UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY IMilllllllll G 000 065 227 1 X '; THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES 6tU^t,^^L<^'A-'-<^-^^^- ^ And lo ! he darts his piercing eye profound, And looks majestically stem around I The husband and ivife^ after being sold to different p,ur- dmsei's^ violently separated....nev€r to see each other more. O^THE OPPRESSION OF THE EXILED SONS OF AFRICA- CONSISTING OF ANIMADVERSIONS ON THE IMPOLICY AND BARBA- RITY OF THE DELETERIOUS COMMERCE AND SUBSEQUENT SLAVERY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES; TO WHICH IS ADDED, A DESULTORY LETTER WRITTEA'' TO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, ANNO DOMINI, 1801. By THOMAS BRANAGAN, Late Slave-trader from 'Africa, and Planter from Antieua ; who, from conscientious motives, relinquished a luciative situation in that island; and now from a deep sense of duty, publisher to the world the tragical scenes, of which he was a daily spee* tator, and in which he was unhappily concerned. PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY JOHN W. SCOTT, N a. 27', "BA N k"-S T R E E T . 1804. CONTENTS. Advertisement. Page 5 Jieuiarks inti'cductojy to t/ie Poem on SUn^ery, 9 Chap. I. General vicnv of the Slavery of Madei-n Ti7ncs. 29 Chap. II. Stiictiires on the State of Slarvery-.ammg the A^atio7is ofAniijuily. 69 Chap. III. The State of the Slaves in the BHd^h West-India Colonies. 77 Chap. IV. The Treatment of Slaves in the Dutch Settlements. 87 Chap. V. The Situation, of tlie Slaves in the French . Colonies. 89 Chap. V"I. The Question, whether the Alegroes Be a . part of the Human Species, capable of intdlcc- tualy moral, and religious Improvement, no less than the other Nations of Mankind ; or, an in- ferior Order of Beings, occupying a middle Place betivecn Men a7id Brutes ? considered. 93 Chap. VII. Melioration of the State of the Slaves pro- posed, and urged from Motives of Duty, and of Interest. 117 Chap. VIII. Miscellaneous Communicatiojis — Des- cription of Babylon — Destruction of Jerusa- lem, b'c. ADDRESSES. To the Inhali'ants of Chrii;tend^ ' u ca, who can forbear to commiserate? He thatdoes 4 !■ not pity them, is a monster rather than a man. A *" Iman of feeling and honor he cannot be. Are human beings to be bought and sold like the brutes which perish ? No. If, therefore, his per- formances shall contribute, in the smallest de- gree, to retard the progress of this most scanda- lous traffic, the reflection will be pleading to the author in his latest moments. 8 Advertisement, As to the letter subjoined to the preliminary essay, when the author wrote and addressed it to the first consul of France, his intention was to keep it a profound secret. By some means, however, a certain person heard of it, and reported it to his friends, v/ho conceived an unfavourable impres- sion of it. How rare, in our times, is the chari- ty which thinketh no evil ! How painful are the wounds of a friend ! For the satisfaction of those who may have imbibed and entertained mistaken notions concerning this epistle, he now publishes It. And he flatters himself that it vvill not be uninteresting or unprofitable to the public at large* REMARKS, INTRODUCTORY TO THE POEM ON SLAVERT-. LOCAL circumstances, which I need not enumerate, compel me to make these introducto- ry remarks. When the poem appears, the pro- priety of them will be sufficiently manifest. Sin- cerely can I say, my great aim is to be use- ful. With this view I have endeavoured to accommodate my poem to the various tastes of the different classes of readers, into whose hands it is likely to be put. My endeavour is to imitate the eminent apostle of the Gentiles in be^ comi7tg all things to all men in order to gain so?}ie of every sort. Of the vicious taste, caprice, and whim of many, I am sufficiently aware. To ex- pect to please every one is absurd in the extreme. My object is to profit ; but, in order to profit, I should wish to please. In the cause I have un- d'ertaken to promote, I glory. On the merits of it I confidently rely. I live in the animating pros- pect of the speedy approach of a period, in which B 2 10 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY tyranny, of every species, will be seen in its na- tive deformity. Then will ail the votaries of op- pression v/ish, but, perhaps, wish in vain, that they had listened to the soft, moving, pathetic strains, by which their best friends now endea- vour to reclaim and reform them. Their reco- very, before it be too late, is the object of these remarks, and also of the poem I am about to ush- er into the world. That they may accomplish this salutary purpose is my earnest wish and ar- dent prayer. Whether my endeavours shall be attended with desired success or not, it does not belong to me to predict. In the mean time it is to me no small consolation, that those who aim at the reformation of their fellow mortals, are, in the decisive day, to be approved and rewarded, not according to the degrees of success with which their endeavours are attended, but accord- ing to the integrity and fidelity with which they use them. If God approve, man may accuse ; and I can remain unmoved. To be mal-treat- ed and persecuted, for the best of causes and the most praise-worthy actions, is nothing new ei- ther in the christian or pagan world. I appeal to the history of all ages ancient and modern. Of the prophets or the apostles j or the martyrs, Jewish or christian, I shall not say any thing. TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 11 Were not the wisest and best of the philosophers of antiquity, who remonstrated against the prevail- ing vices of the times in which they lived, instead of being caressed and rewarded, persecuted by fines, banishment and death ? Review the histo- ries of Anaxogoras, Socrates, Seneca, and others. They were fined, banished, murdered ! For what ? For their crimes ? No, for their vir- tues ; for opposing the idolatrous worship of the inhabitants of Athens, and other cities of Greece ; for denying the divinity of the heavenly bodies, particularly the sun ; and pleading for one God, the eternal, original cause of all things terrestri- al and celestial. Were such wise, exemplary, useful men persecuted ? Yes j with unrelenting fury were they persecuted. Are the times in which we live better than the ages which are past ? No, this, indeed, is an age of discoveries and scientific improvement. But, at the same time, an age, which, in infidelity, dissipation, and vice, seems to exceed all former times. Has persecution for virtuous actions and lau- dable efforts to promote the best interests of man- kind, been confined to the pagan countries ? No, nations and individuals, called, christian, have 12 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY been the most cruel and merciless butchers of their fellow creatures, and even of one another. What then may I expect to be the fate of my hum- ble, but well-meant, endeavours for the good of my cotemporaries ? While the phantoms and dreams of romancers and novelists are read with assiduity, my performances will, doubtless, be by many treated with great neglect. But philan- thropy, though scarce, has not altogether left the world. For the sufferings of their fellov/ crea- tures some can feel. In the abhorrence of eve- ry species of tyranny and slavery I am not singu- lar. Do the advocates and promoters of the slave-trade attend to the natural consequences and effects of it ? Is it not a common, though unfair method, to estimate the merit or demerit of any religion from the conduct of its votaries and professors ? How unworthy and disgraceful the behaviour of thousands and millions of the professors of revealed religion ! Read the history of the barbarities and cruelties of the Spaniards in the West-India islands and on the continent of America ; of the English and other nations in the East Indies. It is a certain, incontrovertible, melancholy truth, that nothing has a stronger ten- dency to confirm Pagans and Mahometans, in their prejudices against the christian religion, TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 13 than the unworthy, immoral, inhuman, and cru- el conduct of multitudes who affect to be called christians. What I have affirmed of Pagans and Mahometans, I might have extended to the prac- tical Atheists and avowed Deists, who abound among us. Natural religion I do not decry. But is it not, in the present state of humanity, utterly insufficient to direct mankind, either how they may be extricated from the misery in which they have involved themselves, or recover the felicity which they have forfeited ? Can it either discover the origin of evil, moral and penal, or prescribe a remedy adequate to the malady ? For necessary information on all these most interesting topics, we are indebted to supernatural revelation. And is this revelation treated with contempt? Yes j and treated with contempt by those very per- sons, whose best interests it is intended and cal- culated to subserve. Is there a virtue which na- tural religion enjoins, that revealed does not in- culcate ? Is there a vice which natural religion prohibits, that revealed does not forbid ? No, ea- sy would it be to shew in what numerous instan- ces revealed religion excels natural i in its pre- cepts and prohibitions, the duties it requires and sins it forbids, the rewards and punishments it proposes, it incomparably excels. 14 REI.IARKS INTRODUCTORY Here I cannot forbear to take notice of an un- happy mistake, under which many who make high pretensions to distinguished refinement, seem to labour. The divine law exhibited in the sacred volumes of the Old Testament and the New, they treatwiththe utmost contempt ; and, in their place substitute, as the standard of right and wrong in human conduct, something to which they have appropriated the name of honour. But, if honour is to regulate our moral conduct, I have a right to ask, Is honour a law ? If a law, who is tlie author of it ? If a law of suiiicicnt force to direct and determine what is right and what is blame-v/orihy in the conduct of moral agents, it must be a law of heaven ; and must be- long to religion, natural or revealed. If it be a dictate of natural religion, it must be a doctrine of revealed. For, though revealed religion be not totally contained in natural, the latter is whol- ly comprehended in the former. If on the con- trary, honour, the criterion of laudable and cul- pable actions, be not a law, it is of no force ; v/e are under no restriction, but have an unbounded liberty to do what we please ; subvert the gov- ernment, betray our friends, assassinate our pa- rents, and commit the greatest enormities with impunity. For, as an inspired writer speaks, TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 1^ and common sense dictates, where no law is, there can be no transgression. Do not honesty and honour belong to that long catalogue of virtues, which the divine law sanctions ? That relative duties, no less than religious, are enjoined by the authority of heaven, cannot ad- mit of a doubt. The neglect of the duties we owe to each other, no less than the non-perform- ance of the duties we owe to God, must incur the divine displeasure. Are we, in the different stations and circumstances, which an all dispos- ing providence has assigned to us severally in the world, indispensibly bound to contribute, to the utmost extent of our pov/er, towards the welfare and comfort of one another ? Then what shall we think of despots, tyrants, and every kind of op- pressors, who, instead of alleviating the cares and enhancing the enjoyments of their fellow mortals, especially those who are in lower spheres and narrov/er circumstances, do all they can to im- bitter their comforts, and render life itself an in- supportable burden r Are such men, I ought to have said monsters, to be found in our world ? Yes ; even in Christendom they are to be found. Nor need we travel so far as either the East or the West-Indies in search of them ; they are to be found among ourselves. 16 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY With what view, for what purpose, does the historic page transmit to us the fatal end of the tyrants and oppressors of former times, and dis- tant countries ? Are they not presented to us in history as beacons are erected at sea, to warn the potentates and nations in our times, of the rocks and shoals, on which the despots and oppres- sors of former ages have suffered shipwreck ? Hear this, ye American task masters ; hear and tremble. Verily there is a God that jiidgeth in the earth. The sighs and groans of the oppressed he hears ; their stripes and wounds he feels. And though for reasons best known to himself, he de- lays the execution of his alarming threatenings and the infliction of his tremendous judgments, his determination to punish is fixed and irrevocable. Vengeance is mine^ says he, and I will infallibly repay. On account of injustice and oppression the most extensive, opulent, and powerful em- pires have been subverted ; kingdoms and com- monwealths overthrown ; cities great and popu- lous are now no more. Scarce a ruin or vestige of them is to be seen. Nay, a traveller is at a loss to ascertain the spot on which they stood. Now as much as ever that great and good Being, who has the disposal of all persons and all events, and who is the common father, of the human TO THE POEM ON SLA VEHY. 17 family of every country and every complexion, pities the oppressed and resents oppression. Have the persecutors of former ages suffered the vengeance of heaven ? Are the crimes, for which they suffered, committed, with aggravating cir- cumstances, by the potent tyrants, and petty task« masters of our times ? and shall they escape with impunity ? No, the divine veracity is not less pledged for the execution of the threatnings, than for the fulfilment of the promises, of revelation. Did the unjust judge, of whom our Saviour, in one of his parabolical discourses, speaks, a'venge the injured and unfortunate victim of her adver- saries ; and shall not He, who ever is the patron of the widow, the fatherless, and every other species of the afflicted of mankind, avenge and deliver the unhappy sons and daughters of Afri- ca, who, by their deep sighs and doleful groans, cry day and night unto him? Verily he will speedily avenge them. To suppose he will not redress their grievances, is supposing that he is more unjust than the unjust judge* Methinks, I novr see the wounds and tears of these unhappy victims to the s^ordid avarice, and infernal cruelty of their oppressors and murder- ers ; and hear them uttering, in heavy groans their complaint and prayer to this effect— 18 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY ' O God, thou createdst us, not to make us mis- erable, but'liappv. Thou createdst our first fa- ther that thou mrghtest confer thy best blessings upon him. Behold, we earn^estly beseech thee, and pity us the unhappy offspring of Adam. Thou hast made us rational creatures; capable of happiness and of misery. Our misery there- fore is intolerable. Were we like to the brutes which perish, we could much more easily linger out a few days and years of bondage and wretch- edness ; as well as remain uncontaminated by the impious example and impure practices of our oppressors ; without being compelled to be part- ners with them in their iniquity ; and, after a few years of pain and sorrow, languish, and die uncon- scious of our own innocence, and of the cruelty and brutality of our unrelenting enemies. Pity us, O our merciful Creator ! From no other be- ing can we expect relief. We see, day after day, 4he horse, the cow, the sheep, protected. If they be found in a trespass, eating a little cane, or otherwise ; they are not injured ; but only se- cured for their owners. But if v/e, impelled by hunger, and languishing under extreme distress, both of body and mind, eat a little of the cane, which, with the. labour of our hands and sweat of our brows, we planted, we are instantaneously TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 19 beaten, cut, and almost murdered. But to thee, O most compassionate Father, we need not enu- merate our grievances and sufferings. Thou knowest all that has befallen us from the time we were forced from our native country to this day. Often, with sorrowful hearts and weeping eves, do we recollect our once happy, though homelv, abodes ; our near and dear relativ( s ; our water brooks, our rosy bowers, our vernal groves, our shady woods, and scented meadov/s. Par- don, O most merciful God, our importunity ; and look dovvm with piteous eyes upon us the most wretched of thy creatures. Under our bleeding wounds and excrutiating tortures we languish, w^e groan, we die. Judge, we pray thee, betvveeii us and our capricious, cruel tormentors. Hast thou not declared thyself a God of great compas- sion and tender mercy ; who xvillby no means clear the guiitij ? Art thou not the friend of the help- less, the fatherless, and the avenger of the op- pressed? We, no less than our merciless tyrants, are the workmanship of thy Almighty hand. In us, as well as in them, thou hast placed that pre- cious jewel, the immortal soul ; and hast said, that thou wilt nat respect persons In judgment ; but vjili render to every man according to his xvorks. Res- cue us, O God, w^e beseech thee, from our cp- 20 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY pressors, as a lamb from the jaws of the roaring, rapacious lion. Thus they incessantly cry from the rising to the setting, from the setting to the rising sun. Shall their cries remain forever unheard, their prayers forever unanswered? No. For the sighing of the poor and needy will J arise, saith God. And, v/hen he ariseth to judgment, who can stand be- fore him? With a prophet, I ask, ruho can abide the day of his corning ? When the cup of the in- dignation of the Almighty is full, must it not be poured forth ? Are not the judgments of God al- ready in the eartii ? Are not the times, in which we live, in a peculiar manner, portentous and eventful ? What mighty revolutions, and wars, and massacres are taking place among the na- tions ? Are not less judgments, in the usual course of providence, the fore-runners of great- er? Is this country exempted from judgments? No. Judgments are of two kinds, temporal and spiritual. The former affect especially the b9dy ; the latter the soul. Is the soul of far greater va- lue than the body ? Then the plagues which are fatal to it are more to be deprecated than those which hurt the mortal body. In what age, and in what country, had infidelity ever a more ex- TO THE FOEM ON 5LAVLKY, 21 tensive spread or a mote powerful sway, than it now has among the inhabitants of the American states? How enslaved to the basest appetites; and how callous to every religious and moral ob- ligat'^n are multitudes among us ! What paved the way for the introduction and spread of moral and penal evil in our world ? The answer is ob- vious ; the infidelity and scepticism of our ori- ginal parents, and their subsequent indulgence of an unbridled appetite and criminal propensity. Review the history of the Jews ; revolve the an- nals of the world ; and they will furnish you v,ith Innumerable instances of the happy consequence^. of the cultivation of religion and morality, on the one hand ; and, on the ether, the baneful effects of the prevalence of impiety and vice. What a contrast do we see between the state of the Ro- mans during the long and happy reign of Nuina Pompilius, and the situation of that great people under the reigns of many of his predecessors and successors ? Read the history of the decline and doM^nfall of the four great empires, the Abyssi- nian, the Babylonian, the Grecian, and the Ro- man. Investigate the causes of those direful re- volutions ; and the coincidence between the vices which preceded them, and those which predomi- c 2 22 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY. nate among ourselves, will strike you more for- cibly than I have language to express. How successful in the invention of crimes and modes of sinning, has the depravity of human na- ture been? What diversified and complicated scenes of guilt have been discovered ? In what various forms and shapes has every moral pre- cept been violated? Can any new mode of of- fending Heaven and ruining souls be found out? Is it possible to make the smallest addition to the long black catalogue ? How many practicably de- clare to all around them, that they neither fear God nor regard man ? The religious duties they owe to their Maker, and the relative duties they owe to their neighbour, they treat with equal con- tempt. Is my account of the vices of the age ex- aggerated ? Is it the effect of fanaticism ? No. He must be a great stranger in our Israel, that does not know the truth, and perceive the just- ness, of the description ; dismal, horrid as it is. In many, prejudice and interest blind the judg- ment; sordid avarice shuts up the avenues of sensibility j and seems to extinguish every sym- pathetic and tender feeling. To my serious strains the ear is shut ; and the heart impenetra- ble; while the idle fopperies and the foolish TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 23 dreams of the romance or the novel, find the rea- diest access and the kindest entertainment. The reader is all attention. He is amused, he is de- lighted, he is in raptures. Delusory prospects, fanciful scenes open to him, with which he is, at once, astonished and delighted. Every thing he sees is marvellous. Every house is a palace or a cottage ; every man an angel or a fiend ; every woman a goddess or a fury. Here the scene mo- mentarily varies ; and assumes new appearances. Now it is a dreary castle full of spectres and ghosts, robbers and murderers. Next moment it is a beautiful villa or a splendid palace, re- sounding with the notes of festivity and joy. Now it exhibits the appearance of a loathsome dungeon, with rattling chains and chilly damps. Suddenly it is changed into a beautiful garden with fragrant flowers, blushing parterres, invit- ing fruits, and melodious songs ; by which the juvenile mind is entangled and infatuated. Then succeed adventures, intrigues, rapes, duels, elope- ments, darts, sighs, groans, armies, murders. De- bauchery, in this way, assumes the form and name of gallantry.— Revenge is termed honour. Thus the destruction of the human soul is accomplish- ed ; the arts of seduction are practised, and fe- male innocence is ruined. Thus libertines cndea* 24 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY vour, too Successfully endeavour, to emancipate mankind from the shackles of religion and mo- rality. This they call freedom. Fatal freedom ! In this manner, unhappy for themselves, and numbers of their fellow creatures, they attempt to explode revealed religion, as the quintessence of absurdity; the immateriality and immortality of the soul ; and a future state of rewards and pun- ishments. Setting aside religion, they debase themselves to a level v/ith the brutes ; and, like them, abandon themselves to every species of sensuality. Do such principles and such practices contri- bute to the advancement of their happiness ? No. Of all men they are the most miserable. Their minds are necessarily filled and tortured with dis- cordant, contradictory notions of the eternity of matter, the concourse of atoms, a self-created mind, the government of chance, and a future state of retribution. Thus are they in a state of almost uninterrupted solicitude, anxiety, and mi- sery ; from which they know nothov/ to extricate themselves. Such sceptical ideas seem, in former times, to have been confined to a fev/. Now they are become commor., popular, and fashionable. While infidelity prevails, no wonder that both re- TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 25 ligious and moral duties are neglected. I asked already, and I cannot forbear to ask again, In what did moral evil originate ? The answer still is, infidelity, infidelity. The first human pair he- sitated concerning the prohibitory precept, and, therefore, presumed to transgress it. While our modern infidels and sceptics discredit or even doubt the authority of that law, which enjoins the worship of God, and justice and benevolence to our neighbour, they may be expected to disregard both the former and the latter. To contribute my mite towards the suppress- ing of the growing and alarming evils of these times ; especially that injustice and oppression, which one part of the human race suffer from another, of which I have had the painful experi- ence, I have ventured to take the pen in my hand. Whatever reception my performances may have from readers of another class, I am confident of countenance and encouragement from the bene- volent and humane, the considerate and candid part of mankind. Did my readers know the in- terruptions and disadvantages under which I have laboured ; especially in preparing, for the press, my greater work^ the Poem on Slavery ; and were they fully acquainted with my disinterested mo-o 26 REMARftS INTRODUCTORY tives and views, I am morally certain I should escape censure, and experience sympathy from them. Sensible am I, that the iniquity and impolicy of slavery have been suinciently exhibited by a number of judicious and learned writers. But I must say, few, if any, who have written on this subject, have had the means of information con- cerning it, which providence has put in my power ; having been, I say it with deep remorse, a coheI- derable time unhappily engaged in the infamous business. I write not what I have read or heard, but what I saw ; and, to my shame I must add, what I did; for in the tragical scene I was an ac- tor. Besides, almost all the publications on this interesting subject are written in prose. And it is an undoubted fact, that many will read a per- formance in poetry ; Vvho could not be induced to peruse the same materials, however well arrang- ed and digested, in prose. Various, indeed, is the taste of mankind; but that many, especially of the younger sort, are fond of poetical composi- tions, cannot be doubted. Many can more easily retain in their memories a metrical, than a prosaic composition. I have, therefore, with no small labour, arranged my work in the form of a tragi- TO THE POEM ON SLAVERY. 27 cal poem. May it accomplish the salutary pur- poses for which I composed and intend now to publish it. Did Lucretius write and publish a poem for the propagation, of the Epicurean philo- sophy? And shall not I use my. utmost efforts in the noble cause of religion, morality, and free- dom ? Actuated by motives of humanity, have in- dividuals wrote against slavery, merely from ver- bal information; and shall I be silent? God forbid. Under the influence of that diffidence and pride, which are incident to my nature, I haye procrastinated my work for years. But, solici- tous not to stifle conviction any longer ; not to continue guilty of the basest ingratitude to my best friend and benefactor, I am now resolved, for the conviction of oppressors and the relief of the oppressed, to publish my poem as soon as cir- cumstances will permit. Sincerely can I say, so far as I know my own heart, my motives are dis- interested, generous, and pure. Were I not to use my most vigorous exertions to alleviate, if possible, the miseries of some of my fellow creatures, who are in a state of servi- tude and wretchedness, that is no less disgraceful than painful to human nature ; I should only live to be lashed by a guilty conscience ; and, in the 28 REMARKS INTRODUCTORY, £s?C. end, die under the consuming frowns of heaven, and the heavy curses of my fellow mortals, whose miseries I have enhanced j and to whom I am under every obligation, if I could, to relieve and comfort. What I write is the result of long re- search, and seventeen years observation and ex- perience. Besides travelling among the Russi- ans, the Prussians, the Danes, the Spaniards, and the English, I have been in Cayenne, Suri- nam, Demarara, and several other parts of South America. I have also visited almost all the West- India islands ; the bay of Honduras, Bermuda, and the Bahama islands ; not to mention the dif- ferent parts of the United States which I have vi- sited ; eight years have I spent in Africa and the West-Indies. Ispeaky therefore, what I do assu- redly know, and testify what with my eyes / have seen. If I can do nothing for the relief of my suffering brethren, I am determined, at any rate, to exonerate my own conscience. A PRELIMINARY ESSAY ON THE OPPRESSION OF THE EXILED SONS OF AFRICA. CHAP. I. General View of the Slavery of Modern Times. I AM now entering on a painful task. Cal- lous in the extreme must the person be, who is not hurt by the most cursory recital of the cruel- ties and barbarities, under which the unhappy ex- iled Africans languish. In the estimation of man- kind, liberty ever is of incalculable value. To men of every country and of every complexion, the yoke of bondage must be galling. The wretch- ed Africans are not merely enslaved ; they are, in instances innumerable, oppressed, and starv- ed, and tormented, and murdered. That the ac- counts of these cruelties, which have already been published, and I am to bring forward in the se- GO PRELIMINARY ESSAY. quel of this essay, and in my poem, should to many appear incredible, does not in the least sur- prise me. They really seem almost to exceed belief. Had I not seen with my own eyes what I am to tell, I probably should have found some difficulty in giving full credit to the report of such shocking barbarities ; barbarities which debase human nature far beneath the brutal. And what is any thing I have seen, in comparison of wdrat the omnipresent and omniscient God beholds! But, while I recollect the tragical scenes at which I have been present, and in which, alas ! I per- fprmed my part, my soul recoils ; tremor seizes my whole frame ; I can hardly restrain my knees from smiting one against another, while my blood hangs shivering in my veins. Such was my abhorrence at the iniquitous scenes, which duty obliged me to witness, that I voluntarily relinquished, from conscientious mo- tives, and in opposition to the advice and per- suasion of my friends, both of the religious and irreligious character, a lucrative situation in Antigua, and threw myself on that all-benefi- cent providence, which hitherto has provided for me, and, I trust, will provide for me in all time coming. Though I treated the slaves un- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 31 (ler my charge with some degree of lenity, the recollection of my situation, as a slave-dealer, and a West-India planter, still excites in myhreast the most painful sensations, and pierces me Vvith many sorrows. Often, with a mixture of sensations and feel- , ings, which it is not easy to express, do I recol- / lect the beauty and fertility of Afrita ; the huma- nity and hospitality I have experienced from its inhabitants ; and the base returns I have made to them ; disti^ibuting among them toys, and trin- '^ kets, and ardent spirits, to purchase slaves, or,. if they were not ready, to provoke the different na- tions to go to war, in order to procure them for U3. Never, to my latest moments, can I forget the beauties and luxuriance of that picturesque country, and the happiness of its inhabitants. Whithersoever I turned my eyes, it had the ap- pearance of a terrestrial Paradise, What lofty trees, crowlried with never-fading green; vernal groves, fragrant flowers, dQwy lawns, limpid streams, enchanting landscapes j and a thousand other beauties 1 After all my travels, in both the , old and new^ worlds, I do not hesitate to say, this j ^ is the most beautiful and the most fertile country \ I ever beheld. When I have seen its happy inha- 32 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. bitants reclining under the lofty palm-trees, I could not forbear to think of the first human pair in their paradisical residence. What simplicity in their dress, and in their manners ! How inno- cent, benevolent, and hospitable ! When I tra- versed their woods, and, on a certain occasion, a particular adventure placed me fully in their pow- er, they, in the kindest manner, invited me to their homely habitations, and treated me, not as an enemy, but as a friend ; not as a stranger, but as a relative. Yet, horrid thought ! tormenting reflection ! this very people, in midst of remon- strances, and lamentations, and shrieks, sufficient to pierce the mountains and the rocks, I have torn and dragged from their happy country, and from their nearest and dearest relatives and con- nexions. The dishonourable, base methods we used to accomplish our infernal designs, are a disgrace to human nature. Every sentiment of nhonesty and honoar v/e seemed totally to have '[forgot. Day and night my mind continues to be haunted by the image of those unhappy victims t^our avarice and ambition. Blethinks, I now see them dragged, v/ith the most vigorous reluct- ance and resistance on their part, from their be- loved habitations, on which they cannot forbear to look backj and, while they look back, tears PRELIMINARY ESSAY. oo fiow in copious streams down their farroweu cheeks ; and their heading breasts sufficiently in- dicate the inexpressible anguish which they feel within. No sex, no station, no age is spared. Does ^ the hungry lion pity his mangled prey ? No. No ^ more are those unhappy beings pitied. Children are torn from their distracted parents 5 parents from their screaming children \ wives from their frantic husbands ; husbands from their violated wives ; brothers from their loving sisters ; sis- ters from their affectionate brothers. See them collected in flocks, and, like a herd of swine, driven to the ships. They cr}^, they struggle, they resist ; but all in vain. No eye pities j no hand helps. Into the hold of the vessel they are forced. Their limbs, already wounded and lace- rated, and bloody, are loaded with heavy chains. Such numbers are compressed within so small a space, that the air almost immediately becomes pestilential; from the putrid effluvia of v/hicii they contract diseases, which, in a very short time, terminate in death. What effect has this on the traders, and crews of the vessels ? Does it occasion remorse and grief? Not the smallest. The corps is, with the utmost indifference, thrown d2 - 34 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. overboard, to feed the monsters of the deep. Not one tear; not one sigh, on the occasion. Are the sorrowing w^-etches treated with any greater humanity than before? Quite the reverse. The recollection of what I have witnessed on such oc- casions cannot fail to shock my readers. The survivors have I seen severely flogged, for no reason, that I could perceive, but to gratify the infernal malevolence of those diabolical tyrants, who now had them perfectly in their power, and seemed to sport with their misery. To those, v/ho are in a state of such debility and sickness, that they are utterly unable to walk, it is not un- precedented or even uncommon to apply scalding water. Apply scalding water ! For what crime, for what purpose, is the miserable being torment- ed in this manner ? For no crime, for no pur- pose, but to force him to move, while his strength will not permit him. Often, not once, or twice, but often, have I seen the sick and the dying, in the hold, crying most bitterly for a drop of water to quench their burning thirst; but crying in vain. These, and ten thousand other sufferings, which the brevity of my plan forbids me to introduce, befal the poor slaves, every year, in their passage from Africa to the West-Indies. According to a calculation made by well-informed persons, it PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 35 is supposed, that of those, who are annually trans- ported from Africa to the West-India settlements, not less than thirty thousand die, I ought rather to have said, are murdered, on their passage. I might add the thousands, who annually die during the seasoning time, in the West-Indies. On their arrival in the islands, they are exposed to every insult and abuse, that can befal the most wretched of human beings. Surgeons, called to inspect them, examine men and women enrirely naked, more minutely than a butcher does the . cattle he intends to purchase. The poor female slaves, innocent and unaccustomed to debauchery, are ready to sink with shame and grief. Like so /', many horses or hogs, they are driven to market, and sold to the highest bidder. Whether he be a humane or inhumane man ; whether he will treat them with lenity or severity ; is no question at all with the sellers. He has them, in consequence of the purchase, entirely at his mercy ; and the '^ tender mercies of the masters and managers of West-India slaves, God knows, are cruel. The sale is now over ; the slaves are assigned to their respective purchasers; and separated ne- ver to see one another again on earth. Is care taken, that husbands and their wives, parents and 3o PRELIMINARY ESSAY. their children, shall always be sold to one master? Far from it. This ^vould be an instance of hu- manity and compassion, which we must riot ex- pect in a slave-trader. Compassion in a slave- trader 1 To suppose any such thing, is absurd in the extreme. Light and darkness are not more opposed to one another, than the slave-trader r:nd compassion. A very small degree of the latter utterl}' disqualifies a person for the former. Were near relatives sold to one master, and permitted, during their captivity, to enjoy each other's com- pany and friendship; this circumstance would be no inconsiderable alleviation of their misery. The separation of the loving husband and his beloved wife ; the affectionate parent and the dutiful child, is one of the tenderest and most moving scenes at which I ever was present. As I do not know how to express this cruel and painful separation better than I have done in my manuscript poem, I v/ill take the liberty to introduce the following lines from that work. 'Twas now the morning of the fatal day ; The universe; in solemn sadness lay. The murmurs of the woodland monsters die, The morning star ascends the glowing sky; Thro' all the verdant groves a silence reigns ; The flocks and herds lie stretch'd along the plains* PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 37 When, lo, Aurora, daughter of the dawn, Fring'd with her orient light the dewy lawn. And then bright Sol, all beauteous to behold, Tipt the green mountains with a gleam of gold. While from their dens the slaves are driv'n along j And scourg'd to market with the knotted thong. Like flocks of sheep, alas! they're driven about, The drudge and scorn of an insulting rout. They move along with pensive steps, and slow; And, as they move, the tears spontaneous flow. With red-hot irons now they brand the crew ; While, lo, the briny tears descend anew. In vain they strive ten thousand things to say ; In vain they strive, for groans stop up the way. But speaking tears the want of words supply; And the full soul bursts copious from each eye. They strive their tyrants' pity to command : The ruffians hear, but will not understand. To what submissions, in what low degree Are mortals plac'd, dire avarice, by thee ! Once more they strive, by melting tears, to move Those tyrants' hearts to sympathetic love ; Try all their suppliant arts, and try again, To move their pity ; but they try in vain. No hope the poor unhappy creatures find; In body tortur'd, and distress'd in mind. They curse their natal, and their nuptial hour : Tears flow amain in one unceasing show'r, 38 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. And peals of groans in mighty columns rise, Ascend the heav'ns, and thunder in the skies. Pierc'dwith the noise, the wretched babes, in vain, With tender cries, repeat the sound again. And, at the mournful call, the mothers prest Their starting infants, screaching, to the breast. They scream with dread, to hear the dire alarms, And shrink for shelter in their mothers' arms. When, lo, a matron wearied heaven with pray'r; While on the precipice of black despair. The wretched mother then embrac'd her son, First shed a tender tear, and thus began — Alas ! my poor unhappy boy, she cries, While silver sorrows trickle from her eyes ; And have I borne thee, with a mother's throes, To suifer thus? Nurs'd thee for future woes? Kov/ short the space allow'd my boy to view ! How short the space ; and fiU'dwith anguish too I And, as she speaks, the tears pour down again j A cloud of grief o'erwhelm the weeping train. They view their foes, and sicken at the sight ; In bitterness of soul, they long for night. Again she cries. These floods of grief restrain ; Vengeance will soon o'ertake the Christian train. Let us be patient, and let us prepare To move great Jove, our heav'nly sire, by pray'r. Our wrongs to him are knov/n ; to him belong The stranger's cause, and the revenge of wrong. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 39l When friendly death our woe-worn frames shall free; And take mir abject souls from misery, Our ghosts, all stain'd with blood, shall daily cry To heav'n, for vengeance, and the blushing sky. If we, fpr latent guilt, be doom'd to woes; The crimes we learned from our Christian foes. Our ghosts shall follow them thro' earth and sky ; And, wrapt in flames, will blaze tremendously ; Flash in their faces, and for justice cry. Our vengeful spirits shall enhance their woe, Enjoy their anguish, and their torments know ; And smile with transport in the shades below ! These words were all, though much she had to say; And scarce thesefew,fortears,couldforce their way. Trembling with agonizing fear and woe. The children view each bloody Christian foe ; Cling to their parents with a close embrace ; With kisses wander o'er each tearful face. The scramble o'trr, the horrid sale's now done ; The slaves but find their sorrows just begun. To separate the hapless weeping throng. The cow-skin hero wields the knotted thong. And, as he v/ields, applies the dreadful blow; Whilst streams of blood in purple torrents flov/. Smit with the signs, which all their fears explain, The strict embrace exchang'd, their knees sustain Their children's weight no more ; their arms alone Support them, round their bleedingparentsthrown. 40 PRELIMINARY ESSAY, They faint, they sink, by dreadful woes opprest. Each heart weeps blood, and anguish rends each breast. With fear and cruel pain they stood amaz'd; First up to heav'n, then on their foes they gazM, And, as they gaze, the pearly sorrows flow. In grief profound, unutterable woe. All stain'd with blood, a weeping mother prest Her dear, dear trembling infant to her breast. Then, shrieking, to her wretched husband springs^ With her poor babe, and on his bosom hangs. Kissing his lips, his cheeks, his weeping eyes; While tears descend to earth, and groans ascend the skies. Quick through his bleeding heart her sorrows ran ; Grief seiz'd his soul j and wrapt up all the man. Deep, deep he sigh'd ; and, when he sighM, he shed A flood of big round tears ; and thus he said — Imperial Jove, thou sov'reign of the skies. Avenge our wrongs, our mighty wrongs, ^e cries. Our wrongs, the hero said, and strove to say ; But sighs and mighty groans stopt up the way. Now furious rage the mournful chief inspires, And all his soul just indignation fires. Amid his hapless family he stands, And lifts to heav'n his eyes and spreading hands. Oppressed with grief, and raving with despair. With groans, prefers to Jove his mental prayer : PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 4il , And, while he thus his wrathful pra5'er prefer'd, His wrathful prayer th' almighty sov'reign heard. Aiid, lo, the chief stood still in grief profound, And fix'd his eyes with anguish on the ground, Majestically sad. The hosts on high, With gazing saints, lean forward from the sky, From clouds, all fring'd with gold, their bodies bent; With eager eyes, they view the sad event ; They view the hero's wrongs, the foe's delight, They view his wrongs, and loath the hateful sight: Then veil their eyes, refulgent to behold. With their white wings, all tipt with downy gold ; To whom, while blushing, from the chief they look, The sire of men, the sire of angels spoke. Around his brows a brilliant cloud was spread, And floods of glory flam'd above his head. Like mighty thunders, lo, his voice he rearM, Hosts dropt their harps, and worshipp'd as they heard. With awe, they see the checquer'd lightnings play. And turn their eye-balls from the golden ray. Thus, in the starry courts, enthron'd on high, Sat the majestic monarch of the sky ; A robe, beyond the thought of mortals white, He wore, all fring'd with stars and golden light ; Bright azure gilds the arches of his brows, And on his cheeks empyreal purple glows* 42 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Around his em'rald throne arch-angels meet, And smiling seraphs worship at his feet. Vvhere'er, serene, he turns his dazling eyes, There's peace, tliere'sjoy, there's love, there's paradise : But if just anger reddens their mild beams, All heav'n trembles, and the world's in flames. Rank'dby degrees, in the supreme abode. Bright cherubs, wond'ring, view th' immortal God. Beneath his eye, the heav'ns, in full survey, The spacious earth, and vast creation, lay. He darts his eye, his piercing eye profound, And looks majestically stern around ; And, with a single glance, the God surveys The slaves, the ships, the navigable seas. Again the sire of men his silence broke. All heav'n, attentive, trembled as he spoke ; The storr^y winds a solemn silence keep, The curling waves lie level on the deep ; All sether trembled, while high heav'n was aw'd, All nature reverenc'd th' immortal God. His voice harmonious, thus Jehovah cries, While anger sparkled in his awful eyes — ■• " Behold and blush, ye first-born of the skies, Behold yon Christian hypocrites unjust, Full of rage, rapine, cruelty, and lust ; T' enslave my sons, they propagate their sway, Join fraud to force, and bear the spoils away. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 43 Who, smooth of tongue, in purpose insincere, Hide fraud in smiles, while death is harbour'd there ; From tender husbands, weeping brides they tare ; They proffer peace, yet wage unnat'ral war : Whilst still they hope we'll wink at their deceit, And call their villainies the crimes of fate. Unjust mankind, whose will's created free, Charge all their guilt on absolute decree ; To us they pray, to us their sins translate, And follies are miscall'd the crimes of fate. The Christian rulers in their ruin join, And truth is scorn'd ! By all the perjur'd line. Their crimes transcend, all crimes since Noah's flood ; Their guilty glories soon shall set in blood. They swear by heav'n, then spill their brother's gore J Lo, view my creatures bleeding on the shore : Shall heav'n be false, because revenge is slow ? No — we prepare to strike the fiercer blow : Sure is our justice. They shall feel their woe! The day shall come, that great avenging day, When all their honours in the dust shall lay ; Ourself shall pour dire judgments on their land. Thus have we said, and what we say shall stand. Their cruelty for justice daily cries, And pulls reluctant vengeance from the skies ; 44 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Such hypocritic foes their toils shall know, And ev'ry hand shall work its share of woe. How av'rice fires their minds, ye heav'n-born train ; Behold our sacred gospel preach'd in vain ; Behold us disobey'd ; what dire alarms Inflame their souls to slaughter, blood, and arms. Their dreadful end will wing its fatal way, Nor need their rage anticipate the day : Let him who tempts me dread the dire abode, And know th' Almighty is a jealous God. Still they may charge on us their own offence, And call their woes the crimes of providence ; But they themselves their miseries create. They perish by their folly, not their fate." Then, by himself, the gracious monarch swore To saveth' oppressed, and relieve the poor j To bless the orphan, punish lawless lust. And lay each haughty tyrant in the dust. Destroy th' oppressor ; aid the righteous cause ; Avenge the breach of heav'n's eternal laws. Then, lo, he gave the great tremendous nod. With his bright head, the sanction of the God. Thro' heav'n, thro' earth, the strong concussion rolls, The golden planets trembled to the poles ; That moment thunders rattle, lightnings fly, Black clouds and double darkness veil the skv : PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 45 The rough rocks roar, tumultuous boil the waves, The tides come roaring through the rumbling caves: The wild winds whistle, and the storms arise, Lash the salt surge, and bluster in the skies : The wave behind mounts on the wave before, And drives the mountain billows to the shore. While the unhappy exiles mournful stand. Boys, babes, and dames, a miserable band ; The wretched train of shrieking mothers bound. Behold their captive children trembling round : They strive to ease their children's grief again, But still repeat the moving theme in vain. Scarce can the whip release each grasping hand ; Like sculptur'd monumental grief they stand. Compassion then touch'd my tyrannic soul; And down my cheek a tear that moment stole. Then, nor till then, I pitied! though their foe. Struck with the sight of such unequall'd woe,. Swift, and more swift, unbidden sorrows rise ; And, in large drops, ran trickling from my eyes.. Now parted by the whip, with doleful sound,. The children speak their agonies profound. Dissolv'd in tears, they round their parents hung ;, And their young arms in early sorrows wrung. Pierc'd with such grief,, the bleeding youths, in vain^ Fly back, for refuge, to their sires again ;. E 2 46 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Complain with moving tears, and moving cries. And beg for aid with eloquence of eyes. Lost, to the soft endearing ties of life, The social names of daughter, parent, wife, The frantic mother hears the well-known sound- Can no redress, she cries to heaven, be found? Can mortals give or feel a deeper wound ? Ye savage Christians I now your rage is spent; Your malice can no greater pains invent. Parental tenderness^ and kindred blood ! Your force till now I little unJersood. Oh that the base tyrannic Christian band. Had never touch'd my dear paternal land, O that I were some monster of the wood ; Or bird by land, or fish that swims the flood ! Unthoughtful then my sorrows I could bear ; Nor sin, nor groan, nor weep, nor sigh, nor fear. While thus she speaks, she views the golden light, And purple skies ; but sickens at the sight. Her grief approximating to despair j Thrice from her head she tore the sable hair ; Thrice heather breast with unexampled fear ; Then looking up with streaming eyes, she cries, Thus sobbing, to the Monarch of the skies. Immortal Sire, good, gracious, and divine, In might supreme, in majesty sublime ; Shall Christians, cruel Christians, still prevail ? And shall thy promise to thy creatures failo*' PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 47 And shall they, shall they still increase our woe ? And dye our lands with purple as they go ? Rise in thy wrath, almighty Maker, rise ; Behold our grievous wrongs with gracious eyes. Oh, save my valiant friends, the bold and brave, Their wives abus'd, their bleeding infants save. Oh ! see them force the injur'd maid away j With sons, sires, wives, an undistinguished prey. While wives and daughters serve promiscuous lust, Their sires and husbands bite the bloody dust. To count our wrongs demands ten thousand tongues ; An angel's voice, and adamantine lungs. While thus she prays, weeps, groans, complains in vain, The ruffians whip her from the place again. Thus the sweet nightingale scared from her nest, By cruel boys, with grief and care opprest ; She hovers round and round the much lov'd place, And strives, but strives in vain to save her race. With melancholy notes she fills the plains, And with melodious harmony complains ; And tells the cruel, listless boys her pains. They heave round stones,^that labour up the skies, To kill the mother as the mother flies. Lo, tyrants thus administer relief ; Add wropg to w^rong, and wretchedness to grief. 48 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. And oft, alas ! with hypo critic air, Condemn the crimes in which they deeply share. Hear this, ye tyrants, distant nations, hear, And learn the judgments of high heav'n to fear. Yes, ages yet unborn hereby shall see, Their predecessors' guilt and tyranny. These Christians thirst for gold ; while fierce in arms. Their cruel breasts no tender pity warms. And if the heathens should one virtuous find, Name the slave-traders ; they will curse the kind. Deceitful gold ! how high will Christians rise In latent guilt, to gain the glittering prize ? Hence sacred faith, and public trust are sold, And villains barter Adam's sons for gold. Hence tyrants rule ; the scorn of honest fame ; And Virtue's chang'd to monumental shame. Shall the oppressed race of human kind. From heav'n above, nor earth, no justice find ? Can bloody carnage please Jehovah's sight? Or flaming war reflect a grateful light ? No mortal woe impartial heav'n relieves. Peace, joy, life, love, relenting mercy gives. Impell'd by love., he promis'd to the poor. To hear their pray'rs, nor drive from mercy's door. Compel'd by truth he will his word fulfil, Save the oppress'd, and do is sovereign wilL. PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 4^ He will redress his creature's wrongs, tho' late ; Thus has he spoke ; and what he spake, is fate : And then the tyrants of mankind shall bend, Their honours vanish, and their glories end. For come it will, that dreadful day replete, With penal sanctions, and tremendous fate. Then tyrants, tho' on golden thrones, will bleed, And ruffians too, to mighty woes decreed. Whilst tyrants punish with an iron rod,. Oppress, destroy — ^their dreadful scourge is God. He views their guilt with flaming eyes around, That flash with rage, with mighty rage profound. And ev'n the sons of freedom prove unjust, Alike in cruelty, alike in lust ? Them shall the muse to infamy consign ; Despis'd, abhorr'd i the theme of tragic rhyme. Those barb'rous villains spread consuming death, The name of freedom withers at their breath. Virtue disrob'd, infernal vice aspires ; And weeping liberty and truth retires. Laurels that should fair Virtue deck alone, To systematic hypocrites are thrown. Their nature, and their nation they disgrace j And stamp with sable signatures their race. Republicans will suffer in their shame ; And e'en the best that bears the noble name. A hypocrite, when once to sin inclin'd, All hell cannot produce so fierce a fiend. 50 PRELIMINARY ESSAT. Wide o'er the world their character has spread ; . Disgrac'd their country, and disgrac'd the dead, Who fought for freedom, and for freedom bled. Their hypocritic villainy proclaim : Oh, sing their guilt, my muse, — inglorious fame ! For yet more woes their tragic acts inspire, T' attune with energetic verse the mournful lyre. So far are the inhuman tyrants from paying any proper regard to those endearing attachments, which cansanguinity forms, that instances occur, in which they seem to consider natural affection, the want of which sinks a man beneath a brute, as a crime. A striking instance, I recollect to have witnessed in Grenada. A sucking infant was, with more than brutal barbarity, forced from its mother's breasts, to return to her no more ; and, because she struggled to keep it, which na- tural affection irresistibly prompted her to do, she was flogged with great severity. Let us now follow the wretched slaves to the estates for which they are destined ; and en- quire into the treatment they receive from their new masters. Is the enquiry officious ? No. This is no private business j it is the public cause of humanity, in which all mankind are deeply con- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 51 cerned. Here a scene opens, at which human nature shudders. The first object that presents itself to those now slaves, probably is, one, or it maybe, a number of their countrymen, in chains and fetters, and in that dreadful situation, confin- ed to hard labour. I will leave you to conceive, I ■will not undertake to express their feelings on this occasion, to a degree, of which we can form no adf-quate conception, must they be shocked. It is no uncommon occurrence for these unhappiest of beings, in the above dismal condition, to be, by their relentless task-masters, scourged with rigour, because they do not perform more work, when they are labouring to the very utmost of their strength. Long after they have undergone this punishment have I seen the marks of the scourges on their lacerated bodies. Their pun- ishments, unhappy creatures ! are various, as well as severe. I have seen them, shocking to relate ! forced and confined to hard labour, with an iron instrument of such a construction, that it went*round their faces, and, projecting into their mouths, pressed down their tongues in such a manner, that they could neither speak, nor eat, nor drink. By this cruel machine, an invention worthy of the tormentors of the human race, have I seen them punished for the most fri- 52 PRELIMINx^RY EBSAT. volous offence ; the pettiest faults that can be imagined. Their merciless oppressors seem to enjoy an execrable pleasure in acts of the most unprovoked and wanton cruelty. Of long duration, as well as of a grievous na- ture, is the oppressive labour of these wretched creatures. Long eighteen, out of the twenty- four hours, are they naked, half-starved, nay, al- most dead with oppression, grief, and despair, kept under the lash. At the earliest dawn, they are alarmed at the dreadful sound of the plantation-bell ; and still more alarming report of the merciless driver's whip. A delay after this call, even of the most momentary duration, incurs inevitable punishment. Naked, and hun- gry 5and dejected to the lowest degree, they go, ra- ther are drawn, to labour, which abuse they cannot long support. Speedily wasted with oppression, grief, and despair, they, at last, come under the lash ; which calls, but now calls in vain, to a re- newal of their former toils. To these wretchedest of mortals, how tedious the hours I how slow the sun^s descent J But does their daily labour terminate with the setting of the sun ? No, a part, and a most grievous part of it, still remains to be done. Instead of re- PRKLUVIINARY ESSAY, 53 tiring to eat and to sleep, of which their labour "occasions so much need, they are compelled to go over the fallow ground, on the plantations, and even the mountains, in search of grass for their masters' cattle. When they have picked up, blade by blade, what they can find of the scarce article, they retire to their wretched huts. But, having their corn to grind and prepare for supper, they can seldom lay down to rest sooner than midnight ; and when, at this late hour, they do lay down, it often is v/ith an earnest prayer, that they may awake and rise no more. Unfeeling, indeed, must he be, that does not pity this hapless race of mortals. But how are they fed, and how are they cloth- ed ? Is their food, in quantity and quality, pro- portioned to the extent and nature of their labour ? Far is this from being the case. The usual allow- ance of food, for a full-grown slave, on the first estate I lived on, was no more than six pints of corn a week; without the addition of a grain of salt, or any other thing; except at Christmas, when each is allowed six pounds of animal food. On some estates they are allowed no clothing ; no, not so much as is sufficient to cover their nakedness. In this case they have no alternative, but either to steal or go naked. If, F 54 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. in any the smallest instance, they steal to supply their most pressing wants, they are unavoidably subjected to a cruel punishment. How often does a poor slave, pressed by the cravings of hunger, which he is unable to resist, receive, from a sa- vage manager, a hundred lashes, for breaking a very few of the canes, which, with the labour of his hands and the sweat of his brow, he planted? With what resistless force does that equitable and humane Jewish law, thou shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn^ come home to every feeling person's heart in this case ? For offences still less, if possible, have I seen the unhappy slaves scourged in the cruellest manner. One slave, to escape the fury of his cruel master, plunged into a copper ot boiling sugar, and im-s mediately expired. For the most trifling faults, if they can, with any degree of propriety, be call- ed faults, they sometimes have their ears cut off. One I saw, in the most cruel manner, cut and mangled with a cutlass. An old woman, bowed down with years, I saw flogged, in the severest manner, purely to gratify the caprice of a cruel tyrant. If we attempt to paint, in proper colours, the enormity of such conduct, we immediately labour under a penury of language; all language is defective and inadequate. Such monsters we leave to the righieous judgment of heaven. Is not the situation of slaves, in instances now ad- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 53 duced, incomparably v/orse than the condition of the very brutes ? Often do the latter commit depredations. Are they, on this account, tor- tured? No; far less put to death. There are not wanting instances, in which planters have given orders to their watchmen, not to bring home slaves they might find breaking canes, but to hide them, as the phrase is, that is, kill and bury them privately. In this manner many are murdered, and murdered with impunity. But shall the perpetrators of such attrocious crimes pass for ever unpunished ? It is impossible. The blood of the murdered Africans cries from the earth ; and the cry has already ascended to hea- ven. There is a period approaching, at which the Lord shall come to puniah the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity ; and then shall the earth disclose her bloody and no more cover or conceal her slain. The brutal owners of the unhappy slaves seem to consider them as property which they may use, and of which they may dispose, in aj*v manner they please ; without responsibility eiihe- to God or man. A poor female slave, the savage mas- ter seems to caress, for his own unworthy pur- poses, in the evening, and in the morning he scourges her for the most trivial fault. She is a slave to him ; and he is a greater slave to hi« 56 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. own unruly, beastly passions. Miserable man! Miserable is every one that is in his power. Having had occasion to mention the female part of this servile race, a question naturally oc- curs — How are the female slaves treated during a state of pregnancy ? Do they, in any degree, ex- perience the indulgences, which such a situation indispensably requires ? No, no. What ! Does not their pregnancy exempt them, at least in part, from hard labour ? No, from the commencement to the end of it, they are kept even in what is call- ed the field gang, at the hard labour of hoeing, rather plowing, the land, on which the sugar cane is to be planted. The unhappy consequence is, numerous abortions happen among them. For the sake of hum.anity, I am extrem.ely sorry to add, that I have seen some v/onien in this condi- tion, even during their ninth month, beaten, and afterwards confined in a dungeon, for faults of the most trivial kind. Hov/ is the unhappy wo- man accommodated during the time of her deli- very? She is obliged to bring forth her tender offspring in a hut, at once dark and damp. Her fare, in this delicate situation, consists of a small quantity of horse-bean, corn, or corn-meal. The fatal effect of such inhumane usage, is the death of thousands of infants by conv-iilsions and other PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 5 7 diseases. Unhappy women ! Unhappy children I The latter I retract. Happily are such infants deli- vered from the misery, to which they must other- wise have been unavoidably subjected. A few weeks after she is delivered, the unhappy mother is, by a cruel and peremptory order, called to her formerlabour. Her unhappy infant she must fasten to her back, or lay in a furrow ; exposed to a scorching sun, or heavy rains, without shelter or cover, except it be the skin of a kid, or, if it can be procured, a rag of cloth. For the support of this wretched infant, the still more wretched mother has but a small extra allowance until it be weaned. Nor, during the time of suckling her infant, has she any indulgence whatever, except it be an exemp- tion from picking grass in the evening. This, in- deed, is no inconsiderable mitigation of her mi- sery. For, in consequence of the scarcity of grass, this foraging business is the unhappy occa- sion of the murder of numberless slaves. It often happens, that when these forlorn v^retches are un- able to procure their bundle, or quantity of grass, in time, they flee, to eg'cape immediate punish- ment, and hide themselves in the woods, or the mountains. But woeful is the punishment that inevitably awaits them as soon as they can be fouud i r-2 58 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Numerous and fatal are the effects of this anti- christian and irrational, inhuman and impolitic, treatment of the wretched slaves in the West-In- dies ; not to say any thing, at present, of the usage of slaves in South and North America, and other parts of the world. How obvious and easy is the remedy of that evil, which, to every man of feel- ing, is an object of detestation, the commerce be- tween Africa and America; the buying of human beings in the former, and the selling them in the latter, as if men and brutes were on a level ? Were the slaves in the West-Indies treated as humanity requires and Christianity directs ; would the plan- ters treat them with one half the attention, ten- derness, and care, they bestow on their horses ; future importations from Africa, as unnecessary, would be happily prevented. Abortions and un- timely deaths among the infants of the enslaved Africans^ would become, in a great measure, un- known. Their progeny would be sufficiently nu- merous to cultivate their masters' estates ; the ex- pence of purchasing imported slaves saved j the masters would be better served ; the slaves more happy ; the friends of religion, liberty, and hu- manity would rejoice ; and a long train of other glorious consequences would follow. The Euro- pean colonies, and even our owm southern states, would assume a new appearance. Auspicious PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 59 change ! May the all-wise disposer of human af- fairs hasten it ! I have related only a few of the countless in- stances of barbarity and cruelty which have come within the sphere of my own observation. Are any disposed to discredit, or even doubt, my nar- rative f To such I shall only say, at present, I have, in my custody, and am ready, if called up- on, to produce attestations of my character, fronci persons of the first respectability in the island of Antigua. These certificates I shall probably pub- lish, either along with these introductory remarks, or my Poem on Slavery. Is there, in my detail, any thing more incredible than what appeared in the evidence, which a number of gentlemen of undoubted integrity, who witnessed the horrid scenes they relate, gave at the bar of the British House of Commons, some years ago ? An ab- stract of that evidence, which has been several years in the hands of the public, coincides, in all the leading particulars, with the account I have given, and confirms it beyond a possibility of doubt. A part of this abstract I shall, therefore, introduce. This abstract the editor ushers into, the world asrfoUows: 60 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. " The respectable and increasing numbers of those, who, from motives of humanity, have con- curred in rejecting the produce of West-India slavery, cannot but afford a subject of the sincer- est joy to every friend of mankind. Even those who, from motives of interest, still favour and engage in the trade, have been obliged to be si- lent upon the injustice of first procuring the ne- groes, and have not had the hardiness to excuse or palliate the horrors of the middle passage. But still they assert, that the treatment the slaves meet with in the West-Indies, amply counterba^ lances their previous sufferings. They have not failed to extol a state of servitude as a happy asy- lum from African despotism ; and calmly main- tain, that the condition of the labouring poor in England is much harder than that of the negroes in the West-India islands. Upon this ground, the opposers of slavery are willing to meet its ad- vocates ; and the design of the following extracts is to enable the public to form an impartial and decisive judgment upon the subject. " When a ship arrives at the port in the West- Indies, the slaves arc exposed to sale, except those who are very ill ; they being left in the yard to perish by disease or hunger. The healthy are disposed of by public auction, the sickly by scram- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 61 ble. The sale by scramble is described thus — The ship being darkened by sails, the purchasers are admitted, who, rushing forward with the fe- rocity of brutes, seize as many slaves as they have occasion for. In none of the sales is any care taken to prevent the separation of relatives or friends ; but husbands and wives, parents and children, are parted with as much unconcern as sheep and lambs by the butcher. Abstract^ pa- ges 4^6 and 4:7. With respect to the general treatment of the slaves, Mr. Woolrich says, that he never knew the best master in the West-Indies to use his slaves so well as the worst master does his ser- vants in England. Ab, p. 53, To come to a more particular description of their treatment, it will be proper to divide them into different classes. The first consists of those who are bought for the use of the plantation ; the second of the in and out-door slaves. The field slaves are called out by day-light to their work j and if they are not in time there, they are flogged. When put to their work, they per« form it in rows, and, without exception, under the whip of drivers ; a certain number of whom are allotted to each gang. Such is the mode of their 6S PRELIMINARY ESSAY. labour. As to the time of it, they begin at day- light, and continue, witk two intermissions, one for half an hour in the morning, the other for two hours at noon, till sun-set. Besides this, they are expected to range about and pick up grass for the cattle, either during their two hours rest at noon, or after the fatigues of the day. Sir George Younge adds, that women were, in general, considered to miscarry through the cruel treatment they met with. Captain Hall says, that he has seen a woman, seated to give suck to her child, roused from that situation by a severe blow from the cart-whip. Ab. p, 53, 54<^ 53, The above account of their labour is confined to that season of the year which is termed out of crop. In the crop-season the labour is of much longer duration. Mr. Dalrymple says, they are obliged to work as long as they can, that is, as long as they can keep awake, or stand. Some- times, through excess of fatigue, they fall asleep, when it has happened to those who feed the mills, that their arms have been caught therein and torn off. Mr. Cook, on the same subject states, that they work, in general, eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. He knew a girl lose her hand by the mill, while feeding it; being overcome with sleep, she dropped against the rollers. Ab, p, 55, 56^. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 63 To this account of their labour it should be aidded, that it appears, that on some estates the slaves have Sunday and Saturday afternoons to themselves, on others Sunday only, and on others only Sunday in part. It appears again, that in crop on no estates have they more than Sunday for the cultivation of their own lands. Ah, 55, 56. The next point to be considered is the food of the slaves, which appears to be subject to no rule. On some estates they are allowed lands, on others provisions, and others are allowed land and pro- visions jointly. The best allowance is at Barba- does, of which the following is the account. The slaves in general, says General Tottenham, ap- peared to be ill fed : each slave had one pint of grain for twenty-four hours, and sometimes half a rotten herring. When the herrings were wi/it for the whites, they were bought up for the slaves. Nine pints of corn, and one pound of salt fish, a week, is, in general, the utmost allowance. As a proof that some have not food enough, Mr. Cook says, that he has known both Africans and Creoles to eat the putrid carcases of animals through want. Ah, p, S7y 58. As to the accusation ol their being thieves, all the evidences maintain, that it was on account of ■ their being half starved. Ab* p, 58, 64 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Concerning the property of the field-slaves, all the evidences agree in asserting, that they never heard of a field-slave amassing such a sum as en- abled him to purchase his freedom. Ab, p. 60. Having now described the state of the planta- tion, it will be proper to say a few words on that of the //z and cut-door slaves. The in-door slaves are allowed to be better clothed, and fed, and less worked, than the plan- tation slaves. On account, however, of being con- stantly exposed to the cruelty and caprice of their masters and mistresses, their lives are rendered so wretched, that they not unfrequently wish to be sent to the field. The out-door slaves are por- ters, coopers, &c. who are obliged to bring their masters a certain sum every day. The ordinary punishments of the slaves are in- flicted by the whip and cow-skin. This, says Mr. Woolrich, is generally made of plaited cow-skin, with a thick strong lash. It is so formidable an instrument, that some of the overseers can, by means of it, take the skin off a horse's back. He has seen them lay the marks of it into a deal- board. The incisions, according to Dr. Harri- son, and the Dean of Middleham, are sometimes so deep, that you may lay your finger into the PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 65 wounds, and are such as no time can erase. As a farther proof of the severity of the punishments, the following facts are adduced. Mr. Fitzmau- rice says, he has known pregnant women so se- verely whipped as to have miscarried in conse- quence of it. Mr. Davidson knew a negro girl die of a mortification of her wounds two days af- ter whipping. Dr. Jackson says, he recollects a negro dying under the lash, or very soon after, Ab. p, 66, 67. We now proceed to the extraordinary punish- ments, in the infliction of which, malice, fury, and all the worst passions of the human mind, rage with unbridled licence. Benevolence re- coils at the dreadful perspective, and can scarce collect composure to disclose the bloody cata- logue. Captain Rap has known slaves severely punish- ed, then put into the stocks, a cattle-chain of sixty or seventy pounds weight put on them, and a large collar round their necks, and a weight of fifty six pounds fastened to the chain when they were driven to the field. The collars are formed with two, three, or four projections, which hinder them froin lying down to sleep. A negro man in Ja- maica, says Dr. Harrison, was put oa the picket G 65 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. SO long, as to cause a mortification of both his foot and hand, on suspicion of robbing his mas- ter, a public ofEcer, of a sum of money, which, it afterwards appeared, the master had taken him' self. Yet the master was privy to the punish- ment, and the slave had no compensation. Ab. p, 69. Mr. Fitzmaurice says, it was a practice to drop hot lead upon the slaves, which he saw perform- ed by a planter of the name of Rushie, in Jamaica* This same man, in three years, destroyed, by se- verity, forty negroes out of sixty. The rest of the conduct of this planter was suppressed by the House of Commons, as containing circun\stances too terrible to be given to the world. An over- seer on the estate where Mr. J. Tuny was, in Grenada, threw a slave into the boiling cane- juice, who died in four days. Captain Cook relates, that he saw a woman, named Rachel Lauder, beat a slave so unmerci- fully, that she would have murdered her, if she had not been prevented. The girl's crime was, for not bringing money enough from on board of ship, whither she had been sent by her mistress for the purpose of prostitution* PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 67 Lieutenant Davidson relates, that the wife of the clergyman at Port Royal, used to drop hot sealing wax on her negroes after flogging. He was sent for, as surgeon, to one of them, whose breast was terribly burnt. If it should be asked, for what offences the pun- ishments cited have taken place, the following answer may be given. Under the head of ordinary punisments, the slaves appear to have suffered for not coming to the field in time, not picking a sufncient quan- tity of grass, for staying too long of an er- rand, and theft, to which they are often driven by extreme hunger. Under the head of extraor- dinary punishments, the foliowi^ig reasons have been alleged ; for running away, for breaking a plate, or to extort confession, in the moments of passion ; and one on a diabolical pretence v/hich the mister held out to the world, to conceal his own villainy, and which he knew to be false. Women punish their slaves for being pregnant, for not bringing home the full wages of prostitu- tion, and somtiimes even without the allegation of a fault. This is a specimen, and only a spe- cimen^ of the evidence that was exhibiced in the British House of CommoiiS, 68 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Black catalogue ! horrid facts 1 At the dread- ful recital, angels, men, and even devils, seem to stand in silent astonishment. What kind, what de- gree of punishment must awaicsuch miscreants! In the hand of that omnipotent Being, who is the most valuable friend, and, at the same time, the most dangerous enemy, 1 leave them. And truly it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. An angry God! Dreadftd idea! He isy as a sacred writer speaks, raise in heart, and mighty in st7'ength ; and^ therefore, it is impos- sible for any to harden themselves against him and prosper. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 69 CHAP. II. Strictures on the State of Slavery among the Na- tions of Antiquity, TO investigate the origin of slavery, and to follow it in its progress and gradations, during the early ages of the world, do not belong to my plan. That it is an invention of modern times is not pretended. The antiquity of it cannot be de- nied. But I ask. Is the antiquity of any practice an infallible proof of the equity of it? Evil practices, no less than good, are as old, or almost as old, as creation itself. What evil thing can be said to be new in the world ? What crime is committed in our times, that was not perpetrated in former ages ? In the words of the wisest of men, I may ask, Is there any new things good, or evil, under the sun P But if slavery itself be not new, the mode of treating slaves in modern times, appears to be, in various in- stances, new. Modes of oppression and punish- ment have been practised in latter times, which seem to have been unknown in former ages. Vain is it to plead, that slavery, among the ancient Jews, h?d the sanction of heaven. Ex* Q 2 70 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. ceedingly different, Indeed, was the situation of the Jewish, from the condition of the modern slaves, of whom we have been speaking. To many, Jewish slavery was eventually a blessing, not a curse ; a privilege, not a punishment. The Jews, it would seem, took pains in imparting to their slaves the knowledge of the true God, and of the method of salvation by the Messiah, with which those strangers, had they continued in their own countries, must have remained unac- quainted. Not a few of them were admitted into the Jewish church, and to a participation of all their special privileges ; even in participating in the solemn ordinance of the passover j these strangers, when they became proselytes of the covenant, were on an equality with the native Jews. There was, as the sacred historian in- forms us, one law for both. Was not the admis- sion of those strangers into the Jewish church, an early prelude of the conversion of the Gen- tile nations to the Messiah and his church, in the times of the New Testament r Thus slavery was permitted among the Jews for salutary pur- poses. Besides, how safe and comfortable was the situation of slaves among the ancient Jews? Was it left to their masters to treat them with lenity or severity, as their inclination or caprice might direct them ? No. That system of laws PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 71 which the Jews, through the instrumentality of Moses, received from heaven, contained express regulations for the treatment of their slaves ; and secured to the latter the full possession of their unalienable natural rights. But even this is not all. Slavery among the Jews, was not like that among our modern Christians, so called, per- petual ; but, at a certain period, expired. In the year of jubilee, so famous in Jewish history, the commencement of which was announced by sound of trumpet ; there was an universal emanci- pation of slaves ; as well as the cancelling of debts, and the reversion of forfeited inheritances to their original proprietors. If we were to review the history of slavery among other na- tions, and in other countries, we should find two things obviously manifest. The one is, the wisest nations and individuals, have ever used their slaves in the best manner. The other is, in proportion as slaves and vassals have been kindly treated by their masters, whether nations or particular persons, they have been useful and profitable to them. So happy and comfort- table was the situation of slaves among the Jews, that, when the time arrived, at which, according to the Mosaic law, they were entitled to their freedom, some would not accept it; but volun- tarily bound themselves to continue with their 72 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. masters till death, which, as the book of Job speaks, renders every servant free from his master. The transition from the Jews to the Athe- nians, must occur to every person of reading. For progress in science, and every refinement, the Athenians are famoiis to latest times. Sel- dom, perhaps never, did any people, merely by the dint of natural powers, approach nearer to perfection. The equity, mildness, and humanity, with which they used their slaves, form a promi- nent feature in their character. On which ac- count a celebrated philosopher could not forbear to say, that the life of a slave at Athens was much happier than that of a freeman in any other state of Greece. In the case of bad treatment from their masters, they had provided for them an asylum, to which they could at all times flee, and in which they remained in perfect safety, till the matter of complaint was fairly tried ac- cording to law. For justice was, at the expence of the public, administered to rich and poor with- out respect of persons. If the complaint of a slave against his master was found, upon inves- tigation, to be just, his master was obliged to assign over his service to another person. Slaves could, in the case of certain injuries offered to PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 78 them, demand an exchange of masters. They had, by law, provided for them protection against all insults and injuries any of the citizens might be disposed to offer them. They were, by law, entitled to acquire property, and, if in a con- dition to do it, to purchase their freedom. Nay, they were, by law, authorized to demand their freedom from their masters at a reasonable price.. Their masters frequently, and the state often, rewarded their fidelity with freedom. If they were employed in war, they were certain of ob- taining their freedom. For such were the exal- ted and refined ideas which the Athenians en- tertained, that they seem to have thought no man fit to defend the state, if he was not a member of it. Was this indulgence of the Athenians to their slaves abused by the latter? Far from it. In proportion as their masters were just, humane, and beneficent to their slaves, they were dili- gent, faithful, and advantageous to them. Both masters and servants were contented and happy. What a contrast to the Athenians, in this in- stance, were their neighbours the Spartans ! In consequence of their capricious and impolitic behaviour to their slaves, they were harassed with continual broils, and insurrections, and other concommitant evils. 74 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. There does not appear to have been among the Romans, in early times, much distinction ob- served, either in working or living, between mas- ters and servants. But in the more advanced ages of that great empire, when luxury and licen- tiousness encreased, the state of the unhappy slaves becam.e most abject and wretched. And this debasement of their slaves, was the prelude and fore-runner of the downfal and final rum of their empire. Are not such events recorded for ex- amples and warnings to us ? When we recollect the equity and humanity with which heathen na- tions, such as the Athenians, behaved towards their slaves, and on the other hand, the injustice with which slaves are now treated in countries, called Christian, must we not feel in a manner it is difficult to express ? Vain is it to allege, that salutary laws have been enacted by the Christian powers, to regulate the conduct of masters to their slaves in the colonies. To talk of law here is nugatory and trifling ; if not absurd. It is a melancholy truth, that the law which regu- lates the treatment of slaves, is the caprici- ous, often cruel, v/ill of their masters. How de- fective, and how partial, and how seldom exe- cuted, are the colonial laws ? I shall allow these laws to speak for themselves. For this purpose I introduce the following quotations. — The PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 75 law of Jamaica orders " every slave that shall run away, and continue absent from his master' twelve months, shall be deemed rebellious." And by another law, fifty pounds are allowed to these who kill, or bring in alive, a rebellious sla/e. But the IrvW of Barbadoes exceeds even this ; " if any negroe, under punishment, by his master, or his order, for running away, or any other crime, or misdemeanor, shall suffer in life or member, no person whatsoever shall be liable to any fine therefor. But if any man of wantonness, or only of bloody-mindedness, or of cruel intention, wil- fully kill a negroe of his own, he shall pay into the public treasury, -^fteen pounds sterling, and not be liable to any other punishment or for- feiture for the same." Similar to these, are the laws which, formerly, were in force in Virgmia. " No slave shall be set free upon any pretence whatever, except for some meritorious services ; to be adjudged and allowed by the governor and council. And where any slave shall be set free by his owner, other- wise than is herein directed, the church-wardens of the parish, wherein such negroe shall reside for the space of one month, are hereby autho- rised and required to take up and sell the said negroe by public outcry." T6 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Nearly allied to this was another law of Vir- ginia; " after two proclamations are issued, against slaves that run away, it is lawful for any person to kill and destroy such slaves, by such ways and means, as he shall think fit." Bloody laws ! PRELIMINARY ESSAY. CHAP. III. Of the State of the Slaves in the British West- India Colonies, WHEN we recollect the improved taste, and generous disposition, which are so conspi- cuous in the general character of the English na- tion, we are utterally at a loss to account for that severity, with which they treat their slaves in the West-India islands. That their slaves are better used than any other, cannot be pre- tended. That they are as well treated as some other slaves, is not a fact. That a nation which enjoys so much freedom, and is so much oppos- ed to slavery at home, should tolerate it, in its crudest forms abroad, is truly astonishing. But why do I talk of the nation ? The greater and better part of the nation are determined enemies to slavery, and every species of tyranny. But there is among them a set of interested, mer- cenary, cruel individuals, at whose infamous con- duct, government seems, perhaps from mistaken, mercenary motives, to wink. 78 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. The owners of slaves appear to think, that at they are their property, for which they pretend to have paid an equivalent price, they have a right to dispose of them as they please. But all such reasoning is sophistical and delusory. An adequate price for human beings I Is there any proportion between millions of silver or gold, and a human soul? No. No man can possibly by any means acquire a right to treat another with in- justice or cruelty. Even to treat an animal cru- elly, is criminal. That every man is born free, is a dictate of rea- son and common sense. But these monsters of men, the proprietors of our West-India slaves, will have thousands of men and women to be born slaves. From father to son, by an imagina- ry hereditary title, slaves, without any choice or consent on their part, descend from generation to generation. What! Are men and women sunk to a level with horses and hogs ; houses and lands ? The father considering them as his own, and his son's property, betimes sets the lat- ter, yet a boy, over them, with a whip in his hand, to punish them as he pleases. Even this raw and inexperienced, inconsiderate and rash, perhaps cruel boy, may, with impunity, lash, lacerate, and torture them, when, and to what PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 79 degree his caprice may incline him ; for the shghtest offence, the most trivial fauh ; an oifence or fault existing, perhaps, only in his own appre- hension, or originating in his own neglect. Nay, for virtues rather than vices, are they frequently punished. A female slave is sometimes flogged for declining the impure embraces of her tyrant. The very monster that wishes to humble her, perhaps, drives her, naked, hungry, and covered with blood, next hour, to accomplish a task, which he has disabled her to perform. Repeat- edly have I witnessed the perpetration of crimes I cannot relate ; nature blushes at them. But were not such scandalous crimes, such shameful enormities, punished ? No ; the perpetrators es- caped with impunity. But can such monstrous transgressors always escape? The punishment of man they may escape ; but there is a God, who xvill by no means clear the guilt ij. Consider- ed merely as commercial machines, are not these poor slaves entitled to the notice and protection of government ? Does the British parliament pass laws to regulate horses and dogs, and every article of manufacture and commerce, and ne- glect them P The natives of the West-India isl- ands, who, from their infancy, are accustomed to barbarity, are generally blamed for the cruel so PRELIMINARY ESSAT. treatment of the slaves ; but unjustly. I have, in repeated instances, seen greater barbarities and cruelties committed by adventurers from Europe, than ever I witnessed in the natives. At this we, in a great measure, cease to wonder, when we recollect, that many of ihese adventur- ers are the refuse of every family, and profes- sion, and, I had almost added, prison in the mo- ther country. On the particular treatment of slaves in the British colonies, I need not enlarge. It does not materially differ from the general account I gave in the first chapter. The discipline of a sugar plantation is as regular and strict as that of a re- giment of soldiers, or a ship of war. At the early hour of four, the plantation-bell rings, or the dri- ver cracks his whip as loud as he can, to call the slaves to their labour; which is to manure, dig, and plow the ground ; to plant, weed, and cut the cune ; and carry it to the mills, that the juice may be pressed out, and boiled into sugar. I need not repeat, in this place, that most grievous and fatal part of all their w^ork, the picking of grass for the cattle. How easily might this part of their la- bour, which, to many, is attended with such dire- ful consequences, and all its fatal effects be pre- vented ? Might not a few acres, even of the most PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 81 unproductive part of the plantation, be allotted and prepared for artificial grass, and a few young slaves appropriated to the picking of it for their horses and other cattle ? Such was the severity of some of the managers with whom I was ac- quainted, that the least appearance of neglect of labour, or other fault, was with them sufficient to procure punishment. Such was the manager of the last estate on which I lived, I have seen him cause a slave to be flogged with great severity, because he imagined he saw the appearance of the mark of a whip on a horse's back. And yet the monster could, with composure, if not an ac- cursed pleasure, see a poor slave whipped till his back was almost turned into a jelly. One stroke of the cart-whip, the instrument the overseers com- monly use, is sufficient to cut out a flake of skin and flesh from the back of the unfortunate slave ; and yet the usual punishment, even for a petty of- fence, amounts to no less than one hundred strokes. Immediately after receiving this severe punishment, the unhappy slave, covered with wounds and blood, is ordered to his work ; be the weather wet or dry. In this situation death some- times sets the slave free. And to hitii death is no small deliverance. During the season of boil- ing the sugar, slaves are almost totally deprived of rest -y being obliged to attend the labour of the h2 o2 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. mill and boiling-bouse from morning to evening, and sometimes from evening to morning. How inhumane and cruel ! How uncomfotrable are the huts of the poor slaves in the British colonies, as well as other islands ! How costly and splendid the stables in which the owners keep their English horses I These animals, in point of attention and esteem, they seem to exalt far above the rank of brutes. On those human beings they have compelled to become slaves and dupes to their avarice and other passions, they do not bestow half the at- tention and care they shew to their animals. How inhumane is the management of the un- happy slaves during sickness ! They are lodged in a sort of hospital, rather a prison, and fed with water gruel. The owners, indeed, I have some- times seen, allow them a little wine ; but I as oft- en saw the managers and their concubines, instead of giving it to the sick, drink it themselves. It may appear strange, but it is not less true, that there are proprietors of estates, who would pre- fer for manager or overseer, a man, who has, per- haps, twenty girls of colour for concubines, than place a virtuous married man on their planta- tions. The reason for this is, they pretend that a family is attended with more expence than an PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 85- unmarried manager or overseer. But egregiously are they mistaken. Often have I contrasted, in my own mind, the situation of the proprietors of estates in the West- India islands, who live in the very height of ex- travagance and splendour in the metropolis of Great Britain j and the condition of the wretched slaves who cultivate their estates. A proprietor has remitted to him from his estate, anaually, perhaps, fifty, or, it may be, a hundred thousand pounds, which he expends in every species of lux- ury, dissipation, and debauchery. He rides, du- ring the day, in his gilded chariot ; and at night he reposes on a bed of down. From day to day, and from year to year, he is supported, in all his extravagance ; by the sweat and the blood of his slaves abroad ; the most wretched of the human race. They are starved, and naked, and torment- ed, and often murdered 1 Is he supported at the expence of human^ blood ? Accursed support ! And a curse must, doubtless, attend the man that enjoys it. Do I envy him ? No. I do, God knows, from my inmost soul, pity him. Though swimming in wealth, he is an abhorrence to God, and to all good men. He is rich and encreased in wealth j and yet poor^ and wretched^ and mise- rable. Go, thou wretch, view thy hungry, naked^ 8j& preliminary essat. considerations, to the severest judgments heaven can inflict. May your repentance and reforma- tion be speedy ! May the infliction of impending judgments be happily prevented I To me and to all the friends of humanity, a pleasing prospect opens ; a period approaches, ip which tyranny of every kind shall cease ; nations and individuals shall cease to oppress; neither the crowned des- pot, nor the petty tyrant shall oppress any more. Auspicious period ! May it speedily arrive ! PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 87^ CHAP. IV. The Treatment of Slaves in the Dutch Settlements » THE Dutch mode of treating the slaves in their colonies coincides, in many particulars, with the English. It is not more mild ; but, alas, still more sanguinary and cruel. Their principal set- tlements in the West-Indies I have visited ; and, therefore, can speak with certainty. In the Dutch settlements, as well as other European colonies, offences, on the one hand, and, on the other, pun- ishments, are distributed into two classes ; ordi- nary and extraordinary. Offences, called ordi- nary, are such as these — neglect of orders, ab- sence from work, stealing food, eating the sugar- cane, breaking a plate, looking with displeasure or contempt at the tyrant, their master. For such offences the ordinary punishments are, — flogging with a cart-whip ; beating with a stick ; the break- ing of bones ; a heavy chain, tying two or three together ; a large iron ring round the ankle ; an iron collar, with prongs, round the neck ; con- finement in a dungeon ; slitting the ears ; break- ing the limbs, so as to render amputation neces- sary J beating out the eyes ; castration ; &c. In Surinam they have a method of flogging the slaves, which seems to be of infernal origin j and 88 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. certainly is a master-piece of diabolical barbarity. They tie the wrists of the culprit tight, press his knees together ; his bound arms he is obliged to put round his knees ; then a long stick is put through behind his knees, and one end of it fast- ened in the ground. In this situation he can nei- ther move hand nor feet. In this manner have I often seen the wretched slaves flogged till their wounds were an inch deep ; and they were una- ble to move for a whole month. Another most barbarous practice in these colonies is this — one hand of the slave is tied to one tree, and the other to onother tree, so high that bis toes can barely touch the ground. While he is suspended in this manner, two unfeeling wretches, as execution- ers, stand, the one onliis right hand, and the other on his left; each having a whip in his hand, with which they alternately lash him, till he is, in a manner hardly to be conceived, cut from head to foot. Such are the barbarities and cruelties, which those devils in human form, the proprie- tors and managers of slaves in the Dutch settle- ments, commit. Execrable monsters ! Hated are they of God, of angels, and of all good men. Heaven rejects, and has already began to repay them ; the earth, no longer able to bear, spues them out. Whither can they flee for safety ? IV! e- thinks I see the bottomless pit opening its mouth to receive them. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 89 CHAP. V. The Situation of the Slaves in the French Colonies, HAPPILY are we, in a great measure, reliev- ed from the dreary scenes \vhich have been pre- sented to us. We now enter on a more pleasing task. To the immortal honour of the French go- vernment, it must be acknowledged, that, of all the European powers, who have slaves in the West-Indies, they use their slaves with the great- est humanity. I speak of the French government previous to the late revolution. The state of their colonial possessions and slaves is now greatly changed. The former French government charg- ed die governors of their several settlements, in an express manner, to protect the slaves. They also paid particular attention to the religious in- struction of these negroes ; appointing missiona- ries, at the expence of the public, to instruct them in the principles of the Christian religion, as they are held in the Romish church. All the festivals of that church were observed am.ong them. Then the slaves were forbidden to work, and enjoined to attend mass. Every slave was, by law, allow- ed a certain quantity of food and clothing, which I i'O pi;eliminar.y essay. the master could not, under any pretext, with- hold, or even diminish. The master, indeed, was allowed to apply the whip and the chain ; but, even in the use of these, his power was limited. He was not permitted to mutilate his slaves. If he treated a slave with barbarity, the latter had a right to apply to the king's attorney, who was in- dispensibly bound to redress his grievances. The French proprietors of slaves were not permitted, like the masters in certain other West-India co- lonies, to send their superanuated or sick slaves to perish in the woods, or on the mountains. The estimation in which marriage was held among them was attended with great utility. The slaves, not less than the native French, were married, with proper solemnity, by a priest; and the nup- tial relation continued for life. The happy con- sequence v/as, a due attachment to their families, together with a numerous regular offspring. For one child that is born on an English or Dutch set- tlement, twenty, perhaps, were born on a French, of the same extent. On an English or Dutch set- tlement, a slave multiplies his wives, and changes them at pleasure ; looking no farther than the pre- sent momentary gratification. In this instance he imitates the example of his white master. I have^ known a master treat mulatto girls, .his own daughters, with no less severity than the African PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 91 blacks. It is not uncommon for masters, in the English and Dutch colonies, to commit, not only adultery, but incest of the grossest kind, wilh im- punity. There was one circumstance of vast utility, both to the masters and the slaves, in the French- colonies. The former did not, like their English neighbours, return to spend the product of their plantations in the mother country ; but lived upon their estates in the West-Indies, and superintend- ed their own business ; not leaving their slaves to the caprice and cruelty of any scoundrel they could hire on the easiest terms, for a manager or overseer. The French planters seemed to know and attend to the v/ants of their slaves. Living among them, they contracted an affection for them. Hence their slaves v/ere better fed, better dressed, and better lodged, than other slaves ; and were allowed a competent time for relaxa- tion and rest. The happy consequence was, they were orderly, sensible, honest, and faithful to their masters. I must not omit to mention here, that the French slaves began and ended their v/ork with prayer; the black overseer officiating as priest. Before I dismiss this topic, I must ob- serve, that when I speak of the cruel treatment of the English and Dutch slaves, and the mild usage 92 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. of the French, I must be understood to make al- lowance for the different, rather opposite, tem- pers of the masters. Among the English, and, I hope, the Dutch, there are a few, and, I believe, only a few masters, who treat their slaves w^ith a degree of lenity and tenderness ; and among the French governors, and owners of slaves, there were some, who were as oppressive and brutal as they could at all be w^ith impunity. But even in this instance the situation of English and French slaves seems very different. The English appear as if they put the slaves entirely in the power of their masters, whether cruel or compassionate. The French, by their laws, strongly urged and enforced the dictates of humanity. The English slave, almost starved, is exposed to the resist- less temptation of hunger ; the French was rais- ed above temptations of this kind. The English slave hates his master; the French loved his. The English slave is restrained by the whip ; the French by his regard for his hum.ane master ; by the approbation or the censure of the priest ; and by those hopes and fears which religion naturally inspires. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 93 CHAP. VI. The question^ Whether the African Negroes be a part of the Human Species^ capable ofintellec- tual^ moral^ and religious Improvement^ no less than the other Nations of Mankind ; or^ an infe- rior Order of beings^ occupying a middle Place betiveen Men and Brutes? — considered, EASY is it to account for the occasion and origin of the question, the consideration of which I have nov/ undertaken. Secretly convicted of their enormous cruelty, the proprietors and man- agers of skives have tortured their invention to find out excuses to palliate, if possible, their guilt; and hiwe discovered, for a subterfuge, that the poor Africans are not, strictly speaking, human beings; but creatures of a lower kind. Despe- rate expedient! Desperate must the cause be, that cannot be defended but by such desperate means. How fruitful in the invention of excuses for criminal behaviour is the human imagination ! This unavailing method of defending an indefen- sible cause, is of great antiquity. It originated in Eden, the primeval residence of the first hu- man pair. If v/e cannot deny a criminal act, we, I 2 94. PRELIMI^^ARY ESSAY. after the example of cur original ancestors, en* deavour, if possible, to excuse it. But is the assertion, by which the cruel oppres- sors of a part of the human race attempt to justify their conduct, supported by any proper and satis- factory evidence? Have they, in fact, proved, that the African negroes are a species of beings inferior to the human ? No ; and I do not hesi- tate to add, they never can prove it. As a strong presumption that the hypothesis is false, the abet- tors of it are not agreed among themselves. While many talk of a lower order of beings, others speak of an inferior kind of men. An in- ferior kind of men ! How many kinds of men are there ? The advocates of this wild opinion do not advert, that it is attended v/ith a long train of consequences, and big with a variety of absur- dities, from v/hich they themselves cannot but recoil. It subverts the whole fabric of revealed religion. To admit it, is at once to reject reve- lation. This revelation, as contained in the sacred books, Jewish and Christian, both as it respects the evils in which mankind are unhappily involv- ed, and the means by which their recovery is ac- complished, goes, from first to last, on the sup- position, that the various nations and numerous individuals of the human form, are all the chil- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 95 dren of one common father, and members of one undivided family. Are not the black inhabitants of Africa, as well as the white inhabit^ts of Eu- rope, brothers, and entitled to that salv^^on which is common to men of every clime, and emry com- plexion ? In the history of the apostoliAge, we have an authentic and circumstantial amount of the conversion of a native of Ethiopia, J person of high rank in that country. Do not the Ethio- pians belong to the tawny race ? Is not this ne- cessarily implied in the question, Can the Ethio' plan change his skin ? What ! a race of beings, half men, half brutes, partakers of that salvation of which Jesus, the Son of God, is the author 1 \^ But, as we are opposed by a number, who do •not admit the authority of revelation, we shall meet them on their own ground. The question recurs. Has it been, can it be, proved by any con- vincing evidence, that the African negroes are a species of creatures inferior to the human? Proof, indeed, has been attempted. Various evidences have been adduced ; hut, to every unprepossess- ed person, they are unsatisfactory. They may be reduced to two classes ; evidences taken from the external form, features, and colour of the ne- groes ;Jind evidences drawn from their mental faci 96 PHELIIIINARY ESSAY, As to the first class of evidences, I ask, Does a diversity of external form and features evince a diversity q^ species ? Do those, who invent and use this ^gument, attend to the consequences which n«:es5arily follow it? It is one of those argumeK which, as logicians speak, if they prove any thinf, prove too much ; and, therefore, in fact, prove nothing at all. If a diversity of form, fea- tures, and stature, be an infallible proof of a di- versity of species, then, instead of two species of human beings on earth, there must be ten, if not tv/enty. How different in form, features, and sta- ture, are the Laplander and the Low Dutchman ; the Icelander and the Englishman? Are the no- ses of the natives of Africa, in general, flat ? This difference is not natural, but artificial. They en- tertain the foolish notion, that flat noses are no small beauty ; and, for this reason, press down the noses of their infants. Bat can we vrcnder at this whimsical conduct of the poor Africans, while we recollect the no less whimsical practice of the Chinese, one of the most ingenious nations on earth, in contracting the feet of their children, from a nonsensical conceit, that small feet are a grpat beauty? How different in form, in fea- tures, and in stature, are the inhabitants of the same country ; nay, members of the samefemi ly, children of the same parents f The astoM^ng PRELIMINARY ESSAY. $7" variety, perceptible among the many Millions of the human species, is one of the amazing proofs of divine contrivance j the wondrous^ffects of the incomprehensible wisdom of the Deify. There probably are now, scattered over thei'ace of the earth, between nine and ten hundred fnillions of human beings ; and, among them all, th* re are not two, in form, features, complexion, and sta- ture, perfectly alike. There is, even in these ex- ternal circumstances, a visible natwal chara^cter- istic, by which the inhabitants of different coun- tries are distinguished. What a difference, in appearance, between the inhabitants of Sweden and Switzerland, near as these two countries are to each other -, England and Italy ; Poland anci Portugal ! Is a diversity of colour a certain proof of a di- versity of species? No. This argument, like the former, if it could prove any thing, would prove too much. It will be found, upon investigation, that there are, among the nations of mankind, no less than four or five principal colours ; not to say- any thing of the various intermediate shades, which approach more or less towards each of ) them. What ! are there four or five species of human beings? Is each of the four great quar- ters of the world inhabited by a distinct species 98 PRELIMINARY ESSAT. Do§s : of men-^^re there to be found, even in the same quarter c^-the world, human beings of different kinds ? m^s net the grand sentiment, that all the nations a^d individvals, who inhabit the various continent* and islands of the earth, are the de- scendant% of one common original father, the joint ^iffrage of revelation and reason? This is the constant and uniform doctrine of revelation, reason, in this insiance, contradict revela- It confirms, rather than contradicts, reve- lation.^ It assists us in discovering and account- ing for ihe diversity of colours, in the fullest con- sistency with the cardinal truth, that men, of all countries and of all complexions, are beings of the same species, and children of one common parent. The naturiJ cause of this great diver- sity has been found out, anv,'r defends. When tasks diurnal tire th^ human frame, The spirits faint, and dim the vital flame. Then too that ever active bounty shines, Which not infinity of space confines. The sable veil, that night in silence draws, Conceals effects, but shews th' Almighty cause. Night seals in sleep the wide oreatiOTi fair. And all is peaceful but the brow of care. Again gay Phoebus, as the day before, Wakes ev'ry eye, but what shall wake no more , Again the face of nature is renew 'd. Which still appears harmonious, fair, and good. May grateful strains salute the smiling morn, Before its beams the eastern hills adorn ! Shall day to day, and night to night conspire To show the goodness of th' Almi-ghty Sire ? Thismeintal voice shall man regardless hear, And never, never raise the filial prav'r? K 2 106 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. To-day, O hearken, nor your folly mourn For time mis-spent that never will return. But see the sons of vegetation rise, And spread their leafy banners to the skies. All-wise, all-mighty providence we trace In trees, in plants, in all the flow'ry race ; As clear as in the nobler frame of man, All lovely copies of the Maker's plan. The pow'r the same that forms a ray of light. That call'd creation from eternal night. " Let there be light," he said : from his profound Old Chaos heard, and trembled at the sound : Swift as the word, inspir'd by pow'r divine, Behold the light around its maker shine, The first fair product of th' omnific God, And now through all his works diffus'd abroad. As reason's pow'rs by day our God disclose, So we may trace him in the night's repose : Say what is sleep? and dreams how passing strange! When action ceases, and ideas range Licentious and unbounded o'er the plains, Where Fancy's queen in giddy triumph reigns. Here in soft strains the dreaming lovers sigh To a kind fair, or rave in jealousy j On pleasure now, and now on vengeance bent, The lab 'ring passions struggle for a vent. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 107 What powV, O man I thy reason then restores, So long suspended in nocturnal hours ? What secret hand returns the mental train, And gives improv'd thine active pow'rs again? From thee, O man, what gratitude should rise ! And, when from balmy sleep thou op'st thine eyes, Let thy first thoughts be praises to the skies. How merciful our God, who thus imparts O'erflowing tides of joy to human hearts, When vv^ants and woes might be our righteous lot, Our God forgetting, by our God forgot ! Among the mental pow'rs a question rose, " What most the image of th' Eternal shows ?" When thus to Reason (so let Fancy rove) Her great companion spoke, immortal Love. " Say, mighty pow'r, how long shall strife prevail^ ^ " And with its murmurs load the whisp'ring gale ? " Refer the cause to Recollection's shrine, " Who loud proclaims my origin divine, *' The cause whence haj^v'n and earth began to be, " And is not man immortaliz'd by me ? " Reason let this most causeless strife subside." Thus Love pronouncM, and Reason thus reply'd. *' Thy birth, celestial queen I 'tis mine to own, '^ In thee resplendent is the godhead shown ; lOS PRELIMINARi' ESSAY. " Thy words persuade, my soul enraptured feels " Resisdess beauty which thy smile reveals." Ardent she spoke, and, kindling at her charms, She clasp*d the blooming goddess in her arms. Infinite love where'er we turn our eyes Appears : this ev'ry creature's wants supplies ; This most is heard in nature's constant voice, This makes the morn, and this the eve rejoice ; This bids the fost'ring rains and dews descend To nourish all, to serve one gen'ral end, The good of man : yet man ungrateful pays But little homage, and but little praise. To him, whose works array'd with mercy shiniB, What songs should rise, how constant, how divine ! i This specimen of poetical merit I recommend A to the candid review of the advocates for the infe- riority of the mental powers of the Africans. Let them produce, if they can, any thing to ex- cel, even equal it, from a young white female, of equal advantages, rather disadvantages. On a just comparative estimate- I am willing to rest the issue of the question Betwixt us. In music, both vocal and instrumental, have not many of the negroes become good perform- ers ? AH the advocates for slavery I challenge to produce a proof of the inferiority of the intcllec- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 109 tual powers of the negroes. Can they adduce one example ? No, they cannot. That all, who have had opportunities of learning, have, with equal facility, acquired either arts or letters, is not pretended. Is there a nation, is there a family, of mankind, in which a diversity and gradation of capacity are not discernible ? But, that the facul- ties of the blacks are equal to those of the whites, and, v/ere they equally cultivated, would afford as fine productions, is the solemn declaration of a person of exemplary piety, and strict integrity, who devoted a great part of his time to the edu- cation of the former j and, therefore, must be ac- knowledged a most competent judge. He uni- formly affirmed, that he found no difference be- tween their capacities, and those of other people. But the question, whether the African negroes be a species of beings different from the human, may be, at once, determined, beyond a possibility of doubt, by an appeal to a fact of universal noto- riety, and incontestiblc certainty. It is this — It appears to be a fixed raw of nature, which ope- rates in all parts of creation, that, if two animals of a different species propagate, the animal pro- duced by them is unable to propagate its species. Do not a black African and a white American, in instances Ijinumerable, propagate ? Certainly ? IK) PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Is the mulattoe unable to propagate ? No, h« is as capable of continuing his own colour, as his white father is of continuing his. An irrefraga- ble proof this, that the black and the white inha- bitants of our globe, constitute one species of be- kigs. But, though I do not admit, I will, for once, suppose, that the African negroes are inferior to the white inhabitants of the earth ; and I ask, can the inferiority of the former justify the latter for treating them with cruelty? No, no. To torture any animal, eve'n an insect, is criminal in the eyes of God, and of all good mtn. It is a violation of every sentiment of humanity, the want of which sinks a human being beneath a brute. But is not the commerce, as well as the sla- very, of any part of the human race, in the high- est degree, criminal? Doubtless. To sell or buy a human being, is a gross violation of all the rights of man. It is an attempt to annihilate all distinction between man and beast. Have not the inhabitants of Afric^ as good a title to the undisturbed possession of that country, as the na- tives of Asia, Europe, or America, have to them ? Is not the earth the Lorcfs ; and has not he an in- disputable title to assign the several parts of it to whomsoever he pleases I Has he^ranted a part PRELIMINARY- ESSAY. Ill of it to the negroe race ; and can any nation or In- dividual, with impunity, rob them of it ? No, ^uch robbery man ought, and God will, resent. Are the negroes discontented or unhappy in their I ^^! own country ? Do they leave it of choice ? The i ^ reverse, God knows, is the case. They are sto- f . len and kidnapped, and by methods which are an eternal disgrace to human nature, forced from it; ^^/ torn from every person and everything, near and dear to them in the world. Is it for any benevo- lent purpose, with any generous view, that the Europeans or others force the poor negroes from their own country ? Is it to instruct them in the Christian religion ; or is it to meliorate their con- dition in the world ? Quite the reverse. It Is for the most mercenary, sordid purposes ; with the most ungenerous, inhumane, cruel views. Of the patrons of this scandalous commerce, I will, for the present, take my leave ; leaving them to their own reflections. In their serious moments, if any such moments they have, they must be self- convicted, and self-condemned. That their own consciences must, sooner or later, condemn them for their cruelty, with greater severity than I h.ive done, I am confident. May they be brought to deep compunction and repentance before it be too late ! 112 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. To illustrate my assertion, that the Africang possess the same specific nature with ourselves; and that they, no less than we, are capable of gra- titude and resentment, friendship and honour, I give the following well-attested relation. Quashi was, from his childhood, brought up In the same family with his master, and was his con- stant play-mate. As he was a lad of considera- ble abilities, he rose to be black overseer under his master, when he succeeded to the plantation. Still he retained for his master the tenderness, which, in childhood, he felt for his play-fellow. The respect which he felt for his new master was softened by that tender affection, which the re- membrance of their juvenile intimacy still kept alive in his breast. He had no separate interest of his own; to promote his master's interest, not only while he wat* present, but when he was ab- sent, was his constant study. Nay, in his mas- ter's absence, he redoubled his diligence, that his interest might sustain no injury from it. There was, in short, the most intim:Ue, strong, and seem- ingly indissoluble union between them, that can subsist between a master and his slave. His master had discernment to perceive when he was well served, and policy to rev/ard good behaviour. But, unfortuivatel) for his faithful ser- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 113 vant, if he conceived a fault committed, he was inexorable. Even when there was only an appa- rent cause of suspicion, he was too apt to allo\r prejudice to usurp the place of proof. Something happened on the plantation, which Quashi could not explain so as to exculpate himself to the sa- tisfaction of his master; and was threatened with the shameful, as well as painful, punishment of the cart-whip ; and he knew his master too well to doubt of the execution of his threatening. It is well known, that a negro, who has grown up to manhood without undergoing the punish- ment of the cart-whip, which possibly maybe the case with some distinguished by certain accom- plishments, which give them a superiority over their fellows, is apt to feel a pride in the smooth- ness of his skin ; and is at greater pains to escape the lash from this, than, perhaps, from any other consideration. Nay, it is not uncommon for a slave, when he is flogged, or threatened with a flogging, for what he reckons no fault, or, if any, a very trifling one, to stab himself. Such is the sense of honour, which many of the better sort of them entertain, that, rather than be disgraced, they would chuse to die. Dreading this mortal wound to his honour, Quashi secretly withdrew from his master. L tl^ PRELIMINARY ESSAY. It is not unusual for slaves, \\hcn they are afraid of punishment, to apply to some friend of their master to intc^rcede for them. Such mediation a humane master readily accepts in the case of some trifling offence. It answeis a two-fold important purpose. It preserves the appearance of strict discipline, and prevents the severity of it. Of this cuEtom Qrashi intended to avail him- 'st]t. To save the glossy honours of his skin, he resolved to hide himself till he should find an op- portunity of a friend to advocate his cause. He lu"ked amon^ his master's negro-huts, and his fellow slaves had too much honour and too great a regard for him, to discover, to his master, the pluce of his retreat. Indeed, it is almost impos- sible to prevail with one slave, in any such case-, .o inform against another. So mi.ch superior .^re they in friendship and honour to the lowest classes of Europeans and Americans. It happened, that^ at this t'mne, his mastei's ne- phew came o*^ age ; and, for ibe cclebrafion oj the event, a feast was to be made. This opportunity Quashi determined to improve ; hoping that, amidst the good humour and festivities of the day, h'^ -might be ?.ble, through &c intervention of an advocate, to duain die reconfiliatioti oi tiis master. But, most unhappily, before he could PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 115 execute his design, perhaps at the very time he was setting oat to solicit the aid of a mediator, his master happened to be walking in the helds, and fell in with him. Quashi, the moment he discovered him, ran off; and his master, a stout mr.;-, pursued him. Quashi, just as his master stretched out his hand to lay hold on him, struck his foot against a stone or clod, and fell. They fell together, and struggled hard for the mastery, Quashi also being a stout man. After a severe conflict, in which each had been several times up- permost, Quashi seated himself on his master's breast, now parting and almost out of brealh ; and with his weight, his thighs, and one of his hands, kept him so fast that he could not move. He then drew out a sharp knife, and, while the other lay in awful suspense and agitation, he accosted him thus — Master, I was bred up with you from my infancy ; I was your play-mate while you and I were both boys ; I have loved you as myself; your interest has been my daily care ; I am inno- cent of the fault of which you suspect me. Had I been guilty, my attachment to you might have pleaded for me. Yet you have condemned me to a punishment, of v/hich, were it inflicted, I' ever must bear the disgraceful marks. In this way only can I avoid them — Uttering these 116 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. words, he drew the knife, with all his strength, across his own throat, and fell down dead, with- out a groan, on his master, bathing him in his blood. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 117 CHAP. Vil. Melioration of the State of the Slaves proposed, and urged from Motives of Duiij^ and of Interest, THAT the African slaves are partakers of the same specl-ic nature, and have the same fa- culties and powers, corporeal and mental ; the same sensations and fet lings, with us, is, to every unprejudiced person, perfectly evident. Is not their situation, then, far beneath the dignity of their nature ? Ought it not, v/ithout any farther delay, to be meliorated? \yould the melioration of their condition be detrimental to their masters? No, the x.ery reverse would infallibly be the case. The total abolition of slavery, and the final sup- pression of the slave-trade, I do not hesitate to affirm, are indispenaibly incumbent on all the powers, who are, directly or indirectly, concern- ed in the infamous business. Is it judged impo- litic to attempt this at once ? Then, as a tempo- rary remedy, let their slavery be mitigated, and their situation made easier ; and let this change in their condition be eifected without delay. Are there not multiplied obvious respects, in which their situation ought to be changed for the better? L 2 118 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Why should they be compelled to consider them- selves below, and their masters above, the rank of men ? Instead of recommendmg the Christian religion to them, do not their masters, by their cruel usage, instil into their minds the most invin- cible prejudices against it ? Why are the necessa- ries of life, which the earth affords superabun- dantly for all its inhabitants, rational and irration- al, either withheld from them, or dispensed in such a scanty degree, as is utterly insufficient for their comfortable support ? Why is the property of their offspring violently wrested from them, and transferred to a stranger? Is not this a gross violation of the laws of nature, of religion, of mo- rality, of common sense? Why ar^ their wives and their daughters, in opposition to every re- monstrance and effort they can use, compelled to become prostitutes to their brutal masters ? Were these intolerable grievances speedily redressed; these insufferable grievances effectually reme- died ; what a happy change would immediately ensue ! This glorious alteration we are, in our several stations and places, indispensibly bound to attempt. May our attempts be attended with desired success ! Do ©ur slave-holders know, do our Christian legislators recollect, that the dis- tinction between master and slave, between the savage tribes of Africa and the civilized nations PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 119 of Europe, is adventitious ? Is not every adven- titious advantage fortuitous and accidental ? Sud- denly, and by means the most unexpected, have nations and individuals exchanged barbarism for civilization, and civilization for barbarism* Ea- sily could I name immense countries, once the seat of science and liberty, now the abode of bar- barism and slavery ; once swarming with inhabi- tants, now a dreary inhospitable solitude. Such are the important mutations, vicissitudes, and re- volutions, to which human affairs are liable. Hap- py would it be for every oppressor and tyrant, every slave-trader and slave-holder, to entertain a deep impression of this momentous truth ! Is it not, to every thinking person, apparent, that a redress of the grievances and oppressions, under which the unhappy slaves labour, would en- hance, instead of injure, the interest of their masters? When a farmer starves his horses, and oppresses them with excessive labour, is he a gainer ? No, he is a loser ; and to oblige him, by law, to feed his horses, and work them in modera- tion, is to promote his interest, as well as afford to innocent animals that protection, to which they are entitled. Our merciful God cares even for oxen, and asses ; and shall he not resent the op- pression ©f a part of his rational offspring ? But, 120 PRFLIIIINARY ESSAY.- shameful to tel) ! Africans are degraded beneath oxen and asst§,J^^*"ses and bogs. Certain govern- ments, wijile tbev extend the benefit of civil po- lice to the latter, seem to withhold it from the for- mer. Colonial laws, indeed, enforce the autho- rity of'masters, and the unbounded submission of slaves. But v>hat protection do they secure to slaves ? Are thev not, in effect, abandoned to the caprice of their masters? What I human beings entirely in the power of a cruel monster ? Horrid situation 1 At the very idea of it, nature shudders. That it is the indispensible duty of every govern- ment, that has hitherto tolerated the slave-trade, immediately to abolish it, does not, vrith mc, ad- mit of a doubt. No advantages that may be sup- posed to result from the continuance, or incon- veniences that may be supposed to attend the dis- continuance of a practice in itself sinful, can jus- tify it. For, as a writer of the highest authority teaches, we intist, in no case, do evil, from a pre- tence that good may attend it. But, supposing prudential considerations to plead for a postpone- ment of the final abolition of slavery, and the uni- versal emancipation of the slaves, what conside- ration can possibly warrant a delay in alleviating their miseries, restoring them to the rank of ra- tional beings, and rendering their servile condi- tion tolerable ? The means of accomplishing the PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 121 humane design are sufficiently obvious. Let a few simple rules, plain regulations, be, by law, enacted, for their protection. For, if subjected to the penalties, they are certainly entitled to the protection of law. First, Let the misimum of their allowance in provisions and clothes, be, by law, fixed in such a manner, that their masters may not have it in their power to withhold, or even ciiminishit. And let their allowance of provisions be, both in quan- tity and quality, sufficient to satisfy the demmds of nature, and qualiiy tht m for the hard service which they are doomed to pcriorm. Second, Let them be, by law, allowed Saturday- afternoon, for attending to their own domestic concerns ; and Sunday to be whoiiy appropriated to rest, and religious worship. Third, As it is not at all uncommon for m.asters forcibly to violate their female slaves, both wives anddaughters,promisculousl3', let the mas- ters be, by the severest penalties of law, deterred and restrained from this iniquitous and shameful practice. Fourth, As the forcible separation of children from parents, without any just cause, is the grossest violation of the nearest and most endear- 122 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. ing ties of nature, parental affection, and duty, on th^ one hand, and filial on the ether, let tht;ir children be, by law, inviolably secured to them, as their propert}^ ; if any human being can, in any qualified sense, be said to be the propert)^ ot. ano- ther. Certain it is, such a natural relation sub- sists betwt-en parents and children, which must remain indissoluble till death ; and, therefore, the former have an interest in the latter, which no authority under heaven can transfer to another person or persons. Fifth, Let masters be, by the utmost rigour of law, restrained from every mode, and every de- gree, of punishment, incompatible with the dig- nity and prerogatives of human nature — Laich as slitting the ears, lacerating the bodies, breaking the limbs, of their slaves. These are whi-.t tht ad- vocates for slavery are pleased, in their great cle- mency, to call ordinary punishmenis, which are every day inilicted, for what they call oi iinary crimes; that is, petty offences, if the} (pi, ^ ih any degree of truth andpropriety, be call rl ciin s or offences at all. Such modes of punishment I call inhuman and brutal. I v/as going to retract the lose epithet. How seldom are:terutes cut or bruised for any depredations they comjnit r Is not torture, of cv; ry kiiid and degree, an insult IrRELIMINARY ESSAY. 123 to humantty ?. Ifamai), be he black, or be he white, offend, let him he tried according*to jus- tice, and punished, not as a brute, but as a man. Sixth, Let the murder of a £l3ve, no less than of another person, be, bylaw, declared to be a capital crime; and let the lav/ ascertaining death to be the punishment of it, be, in the most rigid manner, executed. For this purpose, let the auti- diluvian law, Whosoever shedckth niari^s bloody by man let his blood be shed^ be put in full force. Let the inhuman, the irrational, the antiscriptural, t'\e scandalous prp'Jtice of the master atoning for the murder of a slave, by paying a certain sum of money, be known no more. S rventh, Let it be, byliw, enacted, that, w^.en sldves boGome old and infirm, ihcir masters, in- stead of being at liberty to send them to the woods or the mountains, shall be bound, under an ade- quate penalty, to provide for them, as their years and infirmities may requirco Eighth, Let it be, by law, nrovidetj,. thnt, ex- cept in an uncommon case, or on an extraordin ny emerg.^ncy, the sUves shall be exempted from that most gritvous and fatal p irr of their s rvi- tudo, the extra work of the picking'of grass in 124 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. the evening; that they may have it in their power to retire to rest in due season. Ninth, Let provision be made, bylaw, for em- ploying missionaries, authorised and qualified to instruct the slaves in the great doctrines and du- ties of the Christian religion. Then their capti- vity may eventually turn out to be a blessing to them. Whence was it, that the French slaves, before the revolution, not only were more happy, but more faithful to their masters, than the slaves of other European powers ? It was the effect of the influence of religion on their temper and con- duct. Initiated into the religion of Jesus Christ, they were, by their masters, considered not only as men, but as Christians. They were treated by their masters, and they behaved to them, in some degree of conformity to the genius of that religion, which teaches husbands and wives, pa- rents and children, masters and servants, to be dutiful, not only to God, but to each other. Is there, in the above requisitions, any thing unjust, or unreasonable ? Is there, I ask in behalf of the African slaves, any thing to which their na- ture, as human, does not entitle them ? Are not all those things included in the essential and una- lienable rights of man ? PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 125 It has been suggested, that it would be no small encouragement to the slaves, and attended with various obvious advantages, if their masters were to assign them their work in tasks ; allowing them, after their daily tasks are finished, to em- ploy the remainder of the day for their own emol- ument. Might they not, in this way, acquire a little property ; which would attach a degree of consequence and respectability to them ? It would also contribute to the interest of both masters and servants, to prohibit the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes ; and oblige male and female slaves to pay due respect to the solemnities and obliga- tions of marriage. This would be a happy mean of ensuring a progeny, at once, regular and nume- rous; and preventing the necessity of future im- portations from Africa. I ask, in the name of wonder, what possible reason can any man assign, for inhumanizing a considerable part of the humnn race ; sinking them to a level with the brutal creatures, and treating them,' in obvious respects, worse than they do the beasts which perish ? Is it on account of their colour? On account of their colour I Is there any certain standard ©f colour, of universal authority ? Who establish-i 126 yULMMINARY ESSAT. \<^ ed this standard ? Do v/e despise them because /^ their cblour is not the same with ours? Have ^^^they not as much reason to despise us because our colour is not the sam'e v/ith theirs ? Does not \a white face appear as unnatural in Negroland, ^»;jas a bhick face in Norway ? Were their colour \v«^ inferior to ours, whom shall they, or shall we, blame for it? Is not the one as much the workman- ship of God as the other ? Have not they and wc one common Maker ? Can we vilify any part of his work, without reproaching himself? Is it on account of their form and features? What vast diiTerence is there between their form and our ov\'n ? If any, on which side lies the ad- vantage ? Is it on account of the inferiority of their intel- lectual powers ar-d faculties? The inferiority of their capacities I deny. It is an hypothesis, in- vented by interested, mercenary, avaricious per- sons, to cover their ov/n, or the villainy of others ; an hypothesis supported by no proper evidence ; and, therefore, an hypothesis, to answer which is to treat it with notice, to which it is not entitled. Is it on account of their savage state? I ask, ^, i^are they, in their own country, in a condition more savage than the ancestors of the most civil- PHELIMINARY ESSAY. 127 ized, learned, and polite nations of Europe v/ere some centuries ago ? Were not Greece and Rome, these seats of after refinement, literature, J and politeness, once inhabited by people in a sa- • vage state ? In what country is civilization to be found, that was not preceded by a state of bar- barism ? The question recurs ; On what account, for what reason, is a part of our species degraded beneath the rank of men, and reduced to a level V with brutes ? Vv^hy are the vv^eak enslaved and oppressed by the strong i? By what law of hea- ven is one man made the property of another? Law of heaven! Such a law heaven never did, never will, never can, recognize. Such a law is totally incompatible with the native dignity, es- sential rights, and unalienable prerogatives of hu- man nature. jMan, the property of man ! ^Vhat an absurdity ! One man never can become the property of another, till the latter become more, and the former less, than a man. '.6, \ Wiien a humane person, especially an Europe- «in, sees, in the colonies, or the American states, a number of horses and hogs, oxen and asses,. n^aje and female negroes, .collected in one herd at a public sale, how is he astonished, how is he shocked, and how is he grieved I What a mix- 128 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. ture of indignation and compassion does he feel I See such a melancholy spectacle in the American states 1 Yes, to their eternal shame be it said, in the states of America, such a dismal scene is often to be seen. I speak of the southern states ; the northern, to their immortal honour, have to- tally discontinued slavery. Were our African slaves happy in their own country? Were they forced from ii? Are the}^, for the purposes of avarice ar^d luxury, detained in grievous captivity, and the most oppressive servitude? And is nothing clor.e for their benefit, either in this life, or that which is to come ? What flagrant injustice! What enormous ini- quity ! To many of the Jewish slaves their cap- tivity was the happy occasion of great good, both in this and the other world. Why are not the most effectual means employed for Christhrriizing our slaves? For this criminal neglect, what ex- cuse can be oilered ? Could the converting of them to the Christian religion, and their intro- duction into the church of Christ, be productive of any bad consequences to themselves, to their masters, or to others ? It is impossible. That an attempt to Christianize them v/ouldbe attend- ed with success, we have every reason v/hich scripture and experience can furnish, to believe. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 129' M«ans have been used in the West-Indies, espe- cially by Moravians and Methodists, and attend- ed v/ith no inconsiderable degree of success. There are, in the island of Antigua, six or seven thousand, who make a credible profession of faith in Jesus, the son of God, and Saviour of men, and obedience to him according to the gospel. This truly good work, some masters of slaves fa- vour, others oppose ; persecuting the instruments and friends of it v/ith unremitting enmity. Of the former class, some seem to favour the v/ork from interested motives. They find, in expe- rience, that the most religious slaves are the most conscientious ; and, of course, the most in- dustrious, diligent, and faithful servants. Hu- manity in masters, and fidelity in servants, Chris- tianity, in the most explicit manner, inculcates. But, while the missionaries, as in duty bound, in- culcate, on their disciples, obedience both to God and their earthly masters, and the commands of God and the orders of their masters are contra- dictory to each other, it often happens, that the poor slaves, whose hnov/ledge must be very im- perfect, are at no small loss, in certain cases, to distinguish between duty and sin ; and to deter- mine what they ought to do, and what the}^ are to forbear. God commands the slave to rest; his tyrannical master orders him, under the severest M 2 130 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. penalties, to labour, on the first day of the week. God strictly prohibits, the despotic mastery^/rce'^ his female slaves to commit fornication, adultery, and incest. For thirty years, and upwards, the Moravians have laboured in the colonies, with unwearied perseverance ; and have organized a number of small societies, in Barbadoes, St. Christophers, and Jamaica. They have made the most exten- sive progress, in this good work, and their labours have had the greatest success, in the Danish colo- nies, where they are patronized and encouraged by the government. Their converts are taught to practise private prayer, when they go to their work, and when they leave it. Then they sing, in concert, a few plain hymns. Psalmody makes a very considerable part of their worship. The happy effects of their conversion to the religion of Jesus Christ, are many and glorious. They appear new creatures, both in their inward tem- per and external behaviour. Their religious knowledge is considerable, and their conversa- tion is orderly. They pay proper attention both to their inward man and their outward, consi- dering both soul and body, as the workmanship of God, and the purchase of the Redeemer's blood. Their persons are clean, their carriage sober ; PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 151 they are industrious in the management of their own personal and domestic concerns ; and, to an exemplary degree, diligent and faithful in the ser- vice of their masters. Such are the salutary ef- fects of religion on all who imbibe its spirit, obey its precepts ; and are allured by the glorious rewards w^hich it promises. At the solemnity and order of their social meetings, I have been, at once, pleased and surprised. What encou- ragements are these to attempt a more extensive spread of the gospel among the poor African slaves; and a more general conversion of them to Christ and his church ? Who, that has any love to God, or to the souls of men, can forbear to la- ment the woeful infatuation, and the invincible obstinacy of many holders of slaves ; who, instead of promoting this good work, do, to the very ut- most of their pov/er, oppose it ? Who, instead of aiding and co-operating with the missionaries, persecute them with relentless severity ? Wretch- ed men! how vain their opposition! They fight against God. But zvhoevcr, in any instance, y^(7ra- e?ied himself against the Abjughtij^ and prospered? He is wise in hearty and mighty in strength ; and, therefore, infinitely more than a match for all his enemies. An universal emancipation of oppress- ed slaves; and an universal spread of liberty, peace and piety, we are encouraged to expect. 15^ PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Happy the persons who shall live to see this au- spicious period ! For its arrival I v/ait, I pra}% I have done, and will do, what I can, for the re- lief of my enslaved and distressed brethren of mankind. Whether my endeavours shall, or shall not, be successful, I hope I shall deliver my own soul. The cause for which I plead, I resign entirely into the hand of God. It is his own cause ; and he will, in due time, make it reputable ; and ren- der all the revolutions of the times subservient to the promotion of it. His counsel shall stand ; and he will do all his pleasure » The fulfilment of his designs, the united policy and power of hell and earth, are unable to prevent. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 1S3 CHAP, VIII. Miscellaneous Communications, I HAVE already exceeded the limits I ori- ginally prescribed to myself. JMy only apology is, the importance of my subject. The farther I proceed in the discussion oi it, the more interest- ing it appears. Of interested, sinister motives I can hardly be suspected. My expectations of success are far from sanguine. But I am solici- tous to do my duty ; and leave the event to the sovereign disposer of all things. V/ere my pow- er equal to my will, all my fellow creatures in dis- tress would experience immediate and effectual relief. But the relief of the children of misfor- tune and oppression is not my sole object. For the oppressors, as well as the oppressed, I both fear and feel. I'he signs of our times are truly portentous and alarming. They evidently are big with events of prodigious magnitude. The nations are terribly convulsed." Important revo- lutions have already taken place ; and revolutions still greater seem to approach. The universal spread of Christianity in Europe, some centuries 134 yRrLiMi-VAr.T issat. ago, had almost totally banished slavery from it. In almost every corner of that quarter of the world, the Christian religion is still professed. Nor is slavery tolerated. But, strange to tell ! the principal nations of Europe, while they disal- low slavery at home, encourage it abroad. How inconsistent and absurd ! Is it an evil, an enor- mous evil? Is it, instead of being suppressed, tol- erated and patronized ? Can such ccnduct escape finally unpunished ? It is impossible. Every spe- cies of oppression God hates, he reprobates, he threatens, and, at an earlier period, or a later, he will in rallibly punish. Shall not Europe, there- fore, be afi\«id ? Shall not America tremble ? In- numerable are the instances on record, in which national sins have drav/n down fearful national judgments. Often, and awfully, does God, by his prophets, threaten oppressors. Dues he de- lay the execution of the threatenings, and the in- fliction of public judgments ? For this delay he has reasons worthy of the design and purposes of his moral government; which, to us may be, for the present, incomprehensible. Eut the delay is limited and temporary. The execution of the di- vine threatenings is no less certain than the ful- filment of the divine promises. For a long se- ries of years, I might have said ages, has the pun- ishment of the sins of other nations been threat- f-RELlMINART ESS AT. 125 cned ; and the execution of the thrcatnings de- layed. But was the delay final? No ; the fatal day, though long delayed, at last arriv^ed, and the awful denunciations were realized. Examples extant in the annals of the w^orld are niany and' obvious. Empires, kingdoms, and common- wealths, the moct opulent and powerful, have been overthrown. Such is the instability of ter- restrial things. Where now are the public monu- ments which the famous heroes of antiquity left behind them? Have they not long ago perish- ed? Where are their magnificent palaces, their temples, their mausoleums, their rich and popu- lous cities? Where are any remaining visible traces of the battles they fought, the empires they established, the laws they enacted ; or the uni- versal desolation they once spread around them? Have not the kingdoms they conquered under- gone many revolutions, gained andiost their li- berty, and experienced all those reverses and vi- cissitudes to v/hich earthly glory is necessarily subjected? J>oes noC the curious traveller ex- plore large regions in search of standing records of the greatness of former princes ? Does he not traverse immense countries, once the seat of sci- ence and liberty, now the abode of barbarism and slavery ? Does he not search, and search in vain, for cities, in the very spot on which they once 136. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Stood ? Babylon has long ago fallen ! Persepolis and Ecbatana are now no more 1 Long have tra- vellers disputed, withoutascertaining, the site of ancient 'N'mevth,thi\tex€eedi?ig great city of three days journey. Where are the remaining signa- tm-es, in Asia Minor, or in Judea, of Alexander's victories ? How few are the standing memorials in Gaul or in Britain, to evince that there existed such a person as Julius Caesar, who conquered the one and invaded the other. Such has been the fate of the most extensive empires, the most po- pulous cities, and the most favoured nations! What reason then have the sinful nations of our times to be afraid? That I may impress, more deeply, the melan- choly truth upon the minds of my readers, and that I may, as far as my influence can extend, ex- hibit a faithful warning to the sinful nations of Christendom, both in the eastern and the western hemisphere ; I will exemplify the execution of the divine threatnings in two of the most signal instances, v/hich the histories of former ages have transmitted to our times ; the destruction of the famous cities of Babylon and Jerusalem. I be- gin wiih Babylon. Before i give an account of the destruction of this celebrated city, and shew the exact fulfilment of scripture-prediction in that PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 137 calamitous event, it will not, I trust, be unprofit- able or unentertaining to my readers, to prefix a concise description of its origin, regularity, and extent. The name of Bahylon^ by which this famous city has long been known, is, probably, derived from the word BabeL This was the name of that extraordinary tower, which the human race agreed, by their united art and strength, to build, soon after the flood. But, in a manner most un- expected, the design was rendered abortive, and a final stop put to the work. God, in a manner, which many writers have attempted to explain, but which still remains inexplicable, confounded their language. This extraordinary occurrence seems to have been the occasion of the name of the mighty tower which they intended to build ; for Babel literally signifies confusion. Concern- ing the design of this great tower, or rather the builders of it, the sacred history does not fully inform us. It is supposed to have been intended to secure mankind from the fatal eifects of ano- ther deluge. Eastern tradition says, they were three years employed in preparing materials, par- ticularly bricks, for this tower, each of which was thirteen cubits long, and five thick j and twenty- two years in building it. That it was built of N 1J8 TRELIMINARY ESSAY. brick and bituiTien, instead of stone and mortar, the Mosaic history informs us. This bitumen G ems to have been a fat unctuous sort of earth, or slimy kind of substance, found in the neigh- bourhood of Babylon. The height of this extra- ordinaiy tower certain writers have estimated at a furloiig, others at a mile, and others at four miles — a height equal, if not superior, to the alti- tudeof the highest mountains in the known world. But this is all conjecture. The tower of Belus, of which the Greek histo- rian, Kerodotus, who flourished about four hun- dredyears before the birth of our Saviour, speaks, is supposed to have been the same with the tow- er, called in scripture Babel, or, at least, built on the old foundation, and was to be seen in his time. It consisted of eight towers, raised one upon ano- ther, but gradually decreasing in size from the first to the last. Above the eight stood the fa- mous temple of Belus, the ascent to which was carried, in a circular manner, round the outside of the building. The riches of this temple, in statues, censers, tables, cups, and other vessels of massy gold, were immense. This great tower and temple are said to have been built by direc- tion of Belus, king of Babylon. There were tv/o Babvlonian monarchs of this name ; Belus the PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 139 father of Ninus, and Belus the son of Semlra- mis. The former is said to have been cotempo- rary with Shamgar, one of the Jewish judges, of whom the writer of the book of judges speaks. The situation and ruins of this ancient struc- ture, modern travellers pretend to have found. But, in their accounts of ics situation, and de- scription of its ruins, they do not agree ; and it is extremely problematlcd vrhethcr any of them have discovered the true situation or ruins of the original tov^^er of Bai:el. Babylon having been the capital of Nimrod's empire, the antiquity of it cannot be doubted. For the honour of found- ing this truly magnificent city, three illustrious personages appear as candidates : Nimrcd ; Be- lus, the Assyrian, father of Ninus, and Semira- mis. The matter has been compromised thus — Nimrod began, Belus enlarged it ; and Semira- mis not only enlarged, but adorned it to such a degree, that she has been called the foundress of it. But, above all, Nebuchadnezzar put the finish- ing hand to it, and m?.de it one of the wonders of the world. Is not this^ says he, in the pride and vanity of his heart, great Babylon^ ivhich I hg.ve built for the house oftbe kiii-^dom^ by the might of riij poxver, mid for th€ honour of yimj majesty'^ 140 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. The following description of this magnificent city is collected chiefly from Herodotus ; who had been on the spot, and is the most ancient as well as the most reputable historian, that has transmitted any account of it to us. " Babylon stood in a spacious plain, and was, hj the river Euphrates, divided into two great parts. The v/alls were, in every respect, prodigious ; be- ing eighty-seven feet thick, three hundred and fifty feet high, and four hundred and eight}' fur- longs in compass. They were drawn round the city in form of an exact square, surrounded on the outside with a vast ditch, full of water, and lined with bricks on both sides. In every side of this great square were twenty-five gates, an hundred in all, made of solid brass. Between every two gates were three towers ,• with four more at the four corners; three betv/een each of these cor- ners and the next gate on each side. Each tow- er was ten feet higher than the wall. From the tvv'enty-five gates, in each side of this great square, vrent tv^enty-five streets in straight lines to the gates which w^ere directly over against them, in the opposite side. The whole number of streets amounted to fifty; each fifteen miles long; all crossing each other at right angles. There were also four half-streets, -which had houses only on PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 141 uiie side, and the v/all on the other. These went round the four sides of the city, next the wall ; and were each of them two hundred feet bioad ; the other streets being a hundred and fifty feet in breadth. Thus the whole city was divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares; each of which measured four furlongs and a half on every side. Around all these squares, on the side next to the streets, stood the houses; the space in the middle of each square being occupied in gardens, and for other uses. A branch of the river Eu- phrates ran across the city, from the north to the south side ; dividing it into two great parts. On each side of the river was a key, and a high wall . of the same thickness with the walls of the city. In this wall, opposite to the streets, which led to the river, were gates of brass ; and from them a descent by steps to the river. The bridge, which opened the communication between the two great parts of ihe city, was, in magnificence, equal to the other buildings. Before they began to build it, they turned, by canals, the course of the river j and laid its channel quite dry. This gave thera an opportunity to lay the foundation of it in the firmest manner, and to raise artificial banks, to prevent those inundations, td* which, during the overflowings of the river, the country was other- wise exposed. The river, thus turned out of its n2 142 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. usual course ; was received into a prodigious ar- tificial lake, dug for the purpose, westward of the city. This lake, according to Herodotus, was fifty-two ; and, according to Megasthenes, se- venty-five miles square ; and thirty-five feet deep. Into this vast lake the river was made to flow, till all the work was finished ; and then it was turned back into its former channel. To prevent the Euphrates, during its encrease, from entering by the gates, and overflowing the city, this lake, as well as the canal, was preserved. In it, as a great reservoir, the water was kept all the year for the benefit of the inhabitants, to be let out by sluices, as exigences might require. At the two ends of the bridge stood two palaces, which had a com- munication with each other, by a vault built un- der the channel of the river. The old palace, which stood on the east side of the river, was thirty furlongs in circumference; and the new palace, which stood on the opposite side, was sixty- furlongs in compass. It was surrounded with three walls, one within another, with considera- ble spaces between them. These walls, as also those of the other palace, were embellished with an infinite variety of sculptures, representing all kinds of animals to the life. " Here were the hanging gardens, which have been so much and so jusdy celebrated in history. TKELIMINARY ESSAY. 143 These were of a square form, every side of which was four hundred feet long. They were carried up into the air, in the manner of several large ter- races, one above another, till they equalled the height of the walls of the city. The ascent was from terrace to terrace, by stairs ten feet wide. The whole pile was sustained by vast arches, raised upon other arches, one above another, and strengthened by a wall surrounding it, twenty-two feet thick. On the top of these arches were laid large flat stones, sixteen feet long, and four feet broad. These were lined with bricks, closely ce- mented together with plaster, and that covered with sheets of lead, upon which lay the mould of the gardens." Such were the astonishing effects of art, which have long rendered Babylon so fa- mous in history ; a great part of which has been attributed to that truly enterprising woman, Se- miramis. But attend to what is to follow. How short- lived is all terrestrial glory ! What a reverse of fortune has this once splendid city experienced ! Long before it happened, the downfall of Baby- lon was predicted ; and the event exactly corres- ponded to the prediction. Repeatedly, and in terms the most explicit, does the prophet Isaiah foretell it. Thus he speaks — The burden of Ba^ 14>4> PRELIMINARY ESSAY. bifh?i — Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand ; it shall come as a destruction from the Al- mighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint^ and every meal's heart shall melt. And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth ; they shall be enraged one at another ; their faces shall be as fames. Behold^ the day of the Lord Cometh^ cruel both with xvrath and fierce anger ^ to lay the land desolate ; and he shall destroy the si?!- ners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven^ and the constellations thereof s/iall not give their light : the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the tvorldfor their evil, and the xvicked for their iniquity ; and J will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and Iwill lay loxv the haughti- ness of the terrible. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, xuho shall not regard silver ; and, as for gold, they shall not delight in it. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans* excellency, shall be as when God over threxv Sodom and Go).iorrah. It sliall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dxvelt in from generation to generation : neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there; nei- ther shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the dcsart shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of dolefid creatures; and the PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 145 owls shall dxvellthere ; and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islcmd shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant pla- ces : and her time is near to come^ and her days shall not be prolonged. The repetitions and amplifica- tions of this awful prediction, which occur in the subsequent part of the prophecy, brevity forbids me to transcribe. For a series of years was the completion of the prediction delayed. To judg- ment God usually proceeds by slow steps, and with apparent reluctance. But the execution of the threatning, against impenitent nations as well as individuals, though slow, is certain. The down- fall of Babylon, on account of its impiety, was determined, and, in a gradual manner, accom- plished. From the Assyrians, that noble city passed into the hands of the Persians, and from the Persians to the Macedonians. Here Alex- ander the Great died. Almost immediately after his death, the city began to decline. S-leucas Nicanor built a new city forty milts above it ; and to perpetuate his name, called itSelucia; and, to people it, he drew no less than nve hun- dred ^Ihousand persons out of Babylon. In the time of Curtius, the historian, Babylon was re- duced to three-fourths of its former magnitude. In the da} s of Pliny, iL was rjdiiC=.d to desola- tion. And, when Jerom lived, it was turned 146 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. turned into a forest or park, in -vvhich the kings of Persia hunted. According to some modern travellers, all that remains of it, is only one tower, called the tower of Daniel ; from which may be viev/ed the ruins of this ancient city; which, for regularity and other astonishing v/orks of art, certainly was the most magnificent in our world. But how un- stable is all earthly gloiy ! Ho^7 transitory all terrestrial grandeur ! Of this great city, in its meridian glon^, we havehad.a circumsts.ntial ac- count. Let us now view it in its present fallen and ruinous state. What a contrast ! A gen- tlemen who visited it in 1574, gives us the fol- lowing melancholy account of it. '' The village of Eiugo is situated Vvhere Babylon of Chaldea formerly stood. The harbour, where people go ashore, in order to travel, by land, to the city of Bagdad, is a quarter of a league from it. The soil is so dry and barren, that they cannot till it. and so naked, that I could never have believed, that this powerful city, once the most stately and renowned in all the world, and situated in the fruitful country of Shinar, could have stood there, had I not seen, by the situation of the place, by many antiquities of great beauty, which arc to be seen round about, and especially by the PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 147 old bridge over the Euphrates, whereof some piles, and arches of incredible strength, are still remaining, that it certainly stood there. The front of the village Elugo occupies the eminence on which the castle stood, and the ruins of its fortifications are still visible. Behind, and some little v/ay beyond, is the tower of Babylon, which is half a league in diameter ; but so ruinous, so lov/, and full of venomous creatures, that lodge in the holes, which they have made in the rub- bish, that no one durst approach nearer to it, than half a league, except during two months in the winter, when those animals never stir from their holes." Melancholly account ! Between the prophetical description and the traveller's narrative, how striking is the agreement 1 On vvhat account, for what cause did this dire- ful calamity befal Babylon ? what was her crime? Her crimes were many and aggravated. One thing, in particular, the prophet, who foretold it, specifies ; her cruelty to the Jews, whom she made, for long seventy years, her captives and slaves. /, saith God, was wroth with my people ; I have polluted mine inheritance^ and given them into thine hand ; thou didat anew them no mercij ; upon the ancients hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke* Therefore, Come down and sit in the dusty 14B FRELIMIlfART ESSAY. virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground. Sit thou silenty and get thee into darkness; daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. Were the Baby- lonians punished, severely punished, because they detahied the Jewish nation in captivity and bondage, and treated them with cruelty and op- pression, for long seventy years? Then what shall be the fate of those nations, called Christian, who have enslaved and oppressed a greater num- ber of the human race, for some centuries of years ? How fearful the doom ! how dreadful the punishment, that must await them I From the overthrow of Babylon, I pass on to the destruction of Jerusalem. For a series of years, rather ages, the Jews had been favoured above all the other nations of the earth. In numberless instances, and with a high hand they had sinned. Their sins had not passed unre- proved. Prophets had, time after time, remon- strated against them, and foretold the fatal con- sequences which followed. Their predictions and remonstrances were, by the great body of the Jevv^ish nation, disregarded. Like the na- tions of our times, they were hardened in sin, and persevered in the practice of it. Judgment, however, at last overtook them j and, to this PRELIMINARY E5SAT. 149 day, they are memorials of divine resentment, and of the divine veracity. Often do we tanta- lize our Maker, but he never tantalizes us. If he promises good things, we have every reason to expect them. If, on the contrary, he threatens evil things, we have every reason to fear them. Has he punished the most favoured nations of antiquity ? Do the nations, in our times, tread in their steps ; and shall they not be sharers in their plagues ? Is not God as holy ; and is not sin as hateful as ever? That favoured nations may eifectually be v/arned, and the reflection of threatened calamities happily prevented, let them review, seriously review, that awful instance and proof of the certain, though slow, completion of prophecy in works of judgment, as well as mer- cy, the fearful destruction of the city of Jerusa- lem, the total abolition of the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, and the final dispersion of that once happy, but now unhappy nation. It hasbeen observed, that prophecies are perma- nent miracles, whose authority is sufRcently con- firmed by their completion, and are therefore, solid proofs of the supernatural origin of the religion, whose truth they are intended to attest. Of all tie various proofs, by which the truth of revelation has been evinced, that which arises from the ex- o 150 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. act fulfilment of prophecy, is, perhaps, the most obvious, and the most convinciiig. Numerous are the instances in which this observation might be exemplified. Events the most im.probable, which no human sagacity couM foresee or fore- tel, have been, in the most circumstantial man- ner foretold ; a:id the predictions have been lite- rally fulfilled. Of all the instances of the ver- geance of heaven against cruel and bloody, but refractory and impenitent, nations, which the history of past ages furnishes, the most striking is the final destruction of Jerusalem and disper- sion of the Jews. , "At an early period was this dreadful catastrophe foreseen and predicted. Up- wards of fifteen hundred years before it happen- ed, Moses, in the most circumstantial manner, foretold it. Review and compare his propheti- cal description in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, and the historical relation of Fla- vius Josephus, v/ho v/as an eye-witness of the event. Between the former and the latter is there not, in all the m.aterial circumstances, such a surprizing agreement, as no man, friend of revelation, orvfee, can candidly, review with- out astonishment. With the early prophecies of P»loses, the prediciicns of the subsequent pro- prophets agree. The Lord^ says Moses, shall bring a nation from far^ as swift as the eagle rRELIMINxVRY ESSAY. 151 f.',eth; a nation xvhose tongue thou shall not under' aiund, A nation of fierce countenance^ which shall not reg:.rd the person of the old^ nor she'CJ fa^jcr to the r')vnp-. And he shall besiege thee in all thif g^ites^ t'litil thy high and fenced walls cone downy zvherein thou trustedst^ throughout all thy land : and thou shak eat the fruit of thine oxvn bodij^ the flesh of thy sons and of thy daugh- ters in the siege, and hi the straitness wherexviih thim enemies shall distress thee. So that the man who if tender among y:Uy and vety delicate, his eye shall he evil toward hiS brother, and toxvard the wife of his bosom, and t&iVcird the re'nmant of his children, which he shall leave : so that he xvill not give to any of them of the fesh of his chil- dren, whom he shall eat ; because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness xvliere- xviih thine enemies shall distress thee in all tuy gates. The tender and delicate xuomen a}nc/;g ijou, which would not adventure to set the soal of of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil towards her hus- band of her bosom, and towards her son, and to- wards her daughter, and towards her children which she shall bear : for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege. The ^eo- ph of the prince that shall come, says Daniel, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the 152 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. end thereof shall be with a Jiood^ and unto the end of the roar desolations are determined. In how exact, full, and circumstantial a manner these predictions were accomplished, we shall immediately see. Could any degree of human sagacity, or political v/isdom foresee, at so early a period, the tragical scene, which those pro- phets, in such an explicit manner, foretel? No. This foreknowledge must have proceeded from tbat omniscient spirit, to whom all events past, present, and future, are alike known. In a manner, still more explicit and full, does our Lord, in the days of his personal ministry, foretel the speedy approach of this unparalelled catastrophe. The fearful prodigies and signs which were to precede it ; the unexampled and unequalled sufterings, which the unhappy Jews were to undergo ; the dreadful concomitants and consequences of it ; and the short time in which ail these things were to be accomplished, he fore- tels, in a manner, that has rather the apperrance of aruarrative of an event already past, than a pro- phecy of one to come. Thus he speaks — There shall not be left one stone upon another zvhich shall not be throzvn down. The days shall come upon thee^ O Jerusalem ! when thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and keep thee in on ez-eri/ side, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 153 and shall lay thee even, xvhh the ground^ and shall not leave thee one stone upon another. And great earthquakes shall be in divers places^ and famines^ and pestilences, and fearful sights ; and great signs shall there he from heaven. There shall be great tribulation, such as never happened from the' beginning of the rvo rid, to this time. They shall fall by the edge of the szvord, and shall be led away captive into all nations ;.and J erusalem shall be trodden down cf the Gentiles, This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled, Tremeqdous predictions 1 But the event was not less tremendous than the prediction. Here was a complication of miseries, that never has been, and, probably, never will be equalled, in the history of mankind. Could hu- man wisdom foresee these extraordinary calami- tous occurrences ? Was there now any exter- nal appearance, or human probubility, of such an uncommon event? Not the smallest. Univer- sal peace prevailed over the World. Numerous were theiipreternatural and alarm- ing signs, vrhich pneccded this tremendous ca- trosphe. In tbe^days ofiXlllaudius Csesar, a few years before the destruction of Jerusa!cm hap- pened, there was ift Judea, a prodigious tempest, o 2 154 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. accompanied with most vehement winds and rain, terrible lightnings and thunder, and fear- ful shakings and roarings of the earth. Before the invasion of Judea, a star, in the form of a .sword, hung over the city a whole year. In the dead of the night, at the time of the feast of the tabernacles, light, similar to that of the meridian sun, shone for a whole half hour, on the temple, and places adjacent to it. The great eastern gate of the temple, which was of solid brass, and of such bulk and weight, that twenty men were scarcely sufficient to shut it, though it was fasten- ed with strong bolts, suddenly opened of its own accord. The priests watching in the Temple, at the feast of Pentecost, heard a voice, as of a great multitude, crying, Let lis go htnce. Even be- fore the sun went down, there appeared armies in battle array^ and encountering in the air , with weapons glittering, and chariots which seemed to compass the whole country, and invest the great cities, especially Jerusalem. For no less than seven years and an -half, a countryman, named Jesus, ran up and down the streets pf Je- rusalem, especially at the solemn festivalsyety- ing, in the most doleful accents^ 'Woe to Jerusa* iem ,' Wos to the city I Woe to the temple ! Woe to PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 155 the people ! And, though cruelly punished, no- thing could restrain him from crying ; till at last, as he was uttering these words, Wo to myself also^ he was instantaneously struck dead by a stone from a sling. Were these extraordinary appearances, these awful prodigies insignificant or unnieaning ? Far from it. They proved even- tually to be, as our Lord liad foretold, only the beginning of scrroxvs ; omens and fore-runners of calamities and miseries unexampled in the annals of the world. The Roman army, under Vespasian, having entered Judea from the north-east, desolated city and country. In the seventeenth year of the Christian sera, on the first day of the week, dis- tinguished by the honourable name of the Lord's Day^ this great army first encamped before Je- rusalem. On the arrival of it, the Christians, crediting the predictions, and following the di- rections of their divine master, fled from Jeru- salem, and hid themselves in the mountainous part of the country. But the Jews, judicially and wofully infatuated, instead of submitting to Vespasian, who is said to have been a very mer- ciful general, madly resisted ; nay, bent on their own destruction, they, in frequent instances, encountered and massacred one another. At 1<>6 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Jerusalem, especially, the scene was tragically and bloody beyond description. Its inhabitants, as an additional proof of their infatuation, were divided into factions and parties. Those, though they occasionally united to make furious, but un- successful attacks on the Romans, often murdered one another. Nay, shocking to relate I they even murdered one another in sport ; pretending to try the sharpness of their swords. The mul- titude of unburied bodies, corrupting the air, produced a most fatal pestilence. Along with sword and pestilence, famine, prevailed to such an awful degree, that they fed on one another. Ladies, otherwise delicate, broiled their sucking- infants, and ate them. The first brer^ch was made by the besieging army, in the lower city, on the first day of the week. On the first day of the week the Temple was burned; and on the first day of the week, the upper city, otherwise called the citadel, was taken and burnt. After an obstinate defence, for long six months, the city was taken, and immense numbers of its inhabitants put to the sword. A Roman com- mander, as a literal fulfilment of our Lord's pre- diction, ordered the foundations of the Temple to be ploughed up. To such a degree was Titus, notwithstanding his usual clemency, provoked by PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 157 the obstinacy of the Jews, that he is said to have crucified them before the walls of the city, as long as he had wood for erecting crosses. The destruction of this great city, happened at the time of one of the three annual festivals, at which all the Jewish males were required to attend ; and, therefore, it is computed, there might then be almost three millions of souls in it. Not less than eleven hundred thousand are supposed to have perished in it, by sword, famine, and pestilence. Between tv/o and three hundred thousand were cut off in other places. Almost one hundred thousand were taken prisoners, and sent into Egypt and Syria, to be sold for slaves, exposed for shows, or devoured by wild beasts. Almost incredible are the cruelties and mas- sacres which that devoted people suffered in suc- ceeding times. In a dreadud war, about sixty years after the destruction of Jerusalem, occa- sioned by an impostor, pretending to be* the Mes- siah, six hundred thousand Jews are said to have been slain, besides what perished b)^ famine and pestilence. The very rivers, it is said, over- flowed with human blood ; and the sea, into which they ran, was, for some miles marked with it. 158 PPvELIMXNARY ESSAY, Such were the complicated and unexampled miseries and calamities, which our Lord foretold to bef.d the unhaj)py Jews ; and which, in the most exact conformity to his predictions, actually befel them. Is not the coincidence, in every ma- terial circumstance, betv/een the productions of this unexpected and improbable event, and*, the' historical account of its accomplishment, truly striking? But by v/hom is this historical account given ? By Christians ? No, but avowed eneniies to Christianity ; Josephus, a Jew ; Tacitus and Luctonius, Romrms. But might not the three evangelical histories, which contain the predic- tions of the destruction of Jerusalem, be com- piled after the event happened ? It is i'l possi- ble. From the most authentic records which Vv^e have of those times, it apperrs, that the evange- lists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, far from com- piling and publishing their histories after ihe de- struction of Jerusalem, died before that event happened. And, which is truly worthy of re- mark, the evangelist John, who survived that ca- tastrophe, predicted nothing concerning it. To a circtimstance, suggested already, I cannot but recal the reader's attention. Is it not truly remarkable, that the first encampment of the Roman army before Jerusalem; the first breach PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 159 made in the lower city ; the burning of the tem- ple : and the taking and burning of the citadel ; all happened on the first day of the week, or the Lortfs day. Was this recurrence of the LorcPs day, on four such memorable occasions, the ef- fect of accident or chance? No, it was, replies an ingenius writer, among the times and seasons determined by omniscience from the foundation of the world. Does it not carry in it a strong in- timation, that, though this dreadful calamity befel the Jews, on account of a long series of compli- cated and aggravated crimes, that which, in an especial manner, procured and hastened it, was a recent enormous deed, the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory ; to perpetuate the memory of whose triumphant resurrection, this day was instituted, and will continue to be observed in the Christian church, to the end of the world ? Our Lord had said, this generation shcdl not pass till all these things be fulfilled. In this respect, as well as all others, the prophecy v/as literally fulfilled. The destruction of the- city and temple of Jerusalem, the total overthrow of the nation and the church of the Jews, happened in less than forty years af- ter the prophecy \^as delivered. Many there- fore, of that generation y must have been eye- witnesses of its awful completion, and sharers in the horrors and miseries which accompanied it. 160 PRELIMII^ART ESSAY. It Is natural to ask, for what crime or crimes did this drtadful calamity befal the nation p.r.d church of the Jews ? Obvious is the answer. For a series of ages they had sinned with a high hand ; their punishment was, by prophet after prophet, threatened; but, in the long suffering of God, delayed. But now the f;tal time had arrived, at which judgment 'was to begin at the house of God, An enumeiation of their complicated and aggra- vated offences 1 will not attempt. Suffice it to say, that injustice and oppression, cruelty and bloodshed, had, in an especial manner, hastened their ruin. Is not this the plain purport of our Saviour's words— Behold, I send unto you pro- phets y andxvisemen^ and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify ^ and ^ome of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues^ and persecute them from city to city ; that upon you may come all tlu righteov^. blood filled upon the earth ; from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias son of BarachiaSy ixjhom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you^ all these things shall come upon this generation, Jeru- salem, ferusalcm, thou that killat the prophets^ . and stonest them that are sent unto thee — behold your house is left unto you desolate. After shed- ding the innocent and precious blood of many great and good men, prophets and martyrs, and PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 161 many other men, they dared, at last, to embruc their impious hands in the sacred blood of the Son of God. On this account, for this cause, their destruction was hastened. Wrath, as an apostle expresses it, came upon them to the utter- most. Must not cruelty, in every form of which it is susceptible, be hateful to God? If the shed- ing of innocent blood was criminal in former times, can it be lawful now ? It is impossible. The antediluvian law. Whoso sheddeth man-s blocd, by man shall his blood he shed, is now, as much as ever, in full force. It is an express law of hea- ven, and to heaven the powers of the earth must, in the end, answer for the non-execution of it. Traffickers, owners, managers, overseers, mur- derers of slaves, tremble ! Your nefarious, cruel, bloody, deeds, heaven every day beholds, and will infallibly punish. In every age, and in every country, innocent blood cries from the earth that receives it; and the cry of it never can fail to as- cend to heaven. For reasons best known to him- self, the almighty Ruler of the universe, the im- partial Judge of the earth, now permits tyrants and despots. But will he permit them, for ever, to torture and murder their fellow creatures? No ; in power and in duration they are circum- scribed within limits, which are more fixed and permanent than the perpetual mountains or the 162 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. everlasting hills. Their cruelties, barbarities, and murders, are all registered in heaven. The day will shortly dav/n, in which the dread tribunal is to be erected, and the books are to be opened, and both the quick and the dead, who are then to be raised, judged out of the books. Is the oppression of mankind, in all the various modifications and forms -^yhich it assumes, incom- patible with the essential rights of humanity ; and an insult to that great Being, tf/2o?:;<7Jf? man after his own image ; andv/hohas, in the strictest man- ner, prohibited it ? Has it, in numerous instan- ces, drav^^n down the vengeance of heaven on na- tions as well as individuals? Then justice to the subject, to my fellov/ creatures, and to my own conscience, requires me, before I dismiss the cause for which I plead, to subjoin, to the na- tions of Christendom, which are unhappily en- gaged in the deliterious and fatal comm.erce and slavery of the human species, especially the Afri- cans, a solemn warning and caution to desist, speedily desist, from a practice so offensive to tlie Deity, and so pernicious to mankind. This ardu- ous and delicate task I undertake from the most generous m.otives, and with the most benevolent views, by which the human mind can be actuated. And,^thetefore, if I can afford no relief to my op- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 16S pressed fellow creatures, I shiill, I trust, deliver my own souu It ii with no smrtU concern that I reflect, that a very lurge sliare of the infamous commerce hcis faili-n to that nation to which I originally belong- ed, and for wlilch I slill retain a strong predilec- tion. That a nation, not less distinguished for refinement and delicacy of sentiment, than for arts and manufactures, should suifer any of its members, v/ith impuviiry, to emhrue their hands in the blood of the innocent, is truly astonishing. If I cannot remedy this alarming cvilj I will not cease to remonstrate agpi'ist it. Had I ten thou- sand tongues and pens, I should empioy diem all on the subject. It is to me no small consolation to reflect, that, though many nations of Christendom are, to their disgrace, engaged in the infamous commerce and oppression of their fellow creatures, there are, in all these nations, thousands, and tens of thou- sands, who, in proportion to their measures of information, reprobate and bewail the evil, as much as I can do. As for any proportion of the nations of Christendom, who favour the inhuman traffic, they are all comprehended under tv/o di- visions ; those v/ho are concerned in it, and de- 164 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. rive pecuniary advantage from it, or those who either are uninformed concerning it, or receive their infonnaiion from persons, who, from sinis- ter considerations, are prepossessed in favour of it. The great mass of the people are uninform- ed, or misinformed, concerning the shocking bar- barities under^which the exiled Africans languish. The situation of the united kingdom of Britain and Ireland is attended with peculiar advantages. Its air is salubrious, its soil fertile and highlv cul- tivated ; the seas with w^hich it is surrounded, abound in a great variety of the best fish ; audits iiihabitants rende., ,1 ^, cure b)- a navy so formi- dable, that it has ucroiiie the admiration and the terror of the world. Thus situated, it has, for a long series of years, been exempted from the ca- lamities and ravages, to which the seat of war is necessarily exposed. Of slavery and wsr abroad they merelv hear, but do not feel the one or the other. But, though they allow no slavery at home, their merchants and traders are active promoters of it abroad. Peace as vvell as plenty they enjoy in their own country ; but their armies and navies shed torrents of liuman blood, and spread desola- tion around them, in distant parts of the world. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 165 Christian Nations! You hear of the achieve- ments of your forces in the several distant quar- ters of the world. You admire their invincible bravery, and their unparalelled success. But are the accounts you are accustomed to read, full and fair? Are they not often mutilated, altered, and disguised, before they are put into your hands ? Are your officers and armies as humane and ge- nerous as they are intrepid and brave ? They con- quer barbarous nations, you are told, with the most benevolent, with the mcst philanthropic design, and for purposes the most beneficial to the con- quered ; to civilize, or, perhaps, to Christianize them. Your trade rs and factors in Afri"ca, it is pretended, are men distinguished by their hu- manity ; they purchase the natives, in order to rescue them from the barbarities and massacres of which they are in danger in their own country; and to place them in a situation easy and comfort- able in the West-Indies. Are these pretensions just? Do you believe them ? Such pretensions are, perhaps, the greatest insult that ever was of- fered to the human understanding ; and an impo- sition on the credulity of uninformed people, at which effronUry itself can hardly forbear to blush t p 2 166 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. This, all this, is the downright reverse of truth. Do not allow partiality for your nation and con- nexions to pervert your judgment. For the sake of your country, for the honour of humanity and the Christian name, you wish the most favoura- ble accounts to be true ; and what you wish, you are apt to believe to be true. The time I can re- collect, when I was in a similar predicament; but dire experience has rectified my mistake. Cruelties and barbarities, too shocking to be re- lated, have I seen perpetrated by European emis- saries and agents, both on the coast of Africa and in the West-India islands. Never can I recall them to my mind, but the blood almost forgets to flow in my veins. Has the behaviour of Eu- ropean governors and armies in the East-Indies ; or has the conduct of the European agents in Africa, or of the owners of slaves in the West- Indies, had any tendency to recommend either civilized life or the Christian religion ? Has not their conduct, on the contrary, been, in the high- est degree, calculated to prejudice Pagans and Mahometans against both the politics and the re- ligion of Christendom ? Has it not proved an im- penetrable barrier to preclude the promulgation of the gospel, the benign gospel of our Lord and blessed Redeemer? Has it not, in various in- stances, proved to be a war against religion, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 16f against reason, against humanity, against the au- thority of heaven, and against the most valuable rights and the dearest interests of mankind ? Hu- man naturehas been abused, the Deity has been insulted. To Omnipotence itself, tyrants- have bidden defiance. Natural is it to ask, with what great views, for what valuable purposes, has a traffic, so iniquitous, and attended with such shocking circumstances, been prosecuted ? What can sufficiently counterbalance such enormous evils ? The question admits of no satisfactory answer. Such ambition, such avarice, such lux- ury, such ill-gotten gain, the curse of God neces- sarily attends. Did such pursuits ever promote the true prosperity of either nations or individu- als ? It is impossible. Punishments ever follow crimes, and sometimes the former run paralell with the latter, with a mysterious uniformity. Nations and individuals, addicted to such acts of oppression, may seem, for a time, to flou- rish. But how unexpected, sudden, and alarm- ing has their downfal often been ? You imagine, perhaps, you have reached the highest summit of terrestrial prosperity and honour. Your armies and navies are powerful, your commerce flourish- es, your national resources are inexhaustable. But remember, pride is the usual fore-runner ©f ruin ; the ruin of nations and of individvals. Is 168 PHELirriKARY ESSAY. there not national as vv^ell as personal pride? Do you not recollect instances, in which the highest prosperity, and that conscqaent vanity which it is apt to occasion, have been the immediate harbin- gers of a fearful ?.nd fatal downfal ? Do not such examples occur in the history of every period? Does national honour, or greatness, consist in fo- reign domination, or a vast extent of territory ? Has not every nation, has not every tribe of man- kind, as good a title to the undisturbed possession of the countr)^, in which the common Father of the human family has placed it, as you have to yours ? By what authority do you invade and dispossess them; and who gave you this autho- rity ? Are not the oppressor and the oppressed equally related to one common Creator? Yes, and, perhaps, the latter more valuable, in his esti- mation, than the former. The righteous is mere excellent than his neighbour. Righteousness^ not riches, but righteousness exaiteth a nation. Shall my v/arning be, by an^ concerned, con- sidreed as a subject of snetr and banter, bur- lesque, and laughter ? I shall be sorry, not on my own, but on their account. Now, they laugh, but the day will shortly dawn in which they will laugh no more. Then He, zvho sits in heaven^ will laugh at their calamity^ and mock when their fe.-"c':, and toT'^ns hr.v- b* en seen in one gcnerui lifizc. ^rlut even these cc ;n plicated cc.lamities, which the avarice of your governments, and the thirst of individu?-ls for gold, have produced, f.di far short of die hoirid. slaughter which has been made by the cruelty of your factors and slave-traders in Africa, and the West-Indies. This no imr.gina- tion can conceive, no tongue or pen can debcribe. Innumerable groans arising from dying mortals, 3^ou have had no opportunity to hear ; innumer- able woe-v/orn cheeks continually wet v/ith silent tears, you h-ive had no opportunity of seeing. That such tyranny is encouraged, and the hands PRELIillNART SS5AT. 171 of these murderers are strengthened by your laws, you know. Ivlillions have been redu- ced to a state of perpetual slaver}^ or brought to a premature death, which you never did or can feel. Could you hear their bitter la- mentations, were their blood sprinkled on your garments ; blood which cries to heaven for ven- geance against you; would you not tremble for your fate, and refuse to participate in such dia- bolical crimes ? That you may have some idea of their anguish, make their case your own, and your case theirs ; when we recollect the wretch- ed sons of Africa, we can scarcely forbear to curse the governments, that, to the natural evils incident to mortid man, adds the dreadful adventitious misery and horrors of slavery. Are not the un- avoidable misfortunes of mankind sufficiently nu- merous, without a wilful increase of them ? Are not the histories of Nero, Cataline, and Alexan- der, histories of devils incarnate ? Who can think of their actions without horror or of their death witho Lit satisfac don? And yet, I cannot forbear to s ;y, those men were angel?, in compa- rison with ^Qwx servants, soldiers, and sailors, in distant countries. To see the bounties of hea- ven abused, the charming face of nature wasted, the noblest works of God destroyed ; me thinks, is enough to force a curse from holiness itself Can 1/2 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. there be any sin greater than light in the head and malice in the heart ? The whole compass of human language seems inadequate to express the cruelty, malice, and villainy of the British, Dutch, French and Spanish officers, factors, and planters, and their agents. They have refined so far in cruelty, that we have no proper name for it. To the unmethodized vices of ancient times, they have added the dregs, and methodized barbarity of modern times; and are wholly immersed in the ab3^ss of serpentine deceit, as well as diabo- lical cruelty. The dying groans of millions, who have fallen victims to their more than brutal cruelty, have ascended to heaven, and their peti- tions are registered in eternity ; while \"engeance is on the wing. These are serious considerations. AVhatever oppressors or their abettors, persons judicially infatuated, may think, there is a minute account of all their barbarities in the records of eternity. And woe to all tyrants, despots, and oppressors, when the accounts are settled ; or, to use the lan- guage of scripture, when they ore iveighed in the balance^ for they, doubthss, will be found -want- iiig ! The most populous and famous nations of antiquity have been called to a reckoning ; and the most haughty kingdoms have sunk to ruin, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 175 when the balance was struck. Were unenlight- ened nations punished, and punished with seve- rity ; and can the enlightened escape with impu- nity? Such a supposition the justice of the Al- mighty forbids, as blasphemy against the recti- tude jof heaven. Be assured, it is not the bene- diction of a prelate, or the proclamation of a prime minister, that will repay the blood of India, requite the wretchedness of Africa, or ap- pease the anger of heaven. Serious, solemn considerations I I ask again, Why should you, directly or indi- rectly, multiply, either to yourselves, or others, adventitious calamities and woes ? Do you reply, We multiply the miseries of our fellow-crea- tures ! God forbid 1 We, from our inmost soul, abhor tyranny and slavery. But stop. Do you what is competent for you, and incumbent upon you, in your stations and places, for the suppres- sion of slavery and oppression, while you tacitly consent, and tamely submit, to that toleration, and countenance, which your respective governments give to the commerce of the African race ? You are virtually guilty of the crimes, and conse- quendy, like the nations of antiquity, will li- terally partake of their punishment. You say, you detest cruelty. Why, then, do you tacidy 174 ?JlELIxMINARY ESSAY. submit to your governments and fellow-citizens ? Have not cruelties and barbarities been perpe- trated in both the Indies, which are unexampled in the annals of the world. Do you find in the histories of Nero, and of Cataline, or of Alexan- der, barbarities equal to these, which are, ev^ery year, and every day, committed by your factors, and agents in Africa, and by your owners, and overseers of slaves in the West-Indies ? No, no. If we make a comparative estimate, we must pronounce the former, merciful men ; the latter, monsters of cruelty, ^ Is not man the noblest of the works of God, in our world? In him heaven and earth, mind and ma'.ter, unite. To him was given at an early period, dominion over the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea. But when, and by whom, was premceval power given to one part of mankind to enslave and op- press another ? Such a power is utterly incom- patible with the essential prerogatives, and na- tural equality, of men. Tyrants and despots usurp it ; but heaven never granted it. Do you wish to escape the vengeance of offended hea- ven? Then cease not to remonstrate against it ; and prevent the future execution of it. The love I bear to you, irresistibly constrains me to be PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 175 plain and importunate with you. Do not imagine lam beco,7is your enemy ^ because I tell you the truth. For the pi'osperity of your several governments and cojfi-ri\s 1 pray. To the different ranks and degrees ot" men among you, I pay all due defc^r- ence. My motives and vie-\vs cannot possibly be interested or mercenary. Every such suppo- sition, mv situntion absolutely forbids. For the favour of the great I will not fav/n ; their resent- ment I do not fear. I am placed in a state of me- dlocri: ' ; i.ving neitlier poverty nor riches ; but, d-xy ^iic^ 'J-.-y^fed zuUhfoccl CG:ivenientJbr me. I possess an indep;:nden1: spirit. In this I glory. The man v/hose integrity is unshaken, who can smile at tiie frowns of an individual tyrant or aa army of th.'m, whose conscience approves- his cotiJact ; v/ aether he be placed in a high station or a low, whether his condition be plentiful or scanty, I esteem. The despot, the tyrant, the oppressor, whether he be arrayed in robes of state, or covered with rags j wh>2ther he fill a throne, or sit on the dunghill ; is a contemptible being ; hateful to God, to angels, and to men.... In the dreadful day of retribution, whither shall the oppressor flee ? where shall he hide ? Will the mountains and the rocks hear his cries ? will they fall on him and cover him from his judge ? No, the cries of the orphans, the widows, the thou- 176 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. sands, who are now enslaved and oppressed, tor- tured and murdered, by these merciless despots, they refuse to hear ; and, therefore, in the dread- ful day of retribution, neither heaven nor earth will hear them. Now they put the evil day far av/ay. But has not God foretold its approach ? Can he falsify his word ? Now, they show no mercy to their fellow creatures ; then, God will show no mercy to them. Recollect, rumi- nate on the predictions and prophecies of the old and new testamentSj prophecies against nations as well as churches. Review the histories of former ages ; histories of both nations and churches. Compare their situation and your own. Do you not imitate them in sin ? Must you not, therefore, expect to be partakers with them ill punishment? Have not all the sinning nations of antiquity, at an earlier period or a later, suf- fered ? and hov/ can you expect to escape ? This is the season of the infliction of national judg- ments. It only is in this life that mankind sub- sist in a rational capacity ; and, therefore, it is in this life only, that they can suffer in this capa- city. For the very sins of which you are noto- riously guilty, the nations of former times have suffered the severest calamities. Be assured, that vengeance now, as much as ever, belongs to God^ and he xvill infallibly repaij. How often was PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 177 the nation, as well as the church, of the Jews, forewarned of the dreadful calamities that were about to befal them ? Did heaven tantalize and trifle with them ? No. He suffered their man- ners many years ; but the execution of his threat- nings, though slow, is certain. You, as they were, are now warned to flee from the wrath to come ; and, therefore, if you persist in sin, till judgment overtake you, inexcusable must you be, and fear- ful will be your doom I My argument I might il- lustrate, and my call I might enforce, by a long deduction of examples, which the histories of for- mer times amply furnish. I might lead you back to the antediluvian ages ; I might delineate before your eyes, the examples of the Egyptians, the As35anans, the Babylonians, the IMedes, the Chaldeans, and the repeated catastrophes which befelthe highly favoured Jews, particularly their final dispersion, and the abolition of both their civil and ecclesiastical policy. The repeated, pressing, solemn calls of heaven they disobeyed. Numerous threatnings and warnings they disre- garded. Did heaven suffer their disobedience and neglect to pass with impunity? No. C^^will not be knocked. The authority of heaven is irre- sistible. All parts of the vast empire of Jehovah are subject to law ; and every law of heaven must be obeyed. Every part of creation belongs either <^2 178 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. to the rational or moral government of God. Even the mineral and vegetable departments are subject to permanent lav/s. Shall inanimate mat- ter, shallbodies incapable of consciousness or sen- sibility, conform to the will of the Almighty ; and rational creatures dare to counteract it? Horrid impiety I Can nation oppress nation ; can one man oppress another ; and be innocent ? Is not the moral law of universal as well as perpetual obligation ? Is not the whole reducible to two great commandments ? And does not the second, in the most unequivocal, peremptory manner, enjoin a love of both benevolence and beneficence to all mankind ? But a considerable part of the human race you enslave and oppress -j or permit, while it is in your povv-er to prevent their mise- ries, to be enslaved and oppressed. Is this love to them? Does he, vfho made both you and them, peremptorily command you to love them ; and do you oppress and torture them ? Will God, for this, hold ycu guiltless ? No ; from men you may escape punishment ; but the hottest ven- geance of heaven you have every reason to fear. Britain ! Britain I highly favoured of heaven ; favoured above all nations on earth ; favoured with a commerce that extends to all quarters and countries j favoured with universal information ; fUrLIT.IINARY ESGAY* 179 favoured with religious privileges, such as no other nation ever has enjoyed ; favoured with un- equalled advantages and opportunities of the most extensive usefulness to the human race, of civiU izing and Christianizing the barbarous and unen- lightened nations in the east and the west ; the north and the south ; hov/ ungrateful art thou to thy great benefactor ! How mercenary and in- attentive to the dearest interests of thy vassals ; particularly the unhappy African slaves in thy co- lonies ! Has not the conduct of different nations of Christendom, to their unhappy slaves, a ten- dency to brutalize rather than civilize them ; to confirm them in Paganism rather than convert them to Christianity? This truly is an awful and alarming considera- tion. For innumerable bounties are you indebt- ed to an all-indulgent Providence. But your re- ligion is heaven's best gift to you ; a gift he has bestowed with a discriminating hand. He has bestowed it on you ; but, for reasons knov/n to himself, he has withheld it from others. And he has laid you under the most solemn obligations to recommend it, both by precept and example, to all around you ; and to endeavour, to the ut- most of your power, to spread it among the na- tions of mankind, iu every corner of the earth to 180 FRELIMINART ESSAY. which you have access. Are you solemnly bound to recommend to the nations the religion of Jesus, and do you, by your unworthy conduct, your cru- elties and barbarities, to the utmost of your pow- er, confirm the unenlightened nations in their pre- judices against it ; and preve?it, as far as you can, the spread of it ? What must the consequence be ? Shall I draw the conclusion j qy shall I leave yourselves to do it ? Certain it is, nothing tends more effectually to retard the progress of religion, by prejudicing strangers against it, than the un- worthy and inconsistent practice of its professed friends. Many and great are the advantages, civil and religious, which have been bestowed on the different nations of Christendom. Propor- tioned to the extent and magnitude of their privi- leges, must their guilt aiid punishment be, in the event of a misimprovementof them. To xvlioni'- soever much is glveriy from them rmich will be re-^ quired. Punishments, as well as rewards, admit of various degrees. What people, under heaven, during the old testament, enjoyed privileges equal to those of the Jews ? And what nation of the world ever was punished with such severity as they were ? They hietv their master'' s ruilly but did it not i and^ therefore, were beaten with ma?iy stripes. Yet with respect to tyranny, informa- tion, and privileges, Israel was only in miniature PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 181 what Christendom is in magnitude. Shall your armies and navies be permitted to destroy, for ever, countries they did not plant, and cities they did not build ? Shall they continue, with impu- nity, to enslave a people they cannot destroy, or destroy the people they cannot enslave ? Have you any better right to desolate their country, than they have to desolate yours ? Shall the strong never cease to oppress the weak ? When shall slavery and war be for ever banished from Christendom ? when shall liberty, civil and reli- gious and tranquillity, prevail in all parts of our world ? Then happy Vv^orld indeed ! Do not the oppressor and the oppressed belong to one spe- cies of beings ? Do not the Africans possess the same specific nature, the same faculties and pow- ers, corporal and mental, the lame attachments and aversions, sensations and feelings, with the inhabitants of Asia, Europe, and America? Is it not a prevailing sentiment among all the nations of mankind, that all men, as they come into the world, are equal ? Does not this equality compre- hend Adam's family from his first born, to his youngest son, with all his countless intermediate children ? Are not all subsequent distinctions ad- ventitious and accidental ? Are not the innumer- able millions of mankind, members of one family, stnd children of one father? Was it ever known, 152 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. was it ever heard, that one child of a family had a right to enslave another ? No. Such a right never did, never can exist. Vain is it to plead innocent. That yo\i never embrued your hands in the blood of an African, may be true. That you never, with your own hands, did htrd or bruise, cut or l^^cerate. a poor slave, may also be true. But, though you never, in yourowr rtr- sons, committed murder or cruelty ^if you siltntly connive at these things, if you do not v^hat you can to prevent them in your governments, or agents of whatever description, you are accessary to them ; in the estimation of an impartial God, you are ^inlty : and he has solemnly declared, that he vjul ky no means clear the guilty. As a strong presum.ption, that the barbarities committed by your governors, factors a^d agents abroad, v. ill be .1-cedto account of the nation, is it not a matter of suS.ci2nt notoriety, that the perpetrators, instead of being brought to speedy justice as the laws both of God and man require, hav2 been in cert^^in instances, concealed and screened from the j entities of the law, among yourselves ; even in some of your own capitals t Christian nations, take warning. Christian pow- ers, exert your in^uence and authority for the suppression of vice, ttiat threatens the anihilation PRELIMINART ESSAY. 18S ^f the greatest kingdoms in Europe, and the en- couragement of virtue, that will consolidate their foundations. Look into the historic page, and see, as in a mirror, your perilous situation. You stand on a precipice ; deep is the abyss beneath. That you should fall into it, God forbid ! To see fruitful countries rendered a desert, populous cities reduced to a heap of ruins, how affecting the spectacle I Have not such disasters befallen the rnost favoured nations, and the most famous cities of antiquity ? Is not their God, and ours, as gracious to reward virtue, and as just to punish vice now, as ever he was ? Then ; Christ- endom, fear I Enslavers, oppressors, murderers of mankind, tremble ! Slavery, oppression, mur- der, God eternally hates. Such cruelties he can, and he w'dl punish. If just, just to his word, just to himself, just to his creatures, he must do it, he cannot but do it. May a sincere repentance, a speedy and exemplary reformation be the hap- py means of preventing the ruin you have incurred ! Thus was sinful Nineveh spared ; and thus may you be saved from impending ruin. By the authority of heaven, by the terrors and by the mercies of the Almighty, I adjure you to consider your ways ; to repent and reform ; -to suppress speedily, effectually, and finiJly sup- press, in all your territories, oppression and cru- 184 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. city, of every name, and of every form ! Whom do you, by your emisaries, enslave, oppress, and murder? I tell you the sons and daughters of Adam ; and Adam was the son of God. Is a child supposed, in temper and conduct, to re- semble its father ? Man was formed in the like' ness^ and after the image^ of his divine Maker. Shall the rational offspring of God be degraded to a level with brutes ; and, in various instances, treated worse than brutes ? And shall not their common father be aifronted, and to an awful de- gree, offended ? The thought of his displeasure, and severe, but just resentment, who can bear ? A sudden reverse of fortune may befal you. Far is it from unprecedented or uncommon, for individuals, families, nations, in great dignity and power, to be suddenly sunk to a state of al- most unequalled adversity and wretchedness. Unacquainted, indeed, is he with the history of mankind, to whom examples of such sudden re- verses, are not familiar. Highly favoured have the nations of Christendom been. Flourishing is the present state of many of these nations. But how precarious is worldlv prosperity ! The great- er the height of prosperity any nation has at- tained, the more dreadful its downfal, when prosperity is changed into adversity. What PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 185 is the history of the world, but a long cata- logue of such vicissitudes, revolutions and chang- es ? The fashion, external form and appearance, of this world passeth away. How often, and how suddenly, is the scene changed ! In every age, and in every country, new forms and appear- ances are seen. Christians of every denomina- tion ; men of every description ; your prospe- rity and happiness I ardently wish. Happy may you all be in time ! Happy may you all be, when time is no more. As my former connexion with Great Britain, and present attachment to it, naturally inspire me with the warmest wishes for its welfare, I cannot but take the liberty, before I dismiss this subject, to expostulate, for a few moments, with the Bri- tish ministry, and the members of both houses of parliament, on the iniquity and dangerous conse- quences, of the toleration, I might have said en- couragement, which they give to the commerce and slavery of the human race, particularly the African. I write, or endeavour to write, pure nature : my pen and my soul are reciprocally combineddn exhibiting the simple truth, and he must be wil- fully blind, who will not see it. I allow that the 186 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. sophistry of philosophical unbelievers, as well as the virulence of invective, requires to be deco- rated with the brilliancy of diction, majesty of sentiment, sublimity of stile, flippancy of lan- guage, and the flowers of rhetoric ; but plain truth is most resplendent when delivered in plain terms — and such is the nature of our understand- ing, that we cannot refrain from admiring it when most clearly discriminated ; we are forced to acquiesce, and are no longer free to doubt ; and this impossibility to doubt is called conviction, evidence, demonstration. We cannot appeal from it without ceasing to be reasonable ; to doubt contrary to all reason, is extravagance ; to pretend to doubt when the evidence leaves doubt- ing impossible, is adding insincerity to folly, is the quintessence of absurdity, and is an insult to common sense 1 ! Can any person doubt the in- consistency of slavery ? It is impossible. PRELIMINARY ESS AT. 187 To the British Ministry and the Members of both Houses of Parliament, Gentlemen, SENSIBLE I am that I now address the most respectable, the most illustrious, and the most in- intelligent of men. With great diffidence on my own part, and with great deference to you, do I now appear before you. Great is the power , distinguished are the opportunities, of doing good to the brave nation, over which you preside, and to the world of mankind, in the east and the west, the north and the south, which an all-dispo- sing Providence has put into your hands ; and, when the day of final retribution shall arrive, you will be approved or disapproved, rewarded or punished, according as you shall then be found to have employed your authority, your talents, and your influence, in a v/orthy or unworihy manner. Of great magnitude and importance is the poli- tical vessel, which )-ou have undertaken to steer. Tempestuous is the ocean on which you navigate. Dangerous are the rocks and quicksands to which you are [exposed, while your political horizon seems impregnated with impending storms. The Omniscient, gendemen is my witness, that 188 PRELIMIxVARY ESSAY. the freedom I use with you, far from originating in disrespect for your persons or station, disaffec- tion to your sovereign or government, is the na- tural effect of the regard I entertain for you, and the zeal, which uniformly and irresistibly con- stiains me to exert m3'Self, on all occasions, to promote, to the utmost extent of my power, the happiness of that great nation, of which I once ".vas a member, and for which I still retain a par- tialit3% To plead in behalf of one form of civil government, or to oppose another, is no part of my present design. Between men and measures, it is of importance ever to distinguish. Despo- tism, tyranny, cruelty, under what name soever it may appear, or in what form soever it may be assimilated and operate, I detest. To it I own m.yself a determined enemy. With it I am re- solved to be eternally at war. I speak, I act from principle, not prejudice ; from humanity and reason, not superstition or fanaticism. Actu- ated by a natural propensity to compassion for the distressed part of mankind, and zeal for the honour of human nature, as it subsists in every son and daughter of Adam. I fecL I cannot but feel an abhorrence of the commerce and slave- ry of mankind, in every quarter of the world. What ! men and women sold and bought 1 Kas the specific difference betVv^een the human kind, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 18^ and the brutal, ceased ? Are men no longer men, but brutes ? By whom are human beings Ijought, and by whom sold ? By whom is the scandalous traffic carried on? Is there a people under heaven sufficiently barbarous and cruel to engage in it ? Yes ; and a nation called Christian too. Is not a part of your owm mercantile interest concerned in it ; and do you not allow, if not encourage them in it ? A set of baptised infidels, Christian cannibals, among yourselves, are permitted, and with impunity too, to enslave, oppress, and murder, thousands of human beings, in Africa, and in the islands of America, and on the pas- sage from the former to the latter every year. British Legislators ! permit me to remind you of what is greatly your duty and your interest : to you, and only you, an enslaved, an oppressed, a groaning, a dying race, in your West-India isl- ands, look up for relief. Shall they, can they, look in vain ? I pray, I hope not. You are men of feeling ; men of honour j men of moral recti- tude. Can you suffer your own flesh ; can you suffer human nature, to be debased to a level with the brutal ? Surely not. Of great antiquity j of universal authority, is the law, zvhosoever s/ied- deth man's blood, hij man shall his blood be shed. Why is the shedding of the blood of a man, not R 2 190 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. the shedding of the blood of a brute, punished with death ? To the law itself, the reason of it is immediately subjoined by the sacred historian ; for in the image of God, adds he, made he man. What distinguished honours and prerogatives be- long to human nature, in all to av horn it appertains, and in whom it subsists ! Essential, unextinguish- able, eternal, is the distinction between the hu- man species and the brutal. Has God unaltera- bly distinguished, and shall man dare to confound them ? To yourselves, gentlemen, I submit the great question, whether the commerce, and con- sequent slavery, of the unhappy Africans, in which a number of your subjects are concerned, do not, almost totally, destroy the natural distinc- tion between men and brutes ; and sink the for- mer to an equality with the latter. Is human na- ture woefujly degraded r Do you not feel for the degradation of it ? What ! not feel for the affront and abuse of your own nature ! Your pretensions to honour, integrity, impartiality, and candour, are high, and, I trust, in most instances, just. y Do not misapprehend me. I am no anarchist Vor leveller. Gradations among men were known \in earliest ages ; and will obtain to the latest. Without subordination, I know, society cannot subsist. To distinctions and titles I am no ene- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 101 II my. But for the natural, unalienable, common privileges of men, as men, in contradistinction, I and in superiority to brutes, I plead; to my last breath, I will plead. The impressions made on my mind, by the unparalleled barbarities com- mitted on the enslaved, oppressed, exiled sons of Africa, which I have witnessed, tinie is not suf- ficiently long to efface. I consider myself under peculiar obligations to attempt their relief, though I should attempt it in vain. May the sovereign Disposer of all human events put it in the hearts of those who have authority and power, to send them an effectual and speedy redress of their heavy grievances, and alleviation of their accu- mulated miseries ! With this benevolent view, for this salutary purpose, as well as to accelerate the total abolition of the slave trade, I now ad- dress you. Have you not power to alleviate the miseries of the unhappy slaves in your own colo- nies? I know, all the world knows, you have. The property of the planters in their slaves, and dominion over them, have you not, by law, sanc- tioned? But have you made equal provision for the protection and safety of the poor slaves ? You know, we all know, you have not. Remember, gentlemen, he, who made, and is to judge, you and them, is 7io respecter of persons. The poor are as near, and as dear to him, as the rich. Is 192 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. not the will, the capricious, barbarous, cruel, bloody will of the masters, in fact, the law of the slaves ? Wretched beings ! How forlorn, how distressed, how cruel, is their lot ! From what principle, for what purpose, did the sovereign Ru- ler of the universe, raise you to the honour, and invest you with the power, of legislators ? Was it to encrease the misery of any part of the hu- man species ? Was it not rather to administer justice, afford protection, and promote the hap- piness of all under your jurisdiction, of what sta- tion or condition, country or com.plexion, soev- er, they be ? Do not these things belong to the very nature, design, and end of civil government, be it monarchical, aristocratical, republican, or democratic? You know, that the primary design of society and civil law, is for the equal protection of the inhabitants of a state. Slavery, therefore, must be incompatible both v/ith social law and society. Vain is it for you to object, that you have actually enacted laws in behalf of the slaves as well as their masters. True ; but what is the amount of these lav/s ? Are they impartial, fair, and adequate to the end which they are proposed to accomplish ? To yourselves I submit the de- cision. You cannot, I know you cannot, without a blush, answer in the affirmative. Review your laws, still in force, for regulating your slaves in PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 193 Jamaica ; and your laws in force in Virginia, while it was a colony of the British empire. Of the laws relative to both, I have produced a spe- cimen in the former part of this work. Review them, and say, whether they be not laws wiiich it befitted a Nero or a Draco, rather than a Bri- tish parliament, to enact ? I have, in the foregoing pages, given a speci- men, and only a small specimen, of the barbarous cruelties of the West-India planters to their un- happy slaves. A full recital would occasion a shock too great for humanity to bear. But, on this part of the subject, you are not v»'ithout suffi- cient inform*ation. You know what stands on your own records, and on the docket at Guild- hall.* Has providence assigned to you the im- * This refers to a case, that was, in the most unexpected pro* vidential manner, discovered by a trial at Guildhall, in the year 1783. The master, I ought to have said inhuman monster, of a slave-ship, had over-shot his port in Jamaica, and, under pretext of viranting water before he could beat up again, ordered his mate to throw overboard forty-six slaves handcuffed; and his diaboli- cal order was immediately executed. Two days after he com- manded thirty-six more to be thrown overboard; and, at the end of other two days, forty more. All which infernal orders were instantaneously obeyed. Afterwards ten others, who had been permitted, unfettered, to take an airing on deck, indignantly- plunged into the ocean after their countrymen. After all, this 194 PRELIiyilNARY ESSAY. portant trust of protecting, and promoting the hap- piness of all within your extensive dominions ? Has he put it in your power to do what is incum- bent upon you? Do the oppressed cry to you for relief? Why do you not hear the cry of miserj and woe ? Can you return any answer ? Can you assign any reason ? Has not slavery continued, already, far too long ? Long will posterity re- member the period at which the Portuguese corn- murderous crew brought into port with them four hundred and eighty gallons of water. This monster of a captain had the ef- frontery ro commence a suit against the underwriters, in order to recover the neat value of the slaves he had, with such unexam- pled barbarity, murdered; and his mate, \rho gave evidence against him in court, had the impudence, even at the bar of one of the most august tribunals on earth, to boast, and to boast with impunity, of his prompt obedience to the master's commands. Human nature, how art thou fallen ! how degraded and brutal- ized! Africans, hard is your lot ! We have heard ot slave-tra- ders, after purchasing their slaves from the African chiefs, treat- ing them with more than brutal cruelty, in their own country, during a fatiguing journey of hundreds of miles, through woods and forests, to the Guinea- ships. We have heard of their flog- ing some to death ; and others, because they refused food, they cut in pieces, and forced their companions to eat them. We have, in short, heard of individual slaves being thrown over- board alive; but the above instance seems to exceed every thing we have either seen, read, or heard. The monster, the master of the ship, might have two objects in view ; to gratify his own more than infernal malevolence, and to defraud the underwriters. PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 191? mcnced the infamous trade, and your own Haw- kins, like them, stimulated by a thirst for gold, followed their unhappy example. Now the far greater part of this criminal and disgraceful traf- fic is engrossed by your merchants in Liverpool and other places. With how great truth and pro- priety does an inspired writer affirm, the love of money is the root of all evil! That the best inform- ed, the most improved, the most generous nation in the world, should encourage, or tolerate, a trade which does disgrace, and is an indelible stain to human nature, must be matter of aston- ishment to friends and foes. But, gentlemen, the question recurs — Why do you not interpose your authority, and employ your power, to remedy this enormous and alarm- ing evil ? Never, till retention and reflection to- tally fail me, can I be silent on this topic. The retrospect of the horrid scenes, which duty has obliged me to witness, haunts my mind, and op- presses my spirits, night and day. Are there obstacles, pretended insuperable ob- stacles, which lay in the way of an immediate to- tal abolition of the commerce and slavery of the human race ? Can there be an obstacle or an ob- jection to an immediate melioration of the con- t£Q rRELIMINART ESSAY. ditioti of the slaves ? It is impossible. Suppos- ing, then, though I do not admits that you can- not, at present, totally abolish slavery, why do you, for a moment, delay to alleviate the insup- portable sufferings of your wretched slaves ? Here is a great number of forlorn mortals ; forced from their own beloved country, detained in servitude and misery, from which death alone is expected to relieve them. No human helper or comforter can they find. You, and you alone, under God, have power to relieve them. Why will you not do it ? O that I could exhibit to your view the thousanth part of their miseries, suf- ferings, and woes, of which I have been a specta- tor, and which my imagination still paints to me, in colours which I am utterly unable to express ! Most wretched of the wretched 1 To such for- lorn wretches, will you, can you, refuse relief? Forbid it. Justice ; forbid it, Compassion j forbid it, Heaven ! Can you withhold compassion from them ; and, either in life, or at death, ask mercy from God? I repeat the question, I insist for an answer ; if you shew no mercy to them, how can you expect mercy from God? Will you deny them not only mercy, but justice ? You must al- low me to tell you, that you may deny them jus- tice J but God will do justice both to you and to PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 197 them. The oppressed, his mercy, in unison with his justice, will reward ; the oppressor, his jus- tice, without disparagem«nt to his mercy, will punish. From the tyrants, despots, and oppressors of former ages, receive instruction and warning. Behind them they have left numerous monu- ments of their barbarity and cruelty ; and are re- membered by posterity, with detestation and hor- ror. For their barbarity and cruelty, God and man hated them alive, and hate them now dead. But of you, gentlemen, / hope better things, though I thus speak* Are you not, gentlemen, bound, by the law of remunerative justice and gratitude, to make greater and better provision for the accommoda- tion and comfort of your poor, but profitable slaves ? Need I reraind you of the vast sums, which you periodically receive into your ex- chequer, raised by duties on sugar and rum ? Of the immense sums, which proprietors of^estates in the West-Indies, receive annually, and spend in great mrgnincence and splendor, in ycur me- tropolis, I d'j not TiOw s?;y any thir^g. Whence is all this great treasure ? How is it raised ? The answer ia easy j by the sweat, :he blocd^ the live* 198 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. of your poor, hungry, naked, oppressed slaves. Are they so infinitely advantageous to you ? And can you refuse ; can you delay, to hear the cry of their oppression, their sweat, and their blood ? Surely not. Have you not, as a nation, been long distinguished and famous, for a free, independ- ent,generous spirit? Isyour constitution civil and religious, your glory among the nations of the world ? Do you suffer no slavery at home ? Why do you allow it abroad ? Do you, year after year, concert the best measures, which your wisdom can devise, for the prosperity and hap- piness of your white subjects, at home and abroad? V/hy overlook, neglect, and oppress, your black subjects ? Is there, can there be, such merit in one colour, and such demerit in another ? Will you arraign the justice ; will you impeach the wisdom j will you affront the goodness, of that great Being, who is equally the creator and preserver, the friend, nay, father, of all the na- tions and individuals of mankind, white and black, and every intermediate shade. Does not your interest, gentlemen ; and does not the interest of the nation, call loudly upon you to refrain from every kind, and every mode, of oppression ; and, not only to do justly, but to love mercy? Has ill-gotten wealth, have riches, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 199 acquired by fraud and oppression, ever afforded solid or permanent satisfaction to their owners? Search the records of antiquity, review the an- nals of foriner times ; ask men of information and experience ; and they will tell you. Have the legislators of other countries, encouraged or tolerated tyranny and oppressioa ; shutting their ears, and hardening their hearts, against the cries of the poor and oppressed ;— and prospered ! No, their designs, heaven has ever justly frustrated. Between sin, of every kind, and an adequate pun- ishment, the connexion has long been estab- lished. To injustice and cruelty, bloodshed and war, what a woeful propensity is there in deprav- ed human nature ! Cases, indeed, occur, in wliich war is necessary. But, in what case, can it be necessary, can it l^e lav/ful, for one part of the human family to enslave and oppress another ? Specious things have been advanced by the advo- cates of slavery. But all reasonings in favour of it, ever have been, and ever must be, sophistical and delusory. They are calculated and intended to impose on the unwary and credulous part of mankind. But to every person of discernment and penetration, the fallacy of them must be siiBficiently obvious. An action, in itself sinful, no emergency, no pretended necessity, can jus- tify or warrant. Such is the commerce with the too PRELIMINARY ESSAY. consequent slavery, of human beings. The infa- mous traffic, thousands, nay millions, to whom providence has not given power, ardently wish totally to suppress, and finally abolish. But on you, gentlemen, it has devolved the important task. Who knows, but that, for this very pur- pose, it has raised you to that elevated and hon- ourable place, w^hich you now fill ? Both the elevation of mankind, on the one hand, and on the other, their degradation, are acts of that ope- rative providence, which extends to all worlds, and is employed about creatures of every rank and order. Your advancement to places of the highest legislative authority in the British em- pire, is not the effect of blind chance. No, pro- motion comes from no such quarter or cause ; but that God, who made, and who governs our world, and all others, setteth up one^ and putt eth down another. He doeth according to his xvill^ which none can control, in the armies of heaven^ and among the inhabitants of the earth; none can staij his powerful, providential hand ; or say unto him, xvhat dsest thou P Remember, gentlemen, HE who advanced 3'ou, will require of you an ac- count of your improvement of the advantages, and opportunities, which your elevated station affords you. May you give an account, which shall be attended with joy to yourselves, and t9 PRELIMINARY KSSAY* 201 that great nation, to which you ricw give laws ; atid whose happiness you are under every possi- ble obligation to promote. Permit me, gentlemen, before I have done, though it mayseem to verge towards tautology, to repeat my entreaties. I feel, and I feel in the most painful manner, the vast magnitude and infinite importance of the subject matter of this address. I must tell you, when you w^ink at the barbarous crimes of individuals, you make them national crimes ; and national sins are, and only can be, punished in this world ; national characters and civil distinctions being unknown in the eternal world. An individual tyrant is in .minority, what a government of them is in maturity. I-n- dividually and collectively they are guilty in the sight of the impartial God, and odious in the sight of all humane men. With unutterable re- gret do I now take a retrospective view of the inexpressible wretchedness of your slaves ; and reflect that their wrongs have remained unre- dressed for hundreds of yeai*3. Methinks Liberty blushes, Humanity weeps, Philantrophy mourns, and Indignation frowns, at the horrid thought. May I flatter myself, gentlemen, may I indulge the pleasing hope, that you will speedily alleviate the distresses of your wretched slaves, and, as s 2 302 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. you were the first to rivet, you will be no less for- ward to break asunder, their fetters ? By this you will do to yourselves, and to the great nation, to whom you give laws, immortal honour. Could the British nation but once behold, what I have often beheld, this would inevitably be the case. Oh, that I could express across the Atlantic ocean, their mighty wrongs, miseries and woes ! A greater variety of matter has forced itself into this production, and it has been drawn to a great- er length, than I at first contemplated. But the discussion of political subjects I have endeavour- ed, as far as possible, to avoid. May my ad- dresses accomplish the end for which I have pre- pared them ! Especially may this be the case in your nation, to whose information I have had a special respect ; and in whose metropolis I in- tend to have them republished. Will you, gentlemen, disgrace your nature, dis- graxe your nation, and all Christendom ; and, w^hich is still a higher consideration, will you bring an eternal odium on that faith, of w^hich 3^ou profess to be the defenders ! ! Have you not oftener than once risked your political existence to maintain the balance of power in Europe ? And will you, can you refuse to enact one law to alleviate the miseries of the exiled sons of Africa, and to restore them to the rank of human beings, PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 203^ and to society ? How shall I move your compas- sion ? I must repeat, too often it cannot be re- peated, that you have in various instances, preci- pitated your nation into all the horrors of a bloody war. How lavish of your blood and of your treasure. But lavish for what ? For the protec- tion of strangers, and the eventual aggrandise- ment of ungrateful rivals ; whose good will you enjoyed while, and only while you were useful to them. But the poor wretches, whose cause I plead, linger out a most miserable life only for your profit, and the encrease of your national wealth. They have no refuge, no hope, no com- fort, no resource, no friend, to whom they can flee, but you, and you alone. Methinks, had I the honour of pleading in your presence, I could more pathetically depict their unutterable mise- ries and woes, and plead for them with tears, which would more than speak. I would ask you gentlemen, is there not a sufficiency, a super- abundance of evil, natural and moral, already in the world, without your augmenting the fatal curse, and arming it with triple destruction ? Is the journey through life so pleasant? Are its paths so smooth and delightful, strewed with flowers, and carpeted with roses j as to render it a duty incumbent on you to plant it with thorns and briars ? Ask the heart, that is wounded by Z04f PRELIMISAKY ESSAY. untimely distress, and latent sorrow, proceeding from a variety of causes. Such a heart kiiovos its oivn bitterness. There is a coming world, in whicb the potentate and the peasant will be upon an equa- lity. The time is approaching, when sickness will seize, and medicine fail, the high, as well as the low ; when the former must leave their riches- and their honours, their sceptres and their crowns^ for others to inherit them. Then will you be able to ascertain, whether there be not a superabun- dance of calamities and woes in the world. Gen- tlemen, reflect in time, attend to your own best interests, and those of the brave nation under your jurisdiction. The simplified plan I have suggested for the al- leviation of the unhappy condition ©f your slaves, may possibly be an introduction to a more gene- rous one. Keeping the local prejudices and ava- ricious objects of the friends of slavery in viev^, I proposed mine on a narrow scale ; and, there- fore, I cannot but indulge a hope, that it will be adopted, or one, on a broader scale, substituted in its room. Not all I have thought, nor half what I have written, is here particularized. On consideration of the selfishness of this degenerate age, I have been necessitated to suppress many a generous sentiment. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 205 Gentlemen, cases occur, and crimes are com- mitted, to which all language, however sonorous, is unequal. Such must your crime be, if you do not immediately concert some eflfectual measures for affording relief to the oppressed sons and daughters of Africa in your colonies. Among other considerations, permit me to repeat the sen- timent, though it has been previously anticipated, recollect the vast revenue you raise from their labours. What think you of two millions sterling annually deposited in the exchequer, from the du- ties on sugar and rum, made by the wretched slaves ? Not to mention nine hundred thousand more, raised from the trade of the colonies ; and the planters who spend their immense incomes in your metropolis ; or the eleven hundred thou- sand for incidental expences. Have you, for many years, received such prodigious sums from the sweat, the blood, the lives, of millions of wretched slaves in your colonial territeries ; and will you, can you, refuse or delay to take their wretched case into your most serious considera- tion ? What must such a refusal be in the esti- mation of Heaven? What w^ill it be in the judg- ment of the friends of humanity on earth. What name shall I give to it? Shall I call it injusticje,. oppression, robbery, murder ? What Britain now is, Rome once was, the mistress of the world. 206 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. Plunder enriched her ; and the millions whom she oppressed rendered her popular. But what was the end of her riches and her popularity ? Whenthe hand of Heaven was stretched out, she nodded 1 she fell 1 she crumbled into ruins I Of her former magnificence, how few vestiges re- main ! But, perhaps, gentlemen, I addrcso you in too serious a strain. Shall I, therefore, ex- change religious for political topics ? The latter are, perhaps, more congenial to your temper, and more agreeable to your taste. Those who take nature and experience for their guide, in these matters, are not easily deceived. Under such auspices, may I not boldly affirm, that those who rob the poor are not likely to prosper ? This I have often had occasion to observe, in the course of my life and travels. Strikingly is this observation exemplified and evinced in the case of a privateer on a succesoiul cruize. By plun- der, her men are suddenly made rich ; but how unsatisfactory and short-lived their riches. Hov/ often do crimes and their consequent punish- ments run parallel with each ciher? What a pri- vateer is in miniature, a hostile nation is in magnitude. Are nations stimulated to war for the sake of plunder ? Has such plunder ever prov- ed a source of solid, satisf.'ctory, and permanent wealdi^ Cases have occurred, in which war was IRELIMINARY ESSAT. 207 necessary, and has been undertaken with the ap- probation of Heaven. The protection of life and property may require it. But when no advan- tage or security can be obtained by war, but what may be accomplished in peace, war is unneces- sary and unlawful. The infamous practice of du- elling must not every well-disposed man detest? What is a duel, but a public war in miniature ? Individual suicide, who does not reprobate? But what is an unprovoked, unnecessary, wantonly cruel war ? Is it any thing else, any thing better, than what individual suicide is in miniature ? What can be more criminal than an unprovoked, wanton, cruel war ? It opens a vein at which the nation bleeds, perhaps, bleeds to death. When the tempest of national passion subsides, and is succeeded by calm reflection, what painful sensa- tions must embitter the recollection of former follies and crimes ? What advantages accrue to the nation ? Let facts speak : an accumulation pf national debt and public taxes. ' But even this is not all. The destruction of useful lives, and impoverishment of national re- sources, are not the only bad effects of v;ar. It indisposes the mind for the cultivation of refined sentiments, and more manly pursuits. Daily spec- tacles of woe, the cruel and vociferous intelligence 208 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. of bloody battles j the sight of enslaved Africans, under the lash, and loaded with chains, must blunt the edge of the softer feelings of humanity ; and render in a degree tolerable, what otherwise would be horrible. What mind can conceive, or tongue express, the horrors of war or of slavery ? When the man* according to God's own heart, had the awful choice of three, the most fearful calamities known in our world, he chose pestilence itself, with all its concomitant horrors, in preference to war. For centuries past, Europe has been awfully pun- ished with almost continual destructive wars. There must have been, on her part, a sinful cause. God does not afflict willmgly^ nor without neces- sity, grieve the children of men. For her crimes, no doubt, has Europe been enveloped in all the horrors of bloody, revolutionary, cruel wars. Extensive wars, and extensive epidemics, have been observed, not unfrequently, to accompany each oth^r. Remarkable has the eighteenth cen- tury been for wars, earthquakes, inundations, and epidemical distempers. In many places, the earth has been, by pestilence, swept as with the besom of destruction. Have these awful plagues been poured out on the earth for nought, or with- out design ? Far from it. Sin is the procuring cause, and the reformation of mankind the salutary • David, king of Israel. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 209 end. But misfortunes and experiments are lost on mankind, when they produce neither reflec- tion nor reformation. Evils, like poisons, have their uses ; and there are diseases which other medicines are unable to cure. One word more, gentlemen, and then I have done. How false an idea do many governments aflix to the com- plex term national honour P A false idea of this has caused millions of lives to be sacrificed, and immense treasure expended. What many call honour, is a foolish and fatal pride. This has oc- casioned many fatal duels between individuals, and many bloody wars between nations. In this instance, do not unenlightened and uncivilized nations, both in a religious and philosophical view, excel enlightened and christianized nations ? To know what ought to be intended and understood by the honour of a nation, v/e need only recollect what constitutes the honour of an individual. Is a virtuous character the best character of an indi- vidual ? It must no less be the best character of a nation. Reflect seriously, gentlemen, on this sen- timent. Then say, whether it be competent for you to authorize or encourage, even to permit and tolerate, the barbarities and other crimes of your armies or agents, either in the East-Indies, Africa, or the West-Indies. I'his is the para- mount point on which I hcive all along endeavour- 510 TKZLiyLISA^Y ESSA"!, ed to fix your attention ; the point in which all my expostulations with you centre ; the great ob- ject to which they all ultimately tend. May the Almighty sovereign of the universe give you clearly to see the infinite importance of this in- teresting subject ! May your official conduct be such as your consciences v/ill approbate when you are about to drop the curtain of mortality, and appenr at the awful tribunal of this King of kings I Finally, may ycu live the life, and die the death of the righteous ! ! c'' < ' < ■ ^ A recent act of the legislature of South-GarO" lina, which repeals the law that prohibited the im- portation of slaves into that state ; has made such a deep and lasting im.pression on my mind, that I cannot dismiss my subject, till I subjoin a few strictures on that truly unexpected, extraordinary^ and alarming measure. PRELIMIKART ESSAT. 211 Legislators of South Carolina ! YOUR conduct, in the instance adduced, I can assure you, has excited astonishment and con- sternation, from the one end of the federal Union to the other. Daring step I The period is not distant, at which, I am confident, your own con- sciences will reprobate your conduct with greater severity than I am either able or willing to do it. However, on this painful occasion, I cannot be al- together silent. Vice, in all the multifarious forms of which it is susceptible, ever has had, and ever v.ill have, its reprovers. Were reprov- ers totally to cease, methinks that, on such an oc- casion, the stones of the wall, or the beams of the house, could not forbear to cry out. Were you in the full exercise of your judgments and recol- lection, when you passed the execrable act? Bo- dies of men, as well as individuals, have their moments of infatuation, and insanity; I do not say ebriety. Do your own consciences, in your moments of serious reflection, if any such mo- ments you have, approbate your conduct? Or do they, in unison v/ith the general voice of your na- tion, and of mankind, reprobate it? Do you 212 PRELIMINARY ESSAT. know the origin, and natural effects, of slavery? Have you ever investigated the nature and ten- dency of the commerce and slavery of the human species, to sanction and promote which you have exerted your highest.h^gislati ve authority ? Or, is your detested act a sin of ignorance ? Have you never been informed of the content- ed and happy situation'of your wretched slaves, while they were in their own country ? Did they leave it of choice ? You know, or ought to know, that they are forced and dragged from it, as if they were horses or hogs. Do you knov/ who brought them into existence, and put them in pos- session of the country, from which, by your insti- gation, they have been torn? Who authorised you, or any set of men on earth, forcibly to de- prive them of the country, of v/hich Heaven gave them ample possession ? Shew your authority, if any authority you can pretend. Are not all your slave-traders, whom you encourage by what you call law, robbers ? Robbers such men cer- tainly are ; and robbers of the most infamous kind. Men did I call them ? Have they not for- feited the honourable appellation ? Shall I call them miscreants ? Do you know the means, the inhuman and base means, by which your traders procure these wretches for you t I advise you, PRELIMINARY ES3AT. 215 before you pass any more Up.vs in support of sla- very, to employ proper means for obtaining bet- ter information on the subject, thim you seem now to possess. Is there Tigraln^ one small ^r«/;2, of either jus- tice or benevolence, in your conduct to the unhappy slaves ? Do you employ, or encoura^^e traders to procure them ; or do you purchase them, v/ith an intention torendcrthcir condition in the world better than it vras ? Bo you intend to make them any compe;:sation for the injustice £nd oppression, to which you have compelled them to submit ? I do not y/ant an answer, I v/ill not either put you to the blush, or tempt you to become guilty of the most abominable hypo- crisy. But, v/here, by v/hoir.^ has a law been recently pasaedto authorize and encourage the commerce and slavery. of the African race ? Is there a go- vernm.ent on earth ; can there be one in Christen- dom, in the now enlightened and improved state of the world, that could have passed such a law ? Is it possible an individual villain, or a govern- ment of them, could sanction such a law? The fact does -iot admit cf a doubt. That such a lav/ lias lately been passed, and is now in full force T 2 214 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. and operation, we all know — the world knows. The fact cannot be concealed or denied. It has been passed in one of the free and independent states of America. Passed in America ! Enact- ed in a free and independent state 1 Call it no more a state of freedom. Slavery in a free state ! Are not freedom and slavery diametrically oppo- « site ! Americans ! talk no more of Asiatic or European despotism and tyranny; talk no more of the freedom of America. A country free, while a considerable part of its inhabitants are in ia state of the most humiliating and abject sla- very ! What a burlesque ! What an insult to ^common sense ! Your noble struggle for liberty, la few years ago, did you honour among your I foes as well as your friends. For liberty, Ame- ricans fought, and bled, and died. Rather than become slaves to an European power, you were ^ willing to shed the last drop of your blood. And I why, in the name of wonder, should Africans be imade slaves to you? Have not Africans as valid la natuial tide to liberty, as either Europeans or I Americans ? Are not the former children of the Isame Almighty Father, who, great in goodness, land good in greatness, is no respecter of persons. Are they not radically legitimate members of his august family equalh with the latter? Is not Africa, in fertility and natural advantages, a country not JRELIMINARY ESSAY. 215 i inferior either to Asia, Europe, or America? i Have not the Africans been, in the former part of C this work, both in a philosophical and theological I point of view, evinced to be, in mental capacities I and powers, equal to the inhabitants of the other ' quarters of our terraqueous globe ? That the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, w^ere made to be at the disposal, and subservient to the use, of man, revelation expresslyinforms us. But that one part of mankind was made to be at the disposal and subservient to the use of another, revelation and reason, by their joint stiffrage, deny ; and I defy all creation to prove. Gentlemen, for your own sakes, for the sake of suffering humanity, for the sake of your coun- try, for the sake of all Europe, the benevolent in- habitants of which view your recent official act with painful sensations, and the tyrannical inha- bitants of which exhibit your cruel measures as an excuse fortheir own barbarity, bethinkyourstlvesj review your late legislative conduct ; investigate the criminal nature, the fatal tendency, and ruin- ous effects of the commerce and subsequent sla- very of your human brethren. May the Father of light open the eyes of your minds, to see th^ 216 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. atrocity and turpitude of such an infernal com- merce ! Do I seem to treat you wich uncommon asperity of language? Scurrility of language I abhor ; but, on such a topic, asperity of lan- guage is unavoidable. Nay, on such a subject we labour under •* penury of language. Lan- guage fails; and is almost unmeaning. The en- ormity of your conduct, I confess, I krow no words sufficient to express. Conception in this case, is too big for expression. The time is coming, when you will see the deformity, and detestable nature, of your conduct in mere strik- ing colours, than the flowers of rhetoric, than nic'-tal eloquence, than the greatest master ofde- scription can now paint it. You talk loud of the tyrants; of Europe ; and hold out your country as an asylum for the re- fugees, from European oppression. But c:sk emigrants from Europe, after ihey have seen the maiiy hundreds and thousands among you, whoUi you have forced into the most grievous servitude, and contine to the hardest labour, their compara- tive opinion of European and American freedom. Their sentiments and emotions I know. "With indignation against you, and commisseration to their poor fellow mortals, whom you oppress, their breasts swell, their hearts overflow. You PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 217 disgrace your country ; and miserably disappoint them. N.iy, your legislative conduct is both un- just and ungenerous ; unjust, as it respects the poor Affricans who have to toil for their indolent, dissipated tyrants ; and ungenerous as it respects the poor white people, who have to labour for their own support. What do you think of the conduct of your fel- low-citizens in the eastern states ? What a con- trast between their conduct and yours I By the emancipation of their slaves, they have done a lasting honour to themselves, to their country, and to human nature. They have made glad the hearts of all the friends of humanity and religion. You have brought a stigma on your character, which, to the mortification of your posterity, his- tory will transmit to latest times. You have made sad the hearts of all your cotemporaries, Avho have any regard either for humanity or re- ligion. Of the recent arrival of three vessels from Africa, with eight hundred and seventy-two wretched victims to your avarice and cruelty, who were landed in Charleston, we heard some time ago. Unhappy beings ! May the Father of mercies^ to w^iose controul all despots, tyrants, and oppressors, are necessarily subjected, com- misserate your conditiou ! tit PRELIM IN ahy ess at. Do you ever, gentlemen, peep through the cur- tain of futurity ? Possible future occurences, the human mind can anticipate. Do you ever ad- vert to the probable dreadful eifect of the conti- nued oppression, and the encrease of slaves in your country r'^To occasion, or encourage, insur- rection or sedition, is infinitely remote from my intention. Every thing of the kind, all good men detest, and, to the utmost of their power, sup- press. But the nature of the Africans, no less than that of other nations, is human. What hu- man nature is, we all Irnovv^ ; and what effect op- pression necessarily has upon it, we know. That the /ifricans arc as Ciipabic of gratitude and of re- venge, as any other people in the world, does not admit of a dispute ; and that they have more po- litical information than any of their colour in the West-Indies, might er^ily be demonstrated. Facts are irrefragable proofs. The fate of St. Domingo is fresh in all their minds, as v/ell as in all our memories, and if you are not judicially in- fatuated, v/ill prove a solemn warning to you. That the tragical, the bloody scene, which has re- cently been acted in thct unhappy island, should * To demonstrate this topic, many incontestible argument* migbt be adduced, but prudence forbids the investigatioi:: people should prudently think for themselves, what wouiu be cousiucred impolitic for me to write. PRELIMINARY ESSAT. 219 ever be re-acted among us, God forbid ! I do not prophecy ; I caution and warn, nay, 1 studiously avoid both the oriential stile of aniiquity, and the prophetical language of divinity. May the inhabi- tants of your, and of the neighbouring states, take timcus waraing. Gentlemen, for God's sake ! review your late legisl.itive coi^d-jct ; l)e ashamed; and speedily rcc.iil Vvhat you l-..\c done. Know that the coni- n^erce of hutiian beings is utttrly subversive of the specific and ♦r'ssential prerogatives of human nature, and politically pregnant with the most fti- i:l and in':\ ii-ibW cons-::'quenvcG, Vrb - u 3 ou make a human beii.g a j-:l:.ive, you disgrace } our own natures, and viriu'.lb. ni'ditate gg.dnst 3 our own interest. Remembn, that crutlly of every kind, is the objcLt oi the sirongest j'versicn of that Be- ing, whose darling attribute, whose brightest glory, is mercy. 0<' the oppressed he ev.r has been, and ever v/ill be, the pa:ron i.ivj the ii iend. While you oppress his creatures, -•-.i; aifront hirn, and may expect him to be your eneniv; and a most dangerctis enemy he is. Recollect the fearful doom and punishment cf the oppres- sors of former times, and other countries. Read the history of the world and tremble ! Your guilt is flagrant ; your crime is attended with high ag- 220 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. gravations. Let your repentance, therefore, be speedy ; and your reformation exemplary. For which vou shall not cease to have my warmest wishes, and most ardent prayers. May universal liberty, civil and religious, prevail in South Ca- Carolina, in all her sister states, and throughout the whole world! I must, once more, beg the indulgence of my readers, while I suggest a hint, and only a hint, to the Congress of the United States. That Con- gress may, without delay, take this suhjtct into their most serious consideration, and adopt such judicious measures, as, to them, shall appear the most proper and eligible, for meliorating tlie condition of the poor slaves, and putting a period, with all convenient speed to slavery, in their ter- ritories, is my earnest wish, devout prayer, and pleasing expectation. With great satisfaction do I reflect, that the year 1208, is not now very dis- tant. The appro-- ch of it opens a pleasing pro- spect to me, and to the other friends of humanity; and diffuses a degree of joy through the whole soul. 1 hat our prospects should be disappoint- ed, or our anticipated happiness frustrated, God forbid ! Yet alas, before that auspicious period 1 arrives, what thousands of Africans will be im- ' ported into South Caroiiiia, what thousands of PRELIMINARY ESSAY, 221 mortal enemies scattered through other states. Is not Congress under every obligation, which duty or interest can confer, to euibark in the cause ? The safety, the very existence of the nation, seems to require it. Have we not among us, and intermixed with us, five hundred thousand persons, who were, at least in their progenitors, dragged from their own beloved country ; forced into a grievous servitude in this land ; and, contrary to their most earnest desires, detained in it ? Is not liberty a most desirable thing, and the yoke of bondage galling, to every human being? Bo not our slaves consider themselves as opprest most cruelly, as well as unjustly opprest ? Do they not meditate revenge ? For wishing, for attempting, by just measures, to regain their libertv,who can blame them ? To their liberty they have as indis- putable a title, as to the vital air they breathe. Who can blame an individual man, or an armv of men, for attempting, by every lawful mean, to re- cover what is their own ? If a man be robbed, is it not lawful for him to recover the property of which he was, unjustly and forcibly, deprived ? The English are deeply and shamefully concern- ed in the slave trade ; but their situation, hu- manly speaking, is far less dangerous than ours. They allow slaves abroad ; but they tolerate none at home. To provide for the general safety of t2Z PRELIMINARY ESSAY. the nation is, doubtless, the duty of Congress. Let them take warning from the fate of others. Examples of national judgments occur in every page of the history of the world. Hispaniola in general, and St. Domingo in particular, will long continue to be remembered. Impolitic in the highest degree, as well as intrinsically criminal, is the oppression of the African slaves. Here an ample range of arguments opens. In a varie- ty of views, and from a variety of topics, might the impolicy of it be evinced. But I must, at present, forbear, and postpone the discussion. That a period is approaching, in which liberty, peace and religion, will universally flourish, is truly a consolatory consideration. But the Most High fulfils his designs, and accomplishes his pro- mises, by the intervention and agency of instru- ments and means. Happy would it be for them- selves, and for the world, if Christian powers would advert to what is competent for them, and incumbent upon them, for the happiness of man- kind, and the honour of that great Being, who is the common friend and father of all men, black as well as white. Does the one-colour naturally en- title to a life of idleness and dissipation i and the other subject to a life of cruel servitude and op- pression? God is not j and why should man be a PRELIMINART ESSAT. 223 respecter of persons ? Shall I not entertain the fond, the pleasing, hope, that Congress will, at their ensuing session, enter on the consideration of this truly important subject; and begin to make arrangements for the effectual relief of the oppressed, exiled sons and daughters of Africa? To the reader, the question will naturally oc- cur, Why has the author given us no account of the mode of treating slaves in the Spanish colo- nies, the southern states of North America, and other countries ? Suffice it to say in ansAver, the treatment of slaves in ail those countries is, in great part, similar to that in the English, French, Dutch, and other colonies, which I have visited; and of whose slaves I have spoken. The fact is, slavery, however modified or meliorated, is a bitter draught ; and, in its worst form, poisonous to mankind. In the representation I have given, my readers may see, as in a mirror, the state of slavery, both in the West-Indies, and in the American states. There is, however, this dif- ference, the African in North America suffers not a little from cold, from which his country- men in the West-India islands are exempted ; the climate in the latter being much more conge- nial to that of their native country than the for- mer. Far is the writer from wishing to give anr 224 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. offence ; bat injustice he must say, that, In many instances, the proprietors of plantations of tobac- co and rice in the southern states, '^^ have treated not only Africans, and convicts from Great Bri- tain, bat reputable, though poor, people, who, to pay for their passage from Europe, have been obliged to sell their services for five, though two years were more than an adequate compensation ; with as great severity as Africans suffer in the sugar islands. But this is not all ; though Ame- rica be a country in which provisions are supera- bundant, m.any of those unhappy beings in the southern states have been pinched in their dail}^ food. This is not all ; slave-holders in those states have confined to bard Labour, their own countrymen in iron chains. Indented ser- vants have been, on the most trifling occasions, tied up and cruelly lashed. They have been forced to drag iron wrings, of ten or twelve pounds weight,hammered round their ankles; and to sleep, as they could, with heavy iron chains, and crooks round their necks. Kere, hov/ever, I must observe, that the condition of the unhap- py slaves is tolerable or intolerable, as the m.aster * The citizens of the southern states in general, are by no means included in our animadversion, we firmly believe, many virtuous and honourable persons in those states, abhor slavery, and deprecate its concomitant evils, as much as any people. fRELTMlNART ESSAY. 225 is a man of clemency or cruelty. But, how sel- dom does it happen, that either the proprietors or the superintendants of slaves are men of hu- manity and feeling? Seldom, indeed, does this happen either in the West-India islands or the southern states. A master, an overseer of slaves, and yet a man of humanity ! Is not this a contra- diction ? From what I have seen in Georgia, the leeward islands, particularly Jamaica and Hispa- niola, the windward islands, particularly, Gre- nada, Si. Vincent, St. Christophers, Mountserrat, St. Eustatia, St. Bartholomew, and others, which I have visited ; and from information, verbal and written, concerning the usage of slaves in the southern states, and other places, which I have not seen, I solemnly declare, as in the presence of the Almighty Searcher of ail hearts, and final Judge of all men, and all their actions, that I never yet knew one masteror manager of slaves, includ- ing myself, till conscience effectually checked and stopt me in the criminal carreer, that treated them with any tolerable degree of humanity or tenderness. To expatiate on tlie forlorn condi- tion of slaves in the southern part of the United States, is unnecessary. Their hopeless situation caraiot be altogether unknown to the friends of humanity in an}- part of the Ur.ion. But, were the enslaved Africans treated with more huma- u 2 y curing Slav ^%l miles up tl C^|say, that I ii^O PRELlMIx\ARY ESSAY. ' nity in the southern states. I could not but'ask, can this be a sufticient compensation for the unequal- led hardships and miseries they suffered in their own country, in their way to the slave-ships ; and A'\on the middle passage ? What violent commo- . ytions, and sanguinary wars have been excited and "v fomented by the emissaries and agents of slave- •^raders, on the African shore ! and excited, fo- mented solely for the inhuman purpose of pro- ^ curing slaves 1 Though I have been a hundred the country, from the shore, I cannot ever savf any of those bloody engage- ments. W\.At< ^ The following is an account of one of their battles, as described by a trader, who w^as W'itness to the scene. " I was sent, with several , others in a small sloop up the river Niger, to ^'* purchase slaves: we had some free negroes with us in the practice ; and as the vessels are liable to frequent attacks from the negroes on one side of the river, or the Moors on the other, they are all armed. As we rode at anchor a long way up the river, we observed a large number of ne- groes in huts by the river's side, and for our own safety kept a wary eye on them. Early next morning we saw from our mast-head a numerous body approaching, with apparently but little or- PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 22f der, but in close array. They approached very fast, and fell furiously on the inhabitants of the town, who seemed to be quite surprized^ but nevertheless, as soon as they could get together, fought stoutly. They had some fire-arms, but made very little use of them, as they came di- rectly to close fighting with their spears, lances, and sabres. Many of the invaders were mount- ed on small horses ; and both parties fought for about half an hour with the fiercest animosity, exerting much more courage and perseverence than I had ever before been witness to amongst them. The women and children of the town clustered together to the water's edge, running, shrieking up and down v/ith terror, waiting the event of the combat, till their party gave way and took to the water, to endeavour to swim over to the Barbary side. They were closely pursued even into the' river by the victors, who, though they came for the purpose oi getting slaves, gave no quarter, their cruelty even prevailing over their avarice. They made no prisoners, but put all to the sword without mercy. Horrible indeed was the carnage of the vanquished on this occa- sion, and as we were within two or three hun- dred yards of them, their cries and shrieks affected us extremely. We had got up our an- chor at the beginning of the fray, and now stood 228 PRELIMINARY ESSAY. close in to the spot, where the victors, having followed the vanquished into the water, were continually dragging out and murdering those, whom by reason of their wounds they easily overtook. The very children, whom they took in great numbers, did not escape the massacre. Enraged at their barbarity, we fired our guns loaden with grape shot, and a volley of small arms among them, which effectually checked their ardour, and obliged them to retire to a distance from the shore ; from whence a few round can- non shot soon removed them into the woods. The whole river was black over with the heads of the fugitives, who were swimming for their lives. These poor wrt tches, fearing us as much as their conquerors, dived when we fired, and cried most lamentably for mercy. Having now effectually favoured their retreat, we stood back- wards and forwards, and took up several that were wounded and tired. All whose wounds had disabled them from swimming, were either butchered or drowned, before we got up to them. With a justice and generosity, 7iever I believe before heard of among slavers^ we gave those their liberty whom we had taken up, setting them on shore on the Barbaryside, among the poor re- sidue of their companions, who had survived the slaughter of the morning." PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 229 Slave-traders have the precaution to stand at a suilicient distance from the scene of danger and blood. On one occasion, however, while I, ano- ther white, and four black traders, were negoci- ating with the chief warriors of one of the Afri- ... can towH^V a«d-^:hey were regaling us with palm- [ 1 1 wine in a large verdant pavillion, an abrrri was given ; the warriors, in a moment, left us ; each took his weapons of war ; and, in two minutes, I saw them running as swiftly as deers, to the \etween good and evil, evil, moral ar.d penal, of the belief of a future state of rev/ards and puribhmenis ; uud vv'hat will ensue ? Universal anarchy, robberies, m'.;ssLJLrc s u'^;on nui'^sacrcs, d..soh:ticn and ruin. Denj- a Deit}', and you put ;dl the sinews of civil government ; you render it a weak, feeble, use- less thing. Without religion, mankind never were, never v/ill be, never can be,1bither as indi- viduals, or as societies, happy. Do infidelity, ir* religion, and immorality, contribute tovv^ards the happmess of individuals, families, or nations? To thf universal experience of mankind I appeal ; to the history of society, in earlier and later times, I submit the decision. In v/hat situation was France a fev/ years ago, while the exercise of re- ligion was suspended ; while no solid pernianent government was established ? You know, the na- tion remembers, all the world kncvv'S — a scene of blood, murder, arid death 1 Happy, doubtless, is the country in which irrc- ligion and immorality are suppressed; religion itud morality patronized. If the laws of God are niglfcted, the lav/s of man cannot be duly regard- ed. Is he, who lives in the habitual violation of LETTER, Sec. 249 t^u^ laws of Heaven, and of his country, an useful member ofstK-icty, a good ciLizcn, a true patriot? No. I may venture to affirm, that he has not a drop of patriotic blood in his veins. Obedience to the mand.itcs of Heaven, and to the lawful commands of his civil superiors, is at once his duty and his interest. Were I i.skec!, v/hat is the first part of the duty of a good citizen ? I would answer, obedience. What is the second part of the duty of a good citizen ? I would an- swer, obedience. What is the third part of the duty of a good citizen ? I would still answer, obe- dience. Was the authority of Pythagoras such, that his bare opinion was sufficient to adjust every controversy that arose among his captious pupils f and shall the authority of the Iv'^ost High be con- troverted, and his laws wantonly violated ? Is there a creature, rational or irrational, terrestrial or celestial, that is not under law .^ Is there a creature that is not a subject either of the natural or moral government of the great Creator of all ? Does not the principle of subordination and sub- jection to the laws of nature, extend to every part of inanimate creation ? How nice the adjust- ments, how wise the laws, by which the st vcral parts of our planetary system are regulated I How regular and exact their periodic ul revolutions ! Biush, O men! blush, O angds ! in aii inaiumute y 2 250 LET7LR,"oCC. creation disobedience is unknov^n. Must the citizen be subject and obedient to the magistrate ? Remember, sir, the magistrate, no less than the citizen, must be subject and obedient to the au- thority of that great Being, who does according to his uncontroUable xvill in the armies of heaven^ and a nong the inhahitajits of our earth. In the intermediate state ; in the world to come, civil distinctions are unknown j the servant is free from his master. Fatal, indeed, have been the effects of disor- der and disobedience in the moral world. What converted angels into devils ? What turned our world, once the seat of health and happiness, into a hospital ; the land of sickness and sorrow, disease and death ? What has occasioned the subversion of so many populous, opulent, power- ful states, kingdoms and empires? What is the cause of all our miserits and all our woes, per- sonal, domestic, and public ? Disobedience, diso- bedience ! Kow salutary are the effects of good order and obedi-nce I How conducive to the happiness of individuals, and of society ? Perfect, vuiinterrupted, undisturbed is the government of the countless millions, who inhabit the celestial regions. The salutary consequence is, they arc completely, universally, and for ever happy. LETTLFv, Sec. 251 Permit me, sir, for your own irnpro/vement, and for the prosperity of your young republir, td reGommend, in a particular manner, to you, a se- rious perusal and revitv/ of history, sativd and civil. There you will and numerous eXt.mpLs, big with instruction, both to yourself and your fellow-citizens ; examples useful both for imita- tion and for caution. Here are presented, for beacons, those dangerous rocks and shtlves, on which the rulers of naiions in former times have struck ; and which you, as the political pilot of France, mast endeavour to avoid. Precious are the contents, valuable the charge, of that politi- cal vessel you have undertaken to steer. Read the history of the Greek and Roman republics i their rise and progress, their decline, and sub- version. Here you will find, on the one hand, the virtues of their rulers, and, on the other, their vices, painted in striking colours. Here you will find objects of admiration and applause i and objects of abhorrence and aversion. You will meet with an Alexander and a Cincinnatus ; a Catiline and a Cicero ; a Nero and a Socrates. Why did the citizens of Rome place the images of their brive ancestors in the Vestibules of their houses ? The reason is obvious, when they came oat, and when they went in, those venerable busts met their eyes j and, recalling to their mind th« itS% LETTER, he. glorious actions of the dead, stimnlnted tliem to imitate such noble exampltrs. The design ac- complished its end. The virtue and bravery of the fathers were transferred to their sons. For a series of ages a spirit of lieroisni was trans- mitted from one generation to another. Easy would it be to introduce a numerous list of heroes and of politicians, who, by their humanity as well as valour, have merited the approbation, and are entitled to the esteem, of mankind to the end of the world. No less easy would it be to recite a catalogue of persons, who, in different ages and countries, have filled places o** great honoar and profit ; but, misled by the fl itteries of mercenary sychophants, and the advice of other evil coun- sellors, have entailed lasting infamy on them- selves ; and irretrievable ruin on the people, whom they ought, by every mean in their power, to have rendered happy. That combination of causes, by which the erection of states, and the advancement of rulers, have been effected ; and that concurrence of circumstances, by which the downfall of the latter, and the overthrov/ of the former, have been accomplished, are among the most curious and instructive parts of history. How necessary for the statesman as well as the Christian, is the ar ostolic T caut'on, kt him thai thlnketh he stuhdsth^ take, heed kst hjJalU LLTIFR, 8kC. 2oo Of voii, no less tlian of the Persian kirg, m?.y it vvcr !>e said ; his humanity, even in the n.ic'st of bis trl'unphs, attracted the attention, and ex- cited the aflmiration of all the s'^rrourdirg na- tions ; he conquered more by his hnraanity than bv his sword ; and he made no oth; r use of Ms victories than to render the vanquished, hapry. H'.ipDv as Well as numerous were Ids subjer*? ; his dominions e:xtending from India, almost to Greece, and from the Caspian sea to Ethiopia. No* less ei-ninent and exemphuy v/as he for his religious zeal. Of this the fohovving edict is an irrefragable proof. Thus saith Cyrus king of Per- sia, The Lord God of Heaven hath given mc all the kingdoms of the e::rth^ and he h<,th charged me to build him an hoaf;e in ytrKsalcmy which is in Judea, Whoever among you is of his people^ his God ke xvith him ; and Itt him go up to ycrusaJem^ and build the house of the Lord Cod of hrc.el ; tils God be -with him. Long seventy years had the unhappy Jews been in a state of captivity in a dlijtant country ; but no.w the humane, benevoler.t exemplary prince makes a public proclamation of liberty to the captives. Has not the French na- tion, by its vigorous exertions in the cause of li- berty, distinguished itself among the natio':s of Europe ? Kave net you, by your glorious rr/i-i- tary achievements in .this noble cause, spread ^54 LFTTKR, hiC. your fame from the east to the west, and from tiie north to the sourh ? Is ihi wcik finished i Is the infamous business of slavery totally e>.rin- giiished in Fr:nce, and all its deperdtncit s ? ALis, no. Do you wish to do I onoui to yourstlf, good tn nr.anlind, r.rd uifTr.se universal joy pnr;crg ail the irii nds of humanity ? Proceed, wiUiout any linnet e&sary deky, to the gradual ahcliiion of slavery, and total suppression of the slave-trade. Has liberty occasioned your unexpected eleva- ti n from the shades of obscurity to the summit oi worldly splendour? And ought you not, will you notjdistinguish }ourseirby the most strenuous endeavours, to emancipate) as far as your power extends, ihc thousands of your African brethren, Vr'ho stiil remain in ignoble and painful slavery ? The r'^volution, which a few years ago, was accomplislied in that great nation, at the head of which an all-disposing Providence has placed you, 'i X. ited tiie attention, I might have sr;id, ad- Kur.uion, of all the world. It certainly v as, in its ori;/in, progress, and variciis concomitant tir- t umstunees, one oflhe most remarkable nc-tional c.currences of modern times. You were called to fight, now you are cailed to rule. Ivlay your political glory equal your military ! Our great Washington, like you, first fought our battles in LETTER, Sec. 255 the field, and then directed our councils in the cabinet. May you, as he was, be th^ happy in- strument of establishing a permanent form of go- vernment ; a form of government and order, that will not only last while you live, but survive, long survive you I May wisdom from above direct you ! The eyes of Europe, the eyes of America, the eyes of all the world are upon you. You have, T am informed, restored the Roman Catholic religion in France. This information, I must confess, did not a little surprise and disap- point me. Is this step consistent with your for- m -r conduct? Is it consistent with the avowed o'^ject of the late war? I do not insist on the known sanguinary principles of the Romish church ; or the too well known tortur. s of the infamous inquisition. I ask, Did not the French nation, during the late war, consider the royal throne and the popish altar as iiiseparably con- nected ? Did they not fight against the latter as well as the former ? Did they not figlu to deliver themselves Irom sacerdotal tyranny and monkish superstition, as well as from monarchical despo- tism ? Why were sacred images converted into current money ; and consecrated bdls metamor- phosed into common cannon ? Why were monas- teries and nunneries opened, and devoted virgins 25$ LETTER, Sec. s^nt abroad, to mix with the mass of the unhal- lowed popLduce ? Why were multitude s of priests banished, and muUitudes massacred I Why did you perform prodigies of militaiy valour ; and why did thousands, myriads, bleed and die, to free the nation from superstidon and despotism? You cannot be altogether unacquainted with the history of the church of Rome, and the millions in whose precious blood she has embrued her guilty hands. Are not their souls under the al- tar on high, urging for deserved vengeance on their persecutors and murders ? Shall their -vy remain, for ever, unheard, and their grievances unredressed ? No. The great Jucige of the universe will, in due time, inialiibly m.,ke inqu'*- sition for blood. Do not, bir, Tuisunaersiar 1 nie. Do I plead for reprisal" ? No. PtrsccuieJ, murderedprotestantshav:: cemmitted their cause to HIM, to whom alone vengeance belongs. The law of retaliation is no pitrt of Christian morality. Our law is, to do to olhers, iiot as they have, but as they ought to have done to us. Papists, no less than protestr;n:.s, are entitled lo protection in ihe profession of their religion. Persecution for reii- gion, as such, be it a true religion or a false, is antiscriptural, irrational, aiid impolitic ; a mea- sure that originates in Ignor^.^.ce, superstition, and bigotry j a measure which heaven never will LETTER, ZlC, 25r sanction. To protection in the profession of his religion, whatever it may be, every good citizen is entitled. It is his natural, valuable, and una- lienable privilege. Between toleration and per- secution I know no medium.* * Though toleration and intolerance are usually opposed to oneanocher; the former, no less than the latter, originates in error and despotism- Toleration, whether granted by an indivi- dual or a government, necessarily presupposes, on the part of chc granter, authority or right to grant, or not grant it. Now, can it possibly be in the power of any man, or set of men, to grant, or not grant me liberty to worship my Maker; and worship him in the m.anner, and by the means, which to me appear scriptural? Havel notaparamount right,nay, isit not indispensibly incumbent upon me, independent of all creation, to v/orship my God? Wiliany man pretend to grant to me, or withhold from me, a right which I derive from my Maker? If he does, he at once robs both my Maker and me. If a man grants me toleration to worship God, he indirectly grants God a liberty to receive my worship. If he assumes a right to restrain me from worshipping my Maker, he, in effect, assumes a right to restrain Him from receiving my wor- ship. If my conduct is, in any instance, inimical to the state, or incompatible with the peace of society, the civil magistrate cer_ tainly has a right to take cognizance of it. But, with the religious intercourse between my Maker and me, he has nothing to do. If I be in an error, I am responsible, not to him, but to God, for it. The toleration of any thing intimates, that, in ore respect or ano- ther, it is wrong. This is the necessary import «»f the word. K'-.v can it be wrong for me to worship Him that made me? Ov, to do It in the manner which, after the most impartial deli- beration, seems to me the most scriptural? Mistake, I may ; bu? z 258 LETTER, &C. Allow me, sir, to remind you of the constitu- tion of the United States of America, and the li- berty it grants to Christians of every denomina- tion. I will take the liberty to transcribe the fol- lowing article. *^ Congress shall make no law re- specting an establishment of religi-on ; or prohi- biting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to peti- tion the government for a redress of grievances." Is our constitution the choice and deed of the people at large ? How congruous and necessary, that it secure to them all, without exception, li- berty in its fullest extent, of what nation or reli- gion soever they may be ; is not this the spirit of true republicanism ? Long may our people enjoy, and duly may they appreciate their republican pri- vileges ! It is not the least of the advantages of the republican form of government, that the peo- ple are, at once, the authors and the guardians of their constitution. The exercise of power is, in- who Is authorised to determine whether, and how far, I am in a mistake ? Have I not the tiame right to judge for myself, in mat- ters of religion, that a president, a consul, or a king, has ? All that the magistrate has to do with me, in these matters, is to pro- tect me in the professioa of that religion which appears to me the best. LETTER, &C. 25© deed, immediately in the hands of the rulers. But are they the sole, or even the principal, palladi- um of constitutional liberty ? No. To the people, who invested them with power, are they respon- sible for the use they make of it. And our elec- tive form of government has also this obvious and important advantage — If our people be at any time dissatisfied with the official conduct of their representatives, they have always the near pros- pect of an opportunity to renew their choice. With this view, our people carefully watch the proceedings of their rulers. Every aggression or encroachment on their constitution, they are ever ready to repel. To the French people I would say, go t/e, and do likewise* Has France become a great republic ! Has she fought for liberty, and obtained it ? Why does she not grant privileges, civil and religious, indis- criminately, to men of all descriptions, and Chris- tians of all denominations? Why does she be- stow many religious privileges on one denomina- tion which she denies to all others ? Is not this measure impolitic ? Is it not calculated to excite and cherish jealousy and envy between two great parts of the people ? You cannot too often recol- lect, sir, that you have been, by very unexpected means, advanced to a high pinnacle of political 560 LETTER, StC. authority and power ; that all the nations of Eu- rope watch your motions with a penetrating, if not an envious, eye. Your situation, whatever sycophants may say, is truly critical. Your con- duct, whether wise or unwise, must be attended with consequences most interesting to yourself, to the French nation, and to the world. May you, by an upright administration, procure un- fading laurels to your own head, and raise the great nation, over which Providence has set you to rule, to prosperity and honour unexampled in former times I May religion and literature ; arts, manufactures, andcom'^icrce, flourish in France ! Political revolutions, in favour of religion and liberty, open glorious prospects to every friend of piety and humanity. They presage the certain and speedy approach of that peaceful, blissful, millenial state of the church and of the world, which prophets and apostles have foretold ; and in the joyful prospect of which the greatest and best of men have lived and died. Did the shak- ing of the nations ucher cur divine Redeemer into the world eighteen hundred years ago j and open the way for the spread of the gospel among the Gentile nations ? Commotions and revolutions in the kingdoms of the sarth, are fore-runners and presages of the speedy approach of his second ad- LETTER, Sec. 261 Vent. Then tKe mystery of Providence in the world, and of the economy of grace in the church, is to be finished. This gospel of the kingdom^ says our Redeemer himself, shall be preached in all the •world for a witness to every nation under heaven^ andthen, not till then, shall the end come. "With- in forty years after his ascension, Christianity- was introduced into almost every part of the Ro- man empire, or the then known world. And then the end of the Jewish policy, civil and ecclesias- tical, came. 7'he gospel has been, or is to be, preached in every inhabited continent and island on earth, and then shall the end of the present state of the world, and of the church in it, come. Then shall the militant state of the church re- sign to the triumphant ; and the earth be restored to its original, paradisaical state ; the penal ef- fects of sin and the curse being for ever removed from it. For, the last of all the inspired writers informs us, that he saw in vision a new heaven and a new earth. Have you been the instrument, in the hand of Providence, in re-organizing the state? It will shed an additional, unfading lus- tre upon you, to attempt, as far as your influence enables you, the reformation of the church, and the spread of the gospel, not only throughout France, but her colonies, and every other part 2 2 562 J.ETTER, Sec. of the worl;l, to v/liich, hj new discoveries, or otherwise, you may have access. Now, sir, I must soon take my leave of you. I never did, and, in all human probability, never will, in this life, see you in person. But you have my best wishes and daily prayers for your pros- perity and happiness. And a decisive day ap- pro'K'hes, in which you and I will meet ; and, v/ith unutterable confusion, or with ineffable joy, give an account of ourselves, and of our conduct, to God. C'ln we then pass unnoticed or unob- served in the crowd of assembled worlds ? No. The all-piercing eye of the Sovereign Judge no person, nothing can escape. This, truly, is a se- rious, a solemn thought ! Deeply may it impress both your mind .ind mine 1 I have insisted so much in the religious strain, that I dare say, you consider me in the light of a devotee or a fanatic. But whatever opinion you may be disposed to entertain, concerning me, I must take the liberty to tell you, that religion is of indispensible necessity ; and in the language of Heaven, must forewarn you, that except you repent you must unavoidably perish , as repent- ance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ate essential parts of salvation, If you lETTER, S^€. 265 violate the obligations of religion, and usurp the rights of your feliow citizens, what com- pensation can you make to them, or how shall you appease the anger of Heaven ? To the De- ity, pride ever has been, and ever must be, hate- ful. The proud^ whether he sit on the duag-hill, or be seated on a consular throne ; whether ar- rayed in robes of state, or covered wuh rags, is an abomination to the Lord. When I recollect your origin, and your sudden elevation, I cannot but be afraid, on your accoufit. Fatal have been the effects of pride. It precipitated millions of the original inhabitants of Heaven down to Hell. It converted myriads of angels into devils. Often recal to your mind the fate of the Babylonian mo- narch, the most potent of all the monarchs of the earth. For the pride and vanity of his heart, he was not only displaced from his majestic throne, despoiled of his royal robes, divested of his im- perial authority and power ; but degraded far be- neath the rank of a man, and obliged to associate and live with the beasts of ihe earth. Miseries and w^oes, coundess and unutterable, has pride introduced into our world. It is not who, or where j but what we are, that constitutes us hap- py, in this world, or that which is to come. A Jieavenly humble nature alone can enjoy heavenly, beatific bliss. Seldom, perhaps, during your pre 2- 264 LETTER, Sec. perity, do you recollect these serious things. But worldly prosperity cannot last for ever. The ca- resses and flatteries, which you now, day after day, receive, will soon, perhaps suddenly, cease j and to concerns of a most solemn nature you must then attend. Then will you wish, and, perhaps, wish in vain, you had, at an earlier period, seri- ously bethought yourself, and had become wise to sahatio?!. To your own reflections on these serious topics, I shall, for a little time, leave you j and take the liberty, before I finish my letter, to expostulate with you on matters of another na- ture. Having freely apprised you of your danger in a future world, in the event of final inattention to your eternal interests, permit me to remind you of your duty and your danger in a political point of view. Have you duly adverted to the genius o. that great nation over which you now preside ? Are they not, almost to a proverb, jealous of their national rights, and liberties ? Have they not pro- ved to the world, that they are a nation of Eru- tuses ! ! Are they, on this account, to be con- demned ? Surely not. Have they sacrificed countless lives, and almost exhausted their trea- sures, to procure for themselves, and transmit to their posterity, their national rights and privilc- LETTER, See. 265 %es ; and shall they net be tenacious of them ? The man, or set cf men, who despoil them of privileges obtained at such infinite e:^pence, lite- rally robs them of the vast trei.sure they expend- ed, and virtually murders the many bruve he- roes, who sacrificed their lives, to purchase liber- ty for their country, and their children, and pro- claim to the world, that these heroes, fought and bled, and died in vain. To imagine that the French people v.'ill allow themselves to be, v/ith impunity, despoiled of their dear-bought privileges, is to suppose them, not only without patrioiism, honour and generosity, but without a mind ar.d without a memory. Shall they, after the bloody struggle, transmit to coming genera- tions a despotism so unmanly and fatal? Shall they deposit, in the hands of their progeny the sanguinary sword, all stained with the blood of the patriotic sons of France, v/hen a little more courage and perseverance, would secure their liberties ? In what contempt and detestatioa would posterity hold them? Would not then: childreii and their children's children execrate their cov/ardice, and curse the rrant, v.'hiie rot- ting in his grave, with his parisiacal advisers?* * Here I cannot forbear to hand down to posterity, for detes- tation, the name of Fontanes, 566 LETTER, Sec. Ail that is wanting to render them happy, is per- severance in the vindication of their just rights and unalienable privileges. Of vast magnitude and importance is the cause of liberty. It is not the concern of a city or a country ; it is the con- cern of Europe, nay, of the world. It is not the concern of a day, of a year, or of an age ; it is equally the concern of the present generation, and of man}^ generations to come. Recollect, sir, your political conduct may be productive of much happiness or of much misery to many mil- lions yet unborn. Figure to yourself your poli- tical misconduct inscribed, in very small charac- ters, on a young tree, and the inscription to en- crease with the tree ; in what large characters would posterity read your infamous departure from political and moral rectitude ? You should always remember, when you are planning for pos- terity, that neither wisdom, nor virtue, nor ho- nour, nor courage, is hereditary. Portentous are the times in which we live. Great is the trust deposited in your hands. How many millions are committed to your care ! Many are the vi- cissitudes of fortune they have already experi- enced. Manifold difficulties and dangers have they both encountered and escaped. High is the eminence on which you now stand. Vast is the prospect before you. Happily may you contri- LETTER, he, t6T bute to the prosperity ; or unhappily may you conduce to the misery, of Europe. Inattentive must you be to your duty, your interest, and your honour, to the interest, and the honour of the French nation, if you are not inspired with the most laudable ambition and zeal, to secure to them such a free and happy government, as they risked their all to obtain. Has not the world seen the French nation great in adversity, strug- gling with the difficulties incident to a revolution- ary war, amidst the intrigues of unprincipled men among themselves, a number of whom have met the fate they merited ; and shall they not be great in prosperity ; and continue to defend their rights, as a lioness does her cubs ? Immense is the hurt which, by misconduct, you may now do. By a virtuous administration, on the contrary, you may do more for the interest and honour of the nation, at the head of which you now stand, than all your former victories and conquests have done. Were not the Lacedemonians, in external circumstances, inferior to many of the other states of Greece ; and yet, by their virtue and their valour, did they not obtain a pre-eminence ? Have not the most celebrated heroes of antiqui- ty been distinguished and famous for their con- tempt of worldly riches and honours ? In what low circumstances were many of the most cele- tG8 XETTER, kc, brated chairiplons of ancient Ror^e ; such as Fa- bricions, Cincinnatus, Regulus, and others ? Ard yet those were the times, in which public, as well as private virtue, shown with unrivalled lustre. Their poverty, far from being a reproach, added fresh laurels to their fame. The reason is obvi- ous. It indicated such a noble contempt of rich- es as rendered them superior to all the arts of cor- ruption and bribery. In modern times, as well as ancient, public virtue possesses charms, which attract attention, and add a dignity to nations, which is superior to riches and power ; com- manding respect, where pomp, splendour, and magnificence, are despised. The people of France are not ignorar.t of the necessary prere- quisites and essential qualifications, which con- stitute an upright magistrate, or a virtuous gov- ernment. They know that a good magistrate is ^friend to the liberties of the people, makes their interest his own, and is happy when they are hap- py. Readily can they also recognize when an individual tyrant, or a government of them, de- viates from the path of rectitude ; prostitutir-g their consciences and their pcv/er to the most un- v/orthy purposes. A nation, delivered from lo- cal prepossessions and sentimental prejudices, sees with new eyes, and hears with nev/ ears. Cu- rious, as well as contaminating is prejudice ; ac- UETTER, &C. 269 commodating itself to all the propensities and passions of the human mind. In what mind, no- ble or ignoble, learned or illiterate, does it not find a residence? What mind is not, in a greater or less degree, under the influence of political or religious prejudice ? Like the spider, it can fix its residence, and live any, or every where. Let th.i: laicd be as empty as the walls of an uninhab- ited dungeon, or polished like the walls of a palace ; let it be informed or uninformed, preju- dice, if not disturbed, will keep possession of it. But when the time arrives at which a political re- volution is to be accomplished in the state, or a religious in the church, prejudice, however obsti- nate, must yield. The revolution which has tak- en place in France, in the political sentiments of the people, no less than the political state of the country, is, doubtless, in all its causes, concomi- tants, and tlFects, one of the most extraordinary in the annals cf the world. Great, indeed, is the change in the political sentiments of the French nation. Are they as much as ever dupes to po- litical ignorance and error ? Are they as much as ever liable to the impositions of designing men, and enterprising demagogues? Are they as much as ever apt tamely to submit to any tyrant or des- pot that may wish to enslave them? Or is the mind sv/ept of its former political cobwebs, and A a 270 LETTER, he, prepared for the reception of generous political ideas ? Can they be supposed ever to return to their political ignorance and prejudices ? As soon may a scholar totally forget his alphabet, or awise man become an idiot. Can the mind once duly in- formed become uninformed ; or unknow what it knows ? Apt, indeed, are vulgar minds to be daz- zled with the slendour of courts. But often are the despotic actions, and enormous expences of the latter, the means of undeceiving the former, and the veil of ignorance, when once torn, can ne- ver be repaired, as ignorance is only the absence of knowledge ; it is obvious that though a man may be kept ignorant, he cannot be made ignorant. Let me, in a particular manner, inculcate on your mind one momentous truth. It is this — notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, there is not a description of men, that more clear- ly see your danger, or more heartily despise your conduct, in the event of its proving unhappily despotic, than those very characters, of the c/iplo- matic, senatorial, and judicial departments, who now daily surround, and flatter you. Interest obliges them to wish you to oppress the people ; because they expect to enrich themselves at the expence of the public. In the event of your act- ing the basest pari, self-interest would incline LETTER, &C. 271 them to approve and eulogize your conduct. Sensible are they, that if you could see your dan- ger, as they see it, your government might speed- ily come to an end ; and they would lose their places and pensions. But, well do they know, that if you infringe the privileges of the people, your head will not be out of danger; but while you keep your head upon your shoulders, they wish to keep their lucrative places like the flat- terers of Robespiere, and his premature and ig- nominous death, will prove the authenticity of my assertion. You certainly cannot have forgot the tragical end of this sanguinary monster, that for a time, ruled the French nation ; who re- ceived a thousand addresses and congratulations, filled with the most fulsome flattery, on his es- caping a supposed plot for his assassination. And you cannot but remember what happened about one month after. He was brought to the scaf- fold ; and, for the very great service they had done to society, by extirpating such a monster from the earth, his executioners received up- wards of fifteen hundred addresses of thanks from the people. But to shew, beyond a doubt, that the French nation know what their chief magistrate is, or ought to be, I will here tran- scribe that declaration of the rights of man, which was made the basis of the new constitution, aiul *27Z LEETER, Sec* which by order of the national convention, was circulated throughout France, at the commence- ment of the revolution. It runs thus : — Declaration or the rights of man and of CITIZENS, By the National Assembly of France, * The Representatives of the people of France, formed into a National Assembly, considering chat ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human rights, are the sole causes of public misfortunes and corruptions of government, h?,ve resolve- to set forth, in a solemn declaration, these natural, imprescriptible, and unalienable rights ; That this declaration being constandy present to the minds of the members of the body social, they may be ever kept attentive to their rights and their duties : That the acts of the legislature and executive powers of government, being capable of being every moment compared with the end of political institutions, may be more respected : and also, that the future claims of the citizens, being directed by simple and incontestible prin- ciplesj may always tend to the maintenance of tht fonsiitution, and the general happiness. LETTER, &C. SrS * For these reasons, the national assembly, doth recognize and declare, in the presence of the Supreme Being, and with the hope of his bles- sing and favour, the following sucr^d rigi:ub of men and of citizens : * I. 3Ien are born andahuays cont'imie /?'."", m'^.d ' equal in respect of their rights, dvil distrnctions, * therefore^ can be founded only on public utility, * II. The end of all political associations is the ^ preservation of the natural and imprescriptible ' rights of man ; and these rights are liberty, prO' ^ perty, security , and resistance of oppression. ~ * III. The nation is essentially the sourct^ of all * sovreignty ; nor can any individual, or any ' BODY OF MEN, be entitled to any authority xvhich * is not expressly derived from it, * IV. Political Liberty consists in the pow-crof * doing whatever does not injure another. The * exercise of the natural rights of every man, has * no other limits than those which are lujcessary * to secure to every other man the free excrcisQ * of the same rights ; and these limits are deter- * minable only by the law. A a2 ^74 LETTE.n, kCc * V. The law ought to prohibit cnly actions * hurtful to society. What is not prohibited b^ * the law, should not be hindered ; nor should ^^^-^ * one be compelled to that which the law does not * require. * VI. The lav,' is an expression of the will of * the community. All citizens have a right to * concur, either personally, or by their represen- ' tatives in its formation. It should be the same * to all whether it protects or punishes ; and all * ifeing equal in its sight, are equally eligible to nil * honours^ places^ and employments^ according to * their different abilities y without any other distint- * tion than that created by their virtues and talents, * VII. No man should be accused, arr^estcd, or * held in confinement, except in cases determined ' by the law, and according to the forms which it ' has prescribed. All who promote, solicit, exe- * cute, or cause to be executed, arbitrary orders, * ought to be punished ; and every citizen called * upon or apprehended by virtue of the law^ ought * immediately to obey, and renders hinnself cul- ^ pable by resistancet * VIII. The law ou V^ to Impose ro other p«« ^ naltiei than such as - Absolutely and ^vidcntljr LETTER, 5CC. Xt5. ^necessary: and no one ought to be punished, ' but in virtue of a law promulgated before the of- * fence and legally applied. * IX. Every man being presumed innocent till * he has been convicted, whenever his detention * becomes indispensible, all rigour to him, more * than is necessary to secure his person, ought to * be provided against by the law. * X. No man ought to be molested on account of * his opinions, not even on account of his religious * opinions, provided his avowal of them does not * disturb the public order established by law. * XI. The unrestrained communication of * thoughts and opinions being one of the most pre* * cious rights of man, every citizen may speak, *w write, aud publish freely, provided he is respon- *■ sible for the abuse of this liberty in cases deterr * mined by the law. 'XII. A public force being necessary to give * security to the rights of men and of citizens, * that force is instituted for the benefit of the com<* * munity, and not for the particular benefit of th» ^ persons with whom it is entrusted. ^3/6 LETTER, &C. ' XIII. A common contribution being neces- ' sary for the support of the public force, and for * defraying the other expences of government, ' it ought to be divided equally among the mem- * bers of the community, according to their abi- * lities. * XIV. Every citizen has a right, either by * himself or his representative, to a free voice in ' determining the necessity of public contribu- ' tions, the appropriation of them, and their ' amount, mode of assessment, and duration. ' XV. Every community has a right to dt- ' mand of all its agents, an account of their con- ^ duct. * XVI. Every community in which a separa- ' tion of powers and a security of rights is not ' provided for, wants a constitution. * XVII. The right to property being inviola- * ble and sacred, no one ought to be deprived of it, except in cases of evident public necessity * legally ascertained, and on condiiion of a pre¥i« * Qus just indemnity,' LETTER, Sec. 2T7 Whether your future official conduct shall accomplish or disappoint the expectations of the friends of liberty, it is certain, that such a govern^ ment, as is here recommended, m,ay exist, nay, has, in fact, existed, both in theory and practice, for a series of years. That nations, populous, and inhabiting countries of great extent, may be, if they will, free and happy; here is an irrefra- gable proof. Here, in the United States of Ame- rica, are persons of all nations, and of all langua- ges, who brought their prepossessions and preju- dices, propensities and passions, with them; who, notwithstanding, live in harmony and friendship. Neither can the poor be said to be opprestherc, cor the rich pampered. The differ- ent departmenta of government are established and supported on principles of economy, rather than extravagance. Here no provision is made for a despot to live in magnificence and splen- dour, at the expence of the poor, as well as the rich J the mechanical, as well as the mercantile part of society. Neither our executive, nor our legislative bodies, have any occasion for guards, to protect them from an infuriated populace. Where such defence is necessary, it unavoidably occasions a suspicion, that some fatal source of public discontent exists, from which the necessity •fit proceeds,. /liwi#n happy, indeed, is the man, 2f8 LETTER, Sec. whether called a consul or a constable, who is ob- noxious to the vengeance of a nation on account of his tyranny. The inimitable general, and pa- triotic statesman,* who lives, and will fc/r ever live in the affection of the people of America, and to whom, under God, we are indebted for the independence, liberty, and prosperity, wc now enjoy, permit me to repeat the sentiment, what A NOBLE PATTERN FOR YOU TO IMITATE ! ! Af- ter his example, consecrate your fame ; give to France a well-adjusted and rightly-organized constitution j a constitution which, adapted to the character and local circumstances of the na- tion, shall establish their prosperity on the solid principles of liberty and good order. This once accomplished, her acquisitions will form the ba- sis of substantial greatness ; but, if otherwise, they will fly away, like the painted, but unsubstan- tial forms of a magical lanthorn. Is not France now, in a particular manner, the object of the jealousy of the other European pow- ers ? The states, at whose expence she has been aggrandized, will not be easily reconciled to her ; but will, with impatience, watch the moment of retaliation. Should France be cursed with a dis- tracted government, or, which is worse stillp a * fieneral George Washington. LETTER, See. arS military or a hereditary despotism, which God forbid 1 opportunities will not be wanting. The friends of France have considered the Lite revo- lution as the most glorious epoch in its history, and the most consoling presage of its future great- ness. But remember, sir, its future happiness depends, in a great measure, on your ofHciul con- duct ; particularly the rectitude of your heart, and the purity of your intentions. If your administration shall unhappily prove to be incompatii>^le with the political principles which you and the French nation profess ; and repug- nant to the character of a just ruler, a good citi- zen, and an honest man ; if it shall eventually en- croach upon the natural rights of man, as man ; particularly that most valuable of all rights, and most sacred of all property, liberty of conscience, what must the necessary consequence be ? It will not only exhibit your political hypocrisy with a witness, ^ca^yoxix systematic villainy without dis- guise, but will assuredly prove a prelude to your ruin. Unhappy is the situation of Christians, whose consciences a»re oppressed with legal penalties, and fettered by civil tests. You may be assured, that the people of France are feelingly alive to high sentiments of freedom, honour, propriety, 280 LETTir., 5iC. justice, and the eternal rules of rectitude. They may suffer long, but not always. They will, at last, infallibly assert and maintain their violated liberties and privileges; and transmit them, as a sacred deposit, to their children, and their chil- dren's children j and thus prove true to them- selves, to their posterity, to their country, and to the world. By improper behaviour, in your offi- cial capacity, you may do more hurt to the French nation, than ever you have done to any other na- tion by your sword. If you establish a civil, a mi- litary, or an ecclesiastical despostism* in France, • While I contend that civil liberty is the greatest of all tem- poral blessings, I must affirm, that despotism is the greatest of all temporal curses, because it precipitates the innocent, as well as the delin(ju£nt, into a labyrinth of misery, orphans and widows in particular, and the indigent in gene-a!, feel its baneful effects. To maintain despots in their extravagance, they must pay enor- mous taxes for their food, cloathes, habitations, and even for the light of Heaven; and, at the nod of a tyrant, nations are often plunged into all the horrors of sanguinary warfare, while the poor, as well as the rich, must pay the cost. And yet, astonish- ing to think, many of the oppressed sons of mi^n fawn at their tyrant's feet, hug their galting chains, and despise the paramount blessing of civil liberty. Facts, stubborn facts, iliubtrate this specu- lative reasoning. What limits are there to the prerogatives and powers of a chief magistrate, who receives 25,000,000 livres an* cualiy out of the public taxes, for his ci^'U list, and, at the same time, empowered to create places and g've y-ensions to bis parra* sites. Where this is the case, civil hberty is in danger of being LETTER, he. 281 or in any way, infringe the valuable rights of the nation, you will wound, in the house of its pro- fessed friends, the best of civil causes; you will fulfil the predictions of your enemies concerning you: you will make sad the hearts of all the friends of liberty ; and, in short, cause it and its treacherous enemies to commence a sanguinary intestine war, the final result ef which the fate of the benevolent Louis XVI. and the malevolent demagogues, whose subsequent guilty and hypo- critical pretensions brought swift destruction up- on them, will abundantly illustrate. In this event, liberty, or its enemies, must fall ; and whether this shall be its fate or theirs, the v/ise Disposer o.* all things, and he alone can, with certainty fore- tell. . Are you not, through the fascinating love of popularity, the insinuating addresses of syco- phants and flatterers, andtheintoxicatinginfluence of power, in very great danger of being misled from the path of political rectitude and duty ? I have my witness in Heaven, that I wish you no annihilated. Corruption necessarily engenders round such a man. His fellow citizens must hecome his vassalage ; bow with rever. ential awe at hisnod.and obey his arbitrary commands at the point of the bayonet. Hence a few interested villains are exalted, and millions consequently debased and degraded to the lowest pitch, and the object and end of society is finally frustrated. Desfo^ fotism is the radical cause of all these, and many similar evll>. B b 2S2 LETTER, ht» harm, but aim at 5^our welfare, and that of the na- tion whom you govern. May Heaven preserve you from vanity, and its consequent fatal effects ! May you feel the sublime pleasure, the supreme delight, of ruling only to make other men happy I Often shall I ask, Has unexpected prosperity made any change in the temper and conduct of the First Consul of France ? Does he continue to be a friend to the liberties, and a promoter of ^ the happiness of the people ? Does he love vir- tue, and shew himself grateful to his great bene- factor on high ? An affirmative answer to these interesting questions will, on your own account, always afford me the truest pleasure. Usefully may you live ; happily may you die I May hap- piness await you in the world to come ! I must now, sir, bid you a final farewell ; and my last admonition is, that you never employ your executive power ^ but to fulfil the dictates of your conscience, and the duties of your station. I have the honour to be, witli all due respect^ sir, Your most obedient. Humble servant, THE AUTHOR. Fims, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped beloi iwiRL ggrsi REC'C \^'! m ■ r' !^i OCT 2 61381 •X£(rD If "«»• Form L9-39, 050-8, '65(F6234s8)4939 -^v-«ia