LIVING in the country where I ſee ſo few of the London papers, that I hardly know what paſſes in the world; but lately meeting with your letter, upon the ſubject of ſlavery, in the General Evening Poſt of the 22d of November; and alſo thoſe of your friend Africanus, in the preceding papers, which you refer to, I have ſat down to make a few brief remarks upon this ſubject.

I obſerve that your letters, and all the writings that I have ſeen upon that ſide of the queſtion, are in the ſame declamatory ſtyle, which may beſpeak the compaſſion of your readers; but when ſubjects of ſuch magnitude are brought before the public, wherein ſo many individuals are materially intereſted; and even the nation itſelf may be involved in the event, they ought to be fairly and diſpaſſionately diſcuſſed.

The abolition of the ſlave trade, and the conſequences attending it, which would evidently be the breaking up of the Britiſh ſugar colonies, and the total ruin of a multitude of innocent families, is not a little thing. Neither are a few exaggerated tales told by mariners, or others, who probably may not be competent judges of the polity of the princes of Africa; or the default of thoſe towns which you mention, on which the depredations fall: or is an inſtance or two of ſuch inhuman maſters as Macmahon, if they are true, ſufficient to found a law upon to aboliſh this trade.

There are various ways which ſupply the markets in Africa with ſlaves; but the convicts, which you ſeem to think the principal ſupport of the trade, are very few, compared with others that are brought to market.

The ſlaves ſold from the eſtates of the grandees, whoſe ſole property they are, as much as other ſtock upon their plantations, or as much ſo as an Engliſh farmer by the law of England is entitled to the ſtock upon his eſtate, amount to a great number; but the principal ſource of the ſlave trade are the captives taken in war, which is indeed often kindled by thoſe tyrannical princes upon ſmall occaſions, but generally ariſes from rebellion or default in the payment of tribute.

When a tribe is conquered they become tributary to the conqueror, and upon failure in the payment, the war is renewed, and the captives on either ſide are made ſlaves; but certainly this practice is not founded upon their commerce with Europeans, as is often ſuggeſted by thoſe who cenſure the trade. It was the common uſage very many ages before the Europeans had any intercourſe with Africa: the ſtates of Carthage, at a very early time, after they grew powerful, obliged ſome African princes to pay them tribute, which was one ſource they had to get ſlaves; but the great commerce that the Carthagenians, Numidians, the Mauritanians, and others, who occupied the northern coaſts of Africa, carried on with the Lybians or Nigritians, a people who inhabited the interior country that we now call Negroland, was the fountain from whence ſprung the multitude of blacks which recruited their armies, and ſerved for labourers and all ſervile purpoſes as well as commerce, as appears by the fragments of ancient hiſtorySee the ancient hiſtory of Carthage, of Numidia, the Nigritians, the Getulians, the Melano Getulians, &c..

But in regard to the cuſtom of ſeizing and carrying off inhabitants for default in the payment of tribute, we have a very early inſtance from divine revelation.—Several nations of the African race, who held territories in Arabia, were tributary to the king of Elam, and paid him tribute regularly for a number of years, and then rebelled againſt him: upon which Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam or Perſia, went out to war againſt them, and ſubdued them, and was carrying off his booty, of which the principal part was captives, when the patriarch Abraham, with his little army, met him. And this expedition was but three hundred and ſeventy-ſeven years after the floodGen. xiv. 4, 16..

Mr. Clarkſon, a late writer on the commerce and ſlavery of the human ſpecies, cites Homer to prove that the ſlave trade was in practice in Egypt and Cyprus ſo long ago as the Trojan war; but he might have aſcertained this fact upon much higher authority, and done more than hinted that Homer coincided with ſcripture in this point. Slaves are expreſsly mentioned as a part of the trade of antient BabylonRev. xviii. 13.; they are alſo mentioned as part of the trade of TyreEzek. xxvii. 13., and of Haran, a city of Babylon, built by NimrodGen. xii. 5., and in many other places, as will appear hereafterGen. x. 10. and Ezek. xxvii. 23.. If we trace it further, we ſhall find that it was not only in practice among the heathen nations, but univerſally ſo among the worſhippers of the true GOD. Abraham and Lot got ſlaves in Haran, when they were going to CanaanGen. xii. 4.. The ſcripture calls theſe people the ſouls they got in Haran; but if they were not ſlaves, then Biſhop Patrick, Dr. Whitby, and many other learned divines have been miſtaken in their comment upon this text; and if Abraham's ſervants, of which he had a great multitude, were not ſlaves, it ſeems ſtrange that they ſhould be enumerated as Iſaac's inheritance when he was offered in marriage to RebeccaGen. xxiv. 35.. We are alſo told, expreſſly, that Pharaoh, king of the Egyptians, and Abimeleck, king of Gerer, or of the Philiſtians, both branches of Ham's family, gave Abraham ſheep and oxen, and men ſervants and women ſervantsGen. xii. 16. and xx. 14.; and I believe nobody will doubt of thoſe preſents being the property of the king's who beſtowed them upon Abraham. Hagar who was alſo an Egyptian, is expreſsly called the bondmaid or ſlave of Sarah, over whom Abraham tells her ſhe had abſolute power; and when ſhe run away from her miſtreſs, the angel of the Lord met her, and ſaid to her, Hagar, return to thy miſtreſs and ſubmit thyſelf unto her Gen. xvi. 6, 9. This admonition, according to Mr. Sharp, was a ſhameful and notorious breach of the law of God. See his juſt limitation of ſlavery, page 53.. The ſcripture informs us that Iſaac had ſuch ſtore of ſervants, that he was envied even by the Philiſtines; who abounded in ſlavesGen. xxvi. 14.. When Jacob met his brother Eſau, he ordered meſſengers to go forward to greet him, and preſs him to accept of a preſent of any thing he had, and thus enumerates his ſubſtance; I have ſojourned with Laban, and I am poſſeſſed of oxen and aſſes, and men ſervants and maid ſervants Gen. xxxii. 5.. When Joſeph was carried into Egypt, ſlaves were bought and ſold there in open market, which Mr. Clarkſon admitsGen. xxxvii. 27, 28.. When Moſes was going out of Egypt with the Iſraelites, it plainly appears that ſlaves were then bought and ſold there, and that the Iſraelites were allowed to buy them to carry out with themExod. xii. 44.. And when Moſes formed his code of laws for the Iſraelites, he expreſsly points out a people of the ſame family, from whom he directs them to buy their hereditary ſlaves; and among the ſame laws, inſtitutes the moſt humane precepts for their governmentLevit. xxv. 44, 45, 46. Exod. xxiſt chapter, &c..

If theſe inſtances from divine writ need the corroboration of profane hiſtory, I recommend the reader to the various relations of the ancient ſlave feaſts, namely the Sacae • , the Saturnalia, &c. among the Babylonians, the Aſſyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, &c.

From theſe general hints, which the limits of this letter will not admit of enlarging, we may fairly infer, that the traffic in ſlaves is of very early date, and that it was conſidered as a legal commerce under the law of Moſes. And if we trace it further with an unbiaſſed mind, we ſhall find that it was not aboliſhed under the goſpel; but, on the contrary, St. Paul frequently exhorts ſervants in their duty to their maſters, in theſe words. Servants obey your maſters according to the fleſh, and not with eyeſervice Col. iii. 22.. Servants be obedient to your maſters according to the fleſh, &c. Eph. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8. Let every man abide in the ſame calling wherein he is called 1 Cor. vii. 20.. Let as many as are under the yoke count their own maſters worthy of all honor 1 Tim. vi. 1.. In his epiſtle to Titus he ſays, Exhort ſervants to be obedient unto their maſters, and pleaſe them well in all things, not anſwering again, and not purloining, but ſhewing all good fidelity Titus ii. 9.. Servants be ſubjects to your maſters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but alſo to the froward 1 Pet. ii. 18.. St Paul mutually admoniſhes maſters reſpecting their duty to their ſervantsMoſes diſtinguiſhes thoſe ſervants who were conſidered as an inheritance, by the name of bondmen, and before Moſes's time they were called by that name. St. Paul calls them by the general name of ſervants, or ſervants under the yoke, or ſervants according to the fleſh. Oneſimus is called Philemon's ſervant; but even Mr. Clarkſon allows that he was Philemon's ſlave. The prophet Ezekiel calls thoſe which were ſold with veſſels of braſs at the markets of Tyre, the perſons of men. St. John calls them bondmen, and ſouls of men, and ſlaves, promiſcuouſly. Gen. xxi. 10. Levit. xxv. 44. Ezek. xxvii. 13. 1 Tim. vi. 1. Rev. vi. 15. and xiii. 16. and xviii. 13.: and he is ſo explicit in both, that it needs no comment; but he never once hints to his diſciples that it is the duty of Chriſtians to emancipate their ſlaves.

Theſe exhortations are contained in the epiſtles and diſcourſes which St. Paul addreſſes to the people of the Greek cities and churches of Aſia Minor, Greece and Macedonia, that is Epheſus, Coloſſe, Theſſilonica, Corinth, Achaia, Smyrna, Pontus, Galatia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, Bythinia, Athens, &c. where miſſionaries were employed to propagate chriſtianity, and where a multitude of ſlaves were held as property. In the little city of Athens only, they reckoned no leſs than four hundred thouſand ſlavesUniverſal Hiſtory, vol. 6. page 43., who were treated in this city with more humanity than in other places; yet by the Greeks in general they were conſidered as an inferior people, and by the Lacedemonians in particular they were uſed with a ſeverity offenſive to human nature. Ariſtotle, as Mr. Clarkſon remarks, adviſed Alexander to treat his Barbarians with rigor; ſuggeſting that they could not bear gentle uſage, but it is very evident that Ariſtotle does not ſpeak of Greeks or Jews, but of the African ſlaves in Alexander's army; whom, I ſay, the Greeks looked upon in a very degraded light, but not more ſo, by calling them Barbarians, for even St. Paul frequently diſtinguiſhes them by that appellation, which looks as if that name was not a term of reproach.

The Lacedemonians began their commerce in ſlaves at a very early period with the Mauritarians, and other ſtates on the northern coaſts of Africa, who ſpread it all over the Mediterranean, and many other places, and it continued among the Carthagenians, the Phenicians, and their ſucceſſors, and is at this day in a flouriſhing condition in the ſtates of Barbary, and in the dominions of the king of Morocco, and all over the empire of the grand Seignor.

Therefore if ſlavery ſhould be aboliſhed by all the nations in Europe, it is evident that even that would not put an end to it; and if it is annihilated in the Britiſh dominions only, it can anſwer no other purpoſe, but to ruin a great many unoffending families, and to increaſe the ſugar colonies of France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, &c. upon the downfall of ours. It ought to be conſidered too, that our ſlave trade is not of that magnitude that is ſuggeſted by its oppoſers, and that it bears no proportion to that of other nations. Cooke tells us in the firſt volume of his voyages, page 30, among his remarks at Rio Janeiro, that in that province alone there were ſix hundred and twenty-nine thouſand negroe ſlaves belonging to the Portugueze, which is near double the number that there is in all the Britiſh plantations; others ſay; that the Spaniſh colonies require an annual ſupply of ſeventy or eighty thouſand, but it is an undoubted fact, that the ſlaves imported into the Portugueze colonies in America are more than double of thoſe imported into the Britiſh plantations. Guthrie ſays, they import about fifty thouſand ſlaves annually into the Brazils, and it is ſuppoſed that about twenty thouſand are imported annually into the Britiſh colonies. The Portugueze having their ſlaves at a lower rate from their African colonies than the Engliſh can get theirs, may be the reaſon that their ſugars are cheaper; but I wiſh I could impute it to another cauſe, which is ſuggeſted by ſome, namely, That the Portugueze treat their ſlaves with more humanity than other nations, and therefore get more labor from them.

I ſhould alſo be glad to have it fairly pointed out, how Great-Britain is to be ſupplied with Weſt-India produce when this ſcheme takes place, as it is now become a neceſſary of life. Who are we to ſtipulate with for thoſe ſupplies; and are we ſure that we can pay for them in the produce and manufactures of this country? Shall we ſuffer nothing by having ſeveral millions conſumed among foreigners which is now ſpent among ourſelves; and is it not a matter worthy of conſideration, how far our navy may be affected when this great branch of trade is lopped off; which now returns annually three or four millions ſterling to Great-Britain. Or can there be many people ſo viſionary, as to think the project of Dean Tucker eligible, that is, of replacing this trade by eſtabliſhing ſugar colonies among the natives of Africa, or going to Cochin China for ſugar. When this ſcheme takes place, is will be time to look out for the accompliſhment of the Dean's prophecy, which he deſires may never be forgotten, and therefore I, for one, record it, which is as follows:

That in the courſe of half a century, Great-Britain and Ireland, and all Europe, if they pleaſe, may be ſupplied with Weſt-India produce; without ſlaves, without colonies, without governments, without forts or men of war, and without officers and contracts Dean Tueker's reflections on the matters in diſpute between Great-Britain and Ireland 1785, page 17..

I know that the Dean, as well as Mr. Ramſay and ſome others, who have wrote upon this ſubject, are impreſſed with an opinion, that the enlargement of ſlaves would make the Weſt-India produce come cheaper to the conſumer, and that negroes in that condition would become more uſeful to Great-Britain, and more profitable to the owners of plantations than they are now; that they of courſe would get into the habits of Europeans, and having families of their own, would be encouraged to do more labour. But experience informs thoſe who have made the trial, ſo far as reſpects their having families, that it has juſt the contrary effect: that there is a greater ſurpluſage from the labour of one ſingle man in the courſe of the year, than from the labour of another with the aſſiſtance of a wife and children, and that this is the general obſervation. Therefore it is, as ſome of you, gentlemen, remark, that the moſt avaricious planters always chuſe to buy a much greater proportion of males for their plantations; and that it falls moſtly to the lot of indigent planters to buy females. Still I think this a great oppreſſion, and requires a better regulation, for I do not ſee why a negro ſlave ſhould not have every comfort in human life that is conſiſtent with his duty and the ſafety of his maſter. But we have no example of a body of negroes under their own government, or in a ſtate of freedom, making a figure in agriculture or uſeful arts. If we look into Africa among their countrymen, we ſhall find nothing that favors this opinion. If we have recourſe to the African iſlands, or other places, where negroes form the community, we ſhall find a parcel of indolent, improvident miſerable wretches, who out of a ſtate of warfare with their neighbors, know not how to employ their time. If we form our judgment by the cuſtoms and manners of Europeans, who are bred up in different habits, and naturally of a different bent of mind, the parallel will not be juſt. Several hiſtorians of good authority inform us, that the natives of interior Africa remain, in general, at this day, in the ſame rude ſituation that they were in two thouſand years ago; that they have made no progreſs in ſcience, and even in agriculture they do no more than what is extorted from them; but truſt to ſpontaneous fruits and other adventitious ſupplies for their ſupport; that in general they live promiſcuouſly with their women, and have nothing of humanity about them but the form: and that wherever any civilization is found among them upon the frontiers, it is owing to the trade which you cenſure. If we look into the deportment of negroes that have come more within our own ſphere of knowledge; who have had opportunity of improving by the cuſtoms of white people, 〈◊〉 ſtill perceive the ſame indolence and the ſame improvidence.

During the late war with America, ſome of the United States to the northward emancipated their ſlaves, and thoſe ſlaves having lived in the habit of induſtry, under humane maſters, one would naturally think they would be able to provide for themſelves when they had their freedom; but aſk any candid man from that country, and he will tell you, that more than half of them are become vagabonds in this ſhort ſpace of time, and but very few of them are able to provide for themſelves. A ſmall colony of negroes, not leſs than four or five thouſand were tranſported from the ſtates of America, on the late peace, to Nova-Scotia, who had every privilege of Britiſh ſubjects; lands aſſigned them for an inheritance; allowed to chuſe officers among themſelves, and aſſiſted with rations from government; yet now, in the courſe of a few years are dwindled away and coming to nothing.—It is well known how the city of London, and the country about it, was lately infeſted with American negroes. Now I appeal to any gentleman under whoſe particular inſpection they came, whether one in a hundred of them would apply ſteadily to labour; or was fit to take care of himſelf. Some inſtances came to my own knowledge of able bodied negroe men that found employ in the country; but never worked longer, than till they got a little money in their pockets, and then got off to ſpend it, and never provided cloaths for winter, or ſcarce enough to cover their nakedneſs in ſummer; and wherever they gained a ſettlement became a burthen to the pariſh.

If I have here given a true characteriſtic of negroes, which I think is agreeable to the general opinion of mankind who are acquainted with them; then their enlargement would not have the effect that you ſeem to expect from it. But if you can make it plainly appear, that it would be for the intereſt of proprietors to emancipate their ſlaves, there would be no need of parliamentary aid to accompliſh your point. Or could you prove what you aſſert, viz. that their manumiſſion would be of public utility, I have no doubt but adminiſtration would find ways and means to raiſe fourteen or fifteen millions ſterling to compenſate the proprietors.

Still, if the object of your ſociety is nothing more than the regulation of the ſlave trade, and to obtain an act of parliament for the expreſs purpoſe of binding maſters and ſlaves in their duty to each other, I ſhould think that every man would unite to promote it: or, if this trade is as you affirm, contrary to all laws human and divine, no man would oppoſe the annihilation of it; but to make this appear, there muſt be ſomething more than mere aſſertion; or pervertion of texts, or ſuppreſſion of parts of texts to ſerve your purpoſe.

It has been too much the practice of thoſe who have wrote on your ſide the queſtion, in order to make their argument more ſpecious, to accommodate paſſages of ſcripture to their own convenience, and do not ſeem to have ſo ſacred a regard to truth as they ought to have, who profeſs to write only to ſerve the cauſe of humanity, and I am ſorry to obſerve, that even Mr. Sharp, the preſident of your ſociety, is not free from cenſure in this point. In his book, entitled, The juſt Limitations of Slavery, he is endeavouring to prove that this commerce is incompatible with the will of GOD; and in one place cites a paſſage from the 23d chapter of Deuteronomy, the 14th and 15th verſes, which he gives us in theſe words. That though the Jews were permitted by the law of Moſes to keep ſlaves, yet there was no inherent right of ſervice implied from this permiſſion; becauſe whenever the ſlave could eſcape, he was eſteemed free, and it was abſolutely unlawful for any man to deliver him up again to his maſter. This is a ſtrange doctrine for a legiſlature to advance, who makes it death for any man to ſteal or withhold a ſlave from his lawful maſter. But before we cenſure the lawgiver for inconſiſtency, let us examine the text, and ſee whether Mr. Sharp has given us a juſt interpretation of it. It is the 15th verſe that is alluded to; but it is thus introduced in the 14th verſe. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midſt of thy camp to deliver thee, and give up thine enemies before thee. Then in the 15th verſe are theſe words. Thou ſhalt not deliver unto his maſter, the ſervant which eſcapes from his maſter unto thee. Now I think it muſt appear plain to any candid reader, that the text refers to ſervants that eſcaped from the enemy, who encompaſſed Moſes's camp. It was good policy, and agreeable to the cuſtom of all nations to ſuccour deſerters.

In the appendix, page 22, Mr. Sharp ſays, that the Iſraelites were expreſsly permitted by the law of Moſes to give a bill of divorce to their wives, whenever they pleaſed, and to marry other women, and from hence concludes, that the laws of Moſes are not conſiſtent with natural equity. But this is not a fair repreſentation of the text which we find in the firſt verſe of the 24th of Deuteronomy, where we may ſee that this law does not allow of a divorce whenever the huſband pleaſed; but only upon a breach of the marriage covenant; ſo this is not ſufficient to mark the law of Moſes with injuſticeCompare Deut. xxiv. 1, with Lev. xv. chap. and Rom. 1ſt chap. &c..

In the 36th page, Mr. Sharp quotes the 23d verſe of the 7th chapter of the 1ſt of Corinthians, in theſe words: Ye are bought with a price, be not therefore the ſervants of men; as if St. Paul was enticing ſervants to run away from their maſters. But the words of the text are theſe. You are bought with a price, be not ye the ſervants of men? which the context fully explains.

The bounds of a letter will not permit of my following Mr. Sharp any further at preſent; but I cannot conclude this letter without remarking the ſame diſingenuity in Mr. Clarkſon; who alſo miſleads his readers in ſome material hiſtorical facts. In his eſſay upon the ſlavery and commerce of the human ſpecies, he aſſerts, page 38, That it is neceſſary for a man to be free, to be a Chriſtian. But I deny this to be ſcripture doctrine. We are poſitively aſſured, that all men are alike in the ſight of GOD. Jew or Greek, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free.

In page 206, he is ſpeaking in favor of a ſyſtem which ſome have advanced, namely, that white men and negroes do not differ from each other in complexion or hair, but only according to the climate they live in; and in ſupport of this hypotheſis, he ſays, we cannot have a more ſtriking inſtance of this, than in the Jews, who are ſcattered over the face of the whole earth; yet have preſerved themſelves diſtinct from the reſt of the world by their religion, as they never intermarry with any but thoſe of their own ſect, ſo they have no mixture of blood in their veins, that they ſhould differ from each other: and yet their complexion is different according to the country they reſide in. But if we inveſtigate this point, we ſhall find it not founded in fact. Moſes married an Ethiopian womanNumb. xii. 1.; Joſeph married an Egyptian woman, from whence ſprung the two tribes of Ephraim and Manaſſah, who of courſe were mingled nations, that is, a mixture of Egyptian and Hebrew blood. King Solomon had at leaſt one wife that was an African, and many other foreign women, which moſt probably was imitated by his ſubjects. The Jews were ſcattered over all the dominions of Ahaſuerus, who is called Artaxerxes, which contained a hundred and twenty-ſeven provinces, extending from Ethiopia to India; and there is a plain intimation in the book of Eſther, that when they had reſt from their enemies, they mingled with the natives of the landEſther viii. 9, 17. and ix. 27.. Be this as it will, the Jews are continually upbraided by the prophets for intermarrying with the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, &c.Ezr ix. 2. Eſdras viii. 69, &c.

In page 245 of the ſame book, Mr. Clarkſon ſays, that St. Paul having converted Oneſimus, who was a fugitive ſlave of Philemon, ſent him back to his maſter with this addreſs. I ſend him back to you, but not in his former capacity, not now as a ſervant, but above a ſervant, a brother beloved. In this manner I beſeech you to receive him, for though I could enjoin you to do it, yet I had rather it ſhould be a matter of your own will than of neceſſity. Now if we look into the 16th verſe of St. Paul's epiſtle to Philemon, we ſhall find a very material part of that verſe ſuppreſſed, which plainly ſhows that Oneſimus did continue in his former capacity, that is, Philemon's ſervant in the fleſh, though he had become his brother according to the bond of chriſtianity.

After all Mr. Sharp will ſay, that though this commerce may have the voice of the people, or of the whole world in its favor, and divine revelation to ſupport it, yet it is inconſiſtent with natural equity for one man to be a ſlave to another.

Many things occur in the courſe of Providence that may have this appearance to our inadequate ideas of Divine juſtice. What ſhall we then ſay? Is there unrighteouſneſs with God? God forbid. Shall the thing formed ſay unto him that formed it, why haſt thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, to make one veſſel unto honor and another unto diſhonor?

Eve diſobeyed the command of GOD, and her puniſhment was to bring forth children in ſorrow; but her innocent poſterity were doomed to ſuffer, and do ſuffer the ſame affliction.

When the ſerpent ſeduced Eve to taſte the forbidden fruit, he walked erect, and ſpoke with a human voice; but as a puniſhment for his crime, he was doomed to crawl upon his belly and lick the duſt, and be deprived of the form he had appeared in before, and his iſſue have continued in that degraded ſtate to this day.

All the poſterity of Adam feel the effect of the curſe denounced upon him. And can we believe that the poſterity of Cain alone, who committed ſuch an atrocious act, ſhould eſcape puniſhment?

Ham committed a crime for which it pleaſed GOD to curſe Canaan. How ſhall we reconcile this to natural equity? Or, does it appear to be greater injuſtice to puniſh the whole family of Ham for their father's crime, and yet I think, upon a full inveſtigation of this point, it will appear, that the whole of Ham's poſterity participated in the curſe.

Much might be ſaid to elucidate this ſubject; but the bounds preſcribed to this letter, will not admit of entering farther into it at preſent. I am, however, of opinion, that upon a full inveſtigation it will appear,

1. That ſlavery commenced ſoon after the curſe was denounced upon Canaan.

2. That the name of Canaan may be interpreted, to imply the whole family of Ham; without diſtorting ſcripture.

3. That the original ſettlement of Ham's family was in Africa, Arabia and Babylon.

4. That the firſt inſtances of men being bought and ſold, or held as hereditary ſervants, were in the countries where Ham's family ſettled.

5. That this family, as has been obſerved, were particularly pointed out by the law of Moſes to ſerve the Iſraelites as ſlaves. They are called the heathen round about them; but the mingled nations that deſcended from Abraham and Lot, who were alſo round about the Iſraelites, and idolators too, yet were not in that predicament.

6. That the commerce in ſlaves within the dominion of Great-Britain is founded upon, and ſupported by acts of parliament.

7. That this commerce in its various operations, is at preſent a great nurſery for ſeamen, and under proper regulations would be much greater, notwithſtanding ſome unfavorable circumſtances attending the navigation.

8. And above all, That this trade, under ſuitable reſtrictions and limitations, would be a more effectual means of civilizing negroes, than all the viſionary plans for eſtabliſhing ſugar colonies in Africa, Cochin China, or New Guinea.