longer a dungeon in her hold. He was free to exercise his industry, and secure in the fruits of his toil. His wife was his wife, and his children his children, and no longer the property of a tyrant—and no more went up the cry of his wrongs and of his blood to God against the land.
It is true indeed, that for a considerable time after this, the country was disgraced at times, by ignorant or lawless men; as for instance, in 1779 the following advertisement was made at Liverpool, on 15th October; "To be sold by auction, at George Dunbar's office, on Thursday next, the 21st inst., at one o'clock, a black boy, about fourteen years old," &c. But these were merely as the last lashings of the wave, when the storm recedes from the shore. They have long ceased.[1]
SECTION III.
ON 22d June, 1772, the day on which it was judged in Sergeant Davy's words, by Lord Mansfield's decision, that "as soon as any slave, sets his foot on English ground, he becomes free," Granville Sharp received a letter from Anthony Benezet, and for several years after kept up a correspondence with him on the most important subjects of humanity and of practical religion. Benezet, in his first letter, dated Philadelphia, 14th of 5th month, (May) 1772, urges Sharp to attack the African slave trade, and speaks of the disposition of thousands in Maryland and Virginia, to support him with petitions. "The people of New England," he says, "have made a law, that nearly amounts to a prohibition of the trade, and I am informed, have proposed to the Governor and Council, that all negroes born in the country, should be free at a certain age. I know the flood of impiety and selfishness, which as a torrent seems to overflow, will be a great discouragement: but, let us remember, that the Lord's power, is above the power of darkness!! His hand is not shortened, that it cannot save by few, as well as by many."
Sharp, replying in a letter dated Old Jewry, London, August 21, 1772, declares his cordial sympathy with the writer, and urges petitions "against the toleration of slavery in the Colonies."
Sharp's correspondence was subsequently extended to Benjamin Franklin, and to Dr. Rush. In a letter of the latter, dated Philadelphia, 1st May, 1773, are the following interesting words: "A spirit of humanity and religion begins to awaken, in several of the Colonies, in favor of the poor negroes. The clergy begin to bear a public testimony against this violation of the laws of nature and christianity. Great events have been brought about by small beginings. Anthony Benezet stood alone a few years ago, in opposing negro slavery in Philadelphia; and now three-fourths of the province, as well as of the city, cry out against it," &c.
Sharp, in the course of this correspondence with America, was led to investigate the nature of the contest between the Colonies and the mother country, and in 1774, published a tract, entitled "A declaration of the people's natural rights to a share in the Legislature, which is the fundamental principle of the British Constitution." Of this he gave 250 copies to Dr. Franklin, who despatched them to America the same day. The tract was immediately and extensively republished in the Colonies. In this tract, he displayed the intrepid and impartial love which ever glowed in his bosom, for "the real rights of men." He saw the Colonies oppressed, and he became at once their advocate. Happy indeed, for them and for the world would it have been, if their love for rights, had been impartial and magnanimous like his. Then indeed, had slavery ceased with the dominion of Britain from the United States, and instead of remaining as they now emphatically are, "the land of the brave and the home of the slave," they would have been, with a glory before unknown to earth, " the land of the brave and the home of the free." On 28th July, 1775, accounts reached the Ordnance Board, at Westminster, of the battle of Charlestown, near Boston, and Granville Sharp, immediately making known to his superiors in office, his sentiments in relation to the contest, and his repugnance to all war, took a furlough of two months, in hopes that peace might yet be restored. The following extract from a letter, as his furlough was expiring, to Mr. Boddington, the officer in charge of the department, is quite in character: "Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, 26th Sept. 1775; Dear Sir—As the term of my absence will expire in a few days, and there is not yet any change of public measures respecting America, though the petition lately brought over by Mr. Penn, had given me some hopes of it, I now begin to be anxious about my own particular situation; for, as my opinions on that subject are established, I cannot return to my ordnance duty, whilst a bloody war is carried on, unjustly as I conceive, against my fellow subjects: and yet, to resign my place, would be to give up a calling, which by my close attendance to it for nearly eighteen years, and by my neglect of every other means of subsistence during so long a period, is now become my only profession and livelihood," &c. His furlough was readily prolonged; but on 10th April, 1777, all hopes of peace having ceased, he finally resigned his office. Thus stood the protector of the helpless, destitute himself of the means of subsistence. But his brothers, James and William, proved brothers indeed. They revered that sacred sense of duty which had deprived him of a handsome provision, and they strove together to compensate his loss. His company, always a treasure to them, was now doubly dear, and for several years he became their companion and guest. The following lines, some time previously, were addressed to him by———Payne, Esq., one of the Directors of the Bank of England:
"Wise, learned, meek, with reverential love
Of God's just laws, and love of man full fraught,
O may thy labors by the midnight lamp
Pour day's effulgence on thy country's darkness;
Teach lawyers rectitude—teach statesmen truth—
Teach tyrants justice; and the willing hind,
Lord of his little freehold, teach to prize
His deep responsibilities, and deem
His own rights sacred as the rights of monarchs.
But should the voice of warning not be heard;
Should this devoted nation, left of God,
Worship hell's blackest demon, lawless power;
And driven by pride and wrath, precipitate
Her hasty strides, through streams of kindred blood
Hastening to dissolution—Then, Oh then
May thy just spirit, gentle, humble, firm,
Marking with pitying eye the storm of wrath,
Rise peaceful to its native heaven,
All buoyant on the wing of spotless liberty."
In 1775, Omai, a native of Waieta, was brought to England. Granville Sharp hoping through him to benefit his native land, sought his acquaintance and devoted a portion of leisure to his instruction. At one of their meetings, the following conversation took place. Omai, like all his people, was addicted to polygamy, and had no idea of its cruelty and turpitude—but he was endowed with that native intelligence, that natural power of discriminating between right and wrong, which is independent of learning, and which is often fairest in the most uncultivated minds. Granville Sharp thus records the conversation:
"When sitting with him at table one day after dinner, I thought it a good opportunity to explain to him the ten commandments. I proceeded with tolerable success, in reciting the first six. He had nothing to object against any of them, though many explications were required, before he understood all the terms; and he freely nodded his assent. But when I recited the seventh commandment, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery;' he cried, 'Adultery! what that? what that?
"It is I said, that if a man has got one wife, he must not take another wife, or any other woman. 'Oh,' said he, 'two wives, very good—three wives, very, very good.' No, Omai, said I, not so—that would be contrary to the first principle of the law of nature. 'First principle of law of nature,' said he, 'what that? what that?' The first principle of the law of nature is, I said, that no man must do to another person, any thing that he would not like to be done to himself. For example, suppose you, Omai, have got a wife that you love very much—would you like another man to come and love your wife? This raised his indignation—he put on a furious countenance and a threatening posture, signifying that he would kill any man that should meddle with his wife. Well then, Omai, I said, suppose that your wife loves you very much, she would not like that you should love another woman. For women have the same passions and feelings and love towards man, which we have towards woman—and we ought, therefore, to regulate our behavior towards them, by our own feelings of what we should like and expect of faithful love and duty from them, towards ourselves.
"This new view of the case produced a deep consideration and silence for some time on the part of Omai. But he soon satisfied me that he thoroughly comprehended the due influence of the law of liberty, when it is applied to regulate, by our own feelings, the conduct and behavior, which we owe to others. There was an inkstand on the table with several pens in it. He took one pen and laid it on the table—'there lies Lord S———,' said he. Then he took another pen and laid it down by the side of the first, and said, 'there lies Miss W———,' (an accomplished young lady who lived in adultery with Lord S———;) and then taking a third pen, and laying it on the table as far as his arm could reach from the other two, he reclined his elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand, in a pensive posture, he said, 'and there lies Lady S——— and cry—cry!'"
The heart of Granville Sharp, shrunk like the sensitive plant, from the very touch of pollution—and it responded buoyantly to every call of truth and law, as the damask rose expands when heaven with the returning summer again showers life and beauty over the earth.
On 26th September, 1776, he received the following letter from a new friend:
Sir—Being at Woolston Hall, Dr. Scott's house, he showed me your 'Law of Retribution.' I was greatly rejoiced to find, that so laborious and learned a man, had appeared as champion for the rights of mankind, against avarice, extortion and inhumanity—that you had, with an heroic courage, dared to press home on an infidel, luxurious world, the dreadful threats of the Lord. The ruins of Babylon, Memphis and Tyre, are strong mementos to a Lisbon, a London, and a Paris, of the recompense paid to those, who fat their luxuries, on the labor of wretched slaves.
"The Portuguese, were the first of the western Christians, who allowed slavery; their adventurers stole men from Guinea and sold them as slaves. On Lisbon, the judgment has fallen. An unnatural war between us and America, seems to denote the second—you fairly open up the third, &c. &c.James Oglethorpe."
In a subsequent letter, dated Cranham Hall, 13th October, 1776, General Oglethorpe supplies the following deeply interesting historical facts:
"My friends and I settled the colony of Georgia, and by Charter were established Trustees, to make laws, &c. We determined not to suffer slavery there. But the slave merchants and their adherents, occasioned us not only much trouble, but at last got the then government to favor them. We would not suffer slavery (which is against the Gospel as well as the fundamental law of England) to be authorized under our authority; we refused as Trustees, to make a law permitting such a horrid crime. The Government finding the Trustees resolved firmly not to concur with what they believed unjust, took away the charter by which no law could be passed without our consent. * * *
"This cruel custom of a private man's being supported in exercising more power over the man whom he affirms to have bought as his slave, than the magistrate has over the master, is a solecism in politics. This, I think was taken from the Romans. The horrid cruelty, which that proud nation showed in all they did, gave such power to the masters of slaves, that they confused even the state.[2] Decius Brutus, by the gladiators, his slaves, defended the conspirators that killed the Dictator Cæsar. The cruelty of the slave masters occasioned the slaves to join Spartacus, who almost overturned Rome, &c.
"I find in Sir Walter Raleigh's history of the Saracens, that their success, and the destruction of the Grecian and Persian empires, were chiefly owing to the Greeks and Persians having such vast numbers of slaves, by whom all labor and husbandry were carried on. And on the Saracens' giving freedom to all who professed their law, the multitude, in every conquered province, joined them. * *
"The christian Emperors would have qualified the laws of slavery—but the Senate of Rome, in whom the old leaven of idolatry still prevailed, stopped such good designs.[3] St. Austin, in his "De Civitate Dei," mentions that idolatry was sunk into the marrow of the Romans—that the destruction of Rome by the Goths seemed necessary to root out idolatry. The Goths and all the northern nations, when converted to Christianity, abolished slavery. The husbandry was performed by men under the protection of the laws. Though some tenures of villienage were too severe, yet the villien had the protection of law; and their lords could not exact more than was by the laws regulated," (Bracton,) &c.
About this time, General Oglethorpe published, "The Sailor's Advocate," against the impressment of seamen, and Sharp supplied a pungent introduction to it. Thus they continued to strengthen one another in their sacred ardor for holy, impartial, social liberty. Amongst Sharp's sentiments on this subject, the following particularly strike me.
"In short, the doctrine of necessity, may be admitted to excuse some things of an indifferent nature, not evil in themselves, though prohibited by law; but never to justify iniquity and oppression, respect of persons, or any thing that is 'malum in se, evil in its very nature.' Because the first necessity in a Christian community is, to do justice to all men, at all times—as, it is better to endure all adversities, than to assent to iniquity.
"The end or purpose of all good government is liberty, with protection from personal injuries, and the security of private property; but when a large part of the community are deprived of their liberty and protection, not for a short time only, but regularly and constantly, the end or true purpose of government is defeated and destroyed.
"This doctrine is deeply impressed in the genius of our common law, which informs us, by unquestionable maxims, that no man is worthy to hold the reins of administration who cannot maintain the national justice, the chief object of which is certainly, personal protection. 'Cessa regnare, si non vis judicare,' Cease to reign, if you will not do justice, and the reason of this is plain from another maxim, 'Vita Reipublicæ, pax—et animus libertas—et corpus, leges,' peace is the life—and liberty the soul—and the laws the body of the commonwealth."
In another place, Sharp quotes the following in corroboration of the same views. "Humana natura in libertatis causâ, favorem semper magis quam in aliis causis deprecatur;' and 'Anglica jura, in omni causa libertati dant favorem,' human nature gives a preference to the cause of liberty, above all other causes, and 'the laws of England always favor liberty.' (Fortescue.)"
He says, in his manuscripts, "I have been told that it is the common lot of the poor and laborious part of mankind, to endure hardships and inconveniences. That the pressing and forcing them into service, is no injustice or illegality, being nothing more than a necessary contingency of their low condition of life, in which they were bred; and that the cruelty rather rests with persons, who like me take notice of their grievances, and render them unhappy, by persuading them, that they are so. All this has been urged to me, with the most plausible sophistry, and important self-sufficiency, as if the speaker supposed that the mere sound of words, could alter the nature of things; or as if, there were no distinction between good and evil, but as the circumstances of persons, or occasions, might render it expedient or necessary to practice the one or the other. Thus the tyrant's plea of necessity, is made to remove every boundary of law, morality and common right. But 'woe to them that call evil good, and good evil.' Happy would it be for this nation, and for the souls of such as mislead it, if the feelings of the seamen and other laborious poor, had no other stimulant than the recital of their unhappy case by such poor advocates as I. Are they not surely of the same blood, and have they not the same natural knowledge of good and evil, to discern? and the same sensibility to injuries, as those who cause their sufferings?
"It is to prevent and dissuade from acts of violence and injustice, and surely not to aggravate the sense of them, that such circumstances are noticed. Nay, it is charity towards the oppressors as well as the oppressed, to endeavor to convince the oppressors of their error—and how can this be done but by exhibiting the oppressions. It is a crime to be silent on such occasions; for the scriptures command, 'open thy mouth—judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy.' Prov. xxxi. 9. Nay, it is the cause of God himself, who has declared, 'for the oppressor of the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that honoreth him, hath mercy on the poor.' " Prov. xiv. 31.
During all this time, Granville Sharp continued his correspondence on the subject of slavery and the slave trade. He particularly urged the Bench of Bishops, and visited most of them personally. A few cordially met his views.[4] In a letter to the Archbishop of York, he says:
"The Methodists also are highly offended at the scandalous toleration of slavery in our Colonies, if I may judge by the sentiments of one of their principal teachers, Mr. Wesley: though indeed I have never had any communication with that gentleman, but on this particular point. "One of the leading people likewise among the Moravians, has written me several very earnest letters upon the subject. Nay even the church of Rome, has been honored by the endeavors of one of her sons, the benevolent and indefatigable Bishop of Chiapa, (Las Casas) against this crying sin."[5]
In 1783, his attention was called to the case of the ship Zong or Zung.
This vessel, Luke Collingwood, master, sailed from St. Thomas, off the coast of Africa, for Jamaica, with 440 slaves and 14 whites on board, Sept. 6th, 1781. In November, she made Jamaica; but the master mistaking it, as he said, for Hispaniola, ran her to leeward. Sickness and mortality dreadfully prevailed, so that by 29th Nov. 60 slaves and 7 whites had died, besides a great number being dangerously ill. The master then made a proposal to his officers to throw the sick slaves into the sea, because, said he, if they die on board, the loss will fall upon the owners of the ship—but if they are thrown overboard for the preservation of the ship, the underwriters will have to bear it; besides, it will be mercy to save them from a lingering death. To this, James Kelsal, the mate, at first objected. But the master, soon gained over the crew, and the work of death began.
One hundred and thirty-two of the slaves were brought on deck, and the crew began by turns to throw them into the sea. "A parcel" of fifty-four were first drowned. The next day "another parcel" of forty-two, were committed to the deep: and on the third day, the remaining thirty-six, were brought up for execution; but offering some resistance, twenty-six were first put into irons, and then thrown overboard. The remaining ten, animated by despair, sprang disdainfully from the grasp of their murderers, and buried themselves in the ocean.
The pretense of the master was, that a scarcity of water rendered the execution necessary—but this was abundantly disproved.
Nevertheless, the verdict of the jury on the first trial, was in favor of the master and the owners!!! and the Solicitor General, J. Lee! spurned the idea of carrying the cause further. He asserted the unquestionable right of the master to do as he had done. "This is a case," said he, "of goods and chattels. It is really so: it is a case of throwing over goods; for to this purpose and the purpose of insurance, they are goods and property—whether right or wrong, we have nothing to do with it"!!
Mr. Pigot, on the part of the underwriters, said, "The life of one man, is like the life of another man, whatever the complexion is. Suppose the exigency described had existed—I ground myself on the rights and essential interests of humanity; I contend, that as long as any water remained, these men were as much entitled to their share, as the captain, or any other man whatever."
Lord Mansfield, regarding the matter with a legal eye declared, "The matter left to the jury, is 'was it from necessity'"?—"for they had no doubt (though it shocks one very much) that the case of slaves, was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard!! It is a very shocking case." He granted a new trial.
The result, was a verdict in favor of the underwriters. But so thoroughly corrupt and ferocious in this particular, was the state of legality then in England, that no prosecution could be had of the murderers. The pecuniary claims of the underwriters were vindicated—but the blood of the poor was despised. Its cry is going to meet its tyrants and their fellows, where persons are not respected; where He presides, who has declared "Vengeance is mine—I will repay, saith the Lord."
"So far," said J. Lee, the counsel of the owners, "so far was the transaction from any thing like the guilt of a murderous act; or any shew or suggestion of cruelty, or even a surmise of impropriety, that to bring a charge of murder against the perpetrators, would argue nothing less than madness." Such, at times, is the worse than lawlessness of law! So fearfully true is it, that "no tyranny is more cruel, than that which is exercised under the shadow of law, and with the pretense of justice" Witness slavery as it now exists in the United States.
It is most pleasing to contrast, with this utter abandonment in wickedness, the following words of Granville Sharp, extracted from a letter dated Old Jewry, 18th July, 1783, addressed by him, to His Grace the Duke of Portland: "but only wish, by the horrible example related in the enclosed papers, (the case of the Zong) to warn your Grace, that there is an absolute necessity to abolish the slave trade and West Indian slavery; and that 'to be in power, and to neglect, as life (and I may say, the tenure of office,) is very uncertain, even a day, endeavoring to put a stop to such monstrous injustice and abandoned wickedness, must necessarily endanger a man's eternal welfare, be he ever so great in temporal dignity or office.'"
The extravagance of wickedness, however, which thus with brazen front, polluting openly the streams of law, not only screened these murderers from punishment, but gave them heart as above, to scoff at the very idea of justice, reacted with powerful effect, upon many of the first minds in the nation; and prepared the way for that glorious and wholesome overthrow of despotism, beneath the sacred and advancing influences of which, the world is reviving. Such is now, the growing process in the United States. The following note, exhibits the process then in England.
Dr. Hinchcliff, Bishop of Peterborough, to Granville Sharp, Esq.
Dear Sir—I return to you the inclosed narrative of one of the most inhuman barbarities that I ever read of. Were religion and humanity attended to, there can be no doubt, that the horrid traffic would entirely cease; but they have too small a voice, to be heard among the clamors of avarice and ambition. Your benevolent endeavors to assist the wretched Africans, however unsuccessful in their favor, cannot be so in your own. As a friend to mankind, permit me to thank you, &c.(signed)J. Peterborough."
In July, 1786, Sharp's attention was arrested by an alarming emergency. He was suddenly informed that a negro named Harry Demane, had just been kidnapped by his master, ——— Jeffrey's Esq., and sent on ship-board. He immediately put himself in action to secure a rescue; but legal difficulties, through the indisposition of the magistrates to do their duty, &c, so perplexed him, that all his knowledge and all his energy were put into requisition. At length the requisite writ of habeas corpus, being procured, Savage and Green were despatched with it, in pursuit of the ship on Saturday night, 29th July. By Monday noon, 31st, they were back in London, with the rescued slave. They found the ship with the anchor weighing, the sails set and the captain at the helm. Henry Demane declared that he had determined to jump into the sea, as soon as it was dark, preferring death to slavery. In this deliverance, Sharp adoringly acknowledged the benignant Providence which thus cheered him in his holy struggle.
The following is an extract of a letter, addressed to him by Dr. Franklin, dated Philadelphia, 9th June, 1787.
"From a most grateful sense of the zeal and abilities, with which you have long and successfully defended the oppressed Africans, the Society (The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, &c.) have done themselves the honor of enrolling your name, in the number of corresponding members, and they earnestly request the continuance of your labors in the great object of their institution; for, in this business, the friends of humanity in every country, are of one nation and religion, &c.The excellent John Jay wrote as follows, from New-York, 1st Sept. 1788.
"The society established in this city for promoting the manumission of slaves, &c, did, at their last meeting, admit you an honorary member of it, and I have now the pleasure of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a certified extract from their minutes on that subject, &c.In reply to Dr. Franklin, Leadenhall Street, London, 10th Jan. 1788, Sharp writes:
"I have read, with very particular satisfaction, their excellent remonstrance against slavery, addressed to the late convention.[6]
"When such solemn and unanswerable appeals to the consciences of men, in behalf of humanity and common justice, are disregarded, the crimes of slave dealing and slave holding become crying sins, which presumptuously invite the Divine retribution. So that it must be highly dangerous to the political existence of any state, thus duly warned against injustice, to afford the least sanction to such enormities by their legislative authority."
"Having always been zealous for the honor of free governments, I am the more sincerely grieved, to see the new Federal Constitution stained, by the insertion of two most exceptionable clauses of the kind above mentioned. The one, in direct opposition to a most humane article, ordained by the first American Congress, to be perpetually observed; and the other, in equal opposition to an express command
of the Almighty, 'not to deliver up the servant that has escaped from his master,' &c. Both clauses, however, the 9th Section of the 1st Article, and the latter part of the 2d Section of the 3d Article, are so clearly null and void by their iniquity, that it would be even a crime to regard them as law."
In September, 1786, the College of Providence, in Rhode Island, conveyed to him through her President, the highest honor which they could bestow, the degree of Doctor of Laws; and the University of Cambridge, in Massachusetts, and of Williamsburgh, in Virginia, soon afterwards did the same. I have before me, the affectionate letter, dated, Feb. 25th, 1791, addressed to Dr. Willard, President of the University of Cambridge, in which he reciprocates the friendship of that institution.
The following letter gives a trait of that more retired beneficence, of which generally, there is no record but with God.
Worthy and respected sir—We want words to express our gratitude to you, for all your labors of love to our afflicted nation. You were our advocate when we had but few friends on the other side of the water. We request you to accept of our thanks, for all your kind and benevolent exertions in behalf of the people of our color, and particularly for your late humane donation to our church.
"Our prayers shall not cease to ascend to the Father of Mercies, and God of all grace for your health and happiness in this world, and your eternal happiness in the world to come—we are, &c.
Absalom Jones,
William Grey,
William Gardner,
Acting Officers of the African Church of Philadelphia."
Before we conclude this section, we may notice, that upon the dissension of the Continental Colonies with Great Britain, and their subsequent separation, much difficulty arose in the Canonical ordination of the Episcopalian Bishops, in the United States; and that Granville Sharp, a consciencious Episcopalian, was mainly instrumental in obviating the objections which the dignitaries of the English Church, made to the requisite consecrations. His attention appears to have been first directed to this subject in 1777, and he pursued it until early in 1787, when Doctors White and Prevost, and in September, 1790, Dr. Madison, were consecrated in due order, by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In consequence of the victory in 1772, gained by law and justice over opinion and precedent, the slaves who had been brought from the west, together with others variously trapanned, became free. But they found themselves in a foreign land, with an uncongenial climate and amidst a crowded population, where their services were little wanted; and we cannot be surprised that their former superiors, who had oppressed or plundered, should now abandon them. The tiger from whose jaws the lamb has been rescued, thinks more of the disappointment of his own appetite than of the sufferings of the lamb. So, the impenitent tyrant, who is deprived of his horrible power, rages at the wholesome curb, rather than thinks of the amends which he owes to his plundered and outraged fellow-men.
About four hundred rescued slaves, most of them Africans, remained in London. Far away from their friends and relations, without employment and without legal claim for support, most of them suffered and some of them severely. To Granville Sharp, they naturally turned their eyes, and his great heart opened spontaneously to their wants; but his means were inadequate to the demand, and their provisioning became to him a subject of tender care—he called them his "orphans" and showed all a father's spirit towards them. How loathsome was the system of legalized felony still continued in the west, which thus made and kept them exiles and orphans!
There was at this time (1786) in England a benevolent and talented man named Smeatham, who had resided for
Note.—Morgan Godwyn, a British clergyman; John Woolman, an American Friend; and Rev. James Ramsay, should be added to the names elsewhere contained in this memoir, as most nobly instrumental in the holy cause of liberty and love. some time in Africa, at the foot of the Sierra Leone mountains. He had been delighted with the place, and to him seems first to have occurred, in conversing with many of the rescued slaves of African blood, the idea of obtaining a settlement for them at Sierra Leone. This was communicated by several of his poor "orphan exiles" to Granville Sharp; and Sharp seems to have revolved it much in his mind, and to have been carefully engaged in maturing the requisite measure, from 1783 to 1787. Mr. Smeatham was to have conducted the infant establishment. Government had engaged to allow him £12 for each person, whatever the number, that might accompany him. Navy transports were to be provided for the service, and all the necessary arrangements were on the point of completion, when Mr. Smeatham, probably from over exertion, was seized with a sudden fever, and in three days was no more.
Sharp in a letter to his brother in January, 1788, thus speaks of the establishment: "The settlers consisted chiefly of blacks and of people of color, who had served in the army and navy,[7] during the late war, and having imprudently spent all their earnings, they fell into extreme poverty and were starving about the streets, till they were relieved, for some time, by a voluntary subscription of charitable people.
"In the mean time, a proposal was made to them by the late Mr. Smeatham, to form a free settlement at Sierra Leone. Many of them came to consult me about the proposal. Sometimes they came in large bodies together. Upon inquiring among themselves, I found that several of them had been on the spot; and they assured me, that there was much fine wood land unoccupied on that part of the coast. This account was confirmed to me by several other channels, and more particularly by a young negro man, a native of Sierra Leone, whom I happily saved, just at that time from slavery."
In another place, in a letter to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, dated 1st August, 1786, he thus describes the settlers: "The present set of unfortunate negroes that are starving in our streets were brought here on very different occasions. Some indeed have been brought as servants, but chiefly by officers—others were royalists from America—but more are seamen, who have navigated the King's ships from the East and West Indies, or have served in the war."
In this letter to the Archbishop, Sharp earnestly recommends a Mr. Fraser, as missionary minister to accompany the expedition.
In his memoranda, dated 1st August, 1783, he says, "as the majority of the settlers will probably be Africans returned from slavery to their own soil," &c.
The plan of government which he laid down, endeavored to combine the greatest freedom, with the greatest equity, and the highest security. The community was to be divided into tens, fifties, hundreds, thousands, &c, each with a head elected by themselves, and all bound together, by the reciprocal ties of frank pledge. The elections were to be annual. Each individual to be answerable with his person and property, to the tithing of which he was a member, for all damages which he occasioned or which he did not do his best to prevent, the tithing to the hundred and so on: for according to frank pledge, no man is entitled to liberty, who is not duly pledged by his nearest neighbor, for the mutual preservation of peace and right. All crimes, except murder, rape and unnatural crimes, were to be punished proportionably by fine and imprisonment.
Thus devised, of these materials and upon these principles, the expedition, after some months delay caused by Mr. Smeatham's sudden death, sailed on 8th April, 1787, under the convoy of the Nautilus, sloop of war, Capt. Thompson. The number of rescued slaves was upwards of four hundred, and besides these, were about sixty Europeans.
The place appropriated for their use was purchased from King Tom, a neighboring chief, and is thus described in the first annual report, 1791:
"The district purchased for the settlement at Sierra Leone, is nearly twice as large as the island of Barbadoes, being 20 miles square, containing 256,000 acres of land, well watered with salubrious springs, and situated on a fruitful peninsula, between two noble navigable rivers; the great river of Sierra Leone and the Sherbro', which receives the waters of many others. The peninsula rises into hills, forming upon one another into lofty mountains, the sides and summits of which are covered with timber.
"The extraordinary temper and salubrity of the air for European constitutions in this peculiar spot of the torrid zone, has been remarked by ancient writers and by modern travelers of respectability. The river has a safe channel for ships of any burthen; and St. George's bay, the first approach to the new settlement, is perhaps the finest harbor in the world.
"Sierra Leone is about 8° 12' N. latitude and 12° W. L. It is generally about a month's sail from England; but more in returning, on account of the interruption of the trade winds."
In another part of this report we read:
"Mr. Falconbridge has collected several specimens of native produce, particularly of woods, iron ore, gum copal, pepper, rice, cotton and sugar cane, which afford the most favorable hopes.
"All the most valuable productions of the tropical climates, seem to grow spontaneously at Sierra Leone; and nothing but attention and cultivation appear wanting, in order to produce them of every kind, and in sufficient quantities to become articles of trade, and even of great national concern."
Granville Sharp says in a letter dated 31st October, 1787: "They have purchased twenty miles square of the finest and most beautiful country (they all allow) that was ever seen. The hills are not steeper than Shooter's hill; and fine streams of fresh waters, run down the hill, on each side of the new township; and in the front is a noble bay, where the river is about three leagues wide. The woods and groves are beautiful beyond description, and the soil very fine." Sir George Young, of the navy, assured him that this view of the place was correct.
But in these pictures, there is a deception. As it imposed upon that day, in relation to Sierra Leone, so has it imposed upon ours, in relation to Cape Mesurado, and still more recently, to Cape Palmas. The deception is natural, though big with death. Enterprise and hope are elate in the human mind: the heart in such a frame is prepared for dreams of Eden. The beauty of the scenery; the richness and constant verdure of the trees; the deliciousness of the fruits; the coolness of the morning; the soul reviving freshness of the sea breeze; the almost unearthly sweetness of evening as it comes down, solemn, temperate, peaceful, a paradise refuge from the burning day; excite even in ordinary minds, almost the poet's rapture; and Sierra Leone, Cape Mesurado, Cape Palmas, are painted under the extasy. The mountains too, the glorious mountains! tall, clad with undying green; murmuring with streams; varying into ten thousand forms, as the shadows of the gorgeous clouds rest on them or pass away: yes, the mountains, the brothers of the thunder, the cradle of the winds; the clifted, valleyed, verdant, placid, fountained mountains, with an atmosphere of double death, are dreamt into salubrity, and the elated imagination feasts on the idea of the health which must be found amidst their shades.
The traversers of the Ghauts know other things of these glorious mountains—and yet with the impression deep in my memory of the wail of anguish and of death from my perishing companions, and of the fever that came upon myself like a whirlwind and all but thrust me into an early eternity, my heart can scarcely break through the delusion of their glorious beauty, and often pants in its dreamings, again to wander as I have done amidst their cliffs and their glens while the thunders bounded from rock to rock, and the lightnings spread around me a blazing sea, and the large, quick tears of heaven fell gushing over a guilty world.
The simple facts of this matter are as follows. Decaying vegetation and all stagnant moisture, under a certain temperature, with confined circulation, (say from 70° upwards) generate, wherever they are found together, an atmosphere of death: and the intensity of this malaria, is in proportion to the excess of the ingredients which produce it, viz. decaying vegetation, stagnant moisture, a high temperature, and a confined circulation. The mountains in warm climates are most destructive, because they have the largest proportion of these united ingredients, always excepting, where they rise to the temperate region, that is five or six thousand feet above the level of the sea.
It is this fact, which causes such mournful waste of life in the new settlements in the United States and in south western Canada, and the settlers therefore cannot be too diligent, in removing all decaying vegetation, and all stagnant moisture as far as possible from their vicinities, before the heats of autumn.
But Sierra Leone is in fact a glorious spot—glorious in beauty, moderately fertile—with one of the finest harbors in the world; replete with the grandeur and beauty of the tropics; and ready to become salubrious, as soon as the causes of death can be removed. The labors and sufferings of a few more generations will probably effect this.
The long detention in the channel, to which the settlers were exposed, induced great sickness amongst them, and threw their landing at Sierra Leone into the rainy or sickly season. Intemperance amongst themselves, vastly aggravated the evil; and their numbers were reduced in consequence by death almost one half, in the course of the first year. A few deserted.
The remnant built a small town, and after the period above mentioned suffered no extraordinary mortality. They gradually improved in their circumstances, "and though far from being regularly industrious, were able to supply themselves with a sufficiency of food, and to secure a small, but constantly increasing property." Many, however, continued to migrate, and at one time, the community was in danger of extinction.
During this period, Granville Sharp, watchful over his orphan settlement with a father's care, had despatched on 7th May, 1798, a small vessel called the Myro, with some additional settlers and she arrived most opportunely to prevent utter despair and dispersion. On this occasion, the original purchase, was confirmed by Naimbana, a superior native chieftain, who resided between the English slave factory at Bunce Island and the French one at Gambia, upon the small island of Rohanna.
Towards the close of the next year (1789) a new disaster overwhelmed the establishment. The brief history of this is so characteristic of the mode which governments take to repair injuries; and of the fact so disgraceful to civilized people, that they are generally the first aggressors, that it deserves a detail.
An American slave captain had carried off two subjects of King Tom, the native chief residing within half a mile of the English settlement. Tom watched for retaliation. An American boat from another ship passing up the river gave him the opportunity—he attacked and plundered it; putting the crew of three or four men to death, excepting one who made his escape to the slave factory, to which the boat was going. At this time, a British ship of war was lying in the river, and the agent of the factory consulting with the officers, determined upon revenge. They first endeavored to decoy Tom on board; but he knew them too well. They then with a force of sailors and marines, attacked his town, plundered and burnt it. The slave factor soon after left the coast, and the neighboring chiefs holding a council, and finding that two of the settlers of Sierra Leone had aided their enemies, determined upon destroying the settlement. They proceeded legally and deliberately, just as more enlightened people do. A formal notice was solemnly sent of their dreadful purpose to Sierra Leone, and three days were allowed the inhabitants for removal. The settlers had no alternative. They fled; and the judicial sentence was carried into execution at the appointed time.
Meanwhile Sharp finding the inadequacy of his own resources, had been endeavoring to form an incorporated company, and to secure the aid of Government in conducting the enterprise. And the company, united and animated by his influence, was induced by the emergency just mentioned, to expedite their measures, even before they had
4
Soon after this, the Charter of Incorporation was obtained, and a considerable capital raised for carrying on the commerce of the settlement. The utmost watchfulness continued to be exhibited by all the authorities against the slave trade. The face of things became cheerful.
An opportunity about this time occurred of greatly increasing the settlement.
During the American revolutionary war, a considerable number of refugee slaves, had found their way to the British camps and vessels, and had been enlisted into the King's service. At the end of the war they were carried to Nova Scotia and promised land—but this promise was not faithfully kept, and the bleak climate disagreed with them. They were now willing to remove to Sierra Leone, and the requisite measures were promptly taken.
But preparations from England were necessary for their accomodation, and three vessels were accordingly expedited early in 1792, with upwards of one hundred Europeans. Soon after these reached Sierra Leone, the Nova Scotian fleet arrived, consisting of sixteen vessels, with eleven hundred and thirty-one settlers, after having lost sixty-five on the passage.
The original site of the town was now resumed. The former purchase was now secured by a new Palaver, and by new presents, and the appropriate name of Freetown, which it still retains, was given it.
Another ship meanwhile, of great burthen, (850 tons) was chartered, for the purpose of hastening to the settlers every accommodation which could be secured to them, before the sickly season—but she was driven back by a storm, and did not reach them till after great delays. The Nova Scotians also, refugees from slavery; exiles from home; late tenants of the camp and the navy; deceived in the promises formerly made them, and disheartened by change and uncertainty, did not exert themselves as they might have done, and the sickly season came upon them unprepared. The rains began about the third week in May. A high degree of health had previously inspired a rash and ignorant confidence. The sickness which ensued was most severe. All the medical persons except one, were laid up. The storekeepers were amongst the first victims. Disorder arose in every department, and despondency almost universally prevailed. Nearly one half of the Europeans residing on shore, were carried off, and about one-tenth of the Nova Scotians.
About the 9th October, the rains had ceased, and by the end of that month, two meeting houses and a school house, were completed. The frames for these, were sent from England. The government, before this, had been modified to suit the new authorities placed over them, Granville Sharp being one of the new Directors. A garden of experiment was established, under Dr. Afzelius, an eminent botanist, and two plantations were begun by the company, as an example to others; both worked by free laborers—one of these was soon relinquished. The settlement continued generally to flourish, until towards the close of 1794, when it was almost entirely destroyed by a predatory French squadron, piloted by an American slave captain. The French landed on 28th Sept., and kept possession until 13th Oct., plundering and destroying without pity.
Several years before this, a Danish slaver having anchored in the bay, the slaves rose, mastered the crew, landed and resorting to the neighboring mountains, built a village, which was called "Deserter's Town." In this they dwelt in peace, but exercising the utmost vigilance to avoid all intercourse with strangers. During the distress above mentioned, they cast off, however, their caution, and most affectionately received and entertained several of the English settlers, who fled to them for safety—and yet, white men, and free men, and christians, must keep such people slaves!!!! The black chief of a neighboring town, sheltered and protected the mistress with the children of the public school, from the white French! The loss of property was estimated at about $250,000. Sickness, from exposure, fatigue, want of shelter, accommodation, medicine, &c., followed and carried off, many of the poorer Europeans. But the extremity of the affliction, was blessed to the awakening among the settlers, of an humbler mind, and for some time, they evinced a greater extent of docility, industry and enterprise, than they had previously exhibited. The next four years, were years of prosperity.
The village of the generous refugees above mentioned, was called as I have stated, "Deserter's Town." Thus do civilized people, often the most barbarian of all, apply their own terms of reproach, to people less barbarous than they. Who were the barbarians in the case above? The Danes or the Africans? Yet the Danes, and the English, and the Americans, were honorable merchants! engaged in a lucrative trade, sanctioned by enlightened governments! But when a few of their victims, escaped providentially from their floating vehicles of despotism and of death, fly to unappropriated mountains and apply themselves peaceably to their own support, they are called "deserters." How honorable, indeed, the title, in such a connection!! and how ought our souls to bless the Lord, that they were not in the West Indies or the United States, since there, they would have been called "runaways," and all the tiger in the heart of the white man, would have been called into action to pursue them to bondage or to death.[8] Alas! if color could disgrace a people, how deep in the nethermost regions of shame, would that color be, which is called white in the United States; frequently with such utter recklessness of truth. White! Why, it is brown, sallow and yellow, as well as pale and ruddy; and frequently will you hear a man, decidedly the darkest and the least manly of the two, turn up his colored nose at the other, because he is colored too: or if, as is sometimes the case, the nose of scorn alone is colored, and the sufferer is evidently white, then, the conviction of one drop of African blood mingling with the European streams in his veins, or the fearful fact, that the mother to whom God gave him, was a slave!! sanctions his degradation, and the colored nose curls higher still, distended with magnanimous superiority! So, worse than barbarian, can civilization be! So, deeper in the guilt of caste, can men called christians, plunge themselves, than even the Hindoos do! How glorious is the fact, that we have another standard. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name," that His word stands sure forever; that we read in a record against which earth and hell united, cannot prevail, "that, he who loveth God, should love his brother also;" 1 John iv. 21; and again, "he that loveth not his brother abideth in death;" 1 John, iii. 14. What! a christian, and a despiser of his brother, because he does not come up to the petty standard of national prejudice and pride. What—a christian, and a keeper back, by force or fraud, of the laborers wages!! A christian, and an oppressor. A christian, and exercising oppression!! A christian, and yet robbing the poor, because he is poor; robbing him of his liberty, his time, his labor, his safety, his right to the Bible and to the unfettered preaching of the cross of Christ!! to the cultivation of his own mind, and the freedom of his own choice!!
Must not such christianity be, indeed, the "loudest laugh of hell." What can strengthen infidelity so much, as calling such a thing, christianity! What upright mind could exist, which would not forever prefer infidelity to such christianity! What could satan desire more, for the perdition of this world, than that the world should be filled with such christians. Men to men, "as wolves, for rapine—as the fox, for wiles—pursuing and pursued, each others prey," each seeking every opportunity, and grasping every excuse to lord it over his brother. Oh, how different was the life of Him, who went about doing good—"who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister"— and who has left us an example, that we should "follow his steps." How different—blessed be the Lord forever! are the more than seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal, the christians, indeed; the philanthropists, not the white color idolaters of the United States. Not the amalgamators, who by cherishing or exercising slavery, are supporting in the slave states, almost universal amalgamation, by incest, adultery and fornication; but the friends of rightful liberty, who would have the whole land, without respect of persons, immediately and thoroughly delivered (through the slave-masters, themselves, then no longer slave-masters, enacting just and benignant laws) from the atrocious system of forced servitude, which, leaving the wretched female slave, no choice or refuge, is filling the land with all these abominations.
Between 1798 and 1800, much and dangerous discontent was increasingly fomented amongst the Nova Scotian settlers, by a few evil minds, and in the latter end of September, 1800, it had reached a portentous height, when it was suddenly arrested by one of those gracious providences of God, which strike with gratitude, even man's dull heart.
A large ship suddenly appeared in the bay—on board of her, were 550 Maroons, exiled from Jamaica, together with 45 soldiers under two officers. These, at once, took the side of the government, and the malcontents, after a shew of resistance, and after having two men killed, submitted. The Maroons were settled in Granvilletown, in November, 1800. They built it up with neatness, and began to cultivate their land with spirit. Native free laborers worked for hire amongst them with alacrity.
The government and protection of the settlement, was assumed on 1st Jan., 1808, by the King, with parliamentary sanction, in consequence of a petition to that purpose from the Company; and the Directors retired from power, rejoicing in the extent to which they had vindicated the African character, from the slander of its oppressors, and the European character from the stain of its crimes. They exulted also, in the hope, that they had contributed materially to sweep the slave trade from the African coast. But in this, they overlooked the fact, as so many less excusably still do, that the extinction of the demand for any commodity alone can put an end to its supply; that slavery must cease, before the slave trade can be abolished. Witness the United States, and "par eminence," the District of Columbia.[9]
At this period, 1807—8, the settlement was flourishing in agriculture, commerce, education and health. The population amounted to 1871. Here the history of Granville Sharp, becomes disconnected with its subsequent progress, and we therefore take leave of it with the following anecdote.
In 1791, King Naimbana, filled with admiration for Sharp's character, sent his eldest son to England for education, committing him to Sharp's care; and the young chief was soon settled about forty miles from London, in the family of Rev. Mr. Gambier. Sharp, though thus at a distance, watched over him like a father; and young Naimbana (then twenty-nine years of age,) exhibited a disposition in every way worthy of cultivation. His capacity was not extraordinary; but he excelled in distinguishing characters. His person was not remarkable; but his demeanor was uncommonly pleasing, being full of native courtesy and delicacy. His disposition was affectionate and his feelings warm. He became deeply impressed with religious principles, and with reverence for the sacred scriptures. His morals were pure, and he always shewed a strong abhorrence for profane conversation, and for every kind of vice. Respecting the reputation of his country, he displayed a lively jealousy; and being once told of a person who had publicly asserted something highly derogatory to the African character, he broke out into violent and vindictive language. Being immediately reminded of the duty of loving our enemies, he replied, "If a man should rob me of my money, I could forgive him; if he should shoot at me, or try to stab me, I could forgive him. If he should sell me and all my family into slavery, I could forgive him ; but," added he, rising from his seat with great emotion; "if a man takes away the character of the people of my country, I cannot forgive him." Why, said his friend. He answered, solemnly, "If a man steal from me, or try to kill me, or sell me and my family for slaves, he does an injury to the few, whom he attacks or sells. But if any one take away the character of black people, he injures black people all over the world; and when once he has taken away their character, there is nothing which he may not afterwards do to black people. He will beat black men, and say, 'Oh, it is only a black man!' He will enslave black people, and cry, 'Oh, they are blacks!' He may take away all the people of Africa, if he can catch them, and if you ask him, 'Why do you take away all these people,' he will say, 'Oh, they are only black people—they are not as white as we are—why should I not take them?' That is the reason why I cannot forgive the man, who takes away the character of the people of my country.—(See Appendix 3.)
What an awful exhibition of the truth of this foresight, does the present colonization-mind of the United States exhibit. How would young Naimbana's heart be wrung could he now traverse this land, and mark the people who commit, or excuse, all tyrannical, and proud, incestuous, and adulterous, and libidinous intercourse with them, through a system which leaves them no choice and makes them the wretched sufferers of all their oppressor's horrible pleasures and at the same time, cry out, with horror, against immediately setting them free. "Yes—he is a black man"—or "he has one drop of African blood in his veins"—or "his poor mother was violated and enslaved before him" is confirmation, "strong as proof of holy writ," in this land now, against all virtuous brotherhood for Naimbana's color; and the man, who will not join the general lie, is deemed a madman—Oh, the glorious madness—the land is leavening with it—and the leaven is working. Yea, blessed be God—the heart of the United States is not dead forever—its prejudices, though in this respect the most brutal on earth, are vincible. Its religion, and liberty, and manhood are reviving and are going to be vindicated in peace, by God's all conquering weapons of truth and love; and from the Gulph of Mexico to Canada; and from the Atlantic to the western prairies, one universal shout is preparing to ascend, without respect of persons, or of colors, of "Glory to God in the highest—and of peace, good will, to men;" to men, because they are men and Americans—and not because they are not of a color, which above all others, in modern times, has disgraced itself before God and the world;—to men, because they are the guiltless sufferers of wrong; no longer limiting its respect and its brotherhood, to the guilty!
During the course of these events, an important effort was organizing against the African slave trade—and could a tree be destroyed by lopping off a branch; or, a fountain be dried up by separating one of its streams, slavery would ere this have received its death blow, and the friends of man obtained this sacred desire of their hearts.
In the spring of 1787, a meeting was held in London, at the house of Bennet Langton, Esq.; present, Sir Charles Middleton, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Hawkins Brown, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and two others, who afterwards proved enemies. At this meeting, Mr. Wilberforce was solicited, and engaged to take the lead in Parliament, but soon after falling sick, Mr. Pitt took his place till his recovery. On 22d of May, a committee of twelve was chosen and Granville Sharp was named as one of the committee.[10]
This committee immediately dispersed circulars, giving an account of their organization and object. The Friends as a body responded to the notice, with alacrity—the General Baptists declared their concurrence; and a correspondence was opened with the societies established in New-York and Philadelphia, for the manumission of slaves, and the abolition of slavery. Mr. Clarkson's "Summary View of the Slave Trade, and of the probable consequences of its Abolition," were extensively scattered, and truth, thus placed before them, took more and more hold on the best minds in the nation. The Rev. John Wesley and Dr. Price gave their important aid. Robert Baucher Nicholls, Dean of Middleham, prepared a letter, which was printed by the committee and widely circulated. Dr. Watson, Bishop of Landaff, added his support. Public attention was aroused—meetings began to be numerously called—knowledge was multiplied—petitions poured in, and the Government found itself under a necessity of paying attention to the noble public sentiment which was rapidly forming against the long cherished iniquity of the nation.
In 1788, Lafayette was enrolled, at his own request, amongst the honorary and corresponding members of the society. John Jay and Benjamin Franklin added their honored names.
An ex-jesuit, called Harris, a clerk in a slave-trading house in Liverpool, endeavored to support the iniquitious system by "Scriptural Researches on the licitness of the Slave Trade." I mention the fact, merely that similar men now, may know who their forefathers in spirit, were.
In May, 1788, Mr. Pitt asked the Parliament to pledge itself to a full discussion of the subject next session.
In the spring of 1789, Mr. Wilberforce introduced his motion; but the slave faction got the question postponed.
A section of a slave ship meanwhile with the slaves stowed away in it, was published and thrilled through the public mind. The most interesting communications were had with Paris.
Early in 1790, Wilberforce renewed his motion—and again was met with delays. The combination against his holy cause, was mighty; and the most false and fierce alarms were industriously fancied or fabricated to impede it. "Civil war"—"ruin and bloodshed to the colonies"—"destruction to the masters, and wretchedness tenfold worse than slavery!!! to the slaves"—"anarchy—sterility—famine," were portended as the infallible consequences of "ceasing to do evil and learning to do well"—of putting an end by law to a system which is now condemned as "piracy" and which was then as feloniously piratical as it is now; the only difference being, that British law, now speaks the truth respecting it—and then with brazen wickedness supported falsehood.
In April, 1791, Wilberforce moved for leave to bring in "A Bill to prevent the further importation of Slaves into the British Colonies in the West Indies." But the motion was rejected by a majority. This defeat however only stimulated the zeal of (the friends of humanity. An abridgement of all the evidence which had been obtained, was profusely circulated. The invaluable Thomas Clarkson, like a messenger of light, traversed the nation, and the public mind stirred itself up in behalf of holy love and liberty. Three hundred thousand persons at this period, refrained from sugar altogether; perceiving that by using it, they were directly supporting the slave system which they abhorred. Three hundred and ten petitions were presented from England; one hundred and eighty-seven from Scotland; and twenty from Wales. Free labor sugar could not then be had in England.
Here I cannot feel myself absolved from the duty of offering a few lines on the subject of abstaining from slave produce. The question relates, not to domestic, but to agricultural slavery: and the slavery here meant, is "the forced servitude of the guiltless poor." Be it also remembered, that the producc spoken of, is "produce, poisoned (morally poisoned) by the unrequited toil, and the unpitied anguish of the plundered and outraged poor. Whenever I see people, especially if they in other respects be anti-slavery men, enjoying this destructive material, I am forcibly reminded of the fable of "the boys and the frogs." "It is pleasure to you; but death to us."
Why do slave masters keep slaves? To get labor out of them—and to get money by their labor—and to gratify their affections and appetites by money. They keep slaves to please themselves and to pamper their families—God and their neighbor, in this relation, are as nought to them.
Why do people use slave produce? To please themselves and their company! The cry of the laborer, whose wages are kept back by fraud and force, has gone up to God against it. It has been watered with his sweat—his blood, gushing from the frequent lash, has manured it; the curse of his iniquitous bondage is upon it; for it, he has been deprived of wife, and child, and sacred home; of time and liberty; of body and of mind—all—all being his master's—yet, this deeply poisoned produce, people use, because they like it. Excellent reason to produce at the bar of God!! How will it differ from the slave master's?
Who gives to the slave master the money, which is his sole motive for keeping slaves? The consumers of the produce of forced and unrequited toil.
What is the main source and support of slavery? The demand for the products of its labor.
Would the supply be continued, if the demand cease? Certainly not.
Would slave masters keep slaves, if they could not sell the products of their labor? Certainly not.
Who create and support this demand? The consumers of slave produce.
What then are slave masters? Merely mercenaries, who when tempted or hired by the consumer, conduct or do the dreadful work, which must be done, before the consumer, the tempter, can be gratified.
Is it not, I would solemnly say to every reader of these lines, as criminal to hire or support slavery, as it is directly to perpetrate it? Or, if the slave master be found guilty at the judgment seat, can they escape, who voluntarily give him the sole motive for becoming or continuing a slave master? Consumers of slave produce, look well to it. You will want a good answer at the bar of God! And remember, that to darken truth, or to render duty obscure, by excuses which art can frame, or which corruption admits, is eternally a different thing from any thing that God can approve of.
SECTION IV.
On 2d of April, 1792, Mr. Wilberforce moved "that the trade carried on by British subjects, for the purpose of obtaining slaves on the coast of Africa, ought to be abolished." The discussion which ensued, was deeply interesting, and some progress was made. Mr. H. Thornton, chairman of the Sierra Leone company, said in the course of it, speaking of the slave trade, "It had obtained the name of a trade, and many had been deceived by the appellation: but it was a war, not a trade; it was a mass of crimes, and not commerce; it alone prevented the introduction of trade into Africa. * * * * It created more embarrassments than all the natural impediments of the country, and was more hard to contend with, than any difficulties of climate, soil, or natural dispositions of the people." Such is still the case; and such must continue to be the case, until slavery, its sole parent and support, is abolished.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
- ↑ Note, see Appendix, No. I., for some of the principles of eternal and British Law, on which Granville Sharp proceeded.
- ↑ See Georgia and South Carolina lately.
- ↑ How similar this to Britain and the United States. Britain under a King, has abolished Slavery. The United States, a republic, clasps it as her dearest jewel. The National Legislature, will not or dares not, even discuss it—and the highest judicatories of the Churches deem themselves insulted when it is fairly offered to their attention.
- ↑ These were particulaly (1779) the Archbishop of Canterbery. Bishops of Litchfield, St. David's, St. Asaph, London, Ely, Bangor, Oxford and Peterborough.
- ↑ An absurd and cruel charge, has been widely spread against this holy man, at first on the authority of the Spanish historian, Herrera, and after him, of Robertson and Charlevoix, &c, who copy from Herrera that, led away by his fond pity for the perishing Indians, he recommended the African slave trade as a substitute. This calumny has been triumphantly refuted by the Abbe Gregoire, in the 4th Vol. of the Transactions of the Class of Moral and Political Sciences of the French Institute. The grounds of the refutation may be here briefly stated.
Herrera wrote thirty years after the death of Las Casas and displays much enmity towards him, and he quotes no authority whatsoever for his assertions. Several writers were cotemporary with Las Casas, some of whom were his enemies and endeavored to render him odious and contemptible—but none of them mention this charge.
Sepulveda was his personal antagonist. Lopez de Gomara, in his "General History of the Indies," defames him in other respects—yet neither mentions this accusation. Remesal, author of the history of Chiapa and Guatimala, is silent respecting it. Don Juan Lopez and Racine, both authors of ecclesiastical histories, eulogize him greatly, but say nothing of it. His own memoirs, written by himself, deposited in the libraries of Mexico and Madrid, in several places mention the African slaves, and express the same commiseration for their sufferings, as so remarkably distinguished him to the Indians. See also Preface to Clarkson's Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the human species. - ↑ The convention here spoken of, is the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution in 1787, (signed "Washington.") The remonstrance mentioned, is the remonstrance of " The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery," against the security given by that Constitution to the African slave trade, by prohibiting its abolition prior to 1808, or for twenty-one years, Article 1, Section 9 ; and against the clause for restoring refugee slaves, Article 3, Section 2.
- ↑ Most of these were refugee slaves from the United States.
- ↑ Trelawney hunt, in the Appendix, No. II.
- ↑ It is well ascertained (though not legally established) that 3,000 new Africans or upwards, are imported annually through Texas, (across the Sabine) into Louisiana, &c., feloniously, according to the United States law—and it is believed, on grounds apparently valid, that 50,000 native American citizens, some of them whiter than their masters, (and this class of orthodox color is continually increasing,) are annually bought and sold like beasts, in the states south of Pennsylvania, feloniously according to God's law. Let every man judge which is the greatest felony! Of this internal slave trade, the city of Washington is the metropolis!
Should any one here observe, that Sierra Leone became eventually a warrior colony, with its forts and its guns—and that it put on this character, even before its connexion with Granville Sharp was dissolved, I admit and deplore the fact. The change was unworthy of the glorious foundation on which it rose. Such was also the eventual result in Pennsylvania, that brother settlement! But the change did not take place in Sierra Leone, till Granville Sharp ceased to preside over it; and he seems to have remained connected with it, not as approving of the change, but merely as he remained chairman of the Society for the Abolition of the African slave trade, although he abhorred the principle which induced them to confine their efforts to the branch, instead of striking, at once, at the root. He did not feel himself at liberty to depart from an object noble in itself, because abuses crept into it; and this must be the conduct of every sane mind; the only danger, in this respect, being, that of mistaking things ignoble in themselves, like the colonization pursuit of the United States, for things really and altogether noble, such as Sierra Leone was in its foundation. - ↑ It is pleasing here to record, that eleven years previously, (in 1776) Mr. David Hartley member of the Commons for Hull, had brought forward a motion, "That the slave trade is contrary to the laws of God and to the rights of men," and that Sir George Saville, had seconded it. But it is equally painful to record, that the British Parliament at that time, had a heart in this respect, altogether alien to God and its brother.