PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

162
1. From crimes.
2. From capti\~it~ ...
3. From debt.
In the first case, the continuatlfC of tIle ~ja\-crj~,
of any other punishment, ought w be proportioned
to the crime; in the second and third cases, it OU~ilt
to cease, as soon as the demand of the injured nation
or private creditor is satisfied ..
The sJa\re-tr~de
upon the coast of Africa is not eJ~cused
by these principles. 'Vhen slaves in that country
are brought to market, no que~tiolls, I belin"p,
are asked about the origin or justice of the vep.dor's
title..
It may be pre~umed, therefore, that this ti:lc i5
not always, if it be ever, founded in any of the causes
above assigned. _
But defect of right in the first purchase is the least
crime, with which this traffic i5 chargeable,. The
natives are excited tv war and f!lutual deprcdati!)n~
for the sake of supplying their contracts, or furni!:hing
the market with slaves. 1Vith this the wickedness
begins. The s)a,'cs, torn away from parents~
wives, children, from their friends and ccmpanions,
their fields and flocks, their hOlTIC _ and countr)F, are
transported to the European settle~ents in Anlerica,
with no othe:- ac~ommodation on shipbc·ard, thaIl
what is provided for brutes. 1'his is the seconrl
stage of cruelty, fron1 which the mi3er3bl(~ exilt:s arc
deli,"ered, only to he Dlac~d, and that for Iiie~ in sub-
- &
jection to a dominion and s)'stem of la\vs~ tIle most
merciless and tvrannical that ever \,,"ere tol(tratcd
.I
upon the face of the earth: and froIIl all that can be
learned by the accounts of the people upon the spot,
the inordinate authority, which the pbntation laws
confer upon the slave-holder, is exercised, by th~
English slave-holder, c~peciaily, with riger and brutality.
But necessity is pr('tended; the name under which
every enormity is att ~mpted to be justified. And ~
as