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Show XX P R E F A C E. labour, or night-work, out of crop, ihould be prohibited. That a limited number of ll:ripes ihould be inflit:l:ed upon them. That they lhould have annually a fuit of clothes. That old infirm ilaves ihould be properly cared for, &c. ·-Now it can hardly be conceived, that if this author had tried to injure his caufe, or contradic:t himfelf, he could not have done it in a more effet:l:ual manner, than by this propofal of thefe f.1lutary regulations. For to lay that ilaves are honourably obtained on the coail:; to fay that their treatment is of the mildeil: nature, and yet to propofe the above-mentioned regulations as neceffiuy, is to refute himfelf more clearly, than I confefs myfelf to be able to do it: and I have only to requeil:, that the regulations propofed by this writer, in the defence of ilavery, may be confidered as fo many proofs of the a!Tertions contained in my own work. I i11all clofe my account with an obfervation, which is of great importance in the prefent cafe. Of all the publications in favour of the ilave-trade, or the fubfequent flavery in the colonies, there is not one, which P R E F A C E. xxi which has not been written, either by a chaplain to the African faclories, or by a mercha~t, or by a planter, or by a perfon· whofc mtereil: has been connet:l:ed in the caufe which he has taken upon him to defend. Of this defcription are Mr. 'Tobz}z, and the Apologijl for Negroe Slavery. While on the other hand thofe, who have had as competent a knowledge of the fubjec:t, but not thefame intertjl as themfelves, have unanimoufly condemned it; and many of them have written their fentiments upon it, at the hazard of creating an innumerable hail: of enemies, and of being fubjet:l:ed to the moil: malignant oppofition. Now, which of thefe are we to believe on the occafion? Are we to believe thofe, who are partie• concerned, who are intereil:ed in the practice ?-But the quefiion does not admit' of a difpute. Concerning my own work, it fecms proper to obferve, that when the original Lati~ Diilertation, as the title page expreiles, was honoured by the UniverJity of Cambridge wjth the firfi of their annual prizes for the year 17s5, I was wait" b 3 ed |