class. He appeared to be literally a prey to despair. He said he should think himself happy if he were capable of laboring in any mechanical employment whatever.. He related an anecdote of himself, which exhibits very distinctly, the delirium which affluence and luxurious habits stamp upon the human intellect when not fortified by virtue. He stated, that at a period when he was totally at a loss for resources, he met with an opportunity of engaging in a pursuit, on the commencement of which he received two hundred dollars. Liberality and hospitality to stran. gers (if their faces are white) are prominent and proverbial characteristics of well bred possessors of slaves, generally. So perfectly had his thoughts been attuned and associated to opulence and profusion, that he forgot his in verse position upon the wheel of fortune, and immediately commenced free table and free bottle; and his two hundred dollars disappeared entirely in one month;-soon after which he suffered severe privations for want of cash!

Having sketched an outline of some of the evils, which the present state of slavery necessarily produces to the possessors of slaves, we will next examine its effects upon the slaves themselves, and endeavor to prove that the pecuniary as well as the moral interests and rights of both parties, enjoin the expediency of adopting a different system of management.

It has been urged, in justification of domestic slavery, that the slave receives an equivalent for his incessant toil, in the certainty of being provided with food, clothing, and shelter and that a rigorous discipline is indispensible to the preservation of industry, and for security against rebellion and assassination. It is well known, in almost every description of human labor, that constant diligence produces more than a sufficiency of the necessaries of life, for the daily consumption of the laborer. Industry, duly

* An inn-keeper, in the south part of Virginia, who hires his stand, complains that his landlord does him much harm, by inviting nearly all his respectable company to the festivities of his own dwelling house.

C

rewarded, and accompanied by temperance and economy, is, with but casual exceptions, to every individual blessed with health, an infallible source of competence and wealth. As our all-wise Creator has fitted our organization, individually, to the acquirement of the means of subsistence, without depending on the labor and generosity of each other, there can be no doubt but he designed that each should retain and enjoy the products of his own hands, without molestation. It is certain that the labor of a slave is of more value than the expense of his daily personal necessities, or he could not be sold, (notwithstanding the risk of premature death,) for 400 or 900 dollars.

The excellence of the great fundamental precept of christianity, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them," is acknowledged and admired, it is believed, by every member of the human family, of whatever name or nation, that makes any pretension to religion or moral rectitude. And it most assuredly involves this precept also, which is still easier to obey, and cannot be dispensed with in the positive axioms of natural justice;-Whatsoever ye would that men should not do unto you, do ye not even so unto them. Will any possessor of slaves or other individual, voluntarily consign himself to hard labour during life? will he submit to the will and temper of another man, and surrender at his feet, the whole of the products of his toil? Unconditional slavery is contrary to the precepts of religion, moral justice, and the abstract, natural and political rights of man. It is a black, accumulating, threatening-thundercloud, in our moral horizon, the sudden explosion of which, might produce dangerous and fatal consequences. I am hence constrained to perform the melancholy task of recording my dissent from the sentiments of those, who, from the purest motives, and most laudable philanthropy, request the universal, simultaneous, and unconditional emancipation, of a numerous body of meek people, now groaning under the grievous yoke and goading lash of brutal unrewarded servitude, in these United States, "the world's best hope." Yet I do not mean to intimate that equal justice should not, or can

not be rendered to them. If guided by discretion, it may be administered to them with the highest advantage, and most perfect safety, to both parties. African servitude might, at the outset, be rendered so tolerable and reasonable, that the present appellation of slavery, which sounds so discordant, in connexion with the cheering mu sic of liberty, might be exchanged for some title, attended with a less chilling and base note.-Let Masters, without hesitation, become Patrons, Guardians, Friends, Civil Governors.-Let Slaves be converted into tenants and indented servants, (or laborers) bound, for the present, by the lamentable crisis of existing circumstances.-In compliance with the loud and imperative demands of justice and humanity, and the injunctions of policy and self interest, let their toil be carefully and justly proportioned to their bodily strength, and rewarded by a sufficiency of comfortable nourishment, clothing, and shelter. And, particularly in cases of correct behaviour and diligence, let a reasonable sum be paid, monthly or annually, to those who have discretion to make a proper use of it, or allotted and reserved for the education and eventual benefit of their children. Let them be effectually protected from the destructive ravages of distilled spirits. Let them not be bought and sold as beasts of the harness, without their consent; unless guilty of criminal conduct;--and let this be decided by the laws of the country. Nor for all the silver in the mines of Potosi, let an ounce of iron be rivetted upon their necks, wrists, or ancles; for he who fashioned these sections of their bodies, never designed them for such barbarous purposes! Let the "resounding lash," and the savage arts of torture and cruelty be laid aside. The adoption of a discipline, founded on justice and reciprocal equity, will render these unnecessary. It is a very important fact, in human nature, that men, in all conditions, perform their duty with far greater alacrity and pleasure, when prompted by the exhilarating anticipation of reward and advantage, than by coercion, and the paralyzing menace of penalties and pain.†

* Homer.

†The ingenious and benevolent Mr. J. M'Leod, teacher of a respectable seminary in the city of Washington, has assured the author,

Brissott says, "Philosophy cries, brethren be just-be beneficent and you will prosper.-Eternal slavery must be an eternal source of crimes;-divest it at least of the epithet eternal, for anguish that knows no bounds can only produce despair." "With a pure heart," (says Carnot, another French philanthropist) one is never unhappy." Let the possessor of slaves consult the oracles of his own conscience, the spontaneous counsels of his own heart, and the sublime parable of the beneficent founder of the christian religion, and act accordingly. Did not the slave, (or his ancestors in Africa,) “fall among thieves, which stripped him" of liberty and happiness;-and are purchasers or retainers of known stolen property, (—or liberty-) entirely absolved, either by the laws of God or man, from a degree of participation in the original transgression? Let every individual, then, who finds a slave in his hands, whether by traffic or inheritance, "take compassion on him," like the good Samaritan, and bind up the old and painful wounds, which have been inflicted on his "unalienable rights," given him, by his Creator and sole Proprietor;

Which no man, for gold, can buy or sell!

that he has extended the science of encouraging promptitude in duty, to such a degree, that, (by his permission,) his pupils have often flocked to his lodgings, in crowds, before the dawn of day, emulating each other, who should first rouse him from his bed, in order to proceed upon their studies. At the same time, he did not permit his rules to be violated with impunity. He pursued the same policy with soldiers, while an officer, formerly a short time in the United States' army, and with the same success. While a private teacher in a family in which slaves were kept, his sympathy was so deeply wounded by the severity of their punishments for misconduct, that he frequently gave them a quarter of a dollar out of his own pocket, as an inducement for doing their duty so as not to incur the displeasure of their masters. Might not such a system of genuine and generous republican government as this, be adopted with mutual benefit to both the people and their rulers, on the slave plantations, universally.

This philanthropic and sympathetic countryman of Sterne and of Goldsmith, assured the writer, that he had often declared it, and would, gladly and willingly divide his liberty, with those who are now deprived of it, by devoting for its purchase, a share of his daily earnings.

Intellectual and moral improvement is the safe and permanent basis, on which the arch of eventual freedom to the enslaved Africans, may be gradually erected. Let the glorious work be commenced by instructing such of the holders and overseers of slaves and their sons and daughters, as have hitherto been deprived of the blessings of education. Let every slave, less than thirty years of age, of either sex, be taught the art of reading, sufficiently for receiving moral and religious instruction, from books in the English language. For this purpose, the Lancasterian mode of instruction, would be admirably well adapted. A well selected economical library of such books as are calculated to inculcate the love of knowledge and virtue, ought to form an essential appurtenance to every plantation.

› Governor Miller, in his message of 1815, to the legis lature of North Carolina, affirms, that "With knowledge and virtue, the united efforts of ignorance and tyranny may be defied." Governor Nicholas, in his message of the same year, to the legislature of Virginia, says, "Without intelligence, self government, our dearest privilege, cannot be exercised." President Madison, in his message to the Congress, also of the same year, says, "Without knowledge, the blessings of liberty cannot be fully enjoyed or long preserved.” And in his recent valedictory message, that he shall read in the character of the Ame rican people, in their true devotion to liberty, and to the constitution, which is its palladium, sure presages that the destined career of his country will exhibit a government pursuing the public good as its sole object, &c. "which maintains inviolably the maxims of public faith, security of persons and property, and encourages in every authorized mode, that general diffusion of knowledge, which guarantees to public liberty its permanency, and to those who possess the blessing, the true enjoyment of it; &c." Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural speech, says, "If man is not fit to govern himself, how can it be expected that he should be fit to be entrusted with the government of others? Can we expect to find angels in the form of kings?" Whether it be safe to risk the untutored slave with his liberty or not, his situation must be incon