where his particular aim is to be found acceptable. Letter referred to above, which fuggefted to the author the confideration of the follow- ing fubject. I will omit any apology, however ‘needful, for offering my thoughts on the fubje@ of flavery, to one, whofe office and opportu- nities among flaves muft induce him to think and act what is right refpeCting them. The moft I can hope for is, to echo to him fome of his own refleGtions, which perhaps the univerfal carelefinefs and indifference pre- vailing in every thing that concerns them, may, at times, caufe him t@ pafs inattentive- ly by, or confider lefs than their import- ance deferves. Tam fure Mr. -—— mutt always think him- felf not only obliged to ufe his flaves with kindnefs, but alfo viewing them as fellow- creatures, bound to extend his care to the fecurity of their eternal happinefs, by in- ftrudting them in the relation which they bear to the great Author of their being, and gracious Redeemer of their fouls, and } in SRR Ree peor RAE RTT, ATER MA PONE RIE qT se milk 2 EB Bs 78. Ix in the duty ‘arifing from that relation, as it is revealed in the gofpel, and is required of all men, who feck after future happinefs. A care which, however contrary to the ufual policy of mafters, would be the moft pro- bable means of making flaves diligent and faithful ; for. it would awaken confcience within them, to be a {trict overfeer, and a fevere monitor, whom they could not evade. This is a confequence, that if duly conf- dered, might induce even thofe who, neg- lecting to take providence into the account, confider only how they fhall make the moft of their ftock, to afford their flaves oppor- tunities of learning their duty; allowing them, for example, fome portion of the week for procuring their f{ubfiftence, and {etting the Lord’s day apart’ for religious inftruction. Still granting that mafters, who look no farther than prefent profit, may laugh at the far-fetched expectation, furely men who believe in revelation cannot indulge a doubt but that the treating of them like. fellow- creatures, and the fhewing of mercy to their fouls, will on the whole more advance the mafter’s real intereft, than a method which fuffers < PiRKR PF A GH fuffers them’ to continue ‘in brutifl igno- rance of themfelves and their Creator ; which obliges’ them'to labour for the fupport of their bodies;‘on a day fet apart for the im- provement ‘of their fouls. I know in this cafe it is argued, ‘* to fup- <* pofe that the work of five days may poffi- << bly be found as profitable to owners, as ‘¢ that) of fix days, is to expect that God <¢ will;work a miracle to reward the indul- ‘* gence; an extraordinary exertion of pow- ¢¢ er, which on {fo trivial an occafion, it would ‘¢ be prefumptuous to look for.” But when invany fituation, we doubt God’s juftice or goodnefs, we injure his power and wifdom, for thefe act under their influence. And when we imagine him refting at a diftance, 4 or acting only in great events, we entertain improper notions of his relation to the work of his own hands. Scripture and reafon, when they contemplate the Divine nature, join to reprefent him as ever prefent to all his works, as quickening every thing that liveth, upholding whatever hath a being, as directing the operations of nature, and guid- ing the ations of men, all to their proper purpofes, in a manner indeed that we cannot compre- BRE H & @ Bi i comprehend; but fo, that a: {parrow:-falls not to the ground without his permiffion; and that a cup of cold water given: for: his fake, doth not efcape his notice, nor go. without its reward; yet in a manner, |which: leaves unreftrained that liberty, by which moral agents become accountable for their ations. And if this be the ftate of things, under God’s government, can we doubt. of sheir recompenfe, who, in conformity to God’s injunctions laid on our firft parents, and fince often renewed, allow themfelves and their dependents leifure, on the Lord’s day, to learn their Creator’s will, and pay him a rational homage and duty?) Humbly to be- lieve and expect this, as declared to us in God’s general promifes in f{cripture, is an inftance of faith that we cannot refufe to his veracity, who has engaged to perform it. Even were we unable to. conceive a par- ticular method, by which a compenfation for this relinquifhed part of our fervants labour could be effected, when we on that account conclude, that the obedience will reflect no benefit on us, we diftruft God’s promifes, or doubt of his ability ‘to find a way to reward our compliance with his will. Xi Po RD Ba Fy Ay Ct Es will... And yet, without, working a manifeft miracle;’God may give fuccefs to our en- deavours, in a thoufand ways, which thall feem.to be the natural.effects of induftry, or of. that unknown direction. of human affairs, which in common account is. called chance. He may make us ikilful in managing occa- fions, fagacious in forefeeing events. He may preferve us from expenfive illnefs, guard us from mifchievous neighbours. He may blefs us with faithful fervants. He may in- cline mens affections to us, and make them inftruments in promoting our profperity. Endlefs are the methods by which, in an unperceived manner, he can turn the com- mon accidents of life to reward men who prefer duty to prefent advantage, who co- operate with his benevolence in promoting the happinefs of their fellow-creatures. To doubt of a reward, even in this world, whenever it fhall be, on the whole, beft for us, is to doubt of the propriety and efficacy of prayer, and to cut off our hopes of its fuccefs. Yet God invites us to make our requeits known unto him, and folemnly promifes, that when we afk we fhall receive. That it will be fo, even in this life, we may pofitive- ly ici eae. ne ae denn Pee RY Be AS GARE, Xi: ly conclude, if we confider only the confe+ quence of this juft “refle€tion, «© What! is “* called the ordinary courfe of Providence, “‘ which governs events, is not the effect ‘of blind chance, or’ uncontroulable fate, ‘« but a wife and orderly chain of caufes and ‘ effects, adapted by the Almighty contri- A n “‘ver, as nicely to the condu&’ of ‘free a ‘agents, as to the inftinéts of brutes, or “the laws of vegetable and inanimate mat- “bens! It is owned even by men who confider | flaves as property, and who, having bought them, conclude that they have a right to make the moft of their money that -the working of flaves beyond their ability, fhort- ens their lives, and checks their population. Do not fuch men acknowledge in this, ftrong traces of Divine 'juftice, punifhing cruelty and thirft of gain by the moftna- tural means, by making them counteract and defeat their own purpofe. And by parity of reafoning may we not expect. Providence to profper by means as na- tural, our humane, benevolent attention to wretches, whom the crimes and avarice of felfifh men have placed in our power? With : re{pect XIV PYRO EAP WAICAE, refpect to religion, unlefs we deny revela- tion to: bea bleffing, or benefit to mankind, we cannot hold ourfelves: blamelefs, if we forbear ufing our beft endeavours to com- municate the knowledge of it to every one within our reach. And whatever may be our fuccefs in other refpects, the pains that we ufe to improve the minds of our fel- low creatures, will return with advantage into our own bofoms. God’s grace will be ftirred up within us, and our own difpo- fition and behaviour will be corrected and amended. Introductory Addrefs, in Anfwer to the preceding Letter. Ihave perufed with attention, your hu- mane and pious remarks on the treatment of flaves in the Britifh colonies. I think my- _ felf honoured by your fuppofing me, in par- ticular, capable of being influenced in my behaviour towards them, by a confideration fo benevolent, as a refpect to their moral improvement, and their eternal welfare. In return, allow me to think highly of the heart, that with a good will, in which the | ’ meaneft Sie ean . {SSE RS TORE AT a EI SF HA a a A ae sc oo 3 eens reemer eee SSN nn a rare “ PaARS BA FRAG CHES XV meaneft and moft diftant of your kind have a fhare, can, in the caufe of humanity and religion, thus warmly intereft you for fuch unpitied, and defpifed al ots as’our flaves in general-are. An account which may be depended on, in a matter wherein humanity is nearly con- cerned, cannot be unfatisfactory to a mind, turned like yours to all the tender feelings; And though I fear the emotions which this account muft naturally raife in your breatt, will not be of the cheerful kind, yet I doubt not of its producing refleCtions, which you would not willingly have been without. An humble refignation to the meafures of Providence, is our duty at all times; but then efpecially, when our concern for God’s glory, and our brother’s eternal welfare, feems to mark out an object for our withes and prayers, which God is pleafed to keep referved among the hidden things of his government, till his own good time thall come to reveal, and give it to the world. IT wifh indeed, for your eafe, that I could have comprehended any tolerable view of the fubject, within more moderate limits ; but it became complex under my hands, tha drew XV1 Ps @ Es Fo AG en es drew after it a variety of confiderations. Happy fill .fthould I have thought, my‘elf, could I have made this view, fuch as it is, exprefs what you charitably with it might unfold; could I inform you, that we are careful of the bodies, and tender of the fouls of thefe our fellow-creatures, thus fubmitted to our power, thus abandoned to our huma- nity. But truth requires a different, a mournful tale of unconcern and unfeeling neglect. To make this view more complete, I fhall firft confider the feveral natural. and artificial ranks that take place in focial jife, and more particularly that of mafter and flave in the European colonies. I hall fhew how much the public would be profited, and how much. the mafter would gain, by advancing flaves in focial life. I fhall thew how this advancement in fociety, and their improvement in religion, muft necefiarily go hand in hand, and affift each other, if either one, or both thefe purpofes, be our view re- {pecting them. As extravagance and avarice have begun of late to make fad encroachments on that reft of the fabbath, which hitherto had been reckoned facred; in addition to you r PTR EY Baa ae: XVI your pious reafons for fetting it apart for the purpofes of religion; I fhall prove how much this inconfiderate robbery hurts the mafter’s own intereft. I fhall affert the claim of the Negroes to attention from us, by explaining their natural capacity, and prov- ing them to be on a footing of equality in re{fpect of the reception of mental improve- ment, with the natives of any other country. And inconclufion I fhall lay down a plan for their improvement and converfion. b CONTENTS. ( xviii ) CON TEN T S&S. CHAP. I. OF THE VARIOUS RANKS IN SOCIAL LIFE. Page 1 Seét. 1. The Ranks into which the Members of a Community necef- farily feparate. . - ~ g Se&t. 2. Mafter and Slave in ancient Times. Vt i ~ - - 19 Sect. 3. Mafter and Slave in Gothic Times. - ui t - 29 Sect. 4. Mafter and Slave as propofed by Fletcher for Scotland, Anno1698 37 Sect. 5. Mafter and Slave in the French Colonies. - bs ~ =< ih Sect. 6. Mafter and Slave in the Bri- tifh Colonies. “ - - 62 Sect. 7. Mafter and Slave in particular Inftances. ~ = = - QI CHAP. x Sica Aba BASS RS SU ESSER PUES Ea EO DCS LG MSS be EDN OES eae C DUN AD Te N oF ce. XIX CHAP. II. THE ADVANCEMENT OF SLAVES WOULD AUGMENT THEIR SOCIAL IMPORTANCE. Page Sect. 1. Their prefent Importance in Society as Slaves. - ~ ~ Sect. 2. Their prefent Importance in Society would be increafed by Free- dom. ~ ~ = - ~ Sect. 3. Their Mafters would be pro- fited by their Advancement. - Sect. 4. Their Mafters would be pro- fited by allowing them the Privilege of a Weekly Sabbath. ~ - 102 106 113 118 130 CHAP. II. THE ADVANCEMENT OF SLAVES MUST ACCOMPANY THEIR RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE, Page 150 Sect. 1. Examples of the Difficulty found in inftruGing them ix cheir prefent State. ts is Se&t. 2. The Obftacles that de Mora- vian Miffions have had to fnggle Wito. - - - Sect. 3. Ineflicacy of the Author's pri- ' vate Attempts to inftru@ Slaves. a3 161 166 Bet. 4. xX CID) WN AIOE WW oD cS. Page Sect. 4. Inefficacy of the Author’s pub- lic Attempts to inftruct) Slaves. 178 Seat. 5. The Manner fuggefted, in which private Attempts on large Plantations to improve Slaves may probably fucceed. — - - - 181 CHAP. IV. NATURAL CAPACITY OF AFRICAN SLAVES VINDICATED. 197 Seat. 1. Objections to African Capacity drawn from Philofophy, confidered. 198 Seat. 2. Objections to African Capacity drawn from Form, confidered. - 211 Sect. 3. Objections to African Capacity drawn from Anatomy, confidered. 219 Seét. 4. Objections to African Capacity drawn from Obfervation, confidered 231 Seat. 5. African Capacity vindicated from jHeperience, > - 24.1 CHAP. V. PLAN FOR THE IMPROVE- MENT AND CONVERSION OF AF- RICAN SLAVES. Page 263 Se&. 1. Eftablifhment of Clergy, and their Duty among Slaves. - - 265 Sea. 2. General Improvement of Slaves. 273 Seat. 3. Privileges granted, and Police extended to Slaves. - - ~' 20% Conclufion, - ~ : e | OF Ei oSensiSivss Aas TREATMENT and CONVERSION O F AFRICAN SLAVES ey eet eS BRITISH SUGAR COLONIES. eee ee Of the various RanKs in SOCIAL LIFE. HERE is a natural inequality, or _ diverfity, which prevails among men that fits them for fociety, enables them to fill up all the different offices of polifhed life, and forms their varied abilities, nay, even their particular defe&ts and wants, into a firm band of union. Where the arrange- Ae ment pees Ste 2 On THE TREATMENT AND ment of thefe varied attributes in man is conduéted in fociety by the views of nature, or the di@tates of revelation which explain and inforce them, there the feelings and interefts of the weaker, or inferior mem- bers, are confulted equally with thofe of the ftronger or fuperior. Each man takes that ftation for which nature intended him; and his rights are fenced around, and his claims are reftrained, by laws prefcribed by the Author of nature: for He is the only rightful legiflator ; and human regulations are in a moral fenfe binding, only when they can be traced immediately, or in principle, to this pure origin. As the creation of man had the general improvement and happinefs of the race in view, every law that refpects him muft fuppofe an attention to this pur- pofe of his being, and therefore cannot regard the intereft of one at the expence of another. All, as far as is confiftent with general good, mut be left to the free ufe of their powers and acquifitions, or of life, liberty, and property. In the ufe of thefe, within the limits of law, confifts the only equality that can take place among men; and it isevident that the extent of this ufe muft ConvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 3 muit vary according to the different fituation of each individual, and the capacity, or power of exertion, which he poffefleth, and farther muft be affected by the ftate of improvement, that the community, of which he is a member, has attained. Oppofed to this law of nature, and of God, that gives and fecures to every man the rights adapted to his particular ftation in fociety, ftands the artificial, or unnatural relation of matter and flave; where power conflitutes rights where, according to the degree of his capacity of coercion, every man becomes his own legiflator, and ereéts his intereft, or his caprice, into a law for regulating his conduct to his neighbour. And as the one draws its origin from the heavenly fountain of benevolence, fo the other may be traced to the infernal enemy of all goodnefs. For here no mutual, benefit is confulted, but every wifh, every feeling, is fubmitted to the mandate of a felfifh tyrant. Yet the influence of this luft for acting the mafter has been fo univerfal, and has obtained fo long, as to oblige us alfo, in principle, to deduce it immediately from that love of power, which, within the boundaries pre- A2 {cribed 4 On THE TREATMENT AND fcribed by nature, makes a part of our con- ftitution; it not being poffible to account for its having fo generally prevailed, as we find it has in the world, on any other fup- pofition than its being an abufe of what is natural to mankind, excited and cherifhed in them by an enemy to their virtue and happinefs. For, as far back as hiftory carries us, we read of mafter and flave. Even in the favage ftate, cuftom, which leaves men ona footing of equality, has enflaved wives. Among our negro flaves, he who cannot attach to himfelf a wife, or fubdue any other creature, buys fome half ftarved dog, over whom he may exercife his tyrannic difpofition. If thefe be the unalienable claims of human nature, and this the practice of mankind oppofed to them, how neceflary muft it be to fix fach boundaries, as may preferve the rights of the weak from the incroachments of the ftrong. And this cannot be done in a more effectual manner, than by drawing the natural, and the artificial ftate of fociety, each in its proper colours, and leaving the decifioy 6 the common fenfe of mankind. SECT. SPD cc COTS IR A eT JE ORAL OLS NEE CE cao se CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. s Sig By @ ok. ooh The Ranks into which the Members of a Community neceffarily feparate. In every independent {tate, whether monar- chy or republic, that has got beyond the firft fteps of civilization, the people, or citizens, naturally divide into fovereign and fubject, mafter and family, employer and employed; all other ranks being arbitrary or artificial. The fovereign declares and executes the will of the people at large. He mutt there- fore be {upreme, or uncontroulable by any particular number, or part of the people. His authority muft extend over all ranks, comprehend all poffible cafes, and conclude every particular diftritt. In this fenfe he is arbitrary, or intrufted with the power of enacting and abrogating laws, within the limits which man’s conftitution, and the dictates of morality prefcribe. But as the fo- vercign, whether hereditary or elective, permanent or temporary, one or many acting together in one body, is intrufted with this power for the benefit of the people, which } Py 2 fup- 6 On THE TREATMENT AND fuppofeth it to be exercifed for the general good; therefore the law, or will of the fevereign fhould be declared in general terms, that it may affect individuals only by inference in particular cafes, and conclude the perfon of the fovereign in his ordinary conduct, and individual capacity, equally with the fubject.* It is the general purpofe of every govern- ment, that, in extraordinary cafes, conftitutes the people judges of their fovereign’s con- duct, and juftifies them in ref{uming a power, which, in refpeét of its end,. muft be con- fidered as delegated. Such a cafe happened at the revolution. But the occafion may _ * This circumftance is carried to a great length in the Britith conftitution with the happieft effets. The Houfe of Peers helps to compofe the legiflature; but each member, as an individual, continues fubjeé&t to the laws. ‘The Houfe of Commons poffefies, for a time limited, a fhare in the legif- lation; but each reprefentative is a private citizen, under the operation of the laws; and, after a time, the whole mixes with the mafs of the people, to obey, as fubjects, thofe ftatutes that they had aflifted to frame. The perfon of the king alone, out of refped& to his office, is not made the object of coercive law. It is this mixed charaéter of legiflator and citizen in our rulers that makes authority compatible with freedom; not the particular proportion of thofe who have the privilege of electing them, or their numbers, or the period ior which they may have been chofen. | fafely CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 7 fafely continue to be left, as it was then, to the feelings of the people. Defigning men, otherwife unable to work themfelves into notice, are, under the mafk of patriotifm, fo ready to fet up, at every trifle, a clamour againft government, to enhance their price, or pave the way to their own ambition, that a virtuous citizen will not eafily fuffer himfelf to be drawn in to join the cry. A free ftate, then, is that in which known laws bind equally fovereign and fubjec. A proclamation forbidding the exportation of grain is an act of power, refting on the propriety of the meafure. A vote of credit is as illegal a manner of raifing money on the fubject, as was formerly f{hip-money, or a benevolence; though it may not be followed by all their bad confequences. Both fhew a defect in the conftitution which wants to be corrected by a general law, prefcribing the proper conduct in particular exigencies. ‘The law that fhut up Bofton Port was hard, becaufe particular. A law to fhut up every port, where the revenue laws are refifted, would be juft and equi- table. Thus might a dictatorial authority, (I mean a latent power to be occafionally A 4 called 8 On THe TREATMENT AND called forth) which is neceflary in every ftate, be eftablifhed on a legal foundation, and be kept from tranfgrefling its due bounds.* _ | Families are, in the detail, what commu- nities are at large, except that the head, or mafter of the family, having a kind of property, either continued or temporary, in all under his roof, governs by the dictates of difcretion, rather than by known laws. Still the good, even of the loweft member of the family, muft be a co-operating principle. And that family, whofe government ap- proaches neareft to the regular method, which prefcribed known rules fuppofe, where the claims, and duty, or bufinefs, of * The cafes, for which it is neceflary to provide a dictatorial power, may eafily be forefeen, and be provided for in one general ftatute, to be binding till the legiflature can be af- fembled to deliberate on the fubje&. ‘The circumftances that make it proper to fufpend the Habeas Corpus Act, to open or fhut the ports, to lay embargoes, to give a vote of credit, may eafily be enumerated. But arbitrary undefined power. has.charms too alluring to be refigned by any, who find them, felves. in poffeffion of it. Even our Houfe of Commons, while ating as guardian of the privileges of the people, choofes to fubmit its right of commitment, in cafes of con- tempt, to the capricious decifion of any ordinary magiftrate, yather than permit the circumftances of the claim to he de- fined by a pofitive law. 3 each CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. «g each individual is diftinGly afcertained, will, on the whole, be beft managed, and allow the perfons compofing it to enjoy the greateft poflible freedom in their ftations. In this light the rank of mafter and fervant is comprehended in that of family; fervants, as a part of the family, are fubje& to its rules, and, as contributing to its eafe, are in- titled to its advantages. But as the agreement between the mater and fervant is voluntary, prefcribing the duty on one fide, and af- certaining the wages on the other, it may likewife be confidered under the head of employer and employed. The want, at firft view, appears to be reciprocal; but cuftom has univerfally affixed to property the idea of fuperiority over perfonal ability, orlabour. It, is in this particular view, of emolument of office, that magiftrates may be {aid to be the fervants of the people, though when their authority, and not their maintenance, is con- fidered, they may be faid to partake of fovereignty, The poffeffing of materials, ora fubject to be improved for ufe by the fkill or labour of another, fuppofeth in the poffeffor a right to prefcribe the manner in which that kill is 10 On THE TREATMENT AND is to be exercifed, or that labour performed ; and on allowing a certain reward or advantage to the man, thus employed, to appropriate to his (the poffeffor’s) own ufe the labour, or improved materials. This {uperiority is bal- lanced on the fide of the workman, by his being free to refufe or accept the condition. It varies with the demand for labour, and with the number of thofe, who offer them- felves to the work; but mutual want and mutual utility is the band that connects them together. Similar to this, is the relation between the mechanic, or artizan, and his cuftomer. The artizan provides his own materials, and works for the public: yet, though he {ets his own price on his workmanthip; and the cuftomer, without having made a previous bargain, can only refufe or agree to the con- dition, the confideration of having given occafion for the employment, in moft cafes, ' transfers the fuperiority to the cuftomer. In the cafe of the learned profeffions, there is, indeed, fome variety; but the like analogy of employment on the one fide, and encouragement on the other, runs through the whole. Particular perfons ftudy, and CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. IE and make themfelves acquainted with fciences, that are generally ufeful, with a view of being employed by the public, and of drawing a maintenance, and deriving diftinGtion from the exercife of their feveral profeffions. Religion, independent of its relation to the Supreme Being, is fo neceffary to fupply the defect of law, and to inforce obedience to government by the influence of con- {cience, that hitherto, in every polifhed {tate, it has made a part of. the conftitution; and becaufe it is apt to be perverted to bad purpofes, by ill defigning men, its profef- fors have always been an important object of the public attention.* They are fettled in every little corner of the ftate as monitors, or cenfors of the people, and they have their’ maintenance afcertained out of the labours of thofe, whom they are appointed to ex- * If it be objected, that the original conftitution of feveral of the American provinces is an exception, it may be anfwered, that thefe provinces were fettled under the protection of a ftate, of whofe conftitution an eftablifhed religion made an effential part; and, at a period, when the hopes and fears of futurity had a general influence, independent of public eftablifhments ; and that they have not had a length of time, or, till within thefe few daft years, been in circumftances to thew the genuine effects of fych a peculiarity, hort 12 On THE TREATMENT AND hort and inftru@. Their fupport cannot, any more than that of the magiftrates, be left by government to the voluntary choice of the people, becaufe thofe, who motft need to be controuled by the miniftry of both, favour their inftitution leaft, and would be far from contributing willingly to their maintenance. It would be unjuft to expect, that the good citizen fhould alone be taxed to fupport that magiftrate, whom the condué of the bad renders efpecially necef- fary; or that the pious man alone fhould contribute to maintain that minifter, who, as far as refpects the {ftate, is eftablifhed chiefly to moderate the profligacy of the vicious. The loweft members of the ftate, men infenfible of the neceffity of eftablith- ments, and generally unable to contribute to them, yet at the fame time objects of them, and poffeffing importance fufficient to demand the public care, are the great con- fideration in the inftitution of magiftrate and minifter. The public, therefore, mutt efta- blifh equally, and maintain both. The clergy, by their eftablifhment, become fervants of the public, for promoting order and good conduét among the people, by the hopes and fears CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 13 fears of religion. As fuch they have their duty prefcribed, and their maintenance, and rights, afcertained by law; which fixes the limits of each, and prevents their encroach- ments. . Men are fo attentive to whatever regards their health, or property; and the emolu- ments, and diftinction, which accompany eminence in the profeffions relating to them, encourage fuch numbers to apply to them, that government has feldom been obliged to meddle with the praétice of law or phyfic. A man applies to that phyfician, or lawyer, who has his confidence; and he muft exert fkill and addrefs to preferve that diftinction. Here the dependence and utility are reciprocal, and adequate to the purpofe. Thefe profeffions, though a confequence. of fociety, yet refpect each man chiefly as ah individual; on this account, except in flagrant abufes, they are fafely left to private intereft, and private exertion. But religion, in its eftablifhment, re{pecting chiefly pub- lic order, and private improvement only as far as it is fubfidiary to the other, its pro- feflors are confidered as auxiliaries to the magiitrate, and thus, being fervants of the ftate, are fupported at the public charge. In hit EE. 5 See Se SSE SS RST lew 5 Se ets Pa Eat 6 e 14 ON THE TREATMENT AND In the profeffion of arms there is fome-= thing more particular; but ftill the general analogy takes place. In it one part of the community comes under certain engage- ments for the prefervation of the whole; but the exigency is fuppofed to be prefling, and the purpofe national. When it is necef- fary to eftablith an army, the foldier becomes obliged to obey his general. Here the foldier protects himfelf, his family, his country: and to do this with effect, he fubmits to fach orders as are conducive to that end; and in the exercife of his duty his country cares for, and maintains, him. He, therefore, is alfo the fervant of the public, and, as fuch, is employed, and maintained by it; being as neceflary, in time of peace, to pre- ferve the little police that licentioufnefs has fuffered to remain among us, as, in time of war, to defend us from our enemies. Now in the cafe of the laws, which refpect government and people, the rule is general, fixed, and known, and equally binds the fovereign and citizen. Prejudice, caprice, or intereft, cannot fingle out an individual to tyrannize over him. In the cafe of a family, its tri@ union and affection bind it in one common intereft, and caufe the members to rejoice | | | j { CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. is rejoice or fuffer together. In the cafe of the labourer or artizan, he being at liberty to accept or refufe an offer from a particular employer or cuftomer, and this laft being alfo free in making his agreement, and obliged to comply with it, when determined on; thefe conditions fecure both parties equally from injury and oppreffion. In the learned profeflions, the like circumftances produce fimilar effeéts. Even in the pro- feflion of arms an equality is preferved in the compact, and fentiment and honours com- penfate for the refignation of fome of the privileges of citizenfhip. But in the arbitrary relation of mafter and flave, no law reftrains the one, no eletion or compact fecures the other. The matter may invade the deareft rights of humanity, and trample on the plaineft rules of juftice; the flave cannot change his tyrant, or remon- {trate againft the impropriety, perhaps imt- poflibility, of his tafk. The authority which men allow to the laws that govern them, has its foundation in general utility, and the reafon of things: and as all law is, or ought to be found- ed on our conftitution, it, according to what has been obferved, draws its ultimate fanction 16 On tHe TREATMENT AND fanction from the God of nature, and thus interefts confcience in the obedience due to it. Here the equality and comprehenfive- nefs of the rule fecure the individual from opprefflion; he can be affected only together with the community, or when he puts him- felf in the cafe forbidden generally by the law. Hence it is that all Bills of Attainder muft carry oppreffion and injuftice in their very form, being calculated not for general utility or prevention, as laws fhould be, but for particular deftruction; not for guard- ing againft crimes, but for creating them. The deference claimed by the employer or cuftomer, and the refpect paid by, or to the learned profeffions, according to the rank of the perfons concerned, have their foundation in the regard fhewn to wealth, learning, or power; and their excefs is guarded againft by the nature of the com- pact, and the power of affent lodged with the labourer, artizan, or inferior perfon. Now as far as the deference refpecting the employer extends, it fuppofeth as real a fuperiority, limited only in its operation to the defign thereof, as that of mafter over flave; and as it arifeth from the ranks into which fociety univerfally feparates men, it may CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES, 17 may be called focial fervitude, which mutt take place in the freeft ftate.* Here the fervant makes his compact with the mafter, or fuperior, and frames it to agree with his feelings, and to fall in with his abilities; and when the terms of his agreement are fulfilled, his time and_ his enjoyments are in his own power. But in the flavery of our colonies, the larger part of the community is literally facrificed to the lefs; their time, their feelings, their perfons, are fubject to the intereft, the caprice, the {pite of mafters and their fub- ftitutes, without remedy, without recom- pence, without profpeéts. This may be called artificial fervitude, unprofitable to the * In the conteft between Britain and America, it. may be remarked, that the friends of the latter contended not for the equality of men, confidered as individuals unconnected in fociety, till mutual benefit brought them together, and formed the diftin@ion of ranks; for in this light Americans have made as inconfiderate mafters to as miferable flaves as can any where be found. But they contended for the prefent actual equality of all men, with an exception to their own flaves. And again, to fupport the argument, they were obliged to fuppofe fociety diffolved, and men reduced to that folitary, favage ftate, where fuch equality only can take place. For fociety cannot be maintained, even in idea, but by the ine- quality of condition, and various ranks neceflarily arifing from the focial compaé.—So eafy is it for men to take fuch parts of reafoning as beft fuit their prefent purpofe. B public, 18 On THE TREATMENT AND public, burdenfome even to the matter; intolerable to the fervant, repugnant to hu- manity. A law, for the purpofe of police, may direct the ftrength and induftry of the citizens to a particular object; as when it encourages, by a temporary monopoly, the eftablifhment of a certain ftaple or manufacture; nay, for purpofes which refpect the ftate, it may in certain points, and for a certain period, fub- ject the perfon of one man to another, as in forming an army. But we cannot fuppofe a law that fhall fubject the perfon of one man to the private purpofes of another, with- out once ftipulating the extent of the au- thority, the nature of the fervice, or the fufficiency of the recompence. Such a law, by putting, perhaps, the greater part of the community out of the protection of all law, would be inconfiftent with the notion of fociety. For the prime defign of fociety is the extenfion of the operation of law, and the equal treatment and protection of the citizens. Slavery, therefore, being the ne- gation of law, cannot arife from law, or be compatible with it. As far as flavery pre- vails in any community, fo far muft that community be defective in anfwering the purpofes Sn ee ne ee | | i M fl CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 19 purpofes of fociety. And this we affirm to be in the higheft degree the cafe of out colonies. Slavery, indeed, in the manner wherein it is found there, is an unnatural {tate of oppreffion on the one fide, and of fuffering on the other ; and needs only to be laid open or expofed in its native colours, to command the abhorrence and oppofition of every man of feeling and fentiment. Su, Ener ie ile Mafter and Slave in ancient Times. We are taught, by the higheft authority, that Mofes adapted feveral of his inftitutions to the particular difpofition of his country- then.’ “die. did’. Aor attempt to prohibit flavery among them, perhaps, becaufe they were not then more ripe for it, than for the indiffoluble band of matrimony; but while he allowed them to make flaves of the con- quered Canaanites and their poiterity, he endeavoured to render their lot eafy, and the behaviour of mafters humane. Indeed, in the early ages, it is in a manner peculiar to him, and the Athenian legiflators, (of whom here- after) to have paid in the cafe of flaves a proper attention to the referved and unalien- able rights of human nature, B2 He 20 On THE TREATMENT AND He enacts, that there fhould be one law, one rule of juftice for the native and for the ftranger ; which is in dire oppofition to fome of our colony laws, where the evidence of even a free. African will not be taken againft a white man. He fecures good ufage to the flave, by commanding, that if his maf- ter, in beating him, ftrike out but a fingle tooth, he fhall have his freedom. He or- dains the perfonal flavery of every Jew to terminate in the beginning of the feventh, or fabbatical year, whether near at hand, or diftant, when that commenced. He guards effectually againft a groveling flavith {pirit among his people, by condemning him to perpetual flavery, who, inticed by kind treat- ment from his mafter, fhould fhow a dif- regard of this noble privilege of the fabba- tical year. He calls repeatedly on his peo- ple to remember, that they themfelves had been flaves in Egypt; and, therefore, from motives of fellow-feeling fhould make the condition of their flaves eafy and agreeable to them. He bids them treat well {trangers of one country, becaufe they had been ftrangers in their land; others, becaufe they were of the fame lineage with themfelves. He tells them, CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 21 them, that the inftitution of a weekly fabbath had in contemplation, the benevolent pur- pofe of giving reft to the wearied flave, and a re{pite from toil, even to the wearied ox. Among thofe nations that had not the light of revelation to dire@ their conduét, the Athenians deferve the firft place: they were indulgent, eafy, and kind to their flaves, when compared with their neighbours. And well this condefcenfion became a peo- ple, who, by mere force of genius, advanced human nature much nearer to perfection than any other nation. That their good fenfe did not, in every particular, carry them to that equality of behaviour towards their flaves, which humanity might expect, or be- nevolence fuggeft, is not fo much to be wondered at, as that they fhould be able to oppole the example of all their neighbours for capricious feverity, and in the chief lines of their condué& tefpecting fuch ill-fated beings, fhould give occafion to ‘the obferva- tion, that the life of a flave at Athens was much happier than that of a freeman in any other Grecian ftate. If Athenian flaves were treated with cruel- ty by their mafters, they might claim pro- Dy tection. 22 On THE TREATMENT AND tection in the Temple of Thefeus: there they remained in fafety till the fubject of complaint could be tried at law. Nor, in that cafe, did the law ruin, or refufe to re- lieve, thofe whom it pretended .to aflift; for juftice was diftributed to rich and poor at the expence of the public. If the com- plaint of the flave was found to be jutt, the mafter was obliged to aflign over his fervice to fome other perfon. Slaves could demand an exchange of matters, if their mafter had made any attempt on their chafttity. The law alfo gave them protec- tion and remedy, in their own names and perfons, againft every injury that might have been done them by any citizen, not their matter. Athenian flaves were not reftrained in any of the common amufements of {ociety. They were allowed to acquire property, on paying their mafters a certain yearly rate. If able to purchafe their freedom, they might demand it of their mafter for a determined price. Their matters fometimes, the ftate often, rewarded their fervice and fidelity with freedom; in particular, after having been once employed in war, they were {ure to be ; | made CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 2 made free. Contrary to the policy of modern times, the Athenians deemed no man fit to defend the ftate, but him who was worthy to be a member of it. The Athenians reaped the advantage of their moderation and humanity. For though, by the loweft calculation, their country con- tained three grown male flaves for one free- man, notice is taken, in their hiftory, of only one infurrection among their miners; and once, in time of war, of a con- fiderable number who deferted from their mafters, and abandoned the country. On the other hand, their neighbours, the Spar- tans, who, through a wantonly cruel policy, were continually harraffing, ill treating, oppreffing, nay, to keep their hands ac- cuftomed to blood, butchering their flaves, were held in conftant alarms by them, and often were brought into extreme danger, by their defperate attempts to regain their liberty. Yet the condition of flaves among the Spartans, from the circumftance of their being generally the property of the pub- lic, and attached to the foil, more readily admitted of univerfal relaxation and in-« dulgence, than it did among the Athenians, where they were chiefly private property, Ba There Li 24. ON THE TREATMENT AND There is fuch a conformity, not only in thefe, but other particulars, between the laws of Mofes, enacted during the fabulous ages of Greece, and thefe laws, eftablithed in its improved ftate, long after that time, by a people defervedly celebrated, as the beft cultivated, the moft fenfible, and humane among the ancient nations, as might have fecured to that great man a little more refpect than he in common meets with, among the wits and reafoners of the prefent age; who, while they deny his divine mif- fion, in that denial, muft acknowledge his forefight, his benevolence, his knowledge of the human heart, above every character in antiquity. For his laws continue, at this day, to be obeyed by a confiderable peo- ple, in the moft inconvenient circum- ftances, while all other laws of former ages _are loft in the gulph of time, or are only to be found in fragments in old neglected books,* In * Even the law that abfolves a mafter for flaying his flave, in the cafe of his not dying till two days after the ftroke, bears a ftrong analogy to that tendernefs in the common law of England, that diftinguifhes between homicide and murder, and, as it were loth to find the culprit guilty, takes the deadlinefs —— —— _ CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 25 In the infant ftate of Rome, flaves worked, and lived with their mafters, with- out much diftin@ion of rank or ufage. But in proportion as luxury increafed among the Romans, the condition of their flaves funk gradually down to the loweft degree of wretchednefs and mifery. And indeed fuch reprefentations as the ftatue of the dying gladiator, which exhibits the life of a brave ufeful man facrificed, not to the fafety of his country, but to the barbarous whim of, perhaps, the moft worthlefs fet of men that ever were aflembled together in one place ;* deadlinefs of the weapon into account; and it fhews, that among the Jews, the magiftrate interpofed between the mafter and his flave; which, in fome of our colonies, has not beer the cafe, even when fhocking circumftances of murder have loudly called for it. * In what an amiable point of view doth the following incident place the Athenians, even in their latter degenerate flate? Some fycophants of the Romans, then their matters, had propofed to them, in a publick afflembly, to imitate their lords, in the exhibition of thows of prize fighters, and gladi- ators in their theatres. A worthy citizen, who was prefent, affected to applaud the flattering meafure, and requefted his fellow-citizens only firft to accompany him and help him to throw down the altar, which, in their better times, they had erected to mercy. That fenfible people felt immediately the grave rebukes and were the-.only ftate in Greece, that had courage to forbear imitating the barbarity of their conquerors. the 26 On THE TREATMENT AND the fcandalous traffic that the elder Cato carried on in the natural feelings of his flaves, his fetting them adrift to ftarve in their old age,* when they could no longer be ferviceable to him, the condemning of them to fifh-ponds for trivial faults; all thefe things muft fill every reflecting man with fach abhorrence of, and indignation at, the condué of the Romans, in the character of mafters, in their advanced ftate of empire, as muft prove them unworthy of being drawn into example, except to be execrated for their condué&t. While they fancied them- felves lords of the world, they forgot that they were men; while they indulged their amufement, they ftifled their humanity. Indeed, what could be expected from a peo- | ple capable of receiving a law, that, accord- * How inconfiftent with himfelf is man. He, who, in his own conduét, could debafe himfelf by fuch acts of mean- nefs and cruelty, when Cenfor, degraded Lucius, the brother of Flaminius, becaufe he had indulged the capricious curiofity of a favourite boy, with the fcene of a man dying a violent death, in the perfon of a flave, whom, for that purpofe, he flew with his own hand.—The traffic referred to above, was his locking up his female flaves, and hiring them out, by the night, to fuch males as could lay down a certain price for them, ine ing CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 27 ing to the ufual interpretation of it, ina cafe of infolvency, ordained a fellow-citizen to be cut piece meal, and be divided among his creditors ? But how miferable the condition of flaves in general was among the ancients, may be collected from the opinion and example of that benevolent and difcreet philofopher, Plutarch, who yet has very freely cenfured the inhuman behaviour of others. He af- fures us, that the only effectual way of ma- naging a flave is by the difcipline of the whip; thataflave is incapable of underftanding any arguments, except ftripes, and a chain. And agreeably to this opinion he is intro- duced to us, as ina characteriftic ation of his life, fhewing how coolly a philofopher could flea the back of a poor friendlefs, help- lefs wretch.* Farther, Demofthenes, who, in * 'The hiftory is this: He had ordered the flave to be cor rected. The fellow muttered; and obferved, that a man, like his mafter, who pretended to aét the Philofopher, and to hold all his paffions and affections equally poifed, behaved in a manner unbecoming his charafter, when, on any poflible provocation, he fell into fuch a paffion with a poor flave, as could be fatiated only by flafhing and cutting him un- mercifully SOSTON COLLEGE Lig CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, 28 On THE TREATMENT AND in every thing refpecting the freedom, and character of his country, feems inf{pired with the very genius of liberty, lays it down as a4 maxim not to be controverted, that the higheft evidence, and teftimony moift to be depended on, is what is forced out of a flave by torture. Adrian is the firft on record, who, by an edict, deprived the mafter of the power of life and death in his family. As the bene- volence of the Chriftian religion, about his time, had fecretly, yet univerfally, in- finuated itfelf into the fentiments, and tinc- tured the reafoning, of the learned; and as he was more fond of the title of Philofo- pher than of Emperor, it is beyond con- jecture, that this edict, at that particular mercifully with a whip. Plutarch, quibbling with the wretch, obferves, in anfwer, that paffion generally had marks by which its prefence was denoted: an elevated tone, a flufhing countenance, a threatening look; could he have any of thefe, or the violence that they exprefled, who argued the matter with all the calmnefs of a ftoic. And as the executioner had interrupted his ftrokes, waiting for the iffue of the difcourfe, he coolly bids him proceed in his method of incul- cating knowledge by the whip, while he and Syrus difcufled the fubje@t philofophically. Buta man mutt have {pent fome time in the fouthern provinces of North America, or our fugar colonies, te be able to imagine the fcene. time, CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAvEs. 29 | time, owed its origin to revealed religion ; and within a fhort period after this, perfonal flavery, by the fame influence, was abolifhed throughout the empire*, SNE A ae ae Matter and Slave in Gothic Times. The inundation of the northern nations, that broke into the Roman Empire, and the feudal tenures that were introduced by it, gave rife to a new fpecies of flavery in Eu- * Raynall afferts, that the abolition of flavery and Paga. nifm, by edié, in the time of Conftantine, brought on the ruin of the Roman Empire. Doubtlefs every violent change in a ftate, mutt bring danger with it. But, perhaps, it will be difficult for any, but a modern philofopher, who follows Hume in his paradoxes, to conceive how the extenfion of fentiment and freedom fhould {fpread ruin among a people. That empire had begun to nod to its fall, long before this change could have produced any effect, The univerfal de- generacy of manners, the contempt of religion, the preva- lence of Epicurean notions, the difrecard of national cha- racter, the effeminacy of the foldiers, their lof of difcipline, the inftability of the government, and the natural courfe of human grandeur, are fufficient to account for the downfal of that fabric, under the rude thock of {urrounding favages. That Chriftianity produced this effe@ of abolifhing flavery, is the opinion alfo of Fletcher; for which fee Sect. LV. of this chapter, rope, 30 On THE TREATMENT AND rope, the remains of which are yet to be found, particularly in Denmark and Poland. But it appears, that, in general, this flavery confifted in obliging the conquered nations to cultivate their own lands, and render to the conquerors fuch a part of the produce as they thought proper to afcertain. This condition naturally connected the. labourers with the foil which they cultivated; and it rofe into a cuftom to transfer them together from one proprietor to another: and, doubt- lefs, there were many reduced alfo to the condition of domeftic flaves. But, like the Swedifh prifoners made at the battle of Pultowa, they became the teachers and re- formers of their mafters. And as thefe were by degrees converted to religion and won to civilized life, fo this {tate of fubordination went on approaching gradually to the condition of equality, or rather of that reciprocal focial dependence, which we have fhewn mutt exift between the fervant and mafter. And among the many fad things that we every day hear of popes, priefts, and prieftcraft, this muft be acknowledged to their credit, (they are indeed charged with it by their enemies) that their influence was conftantly ufed with the converts, ConVERSION oF AFRICAN SLaveEs. 31 converts, to procure the manumiflion, or at leaft the humane treatment of their flaves. Such has been conftantly the natural effe@ of Chriftianity, in every poflible form, to favour. perfonal as well as mental liberty, till the gradual improvement of fociety, the extenfion of fentiment, and fluctuation. of property, become fufficient to change per- fonal flavery into a voluntary compact of fer- vice and fidelity on the one fide, of wages and protection on the other: a compact, which fuppofeth that ftate of mutual dependence eflential to polithed fociety, and which may be confidered as entering originally into the plan thereof, and I truft is not intirely out of fight in the cafe of which we treat.* Indeed this latter flavery, in its worft ftate, mutt, after the converfion of the matters, have been far preferable to the ancient flavery of the heathens, or the modern flavery of the negroes in the European colonies. The Chriftian flaves of Chriftian mafters were confidered asentitled to certain rights, on.which a matter could * The Banians in India are, at this day, fupplied with flaves from Abyffinia. But as foon as they are brought home, they are treated as children of the family ; they are inftructed in fome ufeful trade; they are allowed to raife families, and maintain them with the profits of theirlabour, with which the mafter meddles not. not aa On THe TREATMENT AND not encroach: particularly, the making of the ceremony of marriage a religious folemnity, and its obligations of confequence indiffo- luble, except by death, drew after it all the claims and rights of a family. Their wor- fhipping at the fame altar, and their being confidered as entitled, equally with their mafters, to all the fpiritual advantages an- nexed to the profeffion of Chriftianity, were circumftances which the priefts were careful to ufe to the beft advantage in their favour: and, in an age, wherein the pro- mifes and threats of religion influenced, at leaft, the outward condudt of the people, and its doétrines made generally a part of the reafoning in ufe;* when its minifters were held in honour, and their injunctions car- ried with them reverence and authority for their Mafter’s fake, thefe were effectual and prevailing topics. The people alfo reaped advantages from thefe difputes between the * This is exceedingly well exemplified in what is called the truce of God or the church, when the fabbaths, and folemn times, and feftivals of the church, gave arefpite to thofe cruel depredations and murders that each village-tyrant or lord of a caftle, thofe former felf-eretted legiflators, thought himfelf permitted, at other times, to perpetrate among his neighbours. kings CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVEs. 33 kings and their barons. Kings favoured the liberty of burghers and peafants, becaufe every individual abfolved of his allegiance to a baron, was an auxiliary detached from an enemy or rival lord.* Had Europe, asa much diftinguifhed quar- ter of the globe, reaped no other focial ad- vantage from the eftablifhment of Chrifti- anity than the abolition of flavery, this benefit alone would have been immenfe; the fuperiority gained by it over the reft of the world would have been incredible. And with what fhame and forrow muft we remark, that fhe, who has been raifed fo high above her fellows, by the influence of this heaven-defcended liberty, at this day is, and, for more than two centuries paft, has * Though, in many cafes, this was only changing one ty- rant for another ; yet the people favoured the meafure, becaufe they have conftantly found an oppreffor intolerable in the in- verfe ratio of his rank and extent of power. ‘¢ A poor man, ** opprefiing the poor,” faith Solomon, “ is like a {weeping “* rain,” he leaves no food. ‘To give fecurity to the members of any ftate, the community muft be of that extent and power which will make it refpe€table among its neighbours ; and its governors muft be removed fo far from the level of other citizens, that private intereft or refentment may not fenfibly influence their publick condu@. But this can hardly eyer be the cafe in {mall ftates. C been, 34 On THE TREATMENT AND been, ftriving with all the venturous energy of a commercial fpirit, to eftablith flavery in the new world; in a region, where the curfe of flavery was unknown, till, through an infernal love of gold, fhe introduced and fixed it? But when the Englifh, (for though the Portuguefe and Spaniards had tranfported Africans more early to their American {et- tlements; yet Hawkins, an Englifhman, is faid firft to have given occafion for the pre- fent inhuman trade) a nation moft highly favoured of liberty, is viewed as taking the lead in this odious traffic, and as bending down the foul in utter darknefs, the more effeGtually to enflave the body; freedom muft blufh indignantly, while humanity mourns over the reproachful tale.* Would God * Tt muft fill the reader with very ferious reflections, to be told, that, fince the year 1759, the Britifh African trade has been, in a great proportion, turned to the fupplying of the French iflands with flaves. This has given a moft rapid’ improvement to their fugar plantations; and there is laid a foundation for fuch a naval force, asif not guarded againft in time may avenge humanity on our nation for this fhocking traffic, which it has carried on to a greater extent than all the reft of Europe, with peculiar circumftances of barbarity and cruelty In ConvVERSION oF AFRICAN SiaveEs. 95 God we might indulge the hope, that the fame people, who firft riveted, might alfo firft cut afunder, the iron chain which dif- graces our nature and nation, in the weftern world; and that a people, who have rifqued their own exiftence, frequently, as a ftate, to keep one continental tyrant from ridding the world of another, might at laft have wifdom to render themfelves rich and pow- erful, by reftoring to liberty, and recover- ing to fociety and reafon, the exiled fons of Africa!* But * In the month of March 1783, the following circumftances Came out in the trial of acafe of infurance at Guildhall. An ignorant mafter of a flave-fhip had overfhot his port, Jamaica, and was afraid of wanting water before he could beat up again to the ifland. He himfelf fell fick. In the courfe of his illnefs, he ordered his mate, who was the man that gave the evidence, to throw overboard 46 flaves, hand-cuffed; and he was readily obeyed. Two days after he ordered 36 more to be thrown after them, and after two days more another parcel of 40. Ten others, who had been per- mitted to take the air on deck, unfettered, jumped into the fea indignantly after them. The fhip, after all, brought into port 480 gallons of water. Can humanity imagine that it was meant, in any poffible circumftances, to fubmit the fate of fuch numbers of reafonable creatures to the reveries of a fick monfter; or that his brutal infrument fhould dare to boaft of his obedience, and even do it with impunity, in the higheft criminal court of the beft informed people of Europe ? The Incas of Peru conquered to polith and improve. When they came to a brutith people, who could not readily Cz apprehend 36 On THE TREATMENT AND But before I confider flavery as it has been introduced and eftablifhed by Europeans in the weftern world, I fhall lay before the reader a plan of that celebrated friend to liberty, Fletcher, of Saltoun, for reducing apprehend their inftructions, Let us turn, faid they, from thefe incorrigible animals, and feek out a people worthy of being our {cholars. The favages of America are fo wholly without the conception of the poflibility of one man’s being fubmitted to the will of another, that they know no medium between roafting their prifoners, and adopting them into their families. The Europeans, fettled in the fame country, could traverfe the vaft Atlantic to traffic for, enflave, and fell, wretches unknown to them, who never injured them; nay, could keep working in iron chains their own unhappy countrymen fent among them: while they boaft of having vindicated for themfelves, as the natural inheritance of freedom, a total independence on al! authority not originating from them- felves. Reafon, as found in praétice among men, is but a name, when {feparated from intereft.—It is but juftice due to the Weft Indian proprietors to obferve that the planters of tobacco and rice, in America, in common, not only treated their African flaves and Englifh conviéts, but even fober, honeft people, who, to pay for their paflage from Europe, had been obliged to. fell their fervice for five years, with full as much feverity as was practifed only on Africans in the fugar iflands ; and, what was inexcufable, in a country where provifions coft labour only, even pinched them in their food. Indented fer- vants were tied up, and lafhed cruelly on the moft trifling occafions. They were made to drag iron rings of ten or twelve pounds weight, hammered round their ancles, and fleep as they could, with heavy iron chains and crooks round their necks, his CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 37 his country back into the anciént ftate of matter and flave, in order. to obviate fome temporary inconveniences imagined to arife from freedom. And as he does this with an. appearance of reafoning, and, indeed, fuggefts things that would be exceedingly proper to be attended to, in the firft dawn- ings of liberty; I fhall at once confider his propofal, and add fuch obfervations as na- turally arife from it. Sa Pa ay, Matter and Slave, as propofed for Scotland, Anno 1698. Soon after the revolution, Scotland was af- flicted with four or five fucceflive unfruitful years, that, in its then improvident method of agriculture, reduced it to a ftate of famine, which is ftill remembered under the name of the Dear Years. Many died of want, and thoufands, all over the country, were reduced to beggary; the Highlanders, efpecially, fuffered greatly, and came down and overfpread the low-lands; and, where ii: they 38 On THE TREATMENT AND they did not fucceed by begging, made no {cruple to fteal and rob, to fupply their wants. In this fituation of things, when the poor were numerous, few manufactures eftablifh- ed, and the fitheries lay neglected, did Fletcher propofe his plan of flavery, found- ing it on a ftatute enacted Anno 1579, which empowered any fubje@t of fufficient eftate to take the child of any beggar, and educate him for his own fervice, for a certain term of. years, which term was extended Anno 1597 for life. He obferves, that hiftory makes no men- tion of poor or beggars in ancient times, becaufe all the poor, being flaves, were main- tained by their own mafters. He fays, no modern ftate, except Holland, by the aid of its manufactures, has been able to employ or maintain its poor: that this new burthen has been brought on fociety by churchmen, who either by miftake or defign have con- founded things fpiritual and temporal, and all good order, and good government, by re- commending it to mafters to fave their fouls, by fetting at liberty fuch of their flaves as fhould embrace the Chriftian faith; in con- tradiction to our Saviour, who was far from ufing ConvERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. "39 ufing temporal advantages to enforce eternal truths; and to St. Paul, who, 1 Cor. vii. pofitively gives the preference to’ flavery. Hence we date hofpitals, alms-houfes, and contributions ; burdens, which we find fo heavy on the community, and fo inadequate to the purpofe. He ftates the common objections urged againtt flavery; that men are equal by nature; that it is unjuft to fubmit the feelings and happinefs of the major part of a commu- nity, to the oppreflion and barbarity of the few; and that the tyrant, who enflaves his country, has the fame plea for profecuting his ambitious views, that a rich man can offer for bringing his fellows into bondage to him. He anf{wers thefe by diftinguifhing between political and domeftic flavery, affirming that the latter has been difgraced, by having been confounded with the other, which alone de- ferves the name of flavery, as being fub- mitted, not to law, which may regulate domeftic flavery, but to a jealous tyrant’s caprice: that it is the intereft of every matter to ufe his flaves well, in order that he may reap the full advantage of their labour: that occafional deviations from the fug- : Ce geftions 40 ON THE TREATMENT AND geftions of this prudence may be prevented by proper laws and regulations, and by the watchful care of a judge appointed for that purpofe. He fhews the advantages which would accompany this eftablifhment,. by ftating what was the cafe in ancient times. The ancients had no poor ca{t loofe on the pub- lic. They could, without poffefling much other wealth, undertake, with their flaves, great public and private works: and this manner of employing their flaves and their wealth, preferved among them a fimplicity of manners, and living, not otherwaife to be accounted for. Mafters knew nothing of the vexation of hired fervants, who, after having been educated at a great expence for aman’s fervice, will leave him on the mott trifling occafion. Their flaves, in hopes of obtaining their liberty, had an emula- tion to pleafe; and their being able to pof- fefs nothing, took away that temptation to pilfer, fo commonly the propenfity of hired fervants, and, indeed, fometimes rendered neceflary for them to fupport their familtes. He propofeth that vagabonds, and fuch poor as cannot maintain themfelves, be pro- portioned CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 41 portioned out to men of a certain eftate, to be employed in their grounds,. that their children be brought up to fuch ufeful manu- factures as can be carried on at home; and that the public may not, in any cafe, lofe the benefit of their labour, they and their children fhall be transferable for ever.* He * Vagabond beggars aré a nuifance which call loudly for redrefs, and which every well regulated fociety will exert itfelf to get rid of. Let every vagabond be confidered as the property of the public. Let a day be fixed, by proclama- tion, for apprehending them throughout the kingdom. Let their fervice be fold for feven years to fuch as have employ- ment for them. Let the money got for the ftrong be given with the weak. If, at the expiration of their flavery, they fhew a difpofition to fettle, and can make a private bargain with any refponfible perfon, who will anfwer to the public for their behaviour, and will take them to work on the footing of free labourers, let them be difcharged. This will excite them to be honeft and faithful. Slavery, ex- cept for a crime that forfeits life, fhould not be for life, that it may not perpetuate flavery in their children. Every vagabond child fhould be brought up tofome ufeful calling, and be free at thirty years of age. ‘They all, when reftored to freedom, fhould be allowed a fettlement. A particular magiftrate fhould fuperintend their treatment, hear, and decide on their and their mafters complaints. If at the termination of any period of* flavery, they be found un- worthy of freedom, let them be fold anew. If purchafers donot offer, let them be divided by lot, and their children be apprentices. Coarfe, wholefome food fhould be allotted them, the kind and minimum being fixed by law. If 42 On THE TREATMENT AND He thinks the mafter fhould not have power over the life of his fervant, but fhould anfwer for it with his own. He fhould not torture or mutilate him: if convicted of fuch ill treatment, he fhould free his flave, and If parifhes were obliged to improve their commons, there would be full employment for them; and every thief, being firft marked, fhould be added to the number. When reftored to freedom, they might have a cottage and garden given them, in full right, which they may prepare during the time of their fervitude. Such a ftate would be far beyond the condition of a vaga- bond, a wretch, that regards neither divine nor human laws, but wallows in every impurity and low vice. Thefe regula- tions, properly purfwed for one generation, would annihilate the evil; the very dread of being fold, and working at the will of another, would recover the greateft part of them to labour and fociety. But this remedy fhould be ftrily con- fined to thieves and vagabonds, and only while they continued fuch. At prefent our poor laws are calculated to encourage lazinefs, by fupporting an idle man in as much plenty as him who labours and gets his bread honeitly. When fick, the poor fhould be tenderly cared for; but when only idle they fhould have a fcanty coarfe fare, and clothes made up of patches, to make their fituation irkfome tothem. T'hofe that have large families fhould have every reafonable indulgence, and the burden of their children fhould be made eafy to them. All fingle ftrollers fhould be ftri€tly dealt with. Wherever the indolence of thofe that are fupported by charity is fufpected, their pittance fhould not be given in money, but in food, from day to day; and there fhould, asin hofpitals, be rates of full, half, and third allawance. fix CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 43 fix a penfion on him. The fervant’s family fhould be provided for in clothes, diet, and lodging. His children thould be inftruéted in the principles of morality and religion, be taught to read, and be furnifhed with proper books. They fhall not work on Sundays; but have liberty to go to church. In every circumftance, but that of not poffeffing property, and their labour being dire&ted at the will of another, they fhall not be under | the rule of their mafters, but the protection of the law. When grown, by age, ufelefs to their mafters, they fhall be received into public hofpitals. If their mafter, on any account, make them free, he fhall either accommodate them with a penfion, or put them in a way of living, that will keep them from becoming burdenfome to the public. To check the abufe of power in the matter; a magiftrate fhould be appointed to {ee that juftice be done them. Now, however inadmiffible fuch a fate of fervitude may be, in a country where li- berty is the eftablifhed birth-right of the loweft member of the community, yet, would heaven, that the flavery in our fugar colonies were only what is here propofed. : We A4 On THE TREATMENT AND We muft then drop many of our objections againft it. Still the arguments againft this degree of it are unan{werable. He fuppofeth that a fenfe of intereft will prevent the abufe of power in the matter. There cannot be a fairer deduction in theory, (which was all that he could. have to go upon) nor is there one more falfe in fact, Even fhould we afcribe the treatment which Africans meet with from their matters, not wholly to an abufe of power, but, in fome meafure, alfo to a perfuafion, whether it be true or falfe, that becaufe of their inferiority we are not obliged to treat them well; how comes it that fober, in- dented, white fervants, are treated with equal, perhaps fuperior cruelty by their North American matters; in confequence of which, not more than one in five {urvives even a temporary flavery of five years, in a condition to fettle a habitation and family for himfelf? Revenge for contradiction or faults in an inferior, whether real or ima- gined, will not allow the cooler. affections of the mind to operate, but drives at once, like an eagle on its helplefs prey, heedle{s how far the avenger himfelf may be involved in the mifchief. Nor CoNVERSION or AFRICAN SLAVES. 45 Nor, though his magistrate be an exceed- ing proper and neceflary check, would he, or could he, if ever fo impartial and watch- ful, be able to enfure good ufage to fervants, from the ignorant, the parfimonious, the luxurious, the extravagant, the capricious, the paffionate, the fpiteful mafter. In a thoufand ways may they be, and they daily are, tormented, which. no law can provide again{t, no care can poffibly remedy. His diftinction between political and do- meftic flavery, except wherein they refpect different objects, is imaginary and incon- clufive, when applied to individuals; or whatever difference there is, will be found to conclude againft the latter. The great tyrant has not the opportunity of exercifing his luft of oppreffion over individuals, ex- cept they ftand oppofed to his power; and a quiet man may, in an extenfive country, pafs his time tolerably eafy and fecure under the moft arbitrary government. But the domeftic tyrant can teize and torment every wretch fubmitted to his power, every mo- ment of their lives. They cannot eat or fleep, but when and how he pleafeth. Every feeling, every indulgence, is held at his pleafure; 46 On THE TREATMENT AND pleafure;' and too often he feels a {piteful amufement, an infernal delight, in unnecef- farily imbittering their miferable cup, even. at the expence of his own eafe and intereft. That the heavenly Preacher of peace and good will towards men, fhould be fuppofed to have encouraged an unnatural ftate of fociety, which, in its very inftitution, muft counteract in the fuperior every benevolent inclination from man to man; and mutft go far to fupprefs in the inferior every defire after that intelleCtual improvement, and heavenly happinefs, to point out the way to which was the very defign of his hu- miliation; is fuch blafphemy againft the divine goodnefs and condefcenfion of his miffion, and is fo flatly contradicted by the whole tenor of his doctrine, as to be utterly unworthy of any anfwer. St. Paul again is prefied into the fervice of flavery, againit the plain grammatical fenfe of the expref- fion in the original, and the whole {cope of his argument: of fo much more weight than truth is the driving of a favorite point. After generally remarking, that, notwith- ftanding any fuppofed particular inconve- niences, political happinefs, by the extenfion of CoNVERSION or AFRICAN SLAVES. 47 of freedom, has been extended far beyond what the warmeft imagination could con- ceive; we may allow churchmen. in the com- pany of their Mafter and his apoftle, to. reft fatisfied with the blame of having been the means of abolifhing flavery; and may hope that this writer’s authority, in this cafe, may ftand. them in fome ftead again{t that more general reproach caft on them of their be- ing the worfhippers of power in whatever hands it is found. By depriving a fervant of property, as he propofes, we know, that, in faa, you make him carelefs and defperate. The bet way of fecuring his fidelity and honefty, is to con= trive that he may have property to care for and fear the lofs of. -If a flave has deferted the plantation, the moft effectual way to bring him back is to give out, that you mean, if he does not return, by fuch a day,'to pull his houfe down. He remarks that the High- landers of his days were’ favage thieves and beggars, becaufe fubje@ to their chieftains; and would not his eftablithment of the like {ubjection in the civilized low-lands, in time, produce the like effets? A Chriftian would refolve the filence concerning the’ poor in the 48 On THE TREATMENT AND the heathen world, to their not being deemed an object either of hiftory or philofophy; er to that common tie between man and man, which revelation inculcates, not be- ing then acknowledged, to make the relief of their diftrefs a matter of duty or merit. But if no poor were then fupported by private benevolence, was no mifery therefore felt? What were the early feditions at Rome, but ftruggles between wealth and poverty, till war and diftant conqueft had enriched or drawn off the oppreffed ftarving multitude? Indeed, where was there room left for public beggars, when the poor were flaves, and had only their own mafter to whom to cry for help? Yet the elder Cato turned out fome beggars on the public, in a manner not greatly to his credit. Among the Jews, the rigours of flavery were foftened by religion; and there the poor, from the firft, were an object of Jaw. Their law-givers informed them, that in their moft flourifhing flate, there fhould be always poor among them, whom they were to confider as the Lord’s penfioners, who were.in his name to receive, from their wealthy neighbours, that tribute of grateful thanks which his goodnefs claimed. from CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 49 from them. And, doubtlefs, had this duty been propofed, from the like motives, in other ftates, proper objects of it would not have been found wanting. A better reafon to be given for the fim- plicity of the ancient manner of living may be found in the little communication which there was between different countries for the purpofe of exchanging modes and fuperflu- ities. Thofe who live now on the produce of their own grounds, live:as uniformly, and fimply as the ancients did. But was the Roman mode. fimple after the conqueft of Afia? He mentions the public works of »the ancients, Do we know thofe of any ftate that in grandeur or utility may be compared to the floating fortrefles of Britain, which carry the arms and power of the ftate around the world? Why the public fhould build hofpitals to receive flaves, worn down in the fervice of private perfons, he gives not a reafon; nor is any obvious. If the ancients were not troubled with the reftlefs ingratitude and pilfering habits of hired fervants, did they feel no inconveniency from the fullen intractable difpofition of flaves, whom they could not D - get go On THE TREATMENT AND get rid of ? Or, if the defire of freedom ex- cited the emulation of a flave; would it not make him alfo feel the iinmediate hardthips of flavery? would he not, with defpair, look around him, and view many flaves' transfer~ red from one mafter to another; often from good to bad, without acquiring that liberty which they had endeavoured to deferve by their fidelity? and would he not anticipate the like fate, and lofe all defire of exertion? Is not this indeed the general cafe, at this day, in the fugar colonies? Fletcher fuppofes that neceffity will drive his country into the meafure of flavery. It is near a century fince he hazarded this opi- nion; and inftead thereof, by the abolifh- ing of jurifdictions, more liberty, and greater privileges have been communicated to it: and the confequence has been a more general extenfion of political happinefs, and private conveniency. Had his plan taken place, would fo many towns have arifen, or been enlarged in various parts of the country? Should we have heard of the manufactures at Paifly? Could Glafgow have ‘been able to have endured a lofs (even fuppofing it only temporary) of perhaps a million of money, by American independency, almoft with- out CoNnVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 51 out once complaining?, Would a few over- grown landlords’ have . allowed, the Bri- tifh army and. navy to have been, filled up and recruited out of their gangs of | flaves, by the many ten thoufands of Scotchmen, that in every war, fince his time, have bled fometimes for the rights of the empire, ‘fometimes to quiet the popular alarms, about that bugbear, the balance of power? Would oppreffed, half ftarved flaves have. made fuch ‘hardy foldiers; or,. like them, endured, without complaint, every various oppofite climate, in carrying on the public fervice? It is true Scotland ftill labours. under dif- advantages. The tenant is not fufficiently fecured againft the extortion of the landlord. But what would be gained by reducing a great proportion of thefe tenants and their pofterity into the condition of flaves? Would they be allowed to live plentifully, when their lords wanted to parade it at court ?. Or are luxury and extravagance to be fatisfied, while any thing within their reach remains: to be devoured? If flavery had been eftablithed on his plan, would not power and intrigue have been ufed, to draw within its circle as many as poffible, till mafter and flave had abforbed ) D2 : every §2 On. THE TREATMENT AND every other rank? No, let lazinefs and vice be effectually reftrained, even by reftraining that liberty and privileges which they juftly forfeit. But. fet not one man paramount over another. Let their country and its laws remain matters of their fate. NGOE Re BOR dew Matter and Slave in the French Colonies. In the French colonies, the public pays an immediate attention to the treatment and inftruction of flaves. The intendants are charged with their protection, proper mif- fionaries are appointed for the purpofe of train- ing them up toa certain degree of religious knowledge; and ample eftates or funds are allotted for the maintenance of thofe eccle- fiaftics. The negroes, as foon as introduced into the colony, are put under the care of thefe laft. The mafter is obliged to acquaint the governor or intendant, within eight days, of every African flave whom he has pur- chafed, that a miffionary may be affigned to inftruct him. All the fafts and feftivals of the Romith. CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 53 Romith church, which it is;well known are very numerous, are commanded to be ftridlly obferved, during which ‘the flave is forbid- den to labour, that he may have leifure to attend mafs. Every flave has a claim toa certain allow- ance of food and clothing, which is not to be diminifhed by their mafters, under pretence of having given him time to work for himfelf. The power of the matter is reftrained to the whip and chain; he may not wound or mutilate his flave. On ill treatment received from his matter, or on being deprived of his allowance of food and raiment, the flave is directed to. apply to the King’s attorney, who is obliged to profecute the mafter forthwith. This officer is alfo bound to profecute, if by any other means he hears of the abufe, This reafon is added in the law, ‘‘ This we will to be obferved, ** to check the abufe of power in the matter,” If a flave rendered unferviceable, through age, hurts, or difeafe, be turned adrift: by his mafter, he is to be placed in the public hofpital, and to be maintained there at the expence of his mafter. Thefe are fome of the regulations eftablithed by the Code Noir, to check the exorbitancy of matters; an in- D 3 {tance 54 On THE TREATMENT ANDo- ftance of attention and bénevolence in the French government, that may well ii Bri- tifh negligence to fhame. The refpect in which marriage is held, brings a farther advantage to French flaves. The ceremony is folemnized by the prieft, and the tie continues for life. This gives them an attachment to their little families, and a concern for their intereft; and of con- fequence a care over them, and their own behaviour, that is feldom feen among Englifh flaves; where the connexion between the fexes is arbitrary, and too frequently cafual; where a male flave reckons it a piece of ftate to multiply his wives, and change them at pleafure, without looking beyond the prefent gratification, or confidering how his conduét may affect the fate of his offspring. Care is alfo taken in the French iflands to marry them young, in the fame plantation ; and if they perceive a particular attachment between two young people, belonging to different mafters,. it is common to refign or exchange them, that they may both have the fame owner, and that marriage may have its full effe&t on their conduct,* | The # A gentleman of Guadaloupe, Monfieur Seguer, informed me, that, with fome pains, he had brought it about to have all CONVERSION OF-AFRICAN,SLAVES. 55 ‘The French flaves-reap a.confiderable ad- vantage from. the-prefence. of. their owners. One caufe of this is,, that, in. the. colonies, they enjoy. more liberty, and pay fewer taxes than in’ France,* . An, Englith. planter, if out all his flaves married within his own plantations; and that by making them all people of property, in allowing to each his bit of land, with ahog, a goat, and fome poultry, and by fome extraordinary pains ufed to inftru& them, he had. brought them to a degree of healthinefs, good fenfe, traéta- bility, and happinefs uncommon among’ his neighbours. And I fhall here remark, generally, that: nothing has a happier effect in reforming or improving aflave, than the giving him fomething of his own to care for, and fear the lofs of. _ * The French governors have liberal appointments, from the crown to fet them above the neceflity, and to take away the temptation of opprefling their peaple by extraordinary fees from'them in the manner: of our Weft Indian governors, who, to the difgrace of the government that appointed them, are forced to colleé&t their maintenance-in perquifites from thofe who have bufinefs with them. © The Britith-colonies are alfo made the property of patent ‘officers, the profit of whofe places confifts wholly -in perquifites, .and is in general farmed from the principals in England by two or three fubftitutes in facceflion, till the immediate poffeffor be obliged; in his own defence, to commit ais of oppreffion, to” make-up his rent. And fuch is the corrupt influence.at.our court of .thefe fine cure patentees, as to have procured a ftanding inftruction to governors to oppofe and render null every attempt made by provincial affemblies to” repuldfe” their fees ‘oF office,’ or «heck their extortion. Thus the government of the mother te ES country 56 On THE TREATMENT “AND out of debt, or, a cafual crop be plentiful, muft run away to. England, which he calls his home, where generally loft to every ufe- ful purpofe in life, he vies with the nobi- lity in entertainments, extravagance, and ex~- pence, while his attorney, and manager, are obliged to over-work, and pinch, cs poor flaves, to keep up, or increafe the ufual re- mittances... It would make indignation her- felf almoft {mile to hear their piteous com- plaining letters to their agents read, when the .neceflities of the plantation have occa- fioned a {mall draught to be made on them. And. often the manager, whom the caprice, or felfith, or family views of an attorney country is deprived of the affiftance of men of character and fubftance in public offices, to fupport its influence in the colonies ; while thefe have impofedion them a moft humiliating and burdenfome badge of flavery, and have all their interefts, and all improvements of their police facrificed to the felfith viewsof men whom they never faw. It has alfo been ufual of late years to permit the cuftom.houfe officers to hold their places ;by deputies, doubtlefs, to the great improvement of the revenue. The intercourfe between our Weft Indian colo- nies is by fmall veffels carrying £40 or £50 freight. The cuftom-houfes force full one half of this fum out of them, under the name of (not taxes but) fees. The confequence is, that when provifions or ftores are unloaded in one ifland, they cannot, but in extreme neceflity, be refhipped for another uland, can, _ Conversion or AFRICAN SLaves, 57 can, without warning, difplace, looks not for- ward to the confequences of ill treatment of flaves, while trying to recommend himfelf by a forced exertion of their ftrength, in hopes that its pernicious effects may poffibly not appear in-his time.* If the Enelith owner lives on his plantation, he is too often fo in- volved in debt, the effeéts of his predecef- for’s, or his own former extravagance, or of injudicious purchafes, that he can {pare little from the prefling demands of his creditors, to allot for the eafe, and well-being of flaves, or indeed for any neceflary improvement of his property. The French, as they gene- rally live each on his own plantation, fo they are happy in not having the credit, or opportunity which the Eneglith have of run- ning in debt.-+ All their improvements muft * Hence a planter always knows the ftate of his affairs beft, at the change of managers; it generally requiring many hundreds, fometimes thoufands. of pounds, to fet matters agoing under the new director; an expence that might be faved by ufing a lef parcimonious method in the ordinary management of the plantation. + The whole debt owing by the Martinico planters about the year 1773 was eftimated nearly at 200,000]. fterling. St. Chriftopher’s, which, in proportion to its extent, is our richeft colony, and may be in value about one-third of the importance of Martinico, though divided among fewer than 120 pros. prietors, could not owe lefs at. that time than 720,0001, ferling, arife §8 ‘On THe TREATMENT AND arife out of their induftry. They are there- fore more gradual; and better founded, than in our colonies, where it has been only ne- céffary to deliver into a merchant an exag- gerated, pompous account of the richnefs of the plantation on which the monty is to be taifed, to procure liberty for drawing on him for thoufands after thoufands. For- merly induftry, in a courfe of years, raifed immenfe fortunes in the Weft Indies; few have been raifed fince loans became frequent in England. Borrowed money, {cldom, one may fay hardly ever, has fucceeded, when in any confiderable proportion to the property mortgaged for it. Let others ex- plain the caufe, I content myfelf with re- cording the fact. Thus French planters, not having intereft money to provide, nor the ambition of retiring to Europe, to itimulate them in accumulating money, are not under the neéceffity of forcing their flaves beyond their ftrength, in carrying on their planta tions to that exquifite degree of culture, that is common in our colonies, and which 4s effected, not fo much by contrivance and method, or by increafing with proper care ‘and nourifhment ithe animal powers of their ZR flaves, CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 89 flaves, as. by obliging’ them to extraordinary efforts, that. foon wear them out; and which; inftead of allowing them to increafe inthe courfe of nature, make conftant demands*on the flave market, toenable them to fupport the character of the plantation.. Far from plant- ing, as we do, every rood of land-that they poffefs, in fugar cane, and depending on foreign fupplies for food, the French try to live as much as poffible within themfelves. A confiderable proportion of land is fet apart for provifions. A late edict has reftricted the minimum to one acre inten. Farther, the French plantation flaves are attached to the foil, and cannot be drawn off to pay debts, or be fold feparate from it. This gives them a lafting property in their huts, and little {pots of ground. They may fafely cultivate them, and not, as in the Britith colonies, fear their being turned out of pofleffion, . or transferred from one proprietor to another, without regard had to their intereft or feel- ings. From thefe circumftanees, and from their manners being more. communicative, the French, in the colonies, live more ina family way among their: flaves,, than, our planters; they become more fenfible of, their wants 60 ON THe TREATMENT AND wants and abilities; they naturally contract a regard andan affection for them; the flaves are not hurried in their work, and enjoy a greater plenty,.and variety of wholefome food, than when their allowance of mufty flour, or weavily maize from America, is dealt out to them from a fcanty, bruifed tin or pewter meafure, by an unfeeling overfeer ; who. perhaps recommends himfelf to his abfent employer by the number of thares into. which he has divided the wretched pittance.* * Though the French government has cared thus humanely for flaves, though the manners and circumftances of the French planters peculiarly favour their good treatment; yet, fince the temper of the mafter mutt ftill have great influence on the condition of the flave, this will not prevent, nor can we wonder, when we find, among the French, particular atts oppreflive, and particular owners cruel. But in a vigorous government, fuch as is that of France, thefe acts cannot be frequent,,nor thefe men numerous. On the other hand, we muft acknowledge, that the free principles of our conftitution counteract many of the ill effects of our fcandalous negle& of the.police of our colonies; and that the tyrannical nature of the French government prevents the French from reaping the full effeéts of this their benevolent attention to the claims of humanity. Had we governors and other officers as difinterefted as the French, and afting under the like benevolent inftruc- tions, the difference. would be highly in our favour; and had the French governors the fame principles to guide them as we have, the French colonifts would enjoy a great acceflion ef political happinefs. Now CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 6t .Now the obfervation is, that the French flaves are more decently drefled, are moré orderly, fenfible, and ten times more honeft than Englith flaves. They ufe private prayer. The field negroes begin and leave off work with prayer; the black overfeer officiating as prieft. This cuftom of having field pray- ers has been found fo encouraging and ufe- ful, that many of the Englifh planters in Grenada, on their becoming owners of French flaves, kept it up on their planta- tions; yet fome of thefe would have mocked and fneered at the practice, if propofed in their own iflands. In the French colonies even in their towns, there is hardly occafion for a lock to fecure goods, or flore-houfes. In’ our colonies, no door, or lock, is a fufficient fecurity for any thing which a flave can carry away. In Grenada, they have Iong bitterly complained, that fince Englith flaves - came among them, they can keep nothing fafe from being ‘purloined, and that even the honefty of their own old flaves has been greatly debauched, 62 -, ON THE, TREATMENT AND S ioMaeiCraod ido. Valk ““Mafter and Slave in the Britith Colonies. To purfue the preceding obfervations, which candour obliged us to make in favour of our rivals, we muft acknowledge, that an Englith flave has nothing to check him in ill doing, but the fears of the whip, and that is a weak reftraint ona flarving, craving appetite. The French flave is placed above the folicitations of hunger; and refpecting his behaviour, has, to the dread of pain, fuperadded, as a guide, the hopes and fears of religion, and the approbation and dif- pleafure of his prieft.. The French, in the treatment of their flaves, regard the fug- geftions of humanity, and enforce its dictates by their laws. The Englith haye not, paid the leaft attention to enforce by a_ law, either humanity or juftice, as thefe may refpect their flaves, Many are the reftrictions, ‘and fevere are the punifhments,, to. which our flaves are fubjected, But if you except.a law, that Governor Leake got . enacted in Nevis, to diftinguifh petty larceny in flaves inal yc tie from ConvERSION- OF AFRICAN SHAVES. 63 from felony; and a law in Grenada and Jamaica, that obligeth- mafters to allot to their flaves a certain portion of land for.the growth of provifions; and one in this laft ifland, that grants them Saturday afternoon for the culture of it; I recolle@ not a fingle claufe in all our colony atts, (and I perufed the feveral codes with the view of remarking fuch) enacted to fecure to them the leat humane treatment, or to fave them from the capricious cruelty of an ignorant, unprin- cipled mafter, or a morofe, unfeeling overfeer Nay a horfe, a cow, or a fheep, is much better protected with us by the law, than a poor flave. For thefe, if found in a trefpafs, are not to be injured, but fecured for their owners; while a half ftarved negroe, may, for breaking a {ingle cane, which probably he himfelf has planted, be hacked to pieces with a cutlafs; even though, perhaps, he be incapable of refiftance, or of running away from the watchman, who finds ‘him in ‘the fact. Nay, we have men among us, who dare boaft of their giving orders to their watchmen, not to bring home any flave that they find breaking of canes, but, as they call it; to 4zde them, ‘that is to 47/7, and ORY bury On THE TREATMENT AND 64 fome lacerated carcafe is difcovered. bury them. And, accordingly, every now= and-then, fome poor wretch is miffed, and Our countrymen are left, each to be guided by his own changeable temper, and to be in- fluenced by a femblance of {elf-intereft;, nor have they any tie on them, in their behaviour to the wretches under them, but this intereft, often ill underftood; in -fome perhaps there may beadefireafterareputation for humanity, too frequently little guided byfentiment; ina few benevolence directed by confcience. Slaves are efteemed among us the intire property of their mafters, and as having, diftin@ from him, ‘no right or intereft of their own. And our conftitution has fuch an exceflive bias to perfonal liberty, that in contradic- tion to the maxims of every well ordered tate, it cannot, or will not, meddle with private behaviour... Hence that want of energy, vigour, and even propriety in every department of our police. Many actions pafs daily unnoticed among us, that would have degraded the higheft fenator of Rome into one. of the loweft tribes. Society pro- feffes to direct the actions of individuals to the greateft public good; a purpofe to which all ConyERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 65 all private intereft and’ gratification thould conftantly be made to give place. Hence the true fecret of police, after having fecured the lives, liberties, and properties of the citizens, is to turn the condué& and induftry of individuals to public profit, confidering the ftate as one whole, and leaving private perfons, each to find his own particular hap- pinefsin public profperity, checking every appearance of a wayward difpofition, that may make the man injurious to his neighbour, or unprofitable to his country. \What a field do the Britith territories offer for fach a plan of police? | Indeed, with this view before us, our boatt- ed conftitution prefents only an uncultivated wild. How much remains undone in the various departments of commerce, of rural economy, roads, rivers, commons, govern- ment of towns, perfection of flaple commo- dities, exclutive privileges, and the like? In the cafe of which'we treat, the conftitution. lays no claim to the flave, but confines its attention to the intercourfe of freemen, leav- ing citizens at liberty, as matters, to difpofe of, and treat their flaves, with the fame in- E difference, 66 On THE TREATMENT AND difference, if they pleafe, with the fame un- feeling wantonnefs, which without con- troul’ they’ may exercife on their cat- tle. | While we refie&t on the ftate of flavery in our colonies, among the freeft people in the world, and extend our views to the like inftances in hiftory, it becomes a mournful, an humiliating confideration in human na~ ture, to find that thofe men and nations, whom liberty hath exalted, and who, there- fore, ought to regard it tenderly in others, are conftantly for reftraining its bleffings within their own little circle, and delight more in augmenting the train of their de- pendents, than in adding to the rank of fellow citizens, or in diffufing the benefits of freedom among their neighbours. Every where, in every age, the chain of flavery has been fafhioned, and applied by the hand of liberty. Every ancient, every mo- dern ftate gives fhameful evidence of the truth, from the mock manumiffion of the Greeks, by the Roman Flaminius, to the op- prefled ftate of the Dutch barrier, and their laft Indian fettlements, begun while | they CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 67 they themfelves were’ ftruggling for: free- dom.* It will perhaps be alledged, that this in- confiderate treatment of flaves in our colo- nies may, as, is generally fuppofed, in Bri- tain, be the effect of the illiberal turn of the colonifts, accuftomed from their,infancy to trifle with the feelings, and fmile at.the mi- feries, of wretches born to be the drudges of their avarice, and flaves of their caprice. But it is to be remarked, that adventurers from Europe are univerfally more. cruel and morofe towards flaves, than Creoles, or native Weft-Indians. Indeed, whatever I ‘hall have to fay of the condué of individuals to- * The Athenians never admitted firangers to the privilege of citizenfhip ; Hercules, and one or two more, being the only foreigners indulged with it. ‘This accounts for the fhort period of their once fplendid maritime empire. It is true the Ro- mans fucceflively admitted their neighbours, according to their Vicinity, to the privilege of citizens; but they ated from no generous principle. They increafed the number of tyrants, in proportion as their conquefts added new flaves to be kept in dubjeGtion by them. Of this the focial war is an undoubted proof. Yet this condu&t, though fpringing from unworthy motives, was followed with the beft effects, and gave ftability toa flate, that conqueft otherwife might have ruined. E 2 wards 68 On THE TREATMENT AND wards flaves, and:the inattention of matters to~ wards their claims, may be applied with more juftice to the new fettlers, than to the natives. Often attachment will fecure from thefe laft good ufage, while the flave has no hold on the others; nay, probably is degraded by over-weening European pride, into a ftate differing but in name from brutal, by a treatment lefs generous, lefs confiderate, than a horfe or an ox receives from them. Oppreflion makes the wretches ftupid, and their ftupidity becomes their crime, and provokes their farther punifhment. In par- ticular, in the colony from which the fol- lowing obfervations are chiefly drawn, fo great is the proportion of Europeans in all its active ftations, that the character of the community muft be taken from them, not from the natives. And when one confiders how thefe adventurers are ufually collected, how often the refufe of each man’s connec- tions, of every trade, and every profeflion, are thronged in upon them, much) fenti- ment, morality, or religion, cannot well be expected to be found. within, the circle of their influence. This muft ferve as.an apo- logy CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 69 logy for any thing feemingly {evere, that may appear in the profecution of the fub- ject; to which we now return.* The difcipline of a fugar plantation is as exact as that of a regiment: at four o’clock in the morning the plantation bell rings to call the flaves into the field. Their work is to manure, dig, and hoe, plow the ground, to plant, weed, and cut the cane, to bring it to the mill, to have the juice expreffed, and boiled into fugar.’ About nine o'clock, they have half an hour for breakfaft, which they tale in the field. Again they fall to work, and, according to the cuftom of the plantation, continue until eleven o’clock, or noon; the bell then rings, and the flaves are difperfed in the neighbourhood, to pick up about the fences, in the mountains, and fal- * We muft not confound every European fettler in the above cenfure; fentiment, and benevolence, refined by education, influence feveral fuch within the author’s acquaintance. Indeed, whatever there is generally amifs in the conduct of maiters to their flaves, arifes not fo much ftom any particular depravity in them as men, as from the arbitrary unnatural relation that exiits between them and their wretch- ed dependents ; the effects of which, neither fentiment nor mo- rality can at all times prevent. a3 low 70 On THe TREATMENT AND low or wafte grounds, natural grafs and weeds for the horfes and cattle. ‘The time allotted for this branch of work, and prepa- | ration of dinner, varies from an hour and an half, to near three hours. In collecting pile by pile their little bundles of erafs, the flaves of low land plantations, frequently burnt up by the fun, muft wander in their neigh- bours grounds, perhaps more than two miles from home. In their return, often fome lazy fellow, of the intermediate plantation, with the view of faving himfelf the trouble of picking his own grafs, feizes on them, and pretends to infift on carrying them to his mafter, for picking grafs, or being found in his grounds; a crime that forfeits the bundle, and fubjects the offender to twenty lafhes of a long cart whip, of twifted lea- thern thongs. The wretch, rather than be carried to judgment in another man’s plan- tation, is fain to efcape with the lofs of his bundle, and often to put up quietly with a good drubbing from the robber into the bargain. The hour of delivering in his erafs, and renewing his tafk, approaches, while hunger importunately folicits him to remember CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 71 remember its call; but he muft renew the irkfome toil, and fearch out fome green, fhady, unfrequented fpot, from which to repair his lofs. At one, or in fome plantations, at two o'clock, the bell fummons them to deliver in the tale of their grafs, and aflemble to their field work. If the overfeer thinks their bundles:too fmall, or if they come too late with them, they are punifhed with a num- ber of ftripes from four to ten. Some maf- ters, under a fit of carefulnefs for their cattle, have gone as far as fifty ftripes, which effec- tually difable the culprit for weeks. If a flave has no grafs to deliver in, he keeps away out of fear, fkulks about in the mountains, -and is abfent from his work often’ for months ; an aggravation of his crime, which, when he is caught, he is made to remember. About half an hour before fun fet, they may be found fcattered again over the land, like the Ifraelites in. Egypt, to cull, blade by blade, from among the weeds, their f{canty parcels of grafs. About feven o’clock in the evening, or later, according to the feafon of the year, when the overfeer can find leifure, E 4 they yz ON THE TREATMENT AND they are) called; over by lift, to deliver in their fecond bundles of grafs; and the fame punifhment, as at noon, is inflicted on the delinquents. They then feparate, to pick up, in their way to their huts, (if they have not done it, as they generally do, while gathering grafs) alittle brufh wood, or dry cow-dung, to prepare fome fimple mefs for fupper, and to-morrow’s breakfaft. This employs them till near midnight, and then they go to fleep, till the bell calls them in the morning. .. This picking of grafs, as it is fitly called, oftenin a fevere drought, when it is to be found only in the receffes of the mountain, thus thruft in -by the by into the hour of wearinefs and reft, is the greateft hardfhip that a flave endures, and the moft, frequent eaufe of his running away, or abfenting him- felf from-his work ; which not only fubjects him~ to. frequent punifhment, but actually renders‘him unprofitable, worthlefs, and de- ferving of punifhment... He can neither re- freth, or indulge his wearied body. . He ts fubjected by it to injury. He is. placed in the jaws of trefpafs, and unavoidably made obnoxious to oppreffion, and ftripes. And | . yet CoNnvVERSYON OF AFRICAN’SLAVES. 2P. yet afew acres, of land, in proportion to the extent of the plantation; allotted for artifi- cial grafs, anda few weakly flaves feparated from the work, would take away the necef- fity of providing for cattle in this harraffing fcanty manner: This grafs, except fuch part of it as is re- ferved for the {table horfes, procured by fo much toil; and forced out of the flave by fuch: repeated punithment, under pretence of feeding the cattle and mules, is {pread abroad under their feet, on a fermenting inclofed dung heap, called a pen: | There a very confiderable part is loft to every pur- pofe of nourifhment, by being trampled un- der the beafts feet ; where mixing with dung and urine, it ferments, corrupts, and with its fuffocating {teams in that fultry climate, inftead of fupplying them with vigour, fills them with difeafe; as if Providence meant to revenge the oppreffion of the flave, in being forced to drudge thus for it, by in- f{piring the mafter with a fpirit of abfurdity, in his manner of ufing it.* The * This pen is an inclofure, perhaps of fixty by eighty feet, in which, from thirty to fifty cattle and mules are kept and fed, 74 On THE TREATMENT AND The work here mentioned, is confidered as the field duty of flaves, that may be infifted on without reproach tothe manager, of un- ufual feverity, and which the white and black overfeers ftand over them to fee executed ; the tranfgreffion againft which, is quickly followed with the fmart of the cart: whip. This inftrument, in the hands of a fkilful driver, cuts out flakes of fkin and flefh with every ftroke; and the wretch, in this mang- fed. The decayed leaves, and offals of the fugar cane, are from time to time thrown in for litter. Their provender is fpread over it, and being mixed with urine, dung, and rain, becomes afermenting mafs, which is emptied once, and in fome plantations, twice a year. The difeafe generally fatal to mules, feems to be of the nature of a putrid infectious fever, which, ifit does not arrive from, is at leaft heightened by, this abfurd manner of feeding. The cattle being often ftaked out in the fallow grounds, are not fo conftantly expofed to thefe noxious fteams. Thoughaplanter will readily pay 301. fterling fora good mule, ora bull, and though chiefly from this {canty abfurd method of feeding them, he be obliged to renew his expence from year to year; yet will he not allow a few acres for artificial grafs, nor even a ftall, a manger, or a clean fpot, to fave their fmall pit- tance of provender from filth, or to feed them apart from the foul exhalations of a dung heap, in its moft unwholefome ftate. There have been inftances of pens burfting out into a fmoul- dering flame, while the cattle were feeding on them. | led CoNVERSION‘OF AFRICAN:SLAVES. 75 led condition, is» turned:out to work in‘dry or wet weather, which laft,, now and. then; brings on the cramp, and ends his fufferings and flavery together. In crop-time, which may be: when reck- ened altogether on a plantation, from-five to fix months; the cane tops, by fupplying the cattle with: food, gives the flaves fome little relaxation in picking grafs. But fome pre- tendedly induftrious planters, men of much buftle, and no method, will, efpecially in moon-light, keep their people till ten o’clock at night, carrying wowra, the decayed leaves of the cane, to boil off the cane juice. ‘A confiderable number of flaves is kept to at- tend in) turn the mill and _ boiling houfe all night. They fleep over their work ; the fugar is ill tempered, burnt in the boiler, and improperly ftruck ; while the mill every now-and-then grinds off an hand, or anarm, of thofe drowfy worn down creatures that feed it. Still the procefs of making. fugar is carried on in many plantations, for months, without any other interruption, than during fome part of day lighton Sundays. In fome plantations 74 ON THE TREATMENT AND plantations it is the cuftom, during crop- time, to keep the whole gang employed as above, from morning to night, and alter- nately one half throughout the night, to fup- ply the mill with canes, and the boiling houfe with wowra. This labour is more or lefs moderated, in proportion to the method and good fenfe of the manager. In fome plantations the young children and worn out flaves are fet apart to pick grafs, and bring cane tops from the field for the cattle, and do no other work. Sometimes the field gangs bring both their bundles of grafs at once, being allowed for that purpofe a little extra time, during the meridian heat; which faves them an unne-- ceflary repetition of wandering in the even- ing three or four miles to fearch for it, and enables the manager to employ the cool part of the afternoon in the common labour of the plantation. Sometimes they are dif- miffed for grafs before the ufual hour ; or if they be hoe-ploughing land, frequently none is required from them. — In fome plantations, they are not punifhed for coming late into the field, if they appear there about fun-rife. In CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLavus. 77 In moft well-ordered plantations, they leave off grinding and boiling before midnight, and begin not again till about dawn: it having been found, that. the quantity of fugar made in the night, is not, in propor- tion to the time; that it not only fuffers in quality, but alfo lies open to pilferage ; and that, the mules, particularly the moft tractable, and ealily harneffed, are injured by being worked indifcriminately, in the dark, out.of their turn; another yaluable confe- quence, this of their being confufedly huddled together in that inclofed dung-heap, the pen: for the danger. of grinding .off a drowfy negroe’s arm, or harraffing him to death, is a confideration which without thefe other circumftances, would hardly . inter- rupt the grand work of fugar-making. Every plantation contains little {kirts, and portions of broken land, unfit for the cul- tivation of fugar. Thefe are ufually divided among the flaves for the growth ‘of provifions; but where the matter is inattentive, a few of the principal negroes often, feize,.on, and appropriate to themfelves, the poffeffions of the reft, and make the fimpler fort labour for them; and many are fo lazy, that no- thing 78 (On THE TREATMENT ‘AND thing but the whip, and the prefence of the overfeer,; can make them work, even for them- felves. There is fuch a ready market for all , the little articles which thefe {pots produce, that the induftrious flaves of a few, though but a few, plantations fituated near the mountains, where the weather is feafonable and favours the growth of vegetables, main- tain themfelves in clothes and food, tole- rably well, by the fale of their various fruits, with little other immediate aid from their mafter, befides a weekly allowance of her- rings. But, in far the greater number of plantations, the quantity of provifions, or marketable vegetables, is uncertain and trifling; and neceflity and hunger will not permit the wretches, to leave them in the ground to ripen ‘fufficiently. Hence many difeafes and ruined conftitutions, from this fcanty, rude, ill-prepared food, ufed among them. | Formerly, before we became fuch accurate planters, and before luxury had rapaci- oufly converted every little nook of land into fugar, the flaves had a field or two | of the fallow cane-land yearly divided among them, for a crop of yams, peafe, and CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVEs. 79 and potatoes; and a field of the bef cane~ land was annually put ‘in yams, to be re- ferved for their weekly allowance. When our late. North American brethren were pleafed to threaten our {ugar iflands with famine, this cuftom began again to be re- newed, and with fuch fuccefs as might have encouraged them, never, in time to come, to have made themfelves as dependent on North America as formerly for their daily bread. Some matters, now-and-then, give their flaves Saturday afternoon, out of crop-time, - to till their {pots of ground; fometimes will turn in the whole gang among them to weed and put them in order, under the dire&tion of the overfeer. But, in general, the culture of their private patches, and the picking of gra/s for their cattle, are their employments on Sunday. In the low lands thefe pro- vifion {pots are hardly ufeful fix months in twelve, from the ufual drinefs of the wea- ther. Added to the produce of their own provifion lands, and the cafualty of a fallow field, the flaves have a weekly allowance of grain, varying in different plantations, from one to three pounds, under the nominal mea-~ {ure — 80 On THE TREATMENT AND {ure of from two toeight pints. A few plan- tations go near to five pounds; one or two as far as fix. They have alfo from three to eight herrings a week. In general, they are far from being well or plentifully fed.* They * The practice of turning all our lands to the growth of the fugar cane, and neglecting the culture of provifions for the flaves, and of artificial grafs for the cattle, has lately arifen equally from the demands of extravagance in our abfent planters, and of poverty in thofe on the fpot. Sugar, fugar, is the inceflant cry of luxury, and of debt. ‘To increafe the quantity of this commodity, gardens of half an acre have been grubbed up; and that little patch, which he had ufed to till for his own peafe, or caflava, has the flave been made to dig for the reception of his mafter’s fugar cane. Nor. has the little fkirt of pafture, or half rood of artificial grafs, been more {pared in this univerfal facrifice to would-be greatnefs ; while the poor flave muft attempt to make up for this, and every other want but his own, by exertions taken from the hour of wearinefs and hunger. Hence the annual expence of plantations, within lefs than thirty years, has been more than doubled. Hence the fending of two or three extra cafks of fugar to market has been attended with an expence of hundreds of pounds in provifions to flaves, in oats to horfes, and in keeping up the ftock of flaves and cattle, worn out, before their time, by indifcreet extraordinary efforts, and a fcanty allowance. The peculiar fertility of St. Chriftopher’s has the moft baneful effects. It enables the greateft part of its proprietors to live in England; where, infenfible of the fuf- ferings of their flaves, they think and dream of nothing but fagar, fugar; to which, in confequence, every {pot of land | as condemned. Hence grafs is procured there with more dif- ficulty, CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 9¢ They have an yearly allowance of two or three yards of coarfe woollen cloth, called bamboo, to which fometimes is added for the men a woollen cap, for the women a hand- kerchief, and perhaps a few yards of Ofna- burghs, At Chriftmas three holidays are pretended to be given them; ‘but’ genéfally Sunday is foifted in for one, and now- and-then half of Chriftmas-day mutt. be employed by them in digging yams for their allowance, and in receiving it afterwards, with a pound or two of falt-fith, or a {crap of coarfe Irifh beef. In Jamaica they have alfo two holidays at Eafter, and two at Whitfuntide. Their huts are framed of ifland timber, cut by each man for himfelf in the moun: tains, and carried down by him and his wife on Sundays. Sometimes the owner will fupply a board or two to make a door or window fhutter, but, in general, fuch mate- rials are ftolen; nails and hinges are either {tolen or bought from thofe who have’ ftolen them. ‘This often happens on a plantation ficulty, and the flaves are more feantily fed, than in the other iflands; and the managers are obliged to keep them up* to their utmoft poflible exertion to preferve their employment, F where — 82 On THE TREATMENT AND where perhaps a thoufand pounds fterling have been expended ona ftable for a fet of Englifh horfes. Indeed Englifh horfes are the leaft neceflary, yet beft attended, beft ferved, beft lodged, and moft expenfively kept, animals poffeffed by a fugar planter. Negroes bred to mechanic employments, to fugar boiling, and the like, and fome domeftic flaves, fare much better than thofe who work in the field. ‘They have opportu- nities of retaliating on their mafter for his penurious treatment of them, by purloining from him; and they often fupply themfelves with neceffaries by little ufeful jobs in their feveral trades.. Slaves in the neighbourhood of the towns drive alfo a confiderable trade with the inhabitants for grafs and cane tops for feeding their horfes. A furgeon is generally employed by the year to attend the fick flaves. His allowance per head varies from fourteen pence to three fhillings; in a few inftances it rifes to three fhillings and fix pence fterling, befides being paid for amputations. Some frugal planters truft to their own fkill, and James’s powder, and Ward’s pill; and, then, for the moft part, a furgeon is only called in to pronounce them pat CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN Staves. 83 paft recovery. The food of the fick is often mutty, indigeftible. horfe beans, fometimes maize, flour, or rice; fometimes, asa dainty, brown bifcuit. On fome plantations, the manager is allowed to get, now-and-then, a fowl, or a kid to make foup for them. Sometimes the owner fends the manager a cafk of wine, a few glafles of which are {uppofed to be for the ufe of the fick. Where the manager is a married man, the Gck often have a mefs from his table, and caudle, _ tea, and other comfortable flops; and his wife fuperintends the condu@ of the nurfe, and fees that the pregnant and lying-in women be properly taken care of. But the cuftom of employing married men on plan- tations is wearing faft out. Though married managers alone can take proper care of the fick, though they ftay more conftantly at home, and have numberlefs other advanta- ges over fingle men, in point of charaCer, faithfulnefs, and application; yet planters have determined it to be better to employ perhaps a diffipated, carelefs, unfeeling young man, or a grovelling, lafcivious, old batche- lor (each with his half fcore of black or mulattoe pilfering harlots, who, at their F 2 will, 84 On THE TREATMENT AND will, fele& for him, from among the flaves, the objects of his favour or hatred) rather than allow a married woman to be entertained on the plantation.* In * The pretence of this encouragement given to profligacy, is, that a family requires more attendants, and confumes more fugar than a fingle man; but the contrary is the fact ina very high degree; and there is not in the fingle man the attention, and perfevering care of a fenfible woman, (fuch, in an highly ufeful degree, is almoft every manager’s wife whom I know) in things within her province, which, even, were the affertion true, would more than balance the account. I mean not to comprehend every fingle man in the full ex- tent of this cenfure. Some fhew the wretches under them every mark of attention that their own folitary ftate leaves in their power. But all muft pafs through the hands of fome in- confiderate boy overfeer, or fome unfeeling black or mu- lattoe concubine. And where the fingle man is a gadding, goffipping reveller, (a character fometimes to be met with) in- conceivable are the miferies to which the flaves are fubjeCted. The neceflaries, where any are allotted for the fick, (and heaven knows, on the beft plantations, they are trivial enough!) are devoured as'a morfel, by that legion of harlots and their children, with which the plantation abounds. Often, while the manager is feafting abroad, carelefs and ignorant of what has happened, fome haplefs wretch among the flaves is taken ill, and unnoticed, unpitied, dies, without even the poor com- fort of a furgeon, in his laft moments, to fay, <‘ It is now too «* jate.”? When the unripe female flave has become the new object of the manager’s attachment, fhe bécome’ an object of envy tothe more experienced dames that have gone before her, and muft think herfelf lucky, if fhe pays not with her life the forfeit CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 8s In the year 1774, or before the American war, the feveral articles that a flave had an- nually returned to him out of his labour, were, in too many plantations, within the following proportion. In others, his allow- ance of food confiderably exceeded what is here mentioned: Annual allowance of rice, nn te sible maize, beans, or other grain, Ditto of herrings, and his fith, fo Bi wie {crap of falt beef, at Chriftmas, Ditto CLOGS oe ples Le ae a oes 9576 Surgeon, quack medicines, and ex- ; é i traordinary neceffaries when fick, Whole annual allowance - 1 6 0 The ordinary punifhments of flaves, for the common crimes of neglect, abfence from work, eating the fugar cane, theft, are cart whipping, beating with a ftick, fometimes to the breaking of bones, the chain, an iron crook about the neck, a large iron pud- forfeit of her youthful attraGions. In fhort, in the cafe fup- pofed, fhamelefs profligacy ufurps the place of decency, fympathy, morality, and religion; and headlong unthinking luft alone produces all the waiting effets of difhonefty, cruelty, and oppreffion. EF 3 ding 86 On THE TREATMENT AND ding or ring about the ancle, and confinement in the dungeon. There have been inftances of flitting of ears, breaking of limbs, fo as to make amputation neceflary, beating out of eyes, and caftration ; but they feldom happen, efpecially of late years, and though they bring no lafting difgrace on the perpetrator, have, for fome time paft, been generally mentioned with indignation. It is yet true, that the unfeeling application of the ordinary punifhments ruins the conftitution, and fhortens the life of many a poor wretch.* To avoid any mifconftruction, I muft here obferve, that the labour, the diet, the punifh- ments, in fhort, the general treatment of flaves, depend on the charater of the owner * In acertain colony, no lefs than two chief judges, within thefe thirty years, have been celebrated for cutting off or mafhing (fo as to make amputation neceflary) the limbs of their flaves. In one cafe a furgeon was called in to operate ; but he anfwered, he was not obliged to be the inftrument of another man’s cruelty. His honour had it then performed by a cooper’s adze, ‘and the wretch was left to bleedto death, without attention, or drefling. When he became convulfed, in the agonies of death, the furgeon was again haftily fent for, and’ came in time to pronounce him dead. People ftared at the recital, but made no enquiry for blood. In the other cafe the limb was mafhed with a fledge hammer, and then it was am- putated by a furgeon, and the maimed wretch lived fome years. OF CoNnvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 87 or manager; and that in fome particular plan- tations (the grievance of picking grafs, and the circumftance of their being fo long as fixteen hours out of the twenty-four under the lath of the whip, excepted) they enjoy as much eafe and indulgence as are. com- patible with their prefent ftate of ignorance and dependence, and the accurate methodi- cal cultivation of a fugar plantation. But this cafe and this indulgence, though due from all mafters to all flaves, are not deemed matter of right, but of kindnefs or favour; and too many are fet over them, who want both humanity and difcretion to fee either the obligation or advantage of fuch treat- ment; too many who are too lazy to confult any principle but prefent caprice in their con- duct towards them. I have heard managers boaft of not having ordered twelve ftripes in twelve months among 120 flaves. There are alfo managers who may boaft, and there have been fome who have boafted, of having given, every now-and-then, what they call a cool hundred for the flighteft offences. Yet, were this laft even a folitary chara¢ter, in a community, he ought to be an object of ae police, 88 On THE TREATMENT AND police, and be compelled to revere the claims of human nature. We cannot pafs over in filence the ufual treatment of pregnant women and nurfes. In almoft every plantation they are fond of placing every negroe who can wield an hoe in the field gang; fo fond, that hardly any remonftrance from the furgeon can, in many cafes, fave a poor difeafed wretch from the labour; though, if method prevailed, work may be found on the plantation equally ne- ceflary and [proportioned to every various degree of ability; and though one’ or two days attempts inthe field be fure to lay them up in the hofpital for weeks. At this work are pregnant women often kept during the laft months of their preg- nancy, and hence fuffer many an abortion; which fome managers are unfeeling enough to exprefs their joy at, becaufe the woman, on recovery, having no child to‘care for, will have no pretence for indulgence. If, after all, fhe carries her burden the full time, the muft be delivered ina dark, damp, fmoky hut, perhaps without a rag in. which: to wrap her child, except the | manager ConVERSION oF AFRICAN SrAveEs. 8g manager has a wife to fympathize with her wants. Hence the frequent lofs of negroe children by cramp and convulfions within the month. A lying-in woman is allowed three, in fome plantations four weeks for recovery. She then takes the field with her child, and hoe or bill. The infant is placed in the furrow, near her, generally expofed naked, or almoft naked, to the fun and rain, on akid{fkin, or fuch rags as fhe can procure. Some very few people give nurfes an extra allowance. In general, no other attention is paid to their condition, except perhaps to excufe them from the picking of grafs. Though flaves be now raifed toa price that few old fettled plantations can afford to give, yet, this is all the care taken in moft of them to raife a young generation; while Creoles or native Weft Indian negroes are univerfally ac- knowledged to be more hardy, diligent, and trufty than Africans. Managers, to whofe care plantations are left, hold their places, as we have obferved, by fo precarious a tenure, that they too often confine their views to the making of the greateft prefent exertion that is poflible, (which, indeed, ‘their’ em- ployers: prefs them to do) without looking forward go Of THe TREATMENT AND forward to what may happen fifteen years hence.* § B.Gie. * Under the inipreflion of this negligence, let me propofe the remedy. Let two rooms be added to the hofpital, one for the reception of lying-in women, the other for the fucking children, while their mothers are at work. The whole fhould be placed fo as to be convenient for the in{fpection of the manager’s wife, whom we efteem to be as neceflary a perfon on a plantation as the manager himfelf; and who, on moft plantations, may have fufficient employment in taking care of the keys in her hufband’s abfence on bufinefs, or at courts, (many overfeers not being truft-worthy) to fee the fickly negroes ' fed, the infants properly taken care of, and the nurfe do her duty in the hofpital. For thefe and the like offices, in St. Croix, it is ufual to give her a falary, diftin& from her hufband. Let two elderly handy women be chofen to attend the children, keep them clean, and feed them with {fpoon-meat. For the firft fix months, nurfes jhould be kept at moderate labour, near the hofpital, to be at hand to fuckle their children, from time to time. After that period, they may go through the ordinary work of the plantation, except the picking of grafs. ‘They fhould have an extraordinary allowance of food both in quan- tity and quality. Every healthy child, prefented to the mafter weaned, fhould intitle the mother toa complete fuit of clothes, Every woman, that has three children at work in the field, fhould be excufed all field work. We have feveral plantations, where by care, and mild treatment, and a judicious, or cafually juft proportion between the fexes at firft, the flaves increafe from the births; and this might be the cafe in all, if the dictates of prudence and humanity were obeyed. To give an inftance in point: there are two plantations, bordering on each other, of nearly the fame extent. About twenty years ago they were nearly equally ftocked CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 91 Set cra Orn Balbo 8 ' Mafter and Slave in particular Inftances. It has been obferved, that there is no law in the colonies to reftrain the ill-behaviour or cruelty of a mafter to his flave. It is not meant to be infinuated from this, that the want of laws to fecure good treatment to them expofeth them to all the ill ufage, that may be fuppofed naturally to arife from fuch negle&. The humanity of many mafters more than fupplies the want of laws in every other refpect, but that of improvement; the attachment of others has in them a like effect... In fome cafes, good fenfe, a regard for their reputation, and a well a ee ftocked with flaves: on the one the allowance has been more plentiful, and the managers have been more confiderate than on the other. Here the flaves are ftrong, hearty, and increafed from the births. The other manager boaits of his pinching and faving: and that plantation requires an -almoft: annual fupply of eight or ten negroes to keep up the ftock. » And, till lately, that he, through lazinefs, and: abfolute negiect of his employers intereft, as he underftood it, has relaxed in _ his difcipline, the flaves were a ftarving) heartlefs crew: Indeed, at this time, none were left but fuch whofe natural ftrength of conftitution ftood proof againit excefs of labour, {everity of punifhment, and the laft tolerable degree of famine. convic- g2 On THE TREATMENT AND conviction of their intereft, induce men to treat their flaves with difcretion and hu- manity. The flaves of many a planter poffefs advantages beyond what the labourer even in Britain enjoys. Itis true the flave cannot hope, as the other may, to raife himfelf, or his children above their prefent condition; or by his induftry to put himfelf or them on a footing with his mafter; a {pur to exertion and emulation that muft ever diftinguifh and ennoble freedom: yet his work, all but that vile picking of grafs, which in St. Chrif- topher’s is an intolerable burden, is in gene- tal eafier; his life paffes more happily on, and he entertains no anxious thoughts about his expences when fick, or his maintenance when old. Slaves chiefly fuffer, where they are the property of an ignorant, low-minded, natrow-hearted wretch, or of one indigent and involved, or of a man who makes a figure beyond his income in England, or when they are fubmitted to fome raw lad, or untaught unfeeling manager or overfeer. And men in fuch circumftances, and of fuch difpofitions, are to be found in too great a proportion in every community, to have abandoned to their ignorance, their cruelty, preju- ConvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAvEs. 93 prejudice, parfimony, or felfifhnefs, fo many thoufands of their fellow-creatures as are really fubjected to them in our colonies. I have now in contemplation before me, a planter, who conceives himfelf to be a confcientious man. This man fells every year fugar and rum to the amount of 10,0001. or 15,000]. fterling, befides duties and freight; the produce of his flaves labour, in number above 500. Though his lands have no par- ticular advantages of provifion grounds above his neighbours, and though he never was remarkable for allowing them any extraor- dinary time to work fuch ground, if it had been allotted to them, nay, is notorious for keeping them drawling on at work under the eye of his drivers Ae overfeers, from eare lieft dawn to midnight, from month to month, without re{pite or relaxation; yet it is only of late years, that he has afforded them any thing above fix herrings a week, and thofe not very regularly eae. His manager, indeed, ufed to fteal, now-and- then, from his horfés, a buthel or two of beans to divide among the moft emaciated flaves; but it was not. the cuftom of the plantation to ‘give them any allowance of food. 94 On THE TREATMENT AND food. Some years ago, his attornies took the opportunity of his making a voyage to England, to give his flaves an allowance of grain, which has fince been continued, and has gradually been raifed from a fcanty pound per week to nearly the common allowance of fix nominal pints, that may weigh about two pounds and an half. Indeed, fuch was this man’s original prejudice againft feeding his negroes, and fo unable were they, with- out feeding, to exift in a ftate capable of labour, that greatly to the leffening of his income, it was his cuftom to keep on making fugar, almoft throughout the whole year, in a lifelefs, ina€tive manner, in order that his flaves might have fome fubfiftence from the cane juice. Before the period of which we fpeak, flaves had much more provifion ground allotted to them, and, being leis hurried by the overfeers, were better able to cultivate. When luxury came in, like a torrent, among the planters, and feized with violence on the flaves little fpots, and de- manded the whole of their time, not leaving even to fleep its due, the neceflity of pro- viding other food for them from foreign parts was but flowly perceived, and thoufands had 6a Se eae eee . = a Sart pcos CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. Qs had perifhed before the lofs was traced to its proper caufe; and this man, of whom we write, was one of the laft who was con- vinced that his flaves mutt be fed, if work was to be expected from them. Now can it be affirmed, that fuch a perfon would not have reaped an advantage from a law that fhould have direGted him how to feed his flaves, or that flaves belonging to fuch a man would not have been happier in themfelves, more profitable to their owner, and better and more ufeful members of the ftate, if they could have claimed the benefit of a Jaw, I will not fay to vindicate for them the common rights of humanity, but to fecure to them the full exertion of their anima] pow- ers. And may we not add, that men fo ufeful to fociety in their mifmanaged ftate, and capable of being rendered infinitely more profitable, have demands on fociety for much better entertainment than a bit of falted herring, or a little raw cane juice? And yet, had fuch planters as we have been {peaking of the fenfe to difcern if, wifdom would teach them a more liberal plan of policy, and make the diGates of humanity, or even of prudence alone, ftand in ftead of a thoufand laws. A gen- tleman, On THE TREATMENT AND 96 tleman, who lately died here, gave his flaves nearly double the proportion of food that is given by many, who value themfelves on feeding them very high; and he frequently faid, that could he afford it, he would in- creafe their allowance ftill further. He par- celled out to them a larger proportion of his ufeful ground than moft of his neighbours, for the cultivation of their roots and vege- tables, and it lay more convenient for tillage. His flaves had all fome little property, a hog, a goat, a trifle of money made by the fale of the produce of their little gardens, or of their weekly allowance of food; and they were all able to keep themfelves decently clothed. He enlarged the gang to fuch a number, as not to be under the neceflity of working them beyond their ftrength, or at unfeafonable hours. In wet weather, he contrived to em- ploy them near the works for the benefit of fhelter; and they all had comfortable huts to receive them after the labour of the day. He allowed them to exchange their provi- fions for money, or any other fpecies of food more agreeable to them, and it was to en- able them to indulge their tafte for variety, that he withed to increafe an allowance, other- wife CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 97 ‘wife fufficient for them. He feemed to have hit the medium between governing too much and too little: his people were always ready at command; but they had the full power of themfelves and their time, when the plan- tation work did not employ them. When he left off the purchafing of new flaves, he pofleffed about one hundred and fixty. In four years they were increafed from the births to one hundred and eighty. In eight years he had loft by old age and chronic complaints about tex, and afew more by the natural fmall-pox, who, when the others were inoculated, were paffed over, on the fuppofition of their having formerly had the difeafe. Some few infants were, I believe, alfo loft within the month; and the propor- tion of breeding women was fmall. The above is not the common proportion of deaths in any place. It is not an unufual thing on the fame ifland to lofe zz one year out of fuch a number, fen, twelve, nay, as far as twenty, by fevers, fluxes, dropfies, the effe@ of too much work, and too little food and care. In fome plantations of the like extent, it is neceflary to keep up the gang by an almott annual addition of eight or ten new flaves. G His 98 . On THE TREATMENT AND His whole expence for phyfic, during the three laft years of this period, was within half of the annual allowance ufually paid for fuch a number. Now, if we take into ac- count the labour loft by the ficknefs of thofe numbers that muft be taken ill, where many die, the expence of recruits, and the puny, weakly, inefficient ftate of the whole, where fo much is fuffered from inattention, the difference in point of intereft between dif- ereet and hard ufage is great in favour of humanity. Farther, in plantations, where flaves are ill fed, hard worked, and feverely punithed, it is a circumftance common for a tenth, and even as far as a fourth part of the working flaves, to go off and fkulk in the mountains, fome for months together. The culture of the plantation is interrupted by the lofs of their tabour, while they, by lying out in the woods, and learning there to eat dirt or clay, often contract diforders, of which they never re- cover. This gentleman, in the laft eight years of his life, had only one flavewho abfented himfelf two days, on having had fome words with the overfeer, for having debauched one of his wives. Thefe particulars taken toge- ther, FR OT. RG Oe a CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 99 ther, are not defpicable advantages of fellow- feeling and humanity; and if the like care was extended to the improvement of their minds, they, who were fo well cared for in what refpects the body, might in time be brought to pay fome attention to what con- cerns the foul. It is pleafant to record fuch an inftance, and, did I not fear to awaken detraction, I would, in order to humble European pride, celebrate him by name, as a Creole of at leaft four defcents, the friend of the author, and a man of more confiderable humanity in private, and more comprehenfive generofity in public life, than (except in one or two cafes more) has ever come within my notice. But this gentleman had chiefly in view the eafe and happinefs of his own flaves: per- haps an example, where profit is the object, may be more convincing. A young man has the care of a confiderable plantation in the neighbourhood: his character depends on its thriving condition, and the profitable re- turns made to the abfent owner. The flaves, when he took charge of them, were a puny weakly gang, and fewer in number than in other plantations of the fame extent. The G 2 planta- 100 ON THE TREATMENT AND plantation is particularly laborious, yet the work is more forward, and better finifhed, the flaves more healthy, the deaths fewer, the crops greater, the rum in an higher propor- tion, and the fugar better and higher priced, than in the plantations around it. This is the fecret of his management. He is a flave to method. If once he hath taken public notice of a trefpafs againft the efta- blithed difcipline, he never pardons, except when, in a particular cafe, he obliges the culprit to find fome reputable fellow-flave, to become fecurity with him for his good be- haviour. He attends carefully to his own duty, and therefore few under him dare to be negligent; fo that he feldom has occafion to correct, The trial of all trefpaffes, and dif- penfation of punifhments, are held in pre- fence of the gang. The féntence is accom- panied with a public explanation of the fault, and an exhortation to avoid it; and often the contempt and reproach of the culprit’s fellows make the fevereft part of the correction. If the whole gang has behaved remarkably well, throughout the week, he diftributes fome little reward among them, or, if the work permits, gives them Saturday afternoon to them- SE nS OF irae, A St en ot OS oe ee CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. IOI themfelves. Ifa flave has been remarkably diligent, he gets fome money, a bit of beef, or other trifle on Sunday. Sometimes he affects to difcover remarkable diligence in a lazy flave, and rewards it as if real, and thus encourages him to exert himfelf, and excites thofe who defpifed him, ftill more to out-do him. If two or three behave re- markably ill, the ufual indulgence or re~ ward is with-held from the gang. This makes them become guardians of each other’s conduét, and fear the fcorn and refentment of their companions, more than their mafter’s power. He embraces every occafion to harangue them on their duty, and on the. advantage of obedience, and good behaviour; and this cuftom has infenfibly introduced among them the feeds of fentiment, and moral diftinction. Their allowance of food is double to that of plantations where they pretend to give the fame number of pints of grain. When they hole, or hand plough, the land, they have an extraordinary allow- ance of food, and are indulged with rum and water to drink. The fick, and their nurfe, are put under his wife’s dire€tion, and any remarkably puny negro is employed about the houfe and kitchen. G 3 C lraT: Ci aa oA PS it. The Advancement of Staves would aug- ment their Social Importance. N the preceding chapter, we have con- trafted flavery, as it. has been varioutly enforced among different nations, over the unfortunate, with thofe ranks, into which fociety naturally, and profitably, feparates its members. In this laft ftate, we obferve a rule originating in our conftitution, by our Creator’s will, that leads on each individual from his own fecurity and happinefs, to form the happinefs and fecurity of the com- munity to which he belongs. In the other, the capricious will of individuals is the only law of their dependents, and, without once confulting their welfare, concludes all their feelings, and all their deareft interefts. And all mafters, in proportion as they them felves CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 303 felves are free, are, for their mutual profit, confpired together to rivet, and extend the chains of flavery, as far as their power ex- tends. , This unnatural ftate of mankind has, more or lefs, departed from the dictates of humanity, in proportion as the difpofition of mafters, and the views of legiflators, have overlooked or confidered the general rights of mankind. The cuftoms and manners of different nations have, in fome inftances, foftened the lot of miferable flaves ; in others have encouraged the head-long cruelty of mafters. But in the Britifh plantations, the infolence arifing from the keen fenfe of our own freedom, (and yet why fhould not a keener fympathy with fuffering humanity operate on our feelings) and the inceffant demands of luxury, and extravagance, that make themfelves to be heard, and obeyed from the capital a-crofs the vaft atlantic, have there funk human nature down to the lowett depth of wretchednefs. Hunger, miftruft, oppreffion, ignorance, produce in the flaves worthleffnefs, and crimes; and the avarice and cruelty, that contrived the faults, . exact punifhment for them with as much ef- G4 frontery, 104 ON THE TREATMENT AND frontery, as if they who made them ({laves, and thereby deprived them of every virtu- ous feeling, and every {pur to emulation, were not anfwerable in their own perfons for the bafe effects. Do we with to form adequate notions of their mifery? Let us imagine (and would heaven it were only imagination !) mafters and overfeers, with up- lifted whips, clanking chains, and preffing hunger, forcing their forlorn flaves to com- mit every horrid crime that virtue fhrinks at, and with the fame weapons punifhing the perpetration, not to the extremity indeed that nature can bear, but till the whole man finks under them. But to make the reprefenta- tion complete, we muft alfo draw humanity, bleeding over the horrid fcene, and longing, eagerly longing, to be able to vindicate her own rights. Still, whatever fhe may urge, it will have little weight, if avarice or lux- ury oppofe her claim. We are exceeding- ly ready, it is the turn of the age, to ex- prefs ourfelves forrowfully, when any act of oppreffion, or unjuft fuffering, is related before us; the generous fentiment flows glibly off our tongues, charity feems to dictate CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 105 dictate every fympathizing phrafe, and vanity comes cheerfully forward to make her offer= ing. But whom fhall we find willing to facrifice his amufement or his pleafure, to obey the call of humanity? Who to relieve the fufferings of the wretched flave, will boldly encounter the oppreffor’s rage, or offer up felfifh intereft at the altar of mercy? Why, then, hath the ative zeal of the be- nevolent Mr. Granville Sharp, and a few others, in the bufinefs that we now agitate, hitherto made the unfeeling indifference of our age, and nation, but the more confpicu- ous? We muft not therefore ftop at gaining over humanity to our fide, but go on to fhew, that fociety is deeply interefted in advancing the condition of flaves, and that it would even be for the benefit of their im- mediate mafters, that they fhould be fubject only to the laws. As the cravings of lux- ury and extravagance have of late begun to make inroads, even on the flave’s partial refpite from toil on the fabbath; we will, in the mean time fhew, till this much-to- be defired freedom can be brought gradually about, 106 On THE TREATMENT AND about, how much the mafter fins, not only againft heaven, but his own immediate inte- reft, when he forces his flave to toil for him on this facred day. And fo low is their ftate, that we fhall not intirely lofe the purpofe of this undertaking, if we vindicate for them only their legal claim to this indulgence. To make the reader the better acquainted with the fubject of our inquiry, we will premife a fhort account of the prefent importance of the flaves in our fugar colonies. And we hope to leave felfifhnefs, and private intereft, without excufe, for continuing the heavy yoke which now opprefles them. Spee Toys. Their prefent importance to Society as flaves, In treating of this fubje&t, the author finds a difficulty in fuppreffing his feelings. How fhall a man, who is firmly convinced that religion, and law, muft go hand in hand, and extend their influence over every individual, in order to fecure the full pur- pofes CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 107 pofes of fociety, pafs over, without cenfure, a conduct both in governors and people, which, ref{pecting our colonies, is wholly re- gardlefs of thefe important points; even a- mong thofe, who have always been acknow- ledged as citizens? All civilized ftates, hitherto, have had an eftablifhed religion. An eftablifhed religion has a ftrong influ- ence on every mode that is tolerated, though not eftablifhed. The church of England, particularly, is confidered by all fober peo- ple, as the great ftay of the conftitution ; and it is a faét, that the enemies of the one always aim their attacks at the other, But in the places of which I write, with hard- ly one exception, neither is law animated by religion, nor is religion fupported by law. Even common opinion has no check to oppofe to the moft {candalous crimes, nor does it operate to reftrain the moft indecent enormities.* This * In this picture, I mean not a general charge of depravity, but of careleffnefs and indolence, that fix neither punifhment nor difgrace on the greateft irregularities. When it is con- fidered, that neither religion nor common opinion have any check in thefe iflands on perfonal behaviour, it is not fo forprizing 108 On THE TREATMENT AND _ This obfervation of the neglect of all ap- pearance of religion in the colonies is truly difcouraging, and leads directly to this juft and mournful conclufion concerning flaves: ‘‘ That the government which pays ‘* no attention to the moral and religious ** conduct of its liege fubjects, can be ** expected to do but little for the im- “* provement of flaves.’’ In thefe we be- hold a wretched race of mortals, who are confidered as mere machines or inftru- furprizing that many heinous crimes fhould fhew themfelves, as that they fhould continue to be confined to the fmaller number in a country, where law attends to nothing but the fecurity of a man’s property. It is indeed true of the inhabitants, that though fome indivi- duals may, and actually do, commit the moft fagrant offences, not without punifhment only, but even without blushing, yet they are in general much better than their rulers. Within thefe five years, the grand jury of a certain colony ftrove in vain to bring the complicated crime of murder and inceft toatrial. The whole bench of juftices, and king’s council, without even fup- pofing the man innocent, united to oppofe the attempt, and protec the culprit, and were able to do it effectually. Barbadoes is almoft the only colony, where any tolerable degree of decency is preferved, refpeéting an eftablithed reli- gion; and though there be many and grievous defeéts in its conftitution and government, yet this circumftance gives it confiderable advantages in point of decency and civilization above the others, efpecially the new iflands. ments CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 109 ments of our profit, of our luxury, of our caprice, without feelings, without rights, without profpects :—Defpifed beings, who have found no. friend, helper, or pro- tector ; who have not influence with a legi- flature, that from year to year is employed in making aéts in favour of horned cattle, and afcertaining the rights of partridges and dogs, to get a ftatute paffed, (I will not fay for their benefit as reafonable creatures, but) for their feelings and utility as mere ani- mals, or inftruments of labour; ~ who cannot procure an edié& to prevent the leatt particle of the unalienable rights of human nature from being wrefted out of their pofleflion, by the ignorance, prejudice, cru- elty, revenge, and felfithnefs of untaught, inconfiderate men, their mafters and their overfeers. And this neglect they meet with from a legiflature, whofe chief confti- tutional purpofe of affembling, is to dif- pofe of their conftituents money, and which, from a very natural inquiry, might have known, that while the flaves in our fugar colonies, exceeded not the fortieth part of the inhabitants of the empire, at the break- ing out of the late war, they contributed, in r10 ON THE TREATMENT AND in that neglected flate, perhaps nearly a fixth part of its then revenue: a proportion which might be confiderably increafed, if the condition of the miferable wretches them- felves were a little improved. As this is a bold affertion, it will be ne- ceflary to fhew, on what data I proceed, in the difcuffion of a fubject, in which exactnefs cannot be expected. JI had made my calcu- lations before America was declared inde- pendent, Ireland made a feparate ftate, and Tobago, with all its improvements, given up to France; and it is a fubject of too much chagrin, to adapt them now to our new condition. The fugar colonies produce fugar, rum, coffee, cocoa, cotton, ginger, pimento, indigo, i itants of England and apie ane aint ae } ee eae! Scotland 1,500,000 Ireland 2,500,000 11,500,009 Britrisu Isres, &e. North America Freemen 2,600,000 - Slaves 4.00 ,000—3 ,000, 000 Sugar Colonies Freemen 82,000 - Slaves 418,000—— 500,000 Colonies $500,000 Empire 15,000,000 tobacco, CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVBS. £15 tobacco, aloes, mahogany, fweetmeats, &c. Thefe valued all as cafks of raw fugar, each of 12001b. at the King’s beam, London, may be eftimated in moderately produdtive years, as below. To complete the view, the inhabitants are added. Iflands Free Inhabitants Slaves Staple redu- ced to cafks of Sugar “Barbadoes 20,000 80,000 24,000 Tobago 1,000 8,000 6,000 Grenada and Grenadillas 7,000 30,000 36,000 St. Vincent’s 4,000 15,000 10,000 Dominica 45,000 15,000 10,000 Antigua 6,000 36,000 20,000 Montferrat 2,000 9,000 ° -6,000 Nevis ‘ 2,000 10,000 8,000 St. Chriftopher 3,000 27,000 20,000 Sa Nine and its i 3,006 14,000 10,000 Jamaica & its Dependencies 30,000 174,000 100,000 D8 ae Total 82,000 418,000 250,000 The fugar baker in Britain pays for fugar, the chief article, from £24 to £30 per cafk. Hence the value of the ftaple is feldom below £6,000,000 per annum. The flaves efti- mated at {50 each will exceed the fum of £20,000,000; The lands, buildings, and other ¥12 On THE TREATMENT AND other ftock, may be fet down at twice this fum, or £40,000,000. We have then the Weft-Indian ftock, exceeding {60,000,000 and giving a yearly produce of £6,000,000 About £f,000,000 of this laft comes into the exchequer, for duties on fugar, rum, &c. And there cannot be lefs than £800,000 raifed on the trade of the iflands, and on the planters, who refide, and fpend their fortunes in England. The freight, agency, light- houfe money, ftorage, infurance, and other incidental charges, are a full million more of gain to Britain. And as the whole is put in motion, and draws its worth from the labour of flaves, it clearly proves their prefent im- portance, and their claim to national at- tention. Indeed, the whole balance of their annual produce may be fuppofed as remaining with Britain. For there is not referved in the colonies, a part fufficient to make the -ne- ceflary improvements, in many cafes, not even to keep up the ftock. And even what is {pent in the iflands, is laid out in the purchafe of Britifh or American com- modities; but much the largeft fhareis kept in CoNVERSION or AFRICAN SLaves, 113 in Britain, to be fpent, or to pay the intereft of fiveor fix millions of money due there, In fhort, they may be confidered as manu- facturies eftablithed in convenient diftant places, that draw all their utenfils from, and fend all their produce to, the mother coun- try. I have fuppofed the medium produce to be £6,000,c00, as the prime coft in Britain; but after paffing through the hands of the manufacturer, it muft coft the confamer full £38,000,000. Be Cee ae Their prefent importance to Society would be increafed by Freedom. From this view of the importance of our flaves, in their prefent ftate, (for they alone ftamp a value on Weft-Indian property) it will clearly follow, that to improve and advance their condition in focial, -to encourage and inftruG them in moral life, would be as po- litically profitable, as it is religious and humane. Were their condition advanced, they would become more worthy, more va- ae | luable 114 ON THE TREATMENT AND luable fubje@s. They would produce much more by their labour, and agreeably to that great purpofe of modern ‘police, financeering, by the confumption of ‘more manufactures, they would increafe the public revenue-* Inftead of confining their demands, as ‘at prefent, to a few coarfe woollens and--Of- naburgs, to a little grain, a few herrings, and falt-fith, they would open a new traffic in every branch of trade, and while .they improved our commerce, they would add to the ftrength and fecurity of the colonies. The few, who byaccident, orindulgence, have been advanced in focial life, make even now a confiderable addition to the internal con fumption of the white inhabitants. And how’ much to be preferred, a numerous free peafantry is to a few over-grown fa- * A French author fneers at Boyle, for propofing to. propa- gate Chriftianity among favages, with a view to make them wear clothes, and thereby increafe the demand for Eng- lifh manufactures. Perhaps he aimed to catch men, by the bait of intereft, who were dead to fentiments of religion; and humanity. Still the obfervation fhews, how much a progrefs in religion draws after it focial advantages, and civilization, ef which the Moravian miffions in Greenland are a moit “Conviacing proof, milies, CoNVERSION or AFRICAN SLayus. 115 milies, and their herds of naked, half ftarved flaves, is, too evident to need explanation, There are about 30,000 inhabitants in St. Chriftopher’s, of which not more than one in tenis free. They are in dread of infurreti- ons, in time.of peace, and in time of war are expofed to every fort of depredation ; every pitiful. privateer, while hovering around, alarming. the coaft, and endangering their fafety. For at thefe times the flaves, far from adding to their {trength, weaken and dimi- nifh it. But if all thé inhabitants were free, and had property and families. to fight for, what fhould they have to fear, who could draw out full 8000 hardy men, habituated to the climate, and, within five hours, have them ranged in order againft any enemy that might affail them. That fugar may be made by white labour- ers, appeared in the firft fettlement of our iflands, efpecially Barbadoes. In the mot flourifhing ftate of that Ifland, the fugar- cane was chiefly cultivated by white: fer- vants. ‘It has fenfibly and gradually decayed in trade and importance, fince the majority of its inhabitants has been changed. from freé*men to flaves. The ftock of the planter H 2 has 116 On THE TREATMENT AND has indeed been increafed with the number, and the price of his flaves ; but his neat produce has not kept pace with it. Even after this ifland had been fome time on the decline, one plantation (ze Bell) fitted out a company of foldiers for the expedition formed in 1691, under Codrington, againft Guadaloupe. If there be now on the fame fpot, four white men, including the pro- prietor, able to bear arms, it is a great pro- portion. From this we may judge, how much the ifland has fince loft in trade and fecurity, even after allowing largely in the calculation. Yet it continues to fupport a greater proportion of free-men than our other iflands.* To this inftance of making fugar by free- men, we may add the example of Cochin China. It fupplies the populous empire of China with fugar, made by free-men. The quantity exported is eftimated at 800,000,000 * About the time of the reftoration, the ifland of St. Chrif- topher contained about 10,000 French and Englifh, capable of bearing arms. About 1750, Nevis could arm above 5000. The whole prefent militia of both iflands exceeds not 1000. Such adeftroyer is flavery of population. pound, CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. LI7 pound, or about 500,000 of cafks, which greatly exceeds the quantity of fugar made in the ifles, and continent of America, by African flaves.’ And this quantity may be fuppofed capable of being greatly increafed, if the manufaCture was carried on in the fame accurate manner as in the European colonies. For, according to Le Poivre, the cane juice is only boiled into fyrup at the place of growth, and in that ftate is carried to the feveral towns, to be fold to the fugar baker, who boils, refines, and candiés. it. After this tedious procefs, brown fugar is fold at 3s. ad. per hundred pound, white fugar 6s. 8d. and candied fugar at 8s. In our iflands brown fugar is worth by the 100 pound, from 2os. to 36s. fterling, and yet many of our proprietors cannot pay their intereft-money, and fupport their ftock, without fuppofing any {hare of the produce to be allotted as the returns of their own capital. Hi 4 SECT. 118 On THE TREATMENT AND She error srs TEM: Their Mafters would be profited by their advancement. It might be difficult for government to form a plan, that fhould at once extend full liberty to, and thereby beftow due rank on our flaves, without immediately indanger- ing the property of their matters, and of the trading part of the nation connected with them in bufinefs and intereft. And it muft be acknowledged, that fuch at prefent is the ignorant, helplefs condition of far the greater part of the flaves, that full liberty would be no bleffing to them. They need a mafter to provide and care for them. The plan, propofed to advance and inftruct them, muft be gentle, flow in its progrefs, keeping pace with the opening of their minds, and looking forward for its completion to a diftant period. The flaves, in that little fpot, St. Chrif- topher’s, moderately appraifed, would exceed £1,300,000, and as they are part of a ftock of £4,000,000, and give effect and life to that CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. I19 that ftock, the fruits of their labours being in moft years worth -to -the. confumers, £700,000, it is evident that an immenfe change. of,.rather .annihilation , of) property would be occafioned,.if this fcheme took at once effect in the colonies ; nor would it be poflible to find the mafters an, equivalent. While I acknowledge this in, favour,.of the matter, as things are now fituated, Tam firmly of opinion, that a {ugar plantation might be cultivated to more advantage, and at» much Jefs expence, by labourers. who were free-men, than by flaves. Men who, like flaves, are ill treated, ill clothed, and worfe fed, who labour not with any view to their own profit, but for that.of a matter, whom for his barbarity they perhaps abhor, have not ftrength, nor fpirits, nor hope to carry them through their tafk. A free-man, labouring for himfelf, in the earning of his wages, whofe food 1s portioned out by himéelf, not by an unfeeling, boy overfeer ; who feels his own vigour, who, looks for- ward to the conveniences of life as connect- ed with his induftry, will furely exert more ftrength, will thew more alacrity, than a H 4 ftarved, 12006|6©On. THE TREATMENT AND ftarved,. depreffed, difpirited wretch, whe drawls out his tafk with the whip over him. (It is. a.common, day’s labour; where the work..is carefully performed, for thirty grown. flaves to dig with hoes, in a loofe gravelly foil, an acre of ground, into holes of five feet by four, from about feven to twelve inches deep, leaving {paces between the rows equal at leaft to half the holes, untouched, to receive. the mould. The thare of fucha piece of work to one flave, will be a fpot of nearly fifty by thirty feet, including the untouched fpaces.. A tafk this, that might be more than doubled, by a labourer of or- dinary ftrength, having fpirits and inclinas tion to the work. In. St. Chriftopher’s, 16000 flaves, all ca- pable of fome labour, are employed in the cultivation of about 11000 acres; for the whole cane-land of the ifland is about 22000 acres, and each field gives a crop once in two years. This is in the proportion of three. flaves to. the annual culture of two acres;.arate that would be unneceffary a- mong free-men, and which the Britifh prices for Weft-Indian. produce could alone fup- port, CONVERSION OF AFRICAN'ISEAVES. Pat port. .Itmay be remarked), that this sabott has no winter Ceflation: The common appraifement’ of ‘prime field flaves, before the American war; was £60 fter= ling each ; the annual rent of a flave was from £6tof8. The renter enfured them; if valued; at five per cent. or £3 more. '°A ‘plantation {lave cofts the employer then, ‘without reckL oning food, clothes, phyfic, or taxes, fall Aio percannum, or one fixth part’ of “his appraifed value.’ A number of ‘flaves, ¢a< pable of producing on a plantation, “well furnifhed’ with live ftock and neceffary buildings, 100 cafks of fugar, annually ata medium, making but a moderate allowance for their deaths in feafoning, if bought from the flave-merchant,’ will ‘amount on value, to £6000. In the new iflands, before fuch anumber could be relied on, they have in every cafe coft much more; in’ one, ‘with- in the author’s knowledge, above the double ef this fum. |The quantity of fugar here fuppofed, and the rum arifing from it, in mott fituations will not keep the plantation in neceflary ftores, and pay the current ex- pences, and fupply a fund to anfwer fuch accidents as hurricanes, blafts, fire, morta- lity, 122 ON THE TREATMENT AND lity, and. unfavourable, feafons, and alfo give £1200) tothe. proprietor, as the pro- duce of ‘his Jands, buildings, flaves, and other ftock. If his flaves be confidered as rented from another. man, and he infures them to the owner, £1000 of this £1200 is immediate- ly to be {truck off, as the value of the flaves labour... There. remains to the proprietor £200, as the return of his lands, buildings, and cattle. In {uch a plantation the build- ings often have coft £3000 fterling, fome- times more; the cattle, horfes, and mules muft be worth from £600 to £1000. Per- haps the proprietor has paid from £10,000 to.£ 12,000 for. the .lands.. The, reader may be affured this is no ideal calculation, but in the ifland of St. Chriftopher, though our, moft productive fugar colony in pro- portion to.its fize, has frequently come with- in-the.author’s obfervation. And is labour fo.injudicioufly laid out. in any other part of the world? Can any reafons be given, why a fugar planter fhould prefer the em- pleying. of flaves to that of free-men, fee- ing with a large diminution of returns, he may have a much larger clear income than at prefent, CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 123 prefent.- An argument,’ that’ when duly weighed, renders’ our expectations’ of the. extenfion of liberty, though ‘diftant, “not extravagant. : But we will confider the policy’ of ‘em- ploying flaves purchafed with’ money, in another point of view. In a freescountty, a peafant in general executes twice the work of a flave in the fugar colonies ; we might go farther, but this is fufficient for our purpofe. On the other hand the peafant’s food is more found, more plentiful, his clothes more expenfive than thofe of a. flave; but not in proportion to the differ- ence in value of their labour, perhaps ‘not exceeding greatly the infurance, and other incidental charges of flavery. In general, this food and raiment are all that the pea- fant, as well as the flave, reaps from his labour, few of them raifing themfelves by their induftry to a fuperior ftation’; and when they do this, itis effected by fuperior induftry, or keennefs, and greater parfimony, rather than by extraordinary wages. ‘The whole then of a peafant’s labour (that ‘pro- portion excepted, which the flave in'a cer- tain degree alfo claims from’ his toil) ‘be- comes r24 On THr TREATMENT AND comes the profit’ and property of his em- ployer, ‘as fully’ ‘and truly as if he were a flave’ ; with’ this difference in favour of the firft; that the obligation, or tie between him and ‘his mafter, ends with the day’s, or year’s labour,’ and draws no difagreeable or ex- penfive confequences after it, to either of the‘ parties. ; Now from the fuperior progrefs of popula- tion in free countries, compared with that of :thofe wherein flavery prevails, when’ a peafant dies, his place is immediately fup- plied in the courfe of generation ; the em- ployer fuffers no damage, or lofs of time and while labour and improvement go equal- ly on, even the public, to which every per- fon ina free ftate may be faid to belong, is not fenfible of the event. In fhort, ina free ftate, the death of an individual is like ‘a ftone caft into the water, it makes a fudden feparation of the parts, but the water clofes en it, and fettles into’a fmooth furface, as if no accident had preceded. But to his mafter, ithe death of a flave is a fenfible, fevere lofs, which he mutt immediately re- pair;\at ancheavy expence, that, after being jncurred, will not make him ‘the: fame pro- fitable CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 126 fitable returns, as the labour, of a. peafant for which he pays (and. that not till, after the execution of. the work) only fuch.a value as he ought to expend in the main- tenance of his flaves. The eftimation: of ufeful flaves, without taking luft, caprice; or favour into account, is according to their trades and accomplifhments, from £50. to £300 fterling. Hence the death of a.valua- ble flave becomes a moft ferious, matter to the mafter, while a peafant, or tradefman, will do him fuperior fervice, without origi- nal expence, or daily rifk to him, or to the public. This is a view of the fubject, and a man- ner.of reafoning in it, which cannot, I appre- hend, be controverted, and plainly proves, that could we contrive a method of once getting over the firft fhock, which fuch a change would occafion, and fet down free-men:and women (who in the common) progrefs of population, might fupport or increafe their original number, in our colonies) in the room of flaves, we fhould leffen thé: nominal value of the neceflary ftock,. contrac: the expences of individuals, and. much» more than double their prefent. profit.» Here, then, 126 On THE TREATMENT AND then,,.we have.an argument againft, flavery, which applies equally to the intereft of the mafter, and the advantage of the public, and ought to gain a fair hearing for every plan, that propofes to leflen the numbers, and advance the condition of flaves.. And were we not afraid of ftartling the imaginations of people, by the extraordinary affertion, we would not hefitate to affirm; that were the minds of the negroes once opened, and properly prepared; and were they in gene- ral confined to the cultivation of Weft-In- dian produce, and the trades connected. with it; and did government introduce from time to time, till things became fettled on the new bafis, at the expence of the colony, the néceflary recruits; the general manumiffion of flaves would be attended with no imme- diate lofs to the planters; and, by. taking away the neceflity of fupplying themfelves with recruits at their own expence, would be, an important faving to. them... Indeed, after one generation, recruits would not be wanted ; freedom would icrea/fe fatter than death, /e/fened their numbers.* * The reader will be pleafed with the following fenfible remarks of a gentleman of Barbadoes, on his perufing this fec- tion in manuf{cript. Barbadoes, CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. P27 A ftate of abfolite freedom’ is indeéd'a revolution that we may rather with for, than expect Barbadoes, of all the Weft-Indian iflands, can the leaft af- ford the immenfe expenfe of an annual fupply of flaves. As the white inhabitants are numerous, flavery might be abolifh- ed.in a few years, without an individual fuffering by it.) The majority of the inhabitants areindigent. ‘There’are numbers of flaves, who, haying been taught trades, are become highly valuable, of whom, one, two, or a few, are frequently the only fupport.of whole white families, who live in indolent peverty on the returns of their labour, and by their death find them- felves reduced to the utmoit diftrefs, and incapable of doing any thing for themfelves. If this fort of precarious property were not univerfally relied on, foas to have a general ill effe& on the manners of the people, they would of neceflity be forced to be more induftrious in themfelves, and more ceconomical in their expences. If flavery were checked, the poor white peo- ple, who, at prefent, (from the circumftance of their living meanly idle on the labours of others,) are perhaps the mof lifelefs, inattive fet of mortals, on the whole earth, would be obliged to exert themfelves in the cultivation of their own, and others lands, and foon would perceive their conftitutions and cir- cumftances equally improved. The great land-holders would find their expences and their profits go hand in hand ; for they would pay only for productive labour. ‘The moft induftrious labourers would command the beft employment, and the moit punctual pay would conftantly have the preference. ‘Thus punctuality and application would encourage each other, re- new the face of the colony, and put the whip and chain to fhame. It would ‘be a great ftep towards this defirable pur- pofe, if the introduétion of flaves into the colony was prohibit- ed by ftatute, and all acts that lay fines upon thofe matters who free’ their flaves, were repealed. Every method fhould be 128 On THe TREATMENT AND expect for fome time to fee, though doubt- lefs it is within the plan of providence, and of man's progreflive advancement in fociety. It fuppofes a regard for religion, a looking beyond immediate profit, and a foundnefs of policy, foreign to the eftimation, and opinion of the prefent age. To make the plan effectual, it fhould prevail in every European fettlement; an event fo little to be expected from the manners which now pre- vail, that a man would not venture the im- putation of fuch extravagance, as the bare faggeftion of it would be deemed. For could fo many oppofing interefts be recon- . ciled; and fhould a partial innovation take place, that prefent bugbear of European po- licy, the balance of trade, would be fup- poled to be in danger. be ufed, that would induce the people to refpect the inftitutions of religion, and wean them from that careleffnefs refpe&ting them, which is fo prevalent, and has fuch baneful effeéts on their manners. ‘The flaves in Barbadoes are perhaps more ripe far thefe privileges than thofe of our other colonies; becaufe the proportion of Creoles, ornatives, is greater among them ; they are more converfant with the free people, and are lefs pinned down than in other iflands to digging the ground. It is certain, they have in their prefent {tate been at different times trufted with arms ; corps of them have been formed, and on all occafions have difcovered an alacrity that promifed every pof- fible exertion. But CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN)SLAVES. 129 But were flaves inftruc@ted inthe, fimple precepts of religion; were they taught to diftinguifh right from wrong; did the law fecure to them a more plentitul fubfiftence,; more humane ufage; were they permitted to acquire and enjoy property; were. the rights of a family made facred; could they look forward to freedom, as the reward of merit, or the purchace of induftry ; in thort, were they confidered as having fome rights, fome claims, as intitled to fome of the un- alienable, fome of the referved rights. of human nature; their condition would. in confequence be advanced, they would be- come more ufeful, more profitable fubjects, and, might even be trufted with- arms, in defence of the colony in which they have an intereft. Indeed it is not their want of arms, but their good fenfe and moderation, in moft colonies, that are a prefent fecurity to the inhabitants. _ I forbear to fay more on fo dangerous a topic.* SaaS, * Tt is worthy of obfervation, that though the artificers in the King’s dock yards had, from their firft eftablifhment, been I engaged, 130 On THE TREATMENT AND q Oe hee nT Vic Their Mafters would be profited by allowing their Slaves the Privilege of a weekly Sabbath. We have proved, that the gradual exten- fion of freedom would have the beft effects re{pecting engaged, and liberally paid, by the day, yet within thefe twelve years, it has been found moft expedient to employ and pay them by the piece, or job; the men earning more, and the public getting more work, and. that cheaper done, than in the former method, when they juft drawled out the prefcribed number of hours, and like Cyrus’s well-trained foldier, would fufpend the up-lifted axe, at the firft ftroke of the bell that called them off from their work. Good farmers alfo employ labourers, wherever they can, by the piece, and induftrious men prefer it, as being mutually moft profitable. In Kent, where there is the greateft variety of agriculture, almoft every kind of work is paid for by the piece or job. If moderate fkilful planters would fet down, and reduce into a table, the feveral rates of negro-labour, by the day, and a ftatute were enacted, that fhould give the flave, who had per- formed this tafk, the reft of his time to himfelf, or intitle him to wages for what he fhould do more than this; and if all flaves were valued, and permitted by this their extra work gradually to buy out themfelves, or their time; and if it were only. provided, that after they became free, they fhould con- tinue to be employed about the bufinefs of a plantation; in this fituation, planters might have the original coft of their flaves repaid them, and would ftill have the fame people to do CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 131 refpecting both the mafter and the commu- nity. But it will require new regulations, and the confent of government and people, to eftablith the plan. What follows here has already the fanction of law, and is now the practice, in proportion to the difcretion and fellow-feeling of the mafter. The in- fringement on that reft of the fabbath, which we with to vindicate for the flave, do their work better than at prefent, for food and raiment ; only fewer in number would anfwer. their purpofe, and their intereft would not be affe@ted by any accident that befel them. ‘The labourers, on the other hand, when their jobs were finifh- ed, would be their own mafters, and be able to enjoy them- felves, and their families. They would feel an ambition to become worthy members of fociety, and to partake, with their former matters, now become their patrons and benefactors, in the inftitutions of a religion, that confidered them all as equally the children of the fame benevolent Father. One im- mediate confequence of the relaxation of flavery, would be the introduction of ploughs, which have always anfwered where- ever they have been tried, and are only thrown afide, becaufe it is ealer for a manager to order out a flave with his hoe in his hand, than to yoke horfes or cattlein a plough. It is indeed a maxim, in carrying on all labour, never to do that by aman, that you can execute bya brute; nor to do that by an animal, that you can make a mechanical inftrument perform. Thus all hand-hoe ploughing, except in particular cafes, would be cut off, andall cattle mills for grinding canes would be exchanged for water or wind-mills. This method of work- ing out freedom by labour is faid to be eftabliflied by a law in the Spanifh colonies, for the encouragement of their flaves. hoe. is 132. ON THE TREATMENT AND is an indecent breach, both of religion and law, while it counteracts, in no {mall degree, its own mean purpofe of accumulation. But fuch is the progreffive nature of the cravings of luxury and avarice, that if the cuftom once gets a footing, reafon in vain will folicit an hearing; and religion has loft her influence, and law her authority, thould they attempt to interpofe. Our only hope remains in being able to pre-occupy the judgment. As this refers to a particular event in one of our colonies, which is too likely to take place in others, the argu- ments are prefented to the public in their original drefs ; and thofe, who are beft ac- quainted with the treatment that flaves ufu- ally meet with, will be leaft apt to imagine that the author has been too full, or too warm on the fubjedt. An Addrefs to the Inhabitants of St. Chrif- topher’s, Anno 1775, fhewing the Claim of Dependents to the Privilege of the Sabbath. one Oe a Within thefe laft ten months, a cuftom has been introduced among you, of employing flaves CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 133 flaves in carrying on the ordinary plantation work on Sunday, of ploughing the ground, planting, weeding, and grinding the cane, boiling the fugar, and diftilling the rum. It began on a particular plantation, and has found its way to each extremity of the ifland. It is true, it is not yet become general, and — many planters firmly exprefs their diflike of a practice, which, in itfelf impolitic and in- judicious, bids fair, if encouraged, to banifh humanity, and annihilate a religion that barely ftruggles for exiftence in our land. But bad examples are contagious; and feem- ing intereft in fome and emulation in others will go on, as they already have begun, to draw numbers into a cuftom that flatters in- duftry, and feeds the hopes of extravagance and avarice. No account of this fpreading violation of our laws and religion having yet been taken by the magiftracy, the trefpaflers are induced to believe that law cannot interpofe to check it: a miftake which it is neceflary to correct in men, who think nothing a crime but a deed for which law ordains a punifhment. As it fell to my lot to take the firft notice of this unhallowed practice, I have been obliged I 3 to 134 ON THE TREATMENT AND to pay an attention to the fubje@; and hence I am enabled to affure thefe trefpaffers, who wrap themfelves up in their impunity, that when the cafe is brought before’a court, they will not find a lawyer, however pro- fligate his private charaGter may be, who will rifk his profeffional reputation by un- dertaking the defence of fo notorious a breach of human and divine laws: and could they find fuch a man, no judge or bench of ma- giftrates could allow him to plead againft the laws and religion of his country. Their defence muft be confined to a fingle denial of the fact. If we view the matter in a religious light, the fabbath is appointed by God for fuch pious, humane, and even worldly-wife pur- pofes, as to lead us to conclude, that no- thing will more readily draw down judg- mentson, nor fooner execute the ruin of, a finful community, than a contempt of this benevolent ‘inftitution. Sabbath-breaking makes a conftant capital figure among the crimes that kindled God’s wrath againft the Jews. Farther, from God’s {trict injunction to them, from whom we derive this inftitu- tion, to punifh, even to deftruction, any | family CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 135 family or city that they fhould find guilty of idolatry among them, which was an offence fimply againft his authority; we may con- clude, that if a community fuffers an infult on this law of the fabbath, which has both his authority and general benevolence in view, to pafs unpunifhed, it will, by fuch its neg- lect, fubject to his wrath not only individuals that are actually guilty of the crime, but the magiftracy and people at large, who are thus carelefs of vindicating his honour and the claims of humanity. I will leave it to yourfelves, after what you have lately fuffered in your fins, to determine what need you have to give the Governor of the world this new provocation againft you. Woe be to that community which forces the Deity to refume the vindication of his laws from the hands of the ordinary magiftrate. Un- diftinguifhing ruin will involve the luke- warm profeflor and hardy trefpaffer together. May Providence, by your reformation, avert the evil which every thinking man dreads on your account. To contribute to this end, and fet fuch right as have been unwittingly drawn into the practice, who yet have minds: open to: conviction, we fubmit to them the follow- ing confiderations : I 4 The 136 °ON\ THE TREATMENT ‘AND The good man, on the fabbath, interrupts his: ufual employments, not only to have lei- fure’ to review his conduct, to improve his mind for futurity, to reflect on, and blefs God for his mercies, but alfo for the fake of his dependents: they are indulged with a refpite from labour, and a weekly feftival, which make fervitude tolerable. This com- pafiion is followed’ by: its proper reward. Continual toil would wear out the conftitu- tions of fervants long before their natural period of decay; but, during this day of rett, they renew their ftrength, and the hopes of its weekly return make them chearfully un- dergo their common labour. ‘The ufeful ox repays the indulgence in patient enduring. Indeed, this day of reft, which God com- mands us to allow all whom he hath fub- mitted to our rule, is an acknowledgment, that he obligeth us to pay for the dominion he hath granted us over the lower world. And, therefore, though the promulgation and extent of this precept reft on the po- fitive command of God exprefled in {cripture, yet is the foundation moral: it is laid deep in the principles of humanity, grows up with obedience to our Creator, and flourifheth with CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 137 with equity and benevolence to our fellow- creatures. It is a mark of holding our power from God, a right referved to himfelf, to thew his care of even the meaneit of his creatures. And it teacheth us, in a manner plain for him that runneth to read it, that we had not our prefent rank in the creation beftowed on us, to be the unfeeling tyrants, but the mer- ciful protectors, of the inferior world. But as a contrary practice is now introduced here, witha parade, indeed, of fuperior in- duftry, but a fovereign contempt of decency, common opinion, religion, and law; we mutt difcufs this point of indulgence to depend- ents, and fhew, (befides contradiGting the motives above, which I hope have yet fome influence among mankind) that he, who falls into fo inconfiderate a praCtice, fins againft prudence, and counteracts that aim after opu- lence, which can be the only pretence for fo extraordinary, fo alarming a conduct. In doing this, we need not enter into any nice phyfical difquifition concerning the animal powers of the labouring part of the creation, nor into any train of reafoning, to fhew the neceflity of a frequent: fucceffion of reft to labour to preferve the animal machine from 3 wearing a ates 138 «©ON THE TREATMENT AND wearing out before the period fet by nature: we will appeal to yourown experience, whether thofe men reap not the moft lafting advan- tages from the labour of their oxen, their horfes, and that ftill more ufeful, though neglected animal, called a negroe flave, who' confult their feveral feelings, and give the fignal to ceafe from toil, before the languid effort of wearinefs folicitsrefpite. Arethey the moft fuccefsful in the field of induftry, or do they moft enjoy the evening of life, who con- ftantly put forth all their ftrength, who rife early, and late take reft; or they, who fo tem- per labour and reft, that each defires the return of the other. Look around among your neighbours, whofe flaves, whofe cattle, are the moft healthy, or exert the greateft vigour; who fuffers leaft by their mortality; who reaps moft from their labour? Is it not he who encourages, favours, fpares them, who properly nourifhes them, and never en- croaches on the hour of food or reft? Or can any temporary acquifition, wrung from un- feafonable labour, compenfate for an hofpital filled with wretches dead or dying, for a crew of haggard; difeafed fpectres, whofe ruined ConvERsIon or AFRICAN SLAVES. 139 ruined conftitutions, and. famithed looks, reproach the avarice of the hard-hearted matter. 7 | Is it faid, in return, that the matter buys this extraordinary labour, on Sunday, with an extraordinary price. Let me afk him, who gives this reafon, would he puth a generous horfe, till the noble animal himfelf gave out? And is he to care lefs for a creature of his own kind, becaufe anxious to recommend himfelf to his favour by a ftrained. exertion of his ftrength? The mafter, by the very tenure of his authority, is obliged to confult the conftitution of thofe who labour for him, that he may reftrain their efforts within their ability, and keep their fervice to him within the limits of their own perfonal happinefs. If, as fome pretend, it be meant to increafe the allowance of food, by this new cuftom of Sunday’s wages, let them tell why, till now, they have provided fo {cantily for their flaves, as to make this addition neceflary ; or let them give a good reafon why a wretch who drudges the fix days for another man’s luxury, fhould not eat plentifully, and have the feventh alfo for a day of reft. If 140 On THE TREATMENT AND If the planter fays, heonly bribes other mens flaves into his Sunday’s fervice, let him go to his neighbour, and afk him for the ufe of his cattle, during the hours allotted for food and reft, and report his anfwer; or let him at- tempt to take them away, and work them clandeftinely, and fee whether they will not be reclaimed. And fhall a confiderate mafter, who works his flaves to their full ability; and who, it fhould be prefumed, feeds them properly, fuffer them to wear their ftrength out in another man’s fervice for a little paultry hire, that ought not to be neceflary for them? Or, if he did, could he expect them to exert themfelves with vigour for him in the week, when their ftrength has been worn down in his neighbour’s fervice on Sunday, and they have not had time to re- cruit it? God, who beft knows the confti- tution of his creatures, and formed them ex- prefsly for labour, hath allotted for reft not only the nightly fucceffion of darknefs and weekly return of the fabbath, but has divided every fingle day into fhort intervals of labour and reft, by making a frequent repetition of food neceflary for recruiting and refrefhing the body. And fhall we pretend to be wifer than * CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 141 than he is, or to know better what the ani- mal conftitution is capable of performing? One reafon is given for this cuftom, which puts the obfervation of Sunday as a day of reft, on plantations, wholly in the overfeers power: if a flave behaves to the fatisfaction of the overfeer throughout the week, he is to be indulged with Sunday, if not he thall work there on his matfter’s field. And this humane reafon is added, that the common punifhment of withholding their ufual allow- .ance of food is injudicious, and therefore. working on Sunday is fubftituted for it. I am ready to give up the propriety of {tarving men as a mode of punifhment. But is not the obliging them to work on Sundays alfo to ftarve them; feeing, in the prefent pinched method of feeding them, every flave is forced to eke out his portion with his private Sundays labour? And doth not this extraordinary labour on Sunday act as a farther leflening of their allowance, by wearing out their {treneth in toiling on the day in which they thould have had leifure to'recruit it after the week’s labour, while the means of acquiring food by private labour to repair this extraordinary wafte are withheld from them. But 142 .ON THE TREATMENT AND But we give Sunday, as a day of reft to our flaves, in obedience to the command of our common Father. And nothing but a duty, fuperior in its confequences, and immediate in its call, or an unforefeen opportunity of doing an act of benevolence can fet it afide. Now as a. duty owing immediately to God, it cannot be affected by any pretended intereft of ourown, or demerit on our fervants part. Are God’s laws to be fo little efteemed of, that every unthinking boy, fet over a few helplefs wretches, with a whip in his hand, may annul them at pleafure? Shall he, to punifh a trifling offence againft the plan- tation difcipline, too frequently exifting only in his own mifapprehenfion or neglect, be allowed to make havock of the laws of re- ligion and his own duty to God? Unhappy age into which we are fallen, when, leaving the plain road of obedience, we fet up to reform the laws and religion, not of our country only, but of our God! It is fuggefted further, that in crop time, in particular quarters, the ripe canes are fo apt to become tainted, that it is a work of neceffity to grind them off on Sunday. To this we anfwer, “ The God of feafons en- joined CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 143 joined the obfervation of the fabbath, and his laws are ultimately for the benefit of the obedient.” The circumftance here pleaded may be intended for an exercife of our trutt in his Providence, but can never come under the defcription of thofe works of neceflity or mercy, that are not only proper, but com- mendable on Sunday. Sagacity may, forefee, prudence may provide for fuch accidents; method and good ufage may, and where ufed, actually do, increafe the tale of labour, on common days, far beyond what is forced out on this day appointed for reft. And were not this, which yet may be, in every cafe, true, yet God’s veracity and providence are engaged that his fervants fthould not ulti- mately fuffer by their obedience. But, as we have remarked, and hall further prove, the truth is, this continued toil over-acts the purpofe of induftry, without fuppofing God, in his Providence, to punith the infult done to his laws and religion. : One reafon is given for this practice, that carries a face of concern for religion, but is fufficiently abfurd, and felfith in the appli- cation. ‘‘ Slaves cannot keep the fabbath as Chriftians; and if not employed for their matters, 144 On THE TREATMENT AND mafters, will labour for themfelves.” Now the trifling Sundays works, in their own grounds, which an injudicious cuftom has permitted, and their {canty allowance of food has made neceffary, is done in fuch manner and circumflances, as makes it more an amufement than a labour; nor can it be compared with toiling in their mafter’s field under the whip of an overfeer. But I can recollect a particular plantation, where the manager, fome years ago, with a goed inten- tion, made the flaves exert themfelves on Sundays, as much in their own ground, as in their mafter’s fields, throughout the week; and the confequence was, that from this in- ceflant fatigue, the plantation required a yearly fupply of flaves, above a tenth part of the whole number maintained. Since they have been left to their own inclinations on Sundays, they have been moft remarkably healthy; nor, I believe, had or needed a recruit thefe laft fixteen years. The planta- tion is particularly well fupplied with pro- vifions; and the flaves have been treated with peculiar humanity and method. But if flaves do not hallow the fabbath in a rational manner, cannot their mafters and overfeers, CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 145 overfeers, by their own behaviour, fanctify it. And, furely to overlook what you cannot prevent in another, differs widely from the commanding of him to commita crime, of which you mean to reap the advantage. That flaves cannot rationally keep the fab- bath is matter of ferious concern. I pray God we may not all be made accountable for it. Still allow this argument what weight you pleafe; God is the God of the bodies as well as of the fouls of his creatures, and he wills and attends equally to the welfare of both; and the fabbath is intended to refrefh the one, and improve the other. Oxen and horfes can- not keep a Chriftian fabbath; yet, their Creator ref{pects their eafe, and, among other purpofes, appointed the fabbath exprefsly to favour it. And, furely, God doth not lefs regard the bodily fenfations of human wretches, becaufe in his Providence, for hid- den yet certainly wife purpofes, he hath hitherto fuffered them to be immediately fub- jected to the caprice, the avarice, the cruelty of their fellows, though endued with keener feel- ings than the brutes, and greater fenfibility of theirclaims. Farther, God accepts favourably what fervice and thanks his creatures are able K to 146 ON THE TREATMENT AND to pay him; and, the fimple rude way in which, negroes, in their Sunday’s amufements, exprefs their fatisfaction in his difpenfations, will not. be rejected, but be received with approbation and conde{cenfion to their weak- ne{s. When we have made every allowance that charity or confideration can fuggeft, no man acquainted with the ufual progrefs of human affairs, and the conftant tendency of cuftom, but muft fee, in this unhallowed, hired, Sunday’s labour, the haftening aboli- tion of refpect to that day, and of extraor- dinary hire for working on it. Poverty 1s craving ; avarice infatiable; luxury boundlefs. And were Sunday once melted down into the week, men would try what more could be cut off from the darknefs, and folitude, and reft of night. But without taking into account the inhu- manity,..the immorality, the imprudence, the irreligion of the practice; what impu- dence, refpecting fociety, doth it imply, when. thus a private man {ets his felfifh opi- nion up againit the laws of his country, and dares to infult. them publickly, by acting in direct oppofition to an exprefs ftatute?: How pregnant CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 147 pregnant in ill confequences muft the ex- ample be, ina community where cuftem has reduced almoft the whole of an eftablithed religion to bodily reft on the fabbath? Piety, foon, will not have a fingle thread of com- munication by which to lay hold on our practice. How neceflary, therefore, to fix a mark on fuch profane conduct, before cuftom has {tamped a fafhion on it, and fan@ified it? And often, for what is humanity, religion and law thus wounded? To anfwer the de- mands of extravagance, to fill the bags of avarice, to fupply the funds of luxury. Slavery, in its mildeft thape, has fomething dangerous and threatening to virtue; but when the very marrow and blood of our fel- low creatures are exhaufted in the cruel fervice of avarice or fenfuality, the equal Father of all muft call in fome dreadful ven- geance to punith the abufe. I mean not fo much to refle@ on indivi- duals, who may already be guilty of this unfeeling, imprudent practice, as to exalt to its proper motives of religion, benevolence, and obedience to your country’s laws, that abhorrence which hath been’ entertained againft an action that is an outrage to com- mon fenfe, and common opinion; and which, | K 2 we U 148 On THE TREATMENT ANS we are taught in fcripture, never fails to draw down God’s wrath on the people who permit it to be done with impunity among them. It is an offence, which, if not checked in its progtefs, may renew thofe judgments that for'our fins were lately poured out on us; under which we now, and long muft con- tinue to fmart; without provoking farther God’s vengeance, or obliging him to fend ‘new or extraordinary punifhments to chaf- tife or reclaim us.* Could I keep you from the contagion of example, I fhould rejoice. Whoever has thus finned againft God, and his country, fhall have my prayers, that he may be infpired with a right way of thinking. Of this be affured, that fuch an extraordi- nary mode of induftry is not the path in which God’s bleffings are to be met with. And they who ufe it have reafon to fear, left a diftrefsful turn in their affairs make this day of liberty and reft, which they want to cutoff from fociety, the only day in which they dare ‘to’enjoy their freedom.-- * Since this period Einsrcotony has been greatly reduced by fire, floods, war, capture by the enemy, and fuch unfavourable feafons, as had hardly happened before in the memory of man. + Itis certain, that he who began this cuftom, within twelve months ‘durft not on any other day fhew his face for fear of his creditors. | But CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 149 But if God did not, as certainly he doth, mix therewith a fecret canker, to eat up the fubftance of the offender, yet the unfeeling, hurrying mode of thus. working flaves, would, by wafting their ftrength and health, be of itfelf fufficient punifhment. And, fuppofing the obfervation of the fabbath to depend wholly for its fanétion on revelation, and, the breach of it to be followed by no natural lofs, which is far from the truth; . yet, if you be diligent and obedient to the law, for God’s fake, he can, in his Pro- vidence, and will, in a thoufand ways, make up any imaginary facrifice of time and profit to.atruft in his word, and will proceed in an inconceivable manner to blefs and profper you. ; I fhall conclude with an obfervation drawn from mechanics,. Though a man of ordi- nary ftrength can raife, at a fingle effort, a much greater weight, yet the moft ad- vantageous exertion of it is within thirty pounds weight; and he, who works diligently eight hours a day, will do more work in a week, than he who drawls out in languid ex~ ertions fourteen hours. K 3 CHA P, ( 150 |) Guakbictow« A. The Advancement of Slaves muft aecompany their religious Inftruction. WY SHALL confider the advantage of pro- moting flaves in focial life, as proved beyond a poffibility of contradiction ; but, as my particular aim is to get religion extended to them, I muft fhew that there is a con- nection between {focial privileges and religious inftruction; and that the making of a pro- grefs in either requires them to go hand in hand, and influence each other. ‘That men were intended both for fociety and religion, and that thefe two meant to fupport each other, is a conclufion to be drawn from every circumftance that refpects our powers and conftitution. The helplefs ftate of infancy, the variety and inequality of our’ faculties, all attach us to a particular community, fit us CoNVERSION OF AFRIGAN SLAVES. I51 us for our various ftations in it, and give it an indiffoluble claim to our fervice and af- fiftance. And religion brings confcience in to the aid of focial regulations, and fits the man for acting his part in his proper ftation. Religion has a two-fold purpofe: man’s ultimate fate as an individual, and his con- duét as a member of fociety. Man, in order to become a good member of fociety, muft be infpired with religious principles; that he may not counteract the common views, out of fecret fraud, malice, or felfifhnefs, but be carried on to every generous exertion by which the public happinefs can be effected, Religion, then, muft enter into every plan that has the general good or. profit in view. As far, therefore, as we refpect the profperity of our country, we muft with to extend the influence of religion to all. thofe. who .are comprehended. within her. laws.. But, .as Chriftians, we have ftill.a ftronger principle of .action to excite us to exert. ourfelves in enlarging. the empire of religion by. every benevolent method within our power. »Re- ligion, determines. the, future lot of the individual, and the grand principle of be- nevolence that runs through it, makes his happinefs depend on his doing all K 4 the 152 ON THE TREATMENT AND the good in, his power here to his brethren around him. But the inftruction of our ne- groe flaves is anact of goodnefs of the high- eft, and. moft extenfive nature: and the cir- cumftances of our having originally inflaved them, of ;their living intirely for, and de- pending on us, and too frequently being op- prefled and, cruelly treated by individuals among.us, gives them the ftrongeft claim for receiving it,at our hands. The privileges of Chriftianity are of a diffufive nature, and have this condition among others annexed, that. we fhall communicate them; freely we have received, freely we muft give. And, in a cafe where none within our reach are to be excepted from fharing in the benefit, how highly incumbent is it on us to exalt to rea- fon and religion thofe whom our avarice has deprefled, even to brutality. But, becaufe, in the demand of duty we are often defirous of compounding matters, and in the prefent cafe, probably, may ima- gine that the higheft purpofes of religion may be gained without fuch an alteration in the condition of flaves, as while it refts on {pecula- tive arguments, may be thought fomewhat dangerous; it will be neceflary to fhew, that, as the opprefled fituation of, negroe.flayes prevents CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 153 prevents the community from reaping many important. advantages from them, fo it inca- pacitates them from: making, in any con- fiderable degree, a progrefs” in’ “religious knowledge. To make a man capable of ‘reli- gion, we muft endow him with the rishts and privileges of aman; we mutt teach him to feel his weight in fociety, and fet a-value on himfelf, as a member of the community, before we can attempt to’ perfuade him to lay in his claim to heaven. ‘To fthew'the reader, therefore, the neceflity of advancing the flave, in the fcale of focial life, before we offer him a participation of our religion, I fhall relate the little efficacy of fuch at- tempts as have been made to communicate religious knowledge to him in: his hitherto debafed ftate. And if fuch a communication be, as I have aflirmed; not only a valuable but an indifpenfable obje& to fociety, I fhall, in doing this, eftablith the neceflity of improving his condition in facial life. aS pn Shwe qe Examples of the Difficulty found in inftruc- ing Slaves.in their preient State. Tam forty to be obliged to remark how little, till within thefe very few years, has 2 | been 154° ON THE TREATMENT AND been attempted or propofed on this head. For though the race of authors and projec- tors equalthe leaves of the trees as much in their numbers, as they refemble them in the fhortnefs of their exiftence; yet, unlefs we take into account a few unconnected at- tempts, a few general {trictures, and fome unmeaning declamations, our flaves had hardly found a protector worthy of the ap- pellation, till the publication of the late Hiftory of Jamaica; and the vindication they have found init, as we fhall have occafion to remark, is on fuch humiliating terms, as will, I fear, do them little good. Still the nature and iffue of thefe attempts to inftrué& and ferve them in their prefent oppreffed ftate, will be fufficient to mark that improbability of fuccefs which we have affirmed. Robertfon, a minifter in Nevis, about fif- ty years ago, wrote profefiedly on the con- verfion of flaves in our colonies, and feems to have been willing to have laboured ho~ neftly in it himfelf. But it is to be remarked of him, that he takes no notice of the in- tire want of law to fecure to them proper treatment, nor fo much aa hints that this want is of any difadvantage to them. And, in refpect of their converfion, he plainly fhews that no- “ thing CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 155 thing confiderable can be done in it, unlefs government interpofe in earneit to carry it on. But..before.government can. meddle with flaves, it muft take them firft within. the bofom of . fociety, advance their condition, protect in them the claims of human.nature, and make them objects of police. He propofes that government fhould keep up anumber of miffionaries among the colo- nies, by rotation, whofe whole employment fhould be to inftruct the flaves, as faft as they acquired the language, or grew up to be | capable of inftruction. Their only reward, he thinks, fhould be a prefent maintenance, and a promife of being provided for at home, when the time of their miffion was expired. In this plan, the reader will im- mediately obferve, that the miffionary will require {ome time to gain a facility in teach~ ing, and that, if he returns home after a few years, he muft refign to others) his ftation, when he is become fit to hold it. The time of his employment will, therefore, require to. be regulated in a particular manner to ob- viate this inconveniency, He. earneftly endeavours to exculpate. the planters for having done fo little in this affair, frem their hurry of bufinefs, their own ig- norance, 156 On THE TREATMENT AND noranice, their inability in point of fortune. He farther attempts to prove, that negroes, in general, are ill adapted for inftruction, by reafon of their fulkinefs, ftupidity, pre- judices; in many, an incapacity of making any tolerable progrefs in the language ; and, laftly, the univerfal carelefinefs that prevails among them about every thing that does not ftrike their fenfes. : In fhort, from his eso ome a.man would be apt to conclude, that he was of opinion that the manufacture of fugar, and the practice of religion, were things incom- patible; and that before we began to de- liberate about the converfion of flaves, the previous queftion had need to be difcuffed, whether we fhould maintain thismanufacture, or apply ourfelves to promote the growth of Chriftianity. But whatever may be the in- trinfic merit of his plan, it has been too long before the public unnoticed, for us to ex- pect much from it at this day. A planter of —, aman of. éduca- tion, and of areligious turn of mind, about twenty-four years ago attempted the conver- fion of his own flaves. He himfelf. became their catechift and preacher, He) increafed | their hey ConvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 157 their allowance of food, ‘clothed them ‘de- cently, treated them with humanity, ‘tried to reafon rather than whip them out of their faults, and granted them many indul- gencies in. the hours and degrees of their labour. He purfued his plan during a good many years, and, as was faid, at firft with fome degree of fuccefs: but fome'time be- fore his death, according to the author’s in- formation, he gave up the defign, in defpair of effecting any thing confiderable by it. The caufes of his ill fuccefs, that have been affigned, were a relaxation of difcipline re- fpecting their obedience and labour, for which they were not ripe; and his infifting on too accurate an obfervation of the fab- bath, in the manner of the Jews, while they had no mental employment to fubftitute on it for their ufual private labour, and focial amufements. In fhort, the indulgencies that fhould have been the reward of improvement and good behaviour, were made to precede them; and there was nothing left to allure them, or encourage them in the work. But, fince his death, feveral of ‘his. people have joined themfelves to the Moravians, whe have a miffion in the colony. pM A con- 4 168 On THE TREATMENT AND A confiderable number of years ago, the abfent owner of a plantation fent out pofi- tive ftanding inftructions to his manager, to have his flaves carefully inftructed in the Chriftian religion, and baptized. He ac- companied this order with directions to treat them in every refpe&t with confiderate hu- manity, and to do for them whatever was poffible to make their ftate eafy, and their lives happy. The minifter of the parith ac- cordingly was applied to, and a recompence for his trouble was agreed on. Here then was a profpect of a fair trial of what could poffibly be effected among flaves in their pre- fent ftate; but the manager’s injudicious choice of an inftructor blafted every rea- fonable expectation. The minifter was not even oftenfibly decent, and never affected to be guided by principles of duty that he did not feel. He faw nothing in the propofal but an increafe of income to himfelf, and was determined to intitle himfelf to it in the eafieft manner poflible. The following was his method: He came to the plantation on a Sunday afternoon, and defired the manager to col- le&t eight or ten flaves to be baptized. They were CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. rgg were brought before him. ‘He began to repeat the office of baptifm. When he had read as far as that part of the fervice where he was to {prinkle them with water, if their former name pleafed him he baptized them» by it; but if he thought it not fit to calla Chriftian by; as was his opinion of Quamina, Bungee, and the. like, he gave them the firft.Chriftian name which occured to:‘his memory. | This name the bearer, perhaps, could: not repeat, and fcarcely ever remembered afterwards; {0 that he continued to be diftinguifhed among his fellows by his old heathen name. The minifter, being once afked, what end he propofed in performing the ceremony in this fuperficial manner? frankly replied, *« He was paid for doing it; it did the crea- ** tures no harm; and when they died, he ** fhould be paid for burying them.” Accord ingly the manager compounded the matter with him, and gave him yearly a catk of rum worth about £8 fterling, in lieu of fur- plice fees due for burying them. He had alfo a falary of £20 for vifiting and praying with the fick, which, without being earned, he: punctually received. For the ship adi he was paid a‘certain tum. Some 360 On THE TREATMENT AND Some of the baptized would mutter, and fay, they defired not the parfon to throw water in their face; which is all that they knew of the matter, and therefore were loth to fuffer themfelves to be fo dealt with. In fhort, if merely the making of them parties to a rite that they underftand not, and in which they take no active or rational fhare, doth initiate them into Chrift’s church, then are they right good Chriftians. But if fome fhare of knowledge, if fome degree btnat- fent be neceflary to give the minifter’s con- ning over the office of baptifm before them, fome religious effect among them, thefe flaves can pretend to little Chriftianity. For here the plea of infant-baptifm cannot be admitted, becaufe neither non-age nor after-inftruGtion can be pretended. In this manner was unfufpecting piety impofed on, and fuch formerly were the minifters recom- mended for the colonies. Smet, CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. Y61 SE Cen eta The Obftacles that the Moravian Miffions have to ftruggle with. The Moravians fhew a remarkable and laudable degree of affiduity in making con- verts; and, taking their difficulties into ace count, they have had, on the whole, no in- confiderable fuccefs. Their difciples in Antigua are about two thoufand in number; the fruits of twenty years labour. Several planters encourage their endeavours among their people. But fome years ago they re- ceived a rude fhock from an attempt of a particular mafter to intrude on ‘them Mr. Lindfay’s tenets, which required their own firmnefs, and the affection of their converts to defeat. There are ufually three miffionaries. They have introduced decency and fobriety among their people, and no mean degree of religious knowledge. ‘They have infant miffions in Barbadoes, St. Chrif- topher’s, and Jamaica. + ee thing here faid concerning the fuccefs of the Mora- vians, and the good effets of it upon the flaves in Antigua, has been lately confirmed to me by a gentleman who has fpent many years in that ifland. But he adds, that the number of megroe converts, inftead:of 2000, is upwards of 6000. it L, They 162 On THE TREATMENT AND They have made the greateft progrefs in the Danifh colonies. In St. Croix they have fixed a bifhop, with feveral minifters and catechifts under him. They have chapels in the different quarters of the ifland. Many gentlemen have private chapels for their ufe, and encourage them in their labours. Government countenances them; but the Danith clergymen in the ifland do not favour or aflift them. Every evening, except on Saturday, they have diftiné meetings, by turns, for their baptized and catechumens. Their hour of general worfhip is on Sunday evening; the flaves being obliged to labour on that day for their fubfiftence. The converts are taught to ufe private devetions. When they go to, and leave off work, they fing in con- cert a few hymns drawn up in the common language. Singing makes a confiderable part of their common worfhip. The mott fenfible, of both fexes, are raifed to the dignity of elders or helpers, to fuper- intend each the behaviour of their fex, and to forward the work of inftru€tion. When a brother commits a fault, he is mildly re- proved in private, or if it be of a public nature, before the congregation: if he ob- {tinately CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 163 ftinately perfifts in the fault, he is, for a time, deprived of the eucharift, or feparated from the congregation. This difcipline fel- dom fails to produce repentance, on which he is readily re-admitted to the privileges of the fociety. | In bringing them on in religious know- ledge, they begin by drawing their attention particularly to the fufferings and crucifixion of our Saviour. When this is found to have made an impreflion on their minds, and filled their hearts with grateful fentiments, they then make them connect it with re- pentance and a good life. Submiffion to their mafters, and full obedience to their com- mands, even to working in the plantation, when fo ordered, on Sundays, are ftrongly inforced; or rather, they imprefs on them the neceflity of fubmitting to thofe irregularities which, in their {tate of fubjection, they can- not avoid, that their mafters may have no complaint againft them, while labouring to gain the great point of general improve- ment. Their greateft trouble arifes from the libidinous behaviour of overfeers among the female difciples, which, however, fome mafters check as much as lies in their power. L2 The 164 On THE TREATMENT AND The great fecret of the miffionary’s ma- nagement, befides foliciting the grateful at- tention of their hearers to our Saviour’s fuf- ferings, is to contract an intimacy with them, to enter into their little interefts, to hear patiently their doubts and complaints, to condefcend to their weaknefs and ignorance, to lead them on flowly and gently, to exhort them affectionately, to avoid carefully magif- terial threatenings and commands. The confequences of this method are ob- ferved to be a confiderable degree of reli- gious knowledge, an orderly behaviour, a neatnefs in their perfons and clothing, a fobriety in their carriage, a fenfibility in their manner, a diligence and faithfulnefs in their ftations, induftry and method in their own little matters, an humility and piety in their converfation, an univerfal unim- peached honefty in their conduct. The brethren in Europe are at the expence of the miffionary’s journeys, and contribute to their maintenance. ‘They have a {mall plantation in one of the Danifh iflands, from which they draw part of their fupport. Some of the miffionaries, at their leifure hours, apply to mechanic employments. The CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 165 The reft of their fimple maintenance arifes from trifling voluntary collections among their difciples. Some of them are men of learning, others fimple well-meaning men. Their bifhop is a man of plain good fenfe and difcretion,. This account of the Moravians appears, at firft fight, to contradi@t my pofition, that the prefent debafed ftate of flaves favours not religious improvement. The circumftances in their favour are, that they are feen by their fcholars only as inftructors or comforters; that they try to lofe fight of flavery and its confequences, and fhew their converts to themfelves only in the light of a religious fociety ; that, as far as the fimplicity of. their rites will permit, they draw imagina- tion to their affiftance, and paint religion almoift in fenfible colours. But it may be obferved, that the authority of the mafter which they mutt inforce, and the law of God, which they profefs to teach, muft often draw the hefitating flave different ways, and fill his mind with doubt, which of the two is to beobeyed. God {ets apart the fabbath to recruit the body for labour, and improve the mind for futurity; the mafter, having L 3 feized 166 On PHE TREATMENT AND feized for himfelf the work for the week, obliges the flave to toil on that day for his own maintenance; nay, not unfrequently for his (the mafter’s) avarice. Doubtlefs, how- ever it may fare with the profane matter, the fate of the flave himfelf is in the beft hands; but he can acquire only an inferior kind of religion, and he muft hold even that at the eaprice of one who, in himfelf, perhaps has no religion. A mitigation therefore of their flavery, and a communication of fome focial privileges, are ftill a neceflary foundation for any eminent degree of religious improvement. SU EY EGTA 2 Inefficacy of the Author’s private Attempts to inftruct Slaves. Though fome individuals may treat their flaves with humanity and difcretion, yet we can give very few inftances of any atten- tion fhewn to their moral improvement, or of any pains taken to enable them to become partakers of the gofpel promifes. Religion is not deemed neceflary to qualify a flave to an- fwer any purpofe of fervitude; and while we with them to be diligent and faithful, we never think CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 167 think of placing a monitor within their breafts, nor of directing them to look up to God, as the obferver or rewarder of inte- grity. Indeed, in the relation of mafter and flave, there is fo little of what is reci- procal in the duty on one fide and advantage on the other, that it is hardly poffible to infufe any other principle than fear into the mind of a flave, or to make him confider himfelf in any other light than that of an unwilling inftrument of his mafter’s tyranny and grandeur: a condition that leaves him at liberty to feize every opportunity of making his fervice of as little ufe as he can to his matter, and of making up for the pinching ill treatment that he receives from him, by pilfering and purloining whatever lies open to him. When the author firft fettled in the Weit- Indies, he freely and openly blamed the carelefinefs of the inhabitants in a matter of this importance, and he refolved within him- felf to thew how much might be done by one who was in earneft. His flaves were well clothed and. plentifully fed; their employ- ment, which was only the common work of a private family, was barely fufficient for the ; L 4 exercife 168. On THE TREATMENT AND exercife neceflary to preferve their health. There was more than a fufficient number of them. In fhort, they were plump, healthy, and in f{pirits. In the evening they were called in, and made to repeat the creed, the Lord’s prayer, and a few other prayers that were reckoned beft adapted to them. Their duty was explained to them in terms let down, as much as poflible, to their appre- henfion. Their fears, their hopes, their gratitude, were all made to intereft them- felves in the fubje&. They were not punifh- ed for one fault in ten that they committed, and never with feverity. They were carefully attended when fick. Nothing was at any time required of them but what was neceflary, and much within their ability. But the treatment may be collected from this cir- cumftance; that in eighteen years, though they had been gradually increafing by births and purchafe,from ten to twenty in number, not one had died in his family, except infants during the period of nurfing. In other re- {pects he cannot boaft greatly of his fuccefs. The firft flave he poffefled was a French negroe boy, who could tell his beads, and repeat his Pater-nofter. He was placed out in CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 169 in town with a barber: there he formed fuch acquaintances, and acquired fuch habits of idlenefs, as made him a moft irreclaimable run-a-way; and forced his mafter to difpofe of him at a lofs of twenty-four pounds fterling. He hired a fenfible, induftrious, elderly negroe, who feemed well pleafed with his fituation, till he found that he was obliged to attend in the evening at prayers. He plainly faid, he did not love fuch things, and that he, a negroe, had nothing to do with the prayers of white people; and, in a {hort time, he left his place without af figning any other reafon, He has been obliged to fend three negroes off the ifland for theft and running away, that he might not be under the neceflity of punifhing with feverity. One of them, a fenfible accomplithed negrefs, was returned on his hands from the Danith ifland of St. Croix, for being fuch a thief, that no body would venture to take her into their family. Her own account was different. She had been returned by him, to. whom fhe had been fent down, becaufe his favourite Sul- tana had become jealous of her attractions. To the accufations of theft, the replied, that 17o ON THE TREATMENT AND that whatever fhe might formerly have done in her mafter’s family, the knew better than to fteal in an ifland, where, for taking the leaft trifle, the might, without noife, have been taken up, and executed immediately. She concluded, that her being fent back alive was a demonitration of her not having been guilty of theft during her exile. He was obliged to affect a fatisfaction in her defence. And, though by no means faultlefs, yet, either from partial reformation, (for fhe was very capable of reafoning) or an unwilling- nefs to make another trip from her native country, fhe continued to behave more care- fully and attentively in the family; and at laft became fo induftrious as to be able to buy out her own, and a daughter’s freedom, that fhe had by a free-man. But he poffeffed nota fingle flave on whom he could place de- pendence. And, had it not been for a white woman, whofe employment was to watch them, and whofe care he ufed, as others do correction, to keep them from difhonefty, he would have been at a lofs how to have carried on houfe-keeping, without a degree of feverity abhorrent to his temper. Now, while they continued abandoned, irre- | claimable, CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 171 claimable, and infenfible of good treatment, they could be very little difpofed to become Chriftians. From this unfavourable view of his flaves, it muft not be concluded, that al] are ab- folutely worthlefs. You often meet with a flave attached to his miafter’s intereft, | and in moft refpects truft-worthy. The author knows fome that would not lofe, on comparifon, with the moft circum{pect and faithful fervants in Britain. Slaves, indeed, are frequently attached to the perfons of - their mafters, and will rifk their lives readily for them, who yet make very free with their property. To {peak generally, thofe matters are beft ferved, who feed and clothe their flaves well, who are themfelves methodical in their bufinefs, and never take notice of a fault in them unlefs they mean to correct them fmartly for it. They are i/ ferved, who are carelefs in their manner, indifferent how they are treated, averfe to or irregular in their method of chaftifement. And can any behaviour different from this be expected in creatures, whofe only motive of action is prefent feeling, who have no reputation to fupport, no lafting intereft to care for ? a The 172 On THE TREATMENT AND The ‘author is fenfible that his want of fuccefs was, in a certain degree, owing toa want of ftrictnefs in the method of treating his flaves, adapted to their prefent debafed ftate. And this arofe equally from his want of refolution to perfevere in the difagreeable work, and from the fituation of his family, a private one, not methodically and conftantly employed in particular bufinefs. This cir- cumftance rendered it incapable of being regulated with the accuracy of a plantation, © where every hour has its employment, and every piece of work its overfeer. Nor are any families among us fo well regulated as thofe connected with plantations, where method in correction and work makes fome amends for the want of principle in our manner of managing flaves. This, at. firft view, may appear harfh to the humane and pious; but it is not, therefore, the leds a true picture of human nature; nor, to thofe who are ac- quainted with the neceffity and effects of dif- cipline in our army and navy, will it refleé& any particular difgrace on the natural biafs or capacity of Africans. Human nature, where-ever found in the fame debafed ftate, would thew itfelf in the fame worthlefs manner, CoNVERSION or AFRICAN SLAVES. ye manner. Nor is it an argument for ftraiten- ing, but for relaxing, and at laft entirely breaking, the chain of flavery. Mafter and flave are in every refpect oppo- fite terms ; the perfons to whom they are applied, are natural enemies to each other. Slavery, in the manner and degree that it exifts in our colonies, could never have been intended for the focial ftate ; for it fuppofes tyranny on one fide, treachery and cunning onthe other. Nor is it neceflary to difcufs which gives firft occafion to the other. But as flavery has over-run fo large a portion of fociety, the beft thing now to be done, is to prefs its neceflary ftrictnefs of difcipline into the fervice of freedom. In conformity to this reafoning, I affirm, that, If ever the reformation, of which we intend to treat, takes place, it muft begin in @ plantation, where forms, that are the firft traces, the outlines of rationality can be accurately af- certained, and conftantly enforced, by perfe- vering method and difcipline. The mild and argumentative Solon could regulate the {prightly, fenfible Athenians; but the rough, unfeeling Ruffians required a Draco, in their Peter the Great, to wreft their brutality from them. y74. ON THE TREATMENT AND them. In our cafe, the block muft, in fome meafure, be chipt in the rude manner of this laft, before the light touches of the polifher can take effect.* The author cannot, indeed, fatisfy him- felf with what he has done, and continues to do, in fpite of difappointment. The thing, when confidered by itfelf, appears fo plaufible, and mild treatment makes, in his imagination, fo amiable a part of it, that he is ready to hope, he has only miffed the right road, and may be more fuccefsful, if he could ftrike out a new plan. Again, when it is confidered, how much the ne- groes are immerfed in fenfe, how their in- telle€tual powers are wholly employed in the * In this, and every other place, where a ftrefs is laid on forms and difcipline, the reader is defired to diftinguifh be- tween ftri€tnefs and cruelty. What is here fuggefted, is point- ed at the mafter, more than the flave, and intends nothing violent or abrupt. Ifthe mafter be exatt, and careful in his own duty, he will have little reafon to complain of the flave. Exa€tnefs of method prevents faults, and cuts off the neceffity of punifhment. It is the ignorant, the immethodical, the neg- ligent, the gadding manager, or overfeer, who muft make up for all his own defects by ftripes, and cruel ufage to thofe who are under him. In Chap. I. Seé& 7, we gave an inftance of great ftridtnefs of difcipline, without the ufual proportion of punifhment. Four times owt of five the flave is punifhed for the overfeer’s fault, fervice CONVERSION or AFRICAN SLAVES. Lg fervice of the body, and that, ref{pecting them, we have accefs to the frit only by methods that make impreffion on the other; when he revolves the difficulty of managin gs by argument alone, a few flaves living and having their connections among hundreds of their equals, who are reftrained only by the whip, every hope of governing them, with- out certain degree of difcipline, fubfides ; he is reduced to barely wifhing, and praying, that things were otherwife than he has found them, after his beft endeavours. The example and converfation of our equals, will ever have greater influence on our behaviour, than the precepts or example of thofe who are fuppofed to be under other laws, and to have their lives regulated by -tules different. from thofe that we think are appointed for us. And it may be prefumed, that the eafy treatment which made part of the author’s fcheme, becaufe moft- agreeable to his difpofition, pro- duced in minds not capable of diftinguith- ing lenity from want of power, that care- leffnefs to pleafe, and pronenefs to ill beha- viour, which marked his {mall number of flaves. This 176 ON THE TREATMENT AND This was the cafe of the author’s flaves, and the reafoning about them, as matters ftood in the year 1771. Since the dreadful hurricane of 1772, which {wept away all their little ftock, there has been fome change for the better in their general condua@t. They have taken a turn to induftry in their own little concerns, which has given them a relifh for property (a turn that fhould always be en- couraged) and this has had an effect on their behaviour. In confequence of this, the greateft part of them have been admitted to baptifm, and were not the mafter too fre- quently obliged to interpofe in matters of domeftic concern, to check that fpirit of careleffnefs and oppofition, which naturally rifes againft the views of authority, the catechift and teacher might have appeared to have made fome confiderable progrefs a- mong them. Though the relaxed difcipline of the family made them ftll rather carelefs of pleafing, yet they kept more at home, and behaved more honeftly; and while fome feemed attached through principle, all had become more decent and orderly than in the former period. But CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 1977 But though they were flaves only in name, except in the not being at liberty to change the place of their abode at pleafure, and though become more manageable than be- fore, yet the reluctance that run through and affe@ted the fervice of the beft, with only one exception; the biafs they had to the manners and company of the flaves around them; the neceffity of following them up in every ftep of duty impofed on them, and of keeping the fear of punifhment fuf- pended over them, in fhort, the apparent uneafinefs on one fide, and the indifpenfable miftruft on the other, plainly proved that they had no folid enjoyment of themfelves. And indeed it was the ftrong feeling he had of thefe difficulties in the management of his flaves, which principally contributed to make the fituation of their mafter moft irkfome to him, and to render a ftate of af- fluence and eafe, (in a fettlement otherwife as agreeable as imagination can well paint) fo difguftful, as induced him with eager- nefs to embrace the firft opportunity that a generous friendfhip offered, of a retreat in a country, in which, though lefs favourable M to 178 ON THE TREATMENT AND to his health, and the views of his family, he could indulge the feelings of benevolence without regret. Se eee ey Ineflicacy of the Author’s Pubic Attempts to inftruct Slaves. On his firft fettlement as a minifter in the Weft-Indies, he made alfo fome pudlic at- tempts to inftruct flaves. He began to draw up fome eafy, plain difcourfes for their in- ftruction. He invited them to attend on Sundays, at particular hours. He appoint- ed hours at home, to inftru€t fuch fenfible flaves as would of themfelves attend. He repeatedly exhorted their mafters to encour- age fuch in their attendance. He recom- mended the French cuftom, of beginning and ending work by prayer. But incon- ceivable is the liftlefinefs with which he was heard, and bitter was the cenfure heap- ed on him in return. It was quickly fug- gefted, and generally believed, that he want- ed to interrupt the work of flaves, to give them time, forfooth, to fay their prayers; that he CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 179 he aimed at the making of them Chriftians, to render them incapable of being good dlaves. In one word, he ftood, in opinion, a rebel convict againft the intereft and ma- jefty of planterfhip. And as the Jews fay, that in every punifhment, with which they have been proved, fince the bondage of Egypt, there has been an ounce of the golden calf of Horeb; fo may he fay, that in every inftance of' prejudice (and they have not been a few) with which, till within a year or two of his departure from the country, he has been exercifed, there has been an ounce of his fruitlefs attempts to improve the minds of flaves. No mafter would ufe any influence with his flaves, to make them attend at the ap~ pointed hours. Even fome, who approved of the plan, or at leaft durft not, for fhame,. object to it, and who would have been offended with the man that fthould have infinuated their difregard to religion, did not think themfelves obliged to co- operate, or encourage their flaves to attend on inftruction, Nor did this backwardnefs pro- ceed from a dread of the ill confequences of M 2 improve- 180 On THE TREATMENT AND improvement, but from an indolence in fuch matters, that cannot be explained to one unacquainted. with the country. In the bidding prayer, he had inferted a petition for the converfion of flaves. It was deemed fo difagreeable a memento, that feve- ral white people, on account of it, left off attending divine fervice. He was obliged to omit the prayer entirely, to try and bring them back. In fhort, neither were the flaves, at that time, defirous of being taught, nor were their mafters inclined to encourage them. But as this refers to a period about eighteen years ago, which, in change of in- habitants, is there equal to a generation, there is ground to hope that the ancient pre- judices againft the converfion of the negroes may, fince that era, in fome iflands and in fome plantations be a good deal abated. SB C»T. CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. I8f Sia Bie Rig diet. The Manner fuggefted, in which private At- tempts on large Plantations, to improve Slaves, may probably fucceed. Little, we fee, can be faid of the endea- vours of individuals, within the author's knowledge, to improve their flaves. Some years ago he fcarce knew a man on the fpot, who had ferioufly attended to their inftruCtion, or who beljeved that intereft, duty, or reputa-= tion, obliged him to attempt it. Nay, though the more moderate and fenfible people al- low that the inftruction of flaves, if their prefent condition permitted it, and it could be brought about, would be a good thing, yet it is not to be concealed, that fome have {trong obje€tions againft every mea- fure that has their benefit in view, or that confiders them in any other light than in- ftruments of labour. An owner will, in- deed, fometimes have a favourite flave bap- tized; but I am not fenfible of any care having been taken, either before or after, with one in ten, who are indulged with the rite, to fee that they be inftructed. M 3 I was 182 On THE TREATMENT AND I was once requefted to baptize a negrefs, remarkable for her faithfulnefs and attach- ment to her owner’s intereft. On examina- tion, I found her grofsly ignorant, and un- ufually inattentive. In the eafieft manner in my power I attempted to inftruct her, and as fhe lived in the neighbourhood, bid her come frequently to me. I fpoke alfo to her owners, mentioned her ignorance, and exprefied my readinefs to inftruct her. She never attended, was carried into ano- ther parifh, and there baptized, I had al- moft faid, without ceremony. Baptifm 1s fuppofed to free a flave from the power of the negroe conjurer, and its being per- mitted, is confidered, in the matter, as the conferring of a favour, that is complete, when the rite is performed. The lot of flaves, refpecting religion, is moft favourable, when they happen to be prefented young to a growing up daughter of the family, or to be the property of induftrious people, juft above the loweft rank. In thefe cafes, care is fometimes taken to fit them for baptifm, and fome turn out tolerably fober, and fen- fible; but their proportion to the whole can hardly be taken into account. But atts CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 183 But if flaves in the:r prefent fiate be ca- pable of any confiderable improvement, it will probably be on large plantations, where they compofe communities of themfelves, and where the difcipline neceflary for huma- nizing them can be carried on with the great- eft ftrictnefs and effect. In this point of view is the following plan propofed. In the firft place, a chaplain muft be appointed; and a man of confiderable affi- duity would find full employment among the ufual numbers, that extenfive plan- tations contain of fuch ignorant crea- tures. If a fober, difcreet man in orders could be found, who underftood phyfic enough to enable him to take charge of their fick, greater encouragement could be given, and one office would promote the other. For both, a fingle man fhould be allowed £250 fterling per annum, the ufe of a horfe and a boy, and board with the manager. No man, acquainted with the country, will confider this appointment as exceflive, for a man of a liberal education. The chaplain fhould teach the flaves fome fhort prayers, to be repeated by them in M 4 private, 184 ON THE TREATMENT AND private, when they rife in the morning, and when they go to fleep... He. fhould accuftom them to repeat fome fhort inftructive form refpecting their focial duties, when they begin and leave off their field work. The black over- feers, as in the French. colonies, may foon be taught to take the lead in their field de- votions. A chapel fhould be built for the perform- ance of divine fervice on Sunday, for prayers on the days when their allowance of pro- vifions is diftributed, for celebrating the offices of matrimony and baptifm, and any other occafion of meeting together, A burying ground fhould be {et apart for the decent interment of the dead, and it thould be allotted out according to their families. It would have an excellent effe& on them, if only tractable, well-difpofed perfons were buried with their families, and every worth- lefs fellow buried in a place apart. The chapel fhould be built near the hof- pital, that all, who are under cure, may, if able, attend fervice. The chaplain fhould be inftant in inftructing thofe in the hofpi- tal, that his teaching may interfere. the lefs wen with CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 185 with their ordinary work in health.’ And as a confiderable proportion, on fome account or other, will be received into the hofpital within the year, fomething valuable may be effected by embracing that opportunity. By applying particularly to bring forward the more fenfible and teachable flaves, he may enable them in time to affift him in the work, and by little rewards, which he may be allowed to beftow, he may fecure their help; but efpecially, he may give the parents affection a turn to the inftruction of their children. The great difficulty will be, to let down the language of religion to their prefent capacity: a convincing proof with me, that however flavery may be per- mitted, yet originally Providence never defigned any rational, or accountable creature for fuch a deprefied brutith ftate, as that ef African flaves in the Britifh colonies. But if a few were once well-grounded in re- ligious knowledge, they could talk more familiarly and feelingly to their fellows, than the minifter; and his chief bufinefs, except general inftruction, would then be to fuperintend their conduct, and excite them 186 On THE TREATMENT AND them to the work. The young children generally fhew themfelves four or five times a day in a gang, with {mall parcels of grafs, picked for the cattle. They may be made to repeat fome fhort general precept, on de- livering in their bundles, the moft forward boy taking the lead. Sundays are ufually fpent by induftrious flaves, in their own provifion grounds. To give them time for improvement and devo- tion on that day, they muft be allowed at leaft Saturday afternoon for their own work ; taking care to keep them honeftly employed, that they may not go robbing, or ftealing, or get into drunken brawls. Few, at firft, could bear fuch indulgence, without ftrict looking after. As the manager will object to a regula- tion that curtails the working hours of his people, to induce him to allow the flaves this time, he muft be permitted to make up for the labour reduced in giving up Satur- day afternoon to themfelves, by adding gra- dually to the gang, on a large plantation, about thirty young negroes. If the owner fhould, from delicacy, object ta the buying of flaves, perhaps the confideration of its | producing CoNnVERSION OF AFRICAN ‘SLAVES. 187 producing a benefit to the whole, may pre- vailon him. This would be an expence at firft, but, by increafing the vigour and in- duftry of the flaves, would in time improve his property greatly beyond their firft coft. And as the flaves might be made to per- form their own work, under the direction of the overfeers, their patches of ground would be better cultivated, and give greater increafe, than when each is left to work as he pleafeth. This is on the fuppofition, that fuch plantations are fully ftocked for the prefent views of the proprietors. The gang fhould be marfhalled by fami- lies, each divifion being put under the care of the principal perfon in it, who fhould be an{fwerable for their conduct. At ftated times they fhould pafs in review, be exa- mined in refpect of health, give an account of their clothes, and the feveral articles of their little property. Then fhould follow an inquiry into their religious progrefs, and ‘a diftribution of rewards among: the moft diligent, either in getting themfelves, or their children and fellows forward. Much would depend on the temper and difcretion of 188 On THE TREATMENT AND of the minifter; much on the hearty con- currence of the manager. A large public thatched room fhould be built,..in which to hold their feafts and merry-makings ; and the man of the great- eft influence and. fobriety among them, fhould be chofen. by themfelves, and ap- proved of by the manager, to be mafter of the revels, and keep them harmlefs, and within bounds. Some folemn act of prayer, or thankfgiving, fhould begin andend every affembly. No offence, except infolence and difobe- dience, fhould be punifhed by the manager, till it has been fubmitted to the decifion of a jury, chofen from among themfelves. This would accuftom them to mark the difference between right and wrong, and at leaft make confiderate and prudent flaves fhun faults, which they had condemned in their neighbour’s practice.. -All punifhments fhould be inflicted with folemnity, in pre- fence of the gang, accompanied with fome fhort explanation, of the crime, and.anex- hortation from the. chaplain, to abftain. from it. Infolence and ‘difobedience are. left to be CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAvVEs. 189 be punifhed at the difcretion of the mana- ger, till the flaves become capable of moral government, becaufe he would not be able to fupport his authority, if obliged to fub- mit the difcuffion of faults committed againtt himfelf, to the decifion of other perfons. It is difficult to determine what reforma- tion this example, and the good effects pro- duced by this extraordinary care, might produce in.a neighbourhood. But judging from analogy, we muift not expect the fruits to be of a very quick growth, or very {pread- ing nature. Thus, for inftance, we know that intereft pleads equally with humanity, for the kind treatment of flaves. Every difcreet man feelingly acknowledges it; yet how often, in practice, do thefe principles feem to be at variance, in fpite of the moft convincing example which their union, in men of prudence and fentiment, can produce? How frequently may interett, or rather her accurfed phantom, felfithnefs, be feen dragging a human creature in a chain, naked, ftarved, and raw with {tripes, and demanding, with threats, that tale of labour, which cruelty has rendered the wretch incapable of performing? Now 190 ON THE TREATMENT AND Now if example'be fo little of a diffufive nature, in a cafe fuch as this, in which all confider themfelves as concerned, what may we expect to happen in religion, which is not deemed the concern of any particular perfon? The liftlefsnefs in fuch matters is too univerfal; the defire of prefent gain too general, for any confiderable proportion of the inhabitants to fall fuddenly and eagerly into a fcheme, that promifes fo little im- mediate profit, and feems to be fo very foreign to their bufinefs, or duty, and fo far above the capacity of rhe objects of this improvement.* Yet * Among the ancients, not only the fine arts, but fciences and philofophy, in particular inftances, were cultivated by flaves. Thefe were therefore immediate objects of religion and morality. But their fituation differed greatly from that of our African flaves. Thefe are favages ravifhed from their huts, andtheir country, to till, like brutes, a ftrange foil, in a ftrange climate, among people of a ftrange fpeech, without rights, without privileges, without enjoyments. ‘T’he ancient flaves were often perfons of condition, deprived of their freedom by the accidents of war ; or fuch as had been liberally brought up in their mafter’s family, and looked forward to freedom in his affection or gratitude. ‘Thefe once accuftomed to reflect, purfued their. ftudies, and fearched in philofophy, or CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 1gi Yet on no account is there reafon to” de-_ fpair.. Good fenfe would induce the imitas tion of fome ; religion, awakened by confei- ence, would exert her influence with others; fhame would oblige many, vanity more; the natural. progsefs of knowledge and reafon in the human mind, though flow to anfwer the withes of fentiment, would go on gra- dually to accomplith the important work. Even among the fenfible flaves, emulation would have great effects. On the whole, the caufe of humanity and religion would be ferved. But whatever might be the iffue with others, were fuch flaves as thefe of whom we treat, advanced in focial life ora- dually, as they fhewed themfelves capable of improvement, nothing could hinder their mafters from reaping the happieft fruits from their humanity, piety, and good fenfe. They would be more healthy, more vigo- rous, more diligent, more honeft; they or religion, for fupport under the miferies of their condition. In their cafe, no infolent pride in the matter, of: fuppofing himfelf of an higher race, blocked up the path to their ad. vancement. It is pride with us forms an infeparable bar to every generous wifh. Emulation is frozen ; expectation is dead ; the heavenly fpark lies fmothered in anguifh and neg- lett, while all around is darknefs and doubt. would 192 ON THE TREATMENT AND would rife in the fcale of being, pofiefs more of the conveniencies of life, enjoy more hap- pinefs, and look forward with more confil- dence into futurity. I have mentioned the neceflity of making focial privileges, to ac- company attempts at mental improvement, becaufe I am perfuaded, that little of confe- quence can be gained in the lait, without be- ftowing fomething proportionably confidera- ble on the other. But we fhall leave the dif- cuffion of this point, to make a part of our particular plan of improvement.* In * That particular points may be gained among flaves, in their prefent ftate, though we have few examples of general improvement, may be concluded from the following narration. Ona plantation in a tobacco colony, lived fome years ago a manager, a German, a reduced army officer. He formed the flavesinto a regiment, dividing them into commands, and appointing officers over them. ‘Their motions were perform- ed, and their work was regulated by beat of drum. He planted armed centinels as in a garrifon. Offences were tried as in a court martial, and none were punifhed till their equals had adjudged them to be guilty. A corporal had deferted and carried off his arms. ‘The officer received intelligence of him, and as it was the firft inflance of defertion, and the offender had alfo killed one of his companions, it was neceflary to make a ftriking example of it. The officer went at the head of an armed party, and furrounded the houfe where the cor- poral lay hid. It was night, and happened to be moon-light. The noife foon brought the deferter out, armed with his musket. The CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES, 193 In general we affirm, that the mafter, or legiflature, that aims at improvement, or de- fires to promote good order, muft keep their people ftrictly to forms, and make the indi- viduals judges of each other’s behaviour. Breaches of morality may, under proper ge- neral fanctions, be left to the unbiafied opi- nions of the people. To direct induftry, and indifferent habits, to a plan of general utility and obedience, is the object of po- lice. To carry form and method into pri- vate life, is the true fecret to impart firm- nefs, both to law and empire. : It was not the /zws of Lycurgus, which might not be in contemplation once in a man’s life, but it was his cuffoms, which The officer, while advancing on him with his mufket prefent- ed, bid him furrender, and on no account to prefent his piece, for on the fmalleft attempt he would fhoot him: on the other hand, he affured him, on his honour, that he fhould have a fair trial. ‘T’he corporal hoped to command more favourable terms in a pofture of defence, but in attempting to level his piece, the officer fhot him dead. He was tried in the provincial courts for killing the man, and was acquitted. But to fhew his peo. ple, that he did not make one law for them, and another for himfelf, he had the caufe formally difcufled in his own plan- tation court, and was unanimoufly abfolved. The effects that would naturally be produced by fuch a difcipline, enforced by fuch an example, muft, in things to which it is extended, be’ great and lafting. N met 194 On THE TREATMENT AND met the citizen at every meal, that gave fta~ bility to Sparta. The decalogue, and the other principles of morality, fill a fmall {pace in the laws of Mofes, and refpeét every other nation equally with the Jews; but ablutions, feftivals, and facrifices returned on his peo- ple, at every hour; and they were the infti- tutes which have principally fecured obedience to that conftitution through a longer period of time, than any other fyftem has been able to effec. Man is compofed of matter and’ intellect ; and he who would be mafter of the laft, muft not neglect the culture of the other. Our Englifh laws pafs over the private conduct of the citizen, to attend to nuifances, and impofe taxes. Hence that ab{urdity of condua, that inconfiftency, that extravagance of behaviour, that mifapplica- tion of time, and wealth, which prevail among us, above all others, in private life. And yet how can the public carry on that joint purpofe, which is the end of fociety, or how can it flourifh asa community, when individuals are left, each man to follow his own caprice?* In fhort, we have too few circum-=- * To give one inftance out of thoufands of this neglect. The fate of the nation is fuppofed to be bound up with trade, yet CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 195 circumftances, that bring us together, or oblige us to confider ourfelves as members of the fame community. The focial nature yet is every man permitted to finifh his own manufactures, in his own way, by which the national character and intereft fuf- fer daily among foreigners. This might be prevented, by permitting nothing to be exported, till it has endured the {cru- tiny of proper judges, and had its quality ftampt on it by au- thority. This negligence, ere this, would have been as fatah in other branches, as it has already been in the Turkey trade, but for that emulation which naturally arifes among competi< tors in the fame branches. This fyftem, of directing by authority the private conduct of citizens, was carried a faulty length by the Jefuits in Paraguay. There the individual was confidered as a mere inftrument of public order, and public induftry, without having any thing permitted to his own feelings, or inclination, And our flaves fuffer in proportion, as they are under a mafter, who is more or lefs teafing and difturbing them in their own hours, and little concerns. But furely, it would not be difficult to ob- lige, by the regulations of police, a man to be happy in himfelf, and to add happinefs to thofe around him, by fixing on the proper medium in managing him, between carelefsnefs and inftruction. The difference is exceeding great in our flaves, when employed for their mafters and for themfelves. In the firft cafe, they drawl their tafk out, and weep ander the bur- den, liftlefs, and carelefs of fuccefs. See them on a Sunday morning, that only day of liberty, going to market with their own provifions, they walk ftrong, their faces cheerful, their bodies ereét, their perfons neat, and the whole man elevated and improved. Now the police that we recommend above, makes the man contribute to the general profperity, while he imagines himfelf wholly taken up in purfuing his own intereft, and exerting himfelf in his own bulinefs, N 2 of 196 On THE TREATMENT AND of our religion has indeed hitherto made up for many of the other defects, and prevented us from feeling their ill confequence. But in proportion as the notions of Epicurus become fafhionable among us, this tie drops off alfo, and in all probability, unlefs we ex- cept our taxes, we fhall foon have nothing in common as a people, but the fea that furrounds our ifle. A defire of pointing out the way of giving fuccefs to the parti- cular attempt here recommended, amidft the difficulties that furround it, has infenfibly led to this digreffion. CHAP, ( 197 ) CR EN Natural Capacity of Slaves vindicated. O thofe who, with Mofes, believe that all men had one common. pa- rent, though for wife ends different families have fince had diftinguifhing marks fixed on them, the fubject of this chapter would be an unneceflary digreflion. But we are fo fond of an hypothefis, which indulges pride, and faves the trouble of inquiry, that the contrary, though leading to nothing gene- rous, though narrow, felfifh, and illiberal, has found powerful advocates, who draw after them crowds of admirers. Therefore, before we proceed to claim the rights of fociety, and of a common religion for Af- ricans, we muft firft put them in poffeffion of that humanity, which is pertinacioufly difputed with them. With this view I : N 3 thall 198 ON THE TREATMENT AND thall confider the objeCtions made to their capacity, from hypothefis, from figure, from anatomy, from obfervation, and prove their natural powers, from reafon and experience. Seok aa ae Objections to African Capacity, drawn from Philofophy, confidered. Hume, in his Effays, broacheth an opi- nion concerning negroes, which, if true, would render whatever could be advanced in their favour, of no account. But I truft his af- fertion, which certainly was made without any competent knowledge of the fubject, will appear to have no foundation, either in reafon or nature. In his Effay on National Characters, he fays, ‘‘ That mankind is com- <¢ pofed of three or four different races; and ‘¢ that there never was a polifhed fociety, <* but of the white race, to which all others ‘* are naturally inferior.” In particular, he giyes it as his formed opinion, ‘ that there <¢ never arofe a man of genius among ne- ** groes,” Had CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 199 Had he lived in’ the days of Auguftus, or even but a thoufand years ago, his nor- thern pride, perhaps, would have been lefs afpiring, and fatisfied to have been admitted even on a footing of equality with the fable Africans. Virgil makes Dido infinuate to /Eneas, the reafon he had to expe humane treatment among her people, not becaufe they were polifhed Pheenicians, but becaufe they dwelt more immediately than other powers under the powerful influence of the fun. And in the time of Charlemagne, a foreign divine, writimg to the Britons to encourage them, tells them, as a thing re- markable, that though their country lay far *‘ north, yet it had produced feveral great “men.” Suppofing thefe, and Hume’s ob- fervations, (if indeed thefe deferve the name) to have been drawn equally from fact, the conclufion is, that arts, {ciences, and the polifhed life accompanying them, are flow- ly progreffive through nations and climates, rather than that the natives of any parti- cular country are born incapable of them jn their turn, as if intended to a& an in- ferior part in the moral world, N 4 Again, 200 On THE TREATMENT AND Again, in his Natural Hiftory of Religion, he affirms; that if a traveller found a peo- ple void of religion, he would find them removed but few degrees from brutes.} He fays, ‘* In the progrefs of human thought, ‘* the ignorant multitude muft firft entertain <* fome grovelling familiar notion of {fuperior “< powers, before they ftretch their concep- “* tions to that perfect Being, who beftowed ‘* order on the frame of nature;” { ‘‘ to be- «< Jueve,: + Yet, why, if fuch be the man’s genuine fentiments, did he ftrive, in all his writings, to difgrace religion, and deftroy every moral fentiment connected with it among his country- men? I will not fay what name fuch cool malevolence de- ferves, but, on the other hand, let not his friends pretend to exalt the author of fuch peitilential tenets above every human character. { This is with a view to eftablith his favourite pofition, that polytheifm was the firft religion: becaufe, he there fays, <‘ Man could not poflibly have degenerated from pure theifm ** to polytheifm; and yet, we know, that polytheifm has “¢ prevailed.’? But, forgetting this impoffibility of degene- racy, in order to fhew the little confequence of religion in general, and, as he humanely and refpectfully obferves, to fet the religious fects a wrangling, while he and a few more choice fpirits are making their efcape into the calm regions of philofophy; he afterwards tells us, that man changes continu- ally from polytheifm to theifm, and from theifm to poly- theifm; and, in his opinion, it is a matter of no confequence. But confiftency in the apoitle of infidelity is as little neceffary, as CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 201 “* lieve,” faith he, ‘* invifible, intelligent “* power, is a ftamp fet by the divine Work- ‘* man on human nature. Nothing dignifies ‘¢ man more than to be feleGted from all the ‘‘ other parts of the creation to bear this ‘image of the univerfal Creator.” Here, then, we have religion for a badge of excel- lence or reafon, and the want of it a mark of inferiority or brutality. Speaking of the white or fuperior race, he goes on to affirm, that the bulk of mankind is incapable of being directed by the tenets of pure theifm; that all popular religions, in the conception of their more vulgar votaries, are, therefore, a {pecies of demoniafm; and that religious principles, as they have prevailed in the world, are only fick mens dreanis. Now, if we afflume, as we juftly may, that a perfeCtion to be found very feldom in a fuperior race, cannot be expected in any inftance in an inferior race; according to him, we fhall in vain look among negroes for what is rare even in the white race. as in, the lives of thofe for whom the do@trine is calculated. There is, indeed, fomething fo degrading in all Hume’s phi- lofophy, as can recommend it only toa corrupt heart, and a vitiated underftlanding, which fee nothing to wifh for, or ex- cite their emulation, out of the circle of animal indulgencies. Here 202 ON THE TREATMENT AND Here and there we fee a man fix féet in fta- ture; but were there fuch a.nation as Fabu- lifts defcribe pigmies to be, would a travel- ler expect to find a pigmy fix feet tall? In fuppofing a diftinction, we deny to the in- ferior every mark of excellency that diftin- guifhes one individual of the fuperior race from his fellows. If, then, his fuppofition be juft, it follows that negroes are not in- tended for religion. For, whatever be his private fentiments of revealed religion, he mutt allow it to be a fpecies of general re- ligion; and he admits the reception of religion to be a perfection in the fuperior race, an advancement of their nature, that few in com- parifon of the whole do really attain unto, He alfoallows that Chriftianity contains many of the fublimetruths of theifm, which, accord- ing to his opinion, no fociety, even of white men, ever yet lived up to. It would then be abfurd to expect that negroes, an inferior race, fhould be capable of an excellence, even in, that lefs degree, fuppofed to be contained in Chriftianity, to which a great proportion of the fuperior race, I will not fay cannot, but do not, attain, But CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 203 But there is fomething in a well-difpofed mind, that makes the man revolt againft this cruel opinion: and, I truft, nature flatly contradicts the -affertion. As far as I can judge, there is no difference between the intelle€&ts of whites and blacks, but fuch as circumftances and education natu~ rally produce. It is true, there are marks, that appear now to be eftablifhed, as if fet by the hand of nature to diftinguifh them from the whites: their nofes are flat, their chins prominent, their hair woolly, their fkin black. They who, from Mofes believe (and, fince, on any {cheme we muft come to a particular time when the diftinction took place, it is, to fay no more, juft as fenfible as any other pofition) that the Deity parcelled out the earth into families and languages, may cen- clude, that thefe diftinGtions gradually took place at the period in which the fons of men were conducted by the invifible hand of Pro- vidence each to his allotted habitation. And, Jet it be remarked, that the charaCteriftics of negroes fhew themfelves chiefly about the face, where nature has fixed both the national A attri~ 204 ON THE TREATMENT AND attributes and the difcriminating features of individuals, as if intended to diftinguifh them from other families, and bind them in the focial tie with their brethren. But their tongues are as mufical,-+ their hands as elegant and apt; their limbs as neatly turned, and their bodies as well formed for ftrength and ac- tivity as thofe of the white race. After firft writing the above, I was for.a fhort time made happy, by finding that Lord Kaims, in his firft volume of Sketches, had indulged the fuppofition, that at the dif- perfion,. on the confufion of languages, when the earth was divided among Noah’s pofterity, national attributes firft took place in, the feveral families, in the feveral climates. But this fatisfaction continued only till I + It is furprizing, that during the continued rage for Italian fingers, it has never entered among the whims of the | age, to try if mufic might not be imported from the Banks of the Niger. It is certain the natural tafte of the Africans for mufic is confiderable; and inftruétion and affiduity might change mungo’s filly ftage gibberifh into the foft thrills and quavers of Italian eunuchs. By the way, how would it have hurt the pride of an overweening Hume among the Romans, to have been told, that the time would come when his fons fhould be emafculated to fit them for entertaining on a ftage the barbarous Britons with effeminate mufic? entered CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 205 entered on the perufal of the fecond volume: where it is affirmed, that the inhabitants of America have an origin diftinét from the natives of the eaftern hemifphere. We fhall, therefore, confider thefe opinions together. t That t Ina late well-known Hiftory of America there is room to imagine, that the author entertains the fame opinion with Lord Kaims. He guards it, indeed, by faying, that we fhould be apt to believe the Americans had a different origin, if the {criptures did not affure us that mankind fprung from one ftock. ‘The doétor did not reflec that many of his readers had not the fame opinion of the fcriptures as he entertained; and that his conjecture, as an hiftorian, would weigh more with them, than his faith as a Chriftian. He, probably, threw it out as a fpeculative opinion, without attending to the in- human confequences deduced from it, and certainly he grounds it on very controvertible data. When he acknowledged the apparent difference, he fhould have been aware of the fcep- ticifm of the age, and guarded againft the conclufions that would eagerly be drawn from it. Indeed, the friends of virtue have feldom been fufficiently careful in this refpect. Before any {peculative opinion be given to the world, a man fhould turn it in his mind every poflible way, to confider to what ufes it may be wrefted by infidelity, when brought out under the fandction of his name. A profeffed enemy of virtue muft be, placed in particular circumftances to be able to do much harm in the world by his writings ; but every reverie of an eminent good man is eagerly feized on, if it can be turned to promote the purpofes of pro- fligacy. Would Locke, even in the eagernefs of difputation, have hazarded that wild conjecture, that poflibly matter might think, could he have forefeen that it would have eftablithed him 206 On THE TREATMENT AND That without the information afforded by facred hiftory, and without an attention to that extenfive plan of divine ceconomy which it opens to us, we fhould, at firft fight, imagine the feveral families inhabiting the earth to have had diftin@ progenitors, I readily acknowledge. But, fince a hiftory confiftent in itfelf, uncontradicted by autho- rity, agreeing in analogy with the paft and prefent ftate of things, and fupported by every pofflible collateral evidence of hiftory, tradition, national manners, and cuftoms, affures us that men had one common anceftor, that at a period, when men had become nu- merous, profligate, and daring, their Crea- tor, to punifh their rebellion, and, (con- formably to that divine benevolence which conftantly brings good out of evil) to make: it inftrumental in advancing fociety, and the more equal and fpeedy cultivation of the earth, divided them into families and lan- guages, giving to each diftinct features, and a feparate fpeech: this, I fay, being the cafe, we are not left at liberty to purfue every him as a main pillarof materialifm, and made him an{werable for all its dreary confequences. In arguing, as in wreftling, we are not fo careful to preferve ourfelves from falling, as anxious to throw our adverfary. wild CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 207 wild conjecture. Both methods, at firft, were equally eafy to fupreme power; both, at: firft, ftood equally in need of an extraor- dinary volition or exertion of Omnipotence. But we can obferve a peculiar propricty in choofing the latter. By giving man one fimple origin, by beftowing on him a com- mon nature, a foundation was laid for the ultimate re-union of mankind, as well now in improved focial life as in futurity; a re-union intended to take place in time under the then-promifed connecting head of the creation, and particularly rendered practica- ble in a unity of laws, government, and worthip, by this univerfal equality eftablith- ed among the various families; which keeps the way open for the equal and gradual im- provement of their common nature. This is the fyftem taught by revelation: it is a plan that reafon readily acknowledges, and benevolence chearfully adopts; it gives a grand, a flattering, and the only confiftent view of mankind, as having for its author the God of univerfal nature. He, who once has entertained it, mutt defpife the conjectures of philofophy, and the paradoxes of infidelity. And furely it fhould gain for that 208 On THE TREATMENT AND that revelation which difcovers it a favour- able, even an interefted, hearing, equally from the politician and the philanthropitt, as encouraging the nobleft and warmeft withes that refpect fociety or man. All here is confiftent and analogical. In certain attributes and qualities, in the mental powers, all mankind agree. The feveral families or fuppofed races have various marks, connecting them with each other, and dif- tinguifhing them from the reft. The nations into which each race is divided, with the common attributes of the race, have lefs ap- parent, yet ftill fufficient marks to diftinguith them from others, and connect them toge- ther. Generally fpeaking, even inhabitants of provinces have a common run of man- ners, language, or features, perhaps of all taken together, to bind them in fome degree of union, and alfo diftinguith them. After thefe, domeftic likeneffes take place, that have {till more intimate common marks, yet allow of a fufficient variety to know a man from his brother. Now, in the eye of true philofophy, the diftinguifhing attributes of the individual, an hair more or lefs of this or that colour, a par- CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 209 a particular feature predominant, have as certain a diftinét caufe in nature, as what makes the difference between the faireft Eu- ropean and moft jetty African. If, there« fore, we can refolve the difcriminating attri- butes of individuals into the neceflary final caufe of focial intercourfe, why hefitate we in afcribing to the fame caufe the more ob- vious diftinctions of the greater families? Or, why feek for caufes lefs confiftent, ap- parently lefs worthy of the Deity, to pamper vanity and pride, when this is full and fuf- ficient to explain the fact? For the period when this diftintion took place, and the plan of reformation to which it looked, we are referred by Mofes to the confufion of Babel, “« When the Moft High << divided to the nations their inheritance; ‘* when he feparated the fons of Adam; when ** he fet the bounds of the people according “¢ to the number of the children of Ifrael:” a family, that, in the courfe of Providence, was feparated, and, when the fulnefs of time came, was employed, to inftruét the world in that common relation to their Creator and to each other, which had been entangled in error, disfigured by fable, and perverted O by _ 210 On THE TREATMENT AND by fiction: for this office the Jews were well calculated; their turn for commerce made them wander and mix with, while their cuf- toms kept them diftinct from, other nations. They were actuated with zeal for the unity of the Deity, and fhewed a wonderful pa- tience under perfecution.- SH Og Os + It is remarkable of Philo, the Jew Platonift, that though he gives no hint of his knowledge of Chriftianity, which alone explains and vindicates the Jewifh law, and points out its defign; yet, with Chriftians and Platonifts, he fuppofeth the world to be the immediate work, and under the particular government of the Demiurgos, or word, and he affirms the feparation of the Jews to have had the gradual improvement of mankind in view. In fpite of the obligations that the world in general owes to the Jews, refpecting theology and morality, yet fo fafhionable isit for every author, in imitation of Voltaire, to go out of his way to abufe them, that he who expreffes a regard for them expofes himfelf to contempt. But thofe who deny them the privileges of a particular difpenfation, in fo doing exalt them above all nations of antiquity. For they alone had penetra. tion to find out, and piety to worfhip, the univerfal Creator. The Roman twelve tables were a colletion from all the Greek inftitutes; how contemptible are they compared with the decalogue! That anciently the Jews were not the defpifed people which modern infidelity would fain reprefent them, appears clearly from the alliances formed by them, and the im- munities and privileges granted them under the Perfians, Grecians, and Romans. ‘The farcafm of Auguftus on them, may be accounted for from their being the only province that refufed CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 211 Sree or ae ei Objections to African Capacity, drawn from Form, confidered. The marks that diftinguith the African, and give room to the tyrannic European (for I believe the Afiatic mafter is content with the pre-eminence that power imparts) toclaim the higheft place, are, as I before obferved, refufed to make him a God. The fneering of the Roman poets is, in the cafe of a conquered nation, but a poor proof of a matter of fact. But thefe cavillers have not reflected that the hiftory of the Jews, from which their abufe is drawn, confiders them wholly as objects of morality and religion, under the immediate government of the Lord Jehovah, not with other hiftories as a ftate rifing and falling in the {cale of opulence. Take the moft virtuous people of this, or any ancient period, and meafure their manners by the perfect law of God, and will they ftand in a more amiable or praife- worthy light than thefe defpifed out-cafts? Doth Jeremiah paint the depravity of his people in ftronger lines than honeft Latimer doth that of his age, though the period of reformation? Would Latimer foften his ftile, were he to return among as? Farther, to be abufed is a fign of oppofition and emulation rather than of inferiority. Why, among the various nations that inhabit the Britith ifles, is one alone abufed by their wealthier neighbours, but becaufe it treads moft clofely at their _ heels? Had not the Jews made a diftinguithed figure in the Roman Empire, the triumph that celebrated their conqueft would have ¢lofed the account of them as a people, O 2 flat a12 On -THE TREATMENT AND flat nofes, prominent chins, woolly hair, black fkins; to which the curious anatomift adds fkulls lefs capacious, calves of the legs lefs flefhy, and elevated more towards the hams. Now, allowing all thefe, we want a link to conneét them with inferiority. Lefs capacious fkulls, indeed, will at once be deemed conclufive againft us; but has the rule been applied, and is it found agreeable to obfervation in common life? We know that climate, diet, and the various modes of life have great power over the features, form, and ftature of man. Weit Indian children, educated in England, improve not only in complexion, but in ele- gance of features: an alteration arifing, per- haps, equally from change of climate, of diet, and of education. We fee fimilarity of features run through particular families. Shall we, therefore, be able to tell which carries the enfigns of genius; which bears the impreffion of wifdom, the proper foun- dation of power. On this fuppofition, he- reditary indefeafible right in Kings would not be a fubject of ridicule, but of grave difcuffion. We need only to diftinguifh ac- curately the ftamp of royalty to put ourfelves under CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 213 under the beft poffible government. Were © this allowed, we could no longer laugh at the Egyptians for pretending to be able to call out their God Apis from amidft herds of common oxen. We fee fets of national features independent of colour. We fee colour gradually verging from white to black, through every intermediate degree of tawny and copper. We fee genius {porting in various forms, tall in Newton, bulky in Hume, flender in Voltaire, diminutive and deformed in Pope. Where fhall we fix the claim of genius? how purfue it through all the diverfity of human form? Or, were we to attempt it, and infolently place ourfelves, or our tribe, in the higheft rank, would not History dafh the vain garland from our brow? Would it not tell us that arts, fcien- ces, and the immediate capacity for them, are progreflive in their nature and objects, vifiting fometimes this region, fometimes another ? Again, of the fame fociety, of the fame family, fome men are fmooth, fome hairy, fome tall, fome fhort, fome fair, fome brown. But as thefe peculiarities are indifcriminately diftributed among ‘individuals, otherwife QO 3 equal ] 214. ON THE TREATMENT AND equal, no body thinks of applying a rule to meafure the difference, or of afcribing to each its allotted fhare of mental powers. Yet the moft minute difference, a fhade more or lefs, of this or that colour, muft have as diftinét a caufe to produce it, as what divides aman from a monkey. And Mr. Hume, becaufe a tall bulky man, and alfo a fubtile philofopher, might have de- nied a capacity for metaphyfical fubtilty to all who wanted thefe his great bodily at- tributes, as well as fuppofe capacity and vigour of mind incompatible with a flat nofe, curling hair, and a black {kin. It is faid of negroes, that their brain is blackifth, and the glandula pinealis wholly black; a remark of which the Cartefian, with his audience-hall of perception, might make much. It has not come within my notice; nor on the principles of common fenfe can any thing be inferred fromit, un- lefs anatomy had alfo determined that the jaundice affects not thefe parts, as a proof that this blacknefs arifes not from the colour of the fkin. But it is obferved that their blood is of a dark red. This may be accounted for from their poor falt diet, and their working naked CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 218 naked in the fun; and this colour in the blood may contribute to thefe appearances in the brain, while running through the ca- pillary veffels that are {pread over every vifible part of it. The {kin takes its colour from a gelatinous fubftance, placed between the fcarf and the proper fkin: this fubftance approaches to jet black in proportion as the place of their nativity lies near the equator. In bad health, it equally, with the northern white, in the fame circumftances, changes into a fickly yellow. Is not colour a precarious founda- tion for genius, feeing, in one view, we may fuppofe it to reduce the parts of afick white man, in another to increafe thofe of a fick negroe, by bringing both nearer to a ratio of equality. Perhaps an enquiry into the nature of freckles in fair complexioned people might throw fome light on the blacknefs of the African. The feat of their blacknefs and of freckles is the fame; and they appear to be allied in nature, being both, probably, a fecretion, and coagulation from the capillary veflels, brought about in particular circum- tances by the miniftry of the weather and @) 4 fun; 216 On THE TREATMENT AND fun: for negroe children are born white, and the weather and fun caufe freckles. When, therefore, we can account for the pre-dif- pofing caufe of freckles in particular perfons, we fhall know fomething of black fkins: for a freckle may be defined a partial black {kin ; a black {kin an univerfal freckle. It may be an help in the inquiry to remark, that a difpofition to be freckled and ftrong red curling hair generally go together: as in this light, a black colour may be deemed the effect of weather ona delicate fkin; and freckles as a fimilar effect on fkins of a coarfer, though not the coarfeft grain. It would be curious to obferve, among one’s acquaintances, if their parts were in the in- verfe proportion of the finenefs of their fkins; or if a much freckled fkin, with its curling hair, as approaching to black, be a fign of the owner’s ftupidity or dulnefs. In northern climates men have long hair, and fheep have wool; in fouthern climates. fheep have hair, and Africans woolly heads. In time we may be able to account for both without bringing genius into queftion. The flat nofes of negroes, in many cafes, may be accounted for:from the cuftom of being con- {tantly ConvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 217 {tantly tied on their mothers backs when infants, and nature has prepared: them for this, by fhortening the cartilage of the nofe, Sometimes they are procured, as an agree- able feature, by violence. In general they are a national feature, like the high cheek bones of the Scotch. Calves, {welling lit- tle, and placed high, are frequent, but not univerfal, or even general, in the legs of negroes; nor feem they to prevail much more among them, efpecially among Creoles, than among the Creole whites, who are ori- ginally from Europe. Some negroes have legs, that in clumfinefs and lownefs of calves, may vie with an Irifh porter. The fame may be affirmed of the prominent chin: it is frequent, not general; a convex face is nota rare fight among them. If, there- fore, an oblongated, or concave face be, as is fuppofed, connected with a {mall cere- bellum, it is not their general attribute. On the other hand, I have amufed myfelf with obferving, that fome of the moft im- proved of my acquaintances may be remark~- ed for prominence of chin. Whether thefe diftinguifhing marks of negroes were, as we have fuppofed, fixed by 218 On THE TREATMENT AND by the Author of nature, as part of that plan of particular fociety, and future re- union, that began with the race of man, whether caufed by climate, or given to ena- ble them to bear the fervours of the torrid gone, or whether all thefe caufes have co- operated, while we conclude not on our fuperiority over them, is matter of innocent difputation. Of the laft-mentioned caufe it is certain, that though they work naked in the hotteft hours, their {kin never blift- ers, while vagabond white failors blifter wherever the fun reaches them; and that they enjoy hot dry weather, while moifture and cold make them fhiver, and crouch down helplefs and fpent. On the whole, our obfervations are not of that length of time, and accuracy of manner, on which to build the fond opinion of northern fuperio- rity; and reafon and revelation forbid the haughty thought. Suppofing the general fu- pericrity of Europe over the natives of the torrid zone, while we argue from thefe prin- ciples, how fhall we account for the Mexi- cans being lefs black, and more civilized within the equatorial girdle, than the Cali- fornians, inhabiting the region of genius, and CoNnVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 219 and white fkins? or, according to the author of the obfervation, ‘* how can improved fo- “* ciety change an apparent law of nature?” Shall we fuppofe the equatorial circle to have been originally allotted to the black race, and that they have been expelled from all parts of it, except Africa? Mo Bait Good yeanTh Objections to African Capacity, drawn from Anatomy, confidered. We have gone through the feveral par- ticulars, in which negroes vifibly differ from white men, and find, that thould they even mark a different race, they can in no refpe@ determine their inferiority. We come now to confider, what may be indicated from di- minutive fkulls. A gentleman, juftly celebrated for his accuracy in the courfe of his anatomi- cal refearches, has difcovered a furprizing difference. between European and African fkulls. This fuggefted to him the idea of drawing out a feries of heads in this gradation; European, African, monkey, dog. The difference between the two firft, is 220 On THE TREATMENT AND is indeed ftriking; the European, by the fwelling out of the hinder part of the fkull, fupporting itfelf fo as to thew the face al- moft perpendicular to the table on which it is placed, while the African, for want of fuch fupport, recedes from the perpendicu- lar, and fhews an obvious elongation of the lower jaw. The ufe that he has made of the difcovery, has been the claffing of the nations by their attributes, without taking genius into account. He rather throws it out, but only as a conjecture, that negroes might have been the originals of mankind, he having obferved, that in all birds and beafts, the originals, whence the tame forts are derived, are black, and that every varia- tion from them approaches more or lefs to white. | Other men, lefs modeft, have drawn from the obfervation, the conclufion of inferiority ; it therefore will be neceflary to pay a par- ticular attention to it, or rather to their de- duGion from it. And we fhall firft obferve, fuppofing this diftinction real, that it muft have fome benevolent and general purpofe ; which purpofe we fhould fearch for, and follaw out ; which purpefe we know is not a) CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 221 to feed pride, or indulge cruelty, as thefe notions at prefent do. Matter of fact, or the real agency of nature, wherever difco- vered, may be affumed for the foundation of our reafoning ; nor fhould we vainly ima- gine that fhe ftands in need of our feigned apology, or wants to lie concealed behind the flimfy texture of our conjeGtures. We may be unacquainted with her workings, or with the particular purpofe that the means to carryon. But we need not therefore fear, left what comes from her hands be found fraught with abfurdity, or lead to princi- ples deftructive of humanity, or derogatory to wifdom and goodnefs. Let then the fa@ be, that negroes are an inferior race; it is a conclufion, that hitherto has lain hid and unobferved, and while it leads only to an abufe of power in the fuperior race, it is better concealed, than drawn out into no- tice. Perhaps Providence may keep it doubtful, till men be fo far improved, as not to make an ill ufe of the difcovery. Iam fure, at prefent, the power, if it be a right, is delegated to many improper perfons. In the mean time, while the fuperior race con- tinues likely to abufe it, every ftep that leads to 222 On THE TREATMENT AND to the eftablifthment of a point, the good purpofe of which lies hid, while the evil purpofe is ready at hand, fhould undergo and ftand the fevereft {crutiny before it re- ceives our approbation. 1. In this cafe it muft be eftablifhed as a maxim, that except in cafes of idiotifm, or accidental ill conformation, the rational pow- ers are in proportion directly as the quan- tity of brains. And hence it will follow, that with the foregoing exceptions, we may, a- mong Europeans, bring genius to actual admeafurement, and determine its degrees by the fize of the poffeffor’s head, juft as an excifeman gauges a beer barrel. How much of thofe wranglings, that render us contempt- ible in the eyes of all Europe, fhould we fave in both houfes, if our competitors for power, inftead of wafting the nation’s time in a war of words, fhould each fubmit his head to this fimple trial of its capacity? 2. In the fecond place, this difference muft be univerfal, without a fingle excep- tion, unlefs asabove. For, as we have clear- ly proved, there muft always be a degree of excellence to diftinguith the loweft of the fuperior order, from the higheft of the in- | ferior. CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 223 feriot. And this, it feems, in the cafe of the fkull, is actually determined by the fame gentleman againft the fuppofition ; for there is in his poffeffion an European fkull of the fame proportion as his African. In con- firmation, I may fay, that I know many in- ftances, where the African excels indivi- dual Europeans, in the exercife of the rea- foning faculties. 3. That brains and reafon are conftantly in a direct ratio, will be difputed in deter- mining between the dog and monkey. I have heard much of monkeys; I have had op- portunities of obferving them; but nothing has led me to conclude, that they are equal, far lefs fuperior, in reafoning and fagacity, to that humble friend of man, the faithful dog: certainly they are not fo teachable, nor fo capable of being attached by good offices, or gratitude. While on this head, we may obferve, that naturalifts f{uppofe every vari- ous {pecies of dog to come from the fhep- herd’s cur; yet their fhapes and qualities differ more fenfibly, than does the African from the European. 4. Another fact to be eftablithed is, that the difcriminating fize of the African fkull, and 224 ON THE TREATMENT AND and confequent inferiority of reafoning, con- tinue in the fixed civilized generations, and that, after no given period, do they ap- proach to European capacity. But allow= ing the difference to be at firft real, I can, from obfervation, deny its continuance a- mong Creole negroes. | Suppofing the diftinétion to be found among the wilder tribes, we may well ac- count for it in the following manner. Among favages, the powers of the mind are confined to few objects; and though their acutenefs refpecting them, in particular cafes, may exceed what can be imagined in polifh- ed life, yet certain it is, that we have few well attefted inftances of the capacity of favages, in attaining the various accomplifh- ments, and abftract notions, to be found in common among a civilized people. Their want of words in their native tongue, to ex- prefs, or communicate their ideas, would be a fufficient bar. And this may be one great caufe why, in North-America, the children of favages, after having been edu- cated in the European manner, and taught to read and write, generally feize the firft opportunity of returning to the rude cuftoms of CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 225 of their fathers. Now we can perceive a gracious defign in what Providence denies, as well as in what it beftows. A man capa- ble of varied knowledge, and verfatile exer- tion, in a fituation where he had few or no objets to work on, would be unhappy in himfelf, and a curfe to all around him.* His defire, and power of exertion, are there- fore confined within his opportunities and means of employment; and we have only to try, and difcover the manner, in which nature has contrived to fit him for his rank. In doing this, we will confider the differ- ence between the fkull and the reafon of an African, and thofe of an European, as an eftablifhed fact, from which we are to reafon. Suppofe then an African, in his favage {tate, to have lefs brains, and in confequence lefs reafon, yet ftill a fufficiency for his fitua- tion; the queftion then is, whether his head, his brains, and his reafon, would not expand in the fucceflive generations of civilized life. We know, that independent of the imme- * What fad work would the authors of our prefent new fyftems in philofophy, religion, and government, make among @. 73 the fimple Chiquefaws or Algonquins, E diate 226 On THE TREATMENT AND diate ofgans of generation, the female, even in parts exactly fimilar to thofe in the male, is particularly adapted to the bearing, bring- ing, and fuckling of children. Now the way of life, and the degree of exercife, that the female has ufed from her birth, may either check, or favour her conftruction as a mo- ther. In the favage ftate, where hunting is the chief means of fubfiftence, food muft be fcanty, and only to be procured by patience and exertion. Savages therefore, both male and female, will be found lean, dry, mufcular. And this condition will par- ticularly affect the female, becaufe in al- moft every favage tribe, fhe is confidered as a flave, intended to labour for, and ferve her hufband. Will not thefe cireumftances, her fcanty diet, and violent exercife, affect the conformation of her body, and render the few children whom fhe brings forth, lean, flender, their heads fmaller, more elongated, the brain of a drier, lefs elegant texture, juft capable of that degree of intelligence which the favage fiate requires? And may we not afk, Is not this, ina certain degree, found to be the cafe of fuch women among us, as are habituated to hard labour? Child- ren CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. ey ren of the loweft peafants, I believe, are as feldom found ,to take an high flation in literature, as in elegance of form. The mid- dle ranks of fe, that fupply conveniences to foften, not luxuries to drown nature, are moft favourable to elegance of form and acutenefs of underftanding. Fifhermen’s wives, in the north of Scotland, labour more hardly than any other women in Britain; and their neighbours look down with con- tempt on the ftupidity and ignorance found in the fifhing villages. Hence*may be ac- counted for the care taken by the ancient Bramins to regulate the diet, exercife, and paffions of their pregnant women. But fuppofe favages to be fo far civilized, as to be fixed in their habitations, to be well clothed, and properly fed; fuppofe their women treated with the regard that women generally receive in polifhed life, eafed of labour, employed only in regulating their family, or fupported in idlenefs, or amufe- ment. Would not their bodies expand, and the fexual qualities attain an higher perfec- tion? Would not the embryo be better nourifhed, the tender texture of the brain be lefs injured, than when the pregnant wo- Pe man 228 On THE TREATMENT AND man ufed fcanty nourifhment, and violent exercife? Would not the children be brought forth more’ plump? Weuld not the brain, favoured in its growth, force the fkull to take its natural {pherical form, and, according to our hypothefis, make the man more capable of improvement? And, this, as far as my opportunities of obfervation have reached, is the cafe of negroes who have been domef- tic flaves for three or four generations in our colonies, or have been made free three or four generations back.* * The reafoning here ufed was fubmitted to the late cele- brated Dr. Hunter, who was pleafed to fay, That, as far as anatomy was concerned, he thought it fair and conclufive. The fame gentleman, in his courfe of le€tures at the Royal Academy, when fhewing the gradation of fkulls, a difcovery which he candidly gave toits right Author, humanely obferved, that he drewno conclufion from the difference in them refpeCting African inferiority. Several perfons, who had poffeffed the beft opportunities of obferving the capacity of Africans, had affured him, that there was no difference to be feen, but what could be traced to their deprefled condition, and that there were inftances, where African ability had fhewn itfelf in fpite of all the difadvantages under which it laboured. He under. ftood, that the very doubt whether they might not be an in- ferior race, operated againft the humane treatment of them; and God forbid, faid he, that any vague conjefture of mine fhould be ufed to confirm the prejudice.—Such was the modefty of true genius That CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 229 That there is any effential difference be- tween the European and African mental powers, as far as my experience has gone, I pofitively deny. That there may be an ac- cidental or circumftantial. difference, I can eafily fuppofe, and, fhould it be true, think I can fee the reafon of it, as above explained. And this opinion is farther ftrengthened, by remarking, that, as far as the hiftory of polifhed fociety goes back, both Afiatic and European women have, from the firft, been generally indulged, and accuftomed to a domeftic fedentary life, favourable to the bearing and fuckling of fuch children as might be capable of advancement in the departments of reafon, and in all that varied intelligence which polifhed life calls forth and ftands in need of. We have indeed one exception, and it is favourable to our conclufion. The Spartan women were accuftomed to a poor diet, and violent exer- cife, even to contending and wreftling with men. And it is well known, that among the polifhed Greeks, the Spartans were a na~ tion of favages: their language, like that of ether favages, broken, yet expreffive; their ai) know- 230 ON THE TREATMENT AND knowledge confined to war, but to the part of a mere foldier; for they were once fo abfolutely without a citizen fit to command their army, that they were obliged to em- ploy a lame Athenian fidler as a general. Nay, fo late as the Perfian war, they were forced to fend to the Athenians to get in- ftruéted how to attack a barracado, made of baggage implements. Nor among the nume- rous artifts and philofophers that Greece pro- duced, are any celebrated as Spartans by birth. For, if Lycurgus is to be reckoned an exception, we may fay, that he formed the Spartan difcipline, but was not himfelf form- ed by it. If one or two individuals of that ftate are to be ranked among the philofo- phers, for uttering a few abrupt fentences, there is not a chief among the American favages but has an equal, perhaps a fuperior, title to the ftation. Sian... CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 231 Sobel aT ides Vi, Objections to African Capacity, drawn from Obfervation, confidered. The ingenious author of a late Hiftory of Jamaica, has treated this fubject at confider- able length, and appears to have formed, from his own obfervation, the fame opinion as Hume’s, of negroes being a diftinét race. To fuppofe them only a diftinct race, will not immediately affect our arguments for their humane treatment and mental improve- ment; but the confequences ufually drawn from it fhock humanity, and check every hope of their advancement: for, if allowed to be a diftinéé race, European pride imme- diately concludes them an ifertor race, and then it follows, of courfe, that nature formed them to be flaves to their fuperiors. And the mafter having eftablifhed thefe premifes generally, and complimented himfelf with a place among the fuperior beings, fairly concludes himfelf loofed from all obligations, but thofé of intereft, in his conduct towards them. A horfe and a bull, are animals es each 232 ON THE TREATMENT AND each of a different {pecies; but the fuperiority has not been eftablifhed between them, nor the inferior brought into bondage bythe lordly mafter. For argument's fake, fuppofe negroes of a different and even of an inferior race, ftill,, we know they are capable of forming, and actually have formed, free independent focieties; and, though they have not yet at- tained the refinements and luxuries of Eu- trope, yet have they fhewn no {mall ingenu- ity in compacting themfelves together, and made no mean progrefs in many of the arts of life. And to help to compofe, and be a member of a free ftate, is more honourable, and gives greater {cope to the mental powers, than to be the moft polifhed flave in America or Europe. Still, being fuch, are they to be dragged away froma country adapted to their conftitutions, from plenty of nutritious food, to which they have been accuftomed from infancy,* to work as flaves, hungry, naked, torn with ftripes, in a diftant, unfavourable clime, for the avarice and lufts of, perhaps, * Left this thould feem to contradi& the reafoning drawn from their original favage flate, it is neceflary to obferve that the flaves, as brought from Africa, differ greatly, in refpect of ability, according as the nation from which they have been kidnapped has advanced more or lefs in focial life. fome CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 233 fome of the moft worthlefs perfons of the pretendedly fuperior families, with whom they had neither acquaintance or connection? Suppofe different races, and that they vary in point of excellence; yet, in what chapter of nature’s law is it declared, that one quarter of the globe fhall breed flaves for the reft? Where fhall we find a charter conferring au- thority on the one, and afcertaining the fub- miffion of the other? Are no conditions an- nexed, no rights referved, which, when violated, the fubjected race can plead before their common Lord? Such a ftate cannot be imagined as exifting under the government of God: it is blafphemy againft his benevolence even to fuppofe it. The inanimate and brute creation was fitted for and fubmitted to man’s dominion; but man himfelf was left independent of every perfonal claim in his fellows. And nothing but an implied vo- luntary furrender of his independency to fociety, for the benefits of law, can controul or leffen his claim. But North-American or Weft-Indian flavery implies no furrender, fuppofes no fubmiflion, but to neceflity and force, Had 234 ON THE TREATMENT AND Had nature intended negroes for flavery, fhe::would have) endowed them with many qualities which they now want. Their food would»have needed no preparation, their bo- dies no covering; they would have been born without any fentiment for liberty; and, pof- feffing a patience not to be provoked, would have been incapable of refentment or oppo- fition; that high treafon again{t: the divine right of European dominion. A horfe or a cow, when abufed, beaten, or ftarved, will try to get out of the reach of the lafh, and make no feruple of attempting the neareft inclofure to get at pafture., But we have not heard of their withdrawing themfelves from the fervice of an hard mafter, nor of aveng- ing with his blood the cruelty of his treat- ment. To fuppofe different, efpecially {uperior and inferior races, {uppofes different rules of conduét, anda different line of duty ne- ceflary to be preferibed for them. But where do we find traces of this difference in, the predent cafe? Vice never appeared in Africa in a more barbarous and fhocking garb, than fhe is feen every day in the. moft, polifhed parts of Europe. Europe has not fhewn greater CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 29% greater elevation of fentiment than has fhone through the gloom of Africa. We can fee caufe why the nations, into which for the purpofes ‘of fociety mankind has been di- vided, fhould have characteriftic marks of complexion and features, (and almoft the whole of the prefent fubje& of difcuffion may be refolved into thefe) to tie, by the refemblance, fellow-citizens more clofely and affectionately together. And, be it remarked, that thefe figns are mere arbitrary impref- fions, that neither give nor take away animal or rational powers; but, in their effect, are confined to the purpofe for which they appear to have been impreffed, the binding of tribes and families together. Farther, climate, mode of living, and accidental prevalence of particular cuftoms, will account for many national characteriftics. But the foul isa fimple fubftance, not to be diftinguifhed by fquat or tall, black, brown, or fair. Hence all the difference that can take place in it is a greater or lefs degree of energy, amore or lefs complete correfpondence of ation, with the circum- ftances in which the agent is placed. In fhort, we can have no idea of intellect, but as 236 On THE TREATMENT AND as acting with infinite power and perfect propriety in the Deity, and with various de- grees of limited power and propriety, in the feveral orders of intelligent created be- ings; fo that there is nothing to diftinguith thefe feveral created orders, but more or lefs power; and nothing to hinder us from fup- pofing the poffible gradual advancement of the lower into the higher ranks of created beings. But we cannot, in like manner, {peak of the change of a bull into an horfe, or of a fwine into anelephant. The anni- hilation of the one is included in the tranf- mutation into the other, becaufe in it that is loft which conftituted the {pecific differ- ence. Wecan plainly fee the propriety of different purfuits, and different degrees of exertion of the reafoning energetic powers in the feveral individuals that compofe a community, for carrying on the various purpofes of fociety. But there is not, therefore, a neceflity to have recourfe to different fpecies of fouls, as if the peafant had one fort, the mechanic a fecond, the man of learning a third; yet whatever concludes for the propriety of races differing in point of excellence, will con- | : clude CoNVERSION-OF APRICAN SLAVES. 297 clude alfo for..a difference in thefe, And we fee, in contradiction: to all. uch: reveries, that communities. flourith in, proportion»as the lefs of any other, difference takes, place, than that in which fociety naturally difpofeth of its members for their mutual,or joint benefit. The foul is verfatile, and being fimple in itfelf takes its manner and tinCture. from the objects around it; it univerfally appears to be fitted only for that character in which it is to act:. but that this is not an indelible character appears plainly in every page of the hiftory of mankind. . Look into our. books of travels, and, in perfons no ways remark- able for genius or invention, admire. the.al- moft incredible efforts and productions of neceflity. How often has the fhepherd fhone out as a ftatefman, and the peafant triumphed as a general? Can we fuppofe greater differ- ence between the African and European, than, for example, between, the keeper of fheep, and the Governor of men; between leading an herd of gregarious animals out to, pafture, and. directing the complicated genius and bent of that various, creature.man, either to counteract or attain. the purpofes of fociety: yet the only difference between them lies in the direGtion given to the mental faculties. Thus 238 On THe TREATMENT AND Thus far we have oppofed opinion with argument, and, excepting a remark of which we fhall take notice, we may leave all that the author/above-mentioned has advanced of the inferiority of negroes, to be contrafted with the inftances given by himfelf of their energy, abilities, and fentiment, and to be compared with the inftances of ftupidity to be found in the moft polifhed nations. For, as we have proved, if we eftablifh the notion of different races, we muft {till draw a line be- tween the higheft of the one, and the loweft of that next above it. Particularly, we may fay of his example, Francis Williams the negroe poet and mathematician, that though his verfes bear no great marks of genius, yet, there have been bred at the fame univerfity an hundred white mafters of arts, and many doctors, who could not improve them; and, therefore, his particular fuccefs in the fields of fcience cannot operate againft the natural abilities of thofe of his colour, till it be proved, that every white man bred there has outftripped him. But allowance is to be made for his being a folitary eflay, and the poffi- bility of a wrong choice having been made in him. Childifh fprightlinefs, for which ; it CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 239 it feems he was fingled’ out for the trial, is not always, nor indeed often, a’ faithful promifer of manly parts; too frequently it withers without fruit, like the early bloffoms of the {pring. Other gentlemen of Jamaica {peak highly of his abilities, and of the favour they procured for him. The remark in this author referred to, is that Mulattoes cannot propagate their kind with each other, or, at leaft, that their chil- dren are few and fhort-lived. Now it thould be obferved that Mulattoe girls, during the flower of their age, are univerfally acta to the luft of eee men; in fome in- ftances, to that of their own fathers. In our town, the fale of their firft commerce with the other fex, at an unripe age, is an article of trade for their mothers and elder fitters; nay, it is not an uncommon thing for their miftreffes, chafte matrons, to hire them out, and take an account of their gains; or, if they be free, they hire their fervice and their perfons, to fome one of the numerous _band of batchelors. In this commerce they often contra difeafes,; and generally conti- nue in it till grown hageard and worn out. Thus few Mulattoes marry in their own rank, and fewer in a ftate of health favourable to popula- 240 ON THE TREATMENT AND population. But where the above circum- ftances take not place, Mulattoe marriages are extremely prolific, in every inftance within my knowledge ; and I can recollect more than fix fuch families where there is a numerous healthy offspring, and no doubt to be enter- tained of their legitimacy. As intellect is the peculiar attribute of man, and is a fimple fubftance, it is incumbent on thofe who maintain a difference in races and na- tural abilities, to tell us how the fuperior intellects of a white perfon, and the inferior intellects of a negroe unite, and become a tertium quid, in their Mulattoe offspring. Is nature at the expence of forming feparate and different conditioned intellects for all the variety of cafts between complete white and black in our feveral colonies? * oy ones Oras Yh * In the above difcuffion we have afflumed the exiftence of intelleé&t as confidently, as if modern philofophy had not afferted man to be organized matter. The affertion, though unac- companied by conviétion, is fuch a check to every afpiring thought, that hardly, fince I heard of the difcovery, have I been able to reconcile one to myfelf; nor can I endure an opi- nion which would rob me of a comfort that fmoothed every ill of life, and encouraged me to look up to futurity for a recom- pence, which my heart told me was referved for the humble and benevolent. CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 241 SE RG COR AGRI a African Capacity vindicated from Experience. Having fhewn how little can be rationally concluded againft the capacity of negroes, from benevolent. It is true, that the abettors of it profefs to believe, with Chriftians, man’s future reftoration. But if man bea mere combination of atoms, when that combination is broken by death, the Being formed by it is annihilated. A reunion of the fame particles will conftitute a new Being, having no moral refpect to what happened to the firft, neither ftained with its blame, nor inheriting its merit. Indeed imagination can- not combine together the idea of merit and matter, becaufe all the motions or aétions (if we could ufe the term) of matter muft be neceflary and mechanical. The villain who murders, the Samaritan who /aves, a man, deferve equal applaufe. Volition, or the act of thinking, brings into exiftence fome new motion or form, But can we imagine fuch a power lodged with matter, which muftitfelf receive from without every par- ticular impreflion, every new diretion ? Suppofe matter capable of thinking, and the man to have every nerve employed in purfuing a certain train of reafoning; from what energy, what attribute of matter fhall we deduce the power of {topping in the full career of inquiry, and taking at once an oppofite path? If thinking be the effeé of organization, we can fuppofe no principle, no power lodged in the man to controul or direé&t it. It muft proceed me- chanically, till it be ftopt mechanically. The man who refleéts on what paffeth in his mind, wiil perceive a difference between that inward act which weighs circumftances, and that which QO determines 242 ON THE TREATMENT AND from their equatorial fettlement, flat nofe, woolly head, projecting chin, high calves, and determines him on a@tion. But deliberation is incompatible with every notion of matter, becaufe it mutt ever be forcibly carried away by the predominant weight or power. To de- liberate on, or balance circumftances, muft {uppofe fome prin- ciple endowed with the power of election; but of this, matter, as matter, is incapable. We eannot take into account what the Deity poflibly can do in the plenitude of power. Wherever his works lie open to inquiry, we obferve, that he invariably proceeds according to the original nature of the fubje&t. Fire never freezes, froft never warms. But if the Deity give to matter the power of thinking, he fuperadds an attribute analogous to no other quality of matter within our knowledge. He can give to a bull the form and attributes of an horfe. But is not the bull annihilated, and a new animal formed in his flead? In like manner, to give to matter the ability of thinking, it muft be changed ‘into fpirit, becaufe the attribute of thinking is in- compatible with matter, even as the diftinguifhing qualities of an horfe cannot co-exift with thofe of a bull. The weight of a material being is the weight of its parts taken together, and may be divided into as many lefler weights as there are component parts; its extent is anumber of extents, in proportion to the number of its extended parts; and thus it holds of every quality, with which we are acquainted, except this new difcovered attribute, no new quality being produced by the compofition. We can afirm nothing of the whole that may not be affirmed in part of every particle. But we cannot thus divide volition into parts, or fcatter it among the feveral limbs or organs, nor even fhaxe it between the cerebrum and cerebellum. It is one fimple uncompounded att, If CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 243 and black fkin, we come to faé&. Now we know, that houfe negroes, who are generally Creoles, andare converfant with their white matters, have all the addrefs, intrigue, and cunning of family fervants in Europe. In their mafters they can mark the ridiculous point, the improper condué, and often give thefe fuperior beings that advice, which they have not wifdom enough to follow; oftenman- age their foibles,and mouldthem to their own intereft. If, according to the Marchionefs d’Ancre, favouritifm and influence be marks of fuperiority, many Weft-Indian families muift allow a preference to the Africans. Negroes are capable of learning any thing that requires attention and correétnefs of manner. They have powers of defcription and mimickry that would not have dif- If it be neceflary to fuppofe a principle diftin@ from matter, to give form, motion, order, and defign to things, may we not alfo fuppofe, that fuch creatures as men, who feel thefe ative powers within themfelves to a certain degree, may alfo be endowed with a portion of that fpirit, which alone can begin and imprefs motion on inert matter. Merit has been afcribed to him who negletted the body to have leifure to improve the mind; but on this fchemeit is in- tirely abfurd. He who cares for the body cares for the whole man. Aglutton is not an object of ridicule, but of fober praife ; he is employed in perfeéting his ability to think. OQ 2 graced 244 ON THE TREATMENT AND graced the talents of our modern Arifto- phanes. The diftillation of rum, the tem- pering of the cane juice for fugar, which may be confidered as nice chemical opera- tions, are univerfally committed to them. They become good mechanics; they ufe the {quare and compafs, and eafily become matters of whatever bufinefs they are put to. They have a particular turn for mufic, and often attain a confiderable proficiency in it with- out the advantage of a mafter. Negroe fick nurfes acquire a furprizing {kill in the cure of ordinary difeafes, and often conquer difor- ders that have baffled an hoft of regulars. Nor want they emulation, in whatever their obfervation can reach. Hence our black beaus, black belles, black gamefters, black keepers, black quacks, black conjurers, and all that variety of character, which {trikes in their mafters, or promifes to add to their own dignity or intereft. But what can we expect them to attempt in the higher depart- ments of reafon? ‘Their flavifh employments and condition; their being abandoned to the caprice of any mafter ; the fubjeétion in which it is thought neceflary to keep them all; thefe things deprefs their minds, and fubdue CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 245 fubdue whatever is manly, fpirited, ingenu- ous, independent, amongthem. And thefe are weights fufficient to crufh a firft-rate human genius. Had it been the lot of a paradoxical Hume, or of a benevolent Kaims, to have cultivat- ed the fugar-cane, under a planter, in one of our old iflands; the firft probably would have tried to have eked out his fcanty pit- tance of two pounds of flour or grain per week, by taking up the profeflion of a John Crowman, or conjurer ; and doubtlefs would have got many a flogging for playing tricks with, and impofing on the credulity of his fellows, to cheat them of their allowance. The turn of the other to works of tafte might have expreffed itfelf in learning to blow a rude fort of mufic from his noftril, through an hollowed piece of ftick; or, if bleffed with an indulgent mafter, he might have learned to -play by ear a few minuets, and fiddle a few country dances, to enable the family and neighbours to pafs an even- ing cheerfully together. The truth is, a depth of cunning that en- ables them to over-reach, conceal, deceive, is the only province of the mind left for Q 3 them, 246 ON THE TREATMENT AND them, as flaves, to occupy. And this they cultivate, and enjoy the fruits of, to a fur- prizing degree. I have, as a magiftrate, heard examinations and defences of culprits, that for quibbling, fubterfuges, and fubtilty, would have done credit to the abilities of an attorney, moft notorioufly converfant in the villainous tricks of his profeffion. Their “command of countenance is fo perfect, as not to give the leaft clue for difcovering the truth; nor can they be caught tripping in a ftory. Nothing in the turn or degree of their mental faculties, diftinguifhes them from Europeans, though fome difference muft appear, if they were of a different or an inferior race. I had a young fellow, who was a noto- rious gambler, idler, liar, and man of plea- fure; yet fo well did he Jay his fchemes, fo plaufibly did he on all occafions account for his time and conduét, that I, who could not punifh unlefs I could convince the cul- prit that I had undoubted proof of his guilt, was hardly ever able to find an op- portunity of correcting him. This lad, when he came a boy from Africa, fhewed marks of fentiment, and of a training above the Lresry CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 247 the common run of negroes. But flavery, even in the mildeft degree, and his accom- panying with flaves, gave him fo worth- lefs, diffipated a turn, that I was obliged to fend him out of the family, and have him taught a trade in hopes of his refor- mation. By this he infenfibly acquired a little application, and has fince attached him~- felf to a wife. His father, he fays, was a man of property, had a large houfhold, and many wives. He was kidnapped. There is another lad, who could ftand without flinching to be cut in pieces by the whip, and not utter a groan. As whip- ping was a triumph, inftead of a punifh~ ment to him, I was obliged to overlook the moft notorious faults, or affect generoufly to pardon them, rather than pretend to cor- rect them. Yet this proceeds not from in- fenfibility of pain, for if bleeding be pre- {cribed for him when fick, he cries like a child, and fhrinks from the operation. About twelve years ago he was caught in a fault, that by the cuftom of the colony would have juftified his mafter in carry- ing his punifhment to any degree, fhort of extremity. Pains were taken to fet the Q4 enormity 248 On THE TREATMENT AND enormity of it before him, and he was free- ly pardoned, and his fellows were ftriclly forbidden ever to upbraid him with it. Since that time he has behaved remarkably well and truft-worthy, and fhewn a very uncommon attachment to the family. A third boy, who is fenfible as a little lord of every affront offered to his dignity, could ftand with the fullen air of a ftoic to re- ceive the fevereft correction. In truth, in fpite of the difadvantages un- der which they labour, individuals, on par- ticular occafions, have fhewn an elevation of fentiment that would have done honour toa Spartan. The Spectator, No. 215, has celebrated a rude inftance in two negroes, in the ifland of St. Chriftopher, which on inquiry I find to be true. I will confirm this by the relation of a deed, that happen- ed within thefe thirty years, for which I have no name. As I had my information from a friend of the mafter’s, in the mafter’s prefence, who acknowledged it to be ge- nuine, the truth of itis indifputable. The only liberty I have taken with it, has been to give words to the fentiment that infpir- ed it. Quathi CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 249 Quafhi was brought up in the family with his mafter, as his play-fellow, from his childhood. Being a lad of towardly parts, he rofe to be driver, or black overfeer, un- der his mafter, when the plantation fell to him by fucceffion. He retained for his mafter the tendernefs that he had felt in childhood for his play-mate; and the re- {pect with which the relation of mafter in- {pired him, was foftened by the affection which the remembrance of their boyifh in- timacy kept alive im his breaft. He had no feparate intereft of his own, and in his mafter’s abfence redoubled his diligence, that his affairs might receive no injury from it. In fhort, here was the moft delicate, yet moft ftrong, and feemingly indiffoluble tie, that could bind mafter and flave toge-~ ther. Though the mafter had judgment to know when he was well ferved, and policy to re- ward good behaviour, he was inexorable when a fault was committed; and when there was but an apparent caufe of fuf- picion, he was too apt. to let prejudice ufurp the place of proof. Quafhi could not exculpate himfelf to his. fatisfaction, for fomething 250 ON THE TREATMENT AND fomething done contrary to the difcipline of the plantation, and was threatened with the ignominious punifhment of the cart-whip ; and he knew his mafter too well, to doubt of the performance of his promife. A negroe, who has grown up to manhood, without undergoing a folemn cart-whipping, as fome by good chance will, efpecially if diftinguifhed by any accomplifhment among his fellows, takes pride in what he calls the fmoothnefs of his {kin, its being unrazed by the whip; and he would be at more pains, and ufe more diligence to efcape fuch a cart-whipping, than many of our lower fort would ufe to fhun the gallows. It is not uncommon for a fober good negroe to {tab himfelf mortally, becaufe fome boy- overfeer has flogged him, for what he reck- oned a trifle, or for his caprice, or threat- ened him with a flogging, when he thought he did not deferve it. Quafhi dreaded this mortal wound to his honour, and flipt away unnoticed, with a view to avoid it. It is ufual for flaves, who expect to be punifhed for their own fault, or their maf- ter’s caprice, to go to fome friend of their mafter’s, and beg him to carry them home, and CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 251 and mediate for them. This is found to be fo ufeful, that humane mafters are glad of the pretence of fuch mediation, and will fecretly procure it to avoid the neceflity of punifhing for trifles ; it otherwife not being prudent to pafs over without correction, a fault once taken notice of; while by this method, an appearance of authority and difcipline is kept up, without the feverity of it. Quafhi therefore withdrew, refolved to fhelter himfelf, and fave the gloffy honours of his fkin, under favour of this cuftom, till he had an opportunity of applying to an advocate. He lurked among his matter’s negroe huts, and his fellow flaves had too much honour, and too great a regard for him, to betray to their mafter the place of his retreat. Indeed, it is hardly poffible in any cafe, to get one flave to inform againft another, fo much more honour have they than Europeans of low condition. The following day a feaft was kept, on account of his mafter’s nephew then coming of age; amidft the good humour of which, Quafhi hoped to fucceed in his application ; but before he could execute his defign, per- haps juft as he was fetting out to go and folicit 252 On THE TREATMENT AND folicit this mediation, his mafter, while walking about his fields, fell in with him. Quafhi, on difcovering him, ran off, and the mafter, who is a robuft man, purfued him. A ftone, or a_clod, tripped Quafhi up, juft as the other reached out his hand to feize him. They fell together, and wreftled for the maftery, for Quathi alfo was a ftout man, and the elevation of his mind added vigour to his arm. At laft, after a fevere ftruggle, in which each had been feveral times uppermoft, Quafhi got firmly feated on his matter’s breaft, now panting and out of breath, and with his weight, his thighs, and one hand, fecured him motionlefs. He then drew out a fharp knife, and while the other lay in dreadful expectation, helplefs, and fhrinking into himfelf, he thus addrefled him. <‘* Matter, «* Twas bred up with you from a child; ** I was your play-mate when a boy; I ‘© have loved you as myfelf; your intereft ** has been my ftudy; I am innocent of the ** caufe of your fufpicion ; had I been guil- ty, my attachment to you might have ‘* pleaded forme. Yet you have condemned ** me to a punifhment, of which I muft CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 53 ** ever have borne the difgraceful marks; ** thus only can I avoid them.” With thefe words, he drew the knife with all his ftrength acrofs his own throat, and fell down dead without a groan, on his matter, bathing him in his blood. Had this man been properly educated; had he been taught his importance as a member of fociety ; had he been accuftomed to weigh his claim to, and enjoy the pofieffion of the unalienable rights of humanity; can any man fuppofe him incapable of making a progrefs in the knowledge of religion, in the refearches of reafon, or the works of art? Or can it be affirmed, that aman, who amidit the difadvantages, and gloom of fla- very, had attained a refinement of fentiment, to which language cannot give a name, which leaves the bulk of polithed fociety far behind, could want abilities to acquire arts and fciences, which we too often find coupled with a fawning, a mean, a flavith {pirit ? Others may, I will not believe it. This is a truly mournful inftance of a noblenefs and grandeur of mind in a negroe. The following, though allied to diftrefs, is of a lefs awful nature, but will fhew, that all the nobler qualities of the heart 254 ON THE TREATMENT AND heart are not monopolized by the white race, Jofeph Rachel was a black trader in Bar- badoes; he dealt chiefly in the retail way, and was fo fair and complaifant in bufinedfs, that in a town filled with little peddling fhops, his doors were thronged with cuftom- ers. I have often dealt with him, and found him remarkably honeft and obliging. Ifany one knew not where to procure an article, Jofeph would be at pains to fearch it out, to fupply him, without making an advan- tage of it. In fhort, his character was {fo fair, his manners fo generous, that the beft people fhewed him a regard, which they often deny men of their own colour, becaufe not blefled with like goodnefs of heart. In 1756 fire happened, which burned down great part of the town, and ruined many of the inhabitants. Jofeph luckily lived in a quarter that efeaped the deftruction, and exprefled his thankfulnefs, by foftening the diftrefles of his neighbours. Among thofe who had loft their all by this heavy misfor- tune, was a man to whofe family Jofeph, in the early part of life, owed fome obligati- ons. This man, by too great hofpitality, an CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 255 an excefs common enough in the Weft- Indies, had involved his affairs, before the fire happened, and his eftate lying in houfes, that event intirely ruined him; he e{caping with only the clothes on his back. Amidft the cries of mifery and want, which excited Jofeph’s compaflion, this man’s unfortunate fituation claimed particular notice. The ge-~ nerous, the open temper of the fufferer, the obligations that Jofeph had to his family, were {pecial and powerful motives for acting towards him the friendly part. Jofeph held his bond for fixty pounds fterling. ‘* Unfortunate man,” fays he, ** this <« fhall never come againft thee. Would hea- ‘* ven thou could fettle all thy other matters ‘* aseafily! But how am I fure that I thall «‘ keep in this mind: may not the love of “* gain, efpecially, when, by length of time, ‘* thy misfortune has become familiar to me, ‘¢ return with too {trong a current, and bear ** down my fellow-feeling before it? But for “« this I havea remedy. Never fhalt thou ap- ** ply for the affiftance of any friend againft ** my avarice.” He got up, ordered a current account that the man had with him, to a confiderable amount, to be drawn out, and In 266 On THE TREATMENT AND in a whim, that might have called up a {mile on the face of charity, filled his pipe, fat down again, twifted the bond, and lighted his pipe with it. While the account was drawing out, he continued {moking, ina ftate of mind that a monarch might envy. When finifhed, he went in fearch of his friend, with the account difcharged, and the mutilated bond in his hand. On meeting with him, he prefented the papers to him with this addrefs. ‘* Sir, J am fenfibly af- «© fected with your misfortunes; the obli- ‘* sations that I have received from your ‘* family, give me a relation to every branch ‘of it. I know that your inability to fa- “< tisfy for what you owe, gives you more < uneafinefs than the lofs of your own fub- <¢ ftance. That you may not be anxious on *¢ my account in particular, accept of this <¢ difcharge, and the remains of your bond. <¢ Tam over paid in the fatisfaction that I <* feel, from having done my duty. I beg «© you to confider this only as a token of “‘the happinefs that you will impart to «‘ me, whenever you put it in my power to <¢ do you a good office.” -One may eafily guefs at the man’s feelings, on being thus generoully CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 267 generoufly treated, and how much his mind muft have been ftrengthened to bear up againft his misfortunes. I knew hima few years after this; he had got a {mall poft in one of the forts, and preferved a decent appearance. : But his hofpitable turn continued even after he had loft the means of indulging it. He has often invited five or fix acquaintances, or ftrangers, to {pend the evening when he has not had even a candle to light up before them. Whenever his fervant faw him come home thus attended, and heard him call away, as in his better days, his refouroe was to run over to Jofeph, and inform him that fuch and fuch gentlemen were to fup with his mafter. Immediately the {permaceti candle, and punch, and wine of the beft quality were on the table, as if by magic; and foon after Jofeph’s fervants appeared, bringing in a neat fupper, and waiting on the company. All this was done without a. profpect of return, purely to indulge his gratitude, and fupport his friend’s credit. And will any man pretend to look down with contempt on one capable of fuch gene- rofity, becaufe the colour of his fkin is black ? R Some 258 ON THE TREATMENT AND Some readers, perhaps, may give Jofeph more credit for the following ftory. A colo- nel ——, amoft penurious mifer, ufed to call frequently at Jofeph’s fhop, on pre~ tence of cheapening cocoa: he was always fure to carry away as much for a tafte as his pocket would hold, but never bought any. Jofeph, at firft, was at a lofs what to do. He knew, that, being a negroe, his evidence would not be taken in court, even for the value of a penny againft a white man. But the colonel continuing his depredations, he was loth to fee his cocoa diminifh daily be- fore him without any thing in return for it. He therefore hired a white man for clerk, and ordered him to weigh out a bag of cocoa, and keep it particularly under his own care, to fupply the colonel with taftings whenever he thould call. The colonel foon emptied the bag, and then Jofeph delivered in his ac-_ count. The colonel ftormed, fwore, and threatened till out. of breath, when Jofeph took the opportunity of informing his honour of the fteps he had taken. His avarice now alarmed him with the expences of a law-. fuit: and fuggefted that being fo fairly taken in, there was nothing to be done, in prudence, CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 259 prudence, but to pay the money peace- ably. By this innocent ftratagem Jofeph got rid of the colonel’s tafting vifits. I fhall only give one more inftance in favour of the negroes; though a vo- lume might eafily be filled. A lieutenant of a regiment in garrifon at St. Chriftopher’s died, and left his fon an orphan. A particular family had promifed him, on his death-bed, to take care of his boy; but he was wholly abandoned, and forced to keep among the negroe children, and live on fuch fcraps as he could find. In this ftate, he caught that loathfome difeafe the yaws, which became a new reafon for giving him up to his fate. In this ulcerated condition, Babay, a poor negrefs, found him, took him into her hut, got him cured, and maintained him till he was able to work for himfelf. The firft money that he earned went to purchafe her freedom. He took her home'to his houfe, and, as long as fhe lived afterwards, which might be upwards of forty years, treated her with the moft refpectful kindnefs. He gave her a moft expenfive burial, and had a funeral fermon preached over her. As that fermon was de- livered before people acquainted with her character, and mentioned fuch circumftan- R 2 ces 260 On THE TREATMENT AND ces as I with here to remark, I fhall give an extract of what was addreffed to the flaves that attended, relating to her. ‘* This good <¢ woman was like many of you, a flave; and, “¢ as fuch, laboured under every difadvantage ‘© which you can plead for not doing your ‘¢ duty; yet, in this fituation, fhe fhewed, <¢in her condua, the nobleft fruits of re- * ligion and charity. A helplefs child, left ‘‘ an orphan, ina ftrange country, far from ‘any relation or even acquaintance to his ‘¢ family, abandoned by thofe who under- “© took to rear him, from her alone could “ raife pity, or engage attention. When left, ‘‘ by all of his own rank and colour, to “€ perith in a loathfome difeafe, though fon ‘* toa fervant of the public, with whom every ‘true lover of his country fhould have ‘‘ fympathized, fhe, alone, lodged him, ‘* nurfed him carefully, got him cured, and ‘«‘ put him in a way to provide for himfelf. ‘< This inftance of generofity, found in one ‘¢ of her condition, is a proof that noble and <« difinterefted ations are not, as many think, ‘¢ confined to advantages of birth or educa- “tion; for fhe had nothing to direct her “< but God’s grace working on a tractable ‘s hearts a ee ee CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 261 ‘¢ heart: and this benevolent temper fhewed ‘* itfelf in every part of her behaviour through ‘* life, and was accompanied in her with a ‘‘ true fenfe of religion. She was well ac- “ee quainted with what fhe ought to know and ‘* believe; and always {poke of religion with ‘¢ an earneftnefs, and ferioufnefs, and know- “* ledge, which I wifh were more general than ‘¢T have found it among thofe who efteem ‘* themfelves her betters. Here then is a <¢ fhining example of goodnefs, on your own “* level, for your imitation.” * * The following thoughts have been communicated lately to. the author by a humane intelligent fea officer, who, in his command on foreign ftations, did not think he went out of his line by pleading and promoting the caufe of humanity. They are particularly pertinent in this place to prove Africans proper objects of improvement and police. «¢ J have talked, I have written ; I have often blufhed for the © unnatural tyranny exercifed in our Weft Indian ifles; where «© Proteftants even exceed Papifts in barbarity to the unfortunate “¢ flaves that have become their purchafed property. Particu- «larly, I have, in the warmeft manner, recommended their “© imitation of the Roman Catholics in beftowing baptifm on <¢ their flaves, inforcing my argument from this confideration:” «© You acknowledge the Chriftian path, in which you walk, “¢ to lead to a happy future ftate; how can you then, as men or «¢ Chriftians, refufe that to your flaves, which you believe will “© intitle them to falvation?’’ ‘* I cannot boaft of the impref- ‘© fions that thefe arguments made in our Weftern Archipelago. ‘¢ But, finding the planters in the colonies adjoining to Spanifh R3 «« fettle- 262 On THE TREATMENT AND «¢ fettlements, complaining that their flaves were daily defert- << ing from them, I thought I had found an argument to urge “€ intirely in their own way:’? ‘* Your flaves defert to the “¢ Spaniards, becaufe they grant them greater privileges than -* you do, and make Chriftians of them. Ufe you the fame “¢ methods, and they will not think of leaving you.”’ «©The negroes along the fea-coaft of Africa (particularly «* among the French) are well-informed, eafy, kind, generous, “¢ and have a better fenfe of right and wrong than any other peo- «€ pleI have ever vifited. Iwas thrown among them ina ftate of «* wretchednefs and ficknefs, with feventy-feven dying men, be- “¢ ing abandoned by our own people, who refufed me afliftance «© and medicines. I caft myfelf on the charity of favages, and “€ received more inftances of compaflion and goodnefs from them «¢ than from all the Chriftians I have ever known. From this «* exemplary benignity in this people, who are inhabitants “«« about Cape Verd, may be colleéted the probability of intro- *¢ ducing freedom and Chriftianity among them,” *¢ On the fouthern continent of Africa the natives are well €¢ informed, well clad, dwellin fuperb houfes, abound in cattle €* and other poffeflions. Some Porteguefe are fettled among “¢ them, but, I believe, they draw their knowledge, mer- ** chandize, and grandeur from their communieation with '* Mozambique, Arabia, and Egypt. The places I chiefly ** refer to, are Paulo Loando and St. Philip de Buengala.”’ (694.4) Ci ER Aa ea ae? Plan for the Improvement and Converfion of African Slaves. HAVE now gone through the feveral preliminary articles that refpect flaves in our fugar colonies. I have defcribed their condition at prefent. I have fhewn that there would be good policy and much profit, both to the ftate and the mafter, in advancing it; that this advancement muft go hand in hand with their inftru€tion in religion ; and, again, that inftruction is neceflary to make them good and ufeful fubjects. I have vin- dicated for them the natural equality and com- mon origin of mankind. I have claimed, as their due, the attention of government. Ihave endeavoured to intereft humanity, policy, and religion in their favour. It only remains to pointout the method in which thefe fhould co-. , R 4 operate 264 ON THE TREASMENT AND operate for their advantage. That which I am now to offer, I propofe not as. the beft poffible, but as the moft practicable method, having refpect to the felfifhnefs and preju- dices ofthe age. Were government and peo- ple once well awakened to their own interetft, and heartily inclined, fomething much more promifing might be ftruck out. The chief advantages of the following plan is, that it may be fet on foot by government, without depending on the caprice of individuals, or affecting their intereft; that it will be gradual in its operation, and therefore more likely to accommodate itfelf to the ordinary courfe of human affairs. At the wortt, it adds only one more to the many Utopian fchemes that volunteer reformers produce for the benefit of the heedlefs public. Should it ever be found as impracticable in itfelf, as it is in refpect of me, it may lead fome more happy man to a fcheme both praéticable and fuc- cefsful. In the mean time it may contribute to foften their prefent treatment; and it will be a teftimony of the author’s affection to the caufe of humanity, religion, and his country. The event muft be left to Pro- vidence. It will be adapted to the ftate of a parti- Se CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 265 particular colony; but may eafily be accom- modated to others. I fhall only premife, that the feveral hints occafionally given in the courfe of the work, and what has been fug- gefted in the cafe of particular plantations, chap. III. fe&t. V. is offered to every other owner of flaves, as far as circumftances will permit. Sp eagyy ig? Eftablifhment of Clergy, and their Duty among Slaves. The ifland of St. Chriftopher’s, of which we particularly treat, is divided into nine parifhes, and is, at prefent, fupplied by five minifters; the emoluments of two parifhes being barely fufficient for the decent fup- port of a family, without f{uppofing any pro- vifion made for a widow and children. But, to carry on our plan of reformation among flaves; nay, indeed for the due fupport of an eftablifhed religion among the white inha- bitants, it would be neceflary that each parith fhould have its own incumbent. This would give the proportion of one minifter to about 266 On THE TREATMENT AND about 3000 inhabitants; but it would re- quire the provifion allotted for their main- tenance to be increafed. Of this provifion I fhall not at prefent treat; though, when- ever it becomes an object of police, it will be eafy to propofe a fund for their decent maintenance without any fenfible new ex- pence to government or people, and chiefly by changing the mode of certain prefent im- pofts. In the proportion here fuggetted, many parifhes, efpecially in Jamaica, would require to be divided; but the minifters could eafily and profitably for the colony be provided for there by vines of unappro- priated funds.* I would propofe alfo a fchool to be eftablithed in each parifh; the {chool-mafter * Barbadoes contains eleven parifhes, each with its minifter ; the town parifh has alfo a fixed curate. In Antigua there are fix parifhes, and fix minifters. In Montferrat there are four parifhes, and two minifters. In Nevis five parifhes, and three minifters. In Grenada there are ufually two minifters without appointments; it is the fame in Dominica. In St. Vincent’s there are two minifters, and very {mall appointments. In Tortola there is no fixed minifter. In Anguilla the minifter has been long dumb for want of a maintenance. In Jamaica there are nineteen parifhes, fome of them as large as the whole Leward Ifland government, and fome of them without church or minifter. to CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 267 to be under the minifter’s direction, and to affift in inftructing and bringing forward the young children. A houfe, the place of parifh clerk, and fome other {mall appoint- ment, with the benefit of fcholars, would always procure decent men for the office. Suppofe then a proper number of fober, pious minifters fettled in the colonies, each in his own cure, and employed in the duties of his function, fupported by government, and ‘encouraged by good men. Let’ the minifter, every Sunday, perform the ufual morning fervice to his white parifhioners, and fuch fenfible negroes as can attend; in \ + Indeed a very fmall proportion of thofe immenfe fums that are thrown away under pretence of educating their children in England, would procure men properly qualified to fettle in thefe {chools in the iflands, which would not only fave to the parents much needlefs expence, but alfo preferve the morals of the youth, and train them up to be ufeful to themfelves and families. A young Weit-Indian, configned to a fugar-factor to be educated ata diftance from his father, foon begins to know no other. relationfhip between him and his parent, than that of banker. He makes expenfive connections, acquires habits of diffipation, is never made to feel his own weight, and feldom learns to turn out ufefully in life. Where parents have not the vanity or are not in circumftances to fend them to England, but content themfelves with giving them an ufeful education near them, Weft-Indian children fhew that they want neither capacity nor application, the 268 On THE TREATMENT AND the afternoon let the fervice be adapted to the negroes. Inftead of a common fermon, let him explain to them, in courfe, a chapter of the New Teftament, making them inti- mately acquainted with the miffion and hif- tory of our Saviour, and our relation to him, as the imimediate Creator, Head, and Re- deemer of the world. Let the clergyman frequently give a fhort expofition of the apoftle’s creed, in eafy terms, and explain the ten commandments in words adapted to their capacity. Let the minifters jointly compofe forms of devotion, fome to be ufed in private by the negroes, others for their field morning and evening prayers, and others, more compre- henfive, to be ufed by the whole gang on Sundays, in the plantation. Let them be drawn up fhort, fimple, inftructive, expref- five of their relation to God, to a Saviour, to fociety, and of the refpect that a candidate for heaven owes to himfelf. Indeed it would be found a great advantage in carrying on the work, if the forms were compofed to ferve in all the colonies generally. Mafters fhould be exhorted to fend, at convenient times, their mott fenfible flaves to the minifter, to be in- ftructed Ch Seagate, Sam Sae rm cache Sa ae ee ee ee ae SS ee CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 269 ftructed in thefe forms, that they may teach the reft, and take the lead in the plantation evening and morning devotions. If the mater, manager, or overfeer, were conftantly to lead their Sunday plantation devotions, it would have an excellent effect. Negroes, who are well treated and in fpirits, fing at work. A few eafy fingle ftanzas might be collected or compofed, to be ufed inftead of their common fongs. In every thing drawn up for them, the expreflion fhould be fimple, and the meaning obvious. Let the minifter vifit the plantations in rotation, at convenient times, to inquire into the behaviour and improvement of the flaves, to commend, reprove, admonifh, and pray with them. To give him refpec and influence, let all be obliged to appear before him decently clothed. Let him pay a particular attention to chil- dren ; that while their minds are tender, be- fore their difpofitions be foured by the im- pofitions of flavery, they may make fome progrefs in the knowledge of their duty. As they may be better fpared from plan- tation work than the reft, they may attend on the minifter on particular week days fie inftruction, In 270 On THE TREATMENT AND In common cafes, no culprit fhould be punifhed by the mafter, who can find a fen- fible fober negroe to be furety for his good behaviour: but both furety and culprit fhould be frequently admonifhed by the minifter of the nature of the engagement; and this prac- tice would give him many opportunities of imprinting on their minds the obligations of virtue, theclaims of fociety, the difference between right and wrong. In fhort, one circumftance that has happened among themfelves, properly difcuffed before them and imprinted on their minds, will have a better and more lafting effect than a thoufand difcourfes on general good and evil. Wherever there is room for fhewing mercy, it fhould be done at the minifter’s interceflion, that he may be confidered as a mediator between the flave on one fide, and the mafter and the law on the other. He fhould never appear in any other light among them than that of their inftructor and be- nefactor, praying with them, interceding for them, or doing fome good office to them; that their efteem for his perfon, and grati- tude for his kindnefs, may ftand to them in place of a law, may produce in them a love for CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 271 for his doétrine, and be a pledge of their good behaviour to the community. One caufe of the author’s little fuccefs among his own flaves was, doubtlefs, the neceflity of mixing the authority of the mafter in do- meftic matters, with the exhortations of the teacher; and the fuperior fuccefs of the Moravians may be accounted for, from their being feen by their fcholars, only in the be- nevolent light of inftructors. The minifters fhould have monthly meet- ings at each other’s houfes, to which well- difpofed gentlemen of the neighbourhood fhould be occafionally invited: at thefe they might talk over their difficulties, their fuc- cefles, their plans. Every meafure fhould be carefully difcufled before carried into exe- cution; the plan of inftruction fhould be uniform; the prayers, precepts, hymns, fhould all {peak one language. And we might : hope that the minifters, relieved by a decent provifion from worldly care, countenanced by government, refpected by good men, and encouraged by each other in this good work, would foon find pleafure in it, and fee it profper in their hands. But 272 On THE TREATMENT AND But fome greater care fhould be taken in the choice of perfons defigned for this labour, and of candidates fent over from the colo- nies for ordination, than has been hither- to ufual. It is now growing into a cuftom, in the Weft-Indies, for men that have diffipated their patrimony, to flee to the church as their laft refuge from poverty, often with very flender pretenfions re{pecting education, and lefs refpecting de- cency of charatter. Yet, if any diftinction were proper, the colonifts, even fetting afide this plan of the converfion of their flaves, by reafon of their ufual careleffnefs and dif- fipation, require a fuperior attention to the charaéter of their paftors. Perhaps the fitteft perfons that could be fent out would be dif- creet curates from England, accuftomed to teaching, whofe hopes of prefermentare {mall, towhom thefe fettlements would bea defirable advancement. The Society for Propagating the Gofpel might have a committee to ex- amine, feleét, and recommend them to the feveral governors. oe. be CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 273 ik i Saas as ® General Improvement of Slaves. I have vindicated the natural capacity of African flaves, have laid before the reader their prefent condition, have proved that to advance them in religion and focial life would profit both the public and their mafters, and have propofed a plan for their inftruction. We may now make this in- ference refpecting the original defign of this work. Were the yoke of flavery made to fit more eafy on their necks; were they taught to think more juftly of themfelves, more moderately of their mafters; did their con- dition admit of the enjoyment of the com- mon conveniences of life; were thefe ex- tended and fecured to them; were their fa- milies and offspring to be confidered as their own, not wantonly to be torn from them at the caprice, or to pay for the extravagance, of their tyrant; then would they be found ca- pable of arts that are ufeful in fociety here, and of extending their own views to futurity. Then, when they had become fenfible of | S$. their 274. ON THE TREATMENT AND their relation to God, would his religion, which we with to introduce, have a fair chance among them; they would efteem themfelves more worthy of it, more nearly connected with it, more ftrictly obliged to inquire into its doctrines, and conform their lives to its laws. ‘Then, in refpect of in- telleé&t, would they be found equal to the people of any country. mn French flaves enjoy a great advantage for the admiffion of religion over Englifh flaves, in the familiarity that French manners per~ mit them to live in with white people: an advantage that is increafed by the prefence of their owners, who generally live and .con- verfe with them, fuperintend and partake with them in their labours, inftead of fub- mitting them to hirelings; many of whom, in fullen filence, think of nothing but, of extorting labour out of them, at the expence of health, life, and every human feeling; and are, indeed, often obliged to do this to keep up the remittances, and preferve their places. The above-mentioned circumiftances in the French iflands conceal the diftance be- tween mafter and flave, make the diftinction eafier to the latter, and, by exciting equally their affection and ambition, pave the way for CoNnVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 275 for introducing among them the cuftoms and religion of their matters. The difficulties which the French had to conquer in their firft attempts to convert flaves cannot now be afcertained. But, long fince, cuftom and time have made the work eafy to them. Religion, as they teach it, places particular merit in the work of converfion, which is a {pur to their piety. The Creole flaves know no other religion than Chrifti- anity. ‘The new African flaves are gradually abforbed into the mafs. With the firft rudi- ments of a new language, they draw in the precepts of a religion that mixes itfelf with every mode of common life; as foreigners are faid to learn Englith, by the oaths and imprecations with which our tongue abounds. Thus they acquire the religion gradually, with the cuftoms of their new country, while attention and curiofity are ftrong on them, before they have been put to hard or difagreeable labour, to difguft them with the manners and worfhip of their matters. It muft be owned, indeed, that the Romifh mode of worfhip, confifting of pomp and ceremony, is better calculated to ftrike, at frft fight, the imagination of ignorant peo- ple, than our fimple ritual. A remark, S 2 that 276 ON THE TREATMENT AND that may explain the attention which a very oppofite fect, the Moravians, pay to forms in managing favages, and the {trefs that they lay on the defcription of our Saviour’s. fuf- ferings and crucifixion ; as if it was neceflary for improving the mind, to make religion.a mechanic exercife, and draw piety as an ob- ject of fentfe. On the other hand, till the minds of our flaves be more enlightened, till their fituation be. made more eafy, till they have a refuge againift the effects of the caprice, ignorance, cruelty, poverty of their mafters, till they think themfelves intitled to the protection of fociety, we cannot expect them to take their, proper rank in the ftate,. nor »to make any confiderable progrefs in religious knowledge. At prefent they know and feel nothing of fociety, but the hardfhips and punifhments that it cruelly and capricioufly inflicts; they lie far beyond its care, and out of the circle of its comforts. And I be- lieve it will be found, that Chriftianity has feldom) made. any, great progrefs, except where fociety was.in an advanced ftate. Nor. has. it fupported) itfelf, but: in the polifhed parts of Europe and America.» And how, CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 2977 how, rationally ‘fpeaking, can it “happen otherwife? A conformity with révealed’ re- ligion fuppofeth a conqueft over the’ felfith paflions; and unlefs we be firft accuftomed to facrifice, in a certain degree, thefe paffions for the advantages of fociety, which’ come home to our immediate feelings, we fhall hardly be willing to facrifice them for the hopes of religion. Indeed the benevolence or charity, which is the corner- {tone of Chrif- tianity, is evidently a refinement on juftice, which is the bond of fociety. But, can we refine on a law that doth not exift? As reli- gion mutt be built on a foundation of law; fo, in refpect of practice, it may be called the perfection of fociety: it brings futurity into the aid of law, and gives a moral fan@tion to the edicts of authority. Could it find ad- mittance among favages, it would of necef- fity polith them, and introduce fociety among them. Modern philofophers and politicians, even while exerting their influence to under- mine its foundations, give religion this tef- timony: ‘* Though too vulgar a ftudy for a ‘© fine {pirit, and its precepts too mean for ** his free fentiments, ‘yet religion is an * excellent: inftrument' in the magiftrates 3 ‘¢ hands 278 On THE TREATMENT AND *¢ hands’ to: make the mob harmlefs, fober, «¢ induftrious, honeft, and obedient +.” And conformably to this reafoning we find, ‘it was in the cities, where fociety had improved the underftanding, that the apoftles and their fellow-labourers chiefly made con- verts to Chriftianity. A Pagan or country. clown, and an heathen or infidel, foon became equivalent terms. Different, indeed, is the cafe now, when our fine wits, (who, had they lived in the early ages of Chriftianity, merely for the credit of their parts, would have been moft orthodox) are afhamed of the re- ligion of their fathers; and, rather than pro- fefs any religion in common with mankind, will maintain the fillieft paradox, the moft , + There is at laft, indeed, one exception in the newly erected ftates of America: they have almoft generally declared againft an eftablifhed religion as a neceflary part of their conftitutions; the fuccefs cannot for fome time be known. The good effects of religion in improving fociety, is nobly teftified in the fuccefs of the Moravians among the favages of Greenland: by gradually introducing Chriftianity and in- duftry together, of felfith precipitate favages, they have made a band of provident, fober, ufeful, fympathizing brethren. Their progrefs there is the triumph of religion over ignorant: unafiifted reafon. Yet our flaves are much more civilized than thefe originally were ; but liberty, nature’s inheritance to man, more than compenfated to them the difference. degra- CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 279 degrading dogma. Iwifh, indeed, we could fay, that good manners, and obedience to the laws, were not generally: fent away. with what they affect to call bigotry: fo indiflo- lubly bound together are the characters of a good citizen and pious man. In general the faculties of the mind muft be expanded to a certain degree, before reli- gion will take root, or flourifh among a peo- ple; and a certain proportion of civil liberty is neceflary, on which to found that .ex- panfion of the mind, which moral or religi- ous liberty requires.* By this affertion I exclude not particular inftances; but fuch neither form nor confute general rules. To bring this home to the cafe of our flaves: the great obftacle to government in bring~ ing about this point, fetting afide its own * When Mofes led the children of Ifrael out of Egypt, he was under the neceflity of training them up to be an independ- ent people, by multiplied forms and ftri&t difcipline, for the fpace of forty years. And it is apparent, from their behavi- our during this long period, that flavery had fo thoroughly debafed their minds, as to have rendered them incapable of the exertions neceflary for their fettlement in the promifed land, till all thofe who had grown up as flaves in Egypt, had fallen in the wildermefs, and laws and regulations worthy of a free people had taken place among them. ‘This isa cafe full in point, and may fuggeft hints worthy of the legiflature. S 4 carelefinefs 280 On. THE TREATMENT AND. carelefinefs in fuch things, is the alteration that it. would at firft make in private pro- perty. .This it is true we have in chap. 2, fe&t. 3. fhewn to be more in appearance than in fact. But fuch are our prejudices, that any law to improve the condition of our flaves, or to inftruct them in the prin- ciples of religion, would be too apt to be confidered as an incroachment on their maf- ters property, and an hinderance of their profit. Still allowing this prejudice its full ope- ration, fomething confiderable might be done by parliament, by colony legiflatures, by willing confcientious mafters. Expe- dients would offer themfelves, methods might be difcovered, to advance the condition, and promote the religious interefts of flaves, and fave alfo, or even improve, their labour to their mafters, and the ftate. Nay, the in- tereft of the ftate would ultimately be ad- vanced by every indulgence extended to them. On the other hand, little can any other individuals attempt, and lefs can they effect, except to pray that the minds of our governors may be enlightened to fee the honour and ‘advantage of this undertaking. mt We CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SEAVES. 281 We come now to fuggeft fuch an advanée- ment of their condition, as may” lay ‘the foundation of that improvement, in morality and religion, which is the object of this work. ai RR, OM ei Privileges granted, and Polite extended to Slaves. We have obferved, that flaves are hardly in any inftance confidered as objects. of police, being abandoned to the manage- ment, or rather caprice, of their feveral maf- ters.. Nor. doth law.take notice of them, but to enforce power, which, without fuch affiftance, too frequently lays reafon and hu- manity bleeding at its feet. Our laws, in- deed, as far as they refpec& flaves, are only licenced modes of exercifing tyranny on them; for they are not made parties to them, though their lives and feelings be concluded by them. As wel] may directions for angling be faid to be laws made for dumb. fith, as our colony regulations. for WIRPINE, hanging, ae aS burning negroes, 282 °ON THE TREATMENT AND negroes, be icalled Jaws made for: flaves. To make them objects of civil government muft therefore bean efflential part of every plan ofsimprovement that refpects flaves; fo. that while obnoxious to the penalties of >the law, they may be intitled to its fecurity; and while law leaves them under the management of a matter, it may protect them from his éarbarity. A judge fhould therefore be appointed to determine difputes of confequence between matter and flave, as in the French colonies.* The power of the mafter fhould be reftrain- ed ‘within certain limits. He fhould not be fuffered to maim, beat, or bruife wret- ches with a ftick. To flit ears and nofes, to break legs, or caftrate,}- fhould make a man infamous for ever, and, equally with the greater excommunication, incapacitate him from being evidence, or taking inheritan- * If it be objected that-the appointment of a judge would encourage flaves to be running conftantly to him with com- plaints, and annihilate the mafter’s juft authority ; the exam- ple of Athens formerly, and France now, may be adduced in proof, that no fuch effects neceflarily follow, + The, laft inflance of this enormity was, I believe, pex- petrated by an Englifh furgeon in Granada, Ces 3 CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 283 ces; and much more fhould fuch cruelties fhut the door againft him from) fitting in an afflembly, or council, as a legiflator.. The fentiment of a gentleman, a native of St, Chriftopher’s, pleafed me on this fubje. ‘© Were a white fervant to behave to me as ‘* my flaves often do, I fhould be provoked *¢ to beat him moft unmercifully. But how <¢ can I ftrike a wretch, who dare not ftrike ‘* again, who has no law to which he may ** apply for {atisfaction for my excefs, who «¢has none but myfelf to look up to for ‘* protection againft my violence?” What pity is it, fince {ociety interpofes not, that fach fentiments fhould be uncommon? If any flave has been flagrantly ill treated by a mafter, the matter fhould have a mark of infamy, as above, fixed on him, and the flave fhould be made free without price: or, if he ‘be unacquainted with any trade by which he can earn his bread, he fhould be fold for the benefit of the public, at an.eafy rate, to fome confiderate man. ‘Fo;makeia flave free, who cannot carn .an honeit living, would be inhuman and im politic. It is letting loofe on fociety a thief in defpair. "The 284 ON. THE TREATMENT AND The marriages,of flaves fhould be put un- der fome better regulation than at prefent ; when a.man may have what. wives. he plea- feth, and either.of them may break the yoke at their caprice. Nothing would more hu- manize flaves, and improve their condition; than, their. acquiring .a property in «their wives and families, and having a reftraint laid on the: promifcuous intercourfe of the fexes.. Marriage, or a family, is the em- bryo of fociety; it contains the principles, and feeds of every focial virtue. The care of a family would make them confiderate, fober, frugal, induftrious. An ambition to promote the condition of their children, would fharpen and improve their talents. They would avoid every fault, or meannefs, that might hurt the intereft or credit. of fuch dear relatives; even as in polithed fo- ciety, a man who is married, is generally found a more ufeful and truft worthy citi- zen, than he who continues fingle,* The * T admire that polity of the Athenians, which allowed no unmarried man to hold any place in the magiftracy, army, or navy. They did not depend on 4s fidelity to diftribute juf- tice, or defend the ftate; who had not given to the public a wvfe and children, as fureties of his good behaviour. I mean, CoNVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 288 - The minimum ofa negroe’s allowance for clothes and provifions fhould be fettled by law. “Slaves fhould be allowed at Jeatt Sa- turday afternoon, asin Jamaica, for their own work, and to wafh their clothes. Sun- day fhould be wholly their own, for the purpofes of inftruction, and reft from la- bour. © Their little properties fhould be fe- cured to them; their families thould not be'torn from them. . All plantation {flaves, as at prefent is the cuftom in Antigua, fhould be confidered as fixed to the’ free- I mean not here to cenfure men, who, like Newton, pre> ferve themfelves chafte and fingle, the more clofely to apply to the ftudy of nature, or the intricacies of fcience. Neither the common good, nor moral rectitude, require the matter to be fo ftrictly urged. Let the poet court his mufe, or the phi- lofopher hold dalliance with nature, or {port in the fields of li- terature ; we will not permit the cares of a family to interrupt his refearches, or difturb his amufement. Matrimony claims only thofe in each fex, who find themfelves drawn irrefiftibly to the other, and wifhes only to fanétify their commerce. No plea can be ufed for the celibacy of thofe who keep not them- felves chafte. ‘There is a forry felfifhnefs in their ftealing all that they value in the ftate, and leaving the cares to others, For they muft acknowledge, that in every community a cer- tain proportion muft marry ; and if it be a burden, why are they exempt? Not but if this were the place to prove it, marriage might be fhewn to be, generally fpeaking, the only rational foundation for focial happinefs, and the itate the God of nature appointed for man. hold, 286 .ON THE TREATMENT AND hold) ‘that ‘they’ may’ ‘not’ be fold, or car- ried away wantonly at pleafure. It would then be the'next natural ftep, to tafk them’as propofed in note, page 129, and fuffer them, by their extra labour, to work out’ their freedom ; {till taking care to keep as many of them attached to the foil, as might be wanted to carry on the ftaple manufactures of the colonies as day labourers. Thefe regulations would lay a foundation for that far diftant view which we take of this fubje&; the time when liberty fhail claim every exiled African for her own child. Their being conneG@ed with the foil, will draw after it certain perfonal rights, and all the claims of a family. Having once tafks affigned them, wages will follow, and the bargain become mutual and equal between the employer and employed.* Tf, on account of ill behaviour, or any particu- lar caufe, a mafter be under the neceflity of parting with a plantation flave, or banifhing * One infeparable confequence of the communication of the leaf degree of liberty or privilege to flaves, would be a defire to be baptized, and to be confidered as Chrifians ; for this they think fecures the poffeffion of it to them. And much good might be done towards their inftrudtion, by making.a Proper advantage of this bias to the religion of their matters. him, . CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVEs. 289 him, let it be done with. the approbation! of the judge; and let the tranfaction, with the reafon afligned, be regiftered... In like man+ ner {hould every decree given. by the judge be regiftered. To improve their minds, the flaves fhould be accuftomed to determine, as jurors, on the behaviour of each other. ‘This would infenfibly lead them to diftinguith between vice and virtue. What rendered the Gre- cian and Roman mobs (for their aflemblies were no better) fo fuperior to the nations around them, but the privilege of being con- ftituted judges both of public meafures and private caufes, and, as fuch, of being daily improved by the public orations of their lawyers and ftatef(men? The frequent at- tendance on our courts of law, and as jury= men in the trial of caufes, which moft peo- ple in. our little colonies are obliged to give, except they bribe off their appearance, im- parts a precifion and readinefs in thinking to the colonifts, that one thall in vain look for in the mother country in the fame rank, on the fame fubjects. Yet they are often very unpolifhed beings, when Europe firft fends them out among us, | | Matters Pe eS CE ANTES NED TELE T ES EEOC AS Ts a ee a 288 On THE TREATMENT AND Matters fhould be encouraged. to grant freedom to fuch flaves as fhewed merit, and promifed to make good ufe of it; but they fhould be reftrained from turning off flaves when become incapable of labour, as is of- ten done, under pretence of giving them freedom. All colony laws, enacted on the narrow principle of perfonal. diftinétion, to prevent or fetter manumiffion, fhould be annulled; fuch as thofe of ‘Barbadoes and Granada, that fix a heavy fine to the public on the mafter who frees a flave.. All mu- lattoes fhould be fent out free, trained to fome trade or bufinefs at the age of thirty years. Children of mulattoe girls fhould be free from their birth, or from the com- mencement of their mother’s freedom. In- tendants fhould be appointed to fee them put in time to fuch trade or. bufinefs, as may beft agree with their inclination, and the demands of the colony. This fthould be done at the expence of their fathers, and a fufficient fum might be depofited in the hands of the church-wardens, foon after their birth, to anfwer the purpofe ; the in- tendant keeping the church-wardens to their duty. This cafe fuppofes the mother to be : free. eee CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 28g free. Ifa man has a mulattoe born to him by another man’s negrefs, he fhould pay to her owner eight pounds fterling, as foon as the child is weaned. It fhould then be confidered as the mafter’s child, to be fent out free as above. If the parent or mafter has neglected to inftruct them in fome ufe- ful calling, he fhould be fined in an annuity equal to their maintenance. By thefe means, the number of free citi- zens would infenfibly increafe in the colo- nies, and add to their fecurity and ftrength. A new rank of citizens, placed between the black and white races, would be eftablifh- ed. They would naturally attach them- felves to the white race, as the more ho- nourable relation, and fo become a barrier againft the defigns of the black. Nay, were the law extended to free every fenfible negrefs (and they are generally domettics, and fempftreffes) who fhould bring a mu- lattoe child by her mafter, or any man worth as much as would repay her value to her mafter, I fee no ill confequences ,that could follow from the regulation. At leaft, if it checked this improper commerce be- tween mafter and flave, it would promote T legal, i Hy . he a i i ie 290 On THE TREATMENT AND legal, and more honourable connections with their own equals. Still thieves, and va- gabond beggars, fhould be excepted from every privilege, and. be kept, or reduced to flavery, whenever difcovered; and if this were the law, under certain reftrictions, even in Britain, much wealth and_happinefs would redound from it. On thefe outlines of fociety, viz. the indif- foluble tie of marriage, the claims of a fami- ly, the allowance of property, the afcertain- ing the hours and time of labour, or al- lotting it by tafk; the fixing the mini- mum of maintenance and clothing; the adjudging them to the foil; the making them arbiters of each other’s conduct; the afligning them a protector or judge, to pre- ferve their little privileges, and fecure them againft cruelty ; in fhort, on the vindicat- ing for them the common rights of hu- manity, would we erect a plan, that fhould look forward to their gradual improve- ment, and extend, by flow but fure fteps, to the full participation of every focial pri- vilege. Thus fecured from injury, thus partaking in the fruits of their own labour, they might be refigned to the care of the paftors CoNVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 291 paftors that we have propofed for them, to be built up in holinefs, and the fear of God, and taught to look forward with refigna- tion and hope, to a ftate where every hard- fhip, every inequality, infeparable from the lot of humanity, fhall be intirely removed, and fully compenfated. CON CL Ue ow I have now laid before the public what I fuppofed might bear the light; not all I have thought, not all I have written on the fubject. In many points fentiment has ftruggled with the felfifhnefs of the age, and been obliged to fupprefs many a generous with: the feelings of benevolence have been forced to give way to the fuggeftions of narrow policy; and even a fenfe of the pub- lic intereft has been made to yield to private prejudice. Yet, if our flaves were once accuftomed to tafte only a few of the {weets of fociety, a Uttle of the fecurity of being judged by known laws, they would double their application to procure the comforts and conveniencies of life; and, with their © 2 additional 292 ON THE TREATMENT AND additional property, would naturally rife in their rank in fociety. Many, efpecially if our plan of working them by tafk were to take place, would, in time, be able to pur- chafe their own freedom. Their demands for manufactures would increafe, and extend our trade; they would acquire a love for the country and government that fhewed this attention to them. The labour of fuch as became free might, for fome time, be re- gulated on the fame plan as that of labourers in England. Under the awe of, or rather affifted by, a few regular troops, they might fafely be trufted with arms for the defence of themfelves, their families, their own, and patron’s property. Then would the colonies enjoy a fecurity from foreign attacks that no protection from Europe can afford them. The minds of thefe, our fellow-creatures, that are now drowned in ignorance, being thus opened and improved, the pale of rea- fon would be enlarged; Chriftianity would receive new ftrength; liberty new fubjects. The flave trade, in its prefent form the re- proach of Britain, and threatening to haften its downfal, might be made to take a new fhape, and become ultimately a bleffing to | thou- ee en - —— ee CONVERSION OF AFRICAN SLAVES. 293 thoufands of wretches, who, left in their na- tive country, would have dragged out a life of miferable ignorance; unknowing of the hand that framed them; unconfcious of the reafon of which they were made capable; and heedlef{s of the happinefs laid up in ftore for them.* Thus, by a timely interpofition of the legiflature, and a judicious attention to cir- cumftances, might Britain acquire a con- fiderable acceflion of ftrength, have its trade and taxes improved, and a large number of ufeful fellow-fubjects, that are now funk in mifery and bondage, made happy here, and capable of happinefs hereafter. And thefe are confiderations that, furely, are fuffici- ently powerful to unite the worldling and politician, with the pious faint and fincere Chriftian, to carry on the fcheme as one * This is on the fuppofition that the flave trade could be conducted without that violence and injuftice to individuals, and enormous lofs of lives in the paffage from Africa, and, during the feafoning in the colonies, that now accompanies it. For the greateft benefit that can poffibly happen to a few cannot juftify us for endeavouring it by murder, by vio- lence, bad air, and famine, in m aking the experiment. They muit offer themfelves willingly for the voyage, and be. better accommodated and treated during the courfe of it. man, 294 ON THE TREATMENT AND man, fince each would find his feparate ac- count in it. Honour, profit, piety, all join in the important requeft; all folicit to have their claims to this benefit confidered. And what glory would it be to Britain, what an object of emulation, to enlarge the benevolent plan of France and Spain, for improving the condition of their flaves ; and to open a way for the admiffion of reafon, religion, liberty, and law among creatures of our kind, at prefent deprived of every advantage, of every privilege, which, as partakers of our common nature, they are. capable of and entitled to! We have notorioufly and continually thruft ourfelves into the quarrels of others, and been lavifh of our blood and treafure for the protection of ftrangers and the advancement of ungrateful rivals, whofe good-will, even ia appearance, we could retain no longer than while our affiftance was ufeful to them. But thefe miferable wretches live only, can live only, for our profit, for our luxury. They have no protector, no refuge to flee to; and every penny laid out for their advantage would return with tenfold ufury to us. And {hal} CONVERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 295 fhall we, from year to year, continue to {pend our riches and ftrength, in raifing up thanklefs rival ftates, and deny thefe unhappy beings a poor pittance of their own labour to make them a farther advantage and glory to us? Forbid it, honour; forbid it, juftice; forbid it, prudence; forbid it, humanity. What is here propofed may, poffibly, on trial, be found ineffectual, though I have good ground to think it would not.’ But, furely, were the feelings of humanity, the refearches of knowledge, and the obfervations of ex- _ perience, collected in the confultation, they could not fail in producing fome plan capable of anfwering the with of reafon, religion, liberty ; capable of fecuring thefe bleffings. ‘to Britain and her children. Reafon will not be backward in a work that is to produce her advancement; Liberty will think no con- ceflion great that is to extend her empire; Piety will not reckon that expence exceflive that has the purchafe of fouls in view. Even felfith Intereft will open her ears to the fuggeftions of accumulation. Slow me- thodical difcretion mutt prefide over, and guide the gradually opening fcene. What un- wearied application have the premiums offered for f a ES oS oF ae EE eras Ser Sa 296 On THE TREATMENT AND for the difcovery of the longitude given rife to? And what objet more worthy of pub- lic encouragement than this, which propofes to recover to reafon, to utility, and happi- nefs, a multitude of human creatures drown- ed in ignorance and wretchednefs ? Though what is here written, if deemed worthy of notice, will certainly expofe | the author to much abufe from men, whofe wifhes and intereft, as they imagine them to tend, are oppofed to all reformation; yet, is he not fenfible of having had any thing finifter, felfifh, or cenforious in view; nor can he, in any refpect, be particularly bene- fited if the improvement were to take effect? He has intended no flight or injury to in- dividuals, or to any condition or community of men, feparated from their oppofition to the unalienable rights of human nature and the di€tates of benevolence and religion. His confolation is, that a fimple love of truth, and a fincere defire to do good, alone excited him to the attempt, and that many pious and learned perfons thought it worthy the attention of the public. And, after feri- oufly reviewing the whole, he fees no objec- tion to be offered before hand, either againft the CoNnvERSION oF AFRICAN SLAVES. 297 the practicability, or expence of the plan, except the manners and prejudices of the age. On the contrary, there are confide- rations to encourage both individuals and government to make the attempt; argu- ments of ftrength, not only to be drawn from topics of humanity, liberty, religion, but alfo of fafety, conveniency, pofitive intereft, and profit, both public and private. Doubtlefs, in a fubject like this, where we mutt be fatisfied with general accounts, probable conjeCtures, and analogical reafon- ing, a perfon inclined to take the other fide may felect many things to be objected to, many to be contradicted. But, till fuch a man can, fimply and generally fpeaking, vindicate on the fcore of religion,’ mo- rality, or even policy, the condué, or rather negligence of government, with refpec to the fugar colonies; till he can prove that the diet, the clothing, the labour, the punifh- ments of 4000,000 negroes, ought to be left entirely to the difcretion of their matters; till he can affirm, that flaves have an adequate re- medy, either in law, opinion, or intereft, as practifed or underftood among us, againft the parfimony, infenfibility, prejudices, U mean-= 298 On THE TREATMENT AND meannefs, ignorance, {pite, and cruelty of their owners and overfeers; till he can thew, that the prefent ftate of our flaves is the beft - poffible ftate, both for them and their maf- “ters, into which they can be put; and that we had a right to ravifh them from their country, to tranfport, and place them in our own; till he can fhew it to be zmpofible to make them, real Chriftians, or to render them more ufeful members of the ftate than they are at prefent; till he can fhew that ‘reafon is convinced, humanity pleafed, that liberty has no claim, and religion. no wifh; the juftice of our remarks muft remain eftablifhed, and the neceffity of that attention to the improvement of flaves, both as men and Chriftians, which is here inforced, muft remain unconfuted. May God, in his providence, in his good- nefs, efteem us a people worthy of a blefling, fo valuable and extenfive as the focial im- provement and converfion to Chriftianity of our flaves would indifputably be. In this prayer, every pious, humane, and confider- ate reader will join with ‘The AUTHOR. Paseo Pe 8S The Reader is defired to correc the following ERRATA. Page ii $5 2d note, line 4, after by, read exadfing. 66 Laft line, for laf r. Eaf-. 74. Note, line 7. for arrive r. arif. 116 Note, line 3. for 1750 r. 1650. 134 Line 13. for fingle r- Ample. 150 Line 6 from the bottom r. thefe two qwere meant. 166 Line 1. r. work of the week. 175 Line 9. r. without @ certain. » 213 Line 4. for call r.-chu/e. 239 Line 16. for town r. towns. 260 Line 8, r. the nobleft fruit of religion, charity. 297 Line 6 from the bottom, for 4000,000 r. 400,000. i { i fe I | ie a i} i | Publifhed by the fame Author, and fold for the Benefit of the MARITIME ScCHooL, An Essay on the Dury and QUALIFICA- Tions of a Sea OrFiceER, fold by George Robinfon, Pater-nofter-Row. A Volume of SErMons addreffed to the SzEa~ MEN ferving in the Rovau Navy, fold by Rivington and Sons, St. Paul’s Church- Yard, ~aSatesatt i iil ING RE