Class __E_AAiL Book ___. A OP THE SOPHISMS, GROSS MISREPRESENTATIONS, AND ERRONEOUS QUOTATIONS , j CONTAINED IN « AN AMERICAN'S " " LETTER TO THE EDINBURGH REVIEWERS " y v ^ ^ ^ OR 5^'3 SLAVERY INIMICAL TO THE CHARACTER OF THE GREAT FATHER OF ALL, UNSUPPORTED BY DIVINE REVELATION^ A VIOLATION OF NATURAL JUSTICE, AND HOSTILE TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ^mtvicmx M'btptn^tntt. By JOHN WRIGHT. «? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created eqi al-tl at ^'^'J' .^^,.^«^\«^,^ the Creator vuth'ceitain unalienable rights-that among them are life, libertj, and tht inirsiut ot happiness." Declaration oj Independence. « I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; and that his justice cannot sleep foreveT.** ^ ' Mr. Jtjfernoiis 2^u(e on Slavcnj. « Therefore tliey" (tlie Indians) "liad sent back tlie two Missionaries with many ^'^iiks pronminp, that when they saw the black people among us restored to lrct.-dora and •'aPl"''*^*'},^^^ '''""'•* gladly receive om* Missionaries.' Mr. JtJ/'i I mi ~^^lias Boudinot. PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1820 To JOHJy qVIJ^CT ADAMS. Esfr. Secretary/ of State. Permit roe respectfully to dedicate the following pages to you. The high official station you fill : \our weight and iniluence in society, independent of that sta- tion : and, above all, your high character, uniform hu- manity, and genuine and constant adherence to the prin- ciples of Freedom and Independence, have induced me to take the liberty of connecting your name with this cause, and of phicing under your patronage this well- intended, though feeble effort to contribute my mite to. wards bringing about an event, which must be consider- ed of vast importance by every man, who understands the principles of natural justice, and who, from his heart respects the rights and liberties of the various branches of the great human family. But, Sir, much as I respect and honor the office which you fill ; neither that consideration, nor of your circumstances in life combined therewith, would have been, of themselves, sufficient to call forth this dedica- tion. But when, in one so circumstanced and so hon- ored by his country, I view and contemplate, the genu- ine pMlanthrojoist — the frieni of manJcivd-^ihe man who is just to the poor despised negro — who cheerfully foregoes every advantage or profit which miglit accrue from a participation in the iniquitous system. * A man whose hands have never, either directly or indirectly, been polluted with the crime of slavery— who, to avoid being a participator therein, has submitted to inconvc IV niences ; and rather than have slaves in his Jiouse to administer to liis domestic comforts^ has occasionally stooped to do those things himself which are generally performed by servants — stoop ! did I say ; I beg par- don, Sir, — It is this view of you that calls forth my highest admiration. In such conduct and under the in- fluence of such motives, you rise in the scale of human dignity. You thereby display that purity of sentiment, that independence of character, that consistency of mind and action, and that true greatness of soul, which exalt and ennoble human nature. In such situations, and un- der the influence of such sentiments, you can look down with conscious superiority, upon the proudest monarchs and the most haughty nobles of the earth ; who in the midst of pomp and pageantry, vainly imagine the rest of mankind made for their accommodation. In such si- tuation too, the oppulent slaveholder has to look iip^ to contemplate that excellency to which he cannot aspire : and, while he envies those feelings produced by that rectitude of heart and conduct which he has not the vir- tue to imitate, he must sink in conscious inferiority and feel the degradation of his own situation. It is this view of your character. Sir, separate from all political considerations (for I have not interfered with the politics of the country) that lias drawn forth this humble but sincere tribute of respect, and I cannot re> sist the impulse of my soul, to embrace this opportunity publicly to testify, how much I honor and venerate the man, who, exalted in public station, and in circumstan- ces above the mass of the people, has the virtue and in- tegrity, to resist the temptations of profit and interest ; and who, by example shines as a light in the midst of the contaminating thousands that surround him. But, Sir, that my motives in thus addressing you may not be misconstrued, and that I may at once silence any injurious insinuations, permit nie frankly to state, that, while I pay this tribute to your exalted virtue and uniform consistency, as the friend of liberty ; mine is not the language of flattery or sycopluincy. Believe loe, Sir, I am actuated by no interested motives — I ask no favor — I seek no situation. It is not as the dispenser of places, but as the friend o^ justice^ humanitij and of man that I address you. My pen shall never be prostituted to aggrandize myself. Had I been capable of doing this, I might have done it v. ith better efiect, in anotlser coun- try, where talent and sycophancy combined, seldom pass unnoticed or unrewarded. Dispense to others as you please, or as your judgment dictates ; all I wish or de- sire is, tliat you may continue the stanch friend of human liberty — an advocate for the equal rights of all men of every hue ; and lluit you may, at no very distant period, find the benevolent wishes of your soul completely crowned. With these feelings and motives, I dedicate this work to you. — xVccept the tribute I offer. If it contains no other merit, it has that of sincerity. And believe me, Sir, should I see cause, I sliall be as ready to censure and condemn in you, any departure from the principles of justice and humanity, as I have now been to praise and commend an adherence to them. Wishing that your example may be followed by many, I beg leave to subscribe myself. Sir, Your very humble servant In the cause of human li!)erty, JOHN WRIGHT. WasJiington^ January 10, 1820. i The following strictures are submitted to the perusal and couj- sidcration of an impartial public. They are intended as a refutation of what lately appeared first in the National Intelligencer, and has since been republished in the pamphlet form, addressed as a « Letter to the Edinburgh Reviewers "-Those gentlemen being separated by the vast ocean from their antagonist, and, consequently, can know nothing of the attack, so as to rej,ly to it for some time to come. And as those strictures are calculated to impose greatly on unsuspecting readers, and to make impressions, greatly to the disadvantage of the Re- viewers, as well as to injure the cause of humanity, I have deemed it proper to take up my pen in their defence ; and to attempt a refuta- tion of the misleading assertions, and sophistical reasonings of a writer who, by his owii confession does not enter the contest, with clean hands! I am aware of the disadvantages under which I have to meet a wnter, whose circumstances, connexions, and weight in society, have raised him so far above the sphere in which I move : but conscious o. the goodness of my cause, and the purity of my motives, I am neither deterred by those things, nor by his talents and literary advantages from meeting him in a literary combat, where justice, humanity, and' the rights of man are the theme. For his own sake, I should have been glad to have treated him with more respect and complacence than I have done in the following pages ; bttt that I could not do, without conniving at what I from my heart condemn. A fair and honest combatant is worthy of respect and however erroneous a man's arguments or sentimems may be: if he be sincere and honest, he has a claim on our esteem. But, whatever is due to a liter's sincerity, nothing is due to his wilful misrepresenta- .ons, and intentional false glosses. If therefore, any reader should thmk me severe iu any of my remarks, I request him to recollect, that viii the edge of those severe remarks is not directed against that writer's sentiments on slavery; it is not aimed at his arguments ; but at and against, what no honest writer woukl allow himself in— against, what every lover of Truth must disapprove and condemn— against, wilful perversion and misquotation of language, and intentioiml misrepresen- tation of the design of the writers whom he opposes.— If the charge, which I have brouglit against this writer, be correct, no one can think me too severe: And should it be incorrect, he has it in his power to repel the charge and transfer it to me : for either the charge is just and substantiated or, I am myself guilty of the thing which I impute to him. —We both stand before the tribunal of the public; we have to be weighed in tlie scales of literary justice ; one of us must be found wanting ; and which ever it be, let infamy rest on his head. THE AUTHOR. m®s*wff A^i®ir^ ^ c,> Whew a writer, in reply to another, comes before the public, on an important subject ; whatever may be his station in life; his claim to respect must rest on the strengtii of his arguments, the correctness of his statements, the fair and honest construction he puts upon his antagonist's language, and the evident motives by which he is actuated. Had the gentleman, wljom I now undertake to refute, ad- hered to this line of conduct, in his reply to the Edinburgh Reviewers, I should have treated him with that courtesy and respect, to which he would have been entitled. This I would have done, even if his station in life had been on a level with the poorest man in tlie district : for, in a republican country, all are on a level ; the laws know of no distinction ; nor will good men know any, save those of talent and virtue. But high as this writer ranks in circumstances, and nearly as he is said to be allied to the first official character in tlie United States, (for, if I am not incorrectly informed, the pamphlet is the production of one, who is by marriage, nearly related to the President,) neither his circumstances nor his connexions shall screen him from that reproof and exposure which his mis-statements, mis-representations, and mutilated, perverted quotations demand. I had intended confining my refutation principally to this w^riter's reasonings and assertions on natural justice and divine revelation ; taking it for granted, that, as a fair and honest combatant, he had done no injustice to the writers in question : but having just obtained the LXI. Number of the Edinburgh Review, which contains the remarks against which his strictures are directed ; I find that he lias grossly, and I think wilfully, perverted the language, and unhandsomely quoted their words in a detached manner ; separating them from the connexion in which they stand, to make them express a very different meaning from what they were evidently in- tended to convey. This induced me to alter, or rather extend my original plan, that, by exposing the conduct of the writer, 2 10 1 niiglit sliow wliat dopeiulcDce is to be placed on his pretend- ed good will to the Keviewers; and how far he, \Yho, under the mask of politeness and seeniing' respect, perverts the plain, unequivocal langua.iie of his opponent, in order to support a failing, inicpiitous system, by enlisting on his side those national feelings and ])j'ojiidircs which he pretends to deprecate, may be considered sinceie and correctly honest in his quotations from the scriptures ; and how far he, who puts a false gloss on theremaiks of liis fellow man, ought to be regarded, when he attem])LS to make the Almighty a ])arty with him in the crime, of which he openly and unblushing avows himself to be guilty. To a controvertist of this description, I should certainly have paid as little attention, as he professes himself disposed to do to other wi'iters whom he mentions, did 1 not conceive, that his nnsrepresentations and false glosses might pass for just and honest criticisms \vith those wjio have not tlie oppor- tunity of reading the Edinburgli Review for themselves ; and did 1 not also feel convinced, that however inconsistent and sophistical a writer may be, his crafty insinuations, and un- j'efuted, wilful misconstructions, might make impressions on some, to the procrastination of that event, the consummation of which, must be devoutly wished for by every ^oorf man. And as I have before taken up my pen in defence of the un- alienable rights of man, I consider myself bound, at this very important juncture, to step forward again, and in the face of tliis counti'y, and of the world, oppose every attemi)t to rivet the chains of octr fellow-men, and perpetuate that state of degra- dation into which, not their own misconduct, but tlie avarice, injustice, and oj>pression of others have plunged them : and to do all lean to aid the genuine fj'iends of humanity in their benevolent exertions to drive the liiigerhig foe from his last j'efuge ; and in ushering in that morn which shall hail the un- ibrtuiuite African as a ♦♦ ma\ and a erotiietj." There is, in t!ie literary world, a kind of retributive jus- tice, which fails not to overtake, and that speedily, the trans- gressoi'. Aiid he, who, wilfully or wanto?dy injures his op- ponent, must not expect to escape that ti'ibunal. The motley robe which l^e makes for, and arrays his antagonist in, will ])rove combustible, and the fame of its invejitor will be con- sunjed in its liames. The consequenc es of the false state- ment, and unjust coisure brought against the Edinburgh Re- viewers, must fall upon this writers's own head. A discern- ing public will judge between him and tbem, and pronounce correctly on the meiits or demerits of each. That a man of the writei'\s rank in society, and of his abilities and acquired advantages, should read the plain, un- ambiguous language of the Reviewers, and tiot understand it. 11 is not only improbable^ but impossible. That he sliould both road anil understand it, and yet pervert and misrepresent its design, must, at once raise our astonishment and contempt, and cannot fail to sink his fame, and degrade iiim in the litera- ry circles. That this writer has not gone on hearsay evi- dence, but has read for himself, we may gather from his own publication. And that he has perverted, willully perverted, what he has read, may be fully demonstrated by a fair com- parison of the Reviewer's own language, and his mutilated ((notations. He has attempted to inflame the minds of the <* American people," to call forth their worst feelings, and tliei-eby to lead them from the criminal features of slavery ; that by raising their indignation against the Reviewers, who have protested against the inhuman system ; he may ensnare their Judg- ment, and make them vulnerable to those impressions which his craft ami sophistry, in defence of the system, is calculated to make on those, whose discernment and thinking faculties, arc suspended by their passions and resentments. This writer has, page S, charged the Reviewers with characterizing *< the American people, as vulgar and gascon- ading ;" and he has kept np, and reiterated the charge through the diflferent parts of his j)amj)hlet, frequently intro- ducing the words with quotation marks ; and in the page al- luded to, he has marked it thus, <* vulgar and gasconading,'' as if it were a literal and correct quotation of the Reviewers' own words. As this phrase does not occur in the Review : as they have neither used the sentence, nof any tluit can con- vey such an idea, but have expressed themseives in language ]ust the reverse: I ask this writer, upon what rule u{' fait criticism, or on what principle of honor or common honesty, he hiiHfahricaied the sentence ; put it into the mouth of the Re- viewers ; and by his quotation marks, told the '* American People," that the Reviewers had used it ? The ordy place in the review of the books alluded to, where both tlic above w^ords occur in a sentence, runs thus : (for the sake of connexion I will insert the preceding part of the paragraph.) " Tiie travellers agree^ we think, in camplainlng of the in- subordination of American children, — and do not much like Ame- rican ladies. In their criticisms upon American gasconade, they forget, that vulgar people of all countries, are fill of gasconade.-" The foregoing is the only paragraph in which the Re- viewers have introduced tlie word «< gasconade." Kvery read- er must, at a first glance, be convinced that it neither charac- terizes the " American People as vulgar," nor as ** gascofi- ading :" and he must be blind indeed who cannot discern in it, a dif^nce of the « American People," against those writers IS who so characterize them. And it is with the same design, and in tite same sense, that the term <^ vulgarity" is used a little further on iti the same connexion. ♦* The following sam- ple," say they, *< of American vulgarity is not uncntertain- ing:" They then give the following extract from Mr. Palmer's Journal : ♦< On arriving at the tavern door, the landlord makes his a|)})earance. Landlord, Your servant, gentlemen, this is a jQtie day. Answer, Very fine. Land, You've got two nice creatures ; they are right f/ega??^ matches. J]ns. Yes, we bought them for matches. iMnd, They cost a heap of dol- lars, (a pause and knowing look,) 200 I calculate, Ans, Yes, they cost a good sum. Land, Possible ! (a pause) going west- ward to Ohio, gentlemen ? Jlns, We are going to Philadel- phia. Land, Philadelphia ! ah, that is a dreadful large place, three or four times as big as Lexington. ^Ans. Ten times as large. Land, Is it by George ! what a mighty heap of houses ; (a pause) but I reckon you was not reared in Philadelphia. Jins. Philadelphia is not our native place. Land, Perhaps cwaz/ up in Canada. ,5tis. No, we are from England. Land, Is it possible / well I calculated you w ere from abroad : (a pause) how long have you been from the old country? Ans. We left England last March. Land, And in August here you are in Kentuch, Well I should have guessed you had been in the States some years, you speak almost as good English as we do !" " This dialogue is not a literal copy ; but it embraces most of the frequent and improper application of words used in the back country, w ith a few New England phrases. By the log- housefarmcr and tavern-keeper they are used as often, and as erroneously as they occur in tlie above discourse." " This," say the Reviewers, « is of course intended as a representation of the manners of the low, or at best, the mid- dling class of people of America." They further represent the four travellers, of whose works they were giving an account, as making extensive tours in every part of America, as well in the old as in the new set- tlements ; " and," say they " generally speaking, we should say their testimony is in favour of American manners. W'e must except, perhaps, Mi*. Fearon ; and yet he seems to have very little to say against them." I have deemed it necessary to make these, and shall make further extracts, to prove, that I have not unjustly, oi* witluxit cause, charged the writer, whom I have undertaken to refute, with intentionally mis-representing, the language of the Edin- burgh Reviewei's, and with ascribing to them, feelings and sentiments towards the ** American Peojde" which they have never expressed or manifested; which the dullest reader could not infer from their lanccuage ; and which no writer, but one dcteruiincd to viliify, could liivve the front to lay to their charge. 18 The assumed indilfoi'dicc, \vi(li wiiich lie cniu'aTs the. Re- viewers with ** levity," in s'leakiui:; of the •• Anjeiiciuj kini;- ;" and of** the price for which, in tiiis country, we U'wv, oiir Li- verpools, Sidmouths and Crokers,*' may pass with snch rea- ders as attend to but one side of the controversy ; but tliose, who read the Review for tliemselves, as well tis this writer's perverted, mutilated extracts, will easily discover, thronfi;h his cloak of seemiri.s; indifference, and ex])ressed iiUention to <« let all these thini^s pass," a deep and unworthy denii^n, in the outset of his pamphlet, to prepossess t'.ie American people with an impression, that the Reviewers had treated tneni and their government with ridicule and contempt. To refute tl»is imputation, as contemptible as it is unfouftded, I shall let the Reviewers speak for themselves ; and must pity that nian's discernini^ faculties, who cannot see— and detest the baseness of him, who, seeing;, misrepresents and denies, that the ed^j^c of satire (if satire it can he called) is dij-ected solely against the empty parade, the extravai»'ai:t ex])en(iitc.re, and ex<>rhi- tant (and to the people) oppressive salaries of the British Go- verimient ; and that the contrast here drawn between the pay of the high oilicial characters in the one country, and those in the other, is intended as a true encomium on tiie frugality and economy, and at the same time, efiiciency of the American Government. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the Reviewers were addressing a British pu!)lic, and tlierefore, in contrasting the comparative expenses of the two go\ernments, they spoke of particular public stations hy the names of parti- cular individuals, who, in England, were known to (ill those stations. *• One of the great advantages,'' say the Reviewers, <• of the American Government, is its cheapness. The Ameri- can king has al)out 50001. i)er atnium, the vice-king lOOOl. They hire their Lord Liverpool at about lOOOl. per annum, and their Lord Sidmouth (a good hargaiji) at the same sum, Their Mr. Crokers," (secretaries of the Navy,) ** are inex- pressibly reasonable. Somewhere about the price of an Eng- lish door-keepci'," (of Parliament, or at court ceremonies,) *• or bearer of a mace. Life, however, seems to go oji \t'vy well, in spite of these low salaries, and the purposes of Gov- ernment to be fairly answered." The extracts introduced by the Reviewers from Mr. Hall and Mr. Fearon, certaiidy convey very different feelings from those of levity or conteinpt ; and the introduction of them, displays the veneration in which the Reviewers hold a station ** higher than that of kings." *' Mr. Hall made him (Mr. Jefferson) a visit :" ** I slept a night at Monticello, and left it in VaQ morning, with such a feeling as the ti'avoiler quits the mouldering re- mains of a Grecian temple, or titc pilgrim a fountain in the de- 14 sert. It wo!iIVhat monai'cli would venture thus to exliibit himself in the nakedjiess of humanity ? On what royal brow would the laurel replace the diadem.'' ** Mr. Fearon dined with another of the ex-kings, Mr. Adams.'* The extract given hy the Reviewers, after pass- ing some encomiums on tise persons and hospitality of Mr. A. andhis lady : aiid after describing the plain, but good and plentiful viands w hieh ci'ow ned the board, thus concludes : <* Theestablishmentofthisjiolitical patriarch, consist of a house two stories higli, containing, I believe, eight rooms ; of two men and three maid servants ; three horses and a plain carriage. How great is the contrast between this individual — a man of knowledge and infoi-nrntion — without pomp, parade, or vicious and expensive establishments, as compared with the costly tia])pings, the depraved characters, and the profli- gate expenditui-e «>f. house and ! What a lesson, in tliis, does America teach ! There ai'C now in this land, no less than thi-ee Cincinati !" The same in justice has been done to the Reviewer's remarks on slavery; the same pervei'tion of desigji has been resorted to ; the sanje nnitilation of their sentences ; the same miscon- struction of their words. This writer has ransacked different paragrap'is for epithets, torn them from the connexions in which they stood, mixed them with words of his ow-n, brought them together as so ntany claujw^s of one sentence, w ithout a single period point to sej)arate them, as if the Reviewers had ])ronounced them all \\\ one breath, leaving the reader entire- ly in the dark respecting their original connexion, or the re- lation of circumstances which occasioned the using of them — circutnstances to which they were ap])lied, and to which, even this writer, w ith all his delicacy and professed patriotism, can- ]\(it say, tlsey d.o notjustlij apjdy. It shall, however, be my business to exhibit both sides to the public ; and after stating what this wi'iter says, I will lay heHn'e the jjmrrican pnh'ic^ 15 the remarks ot* the Reviewers on slavery, vvitli the extracts they liavc given, in the order and connexion in which tliey liave written them, leavinj^ the unbiassed and discerning t« judg-e between him and them. Addressing the Reviewers, Ije says, *»You undertake to re- present the character of my country, as dishonoured and de- graded by a <* foul stain" — by ** an atrocious crime" — by *• feelings and practices amounting to the < consummation of all wickedness,' and my counti-ymcn themselves as, ' scourgers and m!irdcrers of slaves,' and beneath < the least and lowest of the EurOjOean nations." Now let the Reviewers appear in their own dress, and let this ** Virginian," who declares himself a slave holder; or, to use his own words, *< a participator in that crime,'^ either disprove the facts related, or prove that the epithets are not ap- plicable to the cruelties, lega'ly sanctioned cruelties^ and mur- ders to which the reviewei's allude : " The great curse of America is tlie institution of slavery — of itself far more than the foulest blot ujion their national character, and an evil wliich counterbalances all the excise- men, licensers, and tax-gatherers of England. No virtuous man ought to trust his own character, or the character of his children, to the demoralizing effects produced by commandijig slaves. Justice, gentleness, pity, and humility, soon give way before tliem. Conscience suspends its functions. The love of command — the impatience of restraint, get the better of every other feeling ; and cruelly has no other limit than fear." The Reviewers then introduce the following extracts from Mr. Jefferson : — »* There must, doubtless, (saysMr. Jefferson) be an imhappy influence on the manners of the people, pro- duced by the existence of slavery amongst us. The whole commerce between master and slave, is a pei'petual exercise of the most boisterous passions ; the most unremitting despo- tism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and iearn to imitate it ; for man is an imitative animal. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on tlie same airs in the circle of smaller slaves ; gives loose to the worst of pas- sions; and thus nui'sed, educated, and daily exercised in ty- ranny, cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can retain his morals and manners utjdepraved by such circumstances." Notes, p. 241. «* The following picture," continue the Reviewers: ** of a slave song is cpioted by Mr. Hall from the Leiters on Virginia : <* I took the boat this morning, and crossed tiieTeiTy over to Portsmouth, the small town which I told you is oj>posite to this place. It was coui-t day, and a large crowd of people was gathered about the court-house. I had l.ardly got u])on the steps to look in, when my ears were assailed by tlie voice 16 of siiii^inis: ; aiwl tiiriiint^* round to discovcf from wliat quarter it ciiiiie, I saw a i^rou]) of about tiiirty negi*ocs, of different si'zes and ages, following a ron,2;h lookinj^ white man, who sat ( arelessly loliiui^ in his sulky. They had just turned round the corner, and were comin?^ up the main-street to pass by the spot wiieie I stf)od, on their way out of town. As they came nearer I saw some of them loaded with chains to prevent their escape; while others had hold of each othei-'s hands, stron.c^ly i;'jasped, as if to support themselves in their affliction. 1 particiihtrly noticed a poor mother, with an infant sucking at lier hi'cast as slie walked alon;.';, while two small children had hold of her a])]'on on either side, almost running to keep up w ith the rest. They came along singing a little wild hymn, of sweet and mournful melody, living, by a divine instinct of the heart, to tlie consolation of religion, the last refuge of the Mnhap])y. to suppoi't them in their distress. The sulky now stojnH'd befoi'e the taver!J, ata little distance beyond the court- hf)use, arid tlie driver got out, *« My dear Sir," said I to a person who stood neai* me, ** can you tell me what these poor people have hren doing ? What is their crime ? And what is to be their punishment ? O, said he, it is nothing at all, but a parcel of negroes sold to Carolina; and that man is their driver, who lias bougiit tiiem. But what have they done, that they should he sold into banishment? Done, said he, nothing at all that I know of ; their nrasters wanted money, I suppose, and these diivers give good prices. — Here the driver having supplied himself with brandy, aud his horse with water, (the poor negroes of course wanted nothing,) stepped into his chair again, cracked his whip, and drove on, while the miserable exiles followed in funeral pi'occssion behind him." The Reviewers continue, ** The law by which slaves are governed in tlje Cjirolinas is a provincial law, as old as 1740, bit made perj)e(ua] in 1783. By this law it is enacted, that every negro shall he ])iesumed a slave, unless the contrary appear. The Jiinth clause allows two Justices of the Peace, and three fj-eeholders, poxver to jmt them to any manner of death: the evidence against them may be without oath, ISo slave is to traffic on his own account. Any ]>erson murdering a slave is to pay lOOl. or 141. if he cuts out the tovgue of a slave. Jny white man meeting seven slaves together on a high road, may give them twenty lashes each. No man must teach a slave to ivritCf imder penalty of lOOl. currency. We have Mr. Hall's authoi-ity for the existence and enforcement of this law at the present day. Mr. Fearon has recorded some facts still more instructive : **Ohsei-ving a great many coloured people, particularly females, in these boats, I concluded that they were emigrants, who hud proceeded tiuis far on their rout towards a settlement. The fact pi-oved to be, tiiat fourteen of tlie Hats were freighted 17 with human beings for sale. They had been collected in the several states by slave-dealers, and shipped from Kentucky for a market. They were dressed up to the best advantage, on the same principle that jockeys do horses upon sale : (an advertisement from Mr. Fearon is here introduced ; then fol- lows another extract from the same.) <^ The three « African Churches,' as they are called, are for ail those native Americans who arc black, or have any shade of colour, darker than white. These persons, though many of them are possessed of the rights of citizenship, are not admitted into the churches visited by whites. There ex- ists a penal law, deep written in the minds of the whole white population, which subjects their coloured fellow-citizens to unconditional contumely, and never-ceasing insult. No re- spectability, however unquestionable, — no property, however large, — no character, however, unblemished, will gain a man, whose body is (in American estimation,) cursed with even a twentieth portion of the hlood of his Afj-ican ancestry, admis- sion into society ! ! ! They arc considered as mere pariahs — as outcasts and vagrants u[)on the face of the earth ! I make no reflection upon these things, but leave the facts for your consideration." Fearon, Tite Reviewers then proceed thus, « That such feelings and such practices should exist among men who know the value of liberty, and profess to understand its principles, is the consummation of wickedness. Every American who loves his country, should dedicate his whole life, and every faculty of his soul, to efface this foul stain from its character ! If nations rank according to their wisdom and their virtue, what right has the American^ a scourgor and murderer of slaves, to compare himself with the least and lowest of the European nations ? — much more with this great and humane country, where the greatest lord dare not lay a finger on the meanest peasant ? What is freedom, w here all are not free : wliere the greatest of God's blessings are limited, with impious caprice, to the colour of tlie body? And these are the men who taunt the English with their cor- rupt Parliament, with their buying and selling votes. Let the world judge which is the most liable to censure — We who, in.. the midst of our rottenness, have torn off the manacles of slaves all over the world ; — or they who, with their idle puri- ty, and useless perfection, have remained mute and careless, while groans echoed and whips clank'd round the very w^alls of their spotless Congress. Wc wish w^ell to America — w^^ rejoice in her prosperity — -and are deliglitcd to resist the ab- surd impertinence with which the cliaracter of her people is often treated in this country. But the existence of slavery in America is an atrocious crime, with which no measures, can be kept — for wijich her situation affords no sort of apolo- 8 18 4j:y — which makes liberty itself distrusted, and the boast of it disgustin£^.'' Haviiig- given these extracts, I shall, before I enter upon a critical examination of them, give another pioof of the un- fair condurf of the Author of the ** Letter to tlie Ediisliurgh Revie\^ers *' J have befoie charged him, not only witli wilful perrcrs'on of the Rcvic\Ners' language ; but likewise with coin- pilivg sentences^ of words torn from their resjicctive connexions, and niai kiug them with quotation marks, as though they were literally and corrcdhj quoted fi'om the Review, in tiie form and order in which they occur in that work : And 1 again charge him with the same dishonorable conduct. zVt page 50, he has the following pretended extract, " Wickedness, with which no measures arc to be kept.*' And at page 28, " The least and lo^^cst in rank and character,*' and in various other places he has taken the same unwarrantable liberty — I ask this writer whether, in the face of this charge, he dare come before tlie public, and say he has acted fairly and justly to- wards tlie Reviewers ? Dare he assert, that those sentences and mar.y otliers, which he has mai-ked as quotations, were in the form in wliich he has given them, used by the Re- viewers? He dares not. How then dk\ he dare, in his pam])hlet, to eome before tlie American public with an untruth in his mouth ? How dare he tlius to insult the American public, and treat them as a credulous people, which might be imposed upon at the pleasure of any crafty designing writer ? What literary man of houovr and integriiy would do this ? Is it possible that lie could ptrsuade himself, that no reader would be found, who would crMupare his garbled extracts with the originals from wlicrce he tore them ? — What credit arc we to give, to the professed purity of motive and proclaimed patriotism of a writer, who thus detaches the words of an opponent from tlieir respective connexions and sentences, and witli these broken materials, manulacture a sentence, to (inswer his own purpose ; and then, by his quotation marks, tell the public, that he has given it just as he found it in its original form and state ? Thei-e is always cause to suspect that writer's motives, who wilfully ]]erverts, mistates, and misquotes the language of those agaijist whom he writes It is a maxim, as tiue in the literary, as in tliC politii al world, that he who is not just to' an enemy, '?t"?'^ ^^(^t l^e true to Ids own Cohutry, any further tlian his own interest is concerned, «* The Virginian" writer may make what a]'])lications of this he please : for my own jjart, I do not h( sitate to ex]>ress my conviction — a conviction, ])ro- duced by his unfjiir and unjust conduct towards tlie Review- ers, that if liimself had not been a slave -holder, <» a partici}>a- tor in tl)at crime" and convecicd with a family belonging to i)WQ ()[ \\\(: dare-lioldingsiafes,''^ and " who ai-e themselves the owners of slaves ^^^ his Letter to the E. Reviewers would not 19 have appeared : but their remarks on slavery, might liave been <*read IVom the Giinges to the Missouri" without liis feeling any concern. — But I come now to a critical examination of their remarks, as contained in the extracts already given. " The institution of slavery — of itself far more than the foulest blot on their national character." Let t!ie reader keep in mind the narrative given of the existence and practical ope- ration of an internal slave trade, with all the horrors oijami- Iks dismembered and forever separated— oi the «•' atrocious" Law in the Carolinas, whicli makes the murdiV of a slave, no greater crime than the teadnng him to write ; and tlie cuitlng out of the tongue of a slave, avei-y trifling otfeHcc ; nearly on an equality with keeping a dog without a license : — togetlier with the other cruelties autliorized by that Law ; the still existence of which, the *« Virginian" does not attempt to deny ; let the reader, I say, keep these tilings in mind, and 1 an» sure he will, with the Reviewers, tliir.k the existence of slavery, a foul blot on the national character ; and I ask tliis writer, whether, mider this view ol'it, he will say it is no Mot? orwlietlier he can point out any other blot on tlie character of this country, which equals, or which can bear any comparison with it? If he cannot, then the Reviewers are correct ; for tiiey only compared it with other blots, if blots there be, on the national character of this countrtj, and pronounced it, ** of itseli'far more tii3n the foulest" of them all. This in tlie principal e])ithet in their ftrst paragraph ou slavery. — They indeed call it a " curse ;" and their opponent admits it to be one— Tliey speak also of its demoralizing influence, this I shall attend to hereafter. At present, 1 have to do with the epithets, and to what they are applied : I must therefore pass on to the last paragraph of their remarks on slavery. And here it is evident to evQvy discerning rea- der, and must have been evident to our *' Virginian" writer, that the remarks were made, in consequence of, and applied to, wiiat is related in the extracts which preceded them. And the epithets which that paragraph contains, are directly ap- plied to those practises and statutes there recited : for they immediately remark, with sentiments of grief and honest in- dignation ; <* That such feelings and such sentiments should exist among men tvho know the value of liberty, and profess to understand its principles, is the consummation of w^ickedness," and they then make that appeal to " evvvy American wlmloves his country," which I before recited. — " Such feelings" Such practices." What feelings and wliat practices arc here in- tended ? To what does the word laces in the church set apart ior thc:n." In tills district (Columbia,) the odious distinction is in full force, and very !i;eni'ral. In this district, I say, the seat of ihi! i^oneral government, tlie only tract in the Union wliich the Constitution iias phiced solely under the .a^overnment of Con.ii;ress. In this district, there arc j)laces of worship ap- propi-iated to people of colour, and there arc others, frojn which they arc totally excluded ; and, in almost all the churches, beloiigiii^i^ to the different religious denominations, they are completely separated from the whites. The C(dored people feel, deeply feel, tiiis degradation. 1 was myself much pained one day last summer with an instance of the humiliat- ing state, to whicli they are reduced. It was about the middle of a week, wlien a/rte man of colour, r proprietor of houses and laud; a;id who was woll known to be in respectable circum- stances; but v,i)o had t'ae misfortusje to have his skin a little tainted with the hlofxl of his x\fi-ican ancestry, called on me at my house, and iiddressed me, in substance, as follows. «• Sir, 1 hope 3 ou will pardon my presumjition, but I have heard that you are friendly to our people, and that you con- sider us, and men of your own colour, as all equal in the siglit of God ; I have therefore a desiiT, sometimes to attend on your preachliig, if yon tiiiiik it can be allo7ved; I however, could not til i!ik oi' in sullin<^, either you or } our congregation, by couiing into your place vAfhout your have, as I understand you have no part set aside for us in particular ; but if you can grant me permission, to sit or stand by the side of one of the walls, it will give me great pleasure; and 1 promise you, 1 will kee]) as n^.uc!) apart from the congrrg-ition as j>ossihle." *• Good God" said i to myself *< is tliis the situation, to whirii v/orujs of the eai'th I'educe their fellow worms ?" How dwells the love of God in such?" — And yet, the situation in whi( h tliis man felt himself, notwithstanding his property, is the very situation, in which, all the people of colour feel them- i5cl\cs, whether they be ** bond orfree,^' rich or poor, moral or immoral ; and as (his writer (connected as he is) can be no slrnnger to tbe state of this district, let him come forward, i\ni\ di.sj)rove what I say if he can ; let him point out, 7chat places of woi'sliip, through the 7C hole district, 7vhcreu'hites attend, arc free Irom those odi(His distinctions and exclusiojis. Is it the case v\i;li the church facing the Tresident's house, called St. Joinr h? L( t him also prove, by citing cases, that <* respectability luc.vevc:' unfpK'stionuble" — «• ])roperty, however large" — or •• ciiui'iK tei'. howevci* nid)leniished,'* will irain a man. wlujse 2S body is (in American estimation) cursed with even a tvven-. tietli portion of the blood of his African ancestry, admission into society." This writer cannot do this. He knows that such odious distinctions exist. He, and t]ie American people know, liow deeply those feelings are rooted. They know, that they viwvy them witlj tlicm into the hoisse of God, and even to th.e foot of his awful tlirone. Would to God they would there recollect tliose feelijjg-s, witii that compuuction, contrition. and se//-ubhorrence, which become vile, sinful crea- tures, when they approach and address the great, equal Father of all, who «• is no respecter of persons,'* ^ The slave system, in this counts'v, is of that dark and op- pressive natui-e. that it is very ditlicult, at all times, to bring to legal light, the works of darkness and viilany which it em- braces and produces. There are many cruelties exercised up- on the poor slaves — many iuhuman scourgings and horrid murders perpetrated, without sucli atrocities being generally known, or coming faii-ly and fully before t!ie public ', and if known publicly, witijout the perpetrators being brought to punishment ; even, where the law has made it criminal. From tlie situations in which the slave laws have placed tlie owners and slaves respectively, this must necessarily be Iho case. The owner of slaves, as a late writer remarks, is, Avithin his j)la!itation or on his estate, »n absolute sovereign. He possesses more power than the most despotic of kings. He can punish at pleasure ; a!ul if, in some cases, restricted by lavrs, as to the number of stripes thnt may be inHicted at one time; who can prevent his repeating the same, under any fj'ivolous ])retence, the next day or even the next hour ? or Avho can prevent his violating the provisions of the law in that respect ? Generally, the slaves are punished at the will of their owner or overseer, as ])assion or caprice may dictate ; and if whij)ped to death, which often happens, or mur- dered in any other way, when noiie but slaves, or the instru- ments of his cruelty ai-e present, who is to be evidence against the murderer ? for though an hiindred slaves may witness the <• foul " {\vQ({f not one of tliem can [;e adnfilted an evider.ce in a court of justice ; slaves being by law dis(jisaliiled fi'om mak- ing oath oi* bearing legal testimony, in any case whatever. But notwithstanding all these dililcnlties, enougii has trans- jnred ; enough is ])ub]icjy known, and enough has been sub- stantiated, to mai'k the slave system, as a system of crims^ of rio^vce and ofblioiL and to prove tliat scnurging and murder* cruclt'} and vic^, are its too ])romine!jt features. It is not necessary to crowd these ])agOH, wit]> a midtij)!^:- ity of cases, in proof of my assertions, as I may probai)]y, at no very distant time, give to the public and tlie worhl, a cir- cumstantial hi'itory of American shivery, with a detail of the various crueltiiS, crimes, and rices, wliich have marked its progress, from its introduction down to the present day : Suffice it for tlie present, that I insert such evidence as will justify the Reviewers in the indij^nant tone in which they ex- j)ressed themselves ; refute our Virginian's atteni])t to justify the system, and impress the reader, with the odiousness of its features, and the injustice and cruelty that is interwoven witli it — I willhei^in with the Carolinas — The seat of slavery, and accoi'diui^' to tlie Virginian writer, the residence of slave- holders, distinguished for their humanity, morality, and reli- gious conduct. In those states, it is not uncommon to brand their slaves. This the gentleman may call kiimane, moral and religions if he please : perhai)s he may attempt tojustijy it from sacred scrip- lure, and tell us, that of this, «= no Tsirect notice is taken hy the founder of the Christian religion" and then triumphantly demand ; " What! do tlie Christians of the present day pre- tend to he wiser than God Almighty — more mei'ciful than Christ — more humane, more pious, more conscientious, more moral, than the Apostles! Let them heware ! Let them not consider their erring humanity, as a hetter guide than their religirn !" Or perhaps lie may he disposed to deny the exis- tence of this cruelty. From such denial, I will appeal to the evidence of the Charleston Newspaper, where, in the slave iidvertisements, such jihrases as ** He has my hrand on him ;" or *•' He is marked w ith my hrand" frequently occur. But the " selection of South Carolina" (or hoth the Carolinas) << was unfortunate for your'" (the Re\ iowers) ** theory of morals." Let us however state a fact respecting each in ad- dition to that already stated, and then see how far the Review- ers were *< unfortunate in tlieir selections:" and how far the Old Law still serves as a protection for cruelty and murder. It stands on record, and now lies hefore me, that in North Ca- rolina, ahout three or four years hefore the Reviewers made those remarks, which so much alarmed our Virginian ; a slave was flogged to death while his owner stood looking on, enjoying the sight; and himself not satisfied with the tool of his tyranny relinquishing tlie task, as he thought too soon, was ahout succeeding him in this work of humanity, morality, and religion, when he discovered, that death had snatched his vic- tim tVom his tormentors. So far the record of this cruelty : but where is the record of the perpetrators of it, being jninish- td? Where is the account of *' blood for blood .^" Hush ! wjiis- per not that inquiry ! BreatJje not an interrogatory whicU would imply, or -^ represent the character of my country as dislionored and degraded hy a foul stain — hy an atrocious crime!" — This however was in jVorth, not /^outh Carolina — well, what of South Cai-olina? What! why enough to justify the Reviewers, and ought to have heeii enough to have si- lenced their opjionent on that liead. The instance of ci-uelty I am about to give, was publish- ed in the Charleston Couriof, of Juno 5, 1819. It was per- S5 petrated in May last; consequently, ^re months ajier the Re- view was published. It was sent to tlie Charleston paper for insertion, bv Mr. Faux, a gentleman with whom I am well ac- quainted, and from whose iips I have received a confirmation of the account, with its horrible particulars. Mi-. F. is a gen- tleman, who, in England, was ever ready to denounce West Indian Slavery ; who raised his voice against the corruptions of the British Government ; who was never blind to the op- pression of his countrymen ; nor backward in protesting against it ; who came to this country, to use his own expres- sion, <* with every fond })rejudice and predeliction" — ^to <* A- merica the land of his adored Washington"—'* an asylum for the distressed and oppressed of all other lands."— From a gentleman who came out with these prepossessions in favour of this country, was the following account sent to the public Journal. He states, that on his way to that City, from a tour through the interior of the state, 20 miles west of Columbia, he was suddenly attracted to a spot of earth, over which a respectable company of citizens were deopiy intent, on wit- . nessingthe exhumation of a Negro, whom, one Kelly, his owner, and three others, had tied to a tree at midnight, and each, in turn, continued to whip till sun rise, when, from in- cessant lashing, his bowels gushed out, and he expired, and was instantly buried in a private corner, on May 23d. Mr. F's Letter gave such publicity to this atrocious act, that some noise and some inquiry was made : but the issue of that inqui- ry is not made public. And I challenge this writer to prove, that Kelly and his accomplices were treated and punished as murderers. But " it well becomes" us « and every friend of justice, to hear and to know," that the writer, whom I undertake to refute, " is a Virginian," and may, in reply say << I speak now for Virginia only." Well, let him retreat from Carolina in the best order he can ; and I will pursue him into his own immaculate state. The following extracts are copied from the public prints of June 1818. <* In Augusta county, Virginia, a man sometime since, took a coloured Boy, about 17 years of age, his slave, for the most trifling offence, bound him across a barrel, and scourged him until his life appeared extinguished ; after lingering a few hours, he was buried in a hole under a fence in the field : no notice was taken of the murder, and the ^%gro Killer ^ re- tained \\i^ public office^ *< A slave ranaway from a man in Augusta county, Vir- ginia ; he was pursued and caught ; the man tied the slave to a beam in an old out-house, and flogged him with a large waggon whip, until two physicians, who had been told of tiie circumstance, entered, and assured the slave tyrant, tiiat a 4 S6 i^ew more strokes would extiiigiiisli liis lite ; in this situatioif^ after being released, he was driven more than 20 miles, to the sluve-holiier's plantation." " A man in Powhatan County, Virginia, laid his slave across a fence, on a Court-day, near the Court House ; balanced him by one rock tied to his neck and another to his feet. In this situation he battered him to death. The Negro Killer, though it was done before the county assembled, re- ceived no other animadversion that a volley of oaths." I have selected the foregoing instances of cruelty, which have already been before the public, in preference to new cases ; they having been well substantiated ; but they are by no means singular cases. Such things so frequently occur, that it w ould 7iot be difficult to produce a long catalogue of them, with dates, names, places, and well authenticated testimonies, in proof of their reality ; and this will be done, should such cata- logue be calledfor by the system supporters. Indeed so many cru- elties have been exercised on tlie Negroes ; so many instances of hard treatment; of injustice and inhumanity have occured, and can be clearly and fully substantiated, tiiat were all re- corded which have taken place in tlie United States, such re- cords would cover a large portion of the state of Virginia. This writer expatiates upon the humane treatment of slaves, and talks of thrir comforts, their fishing tackle, game traps, dogs, &c. But what are the comforts of the far greater ]»art of them, even in Visginia? Are they not served with food of the coarsest fp'.ality, just as if they were horses or other brute animals; and in (piantity, just sufficient to pre- serve life and prepare tliem for labour ? The leading maxim being to ascertain, how the greatest portion of labour may be extolled from them at tlse smallest possible expense ; and as to any comforts beyond a bare support of life, those must be pi'ocured by themselves with much difficulty and application. Any thing beyond Indian corn and salt fish, such as fresh fisli, fowl, kc, of which this writer so mucli boasts, must be accjuir- cd, at tlie expence of those hours which should be devoted to rest, and which wearied nature requires to prepare them for tlie toil of the succeeding day . and it is only in particular situations, that the slaves enjoy these advantages ; it is far fi'om being the common lot ; nor does this wi'iter pretend it is tlie case, save *« in a well regulated plantation :" And as to their dogs ; a late Law in South Carolina has completely de- nied them, and even all freemen of colour, whatever may be their property, tlie enjoyment of that faitliful and serviceable companion (see tlje Ordinance, passed at Charleston, June 22, 1819.) In Virginia, the treatment of Negroes is frequently harsii and unfeeling, I liave tliis day been informed by a Gen- tleman, a resident in tliis City, on whose veracity I can de- pend, and whose word, none who know him would dispute. He has informed me, that on travelling through Virginia 10 years since, during the time he spent at different places lie was fiVGiy morning roused from his sleep, hy the clanking of the cow hide, and the screams of the Negroes on whom it was used. The statement of this gentleman can he confirmed by the testimony of many respectable residents in this City, who have been in different parts of Virginia. The Virginian writer makes great outcry against the immorality and indecency of the Registry Bill ; though, the evident design of the obnoxious clause, respecting a trienial examination, was to identify th.e persons, then slaves, and effectually to prevent the introduction of fresh ones. I do not defend that clause, it may or may not be defensible : but, I think, this writer, before he condemned it, as immoral and indecent, should have made it appear that it is not common, during hot weather, in the West Indies, for slaves to appear openly, in a state of nudity. He ought also to have looked Higher home, lest that phrase, " Thou hypocrite ! first cast out the beam out of thine own eye," should be applied to him. I have the authority of th.e Gentleman just mentioned, to state, that when he passed througli Vii'ginia, he frequently saw Negroes, 10 or 1£ years of age, completely in a nude state, and that it was not unfi-equent for them in this state, to wait on company and he in the presence of ladies, &c. I well recollect, that about 16 or 17 years since, I received similar in- formation, from two gentlemen, just arrived at liiverpool from America ; a Mr. Hardisty (now residing at Baltimore) and a Mr. Briggs. Tliese Gentlemen stated, that, even in very genteel families, and in the presence of well dressed ladies, Negroes appeared in this state of nudity, and that no more regard was paid to the state they were in, than there was to the presence of a dog, or any brute animal. This is degreda- tion with a witness! ! A question however arises, whether the poor slave, who thus appears, or his pampered owner, who suffers it, is the lower sunk in degradation. Does the clause in the Registry Act, exceed this ? or can it even be consi- dered as a justification of tliis Virginian immodesty? I leave our Virginian writer to answer these questions. Our author talks much of the exertions made in Virginia, whilst a Colony of Great Britain, to prevent the importation of slaves into the State, and the readiness of that State to sup- press that inhuman traffic. Of the purity of their motives, and the extent of their humanity, I shall speak hereafter; at present I ask the Gentleman whether he be prepared to prove, that an internal slave trade does not exist to a very extensive degree, both, between the different States (including his ow n humane and immaculate State of Virginia) and between the individuals in different parts of the same State ? I think, we ought not to deal in ambiguity on this business ; we ought to have no reservation or covered meaning. If this writer and ^o myself wish the truth to a])pear without respect of persons or nations, wo ought to meet the subject freely and openly. I feel myself disposed to do it ; and the public has a light to expect that this writer will do so too. Let him then say, candidly and without evasion, whether it be or be not true, that an internal slave traffic is carried on, under tlic sanction oftheLaws, to a very great extent? Are not human beings bought and sold, bartered and transferred, like brute animals ? Do they not pass from one to another the same as goods and chattels ? Are not families rci]t to pieces and forever separat- ed ? The dearest ties of relationship violently cut asunder ? Husbands sold, sent off and banished from their wives, and Avives from their husbands ? Children of all ages, and either sex, torn from their doting parents, and forever exiled from them and their natal shed ? Parents torn from their children and sold to a distant State ,• while tlieir hapless children are kept in bondage by their inhuman owner ? Are not large droves of Negroes and Mulattoes, composed of dismembered families, annually bought up by men, who make it their bu- siuess, to deal " in the souls and bodies of men" women and children, and marched by them from State to State ; from clime to clime ; sometimes for several hundred miles in fetters (either iron or rope) to a new market, where they undergo another separation, and are resold to the best bidder ? Are not the Streets of this Federal City ; the Metropolis of this Land of Freedom, frequently infested and disgraced with such disgusting spectacles ? Do not droves of manlcled slaves pass the present Mansion of this writer's Relative, the Presi- dents House, and even the Capitol itself ? Is not the great Council of the Nation, and the Temple of Independence and Liberty, insulted with such scenes, and tlie Representatives of the Country pested with the sight of bands of fettered Slaves^ while they enter, or retreat from, tlie Edifice Sacred to the business of a free and independent nation ? Do not such scenes occur, even on the Sabbath day ? I have a riglit to expect, and the public and the world demand of this Virginian, that he fairly and fully meet these questions and return unevasive answers. Let him say whetliei* these questions admit of any other than affirmative answers? I assure the Gentleman, I shall let no evasive answer pass unscrutiiiized : and I am fully convinced, that he dares not so far insult the public, on a subject with which they are so well acquainted, as t(» give negative answers to the foregoing Queries. The Gentleman will do well to keep in mind, that the Atlantic does not intervene between him and me, as between him and the Re- viewers; therefore he must not hug himself in fancied security, and expect to escape w ith impunity. I am on tlie spot, and possess both the w ill and the pow ei* to stick close to him, and to keep him to tiie true ])oint. And I require him, either to admit, that such abominable and atrocious traffic does exist; or to come forward, and openly, and unequivocally, deny its existence. Perhaps he may say to me, as he said to the RevioNvers. <« The affirmation beinj^ yours, the burden of proof lies on you. JBring your evidence, exibiting facts occurring hcre^ With sucli demand, I might comply, to a much gieater ex- tent than he desires, or than is necessary to my present pur- pose. If however he require facts, let him read Or. Jesse Torrey's Picture of Domestic Slavery, he will there iirid facts recorded of which that writer was an eye witness, or which he has well substantiated by the testimony of others. Espe- cially, let him read the scene which that gentleman witnes- sed «on the 4th of December, 1815 (the day on which the Session of Congress commenced) on that ausj)icious moiMiijig, while the members were entering the Hall, and close to the old Capitol, within view from tiie Hall itself ; a drove passed, or as that gentleman calls them "a procession of men, wo- men, and children, resembling that of a funeral ;" to which he approached so near, as to discover that they were bound togeth- er in pairs, some with ropes and some with iron chains," This statement of Mr, Torrey's was confirmed to me last week, by a gentleman, residing in Georgetown, with whom I am well acquainted, and who assured me that he was himself an eye witness of the disgusting procession. It is unnecessa-^ ry to be thus particular in proving what is as well known and understood, as ** that day after day the sun shines.*' Such occurrences are so common in this district, and in the metro- polis, that no one can question its authenticity ; it is there- fore for the sake of readei's in another country, that I shall insert Judge Morrel's remarks on this subject, as given by Mr. Torrey. ** Judge Morrell, in a charge to the grand jury of Wash- ington, at the session of the circuit court of the United States, in January 1816, for the district of Columbia, urged this sub- ject to its attention, very emphatically, as an object of re- monstrance, and juridical investigation. He said, thefrequen- cij with which the streets of the city had been crowded with manacled slaves^ sornvtim^'S even on the Sabbath^ could not fail to shock the feelings of all humane persons ; that it was repugnant to the spirit of our political institutionSf and the rights of man^ and he believed was calculated to impair the public morals, by familiarizing scenes of cruelties to the minds of the yoitth," I shall not enlarge on the subject of jails crowded with these slaves of passage ; nor shall I occupy the time of the reader, with a detailed account of the scenes of injustice and inhumanity practised in a house in F street, kept by the noted Millar. I shall not stop to give a picture of the inside of that house, with the secret recesses it contained for the con- cealment of kidnapped persons of colour : nor shall I at this timCy describe the vast numbers that from time to time, were 30 kept confined there, in readiness to be sent off to Georgia, on the arrival of tlie <» dealers in human flesh," (previously to its beijij^ hurnt last year) sufiice it, that such a place and person, lon.g dis.Jijraced this city, the seat of government; and that these things are well known, they having been the subject of legal investigation. I shall pass on to another branch of negro oppression, which calls for speedy redress, and which not only claims the attention of tlie Virginian writer, but also of the state governments ,* and, in this part of the Union, the special attention of Congress, and tlie general government : for it in- volves the general government in blame. I allude to those laws, wJiich authorize a!iy white man to arrest, as a run-away «lave, any coloured man or womaji, who cannot produce a certificate of freedom. This, I believe is the case in all the slave States, and is as much so in this district, as in any part of the United States — 1 wish to speak of the general gov- ernment with the greatest respects I would flatter myself, that Congress is not av.areof the extent to which these abuses are carried in this district, over wiiich it has tlie exclusive au- thority, and the sole power of Legislation. I most earnestly entreat that body to turn its attention to this abuse, and to extend protection to those who have a right, a legal right, to look up to that quarter for protection. However its constitu- tional right to intej'fere with the internal slave affairs of the diff*erent States, may be doubted or controverted, there can be no doubt, respecting the extent of its power of interference in the district of Columbia; and yet, in this district, not only slavery exists in all its friglitful forms: not only <« groans echo, and whips clank round the very w^alls of Congress ;" but j)crsons of colour may be, and are, illegally arrested, and deprived of their libei'ty. In this district, I say. under the very eyes of government, the constables are upon t!ie look-out for runaway slaves, and they frequently catc!i/?'ee men, who have been in tlie enjoyment of liberty so long, that they have ])erhaps worn out or lost their certificate of freedom, which if they cannot produce, they are iminediately conveyed to jail : There they lie, till their jail fees or expenses, amount to much jnore than they are able to pay ; and they are at lastsoW off' MS slaves, to defray those fees and expenses : And the Georgia men (as they are called) are always waiting, ready to buy and carry tliem off". Thus many a \mov free black, legally as inuch intitlcd to protection as any other man, is carried oft' into slavery ; and thus, many become I'ich by the o]>pressing of those who are declared to be '' equally intitlcd to life, libertrj^ iind the pnrsmt of happiness J^ Even tlie very nature and spi- rit of the laws are reversed when applied to peisoiis of colour in this country. It is a maxim at law, with respect to other persons in this country ; and it is also the maxim in every i^^ountry, governed by laws, that tlie proof negative is never r^cquired. In all other cases, save that of blacks, the accuser 31 lias to prove the charj^e, or to use the languai^e of our Vir- ginian, <« The (iffirmatioii being his, the burden of proof lies on hivi.^^ And, according to this general maxim of justice ; lie who seizes and accuses the negro as a runaway slave, ouglit to be made to prove his accusation, or the negro should be liber- ated and fully indemnilied at the expense of his accuser. On this principle, the American criminal code stands. On this maxim the courts of justice proceed, and I appeal to our <( Virginian," whether, as Sijjrnfesmonal man, he does not ad- here to this maxim, in all cases, where l»e is retained on the part of the defcndent. The proof negative is always exploded. It was the requirement of this proof, that the United States so very justly condemned in the English, relative to the seamen of tliis country ; and for this, among other causes, war was declared against England. Our Virginian writer spurns at the Reviewer's remarks on the demoralizing tendency of slavery, and would jiersuade us, tliat no such effects result therefrom. But surely, he either cannot be serious ,* or lie can have been very little in the way of slaves and slave holding families ; or he must have been a \Qry superficial observer of what passes and is pro- duced. I have already given the logical and striking re- marks of the venerable Jefferson on this subject ; and the im- pressive charge delivered to the grand jury of Washington, by judge Morrel. Dr. Jesse Torrey has detailed what he ob- served of the effects of slavery on the morals of the people, during his tour thi'ough a long tract of slave country. He has clearly demonstrated, that pride, ignorance, indolence, luxury and extravagance, are its very prevalent consequences. To these authorities, of themselves conclusive. I have something more to add. I ask this writer, whether he be a stranger to the vast extent to which an illicit intercourse is carried on between our male youth and female slaves, and even between married men and them ? I ask him to account for the great number of illegitimate children of a brighter complexion and thinner features than their mothers ? Is he to be infoi-med, that many proprietoi-s of female slaves, greedy of having an increase for sale or labour, are so very accommodating to their male friends and visitors as to give them free access to them ? Is he to be told of the number of children, mulatto children, which slaveholders, have born in their own houses, and of which they are the fathers? Or is it necessary to inform him, thatsueh offspring are held in slavery by their fathers, brotli- ers, and other relations? Must I mention a crime against the laws of nature^ against the common feelings and tlie common instinctive affections of man «and other animals ^ a crime which sinks man below the wild animals of the forest. I mean tlie unnatuiMl practice of white fathers selling their coloured offspring; in breaking one of nature's strongest ties, making 33 raercliaiKlize ot'the truit of their own bodies, and of selling them iis slaves for life too ? Will the gentleman say, that *< the least and lowest " individual <« of the European nations" ever committed a crime more heinous, or more degrading to human nature tlmn this ? Or will he deny the existence, or frequency of tliis detestable crime? Should he do this, and call for proof ; I am prepared to meet his denial with a list, (nor will it be a small one) of cases, where men in this coun- try, and in this district too, have sold tiieir children, their bro- tliers, sisters, and other relations, just the same as they would sell a covv, or a hog : And even of men, who have married tlieir female slaves, and after living Avith them, till they have boi-i)e them several children, sold both the mother and the offh spring together. The gentleman will find, tliat, in the absence of the Re- viewers, I iiave so far answered for them, as to obey liis de- mand, wlien he says, *< Bring your evidence, exhibiting/acfs occurring: here,^^ And he may now. with as many exclamation notes as he pleases, retort the word, »* Demoralizing !" He may spurn, and he as eloquently indignant at the Reviewers for touchijig on the demoralizing tendency of slavery, as he thinks fit. He may exei-t all liis great talents, and as a first rate pleader, attempt to prove, that darkness is light, and sophistry sound reasoning ; but unless he can refute my statements, and dis- prove the existence of the things 1 have related ; or, admitting them true, strip them of their atrocity, they must stand as damning proofs of the weakness of his arguments, and demon- strate, that what he has said on that head, is but as so much dust, thrown into the e} es of the public, to prevent their view- ing slavery, at this momcntious crisis, in that hideous deform- ity w!iic!i properly belongs to it. I think I may say with more pro])riety than he, <* My business is with the fact, and I re- peat that the fact is w ith me." We have the testimony of historians, that slavery has always tended to demoralize mankind. That this was the case with ancient Rome, we have ample proof in the accounts given of gladiators, and of domestic slavery. " Men called lanistre, made it tlieir business, to purchase prisoners and slaves, and to have them instructed in the use of the various weapons, and when any Roman chose to amuse the people with their favourite show, or to entertain a select company of his own friends, upon any particular occasion, he applied to the lanistre, who, for a fixed price, furnished him with as many pairs of those unhappy combatants as he i-equired." Thus, the great body of the people, a( customed to scenes of cruelty, necessarily imbibed a cruelty of disposition, and a de- light in the misery and suflerings of their unfortunate fel- low men, and << As these combats formed the supreme plea- 33 sufe of the inhabitants of Rome, the most cruel of their empe- rors, were sometimes the most popular ; merely because they gratified the people, without restraint, in their favourite amusement." ^« The practice of domestic slavery had a great influence in rendering the Romans of a cruel and haughty character. Masters could punish their slaves in what man- ner and to what degree, they thought proper" " The noise of whips and lashes resounded from one house to another." << This cruel disposition, as is the case wherever domestic slavery prevailes extended to the gentle sex, and hardened the mild tempers of the women. What a picture has Juvenal drawn of the toilet of a Roman lady ! Nam si constituit, solitoque decentius optat Ornari Componit crinem laceratis ipsa capillis Nuda humeros Psecas infelix, nudisque mamillis Altior hie quare cincimius ? Taurea punit, Continue flexi crimen facinusque capilli. * The same causes produce the same effects in all ages and ill every country. Slavery, every where is injurious to the morals of the country where it is suffered to exist ; and will always engender pride, tyranny, and cruelty, in propor- tion to the power with which the laws invest the master over the slave. Hence the frequency of masters in this country throwing a slave into jail, without any assigned cause, pre- viously to selling him off"; for the laws empower a man to confine his slaves in jail, at any time, whether he has done any act to merit it or not. The gentleman talks largely of the happiness which slaves, in this country, enjoy over the free, poor population of other countries. But would the poorest wretch on earth, who is in possession of freedom, willingly exchange situations with those slaves that are the best treated I The gentleman holds a language on this subject, very similar to what is held by all oppressors, respecting the victims of their oppression. This was the kind of language used by tho ex-colonists of St. Domingo ; and the reply given to such by that able negro writer, the Baron De Vastey, will equally ap- ])ly on the present occasion, and is worthy the attention of this Virginian; for it is quite to the point. << Whom do they hope to persuade that slavery is a bles- sing? Is it us who have experienced all its horrors? If their declarations be sincere, why not put themselves in our place? their example will have a far more powerful effect, than all the absurd reasoning they can employ." The Virginian urges the danger of agitating the ques- tion : and yet, he has brought the subject, a hundred times * But if she has made an assignation and wishes to be drest in more than usual stile. — Poor Psecas (her female slave) with her hair torn about her ears, and stripped to the waist, adjusts the locks of her mistress. Why is this cubx So maa ? Presently the whip punishes the disorder of the least kajr. 34 more to the notice of tlie American public, and a thousand times more to the attention of the negi'oes than the Reviewers either have done or can do. He has done more. — He has put on ai'mour, composed of polished glass, and in these brittle, transparent accoutrements, he has dared to throw down the gauntlet ; he has provoked discussion, and he must now take the consequence of his Quixottic attack. He warns us of the consequences that would attend a total emancipation, and holds up Hayti " (St. Domingo) as an ex- ample, a ten-ible examj)le, that ought to deter us from putting the white population in sucli jeopardy. This may indeed serve as a bug-bear, to frighten those who are unacquainted with the true causes, which urged on the coloured population of that island, to take such awful vengeance on their white butchers : but those who are acquainted therewith, will entertain no such fears from what liappened there. It was not emancipation that produced those terrible events ; but the vile attempt to reduce them again to slavery, after they had been years eman- cipated ; nor was the vengeance of the blacks marked with half the cruelty tliat had just befoi'e been exercised upon them, by tlie moraU humane^ religions^ whites, wlio had commenced the massacres, and, as I sliall in the sequel show, carried them to a length, the recital of which, is sufficient to move the most flinty Iieart, and to raise the cry of vengeance in tlie meekest bosom. Hence, the catastrophe in Hayti can furnish no gi'ound to fear any thing of that nature, from a prudential emancipation in this country, especially, if means be used to prepare them foi' the blessing of liberty. But there is much to fear from continuing the slave system till they are driven to claim their riglits and to emancipate themselres, AVill they not, in those circumstances, ado])t the reasonino: of the Hay- tian Baron De Vastey ? and what sophist can withstand the force of his arguments ? *< But if one set of men,** says he, « arrogate to them- selves the right of reducing another to a state of slavery, have not these last an equal right to burst their bonds ? AVhat ! can you deprive me of liberty, the most valuable earthly pos- session ? Can you load me Avith disgraceful fetters ? And am not I, your brother, and fellow creature, permitted to re- claim those rights which I derived from God alone, and of which none have a right to rob me : am I not to be allowed, I say, to burst my fetters and crush you beneath their Weight ? What abominable logic ! What frightful morality ! that would endeavour to prove slavery a blessing, and liberty a misfor- tune ; and would endeavour to persuade men, that one set of them have a right to reduce the other to perpetual bondage, without these last being allowed the right or power of making an effort to throw off the yoke.*' 35 These are the arguments used hy a Haitian, a ne^ro/ aiMl I appeal to every man capable of forming a correct opin- ion of the merits of a writer, whether the •* Letter to the Ed- inburgh Reviewers," in any part of it, contains such sound logic, such just reasoning, or such true rhetoric, as this single paragraph contains ? And yet tliis is the language, and this thelogic, of one of the (^ (legraded cast'' — Well, ''It is God who hath made us and not ivc ourselves,-' ** Shall the thing formnl say to him which formed it, rvhij hast thou made me thus ■?'' Shall this <* Virginian" presume to question the jus- tice of the Almighty, and in the pride of education (*•' alas we take^mde in every thing, even in our " learning) shall he, in the pride of education, say to the Almigiity, why hast thou foi Uicd me a worse logician than (me of this •* degraded cast," than this untutored negro ? But mcthinks I hear tliis Vir- ginian vociferating — St. Domingo ! — tlie massacres of St. Domingo! Well, I vail meet him on that point, full in the face of the subject : but it sliail be h}c proxy . I will let one of the race he so much despises as a ''degraded ca.sf," have the honor of dislodging him from tiiat pretended strong M^" I will confront the Baron De A'astey with him, and " it is my pleasure " to do this, as it will serve witli the other extracts not only to silence his outcry abont St. Domingo ; but also to refute what he has said respecting negro intellect, and per- haps, convince him, that there is at least one of the negro race, whose abilities and eloquence as a writer are no way inferior to his own, and who as a logician, is far his superior. " All the world knows," says De Vastey, ** that republi- can France proclaimed liberty in this island. After having, for ten years enjoyed this blessing under the laws ; after hav- ing fought and bled for France, and given the strongest proof of zeal', fidelity, and gratitude for the benefits we iiad receiv- ed, they, without any visible motive, endeavoured to rob us of that liberty which they had granted ; as if man, a mere butt for the caprice of his tyrants, was to lay aside and resume his bonds at their pleasure. Not content with employing force to bring us again nnder the yoke, they had recourse to art, a d chicanery : they told us, we were all brethren, and all equal in the sv^ht of God and the rcpuhlic. Yet, while making tliis profession witli their lips, they meditated in their hearts the horrible design, of either j-educing ns to slavery, or if that was found impracticable, totally exterminating us, " Confiding in these fair promises, tlic majority of in- habitants, having long considered themselves as French, sub- mitted without striking a blow or firing a musket. But we were soon strangely undeceived. No sooner did the French think themselves strongest, than tliey commenced their system of proscription, and openly proclaimed the revivat of slavery. 36 i( Mazercs, who wislies tlie world to judge of the Afri- cans by the crimes they have committed, may judge of Ms countrymen from the slight sketch I shall give, of the dread- ful atrocities of which they have been guilty towards us. O ! horrible reflection ! which fills our hearts with sorrow, ha- tred, and revenge. « We have seen our fellow^-citis^ens, friends, relatives, brothers, men, women, children, aged ; without distinction of years or sex, dragged by these monsters to the most cruel punishments : some burned to deaths others gibbeted, and left as food for birds of prey : some thrown to dogsio be devoured, while others, more fortunate perislied beneath the poignard and the bayonet. In the places evactuated by the French, thousands of Haytians, who had fought in their defence, were so simple, as to trust their generosity ; unwilling to abandon them in the hour of their distress, they followed them, and embarked on board their vessels with their wives, their child- ren, and such pi'operty as they had been able to preserve from pillage ; but hardly were these unfortunate wretches arrived on board, before they were loaded with chains and put down in the hold of the vessel, to be reserved for the most cruel pu» nishments. Every evening these barbarians made some bun* dreds of victims mount upon the bridge, where|they were bound, and put into large sacks, often along with children, they were then poignarded tlirough the sacks, and thrown into the sea as food for the sharks. <« At other times they made republican marriages, like those of ia Vendee : a man and a woman being bound toge^ ther, with a canuon ball fastened to their necks, and then thrown into the Sea, amidst the acclamations of joy and ex- ultations uttered by these monsters ! Hundreds of victims crammed into the holds of the ships were suffocated by the fumes of sulpher : day dawned upon the horrors of the niglit. Our shores covered with the murdered corpses of our unfor- tunate countrymen, bore testimony to tlie crimes of the Frencli, and gave a fatal warning of the melancholy lot which awaited us. Were I to recount all the acts of cruelty and injustice committed, I should fill volumes ; I shall therefore confine myself to a few of the principal, to enable my readers to form some judgment of the barbarity with which we were treated, "Eye and ear witness of the facts I relate, who can ques- tion their veracity ? « Three men were btjrxed alive in the Place Boyale, Cape Henry (formerly Cape Francais.) On the morning of this event, the rumour circulated through the town. An im- mense crowd repaired to the spot, to view tlie prepai-ations for this horrible auto dafe : Some attracted by unfeeling cu- riosity, others to convince tliemselves >vith their own eyes, 37 how far the barbarity and cruelty ot our tyrants would lead them. I followed among these last, with a heart mourning the dreadful proceeding about to take place. On reaching tiie Place Roijakf I saw two stakes fixed, one of which had two iron rings, and the othei* one, for receiving tlic necks of the three victims. The heaps of wood were artfully arranged about the stakes, with the addition of j)itch. tar, and shavinc-s, to render it more combustible. A vast crowd suri'ounded the pile ; of whom some hung their heads, not daring to direct their eyes towards the fearful preparations ; while others, the ex-colonists and their partizans, ^Vere uuabie to disguise their joy. <« At three in the afternoon, the French General Clapa- rede, commander of the Cajjc, repaired witli a numerous staff to the Place Royale. The three victims waited the hour of ex- ecution in an adjoining guard house. Claparede ordered them to be led to the pile ; they arrived amidst the sound of martial music, as tliough in a triumphal march. The infamous Col- let, Captain of Geiuiarmere, preceded them with joy and fero- city depicted in his countenance. Eacli of the victims bore a sugar cane in his hand : they were mounted u])on the pile, and fastened to the stakes by the iron rings. All v*?as ready, the sacrifice was about to commence. A death like silence j)er- vaded the spectators. Claparede ordered fwQ to the pile; in- stantly the liames crackled, and began to envelope the feet of the sufferers ; ali*eady miglit one fancy that he heard their, cj'ies, and saw them struggling amidst these dreadful torments. But oh ! stoical courage ! ! brave intrepidity ! they did not stif so much as a foot, but remained immoveahle, and with their attention fixed, set at defiance both tijeir executioners and the tlames wliiclj devoured them : they were quickly en- veloped inflames; theii- bodies burst; tlie fat ran upon tlic pile, and a dense smoke, accompanied with a smell of roasted flesh, mounted to the sky. TeiTor seized the spectators ; their hair stood on end ; a cold sweat bedewed their bodies ; they fled singly or dispersed, filled with horror ; hatred and vengeance rankling at their hearts. The executioners alone remained : nor did they rpiit the spot till their victiins were completely reduced to ashes. <• Can I give my readers any adequate description of the punishment of my countrymen, who were devoured by Dogs? Can my untutored pen describe with any thiisg like accuracy so horrible a picture ? The imagination anii undiistanding of my readers must supply the deficiency of my narrative. '* The first wlio were devoured by Dogs, were at the Cape, at a con\Gut o? religious ^ and in the house of the Fi-cnch General Boyer, chief of Rochambeau's staff. « The theatre of these horrors was afterwards transferred to the Plantation Charrer at Haut-du-Cap, whither the blood- ^8 !ioim(ls ucre conducted ; and to increase their thirst for hu- man blood, they were fed from time to time on human flesh. Tlie day u]nn\ whicli tijerc were any of these victims to he devoured was one of festivity to these hutchers. Collet, Foi-estier, Teissert, Laurent, and Darac, commissaries of the police of the Cape, (all French, all ex-colonists) dressed themselves in full uniform, and put on their principal scarves, for the purpose of attending the execution, and accompanied hy a crowd of biped hlood-hounds, eager to aid the dreadful carnage made hy tlieir quadruped brethren^ a thousand times less savage than themselves. Many days in advance they took tlie precaution of making the dogs fast, and, to whet their a[)pctite, a victim was occasionally shown to them, and withdrawn just i5s they were about to dart upon it. At last tlie fatal moment arrived, when some nnfortunatc wretches were to be delinitely given up to them ; the nnhappy beings were fastened to stakes in the presence of the commissaries, so as effectually to deprive them of the power of saving or of defending themselves. <* I'he dogs are loosed, and fly at their prey. In an in- stant, their victims are stripped of their flesh ; their palpitat- ing muscles hang down in ribbons, while the blood gushes from every pore ; nothing can be heard but the screames of the sufferers. The victims, at their last gasp implore the mercy of these monsters : in vain do they solicit death as tlie last favour: — prayers are snperfluous ; — nothing can move tlie hearts of these tigers, divested of every feeling of humanity ; they ansv. cr only by a convulsive grin, while tbey spirit on the dogs to their work of horror. At length the voice of the vic- tims fails, their groans are no longer to be heard, while their mangled bodies still continue to palpitate. The dogs panting, pause to rest : tbey are surfeited with human flesh and blood ; in vain the executioners encourage tliem anew ; they refuse to continue their horrible carnage, and return to their kennels, leaving these monsters in human shape to complete with the poignard the yet unfinished work of death. ** Similar cruelties were perpetrated from one end of the is* land to the oilier. *• Tonssaint Louverture voluntarily resigned his authority, and laid down his arms . he retired to his plantation di\ ested of all his splendour ; and, like the illustrious Roman, culti- vated with his hands, the fields he had defended with his arms. He engaged us both hy example and persuasion, to imitate hisconduct. labouringand living peaceai)ly in the bosom of our faniilies. lie was drawn into a snare, arrested and loaded with irons. His wife, his infant children, his whole family, his oflicers, shared his cruel fiite. — Embarked in French ves- sels, tbey were carried to terminate theii' wretched career, by poison, in prison, and in irons. 39 ** Generals James Maurepas and Charles Belair, died un- der tlieir punishments. Maurepas was nailed alive to the main-mast of the Hannibal, in. the presence of his wife and chil- dren, alonj^ w ith whom his corpse was consij2:ned to the deep. The unfortunate Belair was shot along withliis sj)ouse ; this heroine consoled him before lier death, encourai^ine; him to follow her example and die like a man. Thomany, Domage, Lamahoticrc, and a whole crowd of oilii ers and citizens of rank, died the death of felons ; while those who escaped tlie gibbet or the assassin, fell by poison : Such was the fate of Generals A'ilatte, Leveille, and Gautard ; others were trans- ported for sale to the Spanish main, or sent to France where they finished their career in the Galleys. " Our forbearance being exhausted by a repetition of such crimes and villainies, we flew to arms ; meiisured swords with our oppressors ; beat them corps by corps, man for man, fighting with stones, and sticks shod with iron, for the pre- servation of our liberty, our existence, and tliat of our wives and children ; after beholding torrents of our blood mingled with that of our tyrants, we remained masters of the field of battle." My readers will understand my motives, in introducing 90 long an extract, and will receive it, as a complete refuta- tion of the arguments, which the friends of the slave system are in the habit of bringing against Negro emancipation, founded on the occurrences at Hayti. They will perceive, that the people of colour, had been emanci])ated ten years, in that Island ; and had made such good use of their liberty, that nothing was done on their part to interrupt the general safety, or disturb the public jieace, that the commencement of troubles, originated with the vile attempt of the ex-c(>lo!iists, to reduce them again to slavery, after they had for ten years enjoyed the blessing of liberty, and had given indisputable proofs of their gratitude for the extension of that blessing to them ; that the cruelties wbicli afterwards succeeded, commenced also on the part of the ex -colonists ; that tisey were carried, by them, to such an unparelleled, horrible degree, that the very re J; a!, must harrow up the soul of the reader, and fi!l him with hor- ror and detestation — Cruelties, which can only be accounted for on the ground of the demoralizing and cruel tendency of the slave system, which converts men into monsters, divests them of every compassonate sensation and prepares them for any crime. And the reader will see that it w as not till the forbearance of the Haytians was quite exhausted, by the scenes of horror and savage cruelties cojiti dually before them : and of which they were the victims, that they fiew to arms, hurled the tremendous thunderbolts of vengeance bark upon their oppressors, and extirpated them fi*om that soil which they had so vilely polhited with crimes and blood., 40 This was nobly done ! It was rising from degradation to the dignity of man! It was not a people, comparatively free, rising, and claiming their Independence ; but it was a people, held in the vilest subjection, rising in the greatness of their sl!'ei:gt!j ; asserting those rights which God and nature en- titled them to, and at once establishing, both their freedom as men, and their Indejjendence as a people or nation ; and I challenge this Virginian writer to ** point out to us, if he can, in the history of the greatest and the highest, one single occurrence," more great or more just, than that ** now present- ed to his view — one which gives to a whole people a claim" more " indisputable to" liberty, independence, and rank among the Mations ; not even excluding, that ever to be ad- mired, Declaration of American Independence. And, what- ever tliis, or any other interested writer may insinuate, the pages of future, impai'tial history will record the two great events, of American and liaytian Revolutions as unsurpass- ed by any event wliatever " in point of moral grandeur" ** and in politicii! importance." If then the S'?f(if/e7i enmncipation in Hayti was effected, and no ill consequences arose therefrom, for the space of ten years, and not then till they were di-iven to desperation by their white oppiessors, what cause would thei'e be to fear any thing in this country from a. pmdential, and gradiial emanci- jjation ? But if the abominable system should be continued, with all its attendant cruelties ; if slave-holders should still continue to advertise " He has my brand on his jaw" or «» breast " (see the public papers ;) if, I say this system should be cojitinued, till slaves be driven to emancipate themselves ; then i\\Q hour o^vcngeance rviU be thnr'^s, and the reaction will he terrible. Well might the good Jefferson say on this subject, <« I tremble for my Country, when I recollect that God is just and that his Justice cannot sleep forever." Our Virginian, habituated to tlie shiltings, twistings, and changing of ground, so commonly practised by some of his profession, forgot that he was this time, acting a part at the bar of a literal^ j)ublic : and being determined to carry his point, if possibhs though it might be at the expense of consis- tency ; could take any hue ; assume any form ; or, like the satyr, blow both hot and cold with the same mouth. At one time we find him, as *• a Virginian," identifying himself with the peojjle of that State, and, in their language, denouncing the traffic in slaves, as a very pernicious commerce ;" and what *< had long been considered as a trade of great inhuman- ity." And speaking of the country as connected with tlie sub- ject of the abolition, he calls it an <* iniquity," of which they had ** washed'* their ** hands." And yet, further on in his pamphlet, he attempts to justify the slave system, (which in- chides the internal trafiir,) on the ground of natural justice 41 and tlie sacred Scriptures ; and even attempts to prove, (page 42) that the slaveholder lias a divine right to be, what the Re- viewers call, " a scourger and murderer of slaves." He speaks of the negroes being the subjects of a " curse," which, he says, " Noah, in his prophetic wratli," denounced on Ca- naan : and has quoted authorities to prove, that they are the descendants of Ham ; consequently of Noah, the common parent of mankind ; and thereby, without intending it, has identified them with himself, as belonging to the same great human family ; and yet, notwithstanding his having adopted this reasoning to justify slavery, as the ordination of God; he afterwards seems to question that identity, and to represent them, and various other people, as distinct races ; and boldly asserts, without proof, and in direct opposition to plain histo- rical facts, that each people respectively, are now, wliat they ever were in the graduated scale of existences. To these incon- sistences, and to the use he has made of them, I shall pay some attention. " The Arab of tlie desart now," says he, << is the Arab of the desart of the most ancient days to wliich our histories ascend." And, nearly verbatim in the language of the ex- colonists of St. Domingo; he says, "Africa will continue for ever to be, what it has been for nearly six thousand years — the residence of slavery and barbarism." &c. It is a little surprizing that this writer should be so unmindful of what he owes to his own reputation as a literary character : and to the honor of the family to which he is allied, as to subject himself to the charge of being either grossly ignorant of the history of the world ; or if not ignorant, of at once insulting the un- derstanding of those who are conversant witli ancient history and of imposing on the credulity of those who are uninformed on that subject. Can he be a stranger to the high character which the Arabians once sustained ; and of their very rapid advancement in arts, science and literature ? Are they at present in that state ? Will he set his face against the testi- mony of authentic history, and assert, that notwithstanding what has been handed down to us concerning them, they were always in the same state of barbarism and ignorance, in which they are at present involved ? Or, has he still to learn, that Africa, despised, degraded Africa, was once the seat of know- ledge, the vciy " cradle of the arts and sciences?" Must he be informed, that the Egyptians thensselves were derived from the Etiiiopians and that Pytliagoras and all the learned of Greece and Rome went to Egypt to acquire learning and a knowledge of their mysteries of religion and science ? Is he ignorant of what every reader of ancient history is acquainted with, rix : that the Greeks, liighly celebrated as they liave been for literature, science, the fine arts, and polished manners, were themselves ignoi'ant, barbarous, and hnitish, till they 6 45 were civilized by colonies from Jljrka? and that after Greece was civijizcd, the rest of Eurojje v. ere as ignorant, debased, and brutal as tliose of Benin, of Zajig-uebar, or the most bar- barons j^arts of Africa, can possibly be at the present day ? Must I Inrthor inform him that almost tlie whole of Europe was in this state, witiiout having acquired a single spark of know.cdge for nearly four tlionsand years ? and that durin- that time, the Africans had *^ filled the world with the fame ot their wisdon!, their laws, and their governments," while they (the Europeans, including the ancestors of the Ameri- cans) lay buried in pristine ignorance ? The Europeans and their descendants have indeed, in modern time, made s-reat advances in knowledge and the sciences : but it must not be torgotten, that tliey " inhabit countries, where the winters eat up the summers, and where necessity (the mother of in- venti(Mi) forces the exertion of their faculties; while the Afri- cai:s are plentifully supp»lied, without much care or exertion, by their heneficent God, with every thing they require ; that when satiated, they sit under tlieir trees in tranquility and re- pose, enjoying the good of life w ilhout any effort. But w hen they wcj e required to labour, they, however, set examples winch astonished the woild. I should exceed my intended limits, were 1 to describe their monuments, their statues, their obelisks, tlieir ])ublic buildings, their caves, grottoes, and ca- nals, which bade defiance to t\\Q. woi'ks of man in any other part of the ^^orId at that day ; and manv of them, even to th^^ present day. That the Ethiopiai^s, Egyptians, &c. wei-c originally identified with the negroes. I think may be fairly gathered from their statues, &c. as most of their best executed figures bore some resemblance of that *• degraded cast." Many finely executed figures found in Africa, and even their emblem of wisdom and science, the Sphynx of Egypt, had the head breast and neck of a woman ; but'it was a woman with thick lips, a flat nose, and curled head. But the conduct of the ancient Africans toward Europeans was just the reverse of the conduct of modern Europeans. Instead of enslaving the whites and instructing the Greeks in burning, pillaging and defrauding; instead of furnishing them with arms, or strong liquors to derange their intellects, and induce them to sell one another; instead of promoting an in- human traffic, they introduced corn and instructed them in agriculture and learning. Instead of inquiring into the moral and physical inferiority of these poor Greeks ; Ihey taught them to imitate themselves in the arts of society." Hence it was, that <« Athens, Sparta, and Corinth flourished while all the rest of Europe w as sunk in barbarism.'' Erom Greece, learning advanced to Italy, and from Italy by very slow gradations to the different parts of Europe. To Africa', despised Africa, therefore we must trace the origin of all our refinements. 43 Thus, taking my stand iipontlie liip:]j groisiid of liistorical evidence, I am justified in admonisliing this calumniator of Af- rica, to be cautious in future, how he proclaims his own wajit of knowledge ; and before he again malvcs such swec})ing as- sertions, I would advise him to turn his attention to the history of nations, and make himself better acquainted with the ancient history of tiie world, than he ap[)ears to be at present. J do not advise him to study tlie history of the Virginian slave system : as I think he can be neitiier ignorant of that, nor of the motives which influenced that people in ITT^ when they petitioned the king for power to suppress tise importation of slaves, from Africa, into that colony ; but I advise liim, for his own sake, to be more correct and lionest, in future, in re- presenting, what he must be sensible, were the ti'ue motives of the Virginians in addressing tliat ])'ctitioii, at that time, to the British government ; and more faithful in stating what heknows^ respecting the introduction of negroes iistothe colo- ny, and the establishment of the slave system there, I do not intend to be thecliainpion of th.e Britisli govern- ment. I mean not to justify its imiasurcs, eitlicr past or present. Such would indeed be attempting an impossibility. It would be undertaking to wasli the Ethiop white. But if I cannot de- fend their corrupt measures; no more can I suiTor their culpa- bility to operate as an excuse, palliation, or exculpation, of the Virginian supporters of the slave system. iCeitiier can I suf-« fer the British people to be so far identified willi their govern- ment, as to make them responsible for its faults and crimes. This writer Jiowever, either reasoning by analogy, from wliat he knows respecting the identity of the people and govern- ment of this country, \ms ignorantly ; or, with a real knoxv- ledge of the non-identity of tlic people and government of Eng- land, has des'cgnedliji so ti'cated the subject, as to cosnpletely identify the people with measures over winch they have no more control, than the slaves in this country have over the slave laws. V*liy has not this writer stated the oiigin of the Brst intro- duction of negro slaves into Virginia, and of the institution of slavery there i Why has he begun at so late a period as 1 772 ? Did the British government come forward as a volunteer at the commencement of that inhuman trafiic ? At wjiose instance was it, that the British governnient " allowed perndsslon '' to introduce slaves into that colony ? Was it at the requestor petition of the people of England 9 Or was it, not rather at the solicitation of the Virginian planters themselves, who, having purchased large tracts of land, and not satisfied with the slow progress they made in bringing it into an araiile state by the labor of white slaves sent there as convicts, petitioned govern- ment to permit the importation of negroes from Jfrica into Vir- ginia in British or other bottoms ? The acceding to this unhal- lowed petition, was certainly wicked on the pai't of the gov- ernment. But to whom are we to asci'ibe the greater charge of wickedness? Whether was the more criminal; the gov- ernment, uliich by acceding to this petition, was accessary to the crime, and shared in the guilt, or the people of Virginia with whom it originated, who were the first movers in it ; from whom the petition was sent ; for whose interest it was acceded to ; and who were tlie direct actors in this wicked- ness ; who first threw out the bait to the merchants, next pur- chased the slaves, and finally became the monsters, the acting monsters, in the practical crime of sla\ e tyranny ? As this writer proclaims himself a "Virginian," let him <« speak now for Virginia ^' in reply to the foregoing queries ; and let him refute tlie remarks connected therewith, if able. This writer places great stress on the Virginian petition of 1772 ; and on the duty laid on the importion of slaves. As to the latter ; it is not stated in the caption of the law, that the duty was laid on, in order to restrict the importation of that mercantile commodity ; but merely to raise a revenue. As to the petition, a little critical examination of its con- tents, and connecting therewitii, the circumstances in which the opulent slave owuers were placed, will make it appear, that their motives were not so pure, nor their humanity so genuine, as he would represent it. The instrument contains certain ostensible reasons for petitioning. The two prominent ones are, the trade being carried on by British Merchants ; and that tlieir prayers were founded on fear for their Sqfettj, An- otlier powerful moti^ e, though not expressed, seems to have influenced the opulent slave holders and induced them to pe- tition for the suppression of the importation trade, ri^. that of raising the value of their slave property. They had rear- ed or bred on their estates, a large stock of Slaves. They had more than were necessary to perform their work. They however found the breed cf slaves, the most profitable live stock they could rear for sale, and nicely calculated, that their value would be as much enhanced by sto])ping the importation of them, as the value of any domestic manufactured goods is enhanced by the non-importation of those articles ; and upon this principle they seem to have acted : for they have done nothing during the period of more than 40 years, which has elapsed since "they became independent, to eradicate slavery, or to prevent an internal traffic iniA?i\^s : but the dismember- ing of families ; the sending off large droves of manacled slaves, and the cruelties of the sla\e system still continue. Where then was the sincerity of their professions of humani- ty, as expressed in the petition, and reiterated by this writer ? He has the eflrontery to tell the advocates for the aboli- tion of the slave system*, that tlieir humanity costs them no- 4j thing ; but procures for tlicm distinction as well as profit. To repel this charge, I need but mention a lew well known cha- racters in this country, who have manifested the disinterest- edness of their humanity by the sacrifices they have made in the cause. Can such motives be imputed to Bushrod Wash- ington ? Will this writer say that the two Brothers, Thomas and Ferdinando Fairfax, made no sacrifice^ when they liberat- ed all their slaves, and made provision l^)r their support ? When Mr. Jefferson spoke against slavery, had he nothijigto give up ? Was it nothing for the great Washington, to fix the manumission of all his slaves, and make provision for such as needed it ? I shall examine the defence he has set up, grounded on ^•' revealed Religion, previously to meeting his remarks on the principles of the Law of nature. The ground he has here taken he has attempted to support by a fourfold kind of ar- gument, 'vi'Xi, Prophecy, Example, Mosaic Law, and the Gos- pel. In meeting him on these grounds, it is proper to notice, that he does not profess to ejiter upon this part of his de- fence of slavery, as an advocate for Truth : but like a true son of the bar, ready to catch at any advantage which presents itself, determines to balfle, if possible, where he cannot refute. And though he cannot say, " that by theprincij)les of natural law, or the precepts of revealed Religion, slavery was a legi- timate state of human existence" and " begs it to be under- stood that he is not giving — at least it is not his object to give — his own opinions:" Yet he has availed himself of the sup- posed authority of the Scriptures, and endeavoured to repre- sent tiiose who condemn Slavery as a crime, to be guilty of " blasphemy against the most High.^* This kind of argument may sometimes succeed at the bar, where the interest of the Client, not the justice of the cause, is intrusted to the advocate ; though, to do justice to the profes- sion, I fully admit, that the most eminent Lawyers have too much integrity to adopt this as a rule of proceeding : but in this controversy, where the interest of a whole people, and the cause of humanity are at stake, the Lawyer ought to have been dropt and the man, the honest unbiased man alone should have appeared. Having however thus committed himself, he must now be identified with the arguments he has chosen to adopt, and it behoves him to defend them as if they were really his own and accorded with his own opinions. For to what purpose has he introduced them unless he believes them, and considers them conclusive. On the authority of Bishop Newton, he says, that the Afri- cans <proved servant of Jehovah. I expect, the great founder of Clirtsti- anity understood the nature of the Mosaic precepts as we// as this writer, and was as able to explain their designs as he can be. lie called them the commands of Moses and in speaking of one of them, whicii stood just upon the same foundation as those which respected slavery, said ^^ Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you," &c. <* but from the be- ginning it was not so." Or as the })arrallel place reads it, " for the hardness of your heart, he wrote you tiiis precept, but from the beginning of the creation, &c." There is enough contained in the Books of Moses, to sliow, that slavery was not considered by him as a ** legitimate state of human exis- tence" and that he did not consider tliem as true and just pro- perty. Had he considered them as such, he would not have commanded any persons to harbor or secret such property from the rightful owner. Yet he expressly charges. •< Thou shall not deliver unto his master a servant f slave J ivhich is escaped from his master unto thee : he shall dwell -wiih thee, even amoiv:; you 9 in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him best ; thou shall not oppress hiwJ' f{uerij. Does not this precept, sanction the condiict of certain pei'sons to- wards « runaway slaves" which this writer points at, whe't he sarcastical hints at their ** silent meetings ?" And may it not serve to encourage many consciciitious persons to aftbrd an asylum to the poor o])pressed Negi*nes ? Nothing can be gathered, in supjjort of the slave system, from the language of the Nevr Testament. Tiie allusions made 48 to servants in the parables, is nothing in proof of the justice of that system. In ail parables there is one main object in view, and every thinj*- else introduced, tends to that object : and it is the d'-sii^n of sucli parable, not the language or epithets used in dressing it up, that we are to look to for instruction. So far as parables may be considered preceptive, we must look to the end the speaker had in view, for that precept. So, of the man that fell among thieves, the great object of Jesus was to teach tbe enquirer whom he ought to consider as his neighbour, and perform to him, though an enemy tlie duties of mercy. This was his method when he taught by parables. His plain unadorned precepts, give no countenance to slavery : for he inforced upon men this doctrine ; that they ^vore all brethren ; the equal children of one heavenly Father; and the equal objects of his kind and paternal care. Nor could he possibly mean to countenance slavery or sanction it as a divine ap])ointment, when he said, in the language Avhich tliis writer has quoted, **1 came not to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill." He could not intend, that he came to fulfil, or sanction, that statute of Moses, which, while it im- posed certain restrictions, did not wholly prohibit slavery ; any more than he intended many other things, allowed by the Mosaic code : for if by the term law, as used by Jesus, we are to understand, every thing expressed in the Mosaic code; then nothing could be left out : but we find that this quotation forms a part of that excellent sermon, delivered by him on the Mount ; in which, he plainly expressed his dissent from many things contained in that code : and, unfortunately for the ar- gument wliich our Virginian has grounded thereon, he, in that very Sermon, hatli given us his meaning of tlie phrase, and informed us what he understood to be the sum and sub- stance of thela\v and the proi)hets" which he came •< to fulfil." I request this writer to attend to his words, and reconcile it with his own conduct, as a slave-holder and a slave defender, if he can. " Whatsoever ye would," saith Jesus, " that men should do to you, do ye even so to them :for tJiis is the law and the prophets,^' Would the advocates for slavery like to be held in bondage as slaves themselves ? If not, how are they con- forming to this christian precept while they hold their fellow nieu in that state of bondage and degradation ? Is this doing to others as they would have otiiers do to them ? And yet this is tbe ^* law and the prophets," which Christ said, he came not to destroy but to fulfil. And indeed, Moses went a little further than this writer was desirous to inform us about, for he commanded the manstealer to be put to death. *• He that stcaleth a man and selleth him ; or if he be found in his liands, he shall surely he vni to death.-'' The admonitions of Paul, give no countenance to slavery. The enemies to the slave system, if good men, are in the habit of giving the same 49 admonitions to servants as this writer reminds us, Paul did. There are two things however that I must notice. The iirst is, that this writer's quotation from Timothy is mutilated, per* verted, and misapplied. He has omitted the phrase or sen- tence which pi-ecedes what he has quoted, and which stands connected w^ith it. <* These things teach and exhort " which evidently emhraced all the directions and instructions he had given to Timothy, in the five preceding chapters, and was not confined to servants in particular. In the second place, I must tell him, that he lias heen very unfortunate in introduc- ing the case of Onesimus the servant of Philemon. I would advise him in future to read for himself the scripture which he quotes in defence of his system ; for notwitiistanding the authority of Dr. Hewlett ; and his own triumpli, he has en- tirely mistaken the conduct of Paul on that occasion. He did not send Onesimous hack to Philemon in the capacity of a slave. He reqested him to receive him, ** JS^ut ??ow as a ser- vant but above a servant ^ a brother belovcd,^^ And again, ho saith ; '* // ikon count me therefore, partner ^ receive him as mifsclfj*^ So far from the Scriptures authorizing slavery, the general scope of them is against it. The Christian religion inculcates principles directly opposed to it, and no man, who understands the precepts of the gospel, and is iniitieuced by the spirit oi* the great founder ; or who is worthy to be called a Christian, will ever, either advocate, or countenance, so ini- quitous a system. As tf) natural law, this writer has but glanced at it. He has indeed introduced a few names of great men, but he has barely given us to understand, that it was the opinion of those ** jurists atid divines, that slavery may be justified on princi- ples of natural law," but he has given none of their argu- ments in favour of slavery. I am sorry he has omitted this ; because, had he done so, perhaps I might have discovered, that he was as capable of misapplying their language, as he has been that of the Reviewers. This however he has done, he has mentioned Paley as one of the number, although Paley was almost one of the first who, in England, made exertions for the abolition of the trade. He defines natural law, or the law of nature, to be " right reason and justice independent of municipal law, applied to individuals :" but he has not attempted U) prove ^ that slavery is consistent therewith ; he has barely asserted that it is. I am willing to abide by his definition of natural law : and the question now is what is " right reason and justice indepen- dent of municipal law? This must lead us back to first principles ; and to view man in the enjoyment of his natural rights, unrestricted by social compact. Man is the creature of God ; and God is the equal Father of all, and, to use the words of the Declaration of Independence, we must << hol4 50 these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal — that they arc endowed by the Creator, with certain W7m- Uenablc rights — tliat amoni^ them are lite, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness." In this state man has no other control hut the exercise of his own reason, and the (guidance of the inherent principle of justice, which tlie great Parent of all has implanted in every bosom, ri^i; that of doing no injury to others, or in the language of that pi'ecept w hich is the sum and substance of the '» law" and the proplicts," and of all just law, of doing to otliers as he Avould have others do to him.' If then, all men be naturally equal and have an equal ri2;ht to liberty, theji no cue can, \vithout violating this natural Ipw, dcpi'ive his fellow^ men of that blessir^g ; and it was on this fundamental principle, that the American people rested their claim to inde])endence. But if no one has a right to deprive another of this liberty, it follows that no one lias a right to hold another in bondage w ho is already deprived thereof, be- cause tlie law of nature, which gives a man a riglit to enjoy liberty, and prohibits its being wrested from him, gives him also a claim to a restoration to liberty, njter he has been de- prived thereof. This principle was also thus acted upon by the American people, >vhen they reclaimed their liberty and struggled for, and obtained, a restoi'ation of what tljey had been deprived of. — Justify the slave system, and you aniiul tlie principles of natural law. — Say it is just, and coirect to hold men as slaves ; and you justify the conduct of the Bri- tish government towards this country, prior to the revolution. Say the slaves arc your property and you have a rightful dominion over them; so said the British government when they pursued their oppressive measures. Ye were called the subjects of the king, over which he had a rightful dominion : and even the great eternal was insulted in the national churches, with a standing form of prayer, beseeching him, to turn the hearts of his (the king's) rebellious subjects in North America. It was even considered a t/iri?ip right which he had over you. Deny the claim of the negroes to emanci- pation, and you deny the justice of your own proceedings in the revolutionary struggle. If man, according to fu'st princi- ples, be, by the law- of nature entitled to liberty : and if his right to that blessing be unalienable : then, no social compact can repeal that law ; no oider of things can make that aiiena- , hie which in its own essential nature is unalknahlc. ISIan, in fof-ming. or coming into, the social comj)act does not sur- render that riglit, for that which is nnalienahle, can neither be surrendered, nor justly wiested from its possessor. But ^ slaves are not under any social compact ; they have made no surrender : they have given up notliing : tliey have been vio- lently robbed of every thinir; : they ha^e been sti'ipped of their birth-rights, degraded and debased, and now their oppressors 51 # claim them as their property, and talk of the injustice of de- priv iti.a: them of tliat property. It would he derogating from the character of the Parent of the universe to impute to him the crimes of men, and to make him a party \\itli them in their injustice and cruelties. He is no respector of persons. lie hath made of one hlood the whole race of man to dwell on all the face of the earth ; there- fore let not the slave-holders any more presume to call him their " ally," or accuse him of unequal dealings witli his ra tional creatures. It would far exceed my limits, were I to enter upon a full refutation of all the calumnies he has heaped upon the British people, while identifying them with tlie conduct of their gov- ernment. Suffice it for the present to state, that the great mass of the British people were decidedly against slavery, long, \Qvj long hefore the ahominahle trade was aholished ; that they did all in their power to put an end to it: that not only the public prints and the productions of other writei's repro- bated the trade : hut whole communities left oft' using sugar, and various commodities which were known to be cultivated by slaves ; and, that had the people of England that control over their government which the people of tliis country have over titeirs, the trade would have been aholished twenty or thirty years before it was abolished by this country. Mc are required to point out the means of removing tlie evil as well as condemn it. This may be done in a few plain words. Viewing it morally, I will say : do justly — do as you would be done by — emancipate — give up the property you never had a right to hold ; and an a])proving conscience and the blessing of heaven, will be ample indemnity — Is safetij an object of importance ? Look at tiie example of the northern States and the result. Orlook at St. Domingo, during the ten years that succeeded emancipation there: and like them secure the gratitude and attachment of the coloured population by voluntarily abolishing slavery. But if individual or public safety be nothing to you, look at St. Domingo after the period I have mentioned ; rivet the chains of } our slaves ; withhold emancipation, till tlie fast increasing coloured population be strong enough to emancipate themselves; and then blame yourselves for the tremendous consequences. Before I conclude, I must remind the reader, that the Edinburgh Reviewers have made no attack on the American people, save on the subject of slavery. On every other sub- ject, they have spoken highly of this country. They have past high encomiums on its government, its laws, its public servants, the frugal management of its expences, and on the independent spirit which pervades all ranks of American citi- zens. The strong epithets, and the severe expressions which they have used, are all directed against the slave system, and against that system exclusively. Ana these were called fortk on reviewing the statements given of tlie cruelties, the shock- - i!ig cruelties, practised under that system and sanctioned (some of them at least) hy the laws. And tliey have more especially condemned the existence of slavery in this country, tlian in any other, because this is the freest, and best govern- ed country in the world, and better understand the princi- ples of liberty. Hence they liave acted agreeably to that gos- pel maxim, «' He who knoweth his master's will and doetk it not, shall be beaten with mamj stripes." And, agreeably to this maxim I also have acted in this refutation, making a differ- ence between the writer who hnoiv'mghj and designedly per- verts and misrepresents the language and intention of those against whom he writes, and he who mistakenhf does so. The injustice and cruelties which I have recorded are but a sample, a very small sample of what I could have intro- duced; my object being to defend the Reviewers against the nnworthy attack made upon them, and to impress the public with the cruelty and demoralizing tendency of tlie system, a system, which, to the honorof this country, I am happy to say, is detested by the great body of the Ameimcan PEOPiiE. In taking leave of our Virginian for the present, I would recommend, that in future, he no more attempt to make the Almighty ajid liis llevelatiou, allies with him in this atrocious cause. His turning over the pages of the Bible in search of something to justify tlie iniquitous practice, strongly reminds me of thelines of Moore, with which, with a little alteration, I shall conclude this pamphlet. Just God ! how awful must thou look, When such a wretch before thee stands, Unblushing with thy sacred Book ; Turning it's leaves with blood-stain'd hands -. And wresting from it's page sublime, His creed for slavery and crime. %>*% I I LEJa'l2