Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/77

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participation of harmleſs recreations; why not make them as contented as their ſituations will allow? A good-natured man not only gains by their enjoyment, but adds felicity to his own mind: where the maſter is determined to be eaſy, it is not likely that his negroes will be wretched. They ſhould rejoice at each others happineſs, and ſympathiſe with each others miſery: the firſt ſhould teach the laſt to conſider themſelves as men. A good ſlave will be attached to a good maſter from principle, and where he has been entruſted with the preſervation of his life, he has never, as far as I have been able to learn, been found a traitor. As confidence begets ſervice, ſo ſhould ſervice be attended with gratitude. Make a negro eſtiamable in his own eyes, and he will be faithful and juſt in yours.

A proper diſtinction is not made between the captain of a ſhip who purchaſes ſlaves in Africa, and the Guinea merchant who takes up a cargo in the Weſt Indies. The firſt may inveigle, the laſt can only ſell: the one carries, the other diſpoſes: after the bargain is ſtruck the captain is relieved of

his