of having, perhaps, themselves shot the ball by
which a father or a brother fell. Some of them had constancy enough to
hold out against half-allowance of food and repeated whippings. These
were generally sent to England, and from thence to the East Indies. One
of them escaped from the East Indies, and got back to Paris, where he
gave an account of his sufferings to Mr. Adams, who happened to be then
at Paris.

M. de Meusnier, where he mentions that the slave-law has been passed
in Virginia, without the clause of emancipation, is pleased to mention,
that neither Mr. Wythe nor Mr. Jefferson was present, to make the
proposition they had meditated; from which, people, who do not give
themselves the trouble to reflect or inquire, might conclude, hastily,
that their absence was the cause why the proposition was not made; and,
of course, that there were not, in the Assembly, persons of virtue and
firmness enough to propose the clause for emancipation. This supposition
would not be true. There were persons there, who wanted neither the
virtue to propose, nor talents to enforce the proposition, had they seen
that the disposition of the legislature was ripe for it. These worthy
characters would feel themselves wounded, degraded, and discouraged by
this idea. Mr. Jefferson would therefore be obliged to M. de Meusnier to
mention it in some such manner as this. 'Of the two commissioners, who
had concerted the amendatory clause for the gradual emancipation
of slaves, Mr. Wythe could not be present, he being a member of the
judiciary department, and Mr. Jefferson was absent on the legation
to France. But there were not wanting in that Assembly, men of virtue
enough to propose, and talents to vindicate this clause. But they saw,
that the moment of doing it with success, was not yet arrived, and that
an unsuccessful effort, as too often happens, would only rivet still
closer the chains of bondage, and retard the moment of delivery to
this oppressed description of men. What a stupendous, what an
incomprehensible machine is man! who can endure toil, famine, stripes,
imprisonment, and death itself, in vindication of his own liberty, and,
the next moment, be deaf to all those motives whose power supported him
through his trial, and inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of
which is fraught with more misery, than ages of that which he rose in
rebellion to oppose! But we must await, with patience, the workings
of an overruling Providen