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    plan of improvement which , either directly or indirectly , contemplates a h ) ow at the root of the evil . The highest object aimed at by the most benevolent seems to be , to make them « s happy as their situation will possibly admit of . But this may not be

    doing enough ; for liberty seems evidently to be the natural right of every human being . Why not then admit of their being prepared for the enjoyment of privileges which cannot be

    held from them without acting contrary to the sacred laws of truth and justice ? The planters , however , are not the only persons with whom I would remonstrate on this subject , for all who indulge in the consumption of West-India produce , or

    contribute in any way to the maintenance of the present order of things in our sugar islands , ought , in common fairness , to bear their 3 hare of the blame . With what propriety can a consumer of rum or sugar cast a stone at the cultivator of the sweet cane ? The

    Negro is the injured individual : he is robbed of his liberty , and with that , of every thing that can render a rational existence desirable . He is denied all . the advantages of education ; condemned to the vilest ignorance , lest by becoming informed he should discover and seek to remove the cause

    of all his unmerited misfortunes . He cannot marry , and is thereby not merely tempted , but in a manner compelled , to form the loosest and most unhallowed connexions . 1 would appeal to the common discernment and feeling of mankind , whether marriage

    can exist where a third person has it in his power to step in and disannul the holy league . Now , every one knows that this is virtually the case with respect to the slaves in the West Indies . The connexions which they form do not always take place between individuals belonging to the

    same proprietor ; m numerous inrstunces they are the property of different persons . But it is no uncommon thing for the inhabitants of one plantation or settlement to be removed to another , situated , perhaps , on the

    opposite side of the island ; and , consequently , in all such cases , husbands , wives and children belonging to other gangs , are , contrary , no doubt , to the wishes of the respective masters , left behind . Others , again , arc seized

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    and sold to pay "the debts *< rf their owners . These cvite might t > g removed by attaching them to the soil , but then others would remain , of a nature almost equally formidable . Every slave being compelled , under

    pain of corporal punishment , to yield implicit obedience to tbe will of the master , the wife , as well as the husband , would be under the necessity of joining a gang under the command of a driver , and in case of not giving him satisfaction , to submit to the most degrading chastisement , administered in the most indecent manner . I have

    known them point to things of this description for the purpose of shewing that it is impossible for them to marry . Over their children , it is obvious they could have no authority

    resembling that which parents in a free country possess : they could only leave them , the same wretched inheritance which they received from their ancestors . Hence , those who

    have children , are generally careless with respect to the habits they form and the lives they lead : thejr know they can never sink lower in the scale of society than they already find themselves placed , and they have no hope of rising . A regular line of orderly conduct may save them from the lash , but it can effect no radical

    change in their condition . The highest office to which they can ever aspire is that of a driver ; an office which no one , not destitute of every manly and generous feeling , could wish to hold . In short , they have nothing to gain

    and nothing to lose ; they have no character at stake ; a good name , which , Solomon says , ' * is rather to be chosen than great riches , ' * is of no avail to them . Their worth is

    estimated by the strength of their bodies , and the talent and disposition to perform their masters' work . The greatest villain , therefore , in a moral respect , may be , and sometimes is , the most valuable slave ; the natural

    consequence of all which is , that the Negroes , as a people , are &s destitute of correct morality as they are of liberty . Chastity is utterly out of the question amongst the whole tribe , and both men and women are found to vindicate ,

    as innocent , practices which it ** scarcely allowable to name amongst Christians . This is followed by low cunning and contempt of truth , a

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    494 Mr . Cooper on the Disposition of the Negroes 4 o embtace Christianity .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 494, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/38/