3&> N A R R A T I V E ÖF AN
CHAP. By this it appears, that'no more than <20,000, or only
1 i one-fourth of the whole number, are condemned' to do
all tlïë lSBölïr of tfip fields*, on W^opi .it may hp -Ta-iH
«chiefly tfa^s thb dreadful föt o f untimely mortality that
I have formerly .moationed. Now it is evident, that i f
th^ 50,000 able-bodied „flav^s that are in the c©lony of
Surinam were putto- eqn#drudge^, the m oriafit^whidi
is-pow at tiie rate o f &vz p£r cent. wouW then increafe to
atleaft themumber of twelve out o f every hundred^ and
wonlfl ëompleSjtly extirpate the wh&erïaafe i«.Kttlë"È&o*e
than eight years time.
Having thus! at an. average döflaonftrated how they are
dtftributed,yj muft briefly^bferve* that # h fe fe ll’^fid o
live better thanj the common people o f England; andJn£lr
£6,boo apTkept in idtenêfs, and do no Worfc in.th'e B i l l s ;
thé f emaiifing kö,oo& may4 fé ‘ tfaÖfèf“(that S lW f lS S S f )
among the moft miferable wretchf#on harth f ’a ijl are
worked, ftarved, infulted, and'flogged'to. death, without
beihg fo much;as allowed to complain fo ? fe2irej[s, without
being heard in.their own defence,' without, receiving
common juftice on any occafion, and thus' may be con-
fidered as dead-alive,, lince cut off from all the common
privileges o f human fociety.
I will now proceed, by candidly afking the world, I f the
above is not an improper and fenfelefs mifapplication, not
only of wealth, but o f human life and labour; which,
only by a proper diftribution and management* might
accumulate the one and relieve the other ?
Now
E X P E D I T I O N T O . S U R IN A M. 3.61
: N0w would;this ineonfidev^te colony but give up their c ha p.
habi£$pf pride.and luxury, nay, in a moderate degree, , xxtx-
20,000 negroes git l.eaft,;might bemadded to thofe now labouring
in thi;.fie3d.s^ wfiich!- (providing. the whole were
treated^ with lefs feyerity),, muft at th^fame time keep
the'above fuperfluous number o f idlers employed; and
fiy^affifting^the; others in their peceffary occupations,
could pot but tend greatly to prevent that blocking mortality,,
to which they are at prefent expofed by unbound»
ed, pl-ufagejand barbarity.
But every reform muft begin at that which is the fource
p f ManMtfcvs well as;of.juftice; and thofe therefore who
ar§ gntrufied with* the executive government Ihoulti have
po temptation to overlook the breaches of a. law i while
it ought to ,be a facredand invariable, rule never.to allow
either, tfie governor or tfie; magiftrates of fuch a colony
to; be'the proprietors o f more Bayes, than merely ,a limited
number* to attend on their perfons, according to their
ranks : fincej more than once, even to my obfervatipn, it
has occurred that thofe ,who made, and thofe who were
appointed to ^nforpe the laws, have been the firft that
brgke them, for the paltry benefit of caufing their negroes
to work on a Sunday, or to follow the bent o f their
unbounded paflions; from which Ihameful example from
the magiftrate, the contagion muft neceffarily fpread
among the individuals*: . 1
Let the . governor, and, principal magijirates^ there-?
fore, be fent ;out from Europe; letg them be, gentlemen
o f fortune and education; and* above all,* men
t Yol. II. 3 A of