These Unfortunate Creatures Cry And Weep Like
Their Parents, Without A Possibility Of Relief; The Very Instinct Of
The Brute, So Laudable, So Irresistible, Runs Counter Here To Their
Master's Interest; And To That God, All The Laws Of Nature Must Give
Way.
Thus planters get rich; so raw, so unexperienced am I in this
mode of life, that were I to
Be possessed of a plantation, and my
slaves treated as in general they are here, never could I rest in
peace; my sleep would be perpetually disturbed by a retrospect of
the frauds committed in Africa, in order to entrap them; frauds
surpassing in enormity everything which a common mind can possibly
conceive. I should be thinking of the barbarous treatment they meet
with on ship-board; of their anguish, of the despair necessarily
inspired by their situation, when torn from their friends and
relations; when delivered into the hands of a people differently
coloured, whom they cannot understand; carried in a strange machine
over an ever agitated element, which they had never seen before; and
finally delivered over to the severities of the whippers, and the
excessive labours of the field. Can it be possible that the force of
custom should ever make me deaf to all these reflections, and as
insensible to the injustice of that trade, and to their miseries, as
the rich inhabitants of this town seem to be? What then is man; this
being who boasts so much of the excellence and dignity of his
nature, among that variety of unscrutable mysteries, of unsolvable
problems, with which he is surrounded? The reason why man has been
thus created, is not the least astonishing! It is said, I know that
they are much happier here than in the West Indies; because land
being cheaper upon this continent than in those islands, the fields
allowed them to raise their subsistence from, are in general more
extensive. The only possible chance of any alleviation depends on
the humour of the planters, who, bred in the midst of slaves, learn
from the example of their parents to despise them; and seldom
conceive either from religion or philosophy, any ideas that tend to
make their fate less calamitous; except some strong native
tenderness of heart, some rays of philanthropy, overcome the
obduracy contracted by habit.
I have not resided here long enough to become insensible of pain for
the objects which I every day behold. In the choice of my friends
and acquaintance, I always endeavour to find out those whose
dispositions are somewhat congenial with my own. We have slaves
likewise in our northern provinces; I hope the time draws near when
they will be all emancipated: but how different their lot, how
different their situation, in every possible respect! They enjoy as
much liberty as their masters, they are as well clad, and as well
fed; in health and sickness they are tenderly taken care of; they
live under the same roof, and are, truly speaking, a part of our
families. Many of them are taught to read and write, and are well
instructed in the principles of religion; they are the companions of
our labours, and treated as such; they enjoy many perquisites, many
established holidays, and are not obliged to work more than white
people. They marry where inclination leads them; visit their wives
every week; are as decently clad as the common people; they are
indulged in educating, cherishing, and chastising their children,
who are taught subordination to them as to their lawful parents: in
short, they participate in many of the benefits of our society,
without being obliged to bear any of its burdens. They are fat,
healthy, and hearty, and far from repining at their fate; they think
themselves happier than many of the lower class whites: they share
with their masters the wheat and meat provision they help to raise;
many of those whom the good Quakers have emancipated have received
that great benefit with tears of regret, and have never quitted,
though free, their former masters and benefactors.
But is it really true, as I have heard it asserted here, that those
blacks are incapable of feeling the spurs of emulation, and the
cheerful sound of encouragement? By no means; there are a thousand
proofs existing of their gratitude and fidelity: those hearts in
which such noble dispositions can grow, are then like ours, they are
susceptible of every generous sentiment, of every useful motive of
action; they are capable of receiving lights, of imbibing ideas that
would greatly alleviate the weight of their miseries. But what
methods have in general been made use of to obtain so desirable an
end? None; the day in which they arrive and are sold, is the first
of their labours; labours, which from that hour admit of no respite;
for though indulged by law with relaxation on Sundays, they are
obliged to employ that time which is intended for rest, to till
their little plantations. What can be expected from wretches in such
circumstances? Forced from their native country, cruelly treated
when on board, and not less so on the plantations to which they are
driven; is there anything in this treatment but what must kindle all
the passions, sow the seeds of inveterate resentment, and nourish a
wish of perpetual revenge? They are left to the irresistible effects
of those strong and natural propensities; the blows they receive,
are they conducive to extinguish them, or to win their affections?
They are neither soothed by the hopes that their slavery will ever
terminate but with their lives; or yet encouraged by the goodness of
their food, or the mildness of their treatment. The very hopes held
out to mankind by religion, that consolatory system, so useful to
the miserable, are never presented to them; neither moral nor
physical means are made use of to soften their chains; they are left
in their original and untutored state; that very state wherein the
natural propensities of revenge and warm passions are so soon
kindled.
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