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perfectly concur with the Bishop of St. David's in denying both the fact and the inference. It is not a fact that the condition of the large mass of the slaves is comfortable, even as to their physical condition: let those who think it is, refer to the shewing of the West Indians themselves, in Mr. Clarkson's paper in our Number for August last. But, even if the fact were so; if, instead of the harsher life of a post-horse, they had all the indulgences of a favourite palfrey; would this be all that is necessary to the happiness of a member of the human species? To be the chattel of another, to have no rights or privileges as a member of society, to be saleable, transferable, a mere beast of burden, a tool, a mechanical spring or lever in the hands of a master, to know nothing of the blessings of the marriage life, his children not his own, We have heard indeed much of late of slave marriages; but to this moment there is, in almost all our slave colonies, no such legal institution. The Rev. G. W. Bridges boasts much of the marriages which he has solemnized in his parish of Manchester, in Jamaica; but we have yet to learn by what provisions of law such marriages are there protected from violation or forcible disruption. Religious slaves will, from principle, attach themselves to one partner only, and for life; but they gain no legal rights of marriage from their ceremonial union, or from their continence, any more than slaves married" in duplicate, triplicate, or multiplicate, such as are exhibited in the following advertisement in a Jamaica newspaper.

"Grant's Green, Manchester, Oct. 15, 1823. Run away some time ago from the Subscriber, a Negro Man named Marcus, alias John Shakespeare, about 5 feet 7 inches high, stout and well made: Also a Sambo Man named Robert Ball, about 15 feet 10 or 1 inches high. They are both extremely plausible, and are suspected to be harboured at Mr. Laird's Prospect, or on Lancaster Estate, in St. Elizabeth's, on both of which Properties the foriner has a wife and family. A Reward of Eight Dollars shall be paid to any person who will lodge each of them in any Work house, and a further Reward of Twenty #CHRIST, OBSERV, No. 274.

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but the slaves of another will not go on with the picture; let our readers fill up its dark shades for themselves, and then decide, whether West-Indian slaves are "better off than the British peasantry."

In the above remarks we have said nothing of the infinitely important fact, that the slave has a soul; that, like his master, he is an heir of eternity! Now, to our minds, the only consistent way of upholding slavery, in whole or in part, is at once to deny this 'fact, and to view the slave as a mere brute animal. Mr. Lawrence, in his celebrated "Lectures," has argued this point, of Negroes having no soul, so excellently well that we recommend his arguments to the advocates for slavery, and the opposers of Christian missions among the slaves. He attempts, it is true, to shew, that the European, also himself has no soul, no immaterial or immortal principle; but this is a mere trifle, and does not affect his general argument. How triumphantly does he prove, not only that the Negro is not, but that he cannot be, "a religious animal!" To at tempt to raise Americans or Africans to an equal height, either in morals or intellect, with Europeans, he states to be " as unreasonable as to expect that the greyhound may be taught to hunt by scent like the hound, or the mastiff rival in talents and acquirements the sagacious and docile poodle! True it is, that Mr. Lawrence "respects the feelings of philanthropy, and the motives of benevolence which have prompted many of our countrymen to exert themselves in behalf of the unenlightened and depressed: "cannot contemplate without strong admiration, the heroic self-denial and the generous devotion of those who, foregoing the comforts, luxuries, and rational enjoyments of

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polished society, expose themselves thus:1.Narrow and depressed foreto noxious climates, and to all the perils of unknown countries, in or der to win over the savage to the settled habits, the useful arts, and the various advantages of civilized life; to rescue him from the terrors of superstition, and to bestow on him the inestimable blessings of mental culture and pure religion." But, alas! all this exertion and philanthropy are utterly vain: organization is too strong for Christianity. ، The retreating forehead and the depressed vertex," he remarks," of the dark-coloured varieties of man, make me strongly doubt whether they are susceptible of these high destinies; whether they are capable of understand

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ing and appreciating the doctrines and the mysteries of our religion !" Here the professor of anatomy goes on to correct an error into which even Mr. Bailey himself has fallen; for though Mr. Bailey had very judiciously reprobated" such visionary and dangerous proceedings as are carried on by English missionaries in the West Indies," he had committed the mistake of supposing, that, by means of education and "the establishment of schools," the slaves may be gradually prepared for better things. But Mr. Lawrence scientifically corrects this mistake. These obstacles," he says, namely, the retreating forehead and the depressed vertex," that is, the want of half an inch of scull in the right place, "will, I fear, be too powerful for Missionaries and Bible Societies, for Bell and Lancaster schools." They have not, indeed, been too powerful in Sierra Leone, or the West Indies, whereever the experiment has been fairly tried : but, again, let that pass; for mere facts are of little weight against such learned demonstrations as those on which Mr. Lawrence's theory is grounded, and of which the following is his own summary. "The characters of the Ethiopian variety, as observed in the genuine Negro tribes, may be summed up

head; the entire cranium contract-
ed entirely ; the cavity less, both
in its circumference and transverse
measurements. 2. Occipital fora-
man and condyles placed further
back. 3. Large space for the tem-
poral muscles. 4. Great develop-
ment of the face. 5. Prominence
of the jaws altogether, and partica-
larly of their alveolar margins and
teeth; consequent obliquity of the
facial line. 6. Superior incisors
slanting. 7. Chin receding.
Very large and strong zygomatic
arch, projecting towards the front.
9. Large nasal cavity. 10. Small
and flattened ossa nasi, sometimes
consolidated, and running into a
point above." Now is it not clear-
ly impossible to make Christians of
such creatures as these? The tales
from Sierra Leone, Antigua, and
various other islands, must be mere
fables. Preach to men whose scull
is hung on its hinge, some lines
further back than an Englishman's!
Absurd! Pray for men the bones of
whose nose run into a point above!
Ridiculous! Attempt to educate
men with slanting teeth! Utterly
romantic: the dentist is the only
missionary. To think that a soul
can dwell where the temporal mus-
cles are large, and the face greatly
developed! Our intensitives are
exhausted for expressing such folly.
A Negro himself might be ashamed
of it.

We will, however, tell Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. Bailey too, what it really is that has so long impeded the effective influence of schools, and Christian missions, and Bible Societies among this "dark race of mankind." It is not a depressed skull, or muscular face: it has been the slave trade in Africa, and its originator slavery in the West Indies. The Bishop of St. David's justly remarked, five and thirty years ago, that "all attempts at present to inculcate among them the religion of Christ must be vain, while West-India slavery, through the slave trade,' continues the oc

casion of perpetual hostilities, and encourages practices in the highest degree repugnant to the doctrines of Christianity."

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But, assuming with Mr. Lawrence, that Negroes are semi-monkeys, may they not then be treated as such? Is it not a fantastic refinement to have a Smithfield Act of Parliament for their protection? Upon this subject we recommend to the West-India farmer the further remarks of Mr. Lawrence, shewing how Negroes ought to be treated, on his own hypothesis of their being a mere approximation to monkeys ;"—and, à fortiori, what ought to be their treatment, if by any possible chance they should turn out, after all, to be men like ourselves in all that constitutes the true nature and dignity of the human character. "The Abolitionists," Mr.Lawrence had said, "have erred in denying their natural inferiority;" "but," he adds, " it was only an error of fact, and may be the more readily excused, as it was on the side of humanity. Their opponents have committed the more serious moral mistake of perverting what should constitute a claim to kindness and indulgence, into a justification or palliation of the revolting and anti-Christian practice of traffic in human flesh; a practice branded with the double curse of equal degradation to the oppressor and the oppressed. The very argument which has been used for defence, seems to me a tenfold aggravation of the enormity. Superior endowments, higher intellect, greater capacity for knowledge, arts, and science, should be employed to oxtend the blessings of civilization, and multiply the enjoyments of social life; not as a means of op-pressing the weak and ignorant, of plunging those who are naturally low in the intellectual scale still more deeply into the abyss of barobarism." "Those who possess higher gifts" "should remember the condition upon which they are enjoyed; From him to whom much

is given, much will be expected,' What a commentary on this text is furnished by Negro slavery, as carried on and permitted by Christian kings, Catholic majesties, defenders of the faith, &c.!" We are only grieved that Professor Lawrence should have been furnished with any occasion for such a commentary. He did not, however, seem to be aware, with Mr. Bailey, that "faith" might make men view these enormities with a steady mind."

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Mr. Bailey iterates the old assertion, that West-Indian slavery is not so severe as the slavery of the ancient Romans. He remarks:

"We hear indeed much of the oppression and cruelty sustained by the Negroes in our western colonies; and it is to be feared, though the accounts may be exaggerated, that their condition requires much amelioration. But let any one, who is familiar with the treatment of slaves in

the West Indies, compare with it the following accurate account, by a learned writer, (Dr. John Taylor's Elements of Civil Law: see also Potter's Antiquities of Greece, book I., and other authors), of the wretched condition of slaves, accordto the laws and customs of the Romans; and he will, I think, concur in the justice of the above remarks.

"The common lot of slaves in gene

ral was, with the ancients, in many circumstances, very deplorable. Of their situation, take the following instances :— They were held pro nullis, pro mortuis, pro quadrupedibus-for no men, for dead men, for beasts; nay, were in a much worse state than any cattle whatsoever. They had no head in the state, no name, no tribe, or register. They were not capable of being injured; nor could they take by purchase or descent; had no heirs, and therefore could make no will of course. Exclusive of what was called their peculium, whatever they acquired was their master's: they could not plead, nor be pleaded, but were excluded from all civil concerns whatsoever; were not entitled to the rights and considerations of matrimony, and therefore had no relief in case of adultery; nor were the proper objects of cognation or affinity. They could be sold, transferred, or pawned as goods, or personal estate; for goods they were, and such were they esteemed; might be tortured for evidence; punished at the dis4 N 2

eretion of their lord, and even put to ( death by his authority together with many other civil incapacities, which I have .not room to enumerate. Bailey, PP.

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Now, supposing it were true, that West-India slavery is not so severe as the slavery of ancient Rome, is it saying much in its favour even to make the comparison ? Christian masters are not more brutal than heathens! Britons are quite as humane as the proverbially tyrannical Roman! The enlightened laws and customs of the eighteenth century after Christ, are not more unjust, tyrannical, and Draconic than those of barbarous antiquity, and scarce ly so much so! The professed disciples of Christ are as generous and benevolent as the avowed worshippers of Mars and Bellona! But let Mr. Bailey read what Mr. Stephen has written on this part of the tion, and he will find that, worthless as the argument would be, even if it were true, it has the superadded misfortune of being utterly false. We wish we could find room, which we cannot at present do, for Mr. Stephen's painfully interesting and convincing statements on this subject. But, even taking Mr. Bailey's own quotation as a test, are not West-Indian slaves held " pro nullis, pro mortuis, pro quadrupedibus, or at least for brute bipedibus? Have they any "head in the state any name, or tribe, or register ?" Are they "capable of being injured," that is, of obtaining legal redress for an injury? or can they inherit by purchase or descent; or have heirs," or "make (valid) wills" or even legally claim the little" peculium" which the Roman laws allowed the slave beyond the grasp of the master? Can they "plead or be pleaded," or enter into " civil concerns, or enjoy "the rights and considerations of matrimony," or have relief in case of adultery," or be objects of "cognation and affinity?" May they not be "sold, transferred, or pawned;" and though not legally tortured for evidence,"

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or put to death by authority of their lord," yet reduced to such a state of helplessness and degradation, that this addition to their calamities would, in point of fact and practice, be scarcely a perceptible addition to their misfortunes? If Mr. Bailey had quoted the above passage as in illustration, we should have admired its aptness; but to offer it as a contrast, is an insult to the understanding of his readers.

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Mr. Bailey most strangely concludes his defence of slavery with a tirade on British liberty.—"

the people, and the liberty of the press of "O never, never, may the freedom of England, be prostituted to other purposes than the support of the altar and the throne! Let Englishmen (and why not, we would ask, Africans and Mulattoes?} be free as the air they breathe; for that is as the breath of God, and obeys his mandate. Let them be free as the waves which beat against the rocks which bulwark our seathe voice of Him, who stills the roaring girt isle. But let them never be deaf to of the waters, and walks upon the wings of the wind. Let Englishmen be free without licentiousness, loyal without servility, pious without fanaticism. And let not the fields of old- England, which her poets have loved, nor her rocks, on which with hearts firm as themselves, her heroes

have stood to defend our civil and religious liberties, reproach us with the me

mory

and virtues of our forefathers. Let

them not be damning evidence against us, that we have abused our liberty and our literature with the unhallowed embraces of democracy, fanaticism, and infidelity. Let the love of old England be indelibly engraved upon the tablets of our hearts, in unison with those sound principles, our forefathers have maintained with the prowess of their arms, and which less offspring of their immortal pens.”__ they have bequeathed to us in the deathBailey, pp. 48, 49.

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This bombastical eulogy on liberty and the British constitution, in an apology for slavery, extorts from us in reply the following passages from the Bishop of St. David's treatise. They are strictly in point; and we think it most probable that Mr. Harris had let off a similar eulogium. "The inconsistency between

slavery, and the slave trade, and the general principles of our law and constitution, between the permission of such usages and our high pretensions to civil liberty, appear to contain arguments for the abolition of slavery, not less powerful on the one hand, than the injunctions of Scripture and the rights of nature on the other." "If slavery, however modified, is suffered to exist, British law cannot be in force. Why then attempt to modify what is in its very principle inhuman, unchristian, and inconsistent with British law, and the spirit of our constitution; and which, however its concomitant circumstances might be diminished, could never be rendered not inhuman, not unchristian, not unconstitutional. If justice to our nature, to our religion, and our country demand the sacrifice, why should an act of such accumulated duty be done by halves? Why not rather, by one generous effort of public virtue, cut off all occasion of inhumanity and oppression, with all the pernicious effects of slavery on the slave, the master, and the state?" Even if the experience of two centuries did not forbid us to suppose that the abuses, as they are called, of slavery and the slave trade, could be effectually checked and prevented by legal authority, yet the very nature of the offences complained of resists the supposition. Oppression, cruelty, the degradation of the human spe cies, and repugnance to the British constitution, are evils inseparable from slavery and the slave trade."

The Bishop even apprehends, and not without reason, injury to the mother country, by the baneful effects and reaction of her colonial slave-system. He greatly dreads the influence of West-Indian residents, on their return to England. "The air even of this land of liberty," he remarks, "may not be able to dissipate their West-Indian habits of absolute dominion." Had the Bishop prophetically anticipated the anti-slave-trade and anti-slavery

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struggles of the thirty-five years which have elapsed since his treatise was written, he could not have uttered a more correct judgment.

With these views of the subject, our readers cannot wonder that the Bishop maintains, that "no British subject can be exempt from the duty of doing every thing in his power towards procuring the abolition both of West-India slavery and the slave trade; customs in every way repugnant to religion, humanity, and freedom." He particularly urges the subject upon his brethren of that sacred order to which the Reverend gentleman on whose pamphlet we have been constrained to animadvert belongs. The clergy, it seems, had been reproached by the West-India party for their zealous efforts for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery. The Bishop vindicates them; remarking, that if no British subject is "exempt from the duty of doing every thing in his power towards preventing the continuance of so great a political as well as moral evil, more especially are not those subjects whose business it is to teach what it is every man's concern to know; the interpreters of God's word, which is so flagrantly violated by West-India slavery and its consequences." "Instead of wishing to restrain the exertions of any order of men or individuals, in this cause of human nature, let us rather of all ranks, professions, and persuasions unite in the name of the common Father of mankind in the name of Him who died to save us all, in the name of Faith, of Charity, and of Liberty, to implore those who have the power, to extirpate a system of cruelty and oppression, which has been so long suffered to exist, to the dishonour of human nature, the discredit of a Christian nation, of a generous and enlightened people, and the disgrace of a free constitution!"

But we have too long detained our readers from the interesting pamphlet which we have drawn up

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