The Auftrians were equally industrious, and made fimilar encroachments on the fide of Podolia; but meeting with no opposition, the effusion of blood was thereby prevented. During thefe tranfactions, the great general of Poland, count Branicky, who had refided for fome time as mininer, without a public character, at Petersburgh, made heavy complaints to that court of the conduct of the Pruffians; and was fo effectual in his representations, that the Emprefs herself wrote a letter upon the fubject to the king of Pruffia. This letter was couched in fuch terms, as fhewed that the Emprefs was not at all indifferent to those transactions. The king declared in his anfwer, that he had acted nothing but what was confiftent with justice, and his incontattible rights, and that he withed for nothing more, than to have the limits fettled upon fuch a juft and folid footing, as would prevent all complaints, This powerful mediation prevented, for the prefent, any further holtilities. We foon afterwards find, that the affair of the Permanent Council was refumed in the Delegation, and that they alfo proceeded to the eftablishment of thofe principles on which the future fyftem of government was to be founded particularly with refpect to the powers which were to be allotted to the king, his particular revenues, thofe of the republic in general, the number of troops which were to be fupported, and the authority which was to be vetted in the great generals of Poland and Lithuania. The joint and diftinét interefts, privileges, and rights, of thofe two countries, which, under various reftrictions, form one commonw.alth, together with the degrees of authority they were refpectively to potlefs, and the proportions they were to bear in the common expence, rendered this bufinefs complex and difficult. The parts which had been rended from each of thofe countries in creafed the difficulty, as new calculations and degrees of proportion became neceffary in every inftance, and the uncertainty of what was ftill to remain to either, feemed to render the whole an inexplicable chaos. The decifive intervention of thofe powers, whofe breath prefcribed the fate of Poland, and who were equally ena bled to admit of its having any form of government, or none, was, however, fufficient to remove all difficulties; and we accordingly find that the Delegation, during the months of Auguft and September, had nearly gone through the The establishment, modes, and departments, of the Permanent Council, were first decided upon and figned by the Delegation. Aug. 8th. This council is to be compo fed of forty members, and is to include three eftates, the King, the Senate, and the Equeftrian Order. The members are to be chofen at the diets, and the majority to be decided by ballot; their power to continue only from one diet to another. The King is always to be chief of the council; the Senate comprehends the great officers, or miniftry, and the members chofen from that body; and the Equestrian Order are to be as nearly equal as the odd number 39 will permit. The proportional numbers for Poland and Lithuania are also fpecified. This council is to compofe four particular departments, of which the firft is to take cognizance of all thofe concerns which ufually came before the marshals of the crown, or of Lithuania; the fecond is charged with whatever relates to the police, and all the inferior departments are to bring in their reports to it; the third comprehends the military, the whole immediate power of which is vefted in the grand general, under the obligation of bringing in all his reports and accounts at flated times to be examined; the fourth have the care of correfpond.nce with foreign powers. It was propofed in the Delegation, that the Diffidents fhould be eligible to admiffion in the Permanent Council; but, though it might have been hoped that their common fufferings and calamities would have united all parties and perfuations, prejudices were, notwithftanding, ftill fo firong, that this propofal was almost univerfally rejected. When we recollect, that two of the great partitioning powers had no other colour or pretence, for meddling in the affairs of Poland, but merely to protect the Diffidents, and to restore them to their rights as citizens; when we recollect their declarations and public documents, and that the armies they poured into the country, the long wars that enfued, and the deluges of blood that have been thed, had no other avowed caufe or foundation; can can we refrain from amazement, or reprefs our indignation, at feeing that thofe people were only used as a tale for ambition and rapacity; and that now, when every thing has fucceeded to the with of thofe powers, and that their fiat is become an inevitable law to the unfortunate Poles, the cause of the Diffidents is laid afide and forgotten. That the Poles thould have retained fome refentment towards them, as being in fome measure the occafion of the devastation at firit, and then the partition of their Country among foreign powers, is not fo much to be wondered at. The other principal matters, which have been fettled by the delegation, are said to be the following. That the Republic grants the King, as an indemnity for the lofs of his revenues, an annual income of five millions of Polifh florins, (amounting to near 300,000l.) in which fum is included the million of florins deftined for the fupport of his guards, That the alfo engages to pay his debts, amounting to feven millions of florins. That the beflows on him, in hereditary poffeffion, four starosties, (which are governments of caftles, with the districts belonging to them) to be tranfmitted to his family for ever; and befides orders a reimbursement of fuch money as the King had advanced for the ufe of the ftate. It was also agreed, that the fixed revenues of the republic fhould be enhanced to 33 millions of Polish florins, and that the army fhould confift of 30,000 effective men. We must here obferve, that if we are not mifinformed as to the value of the Polifh florin, which we estimate at 1s. 2d. this great revenue, amounting to near two millions fterling, muft have been rather beyond the ability of Poland even in its beft times. It is alfo to be observed, that the delegation have made a moft ample provifion for the king by this arrangement, the articles of which are fo much in his favour, as to leave little room to doubt, that his interefts were particularly supported by the partitioning powers. This circumitance may perbaps afford a clue to the facility with whan the affair of the Permanent Council, and other matters, had of late been carried through that affembly. Indeed it is no wonder, in fo general a wreck, if even the most difinterefted firuggled for the parts which they might obtain from the fury of the waves; and that individuals fhould endeavour to confole themfelves, by fome private gratification, for the fhare they endured in the public lofs and calamity. The intereft which the King of Pruf- ́ fia has taken, upon this occafion, in the diftreffes of the inhabitants of Poland, is too curious a circumftance to be overlooked. That monarch, by M. Benoit, his minifter at Warfaw, has put an abfolute negative upon the establiment of an army of 30,000 men, as a cruel and intolerable oppreffion, and a burden which it is not proper to lay upon the people in their prefent ftate. The more we reflect on the nature of his own government, the more we must admire the compaffion and benevolence which operate in this inftance. We muft, in juftice to the Emprefs of Ruffia, take notice, that, fince the ceffation of the fword in Poland, her conduct with refpect to that country has been infinitely more just, moderate, and temperate, than that of the other powers. Instead of new and endless claims, and continually harraffing and pillaging the people, fhe has, with respect to her felf, been governed by the late treaties; and to others, been their mediatrix and advocate; and there is little room to doubt, that she has been the means of preventing greater violences than thofe which have already excited the furprize of mankind. It is as little to be doubted. that the prefent partition of Poland was far beyond the original intentions of that princefs, and that he was led, by various means and infenfible degrees, into thofe fatal measures which have terminated in its ruin.. Some time after the conclufion of the peace with Turky, the Empress of Ruffia remitted 250,000 rubles to the King of Poland, as a compenfation for that part of his domains which fell into her hands. This was the firft compensation that had been heard of in the affairs of Poland, and will probably be the last. Nothing can be more fully deferiptive of the condition of the governed, in thofe countries which have been ceded to the partitioning powers, than the conduct of the Jews. Thefe people, who for many ages have compofed a very great part of the inhabitants of Poland, are daily retiring in numerous bodies from thofe territories which are poffeffed by the Auftrians and Pruffians, and flying for refuge and protection to the provinces which belong to Ruffia. Yet the Ruf fian government was never contidered, even comparatively, as a mild one. Commiffaries were appointed by the delegation early in the year, to fettle the units between the territories of the republic and thofe of the partitioning powers, powers, in fo precife and accurate a Sept. Thoughts on Slavery. By the Rev. John Wesley, A. M. (Continued from page 488, and concluded.) HIS is the plain, un-aggra pute upon that fubject. Though thefe IV. 1. Tvated matter of fact. Such commiffaries held frequent meetings with As an unlimited toleration in religious No material alteration has taken place in the affairs of Dantzick, This city is mouldering to ruin, and the diftreffes of the inhabitants heightened by the uncertainty of their extent and termination. However weak and remifs the part taken by thofe powers, who were engaged by treaties cr intereft in its prefervation has been, their representations, or the jealoufy with which it was fuppofed they mutt have been actuated, though but faintly expreffed for the prefent, has probably hitherto preferved it from that immediate violence, which would at once have decided its fate. The measures which are purfued, tho' flower, are not lefs certain in the effect. New canals are made, and new channels of trade opened. Clogged by every poffible difcouragement and difficulty in its ancient courfe, it will naturally fly to the new for refuge. The rich will, before it is too late, abandon their old feats, and the multitude, worn down by exaction and oppreffion, and every day thinned by the recruiting officers, who furround them like vultures, dwindle to nothing. Thus, very probably, in a few years, will its name be the only memorial left of this great and free city, which had for fo many ages held its rank among the first in Europe; and this deftruction will be accomplished without the aid of war, peftilence, earthquake, or famine. is the manner wherein our African flaves they are removed from their native land, are procured: Such the manner wherein and wherein they are treated in our plantations, Whether these things can be defended, on the principles of even heathen honef I would now enquire, (fetting the bible out of the question) ty? Whether they can be reconciled with any degree of either juftice or mercy? thorized by law." But can law, human 2. The grand plea is, "they are auit turn darkness into light, or evil into law, change the nature of things? Can good? By no means. Notwithstanding ten thousand laws, right is right, and wrong is wrong ftill. There must ftill remain an essential difference between justice and injuftice, cruelty and mercy. So that I ftill afk, who can reconcile this treatment of the negroes, first and last, with either mercy or justice? fevereft evils on thofe that have done us of this complicated villainy. I abfolute- than that great ornament of his profef- flavery, affigned by Juftinian, are all untrue, untrue, if taken generally, That by the law of nations, a man has a right to kill his enemy. He has only a right to kill him in particular cafes, in cafes of abfolute neceffity for felf-defence. And it is plain, this abfolute neceffity did not fubfift, fince he did not kill him, but made him prifoner. War itself is juftifiable only on principles of felf-prefervation. Therefore it gives us no right over prifoners, but to hinder their hurt. ing us by confining them. Much lefs can it give a right to torture, or kill, or even to enflave an enemy when the war is over. Since therefore the right of making our prifoners flaves, depends on a fuppofed right of flaughter, that foundation failing, the confequence which is drawn from it must fail likewife." "It is faid fecondly, flavery may begin, by one man's felling himfelf to another. And it is true, a man may fell himself to work for another: but he cannot fell himself to be a flave, as above defined. Every fale implies an equivalent given to the feller, in lieu of what hé transfers. to the buyer. But what equivalent can be given for life or liber. ty? His property likewife, with the very price which he seems to receive, devolves ipfo fallo to his mafter, the inftant he becomes his flave: In this cafe therefore the buyer gives nothing, and the feller receives nothing. Of what validity then can a fale be, which deftroys the very principle upon which all fales are founded ?” "We are told, thirdly, that men may be born faves, by being the children of flaves. But this being built upon the two former rights must fall together with them. If neither captivity, nor contract can, by the plain law of nature and reason, reduce the parent to a flate of flavery, much less can they reduce the offspring." It clearly follows, that all flavery is as irreconcileable to justice as to mercy. 4. That slave-holding is utterly inconfiftent with mercy, is almost too plain to need a proof. Indeed it is faid, "That thefe negroes being prifoners of war, our captains and factors buy them, merely to fave them from being put to death. And is not this mercy?" I answer, 1. Did Sir John Hawkins, and many others, feize upon men, women, and children, who were at peace in their own fields and houfes, merely to fave them from death? 2. Was it to fave them from death, that they knock'd out the brains of those they could not bring away? 3. Who occafioned and fomented thofe wars, wherein thefe poor creatures were taken prifoners? Who ex cited them by money, by drink, by every poffible means, to fall upon one another? Was it not themfelves? They know in their own confcience it was, if they have any confcience left. But 4. To bring the matter to a fhort iffue. Can they fay before GOD, That they ever took a single voyage, or bought a fingle negro from this motive? They cannot. They well know, to get money, not to fave lives, was the whole and fole fpring of their motions. 5. But if this manner of procuring and treating negroes is not confiftent either with mercy or juftice, yet there is a plea for it which every man of business will acknowledge to be quite fufficient, Fifty years ago, one meeting an eminent ftatefman in the lobby of the house of Commons, faid, "You have been long talking about juftice and equity. Pray, which is this bill? equity or justice ?" He answered, very short and plain, "D-n juftice: It is neceffity." Here alfo the flave-holder fixes his foot: Here he refts the strength of his cause. "If it is not quite right, yet it must be fo: There is an abfolute neceffity for it. It is neceffary we should procure flaves: And when we have procured them, it is neceffary to use them with severity, confidering their ftupidity, ftubbornness and wickedness." I answer, you ftumble at the threshold: I deny that villainy is ever neceffary. It is impoffible that it should ever be neceffary, for any reasonable creature to violate all the laws of juftice and mercy, and truth. No circumstances can make it neceffary for a man to burst in sunder all the ties of humanity. It can never be neceifary for a rational being to fink himself below a brute. A man can be under no neceffity of degrading himself into a wolf. The abfurdity of the fuppofition is so glaring, that one would wonder that any one could help feeing it. 6. This in general. But to be more particular, I ask, 1. What is neceffary? And fecondly, to what end? It may be answered, "The whole method now ufed by the original purchasers of negroes, is neceffary to the furnishing our colonies yearly with a hundred thousand flaves." I grant this is neceffary to the end. But how is that end neceffary? How will you prove it neceffary that one hundred, that one of thofe flaves fhould be procured?” Why it is neceffary to my gaining an hundred thousand pounds." Perhaps fo: But how is this neceffary? It is very poffible you might be both a better and happier man, if you had not a quarter of it. I deny that your gaining one thousand is neceffary, either to your prefent or eternal happiness. "But however, you must allow, thefe flaves are neceffary for the cultivation of our iflands: inafmuch as white men are not able to labour in hot climates." I answer, 1. It were better that all thofe iflands thould remain uncultivated for ever, yea, it were more defirable that they were altogether funk in the depth of the fea, than that they fhould be cultivated at fo high a price, as the violation of juftice, mercy and truth. But, fecondly, the fuppofition on which you ground your argument is falfe. For white men, even English men, are well able to labour in hot climates: provided they are temperate both in meat and drink, and that they inure themselves to it by degrees. I fpeak no more than I know by experience. It appears from the thermometer, that the fummer-heat in Georgia, is frequently equal to that in Barbadoes, yea to that under the line. And yet I and my family (eight in number) did employ all our fpare time there, in felling of trees and clearing of ground, as hard labour as any negroe need be employed in. The German family likewife, forty in number, were employed in all manner of labour. And this was fo far from impairing our health, that we all continued perfectly well, while the idle ones round about us, were fwept away as with a peftilence. It is not true therefore that white men are not able to labour, even in hot climates, full as well as black. But if they were not, it would be better that none fhould labour there, that the work fhould be left undone, than that myriads of innocent men fhould be murdered, and myriads more dragged into the bafeft flavery. 7 "But the furnishing us with flaves is neceffary, for the trade and wealth, and glory of our nation:" Here are feveral mistakes. For 1. Wealth is not neceffary to the glory of any nation; but wifdom, virtue, juftice, mercy, generofity, public fpirit, love of our country. Thefe are neceffary to the real glory of a nation; but abundance of wealth is not. Men of understanding allow, that the glory of England was full as high, in queen Elizabeth's time as it is now; although our riches and trade were then as much smaller, as our virtue was greater. But, fecondly, it is not clear, that we fhould have lefs money or trade, (only lefs of that deteftable trade of man teal ing) if there was not a negroe in all our iflands, or in all English America. It is demonftrable, white men, inured to it by degrees, can work as well as them: And they would do it, were negroes out of the way, and proper encouragement given them. However, thirdly, I come back to the same point. Better no trade, than trade produced by villainy. It is far better to have no wealth, than to gain wealth at the expence of virtue. Better is honeft poverty, than all the riches bought by the tears, and sweat and blood of our fellow creatures. 8. However this be, it is necessary when we have flaves, to use them with feverity." What, to whip them for every petty offence, till they are all in a gore of blood? To take that opportunity, of rubbing pepper and falt into their raw fleth? To drop fealing-wax burning upon their fkin? To caftrate them? To cut off half their foot with an axe? To hang them on gibbets, that they may die by inches, with heat, hunger, and thirst? To pin them down to the ground, and then burn them by degrees, from the feet to the head To roaft them alive? When did a Turk or a Heathen find it neceifary to ufe a fellow-creature thus ? I pray, to what end is this ufage neceffary? Why, to prevent their running away: And to keep them conftantly to their labour, that they may not idle away their time. So miferably ftupid is this race of men, yea, fo stubborn and fo wicked." Allowing them to be as fupid as you fay, to whom is that flupidity owing? Without question it lies altogether at the door of their inhuman matters; who give them no means, no opportunity of improving their underftanding; and indeed teave them no motive, either from hope or fear, to attempt any fuch thing. They were no way remarkable for ftupidity, while they remained in their own country: The inhabitants of Africa, where they have equal motives and equal means of improvement, are ot inferior to the inhabitants of Eure. To fome of them they are greatly fuperior. Impartially furvey in their own country, the natives of Benin, and the natives of Lapland. Compare, (fetting prejudice afide) the Samoeids and the Angolans. And on which fide does the advantage lie, in point of underftanding? Certainly the African is in no refpe&t inferior to the European. Their flupidity therefore in our plantations is not natural; otherwife than it is the natural effect of their condition. Confe quently it is not their fault, but your's: You must answer it before GOD and man. 9. " But |