429 



years there will be a great number of 

 mouths to fill, and bodies to clothe ; and 

 part of them will not be able to do any 

 thing towards their support, either from in- 

 firmity or childhood. General Washington 

 had four hundred negroes, and only seventy 

 working on the farm. The General neither 

 bought nor sold negroes ; which causes his 

 to be a fair case for comparison. Now 

 the reader may judge of the case : but 

 I look upon the four hundred negroes 

 as an encumbrance on tlie estate for ever^ 

 as I always understood that no man could 

 emancipate his negroes without a general 

 emancipation. But, be that as it may, if I 

 had General Washington's estate at Mount- 

 Vernon, I should be very glad to get rid of 

 the four hundred, and buy again, for this 

 reason : — four hundred at five pounds per 

 year each, feeding and clothing, come to 

 two thousand pounds per year: and seven- 

 ty negroes, men and women, bought at 

 seventy- five pounds per head, will cost 

 five thousand two hundred and fifty 



