not always known, and what is known is not always present; that sudden fits of inadvertency will surprise vigilance, slight avocations will seduce attention, and casual eclipses of the mind will darken learning; and that the writer shall often in vain trace his memory at the moment of need, for that which yesterday he knew with intuitive readiness, and which will come uncalled into his thoughts to-morrow."

We cannot dismiss this article without repeating that the editor appears to us to merit thanks from the public, for the persevering industry which he has shewn in a laborious undertaking, for the valuable information which he has communicated, and for the judicious manner in which he has arranged his materials. In a performance of great length and difficulty, he seems to have, omitted little that was important, and to have introduced less that was erroneous. Under such circumstances, we shall not descend to some slight observations which have suggested themselves to us, and which we should think it our duty to make on works of less general merit.

ART. XVI. Effects of Slavery, on Morals and Industry. By Noah Webster, jun. Esq. Counsellor at Law and Member of the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom. 8vo. pp. 56. Printed at Hartford in Connecticut; and sold in London by Dilly.

Price Is. 6d.

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T is a most honourable distinction to the North-American republic, that in the United States a considerable portion of the enslaved Africans were first emancipated by law; and it will be remembered to the immortal honour of the sect commonly denominated Quakers, that the emancipation was obtained by their persevering exertions. It is certain, and the fact should give animation to the friends of mankind in their virtuous pursuits, that the influence of benevolent zeal is never confined within the circle of its immediate operation. The Quakers of Philadelphia persevered until they procured the liberation of the negroes of Pennsylvania; and in a short time. the example of that State was followed, in some degree, by all the States of the Union; with the exception, we believe, of only Georgia, the two Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. After having stated this circumstance, it will be unnecessary to inform the intelligent reader that these States are in every respect different from the Northern Provinces; in their agriculture, manufactures, and commercial wealth; and in the literary attainments, skill, enterprise, and moral character of their inhabit

ants.

This difference is so notorious in America, that the very mention of Georgia or Carolina to an American excites in

his mind the disgusting ideas of pride, ignorance, and sloth. Yet even in these countries, (the reproach of the wise and vir tuous republic,) societies for promoting freedom have been established, and the works of Franklin and other able vindicators of the true natural rights of man have been widely circulated. On the other side, the enemies of those sacred rights were not idle. They maintained the justice of slavery, on principle: but, being soon obliged to relinquish this untenable ground, they began to make a material distinction between abstract right and private policy, and to take refuge under the necessity of continuing a condition, which they were compelled to admit should never have existed. Here, intrenched as in a strong hold, they maintained their station, and bade defiance to the attacks of reason and religion.' To drive them from this defence, the author of the tract now on our table encounters them with their own weapons and upon their own ground.'

To execute this purpose, Mr. Webster endeavours to prove, and in our opinion he has completely succeeded, that slavery, in all its forms and varieties, is repugnant to the private interest and happiness of man.' He shews that the necessary effect of slavery, on the human character, is to make man either indolent or detestable; he appeals to the experience of his countrymen for the truth of the assertion; and to history, as well as the testimony of judicious modern travellers, to prove that such is and ever has been the general character of slaves in all nations and ages: let us give his remarks on this subject in his own words:

The indolence of the slaves in the southern states, must indeed approach almost to stupidity. It is said by gentlemen, well informed on this subject, that three blacks will not perform more labour than one free white in the northern states. And it is well known that on every plantation, a negro driver is required, with his whip and his cane, to compel the reluctant slave to perform his daily task. But are American slaves only distinguished for their aversion to labor? History teaches us a very different doctrine. Among the antient Germans, who, by their vigor and bravery, conquered half the world, slavery had the same debasing stupifying influence: and it is remarkable that the word lazzi, which among our Saxon ancestors, was the denomination of the lowest order of bondmen or servants, is the origin of our English word lazy, a word expressive of that indolence and aversion to labor, which remarkably characterize the negroes in America. If slavery had this effect upon our own ancestors, the warlike heroes of the north, surely modern philosophers need not resort to an original difference of race, for the cause of that dullness and want of mental vigor, remarkable in the enslaved natives of the torrid zone and their degenerate descendants.

But if we turn our eyes upon the present nations of Europe, we shall find multiplied proofs of this important truth, that slavery ne

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cessarily

cessarily enervates the vigor of the human mind, in all climates and among all nations.

In Poland, the peasants, who are slaves, are so indolent that they do not furnish themselves even with a shelter from the inclemencies of the weather. The proprietor of the land to which the peasants are annexed, like the stock of a farm, is obliged to build cottages and barns for them, and to furnish them with seed, plows, horses, and every implement of husbandry. Nor do these miserable wretches provide themselves the ordinary comforts of life. Little more is to be seen within their hovels, than bare walls, a wooden stool, and a bed of straw. People who travel in that desolate country, and expect tolerable accommodations, must carry with them their own beds, their provisions, their knives, forks, and spoons.

Very little better is the condition of the peasantry throughout the immense Russian empire. So abject is their situation and so complete the degradation of their minds, as to give rise to a general opinion in that country, that the peasants, if set at liberty, would not be capable of procuring a subsistence.

The modern inhabitants of Greece are remarkable for their aversion to active employments. The miserable subjects of the Turkish government pass whole days, musing, with their legs crossed, their pipes in their mouths, and almost without changing their attitude, Athens and Sparta, the fields of Marathon, Platea, and Thermopylaæ, those nurses of heroes, lawgivers and philosophers, or the theatres on which they exercised their talents and displayed atchievments, that still excite astonishment, are now inhabited by lazy Turks and a few Greeks, dispirited and debased, who inherit not one of the virtues of their illustrious ancestors. To what cause shall we attribute this degeneracy of the Greeks? To what physical energy? Surely no change of climate, no alteration in the productive powers of nature, can account for this moral phenomenon. To despotism alone, that foul monster, before whose pestilential breath the powers of the mind wither and decay, must we ascribe this woful debasement of the modern Greeks.

Another effect of slavery upon its miserable subjects is to make them cruel, deceitful, perfidious, and knavish; in short, to deprive them of all the noble and amiable affections of the human heart. This fatal and necessary consequence of oppression upon the moral character of man, though often noticed by the historian, the divine and philosopher, has either escaped the reflection of tyrants, or its admonitions have been hushed by the more commanding calls of a mistaken selfish policy. But proofs of this truth are scattered over almost every page of history. We can scarcely open a volume without finding some fact to convince us that oppression is the mother of crimes. So striking was this truth in antient Greece, that a great philosopher doubted, whether there was any one virtue belonging to slaves. How can it be otherwise? Is it expectable that men, who are precluded by violence from enjoying the benefits of society, should cultivate the virtues from which its blessings flow? Is it not more natural that the subjects of oppression, sensible they are robbed of their rights and resenting the injury, should prepetually struggle to indemnify

indemnify themselves for the loss, and when it would be fruitless to use open force, that they should have recourse to the arts of treachery and fraud? The principles of human nature warrant this conclusion, and account for the detestable character of slaves in all ages and all countries.'

As a farther proof how generally mankind admit the tendency of bondage to corrupt the human heart, Mr. W. mentions the exclusion of a slave's testimony from trials at law, in almost all the countries in which slavery existed. He then relates the terrible calamities that have been occasioned by the revolt of slaves, in antient Rome, in Sicily, in France, in Germany, and in the European settlements in the West Indies: he demonstrates, by a correct calculation, that slaves are by far the most expensive and troublesome servants than can be em ployed; and, from all these premises, he justly infers that every effort should be used by his fellow-citizens to devise, and to carry into execution, the most easy and effectual mode of abolishing slavery.

Various plans for accomplishing this excellent purpose have been suggested. The enthusiasts proposed an instant and universal emancipation:-they would admit of no delay nor modification:-but it was soon perceived that such a measure, if adopted in the Southern States where nearly one-third of the people are in bondage, would, instead of bettering the condition of the slaves, expose them to perish by want, and endanger the lives of all the white inhabitants. Others, of still more benevolent intentions, proposed that the negroes should be sent home to their native country, furnished with every thing necessary for their future subsistence. This project, too, being full of difficulty in the execution, was abandoned. Our author is of opinion that the best expedient for emancipating the slaves, with advantage to all parties, is to raise them by gradual means to the condition of free tenants.'

It appears to us that, at this time, considerations of safety, as well as motives of justice, should induce the United States of America to liberate their slaves. They are threatened with an invasion by the French and Spaniards from Florida; and we recollect that a member of Congress lately objected to an augmentation of the militia of one of the Southern States, because," said he, "if the troops should be called to march towards the frontiers, there would not be left a sufficient force to protect us against the slaves." The Americans would then be situated as we are now in the West Indies, where our fleets and armies are occupied, not in atchieving conquests, but in defending our planters against the decrees of the French republic. It will perhaps amuse our readers, to be informed

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that

that the Deputies in Congress of the Southern States are mostly of the Jacobin party. One of them lately insisted that all who talked about emancipating the negroes were Royalists in

their hearts.

If we may be allowed to suggest an expedient to co-operate with that of Mr. Webster, we should propose that a fund be raised by the Federal Government, aided (if necessary) by the liberality of individuals, to purchase such female slaves as might be supposed capable of child-bearing, who should be liberated, to insure freedom to their posterity. (It is the law of slavery that children follow the condition of their mothers: therefore, if there were no female slaves, slavery would expire with the present race.) Their services, as free servants, might be sold for a certain number of years, by which the fund of emancipation would be increased, and the slaves might be gradually instructed and disciplined for the enjoyment of complete liberty. The whole number of slaves in the American republic is estimated to be 700,000. Of these there would not perhaps be above 120,000 of the description to be purchased; and, taking the average price at 30 l. sterling, the sum required to liberate them would be 3,600,000l. As the services of the emancipated slaves, however, are to be sold for a limited time, perhaps half of this sum would be sufficient; especially if the Legislature could be induced to countenance the plan, so far as to prevent the price of female slaves from being exorbitantly raised. Considering the great wealth of the American States, we hope that they would not long hesitate whether to incur the proposed expence, or to remain under the odium of an establishment that endangers their existence as a nation, while it is a reproach to the friends of liberty in every part of the world, and a constant theme of triumph and exultation to those sycophants of power who mock their principles.

In the following passage we observe a great inaccuracy; and we are extremely sorry for it. We may remark,' says Mr. W. that by a late act of the British Parliament, the slave-trade is to cease in the year 1796.'-A resolution for the gradual abolition of that trade was passed by a Committee of the House of Commons, when a general election was supposed to be not far distant but the House very speedily altered its opinion.

Altogether, we do not hesitate to recommend Mr. Webster's pamphlet to our readers as a solid and useful performance; and we wish it had sooner fallen into our hands. The date at the bottom of the title-page is 1793: but no copies were imported for sale, by the London booksellers, till the present year 1797

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