An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species Part 3

FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 016: Herodotus. L. 2. 113.]

[Footnote 017: "Apud aegyptios, si quis servum sponte occiderat, eum morte d.a.m.nari 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 ver 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 circ.u.mstances by which it was produced.

The first circ.u.mstance, 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 cla.s.sing 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 circ.u.mstances 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 cla.s.sing 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 _circ.u.mstances_ 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 t.i.tle of _barbarians_; inferring by such an appellation, "that they were men who were only n.o.ble 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 pa.s.sion.

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, a.s.sumed 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 a.s.sistance. 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 ent.i.tled 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, p.r.o.nounced 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 mult.i.tude 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.]