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place describes it in words which every Slave-master should know, as —
“The state of war continued between a lawful conqueror and his captive. . .So opposite to the generous temper and courage of our nation, that 'ts hardly to be conceived that an Englishman, much less a gentleman, should plead for it."
Then comes Adam Smith, the founder of the science of Political Economy, who, in his work on Morals,thus utters himself:
“There is not a negro from the coast of Africa who does not possess a degree of magnanimity which the soul of his sordid master is too often scarce capable of conceiving, Fortune never exerted more cruelly her empire over mankind, than when she subjected these nations of heroes to the refuse of jails of Europe, to wretches who possess the virtues neither of the countries which they come from, nor of those which they go to, and whose levity, brutality, and baseness, so justly expose them to the contempt of the vanquished." — Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part V. Chapter 2.
This judgment, pronounced just a century ago, was repelled by the Slave-masters of Virginia in a feeble publication, which attests at least their own consciousness that they were the criminals arraigned by the distinguished philosopher. This was soon followed by the testimony of the great English moralist, Dr. Johnson, who, in a letter to a friend, thus shows his opinion of Slave-masters:
“To omit for a year, or for a day, the most efficacious method of advancing Christianity, in compliance with any purposes, that terminate on this side of the grave, is a crime of which I know not that the world bas had an example, except in the practice of the planters of America, a race of mortals whom, I suppose, no other man wishes to resemble. — Letter to William Drummond, 13th August, 1766. (Boswell's Life of Johnson, by Croker.)
With such authorities, American and Philosophic, I need not hesitate in this ungracious task; but Truth, which is mightier than Mason and Jefferson, than John Locke, Adam Smith, and Samuel Johnson, marshals the evidence in unbroken succession.
Proceeding with this argument, which broadens as we advance, we shall see Slave-masters (1) in the Law of Slavery, (2) in their relations with Slaves, (8) in their relations with each other and with Society, and (4) in that unconsciousness which renders them insensible to their true character.
(1.) Asin considering the Character of Slavery, so in considering the Character of Slave-masters, we must begin with the Law of Slavery, which, as their work, testifies against them. In the face of such an unutterable abomination, where impiety, cruelty, brutality and robbery, all strive for mastery, it is yain to assert the humanity or refinement of its authors. Full
