be shameful to conceal any truth that is interefting to humanity. We will first prove, that no reafon of ftate can authorize flavery. In doing this, we fhall not hesitate to arraign, before the tribunal of eternal light and justice, all thofe governments who tolerate the cruel practice, or are not ashamed to make it the bafis of their power. The great Montefquieu could not prevail upon himself to treat the question concerning flavery in a serious light in reality, it is degrading to reafon to employ it, I will not fay in defending, but even in refuting an abuse so repugnant to it. Will it be faid, that he who wants to make me a slave, does me no injury; that he only makes ufe of his rights ?-Where are thofe rights? Who has ftamped upon them so facred a character as to filence mine? He who fupports the fyftem of flavery, is the enemy of the whole human race; he divides it into two focieties of legal affaffins, the oppreffor and the oppreffed, &c. But the right of flavery, you fay, extends only to the right of labour, and the privation of liberty, not life.-What! does not the mafter who difpofes of my ftrength, at his pleasure, difpofe of my life, which depends on the voluntary and moderate exercife of my faculties? What is exiftence to him who has not the difpofal of it? I cannot kill my flave, but I can make him bleed under the whip of an executioner: I can overwhelm him with forrow, drudgery, and want. I can injure him every way, and fecretly undermine the principles and fprings of life: I can fmother, by flow punishments, the wretched infant which a negro woman carries in her womb. Thus the law protects the flave against a violent death, to leave to my cruelty the right of making him die by degrees.-Let us proceed a step farther: the height of flavery is a right to perpetrate all forts of crimes, thofe crimes which invade property; for flaves are not suffered to have any, even in their own perfons-thofe crimes which deftroy perfonal fafety; for the flave may be facrificed to the caprice of his mafter-thofe crimes which make modefty fhudder: my blood rifes at thofe horrid images-I hate, I fly the human fpecies, made up only of victims and executioners; and if it is never to become better, may it annihilate itself !—A word more, fice all must be faid: Cartouche, the famous French highwayman; Cartouche, feated at the foot of a tree in a deep forest, calculating the profits and charges of his robberies, the rewards and pay of his affociates, and adjufting with them the ideas of proportion and diftributive juftice; this Cartouche, is he not like a merchant equipping a veffel for the Guinea trade, who, reclining on his defk with his pen in his hand, fettles the number of attacks which he can cause to be made on the coaft of Guinea ; Guinea; who deliberately examines how many firelocks each negro will coft him, in order to fupport the war, which is to furnih him with flaves; how many iron-fetters, to confine him on board; how many whips, to make him work ?-What think you of this parallel? The highwayman attacks you, and takes your money; the trader carries off even your perfon. The one invades the rights of fociety, the other thofe of nature. This is certainly the truth; and if there exifted a religion, which authorized, even only by its filence, fuch horrors; if it did not continually denounce vengeance against the authors, or the inftruments of this tyranny; if it made it criminal for the flave to break his bonds; if it fuffered in its bofom the iniquitous judge who condemns the fugitive to death; if fuch a religion exifted-the minifter and the altar ought to be crushed in one common ruin. [To be continued.] EPISCOPAL ANECDOTE. HEN Dr. Secker was archbishop of Canterbury, a living in Kent, which was in the metropolitan's gift, fell vacant; the curate of which, who had been employed near twenty years under the late incumbent, came up to Lambeth with teftimonials from fome of the principal inhabitants, fetting forth the time of his fervitude; that he had a wife and five children, who were decently maintained on his ftipend of 401. a year; that his character and behaviour had endeared him to the parishioners, and craving his lordship's interpofition that he might be continued in the curacy. The archbishop received the poor parfon with great affability, and appointed him to call again in a fortnight; during which time his grace made every enquiry into the validity of the teftimonial, and found every thing far from being exaggerated, and much to his fatisfaction. In the mean while, a perfon who had been on terms of intimacy with Dr. Secker, while paftor of a diffenting congregation, came with a request of the living being conferred upon him. The archbishop told him he had not yet difpofed of it, but that he had one thing to obferve, which was, that the curate who had been there a feries of years might be continued with the next incumbent. The applier told his grace, that for his own part he was forry he could not agree with his grace's propofition, because he had that very morning engaged with a clergyman to fill the cure, having no doubt of his grace's appointment to the living. "How! Sir," fays Dr. Secker, " have you then dif pofed pofed of the curacy before you was inducted to the living! Well, I affure you, for your word's fake, you shall not be disappointed in that point: he then appointed him to meet on the very day that he had ordered the poor curate to attend. The parties being now together, the archbishop applied first to the curate, telling him that he found he had not intereft enough to procure his request : "but, Sir," fays he," I have made full enquiries into your character; and though I could not get the curacy, the living is at your fervice." To the other he faid, "And now, Sir, perhaps I may be able to have interest enough with this incumbent to accept a curate of your appointing." The poor curate was inducted, while the other retired in the greateft difguft. M AN ANECDOTE. ONSIEUR de Tourville, the French admiral, meditated a defcent upon England, in the beginning of the le king William's reign. As he intended to land in Suffex, be fent for a fisherman belonging to that place, who had been take by one of his fleet. He imagined he might get fome inform tion from him, concerning the affection which the people had for the government. "Do your countrymen (faid he) love king James? Are they well affected to the prince of Orange, to king William, as you call him? Are they fatisfied with the prefent government ?" The fisherman gaped, and stood amazed at these queflions. At laft, fays he, “ I never heard any thing of the gentlemen whom you have mentioned. They may be very good gentlemen, for aught I know I with neither of them any harm; they never did any to me; I know nothing at all about them; God bles them. As for the government, how can you imagine that a man, who has never learned to read and write, fhould know any thing about it? I have enough to do to take care of my boat and my nets, and fell my fish, when I have caught them." The admiral understood, from the manner in which the fisherman expreffed himself, that his ignorance was unaffected. " At leaft," replied the admiral, by your looks, I am fure that you will make a good failor; and as all parties are so indifferent to you, you can have no objection to ferve on board my hip.""What, I !" cried the fisherman immediately, "I fight againt my own country!-I woudn't do it for a king's raafom." To the PRINTER of the WEEKLY ENTERTAINER. SIR, B Y inferting the following in your Weekly Entertainer you Defcription of a new, cheap, and easy Method of making PenKnives, Sciffars, Snuff-Boxes, and other fuch little Implements, commonly carried in the Pocket TAKING a journey fometime fince into the north of England, I happened to light on an old and intimate acquaintance, who had formerly been in the fame clafs with me at fchool. He gave me a hearty invitation to dine with him, which I accepted. After dinner my friend uncorked a bottle of excellent old port; and obferving him to use a screw of a conftruction fomewhat curious, and fuch as I had never feen before, I took the liberty of afking him what it cost, and where one might get the like. He answered, with a fmile, that he really could not tell me, for that he made it about half a year fince. Knowing him to have been never of a mechanic turn, and to have lived rather a diffipated life, I replied to this as a joke; but he ftill continued to affure me, fmiling, that he made it when he was last year at Scarbo rough for his health. I then thought I could not, without illmanners, appear to have any doubt, as to the fact, though in my mind I greatly questioned it; fo telling my friend that he mult certainly be a very ingenious workman, we turned the difcourfe to another subject. Purfuing my journey, I dined a few days after at an inn, with fome brother travellers, who were ftrangers to me, and feemed of a difpofition pretty much inclined to gaiety. One of them having, or pretending to have occafion to write a letter, after beftowing a hearty curfe or two on the pen, asked if any gentleman would be kind enough to spare him a pen-knife. Always happy to oblige, I readily offered mine, which having ufed, and obferving it was a very neat one, I told him that that was the leaft of its good qualities, for that I had proved it more than twenty years, and found it one of the best that was ever used. "Why then, fir, (faid he) 'tis time for it to have a new mafter;" and immediately, with much compofure, put it in his pocket, at the fame time fmiling at me, and drinking to my health. I was rather furprised at this, and asked him what he VOL. II. 40. 2 T meant. meant. He faid, "I intend to make it, by your leave, fir." The former circumftance inftantly occurring to my memory, I was no longer at a lofs to understand his meaning; and replied, "What, I fuppofe you mean to make it yours!" "Yes, fir," faid he, with the utmost confidence. It was in vain that I reprefented the value of the knife in itfelf; the ftill greater value which I fet on it, as a piece of antiquity, and the gift of a particular friend; and the great improbability of my procuring another fuch for money.-All the company decided the caule against me, alledging that fuch kind of things were now-a-days confidered as common property; that a gentleman who was in want of them might, without offence, pick them up in any company; that this was authorized and juftified by the law of custom; that I had nothing to do but to make another pen-knife the first time I could meet with one to my liking, and that I might, perhaps, be a gainer by the bargain. Finding there was no remedy, I feemingly acquiefced in the decifion, and refumed an appearance of good humour, though not without much inward chagrin, and fome fecret meditation of fevere reprifal. An expedient foon prefented itself to my mind. I had obferved my gentleman to have a very fuperb fad dle and bridle. We were travelling different ways, and both about to fet off that afternoon. Pretending, therefore, an er rand to the ftable, to fee my horfe fed, I informed the ofler that I had agreed with the aforefaid gentleman to make an exchange of tackle, and ordered him to put it on according y. I then returned, and finished the bottle with the company; when the bill being discharged, and the horfes led to the door, my gentleman began to fwear at the oftler for having put on the wrong tackle; but I gravely told him it was no millake, for that as my own tackle was very plain and ordinary, I had taken the liberty of making his, which I thought would fuit me better; and that he might very probably fuit himself again at his next stage. He feemed greatly mortified at this, and faid, as he found I was i much in earnest, I fhould have my pen-knife again; but I told him no; that the knife was certainly his property, as had been juft before demonftrated; and I would by no means deprive him of what he had an undoubted right to; that as I had found him to be in earnest, I fhould be in earnest too, and confider the faddle and bridle as mine, upon the fame principles; efpecially as I had left him others in the room of them; and an exchange was al ways allowed to be no robbery. On faying this, I mounted, and rid off, politely wifhing my fine gentleman a pleasant journey, and afluring him that he would find his new accoutrements as enfy (and as hubby, too, I might have faid) as an old fhoe. I with, |