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Article ON AFRICAN SLAVERY. ← Page 4 of 4
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On African Slavery.
repose . Their scanty subsistence is insufficient to supply the calls of nature and satisfy the cravings of hunger . Not only do their unfeelingmasters refuse them a participation of the fruits of their labour , but they subject them to torture and cruelty which render life intolerable , and at which humanity shudders . For the most trivial offences they inflict upon them the most barbarous punishments . In these countries ,
nothing is more common than the sound of the whip and the screams and lamentations of the defenceless slaves—when their bodies are gored with wounds , and the blood flows in streams , they are plunged into the ocean , whose waves sharpen the pains with the keenest agony . Their barbarous oppressors are so far from compassionating their sufferings that they laugh at their miseries and mock at their
calamities . But these people do not always tamely submit to such unprovoked injuries . Sometimes the voice of revenge is heard among them—they suddenly rush to arms , and retaliate upon their masters all the
cruelties they , have received at their hands . Animated with fury and hatred , they deal promiscuous destruction on all their foes , and the bloodiest scenes of civil war are displayed . They spare neither age nor sex—the blooming virgin and the helpless infant are involved in one common ruin . Whole families , enjoying the fairest prospect of affluence and happiness , are cut oft" at a stroke and swept to the dust—the ignorant insurgents , after a short gratification of their revenge , are vanquished ,
. and subjected to a repetition of cruelties beyond the power of language to describe . ' ' This unhappy nation , exhausted by unremitting fatigue , depressed by the rigour of servitude , and debilitated by the severity of punishment , drag on a melancholy , uncomfortable existence , strangers to the pleasures of life . Their only consolation is , that the extreme torments they suffer in this life remove all apprehensions about a future state , and disarm death of those terrors which make such an impression upon
the minds of the rest of mankind , as to deprive them of the transitory pleasures of living by the perpetual fears of dying . To theiii the prospect of terminating life , furnishes the p leasing consolation of terminating their wretchedness—To them the messenger of death is an angel of peace , and they fondly believe that they shall have a day of retribution in another existence in their native land—The funeral rihts of a slave are performed by his brethren with every mark
g of joy and gladness—they accompany thecorpfe with the sound" of musical instruments—they sing their songs and perform their dances around the grave , and indulge themselves in mirth and pleasantry , upon an occasion which the rest of the human race contemplate with horror and ' anxiety ,
VOL . II . Cs
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On African Slavery.
repose . Their scanty subsistence is insufficient to supply the calls of nature and satisfy the cravings of hunger . Not only do their unfeelingmasters refuse them a participation of the fruits of their labour , but they subject them to torture and cruelty which render life intolerable , and at which humanity shudders . For the most trivial offences they inflict upon them the most barbarous punishments . In these countries ,
nothing is more common than the sound of the whip and the screams and lamentations of the defenceless slaves—when their bodies are gored with wounds , and the blood flows in streams , they are plunged into the ocean , whose waves sharpen the pains with the keenest agony . Their barbarous oppressors are so far from compassionating their sufferings that they laugh at their miseries and mock at their
calamities . But these people do not always tamely submit to such unprovoked injuries . Sometimes the voice of revenge is heard among them—they suddenly rush to arms , and retaliate upon their masters all the
cruelties they , have received at their hands . Animated with fury and hatred , they deal promiscuous destruction on all their foes , and the bloodiest scenes of civil war are displayed . They spare neither age nor sex—the blooming virgin and the helpless infant are involved in one common ruin . Whole families , enjoying the fairest prospect of affluence and happiness , are cut oft" at a stroke and swept to the dust—the ignorant insurgents , after a short gratification of their revenge , are vanquished ,
. and subjected to a repetition of cruelties beyond the power of language to describe . ' ' This unhappy nation , exhausted by unremitting fatigue , depressed by the rigour of servitude , and debilitated by the severity of punishment , drag on a melancholy , uncomfortable existence , strangers to the pleasures of life . Their only consolation is , that the extreme torments they suffer in this life remove all apprehensions about a future state , and disarm death of those terrors which make such an impression upon
the minds of the rest of mankind , as to deprive them of the transitory pleasures of living by the perpetual fears of dying . To theiii the prospect of terminating life , furnishes the p leasing consolation of terminating their wretchedness—To them the messenger of death is an angel of peace , and they fondly believe that they shall have a day of retribution in another existence in their native land—The funeral rihts of a slave are performed by his brethren with every mark
g of joy and gladness—they accompany thecorpfe with the sound" of musical instruments—they sing their songs and perform their dances around the grave , and indulge themselves in mirth and pleasantry , upon an occasion which the rest of the human race contemplate with horror and ' anxiety ,
VOL . II . Cs