change! May the all-wise disposer of human affairs hasten it!

I have related only a few of the countless instances of barbarity and cruelty which have come within the sphere of my own observation. Are any disposed to discredit, or even doubt, my narrative? To such I shall only say, at present, I have, in my custody, and am ready, if called upon, to produce attestations of my character, from persons of the first respectability in the island of Antigua. These certificates I shall probably publish, either along with these introductory remarks, or my Poem on Slavery. Is there, in my detail, any thing more incredible than what appeared in the evidence, which a number of gentlemen of undoubted integrity, who witnessed the horrid scenes they relate, gave at the bar of the British House of Commons, some years ago? An abstract of that evidence, which has been several years in the hands of the public, coincides, in all the leading particulars, with the account I have given, and confirms it beyond a possibility of doubt. A part of this abstract I shall, therefore, introduce.

This abstract the editor ushers into the world as follows:

"The respectable and increasing numbers of those, who, from motives of humanity, have concurred in rejecting the produce of West-India slavery, cannot but afford a subject of the sincerest joy to every friend of mankind. Even those who, from motives of interest, still favour and engage in the trade, have been obliged to be silent upon the injustice of first procuring the negroes, and have not had the hardiness to excuse or palliate the horrors of the middle passage. But still they assert, that the treatment the slaves meet with in the West-Indies, amply counterbalances their previous sufferings. They have not failed to extol a state of servitude as a happy asylum from African despotism; and calmly maintain, that the condition of the labouring poor in England is much harder than that of the negroes in the West-India islands. Upon this ground, the opposers of slavery are willing to meet its advocates; and the design of the following extracts is to enable the public to form an impartial and decisive judgment upon the subject.

"When a ship arrives at the port in the WestIndies, the slaves are exposed to sale, except those who are very ill; they being left in the yard to perish by disease or hunger. The healthy are disposed of by public auction, the sickly by scram

ble. The sale by scramble is described thusThe ship being darkened by sails, the purchasers are admitted, who, rushing forward with the ferocity of brutes, seize as many slaves as they have occasion for. In none of the sales is any care taken to prevent the separation of relatives or friends; but husbands and wives, parents and children, are parted with as much unconcern as sheep and lambs by the butcher. Abstract, pages 46 and 47.

With respect to the general treatment of the slaves, Mr. Woolrich says, that he never knew the best master in the West-Indies to use his slaves so well as the worst master does his servants in England. Ab. p. 53.

To come to a more particular description of their treatment, it will be proper to divide them into different classes. The first consists of those who are bought for the use of the plantation; the second of the in and out-door slaves.

The field slaves are called out by day-light to their work; and if they are not in time there, they are flogged. When put to their work, they per form it in rows, and, without exception, under the whip of drivers; a certain number of whom are allotted to each gang. Such is the mode of their

labour. As to the time of it, they begin at daylight, and continue, with two intermissions, one for half an hour in the morning, the other for two hours at noon, till sun-set. Besides this, they are expected to range about and pick up grass for the cattle, either during their two hours rest at noon, or after the fatigues of the day.

Sir George Younge adds, that women were, in general, considered to miscarry through the cruel treatment they met with. Captain Hall says, that he has seen a woman, seated to give suck to her child, roused from that situation by a severe blow from the cart-whip. Ab. p. 53, 54, 55.

The above account of their labour is confined to that season of the year which is termed out of crop. In the crop-season the labour is of much longer duration. Mr. Dalrymple says, they are obliged to work as long as they can, that is, as long as they can keep awake, or stand. Sometimes, through excess of fatigue, they fall asleep, when it has happened to those who feed the mills, that their arms have been caught therein and torn off. Mr. Cook, on the same subject states, that they work, in general, eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. He knew a girl lose her hand by the mill, while feeding it; being overcome with sleep, she dropped against the rollers. Ab. p. 55, 56.

To this account of their labour it should be added, that it appears, that on some estates the slaves have Sunday and Saturday afternoons to themselves, on others Sunday only, and on others only Sunday in part. It appears again, that in crop on no estates have they more than Sunday for the cultivation of their own lands. Ab. 55, 56.

The next point to be considered is the food of the slaves, which appears to be subject to no rule. On some estates they are allowed lands, on others provisions, and others are allowed land and provisions jointly. The best allowance is at Barbadoes, of which the following is the account. The slaves in general, says General Tottenham, appeared to be ill fed: each slave had one pint of grain for twenty-four hours, and sometimes half a rotten herring. When the herrings were unfit for the whites, they were bought up for the slaves. Nine pints of corn, and one pound of salt fish, a week, is, in general, the utmost allowance. As a proof that some have not food enough, Mr. Cook says, that he has known both Africans and Creoles to eat the putrid carcases of animals through want. Ab. p. 57, 58.

As to the accusation of their being thieves, all] the evidences maintain, that it was on account of their being half-starved. Ab. p. 58.