,,thoughts ,,on ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,improving ,,the ,,condition ,,of ,,the ,,slaves ,,in ,,the ,,british ,,colonies1 ,,with ,a ,,view ,,to ,,their ,,ultimate ,,emancipation2 ,,and ,,on ,,the ,,practicability1 ,,the ,,safety1 ,,and ,,the ,,advantages ,,of ,,the ,,latter ,,measure4 ,,by ,t4 ,,clarkson1 ,,esq4 #ahbc4 ,,preface4 ,the following sheets first appeared in a periodical work called ,the ,inquirer4 ,they are now republished without undergoing any substantial alteration4 ,the author however thinks it due to himself to state1 that he would have materially qualified those parts of his essay which speak of the improved ,condition of the ,slaves in the ,west ,indies since the abolition1 had he then been acquainted with the recent evidence obtained upon that subject4 ,his present conviction certainly is1 that he has overrated that improvement1 and that in point of fact ,negro ,slavery is1 in its main and leading feature1 the same system which it was when the ,abolition controversy first commenced4 ,it is possible there may be some1 who1 having glanced over the ,title ,page of this little work1 may be startled at the word ,emancipation4 ,i wish to inform such1 that ,mr4 ,dundas1 afterwards ,lord ,melville1 an acute ,man1 and a ,friend to the ,planters1 proposed this very measure to ,parliament in the year #agib4 ,we see1 then1 that the word ,emancipation cannot be charged with ,novelty4 ,it contains now no new ideas4 ,it contains now nothing but what has been thought practicable1 and even desirable to be accomplished4 ,the ,emancipation which ,i desire is such an ,emancipation only1 as ,i firmly believe to be compatible not only with the due subordination and happiness of the labourer1 but with the permanent interests of his employer4 ,i wish also to say1 in case any thing like an undue warmth of feeling on my part should be discovered in the course of the work1 that ,i had no intention of being warm against the ,west ,indians as a body4 ,i know that there are many estimable men among them living in ,england1 who deserve every desirable praise for having sent over instructions to their ,agents in the ,west ,indies from time to time in behalf of their wretched ,slaves4 ,and yet1 alas6 even these1 the ,masters themselves1 have not had influence enough to secure the fulfilment of their own instructions upon their own estates2 nor will they1 so long as the present system continues4 ,they will never be able to carry their meritorious designs into effect against ,prejudice1 ,law1 and ,custom4 ,if this be not so1 how happens it that you cannot see the ,slaves1 belonging to such estimable men1 without marks of the whip upon their backs8 ,the truth is1 that so long as overseers1 drivers1 and others1 are entrusted with the use of arbitrary power1 and so long as ,negro-evidence is invalid against the white oppressor1 and so long as human nature continues to be what it is1 no order from the ,master for the better personal treatment of the ,slave will or can be obeyed4 ,it is against the system then1 and not against the ,west ,indians as a body1 that ,i am warm1 should ,i be found so unintentionally1 in the present work4 ,one word or two now on another part of the subject4 ,a great noise will be made1 no doubt1 when the question of ,emancipation comes to be agitated1 about the immense property at stake1 ,i mean the property of the ,planters2--and others connected with them4 ,this is all well4 ,their interests ought undoubtedly to be attended to4 ,but ,i hope and trust1 that1 if property is to be attended to on one side of the question1 it will be equally attended to on the other4 ,this is but common justice4 ,if you put into one scale the gold and jewels of the ,planters1 you are bound to put into the other the liberty of #hjj1jjj of the ,african race2 for every man's liberty is his own property by the laws of ,nature1 ,reason1 ,justice1 and ,religion8 and1 if it be not so with our ,west ,indian ,slaves1 it is only because they have been1 and continue to be1 deprived of it by force4 ,and here let us consider for a moment which of these two different sorts of property is of the greatest value4 ,let us suppose an ,english gentleman to be seized by ruffians on the banks of the ,thames 7and why not a gentleman when ,african princes have been so served87 and hurried away to a land 7and ,algiers is such a land1 for instance71 where white persons are held as ,slaves4 ,now this gentleman has not been used to severe labour 7neither has the ,african in his own country72 and being therefore unable1 though he does his best1 to please his master1 he is roused to further exertion by the whip4 ,perhaps he takes this treatment indignantly4 ,this only secures him a severer punishment4 ,i say nothing of his being badly fed1 or lodged1 or clothed4 ,if he should have a wife and daughters with him1 how much more cruel would be his fate6 to see the tender skins of these lacerated by the whip6 to see them torn from him1 with a knowledge1 that they are going to be compelled to submit to the lust of an overseer6 and no redress4 ,how long1 says he1 is this frightful system1 which tears my body in pieces and excruciates my soul1 which kills me by inches1 and which involves my family in unspeakable misery and unmerited disgrace1 to continue8--,for ever1 replies a voice ,suddenly3 for ever1 as relates to your own life1 and the life of your wife and daughters1 and that of all their posterity1 ,now would not this gentleman give all that he had left behind him in ,england1 and all that he had in the world besides1 and all that he had in prospect and expectancy1 to get out of this wretched state1 though he foresaw that on his return to his own country he would be obliged to beg his bread for the remainder of his life8 ,i am sure he would4 ,i am sure he would instantly prefer his liberty to his gold4 ,there would not be the hesitation of a moment as to the choice he would make4 ,i hope1 then1 that if the argument of property should he urged on one side of the question1 the argument of property 7liberty7 will not be overlooked on the other1 but that they will be fairly weighed1 the one against the other1 and that an allowance will be made as the scale shall preponderate on either side4 ,,thoughts1 c4 ,i know of no subject1 where humanity and justice1 as well as public and private interest1 would be more intimately united than in that1 which should recommend a mitigation of the slavery1 with a view afterwards to the emancipation of the ,negroes1 wherever such may be held in bondage4 ,this subject was taken up for consideration1 so early as when the ,abolition of the slave trade was first practically thought of1 and by the very persons who first publicly embarked in that cause in ,england2 but it was at length abandoned by them1 not on the ground that ,slavery was less cruel1 or wicked1 or impolitic1 than the slave trade1 but for other reasons4 ,in the first place there were not at that time so many obstacles in the way of the ,abolition1 as of the ,emancipation of the ,negroes4 ,in the second place ,abolition could be effected immediately1 and with but comparatively little loss1 and no danger4 ,emancipation1 on the other hand1 appeared to be rather a work of time4 ,it was beset too with many difficulties1 which required deep consideration1 and which1 if not treated with great caution and prudence1 threatened the most alarming results4 ,in the third place1 it was supposed1 that1 by effecting the abolition of the slave trade1 the axe would be laid to the root of the whole evil2 so that by cutting off the more vital part of it1 the other would gradually die away3--for what was more reasonable than to suppose1 that1 when masters could no longer obtain ,slaves from ,africa or elsewhere1 they would be compelled individually1 by a sort of inevitable necessity1 or a fear of consequences1 or by a sense of their own interest1 to take better care of those whom they might then have in their possession8 ,what was more reasonable to suppose1 than that the different legislatures themselves1 moved also by the same necessity1 would immediately interfere1 without even the loss of a day1 and so alter and amend the laws relative to the treatment of ,slaves1 as to enforce that as a public duty1 which it would be thus the private interest of individuals to perform8 ,was it not also reasonable to suppose that a system of better treatment1 thus begun by individuals1 and enforced directly afterwards by law1 would produce more willing as well as more able and valuable labourers than before2 and that this effect1 when once visible1 would again lead both masters and legislators on the score of interest to treat their slaves still more like men2 nay1 at length to give them even privileges2 and thus to elevate their condition by degrees1 till at length it would be no difficult task1 and no mighty transition1 to pass them to that most advantageous situation to both parties1 the rank of ,free ,men8 ,these were the three effects1 which the simple measure of the abolition of the slave trade was expected to produce by those1 who first espoused it1 by ,mr4 ,granville ,sharp1 and those who formed the ,london committee2 and by ,mr4 ,pitt1 ,mr4 ,fox1 ,mr4 ,burke1 ,mr4 ,wilberforce1 and others of illustrious name1 who brought the subject before ,parliament4 ,the question then is1 how have these fond expectations been realized8 or how many and which of these desirable effects have been produced8 ,i may answer perhaps with truth1 that in our own ,islands1 where the law of the abolition is not so easily evaded1 or where there is less chance of obtaining new slaves1 than in some other parts1 there has been already1 that is1 since the abolition of the slave trade1 a somewhat better individual treatment of the slaves than before4 ,a certain care has been taken of them4 ,the plough has been introduced to ease their labour4 ,indulgences have been given to pregnant women both before and after their delivery2 premiums have been offered for the rearing of infants to a certain age2 religious instruction has been allowed to many4 ,but when ,i mention these instances of improvement1 ,i must be careful to distinguish what ,i mean2--,i do not intend to say1 that there were no instances of humane treatment of the slaves before the abolition of the slave trade4 ,i know1 on the other hand1 that there were2 ,i know that there were planters1 who introduced the plough upon their estates1 and who much to their ,honour granted similar indulgences1 premiums1 and permissions to those now mentioned1 previously to this great event4 ,all then that ,i mean to say is this1 that1 independently of the common progress of humanity and liberal opinion1 the circumstance of not being able to get new slaves as formerly1 has had its influence upon some of our planters2 that it has made some of them think more2 that it has put some of them more upon their guard2 and that there are therefore upon the whole1 more instances of good treatment of slaves by individuals in our ,islands 7though far from being as numerous as they ought to be7 than at any former period4 ,but1 alas6 though the abolition of the slave trade may have produced a somewhat better individual treatment of the slaves1 and this also to a somewhat greater extent than formerly1 not one of the other effects1 so anxiously looked for1 has been realized4 ,the condition of the slaves has not yet been improved by law4 ,it is a remarkable1 and indeed almost an incredible fact1 that no one effort has been made by the legislative bodies in our ,islands with the real intention of meeting the new1 the great1 and the extraordinary event of the abolition of the slave trade4 ,while indeed this measure was under discussion by the ,british ,parliament1 an attempt was made in several of our ,islands to alter the old laws with a view1 as it was then pretended1 of providing better for the wants and personal protection of the slaves2 but it was afterwards discovered1 that the promoters of this alteration never meant to carry it into effect4 ,it was intended1 by making a show of these laws1 to deceive the people of ,england1 and thus to prevent them from following up the great question of the abolition4 ,mr4 ,clappeson1 one of the evidences examined by the ,house of ,commons1 was in ,jamaica1 when the ,assembly passed their famous consolidated laws1 and he told the ,house1 that he had often heard from people there1 that it was passed because of the stir in ,england about the slave trade2 and he added1 that slaves continued to be as ill treated there since the passing of that act as before4 ,mr4 ,cook1 another of the evidences examined1 was long resident in the same island1 and1 though he lived there also since the passing of the act1 he knew of no legal protection1 which slaves had against injuries from their masters4 ,mr4 ,dalrymple was examined to the same point for ,grenada4 ,he was there in #aghh1 when the ,act for that island was passed also1 called ,an ,act for the better ,protection and promoting the ,increase and ,population of ,slaves4 ,he told the ,house1 that1 while he resided there1 the proposal in the ,british ,parliament for the abolition of the slave trade was a matter of general discussion1 and that he believed1 that this was a principal reason for passing it4 ,he was of opinion1 however1 that this ,act would prove ineffectual1 because1 as ,negro evidence was not to be admitted1 those1 who chose to abuse their slaves1 might still do it with impunity2 and people1 who lived on terms of intimacy1 would dislike the idea of becoming spies and informers against each other4 ,we have the same account of the ameliorating ,act of ,dominica4 ,this ,act1 says ,governor ,prevost1 appears to have been considered from the day it was passed until this hour as a political measure to avert the interference of the mother country in the management of the slaves4 ,we1 are informed also on the same authority1 that the clauses of this ,act1 which had given a promise of better days1 had been wholly neglected4 ,in short1 the ,acts passed in our different ,islands for the pretended purpose of bettering the condition of the slaves have been all of them most shamefully neglected2 and they remain only a dead letter2 or they are as much a nullity1 as if they had never existed1 at the present day4 ,and as our planters have done nothing yet effectively by law for ameliorating the condition of their slaves1 so they have done nothing or worse than nothing in the case of their emancipation4 ,in the year #ahae ,mr4 ,wilberforce gave notice in the ,house of ,commons of his intention to introduce there a bill for the registration of slaves in the ,british colonies4 ,in the following year an insurrection broke out among some slaves in ,barbadoes4 ,now1 though this insurrection originated1 as there was then reason to believe1 in local or peculiar circumstances1 or in circumstances which had often produced insurrections before1 the planters chose to attribute it to the ,registry ,bill now mentioned4 ,they gave out also1 that the slaves in ,jamaica and in the other islands had imbibed a notion1 that this ,bill was to lead to their emancipation2 that1 while this notion existed1 their minds would be in an unsettled state2 and therefore that it was necessary that it should be done away4 ,accordingly on the #aith day of ,june #ahaf1 they moved and procured an address from the ,commons to the ,prince ,regent1 the substance of which was 7as relates to this particular7 that ,his ,royal ,highness would be pleased to order all the governors of the ,west ,india islands to proclaim1 in the most public manner1 ,his ,royal ,highness's concern and surprise at the false and mischievous opinion1 which appeared to have prevailed in some of the ,british colonies1--that either ,his ,royal ,highness or the ,british ,parliament had sent out orders for the emancipation of the ,negroes2 and to direct the most effectual methods to be adopted for discountenancing these unfounded and dangerous impressions4 ,here then we have a proof that in the month of ,june #ahaf the planters had no notion of altering the condition of their ,negroes4 ,it is also evident1 that they have entertained no such notion since2 for emancipation implies a preparation of the persons who are to be the subjects of so great a change4 ,it implies a previous alteration of treatment for the better1 and a previous alteration of customs and even of circumstances1 no one of which can however be really and truly effected without a previous change of the laws4 ,in fact1 a progressively better treatment by law must have been settled as a preparatory and absolutely necessary work1 had emancipation been intended4 ,but as we have never heard of the introduction of any new laws to this effect1 or with a view of producing this effect1 in any of our colonies1 we have an evidence1 almost as clear as the sun at noonday1 that our planters have no notion of altering the condition of their ,negroes1 though fifteen years have elapsed since the abolition of the slave trade4 ,but if it be true that the abolition of the slave trade has not produced all the effects1 which the abolitionists anticipated or intended1 it would appear to be their duty1 unless insurmountable obstacles present themselves1 to resume their labours3 for though there may be upon the whole1 as ,i have admitted1 a somewhat better individual treatment of the slaves by their masters1 arising out of an increased prudence in same1 which has been occasioned by stopping the importations1 yet it is true1 that not only many of the former continue to be ill-treated by the latter1 but that all may be so ill-treated1 if the latter be so disposed4 ,they may be ill-fed1 hard-worked1 ill-used1 and wantonly and barbarously punished4 ,they may be tortured1 nay even deliberately and intentionally killed without the means of redress1 or the punishment of the aggressor1 so long as the evidence of a ,negro is not valid against a white man4 ,if a white master only take care1 that no other white man sees him commit an atrocity of the kind mentioned1 he is safe from the cognizance of the law4 ,he may commit such atrocity in the sight of a thousand black spectators1 and no harm will happen to him from it4 ,in fact1 the slaves in our ,islands have no more real protection or redress from law1 than when the ,abolitionists first took up the question of the slave trade4 ,it is evident therefore1 that the latter have still one-half of their work to perform1 and that it is their duty to perform it4 ,if they were ever influenced by any good motives1 whether of humanity1 justice1 or religion1 to undertake the cause of the ,negroes1 they must even now be influenced by the same motives to continue it4 ,if any of those disorders still exist1 which it was their intention to cure1 they cannot 7if these are curable7 retire from the course and say--there is now no further need of our interference4 ,the first step then to be taken by the ,abolitionists is to attempt to introduce an entire new code of laws into our colonies4 ,the treatment of the ,negroes there must no longer be made to depend upon the presumed effects of the abolition of the slave trade4 ,indeed there were persons well acquainted with ,colonial concerns1 who called the abolition but a half measure at the time when it was first publicly talked of4 ,they were sure1 that it would never of itself answer the end proposed4 ,mr4 ,steele also confessed in his letter to ,dr4 ,dickson#a 7of both of whom more by and by71 that the abolition of the stave trade would be useless1 unless at the same time the infamous laws1 which he had pointed out1 were repealed4 ,neither must the treatment of the ,negroes be made to depend upon what may be called contingent humanity4 ,we now leave in this country neither the horse1 nor the ass1 nor oxen1 nor sheep1 to the contingent humanity even of ,british bosoms2--and shall we leave those1 whom we have proved to be men1 to the contingent humanity of a slave colony1 where the eye is familiarized with cruel sights1 and where we have seen a constant exposure to oppression without the possibility of redress8 ,no4 ,the treatment of the ,negroes must be made to depend upon law2 and unless this be done1 we shall look in vain for any real amelioration of their condition4 ,in the first place1 all those old laws1 which are repugnant to humanity and justice1 must be done away4 ,there must also be new laws1 positive1 certain1 easy of execution1 binding upon all1 by means of which the ,negroes in our islands shall have speedy and substantial redress in real cases of ill-usage1 whether by starvation1 over-work1 or acts of personal violence1 or otherwise4 ,there must be new laws again more akin to the principle of reward than of punishment1 of privilege than of privation1 and which shall1 have a tendency to raise or elevate their condition1 so as to fit them by degrees to sustain the rank of free men4 ,but if a new ,code of ,laws be indispensably necessary in our colonies in order to secure a better treatment to the slaves1 to whom must we look for it8 ,i answer1 that we must not look for it to the ,west ,indian ,legislatures4 ,for1 in the first place1 judging of what they are likely to do from what they have already done1 or rather from what they have not done1 we can have no reasonable expectation from that quarter4 ,one hundred and fifty years have passed1 during which long interval their laws have been nearly stationary1 or without any material improvement4 ,in the second place1 the individuals composing these ,legislatures1 having been used to the exercise of unlimited power1 would be unwilling to part with that portion of it1 which would be necessary to secure the object in view4 ,in the third place1 their prejudices against their slaves are too great to allow them to become either impartial or willing actors in the case4 ,the term slave being synonymous according to their estimation and usage with the term brute1 they have fixed a stigma upon their ,negroes1 such as we1 who live in ,europe1 could not have conceived1 unless we had had irrefragable evidence upon the point4 ,what evils has not this cruel association of terms produced8 ,the ,west ,indian master looks down upon his slave with disdain4 ,he has besides a certain antipathy against him4 ,he hates the sight of his features1 and of his colour2 nay1 he marks with distinctive opprobrium the very blood in his veins1 attaching different names and more or less infamy to those who have it in them1 according to the quantity which they have of it in consequence of their pedigree1 or of their greater or less degree of consanguinity with the whites4 ,hence the ,west ,indian feels an unwillingness to elevate the condition of the ,negro1 or to do any thing for him as a human being4 ,i have no doubt1 that this prejudice has been one of the great causes why the improvement of our slave population by law has been so long retarded1 and that the same prejudice will continue to have a similar operation1 so long as it shall continue to exist4 ,not that there are wanting men of humanity among our ,west ,indian legislators4 ,their humanity is discernible enough when it is to be applied to the whites2 but such is the system of slavery1 and the degradation attached to this system1 that their humanity seems to be lost or gone1 when it is to be applied to the blacks4 ,not again that there are wanting men of sense among the same body4 ,they are shrewd and clever enough in the affairs of life1 where they maintain an intercourse with the whites2 but in their intercourse with the blacks their sense appears to be shrivelled and not of its ordinary size4 ,look at the laws of their own making1 as far as the ,negroes are concerned1 and they are a collection of any thing but--wisdom4 ,it appears then1 that if a new code of laws is indispensably necessary in our ,colonies in order to secure a better treatment of the slaves there1 we are not to look to the ,west ,indian ,legislatures for it4 ,to whom then are we to turn our eyes for help on this occasion8 ,we answer1 ,to the ,british ,parliament1 the source of all legitimate power2 to that ,parliament1 which has already heard and redressed in part the wrongs of ,africa4 ,the ,west ,indian ,legislatures must be called upon to send their respective codes to this ,parliament for revision4 ,here they will be well and impartially examined2 some of the laws will be struck out1 others amended1 and others added2 and at length they will be returned to the ,colonies1 means having been previously devised for their execution there4 ,but here no doubt a considerable opposition would arise on the part of the ,west ,india planters4 ,these would consider any such interference by the ,british ,parliament as an invasion of their rights1 and they would cry out accordingly4 ,we remember that they set up a clamour when the abolition of the slave trade was first proposed4 ,but what did ,mr4 ,pitt say to them in the ,house of ,commons8 ,i will now1 said he1 consider the proposition1 that on account of some patrimonial rights of the ,west ,indians1 the prohibition of the slave trade would be an invasion of their legal inheritance4 ,this proposition implied1 that ,parliament had no right to stop the importations3 but had this detestable traffic received such a sanction1 as placed it more out of the jurisdiction of the ,legislature for ever after1 than any other branch of our trade8 ,but if the laws respecting the slave trade implied a contract for its perpetual continuance1 the ,house could never regulate any other of the branches of our national commerce4 ,but any contract for the promotion of this trade must1 in his opinion1 have been void from the beginning2 for if it was an outrage upon justice1 and only another name for fraud1 robbery1 and murder1 what pledge could devolve upon the ,legislature to incur the obligation of becoming principals in the commission of such enormities by sanctioning their continuance8 ,they set up again a similar clamour1 when the ,registry ,bill before mentioned was discussed in ,parliament1 contending that the introduction of it there was an interference with their rights also3 but we must not forget the reply which ,mr4 ,canning made to them on that occasion4 ,he had known1 7he said17 and there might again occur1 instances of obstinacy in the colonial assemblies1 which left the ,british ,parliament no choice but direct interference4 ,such conduct might now call for such an exertion on the part of ,parliament2 but all that he pleaded for was1 that time should be granted1 that it might be known if the colonial assemblies would take upon them to do what that ,house was pleased to declare should be done4 ,the present address could not be misunderstood4 ,it told the colonial assemblies1 ,you are safe for the present from the interference of the ,british ,parliament1 on the belief1 and on the promise made for you1 that left to yourselves you will do what is required of you4 ,to hold this language was sufficient4 ,the ,assemblies might be left to infer the consequences of a refusal1 and ,parliament might rest satisfied with the consciousness1 that they held in their hands the means of accomplishing that which they had proposed4 ,in a subsequent discussion of the subject in the ,house of ,lords1 ,lord ,holland remarked1 that in his opinion there had been more prejudice against this ,bill than the nature of the thing justified2 but1 whatever might be the objection felt against it in the ,colonies1 it might be well for them to consider1 that it would be impossible for them to resist1 and that1 if the thing was not done by them1 it would be done for them4 ,but on this subject1 that is1 on the subject of colonial rights1 ,i shall say more in another place4 ,it will be proper1 however1 to repeat here1 and to insist upon it too1 that there is no effectual way of remedying the evil complained of1 but by subjecting the colonial laws to the revision of the ,legislature of the mother country2 and perhaps ,i shall disarm some of the opponents to this measure1 and at any rate free myself from the charge of a novel and wild proposition1 when ,i inform them that ,mr4 ,long1 the celebrated historian and planter of ,jamaica1 and to whose authority all ,west ,indians look up1 adopted the same idea4 ,writing on the affairs of ,jamaica1 he says3 ,the system#b of ,colonial government1 and the imperfection of their several laws1 are subjects1 which never were1 but which ought to be1 strictly canvassed1 examined1 and amended by the ,british ,parliament4 ,the second and last step to be taken by the ,abolitionists should be1 to collect all possible light on the subject of emancipation with a view of carrying that measure into effect in its due time4 ,they ought never to forget1 that emancipation was included in their original idea of the abolition of the slave trade4 ,slavery was then as much an evil in their eyes as the trade itself2 and so long as the former continues in its present state1 the extinction of it ought to be equally an object of their care4 ,all the slaves in our colonies1 whether men1 women1 or children1 whether ,africans or ,creoles1 have been unjustly deprived of their rights4 ,there is not a master1 who has the least claim to their services in point of equity4 ,there is1 therefore1 a great debt due to them1 and for this no payment1 no amends1 no equivalent can be found1 but a restoration to their liberty4 ,that all have been unjustly deprived of their rights1 may be easily shown by examining the different grounds on which they are alleged to be held in bondage4 ,with respect to those in our colonies1 who are ,africans1 ,i never heard of any title to them but by the right of purchase4 ,but it will be asked1 where did the purchasers get them8 ,it will be answered1 that they got them from the sellers2 and where did the sellers1 that is1 the original sellers1 get them8 ,they got them by fraud or violence4 ,so says the evidence before the ,house of ,commons2 and so1 in fact1 said both ,houses of ,parliament1 when they abolished the trade3 and this is the plea set up for retaining them in a cruel bondage666 ,with respect to the rest of the slaves1 that is1 the ,creoles1 or those born in the colonies1 the services1 the perpetual services1 of these are claimed on the plea of the law of birth4 ,they were born slaves1 and this circumstance is said to give to their masters a sufficient right to their persons4 ,but this doctrine sprung from the old ,roman law1 which taught that all slaves were to be considered as cattle4 ,partus sequitur ventrem1 says this law1 or the condition or lot of the mother determines the condition or lot of the offspring4 ,it is the same law1 which we ourselves now apply to cattle while they are in our possession4 ,thus the calf belongs to the man who owns the cow1 and the foal to the man who owns the mare1 and not to the owner of the bull or horse1 which were the male parents of each4 ,it is then upon this1 the old ,roman law1 and not upon any ,english law1 that the planters found their right to the services of such as are born in slavery4 ,in conformity with this law they denied1 for one hundred and fifty years1 both the moral and intellectual nature of their slaves4 ,they considered them themselves1 and they wished them to be considered by others1 in these respects1 as upon a level only with the beasts of the field4 ,happily1 however1 their efforts have been in vain4 ,the evidence examined before the ,house of ,commons in the years #aghi1 #agij1 and #agia1 has confirmed the falsehood of their doctrines4 ,it has proved that the social affections and the intellectual powers both of ,africans and ,creoles are the same as those of other human beings4 ,what then becomes of the ,roman law8 ,for as it takes no other view of slaves than as cattle1 how is it applicable to those1 whom we have so abundantly proved to be men8 ,this is the grand plea1 upon which our ,west ,indian planters have founded their right to the perpetual services of their ,creole slaves4 ,they consider them as the young or offspring of cattle4 ,but as the slaves in question have been proved1 and are now acknowledged1 to be the offspring of men and women1 of social1 intellectual1 and accountable beings1 their right must fall to the ground4 ,nor do ,i know upon what other principle or right they can support it4 ,they can have surely no natural right to the infant1 who is born of a woman slave4 ,if there be any right to it by nature1 such right must belong1 not to the master of the mother1 but to the mother herself4 ,they can have no right to it again1 either on the score of reason or of justice4 ,debt and crime have been generally admitted to be two fair grounds1 on which men may be justly deprived of their liberty for a time1 and even made to labour1 inasmuch as they include reparation of injury1 and the duty of the magistrate to make examples1 in order that he may not bear the sword in vain4 ,but what injury had the infant done1 when it came into the world1 to the master of its mother1 that reparation should be sought for1 or punishment inflicted for example1 and that this reparation and this punishment should be made to consist of a course of action and suffering1 against which1 more than against any other1 human nature would revolt8 ,is it reasonable1 is it just1 that a poor infant who has done no injury to any one1 should be subjected1 he and his posterity for ever1 to the arbitrary will and tyranny of another1 and moreover to the condition of a brute1 because by mere accident1 and by no fault or will of his own1 he was born of a person1 who had been previously in the condition of a slave8 ,and as the right to slaves1 because they were born slaves1 cannot be defended either upon the principles of reason or of justice1 so this right absolutely falls to pieces1 when we come to try it by the touchstone of the ,christian religion4 ,every man who is born into the world1 whether he be white or whether he be black1 is born1 according to ,christian notions1 a free agent and an accountable creature4 ,this is the ,scriptural law of his nature as a human bring4 ,he is born under this law1 and he continues under it during his life4 ,now the ,west ,indian slavery is of such an arbitrary nature1 that it may be termed proper or absolute4 ,the dominion attached to it is a despotism without control2 a despotism1 which keeps up its authority by terror only4 ,the subjects of it must do1 and this instantaneously1 whatever their master orders them to do1 whether it be right or wrong4 ,his will1 and his will alone1 is their law4 ,if the wife of a slave were ordered by a master to submit herself to his lusts1 and therefore to commit adultery1 or if her husband were ordered to steal any thing for him1 and therefore to commit theft1 ,i have no conception that either the one or the other would dare to disobey his commands4 ,the whip1 the shackles1 the dungeon1 says ,mr4 ,steele before mentioned1 are at all times in his power1 whether it be to gratify his lust1 or display his authority#c4 ,now if the master has the power1 a just1 and moral power1 to make his slaves do what he orders them to do1 even if it be wrong1 then ,i must contend that the ,scriptures1 whose authority we venerate1 are false4 ,i must contend that his slaves never could have been born free agents and accountable creatures2 or that1 as soon as they became slaves1 they were absolved from the condition of free-agency and that they lost their responsibility as men4 ,but if1 on the other hand1 it be the revealed will of ,god1 that all men1 without exception1 must be left free to act1 but accountable to ,god for their actions2--,i contend that no man can be born1 nay1 further1 that no man can be made1 held1 or possessed1 as a proper slave4 ,i contend that there can be1 according to the ,gospel-dispensation1 no such state as ,west ,indian slavery4 ,but let us now suppose for a moment1 that there might be found an instance or two of slaves enlightened by some pious ,missionary1 who would refuse to execute their master's orders on the principle that they were wrong2 even this would not alter our views of the case4 ,for would not this refusal be so unexampled1 so unlooked-for1 so immediately destructive to all authority and discipline1 and so provocative of anger1 that it would be followed by immediate and signal punishment8 ,here then we should have a ,west ,indian master reversing all the laws and rules of civilized nations1 and turning upside down all the morality of the ,gospel by the novel practice of punishing men for their virtues4 ,this new case affords another argument1 why a man cannot be born a proper slave4 ,in fact1 the whole system of our planters appears to me to be so directly in opposition to the whole system of our religion1 that ,i have no conception1 how a man can have been born a slave1 such as the ,west ,indian is2 nor indeed have ,i any conception1 how he can be1 rightly1 or justly1 or properly1 a ,west ,indian slave at all4 ,there appears to me something even impious in the thought2 and ,i am convinced1 that many years will not pass1 before the ,west ,indian slavery will fall1 and that future ages will contemplate with astonishment how the preceding could have tolerated it4 ,it has now appeared1 if ,i have reasoned conclusively1 that the ,west ,indians have no title to their slaves on the ground of purchase1 nor on the plea of the law of birth1 nor on that of any natural right1 nor on that of reason or justice1 and that ,christianity absolutely annihilates it4 ,it remains only to show1 that they have no title to them on the ground of original grants or permissions of ,governments1 or of ,acts of ,parliament1 or of ,charters1 or of ,english law4 ,with respect to original grants or permissions of ,governments1 the case is very clear4 ,history informs us1 that neither the ,african slave trade nor the ,west ,indian slavery would have been allowed1 had it not been for the misrepresentations and falsehoods of those1 who were first concerned in them4 ,the ,governments of those times were made to believe1 first1 that the poor ,africans embarked voluntarily on board the ships which took them from their native land2 and secondly1 that they were conveyed to the ,colonies principally for their own benefit1 or out of ,christian feeling for them1 that they might afterwards be converted to ,christianity4 ,take as an instance of the first assertion1 the way in which ,queen ,elizabeth was deceived1 in whose reign the execrable slave trade began in ,england4 ,this great princess seems on the very commencement of the trade to have questioned its lawfulness4 ,she seems to have entertained a religious scruple concerning it1 and indeed1 to have revolted at the very thoughts of it4 ,she seems to have been aware of the evils to which its continuance might lead1 or that1 if it were sanctioned1 the most unjustifiable means might be made use of to procure the persons of the natives of ,africa4 ,and in what light she would have viewed any acts of this kind1 had they taken place to her knowledge1 we may conjecture from this fact--that when ,captain 7afterwards ,sir ,john7 ,hawkins returned from his first voyage to ,africa and ,hispaniola1 whither he had carried slaves1 she sent for him1 and1 as we learn from ,hill's ,naval ,history1 expressed her concern lest any of the ,africans should be carried off without their free consent1 declaring1 that it would be detestable and call down the vengeance of ,heaven upon the undertakers4 ,capt4 ,hawkins promised to comply with the injunctions of ,elizabeth in this respect4 ,but he did not keep his word2 for when he went to ,africa again1 he seized many of the inhabitants and carried them off as slaves1 ,here 7says ,hill7 began the horrid practice of forcing the ,africans into slavery1 an injustice and barbarity1 which1 so sure as there is vengeance in ,heaven for the worst of crimes1 will sometime be the destruction of all who encourage it4 ,take as an instance of the second what ,labat1 a ,roman missionary1 records in his account of the ,isles of ,america4 ,he says1 that ,louis the ,thirteenth was very uneasy1 when he was about to issue the edict1 by which all ,africans coming into his colonies were to be made slaves2 and that this uneasiness continued1 till he was assured that the introduction of them in this capacity into his foreign dominions was the readiest way of converting them to the principles of the ,christian religion4 ,it was upon these ideas then1 namely1 that the ,africans left their own country voluntarily1 and that they were to receive the blessings of ,christianity1 and upon these alone1 that the first transportations were allowed1 and that the first ,english grants and ,acts of ,parliament1 and that the first foreign edicts1 sanctioned them4 ,we have therefore the fact well authenticated1 as it relates to original ,government grants and permissions1 that the owners of many of the ,creole slaves in our colonies have no better title to them as property1 than as being the descendants of persons forced away from their country and brought thither by a traffic1 which had its allowed origin in fraud and falsehood4 ,neither have the masters of slaves in our colonies any title to their slaves on account of any charters1 which they may be able to produce1 though their charters are the only source of their power4 ,it is through these that they have hitherto legislated1 and that they continue to legislate4 ,take away their charters1 and they would have no right or power to legislate at all4 ,and yet1 though they have their charters1 and though the slavery1 which now exists1 has been formed and kept together entirely by the laws1 which such charters have given them the power to make1 this very slavery is illegal4 ,there is not an individual1 who holds any of the slaves by a legal title3 for it is expressed in all these charters1 whether in those given to ,william ,penn and others for the continent of ,north ,america1 or in those given for the islands now under our consideration1 that the laws and statutes1 to be made there1 are not to be repugnant1 but1 as near as may be1 agreeable1 to the laws and statutes of this our kingdom of ,great ,britain4 ,but is it consistent with the laws of ,england1 that any one man should have the power of forcing another to work for him without wages8 ,is it consistent with the laws of ,england1 that any one man should have the power of flogging1 beating1 bruising1 or wounding another at his discretion8 ,is it consistent with the laws of ,england1 that a man should be judged by any but his peers8 ,is it consistent with the same laws1 that a man should be deprived of the power of giving evidence against the man who has injured him8 or that there should be a privileged class1 against whom no testimony can be admitted on certain occasions1 though the perpetrators of the most horrid crimes8 ,but when we talk of consistency on this occasion1 let us not forget that old law of ,barbadoes1 made while the charter of that island was fresh in every body's memory1 and therefore in the very teeth of the charter itself1 which runs thus3 ,if any slave1 under punishment by his master or by his order1 shall suffer in life or member1 no person shall be liable to any fine for the same3 but if any person shall wantonly or cruelly kill his own slave1 he shall pay the treasury #ae l4 ,and here let us remark1 that1 when ,lord ,seaforth1 governor of ,barbadoes1 proposed1 so lately as in #ahjb1 the repeal of this bloody law1 the ,legislature of that island rejected the proposition with indignation4 ,nay1 the very proposal to repeal it so stirred up at the time the bad passions of many1 that several brutal murders of slaves were committed in consequence2 and it was not till two or three years afterwards that the governor had influence enough to get the law repealed4 ,let the ,west ,indians then talk no more of their charters2 for in consequence of having legislated upon principles1 which are at variance with those upon which the laws of ,england are founded1 they have forfeited them all4 ,the mother country has therefore a right to withdraw these charters whenever she pleases1 and to substitute such others as she may think proper4 ,and here let it be observed also1 that the right of the ,west ,indians to make any laws at all for their own islands being founded upon their charters1 and upon these alone1 and the laws relating to the slaves being contrary to what such charters prescribe1 the slavery itself1 that is1 the daily living practice with respect to slaves under such laws1 is illegal and may be done away4 ,but if so1 all our ,west ,indian slaves are1 without exception1 unlawfully held in bondage4 ,there is no master1 who has a legal title to any of them4 ,this assertion may appear strange and extravagant to many2 but it does not follow on that account that it is the less true4 ,it is an assertion1 which has been made by a ,west ,indian proprietor himself4 ,mr4 ,steele#d1 before quoted1 furnishes us with what passed at the meeting of the ,society of ,arts in ,barbadoes at their committee-room in ,august #aghe1 when the following question was in the order of the day3 ,is there any law written1 or printed1 by which a proprietor can prove his title to his slave under or conformable to the laws of ,england8 ,and ,why1 7immediately said one of the members17 why conformable to the laws of ,england8 ,will not the courts in ,england admit such proof as is authorized by our slave laws8--,i apprehend not1 7answered a second17 unless we can show that our slave laws 7according to the limitations of the charter7 are not repugnant to the laws of ,england4--,the same gentleman resumed3 ,does the original purchaser of an ,african slave in this island obtain any legal title from the merchant or importer of slaves--and of what nature8 ,does it set forth any title of propriety1 agreeable to the laws of ,england 7or even to the laws of nations7 to be in the importer more than what depends upon his simple averment8 ,and have not free ,negroes been at sundry times trepanned by such dealers1 and been brought contrary to the laws of nations1 and sold here as slaves8--,there is no doubt1 7observed a third17 but such villainous actions have been done by worthless people3 however1 though an honest and unsuspicious man may be deceived in buying a stolen horse1 it does not follow that he may not have a fair and just title to a horse or any thing else bought in an open and legal market2 but according to the obligation of being not repugnant to the laws of ,england1 ,i do not see how we can have any title to our slaves likely to be supported by the laws of ,england4 ,in fact1 the ,colonial system is an excrescence upon the ,english ,constitution1 and is constantly at variance with it4 ,there is not one ,english law1 which gives a man a right to the liberty of any of his fellow creatures4 ,of course there cannot be1 according to charters1 any ,colonial law to this effect4 ,if there be1 it is null and void4 ,nay1 the very man1 who is held in bondage by the ,colonial law1 becomes free by ,english law the moment he reaches the ,english shore4 ,but we have said enough for our present purpose4 ,we have shown that the slaves in our ,colonies1 whether they be ,africans1 or whether they be ,creoles1 have been unjustly deprived of their rights4 ,there is of course a great debt due to them4 ,they have a claim to a restoration to liberty2 and as this restoration was included by the ,abolitionists in their original idea of the abolition of the slavetrade1 so it is their duty to endeavour to obtain it the first moment it is practicable4 ,i shall conclude my observations on this part of the subject1 in the words of that old champion of ,african liberty1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,smith1 the present ,member for ,norwich1 when addressing the ,house of ,commons in the last session of parliament on a particular occasion4 ,he admitted1 alluding to the slaves in our colonies1 that immediate emancipation might be an injury1 and not a blessing to the slaves themselves4 ,a period of preparation1 which unhappily included delay1 seemed to be necessary4 ,the ground of this delay1 however1 was not the intermediate advantage to be derived from their labour1 but a conviction of its expediency as it related to themselves4 ,we had to compensate to these wretched beings for ages of injustice4 ,we were bound by the strongest obligations to train up these subjects of our past injustice and tyranny for an equal participation with ourselves in the blessings of liberty and the protection of the law2 and by these considerations ought our measures to be strictly and conscientiously regulated4 ,it was only in consequence of the necessity of time to be consumed in such a preparation1 that we could be justified in the retention of the ,negroes in slavery for a single hour2 and he trusted that the eyes of all men1 both here and in the colonies1 would be open to this view of the subject as their clear and indispensable duty4 ,having led the reader to the first necessary step to be taken in favour of our slaves in the ,british ,colonies1--namely1 the procuring for them a new and better code of laws2 and having since led him to the last or final one1--namely1 the procuring for them the rights of which they have been unjustly deprived3 ,i shall now confine myself entirely to this latter branch of the subject1 being assured1 that it has a claim to all the attention that can be bestowed upon it2 and ,i trust that ,i shall be able to show1 by appealing to historical facts1 that however awful and tremendous the work of emancipation may seem1 it is yet practicable2 that it is practicable also without danger2 and moreover1 that it is practicable with the probability of advantage to all the parties concerned4 ,in appealing however to facts for this purpose1 we must expect no light from antiquity to guide us on our way2 for history gives us no account of persons in those times similarly situated with the slaves in the ,british colonies at the present day4 ,there were no particular nations in those times1 like the ,africans1 expressly set apart for slavery by the rest of the world1 so as to have a stigma put upon them on that account1 nor did a difference of the colour of the skin constitute always1 as it now does1 a most marked distinction between the master and the slave1 so as to increase this stigma and to perpetuate antipathies between them4 ,nor did the slaves of antiquity1 except perhaps once in ,sparta1 form the whole labouring population of the land2 nor did they work incessantly1 like the ,africans1 under the whip2 nor were they generally so behind their masters in cultivated intellect4 ,neither does ancient history give us in the cases of manumission1 which it records1 any parallel1 from which we might argue in the case before us4 ,the ancient manumissions were those of individuals only1 generally of but one at a time1 and only now and then2 whereas the emancipation1 which we contemplate in the colonies1 will comprehend whole bodies of men1 nay1 whole populations1 at a given time4 ,we must go therefore in quest of examples to modern times1 or rather to the history of the colonial slavery itself2 and if we should find any there1 which appear to bear at all upon the case in question1 we must be thankful for them1 and1 though they should not be entirely to our mind1 we must not turn them away1 but keep them1 and reason from them as far as their analogies will warrant4 ,in examining a period comprehending the last forty years1 ,i find no less than six or seven instances of the emancipation of ,african slaves in bodies4 ,the first of these cases occurred at the close of the first ,american war4 ,a number of slaves had run away from their ,north ,american masters and joined the ,british army4 ,when peace came1 the ,british ,government did not know what to do with them4 ,their services were no longer wanted4 ,to leave them behind to fall again into the power of their masters would have been great cruelty as well as injustice2 and as to taking them to ,england1 what could have been done with them there8 ,it was at length determined to give them their liberty1 and to disband them in ,nova ,scotia1 and to settle them there upon grants of land as ,british subjects and as free men4 ,the ,nova ,scotians on learning their destination were alarmed4 ,they could not bear the thought of having such a number of black persons among them1 and particularly as these understood the use of arms4 ,the ,government1 however1 persevering in its original intention1 they were conveyed to ,halifax1 and distributed from thence into the country4 ,their number1 comprehending men1 women1 and children1 were two thousand and upwards4 ,to gain their livelihood1 some of them worked upon little portions of land of their own2 others worked as carpenters2 others became fishermen2 and others worked for hire in other ways4 ,in process of time they raised places of worship of their own1 and had ministers of their own from their own body4 ,they led a harmless life1 and gained the character of an industrious and honest people from their white neighbours4 ,a few years afterwards the land in ,nova ,scotia being found too poor to answer1 and the climate too cold for their constitutions1 a number of them1 to the amount of between thirteen and fourteen hundred1 volunteered to form a new colony1 which was then first thought of1 at ,sierra ,leone4 ,accordingly1 having been conveyed there1 they realized the object in view2 and they are to be found there1 they or their descendants1 most of them in independent and some of them in affluent circumstances1 at the present day4 ,a second case may be taken from what occurred at the close of the second1 or last ,american war4 ,it may be remembered that a large ,british naval force1 having on board a powerful land force1 sailed in the year #ahad1 to make a descent on the coast of the southern ,states of ,america4 ,the ,british army1 when landed1 marched to ,washington1 and burnt most of its public buildings4 ,it was engaged also at different times with the ,american army in the field4 ,during these expeditions1 some hundreds of slaves in these parts joined the ,british standard by invitation4 ,when the campaign was over1 the same difficulty occurred about disposing of these as in the former case4 ,it was determined at length to ship them to ,trinidad as free labourers4 ,but here1 that is1 at ,trinidad1 an objection was started against receiving them1 but on a different ground from that which had been started in the similar case in ,nova ,scotia4 ,the planters of ,trinidad were sure that no free ,negroes would ever work1 and therefore that the slaves in question would1 if made free and settled among them1 support themselves by plunder4 ,sir ,ralph ,woodford1 however1 the governor of the island1 resisted the outcry of these prejudices4 ,he received them into the island1 and settled them where he supposed the experiment would be most safely made4 ,the result has shown his discernment4 ,these very men1 formerly slaves in the ,southern ,states of ,america and afterwards emancipated in a body at ,trinidad1 are now earning their own livelihood1 and with so much industry and good conduct that the calumnies originally spread against them have entirely died away4 ,a third case may comprehend those ,negroes1 who lately formed what we call our ,west ,indian black regiments4 ,some of these had been originally purchased in ,africa1 not as slaves but recruits1 and others in ,jamaica and elsewhere4 ,they had all served as soldiers in the ,west ,indies4 ,at length certain of these regiments were transported to ,sierra ,leone and disbanded there1 and the individuals composing them received their discharge as free men4 ,this happened in the spring of #ahai4 ,many hundreds of them were set at liberty at once upon this occasion4 ,some of these were afterwards marched into the interior1 where they founded ,waterloo1 ,hastings1 and other villages4 ,others were shipped to the ,isles de ,loss1 where they made settlements in like manner4 ,many1 in both cases1 took with them their wives1 which they had brought from the ,west ,indies1 and others selected wives from the natives on the spot4 ,they were all settled upon grants given them by the ,government4 ,it appears from accounts received from ,sir ,charles ,m',carthy1 the governor of ,sierra ,leone1 that they have conducted themselves to his satisfaction1 and that they will prove a valuable addition to that colony4 ,a fourth case may comprehend what we call the captured ,negroes in the colony now mentioned4 ,these are totally distinct from those either in the first or in the last of the cases which have been mentioned4 ,it is well known that these were taken out of slave-ships captured at different times from the commencement of the abolition of the slave trade to the present moment1 and that on being landed they were made free4 ,after having been recruited in their health they were marched in bodies into the interior1 where they were taught to form villages and to cultivate land for themselves4 ,they were made free as they were landed from the vessels1 from fifty to two or three hundred at a time4 ,they occupy at present twelve towns1 in which they have both their churches and their schools4 ,regents ,town having been one of the first established1 containing about thirteen hundred souls1 stands foremost in improvement1 and has become a pattern for industry and good example4 ,the people there have now fallen entirely into the habits of ,english society4 ,they are decently and respectably dressed4 ,they attend divine worship regularly4 ,they exhibit an orderly and moral conduct4 ,in their town little shops are now beginning to make their appearance2 and their lands show the marks of extraordinary cultivation4 ,many of them1 after having supplied their own wants for the year1 have a surplus produce in hand for the purchase of superfluities or comforts4 ,here then are four cases of slaves1 either ,africans or descendants of ,africans1 emancipated in considerable bodies at a time4 ,i have kept them by themselves1 became they are of a different complexion from those1 which ,i intend should follow4 ,i shall now reason upon them4 ,let me premise1 however1 that ,i shall consider the three first of the cases as one1 so that the same reasoning will do for all4 ,they are alike indeed in their main features2 and we must consider this as sufficient2 for to attend minutely to every shade of difference#e1 which may occur in every case1 would be to bewilder the reader1 and to swell the size of my work unnecessarily1 or without conferring an adequate benefit to the controversy on either side4 ,it will be said then 7for my reasoning will consist principally in answering objections on the present occasion7 that the three first cases are not strictly analogous to that of our ,west ,indian slaves1 whose emancipation we are seeking4 ,it will be contended1 that the slaves in our ,west ,indian colonies have been constantly in an abject and degraded state4 ,their faculties are benumbed4 ,they have contracted all the vices of slavery4 ,they are become habitually thieves and liars4 ,their bosoms burn with revenge against the whites4 ,how then can persons in such a state be fit to receive their freedom8 ,the slaves1 on the other hand1 who are comprehended in the three cases above mentioned1 found in the ,british army a school as it were1 which fitted them by degrees for making a good use of their liberty4 ,while they were there1 they were never out of the reach of discipline1 and yet were daily left to themselves to act as free men4 ,they obtained also in this preparatory school some knowledge of the customs of civilized life4 ,they were in the habit also of mixing familiarly with the white soldiers4 ,hence1 it will be said1 they were in a state much more favourable for undergoing a change in their condition than the ,west ,indian slaves before mentioned4 ,i admit all this4 ,i admit the difference between the two situations1 and also the preference which ,i myself should give to the one above the other on account of its desirable tendencies4 ,but ,i never stated1 that our ,west ,indian slaves were to be emancipated suddenly1 but by degrees4 ,i always1 on the other hand1 took it for granted1 that they were to have their preparatory school also4 ,nor must it be forgotten1 as a comparison has been instituted1 that if there was less danger in emancipating the other slaves1 because they had received something like a preparatory education for the change1 there was far more in another point of view1 because they were all acquainted with the use of arms4 ,this is a consideration of great importance2 but particularly when we consider the prejudices of the blacks against the whites2 for would our ,west ,indian planters be as much at their ease1 as they now are1 if their slaves had acquired a knowledge of the use of arms1 or would they think them on this account more or less fit for emancipation8 ,it will be said again1 that the fourth case1 consisting of the ,sierra ,leone captured ,negroes1 is not strictly analogous to the one in point4 ,these had probably been slaves but for a short time1--say a few months1 including the time which elapsed between their reduction to slavery and their embarkation from ,africa1 and between this their embarkation and their capture upon the ocean4 ,they had scarcely been slaves when they were returned to the rank of free men4 ,little or no change therefore could have been effected in so short an interim in their disposition and their character2 and1 as they were never carried to the ,west ,indies1 so they never could have contracted the bad habits1 or the degradation or vices1 of the slavery there4 ,it will be contended therefore1 that they were better1 or less hazardous1 subjects for emancipation1 than the slaves in our colonies4 ,i admit this objection1 and ,i give it its full weight4 ,i admit it to be less hazardous to emancipate a new than an old slave4 ,and yet the case of the ,sierra ,leone captured ,negroes is a very strong one4 ,they were all ,africans4 ,they were all slaves4 ,they must have contracted as mortal a hatred of the whites from their sufferings on board ship by fetters1 whips1 and suffocation in the hold1 as the ,west ,indian from those severities which are attached to their bondage upon shore4 ,under these circumstances then we find them made free2 but observe1 not after any preparatory discipline1 but almost suddenly1 and not singly1 but in bodies at a time4 ,we find them also settled or made to live under the unnatural government of the whites2 and1 what is more extraordinary1 we find their present number1 as compared with that of the whites in the same colony1 nearly as one hundred and fifty to one2 notwithstanding which superiority fresh emancipations are constantly taking place1 as fresh cargoes of the captured arrive in port4 ,it will be said1 lastly1 that all the four cases put together prove nothing4 ,they can give us nothing like a positive assurance1 that the ,negro slaves in our colonies would pass through the ordeal of emancipation without danger to their masters or the community at large4 ,certainly not4 ,nor if these instances had been far more numerous than they are1 could they1 in this world of accidents1 have given us a moral certainty of this4 ,they afford us however a hope1 that emancipation is practicable without danger3 for will any one pretend to say1 that we should have had as much reason for entertaining such a hope1 if no such instances had occurred2 or that we should not have had reason to despair1 if four such experiments had been made1 and if they had all failed8 ,they afford us again ground for believing1 that there is a peculiar softness1 and plasticity1 and pliability in the ,african character4 ,this softness may be collected almost every where from the ,travels of ,mr4 ,mungo ,park1 and has been noticed by other writers1 who have contrasted it with the unbending ferocity of the ,north ,american ,indians and other tribes4 ,but if this be a feature in the ,african character1 we may account for the uniformity of the conduct of those ,africans1 who were liberated on the several occasions above mentioned1 or for their yielding so uniformly to the impressions1 which had been given them by their superiors1 after they had been made free2 and1 if this be so1 why should not our colonial slaves1 if emancipated1 conduct themselves in the same manner8 ,besides1 ,i am not sure whether the good conduct of the liberated in these cases was not to be attributed in part to a sense of interest1 when they came to know1 that their condition was to be improved4 ,self-interest is a leading principle with all who are born into the world2 and why is the ,negro slave in our colonies to be shut out from this common feeling of our nature8--why is he to rise against his master1 when he is informed that his condition is to be bettered8 ,did not the planters1 as ,i have before related1 declare in the ,house of ,commons in the year #ahaf1 that their ,negroes had then imbibed the idea that they were to be made free1 and that they were extremely restless on that account8 ,but what was the cause of all this restlessness8 ,why1 undoubtedly the thought of their emancipation was so interesting1 or rather a matter of such exceedingly great joy to them1 that they could not help thinking and talking of it4 ,and would not this be the case with our ,negroes at this moment1 if such a prospect were to be set before them8 ,but if they would be overjoyed at this prospect1 is it likely they would cut the throats of those1 who should attempt to realize it8 would they not1 on the other hand1 be disposed to conduct themselves equally well as the other ,african slaves before mentioned1 when they came to know1 that they were immediately to be prepared for the reception of this great blessing1 the first guarantee of which would be an immediate and living experience of better laws and better treatment8 ,the fifth case may comprehend the slaves of ,st4 ,domingo as they were made free at different intervals in the course of the ,french ,revolution4 ,to do justice to this case1 ,i must give a history of the different circumstances connected with it4 ,it may be remembered1 then1 that when the ,french ,revolution1 which decreed equality of rights to all citizens1 had taken place1 the free ,people of ,colour of ,st4 ,domingo1 many of whom were persons of large property and liberal education1 petitioned the ,national ,assembly1 that they might enjoy the same political privileges as the ,whites there4 ,at length the subject of the petition was discussed1 but not till the #hth of ,march #agij1 when the ,assembly agreed upon a decree concerning it4 ,the decree1 however1 was worded so ambiguously1 that the two parties in ,st4 ,domingo1 the ,whites and the ,people of ,colour1 interpreted it each of them in its own favour4 ,this difference of interpretation gave rise to animosities between them1 and these animosities were augmented by political party-spirit1 according as they were royalists or partizans of the ,french ,revolution1 so that disturbances took place and blood was shed4 ,in the year #agia1 the ,people of ,colour petitioned the ,assembly again1 but principally for an explanation of the decree in question4 ,on the #aeth of ,may1 the subject was taken into consideration1 and the result was another decree in explicit terms1 which determined1 that the ,people of ,colour in all the ,french islands were entitled to all the rights of citizenship1 provided they were born of free parents on both sides4 ,the news of this decree had no sooner arrived at the ,cape1 than it produced an indignation almost amounting to phrensy among the ,whites4 ,they directly trampled under foot the national cockade1 and with difficulty were prevented from seizing all the ,french merchant ships in the roads4 ,after this the two parties armed against each other4 ,even camps began to be formed4 ,horrible massacres and conflagrations followed1 the reports of which1 when brought to the mother-country1 were so terrible1 that the ,assembly abolished the decree in favour of the ,free ,people of ,colour in the same year4 ,in the year #agib1 the news of the rescinding of the decree as now stated1 produced1 when it reached ,st4 ,domingo1 as much irritation among the ,people of ,colour1 as the news of the passing of it had done among the ,whites1 and hostilities were renewed between them1 so that new battles1 massacres1 and burnings1 took place4 ,suffice it to say1 that as soon as these events became known in ,france1 the ,conventional ,assembly1 which had then succeeded the ,legislative1 took them into consideration4 ,seeing1 however1 nothing but difficulties and no hope of reconciliation on either side1 they knew not what other course to take than to do justice1 whatever the consequences might be4 ,they resolved1 accordingly1 in the month of ,april1 that the decree of #agia1 which had been both made and reversed by the preceding ,assembly in the same year1 should stand good4 ,they restored therefore the ,people of ,colour to the privileges which had been before voted to them1 and appointed ,santhonax1 ,polverel1 and another1 to repair in person to ,st4 ,domingo1 with a large body of troops1 and to act there as commissioners1 and1 among other things1 to enforce the decree and to keep the peace4 ,in the year #agic1 the same divisions and the same bad blood continuing1 notwithstanding the arrival of the commissioners1 a very trivial matter1 viz4 a quarrel between a ,mulatto and a ,white man 7an officer in the ,french marine71 gave rise to new disasters4 ,this quarrel took place on the #bjth of ,june4 ,on the same day the seamen left their ships in the roads1 and came on shore1 and made common cause of the affair with the white inhabitants of the town4 ,on the other side were opposed the ,mulattos and other ,people of ,colour1 and these were afterwards joined by some insurgent ,blacks4 ,the battle lasted nearly two days4 ,during this time the arsenal was taken and plundered1 and some thousands were killed in the streets1 and more than half the town was burnt4 ,the commissioners1 who were spectators of this horrible scene1 and who had done all they could to restore peace1 escaped unhurt1 but they were left upon a heap of ruins1 and with but little more power than the authority which their commission gave them4 ,they had only about a thousand troops left in the place4 ,they determined1 therefore1 under these circumstances1 to call in the ,negro ,slaves in the neighbourhood to their assistance4 ,they issued a proclamation in consequence1 by which they promised to give freedom to all the ,blacks who were willing to range themselves under the banners of the ,republic4 ,this was the first proclamation made by public authority for emancipating slaves in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,it is usually called the ,proclamation of ,santhonax1 though both commissioners had a hand in it2 and sometimes1 in allusion to the place where it was issued 7the ,cape71 the ,proclamation of the ,north4 ,the result of it was1 that a considerable number of slaves came in and were enfranchised4 ,soon after this transaction ,polverel left his colleague ,santhonax at the ,cape1 and went in his capacity of commissioner to ,port au ,prince1 the capital of the ,west4 ,here he found every thing quiet1 and cultivation in a flourishing state4 ,from ,port au ,prince he visited ,les ,cayes1 the capital of the ,south4 ,he had not1 however1 been long there1 before he found that the minds of the slaves began to be in an unsettled state4 ,they had become acquainted with what had taken place in the north1 not only with the riots at the ,cape1 but the proclamation of ,santhonax4 ,now this proclamation1 though it sanctioned freedom only for a particular or temporary purpose1 did not exclude it from any particular quarter4 ,the terms therefore appeared to be open to all who would accept them4 ,polverel therefore1 seeing the impression which it had begun to make upon the minds of the slaves in these parts1 was convinced that emancipation could be neither stopped nor retarded1 and that it was absolutely necessary for the personal safety of the white planters1 that it should be extended to the whole island4 ,he was so convinced of the necessity of this1 that he drew up a proclamation without further delay to that effect1 and put it into circulation4 ,he dated it from ,les ,cayes4 ,he exhorted the planters to patronize it4 ,he advised them1 if they wished to avoid the most serious calamities1 to concur themselves in the proposition of giving freedom to their slaves4 ,he then caused a register to be opened at the ,government house to receive the signatures of all those who should approve of his advice4 ,it was remarkable that all the proprietors in these parts inscribed their names in the book4 ,he then caused a similar register to be opened at ,port au ,prince for the ,west4 ,here the same disposition was found to prevail4 ,all the planters1 except one1 gave in their signatures4 ,they had become pretty generally convinced by this time1 that their own personal safety was connected with the measure4 ,it may be proper to observe here1 that the proclamation last mentioned1 which preceded these registries1 though it was the act of ,polverel alone1 was sanctioned afterwards by ,santhonax4 ,it is1 however1 usually called the ,proclamation of ,polverel or of ,les ,cayes4 ,it came out in ,september #agic4 ,we may now add1 that in the month of ,february #agid1 the ,conventional ,assembly of ,france1 though probably ignorant of what the commissioners had now done1 passed a decree for the abolition of slavery throughout the whole of the ,french colonies4 ,thus the ,government of the mother-country1 without knowing it1 confirmed freedom to those upon whom it had been bestowed by the commissioners4 ,this decree put therefore the finishing stroke to the whole4 ,it completed the emancipation of the whole slave population of ,st4 ,domingo4 ,having now given a concise history of the abolition of slavery in ,st4 ,domingo1 ,i shall inquire how those who were liberated on these several occasions conducted themselves after this change in their situation4 ,it is of great importance to us to know1 whether they used their freedom properly1 or whether they abused it4 ,with respect to those emancipated by ,santhonax in the ,north1 we have nothing to communicate4 ,they were made free for military purposes only2 and we have no clue whereby we can find out what became of them afterwards4 ,with respect to those who were emancipated next in the ,south1 and those directly afterwards in the ,west1 by the proclamation of ,polverel1 we are enabled to give a very pleasing account4 ,fortunately for our views1 ,colonel ,malenfant1 who was resident in the island at the time1 has made us acquainted with their general conduct and character4 ,his account1 though short1 is quite sufficient for our purpose4 ,indeed it is highly satisfactory#f4 ,after this public act of emancipation1 says he1 7by ,polverel17 the ,negroes remained quiet both in the ,south and in the ,west1 and they continued to work upon all the plantations4 ,there were estates1 indeed1 which had neither owners nor managers resident upon them1 for some of these had been put into prison by ,montbrun2 and others1 fearing the same fate1 had fled to the quarter which had just been given up to the ,english4 ,yet upon these estates1 though abandoned1 the ,negroes continued their labours1 where there were any1 even inferior1 agents to guide them2 and on those estates1 where no white men were left to direct them1 they betook themselves to the planting of provisions2 but upon all the plantations where the ,whites resided1 the ,blacks continued to labour as quietly as before4 ,a little further on in the work1 ridiculing the notion entertained in ,france1 that the ,negroes would not work without compulsion1 he takes occasion to allude to other ,negroes1 who had been liberated by the same proclamation1 but who were more immediately under his own eye and cognizance#g4 ,if1 says he1 you will take care not to speak to them of their return to slavery1 but talk to them about their liberty1 you may with this latter word chain them down to their labour4 ,how did ,toussaint succeed8 ,how did ,i succeed also before his time in the plain of the ,cul de ,sac1 and on the ,plantation ,gouraud1 more than eight months after liberty had been granted 7by ,polverel7 to the slaves8 ,let those who knew me at that time1 and even the ,blacks themselves1 be asked4 ,they will all reply1 that not a single ,negro upon that plantation1 consisting of more than four hundred and fifty labourers1 refused to work2 and yet this plantation was thought to be under the worst discipline1 and the slaves the most idle1 of any in the plain4 ,i1 myself1 inspired the same activity into three other plantations1 of which ,i had the management4 ,the above account is far beyond any thing that could have been expected4 ,indeed1 it is most gratifying4 ,we find that the liberated ,negroes1 both in the ,south and the ,west1 continued to work upon their old plantations1 and for their old masters2 that there was also a spirit of industry among them1 and that they gave no uneasiness to their employers2 for they are described as continuing to work as quietly as before4 ,such was the conduct of the ,negroes for the first nine months after their liberation1 or up to the middle of #agid4 ,let us pursue the subject1 and see how they conducted themselves after this period4 ,during the year #agie and part of #agif ,i learn nothing about them1 neither good1 nor bad1 nor indifferent1 though ,i have ransacked the ,french historians for this purpose4 ,had there1 however1 been any thing in the way of outrage1 ,i should have heard of it2 and let me take this opportunity of setting my readers right1 if1 for want of knowing the dates of occurrences1 they should have connected certain outrages1 which assuredly took place in ,st4 ,domingo1 with the emancipation of the slaves4 ,the great massacres and conflagrations1 which have made so frightful a picture in the history of this unhappy island1 had been all effected before the proclamations of ,santhonax and ,polverel4 ,they had all taken place in the days of slavery1 or before the year #agid1 that is1 before the great conventional decree of the mother country was known4 ,they had been occasioned1 too1 not originally by the slaves themselves1 but by quarrels between the white and coloured planters1 and between the royalists and the revolutionists1 who1 for the purpose of reeking their vengeance upon each other1 called in the aid of their respective slaves2 and as to the insurgent ,negroes of the ,north1 who filled that part of the colony so often with terror and dismay1 they were originally put in motion1 according to ,malenfant1 under the auspices of the royalists themselves1 to strengthen their own cause1 and to put down the partizans of the ,french revolution4 ,when ,jean ,franois and ,biassou commenced the insurrection1 there were many white royalists with them1 and the ,negroes were made to wear the white cockade4 ,i repeat1 then1 that during the years #agie and #agif1 ,i can find nothing in the ,history of ,st4 ,domingo1 wherewith to reproach the emancipated ,negroes in the way of outrage#h4 ,there is every reason1 on the other hand1 to believe1 that they conducted themselves1 during this period1 in as orderly a manner as before4 ,i come now to the latter part of the year #agif2 and here happily a clue is furnished me1 by which ,i have an opportunity of pursuing my inquiry with pleasure4 ,we shall find1 that from this time there was no want of industry in those who had been emancipated1 nor want of obedience in them as hired servants3 they maintained1 on the other hand1 a respectable character4 ,let us appeal first to ,malenfant4 ,the colony1 says he#i1 was flourishing under ,toussaint4 ,the ,whites lived happily and in peace upon their estates1 and the ,negroes continued to work for them4 ,now ,toussaint came into power1 being general-in-chief of the armies of ,st4 ,domingo1 a little before the end of the year #agif1 and remained in power till the year #ahjb1 or till the invasion of the island by the ,french expedition of ,buonaparte under ,leclerc4 ,malenfant means therefore to state1 that from the latter end of #agif to #ahjb1 a period of six years1 the planters or farmers kept possession of their estates2 that they lived upon them1 and that they lived upon them peaceably1 that is1 without interruption or disturbance from any one2 and1 finally1 that the ,negroes1 though they had been all set free1 continued to be their labourers4 ,can there be any account more favourable to our views than this1 after so sudden an emancipation4 ,i may appeal next to ,general ,lacroix1 who published his ,memoirs for a ,history of ,st4 ,domingo1 at ,paris1 in #ahai4 ,he informs us1 that when ,santhonax1 who had been recalled to ,france by the ,government there1 returned to the colony in #agif1 he was astonished at the state in which he found it on his return4 ,this1 says ,lacroix#aj1 was owing to ,toussaint1 who1 while he had succeeded in establishing perfect order and discipline among the black troops1 had succeeded also in making the black labourers return to the plantations1 there to resume the drudgery of cultivation4 ,but the same author tells us1 that in the next year 7#agig7 the most wonderful progress had been made in agriculture4 ,he uses these remarkable words3 ,the colony1 says he#aa1 marched1 as by enchantment1 towards its ancient splendour2 cultivation prospered2 every day produced perceptible proofs of its progress4 ,the city of the ,cape and the plantations of the ,north rose up again visibly to the eye4 ,now ,i am far from wishing to attribute all this wonderful improvement1 this daily visible progress in agriculture1 to the mere act of the emancipation of the slaves in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,i know that many other circumstances which ,i could specify1 if ,i had room1 contributed towards its growth2 but ,i must be allowed to maintain1 that unless the ,negroes1 who were then free1 had done their part as labourers1 both by working regularly and industriously1 and by obeying the directions of their superintendants or masters1 the colony could never have gone on1 as relates to cultivation1 with the rapidity described4 ,the next witness to whom ,i shall appeal1 is the estimable ,general ,vincent1 who lives now at ,paris1 though at an advanced age4 ,vincent was a colonel1 and afterwards a general of brigade of artillery in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,he was stationed there during the time both of ,santhonax and ,toussaint4 ,he was also a proprietor of estates in the island4 ,he was the man who planned the renovation of its agriculture after the abolition of slavery1 and one of the great instruments in bringing it to the perfection mentioned by ,lacroix4 ,in the year #ahja1 he was called upon by ,toussaint to repair to ,paris1 to lay before the ,directory the new constitution1 which had been agreed upon in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,he obeyed the summons4 ,it happened1 that he arrived in ,france just at the moment of the peace of ,amiens2 here he found1 to his inexpressible surprise and grief1 that ,buonaparte was preparing an immense armament1 to be commanded by ,leclerc1 for the purpose of restoring slavery in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,he lost no time in seeing the ,first ,consul1 and he had the courage to say at this interview what1 perhaps1 no other man in ,france would have dared to say at this particular moment4 ,he remonstrated against the expedition2 he told him to his face1 that though the army destined for this purpose was composed of the brilliant conquerors of ,europe1 it could do nothing in the ,antilles4 ,it would most assuredly be destroyed by the climate of ,st4 ,domingo1 even though it should be doubtful1 whether it would not be destroyed by the ,blacks4 ,he stated1 as another argument against the expedition1 that it was totally unnecessary1 and therefore criminal2 for that every thing was going on well in ,st4 ,domingo4 ,the proprietors were in peaceable possession of their estates2 cultivation was making a rapid progress2 the ,blacks were industrious1 and beyond example happy4 ,he conjured him1 therefore1 in the name of humanity1 not to reverse this beautiful state of things4 ,but alas6 his efforts were ineffectual4 ,the die had been cast3 and the only reward1 which he received from ,buonaparte for his manly and faithful representations1 was banishment to the ,isle of ,elba4 ,having carried my examination into the conduct of the ,negroes after their liberation to #ahjb1 or to the invasion of the island by ,leclerc1 ,i must now leave a blank for nearly two years1 or till the year #ahjd4 ,it cannot be expected during a war1 in which every man was called to arms to defend his own personal liberty1 and that of every individual of his family1 that we should see plantations cultivated as quietly as before1 or even cultivated at all4 ,but this was not the fault of the emancipated ,negroes1 but of their former masters4 ,it was owing to the prejudices of the latter1 that this frightful invasion took place2 prejudices1 indeed1 common to all planters1 where slavery obtains1 from the very nature of their situation1 and upon which ,i have made my observations in a former place4 ,accustomed to the use of arbitrary power1 they could no longer brook the loss of their whips4 ,accustomed again to look down upon the ,negroes as an inferior race of beings1 or as the reptiles of the earth1 they could not bear1 peaceably as these had conducted themselves1 to come into that familiar contact with them1 as free labourers1 which the change of their situation required4 ,they considered them1 too1 as property lost1 but which was to be recovered4 ,in an evil hour1 they prevailed upon ,buonaparte1 by false representations and promises of pecuniary support1 to restore things to their former state4 ,the hellish expedition at length arrived upon the shores of ,st4 ,domingo3--a scene of blood and torture followed1 such as history had never before disclosed1 and compared with which1 though planned and executed by ,whites#ab1 all the barbarities said to have been perpetrated by the insurgent ,blacks of the ,north1 amount comparatively to nothing4 ,in fine1 the ,french were driven from the island4 ,till that time1 the planters retained their property1 and then it was1 but not till then1 that they lost their all2 it cannot1 therefore1 be expected1 as ,i have said before1 that ,i should have any thing to say in favour of the industry or good order of the emancipated ,negroes1 during such a convulsive period4 ,in the year #ahjd1 ,dessalines was proclaimed emperor of this fine territory4 ,here ,i resume the thread of my history1 7though it will be but for a moment17 in order that ,i may follow it to its end4 ,in process of time1 the black troops1 containing the ,negroes in question1 were disbanded1 except such as were retained for the peace-establishment of the army4 ,they1 who were disbanded1 returned to cultivation4 ,as they were free when they became soldiers1 so they continued to be free when they became labourers again4 ,from that time to this1 there has been no want of subordination or industry among them4 ,they or their descendants are the persons1 by whom the plains and valleys of ,st4 ,domingo are still cultivated1 and they are reported to follow their occupations still1 and with as fair a character as other free labourers in any other quarter of the globe4 ,we have now seen1 that the emancipated ,negroes never abused their liberty1 from the year #agic 7the era of their general emancipation7 to the present day1 a period of thirty years4 ,an important question then seems to force itself upon us1 ,what were the measures taken after so frightful an event1 as that of emancipation1 to secure the tranquillity and order which has been described1 or to rescue the planters and the colony from ruin8 ,i am bound to answer this1 if ,i can1 were it only to gratify the curiosity of my readers2 but more particularly when ,i consider1 that if emancipation should ever be in contemplation in our own colonies1 it will be desirable to have all the light possible upon that subject1 and particularly of precedent or example4 ,it appears then1 that the two commissioners1 ,santhonax and ,polverel1 aware of the mischief which might attend their decrees1 were obliged to take the best measures they could devise to prevent it4 ,one of their first steps was to draw up a short code of rules to be observed upon the plantations4 ,these rules were printed and made public4 ,they were also ordered to be read aloud to all the ,negroes upon every estate1 for which purpose the latter were to be assembled at a particular hour once a week4 ,the preamble to these regulations insisted upon the necessity of working1 without which everything would go to ruin4 ,among the articles1 the two the most worthy of our notice were1 that the labourers were to be obliged to hire themselves to their masters for not less than a year1 at the end of which 7,september71 but not before1 they might quit their service1 and engage with others2 and that they were to receive a third part of the produce of the estate1 as a recompense for their labour4 ,these two were fundamental articles4 ,as to the minor1 they were not alike upon every estate4 ,this code of the commissioners subsisted for about three years4 ,toussaint1 when he came into power1 reconsidered this subject1 and adopted a code of rules of his own4 ,his first object was to prevent oppression on the part of the master or employer1 and yet to secure obedience on the part of the labourer4 ,conceiving that there could be no liberty where any one man had the power of punishing another at his discretion1 he took away from every master the use of the whip1 and of the chain1 and of every other instrument of correction1 either by himself or his own order3 he took away1 in fact1 all power of arbitrary punishment4 ,every master offending against this regulation was to be summoned1 on complaint by the labourer1 before a magistrate or intendant of police1 who was to examine into the case1 and to act accordingly4 ,conceiving1 on the other hand1 that a just subordination ought to be kept up1 and that1 wherever delinquency occurred1 punishment ought to follow1 he ordained1 that all labourers offending against the plantation laws1 or not performing their contracts1 should be brought before the same magistrate or intendant of police1 who should examine them touching such delinquency1 and decide as in the former case3 thus he administered justice without respect of persons4 ,it must be noticed1 that all punishments were to be executed by a civil officer1 a sort of public executioner1 that they might be considered as punishments by the state4 ,thus he kept up discipline on the plantations1 without lessening authority on the one hand1 and without invading the liberty of individuals on the other4 ,among his plantation offences was idleness on the part of the labourer4 ,a man was not to receive wages from his master1 and to do nothing4 ,he was obliged to perform a reasonable quantity of work1 or be punished4 ,another offence was absence without leave1 which was considered as desertion4 ,toussaint differed from the commissioners1 as to the length of time for which labourers should engage themselves to masters4 ,he thought it unwise to allow the former1 in the infancy of their liberty1 to get notions of change and rambling at the end of every year4 ,he ordained1 therefore1 that they should be attached to the plantations1 and made1 though free labourers1 a sort of adscripti glebae for five years4 ,he differed again from the commissioners1 as to the quantum of compensation for their labour4 ,he thought one-third of the produce too much1 seeing that the planter had another third to pay to the ,government4 ,he ordered1 therefore1 one-fourth to the labourer1 but this was in the case only1 where the labourer clothed and maintained himself3 where he did not do this1 he was entitled to a fourth only nominally1 for out of this his master was to make a deduction for board and clothing4 ,the above is all ,i have been able to collect of the code of ,toussaint1 which1 under his auspices1 had the surprising effect of preserving tranquillity and order1 and of keeping up a spirit of industry on the plantations of ,st4 ,domingo1 at a time when only idleness and anarchy were to have been expected4 ,it was in force when ,leclerc arrived with his invading army1 and it continued in force when the ,french army were beaten and ,negro-liberty confirmed4 ,from ,toussaint it passed to ,dessalines1 and from ,dessalines to ,christophe and ,petion1 and from the two latter to ,boyer2 and it is the code therefore which regulates1 and ,i believe with but very little variation1 the relative situation of master and servant in husbandry at this present hour4 ,but it is time that ,i should now wind up the case before us4 ,and1 first1 will any one say that this case is not analogous to that which we have in contemplation8 ,let us remember that the number of slaves liberated by the ,french decrees in ,st4 ,domingo was very little short of #ejj1jjj persons1 and that this was nearly equal to the number of all the slaves then in the ,british ,west ,indian ,islands when put together4 ,but if there be a want of analogy1 the difference lies on my side of the question4 ,i maintain1 that emancipation in ,st4 ,domingo was attended with far more hazard to persons and property1 and with far greater difficulties1 than it could possibly be1 if attempted in our own islands4 ,can we forget that by the decree of ,polverel1 sanctioned afterwards by the ,convention1 all the slaves were made free at once1 or in a single day8 ,no notice was given of the event1 and of course no preparation could be made for it4 ,they were released suddenly from all their former obligations and restraints4 ,they were let loose upon the ,whites1 their masters1 with all the vices of slavery upon them4 ,what was to have been expected but the dissolution of all civilized society1 with the reign of barbarism and terror8 ,now all ,i ask for with respect to the slaves in our own islands is1 that they should be emancipated by degrees1 or that they should be made to pass through a certain course of discipline1 as through a preparatory school1 to fit them for the right use of their freedom4 ,again1 can we forget the unfavourable circumstances1 in which the slaves of ,st4 ,domingo were placed1 for a year or two before their liberation1 in another point of view8 ,the island at this juncture was a prey to political discord1 civil war1 and foreign invasion1 at the same time4 ,their masters were politically at variance with each other1 as they were white or coloured persons1 or republicans or royalists4 ,they were quarrelling and fighting with each other1 and shedding each other's blood4 ,the ,english1 who were in possession of the strong maritime posts1 were alarming the country by their incursions3 they1 the slaves1 had been trained up to the same political animosities4 ,they had been made to take the side of their respective masters1 and to pass through scenes of violence and bloodshed4 ,now1 whenever emancipation is to be proposed in our own colonies1 ,i anticipate neither political parties1 nor civil wars1 nor foreign invasion1 but a time of tranquillity and peace4 ,who then will be bold enough to say1 after these remarks1 that there could be any thing like the danger and difficulties in emancipating the slaves there1 which existed when the slaves of ,st4 ,domingo were made free8 ,but some objector may say1 after all1 ,there is one point in which your analogy is deficient4 ,while ,toussaint was in power1 the ,government of ,st4 ,domingo was a black one1 and the ,blacks would be more willing to submit to the authority of a black 7their own7 ,government1 than of a white one4 ,hence there ,were less disorders after emancipation in ,st4 ,domingo1 than would have probably occurred1 had it been tried in our own islands4 ,but to such an objector ,i should reply1 that he knows nothing of the history of ,st4 ,domingo4 ,the ,government of that island was ,french1 or white1 from the very infancy of emancipation to the arrival of the expedition of ,leclerc4 ,the slaves were made free under the government of ,santhonax and ,polverel4 ,when these retired1 other white commissioners succeeded them4 ,when ,toussaint came into power1 he was not supreme2 ,generals ,hedouille1 ,vincent1 and others1 had a share in the government4 ,toussaint himself received his commission from the ,french ,directory1 and acted under it4 ,he caused it every where to be made known1 but particularly among his officers and troops1 that he retained the island for the ,french ,government1 and that ,france was the mother-country4 ,a sixth class of slaves emancipated in bodies may comprehend those1 who began to be liberated about eighteen months ago in the newly-erected ,state of ,columbia4 ,general ,bolivar began the great work himself by enfranchising his own slaves1 to the number of between seven and eight hundred4 ,but he was not satisfied with this2 for believing1 as he did1 that to hold persons in slavery at all1 was not only morally wrong1 but utterly inconsistent with the character of men fighting for their own liberty1 he brought the subject before the ,congress of ,venezuela4 ,the ,congress there1 after having duly considered it1 drew up resolutions accordingly1 which it recommended to the first general ,congress of ,columbia1 when it should be assembled4 ,this last congress1 which met at the time expected1 passed a decree for emancipation on the #aith of ,july #ahba4 ,all slaves1 who had assisted1 in a military capacity1 in achieving the independence of the republic1 were at once declared free4 ,all the children of slaves1 born after the said #aith of ,july1 were to be free in succession as they attained the eighteenth year of their age4 ,a fund was established at the same time by a general tax upon property1 to pay the owners of such young slaves the expense of bringing them up to their eighteenth year1 and for putting them afterwards to trades and useful professions2 and the same fund was made applicable to the purchase of the freedom of adults in each district every year1 during the three national festivals in ,december1 as far as the district-funds would permit4 ,care1 however1 was to be taken to select those of the best character4 ,it may be proper to observe1 that emancipation1 as above explained1 has been proceeding regularly1 from the #aith of ,july #ahba1 according to the terms of the decree1 and also according to the ancient ,spanish code1 which still exists1 and which is made to go hand in hand with it4 ,they who attain their eighteenth year are not allowed to go at large after their liberation1 but are put under the charge of special juntas for a useful education4 ,the adults may have land1 if they desire it1 or they may go where they please4 ,the ,state has lately purchased freedom for many of the latter1 who had a liking to the army4 ,their freedom is secured to them whether they remain soldiers or are discharged4 ,it is particularly agreeable to me to be able to say that all1 who have been hitherto emancipated1 have conducted themselves since that time with propriety4 ,it appears by a letter from ,columbia1 dated #agth ,february #ahbb1 about seven months after emancipation had commenced1 addressed to ,james ,stephen1 ,esq4 of ,london1 and since made public1 that the slaves were all then peaceably at work throughout the republic1 as well as the newly enfranchised and those originally free4 ,and it appears from the account of a gentleman of high consideration just arrived from ,columbia1 in ,london1 that up to the time of his departure1 they who had been emancipated were steady and industrious1 and that they had conducted themselves well without a single exception4 ,but as this is an experiment which it will yet take sixteen years to complete1 it can only be called to our aid1 as far as the result of it is known4 ,it is1 however1 an experiment to which1 as far as it has been made1 we may appeal with satisfaction3 for when we consider that eighteen months have elapsed1 and that many#ac thousands have been freed since the passing of the decree and the date of the last accounts from ,columbia1 the decree cannot but be considered to have had a sufficient trial4 ,the seventh class may comprehend the slaves of the ,honourable ,joshua ,steele1 whose emancipation was attempted in ,barbadoes between the years #aghc and #agij4 ,it appears that ,mr4 ,steele lived several years in ,london4 ,he was ,vice-president of the ,london ,society of ,arts1 ,manufactures1 and ,commerce1 and a person of talent and erudition4 ,he was the proprietor of three estates in ,barbadoes4 ,his agent there used to send him accounts annually of his concerns2 but these were latterly so ruinous1 not only in a pecuniary point of view1 but as they related to what ,mr4 ,steele called the destruction of his ,negroes1 that he resolved1 though then at the advanced age of eighty1 to go there1 and to look into his affairs himself4 ,accordingly he embarked1 and arrived there early in the year #aghj4 ,mr4 ,steele had not been long in ,barbadoes1 before he saw enough to convince him that there was something radically wrong in the management of the slaves there1 and he was anxious to try1 as well for the sake of humanity as of his own interest1 to effect a change in it4 ,but how was he to accomplish this#ad8 ,he considered within himself how difficult it would be1 nay1 impossible1 for a single proprietor to attempt so great a novelty as to bring about an alteration of manners and customs protected by iniquitous laws1 and to which the gentlemen of the country were reconciled as to the best possible for amending the indocile and intractable ignorance of ,negro slaves4 ,it struck him however1 among the expedients which occurred1 that he might be able to form a ,society1 similar to the one in ,london1 for the purpose of improving the arts1 manufactures1 and commerce of ,barbadoes2 and if so1 he indulged a hope that by means of it conferences might be introduced on patriotic subjects1 in the course of which new ideas and new opinions might soften the national bigotry1 so far as to admit some discourses on the possibility of amendment in the mode of governing slaves4 ,following up this idea1 he brought it at length to bear4 ,a ,society was formed1 in consequence1 of gentlemen of the island in #agha4 ,the subjects under its discussion became popular4 ,it printed its first minutes in #aghb1 which were very favourably received1 and it seemed to bid fair after this to answer the benevolent views of its founder4 ,during this time1 a space of two years1 ,mr4 ,steele had been gaining a practical knowledge of the ,west ,indian husbandry1 and also a practical knowledge of the temper1 disposition1 habits1 and customs of the slaves4 ,he had also read much and thought much4 ,it may be inferred from his writings1 that three questions especially had employed his mind4 #a4 ,whether he could not do away all arbitrary punishments and yet keep up discipline among the slaves8 #b4 ,whether he could not carry on the plantation-work through the stimulus of reward8 #c4 ,whether he could not change slavery into a condition of a milder name and character1 so that the slaves should be led by degrees to the threshold of liberty1 from whence they might step next1 without hazard1 into the rank of free men1 if circumstances should permit and encourage such a procedure4 ,mr4 ,steele thought1 after mature consideration1 that he could accomplish all these objects1 and he resolved to make the experiments gradually upon his own estates4 ,at the end of the year #aghc he put the first of these questions to trial4 ,i took1 says he1 the whips and all power of arbitrary punishment from all the overseers and their white servants1 which occasioned my chief overseer to resign1 and ,i soon dismissed all his deputies1 who could not bear the loss of their whips2 but at the same time1 that a proper subordination and obedience to lawful orders and duty should be preserved1 ,i created a magistracy out of the ,negroes themselves1 and appointed a court or jury of the elder ,negroes or head-men for trial and punishment of all casual offences1 7and these courts were always to be held in my presence1 or in that of my new superintendant17 which court very soon grew respectable4 ,seven of these men being of the rank of drivers in their different departments1 were also constituted rulers1 as magistrates over all the gang1 and were charged to see at all times that nothing should go wrong in the plantations2 but that on all necessary occasions they should assemble and consult together how any such wrong should be immediately rectified2 and ,i made it known to all the gangs1 that the authority of these rulers should supply the absence or vacancy of an overseer in all cases2 they making daily or occasional reports of all occurrences to the proprietor or his delegate for his approbation or his orders4 ,it appears that ,mr4 ,steele was satisfied with this his first step1 and he took no other for some time4 ,at length1 in about another year1 he ventured upon the second4 ,he tried whether he could not obtain the labour of his ,negroes by voluntary means instead of the old method by violence4 ,on a certain day he offered a pecuniary reward for holing canes1 which is the most laborious operation in ,west ,indian husbandry4 ,he offered two-pence half-penny 7currency71 or about three-halfpence 7sterling71 per day1 with the usual allowance to holers of a dram with molasses1 to any twenty-five of his ,negroes1 both men and women1 who would undertake to hole for canes an acre per day1 at about #if-a_/b holes for each ,negro to the acre4 ,the whole gang were ready to undertake it2 but only fifty of the volunteers were accepted1 and many among them were those who on much lighter occasions had usually pleaded infirmity and inability3 but the ground having been moist1 they holed twelve acres within six days with great ease1 having had an hour1 more or less1 every evening to spare1 and the like experiment was repeated with the like success4 ,more experiments with such premiums on weeding and deep hoeing were made by task-work per acre1 and all succeeded in like manner1 their premiums being all punctually paid them in proportion to their performance4 ,but afterwards some of the same people being put without premium to weed on a loose cultivated soil in the common manner1 eighteen ,negroes did not do as much in a given time as six had performed of the like sort of work a few days before with the premium of two-pence half-penny4 ,the next year ,mr4 ,steele made similar experiments4 ,success attended him again2 and from this time task-work1 or the voluntary system1 became the general practice of the estate4 ,mr4 ,steele did not proceed to put the third question to trial till the year #aghi4 ,the ,society of ,arts1 which he had instituted in #agha1 had greatly disappointed him4 ,some of the members1 looking back to the discussions which had taken place on the subject of ,slavery1 began to think that they had gone too far as slaveholders in their admissions4 ,they began to insinuate1 that they had been taken in1 under the specious appearance of promoting the arts1 manufactures1 and commerce of ,barbadoes1 to promote dangerous designs against its established laws and customs4 ,discussions therefore of this sort became too unpopular to be continued4 ,it was therefore not till ,mr4 ,steele found1 that he had no hope of assistance from this ,society1 and that he was obliged to depend solely upon himself1 that he put in force the remainder of his general plan4 ,he had already 7in #aghc71 as we stated some time ago1 abolished arbitrary punishment and instituted a ,negro-magistracy2 and since that time 7in #aghe7 he had adopted the system of working by the piece4 ,but the remaining part of his plan went the length of altering the condition of the slaves themselves2 and it is of this alteration1 a most important one 7in #aghi71 that ,i am now to speak4 ,mr4 ,steele took the hint for the particular mode of improving the condition of his slaves1 which ,i am going to describe1 from the practice of our ,anglo-,saxon ancestors in the days of ,villainage1 which1 he says1 was the most wise and excellent mode of civilizing savage slaves4 ,there were in those days three classes of villains4 ,the first or lowest consisted of villains in gross1 who were alienable at pleasure4 ,the second of villains regardent1 who were adscripti glebae1 or attached as freehold property to the soil4 ,and the third or last of copyhold bondmen1 who had tenements of land1 for which they were bound to pay in services4 ,the villains first mentioned1 or those of the lowest class1 had all these gradations to pass through1 from the first into the second1 and from the second into the third1 before they could become free men4 ,this was the model1 from which ,mr4 ,steele resolved to borrow1 when he formed his plan for changing the condition of his slaves4 ,me did not1 however1 adopt it throughout1 but he chose out of it what he thought would be most suitable to his purpose1 and left the rest4 ,we may now see what the plan was1 when put together1 from the following account4 ,in the year #aghi he erected his plantations into manors4 ,it appears that the ,governor of ,barbadoes had the power by charter1 with the consent of the majority of the council1 of dividing the island into manors1 lordships1 and precincts1 and of making freeholders2 and though this had not yet been done1 ,mr4 ,steele hoped1 as a member of council1 to have influence sufficient to get his own practice legalized in time4 ,presuming upon this1 he registered in the manor-book all his adult male slaves as copyholders4 ,he then gave to these separate tenements of lands1 which they were to occupy1 and upon which they were to raise whatever they might think most advantageous to their support4 ,these tenements consisted of half an acre of plantable and productive land to each adult1 a quantity supposed to be sufficient with industry to furnish him and his family with provision and clothing4 ,the tenements were made descendible to the heirs of the occupiers or copyholders1 that is1 to their children on the plantations2 for no part of the succession was to go out of the plantations to the issue of any foreign wife1 and1 in case of no such heir1 they were to fall in to the lord to be re-granted according to his discretion4 ,it was also inscribed that any one of the copyholders1 who would not perform his services to the manor 7the refractory and others71 was to forfeit his tenement and his privileged rank1 and to go back to villain in gross and to be subject to corporal punishment as before4 ,thus1 says ,mr4 ,steele1 we run no risk whatever in making the experiment by giving such copyhold-tenements to all our well-deserving ,negroes1 and to all in general1 when they appear to be worthy of that favour4 ,matters having been adjusted so far1 ,mr4 ,steele introduced the practice of rent and wages4 ,he put an annual rent upon each tenement1 which he valued at so many days' labour4 ,he set a rent also upon personal service1 as due by the copyholder to his master in his former quality of slave1 seeing that his master or predecessor had purchased a property in him1 and this be valued in the same manner4 ,he then added the two rents together1 making so many days' work altogether1 and estimated them in the current money of the time4 ,having done this1 he fixed a daily wages or pay to be received by the copyholders for the work which they were to do4 ,they were to work #bfj days in the year for him1 and to have #dh besides ,sundays for themselves4 ,he reduced these days' work also to current money4 ,these wages he fixed at such a rate1 that they should be more than equivalent to the rent of their copyholds and the rent of their personal services when put together1 in order to hold out to them an evident and profitable incentive to their industry4 ,it appears that the rent of the tenement1 half an acre1 was fixed at the rate of #i l4 currency1 or between forty and fifty shillings sterling per acre1 and the wages for a man belonging to the first gang at #g-a_/b;d4 currency or #f;d4 sterling per day4 ,as to the rent for the personal services1 it is not mentioned4 ,with respect to labour and things connected with it1 ,mr4 ,steele entered the following among the local laws in the court-roll of the tenants and tenements4 ,the copyholders were not to work for other masters without the leave of the lord4 ,they were to work ten hours per day4 ,if they worked over and above that time1 they were to be paid for every hour a tenth part of their daily wages1 and they were also to forfeit a tenth for every hour they were absent or deficient in the work of the day4 ,all sorts of work1 however1 were to be reduced1 as far as it could be done by observation and estimation1 to equitable task-work4 ,hoes were to be furnished to the copyholders in the first instance2 but they were to renew them1 when worn out1 at their own expense4 ,the other tools were to be lent them1 but to be returned to the storekeeper at night1 or to be paid for in default of so doing4 ,mr4 ,steele was to continue the hospital and medical attendance at his own expense as before4 ,mr4 ,steele1 having now rent to receive and wages to pay1 was obliged to settle a new mode of accounting between the plantation and the labourers4 ,he brought1 therefore1 all the minor crops of the plantation1 such as corn1 grain of all sorts1 yams1 eddoes1 besides rum and molasses1 into a regular cash account by weight and measure1 which he charged to the copyhold-storekeeper at market prices of the current time1 and the storekeeper paid them at the same prices to such of the copyholders as called for them in part of wages1 in whose option it was to take either cash or goods1 according to their earnings1 to answer all their wants4 ,rice1 salt1 salt fish1 barrelled pork1 ,cork butter1 flour1 bread1 biscuit1 candles1 tobacco and pipes1 and all species of clothing1 were provided and furnished from the store at the lowest market prices4 ,an account of what was paid for daily subsistence1 and of what stood in their arrears to answer the rents of their lands1 the fines and forfeitures for delinquencies1 their head-levy and all other casual demands1 was accurately kept in columns with great simplicity1 and in books1 which checked each other4 ,such was the plan of ,mr4 ,steele1 and ,i have the pleasure of being able to announce1 that the result of it was highly satisfactory to himself4 ,in the year #aghh1 when only the first and second part of it had been reduced to practice1 he spoke of it thus3--,a plantation1 says he1 of between seven and eight hundred acres has been governed by fixed laws and a ,negro-court for about five years with great success4 ,in this plantation no overseer or white servant is allowed to lift his hand against a ,negro1 nor can he arbitrarily order a punishment4 ,fixed laws and a court or jury of their peers keep all in order without the ill effect of sudden and intemperate passions4 ,and in the year #agij1 about a year after the last part of his plan had been put to trial1 he says in a letter to ,dr4 ,dickson1 ,my copyholders have succeeded beyond my expectation4 ,this was his last letter to that gentleman1 for he died in the beginning of the next year4 ,mr4 ,steele went over to ,barbadoes1 as ,i have said before1 in the year #aghj1 and he was then in the eightieth year of his age4 ,he began his humane and glorious work in #aghc1 and he finished it in #aghi4 ,it took him1 therefore1 six years to bring his ,negroes to the state of vassalage described1 or to that state from whence he was sure that they might be transferred without danger in no distant time1 to the rank of freemen1 if it should be thought desirable4 ,he lived one year afterwards to witness the success of his labours4 ,he had accomplished1 therefore1 all he wished1 and he died in the year #agia1 in the ninety-first year of his age4 ,it may be proper now1 and indeed useful to the cause which ,i advocate1 to stop for a moment1 just to observe the similarity of sentiment of two great men1 quite unknown to each other2 one of whom 7,mr4 ,steele7 was concerned in preparing ,negro-slaves for freedom1 and the other 7,toussaint7 in devising the best mode of managing them after they had been suddenly made free4 ,it appears1 first1 that they were both agreed in this point1 viz4 that the first step to be taken in either case1 was the total abolition of arbitrary punishment4 ,it appears1 secondly1 that they were nevertheless both agreed again as to the necessity of punishing delinquents1 but that they adopted different ways of bringing them to justice4 ,toussaint referred them to magistrates1 but ,mr4 ,steele to a ,negro-court4 ,i should prefer the latter expedient2 first1 because a ,negro-court may be always at hand1 whereas magistrates may live at a distance from the plantations1 and not be always at home4 ,secondly1 because the holding of a ,negro-court would give consequence to those ,negroes who should compose it1 not only in their own eyes but in the eyes of others2 and every thing1 that might elevate the ,black character1 would be useful to those who were on the road to emancipation2 and1 lastly1 because there must be some thing satisfactory and consoling to the accused to be tried by their peers4 ,it appears1 thirdly1 that both of them were agreed again in the principle of making the ,negroes1 in either case1 adscripti glebae2 or attached to the soil1 though they might differ as to the length of time of such ascription4 ,and it appears1 lastly1 that they were agreed in another1 and this the only remaining point1 viz4 on the necessity of holding out a stimulus to either1 so as to excite in them a very superior spirit of industry to any they had known before4 ,they resorted1 however to different means to effect this4 ,toussaint gave the labourers one fourth of the produce of the land2 deducting board and clothing4 ,mr4 ,steele1 on the other hand1 gave them daily wages4 ,i do not know which to prefer2 but the plan of ,mr4 ,steele is most consonant to the ,english practice4 ,but to return4 ,it is possible that some objector may rise up here as before1 and say that even the case1 which ,i have now detailed1 is not1 strictly speaking1 analogous to that which we have in contemplation1 and may argue thus3--,the case of ,mr4 ,steele is not a complete precedent1 because his slaves were never fully emancipated4 ,he had brought them only to the threshold of liberty1 but no further4 ,they were only copyholders1 but not free men4 ,to this ,i reply1 first1 ,that ,mr4 ,steele accomplished all that he ever aimed at4 ,i have his own words for saying1 that so long as the present iniquitous slave-laws1 and the distinction of colour1 should exist1 it would be imprudent to go further4 ,i reply again1 ,that the partisans of emancipation would be happy indeed1 if they could see the day when our ,west ,indian slaves should arrive at the rank and condition of the copyholders of ,mr4 ,steele4 ,they wish for no other freedom than that which is compatible with the joint interest of the master and the slave4 ,at the same time they must maintain1 that the copyholders of ,mr4 ,steele had been brought so near to the condition of free men1 that a removal from one into the other1 after a certain time1 seemed more like a thing of course than a matter to be attended either with difficulty or danger3 for unquestionably their moral character must have been improved4 ,if they had ceased for seven years to feel themselves degraded by arbitrary punishment1 they must have acquired some little independence of mind4 ,if they had been paid for their labour1 they must have acquired something like a spirit of industry4 ,if they had been made to pay rent for their cottage and land1 and to maintain themselves1 they must have been made to look beforehand1 to think for themselves and families from day to day1 and to provide against the future1 all which operations of the mind are the characteristics only of free men4 ,the case1 therefore1 of ,mr4 ,steele is most important and precious3 for it shows us1 first1 that the emancipation1 which we seek1 is a thing which may be effected4 ,the plan of ,mr4 ,steele was put in force in a ,british ,island1 and that1 which was done in one ,british ,island1 may under similar circumstances be done again in the same1 as well as in another4 ,it shows us1 again1 how this emancipation may be brought about4 ,the process is so clearly detailed1 that any one may follow it4 ,it is also a case for encouragement1 inasmuch as it was attended with success4 ,i have now considered no less than six cases of slaves emancipated in bodies1 and a seventh of slaves1 who were led up to the very threshold of freedom1 comprehending altogether not less than between five and six hundred thousand persons2 and ,i have considered also all the objections that could be reasonably advanced against them4 ,the result is a belief on my part1 that emancipation is not only practicable1 but that it is practicable without danger4 ,the slaves1 whose cases ,i have been considering1 were resident in different parts of the world4 ,there must have been1 amongst such a vast number1 persons of all characters4 ,some were liberated1 who had been accustomed to the use of arms4 ,others at a time when the land in which they sojourned was afflicted with civil and foreign wars2 others again suddenly1 and with all the vicious habits of slavery upon them4 ,and yet1 under all these disadvantageous circumstances1 ,i find them all1 without exception1 yielding themselves to the will of their superiors1 so as to be brought by them with as much ease and certainty into the form intended for them1 as clay in the hands of the potter is fashioned to his own model4 ,but1 if this be so1 ,i think ,i should be chargeable with a want of common sense1 were ,i to doubt for a moment1 that emancipation was not practicable2 and ,i am not sure that ,i should not be exposed to the same charge1 were ,i to doubt1 that emancipation was practicable without danger4 ,for ,i have not been able to discover 7and it is most remarkable7 a single failure in any of the cases which have been produced4 ,i have not been able to discover throughout this vast mass of emancipated persons a single instance of bad behaviour on their parts1 not even of a refusal to work1 or of disobedience to orders4 ,much less have ,i seen frightful commotions1 or massacres1 or a return of evil for evil1 or revenge for past injuries1 even when they had it amply in their power4 ,in fact1 the ,negro character is malleable at the ,european will4 ,there is1 as ,i have observed before1 a singular pliability in the constitutional temper of the ,negroes1 and they have besides a quick sense of their own interest1 which influences their conduct4 ,i am convinced1 that ,west ,india masters can do what they will with their slaves2 and that they may lead them through any changes they please1 and with perfect safety to themselves1 if they will only make them 7the slaves7 understand that they are to be benefited thereby4 ,having now established1 ,i hope1 two of my points1 first1 that emancipation is practicable1 and1 secondly1 that it is practicable without danger1 ,i proceed to show the probability that it would be attended with profit to those planters who should be permitted to adopt it4 ,i return1 therefore1 to the case of ,mr4 ,steele4 ,i give him the prior hearing on this new occasion1 because ,i am sure that my readers will be anxious to learn something more about him2 or to know what became of his plans1 or how far such humane endeavours were attended with success4 ,i shall begin by quoting the following expressions of ,mr4 ,steele4 ,i have employed and amused myself1 says he1 by introducing an entire new mode of governing my own slaves1 for their happiness1 and also for my own profit4 ,it appears1 then1 that ,mr4 ,steele's new method of management was profitable4 ,let us now try to make out from his own account1 of what these profits consisted4 ,mr4 ,steele informs us1 that his superintendant had obliged him to hire all his holing at #c l4 currency1 or #b l4 #bs4 #aj;d4 sterling per acre4 ,he was very much displeased at these repeated charges2 and then it was1 that he put his second question to trial1 as ,i have before related1 viz4 whether he could not obtain the labour of his ,negroes by voluntary means1 instead of by the old method by violence4 ,he made1 therefore1 an attempt to introduce task-work1 or labour with an expected premium for extraordinary efforts1 upon his estates4 ,he gave his ,negroes therefore a small pecuniary reward over and above the usual allowances1 and the consequence was1 as he himself says1 that the poorest1 feeblest1 and by character the most indolent ,negroes of the whole gang1 cheerfully performed the holing of his land1 generally said to be the most laborious work1 for less than a fourth part of the stated price paid to the undertakers for holing4 ,this experiment ,i have detailed in another place4 ,after this he continued the practice of task-work or premium4 ,he describes the operation of such a system upon the minds of his ,negroes in the following words3 ,according to the vulgar mode of governing ,negro-slaves1 they feel only the desponding fear of punishment for doing less than they ought1 without being sensible that the settled allowance of food and clothing is given1 and should be accepted1 as a reward for doing well1 while in task-work the expectation of winning the reward1 and the fear of losing it1 have a double operation to exert their endeavours4 ,mr4 ,steele was also benefited again in another point of view by the new practice which he had introduced4 ,he was clearly convinced1 that saving time1 by doing in one day as much as would otherwise require three days1 was worth more than double the premium1 the timely effects on vegetation being critical4 ,he found also to his satisfaction1 that during all the operations under the premium there were no disorders1 no crowding to the sick-house1 as before4 ,i have now to make my remarks upon this account4 ,it shows us clearly how ,mr4 ,steele made a part of his profits4 ,these profits consisted first of a saving of expense in his husbandry1 which saving was not made by others4 ,he had his land holed at one-fourth of the usual rate4 ,let us apply this to all the other operations of husbandry1 such as weeding1 deep hoeing1 c4 in a large farm of nearly eight hundred acres1 like his1 and we shall see how considerable the savings would be in one year4 ,his ,negroes again did not counterfeit sickness as before1 in order to be excused from labour1 but rather wished to labour in order to obtain the reward4 ,there was therefore no crowding to the hospitals4 ,this constituted a second source of saving2 for they who were in the hospitals were maintained by ,mr4 ,steele without earning any thing1 while they who were working in the field left to their master in their work1 when they went home at night1 a value equal at least to that which they had received from him for their day's labour4 ,but there was another saving of equal importance1 which ,mr4 ,steele calls a saving of time1 but which he might with more propriety have called a saving of season4 ,this saving of season1 he says1 was worth more than double the premium2 and so it might easily have been4 ,there are soils1 every farmer knows1 which are so constituted1 that if you miss your day1 you miss your season2 and1 if you miss your season1 you lose probably half your crop4 ,the saving1 therefore1 of the season1 by having a whole crop instead of half an one1 was a third source of saving of money4 ,now let us put all these savings together1 and they will constitute a great saving or profit2 for as these savings were made by ,mr4 ,steele in consequence of his new plan1 and were therefore not made by others1 they constituted an extraordinary profit to him2 or they added to the profit1 whatever it might have been1 which he used to receive from the estate before his new plan was put in execution4 ,but ,i discover other ways in which ,mr4 ,steele was benefited1 as ,i advance in the perusal of his writings4 ,it was impossible to overlook the following passage3 ,now1 says he 7alluding to his new system71 every species of provisions raised on the plantations1 or bought from the merchants1 is charged at the market-price to the copyhold-store1 and discharged by what has been paid on the several accounts of every individual bond-slave2 whereas for all those species heretofore1 ,i never saw in any plantation-book of my estates any account of what became of them1 or how they were disposed of1 nor of their value1 other than in these concise words1 they were given in allowance to the ,negroes and stock4 ,every year1 for six years past1 this great plantation has bought several hundred bushels of corn1 and was scanty in all ground-provisions1 our produce always falling short4 ,this year1 #agij1 since the establishment of copyholders1 though several less acres were planted last year in ,guinea corn than usual1 yet we have been able to sell several hundred bushels at a high price1 and we have still a great stock in hand4 ,i can place this saving to no other account1 than that there is now an exact account kept by all produce being paid as cash to the bond-slaves2 and also as all our watchmen are obliged to pay for all losses that happen on their watch1 they have found it their interest to look well to their charge2 and consequently that we have had much less stolen from us than before this new government took place4 ,here then we have seen another considerable source of saving to ,mr4 ,steele1 viz4 that he was not obliged to purchase any corn for his slaves as formerly4 ,my readers will be able to judge better of this saving1 when ,i inform them of what has been the wretched policy of many of our planters in this department of their concerns4 ,look over their farming memoranda1 and you will see sugar1 sugar1 sugar1 in every page2 but you may turn over leaf after leaf1 before you will find the words provision ground for their slaves4 ,by means of this wretched policy1 slaves have often suffered most grievously4 ,some of them have been half-starved4 ,starvation1 too1 has brought on disorders which have ultimately terminated in their death4 ,hence their masters have suffered losses1 besides the expense incurred in buying what they ought to have raised upon their own estates1 and this perhaps at a dear market3 and in this wretched predicament ,mr4 ,steele appears to have been himself when he first went to the estate4 ,his slaves1 he tells us1 had been reduced in number by bad management4 ,even for six years afterwards he had been obliged to buy several hundred bushels of corn2 but in the year #agij he had sold several hundred bushels at a high price1 and had still a great stock on hand4 ,and to what was all this owing8 ,not to an exact account kept at the store 7for some may have so misunderstood ,mr4 ,steele72 for how could an exact account kept there1 have occasioned an increase in the produce of the earth8 but1 as ,mr4 ,steele himself says1 to the establishment of his copyholders1 or to the alteration of the condition of his slaves4 ,his slaves did not only three times more work than before1 in consequence of the superior industry he had excited among them1 but1 by so doing1 they were enabled to put the corn into the earth three times more quickly than before1 or they were so much forwarder in their other work1 that they were enabled to sow it at the critical moment1 or so as to save the season1 and thus secure a full crop1 or a larger crop on a less number of acres1 than was before raised upon a greater4 ,the copyholders1 therefore1 were the persons who increased the produce of the earth2 but the exact account kept at the store prevented the produce from being misapplied as formerly4 ,it could no longer be put down in the general expression of given in allowances to the ,negroes and the stock2 but it was put down to the copyholder1 and to him only1 who received it4 ,thus ,mr4 ,steele saved the purchase of a great part of the provisions for his slaves4 ,he had formerly a great deal to buy for them1 but now nothing4 ,on the other hand1 he had to sell2 but1 as his slaves were made1 according to the new system1 to maintain themselves1 he had now the whole produce of his estate to dispose of4 ,the circumstance therefore of having nothing to buy1 but every thing to sell1 constituted another source of his profits4 ,what the other particular profits of ,mr4 ,steele were ,i can no where find1 neither can ,i find what were his particular expenses2 so as to be enabled to strike the balance in his favour4 ,happily1 however1 ,mr4 ,steele has done this for us himself1 though he has not furnished us with the items on either side4--,he says that from the year #aggc to #aggi 7he arrived in ,barbadoes in #aghj71 his stock had been so much reduced by ill management and wasteful economy1 that the annual average neat clearance was little more than one and a quarter per cent4 on the purchase4 ,in a second period of four years1 in consequence of the exertion of an honest and able manager1 7though with a further reduction of the stock1 and including the loss from the great hurricane17 the annual average income was brought to clear a little above two per cent42 but in a third period of three years from #aghd to #aghf inclusive1 since the new mode of governing the ,negroes1 7besides increasing the stock1 and laying out large sums annually in adding necessary works1 and in repairs of the damages by the great hurricane17 the estate has cleared very nearly four and a quarter per cent42 that is1 its annual average clearance in each of these three periods1 was in this proportion2 for every #ajj l4 annually cleared in the first period the annual average clearance in the second period was #aeh l4 #ajs41 and in the third period was #cde l4 #fs4 #h;d4 ,this is the statement given by ,mr4 ,steele1 and a most important one it is2 for if we compare what the estate had cleared in the first1 with what it had cleared in the last of these periods1 and have recourse to figures1 we shall find that ,mr4 ,steele had more than tripled the income of it1 in consequence of his new management1 during his residence in ,barbadoes4 ,and this is in fact what he says himself in words at full length1 in his answer to the #agth question proposed to him by the committee of the ,privy-council on the affairs of the slave trade4 ,in a plantation1 says he1 of #bjj slaves in ,june #aghj1 consisting of #ij men1 #hb women1 #ef boys1 and #fj girls1 though under the exertions of an able and honest manager1 there were only #ae births1 and no less than #eg deaths1 in three years and three months4 ,an alteration was made in the mode of governing the slaves4 ,the whips were taken from all the white servants4 ,all arbitrary punishments were abolished1 and all offences were tried and sentence passed by a ,negro court4 ,in four years and three months after this change of government1 there were #dd births1 and only #da deaths1 of which ten deaths were of superannuated men and women1 some above #hj years old4 ,but in the same interval the annual neat clearance of the estate was above three times more than it had been for ten years before666 ,dr4 ,dickson1 the editor of ,mr4 ,steele1 mentions these profits also1 and in the same terms1 and connects them with an eulogium on ,mr4 ,steele1 which is worthy of our attention4 ,mr4 ,steele1 says he1 saw that the ,negroes1 like all other human beings1 were to be stimulated to permanent exertion only by a sense of their own interests in providing for their own wants and those of their offspring4 ,he therefore tried rewards1 which immediately roused the most indolent to exertion4 ,his experiments ended in regular wages1 which the industry he had excited among his whole gang enabled him to pay4 ,here was a natural1 efficient1 and profitable reciprocity of interests4 ,his people became contented2 his mind was freed from that perpetual vexation and that load of anxiety1 which are inseparable from the vulgar system1 and in little more than four years the annual neat clearance of his property was more than tripled4 ,again1 in another part of the work1 ,mr4 ,steele's plan may no doubt receive some improvements1 which his great age obliged him to decline--but it is perfect1 as far as it goes4 ,to advance above #cjj field-negroes1 who had never before moved without the whip1 to a state nearly resembling that of contented1 honest and industrious servants1 and1 after paying for their labour1 to triple in a few years the annual neat clearance of the estate1--these1 ,i say1 were great achievements for an aged man in an untried field of improvement1 pre-occupied by inveterate vulgar prejudice4 ,he has indeed accomplished all that was really doubtful or difficult in the undertaking1 and perhaps all that is at present desirable either for owner or slave2 for he has ascertained as a fact1 what was before only known to the learned as a theory1 and to practical men as a paradox1 that the paying of slaves for their labour does actually produce a very great profit to their owners4 ,i have now proved 7as far as the plan#ae of ,mr4 ,steele is concerned7 my third proposition1 or the probability that emancipation would promote the interests of those who should adopt it2 but as ,i know of no other estate similarly circumstanced with that of ,mr4 ,steele1 that is1 where emancipation has been tried1 and where a detailed result of it has been made known1 ,i cannot confirm it by other similar examples4 ,i must have recourse therefore to some new species of proof4 ,now it is an old maxim1 as old as the days of ,pliny and ,columella1 and confirmed by ,dr4 ,adam ,smith1 and all the modern writers on political economy1 that the labour of free men is cheaper than the labour of slaves4 ,if therefore ,i should be able to show that this maxim would be true1 if applied to all the operations and demands of ,west ,indian agriculture1 ,i should be able to establish my proposition on a new ground3 for it requires no great acuteness to infer1 that1 if it be cheaper to employ free men than slaves in the cultivation of our islands1 emancipation would be a profitable undertaking there4 ,i shall show1 then1 that the old maxim just mentioned is true1 when applied to the case in our own islands1 first1 by establishing the fact1 that free men1 people of colour1 in the ,east ,indies1 are employed in precisely the same concerns 7the cultivation of the cane and the making of sugar7 as the slaves in the ,west1 and that they are employed at a cheaper rate4 ,the testimony of ,henry ,botham1 ,esq4 will be quite sufficient for this point4 ,that gentleman resided for some time in the ,east ,indies1 where he became acquainted with the business of a sugar estate4 ,in the year #aggj he quitted the ,east for the ,west4 ,his object was to settle in the latter part of the world1 if it should be found desirable so to do4 ,for this purpose he visited all the ,west ,indian islands1 both ,english and ,french1 in about two years4 ,he became during this time a planter1 though he did not continue long in this situation2 and he superintended also ,messrs4 ,bosanquets' and ,j4 ,fatio's sugar-plantation in their partners' absence4 ,finding at length the unprofitable way in which the ,west ,indian planters conducted their concerns1 he returned to the ,east ,indies in #aggf1 and established sugar-works at ,bencoolen on his own account4 ,being in ,london in the year #aghi1 when a committee of privy council was sitting to examine into the question of the slave trade1 he delivered a paper to the board on the mode of cultivating a sugar plantation in the ,east ,indies2 and this paper being thought of great importance1 he was summoned afterwards in #agia by a committee of the ,house of ,commons to be examined personally upon it4 ,it is very remarkable that the very first sentence in this paper announced the fact at once1 that sugar1 better and cheaper than that in the ,west ,indian islands1 was produced by free men4 ,mr4 ,botham then explained the simple process of making sugar in the ,east4 ,a proprietor1 generally a ,dutchman1 used to let his estate1 say #cjj acres or more1 with proper buildings upon it1 to a ,chinese1 who lived upon it and superintended it1 and who re-let it to free men in parcels of #ej or #fj acres on condition that they should plant it in canes for so much for every pecul1 #acc lbs41 of sugar produced4 ,this superintendant hired people from the adjacent villages to take off his crop4 ,one lot of task-men with their carts and buffaloes cut the canes1 carried them to the mill1 and ground them4 ,a second set boiled them1 and a third clayed and basketed them for market at so much per pecul4 ,thus the renter knew with certainty what every pecul would cost him1 and he incurred no unnecessary expense2 for1 when the crop was over1 the task-men returned home4 ,by dividing the labour in this manner1 it was better and cheaper done4 ,mr4 ,botham detailed next the improved method of making sugar in ,batavia1 which we have not room to insert here4 ,we may just state1 however1 that the persons concerned in it never made spirits on the sugar estates4 ,the molasses and skimmings were sent for1 sale to ,batavia1 where one distillery might buy the produce of a hundred estates4 ,here1 again1 was a vast saving1 says ,mr4 ,botham1 there was not1 as in the ,west ,indies1 a distillery for each estate4 ,he then proceeded to make a comparison between the agricultural system of the two countries4 ,the cane was cultivated to the utmost perfection in ,batavia1 whereas the culture of it in the ,west ,indies was but in its infancy4 ,the hoe was scarcely used in the ,east1 whereas it was almost the sole implement in the ,west4 ,the plough was used instead of it in the ,east1 as far as it could be done4 ,young canes there were kept also often ploughed as a weeding1 and the hoe was kept to weed round the plant when very young2 but of this there was little need1 if the land had been sufficiently ploughed4 ,when the cane was ready to be earthed up1 it was done by a sort of shovel made for the purpose4 ,two persons with this instrument would earth up more canes in a day than ten ,negroes with hoes4 ,the cane-roots were also ploughed up in the ,east1 whereas they were dug up with the severest exertion in the ,west4 ,many alterations1 says ,mr4 ,botham1 are to be made1 and expenses and human labour lessened in the ,west4 ,having experienced the difference of labourers for profit and labourers from force1 ,i can assert1 that the savings by the former are very considerable4 ,he then pointed out other defects in the ,west ,indian management1 and their remedies4 ,i am of opinion1 says he1 that the ,west ,indian planter should for his own interest give more labour to beast and less to man4 ,a larger portion of his estate ought to be in pasture4 ,when practicable1 canes should be carried to the mill1 and cane tops and grass to the stock1 in waggons4 ,the custom of making a hard-worked ,negro get a bundle of grass twice a day should be abolished1 and in short a total change take place in the miserable management in our ,west ,indian ,islands4 ,by these means following as near as possible the ,east ,indian mode1 and consolidating the distilleries1 ,i do suppose our sugar-islands might be better worked than they now are by two-thirds or indeed one-half of the present force4 ,let it be considered how much labour is lost by the persons overseeing the forced labourer1 which is saved when he works for his own profit4 ,i have stated with the strictest veracity a plain matter of fact1 that sugar estates can be worked cheaper by free men than by slaves#af4 ,i shall now show1 that the old maxim1 which has been mentioned1 is true1 when applied to the case of our ,west ,indian islands1 by establishing a fact of a very different kind1 viz4 that the slaves in the ,west ,indies do much more work in a given time when they work for themselves1 than when they work for their masters4 ,but how1 it will be said1 do you prove1 by establishing this fact1 that it would be cheaper for our planters to employ free men than slaves8 ,i answer thus3 ,i maintain that1 while the slaves are working for themselves1 they are to be considered1 indeed that they are1 bon fide1 free labourers4 ,in the first place1 they never have a driver with them on any of these occasions2 and1 in the second place1 having all their earnings to themselves1 they have that stimulus within them to excite industry1 which is only known to free men4 ,what is it1 ,i ask1 which gives birth to industry in any part of the world1 seeing that labour is not agreeable to man1 but the stimulus arising from the hope of gain8 ,what makes an ,english labourer do more work in the day than a slave1 but the stimulus arising from the knowledge1 that what he earns is for himself and not for another8 ,what1 again1 makes an ,english labourer do much more work by the piece than by the day1 but the stimulus arising from the knowledge that he may gain more by the former than by the latter mode of work8 ,just so is the ,west ,indian slave situated1 when he is working for himself1 that is1 when he knows that what he earns is for his own use4 ,he has then all the stimulus of a free man1 and he is1 therefore1 during such work 7though unhappily no longer7 really1 and in effect1 and to all intents and purposes1 as much a free labourer as any person in any part of the globe4 ,but if he be a free man1 while he is working for himself1 and if in that capacity he does twice or thrice more work than when he works for his master1 it follows1 that it would be cheaper for his master to employ him as a free labourer1 or that the labour of free men in the ,west ,indies would be cheaper than the labour of slaves4 ,that ,west ,indian slaves1 when they work for themselves1 do much more in a given time than when they work for their masters1 is a fact so notorious in the ,west ,indies1 that no one who has been there would deny it4 ,look at ,long's ,history of ,jamaica1 ,the ,privy ,council ,report1 ,gaisford's ,essay on the good ,effects of the ,abolition of the ,slave ,trade1 and other books4 ,let us hear also what ,dr4 ,dickson1 the editor of ,mr4 ,steele1 and who resided so many years in ,barbadoes1 says on this subject1 for what he says is so admirably expressed that ,i cannot help quoting it4 ,the planters1 says he1 do not take the right way to make human beings put forth their strength4 ,they apply main force where they should apply moral motives1 and punishments alone where rewards should be judiciously intermixed4 ,they first beslave their poor people with their cursed whip1 and then stand and wonder at the tremour of their nerves1 and the laxity of their muscles4 ,and yet1 strange to tell1 those very men affirm1 and affirm truly1 that a slave will do more work for himself in an afternoon than he can be made to do for his owner in a whole day or more6 ,and did not the whole ,assembly of ,grenada1 as we collect from the famous speech of ,mr4 ,pitt on the ,slave ,trade in #agia1 affirm the same thing8 ,he 7,mr4 ,pitt7 would show1 he said1 the futility of the argument of his honourable friend4 ,he 7his honourable friend7 had himself admitted1 that it was in the power of the colonies to correct the various abuses by which the ,negro population was restrained4 ,but they could not do this without improving the condition of their slaves1 without making them approximate towards the rank of citizens1 without giving them some little interest in their labour1 which would occasion them to work with the energy of men4 ,but now the ,assembly of ,grenada had themselves stated1 that1 though the ,negroes were allowed the afternoon of only one day in every week1 they would do as much work in that afternoon when employed for their own benefit1 as in the whole day when employed in their masters' service4 ,now after this confession the ,house might burn all his calculations relative to the ,negro population2 for if this population had not quite reached the desirable state which he had pointed out1 this confession had proved that further supplies were not wanted4 ,a ,negro1 if he worked for himself1 could do double work4 ,by an improvement then in the mode of labour1 the work in the islands could be doubled4 ,but if so1 what would become of the argument of his honourable friend8 for then only half the number of the present labourers were necessary4 ,but the fact1 that the slaves in the ,west ,indies do much more work for themselves in a given time than when they work for their masters1 may be established almost arithmetically1 if we will take the trouble of calculating from authentic documents which present themselves on the subject4 ,it is surprising1 when we look into the evidence examined by the ,house of ,commons on the subject of the ,slave ,trade1 to find how little a ,west ,indian slave really does1 when he works for his master2 and this is confessed equally by the witnesses on both sides of the question4 ,one of them 7,mr4 ,francklyn7 says1 that a labouring man could not get his bread in ,europe if he worked no harder than a ,negro4 ,another 7,mr4 ,tobin71 that no ,negro works like a day-labourer in ,england4 ,another 7,sir ,john ,dalling71 that the general work of ,negroes is not to be called labour4 ,a fourth 7,dr4 ,jackson71 that an ,english labourer does three times as much work as a ,negro in the ,west ,indies4 ,now how are these expressions to be reconciled with the common notions in ,england of ,negro labour8 for to work like a ,negro is a common phrase1 which is understood to convey the meaning1 that the labour of the ,negroes is the most severe and intolerable that is known4 ,one of the witnesses1 however1 just mentioned explains the matter4 ,the hardship1 says he1 of ,negro field-labour is more in the mode than in the quantity done4 ,the slave1 seeing no end of his labour1 stands over the work1 and only throws the hoe to avoid the lash4 ,he appears to work without actually working4 ,the truth is1 that a ,negro1 having no interest in his work while working for his master1 will work only while the whip is upon him4 ,i can no where make out the clear net annual earnings of a field ,negro on a sugar plantation to come up to #h l4 sterling4 ,now what does he earn in the course of a year when he is working for himself8 ,i dare not repeat what some of the witnesses for the planters stated to the ,house of ,commons1 when representing the enviable condition of the slaves in the ,west ,indies2 for this would be to make him earn more for himself in one day than for his master in a week4 ,let us take then the lowest sum mentioned in the ,book of ,evidence4 ,this is stated to be #ad;d4 sterling per week2 and #ad;d4 sterling per week would make #c l4 sterling per year4 ,but how many days in the week does he work when he makes such annual earnings8 ,the most time1 which any of the witnesses gives to a field slave for his own private concerns1 is every ,sunday1 and also every ,saturday afternoon in the week1 besides three holidays in the year4 ,but this is far from being the general account4 ,many of them say that he has only ,sunday to himself2 and others1 that even ,sunday is occasionally trespassed upon by his master4 ,it appears1 also1 that even where the afternoon is given him1 it is only out of crop-time4 ,now let us take into the account the time lost by slaves in going backwards and forwards to their provision-grounds2 for though some of these are described as being only a stone's throw from their huts1 others are described as being one1 and two1 and three1 and even four miles off2 and let us take into the account also1 that ,sunday is1 by the confession of all1 the ,negro market day1 on which alone they can dispose of their own produce1 and that the market itself may be from one to ten or fifteen miles from their homes1 and that they who go there cannot be working in their gardens at the same time1 and we shall find that there cannot be on an average more than a clear three quarters of a day in the week1 which they can call their own1 and in which they can work for themselves4 ,but call it a whole day1 if you please1 and you will find that the slave does for himself in this one day more than a third of what he does for his master in six1 or that he works more than three times harder when he works for himself than when he works for his master4 ,i have now shown1 first by the evidence of ,mr4 ,botham1 and secondly by the fact of ,negroes earning more in a given time when they work in their own gardens1 than when they work in their master's service1 that the old maxim of its being cheaper to employ free men than slaves1 is true1 when applied to the operations and demands of ,west ,indian agriculture4 ,but if it be cheaper to employ free men than slaves in the ,west ,indies1 then they1 who should emancipate their ,negroes there1 would promote their interest by so doing4 ,but hold6 says an objector1 we allow that their successors would be benefited1 but not the emancipators themselves4 ,these would have a great sacrifice to make4 ,their slaves are worth so much money at this moment2 but they would lose all this value1 if they were to set them free4 ,i reply1 and indeed ,i have all along affirmed1 that it is not proposed to emancipate the slaves at once1 but to prepare them for emancipation in a course of years4 ,mr4 ,steele did not make his slaves entirely free4 ,they were copyhold-bond slaves4 ,they were still his freehold property3 and they would1 if he had lived1 have continued so for many years4 ,they therefore1 who should emancipate1 would lose nothing of the value of their slaves1 so long as they brought them only to the door of liberty1 but did not allow them to pass through it4 ,but suppose they were to allow them to pass through it and thus admit them to freedom1 they would lose nothing by so doing2 for they would not admit them to freedom till after a certain period of years1 during which ,i contend that the value of every individual slave would have been reimbursed to them from the increased income of their estates4 ,mr4 ,steele1 as we have seen1 more than tripled the value of his income during his experiment3 ,i believe that he more than quadrupled it2 for he says1 that he more than tripled it besides increasing his stock1 and laying out large sums annually in adding necessary works1 and in repairs of the damage by the great hurricane4 ,suppose then a ,west ,india estate to yield at this moment a nett income of #ejj l4 per annum1 this income would be increased1 according to ,mr4 ,steele's experience1 to somewhere about #agjj l4 per annum4 ,would not1 then1 the surplus beyond the original #ejj l41 viz4 #abjj l4 per annum1 be sufficient to reimburse the proprietor in a few years for the value of every slave which he had when he began his plan of emancipation8 ,but he would be reimbursed again1 that is1 7twice over on the whole for every individual slave17 from a new source1 viz4 the improved value of his land4 ,it is a fact well known in the ,united ,states1 that a certain quantity of land1 or farm1 in full cultivation by free men1 will fetch twice more money than the same quantity of land1 similarly circumstanced1 in full cultivation by slaves4 ,let us suppose now that the slaves at present on any ,west ,indian plantation are worth about as much as the land with the buildings upon it1 to which they are attached1 and that the land with the buildings upon it would rise to double its former value when cultivated by free men1 it follows that the land and buildings alone would be worth as much then1 that is1 when worked by free labourers1 as the land1 buildings1 and slaves together are worth at the present time4 ,i have now1 ,i think1 pretty well canvassed the subject1 and ,i shall therefore hasten to a conclusion4 ,and first1 ,i ask the ,west ,indians1 whether they think that they will be allowed to carry on their present cruel system1 the arbitrary use of the whip and the chain1 and the brutal debasement of their fellow-creatures1 for ever4 ,i say1 ,no2 ,i entertain better hopes of the humanity and justice of the ,british people4 ,i am sure that they will interfere1 and that when they once take up the cause1 they will never abandon it till they have obtained their object4 ,and what is it1 after all1 that ,i have been proposing in the course of the preceding pages8 two things only1 viz4 that the laws relating to the slaves may be revised by the ,british parliament1 so that they1 may be made 7as it was always intended7 to accord with1 and not to be repugnant to1 the principles of the ,british constitution1 and that1 when such a revision shall have taken place1 the slaves may be put into a state of preparation for emancipation2 and for such an emancipation only as may be compatible with the joint interests of the master and the slave4 ,is there any thing unreasonable in this proposition8 ,is it unreasonable to desire that those laws should be repealed1 which are contrary to the laws of ,god1 or that the ,africans and their descendants1 who have the shape1 image1 intellect1 feelings1 and affections of men1 should be treated as human beings8 ,the measure then1 which ,i have been proposing1 is not unreasonable4 ,i trust it would not be injurious to the interests of the ,west ,indians themselves4 ,these are at present1 it is said1 in great distress2 and so they have been for years2 and so they will still be 7and moreover they will be getting worse and worse7 so long as they continue slavery4 ,how can such a wicked1 such an ill-framed system succeed8 ,has not the ,almighty in his moral government of the world stamped a character upon human actions1 and given such a turn to their operations1 that the balance should be ultimately in favour of virtue8 ,has he not taken from those1 who act wickedly1 the power of discerning the right path8 or has he not so confounded their faculties1 that they are for ever frustrating their own schemes8 ,it is only to know the practice of our planters to be assured1 that it will bring on difficulty after difficulty1 and loss after loss1 till it will end in ruin4 ,if a man were to sit down and to try to invent a ruinous system of agriculture1 could he devise one more to his mind than that which they have been in the habit of using8 ,let us look at some of the more striking parts of this system4 ,the first that stares us in the face1 is the unnatural and destructive practice of forced labour4 ,here we see men working without any rational stimulus to elicit their exertions1 and therefore they must be followed by drivers with whips in their hands4 ,well might it be said by ,mr4 ,botham to the ,committees of ,privy-council and ,house of ,commons1 ,let it be considered1 how much labour is lost by the persons overseeing the forced labourer1 which is saved when he works for his own profit2 and1 notwithstanding all the vigilance and whipping of these drivers1 ,i have proved that the slaves do more for themselves in an afternoon1 than in a whole day when they work for their masters4 ,it was doubtless the conviction that forced labour was unprofitable1 as well as that there would be less of human suffering1 which made ,mr4 ,steele take away the whips from his drivers1 as the very first step necessary in his improved system1 or as the sine qu non without which such a system could not properly be begun2 and did not this very measure alter the face of his affairs in point of profit in three years after it had been put into operation8 ,and here it must be observed1 that1 if ever emancipation should be begun by our planters1 this must be 7however they may dislike to part with arbitrary power7 as much a first step with them as it was with ,mr4 ,steele4 ,forced labour stands at the head of the catalogue of those nuisances belonging to slavery1 which oppose the planter's gain4 ,it must be removed before any thing else can be done4 ,see what mischiefs it leads to1 independently of its want of profit4 ,it is impossible that forced labour can be kept up from day to day without injury to the constitution of the slaves2 and if their health is injured1 the property of their masters must be injured also4 ,forced labour1 again1 sends many of them to the sick-houses4 ,here is1 at any rate1 a loss of their working time4 ,but it drives them also occasionally to run away1 and sometimes to destroy themselves4 ,here again is a loss of their working time and of property into the bargain4 ,forced labour1 then1 is one of those striking parts in the ,west ,indian husbandry1 in which we see a constant source of loss to those who adopt it2 and may we not speak1 and yet with truth1 as unfavourably of some of the other striking parts in the same system8 ,what shall we say1 first1 to that injurious disproportion of the articles of croppage with the wants of the estates1 which makes little or no provision of food for the labourers 7the very first to be cared for71 but leaves these to be fed by articles to be bought three thousand miles off in another country1 let the markets there be ever so high1 or the prices ever so unfavourable1 at the time8 ,what shall we say1 again1 to that obstinate and ruinous attachment to old customs1 in consequence of which even acknowledged improvements are almost forbidden to be received8 ,how generally has the introduction of the plough been opposed in the ,west ,indies1 though both the historians of ,jamaica have recommended the use of it1 and though it has been proved that one plough with two sets of horses to relieve each other1 would turn up as much land in a day1 as one hundred ,negroes could with their hoes6 ,is not the hoe also continued in earthing up the canes there1 when ,mr4 ,botham proved1 more than thirty years ago1 that two men would do more with the ,east ,indian shovel at that sort of work in a day1 than ten ,negroes with the former instrument8 ,so much for unprofitable instruments of husbandry2 a few words now on unprofitable modes of employment4 ,it seems1 first1 little less than infatuation1 to make ,negroes carry baskets of dung upon their heads1 basket after basket1 to the field4 ,i do not mention this so much as an intolerable hardship upon those who have to perform it1 as an improvident waste of strength and time4 ,why are not horses1 or mules1 or oxen1 and carts or other vehicles of convenience1 used oftener on such occasions8 ,i may notice also that cruel and most disadvantageous mode of employment of making ,negroes collect grass for the cattle1 by picking it by the hand blade by blade4 ,are no artificial grasses to be found in our islands1 and is the existence of the scythe unknown there8 ,but it is of no use to dwell longer upon this subject4 ,the whole system is a ruinous one from the beginning to the end4 ,and from whence does such a system arise8 ,it has its origin in slavery alone4 ,it is practised no where but in the land of ignorance and slavery4 ,slavery indeed1 or rather the despotism which supports slavery1 has no compassion1 and it is one of its characteristics never to think of sparing the sinews of the wretched creature called a slave4 ,hence it is slow to adopt helps1 with which a beneficent ,providence has furnished us1 by giving to man an inventive faculty for easing his burthens1 or by submitting the beasts of the field to his dominion and his use1 and it flies to expedients which are contrary to nature and reason4 ,how then can such a system ever answer8 ,were an ,english farmer to have recourse to such a system1 he would not be able to pay his rent for a single year4 ,if the planters then are in distress1 it is their own fault4 ,they may1 however1 thank the abolitionists that they are not worse off than they are at present4 ,the abolition of the slave trade1 by cutting off the purchase of new slaves1 has cut off one cause of their ruin#ag2 and it is only the abolition of slavery which can yet save them4 ,had the planters1 when the slave trade was abolished1 taken immediate measures to meet the change2 had they then revised their laws and substituted better2 had they then put their slaves into a state of preparation for emancipation1 in what a different1 that is1 desirable situation would they have been at this moment6 ,in fact1 nothing can save them1 but the abolition of slavery on a wise and prudent plan4 ,they can no more expect1 without it1 to meet the present low prices of colonial produce1 than the ,british farmer can meet the present low prices of grain1 unless he can have an abatement of rent1 tithe1 and taxation1 and unless his present poor rates can be diminished also4 ,take away1 however1 from the planters the use and practice of slavery1 and the hour of their regeneration would be begun4 ,can we doubt1 that ,providence would then bless their endeavours1 and that salvation from their difficulties would be their portion in the end8 ,it has appeared1 ,i hope1 by this time1 that what ,i have been proposing is not unreasonable1 and that1 so far from being injurious to the interests of the planters1 it would be highly advantageous to them4 ,i shall now show1 that ,i do not ask for the introduction of a more humane system into our ,colonies at a time when it would be improper to grant it2 or that no fair objection can be raised against the present moment1 as the fit era from whence the measures in contemplation should commence4 ,there was1 indeed1 a time when the planters might have offered something like an excuse for the severity of their conduct towards their slaves1 on the plea that the greater part of them then in the colonies were ,african-born or strangers1 and that cargoes were constantly pouring in1 one after the other1 consisting of the same sort of beings2 or of stubborn ferocious people1 never accustomed to work1 whose spirits it was necessary to break1 and whose necks to force down to the yoke2 and that this could only be effected by the whip1 the chain1 the iron collar1 and other instruments of the kind4 ,but now no such plea can be offered4 ,it is now sixteen years since the slave trade was abolished by ,england1 and it is therefore to be presumed1 that no new slaves have been imported into the ,british colonies within that period4 ,the slaves1 therefore1 who are there at this day1 must consist either of ,africans1 whose spirits must have been long ago broken1 or of ,creoles born in the cradle and brought up in the trammels of slavery4 ,what argument then can be produced for the continuation of a barbarous discipline there8 ,and we are very glad to find that two gentlemen1 both of whom we have had occasion to quote before1 bear us out in this remark4 ,mr4 ,steele1 speaking of some of the old cruel laws of ,barbadoes1 applies them to the case before us in these words3--,as1 according to ,ligon's account1 there were not above two-thirds of the island in plantations in the year #afej1 we must suppose that in the year #afhh the great number of ,african-born slaves brought into the plantations in chains1 and compelled to labour by the terrors of corporal punishment1 might have made it appear necessary to enact a temporary law so harsh as the statute ,no4 #hb2 but when the great majority of the ,negroes were become vernacular1 born in the island1 naturalized by language1 and familiarised by custom1 did not policy as well as humanity require3 them to be put under milder conditions1 such as were granted to the slaves of our ,saxon ancestors8 ,colonel ,malenfant speaks the same sentiments4 ,in defending his plan1 which he offered to the ,french ,government for ,st4 ,domingo in #ahad1 against the vulgar prejudice1 that where you employ ,negroes you must of necessity use slavery1 he delivers himself thus3--#ah;,if all the ,negroes on a plantation had not been more than six months out of ,africa1 or if they had the same ideas concerning an independent manner of life as the ,indians or the savages of ,guiana1 ,i should consider my plan to be impracticable4 ,i should then say that coercion would be necessary3 but ninety-nine out of every hundred ,negroes in ,st4 ,domingo are aware that they cannot obtain necessaries without work4 ,they know that it is their duty to work1 and they are even desirous of working2 but the remembrance of their cruel sufferings in the time of slavery renders them suspicious4 ,we may conclude1 then1 that if a cruel discipline was not necessary in the years #agij and #agid1 to which these gentlemen allude1 when there must have been some thousands of newly imported ,africans both in ,st4 ,domingo and in the ,english colonies1 it cannot be necessary now1 when there have been no importations into the latter for fifteen years4 ,there can be no excuse1 then1 for the ,english planters for not altering their system1 and this immediately4 ,it is1 on the other hand1 a great reproach to them1 considering the quality and character of their slaves1 that they should not of themselves have come forward on the subject before this time4 ,seeing then that nothing has been done where it ought1 it is the duty of the abolitionists to resume their labours4 ,if through the medium of the abolition of the slave trade they have not accomplished1 as they expected1 the whole of their object1 they have no alternative but to resort to other measures1 or to attempt by constitutional means1 under that ,legislature which has already sanctioned their efforts1 the mitigation of the cruel treatment of the ,negroes1 with the ultimate view of extinguishing1 in due time and in a suitable manner1 the slavery itself4 ,nor ought any time to be lost in making such an attempt2 for it is a melancholy fact1 that there is scarcely any increase of the slave population in our islands at the present moment4 ,what other proof need we require of the severity of the slavery there1 and of the necessity of its mitigation8 ,severe punishments1 want of sufficient food1 labour extracted by the whip1 and a system of prostitution1 conspire1 almost as much as ever1 to make inroads upon the constitutions of the slaves1 and to prevent their increase4 ,and let it be remembered here1 that any former defect of this kind was supplied by importations2 but that importations are now unlawful4 ,unless1 therefore1 the abolitionists interfere1 and that soon1 our ,west ,indian planters may come to ,parliament and say1 ,we have now tried your experiment4 ,it has not answered4 ,you must therefore give us leave to go again to the coast of ,africa for slaves4 ,there is also another consideration worthy of the attention of the abolitionists1 viz4 that a public attempt made in ,england to procure the abolition of slavery would very much promote their original object1 the cause of the abolition of the slave trade2 for foreign courts have greatly doubted our sincerity as to the latter measure1 and have therefore been very backward in giving us their assistance in it4 ,if ,england1 say they1 abolished the slave trade from moral motives1 how happens it that she continues slavery8 ,but if this public attempt were to succeed1 then the abolitionists would see their wishes in a direct train for completion3 for if slavery were to fall in the ,british islands1 this event would occasion death in a given time1 and without striking any further blow1 to the execrable trade in every part of the world2 because those foreigners1 who should continue slavery1 no longer able to compete in the markets with those who should employ free men1 must abandon the slave trade altogether4 ,but here perhaps the planters will say1 ,what right have the people of ,england to interfere with our property1 which would be the case if they were to attempt to abolish slavery8 ,the people of ,england might reply1 that they have as good a right as you1 the planters1 have to interfere with that most precious of all property1 the liberty of your slaves1 seeing that you hold them by no right that is not opposed to nature1 reason1 justice1 and religion4 ,the people of ,england have no desire to interfere with your property1 but with your oppression4 ,it is probable that your property would be improved by the change4 ,but1 to examine this right more minutely1 ,i contend1 first1 that they have always a right to interfere in behalf of humanity and justice wherever their appeals can be heard4 ,i contend1 secondly1 that they have a more immediate right to interfere in the present case1 because the oppressed persons in question1 living in the ,british dominions and under the ,british ,government1 are their fellow subjects4 ,i contend again1 that they have this right upon the ground that they are giving you1 the ,west ,indians1 a monopoly for their sugar1 by buying it from you exclusively at a much dearer rate than they can get it from other quarters4 ,surely they have a right to say to you1 as customers for your produce1 ,change your system and we will continue to deal with you2 but if you will not change it1 we will buy our sugar elsewhere1 or we will not buy sugar at all4 ,the ,east ,indian market is open to us1 and we prefer sugar that is not stained with blood4 ,nay1 we will petition ,parliament to take off the surplus duty with which ,east ,indian sugar is loaded on your account4 ,what superior claims have you either upon ,parliament or upon us1 that you should have the preference8 ,as to the ,east ,indians1 they are as much the subjects of the ,british empire as yourselves4 ,as to the ,east ,india ,company1 they support all their establishments1 both civil and military1 at their own expense4 ,they come to our ,treasury for nothing2 while you1 with naval stations1 and an extraordinary military force kept up for no other purpose than to keep in awe an injured population1 and with heavy bounties on the exportation of your sugar1 put us to such an expense as makes us doubt whether your trade is worth having on its present terms4 ,they1 the ,east ,india ,company1 again1 have been a blessing to the ,natives with whom they have been concerned4 ,they distribute an equal system of law and justice to all without respect of persons4 ,they dispell the clouds of ignorance1 superstition1 and idolatry1 and carry with them civilization and liberty wherever they go4 ,you1 on the other hand1 have no code of justice but for yourselves4 ,you deny it to those who cannot help themselves4 ,you hinder liberty by your cruel restrictions on manumission2 and dreading the inlet of light1 you study to perpetuate ignorance and barbarism4 ,which then of the two competitors has the claim to preference by an ,english ,parliament and an ,english people8 ,it may probably soon become a question with the latter1 whether they will consent to pay a million annually more for ,west ,india sugar than for other of like quality1 or1 which is the same thing1 whether they will allow themselves to be taxed annually to the amount of a million sterling to support ,west ,indian slavery4 ,i shall now conclude by saying1 that ,i leave it2 and that ,i recommend it1 to others to add to the light which ,i have endeavoured to furnish on this subject1 by collecting new facts relative to ,emancipation and the result of it in other parts of the world1 as well as relative to the superiority of free over servile labour1 in order that the ,west ,indians may be convinced1 if possible1 that they would be benefited by the change of system which ,i propose4 ,they must already know1 both by past and present experience1 that the ways of unrighteousness are not profitable4 ,let them not doubt1 when the ,almighty has decreed the balance in favour of virtuous actions1 that their efforts under the new system will work together for their good1 so that their temporal redemption may be at hand4 ,,the ,,end4 ,printed by ,richard ,taylor1 ,shoe-,lane1 ,london4 ,footnotes3 #a ,see ,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery1 p4 #ah4 #b ,see ,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery1 p4 #cci4 #c ,mitigation of ,slavery1 p4 #ej4 #d ,see ,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery1 p4 #ajb4 #e ,a part of the black regiments were bought in ,africa as recruits1 and were not transported in slave-ships1 and1 never under ,west ,india masters3 but it was only a small part compared with the whole number in the three cases4 #f ,mmoire historique et politique des ,colonies1 et particulirement de celle de ,st4 ,domingue1 c4 ,paris1 ,august #ahad4 #hvo4 p4 #eh4 #g ,pp4 #abe1 #abf4 #h ,there were occasionally marauding parties from the mountains1 who pillaged in the plains2 but these were the old insurgent1 and not the emancipated ,negroes4 #i ,p4 #gh4 #aj ,mmoires1 p4 #caa4 #aa ,ibid4 p4 #cbd4 #ab ,the ,french were not the authors of tearing to pieces the ,negroes alive by bloodhounds1 or of suffocating them by hundreds at a time in the holds of ships1 or of drowning them 7whole cargoes7 by scuttling and sinking the vessels2--but the planters4 #ac ,all the slave-population was to be emancipated in #ah years2 and this consisted at the time of passing the decree of from #bej1jjj to #cjj1jjj souls4 #ad ,see ,dr4 ,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery1 ,london #ahad1 from whence every thing relating to this subject is taken4 ,dr4 ,dickson had been for many years secretary to ,governor ,hay1 in ,barbadoes1 where he had an opportunity of studying the ,slave agriculture as a system4 ,being in ,london afterwards when the ,slave ,trade controversy was going on in ,parliament1 he distinguished himself by silencing the different writers who defended the ,west ,indian slavery4 ,there it was that ,mr4 ,steele addressed himself to him by letter1 and sent him those invaluable papers1 which the ,doctor afterwards published under the modest title of ,mitigation of ,slavery by ,steele and ,dickson4 ,no one was better qualified than ,dr4 ,dickson to become the ,editor of ,mr4 ,steele4 #ae ,it is much to be feared that this beautiful order of things was broken up after ,mr4 ,steele's death by his successors1 either through their own prejudices1 or their unwillingness or inability to stand against the scoffs and prejudices of others4 ,it may be happy1 however1 for thousands now in slavery1 that ,mr4 ,steele lived to accomplish his plan4 ,the constituent parts and result of it being known1 a fine example is shown to those who may be desirous of trying emancipation4 #af ,mr4 ,botham's account is confirmed incontrovertibly by the fact1 that sugar made in the ,east ,indies can be brought to ,england 7though it has three times the distance to come1 and of course three times the freight to pay71 and yet be afforded to the consumer at as cheap a rate as any that can be brought thither from the ,west4 #ag ,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery1 p4 #bac1 where it is proved that bought slaves never refund their purchase-money to their owners4 #ah ,p4 #abe4