Page:Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica.pdf/78

 his fears; and it is the intereſt of the merchant to preſerve his purchaſe in health, and to bring it, if in condition, to an early ſale. His engagement is ſoon compleated; and no tax of inhumanity can lie at his door. If he deceive the purchaſer he ſhould be called to an account; if the planter deceive him he muſt abide by the conſequence. The man who truſts has a right to ſay I will be paid. That advantage ſhould not be taken by the rich, nor inſult be the language of the poor, is a datum which ought to be received—that misfortune may claim the indulgence of the firſt, and that petulance is not an apology for the laſt, may be determined by thoſe who feel, and thoſe whoſe tempers may reſent. Service is reciprocal—the man who ſells, and he who purchaſes ſhould hold an equal guard. In buſineſs there ſhould not be liberal, but ſpecific confidence; in the exchange of papers all connections in life ſhould be forgotten, and all friendſhips ſunk; fathers and children ſhould be ſuſpicious, and ſhould exact from one another the ſame bonds of performance as if they were perfect ſtangers. This