Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/68

 of a deſpotic juſtice of the peace, where they unremittingly labour both ſummer and winter, under the momentary apprehenſions of corporal puniſhment, and as they have not (at leaſt many of them) been uſed to toil, the hardſhip is proportionably ſevere; and this they frequently endure for want of the comforts at leaſt, if not the common neceſſaries of life, which the humanity of England ſhould have provided, and the want of which the law redreſſed. Who can behold the numbers of unfortunate creatures, who nightly ſhiver in the ſtreets, without protection, without raiment, without food, and not conclude, that there is either an error in feeling, or a weakneſs in the execution of our laws; and I am apt to believe, that there are many, who daily periſh, under hedges, or in paths, for want of that common ſuſtenance, which nature provides for all; for miſery, however delinquent the ſufferer may be, is, in itſelf, entitled to compaſſion; and real want, however occaſioned, has a right to food. Let the legiſlature look if there be not ſlaves of their own religion, and colour in England; if there be not others,