A short account of that part of Africa, inhabited by the Negroes; with respect to the fertility of the country; the good disposition of many of the natives, and the manner by which the slave trade is carried on. / Extracted from several authors, in order to shew the iniquity of that trade, and the falsity of the arguments usually advanced in its vindication. ; With a quotation from George Wallis's [i.e. Wallace's] System of the laws, &c. and a large extract from a pamphlet, lately published in London, on the subject of the slave trade. ; [Seven lines of Scripture texts]

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE Slave-Trade, &c.

IT is a Truth, as sorrowful as obvious, that Mankind too generally are actuated by false Motives, and substitute an imaginary Interest in the Room of that which is real and per|manent: And it must be acknowledged by every Man, who is sincerely desirous of becoming ac|quainted with himself, and impartially inspects his own Heart, that Weakness and inbred Cor|ruption attends human Nature; which cannot be restored to its original Purity, but through the Efficacy of the Blood of JESUS CHRIST, our blessed Saviour. So that notwithstanding the imagined moral Rectitude pleaded for, and the boasted Pretences of the present Age to refined Conceptions of Things beyond our Forefathers, all this Divine Help is embraced, the bent of the Heart of Man will remain corrupt, and its Power of distinguishing between Good and Evil liable to be obscured by Prejudice, Passion and

Interest. Covetousness and Pride have intro|duced many iniquitous Practices into Civil Socie|ty, some of which being established by Custom, and adapted to flatter our Favourite Passions, tho' odious in themselves, and most pernicious in their Consequences, yet, through the Influence of Ex|ample and Use, become familiar to us, and our depraved Reason has Recourse to plausible Ex|cuses, to cover and palliate the most atrocious Crimes; so that by Degrees we silence the Dic|tates of Conscience, and reconcile ourselves in the Perpetration of such Things which, when first proposed to our unprejudiced Minds, would strike us with Amazement and Horror.

A lamentable and shocking Instance of the Influence which the Love of Gain has upon the Minds of those who yield to its Allurements, even when contrary to the Dictates of Reason, and the common Feelings of Humanity, appears in the Prosecution of the Negroe Trade, in which the English Nation has long been deeply con|cerned, and some in this Province have also lately engaged. An Evil of so deep a Dye, and attended with such dreadful Consequences to all that are concerned in it, that no well-disposed Person, anxious for the Welfare of himself, his Country, or Posterity, who knows the Tyranny, Oppression and Cruelty with which this iniquitous Trade is carried on, can be a silent and inno|cent Spectator. How many Thousands of our harmless Fellow Creatures have, for a long Course of Years, fallen a Sacrifice to that selfish Avarice, which gives Life to this complicated Wickedness.

The Iniquity of being so deeply engaged in a Trade, by which so great a Number of innocent People are yearly destroyed, in so untimely and miserable a Manner, is greatly aggravated from the Consideration that we, as a Nation, have been peculiarly favoured with the bright Beams of the Gospel; that Revelation of Divine Love, which the Angels introduced to the World, by a Declaration of Peace on Earth, and Good Will to Men—of every Nation, Kindred, Tongue and People. How miserable then must be our Condition, if, for filthy Lucre, we should con|tinue to act so contrary to the Nature of this Divine Call, the Purpose of which is to introduce an universal and affectionate Brotherhood in the whole human Species; by removing from the Heart of every Individual, who submits to its Operation, the Darkness and Corruption of Na|ture, and transforming the selfish, wrathful, proud Spirit, into Meekness, Purity and Love: For this End the Son of GOD became Man, suffered, and died; and the whole Tenor of the Gospel declares, that for those who refuse, or neglect, the Offers of this great Salvation, the Son of GOD has suffered in vain.

The End proposed by this Essay, is to lay be|fore the candid Reader the Depth of Evil which attends this iniquitous Practice, in the Prosecution of which, our Duty to GOD, the common Fa|ther of the Family of the whole Earth, and our Duty of Love to our Fellow Creatures, is totally disregarded; all social Connection and tender Ties of Nature being broken, and Desolation

and Bloodshed continually fomented in those un|happy People's Country. It is also intended to invalidate some false Arguments, which are fre|quently advanced, for the Palliation thereof, in Hopes it may be some Inducement to those who are not defiled with this Trade, to keep them|selves clear; and to lay before such as have unwarily engaged in it, the Danger they are in of totally losing that tender Sensibility to the Suf|ferings of their Fellow Creatures, the Want whereof sets Men beneath the Brute Creation, which must unavoidably be the State of every one that continues to partake of the Profits arising from this wicked Traffick: A Trade by which so many Thousands of innocent People are brought under the greatest Anxiety and Suffering, being violently rent from their Native Country, in the most cruel Manner, and brought to our Colonies, to be employed in hard Labour, either in Northern Climates, unsuited to their Nature, or in a State of the most tyrannick and barbarous Slavery, subject to the Humours and inhuman Lash of some of the most hard hearted and inconsiderate of Mankind, without any Hopes of ever returning to their Native Land, or seeing an End to their Misery: Nor must we omit, in this dismal Account, the Weight of Blood which lies on the Promoters of this Trade, from the great Numbers that are yearly butchered in the Incursions and Battles which happen between the Negroes, in order to procure the Number deli|vered to the Europeans; and the many of these poor Creatures whose Hearts are broken, and

who perish, through Misery and Grief, on the Passage. Heaven preserve the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania from being further defiled by a Trade, which is entered upon from such sensual Motives, and carried on by such devilish Means. And although these Scenes of Horror are acted in Places far remote, and out of the Sight of those who are the most enriched thereby; whose Senses being usually exercised only by present Objects, are little affected with the distant Suffer|ings of their Fellow Creatures; yet every Mind, which is not so hardened with the Love of Wealth as to be void of feeling, must, upon serious Consideration of this inhuman Practice, be impressed with Surprize and Terror, from a Sense that there is a righteous GOD, and a State of Retribution, which must last for ever. It is frequently alledged, in Excuse for this Trade, that the Negroes sold in our Plantations, are mostly Persons who have been taken Prisoners in those Wars which arise amongst themselves, from their mutual Animosities; and that these Prisoners would be sacrificed, to the Resentment of those who have taken them Captives. If they were not purchased and brought away by the Europeans. It is also represented, that the Ne|groes are generally a stupid savage People, whose Situation in their own Country is necessitous and unhappy, which has induced many to believe, that the bringing the Africans from their Native Land is to them rather a Kindness than an Injury.

To confute these false Representations, the following Extracts are proposed to the candid

Reader's Consideration; they are taken from the Writings of the principal Officers, not only in the English, but also in the French and Dutch Factories or Settlements in Guiney, some of whom have lived many Years in those Countries, and have been Eye Witnesses to those Transac|tions, and whose Station in the Factories will not admit of any Doubt of the Truth of what they relate; by which it will appear, that the Negroes are generally sensible, humane and sociable, and that their Capacity is as good, and as capable of Improvement, as that of the White People: That their Country, though unfriendly to the Europeans, yet appears peculiarly agreeable, and well adapted to the Nature of the Blacks, and so fruitful, as to furnish its Inhabitants plentifully with the Necessaries of Life, with much less La|bour than is necessary in our more Northern Countries. And as to the common Argument, alledged in Defence of the Trade, viz. That the Slaves sold to the Europeans are Captives ta|ken in War, who would be destroyed by their Conquerors, if not thus purchased, it is without Foundation, it being made clearly to appear, from the forementioned Testimonies, that the Wars and Incursions made by the Negroes, one upon another, are mostly at the Solicitation of the Europeans, who instigate them by every Me|thod, even the most iniquitous and cruel, to pro|cure Slaves to load their Vessels, which they freely purchase, without any Regard to the Pre|cepts of the Gospel, the feelings of Humanity, or the common Dictates of Reason and Equity.

For though it is scare to be doubted, but that there were Wars amongst some of the Negroes, before the Europeans began to trade with them, yet certain it is, that these Calamities are not only since that Time prodigiously encreased, and the Europeans, by encouraging them thereto, and gladly purchasing the Captives they take, are be|come come not only Parties with them therein, but the sole Cause of that Encrease. This is plainly in|ferred from the Account given by N. Brue, Director of the French Factory at Senegal, who lived Twenty-seven Years in that Country, who says,

That the Europeans are far from desiring to act as Peace Makers amongst the Negroes, which would be acting contrary to their In|terest, since the greater the Wars, the more Slaves are procured.

William Bosman, Factor for the Dutch, at Delmina, where he resided sixteen Years, relates,

That one of the former Commanders hired an Army of the Negroes, of Jafferia and Cabe|steria, for a large Sum of Money, to fight the Negroes of Commany, which occasioned a Bat|tle, which was more bloody than the Wars of the Negroes usually are: And that another Commander gave, at one time, Five Hundrea Pounds, and at another time Eight Hundred Pounds, to two other Negroe Nations, to in|duce them to take up Arms against their Coun|try People.

This is confirmed by Barbot, A|gent General of the French African Company, who says;

The Hollanders, a People very zealous for their Commerce at the Coast, were very

studious to have the War carried on amongst the Blacks, to distract, as long as possible, the Trade of the other Europeans; and to that Ef|fect were very ready to assist upon all Occasions the Blacks, their Allies, that they might beat their Enemies, and so the Commerce fall into their Hands.

But nothing shews more plain|ly, that the Europeans are the chief Instruments in inciting the Negroes to the Perpetration of those unnatural Wars, by which they are kept in conti|nual Alarms, their Country laid waste, and such great Numbers carried into Captivity, than the Account given by William Smith, who was sent by the African Company to visit their Settle|ments in the Year 1726, from the Information he received of one of the Factors, who had re|sided ten Years in that Country, viz.

That the discerning Natives account it their greatest Unhappiness that they were ever visited by the Europeans:—That we Christians introduced the Traffick of Slaves, and that before our coming they lived in Peace; but, say they, it is observable, that wherever Christianity comes, there comes with it a Sword, a Gun, Powder and Ball.

As to the Account of the natural Disposition of many of the Negroes, and of the Fruitfulness of their Country, the forementioned Authors, as well as many others, have wrote largely upon it. M. Adanson, in his Account of the Country and Natives of Goree, where he was so lately as the Year 1754, after giving an Account of the de|lightful Aspect of the Country, says;

The Sim|plicity

of the Natives, their Dress and Man|ners, revived in my Mind the Idea of our first Parents; and I seemed to contemplate the World in its primitive State;—they (the Ne|groes) are generally speaking, very good na|tured, sociable and obliging. I was not a lit|tle pleased (says he) with this my first Recep|tion; —it convinced me, that there ought to be a considerable Abatement made in the Ac|counts I had read and heard every where of the savage Character of the Africans.—I observed, both in Negroes and Moors, great Humanity and Sociableness, which gave me strong Hopes that I should be very safe amongst them, and meet with the Success I desired in my Enquiries after the Curiosities of the Coun|try.

Bosman, speaking of the Negroes of that Part Guiney where he then was, says;

They are ge|nerally a good Sort of People, honest in their Dealings; others he describes as being gene|rally friendly to Strangers, of a mild Conver|sation, courteous, affable, and easy to be over|come with Reason; in Conversation they dis|cover a great Quickness of Parts and Under|standing.

He adds,

That some Negroes, who have had an agreeable Education, have manifested a Brightness of Understanding equal to any of us.

William Smith's Account of the Natives is,

That he found them a civil good natured People, industrious to the last Degree, and their Country exceeding Fertile.—It is easy

(says he) to perceive what happy Memories they are blessed with, and how great Progress they would make in the Sciences, in case their Genius was cultivated with Study: They ex|plain themselves in choice Terms, their Ex|pressions noble, and Manners polite;—this (he adds) is to be understood of the People of Distinction, as Officers, Merchantmen, and the like; for Peasants, Workmen and Shep|herds, are as ignorant in these Parts as else|where.

Barbot says,

The Inhabitants of Oedo are, for the Generality, very civil, good natured People, easy to be dealt with, condescending to what the Europeans require of them, in a civil Way; but if treated with Haughtiness and rudely, they are stiff and high, and will not yield on any Account.

Some Writers have represented the Natives of Cape Mesurado as faithless and cruel; but it is very likely this Representation of their Disposi|tion was occasioned by the Resentment they had shewn for the ill Usage received from the Euro|peans; for Captain Philips declared them to be ci|vil and courteous. And Snoek says,

He found them a civil good-natur'd People; but that the late Injury they had received from the English, who had carried off some of their People, had so exasperated them, that it was to be feared some English People they had in their Power, would fall a Sacrifice to their Resentment.

Although the extream Heat in many Parts of Guiney, is such as is neither agreeable nor healthy

to the Europeans, yet it is well suited to the Con|stitution of the Negroes: And it is to these Heats that they are indebted for the fertility of their Land, which in most Places is so great, that with little Labour Grain and Fruit will grow in the greatest Plenty.

Brue, in his Account of the Fertility of the Country, and Industry of the Natives, says;

He was surprized to see the Land so well culti|vated, as he observed it to be, in one of his Journies; scarce a Spot lay unimproved; the low Grounds, divided by small Canals, were all sowed with Rice; the higher Grounds planted with Indian Corn and Millet, and Pease of different Sorts, Beef and Mutton very cheap, as well as all other Necessaries of Life.

Bosman says,

The Indian and Guiney Corn is here sown and reaped twice every Year; the first Harvest is in August, and the other the latter End of the Year, though but small, Corn grows with little Trouble, very speedily taking Root, so that one or two Men can manure and plow as much Land as one Plow can turn up in Holland. Indian Corn grows in the upper Lands, in prodigious Quan|tities, and where Corn won't grow, there Rice encreases in Abundance, and Yamms and Po|tatoes are in the greatest Plenty.

Speaking of the Kingdom of Fida, he says,

The Country was very populous, many large Villages, besides innumerable small Ones, through the whole Country, plentifully pro|vided with Corn, Potatoes and Fruit, which

grew close to each other; in some Places a Foot Path is the only Ground that is not co|vered with them, the Negroes leaving no Place, which is thought fertile, uncultivated, even within the Hedges which inclose their Villages: And the very next Day after they have reaped they are sure to sow again. This sine Country is now very much depopulated, which it is likely, was owing to the Incur|sions made upon them by their Neighbours, in order to get Slaves to sell to the Europeans.

For the same Bosman, speaking of the neigh|bouring Nation of Pope, says;

They depend on Plunder and the Slave Trade, in which they exceed some of their Neighbours.

Other Parts of the Country he describes, as

being full of Towns and Villages; the Soil very rich, and so well cultivated, as to look like and entire Garden, abounding in Rice, Corn, Oxen, Goats and Poultry; and the Negroes to be laborious.

W. Smith gives much the same Account of the Country of Delmina, and Cape Corse, &c. for Beauty and Goodness; and adds,

The more you come downward towards that Part called the Slave Coast (I suppose because the most Slaves are brought from thence) the more de|lightful and rich the Sol appears.

Barbot says,

The Inland People employ themselves in Tillage and Trade, and supply the Markets with Corn, Fruit and Palm Wine; the Country producing such vast Plenty of In|dian Wheat, that Abundance is daily export|ed,

as well by Europeans as Blacks, resorting thither from other Parts.

He adds,

That the Country of Delmina, which was formerly very powerful and populous, though now so much drained of its Inhabitants, by the inte|stine Wars fomented amongst the Negroes by the Dutch, that there does not remain enough Inhabitants to till the Country; abounded with fine well-built and populous Towns, enriched with vast Fields of Corn, Cattle, Palm Wine and Oil. The Inhabitants all applying themselves, without Distinction, to Agriculture, sowing Corn, pressing Oil, and drawing Wine from Palm Trees, with both of which it is plentifully stored others to fishing, and boiling Salt, and other Trades, on their own Account, or as Brokers for the Inland Blacks.

Many more Accounts could be given of the good Disposition of the Generality of the Ne|groes, and of the Plenty their Coutry affords, in which it, perhaps, exceeds most Countries in the World; but this is sufficient to shew that they might have lived happily, more especially if the Europeans had not only bore the Name, but had acted the Part of Christians, in using their Endeavour, by Example as well as Precept, to make the Negroes acquainted with the glad Ti|dings of the Gospel, and with that Change of Heart, and Redemption from Sin, which Chri|stianity prorposes; this, if attended to, would have necessarily been productive of the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness; Innocency and Love

would have prevailed, and nothing would have been wanting to compleat these poor Africans Happiness. But the Reverse has happened; the Europeans, forgetful of their Profession and Duty as Men and Christians, have conducted in so ini|quitous a Manner, as must necessarily raise in the Minds of the thoughtful and well-disposed Ne|groes the utmost Scorn and Detestation of the very Name of Christians. They have made all other Considerations give Way to an insatiable De|sire of Gain, and are become the principal and moving Cause of the most iniquitous and dreadful Scene that was, perhaps, ever acted upon this Globe: Instead of making use of their superior Knowledge to stir up the Principle of Peace and Good-will in the Breasts of the simple unwary Negroes, they have acted as Agents for the great Enemy of the Happiness of Mankind, and have stirred up and strengthened the earthly Principle of Craft and Covetousness in the poor Africans, who have thereby been induced to captivate and sell their unhappy Countrymen; every Thing, even the Power of their Kings, has been made subservient to answer this wicked Purpose; in|stead of being Protectors of their Subjects, these Rulers, allured by the tempting Baits laid be|fore them by the Factors, &c. have invaded the Liberties of their unhappy Subjects, and are be|come their Oppressors; as is fully evidenced by the following Account, viz.

Francis Moore, Factor to the african Compa|ny in 1730, tells his Reader,

That when the King of Barsalli wants Goods or Brandy, he

sends a Messenger to the English Governor at James's Fort, to desire he would send up a Sloop with a Cargoe of Goods, which, says the Au|thor, the Governor never fails to do: Against the Time the Vessel arrives, the King plunders some of his Enemies Towns, selling the Peo|ple for such Goods as he wants, which com|monly is Brandy or Rum, Gunpowder, Ball, Fire-arms, Pistols and Cutlasses for his Sol|diers, &c. and Coral and Silver for his Wives and Mistresses.—If he is at War with no neighbouring King, he falls upon one of his own Towns, and makes bold to sell his own miserable Subjects. He often goes with some of his Troops by a Town in the Day-time, and returns in the Night, and sets Fire to three Parts of it, placing Guards at the Fourth, to seize the People that run out of the Fire, then ties their Arms behind them, and marches them to Joar or Rohone, where he sells them.

Brue, the French Factor befóre-mentioned, says,

That having received Goods, he wrote to the King, that if he had a sufficient Number of Slaves, he was ready to trade with him, this Prince, says that Author, as well as the other Negroe Monarchs, have always a sure Way of supplying his Deficiencies, by selling their own Subjects, for which they seldom want Pretensions of some Kind or other, to justify their Rapine.

These Negroe Kings, thus seeking Pretences to cover their Crimes, shews they are not quite void of Shame, and in|sensible that Covetousness induces them to act a

Part so inconsistent with their Duty; but here they may plead the Example and Solicitation of the more knowing Europeans.

The King had Recourse to this Method, by seizing Three Hundred of his own People, and sent Word to Brue, that he had the Slaves ready to deliver for the Goods.

The same Author further adds,

That some of the Natives are, on all Occasions, endeavouring to surprize and carry off their Country People; they land (says he) without Noise, and if they find any lone Cottage, without Defence, they surround it, and carry off all the People and Effects to their Boat: The Slaves are sold to the Euro|peans, unless they be Persons of some Rank, whose Friends can redeem them, by paying two Slaves, or five or six Oxen.

John Barbot says,

The Slaves sold by the Negroes are for the most Part Prisoners of War, or taken in the Incursions they make in|to their Enemies Territories; others are stolen away by their own Countrymen. Abundance of little Blacks, of both Sexes, are stolen away by their Neighbours, when found abroad, on the Roads, or in the Woods, or else in the Corn Fields, at the Time of the Year when their Parents keep them there all Day, to scare away the devouring small Birds.

Francis Moore, the English Factor, says,

That captivating the People is, by Custom, become so familiar, that when the King of Kayor wants to make a Present to the Factor, for what he has received of him, he sends to have two or

three Slaves taken up at the nearest Village. Unhappy (says that Author) are they, who at that Time fall into the Hands of his Guards, for they stay to make no Choice.

And he further says,

That in Battle they spare the Enemies as much as possible, but it is only that they may have the more Slaves; from which even Persons of Quality, taken Prisoners, are not exempted: That the Merchants bring down some Years, to that Factory, to the Amount of Two Thousand Slaves; which, they say, are taken Prisoners in War: These they buy from the different Princes who take them; many of them come from a great Way In-land. Their Way of bringing them, is tying them by the Neck with Leather Thongs, at about a Yard Distance from each other, hav|ing generally a Bundle of Corn, or Elephants Teeth, on each of their Heads, Thirty or Forty in a String.

The Author judges,

That the Number of Merchants who followed this Trade were about an Hundred.

Some Authors say,

They go Six or Seven Hundred Miles up the Country, with Goods bought from the English, with which they purchase these Slaves, and Ivory: Besides those Slaves, there are many bought along the River; these are either taken in War, as the former, or Men condemned for Crimes, or Persons stolen, which is very frequently. Since the Slave Trade has been introduced, all Punishments are commuted in this; and they strain hard for Crimes, in order to have the Benefit of selling

the Criminal; so that not only great Crimes but even trifling ones, are at present punished with Slavery.

Bosman says, That being in the Kingdom of Pope, who depend on Plunder and the Slaves Trade, in which they exceed some of their Neighbours, because, being endued with a much larger Share of Courage, they rob more success|fully, they assured him, that if he would have Patience for three Days, they would be able to deliver him One or Two Hundred Slaves, and that their Incursions succeeded so well, they re|turned with about Two Hundred Slaves. That the Inhabitants of Arda were so diligent in the Slave Trade, that they were able to deliver a Thousand Slaves every Month; and that if there happened to be no Stock of Slaves when the Ves|sels arrived, they would sometimes send their Commodities Two Hundred Miles deep in the Country (a later Author says, they have now car|ried the Trade Five Hundred Miles farther, go|ing now Seven Hundred Miles back into the Country) where Markets of Men were kept in the same Manner as those of Beasts with us. Most of the Slaves are Prisoners of War, which are sold by the Victors as their Booty. When these Slaves come to Fida, they are put in Prison alto|gether; and when (says he) we treat concerning baying them, they are all brought out together in a large Plain, where, by our Surgeons, they are thoroughly examined, and that naked too, both Men and Women, without the least Distinction or Modesty. Those which are ap|proved

as good, are set on one Side; in the mean while a burning Iron, with the Arms or Name of the Companies, lies in the Fire, with which ours are marked on the Breast. When we have agreed with the Owners of the Slaves, they are returned to their Prisons, where, from that Time forward, they are kept at our Charge, cost us Two-pence a Day a Slave, which serves to subsist them like our Criminals on Bread and Water; so that, to save Charges, we send them on board our Ships with the very first Opportunity; before which, their Masters strip the•• of all they have on their Backs, so that they come on board stark naked, as well Women as Men: In which Con|dition they are obliged to continue, if the Master of the Ship is not so charitable (which he com|monly is) as to bestow something on them to co|ver their Nakedness.—Six or Seven Hundred are sometimes put on board a Vessel, where they lie as close together as possible for them to be crouded.—I doubt not, says the same Author, but this Trade seems very barbarous to you, but, since it is followed by meer Necessity, it must go on. What Necessity does the Author mean, no other Necessity appears but that arising from the Desire of amassing Riches; a Necessity laid on worldly Men by their hard Task-master the De|vil? Many more Examples might be given to shew the arbitrary and tyrannick Oppression with which this Trade is carried on, and the Devasta|tion and Bloodshed it occasions in those unhappy People's Country; but I trust this is sufficient to convince the candid, considerate Reader of the

Unlawfulness and Iniquity of the Trade. And indeed what Distress can we conceive equal to the Alarms, the Anxiety and Wrath, which must succeed one another in the Breasts of the tender Parents, or affectionate Children, in continual Danger of being torn one from another, and dragged into a State of cruel Bondage; Reader, if the Impressions of Grace, or even the com|mon Feelings of Humanity, are not suppressed in thy Heart by the Love of Gain, compare what thou hast read with the Equity, the Sympa|thy, the Tenderness and affectionate Love which is the Life of Christianity, and then say, what Concord or Affinity can these Fruits have one with the other. May not this Trade be truly said to be the most iniquitous and cruelest Act of Vio|lence and Rapine, when considered in all its Cir|cumstances, that, to our Knowledge, is perpe|trated in any Part of the World, and that there|fore it behoves every one who is desirous to main|tain the Testimony of a good Conscience, and enjoy Rest and Peace in Time and Eternity, to avoid being, in any Respect, defiled by the Gain resulting therefrom. And Thanks be to the Great Father of the Family of the whole Earth, that it is not alone in America that some are raised to bear their Testimony against this mighty Evil, but that a noble Indignation is also raised in the Breasts of some in our Mother Country, zea|lously to declare against so unparalelled Invasion upon the Rights and Liberties of Mankind, par|ticularly George Wallis, a Gentleman of the Law, in a Book wrote by him, intituled, A Sy|stem

of the Principles of the Law of Scotland; in which, speaking of the Slavery of the Negroes in our Colonies, he says; "We all know that they (the Negroes) are purchased from their Princes, who pretend to have a Right to dis|pose of them, and that they are, like other Commodities, transported by the Merchants, who have bought them, into America, in or|der to be exposed to Sale. If this Trade ad|mits of a moral or a rational Justification, every Crime, even the most atrocious, may be justified. Government was instituted for the Good of Mankind; Kings, Princes, Gover|nors, are not Proprietors of those who are sub|ject to their Authority; they have not a Right to make them miserable. On the contrary, their Authority is vested in them, that they may, by the just Exercise of it, promote the Happiness of their People. Of Course, they they have not a Right to dispose of their Li|berty, and to sell them for Slaves. Besides, no Man has a Right to acquire or to purchase them; Men and their Liberty are not (in Com|mercio) they are not either saleable or pur|chaseable. One, therefore, has no body but himself to blame, in case he shall find himself deprived of a Man, whom he thought he had, by buying for a Price, made his own; for he dealt in a Trade which was illicit, and was prohibited by the most obvious Dictates of Hu|manity. For these Reasons every one of those unfortunate Men, who are pretended to be Slaves, has a Right to be declared to be free,

for he never lost his Liberty; he could not lose it; his Prince had no Power to dispose of him. Of Course the Sale was ipso Jure void. This Right he carries about with him, and is entitled every where to get it declared. As soon, therefore, as he comes into a Coun|try in which the Judges are not forgetful of their own Humanity, it is their Duty to re|member that he is a Man, and to declare him to be free. I know it has been said, that Que|stions concerning the State of Persons ought to be determined by the Law of the Country to which they belong; and that, therefore, one who would be declared to be a Slave in America, ought, in case he should happen to be imported into Britain, to be adjudged ac|cording to the Law of America to be a Slave; a Doctrine than which nothing can be more barbarous. Ought the Judges of any Coun|try, out of Respect to the Law of another, to shew no Respect to their Kind, and to Huma|nity. Out of Respect to a Law, which is in no Sort obligatory upon them, ought they to disregard the Law of Nature, which is obli|gatory on all Men at all Times, and in all Places: Are any Laws so binding as the eter|nal Laws of Justice? Is it doubtful, whether a Judge ought to pay greater Regard to them, than to those arbitrary and inhuman Usages which prevail in a distant Land? Aye, but our Colonies would be ruined, if Slavery was abolished. Be it so; would it not from thence follow, that the Bulk of Mankind ought to be

abused, that our Pockets may be filled with Money, or our Mouths with Delicacies? The Purses of Highwaymen would be empty in case Robberies were totally abolished; but have Men a Right to acquire Money by going out to the Highway? Have Men a Right to acquire it by rendering their Fellow Creatures miserable? Is it lawful to abuse Mankind, that the Avarice, the Vanity, or the Passions of a few may be gratified? No! there is such a Thing as Justice, to which the most sacred Regard is due. It ought to be inviolably ob|served. Have not these unhappy Men a better Right to their Liberty, and to their Happiness, than our American Merchants have to the Pro|fits which they make by torturing their Kind? Let therefore our Colonies be ruined, but let us not render so many Men miserable. Would not any of us, who should—be snatched by Pyrates from his native Land, think himself cruelly abused, and at all Times intitled to be free. Have not these unfortunate Africans, who meet with the same cruel Fate, the same Right? Are not they Men as well as we, and have they not the same Sensibility? Let us not, therefore, defend or support a Usage which is contrary to all the Laws of Humanity.

But it is false, that either we or our Colonies would be ruined by the Abolition of Slavery. It might occasion a Stagnation of Business for a short Time. Every great Alteration pro|duces that Effect; because Mankind cannot, on a sudden, find Ways of disposing of them|selves,

and of their Affairs: But it would pro|duce many happy Effects. It is the Slavery which is permitted in America that has hindered it from becoming so soon populous, as it would otherwise have done. Let the Negroes free, and, in a few Generations, this vast and fertile Continent would be crowded with Inhabitants; Learning, Arts, and every Thing would flou|rish amongst them; instead of being inhabited by wild Beasts, and by Savages, it would be peopled by Philosophers, and by Men."— Thus far this honest and noble spirited Briton.

And now Reader, if from the Example of others, and without a sufficient Knowledge of the deplorable Consequences attendant on this Trade, thou hast inadvertently engaged therein, let me beseech thee, by the Mercies of CHRIST JESUS our LORD (those Mercies which, perhaps, e'er long, thou and I shall desire to fly to as our only Refuge) that thou wouldst refrain a Prac|tice so inconsistent with thy Duty, both as a Chri|stian and a Man. Remember, the first and chief Commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart. And that the Second like unto it is, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself. That our blessed Redeemer has enjoined us to do unto others as we would they should do unto us; and that it will be those who have been righteous and merciful to their Fellow Creatures, that will be intitled to the Mercy of the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth, before whom we must all appear, to give an Account of the Deeds done in the Body.

And as for those who confess themselves now, convinced of the Iniquity of this Trade, and the Injustice of buying and selling their Fellow Creatures, and yet continue to keep those Negroes they are possessed of in Bondage, for the Sake of the Profit arising from their Labour, it be|hoves them seriously to consider their Motives for such a Conduct; whether the Distinction they make between buying a Negroe, and keeping the same Negroe, or his Offspring, in perpetual Bon|dage, is not a Plea founded more in Words than supported by Truth; for it must be obvious to every Person, who is not blinded by the Desire of Gain, that the Right by which these Men hold the Negroes in Bondage, is no other than what is derived from those who stole them, or received them from the Thief, who having no other Title, but that which Robbers have over their Prey, could not convey any better to the Purchaser; and that therefore to continue to hold them in Bondage, for worldly Advantage, by no other Right than that which those guilty Men gave them, is consenting to, and partaking of their Guilt. Instances may fall out, where Men of Candour may be concerned in the Purchase of Negroes, purely from a Principle of Charity; and there are also many of the Blacks, amongst us, whose Dispostions, Infirmities or Age, render them unfit for Freedom; but in the Case before|mentioned, where Persons declare themselves convinced of the Injustice and Iniquity of this Trade, and are possessed of Negroes who are ca|pable of managing for themselves, and have suf|ficiently

paid, by their Labour, for their Pur|chase or bringing up, besides the Profit some Families have reaped, during a long Course of Years, from the Labour of their Progenitors; it is the undoubted Duty of their Possessors to re|store to them that Liberty, of which they, or their Parents, have been unjustly deprived; and they ought also to use all reasonable Endeavours, to enable them to procure a comfortable Living, not only as an Act of Justice to the Individuals, but as a Debt due to them, on Account of the Oppression and Injustice perpetrated on them, or their Ancestors; and as the best Means in their Power, to avert the Judgments of GOD, which it is to be feared will fall on Families and Coun|tries, in Proportion as they have, more or less, defiled themselves with this iniquitous Traffick.