Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/20

 of deſpair, than ſurvive the apprehenſions of an impending fate.

I would here, with deference, propoſe, that the ſales be in future private; that few be expoſed to purchaſe in a lot, that families and connections be particularly attended to, and ſold to the ſame maſter, or if that cannot be, as near as poſſible to the ſame neighbourhood. Such tenderneſs would be a preſent conſolation to the dejected ſlaves, give a pleaſing confidence in the juſtice and humanity of the maſter, reconcile them to their labour for his intereſt, and prove a ſource to the purchaſer of future emolument. I am convinced that many of theſe neglected creatures have given themſelves up to ſorrow and deſpair, for no other reaſon than a ſeparation from their old attachments; and what makes me more inclinable to this belief is, the conſtant predilection they have upon all occaſions,