University of Virginia Library

From the United States Chronicle,
Thursday, February 19, 1784.

IN this Page last Week a clear Consutation of the original Claim to the Right of Slavery was given, by that Ornament of his Profession Judge BLACKSTONE,—the Subject is now concluded with the Sentiments of that ingenious Lawyer and excellent Writer GEORGE WALLIS as published in his « System of the Laws of Sreeland:» — Speaking of the Negroes that are purchased from their Princes, who pretend to have a Right to dispose of them, and that they are like other Commodities, transported by the Merchants, who have bought them, into America, in Order to be exposed to Sale, he says:—«If this Trade admits of a rational or a moral Justification, every Crime, even the most atrocious, may be justified. Government was instituted for the Good of Mankind; Kings, Princes, Governors, are not Proprietors of those who are subject to their Authority; they have not a Right to make them miserable. On the contrary, their Authority is rested in them, that they may, by the just, Exercise of it, promote the Happiness of their People. Of course they have not a Right to dispose of their Liberty, and to sell them for Slaves.

Besides, no Man has a Right to acquire or to purchase them, Men, and their Liberty, are not in commerce; they are not either saleable or purchaseable. One, therefore, has no body but himself to blame, in Case, he shall find himself deprived of a Man, whom he thought he had, by buying for a Price, made his own; for he dealt in a Trade which was illicit, and was prohibited by the most obvious Dictates of Humanity. For these Reasons every one of those unfortunate Men, who are pretended to be Slaves, has a Right to be declared to be Free, for he never lost his Liberty; he could not lose it; his Prince had no Power to dispose of him. Of course the Sale was Ipse Jure Void. This Right he carries about with him, and is entitled every where to get it declared. As soon, therefore, as he comes into a Country in which the Judges are not forgetful of their own Humanity, it is their Duty to remember that he is a Man; and to declare him to be Free.

«I know it has been said, that Questions concerning the State of Persons ought to be determined by the Law of the Country to which they belong; and that, therefore, one who would be declared to be a Slave in America, ought, in Case he should be imported into Britain, to be adjudged according to the Law of America to be a Slave; a Doctrine than which nothing can be more barbarous. Ought the Judges of any Country, out of Respect to the Law of another, to show no Respect to their Kind, and to Humanity? Out of respect to a Law, which is in no Sort obligatory upon them, ought they to disregard the Law of Nature which is obligatory on all Men, at all Times, and in all Places? Are any Laws to binding as the eternal Laws of Justice? Is it doubtful, whether a Judge ought to pay greater Regard to them than to those arbitrary and inhuman L'aws which prevail in a distant Land? Aye, but our Colonies would be ruined if Slavery was abolished. Be it so, would it not from hence follow, that the Bulk of Mankind ought to be abused, that our Pockets may be filled with Money, or our Mouths with Delicacies? The Purses of Highwaymen would be empty in Case Robberies were totally abolished; but have Men a Right to acquire Money by going out to the Highway? Have Men a Right to acquire it by rendering their Fellow-creatures miserable? Is it lawful to abuse Mankind that the Avarice, the Vanity, or the Passions of a few may be gratified? No, there is such a Thing as Justice, to which the most sacred Regard is due as it ought to be inviolably observed. Have not these unhappy Men a better Right to their Liberty, and to their Happiness than our American Merchants have to the Profits which they make by their Kind? Let, therefore, our Colonies be ruined, but let us not render so many Men miserable. Would not any of us, who should be inatched by Pirates from his native Land, think himself cruelly abused, and all Times entitled to be Free. Have not these unfortunate Africans, who meet with the same cruel fate, the same Right? Are not they Men as well as we, and have they not the same Sensibility? Let us not, therefore; defend or support a Usage which is contrary to all the Laws of Humanity. «But it is false, that either we or our Colonies would be ruined by the Abolition of Slavery. It might occasion a Stagnation of Business for a short Time. Every great Alteration produces that Effect; because Mankind cannot, on a sudden, find Ways of disposing of themselves and their affairs ; But it would produce many happy Effects. It is the Slavery which is permitted in America, that has hindered it from becoming so soon populous as it would otherwise have done. Let the Negroes Free, and in a few Generations this vast and fertile Continent would be crowded with Inhabitants; Learning, Arts, and every Thing would flourish amongst them; instead of being inhabited by wild Beasts and by Savages, it would be peopled by Philosophers, and by Men.»