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Show 26 ON THE SLAVERY AND CoMMERCE ing !hewn, that the ~aufes of ~his inferiour appearance were inctdmtal, anftng, on the ·one hand, from the combined effects of the treatment and cdmmerce, and, on the other, from 'Vanity and pride, we feem to have refuted them already. But we truft that fome few obfervations, in vindication of thefe unfortunate people, will neither be unac-ceptable nor improper· . How then !hall we begin the refutatwn ? Shall we fay with Seneca, who faw many ' of the naves in queftion, " What is a knight, " or a libertine, or a jlave l' Are they not " names, afi'umed either from i11jury or am" bitio11 ?" Or, fhall we f.1y with him on another occafton, " Let us conftder that he, " whom we call our nave, is born in the " fame manner as ourfelves; that he enjoys " the fame lky, with all its heavenly lumi" naries; that he breathes, that he lives, in " the fame manner as ourfelves, and, in the " fame manner, that he expires." Thefe conftderations, we confefs, would furnilh us with a plentiful fource of arguments in the cafe before us; but we decline their affiftance. How then !hall we begin ? Shall we OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. we enumerate the many inftances of fidelity, patience, or valour, that are recorded of the jervile race? Shall we enumerate the many important Cervices, that they rendered both to the individuals and the community, under whom they lived? Here would be a fecond fource, from whence we could collect fuflicient materials to fl1ew, that there was no inferiority in their nature. But we decline to ufe them. We !hall content onrfelves with fame few inftances, that relate to the genius on] y : we f11all men tiori the names of thofe of a .flrvile condition, whofe writings, having efcaped the wreck of time, and having been handed down even to the prefent age, are now to be feen, as fo many living monuments, that neither the Grecian, nor Roman genius, was fuperiour to their own. The firft, whom we !hall mention here is the famous lEfop. He was a Phrygia~ by birth, and lived in the time of Croefus king of Lydia, to whom he dedicated hi: fables. The writings of this great man, ia whatever light we conftder them, will be e~ually entitled tq OUf admiration, But we afe |