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guaranteedthi ' ^ rteht by decrees both otiiCrsuisfer of l ^ ted ^ property , and in sale in execution of deefctees /* The ( Mle ^ tor of Trichinopoly writes * lius : ** Ih tb ^ wcfc districts there are l © , 000 Slaves ; in the dry diatricts ^ bout 600 Slaves . A fentale-Slate is here never sold ; while in Malabar , trien > women and children , are sold indiscriminately . The Slaves are athletic and tall . The
abolition 1 of Slavery here would be ate tended wkh ruinous eonseqiiefcces . It may tieur ^ ed that therfc i& eoaifctMjEftg degrading in a Government beirig ^ concerned in selling human beings Bke so many cattle , Jt would perhaps be better if it cotflcf be avoided ; but so
longf as the land continues possessed by Brahmin Merassidars , who by the laws of Caste are prevented from personally exercising -the offices of agriculture , I see no' means of cultivating the land or collecting the - revenue without the establishment of Slaves /'
No I Why not ; as in other parts of India , by free persons of the laboiiring classes ? This gentleman : does * not s £ em to be aware that ( to borrow the language of Adam Smith > "the experience * of air ages demonstrates that
the work done by , Slaves is the dearest of any ; their-mt ^ resti being to } eat as much arid to labour as lime as possible . Thus » * he planting of sugar and tobacco can pay for slave cultivation , bilt corn cannot . "* This Collector
further asserts , " that the human principle of self-interest is conducive , in the present instance , to soften severity / ' -The same may be said in all instances of bondage , or other oppression , because self-interest , riffhtly understood , excites to render others free and happy . "I will suppose /* observes this Revenue Officer in conclusion , " that by a ^ Proclamation of Government the establishment is directed
to - be abolished . * In this case , - the consequence would be either the desertion of the Slaves , or that they would remain in Btatta ' quoP * vThe answer is , that neittoer ^ wouldocciir j for the emancipated Slave would not quit the soil to whifch hetf s known to be
so strongly attached , atfd hife condition ^ Vould ne ^ eBsarily be improved . Any arbitrary Proclamatkni , however , on t ^ lus ^ ubifect , would bei highly objection ^ blet We should follow the wise exampfe set ita Ceylon ; where / by th ^ perseVer ^ ricej tafettt , address , and itt-
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fliieac 6 of an indMdtialy the * Mcwrt ^ W SlavesT ^ Sir Alexander Johtf ^ oniafte * ten years * exertion , succeeded 111 ^ - vailing on the Special JtirymedbF to
various castes and persfta ^ ions etitertain the subject ; Wbty called a general meeting , and declared tb&t all chiMren born of their Slaves after the » 2 tk ^ uftust , 181 G , should be free . These children wer 4 to be educated Iry their Masters , and prodded for till tfce ^ fe of fourteen . "It is our
desire , " say these Dutch slave-owners , "if possible , to disencumber ourselves of thsit unnatural character of b ^ &ig proprietors of human b ^ injfrs , " Ituia Slavery , which had prevailed in Ceylon for centuries , and which was supposed to be too closely interwoven with the
native institutions to admit of refdrm , was abolished . This' noble J example was followed at Malaccas , at Bencooien , at St . Helen a > and in South America . May it be speedily followed in British India , in the United States of Anjerica > and in etery part of the world ! •* • j ¦
The Board of Revenue having delfberated on these reports of their Collectors , reply to the Government , in substance as follows : 4 € The sale , * y public aitctibn , o /* i ^ he Slaves p » THE REVfilTOE fcEFAUJLTER , tOOkplace
without the knowledge of the Collector , On a petition being presented to him , ' he ordered the paftdy-seed and Slaves to be restored * Th 6 o ^ r ; the Board Observe with -great regret , was not ^^^ ^ obeyed , and thefdu ¥ m ^ ves were sold for thfrttf-twd riipeesl TAbdut four pounds sterhee-. ] The ^ Collector states ; that * the sales of Slaves , both
in execution of decrees for arreAr ^ m revenue , and' mutual and pTit&Wj&fa tracts , is as common as the sl | e ^ f land 3 for if the soil is sold , ' what ' taH be the use of retaining the SUve of it ?* The Collect or ne ^ t pro vesi tUftt , in the space of five yeUra i ^ tib le ^ th an
im s&m \ tm < b ihstitU ^ d ill the Zilla Court of S ^ iith Malabar al ^ ne ; on the subject of ^ Slaves ^ art < T ' in exe *? Utibn of decrees / ' The Board then enuine ^ ate the ( wfe ^/ a ^^ of Slavery , as setfdrth bytm G 6 ll 6 ctp > : 8 , and Ve ^ son OD ^ them in tone a&f yi
a proper . - ^ yiw * wy th ^ - ^ inUome itisttfnces ^ the Slaves %$ fflf * m coneia ^ red Us in m ^ e ^ romfl ^ t ^^ ii ^ lip ^ -It i ^ fi ^ tfr ? itt ^ ft £ i- Slit&taes ^ T tftiiite ' no
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o » the State of Slawf ^ p in British India : ¦ - \ ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1823, page 93, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1781/page/29/
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