Baxters Directions to Slave-Holders, Directions
Abſtract from Baxter's Chriſtian Directory, &c. Page 557.
"Directions to thoſe Maſters, in Foreign Plantations, who have Negroes and other Slaves, being a Solution of ſeveral Caſes about them.
"UNDERSTAND well how far your power over your ſlaves extendeth, and what limits God hath ſet thereto; ſuch as is a ſufficient difference between men and brutes, that they are of as good a kind as you, that is, they are reaſonable creatures as well as you, and born to as much natural liberty; that they have immortal ſouls, and are equally capable of ſalvation with yourſelves; Remember that God is their abſolute owner, and that you have none but a derived and limited property in them; that they and you are equally under the government and laws of God;—Remember that God is their tender Father, and if they be as good, doth love them as well as you, and that the greater your power is over them, the greater your charge is of them, and your duty for them; the fourth Commandment requireth maſters to ſee that all within their gates obſerve the Sabbath day, ſo muſt you exerciſe both your power and love to bring them to the knowledge and faith of Chriſt, and to the juſt obedience of God's commands.
Thoſe therefore, that keep their Negroes and ſlaves from hearing God's word, and from becoming Chriſtians, do openly profeſs contempt of Chriſt the Redeemer, and contempt of the ſouls of men, and indeed they declare that, their worldly profit is their treaſure, and their God."
"If this comes to the hands of any of our natives in Barbadoes, or other iſlands and plantations, who are ſaid to be guilty of this moſt heinous ſin, yea, and to live upon it, intreat them further to conſider, how curſed a crime it is to equal men to beaſts? Is not this your practice? Do you not buy them and uſe them merely to the ſame end as you do your horſes; to labour for your commodity, as if they were baſer than you and made to ſerve you? Do you not ſee how you reproach and condemn yourſelves, while you vilify them as ſavages and barbarous wretches? Did they ever do any thing more ſavage, than to uſe not only men's bodies as beaſts, but their ſouls, as if they were made for nothing but to actuate their bodies in your worldly drudgery?
"Doth not the very example of ſuch cruelty, beſides your keeping them from Chriſtianity, directly tend to teach them to hate Chriſtianity, as if it taught men to be ſo much worſe than dogs, or tygers?
"Do you not mark how God hath followed you with plagues? and may not conſcience tell you, that it is for your inhumanity to the ſouls and bodies of ſo many? Remember the late fire at the bridge, in Barbadoes; Remember the drowning of your governor, loſs of ſhips at ſea, and the many judgments that have overtaken you, and at the preſent, the terrible mortality that is among you.
"Will not the example and warning of neighbouring countries riſe up in judgment againſt you, and condemn you? You cannot but hear how odious the Spaniſh name is made (and thereby, alas! the Chriſtian name alſo, among the Weſt Indians) for their moſt inhuman cruelties in Hiſpaniola, Jamaica, Cuba, Peru, Mexico, and other places, which are deſcribed by Joſeph Acoſta, a jeſuit of their own; And what comfort are you like to have, at laſt, in that money which is purchaſed at ſuch a price? Will not your money and you periſh together? Will not you have a worſe than Gehazi's leproſy, with it? Yea, worſe than Achan's death by ſtoning; and as bad as Judas his hanging himſelf, unleſs repentance ſhall prevent it? Do you not remember the terrible words in Jude, "Wo unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam; and ii. Peter, 2, 3, 14, 15, through covetouſneſs they make merchandiſe of you. An heart they have exerciſed with covetous practices; curſed children (or children of a curſe) which have forſaken the right way, and are gone aſtray, following the way of Balaam, the ſon of Bezor, who loved the wages of unrighteouſneſs; but was rebuked for his iniquity; the dumb aſs ſpeaking with man's voice, forbad the madneſs of the prophet. When you ſhall every one hear, Thou fool, this night ſhall thy ſoul be required of thee, and then whoſe ſhall all theſe things be, which thou haſt provided. Luke xii. 19, 20, 21."
"What men in the world doth James ſpeak to, if not to you—James v. 1 to 4. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and bowl for your miſeries that ſhall come upon you: Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten: your gold and ſilver is cankered, and the ruſt of them ſhall be a witneſs againſt you, and ſhall eat your fleſh as it were fire: Ye have heaped treaſure, together for the laſt days: Behold the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped, have entered the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth;" How much more then the cry of betrayed ſouls?
After theſe animadverſions on the iniquity of holding and treating men as ſlaves, for the private emolument of the poſſeſſors, he proceeds to conſider divers caſes under which men are held in bondage, from whence he adduces the following concluſions.
"A nominal Chriſtian, who by wickedneſs forfeiteth his life or freedom, may penally be made a ſlave as well as an Infidel; and a poor and needy Chriſtian may ſell himſelf into a harder ſtate of ſervitude than he would chuſe, or we could otherwiſe put him into; but to go aspirates, and catch up poor Negroes, or people of another land, that never forfeited life or liberty, and to make them ſlaves and ſell them, is one of the worſt kinds of thefts in the world, and ſuch perſons are to be taken for the common enemies of mankind; and they that buy them, and uſe them as beaſts for their mere commodity, and betray, or deſtroy, or neglect their ſouls, are fitter to be called incarnate Devils, than Chriſtians.
He then queries; "But what if men buy Negroes, or other ſlaves, of ſuch as we have juſt cauſe to believe did ſteal them by piracy, or buy them of thoſe who have no power to ſell them, and not hire, or buy them by their own conſent, or by the conſent of thoſe who had power to ſell them, nor take them captives.
And anſwers, "It is their heinous fin to buy them, unleſs it be in charity to deliver them from ſlavery; having done it, undoubtedly they are preſently bound to deliver them, becauſe, by right, the man is his own, and therefore, no man elſe can have a juſt title to him.
Queſtion, "But may I not ſell him again, and make my money of him, ſeeing I leave him as I found him—?
Anſwer, "No; Becauſe when you have taken poſſeſſion of him, and he becomes a pretended property, then the injury that is done him is by you, which, before, was only by another; and tho' the wrong be no greater than the other did him, yet, being done by you, it is your ſin.
Queſtion, "But may I not return him to him that I bought him of?
Anſwer, "No; for that is but injuring him, by delivering him to another to continue the injury: To ſay as Pilate (I am innocent of the blood of this juſt man) will be no proof of your innocence: Yea, God's law bindeth you to love, and works of love, and therefore you ſhould do your beſt to free him. He that is bound to help to ſave a man that is fallen into the hands of thieves, by the high way, if he ſhould buy that man, as a ſlave, of the thieves, may not after, give him up to thieves again.
"If they be Infidels, uſe them ſo as tendeth to win them to Chriſt, and the love of religion, by ſhewing them that Chriſtians are leſs worldly, leſs cruel and leſs paſſionate, and more wiſe, charitable, holy and meek than any other perſons are. Wo to them, who by their cruelty, and covetouſneſs, do ſcandalize even ſlaves, and hinder their converſion and ſalvation. Remember that even a ſlave may be one of thoſe neighbours that you are bound to love as yourſelves, and to do unto as you would be done by, if your caſe was his, which, if you do, you will need no more direction for his relief."
Extract from the Independent Gazetteer, dated Philadelphia▪ June 15, 1782, viz. "The Liberality of Sentiment diſplayed in the following Letter, not only evinces that the Author's Heart muſt be exceedingly Humanized, but that it abounds with a Philanthropy, which reflects Honour to Human Nature.
Bruſſels, March 7.
"The Abbé Raynal, whom we have the happineſs to poſſeſs, together with other ſtrangers, in this city, has juſt now received from a Quaker, in Philadelphia, the following letter in French, the tendency of which, entitles it to publication. It is preſumed it will be read with pleaſure.
My friend Abbé Raynal,
From the idea which I conceived of the juſtice and generoſity of thy ſentiments, I took the liberty of writing to thee, about 7 or 8 months paſt, under cover of my friend B. F. and likewiſe by J. B. who, we are afraid, was loſt on his paſſage. Having received no anſwer, by ſeveral veſſels, nor knowing whether my letters reached thee, or whether thine miſcarried; and a good opportunity offering, by my friend Dr. G. I now ſeize it to ſend thee two copies of a ſmall extract of the origin and principles of my brethren, the Quakers, whom, I obſerve in ſuch of thy writings which have come to our hands, thou didſt not think unworthy of thy attention.
I have nothing to add to what I already wrote thee, but ſhall repeat my wiſh of ſaluting thee affectionately, on the principles of reaſon and humanity, which conſtitute that grand circle of love and charity, unconfined by our parentage or country; but which, with affectionate cordiality, embraces the whole creation, earneſtly deſiring, to the utmoſt of my abilities, to promote the happineſs of all men, even my enemies themſelves, could I have any.
I beſeech God to give thee ſtrength, that thou mayeſt continue to hold up to mankind, thy brethren, principles tending to repleniſh their hearts with goodneſs, friendſhip and charity towards each other; that thus thou mayeſt do the utmoſt of thy power, to render men reaſonable, uſeful, and conſequently happy; and more eſpecially, that thou mayeſt ſtrenuouſly combat that falſe principle of honour, or rather intolerable pride and folly, which ſo ſtrongly prevails in our nation, where the moſt indolent and the leaſt uſeful fancy themſelves, and are reputed the moſt noble. Let us endeavour to make them ſenſible, that men are noble but in an exact proportion to their being rational. The happineſs which is to be found in virtue alone, is ſought for by men, through the titles acquired by their fathers, for their activity in thoſe wars which have deſolated the world, or in the wealth accumulated by their anceſtors; two means, generally unjuſt and oppreſſive, and conſequently rather the ſources of ſhame and humiliation. For, as the Chineſe Philoſopher well obſerved, "There is ſcarcely one rich man out of one hundred, who was not himſelf an oppreſſor, or the ſon of an oppreſſor."
Let us diſplay to princes and the rulers of nations the example of Numa-Pompilius, who, by a Conduct oppoſite to that of Romulus, his predeceſſor, and moſt of his ſucceſſors, rendered the Romans, during his long reign, ſo reſpectable and happy. Above all, my dear friend, let us repreſent to our compatriots the abominable iniquity of the Guinea trade. Let us put to the bluſh the pretended diſciples of the benign Saviour of the world, for the encouragement given to the unhappy Africans, in invading the liberty of their own brethren. Let us riſe, and riſe with energy, againſt the corruption, introduced into the principles and manners of the maſters and owners of ſlaves, by a conduct ſo contrary to humanity, reaſon and religion. Let us be ſtill more vehement, in repreſenting its baneful influence on the principles and manners of their wretched offspring, neceſſarily educated in idleneſs, pride, and all the vices to which human nature is liable.
How deſirable it is that Lewis XVI, whoſe virtues and good diſpoſitions have been ſo nobly praiſed, would ſet an example to the other potentates of Europe, by forbidding his ſubjects to be concerned in a traffick ſo evil in itſelf, and ſo corrupt in its conſequences, and that he would alſo iſſue out ordinances, in favour of ſuch of the Negroes who now are ſlaves in his dominions.
Alas! ſhould Chriſtianity, that law of love and charity, work its proper effect on the hearts of its pretended diſciples, we would ſee numbers of Chriſtians traverſe Africa, and both the Indies, not to pollute themſelves with ſlavery and ſlaughter, nor to accumulate wealth, the ſupreme wiſh of the preſent nominal Chriſtians; but that Divine love would impel them to viſit remote regions, in order to make the inhabitants acquainted with the corruption of the human heart, and invite them to ſeek for the influence of that grace, propoſed by the goſpel, by which they may obtain ſalvation.
I am under the neceſſity of concluding haſtily, requeſting thou wouldſt excuſe faults which time does not allow me to correct, and to write to me by various opportunities, the veſſels bound to theſe parts, often miſſing their deſtination.
I am, affectionately, thy friend, A. B.
To which the Abbot returned the following Anſwer,
Bruſſels, December 26, 1781.
Your letters, ſir, have miſcarried, except that of July 16, 1781, which happily I received, together with the pamphlet, full of light and ſenſibility, which accompanied it. Never was a preſent more agreeable to me. My ſatisfaction was equal to the reſpect I have always had for the ſociety of Quakers. May it pleaſe Heaven to cauſe all nations to adopt their principles! Men would then be happy; and the globe not ſtained with blood. Let us join in our ſupplications to the Supreme Being, that he may unite us in the bonds of a tender and unalterable charity.
I am, &c. RAYNAL.