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Article SLAVE COUNTRIES. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Slave Countries.
pfection , but speaking different languages , are obliged , by the sharp- * ness of ptir swords , to defend ourselves from their incursions , and punish the depredations they make on us . Such conduct in them is productive of incessant wars . Your countrymen , therefore , who allege that we go to war for the purpose of supplying your ships with slaves , are grossly mistaken . " You think you can work a reformation , as you call itin the
, manners of the blacks ; but you ought to consider the disproportion * between the magnitude of the two countries ; and then you will soott be convinced ofthe difficulties that must be surmounted to change the system of such a vast country as this . We know you are a brave people , and that you might bring over a great many ofthe blacks to your opinions- by the points of your bayonets ; but to effect this a
great many nrust be put to death , and numerous cruelties must be committed , which we do not find to have been the practice of the whites : besides , that this would militate against the vety principle which is professed by those who wish to bring about a reformation . ' " In the name of my ancestors and myself I aver , that no Dahoman ever embarked in war merely for the sake of procuring
wherewithal to purchase your commodities . I , who have not been long niaster of this country , have , without thinking of the market , killed many thousands , and I shall kill many thousands more . When policy or justice requires that men be put to death , neither silk , nor . coral , nor brandy , nor cowries , can be accepted as substitutes for the blood that ought to be spilt for example ' s sake ; besides , if white men chus ' e
to remain at home , and no longer visit this country for the same purpose that has usually brought them hither , will black men cease to- ' make war ? .. ! answer , by no means ; and if there be no ships to receive their captives , what will become of them ? I answer for you , ' they will be put- to death . Perhaps you may ask , how will-the blacks ' be furnished with guns and powder ? I reply b 5 ' another question , ' had we not clubsand bowsand arrowsbefore we knew white men P
, , , Did not you see me make custom [ annual ceremony ] for Weebaigall the third king of Dahomy ? and did you not observe , on the day such ceremony was performing , that I carried a bow in my hand , ' , and a quiver filled ' with arrows on my back ? these were the emblems of the tiiiies , when , with such weapons , that brave ancestor fought and conquered all his neighbours . God made war for all the-
world ; and every kingdom , large or small , has practised it more on less , though perhaps in a manner unlike , and upon different principles . Did Weebaigah sell slaves ? No ; his prisoners we ' re all killed ! to a man . What else could be have done with them ? : Was he to let . them remain in his country , to cut the throats of his subjects ? Thiswould have been wretched policy indeed , which had it been adopted ^ the Dahornan name would have Jong been extinguishedinstead
ago , of becoming , as it is at this day , the terror of surrounding nations . —' What hurts me most is , that some of your people have maliciously represented us in books , which never die , alleging that we sell our wives and children for the sake of procuring a few kegs of brandy . No ; we are shamefully belied , and I fiGpe you will contradict , from . JBV mouth ,, the scandalous stories that have been . propagated ;' and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Slave Countries.
pfection , but speaking different languages , are obliged , by the sharp- * ness of ptir swords , to defend ourselves from their incursions , and punish the depredations they make on us . Such conduct in them is productive of incessant wars . Your countrymen , therefore , who allege that we go to war for the purpose of supplying your ships with slaves , are grossly mistaken . " You think you can work a reformation , as you call itin the
, manners of the blacks ; but you ought to consider the disproportion * between the magnitude of the two countries ; and then you will soott be convinced ofthe difficulties that must be surmounted to change the system of such a vast country as this . We know you are a brave people , and that you might bring over a great many ofthe blacks to your opinions- by the points of your bayonets ; but to effect this a
great many nrust be put to death , and numerous cruelties must be committed , which we do not find to have been the practice of the whites : besides , that this would militate against the vety principle which is professed by those who wish to bring about a reformation . ' " In the name of my ancestors and myself I aver , that no Dahoman ever embarked in war merely for the sake of procuring
wherewithal to purchase your commodities . I , who have not been long niaster of this country , have , without thinking of the market , killed many thousands , and I shall kill many thousands more . When policy or justice requires that men be put to death , neither silk , nor . coral , nor brandy , nor cowries , can be accepted as substitutes for the blood that ought to be spilt for example ' s sake ; besides , if white men chus ' e
to remain at home , and no longer visit this country for the same purpose that has usually brought them hither , will black men cease to- ' make war ? .. ! answer , by no means ; and if there be no ships to receive their captives , what will become of them ? I answer for you , ' they will be put- to death . Perhaps you may ask , how will-the blacks ' be furnished with guns and powder ? I reply b 5 ' another question , ' had we not clubsand bowsand arrowsbefore we knew white men P
, , , Did not you see me make custom [ annual ceremony ] for Weebaigall the third king of Dahomy ? and did you not observe , on the day such ceremony was performing , that I carried a bow in my hand , ' , and a quiver filled ' with arrows on my back ? these were the emblems of the tiiiies , when , with such weapons , that brave ancestor fought and conquered all his neighbours . God made war for all the-
world ; and every kingdom , large or small , has practised it more on less , though perhaps in a manner unlike , and upon different principles . Did Weebaigah sell slaves ? No ; his prisoners we ' re all killed ! to a man . What else could be have done with them ? : Was he to let . them remain in his country , to cut the throats of his subjects ? Thiswould have been wretched policy indeed , which had it been adopted ^ the Dahornan name would have Jong been extinguishedinstead
ago , of becoming , as it is at this day , the terror of surrounding nations . —' What hurts me most is , that some of your people have maliciously represented us in books , which never die , alleging that we sell our wives and children for the sake of procuring a few kegs of brandy . No ; we are shamefully belied , and I fiGpe you will contradict , from . JBV mouth ,, the scandalous stories that have been . propagated ;' and