Wesley Corpus

8. As to the punishment inflicted on them, says Sir _Hans Sloan_, “they frequently geld them, or chop off half a foot: after they are whipped till they are raw all over. Some put pepper and salt upon them: some drop melted wax upon their skin. Others cut off their ears, and constrain them to broil and eat them. For Rebellion,” (that is, asserting their native Liberty, which they have as much right to as to the air they breathe) “they fasten them down to the ground with crooked sticks on every limb, and then applying fire by degrees, to the feet and hands, they burn them gradually upward to the head.” 9. But will not the laws made in the plantations, prevent or redress all cruelty and oppression? We will take but a few of those laws for a specimen, and then let any man judge. In order to rivet the chain of slavery, the law of _Virginia_ ordains, “That no slave shall be set free, upon any pretence whatever, except for some meritorious services, to be adjudged and allowed by the _Governor and Council_: and that where any slave shall be set free by his owner, otherwise than is herein directed, the Church-wardens of the parish wherein such negro shall reside for the space of one month are hereby authorized and required, to _take up and sell_ the said negro, by _public outcry_.” 10. Will not these Law-givers take effectual care, to prevent cruelty and oppression? The law of _Jamaica_ ordains, “Every slave that shall run away, and continue absent from his master twelve months, shall be _deemed rebellious_:” And by another law, fifty pounds are allowed, to those who kill or bring in alive a _rebellious_ slave. So their law treats these poor men with as little ceremony and consideration, as if they were merely brute beasts! But the innocent blood which is shed in consequence of such a detestable law, must call for vengeance on the murderous abetters and actors of such deliberate wickedness.