Sorry am I, that the depravity of the present age has made a demonstration of this kind necessary.

Now, that I may sum up the amount of what has been said in a single sentence, I shall beg leave to conclude in the words of the great Sir Edward Coke, which, though spoken on a different occasion, are yet applicable to this; see Rushworth’s Hist.  Col.  An. 1628. 4 Caroli. fol. 450.

“It would be no honour to a King or kingdom, to be a King of bondmen or slaves:  the end of this would be both dedecus[A] and damnum[B] both to King and kingdom, that in former times have been so renowned.”

[Footnote A:  Disgrace.]

[Footnote B:  Loss.]

* * * * *

Note, at page 63; According to the laws of Jamaica, printed in London, in 1756, “If any slave having been one whole year in this island, (says an act, No 64, clause 5, p. 114) shall run away, and continue absent from his owner’s service for the space of thirty days, upon complaint and proof, &c. before any two justices of the peace, and three freeholders, &c. it shall and may be lawful for such justices and freeholders to order such slave to be punished, by cutting off one of the feet of such slave, or inflict such other corporal punishment as they shall think fit.”  Now that I may inform my readers, what corporal punishments are sometimes thought fit to be inflicted, I will refer to the testimony of Sir Hans Sloane, (see voyage to the islands of Madeira, Barbadoes, &c. and Jamaica, with the natural history of the last of these islands, &c.  London 1707.  Introduction, p. 56, and 57.) “The punishment for crimes of slaves (says he) are usually, for rebellions, burning them, by nailing them down to the ground with crooked sticks on every limb, and then applying the fire, by degrees, from the feet and hands, and burning them gradually up to the head, whereby the pains are extravagant; for crimes of a lesser nature, gelding, or chopping off half the foot with an axe.  These punishments are suffered by them with great constancy.—­For negligence, they are usually whipped by the overseers with lance-wood switches, till they be bloody, and several of the switches broken, being first tied up by their hands in the mill houses.—­After they are whipped till they are raw, some put on their skins pepper and salt, to make them smart; at other times, their masters will drop melted wax on their skins, and use several very exquisite torments.”  Sir Hans adds, “These punishments are sometimes merited by the Blacks, who are a very perverse generation of people; and though they appear very harsh, yet are scarce equal to some of their crimes, and inferior to what punishments other European nations inflict on their slaves in the East-Indies, as may be seen by Moquet, and other travellers.”  Thus Sir Hans Sloane endeavours to excuse those shocking cruelties, but certainly in vain, because no crimes