|
C U R S O R Y
CURSORY
IE MARK S
UPON
THE REVEREND .MU. RAMSAY's
E S AY
ON
'Tui TREATMENT anm CONVERSION or
!1 AFRICAN SLAVES
I CIN TUR
S SUGAR COLONIES.
fIV A FRIEND TO ITH WEST INDIA COLONIES,-AND
THEIR KUHBITANTI.
Wh rt thou tht judged a umber man' fIrmnn a
tamei.m 3..,
Lt all bittrliA d and wrnth, mnl J~nr, ani clamoir, a Lnd nRil ijiak
Ic piqrway Irromyoi, with all malii*.
.TpliGans iv. 31.
Wh;lcrer ft c Iom, t will rmember his ed. which hedoctht, prAing
ugainft u with maliciou woiri.
iii Epil JohnT.lo.
-- '
PRINTED FOR i,. AN T. WILKIE) N 971, ST.
PAUL'S' CHURCH YARD, LONDONj-,
EiAllAON fwi tiYjk A'L
J.B.BECKEf~ MRIsTUL.
McICLfftthl
t lu 1
PREF ACE.
UNAMBITIOUS of literary fame, the
author of the following little unpolifed
tract-vntutes to offer it to the public with
all its imperfections on its head, with no
higher with, than that it may contribute,
in fome degree, to remove a train of very
unjuft and ill-fuunded notions, which have
been long encouraged, by the productions
of uninformed writers, to the prejudice of
asworthy, as ufeful, as loyal, but as mifre-
prefented, a fet of fubjeCts as any' in the
dominions of Great Britain.
He is well convinced, that he runs no
fmall rifk of exposing himfelf to the cen-
fincs of the different tribunalsof priodical
cniriciuin; more especially of fuch:of thcm
as
_ ___ __ __
as have been uncommonly, and perhaps
lnguardedly, lavih in the encomiums they
have bestowed on the Efay he has taken the
liberty to fcrutinize. He is not however
without hopes, that on a cool.retrofpe&ion,
there arbiters of modern literary reputation
may be induced, with that impartial equity
which generally does, and ever should, ac-
company their decisions, to retra& fome-
thing of their indiscriminate applause ;
when they find, that dazzled by the fpe-
cious and benevolent profelions; of a re-
fpe&ablc writer, they have been milled to
overlook the general and illiberal acrimony
of his language, the inconclufivenefs of
many of his arguments, the cruel perfo-
nality of his inveftives, and the f riking
incodfiitency of his different affritions; as
well as to enquire too lightly into the
authenticity of his faas.-Under thefe fa-
vourable impreflions, the enfuing pages are
chearftilly submittedd to the candid ,and
judicious corretion of superior leifure and
abhilties.
CURSORY
REMARKS, &c.
W HEN a Clergyman of learning and
abilities introduces himself to the notice
of the world in the amiable chara&er of a
friend to humanity, and stands forth a
volunteer in the noble caune of universal
liberty, he is undoubtedly intitled to the
applanfe, and reverence of mankind. But
when fuch an author endeavours to attain
fo desirable an end, by means which would,
if poffible, tend to its difgrace; when he
deals in talh affertions, grofs mifrepre-
fentations, and virulent invectives; when
lie l;vifhly sacrifices to the abliurdeft pre-
B iudices
[ 2
jadices of the vulgar; when he aims at
loading with contempt and infamy a very
ufeful and rcfpe&able body of men; when
he di(lurbs the peaceful alhes of the dead;
when he even proceeds, in the moft un-
fcling manner, to hang up the private
charaders of living individuals to public
deteilation, and abhorrence: in hor.t,
when a preacher of primitive meeknefs,
oftenfibly desirous of spreading the invalt-
able bleffings of liberty and chrifianity,
takes the mol. illiberal and unchriftian-
like manner of doing it; the true motives
of his zealj and the immaculate purity of
his intentions, may become juftly liable
to fufpicion; and it may ftrike impartial
and unprejudiced readers, as not, ab.o-
lutely impollible, that the apparently be-
nevolent advocate for the rights of human
nature, may either be adutated by private
pique and refkntment, encouraged hy the
flattering hope of patronage, ur spurred on
by the ardent delire of popularity. I was
involuntarily led into this unpleafing re-
fledion, by the attentive perufal of a book
not long lince publiflied by the Reverend
Mr.
t31
Mr. Ratn&y, lately a rtininetef St. Chrif-
topher, entitled An E~y o m the reatr-
"ment and Conwrfrn of "African Sowcs in
Sthe Britijh Sugar CGolnier." Since this
effay flift fell into thy hands, I have been
waiting with impatience, in hopes of
feeing fo ne much abler pen then my own,
euIployed in detethrig its fallacies, an-
fwcring its injurious and ill-founded afper-
fions, and expofing its palpable, and
numerous eontraditions. Nothing, how-
ever, adequate to my withes, having yet
appeared, I am induced to ofer the fol-
lowing remarks apon this f ccious and
plausible performance, many parts of
which call' loud for fome kind of reply,
and ought not longer to circulate unno-
ticed. It may carry the femblance of
prefumption, to oppofe the produfien of
a few hours; occasionally fnatched f~-t
: life of employment, against the work of
an author pratifed in the ways of the
pre(sz a work, which has been- fub-
minted to the corrections of frill better
judges than its original father;" a work,
" theiventh copy of which has been read,
B 2 and
'f tapt, approved, by persons of worth,;"
a work, which has undergone every ftg-
" gifted correction, and received every
" improvement, itiat Ctre fuccceflive
" tranfriptiotn could give it."* a-work,
which with all thefe boalted advaitagus,
enjoys others Iill more conlid~rable, ,by
its raverernd author's having politically
tuken his. land on the pbpprir ground of
liberty, and deeply entrenched himself
within the fired lines of religion. I amn
likcwiec well awarc, how invidious a talk
it is, to take up the pun even in ireming
opposition to a hook of fuch an apparent
liberal tendency; conscious, however, of
the reditude of my own intentions, I hall
freely venture to deliver my sentiments,
regardlcfs of fuch cenfure as is founded
only in the prejudices of the mifinformed
multitude; and in firm reliance, that
while I am defending the charaiders of 'f
valuable, refpe6tabie, and uflful a fet of
1icn, as the Britilh \Vcfl India planters,
aga'ini tlhe acrimonious mirFprecfentations
uf intemperate zeal, or offended felt-fuf-
ficiency,
See the author's prciief.
I 1
liLcency, I /hall not be fo fat mifunder-
ftood by the candid, and judicious patt of
mankind, as to be ranked among the ad-
vocates for flavery; as I moff sincerely
join MrN Ramfay, and every other man of
ftnfibility, in hoping, the bleffings of free-
dom will ia due time, be equally'diffufed
over the face of the whole globe. I can-
not, however, help exprcfling my doubts,
as to any additional support the caufc of
general liberty is likely to receive, from
his present attempt; as moft of his argu-
ments feem to he produced in a very
" questionable thape."-h t may, perhaps,
be fhrewdly demanded, how it has hap-
pened, that neither Mr. Ramfay, or any
other of his profefled brother reformers,
have, by way of experiment, fet the bene-
volent example, of manumitting fach
faves, as they have been poflfefed of, after
they had no further call for their services,
inftead of dfperting them by fale, among
fich a fet of illiberal tyrants, as the inla-
bitants of the Weft India ifands are re-
prefented to he. If uch a question should
a6uailly be alked, I leave it to Mr. Ramfay,
B 3 as
[ 6 }1
ags the propercft person, to find : fatisfac-
tiy anfwer.-Aat here I muff beg leave
to oblrvc,. that it appears a little extraor-
dinary, that during the author's residence
of twenty years in the colonies, it never
occurtad to him, tu favour the world with
tho ebullitions of his philanthropy be-
fore o( late a period; but, perhaps, in
thofe days, his. views and expectations
were confined within the tropics, ashe
lived in Ibcial intimacy, and near relation,
with the very men whom (nowhe is other-
wife more agreeably fettled) he fo'lavifhly
abufes; and in a situation, according to
his own account, plcafant, eafy, and af-
fluent.
After the profedion I have made, it will
hardly be ncccflhry for me to premnife, that
it is by no means my intention, to eatep
into a minute review of Mr, Ramnfiy's
diffufive and declamatory argumr nts re-
(pelcing the legality of flavery: tis rub-
jet has been repeatedly, and asply,
dilcufled, by many writers of ex tnfive
abilities, whofe arguments have beyp long
before
171
before the public,'for its deciflon. Ifallh
therefore, content myself with observing,
that after all which has been produced on
fo fruitful, and interesting a theme, fl~very
may perhaps be considered as one of thofe
evils which, likepain, ficknefs, poverty, &c.
were originally interwoven into the con-
flitution of the present world, for purposes
wholly unknown to its fhort-flghted in-
habitants; and to account for the origin
of which, has hitherto baffled our molt
acute and laborious metaphyficians. It
will not, however, be deemed entirely
inconfiftent with the main icope of my
design, to point out the weakness, infuf-
fciency, and oppofite tendency, of ofme
of the reafonings made ufe of by Mr.
Ramfay, in support of the opinion, which
is the very foundation of his whole trea-
rife. Under this confidence, I fall now
proceed, to consider the different parts of
this very elaborate effiy,
The author's firft chapter is taken up,
in tracing the origin and progress of civil
society, the confequent division of men
8 4 into
[8
inte different ranks, the connection de-
pending between fuch different ranks, pnd
more especially that between master and
flave; which particular connections, as
noticed by the hifforians, both sacred and
prolfic, o' the different periods, he follows
from the remotest antiquity down to
the modern flavery of the European colo-
nics. In this enquiry he feems to have
taken uncommon pains to prove, that
flavcry has cxiflud in all ages of the world,
* evcn as far back as history carries as ;"
that it has prevailed in the maft civilized,
as well as the rudeft nations; among the
chofren people of God, as well as among
thie HI-lethcns, they were commiffioned to
extirpatc; th:t it was equally counte-
nanced by the pious Jews, the philofophic
Greeks, and the tpolhbed Romans ; that it
was mi;tilaiocd and regulated by Mofes and
the prophets; and thbtt it was not abo-
lilhed, or even interdited, by our Saviour
or his apoftles: in a word, that.the exif-
tence of slavery, in moni parts of the globe,
has bccn nearly coeval with the creation.
'J'helt are acknowledgments, which fome
proi
U*
[ 9 1
profcffed advocate for flavery may, proba-
bly, one time or other, be tempted to turn
against the author; for my own part, I
have already disclaimed fo odious a pro-
vincc.
Page 5--" In every independent fate,
" whether monarchy or republic, that has
" got beyond the firil Itcps of civilization,
" the people, or citizens, naturally di-
" vide into fovereign and fubje", master
" and family, employer and employed;
" all other ranks being arbitrary, and ar-
" tificial." The division of master (or
father) and family may, indeed, with fome
propriety, be called a natural divifon; but
I do not readily conceive why the ranks of
sovereign and fubjel, &c. are not as arbi-
trary, and artificial, as any which are to
follow.
Pages i and 12.-" The profeffors"
(teachers I prefume) of religion are fet-
tied in every little corner of the fate, to
) r promote order and good conduct among
the people, by the hopes and fears of
reli
[ io ]
" religion I am afraid the author's very
rfpetable brethren of the church will be
inclined to efleem themselves but little
complimented, by the department he has
been graciously pleaded to affign them,
in his distribution of the artifcial ranks
of foeiety.
Page 17.c-He calls flavery, an artificial
fervitude, unprofitable to the public," &c.
Yot (in pages I09, 112, &c.) he proves,
by what he crteems an accurate calculation,
that the labour of the flames in the Englifli
Well India colonies, brings a clear annual
income to the exchequer of near two mil-
lions fierling ; and that, during the late
war, a f.xth part of the whole' rattnal re-
venue was frlpplied from that source alone.
If this is not making flavery tolerably
prfitalbe to the public, language has no
meaning!
Page ;8.-" Slavery being the nega-
Stion of law, cannot arife from law, 'or
" be compatible with'it." As much de-
pends on the particular fenfe inwhich the
word
[ tl 1
word /ae is here ufold, this is a pofitioa I
hall leave to be Irgmed by the ages of
that intricate profeifion; oblfrving oily,
as fats, that many ads of parliament made
ii England, have taken the liberty to coun-
tenance flavery in particular cafes; and
that all the colonial laws in being, for the
regulation, good government, &;c. of flames,
have invariably received the fandion of the
executive branch of the Britifh legislature.
Page ao.-" By fome of our colonial
laws, the evidence of a free African will
not be taken against a white man." Mr.
Raminy should have faid here, By the
laws offome oJ'our colonies," for in.many
of the islands (and if I mistake not, in the
very island where he was fo long resident)
a free African is as free, to all intents and
purposes, as the faireft member of the
community; and his oath, if a chriilian,
equally admiffable in the several courts of
judicaturr i the weight of his testimony
will indeed there, and to it wduld in
Great Britain, depend 'much on his good
or bad character.
Page
f IV *
[ 12 ]
stage 22..-Indefcribing the lenie nbe-
haviour of the polite Athenians towards
their slaves, the author obferves, Their
* maatlrs fimetimes, the fate often, re-
" wardd their fcrvice and fidelity with
, freedom." If this is produced as a
flriking mark of polished humanity, it very
frequently occurs in the Wetl India iflands.
In moft of them freedom (attended with
pecuniary provision,) has been extended to
individuals by the legislature, in recom-
pcnce of fome public fcrvice: and as to
freedoms granted by ma;lers and miftrelTes
to faithful or favourite flaves, they are
if notorioufy common and numerous, as
to be complained of in several of our colo-
nies, as a growing political evil.
Page 3.-" Had Europe, as, a much
difinguiihed quarter of the globe,
reaped no other focial advantage from,
the citablifliment of chriftianity, than
the abolition of slavery, this benefit alone
would have been inumenlfc, &c." But
has Europe, or even half Europe, reaped
this boalled advantage from the eftablfMi-
ment
.[1 3 ]
meant of chriffinniryf and do the bleflings
oiu chritianity and'li hbrty fo conlfantly go
hand in handv Lt. c-tahe author Ak thefe
qucftions of the chrifian boors of Ruffia,
Poland, Li voniai 'iatiiania, and other ex-
tcntive provinces;, will they not all join
in telling him, that they continue, to this
day, in a late of the mot abjert slavery,
conftantly transferred, with the foil, from
thi oppirflions bf ove capricious tyrant
to thofe of another, who have absolute
poiereover their lives and properties, atd
who daily abufe it in the moaf cruel and
mercilefs. manner: Let him even come
nearer home, and make the lime inquiries
among the protefant peafants.of Dennark
and Norway, and they will inform him,
that their situation is fearcely a flade
better. And with refpet to America,
when Mi. Ralmfay hazarded the foregoing
affection, he mult have totally forgot, that
chriftianity and slavery made their
original appearance in that quarter to-
*gether; and that Pope Nicholas V. in
the telebrat6d bull by which he presented
the new arnd unknown world to the Spa-
niards
[ '4 1
aitids-andaPortuguefe, not only permitted,
but exprefy ordered the- Chrftw taore-
dice all the inside inhabitants intojtawey:
a command which, it is well known was
catried into executtio, with the utmof
barlbrity of zeal, by the pious ccclefiadics,
as well as the military commanders of
both.a ofe nations.*
Page 33 and 34,-"' And withi what
flame and borrow muJt we remiadj, that
"Jr who has been rafcd ob high albve
ho fellows, by the influence of this
heaven-defoended liberty, at this day is,
and for more than two centuries pafl,
has beea, ftiving, with all the ventu-
rous
a Far be it from me to man this as the flighter re-
fleKion on a religion, under whofe.difpcrftions we
enjoy too many folid bleifings, to ,endcr it neceffary
to call in the afldhfnc of ideal advantages. It has been
frequently lamented by the temperate and judicious
friends of Chriftianity, that it an fuffered morm hom
the inconiulerate, though-well macnt, attempts of weak
defenders, than from hbe impotent attacks fpr-f'efld
cnemics. Perhaps Mr. Rinfay's reads may think,
that, great as his knowledge maiy be he has on this,
and otchr occatIuns, permitted his zeal to outrun it.
[ is 1
" rous energy of a commercial fpirit,,to
"e dabli(c flavery in the new world; a
" region where the curde of ilavey was
" unknown, 'till, through an infernal
< love of gold, fie introduced, and fixed
" it? But when the Englith (for though
" the Portuguefe and Spaniards had traIf-
" ported Africans more early to their
" American settlement; yet Hawkins, an
"' Englitlnan, is faid firft to have given
" oc.aion for the present inhuman trade)
" a nation moft highly favoured of liberty
"is viewed, as taking the lead in this moft
" odious traffic, and as bending down the
" fiul in utter darkncfs, tho more effec-
Stually to inflave the body; freedom
" muft blufh indignantly, while humanity
" mourns? over the reproachful tale." I
muft confefs I do not readily comprehend
the exact& meaning of this long and ia-
boured period; it feems, however, to con-
tain something of a compliment to the
Portuguefe and Spaniards, at the expence
of the poor Englifh, by insinuating, that
nathough the two former did a&ually firft
introduce Afiitans into the new world,
thry
[ r6 1
they tmanfported them only oh parties of
$kafure; or that they were much more
innocent in fea/rig negroes, than Sir John
Hawkins was in purchqling them. Having
altredy fhewn, that the unfortunate na-
tiv's of America were reduced by their
inhuman dircoverers and conquerors to the
molt abjcdt and horrid Ihate of slavery; I
am led to remark, that Mr. Ramfay is
"eqUally tiiltaken, in fuppofing that the
trade for negroes was origina/{y eftabiifhed
by amy European nation, much leI& by the
English. If he had read the Nuhian Geo-
grapher,* he would have found, th 'the
Mbors of'the north bf Afica trad&* for
flaves with the inhabitants of the different
branches of the river Niger, by ail Inland
COllq-
He lived in the twelfth century, wg*w a native or
Africa, anm wrote originally in Arabic; his work in
that language was irlt printed at Rome, aind was. af-
tcrwards translated into Latin, and publiflhd at Paris
in 1619, under the dtle of Gagrapbia Nubitefit.
Vide alf Leo Africanus, another Moorith author,
whole work was publibied in Italian, at Rome, in
1554, in the firit volume of Rantufio's Colledlion of
Voyages.
[ ?7 ]
communication, as. far back as biftory
furnishes us with any account of ehofe
countries; and long before the fea coafts
of Guinea wcrc discovered by the early Porr
tugiefc adventurers, who found this trade
firmly and regularly eftablifhed, on their
firlt visiting thofe countries. Theirown flave
trade, however, had its beginning ib foon
as 1443, many years prcceding the difco-
very of America. At fifth the Portuguefe
carried off the natives by force, but about
the year 1444, Gonzales, one of their
leaders, returned from the coaft of Guinea
with a cargo of negro flaves regularly pur-
chafd; and they foon after settled proper
markets, on different parts of the coaft,
for that purpose. This traffic foon in-
creafed, to that in 1445 not lefs than even
or eight hundred negroes were annually
brought as slaves to Lilbon. It was not,
however, till the beginning of the fix-
tecnth century that the Spaniards and
Portuguefe thought of exporting negroes
to their settlements in the weflern world,
which began to, be moft dreadfully depo-
pulated by the unufial labour the natives
C were
( I8 i
wan forced to undergo, and the dea4ir
eeaiined by fach a heart-breaking.change
ef circumstances ; and it was many years
afterwards that the Englifh endeavoured
to follow fo promising an example. For
what teafon, then, does Mr. Ramfay take
filch pains to load his innocent country-
men with the odium of being the fYt who
embarked in fuch a difgraceful commerce?
In this part of his work, the author intro-
ducas a long note, giving an accourrt of a
molf savage instance of barbarity in a
Guinea captain. But fuppoling the fat
to be as he plates it, what does it prove
further, than that power intrufted to ig-
*inorant and mercilefs monficrs will fome-
times be abifed: the trials of different
barbarians, to be found in the aanals of
the Old Bailey, will prove as much. I
cannot help, however, being inclined to
fufpct, that fome circumstances of horrid
neceflity mull have come out on the trial
alluded to, in palliation of the captgaia's
conduct; if not, why was he suffered to
cfcapc a criminal prosecution ?-In the
fame note the author alfo adduces, as a
proof
t 19 1
prodfof the humanity of the Norit Ame-
rican Indians, that they are fu who)ly
" without the conception, of the pollibi-
" lity of one man's being submitted to the
" will of another, that they know no
"* medium between roajling their prifoners
* and adopting them into their families,"
which is as much as to fay, that roafjing
a man 4i-we is more humane than com-
pelling him to fervitude. But I inuft beg
leave to doubt, whether fich European
prisoners as may occafionalJy fall into the
hands of thefe tender-hearted Indians will
not be of a different opinion.
Sec. iv. page 37.-This whole fcdioa
is filled with a cool, deliberate, and di-
gefted fcheme, proposed by that celebrated
friend to liierty, Fletcher of Saltoun, for
reducing the Scotch nation into their ori-
ginal Rate of flavery. What immediate
connedion this has with Mr. Ramfty's
own plan, or with what propriety he has
introduced it into his efy, I do not cafily
difcovcr. It serves, however, to flew, into
what inconflitencies and absurdities men
C 2 of
[ 20 ]
of warm imaginations are fometimes.ur-
;.ted, in purfuit of fame favourite political
ihypothefis. A much ftroager infiance of
which, indeed, immediately follows; for
would you think it, reader? in a long and
laboured ntec, our reverend author him-
felf (p, 41) proposes one of the moaf
eccentric, and extraordinary schemes of
bis own, that ever entered into the heart of
man to conceive; nothing lefs, I affitre
you, than but let Mr. Ramfay
(peak for himfelf-" Vagabond beggars
are a nuiunce which call loudly for re-
drcfs, and which every well-regulated
focicty will exert itself to get rid of.
Let every vagabond be considered as the
', property of the public. Let a day be
** fixed, by proclamation, for apprebending
" them throughout the kingdom. Let
" their service be jild, for even years, to
Such as have employment for them.
" Let the money got for the firong be
" given to the weak. If, at the expira-
" tion of theirflvery, they thew a:difpo-
" lition to fettle, and can make a private
" bargain with any refponfibic person,
who
[ 21 ]
" who will answer to the public for their
" behaviour, and will take them to work
" on the footing of free labourers, let
" them be discharged. This will excite
" them to be honeft and faithful. Slavery,
" except for a crime which forfeits life,
" Should not be for life, that it may not
"pererptate slavery to their children.
" Every vagabond child ftould be brought
t up to Come ufeful calling, and be fice
" at thirty years of age. They all, when
" reflored to freedom, fliould be allowed
c a settlement. A particular magistrate
" flould fuperintend their treatment, hear,
" and decide on their and their masters
i complaints. If, at the termination of
'" any period oflavery, they be found un-
"worthy of freedom, let them be fold
" anew. If purchafers do not offer, let
" them be divided by lot, and their chil-
" dren be apprentices. Coarfe, wholefome
" food should be allotted them; the kind,
" and minimum to be fixed by law, &c.
" &c. &c."-Thus, by eityaving and fel-
ling all the Englith white vagabonds, and
enfranchifing all the Weft India black ones,
C 3 and
I TU WDp. H UE
)bAUmP. Ui A;'t
S22 }
and thereby engrafting this undrgplot into
the author's main design, it may very foon
happen, that an African negro will enjoy
the hcirtfelt triumph, of feeing half a
fcore wbhite'lavcs crouching abjetly at his
feet, aind trembling at his very nod; an
event which will undoubtedly furnifh a
new and plc.fant compartment, to that
well known and molt deledtable print
called *' tbc world turned upAfde-swn,'" in
which the cook is roatced by the pig, the
man addled by the hortl, &c. &c. But
to be furious, is it credible, that fo wild
a projeA could have gravely dropped from
the pen of to zealous and profeflfd an ad-
vocate for univ'rfal liberty
Page 44.-Speaking of Fletcher's argu-
ments, our author observes, "He fuppofeth
" that a fenfe of interedi will prevent the
" abufc of power in the matter. There
" cannot be a fairer dcdution inl theory,
" (which was all he could have to go upon)
"nor is there one more falfe ina .'t
So far, however, is Fletcher's conclusion
from being ffial/ in f t, taken generally,
tlat
*. C
-' ^
1 s3 )
that a very flight acquaintance with h.-
man nature will be sufficient to eaftiblill
the truth of it.
Sed. v. page 52.--* Mafter and flave,
* In the French colonies."-Through the
whole of this fettion the author feems
eagerly to embrace every opportunity, of
expreffing fudh an unnatural prepofrelion
against the Britifh planters, as exhibits no
very exalted idea either of his patriotism, or
his candour; of this unaccountable illi-
berality there are fo many glaring instances,
that they deferve to be expofed. He is
equally induftrious in villifying our own
colonial institutions, and crying up thofe
of our inveterate and natural enemies.
On what weak and infufficient grounds, he
founds this fingular and preposterous pre-
ference, fhall be the next objeq of 'my
inquiry; nor am I totally difqualified for
fuch a tafl, having occaflonally vifited moft
of the French windward iflands from mo-
tives of curiosity alone, and having re-
ceived much information, from fome of
C 4 the
C 0+ 1
the nwft capital, and intelligent settlers
among them.
Page 52, &c. contain a brief late of
the regulations relating to slaves in the
French illnds, which -I allow to be a
pretty cxadt representation of what moght
to a'. The Code Noir of the French,
mentioned with fo much appluife by Mr.
Ramfay, and from which his extras are
chiefly taken, is a let of rules madeinFrance
in the year 1685, as a check upon the natural
albufe of unlimited authority. Many enco-
miums have been lavifled tpon this cele-
brated Code, but whoever will take the trou-
ble to compare it with the different laws
(laws made by the very masters themselves,
who are bound by them) in force among
the Britifh iflands, in favour of the ne-
groes, will find the French flames have few,
or no ceinti:l advantages fecurcd to them,
beyond what are enjoyed by thofe in the
English ifttlements. The misfortune at-
tending our regulations is, that they are
fcattcred through different volumes, and
many of the mofl: modern, and moft hu-
mane
I Is ]
mane afts in favour of flavc, remain un-
printed and unknown; whereas the Code
Noir of France is a ihort and compad
ordinance, cnlily to be met with, and foon
to be read over. And here I cannot but
exprefs a hope, that it was an ignorance of
the many unprinted laws of the different
iflands concerning flaves, which has led
Mr. Ramfay, to fpcak in fuch acrimonious
terms of the Englifh colonial institutions;
and I can affure my readers, at the fame
time, that in molt of our iflaods the fol-
lowing printed laws, among many others
in favour of negroes, continue in force,
allowing for a few variations, arifing from
unexpctced accidents, and local circum-
itances, viz.
i. A specific allowance of clothing, un-
der penalty of fine, on their mal=ers,
&c. to be levied on oath, by justices,
conftables, &c.
2. Proviflons to be planted on every estate,
in proportion to the number of its
flames.
3. Jail-
[ 26
;. Jail-keepers, having delinquent flves
in custody, to fupply them with pro-
per food, water, and lodging, under a
proper penalty.
4. Female convits pregnant, refpitcd until
a proper time after delivery.
P. Matters, and mifireffes, &c. are to en-
deavour, as much as poffible, at the
inftrudiion of their laves, in the
knowledge of the Deity, and the prin-
ciples of chrifianity, and to promote
their conversion, and haptifm.
6. Slaves not to work on Sundays, Chrift-
mas-day, Good Friday, &c. &c.
7. Liberty for flaves to plant provisions,
and to carry about, and fell the fame;
and alfo fre(h meat, fiih, poultry,
fmall frock, and vegetables i withpe-
nalties on fuch as interrupt, or de-
fraud them.
8. Slaves
[ P7 1
8. Slaves not to fuffer capita/ y for, prtiW
cuJar thefts of ftock, &c. under 'thl
value of five pounds.
9. Slaves not to be maimed, or mutilated,
at the will of their owners, &c, under
very heavy penalties.
So. Perfuns killing flaves, wantonly, or in-
bumanly, to be deemed guilty of fe-
lony, with benefit of clergy for the
firfl offence, but liable to fine and
imprifoument for thefecond offence,
to fuffer death.
But to return to the Code Noir, and the
diftinguifhed benefits the French flaves are
faid to enjoy under it. One of the prin-
cipal of thefe mentioned by the author,
(p. a5) is "the many holy-days the mar-
" ters are obliged to. allow their negroes,
" in consequence of the fafts and festivals
" of the Roman church."-It is true, the
French planters do permit their flaves to
refrain from work on feme particular fo-
lemn days; but the notorious confequence
is,
[ a8 ]
is, that they compel them to make up
fdch loft time, by working after fun-fet,
particularly when the moon favours fuch
extra labour.
Page 53.-" Every flave has a claim to a
" a certain allowance of-food, and cloath-
" ing, &c. &c."-A claim, indeed, it ap-
pears by the Code Noir he has; but whether
he gets that certain allowance, or not, de-
pends (it is well known) entirely on ithe
good, or bad undcrllanding, between his
master and the officer of the quarter ap-
pointed to fee that law executed.
Page 54.-" The refpe& in which mar-
Sriage is held, brings a further advantage
" to French flaves, &c."-It is really
more than enough to make the graveft
cynic imnile, to hear of the nfjPc,: in
which marriage is held by the French
faves, when it is fo well known, that
among their mailers and minrcffes abroad,
as well as the whole nation in Europe,
this holy facrament is considered as a mere
engagement of interest, or convenience;
and
[ 29 ]
and.that a continued, and reciprocal breach
of its muft folemni vows, is authori fdi~ y
custom, and f ia lioncd by fafion: and
in the Frnclch iflands, the promifcuous
commerce with coloured women is carried
to fuch an indecent height, that in a
planter's houie, the white wife is frequently
the pcrfon of left confequence in the
family.
Page 55.--" The French flames reap a
coafiderable advantage from the pre-
" fence* of their owners, &c .'-This -aVy
in part be true, and for this reafon--tlire
being but very few of the French Creoles,
of
The prefoce .of the proprietor is by no means
ans'arily attended with advantages to his negroes; on
the contrary, I have generally obfirved, in the Engliih
islands, that the laves of mall proprietors, who reftdId
on their own eflates, were the worft provided for, from
the inability of their owners, who personally feel, and
;re consequently tempted to avoid, the ]eaft additional
expence. Whereas managers have no inducements to
curtail the flaves committed to their care, as it cannot
but he much to their credit, to have them noticed as
well cloathcd, vigorous, healthy, and contented.
[ 30 ]
of either fex, fent to Europe for education;
thi'y ife brought up edti~ely amidit mu-
kittoes and negroes; and it is no uncom-
mon thing, in the houfe of a French
planter, to fee his children, of three 'or
four different complexions, fitting down
at the Alme table; 'and hlhce chiefly arres'
that familiarity between thd whites and
coloured people, which our author chufes
to consider as fo honourable to French
humanity. In confequence, however, of
this want of education, and this veryfa-
Miaritay; with their lives, the European
lPench are induced' to hold the Creoles in
the mof fovereign coditei pt ; and'their
naval and military officers frequently ex-
preffed their ftrprize, during their late
refifence in the captured islands, at find-
ing the Englilh planters, in general, fo
much more accompliflied, and fo much
better informed.
Page 55, note.-" The French gover-
" nors havc liberal appointments from the
" crown, to Iet them above"the neceflity,
" and to tAkec away the temptation of
oppref-
[ 31 ]
oppreffag their people, by exating -x-
traordinary ife from thma, in rihamar-
ncr of our Weft India governors, &c."-
In the whole of this note Mr. Ramfay
moi feverdy arraigns the conduct of the
Britifh government, refpexfing its treat-
meat of the Sugar stands: and happy
should I be, to have it in xmy power to re-
move fuch pointed accusations ; but truth
obliges me to confefs, that his charges,
heavy as they appear to be, are founded on
well-knswn fads. Long, indeed, have
thofe valuable colonies looked up te theip
mother-country in vain, for a redrefs of
fuch a train of opprefive evils. Perhaps
the aufpiclous time may be at laft ap-
proaching, when they may be deemed of
confeqcnnce enough, to be included in the
general plan of reform, fo nobly and iea-
fonably adopted, bythe beft and ableft of
ministers. 'Tis a confummation 5' de-
voutly to be wished ;" for fure I am,
there never was- a period, when the Sugar
Colonies food-more in need of encourage-
meat, and afiflance, suffering, as they do
at present, under an accumulated load of
diftrcf,
1 32 4
diftrefs arising from unfavorable feafons,
S .fetat captivity, and enormous taxes.
Page 56.-" An Englith planter, if out
of debt, or a caf~ua crop be plentiful,
muft rtn away to England, which he
calls his home, where generally klt to
"ev ey tr/yll purpI in ife, he vies with
the nobility in entertainments, cxtrava-
glance, and expencc,* while his attorney,
and manager, are obliged to overwork,
and pinch his poor flames, to keep up,
or increslo the tii'ta remittances. It
would make Indignation hcrfedfalmoft
"Sfmile,
SIt htirts me pno a little, to be under theneceffity
of tnmenring, that this illiberal prejudice has, at times,
evrnl rund its w.Ay into thbr Senat of the nation, where
the tegnat andl prefwfdon of a few very opulent indivi-
duils, have been iiI as argumntits, to prove the ability
or tle Sugar Colonics, to bear additional alreffments.
Little do fuclh orators know, that for one planter who
lives nt his. cfe ii Great Britain, there arc fifty toting
under a lo.a off debt in the islands. The NabAiocf the
Eaft. in this particular, enjoy a very material advantage
over the Csmets of the Weft, as their enormous riches,
though the common fuibji' of envy and declamation,
remain parlkftly untaxable.
[ 33 1
imile, to hear their piteous complaining
letters to their agents read, when the
necofities of the plantation have occa-
"f oned a (mall draught to be made on
them, &c."-In this curious paffagc, as
well as in many of the faune kind scattered
through his performance, Mr. Ramthy
lofes fight of his main fubjeA, in purfuit
of what fees his peculiar delight, de-
grading the Englifh planters, and exalting
tholi of the French iflands. I feel my-
felf, therefore, obliged to observe, that it
is enough to make Indignation do fame-
thing more than Jinile, to find fuch a
detcllahk caricature endeavoured to be im-
pofcd on the world, as applicable to the
generality of creoles refidcnt in Great Bri-
tain. If, after three or four generations
of their anceftors have sacrificed their
health, and finished their lives in the toils,
vexations, and disappointments, necelthrily
attendant on the forming of new fcttle-
ments, amidft the uncultivated wilds of
ain unhealthy climate, and under the fcorch-
ing influence of a vertical fun, a veryfrew
"f their descendants are happily enabled
D to
[ 34 j
to irturn to their imothet coutntty it .afy,
et even Affluent cIrcuftfiances3 is this the
reception they merit ? In fpite, however.
of the unjuft and uagenerous fareiins of
this reverend fatyrift, I am convinced ean-
dour will allow, there are numbers of Weft
India gentlemen, now fettled in England,
of the molt amiable anid refpeftable cha-
rader: nay, I could almost venture to ap-
peal to Mr. Ramfay himself, whether he
does not know among them, many Worthy
and independent members of the Houte of
Commons, many opulent merchants, many
eflimible and lfeful private gentlemen ?
whether men of rea genius andabilities,lbtrn
in the Weft Indies, are not proportionably
ihtermixed among the learned profeffins?
and whether brave and deferving creole
officers are not to be found, both in the
navy and army of Great Britain ? Ifequity
and truth obliges the author to antver
thdct qucitionr in the affirmative, With
what appearance of decency, 6r propriety,
does he prefitme to paint the Weft Indians,
as a band of inhuman and unprincipled
tyrants while abroad, and a Tet of ufelefs,
un-
1 35 ]
unthinking, diflipatod fpondthrifts when
at home. Befkles, all his difpa iondte
readers mull readily agree, that fuch ma-
levolent and cruel tfperfions, if even they
could fRand the teft of truth, fall but with
a very ill grace from the pen of a preacher
of peace, humility, and forbearance.
Page 5.-"' T'he French planters, not
having interest money to provide, nor
the ambition of retiring to Europe, are
not under the neceflity, &c."--Surdy
the author might have found Come wor-
thier motives than ,empty ambUtion, for the
defirc fo many Welt Indians exprefs of
ottding at hbo-A with to re-oilablifh a
conflitution suffering from the climate ;
a deAfre eo eonew the pleating friendships
of youth ; an anxiety to fuperintend the
education of a rifingfanily; and an incli-
latina to acquire knowledge and inprove-
mert themselves, may farely be admitted
ase'laiticle incentives to a wifh, in itfelf
very natural. The oharitable Mr. Ramfay
feems, howev v, unwilling to allow, .that
an English credle can potibly have any
D a other
[ 36 ]
other views in coming to Europe, but
either to borrow money, or to throw it away;
or, as he good-naturedly expreffes it, to
be /Aft to every tjefidpurpofe in ife."
Page 59.-" The French plantation
slaves are attached to the foil, and can-
not be drawn off to pay debts, or be
fold separate from it; this gives them,
&c &c."-In several of our iflands the flaves
are ficed to the freehold more firmly than
among the French, and (if I mistake not)
this is adually the cafe in the very island
where the author was fo long resident.
Page 59.--" From thefe circumstances,
and fruim their manners being more
communicative, the French in the co-
lonics live more in a family way, among
their lHaves, than our planters, &c,"-
That the French planters do certainly live
more in a jwiamiy wiy among their negroes
than the E nglih, I have already allowed:
but -if fuch jfiisiy intcrcour/ is: really any
advantage to their Ilaves, it is natorioufly
a depreciation of their own characters, and
coa-
1 37 ]
confequence in life. It'may here be no-
ticed, as a little singular, that although
the author takes federal opportunities of
exposing, in the moft glaring colours, the
prornifcuous commerce too common be-
tween the Englilh managers and overfeers,
and the female flaves under their charge,
he is entirely silent as to any fuch pradice
in the French islands, where (as well as in
the Spaniih settlements) it is, notwith-
hiandihg, openly carried to the moft noto-
rious and extravagant excefs, not merely
by young, raw managers and overfeers, but
even in families of the firf rank, opulence,
and diltinfliun.*
Page
This family intimacy between the French plancer
and their rfaves produce fuch a number of Alulattees,
Meztizes, and other thades of complexion, that their
owners cannot find employment for half their mixed
breed about their houses, which occasions many slaves,
ncerly-as fair as their follow mailers, to be llet with at
work in thecommon fields; and I have fr .epinrly feen,
the whip of a French overfeer laid over a piir of naked
Ihoulders much whiter than his own. In the I.nglifli
ilands,even a Mulatto is fldom orever found in thelic d,
or at other common hard labour. If th Ie is no merit,
D 3 ithre
1 38 1
Bpge 6e, note.-" Though the French
" government has cared, &c."-In this
note our author appears unguardedly to
unfay, much of what he has been faying,
through many of his preceding pages; for
he allows that, had we governors, as dif-
" interjed as the French, and aCting
" under the like benevolent inftrudions,
" the difference would be highly in our
" favour."-So that, after all, the fault, it
foeius, is not in the colonial laws, but in
the governors who administer them.
As the author has taken fuch uncom-
mon pains, to hold out to his readers, the
humanity, gencrofity, and attention, with
which the flaves ar treated in the French
colonies, it may not be amiIs to inquire,
what fnmc of their own writers, much
better informed than either Mr. Ramfay,
or
thrcn is moil ccrta.inly a decency, in prcfrvig .this
difiiniion. I have aually had a rich French planter
polinrkd our to me, who took a pride in boafing, that
at Ica i one third of his field-gang wcre tht opoduce of
his own loins.
1 39 ]
or myfolf, have ventured op puiUif on tis
fubjc&. Father Charlevoix, a popular
author among his countrymen, in his hif-
tory of St. Domingo, thus expreffes him-
felf---" I Lhall finifl with what relates to
" the negroes, who make at present the
" Jargeft number of the fubjeds in this
" colony. Nothing is more wretched
Than the condition of there people i
i they eem to be considered as the dif-
" graCe of mankind, and the refufe of
'* nature: ciled fromn their native coun-
* try, and deprived of liberty, a bleffing
* which all other nations are jealous of,
' they find themselves reduced nearly to
" the condition of eafts of burthen. A
" few roots is all their nourithment: their
clothingg two miserable rags, which
" neither protect them from the heats of
"" he day, or the chills of the night.
" Their ,dwellings refemble khe dens de-
" figne4 for the lodging of bears; their
" bed is a hurdle, apparently more fuited
" to bruife their bodies than to procure
" them reft; their moveables confilt in
" calabaeis, and a few earthen difies
D 4 their
[ 40o
Their labour is constant; their fleep
* flhort; no wages, and twenty strokes
* with a whip for the moft trifling fault."*
I fliall ntxt cite a patTagc, or two, from
a fill more modern French traveller, whole
liberal work has been deemed worthy a
translation into our own language. "They
" (the flames) fays this spirited author,
" are treated in the following manner:
" At break of day, a final of three fmacks
" of a whip calls them to work ; each of
" them betakes himself, with his fpade, to
" the plantations, where they work, almost
" naked, in the heat of the fun. Their
" food is maize, bruifed and boiled, or
" bread made of manioc, and their cloath-
" ing a single piece of linen. Upon the
" commillion of the molt trivial offence,
" they are tied hand and foot to a ladder;
" the overfeer then comes with a whip
" like a poftillion's, and gives themi'fy,
"a a bun-
SHitoire de L'iflc Erpagnol, ou de St. Domingue,
par P. P. F.X. dc Charlevoix, 1731. Tome second,
P. 496.
[ 4J ]
Sa hundred, or perhaps two hbudred ifihes
upon the back. Each ftroke carries off
its portion of Ikin. The poor wretch
"is then untied, an iron collar with three
f"pikes put round his neck, and he is
Then fent back to his talk. Some of
"them are unable to fit down for a month
After this beating, which punishment is
" inflicted, with equal feverity, on women
" as well as on men.
In the evening when they go home,
They are obliged to pray for the prof-
Sperity of their masters, and before they
Sgo to rell, they wifh him a good night.
There is a law in force in their fa-
y vour, called the Code Noir, which or-
dains, that they hall receive no more
Than thirty lathes for any one offence-
"that they Ihall not work on Sun-
days-that they hall eat meat once
Sa week-and have a new fhirt every
Year : but this law is not obfrved. Some-
Srimes, when grown too old to labour,
"they are turned out to get their bread
"' where
+13
":wf re.thiey cqn. Qn e.day I fiw a poor
: creature, who was nothing but ikia and
" bone, cutting off the flefh of a dead borfe
, to cat.-It was oae Ikeleton devouring
" another."
Speaking of fich slaves as attempt to
run away, he fays-" In general they fe-
" cret themselves in the woods, where
" they are hunted by parties of folders,
" and by other negroes with dogs. Some
'" of the inhabitants form parties of plea-
"f jire for this purpoie-put up a negro
" as they would a wild bealt, and if they
" cannot hunt him down, will foot
" him-cut off his head-and bring it in
" triumph to town. upon the end of a
" flick. Of this I am an eye-wjtnefs
" every week.
When a Maron-negro is catchpd, he
" is whipped, and one of his cars cut off:
" the fecond time, he is again whipped,
" the finews of his hams cut across, and
" he is put in chains: for his third of-
Sfence, he is hanged bit is kept in ig-
"t norance
Snorance of his fintence, till pritO
" execution."
A little further he fays-" Not a day
' pafils, but both men and women are
" whipped for having broken earthenware,
" for not flhtting the door after them, or
" foue fuch trifling reafon; and when
" almat covered with blood, arc rubbed
" with vinegar and felt to heal their
Sounds. On the key I have fonmetines
44 foen tlhm Io overwhelmed with grief,
" that thwy have been unable even to utter
"'a cry-others hiding the cannon to
" which they arc tied. My pen is weary
" of writing this recital of horrors; my
" eyes of feeing, and my ears of hearing
4" their doleful moanings."--Such is the
picture of French humanity, as recently
drawn by one of their own countrymen!
and uch are the benevolent mailers and
miftreffes, whom Mr. Ram&fy fts up as
patterns of imitation to the planters of the
Englih islands!
A ,page or two further, this French
author.
[ 44
author thus goes on--" The Code Noir
"is faid to be made for relief of the
flavcs. Be it fo-Yet does the cruelty
of the maalers exceed the punifliment it
permits, and theiravarice with-hold the
I" fod, the red, and the rewards it de-
crces.-If the poor wretches complain
of this infringement, to whom do they
feek for redrefs ? to judges, who are
are perhaps the very tyrants under whofe
upprefliot they languifl."*'
I have
Vide Voyage to the Inlind ofMauritius, &c. by a
French Officer; translated by John Parilh. Pages rco,
lot, t03, and 104.
It may be rbhjertcd, thur I hwve here quoted an author
who is giving a1n ;ccourt of the Falclih oriental colo-
nics. My anFwer is, I did to by choice: for the Hlaves
wih are carried to the iflands of Bourbon, and Mauri-
rijs, Ihing gnccrally petOple of better capacities, and
mriore civilized nlaninllrs, l;ln the (uinea negrocs, they
mre much lIcf likely to dtferve ill iilg'.i .
I think it ilcunbernt on me, in this place, to ani-
nadlvert on a note introjIceLd by the translator of the
French work I hare jull quutcd, wherein he feems to
triumph, in hair :g dcttcd a speciess of savage cruelty,
prac-
[ 45 ]
I have now followed the author.thti ogh
the whole of this fifth ettion. Ica nnet,
how-
pradifed by the poor Rigmatiavcd Engfh planters;
which is the u1k of an iron malk, or muzzle, fuch as
he minxutely icfcrihck, to prevent the slaves front eating
canes, during thdlh l.bour, in crop-time. The bnly
ininrment of t l! kind, alluded toby Mr. Pari1F, which
ever fel uilcr tay uliicrv4Liu Idutring revcral yoars re-
fiklene in til W Vi [Iadiv, L1ame froin the French
ifl,~iiti wblrr it" Ical Ure is, tu prveRnt their slaves
eMing dirt, afthi~, kc. while vnder cure for a diforder
very preval at aw.ong n t:em, called Le Mat d L'Eftomc,
very annlagous to ouu Ciluorolis, or Grcn-fickners.
Think dilL rmper i, nl Ib common in the Engliih iflnds,
but is ftniian m rtmet with, anul I am convilncd, the
i1nlt..iri I faw, wvle prucurcd from one of the French
fretlemenrt, for tl - pr' F] purpute of uling it in a cure
vFthPs kind. As to the (tory of flavcs in the Weft
Indies being muzzled, as Mr, Parith prtends, to hinder
their feeding on the fugar canes, it is an ideal tale,
calculated only to fall in with the prejudices of the
noff ignorant of the vulgar; the introdulion of it,
therefore, in a tranflation of Ibme merit, reflRes no
credit either on the tranitator's candour, or undertLand-
ing ; as it can be fully confuted, even by the evidence
of every common failor who has made a voyage to the
'.iglifl illArds. Mr. Parifl fqys, with an affectation
of humour, a friend.of his, of well-known benevo-
luicr, makes ufc, of one of thetr muzzles, ,a an
I1RO 4
[ 46 i
however, conclude -my remarks upon it,
without confefling my ignorant of the
propriety of his introducing it at all into
his publication. For what immediate re-
lation has the good, or bad, ufage of French
flaves, to do with an Efray written pro-
fefLedly on the Treatncnt and Converfion
of ERgt# ones? The only apparent rea-
fen, therefore, for Mr. Ramfay's having
given himfclf fo much unneceffary trouble,
recms to be, the rooted prejudice he has
taken in favour of the French planters, and
the inveterate aversion he has imbibed
against his old friends and acquaintance of
the Engli/ iflands.
I tha:l now proceed to consider the au-
thor's firth fe5tion, intitled Maiftr and
" Slave in the Britifh Colonies."-Int this
part of his book, he continues to discover,
the
SIRON argumentt against flave.holding." But if
Mr. Parith, and his benevolent friend, have better
argunonts against flav-hollding, than they can draw
from their iron mouzles, they may do as well, to leave
the I'ubjeA to more liberal, und brttr-inford ad-
VOCstca.
t 47 1
the fame avidity ao feize every occasion of
itigmattiing the Sngijh planters, as the
moft barbarous and cruel mafters; and,
indeed, as the inoft vicious and unprinci-
pled of men. t muft confefs, he feems
inclinable, now and then, to throw ia a
little dafh or two of white-walh among
his load of blackihg-bill; but it is d9ne
with to little forcc, and fuch very ill, grace,
that after giving twenty broken heads, he
has not the charity to furtilh above one
plaifter: hit teftdefrf in this ref&t is
only likb that of an inquifitor, who gives
a trifling refpite to ithe object he is tor-
menting, that the devoted victim of his
perfecuLion may be enabled to bear a frefh
fucceffion of torture: for example-
Page 62.-" The tnglifh flave has no-
thing to check him in ill-doing, but the
fears of the whip,* and this is a weak re-
ftraint
SThe author ls, on all ocoaifans where he can in-
trodutce it, harping on the fverily of the punishments
infliled by the plhters on their delinqtuet flaves. I
have fortunately hnewr been witnefs to any fkenes of
this
1: 48
ftrainton aftarvizig, craving apptite. The
French flaveis placed above the folicita-
tions of hunger; and refpceing his beha-
i' viour, has to thedread of pain, fuperadded
as a guide, the hopes and fears of religion,
and the approbation and dilpleafare of
his priest. The French, in the treat-
ment of their slaves, regard the fuggef-
"tions. of humanity, and enforce its
"didates by their laws. The Englifl
have not paid the Icaft attention to en-
force by a law, either humanity or juf-
twice, as they may refpedt their flaves.
But if you except a .lw, that Governor
Leake got enacted in Nevis, to diftin-
guith
this kind. Fifteen or twenty ftbokes with a whip is
reckoned a pretty fmart inflikion ; and thefe are ad-
minillered on that flflhy part of the body belt adapted
to bear them. Whoever has often attended a military
parade, may have had an opportunity of seeing two,
three, or live hundred Inties given to a poor culprit, on
a much more i'i:lible part, witharcgular proflbfrattend-
ing, to tell by the pulfc, how much torture human na-
tlue is c;apabl of bearing, without expiring. Corporal
punilhmnct is of late much difulad in theWeft Indies,
and coafilninmnt adopted in its place.
[ %.49 3
ggtjf ptty larceny intf aves frot rbpy;
and a aw in ,Grenada, and Jamaica, that
obligeth maters to allot to their slaves
a, certain portion of land for the growth
of provisions; and one, in this laft
island, that grants them Saturday. after-
noon for the culture of it; I recalled
Snot a tingle chiufc in all our colony
att (aed I perisfed the fever-A codes
*"ith the view of remarking fuch)
c* u&d to fecure t the the left humane
t treatment, or to fave them from the
capricious cruelty of an ignorant,,un-
principled mailer, or a,morofei unfeeling
Soverfccr. Nay, a horfc, a cow, or a
lheep, is much better protc5ed, with us,
by the law, than a poor flave, &c. &c."-
!For a refutation of the afperfions con-
tained in the firft part of this curious
paflkge, and the comparison therein drawn
between the French and Englifh colonifts,
I am convinced I need only refer my reader
to the quotations I have already produced
from well-informed French writers.-
And as. to the latter part of the foregoing
Alridures, if Mr. Ramfay has really pe-
E rufed
[ 50 1
rufed all our colony laws, I am forry his
recolletin flhould have fo fitragely de-
ferted him, when he compofed that re-
proachful paragraph as I am firmly
convinced, if he will take the trouble,
once more to read over, attentively, the
laws made in the different iflands, both
in print and nanufcript, he will find
among them, many ats made purpofely
for protecting the perfons of slaves; and
(if I may venture to ufe fuchan expreffion)
for Ifecuring to them the poffefion of their
little property: a few of theef I have al-
ready pointed out in the former part of
thefe remarks, and if J chofe to truft en-
tirely to my recoll/Etiion, I could infance,
perhaps, many more.
That the lives of Wcd India slaves are
totally in the power, and at the difpofal of
their proprietors, and that a white man is
not accountable for the murder of a negro,
are mere vulgar errors, which fem, how-
ever, to be but too generally adopted in
Great Britain.-Local policy may fome-
times indeed have occasioned a remiffnefs
of
[ 51 ]
of atuiry, into "atfi f paflionte,n and,
porhpa, fatal ftterityif 'but wanton 4re-
mcdituatd nurdcrhas feldomn been paflcd
over, without AriA investigation; and in
fame les, where proper evidence could
be procured, the offenders have fiffcrcd
capital punillimcnt:* As to thd cruelties
pratifcd by un a flave on ,In .tlher, which
our auior, t ith his ul12 g.ncrofity,
Isr0h tVl i4ivilluia -e, .ie gcrierlilly p.'rpe-
trated under the fandtiaon of theirrciPctive
owners,
OW,%'llrTS,
In ithe iandtl of CGrenrda ta'\hith sin wa;, n t
long litie, rxcclrted for thI mtdrcd'r of i female flave;
with whom hei cohabited ; fu lately (I think) axduring
the guvernmtlit of Mr. Fitznaurice.
In one of the old Lceward illands 'I was, fiance that
period, witnufs to the nlpprrhncding of two white mein,
aon Ifpidon of the inurrc;r f a negra favc; one of
whom wan admitted cvide.ccc, ;ld both comnritted to
jNil; but the evi.dncLt Lbreaking priibnt, anrd tuning
away from the ifland, the other has not LMt \b.:ni trm d
he continued, however, a long while in clofe confine-
mrnt, and remains (I believe) thll b:-und aver, toaipjpbao
from fffions to felons, being t liberty anly' upon ver
large bail.
Ez
owners, it is well known they are con-
ftan and rigouroufly punifiet.
Page 67.-" It will perhaps be al-
lodged, &c."-Here the author conde-
flends fl far, as to afIure his readers, that
his friditures are meant to extend to Euro-
plIa settlers in the Weft India islands, as
well as to the native- inhabitants. If he
really means, by this concefion, to pay any
thing like a compliment to the Creoles,
it carries but in aukward appearance in
this place.
Page 69.-Iqt tlis, and the following
twenty pages, Mr. Ramfay gives a minute
account, qfter his manner, of the life of
the generality of negroes in the Englifh
iflands. In this detail, every thing re-
fpcding their hard labour, and ill treat-
menr, is groffly exaggerated; and all which
regards attention to their comfort and
hiappjincs, is barely mentioned.-I may,
perhaps, therefore, attend the reverend
author, to clofely through the different
parts of this fetaion, as to incur the cen-
fure
It si
i rs of tiilcad ot S, & s&drs w4 .a e
not irnmedately interted in the fubjedt
0S my iMaidvef~onea.-Jf fuch should
b thk l fc,'fet an earnclt desire to detet
eror, mid invetligate truth, plead my
apology.
Pqip 6 p,-A&t.uro'clock in the morn-
'*lla 40 plantation bell rings to call
k-h. Ioys0 into the field."--Now every
Sf' geogiigraphy knows, that in the
Altitude of mof of our fugar iflands, it is
not light, even whether days are longest,
tll d'tir fivao'lock. For what purpose,
therrleur the negroes should be collected
in 9Fr field by four, Mr, Ramnfay alone
caad cll.
pages 69, 70, &c..-ln the author's ac-
cunmt of the plantation duty of the flaves,
he employs the grcateft part of four or
five pages, in expatiating on the toil of
picking grafs. This is a department
of their duty, \which is certainly attended
SWith more trouble in the island where
he lived (from the peculiarity of its foil)
E 3 than
1[ 54
thanannany otherin the Welf Indies yet,
there; it is not hAlf to tiresome as he en-
deavours to rcprefent it; for in feafbnable
weather, and particularly when the flames
are employed in weeding, they have little
to do, more than to colled the gralf into
bundles, which they have already hoed
off the ground; in the dricit parts of the
island, this is the cafc near half the year;
and in the mountainous and (eafonable
parts, even of St. ChrilLtpher, the grafs
mand other food for cattle, which grows
among the canes, is in liich plenty as to
become a nuifance.-Thc author muff
likeWifb well know, that in wet feafons,
the tlaves arc not only able to procure
the grafs required of them for the eftate,
but that thll frequently bring large bun-
dles to town to fell on dheir own account,
both at noon and in the evening. In moft
of the other filands, this terrible talk is a
mere nothing, except now and then, du-
a fpell of uncommon droiight.
By Mr. Ramfay's account the negroeu
do not get to fleep till midnight, and arce
routed
[ 5s ]
routed again by four 'in the morning.
The abihrdity of lfuppofing any fet of
beings could undergo a regular life of la-
bour, with only four hours rIef out of die
twenty-four, efpccially when fed fo indif-
fercntly, as he pretends, is too glaring to
need any comment.-The real fait is, that
the whole work expected from the flaves
ih over y Iivcn, or eight o'clock; except
In wrop-time, when fibch as attend the
n)lli and boiling-houlf (perhaps fifteen
or twenty out of a hundred) continue their
attendance an hour or two later; and on
plantations where there are only cattle
mills, thiu division remains lumetimes
employed, with proper relief, moft part
of the night. So that it is a negro's own
fault, if he does not get a much larger
position of fleep, during a year, than falls
to the flare of an officer in garx-fon, or
on board a fhip of war.
Page 75.--After praifing the kill of
the overfeers, in being able to take out
flakes of 1kin with a whip, the author fays,
the wretch, in this mangled condition,
E 4 "is
E 56 )
"Is turned out to work in dry or wet
u weather, which laft, now and then,
S" brings on the cramps and ends his fof-
ferings and slavery together."-So'far is
this from being the practice, that our
planters are remarkably careful to prevent
even their unmang/cd ncgroes from being
expofed in wet weather; they are per-
mitted, during rain, to retire from the
the field to the nearest shelter; nor is it
uncommon, for temporary theds to be
created for that purpose: and it is almoft
an unvaried cuf/lon, to supply fuch flaves
as have been unavoidably expofed to a
wetting, with a proper cordial to coun-
terat the pernicious cffefts of fuch an
accident; whole gangs buing, on theft
occasions, fervcd either with a dram, or an
allowance of warm toddy.
Page 77.-" Every plantation contains
Little skirts, &c.--Here Mr. Ramray
allows that the Englfjb flaves have land
allowed them to plant for themselves;
which he seemed totally to have forgot,
while he was launching out in praife of
the
[ s7 1
the French regulation i that rcfpett. He
eems alfo to confersR ,tht even an Englhi
negro, under all his miserable opprcllions,
wants nothing but a little natural industry,
to make his life tolerably comfortable.
Page 78.-" Formerly, before we be-
" casinc fu.h accurate planters, and before
" luxury had ruptcioully converted every
" Ittth nook of land inutotjgar, the flames
u had a ficid or two of the fallow cane-
" land yearly divided among them, for a
" crop of yams, &c."-Aud fo they have
ftill in moil of the eftates which have
fillen under my observation. I muft:con-
feof, however, that had the proprietors of
fuch plantations pole-ffed the fcret al-
Fuded to by Mr. Ramfay, of converting
every inch of their land intofrgar, it might
not have been the cafe.
Page 79.-'" Added to the produce of
" their wjZ provision lands, and the ca-
" tualty of a fallow field, the flaves have
" a weekly allowance of grain, varying in
" different pltitationsi from one to three
pounds,
[ 58 ]
" pounds, under the nominal measure
( from two to eight pints. A few plan-
"tatiions go near to five pounds; one or
" two as far as fiv. They have alfo from
" three to cight herrings a week. tn
" general they arc far froln being well or
" plentifully fed."-So it lfems, aftdr all
Mr. Ramiay has thought himfelfautho-
rifed to throw out in the former parts of
his elaborate treatifi: about "' fcanty all'o-
" ance,"-" pr,'t'/,., pittance,"-" ha/f-
" /iir.,/]av,'s," .&c. now that he is la-
bouring this particular point, the feverect
thing he can fay on the fubjeft is,
that the VWell India flavcs are, in general,
" fyitr j 'i.,g :,/, o;* /:'t:/iidly fed! "
and cannot he, w ith the utmoft prnpricty,
affert the ticme of the labouring poor of
the freeft countries on earth ? Their
allov countenaines, and emaciated figures,
fpcak this truth hut too plainly!
I fhall not ditter greatly from Mr. Ram-
tav, vwh-Cn I atl'irc my readers, that the
general allowiwncc, on a tolerably well
regu-
I r':aking of rvgulaciLonuL, .[ltwamnce, &c. I wiflt
them
[ s59
regulated plantation, is as followsi,"vz.
out of crop-time, frb fix to nine pints
of flour, oatmucl, rice, peafe, &c. and from
fix to cight failed Scotch herrings, for a
week, to each flave above the age of a
fucking infant ;-during grinding feafon,
which laits from four to five months, this
allowance is, pcrthaps, reduced to from
four to rx ptits of flWur, &c. and to from
four ct fi herring. Exclulivc of- this
regular allowance, it is cullornary, on mol
pLEmations. to give each negro, at break-
fidt-time, during the rainy time of the
yrar, a Ship hifuit, with a draught of
molRlntflL Ci water, which is difltibuted
in the field. This brekf~ll allowance i,,
in general, extended to the negro children
through the whole year. I will, huwevcr,
drop, for the prefcnt, all extra indulgences,
and fuppofe the avrrage allowance of
each flave, through the whole year, to
be
thdm to be underflood, as adopted by fuch eflates, as
have fjllrn 'under my more immediate inrpccion.-In
a few, perhaps, the treatment of the flat c~ may not have
ben b1 libcrAd ; and, in others, I have not the' vanity
to doubt, but they may have been much mure Co.
[ 60 ]
be,'"weekly fixpints of flour, &c. and:lx
herrings. Now, itrmay not be a difqui-
fltion foreign to my purpose, to compare
this allotment of food with what may ,b
purchased by the weekly earnings of an
Engliflh labourer. A negro, for himself,
his wife, and four children, receives
thirty-fix pints of flour, &c. and thirty-
fixherrings. The labourer earns fix thil-
lings a week, to support himfeif, his wife,
and his four Children. With his fix fhit-
lings he purchiafes'a buthel of wheat;' he
carries it to the mill, and brings home
two thirds, di fay, even three fourths, of
it in flour. He has, therefore, at mot,
but forty-eight pints of flour to divide
among his family, or two pints a weej,
each more than the negro; which diffe-
retice is amply made up by the negro's
herrings.
It may be objCced, that the labour of
the
This indccd he cannot always do, wheat being,
ome years, at cight and nine shillings the bulhel. In
many parts of England the poor fddorm, if ever, tafle
wheaten bread.
[ 6t ]
the white man's wife and children adds
fbmething towards upportiag the family ;
but from the refult of observation, and,
iAquiry, I find, that in a poor family, with
four*ar five.cildren, the children are ge-
nerally too young to earn any thing, and
the .time of the wife, of course, taken up
in attending them j and it is only as the
children aVtncc in age and strength, th4t
they begin tp be of any service to their
parent,. If, however, the earnings of the
wife and children should amount to half
the wages of the man, how many calls has
The poor wretch for fuch additions! He
has hoifc-reat to pay, cloatha for iimfelf
and funily to purchase, drink and fuel to
procure, and fometlhng beyond mere bread
to look out for. All thefe are wants un-
known to the ncgro.-I will now d-op this
comparison for the prefect, with a view
of refusing it, on a more enlarged plan,
at the clofe of my observations on this di-
vifion of my author's performance.
Page 8 1-" They have a yearly allow-
" ancc of two or three yards of coarfe
wool-
62 ]
"'woollen cloth, &c. &c."-On moft
eftates the flaves are allowed fufficient
woollen cloth or bays, to make eithott a
watch-coat, or a blanket to fleep in; add
as much Ozetnbrigs, or German'linen, as
serves the men for a waiftcoat and a pir
of breeches, and the women for a jacket
and petticoat; and on fome plahit4tions,
hats or caps arc alib given them.
But if we are permitted to judge, from
the cutloms which prevail among the na-
tions ons olthc coafrof Guinea, the gene-
rality of peg roes may ju tly be fuppofcd
to consider cloaths as an incumbrance,
rather than a neccffhry article of life; and
though, in the Well India colonies, 'the
flaves feem fond of drtcf, it is only wheti
they can have an opportunity of.fhewing
it, which evinces, that their paflion is
more for ornamental than ufeful covering,
and founded in vanity alone. In con-
firmation of the jufine's of this remark,
1 may refer to' the almoil abfolute naked-
ncfs of the free negroes in St. Vincent,
(very improperly called Cairibs) Wrho pre-
fer
[ 63 ]
for their cafe and freedom, to all the or-
namenntal tramrmels of dref and it is
only by a few of thuir chiefs that any kind
of clothing is adopted, which is appa-
rently done, for the fake of diftinaion,
among the white inhabitants of the ilmad.
All a negro fc(,'r really to want, is a warm
covering for the night, and with this they
arc Stnma1ly well lipplied through all
the sXloniics o wll a with other cluathl-
l..,Which, except in point of decency,
might bLe deemed uklcfii.
Parge 8i.-- At Clhrifllmas three hoIi-
dlay arr preteremd t be given then,
but getn'rally Sunday is /J.'/SJ in for
I' one,' &:c.'"-'lThs is delcfunding cvcn
Into a minuutencf of mifrepreflntation.-
lin moll cflatc, the Ilaves have three whole
4yi at Chriflma. ; in fmoie, Good Friday,
and a day ar Whlitlntride; and in many,
a kind of lhrvcll-hlomc holiday, at the
fllidling of the crop: all thefc days, as
well vis every Sunday in the year, are con-
fidered as their own time; nor are they
cxpetcd to do a single ilroke of work for
their
( 64 1
their masters, beyond, perhaps, bringing
a fall bundle of grafs in the morning.
Ibid.-" Their huts are framed, of
< island timber, cut by each man for him-
filf, and carried down by him and his
wife on Sundays, Scmtsimres the owner
will fupply a board or two,, to make
c" a door or window-flutter, but,. in gene-
ral, fuch materials are folen; nails and
".hinges arc either flolen, or bought, from
thofe wvho have iol'en them. This of-
ten hppcns on a plantation where,
4' perhaps, a thoufand pounds sterling
* have been expended on a table for a fit
" of Englilh horfes. Indeed, Englilh
" haries arc the lealt necefiary, yet beft
" attended, beft served, befl lodged, and
" oft cxpenlively kept, animals poffelfed
" by a vftitr planter."-This is much of
a pi'ce with my laft quotation, and the
aflertions it contains are even worfe
founded. The hoofes of the negroes are
commonly placed in regular rows both
ways, and fituatcd in the centre of a
fqture of nearly a quarter of an acre
of
1 [65
ofdlandl, platd Hly khcm tio proviAoas,
fhpit toes, ko. They arc conttruded of
imaber, and ,tlfiru d round the fides and
,up"It the roof; the poorAt are divided into
two apartments, a sleeping and an eating
0oom, with a wooden partition and door
between them. Some of their houses are
muqharger. confifling of three or more
dlvl dGu wishl ktchesns land hog-fics4de-
atehrd. Some M wattled, and plniftered
asstrhes Mos. Some have.even Iffi iled
mci atnd fides. Theft differences depend
oq the indufiry, wealth, or vapity, of t'tb
repoc ive poftliuors many of ihom par-
ticularlydth tradefmen, are foldom in want
of manasy, to make things 'very conifort-
able about them. On tihe whole, the
stcaneft of their dwellings are un-
doubtedly.better than tie turf-built hevels
of the Scotch highlanders, or the demi-
larrns of the Irilh bog-triecrs; and
F thofe
I r St. Chrifophcr, where land is Jo very valuable,
the rirnro-hutt do nor, in common, occupy fuch an
rlltfi C ground ; but the richness o(ftd fmil, pcrthps,
r ndrly makes up for the deficincy, inl quantity.
theai of the better fort may wore tada
vie, for neatnefs and aecommodatenm with
the habitations ecen of'the Englifh i-
bouring villagers: the author indedtaemnis
to confers something like this, byrmen
tioning doors, wiuraw-jbutters, nais, ,anrd
hinges, which are conveniencesfcafteely
known. in tb e highlands of Sootliid, or
thE. bogs of Jreland. When a negro is
4bout building a new hou*,-his matter in
generad- contributes, either in money or
materials, the greatet part of the expense;
fo-fhat he .has little need to jial himfeif,
or purchase from thoif who do. The day
of covering a new houfe is an eftablithed
time.of rejoicing; the negroes ehiployedf
about it are commonly allowed Saturday
afternoon for the ceremony, and the owner.
of the new building confantly regeives4i
douctur of rum, fbgar, flour, &c. to help
entertain his affiftants.
From the author's manner of mention-
ing a fit qfEngif lborfes, and, 'te iump-
tuous and expensive tile in which they
are kept, a reader little acqutiated with
the
[ 67 }
the ilntn6s will natrall conclude, that
a coach-and-fix is a common luxury among
the planters. How will he be filrprifid,
therefore, when I inform him, that the
horfes alluded to by Mr. Ramfay, arc only
fach as are kept, for plantation work, in
carts, wnggoau, &c.* and that very few
of the inbabiUtatls even of the opul4nt
iland of ChuItopihrt indulge ia asy
usrrikg kbspd an humble whi ky. Where,
Ia oMeI, there pompous ftablcs are fitnsted
S r cef&ion of which has coft a thouafed
jfmnAderinia each I w at fome lofs to con-
, jemtt IThit b re manyhi c been one, or
two, fuch peonfive buildings put up,: is,
notwirftandJng, very poflible; I think,
however, I may fafely venture to pro-
amunce, that three fueh ftablcs as men-
tioned by our author, are not to be found
jp the five Leeward Iflands. But to return
F 2 from
EngLih borfes wre little ufed, in any of the
iflldi, as long as American ones were to be pro-
cumrd.-in moft of them, draught cattle were, ani' are
AHI lufed, in preference to ry ;hrfe;-'and etn in'St.
ChrHtph4r, very few Englih hwf rs arc employed,
comparativrly with oxen, mules, and Anmerican horses.
Sa68 J
from, an enquiry rather foreign $o.. o
fubje&.
Page 82.-" A furgeon isgenl
employed, ;by the year, to attei tl
lick leaves. His allowance, per ..a42,
varies from fourteen pence to three
.":ItiiMngs, &c. Where a furgeon is
employed, by the year, to attend the. flaves
on an estate, the coiftant allowance is fix
Jfillings per head; at left, I never knew
lefs offted or taken : but as Mr. Ranfay
was formerly in the medical line himself,
before he commenced divine, he may, very
poflibly,kbe much better acquainted, than
I an,, with the fourteen-penny practice he
now fpcaks of with io much contempt.
Thle allowance of fix fhilling per nnum, foraie
attendance on each negro, may feer but a triflingim-
centive to the attention of a qualified praditioner i hub
as many ufcfuil and efficacious nedicina inipllcs ar
produced in the iflands, and as night-virits, .amputa-
tions, midwifry, inoculation, &c. are all ietra (rnd
very heavy) charges, the cmulunItents ar 'from the
natendancc on a gang of one hundred flames may, orn
year with anotihr, ba rcckoud -at- about SoL. or 6o1.
per
a gdrE83.-" The fiod of the tfik is
a "t enlmufty, indigefflbla horfe-beans,
i.:&c. &c."-The author, however, al-
low sthAt in fie eftates they have rice,
S flour FItcui, foup, fowls, kids, wine, &c.
to- which he might have added; on all
weelf-regtulited plantations, oatmeal, fage,
pearl-hurley, and portable foups. Medical
advice and attendance he acknowledges
they have. In ca~l of ficknefs, therefore,
are por the negroes much better off than
theliabouring poor of Great Britain ?
SPage 8 3.-" Though married managers
'alone can take proper care bf the fick
'<, -though tthey flay more constantly at
omnie' and have nuriberltcs other ad-
v"antages over single men, in point of
r chartere, faithfulnefs, and application;
:f'i't planters have determined it, to be
'F 3 better
per tannum. It may, perhipi, be worth the reader's
while, to compare this with dh'alaries'of apoctfiiics
ftdifferentihofpitals aind infirmaries, a well as with
thZ pnnul allowance to fuch of the'faculty as undertake
the cti ofwoirkhousii ,; &tc. &c.
[ 70 J
fbeeter to employ, perhaps, a di*ipated,
e' carelefs, unfecling young man, or a F6.
'tvelling, lafeivious old batchelor,&c.--.1
In the foregoing paffage, and in a long
note connected, with it, the author repro-
bates, without mercy, the encouragement
which, he fays, is, given to lffigle muan-
gers, .in preference to maatried ones. Mr.
aamfay hae here ftrted a fubjedt,-the in.
vtftigation of which is rather of a delicate
and difagreeibe nature, That theopinion
hinted at byhim, is rathcr gainingground'
I muft readily confers; but I am at the
fame time afraid, it will prove to be:the
reilt of repeated experience, and, by)no
means, the offspring of illiberal prejudice.
That a man, merely because he is married,
has more honesty, fidelity, and.applica-
tion, than a single ne ; and that"a'planter
should in direct oppefition :tofhis owft
interest, choose a grovelling, lajiiviu/r, care-
lefs, dilfipated, unfeeling bachelor, to
f6perin'tend his concerns, in presre tcetto
a prudent, regular, diligent, married man,
arc positions, which, like many! in Mr.
'Rauniay's treatife, dtferve no feriaus con-
futationu
'( 71 1
lufsation. Thi;,Wt forMyyears agb te
d4 ghters of W el~ India plante s woe
fEkiomn: fct to ngland for education, but
were brought up under the immediate eye
of ,their parents, in a thorough pranice of
every local domefic ,employmentm they
'were exrtilcnt. houewives, careful nurfs,
and much of their time was dedicated to
the nccoffary attendance req ttid by the
tick negroes, and the breedlifg women on
th eilate; and as, long as fuch womce
continuedd to be the wives of manages,
ino complaint of the kiwd 'Mr. Ramfiy
alludes to, w*s ever heard. The cafe, at
prefcnt, i widely different. The Creole
young women are now indulged with an
'Xpeaftve education, at fome capital board..
'tfg-khool, in or uearfLondon, where tb#
acquire only the exterior and~ftivoldns
accomplishments now foE miuc in vogue;
a*d where, from their countions and
temporary equality, with the daughters of
fbmc of Ghe firff agnd richeft families in
England (11io are with till more inex-
crifable abfrity intrufted to chofe hot-
beds of vanit) they are exposed to imbibe
F4 the
r 7z -]
cthe -irf romiatic autd'expenfive-notiofns.
That' fd many elegant. agreeable yod Tg
women should receive an education fo Ri
adapted to the fphere in which they are
moft likely to Seve, is not their fautli Wbt
their misfortune. I To fuch of them as
poffefs real fenfibility, it mnuf inevitably
turn out a force -of inward and ladling
regret wand with thofe of a lively, volatile
difpofition, it proves too often the foun-
dation of a life of gaiety, pieafare, and
diflipation.* Sorry Iam, that truth obliges
4 meit
The wast of pFoper frminaries ofeducation on the
(pot, is not one of the lea* evils the iflnnds labour
under.' A man, who has been bilefld with a liberal
education himfelf, ntaurally with chis eclildren to enjoy
ife fame advantage and a man, who has not, finds
daily the want of it. All the yomng peoplctherefore,.
of any tolerable profpeAs, arc fent early to Great Bri-
tain, where, though they may acquire the improve-
ment to be found at schools and univcrfitics, they are
fo far removed from their parents, as feldom to be happy
enough, enjoy thrprefnicc of any real, fheady friend,
capable of fupetintending their nmon;a aM direling
their conduct. The accidental indifcr$oas of young
Creuals, of either fex,arr, therefore, undob'In dly entided
to mwre than a c armenwwhcof indulgtece. lndiort,ifthe
cndlefs
E 73 1
me al&o to addci,,tht k i this ill-judged
though well-meant, attempt at refinement,
which I have frequently heard aligned, as
the principal reason for the partiality our
author fo loudly, and, pehiaps,. not very
delicately, exclaims againfl.
Page 85.-It can hardly be; fuppopqd,
the calculation contained in.this page is
intcuded to be furious j or that Mr. Ram-
fay can persuade the molt ignorant of his
readers,ithat fix and twenty thillings is the
u/ftal annual fum, appropriated by a
planter, to Ihpply a ngro with food,
clothing, medical attendance, &e. Upon
this, as well as other occasions, he ferns
1L far to over ihoot his mark, as to bring
the gravity of his intention into question,
there are few Weft India propsietore tbe-
live, but would efeem thenrielves verygood
wmcono-
.ndle6i variety of difficultiesipdSifnppointments, which
the generality of the WeltiRdili familin have to en-
counter, woer bh r known, they would foon ceafe to
h hw e Fceral obje~s of envy,or thefavourite butts toz
the btaf of prejudice.
f 74 1
ceconomtas, could they maintain a negro
for four times the i fm mentioned by
Mr. Ramfayb
Page 85--" The ordinary puntihments
of slaves, &c."--lere die author has a
fine field for the display of his defcriptive
powers, which he makes the ,bft; ufe of,
by dealing out his flri4ures, on the real
or imaginary cruelties exereifed on. the
Weft nidiaflaves, with no paring hand.
After indulging, however, in a few of the
qfual fights of his warm imagination,.pe
coaciJudn with the following confeflion-r.
that the labour, the diet, the punih.-
m innts, in thort, the general: treatment
"of leaves, depend on the character of the
owner, or manager and that,,li fAone
" plantations, they enjoy as much eafe
" and ,indulgence -as are comparable with
" their present late of:ignorance:and de-
" pendence ;'--which is faying, -neither
more nor lefs, than that pbwer, in the
the hands of merclefs and uai4eeting maf-
ters,'is very liable to be abufed.-. Indeed,
Mr. Ramkfay, it required ne'ghe to, ell us
this !
i J
this Why, eth&nv4hoildd ths amthortbe
at'fo much pd i,h 6s band a numerous
and valuable body of men, 4ith tAch in-
bumag behaviour, when, at4aA, he feems
to acknowledge, that but few of them de-
ferve it ? The Old Bailey chronicles af-
ford frequent inflaces of masters and
miflrcihes flarving, and beating to ilatr
their helpless apprentices j bt Would' it
not be'highly ungenerous in a foreigner,
upon the-ftength of fuch partial evidence,
to describe the Englith as a people which
delighted in the pain, torture, and d eth
of fuih miserable dependents' as fortune
had put it their power ?
Page 86, note.-" In a certain colony,
mno.:left than two chief judges, within.
Sthefr thirty years, have beentoeletbatetC
for cuatifg off, or mafhing.fo as to
"g make amputation neceflkry the limbs
of tieir flames, &c."--In this note, I am
Informed;'l e author i erfonI l al ludes to
two wretdet remark c for their severity
to their flOaew but that they attualy pio-
cceded to 'ldie aCi4ties iTo minutely
drt-.
[ 76 Jk
defcribel byhim, inay, perhaps, be ranked
among the exaggerations'which conffantly
attend the recital of a&s of horror. "Be
this howeavr as it may, considering both
thefe barbarians have been long finc;iuan-
nmoned o give an account of their stions
at the. awful tribunal of the Judge 'of
judges, it woiild have'carried die appear-
anciof chrilian charity in Mr. Ramfay,
to have let their enormities continue bu-
ried with them.
Page 88.-" We cannot pafs over in
"'filence, the ufual treatment of preg-
" nant women, and nurses. In almost
' every pTiintation they are fond of placing
" every negro,,who can wield a hoe, in the
~ field gang; fo fond, that hardly ay
'"rcmonfirance froni the surgeon can, an
"many cdcs, fave a poor difeafed wret h
" from labour; thoug'i. if method pre
* vailed, work mahy be found on the.phi_
" station equally neceffary and proportioned
"to every various"degree of ilty; and
" though one or two days atWpts in the
field
I 77 ]
field be fure, to lay them up in the 'oAi
",pitals for weeks.
At this work are pregnant women
'" often kept during the lafl month of
their pregnancy, and hence fixfer many
an abortion ; which fome imanagerse are
unfeeling enough to exprefs teir joy
at, becaufe the woman, on recovery,
"having no child to care for, will have
no pretence for indulgence'.'-How far
this is a fair fate of fafts, every person
the leaft conversant with the fugar cola-
nies can cafily judge. It may, however,
be necce lry to inform tle mere'European
reader, that what Mr. Ramfhy fuppofes
might be, does really exift; an.4 that the
very method he talks of, does actually pre-
vail. On all plantations there are thre
gangs; first, the great gang, whihi on-
fits of the ableft and molr.vigorous ne-
groes on the estate, who constantly work
by themselves ; fecondly tE fmnall gang,
in which a~ e includi4-negroes in more
advanced life, young ones growing up,
,Aul womeien who have fucking children;
:and
anid, Wy, ,te ;gOaf- gag, con itin of
hardy young children, who are employed,
under the care of an old woman, in ga-
thering gratf for horfes and other fock,
chiefly to keep them out of mitchi and
to ufe them to an early regularity. In
neither of there gangs have I mentioned
pregnant women, nor could I with the
leaft j a'te, a I have feldom (perhaps, I
might fay never) Coen a-wman, vifibly ad-
vanced in her pregnancy, employed in
work the. kca laborious, or even turned
out with either of the regular gangs, their
conalnt avocation being tq collet, during
L-the whole day, at the times it may beft
fuit them, three or four burthens of grafs,
or other ftock meat.
Page 88.-" If, after all, ihe carries Mr
burden the full time, the muft be deli-
vered in a dark, damp, fmoaky hutp
perhaps without a rag, &c."-In meaf
considerable plantations there is a regular
hospital or infirmary, one apartment of
which is" allotted for the reception of
lying-in women, and two fits of ready-
made
* [ 79 J
madc baby-cloatbs i. prwwiled hcLsach
infant; the has a nurfapurpofely to attend
her, and a woman to tackle her child, til
the is able to deb't hcrfelf.
Page 89.-*, A lying-inwoman i allowed
three, in fome plantations four weeks
for recovery. She then takes th. field,
with her child, and hoe or belltoc."-
A lying-in woman is always allowed a
month, and more if neceffary: fhe never
comes to work, as long as The fuckles her
child, till an hour or more after the other
slaves ; he picks no graft either. at noon
or night, and quits the field, in the even-
ing, another hour before the reft. 'Tis
true, the carries her child into the field
Switch her, where there is, however, always
shelterr at hand, to *prote& the inftin
both from fun and.rain; and there is alfo
Sa elderly careful woman conftattly in the
field, to do nothing eife than attend the
fueking children, when their mothers ars
employed. The inr4ulgences allowed to
women with infants at the breaft, are to
many, as often to be made an ill ufe of;
for
e o ,:
fur they in4dce thearthetrs ta keep.their
chirden in tlat. Jtate Lo long, as to, n-
anger their own health with that of their
children ; to preventwhibJ full all owace
of food is given to- each child as foon as
their mothers think fit td wean it,, by
which means, the lyve of plenty coun-
terads te love of cafe : and that this is
the Wain-fpring,, which fetssgoing the
*Aole lfbour of the world, no man, who
has fludied human nature ever. fo little,
will deny. Suppofilg, howcvcr, that, preg-
nanf and lying-in women, on ill-conduCod
efiates, are treated but little betterthan
Mr. Riaray aflerts, fti heir situation
under thofe circumifances, will more than
bear acolgpariJon with the lot f, th lJwver
order of females in Great Britain, whom
we frequently fee taken in labor in,'the
harvetl-fcd, or thei waliaiig-tub ; and
who, after the three or four days rece t
which .nature absolutely requires, are
obliged to rctiup to thae fame nremitted
drudgery, without the leaft ffiftance as to
the care of their offpirng.
:t Page
[ 8t ]
Page 90, note.--J' Undor the imprefon
"* of this negligence let me propofC the
" remedy, &c."-Thc remedy proposed
in this long note, is to recommend the
building of ahoufe, on purpose, for the ufe
of lying-in women. Had Mr. Ramfay been
as converfAnt with the interior management
of a plantation as he feems to affe&, he
mull have found this recommendation
nearly unneceflary, as few well fettled
elates are without a convenient apartment
for this very purpose; nor, in general, are
the Weft India planters half fo blind to
their own interests, as this author chufes
to represent them.
S Page 9z.-Our reverend author's next
fe ion (vii.) is entitled "Mafter and Slave
" in particular inflances."-In this fe&ion
he fets off by repeating an observation he
has made once or twice, before, "That
"there is no law in the colonies to refrain
Sthe ill behaviour or cruelty of a matter
" to his flavc."-I flatir myself, I have
already jlvly refuted this ill-grounded af-
ferrion. Through tie next page, or two,
SG I diall
[ 8 ]
J ball, fogpw Mr. Ranmay with much
4gcater fatisfa&ion, as they contain fome-
thing like a ballaOfor the many wounds,
and lacerations, he'has been hitherto em-
ployed, ininfliting on the poor delin-
quent planters. I cannot, however, help
remarking,- that the paflages I am about to
Quote, do much more credit to his candour,
than to his. confiftency; which both his
readers and mine will readily allow, when
he is found, at IJngth, to acknowledge, that
" the humanity of many mAfters more than
't fupplies,the want of lawb;"-that." the
"*diaves of many a planter poffefs advan-
" tages beyond what the labourer even ij
" Britain enjoys;"-that ":their work is
t generally calicr ;--that theirlives pafs
" more happily on, and they cnterrain no
,' anxious thoughts about their:axpences
( when lick, or their .maintenance when
" old;"-that their talk is but half the
" the work of a labourer of ordinary
f" irength ;"-and that, in a feecountry,
a peafant, in general, execuies twice the
" work of a flave in the fugar-colonies."--
How, 1 lay, can any impartial and unpre-
judiced
[ .83 1
judiced reader reconcile t&.Uhh1ig f
acknowledged truths, with ti `he agrvte
piqfures of mifery, att:ppre fli6n he has
.before been profetted with, through the
greaicft part of Mrn.Ranfy's very ia-
S bored performance.'
Page 93, 94,,and 9 5-4Here the author,
as if he haftly repented he fekivourable
conceffions he had been making refumes
the darkeit of his colours, to exhibitt the
moft odious and contemptible portrait of
,an unfortunate individual, whofe ample
fortune, it appears, served no better puir-
pofe, than to render his unworthinefs more
t conspicuous. The jpipofjd original ofthis
exaggerated caricature, is -al'f, I am in-
formed;genc to his account; Mr. Ramfay
mightihaerefore, wit4p rletylhave pared
this inhumaniaketcfh : 'but hefeems; like.
-the famous Spgnolet, to'delightchiefly in
pidures which excite difguft and horror;
and like him, therefore, fond of drawing
-from dead ibubjctsi
Page 95. f cc-Fromn ience to the con-
.^ G 2 clufion
cli$i of zhizfeventhi feaion, the awUhor
again deviates into the more agreeable Aile
of panegyric, to celebrate, for once, a living
charsacr. That the gentleman alluded
to, merits every prai( fo warmly beftowed
on him by. Mr;,Ramfay, Lhave not the
Icaft doabt; and I fincerely agree with
him, that ', it3 pleafant.to record fuch
an inflaicc."-It i happens, however,
that this deferring person was, very luckily,
C" the friend of the author;"-that Mr.
Ramfni y should have been able, during fo
long a residence among the planters, to
~ingleout bft one friend deferving.of iis
encomiuas, may, perhaps, ibe attributed
to fome unfortunate peculiarityjin his own
difpofition; as every one acquainted with
the agreeable fociety,,in which lb many of
the beig:years of Mr..Rtnamay's life was
pafled, mull recoTlle many gentlemen, as
juftly cntitlcd to his partiality, as tlje
firy. friend he has fele6ed. The cha-
radter, however, which the atuchor has
thoughtproper to idtr6duce,fingie as it is,
may tend, in a great meafire,rto remove
many wrong ideas, which are entertained
to
. I[ 8s i
to the prejudice of the iWand coloniI;T
as it fews at tne view,'that a`tliinterof
good fenfe and humanity, at the fame tiie
Itiat he contributes largely to the aggran-
dizement of his mother country, "has an
ampleW field for the display of ttiT mofk
amiable private virtdtis, by civilizing, nd
rendering happy; a very numneroiis fet of
dependants. '
Befoei I proved to consider my author's
fe dnd chapter, 'I fia'takce the liberty 6f
reffiuing the comparison between the
situation of the free laboor lg poor in
England, and'lhic slaves in the W fIndics;
which may probably open a field of fpecu-
latio6i; *ell calculated6 to exercise the
powers bf a liberal adinquifitive mind.
The Englifh pealfa'its~ both fees may,
I without exaggration, ibe conUldercd as
born to fever+e and 'hirditary'labour.*-
They 'fruggle through the years of their
G3 h child-
SA very few1 ipdecd, avoid this uncomfortable lot,
by being taken into the tfrvice of opulent families, or
otherwifc more fortunately difpofed of in cheir youth.
krVeird ;, eqaly pfecdtiy itho lhcats of
fammer,-anti the frofteofWia~errand is
a late of untutored ignorance.netfy ae
no fooner able;to handle a fork, or a ;take,
or tbfaibHqwi.thetfleps of a hoifc .along the
fkrrow,i-zrta their regldr carer of tpil
begins.-' t9te nwM fesof their legs are
kept fionitforiltng#byhvheavy pair of iron-
armod Thbes4;. t 'iwit. holders are. bowed
bya confliant attentionaothe flbil in which
they delvcs!their gait is auikward and
uoueh.g,-altd a il. their movements flow.
and inafive. If the natural, bloom', of
bcaldfOin ipite of all impediments, fotees
itfelfibto the countenances of a few indi-
vituals, during tlietanimation oftyouthi
ikrproves bat- a 4ntient glcamywhich,",
foon fubfides uiiderithepr1iore of' unre.
fitted, lablur, coflithint ':xpofure, a;N
fcanty diet; and gives way to the falid
wrinkles of piematgre&old age. If*i how-
ever, during this peiiiod, the 'impetuous
dihates of unpolished naturb#iftiuld, be-
tray an 'unfafttt ateoybuth iDitb' iirudent
-= grati-
r 87 ]
gratfications, what is- the odioue alterna-
tive provided or'm him? hj ii inevitably
compelled, either to conned 'himfelfi for
life with an abandoned wanton, an in-
dolcttilattern, or a termagant- ,rcw; or
to fly for ever from his native country,
and his deareft conneaions. If he efeapes
this fate, and fixes himself wiith a young
S woman of his own choice a growing fa-
mily foon increres the demands for his
very ntimof efforts,. lie pafes day after
day, q id year after year, in the fame la-
1borious occupations; and drudges equally
on, through alN the variety of weather to
which our unfettled climate is fubjef';
months of incefldnt rain, or continued
fnow, bning no renmiflon to his toil; and
when :he returns s at night to his rmud-
Walled cottagehe eftetms himself happy,
'if he finds ~b6lly-full of dry bread for
Am*niWfe and his family, or aAianidful of
fire totwarm his benumibed- -limbs, or to
dry his' dripping rags. 'An occafonal
mouthful 6f. ohcefe 1i5 a luxury to him,
and a raflier of rufty bacon his highest
delicacy. Ifhe pofiffire:a ifmall piece of
G4
ground,
[ 88 ],
goumd, undere the denomination of a gar-
den, as an appendage to his hovel, it--i
only by an extraJtpi of his own exer-
tions, .during ,an occafienal halfhotur
snatched from the time allotted to'teffeth-
ment, that it is made to afford him a few
,cabbages or potatoes. To dedicate the
unappropriated hours of Sunday to the
cultivation'.of this ufefhl fpot, he is
brought up to believe would be the worft
of fins: and that the fabbath is a day of
abfolute and univerfal refl, is a truth he
hears frequently inculcated by the curate
of the parishh; who, notwithstanding, is
himfelf obliged to fpend every Sunday.if
the year in riding twenty or thirty miles,
through dirty or dulty roads, and in per-
forming the duty eofhis more opulent erm-
ployers in three or four different parilles;
and who retires, inethe 'evening, fo fpent
with fatigue, as to be obliged to confefk,
that the day of ref is the only one of
the week in which none falls to his"lhare.
The poor hind, however, in confequence of
the opinion he has imbibed, is led,for want
of fomething,to do, as muchisTr&f incli-
nation, to loiter away thofe hours ofleifure
which
t 89 ),
which Sunday procures'him, and of which
fo few fall to hib fhare, af the dangerous
indulgences afforded byfoame neighbour-
ingaalehoufe. It will be urged, "that all
the hardships of the'Entlifh peasant are
fOftened by the idea ofliberty: Imake ufe
of the word idea from a conviction 'that
fuch of the labouring poor in England,
who are unfortunately able to reRfle pro-
perly on their own fituatiaon,'mAft confess,
that great part ofthe .liberty they are
reckoned to poffefs; is- truly nominal and
ideal. They are absolutely bourtd either
to work, or Jtarvc; nor. do they,- in fact,
enjoy the privilege of changing the fccne
of their labour, being under the almost
absolute dominion of fome-tyrannical over-
feet, or inifeeling churth-warden, who,
in -every country- parlh, like petty mo-
fiarchs, exercifean unmerciftfl' way over
the poorer inhabitants; and who are mu-
tually combined, to exclude all new fa-
milies from' fettling ,in their refpeCive
diftrias, leftthey Ihould, in time, become
burthenfome: fro that fuch of the poor
as raife faimilles li.a parifth, are,in reality,
nearly.
I- 9sa 1
nayly as. much dfiAed. to .the fail they
cultivate, as the boors of Ruffii or Poland.
Allowing,ehowekr, that the Englifh ila-
bourer is enabcd, during the prime ofhis
life, and the continuance of hivaihealth,
by a prudent and partinwniois application
Sof theoprofits arising from the molt afi-
duous and ceafclefs exertion ofhis firength,
to provide fufliciency of the coarfelb food,
and clothing, for. himself and family;
yet, what is hii fitualion, when he, or his
wife, or children, rc-afl-ited with Eick-
nefs ?-- without advice, without aflftance,
,ani( without necefiaries, he is. under the
tbe, cruel compulsion of .waiting for the
gradual operations of nature, in fullen pa-
tience, and torpid resignation, nearly in-
different as to the favourable,, or .faal
termination. of the diitrefsful crisis. But
a much more affeaing pidure of Engli h
human mifery ftill remains to. be exhi-
bited; and' that is, when the poor, ex-
hiaufed, worn-out vilims of labour, are
become aged, infirm, and'hkielflefs, and
are forced, under the complicated yreffure
ofcold, ,unger, anddecrepilifde, `t. itly,
for
for the mere Cuppom- o!fil fi a
on the little pitlai-ce. Jhickjcan.bb badly
pared them from tie ala~,iof theyounger
part of their families; or, which is more
dreadf-l to; depend tiretly|,for fuch
ianty i;elief as wilL barely keep bul and
body together, on the -humanity of, the
petty tyrants of their village, whofec in-
terell it is, that the Janguidrermnant of
their, now afelcfs,'4iives.fhottd find a
fpeedy period.-ThUiFtfrfesthings are fo,
ifi not to be denied.,- although uch a dif
gnffing and reproachful truth may remain
forgotten, or pal unheeded, aJidiR the ca-
reer of trifling and expensive purfiits, orli-
cen tious granifications, too generally adopted
by the lordly owners of that foil, which
ir isrendereliproduaive, only by the ceale-.
lgfs drudgery ofthefe devoted ifons anid
daughters of wretchednefsl.*..I will now
.' turn
S tihave confined this .viw of.de :itaition of t
lubouring poor entirly to England.-That it is il
moru wretched in Ireland, appais from the accounts
of feverail riicAfe ,tour-makers;: aid that' the High-
htaders of Scotlahd ae more than equally miferablc,
92
turn from this inotifying view of nomi-
nal liberty, ariffcrry'nif readei' acrofs
the Atlantic, to*tafe a profpet of rhofe
regions of slavery, Which, according to
the reprefenitationsi f Mr. R t'ay, are the
favourite abodes of tyranny, diftrefs, and
defponidece.--The young negroes arc no
fonii7r taken from the breasts of their
mothers, thin they receive an equal al-
lowance with them"; which, on many
cfates, is regularly drlffed for them, with
a mixture of vegetAhles, and ferved oit
two orI'fhree- times a day.-They are al-
*lMwcd cloaths according it their fize, bit
are feldorm feen with any in the& daytime,
being fuffered by their parents to range
about 'i th- fun without the leaf incutm-
btancc, by whic'ineans their inibs be-
come fipple, muicilad, t rid afive.-As
is evidcit from a very intclligen, and judiciqn s work,
lately pubiifloti by Mr. Knox, who concludes a de-
fcriptionof their Iate (which makes hujtipity fhudder)
with this (Irijkig panagie-- Uponi'ie whole the
L Highlands of Scotland, fome feiatratns excepted,
" are the feats of oppreffion, povert :fimin os anguifh,
W and wild dcfpAir."
F t 93 1
Ioon as they arc o!d enough, they are put
into a little gang by themeilvcs, and em-
pjoyed, under the dire&ion of fome ftcady,
careful old woman, ingathering grafs, or
other food, for lheep, horfes, &c.-From
this light work, as theyadvancein age and
fvrength, they are draughted into.what is
called the fill gang; and from thence,
as they arrive at maohood, are tken into
the great, or ftrogeft gang.-When a
negro lad attains the age of eighteen or
twenty, he begins to think of quitting his
father's family, and building, a houfe for
himself, and, at the fame time, of.con-
necting hinimflf with fome particular
young woman as a wife. It nuift be con-
feffed, that he does not always abide
Iliftly by the firft choice he makes on
fach occafionj yet, attachments of long
standing are much more frequentt than
could be expected under fuch a latitude
of toleration, and are, perhaps, oftner the
rcfult of real inclination, among the uncivi-
lized negroeks than in thofe highly pe-
lifhcd focicties, where 'the bonds of union
are indiffoluble.-When he has ereqed
his
94
hit hodfe andtakea nuto himself a help-
mate, he '-beginis.to cofider himfetf as
fettled, and boti'ihe a2d his wife ron-
tinue to improve their fettlement, and
:plant the ground around it,-: as well as
what may be allotted theumin other parts
of the plantation, in caffada, yams, pots
.to0e, &c. for tiae; and in' cotton, pot-
herba, fruit, &c. for ,alej and to enable
them to accomplit this.work, they have
for themfelvesthe whole of each Sunday,
frequently Saturday afternoon, and their
own daily recefs every noon, which they
rarely employ in eating, afpper being their
chief and tfavourite repaft. With the firft
money they acquire, they .generally pur-
chafe a hog, which is Loon increased to
two, or more, with the addition of goats,
and poultry, if they are :ficcchfful, and
industrious. They: mroft of, them, like-
wife, are pofThidi ofi a favourite dog or
two, which they are in no fear of being
deprived of by the gun of a furly over-
bearing game-keeper.- They't alfo plant
lime, lemon, plan rain, banai aiid calabaff
trees about their houfuE., khi, by.aquick
vege-
S[ 9s 1
vegetation, foon afford them, both thade
and fruit. As a young negro advances
inx riches, he will sometimes to far ven-
ture to indulge his pride, or inclinations,
as to take an additional wife or two; but
as the fable ladies are by no means exempt
efom the troublesome paflion of jealoafy,
this is deemed rather a hazardous adven-
ture, and the few libertines of the ton, who
take advantage oaf,this icLnce, have gene-
rally caufe to repent of their rahnefs.*-
As the fundamental neceffaries of life are
pretty amply provided for them, their
fp re time is only dedicated to the ,pr-
curing fuch additions, as an Englith over-
feer of a country parilt would be inclined
to consider, as the moit baneful luxuries
S among his fquaiid defendants. The men
ipiocure filh, crmbs, lobfers,and,. various
-. other
*Through the whole of this parallel it is eafily feen,
that I have only the tPpor'al' advantages of the different
p;irtii. in view: whaitevcr thEt ere, may be the opinion
of the wpotld at large; as to tlfihbercy of poligamy, and
dv- rce, they will, at lc;IAt be reckoned privileges of
no IjJll value, by. the converts and difciples of the
revcrend author of the famous Thclypthora.
[ 96 ]
other f&aproduitions, which, added to the
grain and falt provisions they receive from
the estate, and the roots' and vegetables
raised by thcmf&lves, enables their wives
(who are naturally much better, caterers
and cooks than the lower order of women
in England) not only to prepare the moft
nourithing, but the moft favor meals for
their biulbanda and children. Their kids
and poultry they carry to market; their
hogs they kill, and referving the head and
offlls, and sometimes a quarter for their
own eating, difpofc of the relt.-By thefe
,meansa fober, induitrious negro is feldom
without a good fuit or two of cloaths to
his back, and a few dollars in his pocket:
neither is the whole of their own time,
by any means, devoted to laborious em-
ployments, but,mirth, festivity, mufic,
and dancing,. cngrofs njfmall portion of
their leifure: theyrhave an ear for mufic,
and a graceful activity in dancing, far
beyond the dismal fcrapings, and aukward
caperings of an Englith Mlayf yy, or a
country wake.*-A negro knoys the hours
of
My readers will probably be tempted to fmiJe, when
I men.
',[ 97 ]
of his work, a: what i"repeed Ifm
him; and he is fenrfible,- -that if he
performs his duty wlit 'iiy, he is's in
no danger of' correidaon, or any 6ther pu-
nifhment.-He is C ft' fromm dreading
,the expenses of childyfenthat he'has every
riducement to wifh for a numerous fa-
'rily, and, consequently, enjoys thieplda-
fures of a husband, and a fathier, without
alloy. The terrors of licknefs and pain
are mitigated by tie refledion, that he is
certain of having prop er dvice miid afif-
tance, as well as ncctfary care'add atten-
dance. He has none of the pinching
rigours of inclement feafons to combat
with, but paflrs his whole life in a climate
congenial to his constitution, and where a
o t;and luxuriant vegetation, enfur&e
'him a return foriAuch cultivation ashe chufes
to bellow on his. owrn Httle' plantations.
Nor has ha the' ldaff ti'al b o look for-
ward,
I mention. negrqitfades Myuch nmucentsAttey
have occafionailyl mng them; ad which are no bad
burlrquet on tl6i, fipd:i 1 jam~w'u's, 'and 1u don't
inol moe's of tliePa tlaon, or the Hay-market.
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