An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African - Thomas Clarkson
Yet such was their general situation: there were two places however,
where their condition, if considered in this point of view, was more
tolerable. The AEgyptian slave, though perhaps of all others the greatest
drudge, yet if he had time to reach the temple[016] of Hercules, found a
certain retreat from the persecution of his master; and he received
additional comfort from the reflection, that his life, whether he could
reach it or not, could not be taken with impunity. Wise and salutary
law![017] how often must it have curbed the insolence of power, and
stopped those passions in their progress, which had otherwise been
destructive to the slave!
But though the persons of slaves were thus greatly secured in AEgypt, yet
there was no place so favourable to them as Athens. They were allowed a
greater liberty of speech;[018] they had their convivial meetings, their
amours, their hours of relaxation, pleasantry, and mirth; they were
treated, in short, with so much humanity in general, as to occasion that
observation of Demosthenes, in his second Philippick, "that the
condition of a slave, at Athens, was preferable to that of a free
citizen, in many other countries." But if any exception happened (which
was sometimes the case) from the general treatment described; if
persecution took the place of lenity, and made the fangs of servitude
more pointed than before,[019] they had then their temple, like the
AEgyptian, for refuge; where the legislature was so attentive, as to
examine their complaints, and to order them, if they were founded in
justice, to be sold to another master. Nor was this all: they had a
privilege infinitely greater than the whole of these. They were allowed
an opportunity of working for themselves, and if their diligence had
procured them a sum equivalent with their ransom, they could
immediately, on paying it down,[020] demand their freedom for ever. This
law was, of all others, the most important; as the prospect of liberty,
which it afforded, must have been a continual source of the most
pleasing reflections, and have greatly sweetened the draught, even of
the most bitter slavery.
Thus then, to the eternal honour of AEgypt and Athens, they were the only
places that we can find, where slaves were considered with any humanity
at all. The rest of the world seemed to vie with each other, in the
debasement and oppression of these unfortunate people. They used them
with as much severity as they chose; they measured their treatment only
by their own passion and caprice; and, by leaving them on every
occasion, without the possibility of an appeal, they rendered their
situation the most melancholy and intolerable, that can possibly be
conceived.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 016: Herodotus. L. 2. 113.]
[Footnote 017: "Apud AEgyptios, si quis servum sponte occiderat, eum
morte damnari aeque ac si liberum occidisset, jubebant leges &c."
Diodorus Sic. L. 1.]
[Footnote 018:
"Atq id ne vos miremini, Homines servulos
Potare, amare, atq ad coenam condicere.
Licet hoc Athenis.
Plautus. Sticho."
]
[Footnote 019:
"Be me kratison esin eis to Theseion
Dramein, ekei d'eos an eurombou prasin
menein" Aristoph. Horae.
Kaka toiade paskousin oude prasin
Aitousin. Eupolis. poleis.]
[Footnote 020: To this privilege Plautus alludes in his _Casina_,
where he introduces a slave, speaking in the following manner.
"Quid tu me vero libertate territas?
Quod si tu nolis, siliusque etiam tuus
Vobis _invitis_, atq amborum _ingratiis_,
_Una libella liber possum fieri_."
]
* * * * *
CHAP. V.
As we have mentioned the barbarous and inhuman treatment that generally
fell to the lot of slaves, it may not be amiss to inquire into the
various circumstances by which it was produced.
The first circumstance, from whence it originated, was the
_commerce_: for if men could be considered as _possessions_;
if, like _cattle_, they could be _bought_ and _sold_, it
will not be difficult to suppose, that they could be held in the same
consideration, or treated in the same manner. The commerce therefore,
which was begun in the primitive ages of the world, by classing them
with the brutal species, and by habituating the mind to consider the
terms of _brute_ and _slave_ as _synonimous_, soon caused
them to be viewed in a low and despicable light, and as greatly
inferiour to the human species. Hence proceeded that treatment, which
might not unreasonably be supposed to arise from so low an estimation.
They were tamed, like beasts, by the stings of hunger and the lash, and
their education was directed to the same end, to make them commodious
instruments of labour for their possessors.
This _treatment_, which thus proceeded in the ages of barbarism,
from the low estimation, in which slaves were unfortunately held from
the circumstances of the commerce, did not fail of producing, in the
same instant, its _own_ effect. It depressed their minds; it numbed
their faculties; and, by preventing those sparks of genius from blazing
forth, which had otherwise been conspicuous; it gave them the appearance
of being endued with inferiour capacities than the rest of mankind. This
effect of the _treatment_ had made so considerable a progress, as
to have been a matter of observation in the days of Homer.
For half _his_ senses Jove conveys away,
_Whom_ once he dooms to see the _servile_ day.[021]
Thus then did the _commerce_, by classing them originally with
_brutes_, and the consequent _treatment_, by cramping their
_abilities_, and hindering them from becoming _conspicuous_,
give to these unfortunate people, at a very early period, the most
unfavourable _appearance_. The rising generations, who received
both the commerce and treatment from their ancestors, and who had always
been accustomed to behold their _effects_, did not consider these
_effects_ as _incidental_: they judged only from what they
saw; they believed the _appearances_ to be _real_; and hence
arose the combined principle, that slaves were an _inferiour_ order
of men, and perfectly void of _understanding_. Upon this
_principle_ it was, that the former treatment began to be fully
confirmed and established; and as this _principle_ was handed down
and disseminated, so it became, in succeeding ages, an _excuse_ for
any severity, that despotism might suggest.
We may observe here, that as all nations had this excuse in common, as
arising from the _circumstances_ above-mentioned, so the Greeks
first, and the Romans afterwards, had an _additional excuse_, as
arising from their own _vanity_.
The former having conquered Troy, and having united themselves under one
common name and interest, began, from that period, to distinguish the
rest of the world by the title of _barbarians_; inferring by such
an appellation, "that they were men who were only noble in their own
country; that they had no right, from their _nature_, to authority
or command; that, on the contrary, so low were their capacities, they
were _destined_ by nature _to obey_, and to live in a state of
perpetual drudgery and subjugation."[022] Conformable with this opinion
was the treatment, which was accordingly prescribed to a
_barbarian_. The philosopher Aristotle himself, in the advice which
he gave to his pupil Alexander, before he went upon his Asiatick
expedition, intreated him to "use the Greeks, as it became a
_general_, but the _barbarians_, as it became a _master_;
consider, says he, the former as _friends_ and _domesticks_;
but the latter, as _brutes_ and _plants_;"[023] inferring that
the Greeks, from the superiority of their capacities, had a
_natural_ right to dominion, and that the rest of the world, from
the inferiority of their own, were to be considered and treated as the
_irrational_ part of the creation.
Now, if we consider that this was the treatment, which they judged to be
absolutely proper for people of this description, and that their slaves
were uniformly those, whom they termed _barbarians_; being
generally such, as were either kidnapped from _Barbary_, or
purchased from the _barbarian_ conquerors in their wars with one
another; we shall immediately see, with what an additional excuse their
own vanity had furnished them for the sallies of caprice and passion.
To refute these cruel sentiments of the ancients, and to shew that their
slaves were by no means an inferiour order of beings than themselves,
may perhaps be considered as an unnecessary task; particularly, as
having shewn, that the causes of this inferiour appearance were
_incidental_, arising, on the one hand, from the combined effects
of the _treatment_ and _commerce_, and, on the other, from
_vanity_ and _pride_, we seem to have refuted them already.
But we trust that some few observations, in vindication of these
unfortunate people, will neither be unacceptable nor improper.
How then shall we begin the refutation? Shall we say with Seneca, who
saw many of the slaves in question, "What is a _knight_, or a
_libertine_, or a _slave_? Are they not names, assumed either
from _injury_ or _ambition_?" Or, shall we say with him on
another occasion, "Let us consider that he, whom we call our slave, is
born in the same manner as ourselves; that he enjoys the same sky, with
all its heavenly luminaries; that he breathes, that he lives, in the
same manner as ourselves, and, in the same manner, that he expires."
These considerations, we confess, would furnish us with a plentiful
source of arguments in the case before us; but we decline their
assistance. How then shall we begin? Shall we enumerate the many
instances of fidelity, patience, or valour, that are recorded of the
_servile_ race? Shall we enumerate the many important services,
that they rendered both to the individuals and the community, under whom
they lived? Here would be a second source, from whence we could collect
sufficient materials to shew, that there was no inferiority in their
nature. But we decline to use them. We shall content ourselves with some
few instances, that relate to the _genius_ only: we shall mention
the names of those of a _servile_ condition, whose writings, having
escaped the wreck of time, and having been handed down even to the
present age, are now to be seen, as so many living monuments, that
neither the Grecian, nor Roman genius, was superiour to their own.
The first, whom we shall mention here, is the famous AEsop. He was a
Phrygian by birth, and lived in the time of Croesus, king of Lydia, to
whom he dedicated his fables. The writings of this great man, in
whatever light we consider them, will be equally entitled to our
admiration. But we are well aware, that the very mention of him as a
writer of fables, may depreciate him in the eyes of some. To such we
shall propose a question, "Whether this species of writing has not been
more beneficial to mankind; or whether it has not produced more
important events, than any other?"
With respect to the first consideration, it is evident that these
fables, as consisting of plain and simple transactions, are particularly
easy to be understood; as conveyed in images, they please and seduce the
mind; and, as containing a _moral_, easily deducible on the side of
virtue; that they afford, at the same time, the most weighty precepts of
philosophy. Here then are the two grand points of composition, "a manner
of expression to be apprehended by the lowest capacities, and, (what is
considered as a victory in the art) an happy conjunction of utility and
pleasure."[024] Hence Quintilian recommends them, as singularly useful,
and as admirably adapted, to the puerile age; as a just gradation
between the language of the nurse and the preceptor, and as furnishing
maxims of prudence and virtue, at a time when the speculative principles
of philosophy are too difficult to be understood. Hence also having been
introduced by most civilized nations into their system of education,
they have produced that general benefit, to which we at first alluded.
Nor have they been of less consequence in maturity; but particularly to
those of inferiour capacities, or little erudition, whom they have
frequently served as a guide to conduct them in life, and as a medium,
through which an explanation might be made, on many and important
occasions.
With respect to the latter consideration, which is easily deducible from
hence, we shall only appeal to the wonderful effect, which the fable,
pronounced by Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon, produced among his
hearers; or to the fable, which was spoken by Menenius Agrippa to the
Roman populace; by which an illiterate multitude were brought back to
their duty as citizens, when no other species of oratory could prevail.
To these truly _ingenious_, and _philosophical_ works of AEsop,
we shall add those of his imitator Phoedrus, which in purity and
elegance of style, are inferiour to none. We shall add also the Lyrick
_Poetry_ of Alcman, which is no _servile_ composition; the
sublime _Morals_ of Epictetus, and the incomparable _comedies_
of Terence.
Thus then does it appear, that the _excuse_ which was uniformly
started in defence of the _treatment_ of slaves, had no foundation
whatever either in truth or justice. The instances that we have
mentioned above, are sufficient to shew, that there was no inferiority,
either in their _nature_, or their understandings: and at the same
time that they refute the principles of the ancients, they afford a
valuable lesson to those, who have been accustomed to form too
precipitate a judgment on the abilities of men: for, alas! how often has
_secret anguish_ depressed the spirits of those, whom they have
frequently censured, from their gloomy and dejected appearance! and how
often, on the other hand, has their judgment resulted from their own
_vanity_ and _pride_!
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 021: Homer. Odys. P. 322. In the latest edition of Homer, the
word, which we have translated _senses_, is _Aretae_, or
_virtue_, but the old and proper reading is _Noos_, as appears
from Plato de Legibus, ch. 6, where he quotes it on a similar occasion.]
[Footnote 022: Aristotle. Polit. Ch. 2. et inseq.]
[Footnote 023: Ellesin hegemonikos, tois de Barbarois despotikos krasthar
kai ton men os philon kai oikeion epimeleisthai, tois de os
zoois he phytois prospheresthai. Plutarch. de Fortun. Alexand. Orat. 1.]
[Footnote 024: Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci. Horace.]
* * * * *
CHAP. VI.
We proceed now to the consideration of the _commerce_: in
consequence of which, people, endued with the same feelings and
faculties as ourselves, were made subject to the laws and limitations of
_possession_.
This commerce of the human species was of a very early date. It was
founded on the idea that men were _property_; and, as this idea was
coeval with the first order of _involuntary_ slaves, it must have
arisen, (if the date, which we previously affixed to that order, be
right) in the first practices of barter. The Story of Joseph, as
recorded in the sacred writings, whom his brothers sold from an envious
suspicion of his future greatness, is an ample testimony of the truth of
this conjecture. It shews that there were men, even at that early
period, who travelled up and down as merchants, collecting not only
balm, myrrh, spicery, and other wares, but the human species also, for
the purposes of traffick. The instant determination of the brothers, on
the first sight of the merchants, _to sell him_, and the immediate
acquiescence of these, who purchased him for a foreign market, prove
that this commerce had been then established, not only in that part of
the country, where this transaction happened, but in that also, whither
the merchants were then travelling with their camels, namely, AEgypt: and
they shew farther, that, as all customs require time for their
establishment, so it must have existed in the ages, previous to that of
Pharaoh; that is, in those ages, in which we fixed the first date of
_involuntary_ servitude. This commerce then, as appears by the
present instance, existed in the earliest practices of barter, and had
descended to the AEgyptians, through as long a period of time, as was
sufficient to have made it, in the times alluded to, an established
custom. Thus was AEgypt, in those days, the place of the greatest resort;
the grand emporium of trade, to which people were driving their
merchandize, as to a centre; and thus did it afford, among other
opportunities of traffick, the _first market_ that is recorded, for
the sale of the human species.
This market, which was thus supplied by the constant concourse of
merchants, who resorted to it from various parts, could not fail, by
these means, to have been considerable. It received, afterwards, an
additional supply from those piracies, which we mentioned to have
existed in the uncivilized ages of the world, and which, in fact, it
greatly promoted and encouraged; and it became, from these united
circumstances, 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 AEgypt as the common markets
for slaves, about the times of the Trojan war. Thus Antinous, offended
with Ulysses, threatens to send him to one of these places, if he does
not instantly depart from his table.[025] The same poet also, in his
hymn to Bacchus[026], mentions them again, but in a more unequivocal
manner, as the common markets for slaves. He takes occasion, in that
hymn, to describe the pirates method of scouring the coast, from the
circumstance of their having kidnapped Bacchus, as a noble youth, for
whom they expected an immense ransom. The captain of the vessel, having
dragged him on board, is represented as addressing himself thus, to the
steersman:
"Haul in the tackle, hoist aloft the sail,
Then take your helm, and watch the doubtful gale!
To mind the captive prey, be our's the care,
While you to _AEgypt_ or to _Cyprus_ steer;
There shall he go, unless his friends he'll tell,
Whose ransom-gifts will pay us full as well."
It may not perhaps be considered as a digression, to mention in few
words, by itself, the wonderful concordance of the writings of Moses and
Homer with the case before us: not that the former, from their divine
authority, want additional support, but because it cannot be unpleasant
to see them confirmed by a person, who, being one of the earliest
writers, and living in a very remote age, was the first that could
afford us any additional proof of the circumstances above-mentioned.
AEgypt is represented, in the first book of the sacred writings, as a
market for slaves, and, in the [027]second, as famous for the severity
of its servitude. [028]The same line, which we have already cited from
Homer, conveys to us the same ideas. It points it out as a market for
the human species, and by the epithet of "_bitter_ AEgypt,"
([029]which epithet is peculiarly annexed to it on this occasion)
alludes in the strongest manner to that severity and rigour, of which
the sacred historian transmitted us the first account.
But, to return. Though AEgypt was the first market recorded for this
species of traffick; and though AEgypt, and Cyprus afterwards, were
particularly distinguished for it, in the times of the Trojan war; yet
they were not the only places, even at that period, where men were
bought and sold. The Odyssey of Homer shews that it was then practised
in many of the islands of the AEgean sea; and the Iliad, that it had
taken place among those Grecians on the continent of Europe, who had
embarked from thence on the Trojan expedition. This appears particularly
at the end of the seventh book. A fleet is described there, as having
just arrived from Lemnos, with a supply of wine for the Grecian camp.
The merchants are described also, as immediately exposing it to sale,
and as receiving in exchange, among other articles of barter, "_a
number of slaves_."
It will now be sufficient to observe, that, as other states arose, and
as circumstances contributed to make them known, this custom is
discovered to have existed among them; that it travelled over all Asia;
that it spread through the Grecian and Roman world; was in use among the
barbarous nations, which overturned the Roman empire; and was practised
therefore, at the same period, throughout all Europe.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 025: me tacha pikren Aigypton kai Kypron idnai. Hom.
Odyss. L. 17. 448.]
[Footnote 026: L. 26.]
[Footnote 027: Exodus. Ch. 1.]
[Footnote 028: Vide note 1st. (Here shown as footnote 025).]
[Footnote 029: This strikes us the more forcibly, as it is stiled
_eurreiten_ and _perikallea_, "_beautiful and well watered_,"
in all other passages where it is mentioned, but this.]
* * * * *
CHAP. VII.
This _slavery_ and _commerce_, which had continued for so long
a time, and which was thus practised in Europe at so late a period as
that, which succeeded the grand revolutions in the western world, began,
as the northern nations were settled in their conquests, to decline,
and, on their full establishment, were abolished. A difference of
opinion has arisen respecting the cause of their abolition; some having
asserted, that they were the necessary consequences of the _feudal
system_; while others, superiour both in number and in argument, have
maintained that they were the natural effects of _Christianity_.
The mode of argument, which the former adopt on this occasion, is as
follows. "The multitude of little states, which sprang up from one great
one at this AEra, occasioned infinite bickerings and matter for
contention. There was not a state or seignory, which did not want all
the hands they could muster, either to defend their own right, or to
dispute that of their neighbours. 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_."
That this was not the _necessary_ consequence of such a situation,
is apparent. The political state of Greece, in its early history, was
the same as that of Europe, when divided, by the feudal system, into an
infinite number of small and independent kingdoms. There was the same
matter therefore for contention, and the same call for all the hands
that could be mustered: the Grecians, in short, in _heroick_, were
in the same situation in these respects as the _feudal barons_ in
the _Gothick_ times. Had this therefore been a _necessary_
effect, there had been a cessation of servitude in Greece, in those
ages, in which we have already shewn that it existed.
But with respect to _Christianity_, many and great are the
arguments, that it occasioned so desirable an event. It taught, "that
all men were originally equal; that the Deity was no respecter of
persons, and that, as all men were to give an account of their actions
hereafter, it was necessary that they should be free." These doctrines
could not fail of having their proper influence on those, who first
embraced _Christianity_, from a _conviction_ of its truth; and
on those of their descendents afterwards, who, by engaging in the
_crusades_, and hazarding their lives and fortunes there, shewed,
at least, an _attachment_ to that religion. We find them
accordingly actuated by these principles: we have a positive proof, that
the _feudal system_ had no share in the honour of suppressing
slavery, but that _Christianity_ was the only cause; for the
greatest part of the _charters_ which were granted for the freedom
of slaves in those times (many of which are still extant) were granted,
"_pro amore Dei, pro mercede animae_." They were founded, in short,
on religious considerations, "that they might procure the favour of the
Deity, which they conceived themselves to have forfeited, by the
subjugation of those, whom they found to be the objects of the divine
benevolence and attention equally with themselves."
These considerations, which had thus their first origin in
_Christianity_, began to produce their effects, as the different
nations were converted; and procured that general liberty at last,
which, at the close of the twelfth century, was conspicuous in the west
of Europe. What a glorious and important change! Those, who would have
had otherwise no hopes, but that their miseries would be terminated by
death, were then freed from their servile condition; those, who, by the
laws of war, would have had otherwise an immediate prospect of servitude
from the hands of their imperious conquerors, were then
_exchanged_; a custom, which has happily descended to the present
day. Thus, "a numerous class of men, who formerly had no political
existence, and were employed merely as instruments of labour, became
useful citizens, and contributed towards augmenting the force or riches
of the society, which adopted them as members;" and thus did the greater
part of the Europeans, by their conduct on this occasion, assert not
only liberty for themselves, but for their fellow-creatures also.