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to excite the best of passions in our will not suddenly know how to contend breasts;-then, Sir, was the time, if he with. In some cases the planters are had nothing to consider but his own ready enough to make their slaves free, glory, then was the moment for him to that is, to turn them adrift when from age have chosen to retire from parliament, or infirmity they are past their labour, perhaps from the world. He had arrived and leave them at liberty to shift for at the pinnacle of parliamentary honor, themselves. For this proof of the libeand at the summit of his fame; and there rality of planters, the House, I imagine, -he should have quitted the scene. From will give them but little credit. The that moment and from that station, in my same principle operates through all their judgment, he has done nothing but conduct. Their sole consideration is the descend. If the effort I allude to was no profit or the loss. The negro in every more than the imitation of an action, we stage of his existence, is, some way or may find such imitations still better repre- other, the subject of cruelty or injustice, sented in books, or as well acted on the of which the final effort, when it can exact stage, where reality is not in question. I no more, is to refine upon all the rest, and do not suspect his sincerity on that occa at last to set him free. I do not say that ision. But, whether that was an imitation such conduct has been universal. Unor not, mine is a real action; or, if it be doubtedly some planters are wiser and an error, it is I who am the dupe of it. more humane then others. But that the I well know the dilemma in which I am practice I allude to has prevailed, I affirm to stand this day. If the motion I have from the best evidence, from the laws of in view succeeds, I shall then be driven the islands, which declare the fact, and to submit to a continuance of the trade. pretend to put a stop to it. But for what If it fails, the whole existing mischief reason? Is it because justice or humanity receives another confirmation. But, on forbid that these helpless wretches should the other hand, if I succeed, a great be let loose to starve and to perish at the immediate good is done, progressive in its period of their service? No, Sir; no such nature, and inevitably leading to final thing. The laws interpose, avowedly, abolition. If I fail, one material advantage for no purpose but to destroy a nuisance, will be gained by it, that the pretences to remove an eye sore, or to discourage set up by those, who say they cannot theft. These immoral beings, it seems, yield to abolition, will be unmasked; and are determined to eat. If will not you that, with respect to them at least, we give them food, they take it by stealth. shall know what we have to trust to. The appropriated rights of nourishment Such is the perpetual mixture of good are invaded by these free negroes. No and evil, that embarrasses the choice and edible property is secure from them. balances the event of human councils. And is that an evil to be endured for a We cannot command the issue; let us moment by an enlightened legislature? make sure of the intent. The first ques--No, Sir, it is not my design to give such tion that will natutally occur to all parties is, to ask me, what is your general intention? You say, you do not now propose to abolish the trade. Do you mean to emancipate the negroes in the islands? In effect, Sir I have answered that question already. It cannot be my intention, because it is not in my power; nor would I venture it, if it were. Before I discharged them from their present evil condition, I should be bound to provide for their subsistence and security in a better. Otherwise their freedom, unprepared and unprovided for, might be their instant destruction. They must be furnished with the means of subsisting on the spot, and instructed to make use of them. Liberty, like all other human advantages and enjoyments, has difficulties of its own, which he who has been bred in slavery,

freedom on such terms? nor will I leave it to the master to dissolve the relation between his slave and himself, just whenever he pleases. The next question, I expect, is ;-Do you mean to give the negroes equal rights with the white inhabitants? That would be a direct emanci pation. What I would do immediately, if I could, would be to place them in a state equivalent to that of voluntary service. That step will follow in due time; but it must be preceded by other gradations. To abolish service in society, is in fact to abolish man. You have heard of fanciful definitions, that man is an animal bipes et implume, that man alone makes instruments to act with; but there is no distinction perhaps more striking, more prominent and characteristic, than that he alone of all created beings

dise. Be it so. I take these gentlemen at their word. In asserting the fact, they allow the right. To affirm that such is the practice already, is to confess that such it ought to be. Their allegation is an admission. Almost all that I contend for is acknowledged to be right, and in effect, if they speak truth, already granted and enjoyed. Inforce your practice. Compel those planters, if there be any, who neglect or refuse to follow your benevolent example. Confirm your

makes use of the service of creatures of his own species. But service is not slavery. It is the free man's calling. In effect, slavery is the very reverse of service. Instead of bad slaves, I would make the negroes good servants. I am sure that the master's profit, on the whole, would grow with the freedom, and that even his morals would be mended by it. A good master makes a good servant, and, vice versa, a good servant makes a good master. The principles act and react on each other. But we are yet at too great a dis-own custom by some legal sanction, and tance from this humble state of improve- make it binding on all parties. The rights ment. I do not aim at it immediately. which are held at discretion, may be Then what is it you propose? I mean, Sir, capriciously resumed; and, even while generally, in the first instance, to allow the they are possessed, can hardly be enjoyed. negroes every benefit and advantage com- You cannot answer for the justice and patible with a rational and profitable de- humanity of your successors. It is not mand on their service; to mend their absolutely certain that your virtues will actual condition, to prepare them gra- descend with your estates. Since in dually for a better situation, and to make effect you give the substance, for what them capable of higher improvements. reason should you refuse the security? The course and the power should be Your negroes will not work with less stated in their place. But, first of all, dilligence, when they know that their let us inquire and consider, what is the industry and obedience are the certain actual state of the negroes in the islands. tenure of their happiness. As long as I mean to represent it fairly on both they have nothing to lose, they are not sides. In a printed tract, called "A properly within the reach of good governtrue State of the Question," drawn up ment. At least it is worth trying, whewith great artifice, under an air of sim- ther the fear of forfeiture may not be full plicity, I find the following passage, which as effectual as the dread of punishment. the author evidently means shall be I must call upon you now, Sir, to attend taken for a general and candid account to the opposite side of this flattering reof the negroes in the plantations. "They presentation;-after looking at the pichave a house and garden for nothing, ture, to turn the frame and examine the clothes found them, food found them, canvas. Very different indeed is the both good and sufficient, the best doctors view, which I shall endeavour to give you in the country to attend them when sick, of the condition of these slaves; but it their wives and children provided for, and is that, which I most conscientiously beall without any expense. The parson, lieve to be true. The reality of the case who lived there three years, says this is as I shall state it, is founded in the the general state of the negroes on all strongest probability and rational prethe plantations he saw; and that in a sumption on general principles; is supgreat many parts they catch, by means of ported by direct evidence, and above all springes or snares, abundance of wild things is demonstrated by unavoidable pigeons and Guinea hens." Undoubtedly, inference from the laws of the islands. Sir, if the negroes are really furnished My chief reliance is on the last, because, with all these conveniences and amuse- though not in its nature so direct as oral ments, there is no occasion to tell us that testimony, it is the only sort of evidence, it must be without any expense to them. which it is impossible for any adverse They land naked, and they cannot ac party to contradict or dispute. At the quire. To say that they have them for same time, Sir, I desire it to be undernothing, is only to assert that their la-stood that what I state on this subject is bour is of no value. But does any man in his senses believe the statement to be true? If it be, the fortunate islands were never discovered before. Grenada and St. Kitt's are the real Hesperides. A Fugar plantation must be a perfect para

stated generally. I do not mean to deny that some plantations are better managed than others; that, in some places, very prudent and humane regulations have been established, and particularly that, when proprietors, who commonly reside

in England, have visited their estates, their occasional presence has been a blessing to their slaves. Knowing and esteeming many of them, as I do, and living in friendship with others, I should betray my cause as well as my honour, if I did not much more than admit, if I did not contend that a great part of the miseries suffered by the slaves is in fact owing to the constant absence of the proprietors, and would probably be removed or alleviated by their presence. Had it been my lot to have posssessed an estate in the West Indies by gift or inheritance, such property assuredly I never would have acquired by an act of my own, I should have thought it my duty, in the first instance, against every motive of personal reluctance and dislike, to have visited my estate, to have examined the condition and treatment of my negroes with my own eyes, and, before I allowed myself to think of any thing else, to give and insure to them at least as much comfort and happiness as might be compatible with the demand of a reasonable and a fixed proportion of the amount produce of their labour. What more I would have done, in the same pursuit, may be collected more usefully from the scheme, which I am gradually unfolding to the House, than from an abrupt declaration of it at present. Speaking generally then, and not without exception, of the actual situation of negroes in the West Indies, I say it appears to me, from all the evidence to which I have alluded, that they are a collection of human beings existing together, but not in a state of society;-that they are under no law, but that of arbitrary will;-that they know of no government, but the whip-that they have no effective protection, in laws or in magistrates, against personal cruelty on the part of those white men, who exercise the offices, too often united in one person, of managers, overseers, and drivers, nor any shelter from the severest punishments, but in the prudence or humanity of those officers; that there is no bond of marriage among them;-and finally that, in this state, they neither have, nor can have, nor in fact is it intended that they should have, any idea of morals or religion. If this be generally their condition, it follows of course that, even if the propagation of negroes in the islands were not directly discouraged, as it is, by the planters, they could not increase and multiply, as beyond all doubt they

They

would do, if they were to partake of the common benefits of society, or even if they were sure of protection from outrageous wrongs. The cause is proved by the effect. They, who affirm that the contrary is true, that propagation is really encouraged and protected, are bound to show, why they have not succeeded in the course of a century, and why a continued importation of adult negroes from Africa is still necessary. If you trust to their experience of the effect of their own measures, the necessity can never cease. You must perpetuate the importation. I wait with curiosity to hear, with what arguments and proofs they support so extraordinary a proposition. will find it a difficult task; and they may be sure of my attention to every thing they say. Not a word of it shall be lost. But, until I receive new lights on this part of the subject, I must continue in my present conviction, that there is no marriage among the negroes (by which I do not mean a casual cohabitation, but a real bond of union), because there is no protection to marriage, and that, without marriage, there can be no certain propagation, or care of the infant. For what reason should a negro marry? That his wife, if she has any personal attractions, may be at the mercy and disposal of the driver who whips them both? That his children, if they are suffered to live, may be slaves like himself? And do these people expect us to believe, that the productive power of mere animal instinct, if in fact it were protected and encouraged, is sufficient to overcome the moral order of nature, and the dispensations of Providence? Promiscuous cohabitation is generally adverse to increase; but, in the case of the negroes, though birth were not prevented, death must follow. What care do you think is likely to be taken of the mother or the child, when children are considered as a loss and a burthen to the estate?-Do you mean then to impart directly to the negroes, now in the West Indies, the immediate benefit and enjoyment, as far as a state of servitude is capable of it, of law and government, of morals and religion? No, Sir, that is not my intention. I know too well that they are not in a state to receive these benefits, or to profit by them. You might as well attempt to sow wheat upon a marble table, or on a gravel walk, and expect a plentiful crop in return. Before you plant, you must

prepare the soil; otherwise the expense is wasted, and the labour thrown away. Something must be done, in the first instance, to raise their degraded minds, and to excite their faculties, before you attempt to make them productive. What idea can they form of a government, or how can they regard it, from which they experience nothing but punishment? How can they confide in laws, which place no confidence in them, and from which they derive no protection? What conception can they have, or would it be possible to give them, of moral obligations, as long as they exist without a social relation of any kind, not only to the whites, who to them are a distinct order of beings but even to one another. Many wellmeaning persons, I know, have wished and endeavoured to impart to the negroes some notion of a Deity and some sense of religion. Without blaming the intention, I lament the misapplication of a pious principle, and the inutility of a virtuous attempt. Again I entreat the House, most earnestly on this point, not to anticipate my argument, not to con clude hastily either for me or against me. My language, on this subject, may be offensive to vulgar ears, or to superficial observers; but examine it well, and you will find, that it proceeds from the deep est sense of the truth and reason of religion. These serious considerations are not foreign from my purpose. The legislator, who leaves religion out of his scheme of government, whatever, it may be, knows nothing of human nature, and but little of his office. But, in all the operations of human contrivance, gradation and order are essential to success. The negroes, in their present state, are incapable of the benefits of religion, because they are not prepared to receive them. To give them, as they are, a confused idea of a power and providence above them (which is the utmost you can do) would be much worse than useless and ineffectual. I say it would be dangerous. In failing, you only waste your time. I dread nothing but your success. Baptise your dogs. Baptise your horses. These annimals you caress. They feed from your hands; and, above all things, they do not know that they are your slaves. But beware of persuading the negro of the existence of a being of whose power and attributes he can know nothing, but in the miseries it inflicts, or permits to be inflicted upon him. His

simple reason will tell him, in effect, that to him it is an abstract proposition: that, whether true or false, he has no manner of concern in it; that all the benefits of existence are reserved for the whites, and nothing for his colour, but degradation, slavery, and stripes. Is this the impression you wish to make by your instructions? Whatever you may intend, the untutored mind of the Negro is capable of any other. What then? Is it my purpose to keep the Negroes as they are, without a sense of the truth, or a share in the blessings of religion? God forbid. My intention is directly the reverse. I have consulted the Book of Wisdom, and shall follow the precept as it is written. He, who reads that book without emotion, in my mind, has no feeling; he, who reads it without relish has no taste. Begin with yourselves. Do not intercept all the goodness of Providence in its passage. Let some portion of its benefits escape from your grasp, and descend to your fellow creatures. By degrees the negro will conceive, without envy, that it is your lot to occupy an order of existence above him, consistent with his happiness, and possibly the medium, through which he is to receive it. Give him benefits, and he will return thanks; give him hope, and he will pray. Why should he be grateful now, or what purpose should he pray? Despair never prays; extreme guilt rarely. The publican hid his face. You have heard of the parable of the sower and the seed. From a man, whose life has been wasted in the pursuit of business or of pleasure, and perpetually traversed by disappointment in detail, though successful in the result, these things may have more weight, perhaps, than if they came directly from the temple and the teacher. The only seed which brought forth fruit, was that, which fell into good ground. The good ground is that which is duely prepared. Without cultivation, the richest soil produces weeds, aud nothing else. If then you seriously and rationally mean to give religion to the negro, prepare his mind to receive it. By what means? By direct information? By positive instruction? No. Give him a footing on the ground, though it were but a point. Give him a station in society, even the lowest that can be found. At present he has none. He belongs to no order. Give him some tenure in the earth, if you mean to exalt his thoughts to any thing above it, his mind is elastic

as well as your's; but it must have some- you will listen and submit to the wisdomthing solid to act upon. These are the of a king. You have it from royal authopremises. Then what is the conclusion?rity, that "truth shall spring and flouIn one word, give property to the negroes. rish out of the earth." What can that What! property to a slave! to a being, sentence mean, but that human knowwho is not the master of his own actions, ledge, with all its illustrations in society, who is not the owner of himself! Yes. I was intended to originate from the clod, say, property to a slave. I mean a pro- broken by the spade, or turned by the perty in the soil, the best for their use, plough; and that the labour bestowed the most convenient for yourselves, qua- upon the earth, is the first step to the lified and limited on one side, and accom- cultivation of the mind? Before I pro-. panied on the other with time and means ceed to specify the sort of property, in to cultivate, and security to enjoy. which I wish the negroes to participate, Without those conditions, the mere grant I am bound to show generally that rights of property would be nominal and nuga. of property are not incompatible with a tory. I am not alluding to goods and state even of absolute slavery, and that chattels, but to a real though inferior in fact they have existed together, under tenure in the land. To that sort of pro- governments, which, in other respects, perty in all its degrees, cultivation is the exhibited no sign of lenity, or even mercy, origin of right, antecedent to laws and to their slaves. It was the practical wiseven to society. But, if that proposition dom or policy of those states, which, only be true, how peculiarly powerful is the in this respect, and for a public purpose, inference in favour of the negro? The prescribed a limit to the power of the moment you forced him to work, you master, though, in all other instances, utgave him the claim, and much more than terly arbitrary and uncontrolled. By the I contend for. To some participation at custom of Rome, if not by positive instileast, the labour and the right are inse- tution, the slave might acquire, by extra: parable. I say that the protection of work, or by savings on his allowance of property is the cause and foundation grain, a peculium or private property, of society. In that single and simple which the master could not take from principle is involved, and out of it will him, though he might dispose of his per-. gradually unfold, the benefits, the orders, son. I do not know that the peculium and the improvements of social life. In was provided for by the laws of the twelve that acorn the whole oak is included. tables; but it was considered as a custoGive it time to take root: give protection mary right, and protected by the Prætor.. to the plant; let it thrive and flourish. This money, with their master's permisThe ornament and the use will pay you sion, they laid out at interest, or purhereafter. The branches, as they expand, chased with it a slave for themselves, will shelter you from the storm. The from whose labour they might make. majestic stem itself, even when it falls, profit. They might buy out their liberty,> will be devoted to your service. From and have their names inserted in the cen-. this single act of giving property to the sor's roll; by which they obtained some negroes, the improvement of their facul- of the advantages attached to the condities and character as well as of their con- tion of a Roman citizen, though the reladition will gradually and necessarily pro- tion between the freedman and his masceed, or on this stock it may be grafted. ter was not entirely dissolved. Even The cultivation of the earth is not merely while the bond continues, the allowance the source of nourishment, or comfort, of, or the connivance at petty profits by or personal enjoyments, but of order, laws, the slaves tends of itself to soften and art, and science, of every thing that is efface the impression of slavery, and to most refined, and most purely intellectual convert it gradually into the condition of in the human system. Even eloquence, voluntary service. The essential differmusic, and poetry, though last in succes- ence between slavery and service is, that sion, are the progeny of the earth. Mo- one is forced, the other is voluntary. rality and religion undoubtedly derive Montesquieu says that, in Germany, the from a higher source. But this is the labour of the mines, in itself severe and medium through which they are conveyed odious beyond all others, was maintained to us. "Prima dedit leges, Cereris sunt by the encouragement of little privileges, omnia munus." You may not believe in perquisites, and profits to the miners; that the inspiration of poetry; but I am sure they were even brought to love their con

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