Page:Abstract of the evidence for the abolition of the slave-trade 1791.djvu/86

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Africans, when bought, their general Estimation and Treatment.

HE natives of Africa, when bought by the European Colonists, are generally esteemed, says Dr. Jackson, a species of inferiour [sic] beings, whom the right of purchase gives the owner a power of using, at his will. Consistently with this definition we find the evidence asserting with one voice, that they " have no legal protection against their masters," and of course that "their treatment varies according to the disposition of their Masters." If their masters be good men, says the Dean of Middleham, they are well off, but, if not, they suffer.

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