275 
SLAV E. 
The condition of slaves, and their personal treatment, 
were sufficiently humiliating and grievous; and may well 
excite our pity and abhorrence. They were beaten, starved, 
tortured, and murdered at discretion ; they were dead in a 
civil sense; they had neither name nor tribe : they were in¬ 
capable of judicial process; and they were, in short with¬ 
out appeal. To this cruel treatment, however, there were 
some exceptions. The Egyptian slave, though perhaps a 
greater drudge than any other, yet if he had time to reach 
the temple of Hercules (Herodotus, 1. ii. 143.), found a 
certain retreat from the persecution of his master; and he 
derived additional comfort from the reflection that his life 
could not be taken with impunity. But no place was so favour¬ 
able to slaves as Athens when declining. Here they were allow¬ 
ed a greater liberty of speech ; they had their convivial meet¬ 
ings, their amours, their hours of relaxation, pleasantry, and 
mirth; they were treated in such a manner as to warrant 
the observation of Demosthenes, in his second Philippic, 
“that the condition of a slave at Athens was preferable to 
that of a free citizen in many other countries.” And here, 
if persecution exceeded the bounds of lenity, they had their 
temple, like the Egyptian, for refuge; where the legislature 
was so attentive, as to examine their complaints, and to order 
them, if these were founded injustice, to be sold to another 
master. Besides, they were allowed an opportunity of work¬ 
ing for themselves; and if their diligence had procured them 
a sum equivalent to their ransom, they could immediately, 
on paying it down, demand their freedom for ever. To this 
privilege Plautus alludes, in his “ Casina,” where he intro¬ 
duces a slave, speaking in the following manner: 
“ Quid tu me vero libertate territas ? 
Quod si tu nolis, filiusque etiam tuus 
Vobis invitis, atque amborum ingratiis, 
Una libella liber possum fieri." 
Thus we find to the eternal honour of Egypt and Athens, 
that they were the only places, if we except the cities of 
the Jews, where slaves were considered with any humanity 
at all. The inhabitants of all other parts of the world seem- 
. ed to vie with each other in the debasement and oppression 
of these unfortunate people. 
This commerce of the human species, which produced 
so pernicious an effect on the nature and state of man, com-, 
menced at a very early period. The history of Joseph, re¬ 
corded in the book of Genesis, leads us to a very remote era 
for the introduction of this nefarious traffic. In his time it 
seems to have been prevalent, and to have been carried on 
in a manner, that sufficiently indicated its having been 
long before established. Egypt seems to have been at this 
time the principal, as it was probably the first market for 
the sale of the human species. It was, indeed, so famous, 
as to have been known, within a few centuries from the 
time of Pharaoh, both to the Grecian colonies in Asia, and 
the Grecian islands. Homer mentions Cyprus and Egypt 
as the common markets for slaves, about the time of the 
Trojan war. (Odyss. 1. xvii. 448. 1. xxvi.) Egypt is 
also represented, as we have already intimated, in the book 
of Genesis, as a market for slaves, and in Exodus (ch. i.) 
as famous for the severity of its servitude. Homer also, 
in the place above cited, points out to us Egypt as a mar¬ 
ket for the human species, and by the epithet of “ bitter 
Egypt,” alludes in the strongest manner to that severity and 
rigour, of which the sacred historian transmitted to us the 
first account. The Odyssey of Homer shews farther, that 
this species of traffic was practised in many of the islands 
of the iEgean sea; and the Iliad informs us, that it had 
taken place among those Grecians on the continent of 
Europe, who had embarked from thence on the Trojan ex¬ 
pedition. To this purpose, at the end of the seventh book, 
a fleet is described,, as having just arrived from Lemnos, 
with a supply of wine for the Grecian camp. The mer¬ 
chants are described also, as immediately exposing it to sale, 
and as receiving in exchange, among other articles of barter, 
“ a number of slaves." Tyre and Sidon, as we learn from 
the book of Joel, ch. iii. 3, 4, 6, were notorious for the 
prosecution of this trade. This custom appears also to 
have existed among other states; it travelled all over Asia; 
it spread through the Grecian and Roman world; it was 
in use among the barbarous nations, which overturned the 
Roman empire; and was therefore practised, at the same 
period, throughout the whole of Europe. However, as 
the northern nations were settled in their conquests, the 
slavery and commerce of the human species began to de¬ 
cline, and on their full establishment they were abolished; 
Some writers have ascribed their decline and abolition to 
the prevalence of the feudal system; whilst others, much 
more numerous, and with less strength of argument, have 
maintained, that they were the natural effects of Christianity. 
The advocates of the former opinion allege, that “ the 
multitude of little states, which sprung up from one 
great one at this era, occasioned infinite bickerings and 
matter for contention. There was not a state or seigniory, 
which did not want all the hands they could muster, either 
to defend their own right, or to dispute that of their neigh¬ 
bours. Thus every man was taken into the service: whom 
they armed they must trust: and there could be no trust 
but in free men. Thus the barrier between the two natures 
was thrown down, and slavery was no more heard of in the 
west.” 
Within two centuries after the suppression of slavery in 
Europe, the Portuguese, in imitation of those piracies 
which existed in the uncivilized ages of the world, made 
their descents on Africa, and committing depredations on 
the coast, first carried the wretched inhabitants into slavery. 
This practice, thus inconsiderable at its commencement, 
became general; and our own ancestors, together with the 
Spaniards, French, and most of the maritime powers of 
Europe, soon followed the piratical example: and thus did 
the Europeans, to their eternal infamy, revive a custom, 
which their own ancestors had so lately exploded, from a 
consciousness of its impiety. The unfortunate Africans fled 
from the coast, and sought, in the interior part of the coun¬ 
try, a retreat from the persecution of their invaders; but 
the Europeans still pursued them ; they entered their rivers, 
sailed up into the heart of the country, surprised the Afri¬ 
cans in their recesses, and carried them into slavery. The 
next step, which the Europeans found it necessary to take, 
was that of settling in the country; of securing themselves 
by fortified posts; of changing their system of force into 
that of pretended liberality; and of opening, by every 
species of bribery and corruption, a communication with 
the natives. Accordingly they erected their forts and fac¬ 
tories; landed their merchandize; and endeavoured, by a 
peaceable deportment, by presents, and by every appear¬ 
ance of munificence, to allure the attachment aud con¬ 
fidence of the Africans. 
The Portuguese erected their first fort at D’Elmina, in 
the year 1481, about 40 years after Alonzo Gonzales had 
pointed out to his countrymen the southern Africans as 
articles of commerce. 
The scheme succeeded: an intercourse took place be¬ 
tween the Europeans and Africans, attended with a con¬ 
fidence highly favourable to the views of ambition and ava¬ 
rice. In order to render this intercourse permanent as well 
as lucrative, the Europeans having discovered the chiefs of 
the African tribes, paid their court to these; and at 
length a treaty of peace and commerce was concluded: in 
which it was agreed, that the kings, on their part, should, 
from this period, sentence prisoners of war and convicts to 
European servitude; and that the Europeans should supply 
them, in return, with the luxuries of the north. This agree¬ 
ment immediately took place, and laid the foundation of 
that horrible commerce, which is not yet abolished. 
As if this trade were not in itself sufficiently criminal, its 
abettors added to it hypocrisy—the ostensible reason for 
introducing the Africans, in particular, as labourers into the 
newly discovered parts of the western world, and placing 
them under European masters, being the duty of con~ 
verting the heathen. A system of severity sprung up, as it 
related^ to their treatment, which became by degrees still 
mon 
