THE
SLAVERY of the AFRICANS
IN THE
EUROPEAN COLONIES.
* * * * *
CHAP. I.
Having confined ourselves wholly, in the second part of this Essay, to
the consideration of the _commerce_, we shall now proceed to the
consideration of the _slavery_ that is founded upon it. As this
slavery will be conspicuous in the _treatment_, which the
unfortunate Africans uniformly undergo, when they are put into the hands
of the _receivers_, we shall describe the manner in which they are
accustomed to be used from this period.
To place this in the clearest, and most conspicuous point of view, we
shall throw a considerable part of our information on this head into the
form of a narrative: we shall suppose ourselves, in short, on the
continent of Africa, and relate a scene, which, from its agreement with
unquestionable facts, might not unreasonably be presumed to have been
presented to our view, had we been really there.
And first, let us turn our eyes to the cloud of dust that is before us.
It seems to advance rapidly, and, accompanied with dismal shrieks and
yellings, to make the very air, that is above it, tremble as it rolls
along. What can possibly be the cause? Let us inquire of that melancholy
African, who seems to walk dejected near the shore; whose eyes are
stedfastly fixed on the approaching object, and whose heart, if we can
judge from the appearance of his countenance, must be greatly agitated.
"Alas!" says the unhappy African, "the cloud that you see approaching,
is a train of wretched slaves. They are going to the ships behind you.
They are destined for the English colonies, and, if you will stay here
but for a little time, you will see them pass. They were last night
drawn up upon the plain which you see before you, where they were
branded upon the breast with an _hot iron_; and when they had
undergone the whole of the treatment which is customary on these
occasions, and which I am informed that you Englishmen at home use to
the _cattle_ which you buy, they were returned to their prison. As
I have some dealings with the members of the factory which you see at a
little distance, (though thanks to the Great Spirit, I never dealt in
the _liberty_ of my fellow creatures) I gained admittance there. I
learned the history of some of the unfortunate people, whom I saw
confined, and will explain to you, if my eye should catch them as they
pass, the real causes of their servitude."
Scarcely were these words spoken, when they came distinctly into sight.
They appeared to advance in a long column, but in a very irregular
manner. There were three only in the front, and these were chained
together. The rest that followed seemed to be chained by pairs, but by
pressing forward, to avoid the lash of the drivers, the breadth of the
column began to be greatly extended, and ten or more were observed
abreast.
While we were making these remarks, the intelligent African thus resumed
his discourse. "The first three whom you observe, at the head of the
train, to be chained together, are prisoners of war. As soon as the
ships that are behind you arrived, the news was dispatched into the
inland country; when one of the petty kings immediately assembled his
subjects, and attacked a neighbouring tribe. The wretched people, though
they were surprized, made a formidable resistance, as they resolved,
almost all of them, rather to lose their lives, than survive their
liberty. The person whom you see in the middle, is the father of the two
young men, who are chained to him on each side. His wife and two of his
children were killed in the attack, and his father being wounded, and,
on account of his age, _incapable of servitude_, was left bleeding
on the spot where this transaction happened."
"With respect to those who are now passing us, and are immediately
behind the former, I can give you no other intelligence, than that some
of them, to about the number of thirty, were taken in the same skirmish.
Their tribe was said to have been numerous before the attack; these
however are _all that are left alive_. But with respect to the
unhappy man, who is now opposite to us, and whom you may distinguish, as
he is now looking back and wringing his hands in despair, I can inform
you with more precision. He is an unfortunate convict. He lived only
about five days journey from the factory. He went out with his king to
hunt, and was one of his train; but, through too great an anxiety to
afford his royal master diversion, he roused the game from the covert
rather sooner than was expected. The king, exasperated at this
circumstance, immediately sentenced him to slavery. His wife and
children, fearing lest the tyrant should extend the punishment to
themselves, _which is not unusual_, fled directly to the woods,
where they were all devoured."
"The people, whom you see close behind the unhappy convict, form a
numerous body, and reach a considerable way. They speak a language,
which no person in this part of Africa can understand, and their
features, as you perceive, are so different from those of the rest, that
they almost appear a distinct race of men. From this circumstance I
recollect them. They are the subjects of a very distant prince, who
agreed with the _slave merchants, for a quantity of spirituous
liquors_, to furnish him with a stipulated number of slaves. He
accordingly surrounded, and set fire to one of his own villages in the
night, and seized these people, who were unfortunately the inhabitants,
as they were escaping from the flames. I first saw them as the merchants
were driving them in, about two days ago. They came in a large body, and
were tied together at the neck with leather thongs, which permitted
them to walk at the distance of about a yard from one another. Many of
them were loaden with elephants teeth, which had been purchased at the
same time. All of them had bags, made of skin, upon their shoulders; for
as they were to travel, in their way from the great mountains, through
barren sands and inhospitable woods for many days together, they were
obliged to carry water and provisions with them. Notwithstanding this,
many of them perished, some by hunger, but the greatest number by
fatigue, as the place from whence they came, is at such an amazing
distance from this, and the obstacles, from the nature of the country,
so great, that the journey could scarcely be completed in seven moons."
When this relation was finished, and we had been looking stedfastly for
some time on the croud that was going by, we lost sight of that
peculiarity of feature, which we had before remarked. We then discovered
that the inhabitants of the depopulated village had all of them passed
us, and that the part of the train, to which we were now opposite, was a
numerous body of kidnapped people. Here we indulged our imagination. We
thought we beheld in one of them a father, in another an husband, and in
another a son, each of whom was forced from his various and tender
connections, and without even the opportunity of bidding them adieu.
While we were engaged in these and other melancholy reflections, the
whole body of slaves had entirely passed us. We turned almost insensibly
to look at them again, when we discovered an unhappy man at the end of
the train, who could scarcely keep pace with the rest. His feet seemed
to have suffered much from long and constant travelling, for he was
limping painfully along.
"This man," resumes the African. "has travelled a considerable way. He
lived at a great distance from hence, and had a large family, for whom
he was daily to provide. As he went out one night to a neighbouring
spring, to procure water for his thirsty children, he was kidnapped by
two _slave hunters_, who sold him in the morning to some country
merchants for a _bar of iron_. These drove him with other slaves,
procured almost in the same manner, to the nearest market, where the
English merchants, to whom the train that has just now passed us
belongs, purchased him and two others, by means of their travelling
agents, for a _pistol_. His wife and children have been long
waiting for his return. But he is gone for ever from their sight: and
they must be now disconsolate, as they must be certain by his delay,
that he has fallen into the hands of the _Christians_".
"And now, as I have mentioned the name of _Christians_, a name, by
which the Europeans distinguish themselves from us, I could wish to be
informed of the meaning which such an appellation may convey. They
consider themselves as _men_, but us unfortunate Africans, whom
they term _Heathens_, as the _beasts_ that serve us. But ah!
how different is the fact! What is _Christianity_, but a system
of _murder_ and _oppression_? The cries and yells of the
unfortunate people, who are now soon to embark for the regions of
servitude, have already pierced my heart. Have you not heard me sigh,
while we have been talking? Do you not see the tears that now trickle
down my cheeks? and yet these hardened _Christians_ are unable to
be moved at all: nay, they will scourge them amidst their groans, and
even smile, while they are torturing them to death. Happy, happy
Heathenism! which can detest the vices of Christianity, and feel for
the distresses of mankind."
"But" we reply, "You are totally mistaken: _Christianity_ is the
most perfect and lovely of moral systems. It blesses even the hand of
persecution itself, and returns good for evil. But the people against
whom you so justly declaim; are not _Christians_. They are
_infidels_. They are _monsters_. They are out of the common
course of nature. Their countrymen at home are generous and brave. They
support the sick, the lame, and the blind. They fly to the succour of
the distressed. They have noble and stately buildings for the sole
purpose of benevolence. They are in short, of all nations, the most
remarkable for humanity and justice."
"But why then," replies the honest African, "do they suffer this? Why is
Africa a scene of blood and desolation? Why are her children wrested
from her, to administer to the luxuries and greatness of those whom they
never offended? And why are these dismal cries in vain?"
"Alas!" we reply again, "can the cries and groans, with which the air
now trembles, be heard across this extensive continent? Can the southern
winds convey them to the ear of Britain? If they could reach the
generous Englishman at home, they would pierce his heart, as they have
already pierced your own. He would sympathize with you in your distress.
He would be enraged at the conduct of his countrymen, and resist their
tyranny."--
But here a shriek unusually loud, accompanied with a dreadful rattling
of chains, interrupted the discourse. The wretched Africans were just
about to embark: they had turned their face to their country, as if to
take a last adieu, and, with arms uplifted to the sky, were making the
very atmosphere resound with their prayers and imprecations.
* * * * *
CHAP. II.
The foregoing scene, though it may be said to be imaginary, is strictly
consistent with fact. It is a scene, to which the reader himself may
have been witness, if he has ever visited the place, where it is
supposed to lie; as no circumstance whatever has been inserted in it,
for which the fullest and most undeniable evidence cannot be produced.
We shall proceed now to describe, in general terms, the treatment which
the wretched Africans undergo, from the time of their embarkation.
When the African slaves, who are collected from various quarters, for
the purposes of sale, are delivered over to the _receivers_, they
are conducted in the manner above described to the ships. Their
situation on board is beyond all description: for here they are crouded,
hundreds of them together, into such a small compass, as would scarcely
be thought sufficient to accommodate twenty, if considered as _free
men_. This confinement soon produces an effect, that may be easily
imagined. It generates a pestilential air, which, co-operating with, bad
provisions, occasions such a sickness and mortality among them, that not
less than _twenty thousand_[056] are generally taken off in every
yearly transportation.
Thus confined in a pestilential prison, and almost entirely excluded
from the chearful face of day, it remains for the sickly survivors to
linger out a miserable existence, till the voyage is finished. But are
no farther evils to be expected in the interim particularly if we add to
their already wretched situation the indignities that are daily offered
them, and the regret which they must constantly feel, at being for ever
forced from their connexions? These evils are but too apparent. Some of
them have resolved, and, notwithstanding the threats of the
_receivers_, have carried their resolves into execution, to starve
themselves to death. Others, when they have been brought upon deck for
air, if the least opportunity has offered, have leaped into the sea, and
terminated their miseries at once. Others, in a fit of despair, have
attempted to rise, and regain their liberty. But here what a scene of
barbarity has constantly ensued. Some of them have been instantly killed
upon the spot; some have been taken from the hold, have been bruised and
mutilated in the most barbarous and shocking manner, and have been
returned bleeding to their companions, as a sad example of resistance;
while others, tied to the ropes of the ship, and mangled alternately
with the whip and knife, have been left in that horrid situation, till
they have expired.
But this is not the only inhuman treatment which they are frequently
obliged to undergo; for if there should be any necessity, from
tempestuous weather, for lightening the ship; or if it should be
presumed on the voyage, that the provisions will fall short before the
port can be made, they are, many of them, thrown into the sea, without
any compunction of mind on the part of the _receivers_, and without
any other regret for their loss, than that which _avarice_
inspires. Wretched survivors! what must be their feelings at such a
sight! how must they tremble to think of that servitude which is
approaching, when the very _dogs_ of the _receivers_ have been
retained on board, and preferred to their unoffending countrymen. But
indeed so lightly are these unhappy people esteemed, that their lives
have been even taken away upon speculation: there has been an instance,
within the last five years, of _one hundred and thirty two_ of them
being thrown into the sea, because it was supposed that, by this
_trick_, their value could be recovered from the insurers[057].
But if the ship should arrive safe at its destined port, a circumstance
which does not always happen, (for some have been blown up, and many
lost) the wretched Africans do not find an alleviation of their sorrow.
Here they are again exposed to sale. Here they are again subjected to
the inspection of other brutal _receivers_, who examine and treat
them with an inhumanity, at which even avarice should blush. To this
mortifying circumstance is added another, that they are picked out, as
the purchaser pleases, without any consideration whether the wife is
separated from her husband, or the mother from her son: and if these
cruel instances of separation should happen; if relations, when they
find themselves about to be parted, should cling together; or if filial,
conjugal, or parental affection, should detain them but a moment longer
in each other's arms, than these _second receivers_ should think
sufficient, the lash instantly severs them from their embraces.
We cannot close our account of the treatment, which the wretched
Africans undergo while in the hands of the _first receivers_,
without mentioning an instance of wanton, barbarity, which happened some
time ago; particularly as it may be inserted with propriety in the
present place, and may give the reader a better idea of the cruelties,
to which they are continually exposed, than any that he may have yet
conceived. To avoid making a mistake, we shall take the liberty that has
been allowed us, and transcribe it from a little manuscript account,
with which we have been favoured by a person of the strictest integrity,
and who was at that time in the place where the transaction
happened[058]. "Not long after," says he, (continuing his account) "the
perpetrator of a cruel murder, committed in open day light, in the most
publick part of a town, which was the seat of government, escaped every
other notice than the curses of a few of the more humane witnesses of
his barbarity. An officer of a Guinea ship, who had the care of a number
of new slaves, and was returning from the _sale-yard_ to the
vessel with such as remained unsold; observed a stout fellow among them
rather slow in his motions, which he therefore quickened with his
rattan. The slave soon afterwards fell down, and was raised by the same
application. Moving forwards a few yards, he fell down again; and this
being taken as a proof of his sullen perverse spirit, the enraged
officer furiously repeated his blows, till he expired at his feet. The
brute coolly ordered some of the surviving slaves to carry the dead body
to the water's side, where, without any ceremony or delay, being thrown
into the sea, the tragedy was supposed to have been immediately finished
by the not more inhuman sharks, with which the harbour then abounded.
These voracious fish were supposed to have followed the vessels from
the coast of Africa, in which ten thousand slaves were imported in that
one season, being allured by the stench, and daily fed by the dead
carcasses thrown overboard on the voyage."
If the reader should observe here, that cattle are better protected in
this country, than slaves in the colonies, his observation will be just.
The beast which is driven to market, is defended by law from the goad of
the driver; whereas the wretched African, though an human being, and
whose feelings receive of course a double poignancy from the power of
reflection, is unnoticed in this respect in the colonial code, and may
be goaded and beaten till he expires.
We may now take our leave of the _first receivers_. Their crime has
been already estimated; and to reason farther upon it, would be
unnecessary. For where the conduct of men is so manifestly impious,
there can be no need, either of a single argument or a reflection; as
every reader of sensibility will anticipate them in his own feelings.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 056: It is universally allowed, that at least one fifth of the
exported negroes perish in the passage. This estimate is made from the
time in which they are put on board, to the time when they are disposed
of in the colonies. The French are supposed to lose the greatest number
in the voyage, but particularly from this circumstance, because their
slave ships are in general so very large, that many of the slaves that
have been put on board sickly, die before the cargo can be completed.]
[Footnote 057: This instance happened in a ship, commanded by one
Collingwood. On the 29th of November, 1781, fifty-four of them were
thrown into the sea alive; on the 30th forty-two more; and in about
three days afterwards, twenty-six. Ten others, who were brought upon the
deck for the same purpose, did not wait to be hand-cuffed, but bravely
leaped into the sea, and shared the fate of their companions. It is a
fact, that the people on board this ship had not been put upon short
allowance. The excuse which this execrable wretch made on board for his
conduct, was the following, "_that if the slaves, who were then
sickly, had died a natural death, the loss would have been the owners;
but as they were thrown alive into the sea, it would fall upon the
underwriters_."]
[Footnote 058: This gentleman is at present resident in England. The
author of this Essay applied to him for some information on the
treatment of slaves, so far as his own knowledge was concerned. He was
so obliging as to furnish him with the written account alluded to,
interspersed only with such instances, as he himself could undertake to
answer for. The author, as he has never met with these instances before,
and as they are of such high authority, intends to transcribe two or
three of them, and insert them in the fourth chapter. They will be found
in inverted commas.]
* * * * *
CHAP. III.
When the wretched Africans are thus put into the hands of the _second
receivers_, they are conveyed to the plantations, where they are
totally considered as _cattle_, or _beasts of labour_; their
very children, if any should be born to them in that situation, being
previously destined to the condition of their parents. But here a
question arises, which, will interrupt the thread of the narration for a
little time, viz. how far their descendants, who compose the fifth order
of slaves, are justly reduced to servitude, and upon what principles the
_receivers_ defend their conduct.
Authors have been at great pains to inquire, why, in the ancient
servitude, the child has uniformly followed the condition of the mother.
But we conceive that they would have saved themselves much trouble, and
have done themselves more credit, if instead of, endeavouring to
reconcile the custom with _heathen_ notions, or their own laboured
conjectures, they had shewn its inconsistency with reason and nature,
and its repugnancy to common justice. Suffice it to say, that the whole
theory of the ancients, with respect to the descendants slaves, may be
reduced to this principle, "that as the parents, by becoming
_property_, were wholly considered as _cattle_, their children,
like _the progeny of cattle_, inherited their parental lot."
Such also is the excuse of the tyrannical _receivers_
before-mentioned. They allege, that they have purchased the parents,
that they can sell and dispose of them as they please, that they possess
them under the same laws and limitations as their cattle, and that their
children, like the progeny of these, become their property _by
birth_.
But the absurdity of the argument will immediately appear. It depends
wholly on the supposition, that the parents are _brutes_. If they
are _brutes_, we shall instantly cease to contend: if they are
_men_, which we think it not difficult to prove, the argument must
immediately fall, as we have already shewn that there cannot justly be
any _property_ whatever in the _human species_.
It has appeared also, in the second part of this Essay, that as nature
made, every man's body and mind _his own_, so no _just_ person
can be reduced to slavery against his own _consent_. Do the
unfortunate offspring ever _consent_ to be slaves?--They are slaves
from their birth.--Are they _guilty_ of crimes, that they lose
their freedom?--They are slaves when they cannot speak.--Are their
_parents_ abandoned? The crimes of the parents cannot justly extend
to the children.
Thus then must the tyrannical _receivers_, who presume to sentence
the children of slaves to servitude, if they mean to dispute upon the
justice of their cause; either allow them to have been _brutes_
from their birth, or to have been guilty of crimes at a time, when they
were incapable of offending the very _King of Kings_.
* * * * *
CHAP. IV.
But to return to the narration. When the wretched Africans are conveyed
to the plantations, they are considered as _beasts of labour_, and
are put to their respective work. Having led, in their own country, a
life of indolence and ease, where the earth brings forth spontaneously
the comforts of life, and spares frequently the toil and trouble of
cultivation, they can hardly be expected to endure the drudgeries of
servitude. Calculations are accordingly made upon their lives. It is
conjectured, that if three in four survive what is called the
_seasoning_, the bargain is highly favourable. This seasoning is
said to expire, when the two first years of their servitude are
completed: It is the time which an African must take to be so accustomed
to the colony, as to be able to endure the common labour of a
plantation, and to be put into the _gang_. At the end of this
period the calculations become verified, _twenty thousand_[059] of
those, who are annually imported, dying before the seasoning is over.
This is surely an horrid and awful consideration: and thus does it
appear, (and let it be remembered, that it is the lowest calculation
that has been ever made upon the subject) that out of every annual
supply that is shipped from the coast of Africa, _forty thousand
lives_[060] are regularly expended, even before it can be said, that
there is really any additional stock for the colonies.
When the seasoning is over, and the survivors are thus enabled to endure
the usual task of slaves, they are considered as real and substantial
supplies. From this period[061] therefore we shall describe their
situation.
They are summoned at five in the morning to begin their work. This work
may be divided into two kinds, the culture of the fields, and the
collection of grass for cattle. The last is the most laborious and
intolerable employment; as the grass can only be collected blade by
blade, and is to be fetched frequently twice a day at a considerable
distance from the plantation. In these two occupations they are jointly
taken up, with no other intermission than that of taking their
subsistence twice, till nine at night. They then separate for their
respective huts, when they gather sticks, prepare their supper, and
attend their families. This employs them till midnight, when they go to
rest. Such is their daily way of life for rather more than half the
year. They are _sixteen_ hours, including two intervals at meals,
in the service of their masters: they are employed _three_
afterwards in their own necessary concerns; _five_ only remain for
sleep, and their day is finished.
During the remaining portion of the year, or the time of crop, the
nature, as well as the time of their employment, is considerably
changed. The whole gang is generally divided into two or three bodies.
One of these, besides the ordinary labour of the day, is kept in turn at
the mills, that are constantly going, during the whole of the night.
This is a dreadful encroachment upon their time of rest, which was
before too short to permit them perfectly to refresh their wearied
limbs, and actually reduces their sleep, as long as this season lasts,
to about three hours and an half a night, upon a moderate
computation[062]. Those who can keep their eyes open during their
nightly labour, and are willing to resist the drowsiness that is
continually coming upon them, are presently worn out; while some of
those, who are overcome, and who feed the mill between asleep and awake,
suffer, for thus obeying the calls of nature, by the loss of a
limb[063]. In this manner they go on, with little or no respite from
their work, till the crop season is over, when the year (from the time
of our first description) is completed.
To support[064] a life of such unparalleled drudgery, we should at least
expect: to find, that they were comfortably clothed, and plentifully
fed. But sad reverse! they have scarcely a covering to defend themselves
against the inclemency of the night. Their provisions are frequently
bad, and are always dealt out to them with such a sparing hand, that the
means of a bare livelihood are not placed within the reach of four out
of five of these unhappy people. It is a fact, that many of the
disorders of slaves are contracted from eating the vegetables, which
their little spots produce, before they are sufficiently ripe: a clear
indication, that the calls of hunger are frequently so pressing, as not
to suffer them to wait, till they can really enjoy them.
This, situation, of a want of the common necessaries of life, added to
that of hard and continual labour, must be sufficiently painful of
itself. How then must the pain be sharpened, if it be accompanied with
severity! if an unfortunate slave does not come into the field exactly
at the appointed time, if, drooping with sickness or fatigue, he appears
to work unwillingly, or if the bundle of grass that he has been
collecting, appears too small in the eye of the overseer, he is equally
sure of experiencing the whip. This instrument erases the skin, and cuts
out small portions of the flesh at almost every stroke; and is so
frequently applied, that the smack of it is all day long in the ears of
those, who are in the vicinity of the plantations. This severity of
masters, or managers, to their slaves, which is considered only as
common discipline, is attended with bad effects. It enables them to
behold instances of cruelty without commiseration, and to be guilty of
them without remorse. Hence those many acts of deliberate mutilation,
that have taken place on the slightest occasions: hence those many acts
of inferiour, though shocking, barbarity, that have taken place without
any occasion at all: the very slitting[065] of ears has been considered
as an operation, so perfectly devoid of pain, as to have been performed
for no other reason than that for which a brand is set upon cattle,
_as a mark of property_.
But this is not the only effect, which this severity produces: for
while it hardens their hearts, and makes them insensible of the misery
of their fellow-creatures, it begets a turn for wanton cruelty. As a
proof of this, we shall mention one, among the many instances that
occur, where ingenuity has been exerted in contriving modes of torture.
"An iron coffin, with holes in it, was kept by a certain colonist, as an
auxiliary to the lash. In this the poor victim of the master's
resentment was inclosed, and placed sufficiently near a fire, to
occasion extreme pain, and consequently shrieks and groans, until the
revenge of the master was satiated, without any other inconvenience on
his part, than a temporary suspension of the slave's labour. Had he been
flogged to death, or his limbs mutilated, the interest of the brutal
tyrant would have suffered a more irreparable loss.
"In mentioning, this instance, we do not mean to insinuate, that it is
common. We know that it was reprobated by many. All that we would infer
from it is, that where men are habituated to a system of severity, they
become _wantonly cruel_, and that the mere toleration of such an
instrument of torture, in any country, is a clear indication, _that
this wretched class of men do not there enjoy the protection of any
laws, that may be pretended to have been enacted in their favour_."
Such then is the general situation of the unfortunate Africans. They are
beaten and tortured at discretion. They are badly clothed. They are
miserably fed. Their drudgery is intense and incessant and their rest
short. For scarcely are their heads reclined, scarcely have their bodies
a respite from the labour of the day, or the cruel hand of the overseer,
but they are summoned to renew their sorrows. In this manner they go on
from year to year, in a state of the lowest degradation, without a
single law to protect them, without the possibility of redress, without
a hope that their situation will be changed, unless death should
terminate the scene.
Having described the general situation of these unfortunate people, we
shall now take notice of the common consequences that are found to
attend it, and relate them separately, as they result either from long
and painful _labour_, a _want_ of the common necessaries of
life, or continual _severity_.
Oppressed by a daily task of such immoderate labour as human nature is
utterly unable to perform, many of them run away from their masters.
They fly to the recesses of the mountains, where they choose rather to
live upon any thing that the soil affords them, nay, the very soil
itself, than return to that _happy situation_, which is represented
by the _receivers_, as the condition of a slave.
It sometimes happens, that the manager of a mountain plantation, falls
in with one of these; he immediately seizes him, and threatens to carry
him to his former master, unless he will consent to live on the mountain
and cultivate his ground. When his plantation is put in order, he
carries the delinquent home, abandons him to all the suggestions of
despotick rage, and accepts a reward for his _honesty_. The unhappy
wretch is chained, scourged, tortured; and all this, because he obeyed
the dictates of nature, and wanted to be free. And who is there, that
would not have done the same thing, in the same situation? Who is there,
that has once known the charms of liberty; that would not fly from
despotism? And yet, by the impious laws of the _receivers_, the
absence[066] of six months from the lash of tyranny is--_death_.
But this law is even mild, when compared with another against the same
offence, which was in force sometime ago, and which we fear is even now
in force, in some of those colonies which this account of the treatment
comprehends. "Advertisements have frequently appeared there, offering a
reward for the apprehending of fugitive slaves either alive or
_dead_. The following instance was given us by a person of
unquestionable veracity, under whose own observation it fell. As he was
travelling in one of the colonies alluded to, he observed some people in
pursuit of a poor wretch, who was seeking in the wilderness an asylum
from his labours. He heard the discharge of a gun, and soon afterwards
stopping at an house for refreshment, the head of the fugitive, still
reeking with blood, was brought in and laid upon a table with
exultation. The production of such a trophy was the proof _required by
law_ to entitle the heroes to their reward." Now reader determine if
you can, who were the most execrable; the rulers of the state in
authorizing murder, or the people in being bribed to commit it.
This is one of the common consequences of that immoderate share of
labour, which is imposed upon them; nor is that, which is the result of
a scanty allowance of food, less to be lamented. The wretched African is
often so deeply pierced by the excruciating fangs of hunger, as almost
to be driven to despair. What is he to do in such a trying situation?
Let him apply to the _receivers_. Alas! the majesty of _receivership_
is too sacred for the appeal, and the intrusion would be
fatal. Thus attacked on the one hand, and shut out from every
possibility of relief on the other, he has only the choice of being
starved, or of relieving his necessities by taking a small portion of
the fruits of his own labour. Horrid crime! to be found eating the
cane, which probably his own hands have planted, and to be eating it,
because his necessities were pressing! This crime however is of such a
magnitude, as always to be accompanied with the whip; and so
unmercifully has it been applied on such an occasion, as to have been
the cause, in wet weather, of the delinquent's death. But the smart of
the whip has not been the only pain that the wretched Africans have
experienced. Any thing that passion could seize, and convert into an
instrument of punishment, has been used; and, horrid to relate! the very
knife has not been overlooked in the fit of phrenzy. Ears have been
slit, eyes have been beaten out, and bones have been broken; and so
frequently has this been the case, that it has been a matter of constant
lamentation with disinterested people, who out of curiosity have
attended the markets[067] to which these unhappy people weekly resort,
that they have not been able to turn their eyes on any group of them
whatever, but they have beheld these inhuman marks of passion,
despotism, and caprice.
But these instances of barbarity have not been able to deter them from
similar proceedings. And indeed, how can it be expected that they
should? They have still the same appetite to be satisfied as before, and
to drive them to desperation. They creep out clandestinely by night, and
go in search of food into their master's, or some neighbouring
plantation. But here they are almost equally sure of suffering. The
watchman, who will be punished himself, if he neglects his duty,
frequently seizes them in the fact. No excuse or intreaty will avail; he
must punish them for an example, and he must punish them, not with a
stick, nor with a whip, but with a cutlass. Thus it happens, that these
unhappy slaves, if they are taken, are either sent away mangled in a
barbarous manner, or are killed upon the spot.
We may now mention the consequences of the severity. The wretched
Africans, daily subjected to the lash, and unmercifully whipt and beaten
on every trifling occasion, have been found to resist their opposers.
Unpardonable crime! that they should have the feelings of nature! that
their breasts should glow with resentment on an injury! that they should
be so far overcome, as to resist those, whom _they are under no
obligations to obey_, and whose only title to their services consists
in _a violation of the rights of men_! What has been the
consequence?--But here let us spare the feelings of the reader, (we
wish we could spare our own) and let us only say, without a recital of
the cruelty, _that they have been murdered at the discretion of their
masters_. For let the reader observe, that the life of an African is
only valued at a price, that would scarcely purchase an horse; that the
master has a power of murdering his slave, if he pays but a trifling
fine; and that the murder must be attended with uncommon circumstances
of horrour, if it even produces an inquiry.
Immortal Alfred! father of our invaluable constitution! parent of the
civil blessings we enjoy! how ought thy laws to excite our love and
veneration, who hast forbidden us, thy posterity, to tremble at the
frown of tyrants! how ought they to perpetuate thy name, as venerable,
to the remotest ages, who has secured, even to the meanest servant, a
fair and impartial trial! How much does nature approve thy laws, as
consistent with her own feelings, while she absolutely turns pale,
trembles, and recoils, at the institutions of these _receivers_!
Execrable men! you do not murder the horse, on which you only ride; you
do not mutilate the cow, which only affords you her milk; you do not
torture the dog, which is but a partial servant of your pleasures: but
these unfortunate men, from whom, you derive your very pleasures and
your fortunes, you torture, mutilate, murder at discretion! Sleep then
you _receivers_, if you can, while you scarcely allow these
unfortunate people to rest at all! feast if you can, and indulge your
genius, while you daily apply to these unfortunate people the stings of
severity and hunger! exult in riches, at which even avarice ought to
shudder, and, which humanity must detest!
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 059: One third of the whole number imported, is often computed
to be lost in the seasoning, which, in round numbers, will be 27000. The
loss in the seasoning depends, in a great measure, on two circumstances,
viz. on the number of what are called refuse slaves that are imported,
and on the quantity of new land in the colony. In the French windward
islands of Martinico, and Guadaloupe, which are cleared and highly
cultivated, and in our old small islands, one fourth, including refuse
slaves, is considered as a general proportion. But in St. Domingo, where
there is a great deal of new land annually taken into culture, and in
other colonies in the same situation, the general proportion, including
refuse slaves, is found to be one third. This therefore is a lower
estimate than the former, and reduces the number to about 23000. We may
observe, that this is the common estimate, but we have reduced it to
20000 to make it free from all objection.]
[Footnote 060: Including the number that perish on the voyage, and in
the seasoning. It is generally thought that not half the number
purchased can be considered as an additional stock, and of course that
50,000 are consumed within the first two years from their embarkation.]
[Footnote 061: That part of the account, that has been hitherto given,
extends to all the Europeans and their colonists, who are concerned in
this horrid practice. But we are sorry that we must now make a
distinction, and confine the remaining part, of it to the colonists of
the British West India islands, and to those of the southern provinces
of North America. As the employment of slaves is different in the two
parts of the world last mentioned, we shall content ourselves with
describing it, as it exists in one of them, and we shall afterwards
annex such treatment and such consequences as are applicable to both. We
have only to add, that the reader must not consider our account as
_universally_, but only _generally_, true.]
[Footnote 062: This computation is made on a supposition, that the gang
is divided into three bodies; we call it therefore moderate, because the
gang is frequently divided into two bodies, which must therefore set up
alternately _every other night_.]
[Footnote 063: An hand or arm being frequently ground off.]
[Footnote 064: The reader will scarcely believe it, but it is a fact,
that a slave's annual allowance from his master, for provisions,
clothing, medicines when sick, &c. is limited, upon an average, to
thirty shillings.]
[Footnote 065: "A boy having received six slaves as a present from his
father, immediately slit their ears, and for the following reason, that
as his father was a whimsical man, he might claim them again, unless
they were marked." We do not mention this instance as a confirmation of
the passage to which it is annexed, but only to shew, how cautious we
ought to be in giving credit to what may be advanced in any work written
in defence of slavery, by any native of the colonies: for being trained
up to scenes of cruelty from his cradle, he may, consistently with his
own feelings, represent that treatment as mild, at which we, who have
never been used to see them, should absolutely shudder.]
[Footnote 066: In this case he is considered as a criminal against the
state. The _marshal_, an officer answering to our sheriff,
superintends his execution, and the master receives the value of the
slave from the publick treasury. We may observe here, that in all cases
where the delinquent is a criminal of the state, he is executed, and his
value is received in the same manner; He is tried and condemned by two
or three justices of the peace, and without any intervention of a
_jury_.]
[Footnote 067: Particularly in Jamaica. These observations were made by
disinterested people, who were there for three or four years during the
late war.]
* * * * *
CHAP. V.
Some people may suppose, from the melancholy account that has been given
in the preceding chapter, that we have been absolutely dealing in
romance: that the scene exhibited is rather a dreary picture of the
imagination, than a representation of fact. Would to heaven, for the
honour of human nature, that this were really the case! We wish we could
say, that we have no testimony to produce for any of our assertions, and
that our description of the general treatment of slaves has been greatly
exaggerated.
But the _receivers_, notwithstanding the ample and disinterested
evidence, that can be brought on the occasion, do not admit the
description to be true. They say first, "that if the slavery were such
as has been now represented, no human being could possibly support it
long." Melancholy truth! the wretched Africans generally perish in their
prime. Let them reflect upon the prodigious supplies that are
_annually_ required, and their argument will be nothing less than a
confession, that the slavery has been justly depicted.
They appeal next to every man's own reason, and desire him to think
seriously, whether "self-interest will not always restrain the master
from acts of cruelty to the slave, and whether such accounts therefore,
as the foregoing, do not contain within themselves, their own
refutation." We answer, "No." For if this restraining principle be as
powerful as it is imagined, why does not the general conduct of men
afford us a better picture? What is imprudence, or what is vice, but a
departure from every man's own interest, and yet these are the
characteristicks of more than half the world?--
--But, to come more closely to the present case, _self-interest_
will be found but a weak barrier against the sallies of _passion_:
particularly where it has been daily indulged in its greatest latitude,
and there are no laws to restrain its calamitous effects. If the
observation be true, that passion is a short madness, then it is evident
that self-interest, and every other consideration, must be lost, so long
as it continues. We cannot have a stronger instance of this, than in a
circumstance related in the second part of this Essay, "that though the
Africans have gone to war for the express purpose of procuring slaves,
yet so great has been their resentment at the resistance they have
frequently found, that their _passion_ has entirely got the better
of their _interest_, and they have murdered all without any
discrimination, either of age or sex." Such may be presumed to be the
case with the no less savage _receivers_. Impressed with the most
haughty and tyrannical notions, easily provoked, accustomed to indulge
their anger, and, above all, habituated to scenes of cruelty, and unawed
by the fear of laws, they will hardly be found to be exempt from the
common failings of human nature, and to spare an unlucky slave, at a
time when men of cooler temper, and better regulated passions, are so
frequently blind to their own interest.
But if _passion_ may be supposed to be generally more than a
ballance for _interest_, how must the scale be turned in favour of
the melancholy picture exhibited, when we reflect that
_self-preservation_ additionally steps in, and demands the most
_rigorous severity_. For when we consider that where there is
_one_ master, there are _fifty_ slaves; that the latter have
been all forcibly torn from their country, and are retained in their
present situation by violence; that they are perpetually at war in their
hearts with their oppressors, and are continually cherishing the seeds
of revenge; it is evident that even _avarice_ herself, however cool
and deliberate, however free from passion and caprice, must sacrifice
her own sordid feelings, and adopt a system of tyranny and oppression,
which it must be ruinous to pursue.
Thus then, if no picture had been drawn of the situation of slaves, and
it had been left solely to every man's sober judgment to determine, what
it might probably be, he would conclude, that if the situation were
justly described, the page must be frequently stained with acts of
uncommon cruelty.
It remains only to make a reply to an objection, that is usually
advanced against particular instances of cruelty to slaves, as recorded
by various writers. It is said that "some of these are so inconceivably,
and beyond all example inhuman, that their very excess above the common
measure of cruelty shews them at once exaggerated and incredible." But
their credibility shall be estimated by a supposition. Let us suppose
that the following instance had been recorded by a writer of the highest
reputation, "that the master of a ship, bound to the western colonies
with slaves, on a presumption that many of them would die, selected an
_hundred and thirty two_ of the most sickly, and ordered them to be
thrown into the sea, to recover their value from the insurers, and,
above all, that the fatal order was put into execution." What would the
reader have thought on the occasion? Would he have believed the fact? It
would have surely staggered his faith; because he could never have heard
that any _one_ man ever was, and could never have supposed that any
_one_ man ever could be, guilty of the murder of _such a
number_ of his fellow creatures. But when he is informed that such a
fact as this came before a court[068] of justice in this very country;
that it happened within the last five years; that hundreds can come
forwards and say, that they heard the melancholy evidence with tears;
what bounds is he to place to his belief? The great God, who looks down
upon all his creatures with the same impartial eye, seems to have
infatuated the parties concerned, that they might bring the horrid
circumstance to light, that it might be recorded in the annals of a
publick court, as an authentick specimen of the treatment which the
unfortunate Africans undergo, and at the same time, as an argument to
shew, that there is no species of cruelty, that is recorded to have been
exercised upon these wretched people, so enormous that it may not
_readily be believed_.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 068: The action was brought by the owners against the
underwriters, to recover the value of the _murdered_ slaves. It was
tried at Guildhall.]
* * * * *
CHAP. VI.
If the treatment then, as before described, is confirmed by reason, and
the great credit that is due to disinterested writers on the subject; if
the unfortunate Africans are used, as if their flesh were stone, and
their vitals brass; by what arguments do you _receivers_ defend
your conduct?
You say that a great part of your savage treatment consists in
punishment for real offences, and frequently for such offences, as all
civilized nations have concurred in punishing. The first charge that you
exhibit against them is specifick, it is that of _theft_. But how
much rather ought you _receivers_ to blush, who reduce them to such
a situation! who reduce them to the dreadful alternative, that they must
either _steal_ or _perish_! How much rather ought you _receivers_
to be considered as _robbers_ yourselves, who cause these
unfortunate people to be _stolen_! And how much greater is
your crime, who are _robbers of human liberty_!
The next charge which you exhibit against them, is general, it is that
of _rebellion_; a crime of such a latitude, that you can impose it
upon almost every action, and of such a nature, that you always annex to
it the most excruciating pain. But what a contradiction is this to
common sense! Have the wretched Africans formally resigned their
freedom? Have you any other claim upon their obedience, than that of
force? If then they are your subjects, you violate the laws of
government, by making them unhappy. But if they are not your subjects,
then, even though they should resist your proceedings, they are not
_rebellious_.
But what do you say to that long catalogue of offences, which you
punish, and of which no people but yourselves take cognizance at all?
You say that the wisdom of legislation has inserted it in the colonial
laws, and that you punish by authority. But do you allude to that
execrable code, that _authorises murder_? that tempts an unoffended
person to kill the slave, that abhors and flies your service? that
delegates a power, which no host of men, which not all the world, can
possess?--
Or,--What do you say to that daily unmerited severity, which you
consider only as common discipline? Here you say that the Africans are
vicious, that they are all of them ill-disposed, that you must of
necessity be severe. But can they be well-disposed to their oppressors?
In their own country they were just, generous, hospitable: qualities,
which all the African historians allow them eminently to possess. If
then they are vicious, they must have contracted many of their vices
from yourselves; and as to their own native vices, if any have been
imported with them, are they not amiable, when compared with yours?
Thus then do the excuses, which have been hitherto made by the
_receivers_, force a relation of such circumstances, as makes their
conduct totally inexcusable, and, instead of diminishing at all, highly
aggravates their guilt.
* * * * *
CHAP. VII.
We come now to that other system of reasoning, which is always applied,
when the former is confuted; "that the Africans are an inferiour link of
the chain of nature, and are made for slavery."
This assertion is proved by two arguments; the first of which was
advanced also by the ancients, and is drawn from the _inferiority of
their capacities_.
Let us allow then for a moment, that they appear to have no parts, that
they appear to be void of understanding. And is this wonderful, when,
you _receivers_ depress their senses by hunger? Is this wonderful,
when by incessant labour, the continual application of the lash, and the
most inhuman treatment that imagination can devise, you overwhelm their
genius, and hinder it from breaking forth?--No,--You confound their
abilities by the severity of their servitude: for as a spark of fire, if
crushed by too great a weight of incumbent fuel, cannot be blown into a
flame, but suddenly expires, so the human mind, if depressed by rigorous
servitude, cannot be excited to a display of those faculties, which
might otherwise have shone with the brightest lustre.
Neither is it wonderful in another point of view. For what is it that
awakens the abilities of men, and distinguishes them from the common
herd? Is it not often the amiable hope of becoming serviceable to
individuals, or the state? Is it not often the hope of riches, or of
power? Is it not frequently the hope of temporary honours, or a lasting
fame? These principles have all a wonderful effect upon the mind. They
call upon it to exert its faculties, and bring those talents to the
publick view, which had otherwise been concealed. But the unfortunate
Africans have no such incitements as these, that they should shew their
genius. They have no hope of riches, power, honours, fame. They have no
hope but this, that their miseries will be soon terminated by death.
And here we cannot but censure and expose the murmurings of the
unthinking and the gay; who, going on in a continual round of pleasure
and prosperity, repine at the will of Providence, as exhibited in the
shortness of human duration. But let a weak and infirm old age overtake
them: let them experience calamities: let them feel but half the
miseries which the wretched Africans undergo, and they will praise the
goodness of Providence, who hath made them mortal; who hath prescribed
certain ordinary bounds to the life of man; and who, by such a
limitation, hath given all men this comfortable hope, that however
persecuted in life, a time will come, in the common course of nature,
when their sufferings will have an end.
Such then is the nature of this servitude, that we can hardly expect to
find in those, who undergo it, even the glimpse of genius. For if their
minds are in a continual state of depression, and if they have no
expectations in life to awaken their abilities, and make them eminent,
we cannot be surprized if a sullen gloomy stupidity should be the
leading mark in their character; or if they should appear inferiour to
those, who do not only enjoy the invaluable blessings of freedom, but
have every prospect before their eyes, that can allure them to exert
their faculties. Now, if to these considerations we add, that the
wretched Africans are torn from their country in a state of nature, and
that in general, as long as their slavery continues, every obstacle is
placed in the way of their improvement, we shall have a sufficient
answer to any argument that may be drawn from the inferiority of their
capacities.
It appears then, from the circumstances that have been mentioned, that
to form a true judgment of the abilities of these unfortunate people, we
must either take a general view of them before their slavery commences,
or confine our attention to such, as, after it has commenced, have had
any opportunity given them of shewing their genius either in arts or
letters. If, upon such a fair and impartial view, there should be any
reason to suppose, that they are at all inferiour to others in the same
situation, the argument will then gain some of that weight and
importance, which it wants at present.
In their own country, where we are to see them first, we must expect
that the prospect will be unfavourable. They are mostly in a savage
state. Their powers of mind are limited to few objects. Their ideas are
consequently few. It appears, however, that they follow the same mode of
life, and exercise the same arts, as the ancestors of those very
Europeans, who boast of their great superiority, are described to have
done in the same uncultivated state. This appears from the Nubian's
Geography, the writings of Leo, the Moor, and all the subsequent
histories, which those, who have visited the African continent, have
written from their own inspection. Hence three conclusions; that their
abilities are sufficient for their situation;--that they are as great,
as those of other people have been, in the same stage of society;--and
that they are as great as those of any civilized people whatever, when
the degree of the barbarism of the one is drawn into a comparison with
that of the civilization of the other.
Let us now follow them to the colonies. They are carried over in the
unfavourable situation described. It is observed here, that though their
abilities cannot be estimated high from a want of cultivation, they are
yet various, and that they vary in proportion as the nation, from which
they have been brought, has advanced more or less in the scale of social
life. This observation, which is so frequently made, is of great
importance: for if their abilities expand in proportion to the
improvement of their state, it is a clear indication, that if they were
equally improved, they would be equally ingenious.
But here, before we consider any opportunities that may be afforded
them, let it be remembered that even their most polished situation may
be called barbarous, and that this circumstance, should they appear less
docile than others, may be considered as a sufficient answer to any
objection that may be made to their capacities. Notwithstanding this,
when they are put to the mechanical arts, they do not discover a want of
ingenuity. They attain them in as short a time as the Europeans, and
arrive at a degree of excellence equal to that of their teachers. This
is a fact, almost universally known, and affords us this proof, that
having learned with facility such of the mechanical arts, as they have
been taught, they are capable of attaining any other, at least, of the
same class, if they should receive but the same instruction.
With respect to the liberal arts, their proficiency is certainly less;
but not less in proportion to their time and opportunity of study; not
less, because they are less capable of attaining them, but because they
have seldom or ever an opportunity of learning them at all. It is yet
extraordinary that their talents appear, even in some of these sciences,
in which they are totally uninstructed. Their abilities in musick are
such, as to have been generally noticed. They play frequently upon a
variety of instruments, without any other assistance than their own
ingenuity. They have also tunes of their own composition. Some of these
have been imported among us; are now in use; and are admired for their
sprightliness and ease, though the ungenerous and prejudiced importer
has concealed their original.
Neither are their talents in poetry less conspicuous. Every occurrence,
if their spirits are not too greatly depressed, is turned into a song.
These songs are said to be incoherent and nonsensical. But this proceeds
principally from two causes, an improper conjunction of words, arising
from an ignorance of the language in which they compose; and a wildness
of thought, arising from the different manner, in which the organs of
rude and civilized people will be struck by the same object. And as to
their want of harmony and rhyme, which is the last objection, the
difference of pronunciation is the cause. Upon the whole, as they are
perfectly consistent with their own ideas, and are strictly musical as
pronounced by themselves, they afford us as high a proof of their
poetical powers, as the works of the most acknowledged poets.
But where these impediments have been removed, where they have received
an education, and have known and pronounced the language with propriety,
these defects have vanished, and their productions have been less
objectionable. For a proof of this, we appeal to the writings of an
African girl[069], who made no contemptible appearance in this species
of composition. She was kidnapped when only eight years old, and, in the
year 1761, was transported to America, where she was sold with other
slaves. She had no school education there, but receiving some little
instruction from the family, with whom she was so fortunate as to live,
she obtained such a knowledge of the English language within sixteen
months from the time of her arrival, as to be able to speak it and read
it to the astonishment of those who heard her. She soon afterwards
learned to write, and, having a great inclination to learn the Latin
tongue, she was indulged by her master, and made a progress. Her
Poetical works were published with his permission, in the year 1773.
They contain thirty-eight pieces on different subjects. We shall beg
leave to make a short extract from two or three of them, for the
observation of the reader.
_From an Hymn to the Evening_[070].
"Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav'nly and refin'd;
So shall the labours of the day begin,
More pure and guarded from the snares of sin.
----&c. &c."
* * * * *
_From an Hymn to the Morning_.
"Aurora hail! and all the thousand dies,
That deck thy progress through the vaulted skies!
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
On ev'ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays.
Harmonious lays the feather'd race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted plume.
----&c. &c."
* * * * *
_From Thoughts on Imagination_.
"Now here, now there, the roving _fancy_ flies,
Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.
"_Imagination!_ who can sing thy force,
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental opticks rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.
----&c. &c."
* * * * *
Such is the poetry which we produce as a proof of our assertions. How
far it has succeeded, the reader may by this time have determined in his
own mind. We shall therefore only beg leave to accompany it with this
observation, that if the authoress _was designed for slavery_, (as
the argument must confess) the greater part of the inhabitants of
Britain must lose their claim to freedom.
To this poetry we shall only add, as a farther proof of their abilities,
the Prose compositions of Ignatius Sancho, who received some little
education. His letters are too well known, to make any extract, or
indeed any farther mention of him, necessary. If other examples of
African genius should be required, suffice it to say, that they can be
produced in abundance; and that if we were allowed to enumerate
instances of African gratitude, patience, fidelity, honour, as so many
instances of good sense, and a sound understanding, we fear that
thousands of the enlightened Europeans would have occasion to blush.
But an objection will be made here, that the two persons whom we have
particularized by name, are prodigies, and that if we were to live for
many years, we should scarcely meet with two other Africans of the same
description. But we reply, that considering their situation as before
described, two persons, above mediocrity in the literary way, are as
many as can be expected within a certain period of years; and farther,
that if these are prodigies, they are only such prodigies as every day
would produce, if they had the same opportunities of acquiring knowledge
as other people, and the same expectations in life to excite their
genius. This has been constantly and solemnly asserted by the pious
Benezet[071], whom we have mentioned before, as having devoted a
considerable part of his time to their instruction. This great man, for
we cannot but mention him with veneration, had a better opportunity of
knowing them than any person whatever, and he always uniformly declared,
that he could never find a difference between their capacities and those
of other people; that they were as capable of reasoning as any
individual Europeans; that they were as capable of the highest
intellectual attainments; in short, that their abilities were equal, and
that they only wanted to be equally cultivated, to afford specimens of
as fine productions.
Thus then does it appear from the testimony of this venerable man,
whose authority is sufficient of itself to silence all objections
against African capacity, and from the instances that have been
produced, and the observations that have been made on the occasion, that
if the minds of the Africans were unbroken by slavery; if they had the
same expectations in life as other people, and the same opportunities of
improvement, they would be equal; in all the various branches of
science, to the Europeans, and that the argument that states them "to be
an inferiour link of the chain of nature, and designed for servitude,"
as far as it depends on the _inferiority of their capacities_, is
wholly malevolent and false[072].
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 069: Phillis Wheatley, negro slave to Mr. John Wheatley, of
Boston, in New-England.]
[Footnote 070:
Lest it should be doubted whether these Poems are genuine, we shall
transcribe the names of those, who signed a certificate of their
authenticity.
His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Governor.
The Honourable Andrew Oliver, Lieutenant Governor.
The Hon. Thomas Hubbard
The Hon. John Erving
The Hon. James Pitts
The Hon. Harrison Gray
The Hon. James Bowdoin
John Hancock, Esq.
Joseph Green, Esq.
Richard Carey, Esq.
The Rev. Cha. Chauncy, D.D.
The Rev. Mather Byles, D.D.
The Rev. Ed. Pemberton, D.D.
The Rev. Andrew Elliot, D.D.
The Rev. Sam. Cooper, D.D.
The Rev. Samuel Mather
The Rev. John Moorhead
Mr. John Wheatley, her Master.
]
[Footnote 071: In the Preface.]
[Footnote 072: As to Mr. Hume's assertions with respect to African
capacity, we have passed them over in silence, as they have been so
admirably refuted by the learned Dr. Beattie, in his Essay on Truth, to
which we refer the reader. The whole of this admirable refutation
extends from p. 458. to 464.]
* * * * *
CHAP. VIII.
The second argument, by which it is attempted to be proved, "that the
Africans are an inferiour link of the chain of nature, and are designed
for slavery," is drawn from _colour_, and from those other marks,
which distinguish them from the inhabitants of Europe.
To prove this with the greater facility, the _receivers_ divide in
opinion. Some of them contend that the Africans, from these
circumstances, are the descendants of Cain[073]: others, that they are
the posterity of Ham; and that as it was declared by divine inspiration,
that these should be servants to the rest of the world, so they are
designed for slavery; and that the reducing of them to such a situation
is only the accomplishment of the will of heaven: while the rest,
considering them from the same circumstances as a totally distinct
species of men, conclude them to be an inferiour link of the chain of
nature, and deduce the inference described.
To answer these arguments in the clearest and fullest manner, we are
under the necessity of making two suppositions, first, that the
scriptures are true; secondly, that they are false.
If then the scriptures are true, it is evident that the posterity of
Cain were extinguished in the flood. Thus one of the arguments is no
more.
With respect to the curse of Ham, it appears also that it was limited;
that it did not extend to the posterity of all his sons, but only to the
descendants of him who was called Canaan[074]: by which it was foretold
that the Canaanites, a part of the posterity of Ham, should serve the
posterity of Shem and Japhet. Now how does it appear that these wretched
Africans are the descendants of Canaan?--By those marks, it will be
said, which distinguish them from the rest of the world.--But where are
these marks to be found in the divine writings? In what page is it said,
that the Canaanites were to be known by their _colour_, their
_features_, their _form_, or the very _hair of their heads_,
which is brought into the account?--But alas! so far are the
divine writings from giving any such account, that they shew the
assertion to be false. They shew that the descendants of Cush[075] were
of the colour, to which the advocates for slavery allude; and of course,
that there was no such limitation of colour to the posterity of Canaan,
or the inheritors of the curse.
Suppose we should now shew, upon the most undeniable evidence[076], that
those of the wretched Africans, who are singled out as inheriting the
curse, are the descendants of Cush or Phut; and that we should shew
farther, that but a single remnant of Canaan, which was afterwards
ruined, was ever in Africa at all.--Here all is consternation.--
But unfortunately again for the argument, though wonderfully for the
confirmation that the scriptures are of divine original, the whole
prophecy has been completed. A part of the descendants of Canaan were
hewers of wood and drawers of water, and became tributary and subject to
the Israelites, or the descendants of Shem. The Greeks afterwards, as
well as the Romans, who were both the descendants of Japhet, not only
subdued those who were settled in Syria and Palestine, but pursued and
conquered all such as were then remaining. These were the Tyrians and
Carthaginians: the former of whom were ruined by Alexander and the
Greeks, the latter by Scipio and the Romans.
It appears then that the second argument is wholly inapplicable and
false: that it is false in its _application_, because those, who
were the objects of the curse, were a totally distinct people: that it
is false in its _proof_, because no such distinguishing marks, as
have been specified, are to be found in the divine writings: and that,
if the proof could be made out, it would be now _inapplicable_, as
the curse has been long completed.
With respect to the third argument, we must now suppose that the
scriptures are false; that mankind did not all spring from the same
original; that there are different species of men. Now what must we
justly conclude from such a supposition? Must we conclude that one
species is inferiour to another, and that the inferiority depends upon
their _colour_, or their _features_, or their _form_?--No--We
must now consult the analogy of nature, and the conclusion will be this:
"that as she tempered the bodies of the different species of men in a
different degree, to enable them to endure the respective climates of
their habitation, so she gave them a variety of colour and appearance
with a like benevolent design."
To sum up the whole. If the scriptures are true, it is evident that the
posterity of _Cain_ are no more; that the curse of _Ham_ has
been accomplished; and that, as all men were derived from the same
stock, so this variety of appearance in men must either have proceeded
from some interposition of the Deity; or from a co-operation of certain
causes, which have an effect upon the human frame, and have the power of
changing it more or less from its primitive appearance, as they happen
to be more or less numerous or powerful than those, which acted upon the
frame of man in the first seat of his habitation. If from the
interposition of the Deity, then we must conclude that he, who bringeth
good out of evil, produced it for their convenience. If, from the
co-operation of the causes before related, what argument may not be
found against any society of men, who should happen to differ, in the
points alluded to, from ourselves?
If, on the other hand, the scriptures are false, then it is evident,
that there was neither such a person as _Cain_, nor _Ham_, nor
_Canaan_; and that nature bestowed such colour, features, and form,
upon the different species of men, as were best adapted to their
situation.
Thus, on which ever supposition it is founded, the whole argument must
fall. And indeed it is impossible that it can stand, even in the eye of
common sense. For if you admit the _form_ of men as a justification
of slavery, you may subjugate your own brother: if _features_, then
you must quarrel with all the world: if _colour_, where are you to
stop? It is evident, that if you travel from the equator to the northern
pole, you will find a regular gradation of colour from black to white.
Now if you can justly take him for your slave, who is of the deepest
die, what hinders you from taking him also, who only differs from the
former but by a shade. Thus you may proceed, taking each in a regular
succession to the poles. But who are you, that thus take into slavery so
many people? Where do you live yourself? Do you live in _Spain_, or
in _France_, or in _Britain_? If in either of these countries,
take care lest the _whiter natives of the north_ should have a
claim upon yourself.--But the argument is too ridiculous to be farther
noticed.
Having now silenced the whole argument, we might immediately proceed to
the discussion of other points, without even declaring our opinion as to
which of the suppositions may be right, on which it has been refuted;
but we do not think ourselves at liberty to do this. The present age
would rejoice to find that the scriptures had no foundation, and would
anxiously catch at the writings of him, who should mention them in a
doubtful manner. We shall therefore declare our sentiments, by asserting
that they are true, and that all mankind, however various their
appearances are derived from the same stock.
To prove this, we shall not produce those innumerable arguments, by
which the scriptures have stood the test of ages, but advert to a single
fact. It is an universal law, observable throughout the whole creation,
_that if two animals of a different species propagate, their offspring
is unable to continue its own species_. By this admirable law, the
different species are preserved distinct; every possibility of confusion
is prevented, and the world is forbidden to be over-run by a race of
monsters. Now, if we apply this law to those of the human kind, who are
said to be of a distinct species from each other, it immediately fails.
The _mulattoe_ is as capable of continuing his own species as his
father; a clear and irrefragable proof, that the scripture[077] account
of the creation is true, and that "God, who hath made the world, hath
made of one blood[078] all the nations of men that dwell on all the face
of the earth."
But if this be the case, it will be said that mankind were originally of
one colour; and it will be asked at the same time, what it is probable
that the colour was, and how they came to assume so various an
appearance? To, each of these we shall make that reply, which we
conceive to be the most rational.
As mankind were originally of the same stock, so it is evident that they
were originally of the same colour. But how shall we attempt to
ascertain it? Shall we _Englishmen_ say, that it was the same as
that which we now find to be peculiar to ourselves?--No--This would be
a vain and partial consideration, and would betray our judgment to have
arisen from that false fondness, which habituates us to suppose, that
every thing belonging to ourselves is the perfectest and the best. Add
to this, that we should always be liable to a just reproof from every
inhabitant of the globe, whose colour was different from our own;
because he would justly say, that he had as good a right to imagine that
his own was the primitive colour, as that of any other people.
How then shall we attempt to ascertain it? Shall we look into the
various climates of the earth, see the colour that generally prevails in
the inhabitants of each, and apply the rule? This will be certainly free
from partiality, and will afford us a better prospect of success: for as
every particular district has its particular colour, so it is evident
that the complexion of Noah and his sons, from whom the rest of the
world were descended, was the same as that, which is peculiar to the
country, which was the seat of their habitation. This, by such a mode of
decision, will be found a dark olive; a beautiful colour, and a just
medium between white and black. That this was the primitive colour, is
highly probable from the observations that have been made; and, if
admitted, will afford a valuable lesson to the Europeans, to be cautious
how they deride those of the opposite complexion, as there is great
reason to presume, _that the purest white[079] is as far removed from
the primitive colour as the deepest black_.
We come now to the grand question, which is, that if mankind were
originally of this or any other colour, how came it to pass, that they
should wear so various an appearance? We reply, as we have had occasion
to say before, either _by the interposition of the Deity_; or _by
a co-operation of certain causes, which have an effect upon the human
frame, and have the power of changing it more or less from its primitive
appearance, as they are more or less numerous or powerful than those,
which acted upon the frame of man in the first seat of his
habitation_.