es in the Abbe Raynals'
philosophical history. One of them would have been sufficient. The Negro
who killed himself when his master who had injured him was in his power,
was superior to Epictetus, and the existence of a single Negro of so
sublime a character, ennobles all his kind.

But how could you judge whether the blacks were different from the whites,
who saw them only in a state of slavery and wretchedness? Do we estimate
beauty by the figure of a Laplander? magnanimity by the soul of a courtier?
or intelligence by the stupidity of an Esquimaux?

If the traces of humanity were so much weakened and effaced in the Negroes,
that you did not recognize them, I conclude not that they do not belong to
our species, but that they must have been cruelly tormented to reduce them
to this state of degeneracy. I do not conclude that they are not men, but
that the Europeans who kidnap the blacks, are not worthy of the name.

You consider what precautions it may be necessary to take to avoid the
danger which might attend a general emancipation of the Negroes.

I shall not now enter into a discussion of this nice question, but reserve
it for another work: yet I must say in a word, that the Negroes will never
be our friends, will never be men, until they are possessed of all our
rights, until we are upon an equality. Civil liberty is the boundary
between good and evil, order and disorder, happiness and misery, ignorance
and knowledge. If we would make the Negroes worthy of us, we must raise
them to our level by giving them this liberty.

Thus, the chief inconvenience you expect will follow the emancipation of
the Negroes, may be avoided; that although free, they will remain a
distinct species, a distinct and dangerous body.

This objection will vanish when we intermix with them, and boldly efface
every distinction. Unless this is the case, I foresee torrents of blood
spilt and the earth disputed between the whites and blacks, as America was
between the Europeans and Savages.

Perhaps, and it is no extravagant idea--perhaps it might be more prudent,
more humane, to send the blacks back again to their native country, settle
them there, encourage their industry, and assist them to form connections
with Europe and America. The celebrated doctor Fothergill conceived this
plan, and the society for the abolition of slavery, at London, have carried
it into execution at Sierra Leone. Time and perseverance, will discover the
policy and