Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1805-05-25
Of Jamaica fsel the effects Of his returneto

i those taxes oppressive; they had pentur-
ed 10 express their satisiactiontilat land
Mr.. Dundas had been succeeded by per-
sons less hostile to their interests, less
/ deaf to their complaints, less indifferent to
theirdistresses After all, taxation is at
!. the bottom. The minister must have tax.
es, csute qui conte. The continent of A
! merica was lost by the rigours of taxati-s
on; aud, it is greatly to be feared, that
the islands will be Topped eff by the same
fatal influence. What! Some one will
say, will the royal inhabitants of Jamaica,
| rather than share the burthens of the mo-
ther countrg, seek to break in sander the
bands of their connection with her No:
am persuaded that there is nos a coua-
| ty 10 England mere firmly and affection.
a.ely attached to the throne and 10 the
person of his majesty than the colony OF
Jamaica is. But, tais.is-nct the question.
The question is, will FIR inhabi:anss OLA
maica quietly subooitysutter ruin, rather
than legally use their utmost EXERT
ons to epioy their share, whatever it may
be, of the liberties and prosperity OF the
empire? That thew ought not, nobody
will deny ; and that they will not every
! one who has been an observer oftheir con-
! duct must be thoroughly convinced.-
I Much Of what could wish to sey upon
this subject must be postponed to my next:
yet, cannot forbear, upon the slaOe traae,
| here to address word or two to Mr..
Wilberforce, who, if the public papers
speak truth, is about to renew those g at
tacks," which form one OF the grounds Of
the Jamaica complaints.
That charity oughlto begin at home, sir,
! is very good maxim and Sc ought PHI
i,lanthropy. Some wears ago, ,besought
i your attention to the white slave trade,
! which then was, and w is, carrying on
between this United Kingdom and the A.
! merican States. Uniformed you that ship
loads Of Irish and Welsh, and some Eng
/ 1ish and Scotch, were yearly sent to Ame-
RIGA, and there sold by public ADVERTISE
ment. assured you, and / produced
dates and names in proof OF nv assurances,
that these poor creatures were treated dar-
ing their passage much worse than ne.
groes and that if, after being sold, they
eloped from their masters, and were caught
/ again, they were logged like dogs, and
I were sometimes further punishedby being
! compelled to wear, for years, an iron col
/ lar rivettcd round their necks. i was
! greatly mortified to perceive, that my re-
| presentation was altogether useless though
strengthened by the then recent fact of
some of the parish ohicers in Wales having
actually laid out the parish rates in furnish
ing the means ofshlpping of many of their
poor to live IN such a state o. slavery In a
foreign land.
1 But, SIR. will nov come still nearer
h9nae, very near indeed, and invoke the
| full force of yonr philanthropy in behalf of
the more than million of wreiched crea.
lures, called paupers, who, at this mo-
meps, are Ii existeace in England. Yes,
in England Englishmen aud women and
children more than a million of them!
One eighth part of our whole population
]" But. they are not sla0eS." Say, rather,
sir, that they are nat.bldck; circumstance
which they may, seeing the preference
which IS given TO that ,coier, well regard as
extremely unfortunate. The negroe slaves
in rfe West Indies are, in every respect,
better of than the laboring poor in Eng
lead. They are fed better; they arelodg-
ed better; they suffer much less from the
/ ipclep1ency of the wea,heri they have a
far greater portion Of chirurgicaI and me-
dlcal assistance; they are q speak gener-
al!Y) full as kindly treated by their masters;
they work not hall so hard; they have
hundred times more leisure time the
Sunday IS proverblally called their holiday,
and, if they dance or otherwise recreate
themselves thereon, they are not dragged
to prison handcuAed. +" Bot they are not
free. They canno, change their masters,
nor even their place of residence"
And, can poor English abourer do