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be introduced to reſtrain their power, to bend them to the obedience of juſtice, to make them ſenſible that negroes are men, that their lives, their property is ſacred; and that the leaſt infringement of either, unleſs authoriſed by legal cenſure, or caſes of neceſſity, will be as ſeverely puniſhed as the ſame offences would be in other countries: and that negroes might the better receive the
any legal proceſs in our colonies, this reformation muſt be left for time to introduce, or the gradual cultivation of manners more profitable to the maſter and indulgent to the ſlave, to mature; and it is ſurely a matter of conſequence to the owner of a plantation, to ſelect a man for the importance of the truſt, whoſe character at leaſt may be a check upon his paſſions, and prompt him to conſult the intereſt of his employer, in the preſervation and ſafety of his ſlave; and I would here recommend it to the Attornies,[*] and to all thoſe who, in the abſence of the proprietor, have the command of theſe dependent creatutes, to ſuperintend, as often as poſſible, their labour and their wants, that they may, by theſe means, ingratiate themſelves into their confidence, and encourage them to believe that they will be protected by their power, and relieved by their humanity; and this ſurely muſt be a deſirable end to be obtained by thoſe, to whom ſo many muſt look up for comfort and ſupport.
↑ An Attorney is a man who has a delegated power to act for principals in England; but is eſſentially different in practice from an Attorney at law.
