PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Thoughts upon slavery
Wesley, John, 1703-1791 · 8,960 words · 15 reading sections
THE FIFTH EDITION.
By _JOHN WESLEY_, A. M. [Illustration]…
6 wordsSECTION 2_LONDON_:
Printed by G. PARAMORE, North Green, Worship-Street; and sold by _G. Whitfield_, at the Chapel, City-Road; and at the Methodist Preaching-Houses, in Town and Country. 1792. [Price TWO-PENCE.] I. 1. By _Slavery_ I mean Domestic Slavery, or that of a servant to a master. A late ingenious Writer well observes, “The vari…
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3. Concerning the first, the _Senegal_ coast, Mons. _Bene_, who lived there sixteen years, after describing its fruitfulness near the sea, says, “The farther you go from the sea, the more fruitful and well-improved is the country, abounding in pulse, Indian corn, and various fruits. Here are vast meadows, which feed la…
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8. It was of these parts of _Guinea_, that Mons. _Adanson_, Correspondent of the Royal Academy of Sciences at _Paris_, from 1749, to 1753, gives the following account, both as to the country and people, “Which way soever I turned my eyes, I beheld a perfect image of pure nature: an agreeable solitude, bounded on every …
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12. The natives of the kingdom of _Benin_ are a reasonable and good-natured people. They are sincere and inoffensive, and do no injustice either to one another or to strangers. They are eminently civil and courteous: if you make them a present, they endeavour to repay it double. And if they are trusted, till the ship r…
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2. It was some time before the _Europeans_ found a more compendious way of procuring _African_ Slaves, by prevailing upon them to make war upon each other, and to sell their prisoners. Till then they seldom had any wars: but were in general quiet and peaceable. But the white men first taught them drunkenness and avaric…
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6. When they are brought down to the shore in order to be sold, our Surgeons thoroughly examine them, and that quite naked, women and men, without any distinction: those that are approved are set on one side. In the mean time a burning iron, with the arms or name of the Company, lies in the fire, with which they are ma…
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11. But the law of _Barbadoes_ exceeds even this, “If any negro under punishment, by his master, or his order, for running away, or any other crime or misdemeanor, shall suffer _in life or member, no person whatsoever shall be liable to any fine therefore_. But if any man, of wantonness, or only of bloody-mindedness or…
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“We are told, Thirdly, that men may be _born slaves_, by being the children of slaves. But this being built upon the two former rights must fall together with them, if neither captivity, nor contract can by the plain law of nature and reason, reduce the parent to a state of slavery, much less can they reduce the offspr…
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6. This in general. But to be more particular, I ask, 1. What is necessary? And secondly, To what end? It may be answered, “The whole method now used by the original purchasers of negroes, is necessary to the furnishing our colonies yearly with a hundred thousand slaves.” I grant this is necessary to that end. But how …
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I pray, to what end is this usage necessary? “Why, to prevent their running away: and to keep them constantly to their labour, that they may not idle away their time. So miserably stupid is this race of men, yea, so stubborn and so wicked.” Allowing them to be as stupid as you say, to whom is that stupidity owing? With…
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2. And, first, to the captains employed in this trade. Most of _you_ know, the country of _Guinea_: several parts of it at least, between the river _Senegal_ and the kingdom of _Angola_. Perhaps now, by _your_ means, part of it is become a dreary uncultivated wilderness, the inhabitants being all murdered or carried aw…
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4. This equally concerns every Merchant, who is engaged in the Slave-trade. It is _you_ that induce the _African_ villain to sell his countrymen; and in order thereto, to steal, rob, murder men, women and children without number: by enabling the _English_ villain to pay him for so doing; whom you over pay for his execr…
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7. O thou God of love, thou who art loving to every man, and whose mercy is over all thy works; thou who art the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and who art rich in mercy unto all; thou who has mingled of one blood, all the nations upon the earth; have compassion upon these outcasts of men, who are trodden down as …
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Transcriber’s Note Clear printer’s errors have been corrected by the transcriber; as far as possible, however, original spelling and punctuation have been preserved. In this file, text in _italics_ is indicated by underscores.…
33 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.