... A LETTER FROM A Merchant at Jama i c a T O A Member of Parliament in London, i Touching the Afri can Trade. '■ To which is added, A SPEECH made by a Black ' of Gardaloupe , at the Funeral of a Fellow-Negro,. j A LETTER from a Merchant at Janma to a Member of Parliament in London, touching the African Trade. sir , EARING from England, that there’s like to' be a B Struggle next Seflion of Par¬ liament between the Jfrican Company and the other Tra- , der s thither; I take the free¬ dom to fend you a Speech made by a Black at Giiardaloupe , a French Ifland, upon £l> f ,°. f Negro, kill’d bj his Mailer for taking a fmall Loaf of Bread ( 4 ) as lie pafs’d thro the Kitchin: From which, and what I lhall add, you may perhaps collect -more ofthe. r^qm0“ipf thft^rade, and fee more- of iheT£nfe% wherewith the poor Wretches the Kegroes are ufed, than either the Planters or Mer¬ chants, the Company or Traders, will think,it their Bufinefs td Iftevv, or foV tlieir Credit'd t Interelt to have known. The-Acquaintance.I had the -.honour to have with’ you, whilfi: I was in England, gives me reafon to believe you fo great a Lover of Juifice and Humanity, and that you! have'Ta'much-at heart 1 the juft Rights and Liberty; of 'Mankind., that I .perfuade my felf you’ will takd pleafure in doing what in you lies fof the Relief and Eafe of fo many miferable Men , who are really treated vswfe than Brutes. Your God-likc Mind, I’m fure, knows the Joy of doing Good ■ And a greater Good can hardly be imagin’d, than to help and relievefo .ma¬ ny Ehoufands of miferable Men, who groaii under the Weight of an infupportable: fy't fanny, and Oppreff.on. < Li The Black feems to have fo fully urgu’d the Juftice and Injuftice wherewith they ’are acquir’d, that I need fay little upon that Head: But I lhall give you two or thr& Inltances of the Ufage they meet with if) . with'after they arefbrdught. to fAmkita • With ihy Thoughts'; ih gtaeral.' , / \ J: U [ : : V' A ShiW being arriv’d at a tertaib Plari-^ tatiohy a Plahteiy^oesoil board; to buy • he eaftsliis eye 1ip;6'n' a ftour jolly^ouag Fellow: .Captain., fayisfe, rchaPjliall'Igive you for. that Man ? . Sir, fays' the'Captain; hp has; a Wife; if you hyvchiin, you niuft take the Cow too.—7 -'—Which ik flie./——— This .-—-D—n.ber, fays the Pliatety 1 ^ .'an ill-thriVen Jade ; fll not niedale'mth her: Prithee let me. h'ayc the Pellovo alone --—rfje’s very fond of her: you’l have no ; good of him without her.-—— fll venture-that^ fay’s the Planter : Come y fet your pmPried By this ‘time the Black perceiv’d'they were treating about him; and fearing' they meant to feparate him from his Wife, fteps to her, 'takes her in his' Arms, loo/cs upon her with all the Paffiori and Fondnelsbf.a, lbving Husband ;. the’n gpes'to the Planter, pointy to his Wife, ; then to himfelf, and by liis Looks and Actions feem’d tohgnify lie beg’d the Planter would'buy them both; and that if he did, it would be the grea- teft Obligation in the World, and he might exped a, Return in good Services., ., ' Thb Planter, to.pleafe and delude the poor Wretch, fignify’d .by Looks and Signs he.would. But the Captain fets his Price; A 3 the CO the Planter ftrikes him:. And now the matter is, how to decoy the poor Man from his Wife. The Planter lignifies to him, that he had bought them both; and that they were to go immediately on (hoar. The overjoy’d Negro falls upon his knees, kiffes the Planter’s- hands, and is almolt tranfported. Both Man and Wife are brought to the Ship-fide •, the Man goes down into the Boat, the Woman Jttill in the Ship ^ the Boat, as order’d, ftrait puts off. The' Negro feeing himfelf thus de¬ luded, and ready to be rent from what Nature had fo clofely join'd him to, fnatches up an Oar, and knocks the Rowers down, returns to the Ship-fide, and afcends with all. the Refentment and Fury, that fo bafe and inhuman an ASion cou’d produce -, runs to his Wife, clafps her in his Arms, looks with Anger and In¬ dignation upon the Planter and Captain, and draws his Finger along his Throat •, meaning he’d cut that if they parted him from his Wife. The Planter feeing the Conftancy and Refolution of the Man, and what he was to expect if he did not take the Wife too; and having fet his mind upon the Fellow, vouchfafed in his great Goodnefs to buy them both. So much for our Traffick. The ( 7 ) / The next Inftance is of-the Ufage of our Negroes, . when we have bought them., Tis this——-f On a Sunday a Planter ta-r king arTour abont his Plantation,' finds a Stranger-Black Woman with pne of his Black'Men : in the-Negro’s Hirtt. , Hujfey.l fays the Planter^ who are you T> yghom do you belong ? And, .without flaying for an, Anfwer, falls a caning her. His.Negro befeech’d him to fpare her, for that flic was his Friend. lfhy r .Sirrah of a Slave’s Limbs in long Furrows , and then pour a hot Liquor , made of Pitch, Tar, Oil, Wax, and Brimftone, or fuch-like In¬ gredients into the Green Wounds. Thus, Sir, I have given you juft a Tafte of our Humanity ; for to attempt the recounting all our Methods of deal¬ ing, and our many Ways of punifhing thofe miferable Creatures, were as end- lefs as what Avarice and Iniquity can fug- geft, or what the Caprice and Cruelty of C ?I,) Men, bounded by no Fences oibumemLatOt can invent and execute. . Yet this is the Cafe of thofe Wretches, whom were the D--1 himfelf to tor¬ ment, and yet profit by or expect their Labour, I do not eafily fee how he could make them more miferable.; ' Why they lhould.be thus,treated I can¬ not imagine.: The moft of: them are ta¬ ken in War, and by the Cuftom of tfiofe barbarous Nations the Captors are reputed to have Right,or however they have got,the Power, to kill or do what elfe they pleafe with.; their Prifoners. . The Cuftom of Servitude, as it was at firft introduc’d'by Men, who would not forbear one Cruelty, except , they exercis’d another not much lefs-, fo was it not every where, or at all times receiv’d. Gro. de jure B. & P. I, 3. c. 7.. §. 8. Whatever cruel Barbarians may think or pra&ife, ’tis plain all the Chriftian, 1 might perhaps fay all the .Ci¬ viliz’d World, account it barbarous and inhuman to kill a Prifoner, or treat him ill after you have given him Quarter; and they have intirely laid afide the Cuftom of Slavemaking, as being againft all Rules of Charity : Gro. Fol. 1. §.9. For the end of all juft War being Peace, i. e. a quiet En¬ joyment of Life and property, what occa- fion ■ fieri is there to hill a Man I j have difarm’d, and from whom I have nothing to fear, •andwho perhaps had no Malice, but fought •againft meonly becaufe his Prince dr Cap¬ tain would have tuckt him up if he had ■ not ? And if in fuch Cafe it be inhuman to take his Life, it is almoft' as bad to take 1 from him' the Liberty of a rational Creature, and'to fpare his Life no longer than he blindly -fubmits his Underftand- : ingp and all his Facultys both of Mind and Body, to 'the'imperious Di&ates' of my Willi, how unre'aforiable and extravagant foeVer. But then -even among tlipfe. who allow’d of Servitude, yet it was upon fup- rpo'fition of a jufi War'-, for otherwife the Conquerors were fo far from Laving a Right to kill, that if they knew'the War -tobe-unjuft, • it Was'Murder if they -did - ; •and: by conicqUence alfo they could-have no ■Right to enflave or-fell, or To much as •keep their Priibners. So fenfible were the ■Romans of ' this] that Grot. : c. io. §. 6. gives' feverallnTtances of their making Re¬ futation of'wliat they had took.in ''vnjufi Wars) fo that they' even fold Lands bought with the Price 1 of Captives, 1 and '■rcb'ought whom they had before'fold,; and [ettUcmat - liberty. AndGrotim^'Fol: i. is clearly : of -Opinion, that if.one pojfcfs Goods taken in () an wijiift War, tho he hadno-hand-inthe taking them, or did it innocently* yet he is’bound‘to reftore,: them. But admitting we had as good a Right in our Slaves as we are'willing,to imagine, yet: ftill they are, Mep.; And tho the; Law has a grea£ while; , indulg’d or cpnfliy’dut om being Judges . ip\buif own Caufi ;it feems but a piece of natural Juftketand Equity, that no. Man fhoLdd .be fo in‘:matters of any moment,, where a more impartial Judg may 'he foundOr, however, if the Law thinks fit to allow them this, yet it would feem.but reafonable that, lik c all other Judges, they fhould forfeit .their Office, , if they be ever guilty of abufmg it.- ■ Thefe unhappy Mottalsy the Negroes* make a great part of the . African Trade, about which there is like toJbeib greata 1 Buttle.' Let them take it for me that like it: Let them ftudy Ways and 'Means to preferve and increafe it. It has never yei throve, nor do I believe ever will, till ’tis manag’d with more Juftice and Humanity both in. the firft and after Buyer. We have had, many publick Calamitys in this ' Ifland, and many of our Neighbours have fmarted too. I do not wonder, I rather admire the Divine Goodnefs and For¬ bearance. It (> 4 ) It muft be own’d our Plantations are of great Confequence to both Us arid Eng* land. They are work’d arid cultivated moftly by the hands of Negroes, and it would be hard to do it by any others. But it does not therefore follow, that thofe poor Wretches, by whofe Labour we are enrich’d, mull not be treated with Huma¬ nity and Reafon •, or if they are ill us’d, that the Law fhould give them no Pro¬ tection. or Redrefs. ’Tis very hard, that whillt they help to make us foirie of the haprieft People in the World, we Ihould in return make them the molt unhappy, the molt wretched and miferable part of the Creation. No, Sir, you well know no Advantage can legitimate Injuftice and Inhumanity. Whatever Advantages are built upon fuch falfe, fuch rotten Founda¬ tions, however they ftand for a time, will Purely end in Ruin and Deftruction. I make no Apology for my long'Letter: I know you will excufe it. I heartily pray Heaven may incline your wife Senate to' do fomewhat for the Relief and' Eafe of fo many, who are bafely oppreft, and in¬ humanly treated by their unjuft and cruel Maftero. It would be an Aft worthy of fo Auguft an Aflembly. It would be lay¬ ing fo good a Foundation of Power and Riches, { i 5 ) Riches, as might probably outlaft human Expedition. Certain ’tis, it would ren¬ der them the. Delight..of .all good Men. Heaven would look down on fo becoming an Addon, and all Generations would call thembleffed. I am with great Refpedt'and AfMion, Oftob. 10. - 1708.. SIR, .. Your moll humble Servant. A A SPEECH made by a BLACK of G ar- daloupe, at the Funeral . of a Fellow-Negro. m E great and beneficent * Creator , the Bcft of Beings, as Reafon tells, and as our Matter’s Books afiure us, when he had form’d this Speck of Earth, was plea- fed to crown the Work, by making Man, on whom he ftamp’dthe Image of Himfelf. All he expected in re¬ turn, was but a juft and grateful fenfe or the kind Maker’s Bounty, and an honeft Care to copy after the Divine Original in doing good-, that is, in other words, pro¬ moting his own and others Haffiaefs- \ , 4 . . The good and wife Maker had. ftfl&ierttiy furnilh’d Man with Faculfys h'eceffary to fo kind and glorious a Defigii. fie gave liirh the Powers' of Perceiving, Delibera¬ ting, judging: He implanted in him a* Itrong Defire of pfeferving his own Be-. ingand Happinefs, and gave him unex- preflible TendeniefTes towards others. And a'S God made of the fame common Mold all Pcdple, fo Whilft he fubjefted the infe¬ rior Animals to thefe little Vice-Roys, he left them all free to ufe and follow the Conduct of that Divine Ray of Reafon, whereby they Were IheW’d and taught that reafonable Service which lie requir’d. He made them, 1 fay, free to follow this bright and faithful Gliide, fo foOn as they ihould grow dp to Man, and" their Eyes were itroiig enough to bear the tight y that fo the Creator might have the Glory of a free and chearful Service, and the Creature the Reward of Virtue, and an uncon [train’d Obedience. But, alas! how far is' Mankind fallen ? HOvV much dege¬ nerated from the pure and happy State in which God created them ? Sin introduc’d Sloth in forhe, ,\V an to n ne fs and RuXury in; others: TheTc Were tempted to afftet Command' over, and Service from' others'y while tliofe Were again ineliii’d to a bafer R Submiffion Submiflio.n:.and Dependence, rather than be at the Pains of exerting thofe Powers the wife' Author of Nature had given them, which were abundantly fufficient to all the Piirpofes of Life; and fo they,' like the profane Efau, whom we read of in our Mailer’s Books, fold their Birth-, right and Inheritance for a poor Mefs of Pottage. Thus fond Mankind forfookthe Divine Light plac’d in their Breads, and by firit becoming Servants to their own _ Lulls and Appetites, became Servants to each other/ It had been well, compara¬ tively ipeaking, had Matters Hop’d here; for hitherto there is no Wrong, no Vio¬ lence : Belldes, the infirmitys of Nature made it a neceflary and even prudent Cha¬ rity to ferve their Neighbour in time of want, whofe' Afliilance they again in their Turn might need and expeft. And if any.fet fo little Value on the Gem.of Liberty, as quite to. part with it for a little Bread, which they might have reap’d'and made with their own hands, they were to thank themfelves for fo foo- lilh a. Bargain, and had nothing to com¬ plain of but their want of Indultry and Wit. But Hill this extended no farther than their. own Confent had carry’d. it; and the Agreement being mutual,, they (;*».)> were .no. longer bound by it- than their.. Matters perform’d their part, and treated them fairly. , But the ,Luft of Dominion and the;Dejire of poflelling, fei- ling Mens Brains, they grew' ifierce and raging, broke thro the Ties of Nature and Humanity and upon {lender, or only pretended Caufes, made War upon then- weaker and more innocent Neighbours. Hence is the Source of all our Woes-and Miferys \ to thefe we owe our Captivity and Bondage; to thefe we mutt lay the innocent Blood of our Brother who lies murder’d, barbaroufly murder’d, before us- Good God! what have we done ? What Right have thefe cruel Men thus to opprefs, infult, and inhumanly but¬ cher their Fellow-Creatures? Let us ex¬ amine all their Title,, and fee what it amounts to and then we lhall the bet¬ ter know, whether their Ufage • of us, or our Complaints, are the more juft. They fay, they bought us with their Mo- ny. -Confefs’d; -but who had Power to fell? We were it may be condemn’d by colour of Law, that is, the Will of fome Great Man, to be fold by way of Banilhment for fome fuppos’d Crime. ——But how did the Buyer know there ever was a Crime committed, or that B 2 the ( 20 ) the Sentence was juft? or if he did, what Right can this confer? ’Tis plain, I think, it gives him only Right to carry us whither he- pleas’d, and make us work till we repaid him by our La¬ bor what we coft, with other Charges. It may be we were taken in War; what Right then had the Conqueror? or what did he transfer? Suppofe the War againft us was juft, and that our Buyers knew ’twas fo; yet they like- wife know, that ’tis barbarous and cruel to take a conquer’d Enemy’s Life, when the Injur’d can be fafe without it; and that ’tis ftill more barbarous and inhu¬ mane for another to take it away, to whom he has fold and deliver’d his Prifoner ; fince by the Sale and Price re¬ ceiv’d he feems to have taken the Mony for his Security, and upon that Confi- deration runs the Hazard of the other’s fetting him at liberty if he thinks fit. So that ’tis plain, this gives them no fuch Right over our Lives, as any Man that has the leaft Tendernefs or Huma¬ nity (I might, I think, fayjjuftice) would make ufe of. And as for’perpetual Sla¬ very— it muft be cruel Juftice, that for fo fmall a Sum, fo foon repaid, wou’d purchafe and exaft what makes his Fel¬ low- iow-Creature, from whom he has nouglij to fear, fo miferable for Life. If they contend for this as a Right which they are fond of, let them fhew it, and let them take it and the foie Glory of it. But who told our prefent Lords the Wat was juft ? Do Victory and Right go always hand in hand ? No, Our Matters by Experience know they don’t. This then at belt can give but a dark doubt¬ ful Right, which never can defeat that natural and undoubted one the God of Nature has beftow’d on Men, to have, to own, no other Lord but him. It may have happen’d we were fold to pay our Debts: What win this give them ? In Equity they have at molt hereby a Right to fo much Service as will pay the Debt and Charges of tran- fporting us. The firft was all the Cre¬ ditor could ask. But do they know what this Debt was? No, they never fo much as once enquir’d or ask’d to be inform’d. We were perhaps bought of fome unkind unnatural Father. Be it fo. What have they got by this ? Gan a Father' transfer what he has not ? or have they what he neither did or cou’d ( 22 > help and feed hisyourig and tender .Off- fpring,' as all Creatures do, but not to caHL than out into the Fields!, or fell them wantonly to a bkfe Servitude. 1 God gave him Power to beget'and become a Father of ‘Men, not • Slaves. A Father, as ’tis fit, 'has Power too' to guide and fleer. his Childrens A&ions while Rea- fon’s weak •, and if by Age, or otherwife, he’s brought to want their help, they are oblig’d, by Nature, and by Gratitude, to give their helping hand and belt Afhflance. But :ftill they are not his Slaves or lad¬ ing Property, for-when wife Nature has fitted-, them ■ to' .propagate and educate their Kind, Reafon-requires, and Nature loudly tells they are • at Liberty, they then are Men. It’s true, we feem ob¬ lig’d to our Lords, that- they were pleas’d to take us off the Hands of-cruel Con¬ querors, or fuch wanton and unnatural Parents as begot us- only for their Plea- fuee ; either ■ of' which might likely- have deftroy’d, if they cou’d riot have fold us. But it wou’d be remember’d, no Benefit obliges further than the In¬ tention. Was it then for our fakes, or for their own, our Mailers built fuch mighty Ships in which they plow the Main? Was it for us they laid out fo much much Wealth ? Of Was it to fave'our Fives,. they fo much ventur’d ; ;a,rid expos’d their own ? Alas! the Anfwer is' top ob¬ vious : Our hard Labour, and harder Fare, but .molt ’.of all, our cruel Punilhments, and perpetual Bondage, but too--plainly Ihew for whofe fake all this'was : done. But befides,' ’tis certain many Wars are made, many Children parted with, only becaufe there are fo many Buyers. So that all we have to thank them for, is, • that they fought to ferve themfelves'-, and doing fo, they fav’d us from thole. firfl: of Ills their Avarice had wrought.- Fur¬ ther, Many of us, it may be, are bought neither of the Governour or Conquerour, of Creditor or Parent •, but of a treache¬ rous Friend, a perfidious Husband, or an odious.Man-Healer. Thefc are far from conferring any Right, uulefs what can a- rife from the molt unjuft: and inhuman Adts in the world. What’s now become of all their boalted Right of abfolute Dominion? It is fled. Where all our Obligations to perpetual Servitude ? They are vanifh’d. However, we may perhaps owe them fomethiug :> and' it were but juft, if fo, they Ihould be paid. Let us therefore, if from the account I have al¬ ready given we can, make an Eftimate of B 4 the ( 24 ) the Ballancf-Supposing then one half of us We juftly fold at firft by thofe that had a Right to all our Services, if that may be fupposd : Suppofe likewife that cur Matters knew it too, and who the very Pevfo.ns were: They then would have at moft a Right to the Labour of fuch Perfons during Life-, and of the reft, till they had earn’d and cleard fo much as vyas riven to the Captain who brought em hi¬ ther. But lince it is impoffible for them to know on whom to place thcii feveial Demands j and fince they bought us all at random, without regard to Right or Wrong: Ictus for once fuppofe favoura¬ bly for them, who never favour’d us j let us fuppofe our Matters innocent of all the Wrongs \ve firft fuftaind. Suppofe us Men, Women, and Children come to their Shoar from fome far-off unknown Land, under the Power of a ftrange Cap¬ tain of a Ship, who pretends he has a Right to fell us. He offers to deliver us, Great and Small, into their hands at 20/. a-piece. They pay the Mony. We are deliverd up. What are wc now 111 debt { ’Tis plain, 1 think, that fince they neither know nor did regard his Title, they can at heft have one but till they’re reunburs d (* 5 ) at. Tis fure we had a plain and natural Right to Life and Liberty which to take away upon a weak, prefumptive, or.3 jnay-he Title, were to make us of lefs value than Beafts and Things Inanimate : a Property in which, by Reafon’s Law,, is never gain’d againft a true and juft Owner upon flight Prefumptions, whatever may be done by Laws of particular Societys, to which each one agrees. But were it otherwife in mere Pofleflions, yet Life and liberty are hardly things of fo low rate, that they’re to pafs as lightly from the Owner, to whom God gave the foie and certain Property, as Beafts, or Birds, or Things Inanimate, which bounteous Na¬ ture laid in common, and wherein ftriftly no Man has more Right than what is ne- ceflary for him and his Dependants. Let any Man but make the Cafe his own, and lie’l foon fee the Hardlhip. Would not any one think himfelf greatly injur’d,if an¬ other fhould make him his perpetual Slave, only becaufe he gave 20 1 . for him, to one who had him in his power ? Methinks the very naming it is enough to fliock a Man; and he IhpuTd need no further Argument to convince him of the Injuftice of the thing. But Men are hardly brought to fee what makes againft their Intereft. Ta¬ king ( 26 ) king the matter now to be as lalt ftated— Suppofe Twenty of us bought at once; the Mony paid would be 400/. fuppofe fix of. the Twenty Children; fuppofe alfo one of us to die each year; reckon the Labour of each of thofe of fufficient Age at 10/. a year, which is really lefs than it may be well accounted, feeing a great part of ouv poor Suftenance is owing to our ownHands and Indultry, which we are forc’d to em¬ ploy in planting Herbs and Roots, whilft •we ihould reft from our more toiifom La¬ bour. By this Computation we Ihould have paid all our joint Debt in three years time. Yet would our Lords but ufe us as Men, we Ihould not ftick to a nice Computation, but frankly ferve them three or four years more, before we claim’d our Freedom. Many of us here prefent have ferv’d twice, fome feven times the fpace our cruel Lords can juftly claim. Of our hard Labour, let our weary’d Limbs, their well-planted Fields and full Coffers all bear witnefs. Of their hard and cruel Ufage let our torn Backs teftify. Of their bloody Inhumanity, let the Corps of our dear Countryman before as, weltring in its Goar; let it, 1 fay, for ever witnefs a- gainft the cruel Authors of our Woe: who not content to make us Slaves, Slaves ( 2 7 ) Slaves for Life, do ufe us worfe tlian Dogs, and deny us the Companion they would Ihew a Horfe. ’Tis true, they wil¬ lingly will teach and make us Chriltians; while they themfelves want to be taught, both They and We are Men. In this how¬ ever we are fomewhat better ufed than are pur wretched Friends in Englijb Hies-, where their hard Mailers. forbear to dp good, left that oblige, them to do more. Ridiculous Superftition ! that will not al¬ low their Servants to : be Chriftians, left they be forc’d to allow them to be Men. This is to found Dominion upon the GofpeLof that Divine Teacher Jefus, who told them plain as Words could make it, his Kingdom was not of this World. And as if none were intitled to the common Privileges of Nature, except they pleafe to allow ’em them by Walhing or Bapti¬ sing, they carefully forbid our Brethren that. What I pray is this, but to make fpo'ft with the Creation, and to monopo¬ lize the Bleflings of our common Mother Earth? Our hardy Tutors know things better. They teach us what themfelves feem hardly to believe 7 and by giving us hopes of another better World, endea¬ vour to make us content that they alone Ihou’d enjoy this: teach us to do Good for for Evil; and when we have done no fault, to turn our Cheeks to the Smiter, and our Backs to the Scourger ; to fubnu.t not only tofroward and unjuft, but even to mercilefs and cruel Matters; remem- bdnguTS their Gofpel fays Thro many 'Sufferings and Tribulations we mttfi enter into the Heavenly Country ; that Countrywhere our dear, our patient, our murder d Bro¬ ther’s gone. But why flipu’d we com* plain of Death, WhofeLifes fo miferable to us ? To kill us, feems the greateft kind, nefs'that our bloody Lords can dm We have loft our native Country, our Friends, our Liberty ; we are made Skves to haugh¬ ty cruel Men •, we are fed and work d hard; their Will’s our Law; which when wedo tranfgrefs, we fuffer all the wanton Cruelty they can devife: Tears can touch their hardend Heaits, relcntlefs as Rocks,, they know no Pity. What,now remains : in Life to be deiir