the British Parliament."

The second and last step to be taken by the Abolitionists should be, to
collect all possible light on the subject of _emancipation_ with a view
of carrying that measure into effect in its due time. They ought never
to forget, that _emancipation_ was included in _their original idea of
the abolition of the slave trade_. Slavery was then as much an evil in
their eyes as the trade itself; and so long as the former continues in
its present state, the extinction of it ought to be equally an object of
their care. All the slaves in our colonies, whether men, women, or
children, whether _Africans or Creoles_, have been unjustly deprived of
their rights. There is not a master, who has the least claim to their
services in point of equity. There is, therefore, a great debt due to
them, and for this no payment, no amends, no equivalent can be found,
but a _restoration to their liberty_.

That all have been unjustly deprived of their rights, may be easily
shown by examining the different grounds on which they are alleged to be
held in bondage. With respect to those in our colonies, who are
_Africans_, I never heard of any title to them but by the _right of
purchase_. But it will be asked, where did the purchasers get them? It
will be answered, that they got them from the sellers; and where did the
sellers, that is, the original sellers, get them? They got them by
_fraud or violence_. So says the evidence before the House of Commons;
and so, in fact, said both Houses of Parliament, when they abolished the
trade: and this is the plea set up for retaining them in a cruel
bondage!!!

With respect to the rest of the slaves, that is, the _Creoles_, or those
born in the colonies, the services, the perpetual services, of these are
claimed on the plea of the _law of birth_. They were born slaves, and
this circumstance is said to give to their masters a sufficient right to
their persons. But this doctrine sprung from the old Roman law, which
taught that all slaves were to be considered as _cattle_. "Partus
sequitur ventrem," says this law, or the "condition or lot of the mother
determines the condition or lot of the offspring." It is the same law,
which we ourselves now apply to cattle while they are in our possession.
Thus the calf belongs to the man who owns the cow, and the foal to the
man who owns the mare, and not to the owner of the bull or horse, which
were the male parents of each. It is then upon this, th